A Report by Robert R. Schwarz
Note: These interviews were conducted in
mid 2022 and contain a few updates
A Gardener Who Connects with Jesus Via a Vine
Sixty-year-old Rich Kolari has for years been mowing grass and beautifying lawns in my neighborhood. I asked him the other day at lunch at a local Subway eatery what his favorite Bible verse was .He quoted Jesus from John 15:1... "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." Then, being the self-appointed-yet-modest evangelist he is, Rich added: " We don't want to be broken branches and lose the sap of life. "
"
Sounds like you have a relationship
with Jesus , " I said.
" Oh,
yes," he replied. We have to." He then
quoted the refrain from a favorite hymn saying, "What a Friend We
have in Jesus ."
I encouraged Rich to tell me more--boy, did he !
"Ever hear
His voice ?" I finally asked.
"Yes, I
have. You know He says He is our
shepherd.
" And of course,
you pray to Him?" I asked.
" I pray
directly to our Savior. We need to take time with private moments with our Lord
and have fellowship with Him, and that we be responsible about it…make a daily
commitment …so we can drink directly
from the throne of God."
"Honestly
now, Rich," I asked, "have you
ever seen Jesus or had a vision of Him ?
"
Rich paused for a moment, obviously pleased with the question. "Yeah , in my mid
twenties , when I was in the Marine
Corps. " He explained that it was after a church event in Arlington Heights, Illinois, where we both lived.
"I was alone in a hotel room. "My eyes were closed
and I had a mini vision of Jesus with tears flowing out of His eyes. I knew it
was straight passionate love for the church, and that He wanted to reach out and help
people."
Now it was my turn to pause.
"Tell me,
Rich, " the journalist in me had to ask , "can
you recall a moment in your life when
you cried to Jesus for mercy ?"
Rich related an event when returning one winter from a visit with his father in
Arizona ( Rich was then about 25 years
of age ) and was driving through New Mexico and decided to head north through the mountains towards Denver . "There was a b
ridge with ice on it. I slid on the ice
and hit the side of the bridge. I called on the Lord that I would
not go off the bridge and into a dark ravine below .
"Jesus heard
me. My car was ruined, but I was fine. I started hitchhiking. Whoever picked me up told me about a nearby church , and then drove me to it. The pastor's wife took me in for the
night, and I got a good night's
rest. "
The next day, Rich told me, he hitchhiked back to his mother's house in
Arlington Heights." Today ," Rich said, "I thank God
for all the people who helped me then. The Lord was watching over me…"
***
I knew Rich regularly attended churches of different denominations , and so I asked why.
" I simply enjoy going to different places of worship and hearing what different pastors have to say about God and
Jesus."
Rich reminded
me that he had someone's lawn to cut and had to leave in five minutes. I quickly
asked how his faith was formed. He liked the question.
" I was
brought up in the church. There was
Sunday school. My mother loved the Lord . She read Bible stories to me. She
loved singing unto the Lord. She was a very strict Lutheran…." Rich recalled another favorite hymn: "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God." He added, "We sang it loudly in the Third Grade,
really enjoying ourselves."
"Just two more questions, Rich:
Any advice for the person who’s
searching for Jesus but hasn't yet found Him ?
"I
think maybe he should read the
scriptures. Sometimes it’s just one verse that will do it. Jesus' words are
spirit and life, you know. That person
should meditate on them and also interact with other believers."
"Last
question, Rich. I'm not sure, but do you evangelize to people ? "
"
Yes, but I have to ask the lord to give
me boldness to do so. There's a couple of people right now I'm trying to target . I'll be inviting them to a local church. "
Rising from our
lunch table, Rich also mentioned a lady of the Jewish faith whose lawn he mows. " She's coming close to converting," he said.
An Army Chaplain in a War Zone , Now a Priest, Saw Jesus There as "Discovery, Trust, Mercy and Grace "
What his
real-life relationship and personal thoughts were about Jesus drew me to interview him; as a
Christian, I had questions
that needed answers, like what is really meant about a "relationship"
with Jesus.
We sat in his
office. Fr. Matt is in his mid-fifties, he has blue eyes and black hair always
trimmed short . He exercises to stay trim and stands at five- feet- seven. He smiles a lot and listens
more than he talks.
