While studying in the 12th grade, I had a Biology professor named Mercy Thomas. Though she was named Mercy, she wasn’t exactly the best ambassador for it. I remember pleading to her endlessly to forgive me for all the wrongs that I did (which were definitely quite a lot) but I still ended up getting punished every single time.
Called to Be Set Apart
After being a seminarian for the last 5 years, I can now say with much experience that, when people hear that you are going to become a priest, they look at you with the same expression they would have, if a lion walked into the room. The idea surprises people. Some genuinely admire the individual for taking this step, while others wonder if this person has completely lost his head. In my opinion, both are right. It takes courage and boldness to take the step to becoming a priest, but only a person who is crazy (for the Lord) will take such a step in life.
The Ultimate Sacrifice of Praise
Introduction
An encounter with a person, more often than not, consist of two aspects – Conversation and Meal. You meet the person and spend a good amount of time talking and enjoying a meal or a snack.
Have you ever gone to a theme party and then realized that you are the only one dressed in a costume and everybody else decided to ditch the theme and come in casuals? I have been there once and I can testify how foolish I felt. I was the subject of everybody’s conversations and in a ‘not so good way’ they could not keep their eyes off me. After being ragged for years together for that one incident, I had managed to get past it and had forgotten the terrifying experience till I had a similar experience in college.
#LoveWins!!! This hashtag has been making quite the rounds on the internet these days after the verdict of the United States to allow homosexual marriages. This was seen by many as a socially bold decision and considered by few a slap of the face of the Church. Few saw this and supported it because of their belief in the movement while majority just piggy backed this movement because 'it was the cool thing to do.' But I thought it would be right to mention what the church really believes with regards to this whole so called controversial topic of homosexuality.
Our life is a journey, we are pilgrim people and every journey and pilgrimage has a destination. So what is the destination that we are moving towards? We are familiar with the term ‘Kingdom of God’ and this kingdom is our final goal. Some commentaries say that the term ‘Kingdom of God’ appears 102 times in the gospels. It appears 99 times in the synoptic gospels and 90 of these references come from the mouth of Jesus. So, one thing we can surely conclude from this is that Jesus was pretty serious about the ‘Kingdom of God’. The real question is - are we serious about it?
We have all prayed the ‘Our Father’ and will easily recollect the line in it that says, ‘May your kingdom come’. I have been praying this prayer from my childhood and yet if one has to ask me what is the kingdom I would be tongue tied. The best answers I think which come to my mind are that the kingdom of God is love, joy and peace; the kingdom of God is where we would be in close communion with God. Is the kingdom just that?
I often wondered when I saw my mother. How does she manage to be happy most of the time? If you have been blessed enough to spend time with her, you will testify that time just flows by when she is around and life seems to be just as God would intend it to be - JOYFUL. There is something about my mom and her continuous joy that never fails to amuse me. So one day as I was praying I thought I will ask God himself using the simple logic that if he has created my mum and he created me then probably even I have the capacity in me to have that happiness and be a constant source of joy to others.
I first encountered Jesus Christ eight years back on 3rd of June, 2006 during the second day of my ‘Youth for Christ’ intake camp. It was during the inner healing service when, for the first time I felt a great healing taking place in me which led me to experience grace through the sacrament of reconciliation. Then, the epitome of my experience was the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the same evening. I remember clearly that, that night I went to bed extremely happy and eagerly waiting for what was ahead of me in times to come. If any of you knew me back then, I was a nice jovial guy but I thought this spirituality thing is just not for me. So my concept of prayer was attending mass every Sunday and being present for family prayers, but then, after experiencing the Lord I genuinely wanted to be much closer to him.
Success seems to be the process of going from failure to failure without the loss of enthusiasm.
- This famous quote by Winston Churchill has often been of great help when I have hit lows in my life. Everyone wants to be successful and this trend of thought is seen around in the world we live. This is seen by the choices made by people in their families, work, careers and lifestyle, but after giving it lots of thought and little bit of reading I have come up with a list of things one can do to be a Successful Christian.