WORD 2day: 9th May, 2017

To be called Christians: Listen and Follow

Tuesday, 4th week in Easter

Acts 11:19-26; Jn 10: 22-30

The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me! The believers in Antioch were called 'Christians', because they belonged to the Lord, they listened, they followed! Listening to the Lord would mean to drink in his principles, to put on his mindset as St. Paul would describe. To follow the Lord would mean, to live like him. Our actions have to be our witness, not merely our words and our titles. 

Would anyone, unknown to you, looking at you and your actions say that you should be a Christian? Not because of the cross you might possibly wear, nor with the name tag you may probably have, but with the attitudes you sport and the actions that spontaneously emanate from you. 

I am tempted to ask myself: is it right to say that a person will do good if he or she is a Christian or to say, anyone who does good to the other without expecting anything in return is truly a 'Christ-ian'?

FATIMA 100 YEARS - LET US PRAY - Day 4

OUR LADY OF FATIMA - 100 YEARS

LET US FORM A NOVENA COMMUNITY...

LET US PRAY TOGETHER FOR THESE 9 DAYS...

DAY 4: 8TH MAY 2017

LET US PRAY:

ost Holy Virgin, who has deigned to come to Fatima to reveal to the three little shepherds the treasures of graces hidden in the recitation of the Rosary, inspire our hearts with sincere love of this devotion.  

      By meditating on the mysteries of our redemption that are recalled in your Rosary, may we gather the fruits contained therein and obtain the conversion of sinners, the conversion of Russia, the Peace of Christ for the world, and this favor that I so earnestly seek of you in this novena....

   O Queen of Peace, we unite to pray for those who disrespect human life, those who take to killing as a way to achieve their ends, those who kill children and innocent victims to prove their point, those who promote and advocate abortions, people who contemplate suicide. Mother grant peace in every human heart that we may feel the presence of God with us once more. Turn the world to God and may the world know peace, love and joy. 

I ask this of you, for the greater glory of God, for your own honour and for the good of all people. Amen

Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be (three times)

Please do not forget to pray the Rosary these 9 days!

WORD 2day: 8th May, 2017

Who are we to stand in God's way!

Monday, 4th week in Easter

Acts 11:1-18; Jn 10: 11-18

God has no favourites, except that God opts to stand by those who are no favourites of anyone. You neglect someone for no fault of theirs adding to their woe, God will surely take their side and not yours! Just today, I happened to notice once again that poster of a 3 year old Syrian boy who succumbed to wounds in the hospital a couple of years ago, with a caption which read: 'I am going to tell God everything that is happening here'. A sad reminder of how insensitive the world has grown to be. So much of divisions and hatred, violence and crime, manipulations and exploitations...why are we standing in God's way, when God wants that every human person be happy and contented, fulfilled and peaceful. The Good Shepherd wants that every one, without exception everyone, be saved, that everyone lives his or her life to the full - woe to us if we hinder that from happening.

FATIMA 100 YEARS - UNITE IN PRAYER - Day 3

OUR LADY OF FATIMA - 100 YEARS

LET US FORM A NOVENA COMMUNITY...

LET US PRAY TOGETHER FOR THESE 9 DAYS...

DAY 3: 7TH MAY 2017

LET US PRAY:

ost Holy Virgin, who has deigned to come to Fatima to reveal to the three little shepherds the treasures of graces hidden in the recitation of the Rosary, inspire our hearts with sincere love of this devotion.  

      By meditating on the mysteries of our redemption that are recalled in your Rosary, may we gather the fruits contained therein and obtain the conversion of sinners, the conversion of Russia, the Peace of Christ for the world, and this favor that I so earnestly seek of you in this novena....

   O Mother of the Word Incarnate, we pray with one heart and mind for the leaders of the World Countries. Inspire hope in every human person, melt the hearts of the violent and the criminals; May the Leaders take a stand that is truly for the peace of humankind. We offer up through you, unto the Lord every place that is war torn and every place that is threatened by a war-like situation. Hear our prayer and intercede for peace.

