Humility is the divine virtue. God became humble. God wants us to be humble. Humility is not a weakness, but a strength. On ‘HUMILITY’ will be our meditation today.
The first reading, which is taken from the book of Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29, says, “My child, conduct your affairs with humility, and will be loved more than a giver of gifts. Humble yourself the more, the greater you are, and you will find favor with God." This summarizes what humility can do.
The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke 14:1, 7-14 has a beautiful illustration where Jesus paints before us a beautiful picture of how we like the places of honor. He so sweetly suggests, “Rather, when you are invited, go and take the lowers place so that when the host comes to you he may say, ‘My friend, move up to a higher position.” Then you will enjoy the esteem of your companions at the table. How self explanatory it is.
Finally, the second reading taken from the letter to Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24, is talking about enrollment in heaven. If our ultimate aim in life is to go to heaven, then we only need to "...approach the Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, this is our enrollment in heaven.” Shall we plan to adopt the great virtue of ‘Humility’ to approach Mount Zion, the city of the loving God , the heavenly Jerusalem?
Be Humble!
Message for the Twenty-First Sunday In Ordinary Time
Dear friends,
"STRIVE to enter through narrow gate" will be our theme for meditation today. Our striving to do everything must be the best, because only the BEST IS GOOD ENOUGH FOR MY LORD. Thus, let us try to meditate as to how we can STRIVE to enter through the narrow gate.
The first reading from the book of prophet Isaiah 66:18-21 suggests that “...they shall come and see my glory.” So the first main step is His Glory. See the glory with the eyes of faith. St. Paul writing to Romans 8:18 says, “The suffering of this world is nothing compare to the glory that is to be revealed.” Once you know His glory, we need to “proclaim and bring all as offering to the Lord in clean vessels.” This is what at the basic level we must do to enter through the narrow gate.
Today’s second reading taken from the letter to the Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13 has one word message: discipline. “…for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines." Endure your trials as discipline, for “…yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it.” Hence, this is the next most important step for us to strive to enter through narrow gate.
The Holy Gospel according to Luke 13:22-30 is talking about entering into the "Kingdom of God." This is our final destiny. Here, St. Luke also warns us that, “For behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.” Our Master, the Lord Jesus Christ, wants all of us to be with Him in heaven. But if we are late and if He locks the door, we will be left out.
But we need not worry about it, provided we wish to give the best, by concentrating on the glory and observing the discipline of the Lord, we will surely be with Him in the Kingdom of God.
"STRIVE to enter through narrow gate" will be our theme for meditation today. Our striving to do everything must be the best, because only the BEST IS GOOD ENOUGH FOR MY LORD. Thus, let us try to meditate as to how we can STRIVE to enter through the narrow gate.
The first reading from the book of prophet Isaiah 66:18-21 suggests that “...they shall come and see my glory.” So the first main step is His Glory. See the glory with the eyes of faith. St. Paul writing to Romans 8:18 says, “The suffering of this world is nothing compare to the glory that is to be revealed.” Once you know His glory, we need to “proclaim and bring all as offering to the Lord in clean vessels.” This is what at the basic level we must do to enter through the narrow gate.
Today’s second reading taken from the letter to the Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13 has one word message: discipline. “…for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines." Endure your trials as discipline, for “…yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it.” Hence, this is the next most important step for us to strive to enter through narrow gate.
The Holy Gospel according to Luke 13:22-30 is talking about entering into the "Kingdom of God." This is our final destiny. Here, St. Luke also warns us that, “For behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.” Our Master, the Lord Jesus Christ, wants all of us to be with Him in heaven. But if we are late and if He locks the door, we will be left out.
But we need not worry about it, provided we wish to give the best, by concentrating on the glory and observing the discipline of the Lord, we will surely be with Him in the Kingdom of God.
WISHING YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY FEAST OF ST. PIUS!
Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Be Grateful To God for the Gift of a Mother
My dear friends,
If we have experienced the most powerful intercession of Mother Mary, then the best thing we can do is to be grateful to God for the gift of a mother. Yes, I mean it. If God Almighty has planned the act of salvation in such a way that His beloved Son Jesus in whom He is well pleased, whom He loves dearly, and yet Jesus while hanging on the cross did not think of himself but of us and said, “Behold your Mother.” John 19:27 Mother Mary, since then using the powerful intercession which she earned for us, is a matter of DEEP GRATITUDE to God. How shall we do that? How can we thank God for Mother Mary? The Assumption is the powerful answer for us.
The Old Testament often talks about the "Ark of the Covenant." In the Litany of Mary, one of the invocations is "The Ark of the Covenant, pray for us." Ark is the presence of God. Mother Mary is the moving tabernacle, because first in her womb, then in her heart, mind, soul, the presence of Jesus is very prominently seen. The first step we can take to show our deep gratitude to God is to make ourselves that Ark, that presence of God.
How can we make ourselves the Ark of the Covenant? Luke 11:28 says, “Rather blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it." This in answer to the statement, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.” If the one who is blessed is the one who hears the word of God and observes it, then it is needless to say that he meant His own mother, because she heard the word of God which came to her through Archangel Gabriel and she observed it very carefully. She only once said to the archangel, “…let it be..." but she meant it all through. No matter how hard it was to continue to observe and say let it be. We, too, who want to express our deep gratitude to God and to be blessed, need to hear the word and observe it.
Finally, Luke 1:39 says, “Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste..., …Elizabeth filled with the Holy Spirit.” This is what we need to do to express our deep gratitude to God: be blessed, "set out," fill every one around us with the Holy Spirit.
Whenever I asked somebody, "Do you love Mother Mary?" the answer is A LOT. If it is so, then a lot of true love can be expressed by becoming the Ark of the Covenant, a real presence of God in us. Hear the Word of God and observe it and no matter how hard it is say always, "LET IT BE, LET IT BE, LET IT BE, SINCE IT IS ACCORDING TO YOUR WILL."
Wish you all a very happy Feast of the Assumption!
My dear friends,
If we have experienced the most powerful intercession of Mother Mary, then the best thing we can do is to be grateful to God for the gift of a mother. Yes, I mean it. If God Almighty has planned the act of salvation in such a way that His beloved Son Jesus in whom He is well pleased, whom He loves dearly, and yet Jesus while hanging on the cross did not think of himself but of us and said, “Behold your Mother.” John 19:27 Mother Mary, since then using the powerful intercession which she earned for us, is a matter of DEEP GRATITUDE to God. How shall we do that? How can we thank God for Mother Mary? The Assumption is the powerful answer for us.
The Old Testament often talks about the "Ark of the Covenant." In the Litany of Mary, one of the invocations is "The Ark of the Covenant, pray for us." Ark is the presence of God. Mother Mary is the moving tabernacle, because first in her womb, then in her heart, mind, soul, the presence of Jesus is very prominently seen. The first step we can take to show our deep gratitude to God is to make ourselves that Ark, that presence of God.
How can we make ourselves the Ark of the Covenant? Luke 11:28 says, “Rather blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it." This in answer to the statement, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.” If the one who is blessed is the one who hears the word of God and observes it, then it is needless to say that he meant His own mother, because she heard the word of God which came to her through Archangel Gabriel and she observed it very carefully. She only once said to the archangel, “…let it be..." but she meant it all through. No matter how hard it was to continue to observe and say let it be. We, too, who want to express our deep gratitude to God and to be blessed, need to hear the word and observe it.
Finally, Luke 1:39 says, “Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste..., …Elizabeth filled with the Holy Spirit.” This is what we need to do to express our deep gratitude to God: be blessed, "set out," fill every one around us with the Holy Spirit.
Whenever I asked somebody, "Do you love Mother Mary?" the answer is A LOT. If it is so, then a lot of true love can be expressed by becoming the Ark of the Covenant, a real presence of God in us. Hear the Word of God and observe it and no matter how hard it is say always, "LET IT BE, LET IT BE, LET IT BE, SINCE IT IS ACCORDING TO YOUR WILL."
Wish you all a very happy Feast of the Assumption!
The Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Dear friends,
If Jesus says that, “ …but are not rich in what matters to God,” then I am sure Jesus means and wants us to "BE RICH IN WHAT MATTERS TO GOD." So today, we will try to find out with the help of today’s readings, what matters to God, which will make us truly rich.
