Fr. (Prof) J. Mariakumar SVD & Ms. M. Pereira

Jesus says to the believers: “ If you continue in my word, you are

truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will

make you free” (Jn. 8.31.32).

“Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to

his people, to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts”

(Ps.85. 8). Quite often many people lead lives burdened with many

problems of life. But our loving God has an answer and solution for

all the crises we face. He speaks about it in His Word. Jesus pointed

out: “Is it not the reason that you are wrong, that you know

neither the Scriptures nor the power of God?” (Mk. 12.24.). Yes,

not only that we make mistakes, but also “we are destroyed for lack of

knowledge” (Hos. 4.6).

Our Creator God has ‘a plan of welfare about our future’ (Jer. 29.11),

but our enemy, the Satan wants to ‘destroy, steal and kill’ us (Jn.

10.10). God is Truth and His Word reveals the Truth about God, about

us, about our wellbeing, about our relationship with God, ourselves

and others…But the enemy, ‘who is the father of lies’ (Jn. 8.44)

distorts this Truth and injects lies and half truths into the mind of

human beings, thereby ruining their lives. As the Holy Spirit reveals:

“The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to

the simple” (Ps. 119. 130). The word of God is powerful to remove all

darkness and to break all bondages from our lives. We should believe

firmly in God’s word so that it will transform our lives. When St. Paul

preached the word of God to the Thessalonians, “they received it not

as a human word but what it really is, God’s word” (1 Thess.2. 13)

So it is high time that we become more and more familiar with the

Truth of God’s Word, believe in it, and affirm the Truth against all

the tactics of the evil one. The Holy Spirit reminds us through St.

Paul: “Take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench

all the flaming arrows of the evil one” (Eph. 6.16). Mother Mary is

called ‘blessed’ because “she believed that there would be a

fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord” (Lk. 1.45). She is

our model to ‘treasure God’s word and ponder them in our heart’ (Lk.

2.19). May we invoke her powerful intercession, especially through

the weapon of Rosary and also pray to the Holy Spirit, the principal

author of all Scriptures (CCC 304) to help us to keep God’s word as ‘a

lamp to our feet and a light to our path’ (Ps. 119.105) so that we may

not stumble in the darkness of sin, anxiety, fear, doubt, guilt,

depression, addictions, unbelief…and all that will ‘steal, destroy and

kill’ the blessings of the Lord in our lives.

Once Mother Theresa was at the air port .The Emigration staff was

enquiring with each traveler whether he/ she was carrying any

weapons. Mother Theresa’s turn came. She was asked very politely by

the staff: “Mother, do you have any weapons?” In all humility she

replied: “Yes, I do have”. The staff said a bit furiously: “Take it out”.

Mother took out her Bible and Rosary and said: “These are my

weapons”. We have no human enemy but only the powers of

darkness (Eph.6.12); and “our weapons of our warfare are not merely

human, but they have divine power to destroy strongholds” (2

Cor.10.4). Since we fail to use our weapons in the right way, we

become a prey to the attacks of the enemy.

This small booklet is a humble attempt to expose the Light of God’s

Word against the darkness of ignorance and disbelief about God’s

Truth, which is the cause of today’s problems. Use God’s Word as a

powerful weapon against the onslaughts of Satan. How blessed our

lives will be, if we read, believe and live by God’s Word rather than

human words and human standards. “The law of the Lord is perfect,

reviving the soul; the decrees of the Lord are sure, making the simple

wise; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the

commandment of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eyes” (Ps.

19.7,8). Jesus defeated Satan in the desert by just quoting the

Scriptures with conviction. Against the three temptations, Jesus said:

“It is written” quoting Deut 8.3, 6.16 and 6.13. Yes he used the Sword

of the Spirit, the Word of God (Eph 6.17) ’Rhema’, the spoken Word.

It is not our ‘intellectual faith or belief, but belief ‘from our heart’,

with conviction. God’s word says that we need to ‘believe with our

heart and confess with our mouth’ in order to be saved (Ro. 10.10).

Just by memorizing the Word or saying with our lips is not sufficient.

