Love Prevails!: A Season and A Time!

My People,

Good Morning! You must have heard this a million times but for a million and one time, it’s nice to be kind.

John 15:9-17 - “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit — fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.”

These are words from the Best in the Music world, ABBA’s Super Trooper.

So I'll be there when you arrive
The sight of you will prove to me I'm still alive
And when you take me in your arms
And hold me tight
I know it's gonna mean so much tonight

Tonight the
Super Trouper lights are gonna find me
Shining like the sun
(Sup-p-per Troup-p-per)
Smiling, having fun
(Sup-p-per Troup-p-per)
Feeling like a number one
Tonight the
Super Trouper beams are gonna blind me
But I won't feel blue
(Sup-p-per Troup-p-per)
Like I always do
(Sup-p-per Troup-p-per)
'Cause somewhere in the crowd there's you

Last Saturday, I watched the movie Cinderella. When my dearest friend in the world asked me if I had watched the movie, I realized I had to do this sooner than later. And Boy! Am I glad, I did? It was a classic fairy-tale to the finish and I loved watching every bit. Cinderella’s mothers last words to her are, ‘Be kind and have courage.’

To me this will always be the fairy-tale I love, and simply because the Prince searched the whole kingdom with her glass slipper in his hand. Love can move a mountain. Love did find its way to their hearts. Love brought them together. When the heart calls, love responds. The whole universe has to make way. Love did win and it always will.

Be kind and have courage and all will be well!

Jesus says: ‘A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.’ John 13:34-35

This is a true story of unconditional love the one Fr. William narrated in his homily as printed in the Reader’s Digest. A story about a baby boy, who was blind, mentally handicapped, and had cerebral palsy. He didn’t respond to sound or touch. His parents had abandoned him.

The hospital didn’t know what to do with the baby. Then someone remembered May Lempke, a 52-year-old nurse who lived nearby. She had raised five children of her own. She would know how to care for such a baby. They asked May to take the infant, saying, ‘He’ll probably die young.’ May responded, ‘If I take the baby, he won’t die young; and I’ll be happy to take him.’

May called the baby Leslie. It was not easy to care for him. Every day she massaged the baby’s entire body. She prayed over him; she cried over him; she placed his hands in her tears. One day someone said to her, ‘Why don’t you put that child in an institution? You’re wasting your life.’

As Leslie grew, so did May’s problems. She had to keep him tied in a chair to keep him from falling over. The years passed: five, ten, fifteen… It wasn’t until Leslie was sixteen years old that May was able to teach him to stand alone. All this time he didn’t respond to her. But all this time May continued to love him and to pray over him. She even told him stories of Jesus, even though he didn’t seem to hear her.

Then one day may noticed Leslie’s finger plucking a taut string on a package. She wondered what this meant. Was it possible Leslie was sensitive to music? May began to surround Leslie with music. She played every type of music imaginable, hoping that one type might appeal to him. Eventually May and her husband bought an old second-hand piano. They put it in Leslie’s bedroom. May took Leslie’s fingers in hers and showed him how to push the keys down, but he didn’t seem to understand.

Then one winter night in 1971, May awoke to the sound of someone playing Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1. She shook her husband, woke him up and asked him if he had left the radio on. He said he didn’t think so, but they decided they’d better check. What they discovered was beyond their wildest dream. Leslie was sitting at the piano. He was smiling and playing it by ear. It was too remarkable to be true. Leslie had never gotten out of bed alone before. He’d never seated himself at the piano before. He’d never struck a piano key on his own. Now he was playing beautifully. Mary dropped to her knees and said, ‘Thank you, dear God. You didn’t forget Leslie.’

Soon Leslie began to live at the piano. He played classical, country western, ragtime, gospel and even rock. It was absolutely incredible. All the music May had played for him was stored in his brain and was now flowing out through his hands into the piano. At the age of 28, he began to talk. He didn’t carry on extended conversations, but he did ask questions, give simple answers and make brief comments. For example, one night he was watching a comedy on TV. He got fed up with the dialogue and said, ‘We’d better turn that off. They’re all crazy.’

Leslie now plays concerts for church groups, civic organisations, cerebral palsy victims and their parents, and mentally handicapped children and their parents. He’s even appeared on national television. Doctors describe Leslie as an autistic savant, a person who is mentally handicapped from brain damage, but extremely talented. They can’t explain this unusual phenomenon although they have known about it for nearly 20 years. May Lempke can’t explain it either. But she does know how the talent can be released – through love.

The story of May Lempke and what her untiring love did for Leslie needs to be told over and over again. But it’s especially appropriate for us today for it shows the tremendous power of love. What May’s love did for Leslie is nothing short of miraculous.

Love has the capacity to work miracles in people’s lives. Through love, God has put at our disposal the greatest power there is in the world. Love is a power that every human being has. Love is the one thing that matters when all is said and done.

