Author: Editor, Kingdom Revelator

Bible Story 

THE POWER OF GOD’S WORD

“The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12

 

A New Year’s resolution

I have never been very good at keeping my New Year’s resolutions, they usually only last a week or so. But this year I was more determined than ever to persevere and achieve my goal. My New Year’s resolution was to read the Bible every day and so far, only through the grace of God, I’ve been able to do it. I now realise that it was probably one of the best decisions I’ve ever made because the blessings that I have gained through it are truly amazing.

The presence of God

I have tried to read the Bible in an attentive and prayerful way, and I have often felt the presence of God in my reading because God speaks very powerfully through his Word. The Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 104 says, “In Sacred Scripture, the Church constantly finds her nourishment and her strength, for she welcomes it not as a human word, but as what it really is, the word of God. In the sacred books, the Father who is in heaven comes lovingly to meet his children, and talks with them.” In the early Church before the Bible was written down the Word of God was passed on by word of mouth. St Paul wrote in one of his letters, “We also constantly give thanks to God for this, that when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word but as what it really is, God’s word, which is also at work in you believers.” (1 Thessalonians 13)

Also, I have found that reading the Bible before revising for exams helps me to focus on my studies and I become much more engaged in what I am revising. I believe that this is because every word in the Bible was inspired by the Holy Spirit and therefore when I begin revising by reading the Word of God, the Holy Spirit enlightens me, focusses my mind away from distractions and helps me to study effectively.

Faith is increased

My faith has been strengthened by regularly reading my Bible. When I meditate on the Word of God, my faith is increased through the power of the Holy Spirit. “Faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the Word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17) In the Gospels I can read about all the wonderful miracles that Jesus performed. “He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew him.” (Mark 1:34) This increases my faith because it helps me to realise that God is powerful enough to solve all the silly problems that I may face. The Word of God is the seed that must be sown in order for faith to grow.

Healing and transformation

“For indeed, neither herb nor application cured them, but your all-healing word, O Lord!”(Wisdom 16:12) The Word of God has the power to heal both physically and mentally. By claiming the Word of God when we are ill, we can be strengthened to bear our sufferings and we can be healed. More importantly, through the power of the Word of God, our lives can be transformed, it can renew our mind, sanctify our soul and make us a new creation in Christ.

Weapon against Satan

If we really knew how powerful the Word of God was, we wouldn’t want to put our Bibles down. Through this incredible book that God has given us, we can fight off Satan and all his evil ways. When Jesus was tempted three times in the wilderness by Satan, he fought back by using quotes from the Scriptures. Jesus shows us that the best weapon we have against the devil is the Bible. “Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” (Ephesians 6:17) In order to overcome the devil’s temptations, we need to use the ‘sword of the Spirit’ so that we can be victorious in the battle between good and evil. I’m sure that many of you have seen the following quote on Facebook and other social networking sites: “When you carry a Bible, the devil gets a headache. When you open it, he collapses. When he sees you reading it, he faints. When he sees you living it, he flees.” So, let us be armed with the Word of God and witness the downfall of Satan!

 

Written by Rosemary Joy

Life 

DID JESUS REALLY RISE FROM THE DEAD

“With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.” Acts 4:33

 

This is a question that has been asked for the last two thousand years. How do we know that it really happened? What evidence do we have that Jesus rose from the dead?

 

He appeared many times

Some people say, “Isn’t the story of Jesus a myth? Isn’t it a tale told to children to make them behave better?” No, when Christians say that Jesus rose from the dead, it is not simply a figure of speech. It doesn’t mean that he rose in our hearts or that he rose spiritually. The Bible says that after he rose from the dead he appeared to the apostles many times. “Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died.” (1 Corinthians 15:6). On one occasion, by the sea shore, he even shared a meal with them. He ate just like a human would. So he physically rose from the dead! But some say that’s not proof enough.

Looking for evidence

So how do we know if he actually, truly, really, really rose from the dead, and the apostles weren’t making it up? A Harvard law professor, who was greatly respected, named Dr. Simon Greenleaf wanted to find evidence to disprove Christianity and the story of the resurrection of Jesus. He believed Christians were crazy to think that a guy, who died 2,000 years ago, rose again after being dead for two days so he started to research into it but before he had finished his research he became a Christian! Why?

