Father I love you. Test

             Our Teacher.

            Jesus says, “I have said these things to you while still with you; but the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you.”^[1]

            Notwithstanding my deficiencies, this entire book is the work of the Holy Spirit. I happily share these personal experiences with you. With all my heart, I hope they will be of some assistance to help you discern his presence and to live in communion with Him. Spirits in the Kingdom of God will, by their vocation, bring God’s salvific love to Others wherever they may be.

            How does the Holy Spirit communicate with us?

            Voice of the Holy Spirit.

            When we hear others speak, it is quite evident from the sound of their voice that someone is talking, and when we hear the message, it is also quite clear if they are or are not talking to us. These voices, we hear with our ears, because they are audible

            Not so with the voice of the Holy Spirit.

            “Then the LORD said, "Go outside and stand on the mountain before the LORD; the LORD will be passing by." A strong and heavy wind was rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the LORD-but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake-but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake there was fire-but the LORD was not in the fire. After the fire there was a tiny whispering sound. When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went and stood at the entrance of the cave. A voice said to him, "Elijah, why are you here?"[2]

            “There was a tiny whispering sound.” When the Holy Spirit speaks, He speaks to your spirit. He is a Voice within you. He speaks lovingly, quietly, calmly, peacefully, clearly, simply and with authority. Speaking to you from deep within your consciousness, his presence and his voice are undeniable. When you think, or read or ponder, do you hear that voice in your mind as you think, as you read? That is how loud the Spirit’s voice is when speaking to your spirit. He will help you understand and he will explain things to you. He wants to know your questions, that you may grow and be a force in your heavenly Father’s Kingdom in Christ Jesus. But, if you have the misfortune to “brush Him off,” that’s it. If you put Him on hold to watch TV, that’s it. You are on your own until you ask for forgiveness to God who loves you so very much.

            God also speaks through man and through events. Again (as always) we must be listening for his words. This is really easy to do if we live with Him and dialogue with Him as a normal part of our day.

            Here is one example of God speaking through men. [3]

            Once, a position became available as a municipal clerk-treasurer for a small municipality with a population of 1,200. I was out of town when this happened.[4] When I returned:

            -Florence (my darling better-half) told me about it.

            -My godmother (who also saw the ad) telephoned to tell me about it.

            -The tenants upstairs told me about the position.

            All were telling me to apply for the job and all this happened in the space of a couple of days. My problem, was that I never worked in a municipal office. Yet when I heard the community (these loving hearts) speaking so loudly and clearly, I decided to examine the matter further.

            I found out who the Reeve was and where he worked (he was sales manager with a lumber company). Wednesday afternoon I located him and asked him about the job. Unknown to me (I had not seen the ad) the date for receiving applications had closed. However, he invited me to attend the Friday evening council meeting to meet members of council (none of which I knew).

            That Friday evening, after being interviewed by council, I was asked to leave the room while they considered the matter in private. A short while later they called me back and asked me to complete an application; then they hired me on the spot. I began work as clerk-treasurer the following Monday morning. This, in spite of the fact there were 28 other applicants, most of whom were far more qualified than I. All of this took place from Wednesday afternoon to Friday evening.

            The municipality was under provincial supervision and was an administrative disaster. In two years, with the help of many wonderful persons who guided me and watched over me, the basic municipal administrative systems were put into place and the situation was normalized.

            Two years later, the mayor of a small city of 25,000 invited me to be its administrator.

            Later, I was made president of the provincial municipal administrator’s association and later still was commissioned to write a report on how the national capital of our country should be governed.

            Later, I was hired as a senior advisor for the provincial government on municipal affairs, after which I went on my own as a private consultant in municipal management and administration.

            This all took place because I took notice when I heard the community (God through men) speaking.

            God can do anything.

            An example of the Holy Spirit speaking through an event.

            In the ministry of baptism, I am challenged from time to time by non practicing parents. They ask, “Why is it important for them to be practicing their faith before having their new born baptized?”

            How could I share with them the importance of this? After much reflection I asked our dear Lord for his help. Now when I'm asked, I take out a miniature planting pot and a large seed.

            “The planting pot (I explain) symbolizes the Church, your family. This seed symbolizes your new son.” The seed was then placed in the planting pot. I then poured water over the seed.

            “What do you think will happen now?” I asked.

            “The seed will eventually rot,” they replied.

            “Why?” I asked.

            “Because there is no soil, seeds cannot grow without good soil.” they said.

            “You are right,” I replied, “water without soil does more harm than good. It is good soil that enables the seed to grow. Water keeps the soil moist. Moist soil encourages the seed to open and to take root in the soil. A seed cannot take root in water alone and survive for very long. It will soon rot and die.”

            “The soil needed for your child to grow in,” I continued, “is the faith of the church, your faith. Water symbolizes the sacraments, but unless this seed (your child) is rooted in the soil of your faith, water (the sacraments) will do him more harm than good. Indeed, unless you are rooted in the soil of faith, water (the sacraments) will also contribute to your death.”

