Your tears may show you the pathway

Pay close attention to your tears.
Those tears will point you to your destiny.
For it is through tears you understand what you have or do not have, what or who makes you happy or not.
When you have identified & have cried out to the LORD, He alone will step in & put you on the right path to your destiny.
That's also when you have a confrontation with your lifestyle - a change of heart will lead you to align your life to the way of GOD.
"He redeems me from death & crowns me with love & tender mercies. He fills my life with good things....!”(Ps‬ ‭103:4-5‬)

Keep faith in testing times

When someone truly comes into their wealthy place, it is the reward of their faithfulness during seasons of testing.
Obeying when you don't understand, believing when you don't see, will cause your “Pharaoh” to be buried in the Red sea & dismantle the armies that have risen against you.
God's timely visitation will bring about such a profound & sudden change that, even your haters will have no choice but endorse that indeed, you have been favoured by the Lord.
"For every child of God defeats this evil world, & we achieve this victory through our faith..."(1 John‬ ‭5:4‬)

Give and you will receive

If someone has a need you can meet, help them.
God gives us a harvest of abundance, not so we can hoard it, but so we can share it.
When you have the heart to give, God will make sure you have the resources to give too.
God's way of prospering you is to prosper your soul first through a revelation of the Word of God.
He gives the provision as He desires for you to have abundance to bless others.
"Give & you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full - pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over & poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back..."(Luke‬ ‭6:38‬)

Be a devout dissolver of doubt

There is power in personal faith.
Faith matters in church, in business, in politics & every area of life..
Gain a reputation, as Daniel, to catapult you into the lives of people who never noticed you before, by making interpretations & dissolving doubts.
You must develop the ability to manage & deal with people on different levels to fulfill your highest potential as a faith fuelled Child of GOD!

"This man Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar, has exceptional ability & is filled with divine knowledge & understanding. He can interpret dreams, explain riddles, & solve difficult problems"(Daniel‬ ‭5:12)

Open Our Minds to the Scriptures

The readings of the 3rd Sunday of Easter (Year B) reflect on the fulfillment of what was written about the Christ in the Law of Moses, by the prophets and the psalms. All these scriptures find their meaning and fulfillment in the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ – the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We should pray to God for his graces to open our minds to understand the scriptures, so that we can truly celebrate the Liturgy of the Word at the celebrations of the Eucharist as well as in every moment of our lives.

Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe

Jesus appeared to the Apostles, who were behind closed doors in fear of the Jews. Jesus granted the Apostles peace and breathed on them so that they may receive the Holy Spirit. The Apostles present there were joyed by his presence. However,  St. Thomas who was not present at that time refused to believe that Lord Jesus had risen from the dead. When Jesus appears again to the Apostles and shows his wounds, St. Thomas proclaims his faith by crying out "My Lord, My God!". Then Jesus says to him "You believe because you can see me. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe".

How many times have we too refused to believe in the Lord, when we are faced with trouble. We lose hope and we look down in to the hole of problems. We wait for a sign or a miracle to happen. However, we miss the sign because we are looking down in to the problems.
We need to look up for the solutions. Look up with hope and keep faith in the Lord, even when there are no visible signs. Blessed will be us, for believing though we have not seen.

Reflection - 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time (8/2/2015)

It is important that we have total dedication to the Lord in our day to day lives.
We may go through great suffering like Prophet Job - He was tried and tested by the Satan because of his commitment and obedience to God. And, we may go unrewarded for our hard work, like St. Paul went unrewarded.
If we are dedicated to the Lord through prayer, he will harness us spiritually to discern which path to take and be our master and our way.

Reflection - 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time (19/10/2014)

God is one and there is no other. Therefore, we must give to God, what is God's.

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says to return to Ceaser what is Ceaser's, and to God what is God's. The Denarius had Ceaser's image, hence it had to be returned to Ceaser. However, as humans, we are imprinted in the image of God. Hence, we must give ourselves to God by working out God's plans and mission in this world.

Reflection - 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time (28/9/2014)

The scriptures of this Sunday tell us that we are valued and judged by what we actually do rather than what we say we will do.
Through the parable of the two sons, we are taught that deeds are what matter and not just the words.

Reflection - 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (7/9/2014)

The scriptures of the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time tell us that we should act out of love for others. Our love for others would not let us bring harm to them. However, not harming them alone is not enough. We should also correct our brothers and sisters who have done wrong.

We may not tell our neighbor that they have done wrong in fear of conflict and thinking that we may not be accepted by others for trying to correct them. But, we are called to stand for what we believe in and should help others see the path of right.

The Second Coming

When the second coming of our Lord is nigh, those who have lived a life worthy of rewards from the heaven will be joyful and hopeful. However, those who have lived a life which will bring judgement and maybe eternal punishment the feeling will be that of fear, trepidation and anxiety.

The gospels say that we should not be deceived by those who appear to preach the signs of the coming of the Lord, for only the Lord himself knows the time. We need to keep ourselves prepared for whenever that time is - so that we can joyfully and hopefully wait for the event of the coming.

Salvation is for all

During the time of Jesus, the people believed that salvation belonged only for the chosen ones. Jesus made it clear in Luke 13:22-30, that salvation and entrance into the Kingdom is universal and that it belongs to all people from all over the world.
Jesus preaches to strive to enter the Kingdom through the narrow door - which is the way of the cross. To enter into eternal life, it is not enough that we recognize Jesus, but it is more important that Jesus recognizes us. And Jesus recognizes by our love for one another.

