BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD.

Be in your prayer space, follow the usual steps and settle into silence.

Take a couple of gentle, slow and deep breaths…becoming aware of your breath going in and out… stay focused on this breath of life……

Breathe in all that is of God and from God…all that is true, honest, pure, admirable, noble, decent, virtuous, worthy of praise, good, loving, kind – all that deserves respect….

Breathe out all that is not of God and from God……..

Settle into silence, into peacefulness, into profound silence, into pure joy. Keep listening in quietness, stillness and serenity.

Come to that place, that space within, that place of deep silence – Solitude…to just being here and now, without having to accomplish something.

Now from the depth of your heart begin to wish your mind well……

Our last meditation was on the special name God has for each of us: Forgiven and Graced.

We meditated on the moment of new beginnings: God calls…forgives….and Graces!

In His Grace we begin NEW and in His Grace we move on…..In Him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28)

This meditation is on the many thoughts and inspirations from the prophet Isaiah and St. Paul. Prayerfully read them and dwell on them for a few moments.

The prophet Isaiah calls his people to leave the past behind and celebrate the wonderful things that the Lord was doing in their life… “remember not the past…see I am doing something new”…don’t you see…I provide for my people all their needs, “your sins I remember no more” says the Lord (Isaiah 43:16-21).

Leave the past behind! The past may have been terrible….may have been great…but it is not with us now. Leave the past in the hands of the Lord and make the best of today.

Today is the first day of the rest of your life. NOW IS THE MOMENT OF GRACE. Celebrate the Grace of the moment!

Paul says to the Ephesians and to us today: “God chose us in Jesus Christ and will raise us to everlasting life in Jesus Christ”. Therefore we must live holy and blameless lives in response to this noble calling. This life must be lived in Christ. In Christ we have been brought into the mystery of the fullness of God’s life and love (Ephesians 1:3-14).

God has chosen us in Christ. Be faithful to this noble calling. Live holy and blameless lives!

We have a noble calling and we should be faithful to that calling. We are called to live noble lives, lives of virtue, honor, mutual love, compassion for one another, peace and harmony. Then we will be “one body, one spirit” and we will share “one Baptism, one faith, one hope, one Lord, one God and Father” (Ephesians 4:1-6).

The life before knowing Christ was the “old self” with many desires and needs and the life after encounter with Christ was the “new self” with new values and attitudes given over to virtues of justice, peace and personal holiness. After meeting Christ, a person becomes a disciple and the disciple wears the kind of garment that the master wears……(Ephesians 4:17, 20-24).

Our baptism gives us a new garment…..calls us to wear the new garment and bring it unstained into everlasting life. To be clothed in the baptismal garment is to be clothed in Christ and to be clothed in Christ is to become Christ, to live Christ life.

Remember: You are renewed in the spirit and have put on a new self, recreated in truth and holiness…….you must live in holiness and truth.

We are sealed with the Holy Spirit. To be “sealed” meant many things to the readers of this letter, such as “being legally bound” or “being raised to a new status” or “being conferred authority” and so on. To be “sealed with the Holy Spirit” is to be bound to Christ and one another in a new fellowship, to be raised to a new status of “being children of God” and to be brought under a new authority, the authority of Christ.

We are to “imitate” God because “you have been sealed with the Holy Spirit”. We are called to follow the way of love, imitating God as his beloved children. We are empowered to live a life of love, imitating God, by the gift of the Holy Spirit.

We are to live a life in the Spirit of Jesus. Many may have given themselves over to “foolish” ways, ways of drunkenness, debauchery, etc. The disciples of Jesus must give themselves to the Spirit and be filled with the spirit of Jesus…they must learn to live wisely, with the wisdom of God. (Ephesians 5:15-20)

Be rooted in the Spirit! Be wise in your day to day living!

Paul encouraged the Corinthians to be faithful to their commitments just as Jesus remained faithful to his Father’s plan. God, in his love, is always faithful. In this excerpt, Paul says that he and his coworkers, Silvanus and Timothy, have always acted with integrity, remaining faithful to the Gospel they preached. God has always remained faithful to his promises. In Jesus, God said “Yes” to life and “no” to death; . Paul challenged the Corinthians to say “yes” to God and remain faithful to their “yes”. (2 Corinthians 1:18-22)

Paul exhorted the Corinthians to “imitate me as I imitate Christ”. It was imitating Christ and keeping his focus on Christ crucified that Paul ministered to his communities. This was to govern the life and activities of every Christian. So he advised the Corinthians to follow the way of Jesus and do everything for the honor and glory of God. Always seek the good of others and take care not to offend anyone. (I Corinthians 10:31 – 11:1)

Communal love and deference for the well-being of others must characterize the life of those who follow Christ.

