Normandt' Catholic Meditations

[Normandt]

139. God is here, let's trust!


Sometimes, to come back to God, we think we have to cry out, because suffering holds us and doesn't let us go. But we don't have to scream.

Shouting is a sign that we have gone too far. We have moved away from God. God is here, let's trust! God chases us with his Love! And his arrows are joy, peace, hope, mercy, life, love, etc.

We cry because we don't want to live in the negation that keeps us away from God. We shout because we forgot that God is always with us. Within the walls we have created for ourselves, we believe that God is no longer there.

We locked ourselves in and closed the windows. After our cry, the storm will calm down, the dust will fall and we will have no reason to cry if we turn our heart to God.

It's a good reflex to turn to him. Shouting is not a fault, but it's not the end result.

The new American Bible, 2011-2014
Book: ... for Love, Normand Thomas

[Normandt]

140. Peace promised by Jesus


This sentence reminds us that God is here:
"He will be gracious to you when you cry out, as soon as he hears he will answer you." Isaiah, chapter 30, verse 19b

God answers us as soon as we cry. This is the sign that he is close. When we have enough, when we stop wanting to do everything alone, when pride accepts the transition to simplicity, peace and joy, when we are saturated with being exploited with injustices, it's no longer necessary to cry out to the Lord.

We then cry for joy since we have turned away from our closures or the injustices we suffered. We turn to God. We shout for joy, because we understand the difference between the harm others are doing to us (or ourselves) and the pure, just, true, and righteous Love of God. We open ourselves again to grace, to the Love of God. Our heart becomes interested to being in his presence.

We read in the Gospel:
"Jesus went around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness." Matthew, chapter 9, verse 35

May we trust, Jesus has not ceased to travel endlessly to our heart. May we trust, open our hearts to salvation, to peace promised by Jesus. Jesus, I trust in you!

Jesus is already there, simply, without noise. We can talk to him before we scream. He invites us again to open our hearts wide, for God to live in it and to work with us.

The new American Bible, 2011-2014
Book: ... for Love, Normand Thomas

[Normandt]

141. Our thanksgiving to Jesus


The light illuminates our way when we are driving. It would be very risky to venture on a road at night without headlights on. We may not get very far. And the danger of damage and injury is great.

This is what happens in our lives when we do not give God the leisure to enlighten it. We are at great risk. Instead of opening ourselves to life, we may close our hearts. Then fear becomes imminent.

When our road is lit, it becomes more visible. The only temporary errors that remain are the fact of moving away from the light again or not being cautious enough.

Let's enter happily into the light that God gives us. Let's get back to it quickly. Let's thank God for his light, enter into communion with him and our hearts will open ever more. We are also invited to go deeper into our hearts, to thank Jesus for the treasures we find there.

Let's take some time to discover these treasures and offer our thanksgiving to Jesus. The treasure that has greater value is our heart, since Jesus lives in it.

The new American Bible, 2011-2014
Book: ... for Love, Normand Thomas

[Normandt]

142. The dawn of the new day


The fire of earth [Jesus in our heart] shines in heaven. It enlightens all those who take refuge in God, welcome him and accept to live with his light. To the young people gathered in Rome in 2000, Pope John Paul II said of Jesus:
"He is the beauty to which you are so attracted; it is he who provokes you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise; it is he who urges you to shed the masks of a false life; it is he who reads in your hearts your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle. It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives."
World Youth Day, Prayer Vigil at Tor Vergata, August 19, 2000, number 5. Vatican Site:
World Youth Day: vigil (Tor Vergata, August 19, 2000) | John Paul II

Let's put on the garment of light that leads us to the dawn of the new day. Let's have the courage, the will, the desire to transform the world through Love, with God.

The new American Bible, 2011-2014
Book: ... for Love, Normand Thomas

[Normandt]

143. The Lord is with us


Jesus Loves us, he doesn't force anyone and he sets us free. Jesus accepts what we want and he will not give more than we ask. Freely, if our request is not precise, we risk finding ourselves with very little.

Sometimes we ask, but we don't believe in it. Sometimes we want to follow Christ, but there are too many things or people who hold us back, or we aren't vigilant enough.

Sometimes the Lord will take his time, because we are not in a hurry to change lanes. Sometimes asking something from the Lord will lead us where we would not want to go. It helps us to grow in faith because we have to learn to adjust to God as true disciples. Let's check carefully whether our requests really lead us to the house of the Father, through the Son, in the Spirit.

God can do anything and everything is offered to us. But it is still necessary that we accept what comes from him. When the priest says, at the beginning of Mass: "The Lord be with you," the Lord is already with us, but he always leaves us free to answer, to want God present with us.

