[JOYnet] Blore Jy's please
Dear Bangalore Jy's please do give me ure phone Numbers if possible... I'd like to touch base with u all:) Love in Jesus, Josun Jose/Delhi (but now in blore) - This email was sent using FREE Catholic Online Webmail. Please tell your family, friends and children about COL Webmail! http://webmail.catholic.org/ This mail is generated from JOYnet, a Jesus Youth mailing list. To unsubscribe, send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe to this mailing list, visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet For automatic help, send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] In case of any issue related to the mailing list contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[JOYnet] Hi/Hello and Stuff like that!
Dear friends, Its been quite sometime since Ive written to joynet. Well, the reason mainly being I dont have a compy at my disposal and the Intenet cafés here in the vicinity tend to leave a hole in my pocket. Ive missed Joynet tremendously. But also Ive learnt how to be detached. Thats something good I guess. Im hear in Bangalore since August 14. Sorry I couldnt meet any of the Jys here. Ive been extremely tied up. I hope to come for one of the night vigils before I leave blore. Please do bear with me, Blore Jys. Im here participating in the 3 months School of evangelization by ICPE India. It has been a beautiful time for me personally. With a break from family, job, ministry and other nitty gritties of lifes rat race. Ive never had such a close time of sitting at the feet of our Lord and waiting on him. The theme of the school is based on Issiah 40:31 . They that hope in the LORD will renew their strength, they will soar as with eagles' wings; They will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint. The first phase of the school was the input phase. We had different speakers speak on various topics. Were now moving into the outreach phase of the school. I felt prompted to write to joynet coz today we had a session on prolife by Vinay Kamath. I watched one of the most gut wrenching documentaries Ive ever seen on anti abortion. The name of the video is Eclipse of Reason. I heard someone in Mumbai has secured the rights to reproduce this film in India which otherwise is quite costly in USD. I dont know the details, but Im sure we can get them. Those of us into the prolife ministry. I feel it would be a wonderful idea to watch this film if possible. Well, Bangalore is a wonderful place with wonderful people. The climate hear is just heavenly. I get clean air to breathe. For a guy from Delhi this is a luxury. Theres a saying we commonly use in Delhi breathing in Delhi is injurious to health .. They say 1 day in delhi is like smoking 3 ciggaretes. I'll stop with one of the captions i saw in one of the prolife movies about Contraception/safe sex/AIDS "abscence doesn't make the heart grow fonder but abstinence makes the heart beat longer!" (this was in relation to the myth about using condoms as means for safe sex) I once again apologize for my silence and hope to cough up some mails soon. Love u all in Jesus, Love and prayers and God bless, Josun Jose/Blore - This email was sent using FREE Catholic Online Webmail. Please tell your family, friends and children about COL Webmail! http://webmail.catholic.org/ This mail is generated from JOYnet, a Jesus Youth mailing list. For more info on the list visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet To unsubscribe from the list send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe to the list visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet/join To get a standard help message on the list services send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] In case of any issue related to the mailing list contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[JOYnet] Chapathi Jesus, Vastu, horoscopes and stuff like that......
Dear brothers and sisters in Jesus, I have been reading the different mails on vastushastra, horoscopes, science for a christian and the most interesting for me being the image of Jesus and Mary on a burnt up chapathi, the same being enshrined at the RRC, Bangalore for public view. I havent dabbled with vastu much so I dont know what its all about. But I do hear that there is an occult aspect to it Im not too sure ok. Well about horoscopes and zodiacs. I have been blest indeed to have parents who discouraged us kids right from our childhood in believing in palmistry, horoscopes, star signs etc As devout catholics they taught us to shun such practices. I really thank God for my wonderful parents. None of us kids have an interest in this stuff. Ive got a number of friends (even some catholics) who wear rings with their birthstones and stuff like that on it. Whenever I get an opportunity I ask them, why they wear these birth stones and stuff, they tell me that they want to attract good luck. And I further enquire why do u guys limit your good luck to such small stones? ..why not tie a boulder round ure necks? (pun intended) so that ure luck is proportionate to the size of the boulder .. Some of these guys are so bewitched into thinking that they do indeed get good luck by wearing such crap. And instead of keeping quiet about their foolishness they go around broadcasting and thereby other morons also follow suit. I personally feel that these stones or objects have no power on their own. Its when we believe that something has power, our subconscious mind acts on that as though it were a reality and thats how these lucky stones are floated as charms for good luck. I feel its all in the mind. I remember an incident that occurred some few years back in our family before we were going out on a trip to a place called Panipat for an outing. Its a bit off the topic but I hope Im able to illustrate my point with it. All was set for us to go to Panipat, thats when my mom developed stomach problems, she was having stomach ache and lose motion. So she told us that shell stay back and we guys could proceed. I personally felt that it was psychosomatic. So I did a small trick I told mummy of a good medicine that I had that would give her relief from the problem within 10 minutes. She agreed to take it. I gave her the tablet with a glass of water and went on auto suggesting that her stomach problem is ok. True enough after 10 minutes or so she was feeling better and was ready to accompany us for the journey, believe it or not, throughout the trip mummy never had a problem. And what do u think the super tablet was? a lowly button I had picked up from the sewing kit . Only after a few months did I let her know the truth Till about recently, mummy used to go bananas with me whenever I broached up the issue. I narrated this just to substantiate that if we believe in something our mind acts as though it were true I think this is how these horoscopes, goodluck charms, zodiacs etc work Im not a scholar on this issue either its just my viewpoint. And now about the chapathi stuff I dont feel its a miracle. It is more of an anti witness to sensible people than an aid. This morning it was my turn to prepare breakfast. I made chapathis. I took one and I figured out the map of Andaman Nicobar on it. I took another one and looked at it it had the image of a maruti 800 with an elephant sitting on its bonnet I also made out a face similar to osama bin laden . Tomorrow Im gonna burn up the toasts to see if I can get the face of the woman of my dreams:):):)!!hahaha. A few years back in delhi there was this claim that ganeshji & hanumanji was drinking milk (those days I was not yet a JY) so I too went to the temple to see this stuff (not out of belief but out of skepticsm)and I put my finger below the marble mouth of hanumanji and the milk was just drooling over my finger, down, below there was a small drain kind of that led to the soil and there the milk was gobbled up by the earth. Becoz there was a shine on the white marble it was not apparent that the milk was flowing down. After the hoax was established a number of those godmen were put in the coolers (jail). I feel very sad at the plight of some of us catholics who believe these things. It only proves our ignorance of Jesus and his word. Some of the most superstitious people Ive met are catholics (Im sad to say this but I feel its true. I still know a catholic family who used to keep candles, salted fish, pickles etc.. saying that the end of the age is near . they were stocking food stuffs so that they could live a bit longer than the rest at the end of the world Im glad these people have come back to their senses. Thanx to the renewal. Once on a visit to St. Georges church in Muthalakodam in Thodupuzha, Kerala with my dad, I met an old lady praying at the statue of St. George and at the end of the prayer she did something that real
[JOYnet] Oh Kuwait, Kuwait, How blest you are!!
Dear wonderful people of God, A positive phenomena that has arrayed Kuwait with his presence. My dear brother in Christ Pradeep Mathew, a second batch volunteer of Delhi and my wonderful prayer partner has set his feet there in Kuwait today. Pradeep is a male nurse by profession and a missionary by baptism and hes in Kuwait to do Gods will. Nothing more. Nothing less. Nothing else. And also today Nov 30 is the day, many years ago, a wonderful couple was blest with their last child. Pradeep. I had the fortune of being a volunteer the same year as pradeep. More than anything else, I love Pradeep for his bridge building mentality. He always goes out of the way to heal a breach. God bless him. One of the things I abhor the most, is when my parents and siblings nitpick about me to my fellow Jesus youth!! It strips me of my dignity at times and punctures my beloved EGO. Though it has been a blessing in disguise, coz Im extra careful not to tarnish my face value at home. I remember once, I was helping my mom in the kitchen, washing the dishes while she was making chapathis. My younger brother (John Bosco), came and threw his plate into the sink, splashing water on my face and clothes, and ran out. I couldnt chase him. I screamed!! bl!@#*& !#$$% you dont know how to put a plate in the sink! and my mom took the chapathi rolling pin and hailed down a hit on my back Saying is this for what you have become a Jesus youth? How i wished the Good Lord in his justice would send down fire and brimstone and consume me up or there would be an earth quake at that moment and the kitchen crumbles on my head!! She further rubbed it in, let me meet Pradeep and your other Jesus Youths ninne sheri aakenongil Pradeep mathri aalkarre vennam! (if you are to be set right, u need fellows like pradeep who will put u in place!) I Learnt my lesson for life... Pradeep has indeed been a wonderful brother to me. Hey people send Pradeep birthday greetings and zap him up on his email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Untouchability is a crime, so keep in touch! Love in Jesus, Josun Jose/New Delhi - This email was sent using FREE Catholic Online Webmail. Please tell your family, friends and children about COL Webmail! http://webmail.catholic.org/ This mail is generated from JOYnet, a Jesus Youth mailing list. For more info on the list visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet To unsubscribe from the list send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe to the list visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet/join To get a standard help message on the list services send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] In case of any issue related to the mailing list contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[JOYnet] WHAT KIND OF WOMAN IS THIS??
