The Power of Holy Communion

Greetings, dear friends who have journeyed with me on this spiritual blog. Let me share with you a great secret, which can change your life and may even save the world. Yet, if you read the Church Fathers, or go through the documents of the Councils of the Catholic Church, you'll find that this has been the central belief of the Church for twenty centuries. What I am talking about is Holy Communion, also called the Holy Eucharist. It is a reality beyond normal human comprehension, something which we can understand to an extent, but beyond that , it is something which goes beyond the capacity of our minds. However, there is a way to understand this secret better - a simple word, which needs to be experienced to be understood properly .. LOVE, but not just any love, but more accurately, agape love (or Caritas in Latin - Deus Caritas Est was the first encyclical of our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI). Agape love is the highest form of love. Agape involves total self giving to the other. The Eucharist is really an expression of the incomparable love which God has for us. The Bible is a beautiful book which tells us about this love, yet this love was not revealed in its fulness for so many thousands of years in the Old Testament, but only revealed in a person - the person of Jesus Christ. It is our privilege, that despite the hard times we live in, we have recourse to this great gift.

Recently I visited the United States, and while there, my brother drove our family (parents and myself) to Washington DC. During our time there, at one point, the roads were cordoned off by cops and suddenly there drove past us, a formation of sleek black cars with dark tinted windows. Everyone watched with bated breath to see if they could spot the President of the United States or another top official of the country. Come to think of it, we as a society (at least most of us) have accepted democracy and elected these leaders into office. Somehow a lot of people saw in Barack Obama a potential leader who could take the country forward. Whether you prefer democracy or monarchy, meeting the head of State is a unique experience which you will remember a long time, especially if your enthusiasm was returned by the kindness of the personality you met. But why am I talking about this? Because every human being, even if they have not experienced what I'm describing, can surely imagine such a meeting in their mind. But more importantly, because there is a King who is far greater than the President of the U.S or the Prime Minister of India. This King has dominion from one end of the Universe to the other. His rule has extended through all known time and continues on to eternity. It is the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for mankind on Calvary and who waits for people like you and me in the Blessed Sacrament, in a vessel called the monstrance (picture at right) or in a place called the Tabernacle. The best part is, we have the privilege of meeting this king and He is never too busy to meet us. For every pinch of love we show Him, He pours out back into us an infinitely more overflowing portion of His limitless love, plus grace to face our crosses, and strength to withstand the trials of life.

How can it be you may ask, that the King of Kings can be present to us in a simple piece of bread? This is where we begin to enter into the infinitely great but simple secret. It seems surprisingly unlikely, but it is questions like this on our faith that have great truths behind them. The key to unfolding this mysterious reality is the love of God. To explain this, we must delve into the deepest kind of love which we can experience in a human context. When two people, a man and a woman are in love, the test of their love is when their relationship is tested by hardships. Many times young people marry and experience a strong bonding in their youth, where the physical attraction and also the complementary psychology of man and woman favours strong bonding during their time together. But as the initial excitement of their relationship wears off, and the passion of their first love wanes, their fidelity is put to the test. So even in this most beautiful form of human love, both partners are fallible humans and need to make a strong effort to remain faithful, but hats off to the couples who have stood by each other for many years, like my parents. Now applying this human love to a divine perspective, we can try to relate to the immense love of God has for us. When we see the Eucharistic Lord before us in what looks like a piece of bread to our human eyes, what we must meditate on is the humility of God. Because the unique thing about God's love is His absolute desire to meet us exactly where we are. God does not show His true power and majesty by taking an awesome form, though He is perfectly capable of doing incredible things. He takes a form like what Jesus took on the cross - humble and meek, speaking few words, but by His very actions, by His passion and suffering on the cross, He shows us how much He loves us. So the Lord we meet in the Blessed Sacrament is one who meets us in silence. Can we listen to Him speaking in the silence of our hearts? You may be a Catholic or a non-Catholic, but it does not matter who you are. What matters is your desire, your thirst. This is the fountain where God quenches the thirst deep within us - a thirst for love, a thirst to know that through our struggles in life, we are not alone. We are in the arms of a great, big, wonderful God.

Many young people have shared with me how certain activities in the Church, they think of as boring. But our human incomprehension is not to be taken as God's limitation. Perhaps one of the most misunderstood aspects is the Holy Mass. But let me now give a very simple explanation of what the essence of the Mass is. The Mass has two parts - the Word and the Eucharist. The Word is about the Bible - God's message to us. But the Eucharist is about actually meeting the Lord Jesus in a very intimate way. The Mass is about fellowship. Recall the Last Supper. Jesus with the twelve, and Jesus breaks the bread and gives thanks to the Father and says take this and eat, this is my body. And likewise with the wine. Forget the Theological context, which is really very deep. First take a slice of what the Last Supper really was. It was really a most intimate fellowship meal. Now lets return to the Eucharist. Here, God meets us where we are in a more intimate way - in a fellowship meal. Imagine someone as great as God coming to your own house and what's more eating with you, or better still, Jesus has a house in your city and invites you to supper, where you are an esteemed guest at His banquet! This is the reality behind all the prayers during the Mass. This great meeting between God and us is what this was meant to be. We ought to be at a loss of words at this point. But a loss of words not because we are ignorant during the Mass, but because we are in the presence of such a great reality that no words are sufficient to explain it. The very experience of it is so great that living it as the Church has done through the centuries should be our mission.

