“Avoiding excuses; instead, using all the opportunities to grow in holiness and grace!”

(Based on Rom 12:5-16ab and Lk 14:15-24 – Tuesday of the 31st Week in Ordinary Time, Year 1)

“Excuses are the nails that are used to build the house of failure”

We often, manage our lives, basing ourselves on many excuses and justifications…

Politicians sometimes make excuses for failure to undertake developmental works blaming their opposition parties.
Citizens sometimes make excuses for their inability towards nation-building by purely blaming the corruption among politicians.
Motorists or car-drivers sometimes make some excuses and jump signals and violate traffic rules.
Traffic inspectors sometimes make some excuses and escape from duties and dump it on someone else.
Students sometimes make excuses for their poor performance by blaming the education system.
Teachers sometimes make excuses for their loopholes in work by blaming the students and parents for non co-operating.

Are we becoming a Generation of Excuse-givers?

The Gospel of the Day brings our attention to this grave and urgent issue that we need to tackle: The Issue of making Excuses for Escapism.

We have the Parable of the Great Wedding Feast in today’s Gospel.

“A man once gave a great feast and invited many guests” (Lk 14:16)

Here was a big and great feast being organized and invitations were sent out to many guests.
This was no simple feast.
This was no ordinary event.

It’s similar to someone today, being invited to a lavish and a grand party by the President of the Nation or some highly dignified person.

It was kind of a once-in-a -lifetime opportunity.
The people waited with eagerness to get such a chance.

In those days, it was the custom to send two invitations.

The first invitation was to tell everyone that the event was being planned.

Those were the days when time was a lavish commodity.
Clocks were scarce and time management techniques were still unheard of.

The actual day and the actual time of the event were left open.

It would depend a lot on the preparation time for the killing of animals, their cleaning and cooking…
… getting all the vegetables and everything needed to get the meal ready.

And so there was a need for a second invitation…

The second invitation was to tell everyone that everything was ready and about to begin.

This second reminder was for to those who had been given the first invitation…
… and had indicated that they would attend.

But the Gospel says, that when the second invitation was sent to the pre-invited guests, they began to make excuses!

Making excuses is nothing new!
It has existed right from the first days…

Adam and Eve made excuses before God in trying to hide the sin of disobedience.

Cain made excuses before God in trying to hide the sin of killing his brother Abel.
Moses gave excuses before God in trying to escape from the task being entrusted to him.
Jeremiah gave excuses before God that he was only a small boy to take up the responsibility

Those who were able to overcome the excuses, found true meaning and joy.

But those who got stuck with their excuses, lost out on discovering greatness!

The guests who had been invited for the grand feast, gave silly excuses….

One said, “I have purchased a field and must go and examine it”

Not a great excuse, isn’t it?

Does anyone enter into land dealings without having seen it in prior?

And even if one has not, was it so urgent, so as to miss the grand feast?

Another said, “I have purchased five oxen and am on my way to evaluate them”

Not a great excuse, isn’t it?

Does anyone purchase land animals, without having examined them?

And even if one has not, was it so immediate a need, so as to skip the great feast?

Another said, “I have just married a woman, and I cannot come”

Not a great excuse, isn’t it?

Couldn’t the husband take along his wife to the feast, to have a joyful time together?

Or was this couple so much exclusive, that they failed to have any social contacts, so as to avoid the fine feast?

Here was an invitation so grand.
Here was a generosity so lavish.

But unfortunately, it was responded with excuses which were baseless, childish, illogical and quite ridiculous!

We might sometimes laugh at those excuses made by the people.

But perhaps, we are also no different…
… or if not, worse.

We are in a trend of being a Generation of Excuse-givers….

