Jesus And The Canaanite Woman

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen. Beloved Fathers, Deacons, Nuns, Faithfuls, both in this Holy Church and those who are watching us through live streaming, may the Almighty Jesus Christ of Nazareth bless you, guide you, protect you, and deliver you from the snares of the enemy, whether it be visible or invisible. In His mighty and holy name we pray, Amen.

The Gospel of today is from St. Matthew chapter 15 and verses 21 to 38 inclusive. Matthew 15, 21 to 38 inclusive. The Lord Jesus is talking about something that is so relevant of our time and age.

And I'm sure, and I do believe that His word is always relevant throughout the history of mankind and until the end where He comes to take His beloved church, the bride, perfect, without a blemish, without a stain, and bring her into the Father's house. But as we live in the 21st century, we see that the Gospel of today is so relevant to our beloveds for our time and age. And we need to take it as a warning.

We need to take it as an awakening based on true divine love. The Lord spoke in the Gospel about two things. One, about a Canaanite woman that came seeking the Lord's intervention to heal her daughter who was tormented by a demon.

And the other one was feeding a multitude that happened to be 4,000 men, not including women and children, with seven loaves of bread and few little fishes. And then after they fed those 4,000, there was seven baskets of bread left over. I'll just elaborate on this very briefly, and then I'd like to talk about the Canaanite women.

It's incredible how the Holy Bible is structured because the author of the book is God Himself, the Holy Spirit. In chapter 15, the Lord feeds 4,000 men, not including women and children, with seven loaves of bread and a few little fishes. And what was left over? Seven baskets of bread.

In chapter 14, the prior chapter to it, the Lord Jesus feeds also a multitude. However, this time in chapter 14, He feeds 5,000 men, not including women and children, with two fishes and five loaves of bread. And what was left over was two fishes, five loaves.

The two fishes, your body and your spirit, the human being, body and spirit. The two fishes represent here you. The main components of a human being is the body and the spirit.

And the third one that connects them together is the soul, S-O-U-L. But the main components of the human is the body and the spirit. These are the two fishes.

The five loaves of bread are your five senses, hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, and touching. The two fishes and the five loaves, your entire being, the human being himself. Now we come to chapter 15.

He's feeding 4,000 men with seven loaves of bread. The 4,000 men symbolize the cross, the four corners of the world, east, west, north, and south. This is the cross.

The seven loaves, the seven sacraments of the church, i.e. holy baptism, priesthood, the holy eucharist, these are sacraments, are the seven sacraments of the church. The Lord Jesus calls you first. All of you, the Lord wants all of you.

The two fishes and the five loaves is all of you from head to toe, inside and out. He wants you all. You cannot come to the Lord and say, I'll give you 90%.

I'll give you 99%. The Lord says it is either all of you or nothing because when it is to do with love, love is zealous and jealous. It is either you are all for me or else.

I do not share you with no one else. So I came to bring you to me, the two fishes and the five loaves. But when I came to bring you to me, I brought you to my house.

In my house, I brought you to feed you. I'm feeding you through the seven sacraments. That's what I'm feeding you.

I've given you a new birth, baptism. I'm giving you my body and blood, holy eucharist. I'm giving you the priesthood rank to forgive sins.

But all of this was made possible by the power of the holy cross. Everything came out of Golgotha, of Calvary, the 4,000 men, the cross. Everything came from there.

If it wasn't for my death on the cross, there wouldn't have been a church. There wouldn't have been any salvation redemption. There wouldn't have been any sacraments.

Everything was made possible because of the cross. And now we come, the church of the Lord Jesus, being established. And we are in the 21st century now.

The Canaanite woman. The Canaanite woman is a real Arab. Palestinians are not Arabs.

They are Palestinians. Totally different to the Arab world. So this Canaanite woman came from Tyre and Sidon, which is south of Lebanon, so she must have been Lebanese.

And go the Lebanese, baby. And we pray for Lebanon and the entire Middle East for peace to be bestowed upon these beautiful and blessed countries. She came because she heard only, never seen.

But she's heard that there is someone that has been seen on in the picture. His name is Jesus. He is from Nazareth.

He is a mighty preacher, a mighty teacher, and a mighty healer. Just by hearing this, she believes. Now the God of that part of the region, Tyre and Sidon, at that time was Baal.

B-A-A-L. Now Baal is the proper pronunciation. Baal, in other words, this God is Satan himself.

