Actions speak louder than words

The man who is filled with the Holy Spirit speaks in different languages. These different languages are different ways of witnessing to Christ, such as humility, poverty, patience and obedience; we speak in those languages when we reveal in ourselves these virtues to others. Actions speak louder than words; let your words teach and your actions speak. We are full of words but empty of actions, and therefore are cursed by the Lord, since he himself cursed the fig tree when he found no fruit but only leaves. Gregory says: “A law is laid upon the preacher to practice what he preaches. It is useless for a man to flaunt his knowledge of the law if he undermines its teaching by his actions.

But the apostles spoke as the Spirit gave them the gift of speech. Happy the man whose words issue from the Holy Spirit and not from himself! For some men speak as their own character dictates, but steal the words of others and present them as their own and claim the credit for them. The Lord refers to such men and others like them in Jeremiah: So, then, I have a quarrel with the prophets that steal my words from each other. I have a quarrel with the prophets, says the Lord, who have only to move their tongues to utter oracles. I have a quarrel with the prophets who make prophecies out of lying dreams, who recount them and lead my people astray with their lies and their pretensions. I certainly never sent them or commissioned them, and they serve no good purpose for this people, says the Lord.

We should speak, then, as the Holy Spirit gives us the gift of speech. Our humble and sincere request to the Spirit for ourselves should be that we may bring the day of Pentecost to fulfillment, insofar as he infuses us with his grace, by using our bodily senses in a perfect manner and by keeping the commandments. Likewise we shall request that we may be filled with a keen sense of sorrow and with fiery tongues for confessing the faith, so that our deserved reward may be to stand in the blazing splendor of the saints and to look upon the triune God.

(sermon given by St Antony of Padua)

Spilled Blood at Tower of London

Like most people I waited in the queue outside the Tower of London to get a glimpse of Kohinoor diamond which is believed to be arranged by the then governor General of India Lord Dalhousie to be given as gift to queen Victoria, the Empress of India in 1851 by Ranjith Singh’s successor Duleep Singh. As I was hoping to see it from a close range, I passed through many interesting places in the Tower. Interesting is not the right word because the appalling atrocities and torture done to the Catholic martyrs was almost echoing from the walls of the cold stone cells. It was like walking through the Death Valley where blood of the martyrs resonated the typical torture by the Tudor rulers. By now I had no more curiosity on the diamond but my history nerves were roused to know what happened to these martyrs?

First of all I was thrilled to know one among only two people to escape from the tower of London was a Jesuit priest John Gerard. A plaque at the mouth of moat leading to river Thames depicted the complicated and notorious escape from the high security Tower of London in 1599. It explained how the plan of escape was executed with the help of his Jesuit companions.

In 1594 John Gerard was captured with another Jesuit Brother Nicholas Owen and sent to notorious Tower of London. Both were questioned and tried with different methods of torture. John Gerard was mainly questioned and tortured in order to know the hiding whereabouts of Hendry Garnet, the then superior of Jesuits in Britain. John Gerard would not utter anything despite being tortured. It is said that, he was tortured so much that he was weak to slide in rope, which was used to escape through the river. I can only imagine how could he do it. It is like escaping from an ‘A’ grade prison in London.

Nicholas Owen was another incredible Jesuit who with his carpentry skills dug holes for the priests to hide from being arrested and executed. He dug secret holes up and down the country such a way that no authorities could trace them. It was remarkable and ingenious mind of a Jesuit who managed to sustain the Catholic faith in Britain. I think English Catholics should know about Nicholas Owen, because of whom they are Catholics today. Eventually he was captured and sent to Tower of London. March 02, 1606 he was tortured to death. One gruesome report stated that they tortured Owen ‘such in human ferocity’ that he became disemboweled. In fact he was instrumental in the escape of John Gerard.

I wonder how many of us know about it? It is worth noting that Jesuits have a great history in Britain particularly during the time of Tudors. When I walked those little cells in the Tower, I came across a tiny table on which sat a blank paper, candle and an orange. My curiosity ran wild to know what it meant? And to my surprise, I was told that John Gerard wrote a letter using orange peels on a blank paper, which actually remained blank unless it was read against the fire. This is how the escape was planned. This remained strong in my mind and heart.

William the Conqueror commissioned the Tower of London in 1078 intended to protect the city against the invaders. This became Britain’s most infamous prison where martyrs like Thomas More were tried and executed.

