Sharing Produce and Profit

Two brothers worked at a family farm, sharing produce and profit. One was married, and the other wasn't.

One day the single brother said to himself:

It's not fair that we should share the same produce equally. I am alone, but my brother has a family to support.

So at that night he took a sack of grain from his bin, crept over the field between the houses, and drummed it into his brother's bin.

Meanwhile, his brother has a similar idea, and said:

It's not right that we should share the produce equally. I have a family whereas my brother is all alone.

So at night he took a sack of grain from his bin, and quietly dumped it into his brother's bin.

This went on for several years. Each was puzzled how his supply never dwindled. One night they bumped into each other in the dark. When they realized what had been happening, they dropped their sacks and embraced each other.

Suddenly a voice from heaven said:

Here I build my temple.
For where people meet in love,
there my presence shall dwell.

-- Author unknown
 

Letter to The Virgin of Guadalupe

I received the following prayer from my friend in Jordan. I like to share it with you:

Beautiful Virgin of Guadalupe,

I ask you on behalf of all my brothers and sisters of the world, that you bless us and protect us.

Give us proof of your love and kindness and please receive our prayers.

Oh pure Virgin of Guadalupe, give me, through your Son, forgiveness for my sins, blessings for my job, and cure for my diseases and needs.

All that you deem necessary, I ask for my family and my country.

Oh Holy Mother of God, do not disdain the pleas we present to you in our needs.

Friends Prayer

God our Father,

I ask You to bless my friends reading this right now.

I am asking You to minister to their spirit at this very moment.

Where there is pain, give them Your peace and mercy.

Where there is self doubting, release a renewed confidence in Your ability to work through them.

Where there is tiredness, or exhaustion, I ask You to give them understanding, patience, and strength as they learn submission to your leading.

Where there is spiritual stagnation, I ask You to renew them by revealing Your nearness, and by drawing them into greater intimacy with You.

Where there is fear, reveal Your love, and release to them Your courage.

Where there is a sin blocking them, reveal it, and break its hold over my friend's life.

Bless their finances, give them greater vision.

Raise up leaders and friends to support and encourage them.

Give each of them discernment to recognize the evil forces around them and reveal to them the power they have in You to defeat it.


-- Author Unknown
 

Iraqi Syriac Catholic Archbishop Is Released

The last 24 hours were stressful for me. I'm sure they were stressful for all Iraqi-Christians who heard about the kidnapping of Archbishop Basile Georges Casmoussa. I prayed, lit a novena candle and went to bed early. In my humble mind, I hoped to wake up to the news of his release. Yesterday, I couldn't write about his kidnapping because of my mixed feelings of fear and anger.

Thank God this crisis is over. Archbishop Basile told reporters after his release:

As soon as they found out I was a bishop, their attitude changed ... I think that my abduction was a coincidence. In recent times, there have been numerous kidnappings around here.

Based on the conversations I had with them (the kidnappers), it didn't appear to me that they wanted to strike at the Church as such.

I'm sure his kidnappers knew he was a religious figure when they decided to kidnap him. But, this is a good example of how Iraqi Christians over the years acted as peacemakers during good and bad times. Something I can't explain with any words.

This is not the first time an Iraqi-Christian clergyman has been kidnapped. Recently, two Chaldean monks of the Dora monastery in Baghdad were kidnapped by unknown individuals and released two days later.

Living in Mosul has become unbearable for many Christian families. Many Christian families have either left the country or moved back to live in small villages to avoid the hardships of being a Christian in Mosul. I'm not making up these facts. My sister-in-law's uncle, who lived in Mosul most of his life, has moved his family to a small village. Still, it didn't mean he was safe enough. A few weeks ago, he was kidnapped in front of his house in Mosul. He had returned to pick up a few things from the house to take them back to his new residence at the village. His family was forced to pay his kidnappers $40,000 U.S. before he was released.

That's why I lived with fear in my mind for the last 24 hours. I had those dark scenarios in my head. One of them was the kidnappers may behead Archbishop Basile. Knowing my people, they would've packed their bags and left to Jordan or Syria. I know moving to those two countries wouldn't guarantee them asylum in any countries. So, their future would've been bleak.

I sometimes feel my minority is cursed. Most of the time we're accused of being Westerners just because we share the same religion as the American troops. Most of the time, the Americans don't recognize our existence as they don't want to look like they favor one minority over the rest of the country. So, what's our fault in this mayhem. Should we stay and suffer or leave and still suffer.

