Your Grief will become Joy
This New Year, how do we understand and live out our faith.
“Now is the time of God’s favour” (2 Cor 6:2)
Christmas is the celebration of God's uncalculated generosity towards the helpless and ungodly. St Paul gives an apt description of this mercy. "The love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us. For Christ, while we were still helpless, yet died at the appointed time for the ungodly" (Rom 5:5,6). The birth, life and death of Jesus confirm in our hearts the abundant mercy of God.
GOD WHO TEACHES US TO PRAY
Fr Mathew Naickomparambil VC We have to know the ways in which the Holy Spirit guides an individual and how to listen to the voice of God. God teaches us to pray in our afflictions and sufferings. What should we pray for? Should we pray that troubles be removed, or that God grant solutions to the problems? Through their troubles people learnt to pray. God is with us always and strengthen us The night before Jesus was crucified, He also prayed in agony sweating blood. He appealed to the Father to let the cup pass from Him, if possible. Jesus knew He had to drink the cup of suffering given by the Father. So He added, not my will but yours be done. God, the heavenly Father did not remove the cup of suffering, instead He sent an angel to strengthen Jesus. Besides, there was a person, the Holy Spirit, with Jesus during every moment of His passion. This Holy Spirit is with us all the time during our sufferings. This is the reason we did not turn away from God in our sufferings, but stayed close to Him. The Holy Spirit was there next to us all the time. He consoled us reminding us of the Word of God. His Word assures, “The LORD says, I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you. Do not be like a senseless horse or mule that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control” (Ps 32:8-9). What does it mean to be sensible? It means to have the Divine Wisdom. Our God is with us always. He is not far from anyone. God answers our calls. He waits for us to answer even before we call to Him (Mt 6:8). All the goodness in our body, mind, soul and life itself is a gift from God. There is no goodness in our life that is our own. Why then does God permit sufferings? He allows us ...
OUR LADY IN HASTE
⁃ Maria Sangeetha At the recently concluded World Youth Day, Pope Francis in the presence of a million youth called on the Church to acknowledge Mary with a new title: ‘Our Lady in a haste’. This is based on the verse, which was also the theme of the World Youth Day, “Mary arose and went in haste” (Lk 1:39). Mother Mary has many titles. In the litany we find many of these. We usually tend to call someone by many endearing names when this person is extremely dear to us. In a family, the little child might have an official name, but invariably it is called by all sorts of loving words and even sounds! It is true that these multiple titles reflect how beloved Mary is to the church. More importantly, every title directs us to contemplate a scriptural value, a promise and specially a model for us as Disciples of Christ. THE SCRIPTURAL VALUE “Oh that today, you would hear His voice, harden not your hearts.” (Heb 4:7) “Our Lady in a haste” is by any standards an unusual title. We usually associate haste with that wise saying “Haste makes waste.” Yet when it comes to Christian spirituality, making haste is crucial. A moment lost is the grace lost. When one hears the voice of God, one must hasten to respond. Nothing else is of such value to delay us from responding to God. ‘Kairos’ ...
“On her head a crown of twelve stars” (Rev 12:1)
Fr. Augustine Vallooran, VC October is the month of the rosary. With great joy, families and parishes gather to celebrate this beautiful prayer. It is with the confidence of children that the generations of Catholics pray the rosary calling out to Mother Mary. What we celebrate in the prayer of the rosary is the queenship of mother Mary. In 1954, Pope Pius XII of blessed memory called on the universal Church to venerate the queenship of Mother Mary. This declaration came in an encyclical titled ‘Ad caeli reginam’ ‘To the Queen of Heaven’. Even in the 4th century St Ephrem called Mary “Lady” and “Queen.” Later Church Fathers and Doctors continued to use the title. Hymns of the 11th to 13th centuries address Mary as queen: “Hail, Holy Queen,” “Hail, Queen of Heaven.” However, with this papal announcement, the entire Church took up the celebration of this feast in earnest as an exercise of faith. “Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Rom 5:20) There is a historical setting which helps us understand the great message Pope Pius XII sought to convey through this decision. The year 1954 was an extraordinary time in the world, very specially in Europe. World War II had just ended. Many of the families in Europe were ...
Message Of His Holiness Pope Francis for Lent 2022
“Let us not grow tired of doing good, for in due time we shall reap our harvest, if we do...
What St Joseph teaches about the Holy Spirit
What St Joseph teaches about the Holy Spirit Fr Augustine Vallooran, VC Jesus speaks of how the Spirit of truth...