Holy Relic Visitation: Our Lady of Fatima Prayer Group, 2/28/2015

This month's meeting of Our Lady of Fatima Prayer Group was truly a night especially dedicated to Christian Fellowship.  I invited a non-Catholic Christian friend of mine to come and pray with our group, and she actually showed up with another friend! ... and guess what?  We all had an awesome night of prayer, faith-sharing, and wholesome fun!

My friend has been trying to deepen her faith experience with the Lord and I shared with her about our Rosary Group.  I invited her to the Gruber/Lee residence this evening with the reassurance that she wouldn't be pressured in any way to convert to Catholicism, although I did encourage her to keep an open mind and an open heart so as to allow the Holy Spirit to touch her in the manner that He wished to do so.

Green and golden escarchas (left and right

photos) - signs of Our Lady and the Holy

Spirit's spiritual presence - were manifested

during this evening's meeting.

So as our prayer schedule began, I sensed our guests' initial feelings of uncertainty... but by the end of our meeting about an hour and thirty minutes later, our new prayer-partners were completely at ease... and conversation and laughter flowed freely. There was even a surprising manifestation of escarchas - shimmering green and golden flakes - on the table while we were in friendly conversation over dinner!  The Holy Spirit had made His presence known in a powerful, tangible way, as if to say, "Peace... Joy... Love... and Unity.  This is how it should be with all the children of God..."

In this modern world where people are killing each other over religious ideologies; preferring to focus on certain aspects of our respective faiths that divide us... it was refreshing to sit in harmony with our non-Catholic brethren and be focused on things that we have in common - primarily, our faith and love in our Savior, Jesus Christ!

Some of our prayer participants enjoying

the potluck spread, which included Roasted

Chicken and Pork, Gau Gee, Pancit Noodles,

and Creole-Style Chicken Curry.

Other highlights of this month's prayer meeting included our potluck of international cuisine - American, Filipino, and Chinese dishes - and our Saint of the Month, Bl. Madre Carmen of the Child Jesus (d. 1899), who founded the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Hearts in Antequera, Spain.  Prior to becoming a founder, this holy widow patiently endured an abusive marriage for over twenty years(!) before her husband took seriously ill, experienced a change of heart, and asked for her forgiveness.  Of course, Bl. Carmen willingly did so, which was the key lesson we got from her story - the grace of Forgiveness.  It was an appropriate reflection for Lent.

So I drove home tonight, spiritually content and loaded with abundant blessings... and I know my friend (and her friend) did, too, because they told us all how awesome they felt.  Jesus, and definitely Mother Mary, too, planted something special in their hearts.  Hopefully, we'll see them again at a future meeting.  Thanks be to God.