My precious ones in Jesus, Today is the feast of the Immaculate Conception. After the morning mass, I was in the chapel alone doing my personal prayer. Im a bit over attached to Mother Mary as she is for me till now, the only woman with whom Ive been extremely close, (apart from my biological mother and two sisters.) hahaha I always marvel at the beauty and prudence of this great woman. Mother Mary has taught me so many things in my life. At times when Im down and out, and no one understands I reach out to her and cry in her lap. My relationship with mummy has tremendously helped me in my closer walk with Jesus. At home I sometimes say, Ive got two mothers (This is especially when Im at loggerheads with my biological mother:). I try to make mummy feel bad at those times by telling her... even if you are not there I got mother mary:). Once, a few years back after a small fracas with mummy, I doled out this rhetoric and stormed out of the house... I went and sat in the church to cool my heels and head. After a couple of hours I went back home and mummy asked me did your other mother give u food? I retorted, she gave me food of which u know nothing about? mummy further asked what did she tell you? i shot back she told me to go home and ask you for lunch! My biological mom, is truly an amazing woman of God, she is infact the one who first planted the seed of faith in my heart. May God bless her soul always for that. We catholics are truly a blest lot, what a grace to have Mother Mary as a model for us towards holiness. One of the things Mama Mary has taught me is the value of Suffering in silence I by nature am very impetuous and Im known to shoot off my mouth when I feel Im exploited or hurt or things don't go in my favor. But of late I can see a slow but perceptible change in me. Im gradually learning how to accumulate graces for my life and for others thru silence. I often wonder. This woman had every reason to grumble, to bitch, to whine and gripe. But never once is it mentioned that she cribbed to God about anything. On the other hand it is written, she cherished these things in her heart and pondered over them This is a mystery Im learning to accept these days. When things dont go my way, when Im mis understood, when the going gets tough, when theres no apparent sign of Gods direction in my life.if only I can cherish those things in my heart and ponder over them Living in the world being single, being young with my heart prone to evil. Its almost impossible for me to live a life of holiness and chastity. It has been my experience that, to live a holy and chaste life, A lot depends on how we treat mama Mary. Ive wrestled with many sins of the flesh. And often times in despair and hopelessness I cry out to God for help. At those moments Ive experienced the ever protecting hand of mother Mary on my life. Shes kept me safe thus far, I know shell continue doing it for her little Josun. Mother Mary taught me a small prayer that I pray when faced with temptations, it goes like this Lord Jesus, if not for your grace, I will betray you and I will crucify you I pray this often whenever I realize myself falling into sin. Well, coming back to my personal prayer this morning in the chapel. There was no one else in the chapel except an old priest sitting at the far corner. I decided to have a personal chit chat with mother Mary as it was her day today. I started off with my good morning Mummy, we talked about the weather, about the struggles I was facing etc.. I told mother mary how much I admired her for her virtue of silence and her bravery to say Yes to the will of God etc she just smiled:). I sensed her telling me to open the bible Genisis Chapter 3. This was the first reading of today. I read the whole chapter concerning the fall of man, and I was meditating on it. Mother Mary has got a sense of humor also. She gave me an inspiration this morning that made me laugh out loud, thereby disturbing the old priest sitting in the corner. I went up to the priest and shared my insight with him. Hes a cool buddy of mine. He too started laughing:) This is really hilarious, just try visualizing it. Adam and eve eat the fruit and realize they are naked With that act of disobedience the whole of Gods master plan for humanity is frustrated, and the whole world has been lost to the power of Sin And these two wise cracks are busy sewing fig leaves to cover themselves., and God is busy looking around for them in the garden. absolutely funny isnt it :):) After a brief stint of laughter that old priest said something like this. what would it have been had God created Mother Mary out of Adams rib?. Well, I dont know. And Im not that interested either. What Im more interested in is that Mama Mary, thru her obedience to the will of God, brought Jesus, My Lord and saviour into the world. She bore all that pain, all that agony in silence only becoz
[JOYnet] MY EXPERIENCE AT AN AIDS REHAB CENTRE
Dear Brothers and sisters in Jesus, I honestly had never seen AIDS patients in person before . Ive seen pictures of them but I havent been with them at close quarters. Moreover I also had a number of prejudices and bias towards people with AIDS. A few months ago we had gone to a AIDS/HIV rehab centre for an outreach. My friend who took us there used to work as a volunteer with that Organisation sometime ago. This being a secular Organization, all those who visit are expected to be secular in their outlook when dealing with the inmates. He gave us strict instructions NOT to bring the name of Jesus into the scenario. He also told us not to read the bible to them, etc.. We had to be secular and that was it! On hearing this I was very upset. I was cribbing inside. I was feeling very much ill at ease the only way of reaching out to people that I know of is by sharing the kerygma, testimony, inviting them to accept Jesus as their Savior and Lord and praying for them. Now if those fundamentals are scrapped I am stuck and in a terrible fix. I dont know anything else to share I prayed about it and asked the Holy Spirit for guidance. I felt the Lord telling me Josun, I want you to be Jesus to them . through your life witness in this short time I want them to see Me in you. Just Love them as I love you. With the mandate received I went forward. An idea just flashed across my mind. I went up to this friend who brought us there and I told him. I wont tell them anything about Jesus on my own, I wont ask them to Invite Him into their lives, I wont preach to them anything. I will just be with them and talk to them and love them, but if they in turn ask me about my life then what will I do? He told me to go ahead, but keep a low profile. Dont attract unnecessary attention ok. I assured him, dont worry about that Eeeei! What a break thru. I was overjoyed. I cautioned myself two things. First is I will obey the instructions and NOT ask them to invite Jesus into their lives the conventional way, I will not tell them anything about Jesus on my own. Second is I will be careful as not to scandalize those who brought me here by attracting unnecessary attention. I prayed and asked the Lord to lead me on. I saw a group of kids spinning a top on the verandah. I went up to them, greeted them, and tried to win them over by playing with them, making a buffoon of my self in the process, much to their delight I took the top and tried my hand at spinning it, but it was a flop. I took it again and gave it a throw it went far off in the lawn and just dropped. I ran to where the top and gone, with the kids following close behind me. I took the top and sat on the grass. I was flanked by the kids around me. Their names are Gaurav, Varsha, Anita and Gitanjali. All aged between 5 to 11. My friend came up and told me, these children are HIV positive and will live a total of about 6 months to an year more. After that they will be dead Their parents already died of this disease. But these kids are ignorant of the fact that their parents are no more and that they too are victims of this dreaded killer. I swallowed hard, feeling a heaviness in my heart With the kids all around me. I took my knapsack off my back and took out my notebook and tore off a page from it. I asked Gaurav if he liked aeroplanes, yes he said. I made for him a paper jet, wrote his name on it and drew a funny face on it on it saying he was the pilot. He loved it. I tore off another page and made a paper puppet for Varsha, she too loved it. Off came another page and I transformed it into a paper boat for Gitanjali. And for little Anita I made a small paper camera, complete with small drawings of funny faces. The kids we thrilled with their new toys, they loved me and were playing around me. As I was enjoying the presence of being with these little angels a sad thought passed my mind. These beautiful children will very soon gasp for that one breath of precious oxygen . but it will be denied to them. All this suffering, pain and death, for no fault of theirs. My mind went back to my own siblings back at home. Gaurav the little boy aged 7 resembled my little brother Akku. My heart was feeling a terrible burden. I turned away from the kids, moved a bit away and started weeping. I pulled out my rosary and clutched the cross. All that was coming out of my mouth was Thankyou Jesus, Thankyou Lord . Thankyou Lord for everything In the mean time, varshas puppet started mal functioning and she ran up to me saying bhaiya ye kharab hogaya (this is spoilt, please make another one) She looked at me and saw me clutching the cross of my rosary with tears in my eyes. I tried to camouflage my grief by giving her a smile. I took her puppet and was repairing it. She was staring at my rosary and she put her hand on it and started feeling the beads. She asked me, bhaiya yeh mala kya hai? (what is this necklace that you are wearing) I told
[JOYnet] Delhi Gets a New Central Team
Hey awesome people of God, Jesus Youth Delhi is blest. A new Springtime has dawned for us here in Delhi. We had our leaders gathering from 13-15 of this month. Our previous central team had completed its two year term and we gathered together for the reconstitution of the same and also for a New Coordinator. The retreat and recollection was led by our CC Joseph (JYNT Coordinator). The discernment process was led by elders from the Delhi Service Team. The new central team comprises of: Sunil Simon (ex officio) Jomon Dony E. A. Rajeev V. Jose Jincy Scharia Nycil Romis Thomas Jacqueline Emmanuel Abha Jacob Alfred Wilma Williams Shiby Thomas Antony A. J. Ratnakaran K.V. Betty Augustine Josun Jose Shania Chandy Saji Mathew Today evening the new central team had its first meeting in the cathedral premises for the selection of a new Coordinator. After prayer and discernment, it was evident that Jomon C. K. was the man chosen by God to be the Coordinator. Jomon is a zealous Jesus Youth with a servant heart. Many a time Jomon used to be the one getting kicks when things went awry. Never once have I heard him complaining. He was the assistant coordinator of the erstwhile central team and also an animator of the nurses ministry. We thank God for him to JY Delhi. I also take this opportunity to thank our Previous Coordinator Sunil Simon and his team for all that we have learnt during his tenure. Jesus Youth has learnt many lessons over the past couple of years, especially the need to love and accept each one for who they are. We thank God for his constant love and protective mantle over this beautiful ministry. Do keep Jomon in your valuable prayers for strength and courage to take on his new role in the ministry. Also do keep the rest of the team in prayer for LOVE to rule our hearts, wisdom, guidance, faithfulness and yeildedness to the Holy Spirit at all times. God bless us all, Josun Jose/New Delhi/India - This Advent Season our sponsors are selling goods and services you don't want to miss! Support our sponsors with your purchase by clicking here. http://www.catholic.org/clife/advent/specials.php This email was sent using FREE Catholic Online Webmail. Please tell your family, friends and children about COL Webmail! http://webmail.catholic.org/ === This mail is generated from JOYnet, a Jesus Youth mailing list. For more info on the list visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet To unsubscribe from the list send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe to the list visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet/join In case of any issue related to the mailing list contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] ===
[JOYnet] BELATED CONGRATS TO THE WEBTEAM!
