blank'/> SHARING THE REAL TRUTH: February 2010

Monday, February 22, 2010

WE ALL NEED TO BE A SIGN - Comments by Fr Hayden -17th Feb 2010

 

 
 

"We all need to be a sign and the first place to look for it, is in the Holy Bible. As mentioned in the Bishops' Lenten pastoral 2010, that emphasized, that everything that we do should start from the Word of God. Activities that do not come from the Word of God, are useless efforts that burden the Church. The Word of God must be the fountain from which we 'drink'. We find in the Scriptures how God chose certain people to be a sign - Like Ezekiel and Hosea - to show that even though man turns away from Him, God remains faithful to him.
You are in need of a SIGN when you are at the most unaware moment, when you have lost direction, when you are so lost that words are not enough. God, in all His mercy, gives us signs that shock us, that shake us, that make us question. Sometimes these signs are surprisingly 'rough', as when Our Lady weeps in Her apparitions and images - signs that draw the attention of the distracted world, even the Church. Something is happening; something that Heaven wants to speak to the human being by a sign. Jesus once said “I tell you, if they keep quiet the stones will cry out!” (Luke 19:40). WEEPING STATUES ARE THE STONES THAT SPEAK OUT, SPEAKING WITHOUT WORDS. We are so distracted that sometimes we need such signs. Sometimes these signs can be also the persons - as during St Francis of Assisi, when the church and the world were passing through difficult times, God gave a sign through him by the stigmatas, through his personal change, his new way of living, his new way of reasoning. He was a 'thorn' to those around him and he was made fun of and passed as a mad man. God wanted him to be a sign - without words, even through his strange way of dressing...with his example of the free person whom only God is the security, only God is the only One who will dress him, who will give him the dignity of the whole person. He was mocked at as a fool...but he shocked them ! He made them conscious - Through his nakedness, he crushed their pride, their thirst for money, even in the church. St Francis was not sick, but he was a sign that shook, and shook from the depth.

God gives this vocation to certain people, to be a sign - a shocking sign as at the presentation in the Temple, Simeon says of baby Jesus ( even Jesus was a sign), to Joseph and Mary, - Luke2:34 "And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against"

God wants to give you the vocation to be a SIGN, a sign of humility - in your family, in the church, in the community. Do not be afraid to receive this grace from God, to be a sign to others; when you see a sign from God in others, that seems strange or without sense in your mind, or that confuses you - learn to silence yourself.
When facing the sign, do not try to reason it out - just stop, silence yourself and let the sign speaks to you. Let God tell you what He wants you to know from the sign. Silence your mind, the logic, your reasoning - let God tell you what He wants to say to you. Many times God uses simple things, which seem silly, even useless, to bring to nothing the wisdom of the Wise, the wisdom of the person who thinks he is wise.

-1- Let us not be afraid to accept God's call to be a sign

-2- When we see in others that they are a sign to us, with all humility we should welcome him/her, accept him/her and accept him/her as a gift to us from Heaven."