God is knocking, listen and open the door.

"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me" ~ Revelation 3:20

Today is the day that God has given you and me. For some of us we have heard the Lord's voice and his calling yet we have not been as good of listeners as we can be. God wants each and every one of us to be alert and to listen to his voice daily. He is knocking on our hearts that we might let him in. Maybe there is something that has happened that has made you become distant from God or possibly even made you mad. Friends, he wants to help you through this storm of your life. For others we have been super focused on our goals and ambitions in life, however we need to listen more in order to hear God's voice who is our good shepherd so he can lead us to lasting joy and fulfillment. God is calling us because we are his chosen people. He wants us to get in the boat with him and he is saying take my hand. However to get to that boat we need to trust him that he will hold us up when we walk on the open waters of life. Have faith my friends that God will not abandon you, he will not allow you to sink but will help you swim and then be lifted up. We do not know when our time will end and when our ship will set sail to eternity, however we can control our what we do with our time here on earth. Listening to God is so important because he already knows what is best for us. After all, the creator of the universe did make us with one mouth and two ears for a reason. Pay attention and heed his voice around you when you are at the workplace, with family, with friends, and also when in prayer. He is knocking and is saying come follow me and I will give you rest and lead you to a new promotion, a new exciting venture, a joy filled heart. Jesus chose broken people like Mary Magdalin a promiscuous woman to be the first to see him on resurrection day, she heard his call and opened the door of her heart. Christ called Saul, the man who was a brutal murderer and persecutor of Christians, someone feared by all in his days. Saul was blinded, heard God's voice and walked into the light by opening the door of his heart. Saul become the great Saint Paul who wrote more than 1/2 of the New Testament and dedicated his life to spreading the Good News of Jesus. Finally, Jesus said "Come follow me," to others including the 12 who were anything but extraordinary. He knocked on the doors of James and John the fishermen who became fishers of men for the Church, Matthew the tax collector despised by all, and finally Zachaeus who was a thief and sinner who no one liked and all stayed away from. Zachaeus climbed the tree to see Jesus and had a great amount of faith, conversion and salvation came to his household and God rejoices because of it. Friends, it is not too late, you too are being called in different ways;  listen to his voice, hear the knock and open your heart to the love of Christ which will transform your life.

Prayer: Father God help us to hear your voice and open our hearts to where you are calling us. Relieve us of any pain we may have and allow us to put full trust in you so we can walk on the open waters of life knowing you will pull is into the boat. Help us to jump in knowing we will then set sail to our destiny that you have prepared for our lives. Give us the faith we need and help us to overcome our fears because we can "do everything through Christ who strengthens."(PHL4:13)  We ask this in your most holy name. Amen

Nyumban, A Home, A Hope, A Life

Nyumbani, meaning home in Swahili is a place created by Father D' Agostino for HIV/Aids orphans in Nairobi, Kenya. Nyumbani provides almost 100 children with a loving and nurturing environment and life. Children from the age of 2 to 18 reside with two sisters (Nuns) and other volunteers. Nyumbani is a place where all the children are HIV + and have been abandoned by their family because of the infection. Nyumbani and Father D' Agostino have reached almost 3,000 children from the late 1980s until present, taking full care of the children. There are presently five boards of directors in various countries throughout the world, including Kenya, the United States, Spain and two other nations, all aiding the Nyumbani program.
Nyumbani is currently working on a village in Ketui, which is self sustaining and the hope is to establish one in the Nairobi region as well as in subsequent areas in Kenya. The Nyumbani organization certainly hopes to reach out to reach the rest of the continent as they will serve as a model reaching out to the districts in Kenya. The hope is that other countries will follow in how they serve those inflicted with HIV, primarily orphans and the abandoned.
Nyumbani now has the technology to test children, adolescents, and even babies to see if they are HIV positive. There is a staff of nurses who administer the medicine daily to the children.
It is so outstanding to see theses kids laughing, smiling, and running around all day. They have been given the opportunity to live life and thankfully they will grow up receiving and abundant amount of love and care. These children also attend a local school five days and week. It is amazing how much enthusiasm and hope they have despite the tough situation of containing HIV and having no biological parents in their lives.

