Life is a journey from selfishness to selflessness. God says in Philippians 2:3, "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves." This is how you prepare for eternal life in God's Kingdom.
Jesus taught that if you truly want to follow Him, you must walk the road that leads to him. That road is called "sacrifice." Sacrifice means, "to give up something that is valuable to you in order to help another person."
Integrity is a virtue that simply means "to do the right thing even when no one is looking." A wise person once said, "Do good things whether others notice or not. It’s the deeds that matter, not the size of your audience.”
God's purpose for you is to live your life in Heaven. Give honor to God now by believing in His Son who will hand over to you eternal life. Then Jesus will hand over to you His Spirit of peace.
So why is Holy Communion important? Because God wants you to be with Him in Heaven. Jesus gave you this great gift of His body and blood as soul food to strengthen you through the storms in life.
Faith is believing Jesus wants you. He desires you. Jesus gave up everything to possess you. He gave up Heaven. He gave up the glory of His Divinity. He gave up His life. God has worked so hard to win you back. Now you must work to accept His love.
God created humans with needs. A need is something a human must have not only to live, but to live happily. A very smart man, Abraham Maslow, made a list of those needs in five levels.
Max Lucado expresses beautifully the essence of faith. "Faith is not the belief that God will do what you want. It is the belief that God will do what is right."
I was riveted to the radio listening to an interview about a country singer's journey from the valley of a living hell to the mountain top of God's grace. His name is Jelly Roll, named by his mom to describe her chubby son.
For 27 years at Cincinnati Children's Hospital, I prayed over sick children all day, spreading the seed of God's healing power over them. My faith told me to put them in God's hands. I was most moved when I prayed over the little babies in the incubators. Some were so tiny they could fit into the palm of your hand. It saddened me that at only a few weeks old they were struggling to survive.
Theologians have used earthly examples to explain the Trinity. An egg has a shell, yolk and egg white, but it is still one egg. Water can be steam, ice or liquid, yet it is the one same essence.
Preachers talk so often about the "power" of God. I was curious about how the dictionary defines the word "power." So, I looked it up. I was baffled by this one definition I discovered. It defined power as "the ability to get extra-base hits." I found it strange they used a baseball analogy to define power.
My mentor Fr. Ed Connelly gave me wise advice on how to be a good priest. On my ordination day, after placing the priestly stole around my shoulders, he whispered into my ear, "Bless the people God brings to you."