            “Your son (like this seed) needs to grow in good soil, in the faith of the church he was born in. This means that he must grow in the living soil of his father's and his mother's faith, a faith that’s alive and healthy. He needs to be with parents who have strong roots, roots that will enable him to grow tall, full of branches and be able to bear much fruit. In your hearts you know this is the kind of soil you want him to grow in. That is the kind of soil the waters of baptism can nourish.”

            “If you believe this to be true, prepare this soil now so that your son can take root in your faith and grow to be healthy and strong. Then all three of you will bear much fruit and your happiness will be such as you have never known before. I would be  happy to help you bring new healthy life-giving soil into your lives. Your heritage is to live, really live (father, mother and child) in the security and peace of your heavenly Father's home, your home... the Church. It is on soil such as this that the heavenly waters of baptism should rain.”

            “And the one who received the seed in rich soil is the man who hears the word and understands it; he is the one who yields a harvest and produces now a hundredfold, now sixty, now thirty.”^[5]

            For this family, this baptism was a real eye opener on the importance of them living a life of faith, both for the couple’s own good and for the good of their child. The Holy Spirit spoke to them through this event.[6]

            There are many events when the Holy Spirit speaks to us. Mass, marriages, births, baptisms, graduations, promotions, illness, and death are but a few of the many events in our life when the Holy Spirit speaks to us. God is teaching us constantly.

            The Holy Spirit speaks with words that bring Peace and have a staying power. He leaves no doubt about his message and then waits for your response.

            The voice of the Holy Spirit should always be welcomed and embraced with love and thanksgiving. “I tell you solemnly, whoever welcomes the one I send welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.”^[7]

            When you receive prompts from the Holy Spirit, acknowledge them with the happiness, delight and the gratitude of a child, for he reminds you again that you are not alone. How very consoling is the presence of the Lord, for “in thy presence is fullness of joy.”^[8]

            This is a very small insight into the power of the Holy Spirit. No one can deny his Truth. He is a Friend within you to help you and to guide you in making the Kingdom of God visible to all mankind. He is a Friend to help you do Godly things; “Ah, what is man that you should spare a thought for him, the son of man that you should care for him? Yet you have made him little less than a god.”^[9]

            With the Holy Spirit, your spirit has a Friend you can depend on, a Counselor and a Teacher who will never abandon you. With Him, raise a strong, healthy, fruitful family in the rich soil of faith. As unbelievable as it may sound, God the Holy Spirit is our Friend and Counselor. “... the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you.”^[10]

            It is inconceivable to even imagine that any spirit can take his or her place in the Kingdom of God (now, at this very moment, here, in this world) without walking hand in hand with God the Holy Spirit. After you read this book and learn more about discernment, awaken to his presence in your life every hour of every day. Let Him teach you. Respond to his prompts. Keep your heart still and quiet for he will not compete with the noise and clamor of the world for your love.

            “The Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you.”^[11] “Whatever you ask for in my name I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask for anything in my name, I will do it.”^[12] (Underline is mine.) I cannot stress enough the importance of Jesus’ words.

            To try and live one's life, to try and live one's marriage, to try and raise one's family without the companionship, consolation and counsels of the Holy Spirit is to suffer heartbreak after heartbreak after heartbreak.

            Brother Aurelius and Jesus.

            -Brother Raymond?-

            “Yes Brother Aurelius.”

            -In my “Confessions,” I had somewhat the same experience. I was conversing with God:-

            “O eternal truth, and beloved eternity. You are my God. To you do I sigh day and night. When I first came to know you, you drew me to yourself so that I might see that there were things for me to see, but that I was not yet ready to see them. Meanwhile you overcame the weakness of my vision, sending forth most strongly the beams of your light, and I trembled at once with love and dread. I learned that I was in a region unlike yours and far distant from you and I thought I heard your voice from on high.

            “I am the food of grown men; grow then, and you will feed on me. Nor will you change me into yourself like bodily food, but you will be changed into me.”

            “I sought a way to gain the strength which I needed to enjoy you. But I did not find it until I embraced the mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who is above all, God blessed for ever. He was calling me and saying: I am the Way of Truth, I am the Life. He was offering me food which, I lacked the strength to take, the food he had mingled with our flesh. For the Word became flesh that your Wisdom, be which you created all things, might provide milk for us children.”[13]

            Brother Thomas and Jesus.

            “St. Thomas was filled with love for the Holy Eucharist. He only wanted God, and one day as he was praying at Naples after he had finished writing the first part of the Summa, Jesus spoke from the Crucifix: “Thou hast written well of me, what recompense dost thou desire?”

            Thomas humbly answered, “None other than Thyself, O Lord.”  He wished to continue having Our Lord, as his greatest love forever!

