Rick Warren’s Take on Life

Interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren (”Purpose Driven Life ” author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California):

People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.

One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body– but not the end of me.

I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.

We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn’t going to make sense.

Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you’re just coming out of one, or you’re getting ready to go into another one.

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Glorify God.. in our Movie choices?

The foundational verse this online magazine Glorify God, was built on is 1 Cor 10:31 which states:

“whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God”

Even for those of us who theoretically agree that we should follow the Bible to a T - how many of us go the extra mile to do this practically in our everyday life?

Today a few friends and I got watching a rented dvd of the movie ‘Zohan‘. The movie hardly started and I was put off by the crude and vulgar “humor”. My friends chose to continue watching despite my cringing. About twenty minutes into the movie, I had a choice to make - either I was going to continue watching this horrifically immoral & perverse movie (I don’t even want to mention the obscenities, worse than ‘The Hangover’ too, which I also hated) or I was to leave alone.

It was not even a few seconds after I left that I knew I had made the right choice.

Glorify God in our choice of movies?

Yes, absolutely.

Back home, the Lord led me to read Hebrews 11:16:

^“See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son”

And I felt the Lord explaining to me - by the blood and the sacrifice of Jesus, we are made children of God and hence and heirs to the Kingdom of God. That means we have “inheritance rights”.

Yet, we are warned - not to be “godless” like Esau.

For those of you who may not remember the story of Esau & Jacob, we see it in Genesis 25:

One day when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau arrived home from the wilderness exhausted and hungry. Esau said to Jacob, “I’m starved! Give me some of that red soup!” (This is how Esau got his other name, Edom, which means “red.”) “All right,” Jacob replied, “but trade me your rights as the firstborn son.” “Look, I’m dying of starvation!” said Esau. “What good is my birthright to me now?”

It is easy to have sympathy for Esau. After all he was hungry and tired after all & he was tempted with the soup and he made a wrong decision, which ultimately cost him his inheritance.

It initially seemed to me, rather harsh of Paul to call him godless!

But then I realised that this was a warning to us - it is so easy to sometimes choose instant gratification. It is so easy sometimes for us to make wrong choices, for various reasons.

Esau was only concerned with temporal (not eternal, fleeting) things. Jacob on the other hand was driven by the eternal, he wanted the long term privileged the birthright would give him. Even though he got it by underhand means, the desire of his heart (for the eternal) was what God saw & rewarded him for.

We today gain our eternal inheritance rights simply by accepting Jesus as our Lord & Saviour. Unlike Jacob, we don’t have to scheme to get anything. However, let’s not take our inheritance for granted or so lightly because of that!

Let’s not, Esau, be driven by the temporal aspects of life. Let’s not lose our anointing, that Jesus suffered so much for us to have.

It’s so easy to forget about God completely in everyday choices - be they the movies we choose to watch or the language we choose to speak or food we choose to eat.

Remember, it may be instantly gratifying - or the easier choice to make - but let’s not forget God over a bowl of soup.

The next time you’re faced with a tough choice, say to yourself, “this soup’s not worth it”.

T. J. Smith’s ‘The Harrowing Escape’ (The Quest of Dan Clay, Book 2)

‘The Harrowing Escape’, is Book Two in a Trilogy by T. J. Smith.
(Book One, ‘A World Away’ is reviewed here.)

Back Cover:

Within the hexed walls of the fortress, Dan and his companions are plagued with unsettling questions… questions whose answers will demand a deeper infiltration into the secret recesses of the centuries-old castle, answers which will involve confrontations with the citadel’s animate and inanimate residents, and answers which will entail encounters with the savage beasts of the forest.

Is Dan’s brother, William, alive and a prisoner of the Reclaimers? Will the travelers survive the spellbinding powers of the half-man and half-serpent creatures? Will the rescuers breach the spatial boundaries of the parallel world and return home?

In this second installment, we see the gang of 4: Dan, Sam, Jimmy & Cindy reach the demonic castle and instantly there is a whole host of new characters we’re introduced to. Some helpful, most lethal - but all other worldly in some way or the other.

Though T. J. Smith managed to keep my attention the whole book, I didn’t love this one as much as the first one and found myself wishing there was more action in the castle and less in the forest on the way back. The book has a very satisfactory end, when suddenly a new twist makes way for the third book in the trilogy, which irked me a little.

I however would definetely recommend buying the book (all three at one shot if possible) especially for young adults, as there is plenty of creative imagery, action & understanding of the Catholic faith mixed in the book.

