Diary of the Ghetto Priest | Do you have faith
Whatever we want, as long as it is for good, and especially if it is for the community and the spread of the kingdom, it will be done. We must work hard, and, at the same time, pray hard.
"I say, if you ask anything of the Father, He will give it to you in my name ... . Ask and you will receive, and your joy maybe full" (John 16:23-24).
Sometimes we ask for what is not God's will and we end up disappointed, but if we seek the Lord and His will, and add "Thy will be done" in a spirit of indifference, we will have prayed, and the response is always for the best for all, even though it might not seem to be so at that time.
We are told, "Believe God, and He will recover thee: and direct your way, and trust in Him" (Ecclus 2:6-8). In another very beautiful passage from the Old Testament, the writer of Proverbs 3:5 tells us, "Have confidence in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own prudence."
The word of God is so rich, and our faith is so weak.
Lord! Lord! How will I get through today? I am not able to get the job done at The Lord's Place! There are 130 people at The Lord's Place! The brothers don't have enough dry clothes to replace the women's messy clothes that are wet! The old ladies are uncomfortable and are begging to be changed!
Lunch needs to be cooked! Two of our volunteers are missing. They stayed home because the rain is so heavy! They can't go outside to get a bus. The rain is coming down. Everything is wet. The gutters are flooding.
IT WILL BE DONE
The brothers begin to pray while working, whispering the Lord's Prayer under their breaths.
"It has to be done, it will be done. Lord, hear my prayer. They are your people, Lord. You get it done."
Then, the cook calls out to her friends - the women are in wheelchairs. They must peel and cut the vegetables. They must put the pot on the fire. They must set the table. The brothers are still getting the women tidy and clean. They are also changing the bed sheets. Some are wet with urine, and others with the rain.
In the meanwhile, Brother Anil, Brother Selridge and myself are concerned with paying the bills.
How are we going to get the funds for this year to pay our bills? Electricity is so costly! Petrol, repairs and maintenance of vehicles are so costly. Vegetables have also gone up!
But we know that the Lord loves the poor, the forgotten street people, the least of our brothers and sisters! We've got to keep on trying, and God will do the rest. It's His work, done in His name, for His people.
"Do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat nor about your body, instead seek His kingdom, and these things shall be yours as well" (Luke 12:30).