CRL Podcast

Day 22 – Lenten Prayer and Reflection – 19th March 2021   Today is the feast of St. Joseph, so the readings we have taken from the ordinary day's readings. So today's readings won't be from the readings of the mass but from the normal readings of the day. In today's readings, the theme that flows in the readings is about the identity of Christ, the identity of the Messiah. When you take this word 'identity' it's a very powerful thing, for there have been wars, there have been nations that have fought wars regarding their identity. An identity is something that says who you are, where you have come from, and where you are going. Who your lineage is, who your father, your father's father, that's what identity means. If you look at the Jewish tradition, if you look at the bible, if you look at the names of the people, they always say their father's name. So they identify that person with where he is coming from. If you look at Joshua, it says Joshua son of Nun, because they are identified with their father. In today's reading, it's regarding the identity of the Messiah. Let's look at that. John 7:25-26 Now some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, "Is not this the man whom they are trying to kill? And here he is, speaking openly, but they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Messiah? We can see here, the identity that the world is giving, that Jesus is the Messiah, what is the identity? The identity is to be accepted by the authorities. So they are saying, "Here he is speaking out openly and they are not telling him anything. Could it be that they have accepted him as the Messiah? We can see, that the identity that world gives, power, authority, money, strength, these are the things that they identified with the Messiah because the Jewish nation, they were waiting for the Messiah to come and to rescue them from the Romans. That was the identity that they were having regarding the Messiah. I remember there was this debate that I was watching, there was a famous Jew and another Christian. And this Christian asks this Jew, "When you look at Jesus, He has fulfilled so many prophecies from the Old Testament, why can't you believe that He is the Messiah?" This Jewish leader says, "One thing, because He could not rescue them from the Romans." So their idea of who the Messiah was, a person who will come with strength and power and rescue them from the Roman empire. But look at this. John 7:27 But we know where this man is from; when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from." There was a prophecy that when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from. Why is that? Because when you take the nature of who God is, in the Old Testament the main thing they say who God is, is He is Holy. God is Holy. It means 'kadosh' and the meaning of 'kadosh' is 'cannot be compared to any other thing'. Which means God cannot have an identity. There is no reference point to God because there is no beginning to Him, He is the beginning. There is no end to Him, He is the end. God does not live, but He is life itself. He does not exist. We exist, we die. But He is existence itself. He had no reference point and because of that He could not be identified. That's why He told Moses, don't make an image because an image could not be identified with God. He was kadosh -- holy. When the Messiah comes, the Messiah will come in the identity of God. That's why no one will know from where he comes. Jesus explains this beautifully.   John 7:28 Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, "Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, Jesus is saying, "Because you don't know Him, you don't know me. Because you don't know God, you cannot identify me, because I am coming in His identity." That's why everywhere we see in the Scriptures wherever Jesus is named it says, "Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God." Every other person in the Jewish tradition was identified with his father, but Jesus was identified as the Son of God. Because he came in the identity of God Himself. The Messiah, the Christ, salvation, his name is Yeshua. Yeshua means 'God who saves.' Salvation. When he was taken to the temple as a baby the prophet Simeon held the baby and said, "At last all powerful master, you give leave to your servant for my eyes have seen your salvation." Salvation was a person. Salvation was a child that he was holding in his hands. It was the person of Jesus, the Messiah. And he came in the identity of God himself. And they could not identify this, they could not understand this. For the Jew, this was blasphemy. The God who could not be compared to any other image, the God they did not even put a name to Him. When they wrote His name 'Yahweh', they took out the vowels so that His name could not be pronounced. Because they said He cannot be identified with a name. This God came to the world in the person of Jesus Christ. For them it was blasphemy, they could not understand. They could not fathom this. Even Mahatma Gandhi had said, "I can believe all the teachings of Christ, and it's amazing and wonderful, the teaching of love, forgiveness. But one thing I cannot believe. That God would become a man." And that is what these people were blind to. The identity of the Messiah was the identity of God Himself. This identity that Jesus brought to this world, did something. 1 John 3:8 He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. The identity that God sent, the Son of God, appeared, it came, why? To destroy the works of the devil. Because the devil had given an identity to humanity and that was sin. Humanity identified itself with sin. And the Son of God appeared to destroy the works of the devil. To destroy sin, and sin in its essence is to be separated from God. Is to be separated from your true identity as a son or a daughter of God. And how did it happen? When they encountered Jesus, the results of sin, sickness, death, darkness, people in bondage, they were being set free, when they encountered this identity of God. The weak, the tax collector Matthew, people despised him, people hated him. But when he saw the Son of God and he said, "Come," he left everything, stood up and followed him. Jesus said, "To be a part of me you must eat my body, eat my flesh and drink my blood" and for the Jew that was unimaginable, because in Exodus it says do not drink the blood of any animal for you will become one with him, and that's the very reason why he was saying, "You must drink my blood." To be one with him. For them it was unimaginable. So they all left and he asked St. Peter, "Aren't you also going to go?" And then St. Peter says, "Where do we go leaving you? You have the words of eternal life." They were sinful people, living in sin, but the moment they encountered the identity of the Messiah, the moment they encountered the identity of the Christ, their entire lives changed. Same with those who were sick, who were caught in bondage, demon possessed. They were liberated, set free the moment they encountered this identity. But also, as people were being set free, as people were being liberated by this identity of Christ, this identity of Christ was doing something else to another kind of people. And who were they? They were the Pharisees. They were also in sin, but their sin was not like the others. It was the sin of self-righteousness. Jesus said it clearly when   he explained the prayer of the Pharisee and the sinner. The Pharisee looks at the sinful man and says, "God, I thank you that I am not like this sinner." And he says, "I'm doing this, I'm keeping the commandments, I'm fasting, I'm praying." Those are all very good things. But Jesus says the prayer of the sinner, he wouldn't even look up because he knew he was a sinner. He couldn't even look at God, but he said, "Lord, forgive me, a sinner." And Jesus said that man was reconciled than the Pharisee. The same thing with the man who was hanging on his side. He said, "Lord, remember me when you enter your kingdom." Jesus said, "Today with me in paradise." One of the first people to go into heaven with the Lord himself. This identity was doing something to these people, and in today's reading it shows beautifully. Look at the book of Wisdom 2:12. Wisdom 2:12 Let us lay traps for the upright man since he annoys us and opposed our way of life, This identity of the Messiah, was an opposition to the way of life they were living. Here is the identity of God, the Messiah, and you can see the clash between the self-righteous sin of the zealots and the Pharisees they had. Wisdom 2:12 continued reproaches us of our sin against the Law, and accuses us of sin against our upbringing. They were raised to be religious people, they were raised as righteous people, they were taught to read and write from reading the Torah. But they say the very law they could not keep, and his life was an opposition to everything that they stood for. Because he was the Messiah, the identity of God Himself, and they could not fathom that. Wisdom 2:13 He claims to have knowledge of God, and calls himself a child of the Lord. Here it is, the identity of the God, the Son of God, it was affecting them, their self-righteousness, their beliefs, the sin that they were living in. This was written hundreds of years even before Jesus was born, the Wisdom of Solomon. He wrote this revelation, the clash between the identity of the Messiah and the identity of a sinful world. Wisdom 2:14 We see him as a reproof to our way of thinking, the very sight of him weighs our spirits down The identity of God, the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Wisdom 2:15-16 for his kind of life is not like other people's, and his ways are quite different. In his opinion we are counterfeit; Can you see the counterfeit for the life of God? They were having the counterfeit, self-righteousness, showing the world your holiness, showing others your goodness and when they looked at him, they were being judged of their sinfulness. In his eyes, we are counterfeits to what God has planned.   Wisdom 2:16 continued he avoids our ways as he would filth; Here is the life of Christ, the life of the Messiah, the life of the Son of God is convicting or judging this life of self-righteousness. Wisdom 2:16 continued he proclaims the final end of the upright as blessed and boasts of having God for his father. Here it is, the identity of the Son of God and they could not fathom it. They could not stand in that identity, it was affecting them. Wisdom 2:17-20 Let us see if what he says is true, and test him to see what sort of end he will have. For if the upright man is God's son, God will help him and rescue him from the clutches of his enemies. Let us test him with cruelty and with torture and thus explore his gentleness and put his patience to the test. Let us condemn him to a shameful death since God will rescue him, or so he claims. This was written hundreds of years before Jesus was even born. Here it is, this is what Satan wanted. He wanted to break his identity, he wanted him not to believe in who he truly is. That's why even in the desert, he said, "If you are the Son of God, do this. If you are the Son of God turn this into bread." Even at the cross the people said, "If you are the Son of God come down from the cross." They wanted him to let go of his identity, to let go of who he is. The identity of God, the identity of the Messiah. That's why they beat him, they tore his beard, they scourged him, and they put a crown on his head and a robe and said, "Behold the king of the Jews" for him to let go of that identity. But what happened? Out of him flowed the forgiveness, the love of the God. Because he came in the identity of God. He came in the identity of the Messiah and out of him flowed forgiveness, love, patience, intercession for those who were killing him, and what happened as result? Wisdom 2:21 This is the way they reasoned, but they are misled, since their malice makes them blind. That's why St. Paul said if the rulers and the principalities of this world knew God's plan, they would have never crucified the King of Glory. If Satan knew what God has planned, he would never have crucified Jesus. He thought by destroying him, that he'll be able to break his identity, to make him fall into the identity of sin. But because he held on: Wisdom 2:22 They do not know the hidden things of God, they do not hope for the reward of holiness, they do not believe in a reward for the blameless souls. Even in the midst of him being killed, he remained holy. He remained blameless. And when he died, he identified himself with sin. St. Paul says, "For God made him who know no sin, become sin so that we would be the righteousness of God." And when he died, he descended into hell, but this was no ordinary person. This was the Son of God, the Son of the living God, the Messiah, the Christ. And in the book of   Psalms it says, "Open wide you everlasting gates for the King of Glory has come in." And it says, "Who is this King of Glory?" This was not heaven, heaven knew God, he knew Jesus. This is death, hell and the grave asking, "Who is this King of Glory?" who has descended into our realm. And it says, "It is the Lord God almighty." The Lord mighty in battle. He is the King of Glory, who has descended into darkness, into death. Because of that death died into his life. Darkness died into the light of his glory and sin broke in the power of his holiness, because it was the identity of the Messiah. The identity of God himself, who is holy, who cannot be compared to any other thing, and here when he identified himself with sin, sin lost its power over humanity. It broke before the Lord of Glory, the King of heaven. And today, if we believe that same power is available for you and me. If we believe in what he has done. That's why if you look at the New Testament it says, "in Christ". Every promise of God is "Yes" and "Amen" but why? "In Christ." Because He is the one who is victorious, He is the one who is reigning, and when we go into Him, that's when that becomes a reality in our lives. Power over sin, power over death, power over addiction, becomes a reality when we live in Him. But for that, we need to surrender our lives. We need to die to ourselves, and the Holy Spirit does that. We love to read the verse "Nothing can separate us from the love of God." Can demons, can principalities, can anything, St. Paul says, separate us from the love of God? And he continues to say, "The love of God which is in Christ," and the next part he continues, "because for your sake we are led as lamps to be slaughtered." That's the experience of dying to yourself, it's when we die to ourselves that nothing can separate us from the love of God. While we are sinning, while the flesh is alive, we are doing whatever we want, then we can't say, "Nothing can separate us from the love of God" and continue doing what we want. But the moment we accept that truth, "Lord I am sinful, I am caught up, yes Lord, this is the truth of my heart" and we accept that, then the Holy Spirit comes into our lives and he will do that. He will destroy our flesh, he will stop that. That's why St. Paul says, "Walk in the spirit, and fulfill not the desires of the flesh." That's the only way you can fulfill not the desires of the flesh by walking in the spirit. By living in the spirit. Crucify the man through the spirit. So today, we are stuck in that place, we'll ask the Lord to do that miracle in our lives.

Day 21 – Lenten Prayer and Reflection – 18th March 2021   I thank God for choosing me today to be with you and I believe, I have faith, to say that He's the one who is directing me, and directing you to receive the word of God. The theme of the talk is 'The Love of God for man'. If you look at ourselves, have you done something so bad, that you've wondered on what basis God would forgive you. It's something we should think about. Today's first reading, speaks about the Israelites in the desert. It's from Exodus. As you know, soon after God delivered His people from slavery they did something really bad. Instead of worshipping the true God, who brought them out of Egypt, the Israelites asked for a god of their own making and attributed their deliverance to a golden calf. I feel probably Israelites would have been accustomed to the Egyptian worship of images while being in Egypt. They claimed the calf was their God who brought them up from Egypt. Exodus 32:7-8 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt have become corrupt. They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, 'There are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.' We are all accustomed to this reading. What happened was when Moses delayed to come back from Mount Sinai where he went to meet the Lord, Israelites went on to build another God. Do we see something similar in our area? When our prayers are not answered, our expectations are not fulfilled, what do we do? We have heard people saying, if there is a God why isn't He solving my problem? My sickness? This is something we hear a lot. What happens is, then either they lose God or they start looking for other gods. Who are these gods? They are the gods of the world. See what happens is we have the tendency to seek answers maybe from our friends, from other religions, or maybe people like soothsayers, and various other gods they see. We have seen people leaving the Catholic church looking for answers. They are some people who leave for prosperity, money, recognition. So let's look at ourselves. At any stage of our life, have we ever had any thoughts of this nature. Just think about it? What is God doing to us? He's not doing anything that we want and so we always have this tendency to think about it and talk about it. So I thought I'll just give the time that I had my wife with me. During my wife's sickness one of my very good friends wanted to bring a well-known Pastor to pray for her. Both of us refused because we have a God who has His own plans. Why do you want to change His plan? What we were looking for was strength, from God, to go through this crisis. Healing is important, I know that, but strength to go through the crisis is much more important, because if you don't have the strength you have the tendency to full down. So like Moses pleaded, the Community was interceding for her physical and spiritual healing. What was the result? She had the highest strength to go through and offer herself to the plan of God. The plan of God was not the plan we had in mind, but we accepted His final plan. So we know His plan now. She's in the presence of the Lord and enjoying eternal rest. That was His plan and we accepted it. There's nothing that we can say "No!", we have to understand that it is important that we know His plan. Let's see what was God's reaction when the Israelites made a calf.   Exodus 32:9-10 "I have seen these people," the Lord said to Moses, "and they are a stiff-necked people. Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation. God was angry, He wanted to destroy those people. He brought them from Egypt with lot of difficulty but they have gone against Him. What was Moses' reaction? If you look at Moses' reaction, look at the intercession of Moses for his people. He was pleading for his people. Moses is also taking the advantage by saying, "What would the Egyptians say if you destroy them?" When we intercede on behalf of anyone, we expect the Lord to have pity on the person and heal so that it would be a testimony for others to know the power of God. That's intercession. What did Moses say? Exodus 32:13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: 'I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.'" Moses speaks a lot about what God has said, he's telling Him, "You spoke so much about these chosen people, and then what's going to happen now?" Exodus 32:14 Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened. That's the theme, 'The Love of God for man'. What did Moses do? Moses never gave up, he started talking about what God had promised him, promised the land, promised everything, and he started telling Him, "Why do you want to destroy them? What will the Egyptians think?" The Egyptians will say, "He took them and deserted them and killed them. And they will say that was His plan." Look at Moses, what he did. He changed God's mind. He interceded for the Israelites. Intercession is a powerful tool of our community. You will see if we have any retreats, what do we do? We have a few people who are praying for two days continuously interceding on behalf of the people who are doing the retreat, people who have come for the retreat. What has happened is, we come, some people come, they flock to listen to the word of God, very good, it's fine. And wait for words of knowledge as well. But if you see, very few people volunteer to come for intercessory. We can take a lesson here from Moses. He changed the mind of God for his people. So we have intercessory prayers every Friday, Sinhala from 7 pm to 8 pm, English from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm. Be like Moses, be a Moses. You want to pray for others. I would like to say, we had a call from New Zealand of a lady who is in Italy who had met with an accident, both her husband and wife, Judith and Jeya. The wife was undergoing an operation at 8 yesterday morning. We have a prayer meeting going on in Italy every Saturday, so I called them. I had so many replies to say "We are praying" and a few people got together and started praying for this couple. And this morning, when I got up I looked at a message from that lady in New Zealand, that's the sister. 3:30 in the morning she sent a recorded message to say that she has had a very successful operation and thanking for praying. If you look at ourselves, we like to pray for us all the time. We would love to ask God to do this, do that. I might pray for the biggest headache I have, which is my biggest problem. But we forget to pray for the people next door who has a cancer. We will pray for ourselves. What did Moses do? Moses didn't bother about him, he started telling the Lord, "Don't do it. Be kind to all my people." And he could change the mind of God.   You can see the power of intercession in every situation. Pray for others. Continuously pray for others. When you pray for others, you get your blessings because you're not interested in yourself, but interested in others. We'll just put the Psalm of today. It's Psalm 106:19-23 but I will take only verse 23. Here, this Psalm again speaks of the intercession of Moses. Psalm 106:23 So he said he would destroy them--had not Moses his chosen one, stood in the breach before him to keep his wrath from destroying them. The Psalm speaks of that -- Moses' intercession. It is beautiful to see how much God will change when we pray for others. When we intercede. Let's look at the gospel. In the 5th chapter of the gospel, Jesus makes an amazing claim about himself. He claims to be the Son of God, the one who is sent by the Father, the source of all life physical and spiritual, the judge of all the world and the raiser of dead. See, he speaks of himself, and the people listen with open mouthed amazement as Jesus made these claims. Many of them asked, "How do we know he's telling the truth?" Don't we ask that question sometimes, when somebody preaches or somebody talks about God, "Is he telling the truth? What evidence does he give?" Jesus was smart. Knowing their minds and hearts, Jesus proceeds to give them his credentials. Let us take verse 31. John 5:31-32 "If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another one who testified in my favour, and I know that his testimony about me is true. When our Lord says his testimony is not true, he doesn't mean it's false. He means it was not true in their eyes, it need not necessarily be true in their eyes. Let's go to verse 33. John 5:33-35 "You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved. John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light. If you speak of John the Baptist, he said four specific things about Jesus. Number one was he announced him to be the long predicted Messiah. Everybody was waiting for this Messiah. Secondly, John announced Jesus to be the lamb of God. Thirdly, John announced Jesus to be the Baptizer with the Holy Spirit. When he was coming to the river Jordan, he said, "I will be baptizing you with water, and he will be baptizing you with the Holy Spirit." And fourthly, John declared Jesus to be the Son of God. So John the Baptist had a declaration about Jesus, he spoke about Jesus, and Jesus then goes on to say something that sounds a little strange to us: "Not that the testimony which I receive is from man, but I say this, that you may be saved." By this he means that, though he does not need testimony from John for himself, it may be a saving help to those who heard John. "He need not tell about me, but listening to John the Baptist, people will change." We'll frequently see people who pay no attention to the voice of God directly, will often listen to a testimony and change their lives. Haven't we seen in our prayer meetings that testimonies people bring, talk of. And when you give a   testimony, there'll be another person in the congregation who will say, "I have the same problem!" So, your testimonies are important. Don't keep it for yourself. Bring the testimony, talk about it, tell about it. And then there'll be some people, someone in the congregation who will accept it and say, "He's talking about the same thing that I have. What have I done? Have I gone to God? Have I gone to Jesus? I'm just waiting on with that problem." Jesus goes on to say a very beautiful thing about John. He was a burning and shining lamp. "John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light." Many people in the world are lamps, they have the capacity to be lights, but they are not shining. That's what has happened to us. We have the capacity to do work, capacity to take the word of God, but what happens? We just stay on, we listen to the word of God and that's the end of it. You go back home, you've forgotten the word of God, and you have no light to give to the others. It's an invitation to us. Whatever you receive from the word of God, take it to others. Speak about it. Speak in the office. There's are certain times some people don't like to talk about the word of God in the offices, because they feel they will laugh at them. This is the truth about Christ to many people today. Something that comes and goes. Christ comes to us and then He goes. And when it has gone, something else takes that place. You've lost Jesus, forgotten what Jesus has spoken, and when you're in the office, at home, anywhere, something else comes into your mind. Would you like to be a shining lamp? Do you accept it? Do you want to? The song that he sang. Say "Yes!" Are you prepared to say yes, to be a shinning lamp? So let's think about it. When we go back, sit down and think, "Am I that?" and you will see, you have so much of capacity that you can give others, but we keep it for ourselves and do not distribute it. John 5:36-37 "I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to finish, the very works that I am doing, testify that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. These words claim that Jesus came from the Father. It is a witness which is invisible and universal. The Lord Jesus clearly says, "I have come from the Father. Believe in me, come to me." We have to understand that Jesus has come from the Father, and he's my Father and your Father, Jesus has come to do something for us. That's why God loves man. He's too involved with people. He says, "I want to save them." Actually here, Jesus is referring to the healing of the man at the pool at Bethesda. The people listening to Jesus had seen this man rise up and walk. So they were just wondering, he was down and now he's walking. Here Jesus declares, "That is the work of the Father in me. The works which the Father has granted me to accomplish." He talks about it: "These very works which I am doing, bear me witness that the Father has sent me." Witness through the works of Jesus. He's saying, "I am the witness, where the Father has sent me." But if you see the world today, some say, "That was 2000 years ago. If God only comes down and witnesses like that again we could believe in him." We will say, "Okay God come down and do something drastic, take this pandemic away." Then we will believe Him. Until then we will not believe. Haven't we seen lives change? Haven't you seen broken families united? We have seen so much of healing physically and spiritually. I call them miracles. Some people think only healing is a miracle. I remember in Mabola there were two people separated for 12 years and both were coming for the prayer meeting, a husband and wife, but they were not united. After listening to the word of God, they reunited. It's beautiful. They were divorced, they had to remarry. This word of God is really telling us something. It hits our heart. And   when we see the testimonies of people, we will see how much people can change. God can change people. If you have a testimony, bring it up, tell us, and we can announce, that may help the others. Here Jesus declares there is also another way the Father bears witness. John 5:37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, What is this witness which uses no voice and is never seen? Jesus refers to an inner, invisible conviction of the Holy Spirit. The inner witness of the Father that one is listening to the truth even through his mind may be denying it. He's talking about the power of the Holy Spirit. And we have been taught and taught about the Holy Spirit. I first read the bible at the age of 32. I never had a bible at home, my Father never read a bible, my mother never read a bible. It had to take 32 years for me to touch a bible. John 5:39-40 You study the Scriptures diligently but because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. Some people spend their time reading the bible, they know from A to Z. If you see some of the preachers of the other religions, I have seen, he knows the bible by heart. He knows every word. But they refuse to come to Jesus. They try to find something wrong, they find some point where they would go against the bible, and they know everything but they refuse to come to Jesus. That's what happens to people. Although they read the bible, they know everything, they still can't come to Jesus. They refuse to come to Jesus, they don't believe that he's alive. People think that our God Jesus is dead and gone. But you and I know that He's alive. You can talk to Him, you can have a conversation with Him. As I said last time, when my Father was going to hit, I used to go to the statue and pray to save me. But that time I thought I prayed to a statue, but now I know that He's alive, that I can talk to him. He's there in front of me. This is the gift that we have got. And during this Lent, it's a good gift we have to look for. What is this gift? The gift of forgiveness. It's a good thing that we can think of. Some of the things that we have being not doing, say if you were not doing your personal prayer, start doing it. So one by one, if you take a list of things you should be doing and you have not done. Where do we stand there? Are you ready to come to Jesus and be connected to Him? Are you ready? Do you think you can? I'm sure. If people like us, sinners of the highest nature can come back to God, I'm sure you all are much better than me. God is there, Jesus is there. "Come to me. You can know everything in the world, but what you need is to come to me." Don't wait long to come to Jesus because His call to eternity may be quicker than our plans. He might come and say, "Hey Keerthi come back to me. Are you ready?" Are we ready? Be in the presence of the Lord, meet Him everyday, meet Him in personal prayer. Meet Him and take that word to others. You don't need to stand up and preach. Your actions will change the others. Your words will change others. They might say, "What has happened to this man?" That is being spoken by my relations. Such a character but now speaks about God. As God had a plan for Jesus, and Jesus fulfilled the plan, likewise when we were sent to this World, God our Father had a plan for us. And we have had our own plan, that is what it says he never took the thing of saying, "I want you to follow this way." He gave us the freedom, and how did we use the freedom? Is it to love God? Is it to speak about God? Is it to have a personal relationship with God? Is it to take the word of God to people? Let's think about it this Lent. That's a good thing for us to be in prayer, and think, "What I have done?" Take from the day you were born, I don't think you'll remember that, say   from 13, 15 years. Go year by year and see, "What have I done? Have I done God's plan? Have I gone with God's plan like Jesus went?" So this Lent is a good time to find out whether we are fulfilling His plan. We need to do it because, if you see Ephesians 1:4, He knew us even before the world began. If He knew even before the world began, what more? He knew us. Ephesians 1:4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love He chose us even before the creation of the world. In verse 1 and 5, he says, you are the children of God. If we are children of God, what should we do? We should go with the Lord fulfill His promise. Read the scriptures and accept those promises. The bible is full of promises. When you are fallen, just wait. Before I finish, I'll talk about one little thing about what Irani, my wife, did. Three weeks before her death, my eldest son's child, only one month and five days old, passed away. And I went to see Irani in the room, and she said, "You look upset." I said, "Yes, of course I am upset." Then she said, "Don't you understand what has happened to him? We have got an angel in heaven already. There's an angel for us. My grandchild is an angel, and he's calling me to come." And after three weeks she passed away. She spoke to the children, my son and the daughter-in-law, and they got a strength. They were devastated, they were finished. But then my wife spoke to them. That's why I always say my wife was the generator, and I am the bulb. We talk a lot, we are shining all over, but behind us there is a person who is a generator who is interceding for us. Every person who has gone from the world is interceding on our behalf with the Father, with Jesus, with the Holy Spirit. It's time we start talking about Jesus. It's time that we have our prayers regularly. It's important that 40 days is not the day we finish our prayers. Lent is 365 days. So when you finish Lent, don't change yourself. We have to continue how we were during Lent. Let us be in the presence of the Lord, and then speak to Him, tell Him here we are coming together to meet you, to be with you.

Day 20 – Lenten Prayer and Reflection – 17th March 2021   As we look at the message today, reading one is from the book of Isaiah 49:8-15 and then we'll move on to the gospel which is John 5. Let's look at the book of Isaiah 49:8-15. Before we look at verse 8, what is happening here is that this reading is a part of the celebration of the people who are joyful in returning from exile in Babylon to Jerusalem. That's what we're going to read. This is what is taking place. They are in a celebration mode, where they're joyful to return from exile from Babylon. But they are still in exile. And their lives are still led in hardship and bitterness. They're sad and they don't know what to do. They are worrying and they are in fear. But what is happening here is the prophet is assuring them that good times are coming ahead of them. That God is creating something new in their lives. The prophet is assuring them. And this passage that we're going to look at, is in response to the cry of God's people. In fact this reading is about restoration. You can write down, we're going to talk a lot about restoration. God says, "I will restore your lands and I will give back your inheritance." That's where we are going to start from. What is happening? They were in exile and it is a celebration of the people who are joyful, who are returning from exile in Babylon to Jerusalem. And now this is like the cry of the people, they are still facing this hardship, they are still going through bitterness, sadness and the pain of loss, and then the prophet is assuring them that God is going to do something in their lives. There are good times ahead. So we'll start from Isaiah 49:8 Isaiah 49:8 This is what the Lord says: "In the time of my favour I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you; I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land and to reassign its desolate inheritances, What is God saying? It's what we looked in the beginning. "In the time of my favour I will answer you," so the people who know they are celebrating from the exile, they are coming out, and they are still suffering, they are in hardship and bitterness, and God is telling, "In the time of my favour I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you; I will keep you and make you to be a covenant for the people." So God is telling, I'm going to restore you. He's telling the captives and the prisoners, "Come out. I'm going to do something new in your life." So this is what God is trying to do to these people who are living in exile. Let's move onto verse 9. Isaiah 49:9 to say to the captives, 'Come out' and to those in darkness, 'Be free!' "They will feed beside the roads and find pasture on every barren hill. What is God telling? He's telling to the captives, "Come out." And He's telling those who are in darkness, "Be free." And God is calling us today and in this time of Lent, from exile into this light. God is calling us who are prisoners, who have been captives, who are caught up, what is God telling? "Come out." Instead what is God doing to us? He's giving us freedom. Those who are living in captivity, those who are living in darkness, God is calling us to be freed. Just like the people at that time who were captives, who were caught in a certain place, God is calling us to be free. So let's look at verse 10.   Isaiah 49:10 They will neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the desert heat or the sun beat upon them. He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water. What is God saying? There will be no hunger, there will be no thirst, the heat of the desert will not beat down upon them and the person who has compassion, who is the Lord Himself, will guide and lead them besides springs of water. So if you take the environment there, water must have been scarce, it would have been very hot and look at what God is telling. From an external point of view, God is telling, "I'm going to look after you. You may have been in exile, you may have been caught up, you may have been living in the darkness, but I'm telling you, come out of it. And I'm going to show you my form of justice." And God is promising them that He will end their sorrows. Let's go deeper. Isaiah 49:11 I will turn all my mountains into roads, and my highways will be raised up. It's amazing, at the beginning of the year, Thaththa was talking about the super highway. We listened to, and if you follow the CRL you know that we're talking about the super highway. Although it seems so dark, it seems nothing was happening, how God opened this highway to do so many programmes. Even today if you see, the praise was led from Toronto, and I am speaking from Sri Lanka, because God has opened up this highway. What is God saying? For example if you go through the Hambantota-Galle Highway, you'll be able to see how they have paved this way through mountains. How they have paved this way through breaking rocks and all these sorts of things. So if you know, years back if you want to travel to Hambantota, if you want to travel to Galle, how hard it was to travel there. How much of resource was wasted. How much of time was wasted. But now, because of this highway, what's happening? People can easily go through to the place, and with limited resources you can get from one place to the other. So what is God doing to His people? He's telling, "I'm taking you from exile through the highway, I'm taking you to a place where you have never dreamt of." And God is telling, "I am the one who is going to do this. I'm going to give back the lands that you have lost. I am giving you fresh water, I'm not going to let the heat, consume you. You will be surrounded by lands which are fertile, untouched by heat or thirst. I am going to restore you." Remember in the beginning of the message I told you this is a message of restoration. Isaiah 49:12 See, they will come from afar--some from the north, some from the west, some from the region of Aswan." What is happening here? Now since everything is being restored, God is calling people from everywhere, to come to this land He has for them. So this verse is saying, they are coming from the north, west, region of Aswan, what does it mean? That the men of God who were in exile, who were lost, who were in darkness, now they are called to come to where God is actually placing them, healing them, returning back their land, giving them fertile lands, He has opened up the super highway, the highway for people to walk back in. God is opening such an amazing door for them. God is telling, "I am your God, you were captive, you were taken hostile by the enemies, you were caught up, you didn't know what to do, but depend on me, I am going to take you to this land, which I am giving you, which is fertile and you can live there."   Isaiah 49:13-14 Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; burst into song, O mountains! For the Lord comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones. But Zion said, "The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me." Now it's funny. God is telling all these things, "I'm going to create a highway, I'm going to bring you back to your fertile lands, I am not going to let the heat touch you, if you're thirsty you'll have springs of water" -- all this and explaining how He's going to be there for them, He's going to take them from exile, and they'll walk from the west, north into the land -- but here, what is the reply of Zion? As human beings like us today, the Zion is skeptical. Zion is saying, "Oh no, I'm sorry. I don't think we can believe in this promise and I don't think this will happen." And if you look back, deep in our hearts, isn't that who we are sometimes? We are always doubting, always fearing. God is telling, "I'm going to give you all these things", it's already happening, we can see that, sometimes we already see that happening, we see the signs, we see the miracles. But Zion is still doubting. And in verse 15 you can see the response of God. God is telling: Isaiah 49:15 "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! All of us know who our mother is. Mother can take care of a child much more than a father and the love that a mother has, the care, and how a mother embraces a child, how a mother is so connected to the child. If you can see, how much a mother can take care of a child. And God is saying, a mother who loves the child so much, a mother who truly feels the child, embraces the child, feeds the child, even if the mother does leave this child, what is God saying He will do? "I will never forget you!" God is telling, "As you are my people, I will never forget you." God is actually full of tenderness, He's full of compassion, He's gentle, He's telling these people, "I'm going to give you all this" and what are the people saying, "Oh, I don't think we really understand your message. I don't think you're going to really give this." God is giving us promises, He's sending signs and wonders and miracles. He's giving us message beyond message, year after year. But what are we saying? "We have a small doubt. On the side we'll have a fixed bank account, on the side we'll have this small relationship. We know you are there, but on the side, just in case." But then God is explaining, even when people are going against Him, even when people don't understand His love, He's explaining to him, as his perfect God, with a lot of tenderness and compassion, He's as gentle as a mother. He's telling, "Even a mother could forget you, but I will not forget you." Those who have walked with God for many years in the CRL, or whoever you are listening, you will know this side of God. He's a tender God, a gentle God. How many times you fall and you fail? I ask my own heart, how many times I have failed the Lord, but He's this great Father, He's this great mother, who embraces you and walks with you. This is the compassion of God. This is the love of God. Now we're going to go into the gospel. Before we go, this is the message God is giving us. This is a message of restoration. This is a message of where the people who were living in darkness, the people who were living in captivity, are being brought back and there is a promise from God, God is telling, "I'm doing, I'm clearing all this for you. I'm opening a door for you" and then the people are saying, "No, we don't believe you." And then God is telling, "I'm like a mother, I'm even greater than a mother. I will never leave you nor forget you." We'll go to the gospel, John 5:17-30   John 5:17 Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working." What happens before this, connecting to this passage, it's the Sabbath day, and on the Sabbath day Jesus heals this invalid man, this man who had this problem for 38 long years, who was in this state for 38 long years, what does Jesus do? On the Sabbath day, he comes and says to this man, "Get up and be healed." What is happening? On the Sabbath day since Jesus did this, the Jewish leaders were furious. They were angry. "How can you go against the Law and do this?" And then they were really upset. So what did Jesus tell this man in that passage? He says, "Pick up your mat and walk." It's funny, if it was today, what would Jesus have told this man? What do you think? He would have said, "Pick up your iPad and walk" or "Pick up your tablet and walk." Why? People are always having a tablet, a phone or something. We are holding on dearly to our electronic devices. So what did Jesus tell this man? He told this man, "Pick up your mat and walk." This healing takes place, and they question Jesus, they ask Jesus, "Why did you do this on the Sabbath day?" and that's where verse 17 starts from. What is Jesus doing throughout? He's explaining his relationship between him and his Father. So let's go to verse 18. John 5:18 For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. This is the problem the leaders of the Jews were having. They could not see Jesus as the Son of God, and now not only was God breaking the rule of the Sabbath, but now this man is calling himself the Son of God. He's equating himself the Son of God. John 5:19 Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself... What is Jesus trying to explain to them? Jesus is trying to tell them, "I tell you the truth. The Son can do nothing by himself." Rather he's explaining, "I'm not alone. I'm not doing this thing on my own." Then he goes on to explain. John 5:19 continued he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. Jesus is telling, "I am not alone. I am not doing these things alone. I am not just another human being trying to heal somebody. I am not just another human being living on my own mission. I'm not trying to fix my own career or do something of my own. No, I am connected to someone else. And who is that someone else? That someone else is my Father." John 5:20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these. Jesus is explaining about the love of the Father, so he's telling, "You'll do greater things than these."   John 5:21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. Jesus is explaining first, "I am not alone, I'm not doing this business alone. I'm connected to my Father. I'm doing His will." Now he's saying, "I have come to give life. So if my Father can raise somebody from the dead and bring them to life, so same with me. I have come to give life. And I am not alone, I am within the Father, and the Father is within me." Jesus is actually strengthening the idea that he is not alone, he is with the Father. John 5:22-23 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honour the Son just as they honour the Father. He who does not honour the Son does not honour the Father, who sent him. What is Jesus saying in this? "The Father and I are the same. If you don't honour the Father, you'll never know the Son. If you don't honour the Father, then you're not honouring the Son. Here we are two, but we are one." This is our faith, isn't it? We know God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit, but our faith is that we know them as one. And Jesus is explaining this relationship beautifully. "I am not different, I am not having my own agenda, I am connected to the Father and I am doing His will." Let's move to verse This is where we are going to connect it to the Old Testament. John 5:24 "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. Now we are beginning to see the connection from the Old Testament. What happened in the OId Testament? The people were in exile in a physical place and they crossed over to the land God had promised them. The first reading in the book of Isaiah said: "From the place of captivity they crossed over to the place where God had intended." How did they cross over? They came through the highway. They came through the super highway, they came through the place where God had asked them to come. And they were given a place where the heat will not consume them, there won't be thirst, fertile lands, all that. What happens? From a physical place of exile they came to life. What is verse 24 saying? You cross over from death to life. "He has crossed over from death to life." "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life" and in the Old Testament whoever believed in God and walked in Him were promised by the prophet that they will get this land, they will inherit this land that they have lost, and it will be full of life. In the desert there will be streams of water. Nothing will happen to you through the heat, and here in the New Testament, God is telling, "You have crossed over from death to life." How do you cross over from death to life? It is through the life of Jesus. It is through Jesus. Many have gathered from every part of the world, it said in the Old Testament, from an experience they gathered from every part of the world. But where did they come? They came to life. All of us who are here, who are born again in Jesus can testify to that. All those who are listening, you can testify. How did you come to this experience? You crossed over from a sinful life to the life of Jesus. To the life that God has given you. You crossed over. In the Old Testament it was physical but in the New   Testament, how do you cross over from this death, sin and addiction to life? It is Jesus himself. And who is Jesus himself? He's not just a man like you and me. He has his own agenda, he does not want to be build his career or his kingdom. He's telling, "I am connected to my Father. And my Father's will is my will. And if He says to restore someone, I will restore. If He says to bring someone from death to life, I will do it." Do you understand? Jesus is this life that we're called into. What are we asked to do during this time of Lent? If we are addicted, if we are wounded, if we are healed, if we are hiding in sickness, as it's said in the book of Isaiah: "Come all those who are hiding in darkness, come out." In Lent we are called to come out of this darkness. How do we come out of this darkness? We receive Jesus Christ into our lives. And then if we receive Jesus into our lives, what's going to happen? We will cross over from death to life. We will enter the super highway of Jesus Christ. And in the highway of Jesus Christ, the mountains will be made smooth and road will be made for us to walk this journey with Jesus. John 5:25 I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. Beautiful, so powerful, isn't it? A time is coming, not only is it coming, it's already come. The dead, the lost, the wounded, the murderers, the rapists, the wrongdoers, those who are stuck in the world, and what is God saying? They will hear the voice of the Son of God, and who is the Son of God? Not just a lonely man on his own mission, he's connected to his Father and when he's connected to his Father, he's not come to judge, he was come to give life. And that life, what will that life do? It will bring them from death to life. It will transform them from nothingness into His glory. When they hear his voice, the dead will start living. John 5:26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. What is God saying? The Father has life. You can search for life outside, you can search for life here, you can search for joy here, you can search for this and that here, but the true life is in the Father. And the Father has given it to the Son. John 5:27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man. A lot of us Christians have forgotten Christ in Christianity and we are running around. We are running around doing this, we're running around building buildings, we are running around strategizing to build the kingdom, we're running around that committee, this committee, and all that. But look at this verse. So beautiful. It says: "he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man." He is the Father's son, he's the only son, and he has been given all authority and if we don't receive him, we'll be living a good Christian life. We'll be a living a good Catholic life, but it will have no meaning, because we have not received the Son of Man. John 5:28-30 "Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out--those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be   condemned. By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me. It's so amazing, Jesus is telling, "I am the Son of God, I am the Son of Man, I don't operate alone." And then he's telling, "I don't do things on my own. I don't do things for myself." If we ask our own hearts, we do things for our own self. We do it for our happiness, and it that process what is happening? We are hurting others. We are wounding others. In the process of trying to build ourselves, build the kingdom of God in that process, we are doing something wrong. But God is telling, "I have not come to judge. Instead I've come to heal." And what is God telling us? Jesus is the restorer. We looked at the beginning that we are going to listen to a message of restoration. From death to life. In the Old Testament they moved from a physical place, a physical possession into the life that God has promised them, into the beautiful place that God has promised them. And in the New Testament, God is telling, this is not a place, this is not a possession, this is not tangible, this is Jesus Christ himself. The call today is to cross over from death to life. The call today for Christians is not just call themselves Christians only but to put Christ into that Christianity. To make Jesus the centre of all this mess. We have created a mess, if you look at our country, if you look at the world, we have created a mess. Why? Because as Christians we may have been living and doing our own thing. But Jesus is first teaching us, through all those passages he's telling us, "I'm not alone, I don't do things for myself, I don't walk alone to do what my will is. I do what the Father teaches me. But whoever comes to me will be restored. If you are living in darkness, come out. If you are living in sin, come out. If you are walking in fear, if you're walking in depression, if you're caught up in sickness, the agenda of the world, God is telling, "Come out. And I am taking you to the place from death to life." And how are we going from death to life? It is through Christ himself. We are called to cross over from sin to life. We are called to cross over from death to life. I'll finish with Hebrews 12:2. It's connecting all this what I said. Hebrew 12:2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus who is the author and perfecter of our faith. In the Old Testament, it's a place, it's a possession, God is taking them from here to there. But in the New Testament, life from death comes through Jesus Christ. And it's beautifully explained -- "I have come to give life. I have not come to judge." So those who believe that Jesus Christ is here to judge you, to condemn you, to tell you how wrong you are, to show your sin, majority of the world believes that, that's why they don't come to God. God is telling, "No, you've got it all horribly wrong. I have come as more than a mother, I have come as a Father to wipe your tears, I have come to die for you on the cross and to perfect your faith. And I am the beginning of your faith, I am the perfecter of your faith," as it is said in the book of Hebrews 12:2. Today as we go into worship, we have been called to look at the restorer, we have been called to look at Jesus, who is going to take us from death to life. If you've been holding on to sin, if you have been holding on to fear, if you've been living in depression, if you're living in sickness, God is calling you to come from death to life.

