ARE YOU JESUS?

ARE YOU JESUS?

One day a religion teacher began a class on Jesus by saying to some young children:

“Today I must tell you about someone whom you all must meet. He’s a person who loves you and cares for you, even more than your own family and friends. He’s a person who’s kinder than the kindest person you know. He’s a person who forgives you, no matter how often you do wrong. No matter what you wrong, he is always ready to accept you to love you and to understand.

The teacher noticed a little boy getting more and more excited as he talked. Suddenly the little boy could hold back no longer. He blurted out, ‘I know the man you’re talking about. He lives on our street.”

Dear friends do our neighbours, youth, children see us like Jesus? We are children of Christ and one way of our living suppose to be the way of Christ. Do people see me as a bearer of Christ in my dealing, talking and action?

v    To be a Christian is to be someone who shows others, in practice some of what Jesus is like. 

v    It is important to Jesus that others recognize us a belonging to him. “By this will all men know that you are my disciples if you have love one for another.” (Jn 13:35)

v    You shall be my witnesses…to the ends of the earth.

WHY NO CHANGE?

WHY NO CHANGE?

Mike was a Christian, and his pal Joe, an atheist. Joe lost no opportunity to have a ‘go’ at Mike about what he saw as the irrelevance of Christianity.

One day they were out for a walk when they came across a gang of ‘toughies’, who were fighting and swearing. Joe pointed to the scene, and said, “Look Mike, it’s been 2000 years since Jesus came into the world, and it’s still filled with aggression and violence.” Mike said nothing.

Five minutes later they came upon a group of dirty faced children. Now it was Mike’s turn. He pointed to the kids and said to Joe, “Look Joe it’s over 2000 years since soap was first discovered, and yet the world’s still filled with dirty faces.”

v    Nothing happens until you use the soap!

v    There is nothing automatic about Jesus or his message. It’s like discovering a cure for cancer. Nothing happens until the patient takes the medicine.

SHARING OUR FOOD

 

SHARING OUR FOOD

There is a legend told about Abraham in the Mid-east. According to the legend he always held off, eating his breakfast each morning until a hungry person came along to share it with him.

One day an old man came along and of course Abraham invited to share his breakfast with him. However, when Abraham heard the old man say a pagan blessing over his food, he jumped up, and ordered the man to get out from the table, and form his house.

Almost immediately, God spoke to Abraham, “Abraham, Abraham! I have been supplying that unbeliever with food everyday for the past eighty years. Could you not have tolerated him for just one meal?”

There is a saying about sharing our food with strangers, and unknown to ourselves, actually entertaining angels.

Hey! We do behave at times like Abraham. When we think that we are better than others we do not take their feelings and their views into account. At times we behave that we are holy and perfect among our companions. And the little mistake they make becomes the joke of the day. We like Abraham do lot of good things and charity but can’t bear up the old pagan man or our companions who do not go according to our thought pattern. Are we ready to share our life, time, knowledge and material objects with the person we do not like much?

v    Even a cup of cold water shared with another will not go unrewarded (Mt 10:42)

v    Jesus has strong words to say about those who only love or share with those who are friend, or with those who can give in return (Mt 5:47)

SAINT 

OR 

?

This story is told about Leonardo da Vinci, when he was painting “The Lord’s Supper,” He chose an attractive young man called Pietri Bandinelli to be his model for Jesus in the painting.

The complete work took several years to finish. The final character was Judas, and Leonardo went into the slums, and all of the “dives” in town looking for someone who would serve as a model for Judas. He was looking for someone who would clearly stand out as such in any gathering.

He found the perfect man, one who was depraved and vicious looking. Later as he was painting, Leonardo sensed there was something familiar about the man, and he asked him if they had ever met before. “Yes, w have,” replied the man, “but much has happened in my life since than.” He said his name was Bandinelli, that it was he who was the model for Jesus some time before.

