Luke 24:25-26 (Why?)

* Welcome God every morning before work by taking ~5 min to read this Living In Faith Exchange (LIFE) Group devotion, which has snippets from Living Faith (http://www.livingfaith.com/).

He said to them, 'Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into His glory?' Luke 24:25-26

Living Faith snippets: 'Meanwhile, those in pain, sorrow and distress, those dying and those who wish they could die, those who bid farewell and those who must say good-bye, they all ask, 'Why?' If we must travel the way of sorrow, Jesus has walked it first.' by Fr. Benedict J. Groeschel

Pat nuggets:

* Easter Vigil: For those who attended the Easter Vigil service, wasn't it awesome seeing the Catechumens (new Christians) receive the Sacraments of initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist)?!

* Modern Martyrs: Focus on the Family shared this quote from the Voice of the Martyrs organization, 'More Christians have been killed for their faith in the 20th century than have been martyred in the total history of Christianity.' Here are a few of the stories: 'A Sudanese Christian boy has his knees and feet nailed to a board and he is left to die. When rescued he says he forgives the man who did this because Jesus was also nailed and forgave him. A Vietnamese pastor is sentenced to two years in prison. When he is offered an early release, he declines stating that he has a group of new Believers in the prison he has to disciple. A Colombian missionary is kidnapped and told she only has two hours to live. She tells her captors that if she only has two hours to live, she wants to spend it telling them about Jesus.' Sign up for the Voice of the Martyrs newsletter at http://www.persecution.com/.

* Prayer: 'Prayer is that privilege, given by God through Christ, which allows me to more fully enjoy His presence, His omniscient omnipotence, to make me more dependent on Him' (by Joel Cain). Aaron Ferrie shared this great quote: 'Courage is fear that has said its prayers' (by Ruth Fishel).

* Please consider commenting on the LIFE Group devotions at life-devotions.blogspot.com.

Through Christ for ProLife,

Pat

Phil 4:13

* Daily Bible readings at www.usccb.org/nab/today.shtml.

* LIFE Prayers at life-prayers.blogspot.com. Prayer connects us with God's will & His miracles, thereby changing us & helping others (so let's pray daily!). Click for Prayer to End Abortion.

* Defend the unborn: Pro-Life websites at life-devotions.blogspot.com. 'Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to death; don’t stand back and let them die' (Prov 24:11). 'Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you' (Jer 1:5). 'It is a great poverty that a child must die that you might live as you wish' Blessed Mother Teresa.

* Sr. Francelle devotions at sisterfrancelle.blogspot.com and COUGARS daily devotions at cougarsdaily.blogspot.com. Let me know if you would like to be added.

* Share the Good News: Let's joyfully live out the Good News and gladly tell others about it (Mark 16:15)!