God Who Grants the Desires of Our Heart

‘Take delight in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart.’ (Psalm 37:4)

I want to share two experiences here, where God has granted me the inmost desires of my heart. It is not anything material that I mean, but a desire to draw closer to Him.

One of them happened about seven years ago, and though I felt inspired to write and share about it many times, I had put it off – because I was not sure how to include all the details in a readable form, and also whether I would be able to convey the power of the experience in writing. But after the second experience which happened just a few days back, I decided to take time and put both of these in writing, asking the Holy Spirit to guide my thoughts and words. After all, it is He who moves and touches hearts…

1. About seven years ago was a time when I was not fully able to appreciate or understand the real presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. I knew for sure that Jesus was present in the Holy Eucharist, but I was not able to participate fully in Eucharistic adorations, or enjoy His presence during expositions of the Blessed Sacrament. I had a desire, a thirst, for a deeper understanding, and I used to pray for this grace often.

One evening during our vacation in Kerala, a procession from the nearby Jacobite church was passing by our home. Everyone except me was standing outside the front door to watch the procession, and I was busy inside the bedroom, arranging some clothes in the wardrobe. My sister-in-law called out to me and said, ‘Chechy, there is a priest also in the procession, carrying the Blessed Sacrament in a monstrance.’ I said ‘ok’, but still continued on with my work without joining them. After just a couple of seconds, I felt the sudden urge to run outside and join them, which I did.

But when I reached, the priest had already passed our gate, and was proceeding further ahead. My heart sank, but I stood on tip-toes and strained to look ahead. Suddenly, to my utter surprise, the priest took a few steps backwards, held up the monstrance, looked straight in my eye, and made the sign of the cross with it! I was so deeply touched that my eyes filled up with tears of joy. For a few minutes after this, I was still pondering about what it was that made the priest take those few steps backwards, and extend the blessing to me the way he did? The picture of Zacchaeus came to my mind, trying to see Jesus from up the sycamore tree. I realized that today I was the Zacchaeus, trying to get a glimpse standing on my tippy-toes – and Jesus made sure He looked back to give me His blessing. I knew this was a little miracle He did just for me, because He knew of my desire to find Him in the Eucharist. I needed no further evidence that it was truly Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Thank you, Jesus!

2. It was our sixteenth wedding anniversary, and we had decided to go for evening Mass at 6:15 with our three children. Every evening Mass at our church is preceded by rosary and adoration - and during this time a priest would be available for confessions as well. Being our wedding anniversary, I wanted to go for confession before the Mass, and so we started a little early from home.

We reached church at about 6pm, and my husband dropped us in front of the church and proceeded to park the car. We took our place in one of the front pews, and I kept looking back to see if my husband was coming – because my three-year-old wouldn’t let me go from his side unless my husband stayed with him. There were a couple of people waiting in line for confession, and I went and stood there for some time. Then I went outside to look for my husband and saw that he was still near the parking lot, attending a phone call. It was almost time for Mass, and I knew there wouldn’t be time for confession now. So I came back in. The priest also went from the confessional, because he was the one celebrating the Mass that evening.

I took my place in the pew, feeling sad that I was not able to make the confession as I had wished. I tried to console myself thinking that I will request father after the Mass was over- but still I was sad at heart, because my true desire was to make the confession before receiving communion. Soon my husband also joined us in our pew, and the choir started playing the music for the entrance hymn.

The main celebrant, along with the Parish priest, entered the altar to celebrate Mass. As the main celebrant walked to the altar, the parish priest stepped down from the side, walked up to me, and asked, ‘do you want to make a confession?’ Surprised at how this could be happening, I said ‘YES!’ and followed him to the confessional as the entrance hymn was going on.

At the end of the confession, I asked father, ‘Father, how did you know I wanted to make a confession?’ Because I was still surprised and unable to believe that the confession actually happened. Father said he had noticed me going out and coming back in, and sensed that I had wanted to go for confession. I thanked him and told him that it was our wedding anniversary, and that I was standing there feeling disappointed for not being able to have the confession as I had desired… After my confession, father went and joined at the altar to celebrate Mass - the choir was in the last line of the entrance hymn, and it was time for the Mass to start. Perfect timing!

Throughout the Holy Mass I was feeling overwhelmed at the thought that God inspired the priest who was proceeding to celebrate Mass to come to me, and hear my confession! All because Jesus knew and wanted to grant the inmost desire of my heart - which was to receive Him after confession, on this special occasion.

Lucy

The Runaway Bunny

Wonder if any of you have read the children’s book titled ‘The Runaway Bunny’, by Margaret Wise Brown…

It is about a little bunny who wanted to run away. But no matter where he decided to go, his mother was always there - “If you run away, I will run after you. For you are my little bunny”.

I had loved reading this book to my older children (now 11 and 7) when they were smaller, and it was hidden away behind some bigger books in our bookshelf. The other day, 2 ½- year old Joel happened to fish it out and bring it to me to read. As I was reading it to him, the words of Psalm 139 flowed gently through my mind.