And even if you are not a Catholic or have not otherwise have received Holy Communion, God is present to you with the same love, mercy, compassion and grace. He longs to be with you, even though He is God. He does not come in power, but in humility. Can you spend a moment to meditate on His awesome presence and His infinite love? No human experience in this life even comes close to the this. As has been said by Church through the centuries, the Mass is indeed the highest form of worship.

Travelling Memoirs - Pearl Valley

A week ago, my friends and I went on a trip to a nature spot, Muthyala Maduvu aka Pearl Valley, which is reachable via Bannerghatta Road. I recorded my thoughts in a poem:

Seeking nature's paradise we set out,
In the wee hours of a lovely Sunday,
Leaving the noise and buzz behind,
Taking some time off the grind.

Lazy city roads on a holiday morn,
Leaving behind lane and corner,
Blessing songs fill the ear,
As praise and thanks fill the heart.

It's the Sunday after Easter,
The feast of Divine Mercy,
Praying for release of forgiveness,
That our lives may be whole.

For while we free our bodies and minds,
Enjoying the beauty of creation,
We may enjoy freedom of spirit,
Healing of our inner being.

You created us, Lord, for Thee,
And in our hearts, we seek joy,
Joy that never goes out,
In the flame of your limitless love.

As we gaze on streams flowing,
Amid idyllic sounds of birds calling,
Life takes a breath, stands still,
Serenity of Your creation, Father.

Beautiful and without compare,
Your poem of creation, Father,
Your endless song surrounds us,
Can't we live this dream forever?

Nay son, this is just my creation,
My gift for your short sojourn,
But end it must and end it will,
For a new heaven and earth awaits.

Aye, I created you for eternity,
Your soul to outlast this earth,
Your earthly sojourn a cradle,
Before you're born to celestial courts.

Holy Father, sweeter than this earth,
Is to listen to Your timeless voice,
Sweeter than the songbirds,
Clearer than the pearly water.

We tarry near the gushing thread,
Of droplets turning pearly white,
Silvery streaks of sheer delight,
We taste the beauty You created.

Yet deep within we know that this,
Sweet reverie will but pass away,
Like all things of this earth,
And our very lives, breaths, heartbeats.

As we return to our grind,
There in our daily ordinary lives,
We know that this is the place,
You make the finest pearls of creation.

For our souls, Lord, in Your image,
Our deepest longing needs Your fire,
Fashioned and revealed on the Last Day,
We will be made Your pearls of delight.

The Challenge of Christ's Resurrection

Easter is arguably the greatest Christian feast, even more than Christmas. Both these great feasts are inextricably intertwined, because the purpose of Christ taking human form was to conquer sin and it's consequences through His death and Resurrection, to open the door to heaven for humanity. Easter happens once a year, still, it is not meant to get locked in a neat corner of our calendar, but remain alive in each moment of our lives. The Church clearly puts this before us, teaching that every Sunday in the Church's calendar (even the Sunday's in Lent) is a little Easter. Every Sunday we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. But what does this mean in our concrete lives?

In the early centuries after Christ, Christianity was an underground religion, banned in the Roman empire, because the Romans took refusal to worship the Roman gods and Caesar (the Roman Emperor), who was also considered a god, a sign of opposition to the state. They equated such worship as patriotism and for these Romans, refusal was taken as a public protest against the emperor and the state. The consequence of this misunderstanding was that many persecutions (state sponsored executions) of Christians were authorized by several emperors. Many Christians were martyred - tortured, burned, fried in oil, crucified, fed to wild animals - subjected to every kind of conceivable torture. Yet, Christian leaders - Bishops exhorted them to remain steadfast, encouraging them with the thought of the Resurrection - being raised to eternal life. So they marched to the lions serenely with a prayer on their lips and joy on their faces, glad to meet their Lord Jesus, to the confounding of bystanders.

For these early Christians faith in the Resurrection of Jesus meant courage to face suffering and death, bringing even peace and joy because of a firm faith of reward greater than anything even the emperor could offer. But what about us, who at least don't have physical danger, though we may face other trials? What difference does Easter make to us? There is a confounding fact of the Church today that is based on the Resurrection - something which many, even within the Church are confounded by - the Priesthood. When a young man leaves his hopes and dreams to embrace a life of celibacy, renouncing marriage and a career following his call to the priesthood, many question, doubt and refuse to accept it. But really if God wants the best for each person, why does he demand such sacrifices of a candidate to the priesthood? This is a very valid question and demands an answer, all the more today when scandal has increased the number of doubters and led to a very negative opinion of this ancient ministry. For the answer, we'll search the history of the priesthood, from its inception to through the centuries. What was it originally intended to mean, and how it has been understood in the centuries past.

