“Allowing the ‘tender touch’ of our Blessed Lord to ‘warm” our cold hearts!'”

(Based on Acts 11:19-26 and Jn 10:22-30 – Tuesday of the 4th Week in Easter)

Two explorers who were at extreme parts of the Arctic (= area surrounding the North Pole)…
… were describing (or rather, boasting!) about the extent of cold in their places.

“It was so cold where I was,” said the first explorer, “that the candle froze and we couldn’t blow it out.”

“That’s nothing,” said his rival.

“Where I was, the words came out of our mouths, in pieces of ice…
… and we had to fry them to hear what we were talking about.”


Well… of course… that’s quite a bit of exaggeration!
>> But its also a ‘freezy’ reminder to us to check how are our words, our hearts and our lives!

Do we spew out “cold words” of hostility and animosity?
>> Are our hearts and lives “cold” with indifference and lethargy?

We need the “tender touch” of our Blessed Lord to “warm” our “cold hearts” …
… and in order to come to experience “abundance of life” in Him!


The Gospel of the Day presents the dimension of “coldness” that was experienced by the people, who encountered Jesus, in accepting Him as the Lord of Life.


The Gospel passage the Day begins with St John giving a dual-context in the encounter between Jesus and the people…

The religious atmosphere of the time: “The Feast of the Dedication was then taking place in Jerusalem” (Jn 10:22a)
>> The physical atmosphere of the time: “It was winter” (Jn 10:22b)

The Feast of Dedication was also called as Hanukkah.
>> This feast celebrated the liberation of the city of Jerusalem from Antiochus, the Syrian King.
>> This King had desecrated the Jerusalem Temple by building an altar to Zeus and sacrificing pigs on the Temple Altar.

The Feast of Dedication celebrates the day that Israel regained control of the temple and re-consecrated it to the one true God!


However, it is to be noted that though year after year, they gathered to celebrate the re-dedication of the Temple…
… their hearts were, perhaps, still far from God Yahweh!
… their lives were, perhaps, still, yet to be in accordance with the Will of God!

This is what St John, the Evangelist, points to, when he speaks of the physical atmosphere of the time: “It was winter” (Jn10:22b)


This statement was not just about the weather or the season of the year
>> He was describing “a season of life… a season of faith!”

It was his style of diagnosing the interior condition of the “Faith of the People” who had come for the Feast of the Dedication!

Many of the people of Israel, were in a season of “winter”…
…”cold” in their hearts: to accept the person of Jesus – the One Who had inaugurated the Kingdom of God, going about doing a lot of works of salvation and healing!
… “cold” in their minds: to accept the teachings of Jesus – the One Who was exhorting them to live God’s commandments not just externally, but with the sincerity of the heart!
… “cold” in their lives: to accept the challenge of Jesus – the One Who was convicting them of their sinfulness and inviting them to a life of repentance and holiness!


It was this being in a “season of winter” that prompted them to ask Jesus with a sense of apathy and irritation:
“How long are you going to keep us in suspense?
If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly” (Jn 10:24)


“Tell us plainly” was the utterance of a frozen people…
… who had “winter” in their hearts and their minds
… who were “cold” and had begun to take their faith for granted
… who were “frozen” and were merely satisfied with external dedication of the Temple, without an inner renewal of the heart!

We need to examine our lives and check….
… Am I also a “frozen person?”
… Am I also, in a “season of Winter?”

Is my relationship with the Lord…
… a mere utterance of the lips and fails to affect my daily living?

Is my practice of devotion and my participation in the liturgy and sacraments…
… a plain ritualistic and a routine custom, without making me to truly enter into intimacy with the Lord?

Is my life of faith, just an ordinary and lethargic one…
… taking the grace and blessing of the Lord for granted
… and not wanting to make efforts to grow in love of the Lord and neighbour?


The Lord gives us the one straight answer: “My sheep hear my voice; I know them and they follow Me” (Jn 10:27)

We are called to dedicate not just our externalities to the Lord…
… but much more our internalities – our hearts, minds and lives to His Providence


Let us seek to come out of the “Season of Winter!”

Let us….
… be warm in the love of the Lord
… be enthusiastic, receiving the touch of the Divine
… be ardent, to seek, hear and follow the voice of the Good Shepherd!


God Bless! Live Jesus!