‘…Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast….’ (Psalm 139:7-10)

The beautiful, colourful illustrations in the book spoke to me like never before. The little bunny running away to all sorts of silly places; and the mother running after him, going out of her way, taking all the trouble, to reach him and be there – at all of those silly places.

I felt all warm and cuddly – because I could see myself clearly in the little bunny. And my heavenly Father, in the loving mother. It was truly a wonderful feeling, to be enveloped and overwhelmed thus, by the Father’s love.

I searched to see if the book was available online, but all I managed to locate was a link which showed a few of the first pages.
http://www.harpercollins.com/browseinside/index.aspx?isbn13=9780064430180

Yet another experience for me to understand our God, who uses every possible means to convey the depth of His love for us. Amazingly enough, this came at a time when I really needed a reassuring hug – and He just knew it! :)

I was surprised at how such an unassuming, small, children’s book, could speak so much to my heart about His love.

What an unconventional way of discovering God! And that’s exactly why I thought I should write it down and share it in this blog!

Praise God!

Lucy

What a Friend We Have in Jesus!

A little something from my life this week that I felt inspired to share in this blog:

Roshan is now on an official trip to Amsterdam, and two days after he left, my son Daniel came down with fever and a few episodes of vomiting. The vomiting subsided soon, and I continued paracetamol for the fever. My prayer during the fever was that Jesus will be with him, comfort him and enlighten me to take care of him the right way. I didn’t pray that the fever would go away altogether – because, as we know, these sicknesses are all part of our life. He is there to comfort us, and that’s all we need; and I knew He will bring healing at the right time.

But at night, Daniel’s temperature didn’t come down much with the paracetamol – so I stayed up in bed all night, constantly feeling his hot forehead and giving him wet sponges to cool him down till it was time for the next dose. When it was time for a dose of Calpol around 4am, I was feeling very sleepy and tired – so I told Jesus:
‘OK - with this dose, you HAVE TO bring the temperature down. I am too tired to sit up now. I am going to give him the medicine, and go right to sleep – won’t even feel his temperature till I wake up next – so you BETTER do this.’ :)

And I gave Daniel the Calpol, making the sign of the cross on the forehead, and went to sleep - just like I had told Jesus. I could fall asleep easily because I really trusted He would do what I asked for. I woke up after 2 hours, and felt his forehead – it was completely cool, and I smiled to myself and said ‘thank you!’.

The next day, after Daniel was all better, I told Rachel (11 yrs) and Daniel (7 yrs) exactly what I had told Jesus, and they were surprised and amused. They giggled and laughed, and said ‘Can’t believe you talked to Jesus like that!’

We had a beautiful conversation on this then – and that’s what I wanted to share, to show how the Holy Spirit guided my words, so that the children were able to relate to the situation, and understand how Jesus can truly be our friend:

They said,
‘You must be joking – did you really say that? - In that tone, ‘BETTER do it…’ and ‘HAVE TO’..?’
‘Isn’t that quite rude, to talk to Jesus like that..?’
‘Why didn’t you speak politely?’ :)

I told them : I do have a DEEP love and respect and reverence for Jesus, but at the same time, I have a wonderful friendship with Him also – so I feel free to talk like that to Him. And I’m sure He enjoys that too, - see how readily he answered my request? Rather than just seeing Him as a God seated up in the heaven, Jesus really longs to be part of our lives, and He is waiting for us to share our everyday things with Him . And when we start doing that, we will thoroughly enjoy it and our friendship becomes even stronger…. We can go to Him and talk to Him just as we are – happy, sad, angry, sleepy – whatever.

And I told them that they could also train themselves to talk to Jesus everyday, so they would also come to enjoy this wonderful relationship.

Just a few hours before that Rachel had come to me all upset and almost in tears, saying how difficult she was finding it to learn a Hindi story that she had to… So connecting it with this, I told her: instead of just asking Jesus to help you learn it, talk to Him about it – just like you talked to me; and He will give you His words of comfort, and enlighten your mind as to how to handle it.

I could see that the children were really able to understand what I said, and were able to get an idea about the friendship I was talking about.

At the end of it, Daniel giggled again, saying, ‘Amme, but next time you talk to Jesus, speak just a bit more nicely’ !! :)

I am reminded of the song,
‘What a friend we have in Jesus,
all our sins and griefs to bear
What a privilege to carry
everything to God in prayer!’

And I realized how important it is to keep talking to our children about Jesus and help them befriend Him, so they can enjoy His presence to the fullest in their little lives - let's help them discover their True Friend!

Thank you, Jesus!
Lucy

saint

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. - 1 Peter 2:9

Here is a question - What are the first thoughts that come to your mind when you hear the word Saint ? Here are the thoughts that come to my mind - an exemplary model of Christian virtue, a wonder worker , a person who possesses selflessness and ascetic qualities in his/her character.I am also reminded of all the martyrs,mystics and all those super crazy followers of Christ who have changed the face of the Church and the world in general.

