“Keeping ourselves fit, healthy and ready – not just physically – but much more spiritually, for the Kingdom of God!”

(Based on Wis 18:6-9, Heb 11:1-2, 8-19 and Lk 12:32-48 – 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C)

Bob, a fitness trainer was sharing his experiences to a group of Christian youngsters.

As a fitness trainer, Bob would spend hours at the gym – himself working out, and helping others to obtain good health

However, this workout and spending time at the gym, did not prevent him from his Christian obligations…
… he was regular for all the Sacraments
… he had a good personal prayer life, with daily reading of the Bible.

Talking to the youth, Bob said, “My young friends! God wants fit, healthy and ready people for His Kingdom!

This fitness and readiness is not just about our physical bodies, but much more about our spiritual body!”

And then he added, “Remember always the words of St Paul in his letter to Corinthians:
All who compete in the games use strict training.

They do this so that they can win a prize—one that doesn’t last…
… but our prize is one that will last forever!”

Do we keep ourselves fit, healthy and ready – not just physically – but much more spiritually, for the Kingdom of God?

The Gospel of the Day gives an exhortation to be prepared, and arm ourselves for the coming of the Lord:
“You must be ready, for the Son of Man will come at an hour, you do not expect” (Lk 12:40)

The Greek word used for the term “ready” is “hetoimos”… from a noun “heteos” which means to be fit….

It has a connotation of being prepared and seeking for fitness!

In today’s modern world, a lot of emphasis is placed on being health-conscious and maintaining oneself to be fit and fine.

As followers of Christ, we need to remember that this aspect of being healthy is to be extended beyond the physical body, to also the spiritual dimension of our lives.

One needs to be not just physically fit, but also be spiritually strong.
One needs to be not just bodily healthy, but also be spiritually tough.

It is this spiritual strength & toughness that will help us to be always ready to be prepared for the coming of the Lord.

There are several factors which affect the fitness of our physical bodies…
… and perhaps the similar factors could also be applied to the fitness for our spiritual lives.

1. Faulty food affects the fitness of our physical bodies

Proper food plays a vital role in having a healthy body.

It is very important to regulate the intake of our food and to have a check on the type of food.

We need to apply this same principle to our spiritual lives as well…

What is the type of food that I am feeding for my spiritual life?

Do I lavish myself on unhealthy thoughts of lust and desires, harmful words of indecency and lewdness and dangerous actions of immorality and wickedness?
Do I feed myself with the precious Word of God and nourish myself with His inspirations and wisdom?
Do I nourish myself with His Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist?

2. Faulty lifestyle affects the fitness of our physical bodies.

It is important to have a disciplined and self-controlled lifestyle in order to maintain our fitness.

A regular habit of exercises and workouts coupled with moments for relaxation and leisure from tension-filled works is important.
One must also avoid various bad addictions which can hinder having a good physical shape.

We need to apply this same principle to our spiritual lives as well…

What is the type of lifestyle I am leading, with respect to my spiritual life?

Do I exercise myself with the daily and regular habits of prayer, Bible Reading, pious practises and devotions?
Do I spare time and energy to make some sacrifices and reparations for various causes, especially as a remorse for our sins?
Do I make constant efforts to give up on some of our bad cravings, obsessions or habits?

3. Faulty environment affects the fitness of our physical bodies.

It is also essential that one maintains a clean and good environment in order to prevent being affected by diseases or sicknesses.

One must also seek to avoid any harmful situations or surroundings which can adversely affect the health.

We need to apply this same principle to our spiritual lives as well…

What is the type of environment that I am providing and surrounding my spiritual life?

Do I keep myself away from occasions of sin and shield myself away from harmful possibilities like bad books, friends, movies or songs, jokes and other cheap entertainments?
Do I strengthen my spiritual life with the powerful grace that is bestowed in the Sacrament of the Confession by a regular acknowledgment of my sins?
Do I seek the company of good people, nurture spiritual friendships and also foster a childlike companionship with the holy saints and angels?

Christian Life is a battle and a warfare…against the forces of the Evil.

We need to arm our spiritual lives mightily with the power and strength from God.

It is easy to give up on fitness.
It is easy to live a relaxed life and take life too casually.

But such a careless life, will lead us to a tragic end as that of the Unfaithful Servant in the parable that the Lord tells in today’s Gospel (Lk 12:45-46)

It has been recorded that a Greek commander, just before a coming battle is reported to have said: “The secret of victory is in ‘getting ready well!’”

