Advent: Solution for Dangerous Monotony,

Dangerous Monotony?

Constantly repeated sounds can lull us into sleep. The repetitive lapping of waves on the shore, steady raindrops falling on the roof and other such sounds tend to dull our awareness. On deeper level the world about us, doesn't put us to sleep, rather more dangerously, it makes us forget the important truths of life. Eventually we find ourselves on the outer edge of our Christian faith. That is why we need Advent. It reminds us forcibly that the things of this world are passing away, while at our doorstep is the stream of eternal life bearing riches and happiness beyond imagining.


In the first reading the prophet Isaiah, despite the blaring boasts of secular powers sounding from the mountain strongholds, he sees that in the long run, only God will prevail. In the second reading, Paul sees Isaiah's vision approaching completion. And in the Gospel, Jesus shouts a warning: " ...as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the son of man - at an unexpected hour!  Therefore, the choice is ours; are we ready to take notice of times and follow the way of Christ or will we let ourselves be lulled by the monotonous sounds of the world?

The Antidote of Fear is not Courage but Trust...

Insight of the Day...

“Let nothing disturb you, let nothing frighten you, all things pass away: God never changes. Patience obtains all things. He who has God finds he lacks nothing; God alone suffices.”

AND THE HERO LIES WITHIN !

'Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?
 

Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small doesn't serve the world.
There's no thing enlightened about shrinking so
that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone.
 

And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other
people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others. Be the light you are meant to be and light up others on the way, and remember; allow yourself to be lighted too!

Sts. Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, Archangels

           

The name Michael comes from the Hebrew phrase mi-ke-el meaning, “Who is like unto God?”  “Who is like unto God?” was the cry of the great Archangel when he smote the rebel Lucifer in the conflict of the heavenly hosts. From that hour he has been known as Michael, Captain of the armies of God, the archetype of divine fortitude, the champion of every faithful soul in strife with the powers of evil. Ever since its foundation by Jesus Christ, the Church has venerated Saint Michael as her special patron and protector. He is also the patron of grocers, mariners, policemen, radiologists and the sick.

            Gabriel as coming from the Hebrew root word geber, meaning, “man,” plus el which is the shortened formed of elohim or God. So Gabriel can mean: “man of God.” But the same Hebrew root word can also form the word gibbor, which means, “mighty.” And again Gabriel can also mean: “God has shown Himself mighty.” He was the angel who announced to Zechariah and to Mary the coming birth of St, John the Baptist and Jesus respectively. He said top Mary, “Hail, full of grace,” which we pray always everyday. He is the patron saint of messengers, postal employees and radio and television workers.

            The name Raphael comes from the Hebrew verb rāphà, which means: “to heal.” Combined with the divine el, it becomes: “God heals.” He is one of the three angels mentioned by name in Scripture and one of the seven that stands before God’s throne. He was the lead character in the deutero-canonical book of Tobit in which he travelled with and guarded Tobiah and cured a man’s blindness and hence his connection with travelers, young people, blindness, healing and healers. Traditionally, he is considered the force behind the healing power of the sheep pool mentioned in John 5:1-4. He is the patron saint of the blind, nurses, physicians and travelers.

            This feast of the Three Archangels is not only a reminder of their role as messengers of God but of us too as messengers and missionaries of His good news and message of the Kingdom and His salvation. We are called to bring this good news of God’s salvation and kingdom to others like they did.

People of Alleluia

       Every Easter Sunday the Glory to God and Alleluia is being sung; Alleluia is a Hebrew word which means “Thanks be to God” or “Praise God’. As God’s children, we keep on thanking God our Father for His wonderful works of mercy and love; the bell is rung, we feel excited and we clap our hands because we are celebrating not a very ordinary celebration but the most important in the Church’s liturgical year as it celebrates Christ’s triumph over sin and death. The Church is built on the foundation of the resurrection of Jesus. The Church proclaims through the Exultet (Easter proclamation) that on this day, Jesus Christ broke the chains of death and rose triumphant from the grave. This resurrection gives us hope that someday, just like Him, we too will rise from the dead and enter the Kingdom. That’s why we sing Alleluia to the Lord.

         The celebration of Easter reminds us also that we have the same mission as Mary Magdalene, Peter, and the other disciples of Jesus. Easter calls for a renewal of our faith so as to be sensitive to the abiding presence of Jesus in our midst. To bring about Jesus’ Resurrection is to allow freedom, justice, peace, and reconciliation to become manifest in our relationships with all our brothers and sisters.

Happy Easter to ALL.

