My Articulate Heart

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:14 Those who have not submitted themselves to the authority of the Gospel are not guided by the Truth but are tossed around by their own deceitful desires. They are faced with unlimited options as far as the direction of their life's journey is concerned. They are guided by too many dim and dull lights. Everywhere there are mega offers and jackpots designed to entice the pleasure seeker. Their journey is wayward and aimless. They sway in all directions like drunkards. Their road is therefore wide, and its entrance is even wider. They will not reach any destination because they have none. The road they traverse is illusory and deceptive. They are trapped and headed towards eternal nothingness. No passengers ...

We live in a culture where beauty of the human body is falsely defined by pornography. So if you are a person who grew up with pornographic influence, it is almost certain that you have not liked your wife's body when you saw her naked for the first time. And it would be no different even now unless you have learned in the hard way to love her for who she really is. The pornographic culture has deceived us to seek beauty in the body divorced from the person. Beauty of the person though perceived in the body, lies in the soul. Every person that God created is beautiful. If I'm unable to see my wife's real beauty, the problem lies in my heart. The effective tool to measure ones love for his wife is his ability to see and foster his wife’s beauty (TOB 92:4).  The onus is totally upon the husband to make his wife aware of her beauty by loving her - body and soul. A husband must find out where his wife doubts her own beauty, it is precisely there he should love her te...

Sin destroys joy and freedom. It leaves us in fear and loneliness. Slowly but surely, we loose our self worth. The questions is how can we safeguard ourselves from the devastating consequences of sin and live joyfully and victoriously? Merely asking God to protect us from sin would not be enough because it requires our participation. It would be like asking a doctor to heal us and waiting to be healed doing nothing. In our daily struggle against sin, God expects us 'to do' a few things so that effort becomes effective and fruitful. And only in doing these things we cooperate with God's glorious plan for our redemption and eternal life. Our situations may be unique and our vulnerabilities different. Yet it may be possible to draw out few guidelines that are applicable to all. Resisting sin effectively requires the following: 1) Great desire and will Most of the time we fall into sin because we do not really want to avoid sin. If you are taking ...

Rough edges are there to smoothen me, Pointed ones to poke me deep. They exist in my life to remind me Of the distance I must tread to be good. Don't I know I'm God's work in progress, Becoming like the Maker, more or less? These are tools my Maker uses To chip off parts not in His plan. Holy will I be if I permit and do not resist, Redeemed be my heart, bit by bit, Purifying me in the furnace of love, Until He sees His face shine in mine. Thank You, Lord, for the many gifts given That make me sad but make me wise. They purge my still-ungodly side To abide totally as a branch in the vine. Pain and suffering are there to spare me From the surging fires of the purging pyre. Love cannot hate, so I'm never alone; Always by me is the Shepherd so good. Your chastisement is a sweet medicine That makes me chaste and cleanses sin. Never let me forget Your care and desire When Your whip and thorns show up again.

The words we generally associate with Lent are the unpleasant ones like, desert, heat, dryness, wilderness, fear, beasts, hunger, thirst, loneliness etc. We may think, for Jesus, the forty days he spent in the wilderness was an unpleasant experience. But on the contrary, it may well be the best forty days in his life, spent in deep relationship with the father. Jesus' victory over the crafty schemes of the devil at the end of his fast, is the proof of the immense strength one receives in prayer (dwelling in the presence of God). Lent begins with a very powerful scripture passage where Jesus, soon after his baptism is lead by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil. Jesus, with extreme clarity, conviction and determination destroys every one of the temptations and commands the devil to get away and at once he does. The devil presents before Jesus, practical sounding, too good to be true worldly promises, suggestions and challenges, while attempting to tempt him. Complying to devi...

God promised the Israelites who were slaves in Egypt, Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey. This land was not as we might think an unoccupied single piece of land, full of trees and cows and honey combs waiting to welcome God's people but a land occupied by corrupt, immoral people who were hardly good to mingle with let alone to live with. Taking procession of the promised land was not a cake walk. God's people had to wage a series of wars to wipe the opposition out. Yes, God was with the Israelites yet the victory was not without a fight. Jesus redeemed us from sin and promised the Kingdom of God for all those who believe in him yet it is not without a fight. The signs God did for the Israelites were merely foreshadows the greater works Christ would do during his time. Like the Israelites, people of the new Jerusalem - the Church would also have to fight battles to enter the promised kingdom. Jesus taught us to believe in Him and trust him. He promised to never leav...

Are you refusing to eat the lavish meal your Father has prepared and served just for you because the rule insists that you must not eat unless you are washed clean? Water flows in abundance. What stops you? A weak will? A lack of strong desire? An underlying affinity for the unclean? Or is it simply ignorance?

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 could show me how much I love Him? My love for Jesus is not measured by 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 of which we are completely unworthy. God's love is not a reciprocation of what we do for 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 the 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 we 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 th...

Our happiness here on earth is an indicator of how happy we will be in eternity. Eternal life 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 overcome by sadness. He possesses an unshaken joy and peace because He is detached from wealth, power, pleasure and honour—the very things in which we often seek our happiness. Jesus has nothing to lose but only to gain, immeasurable gains. What Jesus does on the Cross is grow out of Himself, surrendering Himself totally to the will of the Father and embracing what it takes to set His children free, so that they may 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 ...