October 03, 2014
Greetings and Thanksgiving
A reading from Saint Paul’s Letter to the Romans 1, 1 – 15:
Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised previously through his prophets in the holy scriptures, the gospel about his Son, descended from David according to the flesh, but established as Son of God in power according to the spirit of holiness through resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. Through him we have received the grace of apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith, for the sake of his name, among all the Gentiles, among whom are you also who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, to all the beloved of God in Rome, called to be holy. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
First, I give thanks to my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is heralded throughout the world. God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in proclaiming the gospel of his Son, that I remember you constantly, always asking in my prayers that somehow by God’s will I may at last find my way clear to come to you. For I long to see you that I may share with you some spiritual gift so that you may be strengthened, that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by one another’s faith, yours and mine. I do not want you to be unaware brothers, that I often planned to come to you, though I was prevented until now, that I might harvest some fruit among you, too, as among the rest of the Gentiles. To Greeks and non-Greeks alike, to the wise and the ignorant, I am under obligation, that is why I am eager to preach the gospel also to you in Rome.
The official beginning of the Synod of Bishops on the family will start in Rome on Sunday with a solemn Holy Mass led by the Holy Father, the Pope. The Pope calls on us all to pray every day for the success of this very important meeting. May the Holy Spirit inspire all the members present to show the way for the families to live according to the will of God. May the bond of marriage be strengthened.
Below you will find the message of Our Lord and Savior given to Father Melvin. Jesus spoke to him these words,
“Accept the words of Saint Paul today My dear brother Melvin and all My brothers and sisters throughout the world so that you may be filled with love, peace and joy.
Saint Paul greeted the Christians of Rome by telling them that he is a slave of mine and that he was chosen to be an Apostle and set aside for the preaching of the gospel. He tells the people that I am a descendant of King David according to the flesh but I am established as the Son of God in power according to the spirit of holiness through the resurrection from the dead. Saint Paul was sent to preach the gospel among the Gentiles and he tells the Romans that they are My followers too. At the end he greets them in these words, ‘Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.’ Saint Paul gives thanks to God for all the Romans because their faith is heralded throughout the world. Saint Paul desires to go to Rome and see the Christians there. So far he has not been able to go. However, he hopes to go and visit them in the future. He wants to go and preach the gospel to the Romans.
Be of good cheer My friends that I am with you and that I live in your hearts because of your faith in Me. Continue your journey to the Promised Land by doing all that you have been asked to do especially to pray every day, to avoid sin and to go to church every Sunday and during the week too if possible. I bless you all.”
Father Melvin
P.S. We had a beautiful sunny day but it was a bit windy and it was cool.