--- Prayer for the terrorists http://jesusyouth.org/joynet/dec20.html --- Dear all, I know my Congrats to the webteam of Joynet are quite late, and by now all of you must have realized what a poor writer I am! Anyway accept it. As the saying goes "Its better never than late" isn't it (just checking if u guys are awake!) Its truly amazing to see how people from a myriad of walks of life come together and share their lives and experiences together. Its truly beautiful isnt it? I think we may be the only such loving network on the whole internet I dont know but in my limited knowledge I guess so. I specially want to congratulate Josun Jose, Abudabhi for two things. Firstly for being part of the web team and secondly for dashing my hopes of being the only Josun Jose in the world! I received a number of mails from joynetters far and wide asking me when I shifted base. One interesting person in Abudabhi send me his residence phone and mobile numbers asking me to call him up sometime. After reading a few such mails I got into a confusion. I got so confused that I had to go and ask my parents and family if Im the real Josun Jose or I suddenly became some imposter. Each one in my family had different opinions, this complicated matters even more. Just imagine even my dog snapped at me and kept on barking until I left the house! All these occurrences put me into a deeper state of paranoia. I decided not to give up! Ill prove to the world that I am the real Josun Jose and there never was, there never is and there never will be another masterpiece like me! It was at that time a wonderful idea found its way into that football ground between my ears (not very a very common phenomena with me) It was this. Instead of going by what each one is saying and thus become like the father and son who went to the market to sell their donkey and finally got a couple of kicks and lost the donkey in the bargain because they tried to please every tom, dick and harry who came across their path its better for me to.. Oops!... I forgot what that idea was Just a sec! Let me remember ok. Che! What was it??? HHAAA! Eureka! I got it! This is what it was. Ill do some research and development and find out the truth of the matter. During the course of my research I concluded that Josun Jose, Abudabhi could have come about by one of three possibilities. 1. There is another Josun Jose in Abudabhi 2. Josun Jose, New Delhi has inexplainably been endowed with the gift of Bi-location 3. It could be a simple typo error. Well take each possiblity in perspective and finally prove the right one using my home made theory of using my kidneys instead of brains for thinking First possiblity:- There is another Josun Jose in Abudabhi:- In all these 23 years of my life I have never had the privilege of meeting another Josun. Till recently I also didnt have much hope of meeting one either. I have an extremely unique name that is a special trademark to me alone. Im thrilled to know that my hope of never meeting another Josun is dashed and that too much more than I expected. Not Just a Josun, but a Josun Jose from Abudhabi! Wow! This is interesting. Second Possiblity:- Josun Jose, New Delhi has been inexplainably endowed with the Gift of Bi-location:- This is truly inexplainable so lets just leave it at that. I cracked my nut hard enough trying to understand the true sense of bi-location and finally ended up nearly dislocating my humerous bone. Its not worth cracking our nuts on this possiblity, so its rightful place would be the recycle bin. It could be a simple typo error:- After an indepth study and research the only possible theory that finally fits into the puzzle is this one. To err is humor and to forgive is more humor! hehehe If any of you have managed to read till here, Give thanks to the Lord! You have been blest with an extra measure of patience! Thats a christmas gift! Hee Hoo! (thats called braying) And by the way, before I forget. Merry Christmas to all of you. May this Christmas be a different experience for each one of us. Love in baby Jesus, Mama Mary and St. Joseph at the crib, Josun Jose/New Delhi/India Ps:- Incase anyone is offended Im extremely sorry ok. Just send me a mail and Ill say a Hail Mary* for u as part of my apology. ok. Ps again:- I am the real Josun Jose ok! *if I dont doze off in the process. - This Advent Season our sponsors are selling goods and services you don't want to miss! Support our sponsors with your purchase by clicking here. http://www.catholic.org/clife/advent/specials.php This email was sent using FREE Catholic Online Webmail. Please tell your family, friends and children about COL Webmail! http://webmail.catholic.org/
[JOYnet] BE WISE! PRACTICE SAFE SEX ONLY!
Hey you people set apart for the lord, Its really wonderful to read the profound inputs by various Joynetters on the topic of Pre marital and extramarital sex. Id like to share a bit of what I feel on the subject. Firstly, I dont think the aspect of sexual fidelity/promiscuity is limited to religious or moral standards alone. There are natural laws that govern nature, from which none of us are exempt. We have the freedom to abide by the law of flout the law. Whatever our choice is, the consequences of our choices are not within the freedom of choice bracket. They are an aftermath that follow irrespective of who or what you are. Wise choices reap wise results; foolish choices reap foolish results. At the moment Im at our Jesus Youth house in Delhi, its on the second floor. If I want to go down to the shop 2 blocks away, I have two options to choose from coz Im a free human being and its my life. One option is to jump off from the balcony and the other is to use the staircase provided. Both my actions have consequences over which I have no control. If I say Im free and jump off My freedom will last but 2 seconds after that Ill be a pile of dead meat and bones! (One bloody fool less in the world!!) The same nature has laws with regard to exercising of sexual freedom. If we transgress them theres no way but to bear the negative consequences that follow. Sometime back I had shared a bit about an experience I had at an AIDS rehab centre, well the experience was not over with just meeting those kidos. I also met most of the adult inmates in the centre. I made it a point to speak to as many of them as I could and know a bit about their lives. I did that intentionally so that I could share their stories of pain, sorrow and shattered hopes and dreams later as opportunity would unfold. Honestly their stories were unbearably gut wrenching. I met a young Keralite youth there. Hes about 25 years old. On completing a course in hotel management, he embarked on a job in a 5 star hotel in Goa. One day while on duty, a guest in the hotel made sexual advances towards him, he was seduced and succumbed to moments of pleasure with her. The boy is such a nice person to talk to. I felt really sad for him. With his smile he was trying to conceal the agony he was going thru within. It was a poor effort, for me it was rather obvious. Hes HIV positive. He told me, that was the only time he had sex with anyone. He also told me he used a condom. (a number of the inmates there told me they used condoms). Well that one time was enough for him to make an entrance into the world of no return I meditated a lot on that outreach to the AIDS home and my memory of the inmates and their lives is still vivid and fresh. Their stories of pain, of unfulfilled dreams, shattered lives, orphaned children, wrecked homes, worst of all that haunting sense of guilt and self debasement, often made me speculate at how stupid we all can be sometimes. Imagine, Just for an orgasm or orgasmic pleasure people are ready to stake their dreams, health, their integrity, self esteem and sense of self worth, their unlimited potential, their families, their entire life and the beautiful things God has in store for them in the future! Dont I sound sufficiently absurd?? This youth I met cannot achieve the dreams that he had of a beautiful life ahead. He is shattered. Actually shattered is not the word for it. He finds no meaning in his existence. Hes already a living dead man. You may say, but hes still living well, thats just to postpone funeral expenses! His family is dismembered, they have ostracized him. The same society that endorsed his promiscuity is the first one to give him a kick in the ass when hes a victim All this honestly makes me wonder, is one moment of forbidden pleasure worth the tag? Is it really worth staking all that in the bargain? You can answer the question yourselves. Ive got a number of acquaintances (lamentably some catholic youth also!) who think pre-marital sex is the IN THING and its absolutely normal these days, a number of them have indulged in it themselves. They narrate big stories of their sexcapades with me They do a lot to justify their actions, but deep down they too know that its wrong. Its pernicious. Its fatal!. It fragments a person from within. Thanks to the media hyped up coverage that nothing sells like sex the advertisements, tv programs, movies, serials, almost everything in the media endorses sexual promiscuity. We can see hundreds of places where the govt and some NGOs advocate safe sex under the aegis of AIDS Awareness programs. What they do not clarify is what they mean by safe sex. An advertisement in buses, trains and hoardings in Delhi that Ive seen is play safe, always use a condom! What they actually want to say is, hey look, its ok if you want to go have sex (forgive me for being so uncivil!) with whoever you want, its ok if you want to be unfaithful
[JOYnet] Coflexip
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[JOYnet] ON FORGIVENESS! Part 1
Dear friends, Yesterday evening 3rd February was truly a moment of truth for me. I was privileged to attend a lecture on the Christian Virtue of forgiveness. The meeting took place at the Diocesan community center in the Cathedral Campus. The key speakers for the occasion were Mrs. Gladys Staines, the wife of the Late Rev. Graham Staines and mother of Timothy and Philip all three of whom were burnt up in a jeep by miscreants in Mayurbanj, Orrisa about 4 years ago. The other speakers were Sr. Selmi Paul FCC, the sister of the Late Sr. Rani Maria who was brutally stabbed to death in Madhya Pradesh some years ago and Swami (Fr.) Sachidanand, CMI. As the speakers were sharing their experiences I made a few notes so that I could share with all of you, my beloved joynetters some of the pearls I managed to pick up. His grace Archbishop Vincent Concessao in his short message quoted from one of the encyclicals of Pope Paul the sixth on Evangelization. These days what the world needs is not teachers. It needs witnesses, people tend to follow witnesses, not teachers, and if they do follow teachers, it is because they are witnesses I dont know the exact phraseology but thats the essence. He went on and honored all three for living out their Christian faith. He shared something he had read recently in a book we are not anxious about setbacks and failures, about tragedies, hurts and apparent defeat, because we that know that the ultimate victory is ours in Jesus. That is what gives us hope to keep running with perseverance the race set out before us. Mrs. Staines began her talk by sharing with us how she was interviewed earlier that day by a journalist, what he wanted to know was, how is it that she was able to forgive? To forgive when your husband and two children are brutally killed is virtually beyond human capability he said. Mrs. Staines said she agreed with him that it is difficult. But she went on to explain what Gods grace did in her life. It is Jesus who gave her the grace to forgive. She was sharing how God was preparing her for this happening in her life thru many preceding incidents. She used to ponder a lot on Abraham of the Old Testament, how when the lord asked him to sacrifice his only son, he willingly agreed. Today if God tells us he wants our dearest ones will we be able to willingly give like Abraham did? Oh! For me it was a shock! My dear parents, my precious siblings, Oh! Honestly as of now I find it very tough to say yes to that! She went on to elaborate, If we want to follow God, we have to say a wholehearted YES! Regardless of