The Word of Life

 

On 15th Feb 2025  

Meditating the Words of Jesus from Holy Scriptures 

Lord teach us, how to be poor in spirit 

Jesus was giving his sermon on the mount on the bank of Galeelli. He was instructing the crowd how can anyone obtain the Kingdom of Heaven. Then he began to speak about how we become poor in spirit.Those are poor in spirit always lead a life in humility. When humility comes we will serve others in a gentle and humble way. Humility is a special grace, and Br Shaji says: it’s a most difficult virtue to practice, if it comes we are able to love and serve others unconditionally. “This is what he taught them: 3 How blessed are the poor in spirit: the kingdom of Heaven is theirs.”

Word of Life

 

On 5th Feb 2025  

Meditating the Words of Jesus from Holy Scriptures 

Lord, teach us to serve you in a humble and gentle way 

   Mt 4: 23-25, When we entered the Bank of Galilee on my trip to the Holy Land in 2007, I was reminded of these verses. I was observing the surrounding mountains when our guide informed us that Lebanon was to the left, Syria and Jordan to the right (because in the time of Jesus Syria was was Greater Syria, which includes some part of Iraq, Syria, Palestine, and some other nearby nations). I began reflecting on these verses, and as I looked up and down, I had the impression that Jesus was sharing the gospel with everyone on the earth, regardless of race, color, or language. Then I saw that the entire seashore was covered with tiny blue stones rather than sand. In all the seashores I have visited since I was a child, I have never witnessed such occurrences. I kept some of the stones in my shoulder bag after kissing them. Jesus's presence was still felt on the coast, and I was so moved, then I started crying softly. I collected stones, sand, leaves, seeds, and flowers, but I never purchased any artwork or mementos to preserve as souvenir. I turned all of these small items into a mural or fresco because I felt they were priceless treasures that would serve as a reminder of my journey I had taken with Jesus, my Lord. Mt. 4: 23-25 He went round the whole of Galilee teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing all kinds of disease and illness among the people. 24 His fame spread throughout Syria, and those who were suffering from diseases and painful complaints of one kind or another, the possessed, epileptics, the paralysed, were all brought to him, and he cured them. 25 Large crowds followed him, coming from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judaea and Transjordan. Jesus, his apostles, and his disciples never wasted any time in sharing the Good News with the entire world.  Everywhere Jesus went, there was a sizable crowd that followed him, and he healed everyone who was ill. We may be prepared to accept Jesus Christ's personality and completely surrender to his plan for our lives when we make the decision to follow him. Jesus himself says ‘I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.’ By following Jesus' example and learning from him, we grow like him and are equipped to handle life's obstacles. 

 

Word of Life

 Word of Life mural, commonly known as 'Touchdown Jesus.'

Copyright University of Notre Dame

On 3rd Feb 2025  

Meditating the Words of Jesus from Holy Scriptures 

Jesus Said. “Come after me and I will make you fishers of people”

 As he was walking by the Lake of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew; they were making a cast into the lake with their net, for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, ‘Come after me and I will make you fishers of people.’ 20 And at once they left their nets and followed him. 21 Going on from there he saw another pair of brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John; they were in their boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. 22 And at once, leaving the boat and their father, they followed him. Jesus called the four of them to make them his disciples. He told them that he will make them fishers of men These disciples were selected by Jesus to be the first part of his plan to establish his kingdom on earth. They were straightforward, common impoverished people who fished and lacked worldly intelligence or wisdom. When Jesus called the four of them they gave up their father, the fishing net, and everything that was rightly theirs when Jesus asked them to join him. Since he promised to make them fishers of men, they were given the mission of advancing God's Kingdom and leading all peoples to salvation through Jesus Christ. Because he wanted to fulfill the mission in a new way in accordance with the Father's will, Jesus chose the weakest and poorest members of society. The three disciples who had the greatest privilege of accompanying him to Mount Tabor, where they witnessed Jesus' glorification or transfiguration, were Peter, James, and John. It was a wonderful vision they had seen. When heaven opened, the two most potent prophets of God, Moses and Elijah, met Jesus and told him of Jesus' sacrifice to God for the sake of both His own people and all of humanity.

The Feast of St Thomas Aquinas

 

Happy Feast of St Thomas Aquinas 

On 28th Jan 2025 

St Thomas Aquinas Said: To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.’

Oh holy angelic Doctor, 

You were a wise and intellect of the Holy Spirit

A true teacher of the Church

When the Church were in turmoil 

Your teaching has enlightened the people, the Clergy and religious 

The youth, the children, the wise and the old, praised your wisdom

Your wisdom has been taught to the seminarians in many Schools of Wisdom

You wrote and sang the beautiful hymns for Our Church

Which we are singing in the Churches, all over the world

You said ‘To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.’

