Jesus fulfils the covenant made to Abraham

 

JESUS FULFILLS THE COVANENT MADE TO ABRAHAM

Friday of the 12th Week in Ordinary Time
June 30, 2017

Today’s Readings:

Genesis 17:1, 9-10, 15-22
Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5
Matthew 8:1-4
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/063017.cfm
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/17_06_30.mp3

Then Abraham said to God,
“Let but Ishmael live on by your favour!”
God replied: “Nevertheless, your wife Sarah is to bear you a son,
and you shall call him Isaac.
I will maintain my covenant with him as an everlasting pact,
to be his God and the God of his descendants after him.
As for Ishmael, I am heeding you: I hereby bless him.
I will make him fertile and will multiply him exceedingly.
He shall become the father of twelve chieftains,
and I will make of him a great nation.
But my covenant I will maintain with Isaac,

Abraham was called by God to gather the scattered people of God. God is merciful and looking for his children to come back to him. If we read in the Old or New Testament we see God’s intervention in the lives of People who are Kings, Prophets, holy men & women was to bring back his people to himself and form one family with God. This is the reason all the Prophets, Commandments and the gospel talks about repentance and Salvation. Repentance is retreating from our present life to the life of God, the life of Salvation.

In today’s Gospel, God chose Abram to bring back all the wandering people of God and changes his name to Abraham, which means Father of Many Nations. Then God promises him a Son, Isaac who will carry on the mission of God to the next generations and Israel which will come out of Isaac’s inheritance. Abraham proposes Ishmael, who was a teenager when God made this Covenant with him to be his inheritance of the Covenant but God rejects Ismael and promises him to a Child by next year at the same time and Abraham was to name him Isaac.

Is God partial to his children?  God wants people of God’s heart who have a complete reliance on God alone to do his will so he wanted Abraham to hope against all hope and reject the reality, the human idea or thought of Abraham to make Ismael carry out God’s Work. If we see in the past and present time, God chooses some people as his chosen to do his work on this Earth. These selected people may have to sacrifice their life for God’s work. God tests these people again and again and purifies their heart and mind until it is tuned to God’s heart and mind. Abraham goes through this test when he was asked to sacrifice Isaac, the love of his old age, but Abraham knew if God can give him a child at the age of hundred then nothing is impossible for God and whatever God is asking will turn out to be good to him so he obeys God and decides to sacrifice Isaac. By doing this he sets his heart away from the humans and sets his heart on God. This is the reason Abraham became Father of Faith.

God’s plan for Israel was to gather the people into one Nation and separate and/or discipline the Wicked heart. This is the reason there were wars and famines. God is not partial because whenever descendants of Abraham, who were called to bring all People to God, sinned and went away from God, other nations attacked them and took them into exile as slaves. This was the story of Israel from Abraham till Jesus was Born.In fact God was fed up with Israel and their stone hearts and hypocrisy.  

God sent his one Love Jesus(Isaac) in to this World to full fill his side of the Covenant and to bring all people under one nation. God did not spare Jesus in testing either, Jesus went through terrible tests in his life and made an important decision, Jesus had to make to die for all the people of God.  Jesus at Gethsemane prays and God was in silence, not because he didn’t love Jesus but rather for his love for his people and fulfilment of the work of salvation was more important for him than to prevent the suffering of Jesus.  Jesus knew all things will turn out to be good because he completely trusted God and his goodness. Thus, Jesus died and on the third day resurrected from the dead to bring all people of this Earth to himself.

God is a God of all faiths, Religions, Caste, Colour, Creed, languages, status and loves his scattered children. His only purpose from the beginning was to bring back all his people in to one family in him.  He chose Israel but they failed miserably. Until finally Jesus was victorious in bringing the people together. Jesus won the Victory over Satan and hell and separated them from slavery to freedom. The work has been done but still many people live in divisions and are slaves of Evil. The good news of Salvation must be preached by love and us as God’s people must gather all people in the values of Christ under one family of God.

There is only love in unity and never in divisions. Let us possess the Heart of God as we are chosen by God to fulfil his purpose on this earth. Jesus preached and witnessed the love to the new Covenant. Those who live in love, live in God. Love was God’s plan when he made man to be his family.  So, let us love God and love our neighbours and form a single community of love on this Earth. This is the real promise made to Abraham when he promised to bless him with descendants like stars in the Sky.

