General:
- Glory to God in the Highest (published: Tabor Voice, Nov-Dec 2002; Divine Light, Dec 2003)
- Living in the Will of God (published: Tabor Voice, Jan-Feb 2003)
- What we should do this Lent (published: The Examiner, March 2003)
- Lost your reputation? Rejoice! (published: Divine Light, July 2004)
- The Potter & His Clay - A Spiritual Analogy
- Death on an Easter Sunday
- How Jesus saved us from the fire next door
- God isn't deaf
- Get on a Barnabus trip
- A Year Older and a lot less Wise (Part 1 of the Birthday Trilogy)
- He sang to me (Part 2 of the Birthday Trilogy)
- The Value of Intercession (Part 3 of the Birthday Trilogy)
- Do you want a FREE GIFT that can never be taken from you?! (Dec 2003 / Jan 2004)
- Love is in the air... (February 2004)
- Was it worth it all? (March 2004)
- I Confess... (April 2004)
- The Beautiful Blessing of Christian Fellowship! (May 2004)
- Power Evangelize! (June 2004)
- 'Best Friends' till the end (July 2004)
- Family Matters (August 2004)
- Do you know WHY you believe? (September 2004)
- You're going to be let down (October 2004)
- Praying with the Holy Pope (November 2004)
- Hang in there (December 2004) (published: Divine Light, Jan 2005)
- Just like that. And you're gone (January 2005)
- The Divine Lover of My Soul (February 2005)
- Is it ever "too late" to do right? (March 2005)
- To Emmaus, or back again? The choice is yours! (April 2005) (published:Divine Truth, April 2007)
- Bear Much Fruit (May 2005) (published: Divine Light, July 2005)
- Holiness and the Heart of Love (June 2005)
- Spiritual Boot Camp (July 2005)
- Abundant Life! (August 2005)
- Unanswered Prayers? (September 2005)
- Trust in the Lord! (October 2005)
- Persevere! (December 2005)
- New Resolutions this New Year (January 2006)
- 'Having it All' = Having Jesus (February 2006)
- He Understands (April 2006)
- My Invisible Tattoo (September 2006)
- Cardinal Justin Rigali ~ "Glorify God in Your Body" (October 2006)
- A Fattened Calf for me (December 2006)
- How to come out of a Spiritual Downward Spiral - Part 1 (January 2007)
- Jesus is Alive. Need Proof? ( October 2007)
- Biblical Catholics (November 2007)
- Religion or Spirituality? (September 2008)
- Lessons from the strange race between the Tortoise and the Hare (October 2008)
- How to react when Spiritual Leaders fall / backslide: (November 2008)
November 2007
Biblical Catholics
There is a Billboard on the opposite side of Mahim Church in the city of Mumbai, India, where I live. Passing by yesterday, I commented to my friend sitting in my car with me, that the board obviously was owned by a Catholic, as I've always seen Scripture Passages on it whenever it was not sold to an advertiser.
My friend's reply shocked me - It was obviously not a Catholic, she reasoned, but a Christian. She then proceeded to ask me if I read the notice boards outside most Churches in the city. "Have you ever read Scripture on them?".
Witty sayings, yes. Religious thoughts, definitely (though not always, I inwards grimaced). But Scripture? I honestly could not remember a single Catholic Church I had passed by in Mumbai city, which had Scripture verses on it's notice board.
My friend then sealed her case with - "You see, if it belonged to a Catholic, you'd see pictures of Saints or some such".
While I disagree with my friend that this is a hard and fast rule - I had to acknowlegde that it was generally the case.
And I wondered - why is it that we Catholics are not as rooted in Scripture as our Christian brethren?
True, we don't believe in Sola Scriptura (only Scripture) but we do believe that the Word is God! (Jn 1:1) - so if most of us can recite 10 prayers from memory, either rosary based, or prayers of protection to angels etc - why is that most of us don't know even 10 Scripture verses by heart?
I love the Catholic Church. After many years of self study of Apologetics, I truly believe the Catholic Church is the true Church founded by Jesus through His apostles. I love the tradition of the Church, I cannot get enough of the Sacraments that we, as Catholics, are so priveledged to have.
But it deeply pains my heart that many Catholics do not give Holy Scripture the rightful place in their hearts and lives.
To end, let me quote Scott Hahn from his beautiful testimony "Rome Sweet Home", one of my favorite books that I first read almost ten years ago, where he talks of his conversion from Presbyterian Pastor to Catholic:
"The foundation for the Catholic's life must be the sacraments, especially the Eucharist...
Let's face it, many of these non-Catholics put us to shame, With Bible in hand, plus lots of zeal, they do far more with less than many Cahtolics who have the fullness of Faith in the Church but who are famished and fast asleep. We share with them so much truth about Christ in the Scripture; but what they lack is nothing less than the real and substantial presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
To state it simply, they study the menu while we enjoy the Meal! And too often, we don't even know the ingredients, so we can't share the recipe.
Is the Lord asking too much from Catholics to do more - much more..?"
Are we up to the challenge? Can we not read and study Scripture? Most of our Churches have Bible Study groups - if we only took the time to find out when it is and to attend them seriously.
Praying for more Catholics to be rooted in Scripture,
November 2007