Another great feature I loved, is the e|LIVE code that you get with the book, that allows yous to download your free audio book digital download! Good value for your money spent. Now waiting for the final book in the series.

podCatholic.com is now online!

Good news people!

After a seeming eternity of a wait, podCatholic.com has finally got it’s first podcast live!

It will feature stories that will (hopefully we pray) impact your lives. It will also touch upon the general state of Catholics & Catholicism in India.

We welcome your suggestions on improving the podcasts - and we appreciate your prayers for this our new branch of online ministry.

A young man learns what’s most important in life from the guy next door

It had been some time since Jack had seen the old man. College, girls, career, and life itself got in the way. In fact, Jack moved clear across the country in pursuit of his dreams. There, in the rush of his busy life, Jack had little time to think about the past and often no time to spend with his wife and son. He was working on his future, and nothing could stop him.

Over the phone, his mother told him, “Mr. Belser died last night. The funeral is Wednesday.” Memories flashed through his mind like an old newsreel as he sat quietly remembering his childhood days.

“Jack, did you hear me?”

“Oh, sorry, Mom. Yes, I heard you. It’s been so long since I thought of him. I’m sorry, but I honestly thought he died years ago,” Jack said.

“Well, he didn’t forget you. Every time I saw him he’d ask how you were doing. He’d reminisce about the many days you spent over ‘his side of the fence’ as he put it,” Mom told him.

“I loved that old house he lived in,” Jack said.

“You know, Jack, after your father died, Mr. Belser stepped in to make sure you had a man’s influence in your life,” she said

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Do Not Miss this! Catholic Apologist in Mumbai

If you’ve been questioned by people about WHY you believe the things you do & didn’t quite know the answers, then come get clarity ala Steve Ray.

Full day workshop (9.30am - 5pm) 30th, 31st Jan & 1st Feb 10 (cost Rs. 150/- all incl. for 3 days)

Evening talks at St. Peter’s Bandra (post evening Mass, around 7.15pm) - 29th, 30th, 31st Jan 10 (free)

I’ll be attending the workshop & I really urge all of you in Mumbai who can make it to come.

Email me: melody(at)glorify-god.com (or use the contact form) for more details.

The Slighted Guest

A while back, a friend kept inviting & re-inviting me to stay at her place if I ever planned to holiday around her parts. When I finally did take her up on her offer though, I was in for a rude shock.

For all her seeming enthusiasm on the phone and every time we had met before, she hadn’t done one thing to prepare for me coming to her house. The room I had to sleep in was untidy beyond belief; the sheets hadn’t been changed - or even cleaned, there was a huge mud stain in the middle. My friend didn’t bother about my meals the whole time I was there, very often not even bothering to talk with me at all the whole day except for once or twice when she mentioned in a round about way how me being there was so much extra work for her!

I felt slighted and unwanted, even though she was the one to invite me in the first place! “Perhaps she didn’t really think I’d come?”, I wondered, “maybe all the invitations were just a farce?”.

I tried to ignore my friend’s rude behavior and subtly ask if everything was okay with her but was met with more rudeness in reply so I changed my plans around so I could stay in a hotel in a different city, so as to not insult her and not burden her either.

The whole thing left a bitter taste in my mouth though - and now I am very wary of staying with friends homes while on holiday.

–

To change the topic, I woke up very grieved this morning at the immorality of some married people I happen to know. One married man has an open relationship with his girlfriend, taking both his wife & girlfriend to every party he attends. His justification is: “so many ‘others’ are having extra marital affairs, at least I’m being open, upfront and not hypocritical about it. Besides if my wife doesn’t have a problem, who’re you to judge me?”. Another (single) man I know is now ‘dating’ a married woman, because her husband is ill and apparently “doesn’t have a problem” with it.

In the higher rings of Indian society, these types of alliances (& worse) are heard of, far more commonly than one would like (the very sad toon alongside is one I found online, depicting an Indian woman in a sari as the wife of a man with a shapely mistress). Many of us Indians like to think of the “big bad western countries” as the place with degrading moral values, but an honest look at our society (especially but not only the higher classes) reveals a deep thread of immorality in our midst.

So many of our politicians and film actors openly flaunt their affairs. Recently the cell phone provider BPL Mobile which changed to Loop Mobile had a series of advertisements for prepaid customers to get itemized billing, one such advert which was splashed on billboards all across Mumbai city read “Wife 20 minutes. Girlfriend 240 minutes”.

It’s very sad when you hear of people of any religion behaving this way, but it’s all the more heart breaking when you hear of Catholics or Christians who do these things.

