God proposes his love through the Gospel of Truth to get united with him forever.

A Reflection for:

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time
September 30, 2018

Today’s Readings:

Numbers 11:25-29
Ps 19:8, 10, 12-14
James 5:1-6
Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/093018.cfm
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/18_09_30.mp3

But Moses answered him,
“Are you Jealous for my sake?
Would that all the people of the LORD were prophets!
Would that the LORD might bestow his spirit on them all!”

If we look at the insights of the readings in today’s readings, we see the impartial love of God to each and person of this World despite of any race, colour, nationality, education, richness, holiness, spirituality or Hierarchies. God wants to save every person of the creation from beginning of the Creation till the end of time.

From the beginning from the creation God loved the World so much and wanted to bestow his spirit upon them. God chose Israel, Prophets, Kings as instruments to his ministry. The Sacrament of baptism or priesthood or Eucharist did not originate in the New Testament but was there from the beginning of the Creation. Jesus made these sacraments more meaningful through his ministry of Salvation.

The gift of Prophesy, Visions, Intercession, tongues are the gifts of the Holy spirit and were very much existed from the beginning of Creation.  We can see in the first reading when the Holy Spirit came upon the 72 elders and began Prophesying the works of God. Why did only 72 appointed elders of Israel receive the Holy spirit and not the whole of Israel? Repentance and righteousness were preached from the beginning of the Creation. We call this Gospel of truth or precepts of God or Word of God. When we accept this truth, the Gospel of truth anoints our hearts and purifies our hearts from clutches of the World, Flesh & Evil. God wants to come and dwell in every person of this World despite of our Human nature. God wants us to give his Spirit with all its richness like Gifts & fruits of the holy spirit. Any person who renounces extra possession of World, Flesh and Evil, Jesus reveals himself to him despite of his status of life. This is the moral Science theory , when the darkness disappear , the light shines instantly. This is called the transformation Experience or experiencing Jesus in a personal way or anointing of the Holy spirit. Jesus bestows his Spirit without the ritual of Baptism. This exactly what happened in Pentecost and early Churches, when Peter & Paul were sharing the Gospel of repentance , the Holy spirit came upon the Gentiles and they speaking in tongues, Prophesying and saw  heavenly visions .

A person who wants to cling to the Sins of the World, Flesh, evil and refuses the truth which invites him at every moment of his life through the Civil Law, Moral Law and through the traditions will be condemned eternally from the Spirit of Truth. The light came in to the World, but the Human preferred to live in darkness. This is a self-decision to choose the Evil. The refusal of every truth will stand witness at the time of his condemnation to eternal separation from the Spirit of God.

God Weeps at this separation from human because this separation tears his sacred heart from the soul of every human being. This is a dreadful scene probably all the Saints, Mother Mary, Angels Witness this separation. Every separation of the Soul causes great pain and Sorrow to our Lord and every united Soul in to his Spirit brings great Joy in heaven and all the angels and Saints. This is the reason Mother Mary appears in different places and calls for repentance and  to pray for Sinners because she cannot see her son  suffer every day from the separation of the multitude of Souls.

 

Whatever happens in our life is a plan of God.

A Reflection for:

Friday of the 25th Week of Ordinary Time
September 28, 2018

Today’s Readings:

Ecclesiastes 3:1-11
Psalm 144:1-4
Luke 9:18-22
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/092818.cfm
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/18_09_28.mp3

He rebuked them and directed them not to tell this to anyone.

Today’s reading Jesus reveals the mystery of the Kingdom of God to Peter and rebukes him not to tell anyone.  If man understand the God’s plan before the appointed time, man may mis use or respond to the plan of God in haste and make terrible mistakes. Man does not have the mind to grasp God’s plan.

In our life when our prayers are answered then we come to know that there is miracle happened in our life but never come to know how and when our prayers are blessed with answers.

Humans only can humble down in prayer and depend upon God for all the things with thanksgiving heart. The good and bad words are not there in God’s dictionary but whatever comes from God always a gift of God and for our salvation.

