FANTASTIC FRIDAY
ஆண்டவரின் இரக்கம் எத்துணைப் பெரிது! அவரிடம் மனந்திரும்புவோருக்கு அவர் அளிக்கும் மன்னிப்பு எத்துணை மேலானது
!எல்லாமே மனிதரின் ஆற்றலுக்கு உட்பட்டதில்லை; மனிதர் இறவாமை பெற்றவர் அல்லர்.கதிரவனைவிட ஒளி மிக்கது எது? ஆயினும் சூரிய கிரகணமும் உண்டு. ஊனும் உதிரமும் கொண்ட மனிதர் தீமைகளைப் பற்றியே சிந்திக்கின்றனர்.அவர் உயர் வானத்தின் படைகளை வகைப்படுத்துகிறார். மனிதர் அனைவரும் புழுதியும் சாம்பலுமே.
சீராக் 17:29-32.
இன்நாள் ஆசீர்வாதமாக அமைவதாக
FABULOUS FRIDAY
இன்று ஒருசிந்தனை!
கஷ்டங்களும் நிரந்தரமில்லை, கஷ்டப்படுத்தியவர்களும் நிரந்தரமில்லை, நிரந்தரமற்ற இந்த உலகில், உன் காயங்கள் மட்டும், எப்படி நிரந்தரமாகும்!
ஒரு நிமிடத்தில், தோன்றி மறையும், கோபத்தையும், உணர்ச்சியையும், அடக்கி ஆள கற்றுக் கொண்டால், வாழ்க்கையில், எப்பேர்ப்பட்ட சூழ்நிலையையும், கடந்து விடலாம்!!
அவர்கள் அப்படித்தான் என்று பொறுத்து கொள்வதும், சில நேரங்களில் நாமும் அப்படிதான், என்று ஒப்புக்கொள்வதும் தான், நம் வாழ்வில், தேவையற்ற மனஸ்தாபங்களை, தவிர்ப்பதற்கான ஒரே வழி!!!
Loss of the Sacred Sense
A family of four were on a holiday trip – a ten day cruise.
They had a good number of bags with them – thirteen in all.
As they were set to enter the ship, loading in all their stuffed baggage…
… the absent-minded husband remarked, “Oh, I wish I had also taken the white-coloured bag that was kept on our main table!”
The wife, who was pretty exasperated with the large number of bags exclaimed, “What? We already have more than a dozen bags, and you wanted another one?”
The man, sheepishly replied: “Well… our tickets are in that white bag!”
This humorous incident reflects an important dimension of our lives: We often miss out of picking up the right priorities of life!
In our spiritual journey, do we sometimes neglect in carrying the ‘white bag?’ – the bag of holiness and sacredness?
Do we sometimes end up missing out “the sense of the Sacred” in our lives?
MORNING PRAYER
Dear God, the week ahead, please give me:
COURAGE for the days where I feel small.
WISDOM for the choices I will have to make.
STRENGTH for the pain that will try to crush me.
HOPE for the moments that will seem impossible.
PEACE for the storms that will come to overwhelm me.
KINDNESS for the mornings where I am struggling.
PATIENCE for the lessons that will come to teach me.
LOVE for all the souls who desperately require it.
Help me to hold on. To walk with intention.
To give with a big heart. And to shine wherever I am needed.”
May the new week be a gateway to peace, personal growth and brighter days!
“stick out our necks” short story
A little tortoise was constantly facing a complex of feeling too low in life.
Seeing the various other animals, moving swiftly and speedily…
… the tortoise would very often hide itself in its shell.
It felt that it could never progress in life!
One day, it came across a wise person and sought an advice of how to get the best from life.
The sage – a wise person – replied:
“My little tortoise, always remember that you have been created specifically.
So never feel low or bad about yourself.
And as far as progressing is concerned…
… Always remember: ‘Unless you stick your neck out, you can never progress!”
That was a simple, yet effective piece of advice, isn’t it
Unless the tortoise “stuck its neck out, it could never progress!”
Sticking the neck out of course, meant “taking a risk”…
… but unless that was done, progress was not going to happen.
The same is true for us in our life as well:
Unless we take risks… Unless we “stick out our necks”
… we can never progress!
