"Happy are the Peacemakers they shall be called the children of God" Mt. 5.8
Richard ( fictitious name) is fifty three years old mechanic,White man, married with three children, Anglican by Religious affiliation, a recovering alcoholic, addicted to Gambling and related vices. The family is in the verge of break up. Richard said “I have to sacrifice much of my bad habits for peace in my family”. Richard is conscious of the strength of addiction and the after math on his personal and family life. Sitting with him affirming and validating his fears, anxieties is one thing and to make him function is a Herculine task. He is very weak and sick. He finds it hard to work because of his addictions and yet Richard knows “Happy a! re those who work for peace God will call them his children”. He is determined to be rehabilitated to find peace of mind, to be at peace with God and his family. I do pray for Richard. He is working progressively for peacefulness through rehabilitation. “I know my God will not abandon me… I am trying father. I am trying.”. He is honest in his pursuit of peace. At times, there are frustrating episodes and exploding situations for him and the family. He is asking me to pray for him and when I mentioned about the Joynet, he asked me to request the netters to please remember and pray for him. In Richards words,“The sermon on the mount touched me especially, Happy are those who work for peace God will call them his children” Mt. 5.8. He is looking for peace. He knows that “God will shelter him in times of danger” Ps 27.5. He knows that the merciful God will never leave him or abandon him. One day he expressed his fear about his wife aba! ndoning him in the midst of his journey. “ That is fearful to loose my wife and children. I love them. But she threatened me to leave ”. I have listened to Richard. He became emotional and he said “I don’t know if there is any future for me if they also abandon me”. he shared that it is very painful for him to loose the job and the all the benefits and to be without his family. He might slip into deep depression and drinking. But I trust in the mercy of God. I read to him Psalm 27.10 “ My father and mother might abandon me. But the Lord w! ill take care of me”. When Richard heard this he said to me “I think this is very consoling”. Richard is undergoing therapy and our prayers are very important for this man who is an apostle of peace. Richard “trusts in the Lord” Ps 27.14 so he may not despair. Richard wants to establish peace at home. I think he is a true apostle about whom Jesus said “ happy are those who work for Peace, God will call them his children” Mt. 5.8. A lot of tears and effort is put into his conversion. Please pray for Richard and people like Ricahrd who struggles to make a difference in life. It is easy to promise “I will not drink, I will not gamble” and to judge them. But when it comes to real life situations, the illness that is the habit of drinking, gambling and many other vices resurrect. Last week Mr. Prakash a Hindu by religion, a migrant from Fiji islands, one who doesn’t practice his religion and doesn’t think about saying a prayer any time, said to me “ I lost one thousand dollars at Las Vegas in a day. He gambled and said to me” "I have promised many times that I will not gamble. This time I hope I will keep my promise”. I have listened to him. But there is a difference between Richard and Prakash. Richard spends time in prayer and seeks divine assistance to effect a real difference in life where as Prakash is promising every time he looses and hopes that he will change. It is God who gives us real freedom and God is there always to help us if we ask for Divine assistence “I can rely on the Lord; I can always turn to him for shelter. It was he gave me my freedom. My God you are always there to help me” Ps 27.3. I think the best attitude and disposition from our part is that of obedience. Trust the Lord and God will show up in times of our need. Elijah, obeyed God and went and stayed by Cherinth brook. God promised “ the brook will supply you with water to drink and I h! ave commanded the ravens to bring you bread’ 1 Kings 17.4. and the brook supplied him with drinking water when there was drought. People who sinned suffered for their sins. But God protected his chosen person and “ the ravens brought him meat and bread every day in the morning” 1 kings 17.6, as God promised. Our Richard trusts in this Lord so he will experience miracles in life. He calls me often and says “ This Non catholic is improving and I always trust in God” and his voice cracked up when he called and talked to me this morning. He is still workin! g for peace and struggling to establish peace in his family. I am sure God will call him his child because Jesus said “Happy are those who work for peace God will call them his children” Mt. 5.9 I praise and thank God for his mercies. Fr Thomas Mathew/June 9th 2002/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. Click Here **************************************************************** This mail is generated from JOYnet, a Jesus Youth mailing list. To unsubscribe, send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe to this mailing list, visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet For automatic help, send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] In case of any issue related to the mailing list contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] ****************************************************************
