Superman

"Yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary." - Isaiah 40:31

Dear Saints in the making,

          I was about 5 or 6 when I first saw a Superman cartoon and needless to say I got  hooked from the word go.Those days all I wanted to be was Superman.I mean Batman with his Batmobile and awesome gadgets was cool too,but SUPERMAN......boy he could fly.So,in came the cape,made from my mother’s old red sari,then there was this red under-pant which had to be diligently worn over my PJs. (don't judge me,that's how little boys are supposed to behave  ) Many jumps from the edge of my bed,a few bruised elbows and scratched knees later I realized - alas I can't fly.So I outgrew my fantasy.The cape was thrown off and,thankfully for my Mom,I started wearing underpants the way they were meant to be.And everything was normal again.

     

        Enough of the flashback !

 

        Almost all of us at some point in our lives have wanted to trade our lives with someone else,haven't we ? Maybe if I could talk like him,maybe if I could look like her,maybe if I could walk like him/her......maybe.......maybe.......life would be better.We wrongly assume that if we were someone else we could fly.But God our father says that we have been fearfully and wonderfully made.He says that He has a plan for us which is perfect.Yes my beloved,God has created you as an original so do not ever become a cheap imitation of anybody.None of us is an accident nor are our gifts and apparent deficits mistakes. We exist as we are, the way we are for a purpose, a purpose for us and for others. We all have an irreplaceable role in God’s kingdom and show forth aspect of His glory uniquely.Trust Him,wait upon Him,be at peace with yourself and be thankful because HE DOESN'T MAKE MISTAKES.And soon you will realize that by His grace you can truly fly and achieve all that HE has planned for you.That's my prayer for you today.Carpe diem.Seize the day.Make your lives extraordinary.

Have a SUPER-DUPER day !

Point2Ponder

         Angels can fly because they can take themselves lightly -- G.K.Chesterton

Composed By - Piyush Philip 

Cruise Missiles

He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and buckler. Psalm 91:4

 

Dear Saints in the making,

The BrahMos is a supersonic cruise missile.It has been developed jointly by India's Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO-Bangalore) and Russia's NPO Mashinostroeyenia.The name BrahMos is a blend formed from the names of two rivers, the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia. The missile travels at speeds of Mach 2.8 to 3.0.(that's really fast).It has a maximum range of 290 km and has been designed to carry warheads in the range of 200-300kgs.

So why am I discussing cruise missiles here ? Well,I was just wondering in case of a war,if the enemy decides to hit us with a BrahMos (this scenario is highly unlikely,as BrahMos is very much a Desi Indian product) we would be, well...dead.The reason ironically is that we don't have suitable technology to intercept a cruise missile traveling at that speed  So,in case this unlikely scenario actually plays out, we can be absolutely sure about one thing -  we'll be as dead as a dodo.Period.

Though,eventually we are sure to get our hands on such a technology . But sadly there is no human technology that can intercept the missiles of Satan.

You see,the evil1 is continuously busy launching missiles at us.These missiles carry warheads of fear,anger, desperation,doubt,depression and all the negative ungodly emotions you can think of .The only intent of these missiles is seek-and-destroy.All too often,sadly these missiles find their intended targets and the result is spiritual lukewarmness and ultimately spiritual death.

But today,lets teach the evil1 a lesson  Today and the days to follow,whenever you feel these missiles coming at you counter it with the greatest Anti-Ballistic Missile System in the universe - JESUS .Jesus can seek out and destroy any missile that has been targeted against you.Call out His name.Seek Him because He has promised that He'll never leave you nor forsake you.Soak up His love.Be @ Peace.

Have an awesome day !!

Point2Ponder

       I do not seek to understand that I may believe, but I believe in order to understand. For this I believe--that unless I believe, I should not understand. -- St. Anselm of Canterbury

Written by - Piyush Philip , JYBangalore , Professional Ministry

My Daily Bread

It's not about Roti and Daal. Jesus categorically said, do not worry about what to eat. We can be as inattentive to this as we are to our growing nails. This is because there are some real things we should be mindful of.

Consider an Artist, his Brush and the Painting. As time goes by, what remains and matters is the Artist and the  Painting, not the Brush. No body says this painting was done by the nylon, fan round, flat, size 8, French made, brown Brush. The Artist is God, I'm the Brush, The Painting is my life, a master piece in the making. In another words, Jesus is saying, be mindful of the Artist and the Painting and don't worry about the brush too much.

"Give us today our daily bread" alludes to our need for a daily doze of nourishment to translate, a day in our life into a fine stroke of the Artist on the canvas of life. In simple terms, the need for a personal time with God on a daily basis.

Since this is all about a relationship, Let us refer to God as the "Father" here on.

In an earlier post, we saw, how we need to raise ourselves above the physical, emotional, intellectual and social realms to meet with the Father in "Spirit", for we are to worship Him in Spirit and Truth. Some times we think we are so immovable and unshakable that we will need couple of tower cranes to lift us up and plug us into that spiritual spot. But the good news is that we can put away the immobility and the cranes because the lifting is not our job but His.

