Who is a friend? (John 15:15)...

Who is a friend? (John 15:15).

“I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father

I have made known to you,” (John 15:15).

Who is a friend? Many a times we can ask or we really do. I want to borrow the description of C. Raymond Beran in his book of "Bits and Pieces":

He says that friends are people with whom you dare to be yourself. Your soul can be naked with them. They ask you to put on nothing, only to be what you are. They do not want you to be better or worse. When you are with them, you feel as a prisoner feels, who has been declared innocent. You do not have to be on your guard.

You can say what you think, as long as it is genuinely you. Friends understand those contradictions in your nature that lead others to misjudge you. With them you breathe freely. You can avow your little vanities and envies and hates and vicious sparks, your meannesses and absurdities and in opening them up to friends, they are lost, dissolved on the white ocean of their loyalty. They understand. You do not have to be careful. You can abuse them, neglect them and tolerate them.

Best of all, you can keep still with them. It makes no matter. They like you. They are like fire that purges to the bone. They understand. You can weep with them, sing with them, laugh with them and pray with them. Through it all and underneath they see, know and love you. What is a friend? Just one, I repeat, with whom you dare to be yourself.

Jesus is our friend. We may have neglected the friendship or been out of touch for a while from Him but the Lord continues to have an intimate and growing relationship with each one of us who comes to Him. He’s ready whenever we are to renew the friendship. Our Friend Jesus is waiting to hear from us. If so, then let us get back and be in touch with Him again. Let us build friendship with Jesus into our life’s story.

 

 

The Messiah came to call sinners not to condone...

The Messiah came to call sinners not to condone...

One day when Pope John XXIII was a bishop of Venice, he was told that one of his priests was becoming an alcoholic, ‘We’ll have to go and visit him,” he told his secretary. When they got near the presbytery of the priest’s parish, the bishop and his secretary stopped at a hotel and the future Pope John sent his secretary off to get the priest. The secretary came back and said, “His hat is lying on table but he isn’t there.” To which the future Pope answered, “If his hat is there, he must also be there. Go and look again.”

 

A few minutes later the secretary came back. He had found the priest at the local pub. All three of them walked over the presbytery. There the bishop offered the priest a chair and said to him, “Sit down brother. I want you to hear my confession,” (Willi Hoffsuemmer).

 

Just like the understanding bishop in the story, Jesus in the gospel does not cover up the tax collector’s situation. He shows His critics that as the Messiah, he has come to call sinners like them, not to condone their sinful acts but correct them. Jesus, as Divine Physician, associates with the spiritually sick to invite them to repentance.

Can we do the same as Jesus did?

 

 

“Lenten diet...."

“Lenten diet:

1. Eat your words,

2. Swallow your pride,

3. Digest God’s teachings,

4. For dessert, indulge in prayer.”

And to complete the Lenten trio: share with the poor.”

Season of Lent: Spring, at least in the heart...

Season of Lent.

Spring, at least in the heart...

The blessed season of Lent starts with a day of fast and abstinence, Ash Wednesday, and ends with another day of fast and abstinence, Good Friday.

The word 'Lent' comes from an Old English word for spring. In the church, it is hoped, within each of us, spring is coming. This springtime is a renewal of life; a new beginning, the revival of freshness and hope in our life with each other in Christ, the radiance of our baptismal white. To get to spring we have to go through sometimes grey and barren look of winter or late winter. The ashes we receive are a good reminder that spring grows from grey to green. The yearly return of lent tells us, as does what we see in the mirror, that change is urgent and not to be put off. We hasten the spring in our hearts by watering and cultivating them with more regular and heartfelt prayer, with practical care for the poor and unfortunate around us, and with more discipline in our lives. To paraphrase St. Paul: do not receive the grace of God offered in this season in vain. "Now is a very acceptable time!"

 

Therefore, praying, fasting and almsgiving, these acts must improve our relationship with God, our fellowmen and even with ourselves.

Remembering to Understand and Trust....Not to Regret....

Remembering to Understand and Trust....Not to Regret....

Many times men/women remember their past without praise for understanding the graces received and lessons learnt, BUT more with complain and regrets. However, when we read this passage of the gospel by Jesus, we come to understand that, no matter how the past might have shown us hard situations and realities to regret of, there is always a reason to thank God for His graces; there is always reason  to understand and trust more. Just look how Jesus explains it to his apostles: 

Mark 8, 14 - 21...
"14 The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. 15 “Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.”16 They discussed this with one another and said, “It is because we have no bread.” 17 Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 18 Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember?

So when you think you have memories to complain of or regret, just remember: “Positive lessons learned... Blessings recognized... Humour found... No regrets.”

 

Don't despair; we still have Noah in our Times....

Don't despair; we still have Noah in our Times....

When life becomes harsh, seems unfair, people seam all against us, sickness, tragedies, frustrations, etc, remember that that is not the end; there is still good life in our times - some Noah are still in our times; even God regretted why he created man/woman but because of just one Noah, he decided to let man live: just read this passage of the bible:

 

Genesis 6, 5 - 8:

"5 The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. 6 The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. 7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favour in the eyes of the Lord."

Therefore, never despair in life: We still have Noah in our Times....

Happy family day 2015

“A happy family is but an earlier heaven.”

Feast of Blessed Joseph Allamano - Feb16

Blessed Joseph Allamano or Giuseppe Allamano was born at Castelnuova in Asti, Italy on January 21, 1851 as the fourth in a family of five children and he is the nephew of Saint John Cafasso, his father died when Joseph was only three years old. Giuseppe studied at the Salesian Oratory in Valdocco, Italy and Saint John Bosco was one of his spiritual directors.

He entered the diocesan seminary of Turin, Italy in November 1866 and on September 20, 1873 got ordained as priest and later become spiritual director of the Turin seminary. On October 2, 1880 he was appointed rector of the Consolata Shrine and he modified the shrine and made it a source for spiritual renewal throughout the diocese.

On January 29, 1901 Fr Allamano founded the Consolata Missionary Priests and Brothers and the first missionaries reached Kenya in 1902. On January 29, 1910 he founded the Consolata Missionary Sisters for women with a missionary vocation.

Fr Allamano died on February 16 (day chosen for his memorial) at Turin, Italy of natural causes. He was venerated on May 13, 1989 and beatified on October 7, 1990 by Pope John Paul II.

N.B: Founded in 1901(priests and brothers) and in 1910 (sisters) by Blessed Joseph Allamano in Turin, Italy, the Consolata Missionaries now count with about one thousand members (priests and brothers) working in 27 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and America.