We make excuses of physical tiredness, to avoid saying our personal prayers, our family prayers and being faithful to our spiritual activities.
We make excuses of saying that “it’s impossible to live an honest life” and give into many corrupt malpractices, which go against the Gospel values.
We make excuses of being too busy to find time to participate in the Holy Eucharist with greater devotion and preparedness.
We make excuses to reach out to the needy ones in their necessities by citing our own hardships to get out of our comfort areas.

We have a strong exhortation from the Lord today, to get rid of our “Excuse-giving Tendency”.

It’s easy to escape from responsibilities by giving excuses.

But by doing so, we end up missing out on many graces from God…
… causing much pain to God who expects much from us…
… and also disturb the plan and purpose of God for our lives.

We have a duty to overcome this tendency of making Excuses for Escapism.

The Lord gives us many opportunities to grow in holiness and grace.

Let us not make silly and baseless excuses and throw them away.

God Bless! Live Jesus!

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📖 Discovering the beauty of the Catholic Church through the Catechism
MAN’S VOCATION LIFE IN THE SPIRIT – GOD’S SALVATION: LAW AND GRACE – The Sixth Commandment – You shall not commit adultery – Male and Female He created them

Self-mastery is a long and exacting work.
One can never consider it acquired once and for all. It presupposes renewed effort at all stages of life.

The effort required can be more intense in certain periods, such as when the personality is being formed during childhood and adolescence. (CCC # 2342)

“Imbibing the honourable virtue of selfless giving!”

(Based on Rom 11:29-36 and Lk 14:12-14 – Monday of the 31st Week in Ordinary Time, Year 1)

Portraits, pictures or statues of people, in general, depict and reveal their character and personality.

Usually, if people are asked to have…
… a photograph taken
… or a picture drawn
… or a statue created

They would either prefer just by themselves…
… or posing with some expensive artefacts/costly goods.

What if there is a person in history who preferred instead to pose with a broom!

And has most of his images/statues holding a broom…
… along with a cat and dog around him!

So much is his association with the “broom” that he is called as the “Saint of the broom!”

This person is St Martin de Porres.

Born in Lima, Peru, in the 16th century, this saint – being of a mixed race and cast lower as belonging to an inferior social caste – was able to raise his life with the great virtue of selflessness!

So much was his zeal to dedicate his life for the Lord, that he would willingly accept to be a “donado” – a volunteer who performed menial tasks in the monastery…
… in return for the privilege of wearing the religious habit in the community.

He devoted his life to penance, charity and humility…
… spending nights in prayer and penitential practices
… dedicated days in nursing for the sick and caring for the poor – regardless of their color, race, or status
… and reflecting extraordinary gifts: ecstasies that lifted him into the air, light filling the room where he prayed, bi-location, miraculous knowledge, instantaneous cures, and a remarkable rapport with animals!

In St Martin de Porres, humility shone through selfless giving
… expecting nothing in return
… just as the Lord invites us in today’s Gospel.

We are in the 14th Chapter of St Luke.

Jesus has been invited for a dinner to the house of a leading Pharisee on a Sabbath Day.

He has just cured a person with dropsy…
… a disease wherein water gets retained in the body

He also tried to cure persons with hypocrisy…
… a disease wherein duplicity gets retained in the mind!

And now He seeks to cure the attitude of the people who have a false understanding of giving.

Jesus says, “When you give a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends, or your brothers and relatives and wealthy neighbours.

For surely they will invite you in return and you will be repaid” (Lk 14:12)

Much of our giving is often based on the (unconscious & hidden) aspect of receiving back…

We share our time with friends…
… often expecting that they too will accompany us in our times of hardships and difficulties!

We work hard for our families…
… often expecting that they too will be with us in our moments of struggle & not leave us lonely!

We render service to many people who are in need…
… often expecting that they too will render us assistance in our difficulties!

We love many saints…
… often expecting that they’ll make faster intercession on our behalf and get our works done quickly.

We pray to God & make a lot of sacrifices…
… often expecting that He’ll meet all our expectations, in the way & time, we want!