It all starts with a realization that we need this bread for the day. When this happens, often we find ourselves led to a quieter place. Here we present the real "us" in absolute honesty, totally unmasked, as an open book before the Father. A few words find it's way out from the depths of our being as a response to this admission of our utmost frailty and the magnanimity of the Father. Our spirit acknowledges the love that is lavished on us through Jesus Christ. As this reality slowly crystallizes into a conviction, we begin to see our iniquities, shortfalls and how it impedes this building relationship between us and the Father. So we allow ourselves to be purged little by little. And as this happens, we are enveloped in an ever increasing tranquility and inner peace. Our bodies groan and tears roll down. These tears are unmistakably that of repentance, forgiveness, unconditional acceptance and freedom, a foretaste of the reality of heaven.

Our hearts now delightfully resonate with verses such as "One day in your court is greater than a thousand elsewhere. Taste and see how good the Lord is. He is like the honey in the rock. It is no longer I but You who live in me. If you drink of the water I give you, you shall never be thirsty again. Let me dwell in your presence forever more...". 

As this experience recede and gently re-leave us into the reality of the world, our hearts want to tell Him, Lord use me. This daily doze of love is what sustains us for the day. This intimacy lingers through the day, as our eyes, hands and feet becomes that of Christ for He has none but ours.

Father, Give us today our daily bread.

The life and beyond

If our life on earth is a dot we make with a pen on a paper, our life after death is as much as going around the globe a million times. But this small dot decides how we will spend our life in eternity, that is in heaven with God or in hell in total despair.

A saint once had a mystical experience of God. It was so profound that in ecstasy he exclaimed, if paradise was like this, I wouldn't need another paradise. To this Jesus in a vision told him, If the experience you had is like a painting of sky, the paradise you await is the real sky.

All goodness we enjoy today is a foretaste of our ultimate union with God. Death we fear becomes a gateway to this reality. Maranatha, Come Lord come.

I'm Who I'm

Mighty God, you defined yourself as "I'm who I'm". I wonder why you did not speak anymore.

God is bigger, greater and super exceedingly beyond us. We are only his creation. if He were to define himself, our small brains could not have handled it.

Imagine, you created a creature like an ant using all your intelligence and this creature asks you to define yourself. What would you tell him?. I would think, You tell him, I'm your father, care taker, creator or friend. Would you tell him that you are a hominid, bipedal primate with a brain volume of 1400 cc, characterized by superior intelligence, articulate speech, and erect carriage, contains 23 pairs of chromosomes. He will never understand you. He will feel so little and will not be able to identify you as father anymore.

This is precisely why our father who is far superior to us just said I'm who i'm. In another words, He is what He has revealed to us. Rest we will know when we meet Him in person in the life yet to come.

Jubilee & 10 Lepers!

Sharing by Shibu Devasia a Singapore JY

Dear Family,

I am not the odd one out, if I try to relate all the inspirations & insights with Jubilee, during this year. This thought has been in the pipeline for about couple of week's. Unlike me those who closely hear the gospel, can recall last to last Sunday's gospel reading, it was an ever inspiring gospel of 10 leper's. The reason, the gospel still rings a bell in my head was that I had to frame this mail.
              The scene of me sitting & hearing the priest, do still persist in my mind, more so the gospel theme & how closely we can relate to it. Not because we all were 'lepers', but frankly speaking we were not better than 'one' either, before Jesus & the movement came in my life - the pain of being not 'accepted' & not being one of the 'normal' is quite comparable to a feeling  a 'leper' may have. Though the physical pain in no way comparable, but the emotional pain is somewhat similar and when our LORD heals us we do owe him a lot.
            Today when most of us look back, we may agree that the life we live has been a blessing & what we are today might just be a dream if we had not come close to Jesus through the movement. Today if we have a stable job, its simply because of HIM, never in my life I could have imagined a job that I have now, more interesting is the 'least' of the effort that I have put to get one, its all pre-planned by the one above.
              Today if our talent is show casted through the way we think, or the way we write or the way we speak/sing or the way we deal with people is simply because we learnt from the movement through its various initiatives.
              Today, if we can voice our say pretty articulately, with precision & added flavor of creativity then no denying fact that we have learnt that from our various stages of involvement in the movement.
              I would even say, to correctly discern our vocation & to lead a healthy family life was in a way taught by the movement & still it continues...
              End of the day, if I look back all the mess that was in my life or the wounds as a 'leper' that persisted has been healed by Jesus & mostly these blessing have come through the movement. The gift of a liberal thinking, gift of loving others, gift of good job, gift of a good family, gift of good friends & many more has been freely given to us by the real 'gifter' but in most of the case it didn't fall 'directly' from heaven but I guess through the movement.
               So, sometime I wonder, can any of these 'gifts' has the real 'gravity' or the reasoning to hold back any of the Jesus youth around the globe from not attending Jubilee? Attending it is our simple way of giving thanks to the Lord for what we are today! and the least one can do as a gratitude & acknowledgment for the unlimited grace & blessings that we reap each day & will continue to reap till our death. 