Love and Do What You Will

Life is complete when we love, when we love both God and neighbor. Whatever we do we must do it by means of love, if we truly live this way there is no doubt that we are working for Heaven on Earth. God is present whenever love takes place. Love is truly patient, it is truly kind, it is not pompous or jealous or inflated. Love is genuine and all including, it is fair, it is true, is life. This is what the Word of God tells us. With love everything is complete and perfect. Many people wonder whether there is a specific vocation--occupation and/or lifestyle that is essentially where God is calling them. It is not necessarily what one does in life, but how one does it. Whether one is a firefighter, a teacher, or a priest, that does not really matter. What does matter is that whatever one does he/she does it out of Love. If we love, we can do anything and everything that will honor the Lord.

Do not worry, God will provide

Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? - Matthew 6:25

Friends, today trust that God will provide. Our Lord created us and loves us more than we could ever know. He knows what we need and want us to not only survive, but to thrive. When we obey God fully and after praying end with "thy will be done," he will take care of the rest. Although this is not always easy, it is important and takes our efforts to water the seeds of faith that have been planted in us. Each of us has gifts and talents that we have been blessed with. Develop these daily and share them with the world. Focus more on eternal things like fostering your relationship with God, developing your friendships with others, and making an effort to live out your faith daily. When we do this God will bless us immensely and take care of all that we need. Have a great Sunday and God bless you!

See the Face of Christ in Everyone You Encounter

Recently I had a heartfelt conversation with my best friend. It was special to discuss life and to help one another asses where we were at on our faith journey. It was an eye opening experience for me because I realized I needed to change. For most of my life I have been a very devout and committed Christian. I believe in going to Mass every Sunday in order to receive the body and blood of Christ as spiritual nourishment. Like many people, my walk with the Lord has had its ups and it's downs but God is always there with loving arms, especially when I am most down. I would consider myself a halfway decent person. I know that I am certainly not perfect, even though I do strive for perfection. However, I recently became aware of something that needed to change. What needed to change was ME! I am sad to say that I have been judgmental of certain people and groups of people. I have judged others because of their actions and life style choices. I have separted myself from people and thought them as no good and sinful. I have also held things agains my fellow brothers and sisters. What a grave thing. Thankfully, my best friend has awaken me to this harmful pit I had fallen into. I am now working to suspend judgement and accept others for their differences, to tolerate people and their choices, and to be more open minded toward things that I have not ser given a chance. I am striving to see the face of Christ in others and I urge you to do the same. In the gospels Jesus goes into the temple and cleans house by overturning the tables of the money changers and people who were selling there. "Then, going over to the people who sold doves, he told them, 'Get these things out of here. Stop turning my Father's house into a marketplace!'" (John 2;16) the truth is we could all use a little house cleaning of our temples. For me this has meant becoming consciously aware of the groups of people, individuals and ways of life I have judged wrongly for years. After all, there is one judge in Jesus Christ. I am now looking at others with new eyes and seeing Christ in them. I am no longer blinded by my own falsities and predispositions, but can now see the goodness in them and love them the way they deserve to be loved. Thankfully my friend helped me to realize this. I challenge and urge you to look for the good in others, suspend all judgement, give them a chance, and see Christ Jesus in them. When you do that you will be able to love unconditionally. My friend has taken this holy approach and what a joyous person she is. It is my hope to have this joy and feel the love of God who is truly present today in our world. He is in our midst it is a matter of seeing the Lord in all of our brothers and sisters.

