Do You Need Jesus to Raise You Up?

 

Jesus is always healing people. Every time we read about Jesus in the gospels, He's healing somebody. Very often we place these situations, these stories, these parables apart from ourselves. We place them as separate from ourselves. We don't think of ourselves as being deaf. We don't think of ourselves as being blind. We don't think of ourselves as being in need of healing. But the reality is, we probably all need a little bit of healing every single day. But we don't look for healing. We don't ask for healing.

 

In this gospel story, we see a desperate father with a sick child who would do anything to help his little girl get better, get well, live? He comes, begging Jesus.

The synagogue official servants come and they say, "Stop bothering the man. Your daughter's died." Jesus says, "Don't listen to them." He says that to us all the time. He says, "Don't listen to them." Jesus is constantly telling us, "Don't listen to them." Who's them? Just about everybody else." He's saying, "Listen to me." Focus on me. Don't listen to them." God, I constantly make this decision. Are we going to listen to Jesus or are we going to listen to the world? Are we going to let the world guide us, or are we going to let Jesus guide us? 

 

Jesus says to the synagogue official, He says, "Don't listen to them. Stay with me. Let's go to your house. They go to the house. "She's dead. She's dead. She's dead." Everyone's crying and screaming and hysterical. Jesus is calm. He says to him, "She's not dead, she's asleep." He goes over and says, "Little girl, I say to you rise." Little girl gets up.

 

What area of your life do you need Jesus to do that in? Do you need Jesus to come over to you in your marriage and say, "Arise marriage." Do you need Jesus to come over to you in your career and say arise career? Do you need Jesus to come over to you in your personal finances and say arise personal finances? Do you need Jesus to come over to you in some aspect of your health and say arise health? Do you need Jesus to come over to you and say arise leaky pipes, broken chainsaw, dumb computer, faulty wiring, poor garden seeds, burnt relationships, empty pews, closed churches. We all need to be raised up by Jesus in some way today. How do you need God to raise you up today? And do you believe that he's capable of doing that? That he yearns to do that, that he wants to do that for you.

 

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that they have the faith and trust to ask Jesus to come into their life and say arise health, arise loneliness, arise depression, arise doubt, and know that God wants to do that for you today.

 

 

I Just Want to Scream

 

My neighbor Maggie has a health insurance plan that provides a healthy benefit to purchase frozen prepared meals delivered to your home. She recently was discharged from the hospital after a fall. These meals are a God-send since they are very nutritious and easy to make in her microwave.

 

Hour One. It's 8am and I am calling her medical insurance company to order more of these healthy frozen meals. The first customer service agent is the vendor for the prepared meals. She says the subscriber can order online. Maggie has no computer. I request to make the order over the phone. After an hour, I am told I need to contact another department and given a phone number to call.

 

Hour Two. I am calling the medial insurance healthy rewards department. This customer service agent wants to email a catalog of products Maggie can order using her healthy benefits subscriber U-card. Maggie receives $213 each month to spend on approved supplies. However, I notice that there are no prepared frozen meals in their online catalog.

 

Hour Three. I am now rerouted to a third department and this customer service agent explains the subscriber healthy benefit service. I share that I am looking to purchase more of the prepared frozen meals, and she has no clue what I am talking about and puts me on hold on and the line goes dead.

 

Hour Four. I call back the Healthy Rewards department and start again with my request to order the frozen prepared meals and this customer service agent give me another phone number to the service vendor called RFoodX. Remember, this was my first call at 8am and their agent could not order over the phone.

 

Hour Five. I call RFoodX and start from scratch and this customer service agent reviews Maggie’s benefit plan in which she has $213 to spend each month on supplies that I was informed include the frozen meals. However, this agent says that I need to call the Healthy Benefits department and they can take her order over the phone. Really?

 

Hour Six. I am back calling the Healthy Benefit department and explain again my request to the customer service agent that I want to order the frozen prepared melas. She reviews Maggie’s benefits that include $213 each month for supplies, She explains that she can take orders for supplies from the catalog over the phone.  I once again share there are no frozen meals in their catalog and share the vendor RFoodX will not take the order over the phone. I request to speak to a supervisor who can solve this problem and complete the order. I am put on hold. This time a manager comes on the phone, I share the problem and she gives me a fourth phone number to call another department..

 

Hour Seven. This new number is to the Healthy Reward department.. I share with the customer service agent the purpose of my call is to order the frozen prepared meals and that the vendor website RFoodX says to call their number for customer service. You guessed it, the phone number comes to the Healthy Rewards department. I am told to call the medical insurance customer service department.

