“Each of us may be the only Christ that another person ever experiences. How vital it is that we live our faith well.”
Fr. Don Hying
Jesus,
There have been times when I’ve desperately needed someone to be You for me, but I couldn’t find anyone to fill Your shoes. How lonely that felt!
There have also been times when someone stepped in for You most magnificently and through them, I was renewed.
So I wonder, when have I been Christ for others? How well do I live my faith? Forgive me Jesus, for in this regard, I know that I fail miserably.
I need you Jesus. Come to life for me. Be resurrected in my soul today so that I can exist for You alone, and bring You to the world around me.
Amen.
Anne,
ReplyDeleteThank you for this. This is a good prayer for me as I head into work this morning. My workplace is very secular and there are days I wonder why I am still there. It's then that I think about what the quote that began your post says: I may be the only "Jesus" people see.
Thanks again and God Bless!
My prayer also... "I need you Jesus. Come to life for me. Be resurrected in my soul today so that I can exist for You alone, and bring You to the world around me."
ReplyDeleteI fail miserably too... and am in desperate need of Him! ♥x♥x
Anne,
ReplyDeleteThis may sound strange. I have never gotten a "word" for someone I don't know but today He did this and it was for you. He wanted me to tell you to read my posting today and to tell you that you are one of these that he has called in this way. He also said that you are aware of this strong call within you and to just trust him. Your name means grace and He is filling you with them.
I will share something with you, Anne, that I have told very few people because I know you will believe. I don't mind sharing it publicly on your blog because it is not important to me whether others believe. I know what happened, and I actually had enough evidence to at least be able to believe myself what happened. I was at Lake Pestovo in Russia in August, two hours from the nearest city, and developed a very painful urinary tract infection. I know because I had one before, and it shut down my bladder. This one got bad fast and was nearly to that point. I collected the urine specimen to make sure the diagnosis was correct. It was. I saved the specimen although I had no doctor to get it to. The pain was so bad that I could not sleep, and every minute seemed like an hour. I finally prayed for God to help me sleep and give me the strength to live with the pain overnight since there was no way to call an ambulance; I would need a friend to come from town (Moscow was the closest) the next morning. Nothing else could be done. As I prayed, I saw (honest to God, I did) a being beside me: brown robe and sandals -- that was all I could see from the bed level, and I was in too much pain to look up. Suddenly, I felt big, strong, warm hands against my abdomen, and the warm immediately put me to sleep. In the morning, I woke up refreshed and with no pain. I took another urine specimen: perfectly clear. I might have convinced myself that I had been dreaming the pain from the night before, but there on the sink was the cloudy, clearly infected urine sample from the night before. Now, I did not ask for a cure; I just asked to be able to handle the pain, but, as in other thinks, God went right ahead and spoiled me again (I cannot explain why, and I do not ask Him why -- I do not feel a need to know), giving me far more than I asked for.
ReplyDeleteI am sure that God will answer your prayer, but, as with me, it may be different from what you expect -- and much better.
God bless you!
Simple and honest - what more could Christ ask of us. Thanks for the humble prayer.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great prayer. It reminds me of the conversation my husband and I were having last night ... we were talking about how living in a compassionate way is such a powerful way to draw others to faith.
ReplyDeleteI can relate to Karinann: I'm the only practicing Catholic in my workplace, and I don't talk about God much, but I do try (TRY!) to be Christ to others. And sometimes people ask me about Catholicism on their own ... which is always a great conversation to have.
Thank you for this beautiful prayer. I'm going to use it in my devotions.
ReplyDeleteGod bless you.