Surrender and Experience The Holy Spirit | Fritz Mascarenhas | 10 Feb 2022 | Divine Retreat Centre

you know sisters and brothers i grew up as a good devout catholic all my childhood my teenagers my mother took me every day from us at 6 30 in the morning and i and i love going for mars and i went to a very good jesuit school every year we would have a retreat and even at this young age at nine years ten years old we had to keep three days silence no talking i had catholicism every day every day in school we had cataclysm and i should love my retreats every year we would have a retreat i love my parish missions so i was spiritually inclined and sincerely i i wanted to be a good christian i did everything you know mother church taught me but i never realized i was making the biggest biggest mistake of my life and i hope and if i'm not mistaken many many of you this afternoon could be making the same mistake and then you wonder what's happening i pray i go for mars i say my rosaries i go i have my divine mercy devotion and why aren't my problems being solved what's happening in my life so so as as it was in my life for the first 28 years of my life i never knew i was making this mistake so listen very carefully and see if you are making the same mistake because 100 percent you can be sure a day will come when the storms of life will hit us and everything we've set our hopes on will come collapsing so i take you to this important scripture in luke chapter 6 46-49 in this passage jesus says to his disciples why do you call me lord lord and do not do what i tell you to do he says he that comes to me hears my word and does it is a wise man who built his house on a rock and the storm comes the river beats against the house the wind beats against the house and the house stands firm but he that doesn't obey my word is a foolish man who builds his house on sand and when the storm comes the river beats against it the wind beats against it great is the collapse i was 26 years old you know i was in the merchant navy i was a navigating officer i was traveling around the world earning a lot of money and the house that i was building was beautiful you know i was successful i was getting my promotions i was passing my exams my family was proud of me i was proud of myself i don't know you know i thought i'd achieve a lot in life everything was fine when one fine day the storm hit me as jesus says every one of us will face storms now how does the storm come against us it can come in the death of a loved one suddenly your husband wife dies or your wife dies or your child dies or your mother dies your father dies someone very close and dear to you passes away it's a huge stop i remember my dear mother who took me every day from us when the storm hit us when my brother died at the age of 21 she lost her faith completely she was active in the legion of mary she was you know daily mass kneeling down and saying the rosary with us but when my brother died the age of 21 her response was there's no god how could god do such a thing if god is love if god is goodness how can he take my son away and and our house her spiritual house collapsed and it took years and years and years before she could be resurrected once again and this is what's happening in our catholic families in our catholic homes wherever i go you know i see distress and anxiety and you know breakdown in marriages the children have drifted away from god and parents are desperate wondering what to do wherever my children gone or there's a financial crisis so that so the storm can come in the death of a loved one it can come in a huge financial collapse see until and i i've had friends literally millionaires who never some of my classmates would never even look at me recognize me but when the storm hit them they lost everything and they were buried in crows and crows of death and they were despairing and they've come home and asked for counsel i prayed with them and guided them it can come in a serious illness you know god forbid something you you you notice a little lump on your body and then you go to the doctor doctor says let's have a biopsy and then the biopsy says cancer what happens your whole world has collapsed now we wake up and we say oh my god what's happening now suddenly we become very spiritual now we we want god because now we know it's not just medicine that can help us someone beyond medicine god alone can help us and we become very spiritually inclined or it can be betrayed in love how many cases some time ago i got this this this message from this lady from bangalore she said brother i'm one week before my silver jubilee she says one week before i come to realize my husband is having an affair with another woman and now he wants a divorce jesus how many cases like this i i come across in our catholic homes and so sisters and brothers for me when i was 26 years old the storm hit me and how did it hit me it hit me in an illness my eyesight deteriorated and in the merchant navy as a navigating officer when you sit for your exam the first thing you have to do is sit for your eyesight test if you don't pass i said this you have to have 20 by 20 vision you have to go home you have to give up your carrier so can you imagine 13 years of my career like a tsunami hit me and everything that i set my hopes on came crashing down can you imagine the despair in my life i was desperate but i thank god that you know being raised in the catholic faith i said my god now where can i turn to only god can help me now and since i was spiritually inclined i started a novena to mother mary begging offer pleading as a mother pray for me pray for me do something work a miracle work a miracle and while i was making this novena to mother mary i found a holy picture of jesus and i turned it around and i found these for me these are the most beautiful words jesus has spoken which you and i need every day of our life