With all these thoughts also comes a realization - I can probably never become like them.When I compare there lives with mine,I realize the difference is just huge...extraordinarily huge.I believe all of you too share my feelings...but yet we know God has called all of us to be saints.One of the biggest roadblocks to sainthood is the desire to do big things for the Lord.Don't get me wrong,its an awesome desire  but the fact in this very mundane life of ours with its cares and worries most of us may not achieve great things for the Lord.So,what shall we do ? Why don't we do this - just do small things for the Lord or as St.Therese said "do small things with great love". Dearly beloved today,lets find God in the mundane.Rather than aiming for really huge things,lets find satisfaction and fulfillment in the things we do daily.Those boring meetings,the tough commute to work,the nosey colleagues - lets find Christ in all these and more.Lets aim to be a saint rather than a Saint.Maybe a saint with a small 's' is not a bad idea after-all. 

Review of a movie poster - ‘Lifeu Ishtene’

This is not a critical review of a movie but rather of a movie poster which in itself gave me so much to write about!

A new Kannada movie released this week called ‘Lifeu Ishtene’ ….. Walking through the streets of Koramanagala (in Bangalore) I could see many posters of this movie stuck at various vantage points and anonymous walls. Kannada movies may have lost their past glory but the current makers are not willing to concede the same and with all pomp and glory promote it as if this is the next Oscar winning movie nevertheless two catch phrases on this movie poster caught my attention. One goes this way ‘Food, Clothes & Girlfriends’ and other says ‘Move on Sucker’. And the synopsis of this movie on one of the review site is this – “Lifu Ishtene is a romantic comedy about how young boys express their love to so many girls. True love happens again and again to them.”

I pity on the movie watchers who are fed with such total crap in the name of entertainment. Having one or two good songs doesn’t make it worth a watch and what really hurts the society is the message that is hardwired into the hearts and minds of people through such movies. A message of desperation, which says that it is perfectly fine to be disloyal to people whom you love in your life for the sake of the other – and as they say that’s how you will experience ‘true love again and again’.

What is true love? And if it’s really true how we can have more truer one in some one else? So what do we do if we really find the true one; turn to the truer one then the truthest one? Just like those words don’t exist so too this rubbish concept. True love is true and that’s it. It works very well in movies since the hero supposedly locks down finally to the girl who is supposedly his real true love (while other guinea pigs are lost in various intervals of the movie) and they lived happily ever after. Oh did they? We don’t know? They don’t make many movies for that phase which involves sacrifices and adjustments… which involves the trueness of love in which self denial is a must… which involves the trueness of sacrifice for your true love ( if you could relate to what Jack did in movie Titanic…he layed down his life for his only beloved one).
Now coming back to the phrase itself – ‘Food, Clothes & Girlfriends’, what an apathy that we have reached this level of cheap thinking. If you don’t find it cheap or close to it then I guess you have been already silently brainwashed. Food and Clothes are commodities which can be bought from our nearby super market at our own will with our own money. So when did they start selling girlfriends as commodities and when did it become a necessity for boys that which we cant live without? Now to make this more insane will any forward looking political party put it in their electoral manifesto – Roti, kapdaa or ladkiya? Gosh – where are we heading? Not only such brainwashings attract people but also entice people to look for the same on the streets and may be in every women they see….Don’t blame the eve teasers – we live in an hypocritical society where eve teasing done by an hero is perfectly acceptable since she is supposedly going to fall in love with him anyway – wah! The end just justified the means ….

Now we need to ask ‘is this all to life? Lifeu Ishtena? (in Kannada – and yes that’s the movie title!!!) ….Absolutely No! Life is much more than these.....may be as I see life is in finding one’s true love even at the cost of losing one’s own life. And some find it totally in God and some in their spouse or in a good friend and in poor & so on…but certainly if we can’t find it in one I doubt we will ever find it in many…. .

Throwing Stones

The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. - Numbers 14:18

First a little bit about me - I follow rules,I mean I don't jump lanes while driving, I don't overtake from the left etc. etc.So,when other people do not follow the rules and I have to suffer because of that, I get majorly pissed-off.

So,here I was last Saturday for my confession.I was the third person in the queue of penitents.The first person had just finished his confession and second person was about to take his place.I was busy recalling my transgressions and asking Lord for mercy and then suddenly it happened. A guy just barged into the queue just in front of me and as expected I went hysterical (but silently ).As it was a house of prayer I could not shout or push the guy out of the line.I got really angry and for some reason all I wanted to do was throw a stone at him.As a true engineer, I began to mentally calculate the correct force,the correct trajectory,the correct spin so that my projectile found its intended target - his head  .As I was soaking up to the rage inside me,suddenly this thought hit me - What if Christ was like me ? I mean what if every time we did something wrong(which is most of the times) He throws a stone at us ? Can u imagine such a situation ? Boy,it would be raining stones left,right and center.We would be surrounded by stones and funny looking people with bumps on their head.

