Night Vigil 2010

Why do we praise Jesus?

Have you ever wondered why you praise Jesus? Why you bow down before his frame, kiss his feet, shout out in praise, sing songs about him...?
When i ask myself these questions, I begin to realize that Jesus never asked us to sing praises in his name, adore the mode in which he died or pray to all the images and statues of Him that is spread so widely around. Let me clarify myself, I am not against praise and worship of my savior, I am questioning our act of praise and worship when all Jesus wanted was that we follow his path. To love each other as he loved us. To use his teachings in thoughts, words and deeds. To spread his word. To love and forgive our enemies unconditionally. Then where does the singing and chanting of praise come in? I guess it is easier for me to praise Jesus and worship Him than follow his teachings. Human after all.
We have all got used to flattering each other to get some kind of reward, that we feel it works all the time. As I said earlier, I am not against praising and worshiping Him, but lets not forget what he actually wanted us to do. Let us pray that he gives us the strength and courage to diligently follow what he has taught us. That will be a gift that far surpasses praise and worship and will be a perfect "Thank you" for saving us.

What if you meet Jesus

Have you ever thought about meeting Jesus? Not the experience, but in person, face to face. I am sure your expression when you see him will be a Kodak moment. I am sure you will feel honored and blessed, as tho you were the chosen one. This has been the answer to all those prayers you said, the lent you observed, the reward for keeping him in your heart.
But my question here would be, "Do u deserve to see Jesus?".
Of Course!!! That is the immediate response. I have been a nice person, always went to church every Sunday, prayed before and after my meals, said the rosary everyday... I am more religious than my parish priest. But does all this make you eligible to see Jesus? Believe me, by that definition you aren't the only one who deserves to see him.
Jesus has always maintained, "Love one another as i have loved you". "Love thy enemy". "Forgive". "You get slapped on one cheek, offer the other". "Give up all your belongings and follow me". "Spread the word of God". How many of us have followed this selfless path in our day to day life? We are so prone to be "Religious" and observing our Christian duties meticulously, that we forget one very important thing. Jesus never came here to form a new religion. He came here to show us the way to live life. He taught us by living it himself. All we need to do is follow.
Praying isn't enough, talk about him. Fasting isn't enough, feed. Living your life religiously isn't enough, be of service to others. Help someone you have no reason to help. Carry all your burdens as though it were your cross. Help others carry theirs. Make Jesus want to meet. You will be deserving.

I am only Human

We are blessed with everything we need. Air in our Lungs. People who love and care for us. Things that make us smile. Others that awe us and make us wonder.
Blessed with being Human, we have all the senses that we need to survive. Hands, legs so that we can work to put food on our plates and those of our families. Thanks to HIM, we have all that we need.
Then we chase what we want. This is where things go wrong.
There is nothing wrong in chasing your dreams, but they do come at a cost. More than often we aren't prepared to pay that cost. Knowingly or unknowingly, we embark upon this venture of creating fame and fortune for ourselves, much more than was cut out for us. To get there we have to go the extra mile, naturally. We do experience failure, stress, frustration, jealousy, unhappiness... basically all the worst parts of the bible. Somethings that HE wanted to shelter us from. But...
Its human to Want, but it's natural to Give. Its human to be One up on the other, but Its natural to treat the other as an equal. Its human to experience stress, jealousy, frustration, but its natural to experience peace...
Believe me. Our lives were meant to be happier and simpler and peaceful. So the next time you want some thing and try and get it, ask yourself, "Do i need this?"

I. C. U.

Have you ever thought about the consequences of your actions? How it might affect not only your life, but also the lives those those around you. Would you be at your best behavior if you knew you were being watched all the time? Would you be thinking twice before you, speak or even wish for if you knew you were being judged with every idea that you get or every move you make.
It does sound like a song from a famous singer but the fact of the matter is HE IS WATCHING YOU. We might manage to discipline our kids by convincing them about book for Good children and another for Bad. What we forget is to keep a constant check on where our names figure. The human mind and body is prone to all kinds of illness, stress and pressure. Pressure of living, succeeding and being one up in this rat race. There is definitely no harm in being one up, but at what cost?
The word I would want to reiterate is "God Fearing". He does know all because He sees all. He isn't only watching us as we light the lamp and pray, but he is watching us as we sleep. Scary isn't it? Think before you leap. We are being watched.