The priesthood was instituted by Jesus at the Last Supper, when he fulfilled the Old Covenant of the Passover in Egypt, by offering Himself as the Lamb of Sacrifice to take away the sins of the world. We see in the Acts of the Apostles, reference to the "breaking of the bread". So this became part of the worship of the early Church, because their leaders, being Jews, understood that Jesus was really instituting the New Covenant, giving new, richer meaning to the Old Covenant of Ancient Israel. So this was continued after the death and resurrection of Jesus, and has become the present day Mass. The early priests were called presbyters, who received this ministry through the laying on of hands, a practice which has continued to the present day. In the early Church, Apostles laid their hands and ordained presbyters. In the present day, Bishops, who are successors of the Apostles ordain priests by essentially the same rite.

The main function of priests (in any religion) is to offer sacrifice. In the Church, the sacrifice is really of Christ on the Cross. This is what it has been right from the beginning of the Church. At Calvary, Christ, the High Priest offered himself as a Sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. The essential uniqueness of Christ's Sacrifice was that He was the Priest, the Sacrifice and the altar of Sacrifice. Catholic priests, essentially carry on the priestly ministry of Jesus. They act in persona Christi - in the person of Jesus Christ when they celebrate Mass or hear Confession. The sacrifice of young men becoming priests can only be understood in the context of the life to come. Through their ministry, they make God present among people and provide Jesus own forgiveness for people. So their work really cannot be viewed in terms of material benefit, rather it is spiritual in nature. Their work is really directed to the life to come - they bring God and man together in this life so that man can live with God in eternal bliss in the next.

Catholicism in the sands of time

My Christian faith, for me, is one of the greatest gifts. So great, that I can't bear to keep quiet about it. So, I teach at Sunday school (Catechism) to share my faith with the beautiful children I meet there. A very interesting and amusing question I asked them is what is the meaning of the word Catholic.

Catholic means universal. And my next question to them: what does universal mean? Universal means applying to the whole world, to all people. A theme that appears repeatedly in the Catholic faith is the dissolution of boundaries - boundaries of all kinds. So it doesn't matter whether you are male or female, short or tall, Indian or American, black or white, everyone's invited, everyone's included.

A recurring theme in early Christianity is the transformation in the minds of those close to Jesus about the inclusive nature of the community He wished to be His own. The hints were there from Old Testament times, but became clearer and clearer during and after Jesus time. First, Jesus goes to foreign (Samaritan) lands and preaches to people, heals their sick, etc (the woman at the well, the Syrophoenician woman's daughter). He hints that the kingdom of God passes from those who were first called (the parable of the vineyard and tenants) to others.

During the Pentecost (early Church) period, the Apostles drastic perspective change is clear. Paul, restricted the Pharisaic Judaism of the strictest order is changed drastically after an encounter with the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus. He changes from one hating all non-Jews to the point of persecuting them, to one embracing Christianity, and preaching to so many different people and helping establish Christian communities in many foreign lands - the Apostle to the Gentiles (non-Jews).

Peter also undergoes a sea change of attitude after a vision indicating God's desire for him to overcome his Jewish mindset to open out to "pagans". He witness the same gifts given to a Roman officer named Cornelius as were given to the Apostles, so that he understood that all were chosen people, not only Jews. However this demand of opening out to all people challenged these two great pillars of the early Church in a famous argument between the two.

The requirements of the Jewish practice of circumcision was not required in an all inclusive Christian community, but the vestiges of ancient practices caused Peter's preferential treatment to the circumcised. Paul mentions how he argued that this was unacceptable. Paul's experience on the road to Damascus was so drastic that he even argued with Peter for the equal treatment of non-Jews as well.

It may be said that these early challenges of clarifying the Church's stance to diversity and difference in nationality, race, etc, have remained challenges at every age and time, till the present day. Despite the challenge, I have seen and continue to see a great openness and universal inclusion in the Catholic mentality. Hernan Cortes, the Spanish conquistador married a woman from the Americas, but he is just one of many. The ethnic mix in South and Central America, regions historically conquered and converted by the Catholic Spainsh and Portuguese varies between Hispanic, African and native American Indian. It is the same in Goa, India which has a Portuguese history and influence.

The Catholic Church is a worldwide family, with a father figure called the Pope. His role is closer to a protector than a dictator. His job not to impose his own will on the Church, but Christ's will. Christ's precise words to Peter were:

You are Peter (Kepha in Aramaic) and on this rock (kepha) I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades shall not stand against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom and what you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and what you loose on earth shalled be loosed in heaven

This entails the promise of Jesus that error will not creep into the Church. This is not personal error, but error in the Church's official teaching. Christ doesn't say the gates of Hades shall not stand against you (Peter).

Catholicism and the Lord of the Rings

Reading "The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R Tolkien was such an overwhelming experience that had me glued for so many days. I borrowed a single volume edition of the trilogy and could hardly wait for the reading time before bed each day, journeying with the author into the lands of middle earth.

I'm not surprised therefore, to know of its overwhelming popularity - a survey by online bookstore Amazon gave LOTR the numero uno status, adjudging it the favorite book across countries and continents.

