Living Monstrance

A few years ago, I was given a remarkable grace by God to quit caffeine. It happened all of a sudden. I had one of those aha! moments that made all the difference. Not that caffeine itself is a bad thing, but for me it has been. Always on the run and with a racing heart.

So since then, I replaced it with decaf. Now, decaf isn’t all that exciting. When you go to the coffee shop, you don’t really find all the fancy flavors for decaf like you do for regular coffee. And the taste? Well, I’ve never been too picky, but let’s just say that caffeine must have some good flavor to it.

Another thing about decaf is that so few people drink it that it’s hard to find it fresh at coffee shops, and it’s hard to justify brewing a whole pot in your home. So, you know what I usually get?

Decaf instant.

Yes, the bottled instant coffee that you might see in the supermarket with the word EZGRIP on the lid, especially made for our elder brothers and sisters, the folks with little money and strength. Putting a spoonful into hot water is one step away from putting in a spoonful of dirt.

How can you stand it? That’s a good question. It’s a little cross. But, there’s something else that’s added, something that makes a huge difference.

It’s called International Delight.

Coffee creamer. It comes in all different flavors, you’ve got hazelnut, toasted almond, french vanilla, irish crème. When you add International Delight to the dirt-in-water, everything changes. I get back the hot gourmet coffee flavor, without all the bad caffeine.

You know, for me, the International Delight and the instant decaf go together. There can’t be one without the other. They are married.

When the Lord called the disciples, it was to leave a lot of things. They weren’t bad things in themselves, but for them they would be bad to stick with. But what did He replace them with?

The Cross.

Now, let me ask you, how could they stand that? How could they be expected to give up all that they had and take a cross instead? Houses and lands and families, all for a cross?

Ah, but there’s something else that’s added, something that makes a huge difference:

Jesus.

Jesus and the Cross go together. There can’t be one without the other. They are married.

“If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Mt 16:24)

During Lent, the Church invites us to find the thing we need to cut out of our lives, the thing that send us off into the wrong direction. She invites us to deny ourselves and take up our cross – and to follow Jesus.

As Lent comes to a close, as you deny yourself and take up your cross yet another day, don’t forget that your cross has a marriage partner. Don’t forget to follow Him.

Don’t forget your International Delight.

You shall no more be termed Forsaken,
And your land shall no more be termed Desolate;
But you shall be called My delight is in her,
And your land Married;
For the LORD delights in you,
And your land shall be married.
(Is 62:4)

This week I was working in a temp job at a company in Boston. The task of the day was data entry. It’s a lot of clicking on things on the internet. In fact, it’s so much clicking that the internet browser eventually ends up hanging after an hour or so.

But before the internet hangs, it starts to show signs. First, one page loads slowly. Then a few more start dragging. Finally, if you haven’t gotten the hint that the browser’s going to stop working altogether, it hangs.

But that’s not all. So, you go and close the browser. Then you try to restart it. But then you get the message that it can’t restart, because it’s already running. What??

Fortunately, I have enough computer background to know to go to the Task Manager. The Task Manager is where you can put an end to all the mess that you’ve gotten yourself into. The Task Manager sees everything that’s going on, including all the things that are going on unseen in the background. I go to the tab called “processes”, and find the hidden browser file that’s still running. It’s a huge file, it’s been building up over the whole hour, becoming huge and unwieldy for the computer to handle. It’s ready to take down the whole machine. Click. That’s it. All gone. Now I can restart the browser and I’m off again.

Now, after having this happen a few times, I understood why a few of the other folks recommended restarting the browser every hour. I finally got it, and started listening to the browser when it started slowing down. Once an hour I restarted, and I never had a crash after that.

So this time I’m working along and a newer employee, Terry, is also working along at her computer on my left. After a while I hear a few groans, some huffs, and finally she volunteers to me that she’s feels like throwing her computer out. “What’s going on?” “It slowed down, and now it crashed, and now it won’t even let me restart the browser. I’m losing it.” A few more exasperated huffs and she put her face down into her hands.