Could someone from The White House, The Pentagon or The State Department tell this minority what to do next.

I know every sector of Iraqi society has its own problems these days. But, we're the one minority that neither side wants to protect. Very soon we won't exist on the Iraqi census. That's why I encourage every Iraqi Christian living aboard with a nearby voting center to go and vote. Be the voice of the ones inside the country who can't make their voice heard.

Isn't It Strange?

Isn't it strange how a 20 dollar bill seems like such a large amount when you donate it to church, but such a small amount when you go shopping?

Isn't it strange how 2 hours seem so long when you're at church, and how short they seem when you're watching a good movie?

Isn't it strange that you can't find a word to say when you're praying, but you have no trouble thinking what to talk about with a friend?

Isn't it strange how difficult and boring it is to read one chapter of the Bible, but how easy it is to read 100 pages of a popular novel?

Isn't it strange how everyone wants front-row-tickets to concerts or games, but they do whatever is possible to sit at the last row in Church?

Isn't it strange how we need to know about an event for Church 2-3 weeks before the day so we can include it in our agenda, but we can adjust it for other events in the last minute?

Isn't it strange how difficult it is to learn a fact about God to share it with others, but how easy it is to learn, understand, extend and repeat gossip?

Isn't it strange how we believe everything that magazines and newspapers say, but we question the words in the Bible?

Isn't it strange how everyone wants a place in heaven, but they don't want to believe, do, or say anything to get there?

Isn't it strange how we send jokes in e-mails and they are forwarded right away, but when we are going to send messages about God, we think about it twice before we share it with others?

It's strange isn't it?

-- Author Unknown

Barbershop Dialogue

My friend sent me the following inspirational story last year:

A man went to a barbershop to have his hair and his beard cut as always. He began to have a good conversation with the barber who attended him. They talked about so many things and various subjects. Suddenly, they touched on the subject of God.

The barber said: "Look man, I don't believe that God exists."

"Why do you say that?" asked the customer.

"Well, it's so easy, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God does not exist. Oh, tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God exists, there would be no suffering nor pain. I can't think of loving a God who permits all of these things."

The customer thought for a moment, but he didn't respond because he did not want to start an argument. The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop. Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long hair and a beard. It was very long, and a long time since he had his hair cut and he looked dirty and unkempt. The customer entered the barbershop again and he said to the barber:

"You know what? Barbers do not exist."

"How can you say they don't exist?" asked the surprised barber. " I am here and I am a barber. Why I just worked on you!"

"No!" the customer exclaimed. "Barbers don't exist because if they did there would be no people with long hair and beard like that man who is outside."

"Ah, barbers do exist. What happens is that people do not come to me."

"Exactly!", affirmed the customer. "That's the point! God does exist. What happens is people don't go to Him and do not look for Him. That's why there's so much pain and suffering in the world."

Daily Prayer For Vocations

God, our father, we trust in your loving kindness and ask you to hear the prayers we offer for Your Church.

Through your grace, we seek men willing to generously offer their lives to You in the priesthood and religious life.

Bless and guide those who are discerning Your call. Help us be the water and sunlight that help vocations grow.

And, remember those who have answered your call. Keep them close to you.
 

Crying Out For Recognition

People today are crying out for recognition. They want to be persons. They want to be noticed, not in a showy way or because they have money or status, but because they are human beings.

Each of us is on a pilgrimage. We are seeking to encounter others who have the same needs as ourselves.

The greatest need of all is the need to be loved. But we pass one another by without noticing, without the slightest sign of recognition.

As Christians we are united by a close bond. So close that St. Paul called the Christian community "The Body of Christ."

It is time we begin to notice one another. Each person is a brother or sister in Christ. Each person then must be recognized. Each person must be given some sign of friendship, be it only a smile or a node of the head.

-- Catherine De Hueck Doherty
 

St. Anthony Prayer

St. Anthony, gentlest of Saints, your love for God and charity for his creatures, made you worthy, when on earth, to possess miraculous powers. Miracles waited on your word, which you were ready to speak for those in trouble or anxiety. Encouraged by this thought, I ask you to obtain for me the favors that I seek (mention your request here).

The answer to my prayer may require a miracle, even so, you are the Saint of Miracles.

O gentle and loving St. Anthony, whose heart was full of sympathy, whisper my petition into the ears of the Infant Jesus, who loved to be held in your arms; and the gratitude of my heart will ever by yours.