Daily Dose for Christian Survival: Daily Scriptural Meditation and Spiritual Medication

By Benjamin A Vima

Every Christian, who tries to lead a life seriously committed to their Gospel principles in this postmodern world, finds it hard to survive the day-to-day life and move in the midst of the postmodern crowds and to continue to have ones being in the invisible resurrected Lord. Survival of a sincere Christian is in question in this fast-paced life. This books contents would support these disciples of Jesus to carry on daily this august spiritual exercise. When this spiritual exercise of meditating on the Word of God is being performed, they certainly will reach Gods presence within them. Then they follow their hearing Him, their loving Him, and their saying yes to Him and starts their joyful and contented journey of Christian life, not to survive but to succeed in life.
The author writes: The thoughts I share here mostly came out of my daily meditation on the scriptures and of my encounter with Jesus alive. I hope in all honesty that the spiritual doses I offer here will help the reader as meditation for preventing and medication for curing as well. These daily doses will support the reader in coming out of the gloomy and cloudy days of the past and in marching on smilingly and boldly to a new heaven and new earth in celebrating ones today as the day of the Lord.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Dec 6, 2011
• ISBN: 9781466904620

Benjamin A Vima

Rev. Benjamin A Vima has been a diocesan priest for forty five years, performed his pastoral ministry in various parishes both in India and USA as well. Besides his philosophical and theological studies, he holds two masters: one in Religious Communications from Loyola University of Chicago and another in People’s Theater Communications from University of Illinois at Chicago Circle Campus. He has authored several books, seven of which have been published already through the help of Trafford Publications, Indiana. At present he is retired from his parish administration and pastoral ministry but continues to spend his time in praying, writing and visiting the sick and the homebound. He too continues to accept calls from various churches around America to perform church services and preaching ministry.

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January 1

The time has arrived to bid goodbye to the ‘old’ year and to say ‘hello’ to another ‘new’ year. We are stepping into another milestone as we march on toward our Heavenly Home. We know when we started this journey but are unaware of when and where this march of ours will come to a halt. However we are sure conventionally that our each step leading us to somewhere, where all our dreams will come true, the dreams of never-ending life, ever-blissful environment, and unchanging love experience.

As we pass from one year to another we are filled with mixed feelings: There is a feeling of gratitude and happiness because of having been spared from accidents, deaths, or cruel illness and for having been left unharmed by natural disasters; happiness fills some that so much has been forgiven, not punished despite all our blunders, bad habits, and misbehavior; many among us are overwhelmed with joy that so far last year despite all the prophecies and predicts of doom and terror, the humanity, especially the place we live in, has been kept in balance between war and peace, disaster and prosperity, crime and sanctity, violence and kindness, and terrorism and charity.

There is also certain feeling of sadness if we had lost our loved ones by death; had broken our friendship by divorce and fight; and there may others who feel sad that they had missed good opportunities to improve, to gain, to do good; surely most of us would be feeling sorry that we had hurt our friends and relatives and sometimes messed up their lives; we feel shame for making wrong decisions; plus we feel unhappy for the dreams and plans that have not been realized or ended up in failure. Undoubtedly almost all of us are anxious and fearful about the future of this New Year. We ask certain questions about it with anxiety: Will our dreams and plans be accomplished at least this year? Will our chronic or terminal disease or any other illness continue in the New Year or healed? What about our family problems: The irritable habits of our loved-ones, their stubborn temperament, their unpredictable behavior, our job, our house, and our savings?

To get over with or to get even with these mixed emotions and feelings, each one of us chooses different ways. Some may go for parties, others to travel all the way to New York Time Square, many go to the fortune tellers, good many browse the internet to reach the psychic readers; a few attend some Life Enrichment seminars conducted by great authors and Gurus. However as committed Christians what should we do on this day in order to survive throughout this New Year? First we should look in ourselves the almighty presence of God; pour out to him all our feelings, especially those of fear, anxiety, remorse and shame; express our sincere appreciation for all that he had done previous years in our lives; and we must surrender ourselves and every moment of the New Year at his feet and resolve to stay on his lap as our Strength, our mighty Rock, our Fortress, our Stronghold and our High Tower.

"When God is with us who will be against us?"

January 2

A young man asked a sage, ‘Would you please tell in a summary the answer to my question, ‘how to be happy for an hour?’ The sage replied, ‘go to sleep’ and the question and answer session continued: ‘What should I do to be happy for a day?’ ‘Go out for sightseeing.’ ‘To be happy for a month?’ ‘Get married.’ ‘My final question, sir,’ questioned the youth, ‘what should I do to be happy for life?’ The sage in a calm tone replied, ‘Just love your life as it is.’

Love our life as it is? This is amazing and hurting too. Because when we mull over our life as it has been lived and experienced during past years, especially last year, we feel it was productive; very creative; sentimental; romantic; pleasurable; and exciting. But in addition, our life was: Very vulnerable; very demanding; too risky; extremely unfair; and mostly unpredictable. It was truly a blending of these ups and downs, negative and positive and a life, which is transient and temporary. Is that kind of life to be loved? As the sage advised in order to make ourselves happy in this New Year we have to love the life as it is and not the life as it looks like. Life many a time is misinterpreted and misunderstood by us. This is why we do not truly love it. We pretend to love it. But as Christians through the revelation we got from God through Jesus Christ the human life is not as it appears.

