In life, there are times when there may seem to be no sign at all. Yet even then, Mother remains with us. This is something we must understand carefully when we take the Covenant. As new Covenant classes are introduced, we must continue growing through them.
Our prayer intentions are important in the Covenant. Is that not how many of us first come here? Usually, we come carrying some hardship.
In recent days, Aline Eldo shared a testimony. She had gone to Germany for her studies, but after completing them, her visa was not extended. Is that not one of the main problems many people face today? Agents and consultants often give many assurances when sending students abroad. They promise studies, jobs after studies, opportunities, stability, and many other things. But the reality people experience after arriving there is often completely different. At that point, all they truly have is the Holy Mother and the Covenant. None of those agents will be there then.
Aline completed her Master’s degree there, yet her visa was still not extended. If the visa is not extended, she has to return home. But after returning home, what can she do? There is still the educational loan to repay, the interest on it, and even interest upon interest. Such burdens can feel impossible to repay. Human life in this modern age has, in many ways, become like a gambling game.
In the old days, we did not have this many forms of prosperity or opportunity. But with the new age came greater demands, higher education, work pressure, and lifestyle expectations. These demands became terrifyingly heavy, and people began living in constant struggle. Only a few people in this world live without struggles. Everyone else carries some kind of burden.
This is especially true for those who take life seriously, those trying to stand on their own feet and survive. Life itself has become a matter of survival. Once we are thrown into this world, we spend our lives trying to survive, and surviving in this age is extremely difficult.
But the most fascinating thing is this: it was in this very age of struggle that God revealed the Covenant. What was the content of Mother’s apparition? "A disaster is going to happen. Pray."
At first, in my foolishness, I thought Mother was referring to the tsunami that occurred a few weeks or months after the apparition. But later, as I continued leading retreats here year after year, I realized something deeper. Mother did not say that the disaster was over. She said that disasters are going to happen.
Look around now. People do not even have cooking gas in their homes. Recently, we had a large charismatic convention at Muringoor, where priests and charismatic faithful had gathered together. On the way back, we stopped at a hotel to eat, but there was no hot water. When we asked why, they said there was no gas. Is that not itself a kind of disaster?
Even water has become scarce and difficult for people to obtain. The disasters are not only the dramatic events we once imagined long ago. Disaster is now entering through water, through drinking water, and through daily life itself. Seeing all this, Mother had already warned us then: "Disasters are going to happen."
So what should we pray for? The prayers given for this age are different. They are prayers meant to help people survive in this time of disaster. We must always understand this: greater than simply bringing one issue and taking the Covenant is living a responsible Covenant life.
A responsible Covenant life aims at crushing Satan beneath one’s feet. Why do I say that? Yesterday, while I was standing at the altar, I was observing the people. One man was holding a thick bundle of papers in his hand. I kept looking at his face more than the others because I thought perhaps he had something important to say. On the papers, he had written "Japhi" (prayer intention), but what he was holding was not just a small prayer request slip. It was an entire stack of documents.
I kept looking at him, wondering what exactly he was going to explain. Then the man asked me, "Do I have some kind of spiritual problem?" At least, thankfully, he asked it that way.
So I asked him, "What is that in your hand?" He was holding a bottle. I asked, "What is inside the bottle?" He said there was a metal charm or plate (thakid) inside it, something somebody had supposedly made through sorcery, and that the bottle had been found on his property. With this bottle in hand, he was asking me whether he had some spiritual problem. What was really going on in his mind was this: "Has the person who did this against me caused problems in my life through this charm?"
So I asked him, "Are you in the Covenant?" He said, "Yes." Then I said, "If we have any deficiency or weakness, is the Covenant not meant to correct it?"
In earlier times, how did people try to correct spiritual shortcomings? They would go for Confession or attend another retreat, trying to fix the problem. What does that mean? It means creating an atmosphere where God can work.
So I asked him, "What is the purpose of the Covenant?" The purpose of the Covenant is this: if there are any deficiencies in our lives that prevent God from fully working in us, the Covenant comes to cover even those deficiencies.
For a person who truly lives the Covenant, such deficiencies should not remain, unless the person himself is careless or negligent in living it. A "defect in the Covenant" means negligence in living the Covenant. So I asked him, "Have you been careless in your Covenant life?" At that point, he became doubtful. That was the real issue.