Dearly beloved,isn't it awesome that Christ is not like me ? Isn't it great that He is merciful and slow to anger.Week after week I commit the same sins and crucify Him again & again....but still every week when I show up for my confessions I know that in His goodness and mercy He shall wipe my slate clean.I do not know what kinda personal sins you are struggling with today,but know this - He is still in the business of forgiving and restoring. After-all,He was pierced for our transgressions and wounded for our iniquities.

Fall in love with JC today !!!

Musings

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me - Galatians 2:20

The verse mentioned above is one of my favorites from the Good Book.Since coming to Catholic revival I have always believed that this verse should be the motto of my life, that I should die and Christ should live in me.But even though I would like to say that it is happening in my life,the truth of the matter is that many a times(make it almost all the times ) it is Christ who dies in my life and not me.Here are a few examples from my daily life :

Christ says Rely on Me..............I prefer relying on myself.

Christ says hand me your burdens...............I prefer carrying them myself until my back breaks 

Christ says be holy................I prefer being happy.

Christ says endure all temptations.............I say well if it makes me happy I will do it.

Christ says humble yourself..............but all I seek is honor.

Christ wants me to invest in people and relationships............but before investing I want to know about the ROI.

Well,I can go on and on with the list but I think you get the drift.Dearly beloved,the fact is that every minute of our lives we have a choice to make - either to listen to Christ or to the flesh.If you are on the same boat as me, just take a minute now to reflect on the choices that you make in your day to day lives and ask God for the grace to help you(and me) make the right choices most of the times (make it all the times ).

Janta hai mera baap kuan hai – Lokpal!

Everybody in India now-a-days wants to be ‘Anna’ and as they say ‘I am Anna’. Almost everyone who appears in the television or in the print media to be more precise. So my first question is this – is the entire nation behind Anna Hazare? I can’t say for sure if the entire nation is behind him since even my visibility is as far as the television is or the newspapers are or my own friend’s circles or office colleagues and not more than that. Well lets take my visibility aside and for a while assume that the televisions and newspaper are echoing the voice of the people – and the entire nation as they say are with ‘Anna’ in his fight against corruption. So what’s the big deal about this we can ask – can’t an ex-army man exercise his freedom to fight corruption which our country is struggling against from time immemorial. Before answering this question we should ask ourselves are we struggling with corruption; a stupid question to even ask in the heat of all this I suppose but honestly are we suffering and groaning about it or have we accepted corruption as part and parcel of the fabric of the nation. If we have accepted it like the standard ‘Chaltha Hai’ kind of attitude then that’s more the root of the problem and that’s were our campaign must be directed towards. A strong lokpal is good but then it still doesn’t solve the root problem many ways since these very people will make this lokpal’s ‘Chaltha Hai’ very soon or may be like in a typical bollywood dialogue they will say– “Janta hai mera baap kuan hai (Do you know who my dad is?)– Lokpal! ‘

Law of the land can keep only a certain check on the proceedings. We have already certain laws in place to curb corruption yet the many who are expected to minimum follow it are accused of overlooking it and we have the ex chief justice of the nation, chief minister of a state, many bureaucrats as living witnesses to this reality. Certainly a stronger law on paper (Ethics) is needed but what we really need this hour is a clearer law written in the heart of the people (Ethos). This Ethos is needed at every walk of life and at every level.

As you read this – if you are employed , ask yourselves if you have shown fake rent receipts to save some tax – then you are corrupt on the first place! If you have got a land or a certificate or anything from any government office by bribing 100 or 200 INR or higher to any official or third party then you are corrupt! If you have violated the traffic rules and have paid 100 INR to be let off by the police since you had to rush in to go to the Temple or Church or Mosque to pray - then you are also corrupt and even God cant deny it ! So as per Jan Lokpal what shall we do with the corrupt – minimum 5 years or life imprisonment? I think these must be first applied to all those who are sitting and calling the politicians corrupt no doubt most are but how can you point to the dirt in some one ‘s eye when you have a big log in yours? And as a nation we need to ask these questions ourselves how corrupt are we and are we ready to take on ourselves this big dictorial and almost larger than life Jan Lokpal law.

I don’t know if which Lokpal will come – Lokpal of the people’s representatives or the Jan Lokpal of the so called people’s representatives but Lokpal or Jan Lokpal – we need to build a generation which writes this law of integrity on to their hearts. How will the coming generation learn it until the present generation teaches it? How can we teach it if we don’t practice it? How can we practice it if we don’t believe that we can do it? Believe yourselves; don’t be in hurry to get things done for yourselves, don’t encourage the corrupt, and resist them with your patience. A patient man’s curry is far better than the fury of the impatient!

Source : http://www.togglefree.blogspot.com/

This is truly what I need

Lord, much more than profound wisdom and great understanding, I desire a heart that is pure, lowly and contrite. This is truly what I need.

