God Answers Prayers of Thanksgiving

08 Saturday Sep 2018

Posted by Jerry Robinson in Thanksgiving

Tags

abortion, Children, Family, Fathers, Life, Love, Luke 17:11-19, Parents, Prayer, Pro-life, Spiritual Mentoring

Photo Credit: Pinterest

Sometimes God answers prayers so profoundly it blows my mind. I had one of those God-moments back on 26 May and I’ve been waiting since that Saturday morning to tell you about it. And now, after several weeks of preparation, I can finally share it with you as it is coming to fruition.

I mentioned in a couple previous posts that I am training to become certified as a Catholic Spiritual Mentor. Through the teaching of the Sisters of The Apostles of the Interior Life, and the Holy Family School of Faith of the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas, my classmates and I are both growing in our relationship with God and learning how to help others purposefully grow in their relationships with God and their neighbors, as well. It’s an amazing program and I feel blessed to be part of it.

With three semesters down and one more to go, we were told at our week of in-residence training in May that our homework for this last session would be to find a person to mentor. To be honest, all that I’d been eagerly anticipating for a year and a half seemed a little daunting now that it was upon me. This was the real thing.

The Sisters of The Apostles of the Interior Life are an extraordinary community of women who exude a holiness and happiness that can only come from an intimate relationship with God. In forming our interior lives, we are fortunate to be beneficiaries of their relationship with God through daily talks, lessons and meditations.

Sister Michela’s meditation on that Saturday morning was entitled, The Art of Giving Thanks. It was based on Luke 17:11-19, the Cleansing of the Ten Lepers, specifically zeroing in on the Samaritan leper, who, “returned, glorifying God in a loud voice, and then fell at the feet of Jesus thanking Him.” Jesus responded by saying, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.”

This one leper proved his faith by recognizing Christ’s mercy in healing him. Unlike the other nine, he showed his true gratitude by returning to give thanks. He glorified God in a loud voice, not caring what others thought or said, and indicated his total surrender. He demonstrated his humility by falling at the feet of Jesus. And, his giving thanks was an act of justice that recognized God’s love for him.

It was a powerful meditation which was strategically placed immediately before an hour of Eucharistic Adoration. It would have been impossible to not spend that hour on my knees at the feet of Jesus giving thanks for every blessing ever received, every hurt ever healed, every lesson ever learned, and every loving relationship ever built.

I specifically said a prayer of thanksgiving to God for giving me the desire to grow closer to Him; the desire to reach out to other men and help them grow in holiness; and for the training I was receiving. I prayed for the grace to recognize the opportunities to help other men that He would put before me. And, acknowledging that all I have is because of Him, I prayed I would be able to repay Him in the only way I know how – to bring others to Him.

At the end of the Adoration hour I left the chapel and walked back to my room to retrieve a notebook in which to write during the half day of silent retreat coming up next. It was less than a 60 second walk to my room. As I stepped inside, I heard my phone, which was on the desk on the opposite side of the room, give a “chirp” indicating an email had just arrived. It was a forwarded email from our deacon back at home saying, “Jerry, I received this email this morning and thought of you.” It was an email from Elizabeth’s New Life Women’s Center in my home town.

Elizabeth’s New Life Center is a faith based pregnancy resource center serving Southwest Ohio. Their mission is to empower individuals to choose life instead of abortion by showing them the compassion and love of Christ . Their life affirming programs strengthen families and save thousands of lives annually. It’s an organization which I’ve gladly supported financially and with prayers over the last few years.

Their email said, “ENLC is looking for a few good men to participate in their new mentoring program for expectant fathers. Some qualifications for the program are: he must be a believer and focused on God…is motivated by his faith…is a man of prayer with a strong dependence on God…has a passion to help young men as expectant fathers, and meet them in their situation…is unafraid to share the Gospel with others…must be an example of a good father…and he must be capable and willing to show a Christ-like love to young men who at times may seem unlovable.”

I could hardly believe what I was reading! I had to support myself on the edge of the bed to keep from falling over. I had just prayed a minute before for God to place opportunities before me to help other men, and He didn’t waste a second. This wasn’t quite the spiritual mentoring I had in mind but the qualifications met all that I was being taught and it was certainly a worthy and desperately needed ministry. And, as I thought about it, it was one that could parallel and would complement the individual mentoring for which I was being trained.

And, as I sat there pondering the possibilities, I no longer viewed future mentoring sessions as daunting encounters. I suddenly had a welcome confidence that, if God was calling me this clearly to work for Him, He would send His Holy Spirit and not leave me hanging.

I replied to my deacon friend explaining what had just happened and confessed that I couldn’t pass this up especially when God, in answering my prayers, placed the opportunity right in my lap.

Over the last few weeks I’ve been volunteering a couple hours per week at the Women’s Center learning their policies and procedures. Finally, this last week, I had the chance to meet with two young expectant fathers who, along with their childs’ mothers, have chosen life for their unborn children. As I get to know them and build relationships with them I expect I’ll have many opportunities to coach them on the responsibilities and the happiness that comes with fatherhood, and possibly, if they choose marriage, on how to be loving, faithful and servant husbands, as well.

But, mostly, I’m looking forward to the opportunity to introduce them to Jesus and the eternal love of our God.

Please pray for me and the expectant fathers.

“Good and Gracious God, I shout out with thanks for Your love and all the many blessings You have bestowed on me and my family. Thank You for answering my prayers and for Your confidence in my service to others. Thank You for placing the desire in my heart to serve others and bring them closer to You. Thank You for giving me a loving father from whom I have learned much about fatherhood. And, by Your Grace, I pray that by helping young men learn to be loving and responsible fathers, their love for You and family will perpetuate for generations to come. Amen.”