For a long time, he had been walking around carrying this charm and these documents. Whoever he meets, not just me, but retreat preachers and spiritual leaders as well, he asks the same question: "Do I have some spiritual problem? Has someone done something against me?"
But instead of focusing on all these external things, we should examine our own deficiencies and understand what the Covenant is actually meant to solve. The Covenant has one purpose: to bring God onto our side.
So I asked him, "Is God on your side?" He could not clearly say yes or no. He was doubtful. But what does Scripture say? If God is on our side, then that settles the whole matter. What can a charm do then? What can witchcraft do? None of these things are a problem when God is truly on our side.
Romans 8:31 says, "What then shall we say to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?"
Paul then goes on to ask many more questions, questions that are relevant even to the fears, charms, witchcraft, and anxieties people carry today.
Romans 8:35 says, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?"
Whatever these negative powers may be, charms, witchcraft, or evil forces, once Christ begins to work in a person, everything else is resisted and overcome. That is what the Covenant gives us. It gives us what you could call the "full option."
Recently, I watched a video of one car crashing into another at high speed. Normally, everyone inside should have died. But because of modern technology, the moment the collision happened, huge airbags burst out from the front of one car and the back of the other, cushioning the people inside.
Even in our own cars today, when an accident occurs, airbags immediately burst out from the steering wheel to protect us. And now there are even newer systems. When two cars collide, large airbags deploy between the vehicles, cushioning the impact so that there is almost no damage.
As time moves forward, newer and newer forms of protection continue to be developed. That is how God’s protection works through the Covenant. Through the Covenant, we are bringing God onto our side in every possible way. And the power, the speed, of this protection is tremendous.
There is no point in bringing God onto our side only at some random moment. Timing matters. To destroy Satan, it must happen instantly. There is no use if Satan slowly leaves the house at some point eventually. He must leave like lightning. That speed is the power of the Covenant.
Luke 10:18 says, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven."
Imagine if Satan came down slowly like a drifting feather or floating cotton from the sky. By the time he slowly descended, destruction would already have spread everywhere. If Satan is to be defeated, he must be struck down like lightning. The issue is speed.
So how are evil powers, witchcraft, and demonic works resisted with such speed? That is what we must understand about the content of the Covenant.
What exactly is inside the Covenant? It is written in Luke chapter 10. When the disciples went to different places, proclaimed the Gospel, and returned after evangelizing, that is when the Lord spoke about Satan falling like lightning. In other words, apostolic mission is what crushes Satan like lightning. Without that, there is no point carrying bottles and charms around in fear.
Matthew 10:7-8 says, "As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons."
The apostles were sent out for evangelization. If we truly want God to be on our side, then we must do the work God has entrusted to us. There is no use saying, "I have taken the Covenant, I say the prayers, I follow the practices," while doing nothing for mission.
One of the greatest immediate solutions the Covenant gives is this: Satan falls like lightning before apostolic workers, before those engaged in mission.
Recently, a girl named Dia was brought here from Aluva by another girl named Darly Miss. Dia’s situation was this: her father was bedridden and paralyzed. She had two small children. Her husband was alive, but he worked in the Gulf countries, and his salary was very small. With that limited income, he had to support Dia and the entire family.
Dia herself only had a small job. They had to care for the children and her bedridden father, and after all that, almost nothing remained financially. Then suddenly, in the midst of such struggle, illness struck. Cancer came. The doctors diagnosed cancer.
Now she had two children. So naturally the question arose: "Who will take care of them?" Her father was already bedridden. Her husband was not even in the country. So in that situation, she asked the doctor, "Doctor, will I survive?"
People ask such questions hoping for comfort. But nowadays, according to the system many doctors work under, they often do not immediately reassure patients. Instead, they may say, "Even if you recover, the disease may return."
Why? Because if doctors tell families, "There is no problem," and later something happens, relatives may come and attack the hospital, saying, "You told us nothing was wrong! Then what happened?" Cases get filed. Problems arise. So doctors are forced into this attitude.
Honestly, it is often because of irresponsible behavior in society that people in responsible positions, doctors, police officers, and officials, gradually become hardened. People should not behave carelessly toward those carrying responsibility.
