“Let’s say, ‘Yeah’ to Jesus and His Kingdom… and ‘Nay’ to Satan and the ways of the world!”

(Based on Ezek 16:1-15, 60, 63 and Mt 19:3-12 – Friday of the 19th Week in Ordinary Time, Year 2)

Henry Ford is the founder of the Ford Motor Company.

He manufactured the first automobile that was affordable even to the middle class – an object of expensive curiosity turned into a practical conveyance.

Ford had a happy married life with Clara Jane Bryant.

On their golden wedding anniversary, a reporter asked them:
“To what do you attribute your fifty years of successful married life?”

“The formula,” said Mr. Ford, “is the same formula I have always used in making cars – just stick to one model!”

Being faithful and loyal is undoubtedly the hallmark of a successful relationship.

But we live in a world, where divorce is becoming an increasingly common term and phenomenon.

The Gospel of the Day presents Jesus engaged in a conversation with the Pharisees and clarifying and shedding light on the concept of faithfulness and fidelity in relationships.

When we hear the word ‘Divorce,’ we primarily associate it…
…. with a man and woman, in marriage, seeking divorce.

But Divorce is not merely limited to spousal relations.

In fact, divorce is on the increase everywhere….

There is divorce…
… between the parents and the children
… between siblings and family relations…
… among the members of a religious community and congregation..
… among the members of the Church…
… within the society itself.

There is also a great divorce within one’s spiritual life…
… One is separated and torn apart between serving God and serving the World!

In all these cases of Divorce…
… the one basic factor that is lacking is that of Commitment and Faithfulness.

When there is a decrease in commitment and faithfulness, the gravity of divorce and separation, increases!

It could be…
… in the spousal relation
… in the family relation
… in the community relations
… in the societal relations
… or even in our personal spiritual relationship with God!

When we fail in faithfulness, we succeed in separation…

When we are complacent in commitment, we are in danger of divorce…!

Today, let us look into our personal spiritual relationship with God…and examine…

Are we separating ourselves from God?
Are we being divorced from God?

Apparently, we may feel that these questions are not for us…

But let’s go a little deeper into ourselves…
… Are we really serving God as our master? … as the Only Master?
… Or are there times, when we fail in our faithfulness, and become complacent in our commitment…?

We need to give the first place to God…
… in our personal lives, our family lives/ our religious and priestly consecration.

But are there occasions, when for some time at least, we keep God away…
… to satisfy our sinful pleasures?
… to answer our egoistic tendencies?
… to fulfill our worldly sinful desires?
… to gratify our evil personal agenda?

If the answer is yes…
… then we are not on God’s side!

The Lord demands a total commitment and dedication to Him.

God hates divorce!

In Baptism, we have entered into a covenant with Him.

Am I in danger of being divorced or separated from our Beloved Covenant Partner?

Little acts of unfaithfulness and infidelity are the ones that slowly shreds a relationship into pieces.

Lets tighten up our spiritual lives, and re-dedicate our commitment and faithfulness and consecration to the Lord.

He is our God Who cares deeply for us
He is our Loving parent Who sees to all our needs
He is our Lover Who is intensely passionate about us

Shall we not remain in His loving affection by being more faithful and committed to Him and Him alone?!

Today we celebrate the Feast of St Maximillian Kolbe, who was called by Pope St John Paul II as the “Patron Saint of our Difficult Century!”

May the words of this Heroic Saint, who volunteered to die in place of a stranger in the Nazi death camp of Auschwitz, be an inspiration for us:
“The most deadly poison of our times is indifference.

And this happens, although the praise of God should know no limits.
Let us strive, therefore, to praise Him…
… to the greatest extent of our powers!”

Yes… let faithfulness and loyalty be the hallmarks of our successful relationship with the Lord.

Let’s say…

Yeah to Jesus and His Kingdom…
… and Nay to Satan and the ways of the world!

God Bless! Live Jesus!

“Entrusting ourselves to the Lord, knowing that God’s Plan of Salvation (GPS) for human beings is His Mercy!

(Based on Ezek 12:1-12 and Mt 18:21-19:1 – Thursday of the 19th Week in Ordinary Time, Year 2)

A tech-savvy young man was once explaining the functioning and usage of a smartphone to an elderly priest.

The use of GPS (Global Positioning System) was among the few things that he taught the senior priest.