—————————–
📖 Discovering the beauty of the Catholic Church through the Catechism
MAN’S VOCATION LIFE IN THE SPIRIT – GOD’S SALVATION: LAW AND GRACE – The Fourth Commandment – The Family and the society
>> Children should also obey the reasonable directions of their teachers…
… and all to whom their parents have entrusted them.
>> But if a child is convinced in conscience that it would be morally wrong to obey a particular order, he must not do so. (CCC # 2217)
——————-

“Being inspired by the Good Shepherd Who sees, seeks and serves!”

(Based on Acts 11:1-18 and Jn 10:1-10 – Monday of the 4th Week in Easter)

There was a young teacher in a small town school.
>> She was the kind of person no one really minded…
… soft-spoken, simple, easily missed in a crowd.
>> But she noticed and she observed!

Every day, one boy came to school – quiet, polite, always keeping to himself.
>> However, every day at recess (break-time), he just sat there.
>> No lunch. No snacks.
>> He’d just sip from a small water bottle…
… and wait for the bell.

At first, the teacher wasn’t sure.
>> Maybe the boy just forgot his lunch.
>> Maybe it was just a day or two.

But the days became weeks.
>> And she realised, he was in need!

So, without saying a word, she started packing a little extra in her lunchbox.
>> One sandwich. One piece of fruit.
She would casually leave it on his desk before recess – no names, no notes, just… there.

The boy would look around. Hesitate.
>> And then, just eat.

Weeks passed.
One day, she found a note folded neatly beneath the sandwich wrapper: “You’re the only one who sees me. Thank you!”


Yes… you don’t need a staff and sandals to be a shepherd…
… just a heart that’s willing to care!

That’s what a true shepherd does:
>> Sees the invisible.
>> Loves without being asked.
>> Gives without needing applause.


The Gospel of the Day presents Jesus, the Good Shepherd, Who exhorts…
… to get involved in the lives of peoples and make a difference to them
… to be conscious of our own spiritual life and be zealous about it


Jesus speaks of Himself, as the Good Shepherd, who is close and intimate to the sheep.
>> It is this intimacy and closeness, that makes Him personally and affectionately concerned of His sheep.


The Lord also speaks of others, who are least interested in the welfare and safety of the sheep.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and robber” (Jn 10: 1) 


The difference in the attitude of the Good Shepherd and the thieves and robbers is this:
> The Good Shepherd has a deep intimacy with the sheep…
… others have no relationship!

>> The Good Shepherd is fully interested in the welfare of the sheep…
… others only care for their personal agenda and benefits!

>> The Good Shepherd will undertake any sacrifice, even of His life for the sheep…
… others will escape and run away from assuming any difficulties or hardships!


All of us in our lives are entrusted with “sheep” and we are to be shepherds to them…
>> This “sheep” could be anybody, based on our status and position in life.

They could be…
… family members, spouses, children
… students, work-colleagues, friends
… parishioners, lay faithful
… the needy, the wanting, those in distress
… our own selves


The question is:
In all such situations, of we being a “Shepherd,” do I fail to reach out to “our sheep”?


It is the Lord who has entrusted us with the “sheep” and He expects us to be good and faithful shepherds.

The responsibility is great…
>> The duty is immense…
>> But do we get lethargic and indifferent, and fail in our duty to be a true shepherd?


Jesus, the Great Good Shepherd, is our model and example…
… Let us become more concerned of the welfare of our “sheep”
… Let us be willing to take up any sacrifice for the good of our “sheep”


Indeed, sometimes, the holiest things we’ll ever do…
… “is to prepare a simple sandwich and leave it for a needy one, with a smile!”

Let us be “the one, who sees…
… and seeks
… and serves!”


God Bless! Live Jesus!


—————————–
📖 Discovering the beauty of the Catholic Church through the Catechism
MAN’S VOCATION LIFE IN THE SPIRIT – GOD’S SALVATION: LAW AND GRACE – The Fourth Commandment – The Family and the society
>> As long as a child lives at home with his parents…
… the child should obey his parents in all that they ask of him when it is for his good or that of the family.
>> “Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. (CCC # 2217)
——————-

“Never forgetting that ‘Jesus Christ is precious and He loves us very much!'”

(Based on Acts 13:14, 43-52, Rev 7:9, 14b-17 and Jn 10:27-30 – 4th Sunday in Easter)

The city train station was bursting with noise – announcements echoed, luggage wheels rattled, and voices layered over each other like a storm of sound.

In the middle of it all stood a small boy – about 7 years old – alone, calm, quietly waiting.

A concerned passerby approached and asked gently, “Are you lost?”
>> He shook his head: “No, my dad just went to get something. He told me to wait.”