Teacher: More Than a Profession

I am blessed to say that I am one of thousands of teachers in the United States. I enjoy my profession thoroughly as I find it joyous going to school every day. I, like my parents, believe that teaching is a calling. Many would argue that it takes a special kind of person to be a teacher. However, all of us are teachers, it is merely up to each of us to embrace this life long opportunity or to squander it. Children having many needs and unfortunately because of the nuclear family suffering in existence in the US as well as a multitude of individual circumstances, our children are entering schools and need more than the traditional teacher of 50 years ago. Today, teachers, the good ones challenge young minds, inspire their students, help them to find and live out their passions and provide motherly and fatherly type of guidance and love. There is no doubt that some children's lives are drastically changed because of a teacher who helped them in more ways than merely academics. All of us are teachers because all of us are also life long learners. Each and very one of us knows someone that we have taught to do something. Many of us think nothing of this and we do not realize tr impact we have on other people when we take time out of our busy lives to help someone and teach them to do something. I can think of dozens of people in my life who do not have a masters degree in education and have never been in front of a classroom, but who have taught me some extraordinary things in life. My grandparents come to mind as they teach me daily, both directly and many times indirectly. They have taught me how to save money through a system of envelopes for example. They have also taught me what it means to be committed, honest, loving, and respectful to one's spouse through their remarkable example of 50 years of marriage. They are teachers and you are as well. It is our duty as Chrisitan brothers and sisters to reach out to those in need of our help and teaching. We all have special gifts and talents to share and by using these we can teach others, this bettering our world. I encourage you to reflect on the school teacher who made the greatest impact on you during your academic career as well as those who taught you things outside of the classroom. My guess is that you did not know everything or figure it all out on your own. Someone taught you and empires you with knowledge. It is your turn to continue to share what you know and have to offer to empower others. My great grandfather lived to 103 years young and I am a firm believer that he was as much teacher as he was student in his lifetime. I have not met many people who had such a great thirst for knowledge. What I remember most fondly is that he always told me, "Get a good education. Education is the most important thing." I agree with what he said to me and I also have. One to realize that we must be conscious of the fact that we must share our knowledge with others by teaching them and listen to our neighbors who can teach us so much.

Power of Prayer: Sharing Faith with Others

Over the past few weeks I have really noticed the power of prayer and how God will grant us opportunities in our daily lives to speak to people about our faith. It is evident that God wants us to share our faith through our actions so that others might see our good works and lives as a witness and example. St. Francis of Assisi once said, "Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words." So we are called to be examples, a light to the nations. This can be challenging for us, especially as the world continues to subside to a culture that tells us to do the opposite. We must not fall captive to this culture, but instead rise up and place our trust and hope in God who can carry us through all things. Through prayer we receive a gift in being able to communicate with God.

Furthermore, prayer is the gateway to a relationship with the Lord. Having a relationship with Christ is something that takes work just like any relationship requires. Therefore, we have to set aside time daily to pray. Through this prayer we will come to realize that it will benefit us to listen to what God has to say. By conversing and listening, we will undoubtedly grow in our faith. Prayer is powerful because God answers our prayers. For scripture tells us, "Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you." (Matthew 7:7) God knows what we need and what is best for us, so at times our prayers may not always be answered as quickly as we had hoped for our not in the same way we were thinking they would be answered. All in all, when we pray we communicate with God and build our relationship with him.

Over time, prayer will lead us to a stronger faith conviction and living out the Gospel message. I have recently been praying about sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with others and let me tell you how amazing this has been. For the past week or so I have asked God daily to have the opportunity to share my faith and the Gospel with those around me. During this time I have been blessed with talking to a freshman at Le Moyne while working at the athletic center, a woman on the janitorial staff at my college, a parent at an open house at the school I am student teaching at, my girlfriend, and a student that I ate lunch with who I did not know before. What has been most incredible about the conversations that we had is that all of these people mentioned something with regard to wanting something more, being a good person, or asking a question about how to be happier in life. I had no intention or idea that our conversation would go that way. However, I was really excited when it did and I realized that this was the opportunity to share Christ's message of Love with them. It is a beautiful thing when one can share his or her faith with others, especially with strangers because it breaks down walls or any barriers immediately. The conversations were so rich and life giving to the people I talked to as well as to me. For God blesses those who share his love with others and provides us with the words to speak.

In closing, prayer is powerful and can lead to great opportunities if we ask. God has great plans for us all and for some of us that is sharing his word with others when the opportunities arise. For all of us Christians, it is sharing the Gospel through our actions. So I urge you to keep up your good work and strong faith. Journey On! God bless you.