My brothers and sisters, we must approach every retreat with the desire that it may raise us to a higher level in our experience of God. Every Covenant Retreat is a divine plan of prayer for these new times. When it comes to these prayer plans for the new times, I now have great joy and confidence. Why do I say that? Because we face struggles in so many different areas of life. Yet for those who are wrestling with life in all these different ways, God's presence is very close and deeply personal. I am not merely saying that God is near. When we listen to the testimonies of those living the Covenant, what we see is a warm, personal, and friendly presence of God.
So, my brothers and sisters, I feel that what is needed from you is a little more investment. As I journey with this Covenant together with you, and as I examine both your experiences and mine from every angle, what I have come to understand is this: the Covenant formula is correct. It is thoroughly biblical. That is why respected bishops and theologians do not speak against it.
"Do whatever He tells you." Through whose intercession? Through the intercession of the Blessed Mother. But who is given the primary place there? Christ. This is not simply a Marian prayer. Rather, it is a Christocentric, Christ-centered Gospel prayer plan.
One difficulty I have noticed, however, is that our brothers and sisters often approach the Covenant with a very material-oriented mindset. What do I mean by "material"? Suppose we are experiencing some difficulty in life, perhaps a problem concerning a job or anxieties concerning our children. We then tune the entire Covenant toward that particular need.
The problem is that the Covenant is capable of producing something far greater than that. What concerns me is whether, by doing this, we are making God smaller. Because our approach to the Covenant is somewhat distorted, we may be reducing our experience of God, or even reducing God Himself, to the limits of our particular need. We confine God within the boundaries of what we presently want. Then, when we give testimony, we might say, "I was 32 years old and still unmarried," or, "I was 35. I made the Covenant, and suddenly my marriage took place." But the problem there is that your entire attention has been concentrated upon that one particular matter.
Instead, shift your focus a little. Ask yourself: "How can I grow into new experiences of God?" How did I come to understand this? Look at what happens when the angel comes to the Blessed Mother. What does the angel speak to her about? He speaks about a new experience of God.
Luke 1:28 says, "Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you."
What we need to understand here is this: when it says, "The Lord is with you," what is being referred to is the presence of God. "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you." If we examine this carefully, what do we understand? If we too become filled with grace like the Blessed Mother, we can experience the presence of God.
So the challenge before us is actually very simple. If we too become filled with God's grace like this, we will be able to experience the presence of God. It is very simple logic, isn't it? We only need to pay attention to a few things. If we target the heart, that is enough.
To become filled with grace, we do not need to take our entire life, all our concerns, and everything about ourselves as one enormous bulk and try to concentrate on all of it at once. We need to concentrate on just one faculty. Which faculty? The heart. And when I say "heart," I do not mean the biological heart. The biological heart that you study in biology is a kind of motor within us. It keeps pumping continuously, doesn't it? When you really think about it, it is an extraordinary thing. It functions through electrical impulses and continues pumping. When that pumping stops, blood circulation stops. When blood cannot circulate properly to all parts of the body, problems arise. Haven't you seen some people whose legs become darkened and shriveled? The blood reaches there but does not circulate back properly. So biologically, the heart is essentially involved in this pumping process, and medicine has various procedures for dealing with problems related to it.
But when the Bible speaks about the heart, it is not referring merely to this biological motor. The biblical heart is something deeper. It is associated with our emotions, our devotion, our love for God, and it can also become the dwelling place of evil. Both possibilities are there.
Jeremiah 17:9 says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately corrupt."
One difficulty with the heart is that it contains both black and white. When we speak of good spiritual engineering, of spiritual formation, what are we trying to do? We are trying to increase the whiteness of the heart. That is often how I try to train you.
For example, we Catholics go to Confession. I am also a confessor. When people come to me for Confession, they tell me about their sins. But what do I do? I look for the source. First, I try to discover whether the source itself can be blocked, because "the heart is deceitful above all things." The source is there. So when people tell me about the things they have committed, I do not always address the sin directly.
Think about a fever. A fever itself is not necessarily the disease. It is often a symptom of some underlying illness. Similarly, when someone comes to Confession saying, "I have this problem, I have that problem," it can be like saying that the soul has a fever or that the soul has a headache. So what do I look at? I look at how the whole body can become healthy, because when it happens, those symptoms can begin to disappear. Therefore, I try to make the spiritual body healthy. How? I may ask: "Tell me all the good things you did this week." There can be many of them, many good things that simply pass by unnoticed because we never pay attention to them. It does not matter whether you did them for members of your own family. It does not matter if you did something good for birds, for animals, or even for plants. We are living together with all of creation. We must always have that awareness.