Fr Barron is the man behind http://www.wordonfire.org/, he's the exciting sensation on Catholic blogosphere, leveraging the power of the Internet to reach hungry online audiences through videos, talks, articles and other media. Catch him speaking on how Tolkien, a practicing Catholic, wove the story of the Lord of the Rings around his Catholic faith:

Part 1


Part 2

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

This past Monday brought to a close the "Week of Prayer for Christian Unity", which started the previous Monday (January 18th). Each year at this time, Christians pray the prayer that the Lord Jesus Christ prayed and that the Apostle John recorded in his Gospel [John 17:11].

I recently finished reading the book "Rome Sweet Home" by Scott and Kimberly Hahn, on their journey to the Catholic Church. Scott and Kimberly were Prebyterian Christians steeped in the Scriptures and faith and practices of their Church. Scott describes their journey to Rome as follows:

"In truth, the journey began as a detective story, but soon it became more like a horror story, until it finally ended up as a great romance story - when Christ unveiled His Bride, the Church."

Peter Kreeft, author of "Handbook of Christian Apologetics" says in the foreword:

"Because of the intrinsic drama of its subject - man's quest for his Creator and his for him - all conversion stories are worth listening to. But not all arrest you and sweep you along like a powerful river as this one does."

Scott writes that as he grew deeper in faith along his journey, he began to realize the great desire of God for unity in the Church - that all believers join together so that they share the communion with one another and with Christ and so that the world sees a visibly united Body of Christ. This, unfortunately is not so today.

It is for this reason, that every year from January 18th to 25th, we observe the "Week of prayer for Christian Unity". This observance began in 1908 with the "Church Unity Octave", an experiment started by Lewis Thomas Wattson (1863-1940), an Episcopalian, at Graymoor, New York, to encourage Anglicans and Catholics to pray together for unity in response to Jesus plea to the Father: "I pray that they may all be one" [Jn 17:21a]. Almost as tangible proof of the efficacy of this prayerful exercise, Wattson, together with the Society of the Atonement founded by him on 7th October 1898 entered the Catholic Church on 30th October 1909.

Does the claim that the Catholic Church is the one true Church sound egotistic and self-righteous? It is not so, because it is Jesus who established the Church. We cannot not follow Him. To deny that the Church that Jesus founded is the true Church would be egotistical. We have a duty to the seek the Truth and once we find it, hold fast to it and defend it. It is honest for people to argue for their faith, even if they think we are wrong. But it should be done with charity and respect for the other person.

Indeed we can learn a lot from someone who has come to the Church from without. Scott Hahn was so overcome by the richness of Catholicism, especially the Eucharist that he feels they (Protestants, though we should rather call them separated brothers and sisters) have the menu while we Catholics have the meal. As cradle Catholics, we have in the Church and the Eucharist, great riches, but how much do we really appreciate it. In fact, if we really did, we would prepare for it sufficiently - the lines for the Confession would be full. Why is it that so few come for confession on Saturdays not only at our parish, but everywhere?

It is upto us to work on our relationship with God daily. We need to pray regularly and read the Bible and go for Mass often, because without this, we cannot face the enemy on our own. Only with God's help and with Jesus by our side can we courageously face up to the challenges of living out our Christian vocation. How can we share something we don't have? We need to know Jesus more and more - through prayer, the reading of the Scripture, listening attentively to homilies and teachings, reading books about the faith and about the Catholic Church. We should know Jesus to the point of overflowing with the desire to share Him. Jesus is not happy to see so many of our separated brothers and sisters not part of His one Body.

Therefore I urge you, dear brothers and sisters to pray to God our Father for the unity of all Christians. We need to join forces because our enemies are not our Christian brothers and sisters nor any other people, but Satan and all his wicked plans. He comes only to steal, kill and destroy. We fight against our own selves to master the desires that take us away from God. This is our greatest need - to be made more like God. But we should be faithful and help each other by our prayers, life and witness. For Bangaloreans, the book "Rome Sweet Home" is available at Pauline Publications, temporarily shifted to Albert Street.

Do not worry about tomorrow

Ash Wednesday began the season of Lent, when the Church observes a 40 day period before Easter. Lent was earlier called the Quadragesima, which comes from the Latin word for forty. Lent means springtime. It is a time to renew our relationship with God - just like in spring everything blossoms with new life, so in our spiritual lives, we should blossom like new flowers.

Jesus said:

Ask and you will receive, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives and everyone who seeks finds, and the door is open to anyone who knocks.

Which one of you hands his son a stone when he asks for bread, or a snake when he asks for a fish? If you, then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will give good things to those who ask Him

Matthew 11:7-11

and:

Do not worry about your life, what you will eat (or drink), or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow nor reap. They gather nothing into barns, yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not more important than they? Can any of you by worrying, add a single moment to your life span? Why are you anxious about clothes? Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin. But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was clothed like one of them. If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith? So do not worry and say "What are we to eat?" or "What are we to drink?" or "What are we to wear?"

