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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

Healing and the Eucharist

It is the experience of “being healed from sicknesses” that makes people venture out, crossing the lake and climbing the mountain, to meet Jesus again. Refer John 6:1 On the mountain, Jesus gives them the Word and soon undertakes to give them the bread. This is clearly a sign leading to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The celebration of the Holy Mass is our participation in the perfect worship Jesus offers to the Father on our behalf. It has the Word and the Bread [body and Blood of Jesus] central to it. The barley loaves and fish the boy gives, represent the work of our hands and fruit of our labour - both good and bad, inadequate, short-lived and imperfect. Jesus receives our imperfections and gives back his own flesh in the form of the Eucharistic Bread - feeding the hungry and healing the sick. Jesus here also presents himself as the New Moses and the New Manna. When Jesus asks Philip “Where can we buy some bread for these people to eat?” [John 6:4-6] He was paraphrasing Moses

Wrestling with God

Wrestling with God is the battle man experiences within. Jacob of the old testament is known for wrestling with the angel of God. Genesis 32:22-28 - The same night he [Jacob] got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had. Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” Then the man said, “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.” Post the fight, God called Jacob “Israel”. Is-ra-el in Hebrew means "the man who wrestled with G

Healing from sin and sickness

Jesus came to save mankind from their sins. Mathew 1:21 Saving the mankind from sin also means saving them from their sickness because it is sin that causes sickness. And therefore it is forgiveness of Sins that initiate healing. [CCC 1502,1503] [1502 The man of the Old Testament lives his sickness in the presence of God. It is before God that he laments his illness, and it is of God, Master of life and death, that he implores healing. Illness becomes a way to conversion; God's forgiveness initiates the healing. It is the experience of Israel that illness is mysteriously linked to sin and evil, and that faithfulness to God according to his law restores life: "For I am the Lord, your healer." The prophet intuits that suffering can also have a redemptive meaning for the sins of others. Finally Isaiah announces that God will usher in a time for Zion when he will pardon every offense and heal every illness. 1503 Jesus has the power not only to heal, but also to forgive s

To be God conscious!

Most pleasing experience of the human soul is to be at the fountain of the sweet presence of God the father, drinking non stop from the perennial source that offers joy, peace, a great sense of purpose and a life of gratitude. As children, we live in the father's house and His presence is never absent in the house. It is certainly our right and privilege to be in the Father's presence always. Imagine having to be confined by a schedule that stipulates this privilege to be with Dad. Being in God's presence is a matter of being aware of God who is always present. We can call it God consciousness. We leave this most fulfilling presence of God when we turn inward and become self conscious much like the prodigal son. To be at the fountain and not leave the presence of God requires training and discipline of the self. The fallenness of our nature pulls us away world ward. Thus we need to inculcate habits to counter this natural pull. When we repeat actions over and over it

Lenten tears - Part 2

Same are the tears that roll out of our eyes but reasons for it are many. Tears fall when we get hurt, when we fail to achieve, when expectations are no met, when we lose someone dear to us and also tears fall when we are sympathetic to the predicament of a fellow human being. Lent is a season ear marked once every year for tears!. Question is which of these kind of tears do we cry during lent?  Most of the time, when we think of the events that led to the crucifixion of Jesus, the emotions that run in our veins are a crude mixture of sympathy and righteous anger. It does opportunistically move us to tears. We feel good and self content shedding these lenten tears as though we have done our part to sympathise with God who met with a misfortune.  "Jesus turned and said to them, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children" [Luke 23:28]  Crucified Jesus is not a victim of unfortunate circumstance or someone's v

Communion to Community

Communion is to hear the voice of God.  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. [John 10:27].  The communion is also what Jesus refers to as abiding in Him. Jesus said  I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.  The invitation God extends to have communion with Him is an open invitation to liberate oneself from the need to fit in, the need to prove one's self-worth and the need to achieve or to be successful in order to be be accepted and loved. To have communion with God is to experience a true liberation from the slavery of self-centredness, in other words, freedom from the needs and concerns of our own self. We are the sheep of Jesus the Good shepherd. The sheep of His flock is not under pressure to prove or achieve in order to be loved and accepted. They are free to be themselves. They are free to do what they are naturally good at. Their lives are guide

Loved and Forgiven

The most important truth every human person needs to hear is that he is "loved" and "forgiven". God never ceases to whisper these words into our ears. No evil act we commit is capable of stopping God from loving us and forgiving us. If it is so, why do we fail to hear it? It is because we seek to hear these words in the thunderous roars and the monstrous cries we create and manipulate around us. But alas! this gentle whisper can only be heard in the deepest recess of our being as we resolve to seek our joy and fulfilment in God alone and in nothing else. Man experiences God as the provider first. In the fascinating story of the prodigal we see that the lost son comes to his senses when he realises that he is missing the meals he savoured at home and that his father's servants are eating much better meals than the morsel of husk he is struggling to grab fighting the pigs. Then it is the experience of having forgiven by God that makes him abide in God. It is by