Our human life is a gift from God. We are a creation of God. We have been created in the likeness and image of the Word, which existed already in the beginning. We have been predestined by the Triune God to enter into relationship with God and stay with Him eternally. We as His creation possess abundant gifts and resources for our living in this world to know, to love and to serve Him. Unfortunately such a beautiful life has been utterly damaged by our disobedience. Sin spoiled the image of the Word in us. So again our belief says the same Word came down from heaven to heal that image of the Son of God in us and redeemed it to its original status of beauty, power, wisdom and godliness. Our life has been again renovated by our Baptismal covenant with the Son of God, Jesus. So now our life is face-lifted and supported by so many sources of grace in the Church: graces from sacraments, from the Scriptures, from the traditions, from the entire Body of Christ and from the communion of saints.

We, by our own efforts, cannot lift ourselves up to the expectation of our true image-Jesus’ personality. We too know our future life is irresistible because all the promises the Lord had made about our life, all the marvelous deeds He has done in our midst proves to us our life is still irresistible. No principalities and dominions of the world can conquer us. No evil can prevail over us. This is our future. So what should we do now at present moment? We make this present day as an irrevocable surrender to the Lord, our Creator and Redeemer. Let us walk or fly or float through the thick and thin of the ‘Cloud of the Unknowing.’ Our life is worth living, despite the fact ‘I am not ok and you are not ok,’ because Jesus is ok. In our journey of life we have around us, God as a Father, Jesus as a Brother and the Spirit as a Lover. So let us love our life as it is. This New Year is going to be to us a year of joy, peace, and victory.

‘I am always with you till the end of the world.’

January 3

‘Well begun half done’ is a maxim we should always remember whenever we start something new in our life. In anything we do, or perform we are very keen on the starting point. The same is true with this New Year start. It should begin well so that the rest of the year would be happy and fruitful. It is for this reason we go to church or we spend some time in prayer and reading and listening to the Scriptures through which God tells us that he bestows triple blessing to those who adhere to Him.

First, He gives us a priestly blessing: Aaron and his sons were chosen by God and anointed by Him to act as priests in His name. In other words they were chosen to be the channel of blessing from God to the people. So shall they invoke my name upon the Israelites, and I will bless them, says the Lord. Every Christian through baptism is called to act like priest in between God and community. We hold a power to bless each other as mother, father, brother, sister, husband, wife, leader, friend.

Secondly we are graced with a kingly blessing: Through our baptism as Christians we have become the children of God. We, like Christ, have inherited the power and dignity to be called so. As Christ inherited the kingly blessing from his Father, so we too inherit the kingly power from God. We as God’s adopted children received already the blessing from our Father His ability to control, to manage, to maintain, to lead, to solve, to fix and to empower others with the same power.

Thirdly we are endowed with a prophetic blessing: All the faithful Jews held God’s prophecies as sacred and genuine and real. Jesus, Mary and Joseph lived their lives in accordance with those prophetic promises. Thus they were liberated from undue anxieties about their future. The same way the Lord has prophetically declared and promised certain things about our lives and our destiny. We learn them from the Scriptures. Before our conception he has written our names in his Life’s Book. He has designed a beautiful and fruitful future for us. He too has promised to be with us till the end of ages. This is a great prophetic blessing for us.

So let us bless ourselves with this positive ‘faith-thinking’ as we start this New Year. God is blessing us with the ability to bless others, the power to lead and manage, and the luck to hold an eternally-propitious word of fortune namely ‘I am predestined for good and good alone to enjoy everything that is good born out of his love."

‘All things work for good for those who love God,

who are called according to his purpose.’

January 4

Can you believe if I say that Jesus told us I am the promise and you are its fulfilment? This is how our Heavenly God made the world aware of His essence and existence when He became man in this world. We believe in Jesus’ incarnation as the fulfilment of God’s promises. We agree with Paul: When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman (Gal.4: 4). In Jesus, all of God’s promises are fulfilled. This means the Father has handed down to Jesus all His power, all His love, and all His wisdom in order to help us in realizing those ‘fuller—life-promises’ in our lives.

Once we have accepted Jesus as the fulfilment of God’s promises, we in our turn are expected to become the fulfilment of all that Jesus is. Jesus is the promise of God; and we, His disciples become its accomplishment. This means Jesus is in dire need of us to carry ‘Him’ in us and in the universe. Like Mother Mary, we lend our will to His Spirit’s promptings by saying: Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to your word. There were millions of our friends who lived their lives as the completion of the Promises of God. They were continuously living in Him, through Him, and with Him. They imitated Him and lived like Him, not just for Him.

In my early childhood, Jesus requested me to listen to His call to be his priest. I did so, but with a certain reservation and for fear of my parents and society. A time came in my life when I outgrew the slavery of a people-pleasing life. I became a full-fledged free man. I act and react according to my own options and values. Now the interesting thing is, Jesus is after me inviting me once again to respond to His eternal call to be the fulfilment of God’s promises. It is hard for me to oblige Him. I feel He is whispering in me: If you don’t do it for me, who will accomplish what I have entrusted to you? You are unique in my eyes. You are called to make the promise of eternity realized, especially in the 21st century.

You would hear the same gentle voice of Jesus if your spirit were attuned to His. Even after 2000 years of His presence in our midst, the promise of God fulfilled in Jesus has not yet been fully realized in the world through us. We are surrounded by our friends’ indifference, their coldness, their spirit of negativism, their polemics of values and their age-old hunger to be greater than others. But Jesus calls us to change and renew the situation where we live and move. This is possible only by being the promise of God for peace, justice, love, and unity.

He is the Promise and we are its Afterglow.

January 5

The incarnation of Jesus Christ is the center of our Christian faith. From the early days of her life, the Church has seen the incarnation as a great Mystery/paradox in which the Mightiest became lowly, the Holiest was born in a sinful environment, the most Spiritual dwelt in a breakable body, Wisdom happened to be foolish, and the Perfect embraced imperfections.

