My Catholic Roots are showing -

The Man Who Did Not Know God

October 18, 2016 19 Comments

He was successful in business and in life, blessed with great wealth that took a lifetime to achieve but he did not know God. His wife of over 40 years served God as a Catholic and remained steadfast in her belief. Together they built their dream home high on a hill over looking the rest of the world, they planned to spend the rest of their lives there.

With his deep love for his wife, a celebration was planned to renew their wedding vows; a priest from out of town did the officiating. The man liked the Godly priest and welcomed him in his home.

Shortly after the celebration came the startling news that the man had cancer… a bad type of cancer. The family did all they could do and agreed to an aggressive treatment. Things seems to look better for a short while but the malignancy came back with vengeance to attack his body.

At our Bible study one of the ladies shared his plight and we prayed because he did not know God. Every week would come a new report on the man’s condition and it was despairing news, we prayed special graces for his wife and their children but mostly for him to turn to God. The man bravely and honorably fought but it was not to be.

Last week I attended funeral services for the man that did not know God. His children both shared heart-rending stories about their loving father. His beautiful poised granddaughter spoke eloquently about her grandfather and the love that they shared. The loving wife was left numb by his absence but she never gave up on him, she was the families’s silent spiritual backbone.

At the memorial the same priest that renewed their wedding vows, would also eulogize the man. This priest and the man had formed a bond and the man called upon the priest to help him prepare for his death. The man asked the priest if it was too late for him to know God and the priest answered “No.” As the priest shared his story of how a person who was given so much and gave so much of himself to those he loved that the mercy of God came to save him. These words represented the man’s gentleness and his free will that lead him to God. The parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16) was the missing link for the man that did not know God. I listen intently as the priest connected the parable to the man, the priest reminded us that it was a year of mercy and that the Lord allowed the celebration with close friends and family with the renewing of their vows because God knew that the man’s time was short.

The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard
20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 and said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. 5 Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise. 6 And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle,[a] and said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.’

8 “So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, ‘Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.’ 9 And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius. 10 But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius. 11 And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, 12 saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.’ 13 But he answered one of them and said, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. 15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?’ 16 So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.”

The hours of the workday correlate to stages in life when people turn to God, Christ in his vineyard, where they harvest much fruit for God before the sun sets on their earthly life . It does not matter if the conversion is early or late in life, we are all awarded the generous and equal gift of eternal life.

What a beautiful end to the story of this man; all the prayers from his family and strangers lead him to know God and he will forever be remembered as the man who walked in the arms God. Yes, that is how easy our maker makes it for us!

I remain, a faithful servant of the most high, praying for all who stumbles across these writings.

Croatia/Bosnia-Herzegovina, Missionary Outreach

Satan and His Minions

October 11, 2016 1 Comment

This maybe an uncomfortable subject matter but after reading and an article about the death of Father Gabriel Amorth, the exorcist of Diocese of Rome. I feel we need to be aware of Satan and how he operates. In his life time Father Gabriel Amorth performed more than 70,000 exorcisms rites. “As a Christian I fight the beast spiritually,” Fr. Amorth said. “Biblically speaking we are in the last days and the beast is working furiously, the beast is Satan himself and he is working through ISIS.” Father Amorth stated “ISIS is Satan.” He added that “things first happen in the spiritual realms, then they are made concrete on this earth,” he said that “evil is disgusted in various political, cultural and religious ways, with one source of inspiration in the devil.”

Our country is fighting so many of Satan’s minions that we have to keep our families covered in prayer. Until this battle is over we continue to intercede in hopes that people will turn to the Lord for direction; we need the power of the Holy Spirit to constantly guide our every path.