Matthew 6:25-32

The common thread in both sayings of Jesus is faith. If one has faith, one would not worry about tomorrow, trusting that God will provide. The sisters of Missionaries of Charity, to name a good example, do not have any income other than donations from people. They live out this trust in Providence, and their needs are actually provided for. How difficult it is to actually trust everything to Providence.

Fasting is a way to leave aside the worry about food, and remember God. It helps to foster solidarity with those who have little to eat. By fasting or abstaining from things that we like, we live out the message of Jesus, that "life is more important than food and the body more important than clothing". We come to terms with what we really are - creatures of God, who enjoy all good things because of His Providence and Mercy, not because of our merit.

Avoiding things of this life that give us joy is one way of living our the sentiment to God that our real treasure is not the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the things we enjoy, but God Himself. God is far greater than any of these. We have the gift of faith, through which we know, more surely than anything else, that God will keep His promise to grant us eternal beatitude if we are faithful. We hope that we will see God face to face and spend eternity with Him, and we live with that hope always.

Prayer in preparation for Holy Communion

Dear Eternal Father, I thank You for sending Your Son Jesus into this world. Lord Jesus, if an earthly bride can prepare herself so much on her wedding day, how much more should I prepare myself to receive You, who are most generous and loving. You, Lord are more perfect than any husband, giving Yourself to die on the cross for my sins. Help me to observe faithfully the fast before receiving You in the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist. Help me, Holy Spirit to prepare myself by remembering my sins, and help me to worship and adore the Lord with all my heart, all my mind, all my soul and all my strength. Help me, since only with Your help I can be faithful. I ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Prayer before listening to God's Word

"All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness."

Eternal and ever living God and Father, thank you for giving me the opportunity to listen to Your word. Send Your Spirit on me, so that I may know my faults and weaknesses through listening to this passage. Your Son, Jesus said:

"If you love God, you will obey His command."

Give me faith and love to carry out the lesson this scripture may demand of me, so that while I still have time, I may train and correct myself. May my sins be washed away through listening to these verses. I ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with the You and the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen.

The dignity and respect due to every person

Recently, the news channels brought to light, a violent attack by the Sri Rama Sene activists on women in a pub. Videos of them beating up the women, pulling their shirts were flashed. The women themselves reported being called by abusive names.

It is said that a society is judged by the way it treats its women. Mutalik, the head of the activist group, made a public statement saying that what was happening the pubs was not correct, saying that the attacks on the women was a good thing. I do not argue about the right or wrong of women drinking alcohol in pubs now. What I'd like to speak about is the dignity of every person.

In biblical history, events are recorded about the good and evil of many people. Adam and Eve, and Cain were given the freedom to choose good over evil. Adam and Eve were free to choose to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree. Cain was free to choose what he wanted to sacrifice to God.

God respected the freedom of these Biblical personalities. The people of Israel sinned many times. They broke the sacred covenant many times. God had a plan for them, that they would be redeemed if they turned back from their sins of their own accord. So God sent many prophets to warn them and ask them to repent. Finally God sent His Son Jesus, to save them from their sins.

Jesus loved the downtrodden in his time. He said his mission was to

bring good news to the poor,
proclaim liberty to the captives,
and recovery of sight to the blind,
let the oppressed go free

- Luke 4:18

Surely, it is much harder to stand up for the weak, but that's what Jesus did.

What is the highest form of social justice? Is it to treat people as a crowd, as numbers that make votes in an electorate? Jesus spoke of people as sheep. Does it mean that they were like a crowd to him, since they are a flock? Nowadays, the word flock is used as a collective, without specifying or stressing on the individuality of the members. However, in Jesus time, a shepherd knew his sheep individually. What this means is that each persons individual personality, uniqueness is treated as such.

Jesus words about his people are:

Whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep
The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice as he calls
his own sheep by name and leads them out.
- John 10:3,4

It is a very high form of respect to call a person by name, because a name is some thing that is very personal and individual to each person. It is something dear to a person.

My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
- John 10:27

Knowing in the Bible is to have intimate knowledge, a deepest bond. It implies great concern and care of a person.

I consider it a great honour to know Jesus and be called His own. And a great joy to follow him. To follow him is a challenge, constantly requiring expansion of oneself. He demands showing respect and treating people with dignity and honour. A true follower of Jesus will treat others like Jesus treated them, with utmost respect. If God treats us with so much respect, regardless of our actions, loving and forgiving us unconditionally, can we be intolerant to others?

Thanksgiving after Vailankanni trip

I've just returned, with my father from a pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of Health, Vailankanni, Tamil Nadu. With deep gratitude, I thank Mary, Blessed Mother from my heart, for Her intercession for me, for my safety during the trip; and for living a holy life. The past couple of days have been a blessing, and I'm deeply grateful that I could spend them with a prayerful and penitential heart. Despite all the noise and bustle, these were excellent days for reflection due to the long hours away from the daily grind. I thank my Guardian Angel for his protection, and the Holy Spirit for His inspiration and courage, and the gifts He bestowed on me to make this trip spiritually enriching. I am awestruck to know how our Blessed Lord allows himself to be a little infant. He is present as an infant in the apparitions at Vailankanni, drinking milk offered by the poor boy. I thank Him for His great Sacrifice for the expiation of my sins. I thank the Eternal Father for His great love in sending us His Son to die for us. Glory be His name. I thank our Blessed Mother for her fiat, her "Yes" to God's will in Her life.

