So, if a young man feels that he is adventurous, let him take up holiness.

A close observation will reveal that young people are always adventurous. Being adventurous is not a sin. In fact, it is God’s gift. But a young man does not know how to express his adventurousness. So he takes to activities which seem to be very adventurous. But though most of the activities he does are adventurous, they are not only useless but also dangerous to him and to the society.

Most young men take pride in being able to ride the bike very fast. They feel that they can show to the world that they are very courageous by riding the bike at such a speed and in such manner. A child looks at them and tells himself, “One day I must ride the bike like this.” But the young man from whom the child got inspiration faces an accident and realizes the uselessness and danger of such activities and stops such things. But the child grows up and imitates that young man or does more dangerous things than him. Some times it ends in fatal accidents or life long handicaps. This vicious cycle continues.

They show courage in swimming in dangerous rivers and seas. They show courage in fighting with the authority. They show courage in going near dangerous animals. They do many other things like this. Some young men show their adventurous nature by resigning the job they have, thinking that they can get another one so easily. They realize the foolishness of these acts only when it is impossible to revert the consequences of their acts. These are some areas where Satan misguides the young generation to misuse the sacred gift of adventurousness given by God.

Saints are people who realize their adventurousness. But since this adventurousness is guided by Jesus himself, it bears fruit and brings great benefit to the society. They show their adventurousness in the most adventurous task, i.e., holiness. For choosing holiness as their field to prove their adventurousness, they are indebted to their parents also. Their parents show them that holiness is the most adventurous thing in life. They also show their children that holiness is a useful adventure. It is useful to both the one doing that adventure and to the people who observe his adventure.

Choosing holiness is the greatest adventure. All are called to this adventure. If anyone feels that this world does not offer him anything adventurous, I will tell him to try holiness once. You will see that only the really strong go all the way. And the ordinary will bid adieu sooner than they start. Holiness is for that sturdy, trendy young guy. The remaining just fret and strut in streets and campuses and bars and clubs. The strong fight their way to the Kingdom of God. For every other adventure, desire is enough. But for holiness, desire must be accompanied with great strength and will power. So holiness is the greatest adventure this world can offer.

So, if a young man feels that he is adventurous, let him take up holiness. It is truly challenging. A rash ride on the bike requires a moment’s courage. Resigning a job requires a few days courage. And there will always be many to encourage this adventure. That encouragement itself takes away the real pleasure of that adventure. Choose holiness. It requires courage of a life time. No one except God will be there to support you. No one except God will be there to encourage you and applaud. This darkness is really adventurous and exciting. This trusting the Unseen is really adventurous. Everything else is mere sham. I feel that a sister or a priest who has shut herself or himself within the four walls of a cloister is the most adventurous person on this earth.

When everybody jumps into a strong current, it requires courage to tell oneself, “No, I won’t do it.” When everybody copies in the exam, it requires courage to say no to that extra mark that can be had by copying. When everybody jumps the red light, it requires courage to say no to that extra time that one can have by violating that rule. And when everybody goes to that bad movie, the courage one requires to sit at home is unfathomable. When everybody goes to tuition and some other coaching missing the holy mass, being willing to miss that tuition and coaching is not a child’s play.

A person who can restrain himself from doing something when there are many to applaud doing that thing is adventurous. A person doing something when there are many to applaud is being just ordinary. Trying to receive praise is ordinary. Being able to bear scorn is extraordinary. Doing something when reward in one form or the other can be seen is ordinary. Doing something when reward cannot be seen in any form is really adventurous.

- – - written by Adv. Shibu Varghese

Repentance turns our life upside down and makes changes in the premises we live.

The curtain raiser to God’s plan of salvation for human kind starts with the ‘voice of one crying out in the wilderness’- the Proclamation of John the Baptist. When the Pharisees and Sadducees who were the ‘doers’ of the Law approached John for getting baptized, he gives a very thought provoking reprimand to them in Matthew3:8 “Bear fruit worthy of repentance.” Repentance takes the central place in the script of New Testament. Without repentance, there is no salvation. ‘Confess your sins, repent and believe in the Kingdom of God’- is the message Jesus used to drive into our hearts time and again in His ministries through the Gospels.

