Our Walk with Jesus

Monday of the 3rd Week of Easter
April 27 2020

Today’s Readings:Acts 6:8-15
Ps 119:23-24, 26-27, 29-30
John 6:22-29
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/042720.cfm
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/2020/20_04_27.mp3

Jesus answered them and said,
“Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me
not because you saw signs
but because you ate the loaves and were filled.
Do not work for food that perishes
but for the food that endures for eternal life,
which the Son of Man will give you.
For on him the Father, God, has set his seal.”
So they said to him,
“What can we do to accomplish the works of God?”
Jesus answered and said to them,
“This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.”

Today’s readings ask us to get in to the core values of Christian life. Christianity is not  eating and drinking , buying and selling,working and taking care of the families but believe in the Words of Jesus and  building a relationship with him. When we build this relationship by listening to the Word of God and follow the word of God , we get connected to Father, Son and Holy spirit through Jesus Christ. We can not connect to the Father or Holy spirit without going through Jesus Christ. We have to go on piggyback  with Jesus to the Father and Holy spirit. Following are the  few steps which explain our walk with Jesus.

1.  Encounter with Jesus as a teacher
2.  Encounter with Jesus as a miracle man.
3.  Encounter with Jesus as our only Savior.
4.  Encounter with Jesus as our Lord.
5.  Encounter with Jesus as our Love.
6.  Encounter with Jesus as our Father.
7.  Encounter with Jesus as our judge and giver of eternal  life.

1. Encounter with Jesus as a Teacher: When Jesus was in Galilee , people recognized him as teacher. They liked to listen to him but nothing remained in their head but whenever they listened to him they felt happy and peaceful. Some people who listened to him wanted to know more about his teaching and followed him further in the second step but rest of them remained where they are, this is the reason Jesus spoke to them in Parables and called these category of people, the people who have eyes but can not see, and ears but can not hear.

Are we hearers of Word of God and feel happy and then forget all that we heard or want to know more about the Lord by following him. Most of the Church attenders or Sunday Christians who are not involved in any growth learning of the Church fall in this category , they are just obligatory Christians who keep the obligation and satisfied in their Spirituality. They think they are baptized as Christians and follow the law of the Church and will go to heaven.  But in reality can they go to Heaven with this knowledge of Christ is the question we must ask ourselves, if we fall in to this Category.

2. Encounter with Jesus as Miracle Man: Many people in Jesus time followed him to receive Worldly miracles like healing, deliverance, Death, Prosperity, Daily bread so on. They followed Jesus wherever he went not because to know about his teaching but because they wanted the miracle in their life. Today’s Gospel was one such incident where Jesus had fed five thousand people miraculously and people were seeking him again have more miracles in their life, but Jesus tells them straight to their face saying you are not looking for me to listen and believe in me and my teaching but to get some miracles in your life. He says not to work for the food that perishes but work for the food that last eternally.  Jesus was talking about love, Joy, Peace, to live a life of Be attitudes.

In our times, we see many people experience Jesus in their life but look for him to seek Worldliness and they attend every possible retreats or follow a anointed Preacher not because they want to change their life by hearing the message but to be filled with Worldly things. Jesus tells these people you are not looking for me because you want to change your life and believe in my teaching but for material benefit. Can we go to Heaven with this type of Encounter with Jesus , if we are in this category, it is time to ponder and move in to the next step.

3. Encounter Jesus as our Savior :  When Jesus was in this World , some people who followed his teaching and understood his miracles ,accepted him as Savior, Messiah who was suppose to come in to this World and save from slavery of Sin. Simon Peter, Nicodemus,  Samaritan Woman at the Well, Paralyzed Man healed at the pool, Mary Magdalene were some of them who understood Jesus as Savior of the World through their experience  and belief. Though they knew Jesus as Savior in their mind, they did not experience in their Heart due to their traditional hearts. When Jesus was arrested all ran and at Sanhedrin no  one stood up to defend him. Jesus prophesied Peters betrayal because he knew the level of faith was only the top stage of the Soul and not digested in to the Spirit with a deeper  experience.

In our time there is huge number including many theologians, Clergy, Religious, Lay faithful who have experience of Jesus in their life as Savior, but at the time of witness they fail and get back to the World for security. In this stage there is  struggle between life and death, Money or Jesus , World or Savior , we can call this stage as testing stage of faith of our life. All must go through this stage , in this stage our faith or our belief is tested in action just like Abraham was tested to sacrifice his son Isaac. Many people complain in this stage, why this sufferings coming in our way , if we see in eyes of faith we invite these sufferings by saying “I believe in God”. When we say we must fulfill the word of God because the Word of God is activ Spirit who is activated through our faith and operates in us and we must cooperate with  him by saying yes , just like Mother Mary said yes to the Will of God.

