“O you of little faith, why did you doubt?…….”After they got into the boat, the wind died down”….Time to “get in the Boat”

Today we hear at Holy Mass in the Gospel of St Luke something we all have heard….But do we really believe it?……"And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened”…….The best prayers are the simplest of prayers, which come from the heart…..God waits for us…..And when we submit - Now there is an “ugly word” - SUBMIT our will to God - And ask for forgiveness through the Sacrament of Reconciliation……A tremendous amount of Light will flood into your soul……..This is the beginning of the greatest adventure of a life time - And it is available to all of us…What stands in the way?…In a word - YOU…Get out of your own way!…….Today I read something from the soon to be declared Doctor of the Church - St John Henry Newman…This is what he had to say on this subject……………..”You are ever waiting to do me benefits, to pour upon me blessings. You are ever waiting for me to ask you to be merciful to me. Yes, my Lord, you do desire that. I should ask you. You are ever listening to me voice”……When we pray - Are we asking for the wrong things?…..Ask for your will to bend more and more each day - Until your will breaks in two!…..The more you conform your life to Christ, the more he can use you…..All this and more waits at “the door”…..All we have to do is “open it”.

“Open our hearts, O Lord, to listen to the words of your Son”

When we read the lives of the saints, we see so clearly how God took simple everyday people and transformed them into earth shaking forces of nature…..How did St André Bessette (1937) who stood an inch or two over five feet tall and could not seem to do anything accept be the “doorkeeper” at a Catholic College in Montreal Canada raise enough money to build the largest Shrine to St Joseph in the entire world?……How did St Padre Pio (1968), who lived in a remote corner of rural Italy raise enough money to build a world class hospital to serve the poor that operates to this very day…......HOW!!!!…..They got out of their own way - And allowed the Holy Spirit in - That is HOW……What about YOU?……………….For seven years I was the driver for Mother Teresa’s sisters In New York City…In doing so, I would always marvel at how people would just hand the sisters money….They never asked for it…Everywhere we went - People literally would just hand them money…..Believe it or not….The Missionaries of Charity have houses all over the world and they do not solicit money…Did you just hear what I just wrote…I will write it again……The Missionaries of Charity do not solicit money….Yet is comes to them…..And they clothed and feed people all over the world…How is this possible?…..Tell that to a business school professor at an elite university like Harvard or Oxford….They would not believe it - But its true….There is something about a holy person…A person that mirrors Christ - The hardest of hearts can perceive it - People like this stop traffic - Literally!…..And when the world encounters people like that - Doors open - And the impossible happens….This is the greatest “achievement” one can strive for in life - To become holy…Let me stop right here - Because I just lost people reading this reflection….YOU don’t think you can become holy! - Be honest - Because that is what you are thinking after reading this right now…If that is YOU…I have one word to say to YOU - WRONG!….We were ALL called to become holy…This is why God created us - Period Full Stop…Not to become a banker…Or a sales person…Or an athlete….Or a lawyer…..Nothing wrong with those things…But that is not our purpose - Why we were born…..We simply do not believe God can do great things through us - Oh how wrong you are!….If only we bend our will until it breaks…If we would just fast and live a sacrificial life…If only we lived a Sacramental life…If only we prayed the Rosary daily and sat under the mantle of Our Lady……In doing these things - You will without question grow in holiness…….And God will use you more and more……..And in doing so - You will shake the foundations of the world!…….Still don’t believe me?…..This all begins with what was told to us in the Gospel today at Mass….”Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you”………Don’t you think it’s time to start asking?

“He is like a tree planted near running water, That yields its fruit in due season, and whose leaves never fade. Whatever he does, prospers”

Far too many Catholics go to Mass…...We hear the words read to us from Sacred Scripture and they go in one ear and out the other……This needs to STOP now….All the evidence you need is contained in the documented pages of countless books about the lives of Catholic saints, who lived over the course of 2000 years….......This is not mythology!…....These are and were real people, just like you!…..The saints show us the way and point to Christ…..If only we took Jesus at his word - This is what the saints did - And they set the world on fire….....“O you of little faith, why did you doubt?…….”After they got into the boat, the wind died down….Time to “get in the Boat”…………..JMJ