We have, perhaps, become very business oriented:

I give, and expect returns!
I share, and expect a bonus!

But the Lord, in today’s Gospel comes down heavily on such an attitude.
“When you give, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind…
… because they cannot repay you” (Lk 14:13)

We are exhorted to give to those, who may never be able to repay back.

We are challenged to help those, who may never have a chance to return back the favour.

The Lord who said these words, shows us an example in the highest manner possible…
… in the Holy Eucharist.

The Holy Eucharist is the best example and model…
… of such kind of a giving..

A giving without expecting back…!
A sharing without seeking back…!

Jesus, who gives Himself entirely in the Holy Eucharist, challenges us to do the same:
“I give myself to you as food and nourishment…
… even though many people fail to thank me!

Can you also give yourselves to nourish the lives of others…
… even if they fail to acknowledge?”

“I give myself to you in joy, happiness and peace…
… even though many despise and mock me

Can you also become a source of joy to others…
… even if they back-bite and spread calumny?”

“I give myself to you as a healing for sin and guilt…
… even though many hate and desecrate me.

Can you also become a healing-touch to the other…
… even if it means dying slowly to your self slowly die in the process?”

The onus is on us…
Can we truly pray and live…
That we may never seek..
… to be consoled, as to console,
… to be understood, as to understand,
… to be loved, as to love with all my soul…

The Lord, through the Gospel and through the example of St Martin de Porres, invites us to “pose with the broom”
… the broom of selfless service and altruistic assistance,
… the broom of humility and joyful self-forgetfulness,
… the broom of accepting our weakness and depending wholly on the Lord’s strength.

May the words of this humble saint, “Everything – even sweeping, scraping vegetables, weeding a garden and waiting on the sick, could be a prayer – if it were offered to God”
… be an inspiration to all of us, to imbibe the honourable virtue of humility!

God Bless! Live Jesus!

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📖 Discovering the beauty of the Catholic Church through the Catechism
MAN’S VOCATION LIFE IN THE SPIRIT – GOD’S SALVATION: LAW AND GRACE – The Sixth Commandment – You shall not commit adultery – Male and Female He created them

The virtue of chastity comes under the cardinal virtue of temperance…

… which seeks to permeate the passions and appetites of the senses with reason. (CCC # 2341)

“Looking to the Lord on the Cross, and finding greater meaning and hope in life!”

(Based on the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed [All Souls Day])

“No…..don’t leave me!”…
A cry of a helpless one!

A set of twins were growing inside the womb of the mother.

For around nine months, these little ones have known each other.

They have eaten together, played together, sometimes even fought with each other…
… and above all, shared a lot of love and happy moments.

But now it is the time of delivery.

Little do these infants know the concept of delivery!

As the first one is ready to be delivered, the second twin holds on to it tight… crying:
“No… don’t leave me…!”
”No… don’t leave me…!”

It’s a heart-breaking cry…
… a soul-wrenching wail!

To see its partner, being taken away, seems the end of the world for this second twin.

To realize that they can no longer play or live together in the same place, is indeed too sad a moment for this second twin.

Is it all over for this second twin?

Will it see its partner no more?
Why is such a cruelty being inflicted on this second twin?

Well… to those on the other side of the delivery…who are awaiting the delivery…
… these are precious and highly joyful moments.

What seemed death for the second twin…
… was life for those outside.
What seemed the end of the world for the second twin…
… was the start of life for those outside.

In a few moments, even the second twin will be taken out, and will be reunited to the first…

The wail of tears will be transformed to a well of joy!
The cry of sadness will be changed to a stream of happiness!

This could be a reasonable analogy for our life here on this world.

We are like this second twin…

We fall in love with our close ones…we live with them, share our life, sometimes even fight…
… yet we love them much.
And finally, one day, mostly unexpectedly, they are taken away from us.
… They die!

We cry, “No…..don’t leave me!”…but nothing brings them back!

Death seems to be an end for us!

