My most beloved brothers and sisters, in the Covenant Retreat, we often take examples from the lived experience of the Covenant at the end of the week. These are not merely stories. They are examples of applied faith.
The Covenant is a life in which faith is applied in a practical, precise, and meticulous way. The experiences of those who attribute their lives to the Covenant and live it seriously become models for us. This is not like an ordinary life of faith where we pray vaguely, not knowing whether the prayer will be heard or not, or whether we will experience God or not. The Covenant does not remain trapped within those uncertainties and stumbling blocks of ordinary faith.
In the Covenant, we must aim our prayers sharply. We must apply the formula of faith correctly. That is why I often analyze the results obtained by those who have seriously and thoroughly applied the rules of the Covenant. Truly speaking, the explanation of a testimony is a result analysis.
Through these testimonies, we see how burdens become light for people who are passing through extremely heavy life situations. I often say that this lightness is a feature of the Covenant. Lightness means a reduction of burden. When the Blessed Mother becomes a party to the situations that feel unbearably heavy to us, through the formula of the Covenant, those burdens become light.
Normally, we carry the weight of our problems by ourselves, straining our necks under the load. But when that burden is lifted and entrusted into the hands of the Blessed Mother, the person who truly entrusts it understands the difference.
One mistake I often notice is that some people attend the Covenant Retreat with the same mindset with which they attend every other retreat. I am not saying that retreats are dangerous. But if you attend the Covenant Retreat with a general retreat mentality, it will not bear much fruit. In that mindset, we listen, understand many things, and once we understand them, the matter ends there.
The Covenant is different. In the Covenant, we understand, and then we apply what we have understood. That application is the point. Ordinary listeners often do not have this practicality. They hear, leave the retreat center or the church, and the matter ends there. But in the Covenant, the real matter begins after the retreat is over.
This is especially understood among Malayalis in Kerala. For the people, the Covenant truly begins only after the retreat ends. Some people follow the principles of the Covenant very strictly and definitely. Others take more time.
When I meet people at the altar who are renewing their Covenant for the fifth time, and when I look at their intentions and the standard of their Covenant life, sometimes I feel disappointed. There are people who have renewed the Covenant five or six times, but their spiritual response, the emotional maturity, and the practical application remains at the level of a second renewal. Interior standard has not grown accordingly. This is a danger that quietly enters the Covenant life. There is no significant difference in their approach. There is no real growth in their emotional response.
What do I mean by emotional response? After a certain period in the Covenant, even by the second renewal, people begin to feel the Presence of God. More than in many ordinary prayer practices, the Covenant produces clear results when it is lived sincerely. But this depends entirely on sincerity.
Some make the Covenant with immense seriousness and maturity. They make a meaningful Covenant with God through the Blessed Mother, surrendering their lives. They carry a deep Covenant awareness within them. I have often felt that what everyone needs most is this true Covenant awareness.
What is Covenant awareness? It is the awareness that, in the night and in the day, in darkness and in light, I am in a Covenant with God. It is knowing, always and everywhere, that I am in a Covenant with my God. This awareness must be nurtured. To cultivate it, we need a serious and profound interior consciousness. Such awareness comes as a work of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, maintaining the Holy Spirit is a vital aspect of the Covenant.
In the Covenant, we must maintain the proper spiritual condition, almost like maintaining a spiritual pH level. We must create situations in which the Holy Spirit can remain and work within us. Whether we consciously desire and long for this, or whether it comes gradually as we live the Covenant, the Holy Spirit remains an essential part of the Covenant.
When the Holy Spirit remains and operates within us, one of the greatest benefits is this: He reminds us that we are in the Covenant. This faculty of remembrance belongs to the Holy Spirit. That is why Jesus said that when the Holy Spirit comes, He will remind us of everything He has said.
John 14:26 says: "But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you everything and remind you of all that I have said to you."
The faculty that reminds us of our Covenant commitments belongs to the Holy Spirit. That is why I always tell you to address the Holy Spirit, day and night. No matter what we are doing, how busy we are, or what responsibilities we are involved in, one eye must remain fixed on Him.
Think of a mother who lays her baby in a cradle and then goes to the kitchen to chop vegetables or cook. Even while doing her work, her mind remains on the cradle. She keeps watching whether the baby has woken up, whether the baby is crying, or whether the child might stand and fall. Her mind remains there.