This is because when Catholics administer the sacrament of matrimony to each other - or when Christians marry - they invite Christ into their partnership as a third partner. We hear the “Christ is the third partner of our marriage” slogan very regularly!

Yet, all too often we - and I’m not just talking about the people I mentioned earlier - but lots of married Christian & Catholic couples - just seem to forget all about their third partner.

How can any married person justify immorality saying husband and wife both agree to it? Christ the third partner has never agreed to any immorality. He has, on the contrary, asked us not even to lust for other people in our minds. “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:27 -28).

We invite Jesus into our marriages as a third partner and then treat Him as an unwanted guest. Or forget He’s even in the house. Or worse still, brutally kick Him out with our sins, as if He came in without permission.

And what about us single people? Or us charismatic people? Or us simply church going people? Do we also not invite Christ into our lives, time and time again - whether at retreats or at prayer services - or at Mass every single time we receive Holy Communion?

And what do we do after all our enthusiasm and our seeming wanting Christ to come into our lives? The bedrooms of our heart are ill prepared to keep Him. We try to house Him in the same room as sins we refuse to give up. We refuse to surrender or share our problems with Him. Worst, we think we have the “right” to do what we like with our lives because they’re “our lives”, as if He didn’t pay for our lives - literally - with every drop of His blood.

This Christmas as we all will re-invite Christ into our lives again - lets make an honest attempt, with His grace, to not treat Him as an unwanted guest. Let’s not invite Him in at Christmas Mass and then slight Him by forgetting all about Him in the merriment of the holidays. Let’s not forget He is partner with us in our marriages and that every decision we make, should also be approved by Him.

It’s His birthday - let’s give Jesus the love we profess and the love He’s due.

T. J. Smith’s ‘A World Away’ (The Quest of Dan Clay, Book 1)

‘A World Away’, is Book one in a Trilogy by T. J. Smith.

Back Cover:

“To avert a potential underworld mutiny of horrific proportions, these fifty insurrectionists were relocated through a portal from the pit of hell to the dark Eldritch Forest of another world, parallel to our own. Upon their banishment, the condemned were transformed into half-man and half-serpent creatures.

Thirteen years ago, William Clay—then a mere child—disappeared from a nearby forest, never to be seen again. Only recently, his younger brother, Dan, acquired information on the forest fables from a questionable source. After analyzing fact and legend, Dan suspects that his brother may have fallen through the portal into the parallel world and is being held captive by the fifty fiends. Join Dan and three friends as they embark on an out-of-this-world journey where they are hunted by savage beasts along the footpath to a demonic castle.

The protagonist, Dan Clay is everything a hero shouldn’t be. He’s picked on and mercilessly bullied and publicly harassed in school. However we find out that Dan always wasn’t this way - this retreat into a shell was caused by the mysterious disappearance of his elder brother Willian thirteen years prior.

A faithful Catholic family, the Clays haven’t really recovered from the loss of William. Then suddenly Dan lands himself in a place where he seems to discover the truth of the matter - a parallel world; full of fiends so ruthless that hell wasn’t enough to hold them.

It is to this world that Dan to must journey & we see him and his three friends battle mystical and evil creatures in the dark forest in their quest to reach the castle where William is suspected to be help captive by the fiends.

It’s a dangerous and life threatening journey and it makes for an interesting ride for the reader.

T. J. Smith does a great job in bringing the parallel world alive and skillfully weaving a story of faith, morals & character - and all in a very refreshingly Catholic light.

If you’re stuck for gift ideas this Christmas for young adults or lovers of sci-fi action, this may well be an excellent choice!

[Will review 'The Harrowing Escape'; the second book in the trilogy shortly. Book three is scheduled for release early 2010.]

Testimony of Stephen James Taluja - Young Sikh to Catholic Missionary

Son of a family of devout Sikhs, Stephen James Taluja is now a member of the U.S Maryknoll missionary institute. He tells AsiaNews about his childhood, his encounter with Christ, the Mighty God in the weakness of the cross, his “days of torment” for misunderstandings with his father following his conversion. Until the day of his ordination in which he saw with his own eyes what it “God is faithful” means.

From devout Sikh to Catholic priest. This is the story of Jaideep Singh, who recently became a Maryknoll missionary, a societies of apostolic life founded in the United States in the early 1900s. Today he is Fr. Stephen James Taluja.