Hail King of Glory

Here's a poem of thanksgiving to Jesus I wrote during the Christmas of 2008:

The Holy King of all creation,
Leaving the halls of unspeakable glory,
With a heart of unspeakable goodness,
Comes to be born among us.

The High King, great and glorious,
What shall I play for Him?
The angels sing and glorify Him,
They blow trumpets in His royal courts.

He comes bringing great treasure.
A treasure that is not diminished by sharing.
The treasure of His golden heart.
The Master, humble and meek.

What sweetness awaits those who buy
From Him the unspeakable treasures,
The riches He has to offer,
Worth exchanging everything I possess.

Jesus is the King of Love,
For He sacrificed all for me.
How great my joy to sing,
To thank and praise Him unceasingly.

You, Lord are my greatest encourager.
Your words gladden my heart.
With pure unbounded joy,
A blessing in time of drought.

You that bled and died for me,
Who shed Your last drop of blood,
A most pure and holy blood
A price like no other.

For me, a sinner with bleak future,
Crushed by the sorrow I deserve for my sin.
You paid my price in full, my Saviour!
And rescued me from the jaws of death.

For the wages of sin is death,
But You, Innocent, suffered for me.
Can I not bear Your standard, my King!
Can I not fight the good fight today!

Hail King of glory exalted above,
Praised and blessed who gave me Your Mother,
To be Mother for me and for all,
Hail King of immeasurable greatness!

Christ my Light

Living in this world is a constant journey.
There are problems you thought were not there.
There is a place you do not know has thorns too.
Even after prayer and faith, the works of God,

There are burnt down embers of a beautiful forest.
That forest is our lives, sweet and true,
But the burning embers is the reality of life,
And the offering of our hands before our Lord.

But will we offer it to our precious Savior,
Who can change it and make it good?
Who can cleanse it for the better?
Who can take all the darkness away?

How long can a man bear a cross, I ask.
But how foolish am I when in false expectation,
I expect roses coming now, when my Lord is there,
Walking every step with me.

He it is who bears my cross each day,
To carry pain and remorse and huge burdens,
To have gone into the depths of sin and shame,
By coming here to us and conquering all.

Yes, my all-­conquering Savior is the light now,
My solace and peace and comfort and faith,
Each day he looks at me like he did the Cyrenian,
He's the one who bears the weight of my heart.

Transformed

What happens when we meet someone special? What if that person can enter into our hearts and minds? What if that special one was God? The following poem is a dialogue with Christ, in gratitude for His gift of His Body and Blood:

My tears fill the vale below,
Tears, not of grief, but of joy!
Like water that flowed from You,
From your side, from your heart.

You have spoken to your servant, Lord,
My soul rejoiced in thanks and praise!
For that great sacrifice you made,
On your amazing cross!

I feel your blood and water flow, sweet Jesus,
I see your peaceful face that radiates!
A heart forgiven, bathed in love,
O it flows like a waterfall, a torrent.

O Lord, I was born of my mother here,
Her flesh and blood in me,
But when you enter in, dear Lord,
I am transformed, yes transformed!

My flesh cleansed by you perfect body,
My blood sanctified by yours, precious,
My hands, feet, face, eyes, organs,
My heart, soul, mind and spirit.

What more can I ask, Lord?
You have filled me up!!

Inexpressible gratitude

Holy Lord, You created me in love.
Purest God, You gave me my life.
Perfect Father, You let me live,
Despite knowing all my waywardness.

The years behind are not perfect,
The murky colours of unfaithfulness,
So all mankind is lost unless,
We throw away scales and measures.

Christ, You came to live with me,
Listen and bear all my guilt,
Through perfect love offer Divine grace,
Merited by Your perfect sacrifice.

Should I try to show my thanks?
Should I sing and lift my voice?
Rather, I will surrender to You,
And make my life a song of praise.

In the name of the Father

When a child is born, parents want to name the baby. The little one bears that name for the rest of his or her life. When I was baptized in our Church, I was given the name Terence. I have always preferred to be called Terence, though I have a second name and a family name or surname.

We all have names. Even though we know the names of people, we can forget people's names. For Catholics, the Mass or Eucharist is the highest act of worship. At the beginning of the Mass, the priest says:

"In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

The name of the Son

In Jewish tradition, the father had the duty and privilege to name the child. Saint Joseph was asked by the angel of God, to name the child born from the womb of his Mary. He was told "Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for what is in her womb has been conceived through the Holy Spirit. It was due to this reason that St Joseph went ahead and supported Mary, found a place for her to give birth to Jesus, and named Him exactly as the angel had told him. The New Testament speaks of the significance of the name Jesus when it says:

"He will be called Jesus, because He will save his people from their sins"

Jesus speaks of the "Father"

In the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus speaks about prayer in chapter 6. He says in the following part:

5

"When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.