Explaining GPS, the man told of how it can be used to quickly locate places, move from one place to another effortlessly…
… and adding, “You know Father, even if you lost your direction, the GPS will safely guide you

It will only give a message, ‘Re-routing’ and then guide you to your location, provided your destination is proper”.

Hearing this, the priest reflected a while and said, “Ah! So this is a beautiful reflection of the way God is, isn’t it?”
… and he continued: “Every time we stray, God safely guides us. Every time we miss the way, He prompts the right direction. He gives the message ‘re-routing’ and amazingly shows the way to proceed ahead.

Of course, all we need to ensure is that our destination is Holiness!”

The priest concluded by saying, “I think GPS for me stands for God’s Plan of Salvation…
… and GPS for human beings is His Mercy!”

That’s truly beautiful, isn’t it?

God’s Plan of Salvation (GPS) for human beings is His Mercy!

The Gospel of the Day is the mighty message of the Lord to share in this Divine attitude of reaching out Mercy to everyone in our life.

To be merciful involves the aspect of forgiveness.

Many of us have our moments of grappling with the aspect of ‘forgiveness’.

For some people, it’s easy…

But some others struggle hard in serving out pardon…

Jesus today teaches us this necessary virtue of “forgiveness”.

To the query of Peter, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him” (Mt 18: 21), Jesus illustrates His reply with the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant.

One of the principles in this virtue of forgiveness is the avoiding of a “mathematical accounting policy” in granting pardon.

As human beings, there is sometimes an avoidable tendency in us to “keep counts” in our relationships…

We make a count or keep a rough numerical impression…
… of how many times a person has done good to me
… of when was the last time a person behaved badly with me
… of how many times a person has hurt or caused harm to me
… of how often has a person offended me or spoken ill about me

Relationships…
… sometimes get reduced to mere mathematical entities
… sometimes find themselves entangled in the web of calculative units.

It’s in such situations that “forgiving” the one who has erred against us becomes a ‘calculative’ affair.

Thus, we find that Peter in the Gospel asks Jesus, “How often must I forgive the brother who has sinned against me?”

We maintain, sometimes, a sort of an imaginary “fault-account” book.

And our thought-process takes the following pattern:
“This person, on so and so date, committed this mistake
And on so and so date, I had forgiven him”.

“This person, on this particular day, had behaved in a very indifferent manner to me
And a particular number of days later, I had extended my pardon”.

But Jesus today warns us to stop looking at life and relationships from a “mathematical” or “calculative” perspective.

What is the basis for Jesus to say this?

It is simply the fact that all of us – without any exception – are the beneficiaries of the Mercy and Forgiveness of God.

God abandons all mathematical calculations in extending His forgiveness to us
God lets go of every measure of computation in allowing us to receive His mercy

Rom 3:23 says that “all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God. They are justified freely by His grace through the redemption in Jesus Christ”.

Each of us find ourselves sinking in the “boats of sinfulness and guilt”.

But it is the Mercy of God that still keeps us ashore.

Each of us pass through the “deserts of shame and culpability”

But it is the Forgiveness of God that nourishes us with the oasis of blessings

This “free and underserved” reception of the forgiveness of God places an undeniable responsibility on us to extend His pardon to all.

The prayer “Our Father” is recited so often by us, during the day or in our prayers.

But do we realize that it contains a clause, whose condition, if not fulfilled, does not help us to receive the “unconditional forgiveness of God?”

We pray, “Forgive us our sins… as we forgive those who sin against us”.

Even though the mercy of God is always made available for us, it can be genuinely received…
… only if one is willing, generous and humble enough to “forgive” the faults of others.

Forgiveness is a powerful weapon that, of course, won’t change the past, but will surely transform the future.

So many are the moments we stray away from the path of the Lord.

But every time we stray, God safely guides us.
Every time we miss the way, He prompts the right direction.

He gives the message ‘re-routing’ and amazingly shows the way to proceed ahead.

Of course, all we need to ensure is that our destination is Holiness!

Let us entrust ourselves to the GPS of our lives and imitating the Lord… knowing that
… God’s Plan of Salvation (GPS) for human beings is His Mercy!

God Bless! Live Jesus!

“Choosing God’s unconditional mercy over grudging unhealed memory!”

