God is not your debtor

Matthew 20 : 1-16

Jesus likens the kingdom of God to a household where some workers are hired first and some are hired later but all are paid the same wage irrespective of who worked more. The kingdom of God calls us all through prayers,sermons,deeds of other humans and our own conscience to be better humans and to walk in the way of God. And when we do so we cannot expect great rewards as a mandatory condition. We cannot expect God to pay us to be good. Its like saying going to church makes you a good christian. Even though someone may have sinned all their life they can be rewarded too if they repent sincerely.

Image courtesy - graphicblender

Less is more

No I am not commenting on the fashion trends of red carpet. I love fashion but here I am talking about today's gospel.

Matthew 19:23-30

Its difficult for rich people to understand God's teaching and to enter the kingdom of God. By rich I mean not just the wealthy but those who are more concerned about the materialistic part of life and do not understand spirituality in their daily life and moments. You can be poor and materialistic too. Its ok to love your possessions but not to the extent of being an unkind,selfish,greedy human who doesn't remember to thank God once in a while and who weighs human relations less than his corduroy pants. Are they in vogue now by the way?

Its more important to be content in what we have and that can inspire us to achieve more by God's grace and hard work.

The Assumption of Mary

Today is The Assumption of Mary to heaven. A very important obligatory day for churches. I am a big fan (you may say) of Mary. She symbolises patience,virtue and even elegance to me. I have prayed to her when I was in need and felt she has been my intermediary always. Thus keeping a lent prior to this day is always important to me.

Luke 1- 39-56

Mary visits Elisabeth when the latter was pregnant. As soon as Mary speaks,the baby in Elisabeth's womb (John) leaps. With this Elisabeth proclaims the uniqueness of Mary and blesses her and her forthcoming child. Mary is surprised and confused because she was not even engaged. But the angel of God calms her doubts by saying nothing is impossible with God. Thus God's glory is revealed to her and Mary's sings his praises. He is a God of mercy and power. He will not urn away from the weak but uplift them above others. Mary being a common person is chosen to give birth to the son of God. And thus she becomes a patron for generations of devotees.

Little ones of the Bible

Matthew 18- V 1-5,10,12-14

1-5

Jesus answers the question of the disciples as to who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

 Jesus answers by first tellign the disciples that they have to convert. Convert their minds to the childlike innocence which can grasp a meaning in its purest and simplest form. Only then can they know who is the greatest. And that is a child or someone who thinks with the same innocence.

10 - The weak or underdogs have protectors or angels in heaven. Thus Jesus warns the disciples to not despise the weak/innocent ones.

12-14

Jesus also tells that God will protect his sheep/people even if one goes astray. He rejoices when the the sheep which went astray led by bad habits and a lost mind,because it mended its ways. God will not let even one perish.

Are we salt? Matthew 5: 13 - 19

Whenever I try a new dish,I add salt towards the end. This is to make sure blood pressure of elders is not affected. Sometimes though,I end up not adding enough and the dish becomes listless. The most important ingredient,thus,salt is indeed important. And so are we,to God. 
We are salt that have to retain its flavour every moment of our lives. Be it in our relationships,talks,acts and thoughts. And how do we do this?
By being true in our nature. Being honest to ourselves. By not being extreme in our emotions. We have to maintain a balance in the dish of life.

"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid."

We have to shine through our acts. As Christians we have to spread the good news and let the world know. If we live a true and wholesome life,its like our being is on top of the world. Thus it has to shien like an example to those below,yet to reach up. Through our actions and words we can inspire them to reach to God's plans. A good life can never be hidden.

Jesus did not come to how that his new laws and commandments were against the old laws. He did not come to show he is superior to them. He says no new law can replace the old until everything is fulfilled. Thus if he is no position to change anything nor can anyone do so and teach others to do so.
 