Any type of person who causes divisions for any reason does not possess the Spirit of love. Jesus was not a Christian, but was a servant of charity and love. Recently, Christianity has become a fancy or false identity of God’s love for his people. The identity of Holy Spirit in our heart is love and not Baptism.  Baptism is sign of Sacrificial Love of Jesus but if our actions are dividing and we hate, we are all hypocrites and we sin against God. Israel, the selected people to carry God’s Work, were tested, disciplined in slavery and were exiled whenever they sinned so all Christians who are also selected people to proclaim Jesus’s love to all the people cause divisions and/or hate God will discipline them like the Israelites. What was the punishment of Israelites when they sinned, God’s went away from them, the Ark of the Covenant was captured and the temple was destroyed and they lost the right of their land and was taken as slaves.

We Christians also will lose our Holy spirit received at Baptism and live like nomads in the Wilderness of this Wordily and Evil Passion. Satan will make us slaves and take us away from our God and our people. This result is Hell where there is no presence of God. But whenever Israel repented, God came with help and rescued them from the enemies and once again formed into People of God. Temple were rebuilt and they possessed the land they lost and lived in fear of God and in love of neighbour in unity.

Christianity is a very important call or authority given by God to carry out his work on this Earth. We are not to follow the Worldly and Evil practices of this earth, but to live in the Christian Values and pass on these values to the others You will have plenty of reward here in earth as well as in heaven. God will be your provider, protector, saviour, healer and the biggest joy of your life. This is wonderful divine life in this Earth. Taste and see that the Lord is good.

 

 

Peter and Paul

Today’s Prayer Reflections

Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles
June 29, 2017

Today’s Saint Quote: Pope Saint John Paul II

The solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul invites us to reflect on the way taken by Peter…

Today’s Readings:

Acts 12:1-11
Ps 34:2-9
2 Tim 4:6-8, 17-18
Matthew 16:13-19
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/062917-day.cfm
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/17_06_29.mp3

Peter & Paul Chosen by God as missionaries of the Gospel

You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.
For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.
And so I say to you, you are Peter,
and upon this rock I will build my Church,
and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.
I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven.
Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” 

If we read today’s readings we see two people chosen by God for a special purpose. Peter a simple fisherman follows Jesus assuming him as Worldly Messiah who will rescue them from the Romans but in the Company of Jesus God draws him to Christ the Heavenly Messiah. St.Paul says in his conversion story that he was chosen by God before formation of the World to preach the Gospel to the whole World. Both of these great pioneers to spread the Gospel were not by chance encountered Jesus but a special grace of God drew these men towards Christ.

If we see after their proclamation of the Faith, we see both of them started proclaim Jesus as Christ in their local synagogues and market places and wherever they went or people they met in their entire life. I call this activity as transformation of the heart. God transforms the hearts of people to receive the Gospel and recognise the Messiah. This is the combined work of God the Father and the Holy spirit. The Holy spirit prepares the heart through repentance and faith and God the Father reveals his only Love Jesus Christ to every faithful. Peter & Paul had these experience during their Conversions. Peter expresses his love before the ascension as a sign of repentance  and proclaims Jesus as Christ after the Pentecost.  St. Paul in his Conversion does not eat or drink for three days and goes through a stance of repentance and once Barnabas lays hands on him , he fills with the holy spirit and immediately goes to the nearby Synagogue and proclaims Jesus as Lord.

God used both of them in mighty way , the wisdom  &  courage of Paul and the Faith and leadership  of peter built a Solid foundation of the Church. It was God who revealed them Christ and Christ introduced them holy spirit the third person of trinity who was with them in their building Work of the Church. The Evil and the Worldly powers were not able to understand the wisdom of these great men. The Evil & World has  been defeated in the victorious lived life of Christ. Therefore everyone who is in Christ is a new Creation. These new Creation are called Christians and the Lord gives them authority to bind and loose or forgive or  protest or protect. Christians are forgiving people but Christ has also said whatever we lose in earth will be lost in heaven. Therefore Christians must defend their faith and protest the Evil with intercessions and sacrifices. The World may come up with many legislations or life styles but it is the Christians to approve them or not in the light of the Gospel Values. We must protest against every Evil which is contrary to the Gospel Values, being secular does not mean we must take everything the World gives but to forgive and intercede for the conversion of hearts which Paul did in the Roman Empire and through his arguments and prayer one day the entire Roman empire Converted and accepted as Jesus as Lord. St. Paul could not see in his life time but sow the seed of the Gospel which reaped the harvest in its own due time. Christians have great power in their intercession so families and communities must come together to pray and bind the evil practices of this World and God is faithfull to fulfil his promise.