Let us also seek for faithfulness in our Christian Life and as ‘ready soldiers’, let us be constantly “on the watch.”

Yes… let us keep ourselves fit, healthy and ready – not just physically – but much more spiritually, for the Kingdom of God…
… remembering that “our prize is one that will last forever!”

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 Fifth Commandment – Respect for human life

One must hold as licit procedures carried out on the human embryo which respect the life and integrity of the embryo…

… and do not involve disproportionate risks for it, but are directed toward its healing the improvement of its condition of health, or its individual survival. (CCC # 2275)

“Pulling ‘both the oars’ of faith and works so that the ferry ‘of our lives’ may move across the river!”

(Based on Deut 6:4-13 and Mt 17:14-20 – Saturday of the 18th Week in Ordinary Time, Year 1)

Two men were once seriously disputing the relative importance of faith and works…
… when they came to a ferry (boat) over a river.

As they started across they asked the ferryman his opinion on the subject.

Was faith alone enough in life?
… or was also works of faith important for a good Christian life?

In answer…
… the boatman, who was a strong believer in God, pointed to his two oars.

“One,” he said, “I will call faith, the other, works.
If I pull only on this one oar – the right oar – I get nowhere, but go round in a circle.
Just so if I pull only on the left oar.

But when I pull on both oars, then the ferry moves across the river.”

That was indeed a very sensible explanation, describing the relationship of faith and works.

The Gospel of the day is the incident of how the disciples fail to heal the boy and how Jesus intervenes to cure and teaches the importance of possessing strong faith.

This Gospel passage is preceded by the Glorious event of the Transfiguration (Mt 17:1-3)

These two incidents show contrasting dimensions…
On one side, immense glory being revealed and the Divine splendour being manifested

On the other, lack of faith being exposed and the failure in the Kingdom ministry

On one side, the three disciples basking in the light of heightened faith and devotion

On the other, the other disciples being lost in the darkness of inability to put the faith to effectiveness

How often is this the experience of our own lives too…

There are some moments when we experience the loftiness of God’s glory and power

There are other moments when we fail miserably to evoke His presence and are unable to feel His

There are some times when faith makes us to feel that everything is so glorious and wonderful

There are other times when our faith hits rock-bottom and our spiritual life loses its sheen and all seems so miserable

This is the reality of our lives – contrasting experiences of glorious faith at some instants and miserable lack of trust at other

But the Gospel of the day ends with an encouraging exhortation by Jesus to have a strong and sturdy faith – the faith the size of a mustard seed

“If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you” (Mt 17:20)

When the disciples were unable to bring about a healing to the epileptic boy, the Lord sure did rebuke them for their “lack of faith”.

But after having healed the child, He does not linger with the reproaching or admonishing attitude…
…. instead as a loving friend and a caring master, gently but firmly encourages them to be stronger in their faith.

This is the approach that He has towards us too…

He knows that we have our weak moments and situations of disbelief and doubts
He knows that there are periods when our faith is merely on the lips and not really from the depths of our hearts
He knows that there are times when annoying circumstances encroach our faith-life and all our efforts in devotion meet with bitter conclusions

Yet, with firmness and fondness, Jesus invites us to keep seeking to grow in our trust in Him and have faith of the size of the mustard seed.

Let us pull “both the oars” of faith and works…
… so that ‘the ferry of our lives’ may move across the river of God’s Grace!

Let us today seek the intercession of St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, also known as Edith Stein.

She was a German Jewish philosopher who converted to Catholicism…
… became a Carmelite nun
… finally becoming a martyr in the Nazi concentration camp.

Let her words inspire us:

“And when night comes, and you look back over the day and see how fragmentary everything has been, and how much you planned that has gone undone…
… and all the reasons you have to be embarrassed and ashamed:
Just take everything exactly as it is, put it in God’s hands and leave it with Him.”

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 Fifth Commandment – Respect for human life

Prenatal diagnosis is morally licit
“if it respects the life and integrity of the embryo and the human fetus…
… and is directed toward its safe guarding or healing as an individual.
It is gravely opposed to the moral law when this is done with the thought of possibly inducing an abortion…

… depending upon the results: a diagnosis must not be the equivalent of a death sentence. (CCC # 2274)

“Requesting for a stop at Calvary – to embrace the Cross of Christ!”

(Based on Deut 4:32-40 and Mt 16:24-28 – Friday of the 18th Week in Ordinary Time, Year 1)

Dayton Ohio in America has an elevated railway.

One of the stations of this railway was near a great Roman Catholic burial ground named Calvary Cemetery.

