By Charlie Leicht (3-18-1950 - 5-17-2010)

For my entire walk with the Lord, I have struggled with prayer and prayer time. When I first came into the Spirit, I couldn’t get enough of reading scripture. I read the Bible cover to cover, marveling and wondering why I’d never realized these things before. Every morning for years I’d drive 45 minutes to meet with several brothers and sisters at 6:30 a.m. for morning prayers before Mass. I dove into the lives of the saints, especially St. Therese Martin, the Little Flower.

Every Sunday, and I do mean every Sunday, my whole family sat behind me while I played bass at Community Gatherings. We attended and worked every day of every conference that the Community sponsored at Moody Coliseum. We never missed a Community function because that was our food, our spiritual sustenance.

I’m not sure when it happened, but those fanatical days are now gone. I truly believe that back in those days, if Bobbie had stood up at the prayer meeting and said we were all picking up stakes and moving to the Alaskan wilderness, we all to the man, would have followed him there. Praise God that the Spirit was leading him. I credit Bobbie Cavnar with my family and I staying in the Catholic Church in the 1970s, because at that time I had become very disillusioned with the Church.

Moving forward

I hear statements lately about going back to those early days of fire for the Lord, of returning to our first love. But you know, I don’t think you should go back. I think the Lord is taking us forward.

Every organization that has existed in the history of the Church has gone through what this Community has, and is, going through. We are not experiencing something new. Every order of priests, nuns and lay people have gone through what we have in the last few years. We are growing. The Lord is purifying us, turning us into the people he wants, his Delight.

You read in the Bible of pleadings to the Lord to reveal just a glimpse of his face, to touch just the hem of his garment. In the writings of many saints, once they have seen the Lord in a divine revelation they are never the same again. It’s like they are now dead to themselves.

How many of you have as the desire in your heart to be holy, as the Lord is holy? If the Lord were to appear in our midst as he did to his apostles after his resurrection, he would have the most fanatical group of followers in history. There is not a more dedicated group of people to the Lord, with a more dedicated group of leaders that are trying to follow him, in existence. I know this: I know all of you. We are one in this Community and there isn’t a doubt in my mind that this is true.

What’s wrong with us?

What’s the problem? Why won’t the Lord show us his face? Is there something wrong with us? Is he so displeased with us that he doesn’t want us to be his Delight anymore? Are we so unresponsive that God has abandoned our community? No, God is not a liar. He loves us. He’s with us constantly, every moment of our life. We are his. He is ours forever. We are his Delight, his bride -- in waiting.

The Lord will not show us his face the way he showed his apostles because he doesn’t want to interfere with the process of dying to self. There is a reason that the Lord’s presence is veiled to us. We must give up our will and live in his will. That is the key to our lives with the Lord and with each other. J-O-Y, Jesus-Others-Yourself -- last.

So again, what’s the problem? Why can’t the Lord just show us his face and end all this doubt and suffering? Turn us loose to evangelize, reveal his loving face and convert the whole world?

Dying to self

Dying to self is a slow and determined process. Remember, Adam and Eve walked and talked to God, and fell. God’s brightest creation and a third of heaven knew God and rebelled. We see this present age with the Lord veiled to all and partially unveiled only to the select, only to those he chooses to reveal himself.

We will remember for all of eternity what it was like to be in the world with God partially revealed. Can you imagine what it would be like to have God remove himself completely from your life? There cannot be love when you live for self, only the top dog rules then, and in the world, we all know who that is. Love only exists when we put God and others before our will. Adam and Eve didn’t have that viewpoint when they made their choice. That is what we are learning in this walk we find ourselves in.

Give up your will. Choose God and let him decide what is good and what is right.

(written in 2000)

Advancing his kingdom in prayer

By Tracy Rosachi

When I was praying about what to share during this talk on the Time for God Appendices by Fr. Liebermann and Br. Lawrence, the Lord kept giving me the first part of the Our Father prayer:

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

This seems to fit in well with some of today’s sharings. We are connected to God's kingdom by prayer, and it is only through surrender in prayer, a willingness of heart and faith in Christ Jesus that we are able to enter into the kingdom.

Faith in prayer

So how does prayer connect us to the kingdom of God? Prayer is the language of the kingdom and, just like any language, if we don't use it, we lose it. Many of us are taught a different language in high school, and I would guess most of us haven't used it since then. I learned French, but I couldn't tell you many words in French these days because I haven't continued to use it. We must continue to practice the language of prayer because prayer is how God speaks to us and we speak to him.

If prayer is the door to the kingdom of God and our means to speak to God, then faith is what opens that door. We have to have faith that he is there and that he is speaking to us in prayer. It is important to know that our faith is us saying in prayer, "Yes, God, I am here,” and trusting that he is always there waiting for us to open that door.

Practicing the presence of God

In the second appendix, Br. Lawrence talks about practicing the presence of God. Sometimes when my life is so busy, God reminds me to "practice my presence." What does that mean? Well, what does “practice” mean? First of all, it means doing something over and over again until you don't even have to think about it anymore. It just becomes a part of you.

Practicing his presence is about remembering throughout the day to just stop and say "Thank you, God. Here I am, God," and having faith that he is present. I will use an example that happened to me this week. I was running some errands and had to stop to get gas. I don’t know about you, but a lot of times while I’m at the gas station, I’m thinking about what I have to do next, or where I have to be next. All of sudden, I just looked up and realized it was a beautiful day and saw a bird flying by, and I remembered to say: "Thank you, Lord, for being present and allowing me to be with you while the gas is pumping."

Whether he brings it to our mind, or we make an effort to practice his presence, I have found that it is a great way to draw nearer to him, and it puts back into perspective what is truly important. If we open ourselves up to his presence, we will realize those brief moments that can touch our lives in an intimate way and help us grow in our faith. We also open ourselves up to his will and allow him to give us the courage to respond to his will. The more of an effort I have made to practice living in his presence, the more it's become a habit and the more fruitful it has become.

The gift of tongues

ne of the greatest gifts that many of us have as charismatics is the gift of tongues. We talk about that being a heavenly language and the language of the kingdom. Therefore, another great way to practice his presence is to pray in tongues. I know for me, it is very easy to sit down with good intentions of praying in his presence, but I'm too distracted by everything else going on to really enter into his presence. Praying in tongues allows my spirit and God’s spirit to talk to each other and takes my brain, and my distractions, out of the equation. Whether it's a long prayer time or just a short practice of his presence, praying in tongues allows us to connect to him in a much deeper way than if we tried to use our own words.

I have learned from my spiritual director over the years that we all have our different faculties that aid us in prayer: memory, intellect, will, imagination and emotions. When we begin to pray in the way discussed in Time for God, and have faith in the Lord’s presence in our prayer, and we allow the Lord to work with the faculties he gave us and enter deeply into his presence in prayer, we often find that the things that we sometimes get lost in – life’s distractions – become less distracting We see the Lord’s will start to take shape in our lives instead. I encourage everyone to be on the lookout for the moments where God can speak to us and practice entering into his presence in the moments you would normally allow distractions to consume.