But look up…

The Lord who was crucified and was dead for three days and rose to life, with an assuring smile tells us, “No! All is not over.

What seems death for you, is the beginning of life in me.
What seems immense sadness for you, is the start of a real joy in me.

Fear not…cry not…
… I am the Life and the Resurrection”

This is what St Paul echoed in his First Letter to the Corinthians 15:5, “Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting?”

Today is the Commemoration of all the Faithful Departed…
… the All Souls Day.

In the Apostles Creed, we recite, “I believe…
… in the Communion of Saints”.

The term “communion of saints” has two closely-linked meanings: communion in holy things and communion among holy persons.

The Communion of Saints is the three states of the Church:
… The Church Militant
(the pilgrim Church on earth)
… The Church Suffering
(the faithful departed)
… The Church Triumphant
(the saints in glory)
“… at the present time, some of His disciples are pilgrims on earth. Others have died and are being purified…
… while still others are in glory, contemplating ‘in full light, God himself triune and one, exactly as He is'” (Catechism of the Catholic Church #954)

On this day, we (the Church Militant), in union with the prayers of the saints in glory (the Church Triumphant)…
… reach out our prayers, intercessions and love in a very special manner for our suffering brothers and sisters (the Church Suffering).

What makes us to pray for the dead…
… the faithful departed?

It is necessarily in the co-relationship that all human beings share with each other.

We do pray for the people who are in need, when they live on this earth.
We do seek intercessions on their behalf to God, when they are with us.

But when a person dies, his/her existence ceases only in our sight.

They still continue to live in God’s sight.
The dead are not dead for God.

This is what Jesus says in Luke 20:38, “…he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him, all are alive”

Therefore, it is logical and reasonable that we pray for the faithful departed.

“All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven. (Catechism of the Catholic Church #1030)

Therefore, it is a duty on our part that we pray for the purification of these Faithful Departed.

This Commemoration is also a reminder of our own Death and the death of our close ones.

True, that as frail humans, we may have a natural fear and even a sort of phobia of death.

But our Christian Love, Faith and Hope must gain the upper-hand in us.

Death is frightening for the faithless…
… but for the faithful, it is the doorway to the Fountain of Faith!

Death is horrifying for the loveless…
… but for those who love, it is the passage to the Fullness of Love!

Death is devastating for the hopeless..
… but for those who hope, it is the entry to the Spring of Hope!

Today, we honour the faithful departed…
… gaining plenary indulgences by visiting cemeteries or churches
… praying for the deceased
… and fulfilling the conditions (confession, communion, prayer for the Pope’s intentions, detachment from sin).

We can pray the “Eternal Rest” prayer for partial indulgence.

Today is also a day when Priests are called to intercede for the departed…
… celebrating up to three Requiem Masses.

Death is a reality.

No amount of reflection or sermons can substitute the pain of this reality.

Sometimes, in such grieving and heartfelt situations, silence is the only answer that we can provide.

But this silence ought to be a silence of hope, a silence of trust and a silence of faith.

When we love God deeper, the fear of death decreases.

When we have a stronger faith in God, the pain of death reduces.
When we have an unshakeable hope in God, the anguish of death subsides.

Death is hard.

And our lips may only cry, “No… don’t leave me….”

But, the Lord has conquered this death!

Let us look on to Him, on the Cross, and find greater meaning and hope in life.

May our Blessed Mother Mary who bore the pain of the death of Her Beloved Child be our refuge and strength.

May the prayers and example of the Church Triumphant be our inspiration and courage.

Eternal Rest grant unto them, O Lord!

And let Perpetual Light shine upon them!

May the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace, Amen.

God Bless! Live Jesus!

