Soul of Christ (The Anima Christi)

Soul of Christ, sanctify me.

Body of Christ, save me.

Blood of Christ, inebriate me.

Water from the side of Christ, wash me.

Passion of Christ, strengthen me.

O good Jesus, hear me.

Within thy wounds hide me.

Suffer me not to be separated from thee.

From the malicious enemy defend me.

In the hour of my death, call me and bid me come unto thee

That with thy saints I may praise thee for ever and ever. 

Amen

Praise Him in the Storm

Long time ago, the Lord taught me that the real crisis is not the circumstances that are beyond my control; but when I face those circumstances without Him… without believing that HE is my Father who is above my circumstances who is capable of turning any crisis into a blessing.

Most of the time we are after God, only to get Him to calm our storms that are on the outside.  If we even get the slightest hint that He is moving to calm the storms that are inside of us, we run away from Him because we are afraid of that He will rob us of the "pleasures of life" - because we know, most often they are the causes for our storms that are on the outside.  We continue to treat Him like a wending machine - put in a prayer,  press a button to get what we want and walk away as soon as we get what we want, only to find that there is always another crisis, another issue, another enemy, another sickness that we are not capable of dealing with.  And the cycle continues...

If only we took the time to sit before the Lord so that HE could calm the storms that are inside of us…  

To those of us who dare to do that, He calms the storms that are inside by giving the greatest gift one could ever ask for – the gift of Himself. 

When we know His presence in our lives, when we experience His love in the depths and when we hear His voice in our Spirit saying “you are my son / daughter, I love you very much”, the fears, the insecurities, the depression, the restlessness simply lose their hold over our lives. 

The greatest blessing is not to have everything going right, but to know that God is holding me safe when everything seems to be going against me, to know for certain that my Father is above all and that HE can change everything into blessings.

Jesus promises rest to everyone who comes to Him and is willing to learn from Him.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28,29)

O God of Second Chances and New Beginnings, Here I am... Again

People brought a blind man to Jesus and begged HIM to heal the man.  (Mark 8:22-26).  Many came to HIM because they were brought by others, or because they were pushed by their circumstances, or because they wanted to be saved from the death sentence staring them in their faces.  

Everyone of them wanted something from Jesus – the prostitutes, the tax collectors, the sick, the sinners, even the dying criminal on the cross next to HIM… they all wanted something.  Jesus had no problem with it, HE was ready to give – no looking into their track records, no questions asked, no judgment…  and HE broke their cycle of sin, sickness, addiction and gave them a new lease of life.  But to all of them HE said one thing, "do not sin again", do not go back to the old life.  The request is not for HIS sake, but for their sake.  Because HE knew staying saved was in their hands.

I come to HIM every morning as a person who falls and fails constantly.  When I look into HIS eyes, I see no judgment, no questions – all I see is love, forgiveness, mercy. And every morning HE gives me a new beginning, new opportunities.

Then HE whispers to me, “don’t go back”.  "Don't continue to live the way you did yesterday, the day before and before that.  There is another way to live".

In Psalm 15 the Psalmist writes about the qualities of the person who may dwell in the presence of God.  My initial reaction was, if these are the qualities required I would never make it…  

But Jesus whispers to me, “you will be that person, I want you to be that person".  "I offer you an intimate relationship with me, and my word inside of you will make you that person".  "I offer you a place in God’s sanctuary".  "This is what I offer you every morning, so don’t go back, don’t go back…”

As I start the day today, HIS words echo in my ears, “don’t go back”.  I see a new lease of life for myself… a second chance to do things differently by remaining in HIS presence. 

HE speaks to my heart directly through James 1:22-25;

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

O God, Restore us and Save us

Restore us, O God; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.  (Psalm 80:3)

With every enemy, face the danger of losing much more than material things.

When we are faced with an enemy we pray for victory over our enemy.  We believe victory over our enemies is about getting what we want.  What we do not realize is, in the process we pay a heavy price and lose much more than we would ever win. 


