Note of Appreciation

The Parish Priest, Rev. Fr. John Joseph, OSM, Sholinganallur, Chennai is a fervent preacher. During his sermon, he never fails to give a wide-angle view of the scripture, providing a snapshot of the then situation, closely comparing the verses with one another. I must think that even his very brief foreword at the introduction rite is a strength and will uplift the tone of our spirit essential for the full participation in the Eucharistic celebration. Quite a number of his sermons stuck in my mind and drove me closure to God. The best of all his sermons, are on “Beatitudes” and “Ten Commandments”. They are mind blowing! The excerpts from his preaching: “…of course, both Beatitudes and Ten Commandments lead us to Eternal life but Ten Commandments (laws – Old Testament – delivered by Moses) can be completed only when Beatitudes (directives or manifestos of our King, Jesus Christ – New Testament) are diligently followed. …. we have seen that the great powerful kings pass any decree and make any order sitting on the high throne. Jesus Christ being the son of God, is King of all Kings, authoritative and all-powerful, climbed the Mount and sat down to proclaim the edict to His people gathered around… The Beatitudes come with reward which seem to be inspirational whereas the Ten Commandments speak about the punishments for people who do not abide by the laws. But, in fact, Beatitudes are more difficult to live and without which no one can fulfill the Ten Commandments…..”

His other sermons about the parables of 10 lepers, 10 virgins, the message of John the Baptist, and the list goes on…are always presented an intellectual approach to Faith. They are well thought, organized and logical.

Matthew 7: 26But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.

Purposes of This Book

FAMILY PRAYER

Children like to imitate their parents in everything. In today’s world, the controversies are abounding- political, economic, social and religious. From birth to end-of-life, we will have lot more questions than answers; more knowledge but less wisdom.

One of the best-known practices, to remain in God’s blessing, is the “Family Prayer”. Our children profess their faith first at home. They should be given strong foundation for Spiritual wisdom. One of the best-known prayers of the Early Church speaks of the presence of Holy Spirit: Genesis 1:2Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. This truth is the foundation of understanding about God and His relationship to the world. Though He is not visible, we believe that God is truly near to us, by Faith. Hebrews 4:13Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. He is not only present in our lives but note, Psalm 121: 4Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep.

God revealed Himself to us through His only Son, Jesus Christ who instituted the Sacraments and entrusted them to His Church as a primary means of transmitting grace that helps us to live Christian life. Each sacrament emphasizes that God discloses Himself to those who constantly seek Him through prayers and actions. These Sacraments strengthen our relationship with God and to one another. The Holy Spirit works through the Sacraments. He leads us to Christ who unites us with the Father. Taking part in these Sacraments, we grow closer to God and receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit (Sacraments).

Every child is unique. Every child is an individual with distinct talents, characters, abilities, capabilities and aspirations. Even identical twins are individuals from birth. But environment that the child is exposed plays a vital role in their development and accordingly the child would be tuned in their interests and behavior.

We, the parents, are the only source for the toddlers. But when a child enters the age of 3, they start to understand simple concepts like coining words, identify and differentiate the animals, etc. Moreover, they begin to enjoy trying anything or everything without knowing the risks and challenges or doubts (say, climbing on stairs). Their abilities at this age are immense and this is the right stage where the mother should focus on nurturing their development, both physically and mentally. Children observe more of what we do than what we say and imitate what they see.

Matthew 18: 3And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Truly speaking, we, the elders, should change ourselves to be like a child. God created everything good, but it is our disobedience that made our lives sinful and miserable. To go before God, or to enter His Kingdom, we need to get rid of our sins and doubts but to go to Him with a child’s qualities: meekness, submissiveness and faithfulness.

The older we get, the more “hurdles and doubts” we keep in front of us and this will slow us in our faith or make us to give up the relationship with God. We can please God only with our Faith. Faith is the character to be built from the childhood and later to be developed by the love of God.

God instituted the sacraments to ease us in our search of Truth. Only by Faith in the Divine Revelation, the way to Truth can be revealed.

So, I begun to change myself in the same way as I explained above and continuing along with my son in the good fight to finish the life’s race, to reach the doors of God’s heart with childlike faith!

Acts 2: 38Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Saying "THANKS" and "SORRY" to the children

Greeting and Thanking someone will always make you feel good. The smile, you receive after greeting and thanking will always make you feel good. Smiles are a language of their own and have different impact. (Yes, I have noticed) just a smile and that brought the receiver to tears. Same way, saying sorry must be taught from childhood. They’re just that words: I’m sorry. But when it is stated with heartfelt apologies, though they are simply words, the receiver will instantly feel the love and care that other person mean by uttering this word. I mean to say, when someone isn’t ready to apologize and regret for doing mistakes, do these words carry any real value?

Keep in mind that saying sorry is just the beginning of the process of repairing the situation/relationship that went wrong between people. These words, unless accompanied with action, are nothing but mere words.

The same applies to the Sacrament of Penance too. It took me more than two weeks to explain this Sacrament to my son because of its complexity. But now and then, we re-open our discussion for questions, doubts and debates about this simple but strong topic that should be followed by action. Doing mistakes are common to humans but to realize, regret and admit the mistakes, reconcile with God, learn to not to carry them forward into the future are the essential and best practices to rebuild the relationship that was lost.

Mind you, things like cheating, betraying or lying in a relationship are more serious. Violate someone’s trust (in bible, it refers to “transgressions”), sure, will require quite some time and good effort to repair; but it won’t turn back time and mend the rift in their relationship that the bad action might have created.

To transgress is to choose to intentionally disobey; transgression is willful trespassing; Samson intentionally broke his Nazirite vow by touching a dead lion (Numbers 6:1–5; Judges 14:8–9) and allowing his hair to be cut (Judges 16:17).

To commit iniquity is to continue without repentance. David’s sin with Bathsheba that led to the killing of her husband, Uriah, was iniquity.

The sin nature is present in every human being born since the Fall of Adam (Genesis 3:6–7; Romans 5:12). God forgives iniquity, any type of sin, when we repent. However, iniquity left unchecked leads to a state of willful sin with no fear of God. Psalm 32: 1Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven; whose sins are covered.