I heard, sought, and found Christ in my life!

I heard, sought, and found Christ in my life!

It isn’t every day, or even every moment, that any one will automatically encounter the Lord.  But the presence of our risen Lord was already at our side, deep within our soul, and pressing our empty consciousness to listen and receive his grace.  This has become the lost attribute within the minds of far too many who hear or read the word of God and then close the sources that were there for our spiritual growth.

How blessed is the person who walked in darkness, then through some special grace saw the Light of God in our eyes and ears.  Comprehending the existence of our Lord can become an enormous change in a person’s life.  

In my own journey I found a book that changed my entire spiritual life.  The small book called  “Enthronement of the Sacred Heart” by Father Francis Larkin, SS.CC, had an impact upon me and opened a new ministry that was yet to unfold for me.   I saw a mural of the Sacred Heart during a retreat, found this book upon returning from a retreat, and did indeed find Christ in a way I never dreamed of. 

The manner in which any of us may have a similar experience may sometimes come out of the blue without our looking, but the Lord will use an opportunity to place before us, whether by sight or hearing, a path to our designated existence he already has for us.  There is no doubt that any one of us will find our journey leading each one to strange or unsuspecting areas to a ministry that has outcomes none of us would seek on our own initiative.  Some of the deacons I have encountered spoke of events that had similarities between themselves and leaves us with the wonderment that God places in our growth for his purpose. 

Philip and the Ethiopian is one taken from Acts:  “Then the angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, “Get up and head south on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, the desert route.”  So he got up and set out.  Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official  of the Candace, that is, the queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury, who had come to Jerusalem to worship, and was returning home.  Seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah.  The Spirit said to Philip, “Go and join up with that chariot.”  Philp ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”  He replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?”  So he invited Philip to get in and sit with him.  This was the scripture he was reading.  “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearers was silent, so he opened not his mouth. (Is 53: 7).  In humiliation justice was denied him.  Who will tell of his posterity?  For his life is taken from the earth.”  Then the eunuch said to Philip, “I beg you, about whom is the prophet saying this?”  “About himself, or about someone else?”  Then Philip opened his mouth and, beginning with this scripture passage, he proclaimed Jesus to him.  As they traveled along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look, there is water.  What is to prevent my being baptized?”  (Acts 8: 26 -34).  This is but one of many occurrences throughout the growth of Christ’s Church to which all of us are also called in one way or another to hear the Holy Spirit's voice  and act upon it.  After all, each of us hears the voice of God, seeks his call to minister, and finds Christ within our soul to reach out when called.  

Ralph B. Hathaway