What is the Kingdom of God like?

What is the kingdom of God like?
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Where is the Kingdom of God?

The phrase 'Kingdom of God' can be taken in two senses.

1. 'Kingdom with its citizens'.

In this sense, all the followers of Jesus who live according to His teachings, carrying out the will of our Heavenly Father are the citizens of the kingdom of God.

All the Christians belong to this Kingdom; but if one doesn't maintain cordial relationship with God due to his life without sanctifying grace, he will be considered as one attending the wedding feast without 'wedding garment.'

2. The  Kingdom of Jesus is in our heart.

We offer our heart as His throne where from He reigns over us.

Our love, thoughts, words and actions are subject to His Rule.

We love Him,

We think about Him.

We speak to Him and about Him,

and

We serve Him by our acts of love and kindness.

Jesus compares the kingdom of God to small mustard seed.

Though it is tiny it grows to be a tree which attracts numerous birds, because they love the little black mustard seeds it produces.

1. In its broader sense, the kingdom of God which has a small beginning in the land of the Israelites will spread throughout the whole world, including all the human beings into it.

In another place Jesus said, "The kingdom of God is here, within you."  ( Luke.17:21)

In this statement 'here' refers the place being where He was preaching; 'you' refers to the Jews who were listening to Him.

He was the Messiah, the expected King of the Israelites, the king of the Kingdom of God.

So kingdom of God, which had its beginning in Judea, spread throughout the whole by the power of the Holy Spirit and the preaching of the Apostles.

2. The kingdom of God starts from the smallest beginnings in our hearts  which are receptive to God's word.

It completely transforms us from within. 

It transforms our human thoughts, words and actions into those of Christians, that is, Christ bearers.

After this transformation we think, speak and behave like Christ.

Each and every Christian is the kingdom of God.

Jesus compares the kingdom of God to the leaven which a woman takes and hides in three measures of flour, till it is all leavened.

Leaven is a  powerful transforming agent.

Left to itself  the mixture of flour and liquid remains what it is and how it is.

But when the leaven is added to it a transformation takes place which produces rich and wholesome bread when heated.

In the same way, the word of God, whence proceeds His kingdom, transforms not only our life but that of whole world fully.

When we yield to Jesus Christ, our life is transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.

The Holy Spirit, dwelling in our heart as our King, transforms our life into one pleasing to Him.

We are no more children of the world; we have become  children of God.

Daily we pray to our Heavenly Father, "Thy Kingdom come."

We pray for the kingdom of God to come into our heart.

We also pray that the whole world become the kingdom of God.

We are sure our prayer will be heard.

Lourdu Selvam.

The kingdom of God.

The Kingdom of God.
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We have been created to be the citizens of the kingdom God.

"The time is completed, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent, and believe in the gospel’' (Mk 1:14).

"Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’'(Mt 4:17).

According to Jesus, the kingdom of God is nearby and to be its citizens we must believe in the Gospel and repent for our sins.

When we repent for our sins, they will be forgiven.

Then to get our souls more purified we must do penance.

"Jesus went about the whole of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom." (Matthew.4:23)

“To other cities also I must preach the kingdom of God: for I am sent for this purpose” (Luke 4:43).

Jesus' purpose of coming into this world was preaching the Kingdom of God and make us worthy of the Kingdom.

To be worthy citizens of God's Kingdom we must be pure.

To be pure our sins must be forgiven.

To be forgiven, amendment for the sins must be made.

The king of the Kingdom, Jesus Himself, amended for our sins by sacrificing Himself on the Cross.

The Kingdom of which we are citizens is Divine, because God is its King.

It is everlasting because our King is eternal and we are to be united with Him for ever.

It is universal because all the human beings are invited to be its citizens.

It is Spiritual because God is a spirit and we are its  citizens Spiritually.

It is a heavenly kingdom even though it is begun on earth.

We, its citizens, are duty bound to carry out will of our Heavenly Father.

This is clear by the words of Jesus: “Not every one that says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that does the will of My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew. 7:21).

As human beings with a body, a matter, we are living in this material world, under a material government, doing material things like eating, drinking, sleeping, earning and spending money etc.

But we were not created for living a material life for ever; this life will come to an end one day and our body which plays a major role in this life will perish and will return to earth to become one with it.

But we have a soul, a spirit, which is meant for a spiritual life which is everlasting and will continue to exist even our material death.

In fact we were created for this Spiritual life, to lead which our body must be a subservient servant.

As beings with a spirit we are living in a spiritual kingdom, of which God is the King.

As its members we have only one duty, love God and our neighbours.

Love will express itself in acts of love and kindness, which are done with our body, at the service of the soul.

The life led with love and acts of love is our spiritual life.

This life, though lived while we are in this world, belongs to the Spiritual kingdom of God, because we lead this life in God and for God.

We lead our spiritual life governed by the moral laws given by God in the form of Ten commandments and the precepts of the Church.

We are unable to see our King face to face now due to the curtain of our body.

This curtain will be removed one day and then we will see God face to face in eternal bliss.

Lourdu Selvam.

Love your enemy.

Love your enemy.
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Jesus has said that we should love our neighbours as we love ourselves.

Neighbours refers to all human beings.

They are not only who are around us but also who are far away from us, even in foreign countries.

There are two kinds of neighbours:

those whom we feel to love

and

those whom we don't feel to love.

People who don't hate us  come under the first category. They may be either our friends or those who don't know us.

It is easy to love them.

The people who hate us come under the second category.

They are inimical towards us and it is not so easy to love them.

But Jesus says, "But I tell you, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, pray for those who persecute and insult you."

It is very easy to love our friends.

In fact they become our friends only after being loved by us.

They will remain our friends so long as they reciprocate our love and do nothing harmful to us.

Enemies are those who harbour ill will about us and harm us either through words or actions.

Loving our enemies and doing good to them is more meritorious than loving only  those who love us.

Loving our enemies means loving those who don't love us.

Love doesn't stop in the heart, it jumps into action.

When we love our enemies we repay their harm with good.

Jesus asks us to pray for our enemies.

During our prayer usually we remember ourselves and our dear ones.

But if we are true Christians we must follow the example of Jesus.

Sin is an inimical action against God.

Sinners are unfriendly with God.

Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

The Pharisees blamed Him for dining with sinners.

Soon after calling Matthew to follow Him, Jesus ate a meal with “many publicans and sinners” in Matthew’s house.(Mark.2:15)

  Matthew had been a tax collector (publican) and was considered to be a sinner.

But Jesus made him His disciple.

The scribes and the Pharisees found fault with Jesus  for spending time with sinners.

But in fact spending time with sinners in order to convert them and to bring them out of sin is Christian culture.

 We cannot find fault with a doctor for moving with patients, because it is his duty to cure the patients.

Hospital is meant for patients.

How can we save a sinking man without jumping into water?

How can we remove ignorance from our country unless the teachers move among the ignorant?

Jesus loved sinners.

He came into the world in search of sinners.

He sacrificed His life for the salvation of sinners.

Towards the end of His life on the Cross He prayed to His Heavenly Father to forgive those who crucified Him.

We cannot call ourselves Christians unless we love our enemies.

One small boy asked his father,  "Dad, Father told us in his sermon to love our enemies. I don't know what to do."

"What is the trouble?"

"I have no enemies."

"No trouble. Love all."

"Do you mean that all are my enemies?"

"Hello! Father did not ask you to love 'only your enemies'. If you love all the people, even an unknown enemy will be loved by you."

"How to destroy an enemy?"

"Very simple. Make him your friend."

Lourdu Selvam.

"On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets."(Matthew.22:40)

"On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets."(Matthew.22:40)
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The whole universe can be described just in one word, 'love', because it was created from nothing by the love of God.

The whole Bible from the first chapter till the last can be described just in one word, 'love', because it reveals God's love for the whole human race.

By nature God is love,  so whatever proceeds from Him reveals His love.

As God is by nature love, when He created man He shared this attribute with him

It is because of this love inherent in man that  the human family is kept together, in spite of the weed plant seeds  sown by Satan into the fallen nature of man.

God loves Himself and man created by God loves himself.

Taking this love for granted, Jesus has commanded us to love our neighbours as we love ourselves.

God wants His love for man to be reciprocated.

That is why Jesus asks us to love God with our whole heart.

God is perfect.

