Sunset over Lake Grandbury, Texas. Picture by Mark Rusch
The Holy Spirit inspired our blog.
Wednesday of the First Week in Extraordinary Time
During the time young Samuel was minister to the LORD under Eli,
a revelation of the LORD was uncommon and vision infrequent.
One day Eli was asleep in his usual place.
His eyes had lately grown so weak that he could not see.
The lamp of God was not yet extinguished,
and Samuel was sleeping in the temple of the LORD
where the ark of God was.
The LORD called to Samuel, who answered, “Here I am.”
Samuel ran to Eli and said, “Here I am. You called me.”
“I did not call you,” Eli said. “Go back to sleep.”
So he went back to sleep.
Again the LORD called Samuel, who rose and went to Eli.
“Here I am,” he said. “You called me.”
But Eli answered, “I did not call you, my son. Go back to sleep.”
At that time Samuel was not familiar with the LORD,
because the LORD had not revealed anything to him as yet.
The LORD called Samuel again, for the third time.
Getting up and going to Eli, he said, “Here I am.
You called me.”
Then Eli understood that the LORD was calling the youth.
So Eli said to Samuel, “Go to sleep, and if you are called, reply,
‘Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.’”
When Samuel went to sleep in his place,
the LORD came and revealed his presence,
calling out as before, “Samuel, Samuel!”
Samuel answered, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”
Samuel grew up, and the LORD was with him,
not permitting any word of his to be without effect.
Thus all Israel from Dan to Beersheba
came to know that Samuel was an accredited prophet of the LORD.
Emphasis mine 1 Samuel 3:1-10, 19-20
How many of you are not familiar with God?
Familiar meaning, you hear the voice of God and act on it. The voice may be a voice, a sign, or a feeling for you to take a certain action.
In my, yes, my younger years, God spoke to me through words, signs, and feelings, but being the know-it-all I was, I headed the call of God when it fit with my needs and desires.
God told me to call Gail again after we had broken up four or five times over a period of eight years; thank God I listened and did as God said. Fifty-seven years of a very Joy-filled marriage resulted from my doing the will of God.
When my mother died, the nurses told us to ask for a sign she was in Heaven. Gail asked for a sign she was in Heaven. Gail walked at five a.m. in the morning; the morning after she died, Gail saw a rainbow in the sky, something she had never seen before or after the death of Mom. I didn’t need a sign; Mom died in total Peace.
If you die in Peace, you ARE in Heaven!
I had the feeling God wanted me to write a Wednesday blog for ACM (A Catholic Moment), something I didn’t want to do. By now, I was trying to do the will of God, so I grudgingly applied and wrote a sample, and we were selected. The funny part of the story is that Bill Winters, the head of ACM, didn’t respond as fast as I believed he would, and I got mad with God we hadn’t been selected. In fact, I said, “You mean we can’t write a winning essay?” I laugh every time I think of this statement. That statement though is a RELATIONSHIP Statement.
I went from not wanting to write a blog to being mad at not being selected.
As you all know, I am thrilled to be writing the Wednesday Blog for ACM.
I am now more familiar with the Lord and am filled with Joy from our relationship.
Join Team Jesus:
If you would like to protect your family, dumb question, pray Psalm 91 verbally.
My life changed after reading Peggy Joyce Ruth’s book, Psalm 91, God’s Shield of Protection, Military Version. Every day, I say this powerful prayer for everyone in our life, including the writers and readers of A Catholic Moment.
Sidebar:
Christmas and New Year’s seemed to be packed closely together, so we decided to write three blogs before the holidays started. This was good because I wasn’t concerned about how we would get the blogs written with all the activities we would attend. It was bad because I would not work with the Holy Spirit for a week and a half, and I missed our special time together.
On Friday of last week, I cheated and wrote portions of the sidebar ahead of time and wondered how what we wrote Friday would fit into the rest of the blog.
The Holy Spirit pointed out five thoughts that got me thinking; I pray you will have the same experience.
- The Formed Tim Gray 12/20/23
The LORD spoke to Ahaz:
Ask for a sign from the LORD, your God;
let it be deep as the nether world, or high as the sky!
But Ahaz answered,
“I will not ask! I will not tempt the LORD!“
Then Isaiah said:
Listen, O house of David!
Is it not enough for you to weary men,
must you also weary my God?
Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign:
the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and shall name him Emmanuel.
Emphasis mine Isaiah 7:10-14
I didn’t realize until I listened to Tim Gray that Ahaz’s refusal to ask the Lord sounds pious but, in fact, is faithless because Ahaz has NO faith in God.
Remember, King Solomon was given the same chance as Ahaz, and he asked for Wisdom, and you know what happened after that.
Who are you? Ahaz or Solomon?
2. Richard Rohr 12/24/23
We are NOT punished FOR our sins, but we ARE punished BY our sins. Emphasis mine.
3. www.realclearpolitics.com reported on 12/26/23:
The Fellowship of Christian Athletes reported over fifty-one thousand athletes declared for Christ in 2023. You didn’t hear that in the mainstream press, did you?
There are Catholics who might say,” This isn’t real, they need instruction.“
We suggest they reread the bible.
Therefore let the whole house of Israel know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and they asked Peter and the other apostles, “What are we to do, my brothers?” Peter [said] to them, “Repent and be baptized,every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the holy Spirit. For the promise is made to you and to your children and to all those far off, whomever the Lord our God will call.” He testified with many other arguments, and was exhorting them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand persons were added that day. Emphasis mine Acts 2:36-41
I, we, would also suggest they were filled with Joy when they were Baptized.
In the movie UNBROKEN, Louis Zamperini finds Jesus in a tent revival held by Billy Graham, converts when he attends the second meeting and never looks back. The movie UNBROKEN II does an excellent job of showing Louis’s conversion. In the video, the Japanese soldier, taunting Louis (satan), tortured Louis for over a year.
Before Louis’s conversion, you can see the hate he harbored, but after the conversion, you can see the Peace and Joy Louis experienced because of his conversion.
A few weeks ago, we wrote about Justin (Cumberland County Jail), who had also converted from anger to Joy and Peace by learning and praying for the Fruit of the Holy Spirit. The YouTube clip shows this transformation of Louis and Justin beautifully.
YouTube: on the search bar, type in Unbroken: Path to Redemption (2018) Accepting Jesus scene. You will have to scroll down three topics. The clip is 5.04 minutes long. You will not be disappointed.
4. On December 27, we wrote about the Tilma. Mike provided scientific information, and in his comment that week about what Mike wrote, Jerry provided us with the religious language that the Tilma is filled with. Thank you, Jerry.
This is fascinating!
Jerry suggested a YouTube video, which I watched and enjoyed. Here’s the link https://youtu.be/iA-womj-icc?si=-CSt_2kTUPHDZo-6
Jerry 12/27/23
5. Thursday 12/28/23 First Reading 12
God is Light, Emphasis mine. The light, of course, is JOY, our words, look at Louis, after he finds and commits to Jesus.
6. Mysteries of the Messiah by Rabbi Jason Sobel:
“JOY BREAKS EVERY YOKE.” Emphasis mine. Once again look at Louis on YouTube. The yoke is anything that weighs you down.
Picture:
Sunset over Lake Grandbury, Texas.
We had the grandkids over Spring Break while our eldest daughter and son-in-law took a 20th-anniversary trip to the Caribbean.
Thank you for your service to our Lord.
Picture by Mark Rusch
Please keep Snapping!
If you want a copy of the prayers we discussed, email me.
fprince101@gmail.com
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