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Tangere Domino

03 Friday Apr 2020

Posted by Word Ignite in Bible Commentary, Blogging, Catholic, Charity, Christian, Church, Contemplation, Culture, Discernment, Ecumenism, Faith, History, Holy Spirit, Humility, Judiasm, Latin Church, Lent, Literature, Love, Meditation, News, Parables, Philosophy, Psychology, Reading, Religion, Sociology, Spirituality, Teaching, Theology, Uncategorized, Wisdom, Writing

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Divine contact with faith, heals and makes one clean.

St. Augustine puts forth the fact that ‘the Old Testament is the New Testament concealed and the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed. This can be profoundly examined and understood especially through the various instances where our Lord Jesus heals people. One such instance is in the gospel of St. Mark 5:21-34. The Lord has revealed Himself as the word in the Old Testament and in the New Testament He reveals His Divinity through His Incarnation. Christ Incarnate is the sole saviour of the world. And what He means by saving is aptly described by Pope St. John Paul II, who writes in his book, ‘Crossing the Threshold of Hope, pp 70 “…To save means to liberate from radical, ultimate evil…Through the work of the Redeemer death ceases to be an ultimate evil; it becomes subject to the power of life…And, therefore, the world cannot be a source of salvation for man. Only God saves, and He saves the whole of humanity in Christ.” The woman in Mark 5:21-34; who suffered 12 strenuous and shameful years because of an infirmity, suddenly finds herself in close proximity to salvation. The one who is an outcast to her our people, is in search of The One who knew rejection from the very womb of his virgin mother. The woman who was branded unclean, knew that by faith in Christ; who was the closest to those who were unclean, will be surely be healed by Him. The Law of the Old Covenant in the book of Leviticus 15:19-30; concerning ritually unclean women did not dilute this unnamed woman’s courage and conviction in the Messiah. She did not fail to not only acknowledge but also believe in His presence among the chosen people of God on earth, in that time of history. She spent a lot of her money in various medical care but in vain. So it is not her trust in another stint of therapeutic cure, but rather, her belief in making personal contact with the Saviour, that healed her. 

Woman with blood hemorrhage touches the hem of Jesus’ garment

What’s really unique about this encounter that we need undoubtedly pay attention to, is how our Lord ‘brings to life’ the heart of the Law given to Moses by God, for His people’s government and righteousness sake. Leviticus 15 enlists the norms about uncleanness among women going through their cycle in the month and how they are to be purified, by the Mosaic rituals, based on the duration of the uncleanness. The matter is of serious concern because whoever comes in physical contact with this unclean person automatically becomes unclean and needs spiritual purification. Until then, the unclean person would not be permitted to have, proximity with God’. The Lord on the other hand, who is the Law Himself, given to Moses, written on the tablets, has now been touched by one who is unclean. And the Law demands of the Jew, now defiled by one who who is herself contaminated, to be set apart as unclean, until purified by the rituals of the Law. But is it so in the case of our Lord? No. Christ, shows that He has truly come to set us free from the bondage of sin and death. He publicly choses to justify the action of the unclean woman of approaching God in her ‘defiled state’, which is ‘truly right and just, our duty and our salvation’ (Roman Missal – Eucharistic Prayer for Masses for Various Needs and Occasions – English translation formally approved in 1995) to believe in Jesus as our Lord and saviour, and that He alone can gives us salvation and freedom from every sickness, disease, infirmity and death. And that no Law on earth or in heaven can bind a believer from coming forward to receive his bounty from Jesus the Divine Healer. The Lord completely overturns a possible scandalous situation into a mighty manifestation of faith and salvation. 

The woman who lived more than a decade in a state of defilement, showed immense faith and confession of that faith, for scripture says she kept on repeating, “For if I touch his garments, I will be healed” Mark 5:28. It was not mere determination to approach Jesus to touch at-least his garment, but it was more of her faith that she will surely be healed if she touched the hem of the Lord’s garment. That is precisely what she was constantly assuring her mind. Sickness, disease or near death situations can numb our faith by letting our mind over power us. It happens to the best of us. But a faithful and repeated confession of  God’s word will act as a weapon against the blows of doubt and anxiety. The question which the Lord asked His disciples; when He knew someone touched Him, was not simply a logical one, as the disciples had thought, because the Lamb of God was surrounded by a large crowd of people, pushing and brushing each other’s way to follow him on his way. The question which was a result of Him perceiving that power had gone forth from Him – Mark 5:30, was infinitely more significant than just ‘who touched me’. It meant, who manifested this mountainous faith in Me, this impenetrable belief in Me. Who defied society, risking excommunication and a possible life of solitude for the sake of salvation? But of-course, as the disciples were themselves caught in the rush of the crowd around our Lord, they could not instantly fathom what their Master was inquiring? The Lord, instead, was as though, eager and excited to see the child who came believing in the Son of the Father.

