Author: Editor, Kingdom Revelator

The Sacraments 

UNITED IN LOVE

CREATED FOR LOVE

God created men and women because he wanted someone to share his love with and who could love him back. We are created to love, not just God but each other, it is a fundamental need in the heart of every person. In Genesis it describes how God created Adam, the first man and then said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” The helper that God created was Eve, the first woman. It describes how there was something missing from Adam’s life before Eve was created. He needed a woman to be complete. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.” (Genesis 2:24) Becoming “one flesh” refers not only to the joining of the two bodies but is also a visible sign of the very close union between the couple living together in love and this reflects God’s love that is at the heart of Christian marriage.

SACRAMENTAL GRACE

Marriage has been a feature of human culture from the beginning of time. In the Catholic Church, marriage means much more than two people agreeing to live together. The Sacrament of Marriage introduces a supernatural element to the union between two Christians as well as a natural one. When they are married in the Catholic Church a couple receive the grace of the Sacrament, which strengthens them to live together in love. The marriage vows that the couple make to one another are based on love. Each partner is asked, “Do you take ….. for your lawful wife/husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?” They each give an open-ended promise, not knowing where the promise will lead or what it will entail. This unconditional promise is the essence of Christian marriage.

CHILDREN

When God created men and women he wanted them to be part of his loving act of creation by bearing children. He blessed Adam and Eve and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply.” (Genesis 1:28) The Catholic Church teaches that married couples should be open to having children and does not sanction any artificial method of birth control. In the teaching of Pope John Paul II on the theology of the body he likened marriage to the complete self-giving of the spouses to each other and that should include their fertility. Also some artificial methods involve the destruction of embryos after conception to prevent the continuation of pregnancy which is destroying human life.

MARRIAGE IS FOR EVER

In his preaching Jesus taught that divorce was never part of God’s plan. He said, “For your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.” (Matthew 19:8). He then went on to say that the marriage bond could not be broken. God himself has determined it. “You have declared your consent before the Church. May the Lord in his goodness strengthen your consent and fill you both with his blessings. What God has joined, men must not divide.” (Extract from the wedding service)

CHRIST AND HIS CHURCH

The grace of Marriage helps the couple to grow in holiness, and it helps them to cooperate together in God’s plan by raising up children in the Faith. The Church sees a sacramental marriage as a symbol of the love between Christ and his Church. Christ (the bridegroom) gave up his life out of love for his Church (the bride) and the Church responds to this by returning that love. In the same way a husband and wife give up their lives for each other and for their children by always trying to put the other first.

MARRIAGE AND THE CHURCH

Jesus performed his first miracle at the Wedding Feast at Cana. “The Church attaches great importance to Jesus’ presence at the wedding at Cana. She sees in it the confirmation of the goodness of marriage and the proclamation that thenceforth marriage will be an efficacious sign of Christ’s presence.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1613) A married couple show to the world an image of Christian love.

LIVING OUT MARRIED LIFE

Marriage is a union of two different people. It involves a lifetime of learning about one another, enjoying the similarities and accepting and appreciating the differences. Spouses nurture each other in marriage by spending time together, being open and talking, sharing their thoughts, feelings and dreams and especially by listening to one another. Husbands and wives need to constantly show their spouse that they are appreciated and loved. The grace of the Sacrament of Marriage is strongest when they put God at the centre of their lives. Regularly praying together as a couple will strengthen and sustain the marriage relationship over a lifetime and helps to build intimacy and trust.

PROBLEMS IN MARRIAGES

Sometimes there may be problems in marriages and the Church recognises that reconciliation between spouses is not always possible so it may be better for a couple to live apart but the Church does not sanction divorce and remarriage in these circumstances. The promises that a couple make before God, if they are freely given and with the knowledge of what the Sacrament of Marriage really is, are lifelong and binding. The Church ensures that Marriage Preparation is given to couples planning to marry so that they fully understand what they are undertaking when they get married.

TEENAGERS AND MARRIAGE

For many readers the prospects of a happy lifelong marriage may be in the future but as they get older and start looking round for ‘the love of their life’ there are some issues that are worth thinking about and considering. The temptation in today’s culture is not to wait for marriage. We live in an instant culture that wants things now but preparing for a life together takes time and patience. Most people don’t marry the first boyfriend or girlfriend that they have and while at the time they may seem to be ‘the one’ it doesn’t usually work out this way. Many older people say that they wished that they had waited for their wedding day. Young Christians should be strong in keeping themselves pure so that they can give themselves totally and freely for the first time to their spouse on their wedding day, to the one who has promised to love, cherish and nurture them. This is the strongest foundation for a marriage.

