RANDOM THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS, by Deacon Sam
 
– What is the point? What do we live for? In this world we fail, fall, get sick, etc. but also work, learn and love. God made the universe so we could create, worship and love so we could become more like Him. This is the point of life. All of our challenges and stresses are at the service of God’s will. Every moment of our life can help us become more like Jesus who is present and active in each of us. We are urged to love God as He deserves to be loved and to become what Jesus wants us to become. Jesus Christ gave the world the family of God - we are bonded to each other by our compliance to the universal values of compassion, justice, fortitude and integrity as well as by God's will that we all be faithful to living His mission on earth. Jesus chose us to enter into an everlasting covenant with Him. Love rejoices in the truth. In humility and gratitude we praise God for His gift to us of the Eucharist.
 
– God speaks to us in the sounds of silence. He invites us to simplicity which can bring peace to our lives. Our work on earth is to be ourselves: to do the ordinary in our lives well and to be the joy of the Gospel for others as we walk in the path of love, compassion and peace. May we not allow ourselves to be possessed by things – rather, may we allow God to love us, talk to us and guide us.
 
–  Courage is doing the right thing always - to walk into the unknown because God has called us there. It takes courage to be vulnerable and to ask others for help. There is honor in doing what you have to do. Trust always in God – in the midst of fear we follow God voluntarily.
 
–  It is easy to love those who love us but Jesus calls us to a higher standard – to treat others with compassion and to seek reconciliation with those who have hurt us. God created the world for love. He calls us to use the gifts He has given us and to try to be our best. Jesus is the model and standard of how we should love. To create a new world order of love we have to start with ourselves – we do good with the right motivation. May we all be righteous and holy in the eyes of God. 
 
“You know well enough that our Lord does not look so much at the greatness of our actions, nor even at their difficulty, but with the love with which we do them.” 
                                                                                                   St. Therese of Lisieux
 
"It is better to be a child of God than king of the whole world.”     St. Aloysius Gonzaga
 
"The ordinary acts we practice every day at home are more important to the soul than their simplicity might suggest."                                                     St. Thomas Moore
"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent, and could say: ‘I used everything you gave me.’"       Erma Bombeck