He does not need anything from anyone to add to His perfection. Perfection cannot be made more perfect.

But God wants us to love Him for our good.

God has created us to be united with His love for ever.

For this there must be mutual love between God and us, that is, we must love God as God loves us.

In order to make us partake in God's love for all eternity, Jesus wants us to love Him as He loves us.

He is our beginning and our end, that is, we came from Him and are to return to Him.

In obedience to the first commandment,

We  love  God.

Love is between 'us' and 'God.'

Love unites 'us' with 'God'.

In obedience to the second commandment, we love our neighbours.

Love unites us with our neighbours.

So, love is the uniting agent. It unites us with God and our neighbours.

Here we note one point: if we love God, not our neighbours or if we love our neighbours, not God, our love is not real love and is not worth its name.

All the ten commandments given by God through Moses and all the  directions given by God through His Prophets are included in these two commandments.

True love is never passive, it is always active.

God's love is active - it is because of love God created us and is protecting us by His Providence.

Our love for our neighbours must be active - it must express itself in our acts of love and kindness.

All the human beings must be united by their mutual acts of help.

We must really be helpful to one another.

Our Lord Jesus is the perfect Model to be followed in our life of mutual love and help.

Jesus was helpful and obedient to His Mother and foster father.

Even at the last moment of His life, He was helpful to His Mother by entrusting her into the hands of His disciple John, to care for her after His death.

During His public life He did good to people wherever He went and cured whoever was ill.

Multitudes of people followed Him to listen to His words and to be cured by Him.

We, His followers, must do good to whosoever we meet, thereby making them realize that followers of Jesus do only good.

According to Jesus the second commandment is 'like' the first commandment.

We can give expression to our love for God only through our love and service for our neighbours.

Lourdu Selvam 

Why did Mary marry Joseph?

Why did Mary marry Joseph?
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The other day one friend of mine asked me a question.

"Our Lady offered her virginity to God when she was a girl. Then why did she marry?"

Joachim and Ann did not have a child till they were very old.

They prayed to God to give them a child.

They made a vow that they would offer their child to the service of God in the temple  if they were given a child.

God heard their prayer and Ann gave birth to a female child.

They named her Mary.

When Mary was three years old Her parents took her to the temple.

Joachim  set her down upon the third step of the altar, and the Lord God sent grace upon her and she danced with her feet climbing up the steps without turning back.

She served God in the temple till she was fourteen.

Our Lady  vowed virginity during her years of service in the Temple

Zachariah, the High Priest at the temple, was her religious educator and Spiritual Director.

When she was fourteen Zachariah decided to give her in marriage to somebody who would be the guardian to her virginity.

He left it to God to choose the right person.

He invited widowers to come to the temple, from among whom he was to choose the right person to marry Mary.

Many widowers came and among them was Joseph.

Each one of them was given a rod.

Zachariah prayed God to choose the guardian of Mary's virginity.

The rod in Joseph's hands put forth lily flowers, as a sign that God had chosen him as Mary's spouse and the guardian of her virginity.

Joseph and  Mary made an agreement, before being betrothed, that they would live as a brother and sister all their life.

Joseph accepted Mary as his wife fully knowing he was to be the guardian of her virginity.

Mary was a virgin all her life.

Mary married Joseph only on condition that she would remain a virgin all her life.

Lourdu Selvam.

The fountain of our spiritual joy.

The fountain of our spiritual joy.
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We have been created to be happy for ever with God.

Here on earth we are with a body and soul.

What is enjoyed by our body is pleasure.

What is enjoyed by our soul is joy.

Pleasure is temporal, joy is spiritual.

Spiritual joy is the joy that our
heart  experiences in the possession and enjoyment of spiritual gifts

We are joyful because we know that God has deigned to call us His friends and His children.

He protects us by His Providence.

We believe in Him and hope to be  united with Him in eternal bliss.

"You are to be perfect, as your
Heavenly Father is perfect." said Jesus.

We are journeying towards perfection.

All those who are on the way to perfection are happy.

All the riches of the world are nothing when compared to this happiness.

The very thought that we are the  children and friends of God and  heirs to His kingdom makes us joyful.

Some may think even worldly things can make us happy.

Tasty food gives pleasure to the body.

Together with the enjoyment of pleasure we are happy also.

But we cannot compare this happiness with our spiritual happiness.

Happiness we gain through eating lasts only as long as food is on our tongue.

Once it enters the throat the taste disappears together with the happiness it generated.

The happiness we get on our pay day goes on decreasing till the last rupee  in the purse and turns into worry when the last rupee is gone.

The same amount of happiness a beggar gets when he gets just one rupee can be got by a rich man  only if he gets one lac.

Temporal happiness is short lived.

It cannot give us permanent satisfaction.

The need for the worldly things will go on increasing to give us the same amount of happiness which we got in the beginning.

If just ten rupees were enough to make us happy in boyhood, we would need thousands in youth, and the need will go on increasing and a day will come when the whole world won't be enough to make us happy.

But Spiritual joy is different.

It is the Almighty God who gives us Spiritual joy.

From the very beginning unlimited God is behind our happiness.

So the need cannot increase as in the case of worldly joy.

Our joy will go on increasing depending on the intensity of our union with Him.

The more we meditate on Him, the more will be our joy.

The more we feel His presence within us, the more will be our joy.

The more we dedicate ourselves to Him, the more will be our joy

In the case of temporal happiness we have to go in search of the things.

The happiness comes from without

In the case of Spiritual joy, the unlimited God is already within us.

We must feel His presence within us.

Spiritual joy comes from within us.

Our heart is the fountain of our
Spiritual joy.

The same heart is the temple of the Holy Spirit, from whom proceeds love and joy.

The poorest  from the worldly point of view can be the richest Spiritually.

At the end of our life the world will not come with us.

But God who is with us now will be with us for ever.

We will be perfect as Jesus desires, as we will be united with God who is perfect.

Lourdu Selvam.

Give God what is God's.(Matthew.22:21)

Give God what is God's. ( Matthew.22:21)
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Some people question us not to get an answer.

They just want to make a  show of their ability to ask unanswerable questions.

One day a friend of mine said to me, "You must answer my question with yes or no."

" You mean to say that no other word can be used?"

"Yes."

"Alright. Ask."

"Are you a Christian or
non-Christian?"

"Yes or no"

"I want your answer."

"I have answered  as per your direction."

The Pharisees asked Jesus a question not to get a clarification for any of His teachings, but for trapping Him.

We must first know the political atmosphere of the country at the time of Jesus.

The Jews were under the rule of the Romans.

They longed to throw off the foreign yoke and to be ruled by their own king.

They prayed for an anointed king who would free them from the Romans.

According to them  anyone who advocated  collaboration with the invaders could not possibly be the hoped-for Messiah. 

Supporters of the Romans would be considered as  traitors.

If anyone preached resistance to Rome, he would be branded an enemy of the Empire and would be punished.

Their question was such that any possible answer to it would brand Him supporter either of the Jews or the Romans.

If He supported the  Roman Rule He would be a traitor in the Jewish view.

If He was against the same, He would be a traitor in the Roman view.

Keeping these in their mind, they asked Him, “Is it lawful to pay taxes to the Emperor or not?”

Knowing the malice of the Pharisees, Jesus answered their question with a question, “Whose head is on that coin that you have in your pocket, the coin that you are using to pay for the temporal necessities of life?” 

The Pharisees answered,
“Caesar’s.” 

Jesus said “Then give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, but give to God what is God’s.”  (Mat 22:15-21)

Now the Pharisees could not trap Jesus because he answered that as the coin had Caesar's image, what is his should be given to him.

Jesus did not refer to tax, He only said, 'what is Caesar’s'.

We cannot find fault with giving one his.

He did not stop there.

He said, "Give to God what is God’s.” 

The implication is, "The coin has Caesar's image and so it should be given to Caesar.

We have the image of God, so we should give ourselves to God.''

''What is God's'' is ourselves, because we bear the image of God.

So we should give ourselves to God.

We are already His, then why should we give ourselves to him?

True. But God has given us a free Will. He wants us to accept Him with our whole heart using our freedom.

When we offer ourselves to God voluntarily we are united with God.

We are God's and God is ours.

We must remember another thing.

For the Jews the Romans were Invaders and foreigners.

Though Jesus is a Jew by His human birth, He is the Creator and King of the whole world.

