An Adequate Response

The Holy Spirit is often described as the bond of love that exists between the Father and the Son. The mutual self-donational and self-communicative intimate bond between the Father and the Son is so perfect that perfect love exists between the two. Therefore, the Holy Spirit is the Love between the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit is the third person in the Holy Trinity. The Holy Spirit is consubstantial with the Father and the Son. This divine mystery occurs because the goodness of God must be communicated and shared.

But the Most Holy Trinity must communicate its goodness. This explains the existence of the whole of creation. It affords a place for the Most Holy Trinity to communicate its goodness and share God's divine life. We are then called into existence out of pure love. Humanity has the capacity to receive and enter into a relationship with divine love. We also have the capacity to communicate, share, and love the Most Holy Trinity.

This is the call to holiness and wholeness in the life of every person, the call to respond to the love of God poured into our hearts. What is the right and adequate response to a God who would give himself to us - and even die - so we might know the depths of his mercy and love?

There is only one proper response - the gift of self. We give ourselves in loving service to the one who gave himself in loving service to us.

Holiness is setting oneself aside for the purposes of God.  We realize our lives are not our own. We have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ. And so, if we claim a relationship with him, we are bound to God and offer ourselves in service to our sisters and brothers, who are also the children of God. This service in love brings us  wholeness at both a personal and communal level.

When we allow the love God into our lives, we can be healed from all our sins, the injuries other people may have inflicted upon us, and our selfish desires. This offers true freedom, which allows us to reach out to those  in need, show them the love of God, and bring healing to their lives.

In doing go, our pain begins to take on new meaning. The story doesn't end in pain, but rather, mutual healing. The result is a whole community in unity who can offer fitting thanksgiving and praise to show their love of God.

Grapes From Heaven and Graves From The Earth

I like grapes. Don't you? It is a Christian fruit I believe. I think whoever loves Jesus, would no doubt love grapes, because the Gospel are full of grapes.

Jesus often spoke of grapes and wines and vines and vineyards in His parables. He turned water into wine. He spoke of the workers in vineyards, about sending labourers to God's vineyard. He used 'vine' metaphorically to expound His loving bond with us. "I am  the vine and you are the branches," he said.

A beautiful blessed and soothing fruit!  Isn't it?

Why so much of talk about grapes?

Well, it is to symbolise our relationship with God. To represent all the good things we receive from God, and all the good things we can give back to God.

During Holy Mass we remember grapes very meaningfully.

Our sweat, our energy, our good will, our joys and sorrows, our hopes and expectations, our trust in God, et al, are all offered to God through the annointed hand of the Priest. God accepts our offerings and He in turn gives us back the most precious gift a human can receive the body and the blood  of our precious Lord! In fact Jesus chose the fruit of the vine to transform into His precious blood.

So, when I say grapes from heaven, it means everything that comes from the God's abundance.

But are we ready to receive?

How can we make ourselves worthy of heavenly grapes?

The answer is clear. Simply do what Jesus says. You don't need deep theology or philosophy to please God or obey God.

"Do as He says" said Jesus' mother to the servants at the wedding at Cana. They simply did as they were told and filled the vessels with water. And Jesus performed a miracle.

Water became vine. Fruit of man's obedience transformed into a gift of heaven.

Jesus can and will do miracles in our lives too if we do as He says.

What does He say?

"Seek first the Kingdom of God. and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." (Matthew 6 : 33).

So, this is our homework. Are we doing 'as He says' ?

Are we seriously seeking  the kingdom of God here on earth? Or are we striving to build our own earthly kingdom?

Are we seeking our own vain glory, our comfort and pleasure at the cost of others'pain? Are we engaged in a crazy rat race to compete with others to become popular and powerful? Are we going after money, material possessions or improper sex? Are we neglecting our duties  and responsibilities towards our dependents? Are we running after imaginary gods, soothsayers, astrologers? Are we dishonest?  If so, we are not seeking God's kingdom, we are digging our metaphorical graves for our 'breathing dead bodies'.

Think about Jesus. Believe His words. We don't need deep theology or philosophy to please God or obey God.Do as He says, if we need a miraculous transformation. We can either be nourished by Heavenly grapes or perish in earthly graves. The choice is ours!