F.R.I.E.N.D.S

They couldn't bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus - Mark 2:4

I have some great friends......no make that awesome friends.Friends who have stuck on with me for years.Friends that I can bank upon to stand by me anytime of the day or night.Friends who would bend over backwards to save my skin(this happens a lot).Friends who stimulate me intellectually and with whom I share common interests.Over the years God has given me the grace to befriend some really smart n fun people and I thank God for that.I am sure it is the same for all of you too. Isn't friendship really a great gift from God ? 

In the Bible there is this story about remarkable friendship,its the story about the crippled man and his four friends.We probably have heard this story a zillion times,but still its a good reminder as to how we can have a radical effect on our friends' life.Yes, 'R-A-D-I-C-A-L' is the correct word to describe this kind of friendship.What other word can describe their intrepidity in breaking open a roof so that Jesus could heal their friend.And Jesus heals the crippled,not because of his(the cripple's) faith but because of his friends' faith.So,today take a moment to think about all your friends and family-members who need Jesus  in their lives.I am sure there are many people in your lives who need the healing(not just physical) touch of the Savior.What are you doing radically different to bring Jesus into their lives ? Are you even doing something ? Pray,ponder and do something....something radical. 

Break open some roofs today.

Irish Wristwatch

This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham - Mathew 1:1

Irish Wristwatch  - Try saying this phrase ten times as fast as you can !!

Tough,eh ? You see this is a tongue-twister,one of the many words in the English language that you can not say without sounding like an idiot. Tongue-twisters usually rely on rapid alternation between similar but distinct phonemes , unfamiliar constructs in loanwords, or other features of a spoken language in order to be difficult to articulate.So,why am I writing about tongue-twisters today ? It so happened that the other day I was reading the genealogy of Jesus in the Gospel of Mathew (I rarely read this part of the Gospel,I think its the same for you guys too) and was confounded by the tongue twisting names of the people mentioned in it.Sample this - Zerubbabel or try saying this name - Jehoshaphat  or this - Shealtiel.......better still try saying all the three names together one after the other.Tough,isn't it ? As I was struggling through these unpronounceable names I came upon another familiar and a rather easy to pronounce name - Rahab (Mathew 1:5)

If you haven't heard about Rahab,then read the Book of Joshua.According to it, Rahab was a woman who lived in Jericho in the Promised Land and assisted the Israelites in capturing the city. Nearly all English translations of Joshua describe her as a harlot or prostitute.Yeah you read it right - a prostitute.A prostitute who decided to do the will of God in faith.And how did God reward her ? Well,she is the great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great..........................great  grandmother of Jesus.In other words,Jesus came through her.Dearly beloved,many times we have to make a choice - between God and the world.My advice - Be smart,make the right choice.I know it is tough but it is the right thing to do.And once you have made the right choice ,one-day you'll see Jesus coming through you to the people around you.Try it.

Be a man/woman after God's heart today !!!

The Bookshop

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. - Genesis 1:27

A few week back I was at Crosswords near Brigade Road.It is one of my favorite places in Bangalore.Why ? Two reasons - books and air-conditioning  PERFECT.I can take my own sweet time to go through the various titles,read them,review them and finally decide not to buy them .All this in the midst of perfect air-conditioning.So,I simply love that place.As I said - PERFECT.I have been a regular at this shop since the day I have landed in B'lore,and have been lately noticing the popularity of their self-help books section.That part of the shop always seems to be crowded with people.In this section you'll find books that claim to give you that perfect body,perfect mind,perfect family and all.There are books to help you become a  better husband,a better father,to help you become better at your job,better in sex,better at managing finances etc.I even found a book which claimed that the reader can become rich only by thinking and acting like he/she is already rich.

Here is the thing,I find self-help books to be extremely pedestrian and stupid.Now,don't get me wrong,its a good thing to try and improve oneself.But dude, becoming rich by thinking and acting like you are already one,will lead to only one thing - BANKRUPTCY .All of the self-help books work on this simple principal - 'You are not good enough,and that's why you should improve yourself". Contrast this with what God our Father says in the Bible,"you were made in My image" In this world we are constantly bombarded by sights and sounds that reiterate the notion that we are not good enough.Dearly beloved,whenever you catch yourself believing in this very big lie,do take a moment to remind yourself about what God thinks of you.And if you really do need a self -help book  - read the Bible.Those self-help books only claim to help you succeed in this world but the Bible will teach you how to succeed in this world and the next.

Seize your inheritance in the Lord today ! 

Jo dar gaya woh mar gaya

Those of us who have grown up on Indian television,would be very familiar with the consumer electronics brand - Onida and their popular ad-theme from the 80s and 90s featuring the devil complete with horns and tail.Here is the thing,when I was a little kid I found this Onida devil really scary.I always thought that this devil resided inside my TV,and whenever this particular advertisement came on the TV I would quickly close my eyes and ears and hide behind the couch.No matter how much my parents tried to pacify me or try to explain the science behind the television,I wouldn't budge from my hideout until the advertisement was over.According to my puny little brain the devil lived inside that TV.Isn't fear a funny thing ?

