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Volume 19

Published by:

The Life in the Spirit Communities of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, Colombo, Sri Lanka,

(With Ecclesiastical Approval).

Daily Reflections now available on the internetVisit crlmain.org or crlmain.com

Read the daily reflection from anywhere in the world

Issue 04

“Be who God meant you to be and you will set

the world on fire.”

St. Catherine of Siena

April 2019

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On Our Knees In His HandsApril 2019

Editors:

Lalith Perera Louis Benedict Gerard Davey

Co-ordinator:Felicia Adhihetty

Contributors to this Issue:Anisha Dias

Asela Perera

Ayomi Jansz

Biyanke Rajapakse

Charmaine Peiris

Darshi Egodawatte De Silva

Geetha Fernando

Himaya Perera

Irene Benjamin

Jayanath Perera

Jeya Chelliah

Kamala Fernando

Kauchi Gunasingh

Subscriptions:

To subscribe for “On Our Knees” please

fill in the form included in the back of this book.

Kumudu Mendis

Louis Benedict

Marie Fernando

Mineli Perera

Natasha Adhihetty

Nidarshi Fernando

Richie Fernando

Rushika Pieris

Sajee Jayasuriya

Sandra Werapermall

Shehana Jayatunga

Sunimalee Fernando

Yogini Yogarasa

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4th Week in Lent

Isaiah 65: 17-21Psalm 30: 2 & 4-6, 11-

12a, 13bJohn 4: 43-54

Monday 1st April

The Israelites were suffering in exile for many years. It is to them that the prophet Isaiah says this beautiful prophecy; “No more will the sound of weeping be heard…” (Is 65:19) In this period of Lent we have also been reminding ourselves of the goodness and mercy of the Lord. The Church has set apart this period to help us repent and prepare ourselves to celebrate the Resurrection

of the Lord. This prophecy is valid even for us today. There are areas in our lives we cannot let go, areas we are in bondage, areas in which we are so helpless that we keep crying out to the Lord.This word is addressed to us: No more will the sound of weeping be heard. The Lord is doing something new in our lives.

Let us reflect on what the Lord has done in us since Lent 2018. Surely the Lord has transformed us in different ways. Often, we may be unaware of them. If we look deep inside our hearts, we will be able to recognise the marvelous things that the Lord has done. As the Psalmist beautifully says, the Lord has rescued us. He has rescued us from dangers, sorrows and sin. Let us thank the Lord for rescuing us from the hands of the evil one.

As we have been reflecting over the past few weeks on ‘The Finished Work of Christ’, today’s Gospel Proclamation seems to connect with that theme beautifully. The healing of the royal official’s son happened at the moment when the Lord Jesus said the words, “Your son will live.” The official had to accept it in faith and it was proven to him that the miracle took place exactly at the time when the Lord said those words. Sometimes, when we are facing a difficulty or an issue we look for instant answers. The Lord sometimes does perform instantaneous healings and provides answers to our questions. However, there are also moments when those answers manifest slowly. Let us hold on to the promises that the Lord has given us. Then, we will not lose faith when results are seemingly slow.

As we surrender our lives to the Lord, let us also trust that everything will happen according to His time and in His ways. He is our provider; He knows what is best for us and will provide it at the right time, whether this is a healing, an answer, a miracle or whatever it may be.

Psalm 29:2

Prayer: Abba Father, thank you for loving me and rescuing me. Give me the grace to surrender and accept Your will in my life. Amen.

I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.

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St. Francis of Paola; St. Pedro Calungsod, catechist & martyr

Due to sin, creation does not recognise the Creator.

Ezekiel 47: 1-9, 12Psalm 46: 2-3, 5-6, 8-9

John 5: 1-16

Tuesday 2nd April

In the Gospel Proclamation we come across a disabled man who was near the pool of Bethesda for 38 years. This pool is where the sick dip them-selves and receive their healing. The Gospel proc-lamation records that whenever he tried on his own, to get into the pool someone else would go before him and take away his opportunity. By the time the Lord met this man he would have given

up hope. The scripture goes on to say the Lord became aware that the man was stuck in this same place for 38 years. This shows that someone had informed Him. In other words many knew his condition but no one was bothered to help him but rather spoke about him.

As soon as the Lord makes eye contact with this man, He asks him a straight forward question: “Do you want to get well?” Instead of reply-ing “Yes” the man gives various reasons for the inability to enter the pool. After hearing what he had to say, the Lord Jesus speaks with authority saying, “Get up, pick up your mat and walk.”

The Bible does not say this but when you read this verse you can imagine that once the man got healed he did not bother to tell the others by the pool that the Lord could heal them as well, but went his way until he was stopped by some Jews who questioned him. If we do not testify to what God has done, we might face danger. A few verses later when the Lord meets him again He says, “See you are well again, stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”

Through this the Lord is reminding us of a few important facts in life that we need to ponder on during this season of Lent:

1.Do not depend on people nor your own strength, but trust in the Lord.

2.When you pray for someone, pray with the authority that God has bestowed on you and God will do the rest.

3.Go and testify to others what the Lord has done in your life.

4.Do not forget what the Lord has done in your life, if you do you will fall into sin and something worse might happen to you.

Prayer: Abba Father, we pray for the grace to focus only on you and testify what you have done in and through our lives. Amen.

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4th Week of Lent

Isaiah 49: 8-15Psalm 145: 8-9, 13cd-

14, 17-18John 5: 17-30

Wednesday 3rd April

Psalm 145:9“The Lord is good to all, compassionate to every creature.”

We are soon entering the Holy week to mark the passion, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus. The first reading’s promises have come into being because of the passion, death and resurrection of Christ Jesus.

Today, we can fit into a category given in the passage of Isaiah. We are either a prisoner or a person in the dark. Some of us are prisoners of

our own emotions and attitudes. We find it difficult to break through our thinking patterns; therefore we could be a stumbling block to other people. Without our knowledge people move away from us because we have become difficult. Similarly our inner darkness, caused by our inner wounds and sinfulness, could negatively influence other peoples’ lives. We could become pestilence towards our family and society. What could be the solution? Only the Lord Jesus could be the answer to our internal brokenness and sinfulness.

God’s promise is that prisoners will come out of the prisons and those who have trod in the dark will come out to the light. Fulfillment and contentment of heart will be their inheritance. No matter how strong our sinfulness and brokenness within us is, the love of God is stron-ger to conquer and save us. In the human world, the strongest bond is the bond between a mother and her child in her womb. Our God brought forth this simile to explain His love and bond and added to it a stronger scenario to further explain His love and protection toward us.

Our God walked His talk. He has done what He spoke. The stench within us was washed away with blood of the Lord Jesus. Genuine transformation within us became possible because the Lord Jesus suffered, died and is resurrected. The work of God will continue in our lives until the day we see Him face to face.

This is what the Lord Jesus explained in the Gospel Proclamation. He made His position clear to us; there is no disconnection between the Father and Son. The Father’s words were fulfilled in the Son, the Word of God. We were the corpses in the tombs. The Lord Jesus made us hear His voice and we came to life. We were born again in the Spirit because the Son does what the Father does.

Prayer: Abba Father, we became your children through Christ your Son. Let us live your will in our life in surrendering at your feet. Amen.

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St. Isidore of Seville, bishopThere is another witness who speaks on my behalf,

and I know that his testimony is true.’’

Exodus 32: 7-14Psalm 106: 19-23

John 5: 31-47

Thursday 4th April

Have you ever done something so bad that you wondered on what basis God could forgive you? Today’s first reading talks about the idol worship-pers. According to the Book of Exodus, soon after God delivered His people from slavery, they did something despicable. Instead of worshiping the true, imageless God who brought them out of Egypt, the Israelites fashioned a golden calf and

attributed their deliverance to it. The writer says God was angered by the Israelites, threatening to destroy them and to make a new nation out of Moses. It says Moses, acting as the intercessor for the Israelites, pleads with God to relent and not to destroy His people, and the writer says that God changes His mind and turns from the punishment He had threatened against Israel. Nothing escapes the all seeing eyes of God. Nothing is beyond the scope of His knowl-edge. In reality, we know that God knew what Israel was going to do.

Today’s Gospel Proclamation speaks about the questions the Jews asked the Lord Jesus. The Lord says to them: “If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is not true. However, there is another who testifies on my behalf.” No matter what the Lord said to the Jews, they were not open to His words or His message. They had made up their minds about the Lord and the Jews were frightened of His popularity with the people.