Advancing his kingdom in prayer

A few weeks ago at prayer meeting, we talked about being in awe of God and appreciating his creation around us and the people he brings into our lives. When we bring our whole self into prayer and allow ourselves to be in awe of him, God brings us deeper into his kingdom. The more in tune we are with his presence, the more we allow him to use us to advance his kingdom.

In Dan Burke’s book, Into the Deep, he uses the term “sacred attention.” Burke defines sacred attention as a simple attentiveness to Jesus. He goes on to describe it as allowing ourselves to slow down, relax and begin to shift away from all things other than what God wants to reveal to us. Even if it is only for a short amount of time while we pump gas, are in line at the grocery store or the bank, or sit in the waiting room at the doctor’s office, it is those moments that we would normally give over to distractions that the Lord wants the most and can sometimes do the most with to advance his kingdom.

It is amazing the changes I have seen in myself since I have started practicing his presence. I have learned to revel in the solitude of his presence and find joy there. Again, it takes faith in knowing that he shows up for us to understand that even when we don’t hear his voice in our prayers, we are not alone. Prayer is not a lonely place; he is always with us. I have also learned to stop and ask, “Lord, what do you want me to do here?” before I react in certain situations. In doing so, my reactions have become more thoughtful and calm in stressful or difficult situations.

I also have seen growth in my life in advancing my discipline of the liturgy. In making this more of a priority and practicing that discipline, I am again allowing the Lord to advance his kingdom through me. It really is a beautiful thought that we are able to help advance God's kingdom in real ways every single day just doing what we do when we do it in his presence.

It can be a scary thing to turn our lives over to him and trust his will without knowing where that might lead us. As we slowly become more and more comfortable being in his presence and grow in the faith required to trust in his presence, he teaches us what we need to know to enter his kingdom. So I encourage everyone to practice his presence and to practice the discipline of giving him our little moments of distraction in order to grow closer to him and so that he might use us to advance his kingdom. God bless you, and God bless all of us. Amen.

Community Gathering, November 13, 2016

By Robert Schnitzius

He is risen indeed!

Celebrate Easter Sunday with your family. There  will  NOT be a Community Gathering or any ministries at Mount St. Michael.

Prayer Meetings and ministries will resume normal schedule on April  23. 

By Neil Coward

Happy Anniversary! Bishop Sam Jacobs said on the video we just watched that the 50^th - anniversary celebration of the Catholic charismatic renewal is a time to look back. As I was preparing for today’s recommitment, I looked back at what was going on in Cathy's and my life as we were preparing to make this covenant. It was in 1972, and we were meeting in Bobbie Cavnar's den at his home as a leaders group. The Lord was speaking to us about being a people, whatever that might mean. Well, Bobbie picked up on it, and he began teaching us about covenant and its significance toward being a people.

Cathy and I began to think that maybe the Lord was calling all of us to make a covenant. We began to study scripture, to listen to what the Lord was saying at these meetings, through prayer, through teachings, and through other writings to find out what covenant meant and what the Lord might have in mind for us. As we did this, it became clear to us that the Lord was inviting us to enter into a covenant with him in a deeper way than we had in our Baptismal covenant. This was a deeper personal way the Lord was asking us to enter into a relationship with him not only individually, but also as a people.

The Lord gave Cathy and I the scriptures Eccl 5:1-6. I'm not going to read it all, but in there it says:

"When you make a vow to God delay not its fulfillment. For God has no pleasure in fools; fulfill what you have vowed. You had better not make a vow than make it and not fulfill it. Let not your utterances make you guilty, and say not before his representative, "It was a mistake" lest God be angered by such words and destroy the works of your hands. Rather fear God."

I got that, and I thought "Whoa. Seems like God is pretty serious about this and so I have to be also.” The outcome was that we came to understand in our hearts that God was offering to make a covenant with us, and if we did he would be our God, and we would be his people. He would help us live it out. I have to say, Cathy and I had no doubt in our hearts that we were to make covenant, but we also knew it would require changes in our hearts and our lives.

How the covenant came to be

Late in 1972 at one of those leaders' meetings on a Tuesday night, Bobbie got up and proposed a covenant, a draft that he had written. After hearing it Cathy and I felt, "Yes, this is right.’ To put it in a way people would understand nowadays when something great happens would be, "YEAH!” However, over the next few weeks, Bobbie never said anymore about it. We went on with the meetings, with teachings and sharings but never another mention of a covenant.

In the first part of January 1973, Bobbie got up and announced at a Tuesday night meeting that he kind of understood that not all prayer groups like us were meant to become covenant communities and that we were not going to make a covenant. That just knocked the feet out from underneath us. I didn't say anything. I didn't go up and talk to Bobbie about it, but inside -- I don't know how to express it. It is like when I tell my little granddaughter "no," and that bottom lip goes out and she is about to cry. Well that is what Cathy and I felt inside.

Bobbie said that on a Tuesday night. He went to bed that night and woke up about 3 o'clock in the morning sick as he could be, running a high fever and feeling so bad he was considering going to the emergency room. He told God, "I haven't been this sick since you touched my life. Have I done something wrong?" He sensed that the Lord said, "What you said last night wasn't me." But Bobbie was a strong Type A personality, and so he went into work and the secretary chided him for coming to work so sick.

After lunch that day, another brother called him at the office. His name was David George. He was not a part of the community, but a good friend of Bobbie’s. He asked Bobbie how he was doing and had a polite conversation for a few minutes and then he hung up. But right after he hung up he called Bobbie back and said, "God told me he's not going to let me off of the hook. That I've got to tell you what he told me." He said, "That if you don't do what I have asked you to do, I will set you aside and raise up someone else who will." Bobbie knew instantly what the Lord meant in those words and submitted to his will and said, yes, he’d do it. Instantly God healed him; the fever was gone. When Bobbie shared that story at the next leaders meeting, there was no doubt that God was inviting us to make the covenant.

Our marriage to God

Making this covenant was like God inviting us to be married to him. Just like a man proposes to a woman for marriage, it's an "I love you" from the man saying I would like you to marry me and spend your life with me. Then she responds, "Yes" and that is her "I love you" back to him. That is what we have learned about covenant. It's much like that. It was an "I love you" from God to us saying, “I want to be wed to you.” In fact, our name "God's Delight" came from Isaiah 62:4. If you read the next verse it says, "Just as a young man marries a virgin, so shall your builder marry you."

Over the years there have been a lot of good times and at other times many struggles, just as are in any covenantal relationship. The good times are always so fun. The difficult times tempt one to think, "Why did I do this? Maybe I need to rethink this.” This is human nature. We all knew in our hearts when we made that covenant that was not an option. It was never an option. God invited us into that relationship, and he would sustain us through it. All we had to do was just hang onto him, and he would bring us through. We came to understand in a deeper and more real way that this was an "I love you" from God to us and when we responded back in the affirmative we gave an "I love you" back to him. He was giving us the grace to cry out to him and for the strength to do and be faithful to what he has called us to be. That's been a great blessing not only for Cathy and I but also for everyone because being faithful to our covenant has deepened our love and covenant relationship not only with God but also with one another.

