A New Years Message to the Monastic and Domestic Expressions of the Brothers and Sisters of Charity: Dearest Monastic Members and Residents, and Domestics, As I meditate on the New Year, I wish I could be with everyone in Charity. And I know that you must at times miss our bodily presence. We miss you too. You might even get discouraged in your moments of weakness in the flesh. But be assured great things continue to unfold in the Spirit. So be encouraged! All Things Are Possible With God! Here is the good news report: For the Monastics: The JMT ministry is very successful. We reach more people than ever before through my Itinerent a Ministry, and the ATAP TV program that is going into over half a billion homes three times a week! The Bakery holds great promise for local monastic work and income that is easier to accomplish than farm work. It also means that Viola and I can be home about 20% more if it is successful. The Reform of Little Portion is underway in things both spiritual and physical. Pruning seems like loss, but can bring forth greater fruit if done faithfully and well. St. Clares presence and local outreach is beloved by Prince of Peace and the Archdiocese of Galvaston/Houston. And we have discovered that there is great vocational interest in the community. There is great promise ahead for those who have the faith to bring the future into the present in Christ! The Domestics continue to grow. Some Regions are growing older, and not growing in new members. But do not be discouraged! The growth of the Domestics in other Regions is a source of great hope for us all! The areas of growth show us how it can be done in Christ! For those too advanced in years to physically do such things: You are our precious prayer warriors! Your sincere and faithful prayers bring the power of the Spirit to those who do the work of evangelization, and formation. You who can do the work: Stay faithful and hopeful! Each does our part for the benefit of the whole body of Charity. Viola and I cannot always be present. But we are fighting the good fight for Jesus, the Church, and the Brothers and Sisters of Charity. You must, and are doing the same. Todays Office of Readings contains these words from St. Paul to the Colossians. I think they are also for you, as if from Viola and me: I tell you all this so that no one may delude you with specious arguments. I may be absent in body but I am with you in spirit, happy to see good order among you and the firmness of your faith in Christ. Continue, therefore, to live in Christ Jesus the Lord, in the spirit in which you received him. Be rooted in him and built up in him, growing ever stronger in faith, as you were taught, and overflowing with gratitude. But he also gives a warning to the Corinthians: According to the grace of God given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building upon it. But each one must be careful how he builds upon it, for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there, namely, Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, the work of each will come to light, for the Day will disclose it. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire [itself] will test the quality of each one’s work. If the work stands that someone built upon the foundation, that person will receive a wage. But if someone’s work is burned up, that one will suffer loss; the person will be saved, but only as through fire. Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God, which you are, is holy. (1 Cor. 3:10-17) So, we must build faithfully on the foundation we received in our formation in Charity. As St. Francis said: I have done my part, may Christ teach you yours. So we cannot be everywhere in body in the current fallen world, but in the Spirit we are with all of you as we pray out the Old, and bring in the New Year. We pray with you this New Year as we do labor to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to a Church and world that needs Him so much. All Things Are Possible a With God! In Jesus, John Michael Talbot Founder, Spiritual Father, and General Minister littleportion.org
Posted on: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 17:09:53 +0000
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