Lift Jesus Higher Rally April 9, 2011

 

 

 

Months of intense planning came to fruition on April 9, 2011 at the Metro Convention Centre when Renewal Ministries hosted its nineteenth annual Life Jesus Higher Rally.  After a blessing of the hall led by Deacon Tom Welsh, a procession and crowning of Our Lady by the Heralds of the Gospel, and a recitation of the Rosary, Paul Kromer welcomed the attendees “from the far reaches of Ontario and the Northern U.S.” who were there to hear how we are “Made for Much More.”

 

In his introduction of the first speaker, Deacon Alex Jones, back by popular demand, Peter Herbeck reminded everyone that “God is good—All the time” and that there is a great battle going on between light and evil.  We need to get our bearings straight, because the devil is attacking our identity and destiny.  Quoting John 11:14, Peter said, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”  The faith and love we seek will be given to us.

 

Having come into the Catholic Church along with many of his former parishioners at the Easter Vigil, April 14, 2001 and given the moniker, “The Papal Bull” in Uganda, Alex Jones focused on “Discovering the More.”  He pointed out that God is working in our lives, moving, healing, and still at work among us.  He took us back to 1906 onAzusa Streetwhere the New Pentecost happened, where the Lord gave a spiritual outpouring.  Eyes were opened, cancers were healed.  Nothing is too hard for God.

 

Personally, Alex has walked 50 years with the Lord.  He wanted us to rejoice for three reasons.  First, God loves us so much.  And we have to have the Father’s love in our hearts to reach out.  He is not the Prodigal Son but a forgiving father who never gave up on his son.  While we were sinners, Jesus died for us.  Salvation is a gift 

 

Second, we are to rejoice that God liberally and freely gives us gifts—healing, prophecy, miracles—to build the body of Christ, heal us, and to give us comfort and understanding.

 

And, third, rejoice that God gives us victory.  Paul wrote to the Corinthians that there was trouble on all sides, which we overcome through Him who loved us.  Somehow, some way, we come through.

 

Alex pointed out that the greatest gift of all is God Himself.  In Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “I don’t know you.”  There’s a difference between knowing about the Lord and knowing the Lord.  The Lord’s Prayer and Psalm 23 show true knowledge of the Shepherd. 

 

Alex reminded us to “Preach the Gospel.  When necessary, use words.”  See the qualities of God that flow through you.  What is more?  Draw closer to God through sacrifice, self-denial.  We say yes to God, no to ourselves.  We have to work at getting close to God.  We need, like Abraham, to trust God not knowing where our “yes” will lead us.  We need to put God first.  The more we say “yes,” the more we will know Him.  The “more” is growing in our relationship with God.  AsSt. Paulsad, “All things work together for good.”

 

Like us, the Philippians lived in a secular, hedonistic world. St. Paulreminded them of the surpassing value of knowing Jesus to live, move, in Him.  We are to lay our sins aside, but the “cellophane” sticks to us so we need to ask for the grace to get the overcoming power which comes from God.

 

We need to get the word out, be willing to lay down our lives, deny ourselves, and draw near to God; because that’s where life is.

 

Alex concluded with a plea that we search for the more and discover the more—find the Lord, love Him, and we can transform this land.

 

Peter Herbeckresponded by reminding us that God has come to make His home in us.  We are to release the gift of faith through the radical abandonment of Abraham and change our lives.  The revelation of God’s love gives us theKingdomofGod.

 

Sister Ann Shields, SGL, then spoke on “The Price and the Glory.”  Because Deacon Jones had given the heart, she decided to change her talk.  The heart of our relationship with God is a personal, intimate bond with the source of all love.  Our own decision is the only thing that can prevent us from that connection.  We are made for love and seek it in all kinds of ways.  We desire the union with the source of all love but, unfortunately, can substitute things like drugs, alcohol, and sex instead.  Satan’s lie is that God wouldn’t want to be bothered with us.  Tell him to go to hell.  We have to do battle and be strong in the Lord and command Satan to get out of our lives.

 

Pope Benedict XVI is witnessing about a mass apostasy.  There is an undeniable advance of secularism, and skepticism and cynicism, along with the call to get rid of God. All around us in society.  We breathe it, clogging our lungs and heart, taking away our beliefs.  It is the work of the Holy Spirit to reveal to us the Father and the Son.

 

Sister Ann recalled a Christmas event attended by 4,000 that her Mom led when Sister Ann was seven years old.  When Sister Ann thought she would freeze up, her mother said just to focus on her.  It impressed Sister Ann so much with the thought that that’s how God the Father acts.  He hasn’t taken her out of trouble, but He has helped and protected her.  God is with you as long as you fix your eyes on Him.  He gave His only begotten Son, and we know that losing a child is unlike any other pain.

 

We have to embrace the Savior and to know that we need to be saved.  We are forgiven each time we fail and sin.  The lie of the enemy is that we are not forgiven, but Sister Ann pointed to Isaiah 43:25, which says, “I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins” and Isaiah 44:22, which says, “I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist.”  That’s the Good News.

 

We carry our sins and have to be willing to be saved.  Sister Ann recounted the first time she went to Confession face to face around 1970.  She mentioned rash judgments among her sins.  The priest then said, “May I ask you a question?  Are you sorry for anything you just confessed?  You’re doing this out of habit.  I could give you absolution, but I’d rather not.”  He then suggested that Sister Ann take four months to consider things and return when she realized that she had to receive mercy with gratitude, that she needed a Savior.

 

Sister Ann then asked us if we know how much we need a Savior.  Jesus made it possible to live with God.  We are made for more, but too many people are content with being an orphan.  We are loved by the Father and Jesus, who gave us the Holy Spirit.  We are a temple of the Holy Spirit, the love of Father and Son.  Baptism and Confirmation are given to us.