Going forward, it seems that God will be drawing all of us deeper into his heart, and we will be able to be more focused on him by seeing and receiving his never ending stream of "I love yous" to us through creation, through each other, Jesus'redemption, and the sanctification of the Holy Spirit. As we do this he will teach us to return an "I thank you" and an "I love you" to him for all of his "I love yous" to us. I'm not going to read it, but in Thes 5:18 and Eph 5:20, that's basically what is being said there. As we do this, we will continue to grow in the fervor of that first love he has given us and he will be in a fuller way our all in all.

As we prepare to renew our covenant here shortly let each of us ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us all of the "I love yous" to us from God through our covenant so we can return an "I love you" and an "I thank you" back to him. To God be all the Glory!

Community Gathering, March 26, 2017

Have a happy and blessed Mothers Day with your families!

We will not host a prayer meeting on Mothers Day, Sunday, May 14.
No ministries will meet that day.

Please join us for praise and worship at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 21.

By Mike Miesch

When Ann and I started dating, I told her I would not ask her to become a Catholic, but that I would like her to be familiar with the Catholic faith. I made arrangements for Ann to take instructions from my cousin, Father Francis Miesch while we were dating. Now, Ann’s parents were Pentecostal, but Ann had never accepted the Pentecostal faith. She was going to a Baptist Church at the time, and when we became engaged, Ann’s parents were very upset. Ann’s father said, "This is not a blessing. This is a funeral. You will die spiritually in the Catholic Church."

Ann’s parents had a friend that was deep in the Lord, and she sought the Lord with deep prayers and fasting. On the day of the wedding, this family friend received prophetic words from the Lord that I was a good man and that the Lord was in me. She also received that I would come around to their way of thinking and I'd have a faith that they'd never known before and be filled with the Spirit in a deeper way than they could imagine. This was 1963. Ann's mother came to the wedding and told Ann about the prophecy, but Ann never said anything to me about it. Ann's father didn't come to the wedding, but he later publicly apologized for being prejudiced against Catholics. I believe the prophetic message was given to Ann's mother and father so that they would have peace about my marriage to their daughter.

Ann and I married in St. Patrick's Cathedral in Fort Worth on February 14, 1963. The prophetic message in 1963 was four years before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Duquesne University.

Expect a miracle

After we had married, I started working for a company alongside a Pentecostal man who was very bold in witnessing to people. I told him that my in-laws were Pentecostal, but I did not dare tell him I was Catholic. The day he found out, I remember thinking, "Oh boy, he is going to work me over." He started quoting scripture to me about the Holy Spirit, the gifts of the Spirit, and praying with faith. We ended up becoming good friends.

In February of 1970, my mother had been bedridden for three months with pneumonia. When I talked to her on Thursday night, she had almost no voice. That Friday I spoke to my co-worker and friend, Bill, and I said, "I would appreciate it if you would pray for my mother." He looked me in the eyes and said, "Expect a miracle." Then next day my mother was up and walking around.

In May of 1970, Bill came to me and said, "Mike, how would like to go to the hospital with me and pray for a little boy."

I said, "Bill, I'll go with you, but I don't know anything about praying for people."

He said, "Mike, we're just going to do what the scriptures tell us to do."

This little boy was five years old and had massive tumors behind both eyes. He had been in a coma for a week. The doctor said there is no hope. We walked into the hospital room, and the little boy's father said, "If this is the Lord's will, we will accept it."

But Bill said, "It's not the Lord's will that any should perish. It is his will that we prosper, be in health, even as your soul prospers." (See 3 John:1)

We joined hands and prayed for the little boy. The next day the little boy woke up and sat on the side of the bed, and by Saturday he was up and playing in the hospital room. The doctors scheduled a surgery to remove the tumors for that Monday morning, and Bill and I arrived at the hospital just as the doctors were coming out of surgery. They were in shock. The two tumors had completely disappeared, but they said the little boy would be blind because the optic nerve disappeared with the tumor. Well, that little boy had 20/20 vision and was completely healed of cancer. That made a tremendous impression on this Catholic boy.

An invitation to community

Father Miesch came to see us the end of May 1970, and I remember saying, "Father Miesch, the Lord sure is with the Pentecostal people."

"Yes, that's right,” he responded.

"Would it be wrong if I left the Catholic Church and joined the Pentecostal Church?"

Ann and Father Miesch almost fell off their barstools. Father explained that he had just gotten back from Ann Arbor, Michigan, the week before where he had attended a Catholic Pentecostal prayer meeting. He told me if I was interested in the Pentecostal faith, to get in touch with Bobbie Cavnar. Ann later told a girlfriend of hers, "If Mike gets involved with the Pentecostal faith then there is such a thing as the Holy Spirit."

I invited Ann to go to the prayer meeting at Bishop Lynch High School in March 1971 with me. Ann said she would think about it, but then her parents decided to come in from Florida just before the prayer meeting, and Ann said, "I'm not going."

I said, "Oh yes you are. Your parents will go with us."

Ann saw her dad lifting his hands praising God in a Catholic Pentecostal prayer meeting. She knew that couldn't happen except by the power of the living God.

Encountering a mighty wind

I sought the Holy Spirit for five months, and I truly encountered him in September of 1970. I felt electricity going through my body that just got stronger and stronger. I couldn't sleep that night, and I remember it was raining and pitch dark outside. At four o'clock in the morning, a mighty wind started whipping around my body at what felt like a thousand miles an hour and my lips were moving a hundred miles an hour.

Suddenly, I saw Jesus face-to-face. We were so close I could see the blood pumping in the vessels in the white of his eyes. I could see a yellow mucous on the white of his eyes. Jesus' eyes were light blue, and we just looked at each other for about a minute. Then the wind continued for another 30 seconds. That wind whipped so hard around me that my ears were sore for a week, and the electricity continued through my body for another week.

After that night, I started having dreams and visions. In 1973, I had a dream in the midnight hour of the Lord coming for his Bride, and the Lord put a strong desire in my heart to study Revelations and the End Time.

Mission to write

In 1978, the Lord started speaking to me, "Write what you have learned." After I had written about eight to ten pages, the Lord showed me a vision of what I had written and said this will not do. The Lord truly guided me in the writing of the two books, Lifting the Veil of Revelation and Seven Vital Truths for God's Children.

These two books are not Catholic doctrines or teaching. These are books of private revelations received in prayer.  These books are the teaching of the Scripture and the early Apostolic Fathers of the Church.

In 1982, the Lord said, "Give the first part of the morning to me. Give the other part of the time to your family. Rest in me; I have much to teach you. I want you to enjoy the fruit of your labor as you bring the knowledge of My Glory to the people of this planet. I have already begun to put into motion the people who will publish and distribute your book to all the people of this planet so that they may know My Glory."

The Lord said, "Mike, walk a straight line. The Holy Spirit is who wrote your books. Do not yield to any spirit other than mine. Your books shall be carried to all nations, not only this generation, but in generations to come." The Lord said to give these books to him; to turn loose of these books and give them to him. The books have published and I have turned loose of them. I am not selling the books. I am not making any money on the books. I gave them to the Lord so he can do what he wants to do with these books. These books are available at Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.