So the people of that region were worshipping literally Satan, like some people nowadays worship Satan directly. They have a temple for that lost spirit and they worship him and say he is God. Nothing's changed.

History repeats itself. So they were worshipping Satan. She heard about this mighty teacher and preacher and healer.

She comes with faith, crying out. When she sees him, she cries out, son of David, have mercy on me. The Lord ignores her.

She keeps on crying out. The Lord ignores her. The disciples, the 12 apostles, approach the Lord Jesus and say, Lord, this is not your character.

You normally, you are compassionate. How come this woman is crying out to you, begging you for mercy, and you are ignoring her totally? Please answer her request. The Lord says to them still, it is not good to take the bread of the sons and give it to the dogs.

It is not good to take the bread of the sons and give it to the dogs. The woman comes and bows before the Lord and this bowing is the form of worship. She came with faith that moves mountains.

A Satanist, a worshipper of Satan, just by hearing about Jesus, she comes with faith and bows as he is her God, no longer Satan. She bows before him in worship and says, yes, my Lord, even the dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from their master's tables and they are filled. So be it.

If you call me a dog, then I'd rather to be a dog and with you than a lion with Satan. I'd rather to be a slave with you than a queen or a king with Satan. What does it benefit a man if he gains the whole world and at the end loses himself? What are you going to give in the place of that lost soul? Nothing.

So if you've called me a dog, I won't be offended. I won't be disheartened. I won't be upset, angry.

I will not retaliate. I'll accept it and I will accept that I'm a dog because I'm waiting for some little crumbs coming from you, Lord. I came seeking your mercy.

I came seeking your redemption and salvation. I will not leave until I get what I came for. When she said, yes, dogs eat from the crumbs that fall from their master's table, the Lord then answered her and said, woman, great is your faith.

Let it be unto you as you say. Wow, a pagan, a non-Israelite person, a Satan worshiper that has only heard about someone called Jesus. She has no idea who he is and where he is from, but she came with faith that put to the entire sons of the house, i.e. the children of God and today we call them Christians.

There are people who were born in a Christian family, who were baptized as infants in a Christian way and who were raised in a Christian way and there are some people that came yesterday only to Christ and those who came yesterday, their faith put to shame the Christians who were Christians all their life. The first shall be last and the last shall be first. Wow, this is why my beloved, the Lord Jesus is not Catholic, the Lord Jesus is not Orthodox, the Lord Jesus is not Protestant, the Lord Jesus is God and this God wants your heart.

He doesn't care what race you are, he doesn't care what color, what tongue you speak, he doesn't care what nationality you are, you know why? Because he's the one who gave it to you, he is the one who created you with. When you were born as an Australian, the Lord Jesus, it was his will for you to be born as an Aussie, it was his will for you to be born as a Chinese, it was his will for you to be born as an American, Canadian, Asian, African, European, Middle Eastern, all walks of lives, it was his will and he loves you all equally. He will never ever differentiate between one and the other.

The Lord definitely has no favorites because every single one of you is his favorite, every single one. The church is called the church of the firstborn. Who is the firstborn? First one, number one.

Well guess what? In in this earthly family, the first child comes, that's the firstborn. The second one, definitely not the firstborn, it's the second child, the third child, the fourth child and sometimes even with parents, there is differentiating between the children, they differentiate sometimes. Oh this one listens to me, you're number one, okay, your mom is boy.

But the Lord, if Simon Peter was baptized first, he is first and two thousand years later you are baptized, you are also first, just like Simon. The Lord loves Simon and you, the same. To the Lord, Simon is number one and to the Lord, you are also number one.

There is no difference and that's why the Lord wanted to use this pagan Canaanite women as an example to put to shame those who call themselves the children of God. We are the chosen people of God. Get a life.

You are the chosen people of God but your heart is not with God. What does that benefit you? Absolutely nothing. Oh my father was a saint and you are a sinner, it benefits you absolutely nothing.

The Lord will come and say, what have you done for me? Not what your dad, your cousin, your brother, your mother, your father, you. What have you done for me? I want you. I came for you.

My concern is you, no one else. So don't give me other people. Talk about you, don't talk about others.

It's not your business to speak about others. Your business is to speak about you. I came for you, I died for you, I rose for you, I gave my life for you.

It is not good, the Lord said to the disciples, it is not good to take the bread of the sons and give it to the dogs. By the way, every time you want to read the Holy Bible, first you kiss it and you make a sign of the cross on yourself and pray and say, Lord show me what you want to tell me this moment through your holy word. Show me Lord and he will.