Written By : June Palmer

Life 

A LESSON IN FORGIVENESS

SISTER RANI MARIA

Sister Rani Maria was born in Kerala, South India in 1954. She became a Catholic nun and worked among the poor people in Madhya Pradesh, another state in India. In 1995 she was travelling to work on a bus when she was stabbed to death in a knife attack by a hit man named Samundhar Singh. The murder had been arranged by some landlords who did not like the Sister’s work among the poor people. Various institutes have been named after her and a museum in her honour has been opened at Pulluvazhy in Kerala. Her important work among the poor has been recognized by the Church but that is not why we are telling her story.

THE POWER OF FORGIVE

The most important part of this story relates to her murderer, Samundhar Singh. Soon after the murder, Sr Selma Paul, the younger sister of Sr Rani Maria visited Singh, in his prison cell. Significantly the day that she visited was the feast day for Hindus of “Rakshabandhan” [knot of protection], an annual feast held to consolidate the relationship between brothers and sisters. During the visit Sr Selma tied a decorated thread, a ‘Rakhi’ on Samundhar’s wrist signifying that she regarded him as a brother. He was overwhelmed by this unexpected gesture and apologized to Sr Selma and asked for her forgiveness. Later, on the eighth anniversary of the death of Sr Rani Maria, her mother Eliswa visited the jail and kissed the hands of her daughter’s killer showing that she had forgiven him for her daughter’s death. Singh subsequently repented and confessed his sins and became a Christian. Today he is a changed man helping the poor people and trying to continue Sr Rani Maria’s mission. What led to these changes in him? It was simply the forgiving love of Sr Rani Maria’s family that changed his life. Now Samundhar is treated as one of the family and he regularly visits Sister Rani Maria’s family in Kerala.

FORGIVING OTHERS

To forgive someone is not to suppress the anger or revenge that we feel towards them but to express our forgiving love for them. When we resolve to change our anger into love we become more loving, creating a better world. Forgiveness is central to the Lord’s prayer, when we say “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Jesus is saying that we will not be forgiven our sins if we cannot be loving and forgive others. The Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 2840 says about God’s merciful forgiveness, “This outpouring of mercy cannot penetrate our hearts as long as we have not forgiven those who have trespassed against us. Love, like the Body of Christ, is indivisible; we cannot love the God we cannot see if we do not love the brother or sister we do see. In refusing to forgive our brothers and sisters, our hearts are closed and their hardness makes them impervious to the Father’s merciful love; but in confessing our sins, our hearts are opened to his grace.” Forgiveness is not always easy but we will never have peace in our hearts without it.

HOW CAN WE FORGIVE?

Be still and imagine the person that you want to forgive. Pray to the Holy Spirit, asking for the strength to accept that person as a fellow human being with all their faults and failings.

Pray for yourself asking that the Lord will take away all the negative and angry feelings that you have towards them and replace it with his love.

Pray “Lord, from my heart, I forgive them for whatever they did, intentionally or accidentally. Please forgive me for whatever I may have done to hurt or provoke them. May our broken relationship be healed and may our hearts and minds be filled with the love and peace of Jesus Christ.”

Pray for that person, “May the Lord bless them and prosper them, keep them safe and guard them.”

Written By : Munnu Fenil

Christian Living 

DIVINE MERCY

WHAT IS SIN 

In order to understand God’s divine mercy we need to understand what sin is and how it harms us, offends God and breaks our relationship with other people. We are made to be in communion with God. He wants to pour out his blessings on us, he wants to hear and respond to our prayers and to be with us on our journey of life. When we sin a barrier is built up between us and God. We can no longer receive all that he wants to give us and he cannot reach out to us as he wants. In his great mercy God has given us the means to break down this barrier. That is what he offers us in the Sacrament of Confession. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (1440) says, “Sin is before all else an offence against God, a rupture of communion with him. At the same time it damages communion with the Church. And so it entails both God’s forgiveness and reconciliation with the Church, which are expressed and accomplished liturgically by the sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation.”