All of us are called by God before the foundation of the World for repentance and transformation of our heart to faith to reveal Christ to us so that we may inherit the Holy Spirit. Peter & Paul responded and cooperated to the call of God and died as Martyrs. They went through great persecutions in their life like St. Paul writes Hunger and thirst, no money, sleepless nights, physical abuse, rejection, imprisonment and finally death. They suffered these things to proclaim their faith and defend their faith. They proclaimed with great boldness , Jesus as Lord. They did not Compromise on the values of the World but were ready to die for the values.

We need to ask following questions to ourselves as Christians.

1. Are we transformed Christians?
2. Do we recognise Jesus as Lord of our life?
3. Do we have the experience of the Holy spirit in our life?
4. Do we proclaim Christ as our leader through lives & Words?
5. Do we defend or do not Compromise our Christian Values?

 

If our answer is yes then we can call ourselves Christians otherwise we must reflect upon these questions and of these two great Saints and pray for the grace to ourselves to Jesus Christ .

I pray for all the people of the world , God may bestow the grace upon all people and transform their heart like Peter & Paul and reveal them Christ the Saviour . They may be filled with the power from above and live a spirit filled life. A victorious Christian life without any fear of Evil or of this World and live a life in true value of Christ by proclaiming them and defending them.

The Golden rule of Heaven

Tuesday of the 12th Week in Ordinary Time
June 27, 2017

Today’s Readings:

Genesis 13:2, 5-18
Ps 15:1-5
Matthew 7:6, 12-14
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/062717.cfm
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/17_06_27.mp3

Golden Rule of Heaven

“Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.
This is the Law and the Prophets.

“Enter through the narrow gate;
for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction,
and those who enter through it are many.
How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life.
And those who find it are few.”

Today Jesus is talking about the most important Rule of Heaven to Love one another as Christ Loved us. Jesus is a servant King and he left us an example to serve others . This is the Golden rule which takes us in the Company of Jesus. In the first reading we can see Lot chose the plains of Jericho which were very fertile and at the bank of river Jordon but later we see those very fertile land were destroyed by God and made barren land for ever. Today the same plains which were destroyed are called the dead Sea where no life exist . This became hell on this World due to the Punishment of Sins . All Worldly Prosperity and Selfishness to gather leads to Sin against God . We can call this as luxurious life or Worldly life style. There was one more prosperous life which was chosen by Abraham , this is a life dedicated to God and receive from the hands of God. Abraham was also became prosperous though he chose the so called Barren Land of that time but God made this land as Chosen Land – Israel, the Land with milk and Honey . Israel resembles the heaven on this Earth in the Old testament.

Jesus gave us new Commandment of Love . Every Christian who follows Jesus must be the servant of others. Abraham became the servant of Lot by offering Lot the first choice and taking the left over which was of the servants. But Lot lost everything even Worldly possession and lived like a Wanderer in the Wilderness but Abraham’s descendants who took the leftover possessed everlasting treasure the Chosen Land the heaven itself.

I have heard many of Christians saying Christians cannot become Entrepreneur’s or Business owners. If we look at Worldly point of view like greed , gathering  and selfishness it is true but if we take in a servant attitude we are wrong. The golden rule of Christianity is Service and if we use this golden rule in any areas of life like Business, Service, Employment, Civil servants, Politician, Defence, Police, Religious, family , Doctors we will be prosper  in life by God’s blessing. This Prosperity is not worldly but Heavenly Prosperity . All Christians must go through the Narrow Gate of Servant Hood by humbling our self before others. Humbleness does not mean agreeing Evil but bearing evil and fighting against with love. All professions of this World are good and constructive and builds the Kingdom of God upon this earth if it has been done in love and Charity.

