Typically, anyone who is rich, powerful, and famous, in the eyes of the world, is considered blessed. However, there is a saying, “If the rich are the happiest, how come they are not dancing in the streets?” If the powerful are the most secure, how come they have many bodyguards? If the famous are the…
Category: Sacrifice
Finished or Not Finished
During the exams we would always hear the words of our professor, “Finished or not finished, pass your prayers.” If we did well, we were happy, but if we feel we did not do well, those words were such a dread. Perhaps these words too are the words of Jesus about our journey on earth,…
Truly Rich
Many times we have this misconception that our religion does not want us to be rich. We have the misconception that it is better to be poor. On one hand, Jesus tells us to go sell all our possessions, give them to the poor and follow him. On the other hand, he told Peter, anyone…
Eulogy
Once we were asked by our professor to write our own Eulogy. Initially, it brought laughter to the students. It was an uneasy laughter. Eventually, it died down, for when we started working on the details it became a moment of deep reflection – “Who do I say that I am when I pass away from…
Suffering
As human beings, we all want to avoid suffering. We do not want to see our loved ones suffer. In fact, there is this story of a person who entered into counseling with the illusion of alleviating the suffering of people. Eventually, she realized that whether we want it or not, whether we are reading…
Seed
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said: “Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.” In other words, everything starts small. When you wonder why people are so forgiving and generous, they all…
Abuse of Power
There is a movie quote from the film Spiderman, “With great power comes great responsibility”. This is a saying that is very true because if your look at the world today, people abuse the use of power. Some displays of power in everyday life: During the times of Jesus, the Jews and the Samaritans were…
Faithfulness
When I was a newly ordained priest, my parish priest told me to give priority to couples celebrating their 25th and 50th anniversaries. Further, he explained why. We live in a world that is so consumeristic – when a new item comes along, we dump the old one. Sadly, it influences our relationships. Hence, with…
Eternal Life
We live in a world wherein there is the seen and the unseen, the good and evil, the wheat and the weeds, the spiritual and the material. There is life on earth and eternal life. We live in a world wherein it is not one or the other. We live in both worlds. In the…
Courage
Who would ever think that we would see the day that: Even calling out an inappropriate relationship brands one as judgmental and intolerant. Despite all of these, right is still right, even if no one is for it, and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it. Further, we remember the saying, “All it…