Day 19 – Lenten Prayer and Reflection – 16th March 2021   Today's theme is 'Life transforming water'. Today's reading is from the book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel sees an extraordinary vision, of a magnificent, a new temple. A temple much better than the temple they had in Jerusalem city, which was destroyed by the enemies completely. At this time Ezekiel was among the Jews who were exiled to Babylon. They had lost everything and they had no hope of coming back to Jerusalem, and now they are as slaves in Babylon. Throughout the history we see, any nation, any person, when if they reject God, they have to pay a huge price for their disobedience. And that happened to the Jews also. So little by little what happened was, they mixed up with unbelievers and they drifted away from God. Their lifestyles, their value systems, everything changed. At the end what happens, they became captives of their enemies. So we are going to look at the vision that Ezekiel saw. Ezekiel 47:1 The man brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple Now here, we have to draw a picture in our mind to understand exactly what this extraordinary vision is. So an angel accompanied Ezekiel to the entrance of the temple, from the entrance of this magnificent temple, a drip of water is trickling down. And as it flows about 1000 cubits, about 17500 feet, the water flow becomes a stream. Then the angel took a measurement rod and he measures another 1000 cubits, and at this point the water level is ankle deep. So then again the angel measured another 1000 cubits and then the water level has now come up to the knee level. Again, another 1000 cubits, now the water level is up to the waist. Okay we'll read verse 5. Ezekiel 47:5-6 He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in--a river that no one could cross. And he asked me, "Son of man, do you see this?" Now this angel is asking Ezekiel, "Son of man, do you see this?" There's a huge river and this angel is asking, "Can you see what is happening?" There was much more than human eyes could see. A drip of water coming from the temple of God and as it flows further and further, it becomes a strong powerful river with currents underneath. So this strong river, where does it go? It goes to Arabah where it enters the Dead Sea -- in other words, the water is flowing to the desert, waterless land and to the vast wilderness where there was no life whatsoever. We know, the Dead Sea is the lowest point on this earth. About 14000 feet below sea level and everything in it is dead. But here, something extraordinary is taking place, because it is not natural, actually you can't even understand through the law of physics. Instead of the river water getting contaminated by the Dead Sea water, the Dead Sea water becomes pure, clean, healthy and fresh. So the salty, mineral filled heavy water, everything has completely changed to pure water. As we read the scriptures, we see it says, swarms of living creatures start living, a large number of fish begin to live. And the whole environment has become alive. Ezekiel 47:12 Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them.   This is the vision that Ezekiel saw. A great number of trees on either side of the bank and fruit trees, and then lots of fruit on those trees, and there is a beautiful garden out of our imagination, this is the vision that Ezekiel saw. We know Ezekiel lived about 600 years before Jesus Christ. Now through this vision God wants to convey to His people, the first thing what God wants to convey, though the chosen people have become victims of their own sin, God will make a way in the future to restore the lives of people and even the land God will restore back to normal. Also it's a prophecy, what is going to take place in the future. That is the great river coming from the temple, is Jesus Christ, who is the live transforming water. Who is going to give new life to the world. And also the Lord was saying, the land which had become defiled but unacceptable practices or unhealthy practices will be cleansed and once again made prosperous. Also God is telling them, I will lift up your spiritual life so that you will be able to obey the law of God. And also God says, "I will be among you. You are my people, I will be your God." So even today, we see the biggest problem man encounters, man is having even now, is because man cannot obey the laws of God. Man feels like these restrictions, the commandments, will restrict their happiness, their joy and man doesn't want to obey the law of God. I was watching a zoom meeting the other day and Bishop Robert Barron was preaching. And a man from UK asked a beautiful question. He asked: "If all of us lived like Jesus, or at least a lot more virtuous than we are, wouldn't the world really be boring?" That was the question. In other words, he was asking, isn't life boring if we live a holy life? So then Bishop Barron smiled and his answer was very interesting. I will say the same words what he said: "No, evil is boring. Sin is boring. What is dull, boring is sin. Sin is what is tiresome. Saints are the ones who are fun, interesting and provocating and colourful. The cool people are the boring people, tiresome people. Think of so many cocktail parties that are filled with people, bored with themselves, bored with life. What is exciting is, look at Mother Teresa, saints, they lived exciting lives. The more we are like Jesus, we are more colourful, rich and the world becomes exciting." He also further added, "Devil is not a romantic figure. It is a sad, dark, pathetic soul, weeping from all six of his eyes, that is what evil is." So the choice is ours. Do we want to believe a lie and lose the exciting life Jesus gives us? This vision reminds us of another garden and a river that God created for man, the garden of Eden. We know Adam was intimately, closely associating with God. He was so close, the relationship is so close, it's described as, "eyelash to eyelash, mouth to mouth in perfect harmony." But Adam refused to remain in communion with God. He became self-sufficient and what happened? That was the fall of Adam. Nature rebelled, earth turned against him, life became a burden for him and death entered their lives. We saw, God is so compassionate, down the centuries God sent messengers, He sent prophets but man rejected and they were attacked and ultimately man had to pay a heavy price for their disobedience. St. Augustine writes beautifully the experience of his life. If you look at his background, St. Augustine in his youth was a rebellious and disobedient person. But of course he was very studious, intelligent, so his father sent him for higher studies to Roman Africa. After his studies he went back to pursue his career in Rome. But what happens, there he fell into even deeper, sinful life. Bad influences all around him, got drunk in endless parties, and he was attracted to many women. Ultimately of course, he became a great person. He was a learned man, a very powerful and a rich person, but he had an emptiness none of these could fulfill. So he started searching for the truth, and Bishop Ambrose was a friend of his and he educated him with many great things, and of course about the Christian way of life. But he was not ready to give up his worldly pleasures and his addictions. At one time, St. Augustine writes like this, he prays like this actually: "O Lord, give me chastity and self-control, but not yet." In other words, "Lord I want to come to you, I want to, but let me be in this world. I want this pleasure, I want this happiness. I can't let go of this   joy, the self-satisfaction in this world, so not yet." Drives within him for the world was stronger, knowing the truth, knowing what was good, but it was not good enough. So until one day he heard the inner voice and he started reading the scriptures and his whole life was transformed. He accepted Jesus, to the extent that he gave up all his riches, he became a monk and he became a bishop, and ultimately he wrote like this: "You have made us for yourself O Lord, and our hearts are restless until it rests in you." Ultimately he understood what it is to be happy. What it is to enjoy happiness, the peace, the real peace he experienced. Today's gospel is taking us to this live transforming river, that is Jesus Christ. It is in John 5:1-16. Here, Jesus came seeking a man who was totally helpless and Jesus seeks him, heals his body and spirit and once this man recognizes Jesus, he goes out on a mission. Jesus comes to Jerusalem for a feast and after that he walks towards this pool of Bethesda. John 5:3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie--the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. John 5:5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. Now Jesus was walking around the pool and then his eyes went to this least favoured person. Nobody wanted to have anything with him, so the man's cry for help was ignored, or maybe he would have been there for years and years and people would have got used to seeing him. Or it could be that people were, for survival, fighting with each other, and this man was completely ignored and left by himself. So at the least favoured time of his life, Jesus comes in search of him. The least favoured time of his life. Isn't that our experience also? Most of the time, when we were totally in a zero level, or fallen to sin, and ashamed of ourselves, of our actions or maybe thinking God will not forgive us, or nobody wants us. Sometimes it's the old age, sometimes we can see people won't even talk to them, they're kept aside, they're ignored, or maybe that's the time we're very sick or lonely or sometimes even you want to die, you're planning to die, you're planning to kill yourself. So that's the time, the blessed moment for God to knock at our heart. We have experienced that, where we have no help from the world, where we don't know what to do, where to turn to, that is the moment a door will open. This was a blessed moment for this man. Jesus comes seeking for this man. Maybe we are not favoured by the world, but always favoured by God. When you feel nothing goes right for you, or you're anxious about your career, your finances, your sickness, your future, and there's no one to stand by you, humanly speaking, the least favoured time is the most favoured time for Jesus. Now Jesus comes in search of this man. He comes close to him. John 5:6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?" That's the question asked. Why did Jesus ask this: "Do you want to get well?" The greatest physician on this earth who could heal him completely has come searching for him. And the Son of God, who is full of compassion and who could give him a new lease of life, a new life, is standing next to him, and also the fountain of life, who could offer a joyful life on this earth and an everlasting life thereafter is also standing next to him but he could not recognize Jesus. What is this man doing? He's looking at the pool of water.   The dirty water, hoping this water could heal him. For 38 years he has been looking at this dirty water, thinking anyone with this water can give him the healing what he's searching for. Not only was he physically sick, he was actually spiritually blind. For us also, not to see the Saviour, or not to see the healer of our body and of our mind, of our spirit, is the greatest sin. That is why the gospel of Luke, Jesus says, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. I have come for the sinners, the sick in body and mind and soul." Repent for our blindness, repent for thirsting for this stagnated, dirty water. On top of all that, we can see, all these people who are near the pool, and also maybe the nearby villages, they were believing in superstitions, and also they were believing in all types of healing powers. They have gone away, drifted away completely from the living God because their eyes are upon all this fake things, and superstitious things. Even now, we can see in our society, in this era we can see, you can get carried away and fall into huge problems because of this superstitious ideas. Just a few weeks ago, we saw a small girl died because the family believed in such healing powers. So Jesus is asking, he's standing next to him and asking, "Do you want to get well?" It is so easy for us also, to bypass Jesus, this fountain of life, and settle for muddy, stagnated water. All what we have to do is to think like the world, act like the world, and do what the world says and even without our knowledge we will fall into a huge mess. I can remember once, I was walking down a lane in Colombo city which was famous for this Indian spicy, hot food. The very first day I was walking down that lane, the spicy smell gave me a terrible headache. Even the strong smell of those spicy food, they got onto my clothes, even my clothes were giving that smell. The second time when I went that way, though it was uncomfortable, it was tolerable, it's okay, I could manage. Then the third and fourth time, when I walked, I didn't mind it at all. I was immune to it, I was immune to this smell. In fact, I enjoyed the spicy smell. Isn't that what sin does to us? We get so immune, and ultimately, it's okay, it's alright, it becomes part of our life. Sin comes to us in many attractive ways, but only when we turn to Jesus and look at him, sin will lose its power. The attractiveness will go off. I can remember, once a boy said, he watched pornography for four hours a day, everyday. And it has got into him so much, it's such an addiction, he can't get over. But if he makes the choice to ask the Lord, to ask Jesus to help him, and look at him, immediately things will start changing. Of course your body will fight for it, your emotions and feelings will rebel against you, but that sacrifice will bring great rewards. What did Jesus say? John 5:8 Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." How does it happen? The strength of Jesus comes to you. The body reacts and what happens? It's not his power, it's the strength of Jesus who will lift him up. There was another story about a man who was brought to Jesus from the roof of a house, and where Jesus said, "I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. I tell you, get up, take up your mat and go home!" So the word of God has power to penetrate anything, any situation, whether it's in space or time or whatever, the word of God has power. The whole universe is under the authority of the word. That's why Jesus said, "I have come to free the captives. Whether you are a captive in your body, your soul, your spirit, I am here to release you." The story doesn't end there because we can see as we read down the passage, Jesus goes to the temple and in fact it seems like Jesus is searching for him because Jesus has a very important message to tell him.   John 5:14 Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." Most of the people do not realize that physical healing is only an invitation to journey with the Lord more deeply. They come for a meeting, they get physically healed and once again, they go back home and settle down to their old way of living. Sinning, or sinful ways of living, and you take life, you take sin very lightly. But see what Jesus says, "If you go back to that pool, and start drinking that stagnated, dirty water, you will lose eternal life forever." Physical healing is temporary, because anyway we will be dying. So one day, when we die, what happens? Everything is over. But if you don't accept the life transforming water, what Jesus is offering, we are going to lose eternal life forever. I think, as we read, this is the moment when this man's inner eyes open, because it says, he recognized Jesus, then after that he went away speaking about Jesus what he has done for him, and the change that has taken place among the Jews. I'm sure, many, many Jews and people would have come in search of him thereafter. Any person who comes in contact, who encounters Jesus, cannot be the same again. The life transforming water, when it touches you, you'll be cleansed, you'll be purified, you become another person. I was reading this story of this Centurion Longinus. It's interesting to see this Centurion who pierced the side of Jesus on the cross. It was his soldiers who nailed Jesus on the cross. He was supposed to be a very tough, very hard hearted man, and he witnessed all that happened at Golgotha. He saw how Jesus died, and he said loud, "Truly this was the Son of God." He was a very hard hearted executer under Pilot. But when he witnessed all that happened, a great change took place in his heart. It is said that it was a transforming experience and he recognized who Jesus was, the reality, the truth. He left the army, he got himself baptized, he became a Christian, went to his village and started preaching about Jesus. It says, Christianity began to spread throughout that city and the surrounding villages and ultimately Pilot got to know about this. Then he sent some soldiers, it says two, and they beheaded this Centurion. But, he became a martyr and he became a saint. Once you are touched by Jesus, by this transforming water, you can never be the same. Once Bishop Fulton Sheen said, "Jesus didn't come to make us nice, good people." Because even atheists can be good. Whether you have a religious background or no background you can be a good person. But Jesus came to make us new creations, through water and the Holy Spirit. Let's spend this little time in worship, just ask ourselves what I am thirsting for? Is money my number one thirst? Or is it the passion for cars, jewelry, clothes, handbags? Or is it my career, my position? My status? Or am I looking for appreciation from others? If so we may not notice Jesus standing next to me. Because we will be craving to see the glitter and glory of this world, we may bypass Jesus. But today, let's examine our hearts and see, what am I thirsting for? Am I in the right place? Can I recognize Jesus in daily life? Do I know him intimately? This is a good time to turn to him. Today the Lord is inviting us, Jesus is inviting us, "Come with me, let's go to the mountain top where I will show you what will truly satisfy our lives."

Day 18 – Lenten Prayer and Reflection – 15th March 2021   As we come together this morning, this is the fourth week of Lent and we are on this journey, two weeks more to the Holy Week and we are entering the journey with the Lord in a deeper and deeper way. Today's theme is God's new creation and that's the theme that we have been called to reflect. For that we have the first reading from the book of Isaiah 65:17. Isaiah 65:17 "Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. Creating something new is the hallmark of the Lord because you can see a renewal, transformation, newness is actually the sign of the movement of the Holy Spirit. Getting stale and old is the natural tendency of matter and decay, which is really the natural tendency but in God there is always a renewal and a transformation. God is doing a new thing. Isaiah 65:18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. Now again, the reading is telling us, God is going to do new thing, but to place this new thing in the context of the people, or the people whom He was talking to, He uses the familiar symbol of Jerusalem. I think God always has that problem with us, He has to relate to us in way that we can understand. That's why you would see people having revelations and visions of Jesus Christ who looked just like the pictures they have looked at. They say, "I saw Jesus like this, standing with the hair long, with a red robe." The hair long and the red robe comes from the pictures we have seen from our childhood, but in and through those things God is able to reveal His presence. A new thing He's doing. Again, He's using the symbols of the old to try and explain the new thing He's going to do. Isaiah 65:19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more. Suffering is going to be changed, shifted. How do they explain it? People are not going to weep and cry. Then He goes on to explain it in a deeper way in verse 20. Isaiah 65:20 Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; he who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth; he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed. We have a good chance. Now why are they calling this a hundred and an infant not dying? For them, the Jews of the time of this writing of Isaiah, eternity was a very distant concept. Even in the time of Jesus, there was a whole group of people who didn't believe in eternity and in the ancient times, eternity was not in the mindset of the Jews, so whatever they got, they got it here. And therefore that's why it's really puzzling for them, "Why isn't God helping us because we're dying?" You read the Psalms you see you have   that problem. They are sensing, there's something more, but they are trying to explain it in the language that they can deal with. God is doing a new thing, and they are trying to say, we can't understand it, but it will be something like this. The seeking of the answers to our existence has always fascinated human beings. We have always asked the questions that no other animal ask. Other animals are content to breed, grow old, to fight each other and die. But we have always asked this question, "Why am I here? What's the purpose of my existence? Is death the end of it all? Is this all we have?" I think it's really a challenge to look at it. Arthur C Clarke, who was a visionary, in the sense that he's the one who thought of the geostatic satellite in the 1940s, he's the one who really gave the concept and many other concepts. And whether he liked it or not, he came from a Christian background, but they left their faith and became rationalist scientist. I remember in one of the books he wrote called Childhood's End, which is a famous book he has written, he has reflected on a question of our existence. Why does plant life exist? Why does animal life exist? Why does human life exist? What's the ultimate purpose? It was very interesting. In fact in 2001's Space Odyssey, he dwelt with that same question. And the answer he brings out is very relevant to us. In 2001's Space Odyssey, this main character is able to go the place from where the signal came to the moon, a signal comes to the moon and they follow the signal and they see all abandoned space ships all over. Then only they realize that what has taken place is that the beings that came there in space ships, needed no material space ship anymore to exist. They had transcended into existing with consciousness only. And that's a very neat description of heaven, because you exist beyond material existence, you don't depend on a body, you don't depend on a decaying system, but you're alive because your consciousness is existing forever. To think that science is actually thinking that that's the destiny of humanity, and of life itself, is deeply interesting. Why is that? Because we have an innate sense within us, death cannot be the end of our life. We don't just live and die. We can't. Because God has given us a new creation. Unfortunately we're tying to explain it through Jerusalem, we're trying to explain it through various other systems and forms, and science is trying to explain it through the method of observation and projection of the future. We are trying to explain, but the bible says, God is doing a new thing. And this new thing has no comparison to what exists. And therefore, expect a beautiful blessing and a future beyond our lifetimes, beyond material life. The gospel tells us how to get there. It's beautiful. How do you get into the new thing that God is doing, the new dimension? The gospel explains it in the most beautiful way. John 4:43-44 After the two days he left for Galilee. (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country) In other words, he was experiencing serious rejection because he was not really qualified in that time, because he was a carpenter who was preaching the word, and he was not really accepted by the powers that be. John 4:45 When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, for they also have been there.   You must understand just a little bit of background, so you will know that Jerusalem was in Judea. It was another country. And Jesus was living in Nazareth and then Capernaum is in Galilee. Now Galilee was in another part and they had to travel several days to go from Galilee to Jerusalem. And in between was Samaria, the hostile land of the pagans. Jesus had come back to the people he was familiar with, they had also been there in the temple and they had seen what he was doing, the miracles, the signs and wonders. Look at the next verse. John 4:46 Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. We really love this because thank god he turned water into wine. Otherwise what are we going to do, all our feasts and our festivals. Here Jesus turned water into wine. John 4:46-47 And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death. He said, please come and heal, because he thought unless Jesus actually comes there nothing much is going to happen. Can you see how we always deal with things from what we know? John 4:48 "Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe." Here the Lord, I'm thinking, is offering us a glimpse into seeing what God is doing in the new things. He's saying, you're starting from the point of your understanding. You have to see something to believe. You have to understand something to believe. And unless you see something, a sign, a wonder, a miracle, you cannot start to believe. That's the base of science, that's the base of logic, that's the base of understanding -- first you have the facts, then you do analysis, then you come to a conclusion, then you accept it or reject it. Now this scientific paradigm, which is coming from the natural system, it has helped us to build this whole technological system that we are living in. Even the vaccination we have been given, now some people have died of blood clots. What I was reading on the internet is, they are saying, "Don't come to the conclusion that this was the cause of it without analysis. Do analysis to see." And now I saw it on BBC, they are saying the death rate of people with blood clots is equal to people who didn't take the injection as well. What they are saying is that two people who were having blood clot problems happened to take the injection. That it's not really the injection that gave them the blood clot. How did they do that? By analyzing over close to a million people. It's a brilliant method. You take the facts, you look at the whole thing, you analyze it and then you come to a conclusion. For the material realm that's excellent. But the real thing is that we are not just material beings. We are also spiritual beings. And the tools that are effective in the material level, may not be effective in the spiritual dimension. And sometimes takes years to work that out because we have got so used to doing things with the tools that are so effective in the material realm, we use the same tools in the spiritual realm. When you do that, you get pretty bad results. That's why you see the most intelligent people are the ones who don't believe. The most trained minds are the ones that are unable to deal with the spiritual realm because their methodology has been so successful at this level, that they're using the same   methodology in the spiritual realm and they are missing out on the new thing that God is doing in their realm. And I am talking this through my own struggle of trying to work this out in my own mind because trained to think and analyze and work through a rational process it became pretty hard to move to another dimension. How does one move from the tools of the natural dimension, into the spiritual realm? It's given here in the passage, beautifully. John 4:49-50 The royal official said, "Sir, come down before my child dies." Jesus replied, "You may go. Your son will live." The man took Jesus at his word and departed. This realm begins with faith. Now the problem is, if you are used to the analysis dimension and coming to conclusions dimension, faith is very hard. Sometimes you look stupid also. What's the bridge between these two? The bridge is the person of Jesus Christ. When you start having a personal relationship with Him, when you come to know Him, when the Holy Spirit reveals who Jesus is to us, the bridge into the realm of the supernatural, into the dimension of the spiritual is opened. And suddenly, the whole new thing that God is doing, begins to move into your life. It's an amazing thing. That's why it's not just faith. Sometimes we use the word faith -- have faith, believe -- and it looks stupid because we are using the word faith from the natural realm only. That's why the word has no power. But, if you start having a relationship with Jesus, in that connection you start believing in Him, the whole new world begins to open up to us. In Buddhism, in Hinduism, it's the stilling of your mind. You stop the analysis and the rational movement of your mind, and tie it somewhere. And then they say, when you are not thinking about it, from somewhere else will drop down the new thing of creation. In that they call it the left and right side of the brain, and men use the left side of the brain and that's why we say, "They have left their brains behind." And women use the right side, and that's why they are always right. The right side of the brain, actually what they are saying is, you download information from sources which you have not analyzed. And for that you need to still this part of the brain, the left side. That's what meditation does, that's what bhavana does -- it opens you to that dimension, where this newness starts coming in. For us, we don't need that because we have a person. We have the person of Jesus Christ. Having a relationship with Him opens us to this new thing that God is doing. And we can see it here: John 4:51-53 While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, "The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour." Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." So he and all his household believed. They didn't get baptized, they didn't do any other religious work, but when believing is said here, what he's saying is, they accepted that Jesus is the bridge between the divine and the human. Between the spiritual realm and the natural. And today, I'm inviting you, having a relationship with Jesus will take you to the new thing that He's doing without much effort on our part. And that's what actually prayer is all about. Something the Lord has been teaching me in these days of Lent, trying to find the time to sit before the Lord in the blessed sacrament, first of all, I used to bring the issues that I have, what kind of decisions I   need to make, and how to make them. Then the Lord impressed on my heart, stop trying to get answers to question. Just be with me and when that consciousness is deep enough, the answers will drop in at the right time. And what I am noticing is, in that silence, there are two kinds of silences. There is empty silence, you don't know what to do silence. Where to look silence, what to do silence, and pretty restless silence. And then you have the other silence, which is pregnant with the presence. And the blessed sacrament in an amazing way brings you that second part into our life. That very church seems to be filled with that awareness. You take away the blessed sacrament and then what happens is, that place becomes like a hall. It's a place. But here, there is in that a presence. A presence that is so full, that it creates a comfortable stillness inside us. In that stillness, things begin to slow down, I think it actually speeds up but we sense it as slowing down. Everything becomes very restful and quiet. And in that awareness, suddenly new things begin to emerge, you begin to see everything in a new way. It becomes crystal clear, crisp. And then prayer becomes a true experience of the new thing God is doing in our midst. When you bring that awareness into your heart, or you allow it, the amazing thing is you don't have to go and tell people that, it actually flows from you into their lives. Then you begin to see beyond what you can normally see. I used to think it was my analysis that's bringing it out. You talk to someone after prayer, you talk to someone who needs counselling, when you sit with them you can see into the problem without actually seeing it. It's so clear, this is really the issue here. And a few thoughts settles the whole thing, because we are receiving this information from another dimension. And sometimes you can see the problem there clearly, because the spiritual realm has opened up. That's really the place where the new thing is taking place. The new Jerusalem, living with the consciousness of heaven, bringing it down into our world. Our world is not looking for our wisdom or needs our wisdom, it needs that awareness that comes from that place. People who don't realize it, they are trying to find out what makes a successful communicator. What makes a person be able to hold the attention of others. We are thinking it's some skill we are having without realizing it's this awareness that's being brought down as you sit in the presence of the new Jerusalem. That's beautifully available for all of us. I'm inviting you, find the time to sit in the presence. I can warn you, first you'll be met by the empty silence. When shall I get up silence, and why isn't this clock moving silence. And then you get used to just sitting there, and then the download and the worship begins to move. My little experience is that how I know the connection is made is that worshiping in the spiritual language of tongues becomes effortless, because your heart has now been connected with God. And there seems to be this flow inside us, we are one with the energy that's flowing from God. That's why silent, wordless prayer is so important, and that's why we charismatics, we need both. One we need to worship God together and really enjoy it, and we also need that moment, where the inner being is filled with the presence. I'm just going to read you a reflection I had written down. The advantage for me is that I have preached these things for so many years, I have it in my powerpoint. So when I looked at this, I can't remember how I had collected it, but I thought this information was very valuable. It says: 'The supernatural was designed to be first experienced and then understood. The bible teaches that by faith we understand that the world was framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.' That is Hebrews 11:3. That means the visible things are made by the invisible. That the realm of the spirit was first in existence before the material realm came into being. That's why we say God is forever. The eternity of God. Then it says, 'In the natural, first we have an experience, we perceive through our five senses, then we reason it. And finally we believe it. But in God, when you believe, you are ready to have the experience, and then you understand.' You begin to realize   God's new thing is happening in our midst. It goes on: 'This is because the supernatural must be first experienced. Many have tried to submit the supernatural to the judgment of reason. They think that if they don't understand something, it is not real, and does not exist. But this is not true. If it was understood by human logic, it would stop being supernatural.' If it is understood, it would stop being supernatural. 'Today I encourage you to have a supernatural encounter with God. He's not a theory or a force, but a person. The Holy Spirit has emotions, a mind and a will. And he wants to lead us to a relationship with our heavenly Father. Be willing to experience the love and the presence of God, not just today but everyday. Prepare yourself for a supernatural encounter.' This author, he says, prepare yourself for a supernatural encounter is not to prepare yourself for a miracle, but for a divine encounter where the things of heaven are downloaded into your heart. Everything becomes fresh, everything becomes new, your mind becomes sharp and suddenly all things have been brought together in a newness. Actually that's why people go on holiday to new places, because they want to experience newness. That's why I'm seriously thinking, people get drunk also, because I am telling you from my past experience. When you drink, you somehow come out of yourself, you see things differently. Sometimes you have to pay for those later. When you see things differently, you tell things differently to people, you tell them what you really feel and think, because you have come out of yourself. I remember those days, when I get drunk, when I go before a mirror I'm asking the question, "Who am I?" I am seeing myself differently, a new awareness, that's what we are looking for, that's why people keep going back to alcohol, to drugs. They want the newness of the spiritual realm in their being. But they know only alcohol, they know only drugs, they know only some kind of a change in the atmosphere or in the environment. That's all we know. But in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, in intimacy with Him, all the newness of life is waiting for us. So, seek Him today, sit before Him, allow Him to reveal this truth into your heart.