We all have our fears and on our own we seldom succeed in making them go.I'll be really surprised to find a man/woman who has been fear-free throughout his/her lives.And fear seems a natural human response when threatened.But what is God's view of fear ? Again and again the Bible tells us - do not be afraid,fear not,be courageous etc. In-spite of knowing all these verses when faced with a difficulty our first response is to get scared and take flight.But, yet God expects us not to loose our cool and stand our ground.

If you are afflicted with this disease called fear,here is a good opportunity to come clean.We have just celebrated Easter.Christ is risen.Indeed,He is risen.Through Easter,He has conquered death - the final frontier.This same Risen Christ promises us,that He shall never leave us nor forsake us.He is on our side,protecting us,caring for us and relieving our fears.So,call upon the living God today and ask him to absorb all your fears.Being the good Father,He'll definitely do it.Dearly beloved know this - when we are living in Christ's love and power nothing from this world can hurt us.So be of good cheer and do not fear.

Take a chill-pill today !!

(for the sake of re-living the nostalgia u can watch the old Onida commercial here) 

The Worst Easter Ever

And as they were afraid, and bowed down [their] faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? - Luke 24:5

Consider the scenario ,you decide to spend the Easter Triduum in Bangalore,alone away from your family.On Easter eve you decide to go to one of the more famous Churches in the city where you have never been before,so instead of taking your own vehicle you hire a rickshaw.Traversing through the roads of B'lore your rickshaw gets a flat tire in the middle of nowhere.Finding no other means of transport you decide to walk to the church and then it starts to rain...heavy rains and you don't have an umbrella.As you are unsuccessfully trying to keep yourself dry you realize it is just 20 minutes to the start of the Easter vigil, there are only few rickshaws in sight all of them occupied by the way and the rain does not show any sign of letting up.Finally one rickshaw-walla decides to stop for you,you enter the rickshaw and realize its totally flooded and wet on the inside,anyways you decide to carry on reach the church,rush in only to find the whole place full of people,not even a single free seat . Welcome to my world.

As I was standing there in the church angry and wet,the proceedings of the night started.I was too irritated to even listen to what was happening in the Church and suddenly the choir started singing "Oh give thanks to the Lord for He is good" .I thought to myself 'what an irony, am I expected to thank God in the middle of all this ? '  . But as they were singing I realized this is not irony...this is a pretty natural and expected behavior from us Christians - To praise and thank the Lord under all circumstances.Through Christ's death and resurrection we are a new creation.Because of His resurrection we have hope in the middle of hopelessness,light in the middle of darkness and life in the middle of death.The Resurrection is proof that God,our father,adores us and is for us.And when He is for us there is only room for thanks and praise not fear and complain.This was my Easter Revelation for 2011.

Dearly beloved,Christ has risen from the dead.....let us also find the strength in Him to rise up from our graves

TGIF

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was on him; and with his stripes we are healed - Isaiah 53:5

Yesterday one of my colleague was asking me as to where I was planning to celebrate Good Friday.Whether I was going up-North to be with my parents or down-South to be with my extended family.As I was about to answer him,I noticed something..he used the phrase celebrate Good Friday.I thought as to who on earth celebrates Good Friday ? Yes,we may observe Good Friday,we may contemplate Good Friday.....but we never really celebrate Good Friday...Do we ? Realizing his apparent mistake,I was about to correct him,I was about to give him some gyaan in theology,as to how Good Friday is a solemn reminder of the crucifixion of Christ,how on this day we Christians contemplate the passion of Christ etc.But before I could utter a word of correction to him another thought came to my mind.....after-all why is this day called 'Good Friday' ? Why not Lousy Friday,Awful Friday or maybe just 'The Friday' or something like that....why add the adjective 'Good' ? Its then that this personalized verse from Isaiah came to  me,"But He was wounded for MY transgressions, He was bruised for MY iniquities: MY chastisement was on Him; and with His stripes I am healed".I realized that He died to save me from the wrath of God.I was like a lost sheep....a stupid lost sheep who didn't even realize that it was lost.Happily unaware of my own lassitude I was going my own way,not caring about Him or the world.Yet He chose to endure humiliation,scourging and the Cross for me.Why ? Because He has loved me....He has loved me with a love which is beyond explanation and understanding.This  'Love' is what makes this Friday 'Good'.In-fact it is not just a 'Good Friday' it is the 'Best Friday' as far as schmucks like me are concerned .And that's why I realized that my colleague was not all that wrong to use the phrase "celebrate Good Friday" and therefore chose not to correct him.After-all,if it is good then shouldn't we celebrate it ?

Dearly beloved this Friday is worth a celebration.God's passionate love for us is what makes it worth celebrating.This Friday as you are contemplating the Passion of Christ...also do contemplate the awesome love of God which made this passion possible in the first place.Realize this,we should have been on that cross,not Him.Yet , He chose to endure every pain for just one thing...LOVE .

He died for us......shall we now start living for Him ?

