Pictured-Rev. Mr. Brian Kilkelly, Mary, Tom Burnet
If you missed the show, it is now in archive at Revmedia.com. Rev. Mr. Brian Kilkelly and Tom Burnet gave a general overview of Vatican II and how it redefined some of the structure within the Catholic church. They also offered practical advice on living a God-centered lifestyle.
Mary-(What are) Your thoughts on those that have been hurt by the church? Those who for one reason or another just can't trust religion anymore, and yet they want to see the Lord face to face, they want to make that journey, they want to see him for who he is. What is your best advice to them?
Rev. Mr. Brian Kilkelly-I think that the best way that you can see God in your life is to look behind you. And I would recommend to someone who is struggling to take a yellow pad, if you will, and start to make a list. Make a list of all of the special people that God has placed in your life. You just know that their words really were from God and were of love. I'm sure that you will see the list will grow. Take your list and go through and say 'Thank you Lord' for that special person.....We go through this world and we are hurt by family, we are hurt sometimes by fathers....we're hurt from institutions, we're hurt from our lives, we're hurt from wherever....and Jesus' commitment to us is that He will be there for us and with us. That is what He was sent for, to be with us in our pain and in our suffering.
Mary-In reading Thomas Mertin and James Martin, they both advocate a contemplative lifestyle. It's impossible for us all to become monks or nuns. Life is so noisy and it is necessary to become quiet. Mother Teresa said, 'We need to find God, and he can not be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature-trees, flowers, grass-grows in silence. See how the stars, the moon and the sun move in silence. We need silence to be able to touch souls.'
Rev. Mr.Brian Kilkelly-Yes, very definitely. You have to kind of learn where and how to find God. We're to pray constantly. My favorite prayer is just to say 'All is well in Jesus Christ' and to take a deep breath and relax and realize that everything I do should be a prayer and all of my focus should be a prayer. Although I don't recognize necessarily what God is doing in this moment, through my eye of faith, I recognize that all is well in Jesus Christ.
Mary-(to Tom) Shortly after meeting you, I heard you pray and your prayer was so different from anything I had ever heard...you had such trust in God..it really made me start to shift and see that God is love.
Tom Burnet-...The gift of His son-that is overwhelming to me. How much He must love the least of us, the worst of us, me, for that matter, to give up His son for me. In Jesus' death you are offered an opportunity to live in eternity with Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit. The alternative to that is the fires of Hell. He loves me so much that He extricated me from that eventuality to give me the opportunity to be with Him forever. Whoa. How much love is that?
If you are in the East Atlanta area, visit St. Pius Catholic Church in Conyers. Rev. Mr. Brian Kilkelly is on staff at St. Pius and would welcome you and your family!
Visit Amazon.com for a complete list of Thomas Merton and James Martin books designed to lead you into contemplative living.
Note from ~Mary-For the sake of our on air discussion, I define contemplative prayer and lifestyle as getting quiet before the Lord and contemplating His goodness and His will for our lives.