As I mentioned, I attended my first Prayer Meeting in 1970 and there were about 10 or 12 other people there. Ann and I did not make the covenant in 1973 because we were in Israel in the Holy Land, but we have been coming to this Prayer Meeting for 47 years. This Community has been such a blessing to us. I could not have written these books without the visions, messages and guidance that my prayer partners and I received from the Lord. I am thankful for the Community of God's Delight and for the fellowship we have here. The Lord wants a deep and personal relationship with each and every one of us. These two books will help you have a deep relationship with the Lord.

Thank you, and God bless you.

(Community Gathering, April 23, 2017)

Sunday May 28th - Memorial Day - we will not host a prayer meeting at Mount St. Michael.

Pentecost Sunday, June 4 - Pentecost Gathering - Begins with rosary at 3:30 p.m. at the grotto in the courtyard between the gym and the chapel. Praise and worship at 4:00 in the gym.

By Cordelia Nwankwo

My name is Cordelia Nwankwo. I was born and raised in a Catholic home in Nigeria where I met and married my husband, Basil Chike Nwankwo, in 1976. The Lord blessed us with six children – three boys and three girls.

My husband, Basil, was also born in Nigeria and was a petroleum geologist. He was called home to the Lord on December 5, 2005. He was a wonderful man who had a strong devotion of the Blessed Mother. He would say the Memorare every night, no matter how tired he was; it was his favorite prayer. I want to share with you the story of the night the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to us while he was on his sick bed.

Basil’s diagnosis

In November of 2004 my husband traveled out of the United States to drill oil in Nigeria. A couple of weeks into his travels he became sick, but managed to continue working until the end of the year. When he came back to the states in the New Year, he spent several weeks visiting doctors, who never reached a diagnosis. Therefore, he returned to Nigeria and continued working. He grew sicker while in Nigeria. Finally, I encouraged him to get on the next flight home, and he landed in the states on March 10 with very severe abdominal pain. He went to see his internist, Dr. Hampton, right away who diagnosed him with an incarcerated ventral hernia and referred him immediately to a surgeon.

The following day, March 12, Basil went to Dallas Medical Center for surgery, only to find out the diagnosis was wrong. After being in surgery for an hour and 20 minutes, the surgeon comes out and informs me that he doesn’t have good news. He says Basil had a lot of fluid in the stomach that they had to drain and they took a biopsy, but it looked like cancer. I was totally shocked. I was shivering, my teeth were knocking together, and I was speechless.

The doctor held me and tried to calm me down, and then God came to me. I immediately felt his presence. The shaking and trembling stopped, and God reassured me that everything was going to be okay and that I needn’t be afraid.  The doctor said he would talk to my husband, but I told him, “No, I will do it myself,” and I did.

My husband got the results of the biopsy the following Monday, March 14. It was cancer. Needless to say, we didn’t sleep much that night. The following night, however, we were determined to get some sleep, and instead our lives were changed forever.

An apparition of Our Mother of Sorrows

On Tuesday, March 15, I pushed the little couch as close as I could to the right side of Basil’s bed and after covering him with a blanket, I turned off all the lights. I laid down and covered myself up with my own blanket then noticed there was still a light coming from somewhere. I asked Basil, “Where is that light coming from?”

He said, “Look, the TV is on.” He asked me to switch it off. I got up and switched off the TV which made the whole room very dark.

Sometime that night, I’m not sure the exact time, Basil woke me up. He told me he was sweating all over and the bed sheets were very wet from his sweat. I got up, went across to the other side of the bed, and changed the sheets. When I was done, I started to go back to my little couch and noticed that the TV once again switched on. The same TV that I had switched off right before going to bed, and the lights on the screen were very bright. I turned to Basil and said, “Did you not tell me to switch off this TV and I did?”

He said, “Yes.”

I asked, “Did you turn it back on?”

He said, “No.”

I looked at the TV again and realized that the bright lights that were illuminating the entire room were from an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary in a white robe. The robe had red blood spots all over. The image filled the entire screen of the TV. There was no voice, no sign of a channel, nothing. Without thinking, I reached my hand up to the switch and pressed it. My hand was still suspended in the air when I got the message from the Lord that it had been a real image of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I said to myself, “Oh my God, Blessed Virgin Mary.” I quickly looked at the TV again, but she was gone and I didn’t say anything to Basil. I took the first step to my couch and said to myself again, “Blessed Virgin Mary.” What was I thinking to switch off the TV! I should have waited and talked to Mother Mary.

Then I took a second step to the couch and said for the third time, “Blessed Virgin Mary.” I became a little angry with myself. I regretted switching off the TV, but then I convinced myself that it must have just been a Catholic channel and not a real apparition. I got to the couch, covered myself, and slept until the next morning.

In the morning, my brother, Joe, and some other people were in the hospital room with us, and Joe wanted to say a prayer. He got out his Bible and we joined hands while Joe read from Job. In the middle of the prayer, God came to me and might as well have hit me on the back of the head, and said, “Can’t you remember what happened last night? Have you forgotten what you saw last night? Go ahead and tell them what you saw.” Then I shouted out, in the middle of the prayer, “Everybody, wait a minute! Something happened last night.”

Everyone was looking at me surprised as I started telling my story of what happened the night before. Halfway through Basil shouts, “I think I saw her first!” He then took over the story and described the image of the Blessed Mother just as I had seen her. Basil told us that when he first saw the image he made the sign of the cross, and remembered he had been stricken with fear, sweating profusely, and was totally soaked and that’s why he woke me up. At this point I knew the image of our Blessed Mother had been real, and we started praising the Lord.

The faithfulness of our Mother

On Thanksgiving Day, Basil was put on life support and moved to the ICU. I called my parish priest who came and gave him Last Rites. On Sunday, December 4, he was in critical condition and I didn’t make it to morning Mass. I was able to go to the evening Mass, where the priest asked about Basil. He was surprised to hear he was still holding on after having seen him on Thanksgiving to give Last Rites. Fr. Henry said, “Cordelia, he loves you so much that he is waiting for you to give him permission to go. When you get back to the hospital tonight, tell him that you love him so much and that you want him to stay, but if God wants him, he has your permission. Give him your blessing to go to God.”

So I raced back to the hospital where I found Basil alone in his room and said just that. It’s strange, in that moment, I felt as if our hands were unlocking, and I knew that was it.

I received the call at 4 a.m. on December 5, 2005. By 3:25 p.m. that day, he had gone to the Lord, in the Hour of Mercy. I truly believe that our Mother of Sorrows came to us that night back in March to comfort us and to give special assistance to Basil at this death. He faithfully prayed the Memorare every day, and in the end, Mother Mary did not leave him in the dark.

Finding the divine bridge

After Basil’s death, my life was changed forever. I became so hungry for God that I kept searching for his face. Something in me wanted to know him more, but I didn’t know how. I thought of God as being on the other side of a divine bridge and I desperately wanted a way to cross that bridge. In November 2009, I called my parish, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Plano, and asked about charismatic prayer groups. They said they didn’t have one, but that they would find one for me, and 30 minutes later they called and said they’d found one that meets every Sunday at 4 pm at 4500 Davis, Dallas. I was so excited!