Common distorted images of God

There are common distorted images of God carried from our upbringing when we were still children:

1. God is stern, angry, cruel, erratic and revengeful. When a child is naughty, obstinate, and disobedient and make childish misdeeds, parents use God to strike fear on the child.
2. God is easily hurt and offended. When a child has done something ‘bad’ parents usually say to project their own feelings. You hurt Jesus! You offend God!
3. God is the withholder of love. If the child does not act according to the desire of the parents, he is threatened with the loss of God’s love. God is presented as someone who loves us based on the way we perform our duties.
4. God is a policeman and an accountant of our failures. God is presented as being occupied with hostile snooping and recording merits and demerits.
5. God is a temper and a tester. God is often depicted as one who delights in sacrifice, who exacts from us countless sufferings and chastises us when we reject His will.

True motivation to continue in Good...

The face of Christ inspires us even

to trust those who are not trustworthy

 

What motivates you to do something good for the other person? A certain philosopher named Emmanuel Levinas once remarked that the face of the other should move us to responsibility and compassion. But for Christians, it is the face of Christ in the other which should move us to do good towards him/her. We need to see Christ in the other person. According to human standards, this at times does not make sense. Once a woman mentioned that she wants to give up her membership from a certain renewal group because some members are not showing their true color, in her words: “plastic face.” Immediately I asked, “What moved you to join the group in the first place?” she replied: “It is my faith in Christ.” Without hesitation, I told her: “Then, by all means continue for the sake of Christ!” Indeed, it is too difficult to welcome, clothe, feed, visit and give a drink to a person when he/she doesn’t pass your taste or standard. But for the sake of Christ, you’ve got to do it.  People tend to be ungrateful but this should not discourage a Christian from showing his/her concern and love. This is the beauty of Christianity. The face of Christ in other moves us to serve the less fortunate, the unlovable and those undeserving of our help. The face of Christ inspires us even to trust those who are not trustworthy. Only in this manner that we never get tired of doing good to the other.

SELF EVALUATION AND CHECKLIST OF LOVE - (1 Corinthians 13:4-13)

SELF EVALUATION AND CHECKLIST OF LOVE (1 Corinthians 13:4-13)
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them... (Gen. 1,27)
The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1 Jn. 1, 48)
By equation, if God created us in His image, and God is love, Then we are Love...
Love in the Bible	My way of living Love?
Love Is Patient
Love Is Kind
It Does Not Envy
It Does Not Boast
It Is Not Proud
It Does Not Dishonour Others
It Is Not Self-Seeking
It Is Not Easily Angered
It Keeps No Record Of Wrongs
Love Does Not Delight In Evil
Rejoices With The Truth
It Always Protects
Always Trusts
Always Hopes
Always Perseveres
Love Never Fails
16	(   )

Times go by Turns

There is an appointed time for everything...a time to weep, and a time to laugh; (Ecl. 3, 1). Good and bad alternate in any human life. Some would say that joy and pain balance out over the course of the years. The poet St. Robert Southwell puts it better in his poem, "Times go by Turns" (1561-1595) - that "The saddest birds a season find to sing..." Very often we find that just allowing the passage of some time gives us a better perspective on today's worries or allows God to do us good.  Let's look at the message of the poem:

Times go by Turns by Robert Southwell.

THE lopped tree in time may grow again,
Most naked plants renew both fruit and flower;
The sorest wight may find release of pain,
The driest soil suck in some moist'ning shower;
Times go by turns and chances change by course,
From foul to fair, from better hap to worse.

The sea of Fortune doth not ever flow,
She draws her favours to the lowest ebb;
Her tides hath equal times to come and go,
Her loom doth weave the fine and coarsest web;
No joy so great but runneth to an end,
No hap so hard but may in fine amend.

Not always fall of leaf nor ever spring,
No endless night yet not eternal day;
The saddest birds a season find to sing,
The roughest storm a calm may soon allay:
Thus with succeeding turns God tempereth all,
That man may hope to rise, yet fear to fall.

A chance may win that by mischance was lost;
The net that holds no great, takes little fish;
In some things all, in all things none are crost,
Few all they need, but none have all they wish;
Unmeddled joys here to no man befall:
Who least, hath some; who most, hath never all.

Real Celebrities...?

     So often we think of the famous biblical character David as the beard-less shepherd boy who kills the giant Goliath for his people; a brilliant writer of Psalms. We are even told that the Lord will come from the house of David (Lk. 1, 27...) and will be called the son of David. The guy who was a king and even forgave Saul totally. But that is not the end of the story...the same David (2 Sam. 11...) we hear of a particularly heinous episode in his life involving adultery and murder. And there is more. True, at other times, we have penitence and tears.