hardly a day goes in our life and we don't need these words of jesus and what are those words of jesus it is in matthew 11 28 in matthew 11 verse 28 very important you must memorize these scriptures very important in fact even before coming here i went to jesus i said lord help me help me there are so many things i want to say but i want to be led by you help me in my helplessness and so matthew 11 28 jesus says come unto me all e that labor and a heavy burden i will give you rest oh my god these are for me these are the most beautiful words hardly a day goes hardly a little time goes before something challenging comes before us yes or no some trouble some anxiety some fear some you know hurt some challenge comes before us and we are left anxious we have left worried we are left you know distressed but that ought not to be we have jesus with us jesus is the god of the impossible do you know what simple spirituality is as a christian i'm living my life with jesus and jesus should be to me now what he was to his apostles 2 000 years ago that is catholic faith can you imagine what life is going to be for us when i come into this living relationship with jesus now at that time when the storm hit me at the age of 26 in spite of all my daily mass my rosies my retreats jesus was only a man of history for me i never knew him i had no relationship with him i was building my house on sand and everything collapsed and so that's fine in luke in luke 6 26 to 49 jesus says why do you call me lord lord and do not do what i tell you to do and then he says he that comes to me hears my word and does it is a wise man who built his house on the rock so the first thing jesus is saying to you and me this evening he that comes to me now what does it mean to come to jesus i'll try and give you a simple little illustration example of what it means to come to jesus see that now i'm not an engineer i'm not an architect and i want to build a house now the first thing i know is i know that i know that i know i don't have the wisdom the capacity or the knowledge to build a house yes or no i know it and because i know then i that i don't have the knowledge i don't have the the the capacity to build a house without anyone telling me i realize i need to go to the architect one has to tell me that out of my knowledge of my helplessness it comes to me that i have to go to an architect so i'll go to knock it and i said i want to build a house i want so many rooms there a bathroom this this this and arcane takes over the house he has the knowledge he draws the plan and and the first thing in whenever a house is built what is the first thing that that you build what is the first thing the foundation see so that who is jesus to us in other words sisters and brothers who is the architect of life who is the architect of life who has given us life god jesus the father son and the holy now christianity is a way of life it's not just saying prayers jesus came to teach us how to live and and so the first thing is when jesus has come to me by by the grace of god through spiritual understanding i should be able to come and surrender to jesus and like saint thomas on the day of the resurrection say jesus my lord and my god take all my life i don't know how to live my life i've lived my life so many years in control i've been the master of my life in control of my life and i've made a mess of my life jesus but today onwards i surrender my life to you be my lord be my master this is the first step you have to take in coming to jesus now i never knew this with all my spiritual upbringing you know i say this so boldly i really believe this it's like the devil's lie the devil is the father of lies right his lie has permeated i would say the whole catholic church and what is this one important lie that i believe that the church has been permeated with and and i believe it is this especially we lay people we lay people yes you and i we always think it's only priests and nuns have to surrender to god yes or no hello yes or no so only they have to surrender their life they have to pray they have to deny themselves they have to live holy lives i as a layperson if i get my sunday mass that's fine i don't have to surrender i can live my life i can decide whom to marry i can decide which company to work for how to spend my money what past times everything especially related we are living a very selfish self-centered life that is building on sand and i did that mistake for the first 26 years of my life everything collapsed and then you know when i read those words of jesus come unto me holy that labor and every burden i'll give you rest but you know only verse 28 is quoted no one quotes verse 29 and the answer comes in verse 29 soon as soon after jesus says come unto me only that labor and heavenly burden i'll give you rest immediately he says take my yoke upon you learn of me from meek and humble of heart and you shall find rest into your souls for my yoke has eased me my burden is light so men now that is not understood that is not lived out so majority of us we go for a novena's and we say lord do this for me do this for me do this for me i'll give you nine saturdays i'll give you nine fridays i'll give you nine wednesdays and i'll give you something in return i'll give you know i'll make some sacrifice and then god and this mercy gives us but we've not made in the lot of allies we continue going building on sand another storm comes another storm comes another storm all the time our whole life we're going from one crisis to another one crisis how many of you can say yes to this put your hands up thank god you're honest with yourself life has been so burdensome now jesus never died to give us this burdensome life jesus has come and he says my peace i live with you my peace i give unto you not as the world giveth give unto you let not your heart be troubled he says he has come to save he's come to in a