DIVINE LENTEN 2016 WEEKLY VIDEO REFLECTION NO.1: "DO NOT EVEN REMEMBER YOUR PAST" (Isaiah 43:18) " by Rev. Fr. Augustine Vallooran V.C.

The Holy Season of Lent began this year on 10 February 2016 - ASH WEDNESDAY. 

How does God want us to live on this earth? The Kingdom of God begins here while we are on earth for God is living in our hearts. The sacred season of Lent is a holy time of grace for every Catholic to look deep into our hearts - what is the state of our heart that Jesus has to live in? Is it worthy for our Lord, our Saviour? In this Holy Year of Mercy, as God's Mercy is pouring down upon every person, let us each make a holy pledge to choose to live a life in Christ so that our way of living testifies the Glory of our God!

As of today, a weekly spiritual video talk will be posted every Sunday on this Friends of Divine blog until Palm Sunday. The 6-part DIVINE LENTEN 2016 WEEKLY VIDEO REFLECTION SERIES - is to help us truly prepare our heart and our life to be in union with the Merciful Love of Jesus. Our lives must be transformed not just during the Holy Season of Lent but in our every day living until we return to outr Heavenly Home. On Holy Thursday, a Eucharistic Adoration service will be posted.  

Let us open our hearts  wido the call of Pope Francis' LENTEN 2016 Message in this Holy Year of Mercy:

God’s mercy transforms human hearts; it enables us, through the experience of a faithful love, to become merciful in turn. In an ever new miracle, divine mercy shines forth in our lives, inspiring each of us to love our neighbour and to devote ourselves to what the Church’s tradition calls the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. These works remind us that faith finds expression in concrete everyday actions meant to help our neighbours in body and spirit: by feeding, visiting, comforting and instructing them. On such things will we be judged. For this reason, I expressed my hope that “the Christian people may reflect on the corporal and spiritual works of mercy; this will be a way to reawaken our conscience, too often grown dull in the face of poverty, and to enter more deeply into the heart of the Gospel where the poor have a special experience of God’s mercy” (ibid., 15).

The first video of the 6-part DIVINE LENTEN 2016 WEEKLY VIDEO REFLECTION SERIES at the top of this post is "DO NOT EVEN REMEMBER YOUR PAST" (Isaiah 43:18) by Rev. Fr. Augustine Vallooran V.C. - Director of Divine Retreat Centre, Muringoor, Kerala, India. 

Fr. Augustine exhorts the one truth of God that every human being should always remember - "God does not punish. God does not curse anyone. The Love inthe Heart of God is so great and vast like the ocean." 

"What does God want to do in our lives" Revelations 21:5 - "Behold! I make everyting new!" God does not want us to live in the past. But unfortunately there is a stubborness, obstinacy in all of us to cling on to the past e.g. someone has done something wrong against me."

"What do we remember of our past? Most of us remember the wrong things in our past. We are not able to let go even when there are new graces and blessings in our lives. Even when God is doing great things in our lives, we are not able to let go of the past." 

We are reminded that as long we cling to the past -"We are not free - we are slaves! What is needed to surrender our past to God and let God act on us the renewing activity of God - "Behold! I come to make everything new "- every day shall be a new day!  

This uplifting joyous proclamation of the Promise of the Word of God by Fr. Augustine should fill our hearts and mind with the Hope and Confidence in God - that we are never alone even for a moment in our life. God is with us to  make our life a blessing! 

Next Sunday, Rev. Fr. Michael Payyapilly V.C., Director of Divine Retreat Centre Somersby, Australia will be sharing the Word of God on "SIN - THE CONFLICT WITHIN OUR SELF".

Please do share this Divine Lenten 2016 Weekly Video Reflection series with your loved ones, prayer groups and friends to make this sacred season of Lent in this Holy Year of Mercy a truly transforming experience in our Christian life.