✝️ REFLECTION CAPSULE FOR THE DAY – Sep 01, 2021: Wednesday
“Showing forth that we are children of our Heavenly Father and soldiers of the Kingdom of God by our altruistic words and deeds!”
(Based on Col 1:1-8 and Lk 4:38-44 – Wednesday of the 22nd Week in Ordinary Time)
Altruism is the principle or practice of concern for the welfare of others.
>> Altruism is selflessness – the opposite of selfishness.
It consists of sacrificing something for someone with no expectation of any compensation or benefits, either direct or indirect.
The Gospel of the Day presents the Altruistic Ideal – Jesus – engaged in number of works…
… of healing
… of rebuking the evil spirits
… of bringing consolation and joy to the people.
In Luke 4:18, Jesus announced His Mission Programme of “…bringing good news to the poor, liberty to the captives, new sight to the blind, freedom to the oppressed…”
In accordance with this manifesto, Jesus sets forward to announce the Kingdom of God through His mighty deeds and works.
The Lord unveils the Compassionate Face of the Father and reveals His Benevolent Heart to the needy and the deprived.
He cures Simon’s mother-in-law of her fever and restores her to good health and wellbeing… (Lk 4:39)
>> Am I today in need of a touch of the Lord…
… which casts away forces that makes weak and fragile?
… which takes away the fever of tiredness and fatigue of spiritual life?
… which restores me back in serving and assisting others in my life?
At sunset, He laid His hands on many with sicknesses and diseases and cured them all… (Lk 4:40)
>> In the sunset of darkness and pain in my life…
…. Do I go to the Lord to receive the Light of Hope and Healing?
>> In the sunset of emptiness in my spiritual life…
… Do I go to the Lord to receive the Light of Faith and Revival?
>> In the sunset of frustrations and despair…
… Do I go to the Lord to receive the Light of Encouragement and Support?
>> In the sunset of sadness and lukewarmness…
… Do I go to the Lord to receive the Light of Joy and Revitalization?
He also rebuked many demons and commanded them to let go of many possessed people… (Lk 4: 41)
>> Am I tormented by the demons of evil forces and satanic powers… ?
… The power of the Lord is here to deliver!
>> Am I tormented by the demons of bad, unhealthy addictions…?
… The power of the Lord is here to overcome
>> Am I tormented by the demons of filthy words and dirty thoughts…?
… The power of the Lord is here to liberate!
>> Am I tormented by the demons of peer pressure and societal strains…?
… The power of the Lord is here to set free!
The Lord at the end of today’s Gospel passage expresses His intentions of going to other towns to preach the good news of the Kingdom of God!
The zeal and enthusiasm of the Lord to reach out the Gospel to many others is really amazing….
Do I imitate the Lord…
…. in being zealous to reach out God’s goodness and kindness to many other people?
… in being fervent to let ignorant people to know the saving message of the Gospel?
The Gospel of the Day invites us to take note of the Altruistic Spirit of Jesus…
The Altruism of Jesus challenges us…
…. to reach out to many sick and suffering and troubled and weak-hearted and afflicted people with the Love and Compassion and Healing and Mercy of the Lord!
… to go beyond our zones of comfort and help the lonely and the depressed and the unwanted and the rejected and the discriminated with the Acceptance and Restoration of the Lord!
Jesus was possessed by a deep love of His Father…
>> It made Him to be Altruistic in reaching out to others.
Jesus was filled with a deep fervour for the Kingdom…
>> It made Him to be Altruistic in saving and healing others.
Today, You and I, are invited and challenged to imitate and follow Jesus, the Ideal Altruist!
As we start the new month of September, let us offer ourselves totally to the Care and Providence of our Blessed Lord!
>> Let us show forth that we are Children of our Heavenly Father and soldiers of the Kingdom of God, not only through our words…
… but much more by our Altruistic words and deeds!
St Gregory the Great would say, “He is not wise to me who is wise in words only, but he who is wise in deeds.”
Let us grow in selfless deeds and noble tasks and self-sacrificing actions!
God Bless! Live Jesus!
– Fr Jijo Jose Manjackal MSFS
Bengaluru, India
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📖 Discovering the beauty of the Catholic Church through the Catechism
“I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT”
>> “No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.”
>> “God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!”‘
>> This knowledge of faith is possible only in the Holy Spirit: to be in touch with Christ, we must first have been touched by the Holy Spirit.
>> He comes to meet us and kindles faith in us.
>> By virtue of our Baptism, the first Sacrament of the Faith, the Holy Spirit in the Church communicates to us, intimately and personally, the life that originates in the Father and is offered to us in the Son.
>> Baptism gives us the grace of new birth in God the Father, through His Son, in the Holy Spirit.
>> For those who bear God’s Spirit are led to the Word, that is, to the Son, and the Son presents them to the Father…
… and the Father confers incorruptibility on them.
>> It is impossible to see God’s Son without the Spirit, and no one can approach the Father without the Son…
… for the knowledge of the Father is the Son, and the knowledge of God’s Son is obtained through the Holy Spirit! (Cf. CCC # 683)
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Nelson MCBS 