Today might be a good day for us to ask ourselves: Am I open to the Lord Jesus’ message? It is easier to be open to the Lord’s message when life is good. If we are happy and at peace, we likely will be pleased with His word. However, when life is difficult or painful, we likely may not be pleased. We may ask Him: “Why is this happening to me? What have I done to deserve this?” I suspect we may not get an immediate answer from the Lord.

However, during these painful or difficult times we need to keep our minds and hearts open to the Lord Jesus. He is not doing this to us, rather, He is walking with us, guiding us, and comforting us. While we may not recognize His presence in the moment, in time we will come to see how He was with us, gracing us and loving us.

John 5:31-32

Prayer: Abba Father, today we pray for the grace to trust you with all our heart and in all the circumstances of our lives. The Lord Jesus will not fail us! In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen.

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St. Vincent Ferrer

“...I have not come of myself; I was sent by the One who is true... I know Him, for I come from Him and He sent me.”

Wisdom of Solomon 2: 1a, 12-22

Psalm 34: 17-21 & 23John 7: 1-2, 10, 25-30

Friday 5th April

In getting to know God as our Father, we tend to forget the Old Testament’s accounts of that same God. To fully understand the gravity of the read-ings of today, let us look at Hebrews 12:18-29.

The writer felt the need to remind the people of the sheer majesty of God. Did you know that when the Lord God came down in all His Glory on

Mount Sinai, no human or animal could even approach the foot of the mountain or they were put to death? Or that when God spoke to the people from the mountain, they begged that God would only speak through Moses and not directly to them, for fear that they would die hearing the thunderous voice of the Lord?

In the First reading, we see how much the wicked hated the “righteous” and planned to trap and ensnare Him. In the Gospel Proclamation we see how the Jews wanted to kill the Lord Jesus and so He had to go to the festival in secret. He knew the traps that the evil one would set for Him and the extent to which He would be tortured, but still He made the choice to come for our sake, to reveal His love for humanity. This reckless love of God is available for us no matter what struggle or crisis we may be walking through today.

Another question that arises in our minds is, “How is it possible to choose to become the innocent Lamb and the Suffering Servant when He had all the power?” The answer is the Lord’s inner journey. He was so secure in the love of the Father that He allowed Himself to be ridiculed and put to shame for the redemption of others.

Are we able to give this kind of response in our families when we are hurt, rejected and misunderstood, or do we retaliate and defend ourselves to establish our position and power in our relationships? This is a sign that we are not yet secure in God’s Love.

When we become free in His Love and allow ourselves to go through persecution and suffering in silence, we can partake in the redemp-tion of our family members. In and through us, others will be set free, touched and transformed by God. We become like that innocent lamb whose life was offered up so that all humanity could be saved.

John 7:28-29

Prayer: Abba Father, I offer my life to you today. Teach me to be like Jesus in the face of hardship and persecution. Amen.

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4th Week of Lent

“No one has ever spoken the way this man does,” the guards replied.

Jeremiah 11: 18-20Psalm 7: 2-3, 9bc-12

John 7: 40-53

Saturday 6th April

As we journey through this season of Lent, ev-ery year, we experience something different. In the first reading we see Jeremiah ready to suf-fer because of his complete trust in God. In the Gospel Proclamation, we see the crowd sharply divided over the Lord Jesus. Some think He is the Messiah, others think He is an imposter. All this takes us in to the heart of the Lord’s passion. When He spoke hearts were changed and people

were healed but those whose hearts were closed, rejected him as they were full of themselves.

God wants us to come to Him in simplicity. A preconceived notion of who the Lord is does not change the truth of His claims and the persistence of His call. God wants our hearts which are crying out for His touch. Let us put aside the temptation to fit God in to our limited categories. Let us instead open our hearts to his word.

Today’s readings make us face our relationship with the Lord in His passion. Which side would we have been on? May be not on the side of the hate filled Pharisees who had already condemned Him, as He was a threat to their comfortable positions of power. But what about the indifferent ones who did not care about the Lord and what was happening to Him? Are we not indifferent in one way or another in our relationship with the Lord? That is why our lives are often unfulfilled and powerless. Even when we have had an encounter with the Lord and our lives took a 360 degree turn, we have let the world and its demands get to us and we gradually reach a stage of indifference.

This is the story of my own life from some years ago. While following the 40-day Lenten program, I was faced with a slight disturbance in the fact that I was diagnosed with an eye condition which could be disasterous, and surgery was recommended with no assurances of complete healing. I suddenly realised how focused on myself I was. I just turned back and searched for the Lord alone. I needed the comfort of His presence and nothing else and I received it. The fear left me, nothing mattered anymore, and I was at peace. I expe-rienced His overwhelming love. When I ultimately met the surgeon for the required procedure, he just said it seems this is not required anymore. This is the greatness of God.

John 7:46

Prayer: Abba Father, give me the grace to continuously seek thee throughout my life. Amen.

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5th Sunday of Lent

Isaiah 43: 16-21Psalm 126: 1-6

Philippians 3: 8-14John 8: 1-11

Sunday 7th April

Isaiah 43:18-19Through today’s readings the Church invites us to open our hearts and lives to the Kingdom of God. We are invited to forget our past, no matter how sinful and terrible we may have been and accept the mercy and forgiveness of God.

The Lord speaks to His people through the proph-et Isaiah and says, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new

thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” The Lord is telling us that when we come to Him our past is erased. We need not look back at who we were or how sinful we were. When we come to Him our past is forgotten and we have a chance to look forward to a new future. There are many Bible stories where God has taken a sinner and turned his or her past failures and sins into a future blessing. He can do the same for us. He wants us to stop looking at our past and becoming discouraged and sorrowful. Instead, He wants us to look at our future. He has planned something much bigger than we could possibly understand.

St. John in today’s Gospel Proclamation, narrates the story of the woman caught in adultery. The reading begins by telling us that the Lord Jesus had spent the whole night in prayer with the Father, on the Mount of Olives. In prayer He entered the Kingdom of the Father and heard the voice of the Father. It was because of this communication the Lord Jesus had with the Father that He was able to receive the wisdom of God to answer the questions from the religious leaders.

In our lives if we take prayer seriously and sit at the feet of the Fa-ther in worship and allow the scriptures to speak to our hearts we will start living in the Kingdom of God. Instead of relying on our own knowledge and answers, we can discern the will of God for our lives and to the problems we may face. The religious leaders came to the Lord Jesus and asked Him what they should do with the woman who was caught in adultery. There was no question as to whether she had sinned or not. She had been caught in the act. In response, the Lord bent down and started writing something on the ground. He was speaking with God. The Lord Jesus was waiting in the spirit for the Father to give Him the wisdom to answer these people who were trying to trap Him with their questions. In St. Luke’s Gospel Chapter 12:11-12 it says, “When they bring you before the synagogues, the

Forget the former things;do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing.

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Prayer: Abba Father, I surrender every sin to You. Let this song be my prayer- I have decided to follow Jesus; no turning back, no turning back. Amen.

rulers, and the authorities, do not worry about how you are to defend yourselves or what you are to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what you ought to say.” The Lord was waiting for the Father to give Him the words to answer these religious leaders while also saving this woman from the shame and embarrassment she was going through. Finally answering, the Lord utters these famous words in John 8:7, “Let any of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Do you think any of these people who were waiting to stone this woman were without sin? Of course not. Each of them had committed sin. The difference between their sin and the sin of this woman was that their sin was hidden while her sin was brought out into the open. This thought must have dawned on each one of these people. They had sins that they did not want anyone to know. The Father in heaven had seen their sin; but did not bring it out for others to see.

In the same way, the Lord wanted to rescue this woman from her sin. One by one, the religious leaders dropped their stones. Only the Lord and the woman remained. The sinless Lord Jesus could have accused the woman. But instead He looks at her with mercy and tells her, “Has no one condemned you? Neither do I. Go now and leave your life of sin.” He speaks these same words to us. He does not want to condemn us of our sins. As the first reading tells us, He does not want us to remember our past sins. Instead, He wants us to leave the past in the past and follow Him.

Today the church invites us to open our hearts to the new thing God is doing. The sinner of the world is the saint of the new Kingdom of God. In the CRL the Lord has given us the 4 Steps. We are invited to come to God as we are with our sinfulness and baggage. In the second step He invites us to give the truth of our hearts to Him and be washed in the precious blood of the Lord Jesus. In the third step we are called to surrender all we have brought to the Lord. In sur-render when we kneel before Him in worship, He will do the 4th Step. The Lord will fill us with the Holy Spirit and empower us to overcome our past sin. In Philippians 3:13-14 St. Paul writes,“But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” We are called to leave our sins at the feet of the Lord in surrender and press on ahead to win the prize the Lord has set before us- His salvation.We are turned from sinner to saint just as the adulterous woman was changed into a saint in the Kingdom of God.

