Women of Grace - June 17, 2021 - Johnnette Williams

women of grace with john williams starts now this is women of grace live discussing issues important to your life and faith spiritual insight practical wisdom join us as we transform the world one woman at a time women of grace for such a time as this now here's your host johnette williams good morning everyone and welcome to women of grace live i am johnette williams absolutely delighted and happy to be with you today you know that we love to spend this time with you monday through friday right here on women of grace live having holy conversation together talking about the things of the lord experiencing his divine love that comes through each and every moment of our lives and you know sharing this moment together determining what it is that he is about you know in the world today but in our personal lives as well and how we can enter more deeply into this trinitarian love that god wants us to know through the merits of the cross of his son our lord jesus christ for that reason we always invite you to call us you know i'm always interested in what is going on in your world any questions that you might have any comments that you might want to make any insights that you have or inspirations that you want to share words of encouragement we're all open to that here on women of grace life do want to give you a toll-free number for you if you're in north america and this would be the number to use it's 833 288 e wtn that's simple isn't it 833 eight ewtn it's the three three two eight eight three nine eight six so just pick up the phone punch those numbers in and you'll hear charles berry wishing you a good morning and you will make him so happy because he loves he loves to greet you and he loves to be greeted by you and he loves to be kept very busy and we want to keep the man occupied you know we want to spread joy everywhere and if that's the way that charles berry experiences joy by answering your calls why we want to give that to him so please do pick up the phone 833 288 ewtn now if you're out there in social media land and you prefer to communicate with us via that methodology well just go to ewtn radio's youtube channel and facebook page and use the chat feature and we will be delighted to get that question on the board jeff berson is the man that makes that happen he dashes right out there he retrieves your question he puts it up on the board and we can address it together today yesterday was wacky wednesday with sue brinkman she and i were talking about all kinds of wacky things we could not get to all of your calls so i want to encourage you if you didn't get through yesterday please do call us today it doesn't hurt to have these topics overlap each other right because we are open for you for all of the calls and the questions that you might want to place so please do call if you didn't get on the air yesterday i'll get you on the air right away today if you're outside of north america i will also get you on the air as quickly as i possibly can we'll float you to the front of the line charles will take care of that for us and this would be the number that you would use it begins with a country code country code one two zero five two seven one two nine eight five that's country code one two zero five two seven one two nine eight five so i invite you to you know just use that number and we can chit chat with you you know i always like to tell you about our website all kinds of good things happening in women of graceland you know there's always something going on there and i love when you go out there and you take a look at what is going on so i invite you to do that womenofgrace.com is the place to go i love to make you aware of the slideshow presentation that is there for you and as you go through that slideshow you're going to see that different kinds of events pop up and little announcements and messages so watch the slideshow you can click your way through it but i also want you to go down and take a look at the upcoming events that are listed there for you i am we don't have july's up yet but we're getting july's up i'm going to be in arkansas for a catholic charismatic conference which i'm very much looking forward to and the latter part of that month so stay tuned for the details on that one it's going to be a great event there all kinds of beautiful things you know happen uh you know and we just want to make you aware of them so get out there and take a look at that also take a look at our blog that's where sue brickman puts her blogs on the new age and it's also where we put our grace lines um we're out there for you too in uh social media land too you can go out and check out our facebook page or you can look at our twitter uh how else are we out there pinterest i don't know if we're on pinterest instagram you know i don't know all of these places to be honest with you but i do know that we get our material up there for you so we invite you to check all of that out always a pleasure always a joy to hear from you and to have this opportunity to be together now i do want to let you know that um we also have our television programs available for you on our website so if you missed something that's going on on women of grace television which airs at 1 pm eastern time you can pick that up uh you know by going out to our website and we've got great things that are going on out there so just take a look and you'll see uh what's happening so i think that that's all of the announcements that i've got for the morning 833 288 ewtn that's 833 288 3986 is the way that you can join us please do call us you make me happy when you call i really really enjoy it so here we are i always like to give you you know just a a little location in time and and this particular month of june is a month it's dedicated to the sacred heart of jesus and i love the sacred heart of jesus and i've been uh striving to communicate to you throughout the course of this month little inspirational bits about the sacred heart of our lord coming