Today's Message
January 8, 2008

“Be men and women of prayer”

Reading: Ephesians 1:3-14

Dear friends,

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him.” Ephesians 1: 3-4



My time of contemplative prayer was spent with Jesus, Our Lord and Friend, who said, “Melvin, My brother and companion, I love you. Because of My love for you, I call all My brothers and sisters to take up the mission the Father has for you.

You were all created for a special purpose and your fulfillment will come in following the mission given to you.

You might ask, ‘What is my mission in the world? Why was I born?’ In examining yourself, you will find the gifts the Father has given you and these will be indications of what you are to do.

If one has a good singing voice, this means that you have been chosen to sing and you should not hide that talent. If you are a person with the gift of caring, you have been chosen to put this gift in practice.

Most men and women are chosen for marriage and to have children and this is a great vocation. Some are chosen to remain single in the world. There are also others chosen by Me and called to be religious or priests.

These are special callings and only those who have faith in Me will hear this call. It is a fact that every person was created for a special purpose.

A person can miss his or her calling. One’s attachment to the evils of this world can get in the way of fulfilling your calling.

If one is addicted to drugs, alcohol or other things, this will surely frustrate the mission for which you were called. You must not let these things dominate you and make it impossible for you to answer your call.

Get rid of these things before they control you. Your relationship with Me is also important in order to answer fully the call. Be men and women of prayer and I will lead you to fulfill the purpose why you were born. I love and bless you.”

Father Melvin

Medjugorje Day By Day Jan 08 - A TRANSFIGURED BODY

"By daily visiting the Blessed Sacrament, we follow the footsteps of the
first Christians.  In the catacombs were frequently found representations of the
shepherds and the Magi kneeling before the Infant Jesus. 

Animated by the iving faith that Jesus is present in the Eucharist, with Divinity and Humanity,
with Body and Soul, with Flesh and Blood, these early Christians said with the hepherds, 'Let us go to Bethlehem'; with the Magi, 'falling down they adored
him' (Matt 2:11). (From The Holy Eucharist Our All, Fr. Lukas Etlin, O.S.B.).

Mother Teresa -  

May the joy and love of the Risen Jesus be always with you, in you, and among you, so that we all become the true witnesses of His Father's love for the world:

" For God loved the world so much that He gave His Son. "

Meditations by Padre Pio - In all that you do always be humble, guarding jealously the purity of your heart and the purity of your body; these are the two wings which will raise us to God and make us almost divine.

Archbishop Fulton Sheen -
Why do we need to be constantly on the move?

"Most pleasures today are associated with movement and in the case of the young, with speed. A quick change of scenery and pace seems to be one of the ingredients of modern enjoyment.

One out of four persons in the United States changes his address during the year. The unquiet mind makes an unquiet body."

St. Faustina's diary  http://www.marian.org/directory_flash.html  -

Help me, O Lord, that my hands may be merciful and filled with good deeds, so that I may do only good to my neighbors and take upon myself the more difficult and toilsome tasks.

Help me, that my feet may be merciful, so that I may hurry to assist my neighbor, overcoming my own fatigue and weariness. My true rest is in the service of my neighbor.

Help me, O Lord, that my heart may be merciful so that I myself may feel all the sufferings of my neighbor.

I will refuse my heart to no one. I will be sincere even with those who, I know, will abuse my kindness. And I will lock myself up in the most merciful Heart of Jesus. I will bear my own suffering in silence. May Your mercy, O Lord, rest upon me.

You Yourself command me to exercise the three degrees of mercy. The first: the act of mercy, of whatever kind. The second: the word of mercy-if I cannot carry out a work of mercy, I will assist by my words. The third: prayer-if I cannot show mercy by deeds or words, I can always do so by prayer.

My prayer reaches out even there where I cannot reach out physically. O my Jesus, transform me into Yourself, for you can do all things.      

MEDJUGORJE DAY BY DAY

These thoughts for a day are taken from a daily meditation book based on the Messages of Our Lady of Medjugorje by Father Richard J. Beyer, Ave Maria Press.

Jan 8   -   A TRANSFIGURED BODY

Today Our Lady speaks of the kingdom of heaven in answer to questions by the visionaries :

We go to heaven in full conscience : that which we have now. At the moment of death, we are conscious of the separation of the body and the soul.

It is false to teach people that we are reborn many times and that we pass to different bodies. One is born only once.

The body, drawn from the earth decomposes after death. It never comes back to life again. Man receives a transfigured body (First Years July 24, 1982). When speaking of heaven, Jesus liked to use analogies such as the following :

The kingdom of heave is like treasure hidden in a field,which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Again, the kingdom of heave is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; an finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought (Mt 13 :44-46).

Reflection :

The visionary Mirjana describes the vision of heaven the Virgin gave her in this way:

The first thing I noticed were the faces of the people there; they were radiating a type of inner light which shoed how immensely happy they were…The trees, the meadows, the sky are totally different from anything we know on the earth.

And the light is much more brilliant. Heaven is beautiful beyond any possible comparison with anything I know of on the earth.

Mirjana goes on to speak of the people there, concluding with, " They have everything. They need or want nothing. They are totally full. "

Vicka, another of the visionaries who were shown heaven, describes it as, "a vast space, and it has a brilliant light which does not leave it. It is a life which we do not know here on earth…People in heaven

know the absolute fullness of a created being. "

And a last not on heaven by little Jakov : " If I thought about it too much, I would die of loneliness."

Application :

Reflect on the following today : " See, this kingdom of God is now found within us. The grace of the Holy Spirit shines forth and warms us, and, overflowing with many varied scents into the air around us, regales our senses with heavenly delight, as it fills our hearts with joy inexpressible " (Seraphim of Sarov).