| “O incomprehensible God, how great is Your mercy! It surpasses the combined understanding of all men and angels. All the angels and all humans have emerged from the very depths of Your tender mercy. Mercy is the flower of love. God is love, and mercy is His deed. In love it is conceived; in mercy it is revealed. Everything I look at speaks to me of God's mercy. Even God's very justice speaks to me about His fathomless mercy, because justice flows from love (651).”
~ Diary of St. Faustina
Father Jim Evans is the co-host of Mary’s Touch and the spiritual director for the FRONTLINE FAITH Project. |
Father Jim Evans
|
Father James Evans is a priest in the Diocese of Austin. He has served as Pastor and Associate Pastor in the Diocese. Other past assignments include Director of the Office of Social Concerns and Director of Catholic Charities.
In addition to his duties for the diocese, Father Jim serves as Chaplain of the John Paul II Life Center and he is a Chaplain (Colonel) in the Texas State Guard.
Father Jim's education includes a B.A. from California State University at Long Beach and an M.S. from the University of Southern California. He was an NDEA Fellow at Georgetown University. Father Jim earned his M.Div. from the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest. |
“If you have cancer, it's gonna be hard. Believe in God. My faith has helped me.”
~ Thomas Molina
Mary's Touch Program 4.16
In this very special Mary's Touch program, Thomas Molina and his mother, Lisa, share their story of faith.
Lisa Molina is a convert to Catholicism. Her first prayer to Mary was for a child. A month after she offered that prayer, she discovered she was pregnant with Thomas. With one prayer, she cemented her relationship with our Blessed Mother. Little did she know how our Mother would sustain her and, by example, teach her to entrust her own son to God.
Often, difficulties like the darkness of a life-threatening illness--especially when it strikes one's own child--can dismember us...and we can become angry victims that fall into resentment. When Thomas was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of three, and the disease returned after more than five years of remission and again while he was on maintenance chemotherapy, Lisa's trust in God was challenged...and it was her great love of her son and her faith in God that moved her through those darkest moments.
Lisa and Thomas held tight their rosary because they knew our Mother Mary was with them. In her powerlessness, Lisa embraced our Mother, abandoned herself, and surrendered her own beloved son to God.
“Deep inside me is this core belief that we are being guided by God. Even if things don't work out the way I want them to, I realize I have done everything I possibly can. This is bigger than us. We came to a point when we understood that only God controls.”
~ Lisa Molina
Where there is great love, there is faith, and with faith, we can trust. Lisa and Thomas by their beautiful examples teach us how we, too, should trust. They remind us that “our names are written in Christ's wounds, and it is precisely in our darkest moments that Christ surrounds us.”
Please join us in praying for Thomas and his family. Through the grace of God, he is preparing now for his Confirmation.
|