This does not mean: "The Lord may be with us." We know that the Lord is always with us, but do we still want him with us, again and now? That's the question. At each mass, we are free to answer.

The new American Bible, 2011-2014
Book: ... for Love, Normand Thomas

[Normandt]

144. Path to holiness


This sentence can make us think of all those who dare to recognize that God is their only possible path to holiness:
"'Come! let us go to implore the favour of the Lord'; and, 'I too will go to seek the Lord.'" Zechariah, chapter 8, verse 21

Me, whatever the case, I will seek the face of the Lord, I will look for it and I will find him. I have decided that my will, I will place it in a safe place, in God's Heart. Let's find him, together!

The new American Bible, 2011-2014
Book: ... for Love, Normand Thomas

[Normandt]

145. Jesus leads us to salvation


We go and come from different places, but:
"Jesus is resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem." Luke, chapter 9, verse 51

Jesus could have simply followed the road to Jerusalem like many people every day. However, he embarked on the road with a mission, the only mission he had in Heart and in his Head, which is leading us to salvation, in truth.

This is what the saints like Therese of Lisieux, Francis of Assisi, Padre Pio and people we know have done. As quickly as possible they reached the highway to holiness.

What is the mission that leads us today to holiness, Love in God? The first mission is to make sure we are on the straight path to the Heart of God. If not, where are we heading, to which unknown place? Where are we heading to?

Wherever we are going to, let's go in faith and with the conviction that Jesus is with us. Jesus is with us.

The new American Bible, 2011-2014
Book: ... for Love, Normand Thomas

[Normandt]

146. Delight the hearts of the people


To begin a mission for us and for humanity, we start with Jesus. He is the cause, the reason and the purpose for the Mission.

To accomplish it, there is only one solution, that Jesus be our Lord and Saviour, our Master. If we want to help the world to improve, to find values, to become holy, Jesus will transform us, at our request and according to the trust we will entrust in him.

Mary is the perfect example of an intimate and renewed relationship of Jesus in her. Mary still evangelizes us today through the mission she accepts from God.

Holiness in the world begins with holiness within us. Without our will to live an improvement of life and faith, we reject Jesus's blessing. Then, Jesus cannot help us evolve.

Holiness solely depends on our relationship with Jesus. The improvement of our existence depends on our intention to receive everything from the Lord and to let ourselves be Loved by him.

The mission received from God is to familiarize ourselves with Jesus, to receive his teaching, to follow him. Let's become committed persons to increase our faith in his presence.

In this way and becoming more and more filled with God (our mission), his Light, his Love, and the other manifestations of his Love, at the good moment, will unfold, join and delight the hearts of the people (evangelization). These people will also be encouraged to follow the Way, the Truth and the Life, to follow Jesus.

The new American Bible, 2011-2014
Book: The heart's mission, Normand Thomas

[Normandt]

147. His plan of Love


"Hear me, O coastlands, listen, O distant peoples. The Lord called me from birth, from my mother's womb he gave me my name." Isaiah, chapter 49, verse 1

At the beginning of our existence, when we are in the womb, and even before we find ourselves there, the Lord calls us to him and to his mission. It's extraordinary that the Lord already has a plan for our life, whether we are a little foetus or even when we were only a small cell.

God creates us and he is with us from the first moment of our formation until we return to him. His plan of Love, he offers it to us. He knows us perfectly, since he is the Life that gives us life.

We become aware that we exist. Then we discover that all that we are comes from the Heart of God, our Creator. God is Creator and present for all, without exception.

The new American Bible, 2011-2014
Book: The heart's mission, Normand Thomas

[Normandt]

148. Connected to the source


God has a mission for us:
Now the Lord speaks, he who has fashioned me from the bosom of my mother to be his servant, that I bring Jacob back to him, that I will gather him Israel.
"I am made glorious in the sight of the Lord, and my God is now my strength!" Isaiah, chapter 49, verse 5

The service in which God inscribes us, what he wants, is that we become servants of Love. It is already inscribed in our being. He created us Love and he is waiting, all the same, for a precise answer from us. That's the responsibility we have. It is the decision of our whole life: to be servants or not of Love.

He invites us to live with his Love, to be connected to the source and he also wants us to be love for one another. Let's think of this, there's no better and beautiful life than having as foundation the infinite Love of God to live and to share. Eternity becomes familiar with this mission:
"I will place my law within them, and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people." Jeremiah, chapter 31, verse 33

God confirms it to us. His law of Love is inscribed in our heart. This law is to be received. Do we want it? But beware, in accepting the law of God's Love, we must also accept to live our life fully with him, to want to taste the joy and peace continually, to receive all that is the manifestation of his Love and to know we are Loved!

