Holy Kiss... Part 2

Over the years, we as people have implemented numerous changes to our lifestyles. Most of which make for a better living and easy mode of life. We are becoming a comfort minded people, a people who want everything at a press of a button.

I am amazed at the number of prayer books that are made available. I mean there are morning prayers, evening prayers, night prayers, prayers in sorrow, prayers for; there are numerous reasons and numerous prayers. There are so many novenas and so many different ways of praying the Rosary. My goodness….
My favourite one is the one prayer, Our Lord gave us, the Our Father. How wonderful it is to call on ‘Our Father’, my Abba Father. And I always love the pace with which Fr. Reuben leads with my favourite prayer in the whole world. I love to pray every word, because every word has a deeper meaning in the prayer. And that’s what Fr. Reuben does. He is loud and clear.
I also love the Anima Christi and St. Francis of Assisi prayer. I love these prayers extremely. It fills my heart with extreme joy when I pray. Among other prayers, these are my favourites. 

The Saints are here to help us, to lead us to God. 

To believe, one does not need to go from one church to the other. Every Church is the same, be it Mt. Mary or Mt. Carmel. Jesus and His Mother Mary are the same. The location may differ but when we call on God, He listens to us most attentively. He never knows how to ignore.

Over time we have made so many compromises concerning the sacredness and have been irreverent of the presence of God in the Church. A Church is not built so as to be lavish in looks.
All of Mangalore is focused on building lavish Churches.
A Church is the presence of God’s people in attendance to praise and worship Him. He comes down on the Altar, and the bread and wine now become the Body and Blood of Christ. He does this so that we can be fed with Him for our protection against the evil in the world.
Between the Church of the old and us, there is a whole world of difference. They gave their lives to each other. They had LOVE.

We are a sad example of Christianity. I see the same faces in the different groups in the Church. Maybe you see nothing wrong with that. And I do not speak of all, but there are many who forget their responsibilities towards their families. They have given other things more priority in their life. I understand the seniors, what about the others?
If you are married and are working, that leaves very little time for the house work to be done. It leaves very little time to be having a conversation with your spouse or the children? But you’d rather be in the Church in every group? Why is that? Do you think you do this out of love for Jesus?
Aren't we convenient Christians?
Matthew 5:48 states - You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
In a family, we must give our very best to each and every member. A whole Hundred percent and nothing less. We are not perfect, but we sure must try. It is in trying that we succeed with the grace of God.
Marriage means being there for each other. Together it is a prayer that is right at the heart of God. It is that candle that spreads its light for everyone to see. Love is the essence of that marriage. How can God not be the centre of that marriage that is rooted in obedience?
Yes, OBEDIENCE is the key.
Space and Sea, the depths are immeasurable. We have yet to conquer space and master the sea. And there is always something that makes it seem, we are one step closer but in reality we are miles away.
Since the beginning of time, man has set to change what in his power and ability he could.
We are constantly going through change and at warp speed. We are implementing change at the rate of losing our integrity, our humanity, our compassion and our lack of concern for our fellow brethren. We fail to love. 

We are creating human look alike android life forms and we want plastic to have emotions or rather learn emotions when we fail to have one for our fellow brethren. Maybe we can teach them what it is to feel and then relearn from them what it means to express our love for our fellow brethren.

We have to be content with what we are given, what we have and the knowledge that the Almighty God knows best.

We have forgotten how it is to be happy. We prolong or procrastinate our happiness, we think about tomorrow, when we are not certain about today. We have forgotten that today is a day to celebrate and live to the fullest, giving God the complete credit and thanksgiving knowing fully well that there is never another today. Today is what I have in hand and it can never be replaced. All my dreams, all is today.

Memories they are the most wonderful thing, God has given us. We can choose to live with them the way we want to. We can use them to walk on the right path and make life better for others or we can choose to be grumpy bitter and always choosing to look at the worst points of life.

This is one of those memories that I look back on fondly. I remember in Mangalore, whenever there were any occasions, all the relatives and neighbours would come to help. Everyone would help with the preparation for the meals. Whatever the occasion, you could count on everyone to help. So if you ran short on knives then the other person would get whatever they had. Everybody helped. Those memories of community love, they will remain in my heart forever. 

These days everyone wants the celebrations held outside. Everyone wants to outdo the other. Competition is such it always brings the darker side of the personality in full view.

We cannot go back to the times when love was all we desired. I hope you do understand.

• The mode of travel for people were Horses and boats. With time, there were Ships, vehicles like cars, bus, trains and Planes.
• Men had to go hunting and women had to cook and then think of how to preserve the food depending on the seasons and the area they lived in. These days one can go to the market or simply place order for food. There are all kinds of gadgets to speed up the cooking process. 
• If you had to get news of your loved one you had to wait for weeks or even months, sometimes the message took nearly a year to reach. With the invention of the Telephone things got better, but for limited people. But the invention of the cell clearly is the winner.  No more waiting, instant messages, instant calls.
  

Tell me, what happens when everything gets done instantly? Tell me how the future generation is going to be able to write anything or make sense for that matter. In WhatsApp they use TU for thank you or WC for welcome. We have become habituated to the easy way of life and of course the shortcuts.

What if there is a major break down in the satellite? What happens then if we are unable to communicate with each other or get things done the way we are so used to?
We have upgraded ourselves with the latest of the technological amenities at our disposal. If everything goes away, we would be left defenceless and unable to quickly adapt because we have been accustomed to the instant life? A question to ponder on.

I love watching TCM (Turner classic movies) channel. I have always loved listening to the way they speak. Those days when they made movies, the usage of words was polite and kind. Now the usage is aggressive and abusive. People think it is okay to be abusive. But really if you don’t learn to control your tongue, then most probably one day you will speak plain rubbish with someone you don’t expect to speak with in that kind of manner. And what you speak you become. 

When we have forgotten how to be patient or kind, we have gotten used to place orders to people or with people. We use language such as ‘my way or the high way’. What does this imply? It simply states a sense of pride, a sense that I am not dependent on anyone and I don’t need anyone. I can survive on my own. It states utter selfishness. So we have become heartless and ruthless. Tell me do you see kindness or compassion in the above words used?

The things we have upgraded in ourselves, the behaviour pattern is what we expect from God too. We use the term, God’s will, but we want instant reply from God, as if we are on WhatsApp chat. We put our terms and conditions and the reply must come instantly. But God is not like that.
So when we don’t get it our way, then we think we can bribe God.
How very complicated we have become. And what a mess we have made of this life given to us. We think that we can live life the way we want to and then bribe God. So we give something like 2,22222.00 - figuratively speaking, we want to be remembered with the said amount. That is what was done during the celebration of the mass in Mangalore, the names of the contributors with the amounts were mentioned. Isn’t this vanity?
We think we can bribe and fool God? How can we be so naïve?

With all that man has achieved over time, with the technological advancement, man has forgotten how it is to approach God.
John 13:34 Jesus states: A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
Luke 10:27 states: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself."

After death when I am before Jesus, Jesus will ask me only one question, did you love your neighbour. My neighbour could be just anyone, it could be you, it could be the person I am talking to or it could simply be a stranger I just met. It could also mean my brother? Did I give my best to the person? Did I love with all my heart? This is what Jesus will ask me.
We must be like the good Samaritan.

Luke 10:29-"And who is my neighbor?"
30 Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him he passed by on the other side.
32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion,
34 and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; then he set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.'
36 Which of these three, do you think, proved neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?"
37 He said, "The one who showed mercy on him." And Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."


There are days when I love to take the long way home. I love to walk under the Moon. It has always fascinated me. There is much we learn in the walk. When I take the long way, God walks with me.