4. Encounter Jesus as our Lord:  After Jesus resurrection  few of his Disciples like Mary Magdalene, Peter, Thomas exclaimed from bottom of their heart and Worshiped him. This is a Salvation Experience , truly the Disciples accepted Jesus as their Master saying : My Lord and my God. Peter after miraculous catch at the Lake runs out like a child to meet his Master forgetting all the fish and friends. All Disciples gathered together in Jerusalem with Mother Mary in Prayer and anticipation to seal them with the Holy spirit which Jesus Promised them once he is Reunion with the Holy Trinity.  Jesus promises The Seal of the new fruit of the Holy Spirit in today’s Gospel for those  who believed him as Savior and Master of their life.

In our time many of us accept Jesus as their savior but not as Lord and Master of their life and engage in their old life. A mere transformation experience does not take people to Heaven, because Jesus is only a Savior man but he has ascended and joined with the Father and Holy spirit. We must accept his Lordship as our Creator and maker of our life.At this stage our Spirit must recognize him as  creator and Master because all the Sins and Curse  of our original Sin removed from us by believing him as our Savior. This stage is very crucial because at this stage the man is introduced to God by Jesus. Holy Trinity initiates our relationship  with him  and promises the Holy spirit who relates with him.

5.  Encounter with Jesus as our Love:  Jesus promised his disciples the gift of his love the Holy spirit. Jesus ascends in to Heaven with his Glorified Body and glorified and crowned once again a reunion of Father, Son and Holy spirit  in Heavenly realm. Once Jesus gets united with the Trinity with Human glorified Body , all united with him in Spirit get power from above the gift of Love the Holy spirit.  On Pentecost all the Disciples were filled with the Holy spirit. There were hundreds, thousands who listened to Jesus in his Earthly ministry  but only few disciples got sealed with the Holy spirit.  The people who accepted Jesus as Savior and Master received the Holy spirit and for rest Jesus remained a historical figure just like any other great people of the World. John the Evangelist was so much fond of Jesus that he used to lean on Jesus. When John the Evangelist used preach on love of Jesus , all listeners used  to shed tears.

To thirst for the Holy spirit is the output of our relationship with our Master. No one can say Lord without the inspiration and conviction of the Holy spirit. The union of Man’s Spirit  with God’s can not happen without the Holy spirit, Holy spirit is the mediator and connector between Man and God.  To receive the Holy spirit  we must connect Jesus in spirit and not in mind. Many people try to receive the Holy Spirit through the Knowledge of the Scriptures , disciplined and dedicated life  but they do not open our spirit to Jesus to accept him as Lord and Master. A personal trusted relationship  which we call faith opens our spirit to Jesus and in this relationship we experience the love of God. We must understand the formula to connect to the body of Christ who is in heaven seated at the right hand of God , the time we connect to the Body of Christ through our spirit , automatically God pours out the Holy spirit on us , it is God  confirming us or sealing us  or including us in to his family. This what happened on Pentecost and even when people received Jesus in their Spirit , Holy spirit descended from Heaven and they were filled with the Holy spirit. The person who has received the Holy spirit is the Church or becomes Jesus Body on this Earth. If we are not connected in Spirit to Jesus, it is impossible to become the body of Christ on Earth.

6. Encounter with Jesus as our Father. The time Disciples received the Holy spirit , they recognized the Father in Jesus. Holy spirit enabled them to call Abba Father…. The disciples eyes were opened and the first thing they did was to engage in God’s Business to spread God’s Kingdom to everyone who was in darkness. They became witnesses and evangelists to the end of the Earth. All persecutions and Martyrdom became one of the Worldly action , their focus was on the Fathers abundant life with many rooms in Heaven .

When we receive the Holy spirit , we recognize the love of the Father. We experience his greatness and holiness . There is a tendency to  live in this experience  but there is a greater responsibility to pass on that love to others. If we only experience the love of Jesus as a Father and not share then there is selfishness in the love and love can not be selfish but always sharing , in this situation our love to Jesus does not become a genuine love but selfish love and selfish love is not love at all. Some people struggle with partial love, but friends there is no word like partial in love Business. The person who has experienced Father’s love in Jesus, he will share and care others and engage in charity and Evangelist. There are no two ways , contemporary spirituality like cloistered religious pray day and night for the whole World. Intercession is the fruit of the love of the Father.  When we are in the ministry we do not become saints by default, but we must live our salvation daily in fear and trembling much more than our earlier life because now we are exposed to the love of God and in the family of God , if we sin in this stage and go back to the old rut then we are more accountable to our life.

7.  Encounter with Jesus as our judge and giver of eternal  life.  Jesus said to his disciples  that he is going to come back to judge the living and dead. All the followers of Christ lived a life of love and service. In the Early Church no one was lacking anything because everything was belonging to everybody. No one claimed anything as his own but sold their possessions and shared with others who are in need and lived in a life of Be attitudes.  If we read early Christian life, we see how they lived in spiritual poverty and persecution followed them through out their life. St Paul says how many times he was scourged, stoned, hungry, lowered in the cold water , robbed so on. This is the life of Be attitudes.  St. Paul says live your Salvation in fear and tremble because he could see the Judgement Day. The Devil even did not spare Moses to claim his Body . Judgement day the book of life will be opened and there are two advocates ,  Holy spirit and Evil Spirit. The Evil Spirit keeps every record of  life and start claiming the soul of every person who has listened and sinned on his prompting but Holy spirit will advocate us on our behalf . There is no mercy on Judgement Seat , Jesus will come as a judge and he will judge with Justice and fairness.

