Acknowledging the Wounded!

“Touching the Wounds of Christ” during the season of Lent.

Many people are wounded not physically but emotionally. The wounds may have been caused by our own behaviour and by our own words and deeds which have deeply hurt others. We ourselves cause wounds. Wounding others (our parents, spouses, children, siblings, loved ones, etc) have become a cycle which has to be broken especially in this season of Lent.

We have already journeyed half way through this season of Lent. Have we made ourselves available to touch the wounded with our words and deeds? Closing our eyes to the wounded person is also closing our hearts to God. When we open our eyes and acknowledge the wounded, our lives will change. When we touch them with a gesture of Christ’s love and compassion, it will bring healing and blessing to one another. God loves the wounded and those who cause the wounds.

Here, I am Lord!

Today we celebrate the beginning of our salvation in the Annunciation of the Lord. 

The story of the Annunciation in today's Gospel reading (Lk 1:26-39) reminds us that God’s plan for the salvation of the human race is His own initiative. He sends His Son into the world at a precise time and in a precise place. He prepares Mary beforehand with everything to fulfill Her mission as Mother of the Redeemer – a mission that she accepts in freedom and through faith. 

One of the constant refrains of the Gospel is: “Do not be afraid.” When the Lord draws near, our natural tendency is to be afraid. We can be afraid of His presence. We can be afraid of what He might ask of us. We can be afraid of our own limitations in the face of the call to true conversion and holiness of life. We can be afraid of the apparent obstacles along the path of Christian discipleship. 

Like Mary, we need to overcome our fear by embracing 

God’s will with faith, freedom and love. As our confidence and trust in God increases, our fear decreases. As our love increases, our fear disappears. 

Of what am I afraid in my relationship with the Lord? 

Am I surrendering my fear by giving myself in faith?

"Here, I am Lord, I come to do Your will."

Jesus Quenches Our Thirst

The gospel of 3rd Sunday of Lent is about the encounter of two persons: Jesus and a woman from Samaria. At the well, Jesus simply tells the woman that she will remain dry unless she confronts her past and changes her life.  She submits to the Love of God.  From the moment she submits to God's love, she is forgiven and transformed. Her thirst is quenched.

We must capture that type of spiritual thirst! We must thirst and long for God and for spiritual living! To often, we try to quench our thirst in all the wrong places. We drink from the worldly well instead from the well of life, which is found in Christ.

A Woman at a well is thirsty.  A thirsty Jesus joins her.  A thirsty people, you and I, are also present at that well. Jesus provides the living water, the water of his Word and Eucharist that alone will ultimately quench our thirst. 

Lenten prayers, fasting and almsgiving offer us a precious opportunity to drink this life-giving water to share it with others as well. We pray that this year Lent season will bring us closer to the fountain of living water, the new promised life in Jesus.

Psalmist expressed it this way, "As a deer yearns for running streams, so I yearn for you, my God. I thirst for God, for the living God." (Ps 42:1-2).

Fresh Soil of the Earth!

Yesterday and today we were blest with good rainfall. It has been more than two months that we have been going through a tough time with the heat, haze and water cut. We were only able to sense a burnt smell from the face of the earth. After the heavy down pour these two days we are now able to smell the fresh soil of the earth. Soon we will be seeing the greenish fields, clean air, solution to the water ration and reduce of dust.

"Lord, send for your Spirit and renew the face of the earth," (Psalm 103:30)

The MYSTERY of MH370

Do continuously light a candle at your home altar, grotto and in your office for the MISSING FLIGHT MH370

We pray for the missing passengers and crews that the Lord will keep them safe wherever they may be.

We pray for their families, that the Lord will grant them comfort and consolation.

We pray for the "RESCUE TEAMS" that the Lord will grant them strength so that they may not lose hope in searching for our missing brothers and sisters.

As one nation, let us be united in prayers!

Temptation is a Real Test

The liturgy of the 1st Sunday in Lent proposes every year to our meditation the temptations of Jesus. The reason of this choice is it wants to encourage us to face temptations by learning how to identify them and how to get over them, and how to pull ourselves up, by taking the example of Jesus. Like Jesus in the wilderness, we are being led by the Spirit into a forty-day period of prayer and fasting, to help us reflect on the direction our lives are taking.

Temptation is a real test and the worst thing about it, is that it is always an attraction. Temptations are always a testing ground of our faith as they force us to make decisions for or against God. As followers of Christ, we must be ready to stand firm from the evil one. Because Jesus Himself experienced temptations, He understands us in our weaknesses and He is always there to give us hope and encouragement.

God as Our Point of Reference. Overcoming temptation is not an easy business. In fact, it’s impossible without God’s grace. When Jesus was tempted, He showed us what our reference point should be: God. All three times the devil tempted Him, he answered by putting God’s word and God’s will first. In order for us to persevere in our Lenten resolutions, we must center ourselves on God and rely on His grace. That means living close to Christ in Scripture and staying close to Him especially in the Sacraments of Eucharist and Reconciliation.

Lord Jesus, in this season of Lent, I want to draw closer to you. I want to love you more than myself and say “yes” to your will in every moment.

We are to Spring into Action During Lent

Ash Wednesday is a call to “Repent and believe the gospel” (Mk 1:15). It inaugurates the Lenten Season. For the next forty days, the Church sets aside for us to prepare for the celebration of the Lord’s Passion, Death and Resurrection. In this penitential season we have the opportunity to make an annual spiritual “tune-up”, a 40-day retreat with Our Lord.

The word Lent is derived from an Anglo-Saxon word lengthen or lencten meaning "spring." We are "to spring" into action, to do the tasks of the season, to prepare for the new growth and graces that overflow from Easter. Spring is the most important season for a farmer, for it determines what crops he will plant. Once decided, he prepares the soil thoroughly and plants the seed carefully, hoping that the seed buried deep in the soil will produce an abundant crop.

During this Lenten spring, joyfully dying to self in order to become that fruitful grain of wheat, “unless the grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat. But if it dies, it produces much fruit…" (Jn 12:24f).

Let us renew our efforts, and through our Lenten observance, that is, prayer, fasting and almsgiving and master them as we “follow in the footsteps of the poor and crucified Christ” (St. Francis of Assisi).

The Holy Father offers some helpful thoughts on our path of conversion as individuals and as a community. The title of the Holy Father’s message for Lent 2014 is “He became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich” (cf. 2 Cor 8:9). St Paul was writing to the Christians of Corinth to encourage them to be generous in helping the people in Jerusalem who were in need. What do these words of Saint Paul mean for us Christians today? What does this invitation to poverty, a life of evangelical poverty, mean to us today?

These next seven weeks is a time for you to look deep into your heart, to think about your life and how you have been living it.

                                                        Have a Blessed and Fruitful Lent.

Jesus Never Forgets Us!

We are by nature prone to be anxious and troubled about many things. Worry affects each and every one of us. That's why in this Sunday’s Gospel (Mt 6:24-34), Jesus goes on to say, “You worry too much!” We should focus not on what worries us but on how good God is.

When we are tempted to worry about things in our life, we need to also look at Philippians 4:6 – it reads “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God”. We need to be praying about every need, situation and problem in our lives.

You want peace and freedom from worrying, give all your cares to Jesus. 1 Peter 5:7 says cast all your worries on God, because he cares for you. Jesus wants us to give him every worry and concern because He is able to give us everything we need for each and every situation – give it to Jesus!

Jesus never forgets us. We shall give our worries over to the real champion – Jesus Christ!

3Rs:

Release your regrets of yesterday;

Refuse your fears of tomorrow and;

Receive His peace of today.