The first reading taken from the Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23 suggests in the first place to get rid of vanity. Possessing worldly property is vanity because it leads to sorrow and grief, and the mind is never at rest. We need to get rid of all this. The path of knowledge and wisdom will be then clear.
In continuation of the same thought, the second reading taken from St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11 too suggests that in first place we should, “Put to death, then, the parts of you that are earthly.” Then St. Paul takes us through three stages to reveal to us that which matters to God.
1) Seek what is above, think of what is above.
2) Have put on the new self, which is being renewed, for knowledge, in the image of its creator.
3) But Christ is all in all. This simply means that what matters to God is Jesus. Jesus Christ must be all in all for us.
The Holy Gospel according to Luke 12:13-21 says: "Then Jesus said to the crowd, 'Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.” The parable of the rich man who wants to store things for the rest of his life, does represent each one of us in a smaller or bigger degree. We too have that greed of hoarding things. But the question is: how long are we going to live here?
Therefore, the strong step to start becoming rich in what matters to God is to die to what is earthly and start seeking and start thinking about what is above. Thus put on the new self. Slowly we will realize that
CHRIST IS ALL IN ALL FOR US.
If Jesus says that, “ …but are not rich in what matters to God,” then I am sure Jesus means and wants us to "BE RICH IN WHAT MATTERS TO GOD." So today, we will try to find out with the help of today’s readings, what matters to God, which will make us truly rich.
The first reading taken from the Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23 suggests in the first place to get rid of vanity. Possessing worldly property is vanity because it leads to sorrow and grief, and the mind is never at rest. We need to get rid of all this. The path of knowledge and wisdom will be then clear.
In continuation of the same thought, the second reading taken from St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11 too suggests that in first place we should, “Put to death, then, the parts of you that are earthly.” Then St. Paul takes us through three stages to reveal to us that which matters to God.
1) Seek what is above, think of what is above.
2) Have put on the new self, which is being renewed, for knowledge, in the image of its creator.
3) But Christ is all in all. This simply means that what matters to God is Jesus. Jesus Christ must be all in all for us.
The Holy Gospel according to Luke 12:13-21 says: "Then Jesus said to the crowd, 'Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.” The parable of the rich man who wants to store things for the rest of his life, does represent each one of us in a smaller or bigger degree. We too have that greed of hoarding things. But the question is: how long are we going to live here?
Therefore, the strong step to start becoming rich in what matters to God is to die to what is earthly and start seeking and start thinking about what is above. Thus put on the new self. Slowly we will realize that
CHRIST IS ALL IN ALL FOR US.
Message for the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the United States of America said:
In the book of Genesis 18:20-32, we see Abraham pleading to God for Sodom to be spared. Abraham persisted and persisted, and God was considerate. The most important point here is the "innocent." Minimum innocent people can save maximum souls from the wrath of God. This is made possible by the persistent prayer of Abraham.
A reading from the letter of St. Paul to the Colossians 2:12-14 tells us that to make our Persistent Prayer work, we must be dead to sin and live with Jesus in faith, nailing our duties and responsibilities to the cross.
In the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke 11:1-13, after teaching the disciples "the Our Father," Jesus explains how persistent prayer works. ASK:
Let us pray and pray and pray and not give up till we receive.
“Persistence. Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination are alone omnipotent.”This is what Jesus is trying to say about prayer through today’s Holy Gospel.
In the book of Genesis 18:20-32, we see Abraham pleading to God for Sodom to be spared. Abraham persisted and persisted, and God was considerate. The most important point here is the "innocent." Minimum innocent people can save maximum souls from the wrath of God. This is made possible by the persistent prayer of Abraham.
A reading from the letter of St. Paul to the Colossians 2:12-14 tells us that to make our Persistent Prayer work, we must be dead to sin and live with Jesus in faith, nailing our duties and responsibilities to the cross.
In the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke 11:1-13, after teaching the disciples "the Our Father," Jesus explains how persistent prayer works. ASK:
- A for ask
- S for seek
- K for knock
Let us pray and pray and pray and not give up till we receive.
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