sense he's come to give us heaven on earth once we go there there's no problem it is in this life that we have all the problem we have to come against the world we have to come against the flesh we have to come against the devil our three enemies the world the flesh and the devil but jesus in his incarnation in his passion death and resurrection has has triumphed over these three enemies the world the flesh and the devil so it's my faith in him in my surrender to him that i'm able to transcend the world the flesh and the devil and live and experience the abundant life that he's come to give us so jesus as i said to you he says come unto me only that laban heavenly burden i'll give you rest but he continues to say take my yoke upon you all of us can identify with this you see two bulls plowing yes or no see both have to be yorked to walk and step with each other and i compare jesus you know to the old mature bull he has been plunged the fields for years he's so accustomed to to to to the owner to to his master he just plows and then when he comes to the end of the field the the the the farmers only you know pull the rope he'll turn around immediately but you and i are like like a wild calf you know young stud bull out in the open and to learn to walk in step is not easy we repel we don't want to surrender to god we don't want to you know make jesus the lord of our lives brothers and sisters believe me i'm telling you i'm talking from experience we will go to our graves buried with problems and illness and heartache and burdens and and disappointments and broken relationships unforgiveness a host of negative experience will simply bury us alive this life will be unbearable i'm not going to ask for a show of hands i'm saying this in the authority of god's word okay how often have you found life so difficult that you have said i don't want to live think how often have you said this i don't want to live it's too much my husband is i'm not drunkard and i goes on and on and on my children don't respect me they're not grateful i've sacrificed so much i know in-laws who knows what financial problems strange and you say it's too much for me now is that what jesus came to give us every mass the priest makes echoes the words of jesus my peace i leave with you my peace i give unto you says jesus sisters in john 14 26 he says my my peace i live with you my peace i give unto you not as the world giveth give unto you let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid if you ask ourselves am i willing to surrender to jesus now let me give you a beautiful testimony okay now this young man had has come to divine retreat center for seven consecutive years every year he comes here for a retreat he's from bangalore and understandably anyone who comes to divine will leave with a god experience right because by the end of this week you're leaving this place you know encouraged you're enthused you're so excited you say jesus is alive and and you know going you're going back home not the same person you're going back a different person enlightened so much of spiritual knowledge has come to you and you feel confident but what happens one month two months three months down the line what happens to you do you still have the same fervor do you still have the same enthusiasm no slowly unknowingly you backslide and you go back to your whole life and you go back to your own problems now this young man had come here seven consecutive years listen carefully and every year he would have his god experience he'd come back to bangalore and within three months everything would be lost and he's back to his whole life again now this is the eighth time he's coming to divine and this time he said to jesus i will never put my foot in this place if you don't do something lasting in my life i come here i have an experience i go back to bangalore i'm back to my whole life i come back the same thing seven years now this is the eighth year and i'm not going to put my foot here anymore sometimes god likes us likes to hear such challenges such friends now at that retreat this must this was at least 10 years ago divine has understood now that you need follow-up you see when you come here to this divine retreat center and you have this experience of jesus you are like a newborn baby spiritually now tell me something a baby is born okay three palm three kilos nine pounds healthy beautiful but how much care that baby needs if that baby is not nurtured in love fed clothed you know and and a bathe or whatever it is it can't survive same thing spiritually and unfortunately when we go back to from where we have come you know i always say my lord jesus you know we catholics at least once a week once a week we go from mass yes or no and that mass how long is the sermon 10 minutes that is starvation diet you'll die can never survive so this you need so much of enlightenment ongoing teaching till you're strong once that child has grown up healthy and strong you can fend for itself yes yes or no same thing spiritually that ongoing care that ongoing nurture that ongoing teaching is not there so you can't help it go back to your own life and so anyway so divine has understood now we need some follow-up so also that's why now in the major cities to bangalore they come once a month it's called magnifica chennai or goa they come i don't know where all the mumbai they have follow-ups okay so that particular year they decide they decided about this follower and they got all the youth from the major cities they got all the young people from bangalore and said when you go back to bangalore we we are going to meet you regularly and and and give you some ongoing teaching and the place they chose in bangalore was a chapel five minutes from my house these young people who had come for the retreat we're going to meet there and about three weeks later there was a knock on my door one of these young brothers who