Spiritual Spark 🔥

"Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank" (Acts 9:8-9).

The mighty invincible zealous Saul, riding high on the horse and arrogantly charging towards Damascus to bring Christians bound back to Jerusalem, experienced something totally unexpected. He was thrown down from his horse. He became blind and he had to be taken by hand and brought into Damascus. What must have gone through his mind for those three days, without sight and without eating without drinking?

Let us put ourselves in place of Saul. Like him, we, too, were riding high on our projects, our plans, our ambitions. We were going ahead mercilessly, neither caring for the poor nor for the environment. Suddenly a strong break was applied. All movements ceased. Most of the projects, plans, ambitions were shattered.

Damascus crisis helped ruthless Saul to turn into caring Paul. Will this corona crisis bring the best out of us?

Good day and God bless us all! 🙏🏼👼🏼

Spiritual Spark 🔥

"A severe persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria" (Acts 8:1).

Famous German poet, Friedrich Hölderlin writes: "Where there is danger, there grows the salvation also". This is the reality of life. The famous verse in the Bhagvadgita states: "yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bharata, abhyuthanam adharmasya tadatmanam srjamy aham" (wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion, at that time I descend myself). This teaching is found in all religions. St. Paul writes, "Where sin abounds, grace super abounds" (Rom 5:20).

Those who believe in God, know that God works very powerfully in the midst of crisis. The early church learnt it through their own experience. After the stoning of Stephen, a great persecution broke out in Jerusalem. If this crisis had not occurred, Christians may have remained limited to a small city of Jerusalem. Crisis forced them to move out of their comfort zones and reach out to the far corners of the world.

Good day and God bless us all! 🙏🏼⚔️

Spiritual Spark 🔥

Then Stephen knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he died. And Saul approved of their killing him (Acts 7:60--8:1)

What is the role of Saul in the killing of Stephen? He is not with the other religiously fanatic people stoning Stephen. He is only taking care of the coats of the witnesses. But he also shares in their guilt because he approves the killing of an innocent man.

According to ancient Jewish laws, witnesses were supposed to be the first ones to cast first stones (cf. Deut 17:7). The witnesses must have been acquainted with Saul (a part of his friendly circle) and asked him to take care of their coats. Saul also approves the brutal killing of Stephen in spite of witnessing the great act of Stephen forgiving his murderers.

In these difficult days, if we forward messages and videos blaming and targeting any particular group, like Paul, we, too, become indirectly guilty of the blood of the innocents lynched mercilessly.

Good day and God bless us all! 🙏🏼🔪

Spiritual Spark 🔥

Some stood up and argued with Stephen. But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke. Then they secretly instigated some men to say, "We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God" (Acts 6:9-11).

Stephen was a holy man, full of grace and power. Jews of his time couldn't match him in knowledge and wisdom. They couldn't argue with him and so they chose a crooked way. They bribed and instigated people to bring false charges against him to get rid of him.

Even today religion is used as a means to settle score with one's opponents. Religion has a strong emotional appeal, which is capable of generating immense positive as well as negative energy. Stephen was filled with the positive spirit, but his opponents were filled with negative spirit. We need to choose for ourselves, which aspect of religion we wish to choose: love or hatred?

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Peter Canisius, a Jesuit saint and a Doctor of the church. He did a great work in Germany. He is credited with adding to the Hail Mary prayer the sentence: "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners". He actively promoted the sodalities of our Lady and the rosary associations.

Good day and God bless us all! 🙏🏼💐

Spiritual Spark 🔥

Jesus said to them, "What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?" They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, "Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?" (Lk 24:17-18).

Imagine ourselves discussing the situation of the present crisis and Jesus coming and asking us what we are discussing. What will be our reply? Will not be our reply exactly the same as that of Cleopas?

The two disciples on the way to Emmaus were totally dejected. Hope is the last thing to die. But when hope dies, life becomes meaningless. These disciples had lost hope.