Born in 1981, the youngest child of an important Indian Sikh family, the only male eagerly awaited by his parents after three daughters. Fr. Stephen talks to AsiaNews about his unique and personal story that revolves around his discovery that Christ is the Mighty God “in weakness” and the certainty that “God is faithful.”

“My mother was a very devout woman who introduced me to the teachings of the Guru Granth Sahib educated us at home in the prayer and recitation of the hymns of the sacred scriptures. My father accompanied me to the Gurdwara, the Sikh temple, and he raised me in the faith of the almighty. My parents instilled in us children love for God and a sense of service to the community”.

The young Jaideep studied at St Stephen’s School in Chandigarh, the capital of Punjab. Harold Carver, dean and founder of the institute remembers the young Sikh who “excelled in sports and played in the under 19 national soccer team of the state, loved music and sang in the school choir”.

Because of the quality of his singing the little Jaideep was invited to sing at midnight Mass on Easter Eve in the local church of St. Sebastian. He was 13 years old and attending the 7th class. It was the first time he had set foot in a Catholic church making the unusual occasion even more special for the young Sikh. Today, he says: “In that night I have vivid memories of the crucifix hanging on the wall and all the people on their knees praying. I did not understand how people could pray to a weak and dying God. For me, God had to emanate strength and power. And that God was just the opposite. ” Fr. Stephen remembers “the charm of the Liturgy of the Eucharist, common prayer and the unveiling of a totally new way for me.” He left the Mass with the image of “the cross and crucified Lord” in his head as well as “emerging questions about the meaning of life.”

After that night Jadeep began a long journey. “My mother had noticed that there was something new in me and caught my initial interest in Christianity, but did not say anything.” Jaideep turned to the rector Carver, putting his questions to him. Which become more insistent, even after the events in the family life of the boy.

The sudden death of his mother made even more urgent the need to understand the meaning of life and death. Fr. Stephen speaks today of the “darkness of soul” recalling that time. “I wondered where God was in all that was happening to me, what was the meaning of life.” The patient company of Harold Carver marks the “days of torment” of the young Sikh who recalls: “At some point I began to see the connection between life and death, realizing that Jesus died and rose was the model for us.”

The memory of that period, in which anguish was followed by the emergence of faith, is for Fr Stephen motive for “pride and gratitude”. “My family had planted in my soul the seed of religion, dean Carver the seed of Catholicism and of a life spent in witness of the Gospel.”

Jaideep decides to speak with his father about becoming a Christian. “All hell broke loose. He was annoyed, angry and offended. He called my sisters to ask them for information about my new faith”. The young priest now says: “They were really heavy and unsettling days for the whole family … thus began my personal participation in the passion and crucifixion of Christ.”

On March 1, 1999 Jaideep was baptized and chose the name of his school Stephen James. “I became a Catholic in secret and for 3-4 years my family knew nothing. I did not want to hurt them even more, because my father loved me so much and yet did not understand my choices”.

The year after Stephen leaves for the United States to study computer science. He lives in New York. To earn some money he works at night at a gas station. Every morning he goes to Mass in the parish named after St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Shrub Oak. Even there, he sings in the choir and one day the director Patti Copeland introduced Stephen to the Maryknoll missionaries. The young man remembers: “Their stories of aid to the poor around the world were impressed on my young 20 year old mind”.

“For some time I felt emerge in me the innate desire to communicate with God, to devote all of myself to contemplation.” Stephen believes the roots of this impulse lie in the education he received in his home: “Being Indian, and having received from my mother and
our culture a deep sense of divinity I was fascinated by the mystical life in the early days of New York and I had thought of becoming a Trappist monk”.

In 2001, the young Indian was invited to an Easter spiritual retreat and he realises he is being called to consecrated life. Stephen enters the seminary, but does not say nothing yet to his father and sisters, “worried about the pain and stress that the decision might cause to my family.”

“It was a period of anxiety in my life,” says the boy. “I knew that my father and members of my family were mocked, scorned and humiliated for my decision to become Catholic.” Sikh culture attaches great importance to the one male in the family circle. “You have the responsibility to carry on the name of your race, to take care of parents when they grow old - said Stephen - all this and I could no longer do so because of the decision I had taken.”

The days of priestly formation pass accompanied by the torture of hurting his loved ones and especially his father. “But God is faithful,” says the young man. “I suffered, but I knew that God would give my father a reward far greater than I could hope for.” Stephen studied at St. Xavier University in Chicago, attended the Maryknoll’s Language Institute in Cochabamba, Bolivia, and for two years lived and worked in the mission of Aymara, on the Peruvian High Planes.