Incomparable shepherd - John 10:22-30

Jesus is repeatedly asked if he is the Messiah. What kind of people keep asking others of their importance or their identity? ones who are deaf by ear and deaf by faith. Are we the same? Do we really believe that Jesus is not just in a frame or statue but in the deep recesses of our soul which becomes apparent not during great calling of worship but in quiet moments at our worktime and reflective moments at a drive,with friends and alone.

Jesus only asks us to believe in him. In return he promises us the limitless love of him and the Father.

29	My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.

The Gatecrasher - Interpreting The Bible - Chp John 10:1-10

Jesus explains and predicts ho false Gods and prophets will happen /happened in our lives. Look around us,we have so many of them. All asking their pound of flesh. Can we differentiate between the genuine and the fake? Do we know who is truthful and who carry a bag of exaggerations? Can we say who is the gatecrasher.

1

"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber;

2

but he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. Jesus is our true gatekeeper. He is the shpeherd who knows his sheep and the sheep know their true master. When we do right or wrong we will most probably be scared of our parents or someone we really trust because we know we only go back to them. Likewise,Jesus waits for us. No matter what.  Anybody else,the fake anti christ will jump over the fence and gatecrash to get hold of the sheep.  Wolf in sheep's skin,you may say. All he wants is to gain 'followers' like some blind social network.

Thoughts on Lent

Another year.Another Lent.Yet another chicken farm you gave up? Well I gave up a lot of cocoa beans from Ghana ( I gave up chocolates coz I can't resist them!)

Does every Lent come and go for you? Lemme know if you agree with my thoughts.

If you long for the lent to get over,don't take it.

If you keep looking at the calendar everyday,please don't take the Lent.

If you keep longing at pics of chicken tikka and gosht in magazines and masala packets,skip Lent.

If you do take Lent,keep some time aside to pray sincerely.

You can do charity on other days of the year also.

Do not think Lent is the time to lose weight and look fab for your Easter new-LBD.

Do not walk around looking pious and serene. The world is not Christian only. Your office peon does not know it is Lent.

Do not force your family members to take Lent. It should be voluntary and from the heart. That means not keeping the butter,sugar,toffee jar and mayonnaise secretly hidden in the closet!

Do not call family and announce you are on Lent. The sky won't open suddenly and rain blessings on you.

Do not show-off. It stinks.

Just like other things in life,make sure the why and who of Lent. Talking about religion maybe uncool in today's 140-character world but the very God who created oceans,homo sapiens and cute pugs also gave brains to create the 140 character tool and 'coolness'. So read and learn about why,how and when Lent came to be. Don't give excuse of time and source. Even the doodhwala has a smartphone and open wifi.

Lent is not New Year where you take 'resolutions'. and then tweet about ' shucks yaar nahi kar paya'!

 So what does Lent (or any special fasting day/period mean for you ? )

Did you?...

Dropped wife to work. Bought vegetables for the week. Paid the phone bill. Did you remember to thank God today?

How often is prayer in our things to do of the day? I, for instance, constantly see myself 'squeezing' time to quickly run down a prayer and read the holy book,that too, a paragraph which opens when I open the book.   Like some fortune cookie.

How busy am I! I do,however,have time for lazying around in front of the laptop with really nothing to do except stare at it hard and imagine what I can do!

I aint no saint so I aint here to preach. But amongst the huge list of things we keep learning from our parents is that,prayer is not to be tucked under the mattress of everyday life but to be opened and spread over our routine in such a way that it gets what is missing in our lives - respect. 

We need to respect God. Respect his many blessings in our difficult times. 

hey ..but for that we need to respect ourselves. 

“Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.” 
 Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov

You are not uncool when you pray!

Ok so what is it about praying that gets people to roll their sleeves and roll their eyes?
That it is not important?
That it makes them uncool?
That it takes up their precious time off from lazying around?

Praying not may not be important for you but if you tend to blame some supernatural being for your problems,say 'thank God' when you are happy or relieved and hope against hope when really,really expecting a good news but fearing a bad one, then my dear wannabe-atheist ,for you, there IS God.

You need not follow a rigid prayer routine but just remember to say thanks when you do get your good news!

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