Blog Details
Run Now
RUN NOW!
Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ
Run Now! for a healthy life! Any physical fitness trainer will tell us that running a bit daily contributes to a healthy life. It helps maintain one’s heart, strengthens the bones and muscles, aids weight management, improves mental well-being through endorphin release, reduces stress, enhances sleep, and lowers risks of chronic diseases like diabetes, leading to better longevity and cognitive function. Plenty of healthy reasons indeed!
Run Now! to celebrate diversity! We are all different. We come from different backgrounds, cultures, ethnicities, languages, customs, traditions, denominations, rites, rituals, religions, economic status and much more. When we run together at the same time, we do not deny these differences, we transcend them and celebrate our diversity
Run Now! for unity! Though we are different we are all called to be one in heart and one in mind. We are called to shun everything that keeps us separated: every form of division, discrimination, denigration, demonization, distancing! Every human being is created in the image and likeness of God and endowed with dignity. That alone must bind us together!
Run Now! to live the ‘Joy of the Gospel’! In his first Apostolic Exhortation ‘Evangelii Gaudium’ (November 2013) our beloved Pope Francis shared his vision of a missionary Church whose “doors should always be open”. He speaks on numerous themes, including evangelization, peace, homiletics, social justice, the family, respect for creation, faith and politics, ecumenism, interreligious dialogue, and the role of women and of the laity in the Church.
Run Now! for justice, peace, fraternity, and love! We live in a broken, brutalized, battered world. War, conflict, violence, hate is being mainstreamed and has the upper hand. ‘Othering’ those not like us, seems to have become the in-thing. Jesus mandates us to love one another: particularly the excluded and exploited, the migrant workers and the casual labourers, the minorities and the marginalized, the Adivasis and the Dalits, the slum-dwellers and the small farmers, the LGBTQIA+ community, the poor and unemployed, all victims of injustice and all the other vulnerable, who live on the peripheries of our society!
Run Now! for Salvation! As the Salvation Run website(www.salvationrun.com ) informs us, “the Salvation Run Global 2026 is not just an event, it is a worldwide movement of faith in motion, rooted in Hebrews 12:1, this spiritual race unites believers across continents to run with endurance, purpose, and passion for the Kingdom of God. The Run will be taking place in Bangalore city, India and simultaneously across various locations across the country and the globe through virtual participation, this event is designed to unite Christian believers from across all Christian denominations under the body and blood of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour through prayer, praise and physical action”
Run Now! for Jesus! “This run is more than physical movement, it is a prophetic declaration of unity, healing, and purpose. As thousands take to the streets and run for Christ, a public declaration and testament ‘I BELONG TO JESUS’ we embody our commitment to the Gospel bearing witness to each other preparing and declaring the salvation in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. It is a Christ-centered movement uniting believers from every denomination, under the one true body and blood of Jesus Christ. a faith-fueled initiative inspired by Hebrews 10:36 and Hebrews 12:1, calling Christian believers to "run the race set before us" with purpose, endurance, and spiritual discipline.”
Run Now! with endurance! The Letter to the Hebrews uses the metaphor of running, urging believers to persevere in their faith with endurance. Hebrews 12:1-2 states, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith." This imagery underscores the need to overcome obstacles and stay focused on the ultimate example of faith, Jesus Christ.
Run Now! till the very end! As St Paul says (in 2 Timothy 4:7) - I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” Run now, today, tomorrow and always! Run for Jesus! Run for Salvation!
*(Fr Cedric Prakash SJ is an internationally renowned human rights, reconciliation and peace activist/writer. Contact: email: cedricprakash@gmail.com )