Day 17 – Lenten Prayer and Reflection -12th March 2021   Today is a very interesting topic the Lord is going to reveal to us. If we look at the world today most people are suffering and are sick. Millions of rupees are spent for physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, medication because people are sick and people are suffering. Some people are addicted to alcohol, to drugs, to tranquilizers, people cannot rest without any tranquilizers, are addicted to sleeping tablets because people are sick. In and through the readings the Lord is going to reveal the root cause for most of our sicknesses and suffering. There are three kinds of suffering in the world: Unnecessary suffering Necessary suffering Redemptive suffering Necessary suffering and redemptive suffering is needed. What is necessary suffering? When you say necessary suffering, when you say yes to the Lord, we have to go through a kind of suffering, we have to die to our flesh, our will. We have to die to our desires when you say yes to the mission. Sometimes you have to get up early in the morning, 2, 3 a.m., and you have to go for a mission work, when you want to sleep and rest. You have to die to yourself but that suffering is necessary for you for your holiness, and necessary for the world. At the same time the third suffering is the redemptive suffering. The redemptive suffering is the suffering that the saints go through. Today, in and through the readings, God is revealing to us about the unnecessary suffering. 99% of people go through unnecessary suffering and sicknesses, but people justify by saying, "God wants me to go through this family problem." No, God does not want you to go through a family problem. It's because of our selfishness, because of our pride, because of our unforgiveness, because of our ego, we go through a family problem and we say, God has allowed this problem. And this financial problem, God has allowed me to go through this poverty. No, sometimes the way we have handled our finances are wrong, and we justify by saying God has allowed this suffering, God has allowed this sickness. Our God is a good God. Our God is a loving, merciful, forgiving, faithful God. That's why He created man in a paradise. Adam and Eve were created in paradise. They had everything. They didn't have sicknesses, they didn't have problems. God wanted man to live happily but because of the sin of Adam and Eve they lost the paradise. The consequences of their sin is what brought suffering into the world. Today most people are suffering because of our sin, or what we will discover through the first reading. In the first reading, God is revealing to us the root cause of our suffering. Once we are aware of our root cause, let's bring it to the feet of Jesus today, and allow the Lord to heal us, to restore us. Once we are healed and restored, the Lord will use us to heal the broken, wounded, sick world. Today's first reading is taken from Hosea 14:1-9. First we'll be reading 1-3. Through 1-3, through Hosea, God is revealing His people to repent and to turn to the Lord. Then 4-9, God's response we can see, when people repent and turn to God, God's response is He blesses his people.   Hosea 14:1 Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God. Your sins have been your downfall! Here, God is revealing to us, and he says, are you hurt, are you going through suffering, are you going through a sickness, are you going through pain? What is the reason? Sin is your downfall. If you are going through hurt, don't point the finger towards the other person for your hurt. Don't blame the other person, don't blame the incidents, God is inviting us, just look into your heart and see, am I going through a relationship problem at this time, am I going through a suffering at this time? The Lord is inviting us to sit at His feet and to allow the Lord to show my own weaknesses. Hosea 14:2 Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to him: "Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips. Here, God is speaking to us through prophet Hosea, first thing we have to do is, we have to allow the Lord to show our sins. Second thing is, repent from your heart, and He's revealing the third thing that we need to do. It says: "Take words with you", that means God wants us to verbalize our sin. That's confession, the importance of confession. So the root cause for most of our sufferings is our sin, so we have to sit at the feet of Jesus allow the Lord to show me my weaknesses, then repent from your heart and then verbalize your sin in confession. In confession when we kneel before the priest, we are actually kneeling before Jesus. When we confess our sins to the priest, we are confessing our sins to Jesus. And when the priest gives the absolution, and when he says, "Your sins are forgiven", that's Jesus who speaks. Actually Jesus says, "Your sins are forgiven." Only Jesus can forgive a human being. How do we know? In Mark 2:10, when that paralytic man was brought to Jesus, Jesus said, "Son, your sins are forgiven. Take up your mat and walk." But then, there was a huge commotion, why? The teachers of the law started saying, "How can this man forgive? Only God can forgive." Then, Jesus said, in Mark 2:10, "But I want you to know, that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." Jesus himself said, "I have the authority." It was not just only words, Jesus died for our sins. And he paid a great price for our sins, and He's risen and He's the one who can forgive even now, because He's alive in our midst. When we go for confession, when we repent, and when we confess our sins, where do we experience this healing? This forgiveness? We know the bible divides the human being into three sections: Body Soul Spirit When we are forgiven in confession, we experience that healing touch first in our spirit. Actually why do people suffer today? When we are sick we go to a doctor, that's important, but medical doctors can treat only the body and the heart, that means body, mind and emotions. But medical doctors are unable to treat the spirit. Only Jesus can treat the spirit, only Jesus can heal the spirit, only Jesus can liberate the spirit. When we repent and when we go for our confession, we experience the healing touch in the spirit, we experience the freedom in the spirit, and then what happens? Then it flows to our emotions, it flows to our thoughts, our mind, it flows to our physical body and we will be healed and we will be set free totally.   So I can remember once a mother called me and told me, "Please can you come and pray for my son? My son is dying. He is in the ICU and doctors have given only 2 days to live." I said, "Yes, sure, I will come." I was praying. Then the Lord told me, "Take a priest with you and get him to do a confession." So I spoke to Fr. Dudley, and two of us went to the ICU, and he did a good confession, we prayed and we came back. Doctors gave him only 2 days to live but he is still living. What happened? Jesus ministered to his spirit in confession and that healing flowed to his emotions, to his mind and his body and he recovered totally. What the doctors, medical science couldn't do, happened because Jesus forgave the sins, and he is still living. Hosea 14:3 Assyria cannot save us; we will not mount war-horses. We will never again say, 'Our gods' to what our own hands have made, for in you the fatherless find compassion." Hosea is telling us, first you verbalize your sin, confess, then tell the Lord these things and he is teaching the people what they should tell. He says, "Say Assyria cannot save us." What does it mean when you say, "Assyria cannot save us"? At that particular time, Assyria was a very powerful, influential nation. The people are saying, we have been going after powerful nations, powerful kings, powerful influential people but from today onwards, we are not going to go after them, but we will depend on you, we will make you our king. So that's what the Lord is asking us also to do today. If we have made any other person, influential person, powerful person, God is telling us to repent and make Him your one and only God. Then Hosea is telling the people to say, "We will not mount war-horses." What is the meaning of warhorses? They were fighting with other nations with their own strength, with the strength of horses, with their own strength. Now Hosea is asking them to say from now onwards tell the Lord you're not going to use your own strength to solve problems, not your own wisdom, not your own abilities. So today the Lord is telling us also, if we have not depended on the Lord, and if we have tried to solve our problems by our strength, by our wisdom, and we have failed, and today it may be we are suffering because of our wrong decision not depending on the Lord, not receiving the direction from the Lord. Then Hosea tells the people to say, "We will never again say 'Our gods' to what our own hands have made." We also have made gods from our own hands. Money, power, wealth, prestige, honour, people, business. Hosea is telling, "Make God your one and only God." Today through Hosea God is revealing to us, if we are going through suffering, most of the time it's unnecessary suffering, the reason is, one is our sins and the second is because we have not given the due place to our God. This is what we are being taught in the Four Steps retreat, in our Four Steps prayer. Come as you are, and give the truth of your heart; second step, you give the sin to the Lord; third step, you surrender your life. Make Jesus the Lord of your life. Then, we are filled with the Holy Spirit. God blesses us with the Holy Spirit. The same thing happened even in this reading. Hosea 12:5-9 reveals the blessings. We are going to read the second reading. In the second reading, Jesus confirms what God has revealed through Hosea, and Jesus reveals the total answer for our suffering, for our sicknesses. Here Jesus is talking about the greatest commandment.   Mark 12:28-31 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." One of the teachers of the law came and asked Jesus, "What is the most important commandment?" Jesus said, "There is only one God." In the first reading, God revealed the same thing through Hosea. Hosea said, "There is only one God. And you suffer because you have not given the due place to this God. That's your downfall. So repent, confess your sins." Jesus is confirming that, and then, revealing to us how to make Him your God. How do you make Him your one and only God? He says, "Love your God with all your mind, with all your soul and with all your strength." So actually, Jesus is revealing how to give the first place to God. Then, Jesus says, the second commandment: "Love your neighbour as yourself." So in the first reading, through Hosea God revealed, there are two reasons for your suffering. It's because of your sin and because you have not given the Lord the due place. Here, Jesus is confirming that, and Jesus is revealing, there is another step. One is your sins, you have to receive forgiveness for your sins, but you suffer because of the sins of others. We suffer because of our sins, and we suffer because of the sins of the others. What does it mean when you say that we suffer because of the sins of the others? Just see, a person meets with an accident because of a reckless, drunkard driver. And that person suffers because of the sin of that drunkard driver. A child is rejected in the mother's womb. The parents reject and try to abort. But this child is being born. So this child is being rejected as a child by the parents, and what happens, this child suffers that rejection because of the parents. So Jesus is revealing to us the second commandment. How to come out of your suffering? You have to forgive others, and you have to love others. So the answer is, when you forgive those who have hurt us, when you forgive those who have rejected us, and when we love them, you will be able to overcome. Here Jesus said, "Love your neighbour as you love yourself." Just look at a child who is being rejected from the womb, and in childhood. Can this child love himself or herself? No. That child will hate himself or herself. Then how can we ask this child to love the parents? But here Jesus is saying, "Love your parents, as you love yourself." So when this child is unable to love himself or herself, how can you? Jesus is showing us, there is a connection between these two commandments. The first commandment Jesus said: "Love your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, and with all your strength." And then Jesus said, "Love your neighbour as you love your own self." There's a connection. First we have to experience the love of God. Without experiencing the love of God, the mercy and the forgiveness of God, we can't love our own self, we can't love others. We see this happening in the life of Jesus. It was not merely words that Jesus was speaking. Jesus always experienced the Father's love. We see in the scriptures, sometimes whole night he was before the Father's love, enjoying the Father's love, company, rest and receiving His wisdom, how to handle situations, how to handle people. That's how when Jesus was persecuted, and when Jesus was nailed on the cross, that Jesus was able to say, "Father, forgive them they do not know what they do." And Jesus loved them to the end and Jesus said, "It is finished."   On that cross, our sins were forgiven, in and through his suffering, the Lord redeemed us from our sufferings. He has finished that, He has accomplished that mission, we are being redeemed from our suffering, through His forgiveness. Through His wounds we are being healed. Through His forgiveness, our sins are being forgiven. Through His resurrection we have received a new life. By sending the power of the Holy Spirit into our lives, we too have received that same journey that Jesus went through. We too have received the love to forgive others. We too have received the power, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to forgive others and to love others, in the same way Jesus did. That's what we see in the early church. All the apostles were able to forgive and love. Even we see it in the lives of saints. So in and through his death and resurrection and by sending the power of the Holy Spirit, He has given us this grace, this same power. First thing is we have to experience the Father's love. You can jot down these scripture passages and later when you are in the presence of the Lord, allow the Lord to love you through these scripture passages. Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners Christ died for us. When we were sinners, Christ died for us. When I was rejecting him, Christ died for me. When I was withdrawing and running away from Him, when I was in sin, still He died for me. 1 John 4:19 We love, because he first loved us. Without experiencing His love first, we cannot love others. Without experiencing forgiveness from Him first, we have to forgive others. Romans 5:5 ...because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Just take these three readings, in your personal prayer, and allow the Lord to minister to you. In and through the second reading, the Lord is inviting us to sit at the feet of Jesus, first experience His love, and then, if you are going through any hurt, pain, just ask the Lord to show your failures, why you are suffering this, without pointing the finger to others. Ask the Lord to show you, and when the Lord shows, repent from your heart, confess it, then give the due place to the Lord. And when you experience that love, first thing what will happen is, you will be able to love yourself. First love God, love yourself, and to love others. Actually there are people who are unable to love God. Forgive God, some have not forgiven God. One day, a certain lady spoke to me and she said, "I am married to a Catholic, and even my husband's two aunties are nuns. But my husband is refusing to go to church. Even on a Sunday, he's refusing, he won't come. And one of his uncles is a priest." Then I asked her, "Why? Why is he refusing to come to church?" Then this was his story. He said, when he was six years old, his father died. When he was big, he was asking, "How did my father die?" His father got a heart attack, but relations said, "Somebody did something against your family, and that's how your father died." Then he started questioning, "Was Jesus not powerful enough to protect my father? Why should I follow a powerless God if the evil one was much   more powerful, to kill my father and my God was not able to protect him?" And he didn't want to go to church. Some hate God, some can't love God, some can't forgive God. So today, we have to start from there. We have to forgive God, then only we can love Him with all our hearts, with all our mind, with all our strength, with all our soul. Then we have to be able to love our own self. "Love your neighbour as you love your own self," Jesus said. The Lord's love and mercy and forgiveness, I have to receive first, then I have to forgive my own self, I have to love my own self, then I'll be able to forgive others, and love others. That's where the unnecessary suffering will be taken away from our lives. Mark 12:32-34 "Well said, teacher," the man replied. "You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." All what Jesus said, this man agreed and repeated the same thing. And Jesus was happy and said, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." Jesus didn't tell him, "You are in the kingdom of God." He said, "You are not far", that means not in the kingdom. The reason is, you can know all the truths, you can speak all the truths, but if you don't live, we will not be in the kingdom of God. We will be far. Today, in and through the readings, the Lord is giving us the secret, how we should overcome this unnecessary suffering. But, we have to live what the Lord wants us. We have to experience it. Once we experience that, what happens? Today, just look into your life, sit before the Lord, and ask the Lord, "Am I going through a hurt? Am I going through a relationship problem? Am I going through a financial crisis? Am I going through a sickness? What is the suffering that I am going through? It's an unnecessary suffering. Then ask the Lord, "What have I contributed for this pain, for this hurt, for this problem?" Ask the Lord, "Show me Lord Jesus, what have I contributed? My failure, my sin, and when the Lord shows you your sin, repent from your heart, till you go for confession even speak out your words to the Lord, and ask for the forgiveness of the Lord. And then the Lord is revealing to us, give the due place to the Lord. Make him your one and only God, one and only Lord. And love him with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And then, when you experience that love with the Lord, the Lord will show you His mercy, His forgiveness, His love. When I experienced His love in His presence, that joy, that peace that comes in and through that love, I'll be able to forgive me, I'll be able to love me, I will see what a precious child I am, I am His own daughter, I am His own son, I am worthy, the Lord is proud of me. The Lord says, "You are precious to me. You're unique. I'm proud of you." And the Lord is honouring me, the Lord is respecting me, the Lord is giving me that value -- that value is more than enough. You need not go after human beings to receive love. That honour is more than enough, you need not have human power, authority, money to experience, because you are being valued every time that you pray. You are being lifted up, and with that you can love yourself. Whatever the rejections that you have gone through, when you know "my Father loves me," you can love yourself and that love will flow from you to others. You can forgive others, you can love others. Then what happens? Most of the problems you will be able to overcome. You will not need to suffer unnecessarily. You will receive love, peace, joy. Because then you enter into the kingdom of God. You will not be far away, you will enter into the kingdom of God. In the kingdom of God, what's there? All what is in heaven, will be in you. Peace, love, joy, wisdom, healing -- all what is in heaven will invade your heart, invade your life, will invade your family, will invade wherever   you go, you will be carrying heaven, the kingdom. Whatever the place, you will carry the kingdom, because you will be in the kingdom. Today in the worship, we'll ask the Lord to make it an experience into our lives. We are just weak, helpless human beings, we cannot do anything. That's why Jesus said, "I am in you, you are in me. With me, you can do everything." Today we'll ask the Lord, ask the Holy Spirit to make His love tangible into our lives, so that these words will become alive in our hearts that we'll be able to live the words that He wants us to live.

Day 16 – Lenten Prayer and Reflection – 11th March 2021   The first reading in today's reading is taken from the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah 7:23 But I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you. This morning as we reflect on this verse, you could see what the Lord is speaking to us in this text through prophet Jeremiah. The Lord is saying, obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Here the Lord is giving His promise: I will be your God and you will be my people. It's amazing because God is giving this promise to the Israelites, to the people of Judea and to us today. God is saying I will be your God. Let's pause for a moment and reflect on that. God is giving you His promise today: I will be your God and and you will be my people. There is so much of a promise of power in those words that the Lord is speaking. Because the Lord says, when I become your God and you become my people everything will go well with you, every need in your life I will give you a breakthrough and an answer, to every problem and challenging situation you face I will be your God and I will give you a breakthrough, an answer. It's an amazing thing. So maybe you're in a financial struggle, maybe you're having an issue in your family, in your marriage, with your children, maybe in your workplace, maybe your brokenness and sinfulness within you. But no matter what your problem and need is this morning, God is telling you, I will be your God in that need and crisis. But there is a condition. If you look it's very clear here. The word of God is revealing this to us. What is the condition? God can only be your God if you obey His voice. It is when you listen to His voice that God can really be God. That's the problem these people in Judea were facing. They were supposed to be the people of God at that time in the Old Testament and they did everything externally, they did the ritual sacrifices, they followed all the Jewish and religious customs and practices -- externally they fulfilled all of it but they had lost God. Why had they lost God? This is why God has sent prophet Jeremiah to the people, to tell them they have lost God. Why did they lose God? Because though they did everything externally, they were not listening to His voice. That same thing can happen to us today. We as Catholics have gone through all the external rituals, through the sacraments, through our baptism, we do all the rituals. Even during Lent we are doing everything externally -- we are fasting, we are going to church on the day of obligation, we are doing the way of the crosses, we are doing everything but the Lord is speaking to you and me and saying, "If you want me to be your God in your life, if you want to belong to me, if you want my breakthrough, my answer into your life, you need to listen to my voice." So the other way is also true. If you don't listen to His voice there is a serious question mark as to whether God can be the God in your life. This is the key: listening to His voice. The question is, in the Old Testament how did people listen to the voice of God? People listened to the voice of God through prophets who were sent time and again: Jeremiah 7:25-26 From the time your forefathers left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again, I sent you my servants the prophets. But they did not listen to me or pay attention. They were stiff-necked and did more evil than their forefathers.   God sent prophets from time to time in the Old Testament because in the Old Testament that's how the people of Israel heard the voice of God. When God spoke through prophets people did not obey and listen to that voice. It's because they did not listen to that voice that they went through crisis after crisis without an answer. But we need to look at this question this morning. How do we, the people after Jesus Christ, the people in the New Testament times, hear the voice of the Lord? Why we need to look at this question seriously is because of this idea that we have even today. Though we are living in a time after Jesus Christ, we still live as if we are living in the Old Testament. We are still waiting for God to speak to us through other people. Actually specially in the Catholic Church, 99% of the people are lay people, and the thing we lay people have is we are looking at somebody else to hear the voice of the Lord, just like in the Old Testament. Even today you see this misconception all over the place and people are looking at other people as special chosen prophets. Why? Because it's a huge confusuon In the Old Testament it was people specially chosen to hear the voice of the Lord who were called prophets, and we are holding on to that same thing in the New Testament. Even today we are thinking this person is chosen or that person is chosen so we label some people as prophet or we don't label some people as prophet, but we are holding on to somebody, and we don't realise what Jesus has done through his death and resurrection. What haa he done? Jesus brought the voice of God to each and every one of us. That's what we will be looking at in the gospel reading today. How does he do that? How can each and every one of us hear the voice of the Lord personally in our lives? Luke 11:14-16 Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon left, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was amazed. But some of them said, "By Beelzebub, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons." Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven. What is really happening here? Jesus is on the scene and Jesus casts this demon out of a person, and this person who was mute is instantly delivered and healed from this sickness and demonic possession. But it was a massive problem for those who were there, specially the religious leaders and those who opposed Jesus. The big question for them was, where did he get this power from? They didn't doubt the miracle. Today we are doubting miracles, but they believed that this man was actually delivered and healed. But they questioned, where did Jesus receive this power? They said he was doing it with the power of Satan, the power of the demonic and so many things. But today we need to see where did Jesus receive this power from? The Church teaches us Jesus was true God and true man. So while yes, He was the second person of the Trinity he was also human -- fully God and fully human. So how did this power flow into the life of Jesus? It flowed into the life of Jesus because in the Jordan, when Jesus was being baptized by John the Baptist, heavens opened and he heard a voice from heaven. This was the Father's voice. What did the Father say? "You are my beloved son." Here is the voice of God Jesus heard. "You are my beloved son." What's the response Jesus gave? He obeyed that voice. In Jeremiah we saw, the people of the Old Testament couldn't obey the voice of God. But here, the same problem we had as we reflect on the book of Genesis with Adam. The first Adam could not obey the voice of God and he brought sinfulness and brokenness into the human heart, and people lost that connection   in the Old Testament, people lost the capacity to hear God. That's why special people had to be sent time and again, prophets had to be sent time and again because that connection was lost. But here, now comes the Saviour Jesus Christ, the new Adam who obeyed God from the beginning until death on the cross. His perfect obedience replaced the disobedience of the first Adam, and through his perfect obedience on the cross unto death, Jesus broke that division between mankind and God. Now that voice that we could not hear for ages, that voice that was lost by mankind was replaced, was given back, was bridged, was justified and reconciled. Therefore now as people in the New Testament, as people who believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Lord has given us that capacity once again to connect to the Father, to connect to God and to hear His voice once again in our hearts. We don't have to run behind a person, a prophet or special people who we think are gifted and anointed to receive the revelation of God. No, you have been given that great gift by Jesus himself. To not use that gift and to not learn to hear Him speak to you personally is to actually in a way, have Jesus died in vain on the cross. In actual fact we owe it to Jesus to open our hearts to this truth and gift to hear His voice. You need to thirst for it, you need to desire it, you need to fight for it and you need to tell the Lord, "Lord, I want to hear your voice in my own life, so that I can be led by you into the purpose and plan you have for me." Otherwise we are waiting for the words of knowledge, we are waiting for somebody to give us prophecy -- all that is good, all that is necessary but we need to grow from that point as lay people walking in a journey with the Lord. We need to grow into that place where we learn to hear His voice. What happened to Jesus? What did he hear in Jordan? He heard you are my beloved son and he obeyed that. While others said, "This is just a carpenter's son, isn't this Joseph's song?" Even in the wilderness Satan attacked his identity and said "If you are the Son of God turn these stones into bread," but Jesus did not obey or believe the other voices he was hearing -- not the voices of other people, not the voice of Satan but he obeyed the voice of God, the voice of the Father. This morning the Lord is speaking to you, not only giving you the gift to hear His voice but also speaking to you and saying, "You are my son, you are my daughter." It is because Jesus believed in his identity and that he is the Son of God that the supernatural power of God flowed into his life. What happened? This person who was possessed by a demonic spirit, was mute, was completely set free and healed. Why? Because Jesus obeyed the voice and obeyed what God was saying to him. Jesus believed in his identity. This morning the Lord is reminding us, today as Christians, this is the power that can flow into our lives. From where? From knowing who you are. When you believe and obey God's voice and believe you are a son or daughter of God, the power of God flows into your life as well. We don't have to live anymore as powerless Christians holding on until some other person we have made a god says something and gives us an answer. You believe in who you are, that you are a son and a daughter of God. When you believe in that, the supernatural power of God flows into your life. We have heard it from our small days, I am a son, I am a daughter of God. But though we have heard it, do you believe it? Do you hold on to it everyday as you wake up in the morning? There was this lady who came with a severe crisis to meet me, a mother. For her, her biggest problem was her child who was having an issue and she was so hopeless, so lost. How could this son be helped? How could this family be helped? As we were talking we realized her fundamental problem was she didn't know who she was, because everyday in the morning when she wakes up, she puts her wife cap first and she gets about with her wife duties. Then she puts her mother cap on and she gets about with those duties. But do you remember every morning before you put any of those identities, do you remember to put the most   important one -- that you are a son or a daughter of God. The whole purpose of creation, the whole purpose why God has created you is to make you His own, to make you a son or a daughter. I remember there was this person called Frank Thaththa in our community. He was an elder and I knew him from the time I was 9-10 years old. I remember when I encountered the Lord in my adult life in a new way and when I started journeying with the Lord, one day we were at tabor and he came in for something and something pushed me to ask him after all his years of being in a journey, to ask him something where I can enrich my life. So I asked him, "Frank Thaththa, after so many years in a journey what do you think you can share with me about this journey, to a young person like me who is just beginning my walk with the Lord?" I was expecting a long discourse, a long teaching because he is so old and wise, but he gave the gentlest of smiles, and he said one thing. He said, "All I can tell you son, is never forget that you are a child of God." That's all. Not a long discourse, not a thousand words, but it hit me hard and it still hits me. This is the heart of the gospel, that you were created by God for Him. When you believe in this, the power of God flows into your life and it breaks through into your every need, crisis and problem. Not only that but you start hearing the voice of the Father. Let's go to verse 17 and 18: Luke 11:17-18 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: "Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebub. Look at what Jesus is saying. What the Lord really put in my heart is, the Lord says: A house that is divided cannot stand. Where is this house in your life and mine? It starts with my own life. If you don't see yourself as a son or a daughter of God, your house, the dwelling place of God will be divided. That's what most of us experience. We are depressed, we are sad, we are insecure, we are fearful. Why? Because we are divided internally, we are broken internally because we don't know who we are. The first thing that comes into order, the first thing that comes into unity and harmony is yourself. When you believe you are a son of God and when you live in that identity everyday as you get into personal prayer and you reflect that and claim it, internally you have harmony, internally you have unity, internally you have peace. Your family is your house. When you don't see your husband or your wife as a son and a daughter of God, when you just see them for their weakness, for who they are and their brokenness, there is division. A house that is divided cannot stand. That's why the Lord is telling you, don't look at your husband's weakness, don't look at your wife's weakness. Look at how I have made them in the image of God. They are sons and daughters of God. When you start reflecting that everyday about your husband, your wife, what happens? You start loving them in a new way. You realise, I have a mission to help them grow into their identity, into their real identity. It's not to label them, hammer them down and say, "Oh you're like this, you will never change," because that's what has happened in our families, in our marriages, with our children. We hammer them down, we can't accept them because of their brokenness, their limitations, their weaknesses. See them as sons and daughters of God, made in the image of God. When you start seeing them that way, you realize I need to respect each and every one of them, even my children. Today parents can't respect children because they feel they shouldn't because they are our children. You treat them the way you want and the children are big and they reject you and they go the wrong way, we are   crying to God. But when you see them as sons and daughters, you realize they are in the image of God and I need to respect them, love them and steward them. Luke 11:20 But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you. What is the finger of God? The finger of God is the Holy Spirit and Jesus is working in the power of the Holy Spirit. Again we visit back to Jordan. When he obeyed the voice, I am a son of God, the Holy Spirit like a dove came and filled him. Today even in our lives, that's what the Lord is reminding us this Lent. When we believe in who we are, we realise the great gift God has given us. Not only am I a son or a daughter of God, but a sign of that reality, a sign of that identity, a confirmation of that identity is the Holy Spirit that has been poured into your life and my life. The spirit of God himself has come into our lives to testify to this end, that you are a son or a daughter of God. It's not just a hypothetical concept, it's not just in our minds where you think I'm a son or daughter of God just to please myself and be happy. No! The spirit of God has really come into our lives. When you believe in this identity, the power of the Spirit starts working in you. One of our teams went for an outreach and after the outreach programme they were praying for people. This small 11 year old boy walks up to one of the members in our team and says, "Can you pray for me? In one ear I can't hear." This person started praying for this young boy and while this person was praying, all of a sudden, this boy started weeping, crying, just 11 years old. Why? Because the power of God was hitting him. This person who was praying for him suddenly heard the voice of the Lord and sensed that the Lord was saying, "I have chosen this boy, I have a purpose and a plan for this boy." What happened was, the person who was praying stopped praying for the healing and started praying for him to encounter God. As he was praying, this boy was weeping and experiencing God. Suddenly the person praying said to this boy, "I'm going to ask you whether you can hear now, if 10 is perfect hearing, tell me by a number how much has your hearing improved?" The boy said 5 so they kept on praying for him, praying for God to fill his life. Suddenly he stopped this person praying and said, "Now it's okay! I can hear 10!" This person who prayed was not a great preacher, this person who prayed was not a special prophet. He was not a special person the way society sees but a normal person in that outreach team, one of our servers. Why? Because Jesus has broken every barrier by his obedience and now this voice of God, the gift of hearing His voice was open to this person and this person believed, I am a son and a daughter of God and the power of the Holy Spirit flowed through this person's life into that child who could not hear. So we finish today with this last verse: Luke 11:21-22 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armour in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils. Who is this strong man in verse 21? Satan. Until Jesus came, Satan was building the kingdom of darkness on this earth. But now Jesus is saying, a stronger man has come into the scene and this stronger man will destroy this other man and destroy his spoils, destroy his kingdom. That stronger man is the Messiah. That stronger man is Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus is saying, I have come onto this earth to destroy the kingdom   of the devil. I have come onto this earth to build the kingdom of God. I have come onto their earth to restore back to you the voice of the Father, to restore back to you the relationship with the Father that Satan took away from Adam. That kingdom of darkness Satan was building from that time is now broken and destroyed once and for all. In your own life, this is the miracle Jesus has done. There is a stronger man living inside of you, that is Jesus Christ himself, the Risen Lord come to live inside of you. What has he brought? The gift of divine sonship, the gift of being a son and a daughter, to hear the voice of the Father and when you believe in that, the supernatural power of God, the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit and Jesus, starts flowing through your life into the lives of others. Let's spend some time in worship and allow the Lord today to renew this experience in our lives. We can walk through the entire 40 days of Lent, we can do everything externally but what is Jeremiah saying? The Lord is saying, obey my voice. We need to hear His voice, journey in obedience to His voice, not by our strength but Jesus and the Holy Spirit living inside of us will give us that strength and that power to do this.

Day 15 – Lenten Prayer and Reflection – 10th March 2021   As we share this morning, we have readings from Deuteronomy and the gospel of Matthew. I'll just read them briefly because the reading is a little too long. We'll just share a gist of what it says. Deuteronomy 4:1 Now, Israel, listen to the norms and laws which I teach, that you may put them into practice and you will live and enter, and you may go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. It's about Moses speaking to the Israelites. Now we must remember, Moses lived for over 110 years and he led the Isrealites to the promised land, through the desert, for 40 years. Deuteronomy is a place where he was coming to the end of his life, and therefore he needed to share all that he had in his heart with Joshua, Caleb and the people of Israel. Therefore Deuteronomy has three long speeches of Moses, where he tells them about their customs, their practices, the blessings, the curses. In fact, it has 34 chapters of Moses speaking until his death. There is a repetition of God's covenant, of the commandments, of the blessings, and Moses keeps sharing with them all these different things. As we read, it says, "And you will live and enter and take possession of the land which Yahweh, the God of your fathers, gives you." He tells them, "As you listen to these laws, as you follow them, you will take possession of the land." Deuteronomy 4:5 See, as Yahweh my God ordered me, I am teaching you the norms and the laws, that you may put them into practice in the land you are going to enter, and have as your own." There is repetition in this reading, where Moses is trying to tell them, "Practice this, do this, behave like this." Now the issue was the people were moving from Egypt to the land of Canaan. In these lands and different territories they went through, people had their own ways of living, their own gods they worshiped. Now Moses was trying to protect his people, and trying to instill in them what he had learnt, what the Father had revealed to him face to face, he wanted them to know all these practices and follow them. Therefore he was giving them a certain standard of living, he was sharing with them a way to live when they would be in the land of Canaan, when they would be in foreign territory. Therefore these laws were all encompassing. It followed the way they washed their hands, the way they lived, the way they prayed, if they married foreign wives, if they never married foreign wives, the blessings, the curses, death -- everything was spoken about in Deuteronomy. You must remember all five books in the Old Testament were written by Moses and followed by the Bahai Faith, Islam, Christians, Judaism, so these books are so important. And this book especially was all that Moses shared and spoke about. This book was meant to make these people good citizens of Israel. It helped them to be loyal to Israel as Israelites, and that was the purpose of this book Deuteronomy. As we go to the gospel of Matthew, Jesus says: Matthew 5:17 Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.   People thought, "Jesus has come, he has a new way of living, he's not washing his hands, his disciples are just plucking and eating, doing what they want and most probably he is changing everything." But Jesus clarifies and says, "Do not think I have come to abolish these, but I have come to fulfill them." Fulfill them means, to make them complete. Now we all know that in the Old Testament times people used to sacrifice goats, pigeons, birds and animals, but Jesus brought the practice of sacrifices to an end, through his sacrifice on the cross. That's why today if we have to sacrifice birds and animals it would be part of the occult, it would not be part of our belief or religion because Jesus was the ultimate and the final sacrifice of the Son to the Father and for our sin. Matthew 5:18-19 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus is telling us the importance of the commandments of the Old Testament and that they are still relevant today, and in our spirit life. If we look at all this that is being shared by the Lord, we are moving from the Old Testament times to the New Testament times. The Old Testament times can be summed up as the law and the prophets, and the New Testament was meant to fulfill all, to complete the Old Testament and fulfill all that was written in the Old Testament. Jesus completely fulfilled the Mosaic law and the Old Testament prophecies. That's why in each of the leaders, if you take Moses, Abraham, we see visages of Jesus, his characteristics, and personality, the sacrifice, the leadership qualities. Every leader, every judge, everyone carried something that Jesus encompassed, that Jesus had -- Jesus leading the people from sin to an experience of the promised land. Moses taking people from Egypt to the promised land. And everywhere you have this reflection from the Old Testament and the New Testament. Therefore, Jesus concluded the Old Testament and fulfilled it all in the New Testament. It is said the New Testament perfects and transforms the Old Testament. For example, we had the ten commandments in the Old Testament, and it said, "You shall not commit adultery." It was a very basic thing, it said, "You shall not commit adultery, you shall not covert your neighbour's wife." But in the New Testament, Jesus takes it to the next level. He simply says, if you look at a person with lust in your eyes, you have already committed adultery. For everything, Jesus took it to the next level, he raised the bar and he gave a new perspective to living for God and loving God. Therefore, if you think of this Old Testament living, it was just to make people citizens of the country of Israel, whereas New Testament living makes us citizens of the kingdom of heaven, of the kingdom of the entire world. Before it was limited to Israel but now the entire world experiences God's love, what He shares with us, the way of living, opens us up to heaven and to the kingdom of the earth, where God is not limited to Israel but to the entire world. The basic fact is, we have moved in the Old Testament for living in a kingdom of being citizens of a normal kingdom, in the New Testament we have moved from the flesh life to the spirit life. In the New Testament, we are invited to live on a higher plain. When I think of this life, in the New Testament, it is like this. For example, if this is the earth and there is a road over here, and you are driving a car, you come to a certain place and you have to brake, you have to stop, and then you go around, and this is our normal life. Life in the flesh where we face a temptation, we stop, we think, we pray, we go around it, we face obstacles in life and this is our normal life without the Spirit of God. We're struggling, we're facing obstacles, we're making mistakes, we're sinning, we're   falling into pits, we're facing mountains, and different things we face in life. Whereas when we begin to experience the Spirit of God, it is a different life altogether. It is a life where we soar above the ordinary, where every mountain, every valley doesn't seem important to us because we simply soar across this life. We live a different kind of life. And God, today, through these readings, where He talks about the Old Testament and the New Testament, Jesus is telling us, "No, I have fulfilled this. And I am taking this reading from being inscribed on stone blocks, to being inscribed in your heart." These commandments, which were written on stone, which people tried to follow hard, to maintain, to live and write on their clothes, on their tassels, but they could not do this. But in the New Testament I have come that you may have life, life in abundance, and this life you live in the spirit is something beyond, which is above, where all these temptations, where all these things that you go through, do not matter. You just live above them. You live on a different plain. When you face the, you smile at them. You have a different experience." This morning, the Lord is calling us to live not just passing the exam by 30, 35, 40 marks. Some of us used to live thinking of how we can just pass an exam. How we can just get passed. If we know these 4-5 questions, if we learn them well, we can just pass the exam. The Lord is not asking us to do that. He says, "When you prepare for the exam, you need to prepare for life. You need to just not get 100 out of 100 but retain the knowledge for a lifetime. Similarly, as Christians we are not just called to be clinging to 10 commandments or statutes. Yes, we observe them, we complete them, but the spirit life is something greater, deeper, where we soar over all these different rules and obligations and we fall in love. How often we have learnt from people's testimonies that they used to attend mass, just on Sundays. It would be so boring, it was just a fulfillment of the law and as Catholics they went for mass, confession, they did this, they did that, but there was no joy in their heart, no meaning in their life, they did not feel, they did not experience the love of God. But once they experienced the power of God, once the spirit came alive in their hearts, you could even sit at a Sinhala mass or Tamil mass and yet experience the presence of God. Wherever you would be, as long as you were in a church, as you were in the presence of God, you could experience Him no matter what was being preached. You could feel the presence of the spirit. And God is calling us to live that life where we can experience His presence, His love, where the commandments written in a book, in the word of God, or on stone, actually become part of our life. Where they are imprinted on the walls of our heart and where we just love to observe them, love to follow them, it becomes a matter of ease, where we just live a life, like a breeze, experiencing God's love, when we face temptation, we are able to say, "Praise you Lord, thank you Father, you are with me, you are for me, and you are in love with me." One person who had this life in the spirit -- most of us watching this are people who have this life in the spirit -- was a person called Sadhu Sundar Singh. He lived maybe in the 1920s, '30s or '40s, in India and he was from a Punjabi family and his father was a Hindu and Sikh. Through a little experience or a mystery, he experienced the love of God, he came to know of the gospel, and he came to know of Jesus Christ. When he came to know of Jesus Christ, he was thrown out of his home, he was lost on the road, and he had to live a sad and broken life. But then missionaries rescued him and took him to a boarding school. In the boarding school he said, many Christians were filled with God's presence and love and mercy and grace, and there were some who never lived as Christians, they lived like real devils he said and they did what they what they wanted, and were not examples of the faith. The problem was, life was very easy in this boarding school, because he had his meals, he had a bed, his life was comfortable, and life went on. At the age of 16, he began to question himself, because life became so comfortable he felt that something   was missing, he felt that he had to go one step further, he had to experience something deeper. I'm talking about the spirit life. You can live a comfortable life, you can live a boring life, but when you experience the Spirit of God, asking you to go to the next level, there is a wakening in your life, and you're asking yourself, "Where am I? Am I happy with this life? I need to go further, I need to experience deeper. My heart is thirsting for presence of God, for the glory of God." In this boarding school where Sadhu Sundar Singh was he just felt the urge to leave the place and he says he left the place and for three and half days, he went into the forest of that place and there he just stayed. As he went to the forest, there was no food, there were no lights, it was darkness, he was alone there and that's when he began to experience thirst, hunger but also the presence of God began to become alive in his heart. He says, he went into the forest as a school boy, dressed up as the British missionaries would have dressed him up in shirt and pants, but he came out in the orange robes of a monk. He became a beggar monk, walking from village to village, preaching the word of God but experiencing the mighty presence of God. He was actually called a modern day St. Paul because he went to length and the breadth of that northern part of India and Pakistan preaching the word of God. The word of God became alive. The commandments were written in his heart. The love for God, the fire of God's presence came alive in his heart as he preached that word, as he lived in the presence of God. The Lord is calling you today to live in His presence, to experience Him, we have to shift from a comfortable life of just passing the exam, of just going for confession, "Now I am clean, I'm pure, I'm holy, I go back to my life, I earn my money, I do this and that." No, God is calling us to something deeper, something that will make us experience His love and not just have His love but also give His love, share His presence and live beyond fulfilling the ten commandments and the laws. In that reading, towards the end, the last verse, it said: Matthew 5:19 ...whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Now, Sadhu Sundar Singh was sent to live in a boarding place. While he would go away to the forest and pray, he would visit this boarding place because he was attached to it. it was where he found safety and health. So he would come back to this place, and he would spend time with these boys and talk to them. He would share his stories because he had stories like being accosted by robbers, sharing time with wild animals and different things, and yet in turning people's lives around. He would go and spend time with these boys. It is said, because he spent time with these boys and shared his life testimonies and examples, the lives began to be touched. The lives began to be turned around. One boy was a promising cricketer, he had a set job in the government, but as he listened to the word, the stories shared by Sadhu Sundar Singh, his life changed. He began to thirst for God and he gave up his life for a service of being a Christian missionary. Another boy had different aims in life, but he gave it up and joined one of the communions of the church and he became a religious person. And a third boy. Each of their lives began to be turned around. Some of them were living good lives and bad lives, but because Sadhu Sundar Singh began to share his life with them, give his stories, give his experiences, teach them to observe what God had taught them, their lives began to be changed. And this is what God is calling us to not just follow, but to share, to love and to give to others. If you ask me this question, what did Sadhu Sundar Singh have? Did he have the knowledge of the testament, knowledge of the word? What made him this leaven that changed people's lives? If you read   his story, it is said, once he tried to fast for 40 days. As we know, we've learnt, fasting is not just fasting from food and water, but from words we speak, from thoughts that we have, from the way we behave and do things. In this case Sadhu Sundar Singh, he went into the forest and began to fast. He says, as the days passed, because he was trying to fast for 40 days with no water and food, he says that he reached a point where he could not even shift himself from the place where he was sitting. His body just shut down. And as he was in that position, he says, "Though my physical body was almost dying and shutting down I noticed that my spiritual eyes were opening wider and wider. Some other life was coming alive within me. It was alert, it was open, there was a presence, bigger, brighter, greater, a light that was shining within me." As the world's light began to dim, his inner light and life began to come alive. This is the light that he carried, that he shared, this is the love that he gave people and they began to experience the power and the presence of God. If you think about what I am talking about today, in the Old Testament we had Moses telling people how to be good Israelites, how to be good citizens, and in the New Testament Jesus is talking about the kingdom of heaven, a bigger picture of not an exterior life of observance but an interior life of the spirit. When we experience this, we live bigger, we experience the glory and presence of God. Now Sadhu Sundar Singh, because of his times of prayer, because of his times of meditation, because of killing the physical life around him he began to experience the interior life. This interior life he carried to people wherever he went. And that's why lives were changed. If you teach it to others, as the word says, then there is a blessing. God blesses and touches, and this is the calling. If you think of CRL, our community, our aim is not just to keep the experience to ourselves, to gain something, to get something, but to share the word of God, to share the four steps, to share every experience that we have, that people's lives may be changed. If God has blessed us with the gifts, with the fruits, whatever He has given us, the talents, it's not meant for our glory, for ourselves, to accumulate money or to get more comfortable, but to get deeper in the spirit and to share this experience with others. And this is the calling today, to move from the Old Testament observance, to the New Testament life in the spirit. Jesus fulfilled this. Wigglesworth shares something very beautiful which is really useful for us. He says: "There is no stopping point in the spirit filled life." If you look at the Old Testament and you talk about the ten commandments, you observe ten commandments. You observed them, over, great. But in the spirit filled life, there is no stopping point. You can't say, I have this gift, I have that, and it's over. God is infinite, beyond creative. The One who made the stars, the moon, the sky. He can give different kinds of gifts, different kinds of blessings, of graces. There is no stopping point in the spirit filled life. As we go closer to Him, His light fills us, and He begins to use us in ways beyond our understanding. That's why He tells us, the plans He has for us, is beyond us, not for our evil, but for our good, to give us a future full of hope. This morning you may be thinking, I've come to the Lord, I've experienced His love, and it ends over here. No, He has greater plans for you. He wants to take you places, maybe virtually, maybe physically, He wants to use you for His glory. He wants His light to shine through you, that others may experience His power and His love, and that's why Wigglesworth says, there is no stopping point in the spirit filled life. He shares something very important. He says, "We begin at the cross". Many of us, especially music ministry people and preachers we begin at our talent. We begin because we can sing, because we can play, we come to the Lord and say, "You know Lord, I have all these resources, I have this money, I want to do something for the kingdom of God. I want to help." We are beginning at a wrong place. We are beginning from what we have, what we possess. But God is asking us this morning, "No! Begin at the cross." Why? Because, he says, "It is the place of disgrace, shame and death and that very death brings the power of resurrection   life." All of us are called, if we want to get into the service of the Lord, if we want to serve Him, love Him, share the word of God, we first begin at the base of the cross. At this place, we begin to repent of our way of thinking. Of our perspective of the future, of what we want to do. There is this very beautiful sharing that Sadhu Sundar Singh said. He said, when you go to a lake, and you see a heron, the bird which is perched, standing on one leg, and looking down. It is looking at a vast, beautiful lake, the picture is so serene. And the bird is silently seemingly doing yoga, and it's focusing all its effort on that expanse of water. It looks so beautiful and restful. But suddenly the bird reaches out and plucks out a frog or a fish from the water and greedily gulps it down. Sometimes, we have the same behaviour. We are looking at the glory of God, experiencing His mighty love, sharing in His kingdom, and then we greedily are picking out all that we can get for ourselves. I want this, I want that, I want a new watch, I want this thing, God can give me this, God can bless me with this, and we are picking out and missing out on the beauty of all God wants to offer us. Therefore, this morning, we want to kick-start a deeper, spirit filled life. And God is asking you, "What is your prayer?" Is your prayer, Lord give me this, do this, do that. Or is your prayer beginning at the foot of the cross? Is your prayer beginning with repentance? Is your prayer starting with dependence on God? Asking Him, "Lord what do you want me to do?" It will be a good idea, as you wake up every morning, instead of giving God your list of things, as you praise Him and glorify Him, you tell Him, "Lord, what do I do? How do I move forward? Use me for your kingdom." Imagine if all of us said this every morning for the 40 days, "Lord Jesus, use me for your kingdom." Things would change. The very life of our community will just grow beyond all boundaries, and God is calling us to this. To move from just being Roman Catholic, observing this thing, doing that thing or Christian to being spirit filled members of His kingdom. The Catechism of the Catholic Church has something very beautiful. It says in CCC 1963-68 "In short, as the old covenant formed virtuous citizens in Israel, so the new covenant generates saints in the Church." The point of starting the spirit filled life is at the foot of the cross. A place of disgrace, shame and death. That very death brings the power of resurrection life. Then, being filled with the Holy Spirit, we go on from glory to glory. As I said before, there is no stopping in the spirit filled life. If you listen to the story of Stephen, it's another beautiful, long story, these people were just serving at tables, doing the ordinary, mundane things. And then suddenly there was an inspiration for people to pray together, and to choose people who could preach the word of God. As they prayed and they got these names of Stephen and the other person, they sent them out to preach the word of God. It is said, when he preached the opposition had no answers. They couldn't face all he said. His eloquence, the way he described the kingdom of God, and therefore, they chose to stone him to death, to take him out of the city, and to hit him with stones and kill him. As he was hit with the stones, as every stone pelted his head, his temple, his body, what happened? Though the physical began to die, the spiritual began to come alive. For us who are saying, "How sad, how terrible", his eyes began to open, and it says, he beheld the glory of God, he saw the Father and the Son, and when we experienced the kingdom of heaven, he was able to say, "Father, forgive them. Just forgive them. Do not hold this against them." This morning, the Lord is calling and asking us, where do we stand? Are we still in this Old Testament mentality, of observing laws, being good, holy people, trying to be good. Or have we moved to the New Testament, which is a fulfillment of the Old Testament but a new spirit life. And if we have started this spirit life, has the spirit life started from all that we have, from all that we posses, from our capabilities, from our language, from our background, our education, our talents, or is it starting from the foot of the   cross, where we have gone through a death experience, where we have gone to the Saviour and said, "Lord, I have nothing more. I cannot move on, and I need you in my life. Without you I am nothing, without you I cannot do anything. I need you Lord." When we experience this death experience, that's when we rise up, that's when the physical has died, the physical has gone away, and the spiritual is coming alive. In this time of Lent, God is calling us to a deeper relationship to Him. Let's put off that Whatsapp, let's switch off that television, let's spend more time in the presence of God, because as the lights the world begin to dim, the spirit life is going to come alive. He's going to speak to you, He's going to give you a little idea to do something, to reach out to someone, to pray for someone, to spend time in His presence, and that way, slowly, the life that Sadhu Sundar Singh had, the life that St. Peter had, the life of the apostles, the life of people, Christian saints all over the world will become your life. If you have been struggling, if you have been living in sin, if you have been just passing the exam, this morning is the day when you wake up and say, "Lord, I am sick and tired of this normal life, I want to live a life in the spirit, I want to live a life of power, of your glory, I want to live a life of your word where your word comes alive in me, I want to spend time with you, I want to fall in love with you, because as I do this Lord, as I spend time with you O Lord, my earthly life will begin to diminish, my physical life will begin to slow down, and my spiritual life will come alive. It's only then I can be a better priest, I can be a better nun, I can be a better server, I can be a better catholic, Christian, person who is in love with you." Sadhu Sundar Singh says, there were many people in the boarding school, there were nuns, there were priests, but many of them sadly could not impact the lives -- yes, many have impact the life -- but in this case, many could not impact the lives of these children as they wanted to. Why? Because they were comfortable, they had everything, they lived good lives, holy lives, they passed the test but they never began to live the spirit life. Therefore, we are called to live that spirit life. We are called to step out and experience this, to move from the law to move into living in the spirit, soaring above the clouds. Imagine, the person in the plane is no longer seeing a traffic signal, which says, "Stop. Move." He is seeing the entire vision of the world, the beauty of creation, he is seeing the clouds, the fields, the homes, he's seeing the mountains, the valleys and he's looking at them from far and with ease, flying over them. He has no problem. He is living a life in the spirit. And God is inviting you and me to begin to live this life in the spirit.