In the same way, you must train your faculties. No matter what worldly affairs or responsibilities you are engaged in, your mind must remain attentive to the maintenance of the Holy Spirit. This spiritual responsibility of maintaining the Holy Spirit must become a serious effort within us.
Where will the mark of this effort be reflected? It will be reflected in your sincerity. God will observe your honesty. God will assess you, because you are in a Covenant.
After counseling people and walking with the Covenant all these years, one tragic thing I have understood is this: many people's Covenant has not been registered in the mind of God. This is a very serious issue, and it often makes me deeply angry. Many people have made the Covenant outwardly, but it has not been registered in the mind of God.
Why does this happen? Yesterday, a young woman shared a powerful testimony. In the middle of her testimony, she said something very bluntly. Even while using the Covenant oil and the Covenant salt, and even while distributing the newsletters, she was not truly convinced. In other words, she was saying honestly that she did not have much faith.
She and her family were doing the practices of the Covenant, but mechanically. They were doing everything, yet without conviction, without faith, and without truly entrusting themselves. This is hypocrisy. That is what makes me angry. If we are not convinced, we should not take the Covenant casually. Before taking the Covenant, there is homework. One part of that homework is to sit and listen to the testimonies. When we listen to ten or twenty testimonies, conviction begins to grow. Conviction is an important matter. Before the Covenant, conviction must be brushed up and strengthened.
Hebrews 11:1 says: "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."
The intentions we write in the Covenant and the blessings we are going to receive may not be ready-made at that moment. They may not be instantly visible. We may not receive them immediately. But the assurance that we will receive them in God is important.
When people without this assurance do the practices of the Covenant, everything becomes mechanical. It becomes hypocrisy. It becomes deceit. A part of our dealing with God is always unseen.
For example, if we are facing foreclosure, can we see any way out at that moment? No. It is unseen. There may be a huge property dispute, a partition agreement that is not happening, or a situation that appears impossible. We do not know how it will be resolved peacefully. Then what do we have? We have assurance in God.
That is why I ask: why do those who lack this assurance take the Covenant?
Yesterday that woman said, "Even while I was doing all this, I did not have much faith." That is not right. In many of our issues, half the matter is in God's hands. If we do not believe that, what are we doing?
Recently, another woman named Nitha Deens shared her testimony. She was working in Dubai as a good nurse and earning a decent salary. But because she could not bring her husband and live with her children there, she resigned. After resigning, she went to New Zealand.
Those who go to New Zealand often hope that from there, moving to Australia may become easier. But in Nitha's case, her visa was valid only for six months. She spent five months and three weeks of that visa without getting a single job. Only one week remained. Her situation became very painful. She had left a stable job in Dubai, and now relatives, neighbors, and others began to criticize and pressure her.
Life itself is a risk. But there is such a thing as taking a risk with God. To live with God is the only true risk we must take. Those who take that risk with God often score very highly.
What is the risk of living with God? It requires a firm stance. For the first few years, we and God are often in a battle. Our interests, even when we proclaim them aloud, are often not aligned with God's ways. Our thoughts, our plans, our gains, our deceit, our tricks, and our carnal nature continue to struggle against God.
Because God does not move forward with the carnal self, we are likely to fall. But when we fall and are bruised, the Holy Spirit gently teaches us. He may tell us, "Is it not because of your own ways that this trouble came upon you? If you had walked faithfully in the spirit of the Gospel, this would not have happened."
The Holy Spirit teaches us to walk with God. In the initial years of living with God, there can be a fierce war between our worldly spirit and God's ways. The real risk is allowing God to win that war. We should not win; God must win in us.
Even Jesus, because He became fully human, was not exempt from this battle. That is why the temptation in the wilderness happened. In Christ, God was victorious. Until the end, Jesus declared, "You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him alone shall you serve." In every temptation, the glory belonged to God, not to the self.
The Holy Spirit in Christ knew how to conquer temptation. He is like a master who teaches the right moves. During a World Cup, a referee has value, but the Holy Spirit is more than a referee. He is a guide. He teaches us the strategies and techniques to win. Yet in the end, the victory must belong to God.
This struggle does not last forever for those who live sincerely with God. When we pray, "Lead us not into temptation," we are asking God to keep us from temptation. If God wills, He can protect us from it. If we become people after God's own heart, temptations lose their power over us. When a person becomes truly God's own, God places His seal upon that person.