The following Sunday, November 1, 2009, I drove straight to Mount St. Michael, and as soon as I stepped in the door, I said, “God, this is it!” I had a feeling that the missing link had been found; I’d found the divine bridge I’d been searching for. On December 5, 2009, I completed the Born in the Spirit Seminar and was baptized in the Holy Spirit. I experienced something that I cannot even explain here, but I knew it was the beginning of a richer and fuller spiritual life. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting to happen after being baptized in the Spirit, but I was told to go home and just relax in the Spirit.

The following day, December 6, I got up to pray. I remembered I was told to relax in the Spirit and as I knelt down to pray I started speaking in tongues and crying aloud like a baby! I can’t remember ever crying like that before in my life. I tried to control the tongue, but I couldn’t. It was like I didn’t own my lips anymore. I couldn’t stop it. I spoke in tongues for two hours nonstop. I felt as if God was right in front of me and I was speaking to him in that language that only he understood. My divine bridge. God touched me in a way that day when he gave me the gift of tongues.

I became a covenant member of the Community March 15, 2012.

Community Gathering, December 18, 2016

Brothers,

We are very excited with how the Lord continues to develop the Catholic Men’s Forum.  As you can see we have taken the name Gideon’s Brothers after the 300 men God gave to Gideon to miraculously defeat the enemies of Israel recorded in Judges chapters 6 and 7.  (Check it out!)

The Lord continues calling Catholic men together in building each other up in their faith and equipping them as living witness for Christ in their homes, churches, workplaces, and everywhere they go. 

Pope Francis invites all Catholic men to engage in the new evangelism so that everyone may know the loving call of Christ.  Today Saint Paul asks us “How can they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach?  And how can people preach unless they are sent?”  Romans 10:14-15a.   

We invite you to join us at the next Men’s Forum meeting to experience what the Lord has in store for you. Bring a friend of family member to this uniquely Catholic event. Please join us in daily prayer and weekly fasting, and we encourage everyone to receive the sacrament of reconciliation in preparation for the meeting.  We can’t wait to meet you there!

Peace in Christ,

Bill Schaad & Joe Walshe

Three Miracles I Experienced During my Dad’s Last Two Days

By George Johnston, Jr.

My dad George Ernest Johnston, Sr. passed from this life on May 16, 2017. I was fortunate to arrive in Dallas, TX, two days before his death and witness three miracles.

My wife Lynne and I both grew up in the Dallas area. Neither of us was born there, but we did meet at my very first prayer meeting at Mount St Michael in Dallas. We both made (independent of each other) an underway commitment to the Christian Community of God’s Delight. We eventually fell in love -– which I think happened to me the first time I met her at the conclusion of that first prayer meeting -– and got married the following year in 1977.

Lynne and I have never lived in Dallas as husband and wife. My career took us away first to Lubbock, TX, then Albuquerque and finally San Diego. Our plan was to always return to Dallas but that door never opened. My prayer to the Lord has always been that if we cannot live near family, would he please make sure our kids get to know their grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins? The Lord has been very gracious to us because we always found ways to get together with family over the years. Amazingly, I also seem always to have opportunities to work in Texas no matter what job I had. These afforded me precious opportunities to be with family while on business. I would, of course, stay with my parents whenever I was there on business.

The Gift of Being Laid Off

My business dealings in Texas ended abruptly in June of 2012. The company I was with fell on hard times and laid off many of the senior employees. With the downturn in the economy, I found out that no one wanted another aging “baby boomer.” I finally decided to start my own business as an insurance broker. This was only a part-time endeavor, which left me free to do other things.

I also discovered that a laptop was sufficient to run the business and I could do it anywhere. So as my dad’s health deteriorated, I found myself in a position to go to Texas to help my dad. I averaged 2 to 3 trips a year, staying up to 2 weeks each time. This was a big help to him and my siblings who were carrying the load of caring for our aging parents. It was delightful for me to spend so much time doing the simple things like going to coffee or bingo at my parents’ retirement community, which they both really enjoyed. I scheduled several of these trips during some of their medical procedures and subsequent rehab, which again really helped the family.

Dad’s Decline

In 2012 at age 86, my dad suffered a heart attack. This began a steady slide downward in his overall health. He never complained much. Although there was the occasional low point, he generally faced his difficulties with dignity and grace.

Dad and I were both extremely blessed to go on an Honor Flight together to visit the WWII memorial in Washington, DC, just three months before his heart event. It was such a pleasure seeing him and a handful of other old vets getting their overdue recognition for their sacrifice during the war.

Dad’s Epiphany

Dad worked hard during his several rehab assignments over the last few years. He always maintained that he was going to get stronger. He was still saying this right to the very end even when it became obvious that he was nearing the end. However, he did wake up the morning of May 3^rd with a completely changed mind. He announced to my mom that he wanted to say goodbye. He asked her to call the family. All my siblings in town, their spouses and all the local grandkids took off work or school to come see him that day. He was very lucid and talked to each of them individually thanking them, saying goodbye and giving some last advice.

Dad called me on Facetime that morning and told me on the phone that “he loved me”, thanked me “for all I have done” and wanted to say “goodbye.” I was rather flabbergasted and responded that I would be there in a couple of weeks. I had already purchased airline tickets to come see him and attend my nephew’s wedding over Memorial Day weekend. He responded, “That will be too late – I am running out of runway.”

Three Miracles

• First Miracle – Dad ate his last meal on Thursday the 11^th of May. The coming weekend was Mother’s Day with my daughter Lisa and her family coming into town. Lisa and her husband Mike were coming to be godparents to my youngest granddaughter Addison. Her baptism and a couple of family celebrations were scheduled. I was torn about whether to move up my trip and leave all of them and the planned family events. I opted to stay through the baptism on Saturday and Mother’s Day brunch on Sunday. I booked a plane Sunday evening getting me to Dallas late Sunday night.
  
  When I arrived in Dallas, I promptly went to my parent’s apartment. I was happy to find him alive but still unresponsive. It had now been three days since he last eaten or had anything to drink. It has been said that frequently comatose persons can still see and hear even when they can’t respond. I sat on the edge of his bed, leaned very close to his face and announced that I was here. Dad reached up and kissed me on the chin and said. “Hi bud.” My mother, brother Tim and I were all amazed. He said a few other things and was very lucid for about 15 minutes. It was late and I could see he was dropping back off so I started to stand up and out came a “Sit down boy!” Very firmly with a clear and commanding voice. I promptly said, “Yes sir” and sat back down. These were the last words he spoke on this earth.

• Second Miracle – Dad returned to his silent un-communitive self the entire next day and into Tuesday. I did spend hours with him just holding his hand and telling him things. He never responded verbally but I did see the beginnings of a small tear in his one open eye after I promised to take care of mom, my siblings and the grandkids. I also promised that we would tell the stories of his life like the time the Kamikaze just missed his ship at Okinawa during WWII or the time he was a small boy growing up on his farm and he buried several little baby chicks. He was playing with them until the mailman arrived. He quickly threw them in a hole and put a little dirt on them so they would not run away while he went to get the mail. His mother saw it and quickly rescued the poor things. She never tired of telling that story.