Day 14 – Lenten Prayer and Reflection – 9th March 2021   Today's reading is found only in the Catholic bible and is not in the other translations. It is the story of Azariah: Daniel 3:25 Azariah stood in the heart of the fire, praying aloud... Some say this was one of the young men who were thrown in the fire. He was in the heart of the fire, praying aloud. Like for many of us, it is in the heart of our crisis, in the heart of our situation where we cannot go, that's when true faith is born. If you look at the Israelites, one person was saying, if Pharaoh never came behind them to kill them, they would have never crossed the red sea. Because it was in this moment that faith was born. So to Azariah also, he was in the heart of the crisis, the heart of the situation where he had no answer, and then he cried aloud to God. It looks as if God responds to that cry which has no other answer. There was a famous book and movie of this thing that happened called Heaven is for Real, where this boy died and went to heaven and came back and told the story. In that book, this boy's father is a pastor and when he went to heaven he says how Jesus said, "Because of your father's prayer I have to send you back." This pastor says, when the boy came and told him this how he was surprised, because he did not pray. What the Lord was referring to was when the doctors had declared his son dead, he went into the closet and he shouted at God. He was angry with the Lord, and he shouted at Him and said, "You have to send him back." For the Lord, that was his prayer. It was the cry of his heart with anguish and that's where true faith is born. So Azariah was in this fire crying out to God. What did he say? Daniel 3:26 Do not abandon us for ever, for the sake of your name; do not repudiate your covenant... What happens to Azariah? He goes back to the revelation of who God is. If we look at human history, there is a void inside every human heart that seeks to yearn and know God. It's because of this void that people are discovering even new things. Those days nobody knew what a light bulb looked like. They only used lamps. But this scientist, he wanted to know if there was something more. There is this yearning for something more. And that yearning is the yearning to know God. And because of that, God has revealed Himself to people throughout history and through generations. He revealed Himself to the prophets and before that people used to worship nature and that was one of the revelations of God, to know Him through His creation. And He revealed Himself through the saints, and He did miracles, signs, wonders. If you look at the Old Testament, we can see the mighty acts He has done. He has spoken from heaven, He divided the seas into two, He brought food from heaven and also He reveals Himself through people who have walked with Him. That's why the Church venerates the Saints. Because in and through their lives, there is a revelation of who God is. If you look at St. Joseph Vaz, he was only one man when he went and asked permission to come to Sri Lanka and preach the gospel. His superior said, "What can one person do? You're only one man." But if it was a human effort, he could have done nothing. But because he was on a journey with God, because he   was a man who was walking with God, he had a revelation of God. One priest said while he was praying he saw this man levitating. It says that when he went to the chapel the doors opened because he had a revelation of God, he was on a journey with God. Because he was walking with God, one man was able to change a nation, one man was able to protect the religion from not disappearing. One man was able to do it. St. Patrick of Ireland, he was only one person, but he was able to change that nation. It was ruled by witchcraft and warlocks, the national of Ireland. It was ruled by unbelievers but one man who was walking with God, who had a journey with God, who had a relationship with God, who had a revelation of God, changed an entire nation. There is this famous saying, "A moment with the Holy Spirit will change your life, but a lifetime spent with the Holy Spirit will change the world." That's why the church venerates the saints, because their lives, they were walking with God. They are a revelation of who God is. St. Dennis, the patron saint of Paris, they say they took him to be executed, and they cut his head off. Once they cut his head off, he picked up his head and walked for a certain amount of miles preaching the gospel. Such was the revelation of God that they were having. Even death could not stop them. This revelation of God that saints who walked with God had, came to Azariah. How do we know? Daniel 3:35 Do not withdraw your favour from us, for the sake of Abraham, your friend, Isaac, your servant, and of Israel, your holy one. Abraham, Isaac and Israel -- who are they? They are the saints of the old covenant. Here we see Azariah was referring to the revelation of God through these saints of the old covenant. He said, "Do not withdraw for the sake of Abraham, your friend." How did Abraham become God's friend? We know the famous story of Sodom and Gomorrah, how Abraham was talking with God, and trying to change God's plans. But even before that it was at the moment God promised Abraham an heir, God promised him a generation, but he was 100 years old. When he had lost all hope, God revealed Himself to Abraham again. God said, "Abraham, look, forget the promise, forget the generations, look at me." I don't have time to go back to that verse but He says, "I am your inheritance, I am your very great reward. Forget the inheritance, the generations, look at me," and He revealed Himself to Abraham. He said, "I am your inheritance, I am your very great reward." The moment Abraham looked at God and received that revelation, everything inside him shifted. He knew that God was his answer. That's why he was able to even sacrifice Isaac. He was not holding on to the promise but he was holding on to God. That revelation came into him and he became the friend of God. He walked with God, he had a relationship with God, and the revelation of Abraham that he's God's friend, was coming to Azariah in the moment of his crisis. In the moment when he was in the fire, he was calling on the God of Abraham. Daniel 3:35 ...Isaac, your servant, and of Israel, your holy one. Who is Israel? Israel is Jacob. And we know the story of Jacob, he was not a very holy person. Jacob means 'the deceiver'. He deceived everyone all his life. When we look at the Four Steps, we see how the sin of David, the sin of the father, comes to his generations. The same thing happened to Jacob. He deceived his father with a coat, pretending to be his brother Esau. And we see Jacob's own sons deceiving him with a coat, taking the coat of Joseph, filling it with the blood of an animal and saying Joseph was killed -- the sin   coming down the generations. But who was Jacob? He was also a man who found an encounter with God. He deceived everybody his whole life and he came to a place where he could not go forward or back. His uncle was chasing to kill him, because he had run away with all his daughters and money. His brother Esau was coming with 300 men. He was in a place where he could not go forward or backwards. It was that place where faith is born. In that moment when he cried out to the Lord, the Lord came. But again, his nature, the Jacob nature, where he wanted to somehow get what he wants, where he wanted to somehow get his way, fought and wrestled with God. As he was wrestling with God, God broke his back. The bible says, He touched his hip and his hip was dislocated. The moment his hip got dislocated he could not fight any longer. When he could not fight, he held on to the Lord. He went from struggling with God to holding on. When he shifted from struggling to holding on, then the angels said, "Now you are Israel." Now, Jacob the deceiver was transformed into Israel. Who is Israel? The meaning of Israel, one is the prince of God, there is another meaning which says, the one who is ruled by God. Who is that? The one who is surrendered to God. He was transformed from Jacob the deceiver to Israel after the encounter with the Lord. And he named that place Peniel, the place man fought with God. In the moment of his crisis Azariah receives this revelation -- the revelation of Abraham, the friend of God, the revelation of Isaac, the servant of the Lord, and the revelation of Israel, the holy one. If we look at this, it's amazing how we can see, in these three, the four steps. Abraham your friend, it means intimacy and fellowship -- "Come as you are, I love you." Isaac your servant means surrender -- "Give the truth of your heart and surrender your life." And Israel your Holy One, where the power of God comes down and transforms your life, it's the power of the Holy Spirit. When I was reading this, it was the four steps that I saw. Come as you are, I love you; give the truth of your heart; surrender your life to me; and be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. In another way, Azariah was experiencing this, in the heart of his fire. In the heart of the crisis and what was taking place, Azariah called on the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Israel. As a result of Abraham walking with God, as a result of Isaac walking with God, as a result of Jacob wrestling with God, there was another revelation of God that came through the life of Azariah -- the fourth man in the fire. From that day on, God was known as the fourth man in the furnace. Because they did not burn, not a scratch was on them. Only their robes were burnt. And the king who threw them in the fire said, "I can see one in the likeness of the Son of Man in the midst of the fire." The Lord was in the middle of their crisis. He was in the midst of the fire and the whole world saw it. They saw it because Abraham walked with God, because Isaac walked with God, because Israel wrestled with God. Because Azariah received the revelation of God, the world saw it. There is no mention of Daniel here but it's found in the book of Daniel. So they say Daniel would have seen this and that would have inspired Daniel when it came to his moment. When king Nebuchadnezzar said if there is anyone who worships any other God than him will be killed, Daniel refused. He was thrown into the lion's den, and he was taken out without a scratch. And that day King Nebuchadnezzar said, "From this day forth, let it be known, that the God of Daniel is the God of all the earth." It was this revelation that came out of them, this revelation of who God is. Look at what this revelation is. John 1:18 For no one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is God himself, and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known. The revelation of God came to this world. The totality of who God is -- St. Paul says, the fullness of God -- dwelt in him, the fullness of God. Abraham received a partial revelation, Isaac received a partial revelation,   but the fullness of God dwelt in Jesus Christ. He was the full revelation. If anybody wants to know what the Father is like, what God is like, you have to look at Jesus. That's why he said, "If you see me, you have seen the Father" -- the full revelation of who God is. He came to this world and died on a cross and through the Holy Spirit He sends this full revelation into our lives, He sends this full revelation into our hearts. That is what transforms us. This is the revelation the saints had. St. Joseph Vaz, St. Patrick, they all walked in this revelation, the fullness, the totality of who God is. I'm not going to read the gospels, but in the gospels it's the same thing. St. Peter asked how many times to forgive, Jesus says, seventy times seven. And then he talks about the king and the servant who doesn't forgive, what does it mean? It means if we are having unforgiveness in our hearts, if we are caught up in ourselves, in our flesh, in our sinful desires, it's because this revelation of God has not fully been revealed into our hearts. That's why he said, if the king has forgiven you totally, it's not hard for you to forgive. When you have received the total forgiveness of the king, you don't hold on to the small things of this world. You are holding on because you have not received the full forgiveness from the king. Today as we come to Him, as His blood washes us, we'll allow Him to forgive us, to cleanse our hearts of ourselves, to cleanse our lives of our desires, of our sin, of our flesh, and to totally transform us. Then it will show in the world that we live. That's what happened to Azariah, that's what happened to the saints, that's what happened to Daniel. I shared this experience about this Chinese guy who was sent into prison for preaching the gospel. He was in prison, he wanted to die, he stopped eating, but he didn't die. And the Lord said, "You have a mission in the prison." Then, he surrendered his life to God again and he wanted to live this mission. And as he was taken, he said, the people in the prison were singing songs that were not good, and they called him and told him to come and join and sing with them. He started singing worship to Jesus and the Holy Spirit fell in that place, they were all baptized in the Holy Spirit and they were all experiencing the power of God. And then the warden saw the change in the prison because of this guy, and he took him and put him to the worst place, so he could impact those people as well. What happened? There was a guy who couldn't eat properly. Why? His hands were broken because the other guys had hit him, because his crimes were so great, he was a serial killer. And as he was struggling to eat, they got the best meal on a Sunday, and the Lord spoke to him that Sunday and said, go and feed your food to this guy. And he refused because the food was so bad except the food on Sunday. But the Lord kept on challenging him and one day, he took his food, gave it to this guy, and fed him. And this guy started crying and he said, "Do you know who I am? Do you know the things I have done? Why do you show me such mercy?" And then he said, "It's not me, it's Jesus who told me to do this for you." This guy had never heard of Jesus, he said, "Show me Jesus and I will go and thank Him." And he said, "No, Jesus is God" and told him everything and prayed for him, and he was baptized in the Holy Spirit. And he wrote a letter to his mother, as he was being taken to be executed because of his crimes. He wrote it with his own blood, and he gave this letter to him and said, "The day you come out of this prison, go and give this to my mother." He goes and gives it to his mother, and this he says -- this guy is having an international ministry, thousands of people, thousand of miracles -- a reporter is asking him, "What is the greatest moment in your life?" He says, "The greatest moment in my life, was when this mother read this letter aloud," and it said, "Mama, today is the day they execute me for my crimes. But do not be afraid, I am not going to hell. Jesus has saved me." It's the revelation of who God is. Jesus Christ the son of the living God. And if we receive Him, we have a living encounter with Him, a face to face encounter with Him, our lives will never be the same again. And if we spend our lives walking with Him, He will change the world in and through our ordinary sinful lives.

Day 13 – Lenten Prayer and Reflection – 8th March 2021   Today the theme of our readings is about prophets and prophecy and the prophetic role that we have in our world. It's important especially in a time when the church itself is deeply involved in having an impact on society, the role of prophecy and the work of a prophet. What do we do looks so important for us to understand. So the first reading is taken from 2 Kings 5 and we are introduced to the prophet Elisha and his mission there. 2 Kings 5:1 Now Naaman was the commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy. We are introduced to this commander of the king of Aram who had a lot of gifts but he also had a terrible problem. I think this reflects for us what life is. Every one of us has some giftedness, some goodness, but every one of us has a weakness, a challenge, a problem in our life as well. We wish that we had other people's strength and gave away our weaknesses but we have to deal with both. We have giftedness, we have weakness and together it makes us who we are. 2 Kings 5:2-3 Now bands of raiders from Aram had gone out and taken captive a young girl from Israel and she served Naaman's wife. She said to her mistress, "If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy." We are now introduced to a slave girl. By no stretch of imagination can we think a slave girl is in a fortunate situation. They are in an enslaved situation. But the Bible is saying, God is working even in that slave girl, and creating a situation of blessing. As I was thinking about it and praying about it, all of us have unfortunate things that have happened in our life -- we have made the wrong choices and we've got caught up in the wrong things, or we fell into an unfortunate situation, we made the wrong decisions, and now sometimes we are stuck with it. The good news is, even there, if you start cooperating with God, God is able to start blessing from that place. This morning, this is good news, good news for all of us. Maybe we are caught up in a situation where we took the wrong job or married the wrong person as we think or went through a wrong decision we made, and now we are stuck with it. The good news is, if you start cooperating with God in that situation, God is able to work for good even there. Sometimes people never deal with the present because they are longing for the past or they are thinking, "In vain we should have a better way, we'll do a better thing." The good news is He is at work even in your present situation. I always quote St. Patrick, who was captured by robbers in England, taken to Ireland and because of his slavery in Ireland he was used by God to convert Ireland into Christianity. And Ireland is completely Catholic and Christian because of the mission of St. Patrick. We can see God is at work, to work in the unfortunate situations of our life. 2 Kings 5:4-5 Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. "By all means, go," the king of Aram replied. "I will send a letter to the king of Israel."   Politicians have been writing letters even from those those times. 2 Kings 5:5 continued So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents of silver... 2 Kings 5:6 The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: "With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy." We have a very interesting reaction from the king of Israel. 2 Kings 5:7 As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, "Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!" The king was a politician, and I would say he would have been a professional in state-craft, handling people, working with things, and he looked at this event in and through his political reality. Through his political reality he understood that the king of Aram was trying to pick a fight with him. Why did that happen to him? He was so caught up in this political reality. There is a message for all of us here. When we get caught up in the things that happen around us and the people around us, they become our only reality. When that happens we are stuck within time and space. We can be religious, we can pay lip service to religion. We can quote the scripture, we can tell the principles of Christianity, but the truth is we are stuck in this dimension of politics and human situations. That's exactly what happened to the king. I'm sure he would have gone to the temple and said his prayers. I'm sure he had prophets, he had priests, but his reality was the political one. Our reality can be the social one, our job, what's happening in our families. That can be our reality and that's the only one -- it causes us depression, sadness, anger, stress. Why? We are caught in this one dimension as reality. That's the curse of being caught up in this world. 2 Kings 5:8 When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: "Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel." Elisha tells him there is a man who has a connection beyond space and time. He has a connection with God, he hears God, he knows God and he is able to bring God into this world. That's what prophesy is. A prophet is someone who has a connection with God and can bring the realities of God into this world, so that people trapped in the realities of this world can know God, hear God and find answers from God who operates outside space and time. It happens to all of us as well. We become prisoners of this world and we need the prophets, the people who will bring the realities of God into our world and change what is happening around us. We know what happened. They went to Elisha and Elisha didn't come out. They sent him a message and said another servant is there, again a little person. He went and told Elisha, "This great soldier has come asking for healing" and Elisha says, "Tell him to go and have a bath in the Jordan river." This guy gets really angry. He says, "He didn't even come and talk to me." How was Elisha behaving this way, not afraid to   affront this soldier, not afraid to tell the king what he thought? You can see that on one side. On the other side, you have the king frightened about what the other king was thinking, afraid of the ramifications of rejecting this letter. Can you see the difference? The difference is, I think, because Elisha had a connection with God. His reality was different. Therefore, he was not afraid to confront somebody. He was not afraid to be in the bad books of somebody else. He didn't really care. Then the servant comes in. We have little people doing great things in these readings. 2 Kings 5:13-14 Naaman's servants went to him and said, "My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, 'Wash and be cleansed'!" So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy. When you go to Holy Land you'll see the dead sea mud is put into boxes and sold as the answer. You rub it on your face and dark people become fair. Naaman had the same thing working. What's important here is, the little people whom God used and the prophet, the prophet who was free of the political interactions between the two kings, who was free of the importance of the man, the commander, that was sent to him. He was free of them. Why? Because he had a connection with God. The real problem with being a part of an institution is that the realities of people become more real than God. So much so that pleasing people, holding our position, having the right words, being a diplomat becomes more important than listening to God and responding to Him. And we can lose God because of that. We can be serving Him, but actually we lost Him, because the institution has become a reality. And that's why all prophets were in the wilderness, because if they were in the temple, or they were in the palace, they would have been pleasing the kings. And that's the difference between a Jeremiah and the temple prophets, because he had this freedom. Even this great prophet of God. Now we go to the gospel, and in the gospel we have, again, prophecy. Again the gift of the prophet and prophecy given to us in the gospel. One thing we know is Jesus knew how to make friends. He knew how to talk to people. He knew how to talk to sinners, he knew how to talk to broken people, he knew how to really deal with a leper, but his skills in dealing with the powerful was really a problem. And you can see here: Luke 4: 24-26 "Truly I tell you," he continued, "no prophet is accepted in his hometown. I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah's time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any one of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. In other words Jesus is saying, God worked outside the religion of Israel. Outside the frame of their understanding, and it was really annoying these people. And we must remember that. We belong to God, but God doesn't belong to us. I think that that's really the challenge we have. There is this famous author called Albert Nolan, and he asked the question, "Was Jesus a Christian?" It's a challenge, and he brings out the answer, he's bigger than Christianity. And God is bigger than what we   are doing or bigger than the institution. And we need to understand that and His working is bigger. If you look at the reaction Jesus got in verse 28: Luke 4:28-29 All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff. If you think Jesus was pleasing to all, and happy with everybody, here is the reading. They took him to throw him down the cliff. The security of God is given here. Luke 4:30 But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way. Why did he walk right through the crowd and go on his way? Because his time had not yet come. Why was Jesus a controversial figure? He's a great prophet, the Prophet of prophets. What does that mean? He was hearing God, listening to God and revealing God's heart to our world. And because he did that, he didn't fit into the times, he didn't fit into the system that existed then. That's what happens to prophets and we need to suffer for that. But it is in that suffering that that time is prepared for the future. Everyone who made a change in the world, was not accepted in their time. If you don't have the internal peace and freedom to be rejected, you can never fulfill the call of prophecy that God has for us. For that you need a connection with God. This morning I just like to share with you, we are going through a situation where the church is dealing with the Easter bombings. We are dealing with the government, we are dealing with the issues of how to handle this. And I was just thinking, is there some light that God can give us? In 2014, Pope Francis went to Jerusalem, the Holy Land. When he went to the Holy Land, they took him to the hall of the holocaust. To those who don't know what that is, it is actually a massive museum in which all the things that were used and the photographs of the 6 million Jews who died in the concentration camps of Europe. They have even transported a railway carriage there, for people to see how they were transported. Photographs of these people killed, walking naked. And they were expecting Pope Francis to condemn what had happened there and also to talk to the people. There is a movement today in the world to deny the holocaust, to say that it never happened, it's built by the Jewish thinking, so that people would not take the responsibility for the holocaust. Therefore, the Jews were expecting Pope Francis to condemn the deniers of the holocaust. It was a politically tricky moment. Whatever he said was going to really have an impact. What he said that day, is a guideline on the gift of prophecy. He pointed people who had expected a political condemnation, an action, to a higher reality. I think that's what a prophet does. Not only explain what is the present political situation but points people to a higher reality. There is something bigger that is taking place here. And how did he do that? I thought it's really beautiful. He quoted Genesis 3:9: Genesis 3:9 ..."Adam, where are you?"   See the beautiful words. The brilliance was Genesis 3:9 is accepted by the Jews as the word of God, accepted by the Islam religion as the word of God, accepted by Christians. And he brought out this question, "Adam, where are you?" Then he said these words: "Adam, where are you? I no longer recognize you. Who are you, O man? What have you become? Of what horror have you been capable? What made you fall to such depths?" What did he do? He showed the problem of humanity, not just the problem of a race, not just the problem of a religion, not just the problem of a people. He brought out the problem of humanity. He said the murder of 6 million Jews cries out a problem of humanity itself. That there is this wickedness, there is this sinfulness, there is this terrible thing that can make religious people do terrible things. If you look at the people who carried out the holocaust, mainly the German people, they brought out the greatest classic music the world has ever seen. They brought out some of the greatest machines that the world has ever seen, and they brought out the greatest talents, but they also brought out some of the base instincts that you cannot even imagine. And I think, we are called in this time, to remind our world and our nation, that there is a deep human problem hidden within the destruction and the bombing. That religion carried out to extremes can actually make you a monster. But how does one actually bring them to understand this. Is it by condemnation alone? Is it by attack alone? Or is there a deeper place we need to go to? And Pope Francis gives it beautifully. He spoke in the museum of the holocaust, and he goes on like this: "Today, in this place, we hear once more, the voice of God. O Adam, where are you? What made you do this?" And then he brilliantly quotes from the prophet Baruch, from Baruch 1:15. Pope Francis says: "From the ground there rises up a soft cry. Have mercy on us O Lord. To you O Lord, our God, belongs righteousness. But to us, confusion of face and shame." In other words, Pope Francis reminded we challenge people to repent, to turn to God, to find their deeper self, to transform, to change from the heart, that's the role of the prophets. Not just to condemn and punish. That's the role of justice in the world, and we need to do that. But it goes beyond, and we invite people, by bringing God's heart into that situation, recognize what God is telling you in this. When people hear God's voice, they will see a bigger meaning and a deeper purpose in what has happened, and then repentance bears fruit. A transformation that can make sure that no more Easter Sunday violences will take place in our world. Because the heart must be shattered into repentance and broken. It is beautifully said: "The devil exposes and condemns to destroy. But God exposes to heal, to forgive and transform." And I think that's really the challenge, because when God searched for Adam, He was seeking Adam to heal him, to transform him, to bless him. But Adam was hiding. And today in our world, challenging the attitude of extremism has to be at a deeper place than mere arguments of what is right and wrong. It's a deeper place, bringing the heart of Christianity, that it puts to shame those who would like to give violence as an answer. And that's why we have our Lord hanging on the cross. He says, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." And we have the Centurion at his feet, looking at him. And he says, "Truly this man was the Son of God." What did he see in this? Did he see a crown? Did he see a purple robe? Did he see a throne? Did he see his armies? Or did he see the power of the something that came from heaven and was revealed while Jesus was dying on that cross? We are deeply challenged, we need to pray, not only that the truth is revealed, not only that the reality of what happened is known, but also that the power of God will bring about a transformation and a change, that can really make a difference to our world.

Day 12 – Lenten Prayer and Reflection – 5th March 2021   We'll go into today's reflection, so we welcome everyone who is joining in, if case you're joining for the first time or if you've just woken up. God is waiting to do mighty and great things in and through us today. Let's just thank God and praise the Lord for a moment. We've got two beautiful readings today and we'll just directly go into the readings. The first reading is taken from Genesis chapter 32. The story is, in Genesis 32, about Israel and his sons, and specifically about Joseph. We know the story so we won't really go into read the whole thing, so let's start from verse 3. Genesis 32:3 Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons. For he was the child of his old age, and he had made him a long tunic. When his brothers saw that their father loved him best of all his sons, they hated him so much that they would not even greet him. There is a bit of a family tension here. Very common to our family situations perhaps, the dynamics haven't changed much after all. So what happens? Israel, Jacob has many sons, and then in comes Joseph and suddenly he becomes the favoured son. And this makes the rest of the brothers really, really upset. It kind of upsets their situation. And then they become really sad. So we know what happens. We've learnt this, we've studied this. What did they do? The brothers colluded, they got together, and they plot to kill their own flesh and blood. When Joseph comes one day they all plot, they decide to kill him. Thank God Reuben jumps in the middle and says, "No, we don't have to kill him, let's just throw him down the pit." And that way comes certain foreigners, and they sell him over. They trade him off, they are done with him. They pretty much wash their hands over their brother's life. That's there is the Old Testament. When we quickly move to the gospel, in the New Testament, there is a very similar incident. Jesus speaks of a parable. Again, we have come across this parable, listened to this parable. It's the parable of the landowner and the tenants. Matthew 21:33 There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower. Then he leased it to the tenants and went on a journey, When vintage time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce. But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat, another they killed, and the third they stoned. Very similar incidents. The landowner prepares the land, he puts up a vineyard and he leases it to the tenants, and then when it was harvest time, he sends his servants to collect his share of the produce, but what happens? The tenants beat them up, kill them and react in a really bad way. Just like the siblings we saw in the Old Testament. So this whole week when I was praying and thinking about these two incidents, in the Old Testament and the New Testament, I was really pushed to think why did this happen? Often we tend to paint people bad, so quickly. So because we want to make a hero out of Joseph, we make the siblings the villains. That's how we work. If we want to make someone a hero, we put the others down. Sometimes we do it for our own selves, to make us feel good, in order to feel good about ourselves, we end up tarnishing someone else. Putting them down, make them look like the villain. It's a similar scenario. For the longest time we've probably painted Joseph's siblings as bad, as the villains of the story, so that Joseph can be put on a pedestal as the hero. But the Lord reminded me,   it's really important to stop here and ask, why did they do this? Why did they come to the state where they wanted to kill their own flesh and blood? And why did the tenants, in spite of the goodness of the landlord, why did they beat and thrash and stone the landlord's servants. I think that's the question we're going to linger upon -- why did they do this? Why were they cruel? Usually, our behaviours are driven by our emotions. When the siblings and the tenants, when they behaved in that particular way, it is easy to say they behaved in that way probably out of fear, out of insecurity. When their father loved their younger brother more than them, it creates a certain sense of insecurity, fear. It's probably the same for the tenants, they were looking after this vineyard and now the produce has come, the harvest looks good, and now when they had to part with that produce, when they had to give back to the landowner his share, they probably didn't want to part with it. They probably felt insecure, as if a sense of loss had come into their heart. So if you really dial all of this down, it all comes to a place of hurt. It all comes to a place of pain. When Joseph was born probably up until that time the siblings would have experienced the love of the father. They would have spent a lot of time with their dad, they would have done things together, and then in comes Joseph, all of them just fade into the background. And this probably happened over a period of time. Jacob was supposed to love them all equally, that's what a father is supposed to do. Love all their children equally. That's the calling of a father. So when the father who was supposed to love them equally didn't love them so, instead he picked a favoured son out of his own weakness and when the father who was supposed to build them up, was in fact breaking them internally, there was hurt and pain that was developing inside of them. And when this happens over a long period of time, when pains gets accumulated over a period of time, there is a lot of anger, remorse and bitterness, and hatred that grows along with it. Here is a very personal thing. It can make you and it can break you. We can see from the behaviour of the siblings and the tenants, how pain broke them. They didn't deal with it because they didn't find a correct way to channel their pain, to deal with their pain, it in fact broke them. That is why it is so important that we deal with our pain. I think that's really what the Lord personally taught me today. Because undealt with, pain can push you to do crazy things. And when I say crazy, I don't mean the good kind of crazy. It will make you do hurtful things. When you haven't brought your pain to the Lord, when you have not dealt with it, it will really make you do hurtful things. It's so obvious with Joseph's brothers and the tenants, they didn't deal with their pain. Over the years, when they were coming face to face with unfairness, not being able to enjoy the love of their father, all that pain accumulated over time and it created a sense of being neglected, being cornered, so having developed over a period of time, it pushed them to be cruel. So cruelty, most of the time, stems from a place of pain. Even the tenants for that matter, resolved to violence. When they become insecure, when they did not want to part with the produce, when they didn't want to share the produce with the landowner, they resorted to violence. It was their way of dealing with pain. It's really interesting to see how their violence slowly aggravated. Matthew 21:35 But the tenants seized the servants, and one they beat, another they killed and the third they stoned. You can see how this slowly started. First they beat the first servant, and then the pain aggravated more. Then they killed the next one, and the third one, they went the extra mile to traumatize, to torture the person, that they stoned him.   When we have undealt with pain it can also happen to us. What happens? It slowly, subtly starts grooming from within us. We don't really realize it. We think, okay we've dealt with it, we're done, we just move on with life and nothing's going to happen, but when we don't deal with pain, little by little it grows from within us. It starts from little jealousies, little bitterness, little reactions, things that we really ignore saying, "Okay, I'm just in a bad mood. This doesn't mean anything. I just had a bad day" and it creeps in like that. It started like that for the tenants and how their violence slowly aggravated. If we don't really do anything about it, one day, sooner than later, it will go to a level where there will be a volcanic eruption. Where we'll completely lose control and it will not just destroy us, it will destroy those around us. And sadly, our family members, those closest to us, our friends, our communities become victims of us. First we start out as victims, and because we haven't dealt with what's hurting us, we end up victimizing others. So what is it that you and I need to do? We need to turn to God with our pain. Because after all that's where the answer is. Joseph did this in the Old Testament, it is so evident, we know the story, how it ends in glory. Even though the brothers did so much of harm to him, even though the brother pushed him away and sold him off, and even though he went through so much after that, he dealt with that pain with the Lord. Scholars actually say that Joseph foreshadows Jesus, they went through similar circumstances. We know Joseph was mocked by his family, he was sold for pieces of silver, he was stripped of his robe, he was delivered to the Gentiles, he was falsely accused -- the list goes on. They went through almost identical or similar incidents. What did Joseph do? Did he succumb to that? Did he become a victim? Was his entire life's story a victim's narrative or a victorious narrative? That's what we really need to see. We know how it ended for Joseph and how it ended for his siblings. Not just for him, the entire nation was blessed because of him. That is because he took his pain to the Lord, just like Jesus did. When Jesus was broken, when Jesus was humiliated, when Jesus was put to shame, when Jesus was subject to unjust and unfair treatment, and when he was going through the most painful moments of his life, Jesus didn't put up a show. He didn't say, "I'm God, I don't need to show my pain." No, he exposed his vulnerability, he was broken, he allowed himself to be broken, and that is why he shouted out, "Father, why have you forsaken me?" That comes from very deep, hurtful place. His cry of pain was so real, that you and I could relate to him even today. He had no need to put on a show or say, "I shouldn't show that I am in pain. I shouldn't show that I am struggling." He didn't do that. When he was hurting, when he was struggling, when people were attacking him, when he was going through the biggest tragedy of his life, he opened up to the Father. He turned to God with his pain. And that is so important for us, to learn to grow us mature Christians. When I was preparing for this message, I came across this beautiful tweet that Pope Francis had tweeted. It was actually when Lent began, he put this tweet on his Twitter account, it was so profound and I would love to share it with you today. He says: "All of us our specialists in crucifying others to save ourselves. Jesus instead allowed Himself to be crucified, to teach us not to shift evil unto others." In these lines, Pope Francis says, Jesus responded to pain differently and in doing so, he put an end to the pain, he did not shift pain to others. Because he opened up to the Lord, there was an end to the pain and the agony. We can really draw comparisons. Joseph's brothers, the siblings, all of them, when they experienced pain and rejection and they were neglected by their father, they didn't deal with it. And they kept it with themselves, and as a result what happens? They shifted their pain to Joseph. It came out in the form of violence, it came out in the form of bitterness, and because they could not deal with their pain, they shifted it over to Joseph. And that is why they were so cruel to their own brother.   It's the same with the tenants. When they came face to face with insecurity, with fear of losing, what did they do? They did not deal with it with the Lord, because they didn't discuss with the landowner, they could have come and spoken to the landowner and dealt with it, but they didn't do that. But because they deal with it themselves, they shifted their pain onto to the servants. That's why they beat them, that's why they trashed them. But Pope Francis says so profoundly, Jesus shows us a different way. Because Jesus chose the cross, because he allowed himself to be crucified, because he dealt with God, he dealt the pain that he was going through when he turned to God, he did not shift evil, instead from the cross he allowed God's divine mercy to flow out. And that changed everything. Most often we make the mistake of not dealing with pain. We think we need to put up a show, we think we need to show ourselves as strong people. When I entered the profession I am in, I was first stunned because I am a person who is straightforward, my face really shows what I am going through, which you probably saw at the beginning of this video because there was a lot of fear, tension inside and it just reflects in my face, I don't know to hide it. But when I entered my profession, I figured out the biggest art or the skill everyone had mastered was keeping a flat face, was keeping their posture, no matter what was going on, no matter how you were getting thrashed, they would just keep their posture. I found it really hard to learn that, because I wasn't used to it. I think all of us do it, not that it's a bad thing, I suppose in my profession it's a good thing. All of us do that to ourselves in life itself, we feel that we need to show something, we feel we need to maintain something like a way we need to project ourselves, so we don't really expose our vulnerabilities. We even use the words "inner response" for this. Why do I say that? When we have confronted conflict, when we confront pain or when we're going through a difficult time, we give an inner response, because that is what is expected of us. So we say, "I'm giving inner response and forgiving that person" but inside there is like a lava boiling and there is so much of anger, we're annoyed, we're frustrated, but outside we're like "I'm giving an inner response, I need to forgive you." What happens is, you're damaging yourself, your relationship with that person and sooner rather than later, all of this is going to come out and you're going to be super exposed. When we also reconcile with people without really truly dealing with the cause of the problem, without dealing with our pain, we tend to reconcile and move on with our lives, without really pausing and dealing with the chaos. And it's so important this Lent, I believe the Lord is inviting us to turn to Him with our pain. We don't need to put up a show, we don't need to have a straight face with God, we don't need to cover our vulnerabilities, the good news is that He knows everything. He knows the dirt, He knows the ugliness, He knows everything that's going on, so He's inviting us to expose ourselves to Him. So in life we go through various types of pains. As most of you know, Dush my husband and I, we started a business 9 years ago. The first few years were okay, when we came to the third year of our business, I distinctly remember we went through a major financial crisis. It was so bad because we had put everything into the business -- whatever little we had, we didn't have a lot -- we were not really doing well. Clients were not paying, business was not picking up, it was so difficult. I remember distinctly one day, we only had Rs. 800 in the account. And I don't mean Rs. 800 in the account and lots more in the fixed deposit. No, Rs. 800 in total. It was a very hard place, it was a place of insufficiency, it was a place of poverty, it was a place of hunger, with that Rs. 800 we had to manage the whole week, until someone decides to pay. And both of us really crashed, and we didn't know what to do about it. We didn't want to tell our family because it would look as if we failed in our business. Thankfully, when we went into prayer, Dush and I decided we need to talk to somebody and get some sort of advice. And thankfully, the community is blessed with so many resource persons and we spoke to one of our dear beloved aunts from the CRL and   we told her, "Look, we're going through this. What could be the reason?" And she wasn't surprised at all because she looked at us and said, "You all are not accountable, not keeping accounts, not using a software, just drawing out of the business whenever you feel like, and you're acting like you're freelancers and not really business owners." And she guided us to install accounting software, she taught us to do a balance sheet and to be more accountable and manage our finances better, and actually here we are 9 years after, properly running our business. So that pain, that place of poverty, that place of hunger that we went through was the turning point because we really learnt something. That is why we are where we are today because if not, I'm sure we would have crashed much more earlier. That is one kind of pain. Certain kinds of pain, struggles we go through, we learn a lot out of it. But there is another kind of pain also. That is the kind of pain we don't want to digest, the kind of pain that is difficult, when we go through unjust. When we come across tragedy. When we become the victims of selfishness of other people. When we are subject to abuse. These are little more difficult pain or scenarios to deal with. It is so important, that we come to the Lord, even when we are going through this type of pain. I can only talk for myself. Why God allows this, let's us go through this, I still don't have the answer. I don't think I'll ever have the answer because these actually ruin life, when people go through abuse it upsets them, it ruins their life, it even robs them a chance of living a normal, balanced life. But one thing I know, even when we are going through that level of excruciating pain, if we come to the Lord, He will make it for good. Some people think going through abuse is hard, but I can tell you dealing with it, is 100 times, even a million times, harder. To have to live with that pain, to go through that on a daily basis, to wake up every morning to that sense of betrayal, that sense of neglect, that sense of loneliness is really hard. And I suppose that is why a lot of people just put it under the carpet and move on with life because it is difficult to come to God with that level of pain. To patiently wait for Him to hear. But I can tell you, with my own personal experience, that is the best way forward. It took me 9 to 10 years to really deal with what I went through as a child. And let me tell you, more than once I wanted to just run away, chuck it all, forget it God, I don't have the strength or desire to deal with this anymore, I don't know why you put me through this, I don't see a purpose because it's cruel for someone to even say, "God wanted this to happen to you." It's cruel, you can't say that. Because God didn't want that to happen. Some selfish person, or people wanted that to happen. It's not fair, it's unfair in every sense of the word. And time and time again I wanted to withdraw and I didn't just want to deal with it with Lord. But over the past 9, 10 years, I just fought. Thank God for the grace of God. I fought with anxiety, I fought with depression, I fought with loneliness in order to overcome from this pain that I was going through. Because every morning when I woke up, I wake up with this sense of pain that was so overwhelming, and it went with me wherever I went. It shadowed me wherever I went, and every word I said, in everything I do, there would be a reflection of my pain. When I spoke to someone they would be able to sense my pain. And I thought, "Enough is enough. I was a victim and I am not going to make someone else a victim of my actions." When God opened that reality in my life, and I thought, "Okay God, I'm going to come to You. I don't know how You are going to do this, but let's do this." I hope it doesn't take as long as 9 or 10 years, I hope it would be instantaneous like Maggi noodles and you're like, okay, you're done, you're healed. It took a lot of heart ache, it took a lot of people, I hurt a lot of people in the process, but God did what He had to do. In my battles with anxiety, depression, loneliness and addiction, God fought with me. He didn't let me fight any of that alone. In the darkest moments of my life, when the entire world was shut down and it was just   me and the ceiling, God was there. He held my hand and said, "No Kaush, one more day, push it for one more day, we'll get through this" and I just took it one day at a time. There were days when I was overwhelmingly sad, and nights were longer than days, but God just held my hand and said, "No Kaush, just make it to one more sunrise." And here I am today. I can tell you, what the Lord did over the last so many years was completely worth it. Was it painful? Yes. Was hard to digest? 100% yes. If there was a choice would I have taken an easier way out? Absolutely yes. But today, I'm so happy that God did what He had to do. When I exposed myself to the Lord, when I allowed Him to put that finger on that place I was hurting the most, He cured me. The beautiful thing happens afterwards. If anyone knows me well, they'll know I am the person who laughs for the silliest joke. I'll be the first one who packs up with laughter in the room and give the loudest laugh. You know why God has put that joy in my heart that I jump at every opportunity to laugh and spread joy? At least half of my life, or three quarter of my life, was consumed by this sense of overwhelming sadness that now that God has healed me, I just don't want any of that. I just want more of God's joy and more of God's love. The beautiful thing is, when God deals with that hurtful place in your life, if you bring it to Him, when God deals with that difficult place in your life, if you're ready to open up to Him, when God deals with your vulnerabilities, all the feelings of anger and fear and frustration you have been going through for years, what He does is, He transforms you internally. In a crazy way, you start radiating God's healing power. And you start attracting people who are in need of that healing. I've come across so many people who have just walked into my life, who are hungering for that healing touch from God. And it just takes a word, it just takes a meal, a cup of coffee, to sit down with them and tell them how great our God is. So this Lent, I want you to take that decision. Today, enough with the hiding, with the cover-up. If you're hurt you're hurt, there is no point in showing off, putting on a show. Just channel it to the right place, turn to God with your pain, don't shift evil, like Joseph's brothers. Don't shift evil like the tenants. Shift grace, and the only way you can do that, is to open up to God. Trials are like an Uber driver. I travel in Uber on a daily basis, and this comparison is spot on. Because on some days I get really good drivers, they don't say a word, they pick me up and go and drop me in the destination. Some days I get these talkative ones who go on and go on, and they talk about politics and everything and then by the time you reach your destination, you're already tired. Then some days you get really unruly people, who drive so recklessly and they just drive all about, but they still end up taking you to the destination. Some days there are really good drivers who are patient, who are kind to fellow commuters. But the point is, no matter what kind my Uber driver is, he still takes me to my next destination. So no matter what your pain is, I don't want to size it saying it's a small pain or a big pain, like I said pain is so personal, no matter what your pain is, if you channel it to God, if you come to God with it, it will take you to your next destination. We'll come into a time of worship, just ask the Lord, and I just pray for each and every one of you individually today -- Just ask the Lord, "Lord, help me deal with this pain. God help me to come to you and open up to you, and let your overflowing love come to me and heal me where I am hurting the most."

