The last place you thought to Look...!

The last place you thought to Look...!
            Think about times you have lost something and, after looking high and low, finally discovered it. Perhaps you said to yourself, "that is the last place I thought of looking for it!" Keep this experience in mind as you reflect on the readings for this, the third Sunday of Lent.
            In the first reading, we are given commandments as God's signposts to discover Him. The other two readings make clear that the commandments were but the beginning of our way to God. Something more was needed if we were to mature in our knowledge and love of God. The last place God's people thought of looking for a key to this mature growth was a cross. But a cross, as it turned out, was the key.
            The truth is that we, like the Jews and the Greeks, look for Jesus in spectacular deeds and words of worldly wisdom. A true understanding of Jesus is to be found in an unlikely place - in the mystery of the cross.

ASAP....! (Matt 6:7-15)

I pray that God’s will be done, not may will!

“Prayer does not change God, but it changes the one who offers it.”

S. Kierkegaard.

I’m sure when you hear somebody shout: “ASAP!” The meaning that would immediately enter our minds is generally we think of it in terms of even more hurry and stress in our lives.

Also maybe we think of this abbreviation as “As Soon As Possible.” How about if we think of it in a different manner in order to find a new way to deal with those rough days along the way as like these:

1. There is work to do, deadlines to meet; you have got no time to spare but as you hurry and scurry = ASAP! Always Say A Prayer.
2. In the midst of family chaos quality time is rare. Do your best let God do the rest = ASAP! Always Say A Prayer.
3. It may seem like your worries are more than you can bear. Slow down and take a breather = ASAP! Always Say A Prayer.
4. God knows how stressful life is. He wants to ease our cares and He will respond to all your needs = ASAP! Always Say A Prayer.

 

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.”