Save me, Lord!

“The Lord comes to us in many different ways, beyond our imagination and expectation.” As the disciples' boat was being tossed about by a terrible storm, they saw Jesus walking on the water.  They were so frightened that they thought He was a ghost. When He got into the boat, the wind calmed down. The disciples realised that they were in the presence of God.

How do we find God in the storms and struggles of our lives? The power of God is manifested in all sorts of ways in our lives, usually in ways that we least expect.

At such moment of trials, danger, threats, disappointments or sickness, we cried out to the Lord, “Lord, I’m drowning”. We hope to hear some encouraging word from the Lord, “Don’t be afraid,” or "don’t worry, you are going to be all right soon.”

Deviation comes from a lack of attention.

We take our eyes off from Jesus and that make us to sink! Circumstances may deceive us and frighten us. 

When the fear strikes us be like Peter who cried to God, “Save Me! Lord, I am drowning.” Jesus is saying, “Don’t take your eyes off of me! I will keep you afloat.”

Sure, Jesus will offer courage and hope. Stay focused on God. Fix your eyes on Jesus again. He will never desert you in the midst of the storm! He will never leave us to sink into the circumstances!

"Let us see, O Lord, your mercy, and give us your saving help."

Nothing Is Impossible For God

The story of the Miraculous Feeding of the Five Thousand is not just the miracle of the multiplication of loaves and fish but it is the miracle of the changing of selfish attitudes into loving, caring and generous heart. God is able and willing to satisfy all our hungers and thirst. But He is waiting for our loving and generosity to give up our lunch pack “five loaves and two fish” which He needs to make the miracle possible.

Nothing Is Impossible for God: God can perform miracles whenever He wants and however He wants. Nothing can hold Him back. Still we often ask ourselves, “Why doesn’t Christ perform the miracle that I need in my life – my health problem, my work, my spouse, my children?” Could it be that we’re seeking something less than what He wishes to give us? 

God has a plan for each of our lives. It includes moments of great joys and of crosses. At times we may not understand God’s plan, but that’s when we need to pray all the more and entrust ourselves to Him even more than before. It is only through humble, constant, urgent prayer that we’ll receive the answers to our heart-wrenching questions and the grace we need to carry the cross courageously and lovingly, following in the footsteps of the one who shows us the way by carrying our cross first.

Pray for Angela, 14 months old from Myanmar who is in critical in ICU GH KL 

This is Eva Marybeth, a week old, who have received baptism on 2/8 in IJN KL.
She will be going for a surgery on 4/8.  Pray for Eva.

God's Kingdom Only Present in Christ!

What makes His Kingdom so valuable, so priceless?” (Mt 13:44-52).

Just imagine the tremendous joy the two men in the Gospel must have felt, when one discovered a hidden treasure and then he goes and sells all that he has and buys the field. And the other one, a merchant who finds a priceless pearl, then goes and sells everything he has and buys this one pearl. 

True joy is the treasure of a human soul, which lies the fulfillment of the spirit. Such a joy can only be found in God’s Kingdom that is only present in Jesus Christ. If we can discover Christ, we have found the Way, the Truth and the Life. If we have found Him, then we have access to the hidden treasures of God’s wisdom.

If God appeared to you and gave you one wish, what would you ask for? I bet most of us have a readymade list that we present to God on a regular basis anyway. We might just start at the top and put in a few bullet points under the “one wish” heading - Money, power, prestige, safety, security, a big enough nest egg to retire at 65, a promotion, a paid-off home loan, a nice long vacation. While most of us won’t get the opportunity, Solomon did.

In the first reading (1 Kgs 3: 5, 7-12), as a young King Solomon could have asked for wealth, military power, celebrity, security, prosperity, long life and happiness and he would receive them. But when God asked him to ask for one thing, he only asked for the supreme good that is wisdom from above. A wisdom that was given to Solomon, which is “a discerning judgment to distinguish between good and evil.” He knew that with wisdom comes every other good thing he needed and desired.

God's wisdom guides us in using them for the benefit of His kingdom. The more we love Christ and follow His ways, the easier it is to identify what's really valuable, separate out the junk that does not belong to God, and use everything else for His purposes.

Wheat and Weeds!

Every human heart contains a mix of good and evil. Good and bad people are always coexist like wheat and weeds growing in the same field, (MT 13: 24-30)

"When you weed out the darnel you might pull up the wheat with it" (MT 13: 29). One of the key things in this parable is that the servants are impatient to root up the weeds and to purify the field. They want to root out the weeds when they first appear. Yet the owner urges patience because in their enthusiasm and desire for purity they will also uproot wheat and kill it before it has time to establish itself and grow to completion. The Chinese proverbs say, “One moment of impatience may ruin your whole life.”

“Do not mastered by evil, but master evil with good," (Romans 12: 21). So look to Christ for the strength you need in order to do the right things. Let us pray for patience, courage, self-discipline and self-control towards evil.

The Bible Sunday

Our disposition for the Word of God is a good indication of our relationship with the Lord. Today’s gospel (Mt 13: 1-23) is an invitation to review and renew our attitude to the word of God. The Parable of the Sower likens the teaching of God’s word to the sowing of seeds. The seeds fall on different types of soil, the pathway soil, the rocky soil, the thorny soil, and the good soil. The Parable focuses more on how it is received.

Each of these types of soil is said to represent a certain type of heart with which hearers receive the word of God. The question each of us must ask ourselves today is, “What type of soil for the word of God do I represent? Am I like the pathway where the seed cannot even sprout, or like the rocky ground where the seed sprouts but has no roots, or like thorny ground where the word of God is choked to death by worldly cares, or like the good soil that bears much fruit?

Every day we should ask ourselves: What have I done today to spread the seeds of the Gospel?