Day 11 – Lenten Prayer and Reflection – 4th March 2021   As we open our hearts, we are going through these 40 days in our own wilderness where the Lord is inviting each of us. The word of God, in Romans 8:14, says "All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God." You and I as children of God, we are being called to rise in our spirituality during these 40 days. He's telling us, just as He did with Abraham, these days we're hearing even in the Wednesday prayer meetings, about sacrifice. As Abraham was prepared on climbing mountain Moriah to sacrifice, his life never became the same as he came to sacrifice Isaac. As Moses climbed Mount Sinai at the burning bush, he experienced the living God and his life changed. Jacob struggled with the Lord and he said, "Unless you bless me I will not leave this place." This morning that is the invitation, as it has been in the last so many days, days of mercy and grace for us, to walk in our own wilderness, rise in our spirituality, from within. And He says, "I am with you in your wilderness, I am with you." Let's go to the readings this morning, where the Lord is really waiting. Open our hearts and speak to us. The reading come as it did yesterday, from the prophet Jeremiah: Jeremiah 17:5 This is what the Lord says:... Who is speaking here? The Lord Himself. When God spoke at creation He said, "Let there be light" and there was light. Today the Lord is speaking to each of us through Prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah 17:5 continued "...Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord. So here in this verse the Lord is very clearly telling us there is a curse if you trust in man, who depends on flesh for strength. Jeremiah 17:6 He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. There in the first two verses, the Lord was teaching us the curses. Then He gives us the other side of the coin: Jeremiah 17:7-8 "But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." Here we have the introduction where we said it's the Lord who is telling us these words. When the Lord speaks things happen. Now He says here two choices. There is no middle ground. Either you are cursed or you are blessed. Often we go this middle path. We are in a lukewarm relationship. When it suits me God is there, when everything is going fine I forget about God. What are these curses and blessings He is talking about? When we are giving the first place to anything else other than God then our hearts are yearning for that one thing we are looking after. It could be a relationship, it could be power, it could be money, it   could be a career path. We are all focused on that. What is the word saying there? "Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh." We know our God is a jealous God, He created us for a union with Him, He created us for a relationship with Him. He wants that union, He wants that relationship. Anything that takes us away from that intimacy, anything that takes us away from that relationship, takes us into another realm where we don't see the presence of God. Often isn't that what we hear? Recently I was talking to this lady, over and over again it's the same thing she's going through, a struggle in her marriage and this young son who is in addiction. I'm just trying to draw her closer and closer to Jesus but her focus is not on that. Even when she talks, she says, "I'm praying, but the prayer too is only a cry for help" not telling Lord Jesus, "Come into my situation, teach me what this struggle that I'm going through, so that you can help me come out of it." The Lord in these 40 days is saying, "Return to me, look at me, and I will take you through." That's the curse we go through. Many of us, how did we come into this experience? I know definitely myself, it was through sheer brokenness, through sheer desperation, nowhere else. I just clung onto the Lord, I cried and Lord in his mercy brought me into this experience of knowing Him. As I struggled, day after day, sat with Him, ministered to by Him, and I sat at the living waters and what did He do? He turned that same curse into a blessing. For many of us, testimony after testimony we hear of those, almost every one in our servers, that's what their experiences are. How did they come to serve? Many of you who are listening today are all coming caring for the word, wanting a change because you've experienced the God of love. Jeremiah 17:8 He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." What happens when we are connected to the vine? The vine and the branches. This is what happens when we are constantly connected to the Lord. We are always in that intimacy with Him. That's why the word of God here, very clearly tells us, if you giving first place to anything other than God, that there is a price we pay for it. The moment we turn to Him and give God the first place, that same curse will turn into a blessing, and you will bear fruit. What is the fruit the Lord is talking about? The fruit of peace, love, joy, patience, kindness. We know in Galatians 5, from verse 21 onward, we hear the fruit of the spirit. And as the verse goes on: Jeremiah 17:9-10 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? "I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve." What is the Lord telling us here? He say's He's examining the heart and our minds. Each and every one of us have these two personalities. The personalities that we show the world and the personalities of who we really are. That's what the heart is. We may be saying all the nice things to a person, "Praise the Lord, God loves you" but inside we could be really cursing that person. Remembering something terrible this person had done to us. Or even if when we give a contribution, "Oh do I really have to contribute to this? I could do so much more with this money." "Need I have to spend time at a prayer meeting? I could be doing something else." Here the Lord is saying, He is examining our hearts because He knows every   thought, He knows our inner beings. He has created us in love. So constantly we have this battle, when we are disguising our deepest thoughts. The Lord in these 40 days is inviting you and I and He says, "My son, my daughter I am with you in these 40 days. Return to me from this life of depending on people, depending on power, wealth. Return to me and I want to make you a blessing. This blessing, when we are planted by the rivers of living waters, is not just for us. Always He blesses us to bless someone else. Isn't that what He did with His son? He sent His only son, so that He could come and live within us. Because He found, through creation, through every situation we lost our paradise. So now He's calling each of us, "Will you edenize the kingdom for me? Edenize first in your families. Bring paradise home, in your workplace, in your community." The call is constantly, "Return and edenize." We have been created for that. Let's look at it in a practical sense through the gospel. The gospel is from Luke 16:19-31. We have Jesus talking and the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. So precise, every detail that Jesus goes through in the word. It's a parable addressed to the Pharisees, who are so caught up in the laws. They are good people, but they are caught up in all the laws, and he's telling each of us through this parable. Luke 16:19-20 "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores. Here's this rich man in purple linen. It's what the Pharisees wore -- rich, luxurious. At the gate of this rich man, is Lazarus. Wherever, every day, he walked in and out of home, in and out of his rich residence clothed in all the finest purple linen who does he see? Look at the contrast. He's seeing this beggar. Luke 16:20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores… Such detail that the word of God is giving us. Someone who is just the opposite, the contrast, of this richness. Luke 16:21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. Let's just visualize this. As this rich man is walking, he sees this poor man, with sores and even the dogs are licking his sores. The same thing, let's just try and reflect in our own lives. There maybe someone, a co-worker at our work place who needs help from us, help with doing some task. There maybe someone even in our families who needs that help, and we're just saying, "No, I have no time for you." There may be someone who is wanting to spend time with you, a senior, and we're saying, "No I don't have time. I'm too busy." The richness of what we have, just as this rich man. The gospel doesn't say of any other sin that he had, but he just ignored that there was this poor man by this gate. He walked right by passed him. He could have been such a blessing to Lazarus. He could have helped Lazarus so much, and here what is Jesus telling us through this parable? He's inviting you and I, in our own lives, maybe today, there's a special needs child that we know of, there's a person desperately in need of some financial help. Let's examine our minds. Do we need to help this person, or can we just bypass and go into that lap of luxury? Luxury of our own time, to dwell on what we want, the luxury of an enjoyment that we can sacrifice. We're so blessed in CRL, we have a ministry that goes to the streets and we have servers who go to the streets and works with these street people. Could they not be doing other things in their lives? But they have decided   this is what they are called to do. And what is giving them the pleasure, is because they are uniting with Jesus with these poor people. What did Mother Teresa, when she was asked, "How can you pick up these children who are worm infested, who have literally skin pasted on their bones, nothing that can attract you to come to them?" And her response was, "I see Jesus in this little children." Look at the contrast, she came from a family in the west where she could have just continued. But she came to the streets of Calcutta, to be with these poor children. And what did it bear, just as He told us in the book of Jeremiah? It bore fruit. Today the Sisters of Charity are all over the world, helping poor children and adults, they don't look at age or factors. It's not a feature for them, it's not saying there's a beggar seated on the street. Their hearts go out to them. And today, that's our invitation. The Lord is calling us. It's not a sin of just ignoring, but a sin of omission. We can just pretend that it's not there. But as we always hear about it even on a Wednesday, there's sandpapering inside, we could just ignore and walk away. Luke 16:22 "The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. We see a striking difference here now, in the rich man and Lazarus. But what happens at the end of everything else? There comes a time we leave everything and we go back, we die. That's the eternity we go back to. So here Jesus is saying in this parable, they both died, and where did one go? One is with Abraham, in heaven, and where is the rich man? He's in hell, in hades. Often we live on this earth, on this short pilgrimage, we're so caught up in the luxuries, we're so caught up in not just the luxuries, but things that give our hearts enjoyment. And the Lord is saying, see what happens at the end. This is the lesson we are learning from this parable. Luke 16:24 So he called to him... Who called? The rich man called. Luke 16:24 continued ...'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.' The rich man is now burning in hell and even there, look at his attitude. He says, "Send down Lazarus" like a servant attitude. "Send him to cool my tongue because I am in agony." Look at the agony that we could be in. Are we focused on our eternity when we go through this pilgrimage here on earth? Are we making these choices in our own lives? Look at Mother Teresa, today she is a Saint. Saint into the heart of God, and the bosom of Abraham. Do we think of that as our eternity in our own lives? Or are we only caught up in the luxuries of this world? Today that's what the Lord is inviting you and I. Now, through this parable, through these days of Lent, are we making different choices? Are we returning to the Lord, where one day we too will have the choice -- are we going back to the heart of God, are we going to be in the bosom of Abraham, or are we going to be in hades, in hell, burning? Because there is a chasm in between, there's no way we can go from one to the other. There's always a big divide. Are we focused on this eternity? Are   we focused while on this earth to bear fruit, to be by the streams of living water, or are we only focused on the richness and the luxuries? Luke 16:25 "But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. This is the reply that every one of us would receive. Through this parable, the Lord is reminding us, "My son, my daughter, in this 40 days return, change your lifestyle. Think about those who are less privileged, less blessed." Are they someone you just bypass? Can I turn today to a co-worker and say 'Can I help you?' Are we turning to a neighbour? I remember during the three months of curfew there was so much of change that happened in our lives, isn't it? We who didn't know our neighbours, we started talking to each other. We started sharing food with each other. If one got some groceries we would ask our neighbour, "Do you need something?" What happened during that curfew? We were getting connected to another who did not have. So came the three months and over, is that history? Is that something that's left behind? No, I really don't think so. Because from there on we built relationships with our neighbours. Now we know our neighbours, we know, because we've been talking to them, we know sometimes they might need help, so are we going to say, "The curfew is over now go and get your own groceries"? Or are we there? Do they see us as bearing fruit of love? Do they see us as those bearing a witness to Jesus? Or are we just seeing them. "Okay, I gave you some food during curfew, I gave you something else when you were in need, now just let me be, I have to move on." And we'll hear the voice of Abraham, "You had a choice, my son, my daughter, you had this choice of helping someone. Now that someone is being blessed here. Remember you had a choice, to trust that I will take care of your needs." Maybe sometimes we have just enough to get us by for our groceries, to pay our own bills, but someone who is really knocking at our doors, who is really needing help, are we trusting God? Are we trusting Him enough to say, "Lord I will share this portion with my neighbour. I will share my portion with this person in need, because I trust in you. I trust that you are going to take me through, because I want to be in your bosom, I want to be with Abraham." Luke 16:27-29 "He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.' "Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.' What's Abraham saying here? And what is Jesus telling us through this parable? Here, the rich man wants his other brothers to know the secret, he wants them to turn back, and Abraham says, "There is no point my sending Lazarus. There is Moses, there is the Prophets." What is he telling us today? They have the word of God, they have the living word, they can listen to this and be transformed. You and I, 40 days, day after day we are listening to beautiful reflections being given. Not just applying them to our day to day life, to our circumstances, wherever we go. As we heard today, from Prophet Jeremiah, where God himself speaks and says, "You have a choice. You can be a curse or you can be a blessing." You can be living in a world of richness and luxury, or you can care for my downtrodden. Because God so loved the world, He loved the world, He loved every one of us. From the beggar on the street, from the one who is tormenting you in your life today, from the one who is rejecting and reacting, from   the one who is cursing you, He loves every one of them. He loves the sinner, not the sin. And He's calling each of us, He's says: "Edenize, first return to me, I will give you my spirit. The spirit that bears fruit." We just see those who do not have, help those who don't know the Lord, through our actions, through our love encounter. But can we do this with your own strength? No, we cannot. Isn't that why you and I are following these Lenten programmes? And we're telling the Lord, "Lord, I don't want this to be human words, by different people every morning, Speak to my heart, You know my heart, I've been hiding the truth from everyone else, but You know the truth of my heart and I lay at it Your feet today. Lord I don't want what happened to the rich man to happen to me. Help me to spot every person who is in need. Ask our Saint Mother Teresa. We can pray to the Saints, the Catholic church we are so rich with the lives of the Saints who have gone before. That's why they are Saints, known and unknown. Even today, it's the feast of a Saint who is a prince, who is from royalty in Poland, and at age 25 he died, but he left everything and turned to the Lord to work with the broken, with the sinners, with poverty. Today that's our call. During this time of Lent, He says, "Trust me, I will take you through. Trust me, I'll be with you, constantly, right through the scripture. Do not be afraid, trust me." Let's make the choices, as we worship today, permit the Lord to enter our hearts. These wounded broken hearts of ours, and tell Him, "Lord I've been so wounded, I've been so caught up in my own luxury, I'm so comfortable in my little comfort zone. It's too much for me to break out of this." And what is He doing? He breaks us to make us. The potter and the clay. Are we permitting Him to be the potter, as He moulds us into His image, where we can say we are citizens of God. Our citizenship is in heaven, this is just a pilgrimage, this is our exodus, just as Israelites walked through the wilderness into the promised land. And today the Lord is telling us, "I am with you. Yes, you are hungry I will feed you, you are thirsty I will give you my precious blood, I will pour down my Holy Spirit on you, and walk with me. But look at the surroundings, don't ignore them. I have created you for a purpose, I've created you for love." God is love, we keep saying. He's created us in His image to love. Let's open our hearts and tell the Lord, "Lord, help me love like you did. Unconditionally." It's really difficult isn't it? There may be people who really hurt us and react to us, loving is the last thing we want to do. But that's our invitation these 40 days, when He tells us, "Return to me, I'll be with you.” Let us open our hearts in worship, so that the Lord can minister to us, so that He can tell us, "Yes, worship in spirit in truth and I am with you."

Day 10 – Lenten Prayer and Reflection – 3rd March 2021   As we come this morning, we are reminded from the book of Jeremiah in the first reading and then from the book of Matthew in the gospel. When I started the first reading it was only verses 18, 19 and 20. So there was a bit of back reading to do from chapter 18 to figure out what was happening. Jeremiah 18 talks about the potter's house. God is choosing to be the potter here and explain how it's going to work with Him, to his people. Jeremiah becomes the person who has to go to the potter's house in order to learn who God is. As this is happening, Jeremiah is learning who God actually is. God is teaching Jeremiah in a practical way who He is, so that Jeremiah would come to know who God is practically and then tell about God to His people. So Jeremiah has to go to this potter's house, look at the potter and learn from the potter how he is moulding and making this pot. The potter is equated to our God. From verses 1-10, God is telling, "I am the Potter, O house of Israel. Can I not do with you as this potter?" God is saying, "I am the Potter, I'm the one who moulds you, I am the one who makes you into who you are." Then the Lord says to the people, "I can bring good if you turn back, at the same time I can bring you evil if you go from your ways." Straightaway God is telling them, "I can bring you good if you were to turn back, if you were to come back to me, I can do you good. But if you were to go in your evil ways, I can bring you a lot of destruction as well." After God is telling to change the ways in 11, in 12 the people start rebelling. They say, "It's no use, we'll continue with our own plans. We will all follow the stubbornness of our evil hearts." So the people are rebelling and saying "We will follow our own ways, we'll do what we want" and they are rebelling. And then from 12 to 18 -- 18 is where the first reading is starting -- God goes on to tell them, if you rebel this is what will happen to you. This is how I am going to act, the Lord goes on explaining. So there is a clash. God is telling "I am the God, I deserve the place, and I am the one who should lead you," but the people are saying, "It's no use, we don't need to follow you, we have our own plans and we will go in this way." That's when we are coming to the first reading. Jeremiah 18:18 They said, "Come, let's make plans against Jeremiah; Poor Jeremiah, bringing the word of God and bringing it to the people, and now these people who Jeremiah is representing God, are against Jeremiah. Now they are making plans to get him out. And they are saying, "Let's go and take Jeremiah out." The next line says: Jeremiah 18:18 for the teaching of the law by the priest will not be lost, nor will counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophets. Three things that Jeremiah is against in this time is the priest, the counsel and the prophets. Jeremiah is against these three types of people who are doing false things. But look at the people here, they are actually saying, "We don't need to hear from Jeremiah." And the first thing they are saying is, "We can hear from the counsel of the wise." Who are these wise, these three people -- the counsel, the priest and the prophets. The counsel are the wise rulers. If you take in today's context, the leaders of the world, the governments, the officials, the ones who bring the system to us. These people are saying, "We don't need to hear from God's prophet. We have our own system and our own governments, we have our own things that we do and we know how to run this without a God." This is what is meant by the counsel. Let's draw the wisdom not from God alone, but let's draw wisdom from these people who are appointed by us. God   is saying, "I am God, I am with you, I want to walk with you, I want to create something with you together as a potter", but now these people are saying we don't need a representative of God, we don't want someone bringing the word of God, because we have this system and in this system the government and the rules, the knowledgeable, the educated will provide for us. Then the priests. Those who have the knowledge of the religion, those who have studied the religion, but yet, they can't, through the anointing of the Holy Spirit, bring what God is telling them to bring. And they said, "No, we will rely upon these people. These people who are religious, who bring down the law of religion to us. We will depend on them, we don't actually need Jeremiah, who is truly bringing the word of God to us, we don't need him." Then they go on to say, "We have prophets among us." These are the prophets Jeremiah is fighting, he's telling "These are the false prophets", but these people are saying "These prophets will prophesy who are among us. We don't need this man of God. These actual prophets, God is taking His time, God is not doing anything around us, these people will bring us prosperity, these people will give whatever we need. Jeremiah is not doing anything, so we will find our own way." These three sets of people, if we see, in the modern context we find them. The officials, those who are appointed in the name of religion, and then we see the prophets. All these people, without receiving the word of God from the prophet Jeremiah himself, they are going and receiving it from these people. Jeremiah 18:18 So, come let's attack him with our tongues and pay no attention to anything he says." They are blinded, what are they saying? "Let's slander him, let's give him a bad reputation. Tell nice things about him in society. Slander his character, give him a bad name. Why? All because he is carrying the word of God, because now we choose to walk in our own ways. This is what is happening in the first reading, and then we'll go to 19 and 20 and read what Jeremiah is feeling about this. Jeremiah is under attack and pleading to God. Jeremiah 18:19 Listen to me, O Lord; hear what my accusers are saying! Jeremiah is going and telling God, "Look, this is what is happening. I'm going through this fear, I am taking this message to them and they are not listening to my word." Jeremiah 18:20 Should good be repaid with evil? Jeremiah is saying, "I'm carrying your word, I am taking your message, I'm trying to do this good, but look the good is repaid with evil." Jeremiah 18:20 Yet they have dug a pit for me. Remember that I stood before you and spoke in their behalf to turn your wrath away from them.   Sometimes we are in this situation, as we go through these 40 days. Sometimes we are praying for someone, or sometimes we have been praying for someone for a long time, and those people we are praying for are maybe very ungrateful. They might be bad to us, maybe it's a family member, maybe it's a person in our office, maybe it's someone very close and dear to us. They are asking prayers from us and we are praying, but their response is pretty bad. Like here: "I stood in between God and these men, and I prayed for them on their behalf, so that you would take away all the wrath that you have upon them, but look what is happening. They have repaid good with evil, they have dug a pit for me." He's very sad and worried. This is the first reading. From the potter's house, all the way to attacking Jeremiah, this is what is happening in the first reading. You can see that the people of God, they are rebelling against God. God is saying, "I am your God, even if you have done evil, even if you have done wrong, you turn to me, I will accept you and do good to you." But the people are saying, "No, we will choose our own ways," and now they are attacking the prophet of God. Let's move to the gospel and then try to link both of these together. Matthew 20:17-18 Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, "We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death Jesus, for the third time, is predicting his death. Matthew 20:19 and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!" Jesus is predicting his death and he's saying that he will be turned over and mocked, flogged and he'll be crucified, but on the third day he will be raised. Let's go to verse 21. It's a very familiar text, we always hear this. The mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, she comes to Jesus -- the other pair of brothers are Peter and Andrew -- and Jesus has already predicted his death, and she comes to him and she says: Matthew 20:21 "Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom." Let's see the similarity between the Old Testament reading and this one. What happened in the Old Testament? There was a prophet of God, there was Jeremiah who spoke the word of God. And what did people do? Ignoring his word they wanted their own ways. They would have lost the blessing. Look what's happening here, in the New Testament. Here is Jesus and he is telling, "I will die and on the third day I will rise again." Look at what is happening, not just the mother of James and John, but the other disciples as well. Here is Jesus bringing the word of God, but bypassing all this, the mother wants the best places for the two sons. Here is the message, here is the messenger. There it was Jeremiah and God, here it is Jesus and the Abba Father. What is happening? We are bypassing the message   and wanting our own ways. Here is Jesus, here is the message of God, the Son of God, the salvation of God, waiting to redeem us, but now what is happening? We are finding other means and ways through God, to satisfy our own desires. Let's go to 22. Matthew 20:22 "You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said to them. God is being such a gentle Father. He's saying, "You don't know what you are asking." Matthew 20:22 "Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?" Straightaway they are saying "We can." They didn't know what the cup was, they didn't know what was in the cup. But what did they want, not that they wanted to drink the cup, they just wanted to do it, so that they can get what they want. Today, we can be either of those two persons, Either we are rejected God, like in the Old Testament, we are fully rejecting him. We're saying, "We don't want God, we'll find our own ways." Or else we are like the disciples here, or the mother of the sons of Zebedee. What is she doing? We are coming to God, so that we can get our own ways. We can fulfill our own desires. That's where we have lost it. I think that's where we have to come back to God, and ask our own selves this Lent, are we coming to God, to get what we want, or are we distancing ourselves like in the Old Testament so that we can get what we want anyway? This is what is happening in these two verses, and you can see, the worldly motives are coming out of us. Although we believe in a God, although we worship a God, although we go to Jesus expecting Him, experiencing Him, month after month, week after week the desires of our hearts have not changed. And from the Old Testament to letting go of God, slandering the prophet himself, but here now, we have come to the feet of Jesus, but yet not to build His kingdom, not to walk the walk that He is calling us to walk, but yet to fulfill our own desires. Matthew 20:23 Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father." The answer of Jesus is, "This does not belong to you. The places that are left by my side do not belong to you, it's actually prepared by my Father and it's His decision to make." Matthew 20:24 When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. These two brothers wanted the two best places, so mother's saree pothay ellila (hanging on the mother's saree) they went to get that from Jesus, and then we thought the ten were good but when these people came back that's when we got to know that the ten also had the same idea, they wanted the same places. They didn't want to build the kingdom of God, they wanted the two best places. The ten disciples were also saying, "What about us? You guys asked these two places, what about us?" You can see that the rebellion of the human nature is coming out. We follow God, we want to accept Him, we can be disciples, but at the end of the day, it's trying to fulfill our own desires. We're trying to built our own kingdom. We're   trying to establish through Jesus our own kingdom. Then we can really get stuck in this place, and we can say like the mother said, "Please give any cup. We'll drink from any cup." But at the end of the day, deep down in our hearts, we can see that we are lost, we can see we are appointing our government, we are appointing the people we want, we are depending on the prophets of the earth today, we are focusing on building something for ourselves, for our society, for our children and our generation but we are also using God as a means. Matthew 20:25 Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Jesus is trying to explain this to them. What is the meaning of walking with God? What is the meaning of saying you are a child of God? Jesus is saying, "The gentiles are trying to put all the weight of the rulers on the people." The people who rule are trying to put the full weight on the people who are serving them. Matthew 20:26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant. This is the call of today. This is what God is telling us. If you want to be a part of the kingdom of God, instead of focusing on becoming great, becoming number one, you must be a great servant. Serving God is not becoming great, becoming number one in the eyes of others. It is actually becoming a small person. Becoming small enough to listen to Jeremiah like in the Old Testament. Serving God is becoming small to listen to Jesus who was a nobody at that time. Serving God is to accept the word that is coming from God, rather than depending on the officials, the governments, rather than depending on the powerful, technology itself, society itself. Jesus is saying, if you want to be my servant you should be small. If you want to be great, you must be small enough to carry the word of God in your heart, small enough to be a child who is carrying this little word, that is not coming from the greater world, that is not from the greater agenda of the world, that is not coming from the business world, that is not coming from technology, from the gurus of the world but it is coming from a little Jeremiah, from an unknown Jesus, and that's when you become a true disciple. Jesus goes on to explain this. Matthew 20:27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave -- Very straightforward. Whoever wants to say, "I want to be with Jesus. I want to walk this journey, I want to carry Jesus in my heart, I want to be a good Christian" he must be a small person. Matthew 20:28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Jesus is saying, "Look at me as an example. I did not come to be served, I did not come to deserve the things of the world, but instead I came to serve." In the Old Testament they wanted to get rid of Jeremiah, because they had a system and they wanted that system to prevail. What is happening in the New Testament? It's the same thing. They want to get rid of Jesus. They want to have the new system of the world. They wanted to have the law prevailing, they   wanted to have the technology prevailing, but what is the answer? Jesus says, "You will not turn your ways and come to me. What is the answer? I will have to serve myself to you. You don't need to serve yourself to me any longer, in the New Testament, because I know you cannot do it. You can't be a small man, can't be a slave. So there is only one answer for this. I will have to be a ransom for many. I will have to tear myself apart in order that you get the right idea of walking as a Christian. In the Old Testament, God couldn't do it. God tried to explain, people didn't understand. God tried to say, "I am the God, and here is Jeremiah, listen to him. There is the commandments, this is there, that is there", and people said, "Very sorry, we will walk in our own ways. We will carry our own system. We will live according to whatever we like. If someone is doing a miracle here, we will run here. If somebody is saying something good about me here, we will take that. You're a slow God." Actually it goes on to say, "You're a slow God." "We want quick answers, so we will find our prophets who can do better than Jeremiah. So we'll do that." But now here, we can see from the time of Jesus, he's saying, "The time has come that I will have to die." Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee walks in and says, "We want the places." Then the answer Jesus gives is, "It's time you stopped serving me, it's time that you all understood that I came to be served. And how can I be served? I have to die. My body has to become pieces. My life has to be given on the cross. And when my life is given on the cross, then as a ransom, as a prize to all the dark desires of the human heart, then salvation will come upon you. Then your hearts will start changing. Then you will realize, that no longer the world is greater. And Jesus Christ and His mission is great. It's very beautiful, verse 28. As you read this, the Lord is saying, "I need to be served." Matthew 20:28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, He didn't come to be served. That's what we honour people, even as we walk and come up in our careers, we want to be served, for the people who serve us to say, "Ah, thank you sir, welcome sir, okay sir." And even in ministry, we want people to respect us. "Praise the Lord, I humble myself before everyone," but then we want people to look up to us. We want others to serve us. In the process, just because others are telling us we have to also just serve and show them. The politicians have to go to the gama (village), carry the archchi, kiss the baby and all that. Once they win, it's something else. Till then, you have to serve, because then you know you'll be served. But here, this concept of Jesus, is breaking what we know, what we have seen, and God is telling, "I am serving myself to you. Not just giving you my dress, not just giving you my beard, I am giving my whole self to you." We sing this hymn, "Like a rose, trampled on the ground" -- unless the rose is trampled, how on earth will the aroma spread? The rose has to be trampled. And here is Jesus telling us, "If my life is not to be given, I cannot save you." It has to be given as a ransom to many. It has to be taken apart, torn apart, piece by piece, drop by drop of my blood has to spill, that's when salvation will come into us. This is the miracle of what God is telling us today. He's telling us, "Look at me and be served through me. Eat from me, drink from me, walk with me. But the moment we don't do that, that's when we come to God like the people at the time of Jeremiah. That's when we come to God like the 12 disciples and the mother. We come to Him, either we reject Him fully, like in the Old Testament saying "No, no, we'll find our own way. We'll build society, our careers, in our own way. Don't come." That we say a lot. Or we come to Christ saying, "God we love You, we worship You, we thank You. Praise the Lord, I got a million rupees" that also is a means of finding what we need. What is the answer? The Son of Man has to die, has to be   served, and served in a way that we can consume Him, so that by consuming the one who is serving us, from within us, will flow service. From consuming the one that serves us, we will realize that we are not on earth to be served, we are not on earth to be loved, to be given a great place, and say, "I am walking in here and everybody respects me, everybody loves me so I have to build my career, build a place, I have to sort things out for myself." No, not that. Instead, Jesus is saying, "first be served by me, the one who came to serve, and then service will flow through your heart." As we go into worship, let's pray to God that He will come into our hearts in that. Let that Jesus walk into our hearts. Let that Jesus become real, so that the God who came, to serve will live within our hearts. So that He will take away our dark desires. So that He will take away the inner most desires of our hearts, and that He will rule our hearts, each and every day of our lives.

