Vincentian Day of Prayer and Fast – Tuesday August 25, 2015-08-19 (Final)

Consumed – Be True to Yourself – Feed on Me – Rooted in Prayer

Dear Vincentians, I have many sayings learned from my Granny. One I say a lot is “If it is to be, it is up to me.” We so often think others should be doing. It is my belief is they will follow if you lead and you lead with God. One other my Granny who was Irish, used to instill in me is, “A diamond is merely a lump of coal surviving well under pressure.” This is who we are in our Vincentian Family. We are diamonds in the rough waiting for our Lords intervention. Pray for one another and always pray for those we serve and our clergy. Dear Lord as we encounter those in need let our minds, hearts and lives bear witness to your abundance for all people. Make us more willing to share with all. Amen.

Consumed – Being consumed without being destroyed is possible only if we receive from Jesus what others fail to give to us. Consuming Jesus should transform us into His likeness. If we truly believe that the Eucharist is the body and blood of Christ, we can be consumed by Christ. Always accept Jesus and know He is on our side. Each person in your congregation is part of His body. Know and believe the good our Lord can do in us. My daughter-in-law’s father passed a few days ago. She told me her faith received a huge jolt. Her dad suffered for 8 years with cancer and now in his last minutes he turned to her and told her to put his shoes on as he was going up to heaven. He cannot talk, but got the message across and closed his eyes and was consumed be Our Lord. Joy was all around in the room and so too, his children were consumed by the love of God.

Be True to Yourself – Be true to yourself, be transformed by the love of Christ. We are transformed each day again and again. Each time we listen to Jesus and allow Him to enlighten us, we will leave darkness, confusion and turmoil behind. He will replace it and transform us in holiness, understanding, love of others and peace within ourselves no matter what we are going through. The holy light of Christ transforms us and turns our darkness to light. His light and the Holy Spirit are strong enough to listen to Him, as the Father told us to do when He affirmed Christ’s lordship on Mount Tabor. We believe and know we must be true to what God has created in us. Desire to listen and remember we are created in His image. We are one with Him and this is good. So be true to yourself, who is the image of God.

Feed on Me – Jesus says, “Those who feed on me will have life because of me.” What kind of life? What’s the difference between having his life and the one you were born with? Jesus gives us His body and blood in every Mass so we can consume Him in His entirety — all of His humanity and all of His divinity. He wants us to be nourished abundantly by His love. He wants us to receive His strength when we endure trials, His healing when we suffer wounds, and most of all, His life, not just when we go to Heaven, but here, right now on earth. In our service to those in need and our Vincentian family feel His life at work in us and in others.   “Lord, I am not worthy … but say the word and my soul shall be healed.” Each time we receive Christ in the bread and wine, He feeds us so we made feed others. He does not say, “I am in this bread.” He says, “I am the bread of life.” He wants us to feed on Him and bring His love to others. When we give love to others, they receive God’s love. When they fail to return that love, we are being servant! We are giving more than we’re receiving. When we give of our time and talents for the sake of God’s kingdom without being paid or rewarded, we are then Jesus. We are one in body and Spirit with Christ.

Rooted in Prayer – “Then He told them the parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary.” (Luke 18.1) When we hear this, we think this is impossible. We are busy people and have much to do. How can we pray always? I have been challenged twice in my life by priests to pray always. The first time was preparing the Christmas hampers in a very poor parish. We were short to fill the remaining 5 hampers. Fr. Len Hagel who is now passed, said, “Lynn we have to pray! I was a little skeptical but we prayed and during the prayer the door bell rang. Father went to the door and he came back with enough money to fill the remaining hampers and a little extra. It was cash rolled up and given because she heard the prayer through our Lord and came. The second time was by my current priest who is always challenging me. I went home to try his advice and prayed. Everything went wrong that day. My computer crashed, the kids were a handful and prayed over every disaster. You know what happened, everything fell in place, even greater than planned. God is with us always in prayer. “Give me a man of prayer and he will be capable of everything. He may say, “I can do all things in Him who strengthens me.” (SV X1, 83)

Blessings, Lynn