Friends of Jesus Youth Ministry

26/06/2023

26/06/2023 (International Day in Support of Victims of Torture)
Spiritual Spark 🔥

*Harsh judgements are torturous*

*"Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get" (Mt 7:1-2).*

Torture is a crime under international law and it is absolutely prohibited. Today United Nations Organization invites us to unite in support of the hundreds of thousands of people around the world who have been victims of torture and those who are still tortured today. Pope Francis' monthly intention for June 2023 is praying and working for the abolition of torture.

As we pray and work for the abolition of torture by the army and police all over the world, we need to also realise that knowingly or unknowingly we also torture other people. Our harsh words, our highly critical comments have the potential to torture others psychologically.

*Today let us strive hard to utter compassionate and encouraging words, instead of harsh and torturous words!*

Good day and God bless us all! 🙏🏼🗣️

24/06/2023

25/06/2023 (Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time)
Spiritual Spark 🔥

*Suffering for God's Cause*

*"It is for your sake that I have borne reproach, that shame has covered my face. I have become a stranger to my kindred, an alien to my mother's children" (Ps 69:7-8).*

Both Jesus and Jeremiah suffered immensely in carrying out the mission entrusted to them by God. Both of them cried out to the Lord, expressing the agony and anguish of their hearts. The five passionate prayers of Jeremiah are known as his confessions. They are somewhat similar to Jesus' prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. Being a prophet in the Old Testament, Jeremiah's confessions have an element of vengeance.

Psalm 69 describes the situation of both Jesus and Jeremiah. Since they stood for God and his values, they were persecuted, even though they were innocent. Just as Jeremiah's confessions end in hope and trust, and Jesus' agony in Gethsemane culminates in his surrender to the Father's will, Psalm 69 describes hope and confidence towards the end.

*If we stand for God and truth, we are bound to suffer. Do we dare to suffer for God's cause like Jesus and Jeremiah?*

Good day and God bless us all! 🙏🏼✝️

30/05/2023

30/05/2023

Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Spiritual Spark 🔥

Being Blessed like Mother Mary

"Blessed is she who believed that there would a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord" (Lk 1:45).

Mother Mary is also popularly called Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM). Blessedness is part and parcel of Mary's character. In the popular prayer, Hail Mary, we recite: "Blessed are you among women and Blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus." This sentence is taken from Elizabeth's joyful exclamation at the time of the Visitation.

In today's Gospel on the feast of the Visitation, the word "blessed" comes four times. Three times Elizabeth uses the word "blessed" and once Mary uses it. Elizabeth calls both Mary and her Son blessed. She mentions Mary's believing as the reason for her blessedness. Mary on her part acknowledges that all the generations will call her blessed and mentions the reason: because God has done great things for her.

Like Mary, let us also become blessed be believing and by acknowledging that God has done great things for us!

Good day and God bless us all! 🙏🏼😇

Friends of Jesus
Youth Ministry

30/05/2023

Spiritual Spark 🔥

Cheerful giving of ourselves to God and others

"With every gift show a cheerful face, and dedicate your tithe with gladness. Give to the most high as he has given to you, and as generously as you can afford" (Sir 35:11-12).

Today's, both the readings speak about giving and the advantage of giving generously. The first reading from the book of Sirach is a treatise on how to give. We are called to give cheerfully and generously. The basic premise behind this generous and cheerful giving is the fact that all we have is given to us by God. What we give to God and others is basically from what God has given us.

Jesus says in today's Gospel that those who have given up anything for his sake will receive hundredfold. We do not give in order to receive hundredfold. However, we believe in the principle that giving is like sowing. If we sow sparingly, we reap sparingly, but if we sow generously, we reap generously.

Today, let us resolve to give to God and others our time, talents and resources generously and cheerfully!

Good day and God bless us all! 🙏🏼💐

Friends of Jesus
Youth Ministry

27/05/2023

Solemnity of Pentecost

Spiritual Spark 🔥

Spirit Renews the Face of Earth

“When you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the earth” (Ps 104:29-30).

God breathed into Adam’s nostrils breath of life, which is the Spirit of God (Gen 2:7). This Spirit is the spirit of rejuvenation, restoration, and renewal as described in Psalm 104, which is a much-loved Creation Psalm describing God’s continuing work of creation. Biblical scholars consider this Psalm a Midrash or inner biblical interpretation on the Creation accounts in Genesis.

It is greatly beneficial to reflect on above two verses of this Psalm. We find something unexpected and revolutionary. The word “they” refers not only to humans but to all living creatures. Humans are not unique in having the breath of life. Other creatures also possess the divine breath of life (cf. Gen 6:17) and hence they must also be considered as brothers and sisters, creatures of the same Father.

Today, on the feast of Pentecost let us realise that the Spirit of God, which is present in all living beings, recreates and reestablishes the lost harmony between Adam and Adamah, the earth from which we are created!

Good day and may God fill us with his Holy Spirit so that we may preserve our Mother Earth! 🙏🏼🕊️🪲🪿🦉🐗🦋🐢🌳🙏🏼

Friends of Jesus
Youth Ministry

26/05/2023

Spiritual Spark 🔥

Doing the work of God with all boldness and without hindrance

"Paul lived in Rome for two whole years at his own expense and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance" (Acts 28:30-31).

