"Doomsday" Revelation!

What do you do when you know that the world is coming to end? You must be wondering why am I asking you this question now. 21^st Dec, 2012 - the doomsday - has come and gone. I’m bringing it up because that day I stumbled across a realization which took me by surprise.

So, I come back to the same question. What do you do when you know that the world is coming to an end? Do all that you ever wanted to do, go on a shopping, eating, drinking spree; visit places you've always dreamt about, catch up with your old friends, spend time with family, mend broken relations, pray for the next life....... Well to my surprise, when I went to church that day I found a long line of people waiting to confess their sins. And guess what? I was one among them! However, I hadn't planned it. I didn't even realize it was 21^st Dec till I came back home. I went to attend the morning Mass and after the Mass I felt the strong urge to confess. As I prepared myself for confession, as I made my way towards the confessional, as I knelt down, the power of seven words which I was about to say took be my surprise. I was overwhelmed when I said, “Bless me Father, for I have sinned.”

That’s a prayer, we say every time we begin our confession. But that day it made me think. Isn't there something wrong in that sentence? Why “Bless me, Father”? Shouldn't it be “Have mercy on me, Father” or “Please forgive me, Father” or “Spare me, Father” or “Please don’t punish me, Father”. Instead of asking for blessings, shouldn't we be scared, afraid, guilty to approach the Almighty God, against whom we have sinned? I remember, during my childhood, after fighting with my sister, I was so scared that she would complaint to my mother about what I did. I saw the same with my nephew who is petrified when we tell him that we are going to tell his dad about his mischief. Don’t we feel the same when we have to face our boss after messing up at work? But instead of approaching God with guilt, fearing His rebuke and punishment and pleading with Him for forgiveness, He gives us an opportunity to approach Him with confidence, with love and ask for His blessings and grace irrespective of what we did.

For God, our loving Father, it doesn't matter if we are liars, drunkards, murderers, prostitutes; it doesn't matter if we are addicted to alcohol, drugs, tobacco, pornography; it doesn't matter if we have been a bad, mean person; it doesn't matter if we were thankless, jealous, deceitful; it doesn't matter if we didn't support human life; it doesn't matter if we never bothered about Him, if we ran away from Him, forgot Him, disobeyed Him,questioned or denied His existence, it doesn't matter if we are the greatest sinner in the world, as long as we go back to Him, stand in front of Him, repent and say “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned.” Then He would embrace us and fill us with His love which knows no limit, His peace which is beyond our understanding, His joy which gives us strength and His hope which never fades.

That morning when I came back from the confessional, I felt as if a heavy weight was off my chest. And as I knelt before the crucifix, I could feel His love envelope me. I felt humbled before Him, humbled by the power of seven words – “Bless me Father, for I have sinned”, humbled by the power of His love and forgiveness.

“The Lord is gracious and merciful, abounding in love and slow to anger; .... He does not treat us according to our sins, nor does He punish us as we deserve. As the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His love  ....; as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove from us our sins.” (Psalms 103:8-12)

God Bless!

Cup Came Home

2^nd April, 2011 – A day which will indelibly be written in the memories of every Indian of this generation, a day when the long wait of 28yrs was finally over, a day when India became world Champions again, a day when the Cup came home!

It’s one of those days when each one of us will remember exactly where we were and what we did for the rest of our lives. As for me, like most Indians, I too was watching the final match with my friends and like most Indians, once India lifted the trophy it was time to hit the road. I was stunned to see traffic jam at 12:30 in the night in Hyderabad. There was celebration all around. People in cars, bikes, cycles, on foot all celebrating and cheering India’s victory. Nobody seemed strangers anymore. Anybody and everybody was congratulating each other, giving high fives and hugging people whom they have never ever met in their lives before. All cares and concerns of the daily lives thrown out of the window!!

Among all this I just noticed one incident. Two guys riding bikes and celebrating happened to hit each other. There was slight damage to the bikes, but to my surprise they just shook hands, congratulated each other for India’s victory, smiled and left. I was shocked!! Had it been any other day it would have surely led to a blame game, an argument and may be a scuffle. But not that day. Everyone was so overwhelmed by the celebration, happiness and joy that they forgot and forgave all mistakes and wrongdoings.

It just reminded me about the parable that Jesus narrated about a son who fought with his father, rebelled against him, took his share of the money and left his family to follow his own ways, spent his father’s money in reckless living and after that had no choice but to work in a pig sty. He was starving, so much so that he was willing to eat what the pigs ate, but no one gave him even that. Then he realized his mistake and decided to go back home. On his way back, when his father saw him coming, he wasn’t angry or disgusted, he didn’t ask for any explanation, he didn’t  say ‘It your fault’ or ‘I told you this would happen’ or ‘I have nothing to do with you now’, he didn’t argue or reprimand. In fact he didn’t even let his son speak. He just ran to him, threw his hands round his stinking, dirty, unkempt, wretched son and kissed him. He was so filled with joy to see his son come back that he forgave all his mistakes and wrongdoing. He ordered a feast to celebrate the day his son came home! (Luke15:11-27)

Thats how God, our Father is! His joy of seeing us come back to Him wipes away all our sins and wrongdoings.  He doesn’t ask us for explanations, doesn’t blame us for anything, doesn’t hold any grudge against us. He just throws his hands around us, hugs us and forgives us. And along with Him the Heavens rejoice over a repentant sinner. (Luke 15:7)

Lets try to put aside whatever takes us away from our Father and come back to Him to experience His forgiveness, His mercy, His love  and the Joy of going back Home!

Lets forgive others, the way our heavenly Father forgives us! Let the joy of forgiving others be more than the gravity of their mistake, be more than our pride.

God Bless!