On 30 May 2009 he was ordained to the priesthood. Stephen’s three sisters arrive in New York: Anu, Manpreet and Jaipreet, who live in Europe and America. U.S. authorities will not grant a visa to the father. “But it was one of the happiest days of my life,” says the young priest. “My dad wanted to be with me and through my sisters gave me his blessing and the sign of his support for my choice. He wanted me to know that he was proud of me and he had reconciled with my vocation. “

On becoming a priest of the Maryknoll missionaries, the young priest began a new life and on the day of his ordination, officiated by sgr. Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, he received messages of congratulations from hitherto unknown people who had learned of his story through friends or other missionaries. “They wrote that they prayed for me, as I became a priest during this Year for Priests - says Fr Stephen - and I felt honoured and privileged to be a Catholic priest, blessed by the prayers of so many people around the world. All this has made all the stronger in my desire to be a holy priest and a missionary who serves God by serving his people”

–
Written by Nirmala Carvalho for AsiaNews, used with permission.

Upcoming Retreats

I believe retreats are like “honeymoons” or holidays with Jesus. True, He is with us every moment of the day always, but at retreats it’s like we’ve taken time out from everything else, only to focus on Him and spend time building our relationship with Him, just as we’d perhaps do with our spouse / family.

Upcoming Retreats in Mumbai, India:

Couples Retreat coming up from 22nd to 25th October 2009 at the St. Pius X Goregaon Seminary. This could also be attended by those couples who would like to make their marriages better.

Emmaus Encounter Retreat from 12th November (9 a.m.) to 15th November 2009 (4 p.m.) at Vinayalaya and the charges for this Retreat are Rs.650/-.

The Emmaus Retreat is an “Initiation” retreat - which simply means it’s for beginners who haven’t done any other retreat. I strongly urge all those of you who have “always meant to go”, have been “thinking about it”, “feel like it but don’t have the time” etc etc - to make a FIRM resolution to make one of these retreats (or one in a place near you).

These are testimonies of some who attended the Emmaus retreat early this month.

This is my first Emmaus Retreat. Being in the Renewal, a sense of righteousness had crept in. The talks on the various aspects of sin and the 10 commandments shocked me. It opened my eyes to what a big sinner I was, probably the biggest in the Retreat. In spite of that, I had a tremendous experience of Gods perfect love. In fact when were shown the movie Pamelas Prayer, I could not stop my tears as the father in the movie reminded me of my ABBA FATHER and HIS Perfect and Endless Love for me. (Oswin)

In this Retreat the Lord helped me to deal with areas that I was struggling with and that is anger, pride and self-centredness. Specially during the Inner Healing session, I could ask forgiveness from my dad whom I had hurt and did not get a chance to say sorry since he is no more. The guilt always remained in me. But after the session, I felt at peace since I sensed the Lord guiding me to ask forgiveness. (Carol)

During the Infilling of the Holy Spirit, I could see the Lord Almightys face smiling at me and looking at me with complete love, asking me to surrender my life to Him. He would be in charge of my life and I could experience the love of God flowing in me just as a mother taking care of her baby, wanting to hug and kiss me. I was filled with a deep sense of joy and peace that no human could ever give me. I praise the Lord for all that He has given me and I thank God for His beautiful presence in my life. Alleluia, Praise the Lord, thank You Jesus. (Anitha)

On the day of the Reconciliation and Inner Healing, I felt my heavy burden was carried by Jesus and then felt very light. Then at the time of surrender, I surrendered my chronic habits of alcohol and smoking. (Freddy)

I deeply felt the love of Jesus for me. I realized why all my prayers to the Lord were not answered; yet again I understood why I should not discontinue praying. I also learnt how to praise God and pray to Him more meaningfully. After the Inner Healing session, I felt tremendous lightness and relief from within. The talks by the various preachers made a great impact on me. (Harold)

I had come to the Retreat with a troubled mind and heart. Illness had prevented me from going back to work for several months, but now after the Inner Healing and Infilling of the Holy Spirit, I feel very relaxed and peaceful. (Noel)

From the four retreats that I have attended, this one was the best because of the Inner Healing, and Infilling sessions. I was able to forgive everyone and I cried out to God. I felt very light and can already experience the change in me. (Keith)

When I came for the Retreat I was having a terrible toothache, eye pain and headache. But during the Infilling session, it was an amazing experience. Each and every second was cherishing. I was feeling like I was in another world. It made me feel so light and I had forgotten all my pain and at that very moment the Lord took away all my pain. When God is for us, who can be against us? (Savio)

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