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PRAY AND LIVE YOUR SUNDAY
April to June 2007

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Jesus: During this week, you will have a lot of useful material for reflection and prayer. Begin though with the usual time of deep inner silence and peace, allowing yourself enough time to settle down and be fully prepared for a deep intimate and personal sharing with Me. Don’t overlook the brief review of the past week, so that we can eliminate some mistakes in this week. If each week you did rid yourself of one mistake you make in both prayer and living, what a difference this would make in the long run! After you have shared the experiences of the past week, remain in silence and listen to whatever I have to say to you.

[Time for silent prayer and reflection]

Jesus: In the Passion Narrative taken from Luke, you have several personages with whom you could easily and profitably identify yourself and learn from them. The key idea to be borne in mind is that the Passion is not just a series of events that happened in the past, and are now over. My Passion continues in you and in every single person living today. This simply means that there is in you a bit of Judas and his well-planned and carefully executed betrayal, a touch of Peter and his treacherous yet not fully intentional denial, distinct traces of Pilate and his inability to take a firm stand as regards justice and so on. As you read the story, it would help if you could focus on just one personage at a time. Review all the material you have at hand concerning this person; then seek to enter into the ‘skin’ of that individual and watch the story unfold from this perspective.
Thus, if you identify with Peter, feel his deep love and commitment to Me and God’s kingdom, appreciate his genuine desire to give of himself totally to Me and the Kingdom. Yet, there is also the human side which makes him waver and pull back in times of stress and difficulty, without even realizing that he is going back on his word. Nevertheless, the moment he realizes what is happening, he is courageous enough to retrace his steps, even if hesitantly and cautiously. His path in following Me is a like a broken arrow: three steps forward followed by two backwards - and so on. While his progress is slow, it is still sure and genuine. That is why I persevered and retained him as the leader of My Church. For many people, this is the only (broken-arrow) pattern they know of in their following of Me. If it is the usual pattern you too follow, just remain beside Peter and seek to identify more with his genuine commitment, not punishing yourself too much for the backslidings which are part of the process. Spend as much time as you find profitable with Peter, and then move on to another personage.

If you have time, you could also take Pilate or Judas or any other person figuring in the Passion story. In similar fashion, first collect all the data you have about the person and see if your own life resonates with that person’s experience during the Passion story. Stay with the person chosen for as long as you find something that helps your prayer. See how this person’s experience tallies with your own and seek to learn from his mistakes. But remember always that while the mistakes that human beings make are part of life, they do not come in the way or make any difference to the Father’s love for them. Nevertheless, it is important to spot these patterns in your life, so that you can make your response better each time.

You have besides the texts of the Holy Triduum – on Good Friday you will hear the Passion narrative of John where again you have the same principle at work: the various personages in the story represent difference facets of your own life. Having understood the principle of identifying with one or more of the characters in the Gospel story, and looking at the scene from ‘the inside’ you should not find this approach too difficult. The important point which you should not overlook is to listen deeply to whatever I have to say to you.

As you near the end of your hour of prayer, spend a fair amount of time in deep silence and stillness, just being still in My presence. This is the most precious part of your hour of prayer and should never be reduced – rather, try to increase the amount of time of such silence in your hour each week. After all, it is not the good thoughts ponder over that constitute your prayer, but rather your allowing yourself to be moulded and shaped by My love for you. And for this, stillness and silence is of paramount importance. Finally end your prayer with the usual intercessions for the needs of others. Remember clearly the reason and purpose for including these intercessions in your weekly prayer session. Every hour of prayer you make is not just a luxury you indulge in for your own benefit or because of your own choice. It is rather God’s gift to you. And every gift is also a responsibility, inviting you to use these blessings for the benefit of others. It is in this spirit of gratitude and love that you need to make these intercessions.

Conclude your prayer with the customary hymn, bhajan or ejaculatory prayer.

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Jesus: We begin this hour of prayer in the usual fashion – with a few minutes of deep interior silence and stillness. Make a conscious effort to cast aside all extraneous thoughts and feelings during this prayer. You must be calm and relaxed enough to listen deeply to the still inner voice of Love. Spend some time reviewing with Me your efforts of the past week with a view to learning from it and improving your response in the coming week.

[Time for silent prayer and reflection]

Jesus: The Easter Vigil service is a prolonged one, but it is full of rich spiritual fare. In a nutshell it reminds you of the Father’s tremendous love for each of you beginning from the first moment of your existence. You could go back to the readings of the vigil and again try to identify with any of the personages who seem to offer you fruitful reflection. You could, for example, sit close to Adam and Eve and dialogue with them about what made them choose to disobey God’s command when they had more than they really needed to be happy and contented… trace all the steps that led to this decision of theirs … feel with them what they went through once their eyes were opened. Does their experience resonate with any occasions in your life when you also went headlong into a potentially dangerous situation only to realize too late that you had already compromised your commitment to God’s way? Go over such instances in your life and see/feel the damage this has caused you. Underline what you can learn from these experiences.

You could also identify with an Israelite as the community stepped out of Egypt on their historic journey to freedom. Share particularly the moments when they hesitated and doubted God’s fidelity, or the times when they grumbled and hankered after the security of Egypt. You could also place yourself close to Moses and listen to him share his inner thoughts as he went through one demanding experience after another. What enabled him to remain faithful to God when the faith of everyone around him seemed to crumble under the weight of their problems? How much did his own journey through the desert some years earlier influence him now as he led the people along the same difficult path?

