Living His Life Abundantly International Inc.
"I came that they might have life and have it more abundantly." John 10:10

Dear Friend,

I’m writing you this letter today to tell you about an immediate need.

You see, I’ll soon be going to EWTN to produce the next group of shows for The Abundant Life. We leave on March 6. Our production costs are about $42,500. Usually, with your help, we manage. But December was a difficult month for us financially.

To give you an extra incentive to help me produce the next program, I’ve picked out some amazing premiums for you.

You’ll have to pardon me for my excess of enthusiasm. But the truth is this: I can hardly contain my excitement about the gifts I’ve picked out for you. I can’t wait to tell you about them.

You see, I recently walked through our shelves, creating a remarkable collection of programs and talks from 2007 just for you. It truly is a collection because this album of presentations is only available to you as a partner in our ministry. Let me start by describing the DVD I want to give you.

I’m sure you love and admire Mother Angelica as much as I do. She’s a powerhouse of prayer, spirituality, and wisdom! This humble nun must surely rank with Pope John Paul II as one of the greatest religious communicators of all time. Her spiritual wisdom is legendary. So is her sense of humor and the twinkle in her eye. So is her compassion for souls carrying heavy burdens.

You won’t be surprised that I chose my program about Mother Angelica’s spiritual wisdom as a favorite DVD of 2007.

You’ll love it. You’ll hear surprising things about Mother Angelica – things you’d never guess in a million years. You’ll get insights that will help you in your spiritual journey – no matter where you are spiritually at this moment and no matter what problems or challenges you may be facing right now.

For the program about Mother Angelica’s spiritual wisdom, I interviewed the amazing man who became her biographer, Raymond Arroyo.

Did you know that Raymond interviewed Mother Angelica every Saturday through a grille for three-and-a-half years? Sometimes the interview started at 8:00 a.m. and lasted until 7:00 p.m. You may find that hard to believe. But it’s true.

Writing Mother Angelica’s biography became Raymond’s magnificent obsession. And in the process of interviewing Mother Angelica about her life, he really got to know her personality, her sense of humor, and her spiritual wisdom. Over time, Mother Angelica revealed secrets about her personal life and secrets of spiritual wisdom she had entrusted to few.

I want to give you Mother Angelica’s homespun spiritual wisdom. I just can’t help smiling whenever I think of that program with Raymond Arroyo.

You might not know this, but Mother Angelica had a really hard childhood. Raymond tells the sad story of how her mother struggled with mental difficulties and how her father abandoned her. You can be sure of this: Mother Angelica has true compassion for those who suffer in difficult family situations.

Raymond told this story about Mother Angelica’s compassion and the astonishing effect it had on one desperate woman.

Mother Angelica saves woman on the brink of suicide

During a live broadcast, Mother Angelica spoke to those who were struggling with severe difficulties in their personal life. Looking directly into the TV camera, Mother Angelica said, “I’ll be your mother now. I’ll pray for you now.” And then she said the most heartfelt prayer any mother could ever say for her children.

At that very moment, a Chicago woman who used drugs and wanted to commit suicide was flipping through TV channels. Something caused her to watch EWTN. She felt it was as if Mother Angelica were personally talking to her – as if they had a mother-daughter relationship. She burst into tears. She quit drugs. She committed herself to the Catholic faith. And today she’s a wonderful, vibrant Catholic.

Believe it or not, EWTN got 10 letters from different people watching that program who had similar life-changing experiences. That’s the power of prayer.

Mother Angelica’s five-word secret

In addition to heartwarming stories such as these, Raymond revealed Mother Angelica’s five-word secret for living a vibrant spiritual life. Raymond had felt he was applying this secret to his own spiritual life, but Mother Angelica told him, “No, you’re not,” and she explained why. He had to admit she was right.

I don’t have enough space in this letter to give the explanation. And without the explanation, the five-word secret would seem too simple. But some of the most powerful life-changing truths are simple. That’s why I want to give you the DVD so you can hear everything. I want you to get the full benefit of Mother Angelica’s spiritual wisdom.

Let me at least tell you this. The secret of Mother Angelica’s success was her lack of fear: she wasn’t one bit afraid of failure. Fear of failure is a common problem that prevents many people from stepping out in faith and fulfilling God’s plan for their lives.

Listening to the powerful message on this DVD could help give you the confidence to step out in faith and do things you never thought possible.

Now let me tell you about the remarkable collection I’ve created for you of my favorite presentations from 2007.

The priest who’s seen more actual miracles than he can count

You simply must hear the talk Fr. Stephen Wirkes gave at a conference on the Sacred Heart. He’s one of the best speakers I’ve ever heard. The bishop sitting next to me confided that he was terrific.

Surprisingly, Fr. Stephen lost the notes for his talk. He had written the title of his talk at the beginning of his notes: My prayer for you to find healing and wholeness in the heart of Christ. On top of these notes he left a message for the housekeeper asking her to leave him some extra coffee.

The housekeeper, seeing the notes together with the message “My prayer for you…” at the top of the notes assumed all of it was for her. So she took Father’s talk notes plus the message asking for more coffee! Later the housekeeper left a beautiful handwritten note for Fr. Stephen along with the extra coffee he had requested. Her note said, “Thank you so much for praying that I find healing and wholeness in Christ. I needed that today. Love, Vanessa, your housekeeper.”

What Vanessa needed that day is what everyone in the audience also needed. It’s what every Catholic needs including you and me: healing and wholeness in Christ. That’s exactly what Fr. Stephen will give you when you hear his incredible and humorous talk.