Day 9 – Lenten Prayer and Reflection – 2nd March 2021   Today's readings speak about turning away from wicked ways and repenting, not only because of the sins and wrongdoings we have committed but also one might be more free to serve others than ourselves. Isaiah 1:10 Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah! Isaiah reminds the people it is not enough to just turn away from wrongdoing and sin but to listen to the instructions of God. If we look at ourselves, from our small days we were taught by our parents, if you do this or do that Jesus will be angry with you. That has been the case from our parents, but if you realize now we say the same thing to our children but continue to sin sometimes, continue to forget God. So what should we do? Let's go to verse 16 and see what God is asking us. Isaiah 1:16 Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong... How can we get cleansed? We have received a beautiful gift from the Lord. What is it? It is the sacrament of reconciliation. Confession. The Lord says, give the truth of your heart to me. Where do we hear this? In the second step of the Four Step prayer -- give the truth of our heart to the Lord. I would like to comment on something that happened last week. We do a meeting every Saturday to Italy. I was talking about forgiveness to them and I encouraged them to go to confession. One of them started talking and she said, "I have a problem. We go for confession to an Italian priest who is not very conversant in English. I am also not very conversant in Italian. Probably he doesn't understand me and further when he advises me I don't fully understand. I feel my sins are not forgiven." Imagine the situation she's in. I started explaining to her, "Remember, it is Jesus who is present in the priest and you are bringing the truth of your heart to the Lord. The Lord can hear you." So when the priest gives the blessing it is Jesus who blesses you, it is Jesus who forgives your sins and that brings you forgiveness and peace. Lent is a good time to make our confession and bring the truth of your heart to the Lord and this is cleansing, as Isaiah says, "Cleanse yourself." Isaiah 1:17-18 ...learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. "Come now, let us reason together," says the Lord. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you look at this you can see, we must also do good, search for justice, set right the wrong, hear the cry of the poor and come to their aid and defend the helpless. This message of Isaiah, although it was spoken in the Old Testament, it directly speaks to us. Let's look at our lives and see what's happening with us. During the recent pandemic, have I met any helpless person? Have I looked around to find one? Sometimes we feel like, when we meet them, they are a nuisance. We reject them. And if you see, it's not only the poor people that we need to help. There are certain others, there are people maybe whom you don't like or are angry with. Sometimes these people may be begging in their hearts to reconcile with you, but you are so stubborn and do not want to forgive. During Lent we're supposed to be fasting isn't it? It's fasting from your stubbornness, fasting from your attitudes, fasting from your anger. You need to look and see, how do I fast? What does God want from me?   Isaiah 1:19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land; If we commit ourselves to do the right thing, it will be a sign that we are serious about the changing of our hearts, redirecting our lives towards God. And God will forgive our sins. Don't you think it's a nice way of getting close to God, and getting your sins forgiven? If you look at verse 18 again: "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall we as white as snow." God knows how weak we are and says, "Come to me, I will cleanse you." This God of ours is so good that He says, "It doesn't matter. You come to me, I will wash you. I will cleanse you." This is the glory of God, and how close He is to us. What we need to do is go to the Lord, don't stay away from the Lord. It is important that we are here to be with the Lord, and especially during this season, our prayer, our personal prayer is so important to us. Psalm 50:8-9 I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices or your burnt offerings, which are ever before me. I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens… The Lord says, "I do not know your external signs. I don't need them, the sacrifices, the rites." But, still the rites have a place. Yes, we need to follow the church rites, it's true. It's important that we are connected to the church, we go together with the church, but there is something more, much more to be done followed by the rites. We can do our rites, but what is that thing we need to do? A close connection with God, a time with the Lord. Talk to Him, speak to Him, take your time on your personal prayer. It's actually a discussion with the Lord. We talk to Him. Look at the word of God, and then speak to Him. So when you have a connection with God, you will find you have something more to check, to work with. Otherwise what happens is, we go to the rites, and then we read something and end up with that. But we have forgotten the connection with God. So if you look at in Catholics, sometimes they are not aware of the need to have that intimacy with God or with Jesus. So we say, Jesus is Risen from the dead. We all know about it. Although we say that, we tend to forget that He's alive. I have a little story that I found that Jesus is alive. When I was young, I wasn't the best of people and my father was another terror. If I do something wrong, the usual thing those days was hitting your son. That's the way they correct you. I knew that today's a bad day, I've done this, my father will definitely hit me. What I did was, I went in front of the statue of Jesus and said, "Please save me." And this is what I do all the time. There are times when God has saved me, Jesus has saved me, but 75 percent of the times, He doesn't save me because I have done such bad things. At that time, I thought I was speaking to a statue. But now I realize I am speaking to a Jesus who is alive. He hears me, He does everything for me when I ask. What God wants is to be people who live a life of goodness and holiness, which God has already gifted us. If you go to verse 23. Psalm 50:23 He who sacrifices thank offerings honours me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God.   When your offering is really honest, God will then show us the divine saving power. He has that power to save us. Doing right actions is more important. We are also reminded the importance of discipline, living the life of a disciple which requires us to act like and follow the example of Jesus. This is something the Lord expects of us. If you are sacrificing, let it be honest. Not for the sake of sacrificing. Sometimes, we feel, okay I need to give something to the church, I have to give something to the community. It has to come from your heart. Whatever you receive you give it to the Lord, and He says that He will give us that salvation. Let's go to the gospel for today Matthew 23:1-3 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. If you look at the gospel Jesus criticizes those leaders who do not practice what they preach. They say the right things, they talk about God, they talk about everything, but they do not live it out in their own lives. They don't show, although they say do this, do that, they don't live it in their lives. They may say the right things. Don't we think this is found in our homes? We order the ones at home to do the right thing, but we ourselves do not practice what we say. Once a father brought the son for counselling, the son was about 21 years old. What he said was, "This boy, he's not listening to us, and he's creating problems at home." I thought I'll have a chat with him, I kept the father away and I sat alone with him. I was having a chat, continuously he was talking to me, he was quite open about everything, and as time went I just asked him, "Do you go for Sunday mass with your parents?" He said, "No, I don't go for Sunday mass." I said, "It's a good thing to go as your parents go, why don't you join them and go?" He looked at me and smiled and said, "My father does not go for Sunday mass." I was just thinking, first I need to counsel the father. Here you can say, although we see the faults of others, we do not see our own fault. The father was very interested to bring the child, get me to speak to him and change him, but how can I do it? He himself is giving the wrong answer. He himself is not doing the right thing, and then asking the child to change. It's something that the Pharisees did. We need to be very careful about what we do, and what we are doing even at home. To that, I would like to add another thing, what I had been doing. Before I came to know the Lord, I was a very jolly character, I used to play the guitar, I used to sing at various places, like parties, and then I tell both my sons, "You better do good things. Don't have bad friends. Otherwise what will happen is you'll start getting into bad habits." But I didn't realize, what was I doing at home? I used to have my friends, bring them together, we get-together, and then drink together. And then I am asking my son, "Don't get into bad habits. Don't have bad friends." What happens at home? He sees me, doing the same thing, and they started drinking. I'm thankful to God, because when I came to know Jesus more than what I was doing, I completely stopped. And I am happy to say that they have seen me and realized what they were doing was wrong and they are in that path together. Matthew 23:8 "But you are not to be called 'Rabbi', for you have only one Master and you are all brothers.   Earlier he was warning about people, he tells his followers to avoid thinking that they are better than others and deserving a special title. He goes to warn these followers, "Avoid thinking that you are greater than the other." Because we are in the Community of the Risen Lord, sometimes we feel that we are better than the others. We try to be smarter than the others, we feel we know the Lord, we know He's alive. What happens is, unconsciously we get into an egoism, we get into an ego of ours. It has happened to me as well. Preaching is a good example to speak about egoism. Why do I say that? After preaching, if somebody says, "Oh, today your preaching was good", I will very humbly say, "No, that's the Lord who was there with me." But if you really look at it, in my thoughts I will say, "I'm good." That's ego coming into me. The good thing is, if you realize that, that you have got an ego because of it and go back to the Lord, give the truth of your heart to the Lord and say, "Lord, my egoism has overtaken my spirituality," then I am safe. Otherwise if I go on with that ego in my head, I will perish. I will want nice things to be told about me. We need to feel that we have to be very humble about what we do. We don't have to show ourselves, we don't have to talk about ourselves, and it leads to verse 11. Matthews 23:11 The greatest among you will be your servant. Here he speaks of the need to be a servant to others. In today's reading I hear a call for me to be a servant, a humble servant, who seeks to manifest to others the presence of God which is with me. I have to feel that the Lord is with me and then I should take it out to people, be humble, so that people will realize, "There's something to what he says." You must realize, "I am a sinner, who has missed the mark of being totally on target with God." Because He saved us, we can come and shout and say who I am, and the Lord has changes our lives. It's not my strength, it's not my power, it's the Lord who has won. And I am called to care for others and serve them. We have been given an opportunity of announcing the good news of God's presence to others. For that, we should be doing the right thing and bringing justice to those who have been wronged. Caring for others who need help. Matthew 23:12 For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. If you look at the role of a disciple of Jesus, we must realize who Jesus is. The disciple is always pointed to Jesus. "I'm expected to reveal the love of Jesus, to care for others by my actions." We can preach for hours and hours, sometimes there can be only person who changes. But if you go out in your area, and then talk about yourself and the presence of the Lord in you, you can change a lot. I should not be, as I said, seeking titles or positions of honour, but be willing to humbly serve others. People should be able to see Jesus in me. And during this Lent, we should be doing that, that it is very important to be humble. I'm not saying it should finish by the 40th day, it should continue. What should I do? I should use the gifts and the talents of God which has been given to me. It's something like ability to communicate, the ability to be compassionate with others, and reach out to others so that they may know that God loves them and cares for them. I'm to use my God given talents to deepen a relationship with each and every person. I must use my talents, talking to them, and be nice to them, in difficult times I meet them, I support them. If I keep my eyes focussed on Jesus, it will be a lot easier for me to serve others, and not to seek my own honour. How do   we focus ourselves? By personal prayer. Every morning when you get up, say "Lord, here I am today. You've woken me up. What am I to do? What is my job today? Where should I go? Whom should I meet?" and He will find somebody. When I do that, I will always rejoice when others come to know Jesus better. Even a few words can change a person. And I will be happy that I am being a useful tool in the Lord's hands. This is a good time for us to be looking at all these areas. Like I said, it's not the 40 days I am talking of. It's 365 days. I know some of my friends, they are very good people. What they do is they fast for 40 days. What is the fasting? They don't take drinks for 40 days. But what happens on the 40th or the 41st day? They drink what they lost. That's why I say, it's not the 40 days that we are thinking of. It's much more than the 40 days. For these 40 days, you look at your last year, and compare your last year with this year. What am I going to do? Where have I fallen? Where have I not done the right thing? What are my addictions? And then this 40 days, you start looking at them very carefully and then try to go forward. And once you understand, once you come to know, to realize, all what you did during the last year, when you change it becomes something that you are going to take forward. And what is our destination? It is eternal life. The Lord is so good, that He's given these 40 days for us to meditate on what we did, and what should be done now. Let us be in the presence of the Lord and tell Him, I'm weak, I can't do anything. I'm lost. That is why we are given this prayer of the Four Steps. "Come as you are, I love you." Think of what you have been doing and then tell, "Here I am Lord, I can't do anything." But give the truth of your heart, because what you have in your heart, nobody knows. Maybe from outside they will see, but what is in your heart, nobody will know. So tell the Lord, "Here I am. Take everything that I have, I keep it under You." And then the third step, surrender your life to the Lord. Tell the Lord, "Lead me, take me in the right path. I'm a lost person, You are able to do that for me." And then what happens? The power of the Holy Spirit will come upon us and joy, peace, love, patience, which we really need, will be on us and then the Lord will anoint us, the Holy Spirit will anoint us, so that we will talk. If you can change one person, that's the best thing you can do in these 40 days. Let us be in the presence of the Lord, let's us speak to the Lord, and tell the Lord "Here I am. I want to be humble, as You have said, that's the life I should be doing, but Lord Jesus, if I have not come to that mark, change me." Sit down in your personal prayer and say, "Lord I need to be changed. I need to go for the right thing. I need to speak to people, I should not be holding high posts." The Lord will lead us, I cannot change, it's not easy to change. You find when you are honest in what you are doing, the Lord will see, "okay, I will connect him." And I thank Him, for knowing the Lord much more than when I did long time ago. Like I said, I came to know the Lord when I was 32 years. Until then I had not read a bible at all, we didn't have a bible at home. The Lord has taken me, He has said, "I need you, take the word to people" and I am so happy to be called by the Lord. Let us thank the Lord for all that He has done for us, thank the Lord for these 40 days, thank the Lord for taking us through day by day, and asking the Lord to change you.

Day 8 – Lenten Prayer and Reflection – 1st March 2021   This morning we have readings from the book of Daniel and also from the gospel of St. Luke. Before we go into that, the Lord is speaking to us through Daniel about the attitude and nature of our mind He is calling us to have. If you look at the book of Daniel, it is a book about a person in exile. Daniel was a foreigner, Daniel was in exile, Daniel was at the mercy of the king. That's how he was called to live his life. We will think that this was only the story of Daniel. But the reality is this is the story of every Christian, of you and me. We are people in exile, living away from the promised land. Our home is in heaven and we await that home, and therefore we are called to have the same attitude, life and heart that Daniel had. In fact Philippians 3:20 tells us our citizenship is in heaven and we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. This tells us very clearly we do not belong here. So often people say, why don't you apply to Australia? Why don't you get your green card? Why don't you move away? We think it's going to be a lovely time if we go away, happily ever after. But we know as we travel all over the world, that everywhere people have the same problems, the same difficulties, the same challenges to face and it's never a greener pasture, but every family goes through different problems. In fact I just spoke to a person last night who said for 10 years he was in love, got married, went abroad and within a few months the family broke up. So he would have thought going abroad would have been the best idea possible but when they went there they had to face challenges. Anyway, we are Christians in exile. What happened to Daniel? Daniel had been taken by King Nebuchadnezzar from Jerusalem and placed in Babylon. The king had asked for the best people, the cleverest, the most handsome, the most promising people and he had taken them all away and placed them under his care in the palace in Babylon. They were supposed to eat a certain food, they were supposed to be nourished and they were supposed to provide the king with answers to well his problems. This was the life Daniel went through. But if you look at the book of Daniel, he went through different kinds of experiences. The king would suddenly build a statue or see a dream and then he would have to answer the dream. Suddenly there would be writing on the wall -- different kinds of experiences in every chapter. As we come to chapter 9 that's a place where they say it's a pause for prayer. In that chapter, Daniel devotes his time to prayer and that is the chapter we have been given today, where Daniel pauses in prayer to God. Before we go into that chapter, there are certain things we can learn from Daniel as he lived in exile in Babylon under the king. First of all, do not be impressed by applause or gifts. Daniel was there, he began to answer questions, he began to reveal mysteries and the king promised him this and that. But here was a person who was not impressed, whose heart and mind was fixed on God. That is reflected in the reading for today. His mind was fixed on God, he knew his salvation was in the God of heaven and not in the king. He was never impressed with what the king had to promise him. When the king asked for him to be fed very well, but he did not want to defile himself, and therefore they had their special food which they ate and they never drank the wine, and it is said that it was found that Daniel and his friends were ten times more filled with wisdom and healthier that the other people who were fed all the kings rations and food. There was a distinct favour of God upon Daniel, because he always fixed his gaze on God. Secondly, do not be intimidated by the world's threats. Each time the king had a dream, or saw something, or was told that "Daniel has mocked your gods," the king came forward and said, "I'm going to throw you to lions, I am going to kill you" but Daniel was never intimidated by threats. He always turned to God and sought answers in God.   Then, do not be infected by religious practices, what people do. For example, we know in Sri Lanka if a boy wants to get a girl in an office, the first thing he has to do is spike her drink with something or with some charm, and get her together. Then she falls in love with him, he takes her and they are supposed to be happily married. But recently I saw a testimony where a certain person charmed a girl and they got married and the family life began happily, but within four months the charm wore off and the girl wanted to break up the family. If we live according to the world's behaviour, ways or practices, we will never be happy, there will never be a lasting solution. So Daniel also was invited to worship this god and that god, but he stuck to the living God. Don't get caught up by gifts, do not be intimidated by the threats you receive, and do not follow the practices of others but follow the living God. Finally, we are called to be God's partners, in whatever we do, we seek God's face and we partner with God to do what He wants us to do. Here Daniel, like a movie, suddenly he's going through a problem, suddenly he's going through a threat, suddenly he's thrown to lions, suddenly he has to go and kill dragon, and in all this he was partnering with God, and in certain moments God revealed Himself to him in all glory as God saved him from these situations. It is said in the last book of Daniel, where he was in the pit with lions, that the prophet Habakkuk was sent and he dropped in a certain food because Daniel was for seven days with the lions and this prophet dropped in a little preparation of food for him to drink and to survive in the lion's pit. As Daniel partnered with God, he saw the glory of God, and God was in love with him and God was with him in that experience. We also see this in Exodus 3:7-8. Exodus 3:7-8 The Lord said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. This word tells us that today, if we are going through some bad experience, if we are going through some brokenness, if we are going through some suffering, there is a God, who is looking at our misery, who is hearing our cry, who is seeing our tears and He is concerned about our suffering. This was the experience of the Israelites in the desert, and this was the experience of Daniel in the lion's den, and in every experience he had, where he depended upon on the living God. As I said, Daniel reminds us that although God may sometimes allow us to suffer, He is always at hand, always able to free us, He sometimes offers us a glimpse of His coming glory. It is said, that the book of Daniel is also a book of revelation, prophecy about the future. If you look at it with the book of Revelation, there are different things about the future, about the Son of Man, and it's mystical, at the same time, it is a call for us and a teaching for us, how to live our journey with the Lord. What does the Christian do in exile? How does he live? Does he complain? Does he cry? Does he blame the others for what he's going through? No, he seeks the heart and mind of Christ. And today's readings are all about seeking the heart and mind of Christ. During this time of lent, we seek the heart and mind of Jesus. Let's go to the readings. It's taken from Daniel 9:4-10. It is Daniel pausing for prayer because we have all kinds of experiences throughout Daniel, and when you come to chapter 9, Daniel begins to pray a long prayer.   Daniel 9:4 I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed: "O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands, The first line says, "I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed." In fact the first song we sang today was, "Come, now is the time." Confess that He's God, that song asks us to confess. So confess does not just mean to go for confession or to confess your sins, but give the truth and say, "Lord, You are God. Lord, You are in control. This Monday morning as I begin my week, as I face challenges, I'm here Lord, and time is moving and I have to leave for work, but I confess You are God. That You are in control of every situation I am going to face. You are in control of every decision I make today and during this week. We confess." Generally we can confess, "Oh my God, so much of suffering. So many things to do, I don't know where to stand, where to go." Or we can confess as Daniel confessed. What did he confess? He said, "O Lord, the great and awesome God." He didn't say, "Oh Lord my schedule is so busy, my problems are so big." He confessed that God is great and awesome. He confessed that God is bigger than his situation. That God is greater than his challenges, that God is above everything he's facing. And this is the first principle of a renewed mind, we are called to have a renewed mind. We can go to God giving our list of problems, list of challenges, but this morning as you stand before God, you tell Him, "Oh God, great and mighty God, you are above it all, you are my King of Kings, you are my Lord of Lords and you are still in control." I remember when I had a problem and I was called to the immigration and I was told, "Buy your ticket and leave this country." The verse that came from the word said, "Not by flight. You will not leave this country by flight, you will be here." So I had innumerous threats over two years but I never had the need to leave the country and go away. Though they called me every time and said, "Where is your ticket? Why didn't you leave?" The word said, no, God is greater. God is above and God is in control. The first principle of a renewed mind is to acknowledge that God is greater. Do not try to deal with the crisis first. So often we are in love with the crisis. "Oh I have this problem, I have that problem. I cannot pay this" -- we're looking at the problem, we are loving the problem, we're embracing the problem, we are living with the problem, but we are called to fix our gaze on God, turn your gaze to the living God who has an answer. He knows you are in exile, He knows you feel like a stranger, He knows you have nowhere to turn to and He is in love with you. In the book of Daniel, God says, in the next chapter, that He loves Daniel. That He cares for Daniel. It was not just a God who came and did powerful things, it was a God who was in love with Daniel. The first chapter says, God's favour was on Daniel. His favour, His mercy. This morning as we go through this ancient reading, God is telling you: "My favour and love are with you. You may feel you are in exile, but I love you and I care for you." So if the crisis is coming to you, refuse to deal with it first. Refuse to deal with the crisis -- you have no answers. But go to the feet of the Lord and struggle with your human nature, which says there are no answers, there is no way forward. Have that struggle before the Lord. This was the same experience of Nehemiah as he was faced with the struggle and had to build the wall, he went to the Lord and he acknowledged the greatness of God. Remember who God is. God is above. God is able. With God all things are possible, and that's what you must be confessing. How can you confess it if your mind is not renewed? How do you renew your mind? By looking at the word, but looking at the life of Daniel, by reading the life of Nehemiah and the life of other people in the word of God. As we read the word of God our mind gets renewed.   I remember about a month ago on YouTube there is a video of an Iranian woman and man who came to experience the Lord. It was a long journey, but the beautiful part of it was they were staunch Muslim and that was their background. They had all the arguments, they knew in theory that the Bible had all the answers, that Jesus Christ was the Saviour, but they couldn't get themselves to accept this word. But when they had moved to Toronto and they were living alone in an apartment, husband and wife, and they had time on hand and they had to find their way forward, that's when they began to read the word of God. It is said, they read the word of God from 5 in the evening to 7 in the morning the next day. The whole night, they just lapped up the word of God. They never knew English, so they had the dictionary beside them, they were looking at words -- if you said the word Revelation, they would open the book and see what's the meaning of revelation. Every word they had to find that English meaning. But in a few days, as they began reading the word of God, first the man felt a presence in the room, and he just burst out crying and he experienced the power of the word of God, and his mind was renewed. And the wife said, "You know Lord, if you can do that to him, you can do that to me." Two days later, as she read the word of God like that, suddenly when she came to 1 John 1, and that chapter about God's love -- "While we were sinners God loved us -- as she read about that, she burst out crying and she experienced the presence of the living God. How do you renew your mind? How can you become a person like Nehemiah or Daniel? But looking at the promises, by reading the word of God, and spending time with Him. You will begin to think like them, you'll begin to respond to situations like Daniel and Nehemiah. So in this case, first, Daniel talks about the greatness of God. "Oh, Lord, great and awesome God." And it was the same with Nehemiah who said, "Remember who God is." Do not cling to your problem, to your situation, but turn and look at the greatness of God. He is greater than my problem. This morning as you think of a challenge you are facing, as you think of a person suffering and you're praying for, speak to that problem and say, "My God is greater than that issue. My God is alive, my God has the answers, and my God can do wonders." Daniel 9:5 We have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. As Nehemiah did, Daniel is repenting. He's repenting for himself, for his country men and country women. If you look at that glass in the darkness, the water will seem so pure, so clean, like American drinking water, as they say it in the cans. But when you take that glass and as you hold it close to a source of light, you will see particles moving in that supposedly clean water. You'll see little particles. And that tells us as we go closer to the light, as we go deeper into the presence of God, we begin to see our sinfulness. We begin to see our true nature. Until then we say, "No no, I have no sin. I'm great, I never criticize people, I love everyone. I'm good. I'm so holy, I do my prayers," but as you go into the presence of God, God will reveal to you your nature, the way you speak. Everything will become very clear to you and that's when you will be called to repent. He knew his people. He must have been a person who was praying but generally not living with a transformed mind. Don't waste your time repenting about your husband or wife or child. Repent for the wrong you have done. Whenever we have a crisis this person has caused the breakup. Do not look at the other person. You also had a role to play and your mind is not open to it. Do not pin the blame.   The way you do it, your mind is not open to it. Therefore, do not pin the blame on somebody else, but accept your part in this problem. The second reality of how to handle a crisis, like in the second verse of Daniel, don't offer excuses and say, "I want to kill myself because of this person or that person." Don't offer excuses. But deal with your own sin. Repent of your sin. When I got for confession, before I enter, I always say, "Holy Spirit remind me of my sin." And lo and behold, the entire download happens. You actually want to forget your sinfulness. You do not want to tell the priest everything, but when you say "Spirit of God, reveal to me my sin," immediately, everything begins to fall into your mind, you begin to see the movie, you begin to be reminded of all the moments when you sinned. When you practice that and say, "Spirit of God remind me of my sinfulness," you will see how low you have fallen. Sometimes we tell the Lord, "Lord I am going through this because of that person. Because of that rotter, this is my life." But this morning, we are going to say, "Lord I repent for the wrongdoings of my family members, of my community, of the world. I repent of what is happening." Sometimes when we look at the television and see this person has murdered 10 people or this person has killed so many people, or this has happened, we always find fault. But let's say, "Lord have mercy. Have mercy on him, have mercy on his victims. Have mercy on us." If I never had a renewed mind I would have done the same. I would have fallen into the same pit. Recently I saw the story of a woman who was called out and she was living as a slave in Africa to a certain man and she had a life of prostitution. But as she related her story, she had gone through so much of suffering. Somebody had promised her a job, she was taken and to a place called Togo, and she thought she was going to earn US dollars in a beautiful job, but actually she was taken to join a prostitution ring. And from then on, she was taken to another place, again promised help, taken to another place and again used. And again taken to another country and used as a drug carrier. She says when she went to the customs, she was so broken she told the customs, "I think I'm carrying drugs," she admitted, and she received a seven year sentence. And that was her life. So when she shared her testimony, she was actually weeping, crying and speaking. We often think a prostitute is a terrible person with a horrible life, but that person only knows the pain they are going through, how they got into in, what their story is and we must have mercy as we deal with them. We must have love as we deal with such sinfulness. Not say, "Oh my gosh, my life is so clean, their lives are so bad," but no, have mercy as we look at them. Daniel 9:9 The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; Like in Nehemiah, what is Daniel doing? He is remembering what God has promised. God has promised that He is merciful and loving. God is great and awesome and then we have sinned against Him, and the third remembrance, God has promised to be merciful, to be loving. You have promised Lord to be merciful because You understand us, You see our weakness, You see how low we have fallen. And You have made us, You have created us, and You are still in love with us, and therefore we have hope. So this morning, as we look at the Lord and as we say He is merciful and loving, we know that we can approach Him. Very often many of us invite people to come for the prayer meeting, and there are a few cases where people say, "How can I come to God? I have been living in sin. I can't come right now because I am dealing with some sin of mine, so I will not come. So many friends who do not want to come for the prayer meeting or to experience God's love because maybe they are holding onto that sin and they feel   they are so unworthy that they will never be able to experience the greatness and goodness of God. But the point is, God is merciful, God is calling us, let's go to Him. Let's experience His favour. We can approach Him, we can go to Him. If you renew your mind with the revelation of scripture, you won't hide from God, you won't waste days and months running through your own thinking patterns. You allow the scripture to form how you handle events, you keep doing this. It's all about renewing your mind, transforming your mind. Now, you can't do it, because certain people believe for example, it's all in the mind. That if they make a decision, it's going to happen. But it's beyond that. So often, if somebody has an argument with you, what happens? Are you able to go to sleep? Are you able to say, "Mind, please shut down now. I want to rest"? We all know, that our minds keep on playing back the argument. "He said this, she said that, this one said this, and then I am going to tell them that, and this is going to happen" and we have this entire conversation going on and we are never able to rest after a fight. Are you able to sleep? No, it becomes difficult. It's the same with me. We cannot control our mind, just like a horse going on a ride. It's just galloping and galloping and talking away and chatting away. But with the grace of God, as we turn to the scripture, that's when the peace of God takes over and we experience the rest of God. This was Daniel's prayer, like Nehemiah, as he accepted the greatness of God, he repented for his sin, and then he approached God and said, "Lord, these are your promises. You are merciful and therefore I am able to approach you." In the gospel, Jesus is talking to us about our internal responses. Here, Daniel is telling God, "You are so great". And Daniel is saying, "Lord forgive us" and all of these things, but in his own life, is he showing the same mercy around him, is he sharing the same love? So you can be saying, "I'm saying Daniel's prayer" or "I am doing the Nehemiah prayer" but what is your internal journey, and what was the internal journey of the Lord Jesus. What did Jesus say? This is what was reflected in the gospel. Luke 6:36-37 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. You can saying Nehemiah's prayer, Daniel's prayer, but internally how have you been dealing with people around you? What is your nature? The transformed nature and attitude of Jesus was this. This is what he tells us. He tells us, "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful." Here you are crying out to God and saying, "Lord, God, King of Kings. Have mercy on me." But have you shown the same mercy to people around you? Lent is a moment when we come back to God, when we retreat from the world and come into the presence of God, and we search our heart to see where we have fallen. And the Lord is telling us, "Be merciful, just as the Father has been merciful." God has been good to you. Do you think, if you are person who is praying, if you are a person reading the scripture, that it is by your own merit? Because you spend time in prayer, because you did that? Imagine if dryness comes over you, where does your journey go? You'll have nothing to say. So God in His mercy has given you an experience of His love, He has drawn you with cords of love, as the word of God tells us. He has touched your heart, He has renewed you, He has given you the grace to pray and spend time with Him, it is nothing about you. It is His love for you. It is the spirit that has descended upon you and drawn you into a relationship with Him. And therefore, that has been the mercy of God. We cannot point our finger and say, "I spend time in prayer, see these people   they don't pray." The gift of prayer that you have is from God. God has blessed you with that gift. God has been good to you. Be merciful, just as the heavenly Father has been merciful to you. Then it says something really extreme: "Do not condemn and you will not be condemned." Imagine, what is condemnation? It's almost saying, "Go and die. Go and be killed. I do not want to see you again." It's an extreme form of talking, or thinking. Condemning a person. You condemn a person to what? To a beach resort? No, you condemn a person to the gallows. I person has to be hanged over there. So often, we are in the journey, experiencing the love of God, and yet we are condemning people. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. The seriousness of our actions, the way we speak, the way we journey with God, living in the life of God, experiencing His love, and condemning people. We say "go to hell" and when we condemn that person we are condemning ourselves. That's why it says, when we stand before God, and He reviews our life, our own sin will speak to us, will condemn us. It's not God saying, "You have sinned! Son you have come here but your life is a mess." As we look at the goodness of God, we see the poverty of our spirit. We see how far we have fallen. As we see His purity we see our impurity. Like St. Peter said "My Lord and my God." He knelt before him, because as he saw the magnanimity, the greatness of God, he saw his littleness. This is the experience of spirituality. Not, "I am this, I am that, I have done this, I have achieved this." As we go closer to God, we see how great He is and how small we are. As we experience His purity, we see how impure we can be. This should be our experience, and therefore He is calling us to live a life of showing mercy. When you go to the carpark of a supermarket, somebody comes and says, "Sir, buy this thing", and you can condemn the person and say, "Oh, these people are all cheats." Or we can just have mercy, "Lord, you have fed me, clothed me, You have given me a meal, in Your mercy I will just share. I will not condemn." This is what God is calling us to do, to show mercy and not to condemn. Thirdly, he says, "forgive and you will be forgiven." The lack of forgiveness is like a bondage. You are held with your arms in shackles. And when you do not forgive, you will not be forgiven. That's crystal clear. If you you cannot forgive, you will not be forgiven. It's reciprocal. If you do not take the chance to forgive a person, release the person, you are not being released. Therefore, you're telling God, "I'm all doing all these prayers, I'm doing the Four Steps, I'm doing Nehemiah's prayer, I'm praying all of this nothing is happening. My prayers are not being answered." God is saying, "Look into your life." This is the time of lent, look into your life. The more you begin to forgive, the more you are being forgiven. You are holding yourself at ransom, you are holding yourself in bondage, you are holding yourself with hands tied and saying, "Lord, why? Why is this happening?" This morning, as you are forgiving, as you are offering forgiveness, you are being forgiven. Now we come to the most important verse in this, which a lot of people love. It says: "Give, and it will be given to you." All of us think in terms of money, "Oh if I give this, I am going to get that" and we get so excited. But God is not just talking about giving money, he's talking about giving mercy. He already set the tone, giving forgiveness. He's talking about giving glory to God, giving all of that. And as you give that to God, as you give your pain to Him he begins to release you, He begins to bless you. Luke 6:38 Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. It's just telling us the nature of a person surrendered to God. If something has to be poured into your lap, it means you are not running after something. Like you're given something and you're waiting for it to   come. But you're searching everywhere. If you are searching everywhere it cannot be poured into your lap. It means you are seated, you are sitting somewhere and it is being poured over you, or into your lap. If you're running everywhere looking for the answer, it's falling off you, you're losing this opportunity. You're giving and then you are waiting. And you're not looking for answers, you're not searching, you're giving repentance, you're releasing people. And God is giving back to you. The grace of God is being poured into your life and you are experiencing His power and mercy. Luke 6:38 Give and you will be given a good measure, pressed over full and running over. For the measure you give, will be the measure you receive back. There's one little verse in Philippians which talks about this mentality that God is calling us to have today. This is the spirituality we are called to. Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always I will say it again rejoice. That's why we began this time of prayer with a song of praise, because first of all God is asking us to come and rejoice. Philippians 4:5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. We can react, we can angry, we can blame, but let your gentleness be evident, the Lord is near, the Lord is with us, the Lord is for us. Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. We've heard Thaththa preaching about this before. It's a teaching by itself. But, it's just telling us about our mind. "Do not be anxious but in prayer and petition, with Thanksgiving, present them to God." Give them to God, give Him all you're going through. Like Nehemiah and Daniel. And what is the result of this? Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God which transcends all understanding... Your way of thinking, your way of working out things is on this level. And the peace of God, is above it all, which transcends all understanding: Philippians 4:7 will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. This morning we spoke about having a renewed mind and heart in Christ Jesus. We saw the example of Daniel and Nehemiah, as they lived, as they faced different experiences, and as they saw the power of God in their life situations, they were able to achieve and do things. And then we saw, in the gospel, what   was Jesus' internal nature, his nature was, "Father forgive them, for they do not know what they do." He was a person who showed mercy, who showed love, who did not condemn. The nature of Jesus was to show mercy, to show love, not condemn. Give his life, not just give money. And this is our call today. If we want to have a renewed mind, if we want to have the peace that passes all understanding, God is calling us to come into His presence to look at His greatness, to repent of our sin, and to experience the power of His glory.