The Thief

And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be
with me in paradise - Luke 23:43

Chances are that you have never heard of Václav Klaus.No worries,not
many knew him outside his country the Czech Republic until last
week.Václav Klaus is the the president of the Czech Republic, and he
was caught stealing a pen during a large news conference in Chile with
the Chilean President Sebastian Pinera. Here is what happened - the
two leaders were celebrating the signing of a new transportation
agreement.At the ceremony, Mr Klaus nimbly took out the pen embedded
with Chilean lapis lazuli stones from a pen box kept in front of him
and slipped it into his pocket. To cover his tracks, he then shut the
antique pen box before smiling for the camera.Needless to say this
gaffe of his was caught on camera and promptly made an appearance on
youtube,where the video went viral and now Mr.Klaus finds himself at
the receiving end of  ridicule and mockery at the hands of his
countrymen and the world at large.You can watch the video here

Mr Klaus got it all wrong and in all probability the tag of thief will
stick to him for the rest of His life.But,in this post I want to
highlight the life of another thief who according to the Bible got it
right at the fag end .Tradition tells us that his name was Dismas.We
also know him as the good thief crucified along with Christ.Boy,did He
get it right ? Many of us might have started this Lent with high
hopes,with a desire to change ourselves for good, hoping that this
Lent will be different from the previous Lents.But as time progressed
we might have realized that nothing much is changing and eventually
might have fallen victims to our own nonspiritual inertia.And now we
find ourselves in the final week of Lent.If like me , you too are
wondering what should be done in this Holy week...then like Dismas
looking at the crucified Christ and saying ,"Remember me when You come
into Your kingdom" will be a good starting point.Here was a thief who
at the fag end of his life comes face to face with the Son of
God,realizes his own frailty and gets it right with God.And how did
Christ respond ? Dearly beloved,Christ didn't even utter a word about
forgiveness of his sins or anything,but just said,"Thou shalt be with
me in paradise" and that's the beauty of God's love.So,this holy week
just turn to Him with humility and penitence,leave aside your past
transgressions and get it right with God,our father.And His promise
for an honest penitent is still the same  - "Thou shalt be with me in
paradise"

Become Holy this Holy Week

Mountain Climbing

I can do all things through HIM who strengthens me - Philippians 4:13
Last month our professionals prayer group went for an outing in lieu of our 5th anniversary to a place called Savandurga.It is a famous hill on the outskirts of B'lore and one of the largest monolith hills in the world. The hill rises to 1226 m above mean sea level and forms a part of the Deccan plateau.The plan was to reach the base of the mountain by 10 AM and have a time of bonding while climbing up and come down by 12:30 PM.We hired a mini-bus and reached the base of the mountain by 10 AM.The 1st reaction of most of us on seeing the mountain was 'Oh my God...how on earth are we supposed to climb a mountain this high ? '..to those of us who are quantitatively challenged - 1226 mts is a huge distance its 1.26 kms - and that too - UP,against gravity.With an average inclination of 45 degrees and in some places 60 degrees the task becomes even more tough for a bunch of out-of-shape techies like us.But anyways we  started. ..huffing, puffing,with a prayer on our lips and with lots of mutual encouragement most of us were more than half the way up by 11:30 AM.We had come down after that because of the time constraints.But hey,we made more than half of it,not bad for a bunch of professionals whose only source of physical activity is the finger tapping while using a computer-keyboard.(anyways,I have decided to join a gym ASAP )

This brings me to an important point,most of us when faced with a big problem in life have a similar reaction i.e. 'Oh my God,How on earth am I supposed to solve this problem ? ' We get tensed,sometimes bitter.The answer to this question ironically lies in the question itself  => 'my God'. Dearly beloved,we serve a God who takes a personal interest in our lives.Our successes,our failures and indeed our problems nothing escapes His attention,He is interested...very interested in every little detail of our lives.Before you ever reach the mountain(problem) in your life He already has a plan for you...a plan to help your overcome your mountain(problem).As humans the first reaction of most of us is to find a way around(by-pass) our problems, but God our father expects us to face the problem head on with courage.And this courage to take on our problems does not come from a confidence in our own abilities but from a confidence in an all-powerful almighty God.Over the years,God has taught me this one thing - 'I'll only face two kinds of problems in my life ever, the first kind is the one which by my God's grace I can solve and the second which I just can't solve.The first kind of problem I go ahead with a prayer and try to solve,the second I let GO and let GOD(both ways I win )".And that's my prayer for us today,that we find the grace of God to solve the pressing problems in our lives and if not,let's  find the courage and the faith to let go and let GOD deal with those.Let our hearts never be troubled again.