Finally, around 4:00 PM his breathing became very shallow. My brother Tim, sister Brenda, my mother and I gathered around his bed. (My sister-in-law Cindy was in the next room holding her grandchild Ava.) We began the Divine Mercy Chaplet and during the fourth decade, both my dad’s eyes opened wide. He smiled and a look of joy came over his face. He let out one last gasp then crossed the threshold to the next life. It was a moment of intense pain mixed with intense holiness for all of us. What a gift to see him pass so dramatically from this life to the next.

• Third Miracle – Shortly after this dramatic scene the hospice nurse arrived. She listened to him for several minutes and then looked at her watch. She declared him officially gone at 5:22 PM. The three of us at his bed were crying softly, and I was thinking we need to get the word out to the rest of the family. My phone rang with a text from my daughter Stephanie. She asked simply, “How is PaPa?” I responded immediately and said, “You have a special birthday today (her 35^th). He went on two minutes ago.” She shot back a response, “It was very special. He sent a blessing from heaven because I just knew.”

I still have a hard time telling this story. I especially choke up just thinking how God allowed my dad to swing by San Diego to drop off a greeting to his granddaughter on her birthday. Cindy also tells how her 16-month-old granddaughter Ava pointed to the ceiling and exclaimed “da” at the moment of his passing. To realize that we were in the presence of angels, our Lord and his mother at the time of dad’s passing brings a strong measure of comfort to me.

The wake, funeral and interment at the National Cemetery were intense and bittersweet. I was grateful that all 21 grandchildren came to his funeral and all participated in some way. It was impressive to see his 10 adult grandsons walking down the aisle as his pallbearers. It is a great legacy knowing he left behind so many fine young men and women.

My constant prayer the last few months was asking the Lord for mercy. I couldn’t in good conscience ask for my dad to be healed. Mercy was what we receive -- with tenderness, great tenderness -- to me and all the family.

By David Peterman, Jr., Overall Coordinator

Brothers and Sisters, I praise God for the opportunity to have represented you during the week of events in Rome celebrating the 50^th anniversary of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. It was truly an awesome experience to be with so many from the renewal -- at one time and in one place! I was told that over 35,000 people from more than 120 countries gathering for the five days in Rome. The blessing extended beyond just the celebration of the Golden Jubilee of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal as it also included the celebration of Pentecost in St. Peter’s Square.

The highlight of the week for me was the Pentecost Vigil that was held the evening before Pentecost in Rome’s Circus Maximus. It is hard to picture this space, which today is a city park but was originally used by the Romans for their chariot races and was said to be the place where many Christians lost their lives. It is more than a football field wide and six and a half football fields long. It was incredible to see so many people gathering in one space raising their hands, singing, praising the Lord. Simply amazing.

Specific challenge

Our Holy Father’s words to us that evening were very specific and challenging. He opened with the call for unity “for the mission, to proclaim that Jesus is the Lord, to proclaim the Good News to all peoples!” For this reason he did not just invite Catholic Charismatics to Rome to celebrate the golden jubilee but rather extended the invitation to ALL Charismatics. He reminded us that the renewal was not born Catholic. It was born ecumenical and that today it is more urgent that ever that we unite together, all Christians, as the “one Bride” preparing for our Savior’s return. Pope Francis, sharing the stage with Pentecostal leaders, quoted a Lutheran brother asking that we recognize our diversity but that it be “reconciled diversity” so that we can build our unity.

He further proclaimed that

“We have gathered to pray together, to pray for the coming of the Holy Spirit upon each one of us to go out on the ways of the city and the world to proclaim the Lordship of Jesus Christ.”

Proclaim Jesus is Lord!

This is what unites us -- our common mission to be ambassadors for the Lord. To proclaim him as Lord! This ecumenical focus has long been an important aspect of the Catholic Fraternity -- it was awesome to hear it so strongly encouraged by our Holy Father!

Those of us who have been a part of the Charismatic Renewal in the United States for many years have witnessed what seems like a decline in participation. I have wondered whether it is a negative reaction to our vocal public prayer and praise. I was very encouraged by our Holy’s Father’s words of encouragement concerning Praise

 [Y]ou remind the Church continually of the power of the prayer of praise. Praise that is the prayer of gratitude and thanksgiving for God’s gratuitous love. It might be that this way of prayer does not please someone, but it is certain that it is inserted fully in the biblical tradition. The Psalms, for instance: David dancing before the Arc of the Covenant full of jubilation . . . And, please, let us not fall into the attitude of Christians with the “Michal’s complex,” who was ashamed of the way David praised God [dancing before the Arc].

Jubilation, joy, joy is the fruit of the same action of the Spirit. Either the Christian experiences joy in his heart or something is not working – the joy of the proclamation of the Good News of the Gospel!

What a strong encouragement to continue our charism of Praise!

Personal impact

On a personal level what had the biggest impact on me was the Holy Father’s call for the Charismatic renewal to be a “service to man.” He stated that

Baptism in the Holy Spirit, praise, service to man – the three things are indissolubly united. I can praise in a profound way, but if I do not help the neediest, it’s not enough. “There was not a needy person among them” (Acts 4:34), says the Book of Acts. We will not be judged for our praise but for what we did for Jesus.

Wow, what an important reminder and exhortation. We will not be judged by our praise but for what we did for Jesus. Those words struck me immediately and have been a constant cause for reflection since returning from Rome.

Our response?

How can I respond? How can the Community respond? How can the school respond? Who are the neediest that God is calling me to serve? As I have pondered these questions this past month the Holy Spirit has reminded me of the many ways that people are needy and that it is my responsibility to be open, attentive, and responsive to these needs. Recently the Gospel was about the call of Mathew who responded immediately. Please join me in this reflection, personally and as a community and in all the ministries of the Community. Who are the neediest that we are called to serve?

The celebration of the 50^th anniversary of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal and Pentecost in Rome was not just another pilgrimage to a holy place but provided strong affirmation for our charism of Praise along with a renewed call for Christian Unity and Service.

Obtaining Inspiration from the Holy Spirit

By Ann Miesch

Last week we learned from Mike Wagner that if we allow him, the Holy Spirit will guide us to the very best he has to offer us. I read this week in scripture: “Give ear, Oh my people, to my teaching. Incline your ears to the words of my mouth" (Ps 78:1).

The Holy Spirit wants to speak to us; he wants to teach us. In Chapter Two of In the School of the Holy Spirit, Fr. Jacques Philippe gives us some strategies to encourage those inspirations and put us in a position to be disposed to receive them. Here are the 10 strategies:

1. Practice Praise and Thanksgiving
2. Desire and Ask for Inspirations
3. Resolve to Refuse God Nothing
4. Practice Filial and Trusting Obedience
5. Practice Abandonment
6. Practice Detachment
7. Practice Silence and Peace
8. Persevere Faithfully in Prayer
9. Examine the Movements of our Hearts
10. Open our Hearts to a Spiritual Director

Five of these 10 strategies have had a big impact on my life.