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5th Week of Lent

The God of Love and Justice

Daniel 13: 1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62 or Daniel 13:

41c-62Psalm 23: 1-6John 8: 12-20

Monday 8th April

Psalm 23 is one of the most widely read Psalms of King David who describes God as a Shepherd, who takes care of His sheep and leads them into tranquil waters.

Once in a company I worked for, a young woman underwent distress by an officer. A few persons helped bring witnesses that would tarnish her credibility hoping she would resign and this would

be over. Into this situation a Godly person confronted me and asked if there was anything I could do in my official capacity. I responded ‘no’ as I was afraid, but God stirred my heart to do what was right to bring this to light, just as God did in Daniel 13:46. God sent Daniel to rescue Susanna, a Godly woman who had been unjustly accused and was in deep distress.

Thereafter I suffered rejection by many and got word that I was going to be under scrutiny myself. I cried to God one day in deep distress and sensed His comforting presence, assuring that the battle be-longed to Him. King David pronounced in Psalm 23:4 “though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” The Wednesday Prayer Meetings were an immense strength to me.

The breakthrough came when the company hosted an event and a senior management staff from the overseas Head office was present. He assured me that I had done what was right and they were going to look into the matter and sent his subordinate weeks later who also came to my rescue. None of them had visited Sri Lanka prior to this and I believe it was God’s mighty hand and no coincidence, where He prepared a table before me in the presence of my enemies (Vs 5). The woman was freed and worked for years thereafter. The officer had to resign but this crisis drew him closer to God and into a new life.

We will be blessed to hold God as our highest judge, who will vin-dicate and defend our cause if we place our trust in Him. In today’s Gospel proclamation our Lord Jesus assures us in John 8:16, “If I do judge, my decisions are true, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me.” Glory to God.Prayer: Abba Father, help me to trust in You in my darkest hour in hope that Your goodness will follow me all the days of my life. Amen.

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5th Week of LentFind lasting joy and love in an intimate relationship with God.

Numbers 21: 4-9Psalm 102: 2-3, 16-21

John 8: 21-30

Tuesday 9th April

Today’s first reading from the book of Numbers tells us what happened to the Israelites when they rebelled against God. After being led out of Egypt, as the people travelled to the promised land they had no water or bread in the desert. They began to complain to God for taking them out of Egypt. They thought even though they were slaves at least they had food and drink. Now they had noth-

ing. Even though God had liberated the people from the Egyptian slavery, their mindset had not changed. All they wanted was what they had before. Even though the people had left Egypt; Egypt had not left the people.

The same thing happens to us when we first meet the Lord. We leave behind our ways of life to follow the Lord. When we start a journey with God, everything looks good because we have the protection and the favour of God. But after some time, we may experience dryness in our spiritual lives or we may not get an answer to a prayer, etc.It may look like God is not there for us. When this happens, we may start looking back at the life we left behind just as the Israelites did.

This is a cycle that has taken place many times in my life. I drift away from the Lord, face problems, pain and suffering, turn back to the Lord and cry out for help and receive a miracle from Him.

The same thing took place in the lives of the Israelites. They fell away from the Lord, complained and venomous snakes came among them. Then they began to hurt and then they realized they needed to come back to the Lord. When the people turned back to God, He healed their wounds.

Today’s Gospel proclamation gives us a permanent answer to this problem we face repeatedly in our lives. Just as the Israelites had to respond, we must have a relationship with the Lord Jesus to find lasting happiness and love. When we know God intimately, He will show us the places where we went wrong and lead us on the right path. We will learn to trust Him even when we cannot see His hand or blessings on our life. Instead of grumbling, we will be able to look at the cross and know His plans exceed any of ours. Prayer: Abba Father, I repent for not being able to trust Your plan for my life. Today, I want to begin a relationship with You. I want to know You more. Amen.

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5th Week of Lent

“...Then you will know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.”

Daniel 3: 14-20, 24-25, 28

Daniel 3: 52-56John 8: 31-42

Wednesday 10th April

The story of the three men in the furnace in today’s first reading has never failed to amaze me, each time I read it. These men were fearless in the proclamation of who their God was, and steadfast in their belief that they will not come to any harm.

They knew the truth about the God of Israel - they would have been aware of how He led the Israelites through the wilderness, and the countless miracles that had been performed through the centuries. It was this belief in the truth that kept them rooted. It gave them a sense of purpose and it shifted their reality to God’s reality.

In today’s Gospel Proclamation, we see the Lord speak the famous words: “...you will know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” For the men in the furnace, truth was not the blazing fire that surrounded them; but truth was God alone. Their freedom was initially internal. They were internally set free to accept whatever the circumstances that took place, for they knew their God was faithful. It is after they received internal freedom that they were freed externally as well.

It is important to note that the external circumstances did not affect them in the slightest. In our own lives, there may be instances when we are going through raging fires. In these moments, let us recall the comforting words of our God; “If you pass through raging waters, you shall not drown; if you walk amidst burning flames, you shall not be harmed.” The fires and deep waters may not necessarily be literal, but in many cases, fires that are stirred due to our broken-ness and sinfulness.

It is only when we become true disciples of the Lord that we begin to know the Truth - our Lord Jesus Himself. The Jews in the Gospel had not grasped this truth, which is why they continuously confronted the Lord about what He was saying. To be a disciple means to accept the Lord as the Way, the Truth and the Life. This is what will bring true internal freedom and freedom from sinfulness and addiction.

Let us strive for this grace during the season of Lent, for when we take the first step, the Lord is already waiting to meet us.

John 8: 32

Prayer: Abba Father, reveal to me your higher truth, and become my reality. Amen.

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St. Stanislaus, bishop & martyr

He remembers his covenant forever...

Genesis 17: 3-9Psalm 105: 4-9John 8: 51-59

Thursday 11th April

In the Gospel proclamation today, the Lord Jesus is talking with the Jews. He tells them that if they truly keep His word, they will never see death. Imagine how astounded everyone must have been at the Lord’s words. Never see death? What was He thinking? Everyone on earth understood that at some point in the future, they would die. This was the natural course of life! Naturally, the

Jews thought that the Lord Jesus was talking with a demon within. Did He truly believe that He would not die? Did He actually think that He was greater than Abraham or the prophets? All of the prophets, great though they were, died. Why did the Lord Jesus think He was different?

When the Lord Jesus responds to the Jews, He does not respond to their criticism of Him. Rather the Lord talks about His Father. He tells them that His Father is the one who will glorify Him. He also says that even though the Jews think they know God, they actually do not know God. The Lord, however, has a deep relationship with God. Then He goes too far. He tells the Jews that His father Abra-ham had rejoiced to see His day. His listeners were astounded and disbelieving. The Jews responded by telling the Lord that He wasn’t even 50 years old. How could He possibly have seen Abraham? Christ Jesus simply responded to them: Before Abraham came to be, I AM! And the Jews began to gather stones to throw at the Lord! He quietly walked out of the temple!

Put yourself in the Jews’ shoes. If anyone said to you what the Lord Jesus said to the Jews, would you believe them? Most likely, we would think they were crazy or fanatical. After all, to the Jews, the Lord was another itinerant preacher. He sounded pretty crazy when He said that he existed before Abraham. That was impossible!

Let us examine our hearts.We may have closed minds or hearts to the Lord because in some way life is painful and a struggle and we blame Him for this reality. What do we believe about Jesus? Have we distanced from him? Do we trust the Lord? Or do we simply take Him for granted? Today let’s stop and reflect on who the Lord is to us at this time in our life. He is right beside us, waiting for us!Prayer: Abba Father, teach me how to align my heart with Yours. Open my heart to receive Your revelation. Reveal deeply to my heart Your love for me. Amen.

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5th Week of Lent

‘He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him.’

Jeremiah 20: 10-13Psalm 18: 2-7John 10: 31-42

Friday 12th April

We are approaching Holy Week and in the first reading the people of Israel denounce Jeremiah, the man who was chosen by God, to proclaim God’s message, to them. In today’s Gospel Proc-lamation, the Jews are picking up stones to stone the Lord Jesus.

In the beginning of John’s Gospel, John the Baptist reveals that the Lord Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The Lord Jesus came in to this world and proclaimed to the Jews that God is their loving Father and revealed to them the way to enter into the Kingdom of God. He revealed the Father’s love to His children by forgiveness of sins, by healing of the sick, by delivering of evil spirits and providing for their needs.

