Lemuel The Servant

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07 July, 2012

Dear friends in Christ,
Here is an interesting story related by a priest…
One day afternoon while he was preparing homily for the next day, suddenly the cell phone rang. He picked and answered it was a request for ‘mass for the dead’ in one of the memorial chapels downtown. He accepted and went at the time requested. He celebrated the holy sacrifice of the Lord for the departed soul.
                When at the time of Holy Communion, it happened that an elderly lady after receiving Holy Communion she held the right hand of the priest who was distributing Holy Communion. She held it for a few minutes and other people had to wait for her until she has released it. The priest was somewhat astonished then he continued the Holy Mass.
At the end of the Mass the priest approached the elderly lady and asked “Mom, what happened to you?” “Son, nothing” softly answered the lady. Then she related that when she sees a priest she feels that she sees God. That’s the reason why she held the hand of the priest as if she held the Hand of God. She could feel the warmth of the Hand of God manifest in the person of priest.
                Yes, priests represent the person of Jesus Christ who came into this world, the history of humankind. This was the teaching of the Catholic Church for her children; both the clergy and lay faithful might be sanctified through Jesus Christ. We can see there are many priests and prophet in the old testaments. And Jesus is the eternal High Priest who was also a sacrificial lamb. He offered himself for our sins, teaches Saint Paul.
I heard from a discussion of friends, they say that there is a certain sect claims to be Christians and the leader is teaching that the Catholic Church is full of sinners and worst of the sinners are priests. I have a question, it is “Which is right?” the Catholic Church or the certain sect? As far as I know, the founder of that mentioned sect is still alive and teaching distorted or mutilated Gospels, particularly New Testament and Old Testament. The Catholic Church has existed more than 20 centuries. It has suffered the bitterness and rejection of the people. It had suffered the never-ending persecution throughout centuries, in and out. From the beginning to the present day it has reached the furthest corners of the world. When I reflected on him, the leader of that sect, hatred and ignorance have covered him, unable to see the truth.
Not only him, there are also sects fabricated in america, claiming Salvation belongs only to them! One of them said, only 144,000 will be saved! Aha… what an exact number? Jesus said to his disciples “Go to the whole world and proclaim the Good News.” is it the number of the people living on earth exactly 144,000. It is sure, that is the misinterpretation (or poor knowledge in Biblical understanding) of book of Revelation of St. John. That number is only for Israel (twelve tribes) (12*12000=144,000)! Awful! Jesus said, “I am coming soon! I will bring my rewards with me, to give to each one according to what he has done.” True shepherd never climbs the fence and scatter the sheepfolds.”
May the Good Lord give us true shepherd who really care and protect the sheep.

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