WORD 2day: 30th June, 2014

The Tough Call

Am 2: 6-10, 13-16; Mt 8: 18-22

Following the Lord is not an easy task, it is really a tough call. Amos explains today how an unjust life and a godly life cannot go together, how a maltreatment of a brother or a sister and the worship of the Lord cannot be reconciled with each other, how selfishness and true spirituality are opposed to each other. Amos will continue to challenge us this whole week. Amos is called the roaring lion, the Lord's voice that convicts us, the goodness of God that challenges us to be just, good and truly holy.

Jesus, in the Gospel, takes the presentation of Amos ahead and points to how difficult it is to be true disciples to a demanding master like the Lord! It is a fact! The Lord demands nothing less than an absolute commitment or surrender to the Lord. It is all about Integrity, a state where what I think and what I express are one and the same, what I preach and what I struggle to practice are not opposed to each other, what I do and what I am flow from the fact that I belong to God always and everywhere! It is indeed a tough call... but there is no other way to prove myself worthy of the One who has called me!

FEAST OF STS. PETER AND PAUL

Some Traditional Trivia... interesting to know

- Originally this feast was called the Martyrdom of Apostles Peter and Paul 
- There are just three Basilicas built on the tomb of the Apostles...
    1. St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican
    2. St. James's Basilica, Campostella, Spain
    3. St. Thomas' Basilica, Mylapore, Chennai, India 
- Peter was Crucified (crucified upside down on his request!!!)
- Paul was beheaded (there is a church built on the spot where Paul was believed to be beheaded...in the immediate outskirts of Rome)  
- The Vatican St. Peter's Square leading to St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, has the statues of Peter and Paul adorning the square as we overlook the Basilica... as traditionally, Peter holds the keys, and Paul holds a sword!

LET US THANK GOD FOR, ADMIRE AND IMITATE...
ST. PETER, 
IN HIS INTUITIVE FAITH AND INTIMATE FRIENDSHIP WITH CHRIST;
ST. PAUL, 
IN HIS TOTAL DEDICATION TO THE GOSPEL AND SELF-CONSUMING LOVE FOR CHRIST!

Peter to the right of the Square

Paul on the left corner of the square