When God created the world, He created all these things before creating us. We cannot simply say, "Everything was created for us," and then exploit creation excessively. If we do that, eventually we ourselves will not be able to survive. Somewhere, something has gone wrong, hasn't it? Look at places such as Spain and Ireland. People are looking to the skies hoping for rain. Temperatures have reached around 50 degrees in some places. We cannot even imagine it. Here, we have not reached 50 degrees. We are still around 32 or 33 degrees. Places that once experienced freezing conditions are now facing such heat that people find it difficult to manage. Many homes do not even have air-conditioning because traditionally they did not need it.
In Germany and in Scandinavian countries, for example, air-conditioning and even fans were traditionally far less necessary. But when severe heat comes, suddenly people begin searching for air-conditioners and fans, while the infrastructure and supply were never built around such demand. A brother speaking to me recently mentioned that in Malta people were even struggling to get a small table fan. These are things we were not accustomed to hearing. The climate has truly changed.
So what am I trying to say? As we form our hearts to become more conscious of how we live and the good we do, we can grow into a deeper experience of God. That is why I ask people, “What good things did you do this week?” They may then realize that they actually did many good things.
Let me give you the example of Malavika from Pathanamthitta. Her husband's name is Prashanth. This is a case study. Malavika speaks about what her life was like before the Covenant and after the Covenant. It is very interesting to hear. One thing she said particularly caught my attention: "Before the Covenant, I would not even look at another person's face. If I was walking along the road, I minded my own business. If I went to a shop, I bought what I needed and quickly returned home. "But now I am no longer like that. Now I notice everyone." Look at the change in a person. Why does she notice people now? She says: "I look at them and ask myself whether Jesus can do something for them through me. I ask myself whether Jesus can use me in some way for that person. "If I notice that someone seems to need something, I go to them and ask, 'What happened? Why are you troubled?'" This is what I meant when I said that the whiteness of the heart must continually increase.
The Covenant is a very precise treatment for the human interior. Within every human being there is both white and black. We already spoke about the black side when we read Jeremiah 17: "The heart is deceitful above all things." But we do not have to accept the deceitfulness of the heart as though it were our permanent fate. We can reduce the blackness. And how can it be reduced? Look at what Malavika has begun doing. Now look at yourselves. All of us have been Christians for so many years. She had made the Covenant only the previous week. It had only been a week since she entered into the Covenant. And yet, look how quickly she began to change after making the Covenant. She was being transformed completely.
There is something we need to understand about the Covenant. The reason I do not preach by shouting intensely like some preachers of the Word is that this is not a proclamation retreat. This is a teaching retreat. There are different kinds of retreats. What you usually see at conventions are proclamation retreats. That is appropriate. Those are retreats meant for the preliminary stage. But our purpose here is different. Our purpose is to deepen those who already know God. A proclamation retreat is meant to make God known to those who do not know Him. But what is needed to deepen those who already know Him? A teaching retreat. And what is distinctive about a teaching retreat? We take a subject and examine it systematically: What is it? How does it work? What must be done? In other words, we explain the know-how. We give you the knowledge and the spiritual principles behind it, its spiritual engineering.
And when we explain these things, we also take certain people as models. Malavika is one such model. Why is Malavika a model? Because in Christianity, she is a fresh hand.
When she received the Bible, our intention was not to baptize her or to convert her religion. That is not our purpose. What is our purpose? Every person must receive Christ. Whatever consequences I may have to face for taking that position, I will face them, because this is the position I stand by: every person must receive Christ. Why? Because this has been God's desire from the beginning: God desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
1 Timothy 2:4 says that God "desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."
That is what He desires. Now, when we say that everyone must come to know the truth, who is the Truth? Jesus said, "I am the Truth," didn't He? No one else in the world has said this.
John 14:6 says, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."
My dear children, you have come here in the morning on the Lord's Day to listen to the Word of God and to participate in the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. You must recognize how deeply God loves you. This is an extraordinary blessing. Our problems are being resolved. Why? Because the Lord has called us close to Himself. Isn't that what has happened? He has called us to Himself.
Mark 3:13 says, "Then He went up the mountain and called to Him those whom He wanted, and they came to Him."
He called those whom He desired to come close to Him. This morning, on the Lord's Day, the Lord has called you close to Himself. You may have debts. You may have a job problem. You may be facing many different struggles. But the Lord has called you close to Him. Why has He called you? Because He calls those whom He desires. So you do not need to underestimate yourself. Whatever shortcomings you may have had in the past, whatever mistakes you may have made, God has written them off. If there were shortcomings, mistakes, or sinful situations in your past, remember this: God loves you more than all of those things. That is why He has called you close to Himself.