Jesus was born not only for the Jews, but also for the whole human race, including the Romans.

The Romans also were His children.

Jesus was born

not to bring about political freedom,

not to bring about economic freedom,

not to bring about social freedom,

but,

to bring about Spiritual freedom.

Jesus was born to free our Spirit (soul) from sin.

We are His and to redeem us from sin was He born.

Let us offer ourselves to God.

Not only ourselves, but also whatever we have, even the material things.

Material things will have Spiritual value if we use them for the glory of God.

For instance, money is a material thing.

But when we use it to help the needy for the greater glory of God, it attains Spiritual value.

We and whatever we have are gifts of God, to be used in His service.

Lourdu Selvam

Unconditional obedience to the will of God alone will open the gates of Heaven for us.

Unconditional obedience to the will of God alone will open the gates of Heaven for us.
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Due to our first parents' disobedience  sin entered the world.

Due to our fallen nature we have inherited from our first parents we too are often tempted to disobey God's commandments.

Jesus counteracted man's disobedience  by His obedience in order to bring us salvation.

Jesus Christ, the King of all creation,  seeks to save men through His perfect obedience to His Father. 

Our Lady obeyed the will of God by accepting to be the Mother of Jesus.

St. Joseph, the foster father of Jesus, is known for his silent obedience to the will of God.

When the Angel of God appeared to him in his dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him’', St. Joseph obeyed him without a word.

He knew that the Child was the Son of God.

But he didn't ask the angel any clarifying question, why God should flee fearing a man.

Egypt was 430 miles away from Nazareth.

A journey of almost 30 days!

They had only one donkey they had to travel on!

Journey would not be a comfortable one.

Without giving thought to any of these, he obeyed and went to Egypt with Jesus and His Mother.

"He rose up, therefore, while it was still night, and took the child and his mother with him, and withdrew into Egypt, where he remained until the death of Herod."( Matthew. 2:14)

This was a total and complete act of faith and obedience to the will of the Father.

Then while in Egypt, the Angel appeared to him and said,  ''Rise up, take with thee the child and his mother, and return to the land of Israel; for those who sought the child’s life are dead. "

Again without a word  he arose, and took the child and his mother with him, and came into the land of Israel.

What an obedience!

Joseph is a byword for obedience!

Now we know the role played by obedience in the process of our salvation.

Disobedience - fall.

Obedience - rise.

No obedience - no salvation.

Jesus obeyed His Father.

Our Lady obeyed the will of God.

St. Joseph obeyed the directions given by the Angel of God.

What about us?

If we accept Jesus as our Saviour,

If we accept Our Lady as our Mother,

If we accept St. Joseph as our guardian,

We must accept their virtue of obedience also.

We must obey our Holy Mother, the Catholic Church.

We must obey our Spiritual Fathers.

Our spiritual Fathers are Our Lord's immediate Representatives for us.

We must see Jesus in them.

We must approach them for Spiritual direction.

We must obey their directions.

Unconditional obedience to the will of God alone will open the gates of Heaven for us.

Lourdu Selvam.

"Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes;"(Luke.12:37)

"Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes;"(Luke.12:37)
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It happened in 1954, during my High School days at St. Mary's, Madurai.

One of my friends in the Boarding fell ill and was admitted in the hospital for treatment.

He was in the hospital for about fifteen days and was getting well.

The day before he was to be discharged we were told that the next day's Mass would be Thanksgiving Mass.

We we were all happy.

The next day we went to Church in a happy mood.

But at the beginning of the Mass shocking words attacked our ears like a thunderbolt.

The Mass was introduced to be
Requiem Mass.

We were looking each other with tearful eyes.

The recovered boy had unexpectedly died in morning in the hospital itself.

Call from above may come at any unexpected moment.

We must always be ready.

Jesus conveys this message through the parable of the master and servant.

Master of the house may come home from a feast at any time at night.

The servants must remain awake all night so that they can open the door at the very moment the master knocks at the door.

We are cocksure that our life in this world is not permanent.

We may at any unexpected time be called to the next world leaving whatever we have, including our body, behind.

The same message is conveyed by the following verses also

"Behold, I come as the thief comes; blessed is he that keeps watch, and is ready clad", (Revelation.16:15)

"You are keeping it clearly in mind, without being told, that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night." (1 Thessalonians 5:2)

We are so much interested in worldly things like earning money, planning to spend it, taking care of worldly welfare of our dear ones and so many other things that we forget that we may have to leave this world at any time whether we wish it or not.

It does not mean that the above should not be done.

We have to live in this world till we die.

Food, money and such other things are necessary for living.

But primary importance should be given to our spiritual life.

Our temporal life should be helpful to our spiritual life, not an impediment to it.

How can temporal life be helpful to Spiritual life?

Very simple.

Whatever we do without sin can be spiritualized if offered to God.

If we begin every day in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and offer whole day's activities for the love and glory of God, the whole day's life becomes a prayer.

If everyday becomes a prayer, our whole life becomes a prayer.

By living a full time spiritual life, we are always spiritually awake to  'open the door the moment Jesus knocks at it'.

One Bishop was one day doing some garden work with his spade.

His friend asked him, "What will you do if an Angel comes down and tells you that you will die in ten minutes,?"

"I will continue to work in the garden.

I am always ready to die.

There is no difference between dying in the garden and dying in my room.

Why should I take some extra effort to die?"

Let us ask ourselves individually, ,"Am I ready if Jesus comes now,?"

Lourdu Selvam.

"Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows." (Luke.12:7)

"Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows."     
(Luke.12:7)
______________________________
My friend was looking dull.

"What happened to you? Looking so dull?"

"How else can I be? Life is full worries."

"Life full of worries? Do you know the definition of worry?"

" Do you mean to say that I will be free from  worry if I know its definition?"

"Surely. 'Worry' is 'meaningless fear'."

" Meaningless fear?"

"Yes."

"But fear has a meaning, look into the Dictionary."

"Suppose you are taking your child somewhere seating him on your hip, and the child fears you may drop him down..."

" I dropping my child? His fear is meaningless. How will a father drop his child down."

" Correct. So all your worries are meaningless fears."

" My child's fear is meaningless because I am his father and he is in my hands. How can my...."

"You say your life is full of worries. But all your worries are meaningless fears."

" But.."

" Stop your 'buts'. Hope you have not forgotten our Heavenly Father in whose hands we are.

All our fears are meaningless.

Have you forgotten Our Lord's words,

'Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies?

And not one of them is forgotten before God.

Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered.

Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.' "

Many people are like my friend.

They do not know who they are.

If we really know who we are there won't be even a shadow of worry in our life.

We are children of God, our Heavenly Father, full of love for us.

He did not create us just for pastime.

Do we bring forth children out of love or as a hobby?

God loves us from all eternity and His unlimited love brought us into this world, to love and to be loved.

We are in the hands of our Heavenly Father and we are always safe.

He takes loving care of us all our life by His Providence.

If we fear that something unwanted may happen in our life, it only means that our Faith is weak.

He takes care of all His creation.

We, human beings, often forget things that should be remembered.

One day I asked my friend, "What is your son doing?"

"Studying."

"Where?"

"College."

"Which college?"

''Some college. Its name is very long. I don't remember."

"Subject?"

"That I don't know. He chose the subject. He only knows.''

There are many human fathers who do not know what their children are doing.

But our Heavenly Father knows us through and through.

Jesus says, "Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered."

Do we know how many hairs we have on our head?

But our Heavenly Father knows.

He knows every minute detail about us.

He knows all our needs.

He knows how and when to satisfy them.

If He satisfies the needs of a small sparrow, will He not satisfy ours?

Are we not His loving children?

So we need not worry about the problems of our life.

Let us have trust in God.

He created us and placed us in this world, not for everlasting life here,   but for preparing us for everlasting life in heaven.

In the process of preparing us for the next world,

we are in the hands of God,

just as  gold is in the hands of the Goldsmith  in the process of becoming a jewel,

as is cloth is with the tailor in the process of becoming a dress

and as is an agricultural land under a farmer's care in the process yielding harvest.

We may meet with sufferings.

The gold in the Goldsmith's hands is first heated and melted.

The cloth in the tailor's hands is first torn before being stitched.

The land is first ploughed before the seeds are sown.

In the same way suffering is essential in the process our being saved from sin.

Do we meet with problems?

We need not worry, because God allows problems together with solutions.