            When Thomas was very ill there was no hope for the holy monk to get better, so he made his General Confession. He then received the Last Rites and when Holy Communion was brought to him, tears came to his eyes as he made this Profession of Faith.  “I firmly believe Jesus Christ, True God and True Man, Son of God and Son of the Virgin Mary, is in this Sacrament.  I receive Thee the price of my Redemption, for whose love I have watched, studied and laboured, preached and taught.”  He died a little after midnight March 7, 1274.[14] St. Thomas Aquinas, Pray for Us!”

            Jesus, your Light and my Light.

            One evening I was on the sun deck getting ready to pray the Liturgy of the Hours. Before beginning prayer, I like to take a few minutes to consider what I’m about to do. I look at creation around me, seeing the wonder and beauty of it all, realizing that all of this was for me. And here I am in my little corner of God’s Kingdom, about to thank Him for His love and His blessings. If I could just be like our Mother Mary. If I could pray like Her and be like Her. I wanted to be like her in her relationship with our dear Lord. Because she was, “one of us,” I felt that we could discuss this together as mother and child. So, I asked our dear Mother Mary (present in the Word (Jesus), present within me, without whom nothing was made):[15] From my spirit, focusing on Her I said:

            “Mother, what could I do to be more like you?

            You’re so modest, humble, and conscious of God’s love for you. You’re generous, patient and are truly in love with our blessed Jesus, your Child and your God.

            “Look at the moon,” I heard her say in my heart, “what is it made of?”

            The outline of the moon was quite visible in the early evening sky.

            “Dust,” I answered. I remembered the astronauts landing on the moon and seeing all the dust there.

            “Where does it get its light then, which it reflects so brightly in the darkness of the night?” she asked.

            “From the sun,” I replied.

            “If you wish to be like me, remember that you are dust and  in the dark night of this world, your Light comes from the Son of God,” she said.

            Aren’t these the words of a Queen? Aren’t these the words of a Mother? See how close She and Heaven are to your spirit?

            If I want to be like Mother Mary, I must remember that I am dust[16], that this dark world has it’s own gods, that Jesus is my Light, that Jesus is THE true God, that He made me God’s child. Without Jesus, our spirit lives in darkness, such a terrible darkness we cannot even know who we are.

            Thank you dearest, wonderful Mother Mary. Thank you, thank you. I love you Mother.

            I have given you a few examples, but there are thousands and thousands who have followed Jesus because He said and has proven: "I am the way the truth and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me."[17] There are thousands and thousands who converse with our heavenly Father, His Son and the Lord Holy Spirit, with our blessed Mother, our guardian angels and deceased relatives and friends.[18]

            Dearest Children of God, 

            God reveals Himself to us constantly. Firstly through our very existence, spirit that we are, made in God’s image and likeness. Then through his beloved Son who reveals his Father to us, and the Holy Spirit who reminds us and teaches us (Spirit to spirit) everything Jesus said. He reveals Himself in this beautiful creation made for you and me, a home where we are called upon to minister to Him here and now, like the angels who minister to Him in Heaven. We are now living a singular unique blessing, to minister to God and to one another as His children in His Kingdom, in his eternity.

            Your very presence is proof of the presence of the Holy Trinity with you. Firstly God the Father wills your presence, then God the Son speaks your name, then in response God the Holy Spirit, will of the Father and Word of the Son created you, sustains you and remains with you until your ministry as God’s Child is completed. Look at the lives of some of the saints to see what their ministries were. Thousands upon thousands of other persons have lived similar ministries, mothers, fathers, pastors, teachers and so on.

            It is with great happiness I share these experiences with you. It is crucial you know you are a spirit with a soul. Your spirit is you. You are blessed with the grace to be about your Father’s business now. Your intimate and personal relationship with your heavenly Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit begins now. You cannot die. Your body will and must one day decay and turn to dust, but on another day it will also resurrect, for your soul will not be complete without it. Jesus told us so. I now know this for a fact, and now so do you. Your destiny is to live as Cod’s child now and with Him forever and ever. What can you do, as a Prince/Princess in your heavenly Father’s Kingdom?

            “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” [19]

            Now, at this time in our history, at this time in your life, you have seen a soul and from this experience, you know your soul is eternal, it is and it cannot die, you were not meant to die. What kind of a Father would give you life with unlimited royal opportunities, only to let you die in the end?

            After all we shared on this journey, what is the most important message I can leave with you? Your spirit is a real spirit, it exists and it is YOU. Everything you do must be done by you as the person made by God in Their image and likeness. As a spirit you must know how to live and what to do, how to be God’s Child. In this regard your Brother Jesus is your Teacher and the Holy Spirit is your Counsellor.

            “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father. And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.[20]

            "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate[21] to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows it. But you know it, because it remains with you, and will be in you.[22]

            Now, I will continue my journey with our heavenly Father, Jesus our King, the Lord Holy Spirit, our Mother Mary, our brothers Aurelius, Thomas, and the many other brothers and sisters in our Father’s Kingdom.

            I love you my brother, my sister in Christ Jesus. May God bless you, and your dreams. May you blossom as a Prince, as a Princess in our Father’s Holy Kingdom, † in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

            In God’s love for you,

            Deacon Raymond.[23]