Some of you wake up as early as three o'clock in the morning and leave your homes so that you can come here to worship the Lord and listen to His Word. You leave home before dawn. That itself reflects a very high level of anointing. In spite of every obstacle, the Lord has taken you by the hand and brought you here. During the season of your tears, the Lord Himself is holding your hand. Now, what should we pray for? One risk I see is that many people live under tremendous pressure. There are many different kinds of pressure in life, and people allow themselves to become enslaved by them.
A man named Joseph John recently shared his testimony. His problem was that he eventually had to resign from a job because he was being pressured to work on Sundays. After working on Sunday once or twice, something within him began telling him: "This is not where you should be working." "You should not continue working here." The reason many of us do not take this seriously enough is that the Lord has commanded us to keep His day holy. Yet there are workplaces where people simply cannot observe the Lord's Day in that way. Some people face this difficulty because their employers do not share their faith. The person employing us may have no faith at all. They are under no obligation to know Christ. Naturally, when we work there, we may become bound by the requirements of that employment.
But what do we pray? Do we not pray: "Lead us not into temptation"? In other words: "Do not lead me into situations where I may lose the grace of God." But, my children, there is a problem. The problem is not with the prayer. The problem is with the sincerity behind the prayer.
Do you know one mistake people make in prayer?
Suppose we pray intensely about one particular matter. We may pray loudly and with great emotion. Yet our heart may not truly mean what our mouth is saying. The reason is that many prayers lack sincerity underneath. For example, we pray: "Lead us not into temptation." But, if we are completely honest, sometimes we do not truly want to live without entering into temptation. That is the problem.
We pray: "Do not allow me to fall into temptation." But do you actually mean it? That is the question. Do you genuinely want to avoid temptation? When we examine ourselves honestly, we may immediately feel uncomfortable. Because if we really pray not to fall into temptation, remaining outside that temptation may sometimes cost us something.
For example, suppose there is pressure to falsify an account. That is a temptation. You are being asked to write false figures. But if you refuse that temptation, then you must write the true figures.
And writing the true figures may cause you to lose money. There may be a financial loss. We must learn to deal with this beautifully and faithfully. Scripture even speaks about accepting loss in order to remain faithful.
Psalm 15 asks, "Lord, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy mountain?"
It answers by describing the one who walks blamelessly, speaks truth from the heart, refuses slander and wrongdoing, honours those who fear the Lord, and "keeps an oath even when it causes personal loss." When life brings us into situations like these, sometimes we hit a wall.
We become stuck. At that point, some people realize: "Lord, what I am doing is wrong." Then we must pray sincerely: "Lord, do not allow me to enter into such temptations." Why is this difficult? Because temptation often places before us a choice between God and material advantage. That is what temptation is. On one side is God. On the other side is some worldly benefit. The life many of us are presently living is an adjustment life. A little bit of God. A little bit of dishonesty. A little cheating. A little manipulation. And somehow we adjust everything and continue living.
But there is very little room for that kind of adjusted life within the Covenant. Then you may ask: "Father, how are we supposed to live? Isn't the whole world dishonest?" You may think: "If everyone else is taking advantage, how can I survive if I refuse?" But if you make a firm decision and slowly begin remaining before the Lord, you can pray: "Lord, I have fallen into a trap. Please rescue me." "I do not see another way. Help me." If God sees that you are genuinely troubled by living contrary to His Word, and that you sincerely desire to live according to His will, not mechanically but sincerely, then the Lord will gradually bring you into the right place. Slowly, He will lead you there.
We must also be careful about competition with others. There is tremendous competition in the world. Suppose someone competing with you gains ten lakh rupees through dishonest means. Then the temptation comes: "If they made ten lakh that way, I should do the same and make eleven lakh." That is how competition can pull us deeper into temptation. But there is a point here where self-restraint is necessary. You must be able to say: "Rather than gaining eleven lakh through dishonesty, I will be content with two lakh earned honestly." Rather than earning ten lakh by cheating the government or evading taxes, you should be satisfied with the two lakh you receive without tax evasion or dishonesty. This is where the challenge of being a Christian becomes real.
Others may not live under these principles. They may do as they please. But a Christian cannot simply do whatever he wants. Why? Because the Christian has another standard.
Let me speak from my own experience. On December 7, 2004, when Jesus was present here in the Eucharist, the Blessed Mother appeared here. For about five years afterward, I remained almost motionless regarding it because I did not know what to do. If I openly said, "The Blessed Mother appeared here," what would people think?
At one point, some of our brothers, including Thankachan and Sunny, went to invite an elderly bishop in Kerala for one of our events. When they explained that the rally had begun in connection with the apparition of the Blessed Mother here, the bishop immediately asked: "To whom did she appear?" They replied: "She appeared to Joseph." The bishop's first response was: "Will anyone believe something like that simply because Joseph says it?" There was nothing unreasonable about his question. I myself had thought the same thing. If I told people about it, would they think this was some kind of gimmick to gather crowds? And if crowds began gathering, the Church would be responsible for what happened, not merely me. After all, I am only a humble servant within the Church.