We must fully surrender ourselves to His care.

He knows what to do for us and will do it at the correct time.

Whatever He does in our life is done only for our good.

He  does everything to prepare us for our life in the next world.

We must do only one thing: love Him and carry out His will.

Lourdu Selvam.

"When you did it to one of the least of my brethren here, you did it to me." (Matthew.25:40)

"When you did it to one of the least of my brethren here, you did it to me."
(Matthew.25:40)
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'Charity' is one the three Theological virtues, which means 'love'.

Of the three Theological virtues we won't have Faith and Hope after death.

Charity will be with us for ever.

Charity includes our love for God and love for our neighbours.

It also refers to our external acts love, which proceed from our internal love.

A charitable Person is one always at the service of others for the love of God.

Love for God and love for the neighbours must go hand in hand.

One without the other is not possible.

Can we say to God, "l love you, but I don't love your children."

Or

"I love only your children, not you?"

Both the statements are not possible.

We cannot help God, because He is perfect and does not need anybody's help.

So, Jesus says, "when you did it to one of the least of my brethren here, you did it to me."
(Matthew.25:40)

Whenever we help our neighbours we help Jesus.

It goes without saying that when we insult our neighbours we insult Jesus.

Helps done for wrong reasons such as: self glorification,
mere obligation,
considering it as a burden and expecting greater help are not meritorious before God.

It is not the act, but the intention with which it is done that decides whether act is meritorious or not

Glory of God must be our only intention.

True charity is loving God above all things for His own sake.

True charity makes a person humble.

Because, pride is a satanic sin and against service.

Humility is Divine Virtue because Almighty God humbled Himself to the status of a human being in order to redeem him from sin.

Just think of Our Lady.

She  knew that the child conceived in her womb was God, but she did not become proud of her status as Mother of God.

But most humbly she went to Elizabeth and was helpful to her till her labour.

Mother of God is our perfect model for the virtue of humility.

Just think of St. Theresa Calcutta.

It was her humility together with Charity that enabled her to serve the poorest of the poor.

If she could serve even lepers with a smile on her face, it was due to her Charity and humility.

'Service' and 'servant' are related words.

Whatever be one's social status, he must first become a servant mentally before beginning his service.

Let us examine our conscience to see how far we love God and our neighbours and how far we serve them for the love of God.

Lourdu Selvam

Blessings of Jesus.

Blessings of Jesus.
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God has created us with the purpose of sharing His eternal happiness with us in Heaven.

But the path to Heaven  here on earth is often strewn with serious troubles that can lead to  sufferings.

As true Christians we must trust in God’s plan for us.

The trials and tribulations we meet with  serve the real purpose for our greater good in the end, helping to perfect us.

As Christians  we are supposed to view suffering in a totally different way, a totally different context, than an unbeliever.

An unbeliever views suffering as suffering, but we, believers in Christ  must   view it as a blessing.

We must  see it as a gift from God, because Jesus brought us salvation only through the Cross on which He sacrificed Himself for us.

If the Cross which brought us salvation is given to us, we must view it as a precious gift given to us out of pure love and concern for us.

An image resembles 'the  real' in every respect.

A Christian is an image of Christ.

We expect others to see Christ in us, Christians.

We are expected to resemble Christ.

How can we resemble Him without a Cross?

We have been invited to follow Jesus.

How can we follow Him without a Cross?

We take up the cross not because it is a cross, but because it is His Cross.

We must have the ability to see suffering on earth as part of our relationship with God

and as something willingly taken on and endured by Christ Himself for our sake.

The source of our ability to bear our own crosses is the gift of grace of God through the action of the Holy Spirit.

The ultimate model for us of how all manner of crosses are to be borne is, of course, Jesus Christ Himself.

Christ’s actions and words  teach us not only how to face suffering,

but also how to turn it into its redemptive power,

by “offering up” our sufferings,

joining them with Christ’s Passion,

for the remission of sins

and for spiritual benefits for ourselves and for others.

Let us be happy when we suffer, because   Christ is with us.

Lourdu Selvam.

Hardware and software in creation.

Hardware and software in creation.
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Many may be thinking that 'Hardware and software' engineering belongs to the modern scientific technology, invented by man.

But we must remember that God created man in His image.

Man invented this technology making use of the intellect God has shared with him.

But the real engineer is God, who did not invent, but created this technology.

He created the whole universe  together with the laws of nature, the former hardware and the latter software.

Water is a hardware and the God written program according to which it functions is its software.

When heated water evaporates. Why? God has programed it so.

We can see the hardware and its functioning, but we cannot see the programed software, the law of nature, which is behind the function.

All the heavenly bodies, including earth, are hardwares.

The law of gravitation, which keeps them in their orbits without clashing with one another, is the software.

God applied the same technology to living beings also.

Body is their  hardware.
The life which activates them is the software.

Once their life is gone they become carcasses

Carcass is a matter programed to decay.

Man was created with ' body and soul' , the former hardware and the latter software.

Our soul was created in the image of God, with intellect, mind and love.

Our body is like that of any other animal with some extra fittings to suit our soul's functioning.

As our animal body is activated by a spiritual soul, we are called 'rational animals'.

I compared our soul to a software programed into our body, which I compared to a hardware.

But there is vast difference between our soul and the software of other material things and the  non-souled animals.

All other created things except man function as they are programed and they are not responsible for any of their functions.

But God created man's soul in His image and an important attribute God shared with him is freedom of will.

God being a self-existent eternal being, He enjoys full freedom of will and action which cannot be questioned by anybody.

He has blessed us with freedom of will and action and hence we are responsible for each and every one of our actions.

But our freedom is not unconditional as God's is.

No one can question God's freedom.

God will not interfere in our freedom, but He has every right to question our choice if it goes wrong, because He has   given us the freedom to make the right choice.

Then why did He give us freedom, if we are expected to choose according to His Will?

Because only freely done acts are meritorious to be rewarded.

A dog cannot be rewarded because it is not responsible for any of its actions and hence it cannot claim a reward.

But each and every good act of ours, however small it is, is meritorious before God.

What is the reward promised for our free right choice?

God Himself.

Yes, God will give Himself as a reward for our good life.

What will happen if we make the wrong choice?

We will loose Him for ever if we make the wrong choice.

What is to be chosen if it is to be right?

He has given us just two commandments, which we must obey. We must choose obedience to His commandments.

1. "Love me with your whole heart".

2. "Love your neighbour as you love yourself."

How sweet are the commandments!

St. Augustine said, "Love and do as you like."

Yes. We can do anything provided it is not against God's will.

Love and sin cannot coexist.

Can light and darkness be together?

Whole hearted love for God and for our neighbours alone is the entry ticket to Heaven!

It is a free ticket!

How blessed are we!

Lourdu Selvam. 

"Peace be to this house!''. (Luke.10:5)

"Peace be to this house!''.
(Luke.10:5)
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When Jesus sent His disciples before him for preaching He advised them to greet the people in the house they visit with the words, 'Peace be to this house'.

Peace is a word very dear to Jesus.

When He was born in a poor cattle residing stable, the first message that came from Heaven to the residents of our world was 'Peace be to men of good will'.

Whenever He appeared to His Apostles after His Resurrection, He greeted them with 'Peace be with you.'

If we give a little thought we can find out that Bible itself is a message of peace.

It tells us how our peace with God was lost and how it was regained.

Peace presupposes love, because it can exist only between people who love one another.

God is love, so peace proceeds from Him.

God created man out of pure love.

So peace existed between God and man at the time of creation.

But by breaking God's commandment man lost the peace that united Him with God.

Man was responsible for the loss and hence it was also his responsibility to re-establish the lost peace by amending for his sins.

But amendment is a good thing and man cannot do anything good by himself.

So out of pure love God came to his help.

But God as God cannot make amendment; God cannot suffer by nature.

So, He decided to become man, remaining at the same time God, and make the amendment needed, in His human nature.

The Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity became man.

Jesus is fully God and fully man, with two natures in one person.

Jesus took upon Himself all the sins of the world and amended for all the sins by sacrificing Himself on the Cross, in His human nature.

The the peaceful relationship between God and man, lost due to the sin of our first parents, was regained by the sacrificial death of Our Lord, Jesus, fully God and fully man.

Jesus is the peace maker between God and man

Accepting the sacrifice of Jesus God forgave our sins.

