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Showing posts from November, 2013

Yoked to Jesus

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“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” †  Mathew 11: 28-30  What is the labour and burden that Jesus is asking me to deal with? Perhaps I have to let go of the compulsive burden (or is it a sort of entitlement?) that my spouse and children should choose a spiritual path that I know to be right. Jesus accompanied Judas Iscariot to the very end but never deprived him of his freedom to choose his own destiny. Jesus on the other hand, uninterrupted by Judas's choice to reject him, continues to accomplish his mission. He does become a victim of Judas's betrayal but he seldom takes on the victim's identity. In divine wisdom, Jesus chooses to die in our place (and that of Judas) in a redeeming act of love. Rather than being compelled to fix those whom God has entrusted to my headship by m

New Evangelization for the transmission of Faith

Jesus said to his disciples   “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in name of the father son and the Holy Spirit. And teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” These compelling last words of Jesus must shake us out of the comfy sofas. This is a matter of urgency. Do we heed this urgent call? The Church exists to evangelize. All Christians without an exception are called to evangelize. The challenge of time is to make “faith” relevant to a highly secularized society that is desperately attempting to de-Christianize the world. And also re awaken those Baptized Catholics who lost their flavor and are living merely as Sunday Christians. Our beloved Pope Francis, during the World Youth Day at Rio, challenged the youth to courageously proclaim the Gospel with their life and word. He asked them to be missionaries. He reminded them that it is not an option but mandatory. Do we heed t

Knowing your spouse

Know your self first The key to knowing your spouse is knowing your own self first. It is only in God that we discover ourselves. As God reveals more of Himself to us we begin to understand more of ourselves. As we understand more of ourselves, we begin to understand others. If you seek to understand your spouse, begin by seeking God whole-heartedly. The mystery of Man and woman  The uniqueness of man and woman can only be understood in the mystery of the Trinitarian God. Creating human beings in his own nature, God made them man and woman. The union of man and woman points to the unitive and procreative nature of God’s love. The desire to give one self totally to the other is engraved in our bodies. The language, our bodies speak is that of self-donating love. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. [Mathew 16:25] Through disobedience humanity experienced sin and it left us wounded and broken. Jesus restored

Eucharist - the Source and Summit of Christian Life

You and I are all called to be Holy. We become holy not by what we do but by what God does within us. Jesus lifting the bread in his hands said “Take this and eat, this is my body broken for you. And then he took the chalice and said, drink this, this is my blood, The blood of the new covenant, poured out for the forgiveness of your sins. It is Jesus who makes us holy like Him by giving us his own complete self - body, blood, soul and divinity. In the holy mass, during the Communion service, what takes place is a profound and mysterious exchange. Jesus takes upon himself our broken and wounded bodies and gives us his holy body.  Our old sinful self is crucified with Jesus and we become a new creation. The old is gone and the new comes in. Because of this priceless exchange, we can now say with confidence, Its no longer I but Jesus who lives in me.  God the father, out of his immense love and mercy, sent his only begotten son to become the worthy sacrifice and liberate