All people who are engaged in Gods Business must be careful to live a life of love and charity on this Earth. If we miss the mark , we fall from the greater height like Satan fell from Heaven. The only thing we must focus is the Judgement Day , where there is no mercy but only Judgement on our life. The Evil will try his level best to claim our souls my friends but Jesus has given us free eternal life  but we must understand what is eternal life by living the Be attitudes. The life of Be attitudes is the new life in Christ. If we want to compare our life  with the Be attitudes , then we will come to know whether we are in the Kingdom or outside the Kingdom of God . The judgement will be based on the Be attitudes. Let us be materially and spiritually poor  so that God can lift us to the Heavenly Abundance. God Bless you all and may reveal the mysteries of the Kingdom of God.

 

 

 

 

 

St. Joseph turns painful toil of Adam in to a free Blessing of Providence.

 

Genesis 3:17-19

¹⁷ To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’

“Cursed is the ground because of you;
    through painful toil you will eat food from it
    all the days of your life.
¹⁸ It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
    and you will eat the plants of the field.
¹⁹ By the sweat of your brow
    you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
    since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
    and to dust you will return.”

Adam was created with fullness of life but mortal . God did not create death to Adam or human beings but Adam himself lost the justice of God in which he was created through his disobedience. Along with death , Adam lost  his blessing of Providence ( Daily Bread). In the beginning , Adam and Eve had all things free just like Air, Water and other resources but by disobeying God’s Word , they decided to separate themselves from the providing mercy of God and remained  cursed in their  daily bread. God judged  them in the same justice in which they were created and blessed .

In the plan of Salvation ,  Jesus removes all the Curse of Man  and recreates the World in its fullness once again. In the Process of achieving the plan of Salvation, God chooses many people on this Earth to assist his Son Jesus Christ like Mother Mary, St. Joseph so on. I want to focus on St. Joseph , his part in the Work of Salvation.

St. Joseph accepts Mary as his Wife after the Angel instructs him in a dream. He accepts a  dedicated life to take care of Jesus in his childhood and adolescent .  The obedience of St. Joseph to become a guardian and a bread earner for the holy family removes the curse of Adam and opens free gift of  Providence in the Work of Salvation through his Son Jesus Christ.

Catholic Church  has  chosen St. Joseph as the Patron Saint of all Workers or Daily Bread. This is not by chance but by the inspiration of the Holy spirit. St. Joseph becomes important helper to achieve the plan of Salvation. Daily Bread is a free gift of God which is the part of Salvation package, a person who is truly born in the Spirit desires the things from above and not of the Earth. There fore the Lord says, seek first the Kingdom of God and the rest will be added to you .

If we look at the World today, people spend 90% of their energy in gathering than seeking the things from Heaven. If we work for love, joy, peace and live a life of Be-attitudes, we can reap a harvest of the fullness of Christ in which our daily bread is part of the Blessings. The daily Bread is the support function of our life and not the main function. The main function of our life is to live a life of Salvation. If we are a successful parents in Prosperity ,or a successful  Priest in  managing the Parish with good administration and finances, but lose the salvation of ourselves, our children, our Parishioners , then our entire life is a big waste. On the   Judgement day , we can not defend ourselves as we were good Managers on this Earth but the Lord has asked us not only to become good Managers but to live a life of love and service.

St.Joseph sought the things from above by accepting God’s will in his life and lived a life of love and sacrifice. He partnered with Jesus and Mary to achieve the salvation on this Earth. St. Joseph became a model for all the  Guardians  by living a life of  work , righteousness and service and became an instrument to remove the curse of Adam. When we seek the intercession of St. Joseph , he teaches us a balanced life of Work , Righteousness and service. Moreover if we are in the bondage of our ancestral curse which began with Adam, in the intercession of St.Joseph the bondage is removed and we are set free in the area of our daily bread. People who have job or financial problem, House Problem, peace in the family,  Evil afflictions  must do the devotion to St.Joseph and he will  set you free and take you to his Son Jesus to receive the complete Salvation.

The more and more people seek a Prosperous life , they tilt in their life and lose the main function of  Salvation. The calamities and Pandemics are a good time to ponder our life and seek intercession of St. Joseph who balances our life with all the Blessings of Salvation. Let us intercede with St. Joseph specially for the losses of Jobs, finances , debts and our daily bread. St. Joseph Guardian of Jesus and spouse of Mary, Pray for us in our difficult time of Pandemic. Amen.

 

 

How to deal with Frustration

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 4:31-5:2 NIV)

Feeling frustrated? Want to get rid of it? Here are 8 steps for finding true and lasting inner peace no matter what is going on around you and who is causing it.

For a fuller explanation of these 8 steps than what is shown in the article below, listen to this podcast:

Step 1: Identify what is making you frustrated.