When God Calls

We all receive annunciations in life; whether they are good or bad we should always seek guidance from God and reliable people about them.

We have all heard annunciations. "I am pregnant" "I got a job" "We bought a house" Some annunciations are tragic: "You have six months to live." "There's been an accident." "We found the body."

In many annunciations, it may seem that we do not have a choice. However, we do. We can choose how to respond: Will we be joyful or upset over the pregnancy? Will we focus on the new job's benefits or deficiencies? Will we anticipate moving with eagerness or bitterness? If we have only six months to live, will we enjoy the time and repair relationships or will we wallow in self-pity? In an accident, will we accept God's will or will we dwell on "what it's?" If a body is found, will we surrender the soul to God's mercy or will we allow grief to paralyse us?

God is my comfort

God sent the Angel Gabriel to the Virgin because Gabriel means "God is my comfort. We usually comfort three kinds of people, especially the sick, the bereaved and the fearful".

Mary was fearful when she heard the Angel Gabriel's announcement.  "Who, having heard, was troubled (Lk 1:29) And thought with herself what manner of salutation this should be. She was troubled because of her modesty and from prudence she wondered at the new form of blessing".

The Angel went on to say, "Behold, thou shalt conceived in thy womb and shalt bring forth a son (Lk 1 :31). And thou shalt call his name Jesus. " Note that we read of five persons who are called by God before they were conceived in the womb.

The first was Isaac, of whom Genesis 17 says: "Sarah, thy wife shall bear thee a son and thou shalt call his name Isaac" (Gen 17 : 19).

The second was Samson, of whom Judges 13 says, "The Angel said to the wife of Manue: Thou shalt conceive and bear a son" (Judges 13: 3).

The third was Josiah, of whom 1 Kings 13 says "Behold, a child shall be born  to the house of David, Josiah by name."

The fourth and fifth were John the Baptist and Jesus Christ.

Unforeseen Consequences

Annunciations have far reaching, unforeseen and even unthinkable consequences. Biblical annunciations reveal that the children had roles in God's plan, but their parents could never have imagined how their children would fulfill their roles.

God told Abraham, "I will  bless her (Abraham's wife Sarah) and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her" (Gen 17:16).  God then revealed Isaac as the son's name. Trusting in God, neither Abraham nor Sarah could possibly imagine that God would ask them to sacrifice this promised son, although God deemed sufficient the willingness to do so. Isaac grew up to become the father of Jacob, who became father of the Israelites and Esau, who became father of the Edomites.

Would Samson's parents have hoped that their son would someday love a conniving woman who would betray him to his enemies? Through this betrayal began the deliverance from the Philistines, thus fulfilling the angel's prophecy.

Josiah's father Amon was an evil king, just as his father Mannaseh had been. Both cared about power, not God's laws. Could either of them have imagined that Josiah would rediscover the Jewish law and have the people live it?

How could Zechariah and Elizabeth have projected that their son John would have a penchant for the desert, which caused him to live an ascetic life while calling others to repentance?

Could the Blessed Mother and Saint Joseph possibly foresee that the innocent Jesus would "save His people from their sins" (Mt 1: 21), by offering Himself as a sacrifice to be tortured and murdered as if He, instead of us, had sinned?

Seek Counsel

Annunciations frequently change the course of our lives and the lives of others. Therefore, it is helpful to seek counsel. Annunciations are part of God's plan. That is sufficient reason to find joy in the annunciation through which God is trusting us into sanctity.

In Samson (meaning 'their sun') we see those who preach  the word of God, who in word and example should be the 'sun' of those to whom they preach. When tragedy arises, we should turn to the Word of God, to scripture and to counselors who can enlighten and support us.

In Josiah (meaning ' place of insence, or of sacrifice') we see true religious, in whom is the insence of devout prayer and the sacrifice of mortified flesh. Prayer and penance, whether in gratitude or in reparation or supplication, should follow  every annunciation. Prayer helps us deal with the news. Those with religious vocations recognise the need for prayer and are conscientious about praying. It is prudent to ask religious to pray for and with us.