from a variety of sources this one that's in my hand again is one that i've referred to a couple of different times and it's a beautiful book by father thomas daley if this is not out there at ewtnrc.com it will be because i'm hoping to interview him behold this heart saint francis francis de sales and devotion to the sacred heart and here i wanted to read to you today this um this exact account from sister margaret mary alicock who is the one uh that received these beautiful visitations from our lord and to whom our lord exposed and showed his sacred heart and she describes it this way and you know i've been thinking and meditating in my time of prayer about the sacred heart this month and for me this image of the sacred heart has taken on you know a depth that maybe it never had before and i see in this sacred heart something that i never saw before and that is the substance of the whole and entire of the spiritual life so i want you to be thinking about that as i read her description and see if you can see in this heart you know every stage of the spiritual life and there's three primary stages that are given to us by spiritual writers throughout time and that's the purgative the illuminative and the unitive the purgative the illuminative and the unitive stage right we go through a process of progression where we're purified and sanctified by god this is the conversion of heart where we let go of the things of the world and the things of the flesh and we turn our face to our lord jesus christ to be filled up more and more with him and then there's the illuminative stage where you know we begin to get insights deeper insights into the mystery of christ um we begin to see god uh in in the in the everyday right we a supernatural outlook is is um you know clarified for us we we begin to see a new vision uh that gift of wisdom comes into play where we actually begin to see the world through the eyes of god we begin to see um you know our neighbor through god's eyes we find that there's a a greater facility for virtue because now we're not looking at things through our own fractured lens due to the sin that we've committed and the sins that have been committed against us and and then uh you know ultimately if we continue to progress we come to this unit of stage where we experience the life of god living in us and we live out of that life of god living in us now you hear that music that means we're going to a break i've been chatty so when we come back i will read this depiction and i want you to just be asking the holy spirit as we go through our break together to you know open open you up to give you that gift of receptivity to be able to see that spiritual life in the sacred heart of our lord we're coming right back after the break more on women of grace live stay tuned imagine like caravaggio was gonna do a painting of david anders you're sitting there getting ready to do this painting and he takes his time you're sitting there you're like really excited about how it's gonna look and then turns around and it looks like tom price like how would you feel about that that's a big improvement wow [Laughter] called to communion with dr david anders this afternoon 2 eastern on ewtn radio she is one of the most beloved saints of all time honored as the saint of the little way matthew bunsen and the doctors of the church saint teresa of lizzie entered the carmelite convent of lisia in 1888 and survived only nine more years still her extraordinary holiness and prayer life prompted her superiors to have her write an autobiography the story of a soul it became a spiritual classic for more about the doctors of the church visit doctorsofthechurch.com in these uncertain times catholics depend on ewtn's national catholic register the register is so much more than a newspaper it's your faith your life your source of information and spiritual resources the register is uplifting redemptive journalism interviews with catholic leaders and newsmakers liturgical coverage health financial and political topics and analysis of the key issues you care most about ewtn's national catholic register covers every aspect of the catholic faith that impacts your world to get six free issues order online at ncregister.com forward slash radio or call 800-421-3230 and mention code radio that's nc registered dot com forward slash radio or call 800 421 and mention code radio the national catholic register read faithful transforming the world one woman at a time let's return to women of grace with johnette williams well welcome back everybody i want to compliment you the phone lines are lighting up and i'm encouraging you to call us here 833 288 ewtn that's 833-288-3986 that's the way that you can join us live here if you're in north america don't be shy give it a try that's what i'd like to say and we're going to get to those uh phone calls in just a moment here uh so keep calling charles is happy you're making him joyful today and you're making me joyful and you're making jeff joyful we're all joyful here because you're making us so i just uh we're sharing with you prior to the break there about the sacred heart of our lord and i was sharing with you that you know uh in in praying through uh you know the this beautiful beautiful gift that god gives us this beautiful icon of his sacred heart which he revealed to saint margaret mary alicoak we can find within it the entirety of the spiritual life at least this is something that came into into my uh thought process as i've been praying through um you know this gift of hours that that's given and this has been the substance of my prayer for uh you know a good portion of it anyway throughout this month so i wanted to read to you st margaret mary alico's description of the sacred heart and see if you can see in there uh the spiritual life and then i'd love you to call me about it and tell me you know what you think how you think we can see the purgative illuminative and unitive uh stages of the spiritual life contained within this most beautiful heart of our