Be a brave-heart in the Lord today

Miracles

When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out! " - John 11:43

mir·a·cle - A highly improbable or extraordinary event, development, or accomplishment

When I was a kid believing in miracles was easy.I believed from the bottom of my heart that miracles happened and that God is a God of miracles.My prayers and petitions,no matter how fantastic they were,had a kind of cocky self-assurance that God can and God will.And God did.Then something happened.I grew up.I became more rational.I became more cerebral.I became more analytical.I never lost my faith.I just started putting an asterisk  '*'  to my more extravagant prayer requests.So,whenever I was asked to pray for something or some cause which seemed to be highly improbable and requiring of a miracle,my prayer would be something like this - Lord please do this for me *
* now I know Lord this thing I ask for is really far fetched and You could be busy with other important things too,so if possible do it,if not then no hard feelings 

I don't know how many of you suffer from the above mentioned emotion in prayer.I believe most of you.C'mon now be honest with yourselves,how many times when supposed to pray for what seemed to be an impossible cause in your mind have you used the word 'May Your will be done' not because you really believe in these words but because you want to give a leeway to God.Some elbow room for God,so that He doesn't look bad.Dearly beloved there is news for you and me - "God is still in the business of doing miracles".That was one of the messages from this Sunday's gospel reading.Lazarus raised from the dead.Our puny little brains can't comprehend the capabilities of God our father.He is the one who parted the Red Sea,He is the one who produced manna in the desert,He is the one who fed the multitudes,He is the one who rose from the dead.So,don't limit God in your prayers.From now on when you pray,pray with a renewed assurance and understanding that He is infinitely able.No petition or request is too big for Him.And yeah,He is never too busy for you 

Be audacious in the Lord today.

There is something about Mary

"And the angel came in to her, and said, Hail, thou favored one! the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou amongst women" - Luke 1:28

Last week's long weekend afforded me and my roomies a much needed vacation in the beach town of Pondicherry. One of the days I woke up a little early and went to the beach,which was just across the resort we were staying in.It was around 5:45 AM,there was a cold morning breeze,the surf was up and the sun was rising.It was a sight to behold and I felt like praying & thanking the Lord.I was struggling to find words for my prayer and ended up saying the 'Hail Mary'.Slowly,intently and with all the concentration I could muster I said the words of this wonderful prayer.The surroundings made it all the more surreal.It was Bliss with a capital 'B'.

But,why pray to Mary ? All of you must be aware of the big theological debate happening between us Catholic and our Protestant brothers(and sisters) about Mary,Her role in salvation,Her veneration etc. But this post is not about the theology,(If u want some cool Marian theology in plain English click here and alsohere ) its about the relationship.So,why do we end up calling up Mary all the time ? I believe,its that 'mother thing'.I mean generally Mom's are easier to get to,they are more compassionate and tend to have a lot of patience.(Note : Dad's too possess these ,but Mom's tend to possess these virtues in much larger quantities ) They don't waste time while responding to requests and prepare awesome chicken curry (OK,the chicken curry part was  about my biological Mum  Lent-effect ) But most importantly Mother Mary is 'the' perfect example of surrendering oneself to the will of God.Her 'YES' in Luke 1:38 is the perfect example of how our own response to God,our Father,should be.Turn to Her and she'll turn you towards Her Son.One of the coolest advices,for our walk in Christ,given in the Scriptures is from our Mom herself i.e. "Do whatever He tells you"(John 2:5) and He tells us - 'Behold Your Mother'(John 19:27)

So,call upon Mommy today(and while you are at it,say one 'Hail Mary' for me too )

Aladdin

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. - Mathew 6:33  


All of you must have read/heard/seen the story of Aladdin and the magic lamp from the Arabian Nights.You guys know the drag poor lad + magic lamp + Genie + 3 wishes + beautiful princess + love + evil magician + final confrontation between good and evil ,finally good wins and everyone goes home happy and satisfied.I remember reading about Aladdin in my 1st or 2nd grade,and the one thing that immediately stuck me was this - Aladdin was a total idiot.I mean think about it,here is a Genie who promises you three wishes and the schmuck Aladin goes on and asks for stuff like a palace,money etc. and before you know his 3 wishes are over.If I were in his place my first wish would have been - "10,000 more wishes" . Why would anyone in his/her right mind want to dry out his number of wishes ? This question confounded me then and it still does.So,for me Aladdin is a low-IQ imbecile.Period.

          Fortunately for us,JC*** promises that,"And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do" and He does not put a constraint on the number of things you can ask of Him.It can be anything,you want to get hitched-Ask Him,if you want a new job-Ask Him,if you want more money-Ask Him,if you want a new house,a car anything-Ask Him.He will respond in all probability.But,there is a problem here,these things that I mentioned are just stuff and they can't satisfy you.Yes,they will make you happy for some time but they can't keep you happy.Understand this - prosperity after a point of time is boring.As a case in point - The suicide rate in Switzerland(one of the most prosperous country) is much-much higher than that of Haiti(one of the poorest country).Stuff just can't keep you happy....so what can ?? Only God ! Seek Him and His kingdom.He will satisfy.Dearly beloved,today and the days to follow don't just run after stuff but run after Him.Yes we all need stuff in this life but God our Father knows our needs(Note : Its NEED not GREED) even before we come to Him with our petitions.So,seek Him and Him alone ! He will never fail to satisfy !

Seek the Lord with all your heart today !!!




***JC a.k.a Jesus Christ.We are best friends,so He has allowed me to use His initials 'JC'  instead of His full name,how nice of Him