Many eye witnesses

Let’s think about this. If someone committed a serious crime one of the things that would be needed to convict them would be an eye witness, who saw the crime being committed. What if there were lots of eye witnesses? That guy would definitely be going to prison. What if every eye witness was willing to die rather than deny what they saw? That was the case with Jesus rising from the dead. The first century Christians were willing to die cruel deaths for what they saw! They were threatened with being killed in horrible ways but were told that if they would just say that ‘Jesus did not rise from the dead’, they would be freed.

Christians would not deny Jesus

St. Peter was crucified upside down, St Bartholomew (another disciple who walked with Jesus and saw him after his death) was skinned alive! All they had to say was, “We were lying it’s not true. We made it up. Don’t kill us.” But they didn’t. For many years emperors and rulers mocked and persecuted these early Christians who would not deny their Lord. In the year Ad 64 a fire destroyed much of the city of Rome and it was reported that Nero, who ruled the Roman Empire, was instrumental in starting it. The Roman citizens blamed the destruction of the city on the Christians who were rapidly growing in numbers and they turned on them. The Christians were captured, imprisoned and persecuted. They were used as entertainment in the Colosseum by being fed to the lions or being burned alive. Many Romans enjoyed watching the spectacle as the Christians suffered for the name of Jesus. One easy way to show that the eye witnesses were lying would have been to produce the dead body of Jesus but nobody could.

Happy to suffer

So, either the Christians were telling the truth or they had the biggest ego in history. In the early Church there were many martyrs, people who died for their faith. They stood up boldly for what they believed because they had experienced the risen Jesus. They knew that Jesus was alive, he was with them and that the hardships and sufferings that they endured would all pass away. Were they unhappy to suffer for Christ? No, many died singing and praising God! They were filled with a supernatural joy from heaven! Wow!

Modern day witnesses

Even today Christians in some parts of the world are persecuted because of their faith. In the last few months in Iraq many Christians have had to flee their homes, leaving all that they possess because of persecution. They were offered the chance to stay if they denounced their Christian faith but instead they have chosen to escape to other countries. Because of their faith in Jesus Christ they have left their homes, their possessions and their security and are now living with thousands of refugees in tented camps relying on the help of foreign aid.

Conclusion

Yes, Jesus really did rise from the dead. By his death on the cross, he frees us from our sins and by his resurrection, he opens for us the way to a new life as a child of God. Jesus Lives! “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever!” (Hebrews 13: 8)

 

Written by

Life 

A LIFE WORTH LIVING

Powerful words

There is a beautiful passage in St John’s Gospel which tells the story of the woman caught in adultery. When the Scribes and Pharisees brought her to Jesus before being stoned, his response is so powerful; it always gives me goose bumps. Jesus says: “Let the one among you who is without sin, be the first to throw a stone at her.” (John 8:7) WOW! The power of these words are so great that the only option the Scribes and Pharisees have is to walk away. Jesus is so awesome.

My life was empty

When I think about my own life, I can see that Jesus has done the same for me. He has saved me and brought me into a personal, loving friendship with himself. Before meeting this incredible person called Jesus Christ, I was depressed and my whole life was in a mess and it felt meaningless and empty. At night, when I went to bed I would ask the Lord, “God, why did you create me? I am worthless, a total waste of space. My parents deserve so much better than me”. My heart would ache and I would often cry myself to sleep. This was my life in a nutshell before finding God. I would sometimes try to make sharp objects to cut myself but I didn’t have the guts to actually do it. To the outside world, I seemed like a perfectly normal girl enjoying life, but the real me would be desperately searching to fill the void inside me. I remember trying to fill this emptiness through heavy metal music, films, boys and friendships but none of these could fully satisfy me. Things grew so bad that sometimes I couldn’t see any hope for the future but I knew deep down inside me that there was something to live for.

God loves me

My mum has a very strong faith and at the age of sixteen, through the power of her prayers, I attended a retreat in London. Even deciding to go was a miracle in itself because my family didn’t usually drive very far or stay away from home much. The first day of the retreat went okay, but nothing really touched me, I couldn’t see why it was such a big deal. On the second day, my family was able to talk to one of the team running the retreat. While he was praying for us, the Holy Spirit revealed to him my suicidal tendencies and as soon as he mentioned it I was in complete shock, I didn’t know what to do or say, I was astonished. I didn’t know which was worse, this random guy telling me about my life or the fact that my parents were sitting next to me listening to my deepest secret being revealed. Somehow I managed to hold back the tears and then the Holy Spirit revealed to him a message for me and it was that God loves me. This really touched me and my tears began to flow because I knew deep down that it was true, he wasn’t making it up. God really did love me.