Although this mysterious act of God is beyond human reasoning, thinkers, philosophers, and now modern and scientific minds have tried to make it humanly comprehensible. Whenever doubts have arisen about the incarnational duality, namely Jesus’ double nature—divine and human-, the Church has stood her ground to safeguard the integrity and the truth of this august mystery.

"We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God . . . For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary and became man." This is our 2000-year-old Christian belief. The Church has never disowned nor betrayed it. Despite many misinterpretations and abuses, she steadfastly holds on to this wonderful Mystery of Incarnation. The true identity of everything spoken and practiced in our Church is predicated upon the truth of incarnation.

Though our physical body is very vulnerable, breakable and often uncooperative with our true self, it is to be respected and honoured because it is the temple of the Holy Spirit because it has been united to Jesus’ body which was the abode of God the Almighty. This is why we should admire at it; we too pledge ourselves to beautify it, safeguard it and treat it with loving tender care in daily life.

O my body! Comprised of flesh and blood and bones! You are blessed indeed! The divine Supreme has taken your realm as His own dwelling. Let me celebrate that historical moment at which His Divinity joined with your physicality. This is why I have great hope in you despite your vulnerability, your sinfulness, and your corruptibility. The Mysterious act of God has cleansed you, medicated you, keeping you on His Diet, and has empowered you. Even if you suffer, that suffering becomes a part of Redemptive suffering, which the Lord experienced at His life and death. (By an unknown author)

January 6

In our relationship, in marriage contract, family affair, in business, in love affair and in our personal convictions and values, especially religious, we make the ‘in-and-out’ shift continuously. The main reason for this shift is, as some modern thinkers call, the ‘Epiphany.’ This word ‘Epiphany’ according to these writers is an understanding that comes about through a sudden intuitive realization. Every human person gains time to time some sort of unexpected insight into himself or herself, which are called the ‘moments of Epiphany.’ It is a small descriptive moment, action, or phrase that holds much larger meaning—for example, a single word or gesture that explains a person’s entire personality.

At the feast of Epiphany, which we celebrate at the beginning of the year the Church means the same and much more and deeper. It’s all about God, about Jesus, and about humanity and its relationship with God. Greek ‘epiphaneia’ means ‘appearance’ or ‘manifestation.’ The feast reminds us about the appearance of God in Jesus, the manifestation of divinity in humanity. In this manifestation we notice some strange but valuable truth appearing before us.

Jesus is revealed as the Son of God in his power, wisdom and love. As Isaiah the prophet prophesied, God was manifesting Himself in glory and splendor as King of kings. Added to the revelation of God’s divinity we become aware of that God was manifesting His own humanity. We have always been esteeming the physicality of this world and the entire universe, and our own humanity is after all an alien to God and His Kingdom of heaven and therefore our body with all its weakness and fragility is in enmity with God’s divinity. But in this feast of epiphany God in Jesus reveals to us that the physicality of the universe and especially our humanity is God’s own.

When God reveals, appears or manifests both His divinity and humanity we should discover it. Otherwise it is not fully an Epiphany. The magi discovered it but not the Herod; the disciples discovered it but not Judas; many Gentiles discovered it but not all the Jews in Jesus’ time. We usually discover what we like to discover, sometimes His divinity, other times His humanity. But God wants us to discover His total and entire manifestation both in His divinity and humanity. We appreciate His power in us but hate His limitations, we appreciate His glory but not His humiliations; we like to see in us only success and victory but not failures; we prefer always living a cozy and comfortable life but not a life with all its hardships and burdens including its sickness and death. The Epiphany of God in Jesus teaches us to accept the mystery of God, the incarnation of God and Man, the blending of both divinity and humanity and embrace this life with gratitude, commitment and responsibility.

Arise! Shine, for your light has come, the glory of the LORD has dawned upon you. Though darkness covers the earth, and thick clouds, the peoples, upon you the LORD will dawn, and over you his glory will be seen. Nations shall walk by your light, kings by the radiance of your dawning. (Is. 60: 1-3)

January 7

Whenever we pass from one year to another, though it is only an artificial calculation of time, we actually take one step further toward our end! At every jump from the past to the future, either we gain or lose something in our life; either we step up or step down from one state of living to the other; either we grow stronger or we get weaker. In general, we become older, getting closer and closer to oblivion. Since such reflection on our life’s reality would hurt our pride and kill our peace of mind, we like to distract ourselves every day by having parties, playing games, gambling, and engaging in other entertainments. More than all these distractions, however, our religious beliefs are the most effective instruments to keep us cool at this juncture.

We have a God who is the Father, Source of all our life-gifts. He protects and provides for our wellbeing. He never wants to let us down. He dreams our dreams about our prosperity, development, and happiness. By nature He cannot tolerate evil happening in our life. He loves us and loves without limit. Once we come in contact with Him, and lean on His providence, He makes His covenant with us. The more we respond faithfully to His love-invitation, the more He showers us with blessings of power, wisdom, and love.

People who do not respond to His call do hurt Him, but not to the extent that He disowns them. He always keeps His hands extended and from time to time, He manifests Himself to them in different forms and manners. He undoubtedly proves Himself as the Father of all peoples, all nations, at all times, in all ages. All religious beliefs, if God truly and genuinely reveals them, must hold on to the eternal truths. No sect should claim supremacy, in possessing the God. This is why Jesus preached a global Gospel in His approach to God. Even though He addressed God as His own Father, He taught His disciples to pray to the same God, calling Him Our Father also. When His followers hesitated or even fought against preaching Jesus’ Gospel to non-Jews, God called and nominated Paul to be the apostle of Gentiles and broke the exclusivity of the Church. Unfortunately for the past two millenniums humanity has experienced the worst bloodshed, wars, and rifts between religions and sects in the name of God. Very foolishly, my god and your god have been fighting with our God.