(God Answers Prayers of Thanksgiving was first published on the blog Reflections of a Lay Catholic)

©2013-2018 Reflections of a Lay Catholic. Reposting and sharing of material in its full and original content is permitted, provided that full and clear credit is given to the author(s) and Reflections of a Lay Catholic.

The Cry Room Blues

23 Monday Apr 2018

Posted by Jerry Robinson in Christian Community, Mass

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

Children, Children in church, Community, Cry Room, Mass, Parents

My wife, Melinda, and I just returned home from a two-week trip to Lake Charles, Louisiana where we baby sat our 21 month old grandson, Patrick, while his parents took a mini-vacation. I thoroughly enjoyed fulfilling my role as a grandparent but I realized it’s not as easy keeping up with the little ones as it was 20 to 30 years ago.

Patrick is everything you imagine a lad of that age to be: strong-willed, busy, and rambunctious. And, loud. While he is still trying to form words intelligible to the rest of us, he is pretty sure his vocabulary is second to none and he wants to tell you, and the folks in the next county, all about it.

My daughter and son-in-law were out of town Thursday through Wednesday, which meant we either had to split up on Sunday to go to mass or, if we were to go together, take Patrick with us. Although I’m the father of four daughters, they were all grown before I became Catholic and began going to church with my wife. She had all the experience of taking our older three to church, all of whom were diaper-clad at the same time, and I had none. Thus, I deferred to her best judgement when she said, “Let’s take him with us.”

We decided to attend Our Lady Queen of Heaven Church that Sunday morning and on the way Patrick started showing signs of crankiness. By the time we parked and went inside, the decision was made to partake of mass from the sound-proof cry room. By the time mass began, a half dozen or so other families felt it best to do the same.

Now, the only church I’ve attended regularly is my home church, St. Francis de Sales in Lebanon, OH, and it does not have a cry room. Instead, it has a large foyer, or gathering space, in which parents can take their kids if things get out of hand. I’ve seldom seen more than one or two parents out there who are trying to keep their eyes on their kids and their ears on the Liturgy filtering through the speakers. Rather, most kids are with their parents in the sanctuary and are respectfully quiet. But, I know that Cheerios, juice boxes, Hot Wheels and stuffed animals are all employed for that purpose. I normally sit towards the front of the church and, although I can’t see the young ones back there, I know of their presence by the squeals they occasionally make.

So, I was surprised as I sat in the cry room at OLQH listening to the infants expressing their displeasure about whatever, and watching the toddler / juvenile delinquents run wild oblivious to their parent’s whispered objections. Of course, by this time, Patrick had fallen asleep in his grandmother’s arms with an angelic calmness on his cherubic face. But, it was too late to get up and reposition to the church proper. We were stuck.

Try as I might, I couldn’t concentrate on the mass. The priest’s homily was 27 minutes and I lost focus after the seven minute mark. My attention was on the ruckus going on within the confined space we were collectively occupying. And, more than once, I said a silent prayer of Thanksgiving for “Saint Melinda” for putting up with all this nonsense all those years without me by her side to help. I owe her.

In thinking about the poor parents who make the sacrifice to go to mass and put their patience on the line, the phrase, “I’ve got the cry room blues”, popped into my head. By the time we left church I had half the song written in my mind. On the way home this weekend I tweaked it a bit and added one more verse. I feel obliged to share it with you here:

The Cry Room Blues
(Lyrics by Jerry Robinson with an imagined Memphis bluesy melody)

Gonna go praise the Lord today,
Gonna hear me some o’ that Good News.
I say I’m gonna go praise the Lord today,
Gonna listen to all the Good News.
But all I hear is my baby screaming the Sunday morning cry room blues.

I’d love to sit a bit closer to You,
Up front in the first few pews.
O, Lord, I’d love to sit a bit closer to You,
Up front in the first few pews.
But I’m trapped here in this cry room while my baby’s singing the blues.

My baby needs a diaper change,
Somewhere he’s lost his shoes.
I say my baby needs his diaper changed,
And somewhere he’s lost his shoes.
Now baby’s giving his daddy the Sunday morning cry room blues.

The old folks ain’t got no sympathy,
They’ve all paid their dues.
I say the old folks got no sympathy,
‘Cause they’ve all paid their dues.
Yeah, they’ve done their time singing the Sunday morning cry room blues.

Now, before you think me evil or cold-hearted, let me say that the experience brought me a new-found respect for any parent who chooses to bring their child to church. You could do otherwise and all of us, the parents, children and the rest of us as the whole Body of Christ would suffer. I applaud you! Please don’t stop, especially if you’re afraid to come because your church doesn’t have a cry room. Your squealing and squirming saints-to-be are the future of the Church. And, whether you know it or not, they’re watching every move you make. Keep being good examples and good parents! The rest of us have “been there and done that” and understand it’s a right of passage. My wife and many others have successfully made it. You will too. God bless you all!

“Lord, thank You for all the parents who sacrifice their sanity for the greater good of bringing their children to You. Please give them the grace to continue forming their children in Your ways. And, thank You for providing my wife with the patience and fortitude to do the same with our daughters while I chose to sit it out. Amen.”

(The Cry Room Blues was first published on the blog Reflections of a Lay Catholic)
©2013-2018 Reflections of a Lay Catholic. Reposting and sharing of material in its full and original content is permitted, provided that full and clear credit is given to the author(s) and Reflections of a Lay Catholic.