You sang this song of adoration with the angelic choirs

TANTUM ergo Sacramentum

Veneremur cernui:

Et antiquum documentum

Novo cedat ritui:

Praestet fides supplementum

Sensuum defectui.

Genitori, Genitoque

Laus et iubilatio,

Salus, honor, virtus quoque

Sit et benedictio:

Procedenti ab utroque

Compar sit laudatio.

What a beautiful composition you wrote again to sing along 

1. O salutáris Hóstia,

Quae caeli pandis óstium:

Bella premunt hostília,

Da robur fer auxílium.

2. Uni trinóque Dómino

Sit sempitérna glória,

Qui vitam sine término

Nobis donet in pátria

In the Holy Scripture says: He will display the instruction he has received,

Taking his pride in the Law of the Lord’s covenant. 

Many will praise his intelligence and it will never be forgotten. 

His memory will not disappear, 

Generation after generation his name will live.

Nations will proclaim his wisdom, the assembly will celebrate his praises.

If he lives long, his name will be more glorious than a thousand others, 

And if he dies, that will satisfy him just as well. 

Lord, we thank you, for such wonderful saints brought a great legacy for You

His name will be more glorious than a thousand others, and if he dies, that will satisfy him just as well. 

When he was looked back about his work

And so the vision of the Lord and His immense wisdom  

He said my wisdom is like straw, to be burned not worthy for anything 

At last he said: Never have I said anything against you [Jesus], and if I have done so, 

it is through ignorance, and I am not stubborn in my error. 

If I have taught wrongly concerning this sacrament or the others, 

I submit it to the judgment of the Holy Roman Church, in obedience to which I now leave this life.

But St Thomas Aquinas, your name will be remembered from generations to generations 

The Word of God Sunday

 

The Word of God Sunday

On 26th Jan 2025

Today’s Holy Mass Gospel Reading Luke 1:1-4,​4:14-21

Jesus Said: “No prophet is ever accepted in his own country.”

In the verses Lk 1: 1-4 In today's gospel reading, St. Luke the Evangelist explains in the prologue how he received numerous important insights from Jesus's teachings and the ministry of the Holy Word, as well as some additional insightful interpretations from Jesus's Apostles, disciples, and other witnesses. The writings of the apostles and evangelists, as well as the words of Jesus, form the basis for all of the Gospels, which carry on the mission of salvation that Jesus had anticipated from the start of his earthly life. Every individual is experiencing the power of the Word of God by hearing, reading, contemplating (meditating), and practicing. The Word of God that he preached was conceiving and bringing fruit in the hearts of the peoples. 

Lk 4: 14-21 In these verses St Luke is explaining about the return of Jesus from the desert after his mortification by fasting and contmeplative prayer in penance. Jesus, with the power of the Spirit in him, returned to Galilee; and his reputation spread throughout the countryside. 15 He taught in their synagogues and everyone glorified him. He came from the desert by great power of the Spirit and started spreading Good News by teaching in the Synagogues and in the country side. In a synagogue Jesus stood up with the Scroll of Holy Scriptures and read from the Book of Isiah 61:1-2, This incident has mentioned in Lk 4: 18-19The spirit of the Lord is on me, for he has anointed me to bring the good news to the afflicted. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives, sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, 19 to proclaim a year of favour from the Lord. Jesus is saying his Father anointed him to proclaim the Good News, (the Word of God and he himself is the Word of God and there is no separation of the Word from God and it is the Divine Union of Trinity) to poor captives, blind, deaf and broken hearted, to bring them out of slavery of Satan. Lk 4: 20-29 Then he began to speak to them, ‘This text is being fulfilled today even while you are listening.’This was exactly  happened, which was the prophecy of Isiah. In verse 24 Jesus says: In truth I tell you, no prophet is ever accepted in his own country. When the famine struck Israel, Jesus explained, the prophet Elijah was sent to a widow's home in Sidonia, not to any of the Israelites' homes. In the time of prophet Elisha, Jesus reiterated that God sent him specifically to heal Naaman the Syrian, not any other Israelite. Among all humans, God has no distinction and chooses the most unimportant members of society to display His splendor. The people were incensed when Jesus spoke these things word for word, believing that he was exaggerating by praising himself. Infuriated, the people chased after him and shoved him until he reached a mountainside precipice where they would have thrown him to his death, but he disappeared into the crowd and they were powerless to stop him.