We get caught up in the battle; and we lose our inner freedom, inner peace, capacity to love and to serve.  Instead, ego, self pity, insecurity, bitterness, hatred and selfishness begin to control the decisions we make. 

“Restore us O God, that we may be saved”…

When I turn to God in my crisis, first HE restores what I had lost… inner peace and freedom, the capacity to love and to serve; and most of all the grace to trust in HIS plans for me…  It is only when HE has restored what I had lost that I will be truly saved from the destruction that the enemy could cause in my life.

They mourned and wept and fasted till evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the army of the LORD and for the nation of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword. (2 Samuel 1: 12)

David is mourning the death of his nemesis???

The crisis with Saul had taken David deeper into the heart of God.  David had found that his security, his fortress, his rock is his loving God.  Therefore, the death of his enemy was not a reason to celebrate, but a reason to mourn. 

God has not only saved David from his enemy, but had restored all that he could have lost –  his ability to love his enemy, serve his people, inner freedom to make the right decisions for his nation…

Our focus on our enemy loses our ability to make the right decisions.  Therefore we act in self defense, we try to protect ourselves and our interests, and make decisions that harm us in the long term.  We may win a battle but lose the war.

Every crisis is an opportunity to go deeper into the heart of God and to journey with HIM closely.  It is an opportunity to cling on to HIM till we hear HIS voice and see HIS leading. 

“Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”  (Mark 3: 20)

Crowds followed Jesus, yet the family thought Jesus was “out of his mind”. 

Family... the ones who should have been Jesus’s biggest support tried to stop HIM.  In a way, there were playing the roles of the enemy.  Towards the end of this Chapter Jesus says “whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother”. 

I sense His disappointment about His family members in this statement.  But I also see Jesus’s rising above HIS disappointment to include everyone who does the will of God as HIS family.  The crisis had taken Jesus deeper into the heart of God, and what could have ended in bitterness ends up in a revelation.

This is the difference between focusing on God and focusing on our enemies.  Max Lucado says it beautifully in his book “Facing the Giants”.

“If you focus on God, your giants will fall.  If you focus on your giants, you will fall”.

Reflecting Today's Readings: 12th January 2011

First Reading (1 Samuel 4: 1-11)

The Israelites were losing the battle with the Philistines and they decide to bring the Ark of the Lord to the battlefield.   When the Ark of the Lord arrives, Israel gives out a victory shout which terrifies the Philistines.   The Philistines had heard about the God of Israel and what HE has done to save HIS people.  The Philistines decide, if we have to go let’s go with a BANG! And they fight the Israelites with all that they have.

AND, the Philistines win! 

Israel lost thirty thousand soldiers that day, the two sons of the Prophet Eli who were with the Ark of the Lord were killed and the Ark of the Lord was captured by the Philistines. 

What really happened here?  

God moved the heaven and earth to bring the Israelites out of Egypt… but when things became easy, the Israelites took God for granted.  They lived to satisfy their hunger and their lust.  They lived separated from God, and they lived in sin.  On the day of the battle with the Philistines, they took the Ark of the Lord to the battlefield – but the Lord did not go with them.  

God was not theirs to be used.  HE is to be worshipped, to be honoured, to be loved by the people HE calls HIS own.  

Unfortunately we still continue this pattern… we easily fall into the sin of taking God for granted.  We begin by not having time for HIM, and move on to hating the things HE loves and loving the things HE hates…   Slowly but surely, a day will come when we can’t run away from the consequences of our wrong living.  On that day, we try to use HIM again, and we find out for ourselves, HE is not our's to be used.

Second Reading (Mark 1: 40-45)

A leper falls at the feet of Jesus and says, “if you are willing, you can make me clean”.  Jesus moved with pity, touches the leper and says “I am willing, be clean!”.  The leprosy leaves him immediately and he was made clean.

