Third Luminous Mystery
Proclamation of the Kingdom and Repentance - Christian Witness and Conversion
Narrative:
The Proclamation of the Kingdom of God and the call to conversion
1. “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.”
2. “My kingdom is not of this world.”
3. “Unless a man be born again of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.”
4. “Whoever does not accept the kingdom of God as a little child will not enter into it.”
5. “I have come to call sinners, not the just.”
6. “Love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you.”
7. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
8. “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be satisfied.”
9. “Blessed are they who suffer persecution for justice’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
10. “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church… I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.”
Spiritual Fruit:
Christian Witness and Conversion
1. Story of the Butcher, Captain and the Old woman
2. She will like it now
- by Fr. Antonio
3. The Circle of Love
-by Fr. Antonio Elfeghali
4. The "Hail Mary" of a Protestant is powerful! (A True Story)
[1. Story of the Butcher, Captain and the Old woman]
"THE WEIGHT OF THE HOLY MASS
(From the Catholic Society of Evangelists Newsletter, August, 1999)
The following TRUE STORY was related to Sr. M. Veronica Murphy by an elderly nun who heard it from the lips of the late Reverend Father Stanislaus SS.CC
One day many years ago, in a little town in Luxembourg , a Captain of the Forest Guards was in deep conversation with the butcher when an elderly woman entered the shop. The butcher broke off the conversation to ask the old woman what she wanted. She had come to beg for a little meat but had no money.
The Captain was amused at the woman and the butcher. 'Only a little meat, but how much are you going to give her?', he wondered.
'I am sorry I have no money but I'll hear Mass for you, ' the woman told the butcher. Both the butcher and the Captain were indifferent about religion, so they at once began to scoff at the old woman's idea.
'All right then,' said the butcher. 'You go and hear Mass for me and when you come back I'll give you as much as the Mass is worth'.
The woman left the shop and returned later. She approached the counter and the butcher said. 'All right then we'll see.'
He took a slip of paper and wrote on it 'I heard a Mass for you.'
He placed the paper on the scales and a tiny bone on the other side, but nothing happened.
Next he placed a piece of meat instead of the bone, but still the paper proved heavier.
Both men were beginning to feel ashamed of their mockery but continued their game. A large piece of meat was placed on the balance, but still the paper held its own. The butcher, exasperated, examined the scales but found they were alright.
'What do you want my good woman? Must I give you a whole leg of mutton?'
At this he placed the leg of mutton on the balance, but the paper outweighed the meat. A larger piece of meat was put on, but again the weight remained on the side of the paper. This so impressed the butcher that he was converted and promised to give the woman her daily ration of meat.
As for the Captain, he left the shop a changed man and became an ardent lover of daily Mass. Two of his sons became priests, one a Jesuit and the other a Father of the Sacred Heart.
Father Stanislaus finished the story by saying, 'I am from the Religious of the Sacred Heart and the Captain was my father.
'From this incident the Captain became a daily Mass attendant and his children were trained to follow his example.
Later, when his sons became priests, he advised them to say Mass well every day and never miss the Sacrifice of the Mass through any fault of their own."
-End-
[2. She will like it now
- by Fr. Antonio]
"It was Wednesday June 5, 2002, when I received a call on my pager.
- “Father Antonio, there is a woman who is dying here at the hospital in Ann Arbor. Her family is asking for a Catholic priest to come and give her the last sacrament. Can you please come?”
Sure. It would be the first experience to anoint someone after 10 months of priesthood. My ministry as a priest was more focused on giving Jesus Christ to His people through the Eucharist (saying Masses) and the Sacrament of Reconciliation (hearing confessions). I was also offering spiritual direction to a good number of people. I drove 15 minutes from home. I arrived at the hospital and entered the room.