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📖 Discovering the beauty of the Catholic Church through the Catechism
MAN’S VOCATION LIFE IN THE SPIRIT – GOD’S SALVATION: LAW AND GRACE – The Sixth Commandment – You shall not commit adultery – Male and Female He created them

Whoever wants to remain faithful to his baptismal promises and resist temptations will want to adopt the means for doing so:…
… self-knowledge, practice of an ascesis adapted to the situations that confront him, obedience to God’s commandments, exercise of the moral virtues, and fidelity to prayer.
“Indeed it is through chastity that we are gathered together

… and led back to the unity from which we were fragmented into multiplicity. (CCC # 2340)

“Making a choice – like all the saints – to preserve purity, even at the cost of one’s life!”

(Based on the Solemnity of All Saints)

The forests of northern Europe and Asia are home to a little animal called the Ermine.

It is characterized by its snow-white fur

(Some countries have the state robes of the judges lined with this fur…
… the white fur being a symbol of honour and purity.)

The Ermine would do anything to protect and safeguard its fur.

Fur hunters however, take undue advantage of this weakness of the Ermine.

They don’t keep a snare to catch the ermine

Instead the smear filth on the entrance and the interior of its house – usually in a cleft of a rock, or the hollow of a tree.

Dogs are then left behind the ermine…
… Frightened, the ermine runs towards its home, the only place of refuge.

However, it finds the entrance dirty and unclean.

It is unwilling to spoil the pure white fur coat.
And so, the ermine makes a choice…

To give in to the hungry and fierce dogs…
… than to spoil the purity of the white fur!

A choice is made – to preserve purity, even at the cost of one’s life!

Every Christian is expected to do the same…
… preserve the purity of one’s holiness, even at the cost of one’s life.

Today – on the Solemnity of the All-Saints – the Church invites us today to lift our gaze to heaven…
… and thank and praise God for the innumerable people who preserved purity, at the cost of their life!

On this Solemnity of All Saints, we celebrate and thank the Lord, for the perseverance in their faith…
… and the manner in which all Holy Men and Women of God, built up Christ’s Kingdom in the world.

Saints are not superheroes in the worldly sense…

What sets them apart…
… is not their miraculous power
… is not their popularity and fame.

Rather, what makes them saints, is their faith and their discipleship and their service to others.

The word – SAINT – sometimes strikes an odd chord in our minds…

Saints are often considered to be people…
… beyond our reach and too holy for our lives
… for whom the path to sanctity was made easy and cosy
… who are given a special boon from God to live a holy life

But the truth perhaps, is quite contrary…
Saints are people…
… who are truly very close to us and lived in simple and ordinary life situations like us.
… who had to struggle through many hardships and trials in the path to holiness.
… who co-operated with the grace of God and remained faithful to their commitment and call

Every Christian is called to a life of Holiness and to be a Saint…

How is this possible in our lives…?

The Beatitudes proclaimed by Jesus, in the Gospel shows us the path… (Mt 5: 1-10)

Being a saint…
… by depending on God in all dimensions of our life and seeking His Kingdom above all
… by mourning over our sins and seeking to live a life in repentance.
… by living a life of firm gentleness and trusting patience in the midst of injustice and pain
… by becoming agents of justice and seekers of establishing truth
… by offering mercy to the needy and even to those who we feel, don’t deserve
… by preserving purity in our thoughts, words and deeds
… by striving for establishing peace and harmony even in conflicting situations
… by accepting suffering and becoming stronger in our struggle to establish God’s Kingdom

This Feast day is a chance for us to sneak into the personal diary of the saints…
… and to “steal” some tips for us to admire and imitate them…

The Saints’ Favourite Food: The Holy Eucharist
The Saints’ Favourite Dress: The Armour of Faith
The Saints’ Favourite Pastime: Doing anything with immense Love of God
The Saints’ Favourite Symbol: The Holy Cross
The Saints’ Favourite Moments: Every time they discovered more the depth of God’s Love

The Church has a marvellous number of saints who are canonized.

On this special day, we also take our time, to raise our hearts in gratitude, for the many other holy men and women, who sparkle with sanctity, but have not been officially declared so.