May we as the lone wise 'leper' rejoice & come to the Lord this Jubilee.

Love,
Shibbs & fly

An young historian's take on Jesus Youth

Recently Manoj Sunny began his letter with the question, "What is the difference between JY and other movements?" Interestingly, this is the exact theme I planned to write on. Hopefully I will take it an interesting new direction. It's important for us to realize that Jesus Youth is not simply "another charismatic movement" but, as are all true Church movements, it is a movement with a very specific spirituality, given to us by the Holy Spirit at the time of its founding. As the Jubilee Conference draws near, an excellent way to prepare is to get in touch with this very spirituality.

The core of the Jesus Youth spirituality, is, of course, the six pillars. Prayer, Word of God, Sacramental Life. These three deal with the personal spirituality of Jesus Youth, the interior life, the action in contemplation. One of the defining traits of Jesus Youth is their personal responsibility for their spirituality. Prayer, Bible reading, Mass, Confession, are not something utilized if conveniently available, but rather are actively pursued.

Fellowship, Evangelization, Option for the Poor. These are how we express that personal spirituality; they are the exterior life, the contemplation in action. These external actions will only be as effective as our own personal spirituality. It can be argued that these pillars all build on each other: Prayer fuels Word of God, which helps us appreciate the Sacraments; these three are necessary for Fellowship, which helps in our Evangelization, which draws a variety of people to us so we can create a better Option for the Poor.

Besides these six pillars, there are several other very specific charisms of the movement. Within the movement, our spirituality is expressed through community life, with guidance from elders, pastors, and other youth. This community life often takes place in and around JY families. This life always has the focus of a pathway to holiness, answering the universal call to holiness proclaimed by Vatican II, genuinely seeking to form saints. But perhaps more than anything else, Jesus Youth has been blessed with absolute fidelity to the teachings and Majesterium of the Catholic Church. This is our anchor; this is what keeps us from going astray, as others before us unfortunately have.

Perhaps this fidelity to the Church is what the movement was blessed with first, as Jesus Youth is a remarkable reflection of the entire universal Church. The six pillars are literally a perfect balance of interior and external spirituality. We could dare to say that the six pillars sum up all Jesus recommended to us and commanded us to do, yet without necessarily emphasizing any one aspect over the other. We also find in our expression of this spirituality similarities to the apostolic church recorded in Acts: reliance on the Holy Spirit, missionary trips, following up these trips through various means of communication, and of course, a lay community life filled with prayer, trust, and teaching. Finally, there is a constant link to the Majesterium and especially Vatican II; indeed, I have already quoted from VII documents twice in this letter.

It is this very universality of Jesus Youth that draws people in across all cultures, states of life, and rites of the church. Jesus Youth has spread as far and wide as it has, reaching the hearts of so many people, laity, priests, and religious alike, because perfectly responds to the call of the Church, doing so with our own distinctive charisms: joy; a focus on fellowship/communion and relationships; and total willingness to sacrifice for the cause.

Even right now, we can see the intimate link between Jesus Youth and the heart of the Church. Seeming to almost prefigure our Jubilee Conference, a special meeting of the Synod of Bishops on the Church in the Middle East is being held right now from October 10-24. The theme of the Synod? "Now the company of those who believed were of one heart and soul" (Acts 4:32), a verse which has always reminded me immediately of Jesus Youth. In his inaugural homily for the Synod, Pope Benedict XVI said:

"Without communion there can be no witness: the life of communion is truly the great witness. Jesus said it clearly: “It is by your love for one another, that everyone will recognize you as my disciples” (Jn 13:35). This communion is the same life of God which is communicated in the Holy Spirit, through Jesus Christ. It is thus a gift, not something which we ourselves must build through our own efforts. And it is precisely because of this that it calls upon our freedom and waits for our response: communion always requires conversion, just as a gift is better if it is welcomed and utilized."

Do we not see a clear reflection of the Jesus Youth lifestyle in the Pope's words? And this is something being addressed to the entire Synod of Bishops!

So please allow yourself to experience the Jubilee grace this year; please do not allow any worldly anxieties, difficulties, or sorrows get in your way. This is the best opportunity you'll have for 25 years to truly experience the universality of Jesus Youth: as if the prospects of meeting Jesus Youth from 25 countries and counting wasn't exciting enough, Cardinal Ryklo (attending the Synod of Bishops as we speak!) and many other archibishops, bishops, priests, and religious are also attending. Please come to the Jubilee and truly experience the universal grace of Jesus Youth.

See you at Rajagiri!

God Bless!
From Bangalore,
Richie Dow, JYA (NJ)

About Richie - He is an young dynamic Jesus Youth from New Jersey(USA). Currently in India to help Jubilee mobilization and volunteer for Jubilee Conference. He is currently pursuing his bachelors in Chinese History.