what it will cost us She said forgiveness is a decision, not an emotion. I choose to forgive regardless of whether Im pained or hurt. The choice to forgive is what starts the healing and grace of God to flow into our lives. She told us that we must learn to forgive in small things. Thats where we all tend to fail. To forgive the people who are not at all close to us may be easy. But to forgive those who are very dear and near and close to us could sometimes be a Himalayan task. She shared how a few months before the incident she read an article about how when the communists took over in China they persecuted the Christians a great deal. But the major factor that contributed to the growth of Christianity in China was because the persecuted Christians chose to forgive their persecutors. Persecution will not have its desired effect (conversion of hearts) if we do not forgive those who harm us. Retaliation only shows that theres no difference between them and us. They persecute us because they do not know Jesus. The only way they can know Jesus is when we love them in return. Jesus never asks us to do anything that he himself has first not done. Dying on the cross he said Father forgive them for they know not what they do Mrs. Staines shared about how when she broke the news to her daughter Esther (then 13 Y.O.), between sobs she said mummy well forgive them. In Jesus name well forgive them. She said they both continue to pray for the perpetrators of the act that they may one day know the love of God and the person of Jesus and that they are forgiven, because Jesus has already forgiven them. She told us a small story of a young girl who was losing her eyesight and was admitted in a hospital. She was visited by a pastor and lying on the bed, she told the pastor. pastor, the Lord is taking my eyesight away and the pastor replied, Dont let him take it away! Give it to him! She urged us to give our ALL to the Lord. She asked us to reflect on what we say when praying the Lords prayer. forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us do we really mean what we say or are we just spewing out some verbal garbage. (thats my way of putting it) She ended her talk with a beautiful poem that I requested her to give me a copy of, after the seminar. The title of the poem is He Giveth More Grace I forgot the name of the poet
[JOYnet] FORGIVENESS part 2
con'd from previous mail. Sr. Selmi Paul, FCC, is the younger sister of the late Sr. Rani Maria. Both belong to the same congregation. Sr. Selmi started her sharing by saying, her chechi frequently used to reiterate, Ill work for the poor till the end. Ill live for them till the end. Why should I be afraid of anyone? in her death, Sr. Ranis desire was fulfilled. Ever since she learnt of the incident, Sr. Selmi used to pray everyday for the three accused in the case, Samendar Singh, Jeevan Singh, Dharmendar Singh. And she had a petition she made to Jesus, Lord I want to express my forgiveness to the three of them. I want them to know they are forgiven and that you love them and forgive them. I want to express my forgiveness in a tangible way to them This was Sisters prayer everyday for quite sometime. Meanwhile, one day a person, with long greyish hair and flowing beard, bare footed and clad in the attire of a swami came to their convent. He introduced himself as Swami Sachidanand, a CMI priest who has an ashram in Narshimapur in Madhya Pradesh. By profession he is a water diviner. During dinner that day at the convent Sr. Selmi was introduced as the younger sister of Sr. Rani Maria. They spoke about many things that happened that day. After dinner Swami Sachidanand bade good night to the sisters and proceeded towards his room for a good nights rest. The sleep he had come for seemed to elude him. A burden crept up in his heart. He suddenly could feel the pain and guilt that Samendar Singh must be going thru. That night his sleep was troubled, he slept little. The next day the first thing in the morning, he asked the Sisters at the convent where Samendar Singh is right now? the sisters said they had no idea. Swami later got in touch with one of the local Jail Superintendents who is a very close friend of his, and asked him if he could trace out this person Samendar Singh he gave a bit of the background so he could be traced faster. The superintendent assured him that hed do his best. Two days later swami received a call from the Jail Superintendent telling him that Samendar Singh was cooling his heels in Indore Jail. Swami asked if the superintendent could give him a letter of introduction so that he could meet Samendar Singh in Indore Jail. With the letter of intro in hand. Swami proceeded to Indore Jail. There he introduced himself as Swami Sachidanand. He said he wanted to meet Samendar Singh. The superintendent there led Swami to where Samendar Singh was. When swami saw him he didnt say anything, he only removed a photograph of Sr. Rani Maria from his bag and just showed it to him. On seeing the photo, Samendar Singh broke down and started weeping uncontrollably. Swami went up to him gave him a warm embrace and whispered into his ear. Samendar, you are forgiven. God has forgiven you On hearing those words, Samendar was shocked, he replied No! just leave me alone. I am a criminal and have done a terrible crime. I dont deserve forgiveness, No, not even God can forgive me" Swami went on embracing and uttering words of hope into his hopeless state. On hearing the noise, convicts from other cells started coming. A crowd started gathering. The jail superintendent led them both into a private room where the crowd would not intrude. There in the room, Swami took out from his bag some fruits. He took a banana, peeled it and gave it to Samendar. He would not eat it. The guilt of his sin seemed to be eating away at him. Swami assured him to take it as from the hands of God as a sign of his forgiveness. After sometime Samendar took the banana and ate it. Swami kept on instilling hope into his Spirit. The jail superintendent told swami that his time was up. Swami got up, again embraced Samendar, gave him his address and contact and enquired of him, is there anything you need? he went on, Incase you need anything, please do not hesitate to ask me ok. You are my younger brother. Swami waved goodbye and left the prison. The same desire that Sr. Selmi had, to express forgiveness in a tangible way to Samendar, gripped Swami Sachidanand also. With this intention in mind, he went into a fast and prayer. One day while in prayer an inspiration flashed through his mind. He saw the word Rakhi in his minds eye. Suddenly an idea came to his mind, why not Sr. Selmi go and tie Rakhi on the hand of Samendar during the festival of rakshabandhan that year. rakshabandhan is a hindu festival where the sisters tie rakhi, a sort of string bangle on the hand of their brothers. This is to show that she trusts him to protect her as his sister. Swami got intouch with Sr. Selmi and put forward his proposal to her. Sister was overjoyed. She too confessed that that was a desire of her heart, to express her forgiveness in a tangible way to Samendar. She was waiting for an opportunity to do that. Swami got intouch with the superiors and they were very supportive. He told the local bishop of his pl
[JOYnet] A CURE FOR GRUMBLING
Aye u awsome people of Yahweh! A few days ago it rained here in Delhi and the fog was really bad. The winter supposed to make an exit by now is still lingering around making the nights really cold. My mom told me that the vegetables at home are over and I need to go to the market and buy some. I wasnt very enthusiastic about it, coz after a rain the roads are a mess with water puddles everywhere, its really yuk! But since its mummy who said, I chose to obey. (maybe I could atone for some of my many sins) She gave me the list and off I went in the direction of the market. Carrot juice is one of my favorites, I drink a lot of it. That day was no exception. On reaching the market, I ordered a glass of carrot juice from the juice vendor and started sipping it. As I was sipping from the glass, my eyes strayed at the muddy puddles and wet gravel that was all over the place. All of a sudden my eyes fell on a scene at the street corner across the road. I gulped down my carrot juice fast, paid the money and walked up to street corner. I was truly moved at what I saw. As I was just looking on, I struck upon an idea. With two big shoppers empty and folded in my hand, I immediately jumped on a rickshaw and asked the rickshaw wala to ride me home fast. The rickshaw wala thought that there was some emergency and he was doing his best to reach me home fast. Between breaths he asked sahib, kya hogaya? (what happened, sir?) I replied nothing, just reach me home immediately When I reached home, I ran up to the gate and rapped on it. I directed my youngest two brothers Johny and Akku to hop onto the rickshaw and accompany me back to the vegetable market. Mummy must have wondered at my speedy return. I never spoke anything to anyone. Akku and johny were on the rickshaw with me. They thought I was taking them out for a small jolly ride. Ive got a surprise for both of them I informed them. Their spirits were up. They were all smiles. I didnt mention anything further. Johnny and Akku are a remarkable duo. I feel very privileged to have such wonderful brothers like them. They are good team players. Of late though, Ive been observing a trend. They have developed a very unholy habit. They grumble and whine for almost anything and everything. They keep comparing themselves on the basis of what they dont have and what their friends have. When something is shared among us, theyll see who has got the biggest piece and start saying that they were purposely given the small pieces. At times from what they say, it is apparent that they feel inferior because they dont have the sophisticated gadgets and stuff that their friends at school possess. Johny being an early teenager. It is very difficult at times to advice him or correct him. He thinks he already knows everything! He tends to find fault with everything and everyone. And if we try to advice this guy his defenses go up. To be honest, for me it takes a tremendous amount of self control to tolerate these type of characters. Ive tried a lot to advice him, but even before I say anything he intercepts with now dont start your big preaching to me ok! and hes such a master at switching off his mind if he wants to. The fellow who coined up the axiom Ten can take an ass to the river, but hundred cannot make him drink! must have had people like Johny in mind!. Ive been trying to innovate ways in which I can be a friend and help him to stop his grumbling and fault finding. As the rickshaw reached the market place, we all got off paid the rickshaw wala and strode towards the street corner. Thankfully, nothing had changed. There at the street corner, squatting around a burning tyre on the wet and muddy earth were three small boys, their bare feet half sunken in the wet mud. Their clothes scanty, tattered and dirty, revealed bodies beneath them that pined for warmth and cover. These kids were taking turns puffing at one cigarette and were warming their hands by the burning tire. That day they must have been happy coz their faces betrayed that. A few feet away were 3 huge sacks filled up, leaning on an electric pole. My brothers were standing on either side of me. I dont know what was going on in their minds, but I know something was happening. My brothers were dumb for a time. They never spoke a word to me. They just looked on. I decided to take it a step even further. We walked up to where they were. I bend down putting my hands by the fire and asked them. dosto, mei bhi haath garam kar saktha hu? (friends may I warm my hands also?) haanji bhaiya aaja na (why not bro. Come) I sat on my feet, careful that my clothes dont touch the muddy earth. Akku and johny also joined me. Are these your children? they enquired, No I said, they are my brothers. They must be going to school isnt it? one of them asked. yes the do I replied. I took the opportunity and threw back the same question at them, aaplog padai karthe ho? (do you folks study?), how can we s
[JOYnet] A REMARKABLE VALENTINE DAY LESSON 4 ME!
