Word of God Reflection I

A Study and Reflection on Sirach Chapter 39 : 1-11

Word of God Reflection Sirach 39:1 On 16th Nov 2024

Lord, help us to ponder Your Word day and night 

   So let us ponder these verses which may our Lord Jesus help us to grow in the grace God.  “Not so with one who concentrates his mind and his meditation on the Law of the Most High. He researches into the wisdom of all the Ancients, he occupies his time with the prophecies.” Lord is calling us to obey His Commandments and to be in His presence. God told Abraham ‘I am the Lord( El Shaddai). Live in my presence, be perfect. The Law of Most High will be pondered by those who love God. God will lead and instruct us on how to discover the secret mysteries of His Kingdom when we study His Word and His Commandments in depth. By delving into the lives of the Prophets, Church Fathers, and saints, we can discover a lot about their religious practices. To live a graceful spiritual life, one must love Jesus above all else since wisdom is concealed in Jesus Christ. Jesus fulfills his promise to give us the Paraclete (Holy Spirit) when he states in John 14:15–16 that who ever loves him will obey his commandments.  So love of Jesus is the grace to obtain the wisdom and knowledge of God. Invoke the Holy Spirit to lead us to the Living waters of Holy Scriptures and ponder the Word of God in our heart to remind us ands sustain us in the faith in Jesus Christ the Son of God. We should occupy our time with the Bible and meditate the Holy Scriptures. Jesus gives us another commandment in John 13: 34 I give you a new commandment: love one another; you must love one another just as I have loved you. 

The Word of God

 

Word of God, 10th Nov 2024

Lord Jesus, you became an humble servant to wash the feet of your disciples 

   Jn 13: 12-16 When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments again he went back to the table. ‘Do you understand’, he said, ‘what I have done to you? You call me Master and Lord, and rightly; so I am. If I, then, the Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you must wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example so that you may copy what I have done to you. ‘In all truth I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, no messenger is greater than the one who sent him. Before the celebration of Passover, Jesus washed the feet of his disciples and apostles. Jesus is actually asking if we understand why he did this because, in a human manner, we cannot comprehend his humility in washing his disciples' feet. In this way, Jesus taught them how to serve others with humility and gentleness. Jesus taught us that even as masters, we should assist the poor. Since Jesus is the Master and Lord and was willing to wash the apostles' and disciples' feet, he is urging us to emulate him when we serve others, even if we are superior to them. Jesus taught that no servant is greater than his master, and since he was sent by the Father in heaven, we may observe how a master is serving his servants in this instance. 

The Word of God

 

Word of God, 7th Nov 2024

Lord Jesus, we believe that you and the Father are One 

   Jn 12: 44-50 Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in the one who sent me, and whoever sees me, sees the one who sent me. I have come into the world as light, to prevent anyone who believes in me from staying in the dark any more. If anyone hears my words and does not keep them faithfully, it is not I who shall judge such a person, since I have come not to judge the world, but to save the world: anyone who rejects me and refuses my words has his judge already: the word itself that I have spoken will be his judge on the last day. For I have not spoken of my own accord; but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and what to speak, and I know that his commands mean eternal life. And therefore what the Father has told me is what I speak.  Jesus claims that anyone who believes in him will also believe in God the Father, who is in heaven. Because they are One God, anyone who sees Jesus will also see the Father. The most crucial factor in following Jesus' example is our faith. When Jesus entered the world, he brought light and taught us to live in it rather than in darkness. Therefore, we must pay attention to what Jesus teaches us, and if we do not put what he says into practice, then his own words will condemn us. Jesus declares that he came to redeem us and grant us eternal life, and not to judge. We are condemned by our own disobedience when we reject Jesus' teachings, and as a result, we will be judged on the last day. According to Jesus, the Father is speaking through him and he is speaking what the Father has instructed him to say, not his own words. Lord, Jesus we believe that you and the Father is One God. 

The Word of God

 

Word of God, 5th Nov 2024

Jesus prayed “Father glorify Your Name” The Father said: “I have glorified it and I will again glorify it”

   Jn 12: 27-31(NJB) Now my soul is troubled. What shall I say: Father, save me from this hour?   But it is for this very reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name! A voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and I will again glorify it.’ The crowd standing by, who heard this, said it was a clap of thunder; others said, ‘It was an angel speaking to him.’ Jesus answered, ‘It was not for my sake that this voice came, but for yours. ‘Now sentence is being passed on this world; now the prince of this world is to be driven out.

