BREAD FOR YOUTH

  4th Week of Lend Tuesday Ezek 47:1-9,12 Mediation Water Gives Life! Humans have built many dams for water storage and use in irrigation, for generating hydropower, for industrial use, and to supply metropolitan cities. In the summer, due to less rainfall in most towns and places, a water crisis occurs. Civilizations and culture have flourished on the banks of the rivers. Water is one of the prime sources of life. Where there is water, there is life, vegetation and habitation. In today's reading, we learn about a source of water, a spring, that becomes a great river. The water source is the temple from where the water flows and becomes a great river. Along the river, every kind of tree grows, and they produce all kinds of fruits, in all through the season. The trees and plants provide medicine for various illnesses. The temple is a source of life-giving water to people. The temple is the place where the presence of God is present. Everyone should go to the temple, the sour...

  4th Week of Lent Monday Isa 65:17-21 Meditation Hope for Good! The Lord promises through Isaiah the New World. The old world in our past, our pain, our sorrow, our failure, our illness, our bad memories and so on. In the new world, all these will be absent, and even the bad memories will disappear. This is the kind of world that everyone envisages for themselves. Everyone wants to be away from their problems and difficulties, looking for peace and tranquillity. Humans strongly hope for a world where there will be joy, peace and happiness. The world that humans look forward to is a world of stability and prosperity. There will be stable rules and stable dwellings, and the elderly will live up to a hundred. They will have plenty to eat and drink. The Lord will be there to help and support. There will be no weeping and wailing. All this will be in Jerusalem, the eternal city of God. The City of Jerusalem is a model city for all cities. A city of God’s presence, his prom...

  3rd Week of Lent Saturday Hos 5:15-6:6 Meditation suffering in Life is for Good! God yet times tore us apart for our good. God allows certain misfortunes to befall us. Great lessons are learned only through the hard way. Many times, we say experience is the best teacher. Life offers hardships which are beyond human limits. Human beings have the capacity to live through hard times and come out victoriously. God wants obedience, not sacrifice. God drives us for good. Nature is beautiful, and the time and seasons constantly change. They are temporary; likewise, God’s anger does not last. God desires mercy, not sacrifice. God is merciful and loving. Humans need to acknowledge God and his goodness. God's care is great. We need to give God due praise, glory, and honour. Do you know that suffering and pain in life come for a cause? Gospel:Lk 18:9-15 The Story of Jesus Pharisee and the Tax Collector prayer is the best model of prayer for every one of us. A Pharisee is known...

  3rd Week of Lent Friday Hos 14:1-9 Repentance  Brings Blessing Meditation God gives us a second chance. Some people experience God’s goodness; God gives the ample chance to amend their ways. God grants a plethora of chances for humans to come back to him. If God takes human sin, disobedience and rebellion into consideration, no one will survive. God is generous and magnanimous in giving opportunities for humans to change and be good. At the opportunities given by God for humans, humans have responsibilities to change and do well in life. One thing is true, though: God gives humans innumerable chances to change their ways for good; only the righteous will walk in the way of the Lord. It is the responsibility of every one to make use of the chances given by God to amend one’s ways and live a life pleasing to him. Do we make serious efforts to amend our lives? Gospel: Mk 12:28-34 Meditation The way to love the other is to love as we love ourselves. Let there n...

  3rd Week of Lent Thursday Jer 7:23-28 Meditation We are God’s possession!, of Israel were said to be stiff-necked people. They were hard people. They were nomads. They were moving from place to place with their flocks. They have no one place to stay. They were exposed to sun, rain, cold and wind. They were hard people. God has chosen them and he made them his own possession. God promised the people of Israel you will be my people, and I will be your God, but the people of Israel did not heed him. The People of Israel were hard-hearted. They disobeyed God, even though God loved them. They were said to be more disobedient than their forefathers. It is true that God found them hard. It is true of every group of people that they are hard-hearted with their ideas, views, and beliefs. It is not only true of many groups of people; it is the story of each one of us. Humans can be very stiff in their thoughts and ideas, even refusing truth and goodness. Do we accept that we are Go...

  3rd Week of Lent Wednesday Deut 4:1,5-9 God is the Ordinary! Meditation The Lord is inviting the people of Israel to keep the laws of God. The laws of the Lord have been taught to God's people over the years, but they have been taught the hard way. The life lessons for life and spiritual life are taught to the people through the history of the people of God. God took time to make them understand his love for them. He gave them laws and commands to follow. The Lord reminds the people of God to remember the wonders of God. It is easy for us to forget the works of God and the happenings of life. The difficult times pass, and good times pass; it is normal for people to forget both and to live as if there was no God’s hand. To our poor memories, we need either one problem or a miracle to remind us about the goodness of God and the need to obey the laws and commandments of God, which are given to us by God with love for light to our path in the world. Do we remember the goo...

  3rd Week of Lent Tuesday Dan 3:25, 34-43 Meditation We have Only Good News! 25 He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.” Mediation Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were known in Hebrew as Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah respectively. They were thrown in the burning furnace by King Nebuchadnezzar for not worshipping the golden calf. In the reading today, the major part is the prayer of Azariah, one of the three in the furnace, not being consumed in such a feared fire. It is unbelievable that these three men survive the fire and the king accepts the miracle and believes in the God of these three young men. The prayer of Azariah is praising the name of the Lord for his goodness, justice and faithfulness. The three submit themselves to God’s care and for the glory of God’s name. The best praise and honour that humans can give to God is to give him glory. Probably, humans do not know other than ...