Jesus Himself says in John 6:27: "Do not work for the food that perishes, but work for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, for on Him God the Father has set His seal of approval."
This seal of approval reveals that God can keep His own people away from temptations. A person who belongs to God walks in God's ways. Even if they suffer loss, they stand for the truth. Even for personal gain, they will not lie. By speaking truth, we may face defeat or loss, but God sees that sincerity. Even overcoming small temptations brings great reward in God, because He sees the sincerity of the heart.
Now return to Nitha. Out of her six-month visa, five months and three weeks had passed. She had only one week left. She said she submitted three hundred applications in a single day. Just imagine that suffering. Over six months, she had sent thousands of applications, yet no job came, not even an interview call.
Finally, she booked a ticket to return home. When tickets are booked at the last moment, they become extremely expensive. She had delayed booking because she hoped that a job would come at any moment. But even after booking the return ticket, Nitha had one investment: she had registered in her life that she was bound by a Covenant with God. That was her victory. Even though five months passed without a job, she did not disrupt a single condition of the Covenant. She did not break it. This is a great thing.
Some people, when a job is delayed, wake up late, go late for Holy Mass, stop giving alms, delay distributing newsletters, or neglect apostolic works. If even one of the Covenant conditions is deliberately neglected, such a person is removed from the register of faithfulness. There is no place for hypocrisy in the Covenant.
You cannot bargain with God by saying, "I did four things, only one is left." When you stood before the altar, you proclaimed the Covenant through the intercession of the Blessed Mother and promised to fulfill these things. If you have taken five conditions, you must fulfill those five in every weather and circumstance. That is honesty. That is faithfulness. That is why it is called a Covenant.
As for Nitha, even without a job, even after submitting countless applications, none of that affected her commitment to the Covenant. She continued the Covenant faithfully. She went for Holy Mass every day. One morning, there was a terrible hailstorm. In such countries, hail can fall like heavy blocks of ice. No one would step outside in such weather. The Malayalis around Nitha told her not to go. They warned her that if she met with an accident, no one would even pick her up from the street. But the Holy Spirit told her to go. The Word says, "To protect you in all your ways, I will command My angels."
She went and remained in the church even after Holy Mass. While she was sitting there, an incident happened. A lady wearing a blue sari entered the church. In that English church, no one normally wore a sari. Even our people abroad usually do not wear saris except for cultural occasions. But this lady, about fifty-five years old, came in wearing a blue sari. She walked behind Nitha, touched her, and asked, "What happened?" Nitha replied, "I still have not found a job. I am going back home."
Immediately, the lady gave her a slip of paper and said, "Call this number. You will get a job." Then she turned and walked away. Nitha asked her name, and the lady replied, "Maria." To those hearing this for the first time, it may sound unbelievable. But to those who live the Covenant, it will not sound strange, because many similar experiences have happened. The person who appears in such moments often reveals her name as Maria. This is not an isolated event. The Covenant is moving in a way beyond our grasp. In this era of the Covenant, a new era of spiritual experience is beginning. God is fulfilling the promises He made to His people in their times of tears.
Psalm 57:1 says: "Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in thee my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of thy wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by."
Nitha was living through a storm of destruction. She was about to return home after losing money, losing time, and failing to get a job. Yet she remained seated in the church under the wings of the Lord. This is called taking refuge.
Refuge is greater than ordinary faith. In faith, there may still be some trembling. But in refuge, there is no other option. It means, "In God alone, I take refuge. I only need to live in Him."
Some people say, "Whether through science, IVF, or any other way, I just need a child." They do not ask whether it aligns with the teaching of the Church or whether it is God's will. That is one stance. But another person says, "If I must have a child, the Lord must give the child. Otherwise, I do not want a child that the Lord does not give." That is the stance of refuge.
The reason many people fail in faith is because of flaws in their stance. A true blessing comes when a person stands firmly on the Word of God even when another option is available.
Nitha did not leave the presence of God. During the storm of destruction, she remained under the wings of the Lord. Many people face such storms, but not all remain under His wings while the storm passes. Some look for solutions outside God's ways. They think, "A job is what matters. I need to survive first." Then they make decisions outside the ways of God. If we once decide, "If I get the chance, I will cheat God," that becomes our standard for future decisions. This is why we must be careful about our stance.