The name of this station was Calvary Station.

The unique aspect of this station was that the trains did not stop at this station, except on request.

The reason?

For several years, in that part of the town, there were many more dead than living people.

Therefore, just after leaving the nearest station, the train guard would open the door and shout:
“Next station is Calvary! Train stops on request only…

Anybody for Calvary?”

Perhaps this a parable of life’s train!

At all other stations, life’s train stops – market-street station, school-street station, church-street station, home-avenue station etc…

But only at one station, there is a stop only when someone chooses to: the Station of Calvary!

The Gospel of the Day has Jesus, the Guard of our Life’s Train echoing the invitatory words, “Anybody for Calvary?”

Jesus tells His disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after Me, must deny Himself, take up His cross and follow Me” (Mt 16:24)

One of the finest aspects about Jesus, as a Person and as a Teacher, is the clarity and precision that He maintained in all His words and deeds.

He was clear and precise of what was His Mission on the earth

He is clear and precise also, of what is expected of His followers.

There is no pretense or deception in His talks.

There are no loopholes or strings attached in His demands

He makes it precisely clear that the one who follows Him must fulfil the three basic conditions:

Denying Oneself
Taking up the Cross
Following Him

1. Denying oneself – demands that one is willing to entrust the reins of one’s life totally to the Master.

It means a priority of the highest order that is reserved for the Lord and His Kingdom
It means a constant rejection of desires that cause the self to be greater than the Lord

2. Taking up the Cross – demands that one is wholeheartedly and readily willing to do one’s duty as a Christian, joyfully and steadily

It means an availability to be at the service of the Lord and His Kingdom at all times
It means a seeking and an acceptance of the Will of God at every moment of life

3. Following Him – demands that one keeps a steadfast focus on the Lord alone and keeping away anything that would cause a distraction

It means a faithful and an unflinched commitment to walk only on the path that the Lord demands
It means a radical letting go of anything that can be contrary to the Gospel ways and the Kingdom values.

But very often we find that these things are easier said, than done…

We wish to deny ourselves.

But too often….
… our selfish desires dominate over us and we get disillusioned
… we give in to making excuses or dilute the seriousness of our call

We wish to take up our cross.

But too often…
… we feel ourselves overburdened with responsibilities
… we fear the hardships of disciplining ourselves and shy away from it

We wish to follow Him.

But too often…
… worldly distractions and human affairs preoccupy us and our hearts get divided in our loyalty to the Lord
… our enthusiastic hearts get weighed down by scandals or lack of motivations or even opposing forces.

The Lord, through today’s Gospel gives a call once again – to embrace a life of the Cross!

The way of the Cross is the only true path for a Christian.

That was the way of the Lord.

That is to be the way of each follower too.

As Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German theologian says, “To endure the cross is not tragedy; it is the suffering which is the fruit of an exclusive allegiance to Jesus Christ”.

A life embracing the cross is the hallmark of a Christian – in self-denial, in total commitment and with complete sincerity.

It’s a stumbling block for the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks (1 Cor 1:23)

But to those who believe, it is the power and wisdom of God (1 Cor 1: 24)

As our life-train chugs on, Jesus, the Guard echoes the call, “Anybody for Calvary?”

Are we willing to request for a stop at Calvary – to embrace the Cross of Christ?

Today we celebrate the Feast of St Dominic Guzman, the Founder of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans).

St Dominic boldly followed this Call of the Gospel and lived an austere life in much humility and love of God…
… and promoted Devotion to the Holy Rosary.

He challenges us to “Arm ourselves with prayer rather than a sword…
… to wear humility rather than fine clothes”

Let us empower ourselves, like St Dominic, with the Armour of the Rosary.

Let us dwell, with Our Blessed Mamma, who perfectly lived the life of being a True Disciple of Jesus…
… who denied Herself, took up the Cross
… and followed Him wholeheartedly!

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 Fifth Commandment – Respect for human life

Since it must be treated from conception as a person…
… the embryo must be defended in its integrity, cared for, and healed

… as far as possible, like any other human being. (CCC # 2274)

“Being enriched by Jesus, the humble Carpenter of Nazareth!”

(Based on Num 20:1-13 and Mt 16:13-23 – Thursday of the 18th Week in Ordinary Time, Year 1)

A beautiful write-up found on the entrance wall of a library goes thus:

“Socrates taught for 40 years, Plato for 50 years, Aristotle for 40 years and Jesus for only 3 years.
… yet the influence of Christ’s ministry, infinitely transcends the impact left by the combined years of teaching from these greatest of philosophers.