Day 7 - Lenten Prayer and Reflection – 26th February 2021   Today our theme is reconciling with God and reconciling with people. These two have a connection. When we reconcile with God, when we have a living experience, living relationship with the Lord, we relate to others too. Sometimes, not only we relate, we start serving others. We love others. But, we are sometimes rejected. We get hurt, we get disappointed. Then, the Lord says, "Come to me. Allow me to love you once again. Allow me to minister to you once again." That's what happened, when Jesus ministered to his disciples, Jesus did this. We can see how the Lord washed the feet of the disciples. Then Peter told Jesus, "Master, I won't allow you to wash my feet." Why did Jesus do that? Because that was the dirtiest place in his body. But Jesus said, "If you don't allow me to wash your feet, you will have no part with me." Then Peter said, "In that case, wash my hands, wash my head, bathe me." Jesus said, "No, you have had a bath, you are clean, but only your feet are dirty." That means we are experiencing the finished work of Jesus. We experience the love, we experience the forgiveness, in and through the death and resurrection of Jesus, we have received a new life, we are cleansed. But when we start ministering, when we go to love our family members, when we go to serve our family members, when we go to office and serve others, our feet get dirty, because we get hurt. Then we are again called to Jesus. So, this is a cycle -- we reconcile, we have a deep living connection with the Lord, and then we have that same relationship because when we have a deep relationship with the Lord, we experience His love, we experience His mercy, we experience His forgiveness, and then we are able to forgive others, we are able to love others, and we will carry a merciful heart towards others. That's a deep connection. In the first reading, God shows the importance of reconciling with God. In the second reading, God shows the importance of reconciling with people. In the Old Testament, people thought when they fall into sin, when they live a wicked life, that God will punish them. That's the thought they had, because they never realized that when they commit a sin, the repercussion of the sin is what brings punishment into their lives. They never realize that. They thought they will be punished, and not only them but generation to generation will be punished. Even now, we have this thought, "Today I am going through this suffering, today I am going through this pain, because such and such a day I did this particular thing. So God is punishing me." God is not punishing us. God is a good God, He's a loving God, He's a faithful God. It's our own sin, the repercussion of our sin brings punishment, into our lives. God wants to bless us, He's a merciful, loving God. At a time like that, when the Old Testament people were having these sort of thoughts, God reveals his mind through prophet Ezekiel to His people. Ezekiel 18:21 "But if a wicked person turns away from all the sins they have committed and keeps all my decrees, and does what is just and right, that person will surely live; they will not die. Here, God is revealing His mind. God says, whatever the sins you have committed, whatever the wicked way of life you have lived, if you turn away from all your sins and commit yourself to live a righteous life, what will happen? You will not die, you will not go through any curses, your life will be blessed. That's what God is revealing through prophet Ezekiel.   Ezekiel 18:22 None of the offenses they have committed will be remembered against them because of the righteous things they have done, they will live. God is saying, whatever the sins you have committed will not be remembered because God says whatever the past has been, if you turn away from your sins, it will not be remembered. There will be no generational sins. The moment you repent, and the moment you come to Jesus, your life will be blessed at the present moment and even the future will be blessed, the moment you reconcile with God. In this passage, He says your sins will not be remembered, you will receive a new life, your life will be blessed, and then He says, "because of the righteous things they have done." Now He says you have to turn to a righteous life. There are two important words here. You turn away from your sins and you have to do the righteous things. So what is this righteous thing that God is calling us to do? Most of us think, the righteous thing is, okay, I repent from my sins, I go for confession, so after confession I should not go on living a sinful life. I have judgmental thoughts, I gave it over in confession, so now onwards I should not carry judgmental thoughts in my mind. If I have been carrying lustful thoughts, now onwards I should not carry lustful thoughts. If I have been carrying unforgiveness, yes I repented, I did a confession, from now onwards I should not carry unforgiveness in my heart. That's the thought that most of us have. But here, the Lord is revealing to us, the righteous thing that you have to do. Because our experience is, though we have made decisions, good resolutions not to fall into sin, my experience is, miserably I fall. I do a good confession, within a week I have fallen again. The reason is, here, the Lord is telling us, the righteous thing that you have to do is, once when you are forgiven you have to turn towards Jesus. Turn towards your Saviour. Turn towards my Saviour. Because we cannot live a righteous life with our strength, with our own ability. We fall miserably. But that's why the heavenly Father, has sent a Saviour to us, to be with us, to be connected to, that's why Jesus says, "I am in you, you are in me. Without me you can do nothing." We have to turn to Jesus, my Saviour, who is within me and start relating to Him and speak to Him. That's what happened to Judas. Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, then he realized he has committed a great crime against his master and he felt so sad. He cried, he repented, then he ran to Chief Priest, and he said, "I don't want this money. I have betrayed innocent blood." The Chief Priest said: "What is that to us? It is your responsibility." The Chief Priest said the truth. He said, what is that to us? What can we do? It is your responsibility. If you have sinned, you carry the burden, you carry the responsibility, you carry the curses. When we turn from our sin, if we turn to anybody else, they cannot forgive us, they cannot give us the strength and the grace to live a new life, because it's Jesus who has paid the price for our sins In and through the blood of Jesus we are being cleansed. In and through the power of the cross, our sins are being nailed. In and through the power of the resurrection, that we have received a new life. In and through the anointing of the Holy Spirit, we are able to live a new life. That happened to Peter. Judas, turned towards the Chief Priest and he had to hang himself. But Peter, also did almost a similar mistake, he denied, saying that he does not know Jesus, but when he realized his mistake, when he realized he has sinned, he repented and he cried out for his mistake, for his sin. And then he turned towards Jesus. And his eyes met with the eyes of Jesus. For the first time, he experienced, "Even when I have fallen into sin, even when I have rejected Jesus, still he loves me" and he turned toward Jesus. Judas turned to the High Priest and he had to hang himself, Peter turned to Jesus and became the head of the church.   This morning, the Lord is revealing to us, yes, we fall into sin. When we fall into sin, we repent, we confess, and let's turn back to Jesus. Walk towards Jesus. Don't wait till you fall into sin. Yes, if you fall into sin, you have to come out of it and go to Jesus, but when you are tempted, you can go to Him. That's why the scripture says, Jesus was tempted but he didn't fall into sin. So the moment we are tempted, at that crucial moment, ask forgiveness from the Lord. Repent from your sin, and turn to Jesus and you will not fall into sin. I remember a small experience. A young mother shared this experience with me. She was working in an office, and there was another gentleman in the same branch, two of them were in one room, and this gentleman was trying to be funny with her and he was suggesting unwanted things. She got very angry, she hated that, she rejected him, but this kept on going. And then she said, she too was tempted. When she was tempted, what did she do? She said, "I applied for leave for three days -- Wednesday, Thursday and Friday I went on leave. And I went to church, I repented, I made a good confession, I followed the Holy Mass, I spent hours and hours before the Blessed Sacrament, reading the scripture." And she said, "After five days, I experienced a great renewal within me. Internally I was strengthened by my Saviour, internally I became a victorious person." And she said, "On Monday I went to office, victoriously. Not only that the Lord gave me a victorious change, when I went to office to see, they have changed my branch. They have included another gentleman and another lady into our room." Before we fall into sin, when we are tempted, if we turn to our Lord, if we turn to our Saviour, our Lord will not only internally strengthen us, He will act externally as well. Ezekiel 18:23 Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live? The Lord says, am I not pleased? He's revealing His heart to us. He's revealing that He's not a God who punishes. He's a loving merciful God, "when they turn back, I am so happy." When people are transformed, the Lord is so happy. And he's waiting for it. Ezekiel 18:24 But if a righteous person turns from their righteousness and commits sin, and does the same detestable things the wicked person does, will they live? None of the righteous things that person has done will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness they are guilty of and because of the sins they have committed, they will die. When a sinful person repents and turns away from the sin and to the Lord, the Lord said, "I will not remember the sins anymore and that life will be blessed." In the same way, if a righteous person falls into sin, God says, He will not take into account the good he has done. All the good he has done, God will not take into account. What does it mean? The Lord is telling us, this shows, this journey is a daily journey. Though I have lived a righteous life in the past, that will not be counted. This is a daily journey. If I have lived a righteous life last week and if I have fallen into sin today, it's not a guarantee, because the Lord says, in the same manner, like a wicked person's sin is forgotten, the Lord will forget the righteous life we have lived. So this is a daily journey. That's why in the CRL, what is our goal? 24 hours to live in the spirit. Morning we get up, we experience the love of Jesus, we give our sin, we give the truth of our heart to the Lord, we reconcile with the Lord, then we surrender our lives, and we beautifully and joyfully experience   His love, and we are being baptised by the Holy Spirit. Day to day we are being renewed by the Lord, but during the day, time to time we have to check our conscience and see, "Am I living in the spirit or am I living in the flesh?" If I am living in the spirit, I will have fruits of the spirit -- peace, love, joy, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control -- all those fruits will be within me. But if I have fallen, I will not have the fruits of the spirit. Then what do you do? While working in the office, internally you tell the Lord, "Lord, I became a fool once again. I got angry, I said these words, but still you love me. In my anger you love me. I come to you, I give the truth. The truth is I have sinned once again. But I don't want to live angry, I don't want to have these thoughts in me, I surrender those thoughts. Give me your beautiful, loving thoughts." And then you are filled with the Holy Spirit. Once again you will experience the fruits of the spirit in you, and you start living. So the Lord is reminding, this is a moment to moment to life. In the gospel, Jesus speaks about how we should reconcile with people. When we reconcile with God, when we experience His love, His forgiveness, His mercy, we can carry that same heart to others. We are able to forgive others, we are able to love others. We'll read the gospel of Matthew 5:20. Matthew 5:20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpassed that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. Jesus is telling us these words. "Unless you surpass the Pharisees and the teachers of the law." Who are these Pharisees and teachers of the law? Actually, they are good people, because they are the people who devoted their whole life to learn the word of God. They lived the law to the word. But, though they lived the law to the word, they lived the law only externally, not internally. How do you know that they lived only externally and not internally? In the gospel of Matthew 23:27, Jesus calls them hypocrites and Jesus says, "You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside you are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean." In another place, Jesus tells his disciples, "You do what they say, but don't do what they do." Because externally they did all the rituals, but internally they were judging others who were not living according to the word, they were condemning them, they were proud about themselves, they carried self-righteous thoughts in them. That's why the Lord is telling, you have to surpass them. We also can fall into this same pit. Sometimes we also can easily do lot of rituals externally, we can go for mass, we can say our prayers, we can come for the prayer meetings, but internally we can carry sin. We'll just read what the Lord is saying about it. Matthew 5:21-22 "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister, will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, 'Raca,' is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell. Here, Jesus is telling, "In the Old Testament, long ago, you heard 'You shall not murder'" But Jesus says, if you are angry with a person, if you are carrying bitterness, anger, hatredness within you, you become a murderer. It's a very serious thing. In 1 John 3:15 it says, "Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer." And murderers cannot enter eternal life, 1 John 3:15 says. We have to reflect this very seriously. At the end, we can serve the Lord and we can lose heaven. At the end, we can't go to the Lord   and say, "I did this, I did that, I healed people, I spoke in tongues, I served, I preached, and we can't lose heaven." That's why in St. Phillip Neri's film, which shows beautifully, when they came to make him a Bishop, he threw that hat and said, "I prefer heaven." So, just look into our hearts and see, am I carrying bitterness, anger, do I have people whom I hate? Today, the Lord is inviting us. We'll see, what the Lord is saying, if I am having anger, hatredness, bitterness, if I have enemies, what is the Lord telling us? Matthew 5:23 Therefore if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there, in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them, then come and offer your gift. What is the Lord telling us? Normally if you look at the scriptures, the gospels, always Jesus says, "Come to me." "Come to me all those who are weary and burdened, I'll give you rest." And that's what people did. The woman who was having the blood disease went to Jesus and was healed. Blind men went to Jesus and were healed. Tax collectors went to Jesus and they were free of sin. But here Jesus is saying, "Don't come to me." What is Jesus saying? If you come for mass, don't offer mass, if you remember there is a person whom you have offended. Leave your offering, don't offer candles, don't offer money. You go back from mass, don't receive communion, go back and reconcile. This is the first place that Jesus is saying, "Don't come to me. Go back to your brother, your sister, and reconcile. And then come to me." There are two kinds of people that God sends into our lives. One as a blessing, one as a lesson. We are happy to accept the people who come to our lives as a blessing. We say, "I had a huge financial crisis, from nowhere God sent a person. That person came like an angel and helped me." A blessing. God sends people as a blessing. "I had a huge problem in my family I didn't know what to do. I spoke to a person and that person helped me to reconcile. That person became a blessing into my life." So we are ready to accept people who come into our lives as a blessing. But when people come to our lives as a lesson, we reject them. We become aggressive towards them, or we withdraw from them. Why, when they come as a lesson do we withdraw from them? Because they hurt us. They disappoint us. The reason is, their brokenness reveals my brokenness. So that hurts me. Then I reject that person, I withdraw from that person. But today, the Lord is revealing to us, "No my son, my daughter, like I send people as a blessing to your life, I send people into your life as a lesson, to show your brokenness." But the moment we see the other person's brokenness, I don't see my brokenness, I will say because so and so said this, I got hurt. I see all the faults and the sins of the other, not my own. Today the Lord is telling us, "Come to me, and allow me to show your brokenness." Then what happens? The Lord will teach me so many lessons. "My daughter, my son, because you are too attached to your good name, that's why you got hurt." Or He will show us all our brokenness because my flesh hurts, my selfishness is what hurts me. If I am not the selfish self-centred person, I won't get hurt. That experience, that interaction won't hurt me if I am a free person. That hurts me means, I have a broken area that the Lord has to minister. So I take that area and I tell the Lord, "Lord, show me my weakness." When the Holy Spirit shows, when he convicts, he convicts the sin with love. Only people show us weaknesses when they are angry, but the Holy Spirit shows us in love. And then we are able to change, because the Lord will change us. Then we will learn a lesson from them, and they too become a blessing for my life.   I'm just inviting you today, I'm giving you some homework. In your personal prayer, just jot down all the difficult people in your life. All those who have hurt you, at the moment if you are going through any hurt, if you have any enemies, difficult people, just write the names. And learn the lesson what the Lord is wanting to speak to you. Then at the end of that exercise, you will see them as a blessing, as angels God has sent into your life. I want to quickly share an experience. Once a young married lady came to see me. Ten months after marriage, she heard that her husband has got involved in the office with another girl. She was really devastated, she asked him, he denied, but it got caught. She was so angry, she directly went to the office, met the boss and confronted this. And then boss did an inquiry, then he found that it was true, and the boss sacked both. This girl and the husband lost their jobs. The husband came back home, he shouted at the wife, screamed, and chased her out of the house. She was living in one of his houses. So this young lady went to her parents, and somebody brought her to us. Normally when a person comes like that, if that person is a Catholic or a Christian, what I do is introduce Jesus to their life. Once they discover Jesus, they will receive all the solutions to their problems, because Jesus is the solution for all our problems. So that's what I did. She started coming for the prayer meetings, she came for a Four Steps retreat, and she fell in love with Jesus, and she started journeying with the Lord. Then one day she said, "The Lord is asking me to go to my husband and to ask for forgiveness." So now immediately I was thinking in my mind, it's the husband who did the mistake, he was having an extra-marital relationship and he chased this girl out of the house. I asked her, "What are you going to tell him?" Then she said, "No, the Lord showed me, I have been a very nagging wife. And I pushed him out of my life. And even that day I became so aggressive I directly approached the boss, and I confronted and he lost his job. And today I hear that he is a drunkard. It's because of my sin. The Lord is challenging me to go and ask for forgiveness." I said, "That's a beautiful thing." The next day, she gets the summons, she got the divorce papers from her husband, but still she went and she met the husband and she gave me a call. She was very happy, and she was speaking to me. I thought, see what forgiveness can do. Forgiveness can reconcile. I was so happy. But you know what she said? She said, "I knelt down in front of him, and asked for forgiveness, and he kicked me and he chased me. And he said, "You have come to me because you got the divorce papers. Do you think you can come around me?" and he chased me." I was shocked and she was so joyful. She said, "Do you know that I am not angry with him, I am not hurt for what he did. I'm surprised about my own self, because I have so much of peace and joy knowing that I responded to my lover, my Saviour." Isn't this a supernatural act? Isn't this the power of the Holy Spirit? To have joy when a person rejects? The story, if we make it shorter, again one day she called and she was crying, she was very sad and she wanted prayers. The husband has got sick, he has got a heart attack and she said, "My husband is dying, he's in the ICU please pray for him." This is the husband's story, he recovered and he told me. When he was dying, he said a Hail Mary and he told Jesus, "Jesus please forgive me. I am a sinful person. I am so young. I want to live, give me a second chance to live in the world." And Jesus told him, "My son, your wife came to your feet and asked for forgiveness, and for a second chance, and you chased her. But I am a merciful loving God, I'm giving you a second chance. Go to the world and sin no more." And he recovered. First thing he did was, when he came out of the hospital he withdrew the case, he came for counselling. Today the Lord is asking us just to look into our life and see, are you carrying bitterness, resentment, anger towards any person? Don't put the responsibility for the other person. Take the responsibility and go   before the Lord and allow the Lord to heal you. To do that, the first thing is, have a connection with the Lord. Receive His love, receive His forgiveness and love the other, forgive the other.

Day 6 – Lenten Prayer and Reflection – 25th February 2021   We can see that the Lord is leading us step by step through the 40 days, liberating us from the grip of our selfish nature, breaking bondages of addiction, brokenness to experience freedom and simplicity of life. So we can only thank the Lord for giving us this beautiful opportunity to journey with the Lord. Today's reading is taken from the book of Esther. Though the reading is only a few verses of Esther's prayer she offered to the Lord when she was in a difficult, terrible situation where she did not have any help, to understand how God moves among His people and how God intervenes to protect His people from evil and destruction, we need to look at the background of this story. Even the king of Persia was used by God to save His people. Throughout history we have seen, when God wants to make a major shift or change in the lives of people, God always selects a person, like Abraham, Joshua, Noah, Jonah, Samuel, David -- in this case it was Esther. So Esther was a beautiful Jewish orphan girl who became the queen of the Persian king. Then something happened which disturbed her life completely. She was told by her uncle who was her guardian, that the second in command to the king who disliked and hated Jews was planning to get a decree from the king to kill all the Jewish men and women and children. Esther realised that means all the Jews, including herself, were in great danger. The first thing she did was to fall at the feet of the Lord. She organised all the Jewish women in that community, got all the maids and herself and they entered into a strict three- day fast from morning until evening, repenting, weeping, sacrificing, interceding. That is the background. So let's look at the scripture verse: Esther C:12 Queen Esther, seized with mortal anguish, had recourse to the Lord. She lay prostrate upon the ground, together with her handmaids, from morning until evening, and said: Fear, anxiety gripped her heart. More than for her, she was fearing for the Jewish community. She knew she was totally powerless to save the Jews and then she realised that nothing on this earth can change an order or a decree given by the king. Only God can save them. We too have similar situations in our life where nobody can ever help us, where we fall into zero level, moments of utter helplessness. In those moments if we can be still and hold on to the Lord, totally surrendering our life, waiting for the Lord and asking the Lord to take control, then the heavens will open. That is our experience. Just like the ladder which Jacob saw coming down from heaven where angels come down and go up, will happen in our life too. Esther C:14 "God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, blessed are you. Help me, who am alone and have no help but you." She remembered people like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who changed the history of the world, and that is our God. Second, she continued to remember what God has done in the past, blessing God for who He is, praising Him and worshipping Him. That is the key. It is so important to build our faith by remembering what God has done in the past. He has done mighty miracles, He has saved us, He has done things out of the ordinary, we just keep on remembering, thanking and praising the Lord. That is the building stone for our faith. Remembering what God has done in our life, and acknowledging that God is the same yesterday,   today and tomorrow. That means God is able to save me today. Whatever the situation, whatever the trauma that I am going through, God can save me. That is our faith, we have to build that faith. The third step, she brought before the Lord her present situation, giving the truth of her heart. And she said, this is the way I am, this is what I am facing and she gave the truth and whatever she's feeling, going through in her heart, she gave it to the Lord. So most of the time, we are unable to receive the blessings of God, because we hide from God, or we try to justify our case and we are saying it's okay and we're trying to justify before the Lord or we are afraid God will reject us. That is why during lent, we need to examine our heart and by the sacrament of confession, reconcile with the Lord. Most people do not understand, they don't realise that giving the truth of our hearts, brings healing to our body, mind and spirit. The negative energy is washed away and whatever that is blocking will be eliminated and cleaned. The power of God, the spirit of God can enter into our lives, transforming us physically, mentally and spiritually. The she prayed: Esther C 14 continued "Help me, who am alone and have no help but you, for I am taking my life in my hand. My life depends on what I am going to say and do. Isn't it the cry of our hearts too? The lesson is to surrender, trusting the Lord to act and take over in our most difficult moments, just allowing the Lord to take control, allowing the Lord to lead us, just waiting upon the Lord. And God will make a way. Acts 27 says when Paul was sailing to Italy and a severe storm broke in, everything that they had was destroyed. But Paul was praying knowing God will take him through the storm, knowing God will always be with him, He will never abandon him. So we have to build this trust, by praying, being before the Lord, and holding onto Him. And secondly, God's hands are always outstretched towards us. He will always be with us, He will always help us. God asked Moses, "Do you think my hands are too short to help you?" In the New Testament, Paul writes to Philippians and says: "In everything by prayer, petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." We should never give up but persevere in prayer, in total confidence. We experience at times that prayer doesn't come so easily for us, sometimes it's an effort, and sometimes we tend to postpone praying and we find various excuses not to pray. But, the moment you give the first place of your life to the Lord, prayer becomes very easy, effortless. It comes from our heart. And as we experience the living God in our heart, and knowing that Jesus is living in me, our lips will automatically sing praises to Him. Also, if we build our prayer life on solid rock, whether it's a tsunami, tidal wave or a hurricane, we will never be washed away to the sea. That's the promise. Esther C 16 As a child I used to hear from the books of my forefathers that you, O Lord, always free those who are pleasing to you. Now help me who am alone and have no one but you, O Lord, my God. Jacob wrestled with the Lord one full night till God blessed him. Elijah prayed unceasingly till he saw the rain clouds in the sky. Moses prayed with outstretched hands until Joshua won the war. There is something I hold on to when I pray. It is this beautiful vision Isaiah saw, which is in chapter 6. Where God was seated on the throne, His majesty, His glory, His holiness filling the temple, a host of angels were singing praises and worshiping the Lord continuously, and the very foundation of the temple was vibrating and the temple was filled with smoke. When I pray, I believe that our prayers are lifted up to the throne of God, like the incense filling that temple and like the angels hovering around that place. Our prayers are   being lifted up to the throne of the Lord and the Lord touches them and they come back with the answers. That is our belief. When we trust the Lord, definitely heavens open and the prayers are being answered. Esther C:23 "And now, come to help me, an orphan. Put in my mouth persuasive words in the presence of the lion. The lion is the king of Persia. Esther is reminding the Lord, I am an orphan, I am alone in this world. James, Hosea, Deuteronomy, John, they speak of God's compassion towards the fatherless, widows and orphans. She says, "My understanding is limited. I don't have nice words, confidence to face the king, so Lord go before me." Isn't that beautiful? Asking the Lord to go before you to face any situation. You are my strength. She went to the Lord. As she prayed like that, after 3 days of fasting, fully confident that God will fight for her, she goes before the Lord to meet him. What do we hear? We see Lord takes full control of the situation and the Jews were saved and the favour of God was on them. Through this story we see when God wants to do something in this world, to make a major change in the lives of people, most of the time when God selects a person the usual lifestyle of that person is shaken. Abraham had settled down to live a contented life, but leaving everything behind, journeyed to an unknown destination. Gideon was the least of his family but when he was chosen to save Israel from Midians, he tore down his father's altar, freed people from demonic influence, send prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah, whose very lives were completely shaken, as messengers of God. God had a plan to save the Jewish community and Esther was chosen, moulded, groomed to carry on that role. We, who are living in this 21st century, see our plans, our careers, our families, our dreams as the goal of our lives. But God has a bigger picture for each and every one of us. We are so caught up in this world, trying to achieve, we have become achievers in the world, we can't see the plan of God. Then what happens? At a particular time, either through a disastrous loss or a major disappointment or a situation out of control, when we think our little world has crumbled down, then God speaks in a small voice, calling us to go to the deep, showing us there is a greater purpose in our life. We have plenty of testimonies of people who ultimately said it was a good thing their comfort zones were shaken because now they have found the meaning to their lives. How do we know that we are on the right path, that we are on the right track? When we are journeying with the Lord and if we are doing the will of God and if we are on that mission the Lord has given us, there is perfect inner peace. There is contentment. Maybe you have lost everything in the world, maybe you're not a big figure like you used to be, but there is contentment, joy, satisfaction in life and love, compassion towards others. That is a sign that you are in the right track. But to do that mission, to hear the voice of the Lord and to be led by the spirit of God, the most important weapon is prayer. We see the greatest example is Jesus Christ himself. He was in constant union with the Father in prayer. Mother Mary, whose eyes were lifted up to heaven, constantly listening to the voice of God, meditating on the word of God. And also we see later, how the apostles were following Jesus, following the example of Jesus and where Jesus had taught them that no miracle can ever take place without prayer and fasting. If you look at today's Psalm, it confirms how we should pray.   Psalm 138:1-3 I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise. I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness; for you have exalted your name and your word above everything. On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul. We are so blessed to be guided by the prayer tools we have been given, where it's so easy for us to come to the presence of the Lord using these prayer tools daily. Psalm 138:7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies; you stretch out your hand, and your right hand delivers me. The ten Boom family was arrested by German Nazi soldiers for helping thousands of Jews to escape, and also for hiding them in their home. So then she writes like this: "In that prison for the first time I realized my life was completely in the hands of the enemy." They could kill her, torture her or isolate her or put her in a cell where nobody will ever find her. She says bombs and the cry of people being tortured were all around her. Her life was completely at the mercy of these men. Every passing minute increased her fear, terrified her, she cried to the Lord, "Lord I can't go through this, I can't stand this anymore. My faith is not strong enough." Then she says, she saw a tiny rat, running on that wet floor where she was standing with its feeble, weak, tiny feet and went into a tiny hole which was its hiding place. Then she heard the voice of the Lord, "Corrie don't look at your faith. It is weak, like the tiny feet of this rat. Don't think of the possibilities of these cruel soldiers, I am your hiding place." And she says, for the first time, came the real peace into her heart and realized the light of Jesus is stronger than the deepest darkness. She was 53 when she was taken into that prison, and after many years of hard labour, she was saved from death, miraculously and was released later on. Since then, she had visited 33 countries, witnessing the Lord and speaking of Jesus to people who have never heard of Jesus. Like Esther, who was chosen by God to save the Jewish community, like Corrie who was chosen to speak about Jesus to thousands of people who never knew Jesus, we too are being sent to this world to witness to the Lord. The last verse says: "The Lord will work out his plans for my life, don't abandon me, for you made me." So it's very clear, we are not on this earth by accident, we have been sent on a mission and we belong to the Lord. If we look at today's gospel reading it is taken from Matthew 7:7. Matthew 7:7 "Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Only the Holy Spirit can reveal mysteries of God. To see the gift of being part of the Holy Trinity, and to receive revelations, insights, directions, guidance for our daily life. We need the Holy Spirit to understand the word of God, so that the word becomes alive in our lives and also to live on this earth with the hope of eternal life. I was listening to an account of Pope John Paul II, his last few hours on this earth. It was on 1st April 2005. Mother Tekla was called to be beside the bedside, knelt down beside the dying Pope. Pope was praying slowly, and when he saw her, he smiled and he said something she could not understand but she heard   the last word -- "thank you." And he was almost like trying to say, "We will see each other again", and she says, "His eyes were like true stars, it was so joyous I didn't believe he was dying because I saw him so alive. He was so focussed on what I was saying, maybe in anticipation of the life beyond this world." He was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he was led by the spirit, and he completed the mission that was given to him and he went back to the heart of the Lord. We too are here on this world and by the power of the Holy Spirit, whatever the task we are given, whether it's small or big, we can fulfill His will. During this lent season, let's spend more time in prayer with the Lord. Like Esther, let's just come as we are, giving the truth of our heart, telling how weak we are, how desperate, how sinful we are, giving the truth and surrendering and saying, "Lord I can't do this." Like Corrie said, "I don't think I can go through this. I don't have the faith to do that." Then the spirit of God will fill us. He will take us through anything, any situation, beyond our control and we will see the mighty presence of God overpowering us. Let's turn to the Lord at this moment of grace, let's spend some time worshipping the Lord, asking the Lord to show us the way. Fill us with your power, when we are weak, when we can't handle things, when we see mighty mountains in front of us, only the faith and the trust in the Lord will take us through.

Day 5 – Lenten Prayer and Reflection – 24th February 2021   We are in the time of Lent and the Lord is really inviting us in a deeper way, in a special way in these 40 days to His heart and to His presence. So we will be reflecting on today's reading as we have been doing the last few days. The first reading today is from the book of Jonah: Jonah 3:1-2 The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, "Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you." This book of Jonah is very interesting and inspiring, there are so many things God speaks to us from this book. So we begin and when we look at this verse it says the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time. Why the second time? It's because it obviously came the first time, but the first time God told Jonah to go to Nineveh, the problem is Jonah ran away. He ran away and he got into a ship and there was this huge storm and he was thrown over from the ship. Why did he run away? I remember when we were growing up we thought Jonah ran away because he was afraid but actually Jonah ran away because Jonah was told to take a message to the Ninevites. What was the message? The message was to tell them to repent and if they repented God would forgive them. Jonah did not want to take that message because Jonah did not want God to forgive them. The reason is because Nineveh was the capital city of the Assyrian Empire. The Assyrian Empire was an enemy of Israel. They invaded Israel, they plundered, they fought battles and they did a lot of bad things to Israel. In fact it was the Assyrian empire that destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel and devastated Jerusalem in 700 BC. So the Israelites saw Nineveh and the Assyrians as enemies, and Jonah certainly did not want to take God's forgiveness and repentance to them. Jonah 3:3-4 Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very important city -- a visit required three days. Jonah began by going a day's journey into the city, proclaiming, "Forty more days, and Nineveh will be overthrown!" I'm sure he would have been very happy to take that message to the Ninevites, that forty more days and there will be a huge destruction in the city if you do not repent. So God was calling the Ninevites to repent. The Ninevites were not Jews but Gentiles. They were an enemy of Israel, but God was calling them to repent. In the same way, in these 40 days, God is also inviting us to come to Him. How do we come to Him? We need to come to Him in repentance, to turn away from the sin in our lives. That's something so important during this time of Lent. We are quite aware of that. We know that Lent is a time of repentance, of renewing our journey with God, of renewing our faith, renewing our relationship. Here is the invitation the Lord is giving us: Turn away from the sin in your life. The question is, what is sin? Sin is fundamentally turning away from love. There are many sins -- addiction, pride, lust, gluttony, the list goes on. But fundamentally sin is turning away from love. That's why Jesus summed up the commandments in the new testament with just two commandments. What are the two commandments? Love thy God and love thy neighbour. It all finally comes down to love. Why is that? The reason we can find in 1 John 4:16   1 John 4:16 And so we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love and those who abide in love, abide in God, and God abides in them. You can see, the Bible is very clear. Love is not something God does, like for us. For us love is an action. It's something we do. But for God it's not something He does, it is who He is. God is love. And because God is love, when we abide in love, we abide in God and God abides in us. That's why sin is fundamentally love. For example, you're addicted to pornography. Why is it sinful? It's sinful because at the depths of it you are turning away from love. You are using the sons and daughters of God, you're using people who have been made in the image of God and in His likeness for your own fulfillment and gratification. They are being used by you and that's why pornography is a sin. Because you're rejecting love, you're rejecting God in that way. In the last few weeks Lalith Thaththa has been talking to us about the frames that we are stuck in. Ways we think, mindsets, perceptions that we have in our minds, in our hearts, that really block us from the real fulfillment and happiness we can have in our lives. That takes us away from the very plan and purpose that God has for our lives. Today I want to talk to you about such a frame that we carry. Because, in these 40 days everyday you will be hearing God's insight and revelation, and there will be so many reflections on sin, on addictions and various things. But today what the Lord has really put in my heart to share with you is this particular sinful attitude or, like Laith Thaththa says, frame that we carry. That is the performance culture that has come into our lives from the world we live in. Performance culture means, simply put, when we focus on the work that needs to be done more than a person in front of you. More than the person who is with you, more than that individual God has placed in your life. Our focus is not that person but the work that has to be done. For an example, in the world today, you see this culture all around. You can see the characteristics, it's about your strengths, it's about what you can contribute, what are your talents, what are your gifts, how strong are you, what is your capacity. Then you are accepted, then you are valued. Otherwise you are rejected, you are ignored and you are left to be alone. I remember when we were in school, we saw this clearly, now we could understand. If you were a good sportsman you were accepted, you were valuable. If you were good at your studies, if you excelled in class, you were a somebody. But if you didn't have either, looking back, I remember you're left alone. You get children like that who have no friends because they have nothing to offer. They are not the most friendliest type, they are not the most forward type or they find it hard to make friends and you are left alone. The same thing we find here in the word of God today. God did not reject the Ninevites. Even though they were in sin, in modern words, in our cultural terms we could say they were under performing. They did not meet the expectations in their time but God still loved them, God still wanted to become close to them. That's why we have heard the phrase, God loves the sinner but hates the sin. Here you could see Jonah's attitude. Jonah did not carry that love in his heart, that culture of love. For Jonah it was not the individuals that were important but it was what they did or didn't do that was important. For God it's not what you do. It's you. You are important to God. It's not what you can offer. In our own homes we have this issue, this performance culture. From the world it has come to our homes and we want our children to perform. The child who studies right, the child who is better at sports, as parents we like that child, we appreciate that child, we accept that child. But the child who is not so good,   who doesn't have much talents, who is not very good at sports or studies, we tend to reject and ignore and leave alone. In our own family these days the struggle with this Covid time, is zoom classes. I have a 10 year old and a 7 year old and even my 7 year old is on Zoom classes from morning. And it's a real struggle. All they have ever wanted in their last few years is the iPad and the laptop. They would always ask it, to play games, to watch cartoons. And now you have to give it for them to do their zoom classes. So for them, the biggest distraction is the device. It's so hard to get them to focus, to concentrate -- after all they are children. But in that own struggle, we saw in our own hearts, we wanted them to do the class, we wanted them perform to such an extent where we lost our peace, where we would overburden them and push them, and then we both realized, no. Because our relationship was getting disturbed, our relationship with the kids were getting damaged and wounded. Then we realized, no, it's not how well they perform but it is that heart of love. It is that culture of love. The person is more important than the work they do. And you see the same thing in our offices, isn't it? For example, a person was sharing with me how this person struggled because this person maintains good relationships with this person's colleagues, and in fact when a person was not well, this person called and checked how this person was at home, how well he was or is he recovering. And this person was telling me, I was doing all that, showing that and building those relationships, not because I love them but because I need to get them to work, I need them to get the job done, or I can't get my job done. Isn't this the struggle in our hearts? It's the performance frame, the performance mentality. And even today, you see this in the world around us, you see the inequality. In fact, Sohan Patrick, from the young adults who is also a professional, he's involved in this Economy of Francesco, it's a project spearheaded by the Vatican where the church itself is reflecting on the future of the world, the future of the world economy. The future of the way we live, the way we work, the way we do business, and all that. And he was telling me the real issue today is because companies and organizations and professionals, they are more performance driven. It's just about the success, it's just about making money and making profits. It's not about the people anymore. We use people, in our companies, in our offices, just to get a job done but it's not really focusing on their lives. Can they live with the income that they earn? Can they live with the salary they receive? That's not our problem. The really sad thing is this performance mentality has come into our own relationship with God, and we think we need to perform for God even for God to value us. That's why when we fail, when we fall into sin or unfaithfulness, when we do something knowing it's not what we should be doing, we feel guilty. We condemn ourselves, there is so much of self condemnation, we condemn ourselves, we are guilty. Why? It's the performance mindset. This sinfulness we carry inside of us, this brokenness steals the beautiful life God has for you, the beautiful life God has for you in your family, in your relationships with your spouse, your children, it is stolen away. In your work life, the beautiful life God has for you is taken away from us. We create our own hell. In fact, God is waiting, just like to the Ninevites, God is calling you and I, we don't have to perform for God. It's not how holy you are, it's not how good you are, it's not whether you have got everything right in your life. During this Lent, the Lord is saying, that beautiful line -- Come as you are. God is love. He is love. His love is unconditional, His love focuses on the person, not on what you have to offer to God. Not your skills, not your capacity, not how great you are, not what gifts you have but He wants you. The sad thing is, this performance mindset we have, this performance culture in our homes, in our workplaces, has given rise to competition. We see it among our own children. Children competing with another. In office we compete with one another, husbands and wives competing with one another, family   members competing with each other. Why? Because it is about who is better. But, the Lord is calling us. Repent from this, because this is a serious virus. It creates division and havoc in our relationships and families, in our workplaces, and in our communities and in our world. And it even flows into Christianity today, into churches, into ministry. Today it is all over. You see it in the world, in the churches among them, where does the best miracles happen? Where is the best church? Where is the best preacher? This competition. Why? This problem in the world has come into our lives. I heard this preacher say once, learn to stop for the one person. We are so busy isn't it? Especially during this Covid time, in our families, we realised it. When we had less things to do we realised we have hardly spent time with our children, with my husband, with my wife, with the people who matter. Stop for the one. That's what the Lord wants. Because that is what love is -- love is focusing on the person. Jonah 3:5-6 And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on a sackcloth. When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. This is how they repented. The Ninevites, they accepted that message, and they repented. How did the Ninevites repent? By fasting and prayer. And today, the church, through this reading, they are inviting us, today God is inviting us -- how should we repent? He's showing us, how should we repent. That's why during Lent, we have the pillars of Lent. What are the three pillars? Fasting, prayer and charity. I just want to remind you, the importance of prayer. The Lord wants you and I to share His love, in our families, in our work places, in our communities, in our churches, to share His love. For it to be about the individual, not that performance mentality, it's not about the work alone. So we need prayer, why? Because we first need to experience God's love. It's when we don't know God's intimacy, when we don't know His focus, His love. When we don't know it, we cannot share that love with others. So the first thing is these 40 days is prayer. And not just prayer, it's not just reciting things, it's not just external things, it's not a legalistic prayer. But experience God, experience His love. And I just like to remind you, not all know how to really experience God in prayer and that's why we have the prayer tools. During these 40 days use the prayer tools, go to our website, and use that it in your personal prayer, so that you can experience God's love. And number 2, fasting. Yes, we do a lot of things and we fast. But I like to bring to your attention, fast also from the things that deprives you of your prayer time, that makes you not have time to prayer. For example, it could be sleeping late in the night, and you're unable to wake up early for prayer. Fast from that. Let go of whatever that is taking your time in the night. It could be the most important thing, but in this Lent, fast from the most important things, if they are taking your time for prayer. You need to be in the presence of your Father. He's inviting you in these 40 days, no one else. It's not because someone is telling you. No, because the Lord is inviting you. Come my son, come my daughter, be in my presence. Fast from those things. And 3, charity. Practice this love this Lent in your family, practice charity. If we generally don't have time, sometimes we are on our phones and our children want to speak to us, maybe he has come about 10 times near you to speak to you but seen you on the phone texting or doing some work and he's walked away. How do you do charity? It's not just helping those who don't have. But you start at home. Spend that time that you didn't have, that you were too busy, with children. With your husband, with your wife. Make these 40 days a time to exercise that love and also those whom we are struggling to forgive, just like Jonah struggled. The Lord is inviting us, show that love. When you are with me, in prayer and fasting,   I will give you that freedom and strength to forgive those who have hurt you, to love those who have hurt you. Why? Because of what we read in 1 John 4. God is love, and to love is to live in God. When we don't love, when we are with this performance frame, when it's only about the work you have to do, then we are not in love, and we are not in God. As we finish today we go to the New Testament, the reading from the gospel today. Luke 11:29 When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, "This generation is an evil generation; it asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it expect the sign of Jonah. Here is Jesus himself, and he's saying, evil generation. Here is the God of love, who has manifested in the person of Jesus. He's love itself. But what is Jesus saying, he's rebuking saying, evil generation. If you look at the life of Jesus, if you look at the gospels, what was the biggest problem for Jesus, what was the biggest evil for him, and you see it in his parables -- for an example, the prayer of the tax collector and the Pharisee. Both came to pray in the temple. It was not the tax collector that was evil for Jesus, the guy who was stealing people's money unjustly. That was not the problem for him. It was the Pharisees. The Pharisees were the teachers of the religion. They were the people of God. But they could not love. They rejected people. And this was an issue for Jesus, because he was love itself. People will say evil is the absence of good. But I think evil is actually the absence of love. When there is no love in our families, evil starts rooting itself. And that's when the problems happen, children go astray, marriages break down. We can give a lot of excuses, it's became of him, it's because of her, it's because of this one. No, it's because I did not invest love. Even in our own personal lives, when we don't sit with the Lord and when we don't experience God's love, when we don't allow love itself to fill our hearts, that emptiness is filled by evil. That's when our lives spiral into crisis and into addiction and sinfulness. Luke 11:30 For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so the Son of Man will be to this generation. The Lord is telling the people, just like Jonah was a sign, I will be the sign to this generation. Not only to the audience Jesus was speaking, but also to us. Jesus is saying, "Now I am the sign, because I am greater than Jonah, I am that sign." What is this sign? It is the life and death and resurrection of Jesus. Just look at his life. Looking from outside, it seemed as if Jesus had failed in his ministry. Don't you think? We evaluate everything from performance, and when you have the performance mindset and you look at Jesus, it's as if he was very unsuccessful at whatever he was trying to do, because when he died, how many were with him? Who were there? Even his most trusted people betrayed him and denied him. It seemed as if everything was lost. That is when you have the performance mindset. But in actual fact, what happened, Jesus was building a culture of love. He, by offering his life on the cross, that was the ultimate sign of his love. That's why he's saying here, "I am that sign now." What's the sign? His ultimate act of love, his death, his resurrection, and when he invested that love on that cross, love was nailed on that cross. Why was love nailed on that cross? This love can come into your heart and mine. Isn't that what happened? The love of God, the love between the Father and the Son has a name -- the Holy Spirit. This love came to live inside you and me. It didn't come because Jesus did his work right, because he was a good performer. It came because he sacrificed his life. It came because he offered his life in love. Outwardly it seemed like there is no result, but secretly, mystically, it bore results. That love came to our lives. Our lives, the lives   of the apostles, and our lives are transformed by God. This is what the Lord is inviting us to during this Lent. Keep in mind the sign. Jesus said, "I am the sign." So when we journey in Lent we need to look at the sign, the end of Lent, the death and resurrection of Jesus. We are journeying to the cross, to the death, crucifixion, and the resurrection and the infilling of this Holy Spirit, the infilling of God's love into our lives.