Me: A lot of Christians hear that phrase, a
relationship with Jesus. Tell me,
how do you as a priest define it ? I think a lot of people would like to
hear about your own relationship with Him."
Fr. Matt: I
see my relationship with Jesus as an
ongoing process of surrender [ to Him ], a discovery, with trust, mercy and grace.
Me: Do you talk with Him , have a
conversation ?
Fr. Matt: I believe I speak to
Jesus all day long. I believe there are moments of a tremendous sense of
humility I have before Him when I'm celebrating the Mass , anointing the
sick.
( Fr. Matt said
there also are moments when he has a
strong sense of Jesus' presence . He said he distinguishes between what Jesus is saying
to Him and what his own mind is
saying . )
Fr. Matt: I
take advantage of one of those moments and enter into a dialogue [ with Jesus ] , which
is listening more than speaking.
Me: Can you recall
how your relationship with Jesus was formed ?
Fr. Matt: I believe that probably the relationship began with God's mercy and
grace at the time I was baptized . And by the modeling of my
parents and other Christian people . My parents were the first and foremost
teachers of my faith in Jesus Christ. Through the reading of scripture, Jesus
has allowed me to see His heart
and receive the spirit of wisdom that allows me to go deeper into my
prayers.
Me: When you were a chaplain in
Afghanistan , was there a prayer you offered up more than other prayers?
Fr. Foley: 'Lord Jesus, help me surrender my will to your will.' I've been saying that
prayer for years.
Me: Any
other thoughts about Jesus related to your time as a chaplain there ?
Fr. Foley: Well, Jesus said there's no greater love that to lay down one's life
for a friend…and I've seen that.
Me: Any advice for someone still searching for
Jesus , for a real-life relationship with Him?
Fr. Foley: Find a friend who knows Jesus. Join a
Bible study group or go to a retreat that focuses on Jesus.
[ You can read more about Fr. Foley by clicking on http://exodustrekkers.blogspot.com/2014/07/fr-foley-at-generals-mass-in.html ]
"I Hear Jesus' Voice Every Day Like a Tap on
Shoulder" , Says This Deacon and Missionary to Uganda
Arlington Heights, IL 60006 ; or at website http://www.MAAPFOUNDATION.0RG ) that continues his mission work. Don was a good candidate for an
interview about a real-life relationship with Jesus.
We sat down at my
patio table and talked . Don is a
husky 71- year- old with Swedish
heritage. He has authored 14 books and
50 articles for educational journals, and he likes to explain life's principles. He and his wife raised three children.
"Tell me
about your relationship with Jesus," I began.
" I have a
very close relationship with Jesus ," he said. "He has every dimension of kinship with me. I can see Him, imagine Him, taste Him, and feel Him through my prayer by reading His word in scripture . When I pray I
definitely feel the person of Jesus . And , yes, "I hear His voice every day…"
"How so ? " I asked.
" Like a tap on the shoulder , an affirmation, " he replied.
"You see him ?
Don thought for a moment. He wanted to be clear, but I
intruded upon his thoughts by recalling hearing retired St. James priest Fr. Bill Zavaski quote Pope Francis: "You see the face of
Jesus on the face of people."
"I can
relate to that," Don said. "I've seen a lot of pain—and joy—in people during my 32 years as
deacon, at funerals, weddings. "
I told Don I
wanted to hear about the most solemn
prayer he ever offered up , one in which he begged for the merciful love of Jesus.
He grinned,
as if thanking me for an opportunity to share a
precious memory. It was in 1981, he said, inside a maternity room
at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights . Inside lay his wife
Kathy, about to give birth to their third child. Don had
been waiting at her side to help in a normal delivery . A nurse told
Don to go put on a gown .
" While I was in the washroom," Don
recalled, "I heard the code blue alarm sound. I
didn’t think much of it , but when I returned to my wife's room, the door was
closed , and I was told I could not to go
in."
Several
hospital staff members were now rushing into the room, one advising
Don that his wife was having
"breathing distress" , caused by her epidural having been misapplied
when injected into her spine. Though
it was meant to freeze the lower
part of his wife's body , it now was impairing her heart and
breathing. The baby was at risk of asphyxiation.
Don quickly
telephoned his mother. He told her, "
Mom, we need to pray because I don't have the capacity to live the rest of
my life without my wife and with a dead son…I went to Jesus and said, Jesus I
need your help…He spoke to me by responding to my plea…My wife and son were born fine ! "
Don thanked God , Jesus and the Holy Spirit
by deciding then to serve his fellow
worshippers and study to become a
deacon.