In the story of Emmaus, we can find the much needed hope and consolation. Emmaus academy teaches us to recount our story of hope and distress to Jesus, and to discover hope in the scripture, which states: "It is necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory." Often suffering is a divine necessity, which purifies us and makes us better human beings.

Good day and God bless us all! 🙏🏼☦️

Spiritual Spark 🔥

"Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you" (1 Pet 5:6-7).

Peter gives us two important exhortations: (1) humbling ourselves before the mighty God; (2) Casting all our anxieties on God. The second exhortation seems very good to us. It is good to get rid of all our anxieties and throw them on God. But the first exhortation seems quite difficult to us. We don't want to humble ourselves.

We want to be managers; we want to have all the situations under our control. We don't want to bend down before anyone and give control of our lives to anyone, not even to God.

Why do we don't want to humble ourselves? Because we are very impatient. We want things to happen according to our time and our plan. St. Peter says, God will exalt you "in due time". God's time is different. We need to trust God; humble ourselves; stop worrying; throw our anxieties on God; and he will deliver us in "due time".

Good day and God bless us all! 🙏🏼🛐

Spiritual Spark 🔥

When Jesus looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?" (Jn 6:5).

I seriously wonder, where have all the miracle-working godmen and preachers of all the religions gone in these difficult times? Why did I remember them today? Because of the feeding of five thousand in today's gospel.

When thousands of people flock to these so-called miracle-working preachers, their primary concern is not to take care of the people's needs. They are instead more interested in receiving collections and donations from these people.

When Jesus saw the crowd, he felt compassion for them and he wanted to feed them. I think, compassion is the greatest miracle. It opens the doors of hearts and when the doors of hearts are opened, the doors of heaven also open! Let us try to be a little more compassionate today towards those who are in urgent need of our help!

Good day and God bless us all! 🙏🏼💝

Spiritual Spark 🔥

"The Lord is near the brokenhearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the Lord delivers him out of them all" (Ps 34:18-19).

Today is the feast of St. George, the patron saint of our college. (Our college in Frankfurt is called Sankt Georgen Hochschule). Saint George is always depicted as a knight riding on the horse and slaying a dragon.

Saint George was a Cappadocian soldier at the service of the Roman empire. Emperor Diocletian promoted him to the high rank of a Tribunal. This fearless soldier saint rebuked the emperor for his persecution of the Christians. As a consequence, the infuriated emperor tortured him and beheaded him.

It is interesting to understand the above quotation from Ps 34 in the context of the story of Saint George. This Martyr was broken and crushed and had many afflictions, but the Lord was with him and that is why he was able to slay the dragon of fear, selfishness, and ego-centrism and was able to be supremely free, even to the extent of rebuking the powerful Roman emperor. Do we desire such a freedom?

Good day and God bless us all! 🙏🏼⚔️

Spiritual Spark 🔥

"The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. O taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are those who take refuge in him" (Ps 34:7-8).

God surrounds us, protects us, saves us, rescues us, delivers us, redeems us. In Ps 34, through many different words and expressions, the psalmist expresses the loving protection of God for us.

I believe that God comes to us through his angels in the most difficult times of our lives. Many a times we don't recognise him, but in the most unexpected ways, he soothes us, comforts us, cares for us.

In these times of lockdown, when we have a lot of time, it is a good exercise to go through our entire life step by step, year by year, and see how God has loved and protected us till now.

Let us taste and see how God has been extremely good to us. God has come to us through the instrumentality of his angels; let us also become God's angels for those who are most in need!

Good day and God bless us all! 🙏🏼👼🏼

Spiritual Spark 🔥

"There was a Levite, a native of Cyprus, Joseph, to whom the apostles gave the name Barnabas (which means "son of encouragement") (Acts 4:36).

In the difficult times, darkness and discouragement wait at the threshold of our hearts to creep in and take possession of our lives. We suffer not so much because of difficult situation, but more so because we allow ourselves to be gloomy, disappointed, and discouraged. The problem with discouragement is that it is contagious. It is passed from one person to the other.

Although there is no vaccine for Coronavirus as yet, there is an antidote to discouragement and that is encouragement. Encouragement is the action of giving others support, confidence, or hope.