I surrendered myself to him

I felt so happy and wanted to know more about Jesus. I went back to the Church and surrendered myself to the Lord and said, ‘God you know me, you know my inner thoughts, you know everything and I need you’. It has been two years since that moment and ever since then the void inside me has been filled with the greatest person ever to walk on this earth, the Creator of the universe, Jesus Christ. Each day with Jesus I feel like I grow more and more in him and his love. Although I often turn away from him and I’m unfaithful, he reminds me that he is enough. There is nothing in this world that can ever give me the fulfilment that he alone can give. He has worked wonderful miracles in my life, such as in my A-level exams. In secondary school, I was in the foundation groups for most of my subjects and I barely passed my GCSEs. So when I started college I really struggled with my first human biology lesson where they were talking about different neurochemicals. I remember leaving that first lesson at college thinking that I have no idea what they were talking about so I prayed to Jesus asking him to help me. The next day, the teacher decided to go back to basics and teach us about the human body. I understood it much better after that lesson. Before my exams I asked Jesus to only bring up the questions that I had revised for and nothing else and each time he has done it. Praise God. He has also blessed me with an amazing friend who prays for me and I can honestly say that Jesus has helped me to pass my A-levels.

A testing time

As I walk daily with Jesus, I realise that he is so good. Not only does he help me but he also teaches me that sometimes in life I may not get my own way or have my prayers answered the way I expect. But I have learned to trust that God’s will and His purpose for my life is so much bigger than my plans. It can be confusing at the time but eventually everything will fall into place. He taught me this through my dad’s healing. My father was perfectly healthy until one day he started to become weak. At the time, my Mum and sister were in India so I, with the help of family friends, had to look after him. One day his condition became so bad that we took him to hospital for a check-up. They found that there was something wrong with his chest and suspected it may be pneumonia or tuberculosis and admitted him. It was three o’clock in the morning and I was worried because I would have to go back home by myself. By God’s grace, our family friends let me stay with them overnight. For a week and a half my daily routine was to go to college during the day, return home and then go to the hospital and then back home. I was alone most of the time, everything seemed to have happened so fast and I was very frightened. I would often cry to the Lord and ask him to do something. He always answered in one way or another by comforting me in the silence or by speaking through others. He never let me down.

My father was healed

Dad was discharged but he reacted badly to the tablets that the doctors had prescribed and he began to act differently. He wasn’t able to sleep, he wasn’t hungry and he was often scared. It was very difficult for us to handle the situation but we trusted in the Lord. We knew that he wouldn’t give us anything that

 

“god, who is rich in mercy, out ofthe great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with christ.” Ephesians 2: 4 – 5

we couldn’t handle even though the situation was very tough. Dad’s condition got worse and we took him back to the hospital where they found that his sodium level was very low and he was at risk of having a seizure and going into a coma. By God’s grace, we were in time before anything serious happened to him and they took him to the High Dependency Unit. There are a few Malayali families where I live and they have a weekly prayer group. Whilst praying together one Saturday, the Holy Spirit gave this verse to one of the members: “I saw their ways, but I will heal them and lead them; I will give full comfort to them and to those who mourn for them, I, the Creator, who gave them life” (Isaiah 57: 18). We trusted the Holy Spirit and believed the Lord was healing my dad and we thanked Him. After several days my dad was perfectly healthy again by God’s amazing grace and mercy and the doctor who treated him couldn’t understand how it had happened. But we knew that nothing is impossible for God.

My faith was strengthened

Since this happened, my faith and relationship with Jesus has grown stronger. He always remains faithful to me despite my failures. I know his love is way beyond human understanding and through the sacrifice he made for us, by giving his own life, his grace is greater than our sins. Now that I have Jesus in my life it is worth living and I am living it to the full. He has a wonderful plan for each one of us and his love for us is so great that all we need to do is to accept it and let him work his purpose out in us. I’m not ashamed to share my testimony because as St Paul says: “I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” (2 Corinthians 12: 9) I thank God for all the opportunities he has given me and pray that all of you who read this may experience him and his grace in your own personal life.

Written by Merin Thomas

Uncategorised 

Fear not, for I am with you

What an assurance! Who says so? It is the one who is the Lord of all creation, the immortal God who promises to be with us; to guard us, to protect us and to lead us to everlasting happiness. Fear is a fundamental human emotion and we all experience it. Fear is caused by a real or perceived threat to life or potential harm to health and it can also be a direct outcome of sin and guilt. There are two types of fear; one that is constructive and makes us cautious when faced with danger and the other is destructive and prevents us from accepting challenges to grow. The former leads to hope and righteousness and the latter to stress, depression and condemnation.