If you are following this blog, on a recent trip to Croatia we had an encounter with Satan. This demon manifested itself on a beautiful young lady. It was after midnight when our prayer session was over and Joanne (our group leader) was still praying. Suddenly a loud crashing sound filled the basketball gymnasium, I looked over to catch the sight of a chair landing on the wood floors followed by a body. This was not a natural occurrence, the young lady’s body was tossed high in the air and when she landed it was hard. Her body was now the property of Satan and it was something I have never witnessed. The tormented soul’s movements were unnatural and at one point the evil spirit was strangling her, she fought by kicking but it was not until Robert, (a team member) removed her hands from her neck did she get relief. We formed a circled around her and prayed in the spirit but when Joanne called for these demons to leave, the response was Nunca! Nunca! in a growling manly voice, nunca means never in Spanish. Every one of my senses were on high alert, sending shivers up and down my spine and making the hair on my arms rise with goose bumps at the sound of the diabolical voice. I was shaken and knew that it was going to get worst as the demon was not wanting to vacate her body. The voice of the demon was definitely that of a strong male with venting anger. The young lady’s body was twisting and curving her spine like a startled cat, with these turns came body slams. Joanne asked me to get a bag; I quickly ran to the trash and find a discarded one, I was uncertain as to why she needed the bag, by the time I got back someone else had already provided the plastic sack. Joanne asked it to placed by the young lady’s mouth because she was about to vomit, no one wanted to get the close to the demons because they were in full force and it could physically attack any of us by biting. Just then a priest from Serbia gently made his way to the girl; sprinking holy water on her. This only ignited the demons as the main demon screamed in a shrieking voice “NO!NO! She’s mine! She’s mine! This went on for for some time. The demons spoke in Croatian, Spanish and English (Luke 8:30). No one from either team left their station, we stood united and back up the priest in prayer until the young lady returned to a state of normality. The priest from Serbia must have been an exorcises because he was equipped with some type of thick oil and when he anointed her forehead it calmed the spirits. The young lady sat on a chair as Joanne asked her how she was. Her amber colored hair was disheveled, she had dark circles under her eyes, she simply answered “I’m so tired.” I could not help but feel compassion for her and her boyfriend as they walked away.

Why was she possessed? She shared with Joanne that her mother put a curse on her. There are many other ways that demons come on people. Many time we innocently invite them by reading horoscopes, or allowing children to read books with witches/warlocks and curses and play video games with demons, zombies and or any thing having to do with the occult. These are all open doors for demons to come in, we give them permission.

Any New Age beliefs, curses brought on by others and curses in the bloodline are other means for demons to come in. Fortune telling, and of course the abuse of drug and alcohol and pornography are avenues that demons come in, an open door and welcome mat, they don’t need much.

The Bible is very clear on the use of horoscopes:

“All the counsel you have received has only worn you out! Let the astrologers come forward, those who make predictions month by month, let them save you from what is coming upon you. Surely they are like stubbles; the fire will burn them up. They cannot save themselves from the power of the flame.” Is. 47:13-14

What the Bible says about fortune telling, witchcraft and curses:

“I will set my face against the person who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute himself by following them and I will cut him off from my people.” Lev. 20:6

“Also he made his son pass through the fire, practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft, and consulted spiritists and mediums. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him in anger” 2 Kings 21:6.

“Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God.” Lev 19:31

“They sacrificed there sons and their daughters to demons” Ps 106:37

When someone abuses drug and alcohol their mind is altered and are no longer in control, this is when spirits come in and take over. These are called familiar spirits because they know when to surface and they can be very combative and controlling. These spirits are dangerous because it leads to deep sin. In my experience with the homeless for 15 years, it is evident many homeless people are filled with these type of spirits from drug and alcohol abuse, they have allowed the spirits to live comfortably in them, they believe the lie of the enemy and therefore live a life of recluse.

“Do not be wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord, and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.” Proverbs 3:7-8

Pray for the lost and leave the exorcisms to the experts. God Bless!

Missionary Outreach

The French Connection

October 1, 2016 1 Comment

October 15, 2015

Paris has a population of 2 million but 12 million are employed there and commuting daily to the big city. Only 50% of its’ citizens own vehicles. These cars are tiny because the people are petite in size, they are slim and wear beautiful colorful coats and tie their scarves in unusual twists and turns, their shoes are equally fashionable, boots, tights, gloves with stylish hats. Just as you watch them they observe us.

This last trip it was a eye opening change with the bigger SUV and fancy high end sports cars. These cars belong to the transplants from Middle Eastern countries. They stay at the five star hotels because they most likely own them; the Four Seasons George V, one of the most luxurious is owned by a prince from Saudi Arabia.

Only 50% of the French own their own apartments, the minimum rent runs 1,200£ per month and the average salary is 2,000£. Of the 67 million citizens, 70% are Catholic but only 10% are believers. What does that mean? The French have lost their way with God and the outcome is evident.

France’s country side is breath taking but you can’t help noticing the the nuclear cooling towers sharing the grazing grass with the cows. 89% of Frances’ electricity comes from nuclear reactors, in fact they produce so much that they sell it to Germany as well.

