Young William Wilberforce was discouraged one night in the early 1790s after another defeat in his 10 year battle against the slave trade in England. Tired and frustrated, he opened his Bible and began to leaf through it. A small piece of paper fell out and fluttered to the floor. It was a letter written by John Wesley shortly before his death. Wilberforce read it again: "Unless the divine power has raised you up... I see not how you can go through your glorious enterprise in opposing that (abominable practice of slavery), which is the scandal of religion, of England, and of human nature. Unless God has raised you up for this very thing, you will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils. But if God be for you, who can be against you? Are all of them together stronger than God? Oh, be not weary of well-doing. Go on in the name of God, and in the power of His might."
Daily Bread, June 16, 1989.
29 Sunday C - Persistence - Homilies
The persistent widow in our midst
They fight hospitals and insurance companies for the
critical medical care needed by their loved one. They take on the most
obstinate bureaucracies for the assistance and services their child is entitled
to but denied. They work tirelessly to raise awareness, raise money, and,
when necessary, raise Cain, so that their loved one may live as fully a life as
possible, so that a cure might be found, so that other families will not have
to experience the pain and anguish they have known.
It may be a spouse’s Parkinson’s disease, a parent’s
Alzheimer’s, a sister’s breast cancer, a child’s leukemia. The illness of
a loved one, a catastrophe striking their family, the suffering of someone dear
to them transforms these moms and dads and sons and daughters and friends into
dedicated advocates and determined guardians.
These dedicated men and women are the Gospel widow in our
midst. They face down the “dishonest judges” of arrogance and avarice;
they take on the “fearful judges” of insensitivity and unawareness; they go
toe-to-toe with the “judges who fear neither God nor respect any human being,”
save themselves.
Something to think about
CHURCH has 6 letters, so does MOSQUE.
BIBLE has 5 letters, so does QURAN.
LIFE has 4 letters, so does DEAD.
LOVE has 4 letters, so does HATE.
FRIENDS has 7, so does ENEMIES.
TRUTH has 5, so does LYING.
HEAL has 4, so does HURT.
POSITIVE has 8, so does NEGATIVE.
SUCCESS has 7, so does FAILURE.
ABOVE has 5, so does UNDER.
JOY has 3 letters so does CRY.
HAPPY has 5 letters so does ANGER.
RIGHT has 5 letters so does WRONG.
Are they by coincidence?
Choose wisely.
This means LIFE is like a double-edged sword.
We should choose the better side of Life!
GRATITUDE - Stories
It is said that on his retreat from Greece after his great military expedition there, King Xerxes boarded a Phoenician ship along with a number of his Persian troops. But a fearful storm came up, and the captain told Xerxes there was no hope unless the ship's load was substantially lightened. The king turned to his fellow Persians on deck and said, "It is on you that my safety depends. Now let some of you show your regard for your king." A number of the men bowed to Xerxes and threw themselves overboard!
Lightened of its load, the ship made it safely to harbor. Xerxes immediately ordered that a golden crown be given to the pilot for preserving the king's life -- then ordered the man beheaded for causing the loss of so many Persian lives!
Today in the Word, July 11, 1993.
Lightened of its load, the ship made it safely to harbor. Xerxes immediately ordered that a golden crown be given to the pilot for preserving the king's life -- then ordered the man beheaded for causing the loss of so many Persian lives!
Today in the Word, July 11, 1993.
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