We need to believe with our heart, affirm the truth and confess and

proclaim with our mouth. Only then God’s Word will have its full

effect in us. Let this booklet help you to do that.

The more of God’s word is in my mind and heart, the less chance for

the enemy to deceive me with his lies. So let us read and meditate the

Word of God more and more when there is yet time for it, because

days will come when there will be a ‘famine for God’s word’. “People

shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, but they shall not

find it” (Amos.8.11, 12).

The Bible scholars have pointed out that there are over 35,500 versus

in the Bible, out of which over 8000 versus are promises of God to us.

Our loving Father has given us these promises to guide us, strengthen

us, and to encourage us in our journey to our Father’s House. We are

in a Covenant relationship with our living God and when we fulfill

the conditions attached to the promises, we will experience that all

these promises are ‘Yes’ in Jesus Christ for me. In other words, when

we live in Christ, all the promises of God will be fulfilled in us.

“Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering,

for he who has promised is faithful” (Heb. 10.23)

Mary Pereira

The Nativity of our Blessed Virgin Mary

The Nativity of our Blessed Virgin Mary, our Mother is celebrated universally by the Catholic Church, Orthodox Churches and Anglican Churches on the 8^th of September. The Birthday of the Mother of Jesus is very special for us because she has been chosen to be the Mother of our Savior by God Almighty who deigned her to be conceived without original sin. We read in the book of Hebrews: “When Christ was about to come into the world, he said to God: —–You have prepared a body for me” (10.5).

Usually we plan to celebrate the birthdays of our dear ones, foreseeing the dates, planning to buy some gifts, search in the internet for a special gift, place the order before time so that we get it on time to be given to our dear ones on their birthday. Our Mother Church, in view of the celebration of the Birthday of our dear Mother, is starting a special prayer of Novena from 30^th of August. We are privileged to join with the Universal Church in this Novena.

In this context, I am very happy to share with all, about the most favorite prayer which our Mother likes. It is nothing but the prayer: “Hail Mary, full of Grace; the Lord is with you”. God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth with a message to Mary. So what the angel told her was exactly what the Heavenly Father asked the angel to tell Mary. (Lk. 1.26-28). The angel was only a messenger to carry out what was told her by the heavenly Father. So when we pray Hail Mary, we are addressing our Mother in the very words of our Heavenly Father. I am sure that our Heavenly Father is happy when we repeat His words devoutly.

When Mary visited Elisabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, Elisabeth said: “Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb” (Lk. 1.41, 42). These words which came from her mouth was definitely being influenced, motivated and inspired by the Holy Spirit. There is no doubt that the Holy Spirit is only happy when we recite repeatedly these words with devotion.

In the second half of the prayer, ‘Hail Mary’, we boldly address her as the Mother of God, which again was said by Elisabeth when she was filled with the Holy Spirit. (Lk.  1.43). So we can be sure that the Holy Spirit is happy when we repeat these words with devotion.

Many Exorcists, including the Chief Exorcist of Vatican, Father Gabriel Amorth (May his soul rest in peace) have agreed with Mother Mary that the prayer of Rosary is a powerful weapon against our enemy, the Satan. From their experience in the Ministry, they say that each ‘Hail Mary’ is a deadly blow to Satan, like a nail hitting their forehead!

Once a Benedictine Brother asked his Rector permission to join for the supper little late. This Brother had the habit of completing a full Rosary – the Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries- (Luminous was not formulated that time) every day before dinner. Because he could not complete it that day he went to his room. Since he did not come back after some time, the Rector sent another Seminarian to bring him. When he went to the other Brother’s room, he found it closed and he could hear some melodious voice from inside. He peeped through the key hole. He found the Brother inside, kneeling before a statue of Mother Mary, looking at her face and devoutly praying the Rosary. Each Hail Mary was turning into a beautiful Rose and was being added to the crown of Mother Mary. Fascinated by this sight, he stood there looking at it. When the second Brother also did not return, the Rector himself got up to go to the room and he too eye witnessed the fact!