Now what is it with this dog business? I'm gonna read you from Psalm 22. Psalm 22 where the Lord is on the cross hanging and he's cried out and says my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why have you deserted me? Why have you left me? My God, my God, why have you left me? The Lord cried out through that prophecy of King David a thousand years prior to the crucifixion. The Holy Spirit spoke through David the king a thousand years before the coming of the Messiah.

And that Psalm 22 is about the Lord Jesus, nothing to do with King David. So the psalm begins with my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? The Lord Jesus said this while he's on the cross. Now Jesus Christ is God revealed in the flesh.

So when Jesus speaks and asks a question, it is a rhetorical question, meaning the answer is in the question. He is not asking the question the way we ask it. We ask because we do not know, but Christ knows everything.

That's why his question is an answer for all of us, not for him, for all of us. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? You have forsaken me because of four things. So the Lord is saying to his father, you had to forsake me.

You had to. Why? Because you sent me for this hour, for the hour of the cross. I was born for the cross.

I came to die to save your children from eternal death. I was born for the cross. Of course I'm not gonna say or ask why have you forsaken me.

You had to forsake me in order to bring him back to you and you have forsaken me for four things. The answer to Psalm 22 verse 1 is in the same Psalm verses 20 and 21. The answer to verse 1 is in the same Psalm verses 20 and 21.

I'll read you why God the Father did not listen to his son when he cried out, I'm in agony, I'm in pain. God the Father never intervened and he says in the same Psalm, the Lord, our forefathers cried out to you. He's referring to the time of Moses, the desert of Sinai.

Our forefathers cried out to you and you and you heard them. But I am a worm, not a man. I'm crying out to you.

Your beloved son is crying out to you. Heaven is silent, is silent. Yet your children, the Israelite people in the old testament when they cried out to you in the desert, you reached out to them immediately.

But your own son is begging you, not even a whisper, because this is the moment I was born for. I came for this, to save every single one of you. You have forsaken me for four things.

Number one, verse 20, deliver me from the sword. One, deliver me from the sword. My precious life from the power of the dog.

Oh wow! Psalm 22 verse 20, deliver me from the power of the dog. It is not good to take the bread of the sons and give it to the dog. Psalm 22 verse 20, deliver me from the power of the dog.

Number two, save me from the lion's mouth. Three, and from the horns of the wild oxen. Four, sword, dog, lion, oxen.

That's why I was forsaken on the cross for these four things. In a nutshell, you didn't come to my rescue for the sword, the law of God. We all broke God's law and if we break God's law, God's law will break us.

The Lord took our place and he was broken on our behalf on the cross to fulfill God's law, which we failed to do so. The lion grave, everyone who died had a grave and the grave was full of termites eating into that flesh and the bones of yours. But when Jesus came, the grave all of a sudden became empty.

No more death conquering you. You conquered death through Christ who rose from the dead and the wild oxen, hell and death. Two horns, one horn is death and one horn is hell.

But let's come and elaborate on the dog. My precious life from the power of the dog. In other translations, deliver my only one from the power of the dog.

My precious life. What is precious to Christ? Your life. What is precious to Christ? Your life.

And who are you? The church. Who are you? The church. Saint Paul says it in his epistle to the Ephesians.

The church is the body of Christ and Christ is the head. So you are that precious life Christ came for to save, to deliver, to redeem. And he's saying to his father, you have forsaken me for the sake of delivering my church from the power of the dog.

I came to die for my church to be delivered from the power of the dog. What is the dog? I don't want to keep you here for too long even though I'm always tempted to do so. Because I love you so much and the only time I am living is when I am sharing the word of my sweetheart Jesus Christ of Nazareth with his beloved children.

That's my time. That's the only time I find myself. The most.

Oh I find myself other times but the most is now. What is the dog? The flesh. Represents the flesh.

Now you'll say where is the resemblance here? Did you know my beloveds, and it counts kind of, this this is going to sound a little bit kind of awkward a bit to hear but it's a fact. I'm so sorry. A dog when they eat something, it's a bit awkward but it's a fact.

A dog when they eat something they throw it out and they come back and eat it again. A dog eats, vomits it out and goes back and eat what they vomited out. Not many animals do that but dogs do that and with pleasure and they lick.

That was tasty. Well he said, father I'm willing to die on the cross for your children. I've established the church with my own precious blood.

