Saint Euphrasia

St. Euphrasia was a Roman and born to rich but deeply Christian parents. Her father, a relative of Emperor Theodosius 1, died when she was just a year old and the emperor looked after Euphrasia and her mother. Emperor Theodosius accomplished his mission of converting Rome into a Christian state.

When Euphrasia was seven, her mother took her to Egypt.  There they lived in a large house near a convent of nuns.  Euphrasia was fascinated by the nuns.

She begged her mother to let her serve God in the convent in which the holy nuns lived. She was just a little girl, but she was not to about give up the idea or forget  her request. Soon after, Euphrasia's mother took her to the convent and put her in the care of the abbess.

Then Euphrasia's mother died and the emperor reminded the young woman that her parents had promised her in marriage to a rich young senator. Of course Euphrasia wanted to belong to no one but Jesus. So she wrote a respectful letter to the emperor.

In it she said, " I belong to Jesus, and I cannot give myself to anyone else. My only desire is that the world should forget about me completely. I humbly beg Your Majesty to take all the riches my parents left me and give them to the poor. I ask Your Majesty to free all the slaves of my family. Please cancel all the debts people owe me."

The emperor thought her letter was so beautiful that he read it out loud to all the senators. He agreed to do everything she had asked.

Euphrasia spent the rest of her life as a nun. She never regretted that the Lord had chosen her to be a religious. She often fasted and when faced with temptations, would sometimes spend the day carrying heavy stones from one place to another as penance. Euphrasia died in 420.

There is an unmistakable beauty in the lives of people who sincerely to try to live out their faith in Jesus.

Transfiguration An Invitation For Change

Life is just a journey. God tells Abram to leave his country and go to the place God is telling him to.

We remember that we shall someday return to dust, and our souls will head to the Holy Place where God is calling us to be. The place where our souls go will be dazzling white, like the experience of the transfiguration in the Gospel.

But to go to that place, we have to change some our habits and lifestyles. We have to train ourselves to abandon ourselves completely to the Will of God, which will help us to be holy.

May Jesus, show us the areas in our lives which we can change, and give us the strength to change them. Guide us to always to do Thy will and to abandon my own Will to Thine. Lead us Home when our earthly journey is over.

The Last Temptation

When the devil had finished every test, he departed from Him until an opportune time. Though the other Gospels record only three temptations, the Gospel according to Luke 4 : 2 declares that Jesus was led by the Spirit in the wilderness "Where for forty days He was tempted by the devil". Though the devil persevered with all His wiles and allurements, he was nevertheless doubtful of the identity of the Son of God, for on the first occasion he says,  "If You are the Son of God" Lk 4 : 3. All his temptations were severely rebuked by Christ, for He quoted the Scripture by saying, "for it is written". But the devil too, in his pride and insolence quoted the Scripture to the Son of God.

It can be surmised, that throughout His public life the tempter was at the heels of our Saviour, waiting for that "opportune time", especially at the great miracle of the loaves and fishes, when the crowds wanted to make him king and and at his triumphant entry into Jerusalem with the crowds virtually at His feet shouting Hossanahs. "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord." On all such occasions, He withdrew by Himself to a lonely mountain top and prayed throughout the night to His Heavenly Father and came down in the morning "full of power" and immediately left with His disciples to the other side away from the tempter.

The moment Satan was waiting for came when Jesus entered into His agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. Though he originally tempted Jesus with fame, power, glory and riches, he now makes Jesus visualize a vast sea of horenduous and inhuman torture brought about by the scourging with barbed whips, a crown of vicious thorns pressed tight on His head, the whip lashes of the Roman soldiers on the tortuous road to Calvary and his hands and feet nailed to the cross and lifted up between two criminals.

The sight of all these horrors and the heinousness and gravity of sin which He had taken upon Himself in His great love of humanity, was so intense that He was crushed beneath that loathsome weight and falling prostate before His Heavenly Father, His body was bathed in a sweet of blood. That dark starless night in Gethsemane, was literally the dark night of His soul when He implored His Father,"If it be possible let this chalice pass away from me." But in the intensity of His suffering, He prayed the more earnestly and fervently and was filled by the power of Holy Spirit to go through with this crushing ordeal. In deep prayer Jesus overcome this last temptation. Satan was finally vanquished by the power of prayer.

Through His own bitter experience Jesus exhorts His followers, "Pray that you may not come into the time of trial", but persevere unto the very end to behold "the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living" - Psalm 27 : 13

Solid Musical Education for Laity and Clergy

While liturgical music has often struggled to live up to the quality and beauty the mystery of the Eucharist requires, we can promote its renewal by investing in a solid musical education for clergy and laity.

Certainly the encounter with modernity and the introduction of the languages spoken  in the Liturgical stirred up many problems, of languages, forms and genres. Sometimes a certain mediocrity, superficiality and banality prevailed, to the detriment of the beauty and intensity of the liturgical celebrations.