Authority given by Jesus through Baptism, makes us self sufficient Christians in our life.

A Reflection for:

Wednesday of the 25th Week of Ordinary Time
September 26, 2018

Today’s Readings:

Proverbs 30:5-9
Psalm 119:(105) 29, 72, 89, 101, 104, 163
Luke 9:1-6
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/092618.cfm
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/18_09_26.mp3

Jesus summoned the Twelve and gave them power and authority
over all demons and to cure diseases,
and he sent them to proclaim the Kingdom of God
and to heal the sick.

Todays readings call us to be Evangelisers in our entire life. Jesus summons or orders or sends his disciples to preach the Good News which they have heard and experienced to everyone and everywhere. Jesus chooses these twelve disciples personally after much prayer and discernment. The disciples went all over the place and preached the Gospel, healed the sick and drew demons. After the resurrection these twelve disciples went all over the World and the people got transformed and baptised in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy spirit. Today we can see millions of baptised Christians through different denominations all over the World.

Twelve disciples of Jesus spread the light of Jesus to dark World. All Baptised Christians are summoned or ordered or sent to proclaim the good news of Jesus to everyone and everywhere. Jesus has called all Christians through much prayer and discernment to be his followers. Every Christians first and fore most responsibility to proclaim the Gospel to everyone and everywhere. Why Christians do not carry the Gospel of Christ? There are two reasons:

 

1. They are traditional Christians but no experience of Jesus in their life.
2. They do not follow Jesus in their life.

 

 

1. They are traditional Christians but no experience of Jesus in their life:

Jesus is not a historian or Christianity is not a movement like any other Worldly way of life, but it is a transformation experience. If we see in the old Testament, New Testament, Early Church or the Saints, every person experienced Jesus in his or her life personally and transformed by the values of the Word of God. When I say values of the word of God, it cannot be compared to the values of the World because the values of the Word of God are Spirit, life and truth and they are so precious and divine, they are part of God himself. When a human experience this God experience his thoughts and deeds get transformed in to the life of God. This transformation can not be gained through Knowledge of the Word of God or theology/philosophy of the religions. Once I was attending a life in the Spirit, conducted by lay people and next to me was a Catholic priest attending the seminar not revealing his identity as a priest. At the end of the seminar my Priest friend could not control his Joy of the Holy Spirit and gave a testimony saying: I was a Priest for 25 years but ignorant about the personal touch of Jesus. I was imagining Jesus in the Gospel and studies which I had received in my formation period as priest. I was preparing my homily according to the knowledge which I received from the seminary but never believed that Jesus is present even in the holy eucharist, but today when I met Jesus and experienced him and believed his presence for the first time not as a main celebrant or as a priest but as a normal Baptised Christian.  We can call this Priest as a traditional Christian. The real baptism experience is a transformation experience of Jesus in our life, otherwise the baptism remains only a ritual. This is the main problem of Christians of today.

 

 

2. They do not follow Jesus in their life.

 

A transformed or baptised or Jesus experienced christian cannot follow the World or Evil in his or her life because the Worldly life & Evil life is opposite to Jesus Spirit. We cannot mix both lives together but can live only one. If someone follow both the lives, it is not real, but their intentions are Evil & this is Hypocrisy. If someone has experienced Jesus in his or her life in fullness of Spirit, they cannot compromise the World or the Evil ways of life.  A truly transformed person cannot keep quiet because every Baptism is a mission of Evangelisation.

 

There is a misunderstanding of the Evangelisation among Christians because of their lack of experience of Jesus in their life. Every baptised Christian is a missionary in his entire life. This is the main goal and plan of God given to Christians. We look at prosperity, security & passions of our life but if we read the first reading in the book of Proverbs today : a Disciple says: Two things I ask of you,
deny them not to me before I die:
Put falsehood and lying far from me,
give me neither poverty nor riches;
provide me only with the food I need;
Lest, being full, I deny you,
saying, “Who is the LORD?”
Or, being in want, I steal,
and profane the name of my God.