We need to spend more time in deep reflection over our attitude toward our own beliefs about God. We need tradition to maintain our faith; we need to make our culture reflect our religion so that we hand it down intact to our posterity; we need to make Jesus’ way of love into an institution in order to safeguard our beliefs; we also need theology, doctrines and dogmas so that we can stand by them, feel secure, and fight evil. But these needs should not blind us to the wholistic revelation of God in Jesus, namely that the God Jesus revealed is the God of all, and the Gospel He preached was the Good News of Love, Forgiveness, and Oneness of Human Family. Let us put an end to all the infightings conducted in the name of God.

During this New Year

‘My god and your god should in no way fight with our God.’

January 8

If we closely monitor the behavior of those three wise men whom Matthew refers to in his story of the Child Jesus, we would find that they first were settled in their goal finding. Namely they found out clearly that Jesus was the would-be king of the Jews and the universe. They started their journey through deserts and many obstacles to reach the goal. It would have taken many months to reach from their place to Jerusalem. They too settled well with the means to reach Jesus. That was the star. But in between the story tells us they missed it. It was not found so they had to go to King Herod for directions. Again the star appeared to them and led them to the place where the Child Jesus was found.

This beautiful story confirms the fact that our life must be settled with a biggest dream to be achieved, namely God Himself. Added to it, we should be settled in the means through which we attain that goal and dream, namely Jesus. The Star is a symbol of His Body the Church, which we believe, will take us to our settlement. It is the sacrament of love and God. Sometimes we may not see its light fully because of its unholy leaders and sinful members. But if we really and sincerely settled in its track surely it will come back and lead us to the goal and settle us in the crib of peace, love, joy and fulfillment.

Many years in the past I did not make God as my final, total and complete settlement of my life. Some years of my life even if I had God as my goal I was not ready to settle with the means to reach Him. Because I wrongly thought I didn’t need a vehicle, a settled means. But lately I understood that I needed a mobile home, a trailer house with which I move from one year to the other, from one age to another, and from one situation to the other. There were too many stars moving in the sky glittering. There were too many means at my assistance. But I had to choose proper ones and settle with them. There were too many different religions, different denominations, different authorities, preachers, teachers and prophets in media and Internet. I thought if I did not settle soon with one proper religious vehicle to move to my eternal settlement, I would become crazy and even lose my goal. So I decided to choose the appropriate star to lead me to reach my Dream.

All of us at one time or another, sooner or later, must make up our mind to detect which one among those glittering stars around us is moving toward the true God in Jesus. Any star or any church, or any community that feels it is settled once and for all and not ready to move toward the next century, toward the next New Year is to be ignored and rejected. Many among us are afraid of change and resent to it because they unfortunately, instead of being settled with God, are settled once and for all with their old traditions and observances, old buildings and structures, old formalities as the OT Israelites were clinging on to the ‘onions of Egypt’. These people are still not yet settled with the true God as their dream nor are they holding on to Jesus the Super Star as their director moving with them.

But let us who are settled well in God as our biggest Dream of life and who believe that Jesus the Super Star is moving with us in this world of problems, never be afraid for experimenting new solutions for life’s problems in order to make our world a better place to live.

We are a pilgrim people, always in a state of forward flux until all of humankind evolves together and converges on the Omega Point, namely Jesus Christ. (II Vatican Council)

January 9

Have you ever experienced a thrilling effect of moving but settled? Ask those who own a house trailer or mobile home. They enjoy cooking, eating, sleeping, dancing and do all possible things they can as if at a home while still they move from one town to the other. The same experience we feel too when we travel by plane or ship provided there is no air bumps and rough seas. From Jesus’ revelation we learn that our Christian life in this world should be one of these thrilling experiences of ‘move-in-settlement.’ The story of the Three Magi confirms this fact. Human history and the archeological discoveries prove that all my forefathers and mothers were nomads, wanderers. Like Gypsies they were moving from one place to the other in search of water and food, animals, gold and silver, coal and oil, freedom from enemies and natural calamities, and prosperity of their families and children. The same human exodus is occurring still to this day as I observe people of different races, nationalities, classes and religions go, walk or even run from their circles, from their native towns, villages, cities, states, countries, and continents. All travel for their dreams to be fulfilled, to enjoy freedom, peace, prosperity and health.

Among these some act like cowboys and cowgirls and some others as playboys and playgirls. The first group wanders with some temporary goals to be achieved for their families. But the second one moves around like bees from one flower to the other for their own individual pleasures, very selfish in their hearts. The second group does not have any goal in life beyond themselves. Once when I was wandering from east to west, from north to south, my elders, parents, grandparents and other mentors began advising me, ‘My dear boy. Put a full stop to your wandering. Find as quick as possible your own home and settle there.’ Like many I truly settled in one place and want to die there. But there are many among us who are still running from one place to the other, like renegades and gypsies with a hidden agenda to realize their dreams.

