Epiphany Reflections,3rd week,Jan.23,12,Lk.2:28-35

In today's Gospel,  we read the prohecy of Simeon who thanks God for giving him the blessing to see the child who is the Savior of the world. In those  few words of Simeon are packed the whole story of the life of Jesus and what would happen to Mary in her life.
 He announces that  Jesus is the light of the Gentiles and the gory of Israel and that he is destined to be the downfall and rise of many in Israel.
To all of us who have experienced Jesus as our Savior, he is the light of our life. We shall not be afraid of anything that happens in our lives.Events in our life may appear to be intimidating and beyond incomprehensible. But with Jesus on our side we can overcome all those obstacles.His presence in our life gives us confidence and hope. Let us not be afraid of anything in our life.
Simeon reminds us to be thankful like him because we have Jesus with us. He was happy and he felt his life's dreams were fulfilled. In great feelings of joy he asks the Lord to allow him to depart from this earth because his eyes had seen the undreamable--the Savior of the world. That feeling of joy should be in our hearts because with the presence of Lord in our hearts, we can overcome our problems.

Epiphany Reflections,Jan.19,Jn.17:6-11

In this passage from the Gospel, Jesus prays for the unity of his diciples. He speaks about the unity between Himself and the Father and requests the Father to keep his disciples united with one another in the same kind of intimate bond of togetherness.In this  Week that  when  Christians all over the world are  asked to pray for unity, we should also think of the ways in which we can  keep this sense of unity in our midst. Even if we are  closely bound together by so many factors, there are hundreds of other things that make us move apart. We often think how close the family should be but there also we find so manyfactors that keep them fragmented and disunited.Our parishes should feel a sense of unity but so many things happen there to to keep us fragented. We shall try to  remove all these factores that keep us apart and plan on coming together because we are the children of the same Father. We are always loved by the  Lord and He wants us to forget our  differences and come togeht as one family.

Epiphany Reflections,Lk.12:4-12

In today's Gospel, Jesus reminds us of being bold and confident in our witness to him. We have to be afraid of those who are leading us astray from the path of faith , from our dependence on God.We don't have to be much afraid of those who are trying to destroy our material prosperity but to be deeply suspicious of those who plant wrong ideas into our minds in order to destroy our faith.Those  who denigrate the works of God and attribute them to the power of evil are doing great harm to people.Today , we shall ask the Lord to make us  strong and confident in the practice of our faith.
Sometimes we are confused as to what kind of response  we have to give before those who who denigrate our faith.Whatever may be the positions or power they hold in life, we will be inspired by the Holy Spirit to give the right reponse.
Today we shall ask the Lord to send his grace  into our hearts so that we may have the boldness to live and proclaim  our faith.

Epiphany Reflections(Denaha),Mk.6:14-29

In today's Gospel, we read about the life of John the Baptist. While describing his heroic life and death, the evangelist mentions that  he was  just  and holy.John the Batist was also praised  by Our Lord as  the greatest of men  born on this earth.  He was one who gave himself totally to God and devoted his life in bringing people to God.He had no fear of people or  of their false  traditions. Today , as we  reflect on  his life, let us ask the Lord to give us  the gift of living according to our faith. There are all  kinds of practices and opinions  that  lure us away from the faith.
Our own friends and colleagues who are attracted by the spirit of the world do often urge us to live a life away from  the teachings of Jesus Christ. We too are often tempted to follow the beaten path and choose the life style of  those who are concerned only with material sccess and popularity.Runnning against the current of the day would require  tremendous effort.Only with the grace of God  do we get the courage to live according to the spirit of  the Gospel.
 We should pray to  have  the constancy and steadiness of  John the Baptist to resist the power of such allurements and live according to the demands of our faith.

Epiphany--Reflection,Jan.12.12,Jn.10:31-38

In today's Gospel, Jesus  invites his listeners not to stand outside and criticize but to accept and follow Him.He even challenges the truthfulness of their accusations by showing from the Scriptures itself that all those who are chosen by God are called gods in the Scriptures.He asks them to get out of their semantics and to become converts in their hearts.
We too are sometimes caught in this web of questions and discussions and try to  avoid confronting the truth.Jesus wants us to be his followers and to live according to his teachings. We wait and hesitate. No waiting and hesistating. Let us avoid what is wrong and follow Jesus by making deep corrections in our hearts.

Epiphany--Reflection,Jan.11.12,Jn.10:25-30

In today's Gosepl in response to the inquiries of people wth regard to the identity of Jesus, He tells them plainly that he and the father are one.His own deeds would bear witness to the fact that He is Divine.No man would be in a position to do what Jesus did. He is calling them to become his followers and guide their lives according to His words. They are on the brink.They hesitate to take the plunge. We know the Lord and we are His followers.But our lives do not conform to his teachings. Today , he is asking  us to change our attitutdes and become his followers.He will never abandon us. We are offered His protection all the time in our lives.

Denaha 1st S,Jan.8,12,Lk.4:14-30

I am reminded of the life of Peter Reddy who used to walk around the streets of Kerala with the words, "God loves  you" on the back of  his shirt.He used to sleep on church verandhas and would come for particiaption in  the masses.He would preach public meetings. He was a college professor.He resigned his  job at the college and went around preaching the message of Jesus.What was his motive? His love of Jesus.He was filled with the Holy Spirit.He had to convey the message that Jesus loves every one.Jesus was  the center of his life.
In today's Gospel, we find Jesus going to the synagogue and reading  the passage from Isaiah about the Christ and telling the people after reading it that the passage was  fulfilled right before their eyes.He was  telling them that he was  the Christ and he came to heal and love.
This feast reminds us about our duty as Christians to live  the message of  the love in our lives and to preach it through our words and actions.How can we do this?Look at the way we live. Is there anything that can be changed in my life? Can I become more loving and forgiving in my family relationships?
Can I live such a life in my contacts with other people?

Christmas Reflections,Jan.4,12,Jn.3:16-21.

In today's Gospel, the Evangelist speaks  of the immensity of God's love.God sent his Son to redeem us through His death because of  His great love for us.It is  not to condemn us but to save us that He came to the world.These words of the Gospel should make us very happy and peaceful in our life.Because of our weaknesses and failures, we often think of God's punishment. We never think of His love. His love is for all of us.As Bishop Sheen says, we are loveable not because of our merit but because God has put  His love into our hearts.
How consoling it is know  that  God's overwhelming love is there for all of us to experience. In His presence, none of us has any value. We have value  only because He loves us.
 We shall ask the Lord to give us the grace  to experience His love always in our lives.

Christmas Reflections,Jan2,12,Lk.14:25-35

In today's Gospel, Jesus speaks about discipleship and what it entails. One who decides to follow Jesus should resolve to follow him  with his whole heart. Jesus requires our  total attachment to Him.Our families and other personal interests come only secondary to the place that Jesus has  in our lives. Jesus cannot just be one of the leaders in our lives. He is our only leader.He is the only one to be followed.
He is the source of our hope.Jesus reminds his followers that  thosewho who plan to start big ventures will aways think before to find out whether their projects would be successful.The followers of Jesus have to  decide whether it is going to be a total commitment on their part.They are asked to be a source of goodness in the society in which they live. If we cannot transform our lives or the lives of the people with whom we live, then we are worthless like the salt that has lost its taste.
In this New Year, it is very appropriate for us to reflect on the nature of our attachment to Jesus. Our attachment should be total and whole-hearted.
When we have Jesus, we have everything that is  needed in life.