Day 4 – Lenten Prayer and Reflection – 23rd February 2021   We have been following the days of Lent from Ash Wednesday, and as Lalith Thaththa explained, Lent is the time where the Lord is calling us to return to Him. The Lord is inviting us to repent of our sins, repent of our lives, and return to Him. Like it was said in the readings, "Rend your hearts and not your garments. Return to me, repent." It's a time the Lord invites us to change the direction that we are going. Because it's a time to focus on Him again. In the book of Isaiah it says: "All the ends of the earth look upon me and live." In the Bible so many times the Lord says, "Be still and know that I am God." This is a time with everything that is going around in this world, Prophet Isaiah says, "gross darkness shall cover the earth but the light of God shall arise on you, the glory of the Lord shall arise on you, and the glory of God shall cover the earth as the waters cover the seas." This morning, I saw this message which said in the United States it has passed 500,000 people dead today. So many people are dying around the world, it's utter confusion, darkness that has surrounded the world, but the Lord is saying, His glory is shining upon our lives, and the glory of God covers the earth as the waters cover the sea. This is a time that we are returning to Him, it's a time we are repenting of our sins and returning to the Lord. Let's look at today's reading: Isaiah 55:10-11 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth. It will not return to me empty but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. So the Lord is saying my word will not return to me empty. We use this scripture many times to claim the promises of God. Yes it's true. God is saying we can claim the promises of God. That His promises are not empty promises, they are alive, they are powerful. But today we going to look at something more that this. What is the word of God? If we look at science, many scientists today believe in the creation, in the beginning of time, about how the universe came to being. Many scientists believe in the theory called the big bang theory, so they say in an instant, there was a massive explosion and out of this explosion, creation came into being, life came into being out of this explosion. They say it was in one point, it's called the singularity, like the point of a needle head. From that point came a massive explosion and all of creation came into being. What do we say as Christians? We say, God spoke and creation came. In the book of Genesis God says, "Let there be light" and light was there. Many of us we try to logically analyse things, we try to logically understand. Some people say, if I don't see it I can't believe it. But if you take them out in the night and show them the stars and you say, "Do you see those stars?" and they will say, "Yes we can see those stars" but, as a matter of fact, many of those stars we are seeing may not really exist because those stars are billions of light years away. By the time the light from those stars reach into our eyes so we can see them, billions of years have passed by. What has happened by that time? Most likely those stars are not in existence. So what we are looking at and what we are seeing with our eyes, most probably does not exist. Science says everything came from a moment, but in the bible, we believe that God spoke and creation came into   being. And what is it that God spoke? It was His word. God spoke His word and creation came into being. And what is this word? John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Here, the apostle John is saying in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. John 1:2 He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling amongst us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. Here St. John is saying, this word that God has sent, who is it? It's Jesus Christ himself. The word of God. God said, "My word shall not return to me empty." St. John is saying, this word became flesh and made his dwelling amongst us. It was the word that was spoken at the beginning of time. The creation, "Let their be life" -- that word became flesh and made his dwelling amongst us. And this word walked this earth 2000 years ago. And as he was walking, humanity was encountering this living word of God. That's why when the blind they saw him and they touched him, they were healed. The blind man Bartimaeus, he cried out to the Lord, "Son of David, have mercy on me." And when the Lord touched him, he was healed. The woman with the issue of blood, she said, "If I only touch the hem of his garment, I will be made free. It was this word that was encountering the broken, the lost, the sinful, the sick. It's amazing how when Jesus went and this man who was possessed by 12,000 demons, he was chained. What kind of life would he have been living? The bible says, he slept inside a grave, a sepulcher. He was living in a cemetery. What kind of hell he would have been experiencing. But he heard Jesus was walking by that moment. The living word of God, the word that was spoken in the beginning of time, he was walking by that moment, and he ran to the Lord, breaking his chains and fell at his feet. It says, Jesus didn't even pray for that man. The devils inside of him cried out "We can't wait in your presence. Send us out of here. Don't destroy us." It says beautifully in the scriptures he was found in his right mind at the feet of Jesus. This word was changing humanity, it was changing history, people were encountering God himself. But the Father spoke to him and said, "You have to go to the cross." Why was that? Because in Isaiah it says, there is coming a time I will write my word on their hearts. There will come a time that nobody will have to tell the other person, no, for my law will be written in their hearts. Because the Father spoke to Jesus and said, "You must go to the cross. Because once you die on the cross, the Holy Spirit who lives in you, who lives upon you, I will take Him and put it in the hearts of the people. And that word will live in the hearts of people. Moses saw it in the beginning. Moses said, "I wish that all of God's people will be prophets." And that's what Isaiah said, "The glory of the Lord is going to cover the earth as the waters cover the seas." It was the coming of the Holy Spirit, and this word that was crucified on the cross, it was the word of God that was nailed to a cross, it was the word of God that the prophets had spoke, was nailed to a cross. I was listening, it was beautiful, once Pope Francis said, when he went to the people who were   killed in the Jewish concentration camps, and he saw those pictures, Pope Francis said, "Adam where art thou?" And that was the cry of the Father when man had fallen to sin. But I question, didn't God know? Why is He asking Adam where are you? Didn't God already know what has happened? But it was that word that God spoke. "Adam, where are you?" That word became flesh and made his dwelling amongst us. And Jesus said, "For the Son of Man has come to seek and save that which was lost." It was the word that the Father spoke, "Adam where are you?" The cry of the heart of the Father became flesh and made His dwelling amongst us and he said "I have come to seek and save that which was lost." And God is telling us today, "My word shall not return back to me without accomplishing what he was sent to do." And what was he sent to do? He was sent to baptise us by the power of the Holy Spirit. To give us the Holy Spirit, and that's exactly what the Lord did. At Pentecost, this Holy Spirit came upon these people, the people who were sinners who were lost, came upon St. Peter. Peter who said, "I do not know him, I have never seen this man before in my life." This word came into his life and transformed him and he stood up before the Sanhedrin and they asked him, "By whose authority have you raised this man up?" And he said, "The author of life whom you crucified on a tree and killed, God has raised Him up and given Him the name that is above every other name, and in the authority and the power of that name we raise this man up." They said never mention that name again, and then he said, "Even if you kill us we will not stop speaking His name." The word of God was in him. It was in him through the Holy Spirit. That's why God said do not be afraid of what you will say. And it says in tradition, when they crucified him, he said, "I am not worthy to crucified like my Lord and master, crucify me upside down." A man who was afraid, who denied the Lord, who brought curses upon himself, transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. St. Paul, one of the biggest persecutors of the Christians -- it says he was there when St. Stephan was being stoned -- wrote in the book of Galatians, "It is not I now, for this life that I live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me." It was transforming the world. Matthew who could not believe that Jesus rose from the dead, took this gospel and preached it all the way to India. Ordinary people, the world was bring transformed by the word of God that was now in the hearts of the people through the Holy Spirit. Now the law was in their heart. And the Lord says in today's gospel, how do we enter into it. Matthew 6:9 Our Father in heaven... It says, the Father who is in heaven. He's above the situations that is taking place in our life. God is ruling and reigning above the world. In the world there maybe chaos, there may be confusion, there may be darkness, but the Father is in heaven, He's in control, He's seated on the throne. We look at Him, we acknowledge Him, "Father in heaven." Look at this: Matthew 6:9 continued …holy be Your name... Your name is Holy, You are Holy. In the book of Revelation it says, the angels are continuously crying out, "Holy, Holy, Holy." What does Holy mean? It means Kadosh. It means, cannot be compared to anything else. Your name is holy. Different. And the moment we look at the Father we see that He is holy, He is different, not like anything else we have ever seen before in our lives.   Matthew 6:10 Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven This is how we enter into it. We enter into heaven. We enter into His presence. It's beautiful how in the old testament, when God said to make the holy of holies, God says how to keep everything in every place, but he says to keep the ground full of dirt, without putting anything to the ground. Why is that? God is saying, even though we are living on the earth, we are looking at heaven. Everything else is beautiful, gold and everything, but the ground is full of dust and dirt. Our lives are grounded on earth but we are living in heaven. That's why St. Paul says, "Though we are on earth we are living in heavenly places. Even whether we live or die we are with the Lord." That's why Jesus says, "Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." And when we go there, give us our daily bread. We don't have to beg from the Lord but He provides everything we need. Because though we are living on earth, we are living in His presence. Matthew 6:12 And forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. The problem is, most of the time we are stuck in the things of this world. Our sinfulness is bigger than this. The problems we are facing is bigger than what the Lord is saying. Why is it so difficult? It says again in the first verse: Isaiah 55:10 …so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater. What does this mean? Bread for the eater. It means faith. Normally you have to have the food first to eat. But here God is saying, you eat first and then I will give you the bread. What is it meaning? It means, faith. We have to believe in what He has already done. Seed for the sower and bread for the eater. We have to believe in what God has done. That the power of Holy Spirit is living in us, he has set us free from sin, for our selfishness, from our flesh. And we believe in His power. We believe what he has already done. There was this famous debate between an atheist and a preacher. And this atheist asked, "You say that the blood of Christ has washed away the sin of the world. But just look at the world, people are killing each other, there are wars, there are robberies, there are so much of things going on, how can you say the blood of Christ has washed away the sin of the world?" This man says, "Do you think that you can clean with soap?" And then he says, "Yes" "Do you think if you wash your hands, your hands will become clean? When you wash your hands with soap?" And then he said, "Yes." "Do you think that when you have a bath with soap that you will get clean?" This guy says, "Yes." Then he says, "How come there are so many people on the roads who are dirty and filthy?" And then he says, "It's the same with the blood of Jesus. It's the same; if you believe it, it will cleanse you of your sins. If you don't, if you believe your sins are bigger, if you believe your nature is bigger and Jesus' blood, His Love and the price that He paid cannot set you free from it, you will never be made free." I remember once Lalith Thaththa shared this experience about one of his friends who was caught up in an addiction, and he tried to bring him to the Lord and this guy said, "No, my sins are too great. I have done too much of sins to come to the Lord." I remember he says, he was preaching in a church one day so many years later and there was this man, seated at the last pew, you can see from his face the pain and the   agony. And he spoke to him, and this guy had not changed over the past 20 years because he believed his sins were bigger than the grace of God that was coming upon his life. He believed that his sins were too great for the blood of Jesus to remove it. And today, the Lord is telling, " I have sent my word. The Lord Jesus Christ himself, the living word of God." He came to this world, he became an offering for our sins, he shed his blood on the cross, and he broke the powers of sin, hell and death. He rose from the dead and he is alive today. If you believe in Him and give him your life, surrender to him everything, his blood will wash us of our sins and he will transform our lives. That's the will of God for us. That's why Jesus said, "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." There is this ministry, their motto is this: 'on earth as it is in heaven.' To live on earth as it is in heaven. The presence of God, the power of God, the power of the Holy Spirit flowing in and through our lives. So today, as we come before the Lord, we'll surrender our lives to Him again, and ask him to do this miracle in our lives.

Day 2 – Lenten Prayer and Reflection – 19 February 2021   As we prepare for these 40 days it's the time of lent and for some people it's very burdensome. We come from Christmas to Lent and we Catholics go through the process from one after another. So this is the time you have to give up on food and we have a routine. It has been going on for years. Today we are going to look deep into our hearts why we spend this time of 40 days, why is church giving us this time? Is there any reason or is it just 40 days? It is to break the frame of our lives. We have been carrying it in our own lives. These 40 days are good for us so that this frame we have been having in our minds can be broken and we walk through a different time. This is a good time, a soul searching time of 40 days. So we take the daily readings normally and reflect on the readings. Today it is taken from the book of Isaiah 58:1 onwards: Isaiah 58:1 Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the house of Jacob their sins. Isaiah has been given a job by the Lord. Isaiah is given a job to tell something to the Israelites, to tell the people their sin and what they are doing. Why should someone else tell the sin of another person? Normally we are blind to our own sin. At that time even the Israelites were doing their own thing and God had to get Isaiah to tell these people about their sin. Normally what happens to each and every one of us is we are blind to our own sin but we are very much alive to other people's sin. We may be in the same sin but when we see another person it's so easy to see how wrong they are. I don't see it. I'm doing the same thing and I'm wearing the same shoes but when I see someone else doing it, because I'm so blind and it's so easy to immediately judge we only see their sin. Today is a good day to become aware of our sins. The Lord is telling Isaiah to tell the people. He is telling us to be aware this morning. This is a good morning and this is where we start today: Isaiah 58:2 For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. It's very much like our family. "You're expecting me to do everything? After doing all the wrong things you are expecting this?" These people seem to be good because they are seeking God day after day and eager to know His ways. You think you're doing alright. The problem was the temptation to have religious practices without God. They were doing all the good things. We look at religion on the surface. We are doing everything that is supposed to be done by our heart but our heart is unchanged. It's at a very surface level. We saw what happened to Adam and Eve. They chose to go against God, they decided to go against God. They became spiritually blind. Up to that time they had a superb relationship and a rapport with the Lord. They had intimacy with God. They heard Him, they saw Him, they enjoyed God. That was the relationship because up to that moment God was enough for them. That was the relationship. But when they went against God they lost the connection with God and they were also thrown out of the garden. It is self destruction when we lose the Lord.   We also could be very religious today but playing games with the Lord. We can be very religious, we can pretend, show off, acting, but not actually be having a relationship with the Lord. Not having a relationship with the Lord, not having intimacy with God, we can still continue doing something in our lives. We can do the religious activity without changing the motives of our lives. We can have the same addictions, we can have the same relationship issues, we can have the same revenge, the same anger going in our hearts. How many of us live like that? So we can go for years and years like that. Today it's time for us to look deep into our lives and soul search. Have I been happy doing these things like that? This is what Isaiah complained about 2500 years ago. He is telling us that there is a big problem. People think they are following God because they are doing all the religious activities but the actual fact is their inner motives and natures remain the same. I have shared a long time ago about two girls who came into the Tabor office to meet a person, and later on we were told that these two girls decided they were going to change the religion. They used to come for the prayer meeting but then they decided Catholicism is not the right religion and they had decided to change to a strong other religion. When they were asked for the reason they said it was because they were fed up of the church. Then they spoke about their father because the father was so involved in the church activities, he was a lecter, he was the one in all the main positions in the parish council, he was very involved but the problem was he was also a gambler and he used to abuse the mother and even he children with words. They were saying even the money he used to gamble would be kept near the Sacred Heart statue before he gambled. The way he treated the family, they said they couldn't handle. Whenever they went to church and saw their father doing something they said they were so disgusted. So it all started, their decision came, one day during the church feast. In Sri Lanka, we have these statues kept out on the top of the street, and even their house they had kept it on top of the lane, and the procession was passing by and the mother and two kids were very eager, waiting for this procession to come. The first thing they saw was the father coming with the Catholic flag. They thought, what a religion this is. From that point they thought we are just going to give up. He was so involved with all the religious work, but messing up at home not having a connection with the Lord, but having an outward connection, just to satisfy himself, just to show. That's why they are asking, 'Is this religion really true?' 'Is what you're speaking really true?' We have become blind while we are saying our prayers and going through rituals there is also a hidden part in verse 3: Isaiah 58:3 'We have fasted,' they say, 'and you have not seen it. Why have we humbled ourselves and you have not noticed?' "Yet on the day of your fasting you do as you please and exploit all your workers. "Why have we fasted? For what reason? If you're not going to give me these things, it's useless. I'm doing this and that and all my novenas. I'm going to church. What is it if you can't do this for me?" Isn't that our cry sometimes? Why should I do this? Even at home, that's why children ask, "Mum tell me why I should do this." You reason out. They are trying to reason out from the Lord. Human beings are prone to this because the eye of the Spirit is closed. We are handling everything from our soul -- as thattha says, body, soul, spirit -- because the soul attempts to make everything for our own advantage. Me and myself. That's why Isaiah is saying while we are fasting we are exploiting people and not doing things pleasing to God.   While we are praying, we are also using other people. How we treat some people at home. But we are very much into all the religious activity. We do a lot of good things. But how we treat some people, even in our own offices, how we treat our own family members. Sometimes we are nice to others, but when you get closer -- that's why there is no response from God. Sometimes we must thank God for not responding. When He doesn't answer we search more and more. That's something that happens. We are doing great works, but there is another side of our lives. There is something the Lord is teaching us this morning. We are living in the world with people and our spiritual journey must be reflected in our relationship with others. It's not lone ranger game. When it comes to spiritual journey, it's something that is very important. That's why the Lord says in verse 4: Isaiah 58:4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. I think the Israelites have gone a little beyond. Fasting is ending up like our weddings and parties. Here they have fasted for the Lord and asking things, but how does it end? Welcome to the real world. People are fasting and fighting, outside and inside the hearts. You might say: "I don't quarrel, I am okay. I am not fighting like that." You don't have to quarrel outside. We strife inside our lives. We waste our time, our energy, judging people. Instead of worshipping the Lord, enjoying Him, from the word 'go' we start judging. Sometimes you can judge me. That's what it is. It happens to me. You get preoccupied with yourself. You go to a prayer meeting, but suddenly, you're preoccupied. You look outside and see someone, we start judging people. We come into conclusions about this person, why this person would have come. But we have come for another purpose, our purpose is something else, not realizing we are wasting our time. I should have been on my knees to the Lord, asking to handle my life, but I'm preoccupied because my urge to fix other people is also an escape for my own struggle. Most of the time, we are real champions at fixing other people. From the time we get up, our minds are how to fix this, how to fix that, how to fix our office time, how to fix our husband, how to fix my wife, my children. That time is our fixing time, because then I escape from my own struggles. Today is a good day to stop trying to be a fixer to others. We'll allow Jesus to fix you and me from inside our hearts. Don't worry about fixing other people. There is something else in that: Isaiah 58:5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? The Lord is asking, "Is this what you call a fast?" There is nothing wrong in spiritual practices, as long as it leads you and me to God and to other people. You and me and other people, in this practice. We can't have a spiritual journey while our heart is closed to everyone else and their needs. You can't just close it off. 'I'm the one who's going to die, I'm going alone so I have to do all the good things. So forget about the rest of the people. Let them go wherever they want to.' It becomes a very selfish journey. The Lord is telling us here: See, you're doing all the practices, and see how you are treating other people. You're doing good things, you're fasting, and at the end of it, you're quarreling and fighting. What is happening to our lives? This is what the Lord is asking us today. That's something we have to see. Is this acceptable? We   have to see today, am I in this place? It's not about other people. Has all my religious practices led me to God and to other people or have I only done it for myself and let it all finish there? Remember it becomes a very selfish journey. There is nothing wrong but it becomes isolated. Nowadays that's a topic. If you don't know, you don't have to get Covid-19 to be isolated. Sometimes you are doing the religious practices, and we are isolated from others. We are not locked in rooms, but our own heart is locked. The only difference is with Covid, you're in quarantine, you're in a room. That's it. Here, you're forever in a room not knowing and blocked because you're isolated. I have isolated myself from other people. Isaiah 58:6 Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to lose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? It is a little thing we need to focus on ministering today -- loving and caring for those God has placed in our lives. In these 40 days, remember, Lord has placed them in our lives. Maybe your husband, maybe your wife, maybe your children, maybe in office. Someone is placed and that one is not the most lovable person. I want to hug this person. No. Not a huggable person, like a bear. But you have to bear! That's the difference. You think, my god, it's like a nice hugging bear -- no this bear you need to bear! This is what it is. It's a difficult person. Maybe a person that you can't. There's something that you go through and it's better if I move out of this person. That's the easiest choice that people take in marriages. When you can't handle you move out. In any of our problems, it's the same. Even in my life if I don't want to face it I give up because that's the easiest thing and by doing that, I'm safe, they are safe, and I'm happy. That's the conclusion I come to. Today God has placed people, maybe stubborn, broken, addicted, very difficult people and that's a fast for us. That is the fast for you and me today. To handle that person. Otherwise, what happens is, we want to avoid. I want to isolate in my own home. I don't talk to them anymore. I don't look at them anymore. In my office I don't see them anymore. I'm not interested in that person. I ignore that person. I know how to deal with that person. We have already come to a conclusion: 'I know how to deal with that person. How to deal is just not look at that person. I ignore. I know how best, because otherwise I get hurt. Let them talk, let them do anything and I'm not worried about it. I'm deaf to all this.' That's what we always say. That's very easy but the Lord says that's a fast. This is the fast, how you need to bear this. This is what God has brought us, the difficult person in our lives today. We can be comfortable knowing nothing but very uncomfortable serving someone else. That's the fast the Lord is asking for us. We can be very uncomfortable but when we become uncomfortable, that's what the Lord is asking. It's to come out of our comfort zone, come out of ourselves, and reach out. We are comfortable not getting involved. We put ourselves at risk with serving someone else. This discomfort, this insecurity is the fast the Lord is looking from us. This is what the Lord is asking you and me today. You don't have to say I have to serve and look for people. A lot of people come and ask 'how can I serve, where I can serve,' and we have to look for people. Don't worry, don't look for a lot of people. Look at your own home first. First try to do it there. If our heart is there God will send the people anyway. God has already sent the people, after getting to know this, we are trying to move out -- 'how can I avoid this, even by serving the Lord.' But forget about my family, my family is a curse, my family is a problem, they're a problem, that's why I can't serve.   We are reaching out to them today. This can lead to trouble sometimes, because we have reached out when you could have easily walked away. We say, 'In vain I did that. I could have easily avoided.' Today in the Magnificat, there is a saying, St. Katharine Drexel, she was born from a lot of wealth, father was a banker, very rich person. What happened? She lost her mother and then the father remarried, and that person also was very much religious. Then the father died, he left all that money, they say 15 million in the 1800s. She had three other sisters also, they were also very much involved, though they had a lot of money she had the heart for the native Americans. So they had worked and done things for the St. Francis missionaries, they've given money. Once, in 1887, they say, the sisters received a private audience with Pope Leo XIII. There she asked for some missionaries, to start some native American mission. She had a heart for these native Americans. She went and met the Pope and asked him, "Can you please send some missionaries?" and that they will be financing. To their surprise the Pope suggested a beautiful thing to Katherine. "Why not my child, you yourself become a missionary?" She had all the money, she had always been a good person, but when the Pope said, "Why not my child, you yourself become a missionary?" -- that's what we always block. We have our frame. I don't think I can do it and maybe sometimes we don't want to come out of our comfort zones. Maybe we have the money. "I give the money, you do it". But for me, I don't think I can do this. I'm not used to it. A lot of people are sad and lonely in life because of this. See how her entire life changed. And that's where she just continued working with the native Americans. A lot of people are sad and lonely because we don't want to get involved in other people's life. Not about the personal lives -- we love to get involved in the personal lives -- it's not about that. When we don't get involved and help, we lose meaning to our life. We do nothing. We talk. We don't want to part with anything. Isaiah doesn't reject fasting and penance. It simply says it has to be linked with people in your life. You need to fast, that's where you reach out for the people. We assume that we must do it but when we try to do it our nature rebels and fear is the main problem. Fear dominates. Then we get hurt, we get involved in other trouble, we cause issues to other people. We are frightened, we don't want to get involved. We do religious practices, like St. Katharine Drexel. They say, she came out in tears, from that place. That word, really hit her. That's what today, every one of you, the Lord is asking, why not you? Think for a moment, am I involved? Even in my own family, have I left them down? Am I on my own? That's my easy way of life. I can fast and do all the religious activity but I am on my own. Or, why not you my child? Matthew 9:14 Then John's disciples came and asked him, "How is it that we and the Pharisees fast but your disciples do not fast?" They are also having a problem, they are also looking at other people. They are not thinking about how they are fasting, they are comparing with someone else. We are also like that. 'How is that they are not doing that? Why is it that they not going to church?' Here, John's disciples are also like that. We are doing it, the Pharisees are doing it. Why not you?   Matthew 9:15 Jesus answered, "How can the guest of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast." They said, "Hey, why aren't your people doing it? Tell us the reason." Having the bridegroom is having Jesus and the Holy Spirit in our lives. That is what you mean by having the bridegroom. When we have these two things come into our lives, the eyes of the Spirit opens. It's awakened. Then we can see God, hear God, we have fellowship, like how Adam and Eve had. In worship time, that is what it is. The bridegroom is already here, why should people fast? They don't have to seek God now in fasting, asking to come before, because He is already in our lives. Fasting and penance all what it does is, we go deeper and deeper, we seek Him more and more. This is the 40 days, we need this life, the Holy Spirit coming into our lives, Jesus living in our lives and then we are open to other people and that's how it is. When a person who is free enough inside, joyful and celebrated enough, that's a person who has found the Lord. All the practices, has it brought us joy in our lives? Have we really found Jesus? There is no more fear, insecurity because the purpose has been fulfilled. If we do this without finding Jesus, the bridegroom, even fasting becomes a selfish thing. If our idea is not to find this bridegroom, if it's for my own need, if it's "I'm only fasting until my problem is solved. I am fasting until my sickness is solved", that's okay, but is that the idea or have we got to find Jesus in our lives. This bridegroom, when we find Him it's not fasting anymore. We fast, to get more and more into our lives, it's not about solving our issues. It's not all about finding an answer from Him. That's the time the eye of the Spirit opens. It's enough playing games with the Lord and trying to figure out and fix other people. It is the time, that we fast, that we know that we are always connected to others. "I'm not alone in this world." I have my family, I have the others. No isolation, no Covid, no quarantine anymore. You can't isolate yourself. The Lord is there with each and every one of us. Our fasting is to find this bridegroom. When we find the bridegroom the fasting becomes so natural and meaningful in our hearts. This bridegroom is giving us fullness into our hearts where we can reach out, not with our own strength, not with our own power, but reaching out to the people with the power of the Holy Spirit. So we seek Him today. It's always good to do the religious practices but if it is meaningless. we don't need to give up but we believe this Lord is going to do something great in our lives in these 40 days. As we reflect, we are going to see this Lord -- Have I isolated myself from everybody else? Have I gotten myself into a situation where I think I am good on my own and can do without other people in my life, or am I connected to the rest of the people and reaching out and finding the Lord and finding that bridegroom and then with that power we work through it. It's a good morning for us. In and through that we find out, in this time of soul searching, where do we stand? Always remember when Katharine was told "why not my child you yourself become a missionary?" "Why not you my son, my daughter?" the Lord is asking. Why not you? Not anywhere else, start from our own families. Then go out to the world.

Day 1 – Lenten Prayer and Reflection – 18th February 2021 The church has given us 40 days and yesterday in the Wednesday message I was talking about breaking the frame in which we are trapped in. If you look at a serious case of a mental patient, the person is actually trapped inside a mindset. So that person feels everyone is suspicious of them or that person feels that someone is talking to them through the TV, through the telephone. You and I know it is not true but I don't think we can convince that person it's not true, because they are trapped in their mindset. Our depression, our sadness, our fears come from the mindset in which we are trapped. In these 40 days we have been given the opportunity to allow the Lord to break in to our mindset. From one side He breaks in. On the other, we break out of our mindset. Actually most of the issues of our life will be resolved then and there when our mindset is shifted. For that, fasting. For that, prayer. For that, sacrifice. Otherwise we do a lot of prayer and fasting and sacrifice thinking that God must provide answers according to our mindset, and we are asking God, "Why don't you do it this way because I'm fasting for that? Why don't you do this because I'm praying for that?" I'm in the mindset that I am caught up in all my life and I'm thinking that's what must happen in my life. But in these 40 days what is unique for us is, through the word of God, through fasting, through prayer, by sitting before the blessed sacrament if we can, we break out of our mindset into the mindset of God which is much bigger, and God breaks in and suddenly a lot of things begin to shift and move in our lives. That's why a continuity is important. So one mindset I would like to break right at the start is, all of you are used to me and you feel that it is from my thoughts, my words that the Lord will speak. I'm flattered also to think people think that way but that's also a mindset. God can speak through a word, God can speak through people in the most unexpected manner. That's why we need to be open to that. So let's break the mindset that it's only through a particular person that God will speak. God will speak through people in the most unexpected way if you are open enough. Yesterday in the prayer meeting I shared a testimony and if I have the time I'll share a little bit of it this morning as well. Two older Sinhala speaking people who had no background and education, through them God spoke directly to me and opened me to a new dimension that I hadn't seen before. That person didn't have the theological background or the knowledge base or the language skillet that normal people have, but they had a divine revelation. That I think is the key to the 40 days -- finding God not through champions, not through experts but finding God through the Holy Spirit working through ordinary people and working together. So I would like to bring that to our heart in a special way. The question we would like to raise this morning in our reflection is: What is the purpose of life? If you put it in colloquial terms, why on earth are we here? When you look at what people have found out about life, in the 20th and 21st century we have found out more about our origins than all the centuries put together. Through the excavations and the searching they have found that species have lived and died before we came on the planet. So they say the human race is maximum 100,000 years but the planet is 2.5 - 3 billion years. Then we have the dinosaurs who lived and died 65 million years ago. I've often wondered, when the dinosaurs looked at the sky and looked at the earth, what on earth were they thinking? They didn't have any purpose. They didn't have any meaning. They fought, they died, they hurt. For what? That's the question we need to look at. Then some scientists will tell us, life began in the water, the original life itself was formed in water. But for some unknown reason it struggled and came onto the shore. The question is for what? They will tell you that most animals walked on four feet until some species somehow stood up against the run, hung on branches, straightened the spine. For what? What were they looking for? What are they pushing? It is we human beings who can answer that question because we have been given the gift of consciousness and we can look around and ask the question, who am I? Where do I come from? What's the purpose of my life? In each of us, the planet has received consciousness and is asking questions and the Bible gives us an answer. The Bible says, all life right from the beginning built a chain upon which little by little, consciousness was built until it came to us. Today as we look at ourselves, the Bible tells us, we have been made in the image of our God. So when we say we are being made in the image of God, we have to ask, did God have a nose? Did He have two eyes? What's the uniqueness of God which we carry? I would tend to answer that question by saying it is the unique gift of freedom - the freedom to choose - which is the gift God has given us which no other animal, no other species on the planet has. Every species of the planet is led by instinct. We have a dog and before he sleeps he will turn around 3-4 times and then sleep. He's doing it on the tile floor. I researched why they do this and the answer is they did it in the jungle. They flattened the earth to sleep and they are continuing to do it today. That's why a dog will be a dog in another 1000 years. But we are conscious, we have the freedom of choice which is the unique character of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. They have the freedom to choose what to do with their life. We have been given that same freedom. When we begin lent, the Church is reminding us of that choice we have to make. We have been given this great gift which can also be a curse, because what we choose will come back to us. So we can't comfort ourselves and say God loves us anyway and whatever happens God's love will be there for us. Of course He will love us but there is this element of choice. As we begin the 40 days we can choose, and the first reading is about choice from the book of Deuteronomy 30:15. The background is the people are now about to cross into the promised land. 40 years they waited and now they are about to cross into the promised land and now they receive instructions on what they can expect in the promised land: Deuteronomy 30:15-16 See I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. We have the freedom to choose. Often I ask myself, specially when you have struggled and fallen, "Why on earth did you give me the freedom to choose? You could have programmed me without these drives and shifts within me." Then I have the answer myself. If God did that, He would have had beautiful robots, everyone doing their role. If you have robots, robots can't love you back. To love somebody back you need to have the freedom to choose whether to love or not to love. That's why when boys and girls fall in love, they are very keen to know whether you love only me. Do you love me more than so-and-so? Have you chosen me? Then do you love me more than your father and mother? And if the girl or the boy says of course, that's when you get the kick and feel valued. So what did God do? God gave us the freedom and said, "Choose me. If you choose me you will be blessed and your life will prosper on earth." It hinges on this choice. Then the next verse has a warning: Deuteronomy 30:17-18 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. Cause and effect given to us so clearly by the Lord. The Lord is telling us: If you choose God, you will be blessed. If you choose to obey His commandments, His hand will be upon your life and the leading will be there. But if you choose to walk in your own desires, in your own ways, you have to face the consequences. In the era that we lived from the 60s and 70s, the shift in religion was that the love of God became the emphasis and we enjoyed that fruit. I know that my parents and my grandparents didn't have such a concept. They had this duty to God and fear of God and getting God to protect them. But we enjoyed the revelation of His love. The problem with this is we forgot sometimes that this love of God which is unconditional doesn't necessarily protect us from the repercussions of our actions. We have to deal with it. One day a person told me something that made me realise that maybe this has not been made clear. I told this person, "What you are going to do is going to create pain for your life and for so many others. It is not the will of God. You are breaking a commandment." That person said, "You can tell me anything but God loves me anyway." What that person was saying is I can disobey God but God will do good to me. But the Bible says, if you disobey God while God is loving you and me, we will face the consequences of our actions. Not only us but it will flow down into the lives of other people in our life as well. A drunkard who believes in the love of God but continues to waste his money and his life on drinking will be destroyed physically and his family itself will be scarred by his actions. So we have to choose. Once you choose that, once you make that choice, then God will give us the grace, the anointing of the Holy Spirit, His leading upon us to really live out His commands in our life. So many people obey God and believe they will have an automatic reward. Then people have this question they ask: I did everything God wanted but see what I got. God didn't fulfill. We are believing it's an automatic thing. We are believing I obey God, God has a duty to do whatever He has to do to protect. Sometimes people leave the faith because of that. They say we obeyed God and God was not faithful. He allowed this and allowed that. Some people go to the extreme of saying there is no God. The gospel is talking about another kind of obedience, not just obeying commandments to get favours. That's the Old Testament. There is another kind of obedience that opens us to another world. That you will find beautifully given to us. You can call it the next stage of evolution, beyond self. Luke 9:22 And he said, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life." The Church is inviting us, as we obey God, there may not be immediate reward. It is not automatic that blessings will come. When we obey God there is a death experience we have to go through. This death experience is a death to our nature and to ourself which is the way into the new life of eternity. We have been called not just to live a few years here on earth. We have been called to eternity. Some of us sometimes sell our eternal inheritance for some cheap reward here on earth. The beauty that Jesus is calling us to is, give an inner response to God, obey God and if He does not answer you at the human level you are planting a seed of the kingdom. That's what you are doing. It will reap reward in eternity in the right time for you. If we don't do that we are no different to any other religion or anybody else. Jesus explains it to all of us in the next verse: Luke 9:23-25 Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? The real struggle of our prayer life is the little things of this world have become so important for us. What somebody said, what somebody didn't say, did they show me enough respect, what is my position. I remember being in the renewal as a young man and I was given this leadership position and I was made one of the five leaders and little by little that respect, the love, the honour people paid me began to have an impact on me. I remember when you had to sign documents and when they brought me the document, I looked carefully to see whether my name was in the right place, in number one, two, three, four or five. If it was not in the right place, I would be really upset. Now over the years when I look back I began to realize what happened to me. What happened was, the things of this world became more real than my inner response to God and walking with Him. I lost it. Even when I came to prayer that frame didn't break. I complained to God that they were not respecting me enough. I told the Lord you must give me that next position. I fought with the Lord and asked why can't I be more honoured by people? Suddenly I realized even my prayer life had been a prison in which I had lived. Now in the time of lent, the Lord is asking us to break the frame of our life. Fast. I'm going to suggest some other kind of fasting. Stop defending yourself. You will find it pretty hard. Stop justifying yourself. Fast. Let them misunderstand you a little bit. Let there be judgment on your heart a little bit. Let that break the frame of your life. When the frame that holds us breaks, take that pain to the feet of Jesus. Let Him reveal His heart to you. Have you noticed that God has been able to break into our lives only through suffering? It is through pain, it is through an insecurity, it is through something you were blindsided with, something hit you that you never expected. That's when you really deeply touch the Lord because the frame was shattered. Now you can wait for an event like that to happen which will come for sure, or in these 40 days we can allow the frame to be broken in the spiritual journey. Self denial -- food is one but the denial of satisfaction to my ego and myself. I allow it, I carry it because I know there is something greater waiting for me. How to do that is given in the psalm. Psalm 1 is the psalm which is given to us: Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. The seat of mockers in the ancient times was the elders who sat at the city gates, and anyone they saw as a fool they mocked. So we don't want to be mocked. Living in the framework of other people in the human dimension. Then he goes on: Psalm 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night. Here is the way you break the frame. Let the word of God come into our hearts day and night. That's what we do at 6:30 in the morning. We allow the word of God to come into our hearts. We take the word to prayer in the night before we sleep so that the frame in which we are trapped will be broken. Verse 3 explains it: Psalm 1:3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose life does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. Planted in the word, watered by a spirit of prayer and worship, the seed is growing. Jesus said it, the Son of Man has to suffer much and taken by the elders and crucified. But John 14 will tell us the night before he died he said, "My peace I give you." The question is, what kind of a peace can a man have, knowing that he will be humiliated, dragged along the streets, stripped and crucified? What kind of a peace? In John 16 he says, "I give you the joy the world cannot give." What kind of joy can a man have, knowing that that man is going to be humiliated, stripped, attacked on the next day? Jesus had planted the seed in his lifetime. The word of God was in his heart, prayer was his lifestyle that he could face the crisis and walk on it instead of getting sunk in the problem. So let these 40 days strengthen us. Crisis will come, problems will come, sickness will come, injustice will come, rejection will come. Why is that? Because that's life. If God is going to protect us from all of that while the rest of the world is going through it, that's not a practical reality. We face it as well but when we face it, there will be a difference because the seed has been planted. The peace of God, the joy of God will move through our hearts in the most powerful way. That would be the witness that we can share with others. One of our own who was diagnosed with corona and when the diagnosis came this person went into crisis but then the spiritual journey in which this person had been seeded was stronger than the fear that came into this person's heart. We accompanied this person through the crisis and within hours, having the peace of God, going to the hospital with innermost joy, sustained by the presence of the Lord in this person's life. Then I began to realize, that's spirituality. It's not just escaping corona, not just escaping an issue and a problem. But if you have it you have depths because we are planted by the river and we are fed by the stream of the Holy Spirit.

How to Returned & Be Blessed.