News - April 2020

Remember, God does not pay us for results, but for effort.

“What is sown is a natural body, and what is raised is a spiritual body.” 1 Corinthians 15:43

St. Paul compares the resurrection of the dead to the springing up of vegetation in a field. The natural body is the seed that is sown in the field. The fruit that comes out of it is completely different in nature, and in this case, the fruit is the spiritual body. As all of us have natural bodies, we will have spiritual bodies too. Knowing this fact, let us try our best to preserve our bodies in holiness, knowing that we carry within us great and mysterious promises of a life soon to come!

Look for Christ Our Lord in everyone and you will then have respect and reverence for all.

Unload all your burden on to him, since he is concerned about you.1 Peter 5:7

All of us have burdens, all of us carry our share of anxieties, worries, tensions and fears. But here is a gentle God Who invites us, "Come to Me, and I will give you rest." Listening to this gentle and kind invitation, encouraged by the words of an Apostle who was close to Him, who knew His tenderness, let us lay down all our fears at the feet of Christ, Who will allay them and grant us rest.

"If you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for whatever you please and you will get it.’’ John 15:7

What does remaining in Jesus mean? It means to have an intimate union with the unchanging Son of God who existed before all things and in Whom we live, move and exist. How do we remain in Jesus? We remain in Him only by abiding in love, because He is love which is constant, patient, forgiving and full of compassion. We abide in His love when we keep His Words - indeed, without treasuring His Words in our hearts, we can never hope to possess love. If we remain in Him and treasure His Words, Jesus assures us we can ask of Him anything we desire, it is certain to be granted to us.

And all creatures that are under heaven, each in it's own way, serve, know and obey their Creator better than you do.

"Now while he was with them at table, he took the bread and said the blessing; then he broke it and handed it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognised Him.’’ Luke 24:30-31

Recognising Jesus is a special gift - very few people are able to recognise Jesus. Just as in the case of the two disciples who walked to Emmaus, we too need our spiritual eyes to be opened by the Lord. What better way to open them than the Eucharistic Meal, the Breaking of the Bread, during the course of which such spiritual power was unleashed that darkness no longer had any place in the life of those two disciples. Each time we attend mass, we too receive tremendous spiritual graces. Are our eyes opened during the Mass? If not, it may be because we do not receive it with faith, but out of habit.

I am not capable of doing big things, but I want to do everything, even the smallest things, for the greater glory of God.

“I call you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have learnt from my Father.” John 15:15

Our loving Lord Jesus calls each one of us His very own friends. People normally share everything with their closest friends, so wouldn’t Jesus reveal heavenly secrets to His close friends? But why is it that many of us do not experience this? It is our sins that make a gulf between us and Jesus - our beloved Lord who died for our sins. To experience His divine friendship, let us renounce our sins and strive to be holy.

Our pilgrim life here on earth cannot be without temptation for it is through temptation that we make progress and it is only by being tempted that we come to know ourselves.

"But they pressed him to stay with them saying, 'It is nearly evening, and the day is almost over.' So he went in to stay with them.’’ Luke 24:29

The two disciples pressed our Lord to stay with them. Jesus presents Himself to our senses in the form of Divine Sweetness, joy of the heart and holy sentiments. After a time, He makes as if to depart from us. But if we press Him to stay, recognising that if He departs, our Light and Life will fade, we can be assured that our Lord will stay with us. Therefore let us too press our Lord to stay with us with loving entreaty, and we will have the joy of having the Saviour as our guest for the evening.

"Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? 'Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father, so how can you say, "Show us the Father"? John 14:9

Philip, who had been with Jesus for three years was constantly hearing about ‘God the Father’. He was wondering where the Father was and longed to catch a glimpse of Him. But Jesus reveals to Philip and also to all of us who have not yet penetrated the mystery of His Divine Person the great truth that in Himself dwells the Divinity in all it’s fulness - and in Him, and in Him alone is the Father, God the Creator whom no human being has seen or can ever see, made visible to all humanity.

In a sense, it is good that I have no proper sleep at night. I can recite the prayer of love with diligence.

"Then, starting with Moses and going through all the prophets, He explained to them the passages throughout the scriptures that were about Himself.’’ Luke 24:27

The greatest scandal for the disciples was the crucifixion and death of Jesus. Here was their Master, on whom they had pinned all their hopes - who had seemed to them a little while ago the invincible Son of God, for whom nothing was impossible - taken prisoner by his enemies, mocked, handed over to the gentiles and crucified! All their hopes were shattered. But listening to the prophecies about the Christ from the Prophets and the Psalms changes them - a healing light now begins to shine once more upon their minds and now doubt is replaced by faith - they realise that without His Passion, it would have been impossible for Jesus to have entered into His glory.

There is no evil to be faced that Christ does not face with us. There is no enemy that Christ has not already conquered. There is no cross to bear that Christ has not already borne for us, and does not now bear with us."

“Now I am old, but ever since my youth I never saw an upright person abandoned, or the descendants of the upright forced to beg their bread.” Psalms 37:25

From his experience, the psalmist reveals that an upright person, will never be abandoned by the Lord. In spite of all the trials and suffering we may face, if we choose to be upright, the Lord will never abandon us. Jesus Himself assures us that the Kingdom of Heaven is guaranteed to those who are persecuted in the cause of uprightness.

The devil may try to use the hurts of life, and sometimes our own mistakes - to make you feel it is impossible that Jesus really loves you.It is completely the opposite. He loves you, but even more - He longs for you.

Suffering necessary before entering into glory Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer before entering into his glory?’’ Luke 24:26

This question draws our attention to two things - the necessity of suffering and the glory that is to be revealed. The suffering of Jesus was not something that was unexpected, but His sufferings were destined by God. All the sufferings of our Lord were carefully depicted by the Prophets centuries before He was born. Secondly, this question invites us to look at the present glory of Jesus. He is not vanquished and abandoned in the world of the dead, but alive and gloriously triumphant. Step by step, the Risen Lord raised the shattered minds of the disciples from from death to life, from the flesh to the spirit, things earthly to things heavenly, from His apparent defeat to His glorious victory.

If God gives you an abundant harvest of trials, it is a sign of great holiness which He desires you to attain. Do you want to become a great saint? Ask God to send you many sufferings.

Then he said to them, 'You foolish men! So slow to believe all that the prophets have said! Luke 24:25

Sometimes we resign ourselves to the difficulties which surround us and let ourselves sink into depression and despair. The Lord’s rebuke is then addressed to us because we lack faith in God’s word which reveals that there is a mysterious plan of God behind every suffering. Instead of relying on our intellect for answers, let us turn to the prophetic books in the Scripture for help in grasping the mystery of our sufferings - through our sufferings, we can be assured that God’s mysterious plan for our ultimate good is at work.