Forgiveness is a very important factor in the process of peace making.

Now we are in peaceful relationship with God.

We should maintain this relationship by abstaining from sin and by our virtuous life of service to God and man.

From God proceeds love.

From love proceeds forgiveness.

From forgiveness proceeds peace.

From peace proceeds joy.

So when we greet a family,  "Peace be with you", we mean, "May God, love, forgiveness, peace and joy be with you."

God loves Himself and us.

Because of His love, He forgives us.

We should love ourselves, God and our neighbours.

As we love our neighbours, we should forgive them, as God forgives us.

So without love and forgiveness no peace is possible.

Without peace no joy is possible.

If there is no peace in this world, it only means we have no real love.

If we want to bring about peace  in our family and the world, we should first have peace of mind.

When we go for confession, the priest says,  "Your sins are forgiven, go in peace."

What does this mean?

If we are in a sinful state we cannot enjoy peace of mind.

Freedom from sin will bring about our peace of mind.

Contrition and confession will maintain our peace of mind.

Let us be peaceful ourselves and then give it to others.

Lourdu Selvam.

Did not He who made the outside make the inside also?(Luke.11:40)

Did not He who made the outside make the inside also?(Luke.11:40)
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One day I went to a watch store in Nellai to buy for me a new watch.

The seller placed before me a number of watches with variety of designs.

I chose the one with an attractive design and bought it.

After setting the correct time, I came to the bus stand to catch the bus home.

A friend of mine boarded the bus with me.

When we arrived at Pavoorchatram,  I looked at my watch to see how long we had travelled.

My friend too did the same.

To our wonder we found out
that I had taken two hours to cover the distance from Nellai to Pavoorchatram while friend had taken just one hour!

How was it?

My watch had run faster than the bus!

The best looking watch with the worst performance possible!

Most attractive exterior with the most hateful interior!

Most of the human beings are like this: their exterior and interior don't tally with each other.

A mouth with sweet words and a mind with bitter thoughts!

Seemingly exterior acts of service with interior cent per cent business mindedness! Our politicians belong to this category.

Both our exterior and interior were created by God.

God created us with a body and a soul.

The body is the exterior, which can be seen.

Our soul is the interior, which cannot be seen.

Our soul activates our body and our body must cooperate with our soul.

Our soul was created for eternal life, which is its only purpose.

Our body must be helpful to our soul to attain the purpose.

Our soul which is a spirit, is subject to  God given moral laws.

Our body is a matter, subject to laws of nature.

Both the laws are subject to God's authority.

As our body is to be helpful to our soul in the attainment of its purpose, eternal life, it must cooperate with the soul in observance of the moral laws.

Those who don't observe the moral laws interiorly, but merely make an outward show of observing them  are called  'hypocrites'.

"Woe upon you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites that are like whitened sepulchres, fair in outward show, when they are full of dead men’s bones and all manner of corruption within." (Matthew.33:27)

A hypocrite is one who is Interiorly corrupt, but exteriorly pious.

When a Pharisee invited Jesus to dine with him,  He did not perform the ceremonial washing of hands before beginning the meal.   

Washing of hands is a hygienic  practice for us, but it was a ritual for the Pharisees.

Did Jesus forget or was he deliberately performing a sign to reveal something to his host? 

I think that Jesus did not perform the ritual in order to teach Pharisee a lesson.

Which is more important to God - clean hands or a clean mind and heart?

Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for harbouring evil thoughts that make us unclean spiritually - such as greed, pride, bitterness, envy, arrogance, and the like.

Our interior must be full of love, which will express itself in giving freely and generously to those in need.

Outward acts of  love, compassion, kindness, and mercy will overflow from our pure and loving interior.

If the heart is full of love and compassion,  there is no room for envy, greed, bitterness, and the like.

God's love must transform our heart, mind, and actions.

Some people give more importance to beautifying their body than to purifying their soul.

Our body must be subservient to our soul in our Heavenward journey.

Lourdu Selvam.

Where are the Saints?

Where are the saints?
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One friend of mine asked me: People from all over the world pray to Saints. Their prayers are heard and answered. Are they everywhere like God?

This question sent me back to my confirmation day.

After confirming us, the Bishop started questioning the confirmed.

When he came to me I was looking blank not knowing what he was going to ask me.

He asked me, "Where is Mother Mary?"

Without a second thought, not even a first thought, I said, "Everywhere."

The Bishop gave me a slap at my cheek, saying "In Heaven."

'Everywhere' can be used only when we speak about God.

Then how is it that Saints can hear the prayers said anywhere in the world, unless they are everywhere?

Answer is simple.

All the Saints are in Heaven united with God.

God is everywhere.

As all the Saints are united with and in Communion with God, all our prayers to the Saints are communicated to them through God.

As God is everywhere, prayers said anywhere find their way to the Saints through God.

The moment we pray, Saints receive our prayers through God.

But our 'everywhere' is distinct from God's 'everywhere'.

God is a Spirit and His existence is Spiritual.

God created the material universe and He is Spiritually present everywhere by His knowledge and power.

I am materially present at home.

When I am here, I cannot be anywhere else, because my body is a matter.

One material object can be in only one place at one time.

Saints are Spirits, in union with the Divine Spirit, God.

As God is Spiritually everywhere, even if you speak with the Saints from a planet which is millions of light years away  from our world they can hear you.

Where are the Saints?

They are with and in God.

Lourdu Selvam.

Many are called, but few are chosen.( Matthew.22:14)

Many are called, but few are chosen.(Matthew.22:14)
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The above are Jesus' words, said at the end of the parable of ' the marriage feast given by a king,' to give an image of the kingdom of Heaven

Before interpreting any Biblical Verse we must keep in mind some basic facts, which will never change.

1. God created man, out of His love, to give him eternal life, not perdition.

2. He blessed him with freedom of choice.

3. Jesus came into the world to save us, not to damn us.

4. It is left to man to make the correct choice.(Heaven or Hell)

Jesus tells us the parable of  'the marriage feast given by a king,' to give us an image of the kingdom of heaven.

Some invitees refuse to come to attend the feast giving excuses.

Among the people who attend  the feast, one man is found without  wedding  garment and he is punished for that.

At the end of the parable Jesus says "Many are called, but few are chosen."

Both the clauses are in the passive voice.

In grammar, if the subject of a sentence is active (-doing the act,) the sentence is said to be in the active voice.

If the subject is passive ,(allowing what happens to it) the sentence is said to be in the passive voice

When we read 'few are chosen' we feel to think that 'few' are chosen, themselves making no choice.

We may also feel to think that the 'others' are rejected themselves making no choice.

If we think that way,  our conclusion is wrong as it is against the basic facts.

God does not reject anybody, it would be against own will.

"It is what God, our Saviour, expects of us,  since it is his will that all men should be saved." (1Thimothy. 2:3,4).

Let me give you one analogy:

Hundred candidates went to attend one interview.

They were given a written test.

To be eligible for selection they should score above fifty marks.

Forty candidates scored above fifty.

Ordinarily speaking we would say forty candidates were selected and sixty were rejected.

But the fact is forty candidates made themselves fit for selection, others made themselves unfit for selection.

The selection committee acted according to the rules.

It is the candidates who were responsible for selection and rejection.

In the same way, God has made it a rule that people with sanctifying grace can enter Heaven and those without it can enter only hell.

So, depending on our having or not having sanctifying grace we either accept or reject God.

God wills that all of us are saved.

His love for us is so great that He cannot will otherwise.

It is because of His will not to lose us when we broke His commandment, He sent His only son to amend for our sins by sacrificing Himself on the Cross.

If we accept God's will as our will and carry it out with His grace we go to Heaven.

Otherwise we cannot.

God does not reject anybody; sinners reject God.

All the human beings are called by God.

Many have entered our Catholic Church accepting the call.

How many of us will go to Heaven?

It depends upon our having the wedding garment, sanctifying grace, with us.

We have been blessed with sanctifying grace at our baptism.

We should be careful not to lose it.

If we happen to lose it by committing mortal sin, we should get it back by contrition and confession

Let us pray to God to help us to keep our wedding garment safe.

Lourdu Selvam.

 

"Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!" (Luke. 11:28)

"Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!" (Luke. 11:28)
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We wish our dear ones with the words,  "God bless you."

We wish them to be blessed by God.

Jesus says that those who hear the word of God  and keep it!" are blessed by Him.

