GodTouches Digital Ministry

Hebrews 11:32-40 speaks of a great cloud of witnesses from the days before Christ who surround us.
Today, 2,000 years later, a period greater than the entire span of the old testament starting with Abraham, we have an even greater cloud
of those who followed Jesus and carried on his work by faith working through love.

First of all is Paul himself, who wrote those words.
He persevered through numerous persecutions, through the dangers he encountered in his travels and even through stoning.

Throughout the 2,000 years countless women and men laored with faith working through love for Christ. Many were persecuted, even kiled, for their work.
Most of them are unknown to us, but they surround us with their witness nevertheless.

Very close to our own time consider pope John Paul II. He spread the message of Jesus to every corner of the world, fostering peace between the different religions.
With great courage he opposed communism, even in the face of an assassination attempt. He helped bring it down.
Though he was aware of allegations against a former cardinal he was apparently persuaded by this person’s denials. He was wrong. Saints can make mistakes, even popes.

In our own day we have Pope Francis, who carries on the work of Jesus, spreading his message of peace, love and service to the world.

Lord our God, grant Joe Biden your special blessing. Give him the courage and wisdom to deal with the truly important things first.
spread y our peace over his inauguration. Remind those who oppose him that violence solves nothing. Graant those who are responsible for a peaceful inauguration with the courage to do their duty. Amen.

Lord our God, give your gracee to members of the United States Senate, that they may have the courage to do their duty as the evidence of the president’s guilt shows. Help them to consider the good of the pe ople they have been elected to serve and not to be swayed by loyalty to one individual or to one party. Amen.

Lord our God, grant the peop le of the United States your grace of peace and unity. May th ose who are supposed to be their leaders have the courage and resolve to remove a president who has shown himself to be morally if not mentally incapable of carrying out his duties. Op en the minds of the people, that they may accept the evidence of their own senses that the rioters at the Capitol were under the spell of this president and of their own deesires, which had overcome their rationality. Amen.

Lord our God, grant your grace to the new congress of the United States. Remind the members that they were elected not to be served but to serve those who elected them. Inspire them with the spirit of true patriotism – that the primary resp onsibility of a government is the good ofo its pe o ple. That their loyalty to our cou ntry must be above their loyalty to their party or to any particular person.

Open their minds that they may accept the evidence that the presidential election was free and fair, with no signiificant fraud. That the electoral college did its work properly.

Holy Spirit, conform my conscience to that of Christ.
Help me Lord to think like Other; To understand and love my Brother.
To always do what our Father wants;
To seek perfection in love of God and neighbor;
In the way that Jesus himself demonstrated
By washing the feet of his disciles,
Normally the work of a slave.
And being in the form of a slave
To acept even death for my brothers.
Like Him I am here not to be served but to serve.
Remembering that He is most present in the least of my brothers;
So that I may give ppriority to the poor, the sick, the stranger and the otherwise marginalized.
If I seek power may I remember that the one who would be first must be the least and the slave of all.
May I humble myself like a little child, that I may reign with Jesus.
We are witnesses to the Gospel at all times and wherever we may be, in our thoughts, in our words and in our actions.
For me all this is impossible, but for God everything is possible.
Grant me the perseverance to try to do a little better each day.

The holy innocents of today are the children who were separated from their parents at the southern border and whose parents cannot be found. They are in custodial care where they might bee fed but their need for human c loseness and love are unmet. They will be permanently emotio nally impaired. let us pray that they can be adopted.

America, America, God shed his grace on thee,
Ana crown thy good with brotherhood
From seaa to shining sea.

Let us resist the forces of division and polarization. Let us vote sand urge others to vote. Let us resist fear and resentment and consider the good of our countr.

Saturday, October 24,vote Early day. Keep your vote and you safe. If there are disturances on november 3 you won’t have to worry. And there is less chance for the peo ple who are try ing to su pp0ress voters to do their thing.

The correct link is Vote for the Common Good