A while agoI had lunch with a dear young friend, who I have loved dearly ever since she was a baby. According to her, some of her desires have not witnessed the dawn of fruition. And I insist that she has it all, only she does not know it!!
The Universe always fulfills desires…In its own time and in its own way. You may be waiting for a financial windfall, it may not be forth-coming from the direction that you expect. You may be so engrossed in your conviction that it will come only from that door, that you overlook another gateway opening.
Sometimes the gift is already there but you do not recognise it.
During the month of April we celebrate Jesus Christ’s Ascension. He proved to us that Life is stronger than Death.
Look at your life and re-acquaint yourself with your blessings Do some Soul-searching, and ‘ascend’, this Easter Sunday.
Go for the diploma that you have always wanted to have.
Explore your buried talents.
Express your love and appreciation, to the one who has long enough been taken for granted.
Experience the power of the ‘Risen’
Christopher Mendonca writes:
We don’t give death serious thought unless we come face to face with it…The process of dying, interestingly is woven into the fabric of life. There is a continuous cycle of death and birth in the seasons…In our mind we experience the constant birth and death of myriad thoughts and ideas that are here one moment and have disappeared the next…Fear of death is largely linked to the ego. It is what we are most attached to that we are afraid of losing…
Death is an abstraction we fear. Dying however is a daily reality that we can learn to accept. The death and resurrection of Jesus is all about death and dying. The celebration is meant to take away the ‘sting of death’. The central message of the Easter Season is that if the process of dying is integrated into ones life, then we need not be afraid of death, when it comes. Death thus becomes an event in life…THE SPEAKING TREE Special Week Of NourishmentSumit Dhanraj
A month ago, with Spring in the air, Christians began the Lenten Season in spiritual earnest. This was a 40-day period of spiritual preparation for Easter that typically includes fasting, penance and prayer. Like every year the season of Lent began with Ash Wednesday, which this year was on February 17. It will end with Holy Saturday, that is, a day after Good Friday this week.
Holy Week, the week before Easter Sunday starts with Palm Sunday. It recalls Jesus’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem one week before His crucifixion. Holy Monday commemorates Jesus’s cleansing of the temple, when he dealt with moneychangers and other commercial agents who had tables there. Some believe that this triggered his arrest and subsequent crucifixion.
Holy Tuesday recalls Jesus’s description to his disciples on the Mount of Olives of the destruction of Jerusalem. Holy Wednesday, once called Spy Wednesday, recalls Judas’s decision to betray Jesus in exchange for 30 pieces of silver. Maundy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper, Jesus agony in the garden and his arrest.For centuries, people in authority have washed the feet of their followers on this day, as a sign of loving remembrance of Jesus.
Good Friday recalls Jesus’s death on the cross. Some claim that ‘good’ is a corruption of the word ‘God’ and that early Christians called this day “God’s Friday”. ‘God’ morphed into ‘good’ just as “God be with you” has become “goodbye”. Others claim that ‘good’ refers to the blessings of humanity that Christians believe arose as a result of Jesus’s execution. A fourth-century church manual, the Apostolic Constitutions, called Good Friday a ‘day of mourning, not a day of festive Joy’. Ambrose, the fourth-century archbishop who befriended the notorious sinner Augustine of Hippo before his conversion, called it the ‘day of bitterness on which we fast’.
Holy Saturday on Easter Eve is the final day of Holy Week and of Lent. On Easter Sunday Christians commemorate Jesus’ resurrection. In the early church, converts were baptised into church membership on this day after a lengthy period of instruction. This tradition continues today in some churches.
The Holy Week emphasises specially on the lessons for all during this time of spiritual nourishment, which stresses more on the attitude with which Lenten exercises must be observed rather than strict adherence to details. For Jesus knew that there is a human tendency to make a show of one’s piety and good deeds.
Therefore, during this week the call for every follower of Jesus is to observe faithfully the statutes and teachings of the Church without making spiritual exercises a matter of public show. Instead of acting as hypocrites, with a sad countenance, the time is to genuinely repent and ask pardon for one’s shortcomings with an open gesture of charitable deeds.
Christians believe that spiritual nourishment during the Holy Week will help them achieve the gifts of new life in the days to come with resurrected Lord Jesus Christ.
The writer is a missionary of the Society of the Divine Word.
Shakun Kimatrai 