Many religions profess that human life does not stop at all anywhere at any time. It is cyclic always on the move. Even death cannot stop it because the death means to move from one body to another. Christianity, not like other religions, places before us a complete and total settlement of our human life. There is a starting point for it and an end to it as well. Christian belief is that God is that settlement, the goal and end of this earthly life. He is the biggest dream of our life toward which we run, move, travel and journey. Christianity accepts fully that we are truly wanderers and pilgrims walking and running toward our eternal settlement, namely God. All other settlements we have in this world as tents, homes, religions, society, nation and so on are merely temporary ones on the road. They have to be experienced and enjoyed as ‘move-in-settlement’ of mobile homes and trailer houses. In fact we are not entirely wanderers or totally settlers. We are both. We have settled in God already but we move toward Him and with Him while we remain here.

It is not that I have already taken hold of it or have already attained perfect maturity, but I continue my pursuit in hope that I may possess it, since I have indeed been taken possession of by Christ [Jesus]. Brothers, I for my part do not consider myself to have taken possession. Just one thing: forgetting what lies behind but straining forward to what lies ahead, I continue my pursuit toward the goal, the prize of God’s upward calling, in Christ Jesus. Let us, then, who are perfectly mature adopt this attitude. And if you have a different attitude, this too God will reveal to you. Only, with regard to what we have attained, continue on the same course. (Phi. 3: 12-16)

January 10

Some years back in New York a young adult committed suicide leaving a note behind him: I feel like a peanut in Yankee Stadium. You know how big Yankee Stadium is! Every time thousands of people gather and while they watch the games, their second preoccupation is munching peanuts besides chewing gum. They take in millions and millions of peanuts in one series. Among those millions of peanuts, imagine that one single peanut! Its significance is nothing! This is the way that young adult felt in his life. And so do most of us.

More than any century, we, the people of 21st century feel very acutely our individual insignificance as we are surrounded by modern scientific and technological products. Our living residences are invaded by so many media, computers; our intellects are bombarded by thousand and one opinions, values, visions; our spiritual and moral lives are crowded by multi-choices of truths and approaches regarding God, religion, and other-world; our generation is very much obsessed by speed, competition, continuity, rapid change, and success-in-no-time; also, we are exposed day-in and day-out to over-night celebrities, millionaires, and media-based personages. In the midst of all these here we are standing as lonely persons. Our heartbeats are getting faster, aspiring and dreaming to reach to the highest expectation of the century. Most of the time we feel like a peanut in the Yankee Stadium. What should we do to keep our balance?

I think the only solution to behave normal and healthy is to preserve our self-esteem intact and well balanced. If we get truthful answers to the questions like ‘Who am I? Why am I here? What is the meaning for my life?’ and are decisive and confirmed in them, then we will be at ease and surely will win the race. Following Jesus, most of the biblical prophets and canonized saints, heard very clearly from God: You are my servant. You are beloved Son. That voice led them to their self-awareness. They got into a new world of self-esteem that offered them strength and psychological fiber to continue their life-journey serene, calm, balanced, and very fruitful.

I say ‘fruitful’ and not ‘productive’ because our modern age always esteem our worth on the basis of how much we produce for the world. If God intended that way, then He should be creating only perfect and wholesome human beings, leaving us ever-young, and not permitting sickness or death to capture us at any step of our lives. On the contrary, God in Jesus permitted Himself to die horribly at his early brink of youth. Even though Jesus was not that much productive in his life as anyone of his religious counterparts, He became the most fruitful person on earth by His few years of his life, by his ignominious death, and by his restricted and limited public ministry.

There is one more dimension regarding our self-esteem. Each one of us must be identified with certain group or community. Without this communal identity our individuality can stand by itself and make us feel great. God and we cannot be separated from community, nor can the interactions of these two be experienced outside the community. That is biblical truth. Unfortunately the humans misinterpreted this fact and formed their own crooked approach to community life. They have invented some basis for community-relationship in the form of race, color, creed, caste, and other subverted orientations. We indeed are reaping the consequences. However, the light of Christ, which is always brightening its environment, reminds us that the one and only basis for our community-relationship is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened [for him], and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove [and] coming upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, saying, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." (Matt. 3: 16-17)

January 11

While there is a big debate going on to decide whether religion is private or social, personal or communal, very many of us have already decided to keep our religion very private and individual. For that, the ‘New Wave’ in Christianity had paved the way and all writings and preachings of 20th century had led us toward privatization of religion. They even quote Jesus in the Gospels instructing us to personalize our religion: ‘Go and hide yourself in your private room and pray; let not your left hand know what your right hand is doing; and don’t become a showcase of your piety and fasting.’ This ‘New Wave’ came because of the wrong attitude of the feudalistic Church in the Middle Age where the faithful performed all their religious rituals as typical magic, frosty and impersonal activities. There was no interpersonal interaction among them and with God. The same kind of cold religion existed at the time of our Lord too. This is why he highlighted the importance of personalization of religion. However Jesus’ main revelation on religion was that it should offer us a ‘personal-communal experience’. Each person in the Church must enjoy both an unsusceptible individuality and a strong solidarity like a member in a body.

When Jesus came to be baptized by John (Mk 1:9), he joined the queue of sinners waiting to be baptized; it was a mighty act of solidarity. He was identifying with the kind of people he came to save, namely, sinners. Not just sinners, but the poor and the downtrodden, which at that time constituted the overwhelming majority of the population of Palestine. He was in effect saying to them, ‘I am on your side.’ He would seek them out and befriend them. He would not put himself above those whom he came to save. He placed himself among them. He joined them where they were. As the baptism of Jesus was the start of his public ministry in which he would be a humble servant to all, so at our own baptism we were called to serve others as Jesus did.