lord and this is what um saint margaret mary alec koch writes she says i saw this divine heart as on a throne of flames more brilliant than the sun and transparent as crystal it had its adorable wound and was encircled with a crown of thorns which signified the pricks our sins caused him it was surmounted by a cross which signified that from the first moment of his incarnation that is from the time the sacred heart was formed the cross was planted in it that it was filled from the very first moment with all the bitterness humiliations poverty sorrow and contempt his sacred humanity would have to suffer during the whole course of his life enduring his holy passion so there you have her description of it right so you can envision this because my guess is that you've seen many images of the sacred heart of our lord so this this gives us you know clarity and understanding as to what this heart signified for the saint and perhaps what jesus was telling her about his most sacred heart in his call for reparation for our personal sins and reparation for the sins of the world that were at when he was asking for consolation for these for the sufferings of his heart and in some way inviting us to experience them so my question to you is how do you see the purgative stage the purgative stage our purgative stage not the lord's he doesn't need brigation he's always the word made flesh but how do you see encompassed within that heart this opportunity to enter into this heart and experience that that first stage of the spiritual life which always goes on these stages are not like okay so i'm done with that one let's move on to the next it's not that kind of a thing one of them predominates at different points in our lives but they're all present the purgative the illuminative and the unitive stage so let me get your thoughts and inspirations on that before the show's over hopefully i'll have an opportunity to tell you what my insights are right here on women of grace live 833 288 ewtn that's 833-288-3986 also available to you outside of north america country code 1-2-0-5-2-7-1-2-9-8-5 and also available to you out there at ewtn radio's youtube channel and facebook page just use the chat feature we'll take your questions on anything however today and i want to get to michelle right away she's in norman oklahoma ewtn app is the way she's joining us and she's a first time caller so we ring our first time caller bell for michelle jeff go right ahead and do that there we go welcome michelle how are you honey oh hi jeanette well um i've been waiting to call for a long time and how absolutely pivotal of a day it is my daughter at this moment is giving birth to her first child which is a joy obviously but medically medically i don't know of thing going on it's negative however what she's been shouldering um is the seventh hours of mary kind of similar because she's got all the concerns of the new time on but she has taken it upon herself to take herself off of medication for depression anxiety um because we she's an educator as i am and there are some risks to the baby so she opted to suffer all these months with basically serious depression oh my goodness and it's it's not just a psychological you know it's like um it affects everything in your life um when you're not on the chemistry you need yes um i just have to tell you jeanette i've i've taught catholic school of the sacraments for well 15 years um second grade and i've learned a lot i'm a convert i was lutheran but i have learned so much from your tragedies um and your fear the acronym for fear um i can't pray like you but i've i've learned how to pray in a different way and that's what i'm calling to ask for and just to make other moms aware that um if you know if you opt not to take medicine she's going to go right back on them as soon as she's done delivering um she's been on medications since she was in second grade it's a chemical imbalance and as a kid i always told her hey if you're diabetic you would you know take the med wouldn't you look it always but when you have another life inside of you as mary or mary or blessed mother right i believe you know nothing i'm saying everyone should be murdered but um she chose this yes and i am so so so so so i guess proud of her i just i'm in awe of her yes um so with all that said jenna i i love your show you touch so many lives i can tell you're an english teacher where um your way with words is just it's like um it's like a flower that opens slowly but it's also like a like a rich food because your words just melt like down your throat like a like something chocolate i know it sounds weird but it just it does something to your senses when you have a gift of prayers you do oh so thank you well michelle may god be praised for all of that and um i'm delighted to pray for your daughter in this moment and i would i personally janet williams here i'm not a theologian and certainly not a priest uh but i would say that what your daughter has sacrificed is nothing less than a display of heroic virtue uh you know putting this need of her child above her own need and and the willingness to suffer and to shoulder that cross through this time of pregnancy i think is absolutely inspirational and what a gift you must be to her to help her to move through this time knowing what she's suffering and knowing what she's going through and that's not lost on god god sees that god recognizes that and the rewards are great the spiritual rewards are great and i am glad that she's on medication too many people feel that there's a stigma attached to taking medication when they have these struggles uh and and it's it's it that really is false evidence appearing real because the fact of the matter is you know that we want to uh we want to do what medical science can help us uh to accomplish through medications that stabilize us and and help us to be who god's created us to be we live in a broken and fallen world we're all encumbered with something whether it's our health or our emotions or our psychology or you