Yet many could not recognize Him. Though they knew the scriptures and His coming was clearly foretold, in their minds, what prevented them from seeing the truth? Was it because their minds were clouded by their own understanding? Was it prejudice? Was it because their whole way of life was challenged by Him and they didn’t want to let go of their own comfort zones?

Today God may be revealing His message of salvation to us through a messenger of God - by one of the least expected people. Are we also like the Jews? Do we also denounce the messenger of God because of prejudice or because of our own limited understanding of God? Are we also name-sake Catholics who seek God only to give us something? Today we are reminded to repent of our own understand-ing of God and believe in the Good News - The Lord Jesus came to take away the sin of the world and to give us life eternal.

Secondly the Lord Jesus knew His identity. Now His very identity is challenged and they are trying to arrest Him. What did He do? He went to the place where it was revealed to Him that He was the beloved Son of God. He took refuge in the Father and was strengthened. Similarly when we are challenged by others for bearing witness to the Lord Jesus, let us go back to the moment that we experienced the love and mercy of the Lord Jesus and remember that God is our fortress, refuge and our salvation.

John 1: 11

Prayer: Abba Father, you are my rock, my fortress and my salvation. I thank and praise you for you hear my cry. Save me from the clutches of death. Amen.

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St. Martin I, pope & martyr

“They will settle in the land I gave to my servant Jacob where their ancestors lived.”

Ezekiel 37: 21-28Jeremiah 31: 10-13

John 11: 45-56

Saturday 13th April

Ezekiel 37:25

The first reading today is a personal testimony for me on how the Lord leads our decisions when we discern whole heartedly. I lived in the city centre close to every conceivable place that I needed to access; be it bank, hospital, work, relatives, etc. And I lived in this place for over 16 years. In the year 2017 towards the end, I faced many unexpected issues with the place we were

living on rent. After all these years the land lady wanted the house back. In the mean time, my husband had received an inheritance in a supernatural way which was a house built by his great grandfather over a hundred years ago.

When we started having issues with the flat we were renting at that time, and having received this inheritance, my husband approached me on the subject of renovating and moving into this house perma-nently. This was situated at least a good hour or more away from the city and needless to say my human spirit never wanted to leave my convenient life style to move into more of a village setting and living among my in-laws and relatives. Therefore I resisted the idea of mov-ing in there for many months but as a couple in a spiritual journey, by the grace of God, we agreed to fast and pray for one week on the decision whether to move to this inheritance or to stay in the city and look for another rented place.

During that time of fast and prayer I was clearly shown this scripture passage from prophet Ezekiel and very precisely the verse 25 where the word of God was precise that He shall settle us in the land of our ancestors or forefathers. As the Lord spoke to my heart through this scripture, there was a peace that covered my thoughts as all anxieties were lifted up and I was given the heart to say yes to the leading of the Lord to settle in this place. It has been over a year since we left the familiar and moved to the unfamiliar and the Lord has been ever faithful to His words to dwell amongst us and give us amazing peace. In this season of Lent, let us look at decisions we do not want to make or where we keep resisting the will of God. Let us surrender our will to that of what the Lord wants us to do. This is the lesson from Lent that the Lord Jesus gives us all. “Not my will but yours” and when we say yes to that will, we are blessed beyond.Prayer: Abba Father, help us discern your will and receive abundant blessings in this life and one day, eternal life with you, Amen.

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Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Pas-sion

“Yet not My will, but Yours be done.”

Isaiah 50: 4-7Psalm 22: 8-9, 17-20,

23-24Philippians 2: 6-11

Luke 22: 14 - 23: 56

Sunday 14th April

Today the universal Church commemorates the triumphant entrance of the Lord Jesus into Jeru-salem city. It marks the beginning of Holy Week.

Through the First Reading we hear what would have gone on in the mind of the Lord Jesus as He prepared for the final battle of His mission. As I ponder over the words of Prophet Isaiah written

more than 500 years before the birth of the Lord Jesus, I am struck with three messages. Firstly, the Scripture is true for all time, and it is so for my own life. Secondly the utmost obedience of the Lord to the Will of the Father, enabled Him to willingly face the unimaginably horrific suffering and death. The third point is the deep intimacy the Lord had with His Father. That made Him trust the Father not only to the end, but beyond the end too.The Lord assures me that I too can face any situation victoriously if I choose to make these three things real in my life.

Today’s Gospel Proclamation is the long and detailed narrative of the Passion of Our Lord. It is the pinnacle of His love story for us. In and through the sorrow that filled His Heart to the point that His Blood poured as sweat, the betrayal, denial and the mockery and cruelty the Creator of the Universe willingly chose to submit Himself to His creation. He was aware that His battle was not with us humans, but with sin and death that had been reigning over the human race. The Lord’s passion and death proves that Satan only has lies, deception and craftiness but no wisdom. The one thing he thought he was finally winning over, was to become his worst defeat forever. Thus St. Paul rightly said, “ Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?(1 Corinthians 15:55). Today is a good day to spend some time to allow this truth to sink deep into our hearts and to accept that the Lord Jesus finished His redemptive mission on the cross 2000 years ago. What is left for us today is to believe in His forgiveness and enjoy the fruits of His victory over our sinfulness and bondages and to live as sons and daughters of Almighty God, The Author of all things created.

The Second Reading gives an overview of the inner journey of our Lord Jesus, inviting us to follow the same. Every word of this passage is so pregnant with meaning. The Son of God, begotten, not created, having the very nature of God, being the Second member of the Holy

Luke 22:42

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Prayer: Abba Father, I choose to trust in Your unfailing love and power to take care of me and mine. Here I am Lord, I come to do Your will. Amen.

Trinity, chose not to use His equality with God to His own advantage. How much this challenges me, not to use my status and contacts to my own advantage! Rather, the Lord Jesus chose to be born into a simple humble family, growing up as a carpenter in Galilee, and not as a prince in a royal family in Jerusalem. Further more He chose the lowest way to die, as a criminal hanging on a cross, forsaken and despised by all except His Mother and a few friends. This inner response of the Lord, though seemingly in vain, shook the Heart of the Father who rewarded Him by raising Him up from the dead with a glorified body that would never die again. His Name was exalted higher than all other names in heaven, on earth and under the earth for all eternity, every tongue acknowledging that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Lord.

As followers of the Risen Christ we are invited to live the same way as Our Master and Lord lived. Yet, if we give the truth of our hearts most of us would agree that our lifestyles and our values are quite different to the Lord’s. Our way of life is not much different to those who do not know the Lord Jesus outside the church or prayer meet-ings. We react the same way, we strive after love and appreciation, we give first place to money and career, even going to the extent of denying our Christian identity to secure a place in society.

Yet how short lived that lifestyle of ours is! Our world can collapse in a split second either due to a sickness or an unforeseen disaster. Let us not wait for a crisis to befall us to go to Our Lord. Rather, let us make a choice today, the start of the Holy Week to have a true change in our way of life, following the inner response of Our Lord. Let us choose to forgive those who wrong us, bless those who curse us, love those who hate us and intercede for those who try to destroy us.Then we will light up this world darkened by sin and evil and trans-form it back to the garden of Eden it was meant to be.

We will fall and fail, no doubt. As the Psalmist points out to the com-plete humanness of the Messiah who cries out to God whom He trusted with His life, we too will cry out to Him. Yet, the next moment the Holy Spirit who has been given to be with us and inside us forever, will comfort us and counsel us in the heavenly reality, filling us with Power from on High, to give the same inner response as our Master. The final result is already known; the battle has been won by the One who loved and died for us and rose from the dead and is alive.

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Monday of Holy Week

Love the Lord like Mary did.

Isaiah 42: 1-7Psalm 27: 1-3. 13-14

John 12: 1-11

Monday 15th April

In the book of Isaiah, he talks about the Lord Je-sus, the chosen One of God who comes to deliver His people. I am struck by the tenderness and kindness of the Lord Jesus described by Isaiah. He does not shout, He does not raise His voice. A bruised reed, a broken life, a messed up heart He does not push away. A fragile faith about to be destroyed, He does not snuff out. In kindness

and gentleness and absolute love He brings salvation to His people.

I once heard someone say that it is impossible to understand God outside the context of a relationship. He is our Father and He loves us. This was the reason that the Lord died on the cross. The love that He bore for us was so much stronger than any pain that He had to go through. His desire for us to be victorious over sin through Him was greater than any brokenness and sinfulness in our lives. And this God who is so infinitely tender and merciful and loving delights when His people form a true and living relationship with Him. A personal rela-tionship of love not just fulfilling the religious duties and obligations.

