From the very beginning, King Saul was very jealous of this young lad -David. His ego was easily hurt. The main problem was that people, especially women, looked at David with admiration. When Saul was depressed, David would constantly play the harp for him. That was how Saul would come out of his depression. Yet Saul threw a spear at David twice to thrust him to the wall. David dodged both times. David won all the battles he took on. First, he made David a captain. Then he

Have written this before. But I felt like writing again. As the number of vloggers and YouTubers increases, many people are uploading videos like "Have you seen the present look of actress _____?". Of course, most people must have changed a lot over time, especially from their looks at their teenage or youth. Some may work out a lot and follow strictly controlled diet in their lives to maintain their figure and looks. They are often acclaimed as evergreen stars. Such contents

Should we take everything in the Bible literally? There are many who think that it should be taken literally. The First of all, the Bible contains many different literary forms. Poetry, law, history, riddles, hymns, narratives, myths, proverbs, laments, songs, dreams, prophecies, stories, and parables—what variety of literary genres! Each one requires a different sort of interpretation. Just think about the concept of God in the Old Testament. Creator of the universe, Lawgive

A story by renowned Malayalam writer Sarah Joseph comes to mind where she describes- thick, black, long and wavy or hair with loose curls becomes an image of strength, power, and authority that emphasizes femininity. When you are among the Native Americans, you see both boys and girls with their long free-flowing hair. Sometimes, especially when they are very young it's hard to distinguish boys from girls. For them, long hair is a symbol of strength, power and sacredness for

How interesting it is to read about dreams and visions that people had in the New Testament! One day at 3.00pm, a Roman soldier named Cornelius, a Gentile, has a vision: 'Send some men to Joppa and summon Simon called Peter'! The next day at 12.00pm, Peter, while praying, has a vision in Joppa: a sheet is lowered before him, full of all kinds of beasts, reptiles, and birds of the air. Peter, kill and eat. “By no means, Lord.” He had never eaten anything unclean. 'Do not call

"abuse itself causes a deep wound, which may last a lifetime; but often the scandal in the church is that the door was closed and victims were not welcomed or accompanied with a closeness of authentic pastors" The need for consistories was strongly suggested in the discussions of the cardinals prior to the election of the Pope. An ordinary consistory is when the cardinals meet to elect a pope. An extraordinary consistory is when the college of cardinals are convened for a con

There are many people who practice traditional medicine in our country. A common belief about the practce of traditional medicine is that it is a 'graceful gift'. When the gift of medical cure one had received through traditional hand-over is used as a shortcut to make money in a big way, or when s/he becomes excessively proud of it, the 'gift of grace' is lost! Thereafter when s/he treats people, it doesn't seem bring about the results. When there was 'the gift', even if the

Aside from the four Gospels, the authors of the New Testament epistles are primarily Paul, Peter, and John. The three very important apostles. The insights these three have given us about Love are not negligible. Peter, who writes, “Since you have purified yourselves by obedience to the truth for sincere mutual love, love one another intensely from a pure heart” (1 Pet. 1:22), would later write: “Above all let your love for one another be intense, because love covers a multit

The Christian tradition of Baptism comes from the baptisms given by John the Baptist in the River Jordan. Jesus also came to him from Galilee and was baptized. Jesus, who had led a private life until then, made a turn around and lived a public life thereafter. Therefore, baptism was a turning point in his life; it was a moment of confirmation for the Baptist and the people who hanged around him; it was a moment of approval from heaven for Jesus himself; and it was also a mome

The Gospel records that wise men or the Magi from the East came to Jerusalem in search of the God-child, and that King Herod was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. They travelled that far by following a star that they believed was indicative of Him. Matthew records that the same star later guided them to his birthplace in Bethlehem. The three gifts they are said to have brought—gold, frankincense, and myrrh were expensive and therefore they later came to be known a

We all go through an intellectual crisis in our adolescence which we call the teenage crisis. It is then that we begin to stand on our own two feet. Thus far we have been standing and walking using the legs that our parents had provided us with. But they are not our own. Therefore, they are just alien limbs for us. Parents shouldn't expect their children to be walking on the legs they had lent them, for the rest of their lives. They need their own legs and feet. We are talkin

And another peaceful, contented Christmas is passing by. I had often said that Christmas should be freed from the market. However, all available figures indicate that the most shopping in the world takes place during this festive season. We have the right to criticize that Christmas is not bought from store. They are not the best celebration of Christmas. But even that seems to be an indicator of the spiritual height that isn't too small. If we look at the items that are sold

This year, I have said this many times in various places during the preparatory time for Christmas. Yes, it is about the four candles in the Advent wreath and the four themes in preparation for Christmas. It's a custom in the Western Church to light a candle additionally each week, meditating on a specific theme. The themes for the four weeks of Advent are hope, peace, joy, and love. Christmas is when these four things come together. Although it sounds very simple at the firs

The 'Maramon Convention' is the largest Christian Religious convention held in Kerala. I had gone there once at the beginning of this millennium. My brother Saji Kanjiram also was with me then. In those days I had great appreciation for Alphonse Kannanthanam as an Indian Civil Service Officer for his commendable service. While listening to many messages and imbibing some at the convention, we realized that a youth convention was beginning to take place on one of the stages. W

I was reading an article by my brother and friend Fr. Shaji published on the Assisi magazine's online site. It was about the cost of discipleship. That's when a truth struck me. How brilliantly Jesus showed the spirituality inherent in the lives of ordinary people! Jesus always spoke in parables. He took his parables from their life's social, cultural and historical contexts. The parables stirred the imagination of his listeners. More than that, his questions stirred their th

Personally speaking, my favorite Olympic opening ceremonies I have ever seen was of the 2012 England Olympics. In that show, called Isles of Wonder, they intertwined their history, geography, culture, literature, and art. Rather than a demonstration of modern technology. The unfolding of the wings of imagination was visible in it. The trails that led a nation through reading, imagining, and dreaming! In Western countries, children used to be raised by their parents with stori

To be honest, I don't know my lineage. I know my father's name. Never met my grandfather. Since I was the eldest son in the family, I know my grandfather's name. Since my father was the eldest in his generation, I guess that might be my grandfather's name. Because, in our part of the world, the eldest sons were usually given their grandfather's name! That is to say, I can guess up to 3 generations previous at the most. I don't know beyond that. The truth is that I haven't bot

Pope Benedict had visited Istanbul's Blue Mosque in 2006. Then the Pope while being at the center of the place of worship had paused for a moment and prayed with his eyes closed for a couple of seconds. Pope Francis visited there the year after he was elected Pope in 2014. By then, the world and interfaith relations had changed a lot for worse since Pope Benedict's visit. Pope Francis stood still and prayed for about two minutes, holding the hand of the Imam. Pope Francis pra

I wrote in the last two days about Pope Leo's visit to Turkey, who did not visit the Hagia Sophia, but visited the Blue Mosque, which is located right next to Hagia Sophia. The most beautiful and powerful message he gave in Turkey was the one he gave to the religious and political representatives who had gathered at the Volkswagen Arena in Istanbul on November 29th. What did he say there? He began his speech by referring to his leadership position using the traditional term

A priest named Arius of the Church of Alexandria in Egypt argued that Jesus was only a man and that God had called him to Himself because of his holy life. Arius rejected the faith that had been handed over since the time of the Apostles almost two and a half centuries later. At a time when the early Church and the faith were in danger, the then Roman Emperor Constantine I summoned all the Church Fathers to Nicaea. After more than two months of discussions and meditations at