The apostles gave Joseph a new name "Barnabas" because they saw something very special in him. Aramaic word "Bar" means "son" and "nabiya" means "prophet" (whose function is to encourage). Thus because of his supportive and positive spirit, Barnabas received his beautiful name.

Can we also become sons and daughters of encouragement in these difficult times?

Good day and God bless us all! 🙏🏼🥳✌🏼

Spiritual Spark 🔥

"Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night" (Jn 3:1-2).

A Pharisee comes to Jesus by night. That's a beginning. Soon he will have courage to speak on behalf of Jesus, and finally he will openly come out to carry out burial rites for Jesus along with Joseph of Arimathea.

In the gospels, Pharisees are mentioned as a group opposed to Jesus. Jesus is also shown to be highly critical of their religious practises and their attitudes. Precisely someone from their ranks comes and meets Jesus. For God there is nothing impossible.

There is a beautiful lesson for us to learn in this story. No group of people is fully negative and evil. There are good people in each group and we need to be open to have dialogue with such people.

The name Nicodemus means "victory of the people". If we wish to have a strong and victorious democracy, we need to overcome our prejudices and develop a healthy culture of dialogue.

Good day and God bless us all! 🙏🏼🤝🏼

Spiritual Spark 🔥

"All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need" (Acts 2:44-45).

The early Christian community depicted in the Acts of the Apostles strived to live an ideal community life, which inspired all those who came in contact with them. Their charity was so phenomenal, that people started telling: "see, how they love one another."

Christianity down the centuries has tried to practice such charity through its works of mercy. Feeding the hungry is the first of the seven works of mercy.

Today we celebrate the feast of the Divine Mercy! On this feast, one receives plenary indulgence on receiving sacraments. Because of the lockdown, sacraments are not available. Masses are celebrated online.

It is good to attend mass with the family and receive the indulgence. But it will be also great to make some effort to reach out to at least one of the millions of hungry people, either through personal contact or through some charitable organisation, and take care of his/her needs.

Good day and may the Divine Mercy bless and protect you and your family members! 🙏🏼💝

Spiritual Speak 🔥

"I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord. The Lord has disciplined me severely, but he has not given me over to death" (Ps 118:17-18).

Ps 118 is the psalm often used in the Easter times. It is the last of the Great Hallel (praise) psalms sung at the passover festival of Jews (Pss 113-118). This psalm was the favourite psalm of Martin Luther and Ps 118:17 is the central message of the psalm, giving us a renewed hope.

Martin Luther wrote about this psalm: "the dying live; the suffering rejoice; the fallen rise; the disgraced are honoured." There is a message of optimism and hope.

It is true that people are getting sick and dying all over the world. However, as long as humanity, brotherhood, care and compassion for each other are present among us, God is working in us. We believe that by God's grace, we will overcome this crisis! We will live and become agents of life for others!

Good day and God bless us all! 🙏🏼🌱

Spiritual Spark 🔥

"Save us, we beseech you, O Lord! O Lord, we beseech you, give us success!" (Ps 118:15).

Salvation (Hebrew word yeshuah) and success (Hebrew word tsalakh) are very important human needs. Salvation is a term, which although has a very strong spiritual connotation in the New Testament, refers to the rescue from enemies and receiving healing from sickness in the Old Testament. Salvation is thus total wellbeing, physical as well as spiritual.

Ps 118:25 is a very important verse in the Bible because the important word "Hosanna" appears only once in Hebrew and that is in this verse. It is interesting to note that "Hosanna" (in Hebrew "Hoshia na"), which was originally a cry for help, turned later to an expression of adoration, praise, or joy.

This transformation took place because of the strong faith of the believer. When we cry out to God for help, we are almost certain that the salvation is sure to come! Hosanna!

Good day and God bless us all! 🙏🏼🛐

Spiritual Spark 🔥

Jesus said to his disciples, "Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see" (Lk 24:38-39).

