Come to the Water – Summun Bonum – Are We Redeemed Yet? – Undercover Prayer.

Vincentian Day of Prayer and Fast – August 5, 2014

Dear Vincentian Brothers and sisters:  As we rapidly fly into August, we ponder, “Where did the time go?”  We have many things we plan on doing.  Do we forget about our prayer life or visiting the sick and lonely, perhaps visiting an aging relative?  The time slips by and God is always waiting for us.  No one is more patient, slow to anger.  However, if we forget to talk to Him each day, our days become chaotic and a little lifeless each day.  We have a world to pray for, don’t neglect our special bond and care for all who are suffering anywhere in the world and you my Vincentian family are in my daily prayers.  As I read Famvin and see your activities, I pray for you and your projects.  I very much enjoyed the missions of India and the Border Vincentians.  It kind of made me want to pack up and go to help you.  I pray you get helpers.  May each day be a blessing and may you always feel the presence of God and all our Vincentian Saints. Amen.

Come to the Water – I write this as I overlook Lake Okanagan in the Rocky Mountains of Canada.  The song keeps going through my head.  So many of us are weary, confused and helpless and in need of the healing waters.  Many are looking for Christ’s joy in the wrong places.  We are needed in every corner of Society to help one another, but our help is in special need of those who are weary and heavy burdened.  Reach out to them, especially in these lazy summer months.  We are needed every day.  Christ is calling!  Listen to the cry of the broken Christ.  Each day we can help in small ways and in large ways to fix the broken with emergency basic needs of food, shelter medical and long term needs as finding a job, financial help and planning.  Most of all they need to come to the water for cool refreshing healing.  Starting over is difficult.  Those in need are our friends and need us and our healing water.

Summum Bonum – (A Latin term meaning “the highest good” or “greatest good”.)  Of course the Greatest is God, who loves all and has given us all in the Son and Spirit.  The more we love Him, the greater our treasure.  The Summum Bonum of all we do is love and obey God.  Make a friendship with the Trinity.  It is the best for us and for those we serve.  The more we love God and listen to His will our joy will be most bountiful and our treasure will the highest or greatest good.  The most valuable treasure is our joy in the Lord and our heavenly journey.  God is good and created a masterpiece in you.  Sometimes it doesn’t show, but God sees it.  He really does see more in us than we do.  God needs your input to finish his masterpiece.  All you have to do is say “Yes Lord, mould me.”  Loosen your ties to what is not good and set yourself free.  Our highest good, God is waiting to untie your bounds.  Let Him do His work and set you free, get ready for the change.

Are We Redeemed Yet? – “Why is my pain continuous?” is often our cry as in Jeremiah 15.  Sometimes we pray for healing, financial stability, new jobs or employment in general.  However most of the time we want more.  More, more, more of everything and things we think will make us happy.  So once again in Jeremiah, God answer:  “If you repent, I will restore you.”  One thing to remember, God is always on time and on duty.  There is no quitting time for His love.  He answers our prayers when the time is just perfect for us.  He answers our needs and sometimes our wants, but always our needs when time is right.  Stay very close to God through prayer.  He gave us Christ to redeem the world, but are we redeemed?  Our world is full of loneliness, sadness, poverty, broken hearts, illnesses, injustice, war, torture, crimes against humanity causing death and ungodliness.  Many have lost the God connection.  We must stay tuned in to God through prayer, fasting and conversion.  We are sinners and need God to forgive us as we forgive others.  Psalm 145, “”The hand of the Lord feeds us; He answers all our needs.”  We can read this and should memorize it because even though we know it and read in many variations of Scripture, we never have enough and keep asking for more.  When will we be content?  What can change our wants and lack of pleasure?  Reflect on this and for true happiness, include God’s will for yourself.

Undercover Prayer – People ask us all the time to pray for them or their family.  This is a good thing.  We sometimes forget and sometimes we think we need some sort of cover or umbrella to pray under.  All we need is time.  I remind you again of putting prayers in the palm of your hand.  Think of the hands of Jesus and lift your hands to God with all the wounded, He will receive the prayers.  He already knows and just wants you to talk to Him for awhile, but most of all the best undercover prayer is silence.  Then He gets a chance to speak.  In silence we must think of the times of temptation and forgiveness and the room which is being held for us in heaven.  Let God speak.  Make your cover, one of belief and hope.  Believe always in God and His plan.  Keep your eyes always on God; this is our true love, our hope and our trust in Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  The finish line in this race is our salvation.  Our job will then be to let people feel God living in us.  It is always our actions, not necessarily our words.  Walking the talk is the best.  Our prayer is answered under our good covers when we know our strength doesn’t come from what we can do but from overcoming the things we used to think we couldn’t do.  You don’t have to start over if you never give up.  God is under the cover with us and we are listening.  Yes Lord.

Pray for everyone serving the Lord with joy and always remember those we serve, our clergy, our benefactors, seminarians, bishops and our beloved Pope Francis.  Pray for the disasters and devastation due to natural causes or human error and believe in your requests to God.  Ask Mary, St. Vincent, and all the Vincentian saints to intercede, smile always and have a great week in God’s loving hands.

Blessings,

Lynn

Lynn L’Heureux is Special needs co-coordinator & Advisor of the Society of St Vincent de Paul Calgary Alberta Canada.

Her newsletter is translated into 3 languages, hopefully soon to be 4. They have a group which brings the prayer into China and it is translated into Mandarin and other Chinese dialects.

Subscribe to her weekly newsletter Vincentian Day of Prayer and Fast (English and Spanish) by sending an email to calgaryssvpadm@gmail.com