I found the following two articles in a Catholic circular:
"The man whispered, "God, speak to me." and a meadowlark sang. But the man did not hear.
So the man yelled "God speak to me." And, the thunder rolled across the sky. But, the man did not listen.
The man said, "God let me see you." And a star shone brightly. But the man did not notice.
The man shouted, "God show me a miracle." And a life was born. But the man did not know.
So the man cried out in despair, "Touch me God, and let me know You are here." Where-upon, God reached down and touched the man. But the man brushed the butterfly away and walked on.
As he walked he thought. . . "Where were You, God, on September 11th? The man recalled that so many grieved and wept real tears of sorrow in those days. The rains fell on New York City during the week following the attack . . . that was God's answer . . . His tears!
"Don’t miss out on a message because it isn't packaged the way that you expect!""
The other article was written by Pax Christi and Bobbi Frederich:
"I read an article this week about an Italian court deciding if Jesus really did live 2000 years ago. Naturally, I was fascinated. Why would they do such a thing in the first place?
Apparently, two 70 year old men were going to face off in court and the court's decision would stand. The two men had both attended the same seminary at the same time many years ago. One went on and was ordained a Catholic priest. The other became an atheist. The court tried to dismiss the case several times, but the atheist kept it alive and so it went to court to be settled. By the way the atheist wrote a book explaining why he believed Jesus is a myth and not a historical person. So the motive for this lawsuit was probably just a publicity stunt.
Should we be worried about the outcome? I don’t think so. In addition to the eyewitness accounts of two of the Apostles, Matthew and John, the other two Gospel accounts were written by disciples of two other Apostles. Mark wrote for Peter and Luke was a disciple of Paul. Further-more, there are at least two historical writings from the first century which confirms the passion and death of Jesus and the beginning of a new ecclesial community, otherwise known as the Church, not to mention, the thousands of people who suffered persecution and death for their beliefs beginning with all the Apostles. Only John was not put to death. Why would anyone willingly go through that if Jesus was only a myth? Many of these people knew Jesus when He lived and died on earth and could also attest to His resurrection.
I can certainly understand someone doubting that Jesus was God, but to deny a historical figure with all that evidence seems pretty silly to me. It does, however, raise a question. If we truly believe that Jesus lived, died and was resurrected and if we truly believe that Jesus is God, then how come more people don’t live better lives, and how come more people don't share this good news? Am I part of the problem or a part of the solution? Something to think about."
By George Konig
January 29, 2006
www.georgekonig.org
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