The Holy Spirit prompts through this word of God that ‘Evidence of repentance is Good Fruit’. The fruit implied by John the Baptist is explained vividly in the letter of St Paul to the Galatians- Gal 5:22-25 “…the fruit of the Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Generosity, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.”

Confession and Intercession

Repentance consists of two ingredients-Confession and Intercession. To get completely cleansed and healed for being ready to be the partakers of the Kingdom of God, these two aspects in repentance are mandatory. Mere confession neither amount to repentance nor is the evidence of repentance. What God wants is a ‘repentant’ heart and not a mere ‘confessional’ heart.

God wants our acts to vouch for our repentance. Or in other words, our confession only when edified with our acts witnessing the Holy Spirit would tantamount to true repentance. James 5:16 “Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed.” If we confess and intercede, then we will be healed.

Traits of True repentance

The post-confessional life should be an earnest endeavour to live in the Spirit and NOT in the flesh. If we have to follow the Spirit, we have to manifest the Fruits of the Spirit as narrated in Gal 5:22-23. This implies that a man who has true repentance would do the following:-

(a) Confess the sins

(b) (i) Be Peaceful – with others & with oneself without crucifying time and again the inner self with remorse even after confession. (ii) Be Joyful (iii) Be Patient – while dealing with others and with oneself. (iv) Be Kind – to others and with oneself-not being a severe critic of oneself leading to self-effacing traits leading to low self esteem and diffident personality. (v) Be Generous – towards others, exemplifying the adage-‘if you are really big, show that you are big at heart’. (vi) Be Faithful – to God and your assigned role on this earth so as to give your best in the race, running and to win the victory prize of being put right with God as said in Phil3:14, 2Timothy4:7-8. (vii) Be Gentle – to others. (viii) Having Self-control – to crucify the alluring of flesh. (ix)  Having Love – for others and for oneself.

To find an epitome of all these fruits being manifested in a human form other than Jesus Christ, one could look towards Mother Mary. Intercession is an aspect of not only praying for others, but also intervening in the lives of others with the fruits of the Holy Spirit so as to be of help to them. An example of this kind of intercession is the visit of Mother Mary to Elizabeth to be of help to her during the advanced days of the latter’s confinement. We just need to imitate her and we would be manifesting the fruits of the Holy Spirit in our daily lives. And that is why Jesus says at the beginning of His ministry in Galilee, in Mark 1:15 “Repent and Believe in the Gospel”.

If your repentance is true, you would bear good fruit. A true repentance with the two key ingredients mentioned above, leads to healing of wounds. Repentance in true sense is cleansing of one’s own heart. Only the one who is inflicted with wounds cause wounds to others, but a person who is healed won’t cause harm unto others. So, absolute absolution of the repentant sinner manifests as fruits of the Spirit. The fruits are further elaborated by Jesus Christ in Luke 6:27-42, as to how a repentant person should behave.

Expectations of Jesus Christ, Our Lord

If a repentant person does not deliver good fruits, he/she would end up as the fig tree in Mark 11:12-14. Don’t wait like the fig tree and pretend as to not to bear fruits since it is not the season of figs. Don’t wait for the entire world and society to change, for you to change-because, it is the fruits of the Spirit that Jesus looks in your repentance when He comes looking for the lost sheep! Don’t say at that time “I could not change as the society around me didn’t allow me to”.

Remember, Jesus has said that we have to witness Him to a hurting world. We have a duty to pray for the world so that the world also changes-the power of intercession! You change the world through what you are- Matt 5:16 “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in Heaven”.

Prayer: “Lord Jesus, help me to do a good confession. Abba Father, help me to manifest the Fruits of Your Spirit through my behavior as a sign of my repentance. Mother Mary, pray for me to have true repentance. Amen.”

- – - written by G. Sanal, Tughlakabad, Newdelhi

The Magnificat, taken from Luke’s Gospel (1:46-55), is the Blessed Virgin Mary’s hymn of praise to the Lord. It is also known as the Canticle of Mary in the Liturgy of the Hours.

The Magnificat of Mary

My soul magnifies the Lord
And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;
Because he has regarded the lowliness of his handmaid;
For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed;
Because he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name;
And his mercy is from generation to generation
on those who fear him.
He has shown might with his arm,
He has scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
and has exalted the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has given help to Israel, his servant, mindful of his mercy
Even as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity forever.