Jesus painted no pictures…
… yet some of the finest artists such as Raphael, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci received their inspiration from Him.

Jesus wrote no poetry…
… but Dante, Milton and scores of the world’s greatest poets were inspired by Him.

Jesus composed no music…
… still Haydn, Handel, Beethoven, Bach and Mendelssohn reached their highest perfection of melody in the music they composed in His praise.

Every sphere of human greatness has been enriched by this humble Carpenter of Nazareth.

ARE YOU READY TO BE ENRICHED TOO?”

The quality of our Christian Life, indeed, depends on the quality and understanding our relationship with our Blessed Lord!

The more we deepen our relationship with the Lord…
… the greater we will be able to radiate His Love and Goodness in our life!

The more we grow in our understanding of the Lord…
… the deeper will be the nourishing and enrichment that we will experience by His Grace!

The Gospel of the Day invites each one of us, to examine:

Am I understanding the Lord – and thus, is He a strength to me?
… or am I misunderstanding Him – and thus, is He a stumbling block to me?

Understanding or Misunderstanding Jesus will play the pivotal role in our daily spiritual existence!

On reaching Caesarea Philippi (Mt 16:13), Jesus poses a dual question to His disciples…
Who do people say that He is … and who do the Disciples say that He is.

This two-fold question of Christ… evokes two answers…

Jesus as being only Human
The people understand Jesus as John the Baptist, or Elijah or Jeremiah or one of the prophets (Mt 16: 14)

Jesus as being only Divine
St Peter, as the Captain of the Group, with a heavenly revelation, declares Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God! (Mt 16: 16)

It’s interesting that after this question-answer session, the Lord Himself chooses to give an answer on who He is!

And this answer of the Lord is a key to our understanding or misunderstanding Jesus.

Jesus declares that He would be a suffering God….

He would be the Man to undergo many persecutions! (Mt 16: 21)

He is not only Human.
He is not only Divine.
… He is the Suffering God-Man!

Am I able to accept this reality-dimension of Jesus?

He is amazing in His Human teachings… He is wonderful in His Divine Deeds.

But He is also the Afflicted, the Maltreated, the Victimized and the Wronged.

He is classic in His Human examples… He is awesome in His Divine miracles.

But He is also the Suffering, the Persecuted, the Sacrificed and the Tortured.

He is not only Human.
He is not only Divine.
… He is the Suffering God-Man!

But like Peter, perhaps some of us shy away from accepting this Painful Reality of the Lord…
… “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you” (Mt 16: 22)

We love to follow Him in His exhortations…
We love to be enamoured in His wondrous doings.

But we back off…at the mention of His pains, difficulties, persecutions and anguish.

We like the sociable Christ…
… One Who gives equal status to all in the society and breaks sociological barriers

We like the political Christ…
… One Who is fearless to challenge the political corruption of the society

We like the revolutionary Christ…
… One Who demands to go beyond the comfort zones of our life

But do we embrace the Suffering Christ?
Do we accept the “Saviour” Christ?
Do we consent to the Crucified Christ?

It’s easy to misunderstand Jesus as only a mere human hero.

It’s easy to misunderstand Jesus as only an awesome Divine entity.

But it’s not so easy to understand and accept Him as the Heroic and Awesome and Suffering God-Man!

Understanding or Misunderstanding Jesus will indeed play the pivotal role in our daily spiritual existence!

Today, let us seek for the grace to accept and understand truly the Person and Divinity of Jesus.
Let us make Him the true strength of our lives.

Let us behold Him in the Eucharist.
Let us encounter Him in prayer.
Let us recognize Him in the Word!

Every sphere of human greatness has been greatly enriched by the humble Carpenter of Nazareth.

Let us also be ready, to be enriched by Him!

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 Fifth Commandment – Respect for human life

As a consequence of the respect and protection which must be ensured for the unborn child from the moment of conception…

… the law must provide appropriate penal sanctions for every deliberate violation of the child’s rights. (CCC # 2273)

“Let us always have the joy to proclaim:
‘In Jesus I rest. In Jesus I stay calm!'”

(Based on the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord)

A Christian businessman had the following note stuck on his door: “I follow the ‘submarine spirituality!’”

One of his client – interested in this caption – asked him its meaning.

To that, the man replied:
“No matter how furious the storm upon the surface of the ocean…
… the submarine is able to submerge to the deep and finds a place whose calm no storm ever disturbs.

Deeper things of life are always calm and steadfast!