Vanity of vanities and all is Vanity!

Command means to give an authoritative order. If you take a note – you will notice people in position and how they command their subordinates. Being in power and not being carried away by it – that would have to be a highly disciplined person. Some people want the chair so bad, that when they get there, they often forget their beginnings. Being in a position means (having some kind of power to do something) to make a difference. Boy! And what a difference some people make. It’s like they finally got what they wanted, and now they become the people they so hated. They scream and humiliate the people around them. If you watch you won’t see any courtesy. They behave like they just walked out of Buckingham Palace. I think even the nobility acknowledges people.

They love the attention and the capacity to make people obey their commands. It makes them feel they have a final say. They love the power that comes with authority. Not all people are the same. But yes, very rarely will you meet a person who is not carried away.

To be in power also means that one must be totally humble. Humility is the capacity to know that God is and will have the final authority. That being where you are is where God placed you, for the sole purpose of doing good. You need to ask yourself, are you doing what God would want you to do? Think and be honest. Be humble at best. Remember pride comes before the fall.

Jesus meek and humble of Heart, make my heart like unto Thine!

God made every one equal. We make mistakes and we learn. We need to remember that. We need to remember to be kind at all times. Any bridge that needs to be build needs all hands. A bridge cannot be build by itself. Together we can make it happen. A good leader always knows that, a good leader always rises to the occasion.

Mother Teresa - always kind and never holding anything back. A great woman – a great champion for the causes of the suffering people. A great person-a Saint who was led by the light of JESUS!

Jesus, the Son of God, can command too. Of all the things HE can say and do, the only thing He commands us, is to love one another. When God created every one equal and in His own likeness, we still treat people as slaves. People command to show their authority. When they do, they make the other person feel so small. When we are here for each other, we show our love for one another, we hold the heart that hurts. Love till there are no scars. What a wonderful command in a world that has forgotten how to love. All Jesus expects of us is that we reach and fill each heart that is hurting with His love. Reach out to each other and then to a world that needs to be loved. Amen.

Jesus meek and humble of Heart, make my heart like unto Thine!

A second, one deep gaze of love, a heartbeat – and we have touched love and lived infinitely beyond the moment.

Great trials involve great Graces! As my days are so shall my strength be and the strength of the mighty God will be with me and God will be Glorified!

When disaster befalls us; and we feel the loneliness of life come we must come into remembrance of a Love that will remove from us all the bitterness of our present sorrow. God is always Faithful!

Where shall I find words to express the delight of my soul?

Our names are in God's heart. We have received the gift of the only-begotten Son. He left the Throne of honour for the Cross of shame; for the darkness of the tomb.

We will never, never be able to fathom the depth of the love of God towards us in the gift of His Son to be our Redeemer!

Love if measured would be the deepest of the deep and higher than Heaven, as long as Eternity, and wide as immensity. Love calls to LOVE!

God loved us—we also ought to love one another!

God forgave us-we need to forgive all those who have offended us!

Today morning, I heard a little girl cry. Her dad was telling her to be quiet. But she continued without a stop.

Oxford dictionary defines stubborn as having or showing dogged determination not to change one’s attitude or position on something, especially in spite of good reasons to do so.

How many times we meet people who stubbornly want to stick to what they think is right for everybody. How many times these people could be members within our own family?

Nobody is born stubborn. Stubbornness is a fear, it arises out of insecurity.

Let’s go back to the child I heard crying in the morning. All that was needed to be done was to hold the child. Supposing that the child was held and yet she continued to cry. How long would she do so?

15 minutes, an hour or so, I mean she would stop at some point. When she did stop, she would do so knowing that whatever tantrum she threw she was loved through it all. When you let her off let her know how much you love her. The next day you could sit and tell her that you could have done so many things together in those two hours. But no matter what you do, don’t ever let your baby feel that the time was a waste. Love is never a waste.

When children are insecure they cry and throw tantrums. Don’t feed the insecurity, don’t let those feelings grow.

When you meet people who are stubborn, always understand that they behave so only due to insecurity. They behave stubbornly and want their way because no one ever understood them as children no one gave them the attention that they thought they needed, so now they demand what they thought they should have got in the first place. They demand out of a fear that they will otherwise be ignored just like the little girl who continued to cry with her father telling her to be quiet.

Two weeks back on a Saturday after the 7:30 pm mass, there was a family gathering, I don’t remember, maybe a month’s mind or so. What it is – is that they all stood inside the Church and were talking loud, it was disturbing. As I was speaking with Jesus I told Jesus I am leaving now, I can’t hear myself. Jesus asked me to wait with Him. Jesus told me this you comfort my heart. I sat with Jesus. I left only when Jesus told me to do so and that was after they left the Church.