Do you have a Magnificat which is an overflow of your contemplation about your “Yes” to God?

The hymn of praise, with a lot of meaning from life-experience was the Magnificat of Virgin Mary. Mary’s soul always sang praises to God Almighty, for the great things He has done throughout her life. Mary’s song of praise was the daily prayer for her and she sang it from her heart.

Her life was not a bed of roses, but filled with poverty, struggles and sufferings. She just said “Yes” to God. The virgin who is supposed to become the mother of God had gone through pain and anxiety than any women could think. Still her faith gave her strength to be committed to her response.

As a young virgin, she might have dreamed a lot like any other virgins in Israel. She had prepared herself completely to be the mother of God. Her preparedness gave way to God’s salvation to mankind. When the time came for her to give birth to the child, she goes with her husband to enrol their names. Can anyone think of a pregnant woman, who is a refugee, still no place for staying even one day, travelling such a hard journey? When the labour pain begins, she had no place to give birth to the child. The silent cry of the new-born might have silenced the cattle there. In that cold night, mother might have searched for a good peace of cloth to cover the child. Saying “Yes” to God, requires a lot of struggles, humiliations etc.

The journey to Egypt and Nazareth was not an easy task. On the eighth day taking child to the temple for offering, and the prophecy of Simon was very heart breaking; still she contemplated and said “Yes”. When the child is lost in the temple, the agony of the mother is heavy. At the time people spoke very badly about her son, she contemplated. The day she heard that he was betrayed by one of his disciples whom she knew well but never expected, she couldn’t bear it.

When Jesus was in the hands of Jews like a criminal, being taken to Pilate and Herod, on the way when she met the beloved son carrying the big cross, the mother contemplates about her response to God. At last when the son is crucified and hanged on the cross, at the foot of the cross she contemplates silently and offers herself to the Will of Almighty. There too she sang the hymn of praise in her heart.

She knew that she was blessed because of the fruit. She found favour with God, not men. This favour is reflected all through her life. From that fullness of grace she sings the Magnificat. Only those people, who live in graceful life, can sing the Magnificat, even in difficult times of life.

Mary discovered God’s mighty works through her, in her faith. When she surrendered herself to become the channel of grace to humanity, she was aware of the meaning of sufferings in her life. She knew that the fruit in her womb is the mighty work of God. Her virginity has been glorified by the mighty One, and then she could praise the Holy Name of God. When grace filled in her, she became the model for all the virgins.

Mary had been taught by her parents about the religious tradition. She knew about God’s mighty hand Israel experienced and she acknowledges it proudly in the form of praise. It is very important to know one’s own religious tradition from a faith perceptive, which will enhance one, especially when he/she is in struggle. Mary, who knew the mighty works God done through their ancestors and Israel, especially the exodus experience (Ex.15:1-21) had not doubted God but believed in His Mighty works through her.

Those who humbled themselves had been lifted high by the Lord. David, the shepherd, became the powerful weapon in the hands of God. To slew down Goliath, the symbol of evil, God uses little boy David and his technique with sharp stones. For the world it might be foolishness, but God to work miracle, our complete trust in Him is needed. The modern Era is filled with Goliath, who threatens the moral life. The Goliath of abortion, lesbian marriage, gay marriage, phonographic, Paedophilia are mighty ones who stand tall against Catholic Church and its virtues.

If somebody is ready, rise up like David and fight against it by trusting completely in God. Mother Theresa picked up unwanted ones from the gutter and showed the world Church values? One might be having only few simple stones against the proud protection of the mighty weapons of the world. The beads of rosary could become the miraculous weapon in one’s hand. Those who gain strength from those beads of rosary continuously, will be able to sing like mother Mary about the falling of powerful ones in this modern time.

God always fills the hungry. The poor are known as Yahweh’s anawim. When they cried God listened to them. They are very close to God, whereas the rich may forget God. The poor widow who is appreciated by Jesus is an example. Since the rich may not see the works of God’s right hand, due to their richness, they often go away from God with an empty heart.

Mary knew that the fruit in her womb is the fulfilment of the promise. The promise made to the fathers and Israel. She could have stopped the hymn of praise with the conception of the Word, but she does continue the Magnificat in her whole life.

- – - written by Fr. Biju Maramkuzhackal SVD