Christ the King
As we celebrate the feast of Christ the King of the Universe, the Church, through the prescribed gospel, presents to us the image of Christ who is the King of mercy and pardon. The gospel presents before us a not a king who sits on a throne, but the King who is hanging on the cross in the midst of two criminals crucified with him. By pointing at the inscription above Jesus’ head, “This is the King of the Jews” (23:38), Luke wants to tell us that Christ is really the King who does not save himself, but gives himself; who showers his gift of pardon and awards paradise to the repentant criminal hanged beside him (23:43); who saves even the worst of repentant sinners begging for mercy like that criminal. While dying on the cross, he shows his Kingship over all people by his offer of forgiveness and universal reconciliation.
As we acclaim Christ as our King today, we should keep in mind that Jesus’ crucifixion did not take place on an altar between two candles as we commemorate it during the Holy Mass today, but between two criminals sentenced to death by crucifixion. Luke’s passion narrative presents a crucified Messiah who establishes his Kingdom amidst mocking and brutality. Normally subjects and soldiers lay down their lives to protect or save their king; but here is a King who dies a disgraceful death in order to save his subjects. His throne is the cross; his crown, the crown of thorns.
In today’s gospel text we see three categories of people: the Jewish leaders and soldiers who scoff and mock Jesus (23:36); the unrepentant thief on the cross who challenges him to show his actual power and save himself and also save both of them (23:39); and the repentant thief who admits his and his companion’s guilt but proclaims Jesus’ innocence (23:41). We can notice the striking contrast between the attitudes of the last two: the hardened and unrepentant thief who mocks and challenges Jesus to show his actual power and save himself and also save his companion if he were the real Messiah; and the repentant thief who rebukes him by admitting the guilt of both of them, but proclaiming Jesus’ innocence (23:39-41). Acknowledging his own sins, he just surrenders his heart to Jesus’ infinite mercy.
Today’s gospel clearly depicts how even in the midst of terribly unbearable suffering, Jesus continues his ministry of seeking out the lost and saving them. That is is why even while hanging on the cross, he reaches out to a repentant criminal (sinner) with his gifts of pardon and salvation by declaring: “Today you will be with me in Paradise” (23:43). By awarding him the gift of Paradise (that is, salvation), Jesus wants to tell all sinners like you and me that we can regain or re-enter the Paradise which was lost due to the sin of our first parents (Adam and Eve). Christ the King becomes the new Adam who re-opens the gates of Paradise for anyone who welcomes his Kingdom with trust in his divine mercy and a repentant heart. Thus, he becomes a King of our hearts by winning over the hardness of our hearts with his compassionate mercy. If the infinite compassion of Christ flowing from his cross could melt the heart of a hardened sinner and lead him to repentance, why not ours?
In real life we could be either like soldiers and unrepentant thief, or repentant thief. The latter proved that true repentance was never too late. His was a clear case of God’s readiness to pardon even a hardened sinner who repents at last on death-bed. We are often tempted to approach the matters of faith purely on the basis of rational or logical arguments like the unrepentant criminal. He must have argued in his mind how foolish his companion was to think a criminal like him could award paradise to anyone. Instead, with a simple faith he could have said like his companion: “What about me, Lord? Please remember me also when you come into your Kingdom!” Whom do we represent: the repentant or the hardened sinner? If repentant, with a deep humility let us often repeat: “What about me, Lord……?” We have to combat constantly against two great spiritual enemies: hardheartedness and doubts of faith.
Today’s feast of Christ the King invites us to surrender ourselves to the loving dominion or authority of God and make a choice: either to allow Christ the King to rule over us with his qualities of compassion, pardon and salvation, or become hardhearted by allowing evil and criminal tendencies to rule over us till the end. Do we allow Christ the King and the values of his Kingdom to rule over our hearts, or the evil ways of the world? Are we loyal ‘soldiers’ of our King who are willing to work for his Kingdom in which mercy, pardon, reconciliation and magnanimity will be the guiding principles?
If we claim Christ as our King, in our social life also it is our duty to spread and dispense the same qualities of mercy and forgiveness towards sinners, outcasts, social offenders, wrongdoers, etc., and do something for their liberation. By doing this sort of life-promoting mission in our own little ways, we become loyal ‘soldiers’ of our King, who came to seek out and save the lost (Lk 19:10). But this sort of mission may sometimes make us victims of the type of mockery, abuses, humiliation and insults Jesus suffered during his passion and death. As the soldiers and the unrepentant criminal did, people may challenge us to prove our power to bring about quick solutions to the burning issues of modern society. But if we trust in God, occasionally we may get a few people like the ‘repentant thief’ who will support us and tell others that we have not done anything wrong to deserve harsh treatment or judgement.
