WORD 2day: 4th May, 2017

Drawn into salvation

Thursday, 3rd week in Easter

Acts 8: 26-40; Jn 6: 44-51

No one can come to me except those whom the Father draws, declares Jesus. The Ethiopian court official was drawn to salvation by the Lord, without him asking for it. But there was a search in his heart that yielded its fruit. A sincere search for God takes us to God; we are drawn to God by the very yearning in our hearts. Like the deer that yearns for running streams my soul longs for you my Lord, prays the psalmist. All that is required is a sincerity of heart that does not give into pride or self justification but remains sensitive to every promptings from within and without. At times an experience within or a simple event around us can provide the spark that can lead to a total consumption by the fire called the love of God. And when that happens, we are drawn into salvation, even before we realise it to the full.

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

Believe and live

Celebrating Apostles Philip and James

3rd May, 2017 - 1 Cor 15:1-8; Jn 14:6-14

Today we celebrate two great apostles, both of them find a prominent place among the list of apostles and have something memorable about them. 

James was the first Bishop of Jerusalem and he along with his brother Jude, was called the brother of Jesus. We find the practical wisdom of James, so imbued with the Spirit of Jesus in his epistle. His insistence on integral living, his predilection for the poor, his advocacy for a life of self-control, are eminently Christian themes that we need to highlight even today.

Philip was a person who brought a lot of people to Jesus, including Nathanael. Philip imbibed the life style of Jesus very quickly as we see him in the Gospels already, speaking like Jesus, using the phrases that Jesus used and reaching out to people as Jesus did and bringing people to Jesus, which Jesus so much loved.

One who believes in me will do things that I do and even more than what i do, promised Jesus. Yes, believing is living. Philip and James, give us this message today. Beleive in Jesus and live like Jesus, only then can you be worthy of Jesus. Only then will you be able to say as Jesus said of his father, 'One who has seen me, has seen Jesus'.