Daily Reflection with Fr. Tomas Del Valle-Reyes



Dear Friends: Praying is not easy. Our daily routine calls for our full attention. And the world around us puts little value on prayer; our lives are full of material things but at the same time are getting emptier in God’s value.

For this reason, I will post a daily reflection and as you visit this site may the Holy Spirit within you come to your aid and guide you gently to the God who loves you
.


Showing posts with label prayers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label prayers. Show all posts

Sunday, January 1, 2023

THE GIFT

Here is a true story about a nine year old boy who lived in a rural town in Tennessee.
His house was in a poor area of the community. 

A church had a bus ministry that came knocking on his door one Saturday afternoon. The kid came to answer the door and greeted the bus pastor. 
The bus pastor asked if his parents were home, and the small boy told him that his parents take off every weekend and leave him at home to take care of his little brother. 
The bus pastor couldn't believe what the kid said and asked him to repeat it. 
The youngster gave the same answer, and the bus pastor asked to come in and talk with him. They went into the living room and sat down on an old couch with the foam and springs exposed.
The bus pastor asked the kid, "Where do you go to church?"  
The young boy surprised the visitor by replying, "I've never been to church in my whole life."
The bus pastor thought to himself about the fact that his church was less than three miles from the child's house.
"Are you sure you have never been to church?" he asked again.
"I sure haven't," came his answer. 
Then the bus pastor said, "Well, son, more important than going to church, have you ever heard the greatest love story ever told?", and then proceeded to share the Gospel with this little nine year old boy
The young lad's heart began to be tenderized, and at the end of the bus pastor's story, the bus pastor asked if the boy wanted to receive this free gift from God. 
The youngster exclaimed, "You bet!" The kid and the bus pastor got on their knees and the lad invited Jesus into his little heart and received the free gift of salvation. 
They both stood up and the bus pastor asked if he could pick the kid up for church the next morning. "Sure," the nine year old replied.
The bus pastor got to the house early the next morning and found the lights off. 
He let himself in, snaked his way through the house, and found the little boy asleep in his bed. 
He woke up the little boy and his brother and helped get them dressed. 
They got on the bus and ate a donut for breakfast on their way to church.
Keep in mind that this boy had never been to church before.
The church was a real big one. 
The little kid just sat there, clueless of what was going on.
A few minutes into the service, these tall unhappy guys walked down to the front and picked up some wooden plates.
One of the men prayed and the kid, with utter fascination, watched them walk up and down the aisles. He still didn't know what was going on. 
All of a sudden, like a bolt of lightning, it hit the kid what was taking place. 
These people must be giving money to Jesus.
He then reflected on the free gift of life he had received just twenty-four hours earlier. 
He immediately searched his pockets, front and back, and couldn't find a thing to give Jesus.
By this time the offering plate was being passed down his aisle and, with a broken heart, he just grabbed the plate and held on to it. 
He finally let go and watched it pass on down the aisle. 
He turned around to see it passed down the aisle behind him.
And then his eyes remained glued on the plate as it was passed back and forth, all the way to the rear of the sanctuary.
Then he had an idea. This little nine year old boy, in front of God and everybody, got up out of his seat. He walked about eight rows back, grabbed the usher by the coat and asked to hold the plate one more time. 
Then he did the most astounding thing I have ever heard of. 
He took the plate, sat it on the carpeted church floor and stepped into the center of it. 
As he stood there, he lifted his little head up and said, "Jesus, I don't have anything to give you today, but just me. I give you me!"-
AUTHOR UNKNOWN -

Descubriendo el Siglo 21
Discovering 21century
Fr Tomás Del Valle-Reyes
P. O. BOX 1170
New York, NY 10018
(212) 244 4778

Sunday, December 18, 2022

A Spirit of Sharing

Heavenly Father, you have flooded my life with fullness as vast as a field of wheat stretching to the horizon. 
Because life comes at me fast, and sometimes with ferocity, it is easy for me to forget the blessings you give with such liberality. 
Then when I see someone else’s need, I am suddenly aware again of the abundance in my own life. 
When I have such a moment of recognition, O God, help me realize that I may be the blessing you have brought to that person’s life. Give me courage to respond to them with love.
 Amen.
Descubriendo el Siglo 21
Discovering 21century
Fr Tomás Del Valle-Reyes
P. O. BOX 1170
New York, NY 10018
(212) 244 4778

Sunday, October 9, 2022

Thank you Lord...

Gracious God, in the busyness of my day, I sometimes forget to stop to thank You for all that is good in my life.
My blessings are many and my heart is filled with gratefulness for the gift of living, for the ability to love and be loved, for the opportunity to see the everyday wonders of creation, for sleep and water, for a mind that thinks and a body that feels.
I thank you, too, for those things in my life that are less than I would hope them to be. 