Our first day was uneventful, settling in and most of the day was loss with 9 hour difference. I wanted French Onion Soup so several of us went on foot looking for a quaint restaurant. I read the menu outside a cafe and it said French Onion Soup, we sat down and wasted no time in ordering the authentic soup. I made sure the waiter and I had no miscommunication, nothing lost in translation. He assured me that it was the real deal, my mouth was already savoring the baguettes buried under the melted charded cheese oozing in fresh cut onions from a French garden. As the waiter was approaching the steam from the soup was reaching my nostrils and it smelled funny. Again I asked, “French soup? nodding my head yes?” Again the waiter said “yes, yes.” Well he was right, it was cheesy soup but it was goat cheese. My first bite was sending hateful messages to my brain, the second bite was even worst, I could not stand the gamey smell and the taste was the biggest food let down of the year. My friend Natalie and I could no longer put up a facade, we paid the bill and left; the worst part is that the soup accompanied us all the way hotel belching most of the way.

Day two started with a meeting with Joanne our leader, collecting our passports and instructing us not to use the metro. Four of us had our hearts set on visiting Sacre Coeur at Montemarte, including Father Leonard from EWTN. We looked into taxis fares but it was going to run 50£ and we did not want to spend that type of money. The metro on the other hand was only 3£. We all disregarded the earlier warning and decided on the metro and that we were not going to share this information with Joanne.

I felt like a local on the metro and was surprise as to how effortless it was to use.

Sacre Coeur Basilica is over 200 steps to climb and known for it’s perpetual adoration of the Holy Sacrament. Adoration is a form of prayer before the Exposition of Holy Eucharist, it is a prayer of the quiet that many Catholics practice. The Basilica’s Grand Organ is by far the best I have heard, the sound so sacred it pierces your soul and make you feel like you are entering the pearly gates. We stayed and prayed for all the requests from home, it was indeed a most holy experience.

We stopped for lattes and crapes filled with rich dark chocolate then headed back to the hotel, I offered to pay for the metro tickets, and as I was handing them out, Father Leonard was speaking to a local priest and introduced him to us. In the distraction I was putting away my wallet, I zipped it back up and we boarded the metro. At every stop the more and more passengers were boarding , many students were loading and unloading; it was uncomfortably cramped and impossible to move. As a group of French students exited I called out for them to be careful. A young man turned back and in a mocking voice repeated what I said (he was a suspect). We were almost at our exit when I noticed my purse was unzipped, I quickly rummage through it looking for my wallet but it was gone. FatherLeonard tells me to wait until we exit the metro to take a better look. Sitting on a city bench I unloaded everything out of my handbag and still no wallet; two credit cards and all Euro and American money gone and it was only day two. Maybe I didn’t zip up my purse or perhaps that smart mouth kid lifted it from the metro ride, only God knows.

I had to make a call to Mike back home to break the bad news, he had to cancel the cards. With the hectic travel plans of one day stops it was impossible for him to wire me money. Dinner that night was most unpleasant, by this time Joanne had gotten wind of metro adventured at every bite came a deserving reprimand. Father was texting me to lift my spirits but it did not work. This incident did not take away from my spiritual blessings, the only things that sadden me was the special rosary I carried in my wallets.

Father Leonard gave me a 100 dollar bill and I promise to pay once we got home but there was some sort of problem with the French not accepting American $100 bills due to counterfeits so I had to wait to go to a bank which was about a week later.

The following day we were on the Rue de Bac to visit the Church of St. Catherine Labouré an incorruptible. An incorruptible means that after a body is exhumes it is found to be intact, it did not decomposed. St. Catherine experienced visitations of the Blessed Mother and was given instructions to design a metal of Mary that is known as the “Miraculous Medal,” the metal is a simple sign of the inner devotion the wearer has to Mary and her son Jesus (Rev 12:1). St. Catherine’s body is located on the right side of the main altar of the church. We prayed there and stayed a while to take in of the holiness.

I could not purchase food so I packed part of my complementary breakfast for lunch. Our ministry has practiced this for as long as I can remember, we even bring plastic bags from home for our lunches. We do this not only to save money but most of the time our schedule is so hectic that we have no time for eating.

The autoroutes in France offer easy access to restaurants/gas stations and the food is really quite tasty and fresh and the lattes are wonderful. These stops are similar to our rest stops but much better equipped. From Paris to to Lisieux.

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