TRUE REPENTANCE

St Faustina, the Polish nun, who throughout her life had visions and conversations with Jesus, wrote a diary recording the messages that Jesus wanted to give to the world about God’s divine love. Jesus told her that the mercy of God is far greater than any of our sins; it is unlimited and is way beyond anything that we could ever imagine. Jesus revealed to St Faustina that we can experience the mercy of God when we wholeheartedly repent of our sins and make the decision not to sin again. If we could only understand the depth of God’s love and mercy for us, we would not want to sin again. When we truly repent and turn away from sin we will feel the loving touch of God and come to know the depth of His mercy.

THE HOLY SPIRIT

To experience his mercy we need to reject sin with our whole hearts. The reason that we keep falling back into sin is that we don’t know the depth of his mercy. My friends say to me, “How can we stop sinning? At our age it is really difficult.” The Saints who went before us show that it is possible. They understood the depths of God’s mercy and were in awe of his great love for them so they didn’t want to hurt or offend him. Like us they had the power of the Holy Spirit within them and they allowed the Holy Spirit to guide them and show them the way to holiness. We also can call on the Holy Spirit, given to us in our Baptism and Confirmation, to help us to turn away from sin and experience the depth of God’s great mercy.

ANOTHER CHANCE

Sometimes our faith may be put to the test and our reaction should not be to turn away from God but to pray for strength. There are times when we will fail but God will always give us another chance. His mercy invites us to start again and keep trying, and with the help of the Holy Spirit we will learn from our mistakes and grow in holiness. Through the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation we can be put right again with God and are restored to his grace, we are reconciled to each other and the slate is wiped clean for a fresh start. That is the great mercy of God drawing us back to him and giving us another chance.

Prayer: Let us open our hearts to understand the mercy of God. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to come and dwell in us and guide us so that we can understand what Jesus is saying to us. May the Lord bless us and keep us, may his face shine upon us, be gracious to us and give us his peace. Amen.

Written by : Joyson Joboy

 

Christian Living 

NEW LIFE IN CHRIST

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.” 1 Peter 2: 24-25

WHY DID JESUS DIE?

Our Lord Jesus is a holy God who shed his own blood on Calvary for our sins. Jesus died for all people, no matter what race or religion they are. Take a minute and think about it; if Jesus hadn’t died for us, we would have died in our sins and if he hadn’t been raised from the dead then we couldn’t look forward to eternal life with God. However, Jesus died and rose again so that we sinners could have eternal life; he did this out of love, pure unconditional love. Jesus loves each one of us. He never wanted us to die in our sins with no hope of heaven; instead he gave himself as a sacrifice, so that all our sins could be washed away in the sinless blood that he shed on the cross. Jesus wants to share with each one of us the new life that he won for us and he wants everyone to be with him in heaven; that’s why he went through the brutal death on the cross.

THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE

Many of us are blind and take spirituality very lightly. Sadly, this is the kind of world we live in, where God’s love and mercy are not taken seriously. When I first became a Christian I remember people saying to me, “I have been a Christian for a long time and I haven’t seen Jesus, and you say you have? What are you talking about?” and “What is your room number? I will tell everyone that Jesus lives there.” But knowing Jesus is a huge blessing, especially for a person like me who came from a different faith. I was ignorant of the truth, but because of God’s great mercy and love, I came to know Jesus Christ, as my saviour. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) I am glad to say that by faith I am a Christian.

SEEK HIM WITH ALL YOUR HEART

If we truly want to dwell more and more in God’s love and experience the power of his Holy Spirit in our lives, it is very simple. Jeremiah 29:13 says “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” That’s the promise our Lord has given us. “You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.” (Joshua 23:14) God keeps his word and fulfils it in his own time, all we need to do is trust his word, and reach out to him.

THIRSTING FOR LOVE

1 John 4:8 says “God is love”, and his great love is expressed in John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” How can we turn our back on this amazing love? But it’s a two way process, so while we thirst and hunger for God’s love, God himself also thirsts and hungers for his people to love him. Our response should be to passionately love God. His love is all that we need. Worldly pleasures cannot satisfy us as they are temporary, but in God’s love we are permanently satisfied and we should pray, asking to experience his love, as Jesus is eagerly waiting to pour his love out upon us!