By baptism we have immersed into the water of nature, into the blood of humanity, and into the service of divinity. The solidarity we experience through baptism is not only with the community of Jesus, the Church, but also with the entire human race, and the whole universe. So our religion or Church activities cannot be sheltered as personal and private. By baptism we become part of the whole in order to be whole. If we are getting closer and closer to every human being on earth as a global village effect through mass media, internet and other scientific world order, it is all thanks to the spirit of solidarity endorsed and effected by our Christian Baptism. Let’s be proud to be identified as the ‘Baptized Christians-in-Solidarity.’

"I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness,

I have taken you by the hand and kept you;

I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations."

(Is 42:6)

January 12

As the Scriptures point out Jesus had twofold experience at the river Jordan. First, confirmation of God’s commitment to his life: Jesus from his early days learned and taught that he was in God’s favor. His mother would have told him about the prophecies told about him at the annunciation. She would have explained those promises in the light of the OT prophecies of Isaiah and other prophets. Here is my servant whom I behold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased. Upon whom I have put my spirit. Jesus also through his childhood, youth and adolescent life experiences became convinced of his identity as it has been prophesied. The Lord called me from birth; from my mother’s womb he gave me my name. He made of me a sharp-edged sword and concealed me in the shadow of his arm. He made me a polished arrow; in his quiver he hid me. You are my servant he said to me through whom I show my glory.

Such dreams about his future, such convictions about his identity pushed him forward to the river Jordan to be baptized. He was longing to get a strong public and tangible confirmation of all these prophecies and convictions from his Father. We know he got it. All the four Gospels say that as he was baptized the heaven opened, he heard a voice from heaven, which, he was sure, was from his Father, saying: You are my beloved Son; with whom I am well pleased. That is the primary experience of Jesus at his Baptism.

Secondly, His own commitment to His Father: He felt convinced that as an adult he should commit himself to His Father. This means, binding himself totally to his very life with all its challenges, to his ministry, to the project he felt entrusted to him by his Father, and to his people as his own brothers and sisters though they are sinful, weak, gamblers, sinners, gluttons, prostitutes, liars, betrayers, disowners and cowards. He joined with them in public to receive the baptism of repentance. He handed himself over not just to one section or sect of humanity, rather to the entire human family as the children of God. He knew well that was only an initial symbolic act of surrender. He had to pass through a life journey full of perils and sufferings. But he submitted totally to it with the hope of future fulfillment of God’s promises.

Every baptized Christian, like Jesus, must experience first and foremost a firm confirmation that ‘I am the child of God; I am saved; I am called by God for a unique mission; He is always present in me; I am sure I will be one day victorious. Secondly a baptized Christian should feel a sense of commitment to the Triune God, to his/her life as it is, to his/her ministry as it is given or chosen, and to others as they are. This Baptismal commitment continues through our lives in worshipping God in Spirit and in Truth, working in Spirit and in Truth for our livelihood, earning our resources sincerely, possessing them and saving them with justice. Added to these, we wait in Spirit and in Truth for the future accomplishment of God in our universe, to wait for completion, for perfection and for fulfillment in future with the hope, during which time, as Paul writes we reject godless ways, worldly desires and to live temperately justly and devoutly and doing good to all. This means sharing our savings and possessions, talents and times for other people, for our community, for our family and for the entire humanity.

Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased. Upon him I have put my spirit; he shall bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry out, nor shout, nor make his voice heard in the street. A bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench. He will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow dim or be bruised until he establishes justice on the earth; the coastlands will wait for his teaching. (Is. 42: 1-4)

January 13

In the Gospels we read that at the moment of Jesus’ Baptism three events occurred: 1. His immersing: Jesus went to Jordan River, joint with the sinful crowd and immersed himself into the water. Immersing indicates drowning or sinking oneself into the deep water. This means Jesus took a holy bath in Holy River Jordan as a religious practice of cleansing oneself from sins. 2. His being anointed by the Spirit: Gospels say: Heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. This means once Jesus wholeheartedly surrendered to this life’s immersion he was granted by God the Big Bang Experience, namely the baptism of the Holy Spirit through which he gets unction and a calling. 3. His hearing God’s Voice: Gospels also add that Jesus heard his Father’s Voice from heaven: You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.

As a matter of fact all these occurrences had been already happening at every moment of Jesus’ life before Baptism and surely after it too. At his conception, as the Letter to Hebrews indicates he listened to God’s voice and was anointed by the Spirit and immersed himself into this earthly life saying to his Father: For this reason, when he came into this world he said: O God, sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; holocausts and sin offerings you took no delight in. And therefore I say: As is written of me in the scroll, Behold, I come to do your will. For thirty years as Jesus said to his parents in the Temple ‘he was always in his Father’s House.’ Thus at each step in his life he immersed himself into many dimensions of life: Into his own inner sanctuary through prayer and meditation; into Scriptures written for human life’s fulfillment; into some special group of likeminded people in the call of God to fulfillment; into life, society and the crowd in whatever situation it may be; and into certain religious rituals and practices. Undoubtedly as Prophets foretold even before the Baptism Jesus was anointed as he was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit; and Peter proclaims this uninterrupted life-journey of Jesus after his Baptism: God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power. He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. (Acts 10: 38)

What about his hearing the voice of God? From his early childhood Jesus was longing to know his identity as his mother Mary fed him together with milk and food. He is the Son of God. Many like Mary would have asserted the same as he heard even from John the Baptist who said about him to the public: I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. However as human as we are Jesus was not sure of all this and he was resolute to know it directly from his Father. At his Baptism finally he heard his Father’s attestation. You are my beloved son; with you I am well pleased.