know the circumstances that press upon us but but god wants to use all that for the good and here i think we we see something very beautiful in your daughter and i just wanted to give you that assurance that that's not lost on him and and heaven makes haste to help us in these moments and how beautiful this moment is right now as we're welcoming this child who already has existed in the mind of god from before the very foundations the world were laid in place and has been conceived in the womb of your daughter and has had life from that first moment of conception now for this child uh to be birthed into the world and to come into the world um as as this beautiful wonder who is created in the image and likeness of god is absolutely tremendous and so father god we do come before you in this moment and i lift up to you michelle's daughter who is is bringing this child into this world right this very moment as we are praying i asked father god that she would have all of the heavenly assistance she needs for a safe and happy delivery i pray lord god that angels would be attending her at this moment that our blessed lady would be right there with her holding her hand as she goes through this process spiritually connected to her and giving her the gift of her spiritual maternity i pray for all of those who are in attendance at this moment i pray for the doctor who may be there right now we don't know i pray for the nurses that are assisting her all of the technicians anyone that is there around her bedside i pray for them and i ask that their angels too would be guiding them and directing them for a safe and a happy delivery father god we ask blessings upon this new mother to be where she is a mother already but upon this mother who will shortly hold her baby in her arms we ask that you give her uh you know a great facility for mothering this child i ask that you would increase her her natural knowledge and wisdom with supernatural knowledge and supernatural wisdom to know how to meet the needs of this child from the first moment that the baby is put into her arms all the way through this baby's life unto its maturity i ask that you would continue to use this daughter as a beautiful witness and sign of your love and compassion for us and as i just said to your daughter michelle it's not lost on you lord the sacrifice that this mother has made for the health and well-being of her baby it's not lost on on you at all and so i would ask that these blessings that have been heaped up as a result of her beautiful self-sacrifice would redown to her lord in so many ways and that as she goes back on her medication lord god well actually you know what i'm going to ask lord i'm going to ask you that that she wouldn't even need the medication anymore lord that that somehow through this this marvelous reality of bringing life into the world that perhaps uh all of this is corrected but if it is not and if this be a cross that leads her more deeply into your divine heart then i would ask that the medication would be an aid and assistance to her so that she will be stabilized and that this depression and anxiety will not become a source of distraction or even a source of lack of hope or any anything of that kind but rather would become a door that opens up uh and permits her to enter more deeply into relationship with you and into an a a an exploration of your wonders and your glory and your sacred mysteries i pray for michelle the work that you've given to her the teaching that she's done all of the children that she's prepared for the sacraments i pray also lord for abundant blessings to be heaped upon her this grandma this grandma who is waiting to see her grandbaby and we offer this prayer to you father in the name of your son our lord jesus christ by the merits of his cross through the power of the holy spirit and with the maternal beatitude and intercession of our blessed lady amen and i just felt so strongly michelle that you know obviously there are are the guardian angels surrounding this bed but our lady is there and our lady is always assisted by her legions of angels and uh you know i just think that this is going to be a beautiful day oh which are not comprehensive does not describe that prayer i really am a lack for words other than i i thank you and and what you say means a lot to me because you've been so transparent with us all about your own tragedies and um not that i would wish anything about anybody but it's hard for me to take someone's advice and even to i don't know cherish what they're saying as much if if they've had an easy walk and this child my adult child has not had any walk i mean for so many reasons so i and when you share your own personal struggles it just really helps us on speaking for us all everybody out there um because you know what it's like it wants your child and they're suffering that's why i have such a tie with mary and the sowers of mary because she couldn't do anything to help jesus that's the worst thing and you know what you've got grandchildren you know it's the worst thing when you see suffering of your child and there's nothing you can do yes it is true michelle you are so welcome and and what i like to remind everybody all of the time is that the greatest prayer we can offer god is the suffering of our heart that's what our lord offered to the father on the cross and offering that suffering is prayer and so i like to remind um everybody and and to you today who is listening going through a very difficult time you know right at this very moment don't let that suffering go to waste it becomes powerful powerful and blessings are are attained as a result of it when we unite it to the passion of our lord and when we embrace that cross not just endure it certainly not reject it but when we embrace it when we embrace it and and when we permit that cross to enfold us uh and and and this is not you know a type of masochism this is this is a giving over to a beautiful reality that only can be experienced by way of the cross i like to say that nothing