When I made my way into different cells of the Tower, it almost felt like the blood of those who were tortured cried out from the stonewalls. On the one hand I felt grateful to the Lord that we don’t have such atrocities but on the other hand my heart went out for those who are being tortured in different parts of the world, like Syria. It is appalling to know that our so called advanced world witnesses so much violence, it seems like the world is valley of blood crying out for help. These are my short reflections on the Tower of London and its connection to Jesuits. There are enough details of it available online. 

Philharmonia Orchestra

After sipping a white caffe mocha at Starbucks a pleasant surprise awaited me at the Royal Festival Hall in London. It was a gigantic theatre with its colourful arena that bewitched me at the first sight. It was a thrilling experience to barge into this really royal theatre. With less or no experience of concerts made me little bit apprehensive about the whole project of watching Philharmonia Orchestra in a jam packed theatre and a huge stage set for musicians. 

A huge number of musicians took to stage to the brim. Everyone doing their adjustments before the time. A violinist arrived to take the centre stage who greeted the musicians and the audience. He was Andrew Haveron who is the concert master. He looked small in stature but his violin expertise showed his glory and fame. Then there arrived a man in black suit with a little stick in his hand to a huge applause. Apparently it came as huge surprise to me that people knew this famous conductor called Daniele Gatti, an Italian artist. 

The first piece of music was from Wagner, prelude, Act I, "a good friday Music, Parsifal." This piece was taken from the artist Richard Wagner (1813 - 1883) of Romantic age. The first piece of music was for about 30 minutes. Absolutely scintillating performance thrilled me and the fellow spectators. Knowledge about this kind of orchestra is very menial, so a special effort helped to grasp and cope with this mind blowing musical piece. 

The second piece of music was from Mahler, Symphony No. 5  for about 70 minutes. This piece was absolutely incredible with its intricate and complex intonations. This was a big challenge to cope with long haul of music which looked the same as the previous. I should caution you that this was because of the lack of musical knowledge particularly orchestra. 

A brief study made me to understand the intricacies this musical piece involved. Wagner's melodic musical arch rises, then slowly falls back to its starting point, intensely focused and glowing inwardly like a candle flame carried silently through the darkness. This is the same experience most of us have at this concert. Its incredibly strong to feel that one has moved miles listening to music.

A little bit about the conductor Daniele Gatti. His vigour and gusto in conducting these two pieces of music mesmerised most the spectators. This world renowned artist made us wonder in awe. His movements and body language was enormously depicted in the music he conducted. Without a piece of script he would conduct the orchestra for about 70 minutes at the stretch. This shows his expertise and his talent to music. It really baffled me that he could do this without any scrip and with enormous gusto and zest. 

In conclusion I would like to express my thanks to Philharmonia Orchestra who put up a splendid performance which made me who is musical cripple to admire this romantic music, I am sure musicians out there will admire much better than I. 

God's Wedding

Arnobius writes at the turn of fourth century about the marriage and gods. Presumably for him life styles of the pagan gods and mortals were no difference. He writes:

Do the gods have wives, and do they enter marriage convents (conuiugalia foedera) on terms previously arranged? Do they swear to each other the oaths (sacramenta) of the marriage couch by cohabitation (usu), by the wedding cake (farreo), or by the purchase price (emptione)? Do they have girl friends whom they hope to marry (speratas), or to whom they are engaged (pactas), or to whom they are espoused (sponsatas). 

Source: Adversus nationes 4, 20 (CSEL 4, 157, 16).

A Song for Friends

All time hit song in Hindi originally sung by Jagjith Singh, a well known Indian singer. I have tried to sing but I am sure you will enjoy the original. So please listen to the original too, to know the real voice of the song. The photos are from my archives and old album of my friends. There are still more good friends who are not on it. May be I shall do one more video for them too. Please do enjoy the song and the photos. Cheers. 

My all time favourite song (Konkani)

This song is one of my all time favourite song and have tried to sing with my hoarse voice. I am sure have done justice to the original artist. He is all the best. Photos in this video are from England just boost the song. Hope you enjoy it. Lol. 

Missionary Motto

This letter was written by Mother Teresa in 1948 when she left Loreto to establish the Missionaries of Charity.

"The heat of India is simply burning. When I walk around, it seems to me that fire is under my feet from which even my whole body is burning. When it is hardest, I console myself with the thought that souls are saved in this way and that dear Jesus has suffered much more for them.... The life of a missionary is not strewn with roses, in fact more with thorns; but with it all, it is a life full of happiness and joy when she thinks that she is doing the same work which Jesus was doing when He was on earth, and that she is fulfilling Jesus' commandments: "Go and teach all nations.!""