For this the various actors in this field, musicians and composers, conductors and singers of choirs, liturgical animators, can make a major contribution to the renewal, especially quality, of sacred music and liturgical chant.

Half a century after the Instruction of Musicam Sacrum, the conference wanted to elaborate, in an interdisciplinary and ecumenical perspective, the current relationship between sacred music and contemporary culture.

Of great importance, it was also a reflection on the aesthetic and musical education of both the clergy and religious and the laity engaged in the pastoral life and more directly in the choirs.

The Church has a great responsibility toward liturgical music, becaused it deals with the sacred mystery of the Eucharist and the sacred music, to that order, must balance the past and present in a way that invites full participation and lift the congregation's heart to God.

The dual mission of the Church, is, on the one hand, to safeguard and promote the rich and varied heritage inherited from the past, using it with balance in mind and avoiding the risk of a nostalgic vission that becomes a sort of "Archaeology".

On the other hand, we have to also ensure that the sacred music and liturgical chant don't ignore the artistic and musical languages of modernity.

All those responsible for liturgical music, on whatever level, must know how, to embody and translate the Word of God into songs, sounds, harmonies that makes the heart of our peers vibrate, creating even an appropriate emotional climate, that puts in order the faith and raises reception and full participation in the mystery that it celebrates.

Active and conscious participation in the liturgy constitutes being able to enter deeply into the mystery of God made present in the Eucharist. Thanks in particular to the religious silence and musicality of language which the Lord speaks to us.

Liturgical action is given a more noble form when it is celebrated in song and with the participation of the people.

True solemnity of liturgical action does not depend so much from a more ornate form of singing and a more magnificent ceremony than on its worthy and religious celebration.

Do not lose sight of this important goal: to help the liturgical assembly and the people of God to perceive and participate, with all the senses, physical and spiritual, in the mystery of God.

Don't think about what others think about us

We all like to be free. We wish to be independent, undisturbed and peaceful. We don't like taking orders from anyone.

But have you noticed that most of us quite unknowingly do just that?

Yes, when we constantly worry about what others think about us, we are doing just that!

We are allowing them to manipulate us. It happens so subtly that we cannot even feel that we are being enslaved by others' opinions.

The unhappiest of people in this world are those who care the most about what other people think.

"Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner", said Lao Tzu.

How true!

As humans being we all like to be accepted and appreciated and often worry too much about others' approval. But this kind of excessive worrying is debilitating and it prevents us from living our life to the fullest potential.

People are free to think whatever they want, just as we are free to think whatever we want. What people think of us cannot change who we are or what we are worth.

People may have their own standards. But we are not bound to keep to their standards.

What one person considers garbage can be another person's treasure. Only we know what is right for us. It is our responsibility to create our own happiness. At the end of the day we are the only person responsible for consequences of our decisions.

Though we do not approve of certain ideas and values of others, we say yes to them, just because we don't like to hurt their feelings. But remember, this attitude does not work for our good all the time. Sometimes it may go against us even.

Also it is important to remember that we can not please all the people all the time. It is imposible to live up to everyone's expectations. And it is not necessary.

If we are constantly worried about what other people think, we will never get to where we need to go in life.

So why carry the weight of others' thoughts on our head? When we become so obsessed with others' people opinion of us, we forget our own.

Have you heard the saying, " A tiger doesn't lose his sleep over the opinion of a sheep" ?

Nice idea to remind that basically people's thoughts don't really matter.

So, do not allow others to break our peace of mind.

We have to take care of our mental, emotional, and spiritual self, and not let someone destroy our positive energy or mental peace. Just as we would not allow someone to add poison to our meal, we shouldn't let others poison our minds. Don't allow others to walk through our mind with their "dirty feet".

Respect the opinions and views of others. But take our own decisions.

What God think of us is what really matters.

Live our lives without worrying about other people's thoughts and opinions, and we will live our lives to the maximum.

From the bright cloud the Father's voice was heard: This is my Son, the Beloved, listen to Him ! - Matthew 17 : 5

God shows Abraham a new land and a new beginning and promises him prosperity. Abraham had to leave everything;  the land of his birth, his kith and kin so as to experience this new identity. Abraham obeys God in faith.

God chooses man to spread the Good News, not because of his worthiness but because of God's over flowing goodness. Therefore we should be prepared to bear up our crosses for the sake of the Gospel.

Jesus goes to the mountain with Peter, James and John. He is seen discussing His future mission with Moses and Elijah. The Apostles wish to remain there. Just then the heaven opens and proclaims that Jesus is the Son of God and that they should listen to Him.

Lent obviously is a season with penitential acts. During this period people pray more fervently and observe Lenten spiritual exercises like the daily Holy Mass, the Way of the Cross, Holy Hours, Vigils, Forty Days, etc. But the way of life thus entered into should not be restricted to this season alone, but be extended to the rest of our lives. Our mortifications, however big are nothing in comparison to the passion and death of Jesus Christ for the salvation of mankind.