I wished a boy who was going to write a public exam, 'Wish you all success!"

But the boy gave a curious laugh and said, "If I should succeed some miracle should happen."

"Why?"

"I am going to write the exam  completely unprepared. I am not worth even a zero!"

Here my wish has become a mere formality, with no effect.

Those who wish show their good will, but the receivers must be worthy of it.

Otherwise it will be like watering firewood.

Now coming to the point, who are blessed, according to Jesus?

Those who hear the word of God and keep it.

First they must hear God's word.

Then they must keep it.

In this context, Jesus was preaching , so He used the verb 'hear.'

"And he said to them, Go out all over the world and preach the gospel to the whole of creation;" ( Mark.16:15)

Jesus asked His Apostles to go and preach.

They went to different parts of the world and preached the word of God.

Now the same work is done by their successors.

Moreover the word was put into writing to be handed down to posterity.  

So it is our God given duty to hear and read the word of God.

In short we must know the word of God.

It is not enough to know the word of God.

It should be kept, put into practice.

Unless we eat the food placed before us, the food is useless.

Knowing God's word is of no use unless we live according to it.

We must make an examination of conscience to see if we are practicing what we know.

We may read the Bible daily.

We may listen to the readings from the Gospel and the sermon given by the priest during Mass.

But what do we do with the word received?

Have you ever heard of the story of a calf?

One man had a cow.

It gave birth to a male calf.

The man grew up the calf into a bull and sold it in the market.

The buyer was a merchant and he sold it in the same market with profit.

That buyer too was a seller and he sold it with profit.

It was sold and bought, sold and bought, sold and bought; the selling and buying continued for years, until it became old and every buyer-seller earned a profit.

The bull was only a market-commodity throughout its life and was used for no other purpose.

One day it died of old age and only after its death it was sold to a butcher.

The same thing should not happen to the word of God.

It is not meant just for receiving and giving.

It is meant for receiving, living and giving, the most important purpose being living.

For instance, suppose we read in the morning, ,"And the King will answer them, Believe me, when you did it to one of the least of my brethren here, you did it to me." (Matthew.25:40), we must do some service to our neighbours, before giving the message to others.

Read, live and give.

Lourdu Selvam.

God operates in us as per His plan.

God operates in us as per His plan.
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One day I went to a doctor for treatment.

After enquiring me for about fifteen minutes to know the exact nature of my trouble, he said to me, "Do you trust me?"

"Doctor, I have full trust in you. Otherwise I would not have come to you for treatment."

"Good. I will cure you. But you must be patient."

"I know you are a doctor and I am a patient. A patient.."

" But what I mean is.."

"I know what you mean. A patient must patient if he wants to be cured completely."

"Exactly. Impatient patients go on changing their doctors and never get cured.''

In our spiritual life patience one of the twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit.

Our spiritual relationship with God must be based on the three Theological virtues: Faith, Hope and Charity.

We must have strong belief in Him.

We must hope that God will surely hear and answer our prayer.

Love of God must be our life.

Our whole spiritual life history can be told just in four sentences.

I believe in God.

I love Him.

I hope that He will save me.

I go to Heaven.

Today's article comes under the third sentence.

Together with belief and love, we need to have trust in God.

If we trust in God, we will be sure that

He will provide us with everything that is needed for our salvation,

Whatever He does in our life will be only for our good,

We are in His hands which will never drop us down, but take us to eternal bliss in His union,

He will surely answer our prayers, taking into consideration our spiritual good.

Surely God will answer our prayers, we should not put any time limit.

Here comes the virtue of patience.

We must patiently wait till our prayer is answered.

God has His own plan for our well-being and He knows when and how our prayer should be answered.

When I was searching for a job, l filled in an application for Railway service commission and and asked for my father's permission to post it.

He simply said, " wait till I tell you".

I obeyed him.

After one week he gave me an application form to apply for Teachers' training.

Without a word I applied for Teachers' training.

Surely my father had chosen for me a better job.

Our Heavenly Father knows what is good for us.

If what we ask for is not good for us, God won't give it.

He will give us only what is good for us, at a time when we really need it.

God operates in us as per His plan which we must accept wholeheartedly.

We cannot foresee the future, but God is omniscient.

Even if we ask Him to give us what want  'right now',  He will give us only at the time fixed by Him.

The following may be a funny analogy, but many a times we too behave like it.

The newly wedded couple's conversation at the first night they meet:

" Hi darling, Why have we been married?''

"To love and live to make a family."

"Correct. How are we to make a   family?"

"We are already a family. We are only to enlarge it by bringing forth children."

"When will the enlargement start?"

"It will take at least nine months."

"Nine months? I can't wait till then. I want a child right now."

"Super fast!  But the building contractor cannot give the building immediately after the contract is signed."

"Hello! I am not fooling. I am serious. We can start our life only after getting a child."

Feel like laughing at the husband?

Many a times we behave like it in our prayer life with God.

We want our prayer to be answered the next moment we have submitted it.

God has His own timings.

He knows what is to be done, at what time.

"Everything must be done by turns; no activity, here beneath the heavens, but has its allotted time for beginning and coming to an end."(Eccl 3:1). 

We must wait patiently till our prayer is answered.

Even if it is not answered the way we desire we must be thankful to God, because He gives only what is good for us.

We should not put any condition to God.

Did God create us asked by us?

Let us love and serve God unconditionally and leave it to Him to take care of us as per His plan.

Lourdu Selvam.

How is it that out of sorrow joy can come?

How is it that out of sorrow joy can come?
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In grammar sorrow is the opposite of joy.

But in practical life sorrow is the mother of joy.

Sorrow gives birth to joy.

Sorrow is the cause of joy.

Joy follows sorrow.

No sorrow, no joy.

Today is my younger son, Salette's birthday.

Still I remember the labour pain my wife was undergoing at the time of his birth.

Her screaming out of pain for about an hour is still ringing in my ears.

Not only my wife but also all of us were undergoing the pain, she in her body, we in our heart.

My elder children, Prakasam and Alphonsa were on their knees, throughout the time saying, "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus....."

After an hour came, " qua, qua" sound turning our pain into joy.

Sorrow at pain turns into joy at end of the pain.

No labour, no child.

No sorrow, no joy.

I just go back to my High School days.

Once in every year we would have three days Retreat, in strict silence.

On the morning session of the third day our preacher would take us all to Hell to show us the torture the lost souls undergo there.

We would be trembling with fear at the  thought of what would be our lot if we happen to go there.

Our faces would reflect the sorrow our hearts were full.

Feeling sorry for our sins and with a contrite heart we would make our confession.

You must have seen our faces at the end of the Retreat, joy dancing on them to the music of  our  internal purity caused by our contrition and confession.

This is the experience of all the students who were with me.

To experience real Spiritual joy we must feel sorry for our sins and confess them to a priest.

No worldly joy can equal this Spiritual joy, born of contrition.

No sorrow no, forgiveness.

No forgiveness, no joy.

So,

No sorrow, no joy.

There is another kind of sorrow, in which one feels sorry for the sins of others.

Our sins are against God.

God cannot feel sorry for our sins.

So He became man.

Only man can make amendment for the sins committed by man.

So, Jesus in His human nature took all our sins upon Himself and amended for them by His painful death.

Jesus was sorry for our sins, amended for them and requested His Heavenly Father to forgive them.

Here Jesus' sorrow for our sins has brought about forgiveness and joy for us.

Our Lady herself is known as 'Mother of sorrows'.

She had no sin to feel sorry for.

Our sins were the cause of her sorrows.

We are duty bound to feel sorry not only for our sins but also for those of our neighbours.

When we say Rosary, we must offer it as amendment for 'Our sins and for those of the whole world'.

There is another kind of sorrow which brings about joy in our daily life.

Whenever we happen to wound anyone of our neighbours by our word or act,  we must feel sorry for our word or act and express it to the person wounded, "Sorry brother.''

This single sorry will work wonders  by filling us with joy.

Sorry, if I have wasted your time.

Lourdu Selvam.

We should cooperate with God to attain our salvation.

We should cooperate with God to attain our salvation.
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To make sound with our hands both the hands must cooperate to clap.

One hand alone can neither clap nor produce sound.

Jesus came into the world to bring about our salvation by sacrificing Himself on the Cross.

But Jesus alone cannot save us without our cooperation.