Dear friends whom do you want to be? Life is full of surprises and it was so in the case of Leonardo. The man who was model for Jesus turned out to be a model for Judas too. Time and circumstances changes one’s life but ultimately it is the inner conscience and one’s decision that enables one to be either Jesus or Judas. So whom do you want to be?

v    It is important, more important. To remember that the reverse could equally be true – the Judas of yesterday could be the Jesus of today.

v    After all, a saint is a sinner whom Jesus saved and sanctified. 

WHY NO CHANGE?

WHY NO CHANGE?

Mike was a Christian, and his pal Joe, an atheist. Joe lost no opportunity to have a ‘go’ at Mike about what he saw as the irrelevance of Christianity.

One day they were out for a walk when they came across a gang of ‘toughies’, who were fighting and swearing. Joe pointed to the scene, and said, “Look Mike, it’s been 2000 years since Jesus came into the world, and it’s still filled with aggression and violence.” Mike said nothing.

Five minutes later they came upon a group of dirty faced children. Now it was Mike’s turn. He pointed to the kids and said to Joe, “Look Joe it’s over 2000 years since soap was first discovered, and yet the world’s still filled with dirty faces.”

v    Nothing happens until you use the soap!

v    There is nothing automatic about Jesus or his message. It’s like discovering a cure for cancer. Nothing happens until the patient takes the medicine.

GOSSIPING

GOSSIPING

Three priests were on a retreat together. They were sharing their struggle and difficulties with each other. The atmosphere seemed right and it seemed safe to share at a depth that was much deeper than usual.

One priest confessed to being a secret drinker, and he gave much detail of how he managed to conceal and cover up that fact. The second priest confessed to having a gambling addiction even to using money form the parish account to feed his addiction. He spoke of his dread of the inevitable when he could no longer cover up, and his scam would be uncovered.

The third priest was reluctant to share and it was only after persuasion that he confessed his secret weakness: he was incurable gossip. He has never been able to keep a secret!

Dear friends what kind of person are we? Are we like the first priest, or second priest or the third priest? I hope not like the third priest who gossiped all the time. If we are like him let’s try to control our tongue every time we are tempted to gossip.

v    “If anyone can control his tongue, it proves that he has perfect control over himself in every other way.”

v    I may not plant a bomb or fire a bullet, but I can destroy others with a word.

TO LOVE HIS SON

A wealthy man lost his wife when his only child was very young. A housekeeper came to work in the house and take care of the boy. The boy died tragically at twenty years of age. The old man was without kith or kin, and he died of a broken heart some years later.

He had no heir to his enormous estate, nor could one be found. Neither was there a will, so the whole property passed to the state. In due course there was an action to dispose of the personal effects of the mansion.

The old housekeeper attended the auction, not because she could buy anything but her grief was to strong to keep her away. There was only one thing in the whole collection that attracted her attention. It was a photo of the son. She had loved him as her own. No one wanted the photo and her few pence were enough to buy it.

She brought it home, and proceeded to take it from the frame. When she opened the back of the frame some papers fell out. They looked important, so she brought them to a lawyer.

The lawyer looked at her and laughed saying, “You sure have landed on your feet this time. The old gentleman has left all his estate and all his money to the person who loved his son enough to buy the picture.”

v    Jesus has told us that if we love him, the Father will love us (Jn 14:21)

TO LOVE HIS SON

RADIO OR TELEVISION

RADIO OR TELEVISION

Fulton Sheen used to compare the Old Testament to radio, and the New Testament to television. In the Old Testament, you could hear the word of God, but in the New Testament, it was the word of God in living color!

This is a gigantic step forward, “He who see me, sees the Father,” says Jesus (Jn 14:9). Jesus came “to do and teach” (Acts 1:1). He showed us what to do by what he himself did, and then he taught us what to do.

Dear friends as we are disciples and followers of Jesus we need to do what He has taught us with His very life. We do hear the word of God daily but what is our attitude towards it? Do we try to live it according to the word of God that we hear daily  in the Holy Eucharist? If not, dear friends it never to late to do so.

v    “I have shown you by my example … you now do as I have done”. (Jn 13:15)

v    It is very important to believe and to know that Jesus is the fullness of God’s revelations – there’s nothing more we need to know.

v    Some people listen to Jesus, but imagine there’s another God “up there somewhere” – usually with a notebook and long white beard – and God is not be trusted at all.