In the Gospel Proclamation today, we see that Mary breaks out a costly jar of perfume to anoint the feet of the Lord. It was probably foolish in the eyes of the world. Maybe there was a more practical and economical way she could have shown Him her love. But when we are in love we do not necessarily make the most practical deci-sions. When we truly love someone, our desire is to make them see just how precious they are to us. And that’s what she does here. She brings Him the best that she has and pours it on Him. And the fragrance of that sacrifice fills the atmosphere of that entire house. Oh how delighted our Lord must have been with her. He who can read the motives of people – what joy would she have given Him by this simple act of love!

I am challenged every time I read this passage.When I sit down to pray, I want to give Him the very best of me. Not just to go through the routines of prayer but to go after His heart. To give Him my praise and worship and to let Him know how much I delight in Him. I want to fill my house with the fragrance of my relationship with Him. I want to remember His kindness and gentleness in my life, to remember that He Himself holds my hand as I journey through life.Prayer: Abba Father, I pray for grace to love you more today. Amen

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Tuesday 16th April Tuesday of Holy WeekI will make you the light of the nations.

Isaiah 49:6

Isaiah 49: 1-6Psalm 71: 1-4a, 5ab-

6ab, 15-17John 13: 21-33, 36-38

The first reading beautifully says that we have been called before we were born. In these final days of preparation for the commemoration of the life giving passion, death and resurrection of the Lord, the Church invites us to look at the ways in which the Lord fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies. He was made ‘the light to the nations’, something which will be celebrated at the Paschal

Vigil on the Holy Night of Easter. He has become the beacon of hope for all who have lost their way.

As sinners all of us have moments of despair when we lose sight of God. At such moments we can turn to the Lord because He is the light that will guide us. As we reflect on the suffering of the Lord, let us also make use of the Sacrament of Reconciliation so that we will be better prepared to celebrate the feast of the Resurrection of Jesus.

The Gospel Proclamation recalls the Last Supper and some of the last sayings of our Lord Jesus before His death. We reflect on this Gospel to see how each of us face moments of temptation where we give in to the lure of evil. Judas was seated at the Last Supper but since his heart was not in the right place, he fell into sin.

As we give the truth of our hearts to the Lord, let us pause and reflect to see if there are areas in our lives that we have kept as entry points for sin. Let us repent of them and surrender each of those areas to the Lord Jesus. As we lay everything in the hands of the Lord, He will lead us and we no longer have to be burdened and struggle in our own strength.

In this Holy Week, let us make a decision so that this will not simply be another Holy Week. Let us intentionally resolve to follow the Lord in humility and truth. We have the greatest helper: the Holy Spirit. Let us invite the Spirit of God to lead us through this Paschal Triduum, so that we will encounter and experience the greatest sacrifice that the Lord Jesus made for you and me.

Prayer: Abba Father, as we celebrate the Lord Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross, help us to experience the victory He won for us. Amen.

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Wednesday 17th April Wednesday of Holy Week

“See, the Lord God is my help; who will prove me wrong?” Isaiah 50:9a

Isaiah 50: 4-9aPsalm 69: 8-10, 21-22,

31 & 33-34Matthew 26: 14=25

The beauty of the intimacy we could have with God is portrayed in the first reading. Morning after morning, God opens our ears to hear His voice. A hidden gem is unearthed too in this scripture pas-sage; that is the person whom we could become when we hear the voice of God every morning.

The results of intimacy with God are divine wis-dom, obedience and humility. Love for God causes

us to bear anything. Love moves us and strengthens us to fulfill God’s will in our lives. The Lord Jesus asked us to follow Him. Following Him means living as He did. Without knowing Him personally and experi-encing His love intimately it will be difficult to follow Him because we will not know His move or will that we ought to take place at different turns of our life’s journey.

Salvation is only through God’s servant who humbled Himself to a death on the cross. Could this be the way Lord Jesus invites us to follow? Are we ready to face hostility in the name of God? Are we willing to suffer and be rejected?

According to the Gospel of Matthew, the solemnity and the majesty of the preparation to the Passover are greater because the words of Lord Jesus are more of an affirmation than a question. The way to the cross was opened by His chosen one of the twelve. Interestingly the thirty pieces of silver denotes the wages of the rejected shepherd in the Old Testament. This derives from the book of Zechariah; “I said to them, ‘if it seems good to you, give me my wages, but if not, let it go’. And they counted out my wages, thirty pieces of silver.” (Zech 11:12).

Our selfishness could drive us away from a loving God and giving Him first place. Though we become critical of Judas Iscariot we too are taking part in the table fellowship of Christ Jesus and betray Him. Every Sunday at the Holy Mass when we receive the Body of Christ we are seated at the table fellowship of Christ Jesus. Therefore we could sit at the table of the Lord Jesus with human malice in our hearts. Ugliness, wickedness and cruelty could be in our hearts, plots against others. We too could be like Judas Iscariot, betraying Christ Jesus over and over to the cross. Let us repent and seek the Lord’s will.

Prayer: Abba Father, do not allow us to receive your Son with unclean and un-prepared hearts. Drench us in the precious blood of Jesus. Amen.

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Thursday 18th April Holy ThursdayHumble yourself that you may be glorified

Today is Maundy Thursday - our Lord Jesus washed the feet of His disciples and set an example for humility for all of us. He humbled Himself and just at the set time God raised Him up and glorified Him above everything.

Let us reflect on this great event which the Catho-lic Church follows even today. It’s not merely a tradition the Church wants us to do; rather it is

our life style we should practice. Am I really doing this in my life? Do I humble myself and give inner responses where I should and even when wrong has done to me? Truly, I don’t. It’s very hard for me to give an inner response because it’s against my nature. If I’m going to give inner response to people then I’m going to go through a death experience of my rebellious nature which I don’t want to.

But as I reflect on what our Lord has done, I am put to shame. The Lord Jesus did everything in obedience to His Father. Washing the feet of his disciples is not only the moment He humbled Himself but throughout His life Jesus was doing that; when He knelt before John to baptize Him, on the way to cross where others mocked Him and ridiculed Him and even to the point of death He humbled Himself.The kind of inner response the Lord Jesus gave shook the heart of the Father and He couldn’t wait to raise His Son from the death.

The Lord Jesus was able to give this kind of inner response because of one reason; the intimate relationship He had with His Father. He knew in the end everything will be worth in the eyes of the Father. Even His nature rebelled against Him at the garden of Gethsemane. But through the inner struggle He lifted His eyes to the Lord and surrendered Himself to the will of the Father.

Today you and I are called to carry and show this experience in and through our lives. The only way we can carry the Lord and His love to this broken world is to reflect Him in everything we do. Let’s con-tinue to grow deeper in a relationship with our loving God through which we too are equipped to humble ourselves so that in set time God will lift us up.

Exodus 12: 1-8, 11-14Psalm 116: 1-13, 15-

16bc, 17-181 Corintihans 11: 23-26

John 13: 1-15

Prayer: Abba Father, as I reflect on this great event, may I grow deeper in rela-tionship with you to truly humble myself so that only Your love will be reflected in and through me. Amen.

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Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion

“Our high priest is not indifferent to our weaknesses, for he was tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sinning.”

Isaiah 52: 13 - 53: 12Psalm 31: 2, 6, 12-13,

15-17, 25Hebrews 4: 14-16;

5: 7-9John 18: 1 - 19: 42

Friday 19th April

When the Lord Jesus came to the Earth and died for our sins on the cross, He opened the door for us to receive all the benefits of God’s goodness. That is why we call it Good Friday. It was good for you and me! Good Friday certainly was not good for the Lord Jesus. It was painful. It was torture. But He willingly said, “No one takes my life away from me. I give it up of my own free will” (John

10:18). The ultimate expression of God’s goodness is when zhe sent the Messiah to die for us.

Everybody needs what God has to offer. But over the years we have been looking for it in the wrong places. People expect those needs to be met by their careers, bank accounts, friendships, romantic relationships, children, or family. God is saying to us, “No, I am the answer. I am the source of all goodness in your life.” On the cross, by sacrificing His life, the Lord Jesus completed our salvation. That’s why it is written in John 19.28 “Jesus knew that by now everything had been completed;”. He defeated the flesh. He defeated the enemy. He defeated Satan. Finally He defeated death. Isaiah says ‘My servant will succeed in his task.”

We say through His death on the cross we were saved. Because Isaiah says “But He endured the suffering that should have been ours, the pain that we should have borne. But because of our sins he was wounded, beaten because of the evil we did.” He took the place that we should have taken. We were already healed by the punishment He suffered on our behalf.