My Dearest Aunty Victoria, Your silence stupefies me indeed!. I find it very strange that my numerous mails and attempts to touch base with you come to naught each time. Please let me know aunty, have I hurt you in any way? Have I been unchristian in any way? Incase I have, please do accept my profuse apologies. Im sorry about it. Please do not harbor any ill feelings. I am much younger than you. Well aunty, I write this letter with a specific purpose. I hope you will bear with me. I feel you will support me aunty and that is why I am writing to you. I in no way want to exploit or take undue advantage of your goodness and generous heart. As Ive shared with you earlier, the Lord has been multiplying the talent for writing that he has given me in remarkable ways. I want to use it all for his glory. I strongly sense that God has endowed me with this talent so that I may glorify Him through it. Till date I have written about 40 short articles, most of them my personal encounters and experiences. Quite a few of my write ups have been published in a Christian magazine in one of the regional languages here. >From the reports and feedbacks I get, many people tell me they feel a special grace coming upon them while they read. I too feel the lord is anointing my writing day by day. I can see a lot of improvement from the first time I wrote and now. I get a lot of inspirations aunty. Ive started making notes of all them whenever they come. My prayer is that the Lord transform this talent into a Charism, and that I never have the misfortune of becoming proud and trying to steal Gods glory. I pray daily for more and more humility, more deeper commitment and more faith. I always seek a double measure of the Holy Spirit to take over my writing. I pray that my identity may never be that of a writer, but rather from the knowing that I am a Child of God. In order to empower myself more, I would like to enroll in a writing course if I can. I have applied for the prospectus of a postal course from the U. K. I hope to hear from them soon. Aunty, kindly could you check around for me in the US for some good writing course? Please could you sponsor me to one? Another thing aunty that I require as a need is a laptop computer. Procuring one would help me tremendously to write more and also to write more often as and when inspirations flash thru my mind.. Ive started saving for one in my small way already already. Please could you help me to procure one? The Lord is going to use me powerfully in the print media a few years from now. I have a vision of starting a Christian magazine some day, where people who come across it, dont go back the same. I want to see lives radically changed for Christ. I dont know what your present state is aunty, but rest assured of my prayers for you everyday. Ok. God is my witness to this. Incase aunty you feel you wont be able to help, please dont feel bad ok. Feel free to say you cant ok. Ill still love you the same ok, because I know, if God brings me to a purpose, Hell also bring me thru it! Isnt it aunty? Please do keep intouch ok. I honestly miss you a lot. Ive send countless mails to your HYPERLINK "mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]"; [EMAIL PROTECTED] address but have received the message that the same has become invalid. My walk with the Lord is improving daily. I make a lot of mistakes, my sinfulness and fallen nature seems to take over at times, in moments of darkness. But each time I realize Ive fallen short, I keep turning back to the Lord. Where else can I go, He has the words of eternal life. The Lord is taking me through a tough phase these days. I am not discouraged, I am not anxious about defeat or setbacks because I know deep down the ultimate victory is mine in Jesus my Lord and Saviour. Thats what gives me hope and hope doesnt dissapoint me. I long to hear from you aunty, I know youll not keep me guessing anymore. Ill hear from you soon. Yours in Christ at this end of the Fathers vineyard, Josun Jose N. Hno. 251, Saraswati Enclave Gopal Nagar Extension Near Surakhpur Road Najafgarh-110 043 New Delhi India Phone 91-011-25018808 Email:- HYPERLINK "mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]"; [EMAIL PROTECTED] - This email was sent using FREE Catholic Online Webmail. Please tell your family, friends and children about COL Webmail! http://webmail.catholic.org/ During the Lenten Season, please help support the mission of Catholic Online by purchasing goods and services from our sponsors at http://www.catholic.org/clife/lent === This mail is generated from JOYnet, a Jesus Youth mailing list. For more info on the list visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet To unsubscribe from the list send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe to the list visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet/join In case of any issue related to the mailing list contact [EMAIL PRO
[JOYnet] APOLOGY AND THE REMARKABLE VALENTINES DAY EXPERIENCE
Dear frineds, i'm sorry for the previous mail. it was an absolute goof up. i wrote to one of my aunts and instead of putting her address i typed joynet addy. Wah bhai Josun! kamal karthe ho! Please do accept my apologies ok. here's the experience nevertheless ok. Dearly Beloved in Jesus, Yesterday was Valentines Day. Infatuation (proxy love) is in the air everywhere here in Delhi, at its zenith. The papers have dedicated numerous pages of ads about valentines. The the fly by night florists in the city are making big buck. Archies and other gift and card galleries are Jam packed with with teenagers and youth, eager to get that prized card, mascot or memento for their valentine. The cashier behind the counter has the last laugh, supplying illusive fodder to their already obese sentiments, he drains their pockets with a 100 watts smile on his face. Well, I too had a valentines experience, something very nonfigurative though. Read on if you feel like. It was about 3:30 in the morning. Rajeev, Jimmy and JJ were fast asleep at the jy house. The continuous ring of the telephone awakened all three of us. Each one was awake, but comfortably cuddled up in our blankets hoping that someone among us would get up and answer the phone. I purposely didnt get up due to the cold, but I was peeping from inside the blanket to see if Rajeev or Jimmy would get up. While peeping I made an amazing discovery, both Rajeev and Jimmy were also affected by the same phenomena. They too were wide awake, but peeping from within their blankets. (they didnt realize that I noticed that). To make my pretense all the more natural I put in a few snores and turned from side to side as one in deep sleep. Unable to bear the nuisance any longer, and gnashing his teeth that ultimately he had to pick the phone, Rajeev got up and went to pick the phone, muttering things to himself in Malayalam about whoever that was who had gall enough to call at such an unearthly hour!. Poor fellow. I really felt his agony from within the warmth of my blanket. The phone was from Kerala, His response to the call made both of us throw our jokes and pretenses and blankets aside and dart to the front room. One of our Jesus Youths, Jaquilin Emmanuels dad expired about an hour before. After Rajeev put down the phone, he told us that her aunty would call again after 10 minutes. We had to go and call Jaqulin from the girls house to attend the phone. We were in a fix as to how well break the news to her. Finally Rajeev and Jimmy decided to just inform her to come and attend a phone call from her aunt. No further details. Jaqulin came and a few minutes later she answered the ringing phone. The news was broken to her. Ive never seen such a calm person amidst storm as yesterday. After putting the phone down, she just turned to us and said. pappa expired and they told me to reach home by flight today. She still remained calm and composed. No emotional tantrums, no grumbling at God, no whining, no cursing. Just accepting the inevitable as coming from the hand of God for His greater purpose. Jaquie chechi is a person I have a lot of respect and high regard for. Just being in her company makes you feel great. Jaquie is a person of integrity. The thing that strikes me most is that she is a woman of prayer. A fervent intercessor, she spends hours praying for others. All this tells on her person. You can feel a sense of Godliness when ure with her. God taught me a tremendous lesson yesterday. People who have a deep relationship with the REAL VALENTINE (pronounced as R-E-A-L V-I-N-E) of their life, (not just limited to feb14) surely are able to face even tough times with that Shalom experience that Jesus only can give. Gini chechi and I, accompanied Jaquie to the airport where she was to board the 8 am flight to Kochi. In the auto, we kept praying the rosary. I was truly touched by the prayers of thankfulness and gratitude that Jaquie was raising up to the Lord. We reached the airport at about 6am. With two hours at hand, we sat at the lounge, prayed for sometime and then were silent. To get something started, I said chechi, your dad used to speak wonderful English. I had spoken to him sometime over the phone 2 years back and she said, ha he always used to ask about Betty and Josun. It seems he remembered both of us distinctly because once when we spoke over the phone, he was speaking to us in shudh Malayalam, we could understand most of it but responding back was a glitch, we were grappling with tidbits of manglish. He made out our struggle and switched over to real good English, much to our relief. That way he remembered me and my sister Bets a lot. Chechi was saying about all the ways her dad had been a great influence in her faith life. How he used to spend hours in prayer. I was truly touched. And finally she said something that really struck me to the core, I kept repeating it to myself, papa came from God, now he has returned to God so we must be
[JOYnet] GOD KNOWS WHATS BEST!
