World needs the love of Jesus Christ

Apr 19, 2019

IPOH: Today, the world has an immense need for the tenderness, love and joy of Jesus Christ — this is because the people face difficult and stressful situations, whether at work or at home and, for some of them, life has become a meaningless routine.

Carmelita Xavier, the presenter of Inviting others to meet Jesus which is the sixth session of the Sharing Christ formation programme at St Michael’s Church (SMC), said this during the start of her talk on April 6.

“When you are joyful and have encountered Christ’s love, surely you want others to experience, more than anything else, the tenderness and love of Jesus. We need to interact with others with an honest openness and sensibility when the opportunity arrives,” she said.

Carmelita said many of us feel others will not understand us when we share Christ. “So, first develop a friendship with them, and find out about them, so they will know who to reach in case of problems,” she said.

“Lean on the Holy Spirit, and be attentive to his leading you in helping others meet Jesus,” she added.

She cited an example when she felt the Holy Spirit’s prompting to approach a young lady seated in church.

“I approached her and introduced myself. It turned out she was a non-Christian and it was the first time she was in a Catholic church. She didn’t know anyone and was eager for a friend, so I gave her my phone number in case she needed help.”

For two or three weeks they managed to sit next to each other. Soon, the young lady expressed a desire to join the Catholic faith. Carmelita became her godparent.

Carmelita also shared how she was once facing a stressful life, and had no one to talk to. On her way to work, she stopped at a chapel and sat there for a few minutes in silence. Each time she came, she did not say anything or expect anything.

“I had no purpose in life, other than being a wife and mother. I had no ministry, and no personal relationship with Jesus.

My husband was the active Catholic, and I was the one who was distant from God,” she said.

However, slowly, she began to find herself spending more time sitting in front of the Blessed Sacrament at the chapel.

One day, as she got up to go back to work, she heard a distinct voice calling her name and telling her she would become a fisher of men.

“It stunned me, and I knew it was God, so I replied, How ? When I am unable to get myself out of the troubles I am in?”

It was three years later that she finally joined in the ministry of evangelising at her parish, along with her brothers who were also involved in that ministry.

“God is faithful, so when we are excited about Jesus, we do things for others and God’s graces will flow into their lives and ours,” she said.

Carmelita Xavier is a parishioner of the Divine Mercy Church in Penang. She currently serves as a facilitator for the RCIA.

She is also a lector and scriptwriter for the parish and a core team member of the Penang Diocesan Biblical Apostolate.
She is a speaker at various seminars for adults, teenagers and children in Malaysia and overseas.