Recently, when I was in Fatima for preaching a retreat along with Fr.James Mariakumar, we were in the convent chapel where we were staying on the 14^th of Aug, the Eve of the Feast of Assumption of our Lady. That night we were completing our 33 days Novena for our Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mother Mary. With the joy of doing the Consecration on the following day, which was the Feast day of our Mother, as we were in the chapel for some time, I strongly felt the fragrance of Roses. I realized that our Mother has blessed  us with her Presence, for there were no roses in that chapel with such fragrance. The next day when I shared my experience with one of our friends, she asked me: “Was it not the fragrance of Lily?” Yes, usually people get fragrance of Lily, but I realized that our Mother gave me the fragrance of Roses, because I share the experience of this Benedictine Brother in my classes on Mother Mary or on Rosary.

Dear friends, let us also devoutly pray ‘Hail Mary’s and add Roses to her crown. Especially in these Novena days let us pray a full Rosary or few ‘Hail Mary’s with this intention: ‘Dear Mother, I want to give a Beautiful bouquet of Roses on your Birthday’. Let us pray the prayer which is very dearest to her heart with much love and devotion. And we can take this bouquet on 8^th Sept. when we go to church to celebrate her Birthday and joyously present it to her while attending the Holy Eucharist or while participating in the Procession.

May our dear Mother cover all of us – the whole world- within her Mantle and take us safely closer and closer to her dear Son, our Saviour and Lord Jesus.

Mary Pereira.

  Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Today, the 21st of November the Church celebrates the Feast of Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. God has chosen her to be the uncorrupted Ark of the dwelling place of His Son, our Saviour Lord Jesus Christ.

Mary sang in her ‘Magnificat’ (Song of Praise’): “Surely from now on all generations will call me blessed” (Lk. 1.48). The Church gives her due respect and honor because God has chosen her and honored her ‘looking with favor on her lowliness’. Let us honor this ‘gentle woman’, ‘Morning Star’, ‘Virgin most pure’, ‘the most beloved of the Holy Spirit. St. Louis de Montfort has said: “When the Holy Spirit finds Mary in a soul, He flies to it”.

The Holy Spirit inspired St. Paul to tell: “God willed to make known to them the riches of the glory of his mysterious plan among the Gentile nations; it is Christ in you, your hope in glory” (Col.1.270

The Spirit of Christ dwells in the heart of everyone who believes in Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you and your household will be saved”, St. Paul said to the jailer in Macedonia (Acts 16.31). There is no force of changing the culture, creed or religion. “If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart you believe that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom 10.9))

The title of one of the books of St. Augustine is this: ‘Love God and do what you like’. But it has a deeper meaning. When we love a person we will want to do only what that person likes. So Jesus said: “If you love me, obey my commandments”(Jn. 14.15). So loving the Lord means obeying the Commandments. “God’s love requires us to keep his commandments”(1 Jn 5.3)

Please listen to the audio ‘Recognise Christ in you’ in the page Media (with Ukranian translation).

We have entered into the month of October in which the Church encourages the faithful to have special devotion to the powerful prayer of Rosary – powerful  because, we are repeating the Word of God and meditating on the various events in the life of Jesus and Mother Mary. Rosary is both vocal prayer and meditation. In many apparitions Mother Mary has encouraged us to pray the Rosary devoutly so that we will have the strength to overcome temptations. In one of her apparitions she said: “Mothers, recite the Rosary. It is such a powerful weapon for saving your children and bringing them all to heaven”.

Once Mother Theresa was at the airport.  Checking for emigration was going on. They were asking the passengers whether they possess any weapons with them. Mother Theresa was in the queue and her turn came. Very politely the staff asked her the same question. She too said politely: “Yes, I have”. The staff said, “Take it out”. She took out her Bible and Rosary and said: “these are my weapons”.