they were meeting they said brother please can you come and help us nothing much is happening can you help us i said sure i said so i took over this prayer group this youth group and i taught them to say three simple prayers i explained it in detail to them and i'm going to tell you these three prayers and i said to them i assure you if you say these three simple prayers sincerely every day you will have to grow you will and must grow and mature in your christian faith so what are these three simple prayers the first prayer is you must come to god the father every day every day if you come to god the father and pray as jesus taught us to god the father thy kingdom come thy will be done sisters and brothers you know as a christian let me share this with you as a you see the whole purpose the whole purpose of the passion death and resurrection the whole purpose the incarnation of jesus was for one purpose and that is to save me from my will to do god's will that is christianity now that has not been understood by us and that is why in spite of all our church going in prayers we find no let up in the problems the disappointments the heartaches that come across our path we haven't been taught to surrender to god's will so come every day to the father and say abba father you are my father i am your son i am your daughter let thy kingdom come you know something this is the most powerful prayer the most powerful prayer the creature can say to the creator and i believe this that this is the prayer the most important prayer that god himself is waiting to listen because unless i heal my will to you see god has given us the freedom of our will he will never touch our free will there are only two things you and i can do one is i either yield my will to god and surrender my life to jesus and be led by the holy spirit and if i don't do that i'm in control of my will i live my life the way i want and that makes me wonderful to the powers of darkness to the devil the envy of my soul he will come he will raw he will kill he will destroy he will blind he will lie he will murder he will ensnare and devour you now for each of those things i've got a scripture it's serious do you what do you think jesus died for to take you for a sunday mass no you need him desperately 24 7 your whole life from now till your last breath your whole life depends on him he has to save you 24 7. so blessed is a man blessed with a woman who comes alive in his faith and then and abandons his life to the safe keeping of god so you come to the father each day and say let that kingdom come then you come to jesus every day like saint thomas you when saint thomas saw the risen lord he said my lord and my god my lord and my god he surrendered unconditionally to the lordship of jesus and this is a beautiful verse this is john 10 27 john 10 27 where jesus says my sheep hear my voice i know them and they follow me what does jesus say in john 10 27 my sheep hears my voice i know them they follow me sisters and brothers 24 7 four voices are coming against me three voices will lead me astray make me make the wrong decisions the wrong choices and i'm going to suffer and suffer and suffer but there's one voice that is authentic will lead me in the path of peace and fulfillment that i'm longing for now these three spurious voices are the voice of the world the flesh and the devil and i have to resist your voices and listen to the voice of god man was created to live by the voice of god to listen to god to obey god so that's why jesus says my sheep hear my voice i know them and they follow me listen carefully to this if you take that scripture seriously john 10 27 what is the only thing a christian should long for tell me listen carefully my sheep hear my voice i know them and they follow me so what should you and i long to long for in our lives tell me to hear the voice of our shepherd and 95 of the voice of our shepherd is in the bible this is where you find the voice of god now again as catholics we are so poor in the bible we don't know our scriptures so when these false voices come against us we cannot differentiate between the authentic and the false and we think the false voices the true voice will obey that voice make our decisions follow that voice and we are going to fall into this into the snare of the evil one we must know our bibles we have to be men and women of the word of god you have to memorize scripture to be led by the spirit and so i come daily to jesus and say jesus my lord oh my god teach me to hear your voice that i may follow you what will you say jesus my lord and my god teach me to hear your voice that i may follow you then you know brothers and sisters when jesus is our shepherd and we hear his voice and follow him do you know something marvelous psalm 23 will be a reality in your life all of you know psalm 23 yes or no the lord is my shepherd i shall not want it makes me light of words this becomes a living reality that because jesus is my shepherd i'm willing to follow him all those blessings and what is the last line say surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and i shall dwell in the house of the lord forever what was mary's response at the enunciation when mary was was you know challenged when she was addressed by the angel saying you're going to bring for the child and and the son of god and and he will save his people from their sins when he and she's going to bring for the child what is mary's response how is this possible i know not a man and the angel said the holy spirit will overshadow you and when she heard is the holy spirit she unconditionally surrendered and she says behold the handmaid of the lord be done to me a contact but she surrendered and she opened her life to the life of the spirit she surrendered to the working of the holy spirit in her life and so you also and i myself should daily come to the holy spirit say your brothers will say