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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

Faith is not knowledge!

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Faith is not the human act of merely consenting to theological knowldge but it is the divine act of submitting both our Intellect and Will to God's revelation. If the Intellect alone is employed, knowledge remains simply as true and good life-giving information. It does not transform our life nor does it give life. Faith without action is dead. Jam 2:26 Will is the faculty of the soul which seeks to love that which is known. And 'loving' is not simply liking the information but the act of becoming what we have come to know. In other words loving is to freely act upon the information in such a way that knowledge becomes a living experience. If I come to know that in order to sustain my life I must drink water and if I do not act on this information and drink water, this knowledge does not do me any good.  In order for my faith to be active and alive, my Will has to be in harmony with the Intellect. It also means both my Intellect and Will should be surrendered to God. The di

Salvation and Purgatory

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Can an unbaptised remain in his religion and still enter heaven when he dies if he lives well and does good to the best of his abilities? Who could fathom the mind of God? Yet when we think about it, we know what baptism does to a person and how it helps us grow in love and makes us capable of doing good in the divine sense. Left to himself man of concupiscence is limited and his best is not best enough. He reaches his true potential only in relationship with God. We need divine grace for supernatural love, courage and goodness. Baptism begets us the merits of Jesus's passion, death and resurrection. We are purchased for a ransom (God's own life - substitution) and freed from the dominion of sin and death. Jesus reminds us that unless the Son of man sets you free you are not free. Salvation is not merely saving us from falling into hell but healing us from the tyranny of sin (from a state of eternal separation to eternal union with God) so that we become truly free and live lif

Sin to Glory

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We often think that the way to be saved is by applying the salvation that Christ wrought for us on the cross on to our lives through an act of faith.  Christ should not be seen merely as the supplier of salvation but as 'salvation itself'. We are saved not by applying or believing some magical formula but by uniting ourselves; body, mind and soul to the person of Christ, in an act of unconditional gift of self. And as Christ rose into freedom and glory so will we also, from insanity to sanity, depravity to sanctity, sin to glory.  Stare not into your own wretchedness and be discouraged. Fix your gaze upon Christ and be united to Him at all times, especially when we wallow in sin. St. Athanasius of Alexandria said "What has not been assumed has not been redeemed". Let Christ assume every bit of our unworthiness so we can partake in the redemption He ushers us into.  ------------------ Photo by  OPPO  on  Unsplash

Wisdom is Eternal life

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Wisdom is to know God. It is to understand what is pleasing to Him. It to be gained not for the sake of its utility to govern our lives or other's. It is to be desired so that we ourselves will come to rest in communion with God. As Jesus said “This is eternal life: that they know you the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent (John 17:3).  ------------------ Wisdom is Eternal life.  ------------------ This knowledge oh God is too good to my soul. May I relish it like pure honey...

Intimacy Insights

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Divine intimacy grows when the deep longing for the lover, naturally leads to unconditional submission of the beloved to the lover. This longing within is initiated and sustained by eros and is perfected by agape. It is a response to the self-giving, spiritual leadership of the lover who never ceases to seek me out from the depths of my helplessness. If Jesus is the bridegroom who comes seeking me and beckoning me to become one with his divine nature just as in pure nuptial union, can I deal with Him as Eve did with Adam in the state of original innocence (before the fall) and still be fair? Is it akin to how the loving wife deals with her loving husband who is the most powerful man in the world? When there is sincere and authentic love, the power, authority of the lover isn't something to be afraid of. Only the guilty needs to fear.  Two things are necessary for divine intimacy: I should believe what God thinks of me (as precious, invaluable, honorable and beautiful and worthy of

Stuck to my cage despite freedom

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In my long and tardy pursuit towards holiness and true freedom, I realised that what kept me from making progress was the lack of asceticism. I'm like a freed domesticated bird perched on its own cage, caught between two worlds, refusing to fly off into true freedom. In order to grow in one thing we will need to cut ties with a few other things that work against the goal. It takes effort and patience to name and nail these attachments. We also need to give up our attachment to false convictions that we hold so dear.  Jesus tells us that “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. Mat 6:24.  Asceticism is training and strengthening our will to choose what is good over what it is long accustomed to - namely the cult of selfish pleasure, attachment to comfort, sloth and lethargy, fear of the unknown, the list is long. Asceticism is a way of teaching us that there is a higher being to aspire for

Rising above the mundane

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Marriage is an institution God established for man and woman to love as God loves. But marriages do face several challenges not because the institution itself is flawed but because the stake holders fail to measure up to it. When a partner turns abusive, family life becomes a real challenge. How as a catholic, we should survive an abusive marriage especially when there is a risk of harm to ourself and children. First of all we must get our parish priest involved and take his guidance. Remember a parish priest is the spiritual father given to us by divine provision. It is operative that we take immediate steps to mitigate the situation and prevent further physical or mental harm to those affected. We must seek expert help to settle down and heal the hurts. Take time to understand how precious we are and our children despite the situation. Be convinced that this is happening to your marriage not because you are bad, or sinful. Know that our God suffers with us. Isaiah 53:5 says "he