VISIONS OF HOPE

VISIoNS of HoPE

“The burning sands will become pools, and the thirsty ground, springs of water…” – Isaiah 35:7

The Bible is replete with vivid mental pictures and dramatic descriptions of exciting scenes and of amazing things to come. “The desert and the parched land will exult; the steppe (grassland) will rejoice and bloom. They will bloom with abundant flowers, and rejoice with joyful song… Then will the lame leap like a stag and the tongue of the dumb will sing. Streams will burst forth in the desert and rivers in the steppe…”

I don’t know about you but I want to be in this place or in this event or in this new earth or heaven or whatever you call it. I’m simply thrilled about these kinds of visions. And I’m going to pray and receive God’s love and grace every day and work out things on my end by loving others and inviting them to be part of this.

Maybe the events described by Isaiah are not literal. Maybe they’re symbolic of something else.

But one thing is for sure. The Word of God speaks of hope. And it paints a beautiful vision of it.

That vision of hope — of being with God while here on earth or eternally in heaven — isenough for me to be caught in it. Alvin Barcelona

REFLECTION:

What visions of hope do you have that excite and thrill you? Ask God for those visions.

Dear Lord, grant me beautiful visions of hope that I can focus on and pursue. Ultimately, let my vision be You, O God — the perfect  and most beautiful vision of all! Amen.

the pOWeR Of inteRcessiOn

I have gotten accustomed to people coming to request for prayers. “Father, please pray for my husband so that he too can become active in our church as I am.” “Father, please pray for my son who’s going to take the bar.” In all these cases it is very clear that a priest can also function as an intercessor.

That is the same wisdom that we have when we approach particular saints for different intentions. We ask St. Anthony’s intercession for things that we have lost. We seek St.Isidore to help us make the produce of our land bountiful. We come to our Blessed Mother to bring uscloser to her son.

While people from different faith affiliations dispute this, the power of “intercession” cannot be denied. Today’s Gospel shows us so: the gift of healing was bestowed to a paralytic man because his intercessors made it possible for him to approach Jesus more closely.

Hence, we offer Masses for the dead, trusting that as we intercede for them to the Father, He will look kindly on them and finally accept them to His Kingdom. We pray over birthday celebrators as we ask God to shower them with His blessings as they thank Him for the gift of life.We hold novenas seeking favourable responses from our patron saints who come before the father on our behalf.

Like the paralytic man’s friends, our saints act as our intercessors to the Father just as your pastor, friends and the entire church do when they pray for you. Fr. Sandy V. Enhaynes

Reflection Question:

Have I interceded for anyone lately, whether in prayer or in physically leading someone to the sacraments?

Lord Jesus, may I always be conscious of my responsibility to lead people closer to You.

St. Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor, pray for us.