My Dear lovable joynetters, Earlier today I was having a terrible headache and feeling a bit nauseated. I boarded a bus from the terminal to go home. As usual the bus was already full. Whenever I dont get a seat in the bus, I do the next best thing. I allow my sharp eyes and keen intuition to reveal to me a potential short distance traveler. Its very easy for me to identify that because long distance travelers engage themselves in that occupation that has made Delhi one of the most respected States in India. They snore!. Short distance travelers on the other hand keep looking out of the window, turning back to see what the last stop was, etc For me its childs play to make out who is who. My eyes roamed and I located a potential opportunity for me to enhance Delhis respectability if you get my drift. More so with my headache and nausea, it would be very embarrassing to puke onto a co-passengers shoes! Well, to cut a long story short, yesterday was one such day that my sharp sightedness and keen intuition failed prove their onions! Instead of cribbing and magnifying the problem by grumbling about it, I took my rosary and started praying it. By now the bus was halfway thru the journey and jam butter packed! One thing that really irritates me most at such times is that the conductors keep pushing the passengers more and more to the middle of the bus as though once you reach the middle a stroke of enlightenment dawns on you and you suddenly evaporate, thus making space for lesser mortals! I get peeved with it! Inbetween my hailmarys I was muttering, He who perseveres to the end will be saved! To my disgust, my testing had only begun. What I hate most happened. A huge giant, maybe 7ft tall and weighing about 300 kilos (I say giant because JJ is no pigmy!) came and stood right infront of me, his mere presence churning my bones into powder!. This time Id had it! I just couldnt take it anymore. I prayed, Lord, I dont care that Im a charismatic, I know I am a great admirer of Maximilan Kolbe and Mother Theresa, many a time in the past I used to pray to become a martyr, but never once did I expect it to be this kind of excruciating death! Im gonna use my might to exercise my fundamental right to breathe freely! Afterall the Kingdom of God is taken by the tough guys AMEN! With I put my rosary on my neck and wriggled making space to breathe. Then slowly I took one foot and gently placed it on the toes of this fat guy, I did it carefully so he wouldnt know its me. I kept it there for sometime and then I stomped! yks! the guy screamed wondering if something had bitten his toes. He never realized its me. I kept doing it on and off when I needed a gulp of precious oxygen. The guy was getting exasperated and started hurling epithets (not at me ok) that if I post on joynet, I can guarantee the whole core team will fly to Delhi and give me the royal boot! Stop laughing!, my latest earthly possession-the headache was getting worse and pretty nagging. I stopped my pranks and sincerely prayed, Lord do I have to take so much trouble. Cant you just inspire this passenger to get up and give me the seat, on humanitarian grounds? another scripture flashed thru my mind, all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose Sigh! Atleast some relief! My hopes of ever obtaining the seat were dashed when the seated passenger started snoring. I knew, this chap is here to stay! In the now more jam packed bus I couldnt move a bit. Destined to stand! The jam packed bus was speeding along the highway and suddenly the bus screeched and swerved off in the opposite lane, flinging nearly half the bus into the drivers cabin. On looking out, I saw a cow majestically catwalking on the other side. The driver, in a desperate attempt to spare this natural speed breaker (cow) he nearly send us all to eternity long before our time! There were screams and shouts, adjectives coarse and fine gushing from the mouths of the passengers The bus was brought to a halt. The drivers head now was being used as a TABLA (Indian drum) by some of the irate male passengers (tharigidda thoom! Tharigidda Thoom!) I could hear moans of thod diya re haddi! (my bones are crushed!). The passenger snoozing on the seat I desired with all my heart, had a souvenir on his bleeding lips. In his deep sleep he had been awakened to the reality that the steel handle on which he was leaning on and snoring was much stronger than his lips and teeth! As for me, I did a quick scandisk to check whether there were any errors or damaged files on my being. Praise The Lord! None! Had I got that seat, 100 percent I would have sought solace in a snooze, more so with my headache. Catastrophe would have been the aftermath! A few teeth knocked off! Another thing, had that fat gentleman not come and stood infront of me I would have been killed or transformed into papadam with the impact of the jolt! With him infront,
[JOYnet] CHOOSING TO LOVE
Hey you remarkable children of God, Wow! Its hot! Its happening! Loves in the air! (and in joynet also) I honestly dont wanna open a can of worms this time! Ill start with a small story. There was once this guy and girl who were madly in love with each other. When I say madly I mean the pyar kiya tho darna kya (when youve fallen in love nothing to fear) type . They both were willing to stake their very existence for each other. So deep was their love for each other. One day, the guy tells the girl, darling, I know you love me so much! But please tell me, what is it that you love the most in me? And the girl responded. oh I really love you so much, but your teeth! Im swept off my feet, when I see your sparkling teeth. They really fascinate me! oh I see the guy muttered! And then the girl also asked, darling now you tell me, what is it that you love most in me? and he answered, m well, u know youve got such beautiful hair! Whenever I see your hair, Im swept off my feet! Im honestly on cloud nine! On hearing that the girl put her hand on her head and removed her wig (revealing a bald head) and placed it in his hands saying, here take! May you always be on cloud nine, ever swept off your feet! and the guy, not to be out done put his hand in his mouth and removed his set of false teeth and extending it to her, said, here, leth your objecth of fascinathion be with you alwaysth! (no teeth remember!) and the story goes that their love ended then and there and they lived happy (that it ended) thereafter! Now Ill say something about me. Well Im a normal guy (atleast I think I am!). And Ill be honest, Ive had umpteen crushes on girls ever since I was a kid. Even now I still tend to get emotionally attached to some people of the opposite sex at times. Ive spoken to my Spiritual director and a few mature people about it, and all of them have reiterated that there is nothing wrong TO FEEL emotionally attached to someone of the opposite sex. It only proves that our flow of hormones are normal. I subscribe to that opinion. If there is anyone who claims never to have had a crush or never got emotionally attached to anyone, there could be one of two possibilities, 1. That person may have some major manufacturing defect 2. That person is a first degree liar! Beware of that dangerous species! Today I asked my dad, daddin how much does it cost to fall in love? and he said something profound, but subtly enough so as not to let mummy hear. Mone I really dont know! Im still paying the price!!! unfortunately mummy heard it! eros (erotic love between man and woman) is equally a beautiful gift of God. (Though it is the lowest in the four forms of love). So theres nothing wrong in it. Let no one feel guilty of feeling (emphasis), feeling emotionally attached to someone of the opposite sex. If you do have feelings of affection for someone, then be sure ure proving that God dont make no junk! But again, we are not creatures of feelings alone. We have been endowed with a tremendous power. The power of choice. Animals dont have it. They have only instincts. Since we have choice, we are responsible for what we do with feelings! Another thing we need to note here is, emotions and feelings are temporary. When emotions are at their apex, reason seldom works! Many a time we youngsters act as though weve been possessed by a rogue elephant when we fall in love. What often happens is, Our love is selfish. Infact it is no love at all. If we look deep down, its our own vested interests and hidden agenda and personal vendetta that we want to achieve when we merely fall in love! Each of us including me, is a broken person! And the fact is, none of us can emancipate ourselves from this brokenness with our own effort or that of another human being. We have all received inner wounds ever since we were conceived. Many a time what happens when we fall in love, we tend to choose partners based on the wounds we have within. Thats where we sometimes do some catastrophic messing up. Many a time the boy or girl who goes flirting around has apparently envisaged a father or mother figure in the person they are flirting. The problem here is an intrinsic sense of insecurity that the flirt experiences. And this insecurity can never be filled by another human being. Lets get that clear! The other person is just as broken, maybe even more. When we have chimeras about the other persons infallibility, the dichotomy between our fantasy and reality clash! And then disillusionment sets in, and then love goes on rocks, finally we head for the cape of dashed hopes! One thing is for sure, just because you feel (emphsis again on feel) that your in love with someone, it may not be necessary that that is the person whom God has destined for you from all eternity. As I said Ive felt emotionally close to many girls, (it still happens ok) that in no way means that all of them were destined for me from all
[JOYnet] ON FALLING IN LOVE- ONCE AGAIN
Dear friends in Jesus, After seeing all the mails on falling in love Ive grown more wiser and broader in my outlook. Each of those who shared has got a unique dimension to bring out, this proves something- we serve a very creative God isnt it? Isnt it not beautiful that God made each one of us different and unique?. For me its truly wonderful! To know that each of us got no carbon copies or pirated versions! wow! Sounds great!!! I personally have learnt some tremendous lot thru this discussion that I hope will keep me in Good stead all the days of my life. As Jason rightly said, Joynet is a beautiful forum for all of us where we can share our views, experiences, what we feel as right or wrong etc. that is the way we learn and grow. Our Beloved Catholic Churchs attitude is the same. The Church respects contrary views and beliefs even though it doesnt subscribe to them. For over two thousand years our beloved church has kept on trying and investigating the truths on the anvil so as to ensure that they stand the test of time and are Truth. The Catholic church seeks Truth. So after all debates, contradictory viewpoints etc, the truth sought after, emerges. And that truth sets us free. Im sure all of us Joynetters are also seekers of the truth isnt it? Since thats true, after sharing all our views etc lets get back and see what is the Churchs stand on the aspect. I feel that will give a clear cut view and clarify any ambiguities. I sleuthed a bit in the CCC to see if I could get some nuggets of gold and this the closest I got. >From the part on PASSIONS AND MORAL LIFE. CCC-1764: The passions are natural components of the human psyche; they form the passageway and ensure the connection between the life of the senses and the life of the mind. Our Lord called mans hear the source from with the passions spring. CCC-1765: There are many passions. The most fundamental passion is love, aroused by the attraction of the good. Love causes a desire for the absent good and the hope of obtaining it; this movement finds completion in the pleasure and joy of the good possessed. The apprehension of evil causes hatred, aversion, and fear of the impending evil; this movement ends in sadness at some present evil, or in the anger that resists it. CCC-1766: To love is to will the good of another. All other affections have their source in this first movement of the human heart toward the good. Only the good can be loved. Passions are evil if love is evil and good if love is good. CCC-1767: in themselves passions are neither