 

Sister Ann said that we should pray the Lord’s Prayer every morning and pray it in our own way, “My Papa in Heaven . . .Your will be done . . .daily bread . . .deliver me.”

 

We are a tabernacle of the Most High God, and we shouldn’t let anyone rob us of our dignity.  We are made for so much more, but will we receive it?  Sister Ann mentioned that she had prayed for us for days.  We need to get out of the fears and burdens given us by the enemy and to kick Satan out.  She wantsCanadaand the States to be a light in the darkness, but the deeper conversion is up to us.  And it is a daily conversion.  In showing this, Sister Ann told the story of Father Michael Scanlan who joined the Merchant Marine at age eighteen and was on the 4:00 a.m. watch.  The navigator had locked the vessel’s course into place, but one degree off would mean the difference between the Panama Canal andArgentina.  We need to keep monitoring our direction.

 

Come, Holy Spirit, teach me today.  If we set our sights on Heaven, at least we will make it to Purgatory.  If we set our sights on Purgatory, where else might we end up???   Conversion leads us into union with God.  We can’t earn Heaven; God did that on the cross.

 

The greatest joy for Sister Ann would be if we all became saints along with her.   Our thoughts, words, relationships are important.  We can start small and concentrate on one thing.  God will give us grace, which is God sharing life with us.  The more we convert, the more we will be able to share life.  God loves us and forgives us.

 

Sister Ann recalled twenty years ago when her Dad died after being on dialysis for ten years.  It was 3:00 a.m. on a cold, rainy night, and she was sitting in her car praying and trusting that God had a better plan.  She asked for a shower of roses to show that her Dad was with God.  Friends sent her roses, because God had told them to give them to her to let her know that her prayers had been answered twelve times over.

 

There is a Heaven.  It’s not a fairy tale.  We are made for love.  Sister Ann asked that God speak to our hearts.  When our individual lives change,Canadaand theU. S.will change.  We will, in Jesus Christ, triumph.  We shouldn’t be afraid.  Believe God’s word, take advantage of it.

 

In concluding, Sister Ann prayed, “Papa, we are weak, suffering, blind.  Take us by the hand.  Lift us up.  Pour into our hearts faith, hope, courage, and wisdom.  Reign in our hearts, thoughts, and speech.  Holy Spirit, come.”

 

After the lunch break, Peter spoke about the fact that mission outreaches in twenty-one countries are supported by Canadian contributions to Renewal Ministries.  Programs like Food for the Journey, The Choices We Face, and Crossing the Goal are also helped by our contributions. 

 

Father Scott McCaig then told us that we are “Made for the King’sMission.”  The day of the vengeance of God has come in victory, and He destroyed the power of sin and death over us.  In our phraseology, Jesus “threw himself in front of the bus,” but took up His glory again at the Resurrection.  It’s the victory of God’s love—the cross and Resurrection.  His great love compelled Him to act.

 

God possesses a “Hesed” attitude towards His people—a covenant, a tenderhearted and merciful goodness towards us.  Our hymn of praise is that nothing is big enough for us to do for God after all He has done for us.  There has been a total victory by God.  Nothing has been left undone.  We know that God ultimately wins; the drama of salvation continues.

 

Two hundred and fifty thousand people a day die.  The merits of salvation need to be applied.  People have to be told about Jesus.  Evangelization is the number one priority of the Church.  This call originates in the heart of God who wants to be in union with everyone.

 

We all have an important role to play.  We have been created by God for God, and He wants us to be in communion with Him forever.  We are each a vessel of His love, and He has a plan for each of us in particular.  We were baptized into Christ, and that is a metaphysical reality.

 

Jesus is still acting in the world—using our voices, hands, feet, and heart—the last of which is the most important.  We all have unique, indispensible calls; and if we refuse to answer His call, we are crippling and paralyzing Jesus, blocking up His mercy.  Each of us is another Christ acting in the world.  The world needs truth and mercy, and there’s an urgency to that need right now.

 

Blessed John Paul II wanted all our energies put towards a new evangelization.  No believer is exempt.  In an apparition inKibeho,Rwanda, the Mother of the Word descried the incredulity, impenitence, and the dissolution of morality in the world.  Our hearts need conversion.  Repent, repent, repent.  The world is racing to its loss in its rebellion towards God and is headed toward falling into the abyss.

 

Father McCaig said that St. John Vianney was more eager to forgive sin than a mother would be in rescuing her baby from a burning building.  It’s a satanic lie that Jesus is disappointed in us. St.Catherine of Sienna said that we can’t live without mercy.  The Sacred Heart’s message calls us to see what love He has for His people. 

 

God loves to use the weakest to do His greatest works.  That way, there’s less of the person to get in His way.  We need to say yes.  St. Thérèse of Lisieux said that we carry Jesus with us.  The more confidence we have in Him, the more he uses us. 

 

We are to “walk the walk.”  People will notice and invite us to witness.  We are to speak up—not in annoying, intrusive way but sharing forgiveness, love, and healing.  Introduce others to Jesus, and lead them to prayer.  Jesus is a lion.  Let Him out.

 

We are to offer it up.  Jesus turns our redemptive suffering into victory as we discover the power of sacrifice. 

 

We need to open ourselves up to the Holy Spirit who gives us gifts to equip us for the mission.  Father McCaig finished by reminding us that this is not the Catholic Historical Society.  God is alive!

 

As always, the Eucharistic Procession led by Father Tom Rosica gave us all “radiation therapy.”  Following that, the Holy Mass, the greatest prayer in the Church, finished off a beautiful day of prayer, talks, songs, and community where, as always, we were instructed to “Go in the peace of Christ,” knowing that we are, indeed, “Made for Much More.”