I ask this of you, for the greater glory of God, for your own honour and for the good of all people. Amen

Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be (three times)

Please do not forget to pray the Rosary these 9 days!

BEING THE SHEPHERD'S FLOCK

Follow, Obey and Respond4th Sunday of Easter: 7th May, 2017

Acts 2: 14a, 36-41; 1 Pet 2: 20b-25; Jn 10:1-10

The Post Resurrection scene is particularly important for us to reflect upon, because it provides us with an incomparable clarity of our identity as a believing community! Today the Lord invites us to realise and understand our vocation to be the flock of the Divine Shepherd. The second reading reminds us, "you have now returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls."

The Shepherd Leads...we follow: Be patient in doing good and especially when you suffer for doing good, and that is the way to follow your shepherd, says St. Peter. As St. Paul would say writing to the Thessalonians, "do not be weary of doing what is right" (2 Thes 3:13). The Lord leads us by example. Doing good was his nature, no one could stop him from doing it. His own did not accept him, they did not understand him, they labelled him 'out of his mind', the disciples deserted him, many hated him and the authorities sought to kill him! But he held on to his mission of doing good! He knew doing the will of the One who sent him was an absolute mission and he went about it without fear, discouragement or doubt, inspite of the threats and trials. The Shepherd leads and we as his followers, are called to follow the same path. 

The Shepherd Directs...we obey: There are moments and circumstances when we go astray. It could be due to deliberate choices or deviant desires...but the fact is we go astray, linger off bounds, leave the flock for a while, check out other pastures, be deceived by mirages and feel a bit lost. The Shepherd's voice bellows behind us... as St. Peter speaks up in the first reading today. To be the Shepherd's flock means to heed to that voice of direction. As the Lord promises through Isaiah: and when you turn to the right or when you turn to your left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "this is the way; walk in it" (Isa 30:21). The Word comes to us; directions come to us constantly; it is the capacity of the Shepherd's flock to hear, to listen, to understand and to put it into practice. Those who listened to the apostle were "cut to their heart", the reading says. They took it to the heart and obeyed it to the full. They were more than ready to change their course, redirect their lives and walk behind the shepherd.

The Shepherd Calls...we respond: I came that you may have life and have it more abundantly, declares the Lord to us today in the Gospel! We are called to live our lives to the full, and that is the sign of the Shepherd's flock. The Lord offers us life and life in all its fullness, we are called to respond to this offer by accepting it  and living it. Living to the full means living in faith and not in fear; living in love and not in selfishness; living in hope and not in darkness. As people of the Shepherd's flock, our lives have to be a witness to life in abundance. The world has to learn from us, and not laugh at us. We cannot conform to the world but the world has to be challenged by our lives!

Let us pay heed to the Word today and follow, obey and respond to our Shepherd. Let us also pray for shepherds to be raised among us, shepherds after the heart of the Divine Shepherd. 

FATIMA 100 YEARS - LET'S PRAY - Day 2

OUR LADY OF FATIMA - 100 YEARS

LET US FORM A NOVENA COMMUNITY...

LET US PRAY TOGETHER FOR THESE 9 DAYS...

DAY 2: 6TH MAY 2017

LET US PRAY:

ost Holy Virgin, who has deigned to come to Fatima to reveal to the three little shepherds the treasures of graces hidden in the recitation of the Rosary, inspire our hearts with sincere love of this devotion.  

      By meditating on the mysteries of our redemption that are recalled in your Rosary, may we gather the fruits contained therein and obtain the conversion of sinners, the conversion of Russia, the Peace of Christ for the world, and this favor that I so earnestly seek of you in this novena....

    Dear Mother Mary, Mother of the Church, we pray with one heart and mind for our Holy Father. As you protected Pope St. John Paul II from all evil around, we ask you to take Pope Francis under your protecting mantle. Guide him and surround him with your comfort and counsel that he may continue to lead Church in the path that God wills. 