The Catholic Church is a worldwide Church with clear structures, canon law, theology, and proper authority to question, investigate, study, discern, explain, and guide people. So if every person began claiming, "This appeared to me," or, "That appeared to me," the Church could simply stop that person, suspend them, or take appropriate action. I knew that. So I remained quiet for about five years. I prayed and prayed the continuous Rosary. But I still did not know what to do. I would say to the Blessed Mother: "Mother, if I tell people this, I am the only one who saw you. No one else saw you." Naturally, when people heard Father Joseph speak about it, they would ask: "Did anyone else see it?" That question itself reveals their doubt: "Did Joseph really see something, or did he only imagine it?" That is the kind of question people would ask.
But about five years later, I went to Vadipatti. I had received my doctorate from Madurai University, and I went there to give thanks to the Blessed Mother because Vadipatti was nearby.
But when I reached there, I felt that I should not go inside. It was as though the Blessed Mother was telling me: "You do not need to enter here." Why? Because what had happened here was far more specific. The clock she wore was not some insignificant detail. Her clothing was silver-grey, a colour not normally associated with her apparitions. Silver-grey is associated with the end times, changing seasons, and disaster. And in the centre of her chest was not the Immaculate Heart as we usually depict it, but a clock. The image of the Immaculate Heart that is now installed here is not the exact form of what appeared. What appeared was really a clock, a timepiece. Its hands pointed to a particular time.
Only if the Church one day studies the matter and becomes convinced of the authenticity of the apparition can we lawfully install an image representing the apparition exactly as it occurred.
But when I reached Vadipatti, I obeyed and did not enter. I prayed outside and left sorrowfully. Think about it. I had travelled about thirty kilometres from Madurai and then left without entering. You can understand how serious the matter felt to me. It became clear to me that the Blessed Mother regarded this issue very seriously. What did she expect from me? She expected me to speak boldly about what I had received. Her position was: "This is a matter of truth. If difficulties arise, you must face them. You must move forward." That was her attitude.
That is why, when I came to Vadipatti, it felt almost like a strict disciplinary action, as though I had been sent away. But within about five minutes, a prayer suddenly came to my heart: "May the plan of grace desired by the Blessed Mother be fulfilled in Kreupasanam and in our families." See what a small prayer it was. At first, this was called the Decennial Prayer. Why? Because it was after those years that the Blessed Mother gave this prayer. At Kreupasanam, we prayed it for only about six months. At that time, very few people were coming here. Sometimes there would be only one prayer gathering in a week or even in a month. On the first Tuesday, perhaps only a handful of people would come. Yet this prayer had begun.
I told one of our brothers: "Go to Malayattoor. Stand at the foot of the hill and give this prayer to the people coming down after praying there." So he distributed this small prayer to them: "May the plan of grace desired by the Blessed Mother be fulfilled." People prayed it for about six months. And then the Blessed Mother gave the Covenant. Only afterward did we begin to understand. The important point was not merely that the Covenant was given. After giving the Covenant, the Blessed Mother began accompanying those who lived it sincerely. That is what we are seeing now.
A few days ago, there was another testimony from Susan of Thiruvalla. Susan was working somewhere in the Gulf. The salary she was earning there was not enough to support herself, her husband, and their children. Then one day, unexpectedly, someone gave her a small medal or token of the Kreupasanam Mother. At that time, she had already been thinking: "Should I change my job? Should I resign and move somewhere else?" But she was afraid. If she left her present job and failed to find another one, even the little security they had would disappear. Everything could collapse. The family might even struggle for food. So, she could not make a decision.
It was at that moment that the Blessed Mother entered into her life through that small medal. When Susan received it, the Holy Spirit gave her an inner assurance: "From now on, the Kreupasanam Mother will steer everything concerning your life. Mother will be with you. So be bold." There was still the matter of the OSCE examination and other challenges, but the message was: "Be bold."
What did Susan do then? The very first thing she did was clean the entire house. Look at the different ways people approach these things. She swept the whole house, removed the dust and dirt, cleaned everything thoroughly, and put the house in order. Why? Because she thought: "Mother is going to come and live in this house." From that point, her life began to change.
Some people receive the Covenant very sincerely in a physical and practical way, not merely as something spiritual. Others receive it only spiritually. They place their intentions before the Blessed Mother, keep a candle at home, and pray when they have an urgent need. That is a spiritual approach.
But some people receive it as a physical Covenant. What do I mean by that? They allow the Covenant to take over their whole life. Just as the Holy Spirit comes and sanctifies everything, they begin sanctifying the whole of their daily life. Then they begin investing themselves into the Covenant.
