The Ligt and Darkness

 

PART XXXIII

Lord, let your glory reflect in our hearts, mind and body

   Lord gave me this Word of God for my particular mission. He never likes us to keep any bitterness in our hearts towards anybody in our family, friends or even towards our enemies. We never know how the devil use his opportunity to deceive us by such kind of bitternes or anger to keeps us away from holiness. Hebrews 12:15–16 (NJB): 15 Be careful that no one is deprived of the grace of God and that no root of bitterness should begin to grow and make trouble;   this can poison a large number. 16 And be careful that there is no immoral person, or anyone worldly minded like Esau, who sold his birthright. When the bitterness came into the mind of Esau by his worldly actions, he sold his birthright to his brother. 

  How the light of Jesus empopower us to do the vitreous gifts in our spiritual life. We have to be transformed by Jesus. He is our master and creator and he can be our intimate friend and companion. Our Lord is the Spirit and He can show us the truth, which is hidden in the Scriptures. The Holy has to reveal the hidden mysteries in the Holy Scriptures, then the glory of the Lord will reflect in our heart. 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NJB): ‘And all of us, with our unveiled faces like mirrors reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the image that we reflect in brighter and brighter glory; this is the working of the Lord who is the Spirit.’ The light of Jesus will transform us and he will glorify us in eternity.

   Lord said to me these words because of my sins and I was frightened: “But all that rust would not come off in the fire. Your filth is infamous. Since I have tried to purge you and you would not let yourself be purged of your filth, so now you will never be purged of your filth until I have sated my anger on you. I, Yahweh, have spoken; this will happen; I shall act and not relent; I shall show no pity, no compassion. You will be judged as your conduct and actions deserve—declare the Lord Yahweh.”’ (Ezek. 24: 12-14). How can our our filth will be cured or healed by God, by our complete surrender. This way only our sins will be cleansed from our darkened mind. Let us plead to our Lord for cleanse us and purify us. 

  Lord, My heart is sobbing and wailing unceasingly for You. Your Words are throbbing in my ears and in my mind. Lord, forgive me and make my heart pure and holy. Fill my heart with your love.

  

Daily Word of God

 

Daily Word on 10th Jan 2024

Jesus came into this world to do the will of the Father

John 6:37–38 (NJB): Everyone whom the Father gives me will come to me; I will certainly not reject anyone who comes to me, 38 because I have come from heaven, not to do my own will, but to do the will of him who sent me. 

Jesus is saying whoever the Father has given to Jesus, he will not reject them. So we have to make certain changes in our life, spiritually, which is pleasing to God, the Father. Father has to chose us, he will give us to Jesus to teach us the way of truth. Jesus is the ultimate nature of truth and he himself the Truth, that the Word of God, and no other testimony is required for the life in Christ. Jesus will not reject us and we are chosen by the Father and we are subject to obey His will not our own will. When we obey God’s commandments, He will empower us to approach the eternal life. 

The Word of God

 

Daily Word On 4th Jan  2023

I am the Bread of life

John 6:35–36(NJB): 35 Jesus answered them: I am the bread of life. No one who comes to me will ever hunger; no one who believes in me will ever thirst. 36 But, as I have told you, you can see me and still you do not believe. 

Jesus claims to be the Bread of Life. How Jesus became our bread of life? He gave up his life and allowed his body to be sacrificed on the Cross. He demonstrated how God can be an oblation to make it permanent nourishment, so preventing us from hungering for anything, and his blood became to quench our thirst eternally. Jesus is promising that as we consume the Eucharist, we shall live in him and he will live in us. John 6:54–56 (NJB): Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has eternal life, and I shall raise that person up on the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in that person. But there is one condition, he argues, that while we eat his Body and Blood, our confidence in his living presence in the Eucharist is important. 

The Light and Darkness

 

PART XXXII

Jesus the crucified is our real Light in the darkness of this world. 