Fear of the world will always suppress faith. Fear of God will always destroy fear  contracted from the world. The enemy – the devil; uses fears, sicknesses, diseases, infirmities, anxieties, doubts, guilt, low self-esteem, and so on as heavy blows upon the faith of the believer. The Son of man has “overcome the world” – John 16:33, and therefore has brought salvation into this world. In other words, true and real freedom from the most radical and ultimate evil – death, as John Paul II reminded us. The unclean woman was healed because of her faith, as the Lord affirmed it to her Himself, by saying, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease” Mark 5:34. The world today is repeatedly attacked by evil in various forms. The most current being the coronavirus pandemic. All of humanity has to avoid social contact, stay sanitised, take necessary precautions of personal hygiene, in order to stop the chain of infection. The faithful face a catastrophic – temporary unavailability of the sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist. Nonetheless, the Lord, reminds us, as well as, assures us gently, as He did the woman in this passage of scripture, of the gift of salvation which He has given us freely. Though the woman approached Jesus with trembling and fear of being reprimanded, was surprisingly received with compassion by the Saviour in whom she so firmly believed, with acceptance of not only her faith but also her public act of faith. In the same manner, may all who suffer, irrespective of its tenure, may we never shy to touch Jesus in His flesh, through worthy reception of the holy communion and in spirit through the other sacraments. And when in a time of social lock-down, may we do so worthily, faithfully, fearlessly, through spiritual communion and prayer. The Lord is with us, until the end of time – Matthew 28:20. Believe and work out your salvation.

John Roger Anthony – Catholic Lay Missionary
He’s been actively involved in building parish communities, children, youth and adults since 20 years. As a retreat preacher, motivational speaker and moral counsellor, Roger has made a tremendous and positive impact in the lives of thousands in India and abroad.
Many of the recipients of Roger’s charisms of Preaching, Teaching, Spiritual Counselling and Personality building have come out of the darkness of depression, relationship bondages, suicidal tendencies, emotional trauma due to sexual and emotional abuse. These also include consecrated men and women.
If you are inspired to support Roger’s ministry then please email to wordignite@gmail.com

The Fallen One

20 Tuesday May 2014

Posted by Word Ignite in Catholic, Uncategorized

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Apostles, Catholic, Chastity, Christian, Divine, God, Gospel, Holiness, Jesus, Joy, Life, Love, Mercy, Rome, Trinity, Vatican, Virgin Mary, World

The Catholic Church has always held that the devil is real, not a mythical personification of evil. This teaching finds its origin in the teaching and example of Jesus in Mt 4:1-11; 12:22-30; Mk 1:34; Lk 10:18; 22:31; Jn 8:44. The Church’s teaching on the subject is clear from its liturgy. At baptism, those to be baptized are called upon to reject Satan, his works, and his empty promises.

Pope John Paul II, in his general audience of August 13, 1986, expounded at length on the fall of the angels and, in speaking on the origin of Satan, said, “When, by an act of his own free will, he rejected the truth that he knew about God, Satan became the cosmic “liar and the father of lies” (Jn 8:44). For this reason, he lives in radical and irreversible denial of God and seeks to impose on creation–on the other beings created in the image of God and in particular on people–his own tragic “lie about the good” that is God.

I’d like to draw the premise, first by underlining what the word Devil means. It comes from the Latin diabolus (devil), which is a transliteration of the Greek diabolos (devil; diavolos; διάβολος) from the verb diaballo (to insinuate things), slander, calumniate. The Venerable Archbishop Fulton J Sheen explains the ‘diabolic’ to be one which ‘tears apart’. The essence of the Devil’s agenda is the hatred towards the cross of Christ.

The first Epistle of St. John 5:19, the Word of God says: “The whole world is in the power of the evil one.” St. Padre Pio said, “The number of demons active in the world is more than the people who have ever lived; right from the time of Adam”. The Holy Mother Catholic Church in her Catechism teaches us that, “The devil and the other demons were indeed created naturally good by God, but they became evil by their own doing.” “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” “Although Satan may act in the world out of hatred for God and his kingdom in Christ Jesus, and although his action may cause grave injuries – of a spiritual nature and, indirectly, even of a physical nature to each man and to society, the action is permitted by divine providence which with strength and gentleness guides human and cosmic history. It is a great mystery that providence should permit diabolical activity, but “we know that in everything God works for good with those who love him.”

Lucifer

The world since a very long time, more so since the past century, is plagued with an anti-God motive. However, this plague need not be the cause of hatred towards God, but the subtlety is such that it becomes almost impossible to uncover the camouflage of the Prince of Darkness. Human slavery, fornication, child labor, homosexuality, abortion, pornography, insolent fashion and art, public nudity (the Devil simply loves to manifest itself in man’s desire to be nude & in indulgence of animalistic / degrading sexual actions), persecution of the Church and the Holy Eucharist in particular, attraction towards worldly luxury and sophistication, divorce, abandonment of the elderly and of those who need special care physically & mentally, broken families, pedophilia, women desiring to be Catholic Priests, and the list can be longer than one could imagine.

There are two mystical bodies, says St. Thomas Aquinas, in this world: The Mystical Body of Christ and the mystical body of the Devil or of the Antichrist. To one or another every man belongs. The Mystical Body of Christ is the Holy Church, His pure and faithful Spouse …. The mystical body of the Devil is the ensemble of impious men. Like an adulterous wet-nurse, it nourishes this ensemble. The Devil is its head, and the evil persons are its members ….” “The body of the Devil,” says St. Gregory, “is composed by all the impious men.

