I planned to be there at 5am but only reached the chapel by 5.30am. But it was my birthday - He wouldn't mind :)
I told the Lord (rather brazenly as is my way sometimes) that as it was my birthday, He was bound to give me all that I asked for! Wonderful thought isn't it?! Then I asked Him what I ought to pray for.
I saw one word in front of me - CAMBODIA.
Cambodia??
My Post-Grad. degree didn't make the fact that I didn't even have a clue where the country was, any less shameful. I tried to get it out of my mind. Surely I was imagining things. But it wouldn't go away.
"Offer a Holy Mass for Cambodia"
Cambodia again. And why my birthday Mass?? "No Lord, a rosary I will give you, but surely you have something more 'sensible' for me to pray for?"
"No, I want a Holy Mass"
"Alright Lord, have it Your way. My birthday Holy Mass it is."
So I offered the Holy Mass for Cambodia, trying as much as I could to pray for a country located somewhere-I-didn't-know, for people (Cambodians?) whom I have never met and in all probability will never meet. I prayed earnestly. And then, in the frivolities of the day, I forgot all about it.
Till the next day. I clearly heard a priest during a class say “And what happened in Cambodia yesterday?” I didn’t know. All I knew is that I wanted to know. I searched the local news but nothing. Give up? No way. I searched the Internet. This is what I found:
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LATEST STORIES
Mob destroys Christian church in Cambodia
Officials in Cambodia say more than 100 Buddhists have wrecked a Christian church during a Sunday mass in the remote southeast of the country.
Hun Neng, governor of Svey Rieng province, said the mob rampaged through the church, and that there had been what he termed small casualties.
He said authorities had deployed police to the area, which prevented the mob from razing the building.
Cambodia has experienced a rise in religious tensions in recent years.
14/07/2003 22:39:41 | ABC Radio Australia News
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I understood the need to offer a Holy Mass. But more than that, I learned a valuable lesson – that intercession truly has a long arm. It doesn’t matter that I didn’t even know where the country was, or who the people were.
Not a single prayer we make is wasted - not if we pray in the True Spirit and for the things that God wants us to pray for.
God told me to pray and I prayed earnestly. And I truly believe God will use those prayers, the sacrifice of that Holy Mass, to touch the people of Cambodia.
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{Please do not send me any Private Messages as I do not have a Messenger Account here - you can email melody@glorify-god.com to reach me. Thx & God bless!}
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Wow! You obviously have the heart of an intercessor and the faithfulness to respond when the Lord whispers to your spirit. How truly beautiful that on your birthday you used your time to pray for a country you knew nothing about. That's faithfulness. With love, Deb
