5 Reasons to Read the Word by Pope John Paul II

(01) From the Word of Jesus, we learn, first & foremost, the very nature of God, who is Life, Light, Love, Trinity.

No philosopher or theologian can penetrate the essence of God, only Jesus, the Word Incarnate can reveal and guarantee the fundamental truth. And because of this we are certain there is a relationship of love between God the Creator and man; every human being is an eternal heartbeat of God’s love.

(02) From the Word of Jesus, we know our eternal destiny, only Jesus, with His divine word can assure us absolutely concerning the immortality of the soul and the final resurrection of the body, as a result of which it is worthwhile being born, living and projecting our existence beyond time towards endless happiness.

(03) From the Word of Jesus, we learn furthermore, where the true dignity of man lies; namely in participation in divine life itself by means of Grace. “If a man loves me, he will keep my word and my Father will love him and we will come to Him and make our home with Him” (John 14:23). True joy, real greatness and supreme dignity are found only in the life of grace.

(04) From the Word of Jesus, we learn how we must behave, because He reveals to us that the will of God is expressed in the moral law and in the supreme commandment of mutual charity. The will of God in fact, is the absolute determinant between good and evil, the guideline for correct behavior and for true pedagogy.

(05) Finally, from the Word of Jesus, we know His presences always current and alive in time and in history by means of the Church willed and founded by Jesus, which gives us certainty about truths to believe and to practice and offers us the Eucharist, a mystery of faith and at the same time a supreme manifestation of love

[These five reasons for reading the Bible were stated by Pope John Paul II on July 24, 1980.]

On Biblical and Other Modern Stones

While reading Mark 16, 1-8, a couple of things struck me:

1. The women going at sunrise to the tomb to anoint The Body of Jesus
2. The women wondering who would roll away the stone at the entrance of the tomb, and finding out when they reached the tomb that the stone had been rolled away and Jesus had risen.

With regard to the first point, the very fact that the women were going at sunrise to the tomb means they were possibly waiting for the first ray of sunshine so that they could set out. Maybe, it won’t be too far fetched to assume that they hardly slept, if at all. One can see their deep love for Jesus and a desire to serve Him by anointing that same Body that had been so brutally and cruelly treated in the recent past.

Going by the events of Good Friday, I am sure the women were mourning and grieving and the atmosphere was one of sorrow. Had The Body of Jesus been in the tomb, it would certainly not have been a pleasant sight; with holes in The Hands and Feet and lacerations on account of the scourging.

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Thirst

Dear Brother / Sister in Christ,

I thirst.

And these days our thirst is getting more and more difficult to quench. We thirst for love, for companionship, for appreciation, for money, for possessions, for positions, for power. Our hearts are restless, constantly searching, constantly thirsting. As the famous Pepsi ad claims “yeh dil maange more”.

So like the woman at the well we seek repeatedly to quench our thirst, but, within no time, we are thirsty again. That is the reality of our flesh nature. Yet, like He did for the woman at the well, our Merciful Saviour waits for us too. With an invitation “that we may draw water in joy from the wells of salvation” (Preface for the Mass of the Sacred Heart). May this Holy Season, and especially the Passion Week, bring us into a deep conviction that whoever believes in Him “will never thirst” (Jn 6:35).

Let us approach boldly therefore the throne of grace – the Cross of our Saviour, this month, as we pray fervently for ourselves and our families, the Domestic Church, especially those suffering due to domestic violence, addiction, disharmony, infidelity. We desire and claim the promise of Jesus to Zacchaeus, “salvation has come to this house” (Lk 19:9). We dedicate our families, so much in need of restoration and revival, to the Divine Mercy of the Lord that His mercy will flow into our homes.

This month we also contemplate the greatest signs of the love of God in Christ Jesus – the Eucharist and the Cross. O sublime humility! O humble sublimity! (St Francis of Assisi). May we nail our own flesh nature to the cross (Gal 5:24) as we commemorate the ‘highest week’ of our faith, that we may, like St Paul, “never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” (Gal 6:14)

Truly, in all the negativity around us, may the POSITIVE or PLUS sign of the cross (that is its shape, after all) be our source of encouragement and hope.

* That all things will be added (plus) unto us, who seek first his kingdom and his righteous. And so we pray specially for our newly ordained priests and deacons.

* That even in the economic downturn, the “economy of salvation” assures us of our upward momentum. So we pray for those impacted by the economic crisis.

* That even in this environment of political confusion and jockeying, all power and dominion is His. And so we pray for a stable and secular government for India.

Wish you a very Blessed and Holy Passion Week and Eastertide. May we experience the reality of the Paschal mystery of Christ in our lives and families, as “the event of the Cross and Resurrection abides and draws everything toward life” (CCC 1085).

May our rest and thirst be met entirely in Christ. And not in wealth, power, possessions and positions. Truly, only Jesus Christ bujhaye pyas, baki sab bakwas.

April 2009

Daily Intercessions through the Word of God – April 2009
Sanctuary Intercessors – India Branch of FBB
International Catholic Charismatic Missionary Intercessors of the Fellowship of the Burning Bush (FBB)
The ‘Intercession Diary’ has the approval and blessings of the Bishops’ Team of the Archdiocese and contains intentions of our Cardinal and the Bishops
(Join us in agreement to intercede each day according to the Scriptures, ask the Holy Spirit how to pray to actualize God’s promises in each situation)

Day/Date Interceding According to the Mind of Christ

Wed
1/4/2009 Matt 4:19 And he said to them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men
We lift up the newly ordained priests for the Archdiocese of Bombay, Frs. Michael D’Cunha, S. Gnana Jothi, Norbert D’souza, Ashlyn Chand, Neil Cerejo and Avin Franklin; may God anoint them with His Spirit as they embark on their priestly ministry to give Jesus to the world

Thu
2/4/2009 Ps 127:3 Lo, sons are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward
Truly the family is the cradle for vocations; as we pray in a special way this month for families – the domestic Church - today let us honour the parents of each of our newly ordained priests who have so willingly given their sons to serve in the vineyard of the Lord; may God bless them with good health and meet all their needs, spiritual and temporal, and may they know that God cannot be outdone in generosity

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