Therefore, we are gifted with an entirely new life. Even though we cannot see it; we cannot feel it; we cannot understand it; this is the truth. We must claim this truth in faith. As a result, the task of salvation that God has already accomplished, the gift God has already given us, will be realised in our lives. We will experience His goodness that flows into us on Good Friday. When He was crucified, our old, sinful, corrupted and broken nature was crucified and died. Actually, it is not the end but it is the completion and the beginning of a new journey towards eternity.

Hebrews 4: 15

Prayer: Abba Father, through the Lord Jesus you have already saved me. It is completed. I claim this finished work. Amen!

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Saturday 20th April Holy SaturdayThose who hope in the Lord will renew their strength

Isaiah 40: 31Today is Holy Saturday, a day of silence, a day of waiting, a day of mystery and darkness, where the hopes of the disciples of the Lord were crushed after the arrest and cruel death of their master. This is the day we believers remember how the Lord Jesus trusted in the promise of God, His Father, following His will into death on the Cross, then into the grave.

Holy Saturday was indeed a dark day for the disciples. They were shaken to the core when their leader was arrested after being be-trayed by one of their own. For three long years they had followed the Lord - giving up their jobs, families and the comfort of their homes in the hope that He would re-establish the Kingdom of Israel back to its glory.

For most of the disciples, this scene at the garden is their last en-counter with the Lord before they see Him again in the upper room. What do you do when everything you believe to be true is suddenly uprooted and upended? Do you try to fix it? Do you try to move on as quickly as possible? Or do you do what the disciples did and simply wait, whether in the upper room or facing the tomb - willing to hold and sit with all the fear and anxiety and ambiguity that come with not knowing what is going to happen next?

And yet, throughout Scripture, we are reminded that it is in our waiting — or translated differently, in our hoping — that we are transformed. The prophet Isaiah reminds us, “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

Our Blessed Mother is the model for hoping in the Promises of God. At the Annunciation, she was promised that God will give her son the kingdom of David; He will rule over the people of Israel forever and His reign shall have no end. In the moment of her extreme agony and pain, she held on to the promises of God, trusting and hoping in the eternal Promise of God, even when she could not understand anything.

Prayer: Abba Father, just as the Blessed Mother held on to your promises, may we also hold on to your word in complete trust when our world crumbles. Amen.

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Sunday 21st April Easter Sunday of the Lord’s Resurrection

He is Alive!

In today’s Gospel proclamation we meet Mary Magdalene, who has come to visit the tomb of Our Lord Jesus early in the morning. We hear about how she got upset when she saw the stone rolled away from the entrance of the tomb, and how she ran back to the Apostles and broke the terrible news “They have taken the Lord from the tomb”. In their fear, they interpreted the greatest

miracle of their lifetime for a great debacle. Today’s Gospel end with a statement explaining the reasons behind their reaction. “For they did not yet understand the scripture that He had to rise from the dead.” The Gospel does not say that they did not know scripture. After being with our Lord Jesus for three years, they not only would have been exposed to scripture, but they would have been exposed to His interpretation of the word, whenever they heard His sermons. Yet somehow this was not enough. The Lord speaks to me. Listening to sermons is not enough, no matter how good the sermons are. I must allow the Holy Spirit to reveal his heart through the scripture by spending personal time with scripture and in prayer. I must allow the Holy Spirit to make the scripture relevant to my life situation. If not the empty tombs that we encounter in life will only spell disaster. Through the light of Scripture, we come to realise that God has never really stepped down from His throne, that He is doing something beyond what we can see, and the empty tombs become icons of hope and life-giving blessings.

In the first reading we see St. Peter boldly proclaiming that God raised our Lord Jesus from the dead. What has happened during the time between the gospel proclamation and the first reading? Acts 10:40–41 (NIV): but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. There was a breakthrough from the realm of the Spirit into the realm of time and space. After the breakthrough, as they look back, they see the hand of God in the very situations that they thought God had let them down. The importance of “understanding scripture” would have been, that they would have seen the hand of God even while going through the time of sadness and pain. This would have enabled them to face the situ-ation in expectation and hope, rather than fear, and despair. When we look at the scripture passage closely, we see that although Our

Acts 10: 34a, 47-43

Ps 118: 1-2, 16-17, 22-23

Col 3: 1-4 or 1 Cor 5: 6b-8

Jn 20: 1-9 or Lk 24: 13-35

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Prayer: Abba Father, Thank you for being the God who acts beyond the grave. Give me the grace that I too may encounter your Son and our Lord Jesus, just like Mary Magdalene did. Amen

Lord Jesus rose from the dead and presented himself in a real and tangible way to his disciples, this experience was “only for witnesses already chosen by God.” The thinking behind God’s choice, is known only to God. As Isaiah puts it, ““For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” Still for all let’s try to discover if there was some principle at work behind God’s choice. If so, can we predispose ourselves to share in the experience of God becoming real and tangible to us.

St. Peter summarises the Lord’s work into one short sentence. Acts 10:37-38 You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. Strangely, St. Peter does not say anything about the Lord’s teachings. He only talks about the ministry of signs and wonders. He talks about how our Lord captured territory from the kingdom of darkness. He goes on to say, “We were witnesses to all this”. Just like how the Hebrews witnessed the miracles in Egypt, which prepared them for the journey from slavery to the promised land, the Lord’s ministry of signs and wonders seems to have prepared his disciples for His journey from death to life.

In that case, how can I predispose myself for an encounter? For one, I would read the Gospels and become familiar with the same signs and wonders that St. Peter talks about. I would use the gift of my imagination and dwell in those moments, just as though I was witness-ing them live. I would also start being in places where the Gospel is preached powerfully and is accompanied by signs and wonders. This includes places similar to the prayer meetings, retreats, and healing services conducted by the Community of the Risen Lord. Not just to be healed, but to claim with St. Peter, “We were witnesses to all this”. The first person to touch the Lord Jesus in His natural birth was the Blessed Virgin Mary. She represents purity and all that is right. She welcomed the Lord into the world for His role of fulfilling the Law and becoming the perfect sacrifice. At his second birth Mary Magdalene was the first to touch Him - the one who had seven demons cast out of her. She welcomed Him into the world for His role of building a family out of the least pure or qualified in any way.

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Monday 22nd April

Prayer: Abba Father, increase my faith as I claim your promise “You will show me the path of life, the fullness of joy in your presence, at your right hand hap-piness forever.” Amen.

Octave of Easter, Monday

Christ is risen! Yes, He is risen! Alleluia!

He is risen from the dead! That is the good news the women announce to all the Lord Jesus’ dis-ciples today. As they left the tomb ‘with fear and great joy’ to share the message of the angel with their brother disciples, now they catch the sight of Him who comes their way. The Risen Lord Jesus greets them as they fall at his feet worshipping Him and clasping His feet; reassuring the promise of

the angel, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers that they must leave for Galilee; they will see me there”.(Mthw 28:10)

What a breath-taking moment this would have been for the women whose world was torn apart. At one point, only pain, defeat and sor-row engulfed them as they returned to the tomb to care for the dead. They realised their task was to announce the living as they were able to meet the Lord Jesus there and receive from Him a new mission.

The invitation of the Lord Jesus is to go to Galilee (Galilee is where he began and ended his mission) and there “they will see me’. It is the same invitation the Lord Jesus gives you and me today. Where is our Galilee? Our world of Galilee’s can be our personal prayer time, our own family, the community we serve, the work place, the neighbour-hood, the poor and the needy and the many moments and places He wants you and me to go to and see and experience His resurrection through our inner responses we give daily in our life.

In today’s first reading we see the great transformation and revival in St. Peter after the Pentecost who stands before the people before whom he denied the Lord and ran away in fear. Now filled with the Spirit of God, he fearlessly proclaims to all the miracle of the Lord’s resurrection. Born of the Sprit and forgiven by the blood of the lamb St. Peter now takes up his mission as the leader of the church. Remind-ing the people of Judah the fulfilment of the king David’s prophecy in psalm 16 and the prophecy of Joel of the outpouring of the promised gift of the Holy Spirit, he spears ahead filled with the power of the Spirit.

Acts 2: 14, 22-23Psalm 16: 1-2a & 5, 7-11

Matthew 28: 8-15

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Tuesday 23rd April Octave of Easter, Tuesday

For the word of the Lord holds true, and we can trust everything He does. Psalm 33: 4

Today’s first reading speaks of St. Peter’s first ever sermon to the Jews. This sermon was a direct result of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost.