A few may be known to us, in our family or friends circle…
Most of them, will remain unknown and unfamiliar and unheard.

But in the Lord’s presence, they dazzle and shine, in holiness and purity.

This galaxy of Saints beckon and encourage each one of us today to tread this path of holiness.

As St Augustine says:
“Do you aspire to do great things?

Begin with the little ones”
… Doing our simple works with much love of God.
… Living our Christian life with much faithfulness
… Seeing the deep presence of God in all areas of our life.

Let us live a life…
… of self-sacrifice, renunciation and trust in God
… seeking to do God’s will at all times
… laced with the tender Love of God in all our activities.

Like the ermine, in the world, we are faced to make a choice…

To die to the hungry and fierce world…
… than to spoil the purity of holiness!

Yes, we need to make a choice – constantly, at every moment…

A choice to preserve purity, even at the cost of one’s life!

Today, all the saints in heaven, with a loud chorus invite each one of us:
“Come, dear Child… Be a Saint!
Do not be afraid! We are with you!”

What is our response?

Happy Feast to all the Saints in Heaven… the Church Triumphant!

Happy Feast to all the faithful departed, being purged to be saints… the Church Suffering!
Happy Feast to all of us, striving to be saints, here on earth… the Church Militant!

God Bless! Live Jesus!

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📖 Discovering the beauty of the Catholic Church through the Catechism
MAN’S VOCATION LIFE IN THE SPIRIT – GOD’S SALVATION: LAW AND GRACE – The Sixth Commandment – You shall not commit adultery – Male and Female He created them

Man’s dignity therefore requires him to act out of conscious and free choice, as moved and drawn in a personal way from within…
… and not by blind impulses in himself or by mere external constraint.
Man gains such dignity when, ridding himself of all slavery to the passions, he presses forward to his goal by freely choosing what is good…

… and, by his diligence and skill, effectively secures for himself the means suited to this end.” (CCC # 2339)

“Receiving the touch of the Lord, in order to be safe from being drowned, in the troubled waters of life!”

(Based on Rom 9:1-5 and Lk 14:1-6 – Friday of the 30th Week in Ordinary Time, Year 1)

For our reflection today, we shall make a verse-by-verse analysis of the Gospel Passage…

The passage under consideration is the Healing of the man with dropsy on the Sabbath Day.

Let us carefully reflect on this amazingly dramatic incident…

The passage begins with the statement, “On a Sabbath, Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees…” (Lk 14:1a)

Here was an invitation of a high and elite nature…

A leading Pharisee of the Jewish society had called Jesus to his home.

He was joined by many other scholars of the Law and the Pharisees.

Maybe it was a show of one’s status and pride and dignity as a great Pharisee…

Maybe it was another chance for the critics of Jesus to find something to crib about him…

“…and the people there were observing Him carefully…” (Lk 14:1b)

To be invited for a dinner was something nice and pleasant…

But to be invited to become an object of observation and scanning was bad enough.

“The people were observing Him carefully” suggested a suspicious action…

It was as if, some thieves were waiting eagerly to strike on their target…
It was as if, some fierce lions, were stealthily preparing to pounce upon their prey…

And then comes the bait “In front of him, there was a man suffering from dropsy” (Lk 14:2)

What’s dropsy?

Dropsy was a condition in which there was an unnatural collection of serous (pale yellow and transparent) fluid in any cavity of the body.

Dropsy was water retention in the body.
Dropsy itself was not a disease, but a symptom of a disease.
It could be a number of things – complications of the liver or kidney or the heart or all three!

In the Jewish understanding, someone who had this condition of dropsy, was seen as a great sinner, even related to being a sexual sinner.

This sickness was a pointer to the man’s condition of being highly unclean!

But to bring back our attention to the Gospel…

Was this not the setting of a dinner?
Was not Jesus called for a meal…
… and that too, a dinner with the elite and leading religious people…
… and that too, on a Sabbath day?!