So we can observe well that all the experiences Jesus had at the time of Baptism were continuous occurrences at every moment of his life. He wanted the same happening in our lives too. All those happenings in his life were meant to show us how we, his disciples, should begin our life, proceed with our life and end it. In his public life at every moment of his life he was anointed by the Spirit, heard his Father’s Voice and immersed himself totally into this unfair but fulfilling earthly life. In other words every moment in Jesus’ life was lived as a Baptismal moment. And that is how he could fulfill his total commitment to God and to his will to make his world better and finally at the end of his life he remarkably transformed his death into a source of life and forgiveness to the humanity and thus becoming a winner and not a loser. This is what Jesus tells us today:

"Start this present moment as Baptismal moment and

continue doing it throughout this year.

You are the big winner and not at all a loser."

January 14

Let us reflect little more about our first step into the path of Christ. In baptism the ritual of immersing into water points out to us that we must plunge ourselves deeply into two kinds of water: The Living waters of God and Dying waters of humans. As the Scriptures describe God and his energetic presence and action are named as Living Waters. When we sink into it we get awareness, wisdom, anointing, power and openness to listen to the voice of God. The dying waters of humans indicate the earthly life of human beings with its roles, responsibilities, evils, duties, rights. Though it is dirty, sinful, fragile, vulnerable and vanishing since we know these have been already redeemed by the Blood of Christ we submerge into them totally. Let us remember what we recite in our Creed: He descended into hell." This means Jesus was totally plunged himself into the depth of this ugly, hellish life. Jesus, by the ritual of being baptized, accepted fully his life-long twofold immersion.

We too at our Baptism go through these three experiences but only in a ritualistic way. At every moment of our life we should get a habit of gazing continually at God; lifting up our hearts to God uninterruptedly; totally immersing into God’s presence. Plus plunging ourselves totally to what we handle or perform at each moment as our social roles and duties call for. By this we become living sacrifices to God as the Scriptures describe. This lets God have all our powers that have been saved and sanctified through Jesus. This is the thing that is acceptable to God. God does not expect us to offer to him ourselves as dead sacrifice. In whatever situation we are in we have to move up or down, and perform all that we can within our ability in order to offer to God every moment of our lives as a living sacrifice.

Look unto me, and be ye saved. (Isaiah 45:22) The great difficulty in our spiritual life is to concentrate on God, and unfortunately it is His blessings that make it difficult. Troubles nearly always make us look to God; but His blessings are apt to make us look elsewhere. The difficulties and trials—the casting about in our minds as to what we shall do this summer, or tomorrow, all vanish when we look to God. No matter if there are a hundred and one things that press, let us resolutely exclude them all and look to Him.

"Seek first the kingdom (of God) and his righteousness,

and all these things will be given you besides."

(Matt. 6: 33)

January 15

In this new-year journey we have resolved to advance more in our relationship with God and neighbors. This goal will not be achieved unless we erase from our mind the following misconceptions already stored: 1.We always approach our Christian faith and its practices as some sort of extra-curricular activities. We think there are special hours, special days and special seasons for faith-practices. We should know that no season is superior to another season for this sweetest of all acts. God never made salvation depend upon new moons or holy days or Sabbaths. We are not nearer to Christ on Easter Sunday than we are on any ordinary Sunday, on 1st of January than any middle week of that month. As long as Master sits at the right hand of his Father, every day is a good day and all days are days of salvation.

2. We too consider certain special places as fitting for gazing at God. That is also a wrong view of faith. When I lift my heart and let it rest upon Jesus I am instantly in his sanctuary though it be a beach or a factory or a kitchen. We can see God from anywhere if our minds are set to love and obey Him.

3. Our another misinterpretation about this kind of unceasing union with God is that it is exclusive only for special persons such as monks or nuns or ministers who have, by the nature of their calling, more time to devote to quiet meditation. We often think we are busy workers and have little time to spend alone. We have to remember that we, as disciples of Christ, had promised to God at our Baptism to be united with him unceasingly. It is for every one of God’s children regardless of calling. It is, in fact, happily practiced every day by many hard working persons and is beyond the reach of none.

I have seen in my life that many have found the secret of which I speak and they constantly practice this habit of inwardly gazing upon God. They know that something inside their hearts sees God. Even when they are compelled to withdraw their conscious attention in order to engage in earthly affairs, there is within them a secret communion always going on. The voice of God, even though by nature is not that loud, is heard by them because they keep using their remote control to silence the loud noise of the world. Undoubtedly they are preoccupied with earthly things and duties and roles but released for a moment from necessary business and their hearts fly at once to God again. This has been the testimony of many Christians over the centuries.

As we start the New Year let us have a new beginning of our winning journey. We should be winners this year as Jesus. We were called by God to plunge ourselves into the earthly life with full responsibility and commitment and use every moment of our life as a ‘Christic Moment’ with some remarkable feelings such as:

Come what may!

Do or Die

Come, let us go and die with Jesus.

No Turning back

All for the Greater Glory of God

January 16

As most of our psychologists and philosophers would contend every one of us must possess a self esteem of ourselves for our own survival and success. Jesus, as he came from Nazareth a hidden and obscure place, would have walked down to the Jordan River as his first appearance in the public feeling like a ‘peanut’. But we know as he came out of the River with a ‘Big bang’ experience he started feeling like a big lion, the Son of God. He was aware of the fact that it was God’s will that he should attain the glory promised by God the Father. From that moment onwards Jesus at every step of his life was fully convinced that he would be exalted by his Father. He would have given to himself as autosuggestion, I am made glorious in the sight of the Lord. That means, ‘Yes, I am the greatest, I am going to be the light of the nations.’