good happens except by way of the cross because the greatest good that ever occurred that ever happened the greatest good our salvation came by that way so michelle we'll be praying for your daughter through the course of the day and let us know if you know how everything goes you know i always tell people let us know uh so please do let us know and and we'll look forward to uh that call from you god bless you sweetheart thank you and you know you have a wonderful day you too and uh you know i i was in communication with a dear friend this morning who shared with me that you know a mass has been discovered uh in her body and she she asked me for prayer well of course but i also said that i would mention it on radio today so that we could pray for her together so i just want to lift my friend up right now and i want to ask you to join me in a prayer for her and then we'll go to ed ed if i can't get to you before the break i'll definitely get to you after the break we're inviting you to call us 833 288 ewtn that's 833-288-3986 that's the way that you can join us right here on women of grace live where we do love having that holy conversation with you also available at ewtn radio's youtube channel and facebook page so now i lift up my friend and father god you know to whom i am referring and i asked father that in your mercy and in your kindness that this mass be nothing more than inflammation easily corrected easily resolved i pray god that it is nothing more than that that is not a recurrence of any kind of of illness of the past or any kind of cancer i pray father god that that the doctors would be able to resolve this quickly and swiftly and easily i also pray that you would give her the peace that surpasses understanding father god i pray that the evil one does not use this is an opportunity to incite fear to incite anxiety uh to incite horrible imaginings into her mind and so we asked father god that you would safeguard her by sending a legion of angels to surround her i pray that her guardian angel there at her side whispers into her ear the sweepy attitudes that come from heaven that she might have faith and she might have hope and she might have confidence in this moment confidence in you that you are in this moment that the present moment belongs to you you inhabit it and you inhabit it with the totality of who you are all goodness all truth all beauty and that you come with your power and your might and so father god we ask that you would be in control of this situation and that would all work together for the good as we are told in sacred scripture things do when we live according to your word and so we offer this prayer to you in the name of your son our lord jesus christ by the merits of his cross for the power of the holy spirit and with the maternal beatitude and intercession of our lady coming right back stay with us [Applause] the heavy hitters of catholic radio are on the new ewtn open line join father brian mullaney thursday 3 p.m eastern exclusively on ewtn radio to ask why should i pray is the same as asking why should i raise my mind and heart to god since that's what prayer is but when stated like that it's pretty obvious we need to pray because god is he to whom our minds and hearts are ultimately directed union with him is our ultimate destiny without prayer we lose our direction to god as our ultimate end and thus set ourselves on a path that leads back into the slavery of sin and now the ewtn family prayer with father joseph family a prayer that we pray together is a powerful prayer so please pray together with me our ewtn family prayer today we pray for the elderly almighty god and father we adore you from whom all life has come and to whom all life returns give to those who are suffering under the burden of the years hope and joy fill them with gratitude for their many years and make them rich in love [Music] as they grow older on the outside make them younger on the inside through the work of the holy spirit use this time to prepare them lord for the joys of eternal life amen [Music] tomorrow on more to life father's day as we head into father's day weekend we'll explore ways to be an awesome dad that's tomorrow on more to life now back to women of grace encouraging women in their gift of authentic femininity here's more women of grace with john ed williams well welcome back everybody so very very delighted to be with you today and want to hear from you certainly do and charles berry is ready and so am i 833 288 ewtn that's 833-288-3986 just pick up the phone give us a call ed did that is in palm beach florida today siriusxm station 130 is the way that he's with us and he too is a first-time caller so we're going to ring that bell for you there it is hi ed how are you good how you doing jenna very well and thanks for holding i appreciate your patience no problem my question is this i'm puzzled as to why there is such discussion and such a big deal made about the um eucharist with the politicians being receiving it to me it's either black or white uh if you're in the state of grace you can receive communion if you're not don't go i think the bishops are creating a big um misunderstanding amongst people what are your thoughts on that well ed thank you i mean you know we certainly live in contentious times there's no question about it and um you know i i think that first let me just say this you are absolutely correct we do not receive the eucharistic presence of our lord we do not receive him body blood soul and divinity if we are in a state of grave sin uh and that just goes without without question no question about that i think that what's happened here uh in in some cases and of course i don't know all of the inner workings of how these uh you know questions are resolved or these issues are resolved or what the complications are in in in making a clear statement um but i do think that there are some things that that play into this that we're not aware of like first of all uh you know who whose duty and responsibility is it to talk to