January 2022
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year dear Friar Suppliers!
“Arise, shine forth, for now, your light has come: the glory of your God has risen upon you.” (Isaiah 60:1) Isaiah the prophet saw the glory of God as light and penned these words above for you and me.
For forty years in the wilderness, the Israelites experienced the manifest presence of God in the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments, the skin of his face shone like the sun. He even had to keep his head covered because it was so bright. Moses lived much of the time in the presence of God and talked with Him “face to face.” (Exodus 33:11)
The Shepherds saw the night sky light up with angels. The three kings followed an illuminating star. All was perceived as the glory of God. The angels sang; “Glory to God in the Highest and on earth peace to men of goodwill.”
This same glory was upon Jesus. This is the reason the lame walked, the blind received their sight, the dead were raised and the oppressed were delivered, everywhere He went. The glory of God that was upon Jesus was being visibly revealed through His love. The power He had was nothing less than the very presence of the living God.
When the soldiers arrested Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, what happened? “Whom do you seek?” asked Jesus. “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. The moment Jesus replied, “I am He,” They drew back, and fell to the ground.”(John 18:6) The glory of Jesus was so powerful that the soldiers could no longer stand.
Jesus’ highest priority, while He was on earth, was to be in the presence of His Father at all times. He arose early and spent much time in prayer alone with God. Sometimes he spent nights and days on a mountain in prayer. Even as God, He was totally dependent upon the Father and was continually led by the Holy Spirit. If Jesus needed that, how much more do you and I need to spend time in the presence of our Lord. How much more do we need Him!
St. Paul also describes the glory of God as light when he says; “At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me." (Acts 26:13) On an earlier occasion Paul describes it further, “And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus.” (Acts 22:11)
St. Peter also experienced the glory of God as light. “And behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light (the glory) shined in the prison… And his chains fell off from His hands." ( Acts 12:7) There are moments, particularly during times of deep prayer and contemplation, when His presence is so intense that it can sometimes be felt in our senses. Some of us may even experience an intense “light”. This is what we call the glory of God, it is His manifest presence. God’s glory reveals His splendor, His beauty, and the magnificence of His divinity.
Taken and adapted from:
We can understand the reality of the glory of God when we see it shining in the saints and perhaps even holy people whom we know and love around us. Mother Teresa, John Paul II, Fulton Sheen, Fr. Benedict Groeschel, Fr. Andrew Apostoli, Fr. Michael Scanlan, Mother Angelica are just a few people whom we have known and recognize as holy people filled with the Holy Spirit of God. What did they all have in common? An intense prayer life, great love for the Eucharist, and devotion to the Blessed Mother. God came first.
You and I may be thinking, well yes they are, but not me. No one recognizes their own sanctity, because a holy person is a humble person who sees holiness in others but not in themselves. We all know our own weaknesses and sins. But perhaps others may sometimes see a little bit of God in us. Wouldn’t that be nice? We can surely put on a good act and strive as hard as we can to be a “light” to others and show them the “glory of God” by our love towards them. We can make every effort to live in the presence of God; to listen to the Holy Spirit, and be obedient to His will.
We hope everyone has had a blessed Christmas and that the start of the New Year is healthy. We pray that none of you are sick with Covid or the flu. I know it’s going around again for the fourth time. I guess this is the new “abnormal” for all of us. It just proves that we are all created equal and none of us are privileged in God’s eyes. Maybe God is reminding us that we are dependent on Him for everything.
Since Charlie can’t go to Haiti this year because it is so unsafe, Charlie and I are going on “The EWTN Good News Cruise” on Jan 9th. It will be a “floating marriage retreat” something I hope will produce a lot of fruit for us both of us. Don’t worry, we are not using Friar Supplier donations to do this. The Misson in Haiti will still happen remotely. Charlie has spent hours organizing and communicating back and forth to do this. The Haitians who have worked with Charlie for many years know exactly what to do. Please pray for the mission work in Haiti and for us on retreat. We will be praying for all of you. Charlie will tell you all about Haiti and what will be happening there. I know he is still short a lot of money for the work. Please pray and consider donating if you can for these poor people who have nothing.
We delivered the December food to the Friars and Sisters right before the Omicron Covid virus hit NY. It’s a good thing because many of the Friars and Sisters are now sick. They had to cancel their Christmas gatherings. Let’s pray this virus disappears quickly.
Thank you so much for your donations. As Padre Pio would say; “Pray hard and don’t worry.” God bless you all.
All for……JMJ,
Joan & Charlie Moran
Eileen Garbe