Read further in the page Catechesis

Mary Pereira

It was in the Tradition of the Church to honor our Lady of sorrows. The devotion to the seven sorrows of Our Lady has its roots in the Bible. When baby Jesus was taken to the church by Mother Mary and St. Joseph,  Simeon said to Mother Mary: “This child will be a sign that will be opposed…..and a sword will pierce your own soul also” (Lk. 2. 34,35). As Mary stood at the foot of the Cross of Jesus, the sword of sorrow which Simeon had foretold did really pierce through her heart. The devotion to Our Lady of Seven Sorrows (dolors) was passed on by St. Bridget (1303- 1373). Pope Pius VII, in 1817 extended this Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows to the universal Church. In 1913, Pope Pius X fixed the date on September 15. The Blessed Virgin Mary grants seven graces to the souls who honor her daily by praying seven Hail Mary’s and meditating on her seven sorrows. The following are the seven swords that pierced her heart.

1. The prophecy of Simeon
2. The flight into Egypt
3. The loss of child Jesus in the temple
4. The meeting of Jesus and Mary on the way of the Cross
5. The Crucifixion
6. The taking down of the Body of Jesus from the Cross
7. The burial of Jesus.

The Lady of Seven Sorrows is the Patron of Slovakia.

As we honor our Mother with this devotion, let us also make up in our lives whatever is lacking in the sufferings of Christ for the good of the Church, which is the Body of Christ (Col.1.24). May all the sufferings of the persecuted Church be united with the sufferings of Jesus and of the sorrows of His Mother in producing fruits of Redemption for many.

Let us pray: ‘Holy Mother, pierce me through in my heart, each wound renew of my Saviour Crucified’.

Mary Pereira

The Church celebrates the Triumph of the Cross on the 14^th of September. It is also called the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. It commemorates the recovery of the Holy Cross by St. Helena.

Cross was a symbol of curse until Jesus died upon the cross. “Christ rescued us from the curse of the Law by becoming cursed himself for our sake, as it is written: There is a curse on everyone who is hanged on a tree” (Gal. 3, 13). Jesus said: “I lay down my life of my own free will” (Jn.10. 18). He willingly gave Himself up for our salvation. “Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed” (Is. 53. 4,5)

‘The cross on which Jesus, the Son of Man, was lifted up has become the symbol of his victory over the power of evil. He made the instrument of humiliation, torture and death the instrument of our redemption’ (The Weekly Missal).  So we proclaim our faith after the Consecration during the Holy Mass: ‘Dying you destroyed our death; rising you restored our life; Lord Jesus, come in glory’

Cross is not a sign of failure but of victory; not a sign of weakness but of strength. In Cross is our salvation. It may be a scandal and folly for unbelievers as St. Paul tells: “The language of the cross remains nonsense for those who are being lost. Yet for us who are being saved, it is the power of God. We proclaim a crucified Messiah…..Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. In reality, the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength” (1 Cor. 1.18, 23-25).

In General Audience, on 29^th October 2008 Pope Benedict XVI beautifully brought out ‘The Theology of the Cross’. “Centuries after Paul we see that in history it was the Cross that triumphed and not the wisdom that opposed it. The Crucified One is wisdom, for he truly shows who God is, that is, a force of love which went even as far as the Cross to save men and women. God uses ways and means that seem to us at first sight to be merely weakness. The Crucified One reveals on the one hand man’s frailty and on the other, the true power of God that is the free gift of love: this totally gratuitous love is true wisdom”:

Let us rejoice in the Cross of Christ because the death of Christ on the cross brings us to the glory of the resurrection.

WE ADORE YOU O LORD, AND WE PRAISE YOU BECAUSE BY YOUR HOLY CROSS YOU HAVE REDEEMED THE WHOLE WORLD

Mary Pereira

Sorry, this entry is only available in Slovak.

Sorry, this entry is only available in German, Slovak and Lithuanian.

Birthday of our Blessed Virgin Mother

God the Father, from all eternity has chosen Virgin Mary to be the Mother of His Son, when He becomes man. For all the believers in Christ, she is the Mother, for Jesus gave her as His last gift from the Cross. Turning to the disciple whom He loved, He said, this is your Mother’ (Jn.19. 25-27). We, the believers in Christ and who love Jesus accept her into our life as our Mother as John accepted her in his house. The Church celebrates her Nativity today, the 8^th of Sept. Let us rejoice in the birthday of our Heavenly Mother. Our RENEWED LIFE WE LIVE IN CHRIST JESUS be our Birthday Gift to her

Mary Pereira

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