Life is full of challenges. When it comes to special calling as a ministry, a way of life for witnessing, life can pose numerous challenges to the believer. Those who march forward with these challenges will be victorious. Those who evade and dodge will fall by the way side. Suffering contributes possitively to our lives in that it makes us realize that we are not perfect and are very vulnerable and hence the need for the grace of God to surmount these obstacles.

We see how Abraham takes a risk in accepting God's invitation to set out to an unknown destiny. This would have caused him untold headaches. But the very pain of detachment eventually turns out the very source of trust and faith which makes Abraham the father of faith.

Timothy is reminded of the necessity to suffer for the sake of the Gospel. If the preaching of the Good News is to bear fruit it has to involve sacrifices on the part of the preacher. In transfiguration, Jesus is seen discussing issues with Moses and Elijah. Jesus could have decided His future plan of action on His own without any assistance or mediation. At a time when many are questioning about mediators and the right of the church for mediation this text is quite an eye opener.

The story of the Transfiguration is followed by the discourse on Jesus' suffering, Jesus deliberately speaking of His passion to show that the Messiah is also the suffering servant depicted in the latter Isaiahan texts. Jesus rebukes Peter for his purely worldly manner of looking at issues. Jesus entered the glory through suffering, sacrifice mortification and finally death.

This should give us hope and strength to face life's trials and travails with fresh outlook so that Jesus will be our model and finally our victory. Lent should serve us to amend our lives  and fall in line with the Way of the Cross.

Listen to Him - Matthew 17 : 1 - 9

The country is going through a severe drought. Everyone looks up; the sky seems closed. Simultaneously we all go through a spiritual aridity. Hence we need to look up and listen to the Heaven, during this sacred season of Lent.

Jesus going up a high mountain. On the mountain, He is transfigured. Then appear two figures who are also linke to a mountain, Mount Sinai (God revealed to Moses on Sinai; God revealed to Elijah on Horeb = Sinai). These two, Moses and Elijah, represent the Old Testament Law and the Prophets. They represent the Old Testament. They have got something to talk about.

In the meantime, a cloud comes. In the wilderness, the cloud covered the Meeting Tent. Later, it came to rest upon the Temple of Jerusalem at  the time of its dedication. Hence the cloud indicates the Lord's presence in the midst of His people. Once again  it casts its shadow. Yes, the Lord is present now.

From the cloud comes a voice. Once the heavenly voice identified Jesus as "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased" - that was at His baptism before He took the Galilean ministry. Once again the Heavenly voice identifies Him as "This is my beloved Son". That was after He announced the destination of His ministry, the Paschal Mystery in Jerusalem, the city of destiny,  "From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised".

Only Jesus will be left as the Teacher whose Words must be heeded "and when the disciples raised their eyes, they saw no one else but Jesus alone." It is only Him that the Heavenly voice will identify as the one to be listened to now, "Listen to Him!".

When Jesus' divinity is revealed in such a privileged way, how do His disciples respond? Of them, Peter opens his mouth but not knowing what he is going to say. Oh, he feels so happy that he likens his joy to the joyful celebration of the harvest festival of Tabernacles: "Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." The Israelites dwelt in booths during the journey from Egypt to the promised land" ... when you gathered in the produce of the land, you should celebrate a pilgrim feast of the Lord for a whole week ... for a week you shall make merry before the Lord, your God ... during this week every native Israelite among you shall dwell in booths)" and so Jews of Jesus' day too live in booths during the liturgical feast of the Tabernacles reliving their ancestral experience. The joy of Peter turns to that liturgical custom.

How do we now apply this Transfiguration of Jesus to our own lives? In 'something beautiful for God', Malcolm Muggeridge described the impact that Mother Teresa had upon an audience of people, saying "Every face ... was rapt, hanging on her words,  not because of the words ... but because of her. Some quality came across,  over and above the words, that held their attention.  A luminosity seemed to fill the school hall ... penetrating  every mind and heart."

This story of Mother Teresa helps us fathom, at least to some degree, the depth of impact that the Transfigured Jesus had upon His disciples. The whole event of the Transfiguration is a moment of grace for the disciples. It is a moment, when the border between heaven and earth appears to fade for a brief second. It is a moment, when, for a split second of time, they are blessed with a faint glimpse of eternity and God's glory.

Jesus can impact our lives even today - especially when we are faced with the predicaments and vicissitudes of life. Like Jesus' disciples who entered the cloud, we too can enter the majesty of God by listening to Him. Behind the dim unknown, standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above his own.

How do we listen to Jesus today? God instructed the disciples of Jesus  on the high mountain to listen to Him. It was a time when they failed to listen to Him and His words on the impending passion, death and Resurrection in Jerusalem. The Paschal Mystery remains a mystery to us as well today. It has been a mystery for all ages. But we need to listen to Him. We need to listen and obey the Word of the Lord, like Abraham, our Patriach, who went as the Lord directed him from the land of his kinsfolk and from his father's house to a land that the Lord would show him.