The only fear we should have is the fear of God. Psalm 119 says ‘My flesh trembles in fear of you; I stand in awe of your laws.’ This verse sums up a good understanding of the fear of the Lord.

As Christians we are never to be conquered by fear and cannot allow it to subdue us. Each time Jesus appeared to the disciples after his resurrection he told them not to fear. This is exactly what Jesus is telling each one of us today. Worship him and place your trust in him and the Holy Spirit will give you the courage to face all the challenges of life. When we feel insecure, inferior, lonely or lack confidence in ourselves then fear can overwhelm us but God understands our weakness and has taken all our fears and anxieties away.

The key to overcoming fear is total and complete trust in God. Trusting in God means refusing to give in to fear, it is a conscious decision to rely on him for courage and guidance even in our darkest times. This trust comes from knowing that he is good and reliable. We have great examples of fear giving way to extreme courage in the lives of St. Peter, St. Stephen and a host of other saints and martyrs throughout the Church’s history.

Jesus said, ‘I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’ If God is with us there is nothing we should be afraid of. Psalm 27 says that when you have the Lord, your God on your side you have no one and nothing to fear. So don’t allow fear to define you and limit your personal growth in Jesus. Surrender all your fears and worries to the Almighty and worship him so that you will gain more courage, hope and eternal happiness.

Written by fr soji olikkal

Christian Living 

Hidden Dangers

The arrival of the internet has brought us access to much more information at the touch of a few keys. Anywhere in the world you can be connected to the web with its instant news, ready answers to your questions, unlimited games to play and people to connect with. But there is a darker side to the internet that can be a trap for young people if they are not careful.

 

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1

 

Searching for Answers

Anyone and everyone can add information to the world-wideweb. There are millions of wonderful, wholesome and helpful web-sites that help, uplift and nurture young people and the internet can be a useful tool in our work of evangelisation. When our grandparents were young if they had any projects to complete for their school homework they would have to go to the local library and if they were lucky they found a book that could give them a few facts to use. Now all we have to do is log on and search for some key words and we have a choice of thousands of web-sites to select from. But the problem with everyone being able to upload web-pages is that they may not always be correct, we have to be careful to select the facts that we use and verify them from reliable sources.

The Danger

There is a much greater danger that we should be aware of when we search the Internet and that is because many adults misuse it for their own distorted pleasures and try to draw other people into sin. Hidden in the depth of the thousands of file servers are pictures and videos that are harmful and disturbing to young and innocent minds. This pornographic or violent content is dangerous because it is addictive. Like cigarettes and alcohol, once it stimulates the brain there is a craving for more and more excitement. Then what may have started as an innocent glance at a revealing image may soon become an urge for something more stimulating. Jesus said, “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light.” (Matthew 6:22) When we allow our eyes to look at unholy images then it will affect our whole body. We know that once we have read or seen something that disturbs us it is then very difficult to get it out of our minds, however hard we try. It is like when you step in some dog dirt, it is very difficult to clean it off and the smell lingers.

Choose Your Entertainment Carefully

A group of experts was set up by the Catholic Church in the Vatican to investigate the issue of violence and pornography in the media and it considered the contents of books, magazines, TV, films, plays and videos. It found that the media now play an important part in shaping the moral values in our society, they were saying that it affects how we think and how we act and the danger is that it can give a deformed outlook on life. One example is the ‘soaps’ on television, which started out by showing the everyday lives of ordinary people but gradually over the years they have had to develop more and more exciting storylines to keep the viewers interested. Now they feature a world of violence, broken families, unhealthy relationships and criminality and portray this as normal family life. The Vatican commission suggested that young people could help to change the content of the media by taking responsibility for their own moral decisions in their choice of entertainment. It was saying that it is up to us to choose what we watch and read very carefully. If the public stopped watching violent or disturbing films and television programmes the production companies would have to stop making them because they would not be making so much money from them.

Swim Against the Tide

Pope Francis in his message for World Youth Day 2014 wrote, “Young people who choose Christ are strong: they are fed by his word and they do not need to ‘stuff themselves’ with other things! Have the courage to swim against the tide. Have the courage to be truly happy! Say no to an ephemeral, superficial and throwaway culture, a culture that assumes that you are incapable of taking on responsibility and facing the great challenges of life!” The Pope is encouraging us to stand up for our faith, to avoid situations where we may be at risk and to strive for holiness because we have chosen to follow Christ.

