Friday, May 28, 2010

When Your World is Falling Apart























I found this posted at the In God's Company 2 blog and it seems appropriate to the way things are going these days. Please keep praying for the people of the Gulf Coast:

When your world is falling apart

*The consummation of all is close at hand." —1 Peter 4:7
* "above all, let your love for one another be constant" (1 Pt 4:8).
* "put your trust in God" (Mk 11:22), * "do not be perturbed" (1 Pt 4:7),
* "remain calm so that you will be able to pray" (1 Pt 4:7),
* "when you stand to pray, forgive anyone against whom you have a grievance" (Mk 11:25),
* "put your gifts at the service of one another" (1 Pt 4:10),
* "do not be surprised, beloved, that a trial by fire is occurring in your midst" (1 Pt 4:12),
* "rejoice instead, in the measure that you share Christ's sufferings" (1 Pt 4:13).

*To summarize, when "the consummation of all is close at hand," that is, when the world is falling apart, love, trust, pray, forgive, serve, and rejoice. Don't be upset or surprised.
*This may seem to be a very unusual way of reacting to the end of the world or of our own world, but we can react this way because of our personal relationship with Jesus.
*When we have totally surrendered our lives to Him, we can confidently say: "I am certain that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor powers, neither height nor depth nor any other creature, will be able to separate us from the love of God that comes to us in Christ Jesus, our Lord" (Rm 8:38-39). "The Lord is my Light and my Salvation; Whom should I fear?" (Ps 27:1)
*Prayer: Jesus, may I look forward to the end of the world, even my own world, because of Your final coming.
*"I give you My word, if you are ready to believe that you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer, it shall be done for you." —Mk 11

7 comments:

Ed Sousa said...

Thank You Padre Steve for posting this. It does feel sometimes that everythin is falling apart around us. But we have God's promise that He is with us and that's all that matters.

Opal said...

Fr. Steve, thanks so much for giving us this prayer for today, it has brought me much comfort in knowing that our Lord is watching over us. Living in Southeast Louisiana and on Bayou Barataria, I can tell you that life here has really been tough for my extended family who are burdened with this oil spill. So many are out of employment because they depend on the Gulf Of Mexico or the nearby lakes to make a living. 95% of the people I know who live here in the Lafitte/Barataria area depend on seafood to make a living. Whether it is being a local shrimper, crabber or oysterfisherman, not to mention the people involved in buying and selling the seafood the fishermen catch, life will never be the same because of this oil spill! My brother-in-law is a charter fisherman and his business has suffered because most of the waters are closed to fishing and clients have cancelled fishing excursions. As you can see, it is a domino affect. We need so much prayer to help all get through this disruption in life as we once knew it. Only God knows what life holds for us!
Take care Father and may God bless you!
Opal Boudreaux

Padre Steve said...

Keep up the great work Ed!

and, Opal we are praying for all of you everyday. My heart breaks everyday as I look at the news, but don't forget that the cross of Christ leads us to his resurrection. God is with us!

Eileen said...

Father Steve,

Please pray for me and my family. My husband filed for divorce on the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima. I have a true devotion to her. I pray that God will give us the graces to avoid this terrible evil. I am asking for your prayers.

Anonymous said...

Eileen, I am praying for you. I can't imagine the turmoil you must be going through. Sufferings like these can bear much fruit if we keep pure eyes on God, always putting our trust in Him - over adn over again.

Padre Steve said...

Eileen, be assured of my prayers as well. Know that God is with you in this difficult time.

Anonymous said...

Please pray for me, too. My husband has been having an affair for three years now. Three times he said he ended it, but it wasn't true. He now has left me and our three kids and lives with her. I don't know what to do. I wish he would come home and try to work things out, but he won't. I feel like my world is falling apart and my children's world. Sorry to go on and on. It's just so hard to go on every day. I'd really appreciate any prayers.