Then think of this: Some people can deal with the very same problem and never get frustrated. So why is it irritating you so much? Take a look at the true cause of where your anger is coming from: Look at yourself! Here are some very common sources of frustration:

• I feel frustrated whenever someone doesn’t change fast enough to suit me.
• I want others to improve in order to make my life more pleasant.

Step 2: Acknowledge your frustration as a sin.

When we are frustrated, our attitude is not very loving, is it? 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 describes our behavior when we are living in love:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (NIV)

When we love, we do not hang onto hurts, because love is not self-seeking. Frustration occurs because we insist that our pain will only go away when the other person shows us they are truly sorry for what they have done.

Love is patient. Frustration is short-tempered.

Love doesn’t take offense when others do something offensive. Frustration is a defense against the offense.

Love doesn’t insist on having its own way. Frustration is the emotional act of insisting that somebody else must do something to bring justice when we have been unfairly treated.

We like to point the finger at other people, because it’s easier than admitting the sin of our unloving reaction to what they have done. To overcome this, ask God to help you see them as He sees them, through His loving eyes.

• See the offender as weighed down by bags of garbage (the abuse that’s been inflicted on them, the rejection and misunderstanding and poor role modeling, etc.)
• Look past the garbage to see the real person underneath.

Step 3: Repent. Turn away from the feeling of frustration.

To repent means to change your mind. Choose to accept people the way they are even though you don’t like everything about them. What if they never improve? Could you still accept them that way? If they do begin to change, is it okay if they don’t change fast enough? What if their lack of improvement or slow growth causes more problems? If you try to repent under your own will-power, you won’t get very far. Ask the Holy Spirit to intervene in your life and give you help. God gives us supernatural help!

Repentance also means forgiving yourself for getting frustrated, and forgiving those who are making you frustrated. Jesus said we have to be ready and willing to forgive continually and repeatedly (“seventy times seven times”), and frustration usually only happens when we are continually and repeatedly offended.

Even after deciding to repent and forgive, the feeling of frustration usually remains. Why? To discover the answer, we move into:

Step 4: Recognize that your desire for people to change is another sin.

Love means seeing the good in others while not holding their sins (their bags of garbage) against them. Because we do love them, we want to see them become free of their garbage. For their own sake, we wish they’d change, and then we get angry when they don’t. To overcome this frustration, we need to stop looking at the garbage. But how?

Step 5: Learn what is the root of your desire for the other person to change.

Usually, the root is Fear. We’re afraid of getting hurt again and so we reach the conclusion: “I should be upset with them for not changing.” This really means: “I must hurt that person now because he might hurt me in the future.” And so we hurt them by being frustrated with them. They don’t even have to know we’re frustrated, as long as we feel frustrated, we feel like we’re getting some sort of revenge.

In other words, fear leads to disapproval of the other people, and disapproval is not love.

• We’re offering conditional love: “If you change, then I will be happy and loving with you.”
• The people causing our problems need our acceptance. To give this to them, we need to get in touch with God’s love for them.
• When we love them with His unconditional love, they experience God’s healing touch.

Step 6: Discover the true source of your happiness.

Our happiness does not depend on others and how they treat us. We don’t need constant kindness from others to feel good. Our happiness depends on how good our relationship is with God. God is our true source of joy and inner peace and a calm, non-frustrated spirit.

• We’re happy because we’re partners with God making a difference in someone’s life.
• We’re happy because God will never do anything to hurt us.
• All other sources of joy only last short time.

But knowing this is not enough. The next time a problem occurs, we’re unhappy and frustrated again. It seems like we’ll only be happy if the person hurting us changes or leaves us alone.

Step 7: Kill off all illusions about other sources of happiness.

We need to become a sign of the true, loving and healing presence of Jesus. Philippians 3:17-21 tells us:

Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. (NIV)

“Enemies of the cross of Christ end in destruction.” Get your eyes off the people who hurt you and look at your own relationship with God, who is love ~ God, whom you rejected when you gave to others your anger and frustration instead of God’s love.

How are you being an enemy of the cross? By rejecting your own crucifixion. People who hurt you are trying to crucify you; they are nailing you to their belief system, their garbage, their sinfulness. And when you’re frustrated, you’re fighting the cross. Jesus showed, by example, that going to the cross for someone is good! He allowed you to crucify Him to your garbage 2000 years ago. But how can it be a good thing for you to be nailed to someone else’s unloving behavior?

John 12:24-26 says:

I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

A grain of wheat must fall to the ground and die to produce much fruit.Your desire for the unloving person to love you must be nailed and killed, and with that you will be killing the source of your frustrations. Then, you will experience the growth of much peace and joy.

If we love our life we will lose it. By hanging onto your life of frustration, you lose what you want most. In your desire for the unloving person to love you the way you want him to, you focus on what is hurting you and you lose touch with whatever amount of love that person has to give.

To serve Jesus, we must follow Him. Where did He go? To the cross! We’ve grown up with the illusion that happiness comes from being right and protecting ourselves from hurts and from crucifixion. To find true happiness in troubled relationships, we must allow these people to crucify us. It doesn’t make sense in the world’s view, but Jesus showed us from the cross that it makes perfect sense from the perspective of love. He said: Stop fighting AND offer no resistance.