We cannot attain our salvation without Jesus' cooperation.

We must work out our salvation with the cooperation of Jesus.

On the part of Jesus, He underwent unbearable sufferings on His way of the Cross and sacrificed Himself as amendment for our sins.

On our part we must believe in Him, love Him with our whole heart, express our belief in Him by our good acts of love and kindness and carry our cross till our death.

Being nothing by ourselves as everything we have, including our self, is God's free gift to us, we cannot do anything good by ourselves.

So our cooperation itself can be given only with the help of God.

God helps us with His grace.

What we have to do is to accept the God given grace and use it for working out our salvation.

So, God is the one who, for His good purpose, works in us both to make us desire and to work.

We work, but it is really God who works through us.

God’s grace and our free will jointly work out our salvation.

According to St. Thomas Aquinas:

"Free-will is the cause of its own movement,

because by his free-will man moves himself to act.

But it does not of necessity belong to liberty that what is free should be the first cause of itself,

as neither for one thing to be cause of another need it be the first cause.

God, therefore, is the first cause, Who moves causes both natural and voluntary.

And just as by moving natural causes He does not prevent their acts being natural,

so by moving voluntary causes He does not deprive their actions of being voluntary:

but rather is He the cause of this very thing in them;

for He operates in each thing according to its own nature."
(Summa Theologica.)

In our working out our salvation we cannot do anything unless God takes the initiative.

True we have got a free will and God does not interfere in its function.

But it was God who gave us the free will and hence He is the initiator.

Moreover God gives us enough and more actual grace to move us towards making our free will to make  correct choice.

Of course accepting or rejecting the grace depends on our free will.

To give an analogy:

Suppose we go to a super market to buy a talcum power tin.

There are many tins, marketed by different companies, each  having its own look.

We are free to choose whichsoever tin we like.

One tin is more attractive than all others in its design.

Now using our freedom of choice we select that particular tin for purchase.

Like the appearance of that tin, God's actual grace attracts us towards doing a good act.

We do the good act choosing it by our free will.

It is our voluntary act.

But who takes the initiative?

God, by His actual grace.

Let me give one concrete example to show how God takes the initiative.

Suppose we are in the state of mortal sin for a long time without going to confession.

During one Sunday Mass our Parish Priest invites us for a Retreat to be held in our church in a few days.

The Retreat Preacher will be one famous for his oratory.

We attend the Retreat attracted by the Preacher.

The sermons are so convincing and touching that we are moved to contrition and make a good confession.

We attend the Retreat and make a good confession using our free will and hence a voluntary act.

But  God  has taken the initiative by His grace which has done the work of initiation through our Parish Priest and Retreat Preacher.

God has inspired our Parish Priest to invite us for a Retreat.

God operates within us  offering His cooperation for our salvation initiating every good act of ours.

What God expects from us is  our good will, a will that is always ready to cooperate with His will.

We must cooperate with God with our good will to attain our salvation.

Our cooperation itself needs the cooperation of God which is always given.

Lourdu Selvam.

Narrow path leads to Heaven.

Narrow path leads to Heaven.
********************************

I was waiting for a long time to get into the bus bound for Thirunelveli.

There is a bus to Thirunelveli every half an hour.

If there is a bus  every half an hour, why should I wait for a long time?

All the buses were crowded, so crowded that an easy entry into the bus was not possible.

All the buses bound for Tenkasi were vacant.

One man who was standing by my side said, "Hi Sir, why not get into a bus? You have been here for more than one hour simply looking at the buses coming and going."

"All the buses bound for my destination are too crowded."

"Which is your destination?"

"Thirunelveli."

''All the buses going westward are vacant.Why not board one of them?"

I did not answer him.

In fact I cannot answer him because people with that trend of thought cannot be convinced.

Our life in this world has one destination- Heaven.

There is only one gate that opens into Heaven and it is very narrow.

The path that leads to the narrow gate is also narrow.

"Make your way in by the narrow gate. It is a broad gate and a wide road that leads on to perdition."(Matthew.7:13)

So we should choose the narrow path to go to Heaven.

Wide road leads to perdition.

By using this metaphoric language Jesus makes it clear that Heavenward journey is not an easy going one.

It is full of crosses and we have to carry our cross, just as Jesus did, to go to Heaven.

Our cross along our way will turn into glory in Heaven.

No crucifixion, no Resurrection.

No Cross, no Heaven.

There are many broad paths, very easy going life systems in this world, but they lead only to perdition.

Our bus may be crowded and uncomfortable one but we should get into it and travel in it bearing all the discomforts to reach the destination.

"Jesus said to him, I am the way; I am truth and life; nobody can come to the Father, except through me." (John.14:6)

Jesus is the only way to Heaven.

Jesus is the only truth we should believe in.

Jess is the only life we should live.

As Jesus is the only truth, any other thing that does not lead us to Jesus is not truth.

Truth is absolute.

It is true at all times and in all places.

It is always true no matter what the circumstances.

It cannot be changed.

Jesus is the Saviour of the whole human race.

This is true at all times and in all the places.

Any view that is against this truth is not truth.

Such viewers may project themselves truthful, but their views are only views, not truth.

As many heads, so many views, not truths.

Jesus is the only way to Heaven.

It may be full of sufferings.

Through sufferings is the way to eternal bliss.

Lourdu Selvam.

 

Jesus in the temple at the age of twelve.

Joyful mysteries.

Jesus in the temple when He was twelve.

Points for meditation.

1.  Every year, the Holy Family used to go up to Jerusalem for the paschal feast. 

When Jesus  was twelve years old, they went to Jerusalem temple as usual at the time of the feast.

2.  After completing the days of its observance, they set about their return home.

But the boy Jesus continued His stay in Jerusalem without the knowledge of His Mother and  foster father. 

They thought that He was among their travelling companions.

3. After journeying for a day they enquired their kinsfolk and acquaintances if Jesus  was with them. 

Having received a negative answer
they made their way back to Jerusalem in search of Him.

4. After  three days they found Him in the temple.

He was sitting in the midst of those who taught there, listening to them and asking them questions.

 5.    All those who heard Him were in amazement at His quick understanding and at the answers He gave. 

His Mother said to Him, ,"My Son, why hast Thou treated us so? Think, what anguish of mind Thy father and I have endured, searching for Thee."

Anguish means agony.  It reminds me of two things.

First the words of Simeon: A sword will pierce thy heart.

The agony she endured at not being able to see her Son just for three days reveals the depth of her love for Him.

How will be her agony when she sees her Son crucified on the Cross?

All for our sins!

We are responsible for the agony of our loving Mother.

Secondly, the agony of our Lord in the garden of Gethsemane.

I think that the agony of Our Lady is included in the joyful mysteries to give us a link to the first of the sorrowful mysteries, the agony of Our Lord.

6. Our Lord asked them,  "What reason had you to search for me? Could you not tell that I must needs be in the place which belongs to My.  Father?"

Jesus came into the world to do the will of His Father.

So whatever He does in our life too will be according to His Father's will.

It was according to the will of His Father that He remained in the temple without making it known to His parents.

Our heart is the temple of God.    It belongs to Him. He is always there ready to converse with us.
We must look into us to find Him.

7.    "These words which he spoke to them were beyond their understanding"

Sometimes we may not be able to understand the words of God.

But we must accept them as they are from our Father.

A patient must take the medicine prescribed by the Doctor to get cured.

He should not say, "I will take the medicine only if I know the full details about it."

A patient should have faith in the doctor before going to him for treatment.

We need not know how a food is made to taste it.

We accept the articles of Faith though we don't understand them because we have Faith in God.

8. "His mother kept in her heart the memory of all this."

Our Lord's words were beyond her understanding. But she accepted them and kept them in her heart.

Our Lady is our example in matters of Faith. Let us walk in the foot steps of our Mother and we will reach  her Son

9." He went down with them on their journey to Nazareth, and lived there in subjection to them."

Jesus is God with unlimited power,  but He was obedient to His Mother, a human being.

The most important thing we have to learn from Lord is obedience.

Obedience to Divine Will is starting point of our spiritual life.

Obedience to our parents, our spiritual Fathers, precepts of the Church and above all the commandments of God is our ID card to enter Heaven.

10. Dearest Jesus,

Your Father's will is Your will.

Your will is our will.

Help us do Your will.

Let Your will lead into

Life everlasting.