RECEIVE HIS STRENGTH

It is not always easy to serve God, there are times when our faith will be tested (Sirach 2: 1-4) but what God really wants to see is our love, devotion and faithfulness to him. When faced by challenges we can say “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13) When we are tempted, we can read John 3:16 and reassure yourself with Romans 8:31 “If God is for us, who can be against us?” If you are ridiculed for being a Christian remember “If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you.” (1 Peter 4:14) We can’t possibly have anything more promising and reassuring than the unconditional love of God.

Written by : Anne Mary

Christian Living 

Making the Right Choices

“The Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk blamelessly, guarding the paths of justice and preserving the way of his faithful ones.” Wisdom 2:6 -8

 

IMPORTANT CHOICES

We are all used to making small decisions in our daily life, like what clothes to wear, what to eat for dinner, which book to read, what time to go to bed. But there are times when the important decisions that we have to make can have a real impact on our future lives, such as which subjects to take at A level, which course to study at University, what career to choose, who to marry, where to work. Whatever the circumstances, the decisions that we make now, determine the direction of our lives in the future.

THE RIGHT DECISION

In the Gospel of St. Luke chapter 19 there is a story of a man who made a decision that changed his life. Zacchaeus was a tax collector, a very rich man, who lived in Jericho. He had heard about the miracles that Jesus had performed, so when Jesus arrived in Jericho he wanted to see him. As it was very crowded and he wasn’t very tall, Zacchaeus decided to climb a sycamore tree so that he could look down and see Jesus passing. As Jesus approached, he looked up and said to Zacchaeus, “Come down, for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried down and was happy to welcome Jesus to his home. After meeting Jesus, Zacchaeus said to the Lord, “Half of my possessions, I will give to the poor and if I have cheated anyone out of anything, I will pay them back four times as much.” Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house.” Zacchaeus decided that he wanted to see Jesus and that decision changed his whole life and because he chose wisely he and his whole family were saved. If we also decide to follow Jesus and believe in him, that choice will lead us to salvation and our whole family will be blessed. “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your household will be saved.” (Acts 16: 31)

A DECISION THAT CHANGED MY LIFE

After completing a pharmacy course, I planned to open a local chemist shop but while I was practicing as a pharmacist, I gradually felt myself being drawn towards studying nursing and becoming a nurse. At that time I was fascinated by the services provided by nurses both in hospitals and out in the community and developed a passion for their work. My parents were not happy but reluctantly they agreed that I could change my profession. After completing a Master’s Degree in nursing, the Lord sent me to different parts of India and to the Middle East to work and eventually I moved to Great Britain to further my career.

INSPIRED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT

It was only after arriving in England that I realized that it had been the Holy Spirit who had inspired me all those years before to start training to be a nurse. If I hadn’t made that decision then I would not have had the opportunity to travel around so much and it wouldn’t have been possible for me to come to England. I also realize that God had a purpose in bringing me to this country because he has chosen me to be part of Sehion Ministries, a Catholic Charismatic group, dedicated to spreading the Word of God throughout the world. Now I serve the Lord through this ministry by helping to conduct retreats and conventions for young people and adults around the UK and in other countries. God has a plan for each and every one of us, “I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11) Now, when I look back, the decision that I took to change my career from pharmacy to nursing was the turning point in my life and I can clearly say that decision was the right one, at the right time and in the right direction.

HOW WE CAN MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICES

When we have important decisions to make we can ask the Lord to help is in a number of ways:

Ask The Holy Spirit for guidance: We all need wisdom to make the right choices in our lives. The Holy Spirit will guide us to make the right decisions. “If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given to you.” (James 1:5)

Read the Word of God: Reading and meditating on Scripture in the Bible enables us to listen to what the Lord is saying to us. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105) Listening and obeying the word of God strengthens us and helps us to decide what will be the best course of action. “This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth: you shall meditate on it day and night: so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall be successful.” (Joshua1:8)

Pray: It is important to spend quality time in prayer asking for wisdom to make the right decision. It could be in personal prayer, Eucharistic Adoration, prayer meetings or going to Mass. This will help us to draw near to God so that we can hear his words of guidance. God wants to help us to make the right decisions in our lives at th e right time so that we go in the right direction. He wants to shower us with his blessings helping us to live our lives to the full as God intended Wisdom 2:6 -8 for each one of us.