If doctors and police officers begin hating the people they serve, eventually they stop truly caring. We must always remember that public life is a life of responsibility. If society continues hurting them despite all their effort, eventually even they begin thinking, "Why should we suffer so much for others?" Then the ethics they once learned become temporarily locked away, and they begin acting mainly for survival, just like everyone else. That is the tragedy.
So when the doctors told Dia that the disease could return, her whole inner being collapsed. Whenever she met relatives or acquaintances, she would say, "If something happens to me, please look after my children, okay?" Just hearing that is heartbreaking. That is how fragile human beings truly are.
Yet when people become arrogant and puffed up with pride, they forget this reality. Sometimes God allows situations that humble us, not to destroy us, but to break our pride. But many people create opportunities for such humbling through their own foolishness.
People act tough and say, "If he hits me, I’ll hit him back." But let life turn slightly against them, and immediately they become quiet and soft. That is how human beings are. Then why can we not become humble from the very beginning? Why wait for suffering before becoming humble? After disaster strikes, even the fiercest tiger becomes like a quiet cat.
That is why Mother always teaches humility. And that is why I follow Marian spirituality. Why? Because the limitation of purely apostolic spirituality is that apostles often mainly give teachings, doctrines, and instructions. But Mary does not merely give doctrine. Mary shows a way of life. She demonstrates life itself.
Mary says in Luke 1:48-49, "He has looked upon the lowliness of His servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is His Name."
Why do you take the Covenant? Because only if the Mighty One does great things in our lives will we be able to stand firm in this age. We need God to do great things in our lives if we are to survive and endure. But how does the Mighty One do great things through a person? "He has looked upon the lowliness of His servant."
Humility is not a temporary performance. It is not like instant food or suddenly acting humble in certain situations or before certain people. Sometimes, when we meet certain people, we suddenly become very humble, especially if they are someone who can help take us to Germany without charging money for a visa or opportunity.
That kind of humility appears only in certain situations and before certain people. Deep inside, however, they remain proud, walking around with their horns raised high. They become humble only when they see some personal gain or advantage. That kind of occasional humility will not make the Covenant work. If we humble ourselves only in places where we gain something, that is not Covenant humility.
There is something every person taking the Covenant must understand: we are called into a deep and intimate relationship with God. Yet when personal problems continue for a long time, we become deeply troubled and anxious. But God is even more concerned about us than we are about ourselves.
For example, when your visa gets delayed, you become anxious, do you not? When God sees your anxiety, He becomes even more concerned for you. So be joyful. Remain happy. Let your whole heart and voice be filled with love. What should your goal be? Your goal should be love for God. When love toward God grows within you, love itself should become your goal.
1 Corinthians 14:1 says, "Pursue love."
Many people change their goal into prayer intentions: "Let my marriage happen." "Let me have children." "Let my visa come through." The intention itself becomes the goal. But that requires a U-turn. It must be corrected and purified.
When prayer intentions themselves become your ultimate goal, even after renewing the Covenant three or four times, the situation becomes like water filling a boat. Water is necessary, of course. Prayer intentions are necessary. A boat needs water around it in order to move. But if the water enters inside the boat, the boat sinks. That is what has happened to many people’s Covenants. Their Covenant sank because their prayer intentions became more important than God Himself.
For example, your marriage gets delayed. Then your friend, who never even took the Covenant, gets married before you. When she comes to invite you to her wedding, you hide inside the house and tell your mother, "Tell her I’m not here." Why? Because emotionally you cannot face her. Then disturbance, jealousy, and frustration begin growing inside you. And that disturbance itself begins affecting your relationship with God.
Dealing with God requires spiritual intelligence, not merely emotional reactions. Most people deal with God emotionally. That will not work. If the Lord decides to do something for you, it will be complete and perfect. It is often we ourselves who create confusion and obstacles along the way.
The moment we give something more importance than God, then in our lived experience, God is no longer truly "on our side," and we begin losing spiritual protection.
There are certain key verses in the Bible. Previously, the Covenant community was told, "Write this verse in your drawing room. Write it in your kitchen." What is the verse?
Mark 16:20 says, "But they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs."
This is a very deep verse. I meditate on it often. It is one of the foundational verses of the Covenant. Remember the earlier point: Jesus said, "I saw Satan fall like lightning." When did He say that? After the disciples returned from mission.
