Back ground:
Today is the last sunday of advent/cycle 3. ON 25th we celebrate birth of Christ.
The bible is the only book in the world that has precise, specific predictions that were made 100 of years in advance & that were literally fulfilled. That means that Bible has credentials that are absent from many other religions:
Historical background of Christmas is age old propercies,(1)virgin would conceive (Is7:14), (2) redeemer would be born of tribe of Judah(Gen 49:10)(3) of the house of David(Ezechiel 33:23),(4)at time which have been fore told by Daniel(9:25-26) some 500 years before(5)that His birth place would be Bethlehem(Mich5:2).
Church through these 4 sundays, invite us to rethink, about our knowledge of christianity:
Verify our self, whether we follow the real Christianity or Christianity for our convenience. How to verify?
(1) Make a habit by allocating a fixed time for a given day(15-20 minutes)/through out your life
(2)Why and how Christ came to this world?
(3) What is the function of church and how to be a member
(4)What is love. How Holy mary show us how to love, even before 30 years to John the Baptist. What is the characteristic of love
Once you are clear and practice what is requested, about these matters, christ has come to your life
B. Preamble to today's reading
B. 1 Love Story
God(Father),planned to re establish Freedom to human. Old testament mentality looked at HUMANITY as being indebted to GOD, trying to find countless ways to please HIM.
Then Jesus,who claim SON OF GOD,came asking people "WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO DO FOR YOU" JESUS, who was imbued by powers of GOD,walked up to people & asked"HOW CAN I HELP YOU"
If they wanted to see HE opened their eyes!If they wanted to walk HE let them walk!If they wanted daughter brought back to life,HE brought their daughter back to life!If they wanted wine,HE gave them wine!If they wanted bread,HE gave them bread!,Even when they wanted HIM dead,HE died!
HE did all these things without a fight!,ALL BECAUSE HE WAS COMING WITH ONE POWER"LOVE".To LOVE is to serve!.GOD IS LOVE & HE WHO LIVES WITH LOVE,LIVES IN GOD& GOD IN HIM. HE kept10 commandments: same,with changing"Eye to eye"to pardoning+love.(Turn the other cheek)
Then Holy spirit established the Church to implement Freedom to whole humanity. Immediately HE changed thru' Peter
(1)to join with Baptism by any human
(2)no circumscion
(3)no restriction on food(you can eat pork)
(4)introduce many on going advices,as how to manage paradigm change,with scientific advancements.
Characteristic of Love:
Love that refuses to share kills its own power to love. Mary before to Jesus, showed you(when she was bearing Jesus in her womb)
(1)How to share love with others(Elisabeth)
(2)when you have christ within,you cannot be happy until you have imparted your Joy to others!
This may lead us to a direction where we don't want to go!.SPIRITUAL DARKNESS & EMPTINESS is the result of GOD'S CLOSENESS!
B.2: misconception about life!
My atheist friend Mr A, told me as follows:
A. What you send out, comes back, what you sow you reap, what you give, you get, what you see in others, exist in you. Life is an echo that gets back.
My catholic answer for that is given below:
Mr A, there are 2 answers, for your view
Answer 1: When you know that you have created by God to live happily, you will not expect what you send out, any return, you will do that for the love of God. God will see that what you give, for the love of God, you will never deprived to receive your basic needs to live. You will not feed your child, expecting any return. Similarly a child will not feed his parents, expecting any return. Otherwise you are doing business with family and you will be easily discouraged if you don't get the return. All these things are derived from love. Love is God. When you receive God, you share that enjoyment with society, without,expecting any return.
WHEN YOU DO FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, YOU WILL NOT DISCOURAGED FOR ANY OUTCOME TO YOUR ACTION
Answer 2: By mistake or willingly, you might commit a sin. Life has to flow. If you are not sure, the effects of sin, can be cancelled, through the actual repentance, your +ve life will stop at that point. This doesn't mean that you have license to sin. Life is such that you might commit a sin, willingly or unwillingly, due to life circumstances. Then your life will stop progressing from that moment, if there is no treatment for Sin. One of the thieves with Jesus at Golgotha, got pardoned from his sins, once he receive Jesus into his life.
