Lord Jesus

Oh Lord Jesus, Heavenly Father,
Our Lord Our God,
Our Holy Redeemer,
Son of the Holy Almighty.
I thank you for this day, thank you for my family.
Thank you for your infinite Love,
Your forgiveness of sin,
Your Crucifixion,
Our Redemption and Salvation.
Thank you for our Blessed Mother, Virgin Mary,
Your saving Grace,
And all your gifts of Love that you have given us thru our lives.
Amen.

Fr. Tomas Del Valle-Reyes

Discovering 21 Century /Descubriendo el siglo 21

P. O. BOX 1170

New York, NY 10018

212.244-4778

WHO PACKED YOUR PARACHUTE TODAY

Charles Plumb, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate, was a jet pilot in Vietnam. After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. 
He was captured and spent 6 years in a communist Vietnamese prison. 
He survived the ordeal and now lectures on lessons learned from that experience.
One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at another table came up and said, "You're Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!" "How in the world did you know that?" asked Plumb.
"I packed your parachute," the man replied. Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude. 
The man pumped his hand and said, "I guess it worked!" Plumb assured him, "It sure did. 
If your chute hadn't worked, I wouldn't be here today".
Plumb couldn't sleep that night, thinking about that man. 
Plumb says, "I kept wondering what he might have looked like in a Navy uniform: a white hat, a bib in the back, and bell-bottom trousers. 
  I wonder how many times I might have seen him and not even said 'Good morning,' 'how are you?' or anything because, you see, I was a fighter pilot and he was just a sailor." 
Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent on a long wooden table in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds and folding the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate of someone he didn't know.
Now, Plumb asks his audience, "Who's packing your parachute?"
Everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through the day. Plumb also points out that he needed many kinds of parachutes when his plane was shot down over enemy territory -- he needed his physical parachute, his mental parachute, his emotional parachute, and his spiritual parachute. He called on all these supports before reaching safety.
Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, we miss what is really important. We may fail to say hello, please, or thank you, congratulate someone on something wonderful that has happened to them, give a compliment, or just do something nice for no reason. As you go through this week, this month, this year, recognize people who pack your parachute.

Fr. Tomas Del Valle-Reyes

Discovering 21 Century /Descubriendo el siglo 21

P. O. BOX 1170

New York, NY 10018

212.244-4778

A Prayer for my Parents

Almighty and most merciful God, who in Thy infinite goodness hast committed us unto the charge of loving parents, who are to watch over us and provide for all our wants of body and soul, we pray Thee, protect and prolong their life, that we may continue to enjoy their loving care, and strengthen us that as obedient children we may be subject to their will and hold them in love and esteem; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Amen.

Fr. Tomas Del Valle-Reyes

Discovering 21 Century /Descubriendo el siglo 21

P. O. BOX 1170

New York, NY 10018

212.244-4778

A THOUSAND MARBLES

The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings.
Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. 
Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.
A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the basement shack with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. 
What began as a typical Saturday morning, turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it. 
I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. 
 Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice.  
You know the kind; he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business.
He was telling whomever he was talking with something about "a thousand marbles."
I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say.
"Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. 
I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. 
Too bad you missed your daughter's dance recital."
He continued, "Let me tell you something Tom, something that has helped me keep a good perspective on my own priorities." And that's when he began to explain his theory of a "thousand marbles."
"You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years.
Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime."
"No, stick with me, Tom, I'm getting to the important part."
"It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail"; he went on, "and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. 
I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy."
"So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round up 1000 marbles. 
I took them home and put them inside of a large, clear plastic container right here in the sack next to my gear. 
Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away." 
"I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focus more on the really important things in life." There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight."
"Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. 
I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time."
 "It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. 75 year Old Man, this is K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!" You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. 
I had planned to work on the antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to work on the next club newsletter. Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. 
"C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast." 
"What brought this on?" she asked with a smile. 
"Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time since we spent Saturday together with the kids. Hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles.... 
- AUTHOR UNKNOWN -

Fr. Tomas Del Valle-Reyes

Discovering 21 Century /Descubriendo el siglo 21

P. O. BOX 1170

New York, NY 10018

212.244-4778

Where I live in..

This world I live in
this town I live in 
this street I live in
this house I live in
may each be the focus of my prayer
Those I live with
those I rub shoulders with
those I work with
those I don't get on with
may each be the focus of my prayer
Those who laugh those who cry those who hurt
those who hide may each be the focus of my prayer
Prayers centered less on self and more on others
less on my circumstances
more on the needs of others.
May my life be likewise centered
less on self and more on You
and through You to the world
in which I live and move.
Within the circle of my family and friends
May I be a source of peace
a hand to hold accessible
generous loving A blessing Within the circle of my acquaintances
May I be a steady rock a ready shoulder dependable
trustworthy caring A blessing Within the circle of my community
May I be a light that shines a love that flows
discernible accessible healing
A blessing

Fr. Tomas Del Valle-Reyes

Discovering 21 Century /Descubriendo el siglo 21

P. O. BOX 1170

New York, NY 10018

212.244-4778

A Prayer for Work

Eternal and everlasting God, who has ordained that all should work for their daily bread, show me the work that you have appointed for me.

You know the things that I need. Help me find the honest task that will allow me to get them.

Let me not despise my work, even if it be small. Help me to do it so well, that it may please you, and, that I may obtain a better one.

I am part of your great world that you have made. Give me a place in its work, that I may have enough for my own needs and the needs of those who depend on me. Give me grace to be able to help others who have less.

Please Dear God, hear my prayer.
Amen.

Fr. Tomas Del Valle-Reyes

Discovering 21 Century /Descubriendo el siglo 21

P. O. BOX 1170

New York, NY 10018

212.244-4778

HEBREWS 12:5 Through 11

Some people have a hard time even thinking
of God  as "Father" because of the horrible
abuse they suffered
from their earthly fathers' hands. 
But God is a Father who never abuses
His children, although He does punish them.
He chastens those whom He loves.
It is wise for the child of God to fear the corrective wrath of the Father.
I loved my earthly father deeply.

In fact, I idolized him. I was secure in his love as
he was constant in showing affection for me.
I feared him in the sense that I didn't want to disappoint him
or let him down. 
I had the "fear" of respect for him.
But I also feared his wrath and discipline.
Even though, in general, I didn't want to disappoint him
or grieve him, nevertheless I often disobeyed him.
That meant facing his discipline.
When my father disciplined me he always announced
it to me by saying, "Son, we have to have a session." 
That meant I had to follow him into his office,

close the door behind me, and sit in a chair in front of him.
He wouldn't raise his voice.
He would calmly tell me what I did wrong and why it was wrong.
He instructed me in such a way that I was devastated.
He always ended the session with a warm embrace.
But talk about the conviction of sin...whew!
Are you able to accept correction from your Heavenly Father? 
Do you respond to it properly? 
Pray about this.
And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that
 addresses you as sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the 

Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."
 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons.
For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live!
Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.
 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.
 Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and
peace for those who have been trained by it.

Descubriendo el Siglo 21

Discovering 21century

Fr Tomás Del Valle-Reyes

P. O. BOX 1170

New York, NY 10018

(212) 244 4778

www.descubriendoelsiglo21.com/