Easter People – Making it Count – Do You Hear the Call? – Don’t Give up!
Blessings of Easter joy to my wonderful Vincentian Family around the world. The thrill of Holy Week and especially the Triduum will be imbedded in our memories and hearts. Alleluia, Alleluia. Jesus lives in each of us. Lord Jesus help us to serve those in need and use your examples of love and service. You call us and we know God has great plans for us. Lord please help us to say yes and always be a servant, through Christ our Lord. Amen! Alleluia! I will bless the Lord at all time.
Easter People – Easter—not Good Friday—is the centerpiece of the Christian story. St. Augustine famously said: “We are Easter people, and ‘alleluia’ is our song!” I think the cross is a symbol of the great love God has for us. I always have a cross to rub when I need help. It is either around my neck or in my pocket. It gives me comfort because Jesus had to die to rise. These days of Eastertide are so joyful. We celebrate, rejoice and are glad because Jesus Christ has risen – The tomb is empty and our hearts are full.In Luke’s account (see Luke 24:5-6), “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen!” Jesus Christ has risen! Not everyone gets this. We must live joyfully and never lose our belief and love. Some people will affront us, criticize us and mock our belief. They still have Jesus bound and permanently in a tomb. We hopefully unbind Jesus and permanently have Him in our hearts. We are resurrection people. We are still in the Easter season and we believe. Start today to choose Christ in behaviour and in your daily Vincentian activities. Choose to see Christ in poverty, in the angry, lost and confused. Always carry the Gospel in your heart and know Christ is here for all. He came for sinners and to serve – to be a servant. He lives in each of us, bring His love to all.
Making it Count – Lucky is the person who has the ability to see their own shortcomings. Miserable is the person who can only see the flaws of others. We are all here to do the will of God. We all have flaws, and yes, we are all sinners. The easiest is to accept and freely surrender, for the forgiveness is always there. During an RCIA class we asked the question, “Who is the most important Father, Son or Holy Spirit?” Jesus, equal to the Father did not feel it was below His dignity to obey and pray often to accept His will. Freedom for us comes when we are able to surrender our will freely to the will of God. We have the Holy Spirit to help with this. He kind of keeps us on track. We have everything going for us and to make it count, we must first believe and then hear God’s plan and know we are never alone. We can talk to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit any time, day or night. Serving becomes easy when we work with the Trinity. It makes what we do truly count.
Do you hear the call? What did Jesus do for you? You mean so much to Him. Has He done enough for me? Are my prayers unanswered? Does He even care about my hurts, my pain, and my broken heart? Of course the answer is:”YES” He cares. Jesus, has done so much for me, I cannot tell it all. He is amazing love. Look at the love of the cross; the love of forgiving all sins, no matter what they are. Look in the mirror and answer the question “What did Jesus do for me?” Sit quietly, read Scripture and transfer it to your life today. Lent is over! Christ is risen! The love does not stop. Let Jesus enter into each moment of your life through Eastertide which we are in now. It starts Easter Sunday and continues to Pentecost June 8, 2014. Educate yourself on these 50 days. It is not over. If you feel you did not get it all in Lent, you have a second chance to continue through these 50 days of learning how much you are loved. Make Christ’s Passion your own. He did it for you! He cries out to you. Be still and listen for the call. You belong to Him and He needs you and we need Him more. Do not put Him on hold. Answer the call.
Don’t give up! God has a plan for each of us. We cannot be a quitter as the plan is life giving and love giving. How often do we quit when things don’t seem to be working right? Sometimes things do tend to seem hopeless. If plans collapse, re-evaluate and make sure the plan was God’s plan. Talk to Him all through your journey and never give up. There’s an old cliché that claims, “It’s always darkest before the dawn.” I think we should change that to: “It only seems dark, but the dawn has already begun!” It is kind of like driving through a dark tunnel and you just see a little light and then bright sunshine as you exit the tunnel. The Son has already started to shine – but our eyes can’t see his light yet. Life without God is like an unsharpened pencil – it is dull, useless and really has no point. When we seem to come to the end of our rope, tie a knot in it and hold on. We know the light of Christ is there and the resurrected Christ is ever more ready to be with you to make a difference. We are just a little blind – temporary blindness. Hold on and don’t give up. We have the most powerful allies in the Trinity and victory is ours; the victory of Christ’s life, death and especially His resurrection.
Blessings,
Lynn
Tags: Calgary, Canada, L'Heureux, SVDP, Vincent de Paul