Open Ourselves to God's Plans

Thoughts from the liturgy of the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle B)
Being passionate over worldly indulgences and being selfish leads to losing our true relationship with God. Our worldly passions and selfishness upset the plans that God has for the world through each one of us. The grace of god will not be with us, when we start following the orders of this world for own selfish gains.St.James tells us that we do not receive what we ask for, because we ask them for the wrong reasons, that is, for our own passions and selfishness.

Go Prophesize!

In the new testament, Jesus sent out his disciples in pairs granting them the authority to preach the word of God, to drive out demons and to cure the sick. Likewise in the old testament, Amos, who was an ordinary shepherd was chosen by God to be a prophet. He was sent out to prophesize in the King's sanctuary, despite being rebuked by the King and and the King's priests.
Let us ask for graces from God that we may understand the type of calling that he has set out for us. So that we may help spread the Kingdom of God in our neighborhoods and societies through our words and actions which befit a Catholic.

It is Finished!

Jesus drank the wine and said, "It is finished!". Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. (John 19:30)

Excavators had found a ledger in Jerusalem which belongs to the period during which Jesus was among us in this world. In it were the words "It is finished". These words are noted to indicate that a debtor has paid their debt in full and that the debt is finished.

"It is finished" were the last words of Lord Jesus on the cross. He had paid for all our debts of sin through his death on the cross and he has made us free from our debts.

The synonymous use of debts and sins can also be seen in the King James' version of the Lord's prayer, where we say "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors".

Offerings to the Lord

In many instances in the bible there are references to offering a tenth of our income to the Lord. In one's perspective, the offering could be channeled through many ways such as charity to the less fortunate and donations to organizations and the church which work for the good of the society and man.

There are Catholics who follow this teaching to the letter. They may even offer more than 10 per cent to the Lord in his name. However, what good is it, if an offering is made in the name of the Lord if we do not follow the teachings and do not engage with the Lord in prayers. This is similar to a child who is earning well, and pays their parents’ bills and gives money for their expenditures, but never speaks to them or visits their parents. If you were the parent, would you accept the money given by such a child who does not care for you?

In the same sense, we the children of God should not think that paying back with the monetary wealth is enough, but should spend more time with God. We need to try and get closer to God through prayers and reflections. This spiritual growth should be complemented with the thanksgivings to God for the many blessings that he has bestowed upon us.

Bearing Witness to God

All of us our missionaries in Christ. Like God called Prophet Isiah; like God called St.Paul; like God called St. John the Baptist; all of us are also called to bear witness to Jesus.

In the same way, Blessed Joseph Vaz - the 'Apostle of Ceylon' - was called by Lord to bear witness and make the Church grow strong in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), which was going through difficult times under the colonization of the Dutch. The tercentenary anniversary of Blessed Joseph Vaz was celebrated on the 16th of January in Sri Lanka, seeking a fast canonization of Blessed Joseph Vaz. (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15317b.htm)

In these times where the harvest is large, but the reapers are very few; we need to pray to the Lord our God to strengthen our faith, so that we may realize the many ways that Lord Jesus reveals himself to us, and so that we are the given the courage to tell the world who Jesus is and what Jesus means to us.

(Thoughts from the readings from the 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time - 2011)

Christ is Real King

Kings of these worlds had their own ways and they acted more like dictators. There are only a very few countries in the world which continue the monarchy system, and most countries have adopted the democratic method of choosing a leader among the masses to lead them. However, these leaders who are elected through the democratic processes act worse than the Kings and impose their dictatorship on the people who elected them.

A leader should be a person who leads by example. An example (not sure if it is real though) drawn from the life of Mahatma Gandhi is that a lady from a far away village came to him seeking advice on how to control her kid who is always hyper active which leads to naughtiness. Mahatma Gandhi knew the solution for it, but asked the lady to go home and return in a month so that he can tell her a solution for the problem. When the lady returns after a month, Gandhi suggests to the lady that she doesn't give sweets to the kid. When the lady asked why he did not tell this the last time itself, he replied that it took him a month to give up sweets so that he can tell her to stop giving sweets to her kid with no guilt.

Jesus Christ is a real leader. He went through many hardships and went to the extent of sacrificing his life for our sins. He lead by example, but he doesn't demand us to live exactly the same way he did. As Catholics, we are asked to live in a measure of what he did. Jesus is not a dictator kind of King. He is democratic - he blesses us with the health and wealth, and we are asked to serve him through the less fortunate with the blessings that he has bestowed upon us.

Reflections from the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time - 2010

Many will come saying, "I am the one" and "The time is near at hand". The gospel preaches us not to be detracted by those who claim to know the path to salvation, and those who preach that the world will be destroyed at a certain time. Man of this Earth cannot predict God's ways, and we are warned not be deceveived by such groups who come using the name of the Lord. The catholic church has been a strong instution of faith for over twenty centuries. The martyrs of the Catholic Church during the first two centuries is one of the main source of strength for the strong foundation of the Church. Those who preached about Jesus were persecuted and the church had to go through dark time, but yet the Church remains strong. It shall be strong till the day of the return of the Lord, which no man can envisage.