 

 

Prosperity, Knowledge, Passions of this World do not bring us closer to God but takes away from his Spirit. We must possess how much we require for the day. This is the reason Jesus tells his followers: “Take nothing for the journey,
neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food, nor money.

A Christian delight in the ways of the Lord and with food or money. Though a Christian is hungry or homeless, it really does not bother him because their refuge and providence is with the Lord alone. When we live a life like this we become people of love and sacrifice and we teach our children the ways of God making them successful people of this World. The Gospel truth is only available truth which can be measured with all the other truths of this World. If any other truth of our life contradicts with the Gospel truth, then we must renounce those areas of our life. God makes our journey of life very exciting by giving us gift of deliverance, healing and Prophesy. We become people of Wisdom, Peace, Healing and deliverance in our day today life and reflect Jesus through our words and actions. I went to Mother Teresa Ashram and saw all kinds of people, she did not have any special kind of Bible sessions for the poor but encouraged them to be a better person in their life. She became living bible to them in word and action and converted people through her witness not ritual baptism but transformation experience of Jesus in their life.

I can call this a miracle experience which was done by God himself because he has sent us to witness the Gospel to the poor and rest will be done by him because we are only the ambassadors not the authority. If some one do not accept our way of life we need not force them like some denominations but move forward to the next stage of our lives without having any guilt or regrets.

 

To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.

Today’s Readings:

Proverbs 21:1-6, 10-13
Psalm 119:1, 27, 30, 34, 35, 44
Luke 8:19-21
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/092518.cfm
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/18_09_25.mp3

To do what is right and just
is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.

Today’s readings talk the family of God. If we must become true family of God, we must hear the Word of God and act on it. This is the true meaning of Baptism. The Baptism in our childhood is a invitation to the family of God and first step of divine grace in our life but this invitation of the Baptism must be fulfilled by participating in the invitation and celebrating the mission of our life.

We do not become a family of God by birth in the Christian family or being male or female or by rituals of Baptism or by observing the Laws and rituals but by hearing and acting on the Word of God.

Mother Mary is the perfect example of a Christian discipleship, she pondered on the Word, accepted the Word of God as her God given mission and nurtured the Word or the mission given to her and became co partner in the Salvation Family of God. Mother Mary has a special role in the Family of God. The Catholic Church gives a title to Mary as Mother of God and queen of Heaven and Earth. Theologically it is debatable, but Mother Mary did not become Mother of Jesus not only by giving him birth but became a disciple of her Son till the first Church was Born on this Earth.

Let us hear the Word of God and act on it in our daily steps of daily life and become the Mother, Brother, Sisters of Jesus in our life. All rituals like Sacraments give us grace to fulfil our role in our mission but only Sacraments or rituals or Laws do not make us Christians or family of God.

To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.

Today’s Readings:

Proverbs 21:1-6, 10-13
Psalm 119:1, 27, 30, 34, 35, 44
Luke 8:19-21
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/092518.cfm
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/18_09_25.mp3

To do what is right and just
is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.

Today’s readings talk the family of God. If we must become true family of God, we must hear the Word of God and act on it. This is the true meaning of Baptism. The Baptism in our childhood is a invitation to the family of God and first step of divine grace in our life but this invitation of the Baptism must be fulfilled by participating in the invitation and celebrating the mission of our life.

We do not become a family of God by birth in the Christian family or being male or female or by rituals of Baptism or by observing the Laws and rituals but by hearing and acting on the Word of God.

Mother Mary is the perfect example of a Christian discipleship, she pondered on the Word, accepted the Word of God as her God given mission and nurtured the Word or the mission given to her and became co partner in the Salvation Family of God. Mother Mary has a special role in the Family of God. The Catholic Church gives a title to Mary as Mother of God and queen of Heaven and Earth. Theologically it is debatable, but Mother Mary did not become Mother of Jesus not only by giving him birth but became a disciple of her Son till the first Church was Born on this Earth.

