tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2514529524983639875.post5301039593440930241..comments2024-02-12T09:56:09.053-05:00Comments on The Matador Word: September 6 Homily PrepThe Matadorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15691990950873810610noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2514529524983639875.post-8696818558620776832015-09-06T07:16:49.310-04:002015-09-06T07:16:49.310-04:00Powerful reactions. Great!Powerful reactions. Great!The Matadorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15691990950873810610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2514529524983639875.post-53453179860346751582015-09-05T16:56:36.012-04:002015-09-05T16:56:36.012-04:00LOVE your direction! The Lord HAS wowwed me in HU...LOVE your direction! The Lord HAS wowwed me in HUGE & wonderful ways. Bigger displays of power & circumstances than the biggest of fireworks displays! Events in my life as big as the parting of the Red Sea. And then I recall a homily years ago where you said, do we love the Lord's gifts MORE than the Lord? Hmm, that questioning was really good in a squirmy, uncomfortable way... My ears were opened! If I NEVER had an experience of the Lord, would I continue to love the Lord, give my all to Love, Do I love the gifts more than the Giver? Squirm, ouch, squirm... In reflecting, looking, I realize how many subtle things I was missing cuz of my JEEEEE-Zus experiences. <br /><br />I was missing how the Lord works/lives through me -- and others -- in the subtlest of ways. Seeing these things, sharing them, sometimes verbally, sometimes not, allowed me to see & hear & respond more fully to Life, to Love, to give more fully of myself to the Lord who lives & moves & works in me! The color of the sky, the caress of the wind, the softness of grass underfoot, the wonder (and craziness!) of people as varied as a painter's palette ... He made the deaf ME hear & the dumb ME speak, & I know the Lord will continue that good work whether I know it or not... As Mertons's famous Thoughts in Solitude speaks so well.JoyFurallenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2514529524983639875.post-58363417732811159922015-09-05T13:28:28.046-04:002015-09-05T13:28:28.046-04:00The message in this reflection is the great antido...The message in this reflection is the great antidote to despair. I just had a conversation this morning with someone who is in a very messy, complicated situation. He is bitter towards another - and while I can well understand how this bitterness has grown within him, I can also see that if he could grab hold of this very message given here by the Matador, his peace of mind could be renewed - or at least, improved! Is it possible that no darkness is so dark that the light of God can't be found? I believe that it is true. God is always there - ready to give companionship - ready to begin eternal life within us in every instance of earthly life.Monica's protégénoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2514529524983639875.post-50752568797586867932015-09-05T08:04:33.549-04:002015-09-05T08:04:33.549-04:00God certainly can work miracles yet the greatest m...God certainly can work miracles yet the greatest miracle is the transformation of one's heart from sinner into sanctified believer. It is a change the is the most powerful yet the hardest to convey to those who do not believe. Although I have experienced many of God's coincidences as well as visible miracles it is the intense love that dwells in my heart that provides the greatest feeling. The Lord Jesus dwelling in the Eucharist and in me allows me a relationship is exceeds all physical experiences. Those who do not believe find ways to explain away even the most sound scientific evidence of God's power but when their heart is changed they understand the beauty of Christ. It is the church which must proclaim this Grace by witness and communion of believers.Tom Sawyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01876576116642210790noreply@blogger.com