But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. (Matt. 5:39-41 NIV)

Our flesh-nature says, “I don’t want to do this! Let this cup pass from me!” Our spirit-nature, connected to Jesus, says: “If they can’t give me love, I must let them crucify my desire to receive love from them.”

St. Ignatius of Antioch said, “I am the wheat of Christ, ground by the teeth of beasts to become pure bread.” By letting people grind us into the ground, we become sacrament for them (the Bread of Christ). We become a sign of the true, loving and healing presence of Jesus.

8. Follow Jesus all the way to the cross in order to reach the resurrection.

To truly love others, we embrace them despite their garbage. Jesus, in order to take our sins to the cross, had to embrace us while we were still laden down with bags and bags of garbage. Embracing the bearer of garbage is truly following Jesus all the way to the cross ~ all the waythrough the cross to the resurrection!

The other person might not change, but you will. You will find inner peace and joy no matter how much you suffer. You will no longer be damaged by the hurts inflicted upon you. You will no longer have any reason to feel frustrated!

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Eph. 4:31-5:2 N

Are we Christians by Birth or Christians by Faith.

Monday of the Second Week of Easter
April 20, 2020

Today’s Readings:Acts 4:23-31
Psalm 2:1-9
John 3:1-8
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/042020.cfm
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/2020/20_04_20.mp3

What is born of flesh is flesh
and what is born of spirit is spirit.

I was just pondering on the above word of God, Jesus said to Nicodemus. If we look in to the present spiritual condition of Christians around World , at majority the  Christians do not understand the second part of the phrase : What is born of the Spirit is Spirit , just like Nicodemus did not understand how it can happen to a grown up person.  The major problem in the Church today is people are born of the flesh or people are Christians by Birth or Christians Baptized at their Birth.  They do not have any clue how does the Spirit  take birth or transformed in to  the power of Holy spirit.

Taking birth in Spirit is an God experience in our life, where God transforms our life in to his image. The Sacrament of Baptism represent this action but most of the time , the Sacrament remains only a sign or Sacrament in our life and the Holy Spirit who is the source of this action does not activate and Christians are stuck in this state of life through out their life and die in this stage of life. Holy Spirit is the main source of our action and Hero of our life story , if  the Holy spirit is not activated in our life , we are not able to see , walk, understand, interpret, live, fight, resist our activities of life.

Holy spirit brings real meaning to our life. The Jews crucified Jesus not because they did not know the Scriptures or  followed the Scriptures word to word but they did not have the light of the  Holy spirit to interpret and understand the true essence of the Scriptures. If the Theologians  are not transformed by the Holy Spirit , all the Works of the Word of God and even the Church teaching can become a feel good or work of knowledge or a good Thesis  or a good structured Essay without essence of God’s Spirit in them. The Word of God is Spirit and truth and can be interpreted only through the light of the Spirit.

The Devil can be seen only through the power of the Holy spirit. All actions of Evil are Spirit led and if we are not in the Spirit , we can not see him because Devil is Spirit. This is the reason many Christians are not aware of the schemes of the Evil and fall as a Prey to the Evil. We can not live our Christian life without the inspiration and guidance of the Holy spirit. Early Christians were known for their actions of the Holy spirit and they were recognized because they did not live life like other  normal people in the World but lived a life according to the true light of the Holy spirit.

This kind of life is not predictable , it is like a roller coaster , sometimes it goes to the peak height and immediately goes to steep deep in to the dark dungeon  but whatever happens we know that it is fun and thrill to sit on the roller coaster because we are assured by the Spirit with in, that though it may turn upside down, come what may , we will not fall down from our seat  , only children know how much they enjoy , we need to have child like faith in the Spirit who lives in us and then we can have this daring and adventurous life in the Holy Spirit.

I lived a Worldly life of Money, Name and fame for 25 years but suddenly one day the Lord intervened in my life and released the Holy Spirit who was stuck to my ritual  sacramental practices and became alive with every Sacrament I received in my life. My life was changed, the way I took life before and the goals of life changed all together, there was a U turn in life. If we do not realize or feel the  action of the Holy Spirit in our Sacraments then the spirit in the Sacrament is dead and the Sacrament merely remain just like any worldly sign or symbol of life and there is no effect of the grace in that Sacrament.

The best way to take birth in the Spirit is to attend Charismatic Retreat Conducted by a Renewal Team in the Church. There are seven steps followed in a Disciples spiritual life where the blocks are removed from the faithful life and the Baptismal vows are renewed with full consciousness and free will. We have seen 90% of the people receive the gift of the Holy spirit  or have a God experience in their life. They experience God in real, in their life and start to walk with him , love him and then proclaim him as Disciple.