1. Practice Silence and Peace

I have a very active imagination, and my mind is always very busy. It is hard for me not to be distracted in prayer. I can completely relate to St. Teresa of Avila who said, "My mind is full of galloping horses." For me to practice silence is extremely difficult, and I've traced it back to the fact that I was an only child. We lived in the country, and I had a little yellow Alvin radio that I kept for company. I loved all of those radio shows like The Lone Ranger and Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, but listening to the radio developed a habit in me of always having background noise.

I developed this automatic reflex to pick up a remote, or punch that button on the radio. The Holy Spirit had convicted me about this, but I didn't seem to be able to overcome it. I finally asked the Holy Spirit "Help me with this. I know you want me to have silence so I can hear you." The Holy Spirit was faithful. It got to where I would pick up the remote and I would have a check in my spirit. Or I would start to hit that button on the radio in the car, and I would almost feel the Holy Spirit's hand touch mine. I knew he was helping me to overcome this need for background noise. I am finally to the point now that noise is an irritant and I even fast from noise occasionally.

2. Practice Praise and Thanksgiving

The second part of this strategy is to remain in peace in that silence, especially in difficult situations. This is so that we can listen to his voice in these situations and know how to respond in the way the Holy Spirit is prompting us to and not in our human way. This goes hand-in-hand for me with the strategy of Praise and Thanksgiving.

One day I was sewing at my home with some women and Mike came in and said, "I've burned the engine up in our car, I put on the wrong oil filter." Well, I lost my peace instantly, and I could no longer concentrate on sewing or my company.  I got up and went to the kitchen and whispered prayers to the Lord, saying, “Lord, I'm getting upset about this, and I just know that you have been teaching us if we praise you in all situations that you can turn it to the good. So I just offer you this situation and want you to help me not be upset and I praise you for who you are." I could feel the peace coming back to me. I rejoined the group and finished the day.

A day or two later our friend George Allman found a new engine for our car that only had 16,000 miles on it, less that the 25,000 miles on our car. Shortly after a check came in the mail that paid for that new engine. So practice silence, remain at peace especially in difficult situations and offer praise and thanksgiving always.

3. Examine the Movements of our Hearts

One day I was sitting in Mass at St. Luke’s and a little class of elementary school students was sitting in front of me. I just said a little prayer, "Lord, call one of those little boys to be a priest."

I heard as a response, "Pray bigger."

"Okay. Well call boys from other classes to be a priest,” I said.

Still again, "Pray bigger."

"Okay, from the public school,” I said.

"Pray bigger,” came the same response.

This went on and on until the Lord had me praying for vocations from all over the world. He used those few little minutes before Mass to teach me an extremely important thing that he wanted me to know: at any time we pray we should expand our prayer to the biggest possible group that we can. This has been valuable to me in my personal prayer, in praying with other people, and in our intercessory prayer group.

Also, I have found that reading the writings of Luisa Piccarreta have taught me how to pray bigger. Jesus taught her to pray by embracing everything, compensating for everyone from the first person to the last. So whenever you feel those movements in your heart to do something bigger, take the time to examine them and see what God is trying to teach you or what he wants to tell you.

4. Practice Filial and Trusting Obedience

My husband Mike is an example of Trusting Obedience. In 1973 we had tickets to go to Israel with a Protestant Pentecostal group, Christ for the Nations. While Mike was in his morning prayers, he heard the Lord tell him "Take your in-laws to Israel with you." When he told me this, I was shocked. While my parents were Pentecostal, my dad had been so against me marrying a Catholic that he didn't even come to my wedding. But Mike was obedient. He bought them tickets. They went, and it was the most thrilling, wonderful experience they'd ever had.

To go to the Holy Land meant everything to my father. So much so that on the day that we were to go to the airport to come back home, on a bus driving from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, my dad got up from the back of that bus, walked all the way to the front, asked the tour director for the microphone and turned around to speak. Mike and I looked at each other wondering, "what is he going to do?" My father said, "I have a confession to make, and I want to ask your forgiveness. I have been prejudiced against Catholics. My son-in-law is a Spirit-filled Catholic, and he is a good man."

Mike and I received this instantaneous healing from the hurts caused by my father not coming to our wedding. My dad ended up loving the Catholic Charismatics so much that he would go to Bishop Lynch to the prayer meetings. He even went to several conferences with us. You may not always understand why God asks you to do something until after the fact, or even multiple months if not years later, but we should always try to practice trusting obedience.

5. Open our Hearts to a Spiritual Director

My small family of three was very insular, and my dad would always say, "We don't share family business or problems outside this family." Growing up that way always made me very untrusting. When I came to Community, I didn't trust anyone enough to open up to them about a problem or ask them for their prayers. I was afraid that they would judge or gossip. One day I had something really heavy on my heart. I was at Mass at UD when I saw Cathy Coward. I was speaking with her after Mass, and for the first time in forty-some years I opened up to someone about a problem. I received a lot of peace from that conversation.

Several years passed and we went to an Unbound Conference in Fort Worth. Something came to mind while that I needed healing for and I just broke through that reserve and went straight to Deana Alexander and asked for prayer. Two times now in forty-some years I have gone to someone for counsel.

I recently attended a Women's Conference where Fr. Michael Scherry gave a talk, and he said, "You know you can have a spiritual sisterhood or companionship with three women." I looked up after the talk and here came, if you can believe how personal the Holy Spirit is, Cathy Coward and Deana Alexander -- the only two people that I've ever opened up to. Trust me, I know it is not easy to always let yourself be vulnerable with other people, but if we trust the Lord, he will put the right people in our path.

I encourage you this week to go back over these 10 strategies for obtaining inspiration from the Holy Spirit and let him guide you to the holiness he is calling you to.

Community Gathering, January 22, 2017

What size bucket do you take to Mass?

by Sue Wagner

In mid-May of this year the coordinators decided the topic of the next series of sharings at prayer meeting should be about our covenant life together and how we live out that life. I am included on many of the coordinator emails because of my administrative role. David Peterman, Jr. had asked for input on that series and at that time I didn’t have any inspiration.

At the beginning of May, I attended the National Catholic Bible Conference put on by Ascension Press. It was at this conference that I learned about a small exercise that I started doing as soon as I got back from the conference that has exploded the scripture in my life. A few weeks later, the week before Pentecost, I decided I needed to memorize the Holy Spirit Sequence. One of the lines in the sequence is: “in your sevenfold gift descend” and that just struck me! That’s the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit! I opened my bible, I got on the internet, I was just crazy! I was visiting my daughter, Annie, who was living in Houston at the time. I was pouring over my bible, the internet, she had her bibles from Ireland open, we had the Catechism – it was just exploding! I got back from Houston a few days later and emailed David to tell him I had an idea for the series. It might not have anything to do with covenant life, but I think we need to share on the gifts of the Holy Spirit! Do you know what he said? “That sounds great! You do the first one.”