Things that seem challenging, unfair, or difficult. 
When my heart feels stretched and empty and pools of tears form in my weary eyes, still I rejoice that you are as near to me as my next breath and that in the midst of turbulence, I am growing and learning.
In the silence of my soul, I thank you most of all for your unconditional and eternal love.
Amen.

Descubriendo el Siglo 21
Discovering 21century
Fr Tomás Del Valle-Reyes
P. O. BOX 1170
New York, NY 10018
(212) 244 4778

Monday, November 29, 2021

Take away this
Disappointment

Dear God, I pray for my brothers and sisters and others in my circle of family and friends who are struggling with challenges...
When they're disappointed that You haven't answered their prayers or haven't seemed to make any move to change things yet, forgive their impatience.
Help them to live like the prophets of old, who were patient even when they had to suffer, and who didn't quit though they must have felt like it sometimes.
Help these I'm praying for not to quit either. (James 5:10–11a)
Help them to trust You and believe that You care, that You haven't forgotten them—and You won't! When trouble comes their way, when they're facing tests and challenges, help them be willing to thank You in all circumstances, difficult as that is. (Nahum 1:7a; Isaiah 49:15b; 1 Thessalonians 5:18; Ephesians 5:20)
Help them to love You with all their hearts, souls, and minds, for You cause all things to work together for our good when we love You and are called according to Your purpose. 
Help them realize that somehow You're fitting them into Your plans. 
Help their love for You to be as steadfast and unchanging as Your love for them. (Matthew 22:37; Romans 8:28, 38–39)
May they never question Your love, knowing it was settled once and forever at the cross. (1 John 4:10)
In Jesus' name, amen.


Descubriendo el Siglo 21
Discovering 21century
Fr Tomás Del Valle-Reyes
P. O. BOX 1170
New York, NY 10018
(212) 244 4778

Monday, January 4, 2021

Wings of Prayer

Just close your eyes and open your heart...
Feel your worry and cares depart.
Just yield yourself to the Father above...
Let Him hold you secure in His love.
For life on earth grows more involved...
With endless problems that we can't solve.
But, God only asked us to do our best...
Then He will take care of and finish the rest.

So when you're tired, discouraged, and feeling blue...
There is always a door open for you,

That is the door to the house of prayer...
You'll always find God waiting to meet you there.

The house of prayer is no further away...
Than the quiet place where you kneel to pray.

For the heart is a temple when God is there...
When we place ourselves in His loving care.

He hears every prayer and answers each one...
When we pray in His name~~Thy will be done.

The burdens that seemed too heavy to bare...
Are lifted away on the Wings of Prayer.
Author Unknown To Me

Fr. Tomas Del Valle-Reyes
Descubriendo el Siglo 21/Discovering 21 Century
P.O.BOX 1170
New York, nY  10018
Tel- 212-24-4778
www.descubriendoelsiglo21.com/

http://radiosiglo21.blogspot.com/   
Programa de Radio “La Tertulia”

Monday, May 4, 2020

Teach us how to Pray:
Luke 11.1

The disciples asked Jesus to “Teach us how to pray,"
He just answered by teaching them the prayer we call the
Our Father or The Lord's Prayer.
The Lord's Prayer is a basic Christian prayer.
As a model of prayer, every Christian learns it by heart.
It appears everywhere in the church's life: in its liturgy and
sacraments, in public and private prayer.
It 's a prayer Christians treasure.
Though we memorize it as a set formula, the Lord's Prayer shouldn't be repeated mechanically or without thought. Its purpose is to awaken and stimulate our faith. 
Through this prayer Jesus invites us to approach God as Father. 
Indeed, the Lord's Prayer has been called a summary of the gospel.
Our Father, who art in heaven,hallowed be thy name.
When Moses approached God on Mount Sinai, he heard a voice saying, "Do not come near; put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground."
An infinite chasm separates us from the transcendent God.
In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus invites us to draw near to God who is beyond human understanding, who dwells in mystery, who is all holy. 
We can call God "our Father".
Calling God "Father" does not mean that God is masculine. 
God is beyond the categories of gender, of masculine or feminine. None of our descriptions of God is adequate. 
God, who is "in heaven", whose name is holy, cannot be fully known by us.
By calling God "Father" we are more rightly describing ourselves and our relationship with God.
Jesus teaches that we have a filial relationship with God; God sees us as if we were a daughter or a son. 
And we, on our part, can approach God in the familiar confident way a child approaches a loving parent.
What is more, we approach God through God's only Son, Jesus Christ, who unites us to himself.
Thy Kingdom come,thy will be done,on earth as it is in heaven.
God's kingdom. Jesus often said that God's power would appear and renew all creation.
God like a mighty king would rule over the earth according to a plan that unfolds from the beginning of the world. God's kingdom would be marked by peace and justice.
Good would be rewarded and evil punished.
The kingdom, according to Jesus, is not far off, but already present in our midst, though not yet revealed.
In the Lord's prayer we pray that God's kingdom come, that God's will, which is for our good, be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
We are God's children. What can be more childlike than this petition in which we pray for our daily bread, a word that describes all those physical, human and spiritual gifts we need to live. 
With the confidence of children we say: "Give us this day what we need."
Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
This petition of the Lord's Prayer is a demanding one. 
Not only do we ask God's forgiveness for our daily offenses, but we link God's forgiveness of us with our forgiveness of others.  
Forgiving others is not always easy to do. 
We need God's help to do it. But it must be done or we ourselves cannot receive God's mercy.
And lead us not into temptation,but deliver us from evil.  
Amen.
 Life is not easy. It is a daily battle. Trials like sickness and failure can crush our spirits. 
False values and easy promises can entice us and even destroy our souls. 
And so we ask God to keep us from failing when we are tested, to help us to know the right thing to do, to deliver us from the evil which awaits us in life.
The Lord's Prayer sums up the teaching of Jesus. It is also a prayer that offers the grace of Jesus: his reverence for God, his childlike confidence in his Father, and his power to go bravely through life no matter what comes. When we pray his prayer, his spirit becomes our own.