“I think we can fix this – do you know how to do control-alt-delete?” We did that. “Now go to Task Manager.” Done. “Now go to processes.” Done. You could see the huge browser file sitting there comfortably.

“Now, click on that and then click ‘end process’.”

A pause.

I realized that, you know, she wasn’t exactly in known territory here. Terry is a young artist, a dancer and actress with a sort of childlike freedom. Clicking away for a few bucks is one thing, but now we were behind the scenes in the computer, dabbling in the unseen things that happen inside.

“I have faith in you.”

Click.

All gone.

“Now it should work,” I said

She tried to start the browser – success!

“You’re a good guy,” she said very simply.

I had a good laugh, “Thanks!”

Now, she was free to move on. And now, she knew me.

If our life seems like a browser that’s hanged, if you feel stuck in a rut and frustrated and discouraged, if you feel like life is stalled, then it’s a good time to turn to the Lord. He is going to take us to our own Task Manager. He is going to turn on the light on the unseen things that are happening inside us. Yes, it may be unknown territory, but don’t be afraid. Have faith in Him. He will walk you through it, and He will show you how to get rid of that thing inside that’s becoming too huge and unwieldy for you to handle, the thing that’s seems ready to take down your whole life.

And when He frees you to move on, you will know Him.

At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little ones; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Mt 11:25-30)

Just recently, I was waiting for a few days for a package to come by UPS in the mail. Finally, I came home one day and found the UPS sticker stuck to the mailbox. I looked at it. First delivery, it said. Signature required. Missed. Will be back tomorrow between 2 and 5. Why can’t they just leave the package there? And now, I’m thinking, come back tomorrow at the same time and I won’t be here again. What am I going to do?

The next day came, and sure enough, there was the sticker again. Second delivery, missed. Signature required. Third delivery scheduled for … well, of course another time I wouldn’t be around. I missed that too, and it was only after that that I got on the internet and tracked it down.

Returned to shipper, it said. Package refused at address.

Refused? I never met anyone, I never refused anything. It must be a mistake.

So I spoke to the folks I had ordered the package from and of course they have the package in their warehouse. “I didn’t refuse the package, I never met anyone. How come they want a signature? Who’s going to be waiting around all day just to sign for a package?” She didn’t know, but she kindly said she’d send it again.

As it turns out, my roommate Tim also was expecting a package. So, that day, there’s another sticker on the mailbox. I told him, “Tim, you better get on that or they’ll send it back.” Of course, a few days later, his package is returned to shipper.

So, this time we find out that we can have packages held at the local UPS pickup. I set it up on the internet, and went over.

Closed til 4:30.

So, finally, at 4:35, 7 days after I was originally supposed to get the package, I held this little brown box in my hands. 7 days of head scratching, internet checking, phone calls, missed UPS delivery men, re-shipping. So, anyways, Tim picks up his, too, and after we get home, he tells me about his phone conversation with UPS. “They said you could just call the number on the back to have the package held at the pickup.”

So I started looking at the sticker more closely. I turned it over, and sure enough, there was the phone number. And then, I paused and took the time to read the whole thing. There at the bottom was something to the effect of, “Sign here to have the package left at the door.”

You’ve got to be kidding. All I had to do on the very first day I got the sticker was do some more thorough investigation, and I would have turned the thing over and signed the back and the package would have been on the doorstep the next day. We both got a good laugh at our being dummies.

God sent His only Son, His most precious Son as a special gift to Mary, to have Him as her own. It’s an unbelievable gift, right? Well, she had to do something to receive Him. She had to go beyond the surface of things. She had to pay attention to the things that He made happen in her life. She had to pay attention to the Scripture. She had to pay attention to her neighbors, to the events that caught her attention, to the signs that He showed her in her neighbor and the things around her, to the movements of her heart in all these events of her life.

She had to turn over His little stickers.

But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart. (Lk 2:19)

If we follow Mary’s example, if we pay close attention to God’s little stickers and turn them over, then we too will be fertile ground like her.

We too will hold God’s greatest gift in our own hands.