There is also God’s promise of a new covenant that he will make with his people through the Messiah … and that would bring you to My dying-rising and the new Covenant that was ushered in through this pivotal event at Calvary. Visualize clearly the difference between the old and new Covenant – especially the greater advantages accruing from the new approach.

Towards the end of your prayer, do spend some time listening to Me as I share with you about the newness of the risen life that I offer you. In which areas of your life do you need to be made new? Are you prepared to let go of the old in order to experience the new today? Why aren’t you more clearly a ‘friend of the bridegroom’ who rejoices and cannot profitably engage in fasting and mourning? As you listen pick out one area in which you will seek to experience the newness of the risen life more emphatically in this week, as the Easter celebration continues … [maintain some time of deep inner silence and stillness]

As you emerge from this stillness, whisper a few intentions for the needy around you expressing your genuine care and concern for them - and finally conclude your prayer with a hymn or brief prayer.

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Jesus: The Easter season is a very important season although not much is made of it in actual practice – at least not as much as is made of the Lenten season. Enter into your prayer with the usual time of silence and stillness. After quietening your mind and heart, review the past week to see how easily you were able to avail yourself of My risen presence in your life. List the differences that you notice in your life from Easter Sunday onwards.

[Time for silent prayer and reflection]

Jesus: In today’s Gospel passage you could very easily choose to identify with Thomas who goes through a crisis of faith. Experience together with him the need most people seem to have to ‘see’ before they can ‘believe.’ For them ‘seeing is believing’ – and yet there is no real faith or belief when you can see or prove things for yourself. The reason is that when you see the reality, you accept it as it is, while belief requires that you see one thing but accept perhaps what is just the opposite of that: you ‘see’ a frail human being but believe that I, risen Lord, am present in him/her. So, seeing can never lead to believing. It is precisely when you don’t or can’t see that you are challenged to believe.

Yet, recall My words to Thomas – ‘you believe because you can see me.’ What did Thomas actually see? Not Me, for sure, because with My dying-rising completed, I entered definitively into the realm of God’s spirit having nothing tangible that could be visibly proved or verified. So, Thomas goes through an inner experience which somehow removes all his doubts. What he ‘sees’ are glimpses of My life with them earlier, but he now views them in a different light… and they make sense to him – My words shared with them during My earthly life, begin to ring true! And yet, so many people today ask for signs and miracles before they commit their lives to me. They are like Gideon putting out a fleece with conditions for the Father to fulfill – only then they will believe or commit themselves to Me. Yet, as with Gideon, even when their conditions are fulfilled they still doubt, because their human conditions could also be fulfilled through various other human agencies. God in his goodness, though, does offer you this inner experience making you realize the futility of seeking for human proofs…

Stay close to Thomas and review with him the changes that his act of faith would have brought about in his life. The first newness that he would have experienced is the conviction that I, risen Lord, was no longer someone outside of him, somewhere in the distance, but rather within, very close to him in all situations. Watch him as he develops gradually the habit of consulting Me in all difficulties. Further, he would now be able to ‘realize’ My risen presence as I go before him, especially in difficult circumstances. A good picture of this is seen in the story of Peter who is imprisoned and securely chained between two guards but suddenly finds himself released and outside the prison. Such a thing could not have happened except by the power of My risenness. Or again, when Paul and Silas are in prison and an earthquake makes all their shackles and chains to drop… In your life too there are several such instances that occur, though you might not attribute it to My risen presence in your life… Peter is now also able to see My presence in other people around him as they too open themselves up to Me… As you reflect on all this, try and visualize how you are going to avail yourself of My risen presence in your life today. [Time for a period of inner silence and stillness…]

As you come out of this deep silence, spend some time in quiet intercession for others. And finally end with a brief prayer or hymn.

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Jesus: As you prepare to enter into this hour of prayer, once again quieten your mind and heart. Gently yet firmly put aside all extraneous thoughts and feelings and focus yourself more on My presence to you. Further, review the week just past with its joys and sorrows, successes and failures and let Me point out a thing or two that will help you improve your response in this coming week.

[Time for reflection and silence]

Jesus: For this week, could I suggest that you identify with Me, the risen Lord, as I interact with My disciples. Notice, first of all, how I approach them at the point where they are at present, psychologically and in every other way: fishing, somewhat disappointed that they had been totally unsuccessful in their work, sad and downcast over the whole question of My death… I encounter them in what occupies their minds and hearts in the present moment: ‘Have you caught anything!’ You will have noticed from your own experience that a person is most happy talking about himself and his preoccupations. Having entered into their lives at this point, I then move forward with a suggestion, very casually given but yet indicating a way out of their present predicament – ‘Cast your nets to the right!’

Notice also that this suggestion seems to go counter to what their professional knowledge would tell them: it was the wrong time and place to fish; they were already tired, hungry and discouraged; they looked forward to some well-earned rest. In this sense, it is a test of their faith and their readiness to let-go of themselves and their plans for themselves. The challenge I place before you too is always that, in some sense, you break out of your ‘self’, out of the comfort zones you are accustomed to. Once you get into the habit of reaching beyond your present position, of stretching beyond the habitual, a real pulsating, exciting Life will be yours! ‘The kingdom of God suffers violence, and the violent take it by storm.’

