May 2012

"As the deer longs for the springs of waters, So my soul longs for You, O God. My soul thirsts for the living God; When shall I come and appear before the face of God? My tears were my bread day and night, When they said to me each day, "Where is your God?" I remembered these things, and poured out my soul within me; For I shall enter the place of the wondrous tabernacle, even the house of God." (Psalm 41:1-5)

Greetings in our Lord’s love!

We live in a day and age of unique challenges. Our children have grown up around computers and cell phones. Personal conversation has given way to texting and e-mail. For me it is very frustrating. I was recently in a mall and a woman came by me and seemed to be talking to me. I politely said to her; "Pardon me, what did you say?" She rolled her eyes at me and in a very gruff way said to me, "I'm not talking to you!" I was embarrassed.

A couple of weeks ago I received an e-mail asking me for information on how to get involved in prison ministry. I answered the e-mail and my computer screen went blank. About a half hour later I received a phone call asking me whether I was in Madrid, Spain and in need of money. I replied, "no," "I'm in Nashville." Someone hacked my computer e-mail and sent a false request for financial help. My phone rang all day. I had to contact my provider to stop the nonsense and clean up the damage. Fortunately many who received the false e-mail re-cognized it as a hoax.

What did this teach me? It taught me to trust God in situations out of my control and, He is the rock of my Salvation. Even when "hacked" I can say truly . . ."I'm not hacked off!"

Let me share a letter I recently received this week.

"I am writing to thank you for all of your years of service to me and those of us in prison. It isn’t easy being in prison and the people who stand and pray for those in prison are few and far between. Your devotion to us is simply just another showing of the fruit that is growing from a tree laden in abundance with God’s grace." Thank You. (Terry in Georgia)

May the beauty of heaven consume you. . .Fr. David