St. John, The Evangelist

27th December 2019, Friday, St. John, Evangelist

1 John 1:1-4 / John 20:2-8 

Eternal life becomes visible: We touched him with our hands. 

Cyril Egan wrote a poem called “A Kind of Prayer.” It’s about a person who’s looking for something. Everywhere he goes, he searches, searches, searches. One day someone asks him what he’s searching for. He responds, “I’m looking for God.” Then he adds quickly: “Don’t tell me I’ll find him in my heart (Though in a sense that’s true); And don’t tell me I’ll find him in my fellow man (Though in a sense that’s true, too). What I’m looking for is a God making a five-sense breakthrough to humanity.”

St. Stephen - Reflections and Liturgy

St. Stephen, First Martyr Wednesday, 26th December 2019

Acts 6:8-10; 7:54-59 . Matthew 10:17-22

Martyrdom of Stephen: They rushed at him and stoned him.

Holy Family - Stories and Illustrations

 Collection from Fr. Tony Kadavil and Others

# 1: Grandparents are a treasure: Pope Francis said that as a child, he heard a story of a family with a mother, father, many children and a grandfather. The grandfather, suffering from Parkinson’s illness, would drop food on the dining table, and smear it all over his face when he ate. His son considered it disgusting. Hence, one day he bought a small table and set it off to the side of the dining hall so the grandfather could eat, make a mess and not disturb the rest of the family. 

Advent 4th Week-Christmas week: Dec 23-31: Daily Reflections

Dec 23 Monday: (St. John of Canty, Priest) https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-john-kanty/ Luke 1:57-66: 57 Now the time came for Elizabeth to be delivered, and she gave birth to a son. 58 And her neighbors and kinsfolk heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. 59 And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they would have named him Zechariah after his father, 60 but his mother said, “Not so; he shall be called John.” 61 And they said to her, “None of your kindred is called by this name.” 62 And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he would have him called. 63 And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote,

Advent: December 23

 GOD IS GRACIOUS

Introduction

Indeed, “God is gracious.” This is the meaning of the name John. We are told today about the birth of the forerunner of Jesus, John the Baptist. We remember the coming of the Savior and how a special messenger of God had to prepare the hearts of people for the coming of the Savior. But our Savior, Jesus, came long ago. How much are we living as people who are saved? How much do we enter into God’s plan to save our world? How much do we prepare Jesus’ coming into the hearts of people today?

Advent: December 20 - Liturgy

Friday December 20, 2019

THE VIRGIN MOTHER

Introduction

The two beautiful texts of today correspond to each other as promise and fulfillment of the promise. The child to be born of a young maiden as a sign of Israel’s salvation probably spoke directly of a son to be born to a king; yet, in later tradition and particularly in the Christian understanding, the text came to be understood as a messianic prophecy, which was fulfilled in Mary and the child born from her.

Advent, Thursday December 19 - Liturgy

SENT ON GOD’S MISSION 

Introduction 

People chosen by God for a special mission in his plan of salvation are constantly presented in the Bible as chosen and loved before birth, with their birth announced in a special way; they are moved by the Spirit of God; their mission demands sacrifices. Witness the call of Samson in his folkloric saga, or that of John the Baptist. The silence of Zechariah comes probably from the joy of an overwhelming message, too great to be put into words. Underlying these vocation stories is that people are weak, that salvation is gratuitously given by God, that barrenness (the barren women) gives way to fertility, that sacrifices are demanded. And so, people are to be moved by the Spirit of God. All this holds true also for us as we are called to prepare the way of the Lord. 

ADVENT - December 18, 2019 -Emmanuel -Liturgy

IMMANUEL 

Introduction 

When the kings of God’s people had not fulfilled their mission of guiding the people to God, the prophet Jeremiah announces that God would do away with them and become himself the shepherd of his people. But he will make this new beginning through a man, a virtuous shoot of the house of David. Through him, God would become his people’s integrity, the cause of our fidelity. In the New Testament, as Matthew tells us, Jesus is this Son of David through Joseph and Mary and at the same time, God’s own Son. He is indeed “God our integrity,” and Immanuel, “God-with-us,” Jesus, whose name means “Savior.” 

Advent - Dec 17 - Liturgy

Tuesday December 17, 2019 

JESUS CHRIST, "SON OF MAN" 

Introduction

The liturgical readings of today call our attention to Christ in his human reality: human like us in everything – except for sin, clarifies St. Paul – a descendant of sinners, who, as Church Fathers stress, are even singled out in Matthew’s family tree of Christ. He is a man born of a woman, a baby in a crib, a child growing up to manhood, a man walking the roads of Palestine, who could weep and be angry, had friends, had a sense of humor, and attended marriage feasts. Indeed, he was fully human, God in human form. 

Sanskrit words for 'teacher'

Sanskrit words for 'teacher' based on their unique abilities...

1. The teacher who gives you information is called: Adhyapak
2. The one who imparts knowledge combined with information is called: Upadhyaya                         3. The one who imparts skills is called: Acharya
4. The one who is able to give a deep insight into a subject is called: Pundit
5. The one who has a visionary view on a subject and teaches you to think in that manner is called: Dhrishta
6. The one who is able to awaken wisdom in you, leading you from darkness to light, is called: Guru

Sanskrit is perhaps the only language that has such a refined vocabulary to distinguish the different kinds of teachers.