Thursday, May 2, 2013
The Holy Spirit selected St. Paul and Barnabas
Dear Friends,
A reading from the Acts of the Apostles (13:1-12):
Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Symeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who was a close friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then, completing their fasting and prayer, they laid hands on them and sent them off.
So they, sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and from there sailed to Cyprus. When they arrived in Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. They had John also as their assistant. When they had traveled through the whole island as far as Paphos, they met a magician named Bar-Jesus who was a Jewish false prophet. He was with the proconsul Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who had summoned Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear the word of God. But Elymas the magician (for that is what his name means) opposed them in an attempt to turn the proconsul away from the faith. But Saul, also known as Paul, filled with the holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all that is right, full of every sort of deceit and fraud. Will you not stop twisting the straight paths of the Lord? Even now the hand of the Lord is upon you. You will be blind, and unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately a dark mist fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand. When the proconsul saw what had happened, he came to believe, for he was astonished by the teaching about the Lord.
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A few yellow flowers have appeared around my house the past few days. Yes, spring is here for sure.
Below you will find the message of Our Lord, the Son of God, given to Father Melvin. Jesus spoke to him these words,
“Open your heart to the Holy Spirit, My brother Melvin and all My brothers and sisters who believe in Me as their Lord and Savior. Look at what St. Paul did to this magician who was against the things of God. He told him he would go blind and immediately he could not see. Because of this the proconsul was converted and became to believe. Yes, I have done many miracles in my time and I still continue to perform them. These always bring many people to follow Me.
“You will remember, My brother Melvin, the man who came to visit you one day, who did not believe and never went to church. He was not feeling well and he asked you to pray with him. You did with great faith and as soon as you had finished the man began to cry. You prayed with him in the afternoon and he cried the rest of the day until he fell asleep that night. The next day he was a completely new man. He came to see you around 7:00 a.m. to tell you that he was no longer the same man. He had great faith in Me and he told you that he would go to church every Sunday and even during the week. Once he was home he would phone you every week to tell you what had happened. His wife could not believe what she saw. He now goes to church every day and receives Holy Communion regularly. They pray the rosary together every evening. What a great conversion and a great healing he received. I bless you all.”
Father Melvin