hand servant of the lord and your sisters will say hand made of the law say behold the hand servant of the lord be done unto me according to thy word and then in romans 8 14 in romans 8 14 sin paul will say for all who are led by the spirit of god are the sons of god all who are led by spirits sisters and mothers long to be led by the spirit that's in them it's an adventure amazing now listen carefully this is very important if i don't yield to the holy spirit and if not willing to be controlled by the holy spirit and to be led by the spirit whether you like it or not the evil spirit will come deceive you control you and take you away this is you cannot afford to forget this truth so daily i must surrender to the will of the father to the lordship of jesus and to the leading of the holy spirit now i gave this teaching to this youth group and one of this young men his name is francis now i didn't know this he tells me later on he says brother it takes me one hour to go to the office by by taxi and why not to come back and all the time rather while i'm sitting in the taxi on my on my spare time here i say i keep praying father thy kingdom come thy will be done thy kingdom come thy will be jesus my lord my god jesus my lord teach me to hear your voice that i may follow you holy spirit be done make on the word be done because be done i want to be led by i want to be led by i want to be a manager he kept praying praying praying this prayer now listen that's why i see the power of this prayer you see it's only when i surrender then god the father will come accept me as his son and which father tell me there are lots of daddies here mommy is your grandmother you'll do anything for the happiness of your child yes or no hello and in spite of us being selfish and sinful and forgot the father's perfect love and unless i heal my will he can't work in my life unless i surrender to jesus he can't work in my life unless i surrender then the enemy will come and play havoc in our life so you know as a mission as a community i'm with the institute for world evangelization icp mission for the last 30 years i've been with this catholic mission organization every year we conduct here in india a three-month school of mission and in new zealand and different parts it's a five month school of mission so one day after the youth meeting this was in bangalore i was still in bangalore then our school of mission was coming it was close at hand and as this young man francis was walking into my house i said francis he said yes brother i said francis why don't you do this school of mission it's a three-month program it'll be wonderful for you i see you so faithful at the youth meeting you never miss a youth meeting i see commitment in your life why didn't you do the youth meet why didn't you do the school of mission francis looks at me and says brother i can't i said why can't you do it he says no brother listen carefully you know what he says to me my company is sending me to new york to open the office france is a brilliant young man diligent worker honest he's a workaholic company found him so reliable so much of a man of integrity was sending him to new york to open the office and i turned to francis and i said francis go home and ask jesus what to do ask jesus whether you should you should go to new york or come for the school of mission see that is the lordship of jesus you know sisters and brothers the at the moment of your baptism you have no more right over your life you belong to god i have to do what god tells me to do i can't just do what i want he is to be the lord is to be my master so france said okay brother now that night he goes home and on his knees he prays and says jesus what do you want me to do do i go to america or do the school and jesus tells francis i want you to do the school of mission france has got completely shaken up he said my god now what's going to happen to my carrier what's going to happen to my job if i do this school of mission so francis like all of us we try to make excuses right like jonah wanted to run away and and uh you'll find it all through even when god came to moses moses said no no don't send me he said i i stammer who am i to go to pharaohs choose my brother he says all of us try to make some excuses when we think it is too hard so francis said to jesus lord if you want me to do the school i must get the blessing of my father and francis knew that he knew that he knew that his father which father you see until unless your parents are really in jesus wow tomorrow my daughters come and tell me that i'm designing my job and i'm going on the mission field i'll say wow fantastic go oh my god don't worry daddy's behind you i'll pray for you whatever i can do support you i will be your support go go go because i know jesus and i know what is most important for life the salvation of souls go my girl go my girl go michael but most of catholic parents we are not enlightened so we only think of the job their money their security and we say okay go be a good boy go for your confession go for mass that's enough sir and so so francis went to his dad dad was furious he said you gone crazy you're my only son he's got two children one son one daughter he says all i've i've educated you now you're launching out in your career what are you talking about doing a school of mission nothing doing go to america and so francis goes on so francis keeps quiet then again he goes back to his father this time he's inspired and he says to his dad that if the company gives me three months leave can i do the school so the father thought and said okay if the company gives you three months leave and after three months you can go to america no problem go so he went to goes to his boss he says sir can you do me a favor i need three months late the boss was furious the boss said what's wrong with you who asked for three months leave maximum two weeks no way