my Articulate Heart

The consequence of original sin deprives us of the capacity to love as God loves. The lack of love within causes us to sin. Sin committed by all generations is a result of the original sin. By offering himself as a ransom Jesus paid the price for the original sin once and for all thus Jesus’ sacrifice is a valid reparation for  all sins. In baptism you and I receive the merit of Jesus’ priceless redemptive work -freely. This is called sanctifying grace. By choosing to submit their will to the source of death (satan) and rejecting God the father, the source of life, our first parents deprived themselves of the divine life they shared with God. This resulted in a wound (vacuum) deep within that kept humanity enslaved to sin. We too have inherited this woundedness and are thus inclined to sin. Today you and I who are baptized have the sanctifying grace unless we reject it by un- repented sins. But we have a wounded heart too. Primary objective of Jesus’ incarnation was to heal the m

When we decide to try harder and love Jesus more, we unfortunately are being proud. Even though our intention of choosing to try harder and love Jesus more is highly desirable and life giving, it renders fruitless and short-lived because we choose to be 'still control' while do this. We bank entirely on our own capacity to fulfill this desire. Since 'human love' is conditional and opportunistic, our physical and emotional conditions greatly influence and regulate the measure of our love for Christ. It even diminishes altogether for a while in worst conditions. This is true as long as we are affected by the consequences of original sin. On the other hand, in order for us to experience Gods love, all we must do is to prepare ourselves to receive this torrential love which is waiting to explode into us, in proportion to the exact measure we open up ourselves. God's love is unconditional and unchanging. It is 'unconditional' because there is nothing we can do

Jesus calls each of us to a 'totally faithful' relationship with him when he says "no one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other" [Mathew 6:24]. We see in the Gospels, examples of lives thrown open in total submission to Christ. Let me illustrate three such lives here. First is Mary, the mother of Jesus. Mary's holiness is the result of her total submission to Christ. We see her responding with with emphatic 'yes' when she says 'be it unto me according to thy word'. We witness her life being completely in submission to Christ from beginning to the end and it continues to be so. When Jesus tells the disciples 'my mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and obey it'.[Luke 8.21], he is telling them if you want to know what is it to be mothers and brothers, you must learn from my mother and brothers. The relation Mary shared with Jesus was

"In order to be successful, we should do our 50% and God will put in his 50%". This is the saying that we have been hearing as we grew up. But is this the formula to be successful? I do not think so. No body can be successful unless he puts in his 100% and still stretch beyond to an extend that is otherwise not possible. This is not being workaholic but far from it. This is all about aspiring to be what God has created us to be. How can I do it? First step is to have an ardent desire to know the Truth about everything. Questions you must ask yourself are; why am I here on earth? who put me here? what is my purpose? where I'm going when I die? why do I die at all?. Turn to God for an answer, turn to the scriptures, turn to the teachings of the church. Look up the YOUCAT [Youth Catechism] or CCC [Catechism of the Catholic Church]. Ask the right people. Go to the Blessed Sacrament and ask Jesus these questions and he will guide you to the right resources or whisper in y

Here is a classic example of how Jesus wants us to stretch beyond what is seemingly possible by human standards. This is not because Jesus is hoping to enjoy some kind of sadistic supremacy over his creation by raising the standards so[oooo] high. But instead he alone knows who we are and what we are capable of. He knows very well that all he has done is now possible for humans through Him. This is precisely why he said "Anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father [John 14:12] Now here is what Jesus has to say to us today. “But I say to you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you and pray for those who treat you badly. To the one who strikes you on the cheek, turn the other cheek; from the one who takes your coat, do not keep back your shirt. Give to the one who asks and if anyone has taken something from you, do not demand it back. “Do t

Heart is the innermost recess of a man where he meets with himself and God. Man cannot understand one without the other. His understanding of himself will be obscure and distorted if his understanding of God is obscure. And he will not fathom God without understanding first, himself. Heart is where convictions are formulated. The "condition" of our heart defines them. A wounded heart will not be able to make a true and complete assumption concerning anything. It lacks the fullness of love to understand the truth. Heart that needs forgiveness cannot love until it is healed in the light of pure love. Our past experiences, beginning from original sin contribute to our brokenness. Only pure love can heal it. Not human love but the love of the one whose love is eternal, unchanging and unconditional. It is Gods love. It is the pure honey found in the rock. Only God can remove the bitterness within. Truth and Love is inseparable. One cannot love without knowing the truth. Both

God's first commandment is to be fruitful and multiply.[Gen.1.28]. When we reflect on child birth, we know it is painful to be fruitful. Every conception leads to fruition. In the case of birth, the seed of life the women conceives has to be delivered. Her body prepares for this event by dilating painfully beyond what is visibly possible. But at the end the reality of a new born child turns this pain into inexplicable joy. Jesus on the cross gave himself to his bride and continues to give himself in the Eucharist. His body and ours unite in a one flesh union leading to a similar fruitfulness. Our bodies must expand; stretch beyond what seems visibly possible, to be fruitful. When we co-operate with the plan of God, just as Mary did, just as the church does, we too will glorify God and his Joy shall be full. This pain is the unconditional sweet pain we suffer for the other. Just as Christ washed his bride clean by his own blood before he embraced her in an eternal nuptial bond,