Susan first made the Covenant online. Later, when she returned to Kerala, she made the Covenant here in person. Then she boldly resigned from her job in the Gulf. When the Blessed Mother begins intervening in our lives, a remarkable confidence can arise within us. Why? Because we begin trusting that she will help set these matters in order.
There are difficult qualifying examinations in different countries. For example, when someone completes medical studies abroad and later returns to India, there may be another qualifying examination to practise here. Likewise, the OSCE examination has a strict cut-off and can be extremely difficult. You may pass, or you may not. But the Blessed Mother's message to Susan was: "You will receive it. I will obtain it for you."
The authority of the Blessed Mother is beyond what we can easily comprehend. What kind of authority does she have? Look at the way she speaks even to Jesus. She asks Him: "Son, why have You done this to us?" Who else can speak to Jesus like that? She can look directly at the Lord and say: "Jesus, why did You do this to us? Your father and I have been searching for You in great distress." She possesses the intimacy and authority to express even her anguish directly before Him. And finally, when Jesus is hanging upon the Cross, He says to John: "Behold, your mother." At that moment, He entrusts her as the Mother of all believers and the Mother of the whole mission of the Church. That detail could have been omitted if it were insignificant. But it was not insignificant.
Think about the condition Jesus was in on the Cross. His entire body had been wounded. He was hanging there, struggling even to breathe, deprived of oxygen and gasping for air. Yet in that moment, He still speaks about His Mother and entrusts her to the disciple. What does that tell us? It means that even amid His struggle for breath, this was of tremendous importance to Him.
Susan gave tremendous importance to this grace. Afterward, she resigned from her job in the Gulf and went directly to New Zealand. She went there to take the OSCE examination. And remember, this was not a move she made alone. The entire family went. Her husband, Susan herself, and their two children all went together. Did she have a job there? No, she did not. She went with only one assurance: "Mother will give me a job." That was her confidence.
While they were in New Zealand, they went to a church for Holy Mass. After Mass, they came outside and saw two or three white people. Susan approached them and offered them the English edition of the Kreupasanam newspaper. One of them objected: "We don't accept things like this. Be rational." Even then, Susan did not simply fold the newspaper and walk away. She somehow tried to convince him: "It isn't like what you think. Just read it. Just read at least one page." Look at how much she negotiated just to get this man to accept a copy of the Kreupasanam newspaper.
While they were still discussing it, a car passed by. Suddenly, the car stopped. A woman got out of the car, came over, and said to the man: "This is from the place in Kerala where the Blessed Mother appeared. Just keep this newspaper with you. It will be enough. You will be saved." Immediately, the man accepted the newspaper. Then the woman got back into the car, and the car drove away. The Blessed Mother does many things like this.
My children, I want to make a humble request to you, but also to say this with a certain firmness: You need to show greater sincerity in this matter. Look at the sincerity these people demonstrate. These are what I call physical Covenant makers. They have entered into the Covenant with their whole lives. They are willing to struggle for it.
Susan was out there with the Kreupasanam newspaper, determined to give it to someone. That was her missionary work. Then the day of the OSCE examination arrived. Naturally, there was some fear within her. They were staying in a rented place or hotel there. Susan prayed: "Mother, my husband, my children, and I are all here. I am going for this OSCE examination. If I fail, we will have to return to Kerala. I no longer have my previous job, and I don't have a job here either. Mother, are you with me?" And the Blessed Mother seemed to tell her: "Look outside." When she looked outside, there was a rainbow stretched across the sky. This is what I mean when I speak about those who live the Covenant physically and practically.
I think it would be good for you to shift the way you live your Covenant, from merely a spiritual Covenant toward a truly practical, embodied Covenant. The Blessed Mother responds powerfully to this. When God sees that we are sincere, "I will live for this. I will invest myself in this. I will invest my life in this Covenant," then, my children, you will have reason to look back and see what God has done.
Susan completed the OSCE examination. She passed. And almost immediately, the matter of her job was settled as well. Her appointment was cleared. Everything happened very quickly.
When we speak about the Covenant bringing an immediate solution, it truly can be an immediate solution. But for whom? Not merely for those who keep the Covenant at a purely spiritual level, but for those who live it concretely and practically. There are some Covenant makers who say: "Let me wait and see. Let me first receive a sign. Then I will step out and do something." For them, things may move a little more slowly. The blessings can still come, but they may come slowly. Yet there is no need for it to be so slow. That is not how the Blessed Mother spoke to me. She spoke about an immediate solution.
If something is genuinely good for you, both now and in the days ahead, the Blessed Mother will not unnecessarily delay that blessing. But if something is not happening, even though you keep pursuing it, then examine your intention. Ask yourself: "What is really behind this desire?" Go back to the beginning and examine how that thought first came to you. Sometimes the original thought itself may have been mistaken.
