Sunday, June 19, 2016

Question Answered, Answer Lived

Woman stops behind another car at traffic light
Light turns green but driver ahead is on his cell phone & does not notice
She begins pounding her steering wheel and yells move   -  He doesn’t move
She yells more . . . the light turns yellow  . . . she hits the horn
She starts cursing and makes gestures.
He finally looks up, sees the yellow light and goes forward just as the light turns red.
She is just besides herself.
A few moments later . a tapping on the window. It is a police officer with his gun drawn.
Turn off the engine, keep your hands in sight and get out of the car.
Takes her off to the police station where she is fingerprinted and placed in a holding cell.
An hour later, she is released and she meets the arresting officer.
“I am very sorry for the mistake. But I pulled up behind your car when you were swearing, yelling, blowing your horn and making an obscene gesture.
Then I noticed your bumper stickers:
“We worship at St. Joseph’s” & “What would Jesus do?”
I, I just assumed that you had stolen the car.

Who do crowds say that I am       general
Now, who do you say that I am         specific
Everything we say and do is a response to that question.
Every decision and choice proclaims exactly who we believe Jesus is
Every moment declares our faith is Jesus.
Question answered.  Answer lived!

Many of us have been blessed with people in our lives who have answered the question and have lived the answer!

DAD:
Work – put God first
Whatever time he had, he gave to us – time: most precious gift
Prayer – kneel down next to our beds and pray with us.
Even toward the end of his life – dad went to bed, said his rosary, heard him praying for me, my mom, my brother, sisters and family.

Most precious gift: Taught me – He is my dad, but God is my Father in heaven.

Karen – her alcoholic and abusive father walked out on the family when she was 2 years old.   Every Father’s Day Karen’s mom would have her write a card to a father she never knew.    He never responded. Although he never accepted her, she found a different way to fill that void. Her mom taught her that God could be her father.
Whenever she went out to play, she yelled “Hey God, look at me.”
She felt a special awareness of him, as if he were smiling from heaven.
Rather than focusing all her negative energy on a man who had abandoned her, she found security and peace in her heavenly father


Question answered.   Answer lived.