Food for the soul vol. 4
What is the goal and meaning of life? Is it to achieve and be successful, or is there something more to life?
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What is the goal and meaning of life? Is it to achieve and be successful, or is there something more to life?
61
A True Story
Roger was an ambitious cardiologist, a go-getter brimming with energy.
At the age of 35, he was the youngest medical consultant of a prestigious hospital, with the highest income among his peers.
He achieved so much in such a short time.
Being on top, supervising so many, being the ubiquitous troubleshooter, needed and approached by everyone, he was envied and idolized.
One day, at the age of 45, while playing golf, Roger suddenly collapsed.
He died instantly on the green, without warning, of a massive heart attack, his first, which came like a thief in the night.
He was asymptomatic.
He never showed any symptoms that his heart was already clogged.
It was ironic that he was a cardiologist.
In his youth, he achieved all, and in his youth, he suddenly lost all.
We begin to ask some questions.
What does it profit a man if he achieves so much but suddenly dies because of his very achievements?
Would it not have been better if he was a “failure” but still lived?
Or that his achievements were something else?
Why build an empire if it will kill you?
Are there lesser empires that would bring bounty and fulfillment without ending in perdition?
What is the goal and meaning of life?
Is it to achieve and be successful, or is there something more to life, something deeper and more important than career or success or fame?
Only you can answer that, which reflects what and who you are, your deepest yearnings, your deepest secrets.
Beware, as you never know the day nor the hour, says the Lord.
That is the first lesson.
Beware also to put in your heart the things that really matter most in life before all others that also matter.
That is the second lesson.
Remain in the Lord always, in success or failure, joy or pain.
He is the Light in your darkness.
That is the third lesson.
There are more lessons, but only your heart can discern them all.
74
Vanity of vanities,
all things are vanity.
The loftiest endeavor is vanity if not done in His name.
If you build an empire in your lifetime without His blessing, your empire is for naught.
Your fortune will not save you.
If you offer all to Him in your need, your poverty will save you.
If a storm wipes out your harvest, sow your seeds once more.
The Lord restores the ravaged fields of those who labor in His name.
Sanctify your every breath in the Lord, lest it become vanity.
75
Letter to Sr. Raquel
Dear Sister Raquel,
Thanks for your return mail
to my inquiry, and especially
for the attached prayers.
I started to feel no pain, even from my distance.
Your prayer helped me so much.
I am sending you my sincere thanks.
My kidney pain stopped.
This pain made me really feel so bad.
From the computed tomography scan, stones were seen in both of my kidneys.
The left kidney is suspected of tuberculosis.
On March 27 is my flight to Manila, and on the first Wednesday of April, I would like to be a part of the healing with Sr. Raquel.
Kindly include my sister Linda in your prayers.
Thank you very much, and God bless.
Manny M.
77
God’s Will and Free Will
The Lord is always on your side, but you have to will it.
He will not come if you will not let Him.
God’s will waits for your free will to make the first move, to pray and listen to Him, before He makes things beautiful for you.
That is the dialogue and relationship between God’s will and your free will.
Total surrender to His will, whether you are in joy or pain, light or darkness, illness or well-being.
The merging of God’s will and free will is the perfect teamwork, the source of your spiritual strength.
Sr. Raquel Reodica, RVM
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At the core of our Milky Way galaxy is a super black hole smaller than Earth, yet it controls trillions of stars in the galaxy.
Lord, You are the black hole, and we are Your stars.
Every tiny moon is in its grasp.
The mass of a teaspoon of matter in the black hole is a million times that of our entire solar system, yet it is a mere shadow of the Lord’s power, majesty, and light.
AMDG = Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam
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