Deliver my church from the power of the dog i.e. deliver my church from the flesh i.e. from earthly matters. Where does the flesh come from? Earth. What is earth? Materialism.

What is earth? Positions. What is earth? Fame. What is earth? Power.

What is earth? Conquer. What is earth? Control. What is earth? Wealth.

Money. What is earth? Lust. Pleasures.

Vanity of all vanities. Father I'm dying on the cross to deliver the church from everything that is to do with the flesh. I don't want the church to be like the world.

I don't want the church to go and eat, vomit and come back and eat that vomit like the world does. We sin, we repent and we sin again the same thing over and over and over and over again. Aren't we eating our vomits? Yes we are.

When I sin and I confess my sin and go back and sin the same thing again, I'm eating the vomit. In this I am likened onto the dog and those characteristics of the dog. You see the Lord Jesus is resembled by the lion.

Far from him. It's not talking about the animal but the lion is the king of the jungle and in this kingship Christ is the king of all kings and he's also likened onto a lamb. Pure.

Purity. The lamb is always quiet. The lamb is always obedient to the shepherd and even when they bring the lamb to the slaughter the lamb says nothing.

Stays quiet. That's why the Lord in his first coming he came as a lamb quiet but in his second coming no more he will come like a lion. He will wipe everything before him because he will come to conquer and rule as the king of all kings.

No more a little innocent lamb. Deliver my church from the dog, from the flesh and the treasures and the pleasures of the flesh. Oh when the church shifts her focus from spirituality to materialism.

Oh it becomes flesh, no more spirit. It becomes earth, no more heaven. It becomes earthly.

It becomes worldly and don't we see that? Don't we see that? The reason, the main reason for the church division is the throne. They can say are we argued for theological indifferences, canonical indifferences dogmas and all these names. My dear friend you divided because of the throne.

That's the main reason because you said your throne is greater than your brother's. You are more supreme to your brother. The throne made brothers become enemies.

The Lord Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is like a little kid. If you want to remain in the kingdom of heaven, now the kingdom of heaven is on earth. Later it will be the kingdom of God.

Heaven came down to earth to change earth to heaven. Then you are in the kingdom of God when you are truly heaven, not earthly anymore. If you call yourself a Christian and you're still chasing the world, you're still living in the flesh, you are still earthly.

You haven't understood what Christ is expecting of you. You are not seeking Christ. You're still seeking your own intentions.

If you follow the Lord, earth is not for you. As Christians, why do we fight over possessions, properties, positions? My goodness, do you know when a person is truly seeking the Lord, do you know how he can put him to the test? If they are seeking the Lord or not, just take away the position they hold in the church. Take it away from them.

If they were in that position for their own glories, all hell will break loose. The moment you take that position from them, the moment you say to them one little carnival hard word, little bit hard with pepper in it, this woman was not a Christian, pagan, worshiping Satan. The Lord said it is not good to take the bread of the sons and give it to the dog.

She said, yes Lord, I'm a dog. As long as I am sitting at your feet, waiting for the crumbs to fall from your table. Incredible, incredible how people from outside put to shame people inside.

Maybe you've heard me say this, one day I walked into McDonald's. Old McDonald had a farm. I walked into McDonald's many years back.

I was a priest. I got hungry, okay. So I'm lining up to order my fish burger and chocolate sundae baby.

A young man stands, pulls next to me and he has a small glimpse at me, seeing my outfit. He said, good day father. I said, good day.

He said, father, when I was a little boy, I was an altar boy in the Catholic church. But you know how it is father, as I grew older, you know, life is tough. So I'm homeless now.

But I was an altar boy. My mom used to take me to church every Sunday and I used to go up on the altar and help the priest, father. Now I'm homeless.

But you know one thing father? I said, what is it my dear friend? He said, I'm here to order some food, not just for me, for my other friend who's waiting for me, who's also homeless. But father, let me tell you one thing. People are so judgmental.

People are so harsh. People are so difficult. You know father, when I sit with my friend, people pass us by.

Some make fun of us. Some tell us some nasty words. Some when they want to give us money, they throw it in our face.

But some of them are nice, but only few. And some totally ignore us as if we don't exist. Just pass by as if we are not there at all.

He said, father, but those who judge us, who ridicule us, who make fun of us, do not realize that my friend, once upon a time he was a professor in Sydney University. A professor at Sydney University. He said, one day he got up, his wife and children went against him and they kicked him out of the house.

This shock was beyond his capacity. It broke him to smithereens. He was damaged so deep and so far and so wide.

