The Narrow road – A Journey

On Zenit – Honeymoons and Vulnerability – South African Bishops’ Spokesman Speaks on Priestly Ministry

When I look into her eyes, there I see acceptance.
When I see her beautiful lips, I see a smile.
Her arms waiting to embrace me,
And there I feel the warmth and there I am at peace.

Her holding me, calms me down.
Her look takes away all desperation
She is as if a ocean of solace
With her son, they, my companion

And in gratitude i bow
As this letter I write
From, her dear child,
To, Mama Mary with Love

Prayer: I give thee all myself, and to show my devotion to thee, I consecrate to thee my eyes, my ears, my mouth, my heart, my entire self.

Wherefore, O loving Mother, as I am thine own, keep me, defend me, as thy property and possession.

India legalized homosexuality; getting very different reactions from different sections of society. Some very pro some totally against whereas some just don’t care. Religion and the religious should not interfere in politics, true. But they have the very responsibility of molding human conscience. And if it takes them to interfere in politics and the law system, then be it. Behind all evil is the object of temptation. In the following videos Bishop Sheen explains how a simple desire could turn into temptation. And today its necessary for us to realize this, because we have started ignoring the negative effects of temptations on the pretext of natural human character.

I found these videos on youtube @ http://www.youtube.com/user/wonderboy021082 – Check link for more videos.

Part 1

Part 2
Part3

There was the potter working on the wheel. Making useful pots. When any clay turned out bad, he tried shaping the same clay again. And all this he made according to his choice, the way he knew would be best for the clay.

And we are the clay and our God is the potter. He has made us according to his will, most beautiful. But sometimes when we go our own way and make a mess of our lives, the potter – our God, stands by us to remake us and reshape our lives. He is never tired of making us again and again.

But there is another message that follows. God gives us our choice to return to him when we have walked the way of the satan. He helps us mend our ways by teaching us, as he molds our lives back. In the process, he fills us with wisdom and strength. No matter what he does for us, if we continue to do evil, he will also punish us. And if He ever intends to punish us and we repent and look at God for protection, He will embrace us with his forgiveness and mercy.

And what is it that we cannot achieve with his shadow over us?

He who made the clouds, the stars, the colors and the breeze.
He who is the breath, he will never cease.
His wrath is the thunder of the sky.
His warmth does in our smiles lie.

I am like the clay which turned out bad
No matter how much the potter did to shape it back
I grew more stubborn day by day
He watered me soft, to mend my way.
Lord, you are my Potter and I am your clay.

Evita

I suddenly wished to see God today. Though I knew google would not help me, I anyway wanted to see how people have perceived God would look like. A picture of the space specially captured my attention. Though I have seen it many times, through various sources before, today it seemed to have a special meaning to me. The picture which looked like an eye, most beautiful and magnificent. Who could have drawn that on the sky, or was it really God’s eye looking at us.

I remembered the little hymn I sang when I was little;

“My God is so big, so strong and so mighty
There is nothing my God cannot do.
made the rivers, he made the mountains,
and all the handy works too.”

Oh yes, that painter can and will only paint beautiful things in my life and there is nothing impossible for him. I no longer want to see God, because I know what he is and I see and feel him enough within me every day, every moment.

The unworthy successor of Peter who desires to benefit from the immeasurable wealth of Christ feels the great need of your assistance, your prayers, your sacrifice, and he most humbly asks this of you. – Pope John Paul II

With those words I begin my today’s post. I think of an orphan, who gets fatherly love and care from another man. That man becomes his father. That little child learns its way of life from the one who is fostering it. It learns to understand the world and the values it needs to live with.

Jesus came to teach us to live our lives his father wills for us. He became our father on this earth a mediator of his father to us. He chose for us those who could take the figure of himself after he left. He did not leave us orphans, but gave us the precious gifts of our priests, who will nourish our souls and lead us towards God’s plan for us.

But the one’s Jesus chose for us, are from among us. They are not divine as our Christ himself is. They are humans. Above all, their human nature causes them to be led astray if they give into temptations. And because they are people of God, their temptations are much stronger than we normal humans face.

And so as Pope John Paul asks of us our prayers and sacrifices, for himself, and so, it is our duty to pray for our priests.

Everytime we hear about a priest who has sinned, let us not forget to reflect on the life of Christ himself. Christ never sinned, but his life was a perfect example of all a priest faces everyday. Leaving his family, serving the poor, fighting for justice, fasting, his temptations. Jesus was never accepted or respected by his own people, so I see a lot of catholics not respecting their priests. Its not simple to become a savior without sacrifice. And moreover let us not forget the human nature of our priests.

(Many may still not agree with me -  thats simply our human nature ) Well let us all pray now;

Prayer for our priests

Lord Jesus, we your people pray to You for our priests. You have given them to us for our needs. We pray for them in their needs.

We know that You have made them priests in the likeness of your own priesthood. You have consecrated them, set them aside, annointed them, filled them with the Holy Spirit, appointed them to teach, to preach, to minister, to console, to forgive, and to feed us with Your Body and Blood.

Yet we know, too, that they are one with us and share our human weaknesses. We know too that they are tempted to sin and discouragement as are we, needing to be ministered to, as do we, to be consoled and forgiven, as do we. Indeed, we thank You for choosing them from among us, so that they understand us as we understand them, suffer with us and rejoice with us, worry with us and trust with us, share our beings, our lives, our faith.