The resurrected Jesus has a trademark greeting: "peace be with you!" However, even after receiving this greeting and even after experiencing the presence of the Risen Lord in their midst, the reaction of disciples is quite negative.

They are not filled with peace and joy; they are instead frightened and doubtful. The disciples find it difficult to recognise the Risen Lord. However, the easiest way to recognise Jesus is through the mark of his wounds.

The Risen Lord lets the scars of the nails remain on his body as his identifying marks. They are the signs of his fight and his victory. We who believe in the Resurrection, let us not be afraid of the wounds, because one day they will be our signs of victory!

Good day and God bless us all! 🙏🏼✌🏼

Spiritual Spark 🔥

"When Jesus was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight" (Lk 24:30-31).

The disciples on the way to Emmaus recognised Jesus in the breaking of bread. Bread stays in the central place. The Risen Lord reveals himself in and through the breaking of bread.

Many of us know the famous quotation of Mahatma Gandhi: "There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread." These words are particularly relevant for these days, when millions of labourers are jobless and hungry.

In sharing our bread with these brothers and sisters of ours, we will be able to encounter the Risen Lord. Let us make God present to them and to us through the noble work of feeding the hungry!

Good day and God bless us all! 🙏🏼🍞

Spiritual Spark 🔥

Now when the Jews heard this, they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, "Brothers, what should we do?"

The crowd of Jews is hardly presented to be sympathetic and friendly in the New Testament. They are normally shown to be opposing, misunderstanding, condemning, and plotting. In the second chapter of Acts the crowd was cynical before the speech of Peter. However, at the end of the speech a wonderful transformation takes place.

The crowd "heard" the words of Peter, which were filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. These effective words "pierced" their hearts and evoked prompt response from them. They wanted to know what they should do to rectify their mistake.

In these difficult times, let the words of the scripture and also the words of our leaders produce a desired effect on our lives so that we may change our reckless lifestyle and do our best to overcome this crisis!

Good day and God bless us all! 🙏🏼↩️

Spiritual Spark 🔥

"The soldiers took the money and did as they were directed. And this story is still told among the Jews to this day" (Mt 28:15).

In today's gospel we hear about two stories: (1) a true story, a true testimony given by women of Galilee, and (2) a fake story, false information spread by the Roman soldiers after receiving money to tell the lie.

If we look at the agents, we realise that the agents carrying the true story are Galilean women. They were from backward area. Besides the opinions of women were not much respected in the ancient times. On the other hand, the proponents of the fake story were powerful Roman soldiers.

These two stories are very much present in today's world. The established media is behaving like the Roman soldiers and dancing on the tunes of their masters for personal profit. On the other hand, the alternative media is trying to raise its little voice like the Galilean women to tell the truth! Which side are we going to take?

Good day and God bless us all! 🙏🏼🗞️

Spiritual Spark 🔥

"For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with great compassion I will gather you" (Is 54:7).

In the dark and difficult times of the present pandemic, today we dare to celebrate the feast of resurrection (obviously following all the rules of social distancing). Easter Liturgy is the summit of all the liturgies. No liturgical celebration is as rich and meaningful as the solemn liturgical celebration of this most important feast of Christianity.

On normal Sundays and other solemn feast days (including Christmas) we have altogether three readings (including the Gospel). However, on Easter we have nine readings. However, in many Churches only five of them are read.

The above quoted words from the Prophet Isaiah (taken from one of today's nine readings) offer today's suffering world the message of joy, hope and comfort. Yes, the Lord seems to have abandoned us for a brief moment, but he will soon have great compassion on us. That is the message of Easter Hope!

Wishing you and your near and dear ones a blessed Easter! 🙏🏼🐇🥚🥳

Spiritual Spark 🔥

S...I...L...E...N...C...E..............

Holy Saturday can be characterised by one simple word and that is "silence". The silence is almost deafening and frightening. It is the silence of the grave. The Lord is dead; he is put in the grave; a big stone is rolled on the grave, and the grave is sealed.

That is what we experience on Holy Saturday every year. On Holy Saturday, no masses are held; no bells are ringing; no candles burning; no flowers, no decorations. The churches are bare, empty and silent.