Word of Life

Word of Life 

On 21st Jan 2025  

Meditating the Words of Jesus from Holy Scriptures 

Jesus Said. “‘Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is close at hand“

  Mt 4: 12-17 Hearing that John had been arrested he withdrew to Galilee, 13 and leaving Nazara he went and settled in Capernaum, beside the lake, on the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali. 14 This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: 15 Land of Zebulun! Land of Naphtali! Way of the sea beyond Jordan. Galilee of the nations! 16 The people that lived in darkness have seen a great light; on those who lived in a country of shadow dark as death a light has dawned. *  17 From then onwards Jesus began his proclamation with the message, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is close at hand.’ Lord has heard that John the Baptist was arrested. Jesus left Nazara and setteled in Caparnaum and this way he was called a Galilean Jn7: 41-42 ‘and some said, ‘He is the Christ,’ but others said, ‘Would the Christ come from Galilee? 42 Does not scripture say that the Christ must be descended from David and come from Bethlehem, the village where David was? However, Jesus wasn't prepared to debate them from his place of origin. The  people,  lived in the darkness had seen the light of Jesus Christ. John the Baptist said that Jesus would arrive in the midst of Israelites to illuminate them with his real light.  Jesus tells us to turn from our sins in verse 17 because the kingdom of heaven is near. He claims that it will not be delayed and that it is extremely close to us. Jesus extends an invitation to his home for everyone, but with one requirement: repentance and faith in the gospel. The path to eternal life is repentance.  Jesus also discusses repentance in order to enter God's kingdom in Mark 1:15. God will never forsake us and will constantly shower us with His mercy. How can we disregard the kindness He has shown us? In the letter to the Romans, St. Paul provides us with an explanation. Rm 2: 4 Or are you not disregarding his abundant goodness, tolerance and patience, failing to realise that this generosity of God is meant to bring you to repentance? Jesus is waiting for us patiently, in great tolerance and with a merciful heart, just to make us repent and bring us back to Him. 

Word of Life

Word of Life 

On 17th Jan 2025  

Meditating the Words of Jesus from Holy Scriptures 

Jesus said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.

  Jesus was tested by evil and he was ready to accept the situations and face the temptations. He never allowed devil to take advantage on his spiritual mortifications. Jesus was fasted fourty days to overcome all kinds of temptations the evil try to impose on him. Satan was quoting the Scriptures to Jesus to get him into temptations. Mt 4: 5-9 ‘If you are Son of God,’ he said, ‘throw yourself down; for scripture says: He has given his angels orders about you, and they will carry you in their arms in case you trip over a stone.’ *  7 Jesus said to him, ‘Scripture also says: Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ *  8 Next, taking him to a very high mountain, the devil showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour. 9 And he said to him,. The Devil constantly tricks us with his schemes to lure us into doing various sins. He never stops working on his goals.  He never stops roaming around our minds like a roaring lion in order to trick our souls when we are asleep. He might provide a variety of delusions, hopes, and promises of wealth. We may believe that we may live a good life after achieving material success. We can forget God once we have experienced all of this world's joy. Js 1: 13-14 God cannot be tempted by evil, and he does not put anybody to the test . 14 Everyone is put to the test by being attracted and seduced by that person’s own wrong desire. God cannot be tempted by evil, and Jesus will not be tempted by evil either. He disproved evil with God's power. Every temptation that enters our minds is a result of our desires.  By asking the Lord to have pity on us, we can put our faith in him to help us conquer any temptations. The Word of God is the sole means by which evil can be vanquished. Therefore, in order to resist temptations, we must pray in specific scriptures, and Jesus will guide us through his Spirit as we pray. Mt 4: 9-11I will give you all these, if you fall at my feet and do me homage.’ 10 Then Jesus replied, ‘Away with you, Satan! For scripture says: The Lord your God is the one to whom you must do homage, him alone you must serve.’ *  11 Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels appeared and looked after him. We can see how Jesus is casting out evil by quoting the Holy Scriptures and he shouted ‘Away with you Satan’ The Word of God is the sword we have to use to refute evil, so pray by reading the Word of God with a humble and repentant heart. Eph 6: 17 And then you must take salvation as your helmet and the sword of the Spirit, that is, the word of God. 

Word of Life

 

The Baptism of the Lord 

Word of Life

On 12th Jan 2025 

Meditating the Words of Jesus from Holy Scriptures 

Happy Feast of Baptism of the Lord 

“This is my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on him.”