St. Peter was once a coward - too afraid to walk on water, too afraid to acknowledge that he was a disciple of the Lord, too afraid to continue fol-

lowing the Lord after His horrific death. St. Peter before the infilling of the Holy Spirit lived in fear and doubt. However, it is this same man who stood up in front of a gathering of 3000 people and proclaimed the message of salvation that cut people to their hearts.

It is only through the power of the Holy Spirit that such a radical change took place in the hearts and minds of both the people as well as St. Peter and the other apostles.

In the Gospel Proclamation, we see the life of another person being changed - the life of Mary Magdalene. She was the only follower of the Lord, who after encountering the Lord, remained faithful right until the end. All the other disciples did not have the courage to stand by the Lord during His passion and death, but Mary stood firm. What a stark contrast to St. Peter before his encounter with the Holy Spirit.

It may be because of this faithfulness of hers that she is believed to be the very first person to encounter the Risen Lord. Mary Magda-lene was fearless in her pursuit of the Lord, never caring what others thought of her or of society’s ideals. She continued to relentlessly seek the Lord - even when it seemed hopeless.

It was into this hopeless situation that the Lord revealed Himself. Mary was weeping for the missing body of the Lord, and she was so caught up in her grief that she could not recognize the very presence of the Risen Lord in front of her. But when He spoke her name, His voice emanated through her being and she recognized the Lord.

In our lives, we too fail to recognize the Lord in the presence of the Eucharist. Let us hear Him call us by name into union with Him, that our spirits may be opened to receive Him fearlessly.

Acts 2; 36-41Psalm 33: 4-5, 18-20

& 22John 20: 11-18

Prayer: Abba Father, more often than not I live in fear of what the future holds. Help me to recognize Your constant presence in my life and to trust in You. Amen.

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Wednesday 24th April St. Fidelis Sigmaringen

“How dull you are, how slow of understanding!”Luke 24: 25

Today’s gospel proclamation resonates in the minds of Catholics who have read or listened to it at some point in their life. Just few days ago we remembered the passion & death of our Lord Jesus. The gruesome death on the cross made us ponder on our own contribution to Christ’s suffering. We burst into jubilant joy as the church celebrated the solemn Easter Vigil still wonder-

ing how stunned and puzzled the apostles were upon hearing and seeing the empty tomb.

Today St. Luke narrates to us the journey two disciples took as they left Jerusalem with this puzzle in their mind, if He is risen where is He and where could He have gone to? If He has not, where could His dead body be? We too have similar questions but we are sophisticated to ask. We pretend we know and understand everything about the Lord. Is the resurrected Lord real for us? We make our own journey to Emmaus frequently in our lives. At times alone and on others with family members, friends or colleagues, but as we walk we are not alone. Jesus, our risen Lord joins us, listens to us, walks with us and teaches us the hidden truths about him. How much has he revealed about himself to us, in every prayer meeting, every outreach, every mass. Yet when we face a problem, when our needs are not met, when disappointment strikes we question like these two disciples from him “don’t you know what we go through, where we have been or how hard and painful it has been for us?”

In such moments our Lord Jesus asks us the same question He asked these two disciples, “How dull you are, how slow of understanding are you?” Then He illuminates our thinking and hearts to His truths and presence as He did for these disciples. We are never alone in our trouble and in our pain, it is He who strengthens us to go back to life and finish the race and our mission with Him within us. The psalmist tells us today the secret to experiencing His presence with us constantly that by praise, worship and giving glory to our God. He also tells us to speak, to give power to the words that testifies all to that He has done in our life personally. When we start to follow these instructions, His might and glorious presence can be experienced with more miracles to testify.

Acts 3: 1-10Psalm 105: 1-4, 6-9

Luke 24: 13-35

Prayer: Abba Father, give us the grace to see and experience your presence in our midst every day of our lives. Lead us, keep us in your great plan. Amen

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Thursday 25th April Octave of Easter, Thursday

Lord, our God, how majestic is Your name in all the earth. Psalm 8: 9

These days are ones of much rejoicing for the Christian faithful, as we recall our Lord’s miracu-lous resurrection.

As we look at the Gospel Proclamation, we see the disciples gathered together, listening to the encounter two of them had with the Lord on the road to Emmaus. As they are listening to this ex-

perience, the Risen Lord Himself appears to them. What a moment it would have been.

Up until that point, there still may have been doubts in the hearts of the disciples - for they had all heard of or seen their Master being shamefully crucified. But how do you doubt what is blatantly in front of you? The Lord was merciful enough to reveal Himself in a physical state and even ask for food, just to prove to the disciples that He was truly alive and amongst them.

It is this encounter and countless others, that brought St. Peter to the fearless state we see him in, in today’s first reading. The Lord built a foundation of experiences in the heart of St. Peter, and thus changed his entire personality. The cowardly Simon Peter, became Peter the rock, Peter the fearless bearer of the Gospel, Peter the vessel of God that brought about miraculous healings and conversions.

It is what was inside the heart of St. Peter that poured out into the lives of the people around him. That is how he converted 5000 people with just two sermons. He was able to boldly convict those who wrongly condemned the Lord, only because he had experienced the life transforming love of the Risen Lord and had been filled by the promised Holy Spirit.

In our own lives, we too exude what is within us. If we hold on to criticism, resentment, fear and pride; that is what will be preached to the people around us. However, if we, like St. Peter, believe in the indwelling Holy Spirit, we will exude love, peace, joy, patience and every good thing the Lord has in store for us.

Acts 3: 11-26Psalm 8: 2ab & 5, 6-9

Luke 24: 35-48

Prayer: Abba Father, let me be so filled with your Holy Spirit that it may flow out of my own heart and into the hearts of the people around me. Amen.

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Friday 26th April Octave of Easter, Friday

The Lord is with me; he is my helper. I look in triumph on my enemies. Psalm 118: 6, 7

Today’s readings show us how the apostles went back to their old life. But they could not do anything on their own, not even catch a fish, and with gentleness the Lord reminds them that with Him, they can do the impossible.

The Lord Jesus asks them, “Children have you caught anything to eat? “ They replied no. He then

tells them where to cast their nets and they bring in an abundance of fish. Many times in life we go down paths that bring us nothing in return. How much better would we do in life, how much more fruitful would our paths be if we followed the path that Jesus laid out for us? Allegorically the presence of Jesus Christ on the land signifies the stability and peace of His resurrection life, as distinct from the instabil-ity and commotion of mortal life still experienced by the disciples as they labour upon the waves of the sea. So He stands as role model for us. We just have to follow Him.

Two names stand out above the rest: Peter and Thomas. Both men are present and mentioned by name. It is a very interesting fact. After all, Peter denied the Lord three times and Thomas did not believe in His resurrection. And yet, both are present. Both are in need of guidance and mercy. Who gives it to them but the one who suffered for them. “The stone rejected by the builders has become the cor-nerstone.” (Ps. 118:22) This may be our story too. We tend to lock ourselves up in our own little world, just like the Apostles did, and only later do we come to realise that there is someone missing - the Lord. The Lord in His mercy will not allow any barriers to get in His way. He will reveal Himself, one way or another, and not allow any of His sheep to wander away.

In the First reading we see the number Five thousand, this shows a growth of nearly 2,000 since Pentecost. When the apostles consented this is what the Lord used them for. Are we allowing Jesus Christ to be our God and Lord today in everything that we do? The powerful name of Jesus is the focus of the entire episode. The name can be seen invoked in the letter of Acts to heal the sick, perform signs and wonders, drive out demons and administer Baptism. Let Him be the center of our lives today and forever.

Acts 4: 1-12Psalm 118: 1-2 & 4,

22-27aJohn 21: 1-14

Prayer: Abba Father, no matter what is up against us, help us to cling on to you and be confident of your unchanging love. Amen.

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Saturday 27th April Octave of Easter, Saturday

“Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature” Mark 16:15

The gospel proclamation today is God’s calling to every Christian. The Lord Jesus gave the early Christians the confidence and proof that they need to heed this calling. The Lord Jesus has defied the natural, known realm of living. He had just risen from the dead after being in the tomb for three days. On the earth among the living, He gave proof of possibility of what was impossible

for humans to accomplish. He Himself raised Lazarus from the dead and many others. By the time it came to the time of the resurrection of the Lord, the disciples and others had seen many such miracles. The Lord knew the fickle mind of the human race. This is why I sup-pose; He ensured that his followers were exposed to many miracles so that their faith would be strong. Even after the Resurrection, the Lord appeared to so many, shared food and taught. It was as if He had never left them. At the tomb, in the upper room and on the road to Emmaus, He made His presence known and yet, the Lord saw the unbelief of His people and it grieved Him. The word of God says that the Lord rebuked the eleven in the upper room and gave them a command that we are all bounded by to date. “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.”

