02.19.2023

35°F cloudy W@12mph

Mornin Offering given

Village sleeps

Mass this morning @9 at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe

A text was received this morning from a very dear friend of mine out East. She said she and her husband were being “bold” (in a charitable way) in their faith. That being “real and vulnerable” was making others uncomfortable with the simple question “so, what is Jesus doing in Your life?” I have pondered this question for a very long time, coming to the conclusion that many have been taught this is too personal a question for anyone except your pastor to ask you. Many have been brought up to believe that simply asking goes against what is called…the separation of church and state. It is unfortunate they have this implication regarding their faith. This mindset prevents one from talking personally to everyone about what Christ has done for and through them.

As a former religious education teacher, I asked this question every chance I got. Is Jesus a close personal friend of yours? What are you doing to get to know him better? How’s that working for you? Are you in this classroom because you want to be or because someone else wants you to be?

I’m quite certain the students believed I was a nut case. It pained me greatly their parents were not asking these questions of them.

In answer to my friend’s question: Thus far in my life, Jesus has given me the strength to convert to Catholicism very early in my life without the okay of my parents. (I waited till I graduated high school and moved, out of respect for them.) Jesus spoke to us challenging us to move out of our comfort zone and become foster parents. In a 10 yr period, 44 children were placed with us. We adopted 7 of those children, (3 different sibling groups). We also raised two of our grandchildren from infancy to adulthood. Jesus was there every step of the way. He paced the floors with us during illness, he shed sanity on chaos. He was the strength that got us out of bed each and every morning to continue again. He provided our needs when I ended my employment to be a mom at home. He said…”Do this, I take care of the sparrows, I will take care of you.” His voice was so real, I turned around to respond thinking he was standing behind me. He was our strength during the enlistment periods of two of our children. He was our strength when we cut toxic people out of our lives because they made it clear our adopted children were not welcome in the family. He is our strength now as we navigate aging; the chaos of today’s world; the pain of being perceived as odd for bucking what the world now considers the norm. He will continue to be the strength that moves us forward in this soon-to-be totalitarian, communist world.

Thank you my friend for asking the questions. Thank you for being bold, real, and vulnerable.

On another note: MAKE THE TIME to read the “Zero draft” https://apps.who.int/gb/inb/pdf_files/inb4/A_INB4_3-en.pdf of the WHO which speaks to them having control over your health decisions. It was drafted Feb 1 and is to be signed on Feb 27th. This is not a good thing. It brings us closer to being controlled by a one-government world. Our president in his insanity has decided this is a good thing. IT IS NOT A GOOD THING!