Hope and Pray

My Lord, I hope and pray,
The world be not as it seems.
That not all is deception and hurt,
Meanness and cruelty not the norm.

My Lord, I pray for this,
For each day I lose a little hope,
When I see the dark and angry side
That my fellow man so often shows.

My Lord, I hope and pray,
For a little kindness now and then,
A soft and gentle touch be felt,
To chase away these thoughts.

My Lord, I pray for this,
For I fear that I’ll be one,
Who only sees the dark side?
And not the sunny side of life.

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/

Just Mustard Seed??

Just a mustard seed, you said
just a mustard seed of faith to remove
the mountain of doubts and difficulties
which beset our often frail existence.
We readily confess, Lord Jesus
that there are times when we reach out
seemingly in vain for that mustard seed.
And yet, if we did but think for a moment
in that very act of reaching out we reveal the presence
of the very seed that we seek.
Lord Jesus we have faith in your power to heal
but lack the self-confidence to ask.
We have faith in your ability to mend broken hearts
but lack the experience in our own lives.
We have faith in your power to bring wholeness
into lives that are incomplete
but hesitate to trouble you with our prayers.
We are like children, Lord Jesus standing here in awe of your power and love
afraid to ask that which we know is possible because we are afraid
of the consequences of our asking.
Lord Jesus, accept the mustard seed that we hold out to you, hearts outstretched.
Take it and the prayers that we offer and grant us the grace to accept
that our prayers are heard and answered at the moment of asking
by a God who knows our own incompleteness and is working to make us whole.

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/

Psalm 107:19-21

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress; he sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from destruction. 
Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind.

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/

Have you Thank God Today?

If you woke up this morning
with more health than illness,
you are more blessed than the
million who won't survive the week.
If you have never experienced
the danger of battle,
the loneliness of imprisonment,
the agony of torture or
the pangs of starvation,
you are ahead of 20 million people
around the world.

If you attend a church meeting
without fear of harassment,
arrest, torture, or death,you are more blessed than almost
three billion people in the world.
If you have food in your refrigerator,
clothes on your back, a roof over
your head and a place to sleep,
you are richer than 75% of this world.
If you have money in the bank,
in your wallet, and spare change
in a dish someplace, you are among
the top 8% of the world's wealthy.
If your parents are still married and alive,
you are very rare,
especially in the United States.
If you hold up your head with a smile
on your face and are truly thankful,
you are blessed because the majority can,
but most do not.
 If you can hold someone's hand, hug them
or even touch them on the shoulder,
you are blessed because you can
offer God's healing touch.
If you can read this message,you are more blessed than over
two billion people in the world
that cannot read anything at all.
You are so blessed in ways
you may never even know.

This blessing will only keep working if it is continuously passed around. If you are a recipient of a blessing, keep the blessing working by being the source of blessing to other people.

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/

THE DOLL ANDTHE WHITE ROSE

I hurried into the local department store to grab some last minute Christmas gifts. 
I looked at all the people and grumbled to myself. 
I would be in here forever and I just had so much to do. 
Christmas was beginning to become such a drag. 
I kinda wished that I could just sleep through Christmas. 
But I hurried the best I could through all the people to the toy department.
Once again I kind of mumbled to myself at the prices of all these toys and wondered if the grand-kids would even play with them. 
I found myself in the doll aisle. 
Out of the corner of my eye I saw a little boy about 5 holding a lovely doll.  
He kept touching her hair and he held her so gently. 
I could not seem to help myself.
I just kept looking over at the little boy and wondered who the doll was for.
I watched him turn to a woman and he called his aunt by name and said, "Are you sure I don't have enough money?"
She replied a bit impatiently, "You know that you don't have enough money for it."
The aunt told the little boy not to go anywhere, that she had to go get some other things, and would be back in a few minutes. 
And then she left the aisle. The boy continued to hold the doll.
After a bit, I asked the boy who the doll was for. 
He said, "It's the doll my sister wanted so badly for Christmas. 
She just knew that Santa would bring it."
I told him that maybe Santa was going to bring it. 
He said, "No, Santa can't go where my sister is.
I have to give the doll to my Mamma to take to her."
I asked him where his sister was. 
He looked at me with the saddest eyes and said, "She was gone to be with Jesus. 
My Daddy says that Mamma is going to have to go be with her."
My heart nearly stopped beating.
Then the boy looked at me again and said, "I told my Daddy to tell Mamma not to go yet. 
I told him to tell her to wait till I got back from the store."
Then he asked me if I wanted to see his picture. 
I told him I would love to. 
He pulled out some pictures he'd had taken at the front of the store. 
He said, "I want my Mamma to take this with her so she don't ever forget me. 
I love my Mamma so very much and I wish she did not have to leave me, but Daddy says she will need to be with my sister."
I saw that the little boy had lowered his head and had grown so very quiet. 
While he was not looking I reached into my purse and pulled out a handful of bills. 
I asked the little boy, "Shall we count that money one more time?"  
He grew excited and said, "Yes, I just know it has to be enough."
So I slipped my money in with his and we began to count it.
Of course it was plenty for the doll. 
He softly said, "Thank you Jesus for giving me enough money."  
Then the boy said, "I just asked Jesus to give me enough money to buy this doll so Mamma can take it with her to give to my sister, and he heard my prayer. 
I wanted to ask him for enough to buy my Mamma a white rose, but I didn't ask him, but he gave me enough to buy the doll and a rose for my Mamma. 
She loves white roses so very, very much."
In a few minutes the aunt came back and I wheeled my cart away. 
I could not keep from thinking about the little boy as I finished my shopping in a totally different spirit than when I had started.  
And I kept remembering a story I had seen in the newspaper several days earlier about a drunk driver hitting a car and killing a little girl and the Mother was in serious condition. 
The family was deciding on whether to remove the life support. 
Now surely this little boy did not belong with that story.
Two days later, I read in the paper where the family had disconnected the life support and the young woman had died. 
I could not forget the little boy and just kept wondering if the two were somehow connected. 
Later that day, I could not help myself and I went out and bought some white roses and took them to the funeral home where the young woman was.
And there she was holding a lovely white rose, the beautiful doll, and the picture of the little boy in the store.
I left there in tears, my life changed forever. 
The love that little boy had for his little sister and his mother was overwhelming.  
And in a split second a drunk driver had ripped the life of that little boy to pieces.

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/