Let us hear the Word of God and act on it in our daily steps of daily life and become the Mother, Brother, Sisters of Jesus in our life. All rituals like Sacraments give us grace to fulfil our role in our mission but only Sacraments or rituals or Laws do not make us Christians or family of God.

Jesus Warns us of the consequences of wrong understanding of the Gospel.

 

Monday of the 25th Week of Ordinary Time
September 24, 2018

Today’s Readings:

Proverbs 3:27-34
Psalm 15:1-5
Luke 8:16-18
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/092418.cfm
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/18_09_24.mp3

Take care, then, how you hear.

Today’s readings talk about the knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God. God reveals his Knowledge and himself to those who seek him in true and humble heart. The Word of God reveals knowledge of the Kingdom of God, but this Knowledge is given to us to experience him and imitate him in Words and deed and witness others in Word and deed.

God’s knowledge & Kingdom is love and giving, if we are not people of giving and share the word of God then there is something wrong in our sharing because the entire Knowledge of the Word of God is giving and love. If we do not share love to our brothers or sisters but share the Word of God then the word of God does not transform in to life or Spirit but remains only the Words of books. This is the reason we can not see the signs and wonders in todays Church .

Today in the Gospel Jesus says take care how you hear the Word of God. Some people hear the word of God only to preach others and not understand the true meaning of the Word of God and practice and witness. Some people hear the Word of God only for Prosperity and preach others only for prosperity.

The Word of God gives us the knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God. These mysteries are hidden and can be obtained only by living the Word of God in our lives. It is like a seed sowed in the ground and grown as a plant and reap a harvest of fruits. In the same way when we understand the Gospel of light which enlightens our lives ,must be taken in holy and humble heart and lived and yield in proportion. These yielded fruits of love must be shared  as a witness to others. This is real kind of Evangelisation.

Jesus warns all those people who preach wrong Gospel or live a life of evil and preach the precious word of God, that the true spirit of God will be taken away from those people of God and given to the poor and humble in Spirit who welcome his spirit in truth and Spirit.

We see the God’s call and priesthood has been taken in a casual attitude and some parts of the Church has become like any other institution of the World. Today Jesus calls the Church for a renewal of Heart and understand the precious doctrines of the Church and be a servant and poor Church who cares for the poor and humble like Mother Theresa who built a Church all over the World by her life and Service. St. Francis Assisi built this kind of Church and brought a major renewal to the Church. We must practise Mother Theresa in our time and like Mother Theresa we must be servants of the poor and downtrodden. This is real Christianity and not just going for Sunday Mass and live a Worldly life of accumulating and gathering the riches of this World.

Divine Retreat Centre an upcoming Evangelisation Centre try to practice this kind of Charity and preach the Word of God to the ends of the Earth. So let us understand the word of  God as it is and reflect it and apply in our life and witness it through various ministries to reach out to the dark World.

 

 

Jesus warns us the consequences of wrong understanding of the Gospel.

 

Monday of the 25th Week of Ordinary Time
September 24, 2018

Today’s Readings:

Proverbs 3:27-34
Psalm 15:1-5
Luke 8:16-18
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/092418.cfm
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/18_09_24.mp3

Take care, then, how you hear.

Today’s readings talk about the knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God. God reveals his Knowledge and himself to those who seek him in true and humble heart. The Word of God reveals knowledge of the Kingdom of God, but this Knowledge is given to us to experience him and imitate him in Words and deed and witness others in Word and deed.

God’s knowledge & Kingdom is love and giving, if we are not people of giving and share the word of God then there is something wrong in our sharing because the entire Knowledge of the Word of God is giving and love. If we do not share love to our brothers or sisters but share the Word of God then the word of God does not transform in to life or Spirit but remains only the Words of books. This is the reason we can not see the signs and wonders in todays Church .

Today in the Gospel Jesus says take care how you hear the Word of God. Some people hear the word of God only to preach others and not understand the true meaning of the Word of God and practice and witness. Some people hear the Word of God only for Prosperity and preach others only for prosperity.