In Jesus I rest. In Jesus I stay calm.
In Jesus, I follow a submarine spirituality!”

Peace and calm are assured for those who are willing to “go into the depths” and allow the Lord to ensure the serenity of the soul

This is the experience of Transfiguration!

The Gospel of the Day (Lk 9:28b-36) – on this Feast Day – recounts the beautiful narration of the Transfiguration of Jesus…
… whereby the disciples are given a glimpse to experience “the Glory of peace and calm!”

One of the easy tendencies in life is to “get used to”…
… Get used to doing the same works and dealing with the same people.

A tendency of “monotony” creeps in

The danger with “monotony” is that…
… it can drain away enthusiasm from the works one does

This danger of “monotony” is a strong possibility even in our spiritual life.

We begin to take our faith for granted
We tend to view our devotions with casualness.
Prayers get boring.
The Holy Eucharist seems meaningless
Pious practices fails to generate any passion

The same danger was true even in the case of the Disciples.

The disciples had been with Jesus for a while now…

They had seen Him…
… performing many wonders
… teaching and addressing the crowds
… being the subject of many oppositions too

But slowly, as human tendency is – a feel of monotony would have begun to creep into their lives.

It is at this stage, that our Blessed Lord chooses three of His “core” disciples – Peter, James and John, and in their presence gets Transfigured! (Cf. Lk 9:28-29)

The Transfiguration experience was something very special and unique for these disciples…

They saw our Blessed Lord glisteningly shining – “His clothes became dazzling white.” (Lk 9:29)

They witnessed Moses and Elijah (Cf. Lk 9:30) – the great Lawgiver and the mighty Prophet – along with Jesus, Who was the fulfilment of the Law and the Prophet!

They heard the Divine Voice – “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to Him” (Lk 9:35) – from the cloud; reminiscent of God Yahweh who would speak to His people of old, from the clouds

The three disciples were being introduced to a new perspective of their Master.

They saw Jesus – not in the usual way – but arrayed in His Divine Glory and Honour!

Jesus had not become something that He was not…

He is always God and is always the Second Person of the Divine Trinity.

All this while, the eyes of the disciples were kept away from seeing the fullness of glory – only sparks of Divinity was revealed to them

But now, here was a moment, though short – the Transfiguration – when the chosen disciples could come face-to-face with Divine Glory!

The moment of Transfiguration had made them see things in a new light…

Jesus was still the same – but they now saw Him, for a short moment, with a Glorious Glow

That is the splendour and glory of the moment of Transfiguration…
… when woundedness is refined into beauty
… when sufferings are graced into meaningfulness

Have we had this Transfiguration Experience?

Surely, we have had…

But perhaps, many of us fail to recognise it.. or acknowledge it

A moment…
… when our words have touched and sparkled a sad soul.
… when we ourselves have been healed in our brokenness by some Divine intervention
… when we experienced the light of God’s healing, restoration, forgiveness etc through the Sacraments of the Church
… when a pulse of joy and satisfaction raced through our veins in having rendered, perhaps, a tiny but significant act of service and care to a needy person
… when, in our brokenness or deep pain or lethargy, an encouraging word has revived our bent spirits

Many are such moments of Transfiguration in our life…

The deeper we look, the more we find, that God has blessed us immensely with such “Transfiguration” experiences.

St Peter, later in his ministry, would acknowledge these glorious moments of the Transfiguration: “We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain.” (2 Pet 1:18)

It is these “Transfiguration” moments that will help us remain strong, even through the rough waters of troubles and struggles.

The power of Transfiguration on Mount Tabor helped to remain peaceful and calm…
… through the stormy moments of Crucifixion on Mount Calvary for Jesus!

The ‘submarine spirituality,’ whereby “no matter how furious the storm be upon the surface of the ocean
… the submarine is able to submerge to the deep, and find a place whose calm no storm ever disturbs”
… is the invitation to which each one of us are called to.

May this Feast of the Transfiguration help us to be reminded of the assurance of the Lord that:
“Deeper .things of life are always calm and steadfast!”

Let us always have the joy to proclaim:
“In Jesus I rest. In Jesus I stay calm.
In Jesus, I follow a Submarine Spirituality!”

Happy Feast of the Transfiguration!

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 Fifth Commandment – Respect for human life

The moment a positive law deprives a category of human beings of the protection which civil legislation ought to accord them…
… the state is denying the equality of all before the law.
When the state does not place its power at the service of the rights of each citizen, and in particular of the more vulnerable…

… the very foundations of a state based on law are undermined. (CCC # 2273)