There was a woman lying in her bed, dying. Her eyes were closed. Her family was gathered around her: the husband, the sons and their wives. They were comforting each other. I opened the book of prayers and prepared the oil. We prayed. I anointed the woman. After the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick, I asked the family to pray with me the rosary. I believe that the presence of Mary can give great comfort for the woman’s soul.
The husband approached me as if he was embarrassed. He whispered saying:- “Father, my wife never believed in rosaries. She never prayed the rosary. She never liked it.”
- “She will like it now,” I said it, with my Lebanese accent and a Maronite spirit.
We started praying the rosary. When we reached the 4th sorrowful mystery, the woman opened her eyes. The sons approached their mother to see what was going on. They were crying, amazed.
At the end of the Rosary, I asked the sons:
- “What did you see?”
- “Her eyes were filled with peace,” one of her sons answered.
I knew that Mary was present. I knew that she comforted that woman. It didn’t matter whether that woman prayed the rosary in her life or not, whether she liked it or not. It doesn’t matter for Mary for she is a mother not a judge. Mary, who was present under the cross at the moment of Christ’s death, is also present at the moment of our death. This is why we pray: Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. "
-End-
[3. The Circle of Love
-by Fr. Antonio Elfeghali]
"The story of an American doctor who turned his back on Mary. On an unexpected day, he found her back into his life. Through Mary, he came back to Christ.
In one of Michigan Jails, many inmates, are experiencing a personal or a communal encounter with the Living Jesus Christ. Many inmates are able to say at one point “We have found the Messiah.” (Jn 1:41) Based on my experience in jail ministry during the last three years, I have found that most of these encounters happened:
1- through the Eucharist after an hour in His Presence;
2- through the Holy Scriptures after meditating on a gospel passage;
3- through Mary by her motherly and merciful figure after reciting the Rosary.
Although most of the inmates are non-Catholics, we try to teach them, in a gentle way, to pray the Rosary, to ask for the intercession of the Saints, and to pray for the souls in Purgatory. These forms of popular piety were an opportunity for them to encounter the living Lord.
And here is another story of a 45-year-old doctor who converted in Jail thanks to Mary.
It was on December 7th, 2003, when we (the Catholic Volunteers and the inmates) had an “Evangelical Evening”, where we gathered to read a passage from the Bible and discuss it together. We usually start with a prayer to the Holy Spirit. Then, we read a passage from the New Testament. We meditate on the Word of God. We raise questions and try to find answers related to each one’s experience in life. We conclude with spontaneous prayers and a blessing. Now it happened that day that two nuns traveled to jail for the first time and carried with them a six-foot long Rosary- I have never seen like this Rosary before. They sat down in circle with the inmates. One of the nuns handed the six-foot Rosary to three inmates and they started praying.
One of these inmates, a 45-year-old doctor, with beads in hand, began to cry and sob. Most of the eyes in the room were focused on him and people wondered what was his story.
He said, “Twenty years ago, I was on a boat in Pearl Harbor. It was the commemoration of the Pearl Harbor Attacks. I stood up, took the Rosary in my hand, threw it into the ocean, and turned my back on God. It was December 7th, 1983 when I decided to reject Mary and God. Now today, December 7th, 2003, here is the Rosary back in my hand! It was given to me unexpectedly. I see that even if I had turned my back on Mary and God, which led me to a spiritual bankruptcy, Mary and God would never turn their back on me!”
When the people in the Jail heard this story, they praised God. On that Sunday, the doctor/inmate turned his heart back to Jesus thanks to Mary. A week later, he was released from Jail. He spent one week in Jail for the first time in his life. But it was a special week where his love for Mary came back into his life.
The Catholic Volunteers are eyewitnesses of these special encounters between the inmates and the living Lord. Day by day, they believe in the call to be heralds of the Good News and to carry out a special mission of building up broken members of his Mystical Body."
-End-
[4. The "Hail Mary" of a Protestant is powerful (A True Story)']
"A little six-year-old Protestant boy had often heard his Catholic companion reciting the prayer 'Hail Mary.' He liked it so much that he copied it, memorized it and would recite it every day. 'Look, Mummy, what a beautiful prayer,' he said to his mother one day.