GOD WITHIN

GOD WITHIN

An old man and his little granddaughter were at a deep well on the farm and the man was drawing out water for the animals. He lowered the bucket into the well, and poured the wateer into a barrel nearby.

The littel girl was playing around, looking up into the clear blue sky, and then peering down into the deep well.

Suddenly with the spontaneity of a child she asked "Grand dad, where does God live? " The grandfather lifted her in his arms, held her out over the clear deep waters of the well and asked her, "What do you see when you look down there?" "I see myself," said the girl. "And there, " said the grandfather, "is where God lives - in you."

Dear friends we are so busy that we have harldy any time to think of this fact that God dwells within us. Remember that our body is the temple of the Lord so he dwells in us. Let us be aware of this fact and let our lives show that God is within us.

• "Surely you know that you are God's temple, and that God's Spirit lives in you." (1Cor 3:16)
• The surest place to find God is in the temple of our hearts.Would that this could become a prayer room, rather than a pity parlor?

KEEP PLAYING

KEEP PLAYING

The folklore surrounding pianist Ignace Paderewski includes this story. A mother, wishing to encourage her son's progress at the piano, bought tickets for a Paderewski performance. 

They had seats near the front of the concert hall. 

The mother found a friend to talk to and the boy slipped away. 

When eight o'clock came around, the spotlights came on, and only then did they notice the boy at the piano bench innocently playing out "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."

The master appeared on the stage and quickly moved to the keyboard. 

"Don't quit. Keep playing, " he whispered to the boy. 

Leaning over, Paderewski reached down with his left hand and began filling in a bass part. Soon his right arm reached around the other side, encircling the child, to add a running obbligato. Together, the old master and the young novice held the crowd spellbound.

In our lives, unpolished though we may be, it is the Master who surrounds us and whispers in our ear, "Don't quit. Keep playing." And as we do, he arguments and supplements until a work of amazing beauty is created. 

Source : Tonic for the Heart in 1000 bottles Volume 1

Darrel L. Anderson

THE LEGEND OF THE CANDLE

THE LEGEND OF THE CANDLE

One evening a man took a small candle from a box and began to climb a long winding stairway. "Where are we going?" asked the candle. "we're going up higher than the house to show ships the way to the harbour." "But no ship in the harbour could ever see my light," said the candle. "It is so very small." 

"If your light is small," the man said, "just keep burning brightly and leave the rest to me."

when they reached the top of the lighthouse, they came to a large lamp. then he took the little candle and lit the lamp. Soon the great polished reflectors behind the lamp sent beams of lights out across miles of sea. 

We are God's light! Our job is to keep on shining and our effectiveness is in His hands. 

• Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. (Mt. 5:16)
• I am the light of the world.whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of the life. (Jn. 8:12)

Source: Tonic for the Heart in 1000 bottles Vol. 1 

- Purnell Bailey

SELF - SACRIFICE

SELF - SACRIFICE

Once when a fierce battle was being fought in the Netherlands, Sir Philip Sidney, the British Commander was severely wounded in the battle field. he was fast losing blood. feeling extremely thirsty he asked for a glass of water. 

As Sir Philip Sidney held the glass of water to his lips, he noticed a badly, wounded soldier looking longingly at it, his wide eyes showing all signs of the agony of death. Moved with COMPASSION for the dying soldier, he told the soldiers to offer the water to him saying, "His need is greater than mine."

• To recognize another's need and to sacrifice your own basic needs are truly praiseworthy. 
• To forget our own pain at someone else's agony and to console them in the mark of a selfless existence. 
• Moved with COMPASSION, Jesus touched the eyes. Immediately they regained their sight and followed him. (Mt (20:34)

LOVE

LOVE

1. True Love grows by sacrifice and the more thoroughly the soul rejects natural satisfaction, the stronger and more detached its tenderness becomes.   - St Theresa of Lisieux