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and return not there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” (Is 55:10-11)

Last month I was visiting a monastery in Massachusetts for the day. I try to disappear and get away once in a while for a day, out in the country.

So there I was meeting up with the guestmaster, the monk who lets people in to stay in guest rooms, Fr. Richard. We were talking, and I asked him, “How’s the heating going?” OK, maybe an odd question to you, but having an engineering background, we had had conversations in the past about monastery construction, and especially the heating side of things. The monks rely completely on God’s Providence for all their money and supplies, so they do their best to make things efficient when they do their construction.

Amazingly, they run the monastery on coal, they find it’s the cheapest way for them. So, here we are, and Fr. Richard is telling me about how the winter’s gone for heat. “When the coal burns too fast, then the oil backup kicks in, and just getting that to kick in makes it all much more expensive for us. But there’s a switch they told me we could use to control the coal burning better, and last year I didn’t want to get into playing around with it. But this year, I decided to try to use it. It’s amazing. All I had to do was hit that switch every once in a while, and we’ve not once had to use oil this year.

That one little switch has made all the difference. It’s amazing.”

In the Gospel, when blind Bartimaeus recovered His sight, it was because he made one little switch. When the woman with the hemorrhage was cured, it was because she made one little switch. When the apostles joined what was to be the greatest group of men to ever walk the earth, it was because they made one little switch. Their lives changed when they made one little switch.

They believed in Jesus.

There’s one little switch in our lives that the Lord wants us to make, because He wants to do great things for us with it, He wants to give us power.

He wants us to believe in Him.

It makes all the difference.

But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God. (Jn 1:12)

Last month I went into the registry of motor vehicles in Boston to pass the final papers on buying my father’s car. Now, my father is in Virginia, so there’s a problem – how can he sign off when he is half a country away?

Well, we have special papers that gives me “power of attorney”. That means that I get to sign my own name in place of my father’s name for money and business activities. So, I brought the papers to the woman at the desk at the RMV, and she checked them out. Everything’s OK, I sign my name as “power of attorney” for my father, and just like that, I walked out with a new title and registration. My father’s car was now mine.

Wow, I thought, that document is a very powerful document. I picked it back up after leaving and looked at it again. I noticed that it has some very important signatures on it: my father’s, mine, and the attorney’s.

And the signature of a witness.

For me to have the “power of attorney”, I need all of them. Yes, I need my father’s and mine and the attorney’s. But I also need a witness. There’s no “power of attorney” without a witness. I can’t act in my father’s name without a witness. I can’t carry out my father’s business without a witness.

When Jesus selected the Twelve to follow Him, He was selecting witnesses. Now, they didn’t do too many things well. They argued with each other, they often had no or little faith, they fled the scene when He needed Him most. But they were there when He healed the blind man, when He raised Lazarus from the dead, when He stilled the storm at sea, when He multiplied the loaves and fishes.

The only thing they did was be there and follow. They were just witnesses. “And you also are witnesses, because you have been with me from the beginning.” (Jn 15:27)

Witnesses are very important to the Lord. Witnesses give Him and us the “power of attorney” to do Our Father’s business in the world.

“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

If you’ve experienced the great Love of Jesus, if you’ve seen His great works, your witness is very important. It gives Him the power to claim His Father’s things for Himself.

It gives Him power of attorney.

When I was a kid, I used to love to watch a TV show called Wild, Wild World of Animals. As you can probably tell, it was all about wild animals, either in the jungles of the Amazon or the deserts of Africa or the mountains of Asia. But although each show covered different types of animals, it seemed like one member of the animal kingdom made it into every show. This animal made it into more shows than Homer Simpson. Who is it?

The wildebeest.

Now, from the sound of its name, you might think this is a veracious animal, a monster of the earth with large teeth, quick legs, and sharp claws that terrorized other creatures like the Tyrannasaurus Rex. No, you won’t find a horror movie about the attack of the wildebeests. The wildebeest is basically a large, meaty, slow-moving, defenseless animal that moves around in large packs near water supplies. The wildebeest has “prey” written all over him. If you’re a predator and you find the wildebeest, you basically get a sumptuous menu with drink included.

