My Articulate Heart

Revisiting the missionary role of the laity The lay faithful along with priests and religious form part of the labour force Jesus sends forth into His vineyard. [Mathew 20]. Everyone without an exception are called; some at the first hour, some at the third and some at the eleventh hour. [Paraphrased from christifideles laici] Blessed are the ones who are called at the first hour, because they have been granted ‘bonus time’ to spend with the Good Master. The labour in the vineyard becomes for them a fulfilling experience because they treasure the proximity of Jesus right here in this temporal world. Jesus’ mandate to preach the Good news to the ends of the earth has no exception. If one is not a missionary [labourer in the vineyard], he/she is either insensitive to the unconditional love and mercy of God or is too proud to admit the same. He/she has indeed turned a deaf ear to the call. St Paul in his letter to the Corinthians says “ Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel...

Sexuality can truly be understood only when we first understand the dignity of the human person. The human person must be understood in the light of his divine origin and the immense capacity with which God has endowed him—to love, to receive love, to give himself, and to mature in love. Without this understanding, sexuality can be reduced to a commodity, a means of obtaining pleasure, or merely a biological function. At the other extreme, it can be viewed as something ugly or shameful, something to be feared rather than understood as God's gift. Consider an analogy. If I enter my neighbour's garden, pluck an apple and eat it simply because it satisfies my hunger and desire, I have taken something that does not belong to me. But if I become part of the family that owns the garden, I also accept the responsibility of caring for the garden and its trees. Sharing in its fruit is then part of a relationship of belonging and self-giving. The fruit is not merely something to consume;...

Halt Hear His call It may be a strayed thought or a convincing compulsion.  It could be an indistinguishable yet clear voice from within or a sentence fallen out of the mouth of a stranger or a word from a TV show or a tweet, a post in Face book that bring us to an unusual “halt” in the midst of the daily madness. God is gently but constantly seeking our attention, just like a loving father, full of compassion and love in order to show us the way to joy and un- surpassing peace. He is called the hound of heaven by Francis Thomson in His poem titled the same. As the hound follows the hare, never ceasing in its running, ever drawing nearer in the chase, unhurried and unperturbed, so does God follow the fleeing soul by His Divine grace These gentle invitations of God are often stifled by our overarching worldly priorities. This time when you come to a holy halt, hold on to it. It is your father voice to return. Turn around Hear His call, turn around! Pursuing ou...

The Church is daily filled, says St. Augustine, with those who come to petition for temporal advantages, that they may escape this calamity, obtain that advantage in their temporal concerns: but there is scarce one to be found who seeks for Christ, and pays him his adoration, through the pure love he bears him. (Maldonatus)

May I humbly refuse you, dear Satan, for I have found something far better, sweeter, and more permanent than the fleeting pleasure of sin. May I humbly refuse the demands, cravings, and what may seem like the legitimate rights of my body, because what I truly need is food that gives eternal life. The Lord is surely debugging some serious anomalies within me. I would never have realised how deep certain “weaknesses” were if I had not denied my body its generous supplies. It growls, shouts, and almost rolls on the ground demanding to be fed. And I find myself developing a false compassion for what appears to be a genuine plea for sustenance. But hey! It is Jesus who gives life to the full. “Do not work for food that goes bad, but work for food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.” — John 6:27 Fasting is a process of becoming truly aware of my body, mind, and soul—but perhaps most especially my body. It helps me recognise both its limitations and its potentia...

Never have I really prayed for protection against evil. My logic has been that "asking the father, over and over, "to protect me", showed my lack of trust in Him. And assumed that being a child of God, His hands ought to be over me". I claimed to be close to Christ and boasted nothing would harm me. I now realize, I was proud and  was arrogant. Struggling through the trials, I humbly realize that evil one can have a go at me. Not because my God is week but because I'm far from being a perfect child yet. My pride held me at a pedestal and expected the sovereign God to protect me. Alas! how arrogant and proud I was. Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. [Mathew 4:1] "And the Lord said: Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:" [Luke 22:31] Satan was allowed to test Jesus the son of God. Apostle Peter too was sifted like wheat. No saints are an exception to this. B...

To sin and separate ourselves from God involves a personal choice. Sin begins with a decision of the will and is fulfilled through an action that follows that decision. The responsibility for my sin ultimately rests with me. I cannot shift the blame for my sin onto another. Yet, paradoxically, to hate sin and return to the embrace of God's love requires more than a personal decision. It requires the supernatural assistance of God's grace. No one returns to God except through His mercy and grace. Those who persevere in sin through ignorance, confusion, or a distorted understanding may be more open to God's grace when truth is revealed than those who knowingly and deliberately persist in offending Him. The conversion of Saul is a powerful reminder of God's initiative. His encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus was not something Saul had planned; God intervened and transformed the direction of his life. Grace can reach us even when we are far from recognising how de...

"The foremost is, 'Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' "The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." [Mark 12: 28-31] In the first part of the above commandment, Jesus points us firstly to the need for a 'conscious desire of the heart' for God [to live not according to my will but God's]. Secondly the need for 'conscious choices/decisions of the mind' [as against the natural choices] and thirdly the need for 'conscious actions' of the body [actions that confirm the above desires and choices]. In the second part of the above commandment, Jesus is saying "be concerned about the souls of others as much as you are concerned about your own soul not missing heaven". In other words, loving oneself means that ...

Am I being selfish by not asking for prayers when faced with tough times? Is not "asking prayers" an attempt to escape the challenges God allows in my life to discipline me and make me Christ-like? Which act is more self-centered?

One who desires a superior life goes through the process of purification until he becomes the “true” bride of Christ, that is to say, one body with Him. Christ, the perfect Bridegroom, gifted [sacrificed] His “whole self” so that we too might become pure as He is—through Him. On our own, we are incapable of purifying ourselves, and no action of ours can contribute to this process. We are to freely embrace this gift of salvation [redemption and sanctification] and persevere. Jesus invites us to believe in Him and “mature” in this faith. This process of transformation of one's inner self [maturing in faith] is much like the process of purification of silver in the furnace. This demands certain conscious choices to be made against our own nature. When we persevere in the love of Christ beyond our comfort levels, vices give way to virtues. Yet we will be weakened by our own nature [manipulated meticulously by the devil] and be tempted like Christ in the desert, falsely convincing us of...