   Jesus said that the hour he must endure is causing his spirit to be tormented. However, he was aware of the hour of his death and sacrifice on the Cross. He made this selfless sacrifice in order to follow the Father's plan to save the entire universe. In addition to establishing the Everlasting New Covenant and overcoming all prior Covenants, God the Father desires for all of humanity to know Him and follow His commands. A voice from heaven said, "I will glorify it," in response to Jesus' prayer to the Father to exalt His name. A voice of thunder echoed across the crowd around him. Jesus wants to remind the crowd, that the Heavenly Father is calling them to come back to Him from their sinful ways. Again he reminded them the time is very near for him and the prince (Evil) of this world to be driven out by his own sacrifice. I remember how this verse was touched me by Jesus. It was in the beginning stage of my conversion and Jesus allowed me or gave me the grace to pray constantly. While I was reading this particular Chapter 12 of Gospel of John., then while reading the verse of Jn 12: 29 and 30, a great sound of thunder clap with lightning came above our home, it was rainy season in Kerala. I was so amazed by this sound and remembered the voice of God the Father to Jesus “I will glorify it”. My wife so afraid and she told me she never heard such huge sound of such thunder in her life, and I told her this sound came from our Lord for our conversion. Then after one week both of us went for another retreat and it was a turning point in my life to become a Catholic in full manner and sense. My conversion was happened before the birth of my daughter (Francine Mary) and she is so special as she was born after my conversion and embracing Catholicism. One Word of God is enough for God to make our entire life to change. 

The Word of God

 

Word of God, 3rd Nov 2024

Jesus loved his apostles and disciples till the end. 

  JN 13: 1-2 Before the festival of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father, having loved those who were his in the world, loved them to the end.

   Jesus never left the apostles and disciples because he loved them. He was caring for them and showing them the path to eternal life. He disclosed the mysteries of heaven and knew who loved him the most. Jesus experienced a lot of things during his life before he left this world. The Jews were plotting Jesus' murder. He spoke boldly about God's kingdom while performing several miracles and wonders. He advocated using the abandoned to drive out bad spirits and free souls from slavery.

  Jn 11: 47-53 Then the chief priests and Pharisees called a meeting. ‘Here is this man working all these signs,’ they said, ‘and what action are we taking? If we let him go on in this way everybody will believe in him, and the Romans will come and suppress the Holy Place and our nation.’ One of them, Caiaphas, the high priest that year, said, ‘You do not seem to have grasped the situation at all; you fail to see that it is to your advantage that one man should die for the people, rather than that the whole nation should perish.’ He did not speak in his own person, but as high priest of that year he was prophesying that Jesus was to die for the nation— and not for the nation only, but also to gather together into one the scattered children of God. 

  Chiapas foretold that Jesus would be killed and offered as a sacrifice for the entire country, as we can see from the words above. The Jewish authorities were powerless to stop spreading the teachings of Jesus.   

  In another incident, Jesus was saying that, while Mary was anointing the feet of Jesus Judas was saying Jn 12:5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor” But Jesus told Judas and all those present there, ‘Leave her alone; let her keep it for the day of my burial.” Here also Jesus mentioned about his passing away from this world 

The Word of God

 

Word of God, 31st, October 2024

Lord, let us seek the Heavenly things 

   Lk 13: 18-21 NJB What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it with? It is like a mustard seed which a man took and threw into his garden: it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air sheltered in its branches.’ Again he said, ‘What shall I compare the kingdom of God with? It is like the yeast a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour till it was leavened all through.’ As Jesus explains here, the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. Here, he teaches humility, and everything is shown in a modest manner. Jesus reminded Pilate that his kingdom was not of this world and that it was in the Spirit of God. The mustard seed, which is so little, symbolizes how we ought to become insignificant and lowly before both God and the people. The Lord will grant us the ability to carry out our earthly and heavenly purposes, once we have humbled ourselves. We shall be able to partake in God's Kingdom by His own way. This grace, which is God's gift, which will enable us to  do God’s will in our life. 

  God will use us in a variety of ways to share the Kingdom's good news, according to our faith in Him. God will use us in a variety of ways to share the good news of His kingdom, which will attract many souls to His love. Without humility and adherence to Jesus' teachings and God's commandments, no one can view the heavenly things. 

The Word of God

Word of God, 28th October 2024

Lord Jesus, let us see the glory of God. 

   Jn 11: 40-44 Jesus replied, ‘Have I not told you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?’ So they took the stone away. Then Jesus lifted up his eyes and said: Father, I thank you for hearing my prayer. I myself knew that you hear me always, but I speak for the sake of all these who are standing around me, so that they may believe it was you who sent me. When he had said this, he cried in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out, his feet and hands bound with strips of material, and a cloth over his face. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, let him go free.’ Jesus promises that we will see God's grandeur when we believe in him. Jesus commanded the people to take away the stone from the tomb where Lazar was buried. However, Jesus waited to reveal God's splendor among them. Jesus confidently prayed to the Father and thanked him for always hearing the request he made.  In addition to demonstrating to the people that he and the Father are one, Jesus hopes to accomplish the miracle of raising Lazar from the dead for the glory of God the Father in heaven. "Lazarus come out!" he called loudly, and they were all amazed when Lazarus emerged from the grave alive. Jesus commanded them to liberate Lazarus from his bonds. Jews had never witnessed such a miracle in their lives, and many of them believed in Jesus.