The Light and Darkness

Part XXXXV 

Lord,  May the words of my mouth always find favour, and the whispering of my heart, in your presence. 

  We should have:‘the power of distinguishing the spirits.’ (1Cor. 12:10) This is the strongest foundation of our congregation and our charism, which Br. Victor passed down to us through his followers (our Brs) through his unwavering faith, conviction, and love for Jesus, a true apostolic grace. Lord, teach us the experiences of darkness and bring us into His light. If we do not understand the work of darkness, how can we resist it when it comes? After we have experienced the work of darkness, we will come to the light of Jesus. We must hold firm in our faith, which requires complete separation from the world and attachment to our Lord alone. We have to learn and begin praying continually and constantly. We must examine our conscience in order to atone for our failures. We must never be afraid to seek for forgiveness from others, and we must begin forgiving our enemies. Then we will begin praying for our adversaries. As a result, we shall be free of animosity and filled with the joy and peace of Jesus Christ. We will gain a clear conscience, as St. Paul says: ‘My brothers, to this day I have conducted myself before God with perfectly clear conscience.’(Acts 23: 1) 

   We should not have any ambitions of this world and we should not seek any pleasures of this world. All the ambitions of this world guide us to the natural inclinations and wealth of this world and it will lead us to do sins. Only Lord can reveal our hidden sin, and who can detect our sins. ‘But who can detect his own failings? Wash away my hidden faults. And from pride preserve your servant, never let it be my master. So shall I be above reproach, free from grave sin. May words of my mouth always find favour, and the whispering of my heart, in your presence, Yahweh, my rock, my redeemer.’(Ps. 19: 12-14) Once start experiencing the light we start to know the work of darkness by the grace of Jesus our Lord. Then He will show us the treasures of darkness. ‘I shall give you the secret treasures hidden hoards of wealth…’(Is. 45:3) Br  Victor always says that, we should understand the work of evil and then only we know value and depth of the Kingdom of God. Evil has many secret ways of darkness which will makes us imprisonment to work for Satan and his kingdom. Watch and ward of each of our steps and it is very easy to fall into that dungeon that is call Gehenna, the hell. 

The Light and Darkness

Part XXXXV 

Lord, lead us to the uprightness and holiness of Your Truth 

   Here, St Paul emphasizes that we should not live as gentiles do. We are getting the blessings and teachings of Jesus through his Apostles and Evangelists to comprehend the mysteries of the Kingdom of God. When we ignore the Church's doctrines and traditions, we become detached from God's life. When we disobey God's Commandments, we lose our senses and find it difficult to maintain self-control, potentially leading to a sinful life. Then we will have closed minds, think logically rather than spiritually, and engage in every type of uncleanness.  Ephesians 4:17–24 (NJB): 17 So this I say to you and attest to you in the Lord, do not go on living the empty-headed life that the gentiles live. 18 Intellectually they are in the dark, and they are estranged from the life of God, because of the ignorance which is the consequence of closed minds. 19 Their sense of right and wrong once dulled, they have abandoned all self-control and pursue to excess every kind of uncleanness. 20 Now that is hardly the way you have learnt Christ, 21 unless you failed to hear him properly when you were taught what the truth is in Jesus. 22 You were to put aside your old self, which belongs to your old way of life and is corrupted by following illusory desires. 23 Your mind was to be renewed in spirit 24 so that you could put on the New Man that has been created on God’s principles, in the uprightness and holiness of the truth.

   We should comprehend the distinction between good and bad, or good and evil. We should seek for the truth found in Jesus and read the Holy Scriptures to get clarity of mind, then we will realize the distinction between darkness and light. Isaiah 5:20 Woe to those who call what is bad, good, and what is good, bad, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Lord, we do not know how to distinguish the light and the darkness and we are in misery. Lord, the fear of darkness is haunting us  day and night. Bring your light to overcome the fear ness. 1Thessalonians 5:4–7 (NJB): But you, brothers, do not live in the dark, that the Day should take you unawares like a thief. 5 No, you are all children of light and children of the day: we do not belong to the night or to darkness, 6 so we should not go on sleeping, as everyone else does, but stay wide awake and sober. 7 Night is the time for sleepers to sleep and night the time for drunkards to be drunk, We should live in the light of Jesus rather than in the darkness of evil. We are not the children of night or darkness, but of the light, Jesus Christ. St Paul reminds us to rise up at night to pray; night is for sleepers and drunkards to drink. Let us offer the following prayer to Jesus, our Lord:

A prayer from heart……...

Lord, teach me how to pray to you with all my heart

Lord, let your Holy Face shine on me,

to do your will, with your Love and Mercy. 

Lord, cleanse me with your Precious Blood, 

and make my heart like yours. 

Lord, let me have the spirit of prayer, 

through pondering, your Holy Word. 

O’ Lord, let me know your will,

and make me a humble servant of your Holy Garden Amen!