The new American Bible, 2011-2014
Book: The heart's mission, Normand Thomas

[Normandt]

149. The call we receive


Sometimes we have ups and downs. Our life is not always in a straight line. There are sometimes curved lines. And we know that we can wander far before a return to the natural base of life offered by God. In society as in the Church, it is similar, their members live ups and downs.

King Josiah has had a long journey. He repented. He moved back into his life and he adjusted. He makes a commitment and concludes that it's good to put his life in God's hands:
"Standing by the column, the king made a covenant before the Lord that they would follow him and observe his ordinances, statutes and decrees with their whole hearts and souls, thus reviving the terms of the covenant which were written in this book. And all the people stood as participants in the covenant." 2 Kings, chapter 23, verse 3

What a person can manifest by his faith and freely uniting himself to God in his covenant, when he testifies to it, enables others to dare to be in a natural union with him. As a result: "All the people stood as participants in the covenant." His testimony of faith attracts people in the same direction.

Whether we are aware of it or not, the Covenant with God is the sole searching of every person, without exception. Even if we go away with our bundle, God calls us from the depths of our being. The call follows us everywhere.

To enter into the path that leads us to the Heart of God is the definitive call we receive. But even if we are marked with Love, it implies a decision on our part, as for King Josiah.

The new American Bible, 2011-2014
Book: The heart's mission, Normand Thomas

[Normandt]

150. Foundation of faith


Sometimes we think that we have to do many things and find solutions to be accepted by God. But it's much simpler. Let's just ask him to help us find him. Let's just accept him in our lives by saying, "Yes, Lord, I want it, be my Lord, my guide and my master. I want to follow you. Teach me how to stay on the road with you. Thank you Lord."

There, it's done. Then, we can remember that we told him "yes" to his will on us. Every moment, we want to let him join us. Let's pray, then watch our life improve and that of others too.

Let's not worry about what does not seem to work at the beginning of a conversion. To get out of a traffic jam, we wait for the stopped cars to advance again, then we move slowly and stay behind the others, until we can drive more freely, but always with caution.

Vigilance teaches us to return to the foundation of faith in Jesus, especially during a trial. We continue to be careful not to stray from the Lord, even after passing the test.

The new American Bible, 2011-2014
Book: The heart's mission, Normand Thomas

[Normandt]

151. United to him forever


We can say to God:
"Lead me in the path of your commands, for that is my delight. Direct my heart toward your decrees and away from unjust gain." Psalm 119, verses 35 to 36

May our heart look toward the Heart of God and not on the side of lusts, illusions, the "mundane" of this passing world. May we not wait to gain to become happy. We want to remain in his Love. With God, we will have all that's necessary for our survival. We are happy now, with whom we are, in him.

Jesus wants to teach us. This is the foundation of the mission. Jesus wants to detach us from human and material goods. But, that doesn't mean to become insensitive, to shut ourselves up. Not at all.

Detachment is to be free from useless ties. It helps us to know each other and to know people better. It also helps us to use material stuff for the sole purpose of bringing us closer to Love, by sharing, for example.

Jesus surrounded himself with Apostles because it is important to be united to others. Jesus didn't want to be alone. He knows it's important to surround himself with people. And he doesn't mention to deny our family.

He proposes to live as a christian, like him, to become who we are to evangelize and to create important and significant relations with all, through his presence. He is the centre. He wants to teach us the foundations of faith. Let's allow ourselves more time to know Jesus. To trust in Jesus is part of the desire to be united to him forever.

The new American Bible, 2011-2014
Book: The heart's mission, Normand Thomas

[Normandt]

152. Faith in Jesus


John the Baptist is so right in saying these words:
"He must increase; I must decrease." John, chapter 3, verse 30

Following Jesus is not diminishing. But we understand what John teaches us. To follow Jesus is to become humble before whom he is and to appreciate the gift of his person freely given to us. Even though he is God, Jesus thinks of us, wants to live with us, wants to dwell in us and pass through us to touch the hearts of people.

Even if we aren't perfect, let's remember that it isn't us that people must follow, but Jesus. May the people not follow our personal difficulties, because we are struggling to become saints, but that they absolutely follow the Honest, the Pure, the True, the Perfect, Jesus.

When we understand that Jesus is the only one we need to follow and receive his teachings, we discover even more that we aren't perfect. This is the beginning of healing, of openness to reality that leads to the path of holiness. We will develop the desire to give him more space in our lives and we will accept to make him present for our contemporaries.

Jesus must find more space in hearts. Otherwise, the evil in the world will increase. It's one or the other, the Love of God who raises us or moving back from his Love, the slip to the evil and the pain of the loss. Let's be sure to let faith in Jesus grow in us. Let's not think we have succeeded.

The new American Bible, 2011-2014
Book: The heart's mission, Normand Thomas