We see further how the enthusiasm and generosity of one person who is willing to take the plunge influences the entire group – generally the ‘mob’ is prepared to follow… it is the one who takes the initiative who is the key person, the proactive and energetic person in every group. Again, notice that it takes quite some time before the nets that have been cast are ready for hauling in. What would the apostles have done in that intervening period? Possibly some would have still persisted in their negativity, and these would tend to drag the group towards giving up the entire enterprise. This would be a further challenge to those who did opt for positive action. Certainly, arguments would not have helped in such a situation as there was nothing to base oneself on. It is simply people’s inner ‘faith’ and conviction that carry them through when they find themselves in a difficult situation.

Watch them as they begin to haul in the nets: their disbelief gradually turns into surprise, wonder, gratitude, joy and fulfillment – and all of this finally results in a broader-based hope in Life itself. All was not in vain yet! During this period, I kept Myself busy preparing breakfast for them; this also gave Me the freedom to choose My responses to them when they all came ashore. As they troop in, one by one, they recognize Me alright, yet are diffident to say anything about it. While in the end, it all seems to fit in, it still doesn’t make total sense to them. They are happy to busy themselves with the breakfast, perhaps reassuring one another in the meantime, but still puzzling over the strange event.

Does this incident resonate with anything you have experienced in your own life? Look back over your life and recall any instance in which everything seemed to be lost: a project or enterprise you engaged in, (e. g. studies)… a relationship that was on the brink of disintegrating; a financial enterprise that threatened to blow up in your face… Check to see what your reaction was in this situation; were there any others who advised you on what to do in this situation? How was the event resolved satisfactorily and which elements helped most? Dialogue with Me over this and learn how to handle such situations in the future.

If you still have time, you could possibly identify with another personage in the scene: Peter, John or any other disciple. Or, you could even see yourself as an observer standing on the shore watching intently as the event unfolds. Try always to see things from My perspective as Risen Lord. When it is time, move into deep inner silence and stillness and remain there for as long as you can. As you emerge from these depths of intimacy with Me, remember to pray for others and finally conclude your prayer session with a vocal prayer or hymn.

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Jesus: As you enter into this hour of prayer, begin with a few minutes of deep consciously chosen silence and stillness. This will enable you to set the tone of this prayer – as one of intent listening and attention. The more quiet you are interiorly, the better will you be able to listen to My voice. Don’t omit the usual brief review of last week’s spiritual effort to live what you have prayed – and learn from your mistakes.

[Time for silence and reflection]

Jesus: For this week’s prayer you could identify with one of the sheep (the one that remained close to the shepherd, and also the one who strayed, making the shepherd go after him), or even with the shepherd himself.

If you choose to be close to the shepherd, you could reflect that the normal practice is for the shepherd to value his sheep more because of what the profit they bring him. However, with Me it is different. I don’t stand to gain anything from the sheep, whether they are with Me or they desert Me. Rather, My association with them is for their benefit primarily. Hence, My whole attention is on them; My one desire is that they, each one of them no matter what their condition, keep progressing towards the fullness of life. There are so many things that deter them, frighten them away from what is conducive to growth – they need constant reassurance and support, a gentle prod now and then, maybe a little threat occasionally. But, all is directed towards getting them onto a higher standard of life.

When I looked at the multitude that gathered at the lakeside, I saw them as ‘sheep without a shepherd’, a prey to every kind of disturbance. Sheep are generally very timid animals, yet very trustful of their established guardians. My people too are so easily misled because of their own inner insecurities and fears. Often ignorance too plays a large part in their going astray. Yet, it is My commitment to enable them not to stray, or to get them back before they go too far away.

Also, you will notice that I use a variety of means to keep them in check – with each according to its capacity to follow and according to need. They too very soon begin to understand the meaning of My gestures and shouts, so that they respond accordingly. All this work on behalf of My sheep results in a deep bond between us. I know them individually, understand their characteristics and weaknesses, their strengths and preferences. How I long for them to improve, to progress and become better and stronger each day! At the same time, I seek to improve Myself too, growing in various skills and practices which enable Me to be of better service to My sheep. I would do anything just so that My sheep may grow in every possible manner.

You could likewise focus on any of the sheep. Get into their skin, as it were, and dialogue with Me. Seek to identify more with their feelings than with ideas – although this is a little more difficult to do, yet it will yield better results. Once you have got something substantial and enough to work on, move into deep inner silence and stillness, so as to allow Me time and opportunity to work at your transformation of character. Remain in total receptiveness and when you have spent a sufficient amount of time in this, shift to intercessions for the needs of others. Finally, conclude with a short hymn or prayer.

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Jesus: We begin this hour of prayer once again by spending a few minutes in quietening your mind and heart ridding them of all disturbing thoughts. These will no doubt keep pestering you all through the prayer, but once you have set your priorities right, pushing them aside becomes a lot easier. When you are more settled in mind and experience peace of heart, tell Me briefly how you fared in the past week in your efforts to live what you prayed over.

