UNTIL DEATH DO US PART

UNTIL DEATH DO US PART

Ruth Young Dahl Nelson tells the following story in her book, A Grandma’s Letters to God: There is a huge fortress on a hill overlooking the town of Weinsberg in Germany. One day, far back in feudal times, the fortress was surrounded by the enemy. The commander of the enemy troops agreed to let all women and children leave the fortress. He also agreed to allow each woman take one valuable possession with her.

Imagine the amazement and frustration of the commander when he saw each woman leave the fortress with her husband on her back!

v     What God has joined together, let no one put asunder.

v     When a couple get married they are but beginning a journey into love. If all goes well, then, hopefully, in about fifty years, they will have come to really love each other.

USING THE TONGUE

USING THE TONGUE

A man had a dream in which he was taken up to heaven. He was wandering around; when Jesus came along, and let him have a vision of something down here on earth. It was a church on a Sunday morning, and Mass was being celebrated. The organist was playing away the man could see the fingers move and the keys go up and down – but he couldn’t hear a sound. He could see the choir, watch them open their mouths, and sing all the words – but he couldn’t hear a sound. He watched the priests and the people stand up, sit down, turn the pages of the Mass leaflets, and open their mouths to say all the prayers, but once again, the man couldn’t hear a sound.

He was puzzled so he turned to Jesus and asked him why the silence. Jesus replied, “You see, unless these people pray or sing with their hearts, we cannot hear them here.”

v   “These people honour me with their lips but their hearts are far from me.” (Mt 15:8)

v   “Loving words are on their lips but they continue their greedy ways.” (Ez 33:31)

A SIN IS A SIN!

A SIN IS A SIN!

Anthony Mastroem wrote the following provocation comment:

No one steals any more…they simply lift something. No one lies any more…they simply misrepresent the facts. No one commits adultery…they simply play or fool around. No one kills an unborn baby…they simply terminate a pregnancy.

All of this, says Mastroem, is simply a clever, if dishonest way, of candy-waiting the reality of sin.

-    If God wanted a permissive society, God would have given us Ten Suggestions instead of Ten Commandments.

-     Calling a spade “an agricultural implement” does nothing to change what it is!”

SHUT UP, AND PEDAL

SHUT UP, AND PEDAL

There is a poem that likens our relationship with Jesus to two people on a tandem bicycle. At first, I sat in the front; Christ the rear. I couldn’t see him, but I knew he was there. I could feel his help when the road got steep. Then one day, Christ changed seats with me.

Suddenly everything went topsy-turvy. When I was in control, the ride was predictable – even boring; but when Jesus took over, it got wild! I could hardly hold on.

“This is madness,” I cried, but Christ just smiled and said, “Pedal!” And so I leaned to shut up and pedal – and trust my bike companion. Oh there are still times when I get sacred. But Christ just smiles, touches my hand – and says, “Pedal!”

-Jesus says, “Follow me, let’s go…stop thinking about it!”

- “He that follows me walks not in darkness, but has the light of life.” (Jn 8:12)

GOSSIP

GOSSIP

A woman once went to confession and confessed that she had been gossiping about others. As her penance the priest told her to go to the market and buy an unplucked hen and on her way back she was to pluck the hen, feather by feather and let each feather be carried off in the wind. She did that and returned to the priest.

He praised her for her obedience and he said, “Now, there’s one more thing to do. I want you to go back along the way, and pick up all the feathers belonging to that hen!” The woman was dumbfounded. The task was impossible. By now the wind had scattered many of those feathers mile away out across the country. “Exactly,” said the priest. “Now you see what has happened as a result of your gossiping. It is impossible to call the words back again, once you sent them on their way. Be very very careful what you speak, and especially what you gossip. It is generally impossible to repair that damage.

-  A great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue is a small part…but it can be a word of evil.” (Jas 3:5-6)

-     If A and B are gossiping about C, usually the conversations tells more about A and B than it does about C.

PROCLAIMING THE WORD

This story is told by a missionary in New Guinea. An old man, a recent convert to Christianity, used to come to the mission hospital every day to read the gospel for the patients. One day the man was having real difficulty reading. The doctor examined his eyes, and discovered that he was going blind and would probably be totally blind in a year or two. After that, there was no sign of the man coming to the hospital. No one knew what happened to him. Eventually a young man found him, and brought the mission doctor to him.

The old man explained the doctor that he was busy memorizing the gospels while he still could see. “Soon I’ll be back at the hospital, doctor, and I’ll continue my work of teaching the gospel to the patients.”

v    The barometer for my own level of being evangelized is my enthusiasm to tell the Good News to others.

v    If I don’t give away to others what God gives me, God may rightly take it away again.

PROCLAIMING THE WORD

PROCLAIMING THE WORD