Paul says, “The love of Christ impels us” – the love of Christ became the moving force in the life of Paul. This love, he says, makes us a “new creation”, with a new life style. This is God’s gift of reconciliation and peace. In Jesus, God has reconciled us to himself so that we may become “the very holiness of God”. How awesome and how challenging! (2 Corinthians 5:14-21)

Be faithful to your calling! You have been reconciled and called to the “very holiness of God”!

Paul encouraged the Corinthians to be just as generous….just as they are rich in every respect, in faith, in knowledge, etc. they may “abound in charity”. Christ has become poor so that you may become rich by his poverty. (2 Corinthians 8:1-9)

Paul spoke of a “thorn in the flesh” which caused him great suffering……scholars have given various interpretations to the “thorn” in the flesh. Whatever the suffering was, from this letter, we know that he prayed, repeatedly, to be free from the suffering (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). The relief that he prayed for did not come……..only a promise came, “my grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness”…..an assurance of Grace to live and work with the thorn and not to be freed from it….a promise of strength to face the obstacles, endure the difficulties for the sake of the Gospel.

The “thorn” had to be acknowledged and embraced as a suffering to endure and as an opportunity to trust in God’s Grace and to rely on God as the source of power and strength as a channel of God’s Grace, a channel through which God’s Grace is witnessed and revealed.

We read about the prophet Elijah becoming desperate, disturbed by the evil designs of Jezebel and the weakness of Ahab, king of Israel (1Kings 19:4-8) and prophet Jeremiah deep in despair because of the rejection and anger even of his closet friends. We find them crying out their pains and frustrations to God. They became strong in their trust and continued their journey and persevered in their efforts to fulfill their prophetic mission.

Take a moment….join the Psalmist (Psalm 42), express your longing, your hunger and your thirst for strength of the spirit, for the gift of Grace…….

Like the deer that yearns for running streams,

So my soul is yearning for you, my God.

My soul is thirsting for God, the living God.

When can I enter to see the face of God?

My tears have become my food night and clay,

and I hear it said all day long: “Where is your God?”

I will remember all these things as I pour out my soul:

how I would lead the joyous procession into the house of God,

with cries of gladness and thanksgiving, the multitude wildly happy.

Why are you so sad, my soul? Why sigh within me?

Hope in God; for I will yet praise my savior and my God.

My soul is downcast within me when I think of you,

from the land of Jordan and Mount Hermon, from the Hill of Mizar.

Deep is calling on deep as the waterfalls roar:

your breakers and all your waves crashed over me.

By day Yahweh will send loving kindness;

by night I will sing praise to the God of my life.

I will say to God, my rock: “Why have you forgotten me?

Why do I go mourning, oppressed by the foe?”

With cries that pierce me to the heart, my enemies revile me,

saying to me all day: “Where is your God?”

Why are you oppressed, my soul— why cry within me?

Hope in God; 1 will praise Yahweh, my savior and my God.

Take another moment….Remember the spirit of Jesus, the Holy Spirit dwelling within you, giving you strength for all things that you have to face in life……..

Be Still for a few moments

Loving God,

Give me faith and trust, courage and patience,

strength and insight, discerning and trusting heart

and the wisdom to remain open to the transforming power of your Grace. Amen

Fr. Gus Tharappel, msfs

Spirituality of St. Francis de Sales  

  This six week program will explore a spirituality that is   down to earth and open to people of all walks of life. St. Francis de Sales encouraged people to find holiness in every day matters.

  In whatever state of life men and women themselves, they can discover the way to God, joyfully and without fear. God can be found anywhere, everywhere and by everyone.

  The hours we spend in our daily chores need not be spiritually empty or useless. It is in the daily chores that we live out our life of faith.

  You are invited to participate in a program that will offer insights to enhance your own spiritual life.