         Hey, David pictures on the large screen the ambiguities and inconsistencies in the life of any one of us. Over the whole period of our lives, isn't there some comparable collection of good and bad deeds? So who is the real celebrity?

From Dissension to Harmony (1 Corinthians 12:22-25).

There is an old African fable showing that every member of the community, including those who appear to be useless, is important after all.

       Once upon a time, the various parts of the body began complaining against the stomach. “Look at me,” says the hand, “I till the soil to plant the seeds, I harvest the crops, I prepare the food. All that the stomach ever does is lie there waiting to be fed. This is unfair.” The feet agreed, “Me too, I carry the heavy stomach around all day, I carry him to the farm to get food, I carry him to the river to get water, I even carry him up the palm tree to get palm wine, and all the stomach ever does is lie there and expect to get his ration of food, water and wine whenever he needs them. This is unfair.” The head, too complained how he carries all the heavy load from the farm and from the river, all to feed the stomach who does nothing to help. The parts of the body decided that this injustice must stop. To force the issue, they decided to embark on a protest action. They agreed to stop working and feeding the lazy stomach until the stomach learns to be a responsible citizen of the body.

        A whole day went by and the stomach was not given any food or water or wine. All that the stomach did was groan from time to time while the others taunted him. By the second day of starving the stomach, the head said that he was beginning to feel dizzy. By the third day, the hands reported that they were feeling weak, and the feet were wobbly and could not stand straight. Then it dawned on them that, much as they were visibly supporting the stomach, the stomach was also supporting them in a less obvious but equally important way. It dawned on them that by feeding the stomach they were feeding themselves without knowing it. So they called off their strike action and went back to work to feed the stomach. Their strength returned and together with the stomach they lived happily together after.

 

A Checklist on Love...

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

(1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

 How much of a loving person are you? An exercise based on this reading helps us to find that out easily. The text, taken from the New International Bible, version reads: Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7) Now let us read the passage again putting “JESUS” and “HE” wherever we find “LOVE” and “IT.” You can see that it read smoothly. You can still agree with every line of the passage. Next read the passage again, this time substituting your name, “NN”, and the pronoun “I”. Do you still agree with every line in the passage? How do you score yourself on a scale of 1 to 10? That shows how loving a person you are.

Learning to win life...

        Looking at daily missal readings of this week, we are left with our mouths open by the immense and great teaching we are given on how to win life.  
        Nice things do not happen always. Like the day which shines or rains at times, there are unwholesome matters that come unpredictably in our way. Good memories are ever there for sure, but bad moments also come in our lives. the days, the sun, the moon, the week, the earth will never stop their rotation or motion just because we are in bad or in good moods, health or not, happy or sad, life goes on and we need to hear these words to keep head high: (1 Samuel 16, 1)...the lord said to Samuel, " how long will you grieve over Saul?...Fill your horn with oil and set out..."
        When we are born, we all cry as a sign of welcome to the world - the world is a war zone; a battle field; life is a journey of battle. But to win life, we should understand that our power is minute to tangle the enemies of life, we need extra power from God because the battle is His: (1 Samuel 17.32-33, 47) David said, " The Lord, who saved me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will save me form the hand of Goliath...For the battle is the Lord's..."

Greatest mistake we make in life..."childish requests"

"Appoint a king over us like other nations have...1 Sam. 8, 5".

            Parents have probably heard something similar from a child when a neighbour buys the latest toy for his little kids: "can't we get one of those too?' An American writer once wrote to the effect that if you let people do what they want, they end up imitating each other. We see it in teenage fashions where peer pressure almost dictates a uniform. Adults too fall to the same mistake when they do things because others do, or because others have. Israel was governed by judges up to this point but now they want a king, not because a king is good, or will bring unity, or lead them better, or make them fear God, or make them better in progress, BUT because other nations have; want to be like everyone else.

              Our conscience at times requires some singularity of behaviour on our part. Everyone knows how difficult that is when faced with a lot of contrary pressure from friends and neighbours. Though theoretically most of us are free to think and act as we ought to right, we are battered on the other side by a strong desire to fit in, to not stand out. Ideally in our own lives we would allow what God asks of us in our particular situations and with our specific capabilities to dictate what we do. Instead of looking over our shoulder to see what the trends are, we look within to know what God asks of us in the present moment of our life. Neither singularity nor conformity is primary but what conscience tells us.

Defeating - Ignorance, misunderstanding and pain

Jesus came preaching that He might defeat all ignorance. He came teaching that He might defeat all misunderstandings. He came healing that He might show His power over pain. We, too, must proclaim all certainties; we too, must be ready to explain our faith; we too, must turn the ideal into deeds.