This book is being published as gift to the Chaminade-Nativity Community of Faith - It is they who brought me from a very dark place into the light. They restored my faith and gave me hope. Like Ezekiel's vision (37) in the graveyard, I received the Holy Spirit and came to life! This is my gift to them.
I have published it to preserve 40 years of private revelation given to me by the Holy Spirit. I believe that the Lord wants it published to remind us that we are well loved, that he is alive and well in his church, and that He died for all mankind.
In the Catholic Church, these words are considered "private revelation", as distinguished from the Scriptures or the official teachings and doctrine of the Catholic Church. As such, they require consultation and discernment as to their authenticity. Before publication they were submitted to the Magisterium of the Archdiocese of Miami (as the conscience of the community) and found to be free of doctrinal or moral error. This process is known as receiving the Imprimatur - see on page 3.
As members of the Charismatic Renewal part of each meeting is devoted to listening to the Lord and speaking out a word He may have for us. We call it "prophecy". Its authenticity is discerned by the community. We believe that prophecy is one of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit given to us to guide, correct, encourage, and build community, reminding us that God remains with His church and continues to reveal Himself to us. Prophecy is ordinarily spoken out spontaneously, not written as mine is. Over the years I wondered why my prophecy was written, until I started to prepare this book for publication. It was then that I realized that He knew 40 years ago that He wanted this book to be published. Had they been given spontaneously they would not have been written down and I would not have had them to publish. It had taken me 40 years to see it.
Two books, God Calling and Jesus Calling were the inspiration for the title of the book. These two authors, looking for a reason to go on living, found no consolation in their desperate prayers. In a final effort they decided to pray as usual, listen and write down anything they thought could be a response from God. In their listening a dialogue began that flowered into relationship.
Something interesting happened in the process of publication. Because many people, when they read some of the words thought that it was poetry I had written myself, I wanted to assure that everyone knew that I was not the author of the book but that I was, like the other two authors, only a listener and collector of the words. This was made clear in the Introduction and Conclusion of the book. After much thought I decided that under these circumstances it would be best to use a pen name rather than my own and had fun picking one out - A.L. Istener (a listener). After sending the name in to the publisher I had lunch with a friend and colleague who is Hungarian. "Isten", she said, means "God" in Hungarian. He had figured that out too.
Oddity: Most of the words have no punctuation - After praying about it, my understanding is that those who know his voice know his inflections also, which makes punctuation unnecessary. I like the sound of it better myself without it.
It is my hope that those who read this book do so using the following method - His favorite invitation "Come here, climb into My arms. Let Me cradle you right here, close to My heart. Can you hear it beating? I just want to love you." I guarantee that you will be able to recognize his voice too.