(Based on Ezek 9:1-7, 10:18-22 and Mt 18:15-20 – Wednesday of the 19th Week in Ordinary Time, Year 2)

In 1994, Rwanda bled.

Hatred tore neighbors apart, and in the space of 100 days, over 800,000 lives were lost.

Among them were the parents, two brothers, and a sister of a 14-year-old boy named Marcel Uwineza.

Years passed.
That boy became a Jesuit priest.

One day, before leaving Rwanda for studies abroad…
… he returned to the village where his family lay buried.

And there – standing before him – was the man who had murdered his beloved ones.

The man fell to his knees and said:
“Marcel… do you have space in your heart to forgive me?”

Father Marcel later said, “I was invaded by something greater than myself…
… because on our own, we can’t forgive.”

He helped the man to his feet and embraced him.

At that moment, he recalls, “It was as if the chains were breaking away from my legs…
… I, too, had been in prison.

Now I was set free.”

Forgiveness doesn’t erase the past…
… it redeems it.

It doesn’t change what happened…
… it changes what happens next!

What happened with Fr Marcel Uwineza SJ…
… is what Jesus calls us to in today’s Gospel: not to “unfriend” or cut off, but to seek out
… confront with love, and restore.

Perfection in relationships isn’t measured by how few faults we find…
… but by how much of God’s Mercy we give!

The Gospel of the Day invites us to reflect in depth on this wordly trend to “easily unfriend” people from our lives…
… without even giving them further chances or opportunities to remedy themselves.

Jesus says, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone” (Mt 18: 15)

Jesus was a person who had an important principle in all His teachings: the need to strive towards perfection.

In Mt 5: 48, Jesus says, “Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect”

It’s this pursuit of perfection in human relationships that makes Jesus to invite us in being careful and cautious…
… with respect to severing our relationships with one another.

“Friendship”, it is said, “is delicate as a glass – once broken it can be fixed but there will always be cracks”

Jesus, therefore warns us on the need to “handle with care” our relationships.

The “pursuit towards perfection” makes it inevitable for a Christian – a follower of Christ, to go beyond one’s own limitations and situations in maintaining relationships…
… by preserving and perfecting the fine ones
… by mending and restoring the broken ones.

It is easy to say “I don’t like you any more” because of some bad experience
… but it takes Christian Gentleness to respect and accept a person, despite his/her faults or failures

It is easy to show a person the exit-door in our relationship due to some misunderstanding or ego-clash
… but it takes Christian Humility to let go of one’s “proud and adamant mentality” and lower oneself to try to understand better the person in fault and his/her situation and background

It is easy to harbour grudge and to nurture ill-feelings and to spread the contagion of malicious talks regarding a person whom we don’t like
… but it takes Christian Charity to allow the honey of Christ’s love to permeate our hearts and to be able to find goodness even in the midst of a slush of ‘apparent dirt’ in the person

Our lives, families, communities and societies are being plagued by a number of cancers with respect to relationships:

Backbiting and spreading false rumours about people and situations
Cooking up bogus stories and building up on some true incidents to fashion an “interesting and spicy” report regarding particular persons
Actively engaging in forming groups and cliques against someone in order to satiate one’s own pleasures and get through one’s personal agenda for life

Are we ready to be bold to let go of all such tendencies to which we can be prone…
… and instead engage ourselves in radical Christian charity and humility?

Let the ‘chains of guilt and hurt’ drop…
… choose God’s unconditional mercy over grudging unhealed memory!”

Today we specially seek the intercession of St Jane de Chantal, in order to have greater strength in our personal relationships.

She is the patron saint of forgotten people, in-law problems, loss of parents, parents separated from children and widows.

She is the foundress of the Congregation of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary
… along with St Francis de Sales (the Doctor of Love)

(This is the Congregation to which St Margaret Mary Alacoque who promoted the Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus belonged to

May the words of St Jane de Chantal words inspire us:
“If we truly love our neighbours, we refrain from saying anything prejudicial to them.

We graciously help others in their needs both by prayer and actual service.
… In this way we truly show our good-will and love.”

Happy Feast of St Jane de Chantal!

God Bless! Live Jesus!

“Like children, being able to firmly trust and relax in the arms of our Caring and Loving Heavenly Father!”

(Based on Ezek 2:8-3:4 and Mt 18:1-5, 10, 12-14 – Tuesday of the 19th Week in Ordinary Time, Year 2)

A little boy once came to his Dad, one night.