the politician or people even within the congregation that that you know take stands against the teachings of the church and and to what extent are some of these things grave sin that's something that has to be worked out with a priest and with you know a penitent um but we certainly know that if you're promoting abortion this this is this is a grave sin uh it you know you can't pro you cannot promote abortion uh and call yourself a catholic in good standing because you're outside of the teaching of the church and you uh you know by your proclamation especially if you're in a position of of great authority um and and uh recognition it's scandalous so you know so there's that issue but only only you know god and and the priest and the penitent know you know where that where that soul is at the moment so i think that that's part of it that's the pastoral end of it then the question is when the person presents himself or herself for communion sometimes they don't present themselves to um the the priest uh and and this always floors me when and it doesn't happen very regularly but sometimes you'll even see that the priest won't distribute communion at all then you pass that responsibility you know on to a layperson who you know i think that we've got you know an overuse of what are meant to be extraordinary ministers you know it's not supposed to be the ordinary thing that lay people distribute holy communion that's supposed to be extraordinary it's not supposed to be the routine and in in most of parishes today it is the routine and and so then i think that you place that person in a position that they ought not to be put in because who knows that that person that's presenting himself or herself for communion who's taken these stands hasn't just gone to confession we don't know that uh so i think that these are some of the the issues i'm not so sure that the issue surrounds itself that they're discussing and this i don't know but for sure but you know i'm not so sure that it's a question of is it a sin to to uh you know receive communion if you're taking stands against the church in a public way i don't think that's the question or the issue i think the issue falls on uh on on how does this how how should this be affected what what should we do about this and in what way and how do we answer these these other questions that surround that issue that are not central to the the obvious reality that this is grave sin so you know i'm not sure what all these deliberations are about um i also know that you know it is up to the bishop of the diocese to talk to the individuals who are are holding these positions but i do agree with you a hundred percent that it it just on the face of it is grave sin and that you know we don't receive communion when we are in grave sin and i do agree with you that it is confusing to the flock and i do agree though you didn't use this term i'm using this term i think that it does create a scandal so i hope that they're able to come up with some kind of of resolution to this i think it's good that they're talking about it i think it would be really bad if they weren't so hopefully we're going to get something good out of this that's going to lead to um clarity and we can this is no time for ambiguity you know this is not the time for ambiguity uh we need to we need to see things as they are through the eyes of christ it's not always quite black and white uh but when the issues are black and white we need that clarity so i agree with that that's what i think anyway you're welcome thank you very much and thank you so very much that you love the eucharist so much uh that you want to protect and safeguard the body blood soul and divinity of our lord jesus christ would would that every catholic understood who it is that they're receiving and and would pay due due respect and reverence to our lord my goodness sakes uh we're talking about the sacred heart a little bit earlier on um how how his heart must must ache and bleed and be scourged again by these offenses against his person whom we're receiving hidden of course by the accidents but truly truly the body blood soul and divinity of our lord jesus christ let's go to colleen she's in grand rapids michigan you can call us too looking forward to it 833 288 ewtn is the toll-free number to use here in north america 833-288-3986 colleen is listening to us via holy family radio hi colleen how are you oh good um janet and your husband thank you for your ministry oh you're welcome i'm not catholic but i've learned so much and um with communion i'm not catholic so when i go to mass i always tell everyone that i'm not catholic because i don't take communion just out of respect for the peers that i attend and the parish has never tried to convert me to catholicism and and i thank them for that well you know colleen i i just i really really want to thank you and i want to commend you for your witness today for what you're sharing because it's obvious to me that your respect for your parishioners and for the priest and for for that community of people community of believers is very high and it also shows me that your respect for our lord is very high as well though the teaching of of the faith that you might have been brought up in is very different on this matter than catholic teaching you nonetheless respect that and that is a beautiful witness and a beautiful sign would that would that everyone would have that kind of reverence and have that kind of respect and um you know and i think it's i think it's quite remarkable that that you go to the holy sacrifice of the mass and i'm pleased by that um and you know i just uh i think that that's just a lovely thing and i'm not going to prevail upon you either but i am going to invite you to consider that maybe one day the lord would would welcome the opportunity to enter into you body blood soul and divinity through holy communion uh by by joining uh you know uh in union with with your brothers and sisters in faith uh you know uh by becoming catholic so i'm gonna invite