Who is my neighbour ? ..

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones…” – Matt 18:10

As soon as the light turned red and our car stopped, like a bolt of lightning, the young girl, perhaps seven years old, threw a pint of soapy water onto our car window. She then began to wipe, scrub and bubble away. It was in the middle of the road on a cool December night. But I was not cool. She caught me by surprise. And the other kids, wearing wet, soiled clothes were running around with buckets and foam.

Despite my growing impatience, I was drawn to this girl. She could have been in a school Christmas party this moment, I thought. But she was here working so as to eat. When she cleaned my window, I looked into her eyes. Was that sorrow? The light turned green when she begged for my half empty cup of cola. There was no time and cars behind us were honking. As we started to move, I stared through the now crystal-clear glass before me.

All of a sudden, I felt a empty. I missed my chance to bless one of God’s little ones.

See below some archive footage from Ethiopia in 1984, a similar scene to Darfur and so many areas of Sudan right now. Help if you can.. see Medjugorje International Relief

Do you have a difficult person in your life ?

“Lord, help me to bless people today.”
That’s my daily morning prayer… uh, when I’m happy. And usually, I am. But once in awhile, I don’t wake up happy. And usually, it’s because of a difficult person in my life.

That’s when I pray, “Lord, how can I bless this… this… this… creature?” I’m a very patient person, so this doesn’t happen too often. But it happens.
Friend, do you have a difficult person in your life?
And do you sometimes want to pray, “Lord, if you will allow it, let a 50,000 megawatt bolt of lightning strike (Name of Difficult Person) right now. Not to kill him, Lord. Just enough to wake him up and give him second degree burns. Just kidding Lord, but with all due respect, what were you thinking when you created this pathological human being? I don’t want to sound offensive, but were you sleeping on the job when you created this creature? He’s a mess. He’s a composite of all the villains of Spiderman put together….”

Do you sometimes wonder if this difficult person heard God in the middle of the night say, “My child, your ultimate mission in life is to be difficult. That’s the entire purpose of your existence. You shall be the thorn in someone’s flesh. Do everything in your power to annoy him. Be irresponsible. Or be demanding. Or be totally negative. Or be selfish. Or be constantly angry. Or be possessive. Or be always depressed. It doesn’t matter. Your objective is to make his life hell on earth.”

Yes, I must admit that I don’t like a few unlovable characters here and there, but generally, I think the Almighty has done a fantastic job inventing human beings.
I also believe that God allows difficult people to come into our lives to give us very special gifts. What could these gifts be?

I could list down a hundred gifts, but keeping the list short will make it easier to appreciate.
Are you ready? Here are the big 4 gifts you receive from difficult people. (Note: Check out especially Gift #2, because that’s what many people don’t do…)

Gift 1:
Difficult people can teach you how to love, preparing you for Heaven!

You learn to become more patient, more understanding, more persevering.
You have pity for them because you realize that “Hurt people hurt people”
You learn to see the good qualities even among difficult people.
You learn how to be compassionate as God is compassionate.
You learn how to forgive, to remove bitterness from your heart.

Gift #2:
Difficult people can teach you to protect yourself and learn to say “No” to abuse.

You learn to love yourself, respect yourself, by no longer allowing abuse.
You learn to be courageous and stand up against bullies.
You learn to give tough love—refusing his abuse again. It may be the most loving thing you can do for a difficult person.
You wizen up, learn tact, and learn how to distance yourself from harmful people.

Gift #3:
Difficult people can help you get to know your weaknesses.

Difficult people remind you that you too could be difficult to others.
Difficult people teach you many important lessons in life. By seeing the tragic results of their actions, you’re inspired to do the very opposite of what they do.

Gift #4:
Difficult people can bring you closer to God.

Difficult people force you to pray a lot. (“Lord, help! I can’t take it anymore!”)
Difficult people force you to trust in God. (“Lord, I give up! I’ve done everything but she’s still a monster…”)
Praying for difficult people may not change them, but YOU will.
“Your cross (difficult person) is your key to heaven…” St. Poveda
You realize that YOU are God’s difficult person—yet you’re still loved by God..
Friend, God allows difficult people into your life to give you these 4 gifts. Don’t miss receiving them!

May your dreams come true,
Articles by Bo Sanchez

I will be with you always...

During China's 1911 Republican Revolution or the earlier Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901), anti-Catholic militants seized a Catholic parish. They confined the pastor to house arrest. From his rectory window he witnessed the desecration of the Church.
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He knew that there had been thirty-two consecrated hosts in the tabernacle. An eleven year old girl was praying at the back of the church and the guards either did not see her or else paid no attention to her.
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She returned to the Church that night and made a Holy Hour and then consumed one of the sacred hosts, bending down to receive Jesus on her tongue. She continued to return every night, making a nightly Holy Hour and consuming one sacred host.
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On the last night, the thirty-second night, unfortunately a guard was awakened after she consumed the sacred host. He chased her, grabbed her, and beat her to death with his rifle.
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Archbishop Fulton Sheen became aware of her martyrdom while he was a seminarian. He was so inspired by her sacrifice that he promised to pray a holy hour before the Blessed Sacrament each day for the rest of his life.
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The eleven year old girl could have had no idea how she would have influenced a future bishop who would in turn influence millions and promote Eucharistic Adoration. We also have no idea how our witness and sacrifices influence others.

Prayers for Healing of AIDS

I met a woman today who testified of Jesus' love and forgiveness. She is a living testimony that the good Lord lives today! She was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in 2002 and lost one of her children to this dreadful disease a few years ago.
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She was on her death bed and was in hospital and, according to her own words, she was so ill she was in diapers! Her only living child was also dying from AIDS and there seemed to be no hope! Until she was introduced to the Lord Jesus Christ! In one week she met Christ and invited Him into her life. She declared Jesus as Christ and Savior and gave her life to Him.
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In that same week she visited my sister-in-law' s church and they prayed over her and laid their hands on her and prayed for her healing. She thought nothing of it and later that week went to the clinic to collect ARV (Anti-retroviral) medication and as is procedure they did a CD4 count and her count resembled that of a normal person which alarmed the nurses so they called in the doctor to do an HIV/AIDS test and she tested negative!
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The doctor could not believe it so they did several more tests which all came out negative. She was amazed and quickly went home to get her only living daughter who also had AIDS and got her tested too and amazingly her daughter tested negative too! In that same week she went for an interview and got a job as a child minder in a nursery school.

And now for something...

Completley Different..

Don't Complicate your Life..

“Excuse me, where is the Trinity?”
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I was walking in the lobby of St. Luke’s hospital in Quezon City when this man came up and hit me with this very deep question.
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He looked very confused. My guess was that he recognized me from my TV show or my books and decided to ask me a spiritual question. So I gave him my best shot. I dug deep into my theology and said, “The Trinity is all around us. The Trinity is within you. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one…”
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His face looked even more puzzled, so I tried even harder. “I know this is difficult to understand, but there are three persons in one God…” I explained. “Think of fire. The flame, the light, and the heat are separate things yet they’re one. Just like the Trinity.” Believe me, I was mesmerized by my own intelligence.
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That was when he interrupted my brilliant answer and said, “Uh, that’s great, but uh… I just want to know where the Holy Trinity School is?”
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“Oh…,” I turned red as a tomato and said, “Go right at E. Rodriguez and you’ll see it in 5 minutes…” He thanked me and left in a huff. Probably to get away as fast as he can from the religious kook he was talking to.
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Would you believe? I was explaining the Dogma of the Trinity to a man who simply needed simple directions.
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I’ve learned my lesson never to complicate my life more than I should.