He couldn't handle it. He ended up being homeless. But father, if you sit with my friend who is still a professor, he is an encyclopedia of information.

Amazing man. I learned from him so much. But father, why are people so harsh? Why? He left me speechless.

I couldn't answer. First shall be last. And last shall be first.

Those who think they are the children of God, be very careful lest you lose that position because of your false pride. And don't ever judge someone, no matter who that person is, where they come from. It's not your job because you don't know that someone might be much closer to Christ than you.

Much closer. We judge externally. Christ judges internally.

And the only one who knows the heart fully, the heart of man fully is God. And I'm definitely not. All of us are definitely not God.

You cannot judge. Judgment is for God. But you see, this Canaanite woman, a pagan woman worshiping Satan, put to shame those who thought they worshiped the true God.

She put them all to shame. Ask the Lord not to make you materialistic. Ask the Lord to prevent you from chasing materialism.

Ask him. Ask him, my beloved. When the Lord was put to trial by the devil, the devil came and said, if you are the son of God, say to these stones to be bread.

He said, it's not by bread alone a man shall live, but by every word that is uttered from the mouth of God. That was an attack to the intellect. See, if a person relies on their intellectual capacity only, they will end up earthly, flesh, materialistic people.

Because the intellect, all it can achieve ultimately is this realm. What is this realm? Material. It's a materialistic realm.

So you will worship the creation instead of the creator. Money will become your God. Fame will become your God.

Thrones will become your God. Prestigious life will become your God. Having fun, dancing with somebody will become your God.

Because that's what the brain will do. Your intellect cannot go outside of this realm. This realm in its totality is nothing but material.

And if you chase materialism, where are you going to end up? In a grave and rotted. Because this realm, we came to it with nothing and we will leave it definitely with nothing. Where are all the rich people? Where are all the influential people? Where are all the kings, the emperors? Where are all the empires that rule the world with a fist of iron? Where are they? Gone, finished with the wind and the grave, dead.

So all this hustle and all this bustle and all these plans and all these evil deeds, for what? For the grave? But this is the world. Why? Because the world is ruled by Satan. Satan is the father of all lies.

The Lord Jesus said this about Satan. He is the killer of man from the beginning and he is the father of all lies. The father meaning he is the one who came up with lies.

He made them. He created them. And Satan rules the world.

Do not be shocked when worldly people speak lies. Don't be shocked because they get it from their father. And the true Christian gets it from their father Christ, the king, the truth.

He is the father of the truth and Satan is the father of all lies. And Winston Churchill, the good old Winston Churchill, the prime minister of Great Britain, during World War II, he said this powerful statement. He said, the most powerful weapon in the world is the truth.

The most powerful weapon in the world is the truth and this is why it is quite often being surrounded by a bodyguard of lies. The world tries frantically to surround the truth with a bodyguard of lies, deceptions, poisonous plans in the name of democracy. Governments are trying to be God, basically.

So the government is coming to say to everyone of us, we are the ones who will define what falls under the category of misinformation. So maybe down the track, when I speak and say Jesus Christ is the only true living God, this may fall under the misinformation bill. You are misinforming people because there are people do not believe in your God, therefore your God is not the whole truth.

This is misinformation. So they'll tell the big media to close my account because they will find the social media platforms. They will find them and they'll turn around and say, Bishop, we're closing your account.

You can't talk like that anymore. See you later. This is the world.

When the world chased, when the people chased the world, Corona came. When the people chased the world, so many plagues and so many disastrous things happened. The very people who came out and said, Corona is the real thing.

I got attacked by church leaders. Yep. Sorry, guys.

Oops. It was untested. You know, we just got it from the horse to the human or a monkey or I don't know where or a bat from Wuhan.

What Wuhan? What Wuhan? From the sick world. That's where it came from. Your sick heads.

There was no virus. It came from your sick heads, evil heads. Evil.

Is this the world you want to chase? Is this the pleasure you want to have? Is this the freedom you're seeking? My goodness. I beg you, my sons, my daughters. You are beautiful as you are.

You don't need to have a lasered eyebrow. You don't need to have the Nemo lips. You don't need.

Stay as you are. Trust me. Don't go not to Istanbul to change your face.

Don't go to no Vietnam or I don't know where else now. It's cheaper, man. Don't go.

Stay in Fairfield, brother. In Nita City. They've even changed the name of Nita City.

I'm still calling it Nita City. Stay as you are. The Lord loves you.