6

But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

7

^{3 4} In praying, do not babble ...

8

... Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

9

^{5 6} "This is how you are to pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,

10

your kingdom come, ⁷ your will be done, on earth as in heaven.

11

⁸ Give us today our daily bread;

12

and forgive us our debts, ⁹ as we forgive our debtors;

13

and do not subject us to the final test, ¹⁰ but deliver us from the evil one.

14

¹¹ If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you.

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But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.

To me, it is very clear from this and the further words in the Scripture, that Jesus teaches me that Father is the word by which I should call Him who created me and gave me life. He is the one who listens to me when I need help. He is the one with whom I can speak through prayer.

We have to understand that of the twelve, John is known to have reclined next to Jesus at the last supper. Jesus replied to the question of His disciples
He was close to Jesus and the Gospel which (I firmly believe) he wrote speaks more in the language of Jesus.

Who calls me dearly? Who pronounces my name dearly? Is it not the parents who gave me that name? And if I was baptized in a Church, will not my Father in Heaven (Heavenly Father) pronounce my name with the greatest unction? Jesus had greatest unction for our Heavenly Father. The words He spoke to His apostles is recorded in the Gospel according to John, chapters 14 to 17. In chapter 15, Jesus says:

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I will no longer speak much with you, for the ruler of the world ¹⁴ is coming. He has no power over me,

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but the world must know that I love the Father and that I do just as the Father has commanded me. Get up, let us go.

Clearly, Scripture affirms and confirms Catholic teaching. It clearly tells me that I should say Father, and call Jesus Christ the Son.

Life of strife and after

Man, on his own, is a hopeless slave.
That man, who did not know,
That there was an answer to his life,
His empty aimless, destructive life.

That man who thought
That there was gain in entertainment
Seeking to fill a wounded spirit
With pleasures that pass and kill

But the truth always dawned
And how painful that dawn,
When all ended in darkness,
In a hollow emptiness.

What he lacked, he knew not,
In his life, to see soul soup,
True strong manna to revive
A flagging and aching spirit.

Some men there are who knew
That they lacked, yes lacked.
In all the wealth and distractions,
They yet knew they needed it.

But what they needed how were they to know?
Go to a lonely place and meditate?
Or pray together in unison?
Follow leaders who say the truth about sin.

And knowing their frailty, they moan,
Knowing this burden, they strive,
To live to do all they can,
Releasing their pangs and chains.

For man is bound until he meets,
The grace that is most perfect.
So lost and forlorn is he until,
He finds that for which he was created.

That is why we preach the Gospel,
Men over the centuries with all passion
Overcoming tempest, storm and wind,
Snake poison, burning oil, the noose of condemnation.

All while having received,
Grace upon grace, blessing upon blessing,
The thing that was most precious,
The living God who redeems us.

Said the Christ, the light of life,
That he who has ears will hear,
He who listens will understand,
Throw the grain to all people.

So that before all shall perish,
Before the fading of our poor lives,
We may find the reason to live,
And find our being and purpose.

Man with Christ, is victorious,
Having the armor of God for ever,
To shield him and help him bear,
The little trouble till his death,

So that one day the moment will come,
Of fulfillment of all life's struggles,
To complete and bring to fruition,
Our blessed lives on earth.

When Earth's Beauty's bounds pass into dissatisfaction

Once a child lived in a great beautiful garden. That child saw all around great splendor and beauty. Above was the clear blue sky and around were beautiful flowers and fragrant smells. The sights and sounds of this garden were immensely lovely.

Then, disaster struck that little one. Well, she had to leave that beautiful garden and live on a big world, with its own sights and sounds. So cut off was she from that beautiful garden that she had no clue where she belonged. She found the new place with its own beauty, yet her life was incomplete - the only sign that something was amiss.

(to be continued)

All Creation Searches for God

Listen to your heart, says Bryan Adams, picturing the love story of Robin Hood and his love. The song tries to capture to love between the friend of the poor and his beloved. The Peace Pilgrim said I searched for God in churches and everywhere, finally I found him in all things that is beyond us, the creative force behind all things. In Paulo Coelho's beautiful book, "The Alchemist", a shepherd finds the soul of the Universe and the soul of man being united. Hinduism talks of the atma(soul), encouraging the search for freedom from attachment and journey to bliss.

Sometimes one may wonder. If I have been blessed with being born to Catholic parents and been given the gift of faith in Jesus Christ, how could God not have given the same gift to all? How would that equate to the great good? Well, since God is just, He does provide the necessary gifts to all in His own manner. You can be born in an island and find no church, no temple, no synagogue, no mosque, no stupa, no whatever. Yet, we are created by our Divine master, the master of all things. This is a great creator who has placed in each of our souls, the desire to know and love God.

It is this desire of us people that causes great wise men to leave the pleasures of money or material wealth and seek God far away. It is this desire that causes great conquerors like Alexander the Great to say to his friend - I have conquered so many lands and so many men are in my command. Yet, deep inside, I have an incompleteness and feel no satisfaction. Our human person is not just a machine. Even if it were a machine, the human body is amazing when you consider how it grows from an embryo and how the heart beats - nothing like a human heart has been created. How the mind works - so amazing with so much imagination.

