February 23, 2024
PRAISE.POWER.PEACE
Happy Birthday James!
At first I used to think I was the young one, but there were five kids at tonight’s meeting. Wow…did you hear me? FIVE! Four teenagers and one beautiful girl who is 9 years old. Can you believe it? Each one of them were glowing in a different way. All of us came there that night with a burden of life. No matter where you are in your journey, life is hard, but we begin each night calling upon the Holy Spirit … “Holy Spirit YOU are welcome HERE,” because when we get here, everything is different. It is not often easy to get to a prayer meeting, especially every week. Not only may we feel temptation to stay home on the couch or go out with friends, we are also faced by the suggestive lies that we do not belong, that we are not Holy enough, and that we do not need to be here. It is hardest to get to a prayer meeting when you need it the most. It is when you are in that battle that you need to remind yourself there is no where else you will find healing, comfort, and peace to this degree in your heart like the way you do when you get to Good Shepard every Friday night at 6:30. The moment you walk through that door, you have said yes. You have opened your heart in a way that you didn’t a minute before that. When you open your heart and when you say yes to Jesus, it will make everything better. That I can always promise you.
There was freedom stirring in my heart tonight. I don’t know if everyone felt it, but when Casting Crowns said the words “there’s freedom and surrender; lay it down and let it go,” I hoped everyone was feeling the same freedom I was. It is time my sisters and brothers. Jesus is painting the beauty with your ashes. Your life is in his hands. Stop holding on…Jesus WILL hold your heart in His; the safest place it can be. I needed to be reminded tonight, that I have been here before. I have struggled to let go of the control of my own life. I have struggled to surrender my life to God’s plan. There are so many times when I can let go and can surrender, but tonight, I really needed help and I really needed to be reminded of what that felt like and how to do it. It was so simple. I just spoke the words. I invited God in. I opened the doors of my heart He was knocking on. I stopped being afraid. I stopped being ashamed. I felt like William Wallace for a moment; in my journal I wrote “Brave.Heart.Freedom.” You are BRAVE for being here tonight. Place your HEART directly into Jesus’s hands; better yet, watch yourself become Heart to Heart directly to Jesus. You will gain a FREEDOM in your life that you will never be able to fully comprehend or explain, but you will know. You will know because there will be a lightness in you, a fire burning deep in your soul, and a grace to get through any day or any situation you will face. The Lord is my light and my salvation - whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life - of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1 You know the irony of my imagery of William Wallace in Braveheart is that I think most of us admire his strength; however, weakness is strength; surrendering is strength; just being held is strength; giving up - to God - is strength. “When I cannot stand, I fall on you! That is who I am; that’s who I need. And I’m not ashamed. I hope one day that everyone can feel free enough to share that. Just saying out loud once, makes all the difference.” S.G.
“Holiness is Christ in me - Holy moments.” I have no idea where this line came from because I didn’t write much before or after it that made sense, but I had to write it because it reminds me of how much we struggle, how many interruptions and disruptions, and how many battles we face in our day. I am someone who likes order. I don’t always handle change well. I don’t always handle disruptions in my routine well. I have a very short fuse sometimes when things don’t go my way. Father Mike Schmitz spoke an incredible homily during the first week of Lent. He told us when we put high expectations on our lives, our days, etc. we are missing out on God. When we are stuck on our plan and the fact that it didn’t go our way, we don’t get a chance to see the miracles God is creating in front of us through His will and plan. We miss chances for Holy moments because that is what He creates in our lives. Instead of being frustrated by our interruptions and expectations (sometimes realistic, sometimes not), let us give ourselves the opportunity to experience the small miracles God has placed in our daily lives. They are EVERYWHERE and if you’re busy looking elsewhere, you will miss out!
Jesus’s first miracle he ever performed in his public ministry happened at the wedding feast at Cana. Jesus turned water into wine; “the most delicious wine I ever tasted,” (The Chosen). That water is us. We are odorless, colorless, clear, and with nothing to us, but then we have an encounter with Jesus. And the moment we have an encounter with Jesus, we are instantly transformed. Everything is different. We become full of color, fully of joy, and we come to LIFE. I think it’s important to remember too that we don’t just have one encounter with Jesus. It is an ongoing, lifelong journey encountering Jesus every moment of every day. It builds upon itself. These encounters are not just one and done’s but constant transformation of hearts. “Give us this day our DAILY bread.” Daily…you can receive Jesus in the Eucharist DAILY. It must be consistent. A wise friend always said; if you don’t use it, you will use it. And use it my friends, it’s the SWEETEST OF LOVES you will ever experience. Fall in love with Jesus. Fall in love with Eucharist. The Eucharist will become ALIVE in you. You will continue to hurt at times; that is something that is a guarantee in this life, but Jesus will ALWAYS be there. He will ALWAYS come for you! Let Him in! Let Him transform you!
Open the grave! I’m comin’ out! I’m gonna live, gonna live again…I believe there’s a miracle HERE IN THIS ROOM…”
There’s a miracle here in this room because YOU are the miracle. NOW LET YOURSELF BE THE MIRACLE! Step out of the darkness. Whatever your fear may be, leave it all behind. Step out and LIVE! And then, you will see, others around you will be transformed and alive just as you are. Let Jesus turns your graves into gardens; He is the only one who can.
I get so caught up thinking that I can, not that He is the only one who can. Jesus spoke with such conviction and authority to me tonight “Let me be the one; let me be in control (Me: Jesus, take the wheel); you say “Jesus take the wheel,” but do you mean it? Have you let go? Have you taken your hands off the wheel? Surrender. And just be YOU. Alive in the body. Washed in the blood. Do you mean it? Do you want it? Do you say YES? Show me ALL of you. I know ALL of you already; I have made you my new creation; I have called YOU by name (hear your name spoken by Jesus); I know exactly who you are and I love EXACTLY who you are. Don’t look to the EXIT sign…look around at this family that loves you and accepts you as close to Jesus does, mabye even more than your own family.
He calls you by name and you PRAISE His Holy Name: Jesus, Jesus - say it with me - Jesus, Jesus Jesus. My savior. My King. My Salvation. My Fortress. The Alpha and Omega. The First and the Last. The LION and the lamb. The Beginning and the End.
Give everything to Jesus.
Let Heaven invade the Earth.
Give a symphony to the King in praise.
LOUDER AND LOUDER.
Raise it up!
Until next time my family…I leave you with this song…memorize the words because I can’t wait to sing it with you next week.
This reflection was created from my journal. Some of the words and phrases were taken as an account of what prayer group members spoke that night, song lyrics, and my own personal reflections of the night.
