HAIL MARY FULL OF GRACE

The Hail Holy Queen Prayer is nearly 500 years old. Second only to the Hail Mary Prayer, this is the most popular prayer directed toward Mary. When praying this prayer you ask Mary for her help in all your needs.

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Following are the intentions of the prayer for better understanding:
We are all searching for peace. The phrase, “banished children of Eve,” refers to this fact. There are times in your life when you are afflicted with disappointments, heartbreaks, and illnesses. These are known as “the valley of tears.”
As you learn while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary, she experienced joys and sorrows as you do. You can turn to Mary during these times of trial in your life. She will help you find peace amidst your worries. She is our “most gracious” mother, because we are Jesus’ brothers and sisters we too are Mary’s children. Like a good mother she longs to protect and rescue you, her child. She is always kind and loving, and that is exactly what you are asking her to do when you pray “turn thy eyes of mercy towards us”. She is referred to queen in this prayer because of her relationship with her Son Jesus, Who is Christ the King. He gave her to you and me when He was on the cross as it is written in John 19:26-27 Woman, behold thy son. After that, he saith to the disciple: Behold thy mother.
This beautiful prayer will give you confidence to turn to Mary in all the struggles life throws you. And when you find this confidence, you will live a much more peaceful life knowing that you have someone bringing your worries to God on your behalf. You will truly learn to let go and find peace in your life.

Hail Holy Queen Prayer
Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy,
Hail our life, our sweetness and our hope,
To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve;
To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears;
Turn, then most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy towards us,
And after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb Jesus.
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary!

V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God,
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ

Amen.

Hail the Holy Queen Mary

Jesus, Dad&Son and Wedding at Cana

Of all the experiences of night vigil that happened on the night of good friday, I remember a reflection. The reflection was about the wedding at cana. It was at cana that Jesus performed his first miracle.

 A child was very happy as he had given his final exams and now for a few days, it would be all fun and play in his life. He was preparing to go out and play cricket with his friends.  As he searched his cricket bat all around his house, his dad observed the enthusiasm of his child. The sense of freedom and unending energy was quite visible on his face. His dad asked him, so son, finally exams over. The child replied, o yes dad, they are. How did they all go, did you do well, asked the dad again. The child answered, yes dad, they went well, I am going to get good marks this time. Dad answered, I will pray for you son. Son replied, what dad, what’s the use praying now, exams are over. You should have prayed during my exams, now praying is useless. Saying this the child ran out with his bat to play with his friends. His dad kept thinking, his son had raised a valid point, what’s the use praying now, he has already given his exams. Nothing can be done now, he thought.

At the wedding of cana, when wine ran out, Mother Mary asks Jesus to intervene. Jesus asks the servants to fill water in six stone jars, each stone jar could hold twenty to thirty gallons of water. The servants obeyed and filled all the six jars to brim with water. Jesus asks them, to draw some water from the jar and take it to the headwaiter. The headwaiter tastes it, the water which has turned into wine. He calls the groom and says, everyone serves the good wine first and then the second rate wine, you kept the good wine until now. This was the first miraculous sign that Jesus did and revealed his glory to his disciples.

Now let’s come back to the contemporary times, the son and the dad, if you read the second chapter of gospel of St John carefully, Jesus asks the servants to fill six stone jars having a storage capacity of twenty to thirty gallons with water. Now try filling a drum which has a capacity of fifty litres manually. Quite a tiresome task right, the servants filled six gallons. How much hard work they all must have put in to fill those jars, once the jars were filled Jesus turned water into wine. If only servants had refused to fill the jar, the miracle wouldn’t have taken place in the first place. The servants obeyed Jesus and did their part, rest they left it on Jesus. Jesus blesses their efforts and converts water into wine.

In the present times, the son has done the hard work, he has filled the jars with water, he has filled the answer sheet with answers, now nothing can be done. Like Mother Mary intervened, His Father should intervene and pray to Jesus. So that his son’s efforts bear fruit and he too enjoys the wine of everlasting life.

Work hard and wait for miracles to happen in your life.

Amen.

–

Issac Thomas

JOHN 15 : I AM THE TRUE VINE

I am the true vine and my father is the vine dresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away and every branch that bears fruit, he prunes that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. abide in me and I in you. as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless its abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him bears much fruit for without me, you can do nothing.

If anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered and they gather them and throw them and they are burned. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it will be done for you. by this my Father is glorified that you bear much fruit, so you will be my disciples. As the Father loved me, I also have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments and abide in my love, just as I have kept my father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you that my joy may remain in you and that your joy may be full.

This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. greater love has no one than this than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are my friends if you do whatever I command you. no longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing but I have called you friends, for all things I have heard from Father, I have made know to you. you did not choose me but I chose you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give you.

These things I command you, that you love one another. If the world hates you, you know It hated me before it hated you. if you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. remember the word I said to you, a servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. if they kept my word, they will keep yours too, but all this things they will do to you for my name sake because they do not know him who sent me.

If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates me, hates my Father also. If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, “they hated me without a cause”. But when the helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify of me. and you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.

BIBLE INSPIRATIONS

“It is not what a man does that determines whether his work is sacred or secular, it is why he does it.”

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men…..It is the Lord Christ you are serving. (COLOSSIANS 3:23,24)

BIBLE INSPIRATIONS

“The Future Belongs to those who believe in the beauty of dreams.”

 

Anything is possible if you have faith- GOSPEL OF ST MARK 9:23

SEASONS OF LIFE

There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away.
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The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in summer, and the youngest son in the fall. When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen.
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The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted. The second son said, “no – it was covered with green buds and full of promise”. The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen. The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment.
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The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they had each seen but only one season in the tree’s life.
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He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season, and that the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from that life can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up.
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If you give up when it’s winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer, fulfillment of your fall.
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Moral: Don’t let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest. Don’t judge life by one difficult season. Persevere through the difficult patches and better times are sure to come some time or later.

