RANDOM THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS, by Deacon Sam                              
 December 5, 2023


Who can we trust?
With whom can I be real?
With whom can I be authentic and vulnerable, especially
when it seems that so many people isolate  behind their iPhones?

A genuine friend is one who caringly listens to us; a person with whom we feel we can risk being vulnerable. Each one of us can be a friend - we can choose to be a gift of love for others. We are all made by God for love - He loves us totally and completely, and, because of this, we have the capacity to be the gift of love for others.

God loves us! Everything He created - including each of us - is good. People are worth more than they imagine. Many people believe that God is “there” but is uninterested - except in an emergency when we need Him to be a problem solver.

GRACE suggests a gift which we cannot earn for ourselves. Faith and Love are the two defining virtues of a Christian life. We are each called to a relationship with God. Our primary vocation is to belong to Jesus; to be a person who, by his/her life, proclaims the life of Jesus. God gives Himself to us so we might give ourselves back to God and to others. We should be careful so as not to be so consumed by things that we miss the presence of God in ourselves and in others. Faith is about our relationship with God - the core of our faith is love, compassion and mercy.
How genuine is my faith? Am I growing in my faith?

Silence is God’s language and has the power to reveal to each of us what is true. It may seem at times that God is not there for us - but He is very active in our lives and is never distant from us - and, because of this, we have Hope.

Can we say “Yes” to God? Mary said “Yes” to God. We will never be asked to do more than Mary because with Mary’s “Yes” Jesus saved the world. God gives each of us a vocation and then helps us to be the person we were meant to be. It is important for us to use our time on earth wisely. The amount of options and distractions around us each day is truly formidable. God calls us to holiness and joy - He invites us to be people of prayer who are open to His presence and blessings in our lives.

God created us to do good. The only time we choose sin in our life is when it looks good. We can say we choose bad in our lives because we are "human", but, I believe Jesus, who is always there to forgive us, says we know better than this. The signs of what is good and what is bad are in front of us. God is not unaware of our excuses or discouraged by them. He always gives us second, third, etc. chances to repent and turn back to Him. He also wants us to be available, when possible, to help and support others who may be making poor choices in their lives. If we choose not to accept God's invitation to be forgiven, it is our loss – not His.
The saints in heaven were not perfect creatures – holy, yes; flawed, yes. What they did is give their flaws and weaknesses to God. I believe that God does not love us despite our sins – but because of them. He loves us greatly in the midst of our flaws, failures and bad choices.

We are all made in God’s image and likeness. We may feel "average" but this does not mean we are "insignificant". Our message from God, who created our universe and everything in it, is that He is God, we are not, and we can stop trying to take His job away from Him. We don't need to be perfect, to fix everything or to have all the answers. How freeing this is to see ourselves as "average" and be OK with this.

We all need healing of body and soul. God's mercy brings healing for the asking. God welcomes our gratitude for His restoring us to health. Start each day with praise and thanksgiving to God.

"If you really want to love, you must first learn to forgive.” St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta

"Dear God, teach us to give and not count the cost." St. Ignatius of Loyola

"Love – Life and Cooking: Learn from your mistakes".   Anonymous