Wrestling with Scripture

I have heard more and more people argue that there in no such thing as good and evil, right and wrong, they claim that each person can decide for themselves what is right or wrong. What I find even more alarming, is that nowdays, the line between good and evil is so blurred that we call good, evil and evil, good, the exact same thing that the Bible warns us not to do. If we gave each individual the freedom to decide for themselves what was right, even Hitler would be justified because he thought he was doing the right thing. Yet again even an alcoholic considers alcohol to be good but it might be self destructive or even worse destructive to their family and society around. We clearly need a moral law that is not man made, in order to survive in harmony and that means we need a moral law giver and that can only be the one true God. The dangers of wanting to decide for ourselves what is good and evil, goes right back to the beginning of time. God told Adam and Eve to stay away ...

Doubt is not the same as unbelief, doubt is questioning what you already believe in whereas unbelief is the refusal to believe. Unfortunately, when people have a doubt they feel like everything they believe in has come crashing down. It is human nature to doubt and often doubts are an opportunity to search for answers and deepen our faith but if we remain in doubt for too long, it begins to weigh us down, leading to despair. I should know this, because I have fallen into this trap before and it brought me much gloom. Why do we fall prey to doubt? The passage of Jesus walking on water towards his disciples threw some light on this question. I found it rather significant that the gospel of John mentions that it was dark, even Matthew says it was early morning, a time when the sun hasn't yet risen and visibility is low. It is often when we are going through dark times in our life that we are unable to see things clearly and we do not realize that God is present. It is the...

Once a self proclaimed Atheist asked me "What if Jesus was just an ordinary human being who claimed to be God much like any other god man in history?" Definitely, If God was simply to send someone without any prior notice, it would be impossible for us to identify him, also it would be very easy for an impostor to come and enjoy the limelight. Which is why God in his wisdom left us with numerous ways to identify his son. Many Jews converted to Christianity because they realized that everything that was written about the Messiah in the Old Testament was fulfilled in Jesus. Moreover it was not just the Jews but also the Gentile nations that were expecting a child who would be the king of the Jews. Remember the 3 Kings who came all the way from the East to see if there was a  fulfillment  of what they had read.  Firstly it is important to understand that a prophecy is not a mere prediction of the future. It had relevance to the generation in which it was spoken,...

I would be lying if I told you that I always believed in the changing of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. In fact it was only recently, after much reading, it all began to come together for me. I had 4 questions to which I needed answers and here is what I found: Why did Jesus need to give us his body? In order to understand this, we need to go to the very beginning, to Genesis. It was in the garden of Eden that man's obedience to God was tested, Jesus was also in a garden when his obedience to God was tested, the garden of Gethsemane. Adam failed the test and ate the fruit of the forbidden tree, Jesus chose the right tree, he chose the tree of life. The cross was also called the tree in the Bible, "cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree" (Galatians 3:13). Before sin, Adam walked with God in the garden and seen the face of God but after he sinned he hid from God's presence. Sin brought distance between God and man, it also brought death i...

Jesus said something ground breaking when he told us to 'take up our crosses and follow him'. Until then suffering was looked upon as a curse from God. Even today we see most people go to God to get rid of their problems, why would someone want to embrace their troubles? I struggled for most of my life with this because I for one hated the thought of pain and death. However, my views on suffering began to change when I found out how others were willing to suffer for me. No greater love than this.... I remembered my brush with death as a child when me and my sister suffered from severe food poisoning. I was the worse affected and I lay in hospital for days like a dead body, refusing to eat and having no strength to sit. Then one night I woke up in hospital to the sound of someone crying. It was my mother, kneeling on the floor and praying, she was telling God "Take me instead, don't take my daughter." That impacted me so powerfully, How could someone take ...

I accepted Mary as my mother for a simple reason, Jesus gave her to us when he said " Here is your mother" (John 19:26-27). If I am to be a disciple close to Jesus' heart as the beloved disciple in the book of John, I must take Jesus' advice and take Mary to my home and treat her as my mother. 26  When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.”  27  Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home. (John 19:26-27) There is so much of misunderstanding about Mary and how Catholics approach her, leading some to completely ignore her which I feel would be great loss as she is the perfect role model for any Christian. As Catholics, we do not worship her, as worship is for God alone. We honor her because God honored her. We love her because Jesus loved her. We must look to imitate her, in the way that she emptied herself so...

Recently my dog, who I loved very much, went missing, her name was Brownie. I missed her so much and couldn't come to terms with the fact that I might not see her again. I searched everywhere and refused to give up. 5 days later I got a call telling me that the dog has been spotted, I don't remember the rest of the conversation as I ran out of the house with my hair undone and crumpled clothes. I ran on the road like a mad woman catching the attention of curious onlookers. I was so anxious reaching the spot where they had seen her, what if they mistook her for another dog? what if she is really ill? will she be excited to see me? When I saw her in the distance, I screamed with joy, I jumped up and ran to her. I fell on the ground and hugged her and tears rolled down my eyes. Oh! the joy of finding something that was once lost. I picked her in my arms and held her close to me. That evening we had a party at home, to celebrate her return and sitting there at the party, I fel...

When someone asks me "Why should I go for mass, can't I just pray at home?". I tell them, go for 'The Food'.  Let me explain... There is a shop in my area by the name of Theobroma meaning 'food of the gods' and it is exactly opposite the church, where you get 'food from God'. Which of these are of greater value, an expensive red velvet cake or a simple circular wafer which is given freely, yet at a great price, the COST OF ONE'S LIFE? Who would imagine that a humble wafer has the power to tear the veil that separates the heavens from earth, bringing the Lord of heaven to reside in us? Food from heaven It was by eating the forbidden fruit (disobedience to God) that Adam turned away from God. Jesus bridges the gap between God and man, by offering his own body (Obedience to the Father) so that he may come and live in us. It was manna 'food from heaven' that kept the Israelite's alive in the wilderness. Whether we realize it ...

A few of my friends left the Church, to join groups that interpreted the Bible very differently and that disturbed me a lot. They bought up arguments to convince me to leave the Catholic Church and I must admit they managed to fill my head with a lot of doubts, until I found the 'KEY', and from then on there was no looking back. Most of us have read that the  'keys of the kingdom' were given to Peter by Jesus but what do these keys symbolize. Turn your bible to the Old Testament book of Isaiah 22:15-25 and there you will read the story of King Hezekiah, the heir to Davids throne, electing Eliakim as the new 'master of the household' which is a  position equal to that of  Prime Minister. He is the highest ranking officer, second only to the king. He is to take part in a swearing in ceremony where the kings places on his shoulder the 'key of the house of David' in other words the key of the kingdom. He now has authority over everything in the king...

Around 7 years ago, I questioned everything, including the existence of a God. I went to mass like a regular Catholic, but I didn't utter a word for that whole one hour. It was a routine, a reason to meet friends. I did pray occasionally when I needed something, but after a point of time I stopped doing even that because I found it pointless, not a single prayer was answered. Was there a God? Then came the darkness I hear whispers of my mother going for a checkup, I see on her face something is wrong, but I don't understand it. I push the thought away because just a few days later, my sister suddenly cries out in pain. She cannot breath, she is gasping and is rushed to the hospital at night. Her lungs were filling up with water and the doctors don't seem to know what to do with it. My parents ask me to stay with my sister in hospital one day because my mother had to go for a lung biopsy. I knew they were doing it to detect cancer but I didn't want to think ...