FOR MOVING LIFE POSTIVELY, ONE SHOULD BE ABLE TO REPENT HIS SINS AND GET IT PARDONED FROM THE BAD EFFECT OF THAT SIN INTO HIS LIFE. OTHERWISE LIFE WILL STOP FROM THAT MOVEMENT.
B.3 Example set by Holy Mary!
Only one human in this world, who witness, paradigm changes from Father,to son and to the Holy Ghost. Normally Father, upto John the Baptist, prepared us thru' prophets how to live when we get freedom: He gave 10 commandments with eye to eye principle. Holy Mary was living in this era too.
Then Jesus, God-son came to this world. He mainly showed us, to enjoy freedom given by God, there are 2 steps.(1) childhood to obey your parents(or parents responsibility to maintain and guide their children) (2) In adulthood- how to manage your life both physical and spiritually- with adhering to same 10 commandments, now changing how to operate changing from Eye to eye to turn your other cheek. Holy Mary witness these factors too!
Then Holy mary witness Jesus suffering at Golgotha (where most of Jesus apostles were abandoned HIM). Then she witnessed risen Jesus. After that She witness the formation of Church by Holy Spirit. Not only that, she witness, the 1st change of rituals by early church(1) make it open to whole world, not only to Jews(2)no male circumcision(3) no restriction to eat pork.
She was never stubborn to adjust herself for changes, for the love of God. No wonder why God has selected her as Mother of church, to intercede on behalf of us with HIM. Practically she has proved herself, she can manage, more than an apostle, not abandoning God, at any time what ever the difficulty!.
That is why, She is always look after humanity, passing messages. Lourdes,fatima are few examples!.
B.4 living witness available in srilanka and india with Holy Mary:
Madhu Church: mary against satan
Church is in a thick forest of 1000 acres out of 350 are cleared for the pilgrims. During the trouble period(1983-2009) around 60000 people has taken refuge in the shrine. Madhu statue which has been in Manthi (mannar) has been shifted to present location during dutch persecution time. Fr Ferrao build the present church in1705.The thick forest was infected with many kinds of poisonous snakes. Upto now no snake or snake bite has been reported in the shrine!as guaranteed by Fr Ferrao(died in 1721) moreover the soil around(Madhu mud) the shrine is said to possess healing powers,especially to act as an antidote against deadly snake poison. The protective,healing & reconciliation functions of Mother Mary are beautifully realized in this forest Shrine!.
Matara shrine: she shares our worries with us!
26/12/2004,dreadful Tsunami wave hit the church swallowing 25 devotees,& 400 year-old ash wood statue though its glass case was locked. But statue came back to the shrine on 3rd day!,which was found on the shore,to a non catholic. Statue was damaged,but the crown placed on the infant jesus whom she was holding in her arms was intact!The message of mary is clear."She has been wanting to suffer with her people,being a loving mother she did not wanting to come back until She settled her affected children."She is not always a triumphant queen. She shares with our sorrows,too.In1907,after repairs from Belgium this statue was fallen into the ocean due to a storm,but safely surfaced after a few days!.8 sept we remember the birth of Virgin Mary. 8/12/1854(Pius 9)Her immaculate conception & 1/11/1950(Pius12) Her bodily assumption in to heaven was declared by the church.
Our Lady Of Veilankanni(India)
Mary carrying her infant son, appeared,to a child worker carrying a milk pot to his master.The boy was too happy to hand over the pot to Mary to feed her infant. Boy was afraid to his master,for stealing the milk!.But when pot was given to his master, the milk was miraculously overflowing!,resulting Hindu master to build a small church. Subsequent incident, mary has appeared to a physically challenged boy, who was selling butter milk to the fisher folk,and asked milk from boy to feed the infant. Boy gave. This time, the boy was completely cured and able to run!, informing the story to all fisherman!.In both cases it was not the devotee who asked for a favour from Mary, but it was Mary who asked for a favour from little ones for her Divine Infant!.The little ones also joyfully shared with her & Infant Jesus. This was the sole mission of Jesus(Jn 10:10).What can u give to CHILD jesus?
