THE LIFE OF A CHRISTIAN; A DAILY STRUGGLE

 

Right from the dawn of creation, from the very moment man strayed away from God by his disobedience, he has been like a fish out of water. He had always sought to find rest, succor, peace and joy which he enjoyed prior to his fall. This struggle is to retrace his source and sustainer. Often times, in contrary to our desires and expectations, instead of solace and comfort that our hearts yearn for, we are met with the very opposite, and so we get disappointed and distressed, at times tempted to question the essence of our being and the value of our existence here on earth. We are confronted by our three principal enemies: the flesh, the world and the evil one.

Today Salvation has come to this house

 33rd Tuesday in Ordinary Time.

Today Salvation has come to this house

( Luke 19: 1- 10)

A certain man was very notorious for stealing fashionable shoes from his home town and reselling in other communities where they were quite expensive to make a living. When caught sometimes he was given several punishments but it didn’t stop him from going back to his source of livelihood (stealing shoes). One day, the villagers decided to give him an indelible mark of shame as his punishment,  they bound his hands and foot and with a hot metal imprinted the letters “S T" ( Shoe Thief) on his forehead.

SAY YES TO HUMILITY AND SAVE HUMANITY (2 Chronicles 7:14 & Luke 1:38) (Phase 1)

 

It is well established in our hearts how important the virtue of humility is, how it is highly needed in the society and how it is valued by God. We know that we need it, but we do not expect it to be acquired so easily. We need God’s grace and sincere disposition for us to have it.

Humility and humanity are two different words but similar in nature.  The words “humility” and “human” have one root word  ‘Humus’ which is the Latin word for earth (a rich and nutrient filled soil). Humility is derived from ‘Humilitas’ a Latin word which means ‘one who is grounded or near to the earth’

Disposition to God's Will

St Elizabeth Ann Seton said, "the first end I propose in our daily work is to do the will of God; secondly, to do it in the manner he wills it; thirdly, to do it because he wills it." The catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that ultimately, we are created to do this Will, because it is for Him and Him alone that we are made and thus, all our actions should find its end in Him or better put in his Will.

WHY WILL JESUS CALL THE POOR BLESSED. (MARY, MODEL OF POVERTY)

   

  "Blessed are the poor for theirs is the kingdom of God" (Luke 6:20) or as Matthew puts it "Blessed are the poor in Spirit for they shall inherit the kingdom of heaven" (Mathew 5:3). These where the first words of Jesus in his sermon on the mount. He started his public ministry by emphasizing the place and role of poverty in the whole story of the Christian person. But poverty is something abhorred, rejected and never wanted. Can we say that Jesus is happy with the deprivation and wretched situations we see in some under-developed countries, the wretchedness that makes many to die of hunger or the crisis many experiences based on the fact that they cannot afford some basic necessities of life. Surely, this is not the will of God because we cannot see the glory of God in a man who is not fully alive. What, then, is Jesus referring to when he talks about this?