God Blesses us so that we may build a family of God on this Earth.

 

Thursday of the 2nd Week of Ordinary Time
January 18, 2018

Today’s Readings:

1 Samuel 18:6-9; 19:1-7
Ps 56:2-3, 9-13 (with 5b)
Mark 3:7-12
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/011818.cfm
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/18_01_18.mp3

In God I trust; I shall not fear..(Psalm:56-11)

Today’s readings remind us in the responsorial Psalms that We must put our trust in God alone. David became a Champion after killing Goliath but must be expecting the great reward from Saul. A reward to become a part of Kings family and  a share in his Kingdom but God brings him back to his senses, to his old life before he killed Goliath  and reminds him that Victory over Goliath was not through his own ability and strength but through God’s Wisdom and Power. David must have given priority to Saul the King more than God and expected things from him.  

Most of us pray to God for various kind of things like promotions, prosperity, financial support, healing, deliverance, peace so on and God answers all our prayers but after all our answers are answered we forget to give the credit to God but the Credit either goes to one of our Bosses or ourselves or on the gifts  who or which  became the instrument to give us the promotion or Job or Visa or money or healing and we make that instrument as an idol or God of our life. When we worship these idols , these very idols turn against us like Saul was jealous on David. David suffered great extent for years fleeing from Saul due to the clinging to the rejected King Saul. If we see later David built his own Kingdom by the Power and Wisdom of God but Saul’s Kingdom and his family was totally killed by the enemy.

Many a time we fail to understand the will of God and the instruments of God. This includes the famous Preachers or Pastors or Priests or people who helped us or things what we possess or all our achievements. God answers us and gives us success so that we may establish his Kingdom of love and Justice in this World. Jesus came in to this World to establish this Kingdom and destroyed death and brought life through light of the Gospel. We see in the Gospel people from distance land came to hear the Gospel so that they may understand the truth of life and out of all their physical suffering. The Worldly healings, Blessings, Prosperity and miracles are the invitation or samples to taste the Kingdom of God, but they are not the Ultimate but temporary and they can not save us from death, but the source of these very miracles and the Gospel the Word of God are the Spirit and life. God’s portion of Spirit is not in the instruments or the gifts we receive but only in the Source of the Gospel which we received from Jesus and from the Bible.

Sometimes we lose one by one all possessed things in our life and these kind of people think why it is happening to them. God loves them very much and throws out that idols of Bombs away from them before it explodes and kills their soul.

Today let us ponder our life, if there is anything we are holding on to as our own or thought that we have achieved by ourselves or through our own ability or trusted the Worldly People and Worldly Kingdoms. Let us offer everything un to God and acknowledge him as the only source of all our blessing and make him the instrument of all Blessings. Let us use these blessings to build a small Kingdom of God in our life. It may be a family of God or Community of God or an organisation of Love and Justice. If we use our blessings for selfishness of greed and possessions and put our trust on the Worldly powers which has been rejected by God when the Sin entered in to this World like sin entered in to Soul and God rejected him and his Kingdom and anointed a Shepherd Boy David to build the Kingdom of love and justice.

We see many Kingdoms, economies, organisations are rejected by God and if we put our heart on these things, these very things can turn against us and like David we may come go through great suffering in our life till we recognise God and establish his kingdom in our lives. David was successful in doing this but how many of us realise this and successful or die by clinging to the Worldly Bombs of life. It is never late the Word of God says today if you hear the Word of God, harden not your hearts like people at Moriba and killed but change your hearts and listen to the Gospel of love and forgiveness, Gospel of Spirit and life which opens the Kingdom of God on this Earth.

 

 

A YEAR ACCEPTABLE TO GOD – 2018

A YEAR ACCEPTABLE TO GOD – 2018

Revelations 3:20

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

 

Years come and go, promises are made, fulfilled and broken. All these have become routine way of life. Sometimes we are winners and sometimes we are losers in the rat race of life. People plan their life to make it better every new year of life, but is really the life becomes better every year?  Psalm 90:4 says A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. God’s time and Worldly Calendar time can not be compared to each other. God’s plans and time is a mystery and is very difficult to understand by the human mind or by the human heart.

Jesus is the centre of God’s Calendar year and he changed the Calendar from Before Christ to After Christ. The purpose of changing the time not only related to the calculation of worldly rotations but bringing God’s time in to human Calendar. When we celebrate the birth of Jesus, a new Era begins with Jesus and it starts with Jesus and Jesus is the Centre of that Era. Jesus came in to this World just not to live his 33 years of Worldly years but to live in our hearts for ever. In Rev 3:20 he says he is standing at the door of every human life, any person accepts him and makes him the centre of his life, he will change him from human to divine. In divine Calendar there is no past, present and future but all times are one and still and can be seen in one view. This happens if we see things through Jesus in our life. John 15:5, Jesus says I am the Vine and you are the Branches, without me you can do nothing. Just like in in Solar system without Sun, the entire system is nothing, in the same way in Divine System without Jesus, all the spiritual ways are nothing.

When we enter in to a new year Jesus stands at the door of that New Year and waves at us to embrace him in that New Year because 2000 years ago every year was marked in his coming in to this World as a Saviour and redeemer of our life. He is being waving each year to take him onboard in our life. But what is the understanding of a New year to Christians and even non-Christians. Christians go to Mass or assemble in prayer and Non-Christians celebrate with dance and cheering themselves. Is this a ritual kind of things in this World every year? Jesus wants a change of heart, mind and Body so that he can come and dwell in us but our prayer services and assemblies have become outwardly ritual celebrations with many liturgies but  our hearts remains the same. Isiah 13:1-20 says:    ¹³   Stop bringing meaningless offerings!
Your incense is detestable to me.
New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—
I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.
¹⁴ Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals
I hate with all my being.
They have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.
¹⁵ When you spread out your hands in prayer,
I hide my eyes from you;
even when you offer many prayers,
I am not listening.

Your hands are full of blood!

¹⁶ Wash and make yourselves clean.
Take your evil deeds out of my sight;
stop doing wrong.
¹⁷ Learn to do right; seek justice.
Defend the oppressed.^[a]
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
plead the case of the widow.

¹⁸ “Come now, let us settle the matter,”
says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.
¹⁹ If you are willing and obedient,
you will eat the good things of the land;
²⁰ but if you resist and rebel,
you will be devoured by the sword.”
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

 

In year 2018, Jesus is calling you and me to have a close intimacy with him. If we are with him, he is asking us to be more closer and be one with him. Let us take this year as an opportunity to settle the matter with my and your God, once for all and then there will not be no more new years and all the years will be the same as this year because he is the same yesterday, today and forever.  Happy Jesus Year 2018.