Perhaps the desire arose because one of your friends succeeded in something. Perhaps you saw someone else enjoying a better life and began wanting the same thing. Perhaps the decision arose because of some other pressure. If that is the case, then the way forward is to live the Covenant concretely and practically, so that your sincerity becomes evident before God. This is one of the differences between what I call a spiritual Covenant and a physical Covenant. With a merely spiritual Covenant, there may be less concrete evidence of our commitment. But look at what Malavika said. She said, "I changed completely. I changed the way I approach life...Previously, I wouldn't even look at the faces of people I didn't know. I wouldn't approach strangers at all. But now I go to them myself and ask, 'Brother, what is the problem? Is something troubling you?'" And she says: "My husband and I now go every week to the home of a man who is bedridden."
Her husband, Prashanth, had applied in several places, including the Fire and Rescue Services in Pathanamthitta. But only four people were required there, while Prashanth's rank was 19. There was almost no chance that he would receive the appointment. Several years had already passed since the rank list had been published. When a rank list remains for too long without appointments being made, the candidates continue growing older. Eventually, the list itself may be cancelled. For teachers, age may not affect the work as much. They may continue teaching and keeping their minds active. But the Fire and Rescue Services require people to run, climb, carry equipment, fight fires, and perform physically demanding work. Naturally, they prefer younger candidates. So the Fire Force rank list was nearing cancellation.
At that point, Malavika told Prashanth: "We have entered into the Covenant. Mother will surely do something. Go to the Fire Force office and ask them." Prashanth went there. They asked him: "Have you applied?" Then they told him: "Your rank is 19. We do not need that many people here. If vacancies arise later, you may have to apply again. This rank list is now going to be cancelled." Naturally, he returned home disappointed. When he came home, he told Malavika: "There is no chance. They said the rank list is going to be cancelled." Then Malavika said: "Mother knows that we do not have a proper means of livelihood. If nothing happens, how are we going to live with these children?" Only someone who is living what I call a physical Covenant can speak with such confidence. They are trying, in practical terms, to live as closely as possible according to what the Lord asks: "What extraordinary thing are you doing?" Because of that, there is a certain credibility in their prayer.
So Malavika speaks to the Blessed Mother with that confidence: "Mother, if things continue like this, he will never receive this job. How are we supposed to live? We have two children. Are we not in a situation where we cannot manage? Mother, will You not do something?"
That night, Malavika had a dream. In the dream, she saw the number 715. A woman who had helped bring Malavika into the Covenant was guiding her at that time. So Malavika told her, "Sister, I saw a dream last night. I saw the number 715." Immediately, the woman replied: "My child, Mother has accepted your tears." Many people receive numbers like this in dreams. Sometimes the Blessed Mother seems to show something very clearly.
The very next day, a call came from the Pathanamthitta office. Malavika said: "I was shocked." She was astonished when she saw the appointment paper. Everything moved with extraordinary speed. She had seen the dream at night, and the very next day Prashanth was appointed. Then they understood what 715 meant. When was he appointed? July 15, 7/15.
This is how fast what I call the physical Covenant can work. This is how quickly things moved for Malavika. People like her will never forget the Lord. Their experiences themselves prevent them from forgetting Him. What we are seeing here is a kind of divine intervention, a presence, that many people may never have experienced even while reading the Bible. But this presence is not something new. It has always been part of the promise. There is a promise, isn't there? Your elders will dream dreams. Your young people will see visions.
Joel 2:28 says, "It shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit upon all people."
This is the point. "Upon all people." That includes people like Malavika. Upon all those who honour Christ and receive Him as Saviour, God says: "I will pour out My Spirit." And what comes next? "Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your old men shall dream dreams. Your young men shall see visions." Very often, dream and vision come together with the Covenant.
There was another testimony this week, from Shaji Mathew. Shaji Mathew's situation was similar. His family was also working in the Gulf. These days, many people in the Gulf are considering moving elsewhere because of instability and conflict in the region. We can see people gradually moving toward more peaceful countries, especially countries further east such as Australia or New Zealand. Even if people do not explicitly tell us this, their testimonies reveal the trend. A lot of this movement is coming from the Gulf.
Shaji Mathew's family was facing the same kind of difficulty. Permanent settlement is not easy in many Gulf countries. People often do not receive permanent residency. So families continue living there on employment visas, paying rent, and surviving on relatively modest salaries. Sometimes both husband and wife work, and even then they are simply adjusting and managing. It is a constant struggle to survive.
When you see NRIs (Non-Resident Indians), do not automatically assume that they are all financially secure. Many of them work extremely hard and live under tremendous pressure. There are also taxes and other expenses. So Shaji's wife eventually said: "I have qualifications. Why don't I try to move into a better job?" They were not changing countries at that stage. She simply wanted to move to a better-paying job in the same country.
