Church of Blessed Sacrament...spiritually blind!

In the past few months I have felt a calling to reach out and find a way to give back to the community in some active capacity.

One Sunday morning, I awoke from a deep sleep, and a nagging little voice inside of me prompted me to take in Mass at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament in Hollywood.

Lo and Behold, as I crouched in the pew, the Priest noted the need for Deacons in the Church and asked that the Lord hear the prayer for one to appear.

I felt like the message was directed right at me!

Alas, after I penned a letter to the Priest - noting my interest - no one at the Blessed Sacrament even bothered to give me the courtesy of a reply.

Some Christians!

The Priests at the Blessed Sacrament are so blind spiritually, they are incapable of recognizing that the Lord answered their prayer.

Will he respond to the next one?

The incident confirms my belief that the spirit of God is not alighting in the empty houses of worship around the Nation - but rather - in the hearts and minds of the humble masses without need for ritual, pomp, or circumstance.

Amen!

Homeless man gives worker $5.00...Yes, God is watching!

As I waited in the early morning light for Jack-in-the-box to open, I spied a worker scrubbing down a paper stall at the curb.

Frankly, I was surprised. By the look of some of those money-grubbing contraptions, it appeared they were rarely ever cleaned.

Just as the thought crossed my mind, an elderly homeless man shuffled up and muttered to the man, "You're doing a great job".

As the paper carrier was about to recoil in horror, the curious street inhabitant rustled in his pocket and conjured up a crumpled bill.

"Here's five bucks. God bless," the street person uttered gruffly as he pressed the cash into the man's palm with a trembling hand.

Well, the startled fellow could have done one of two things, in my estimation.

He could have recognized the need of the homeless was greater than his own and politely refused the money with thanks.

Or, accepted the gift graciously.

After all, it is just as important to know how to "receive" as it is to give. Yes, on occasion people need to experience the joy of sharing, too.

In this instant case, the worker chuckled in a bemused manner, took the five bucks without hesitation, then watched the indigent man maneuver his body slowly down the pavement.

When a fellow worker returned after fussing about in a company truck, the recipient of the gift could have done one of two things - either kept the incident a secret - or shared the precious moment with his buddy.

"A guy just gave me five bucks for doing a great job cleaning the boxes," he jovially noted to his co-worker.

"Yeah, who?"

"That old guy, that homeless man over there," he chuckled wickedly.

It was obvious to me what was coming next.

His friend chided him, "Are you going to give half to me?"

After all, he was on the job, too.

"No way," the gift-getter cackled.

"This has never happened to me before in all the days I have worked on this job. The Universe is speaking to me."

In a nutshell, he was right. God appears in the humblest of places.

The Universe was not only speaking to him, but testing him as well.

In the final analysis, he failed on all counts.

Heda Bejar once said,
The fragrance always remains in the hand that gives the rose.

Charlton Heston...wrong! Moses didn't come "face to face" with God!

Heston as Moses...

Sacred Mount Sinai


In the morning LA TIMES one day, a reporter noted that a blogger happened across an old interview with Charlton Heston, in which the actor reminisced about playing the role of Moses in the feature film version of "The Ten Commandments".

On that occasion - "Chuck" - recalled what an overwhelming experience it was to stand where the biblical figure once stood on Sacred Mount Sinai and fathom the importance of the encounter with the almighty, God.

Heston noted that studio head - Cecil B. DeMille - gave him a raft of material to peruse to familiarize himself with the spiritual leader's historical background to facilitate in preparing for the big-budget production.

Obviously, the Hollywood maverick never bothered to read the scriptures; if he had, the star would have known that contrary to his belief, Moses did not - as he alleged - come 'face to face' with God.

In fact, the scriptures are quite emphatic about that.

On Mount Sinai, God cautioned Moses that he could not peer into his face.

Then, the Lord proceeded to instruct the prophet to stand behind a rock.

"When I pass by, you'll be able to see my back," God purportedly said.

Yeah, no cigar!

On the other hand, it is wholly possible to gaze into the face of the Holy Spirit.

Last year, as I was tossing and turning in my bed one night - in-between the heightened levels of a trance state and waking consciousness - I witnessed a Divine white light descending upon me.

Although the "vision" appeared to be "in the distance" - curiously - the phenomenon also gave the impression of being within touching distance directly above my bed.

The three entities that hovered over me did not have any facial features to speak of - or flesh tones - or that matter.

In essence, they were imbued of light, without much physical character or distinction.

What awed me most was a thin band of dazzling white light which edged each entity.

Suddenly, one of the light beings gestured towards my heart, and telepathically communicated to profound message to me.

"This is your soul."

In response - though paralyzed somewhat by the vision - I attempted to ask a question.

Suddenly, the entities vanished into thin air.

The next day, I was guided to go into a bookstore on Santa Monica Boulevard, for some inexplicable reason.

As I sorted through the various tomes on the dusty shelves, I happened across a pristine copy of a book on Religious symbols.

As I thumbed through the fascinating subject matter, I was astounded to stumble across an entry which described the images I'd witnessed to a "T".

The authors noted that the image in question represented the "Trinity" or the Holy Ghost.

A shiver went up and down my spine as I digested the thought.

And then, there was a surge of joy, as a perfect calm settled deep within me.

Not only is there a God, and a Holy spirit, but a place for me in eternity!

The Holy Spirit protects...