don't ask no way you know and you know we are preparing your papers your visa to go to america and what are you asking for three months later again after some days francis goes back and this time the boss contacted new york and the boss told him okay we give you permission for these three months on one condition one month paid leave two months on paid leave and on one condition as soon as you finish those three months you come back to work so francis comes to the school of mission and especially if i'm leading this mission you know right through these three months i'm stressing time and time and time again surrender surrender surrender make jesus the lord of your life if you do and by the end of three months you haven't come made a breakthrough and surrendered to jesus you wasted your time wasted your money surrender surrenders so at the end of the school francis does the school at the end of the school francis goes back to work he goes back to work he switches on the computer and after one two three four hours a boy who would work 12 13 hours in the office loses all interest in work switches off the computer and comes back home and this happens monday tuesday wednesday thursday friday saturday now the writing on the wall is very clear the lord is saying to francis francis my call my will for you my plan for you is not to go to america i want you to resign your job and go and join brother fritz in his community so francis comes to me one day and he says brother i've lost all interest i don't feel like working i feel god is calling me to be a lay missionary i said wow fantastic francis i said go tell your parents get them you know in india even when you're 40 years old you have to get parents permission right yes or no we control so he goes back and he speaks to his father father says nothing doing you're my only son everything i have is for you you have to get married now i have to settle you down what are you talking as a lame missionary where did you get all this wrong and that night francis's father was sitting before the blessed sacrament praying and jesus spoke to his father in his heart and said if i am calling your son to follow me who are you to say no so his father broke before the lord came back home that night called his wife daughter and son said son if that's god's will for you to resign your job and be a late missionary joined by the fritz i bless you do it so francis comes and joins the community two years down the line he gets a call to be a priest and he has done his theological studies in one of the finest biblical college in the catholic church the pope's seminary in rome not only that he's done his licensure he's a doctor and today he's forming the seminarians in my community so what i'm trying to share with you today is see what happens when you surrender to god's will see sisters and brothers and jeremiah 29 11 to 13 jeremiah 29 11-13 the prophet god is saying to the prophet jeremiah i know the plans i have for you not for evil but for good to give you a future hope at the even with this all in scripture even before you were conceived in your mother's womb god said this is my daughter this is my son and i've made a plan for him a plan and i've created him with particular gifts particular talents to fulfill my plan my will for his life and that and your highest fulfillment you cannot think of anything better for your life your children's life your grandchildren than the will of god that's your highest fulfillment freedom peace and your eternal salvation also and we as catholics we've not been taught to surrender to the father son the holy spirit we just go to church we say our prayers devoutly whatever it is but there's no let up and problems why because i have not surrendered to the father son and the holy spirit now quickly let me share with you from scripture how important this is you see now jesus when jesus comes to you and me he says come follow me now if you study the life of jesus particularly in the gospel of john his life can be summarized in one word he gave himself completely and fully to the will of his father that was his focus that was his his vision that was his desire that was his life i've he says in john 6 35 in john 6 35 he says i've come down from heaven not to do my will but the will of him who sent me he says have come down from heaven not to do my will not to live my life the way i want whatever it may be but to do his will that was the essence of jesus's life and you get another beautiful passage in john chapter 4 31-35 in this passage jesus is passing through this village of saika it's a samaritan village he's hungry he's thirsty and he stops by the well jacob's well he stops there and he tells his disciples to go to the nearby village to buy some food and while he is waiting there alone the samaritan woman comes to him a woman living in sin and jesus initiates a dialogue with her he's speaking to her and eventually he reveals himself as the messiah to this woman and she is so overjoyed that she's encountered the messiah that she leaves the pot and she goes to the village and and the apostles in the meantime come and they see him see jesus speaking to us american woman there are many questions because the samaritans have no relation no no no no relationships with the jews there's a strict divide so they they had many questions in their mind but they didn't say anything to jesus then they bring this food to jesus and say master eat and you know what jesus says to them i have food to eat of which you do not know in other words he's saying i'm filled i'm not hungry anymore yes i was hungry i told you to buy some food but now i've eaten i'm full and i'm satisfied and so to understand me the apostles are saying where did he get this food from how has he eaten who's given him food these questions are going on in the mind of the apostles now jesus knows what's going on in the mind of the apostles so jesus