I ask this of you, for the greater glory of God, for your own honour and for the good of all people. Amen

Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be (three times)

Please do not forget to pray the Rosary these 9 days!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

DEATH RATHER THAN SIN

Celebrating the Teenage Saint - Dominic Savio

6th May 2017: 1 Thes 5:12-14; Jn 6: 1-15

Dominic Savio is called the boy with a will - yes, he was just a boy, but a boy with a great will, a great consciousness and a great conviction. 

There were three things that made a great impact on Dominic Savio and drove him towards his extraordinary Sanctity. 

1. His Name: Dominic knew what his name meant. It meant that he belonged to the Lord. That is why when he met Don Bosco he said, it would be a shame if he did not live a life worthy of the Lord, having a name so profound. How many of us are serious about the name that we have? How many of us know of the Patron who is given to us due to our name?

2. His Guide: Dominic instantly clung on to Don Bosco when he met him. He found in Don Bosco a sure guide to sanctity, though he met him only when he was 12. Even before he could meet Don Bosco, he had taken his famous motto, 'Death rather than sin'. But he saw that Don Bosco had a special role to play in his attainment of sanctity. Dominic was very serious about it and Don Bosco acknowledged it and accompanied the teenager all the way. Do you feel the need of a Spiritual Director? Do you have an ardent desire to journey towards sanctity of life?

3. His Desire: Dominic wanted to be a priest. His devotion to Eucharist right from when he was a 5 year old boy, and later after his communion when he was just 7, and later when he met Don Bosco in 1854, he was determined to become a priest and serve the Lord. But the Lord willed it differently. Dominic's desire to become a priest, gave him a perspective for whole of his life. How many of us have clear understanding of what we wish to grow to be. Do we seek to know God and orient our lives accordingly?

When Dominic was just 7, as he received his first communion, he set himself this axiom: Death rather than sin. How much have we learnt God's will for us? This is God's will: your sanctification (1 Thes 4:3), reminds us St. Paul along with Dominic Savio. Will we dare to say with this young boy: death rather than sin!

FATIMA 100 YEARS - SHALL WE PRAY!

OUR LADY OF FATIMA - 100 YEARS

LET US FORM A NOVENA COMMUNITY...

LET US PRAY TOGETHER FOR THESE 9 DAYS...

DAY 1: 5TH MAY 2017

LET US PRAY:

ost Holy Virgin, who has deigned to come to Fatima to reveal to the three little shepherds the treasures of graces hidden in the recitation of the Rosary, inspire our hearts with sincere love of this devotion.  

      By meditating on the mysteries of our redemption that are recalled in your Rosary, may we gather the fruits contained therein and obtain the conversion of sinners, the conversion of Russia, the Peace of Christ for the world, and this favor that I so earnestly seek of you in this novena....

    Dear Mother Mary, We pray with one heart and mind for the Universal Church, the body of your Divine Son. Grant us the strength of Faith, that we may withstand all the attacks against true Christian faith, attacks from within and from outside. May the Church be safe guarded against all evil and evil doers.

      I ask this of you, for the greater glory of God, for your own                                           honour and for the good of all people. Amen

Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be (three times)

Please do not forget to pray the Rosary these 9 days!

WORD 2day: 5th May, 2017

Becoming one flesh with Christ

Friday, 3rd week in Easter
Acts 9:1-20; Jn 6: 52-59

When Jesus said he would give his flesh to eat, the people objected calling it impossible. When Paul said he would preach Christ to the end of the world, people again objected calling it unbelievable. That is how the world is... do all the good you intend to. Paul knew what it meant to become one flesh with Christ. He knew the  passion that filled Christ's heart  and understood the mission that occupied his mind. Paul was one flesh with Christ and felt, thought and acted like Christ.

The invitation is clear: to become like Christ,  to live like Christ, to become one flesh with Christ. We are given all the opportunities to progress on this call but the challenge is that we take this task to heart. May the body we eat and the blood we consume make us more and more of Him.

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.