In the Baptist we see all penitents and good secular folk who baptize and sanctify themselves in the  Jordan River (The River of Judgment), that is, in tears and confession, in bestowal of alms and in other works of mercy. In Jesus the Saviour we see all good prelates of the Church. This reminds us to turn to a good priest for prayer, insight and guidance, particularly if the annunciation brings overpowering and confusing emotions.

Look Within

No matter whether the announcement is delightful or tragic, we should look inward to see how we should change to deal best with the news. We can consult holy, spiritual people, including Priests and religious, for insight. Most importantly, we should pray because prayer opens us to God's grace and guidance.

Christian Way of Life : A Call to Discipleship

As a prelude to this article, I wish to commence by referring to the words spoken by the Archbishop of Colombo, His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjit during the homily delivered at the 125th Jubilee Mass in St. Anthony's shrine, Dalupotha, Negombo which needs to be reflected upon, wherein he said, "A Christian is a person who journeys with the cross and lives a life according to his or her faith. Christ life was a sacrifice. To be a true follower of Christ is not easy. It is difficult and it is also a sacrifice."

These words, no doubt are based on the words of our Blessed Lord from Sacred Scripture wherein He says, "If anyone wishes to come after me he must deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me. Whoever losses his life for my sake will find it." (Lk 9 : 23 - 24) and in the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Cost of Discipleship "The cross is laid  on every Christian. The first Christian suffering which every man or woman must endure is to hearken  to the call to abandon the attachments and to forsake the values of this world. It is that dying  to that 'old man' which is the result of the encounter with Christ as we embark upon  this journey as disciples of Christ, "we are called to surrender ourselves to Christ in union with His death, we give our lives to die in Christ, thus we begin the Way of the Cross in union with the sufferings of Christ.

Christian life is not easy. In the words of Rev. Mother Mary Angelica, the foundress of the Eternal Word Television Network "Heaven does not come cheap, only hell does." Christian life entails a life - long commitment to Agape love as personified in the life of Christ who loved us unconditionally even to the point of enduring an excruciatingly agonising and tortuously cruel and humiliating death on a cross. It was all undertaken lovingly for our salvation without expecting anything in return. It was to show us the way to respond to the call to be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect who makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good and His rain to fall on the just and on the unjust and Jesus' call on His disciples to love even their enemies and pray for those who persecute them so that you may be children of your Father who is in Heaven (Matthew 5 : 43 - 48).

We as Christians are called to experience perfect Joy in suffering and as exemplified by St. Francis of Asisi by his life he manifested this joy in bearing with the contempt of this world and he pointed out to brother Leo, his confrere  with the exhortation, " Above all the graces and gifts of the Holy Spirit which Christ gives to  his friends is that of conquering oneself and willingly enduring suffering, insults, humiliations, and hardships for the love of Christ,  for we cannot glory in all the marvelous gift  of God as they are not ours but God's  as the apostle says "what have you that you have not received?" But we can glory in the cross of tribulations and afflictions because that is ours and so the apostle says, "I will not glory save  in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ."

How Difficult It Is For Us To Die?

This is most of us, in our day to day lives don't want to do anything that we will have to work hard for. Especially if it doesn't bring us any material reward. God has not become our priority because it is too difficult for us to live according to the way He wants us to live.

St. Paul says that when we were baptized into Christ, we were  also baptized into His suffering. And that we must believe that we have died to sin and that we are living for God. In the Gospel Jesus says that  whoever doesn't reject his own life for Christ is not worthy of Him.

Jesus gave up His life and His Divinity for us.

How far are we willing  to go, for Jesus?

Let us pray for strength. That on this earth, as we live as pilgrims who will return home someday, that we will be able to give up ourselves and put God on the top of our list.

Saint Maria Goretti

Maria was born at Corinaldo, Ancona in Italy into a poor but loving home and was one of six children. She was baptized the day after she was born. Her father Luigi Goretti was a farmer. Her mother Assunta, was a poor orphan girl who did not know how to read or write. Luigi and Assunta loved God, Mother Mary and each other.

When Maria was six, she played  like other children, running through  the grass, picking flowers, laughing and smiling. Maria played more often with her younger brothers and sister, and kept them happy so they would not trouble their mother.