Written by : Shibu Kurian

Christian Living 

WHOSE IMAGE IS ON YOU?

HURTFUL COMMENTS

We sometimes make comments about people in fun without thinking about the person being teased but I know how it feels to be on the receiving end of these silly remarks, “You have black gums; you look like a gorilla.” I remember these phrases well. At school, people used to make fun of my colour and call me all sorts of names. Even though I tried to ignore them and looked like they had no effect on me, they actually did. I still remember how much they hurt and how sad and lonely I felt. These comments had such a profound effect on me that I started to get aggressive even at the mention of my colour or my body shape, because that’s the only way that I knew how to deal with it. I still remember when my mum called me a “bull” when we were having an argument and I was so sensitive that I considered it an attack on my colour and it provoked all the negative emotions in me again. I thought that my own mother was putting me down like the others. As I grew older, I became even more sensitive about my looks. Another time an adult jokingly said “You are so black, that face-paint would not show up on you” and I felt really angry with him; I wanted him punished for his comment, whether it was a joke or not.

I FELT WORTHLESS

At school, when I appeared in school plays, the teachers used to plaster me with foundation to make me look fairer so that the audience could see me. I felt that the cultural view was that being dark skinned was somehow seen as lower class, and the combination of all these factors made me feel worthless. It meant that I had to fight for myself, and I became even more aggressive as a way to counter any comments about my looks. Every time someone said something about my appearance I felt worthless and unwanted. When I looked in the mirror, I always thought, “if only my skin was lighter”, “if I could change my face a tiny bit” or “if I could just change my body somehow.” I felt inferior to everyone. I still remember the times when I used to come home and just cry to my parents, and ask them why God had created me looking like this.

WE BELONG TO GOD

But God had been watching over me all the time and he heard my cries. My inferiority complex was completely taken away when I poured out my heart to him in the Blessed Sacrament. He healed my inner wounds and gave me a new outlook on life through the Gospel. I remember hearing a talk about the story in Luke 20:22-26 when Jesus was asked if they should pay their taxes he said, “Show me a denarius. Whose head and whose title does it bear?” They said, “The emperor’s”. He said to them, “Then give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s”. I realized that if someone had asked Jesus, “What belongs to God?” Jesus would have said, “Whose image is on you?”

THE IMAGE OF THE PERFECT ONE

In the Bible it says in Genesis 1:27 that God created mankind in his own image. This means that whatever colour or shape we are, it is in God’s image that we have been created. God is the perfect being, he is beautiful and there is nothing bad or wrong in him. So if we are created in the most perfect image, then we ourselves are beautiful. No matter what anyone says, we should always remember that we are created in the image of God.

CHILDREN OF GOD

God created everything, including the angels, but he only created human beings in his own image. When God checks our reflection in the mirror, he sees himself in us. St. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 6:16 “We are the temple of the living God,” because in every human being, there is a part that is put there by God himself. So whenever we look at ourselves in the mirror, we should not see ourselves, but the creator who created us. God says to us, “I will be your father; you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” We are children of God and we have that heavenly and royal blood flowing in us, and so we are inheritors of the Kingdom of God. Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit and every part of our body, even our smile, make up that temple where God dwells. So we should never worry about our looks, because God has given us the appearance that he sculpted in his own image and we are beautiful in his eyes.

THE BEAUTY OF THE HEART

My dad always said that it was not the way you look or the colour of your skin that matters, but the state of your heart, is it loving and forgiving? What is the point if we look amazing on the outside, but our heart is bitter and ugly? What is the point if we are fair on the outside, but have a dark heart? When we die, God does not look at our appearance or the colour of our skin, he looks at our hearts. When God wanted to choose a king for Israel, he sent Samuel to Jesse’s house. There Samuel met Eliab the eldest son of Jesse, and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is now before the Lord.” (1 samuel: 16-6,7) But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

WE ARE PRECIOUS

We are beautiful because God is beautiful and he made each one of us beautiful and we are precious to him. We are the diamond that he wanted the most and he has carved a special place for each one of us on his crown. He polished us and cut us in a special way, each in our own unique shape and colour to fit in to his perfect and most expensive crown of jewels. He says in Isaiah 43:4 “You are precious in my sight, and honoured, and I love you, I give people in return for you, nations in exchange for your life.” This shows the depths of his love, that he is ready to give nations and people for us. Which human person can do that for us? God loves us so much that he has inscribed our names on the palm of his hands (Isaiah 49:16). He then went another step, and gave up his own Son for us. His love for us exceeds that which we can ever imagine.

