Hello! When I read Eddy chettan's mail it was wake up call for me. Now I make a point to pray for the priests. Ever since Josun put his feedback on this issue I wanted to share my vies in this matter. But then I was a little worried about it as it was a kind of confession I had to make. But after reading Nelson's mail now I feel I should not keep it back. So here is what I got to share in this discussion.
I think it was in 1997 when I came to Fujairah that I got a feeling that Jesus was calling me to serve. By then as Josun and Nelson pointed out from their lives I had got into the worldly desires and I reasoned myself that I will not be able to be a good priest. So I ignored it. Then on a Friday this uncle in the church who gives scripture readings came to me and asked if I could do the first reading. I had never done it before but still agreed. I remember the passage I got for reading. It was Isaiah chapter 6 verses 1-8 ------------ Isaiah 6 1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." 4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. 5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." 6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" ------------- As I was reading it out to the congregation and it struck me again that the Lord is calling me for his service, especially when I read the last line "Here am I. Send me". I ignored it again and ended up finally as a family man. I am not sad about it but I got to tell you all that family life not all that what you see from the outside, it is tough to live a good and Godly married life with its benefits of being loved and raising up children. I srongly feel that everyone of us should pray also for the youth who are fighting between the call of the world and that of the Lord along with the prayers for priests who got to fight the same battle. I still remember vaguely the lines in some novena of prayer which went " Lord protect your calls of the young" ( yuva janangalude dhaiva vili kaathukollane). Regards and prayers Abraham Fujairah / UAE. **************************************************************** This mail is generated from JOYnet, a Jesus Youth mailing list. To unsubscribe, send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe to this mailing list, visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet For automatic help, send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] In case of any issue related to the mailing list contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] ****************************************************************