The man looked around. “But how will you find him in this crowd?”
>> The boy replied, “I won’t. He’ll find me. I just need to stay where I can hear him.”

Moments later, through the blur of voices, the boy’s ears perked up.
>> His face lit up with joy.
>> He ran across the platform straight into the arms of a man calling his name.

“Daddy!” he shouted.
>> His father knelt and hugged him tightly.
>> “I told you I’d come.”


That boy wasn’t panicking.
>> He wasn’t trying to shout over the crowd. >> He knew his father’s voice, and he trusted that his father would find him.


Just like that, Jesus, our Good Shepherd, calls us by name…
… even when life is noisy and confusing, when we feel small or forgotten
… His voice will break through.


Have we discovered and tasted the deep Love of God in our lives?

God our Father loves us so much that He goes to any extent to ensure His protection, care and love.

Jesus, in today’s Gospel, tells us, “My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand!” (Jn 10:29)


All the pages of the Bible speak to us one important Truth: God is intimately involved with our lives!
>> He is not far away.
>> He constantly and consistently longs to have us with Him.


Jesus reminds us that as His sheep, we ought to “hear His Voice, know Him and follow Him!” (Cf. Jn 10:27)

This imagery of the Lord, as a Good Shepherd, is a very consoling, assuring and encouraging one


Sheep in the times and areas of Jesus were often reared for their wool, rather than the meat.
>> The sheep would be with the Shepherd for some time – and an affinity would develop among them

The shepherd would make all the efforts – even at the cost of comforts – to take care of the sheep…
… the sheep, would remain in submission to this affection, and faithfully follow the Master


As a Good Shepherd, the Lord looks at us, not as a flock – a group
>> Instead, we are seen and cared for, very uniquely – as individual sheep!

In the Presence of the Lord, we don’t need a ‘nametag!’
>> He knows us by name!

My worth is not in what I do…
… but in whose hands I rest.


It’s this awareness that I am loved, and uniquely cared for, that will strengthen us in moments of strife!

When we feel hurt, rejected, unloved, or lost, it can be overwhelmingly difficult to see God’s light.
>> When we go through temptations or times of distress, we may stray away and feel unworthy

But the protective care of the Lord is always with us, as He assures us, “no one shall snatch them out of My Hand!” (Jn 10:28).

Yes, we are invited to be His ‘own people!’
>> We are called to be His ‘inescapable people!’


The Merciful Father – our Good Shepherd – is waiting for each one of us…
… Whatever be the mess, that my life may be in!

Let us run into His embrace of Love, with sincere repentance and contrition of heart
>> And pledge to live for Him, and with Him… forever!


Let us never forget that “Jesus Christ is precious and He loves us very much!”
>> Let these words be repeated constantly in our life…
… with deep piety, profound conviction and committed service to one another!


Let’s remember: “I am not a statistic in God’s book…
… I am a heartbeat in His chest!”


God Bless! Live Jesus!


—————————–
📖 Discovering the beauty of the Catholic Church through the Catechism
MAN’S VOCATION LIFE IN THE SPIRIT – GOD’S SALVATION: LAW AND GRACE – The Fourth Commandment – The Family and the society
>> When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you.”
>> A wise son hears his father’s instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke. (CCC # 2216)
——————-

“Rising up to the challenge to remain loyal and faithful to the demands placed on us by Christ, our Powerful and Mighty King!”

(Based on Acts 9:31-42 and Jn 6:60-69 – Saturday of the Third Week in Easter)

There is a challenging incident that goes thus…

A Parish Priest, after the Holy Mass on a Sunday, was standing outside the Church, when he came across a young girl.

This girl had been in the hotel plaza and had missed the Sunday service.

“Good Morning!” greeted the Priest.

“Good Morning too, Father,” came the reply from the girl.

“Are you well this morning?”

“Oh, I am so tired!” she explained, “I blistered my feet dancing, the whole night!”

And then she had a query, “By the way, Father, what do you think about dancing?”

With a grave seriousness, the Priest replied, “You call yourself to be a Christian, isn’t it?

Have you ever blistered your feet for God?”

That question hit her like a lightening!

She turned away, with guilt and shame displayed on her face.

A few days later, she spoke to the Priest again, saying, “I have hardly slept since you asked me that question.

I want to tell you honestly… I have never blistered my feet for the Lord.
But to the best of my abilities, I will seek to work for Him, hereafter!”

