✝️ REFLECTION CAPSULE FOR THE DAY – Oct 16, 2021: Saturday
“Joyfully and courageously proclaiming the Lord and bringing many more to experience the Love of Christ!
(Based on Rom 4:13, 16-18 and Lk 12:8-12 – Saturday of the 28th Week in Ordinary Time)
One day as a woman was crossing a street in a busy city railway station, an old man stopped her and said, “Excuse me, Ma’am, but I want to thank you.”
“Thank me?” she exclaimed.
“Yes’m. I used to be a ticket collector, and whenever you went by, you always gave me a cheerful smile and a good morning.
>> I knew that smile must have come from inside somewhere.”
He continued: “Then one morning I saw a little Bible in your hand.
I realised the source of your joy!
>> And so I bought one too…
… and I found Jesus!”
The joyful witness of the woman, brought about a conversion in the life of that ticket collector.
What about us?
>> Are we also joyful and courageous, in giving witness to Christ and His Gospel Values in our modern society?
The Gospel of the Day is an exhortation by our Blessed Lord with a challenging tone, to be powerful and bold, in acknowledging His Presence.
Jesus says: “I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God;
But he who denies me before men, will be denied before the angels of God” (Lk 12: 8-9)
Christian Life is a life seeking to profess and proclaim the Lord…
… by word and deed
… with lips and actions
… through happy moments and struggles of life!
Do we do that?
>> Or are we sometimes…
… shy?
… afraid?
… reluctant?
… uncertain?
… or even negated?
We could reflect on some aspects of our life, whereby we examine, how much we acknowledge the Lord in our life
1. The Blessings of the Lord
God has gifted each one of us with immense Graces and Blessings.
Do we acknowledge ‘the Blessings of the Lord’ in our Life?
… with a word of thanks and gratitude, everyday?
… by seeking to be, in turn, a blessing to others, by a life of service?
2. The Providence of the Lord
Providence refers to the Protective care of the Lord, at all times, in every situation.
>> When we look back into our life, we see how beautifully, God constantly leads us.
True, there are times when we have felt the “absence” of God or the Lord being “at a distance” from us, especially in situations of struggles and suffering
>> But, when look back later… we do find… “God had been joining all those ‘dots of loneliness’ and making a beautiful picture!”
Do we acknowledge ‘the Providence of the Lord’ in our life…
… by being more optimistic, knowing that our God will surely have His way, and make “rivers to flow, even in the deserts”?
… by not falling into anxiety or extreme worry; instead allowing ourselves to rest on His Caring Heart, knowing, that He is holding us tenderly in His Arms, as a Shepherd holds the tender lamb?
3. The Love and Mercy of the Lord
Each of our life is a beautiful saga of God’s Love and Mercy
We have been created in love… we have been initiated to Salvation in His Mercy
>> We have been constantly encouraged by His Love… we have been continually lifted by, by His Mercy
Do we acknowledge ‘the Love and Mercy of the Lord’ in our life…
… by seeking to always do His Will in our Life and letting go of our own ego and selfish desires?
… by turning to Him in repentance, when we go away from His Love?
… by infusing more love into every action that we do, and thus witnessing His Face of Mercy to all around us?
4. The Authority of the Lord
The Lord is the Supreme Authority of this entire universe.
>> It is His Power and Wisdom that sustains everything.
The presence of evil and sufferings around us, may sometimes, make us question His Power and Glory.
>> Sometimes, the presence of pains and miseries in our life, may also make us doubt His Power and Authority
But can we recognize, that God, in His infinite Goodness and Wisdom, works out everything for our good (Rom 8:28)
Do we acknowledge ‘the Authority of the Lord’ in our life…
… by offering our lives to His Supreme Wisdom, and marching forward with Hope, knowing that “the One Who has begun His Good Work in us, will bring it to completion” (Phil 1:6)
… by seeking His Permission in all the activities that we engage in, so that His Grace will inform us, in the best and right path?
5. The Presence of the Lord
The Presence of the Lord surrounds and encompasses us at every moment… at every step of our life.
>> This Presence is especially cherished and celebrated in the Sacraments, that the Church offers.
Do we acknowledge ‘the Presence of the Lord” in our life…
… by turning our hearts, in conscious awareness, to the Presence of the Lord, in the midst of our work and activities?
… by longing for and meaningfully celebrating the Sacraments that the Church offers?
As a Christian, surely, it is not easy to profess and proclaim.
>> But the Lord invites each one of us, gently and tenderly, to acknowledge Him in our lives.
It is when we grow in these “areas of acknowledgement” that we can joyfully and courageously proclaim the Lord…
… and thus bring many more to experience the Love of Christ!
Today is the Feast day of St Margaret Mary, the champion promoter of the Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
>> Through her intercession, let us entrust ourselves wholly to the Love and Mercy of the Sacred Heart!
We also specially seek the intercession of Blessed Augustine Thevarparambil (popularly known as Kunjachan – ‘little priest’ in Malayalam) on his feast day.
>> May his deep zeal and commitment to missions, especially among the lower sections of the society…
… be a strong antidote and inspiration for us to live an authentic and sincere Christian life!
God Bless! Live Jesus!
– Fr Jijo Jose Manjackal MSFS
(Email ID: _reflectioncapsules@gmail.com)
Bengaluru, India
——————————–
📖 Discovering the beauty of the Catholic Church through the Catechism
THE MYSTERY OF THE CHURCH
>> The Church is in history, but at the same time she transcends it.
>> It is only “with the eyes of faith” that one can see her in her visible reality and at the same time in her spiritual reality as bearer of Divine Life.
>> “The one mediator, Christ, established and ever sustains here on earth His Holy Church, the community of faith, hope, and charity, as a visible organization through which he communicates truth and grace to all men.”
>> The Church is at the same time:
– a “society structured with hierarchical organs and the mystical body of Christ
– the visible society and the spiritual community
– the earthly Church and the Church endowed with heavenly riches.”
>> These dimensions together constitute “one complex reality which comes together from a human and a Divine element”
>> The Church is essentially both human and Divine, visible but endowed with invisible realities, zealous in action and dedicated to contemplation, present in the world, but as a pilgrim. (Cf. CCC # 770-771)
——————————–
Nelson MCBS 