Bits of the Gospel

I have officially removed the post on Cottolengo Centre, Nairobi which has been on this blog for many months attracting many readers. I believe the activity of Cottolengo followers in Kenya is still relevant and very much up to date. I believe the upgrading of activities and the reviewing of mission, vision and objectives of the centre have made the services more humane, more familiar, and even more relevant for the youth and children who benefit from the centre. Meanwhile, the reader may wish to find out more on Cottolengo centre, Nairobi, and other Cottolengo centre in Africa on the Blog The Cottolengo Family, Africa. There you find many articles, photos and other relevant posts concerning this noble activity.

I posted a reflection on the feast of Ascension last year and that post has attracted attention of many visitors to my Blog. This year I want to add a little more of that on this particular feast. The apostle says: “If you have risen with Christ, set your hearts on the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God; seek the things that are above, not the things that are on earth. For just as he remained with us even after his ascension, so we too are already in heaven with him, even though what is promised us has not yet been fulfilled in our bodies." "The things above..." In the Eastern rites the feast of Ascension was known as analepsis, the taking up (...above), and also as the episozomene, the salvation, denoting that by ascending into His glory Christ completed the work of our redemption. Taking up and redeeming. These two verbs remind us of two gestures that Jesus did during his ministry. He “held up”, helped up many. He saved many from...

Vocati ons Vocation, according to popular definition is the seed of the Word of God in the human heart which directs him to a certain way of life. It is, therefore, personal because it is found in the heart, a specific heart. It is at the same time profoundly social, because it is not meant for purely personal gains but above all for a community.Vocation must also be understood as sacred or divine wherein the divine touch is involved in the planting of that "seed" and in the response to that call within. Now, another definition of a vocation is a call. This seems to be part of the previous definition. I tend to value this kind of understanding because it insists on the human dimension of "being addressed", being in relationship with fellow human beings and with God. That relationship symbolised by a call is a two way affair. Now, man calls upon God in prayer in which case he requests, prays for his needs. On the other hand, God calls man to enter into a deeper rel...

This is Vocations' week. The Fourth Sunday of Easter this year falls on Sunday, April 29, 2012. It is forty ninth edition. This week coincides with the novena of St. Joseph Cottolengo. What a coincidence! Then the message of Pope Benedict XVI talks of vocation as the gift of the Love of God. That places vocation at the heart of all the mystery of incarnation and the salvation history. The Pope writes: "Every specific vocation is in fact born of the initiative of God; it is a gift of the Love of God! He is the One who takes the “first step”, and not because he has found something good in us, but because of the presence of his own love “poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit” (Rom 5:5).In every age, the source of the divine call is to be found in the initiative of the infinite love of God, who reveals himself fully in Jesus Christ." St. J B Cottolengo too thought that to be "called into the Little House of the Divine Providence is a sign of favor"...

Lord, help us see again! That we may see again the tragic fact of drug addicts, of alcoholics, of workaholics, and other addicts. Open our eyes to see their tears, and our ears to hear their continuous cry. Above all help us to open our hearts and do something to help them. Lord,help us to find out ways to help them. Help us build a rehab for them, a rehab that first of all is found in our hearts and then in buildings. Lord, this group is ignored. Their poverty is overlooked. That already justifies our attention to them but especially because you want them to experience your love. Amen! NB: Sometimes I wonder whether we are not too much interested in doing other things such that we fail to see the addicts right inside our homes, our schools, our parishes and even to see the addicts that we are!

I must release others from all my attempts to control, coerce, and dominate them with my love. In their freedom from me, other persons want to be loved for who they are, as those for whoom Christ became a human being, died, and rose again, as those for whom Christ won the forgiveness of sins and prepared eternal life. This is the meaning of the claim that we can encounter others only through the mediation of Christ. Love as the deed of simple obedience is death to the old self and the self's discovery to exist now in the righteousness of Christ and in one's brothers and sisters. [Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Meditation and Prayer] Why is there so much urge to hold on and control, manipulate and use others? Trinity blessed, Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, hear us. O Lord, deliver us from from this vice. Teach us to let others free as you do. To your glory and praise. Amen!

Lent kicks off with that evangelical call: Repent and believe the Good News. Lent is really a time to renew one's life. The things to be done emerge from the Liturgy of Ash Wednesday: Pray, Fight evil by fasting, and offerings. Then, we have Ashes calling us to the reality of our humanity. We are "made of clay", simple earthenware which should by all means "bring us down" to our senses. That act of imposition of ashes right on our foreheads makes us reflect [moreover when we see ashes on the foreheads of our brothers and sisters]. We are not only reminded of our precariousness but also of the need to rely on God. That cannot be possible unless we are humble enough to take seriously the call to repent and believe the Good News! The image of sackcloth is very touching. We are not dressed in "purple linen". Nothing close to that. We dress in the rough sackcloth [made of sisal threads!] to remind us of our duty to fight the evil. What evil? The evil wi...