[Time for silent reflection and prayer]

Jesus: For today’s prayer, you could, if you wish, begin by spending some time in dialogue with Judas. The text begins with: “After Judas had left …” Follow him out of the Last Supper room and dialogue with him about his plans for the rest of the evening. Pay attention to his dogged determination in proceeding with his plans, in spite of the fact that I pointed out, in no uncertain terms, that the course he had launched upon was heading for disaster. Try to dissuade him from pursuing his designs and listen attentively to what his response is. That will give you some food for thought about how you are to handle similar difficult situations in your life.

Then you could turn your attention to Me. After having washed the feet of My disciples I spoke to them about the new Commandment that I gave them, one which concentrates on the essentials. What is specific of My new commandment is that you, now as My followers, are to love “as I have loved you.” Please let this one thought sink into your consciousness – it is the central point of My coming into this world as a human being. Notice how Matthew expresses this in his gospel: ‘This is how Jesus Christ came to be born … his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph but before they could come together, she was found to be with child.’ In this situation, the challenge for Joseph is: how do I handle such a situation? Being a good Jew trained and well-versed in the Law, his first thought would have been the Law – what does the Law require of a person in such situations? According to the Law, Joseph had two options before him: one – let the case be tried in court and if Mary is proved to be guilty and therefore adulterous, then she would be stoned. But that, Joseph felt, would be too drastic a measure, seeing that Mary is a good person and could not be conceived of being guilty of such a crime. The second option – divorce her informally. This would be as effective as far as he was concerned, but certainly less painful and shameful for Mary. Being a just man, he was more inclined towards the second option.

But, by some strange coincidence, a third option kept cropping up in his mind: “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife!” He sensed he was being asked to love Mary as he would love a wife, even though he ‘knew’ she had possibly been unfaithful, or that others at least would see her as unfaithful. He was being called to love the ‘sinner’ as God would love … or in terms of today’s Gospel: ‘Love one another as I have loved you.’ Now, it is only when Joseph decided upon this course of action that the Incarnation became a reality. God becomes present when a person dares to love the unlovable, the sinner, the outcaste, the tax-collector and reprobate. And so, today too, when you love others (who could be known to everyone around as great sinners) the way I love them – without making any difference regarding the sun and rain and so on - that is when the kingdom becomes a reality, with Me present in your midst in flesh and blood.

So, the “as I have loved you” is the key element and challenges you to refrain from judging others, labeling them as sinful or imperfect, of remembering their past failings and relating to them at that level, of going by what others think of them or report of them, of judging only by externals. Now, to love in that way is certainly difficult, if not impossible. And yet, that is what I ask of you, because it is not you who do the loving, but I who am in and with you. All you need to do is to push aside the reluctance you feel to forgive such persons, the repugnance that makes you want to turn away from them because of all that you remember about them or the hurt your still nurse, or again, because of what others have told you about this person which confirms all your negative assessment of them … If you can pause in the midst of all these feelings and call on Me, requesting that I take over and direct things in your life, you will see great miracles taking place.

Now get into the silent and still mode and remain in it for as long as you can … this is the time when a deep transformation can take place within you – not just in your thinking, but in the whole of your being… as you emerge from this stillness towards the end of your prayer, pray for others, especially for those you have found it difficult to relate to… pray with great positive hope and love. Finally end with a short prayer or hymn as you usually do.

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Jesus: Once again we begin the hour of prayer with the time set aside for deep silence and stillness. In this period put away all distracting thoughts and feelings and focus entirely on My presence to you. The deeper this concentration, the better will your prayer be. When you have quietened yourself sufficiently, speak about your efforts in the past week to ‘love others as I have loved you.’ Since this is the core of your Christianity, it would help to spend some extra time on this issue.

[Time for silent prayer and reflection]

Jesus: For this week you can identify with the disciple who loved Me in a special way, known in the Gospels as ‘the beloved disciple’ or ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved.’ You will notice that there are several characteristics that make him stand out among the other disciples. For one thing, there was a special level of intimacy between Me and him – he was free enough to lean back and whisper the question during the Last Supper about who was the one who would betray Me. And while I did not really reveal the identity of the betrayer, yet I did answer him in a way that only he would understand. I knew that he was discreet enough not to reveal it to others nor to gossip about it, nor even to take it up with Judas. Rather, he would do what was in his power to reverse the situation, at least by his prayer.

Further, during the Passion, even though he did not make a big show of his allegiance as Peter did, he followed Me and stood by Me in My passion. He was familiar with the officials in the palace of the High Priests and so was able to keep close to all that was happening. He even introduced Peter to the gate-keeper and got him entrance. Not much is mentioned about what he did during the interrogation, yet you can be sure that he would have recalled all that had been said on different occasions about the event unfolding. He would have surmised that this was all according to God’s will – that the grain of wheat had to fall into the ground and die if it were to produce good fruit. He would have realized that before the Father ‘obedience’ is more valuable than sacrifice even; that God’s ways are strange: that he could allow the death of his only Son in favour of the return of a wayward sinner. Yet he was convinced that God would have had a good purpose behind all this, and that he would not totally abandon Me. He might not have known how it would be possible to reverse things at this desperate stage, yet, he was convinced that ‘for God nothing is impossible.’ He remained with Me till the end and joyfully accepted the challenge of making My mother, Mary, his very own.