Slavery to Sin

Unfortunately many young people have already been enticed into patterns of behaviour that they cannot break. They are unable to stop themselves even if they want to. This problem of addiction among young people is one of the many concerns of Pope Francis. In his Lenten Message for 2014 he said, “There is a moral destitution, which consists in slavery to vice and sin. How much pain is caused in families because one of their members – often a young person – is in thrall to alcohol, drugs, gambling or pornography. How many people no longer see meaning in life or prospects for the future, how many have lost hope!” Pope Francis is concerned for all our young people and their families whose lives are ruined by addictions that they cannot break out of.

The Good News

But it is not all bad news. Jesus has already paid the price for our sins and he wants to free us from our addictions. “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10). Jesus knows that we are weak and that it is a struggle not to give in to our body’s desires but he gave us the Holy Spirit to help us in the fight. “The Spirit helps us in our weakness.” (Romans 8:26) He will strengthen us and lead us back to holiness and wholeness. “God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

A Way Out

Some of us may already have a problem and in that case we should remember that there is a way out of the chains of addiction that hold us captive. First we need to recognise that we have sinned and should have a real desire to turn away from it. Then we can be reconciled to God and to the Church through confessing our sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This will give us a fresh start in the fight. We will still be tempted by whatever held us captive but with constant prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to help and strengthen us, we can break free. We also have our Blessed Mother who will help us if we ask and many people find that just by saying a “Hail Mary” the temptation will disappear.

The Gospel is the Antidote

At the end of his Lenten message Pope Francis said, “The Gospel is the real antidote to spiritual destitution: wherever we go, we are called as Christians to proclaim the liberating news that forgiveness for sins committed is possible, that God is greater than our sinfulness, that he freely loves us at all times and that we were made for communion and eternal life. The Lord asks us to be joyous heralds of this message of mercy and hope! It is thrilling to experience the joy of spreading this good news, sharing the treasure entrusted to us, consoling broken hearts and offering hope to our brothers and sisters experiencing darkness.” We can spread the good news to all those who have problems with addictions by praying for them, assuring them of God love for them and encouraging them to ask for the Holy Spirit’s help in their times of weakness. We can also help others to avoid occasions where they may be tempted into sin but we should do it with love and gentleness. “As God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” (Col. 3:12)

Christian Living 

You are God’s GREATEST CREATION

“We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution. Each one of us is the result of a thought of God.” Pope Benedict XV1

 

Long ago, Gepetto, the toymaker, carved for himself a puppet and called him Pinocchio. He made it lovingly in great detail, the jointed arms and legs, eyes, ears and nose were all carefully painted. He even sewed little clothes for him to wear. He was very pleased with the puppet because it was his own creation. It was so life-like, but he was very sad because Gepetto wanted a real boy to love and care for and as we know, that was not possible because Pinocchio needed a heart to be real.

We are Created To Love

God created everything, the light and dark, land and sea, fish, birds, animals and he thought that it was all good, even very good. Then God created us because he wanted someone to love him back. We are the high point, the best of his creation. He loves us because he made us. The toymaker loved the puppet he had made, but it was just a puppet and it was not in Gepetto’s power to give Pinocchio a heart. Of course this is not so for God. God wanted to make us just like himself, like God. He made us in the image of himself. How great is that!

We have big hearts

How can we be made in the image of God when we are so different culturally and physically, large, small, fair or dark. We are like God because he gave us a huge gift that is a heart, just like his, so we can love him back and love each other, our family, friends, those in need, everyone who hungers, hurts or is lost. He has given us a heart big enough to care for the whole world. “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4: 7 – 8)

Prayer:

Thank you Father God, that we are not just puppets but real people, with hearts like yours of pure gold. May our hearts grow in care and respect for those around us: our friends, family, at home, at school, in all our activities. May our hearts grow in respect and care for ourselves as the amazing creation of a loving God. May the hearts around us be loving, care for us, encourage us and have our best interests in their hearts. May we have the stillness and silence to hear the loving words of God as He says, “You are my beloved child and I am well pleased with you.”

 

Written by Patricia Apps

Be Creative 

A Parable of the Snow Drop

Fueled by a million man-made Wings of fire, The rocket tore a tunnel Through the sky, And everybody cheered! Fueled by a thought from God, The seedling urged its way Through the thickness of the Earth, and as it pierced the Heavy ceiling of the soil Launched itself into outer space –No one even clapped!

 

Written by Sr Juliemarie McDonald, SND