The Ministry So far: Not grace(favor) alone but also hard work

A woman came to me with her troubles like the woman who came to Jesus to cure her daughter(Mark 7:24-20). But this time, it wasn’t about spiritual possession but that her business isn’t going through.

I looked at her with little anger. Why was I angry?

What concerns me and your business? I am a pastor of souls and not a pastor of business. Why can’t you go to business counselors and arrange your business? These and more were what were in my mind?

Just like Jesus when a man came to him in order to settle the disputes between him and his brothers, “Master, tell my brother to give me a share of our inheritance.’ And He said to him, ‘My friend, who appointed me your judge, or the arbitrator of your claims?’ ( Luke 12:13-21).

However, just like Jesus too, when a centurion came that he might heal his servants “Sir my servant is lying at home paralysed and in great pain.'” (Matt 5-13).

Therefore, Jesus was compassionate though he knew he wasn’t a lawyer or a medical physician, he came to show the way to heaven. Yet, he cured people’s diseases. So, in that way, I listened to the woman.

The woman was a trader who engages in buying and selling, through her shop on the streets. She had already narrated how it was impossible to sell.

After much enquiry from her, I found out that she doesn’t understand how to sell. SHE WAS ACTUALLY SELLING WHAT SHE WANTED AND NOT WHAT PEOPLE ON THE STREETS NEEDED.

So, I asked her to ARRANGE AND BEAUTIFY her shop and then focus on what people on the streets are lacking and what many people ask about from her shop that she doesn’t have.

Also, I gave her some prayers to say. The prayer wasn’t to replace hardwork, rather to help her have the grace to focus and to do the right things with the awareness that God is with her, though I didn’t tell her why.

After some weeks , she came back with the testimony that everything is now working just very fine. She has many customers now. And actually when I visited her shop, if it wasn’t because of me, she wouldn’t have given me any attention because of how customers were on her.

I later explained everything that happened to her and she understood with amazements.

Now, we must understand that everything is not just about praying and ‘kabashing’ but, doing the right things and saying the right prayers. Hard work and prayer make efficiency.

Prayer also helps your limitations and the unforeseen.

Ije fada, abụrọkwa sọsọ Dominus Vobiscum; being a Catholic priest is not just about “the Lord be with you.”

©Fr. Henry Charles Umelechi

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