I had a debate with one of my Bosses  between loss & profit and Service & peace of mind. People give first priority on profits and losses but lose peace of mind and hurt the Customer by not giving service. This attitude can drive many People to Hell . We see many Worldly celebrities and Worldly Business tycoons . Selfish Politicians committing Suicide , multi marriages and Homosexuality . The children of these kind of People are caught up with drugs and various kind of addictions and whole family ruins with the fire of Hell or burn with their own chosen path of greed and selfishness. God does not punish us but we our self  walk towards the burning fire and God is not responsible for these consequences. Every Person has his own Choice to choose right and wrong.

All Christians are empowered by a special grace of Holy spirit and this grace draws us towards God and to take right decisions. The faith, Prayer, Community are great support in the journey of life which drive us in to those right places of life. The Word of God and Church teachings also take us to the same direction of life. This is the message of Jesus Christ the gospel , Law in the Old Testament and the messages of the Prophets.

 

 

The Golden Rule of Heaven

Tuesday of the 12th Week in Ordinary Time
June 27, 2017

Today’s Readings:

Genesis 13:2, 5-18
Ps 15:1-5
Matthew 7:6, 12-14
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/062717.cfm
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/17_06_27.mp3

Golden Rule of Heaven

“Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.
This is the Law and the Prophets.

“Enter through the narrow gate;
for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction,
and those who enter through it are many.
How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life.
And those who find it are few.”

Today Jesus is talking about the most important Rule of Heaven to Love one another as Christ Loved us. Jesus is a servant King and he left us an example to serve others . This is the Golden rule which takes us in the Company of Jesus. In the first reading we can see Lot chose the plains of Jericho which were very fertile and at the bank of river Jordon but later we see those very fertile land were destroyed by God and made barren land for ever. Today the same plains which were destroyed are called the dead Sea where no life exist . This became hell on this World due to the Punishment of Sins . All Worldly Prosperity and Selfishness to gather leads to Sin against God . We can call this as luxurious life or Worldly life style. There was one more prosperous life which was chosen by Abraham , this is a life dedicated to God and receive from the hands of God. Abraham was also became prosperous though he chose the so called Barren Land of that time but God made this land as Chosen Land – Israel, the Land with milk and Honey . Israel resembles the heaven on this Earth in the Old testament.

Jesus gave us new Commandment of Love . Every Christian who follows Jesus must be the servant of others. Abraham became the servant of Lot by offering Lot the first choice and taking the left over which was of the servants. But Lot lost everything even Worldly possession and lived like a Wanderer in the Wilderness but Abraham’s descendants who took the leftover possessed everlasting treasure the Chosen Land the heaven itself.

I have heard many of Christians saying Christians cannot become Entrepreneur’s or Business owners. If we look at Worldly point of view like greed , gathering  and selfishness it is true but if we take in a servant attitude we are wrong. The golden rule of Christianity is Service and if we use this golden rule in any areas of life like Business, Service, Employment, Civil servants, Politician, Defence, Police, Religious, family , Doctors we will be prosper  in life by God’s blessing. This Prosperity is not worldly but Heavenly Prosperity . All Christians must go through the Narrow Gate of Servant Hood by humbling our self before others. Humbleness does not mean agreeing Evil but bearing evil and fighting against with love. All professions of this World are good and constructive and builds the Kingdom of God upon this earth if it has been done in love and Charity.

I had a debate with one of my Bosses  between loss & profit and Service & peace of mind. People give first priority on profits and losses but lose peace of mind and hurt the Customer by not giving service. This attitude can drive many People to Hell . We see many Worldly celebrities and Worldly Business tycoons . Selfish Politicians committing Suicide , multi marriages and Homosexuality . The children of these kind of People are caught up with drugs and various kind of addictions and whole family ruins with the fire of Hell or burn with their own chosen path of greed and selfishness. God does not punish us but we our self  walk towards the burning fire and God is not responsible for these consequences. Every Person has his own Choice to choose right and wrong.

All Christians are empowered by a special grace of Holy spirit and this grace draws us towards God and to take right decisions. The faith, Prayer, Community are great support in the journey of life which drive us in to those right places of life. The Word of God and Church teachings also take us to the same direction of life. This is the message of Jesus Christ the gospel , Law in the Old Testament and the messages of the Prophets.

 

 

Today’s Reflections

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