 

Hour Eight. It is 5 o’clock and I am defeated. But for one last time, I contact the medical insurance customer service department. The agent is very sympathetic, but he has no clue what to do and it’s now 5:58 and the service closes at 6pm EST. He transfers me to another customer service agent.

 

Hour Nine: Folks, we are talking to Jeremy. I start from the beginning and Jeremy listens. He reviews Maggie’s online medical plan that includes benefits that indeed include frozen prepared melas. He noticed that her card is from 2023 and she has not been reissued a new 2024 card. The U-card number needed to purchase the frozen prepared meals online is incorrect. I require a new U-card number. I have no idea what is the correct U-card number since there are five different number on the front of her medical card and two more on the back of her medical card. Jeremy and I are working together online to login into her account and update her file.

 

Hour Ten. 7:30pm. We have uploaded on the medical insurance website Maggie’s information to get a new 2024 medical card. This will generate a new U-card number to hopefully order the prepared meals. I go back to the RFoodX website and put in the U-card number and the site says “incorrect” number. Jeremy on his own time shared that he doesn’t hang up on his customers until the problem is solved. However, the main office closed an hour and half ago but he chose to stay on the phone with me. He promised to call me back at 8am the next morning.

 

Hour 11: It's 8am the next morning and no Jeremy, I wait till 8:15 and call the health insurance customer service. No, the agent doesn’t know a Jeremy. He transfers me to another department. I ask this agent I can’t locate Jeremy but can he give me the new U-card number to order the frozen prepared meals. He notes online that a new card was ordered yesterday but we have to wait two weeks for the card to be delivered by snail mail. The subscriber then has to call the health insurance  to activate the new card. On this new card is the new U-card number. I ask this agent for the new U-card number so I can order her food. He replies that due to security reasons, I have to wait for the card to be mailed which takes two weeks and Maggie then has to call customer service to activated the new card. Again, I am defeated.

 

Hour 12:  I decide to make one more phone call to the health insurance customer service department and Casey answers. Question, can you kindly give me the new 19 digit U-card number so that I can order the frozen prepared meals for Maggie before her Healthy Reward benefits expire for this month. Casey looks up the number and without any fuss shared the 19 digit number with it's security code. The last four digits of this number do not match what is printed on the website. This is a God moment. I notice that when Jeremy had me login online to get Maggie her 2024 subscriber card, a new U-card number was issued. However, the 2024 card thst appeared on her login page was not undated and incorrect. I asked Casey, please don’t hangup. Let me go online to the RFoodX checkout order form, insert the correct U-card number and security code and by the grace of God, it works!!! Thank you, Casey.

 

It took 12 hours, 18 agents, 6 different phone numbers  to make the online purchase of the meals.

 

In the meantime, Maggie was transported by the Bethany paramedics at 5am this morning to Warsaw Hospital. When I talked to her on the phone in the emergency ward, I was connected to her room in the ED and asked what happened and she simply said, “I needed help.” Keep our Maggie in your prayers.

 

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends who have been victims of a scam called our medical insurance system. The chaos and nightmare of getting the services from your medical insurance are the result of management that is out of touch with the human need to listen, to learn and to love their subscribers. Sadly, managed care is not interested in customer service but fleecing the patient when one is sick and most vulnerable.  Lord, give us the patience and tenacity to challenge this injustice and stop the abuse.

 

Do You Need Jesus to Raise You Up

 

Jesus is always healing people. Every time we read about Jesus in the gospels, He's healing somebody. Very often we place these situations, these stories, these parables apart from ourselves. We place them as separate from ourselves. We don't think of ourselves as being deaf. We don't think of ourselves as being blind. We don't think of ourselves as being in need of healing. But the reality is, we probably all need a little bit of healing every single day. But we don't look for healing. We don't ask for healing.

 

In this gospel story, we see a desperate father with a sick child who would do anything to help his little girl get better, get well, live? He comes, begging Jesus.

 

The synagogue official servants come and they say, "Stop bothering the man. Your daughter's died." Jesus says, "Don't listen to them." He says that to us all the time. He says, "Don't listen to them." Jesus is constantly telling us, "Don't listen to them. Who's them? Just about everybody else." He's saying, "Listen to me. Focus on me. Don't listen to them." God, I constantly make this decision. Are we going to listen to Jesus or are we going to listen to the world? Are we going to let the world guide us, or are we going to let Jesus guide us? Jesus says to the synagogue official, He says, "Don't listen to them. Stay with me. Let's go to your house. They go to the house. "She's dead. She's dead. She's dead." Everyone's crying and screaming and hysterical. Jesus is calm. He says to him, "She's not dead, she's asleep." He goes over and says, "Little girl, I say to you rise." Little girl gets up.

