THE CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF RALEIGH

CHARISMATIC RENEWAL

THE FLAME

August 2019 issue

Open Your Heart to Divine Mercy!

Fr. Thomas Sunil V.C.

Divine Healing Conference Friday September 20th 5pm-9pm Saturday September 21st 9am-4pm St. Thomas More Catholic Church Chapel Hill, NC ***Please see our Upcoming Events Page for more details

The FLAME—August 2019

By Fr. Thomas Sunil V.C

“Mary (Magdalene) stood weeping outside the tomb.

As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb…

The angels said to her, ‘Woman, why are you

weeping?’” (John.20:11). She has been weeping from

that Friday because they crucified & killed their Lord

& Master and, because she ardently loved JESUS,

who forgave her sins granting her a new life. She has

been weeping because she was unable to bear the

pain of separation and absence of her Savior. But

here Mary is weeping also about the missing body of

JESUS. All the while she’s been weeping and yet

seeking the Lord. The separation and silence of her

LORD do not stop her from seeking Him. Her heart

was earnestly seeking JESUS, and so finally finds Him.

“Jesus said, ‘…whom are you looking for’.”(Jn.20:15).

She becomes the first among all the disciples to see &

witness JESUS closely in a tangible way. Her time of

weeping comes to an end. She was a desperate

seeker who found the Risen CHRIST. To those who

seek Him with a sincere heart, HE shows Himself.

GOD reveals Himself to them in surprising yet loving

ways. Mary Magdalene is a powerful model of a

disciple, who loves GOD when HE seems distant. The

holy saints of GOD tried doing just that in their lives.

St. John of the Cross refers to ‘the dark night of the

soul’, after he had gone through several months of

doubt, spiritual dryness and separation from GOD. ‘If

things go well, let us rejoice, blessing God, who

makes them prosper. And if they go wrong? Let’s

rejoice, blessing GOD, who allows us to share the

sweetness of His Cross.’(Josemaría Escrivá).

The disciples were sad about the tragic death of

JESUS, but failed to seek HIM. They were shocked,

deeply distressed and gripped with fear. Even upon

witnessing the empty tomb they remained in

confusion and despair, “for as yet they did not

understand the scripture, that He must rise from the

dead. Then the disciples returned to their

homes.”(Jn.20:9-10). Everything that GOD has

allowed or permitted to happen is crystal clear in His

sight and has a perfect meaning. Many Christians live

confused lives of despair because they do not open

their hearts and minds to GOD’s revelation. They are

sad, discouraged and angry. Many weep inwardly and

allow the weight of their grief to crush them. They

are weeping without seeking. Are you one among

them? When we do not understand God’s revelation,

we are knocked down by tragedy and feel defeated

by life. But we need to know fully that GOD is

constantly speaking to us in every life-situation,

moment, He sought to do His FATHER’s Will. Every

tear or cry ought to be a part of our ‘seeking the

Lord’. “Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you

weeping?’”(Jn.20:15)

Blessed Julian of Norwich, the gentle English mystic

and anchoress wrote: “Though we are in such pain,

trouble and distress, that it seems to us that we are

unable to think of anything except how we are and

what we feel, yet as soon as we may, we are to pass

lightly over it, and count it as nothing. And why?

Because GOD wills that we should understand that if

we know Him and love Him and reverently fear Him,

we shall rest and be at peace. And we shall rejoice in

all that he does.”

The FLAME—August 2019

ENDLESS FURNANCE OF LOVE By Fr.Thomas Sunil V.C.

“Recently, my house caught on fire. The sight of the

raging fire was simultaneously terrifying, awesome,

dramatic, and life-changing. God has used the fire as

a catalyst for many positive changes in my life.

Though initially devastating,this fire might end up

being one of the best things God has ever done for

me.” This is a testimony of a person who began to

perceive how God works and how His plans unfold in

the most difficult and least expected set of circum-

stances. That’s the kind of renewal experience that

the Holy Spirit grants to people after having attended

retreats. When Wisdom dawns on someone who is

honest and open to the inspirations of the Spirit, their

inner eyes are opened to the deeper spiritual truth.

We need to be open to experience the sanctifying

role of God’s love. Even if we love the Lord with all

our heart and do many things rightly, our soul still

needs to pass through fire. We all grow through

trials, through times of testing. You will experience

internal death and struggle as God strips away the

things that resist HIS Love. And sin is the greatest

obstacle that resists the Love of God.

The need of the Refiner’s fire is felt more than ever.