Mercy triumphs over judgment

Second Sunday of Easter
Divine Mercy
April 19, 2020

Today’s Readings:Acts 2:42-47
Ps 118:1-4, 13-15, 22-24
1 Peter 1:3-9
John 20:19-31
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/041920.cfm
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/2020/20_04_19.mp3

Judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment. James 2:13

When Adam and Eve were made , they were given the gift of life free and abundant. They were created even in free will to show that God is freedom and  liberty. God gave all that they wanted but warned them to be away from Evil and disobedience. God made them in his own image of love  and loved them first. All the things Humans possessed in their life was free gift of God.  Man disobeyed the Commandments of God , made friendship with Evil and lost the free access to God’s Possessions which were given freely to Human. Human lost the image of God and lived in guilt and shame of Sin.

Jesus came in to this earth , died  and resurrected and removed us away  for our guilt and shame of Sin and recreated us in his image of love.( 1Pet 1:3,  Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead). Jesus ascended in to Heaven after his resurrection and poured out Holy spirit , the image and love of God. This action is called redemption of our Sins and new life through his resurrection. Again Jesus recreated Human by giving him the abundant life  in free and as a gift. 

God’s Mercy or God’s love sustains the whole Earth (Hebrews 1:3, “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,”). It is not money rule the Earth but the love of God. Love of the World takes man away from God’s love .

Jesus has given us his mercy of God’s love freely by pouring out the Holy Spirit upon us  but why we are not able to live a life full of God’s mercy and abundance. Adam and Eve disobeyed God by making friendship with Devil and lost their free gifts of God’s Mercy.

If I talk about myself , I was living a Worldly life by  aiming only one purpose to make Money and be rich by hook or crook . In this rat race ,the Lord through his great mercy and love showed his mercy and love and removed me from the rut of Worldly life, very miraculously and filled me with the Holy spirit,  without my will power or human intervention. Jesus showed his mercy of  Salvation  free without any of my  pre-planning  but in a miracle, like Paul experienced in his life. All the rest of my life was that to keep the Word of God and listen to the Prompting of the Holy spirit. There was not a single case God was not faithful to his promises in my life but always listened to my Prayers in his own ways .

God reveals himself to each and every Individual his mercy of salvation to recreate them in his own image but human refuses his Salvation. If we see our own Salvation experience , it was free , miraculous , full of love and with power of the Holy Spirit. The Gospel of Salvation is like a Bright Sun , no one on this Earth can deny that they are exposed to the Sun because the light of the Sun reaches darkest areas of this World. The Sun light is free and available abundantly but if we  keep ourselves away from the Sun and live in darkness then we are responsible for our own state of life. The Gospel of Jesus is the love of God , which fills us and overflows to others , if we do not experience the love of God , then it will be very difficult to pass on to others.

The word Mercy is basically a extreme form of love which a person can show to another. God showed his mercy upon us by dying for our Sins on the Cross . Every person who has experienced the Mercy of  God is an instrument of God’s Mercy . There are no two ways in it, it is by default one activity . A person who is not merciful towards others is not in a state of God’s grace and mercy in his life. I have seen some people who have a very Contemplative Spirituality with consecrated life to God but in their life there is no mercy at all but full of Worldly success and growth. These kind of spiritual life is one way love but there is love relationship because the real love always flows from one to the other, specially in service and forgiveness.

God gives his mercy freely with abundant life and there is no condition to receive this mercy.(Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”) the faith is part of God’s Mercy , when the Lord shows mercy , he gives us gift of faith so the Mercy of God passes in our life free. When I received this mercy , I was a Sinner but I wept for fifteen days  for betraying Jesus in my life for all my addictions and love of Money , it was not my decision but the mercy of God led me to repentance and purified my Body, mind and Spirit. I remember  running to every Prayer meeting by travelling more than an hours journey ,after my office hours. These are not my works but God’s mercy and love was leading me in to the path of Salvation. The Prayer, forgiveness, service, evangelisation  became so much important in my life , as if they were only purpose of my life.

The Mercy triumphs over the Judgement. Our level of Salvation is evaluated with the mercy we show to others. All the commandments, word of God , church teachings , promptings of the Holy spirit  lead us to the love of God and our Neighbor. If we need to know our Judgement on this earth, then we must check our mercy and forgiveness towards other in our life. When Jesus is going to come on the last day, Jesus is not going to come as a Savior but as a judge and there is no mercy or repentance but we will be judged on the basis of our mercy and love towards one another. Our fundamental purpose of our life on this Earth to Love God and love one another in God’s Love , all the rest are routine work of our life. If we do a good routine work without showing god’s love , that routine work does not give any credit in God’s judgement. Mat 25:35-40

 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.

At this pandemic time , we must reach out to our sick and poor brothers and sisters, confining to our own families in the lock down is not enough but must part take in prayer, Charity and if permitted in Service. At this time if we see our selfish needs and not help or bother about others who are suffering in our neighborhood, God will Judge us at the last day.

THE RESURRECTION EXPERIENCE IS DISCIPLESHIP OF CHRIST.