The Word of God gives us the knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God. These mysteries are hidden and can be obtained only by living the Word of God in our lives. It is like a seed sowed in the ground and grown as a plant and reap a harvest of fruits. In the same way when we understand the Gospel of light which enlightens our lives ,must be taken in holy and humble heart and lived and yield in proportion. These yielded fruits of love must be shared  as a witness to others. This is real kind of Evangelisation.

Jesus warns all those people who preach wrong Gospel or live a life of evil and preach the precious word of God, that the true spirit of God will be taken away from those people of God and given to the poor and humble in Spirit who welcome his spirit in truth and Spirit.

We see the God’s call and priesthood has been taken in a casual attitude and some parts of the Church has become like any other institution of the World. Today Jesus calls the Church for a renewal of Heart and understand the precious doctrines of the Church and be a servant and poor Church who cares for the poor and humble like Mother Theresa who built a Church all over the World by her life and Service. St. Francis Assisi built this kind of Church and brought a major renewal to the Church. We must practise Mother Theresa in our time and like Mother Theresa we must be servants of the poor and downtrodden. This is real Christianity and not just going for Sunday Mass and live a Worldly life of accumulating and gathering the riches of this World.

Divine Retreat Centre an upcoming Evangelisation Centre try to practice this kind of Charity and preach the Word of God to the ends of the Earth. So let us understand the word of  God as it is and reflect it and apply in our life and witness it through various ministries to reach out to the dark World.

 

 

God Provides Abundantly for those who pray in clean heart.

A Reflection for:

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time
September 23, 2018

Today’s Readings:

Wisdom 2:12, 17-20
Ps 54:3-6, 8
James 3:16–4:3
Mark 9:30-37
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/092318.cfm
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/18_09_23.mp3

God has called us through the Gospel
to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.  

Today’s readings point out to a life of true life in humility.  The mysteries of the kingdom of God are revealed only to those who are poor in Spirit.  Jesus teaches to the Disciples, the discipleship of Jesus of not accumulating Worldly Wisdom but spiritual Wisdom. What is Worldly Wisdom and Spiritual Wisdom. To test the Wisdom or inspirations or Spirit from spiritual or unspiritual we must see the intentions or fruits these Wisdom. The fruits of Worldly Wisdom are temporary /perishable / Materialistic /Evil, but the fruits of spiritual Wisdom are Permanent/Unperishable/eternal and from God.

The Church beautifully mixes the ingredients of the Scriptures together of the Old testament, Gospel and the teachings of the Early churches and gives us a tasty spiritual dish of  following stages .

1. Intentions
2. Actions
3. Strategy
4. Goal

 

1. Intentions: The Book of Wisdom speaks about the wicked intention of Man. Wicked people who are liars/Murderers/Lustful- Angry – Lazy people always want to be in war with peaceful & truthful people. A drunkard can not make a Holy Man an idol of his life, but he will make man who is more drunkard than him who was successful in his life. A local Mafia always wants to be National Mafia but does not dream of becoming a Social worker. If at all if he pretends as a Social Worker , his intention is to threaten and kill. In the same way we must recognise our intentions of life. Do we hate goodness around us by  Anger/lies/Lust/Pride /Laziness  or support the goodness around us. How to evaluate our intentions are from God or from Evil? The next step explains the intentions of our life.
2. Actions:

Actions can not be hidden from our life. A good tree bears a good fruit, but a bad tree produces thorns and thistles. We may act like good people in the first stage but our actions can not be hidden from our life. These actions are revealed during the Harvest time only. We see some people appear as holy then suddenly we come across some dreadful news about these people and we are shocked hear to these things. If our intentions are wrong and Evil, they produce a harvest of evil. St. James clearly indicates the actions of humans which stops them to accept the glory of the Kingdom of God. An unspiritual Worldly Person can not see the true Wisdom of God. This applies even to the Scriptural Pandits and religious who have gained the Scriptural knowledge but not changed their life according to the Gospel truths. This is the reason we can see many Scandals in the Churches today.