Amen.

Lourdu Selvam

Presentation of Child Jesus.

Joyful mysteries.

Presentation of child Jesus.

Points for meditation.

1. Mary and Joseph took  Infant Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem  forty days  after his birth.

It is to complete Mary's ritual of purification after childbirth,

and to perform the redemption of the firstborn son,

in obedience to the Torah (Leviticus 12, Exodus 13:12–15, etc.).

2. Joseph and Mary take the option provided for poor people.
"a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons."

The Child in their hands is the Creator of the universe and they knew it.

But they did not make any outward show of it and opted to be poor and so chose a gift meant to be offered by the poor.

But we, who call ourselves followers of Jesus, ...........!

 3.  Simeon, who had been promised that "he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ" (Luke 2:26),  came to     the temple when the Holy Family came there for the purification of Our Lady and presentation of Jesus.

4.  "He now came, led by the Spirit, into the temple.''

Simeon came to the temple  'led by the spirit'.

It was the Holy Spirit who made Simeon come into the temple.

Holy Spirit is always active in our life and whatever happens in our life happens according to His will.

5.  Simeon prophecies:  Jesus will be a sign of contradiction,  He will not only bring peace but also discard.

Later during His preaching Jesus Himself said, "Do you think that I have come to bring peace on the earth? No, believe me, I have come to bring dissension."

Only those who accept Jesus in their life will enjoy peace.

But there will be also  people who will not live according to His precepts.

To which group do we belong? Let us meditate.

6. Simeon also said,  "This is the light which shall give revelation to the Gentiles, this is the glory of thy people Israel."

The word Gentiles referred to  all nations except the Jews. 

So Simeon said that Jesus was born for all people, Jewish and non-jewish, in short, for the whole human race.

Jesus was born not only for us Christians, but also for those who are outside our fold.

It is our duty to bring them into our fold, this is what we call     'Evangelization'.

'Evangelization' is a duty meant for all the faithful.

7. Simeon prophecies that  a sword would pierce her heart.

He referred to the sorrows Our Mother would meet with during her
redemptive journey with her son.

Right from the beginning Our Mother knew that  Her Son was born to sacrifice Himself for us.

She brought Him up as a sacrificial Lamb.

She was with Him in His way of the Cross: during His carrying His cross it, His crucifixion, His death and His burial.

Just imagine the sorrow her mind would have been filled with.

Just look at her weeping face, with tears flowing from her loving eyes.

All for us, our sins.

Let us not wipe the tears flowing from our eyes.

8. The elderly prophetess Anna was also in the Temple.

She too, at that very hour, came near to give God thanks, and spoke of the child to all that patiently waited for the deliverance of Israel.  (Luke 2:38).

9. Jesus is fully God and fully man.

As God, He is not subject to human practices.

But as man he volunterrly  subjected Himself to jewish practices.

His presentation itself was according to Mosaic law.

Jesus went to synagogue.

He went to the Temple.

He upheld the Law and the commandments.

He affirmed the value of Scripture.

"what’s more, He condemned any intent to modify what was written.
Believe me, heaven and earth must disappear sooner than one jot, one flourish should disappear from the law; it must all be accomplished.  Whoever, then, sets aside one of these commandments, though it were the least, and teaches men to do the like, will be of least account in the kingdom of heaven; but the man who keeps them and teaches others to keep them will be accounted in the kingdom of heaven as the greatest."
(Mt. 5:18-19).

When sinners were baptised by St. John, Jesus, who had no need for baptism, asked John to baptise Him.

John was reluctant first, but as Jesus insisted, baptised Him.

Jews followed the Old Testament.

Jesus is the God of both the Old and New Testaments.

10. Dearest Jesus,

Just as You were presented to Your Holy Father,

We offer ourselves to you whole heartedly to be led as per Your will.

Accept us. Amen.

Lourdu Selvam.

Birth of Jesus.

Joyful mysteries.

Birth of Jesus.

Points for meditation.

1. Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem in order to have their names registered there as per the decree issued by emperor Augustus.

2.  Bethlehem was 70 miles away from Nazareth.

Joseph and Mary travelled for three days and arrived at Bethlehem in the evening.

As all the houses were full due to the coming of  lot of people to register their names, Mary and Joseph could not get place in any house to stay.

So they had to stay in a stable outside the city.

3.     Mary was then in her pregnancy.

While they were  there  the time came for her delivery. 

Mary gave birth to Jesus and laid Him in the manger to sleep in.

4. The Creator of the universe chose a very poor stable to be born in to show us the value of poverty.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit."

Let us meditate and see how far we are living these words of Jesus.

We spend thousands on celebration  of Christmas, the feast of Child Jesus who chose poverty.

He seems to tell us,. "Spend the money you  are mad after spending on me, for the needy who are with you."

5. The first Christmas message that came from above was ,"Glory be to God in the highest and peace be to men of good will."

Jesus came into the world to bring about peace.

Only men of good will can enjoy the peace given by God.

Peace that existed between God and us was lost due to our sin.

Jesus was born to re-establish the peace lost by sin.

Whatever we do, including our peaceful life, is for the glory of God.

6. To enhance the value of poverty the first message of the birth of Christ was given by God's Angels to poor shepherds.

The Shepherds came to the stable and paid their homage to Child Jesus.

7. Jesus is Almighty God, unlimited in all His attributes.

When He became man to redeem us from sin He took upon Himself all the weaknesses of human nature except sin.

As man He was subject to birth, growth, sufferings and death.

In order to make us like Him, He became like us.

He accepted to suffer to save us from eternal suffering.

He accepted to die to save us   eternal death.

All this He did out of His unlimited love for us.

8. Jesus was born for the salvation of the whole human race, not merely for the Jews.

So Jesus attracted three wise men from the East, who came to Jesus led by stars and offered Him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

It is our duty to spread the word of Jesus throughout the world.

9. God's showed His love for us by becoming man like us and by undergoing suffering and death in order to redeem us from sin.

How are we going to show our love for Him?

10. Dearest Jesus,

You came down to the world
To lift us up to Heaven.

You became materially poor
To make us Spiritually rich.

You took upon Yourself our weakness
To share with us Your strength.

You chose to die for us
To make us live with You.

Jesus I love you, because
You are so good and loving.

You showed  Your love for us by giving us Yourself.

Let us show our love for you by offering ourselves to You.

Lourdu Selvam.

Visitation.

Joyful mysteries.

2.Mother Mary visits Elizabeth.

One point to each Hail Mary for meditation.

1. Mother Mary was happy that Elizabeth, wife of Zachary , had also conceived a child in her old age.

Zachary was the Chief Priest who gave Mary religious education when she was in the temple and gave her in marriage to Joseph.

2.Mary  walked to the house of her relative Elizabeth, who lived in the hill country of Judea .

She walked about 100 miles from Nazareth.

3. Mary greeted Elizabeth.

 "No sooner had Elizabeth heard  the greeting, than the child leaped in her womb."

4. The child that leaped in her womb was St. John the Baptist and at that very moment his original sin was forgiven.

Mary was conceived without original sin.

John was conceived with original sin, but was born without original sin.

5. Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Ghost, greeted Mary saying that she was  blessed  among women, and  the fruit of her womb also was  blessed. 

Every word she uttered was inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Thus the Holy Spirit Himself justified our veneration for Mary by the words, "Blessed art thou among women."

6. In her magnificat our Mother Praised God for all the good He had done to her.

God lifts up the humble, but puts down the proud.

She foresaw  how future generations would consider her blessed.

Our devotion to Mary is thereby justified.

God is merciful towards those who fear Him.

7.Mary went to Elizabeth to be of help to her during her pregnancy period. She stayed with her for three months. She was with her during her labour and returned home after John was born.

8. Mary had travelled 200 miles to and fro by walk to help her relative.

By nature Mary had a helping tendency.

By loving and serving our neighbours we give expression to our love for God in service; our love expresses itself in action.

Mary taught us this lesson by living it herself.

9.   We meditate on our Mother's service not merely for the sake of meditation, but to put it in action in our life.

We eat daily not merely for the sake of eating, but to gain strength for life.

Meditation should be translated into action.

10. Dear  Mother,  please help us to live like you in our thought, word and action to prove ourselves your children.

Your internal love for God expressed itself in external service.

Please help us to be like you in our love and service.  Amen.

Lourdu Selvam.