Don's faith life had been formed, he said, by
listening to his mother from an early age talk about God. "The idea of Jesus really grew—and
still is growing. There has come a feeling of being embraced by God the Father
and Jesus the Good Shepherd ."
He explained that his commitment to the
Commandments of Jesus and to his church
and mission to Africa were cemented five years ago while on a pilgrimage to Sicily. He and a
friend decided to climb an active
volcano there. Climbing downward, both of Don's legs were
disabled with severe cramps. Soon after
that incident, he was diagnosed with a terminal heart ailment and given two years to live. That doctor's diagnosis was almost five years ago.
(to read more about Don's mission go to : https://exodustrekkers.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-heart-of-american-suburbanite_30.html )
He Makes Disciples for Jesus. His 9-Year-Old Daughter Talked to Jesus
 |
| The St. James FOCUS "disciples" |
" I'd like
to hear more about that relationship with Jesus, " I told Matt.
" I think
Catholic Christianity is all about relationship ," he replied. "When we have that , it's easier to see
everything Jesus tells us . A phrase
that has stuck with me is: rules without
a relationship will lead to rebellion.
When I asked
whether members of his several FOCUS
groups share with him about their personal conversations with Jesus , he replied,
"Of course. I think their
private prayers are those conversations. Here's an
example: My wife and I were going to bed
the other night when our my nine-year-old
daughter told my wife that a 'scary image' had came into her head . She then said that she immediately started to have a
conversation with Jesus that went like , 'Jesus I love you ', and ' I know you know what's best for me and
please take away all the
anxieties and burdens that Mommy and
Daddy have …'
" It was beautiful
coming from a nine-year-old….And, yeah, I think that's what we're all striving for ,
to have that conversation through the day, throughout the week with Jesus. Not
just a rote prayer. "
" Do you
ever hear Jesus speak to you ? "
" Sure,
" Matt said. "When I'm reading scripture, something will resonate
with me, like an affirmation of
something I'm doing or plan to do. It helps if
I hear this affirmation a second time when going to mass. One reason why FOCUS encourages daily prayer is
that God
speaks to us in the silence. I think he's trying to speak to us all the
time , but we're just not attentive to it ."
Matt pondered the
question whether he believed his FOCUS people actually ever saw Jesus. He replied
with a question: " Do we ever trust that Jesus can perform miracles today , those we read about in scriptures or hear
have occurred in our lifetime ?... Some things, you know, go beyond our
understanding."
This missionary
continued: " People are on different parts of their journey in FOCUS,
" he said. " They are
asking the fundamental questions: Why am I here? Who is Jesus? Who is God ?
Others want to deepen their
relationship with Jesus…The ultimate
goal of FOCUS people is to share with others the answers they have found.
"My faith
journey, my relationship with Jesus has been a series of deepening encounters…like when I was at a
Good Friday service with my daughter and I heard it said that 'everything
changes when the Cross becomes personal to us.' Right after the church's veneration
of the cross, I saw the young, the old, the handicapped, the
blind— all those people going up to venerate the wood of the cross in front of all of us . And as I got back to my pew, I just broke down
because I had again been reminded that
Jesus died for me . It all became personal in that moment. My daughter
was there , and she's like, are you okay,
Daddy ? It was a powerful moment,
definitely an encounter I had with Jesus. He had reminded me of a truth."
In November of 2019 , Fr. Bill Zavaski delivered a homily that brought the congregation at St. James Church in Arlington Heights to a meditative silence. After walking a few paces across the altar with an unusually emboldened expression he said, " I have something important to tell you ... Here's how to have a true relationship with Jesus. " Fr. Bill lowered his voice, slowly saying each word: "Look for Jesus on their faces, in their behavior. "
[ a closing note from
the author, Bob Schwarz:
" I have a close real-life,
daily relationship with the
Holy Spirit who , when I
diligently pay attention to
Him, guides me through
the day. In heaven, I'm
looking forward to seeing
Jesus face-to-face and being
surrounded by my family,
close friends, and others
who blessed my life on earth." ]
The End
comments welcome at
rrschwarz71@comcast.net
© 2020, 2022 Robert R. Schwarz
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