Friday in the Octave of Easter
April 17, 2020

Today’s Readings:Acts 4:1-12
Ps 118:1-2,4,22-27a
John 21: 1-14
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/041720.cfm
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/2020/20_04_17.mp3

 

Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you just caught.”
So Simon Peter went over and dragged the net ashore
full of one hundred fifty-three large fish

Today’s Gospel calls us to understand the true meaning of resurrection. Jesus appeared to his disciples two times in his previous encounter and proved himself that he has truly risen from death. It looks disciples were very happy and joyful at his resurrection  but did not understand the true meaning of the resurrection and their role as Disciples in the plan of Salvation.  Jesus had  a definite  plan for his Disciples and tells them to wait till his Glorification in Heaven. Jesus appears to his Disciples again and again after his resurrection to remind their mission of establish the Kingdom of God on this Earth. Disciples get back to their daily routine of fishing but caught nothing  after toiling for  whole night . When they were depressed and disappointed at the dawn of the Day , Jesus appears them in his resurrected body but they were not able to recognize him.

The disciple who loved Jesus recognizes him when the miracle takes place. The properties of Jesus resurrected body had a combination of human and divine  body and a human who is in the curse of sin can not recognize in the human eyes but can recognize in the eyes of faith and love.  John realized the miracle and understood that there is right hand of God in the miraculous catch of fish and opened his eyes of faith and love and recognized Jesus as Lord.

Jesus makes this miracle to confirm his mission of choosing his disciples to build the new church upon this Earth. Jesus called them when they were fishing and promised them that now on they will be fishers of men. Jesus told Mary Magdalene to tell his Disciples to go to Galilee  so that he can remind them the mission he is going to give them. The 153 fish represent the Whole World  and life in abundance . As per Jewish Custom , the Greek Scientists believed that there were 153 species of fish in the Sea  and when Disciples caught the fish all 153 species of fish were there to represent all nations , religions , languages, races, classes and ages.  After the miraculous catch of the fish , the word of God says they left everything on the shore and followed  Jesus.

All Christians are disciples of Christ, resurrection season is the reminder to every Christian to enter in to a true discipleship of Christ. All Christians are called for a specific mission on this earth to build the kingdom of God by spreading the Gospel of love in actions and words. God is calling all kind of people in to the kingdom of God so we are called to love and forgive everybody on this earth and our Lord will bless everybody abundance of life. Let us reflect today have we distinguished  people on the basis of their caste, religion,nationality, financial status, lifestyle , education, colour  so on.

To experience Jesus resurrection is to get involved in his work of evangelisation which Mother Theresa did in the liturgy and service. We too do not recognize Jesus like the disciples did not recognise him for the fist time because our eyes of faith and love are shut due to the idol worship of money and Pride.  Jesus comes in the form of  one of the least brother and sister  to meet us and bless us abundantly and make us fisher of men. Let us not ignore our brothers and sisters who are in pain and suffering, help and share our resources with all the people who need them at this point of time.

Also let us follow the instructions of the Authorities just like Disciples listened to Jesus and cast the net at the right side and encountered abundant life . All the authorities represent God’s ambassadors on this Earth, let us listen to them and we will see a miracle in the World which the Whole world will see the glory of God.

Pope Francis Mass with Homily – Wednesday -15.04.2020.

Wednesday in the Octave of Easter
April 15, 2020

Today’s Readings:Acts 3:1-10
Ps 105:1-4, 6-9
Luke 24:13-35
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/041520.cfm
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/2020/20_04_15.mp3

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope-francis/mass-casa-santa-marta.html

Emmaus Encounter is an Eucharist Encounter in our routine life.

Wednesday in the Octave of Easter
April 15, 2020

Today’s Readings:Acts 3:1-10
Ps 105:1-4, 6-9
Luke 24:13-35
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/041520.cfm
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/2020/20_04_15.mp3

Were not our hearts burning within us
while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?”

Emmaus Encounter of Jesus, to two of his disciples is very important incident in the Bible and of Resurrection. The incident happened when Jesus disciples were returning to their Village called Emmaus from Jerusalem, sad and with many questions which did not have answers. They were angry on the high Priests for Jesus Crucifixion. They were  anxious and curious on the news of Jesus resurrection. They had a question in their heart , can Jesus be the Messiah who was suppose to come and save them from all oppression. As they were debating and talking on these issues Jesus appears to them but they could not recognize him.

The disappointment becomes appointment with God.  Jesus starts to walk with them side by side in a human way , explaining them and counselling them through Scriptures and prophesies and their hearts started to burn with transformation experience, a  Baptism of the Holy spirit  with fire. When Jesus broke  the bread  with a prayer of Jewish Blessing , they could recognize him . In the Breaking of bread Jesus body unites  in to their bodies and they become his body , the resurrected properties of Jesus body transmit supernaturally through the symbolic bread and they become one with him in his glorious body and could see him. This is Eucharist .

The entire Emmaus  encounter   of today,s Gospel is a Eucharist in movement or Eucharist in the field or Eucharist in the mission. The celebration of Eucharist does not take place not only in our Community places but also in our day today life but the difference is we are not able to recognize Jesus in our daily routines of life. In the Emmaus Encounter there  was a liturgy of Praise & Thanksgiving,  liturgy of testimony,  liturgy of the Word, liturgy of the Communion, liturgy of proclamation. All these liturgies  practically happened in their life.

