HOPE - a sign of the SAVED

All Souls Day - 2013

What is the difference between a Christian and an unchristian outlook on anything? It is hope. It is hope that makes us see a possibility even in the worst of our daily problems. Hope gives one the serenity and tranquility to approach every day problems with grace. One big unsolved question for the whole humanity is how to understand the end of life and beyond. For a Christian, life is changed, not ended, says the preface of the Mass for the dead. Jesus' resurrection fills us with hope and that hope does not disappoint us. The hope is towards eternal life, it is the eternal destination that characterises the culmination of this journey on earth. Death is just the horizon beyond which we are not able to see what really exists; for if we see, there is no more place for hope (Rom 8:24). All that we see is the Risen Lord, who lives with us and lights our path. And in the Risen Lord is our hope. We hope to see every one of our brothers and sisters gone before us, united in the Risen Lord, as do the saints we celebrated yesterday and our prayer today is that these brothers and sisters of ours join their ranks and that we, at the end of our journey, join that wonderful family, the family that is founded on faith, united in love and kept alive in hope!

நம்பினோர் பேறுபெற்றோர்

எட்டாம் நூற்றாண்டின் தொடக்கத்தில் தான் ஆற்றும் திருப்பலியில் உண்மையிலேயே அப்பம் உடலாகவும், இரசம் இரத்தமாகவும் மாறுகிறதா என்று ஐயம் கொண்டவராகவே திருப்பலியாற்றிய ஒரு துறவியின் கண்ணெதிரே வெண்மையான துண்டாயிருந்த அப்பம் தசையாய் மாறியது; திராட்சை இரசம் இரத்தமாய் மாறியது! இக்காட்சி கண்டு உரைந்துப் போனார் அந்த துறவி... அவருக்கு மட்டுமல்ல அன்று அவராற்றிய திருப்பலியில் பங்கெடுத்த அனைவருக்கும், ஏன் இன்று வாழ்ந்து கொண்டிருக்கும் நமக்கும்  ஒரு இயற்கைக்கு அப்பாற்பட்ட சான்றாக இன்றும் நம் கண்முன்னே தோன்றுகிறது அந்த தசையும் குருதியும். இலஞ்ச்யானோ என்று அழைக்கப்படும் இத்தாலியின் இப்பகுதியில், 12 நூற்றாண்டுகளாய் தசையாய், இரத்தமாய் எவ்வித வேதியியல் உதவியும் இன்றி இன்றும் வைக்கப்பட்டிருக்கும் இவை நம் நம்பிக்கையை ஆழப்படுத்துகின்றன, அதன் அசைக்க முடியா அடித்தளங்களை நினைவுப்படுத்துகின்றன.

இத்தசை இதயத்திலிருக்கக்கூடிய ஒரு திசு என்றும் அது அப்பமாயிருந்து மாறியபோது உயிருள்ள தசையாய் இருந்தது என்பதற்கு அது சுருங்கிய நிலையில் காணப்படுவது ஒரு சான்று என்றும், அறிவியல் ஒப்புக்கொண்டுள்ளது. 5 சிறு உருளைகளாக திரண்டு காணப்படும் இரத்தமும் இத்தசையும் ஒரே உடலை சார்ந்ததாய் உள்ளது என்றும், AB வகையை சார்ந்த அந்த இரத்தம் மனித இரத்தத்தின் எல்லா உள்ளடக்கத்தையும் கொண்டுள்ளது என்றும் 1973 வெளியிடப்பட்டுள்ள அறிவியல் ஆராய்ச்சியின் முடிவுகள் கூறுகின்றன. அது மட்டுமன்றி இதை உலக சுகாதார அமைப்பு ( WHO ) தனது அளவீடுகளின் படி ஆராய்ச்சிக்கு உட்படுத்தி அதன் வாயிலாகவும் இதே முடிவுகளை உறுதிப்படுத்தியுள்ளது.




நற்கருணையின் புதுமைகள் 150க்கும் மேற்பட்ட இடங்களிலும் திருச்சபையால் அங்கிகரிக்கப்பட்டிருந்ததாலும் இலஞ்ச்யானோவின் இந்த புதுமை பெரும் சிறப்பு வாய்ந்ததே - காரணம் இதுவே முதன்மையாக காணப்பட்ட புதுமை என்பதும், இரத்தமும் தசையுமாய் இருவடிவிலும் நிகழ்ந்த புதுமை என்பதும், 12 நூற்றாண்டுகளாய் இதன் சான்று அழியாமல் இருப்பதுவுமே.




வானினின்று இரங்கிவந்த உயிருள்ள உணவு நானே என்று இறைவன் அன்று கூறிய அந்த வார்த்தைகளும், இது என் உடல், இது என் இரத்தம் என்று குருவானவர் வழியாக கிறிஸ்து இன்றும் கூறும் வார்த்தைகளும், உண்மையானவை, உயிருள்ளவை என்று நம்பும் ஒவ்வொருவரும் பேறுபெற்றவரே!!!










photo courtesy: Fr. Anthony Lobo sdb.

ALL SAINTS, ALL SOULS - a heritage of faith!