Then what was a man with dropsy, a serious condition of uncleanness, doing there?

The plot of the drama seems to be thickening…

The setup seems to be getting clear…

The Pharisees have invited Jesus for a meal, yes…
… but probably with a hidden and a mean agenda:

Drop a man with dropsy in front of Jesus… and observe what he does!

They knew Jesus had the power to heal…
… but they also knew that it would lead to violation of the Sabbath!

They knew Jesus would feel compassion on the man…
… but they also knew that it would give them a chance to go up in arms!

They wanted Jesus to violate the Sabbath to give proof that He was not from God!

The Rabbinical rule was that one could only be doctored if one was going to die immediately on the Sabbath.

But if death is not imminent, wait till the Sabbath is over.

But Jesus had time and again proved, that he had no regard for that lack of compassion or for the folly of that legalism.

In Lk 6:6-11, Jesus healed a withered man, on the Sabbath…
In Lk 13: 10-17, Jesus healed a woman, crippled for eighteen years, on the Sabbath…

So, He asks the guests gathered around, “Is it lawful to cure on the Sabbath or not?” (Lk 14:3)
Jesus knew their answer.
Jesus knew their perspective of things.

Yet He wanted them to tell.

“… but they kept silent” (Lk 14:4a)…

They knew the answer too.
They knew it was unlawful.

Still they did not tell Him.

Sheer hypocrisy!
Absolute malicious trapping!

And then Jesus does something astonishing…
“… he took the man, and after he had healed him, dismissed him” (Lk 14:4b)

The Greek word used for “took” is a very very strong verb….”Epilambano”

“Epilambano” literally means to lay hold of or to seize upon anything with the hands

It is the same word used in…
… Lk 23:26, when the soldiers seized Simon of Cyrene to carry the cross
… Acts 16:19 to say that Paul and Silas were seized and dragged by their persecutors..)

The cruel silence of the crowd provokes Jesus, to strongly seize the afflicted man!

He doesn’t work the miracle in hiding or quietly or from a distance!

Rather, with much force, He just grabs the man, seizes him, crushes him in His arms…
… as if to squeeze the fluid out
… and give him a new heart, a new liver, and a new self and creates in the man a whole new set of internal organs.

And finally Jesus justifies His action with another thundering question, “Who among you, if your son or ox falls into a cistern, would not immediately pull him out on a Sabbath?” (Lk 14:6)

A beautiful picture indeed…

Jesus asks them, “None of you would have allowed your son or ox to drown in the waters, isn’t it?

Then why don’t you see, that I have also saved from drowning… this man with dropsy, drowning in his own fluid!?

Another total silence by the onlookers!

Am I also silent now?

There is much to learn from this dramatic incident, isn’t it?

May this dramatic Gospel incident, become…
… a wonderful inspiration, for us… who need the touch of the Lord, from being drowned in the troubled waters of life!
… a hard warning, for us… who malign other’s lives by seeking to find ways and means to trap them in the works of goodness!
… a tremendous booster, for us… who often get bogged down by troubles of life & instead to be bold to the hard & gritty challenges of life!

On this last day of October – the month of the Rosary – let us thank the Lord for the gift of our Blessed Mother…

And pray the Rosary, everyday – which is a journey through the Life of Jesus, holding the Hands of our Mamma.

God Bless! Live Jesus!

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📖 Discovering the beauty of the Catholic Church through the Catechism
MAN’S VOCATION LIFE IN THE SPIRIT – GOD’S SALVATION: LAW AND GRACE – The Sixth Commandment – You shall not commit adultery – Male and Female He created them

Chastity includes an apprenticeship in self-mastery which is a training in human freedom.
The alternative is clear: either man governs his passions and finds peace…

… or he lets himself be dominated by them and becomes unhappy. (CCC # 2339)