good nor evil. They are morally qualified only to the extent that they effectively engage reason and will. The passions are said to be voluntary, either because they are commanded by the will or because the will does not place obstacles in their way. It belongs to the perfection of the moral or human good that the passions be governed by reason. CCC-1768: Strong feelings are not decisive for the morality or the holiness of persons; they are simply the inexhaustible reservoir of images and affections in which the moral life is expressed. Passions are morally good when they contribute to a good action, evil in the opposite case. The upright will orders the movements of the senses it appropriates to the good and to beatitude; an evil will succumbs to disordered passions and exacerbates them. Emotions and feelings can be taken up into the virtues, or perverted by the vices. CCC- 1769: In the Christian life, the Holy Spirit himself accomplishes his work by mobilizing the whole being, with all its sorrows, fears and sadness, as is visible in the Lords agony and passion. In Christ human feelings are able to reach their consummation in charity and divine beatitude. And then I also got a bit on the section TO CHOOSE IN ACCORD WITH CONCIENCE CCC-1786: Faced with a moral choice, conscience can make either a right judgment in accordance with reason and the divine law or, on the contrary, an erroneous judgment that departs from them. CCC-1787: Man is sometimes confronted by situations that make moral judgments less assured ad decision difficult. But he must always seriously seek what is right and good and discern the will of God expressed in divine law. CCC-1788: To this purpose, man strives to interpret the data of experience and the signs of the times assisted by the virtue of prudence, by the advice of competent people, and by the help of the Holy Spirit and his gifts. CCC- 1789: Some rules apply in ever case: - One may never do evil so that good may result from it; - The golden rule: whatever you wish that med would do to you, do so to them - Charity always proceeds by the way of respect for ones neighbor and his conscience: Thus sinning against your brethren and wounding their conscience. you sin against Christ. Therefore it is right not to. do anything that makes your brother stumble (Rom. 14:21) If theres someone who is well versed with the teachin
[JOYnet] UNDESERVED GOODNESS OF GOD TO ME ! DUNNO WHY???
Dear friends, Yesterday was a normal day. I had gone to Okhla to meet Sanjo Paulson, one of my dearest Jy friends and joined him thereafter for the evening for bible study. After the bible study we were chitchatting with friends for sometime and then I made a move to the bus stop to catch a bus to go home. It was about 8:15 pm. At the bus stand I pulled out my rosary and started praying. Amidst the various noises of the night, I could hear a feeble voice some distance away from the bus stop saying, bhaisahab, madath karro (sir help me) I saw a man with a stick, trying to stop oncoming vehicles by waving his hand. He seemed drunk to me because he walked perilously into the road trying to stop vehicles, he also had a stagger in his steps. I continued with my rosary unconcerned about these kind of rif-rafs. Two decades were over, no bus seemed to be coming. In the distance this apparent dipsomaniac continued to beseech, . sahibji kripa karo (sir have mercy on me) Is this guy really drunk? Or is there something wrong with him I mused to myself. I kept looking in his direction, I had a doubt he wasnt drunk. I ran up to where he was to have a look. I was shocked! My doubts proved right. The guy was no drunk! He was blind. He was attempting to stop ongoing vehicles so that someone would offer him help. The guy is a youth, maybe around 17-22 years of age. I went up to him, held his hand and asked, how can I help you? .please take me to a phone booth he requested. I led him to a phone booth nearby. He dictated the number, I dialed for him. The number was going thru but no one was picking. We tried in vain for about 5 minutes, then I asked, what do we do now? He told me he wanted to go to one of his teachers houses somewhere near Okhla. I asked him for the address so that I could take him there, he told me he doesnt know the address but has the phone number. That was the number we were trying to dial. We tried once more but to no avail. It was getting late for me and so I asked him, where are you planning to go at this time of the night now that you arent getting your teacher? I dont know he replied. For me it was already very late and a bus to Najafgarh at that time was a near impossibility. I thought of halting at our JY house for the night, but what about him?, I asked him if he would mind coming with me to our JY house and spend the night there. He was a bit hesitant but when I persuaded him he obliged. We went back to the bus stop, our bus came along and we boarded it. In the bus we sat next to each other on same seat. Silly of me, till then I didnt tell him my name neither did I bother to ask him his. I introduced myself to him. He told me his name is Narain. He is doing his 1st year B.A. Honors in Hindustani vocal music from Delhi University. This got my interest. I wanted to know more. I asked him about his life. He told me he is basically from Himachal Pradesh, born blind to a poor family there. He was brought to Delhi many years ago as a kid, and he used to earn his livelihood by using his natural talent for singing songs, in buses and streets. One day passenger sitting in a bus that narain entered to sing happened to be a hindustani music teacher. He spotted the potential this kid had and he took him along sheltered him and he himself started teaching Narain Hindustani music. Sadly this guruji died after some years. And Narain lost his home as well. Ever since life has been tough for him. He stays in a ramshackle house somewhere in the border of Delhi and Haryana. Everyother day he travels 3 hrs one way to reach the university. I requested him to sing for me a song once we reached home, he promised he would. I told him of my interest in hindustani and carnatic music. I told him that my favorite artists were The Late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and pandit Bhimsen Joshi. He told me he knows some of their songs. Narain is also a very well read person. He reads a lot of classic literature and history. We reached Yusuf Sarai, got off and walked towards our Jy house. I usually walk very fast, and inadvertently I was doing that with him holding my hand, he pulled at me and said, please dont walk so fast, Ill trip and fall oh stupid me! What was I thinking about? I slowed down and we moved at his pace. We reached our Jy house, and I was hoping that there wouldnt be a big crowd there. I told him to wait outside. I went in and a few of the Jy girls were there, a few jy guys too. They were praying the Rosary. I called Rajeev out and told him about Narain. Rajeev was kind enough and obliged to let him stay for the night with us. I took Narain to the bathroom, helped him freshen up. And we sat in one of the rooms talking to each other. I asked him to sing me a Nusrat number as promised.. He started singing in such a lovely voice and tune, Sanu ek pal chein na aave, Sajana tere bina wow! I just loved it. Prayer was over and most of the jys gathered around narain, and we s
[JOYnet] GRANDPARENTS ARE CUTE!
Dear Friends, The beautiful sharings by Bincy and Tina really touched my heart. It brought back fond nostalgic memories of my wonderful grandparents who are no more. I was specially attached to my dads father. Papachy was such a loving and noble soul. He lost Ammachy in 1987. Both he and Ammachy were great devotees of Mother Mary. He used to pray for each of his children and grandchildren. Both pappachy and ammachy were born on August 11th. The last words he uttered before passing on in 1996 were, children pray the rosary Even at his age, he would remember all his childrens and grandchildrens birthdays. He especially liked all of us grandchildren. Many a time he used to sing for us old Malayalam devotional songs. He would lull us all to sleep with, nyan urrangan pogum munmbai. His favorite song used to be, motshathin Rajave, Logathi karthave every night after the family prayer he would sing it. Pappachy was very loving to my mother. Mummy wept like a child when she knew he was no more. All who knew him loved him especially for his sense of righteousness. More than anything else, I feel the legacy that he and ammachy have bequeathed to his posterity is the gift of faith. Thankyou Jesus. I had a special affinity for him because of a certain happening where he literally saved my skin. I will never forget him. Pappachy, if you are reading this youre your heavenly abode, remember to pray for all of us ok!. Many years ago, when I was maybe 12 or 13, we were in our tharwad, (ancestral home), Uncles, aunties, cousins, the whole nellanikat clan was there. One day as is classic of me, I got into some kind of mess. Haa! I remember what it was, my dad had given us clear instructions not to by choondas (fishing hooks) coz they could be dangerous. I disobeyed and bought myself one, and went fishing one day. I wasnt very good at it, there was one chettan having a bath in the near by stream where I was fishing. After dropping the line, it seemed something had tugged at the line. I gave one pull to the hook, it came and landed on that chettans back! he was furious! Luckily it didnt spike him, but he threatened me by picking up a stone and hurled adjectives that made no difference to me coz I didnt understand a word of them! Nevertheless, I was scared out of my wits. I dropped my hook, picked my slippers in my hand and ran for my life. Once back home, I knew this guy will come and spill the beans to my dad. The wonderful thing about me then was, when I knew a spanking was due my way I would vanish from the scene, and go into hiding (something like what binladen is doing these days). That day, my latest hideout was the firewood heap. I made a hole in it for myself and remained there. As I had clairvoyantly perceived, the report reached the ears of my dad. He was furious!. where is that fellow? he barked! No one knew. OPERATION-JOSUN HUNT was called on. My siblings, cousins and daddin were all part of the search team trying to smoke me out of my hole! They looked in all the places I previously hidden. Even those days I had the wisdom to know that you should never hide in the same place twice. I therefore had ever-ingenious ways of finding new hideouts. That day the whole clan was after my blood! Poking with sticks under the bed, checking the attic, behind doors, somebody went as far as checking near the cow dung pit, etc Pandoras box was opened. With all the noise and pandemonium around, I was happily in my bunker. Suddenly, there was an unusual silence and whispering. I knew was amiss. I sensed someone had spotted me. My sixth sense told me to scoot off!. True enough these smart alecks found my hide out and were zeroing in on me. But before their plans could materialize I jumped out of my hiding and sprinted off. They all saw me, and as though they were hunting a wild boar or something, screamed in unision, there he is!. The chase was on. My cousins, siblings with daddin in the lead. I was desparate, daddin is a very good sprinter. If I keep running, in no time Id be caught. I did some quick thinking, I saw a very huge tree infront of me. I jumped for one of its branches and like our primate brethren, I scrambled up. Daddin and the rest of the team were below the tree. I made my ultimatum, If u guys dont leave me in peace I swear Ill jump! Daddin was not to take threats. He dared me to jump, and with that he started climbing after me. He knew, I was a coward and would never jump for the life in me. I did the only rational thing possible in such a predicament. I scaled greater heights, my dad too was nearing in. I was desperate. To my great fortune, pappachy was coming home that time after a walk in the town. He called out to us all and enquired what enlightenment were all the nellanikaddans seeking, standing under that tree. One of my cousins enlighted him about the whole episode. Pappachy told daddin to climb down. Daddin amiably obeyed. And in a very kind voice told me, Josunmo
[JOYnet] LOST 14 BUCKS BUT GAINED A TON OF LOVE!
