It is 20th October 2018. The readings are from Ephesians 1:15-23; and the Gospel from Luke 12:8-12. Something in our lives are earned hard and a few of life changing things are deeply yearned. Some of us celebrate life; for a few of us, life celebrates us. Many of us love to live in Christ, but in few of us Christ himself loves to live in us. The speed and the spectacles of life changes every moment we live. Life becomes meaningful, fruitful and blessed when we are blessed with the knowledge and love of Christ, limitless hope in the Lord at all times, and drenched in the showers of God’s grace. Enlightenment in our lives comes by the encounter with the divine. It is a sheer longing to taste the sweetness of God’s mercy and love on a daily basis. In the first reading, as St. Paul prays for all those who long to have the desire to experience Christ as the sole inspiration for our existence and belief. Celebrating our vocation means that what we have hoped for is exactly what we have experienced in ordinary events of our life. The enlightenment of meeting Christ and experiencing Him needs to be seen in the way we handle the marginalised members of our society. The authentic enlightenment is when we have experienced the bruised, battered and broken Christ in our personal bruises, and in the brokenness of the others. Worshiping Christ in the mystical Body of Christ and being faithful to Him, who is the Head needs to be seen in the way we connect with one another without neglecting anyone. St. Paul prayed so that the Ephesians might know Christ better. In all our endeavours of knowing Christ, we come to realise that we have not yet known Him and wish to know some more of Him. When we think that we know Christ enough, then we might become stagnant in our faith soon. We have nothing to fear as long as Christ is in-charge of our lives. Let our lives become the billboard for Jesus to be advertised. Let us not use Jesus for our personal and institutional advertisements. May we be able to use all energy, resources and skills for Jesus to be known and loved. May we not seek to be loved and recognised by a few people. All authority, power and blessing come from Christ to all us. Having experienced His blessings, may we make efforts to share with someone who is in search of Jesus. The responsorial Psalm praises, “You gave your Son power over the works of your hand.” (Ps.8:7). The Gospel desires us that all the believers need to take a clear stand for Jesus and to profess the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives. God’s acceptance and blessings on us depends on our faith in Jesus and the willingness to be taught by the Holy Spirit. We may not deny Jesus orally and in public. But our actions might deny Him whom we believe and maybe we have already denied and rejected Jesus deep down in our hearts because of our acquaintances with the evil. Let us not be afraid to take stand for Christ and need not be anxious to defend Jesus. All what we need to say and stand for Christ will be provided if need be. In loving Christ, let us not become fanatics and over-enthusiastic to hate the other human beings forgetting that they too are made in the image and likeness of God whom we worship. We all need to stand up for Christ but beware of not standing on the foot of the other. May Christ enlighten our hearts to love and share with all what we have experienced in Him. May you have a good day. God bless you.