says to them see what he says to them my food is to do the will of whom of him who sent me and to accomplish it he says this is my food this is my sustenance this is my life this is my energy this is everything to me it's my father's will this is what i live by jesus he's referring to the will of god as food now listen if i withhold food from you what happens to you hello what happens if i don't give you any food you die that is why no all of us are coming from homes where you've got enough of food yes or no you've got breakfast lunch tea dinner but what's the state of your soul what's the state of your soul are you dying within with loneliness anxiety fear tension financial problems strained relationships broken relationships emptiness sadness insecurity life is a living death until like i i i entrust my life to the father you know sisters and brothers i'm i'm a grandfather now at my young age i'm a grandfather and i love my grandson so when i go to australia and i'm in my daughter's house my grandson is one and a half years old you know i love him he loves me i sleep in the same room as him and every morning around about four or five o'clock he wakes up and i'll say to him lukas come here son come come to grandpa we go straight to the door opens the door and jumps into his mother and father's bed and it struck me about five days ago what would be the state of lucas's you know in his inner being if he wakes up one morning and he goes to his bedroom of his father and mother and he doesn't find them there can you imagine his whole world is collapsed and he'll be crying we go from room to room room to room he's distressed now you will know why we are distressed have you understood unknowingly we are living in separation we're saying god i can handle my life i've got my degrees i've got my job i've got my income everything is fine i really don't need you you know i don't mind coming on a sunday and saying hello to you but after that leave me alone don't interfere in my life don't tell me how to live my life and another thing about that child believe it or not parents grandparents you know what i'm talking about you leave him alone nearly every choice of his is self-destructive hello you can't leave him alone you have to watch him all the time i've got a granddaughter who's who's no the lucas is two and a half the granddaughter is one and a half so we had gone to the mall the other day and i was sitting with her and and and and the sofa you know the back of the sofa from the seat was that much high thank god on the other side was another sofa this little girl we didn't notice she climbed over and banged she fell onto the dangerous sofa if that if the back was not a sofa should have fallen hit a head who knows what would have happened does the child know what's there god is father i'm created to be his son i have to live in obedience dependence on them now finally regarding the will of god in the garden of gethsemane when jesus entered the garden of gethsemane he was he was distressed he was traumatized when when your disobedience and my disobedience the sin of the whole human race disobedience was being put on him it was too much for him he was sweating drops of blood and in his humanity he cried out once twice thrice father if it be possible let this chalice now the chalice in scripture is the wrath of god he had to drink god's wrath of the whole human race he to take the punishment and so he said father would be possible let this chalice pass for me but nevertheless not my will but thy will be done father in my humanity is too much for me i can't go it's too much for me if it's possible save me but he qualified that prayer nevertheless not my will but thy will be done and when jesus said that prayer once twice thrice you're the luke records an angel of the lord came to him strengthened him and from that moment you find a completely different jesus when you and i sincerely pray father thy will be done thy kingdom come the power of god floods your soul and all that rebellion within me that selfishness within me that self preservation within me is being eradicated it's being drained out of my system and slowly god by his grace by spirit is aligning my will which is bent towards creation slowly aligning it and coming into alignment with god's will that is christian that's where you will meet the father you'll meet the son you'll meet the holy spirit nowhere else nowhere else you can pray till doom say nothing much is going to happen there's only one thing god wants from you nothing else he doesn't want your money he doesn't want nothing he wants from me only one thing he wants from you is your will that's all nothing else you know i'll give you a simple example the prayer thy kingdom come thy will be done is more easily said than done it will cost you everything but it's only enough my fallen nature my lack of understanding i think oh my god i have to give up this and give up that no god is father you know something sisters and brothers basically no when we don't surrender to the father do you know what we're living it's like the prodigal son you may not say it in words but in in reality that's the life i'm living i've come to god and saying leave me alone father give me the share of my property i don't want to live with you i want to go on my own this is sin and here you come into the far country and initially things seem okay there's success there's fulfillment whatever it is but eventually you can be thousand percent certain everything will collapse and we'll be faced with even the food of swine you want and you can't get that even this is the frightening consequence of sin the only answer only solution is you can say any amount of praise you go for daily mass nothing is going to work the only answer to this life in the far country is like the prodigal son get up from there and come back to the father and surrender to the father and allow god