It is 28th April 2018. We celebrate the memorials of St. Peter Chanel, Priest and Martyr, St. Louis de Montfort, Priest and St. Pius V, Pope. The readings are from Acts 13:44-52; and the Gospel from John 14:7-14. In our lives, decisions have to be made. We cannot go on living when we are not able to be fruitful for the efforts that we invest in whether in a relationship or in an entrepreneurship or on a spiritual mission. When we are insulted, abused, ignored, we need to take decision. When our voices are suppressed and suffocated, we need to make decision. Either to stay on with the abuse or to move on in our lives with the other possibilities. When people are prejudiced, abusive, biased and refuse to listen, we need to move on where God wants us to. It is indeed an urgent and significant step we need to take for the welfare of the common good and for our individual good. In the first reading, we witness, St. Paul makes a crucial decision whether to continue with the Jews or to move on towards the Gentiles preaching the Gospel. Jews refused, and rejected the teachings of Paul, and Barnabas. “Then both Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken first to you. Since you reject it and judge yourselves to be unworthy of eternal life, we are now turning to the Gentiles.” (Acts.13:46). The responsorial Psalm praises, “All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.” (Ps.97:3). In the Gospel, Jesus continues to teach especially to Thomas, Philip and Jude what they supposed to have learnt from Him. It is a challenge to convince someone to believe God as we have heard and learnt. Without personal and deep experience of Jesus, we cannot lead someone to God. Knowing Jesus is the prerequisite to reach the Father because Father and Jesus are one yet individually different. When we are worshiping the worthless petty gods secretly, it is hard to listen and to accept what is preached. As Jesus reflects the Father, so we the Christians need to reflect Jesus to the world. We may be Christians for a long time without even knowing and loving God. Unless we experience Jesus in our lives, we will not be able to connect with the Father. “Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied. Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? (Jn.14:8). Let us make efforts in knowing and loving Jesus before we wish to spread His Good News to the world. May you have a good day.