THE NARROW WAY
A COMMON MAN’S ROADMAP TO DIVINITY
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CONTENTS Preface Begins with declaring God as everybody’s final destination. Shares own inner turmoil that led to finally recognize the least preferred life of truth as the Narrow Way that leads to God and the most preferred materialistic and unscrupulous options in life as ‘wide ways to destruction’. …xiii 1. Introduction Sets the context drawn from Matt 5, wherein Lord Jesus defines surpassing righteous requirements. Crisply defines ‘divinity’ as ‘ultimate fitness to live with God in Heaven’ and identifies at the outset that ‘suffering’ is inescapable to reach God. Describes the book as an experiential charting of the journey of life which is The Narrow Way to Divinity taught by Lord Jesus. ….1 2. Going astray the ungrateful way Analyses the Fall of Adam and Eve to logically deduce that ingratitude is the root cause for losing the Way to Divinity. ...5 3. How free is our free will? Systematically establishes that human ‘free will’ is no longer free because of the defilement wrought by original sin — confused mind and sensual heart. That is why we often act against our own will, steered by the senses. ….9 4. True freedom Explains how true freedom from sensual slavery is possible by God’s grace when we surrender to Him, as He alone can preserve our freedom in the face of adversity and sensual lures. …..11 5. Finding the narrow way Explains how a lost person can find the Way to Divinity again by availing Godsend opportunities. It offers a brand new insight into The Parable of the Prodigal Son, and elaborates God’s designs to repeatedly give lost humans countless chances to come back to their senses and have a change of heart. …..17 6. On the narrow way Describes with graphic details, what it takes to stick to the Way, moving forward all the time till the last lap is completed. Explains the Biblical allegories – ‘good fruits’ and ‘everlasting fruits’ and clearly identifies the different stages in the journey to divinity as well as the available aids and avoidable pitfalls. ….21 7. The proving of divinity Describes the tests and proving of divinity which everyone has to undergo and defines the ultimate test, ‘Baptism by Fire’ as a prerequisite for the final glory ….29 8. Aids to divinity-I: The Church Describes the purpose and role of the Church as a Godestablished institution and extraordinary aid to divinity. ….31 9. Aids to divinity-II: Prayer & Saintly succor Describes the vitality and power of prayer as an aid to divinity and deduces that saintly succor is a God-ordained arrangement to reach out and include all shades of humans in His divinization plan. Insists that true devotion will not stagnate but blossom into discipleship, as God seeks disciples and NOT devotees. ….39 10. Aids to divinity-III: Suffering An in-depth treatise on the value of suffering as an indispensible aid to divinity. Also establishes that suffering on earth is a non-damaging aid that is bound to vanish without trace after serving its purpose. ….45 11. Divine Virtues Describes the three divine virtues – faith, hope and selfless love and offers practical tips to gain and grow in these virtues, while underscoring the primacy and supremacy of selfless love. ….53 12. Keeping Satan at bay Offers practical tips to deal with temptations and troubles including demonic assaults. ……61 13. The perfect way of our Triune God Provides an elaborate explanation of the functioning of the Blessed Trinity, basing it purely on Biblical sources. Explains the resemblance of human faculties – mind, body, spirit to the persons of the Blessed Trinity and suggests an approach to perfection by emulating the model of the Blessed Trinity. …65 14. Conclusion Aptly concludes with some final thoughts on ‘true worship’ and ‘the second coming of Lord Jesus’. ….77 Appendix: The Way of the Cross A dialogue form meditation on the traditional Stations of the Cross. …..83 ～ 1 ～ INTRODUCTION .......... Our destination is God and for all those who realize this fundamental truth, life on earth becomes most meaningful. It is influenced and directed by an inherent inclination for doing good and an aversion for evil. These in turn are driven by a strong desire to find a dwelling place in His eternal abode in the afterlife which builds the faithful day by day, even providing strength to endure every trouble for the sake of attaining this ultimate goal. …….. ～ 5 ～ FINDING THE NARROW WAY .......... God woos all kinds of sinners to conversion and designs a unique situation for each person to come to his / her senses and avail a free and fair chance to choose between the narrow way to divinity and the wide ways to destruction. Even if we fail to realize and respond, God never gives up on us. We are allowed to test the consequence of our choices and for our wrong moves, given the longest rope of chances to learn and change course. Pharaoh was given eleven chances to let the Israelites go free (read Exodus 7-11; here ‘eleven’ is used symbolically to convey the same meaning as in the English idiom ‘eleventh hour’). …….. ～ 13～ THE PERFECT WAY OF OUR TRIUNE GOD ........... The perfect way: The functioning of the Blessed Trinity is the model of perfection; let us reinforce what we just discovered: • God reveals Himself as three distinct persons performing distinct functions. • God the Father wills based on truth, rightly the first time every time and controls everything for good. • God the Holy Spirit is the custodian of God’s power, discerning truth and conveying truth and power to the Father, the Son and also to others according to the Father’s Will. • God the Son obediently does (executes) the Father’s Will be it creation, redemption or judgment, availing all necessary power from the Holy Spirit. He is the Father’s Love personified and His Heart, Body and Right hand. .........
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About the Book
“Pitcharan complements the Church’s Universal Call to Holiness with a practical roadmap to divinity, sharing his own experience and tips. His book addresses a sinner’s quest for a change of heart and the reader would surely be encouraged to explore, experience and encounter the divine touch of Jesus to attain the ultimate: fitness to live with God in heaven.” Guilherme Vaz, Member, Pontifical Council for the Laity. “Pitcharan’s succinct work is an important and empowering contribution, for a better, deeper understanding of the Love that God has for us—a Love that we are duty bound to share with every neighbour and every stranger. Impactful in its simplicity, this book can help us grow as he so wonderfully puts it, as neither fanatics in faith, nor prisoners of hope, but shining examples of selfless love.” Dr. John Dayal, Veteran Editor & Former National President, All India Catholic Union. “Pitcharan tries to figure out the requirements to be fulfilled by the weak man to become fit enough to meet GOD. His clarity of thought and endeavours in everyday life to proclaim GOD, reveal how much enamoured he is with it. The search of the Bible with genuine quest for understanding the Blessed Trinity is an eye-opener. The simple dialogues that provide an insight to the ‘stations of the cross’, can serve as an appendix to the YOUCAT too.” Dr. Mary Regina F., Vice-President, Catholic Council of India.
About the Author
The author is a native of Tamil Nadu, India who took to spiritual writing in 2005 under the pen-name Pitcharan. Other books written by him are: Hosanna in the Highest (2005), Parabolic Reflections (2006) and Perfect Management (2007), all by IJA Publications, Bangalore. Fight the Good Fight (2012) by ST PAULS, Mumbai and Agape: The Divinizing Love (2014) by PARTRIDGE INDIA, Gurgaon.