The Light and Darkness

 

PART XXXIV

Lord Jesus we entrust our souls to you, have mercy on us 

   God is telling us all:  ‘then I shall inflict trouble on Ariel, and there will be sighting and sobbing, and I shall make it truly Ariel. I shall lay siege to you and mount siege-works against you. You will be laid low, will speak from the underworld, your words will rise like a murmur from the dust. Your voice from the earth will be like a ghost’s, it will whisper as though coming from the dust. (Is. 29: 2-4) We should be terrified of His strength and power. When we turn away from the light of our Lord, Jesus, darkness surrounds us, and this is how sin enters our lives. Who can stand in front of God? Only Moses could. Even Moses veiled his face because he was scared to behold Him.'God called to him from the middle of the bush. ‘Moses, Moses’! He said ‘Here I am,’ he answered. Come no nearer,’ he said. ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. I am the God of your ancestors.’ He said, ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Issac and the God of Jacob.’ Then what will be our situation when we see Him face to face? Even His small whispering will be like heavy thunder of the lightening. God is looking into our hearts rather than the actions we do. He knows we are wretched and poor and we need His mercy all the time.  

  The time has come; darkness surrounds us at all times. We would never miss an opportunity to approach our Lord. God is looking at us, searching our souls, and asking, "Is anyone seeking God?" ‘God looks down from heaven at the children of Adam, to see if a single one is wise, a single one seeks God.’ (Ps. 53: 2) The time will not wait for us, and the ruin of our soul will occur at any time. Never strive to accumulate so many valuable worldly possessions. We can buy many things, but we can't buy anything for our spiritual lives or God's Kingdom. Our soul belongs to God, and He is anxiously seeking it; if we lose our soul to Satan, we shall lose everything. St. Ignatius asked St. Francis Xavier ‘what, then, will anyone gain by winning the whole world and forfeiting his life? Or what can anyone offer in exchange for his life?’  Matt. 16: 26 Jesus values our soul highly, and Satan, too, desires it.

The Daily Word of God

 

Daily Word On 16 Jan 2023

Lord, examine me and know my heart. 

 John 6:40 (NJB): It is my Father’s will that whoever sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and that I should raise that person up on the last day. Jesus says when we know Jesus and sees him and believes in him we will have eternal life and it is the will of the Father! How can we see Jesus by meditating the Holy Scriptures, as Jesus says: John 5:24 (NJB):  In all truth I tell you, whoever listens to my words, and believes in the one who sent me, has eternal life; without being brought to judgement such a person has passed from death to life. When we keep the Word of God in our heart, we receive Jesus himself. John 12:46 (NJB): I have come into the world as light, to prevent anyone who believes in me from staying in the dark any more. We are ensnared in the darkness because we do not believe his Word. Jesus is the light; embrace him as the only way to escape evil. When we believe this with complete awareness and conviction, Jesus will raise us on the day of judgment! 

  Psalm 139:23–24 (NJB): God, examine me and know my heart, test me and know my concerns. 24 Make sure that I am not on my way to ruin, and guide me on the road of eternity. These verses are a beautiful prayer to recite before we sleep in the night or while get up in the morning. 

  Lord, give us the faith to believe what you have commanded us to do! Lord, let our only aim be to do your will, always and forever! Amen!!

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