[timmch]

Your faithfulness is remarkable.

[timmch]

Your first example with the hostess was really interesting and I believe I could do that. Thanks

[timmch]

What a wonderful story. The power of persistence in prayer! And you are a great friend to him. Thanks for sharing

[timmch]

I have not specifically done a Novena to the Holy Spirit but I have certainly been praying to Him daily for quite a while since I started this training. My prayer is asking the Holy Spirit to give me the grace to Love God as He wants and deserves to be loved. I pray for the grace to do this Evangelization thing because of my love for Him and for His people. To do this out of Love – Love for God and love for my fellow man.
Last week I went to a dinner at a local restaurant with the men of the Holy Name Society and our new Pastor. For whatever reason I could feel myself getting ticked off about something and started to fume a bit. But then the thought came to me “do this out of Love for God” and I made a conscious decision to stop being an old crank and ended up having a nice time. And 2 fellows in the Holy Name Society offered to walk with me when I begin my SPSE evangelization.
Now this is going to sound nuts. We have dogs because my wife absolutely loves dogs but I can take them or leave them. Everyone in the family knows I am not a dog lover. Well I have been thinking about dogs lately. I was thinking that God made dogs for us to love (my Wife said God loves dogs) because my dogs certainly seem to love me. So anyhow I thought instead of putting up the dogs why not love them. Interesting how love seems to be the answer to many issues. I know this may sound trite but it’s a real change for me.

[timmch]

An interesting read. I can’t help but wonder if what you are talking about regarding the Priest facing us vs facing away is all tied up in the loss of reverence we see so often in our Catholic Churches these days.

[timmch]

I’d say a number of things have changed in my prayer life. I’ve started praying much more frequently throughout the day. I have always said traditional prayers but have started praying what comes to mind. I am a checklist type of person for sure and I have made a conscious effort to change this. I recently was going through a very stressful time and I just told God what I was feeling. I have also started using the A part of ACTS much more and find it very helpful. I have not appreciated enough the Majesty and absolute Awesomeness of God but starting my prayers with Adoration first has really helped.
Another thing I’ve started to pray for is the grace to Love God with my whole heart, soul, mind and strength and my neighbor as myself. I’ve also kept in mind the idea of gradualness. There is no doubt I am changing.

[timmch]

I was at work this AM when a patient came in and began talking to me about the cancer he is dealing with. He was very upset so I just let him talk. He went over and was working on some exercise equipment so I walked over and gave him a Miraculous Medal telling him this is a MM and it provides a lot of grace and even miracles to those who wear it. He thanked me. I went over a few minutes later and talked to him and he thanked me again telling me his mom is a big believer. I asked him if he wanted to say and prayer and he did so we did. When he left he thanked me for the MM and for the prayer.
I have given the MM to 3 of my co-workers. One is a fallen away Catholic, one is an evangelical and I’m not sure about the other.
I was treating a patient recently who said something to me about liking faith but doesn’t have any. I asked her if I could practice something and I told her the Kerygma. I asked how it went and she said she liked it and it did not sound condescending. I saw her a week or 2 later and gave her a MM telling her it provides grace and even miracles for those who wear it. She was grateful for it. She said she doesn’t wear jewelry but will hang it in her car.

[timmch]

Seems to me you’ve got the key- trusting in the Holy Spirit.

[timmch]

I was at an Alpha reunion last night. At one point we were to have discussions at our tables (12 people) and talk about what’s next after taking the Alpha course. I talked about getting started with SPSE and told them the Kerygma. They all just loved it and asked me to sent it to the group via email. I then had the opportunity to tell the Kerygma to the whole group of about 40 people. I explained how it brings the power of the Holy Spirit with it. It was just great! I told them I am a cradle Catholic and had never heard of the Kerygma. Most of the people had never heard of it either. It seems the more I say it the deeper it gets into me.

[timmch]

My story seems to be a long thread. There have been some moments that I have had an epiphany but by and large it has been a journey of starts,stops,moving ahead and moving back. Interestingly enough it seems that some of my greatest movements forwards toward loving God have been going through this training. I was at an Alpha reunion last night and had the opportunity to share one of my “ephiphany moments”. My wife and I had come back to the Church but I was pretty much a Sunday Catholic. I was working out on my elliptical thinking about holding off aging when I had this thought come into my head that was not a voice but was clear as a bell nonetheless “are you taking care of what is really important?”. I knew for sure I was not. But shortly after that got involved in a Holy Spirit School of prayer and helped start a Catholic Men’s group in my area.
In reading through the lesson I found the concept of developing one succinct story almost impossible. It seems my journey has many many pieces. I read through the ‘building your testimony’ guide and came up with a number of different “testimonies” that I can use based upon the situation. My plan is to pray for guidance, review the worksheet, see what comes up and review with my wife for her input since she remembers things I forgot. For example as I was sharing at the Alpha meeting mentioned above my wife reminded me about our pilgrimage to Medujorge. Anyway I can see this will be a continued work in progress.

[timmch]

I was listening to a podcast on Catholic Answers I believe and it was mentioned that the hardest people to evangelize are family. I recall the advice was pray and ask that someone will come into their life who will bring them back to the Church.

[timmch]

I really like your prayer to the Holy Spirit regarding asking for guidance and more patience.

[timmch]

I asked some of my patients if I could practice saying the Kerygma to them. I explained it was for something I’m doing for my Church. I has been very interesting. 2 of the people were what one might call very rough individuals. As I spoke it to them the looks on their faces was really amazing. They listened very intently and seriously. The one young lady who was wearing a sweatshirt with profanity on it said something to the effect that “I needed to hear that”. I said it to my son in law who was just talking to me about how nice it was to go to Christmas Mass and he and my daughter need to start going again. I asked him what he thought of it and he said it was amazing and it’s all right there isn’t it.
I am a cradle Catholic and went 12 years to Catholic School. I had never heard of the Kerygma. At first I just read it thinking “OK lets get to the next section because this is something I know”. I took it to adoration in order to memorize it and kept saying it over and over. Oh my goodness. It was then that I realized how absolutely amazing the Kerygma is. It really is the whole essence of the Gospel in a nutshell. It is all there in a few sentences. So simple yet so profound! It really has the power of the Holy Spirit in it.

[timmch]

I asked the Holy Spirit who I needed to pray for and a former business partner came to my mind. I called him and we spoke for a minute. I have stayed in touch with him by text message and suggested he and his wife join my wife and myself for dinner soon. He was very receptive to that idea. A week or so later I saw a couple of young ladies at my work who are in need of prayer and have added them to my intercession list.

[Author]

Replies