Love till it hurts

We love to be served, to be given first preference always, to be praised, appreciated and thanked.

Have we paused for a moment to do the same to others?
To appreciate and thank others? To compliment others once in a while?

The world has enough of critics. It doesn't need you to be another.

Will we go out of our comfort zone to do something for a friend? Or someone we don't know?

"Forget about yourself. May your ambition be to live for your brothers alone, for souls, for the Church; in one word, for God." (St. Josemaria)

Let us cultivate the habit of thinking about others. About their needs and difficulties. Maybe in our homes first and then in our neighbourhood.

"In the middle of the rejoicing at the feast in Cana, only Mary notices that they are short of wine. A soul will notice even the smallest details of service if, like her, it is alive with a passion for helping its neighbor, for God." (St. Josemaria)

Loving God above all

We love so many things that push us far away from God. And often when God asks us to give them up, we say: Lord anything else but this thing. I love this too much.

It's like saying: Lord I love alcohol, drugs, porn, food, abusive language etc more than I love you.

"What a weakness it is to love Jesus Christ only when He caresses us, and to be cold immediately once He afflicts us. This is not true love. Those who love thus, love themselves too much to love God with all their heart." (St. Margaret Mary Alacoque)

Abraham's loved His son dearly. Yet when God asked Him to sacrifice his son up, he readily agreed.

He agreed because He loved God above everything else.

Do we love God above everything else in our life?

The folly of anger

Ever so often we say and do things that we regret later. We want things our way and get very impatient. We end up hurting people and sometimes spoiling relationships.

Anger is something that can end up destroying us. Getting angry and impatient often is a sign of the sin of pride.

There is no sin or wrong that gives a man a foretaste of hell in this life as anger and impatience. (Saint Catherine of Sienna)

The virtue that we need to pray for is humility and meekness.  We need to pray for grace to be gentle, patient, humble and kind.

This will bring more people closer to Christ than many preachings with no practice of humility.

”Be as gentle always as possible; and remember that you will catch more flies with a spoonful of honey than with a hundred barrels of vinegar. How can anyone be angry with another who fights him with pearls and diamonds?” (Saint Francis of Sales)

No one is good but God alone!

When everything in our life is smooth sailing we often don't even remember about God.

But when something unpleasant happens, we instantly want answers from the same God whom we ignore so often.

But who are we to know the answers to everything? Especially when we are not ready to do what God asks of us.

If the fairy godmother tells Cinderella that she can wear her magic gown until midnight, the question should be not Why not after midnight? But why did I get to wear it at all?

We must remember that all goodness is gift from God.

And we should accept like Job, that God is in control of everything.
"Lord you give and you take away. Blessed be your holy name." ( Job1:21)

Very often it is our pride that makes us believe that we should have all the answers.

Sinners think they are saints, but saints know they are Sinners. The best man who ever lived once said, No one is good but God alone.

Storms of Life

Storms are known to disrupt nature and they force man to seek shelter.

While the storms of nature may occur once in a while, we face storms in our life on a daily basis.

The storms of anger, disappointment, frustration, pain, helplessness, guilt, despair are something we face ever so often.

At such times we feel God is far away from us. That he is indifferent to our cries. Just like the disciples felt about Jesus who was fast asleep in the boat in the midst of a storm.

But just like Jesus calmed that storm, He will also calm the storms in your life. If only you allow Him to.

Remember that nothing will be able to separate us from the love of Jesus Christ. ( Rom8:39)

All He asks of you is to hold His hand and trust in Him when the storms of life hit.

Created for the extraordinary

Pope Benedict writes that we were not made for the ordinary but that we were made for greatness.
And it is exactly the pursuit of this greatness that should drive us daily.

To be great not only in the eyes of the world but more so in the eyes of God. To show great love, great mercy and great forgiveness towards others.

The world famous MLTR band performed recently in Goa and I was reminded of their sponsors tag line: Be remembered for good.

The world remembers John the Baptist as one who prepared the path for the coming of Jesus.

What will history remember you for?

The turning point in our Family

The feast of the Nativity of Mary and the Sunday preceding Christmas are the two days in the year when the Church exhorts the faithful on the gospel reading of the genealogy of Jesus Christ taken from Matthew Chapter 1.

Year after year as the priest would read this gospel, I would sit wondering why the Church was crazy enough to choose such a reading with so many complicated names. Most of them were unheard of.

So why lay so much stress on the family history of Jesus? After years of just sitting and listening, I decided to take a closer look and what I found frankly astounded me. Continue Reading

Giving Glory to the DEVIL

The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

To the chagrin of some who think all talk of the devil is silly or outdated, but to the great dismay of the demons of hell itself, Pope Francis recently spoke of the devil - again. He encouraged all to take the Bible passages that mention the devil seriously. He spoke directly about the fact that spiritual warfare is part of the Christian life and mission. Continue Reading

Are you Ready?

It was way past midnight and my duty seemed never ending. I had already admitted a few patients, been to the operation theatre three times and had tended to numerous accident victims. Just when I decided that I needed some fresh air, the ambulance brought two young boys on stretchers into the casualty ward.

They had been involved in a head-on collision on the highway and my worst fears were confirmed immediately. They were brought dead to the hospital. Continue Reading

The Fifth Gospel

You can attract more bees with a spoonful of honey than with a barrel of vinegar

Before thinking that I have just committed heresy by adding another gospel to the existing 4, I invite you to continue reading further to know more. Continue Reading

The Marathon

Not he who begins but he that perseveres to the end shall be saved.

A few days ago my friend texted me to say that he would be competing in a Charity marathon to raise funds for the poor and that this run would be telecast on television.
I was intrigued and as I began thinking I realised that we could draw a lot of similarities between the marathon and our spiritual journey. Continue Reading

Priests – The Lord’s Anointed ones

Since the time of St. Peter, priests have been entrusted with the task of guiding the Church of Christ. But numerous sex scandals, countless deeds of misbehaviour and unholy living among priests has, on many occasions cast doubts on priests and the institution of priesthood itself. Many of us have lost faith in our priests.  We may have stopped going for mass or confession because we don’t like some priest or because we know that he indulges in certain bad habits or sins. We may also end up talking ill about our priests. Continue reading →