A Prayer
We hail you, Christ our King. As sinners, we humbly accept your total rule over our lives with repentant hearts. Be a true King of our hearts by winning over the hardness of our hearts with your divine mercy, forgiveness of sins and salvation. Amen.
– The City of Peace
A priest was once persuading a church member to be more active and enthusiastic in his Christian life…
… and to give a little more priority to his spiritual life.
They were sitting inside the man’s parlour
It was winter time, and the coal was burning in the fireplace.
The man objected saying, “I can be a good person, even without doing all the spiritual activities and the requirements of the Church.”
The priest kept silent.
But stepped to the fireplace
Took the tongs, and picked a blazing coal from the fire…
… and kept it away from the fire.
In silence, both of them watched the blazing coal – which was far from the fire – lose its heat…
… and going off.
“I see…” said the man!
Living a life away from the Lord – the Fire of Life…
… will always cause tepidity and apathy to sneak in
Leading to a slow, but sure loss of life.
The Gospel of the Day is the dramatic incident of Jesus crying over the City of Jerusalem…
… who had failed to understand the coming of the Messiah
And thus lost opportunity to truly be the “Jerusalem – the City of Peace!”
The heart of a parent is broken, when the child strays away from the ways of truth and honesty.
NIGHT PRAYER
இரவு ஜெபம்
ஆண்டவரே! இன்றைய நாளுக்காக நன்றி. இந்நாளை அமைதியோடு முடிக்க வழிநடத்தியதற்கு நன்றி அப்பா. நாங்கள் செய்த நல்ல காரியங்கள் அனைத்தையும், உமது கரங்களில் ஒப்படைக்கிறோம். இன்றைய நாளின் எனது தவறுகளை மன்னித்து, என்னை ஏற்றுக்கொள்ளும். இன்று களைப்புற்ற எனது மனமும், உடலும் உம்மில் ஓய்வு பெறட்டும்.
எங்கள் குடும்பத்தையும், உறவுகளையும் உமது பாதுகாப்பில் காப்பாற்ற வேண்டுகிறேன். நோயுற்றவர்களுக்கு ஆரோக்கியத்தையும், துயருருவோருக்கு ஆறுதலையும் தந்தருளும். நாளைய தினத்திற்கான நம்பிக்கையும், ஆற்றலும் எங்களுள் புதுப்பித்தருளும். எங்கள் மனதில் அமைதியும், எங்கள் வீட்டில் சமாதானமும் நிலைத்திருக்க அருள் தாரும். துன்மார்க்கத்திலிருந்து எங்களை விலக்கி, உமது ஒளியில் நடத்தும்.
இன்றைய இரவில் எங்கள் கனவுகள், உமது அமைதியால் நிரம்பட்டும். எங்கள் வாழ்வில், உமது சித்தம் நிறைவேறட்டும். இயேசுவின் நாமத்தில் இவற்றையெல்லாம் உம்மிடம் ஒப்படைக்கின்றோம். – ஆமென்.
SENSITIVE PEOPLE
Sensitive people are the most genuine and honest people you will ever meet. There is nothing they won’t tell you about themselves if they trust your kindness. However, the moment you betray them, reject them or devalue them, they become the worse type of person.
Unfortunately, they end up hurting themselves in the long run.
They don’t want to hurt other people. It is against their very nature.
They want to make amends and undo the wrong they did.
Their life is a wave of highs and lows.
They live with guilt and constant pain over unresolved situations and misunderstandings.
They are tortured souls that are not able to live with hatred or being hated.
This type of person needs the most love anyone can give them because their soul has been constantly bruised by others.
However, despite the tragedy of what they have to go through in life, they remain the most compassionate people worth knowing, and the ones that often become activists for the broken hearted, forgotten and the misunderstood.
They are angels with broken wings that only fly when loved.
MORNING PRAYER
ஆண்டவரின் பேரன்பு முடிவுறவில்லை! அவரது இரக்கம் தீர்ந்துபோகவில்லை!காலைதோறும் அவை புதுப்பிக்கப்படுகின்றன! நீர் பெரிதும் நம்பிக்கைக்குரியவர்!ஆண்டவரே என் பங்கு என்று என் மனம் சொல்கின்றது!
எனவே, நான் அவரில் நம்பிக்கை கொள்கின்றேன்.ஆண்டவரில் நம்பிக்கை வைப்போர்க்கும், அவரைத் தேடுவோர்க்கும் அவர் நல்லவர்!ஆண்டவர் அருளும் மீட்புக்காக அமைதியுடன் காத்திருப்பதே நலம்!