Then the family moved to the Pontine Marshes where Luigi, along with his partner Mr. Serenelli and his sixteen year old son Alexander, lived together on Conte Mazolenni's farm as tenant farmers. Luigi became very ill and died there leaving Maria and her family helpless.

She was a friendly girl and everyone loved her. A cheerful grocer Giovanni, gave Maria an apple one day, after she had finished paying for her groceries. But Maria did not eat it.

Instead, she thanked Giovanni and put it in her pocket saying that her brother Allesandrino loved apples. Then he gave her a cookie, which again she put in her pocket saying that she would give it to her little sister Ersilia. Giovanni finally gave her another cookie and said he would be very hurt if she didn't eat it herself. So Maria not wanting to offend him, ate it.

She went to Mass everyday even though it meant  a two-hour walk. Maria received the Sacrament of Reconciliation as often as she could. When she came home,  whe thought the children their prayers and told them Bible stories. Alexander who often joined the family for the rosary slowly began to notice how pretty Maria was.

He tried to make Maria sin. She absolutely refused and did her best to avoid him. One day when Maria was alone in the cottage mending clothes Alexander asked Maria to come to him, and when she refused, he dragged her into a room. When she tried to scream, he stuffed a hand-kerchief  into her mouth and angrily  stabbed her 14 times with a dagger and then ran away.

When they found her, Maria was quickly taken  to a hospital but she died about twenty-four hours later. During her last hours she received Jesus in Holy Communion with great joy. She then told the priest that she forgave Alexander with all her heart, for the love of Jesus and hoped God would forgive him too.

Alexander was sent to prison  for thirty years. For a long time,  he did not feel sorry for what he had done.  Then one night Maria appeared  to him in a dream, walking in a garden and offering him a bunch of lilies. She said, she hoped he would  come to heaven one day. From that moment on, he was a changed man.

He wrote a letter to the bishop, begging God's forgiveness for the great sin he had committed. When he was freed from prison after twenty seven years,  his first visit was to the Goretti home where he asked Maria's mother for forgiveness, which she granted.

On April 27, 1947,  Pope Pius XII appeared on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica  with Maria's 82 years old mother, Assunta and declared Maria 'blessed'.

Three years later, on June 24, in a grand ceremony  that had to be held outside the Basilica because the crowds were so huge, Maria was declared a saint. The Pope called her "a martyr of holy purity". 

Today she is the Patron Saint of teenage girls and modern youth.

Consequentially, you too must think of yourselves as (being) dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus. Rom 6 : 11

It's about the reward that awaits those who serve Him even indirectly. It's about those who show kindness towards those who serve Him, One becomes a sharer  to the rewards of a disciple.

The story of the rich couple. They welcomed prophet Elisha on his missionary tour. God rewards them for this deed. He promises them a child. The couple that welcomed the prophet who was passing  through their town on missionary tours. The childless couple showed kindness to a servant of God, a prophet and God rewarded  them with the promise of a child. This was the reward for being charitable towards a servant of God.

Christ became victorious by God's grace. But we all know how hard it was for Him to be victorious. His was a hard life on earth, full of sacrifices and suffering. In the end it was his death on the cross that gave Him the victory of the resurrection, a birth to a new life.

This same victory is assured to those who are baptized.  That is the reward given by God to those for becoming  His followers through baptism.  That is also the greatest gift that a man could receive.  It is given for being baptized. 

The Gospel places the disciples on an equal footing with Jesus. Thus we become sharers of the same gift as those who dedicated themselves to serve the Lord.

Those who have not taken up to direct preaching of the Good News as their mission, should understand that it is their responsibility to look after the needs of the servants of the Lord.   They should provide them with their daily needs, security and shelter. The satisfaction of a genuine servant of God is realized when one listens to the Good News and takes steps to change his sinful life. New life will be the greatest charitable act by which one could honour or entertain a servant of God, as Christ works unceasingly to change the sinful ways of man. He is committed to that; it is for this that He gives His life. Therefore, the greatest act of charity one could do is to listen to Christ's  message and change our sinful life. Whoever does this will be rewarded with the greatest gift; that of union with God.