All proceeds go to the running of our non-profit, charitable ministry: to better provide food and accommodations for the people with no place to go
first step:
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God loves His creation: us. He made man and woman in His image and likeness. (Gen. 1:27) "God so loved the world..." (Jn. 3:16)
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Man sinned, separating us from God's love, because sin cannot stand in the presence of God, Who is holy. (Hab. 1:13) What is sin? It is rebellion against what God says to do, loving evil instead of loving good. Satan was cast out of Heaven for this; (Lk. 10:18, Rev. 12:7-10) Adam and Eve were thrown out of Paradise. (Gen. 3:23) Eating of the "tree of knowledge of good and evil" (Gen. 2:17) brought original sin into the world, and "the wages of sin is death." (Rom. 6:23, cf. CCC 385-421) Living a life of sin brings fleeing pleasures, but ultimately leads to destruction (addictions, mental problems, broken relationships), and ultimately, Hell. Because mankind has placed itself under this death-curse through sin, people try to find "abundant life," through religion, good works, etc. to reach God, but ultimately fail. "But I'm a good person," doesn't reconcile us with God, or get us into Heaven, because "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." (Rom. 3:23, emph. mine) "And you, whereas you were some time alienated and enemies in mind in evil works..." (Col. 1:21)
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Jesus came to earth to save us; the Son of God became man. Sin entered the world through man, so it had to be defeated by a man, Who was also God: sinless and perfectly holy. Man couldn't reach God, so God came to man. Jesus died on the Cross and shed His innocent blood in a perfect sacrifice to God- He atoned, as God and man, for man's rebellion against God. "Because in him, it hath well pleased the Father, that all fullness should dwell; And through him to reconcile all things unto himself, making peace through the blood of his cross, both as to the things that are on earth, and the things that are in heaven." (Col. 1:19-20) The Blood of Jesus Christ washes away all sin, (1 Jn. 1:7) and brings us into a better place than the Paradise that was lost: they walked with God, now God can live inside of us. The victory that Christ won over sin has given us greater blessings than those which sin had taken from us: "where sin increased, grace abounded all the more" (Rom 5:20). Christians believe that "the world has been established and kept in being by the Creator's love; has fallen into slavery to sin but has been set free by Christ, crucified and risen to break the power of the evil one. . . (CCC 420-421) Jesus is the only way (Jn. 14:6) to freedom, new life (Jn. 10:10) and eternal life in Heaven. Jesus said, "Now this is eternal life: That they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." (Jn. 17:3)
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But, in order to be forgiven and receive
Jesus inside of us, we still have to choose
to make Jesus our Lord and Saviour.
God always honours free will- we can reject,
or receive the Gospel message.
"But as many as received him, he gave them power to be made the sons of God, to them that believe in his name." (Jn. 1:12, emph. mine) The kerygma is the message of salvation! Convicted of sin by the Holy Spirit (Jn. 16:8), people are asking, "what must I do to be saved?" (Acts 16:30-31) Scripture tells us that Jesus is ready and waiting for our decision:
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him." (Revelation 3:20)
"Come to me, all you that labour, and are burdened, and I will refresh you. Take up my yoke upon you, and learn of me, because I am meek, and humble of heart: and you shall find rest to your souls. For my yoke is sweet and my burden light." (Matt. 11:28-30)
Choose Jesus, and receive His love and salvation by faith: Repent (change your ways, turn back to God and ask His forgiveness. A change of life, not just praying a prayer) and believe the Gospel- "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life."(Jn. 3:16) Receive Jesus into your heart as Saviour and Lord (Jn. 1:12) and confess this with your mouth (Rom. 10). This can be accomplished by praying the following:
Prayer of Salvation
(for renewed faith in Jesus Christ)
Lord Jesus Christ, come into my heart. I desire that You be the Lord of my life, so that I may be a Child of the Light. To know You as my personal Savior. For I know and believe that You died on the Cross for my sins. You rose again from the dead on the third day, and You are coming again in glory. I believe in Your forgiveness, and I desire that You help me to refrain from any temptations that would keep me separated from Your everlasting love. Amen.
Committing your life to Jesus Christ is the best possible choice you could ever make. By faith, we trust that He has saved us by His all-sufficient sacrifice on the Cross, now appropriated into my own heart and life. Living on the inside of you by the Holy Spirit, now He can help you walk like Him, away from darkness into light, into service. He is pleased to reveal His plan for your life (Eph. 1:9) if you seek Him with all your heart through daily prayer, Scripture reading (we recommend starting with the 4 'healing' Gospels) and receiving the sacraments. Peter proclaimed, "repent and be baptized..."(Acts 2:38) Baptism, Confirmation....all the 7 sacraments are important for growth in holiness. If you have not received the sacraments, please visit your parish priest.