 

What area of your life do you need Jesus to do that in? Do you need Jesus to come over to you in your marriage and say, "Arise marriage." Do you need Jesus to come over to you in your career and say arise career? Do you need Jesus to come over to you in your personal finances and say arise personal finances? Do you need Jesus to come over to you in some aspect of your health and say arise health? Do you need Jesus to come over to you and say arise leaky pipes, broken chainsaw, dumb computer, faulty wiring, poor garden seeds, burnt relationships, empty pews, closed churches. We all need to be raised up by Jesus in some way today. How do you need God to raise you up today? And do you believe that he's capable of doing that? That he yearns to do that, that he wants to do that for you.

 

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that they have the faith and trust to ask Jesus to come into their life and say arise health, arise loneliness, arise depression, arise doubt, and know that God wants to do that for you today.

 

 

What is the Storm in Your Life

 

Do you ever feel like you're being called to something new, called to a new place, called to do something different? We have these feelings, these epiphanies at different times in our lives, and sometimes we listen to them and sometimes we ignore them. One of the great themes that we read about throughout the Gospels is the theme of the storm. It's a great theme. Why? Because our lives are stormy. There are a lot of storms in life. A storm facing people is the closing of their church. 

 

Jesus says to his disciples, "Let's go across to the other side. What does that mean to you? What would he be inviting you to? Because I think he is inviting you and me to go with him to the other side. Maybe it's got something to do with your church. Maybe it's got something to do with your health, your marriage, your children. When Jesus says to us, "Come with me, and let's go across to the other side," we don't want to, right? Sometimes we don't want to and we begin to panic. Or perhaps, more correctly, we want to be on the other side, but we don't want to go across the lake to the other side. We want Jesus to just sort of pick us up and drop us on the other side. We don't actually want to make the journey. We don't want to make the transition. And that's why we're resistant. Because we're mindful that out on the lake, it's stormy out there. The lake's unpredictable. Life out on the water is unpredictable and can get scary. 

 

So when Jesus says, "Hey, people, let's go out on the lake and go across the other side," we are a little bit hesitant. "Jesus and the disciples, they get in the boats, they go out there. A great storm of wind arose, and the waves began to beat the boat, and the boat began to fill with water." 

 

Where's Jesus? He's asleep. What does this tell us? It's so many things. Firstly, it tells us most of the things we worry about, Jesus would sleep through. because He knows there's nothing to worry about. We know that most of the things we worry about never actually happen. Imagine how much more Jesus knows that. So the disciples are freaking out. Jesus is asleep. And finally, they wake him up.  What do they say to him? Teacher, do you not care? You don't care about us. We're perishing here and you're asleep, taking a nap. Jesus calms the waves, says, "Peace, be still," he calms the waves. And he says to them, "Why are you afraid?" What's he really saying? He's really saying, hey people, I'm right here. I've been taking care of you all your life. Why are you afraid? Haven't you learned yet? If you're with me, you're going to be okay. The problem is when you step away from me, that's when you should worry, that's a real storm. That's a storm to be worried about. But you're with me. Why are you afraid?

 

And so two questions I want you to think about. The other side, what is the other side that Jesus is inviting you to journey with Him to? And the second question is, what is the storm in your life at this time? We've all got a storm in our lives. Sometimes it's an afternoon shower and sometimes it's a hurricane. What is the storm in your life right now? Yes, some churches are closing and we have choices to make how best to stay close to Jesus.

 

And where is Jesus in your storm? Are you with Jesus in the storm? Is Jesus asleep? Because if he's asleep, he's telling you, it's okay. We're going to get through this. This will pass. Stay with me. You'll be alright. I'll make sure you're all right. That's what he's saying to us. What's the storm in your life and what journey is God inviting you to? Come to the other side. 

 

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends who need to let go and trust that during this time of transition, we will land safely on the other side where Jesus is waiting to greet us with the assurance that we will be okay. 

 

The Storm on the Sea of Galilee is the only seascape ever painted by Rembrandt. It depicts Jesus calming the waves of the sea, saving the lives of the fourteen men aboard the vessel. Of these fourteen men, it is said Rembrandt included a self portrait of himself in the boat, next to Jesus and his twelve disciples. On March 18, 1990, the painting was stolen by thieves disguised as police officers. They broke into the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum in Boston, Massachusetts, and stole this painting, along with twelve other works. The paintings have never been recovered, and it is considered the biggest art theft in history. The empty frames of the paintings still hang in their original location,

Blessing Prayer for Ice Creme Scoops

 

Last week, a single parent dad and his teenage so were having their troubles getting along. However, the kid started doing his homework and his “attitude” had improved a great deal. This dad made great strides in curbing his unproductive behavior and attended his support group meetings. I suggested to this dad to make a surprise treat for his son in gratitude for the kid’s improved attitude. This dad comes up with the idea of making an ice creme sundae by himself–no cheating by buying a store boughten Friendly’s Ice Creme Sundae.