It became true in Jesus’ life. He was exalted by his Father God. He glorified his Son. He became a universal life-giving Spirit of God. Whoever called him Lord and Savior were saved and made powerful. He literally possessed them totally and made them stronger, godlier, more vibrant, more interesting, more joyful, more outgoing, and more loving. Such an exaltation of Jesus was the first experience of the apostles and the early church members.

Our faith in the exaltation of Jesus like that of early church is not fake or unrealistic. We are well aware that Jesus became exalted as the Lord in a mythical or magic way. To reach from ‘peanut position’ to Lordship he had to pay a great price. He became an obedient, innocent and sacrificial servant to God. The big bang experience alone did not make him to this exalted level. He had to work out a strategy to lead his life in accordance with the will of God. This is why the Church called Jesus not only as Son of God and the Lord of the universe but also as the Lamb of God.

Let me recall to your mind what we recite as we start the Mass: Lord, have mercy. also, before we go to Communion what do we say? : Lamb of God, have mercy. See the close connection between the Lord and the Lamb. The term ‘Lamb of God’ sums up our balanced and realistic belief in Jesus’ and our exaltation. The term ‘Lamb of God’ refers to three lamb figures that are found in sacred literatures: The title ‘paschal lamb’ as recorded in the OT points out the figure of the suffering servant, as an innocent, oppressed and condemned lamb who would give his life as an offering for sin. Finally the same title referenced the figure of an enthroned lamb as featured in the Book of Revelation. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches, wisdom and strength, honor and glory and blessing.

This is how we the disciples of Jesus look up to our Master, a man of Nazareth, who emerging from a lonely and hidden crowd, marched on with a life’s goal of becoming the glory of God and the people. And he achieved his goal by being obedient servant of God, by sacrificing his very self as ransom for many and by being always a lovely, loving innocent little Lamb of God. Do we want the same exaltation of our life? Let us first proclaim Jesus’ exaltation and accept him in our life as our Lord, as our possessor and as our way of life. Let us also strive to follow in his way to reach our own exaltation, namely to be innocent, obedient, loving, and self-sacrificing lambs for the family and community.

To the one who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor, glory and might, forever and ever. Amen.

January 17

God invites us in different ways to have home with Him. We know how the Lord called Samuel the young boy to be His prophet. While boy Samuel was sleeping in the temple of the Lord Samuel heard a voice calling him. To Samuel that voice sounded like that of Eli, his mentor; so he went him and told him, ‘here I am. You called me’; actually it was the Lord who called Samuel. It happened three times. At the advice of his mentor Samuel finally responded to God saying: Speak, for your servant is listening. Then the Lord chose Samuel as his messenger in the place of Eli and used him many years as his prophet. As Samuel was called directly and personally, we can be called by Him in our dreams, during our sleep, when we are awake, when we pray and when we face different situations of life’s events.

Sometimes we may be called by God like the disciples of John the Baptist through the advice, directions, and public witnesses of certain preachers, priests, pastors or any religious persons. Other times, as Peter and John we may be invited through our relatives and friends in the family or community. Above all, the Lord will invite us to his intimate relationship in our own body with its beauty, and ugliness, sensual and emotional urges, sickness and health, and other body clock ringing; because our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

When God invites us that way, each one of us must be ready to listen to Him as Eli advised Samuel. We should also respond to him willingly in an awakened mood saying to Him, ‘here I am Lord. Your servant is listening.’ We should not stop there. Not being succumbed to the ‘starting trouble’ we make a good and strong decision to leave everything as the apostles and to follow him. Added to these we also should glorify him in our physical environment in all possible ways. Whatever the life situation we are led to, we should walk with Him in His footsteps. If we respond thus to his call, then the Lord will be always with us as he was with Samuel. He will not permit any word of ours to be without effect. He will raise us up with his power. He too will strengthen us, empower us, even change our entire personality as He changed Simon into Peter, from weak Simon to strong Peter.

For this reason, when he came into the world, he said: Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; holocausts and sin offerings you took no delight in. Then I said, ‘As is written of me in the scroll, Behold, I come to do your will, O God.’"(Heb. 10: 6-7)

January 18

Jesus revealed his identity slowly and gradually to the world as the Son of God who came down from God. As St. John points out, the manifestation of Jesus’ glory started with the miracle at Cana. The Jews used the term ‘kabod’ meaning glory whenever they experienced the powerful presence of God. John uses the same term telling us that presence of God was exposed and experienced by the disciples when the Lord Jesus worked this marvelous miracle of changing water into wine.

We are now fully aware that Jesus is the wonder-worker. He is powerful, almighty. Everything is possible for him. His very touch would bring out what he wills. He can change: water into wine, sadness into joy, wine into blood, bread into flesh, sickness into health, death into life. He demonstrates himself as a person of life-celebrator. As he was a jolly good fellow enjoying every bit of his human life, he expects his disciples live the same way. He makes their life happier, easier, lighter, more enjoyable and more endurable.

Through the same manifestation we are offered a secret of success in our life: When we live together by the bond of love, legal contract and blood connections we can manifest God’s glory by our obedience to Jesus’ order. Every human being has been already granted from God in creation different kinds of gifts as we hear from Paul, there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit. (1 Cor. 12: 6-7)

Our entire success in our family and community life depends on how we tap those talents and natural resources found within and how we use them for human life. Many believe in their time or luck. But Jesus’ Gospel notifies the real secret of

Reviews for Daily Dose for Christian Survival

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Paul Blake is informed by a stranger he’s a candidate to travel through a wormhole and help embattled humans on an alternate world win their war against mutants. A mind-reading computer in charge there assigns armor and weapon strength depending, in part, on the battle participant’s recent lifestyle. So Paul tries to become an overachiever, since the fate of a world might be at stake.