For this reason, Confession is required every two weeks. Those who cannot go to sacramental Confession must keep their conscience clear, because the Covenant is made with God. It is not a Covenant with a job, a house, a pension, PR, or any specific intention. We cannot make a Covenant with a benefit or blessing. We make the Covenant with God.
Nitha called the number given to her. It turned out to be the number of a Malayali WhatsApp group with fifty people. She wrote, "I am leaving the country tomorrow. I have been here for six months and still have not found a job. If there is a job in any hospital you know of, please let me know."
Out of fifty people, forty-six did not respond. Four responded. Three were engineers and said they were sorry because they were not in the medical field. One person replied, "Wait, there may be a possibility for a job at my wife's hospital." He gave her the hospital number. Within no time, she was appointed there immediately.
If she had stayed home because of the hailstorm, she would have returned empty-handed. The hailstorm itself became part of the test. Before a grace is poured out, there may be a temptation to give up. Overcoming that moment depends on the working of the Holy Spirit within us.
Before every blessing, there can be tension, trial, and tribulation. Sometimes there may be sickness, vomiting, fever, headaches, or other attacks. Sometimes there may be conflicts at home, division in the family, silent treatment, suspicion, hostility, or isolation. The people who once loved us may stop talking to us. Those who do not know God may try to suppress or dominate us. Do not mind these things. The storm of destruction will pass. What must we do? We must remain hidden beneath the wings of the Lord.
Whenever adverse climates arise in life, whether you are a man or a woman, remember that these are opportunities to show greater sincerity toward your Covenant and to uphold faithfulness. Do not let worldly thoughts take over. Do not think, "Even after suffering so much, I have reached nowhere." Instead, when tribulation comes, show greater holiness and deeper sincerity to your Covenant. When you do that, you remain safe under the wings of the Lord, and the storm will pass.
This is why the Covenant stands above other prayers in this matter. In adverse climates, we have firm ground on which to stand. That firm ground is the Covenant life. We must focus on the Covenant life and ask: how much intimacy can I build with God through this Covenant? We must not harbor hatred. We must not harm those who harmed us. We must not wish suffering upon those who grieved us. We must not rejoice at the downfall of our enemies. Those are demonic traits, and they must not be within us.
You are God's Covenant partner. Do not lose the worthiness of that partnership. If you feel secret joy when your enemy suffers and think, "She deserved it," then the holiness of the Covenant is gone. God does not carry forward an envious person who rejoices at the fall of an enemy.
Romans 12:14 says: "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them."
This is the stance of a Covenant child. Even if the thought of cursing remains only as a memory in the mind, it can affect the Covenant. Above all else, the Covenant relationship must be protected.
The storm of destruction may come in many ways, but we ourselves must ensure that we remain under His wings. Nitha fulfilled the Covenant and remained under the wings of the Lord. When the appointed time came, the Lord lifted her up.
For every matter, there are promises in the Word. When the time is right, the Lord will establish you.
Once you have renewed the Covenant three or five times, you must become more meticulous. God may be speaking through many events around you. Often, He is communicating with you, but because of a distracted and careless mind, you do not listen.
Recently, I heard another testimony that I loved very much. It was shared by Siby Shijo from Kollam. Her testimony is wonderful and in some ways even more interesting than Nitha's. Nitha had education, experience, and a degree, so there was at least a distant confidence that she could secure a job somewhere. But Siby did not even have that distant confidence.
Her husband had a small job, and they had two children. When children are small, some mothers do not want to go for work because they deeply desire to raise their children well. They think, "Even if we struggle, let me raise the children myself." Others give birth and immediately return to work. Both situations may be right in their own contexts.
In Siby's case, she had never seriously thought about what job she could do. When the children were around four and two years old, household expenses increased. Her husband's income was no longer enough. She felt, truthfully and sincerely, that she had a responsibility to help her husband and raise the children.
But she had no idea what job to pursue. In that state, she came and made a Covenant. If sincere people make the Covenant, they do not necessarily need anything else. The difficulty comes when people without sincerity make the Covenant. Some people see the Covenant as a burden: "Now I have to wake up at 5:30. Now I have to distribute the Kreupasanam newspaper."