Later, no sooner did Mary Magdalene announce her understanding of the Resurrection, he set out for the tomb together with Peter but remained outside until Peter arrived – out of deference for his leadership. But, when he went in after Peter, ‘he saw and he believed.’ This fact is not reported even of Peter although Peter saw exactly the same scene as John saw. Further, on the lake while the disciples were fishing, he it is who recognizes Me first and said to Peter ‘it is the Lord.’ He is portrayed as the ideal disciple who knows Me as much as I know My sheep. His love for Me is genuine, sincere and personal and hence the Father reveals himself to him. He kept My word perfectly.

Against this background of the life of the beloved disciple, try and visualize what your life could be if you too followed My command wholeheartedly… those who love Me keep My word! The Father is eager to reveal himself to you too – that is the very reason he created you, chose and called you to be a disciple. But of course, it requires a generous response on your part. Even if you haven’t responded all that well in the past, you can still decide to do so today. This response needs to begin with a total and trustful acceptance of the Father’s promise to love you; He has committed himself to your welfare and will never let you down, no matter what your response is or will be. You need to believe this and then respond accordingly. You will notice that once you accept God’s word, the level of trust you have in Him will increase dramatically. You no longer fear God but can approach him as a loving child. Fear, uncertainty, doubts and anxieties all vanish into thin air because you know that the Father is with you and for you. Even when you do not experience My presence in a powerful manner, your deep faith assures you that He is around, watchful and eager to shower on you all the blessings He has for you.

Picture yourself in the role of the “beloved disciple” seeing this from two angles: of yourself wanting and eager to respond to the Father generously and wholeheartedly… focus particularly on the feelings of such a person. Then look at it from the angle of the Father: what does he feel about you? Attend particularly to the minute concern of the Father that all goes well with you… Stare at these realities for as long as you can – till it begins to look strange to you. Spend as much time at this as you need; remain in it till you feel the need to move on to a period of deep silence..

Remain in this silence and drink in these truths leisurely. Become aware in this deep silence of what a difference these truths make on the practical level. After you have spent sufficient time in stillness and silence, begin to prepare yourself to conclude your prayer with intercessions for others. Finally, end with a brief vocal prayer or hymn.

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Jesus: We begin this session of prayer again in the usual fashion – deliberately and consciously keeping silent both within and without. Try to remain physically still also, as this will help in producing a deep inner silence. Use the help also of deep and slow rhythmic breathing. After you are sufficiently settled and quiet, tell Me about your past week – were there times when you could see yourself acting as the beloved disciple would? Has your trust in the Father increased, even perhaps to the feeling level? If you failed, where did you go wrong? What can you do about this for the coming week?

[Time for silent prayer and reflection]

Jesus: For this prayer, join the group of disciples gathered round Me after the Resurrection. Pick out one or more of the disciples with whom you wish to identify yourself. Feel something of the excitement they would have felt, when they realized that they were being commissioned to go out by themselves to work for the kingdom. Dialogue with the person about his feelings: fears, hesitation, sense of inadequacy, faith in Jesus’ presence among them as Risen Lord, the hostility of the audiences they will address – and so on. Share their feelings and then turn to Me – speaking as it were, on their behalf. Dialogue with Me, point by point, and listen attentively to what I have to say.

Then you would need to remind yourself that all that I said to them is equally applicable to you in your present circumstances. The only difference between your situation today and theirs two thousand years ago, is that you need a more solid faith to be able to grasp My risen presence. Whereas for them, their association with Me was partly historical; they had actually lived with Me for quite some time and so their grasp of Me would necessarily be more experiential than is possible for you. Nevertheless, your strong faith will make up for this difference.

Remember that from a practical point of view, this event is very important because from now on the disciples had to work ‘on their own’, as it were – My contact with them would be largely spiritual and effective to the extent that they kept in close contact with Me. The same applies to you – you too will have to depend on yourself and to the extent that you have allowed yourself to be transformed, to ‘put on the mind of Christ,’ to that extent you will find it easy to go about your work of extending the kingdom. Nevertheless, don’t forget that this is a slow process and you learn through trial and error and mostly from your mistakes when you are open to be corrected.

Spend a large amount of time, therefore in deep stillness and silence during which stillness I am free to ‘operate’ on you and bring about the required transformation. Be delicately sensitive to the movements of the Spirit and respond as best you can. After this period of silence, as you emerge from prayer, spend some time interceding for others and their needs. Reach out as far and wide as you can… End with the short prayer or hymn as you usually do.

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Jesus: We enter into this prayer with the customary silence and stillness. By now you understand fairly well the importance of this way of entering into prayer and so I ask you to do it with great care. Don’t omit the brief review of the past week, as it is easier to correct mistakes when they are relatively fresh and recent..