She attended a particular interview, performed very well, received a good score, and was offered a significantly higher salary. Naturally, this was a great relief. So she resigned from her previous job. But then a problem arose. You know how it is. Many of the complications we create for ourselves eventually become something that Mother has to accompany us through.
Her former company filed a case against her, saying that she had failed to complete the required notice period. The notice period was three months. Normally, if you intend to leave that company, you must inform them three months in advance. That gives the company time to recruit another employee and prepare for your absence. That is the company's right. But in her case, although the required notice period was ninety days, she had left within about ten days. She had not properly served the notice period. She had not formally completed the process of informing the company and waiting until the required date. So the company had legal grounds to take action through HR. They filed a case. The matter went to court. Then she received official papers informing her that a travel ban had been imposed. The allegation was that she had acted improperly toward the company, caused the company losses, and left without fulfilling her obligations. A financial penalty was also imposed. The amount mentioned was around 8,833 dirhams.
So what happened? The wife had already resigned from the old job. But to join the new company, she needed a proper relieving order from the previous employer. Under the local rules, the new company could not formally take her on unless the previous company released her properly. She needed documentation confirming that her notice obligations had been completed and that she had been officially relieved from the old position. The case had already begun, and the situation had become so serious that there was even the possibility of legal detention. Everything had suddenly turned upside down.
What did they do immediately? They made the online Covenant. And do you know what people often do as soon as they make the Covenant online? They usually do two things. First, they begin listening to testimonies. Do you know the benefit of listening to testimonies? Very often, you will come across a testimony that resembles your own situation. Then what do they do? They also begin listening to Father's talks to understand how the matter should be handled. So this woman listened both to the testimonies and to the Covenant Retreat teachings. Then she prayed to the Blessed Mother: "Mother, we may even end up in serious legal trouble. When we return to Kerala, we will certainly come here on pilgrimage and make the Covenant in person. But from this moment itself, we are entering into the Covenant. We are changing our life into a Covenant life. Mother, please help us in this situation."
That night, the woman had a dream. In the dream, she saw the number 3883. The Blessed Mother seemed to show her clearly: 3883. The next morning, she told her husband: "I saw the number 3883 written in my dream." That same morning, they joined the Daily Bread prayer on YouTube. During Daily Bread, I said: "Within one hour, a message will come to your mobile phone. Consider that message as one being sent to you by the Blessed Mother." Then I told them: "When the message comes, recite the Creed and make the sign of the Cross over your phone." I was saying this from here. I knew absolutely nothing about their situation. I do not even know whether we should call what the Blessed Mother does in these times "high-tech." It seems to happen even faster than that. But they believed the message.
Exactly one hour later, a message arrived on the phone. What did it say? The court matter had been written off. The case had been dismissed, and instead of the original penalty, they only needed to pay 3,883 dirhams. The amount that had seemed enormous had now been reduced dramatically. And the very number the Blessed Mother had shown in the dream during the night was the number that appeared in the message the following morning. How can we even explain something like this?
People once asked me: "Wasn't Father Joseph the only one who saw the Blessed Mother? Did anyone else see her?" But now people are encountering her intervention in ways we could never have imagined. Even through an online Covenant, people are experiencing this. My children, there is something important I want to tell you about the online Covenant. Do not dismiss it. But let me also give you one piece of advice. When it comes to God, there is something important about your future. The things you are going to do matter. God already takes into account what you are sincerely preparing to do.
One of the greatest mistakes we make in spirituality is giving excessive importance to the sins we committed in the past. That is nonsense.
The real issue is not simply what happened in the past. Some people keep saying: "Oh, this happened to me. I did that. I did not know God properly. So many things went wrong. What can I do now? Why would God ever look at my life? Why would He listen to my prayer?" And they walk around with a miserable face. What should you do instead? Look at what you are going to do from now onward. That is what God is going to take into account. Every sincere thing you are preparing to do in your life together with God will be counted by the Lord. And it is while taking those things into account that the Lord will come forward to help you.
When you make the Covenant online, God already knows what kind of Covenant life you are going to live afterward. If the Blessed Mother sees that you are going to live it concretely, sincerely, and truthfully, then there is one thing that matters most: God must be convinced of your sincerity. What must He be convinced of? That you are truthful and wholehearted. Once God sees that, you will not simply walk away from Him afterward.
One mistake many people make regarding the Covenant comes from ignorance. They think: "Once these ninety days are over, I can go back to living however I want." That is where the trouble begins. They think: "After ninety days, I no longer need to wake up at 5:30. I can wake up at seven and sleep as long as I like." The moment such an intention takes root in your mind, it already counts before God. That is where people get themselves into trouble. If your thinking is: "For ninety days, I will wake up at 5:30. Afterward, seven o'clock will be enough," or, "After these ninety days, there is nothing wrong with having a drink again. I only need to remain disciplined for now," then you are already planning in your heart the sins you intend to return to after the Covenant period ends.