Yet, the human person is more than a body. More than a body and mind. A complete human person is a body, mind, soul and spirit. Yet, this soul is not isolated from other things. Rather, it is the soul that seeks the perfection. One who listens to his soul sees far beyond reason or logic. The eyes of the soul seek the perfect, the greatly good, the most beautiful and lovely, the powerful and yet humble truth. This is the search of truth.

Like Pilate in the movie "The Passion of the Christ" says "quid est veritas" - or what is truth? We all say inside? What is truth? What is the purpose of living? Jesus Christ taught many people - among them were sinners and prostitutes too. Of special note is the fact that there were these groups of people publicly known as sinful, who were touched my the teaching of Christ and followed this teaching, even though their past was colored by frantic search for temporary pleasure and things that pass.

It is this search in every man, in every generation, in every human person. The human soul is restless until finally at the end of time, it rests forever in its creator, God himself!! For me, everything around is a testimony of this search. Science is the search of truth, yet following experimentation as proof of any fact. This is science. For example, Stephen Hawking, considered a great teacher and authority in Relativity, says in the first chapter of "A Brief History of Time" -

"We shall never be satisfied until we find finally, an answer to all the mysteries of the universe".

This is the search of science - a complete explanation of every thing that is beyond our world, that we strive endlessly to. I do love these words of Hawking because the soul in every person can be seen in writings by people from fields so different from one another. This search can be seen in people in lands far away, who met different people and knew different systems of thought.

Each man or woman seeks love. Why? Life feels changed completely when one finds true love. Yet, love is not imperfect, but simply beyond human logic and reason. No person can master love and tell it what to do. It defies logic because it can do things that no logic can do. What is perfect love? An important distinguishing attribute of perfect love is sacrifice and unselfishness. Love is truly tested when it is difficult to love. When it hurts to give, if one can love, then that love is a reflection of the Divine love. The soul of man can find true love in surrender to the Spirit of truth, the Divine master, the Creator and all-powerful. The perfection of all things comes to the great altar in love.

As Catholics, we have the teachings of Jesus Christ - the Gospels, the Sacraments, the Eucharist, the Divine presence in the body of Christ, or Corpus Christi, the actual complete transformation of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. This is a miracle greater than imagination because no other miracle in history can unite time from so many centuries ago in such a poignant manner as the Consecration does. Being pilgrims in the search for truth, and being Catholics at the same time means that we continue in the light of the Church to make our lives fuller and meaningful knowing that there is hope of heaven.

This search in all of us is not to be for a lifetime and to end with our graves. Rather, it is a search that thirsts for the God that last for all eternity. This is why Saint Paul says that if you do not believe in the resurrection, your lives are hopeless. The joy of finding God is such as the world has never seen, it is far beyond expectation. It is this great mystery that we say in the Apostles Creed, I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.

Amen.

Defending the Church today

The Church, an age-old institution, has believers around the globe. A big tree cannot sustain unless it has great strong roots. God himself has planted the seed of the Catholic Church. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of God's promise of reconciliation between Him and us. Through Christ life and death, we can come back to God, cleansed by Divine Mercy and perfect love.

What times do you and I live in? Is it a time of world peace, a distance from war-time, decades after the World wars? Centuries after Christian martyrs and saints death? Our search for an answer takes us to the feet of Christ, listening to his words on peace and strife. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you. I do not give as the world gives. Jesus speaks of inner peace, one that gives deep assurance.

Outside, Jesus warned of division, challenge, opposition, suffering and persecution. If one wonders why he said so, the pilgrim of truth finds meaning only deeper. This is challenge to us to a path that needs constant prayer. We are up in arms not against men, but against the treachery of the devil - forces inside of us and speaking to us in different ways. As Saint Paul wrote to early Christians in Ephesus, Greece, we fight not against flesh and blood, but the powers of darkness (Eph 6:12). How do we stand up to this challenge? What do we need?

This is a battle unlike any other. One that we can fight only because Jesus Christ is on our side. A battle against sin and death, forces of abortion, violence, sensuality and selfishness, imperfect and pleasure seeking love. Yet, God loves us and knows each hair on my head and yours. He only wants to give freely, the gift of love, truth and grace, the gift of life itself. If God is so good and has created us himself with love in our hearts, it is no wonder then, that we thirst for God deep inside. This holy thirst is good and has as its purpose, our complete peace and joy.

For any battle, we need to leave behind all hindering thoughts, take up armor and fight with faith. In the same way, we need to lay aside our fears, ask our Lord to cleanse our past, seek to be in communion with him each day, defend as one us, the Church, united in the Eucharist, in the presence of Christ, the light of the world, the Prince of everlasting peace, the greatest lover and shepherd, who alone can lead us against all arrows and swords. The greatest battle of all time is on, but we can only have the great King on our side if we pray, ask forgiveness and accept His gift of his presence. Let us all pray together.

Come, Emmanuel.

He who stands firm till the end will be saved.