C. Today's reading:
Prophet micah(mi5:1-4) says"U bethlehem..clans..born..rule over..distant past..Lord..abondon them."
Hebrew says(Heb 10:5-10)"U..no sacrifice..body..no pleasure..sacrifice for sin..obey U'r Will..U didn't..law..no pleasure..replace..offering His body..for all.."
Lk(1:39-45) says"mary..went..into Zechariah..greeted Elizabeth..child leap..loud cry..Of all women you are most blessed.and blessed is the fruit of thy womb..mother of my lord..child..lept..Joy..
Fulfilled."
D. Reminds:
(1)There are 2 birth stories in Gospel. Jesus+John Baptist
(2)power of God operated in both cases,with Zachary doubting & Mary accepting
(3)Love that refuses to share kills it own power to love
(4)Mary not only wants others to share her love,but also her beloved
(5)visitation proves that your life begins from mothers womb
(6)Your life is having 2 phases
(A)Childhood-follow parents
(B)adulthood-follow God's will
(7)without charity U abandoned God.
God did not create Baby Adam or baby Eve, but HE send His son, as baby Jesus. Why?
Adam and Eve has being created as matured persons with full freedom, always freedom is subject to law. God intention of creation is subject to (1) not to eat from the forbidden tree and then (2) follow His Will.
Adam and Eve, failed from 1st one itself. Then God introduced death and childhood, to humans. So human life consist of 2 phases(a) Childhood (b) adulthood.
When you were born, you cannot decide your name neither your food. Your parents will decide on those things. It implies, that during your childhood, you have to obey to your parents and parents responsibility is to train, you, how to accommodate God's will in your life, when you become adult. That is why, catholics, baptize,their newly born babies, and train them to receive Holy Eucharist, making confessions, so they can continue, the same, while adulthood, to receive God's will.
God, son- Jesus clearly showed us these 2 phases: childhood and adulthood. Though Jesus is God, HE underwent all rituals from holy family and was obedient to them, just to show the eternal reasons, as how to manage childhood.
Then only,Holy spirit form the church and HE changed, certain concepts immediately, forming the church. Church became universal+no circumscion+no restriction to eat pork. Holy Mary witness all these changes. She is the only human being, who witness and practice,God will,without any hesitation or rioting to refuse to undergo change. Not only that she showed the characteristics of love, 30 years before,to john the baptist, when you receive Christ, you will share that Joy with others!
SHE SHOWED LOVE AND CHARITY GO IN HAND IN HAND, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. SHE NTERCEDED WITH GOD, TO SHOW THIS BEHEVIOR MUCH BEFORE,(30 years),JESUS. NOW SHE IS THE MEDIATOR FOR HUMANS WITH GOD. EVEN NOW, MARY, AS THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN, INTERCEDE,ON BEHALF, OF US, WITH GOD.
E. Conclusions:
Summary Of Advent(cycle 3)
Each 4 sundays we were clearly informed
(1)importance of reflecting(forgetting earth bound cravings),as how God planned to reintroduce Freedom to human. allocate15min/day along with rosary. MAKE A HABIT
(2)study,how Christ came thru' Mary & role played by Joseph. SPECIAL CHARACTER OF MARY & JOSEPH
(3)study Church formation by Holy spirit. why church rules are necessary,to accommodate paradigm change. How to be a member of church? Why catholics receive Baptism immediately after birth? THRU' BAPTISM U BECOME A MEMBER OF THE CHURCH
(4)main slogan of God-Love how it operates?basic characteristics of love-ONCE U RECEIVE CHRIST,U EXTEND THAT JOY WITH MANY OTHERS Ex: mary once Christ in her womb,visit elizabeth-share the joy.
At the end of advent:
When you are avail of all information & practice the same,2nd coming of Christ is already with you & ready to receive physical birth of Christ.
In Cycle 2, main theme
Lk(1:26-38) .........I AM HANDMADE OF THE LORD, said Mary"LET WHAT YOU HAVE SAID TO BE DONE TO ME"
GBU
For more pl visit:
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http://www.sundayreading.net/
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http://holymaryreflection.
