Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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 St James Day

Mark 10:35-45 

It was on September 10, 1946, during a train journey to the hill station of Darjeeling, that   Mother Teresa  felt a  call within a call
 to leave her life as a nun and work directly with the poor. This inner calling
 led her to found the Missionaries of Charity in 1950. The  organization's
 primary goal was to provide wholehearted free  service to the poorest of the poor and to care for those nobody else was prepared to look after. Mother Teresa and her fellow sisters began their work by helping the 
the sick and dying in the streets of  Calcutta. They started with a small
 school and gradually expanded to include orphanages, hospices, and homes for people with various disabilities. Their mission was to provide  care,
 comfort, and dignity to those who were suffering and had been abandoned by the society.
In Verse 43, “Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant  and whoever wants to be  the first  must be slave of all."
In this portion James and John request Jesus to put them in right and left of Jesus as He enters the  kingdom of God. In Matthew, we see the Salome, the mother of James and John, place the same request. Mark reveals the true nature of disciples of Jesus and thus explaining us that they are ordinary people  like us. On the other hand Jesus tried to emphasize the greatness of serving others. The kingdom of God measures the services we do to the needy, rather than measuring the profits we achieve.
In Peter 5: 2- 5, Peter also emphases the same thoughts that leaders of church do not gain anything dishonestly but should always serve others. Serving others, always demands self-emptying. In the Letter to the Philippians, St. Paul also says, “Let the same mind be in you
that was in Christ Jesus” (Phil 2:5). This is to say we too are invited to kenosis, a self emptying that leads to purification and transcendence. The selfless love, infinite compassionate heart is counted in the kingdom of heaven. A compassionate heart is the work of the Holy Spirit in us. That will enable us to bear the right fruit in us. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control ( Galatians 5 :22-23), Kindness and goodness within us will help us to self-deny ourselves and work for the good of others. When we read, we study the life of great people like Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King etc. We can see they lost themselves and worked for the goodness and freedom of others.

Prayer

Our Almighty Lord, thank you for this lovely day. Lord help us to lose ourselves and help those who are needy. Fill us with your Holy Spirit so that we are filled with the kindness and goodness. Help us to fill thy will in our life. In Jesus name we pray. Amen
Thought for the Day

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others"         Mahatma Gandhi
Sherin Varughese 
W/ o Rev Sonu  Varughese 
St Thomas Mar Thoma church, Houston

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