This year the Holy Saturday seems to be extended. Easter is not in sight. (In fact Vatican was considering postponing the Easter.)

However God is active even on Holy Saturday. In fact he works even harder. Our Catholic belief tells us: On holy Saturday Jesus went down to the dead, to the hell, to free the faithful souls trapped there. Let us believe that the Lord fights for us even harder when he seems to be silent!

Good day and God bless us all! 🙏🏼⚔️

Spiritual Spark 🔥

"Woman, behold, your son!" "Behold, your mother!" (Jn 19:26-27)
"I thirst" (Jn 19:28).
"It is accomplished" (Jn 19:30).

Today Christians meditate on the Seven Last Words of Jesus. These words of the dying saviour are a great source of hope and strength.

Let us meditate on the above three words from the Gospel of John:
(1) Behold your mother: The last gift of Jesus to us is the gift of his own mother. The mother, who stood by the cross and comforted Jesus, is with us to comfort us in our sufferings.
(2) I thirst: Jesus thirsts to love us. He longs to save us. Mother Teresa has written an amazing letter on these words of Jesus, titled: "I Thirst for You". If possible go through this beautiful letter, which is available on the internet.
(3) "It is accomplished": The pain goes away, but the beauty remains. After going through immense, excruciating pain and suffering, comes the cry of victory. There is light at the end of the tunnel!

We adore you, O Christ and we bless you, because by your cross you have redeemed the world!

Good day and God bless us all! 🙏🏼☦️

Spiritual Spark 🔥

"This day shall be a day of remembrance for you" (Ex 12:14).
Jesus broke the bread and said, "This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me" (1 Cor 11:24).
"If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them" (Jn 13:17).

"Do this in remembrance of me". That is the commandment of today! Today is called "Maundy Thursday", which means "Commandment Thursday". The new commandment of Jesus is the "Love Commandment": "Love one another as I have loved you" (Jn 13:34). However, this love commandment is manifested by two metaphorical actions carried out by Jesus on Maundy Thursday: Institution of the Eucharist and washing of his disciples' feet.

These two actions reveal two values: love and service. We can even call it a single value: loving service. The commandment attached with it is for all: "Do this in memory of me". Do as I did. Break you body, shed your blood and lovingly serve one another. That is being priests, being bridges connecting God and people.

In so far as anyone follows this commandment of Jesus, in that measure that person partakes in the holy priesthood of Jesus! In that sense, in today's world, Doctors, nurses and all those who are helping others are playing the role of priesthood!

Good day and God bless us all! 🙏🏼🥖

Spiritual Spark 🔥

"Insults have broken my heart, so that I am in despair. I looked for pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none" (Ps 69:20).

In this holy week, from Monday onwards, we have been hearing the readings from the suffering servant songs of Isaiah. The responsorial psalms responding to these readings are psalms of lament. The holy week and especially the overwhelming Pandemic is an opportune time to pray the psalms of lament.

Many of us are in relatively better and safer conditions. We have most of the necessary things with us. We have our loved ones near us. We have the support of family and friends.

However, there are millions of people, who are going through untold sufferings. Many are insulted, blamed unnecessarily, targeted. Many don't have enough to eat. They can't take care of their hygiene. Many, because of their profession, are at high risk and living constantly under fear. These are the suffering servants of God in today's world. Let us try our best to alleviate their suffering!

Good day and God bless us all! 🙏🏼💐

Spiritual Spark 🔥

But I said, "I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my cause is with the Lord, and my reward with my God" (Is 49:4).

We try our best and in spite of all our efforts, we don't see the desired results. On the other hand, we feel the situation getting worse and out of control. In such a situation, frustration, disappointment and discouragement are common human reactions.

The noble and heroic servant of the Lord in Deutero-Isaiah also had somewhat similar experience. He was frustrated and disappointed under the weight of the task; he was considering no value in all that he had done so far. Everything is useless; nothing is going to help; we are doomed to failure.