Reflecting on the All Saints day..and the All Souls day that follows...
what a rich heritage of faith and fellowship we have...
a small video explanation of this..i found it here...

VIDEO:
Loved this..and wanted to add it here!

The Saints and the Stained Glasses...

I haven't forgotten one beautiful anecdote I heard as a young fellow (not that I am old yet! the point is, quite a number of years back). The story is about little John who visited the grand cathedral of the city for the first time with his mother. As any 6 year old would, John kept asking mom questions after questions about any and everything that he saw on the way. When he entered the Cathedral, he was wide-eyed and open-mouthed at the spread of lights on the floor... the colourful shades intermingling with each other creating a psychedelic effect on anyone, needless to mention on John who was looking at it for the first time. He was wonder struck with sight and it took a few seconds for John to take his eyes off and look at the source of those lights... there were the big, Gothic, stained glass windows that adorned the walls of the Church, the series of stained glass windows each depicting a saint. John's curiosity could not contain itself anymore, he resumed his questioning spree. "Mom!", he cried in his wonder pointing to the stained glasses on the wall,"what are those?" Mom in her usual patient manner, as if she brought him there for specifically that question, said "they are saints, dear Johny." Surprisingly John kept quiet thereafter as if he was totally satisfied and continued looking with marvel at every bit of those colourful depictions.
The following Sunday, the catechism was on Saints!!! And the nun who spoke to the kids asked a question - who are saints? There wasn't any instant response, neither did the nun expect that from the 6 and 7 year olds. But she was pleasantly surprised by a hand that went up, not very late. It was John. And he said, "I know who saints are! They are those who let the colourful light pass through them!"

Ever since I heard that story, I have been stuck to that definition of Saints: Saints are those who let the Light pass through them! When we allow the LIGHT, the Lord to pass through us, we will automatically shine to the world. Let our light shine... and let us allow the LIGHT to pass through us! Let us be saints!!!

Saints - Being Saints...

All Saints day... reflecting on being saints...

Saints come in different shapes, forms and sizes... there are those who had been so from the beginning and there are those that turned so at the fag end of their life; there are those that formed others into saints and thus became one themselves while there are those that became saints so much due to someone else who had been after them all the time; there are those that renounced everything in life to become so and there are those who lived a busy life of a householder but through it grew to be what they were; there are those that isolated themselves in a desert or on mountains (or even on pillars) and there are those that dwelt in the din of humanity; there are those that lived upto a ripe old stage in life and there are those that died mature already at a stage so young. The message is simple: you don't need a situation that can make you a saint - you become one by recognising who you are!

BEING SAINTS

1st November, 2013: All Saints Day

O when the saints, 

go marching in, 

I want to be in that number! - 

... a simple but profound thought in those familiar lines of the song. To be saints: that is God's call to each of us. At times we think, becoming saints is reserved for a select few. May be the long and tedious process of canonisation of a person in the Church, makes us feel that way. But the fact is, each of us, all of us is called to be saints. St. Paul states that in clear and unequivocal terms in his letter to the Ephesians (1:4), Thessalonians (1 thes 4:3), and other places. 

The question sometimes is, whether it is, being a saint or becoming a saint! We are created in the image and likeness of God (says Genesis 1:27) and this image and likeness of God is a "given", a nature that we have within us, as a gift. We are reminded of this image and likeness at our baptism. All the we need to do is to remain with that image in our lives. The beautiful symbol used in the rite of baptism, where the priest hands over a white cloth to the child and entrusts the task of bringing it, as it were, unsullied, intact in its purity to the end of days.That, dear friends, is the call - "to be saints"...and not merely to 'become' saints.

The readings today, develop the same thought in three wonderful dimensions:

Being Saints means... being aware of who we are! O Christian, realise your dignity! We are children of God, reminds St. John in his letter, in the second reading. God has chosen us from eternity, before the foundation of the world! This is an initiative from God our Father and Mother, who creates us and wishes that we share in God's love and ever remain in God's image and likeness, as children of the loving God.

Being Saints means... being washed by the blood of the Lamb! The Image of God within us, sometimes is disturbed, smudged, smeared or sullied by the choices we make misusing the human freedom that is granted to us. The evil one will be more than happy when we lose heart at such moments and give up. The Son of God, our Saviour Jesus Christ shed his blood that we may have victory over sin and death. In that blood we are saved, and in that blood we are made clean, each and every time we turn to the Lord in genuine repentance and willingness to regain our original image. Saints are those who have their garments washed in the blood of the Lamb, says the second reading.

Being Saints means... being 'blessed' in the eyes of the Lord! And the only way to be 'blessed', is to live by the promptings of the Spirit who dwells within us. Paying attention to the indwelling Spirit, we will know what it means to be blessed - to be poor in spirit, to be meek, to hunger and thirst for righteousness, to be merciful, to be peace-loving - these are ways of being persons of the spirit. In the ordinariness of our daily life, we have to be persons of the Spirit, looking at the reality different from the way the self seeking world teaches us to. 

God's initiative in the call that I have received; Christ's redeeming act of Salvation; the Spirit's indwelling presence that guides me on a daily basis - these are compelling reasons why I need to think seriously about, not merely becoming a saint one day, but being a saint everyday, in my own way!