Be a Friend of the Cross!

“Why are we too supposed to accept suffering in our lives and thus ‘take up our cross’ and thereby follow Jesus.” (YOUCAT no. 102)

In today’s reading Jesus said, “"Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me...”  (Mt 16: 24-28).

There are many of us that are willing to be friends of Jesus ONLY in good times but there are very few of us that are true friends of Jesus who are willing to embrace the cross at all times, even in the bad. Of course, it is not easy to be a friend of the CROSS. 

We should not forget that our Christian lives are constant battles. We cannot escape from these realities. In faith we can accept our own suffering and also share the suffering of others. In this way human suffering becomes unites with the redeeming love of Christ and thus part of the divine power that changes the world for the better.

Lord, give me the courage to take up my cross and follow in your footsteps.

"It is Good to be Here...!"

Why was Christ transfigured on the mountain? (Question no. 93 – YOUCAT)

Today we celebrate the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, (Lk 9:28-36). The Father wanted to reveal the divine glory of His Son even during Jesus’ earthly life. It was also to help the disciples later to understand His death and resurrection.

At Mount Tabor, Jesus begins to shine (is “transfigured”) before the eyes of His disciples. Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here,” (Lk 9:33).

During the feast of Sts Anne and Joachim, thousands of pilgrim were at the Church of St Anne, Bukit Mertajam and I am sure that they too felt “It is good to be here” at the mountaintop of the Shrine of St Anne.

About 3.5 million youths gathered at the World Youth Day in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. They too felt the same, “It is good to be here” at the mountaintop near the Statue of Holy Redeemer.

It is good for us to be here – here where all things shine with divine radiance, where there is joy and gladness, where there is nothing in our hearts but peace, serenity and stillness; where God is seen.

Pope Francis told the young people during the WYD, “It is good to follow Jesus… Jesus’ message is good; it’s good to get out of ourselves, to the peripheries of the world and of existence to take Jesus!” Christ needs us. He needs our young faith and our young enthusiasm. Thus, we are not just to feel good remaining in His presence but we need to listen and to follow Him.

It is time to awaken confidence and hope that we will be transfigured and transformed through our attitudes for a tomorrow filled with hope and light. Let the light of Jesus transfigure and transform you.

What is Given is Given!

 A short reflection on The Parable of the Rich Landowner, (LK 12: 13-21)

Do we want a life dependent on things of this world or a life close to God? Most people the main priority in life is to attain enough money in order to live a good life. Millions of people today are giving all of their time and energy to worldly things and are forgetting God.

The rich landowner of this parable was a farmer but he represents all human beings who are seduced by “all kinds of greed.” Greed arises when our heart loves material things and possessions in selfish and disordered ways. Possessions are necessary for life but possessions can assume such an importance in one’s life that they become obsessions.

 

In the light of what Jesus says, each of us has some hard thinking to do about our attitude towards possessions. We grab what we can and then hold on to it hard. Be on your guard against all kinds of greed.

God created “things” – material reality – for a purpose: to help us fulfill our mission in this life. Everything that belongs to God is ours when we desire to share it with others. Thus, our philosophy of life should be, “what is given is given, what is lost is lost.” What is given to others is not lost but it will be transformed into a treasure for eternity.

“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed.” (Mahatma Gandhi)

Pray the "Our Father"

Teach Us How to Pray:
The Lord's Prayer is model of all Christian prayers and it is the prayer which is recited daily by the overwhelming majority of Christians.

The disciples see how deeply and spontaneously Christ talks with God the Father, and they realise they are far from that. So, they ask Christ to teach them to pray. We, too, learn from Jesus how to enter into a relationship with the Father.

Too often we hesitate to bring everything inside of us to God. So ask ourselves what kind of things we need to grow; what kind of sins we need forgiveness for; and what we need to be protected from.

Jesus invites us to persevere and consistent in our prayer life. We shall pray the "Our Father" daily more calmly and attentively.

GPS - GOD POSITIONING SYSTEM

Do you know what GPS stands for? George PackiaSamy. Is it? No!

GPS is an abbreviation for "Global Positioning System". It is a gadget or a satellite based navigation system that we use for a journey or traveling to direct us to one destination to another destination. 

How accurate is the GPS? Today, they say that the GPS receivers are extremely accurate but due to certain atmosphere factors and other sources of error can affect the accuracy of GPS receivers. At times, this gadget will lead you to nowhere. You may not reach the right destination.

But Jesus is our Spiritual GPS pointing to the actual and right destination in our lives. When you come and hold onto your Spiritual GPS which is "Jesus, the Pioneer and Perfecter of our Faith," (Door of Faith - Porta Fidei) surely he will lead you and direct you in the actual direction. There won’t be any source of error in Him. He is not only the Pioneer and Perfecter of our faith but he is our Spiritual GPS pointing to the actual and right destination our faith life. He is our source of our strength, our hope, our faith and our love.

In this Year of Faith, "Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus," (Heb 12:2), our personal GPS (God Positioning System) and pioneer and perfecter of our faith so that others may enter into the life of Jesus.