You’re going to hear Fr. Stephen tell about miraculous healings that have taken place on his annual Fatima tours. He says, “I’ve personally witnessed more actual miracles than I can count. They’re cool. If you ever have a chance to attend a miracle, please do. You’ll never forget it. That’s why they call them miracles.”

The cripple who left her wheelchair and crutches at the shrine

You’ll hear one amazing story after another. For example, you’ll hear about the crippled arthritic lady who went on one of Fr. Stephen’s pilgrimages to Portugal. She couldn’t walk without crutches, and she normally got around in a wheelchair.

She left both her wheelchair and crutches behind at the shrine for the miracle of the Bleeding Host. When she returned to America, the doctors verified that her bones had been re-formed, and her back was healed. Jesus Christ did the healing.

Fr. Stephen says that if you ask Jesus to heal you, he always will. Jesus guarantees it.

I don’t want to spoil the experience for you by telling you all of the stories of healing, but I need to tell you one more story about a different kind of healing. A man with terminal throat cancer went to Portugal on one of Fr. Stephen’s annual pilgrimages there. He wanted to make his peace with God and beg for a miraculous healing.

Sadly, the man was totally disfigured from his cancer surgery. Doctors had removed his larynx, so he could only speak in a whisper.

After spending some time in the adoration chapel in Fatima, he came out and announced to Fr. Stephen that he had been healed! But Fr. Stephen could still see and feel the tumors and replied, “No, you’re not healed.” But the man insisted, “Yes, I’m healed.”

You see, the man explained, “I’m totally at peace with God and look forward to being with Jesus very soon.” He died three months later with a smile on his face.

Fr. Stephen came to understand that the man really was healed and made whole, though not physically in this life. From personal experience I can understand that. My husband and I had prayed for the miracle of healing during his battle with brain cancer. But the Lord had a different kind of healing in mind.

If you’ve ever suffered from spiritual dryness, you’ll love Fr. Stephen’s story of his own healing. As a priest he never minded praying, which he did faithfully. But he had grown spiritually dry, and he wept before the tabernacle, praying to be healed, praying to be made spiritually alive.

Jesus Christ healed him on May 19, 1999.

In his talk Fr. Stephen described how, deep in his heart, he received a message from Jesus Christ. And when he followed the Lord’s leading, abundant grace began flowing into his life. As Fr. Stephen explained, you can apply this message to get an abundance of grace flowing into your life.

Now Fr. Stephen says he can’t wait to pray.

Miraculous healing from spiritual dryness to enthusiasm

In the morning he jumps out of bed “like a bunny,” he said, and runs over to the church to pray. Instead of saying his prayers, he prays his prayers. And very often he loses track of time in front of the tabernacle. When he’s deep in prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament, he sometimes comes out of the church three or four hours later. Yet it seems like an instant!

One secret of his warm, vibrant spirituality is the enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which you can do in your home. Fr. Stephen says any form of devotion to the Sacred Heart pleases Jesus, but if you do the enthronement in the right way, you’ll get the full spiritual benefit.

Incredible as it sounds, he says healing often takes place during the proper preparation for the enthronement. He says, “Teenagers eat it up. Mothers, fathers, and children gather together. So much healing takes place immediately and dramatically.”

Miracles happen as a result of the enthronement of the Sacred Heart: homes are changed, families are changed, marriages are changed, husbands and wives pray together, and children pray with parents. Fr. Stephen describes the four-step process to be healed and whole, which includes asking Jesus for healing and wholeness, preparing for enthronement, doing the enthronement, and living the enthronement. You need to hear the CD of his inspiring talk.

Living the abundant life: How God healed me

Fr. Stephen also mentioned the miraculous healing I’ve experienced following the deaths of my son and my husband. In fact, I dealt with that very subject in my talk at the Denver conference last September 23rd.

I gave that talk six months after Anthony’s death from the deadliest form of brain cancer.

I want you to hear my full explanation because it’s hard to grasp that a soul can feel sadness and joy at the same time. But it’s true. You have to remember that “happiness” is a fleeting emotion. But joy wells up abundantly in the soul even through life’s most difficult trials. I know that’s true because I’ve experienced it. I can’t summarize it in this letter. I want you to hear the words I spoke from my heart.

But perhaps the most important message I gave in that talk was a game plan for reclaiming our culture for Jesus Christ in one generation. Visualize that. Think about it for a moment. I know this game plan can work because it’s God’s plan, which He revealed to a great saint. I want you to hear this talk because you play a role in this game plan.

In Savannah, Georgia, on February 2, 2007, the Lord inspired me to tell my story as I had never told it before. In that talk I describe:

• My Catholic upbringing and my education by nuns
• My loss of faith and the mistakes I made during the “hippie” era when I was in college
• My transition from “hippie” to “yuppie” during the early years of my marriage when I embraced materialism and consumerism
• The amazing Scripture verse that changed my life 180 degrees because it told me who I am, why I am, and what my purpose in life is
• How we can change the culture for God in one generation

I also want to send you another one of my favorite talks from 2007, which I gave on August 26 at the Sacred Heart conference, where I heard Fr. Stephen. The talk is about your home – the domestic church – and how Mary and the Holy Spirit can bring the abundant life to your family.

But that’s not all. I handpicked some more of my personal favorites from 2007 for you, including these CDs:

How to get the remarkable collection of 2007 presentations,
which I handpicked for you