you to that but not prevail upon you for it how's that no my my my friend she's talked to me about that and i live in a neighborhood where i started going to an all-black church and i feel i feel in my heart that that's where god wants me to be beautiful and so i go there every sunday but when they've had some of the parishioners would clean up the church and they wound up uh not having church done my friend lori will always pick me up and go to mass and it was like i've learned so much from both father jim st thomas pierce from my pastor pastor stanley floyd and pastor stanley floyd he's never seen anything derogatory towards the catholic church beautiful beautiful well i thank you for sharing all of that with us today and um and you do have a question here or you're asking for prayer so why don't you tell us about it i want a prayer for the grand rapids police department for the patrol officers and all um for all other departments and pray for our city yes and where my pastor lives he can hear gunshots going off at night oh my and he's been he's been a victim of racial profiling several times and i told my friend it's like i have no idea how many others in the church have been a victim of racial profiling and i saw that happen and i yelled out to the police and i said if he was only in a white community he would have never been stopped i guess i'm kind of gutsy like uh god about to see the rhyme that people do yes and to call him on it yeah and you know let me just comment on that and yes of course it would be it would be a privilege to to pray for our police in your city and in every city and you know here's the thing i think when our lord allows us to see these kinds of injustices that take place when we see people acting in inhuman ways toward each other and he gives us that piercing of the heart that comes by that recognition he is he is incorporating us into his own sorrow over what his sons and daughters are doing and he allows us to experience that pain in our heart that that dissatisfaction that misery all of it he allows us to see it and to experience it because he knows then that we will pray that it will move us forward in a way that can bring some kind of reparation uh you know to the world of man and we must never forget how powerful prayer is now that doesn't mean that prayer isn't followed by good action prayer should be followed by good action you know faith without works is dead so we have faith in god but we also know that god desires that we cooperate with the grace that he gives so we pray and to the extent that we are capable of doing more than that to reconcile people we strive to do that and it doesn't have to be big ways it doesn't have to be headline news for us to do such things and it doesn't have to put us in in positions of of um danger at all i mean it can just be a smile on our face to someone it can just be you know uh a recognition of them in some way um it can be you know helping out at a food kitchen whatever the case is you know our prayer then gains feet and to the extent that we allow ourselves to enter into the dynamic of making that prayer effective in in a in a in a you know uh you know physical way um to that extent do things change i think of mother teresa of calcutta we look at the problems that we're facing today and we say well my goodness how can we ever overcome all of this well i'm sure that mother teresa of calcutta when she looked at all of the discarded individuals who were lining the streets of that city wondered what can i do the mass of it would could have been overwhelming but what did she do she did the thing that she could she started with the first person that she picked up off the street and nursed and nurtured the first one that she gave that beautiful spiritual motherhood gift of spiritual motherhood to and so that's what we do we do it one person at a time we do it with the person that god puts in front of us and it sounds to me colleen like that's what you do and that is a beautiful gift and you know i just want to encourage all of us to you know we've had great examples being given to us today i don't think that that's by chance i think the lord is offering us opportunities to see the way in which we're supposed to go each and every single one of us so i thank you for that colleen so now let's just come together and let's do pray for our police our men and women who put their lives on the line every day for us our first responders our firefighters our paramedics uh you know our doctors and our nurses but in a special way for those men and women who go into contentious uh situations go into maybe very dangerous situations for our sake and who are so reviled today so reviled by by this woke uh you know culture and this canceled culture and this this culture that that wants to ridicule and denounce these men and women who have pledged an oath to take care of each one of us and who nonetheless every day put that uniform on and go out there and do that work so father god we do come before you in this moment and we lift up all of these individuals these sons and daughters of yours who try to make this world a safe place who even for those that revile them even for those who are so mean continue to protect them lord continue to be solemn about this duty that is theirs uh and and do not falter along the way and yet you know father their feet are feet of clay uh just like every single human person's feet are and god they're not perfect and i ask that you bless them and you help for them in their weaknesses in those moments when fear might uh seem to to want to overtake them in those times when they have to make very hard critical decisions on the spur of the moment i ask that your holy spirit would be present to them that your holy spirit would come with wisdom would come with knowledge that they would be receptive to that i pray father god that for those men and women in uniform no matter which uniform they're putting on that of a doctor that of a nurse whether they're putting on the uniform of a police officer