That itself becomes a problem. You cannot deal with God through falsehood. God repeatedly reveals Himself as Truth.
One misunderstanding surrounding the Covenant is the idea that the Covenant itself ends after ninety days. Pragmatically, if you mean the formal practices or the structured period, then yes, the ninety days may end. But if the Covenant means living with God, it does not end after ninety days. God looks for an enduring relationship. There is a difference between entering into a temporary relationship with God for ninety days and deciding: "I want to live with God."
Therefore, the option before you should always be the long-term one. You should pray: "Lord, this is not only about ninety days. I want to live with You. I want to live especially for You. I am someone who sometimes becomes careless and falls into weakness. Help me." If you make such an honest agreement with God, He will help you.
When I say that God will help you, the person from the Old Testament whom I often present before people is David. Strictly speaking, David is not always an easy person to present as a model. You know that. He made serious mistakes. But there was something about David's disposition that God valued. Even when he fell, David was someone who did not want to be separated from God. He expresses that openly. In effect, he says: "Lord, even if I have failed to speak honestly to You, my deepest desire is still not to be separated from Your presence." That is why he prays: "Do not cast me away from Your presence."
So the option before us now is this: Correct your future investment. The main question is not simply what happened yesterday. What is the greatest thing we can do regarding yesterday? Repent. We can say: "I am sorry for what happened in the past." But beyond that, we can only acknowledge it and maintain that repentant disposition. It does not necessarily mean that additional grace must automatically come simply because we regret the past.
Suppose you go to another person and say: "I am sorry for what I did to you in the past." That does not mean that person is now obliged to give you something extra. They may simply say: "Okay."
Repentance receives forgiveness, but our spiritual life must also move forward. So what should we do? We must secure the future. Malavika says: "Lord, I will remain in the Covenant until death." That is securing the future. Who taught her to say that? Yet some Christians who make the Covenant are praying almost the opposite: "Lord, somehow let me get through these ninety days without any major problem." Now imagine the two standing before the Lord together: one saying, "I am Yours until death," and the other saying, "Just help me survive ninety days." You can understand which attitude carries greater weight. When you deal with God, remember that you are dealing with God. That is why these things must be explained clearly.
In John 18:37, Pilate asked Him, "So You are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world: to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to My voice." Pilate asked Him: "What is truth?"
Then Pilate asked: "What is truth?" Elsewhere, Jesus had already said: "I am the Truth." But He does not say that to Pilate. There is no further revelation for Pilate. What was Pilate's real truth? His chair. His position. His power. He was not willing to give that up. So why should further revelation be given?
Always remember this: If God sees that you are unwilling to leave behind a way of life that is incompatible with Him, then there is no further movement. There is no further spiritual advance. In the same way, if Christ sees that even after knowing Him you are unwilling to abandon your former way of life, there will be no further dealing with you. This is a very serious matter. That is why some people remain spiritually dry and withered, going about without making much progress. A decision has to be made.
Pilate should have said: "Lord, I do not want to wash my hands of this. Whatever consequences may come from acknowledging You, I am prepared to accept them." If he had said that, Jesus could have revealed to him: "I am the Truth." In fact, Jesus revealed this truth to the good thief because he was willing to receive it. That is the issue: We must be willing to receive.
Matthew 11:14 says, "If you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come."
"If you are willing to accept it." So all the favors and graces contained in the Word are connected to our capacity to receive. That is one of its principles. There are so many graces and privileges in the Word of God. What must we do for them to become ours and for us to experience them? We must be willing to receive them. And how can it be known whether we are truly willing to receive? Through our actions. This is something important concerning the Covenant. Prayer has perhaps only a twenty-percent role in this. The rest lies in our actions. It is through our actions that God recognizes the authenticity of our Covenant.
When we say that we have "received" the Covenant, it means that there must genuinely be a U-turn in our life. Why? Because through the Covenant, we are encountering God in a concrete way. Look at the testimonies we are receiving now. Every week, there are perhaps five people who speak directly about the experiences of God they have received: dreams, visions, revelations, divine messages, insights, and other experiences. People are continually sharing these things. So the Covenant stands before us with immense possibilities, and God has made you part of them.
No matter how difficult the circumstances of our life may become, even if our whole life seems to hang in the balance, if you remain in a sincere Covenant, you will see God come and stand beside you in whatever situation you face. That is the revelation these testimonies from this week give us.
Lord, we pray that, having heard this Word, Your children may establish an even deeper spiritual relationship with You. Prepare them for a new era of life between God and humanity.
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.
0 comments:
Post a Comment