Some people take the Covenant and then simply sit at home, lighting blue candles and green candles, reciting apparition prayers, and doing nothing more. Such people are actually spiritually vulnerable because Satan can easily work through passivity. Then later they say, "I took the Covenant, but nothing happened for me." But where is the action? Where is the mission?
The verse says, "The Lord worked with them." With whom? With those who went out and preached everywhere. That means wherever we have an opportunity, we should speak about the Lord. That increases the speed and power of the Covenant.
Some people come to Father again and again every month saying, "My visa has not come," or, "My situation has not changed." Sometimes, during counseling, notes are even written down recording the issues they had previously come about. If they continue returning with the exact same complaint repeatedly, it reveals something important: their role now is to live the Covenant faithfully, purely, and humbly in the presence of God.
Now look again at Dia’s story. Even the doctor told her, "Even if this illness goes away, it may return." Hearing this shattered her completely. Then Darly Miss, who knew her through an acquaintance, entered the picture. Darly Miss saw her condition. Dia could barely walk. Her legs, face, and entire body were swollen. She could hardly move.
And in that state, Dia said to Darly Miss, "If something happens to me, please look after my children." Then Darly Miss told her, "Be courageous. I will take you to Mother." That is what it means to be an apostolic worker. Dia replied, "How can I come? I cannot even walk properly. My legs are swollen. If I sit on a bus with my legs hanging down, they become unbearably heavy. I cannot move." But Darly Miss said, "I will bring you." That is the spirit of apostleship, not simply sitting in darkness mechanically reciting apparition prayers.
A true apostolic person says, "I will bring you." There is willpower in apostles. Apostolic workers carry an anointing power. The moment they hear of someone’s suffering, something rises up within them. If they are true apostles, they receive double strength to help and lift that person up.
Then what happened? Mother took charge of Dia. Actually, Dia herself did not yet have any connection with Mother or the Covenant. But Darly Miss had a deep connection with Mother.
Remember this carefully: apostolic workers may not receive honor in their own homes or even within the Church. People may not value them. But God values them. That is enough. Do not enter God’s work seeking fame, reputation, or praise from people.
Luke 10:20 says, "Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven."
Sometimes even family members or spouses may say, "Don’t you have any other work? Aren’t there already enough people praying? Why are you always running behind Kreupasanam?" They may certainly say such things. But the anointing God has placed within you cannot be taken away by anyone.
Jesus says in John 16:22, "So you also are now in anguish. But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you."
That inner anointing is what defines apostolic workers. When we do apostolic work with God’s love, something supernatural happens. Why was Darly Miss able to say, “I will take you there”? Because by uttering those words, her name had already been written in Mother’s book.
Once someone like Darly Miss brings a suffering soul to Mother, then what doctors say or what medical science says no longer becomes the final authority. That is the mystery here.
When they finally brought Dia here, she entered the bus barely able to move, sitting with swollen legs hanging painfully. But the moment she entered this place, the swelling disappeared completely. Nothing else had even happened yet. She had not yet taken the Covenant. No special prayers had yet been said. She had only entered the place. In whose "account" was that miracle credited? In Darly Miss’s account, because her name was already written in Mother’s book.
My children, many people constantly check visa updates, offer letters, bank approvals, and prayer requests, yet do nothing for the work of God. But the Covenant is not meant to be passive. It is a life of humility, love, mission, responsibility, and faithfulness.
When we truly live the Covenant and work for God, Heaven itself begins to work for us. And when God is truly on our side, no fear, darkness, or power of Satan can stand against us.
Disclaimer: All content in this article is credited to Dr. Fr. V.P. Joseph Valiyaveettil of Kreupasanam Marian Shrine, Kerala, India. This English adaptation has been prepared as a humble effort to make Father’s Malayalam YouTube sharings more accessible to a wider audience, with the assistance of translation and editorial resources.
Many of Father’s teachings were originally shared within the context of the Kreupasanam Covenant and may therefore include references or practices specific to that spiritual journey. Nevertheless, this blog is intended for everyone. Whether or not you are a Covenant member, it is my hope that these reflections, biblical teachings, and testimonies will encourage you in your own walk with God.
I warmly encourage everyone to share this website with others who may benefit from these reflections. May all who visit this page be blessed and drawn closer to God.
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