Has our Christian Life ever caused us…
… blisters on our feet?
… aches in our hands?
… tensions in our minds?
… anxiety in our hearts?

It pays to be a Christian!

It costs much to be a Follower of Christ!

Yes, Christianity demands…
>> And only the ones who are willing to respond to these demands are worthy of being the followers of the Lord.

The Lord is pretty straight-forward and candid in His challenging requirements and would even ask us, as He asks His disciples in the Gospel of the Day, “Do you also wish to go away?” (Jn 6: 67)


We are at the concluding portion of the 6th Chapter of the Gospel of St John – known as the chapter on the Discourse of the Bread of Life.

The hearers of Jesus, from the beginning of this Chapter have been taken through a very intriguing path…

It began with the fragrance of compassion and mercy being radiated by the Lord in the multiplication of the loaves (Jn 6: 1-15)
>> This fragrance developed into an aura of authority and power that was displayed in the incident of the walking on the water (Jn 6: 16-21)

This aura began to radiate more gloriously through His teachings on He being the Bread of Life (Jn 6: 22-59)
>> This glorious splendour was further revealed and explained when He declared Himself as the Son of Man who would ascend to where He was (Jn 6: 61-62)

The Chapter, as its nears the conclusion, finds many of the hearers abandoning Christ.

Therefore we read, “As a result of this, many of His disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied Him” (Jn 6:66)


It seemed nice and wonderful to be the followers of Christ, when He provided food to their satisfaction
… But when there was a demand made by Christ, the “goody-goody” feelings disappeared and they began to reject Him!

Is this not the attitude that is prevalent among many of the Christians… including we, perhaps?

As long as the ground of our lives, receives the continual showers of favours being granted and prayers being instantly heard, we feel nice with the Lord.
… But in the times when the ground has to experience the drought of delays in prayers and absence of the rains of consolation, we feel to do away with the ways of the Lord!

As long as the garden of my life, is blessed with the flowers of prosperity, security and comforts, we remain happy to be with the Lord
… But in the circumstances when the garden goes dry and the weeds of misery begin to crop up, we feel to abandon the presence of the Lord and tread our own wills!


And therefore the Lord asks us, “Do you also wish to go away?” (Jn 6: 67)

Faith in the Lord is no cheap thing!
>> It indeed costs to be faithful!


The book of the Acts of the Apostles beautifully recounts many incidents of people following the Lord – willing to give up their past life, and live a new life in Christ…

The healing of the paralyzed Aeneas through the instrumentality of Peter, made “all the residents of Lydda and Sharon… to turn to the Lord.” (Cf. Acts 9:35)
>> The healing of Tabitha, in Joppa, also caused many people to “believe in the Lord!” (Acts 9:36-42)


What is it costing us to be faithful to our Lord and King?

Often times, our practice of Christian faith enters, tiptoed and slyly, into the halls of comfort and coziness…
>> A few Church obligations completed once in a way…
>> Some occasionally unavoidable practise of piety and devotion…

This is all that sometimes it “costs” us in being a Christian!


But the Lord today powerfully seeks to shake off the dusts of lethargy and casualness and confronts us, “Do you also wish to go away?”

Our remaining with the Lord, ought not to be in mere words, but also in deeds and actions

Being with the Lord demands…
… that we grow in our zeal and love for the Lord
… that we become an extension of Christ to the needy
… that we strive to be passionate proponents of His love and mercy


We have to be ready and willing, to let our “feet be blistered”, bear “aches in our hands”, go through “tensions in our minds”
… battle “anxiety in our hearts” for the sake of the Lord and His Kingdom
… and remain loyal and faithful to the ‘love-demands’ placed on us by Christ, our Powerful and Mighty King!


God Bless! Live Jesus!

—————————–
📖 Discovering the beauty of the Catholic Church through the Catechism
MAN’S VOCATION LIFE IN THE SPIRIT – GOD’S SALVATION: LAW AND GRACE – The Fourth Commandment – The Family and the society
>> Filial respect is shown by true docility and obedience.
>> “My son, keep your father’s commandment, and forsake not your mother’s teaching. (CCC # 2216)
——————-

“Growing in the Love for the Holy Eucharist and deepening our faith and conviction in Him!”

(Based on Acts 9:1-20 and Jn 6:52-59 – Friday of the Third Week in Easter)

In the early 1970s, during the Vietnam War, Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan was the Archbishop of Saigon.
>> The Communists saw him as a threat.

On the Feast of the Assumption – 1975 – he was arrested and shipped off to a prison in North Vietnam.

