Faith and Community

A wall will not be strong with loose bricks; the bricks must be cemented together. So the early Christians formed themselves into a well-knit family. “The brethren devoted themselves to the apostles’ instructions and the communal life, to the breaking of bread and the prayers, sharing all things in common” (Acts 2:42).

We too need to belong to the community of believers to derive support from one another and grow in our faith. Our faith is never perfect; we are partly unbelievers. We need other’s faith to help our unbelief. Like life, our faith too has peak moments and zero moments. It too has mountain top and valley moments. When we are in a valley of doubts and our faith seems to flicker and threaten to go out, we need the community.

We need to belong to it also in order that we might experience the presence of the risen Lord. St. Thomas got his experience of Christ in the community of disciples. In the community he became a believer because there he met Jesus.

To be Happy

Don't do what you like,

but Like what you Do.

Easter 2008

Easter is always the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the Spring Equinox (which is March 20). This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people used to identify passover, which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar.

Here's the interesting info. This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see the rest of our lives! And only the most elderly of our population have ever seen it this early (95 years old or above!). And none of us have ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier! Here's the facts:

1. The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now). The last time it was this early was 1913 (so if you're 95 or older, you are the only ones that were around for that!).

2. The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the year 2285 (27 7 years from now). The last time it was on March 22 was 1818. So, no one alive today has or will ever see it any earlier than this year!

Wish you A ONCE IN A LIFETIME EXPERIENCE of the PEACE, JOY and LOVE of the RISEN LORD! HALLELUIA!!!

http://www.cbcisite.com

Easter

If Easter says anything to us today,
it says this:
You can put truth in a grave,
but it won't stay there.
You can nail it to a cross,
wrap it in winding sheets and shut it up in a tomb,
but it will rise.

Good Friday

Good Friday, anniversary of Jesus' death on the cross. According to the Gospels, Jesus was put to death on the Friday before Easter Day. Since the early church Good Friday has been observed by fasting and penance.

In the Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Anglican traditions, the celebration of the Eucharist is suspended; liturgical service involves veneration of the cross, the Passion narrative from the Gospel of St. John, and communion using bread and wine consecrated the previous day, Maundy Thursday.

Other forms of observance include prayer and meditation at the Stations of the Cross, a succession of 14 images, usually on wooden crosses, depicting Christ's crucifixion and the events leading up to it.

Calling the day of the Crucifixion ‘Good’ Friday is a designation that is peculiar to the English language. In German, for example, it is called Karfreitag, means "Mourning Friday". And that is what the disciples did on that day—they mourned. They thought all was lost.

I’ve read that the word good used to have a secondary meaning of holy. Perhaps Good Friday was originally God’s Friday. But I think we call it Good Friday because, in pious retrospect, all that tragedy brought about the greatest good there could be.

If we call it Good Friday, as in English, we are confessing the Christian hope that no tragedy—not even death—can overwhelm God’s providence, love, and grace.

Catholic Church

Catholic Church, Rewari Haryana

HOLY WEEK

Palm Sunday : 9:00 am, Sunday ^16th , March

Maundy Thursday: 5:30 pm, Thursday 20^th, March

Good Friday: 5:30 pm, Friday 21^th, March

Easter Vigil: 7:00 pm on Saturday 22nd March

Good Friday

On Good Friday, the nature itself is sorrowful, silence and reflection. This day we join with Jesus in his suffering. Suffering is an unavoidable factor of human life. All the achievement tell us of the pain behind it. In our Christian living, we always enjoy the fruit of the greatest sacrifice of Jesus. This is the only day we recall the memory of that event. When we understand the depth of this sacrifice, we understand the depth of love behind that expression of love.

There was a son who was always against his father -for restricting in many things, not giving money as he wanted, not allowing to do anything he wanted. So he in his youthfulness always he was against his father. One day in the collage there was a fight and he was stabbed and hardly escaped. So he had to be in the hospital for long time. On those days he was listening to what others were telling. Then he realized the depth of his father’s love for him. He lost his mother when he was a child. With great sacrifices his father brought him up. Realizing the depth of love of his father, he began to express his love in return.

My dear brothers and sisters, today let us recall the depth of Jesus’ love behind this great sacrifice. This is only an example. This is the way that we have to love our dear and near ones. Let us realize that when we take care of our dearest ones, may be our child, our father; we are repeating what Jesus did on Calvary. Let us cooperate with Jesus. We are asked to repeat what he did for us.

Let us happily take up this cross, there may come someone to reduce the heaviness of it like Simeon. A Veronica may come to wipe the tired face of ours. Some may move along with us like disciples did to Jesus. Also there may be one who betrays us like Judas. And another to deny us, like Peter. Remember we are moving to Calvary the destiny, like Jesus, to the completion of the work that are entrusted to us by God. Let us take up the cross and follow him and reduce the heaviness of his cross.