'Never again say it,' answered the mother.' it is a superstitious prayer of Catholics who adore idols and think Mary a goddess. After all, she is a woman like any other. Come on, take this Bible and read it. It contains everything that we are bound to do and have to do.' From that day on the little boy discontinued his daily 'Hail Mary' and gave himself more time to reading the Bible instead.
One day, while reading the Gospel, he came across the passage about the Annunciation of the Angel to Our Lady. Full of joy, the little boy ran to his mother and said: 'Mummy, I have found the 'Hail Mary' in the Bible which says: 'Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou amongst women. ' Why do you call it a superstitious prayer?'
On another occasion he found that beautiful Salutation of St. Elizabeth to The Virgin Mary and the wonderful canticle. MAGNIFICAT in which Mary foretold that 'the generations would call her blessed.'
He said no more about it to his mother but started to recite the 'Hail Mary' every day as before. He felt pleasure in addressing those charming words to the Mother of Jesus, our Savior.
When he was fourteen, he one day heard a discussion on Our Lady among the members of his family. Every one said that Mary was a common woman like any other woman. The boy, after listening to their erroneous reasoning, could not bear it any longer, and full of indignation, he interrupted them, saying: 'Mary is not like any other children of Adam, stained with sin. No! The Angel called her FULL OF GRACE AND BLESSED AMONGST WOMEN. Mary is the Mother of Jesus Christ and consequently Mother of God. There is no higher dignity to which a creature can be raised. The Gospel says that the generations will proclaim her blessed and you are trying to despise her and look down on her. Your spirit is not the Spirit Of the Gospel or of the Bible which you proclaim to be the foundation of the Christian religion.'
So deep was the impression which the boy's talk had made that his mother many times cried out sorrowfully: 'Oh my God! I fear that this son of mine will one day join the Catholic religion, the religion of Popes!' And indeed, not very long afterwards, having made a serious study of both Protestantism and Catholicism, the boy found the latter to be the only true religion and embraced it and became one of its most ardent apostles.
Some time after his conversion, he met his married sister who rebuked his and said indignantly: 'You little know how much I love my children. Should any one of them desire to become a Catholic, I would sooner pierce his heart with a dagger than allow him to embrace the religion of the Popes!'
Her anger and temper were as furious as those of St. Paul before his conversion.
However, she would change her ways, just as St. Paul did on his way to Damascus. It so happened that one of her sons fell dangerously ill and the doctors gave up hope of recovery. Her brother then approached, her and spoke to her affectionately, saying:
'My dear sister, you naturally wish to have your child cured. Very well, then, do what I ask you to do. Follow me, let us pray one 'Hail Mary' and promise God that, if your son recovers his health, you would seriously study the Catholic doctrine, and should you come to the conclusion that Catholicism is the only true religion, you would embrace it no matter what the sacrifices may be.'
His sister was somewhat reluctant at the beginning but as she wished for her son's recovery. She accepted her brother's proposal and recited the 'Hail Mary' together with him. The next day her son was completely cured! The mother fulfilled her promise and she studied the Catholic doctrine. After long preparation she received Baptism together with her family, thanking her brother for being an apostle to her.
The story was related during a sermon given by the Rev. Father Tuckwell. 'Brethren, he went on and said, 'The boy who became a Catholic and converted his sister to Catholicism dedicated his whole life to the service of God. He is the priest who is speaking to you now! What I am I owe to Our Lady. You, too, my dear brethren, be entirely dedicated also to Our Lady and never let a day pass without saying the beautiful prayer, 'Hail Mary', and your Rosary. Ask her to enlighten the minds of Protestants who are separated from the true Church of Christ founded on the Rock (Peter) and 'against whom the gates of hell shall never prevail.' "
-End-