But these thoughts are not the final thoughts. The servant trusts and hopes. He believes that things will be better because God will ultimately reward.

In the face of crisis, let us not get discouraged; let us follow the instructions given to us and believe in the best!

Good day and God bless us all! 🙏🏼🛐

Spiritual Spark 🔥

"Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!" (Ps 27:14)
"Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus' feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume" (Jn 12:3).

House filled with fragrance of exquisite perfume!!! I sincerely wish that in this Holy Week, the Most Sacred Time of our Liturgical Year, each house be filled with fragrance of love, care, peace, and joy!

These are trying times. But by God's grace, the entire family is together. This is a wonderful occasion to educate children in faith and values, which we have been taught in our childhood.

Like Mary, let's wait on the Lord! Let us pour out our loving devotion at the feet of the Lord; let us set a noble example before our children through helping the poor and through our prayerful life, especially during this Holy Week!

Good day and God bless us all! 🙏🏼🌹

Spiritual Spark 🔥

"The Lord has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens-- wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught" (Is 50:4).

The Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday is normally celebrated all over the world with big processions and solemn liturgical celebrations. This year, however, all over the world people will be confined in their homes and witness modest liturgies celebrated by priests online.

The cry of the first Palm Sunday was "Hosanna", which means "please save us". The same cry is echoed in each of our hearts. The great and mighty nations are becoming helpless before this pandemic. As we enter into the Holy Week, let us keep crying out to God: "Hosanna"!

The above quote from the third servant song of Isaiah focuses on the ear and tongue, disciple and teacher. Let us make God our teacher; let us learn from him; let us be strengthened by his words, and then use these words to strengthen the weak and weary!

Good day and God bless us all! 🙏🏼🌴

Spiritual Spark 🔥

"Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what he had done" (Jn 11:45-46).

Jesus had performed an extraordinary miracle of raising the dead Lazarus to life. After witnessing this mighty miracle, the people present at the scene responded in two different ways: (1) many believed in Jesus, (2) some went and informed about it to Pharisees, the enemies of Jesus.

Whether we like it or not, we will find these two types of people everywhere. "Many" people give an expected positive response, but "some" people will always try to put sand in the wheels.

In the fight against the deadly Coronavirus, we have two options before us: (1) Be counted among the "many" law-abiding, obedient citizens for our own safety and the safety of our near and dear ones. Or (2) Behave foolishly and irresponsibly like "some" who risk their own lives and lives of others.

Good day and God bless us all! 🙏🏼⚔️

Spiritual Spark 🔥

"I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold" (Ps 18:1-2).

I read today a short reflective passage forwarded on WhatsApp under the title: "Christianity offers No answers about Coronavirus. It is not supposed to". This passage speaks about how psalms, especially the psalms of laments, come alive to the believers in these trying times. I fully agree with the writer of this beautiful short article.

Many of you may not know that I am presently doing my PhD on Psalms in Germany. After the Second World War, the pandemic of Corona virus is the greatest challenge the entire world is facing and Europe has been suffering immensely because of it.

When you continuously hear the bad news about the pandemic eating into the world and when you come to know some known people getting affected, you urgently seek support and strength. No human agency can provide this strength. We believe that the strength comes from above, the strength and courage to fight, to smile, and to be hopeful...

Good day and God bless us all! 🙏🏼💪🏼

Spiritual Spark 🔥

Jesus said to the Jews, "Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am." So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple (Jn 8:58-59).

The above two verses from the Gospel of John convey a completely paradoxical message. In the first part (v. 58) Jesus solemnly reveals his identity as the great "I AM" (Ego eimi), God himself.

However, after this revelation, in the very next sentence (v. 59), we see a completely different scene. The Jews don't bow down and worship the everlasting all-powerful God present before them. They instead bend down to pick up stones to kill him for blaspheming. The response of Jesus is also strange. He doesn't reveal his glory to the crowd, but instead hides himself.

God hides himself when we expect that he should show his glory. He knows when to hide and when to reveal his glory. He does all things in his time!

Good day and God bless us all! 🙏🏼🌑