P
Peregrinans
Guest
Yesterday, I just happened to turn on EWTN and caught Fr. Larry Richard’s show “Be A Man.” And even though I am not a man, there was something about Fr. Larry that kept my attention and I watched the show. I am so glad that I did, because at one point Father spoke about praying and listening to God. Basically, he said that if we just rattle off prayers to God and don’t take the time to listen then we are not really talking to God we’re talking at Him. He gave an example of a married couple who live separate lives under the same roof. And every time the husband has an interaction with the wife he greets her and, without waiting for her to respond, tells her a bunch of stuff that he wants, he might thank her for something, and then without pausing to listen to her he just leaves. Father Larry questioned what kind of a relationship that would be. Certainly not a good or strong one. And that is what a lot of us, including myself, do when we pray. We greet the Lord, and just start in with memorized or read prayers, we might throw in a few thank yous, requests and then we’re done. That really got me thinking about how I pray and I am going to slow down and really talk with God today. 
He also told a story intended to demonstrate how Christians are supposed to reflect Jesus. I am paraphrasing so I might not relay it exactly as Fr. Larry did, but here goes:
The story was about a Christian US soldier and a Japanese man, who was helping America, that were taken prisoner during the WW2 by the Japanese. They treated the American bad, but they really tortured the Japanese guy, for being a traitor. So after every torture session they would throw the Japanese guy back in the cell and the soldier would try and comfort him, pray for him, feed him, help his wounds the best that he could. Well one time they threw the guy back in the cell and it was clear that the guy was going to die, so the soldier said to him, “I have nothing left to do for you, you are dying, but if you give yourself to Jesus you will meet Him in heaven.” And the Japanese guy replied, “well if He is anything like you I would be glad to meet Him.” Fr. Larry said that every man (and in my case woman) should strive to have people say that about them.
I thought that was not only a wonderful story, but a real lesson that all of us need to learn. We really do need to show the world, WHO we belong to by reflecting his love and compassion and projecting light into the world.
He also told a story intended to demonstrate how Christians are supposed to reflect Jesus. I am paraphrasing so I might not relay it exactly as Fr. Larry did, but here goes:
The story was about a Christian US soldier and a Japanese man, who was helping America, that were taken prisoner during the WW2 by the Japanese. They treated the American bad, but they really tortured the Japanese guy, for being a traitor. So after every torture session they would throw the Japanese guy back in the cell and the soldier would try and comfort him, pray for him, feed him, help his wounds the best that he could. Well one time they threw the guy back in the cell and it was clear that the guy was going to die, so the soldier said to him, “I have nothing left to do for you, you are dying, but if you give yourself to Jesus you will meet Him in heaven.” And the Japanese guy replied, “well if He is anything like you I would be glad to meet Him.” Fr. Larry said that every man (and in my case woman) should strive to have people say that about them.
I thought that was not only a wonderful story, but a real lesson that all of us need to learn. We really do need to show the world, WHO we belong to by reflecting his love and compassion and projecting light into the world.