2. Love cures people - both the ones who give it and the ones who receive it.   - Karl A. Menninger

3. Whenever you are confronted with an opponent. Conquer him/her with Love.  - Mahatma Gandhi

4. I Love you, not for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you.    - Roy Croft

5. Love is patient and kind; Love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude.   - (1 Cor) Bible

6. Love may be blind, but it can sure find its way around in the dark.     -Source Unknown

7. To Love is to place our happiness in the happiness of another. 

   -   Gottfried Wilhelm Von Leibniz

8. True Love is like ghosts, which everybody talks about and few have seen.     - Francois De La Rochefoucauld

9. Love is the master key which opens the gates of happiness.   

   - Oliver Wendell Holmes

10. Love and a cough cannot be hid.      - George Hebert

TRUTH

TRUTH 

1. You never find yourself until you face the truth.      - Pearl Bailey

2. Time is precious, but truth is more precious than time.  

      - Benjamin Disraeli

3. Truth is beautiful, without doubt; but so are lies. 

       - Ralph Waldo Emerson

4. Truth is a thing immortal and perpetual, and it gives to us a beauty that fades not away in time.     - Max Fuller

5. Truth is a torch that shines through the fog without dispelling it. 

           - Claude A. Helvetius

6. Always tell the truth  - it's the easiest thing to remember.     

      - David Mamet

7. Everyone wishes to have truth on his/her side, but not everyone wishes to be on the side of truth.     - Richard Whately

8. Between truth and the search for it, I choose the second.  

      - Bernard Berenson

9. All great truths are simple in final analysis, and easily understood; if they are not, they are not great truths.     - Napoleon Hill 

10. Truth is a fruit which should not be plucked until it is ripe.  

         - Voltaire

ANGER

ANGER

1. My dear brothers and sister, take a  note of this: 

"Everyone should be quick to Listen, 

Slow to speak and slow to become angry,

for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life 

that God desires."

- James 1:19-20

2. Anger is a momentary madness, so control your passion or it will control you.                       - Horace

3. anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured. 

- Source Unknown

4. When you meet up with a disagreeable person, never allow yourself to be upset. Say to yourself, if a dowdy like that can stand himself all his life, surely I can stand him for a few minutes.                - Source Unknown

5. Anger begins with folly, and ends with Repentance. 

                                            -H.G Bohn    

6. The greatest remedy for anger is delay.       -  Seneca

7. There are two things a person should never be angry at, what they can help, and what they cannot.     -Proverb

8. Man should forget his anger, before he lies down to sleep.   

     - Thomas De Quincey

9. Whatever is begun in anger, ends in shame. 

       - Benjamin Franklin

10. The angry man will defeat himself in battle as well as in life. 

        - Samurai maxim

EXAMPLE SPEAKS LOUDEST

EXAMPLE SPEAKS LOUDEST

Some young Christians were attending an international summer camp. One of the projects set before them was to discuss and explore ideas for spreading the Gospel in the world.

The discussing was wide and varied. It included the use of television and radio programmes, newspaper articles, notices in magazines, and so on. Finally, when they were out of ideas an African girl stood up and gave her opinion:

“In my country when we think that a pagan village is ready for Christianity, we don’t send them books and missionaries. We send them a good Christian family. The family’s example is a more powerful proclamation of the gospel than all the books in the world.

v     “You shall be my witnesses,” says Jesus (Acts 1:8)

v     “By this shall men know that you are my disciples, if you love one another?” (John 13:35)

v     The witness value of Christianity is central. A Christian is in the business of attracting, not promoting. 

PERSEVERANCE

PERSEVERANCE

Wilma Rudolph was a disaster from birth. She was a tiny premature baby, who caught pneumonia, then scarlet fever, and finally polio. The polio left one leg bodily crippled, with her foot twisted inward.

Until the age of eleven, Wilma hobbled around on metal braces. Then she asked her sister to keep watch while she practiced walking without the braces. She kept this up every day, afraid that her parents might discover what she was doing and she might be compelled to stop. Eventually feeling guilty she told her doctor, who was flabbergasted. However he gave her permission to continue as she was, but only for a short period of time.