For those of you who don’t know what happens to Sue Wagner when they say, “Guess what? You are going to have a microphone in your hand” - everything stopped. I was stunned into nothingness. My bible study stopped, my lengthy thoughts about the Gifts of the Holy Spirit stopped – everything stopped. I was worried about speaking in front of everyone, and lacking in trust that the Lord could use me. The weight of this talk was bearing down on me, so I decided to talk to Mike about it. We wennt to breakfast one morning and I brought all my stuff - all my books, my notes, and my agenda: I was going to have him teach me how to prepare this talk. We all know that Mike can talk standing on his head, so who better to teach me? At breakfast, we talked about the National Catholic Bible Conference and I told him about Fr. Mike Schmitz’s talk. Fr. Mike is a wonderful, dynamic preacher and chaplain at the University of Minnesota, Duluth. I’m somewhat of a Fr. Mike junkie, and he is actually the reason I was at the conference.

Being an active participant

One of the talks that Fr. Mike gave during the conference was on how to actively participate in the Mass rather than being a passive observer. He posed the question that at the Mass we have available to us a wealth of knowledge and grace as vast as the ocean, so do we go to Mass prepared to receive as much of that wealth as we can? Or do we go to Mass with a thimble only big enough to receive a few droplets of that knowledge and grace? Or maybe we go with just a small pail? I don’t know about the rest of you, but I want as much of that knowledge and grace as I can get, so I’m going with the biggest bucket I can find! In order for our buckets to be filled though, we have to come ready to participate and not just observe, and in order to participate we have to come prepared.

In order to prepare ourselves to participate in the Mass, Fr. Mike suggested we do this simple little exercise that as I mentioned earlier has exploded my life in the scripture. I feel like I am new in the Spirit again because of this exercise. The exercise is this: start on a Tuesday and write out the Responsorial Psalm from the coming Sunday’s Mass readings word-for-word. Then on Wednesday, write out the first reading, on Thursday write out the second reading, on Friday write out the Gospel. On Saturday, he suggested spending some time meditating on all of the readings again and ask the Lord to help you receive his word with an open heart. Then on Sunday, Fr. Mike said to bring your notebook with you to Mass and as you listen to the readings again, underline and make notes of things that really stick out. If you’re like me, as you write, you’ll start to notice things in the scripture you had never noticed before; it penetrates you deeper. You wonder why things are capitalized or why a certain word is used over another, so you start digging deeper and reading the rest of that scripture passage to find out more. The following Monday, you again sit with the readings from the day before and let the Lord take you where he wants to go. This exercise has transformed my life.

The sweetness of his word

Back to breakfast with Mike – I was telling him all of this, and then I said, "You know what the coolest thing is? I read this meditation from St. Paulinus of Nola just a few days ago. This is what it says:

I beseech you, Christ, my spring, to make your source in my heart so that the living stream of your water may gush out from me. You are the spring from which life flows and grace wells forth. From which light pours out on people of all nations. Those who drink of you, Christ, the Word, will be restored by the sweet flowing water and will thirst no more. Or rather, they will still thirst, for those sated by the abundance of God's Word are made to thirst for more by the sweetness they imbibe.”

As Mike and I continued our discussion over breakfast, he pointed out to me that perhaps the sharing I was to give was not on the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but on the method by which I began diving in to the subject. He further commented, “Our getting into the word is so important to our covenant life and critical to us learning to live and love together as brothers and sisters.”

So I encourage you, if this Sunday liturgy exercise is good for you, enjoy it! I know I love it, but if this isn’t for you, find some way to get yourself into the word so that you can receive the ocean of knowledge and grace that is pouring out on us there.  I’ll leave you with this final question: What size bucket are you taking to Mass with you?

Community Gathering, July 23, 2017

Learning to Love Through Surrender

By: Tom Harman

1 Cor 13:4-7: Love is always patient and kind; it is never jealous, love is never boastful or conceited. It is never rude or selfish, it does not take offense and it is not resentful. Love takes no pleasure in other people's sins, but delights in the truth. It is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope and to endure whatever comes. Love never ends.

Jn 15:13: A man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends.

Most of us are willing to die to self for others, but are we really able to? For a while now I've been making a practice of saying the Prayer to St. Francis on a regular basis and most recently I started not just saying that prayer, but really praying and meditating on the words. I want to share a short excerpt of that prayer with you:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred let me sow love. Where there is injury pardon.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console. To be understood as to understand. To be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned and it is dying (and I would insert dying to self) that we are born to eternal life.

Luke 6:38 also says: “Give and there will be gifts for you, a full measure pressed down, shaken together and running over will be poured into your lap because the amount you measure out is the amount you will be given back.”

When most of us hear that scripture we think about tithing or almsgiving, but this also pertains to love. When we give love or pardon, we do so with the understanding that it will be given back to us a full measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over.

Matt 6:12 says, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

When you pray the Our Father what are you asking God to do? Well, you're asking him to forgive you your trespasses as you forgive others their trespasses. So that, in and of itself, might just change the way we forgive others.

Broken together

The song "Broken Together" by Casting Crowns is a song about a couple that has fallen out of love, and, as a married couple, they are in a covenant relationship. Like the couple in that song, I'm sure everyone here, at one time or another, has fallen out of love with a spouse, a family member, a relative, a friend, a co-worker, or even a fellow Community member. I’d like to share some excerpts from that song. It says:

What do you think about when you look at me?

I know we're not the fairytale you dreamed we'd be…

How I wish we could go back to simpler times

Before all our scars and all our secrets were in the light.

Now on this hallowed ground we've drawn the battle lines.

Will we make it through the night?

It's going to take much more than promises this time,

Only God can change our minds.

Maybe you and I were never meant to be complete.

Could we just be broken together?

If you can bring your shattered dreams and I'll bring mine

Could healing still be spoken and save us?

The only way we'll last forever is broken together…

I'm praying God will help our broken hearts align

And we don't give up the fight. 

In the world people are broken apart, but in Christ we are broken together. The outreach prayer in our Community Prayer Watch states: “Let us love others as you love them. Help us to be sources of healing for the broken-hearted and help us point the way toward you to a sin sick world.”

Now referring back to those last two lines in "Broken Together," it says: “I'm praying God will help our broken hearts align and we don't give up the fight.” The way we don't give up the fight is to surrender. You all remember a few weeks ago when Joe Walshe got up here and asked everybody to raise their hands and surrender to the Lord. In the world this seems ironic, but in Jesus Christ this is the truth. Matthew 16:25 says, “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

Just surrender

So when you don't feel like loving someone, just surrender. Just lift your hands, say "Lord, I surrender, I give this to you. You take care of it." You will be surprised but when you do that, you'll get your eyes on the Lord and it will be amazing – you will start feeling more loving toward the other person in that particular situation – and, as we all know, there is joy, peace and freedom in surrender.

One of my favorite songs is "Change My Heart Oh God. Change my heart, oh God, make it ever true, change my heart, oh God, may I be like you.” You can't choose to love someone based on whether or not they meet your expectations. That's conditional love and we are all called to unconditional love. Does God love you only if you meet his expectations? Certainly not! You are not going to change the other person. The only person that you can change is yourself by surrendering to God. Many times when you do change you will notice a change in the other person, a change for the better. People need to be loved and God is love. So let's all strive to be like God. Praise the Lord.

Community Gathering, August 13, 2017