Day 3^rd May, 2015 – During Communion, one of the Hosts (Body of Christ) fell on the floor. The Priest was not aware because of the heavy breeze that came in. From a distance I watched Jesus fall (a second time)and He let me lift Him up. I love You, Jesus.

Day 9^th May, 2015 – On a Monday when I am in the Church, sometimes I stay for the third mass as well. After the 6:30 am mass, I waited back. Jesus told me ‘Go’. Jesus told me, we will never be apart. I am in His heart as HE is in mine.

Forever Jesus I am Yours and Forever You are mine!

At the evening mass, after receiving Jesus, Jesus let me feel all the tenderness in His love. I don’t know how to put it across in words. The heart being filled with love and when you walk with each other through life’s moments, sharing your innermost feelings, you get to know each other even more. It’s an intimate moment, when the One you love literally lets you walk into His heart, and then without a word said you start feeling everything in His heart. The way HE lets you in, without holding anything back. He lets you feel it completely. Nobody in this world can make you feel like that. That’s the intensity of the love of the Heart of Jesus. Beautiful, gentle, tender, humble and meek all all LOVE. His heart to mine and mine to His!

We serve a mighty God. He has permitted us free access to everything on Earth. Evil was not destroyed at its onset, whereas it was in God’s power to completely annihilate evil. Everything is written, everything is known by the Almighty God. He knows the leaf and He alone knows its time and He knows when a mountain increases in its measure. He is all knowing - Omnipotent God. What God ordains, God accomplishes.

We all face trials and everyone differently. We can choose to get bitter with what we face or we can choose to let the trials make us better people. The choice is always ours.

If you face deep afflictions, you shall obtain deeper proofs of the faithfulness of God. Amen.

Oxford Dictionary defines Vanity as Excessive Pride, admiration of one’s own appearance or achievements. Lack of real value, worthlessness, pointless.
We seek for riches that will perish and trust in them. Vanity is to be ambitious of honours and to be seeking status. Desire of the flesh and desire for a long life without a concern for a good life, all this is vanity. It is Vanity to love what is passing away, and not to hasten where everlasting joy is.

When I was a kid I loved to read and recite poems. I still love poems a lot. The last paragraph of this poem was how I felt and I wished this as a kid with all my heart. I attach the poem by Alexander Pope-On solitude.

HAPPY the man, whose wish and care
A few paternal acres bound,
Content to breathe his native air
In his own ground.

Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread,
Whose flocks supply him with attire;
Whose trees in summer yield shade,
In winter, fire.

Blest, who can unconcern'dly find
Hours, days, and years, slide soft away
In health of body, peace of mind,
Quiet by day.

Sound sleep by night; study and ease
Together mixed; sweet recreation,
And innocence, which most does please
With meditation.

Thus let me live, unseen, unknown;
Thus unlamented let me die;
Steal from the world, and not a stone
Tell where I lie.

Only by the faith and meditation on the Word of God can one always seek God’s will.

I believe there is no man on earth who knows everything. No matter how well read, and how many accreditations the person has, does not make him knowledgeable or well behaved. Sometimes the most learned are the most ill tempered and misbehaved people in society.

I believe this of myself, that I am nothing. Praise be to God, for though I could continue to be the grain of sand or mud but God breathed life into me-He chose for me to exist. Therefore I say, I am dust, and to dust I will return, but till then I will sing His song of Glory for evermore. Bless the Lord, my God.

The life-span of a butterfly is from 2 days to 10 days. Some other species of butterflies make it to almost a year. There are the four stages. In the stages from the egg, the Caterpillar (also known as the feeding stage) and the Pupa (known as the transformation stage), who would ever say that it would grow into something as beautiful as the Butterfly?

The Butterfly in its short span of life makes every day so beautiful. If you look at stage 2 and 3 you think can anything like this turn to something that will display beauty. But yet stages 2 and 3 are needed for transformation. Only when stages 2 and 3 are done, can we call this a Butterfly.

Butterflies they are so beautiful. They are so gentle. To me love is like a butterfly and it is how our lives should be.

We too like the Butterfly, go through the feeding and the transformation stages. Feeding is when we are infants and as humans we are ever transforming. Our trials are what transforms us to what God wants us to be. If we have to come into His presence we need to go through the Pupa (transformation). Our trials will make us the Butterfly (Holy) to come into His presence.

As we live we are forever transforming. Let our lives be filled with love to beautify every place and radiate it with the Love of Christ. Let us be gentle with each other as the Butterfly is to the flower. Amen.

Jesus meek and humble of Heart, make my heart like unto Thine!

We need to practise humility and only then will we grow in wisdom and holiness. Holiness is not a title we confer on ourselves. Holiness is what becomes when we are in total association with God.

For everything in life, I must learn to wait on the will of God. It is God’s perfection that comes to place in His time. God is perfect and He accomplishes everything to perfection.