The day when the consequences of my wrong living catch up with me is indeed a day of blessing.  That would be the day that my eyes would open and I realize my sin of trying to use HIM to continue to live a life separated from HIM.  And that would be the day that I would fall at HIS feet and say “if you are willing, you can make me clean”.

HE is waiting to say the words… “I am willing, be clean”.  I am sure, even before I could complete the sentence, I would be made clean of my sin, my guilt, and my shame.

Yet, I do not want to wait for that day… I want to fall at HIS feet every day and hear HIM  say the words “I am willing, be clean”.  In fact, I do not want leave HIS feet at all, because all that I am looking for is right there at HIS feet, and so much more.  

A Tribute to my Son; a Soldier and a Gift from God

Wow!  You did it soldier, and you did it in style.  You went through “hell” to get here, but you led, you excelled and you overcame.  So congratulations my son, my precious, well done!

You were trained by the best, and you trained with the best.  You were pushed beyond your limits, broken and made anew.  You did it all without a single complaint but with much faith in God, with determination and with pride. 

We will never know the physical and mental challenges you faced when your body and mind wanted to give up; the disappointments you faced when you realized that your best was not good enough; or the heartaches you faced when your dreams came crumbling down.  We will never know the struggles you went through in your spirit to be faithful to God, while going on an emotional, physical, mental and spiritual roller-coaster ride… 

I often saw you struggling to hold on to God and HIS kingdom values… and you reminded me of Jacob wrestling with God.  You know what?  I think God is looking at you today and telling you the same thing HE told Jacob, “You have wrestled with God and with men, and have overcome”! 

From your very first day in the Army, God’s hand has been on your life.  You had Eagle as your company, and a man of God as your role model.  Doors opened for you in places you least expected, and the doors that were wide open closed as you approached them…  If you take a moment to look back at the days that passed, I am sure you will see only one set of footprints in the sand, and you will recognize that they belong to the one who has been carrying you all along. 

As you move on, there will be greater victories for you.  During those moments, walk humbly with God and before men.  Walk away from glory and the recognition; for they are closely related to ego – man’s greatest enemy.  Instead, keep walking towards God and celebrate in HIS presence. 

You will also face greater challenges and disappointments.  They will be a part of your journey, and they will make you stronger in HIM.  Therefore, do not waste them!  Expect every crisis to turn into a blessing; every storm to bring you back to HIM if you had lost your way. 

I pray, in the days to come you will not get caught up with the norms of the world, or with your own dreams and plans, but will continue to live as a soldier for Christ, and a man of God who will not be afraid or ashamed to live by the laws of HIS Kingdom.   

I pray that you will be fearless like King David when you are facing your giants, and will find rest in the shadow of the One who is your strength, your shield and your fortress.

I pray that you will be as strong as the Blessed Mother in holding on to the promises of God that work beyond the tomb, and will be a blessing to those around you.

More than anything, I pray that one day God will look at you and say, “Here is a warrior, a man like David, a man after my own heart”.  If I can be certain of one thing, this is it!  One day, you will be that man; a man after God’s own heart.  

So onward soldier, take the world for Christ! 

HE hires even at 5pm...

Interesting fact about the parable of the workers in the vineyard (Matthew 20)…

The landowner goes early in the morning to hire workers, and around 9am to hire more workers, again at 3pm and at 5pm… and he pays the same wage to all the workers despite the time they were hired.

Early in the morning he would have hired the strong, the skilled, the best workers and probably around 9am.  But at 3pm and at 5pm?  Who would be hanging around for work at 5pm except the weak, the unskilled, those no one else wanted, in short, the losers.  The landowner, not only hires them, but pays them the same wage he promised those he hired early in the morning. 

This is God’s salvation, HIS mercy, HIS love… to the greatest and the smallest, to the strongest and to the weakest, to the saints and the sinners.  We are the men and women HE comes for if we dare to hang around till 5pm.   

(Inspired by Max Lucado’s "And The Angels were Silent")