In the first reading today we see the boldness of Saints Peter and John though they were perceived to be uneducated, ordinary men. They were recognized as companions of Jesus. What an amazing privilege to be known among your family, friends and society that you are a companion of Jesus. What qualified them to the status of companionship with Lord Jesus? It was the remarkable signs and wonders performed by them in the Name of Jesus Christ. Today we are called to this unwavering belief of the Risen Lord and in that belief call a mountain to move, the dead to rise, blind to see, deaf to hear, lame to walk and many more. The Lord Jesus proclaimed that we would do greater miracles. Do we see that happening more than 2000 years after the Lord Jesus spoke the words to go proclaim the good news to the whole of creation? We are called to respond. Today is a good day to start.

Acts 4: 13-21Psalm 118: 1 & 14-21

Mark 16: 9-15

Prayer: Abba Father, make us so bold, that we may witness your goodness to the least who want to know. Amen.

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Sunday 28th April 2nd Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday)

“Stop doubting and believe.”

The disciples were continuing the ministry of the Lord Jesus right there in the Porch of Solomon; one of the two porches of the temple in Jerusa-lem. The signs and wonders were many, and each miracle was different to the other. More and more people started to believe, and their numbers increased. Believers kept bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and every one of

them was healed and delivered. Those who could not make it to the Solomon’s Porch, lay down on the streets that Peter walked by. They believed if his shadow fell on them, they would be healed.

There was excitement and expectation among them. It is as though the God of judgment they knew in the Old Testament had returned to His mercy seat. Instead of punishment, they experienced God’s mercy and forgiveness. Not only the sick and the demon oppressed were set free, but also sinners were turning to God. Lives were trans-formed. The fire of the Holy Spirit moved like a bushfire; unstoppable, spreading rapidly. The kingdom of Satan that ruled the world after the fall was being destroyed, the Kingdom of God being re-established.

Fast forward to this day and time, churches have emptied. Miracles, signs and wonders are few. Excitement and expectation for the things of God have decreased. In the early church, when they prayed, they expected the sick to be healed, lepers to be cleansed, and the dead to come back to life. They would have been surprised only if their prayers went unanswered. Today, most of us are surprised if we see the miracles of God when we pray. We have stopped expecting and even those who believe in the signs and wonders are laughed at.

“Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” Thomas spent three years with the Lord Jesus. He saw every miracle that happened at the hands of the Lord. He heard every sermon the Lord preached. Very specifically, Thomas was present when the Lord spoke of His death and resurrection. He believed in the Lord completely. Then, what changed in Thomas? Today, some may call it PTSD; Post Traumatic Stress Disorder - a mental condition that’s triggered by experiencing or witnessing a terrifying event. Thomas saw every-thing that happened to the Lord from the Garden of Gethsemane to Golgotha. He saw how the Lord was brutalized, how much He bled,

Acts 5: 12-16Psalm 118: 2-4, 13-15,

22-24Revelation 1: 9-11a,

12-13, 17-19John 20: 19-31

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Prayer: Abba Father, just like the Lord Jesus ministered to Thomas when he could not believe, minister to me so that I can believe in your promises and act on them when there is no evidence. Amen.

how His physical body gave out and how He died. Maybe in Thomas’ perfect story, the Master would perform yet another mighty miracle at the last minute and come down from the cross without a scratch. Instead, they had to place the lifeless body of the Master in a tomb and seal it shut with a stone.

Our story is not too far off from Thomas. When we have to deal with a death, especially a sudden death of a young person we are pushed to where Thomas was that day. In the midst of the crisis, we too lose them all; every promise of God and every teaching we had received. We believe what our emotions tell us, what we see and understand. We come to the conclusion; God is weak, He is cruel or there is no God at all. When we go to that place where nothing makes sense, where our faith itself is shaken, the Risen Christ enters and shows us His wounds.

“Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side”. Gently, He picks us up, and ministers to us. In the midst of the crisis we encounter the Risen Christ. He takes away our blindness to see beyond the crisis and suddenly we see God’s goodness, His victory for us. Suddenly everything makes sense, all the fears, all the pain is replaced with the presence of the Risen Christ who is holding us.

“Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” Everyone of us fear the unknown. Not only do we fear sickness and death, but we also fear change.

Today, the Risen Christ is reminding us of something else; He holds the keys to those very places we fear to enter. Not only He has access to that place, but He has power and authority over that place; be it a sickness or death, be it a change that we afraid of. Therefore, He says; “do not be afraid”. He is dealing with our fears, and He walks with us every step of the way. He ministers to our doubts the way He ministered to Thomas; “stop doubting and believe”.

Today I open my heart to those words of the Lord and His Divine Mercy which is unfathomable - to shatter my doubts and my unbelief. I wait upon the Holy Spirit for a fresh anointing, so that I too can carry the message of the Gospel to the ends of the earth, beginning from my own home.

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Monday 29th April St. Catherine of Siena, virgin & doctor

God is our refuge and our strength

When we are attacked and shaken, we react with fear, anger and revenge. This was not the case with the early church. It is said that the apostles returned to the church after their unfair trail and warning from the Jewish leadership and prayed together. They did not pray for protection from the powerful leaders who could easily crucify them as they had done to the Lord Jesus. Instead, they

prayed for boldness, healings, signs and wonders. The reading from Acts 4 says that the place was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the Word of God with boldness. Their response was because they were ‘Born again’ in the Spirit.

To many Catholics the term ‘Born again’ seems like a dirty word. It is a name assigned to fanatical Christians and those who are from sects. But the entire passage about being born again was a special experience between the Lord Jesus and Nicodemus, in the middle of the night. Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews came to the Lord Jesus under the cover of darkness. Though he was convinced the Lord had the answers there was an element of fear in him preventing him from declaring his belief in the Lord as the Messiah. Many Catholics live with this fear of not being able to declare the Lord as their Saviour. We take a comfortable, non-obtrusive, non-interfering approach to declaring our faith. It is a clear sign that we are not Born again.

To be Born again is to have a light switched on in our beings, where we are suddenly made aware that truly the Lord Jesus died for us personally, that our sins have been forgiven by the Lord’s death on the cross. We are able to give glory to God in all circumstances and we find it effortless to praise and worship Him. It is the spirit that has come alive in us that ignites a heart of praise and an attitude of thanksgiving. If our hands cannot rise up in awe of the magnificent God we worship and we cannot sing out in joy to our saviour then we are still to experience the power of the living Saviour. A person in Australia sent me a message that before while at work he loved to listen to hip-hop music but after a retreat he cannot stop listening to Gospel music. He has become Born again in his spirit.

Acts 4: 23-31Psalm 2: 1-9John 3: 1-8

Prayer: Abba Father, I want to be made Born again. Amen

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Tuesday 30th April St. Pius V, pope

‘Francis rebuild the church of the poor’

In the afterglow of Easter, or the feast of the Risen Lord and as we prepare for the feast of Pente-cost, regarded as the birthday of the Church and meaning the eternal birthday for us - today’s first reading has deep significance. It is an instance where most of us and the church have failed or are falling far short.

According to Catholic Bible scholars, Pentecost has two dimensions. In Acts 2:1-41, we see the first dimension with the Apostles being fully anointed fully with the gifts of the Spirit and more than 3,000 people being converted by St. Peter’s first sermon. In Acts 2: 42-47 and in today’s first reading, we see how the believers shared all that they possessed and there was no one in need. They sold their lands, property and others possessions and gave the money to the apostles who gave it to those in need.

Today’s reading, shares one particular instance - Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet. Unfortunately, during the past 2000 years, this Pentecost dimension has been undermined. The Lord Jesus came to build a church of the poor. In most Catholic churches, especially the parish councils are filled with the rich elite. The poverty stricken people have little or no place and their voice is seldom or never heard. That is why, our Pentecost’s are often half-baked or not consistently powerful. The reading today tells us that when the believers shared what they had and there was no one in need, the church was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.

Pope Francis, in his prophetic proclamations is insisting that poverty alleviation needs to be given the highest priority in the church and for our spiritual growth. He recalls the story of St. Francis of Assisi, his favourite saint, when St Francis was in his old church building, he heard the Lord saying ‘Francis rebuild my church.’ He wanted to renovate the old building but the Lord told him to rebuild the church of the poor

Acts 4: 32-37Psalm 93: 1-2, 5

John 3: 7-15

Prayer: Abba Father, by giving all for you, not just the crumbs, may we become the powerful church of the poor. Amen.

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