He stayed there for thirteen years, nine of them in solitary confinement.
>> During his imprisonment, he couldn’t celebrate Mass or receive the Eucharist.

However, the Archbishop was allowed one luxury: to write letters to friends outside prison.

When he did, he often asked them to send him what he called “his medicine.”
>> They knew what he meant.

They sent him cough medicine bottles…
… filled with wine and small bits of bread.

Sympathetic guards smuggled him some wood and wire, and from that he made a small cross, which he hid in a bar of soap.
>> He kept all this in a cardboard box.

That box became his own private altar.
>> Every day, at 3:00 p.m. – the hour of Christ’s death – he would place drops of wine in the palm of his hand, mingled with water, to celebrate Mass.

The greatest ongoing miracle in history was able to take place.

That cramped prison cell became as beautiful and as blessed as any cathedral…
… a sanctuary for the glory of God.

He did this for thirteen years…
… till he was finally freed in 1988.


This is a man who understood – with every fibre of his being – how precious Holy Communion is.

What about us?

How deep is my understanding, faith and love for the Most Holy Eucharist?


The Holy Eucharist – the Body and Blood of Jesus – is the greatest treasure that the Church offers to Her children…

Yet, the Holy Eucharist sometimes, also becomes the great barrier for people to misunderstand and misinterpret the Church.


The same was true even in the time of Jesus.

The mention of His Body and Blood caused great division, misunderstanding and led to the misinterpretation of Jesus.


The Gospel of the Day is an account of the Lord declaring the necessity of being partakers of His Body and Blood to be having a share in eternal life.

Jesus continues His discourse on He being the “Bread of Life”.

The Lord surprises His hearers by saying that He is “the bread that came down from heaven” (Jn 6:51a)

He shocks them even further by saying that “the bread that I give is my flesh for the world” (Jn 6:51b)


This caused a dispute among the people, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” (Jn 6:52)

The bold declaration of the Lord that He would give His Flesh and His Blood as food and drink, caused a huge scandal among His listeners and it cause deep divisions and disputes.


The same is so much true in our own world, when the Church declares the Holy Eucharist to be the True and Real Body and Blood of the Lord, there is so much dispute and division caused.

Not many are able to accept this understanding
>> Not many are convinced of this teaching
>> Not many even believe this to be true
>> Not many are passionate either


The Catechism of the Church declares that “the mode of Christ’s presence under the Eucharistic species is unique”

“In the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist ‘the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained.”


Questions now arise before us…

How is my belief and understanding of this most Precious and Treasured Gift of the Holy Eucharist – “the source and summit of Christian Life”?
… Do I believe with conviction that Jesus is truly present in the Blessed Eucharist?
… Do I celebrate and participate in the Holy Mass with this Divine Fervour?
What is the effect that this Sacrament of Total Self-giving on me?

… Does the reception of Jesus, the Love Incarnate, make me in turn to be more loving towards others and do I make deliberate choices to extend love to all?
… Does the sacrifice of the Holy Eucharist impel me also to make sacrifices – even tiny, insignificant, unnoticed – for the cause and good of others?

How is my contribution to spread the Good News of the Holy Eucharist to others?
… Am I being a person who radiates the love of the Eucharist to others, by my conscious efforts to be respectful, reverent and devoted in the Chapel or Church and also become aware of the Lord’s Presence, when passing by Churches or handling Sacred objects?
… Do I tell to other people about this exciting, real presence of God in the Holy Eucharist, to other people, especially the sick, the suffering and those in distress, that they may experience the Real and True healing presence of the Lord?


May we understand that in the Most Holy Eucharist – the greatest ongoing miracle in history – takes place.

It is this miracle that can turn even a cramped prison cell to become as beautiful and as blessed as any cathedral…
… a sanctuary for the glory of God.


Let us grow in the Love for the Holy Eucharist and deepen our faith and conviction in Him.

May Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist always be praised…
… and may our Blessed Mother Mary, the Mother of the Eucharist, intercede for us!


God Bless! Live Jesus!

—————————–
📖 Discovering the beauty of the Catholic Church through the Catechism
MAN’S VOCATION LIFE IN THE SPIRIT – GOD’S SALVATION: LAW AND GRACE – The Fourth Commandment – The Family and the society
>> With all your heart honor your father, and do not forget the birth pangs of your mother. >> Remember that through your parents you were born; what can you give back to them that equals their gift to you?” (CCC # 2215)
——————-