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.