Sin & Reconciliation (3)

He is clothed. The man who asked, what you have to do with me is telling, " have plenty of things to be done with you. Therefore he is at peace with himself.” The man is sitting at the feet of Jesus. Ready to relate with the society by symbolically wearing clothe. He is in his right mind. The result is that he wanted to be with Jesus. I want is fallow you. Jesus told no.

Jesus said go back to your people. Be with them. Get reconciled with them. Be there. And speak to them all the good things that God has done to you. He went to Decapolis, and proclaims the goodness, mercy, that God had showered on him.

Here is a point where we should come in. Not that we are all possessed by devil but we all are in same situation. We gradually isolate ourselves. We loose self confidence; we fail to know who we are. All kinds of immaturity set in our lives, small immaturity. It estranges ourselves from ourselves. And that gradually gets into our relationship with others. We get estranged little by little without realizing. .

Finally we find ourselves far from everyone. Consequently far away from them. Like this man we need to meet Jesus. This is the only way to get out of this enslavement. Jesus alone can give us that homeliness. Jesus only recreates it. And therefore we need to go to him like Zacchaeus, a beautiful character.

Let us accept the fact that sinfulness exists in the world, in us. Let us accept the fact because of sinfulness we have done so many things which we should not do and we did not want to do. And we are incapable of getting out of it. Let us accept that fact then go to Jesus like Demoniac and receive the healing touch and reconcile with God and one another and to ourselves

Sin & Reconciliation(2)

Secondly, he is alienated from the society, from brothers and sisters. And symbolically he does not wear cloths. He goes about naked. He declares “I don’t care for your feelings.” He seems to be having a heck out it. -going about naked all around. And he is alienated from the society. The society tries to enrol him by chaining him down. But he rebels. There is a total rupture between him and the society. The person is strange from the society. The second aspect of the sin.

When you are not happy with yourself, when you are not happy with your brothers and sisters, the people around you, when the human relationship is not in right order, there is an immediate consequence, you cannot relate. There is a reduction of relationship with God.

He knew that Jesus is the Son of the Most High, that is why he comes before and starts worship him. What have you do with me? You are son of God there is great border between us. There is nothing common between us.

Therefore he is a man alienated from himself God, society, himself. That is a complete sinner. Sin that must have started by small things in his life. He is slowly isolated from himself, from others and from God. Finally comes to the peak of his sinfulness where he is totally estranged from God, from others and from himself. It is at this moment that he meets Jesus.

Mark does not say what transpired between him and Jesus, because it is self evident. From the whole context of the gospel, why Jesus came to this world

But we see the consequence. The man who was an antisocial person, we see him clothed. Means he is telling, “I am now reconciled with the society, I respect the feeling of the society, I. respect the society. The don’t care attitude is thrown away.

to be continued....

Sin & Reconciliation (1)

St. Paul in his letter to Romans chapter VII-14bb describes to us the fact of human weakness in us. We all with all our good will want to do the right things in all cases. But some how we don’t do this. We feel a pull on the opposite direction. It takes us away from what we really want to do and makes us do what we really do not want to do. That is the proof for the fact that sin exits.

Here starts our isolation. We feel that we are misfits. This gradually leads one to the climax which we see in the demoniac described by Mark’s gospel. Whether he was really possessed by devil or not is another question. But he is a man under the control of something which he does not desire. We may call it by any name, the forces of darkness, and the forces of evil. He was under the spell of those forces. Therefore you see how the man gradually gets isolated. Isolated from his community, isolated from his society to which he belongs. He has no sense of belongingness anymore. The society tries force, chain him down, and shackle him. He breaks apart the shackles. He isolates himself and goes away to the tombs where he is totally isolated. Among the tombs, the place of dead. He declares, “I am no more alive, am a dead person.”

See, the different kinds of isolation that takes place in his life. He is first of all he is isolated from himself, alienated from himself. He is a stranger to himself. When Jesus asked him what his name was, he said, “I have no name. I am Legion.” I am a split personality. Multitude of persons is abiding in me. Therefore I am not sure who I am. Totally a stranger to myself. Personally he does not have love for himself, no self confidence to face the public, society, the brothers and sisters. Therefore he hides himself. Runs away into the cemetery among the tombs. That is where he belongs. A total misfit.

to be continued.....

Sinfulness

We all are sinners. We all speak about lots of equality of persons and we don’t find any kind of equality anywhere.

Theoretically and theologically our equality comes from our human dignity being built in the image and likeness of God. Before God we all are equals. Above all I think the greatest equality is that we all are sinners. You and I are sinners. We commit sins, the same sins again and again. I think there is where we are equals.

It is this fact that we have to accept in order to improve our human relationship, relationship with God even our relationship with oneself. So let us all acknowledge that equality of being sinful. And that sinfulness becomes a moment of celebration for us. A moment of celebration because in spite of our sinfulness God loves us so much. And he gives the greatest prize possible that is incarnation, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The cross of Jesus has taken away our sins.