my Articulate Heart

We exist in relationship with God whether we know it or not. In our relationship with God, we are either embracing Him or denying Him. Sometimes we hear people opine, "I don't over do my spirituality". They are careful not to be seen as religious extremists or fanatics. They are concerned a spiritual stand might offend a few. The question arises "what is normal? Active involvement is spiritual matters or moderate or little involvement? Are those who seem to be talking only about God, heaven, hell, eternal life and spirituality religious extremists? Some think that God exits to distribute goodies to those who please him and punish those who displease him. Some conclude if God has given them intelligence, knowledge, talents and other capacities to achieve their life’s ambitions they should not disturb God. It is enough that they pray that God blesses their fabulous plans and not thwart their dearly plans. God is not human nor does he think or act like one of u

Do I really love Jesus?. What would be an indicator that can show me how much I love him? My love for Jesus is not measured in the success of my ministry or the extraordinary God experiences I may have. Those are nothing but the direct result of God's immeasurable love and mercy for us. God gives himself to us in a measure that we are completely unworthy of. Gods love is not a reciprocation of what we do to him. We are incapable of doing any Good work except when he does it in us and through us. How then will I know how much I love Jesus? In our spiritual life, we do many things as part of a routine. If not as a routine, we could be doing them for the love of self and justification of self. As we know one Holy Mass is powerful enough to transform a person into the likeness of Christ. One confession is enough to make us as pure as I ought to be. But we walk out of every Mass pretty much the same way. Sometimes some thoughts or feelings may linger for a while but they soon fade

Our happiness here on earth is an indicator of how happy we will be in eternity. Eternity in heaven is unquenchable happiness and it begins right here. Happiness is not the absence of pain and anguish, but the Inextinguishable joy we receive in Jesus Christ. This is the joy of having 'found ourselves' in Christ. This very joy is what Jesus displays on the cross. Happiness is to be found in Christ crucified. Jesus on the cross is not a sad person. Jesus is happy because he is detached to wealth, power, pleasure and honor, the very things in which we seek our happiness. Jesus has nothing to lose but only gains, immeasurable gains. What Jesus does on the cross is growing out of himself, surrendering himself totally to the will of the Father, and embracing what it takes to set his children free, for them to be eternally happy. To be happy, we must despise what Jesus despised on the cross and love what Jesus loved on the cross. Jesus said if you want to be my disciple, tak

When we sin and lose the sanctifying grace, there seem to be a futile attempt from our part to ascribe false holiness and false righteousness upon us and pretend to look alright. Eventually we end up having to manufacture fake goodness because pride prevents us from accepting the failure and return to the mercy of God. When we lose the state of grace we are in a state of fear and rejection. God becomes a merciless judge and we stay away from His sight. We begin to doubt the goodness of God. We assume God is angry. So we stop praying, we cave in and start doing useless things, we act weird, our daily duties are postponed, daily prayer is rescheduled, happiness is lost, people around us seem unkind, we find excuses for not doing things we ought to do, And these excuses begin to look serious and original - the church will be noisy, traffic is bad, I have a headache, I must catch some sleep and the list is endless. The best word to describe the post sin drama is 'procrastination'

If we ignore prayer, or if prayer is a burden, the only possible reason is that we have misunderstood prayer. Some feel prayer is a useless activity that only the ignorant and the weak resort to. Some feel prayer is an unfair demand religion forces upon them that robs their time and freedom, while some surrender concluding prayer is an unfortunate, boring exercise, having to please an egoistic God in order to receive their daily needs. For some others prayer has become a meaningless habit or just a feel good thing. Our appreciation for prayer will grow only when our understanding of God grows. When we seek to know God more personally and intimately, our prayer too grows into a wonderful love relationship with God. Prayer is the means by which we develop this deep relationship and communion with God. When we come to know God's true nature, and who we are in God, prayer becomes the most cherished, joyful and fulfilling experience that we never want to part from. Prayer is nu

Holiness is sharing in the communion that exists between Jesus and the Father.  The mission every Christian is called on to do is the very mission of Christ. The mission of Christ was to enable people to share in the communion that exists between Him and the Father – in other words share in the holiness of God. Christ entered into this world for the sake of establishing the Way, the one and only true Gate that leads to God the Father. Those of us who enter through this gate are granted a holy desire to share this gift of communion, because at the core of divine communion is love, characterized by service and total self-giving. When we grow in holiness we grow to be missionaries too. We become a servant of the mission of Christ and also a servant of those around us near and far. When we share the good news of salvation with our brothers and sisters, especially with those who have not known the ‘only way’, we serve them. This service is a fitting response to the great mercy and love

Let the Holy Spirit open our hearts to always see and know the ‘Truth’ that Jesus revealed through the word of God, both written and spoken. We must at any point in our spiritual walk aspire for an increase of the divine life within us and never be complacent. What stagnates our growth is the ‘I already know it all’ attitude. Such an attitude will render us ignorant of the great distance one could journey when seeking the fullness of truth and divine life despite our frailty. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 2 Cor 4:7 It is only when we know the truth that we can begin to pull ourselves to that peak of the mountain, raising the standards of our Christian life from ordinary to extraordinary. Come let us trek to the mountaintop. The rope is the scripture. Life’s problems are the recesses in the mountain on which we firmly set foot and climb aloft. However big the mountain of struggles and challenges, God