[Time for silent prayer and reflection]

Jesus: For today’s prayer, you could dialogue with the Holy Spirit seeking to enter into his ‘mind’ and to understand his function in your life. First of all, it would be good to remind yourself that whatever ‘work’ God does outside of himself, is actually the work of all three Persons acting as One. Thus even though we say that it is the Father who loved the world so much that he sent his only Son so that whoever believes in him might be saved, yet, all three persons were directly involved in the work of redemption. So likewise, when the Gospel tells you that the Spirit will be your advocate and teach you all things, bring home to you the meaning of all that I taught when in this world, it is really the Bl. Trinity acting in your life who will do all this. This simply means that you see the love of God operative in your life each time you realize more deeply the meaning of a given passage, truth or approach as expressed in the Bible or experience any other form of help the Spirit gives you..

While this is true, it is nevertheless important to deepen your relationship with each of the three persons of the Trinity. A personal relationship with each of the divine Persons demands a different approach each time. That is why you were taught to invoke the guidance of the Spirit when reading the Bible or listening to the proclamation in the Eucharist. But even in this, it would help a great deal if you ‘personalize’ this request for God’s intervention in your activity. See if you can ‘visualize’ God beside you when you read/hear the Gospel, like a little child at its mother’s knees trying to understand a passage from a story book. Pause from time to time and ‘look up’ seeking to grasp the meaning of that particular phrase or line. Don’t be in a hurry to ‘finish’ the passage, but savour its message in all its richness. It could happen at times that nothing special strikes you as you do this. This should not discourage you from continuing the practice, because the Spirit will point out to you what is important for you right now. So, if nothing strikes you, continue your reading but always expectantly looking for guidance.

Once you learn the art of listening to God’s Spirit you will be surprised how much you learn about God’s ‘ways’ which are so different from human ways. However, the ideal would be to enter so much into the ‘mind’ of God that you too begin to think habitually the way God does. This again is not difficult, but needs repeated practice. Hence get into the habit of looking to the Spirit to lead you, especially as you listen to the proclamation of God’s word in the liturgy.

The Spirit acts in your life at other times too – especially when you face a difficult decision concerning the living out of your Christian commitment. When you don’t know which side to turn, it is helpful to pause for a brief moment and let yourself hear more deeply what he has promised you: Do not be afraid, I am with you! Then go on to listen to what he suggests to you. Remember, that you would need to ‘test’ the spirits too. For this, three very simple tests would help. The first is the “time test.” It says very simply that when God asks something specific of you, it will not come to you just once and then disappear altogether. God repeats his calls to us, even when we fail to hear or respond. So, if the idea has been repeating itself, it would be worth paying close attention to it.

Secondly, we have the “reality test” meaning that God never asks something out of the ordinary from you, something that is way beyond human reach. He is always firmly rooted in day-to-day reality – there is nothing ‘airy-fairy’ about God’s ways. Yet, don’t forget that he always challenges us to go beyond what the ‘law’ or common-sense tells us. And finally, there is the “charity test” which warns us that whatever God asks of us will be in the line of love of the other. If God is love, then all his ways too will be in the line of loving. So, if what you seem to hear God asking of you goes contrary to love, please check it out again.

Now the important point to be kept in mind is that all three tests must be applied together to a given situation in order to ascertain clearly God’s mind or will. No single one test works in isolation from the other two. Also, it helps if you can get someone else, especially a more experienced and ‘godly’ person to re-check or confirm your findings. If you can develop this kind of a relationship with God’s Spirit, this feast of Pentecost will have made a considerable difference in your life. Don’t forget that God’s Spirit is like electricity: silently available for your use all through the day and night; in a sense, he is at your service, waiting to be used for your benefit, to bring you into a closer relationship with the Father. That is the sole reason why the Spirit has been given to us.

Move now into a fairly prolonged period of deep stillness and silence … remember to make a few petitions before ending your prayer and conclude with the usual brief vocal prayer or hymn.

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Jesus: We prepare to enter into yet another hour of prayer with the usual time of silence and stillness. Recall Elijah standing before the cave seeking to discover God’s presence: he found it not in the whirlwind nor in the earthquake nor in the fire – but in a still gentle voice. I want to relate to you with the greatest intimacy and love, and for this you would have to be fully there. Once you have managed to quieten yourself sufficiently, you could recount for Me briefly how you worked during the past week on what you learnt in the last session of prayer.

[Time for silent prayer and reflection]

Jesus: For your prayer today again you could identify with any one of the three divine Persons of the Trinity. What we will try and look at is the inner workings of God’s heart, as it were. Staying close to the Father, see how his entire being is focused on pouring out his love onto Me, the Son… In him, there is not the slightest trace of self-centredness, of I, mine as opposed to yours and thine. Contrast this with the self-seeking that you see so rampant among human beings. Ask the Father why it is that he can be so generous and out-going. Listen to him as he answers you: possibly he would remind you that he is the fullness of being and so there is nothing that he lacks, nor can he lose anything from that fullness. Hence, there is not even the possibility of any fear – that one great enemy of fellowship and love that spoils all your efforts to be generous in self-giving. Drink in the tranquility that you experience in the Father.

Further, God’s love while being passionate (meaning, full of energy and excitement) is not just another, indirect way of self-seeking. He does not love in order to get something from the other; he does not hanker for praise and glory or recognition of any kind. His is pure self-giving. Just sit back and admire this constant flow of love from the Father to the Son and onto the Spirit and back to the Father. If you can, join the stream of love flowing and in your turn pass it on to some others of your choice.