 

Well, this father wasn’t very good at making chocolate ice creme sundaes with sprinkles and whipped creme. But he knew his son was trying to do better. So this dad went the extra mile. He cut a banana down the middle and emptied the whipped creme can and called it a banana split. And our teenage boy wolfed down every bite of it. And do you know why this daddy made the banana split for his son (because this kid didn’t even know what a banana split was). He was this boy’s daddy and he loved him.

 

The tool that I handed out to all the nurturing dads who attended the cathedral was an ice creme scoop. I wanted it to be a reminder that despite the messes that we have made in our families, Our Lord wants us to dish out sweetness to all his children. 

 

My Blessing Prayer for Ice Creme Scoops on Father’s Day 2024

Lord you are the Creator of Rocky Road, Cookie Dough and even Death by Chocolate, These ice creme scoops are tools of joy that bring comfort on hot, sticky days, May they remind us that we are your tools to bring peace, joy and love into our homes; May all division in our homes melt away as we load up on sprinkles and butterscotch sauce, As we scoop out dishes of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry, may each gesture sweeten our attitude, May we be thankful for all the laughter, the smiles and desire in our hearts for peace. For mountains of cherries, bananas, hot fudge and whip creme topping let us give thanks,

And May God the Creator of my favorite Pistachio,

The Son who received honey treats from his dad,

And Holy Spirit who encourages us to keep on trying

Bless these scoops and make them holy

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friendss especially all our living nurturing dads and dads in heaven that you bless them with patience, wisdom and understanding and a day of rest for their hard work in taking good care of themselves and their family.

 

The Trinity is a Mystery

 

Being Catholic means we love some mystery. We embrace it because who could possibly understand or explain completely God and His ways? And if we're upfront about it. Every time we celebrate mass, we say, "We celebrate these sacred mysteries." Because we know we understand a lot, but we don't understand everything. I mean, who could possibly explain the Eucharist and transubstantiation, how the wine and the bread becomes the body and blood of Jesus? That's a mystery. Or the stigmata of Saint Francis, St. Catherine, and so many others. How does that happen, that they bear on their bodies the very wounds of Jesus.? That's a mystery.

But maybe the greatest mystery of them all is the Trinity. We hear those marvelous questions asked at every baptism we attend, "Do you believe in God, the Father? Do you believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord? And do you believe in the Holy Spirit?" Or the Holy Ghost. In other words, is God one? Yes, He is. Is God three? Yes, He is. How can this be? Yes.

Who could possibly explain God and his ways? God is three Persons relating to one another in communion. Three and one at the same time. Love defines God. He is love. He can do no other. It's His essence. Love is who God is. It's not merely what God does. In some ways, He's just like a family. You and I both know that families contain a lot of mystery. The biggest mystery in a family, what in the world ever caused Mom to fall in love with Dad? Mystery. But the best question is this, what's holding this family together? And I hope your answer is love, because that's true for God too. Three Persons, yes. One nature, yes. All God. Bonded together in love, with love, for love. That's God. That's why we make the sign of the cross. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And it reminds us, reminds you and me, that we belong to a great family. We belong to the family of God.

Two weeks ago, I gathered with my family to lay to rest my 93 year-old Aunt Helen. Family members travelled from Miami and Clearwater Florida, they came from Connecitcut with their three children. Friends and relatives of Kathy who was Helen’s daughter-in-law and who served as caregiver for Aunt Helen for over 35 years. We were invited to her home after the funeral service at the cemetery to share memories of Helen’s faith and contagious joy and love for God and family, I came away from this family reunion to know that this was a God moment. God was indeed present in the love we shared for our aunt, mother-in-law, grandmother, neighbor and friend. 

Whenever someone would visit my Aunt Helen, she promised to pray for them and say, "God is good," and she would have us reply, "All the time." "God is good," and we say, "All the time." And then I shared with my family that if we were in Haiti, oftentimes the leader will say, "God is sweet," and the people will respond, "God is sweet." Yes. Yes, he is. So just before I left this family reunion and celebration of our dear Aunt Helen, I extended this blessing, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends who humbly accept the reality that the trinity is a mystery, our family is a mystery but we are bonded in love and remember to say to one another God is sweet, all the time.