Hey you awesome people of God, There are many things that JJ hates, one of them is to be stranded at the railway crossing. Ironically almost every other day I get stranded. At times it takes a good 20 minutes till the gate is opened. Yesterday was one such day. While waiting for the train to pass, passengers usually get off the bus, either for a snack or for some fresh air. I was blest to have a seat in this bus. So I didnt want to get out. The people behind me were playing cards. Small time hawkers come into the bus at the crossing to sell their snacks, pens, roadmaps etc A small boy maybe aged 7-8 years old came in selling mumphali (pea-nuts). One of the guys playing cards called for him and asked him for a packet of pea-nuts. The boy gave it and he asked for 2 rupees. The man took the packet, opened it and munched a few peanuts. Then he returned the packet saying, daktar ne manna kiya hai mujhe, mumphali khaane se (the doctor has banned me from eating pea-nuts) the boy asked, then why did u open the pack and eat? the other men also started poof woofing the kid away. Skirmishes in the bus are a common thing, and Ive become numb to caring much for them. The contrast of a young voice and an old burly voice in heated argument drew my attention. I turned and looked. A mangy, shabilly dressed kid, with dirty feet, no footwear, and unkempt hair, holding a few packets of mumphali in one hand and trying to make a point with the other to a middle aged man. I watched for sometime, analyzing the situation before I did anything. I was really impressed with the guts of that kid. A lone kid, fighting for his right against a bunch of bullies who keep using obnoxious language at him and try intimidating him with threats and cheap jokes I intervened and told the man politely, see, if you have opened the packet u should pay for it. Why are you harassing the kid like that the man retorted to me, thu apna kaam dekh, yahan jyada kanoon maath jamma! (mind your own business, dont you come and teach me the law ok) I understood there was no point arguing with imbeciles like him. I therefore used a reverse psychology to teach the bully a lesson. I called the boy over to my side, put my arm round him and asked him his name. Salauddin he replied. Oh ok, now I knew why he was being harassed. How much is one packet of mumphali? I asked, two rupees he answered. And how many packets do you have with u? He checked and told me, che pakit (six packets) give me all your packets Ill buy them. The kid was moved. He gave me all the six packets, I paid him 14 rupees (2 rupees for the bullys mumphali). Then I asked him about his family, he told me his dad, tausheef works on the railway line as a casual laborer. His mom Nasreen is a sickly woman and stays at home. He stays in a Jhopdi (shanty) nearby. He doesnt study, he said. Infact he hates studies because his teacher in 3rd standard used to beat him like hell. Salauddin has got an elder brother who pulls a rickshaw, 2 elder sisters who are already married away. (they cant be more than 16 years old!) After sometime of getting to know him better, I told him about our present president, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. I shared that he too was an ordinary kid just like him. He used to sell newspapers as a child, just as Salauddin sold pea-nuts. Salauddin was impressed. I looked into his eyes that had dried tears by the by the eyelids and assured him, you too can become somebody great in life, have a dream and pay the price, nothing is out of reach. The kids face lit up. He said, mathlab mei bhi bada aadmi ban saktha hu (that means I too can become great) why not, Ofcourse you can I assured. Meanwhile, the guys playing cards including the bully had stopped their game. And like a number of other passengers they too were keenly listening to my conversation with Salauddin. Little by little I could see the embarrassment that that bully was feeling. I knew he was feeling really small. But I wasnt done with him yet. I told Salauddin, dont worry when you are mistreated or when people cheat you. Dont get intimidated either by threats. When you become somebody great, always treat people less fortunate than you with kindness and love. He promised to remember that. All this took place in a span of about half an hour. In the distance the siren of a train approaching, sounded. When ever you see me in the bus dont hesitate to come up to me ok. If I have the money Ill buy mumphali from you I promised Salauddin. He removed my hand from his shoulder and said, abhi aatha hu mei (Ill just come back) with that he darted out of the bus, a few moments later he returned with a block of kadala muttai, (groundnut sweet) and shyly placed it in my hand saying, this is for you from my side ok I took it and gave him a hug. The train was zipping past, scooters, cars, buses, trucks started turning on their engines, Salauddin took my hand, kissed it and assured me, Il
[JOYnet] HIS THOUGHTS ARE ON ME!
Dear beloved in Jesus, I cant thank God enough for his many blessings everyday in my life. Ever since the Lord touched my life, he has been doing beautiful things for me. One thing that God has ensured is that jj never lacks the love of brothers and sisters. God has given me numerous brothers and sisters scattered all over. I feel more closer to a brother or sister in Jesus may be thousands of miles away than a colleague or secular acquaintance I have here in Delhi. Its the love of Jesus that binds us together. Isnt it? Many of my brothers and sisters know me thru and thru and still love the view. Believe me jj is a maverick, can be very bullheaded, obstinate, inane at times. God is gracious to me, nevertheless. Well, life of late has been handing jj some great bumps. Ive been passing thru some thriller meat grinding experiences. I say thriller because every experience (including the setbacks) prove to be an ultimate blessing. So they thrill me a lot. Hey! I dont want to sound so utopian. There are times I feel really dejected, forlorn and hopless. Recently during one such time I wrote to some of my beloved Christian brethren about my strife, requesting prayers. The encouragement I received recharged me again. The love bestowed eclipses the discouragement, misunderstanding, rejection etc.. So, If there is any of us who are finding the going tough, remember what a very tough woman of God, Mother Theresa said, tough times dont last long, but tough people do some other wise person said, when the going gets tough, the tough get going!. So, never let anything to permanently discourage us ok. It takes one moment for God to make a sick person healthy, a poor man rich, a weak person strong. Just hang in there. Ok. I feel a lot strengthened by a profound mail send to me by a dear JY chechi today. Here is what chechi send. Hope it lifts someones spirits. I was going through this beautiful passage sometime back and found it good and soothing my mind. Hope Jesus will speak to you through this. Hudson Taylor once said, "The Lord is my Shepherd; is on Sunday, is on Monday and is through everyday of the week; is on January, is in December, and every month of the year, is at home and is in America , is in peace, and is in war in abundance and in penury!" At another time he wrote: All Gods dealings are full of blessing: He is good, doeth good, good only, and continually. The believer who has taken the Lord as his shepherd can assuredly say in words of the Psalmist: Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. Hence we may be sure that the days of adversity, as well as days of prosperity, are full of blessing. The believer does not need to wait until he sees the reason of God's afflictive dealings with him to be satisfied; He knows 'that all things work together for good to them that love God and are called according to his purpose." The shepherd is responsible for the sheep; not the sheep for the shepherd! The worst of it is that we sometimes think we are both the shepherd and the sheep, and that we have both to guide and follow! Happy are we when we realize that He is responsible: that He goes before: and goodness and mercy shall follow us! So maybe you are being severely tested, almost to the breaking point! Maybe wondering about the tomorrows! He knows all about your tomorrows, and is thinking in advance for you! Yes for you! For you he careth! Hide away in your Heart the gracious promise: " How precious are thy thoughts unto me, O God" Let shadows come, let shadows go, Let life be bright or dark with woe, I am content, for this I know, Thou thinkest, Lord of me Yo man! Gods thoughts are on each of us. And he thinks were masterpiece stuff! God bless, Josun Jose/New Delhi/India - Meet the Reluctant Saint, Palm Sunday, April 13, 7pm ET/PT, on Hallmark Channel. http://www.reluctantsaint.tv During the Lenten Season, please help support the mission of Catholic Online by purchasing goods and services from our sponsors at http://www.catholic.org/clife/lent === This mail is generated from JOYnet, a Jesus Youth mailing list. For more info on the list visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet To unsubscribe from the list send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe to the list visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet/join In case of any issue related to the mailing list contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] ===