Later, you could turn to Me and feel some of the ecstatic joy I feel on receiving the Father’s love. It is My very ‘life-blood’, as it were; it not only keeps Me going, but constantly renews and invigorates Me enabling Me to pass on all that love to the Holy Spirit. Although this movement has been going on from all eternity, yet it is never boring or routine or stale. The reason for this is that the Father constantly puts the whole of himself into this self-giving: there is nothing mechanical or impersonal about it. That is what makes it so refreshing and life-giving. Contrast this with what happens among humans: love soon tends to get impersonal and routine. It loses its freshness and energy and that is perhaps the reason why so many marriages, and family life in general, end up on the rocks. But in the inner life of the Trinity there is always life, freshness and energy and this is what keeps us going.

In Me too there is no trace of any desire to appropriate all the Father’s love for Myself alone. All that I receive I share with the Spirit who then returns it back to the Father. With this kind of a movement, as you can well imagine, there is neither time nor the desire to judge anyone, to discriminate between good and bad. That is why God’s love is so pure and wholesome, life-giving and energizing. Once again, try to enter into the dynamic of this kind of love and let it flow through you. Share it with others too, trying as far as possible to approximate the Trinitarian way of loving. Put aside all moral labels of good and bad, even when you can see that the other is not responding to the best of his capacity. Recall how the Father makes the sun to shine on the good and bad alike, his rain likewise to water the fields of all, irrespective of their moral standing. Get lost, as it were, in this kind of total selfless giving to the other: it will transform your entire way of life. Remain in this stream of love for as long as you can. Bring to the Father the special areas in which you experience difficulty in sharing, forgiving, caring, being patient and so on. At the appropriate moment, enter into deep stillness and silence and remain this way letting the Father work on transforming your life.

As you emerge from this deep silence, pray for the needs of others and finally end with the usual short hymn or bhajan.

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Jesus: We enter again into the hour of prayer with the customary time for quietening yourself – till you reach a fair measure of silence and stillness. In this effort, seek rather to let go that to positive drive away these extraneous thoughts. They cling to you seeking attention because of some inner insecurities you experience. At times, it is you who cling to these thoughts as they feed your ego and its insatiable needs. So, keeping close to Me, feel the strength that comes from knowing that the Lord holds you in the palm of his hands… this will make it easier to ‘let go’. Spend a little time reviewing the past week and its effort – the success and failure of your effort will enable you to learn something for the coming week.

[Time for silent prayer and reflection]

Jesus: Position yourself close to Me and the apostles as you listen to Me teaching the people and healing them of their illnesses. There are two ways in which you see can this healing taking place: the one more obvious one is that the sick line up in front of Me and then I lay hands on each and some at least are cured instantaneously. The other less obvious one is – My teaching enables the people to understand themselves and God in a new and different manner, something they had never attended to before. And this releases them of their bondages both within spiritually and also externally or physically. They now begin to relate to one another in a new way, with tremendous openness and generosity and that is how even their hungers are appeased with just a few loaves and some fish.

However, this transformation that we talk about is often a slow process and it would be helpful to watch it taking place, in ‘slow motion’ if you can. Dialogue with some people in the crowd: hear them share about some of their fears and misgivings about letting other people enter and invade their lives and privacy. Watch some of them give in to their tendency to cut themselves off from others, to cater to their sense of individualism. Also listen to them joyfully share how, as I spoke and healed them, they were literally able to shed these fears and egoistic tendencies; they now are drawn to share open-heartedly. Marvel at their surprise at seeing this happen to them. This is part of the healing that we spoke of earlier. As you share in their joy at being healed of their self-centred tendencies, present your own selfishness to Me to be healed in a similar manner… speak to Me about some of the persons with whom you would like to be more generous – with regard to time, your talents, your energy, your thoughtfulness and so on.

At the moment you feel is the best, switch over to total silence and stillness allowing Me to make this new tendency towards sharing take deep root in your very being. Inwardly, but without conscious words and phrases, present this petition or desire to Me. From now on you would need to stand out among others for such deep sharing and genuine thoughtfulness. When you are ready to leave, spend a few minutes in heartfelt prayer for the needs of others. And end with the usual hymn or bhajan.

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Jesus: We now enter into yet another hour of prayer but first we shall condition ourselves to be totally receptive and open to whatever the Lord wants to say to us. Gradually let go of all extraneous thoughts and feelings and focus only on My presence to you. Feel the warmth of My loving presence as it loosens your hold on these thoughts … spend some little time sharing about your effort of the past week.

[Time for silence and personal prayer]

Jesus: In today’s Gospel scene, you have several persons you could identify with: Myself as I went in to dine with the Pharisee and his friends, each of the other Pharisees present there for the dinner, but very specially the host, Simon, the woman who comes in uninvited, the servants and other members of the family.

You could begin by staying close to Simon – as the key person in the story a lot would have been going through his mind. He was generous enough to invite Me, knowing My habit of challenging people, particularly when gathered for a meal. This was a formal meal with couches on which the invitees reclined, their head near the central table while the feet were extended outwards. This way of reclining made it easier for the woman to position herself at My feet and wash them with her tears. Simon would have been pre-occupied with seeing that everything moved smoothly. Share his surprise and perhaps anger too when the woman walked in and began her ritual ministration at My feet. You must recall that at such formal meals, no woman was ever allowed into the dining area during the meal. At most she would be allowed in for entertainment purposes after the meal was over. During the post-meal period, the guests would be entertained with stories, riddles, jokes, singing, dancing and the like.