Fr. Tomas Del Valle-Reyes
Discovering 21 Century /Descubriendo el siglo 21
P. O. BOX 1170
New York, NY 10018
212.244-4778

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

Dear Father in Heaven

Dear Father in Heaven, who is the God of all comfort, pour into my heart your peace and strength. The storms of life have over taken me. 
I am beaten down and utterly discouraged.
My soul faints within me. 
My sorrow is greater than I can bear. 
I am too weak for the burden laid upon me. 
I pray to you dear God, send me the comfort of your help.

Please dear God, bring peace to my soul. 
Comfort me as whom a parent comforts, and hold me in your arms of mercy.

Thank you my Lord.

Amen.
Descubriendo el Siglo 21
Discovering 21century
Fr Tomás Del Valle-Reyes
P. O. BOX 1170
New York, NY 10018
(212) 244 4778

Tuesday, January 1, 2019

My Quilt

As I faced my Maker at the last judgment, I knelt before the Lord along with all the other souls. Before each of us laid our lives like the squares of a quilt in many piles.
An Angel sat before each of us sewing our quilt squares together into a tapestry that is our life. But as my angel took each piece of cloth off the pile, I noticed how ragged and empty each of my squares was. 
They were filled with giant holes.
Each square was labeled with a part of my life that had been difficult, the challenges and temptations I was faced with in everyday life. I saw hardships that I endured, which were the largest holes of all.
I glanced around me. 
Nobody else had such squares. Other than a tiny hole here
and there, the other tapestries were filled with rich color and the bright hues of
worldly fortune. I gazed upon my own life and was disheartened. 
My angel was sewing the ragged pieces of cloth together, threadbare and empty, like binding air.
Finally the time came when each life was to be displayed, held up to the light, the
scrutiny of truth. The others rose, each in turn, holding up their tapestries.
So filled their lives had been.
My angel looked upon me, and nodded for me to rise. 
My gaze dropped to the ground in shame. I hadn't had all the earthly fortunes. 
I had love in my life, and laughter. But there had also been trials of illness, and death, and false accusations that took from me my world as I knew it. 
I had to start over many times. I often struggled with the temptation to quit, only to somehow muster the strength to pick up and begin again.
I spent many nights on my knees in prayer, asking for help and guidance in my life. I had often been held up to ridicule, which I endured painfully, each time offering it up to the Father in hopes that I would not melt within my skin beneath the judgmental gaze of those who unfairly judged me. And now, I had to
face the truth. My life was what it was, and I had to accept it for what it was.
I rose and slowly lifted the combined squares of my life to the light.
An awe-filled gasp filled the air.
I gazed around at the others who stared at me with wide eyes. Then, I looked
upon the tapestry before me. Light flooded the many holes, creating an image,
the face of Christ. Then our Lord stood before me, with warmth and love in His eyes. He said, "Every time you gave over your life to Me, it became My life, My hardships, and My struggles. Each point of light in your life is when you stepped aside and let Me shine through, until there was more of Me than there was of you.
May all our quilts be threadbare and worn, allowing Christ to shine through.

Descubriendo el Siglo 21
Discovering 21century
Fr Tomás Del Valle-Reyes
P. O. BOX 1170
New York, NY 10018
(212) 244 4778