BUILDING OUR CONFIDENCE

◗ To feel better about ourselves we should thank the Lord for creating us. “For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works, that I know very well.” (Psalm 139:13-14) Remember that we have been created by God in his image and likeness and he loves us just as we are.

◗ Look in the mirror and repeat this verse from Job 33:4 “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”

◗ We should make a decision never to feel depressed or inferior because of the way we look, because we have the Holy Spirit of God within us. Instead, we should be filled with joy and confidence to be a temple of the Holy Spirit and to show others the glory of God. St. Paul says in Ephesians 4:24 “Clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

◗ When we feel sad or lonely, God will send his angels to comfort us. He has already given us his Mother to console us, and the Holy Spirit to be our counsellor. He is with us at all times and he values us more than anything. If we pray to him and pour out our worries and concerns he will comfort us and help us to feel better about ourselves.

Written by : Mathew James

 

 

Editorial 

November 2014 – Editorial

Welcome to the latest edition of Kingdom Revelator. In this issue we have included more testimonies and articles written by young people who have experienced the power of God’s love in their lives. We have found that when young people are touched in a special way by the Holy Spirit they want to share their experiences with others and we are very grateful to everyone who has sent in their stories. We also continue investigating how science can help in our search for the truth and in our series on the Sacraments we look at what the Catholic Church teaches about Marriage. Please do continue to send us your faith stories, articles, drawings or details of any Christian projects or charities that you are helping with that you think might be of interest to our young readers. We would also value your feedback and suggestions for improving the magazine, by e-mail to kfkmag@gmail.com.

In the Church, we are moving towards the end of this Liturgical Year. November is traditionally a month for remembering our loved ones who have died. At the beginning of November we celebrate All Saints Day when the Church honours all the Saints who have died and are with God in Heaven. On the following day the Church celebrates All Souls Day (also called Commemoration of the Faithful Departed) when all those who have died but who have not yet been purified and reached heaven are remembered. In many parishes there is an opportunity to write out the names of our deceased family and friends whom we want to remember and then Masses are said and prayers offered for these Holy Souls throughout the month. On 30th November the new Church year begins with the First Sunday of Advent as we look forward and start preparing for the coming of Christ at Christmas time.

We pray that you will be blessed by this magazine and ask that when you have finished reading it you pass it on to a friend. It’s a very easy way to spread the Gospel message. If you would like to order more free copies for your school or parish please use the new e-mail address krcopies@gmail.com that we have set up for our distribution manager. May God bless you in your reading,

 

Written by : the editorial team

Reflection 

Puzzling Thoughts from a Young Catholic

How could it possibly be:

That the God who created me became a foetus and came into this world? That a God so powerful became a baby? That the author of wisdom, the allknowing was obedient to his earthly mother and father? That when Lazarus died, Jesus cried? What!! God actually cried?

That such a Holy God would chase after sinners, loving them regardless of who they were?

That the creator of the universe would wash the feet of his disciples? That a God so big, would give himself as simple bread and wine at Holy Mass?

But then I begin to ask why:

Was Jesus betrayed?

Was Jesus denied by his own friends?

Was Jesus spat upon and beaten?

Was he kicked and bruised?

Was a crown of sharp thorns forced onto his head?

Was he given a heavy cross to carry?

Was he mocked by those he created?

Was he made to suffer nails piercing his hands and feet?

Was he crucified with sinners?

Was he silent through it all? And more importantly, for whom?

The answer to all these questions is simple – It Was for You!! HE DIED For YOU!

The Father gave his Son! Stop for a moment and consider this. A blood donor saved your life – Jesus! He gave his own flesh and blood for you! Shed on that Cross. He, the one without sin, paid the price for our sins so that we could be healed. He opened the gates of heaven so that we could enter in. Whether you like him or not, whether you believe in him or not, whether you care or not, it doesn’t matter God still loves you and he waits patiently for your love. When we say yes to him then we will truly live! Jesus said “I came to give you life and life in abundance!” (John 10:10) “God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.” St Augustine

 

“God so loved the world that he gave his only son so that anyone who believed in him may not perish but have eternal life!” John 3:16