  Today is the Feast of Baptism of our Lord. It was God’s plan for Jesus to take the Baptism from St John the Baptist, this way Jesus shows us how to practice the real humility in the service of the Lord. The baptism of Jesus, which is detailed in the Below passage by St. Matthew the Apostle and the Evangelsit, involved a lot of events. John was not prepared to baptize Jesus because he believed that he was not worthy of doing so; instead, he stated that Jesus should perform the baptism for him. "Do all that uprightness demands in this way," Jesus urged. As an upright man, John the Baptist prepared and modeled for the Israelites the humility and repentance necessary to withstand the Lord's faith, which pleased the Lord. All of heaven opened with blessings for everyone when Jesus was baptized, and baptism opened a sacred entrance for people to become true Christians. The salvation of all people, whether they were Jews, Greeks, Romans, or any other gentile country on earth, began at this point. We are all baptized as children for this reason, or some of us become Catholic later in life. At Jesus' baptism, another significant event occurred: a voice from heaven declared, "This is my Son the Beloved; my favor rests on him." St John Chrysostom says on John 3:5: "Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost," etc.: "When we dip our heads under the water as in a kind of tomb, our old man is buried, and being submerged, is hidden below, and thence he rises again renewed." Therefore it seems that immersion is essential to Baptism. 

  So through the baptism we are born again in Christ Jesus. Then Jesus appeared: he came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. Mt 3: 14- 17John tried to dissuade him, with the words, ‘It is I who need baptism from you, and yet you come to me!’ 15 But Jesus replied, ‘Leave it like this for the time being; it is fitting that we should, in this way, do all that uprightness demands.’ Then John gave in to him. 16 And when Jesus had been baptized he at once came up from the water, and suddenly the heavens opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him. 17 And suddenly there was a voice from heaven, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on him.’ * 

Word of Life

 

On 9th Jan 2025 

Meditating the Words of Jesus from Holy Scriptures 

St John the Baptist said: ‘Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is close at hand.’

   Mt 3: 2-3 Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is close at hand.’ 3 This was the man spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said: A voice of one that cries in the desert, ‘Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight.’ *John the Baptist came in this world to prepare a way for Christ. He proclaimed the message of repentance to everyone. He told everyone to produce fruit in repentance. Let us ask Jesus to give us the repentance and believe in him and come back from the old ways of life. Jesus said about John the Baptist that, he is the greatest among born from a woman. John the Baptist says about, what is his mission and what is the mission of Jesus: I baptise you in water for repentance, but the one who comes after me is more powerful than I, and I am not fit to carry his sandals; he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire. John the Baptist was doing the baptism of water for the repentance, but Jesus came to baptise everyone by the Holy Spirit. John wants to make the path straight for Jesus and of those are repenting and give them the baptism with the water. Ps 51:17  Sacrifice to God is a broken spirit,  a broken, contrite heart you never scorn. Psalmist also says to have repentant, God never despise a broken heart soul, He will lift him up Prophet Joel says: Joel 2: 12-13 Yahweh—come back to me with all your heart, fasting, weeping, mourning.’ 13 Tear your hearts and not your clothes. How to repent ourselves is with fasting, weeping and mourning. When we are facing the absence of God in our soul and mind, means we are fallen into sin. So we have to get more closer to God again. Only a penitent person can melt the heart of God, He will hear the prayer of him and relent on such persons and forgive their sins

Word of Life

Word of Life

On 5th Jan 2025 

Happy Feast of Epiphany to All

Let us meditate the Words of Jesus from the Holy Scritpures 

Jesus said: Anyone loves me will keep my Word 

Lk 2: 1-  After Jesus had been born at Bethlehem in Judaea during the reign of King Herod, suddenly some wise men came to Jerusalem from the east 2 asking, ‘Where is the infant king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose and have come to do him homage.’ 3 When King Herod heard this he was perturbed, and so was the whole of Jerusalem……….King Herod asked the wise men which date they have seen the star, as he wants to calculate when was the birth of Jesus. The kings saw the star which was guiding them to place where Jesus was born. King Herod told them to come back to him and tell him about the child, where he was born. But the Kings of the east has gone different way without meeting King Herod as they have seen a dream that, they should not go to King Herod. 

In the Gospel of Mathew Chapter 1 explains about the geneology of Jesus Christ. This chapter tells us how he became the son of David. Then in the same chapter 1: 18-25 says how virgin conceives Jesus in her womb without the intervention of a man, but by the power of God through the Holy Spirit. Joseph was betrothed to Virgin Mary but he found she was pregnant and the angel of God came to him in vision and told him to accept Mary as his wife. Mt 1: 23-25 Look! the virgin is with child and will give birth to a son whom they will call Immanuel, *  a name which means ‘God-is-with-us’. 24 When Joseph woke up he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do: he took his wife to his home; 25 he had not had intercourse with her when she gave birth to a son; and he named him Jesus. This prophecy of Isiah was fulfilled as the birth of Jesus is going to happen. As we all celebrated Christmas and we are taking so many resolutions. Let us think, how we can will fulfill the mission of Jesus. Jesus needs our love and nothing else, let us make some kind of sacrifices for to live a life of holiness. How can we show him that whether we love him, by keeping his commandments, Jn 14: 23, Jesus replied: “Anyone who loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make a home in him”.