3. Strategy :

Jesus in the Gospel do not condemn the disciples who are Worldly but teaches them the Beatitudes and gives them a strategy to receive the true Wisdom of God. Pride & Selfishness are the main blocks to Human kind which leads to all the other Vices of the Evil. We can translate these Sins to Power & Money in todays World. If we renounce money, name & fame as a follower of Christ, then we can say that we are truly in the Kingdom of God. Jesus points out to a Child because Child does not possess a status or independence but always dependent & relies on others. If we make our Father a guardian and act like a child by renouncing the pride & selfishness and ask in prayer whatever which produce good fruits of peace ,righteousness , joy in our life , the good God will give much more than what we ask in his name.

4. Goal :

Jesus was always merciful and showed mercy to the poor and downtrodden. Jesus has given us this commandment of love and he wants us to welcome every poor & Weak person on this earth starting from our families, friends, Work Colleagues, Neighbours, Enemies to love in Jesus name. Whoever does these things welcomes Jesus in his life and in turn welcome the trinitarian God in their life. This is  Heaven on this Earth. The people of this attitude need not to wait for another Heaven above, but the stage of Heaven has already begun on this Earth. Mother Theresa lived a life of this poverty and self-denial and named as living saint in this selfish and Contemporary World.

 

 

Let us evaluate on this day of Resting with God, our life and repent for our Weaknesses and go for a sincere confession and decide to live a life of self-denial and charity. Sometimes we think the consequences of self-denial but friends taste and see our Lord is always faithful and provides abundantly, much more than we need , we see small temporary things but God sees ahead and as a whole and provides us permanent things.

 

 

Gospel has been blinded by the Evil through the traditions of Human ways of life.

Gospel has been blinded by Evil through the life style of this World.

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time
September 16, 2018

Today’s Readings:

Isaiah 50:5-9a
Ps 116:1-6, 8-9
James 2:14-18
Mark 8:27-35
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/091618.cfm
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/18_09_16.mp3

You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

Today’s reading gives us an insight of God’s Way. God’s ways are not in ascending order but are in descending order of human life. This is the reason Christianity is called a 180 degree U turn from our Worldly or human life. For example, if I have a House to live, we must live like homeless person or if we have a Job to earn our daily bread, we must live like a jobless person.  Jesus did this in his life, though he was God and Creator of human kind he became a slave and suffered as a Criminal torture and died a death of a Criminal.

In the Jewish traditions the Messiah was imagined as a Human King who will deliver the chosen people of Israel from their enemies. Peter had this thought in his mind but Jesus rebukes Peter from his Evil mind. The Evil  or Satan blinds people in their Worldly & human ways so that the Salvation and Gospel is misunderstood in to Human or Worldly ways.

In the Contemporary World we live the Gospel as per our conveniences and interpret the Word of God as per the present situation.  In today’s Gospel Jesus says to take up our daily Crosses of suffering and follow him ,but we follow Jesus not to suffer but to run away from the suffering . Jesus is not an Aladdin Genie who turns the situation by chanting Tak Dina Din our prayer offers but Jesus gives us the gift of Faith , the Beatitudes and a faithful People of God ( Holy spirit) to  live a Godly way of sufferings and produce the fruits of love , Joy & Peace in our life through his grace. Jesus came to this World to teach us what God does & thinks, the Gospel of servant King, but we think as Human Beings do in Human prosperity and power.

The Evil had blinded the Law in the old testament but in today’s World Satan has blinded the Gospel to Worldly or human ways. We must understand the essence of Gospel & Christianity. We must imitate the early Church who shared and cared for the poor and professed their faith in action in line with the Word of God. In the modern World we can take the example of Mother Theresa who is a real witness to our faith. Let us get inspired with the life of these saints who lived the Gospel and died for the Gospel of Christ and live the life early Christians where the Church grew in numbers and charity.