As we are going through a challenge to visit our Community Centers , let us keep our eyes and ears of faith to receive Jesus in person in our life. Is it not exciting my friends , it has happened to the disciples, Apostles, saints and it will happen to us as well. Jesus may not come in a lightening flash or in our Visions but appear through our least brothers and sisters in our life. As we go through many questions in our minds about the present situation and Jesus resurrection , let us expect him to reveal to us and explain the situation with all the Scripture references and Prophesies and burn our hearts with the Baptism of the Holy spirit and reveal to us personally while we break the bread with our family, friends, least brothers and sisters who need help in this difficult time.

Mother Theresa saw Jesus in every poor or sick she picked from the street of Calcutta and they saw Jesus in her ,a communion of love and service, where the Properties of the love of God transmitted  through her in to them and  from them in to her.

God reveals us in his own image and not as per our imaginations.

Tuesday in the Octave of Easter
April 14, 2020

Today’s Readings:Acts 2:36-41
Ps 33:4-5, 18-20, 22
John 20:11-18
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/041420.cfm
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/2020/20_04_14.mp3

“Woman, why are you weeping?

Mary Magdalene assumed many speculations in her mind about Jesus at the empty tomb but the reality was something different from her speculations. She was focusing on the situation and reacting to that situation but the reality was far beyond to her imaginations. Resurrection can be experienced only through the eyes of faith in our life.  If we seek Jesus in our Worldly situations and weep or pray  over the situations , it is only our mind assumes or speculates the situation of our life but the reality is far beyond , we must turn around just like Mary Magdalene turned around from the empty tomb to the exit of the tomb where Jesus was standing and calling her name “Mary”.

When Jesus revealed himself to Mary calling her name, Mary  responded with  “Rabbouni,” which means teacher and tried to embrace him with worship but Jesus told her not to hold him but go to his brothers and tell them the good news that : I am going to my Father and your Father,to my God and your God.’” We have a important message here, when we experience Jesus in our life, many a times we try to hold him and experience him again and again year after year and place after place and preacher after preacher but the Lord tells us not to stick to him in contemplative Worship but to go out and tell other people who did not know about his death, resurrection and ascension.

We sit on situations for years and weep at the empty tomb , Jesus is asking us to turn around with the eyes of faith  the promises and prophesies of God and listen to Jesus who is calling us by name and assigning us a mission to proclaim the good news of his Resurrection and the reward of Salvation to rest permanently with his Father and our Father in Heaven. Jesus may reveal to us any form like a Gardener , Angel , teacher, Master, servant so on , let us keep our eyes and ears open to meet our risen lord in our own  quest and he will call us by our name and introduce us to our Father and Commission us to engage in his Business.

God’s Revelation is not limited to human standards but for Everyone.

Monday in the Octave of Easter

April 13, 2020

Today’s Readings:Acts 2:14, 22-33
Ps 16:1-2a, 5, 7-11
Matt 28:8-15
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/041320.cfm
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/2020/20_04_13.mp3

 

The resurrection of Jesus was seen by two section of people , first one were the guards who were appointed by Jewish Authorities. Jesus first revealed himself to the Jewish authorities who put him to death through the guards. Jewish authorities understood the truth that Jesus was the Messiah by various signs like tearing of the Temple Veil from top to down, the darkness surrounded for three hours, violent earthquake and finally through their own temple guards placed to guard the tomb of Jesus. The Bible says in (Mathew 28:2-3)- There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. ³ His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. ⁴ The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. Though the Lord gave many signs and revealed to them his Messianic grace but they became so much egoistic and defended own wrong understanding of the Law and were not ready to accept the truth and believe Jesus as Messiah. If they had accepted Jesus by repenting their mistake , today whole World would have saved through Jewish Nation.

Secondly Jesus reveals himself to Mary Magdalene and the Women of Jerusalem. Women in those days were like outcasts in the society because their testimony  and witness was not taken in to Jewish Law or as per the Customs. Jesus reveals to the people who considered least in the society and  whose testimony is not considered in the society. God’s wisdom is beyond the wisdom of men and the Women became the first believers of Jesus resurrection and took the good news of the Gospel  to his Apostles and whole of Israel. The stone the rejected became the corner stone to witness and proclaim the Gospel.

God is not partial in his revelation , the resurrection of Jesus is not a one time activity , it is like waves in the Sea which come one after the another to hit the shore of our heart in all times and all places of our lives,  he reveals himself to the Sinners, learned, weak and rich , believer, non believer  but how we respond to his revelation in our life is the key of our belief.

Today as we reflect upon the empty tomb of Jesus , let us search Jesus , like those Women of Jerusalem  and he will encounter us in our very lives on the quest of our search like he met the Women of Jerusalem. When we encounter him , let us not harden our Hearts like those Jewish authorities but believe like the Women of Jerusalem leaving behind our ego of life and prejudice.