Demons use your fears against you. And they use your dreams and ambitions to manipulate you just the same. One thing that a lot of people misunderstand: They think that there’s just one demon. A demon is basically a military leader; they have so many legions of lesser demons that are inside that person with them. Demons are deceitful. They can make you believe that they’re gone, but they’re really still there.

St. Leo the Great responds, “Christ’s inexpressible grace gave us blessings better than those the demon’s envy had taken away.” St. Thomas Aquinas also wrote, “There is nothing to prevent human nature’s being raised up to something greater, even after sin; God permits evil in order to draw forth some greater good. Thus St. Paul says, ‘Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more’; and the Exsultet sings, ‘O happy fault, . . which gained for us so great a Redeemer!'”

John Roger Anthony

“I am the Way; the Truth and the Life.”

18 Sunday May 2014

Posted by Word Ignite in Catholic

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Catholic, Christian, God, Jesus, Joy, Life, Love, Mercy, World

“1 Do not let your hearts be troubled. You trust in God, trust also in me. 2 In my Father’s house there are many places to live in; otherwise I would have told you. I am going now to prepare a place for you, 3 and after I have gone and prepared you a place, I shall return to take you to myself, so that you may be with me where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going. 5 Thomas said, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’ 6 Jesus said: I am the Way; I am Truth and Life. No one can come to the Father except through me. 7 If you know me, you will know my Father too. From this moment you know him and have seen him. 8 Philip said, ‘Lord, show us the Father and then we shall be satisfied.’ Jesus said to him, 9 ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? ‘Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father, so how can you say, “Show us the Father”? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? What I say to you I do not speak of my own accord: it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his works. 11 You must believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe it on the evidence of these works. 12 In all truth I tell you, whoever believes in me will perform the same works as I do myself, and will perform even greater works, because I am going to the Father.” – Gospel of John, 14: 1 – 12

 images (1)

Last week, Jesus; through the Holy Gospel according to St. John spoke about Himself as the Gatekeeper through which the sheep who hear His voice, enter His sheepfold. Today, the Evangelist St. John in the words of Jesus Himself enlightens the faithful not only about the most profound truth about Jesus’ relationship with His Almighty, but also about the way how we the faithful, can as well enjoy a personal relationship with The Father. Christ our Lord is constantly reminding us that He is our Good Shepherd. And as a good shepherd, He is always mindful of leading His flock to the Promised Land (New Jerusalem / Heaven) which is the pasture for all the sheep who recognize His voice and follow Him. He assures us that everyone who listens to his voice and place their trust in His way, will all be given a place in His sheepfold. “You trust in God, trust also in me. In my Father’s house there are many places to live in…”

The incarnation of God in the person of Christ Jesus is not only the Divine Revelation of The Trinity’s unfathomable zealous love for all of creation – visible & invisible, but it is also The Trinity’s merciful and most compassionate will of restoring the fallen spiritual nature, substance and beauty of mankind, which was fearfully and lovingly created in the image and likeness of God. Therefore, Jesus came into the world, to once again unite mankind with the purity & holiness of its Creator, and to enable it to have full communion with the purpose for which it was created – which is to worship and give glory to God.

In asking Jesus, “how can we know the way?”, since “we do not know where you are going”, the apostle Thomas draws our mind to a few radical questions which many wandering souls ask even to this day. Where is God? Where is heaven? How do we get there? Jesus not only has answers to these questions, but through today’s Holy Gospel, He tells us that He Himself is the answer. Our Father who is in heaven, is eternal life, indescribable holiness, unfathomable mercy, invincible power and unconditional love. To be with this Father in heaven, every soul has to attain the lumen gentium. The Light of Nations – Jesus, is not a street or highway to heaven, as one may simply think off. Instead, He is the perfect manifestation of all that The Father is. He loves like His Father, He is merciful as His Father, He is wisdom as is His Father, He is life as is His Father.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, para 240: “Jesus revealed that God is Father in an unheard-of sense: he is Father not only in being Creator; he is eternally Father in relation to his only Son, who is eternally Son only in relation to his Father: “No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” And in the following para 241, the CCC teaches: For this reason the apostles confess Jesus to be the Word: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”; as “the image of the invisible God”; as the “radiance of the glory of God and the very stamp of his nature”.

Therefore, this is precisely why Jesus proclaims, “I am the Way; the Truth and the Life.” Replying to His disciple Phillip, Jesus is infact teaching all of us that if we known Him we will know His Father as well. And this is nothing but truth. In the person of Jesus, we see the Divinity and Sovereignty of God the Father. In the will of Jesus visibly manifested in His deeds, we see the invisible working of God the Holy Ghost – the living Spirit of God. In the end, Jesus reveals a great truth, which instill great hope; such that only He can give. The truth is in His words: “whoever believes in me will perform the same works as I do myself, and will perform even greater works, because I am going to the Father.”

 

John Roger Anthony

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