officer or a paramedic or a firefighter no matter what uniform they're donning that as they're putting on that uniform lord god they are putting on your armor the helmet of salvation the breastplate of justice the bout of truth the the sword which is the word of god that shield of faith and slipping their feet into the boots of zeal to go out there and to slay dragons for you and by this i don't mean dragons who are people of course not but i mean the powers and principalities that seem to rule so much of our current displays and we don't even want to call them anything but but treacherous behaviors horrible behaviors father god and i asked father god that they're also in putting on your arm or putting on you and i'm praying that the holy spirit would enlighten them and would guide them and would protect them we pray this prayer father god with full confidence in you because you do desire to protect us and oh i don't want to leave out our men and women in our military services those men and women who put on the the the uniform of of of the army or the uniform of the air force or the uniform of the navy or the coast guard or the marines or any other military service uniform we pray for them we pray for their protection we pray for for for the gift of of of their desire to be of service to your people and so it is father that we offer this prayer up to you in the name of your son our lord jesus christ by the merits of his cross through the power of the holy spirit and with a maternal beatitude and intercession of our blessed lady amen colleen thank you for giving me the privilege to pray for these individuals today on the air i appreciate it very much janet say uh happy father's day to check i'll do it for sure i'll pass your greetings along to him thank you colleen and god bless you bye-bye now for your ministry god bless god bless you and thank you for being you you know what a great world we live in when we live underneath that beautiful beautiful uh you know what do i want to say bountiful grace that god pours down upon us every day and we've got to remember that it is our job to cooperate with that grace uh you know it's our job to cooperate with it whether it's convenient or not convenient you know whether we feel like it or not we cannot let our emotions guide our our actions our actions have got to be subservient to our intellect our intellect has got to be properly formed and how do we properly form the intellect we form it according to the mind and the heart of god and how do we do that by spending time with him by going to the holy sacrifice of the mass by receiving the sacraments by reading sacred scripture by reading the lives of the saints uh by spending time with him in private prayer by praying the rosary and not just you know you know trilling off hail mary's no no entering into those hail marys and letting those hail marys enter into us asking the blessed mother to help us go deeper and deeper and deeper and when we're willing to do that i'm telling you what there is transformation that comes and when and as that transformation is coming then we become transformers we become individuals who are out there making a difference just by our very presence just like our blessed lady who walked into the home of elizabeth and zechariah and brought salvation into the home because she was full of the life of the word made flesh the life of savior of messiah of redeemer the life of our lord jesus christ second person of the blessed trinity enclosed you know draped in her very flesh and so when we like our lady allow ourselves men and women alike to become impregnated in the womb of our hearts with that divine life with the gospel message with the one who is the revelation of that message our lord jesus christ great things happen and when we show up jesus is there with us and amazing things take place amazing things that are beyond our comprehension and so i don't want you to give up today i don't i know that sometimes you know our own personal circumstances and situations seem hopeless i know the situations of the world seem hopeless but nothing's impossible with god nothing is impossible with god and i know that many of you you know have just received you know difficult diagnoses i know that some of you have been battling in marriages i know that many of you are suffering with sons and daughters who are making poor choices and poor decisions i know that some of you are being called on the line you know in your jobs to perform actions that are far outside of what your conscience allows and we've got to stand firm we've got to stand for truth and god is there with us and there is hope and to the extent that we we live that to the extent that we allow the truth of the faith to prevail in us and through us to that extent do we make a big difference i don't know jeff do we have time to get to a call because i know we have one call we wanted to get to today ah no we're down to 90 seconds well this is what i have to say you'll just have to listen tomorrow and we'll get to that call tomorrow uh but i do want to end you know i do want to end our program today on on that happy note uh but we didn't get a chance to hear from any of you on how that sacred heart of our lord jesus christ shows us uh the way uh and and and what do i want to say uh is imbued in a sense with the purgative illuminative and of stages and we see that purgation in the thorns and in the fire that that expunges from us our sin we see that illuminative through the light that emanates from his most sacred heart we see that unitive in the cross to which he always invites us that we might grow more and more into his image and likeness so take that into your time of prayer today see what the lord does with it it's been great i'll be back with you again tomorrow god bless you now bye

Channel: EWTN

Views: 1,105

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Catholic, EWTN, Christian, television

Id: ipHcoSBOXbE

Length: 54min 5sec (3245 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 17 2021