  The Cross is the real Light which was Jesus chose to sacrifice himself to save the world from darkness. Here St John Chrysotum says that the Cross is the light against evil. ‘The Cross did all these wonderful things for us: the Cross is a war memorial erected against the demons, a sword against sin, the sword with which Christ slew the serpent. The Cross is the Father’s will, the glory of the Only-begotten, the Spirit’s exultation, the beauty of the angels, the guardian of the Church. Paul glories in the Cross; it is the rampart of the saints, it is the light of the whole world.’ St John Chrysostum

The above reflection of St John Chrysotum is very appropriate as St Paul wrote in 1Corinthians 2:2 (RSVCE): For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

   We should test ourselves whether Jesus is in us or not. It is mystery hidden for generations that Jesus Christ is always in us. It is secret: The message which was a mystery hidden for generations and centuries and has now had been revealed to his holy people. It was God’s purpose to reveal to them how rich is the glory of this mystery among the gentiles; it is Christ among you, your hope of glory.’(Colo.1: 26-27) Only Jesus can reveal this mystery through His Holy Spirit. If Christ is not in us we should repent for our sins and come back to God. Br. Brillis very often give this particular Word of God  in his talks; (2 Cor. 13: 5-6)‘We would have to test ourselves; ‘Put yourselves to the test to make sure you are in the faith. Examine yourselves. Do you not recognise yourselves a people in whom Jesus Christ present? –Unless, that is you fail the test. But we, as I hope you will come to recognise, do not fail the test.’ Our Lord’s presence is the most important thing in our spiritual life. Why we fail in the test, because of our sins and way of life in the darkness. God is asking us to purify ourselves: ‘your hands are covered in blood, wash, and make yourselves clean. Take your wrong doings out of my sight. Cease doing evil. Learn to do good, search for justice, discipline the violent, be just to the orphan, and plead for the widow. Come, let us talk this over,’ says Yahweh. Through your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing to obey, you shall eat the good things of the earth. But if you refuse and rebel, the sword shall eat you instead—for Yahweh’s mouth has spoken.’(Is. 1: 15-20) If we don’t repent and confess our sins, we should not sustain in Jesus. We should approach the confessional and would confess our sins. How God is mercy towards us by giving this Sacrament of Confession for our reconciliation with God. Psalm 106:38 (NJB): 38 Innocent blood they shed, the blood of their sons and daughters; offering them to the idols of Canaan, they polluted the country with blood. The blood of the innocent will always cry in front of our Lord. We should be always thank God for the gift of children in our life. Neglecting the life of an unborn and abortion is displeasing God and disobeying His commandments and it is a grave sin. it is consider that, we are doing the sacrifice to idols, the Devil. 

Let us seek forgiveness from our Lord for disregarding His Commandments. Make a new decision to repent for our sins and make regular confessions so that we can have a tranquil our spiritual life and the Lord can lead us to eternal life. 

The Shepherds Visitation of Baby Jesus in the Manger

 

The Lord’s Angel appeared to Shepherds in the field

Merry Christmas to All 

The Shepherds visit Baby Jesus in the Manger

The humblest shepherds in the fields of Bethlehem,

Amazed by the sight and words of the angel, 

'Do not be afraid, share the good news of great joy, 

because a savior has been born to you in the town of David,

he is Christ the Lord,'

Who announced the birth of Jesus, the Son of God, 

Were startled by the sight of God's angel.

Lord, you have seen the pure hearts of the shepherds 

You gave them the privilege to know, Jesus was born

A great blessing for those who are humble in heart 

To witness the salvation and plan of God 

The Angel of God sang Gloria to the Most High

The heavenly hosts came along and praised God 

'Glory to God in the highest heaven

And on earth peace for those He favors'

Lord, you brought salvation to all humanity 

By giving your own Son, Jesus Christ 

The humble Mary of Nazareth chosen to be Mother of God 

Father, You chose Joseph to be the guardian of Jesus

Shepherds were filled with joy in their hearts

They left the the field with all their herds 

They took honey, milk, food and warm clothes for the holy family

And rushed towards the place where the Child Jesus was born

The shepherds never doubted the message of the Angel

They left everything behind and proceeded to see Jesus and to adore him

Lord has opened their heart to understand mystery of His Incarnation

Which he always reveales to the humble and poor in spirit 

They found Jesus in swaddling clothes

Found the Child Jesus lying in a manger

They adored Jesus and praised God for the wonderful gift

They served the holy family with a joyful heart

The Word became flesh and came into the world

To reveal Himself to all humanity

He became visible first to the humble shepherds of Bethlehem

And brought salvation to all souls 

Lord, you chose shepherds, the poor and destitute 

To serve you wholeheartedly 

To them you poured your abundant grace, 

The wisdom and knowledge of God 

The shepherds proclaimed the good news to the holy family and to the whole village, 

Of the marvelous things the angel had told them. 

The savior is born, Christ the Lord.

Heavenly hosts surrounded by angels glorified God

As for Mary, she treasured what the shepherds said and 

Pondered them in her heart!

The shepherds glorified God, glory to God in the highest heaven

And on earth peace for those he favors! 