If you were born with a big nose, tough luck. The Lord wanted you to have a big nose. What's the problem? Maybe you're breathing more oxygen than the one who has a little tiny nose.

You want to go and close the pipes? You're going to suffocate when you sleep. Leave it open. V8, brother.

Why do you want to turn a V8 into a lawnmower? Oh my goodness. The good old Holden, baby. The good old Holden.

Now, petrol is so expensive. Yeah, that's the world. Look at the world.

Killing each other, lying to one another, and deceiving one another. The Lord said, Father, deliver my beloved, the church, from the power of the dog. Whatever happens, Father, don't let my church to be worldly.

Wow. Churches are rich materialistically, poor spiritually. They have billions in properties and millions and billions of money.

But I just wonder, how many are the faithful? Where is the time of the disciples? Where has that time gone? I'll leave you with this. Simon Peter and John the Beloved decided to go up to the temple for prayer. And as they were approaching to enter through what we call, or the Holy Bible calls, the beautiful gate.

And as they came to walk through that beautiful gate into the temple, there was a paralytic laying there at that gate. They entered, Simon Peter came back and looked at that paralyzed man. And he said, silver and gold I have not, but I give you one thing which I have.

In Jesus Christ of Nazareth's name, get up and walk. On the spot, he jumps and walks into the temple glorifying God for this mighty miracle. Centuries later, at the opening of Saint Peter's Basilica.

The same Peter, the same one. Now there is a basilica built in his name. The Pope is there, the cardinals are there and millions of people came for the opening ceremony of this enormous gigantic basilica built in the name of the same Simon Peter.

And then one of the cardinals got up and he said, Papa, allow me to speak. He said, please do. He said, Papa, with absolute pride and honor, I can say now, the day where I say gold and silver I have not is gone.

Now he's referring to Simon Peter. Gold and silver I have not is gone. Another cardinal gets up, for the Lord will always have a witness for himself, no matter where and what time and which place it is.

The Lord will never leave himself without a witness, even if it's the last second of this world. Another cardinal gets up and he says, Papa, please allow me to answer my brother, cardinal. He said, speak.

He said, my dear brother, with absolute sadness in my heart, I say this to you. It is also to say in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk. That day is also gone.

When you church, when the church chases gold and silver, when the church chases money and makes it her God, then Christ's power leaves the church. Because the Lord said it, you cannot worship two masters. You cannot have two gods.

It is either Jesus Christ of Nazareth or money. You decide, my beloved church. You chase money, you become the flesh, earthly, materialistic.

You'll become so weak, Satan will devour you. But you chase me, I Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Even if you don't have a piece of bread to eat, but you will raise the dead and you will heal the sick and you will do wonders and miracles everywhere you go.

Because when Christ is in you, you will say to the mountain, get up and move and be cast into the depths of the ocean. It shall be done for you. The apostles of Christ raised the dead and the church of the 21st century buries the living, buries them.

Why? Because the focus is not on the Lord, as it's supposed to be. It is not good to take the bread of the sons and give it to the dog. Yes, Lord, and I am that dog that is waiting for the crumbs to fall from your table.

The table is your holy altar. I am waiting to give me your body and blood because this dog, when he receives your body and blood, becomes Christ-like. You change me from being vicious into so tender and soft.

You change me from being black to white. I'm not talking about the colors of the skin, I'm talking about the color of the heart. The color of the heart from black to white.

You change me from worldly to heavenly, from flesh to spirit. You change me from a slave to the son of God, free. I'm waiting for the crumbs, Lord.

Amen. Let us bow our heads. Ask the Lord for forgiveness, to make us worthy to come forth and receive him in the true body and blood of our Christ, the King.

Amen. Our good God and full of mercy, our good God and full of mercy, whose grace and mercy is poured upon all. Pour, my Lord, the compassion of the delightfulness of your love upon your servants, and again transform them in the hope of renewal to the life of repentance.

Renew in them your Holy Spirit, by whom they are sealed for the day of salvation. Purify them by your compassion from all flesh and spiritual blemishes, and assure the hope of their faith by the aid of your grace, and instill the walks of their behavior in the paths of righteousness. Please them along with the saints in your kingdom by the assurance of the hope of their faith in the adoption as your children and in the joy of your absolving mysteries.

Empower them by the aid of your mercies to observe your commandments and fulfill your will to confess, worship, and praise your Holy Name, the Lord of all, Father and Son and Holy Spirit forever. Amen.