Besides, the woman ignored all the other guests and made straight for the couch on which I reclined – that would have caused great surprise to all the guests who would have watched Me closely. Share some of Simon’s embarrassment before the other guests at this unexpected intrusion, his helplessness in the situation because he could not afford to offend Me in front of all his other guests. See him literally bite his tongue and remain silent, biding his time for an opportune moment. Notice how I offered him a chance to vent this feelings by addressing him directly and inviting an open discussion.

You could spend some time with Simon listening to how he handled the challenge I placed before him by pointing out his inner refusal to be reconciled with the sinner woman as a fellow-Christian. Seek to learn from him why he particularly remained silent. Reason out with him how My challenge was precisely the core of the salvation that I came to offer to people. In an earlier reflection we had spoken about loving the way I loved – without placing any moral labels on people. The Father makes his sun to shine on the good and bad alike. So, here Simon was called to love the woman and relate to her freely, even when he knew what kind of life she had lived earlier. The catch inevitably is that a person’s moral standing depends on an inner invisible dialogue between the person and his/her Creator: no one else is witness of this in many cases. Hence, it is important to be positive in one’s approach to people, and to leave the moral assessment of others to the Father who sees all things. The bigger problem of course, is that the others around, especially those of the Pharisee group, would not view the situation in the same way as I was inviting Simon to do. And so, if Simon chose to respond to My challenge, he would possibly risk losing his standing in the eyes of his friends. Watch him struggle with this proposition and dialogue with him about his final decision.

Another fruitful conversation could be held with the woman, seeking to enter in her thoughts and feelings as she decided to do all she actually did. Or you could accompany some of the others guests on their way back home and share in their conversation about the events of the evening. However, in all this try not to miss the key point: anyone who seeks to be close to Me is challenged to imbibe God’s scale of values – which does not regard the exterior. God looks at the hearts of people and sees there even the tiniest spark of love and goodness and fans it to flame. Stay with this thought and enter into deep stillness and silence – permit Me to engrave these important principles on your heart and make them a permanent part of your life.

As you emerge from this silence, take some time for intercessions, praying for those who are in need, especially for those caught up with human regulations and standards of judging - and conclude with the hymn or bhajan of your choice.

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Jesus: As you enter into the hour of prayer once again spend some time consciously quietening your mind and heart. As we have stressed several times before, this has to be done with great gentleness and patience: it is more a question of letting go these disturbing and engaging thoughts rather than of forcefully pushing them away. Hence the need we experience of a deep inner stillness and silence. Towards the end of this introductory exercise, share with Me the progress you made in the past week… What we shared last week is tremendously important and concerns your way of making Me present in the midst of people – by loving them unconditionally!

[Time for silent prayer and reflection]

Jesus: In the gospel scene, you can identify with Zechariah and Elizabeth, with one or other of the neighbours who show surprise when Elizabeth insists that the new-born child be called John instead of Zechariah Junior, or even with those who later hear of the child and the marvels that accompanied his circumcision and naming ceremony.

If you choose to share with Elizabeth, enter into the inner confidence she displays when she insists on the name John for her child. Could she have sensed the important role that the child would play in the coming of the long-awaited Messiah? Her long hours of prayer interceding for a child for so many years to take away her barrenness would have developed in her a sensitivity that enabled her to pick up God’s message without hesitation or doubt. Marvel also at her tenacity and strength to stand up to all her neighbours and friends – and this against the background in which a woman had practically no standing in society. There would have been many around her who still regarded her as a sinner or worthless person because of her former barrenness! Perhaps some of them would have felt that having been a barren person (who would be considered as punished by God) Elizabeth should not dare to further violate any of the traditions and customs of God’s chosen people. Would Elizabeth herself have had any misgivings in this line? Share with her about the changes that had come about in her life with the gift that God had blessed her with. Anyone close to Me shares also in that deep knowledge and experience of God that I came to make available.

Share with Elizabeth also what her approach would be in the future as the child grew up. Possibly with each passing day Elizabeth’s closeness to God would increase by leaps and bounds. Truly her entire life is now full of joy and confidence – God has visited his lowly servant and transformed her life. Feel some of the inner poise and strength she experiences because ‘God is on my side – he has seen the lowliness of his handmaid, and come to my rescue.’

Spend some time with Zechariah too – especially conversing about the period before the birth of the child while he still remained dumb. What would his thoughts and feelings have been? With whom would he have been able to share these intimate thoughts and feelings he had? What lessons would he have learnt from the experience? How eagerly had he been waiting for a release from his inability to speak? How much would he have spoken after the miracle and what would he have said? Dialogue with him over these and other questions which might strike you as being relevant to the situation.

After you have entered into the mind of the person you are dialoguing with, spend some time in total silence and stillness – this is the period that is reserved entirely for Me, and so seek to be totally as My disposal. Seek to become like clay in the hands of a potter or like wax in the skilled hands of one who shapes and moulds it into a significant shape. Towards the end of this period, move into intercessions for others and conclude with the usual short hymn or bhajan of thanks and praise.

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