He confessed a mistake that he had done during the course of the day.

Then kneeling at Daddy’s feet, the child, with hands folded, prayed with tears:
“Dear God, make me a man – like Daddy – wise and strong.

I know You can!”

This innocent gesture touched the father very much.
He had a profound realization of his deep limitations and the child’s high expectations

Then when the child had slept, the father knelt beside his bed.
Confessing his sins, and praying with a low-bowed head, made this prayer:
“O God, make me a child – like my sweet child here – pure, guileless, trusting in You with a faith sincere.

I know You can!”

We all grow up in life – physically, socially, psychologically etc

But sometimes this “growing up” fails to preserve the “growth” that is already witnessed in little children – openness, sincerity, trust and spontaneity.
Can we dare, as adults, to “grow” into being a child?

The Gospel of the Day is an elegant presentation by Jesus on the “necessary attitude” that is required for a valid entry into the Kingdom of Heaven: a child-like nature.

Jesus says, “Truly I say to you, unless you turn and become like little children, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (Mt 18: 3)

One of the grave dangers in the process of “growing- up” is the tendency to lose our “natural child-like” traits.

A child is someone who is born with many inherent qualities.

But in the process of “becoming an adult”, we abandon many of those.

This ‘abandonment’ could be because…
… of the upbringing in the society or the culture we live
… or the various experiences that we go through as we grow up

As a child, we would be free to express our emotions
… but as we grow up, we tend to hold them up all within (only to burst out one day!)

As a child, we would trust and depend easily on those who care for us
… but as we grow up, we become fearful or disbelieving towards those same persons

As a child, we would be eased to live in the present moment, enjoying and relaxing
… but as we grow up, we fall into the trap of the past and cringed with the fear of the future.

This “growth” process also affects our child-like faith and trust in God our Father.

Jesus presents the beautiful imagery of a Shepherd who goes behind the lost sheep.

The cry of that sheep which has been strayed pierces the heart of the shepherd
The dangers that the sheep which was lost is exposed to frightens the shepherd
Such is the deep longing and craving of our Heavenly Father towards us – we, who sometimes turn out to be the lost sheep by losing our child-like faith and confidence.

A popular song from the Hindi movie “Three Idiots” has the following line:
“… Give me another chance, I wanna grow up once again…”

The Lord invites us to have a “renewal of our minds” and to retrieve back the ‘lost’ child-like faith and trust.

It takes courage and dare to make efforts to let go of our “matured egoistic” tendencies in order to depend more on our Heavenly Father.

The process usually is encountered by resistance…

Why should I depend on someone…?
… I am mature enough to think for myself!
Why should I become humble…?
… I have my own desires to be satisfied to!

These could be some of the thought-patterns that one stumbles into, in giving heed to the call of the Lord to ” be like a child”.

Our Lord Himself is the greatest model and example in learning to have a “child-like” faith…

St Paul tells in his letter to the Philippians, “… though He was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God, a thing to be grasped.

Rather, He emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave…. becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross” (Phil 2: 6-8)

May we be privileged to be graced with the gift of being “like children”…
… and thus be able to firmly trust and relax in the arms of our Caring and Loving Heavenly Father!

St Clare of Assisi, whose feast we celebrate today, is an inspiration for us to firmly trust in God.

Let her words inspire us:
“Place your mind before the mirror of eternity!

Place your soul in the brilliance of glory!
And transform your entire being into the image of the Godhead Itself through contemplation!
Gaze upon Him, consider Him, contemplate Him, as you desire to imitate Him.”

God Bless! Live Jesus!

“May our Crucified Lord – the greatest embodiment of Sacrifice – fill us with the grace and courage to live a committed Christian life, like St Lawrence!”

(Based on the Feast of Saint Lawrence, deacon and martyr)

The year 258 AD saw a massive killing campaign unleashed against the Christians by the Roman Emperor Valerian.

Popular lore has it that a young Deacon had been placed in charge of the Church’s riches.

These treasures included the Holy Grail which was supposed to be the cup used by Christ at the Last Supper.

Emperor Valerian, who had just killed the Pope had set his eyes also on finishing off this young Deacon.

Having a good knowledge of the Church’s riches, the cruel Emperor commanded the Deacon to hand over all the “treasures of the Church” to him or that he too would suffer a dreadful death.

