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  Love Letters - Readership

Hope

Fr. Bob McDonald, S.M.

Hope

My favorite picture is the painting of Jesus sleeping in the boat in the midst of a big storm. His Apostles are frightened. They are waking him from sleep.

When Jesus awoke, He said: “Why are you so frightened, you men of little faith”. Then He stood up and calmed the wind and the seas.

“Be not afraid”, Jesus often told his disciples, “I am with you”.

We cannot turn off our feelings like a light switch or water faucet. But whenever we recall that Jesus is with us, our fears go away.

This is what gives me great HOPE. Jesus promised to be with us “ALWAYS”.

I enjoy being at Mass and seeing my people there. I know that most of them are carrying heavy burdens. And many are really frightened. I feel that terrible fear whenever I think of the shortage of priests, and another priest announces he is taking a year off to discern his vocation. Or the newspapers print another story of past offences by priests. I look at my people and remember that Jesus lives in them.

What gives me great HOPE is to see a couple there who are visible in their love. Then I know for sure that Jesus is present. They shine like the sun. The storm calms and I am at peace.

That is why I encourage you to Dialogue. Taking time for each other in Dialogue is the gift you give me. Your Sacrament, buoyed up with the trust built through daily dialogue, has more power. Your love, developed through your risk and trust in each other, lifts me up and it gives life to all those who see you.

Thank you for coming to the Worldwide Marriage Encounter Weekend. Thank you for saying “Yes” to the gift of Daily Dialogue offered to you on the Weekend. I pray that you will continue to take time each and every day to build your love through your honest and open sharing in your Dialogue.

I am thinking of that boat loaded with couples who weathered the storm of forty days and forty nights, and saw the rainbow of God’s promise.

YOU ARE MY RAINBOW OF HOPE!
I LOVE YOU.

Fr. Bob McDonald, S.M.

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