Can We But Touch His Cloak

Posted on December 7, 2010 by Martha

“All in the crowd were trying to touch Him, for power came out from Him and healed all of them.”  Luke 6:19

     It is hard to imagine what Jesus must have felt when throngs of people were closing in all around Him trying to get close enough to touch Him.  He knew who each of them were, who they really were.  He had each one’s name etched in His heart.  Love radiated out from Him wherever He went, and they followed because they ached for that love, because they longed to be healed.  And, He didn’t disappoint.  All who came to Him were healed, restored, made whole.

     It is the same today as it was yesterday and ever will be.  He has our name etched on His heart.  He knows each of us as we really are.  He has already paid the price for us with His Blood.  All we need do is reach out and touch His cloak.  He sees us in the crowd.  He wants us to reach out and touch His cloak. 

     We touch His cloak every time we think of Him, every time we pray to Him.  We touch His cloak every time we help someone else, every time we show love.  Let us spend Advent preparing for His coming.  Let us spend Advent reaching out to touch His cloak.  Opportunities abound!  And, when we touch His cloak, the power will come out from Him and into us; we will be made whole.

     I would love it if you would share in comments some of the special ways you are reaching out to touch His cloak for Advent.  In sharing yours others might follow!

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Soul Giving

Posted on December 4, 2010 by Martha

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”  Galatians 5:22

Christmas is a season of giving.  We often find that we have received more than we have given.  And, a gift need not always be of the material, physical realm.  Sometimes the best, most appreciated, most needed gift, is the gift of self.  Self, freely given, whether it is our time, our voice, our concern, our empathy, or our prayers, is always received as heartfelt generosity.  It is recognized by the recipient as genuine love.

This type of giving I call soul giving.  Soul giving is when part of who we are becomes invested in someone else.  We give something that cannot be snatched back by us and cannot be exchanged or returned by the recipient.  In fact, there are times in soul giving when the recipient knows nothing of the gift.  In particular, silent soul giving is very pleasing to Our Lord, and gains great reward for us.

Advent is a wonderful time to reflect on the greatest example of soul giving.  It began with God The Creator, who lovingly placed a part of His soul in each of us when He created us in is own image and likeness.  Then, God The Father lovingly manifested His own soul in His Son, Jesus, whom He sent to us as a soul gift to become the Light of the world.  In Jesus’ life, death, and Resurrection we find the greatest soul gift, with the ultimate soul gift given in the Eucharist.  It is in the Eucharist, through His Most Holy Spirit, we find not only the physical body and blood of Jesus, but the soul of God embedded within His Son, allowing us to become one with our God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, of you and me.

In this beautiful Christmas season of giving, let us reflect on God’s ultimate soul gift to us and find ways to do a little soul giving ourselves by giving our time, our voice, our concern, our empathy, and most of all our prayers.  More than likely, we will receive more than we give.

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Christmas Cards … A Greeting Of The Season, Or A Witness?

Posted on December 3, 2010 by Martha

“The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.” – John 1:9

     It is that time of year where we reach out to others with best wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, a.k.a. the Christmas card.  With all of the political correctness surrounding the celebration of any Christian holiday it is a wonder anyone sends cards at all.  If it says Merry Christmas it is certain to offend those who don’t consider Christ in Christmas anymore, seeing it only as a secular Santa celebration.  It might also offend someone of any other than Christian religion.  If it says Happy Holidays, you wonder if your Christian and Catholic friends will wonder if you are trying to be politically correct.  Who knew sending a simple card could be so confusing! 

     I personally choose to send only Christmas cards having a religious theme.  I view a Christmas card as not only a greeting but as a reminder of what the Christmas season is truly about … welcoming Jesus into the world and into our hearts.  More importantly I view it as a witness.  When I sign and send a Christmas card that focuses on Jesus I am actually bearing witness to all of my family and friends that I believe!  I let each of them see I celebrate His coming and wish them the Peace, Love, and Joy that His coming can bring to their lives.  If you send Christmas cards you might want to give this some thought.  If you don’t send Christmas cards, maybe you should!

     I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!

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A Meditation on Luke 5:1-11

Posted on December 2, 2010 by Martha

     “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”  Luke 5:10

     As noted previously, this is a simple site based on a simple faith, mine. Yesterday I wrote about a simple way to begin reading and meditating on a Bible verse.  Today I am sharing my own actual written meditation on Luke, chapter five, verses one through eleven.  I begin with my prayer: Through your most Holy Word, Lord, I invite you into my heart.  Transform me according to your will.  I read through the passage slowly, knowing every single word is important to the message.  I envision myself there; one listening to the conversation between Simon Peter and Jesus.  Watching Jesus teach offshore from the boat, I notice how soft spoken He is, how the crowd is silent, how they lean forward to hear every word this man has to say about them and how they live.  When He asks Simon Peter to recast his nets after a long fruitless night of doing so, the first thing I hear is ‘BUT’.  Ah, I blush, for this would be my exact reaction.  I would explain, make excuses.  As Simon, I too would obey … but first I would say, “Jesus, I just want you to know I already tried that!”  (As if He didn’t already know!)  Then I would obey, with doubt, just like Simon Peter.

     As I continue to read, I realize that Simon’s obedience was an act of faith, of trust in Our Lord, even in the midst of doubt.  And then it comes, the blessing, the overflowing bountiful catch, the miracle.  Jesus always rewards trust with blessing.  Simon Peter’s reaction after receiving such a gift is to  immediately feel unworthy, guilty.  He humbles himself before Jesus to the point of begging Him to stay away.  He feels he is too unworthy for Jesus to even be seen with.  What does Jesus do?  As always, when we humble ourselves before Him, He forgives in Love.  We become His beloved, and there is so much Love we cannot help but follow Him.  Now He uses us.  Yes, with all of our buts, doubts, unworthiness, and guilt, He uses us.  We are transformed by His blessing and we are called to follow.  Just as He did with Simon Peter, He will call us, and His Love will pull us to Him.

     This is one example of one verse.  There are many more to choose from.  Open your Bible and pick one.  This is how I meditate, and when inspired to do so, write.  I allow Him to use me, even though I know my unworthiness, because I know He will take my efforts and make them whole.  He will make them worthy in His sight.

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Welcome to my orbit!

Posted on November 30, 2010 by Martha

Welcome to Martha’s Orbit and Martha’s Orbital Buzz.  This is a simple site rooted in simple faith.  I invite you into my orbital path to take wing for awhile and return with a renewed vigor to stay the course in your own orbit around God, the center of the universe, the origin of all life.

  • Orbit – (defined by Webster’s Dictionary)  n. path of a satellite around a celestial body. 
  • Orbit – (defined by Martha)  n. individual life path around the celestial body of God, Our Heavenly Father. 

We are placed into our orbit by God at birth, and retrieved by Him at death.  We live, breathe, and grow in our orbit; in our orbit is harmony.  When we deviate from our orbit’s path chaos ensues.  We are held in our orbit by Faith; Faith in Jesus, The Son of God.  It is my hope to provide inspiration for your journey by sharing my own faith.  In the ‘About’ page link you will find some candid info about myself, and in ‘The Journey Through The Stillness’ page link there is an explanation of how I came to the point of sharing my journey publicly and creating this site.  Feel free to read and leave comments here.  I look forward to reading and sharing!

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