Anyhow to make a long story short, Wilma worked away at it until she eventually threw away her crutches for good. She progressed to running and by the time she was sixteen she won a bronze medal in a relay race in the Melbourne Olympics. Four years later in the Roma Olympics she became the first woman in history to win three gold medals in track and field.

She returned to  a ticker tape welcome in the US had a private meeting with President Kennedy, and received the Sullivan Award as the nation’s top amateur athlete.

v     We can grow in faith, love, patience, etc. by day-in-day-out practice and perseverance.

THE LEAST OF THESE

THE LEAST OF THESE

A king who had no son to succeed him posted a notice inviting young men to come along and apply for adoption into his family. The two qualifications were love of God and love of neighbour.

A poor peasant boy was tempted to apply, but fell unable to do so because of the rags he wore. He worked hard, earned some money, bought some new clothes, and headed off to try his luck at being adopted into the king’s family.

He was halfway there, however, when he met a poor beggar on the road, who was shivering with the cold. The young man felt sorry for him and he exchanged clothes with him. There was hardly much point in going any further toward the king’s palace at this stage, now that he was back in rags again. However, the young man felt that having come this far, he might as well finish the journey.

He arrived at the palace and despite the sneers and jibes of the courtiers; he was finally admitted into the presence of the king. Imagine his amazement to see that the king was the old beggar man he had met on the road, and he was actually wearing the good clothes the young man had given! The king got down form his throne, embraced the young man, and said, “Welcome, my son!”

v     There is a direct lesson in this story to show the welcome of God for king kind and the good when they come before him after death.

v     Whatever you do to the least of these, that’s what you do unto me. (Mt. 25:40)

FOR OR AGAINST

FOR OR AGAINST

It was during the Mexican war. Thoreau, the philosopher and writer, vehemently opposed to the war, because he believed it to be an attempt to expand slaveholding territories. He refused to pay taxes, because the money was going to the work effort. He ended up in jail, rather than pay taxes.

Emerson, another philosopher and writer, a friend of his, and someone who was also strongly opposed to the war and to slavery visited him in prison. Emerson asked Thoreau, “Henry, why are you in prison?” Thoreau looked straight in the eye, and quickly asked him, “Waldo, why are you not here?”

v     Happy are they who dream dreams, and are prepared to pay the price to make their dreams come true.

v     The acid test of our conviction about anything is our willingness to be faithful to it, no matter what the consequences.

GETTING OUR OWN BACK

GETTING OUR OWN BACK

A foolish man heard that Buddha taught that you should never return evil for evil. One day the man met Buddha, and decided to test him to see if he practiced what he taught others to do. The man began to heap all kinds of verbal abuse upon the great teacher, shouting at him, and calling him all kinds of names.

All the while Buddha listened quietly. When the man had run out of things to say, Buddha said to him “My son, if a man declines to accept a gift from another, to whom does the gift go?” “Any fool knows that,” sneered the man, “the gift goes back to the giver.” “My son,” said Buddha, “you have just given me much verbal abuse. I decided to accept your gift.” The man made no reply.

Buddha continued, “My son, a man who slanders a virtuous person is like a man who spits at the sky. The spit doesn’t soil the sky, it returns to soil the face of the one who spat.”

v     The “law of the echo” said the teacher, whether you shout, curse, sing or laugh into an echo chamber – that’s what will come to you!

WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM FRIEND

WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM FRIEND

Mt Ranier is a 14, 000 – foot mountain in Washington state. Some years ago, nine physically handicapped people succeeded in climbing to summit.

One had an artificial leg, five were blind, two were deaf, and one was an epileptic. In spite of all this, they climbed the mountain, and came down together, without a mishap. When asked how they achieved such an extraordinary feat, one of the blind men said, “We got a lot of help form each other.”

v     That must surely rank as one of the understatement of the century.

v     A good example of the body of Christ in action, where the blind could see with someone else’s eyes, the deaf could hear with someone else’s ears etc.

A TRUE STORY

A TRUE STORY
 
 
Spend some time to read this! Really touching!