the father to be fathered what what a beautiful life is awaiting us when we surrender to god's will what a beautiful i can't tell you how amazing how wonderful it is to be a christian i'll give you one one simple example you know as a family we were missionaries with this mission organization in walter that's in europe with the eight years there in in this beautiful uh island in the mediterranean sea my children are going to a beautiful convent school i'm on mission i'm traveling around europe on mission and after eight years and i'm happy there you know one day i was looking out of the window and a little voice in my heart said to me fritz if i ask you to go back to india what's your answer believe it or not i literally died i said no don't ask me i'm not i won't go exit i don't want to go back to india now immediately thank god by his grace i realized at that moment with all the fear in my heart i realized now my will was not surrendered with whatever light god has poured into my soul i know my life belongs to god whatever reasons i may give myself not to do go a particular way or do a particular thing i know that i know that i know my life belongs to god and i have to do what god tells me to do so from that day onwards i'm giving you an answer because you will face struggles when you say god's will all a lot of challenges will come but and how do you overcome the challenges i'm giving you a simple answer so from that day onwards every day i would pray and say father that you will be done let your kingdom come if it's your plan for me to go back to india i give you permission change my heart from one of no two years change my heart change my heart change my listen brother and sisters you know something until your soul is released completely by you to go back to god your distressed you'll never be at peace until that child is once again embraced in the arms of its father of its mother no matter what you give it where you take it there's a crime mama i want my mama i want my mama i want my papa i want my papa same with you and me that's why saint augustine said oh god our hearts are restless until we find our rest in so every day i'm praying that you will be done let your kingdom come if it's your will for me to go back to india change my heart from one of nope two years change my heart and at that time my wife had conceived my third our third child and i was going to albania on mission and albania is one of the poorest iron curtain countries and as advised you but don't take your wife in that delicate condition so i told my wife you take the two girls go to india for a holiday i'll go to albania and finish the mission i'll come back and then we'll come back and eve believe it or not even in albania every afternoon you know in the eyes to work walk up and down the church compound thy kingdom come thy will be done thy kingdom come thy will change my heart jesus change my heart jesus change my heart every day i'm praying because still i'm struggling in my heart to say yes to god then i got a call from my wife saying there's some complications with the pregnancy doctor says i cannot travel i have to remain in india for the next three months i said okay tell me the medical term so she gave me the medical terms and we were working with the medical mission sisters so i went to one of the nuns and i said sister my wife says this is this this is the condition of the pregnancy tell me honestly will the child survive or not and sister looked into my face and says do you want the truth i said yes tell me the truth she says hundred percent you're losing the child she says the child will not survive so what did i do i went to the tabernacle and i sobbed and i wept and i wept and i wept and finally i prayed i said father this baby is yours it's not mine i'm only a steward for this child for a number of years this child belongs to you if you want this baby take if you want to keep this baby keep but then i said but i'm i'm your son i'm asking you save this baby for your glorious and when i surrendered this baby just in humility said save this baby for your glory the peace of god flooded my soul and i was at peace i finished the mission i came back to india and now instead of spending just 10 days in india i spent two months and of course you know like i was visiting all the prayer groups in bangalore and traveling and when i visited the prayer groups and began to preach there i noticed a complete change in my attitude i didn't want to go back to europe i wanted to come back to india a complete change and i knew it was god's will and i did come back to india with my wife and two children and we opened the mission center i was in india for the last 15 years now god has taken me to new zealand and i'm up there so the challenges will come don't give in to the don't rationalize and don't say no god cannot ask me this you know you have to surrender to god's will ask god to change your heart from one of no two years keep saying it keep saying it it's like a mountain before you and until this mountain is demolished and moved you're always on this side of the mountain have you understood what i'm saying you have to surrender to the father's will you have to surrender to the lordship of jesus and you must surrender to the leading of the holy for me i do this every day and i am where i am today because of that

Channel: Divine Retreat Centre Goodness TV

Views: 28,728

Keywords: divine retreat centre, gospel, jesus, catholic, eucharist, praise, worship, adoration, preaching, word of God, anointing, fellowship, Fr Augustine Vallooran, Goodness TV, Goodness Tv English, Fr Michael Karimattam, jude antoine, Colin Calmiano, Maria Sangeetha, Augustine Vallooran, Fr Augustine, vallooran, Augustine, Glen and Teresa, Cathy, Worship Culture, Fritz, Fr John Prince, Faith Band

Id: LCvqRUpVm80

Length: 56min 28sec (3388 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 10 2022