The last two Greek words in the Acts of the Apostles are very significant. They are "parresia" and "akolutos". They describe Paul's disposition. Many of us are familiar with the word "parresia". Pope Francis is very fond of this word, which means courage, confidence, boldness and fearlessness.

The word "parresia" occurs several times in the Bible. The word "akolutos" is hapax legomenon, that means it occurs only once in the Bible. It turns out to be the last word of the Acts of the Apostles. At the end of his life, Paul had made himself so attuned to the Spirit of God that the message of the Gospel could be conveyed through him with all boldness and without any hindrance, without any resistance on his part.

Like Paul, let us remove all obstacles and all hindrances within us so that the word of God may be proclaimed through our lives with boldness and without any hindrance!

Good day and God bless us all! 🙏🏼🛐

Friends of Jesus
Youth Ministry

24/05/2023

Spiritual Spark 🔥

May God's love flood our hearts

"I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them" (Jn 17:26).

With the above words Jesus concludes his high priestly prayer to God the Father on behalf of his disciples and on behalf of all of us. This sentence in a way describes the entire life mission of Jesus. In and through his life and mission, Jesus revealed to the world the name of God. The name stands for the person and the characteristics of the person. The person and the chief characteristic of God which Jesus revealed to us is his love.

Jesus is the embodiment of love and that is why Jesus' final prayer to God the Father is that God's love may remain in us and Jesus, the love made flesh, may also abide in us.

Today, let us pray that Jesus may find a dwelling place in our hearts so that the love of God may flood our hearts and flow out to all those people who come in contact with us!

Good day and God bless us all! 🙏🏼💖

Friends of Jesus
Youth Ministry

23/05/2023

Our Lady of the Wayside / Mary, the Help of Christians

Spiritual Spark 🔥

Protection from the evil one

"I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one" (Jn 17:15).

Before entering into his passion, in his high priestly prayer to the Father, Jesus prays for each one of us. He is concerned about our spiritual well-being. We are in the world, but not of the world. That is why he asks the Father to protect us from the snares of the evil one as we journey through this world towards our heavenly abode.

Today we celebrate the memory of Mother Mary. God's protection comes to us in many ways and means. His protection is experienced very powerfully in and through Mother Mary. Jesus has given us his Mother to help us and protect us on our life's journey.

Today, let us ask our blessed Mother to intercede for us and our family members so that we may be protected from the evil one!

Good day and God bless us all! 🙏🏼🌷

Friends of Jesus
Youth Ministry

21/05/2023

Spiritual Spark 🔥

Have I received the Holy Spirit?

Paul said to the disciples in Ephesus, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?" They replied, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit" (Acts 19:2).

On the coming Sunday, we will be celebrating the solemn feast of Pentecost, which is also called the birthday of the Church. Because of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the disciples became bold to preach the Gospel in the face of all the hardships and persecution. Christianity is incomplete and insipid without the devotion to the Holy Spirit.

The Pentecostal and evangelical churches give the Holy Spirit an important place in their liturgy and life. Unfortunately, many Catholics are worse than the Ephesian disciples mentioned in today's first reading. The Ephesian disciples had genuinely not heard about the Holy Spirit. Many Catholics have heard about the Holy Spirit, but they have not made the devotion to the Holy Spirit an important part of their daily life.

Let us realise the importance of the Holy Spirit in our Christian life and develop a burning devotion to the Holy Spirit to make our Christian life vibrant!

Good day and God bless us all! 🙏🏼🕊️

Friends of Jesus
Youth Ministry

21/05/2023

Ascension Sunday
Spiritual Spark 🔥

Things we do not know and things we know

Jesus replied, "It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses" (Acts 1:7-8).

Disciples were eager to know about the final restoration, when the Kingdom of God will be fully realised. When they asked Jesus about it, the ascending Jesus told them that they cannot know about the end of time, which only God knows. However, Jesus reveals to them that they can know some important things.

Two interrelated things are mentioned by Jesus. First, the disciples will receive the power of the Holy Spirit. Second, empowered by the Holy Spirit, the disciples will become Jesus' witnesses all over the world.

It is not in our power to know the future, but it is in our power to bear witness to God empowered by the Holy Spirit. That is the message of ascending Jesus to us today.

Good day and God bless us all! 🙏🏼⬆️

Friends of Jesus
Youth Ministry

17/05/2023

Spiritual Spark 🔥

Pain turns into joy in a little while

"Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy" (Jn 16:20).

Today's Gospel ends with the above verse and tomorrow's Gospel will begin with the same verse. Thus this verse functions as a bridge between two Gospel passages. In today's Gospel the phrase "a little while" (in Greek "mikron") appears seven times. This enigmatic expression puzzles the disciples. That is why Jesus gives an explanation.

The explanation begins with Jn 16:20, the verse quoted above. Jesus lets his disciples know that they are not going to have a bed of roses. Their life will be full of pain. But this pain will last only for "a little while". After that micro period of time, they will be filled with joy because of Jesus' resurrection and because of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

If we truly believe in Jesus, pain lasts only "a little while" because Jesus' resurrection transforms our pain into joy!

Good day and God bless us all! 🙏🏼😭😃

Friends of Jesus
Youth Ministry