Just yesterday, a young girl told me, "My mother has made the Covenant four times, but I did not make it. I thought, why should I carry this newspaper around and give it to people? Won't people mock me? I cannot wake up at 5:30 either. That is why I did not take the Covenant."
For some people, the Covenant is a burden. Yet some who see it as a burden still come and test God. That creates trouble not only for themselves but also scandalizes those who sincerely live the Covenant.
Siby had previously lived under the spiritual care of her mother. Her mother had taken the Covenant, and many things were happening through her mother's prayers. But after a while, God stopped allowing those blessings to come through her mother in the same way. There comes a time when the spirituality received through a mother's generosity will no longer work for a child. When a mother comes and speaks about her child, I often ask, "Where is she?" If the child is lying at home while pushing the mother forward to pray and act, that cannot continue. Every person must take responsibility before God.
Dealings with God must come under one's own responsibility. Siby began to take charge of her own life. She found the Lord personally, invested herself in the Covenant, and moved forward faithfully. God responded to her life, and that is why she testified.
When a person stands cleanly and steadfastly in the presence of God, love for God grows. Siby already had love for God, and through the Covenant, that love increased. By the second or third renewal itself, God began responding to her life.
She had no idea what job she could do. But after renewing the Covenant for the third time, she received the thought that she could go abroad. She first thought of going to Israel. But on the very day she decided that, an aunty came and asked her, "Have you decided to go to Israel? Then are you taking your husband?" Siby replied that she could not take him. The aunty said, "Then Italy is better for you."
That is the benefit of being in the Covenant. If we are about to make a wrong decision, and if it could harm us or if there is a better provision, the Blessed Mother will send someone to correct us.
So Siby proceeded with Italy. Her greatest fear was the visa interview. She had never attended such an interview before. She memorized many things, but when she reached the Italy VFS center, she was trembling terribly.
The moment the lady conducting the interview saw her, she said warmly, "Good morning, Madam." With that, Siby melted completely. The person interviewing her spoke as if she had known Siby for many years. She smiled, exchanged a few words, and said, "Okay, your visa is approved."
If the Blessed Mother takes up a matter, she places her people in every department. This is not an isolated incident. At Kreupasanam, this happens often. If the Blessed Mother feels that you have truly embraced the Covenant, then wherever you go, she will place her own people there.
I remember my own American visa interview. I had gone to Calcutta for the interview. When you go for an American visa interview, they do not even give you a chair. People stand outside on the road holding their files. I saw an elderly couple coming out devastated because their visa had been rejected. Their children were in America, and they had come hoping to visit them. Seeing them crushed affected me deeply.
When my turn came, I realized that I had left behind some important papers at the hotel. I was in trouble. I kept praying the Rosary. There was a white officer at counter number five who had been rejecting many people. I expected him to reject mine too. But just as I reached the counter, he was removed from there, and a Black lady took his place. She asked one question: "Where do you live?" Then she said, "Okay, give it two weeks. The visa will be approved."
When the Blessed Mother intervenes, whole departments shift. Changes happen, and no one can stand against us. But we must show the same exactness and strictness toward God that Mother Mary shows toward us. We must convince her that we are dealing with God in the Covenant with absolute sincerity. Once she is convinced, the rest will be arranged by her. We do not need to arrange everything ourselves.
After Siby's interview, a month passed with no result. She was traveling from Kollam to Kreupasanam to renew her Covenant for the fifth time. By the time the bus reached Kayamkulam, she had completed two rosaries. She asked the Blessed Mother, "Mother, it has been a month. I have no idea what is happening. There is no response, no reply. When will I be able to go? Will I ever be able to go?"
As she looked outside, she saw writing forming in the clouds. She called her sister-in-law beside her and asked, "Do you see anything in the sky?" Her sister replied, "I see 7 and 23." Siby said, "I also see 7 and 23." Her testimony was this: that very day, her visa was stamped on the seventh page of her passport, and she was scheduled to travel on June 23.
This is the Covenant. Since the creation of the world, has God communicated so clearly with the struggles of human life through letters, words, signs, and inner conviction in such a way? It is a beautiful reality.
When I, your priest, tell you this, my children, you must show more truthfulness and faithfulness. More than your job and intentions, the Covenant itself is paramount.
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. If Fr. V.P. Joseph believes that any content here infringes upon his rights, I will remove it immediately upon his request.
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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