The deacon requested for a few days to collect together the vast amount of wealth.

Three days later, the Deacon, mustering immense courage, threw open the palace doors to deliver the “treasures”.
His hands were all empty – no silver nor gold nor any other precious ornaments.

Instead, flaunting behind him were the poor, the blind and the crippled of the town.
When he reached the throne, the Deacon daringly announced, “These are the true treasures of the Church!”

The Emperor was mightily enraged.
He sentenced the young fellow to a death by torturous grilling!

Literally, the executioners followed the command – barbecuing the Deacon to death on a gridiron.

However, the valour and the dare displayed by the faithful soldier of Christ was so great that, after a few minutes of being roasted, he said to his executioners, “This side is done… Turn me over on the other side!!”

That could be the height of boldness and courage, right?

And what’s more… call it Divine humour, the Church has named this Deacon as the Patron Saint of comedians, butchers, chefs and roasters!

Classic one, isn’t it?

The name of this Daring Deacon is St Lawrence, whose feast we celebrate today.

His daring life goes on to prove…
… that a passionate love for Christ can overcome any pain and persecution – including death!
… that the worth of being a true disciple is total fidelity to the person of Christ and to His Kingdom, even if it means bearing hardships and difficulties

We are invited, as the Gospel of the day says, “to be the grain of wheat that falls into the earth and dies” (Jn 12:24-26)

Our Blessed Lord expounds one of the most basic principles in nature:

New life emerges only when there is a sacrifice

Transformation in life happens only when a sacrifice is involved.

Vegetables, before being served at table…
… needs to be pulled up from the heart of the earth
… and passed through the torment of fire in being cooked

Meat, that comes with its tasty appeal, at the food table…
… needs to be first submitted to the slaying by the knife
… and passed through the flaming ordeal, in being rendered edible

Sacrifice, therefore, is nature’s way of passage to experience new life!

The Lord takes an appeal to this basic principle in saying that “unless a grain of wheat dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (Jn 12: 24)

At the time of Jesus…

The soil would be ploughed and shallow trenches dug out to create the bed for the seeds.
The wheat grains were dropped into the trench and covered with loosened soil

A little sneak into the wheat yielding statistics (roughly – since it varies from place to place, depending on the soil, seed variety and other factors) reveals the point that Jesus explicated about “a grain of wheat which dies, yields much fruit”

If we consider an acre of land…

Two bushels of grain would yield around 40 bushels of wheat
That translates to, around 150 kg of grain yielding around 3000 kg of wheat!

Simplifying it, gives an equation (very roughly): 1 kg of grain sown would yield around 20 kg of wheat!

That’s enormous, isn’t it?

This is the power of sacrifice that Jesus alludes to, with an example from nature.

As Christians, we are challenged to live a life of Sacrifice, in order to yield the harvest of God’s Kingdom.

Greater our sacrifice, greater would be the fruits…
… that are yielded for the glory of God and His Kingdom!

The Gospel passage refers to two ways of making this sacrifice…

1) Dying to the world
“He who hates his love in this world, will keep it for eternal life” (Jn 12:25)

2) Serving the Lord wholeheartedly by following Him
“If anyone serves me, the Father will honour me” (Jn 12:26)

Can we personalize these two dimensions of sacrifice….?

Dying to the worldly values which glorify the self – power, positions and honour- and instead seek to live in humility, self-discipline and selflessness!
Constantly making efforts to serve the Lord in every aspect of our life – words, deeds, thoughts – and leading a life that brings glory to God and serving His people in every little way possible

Giving up sins – both personal and social – and constantly rejecting alluring temptations to remain fixated by worldly standards; instead focussing on the transcendental dimensions of life
Prioritising the Lord and His Kingdom in every aspect of our life and remaining focussed on Him alone – even amidst persecutions or hardships to give up the Gospel Lifestyle

St Paul reminds us to become cheerful givers – offering ourselves totally to the Lord and His Kingdom (Cf. 2 Cor 9:6-7)

St Lawrence, today stands as a beautiful model and example of total self-giving

The courageous and bold Deacon, St Lawrence is a powerful model for us to lead a life of Christian Sacrifice.

May our Crucified Lord, Who is the greatest embodiment of Sacrifice…
… fill us with the grace and courage to live a committed Christian life!

God Bless! Live Jesus!