Feast of Dukhrana, a Meditational thought on the aspect of Faith

My Lord and My God (Jn 20; 28)

Well, this is what came out from the mouth of St. Thomas the Apostle when he saw the Risen Lord. It might well be an exclamation of over joy or it could be an exclamation of deep sorry. If it was a joyful exclamation, the joy came from his deep feelings for Jesus. And if exclamation of sorrow, then that would surely for his 'doubting behavior.?

When everyone else could see the Lord after his resurrection, how could St. Thomas spare himself from without seeing his Lord. Was he not a good disciple? Nowhere in the Holy Bible we see that he was an unfaithful or wicked one. (In fact, any of the disciples except Judas Iscariot was described in a negative way and the lone negative statement Jesus made about his eleven disciples was about Peter whom he called 'Satan'. You know the occasion as well).

Faith, a great gift from above

"No one can receive anything except what has been given from heaven." (Jn 3;27)

Faith is a jump into deep darkness, someone defined FAITH in this way. Whether you jump or not, your Faith is a pure gift from God. If it was given to you from above, you would not have believed who Jesus is. You might have come to believe in the Lord either by chance or when you witnessed a miracle. In whatsoever way, remember that it is God who created those chances; as that of SAUL had on his way to Damascus, for you to come to FAITH.

Thinking about faith, I normally get no idea at all. Basically I do say that I have deep faith in the Lord, but I really doubt whether I have it. Once I heard during a Sunday sermon a priest saying the story of an old woman who carried an umbrella in hot Summer.

Work is Worship, So work well to Enter Jesus’ Rest

“Come to me all who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens and I will give you rest.” (Mat. 11:28)

When we are fulfilling our duties we are not just doing our duties alone but rather we are worshipping our Lord. Here I would like to bring your attention to a famous quote “work is worship.”

Yes, if we are working sincerely, then it is turning out to be worship. Remember what the Lord has said to those who are working. He said “Come to me all who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens” (Mat- 11;28). The second clause is more important as it tells about what Jesus will give them. Jesus continue to say “and I will give you rest.” (Mat. 11:28)

How can we then enter the rest that Christ will offer? It is only when we work hard. And you know well that working involves a lot of responsibility and it’s our duty to work in honor of our Heavenly Father.

Family, The Greatest Sacrifice A Priest Needs to Make?

It was around 10 pm that a friend of mine who is a priest candidate called and asked me whether he could come to my home, paying a short visit. He was to leave to his seminary for vacation duties and so he was not so happy. Who really likes separation? While talking with him, I also pointed to him the news which stated some women requesting the Pope to allow the priests to marry. This incident made me think on the sacrifice a priest makes.

Participation in Sunday Mass and the Aspect of Fulfilling the Third Commandment

What would have been in God’s mind when He gave the third commandment that is “My Day shall be held holy? In another circumstance we command  his people not to do any work on the Seventh Day, ie. Sabbath day. Who knows or in fact who cares at all? Anyway now we are not concerned about those Ten Commandments which God gave to the People of Israel through Moses. We – the new generation guys feel that it took place in the ancient age (Old Testament time).

What is our concern? Why we need to think about or obey those old commandments? For us everything is Jesus and his Two Commandments; the first being the Love of God and the second Love for others. We say that these two are important and we need to take care of only these two.

Jesus why it is so? Meditation on the Attitudes of Prayer

Often this is a question that you and I have when our prayers are not heard all on a sudden by Jesus. We have no patience to wait for the Lord to take time to act. Sometimes I feel that I am not praying but demanding to the Lord.

 When I say Jesus “You must take care of me while I am riding my bike”, do I say a prayer or do I place a demand. It might look like that I am placing a demand and not saying a prayer. By saying the prayer, “Father, I ask you take this cup away from me, but not what I want but what you want must be done.”

Yes, Jesus’ prayer always had a following if clause and that was always seeking the will of God the Father. Jesus never wanted to get anything that was purely according to His will but he always wanted what His Father’s will was. Seeking of the Father’s will is there even in the Lord’s Prayer. How sad we must be for we do not realize the inclusion of this clause in our daily prayer.

Is Lord so late to respond to your prayer?

I have in my life felt that the Lord is a slow-motion-Lord. Despite our numerous prayers, he may not answer us in a way we want. If it takes too much time, then why should I pray at all? I am living in this hectic and busy world and so I have no time to wait for you oh Lord to respond.

How important matters are there to be done? And still I find time to go to the chapel and pray on every Sundays. Don’t you see them Lord? The actual thing is that out of my busy schedule I am late in reaching the chapel for the Holy Mass and prayers. But to my credit, I never waste at least a single moment in the chapel after the Mass.

Do Likewise, a better tip to become the Good Samaritan

It was quite natural for the lawyer to ask the question how to reach Heaven. And it was all the more natural for Jesus to tell him to follow the commandments which he summarized into two. The first is love of God and the latter is love of neighbor.

It might be easier for the lawyer to love God because he might know who God is. It is clear from his expression that he asked Jesus only who his neighbor was. Why then did he not ask who God was? Did he know who God was? Only Jesus knows.

But when Jesus was asked who the good neighbor was, he said nothing but the parable of the Good Samaritan. You know well the parable and so I do not explain it or say anything about it. But the only thing I want to say is the last command of Jesus that is ‘do likewise’.

Proclamation of the Word, an inevitable responsibility of all real Christians

It was nearly two months back that I started my blog Holify with the help of  Blogger, starting with a Holy Verse from the Bible. The verse posted was nothing other than this. "As you go, proclaim the Good News, 'The Kingdom of heaven has come near.' (Mt: 10: 7).

It was one of the most touching words for me. I believe that being a Christian is thus a call to be preachers or missionaries as it is said that you are to proclaim the message while 'you are on the go'. It does not need any preparation but prayer to the Holy Spirit whom God has given to us as a helper.

As you go, proclaim the Good News, 'The Kingdom of heaven has come near.' (Mt: 10: 7)

As you go, proclaim the Good News, 'The Kingdom of heaven has come near.' (Mt: 10: 7)