I was walking around in a Big Bazar store making shopping, 
when I saw a Cashier talking to a boy couldn't have been more than 5 or 6 years old.
 The Cashier said, 'I'm sorry, but you don't have enough money to buy this doll. 
Then the little boy turned to me and asked: ''Aunty, are you sure 
I don't have enough money?''
I counted his cash and replied: ''You know that you don't have enough money to buy 
 
the dolll, my dear.'' The little boy was still holding the doll in his hand. Finally, 
I walked toward him and I asked him who he wished to give this doll to. 
'It's the doll that my sister loved most and wanted so much . 
Iwanted to Gift her for her BIRTHDAY. I have to give the doll to my mommy so 
that she can give it to my sister when she goes there.' 
His eyes were so sad while saying this. 'My Sister has gone to be with God. 
Daddy says that Mommy is going to see God very soon too, so 
I thought that she could take the doll with her to give it to my sister.
'' My heart nearly stopped. The little boy looked up at me and 
aid: 'I told daddy to tell mommy not to go yet. I need her to wait until 
I come back from the mall.' 
Then he showed me a very nice photo of him where he was laughing. 
He then told me 'I want mommy to take my picture with her so my sister 
won't forget me.' 'I love my mommy and I wish she doesn't have to leave me, 
but daddy says that she has to go to be with my little sister.
' Then he looked again at the doll with sad eyes, very quietly.
I quickly reached for my wallet and said to the boy. 'Suppose we check again, 
just in case you do have enough money for the doll?'' 'OK' he said, 
I hope I do have enough.' I added some of my money to his with out him seeing and 
we started to count it. There was enough for the doll and even some spare money. 
The little boy said: 'Thank you God for giving me enough money!
' Then he looked at me and added, 'I asked last night before 
I went to sleep for God to make sure I had enough money to buy this doll, 
so that mommy could give It to my sister. He heard me!'' 'I also wanted to have 
enough money to buy a white rose for my mommy, but I didn't dare to ask 
God for too much. But He gave me enough to buy the doll and a white rose. 
My mommy loves white roses.'
I finished my shopping in a totally different state from when I started. 
I couldn't get the little boy out of my mind.. Then I remembered a local news 
paper article two days ago, which mentioned a drunk man in a truck, who 
hit a car occupied by a young woman and a little girl. The little girl died right away, 
and the mother was left in a critical state. The family had to decide whether 
to pull the plug on the life-sustaining machine, because the young woman would 
not be able to recover from the coma. Was this the family of the little boy?
Two days after this encounter with the little boy, I read in the newspaper that 
the young woman had passed away.. I couldn't stop myself as I bought a bunch 
of white roses and I went to the funeral home where the body of the young 
woman was exposed for people to see and make last wishes before her burial. 
She was there, in her coffin, holding a beautiful white rose in her hand with the 
photo of the little boy and the doll placed over her chest. 
I left the place, teary-eyed, feeling that my life had been changed for ever. 
The love that the little boy had for his mother and his sister is still, 
to this day, hard to imagine. And in a fraction of a second, 
a drunk driver had taken all this away from him.

PLEASE DO NOT DRINK & DRIVE.

THE VALUE OF A MAN OR WOMAN RESIDES IN WHAT HE OR SHE GIVES, NOT IN WHAT HE OR SHE IS CAPABLE OF RECEIVING.  

THE LOST PAGE

THE LOST PAGE

A teacher asked her class to rewrite the parable of the Lost Sheep in a way what would make more sense to the members of the class. One student wrote: Suppose you had just finished typing a 100 page term paper. You had worked long hours in drafting it and typing it. You were exhausted but deeply relieved that the job was finished. You were collecting the page to staple them and bind them when you discovered that there was one missing. Imagine the horror, the panic, the sick feeling in the pit of the stomach. You drop the other 99 pages, and begin the anxious search. Everything in you is longing and aching for a sight of that missing page. Without that page the whole project falls limp.

Suddenly, there, away in a corner is the page. You excitedly push a chair aside, sending the 99 page on it flying in all direction and you are on your knees, reaching into the corner to touch and to grasp that page.

-   That one page in the hand is a source of much greater joy and delight than the 99 pages scattered around the floor.