Once we have received Jesus as Lord, we can walk with Him as a disciple. Daily Scripture reading and prayer is essential, as Jesus said, "If you continue in my word, you shall be my disciples indeed." (Jn. 8:31) This empowers us to hear God's voice, and brings to life our sacramental experiences and other forms of prayer.
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"The Holy Spirit gives the Christian - whose life would otherwise risk being subject only to force, to rules and even to external conformism - docility, freedom and fidelity: indeed, he is the "Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord" (Is 11:2). Without him, how could we understand that Christ's yoke is easy and his burden light (cf. Mt 11:30)?"
+ Pope St. John Paul II, "Message of the Holy Father on the Occasion of the 13th World Youth Day," link.
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It does not stop here. We must receive the Holy Spirit. Jesus said "And I send the promise of my Father upon you," (Lk. 24:49) the Holy Spirit. He brings all of this to completion, and empowers us to bring others to the "wellsprings of salvation." (Is. 12:3) How do we receive the Holy Spirit? Jesus said that anyone who asks the Father, will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Luke 11:13) We should pray, fast and cry out for the Holy Spirit. Jesus instructed the Apostles and disciples to "stay you in the city till you be endued with power from on high." (Lk. 24:49) Those who did as He said, and continued in prayer with the Apostles and the Blessed Virgin Mary, received the power of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost: "And when the days of the Pentecost were accomplished, they were all together in one place: And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a mighty wind coming, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them parted tongues as it were of fire, and it sat upon every one of them: And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they began to speak with divers tongues, according as the Holy Ghost gave them to speak." (Acts 2:1-4)
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God wants us to serve Him and others through the power of the Holy Spirit. The power and gifts of the Holy Spirit are for our own sanctification, as well as for service of our fellow man. Jesus said His followers would do greater works than He did! (Jn. 14:12) The Great Commission (God's call to each Christian) cannot be fulfilled without the power of the Holy Spirit:
"And he said to them: Go ye into the whole world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be condemned. And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name they shall cast out devils: they shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents; and if they shall drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them: they shall lay their hands upon the sick, and they shall recover. And the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God. But they going forth preached every where: the Lord working withal, and confirming the word with signs that followed." (Mark 16:15-20)
The Acts of the Apostles and the lives of the saints show us how the Holy Spirit empowers us to serve the Lord in the way that He chooses for us. He has a plan for each person; it is our job to find out what it is. The Holy Spirit is given so that we can follow Jesus supernaturally, hear His voice and do His will. (Jn. 10:27)
Accept the kerygma / the Gospel Message
"Repent and believe the Gospel."
(Mark 1:15)
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Good Daily Prayers
-Prayer of Salvation
(for renewed faith in Jesus Christ)
Lord Jesus Christ, come into my heart. I desire that You be the Lord of my life, so that I may be a Child of the Light. To know You as my personal Savior. For I know and believe that You died on the Cross for my sins. You rose again from the dead on the third day, and You are coming again in glory. I believe in Your forgiveness, and I desire that You help me to refrain from any temptations that would keep me separated from Your everlasting love. Amen.
Enliven your faith!
-Daily Praise
and Worship
-Daily lectio divina
(meditation on
God's Word)
-Prayer to Take Authority
Imprimatur: + Bishop James Pazhyatil
Bishop of Irinjalakuda, India
(It is encouraged that this prayer be said twice daily. Also, this prayer has no power whatsoever unless a chapter of Scripture is read each day, preferably from the four Gospels.)
+ Sign of our Faith (In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.) +
In the Name of Jesus, I take authority and I bind all powers and forces in the air, in the ground, in the water, in the underground, in the nether-world, in nature, and in fire.
You are the Lord over the entire universe and I give You the glory for Your creation. In Your name I bind all demonic forces that have come against us and our families, and I seal all of us in the protection of Your Precious Blood that was shed for us on the Cross.
Mary, Our Mother, we seek your protection and intercession with the Sacred Heart of Jesus for us and our families, and surround us with Your mantle of love to discourage the enemy.
St. Michael and our guardian angels come defend us and our families in battle against all the evil ones that roam the earth.
In the Name of Jesus, I bind and command all the powers and forces of evil to depart right now, away from us, our homes and our lands, and we thank You Lord Jesus, for You are a faithful and compassionate God.
Amen.
Hail Mary….