BE WILLING TO MAKE MISTAKES

The apostles were fishermen, illiterate and ignorant. But they accepted the flame that fell from the heavens. They were not ashamed of their own ignorance, they had faith in the holy spirit. This gift is there for anyone who will accept it. one has to believe, accept and be willing to make mistakes.

WHY IS IT NECESSARY TO GO TO CHURCH ?

Given the Bible commands us to keep on meeting together, that is, to go to church (“let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing” (Hebrews 10:25)), it is clearly impossible to obey what the Bible says and not to attend church regularly.

The fundamental issue behind this question is the nature of a Christian, and also of the Church – and the two are closely related at this point.

When someone becomes a Christian, they’re not just a single person who’s now a Christian. Rather, they become part of the body of Christ (that is, the church). Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:13:

For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body – whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free – and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

In other words, when someone becomes a Christian, they are baptised into one body (Christ’s), and they are members of that body together with other Christians. Paul continues to describe the church as a body in verses 14-26, and argues that as in a human body every part (eye, hand, arm, leg, etc.) is needed, so also in the body of Christ, every part is needed. Paul concludes his argument in v. 27:

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

Therefore, if someone is a Christian and isn’t a member of a church and doesn’t regularly attend that church, in effect they’re saying to the other parts of the body (to other Christians), “I don’t need you” (cf. 1 Corinthians 12: 21). However, the reality is that we do need each other, just as a human body needs all its parts: its head, arms and feet, etc.

This corporate nature of the church is also seen in the New Testament in other pictures that are used for the church. For example, the picture of a temple in 1 Peter 2:5:

You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

(Note that “you” at the start of this verse is plural: i.e. “you all together, like living stones, are being built…”)

This is why the New Testament is full of commands to love or serve one another, because we are one body together and we need each other, and other Christians need us too. Here is a list of some of the commands to each other in the New Testament:

• 1 Peter 1:22: “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.”

• Hebrews 10:24: “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.”

• Philippians 2:3-4: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

• Galatians 6:1-2: “Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

• Ephesians 4:25: “Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbour, for we are all members of one body.”

Forgive one another, as God has forgiven you through Christ.

So Get rid of your old self, which made you live as you used to- the old self that was being destroyed by its deceitful desires. Your hearts and minds must be made completely new and you must put on new self, which is created in God’s likeness and reveals itself in the true life that is upright and holy.

No more lying then! Each of you must tell the truth to the other believer, because we are all members together in the body of Christ. If you become angry, do not let your anger lead you into sin, and do not stay angry all day. Don’t give devil a chance. If you used to rob, you must stop robbing and start working, in order to earn an honest living for yourself and to be able to help the poor. Do not use harmful words, but only helpful words, the kind that buildup and provide what is needed, so that what you say will do good to those who hear you. And do not make God’s holy spirit sad; for the spirit is God’s mark of ownership on you, a guarantee that a day will come when God will set you free. Get rid of all the bitterness, passion, and anger. No more shouting or insults, no more hateful feelings of any sort. Instead be kind and tender hearted to one another, and forgive one another, as God has forgiven you through Christ.

( Ephesians 4:22-32)

BEING SINGLE

This is a subject that is sometimes misunderstood by Christians. Everyone has been single at some point or another, and from early teenage years and upward there is often pressure to at least have a boy/girlfriend, to have sexual relationships, to marry, to have children. It is often considered strange not to experience these things it is considered strange. The Bible tells us that our bodies are the temple of the living God in 1 Corinthians 6:18 – 19. These verses also state that sexual sins are sins against one’s own body. Because of the pressure to explore sexual relationships outside of marriage many young Christians have gone down this path, and it is likely to affect them for the rest of their lives. Song of Solomon 8:4 gives some wise advise: “Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires”.

Paul teaches that getting married is not wrong, but for a Christian it is better to remain single so that their lives can be devoted to the Lord. Those who marry will have a spouse and probably children who will need to attention, love, help and support, and at times these may distract from serving the Lord. However Paul does say that if a couple are finding it hard to be self controlled and refrain from sexual relations it is better that they marry so that they are not sinning against the Lord because of immorality.

Many people long to be married, and feel that God is unfair in not allowing them to find a lifelong partner, and some well-meaning Christians may use the verse “no good thing will he (God) withhold from them that walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11). This can cause a lot of pain in that the young Christian will believe that they have sinned and so God is withholding a marriage partner from them. In Matthew 19:9 -12 we read that Jesus says for some people it is better not to marry, so that they may serve God better. Being single is not a punishment from God and it is not necessarily a test. The most important part of being single is being content with ‘who’ you are, and the situation you are in at this point.

Many people marry later on in life, and for some they had come to the point of accepting singleness, and getting married later on in life was a surprise for them. Paul said “I have learned the secret of being content whatever the circumstances” (Philippians 4:12). This is the secret for singles too. Many people who are married find life extremely hard, and wish to be free and single again, and look with envy at the single person. We realise that accepting who you are and what you have at the moment is vital for contentment, joy, and fulfilment in life. Don’t allow yourself to be pushed into a relationship or feel deprived if you don’t have one.

Psalm 84:11 is true, “the Lord will not withhold any good thing from his children, when they walk uprightly”. If you are single right now, but would prefer to be married, seek God and his will above anything else. If his plan for you is to marry it will happen, if not, it won’t, but if you’re hung up on being single you will waste away the best years of your life pining for something that is not to be.