The following are words given by participants at the streamed meeting. 1 Corinthians 14:29 says that "Two or three prophets should speak, and the others weigh carefully what is said." 1 Thess 5:19-21 tells us not to despise prophecies, but to test everything and retain what is good.
Scripture Reading at beginning of meeting, Psalm 95:1-2 - "Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord. Let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song."
Prophecy - "My Jesus, my Jesus, my Jesus. Every time you call out my name, I come to you in mercy and in love. This is how I desire for you, tonight, to glorify my name. When you open yourselves up to my Holy Spirit, to my guidance, and when you allow me to heal the various parts of your being, and allow my life to live inside of you through the love and mercy that I pour upon you, in this you will glorify my name because you will become my witnesses to other people of that very same love and mercy that I poured within you. My children, do not fear to allow me to heal you and purify you. Trial, tribulations and suffering are a part of human existence. They were a part of my Passion and yes, they will be a part of your own passion and your own cross that you carry day to day. I will be there to strengthen you, encourage you and protect you. So trust me, my children, to form you and to shape you into the very image that I have created you, my children, to become. And in my likeness, this world will come to know that I truly exist, that I am alive through you."
Scripture Reading Isaiah 25:1-5 - "O Lord, you are my God; I will extol you and praise your name; for you have fulfilled your wonderful plans of old, faithful and true. For you have made the city a heap, the fortified city a ruin; the castle of the insolent is a city no more, nor ever to be rebuilt. Therefore a strong people will honor you, fierce nations will fear you. For you are a refuge to the poor, a refuge to the needy in distress; shelter from the rain, shade from the heat. As with the cold rain, as with the desert heat, even so you quell the uproar of the wanton."
Scripture Reading Sirach 2:1-6 - "When you come to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for trials. Be sincere of heart and steadfast, undisturbed in time of adversity. Cling to him, forsake him not; thus will your future be great. Accept whatever befalls you; in crushing misfortune be patient. For in fire gold is tested, and worthy men in the crucible of humiliation. Trust God, and he will help you; make straight your ways and hope in him."
Scripture Reading Psalm 86:9-12 - "All nations whom you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and they shall glorify your name. For you are great and do wondrous deeds; you alone are God. Teach me your way, O Lord; I will walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name. I will give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and will glorify your name forever."
Confirmation and Prophecy - I had these words. They seem to confirm the reading from Sirach. "In these troubled times, remain steadfast and keep your eyes on me."
Fr. Richard McAlear, OMI entitled his talk, "Jesus, Lord and Savior". Fr. McAlear shared about his crisis in life when he was studying to be a priest. Why should he be a Christian and not a Buddhist or a Hindu, etc? He asked various theologians but could not get an answer. What is different? What is better? Also, all the changes in the church, in the Liturgy, etc., which were supposed to bring about some kind of a renewal or spark some new moment in the church didn't happen. Fr. McAlear was trying to find "it" in his own life. When he came back to the U.S., he stumbled upon a charismatic prayer meeting and he was baptized in the Holy Spirit. At the same time, he read a book, "Jesus is Lord", by Ralph Martin. It was a life-changing experience for Fr. It was a real clear understanding that Jesus Christ is the Lord. Now it was different because it was real.
Eph 1 - St. Paul prays, "I pray that you have the Holy Spirit, the spirit of wisdom, understanding, that you would know him clearly. We know Jesus clearly by the gift of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit is given, then you have the capacity to know Jesus and it is because of Jesus that everything comes alive. It is the Spirit of Jesus whom we call the Lord and Giver of Life. It is the Spirit of Jesus and Jesus himself which bring energy and life to the church.
We are called to proclaim and spread the word; to talk about Jesus. You can't share what you don't have. The first evangelists in Scripture were the shepherds. When the shepherds saw Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes, it says that they went out and told everyone in the surrounding countryside what they had seen and heard. The shepherds weren't theologians, educated people.
Another evangelist was Anna, an old woman who sees Simeon holding the baby in the temple and recognizes that this is Jesus. She goes out and tells everybody she meets about the child. Another evangelist is the woman at the well. When Jesus speaks to her, she realizes that he is the Messiah. She goes back to the town and tells everybody about him and she brings them to meet Jesus. Then they say, "Now we believe not because of what you told us, but because we, ourselves, have experienced him and we have come to believe." Then they went out and witnessed, and Samaria became one of the very first Christian enclaves.
1) Jesus is really the Lord. He alone is the Holy One. He alone is The Most High. There is no one higher. There can't be two or three Most Highs. There is no one else who can reveal the Father. Only Jesus knows the Father. He brings us to the Father. You can't say all religions are the same. Christianity teaches that you can love God and that God loves you. This is a relationship with God. God is love and love brings him. God comes down to our level because we can't get to his level. He emptied himself, came down among us so that we can have a relationship with him. Jesus and only Jesus calls us to an intimate, personal relationship of love and kindness.
2) Jesus is alive. At the Resurrection women said, "We saw him. We spoke with him. He is alive." We serve a living God. He is present as a living person. If he's alive, he has to be active. He is at work among us and that's the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
3) Jesus is present. "Behold, I am with you always to the very end of the world." In the upper room, the doors are closed and Jesus appears. Fr. McAlear believes Jesus was always there. They could see him and then he withdrew from their vision, but he didn't withdraw from the room. Whether you can or cannot see him, he's there with you. He's in your life. He's working in you and through you. That's called faith.
Evangelization is about proclaiming Jesus, and faith is not in something, but in someone. You can't share what you don't know. You can't talk about Jesus if you don't know him. God is not asking anyone to be a theologian. He's asking us to be a witness.
Charleen thanked everyone for praying for eyes. A couple of weeks ago, the minute Charleen went to the computer her reading glasses were all of a sudden too strong. So she could go to a lower number. Her vision is stabilizing somewhat. Reading is still very tricky but it is getting clearer and not as many blind spots. Thank you, and she keeps praying for all the eyes as well every day.
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