We ask that You give them this day the gift You gave Your chosen ones on the way to Emmaus: Your presence in their hearts, Your holiness in their souls, Your joy in their spirits. And let them see You face to face in the breaking of the Eucharistic bread.

We pray to You, O Lord, through Mary the mother of all priests, for Your priests and for ours. Amen.

The strength that keeps me going, is the hope I carry in my Lord. Life has its own up’s and down’s. I like to question, “Why me?” But the hope that my empty cup will be filled with fulfilling life, gives me a new chance to look beyond. And that faith, thanks the Lord for the failures, because when I win these are the very failures which will show me how invaluable my happiness would be and there will be no stopping to the overflowing joy. I know that is true, because the strength that keeps me going, is the hope I carry in my Lord.

Fill my cup Lord, I lift it up Lord
Come and quench the thirsting of my soul
Bread of heaven, feed me till I want no more
Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole.

click here for complete lyrics of this hymn Fill my cup Lord

Do you praise the name of Jesus? Do you sing hymns? Do you say the Our Father loudly?
Do you do this with your lips or is your heart and mind as much involved?
Do you go to Mass? Can you give your life for the Lord?
If you say yes to everything and if its all seems perfect, wait and think again. Have you given everything to the Lord?

This lent was an amazing time when I reflected on one thing. What is it I have not given to the Lord, what is it that I hold back from him. Its then when his message reached me, through the life of St. Jerome. Jesus asked him (and me), “will you give me your sins..”

Yes exactly, Have you given your sins to the Lord??

Evu

Before I start writing today, I’d like to make a mention of this link. Has a great reflection on mass or eucharistic celebration Click Here

Well, this was in my mind for a long time now but could’nt make a perfect start. Let me try this time..

As a kid, attending Mass was like a weekly ritual, what a good christian is supposed to do. Not just weekly but yes all obligatory days. Until I reached the high school, where I came across two catholics from my catechism class questioning against the faith. That’s when I started questioning too – not against though. I had an urge to understand and know what makes catholic and what makes a protestant. So many doubts in mind, I could have been easily thrown into the winds of misunderstandings. My point here is not to prove any protestant wrong, but to explain what made me stick on to my faith.

I had to start somewhere, so was it the bible, catechism or just the mass. I decided to keenly concentrate on the mass first, as that’s where the bible would be read and catechism explained. Initially nothing made sense to me. I was even more confused. I am still not an expert, but I have enough knowledge to be cemented to my faith (ofcourse without air-cracks)

Then was a period at work, where I met and still meet people from strong catholic (and orthodox) backgrounds finding it difficult to even attend a mass, simply because they find it not so interesting. They find the lively praise and worship music makes more sense to them. My intense desire to understand my faith which led me to start with the mass, put me in complete love with the mass no matter how the choir sang, no matter how many people slept, no matter how boring the priest is. We ask for miracles and Mass (Eucharistic celebration) is nothing less than the greatest miracle. Don’t you ask me how? It seemed like rocket science in the beginning, but it was much simpler than I thought it was. I took baby steps, fell apart, felt agitated at times, went through phases where i just did not believe, times when I stared at the cross blankly. I guess God was slowly writing into me the meaning of the “miracle”, which took me years to realize. If your not looking for quick solutions, then concentrate on everything during the mass, possibly you would go through all I did, but I can assure, you too will fall in love with it

Now this is what I think Mass is and is not. It is surely a miracle, we reinvent our faith everytime we celebrate it, oh yes its a celebration (grand one), its the mystery of greatest love of God, in the form of his own flesh and blood, it is a time when ‘I’ try to stand and pray and thank God for counting me worthy to take part in his feast, its a time when ‘I’ sing and worship and don’t counter on how good or bad the person next to me is singing (also the choir included). Its a time when ‘I’ lift myself up to the lord. Its when ‘I’ repeat or respond to the priest with my whole heart. That’s when ‘I’ will find the beauty of the celebration coming alive.

Though live music, miracles and healings all matter a lot, we are not called to believe because of these. We are called to believe in Christ no matter how difficult or dull our lives are, even minus all the entertainment.

Everytime you say the priest was boring and choir was slow or not lively, remember its the satan trying to persuade you to believe that its the best time to sleep and Mr. satan really feels glad (gives a devilish smile) when he succeeds, he knows how to separate you from our lords one true catholic church

So BEWARE!!!

Evy

Oh, I was fallen with complete despair
Afflicted with sorrow, pain and no care
No one could lift my spirits up
To carry my burden, no power seemed to be enough

I closed my eyes
Shoulders drooped
I want to die
Loud I cried.

All the while I was walking on fire
Stuck by the thorns of worldly desire
Just to realize, I was yet not burnt
No scars, no wounds, no pricks and no tears.

Just then I heard
a voice so meek
yet so distinct indeed
Dear I understand and I do care
Oh dear I do understand and I will bear

Lifted my eyes to look who it was
and there I saw a hidden cross
I straightened up, being fallen lame
To see the one carrying all my shame.

There were my burns
There were my wounds
There were the thorns
My pain and moans

That was the cross which carried them
To relieve me, my God was slain
I fall at your feet O dear Christ
And thank you for my new life.

– straight from my heart.Evita