So, on the TV show, it seemed to me that it went the same way every time. The show about the lion gets to the lion’s hunting, and what are they stalking? The wildebeest. When it’s time to show off the cheetah’s speed, what is he going after? The wildebeest. When the alligator is going surprise attack with his powerful jaws, who’s the victim? The wildebeest.

In the wild, wild world of animals, the prey, the weak is never safe.

Then, I think of Noah’s ark. In the 6th-grade CCD class I teach we talked about Noah’s Ark. One student asked, “Wouldn’t some animals eat other ones?” Good question. All the animals are crammed into a small, smelly space. They are accustomed to staying only around their own types, but now they’re with all types. Predators and prey are right next to each other. I thought of the poor wildebeest.

But you know what? Even with all of its predators combined together on the same boat, the wildebeest made it out alive. In Noah’s Ark, the wildebeest, the prey of preys, is safe.

In the world, we have survival of the fittest, we have predator and prey. Politics, business, education, sports, keeping up the Jones’s, you name it. It’s not a comfortable place for the weak and defenseless. It’s the wild, wild world of animals.

But in Jesus’ Church, it is different. We have the most odd mixture of personalities, and, yes, it’s cramped and often smelly. Unlike your circle of family, friends, and co-workers, you are going to be very close to a lot of people who are very different from you, and you will find all your predators. But you know what? Everyone survives. In Jesus’ Church the weakest of all is safe.

In Jesus’ Church, there is nothing to fear.

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
And the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
And the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
And a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall feed;
Their young shall lie down together;
And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The sucking child shall play over the hole of the asp,
And the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain;
For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. (Is 11:6-9)

I teach CCD on Sunday morning to 12-year-olds, and last week we talked about Noah and the Flood. Remember the story? When God told Noah to build an Ark it was so that Noah and the animals would live through His coming chastisement, the Flood. Noah was the only man alive that listened to God, and He got the Ark. Everyone else had kicked God out of their lives and got the Flood. Now, that seems pretty just, doesn’t it?

Now fast forward to the moment before Jesus begins His ministry. John the Baptist is calling all of Jerusalem out into the wilderness to submerge themselves in water and confess that they need to change. To the people of Jerusalem, the people who know what happened when God flooded the world, what’s he calling them to do? Yes, he’s calling them to claim the Flood for themselves.

So along comes Jesus, the only one without any separation from God. He’s the only one of the crowd that actually qualifies for the Ark, and what does He do? He goes to John the Baptist to get baptized.

He’s claiming the Flood for Himself.

What happens to His place in the Ark?

He gives it to everyone else who deserved the Flood.

My roommate Tim spent a few months last year work working on renovating his house, and then opened it up to four other guys to live in as a Catholic men’s house. Because of Tim, the house is full of hospitality towards us and all the guests that come by. Tim cooks meals for us, has put together a chapel in the basement, and is always inviting us into whatever he’s got going on. Despite bumping into each other in many ways in the small quarters, all the guys get along, we have a lot of fellowship and camaraderie. It is a great place to live. It’s called the Sacred Heart House.

But you know what, he’s done all this with no money to his name, and his job isn’t making money. He could be nitpicking, making a tight budget, finding ways to squeeze money out of different living scenarios in the house, with the shopping, the utilities. He could raise the rent. He could start watching over how we treat the property. And then all the other guys in the house would really be living in the Flood instead of the Ark. You know, that sounds pretty just, doesn’t it? It’s his house and he’s really put all the money and effort into it. He could take the ark for himself and leave us with the flood. He could stop being generous.

But he’s not. He’s still giving. He’s in the hole financially and going deeper, but you’d never in a million years know it. Yesterday, he said to me, “A lot of people would say, ‘You’re crazy for what you’re doing.’” I said, “I know – but I think it’s great and inspiring.

He’s taking the Flood for himself. We are getting the Ark.