Human nature is tainted by sin. Adam and Eve

committed a personal sin, but this sin affected the

human nature that they would then transmit in a

fallen state.

Thenceforth, sin has been seeking to reign in our

mortal bodies to make us obey there, the body’s

passions. “Let not sin, therefore reign in your mortal

bodies”. (Rom.6:12). Because of the evil spiritual

forces around us and the sinful appetites within

us, we fall into lust or sin. I know of a person who

was honest with himself and said, ‘it looks like the

dragon called ‘sexual lust’ hibernates inside of me

during and after a Retreat, and when prayer is lacking

and my mind is bombarded with erotic images,

messages and scenes, the dragon is excited’. That

was an honest examination of one’s own self. We

presume that we are the master in our homes. One

fine day, we realize that we are not the master in our

homes. We are the slaves. “No longer present your

members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but

present your members to God as instruments of

righteousness”(Rom.6:13). We do it by the Spirit.

The Lord invites us to rid ourselves of all impurities

and to clean out the debris of hatred and anger. In

order for us to walk in the Spirit we must constantly

be reminded of the infinite mercy of God made

manifest on the Cross, as Jesus Christ paid the price

of our Redemption by shedding His Blood and dying

for us. “All of us also lived among them at one time,

gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and

following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we

were by nature objects of wrath. But because of His

great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made

us alive with Christ even when we were dead in

transgressions—it is by grace you have been

saved.”(Eph.2:3-5).

The FLAME—August 2019

WorshipNOW Event featuring Matt Maher held at Raleigh Convention Center

Instagram @Notoriously Nicole

“We welcome You with Praise. We welcome You with Praise. Almighty God of love Be welcomed in this place.”

Over a thousand voices filled a room, singing and praising God as Matt Maher sang and strummed his guitar. The Holy Spirit was present tonight. My palms were hot. My body felt light. So much love and emotion was on full blast for Jesus. I don’t fully remember my prayer to God in that moment. But I know I wanted Him to reach down into my soul. I yearned for His grace. I wanted to completely surrender myself and allow myself to trust unconditionally. I’ve held onto things. And that has distanced me from accepting all of God’s love at times. But tonight, I had it in my heart, that there were going to be others feeling similar to me. Perhaps, worse off. As I opened my eyes, I saw nothing but hands raised, swaying and deeply experiencing the Holy Spirit. It was raw and beautiful, the amount of young people I witnessed tonight. And it gave me hope.

The FLAME—August 2019

WorshipNOW Event cont’d

I don’t even know how to explain what I experienced. I met so many incredible people of all ages. And yes, as I was expecting, they did need to let go and let God, like me. People came up one by one and confided in us what they needed prayers and healing for. It was a very humbling experience. And something I’ve never quite experienced before. I was in tears. My heart felt heavy for each and every one of these individuals. I truly felt a deep love for them, and a deep sorrow for their suffering. Getting to connect with them was an eye opening and miraculous thing God blessed me with. All of my own worries and concerns melted away as I let Jesus work through me, even for a short while. All of this couldn’t have happened without WorshipNOW Publishing, NPM National and the incredible musi-cians and artists! Written by @NotoriouslyNicole on Instagram

The FLAME - August 2019

Upcoming Events…

August 28th, 2019 Healing Mass

7 pm St. Bernadette Catholic Church, Fuquay-Varina NC

Sept 20th-21st, 2019 Save the Date! The Catholic Charismatic Renewal Diocese of Raleigh

Presents: Divine Healing Conference Featuring Rev. Fr. Thomas Sunil

St. Thomas More Catholic Church, Chapel Hill NC

Friday September 20th 5pm-9pm

Saturday September 21st 9am-4pm

Rev. Fr. Thomas Sunil V.C. is a Vincentian Priest and the current Director of the Divine Mercy Healing Center, in Washington, NJ - an extension of the world's largest retreat center and the internationally acclaimed Divine Retreat Center, in Potta, Kerala, India. Fr. Thomas Sunil has been conducting Catholic Charismatic Prayer Services - specifically Stay-in Retreats and One-Day Conventions for the last 17 years. . His Ministry includes: Preaching the Word of God, Talks on Inner/Emotional Healing and Healing-Sessions, Praise & Worship, Eucharistic Adoration and Healing Mass. Through this global Vincentian ministry, many have found spiritual comfort, inner / physical healing and the Holy Spirit's calling to a deeper relationship with Christ. For more info about Fr. Sunil, please visit: www.divinenj.org

Registration is now open!

https://ccsraleigh.weebly.com/register.html