My Peace

I found my peace in Carmel,

I found my happiness in Carmel,

My peace and my happiness always existed in Carmel,

I didn't know I just had to seek in Carmel.

Carmel is where my heart belongs,

Carmel is where my soul belongs,

Carmel is where lead all my songs,

Carmel is where I am destined to throng. 

Oh, what peace there is in Carmel, 

In its resplendent beauty, my eyes marvel. 

Now I know your plans, Lord

Now I know why here I trod,

When my life was in crumble,

You beckoned to me the beauty of Carmel!

By Jubilee Cardozo 

What is prayer?

Day 4: Homily by Rev. Fr. (Dr.) Rudolph Raj Pinto, OCD:

Prayer is a relationship. A relationship with God. So if prayer is conversing with God, being in relationship with God, where was God in Mary's life? God was in her womb. She lived prayer in her heart, in her womb. This is the secret to our prayer. After all the spiritual exercises, it is to feel the presence of God, the closeness, the nearness of God to yourself. The basic fundamental to being in a relationship with God is to have an intimate relationship with God - that we are bound to him in blood. 

In the mystical realm, we also hear of the prayer of simplicity. It's not necessary to have the intellectual to make great prayers, what is important is to come into the presence of the Lord, and just be in his presence. Prayer is feeling God close to you and this requires constant practice. My presence is enough for you, says the Lord. Just be in his presence. Sit and relax with the Lord - that is prayer. 

Since none of us gives attention to our tired souls St. Ambrose says that for many Christians the soul has gone dry and dead. The only way to recover the health of your soul is through prayer. St. Ambrose asks us to revive our souls. Lord knows us through our hearts and not through our lips and our hands. So let us remember that prayer is simple - wherever you might be lost when you come to His presence, he knows you are there and he will attend to you!!!

The Lord loves you the more!

An excerpt from the Lenten retreat (Day 3) given to us by Fr. Rudolph Raj Pinto:

God requires us to be His children. To be a God no, but to be a Father. So know your worth. Don’t ever call yourself worthless. Even if you are a sinner, even if you are fragile, even if you have hundreds of limitations, still He is your Father. A mother loves a handicapped child more especially. So if you are handicapped in your spiritual life, if you find yourself unworthy, do not give up hope. The Lord loves you the more. Little Flower puts it so well because there are habitual sinners. Is it that you are instilled to fall into your habitual sin or is the Lord making you fall into that sin? Little Flower gives the example of a child who runs again and again and falls so that the father or the mother comes running to pick the child up. So is your soul doing the same game with the Father? To get that attention of the heavenly Father, to get the benefit of the love of that merciful Father, could your soul also be playing the same games? So let us play these games with the heavenly Father because we are his children. We have that freedom. So it could be that your soul is playing those games to get the attention of the Father. So you have an easy solution for your habitual offence that it could be by the will of God. So do not ever give up hope. 

Are you sinning?

Excerpts from Day 2 of the Lenten retreat preached to us by Fr. Rudolph Raj Pinto:

The more He loves us, the more He makes us suffer. It may not reason for human reason. The Lord intends to purify us. That's why there are sufferings in our life. If you have sufferings, you are not the cursed one - you are the blessed one! If you are struggling with your faith, you are on the right track - that is the sign of your sanctity! To the best of the saints, the Lord allowed them to be tempted so that they are more steadfast in their spiritual growth. Do you find yourself in weak moments? Are you sinning? Know that you are that blessed one. That's why Jesus says that He's come for the sinners, not for the righteous! Had we not sinned, there was no need for the son of God to come to us. 

"The pleasures of the present time always lead to doom"!

Dear DLL Jesus, 

My heart became extremely doubtful soon after my morning prayer and meditation! While I was in the kitchen, my heart started doubting your love for me! I was in tears to realise that since the year I started coming close to you, the trials and tribulations of my life have increased - I have been undergoing the same trials again and again and again! No matter how much I try my trials keep increasing - I doubted whether it was better to have not come so close to you - I would have been spared these trials!

So in this doubtful state of my heart, I thought of watching the YouTube videos of Fr. Rudolph Raj Pinto, who preached to us during the Lenten season. I heard him very attentively this time and also rewrote the notes that I had made during the retreat. 

I conclude just one thing - "the pleasures of the present time always lead to doom"!

So I have got the answer to all my doubts! From the time I have been coming close to you, you have been saving me from my doom! I would have been doomed by these same trials and tribulations if you were not by my side - you have drawn me closer to you and not the other way around! You have drawn me closer and closer because you always knew I would have been doomed without you - the fact is that you have been saving me from all my trials and tribulations - you always knew I would always have them - it's just that you have been protecting me from them! 

Thank you, Lord, for this enlightenment! I am so sorry for doubting - your love for me and my love for you!!! Please Lord please forgive me! I am extremely sorry!!!

Your Faith Has Saved You

https://youtu.be/xNqJ6l35IFA

Day 1

1) Dare to come to Jesus - You dare to come to Jesus, you will go back in peace. He will not send you empty handed.

2) Weep your sins - You weep your sins, Jesus says you are forgiven. The mere presence of Jesus is more than enough for her. She cuts off her sinfulness (her hair) that could lead her to sin again later. Anything that could lead you to sin has to be cut off. The pleasures of the present time always lead to doom. 

3) Surrender to Jesus and you will be saved. Your faith has saved you. 

As my heart has been restless today, I decided to go through the Lenten retreat that was preached by our Carmelite Priest Fr. Rudolph Raj Pinto. 

I got new enlightenment! So feeling much better than what I had been feeling since morning. Today I heard him preach on Day 1. Every day I will listen to one episode of his preaching that was given for the entire week. 

I am back!

I am back to blogging after a long gap - more than a year! I have been busy with my magazine, NAINEN. I have also been writing other reflections on the Bible verses. I have not written anything personal on the blog. So I thought of starting again! 

So, look out for my blog posts from now on!

😍😍