When Jesus got baptized, when He declared that He was taking the Flood for Himself and giving everyone His place in the Ark, that was one of the greatest moments in the history of the world. We know that because it moved God the Father so much, He actually spoke out loud so everyone would know: “You are my beloved Son, in you I am well pleased.” (Lk 3:22)

When times get dark, no matter how bad it looks, no matter how crazy it seems, don’t give up your generosity. Don’t do the thing that looks just. Don’t take the Ark for yourself. Claim the Flood for yourself and give the Ark to the ones who are important to you, especially if they can deserve the Flood.

Then, like Tim, you’ll move God’s Heart. You’ll be His beloved son.

Happy Feast of the Baptism of the Lord!

Four and a half years ago, I had the opportunity to enter the seminary with a religious community. Well, I lasted for some time, and, to be honest, my own stubbornness and hardness of heart got the best of me. I decided I was going to leave and find a “better place”.

Big mistake.

Let’s just say that a stubborn walking away from God’s service is not the most pleasing thing in His eyes. I ended up in a day-program rehab for depression for two weeks. I have never experienced anything like that in my life, and I hope I – or anybody else – never do again.

I was completely humiliated, and I had almost nothing left, no job, no place to live except my parents’ house, no idea where God was leading me in vocation, scatter-brained, and pretty much the only thing I knew about my journey was that I messed up big-time.

I tell you, it was rock bottom for me.

It was then I decided to live the Total Consecration to Mary with all I had left. I decided that my relationship with Mary would be the foundation of my life, the foundation of my reconciliation with Jesus, of my discipleship with Him, of my vocation.

Well, stumbling along about a year after I left the seminary, I was going to renew my consecration and decided it would be a good idea to invite other people at St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine if they would like to join me. At the time, there was not that much specifically Marian going on at this lively Shrine, and there was no group walking in the consecration. I sense strongly that she wanted to be more notable present there.

I asked a priest if he would lead up the group. He said, “Why don’t you do it, Jerome.” OK.

So a small group of us got together and for 2 months we prepared for the Total Consecration to Mary and consecrated ourselves to Mary on August 15, the Assumption, in 2007.

Well, right away, I was off to the Franciscans, which was a miracle in itself after what I had been through, and when I came back, the next year we decided to do it all together again. By then, another priest was at the Shrine with a great desire to foster Marian devotion, and so he began to lead up a whole series of preparations and consecrations. By now, over a hundred lay people – mostly young adults – have consecrated themselves to Jesus through the Blessed Virgin.

This past summer, several of this group got together to arrange for the Shrine to become a place of Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration, the only place for perpetual adoration in the city of Boston, after 40 years of absence. The Cardinal inaugurated it with a big celebration. It is a monumental occurrence for the Archdiocese of Boston after the priest-abuse scandal of 2002. This Shrine, now open perpetually for Eucharistic Adoration with over 350 adorers, is literally at the epicenter of the priest abuse scandal in the whole United States, maybe even the world.

Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. For I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise. (Is 43:18-21)

Where did it all begin? What did the Lord build on?

One of his chosen servants at rock bottom.

In the Gospel, Jesus takes the disciples to Caesarea Philippi, on top of a large rock cave with a large opening with water. They are literally standing on top of the rock cave when Jesus asks who the disciples say that He is. It’s on this cave that He says the words to Peter, “and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” (Mt 16:18)

Now, this isn’t just any rock. The disciples would understand what this rock cave was. See, it was here that the god Baal was worshipped by the Israelites. The Canaanites would carry out orgies at the mouth of this cave to lure its occupant, Baal, out to mate with the goddess Ashtaroth, and so bring about fertility for the land. They even offered child sacrifice to Baal. That cave opening was the gates of Hades. And the Israelites had turned away from God and in that very place had done the same things.

Let’s just say that that was not pleasing to God. Especially the child sacrifice.

The chastisement that God sent was, well, disaster. Ultimately, foreign armies totally destroyed the northern part of Israel. Not too long after, foreign armies also destroyed the southern part of Israel, took most off to Babylon, and left behind nothing but a little remnant of nobodies.