Hodie, Christus Natus Est! 

Mohny 

Community of Grace 

The Daily Word of God

 

Daily Word On 20th Dec 2023

Jesus said: ‘Pick up the pieces left over, so that nothing is wasted.’ 

   John 6:10–13 (NJB): Jesus said to them, ‘Make the people sit down.’ There was plenty of grass there, and as many as five thousand men sat down. 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were sitting there; he then did the same with the fish, distributing as much as they wanted. 12 When they had eaten enough he said to the disciples, ‘Pick up the pieces left over, so that nothing is wasted.’ 13 So they picked them up and filled twelve large baskets with scraps left over from the meal of five barley loaves. 

  Jesus performing the miracle of bread and fish for a big throng of people who had come to hear his gracious Word of God. When Jesus noticed the enormous gathering, he felt sorry for them because they might not have eaten since the morning, so he decided to feed everyone. Another thing Jesus mentioned here is the prophesy of feeding the impoverished and destitute! He instructed the apostles not to squander any of the remaining bread and fish, but to save it for the poor and needy. He multiplied the loaves to show the apostles his generosity and care for his lambs.  This is precisely what Jesus instructed the Apostles. 

  While we were on a pilgrimage to Holy Land, while we entered inside the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and the Fishes, after reading the passage from John 6: 1-14, Fr. Eugene(One of longest served priest served in our Vicariate for more than 50 years-Gulf Region)gave a brief talk and said: ‘People are so greedy doing their own things for themselves. So, half of humanity is starving. If we had learnt the lesson, which happened to the little boy who said, I have five loaves and two fishes with me Jesus; this is for you. This would teach others to do the same and put together what they have. But it is a personal interpretation, yes its’ a beautiful interpretation. But Jesus changes our hearts and makes others believe. We have brothers and sisters around us who need our love and help. If we accept this way God will continue to multiply the loaves and the miracle will take place for us too. Because he multiplies loaves everyday but we are too greedy and we are not ready to share what we have.’ Inside the church that rock where Jesus performed this miracle is still kept as it is. This rock is called Mensa Christi – the Table of Christ

The Light and Darkness

 

PART XXXI

The light and Darkness(About Tongue Part II)

The Eucharist is our eternal nourishment to be in the presence of God!

   I recall doing some loose conversation with my colleagues during one lent season, and the evil persuaded me to eat something. The hour for evening mass was approaching, and the moment I ate the food, evil entered my spirit, blinding my inner sight to send me into the darkness, and I forgot to attend Holy Mass. We lose our heavenly blessing because of our neglect of Jesus and his kingdom. This is exactly what happened to Judas. Satan invaded Judas as he ate the Holy Communion without reverence from Jesus. ‘And when he had dipped the bread he gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot. At the instant, after Judas had taken the bread, Satan entered him.’ (Jon.13: 26-27) Always we should examine ourselves about our sins before approach our living God in the Eucharist. John 6:27 (NJB): Do not work for food that goes bad, but work for food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of man will give you, for on him the Father, God himself, has set his seal. Jesus is telling us to work for eternal nourishment rather than physical food. So, before approaching the Lord in the Eucharist, we should respect his presence there, and once we understand the worth of His Body, we will be ready to embrace him unreservedly.This will happen in our lives as well; if we receive Holy Communion without repentance and confession, Satan (the evil spirit) will enter our soul and cast us into darkness. That’s what St. Paul says: ‘Therefore anyone who eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily is answerable for the body and blood of the Lord. Everyone is to examine himself and only then eat of the bread or drink from the cup, because a person who eats and drinks without recognising the body is eating and drinking his own condemnation. That is why many of you are weak and ill and a good number have died.’(1Cor.  11: 27-30) 

   Psalm 52:2–3 (NJB): Your tongue is razor-sharp, you artist in perfidy. 3 You prefer evil to good, lying to uprightness. Psalm 64:2–4 (NJB): hide me from the league of the wicked, from the gang of evil-doers. 3 They sharpen their tongues like a sword, aim their arrows of poisonous abuse, 4 shoot at the innocent from cover, shoot suddenly, with nothing to fear. Do not curse or use harsh words on others, this is like killing others with the sharpened tongue. Our tongue can act like a sword to kill others. Let us have the tongue which the Psalmist has to praise our lord. Psalm 71:23–24 (NJB): My lips sing for joy as I play to you, because you have redeemed me, 24 and all day long my tongue muses on your saving justice. Shame and disgrace on those intent to harm me!