How to walk with Jesus
more closely:
P R A I S E
Brother Lawrence and many other saints and teachers of the Christian tradition, promoted that the "practice of the presence of God" is of the utmost importance. As St. Faustyna Kowalska said, "Faithfulness to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit – that is the shortest route" to holiness! (Divine Mercy in My Soul, par. 291)
the early Franciscans:
Daily devotion to, and the experience of the Holy Spirit's anointing comes about through praise, the highest form of prayer (because it is entirely focused on God Himself, see Catechism of the Catholic Church 2639)...it is what the angels and saints do forever in Heaven.
God always attends praise from the heart with His anointed presence: "But thou dwellest in the holy place, the praise of Israel." (Psalm 22:3)
"...they bore all so bravely that the voice of praise and thanksgiving alone sounded in their mouth. Scarcely, or not at all, did they cease from praising God and from prayer."
(The First Life of St. Francis, Thomas of Celano, par. 40)
Join us here for daily praise and worship (about 20 min.) to come under the anointing of the Holy Spirit
Lectio Divina
how to read and pray the Bible
Jesus said, “If you continue in my word, you shall be my disciples indeed.” (John 8:31) It is not a Protestant thing, or a Catholic thing- it is a Christian thing. How much time do we spend reading and meditating on Scripture each day?
St. Benedict, in no. 48 of his rule of life, said "idleness is the enemy of the soul; and therefore the community ought to be employed in manual labor at certain times, at others, in divine reading.” Divine reading in Latin is "lectio divina." There are some powerful steps to entering communion with God through this holy reading of Scripture mixed with prayer and communion with Jesus.
-1 a Call upon the Holy Spirit. (Possibly the best time is right after praise and worship, prayer in the Spirit as this is when our spiritual eyes and ears are opened)
-1 Lectio (read the passage, seeking to hear from God)
-2 Meditatio (when a word or phrase sticks out, think about/consider what God may be saying to you, personally)
-3 Oratio (pray, converse with God about this and seek understanding- "Lord, please expand on this")
-4 Contemplatio (sit in quiet union with the Lord) "Contemplative prayer is silence...or 'silent love'...like kindling that feeds the fire of love." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2717). This is where our strength and energy are renewed, our prayer power. (Isaiah 40:31)
-5 Actio (put into action what God is saying in real life) "Faith without deeds is dead." (James 2:14) We need to respond in prayer, but also in action- if God is speaking to us about forgiveness, we need to forgive, about the poor, we need to do something for someone in need, etc.
NB: the daily readings of the Church (esp. the Gospel) are a great choice for daily Scripture. Another option is to do a Scripture study of some kind- e.g. if you need peace, do a study of all the Scripture verses on "peace," and find out its true meaning, etc.
Witness Example:
once, Lee Anne was meditating on the word, "therefore," as appears in Scripture so many times. She did not understand why this word had stood out to her. After 3 weeks (!) of meditating, waiting in silence and asking "what are You saying to me, Lord?" one day she heard her own voice, in her spirit, saying to God interiorly, "what did You send me up there for?" It was a revelation from the Lord! (Gal. 1:11-12) She realized that she had been upset with the Lord for sending her as a missionary to a town that she absolutely did not like. Of course, God later revealed His will and plan through a huge move of the Spirit in the life of the local priest and the parish... but at the time, she was upset and didn't fully realize it! Thank God that He knows our own hearts better than we do- but it takes the Word ("sharper than a two-edged sword" Heb. 4:12) to pry it out of us.
If Lee Anne had not continued in asking the Lord, "what are saying with 'therefore'?" this time in Scripture would have had no impact on her daily life.
R E V I V A L
personal transformation
Praise and worship, coupled with lectio divina, the prayerful reading of the Scriptures, can act as dynamite for any spiritual life: "Praise embraces the other forms of prayer and carries them toward him who is its source and goal," the Father. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2639) Experiencing the anointing of the Holy Spirit through praise and worship, and listening to God in daily Scripture meditation, makes the sacraments come alive with greater meaning and efficacy, as these forms of prayer activate the heart, making it ready to receive all that God has for us.
Without a personal revelation of God, all religious activities are useless! "For neither did I receive it of man, nor did I learn it; but by the revelation of Jesus Christ." (Gal. 1:12)
Praise and worship to come under a daily anointing, and meditation on the Scriptures (especially the four "healing Gospels") bring transformation to the soul during an intimate communion between God and ourselves each day as we enter His Word in prayer.
Lee Anne's testimony: "How Praying for the Anointing of the Holy Spirit and Reading Scripture Changed My Life"
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Healing Prayers
"When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill."
(Matt. 8:16)
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