The prophets? They were all about the stuff happening at the mouth of that rock cave and the captivity. And the Messiah that would restore faithfulness and the Israelite nation.

This rock that Jesus and His disciples are standing on mean one thing to them:

Rock bottom. The Messiah is going to build His Church on Israel’s rock bottom.

Now, Peter is going to need to hear this. Because later on, remember, after the Resurrection, the Lord comes to Peter after he’s denied him three times. He completely abandoned the Lord in the hour where He really needed Him. So, the Lord now asks him three times if he loves him, and makes him the Pope. What is he doing?

He’s building His Church on Peter’s rock bottom.

God is not impressed with our goodness, our religion or spirituality, our good works, our virtues or righteousness. He’s not impressed with us being “solid Catholics” or “living the faith”. It’s on our sins, on our denials, our betrayals, our failures and mistakes that God wants to do His greatest works. It’s where He wants to build His Church.

If you have betrayed God and His graces, if you have denied Him, if you have crucified Him in your heart and betrayed Him, don’t be afraid. If you are suffering the consequences and are at rock bottom in your life, don’t be afraid. Have faith in God. Trust in the Merciful Heart of Jesus. Entrust yourself to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Let Him build His Church on your rock bottom.

And nothing will prevail against it.

Today the Church celebrates the Three Kings arriving to adore the infant Jesus, the promised King of Kings. Why Jesus is recognized king requires a little bit of Old Testament history.

When the Israelites first settled in the promised land, they had God as their head and that was all they needed. Until they turned away from Him and got into predicaments with the neighbors. They would stop listening to God and turn to go along with the neighbors’ ways. They wouldn’t assert themselves when God wanted them to, and then they would start picking up the neighbors’ gods and worshiping them along with God.

Things did not go well for them when they did this. So, finally, when things got real bad, they would turn back to God and cry out for help. And God would send someone to liberate them from the predicament they had gotten themselves into. These were the Judges. The Judges stuck around to liberate the Israelites, and when they had finished their task, the Israelites had God back as their head. Free again.

But, the Israelites ultimately went further. They then asked their prophet – God’s go-to guy – for a king from God, so that they could be like the other nations. God’s headship wasn’t good enough. They outright rejected God.

So, of course, God was not pleased, but gave them their wish. But not without a warning. Through His prophet he warned them that a king would only take from them. A king would be very different from God.

So, God gave them King Saul, and after Saul, David, and then Solomon and many others. Most were oppressors of Israel. What God had warned came true. The Israelites chose to have a king – and be enslaved by him.

But you know what? It’s that very kingship line that produced Jesus, the Son of David. In His Son, God is now – forever – King of His people. Other kings that would take from His people are history. But, Jesus’ kingship comes out of the kingship of Israel – Israel’s outright rejection of God and the very thing that enslaved them.

If the Israelites hadn’t rejected God and asked Him for a king, there would be no kingship of Israel for Jesus to inherit. The angel Gabriel couldn’t tell Mary about “the throne of David his father” and “of his kingdom there will be no end.” There would be no star, no newborn king, no Magi visiting, no Jesus Christ King of the Jews on the Cross, no Feast of Christ the King.

All of Jesus’ glory comes out of the sins and failures of His people.

For over eight years I was addicted to internet pornography. The internet to me was a tool for the enemy of human nature to use against me. I chose to reject God and use it – and be enslaved by it. It was my king.

But the Lord took that all away from me 6 years ago when I surrendered to His grace. That’s all history now, and now it’s the internet that I use to proclaim the Lord’s Kingdom. Without the internet there would be no blog, no emails to Church friends, no Yahoo groups for the Church groups.

Jesus’ glory comes out of my own sins and failures.

God needs our sins and failures to do His greatest work, His works of redemption. Without them, there is no glory. But if we give ourselves to Him, if we surrender our sins and failures to His Mercy, if we surrender our kings to Him, we can call Him by His true title.

Our King.

“Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain and by your blood you ransomed men for God from every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” (Rev 5:9-10)