West Texas Catholic Men’s Conferences Podcast

Of Water and Spirit

Read the full reflection 
my2cents: "And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and enable your servants to speak your word with all boldness, as you stretch forth your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are done through the name of your holy servant Jesus." And the earth shook after this prayer. Can we pray like that? Can we make the earth shake with our prayers? Yes and no. Yes you can pray like that, but for the earth to shake is God's response. It was something that enabled them and ennobled them to a greater power of evangelistic life, that is one granted a gift to give witness with their lives.
We pray: "The LORD said to me, "You are my Son; this day I have begotten you. Ask of me and I will give you the nations for an inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession. You shall rule them with an iron rod; you shall shatter them like an earthen dish." Blessed are all who take refuge in the Lord." Who receives an inheritance if asked for? And what is the inheritance being asked for? For our Lord, it was the inheritance of all the Kingdoms of the world, namely, God's Kingdom. For us? Being incorporated to Him in Baptism makes us into the body of Christ Himself. Therefore, scripture shall be fulfilled in us all.
Our Lord said today: ""Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one is born of water and Spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of God." He said what is flesh is flesh. What is Spirit is Spirit. The definition of a Sacrament is an outward sign of an inward reality. It is a covenant bond, as we are sacramentalized into His body, that is Spirit, the Holy Spirit, and dare we say, into God Himself. Now do you believe in ground breaking and ground shaking possibilities? Because I believe we live in a negative world. So pessimistic. So dark. So how can we be the positive influence God wants us to be?
We must be born again. "Do not be amazed that I told you, 'You must be born from above.' In this Gospel, our Lord tells us about water and spirit. We are baptized in water in Baptism, and we are baptized in fire in Confirmation. Saint John the Baptist baptized with water, and Jesus would baptize in Fire. And this means flesh into light. We are those lights in the dark. We are born from above. We show the world that love exists. And not just any love, but Truth, true Love, True God. Do you want to be born again? We can say that dying is being born. I have a loved one that said this weekend "pray for me, I'm having a hard time dealing with the death of our loved one". That loved one is my brother in law. I said "snap out of it. Stop living in the death. Have faith in God!" You see, I think some love to feel hurt and pain and woe and sorrow. Some choose to live in this bitterness. I myself find it hard to deal with yes. I myself feel bombarded at times with sadness. Most of my sadness though, is for the whole world! It's like, something takes over me, especially at nightfall, before bed, I get overwhelmed with sadness for the whole world! Not just my brother in law. What do I do? I surrender. I surrender it all to the Lord. I'm not in control. God is. I can't change a soul. I can't save the world. But God can. And if He is in us, we can help make that happen. If I've received the Holy Spirit, I can pray for a change. Yesterday on Divine Mercy Sunday, I prayed for certain countries, for mercy. Because God deserves mercy. He deserves mercy in the undeserved. What does this mean? Hope.
Lord, I desire mercy. I desire mercy myself. But I desire mercy for others. I desire their eternal reward to be one of a blessing to God in the Highest. The world will never see an end to evil, but the world can see the greatness of God's True Heart....Jesus, You Jesus, I want to See You ALIVE!!
from your brother in Christ our Lord, adrian
Random online bible verse from a random verse generator:
AMEN!
10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

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