Change the World

Somehow, the horror of the Las Vegas shootings sparked me to turn a corner in my faith life, in a way that I haven’t felt before.

More than ever, my eyes are opened to seeing a world filled with emptiness and confusion …allowing Satan to work through hearts without solid faith in Jesus and the protection of the Holy Spirit.

I am hearing and seeing pure hatred spewing from many mouths, from many different directions.  This hatred is revealed through despair, bitterness, deception, immorality, and the inability or downright refusal to accept love, forgiveness, and the mercy of God.  I am seeing much arrogance, pride and greed…which opens doors to the evil one.

No matter what laws are changed, or what the “experts” suggest we should do to stop the carnage, the hatred and evil seem to be exponentially growing.

Do you know why?  Because the government, the thought police, and new laws will never have the ability to change the hearts of men.  The only way to change the hearts of men is through God…the Holy Spirit.

Which leads me to what the Lord revealed to me last week while I was at Mass.  Since the Vegas shootings, I have been trying to attend daily Mass regularly, and have been praying that the Lord show me where I need to make changes, and how I fit in to His plan.  How I can be a vessel of His love, so that eyes will be opened and hearts converted.

When I attend daily Mass, I walk to the Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa.  The Mission is peaceful and reverent, and I feel encircled by God when I am there.

So, on this particular day, after I received the Holy Eucharist, I walked down a side aisle and passed the Tabernacle.  Out of habit, I bowed.  In a split second, I remembered  that the Tabernacle was empty, because the chalice containing the Body of Christ was removed for the Communion distribution.  At the same time I was having that thought, the Lord said to me, “I am not in the Tabernacle…it is empty.  I am now within YOU.”

Wow, that thought hit me like a ton of bricks.  When we receive  Jesus in the Eucharist, each one of us is a Tabernacle.  Jesus is truly within us. He is in us, and we are in Him at the same time.  He sees through our eyes, hears through our ears, touches through our hands, and loves through our hearts.  At the same time, we see through His eyes, hear through His ears, touch through His hands, and love through His Sacred Heart.

Doesn’t that fill you with joy?  Doesn’t it also give new meaning to living in such a way that our lives glorify the Lord?  He is living inside us…and we are responsible for all the places we take Him to…the images, sounds, smells, experiences, thoughts.  Nothing is hidden.  Nothing.

We, as Christians,  need to stop living for ourselves, and make the decision to live for God.  To be a blessing to our friends, family, and all we meet.  To constantly confess our sins, repent, and accept the Lord’s forgiveness and mercy.  To live in a way that glorifies GOD, not ourselves.  To pray and make sacrifices for forgiveness of sins and the conversion of souls.

For that is the part we all play in the Lord’s Divine Will…each of us in our own unique way.  We must be an oasis of light and love for the Lord to work through.  One heart at a time.

That is what will change the world.  Only the Truth and Love itself…Jesus.

 

 

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See ME

Today, as I was sitting waiting for Mass to start, I was looking at my fellow parishioners, and asked the Lord to help me find the best in people.

As soon as I asked the question, I heard the words, “See ME.”  Wow, the Lord actually told me to see him in each and every person that I come across.

Immediately, the commercial that is selling a prescription drug for a skin condition jumped into my thoughts.  The tagline is “see ME”… instead of “see my skin issue.”

Aren’t we all internally desiring for our loved ones, friends, acquaintances, and co-workers to see who we REALLY are inside?  Don’t we wish for them to overlook our imperfections, sins, issues, or flaws, and see what lies deep in our hearts? Sometimes, we don’t even know who we truly are, and can not comprehend the goodness or beauty that lies within us.

Actually, that goodness that resides in our hearts (sometimes hidden to us and others) is not us at all…it is the Holy Spirit.  It is Jesus that pulsates in our hearts, filling us with his presence, mercy, and love… whether or not we actually feel it ourselves. 

Today, I was reminded again, to see Jesus in each person that I meet in my day.  To look past the “warts”…the flaws… and to focus on the Jesus that resides inside that person.  To look into each pair of eyes lovingly,  with the intention of drawing out the goodness.  Not to focus and judge surface appearance or behavior, but to attempt to learn their story and what needs they may have, offering support and validation.

When we can learn to do that, we will be true vessels for the Lord to work through.  Touching those in need (and we ALL are in need) with the love, mercy, and forgiveness of Jesus.

As each heart is opened to the Truth of who lives inside, one by one…heart by heart…the world will be illuminated and changed.  

Sometimes, a person needs to know that “somebody loves me” before accepting that “Jesus loves Me.”  Let’s be “that somebody” that allows the love of Jesus to flow through us.

Dear Jesus, I ask that you fill my heart with your presence and love, and help me to look past all that is clouded by the darkness of sin, and focus on the Truth.  That only You are the way, the truth and the life, and that you can be found in every human being.  Please open our hearts and minds to the knowledge that all we need to do is accept and believe in your saving love and  grace!

 

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.  John 14:6

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own?  1 Corinthians 6:19

Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins.  1 Peter 4:8