October 10, 2020: Galatians 3: 22-29; Luke 11: 27-28
'We are Christians for the past 4 generations'... 'We have been Christians from God alone knows when'... 'I belong to such and such a Church or denomination'... 'oh! I am born again'... or I am born thrice!!!... nothing of this will make us acceptable or blessed in the eyes of God. Whether Jew or Gentile, male or female, slave or free...it does not matter, says St. Paul in the first reading today. What truly matters is, that we clothe ourselves in Christ, that we become one in Christ, that WE BELONG TO CHRIST (cf. Gal 3:29).
Belonging to Christ would mean 3 things according to the readings today:
- firstly, having faith in God, in spite of anything that happens or does not happen, like Abraham. What happens or what does not happen will never affect my faith, because it is a well established relationship between me and my God. There is no business in it. There are no profits and losses, there are no balance sheets and there is absolutely no calculation in it. Because my God loves me without calculations and I shall remain attached to my Lord without calculations.
- secondly, hearing the Word attentively, like St. Paul. When I hear the Word attentively, it challenges me on a daily basis, it keeps me on my toes - I need to keep moving, keep growing, keep responding, keep deepening, keep maturing in my commitment. I just cannot stagnate! My belonging to the Lord is not a stagnate once-and-for-all decision, it is a daily commitment to be renewed every moment, with ongoing choices I make.
- and thirdly, observing the directions given by the Lord, like our blessed mother. There are directions coming my way every day, every moment, assisting me in my decision making and choices. At times I choose not to see those directions so apparently present, because they appear so difficult and impossible. Sometimes I wonder whether I will be considered by the rest of the world as mad, useless, unfit or out of place. But just as Mary did, only my yes will prove that I truly belong to my God!
Saturday, 28th Week in Ordinary Time
Rom 4:13,16-18; Lk 12: 8-12
Jesus assures us, true faith speaks for us. We need not hunt for ways and means of explaining and defending our faith; it has to be self evident and self explanatory. We don't need mighty big formulae to hold on to a faith...all we need is the realisation of the constant and unceasing presence of the Lord with us. When I am convinced of this presence I can hope against hope as Abraham did. Such a faith speaks on my behalf, clarifies things for me and others and acts in my favour in the ultimate analysis.
Monday, 12th week in Ordinary Time
Gen 12: 1-9; Mt 7: 1-5
We will be presented with Abraham for our reflection for the next few days. What was so special about Abraham? From the very first moment the Word clarifies that. Leave your country and your people, calls the Lord and there he is doing it with such confidence. He lets go of everything, everything that gave him an identity.
The Gospel presents to us a similar and greater challenge: to let go... of our opinions and judgements and prejudices of people and to be open minded. How many new experiences we would have lost because of our opinionated approach! How many enriching encounters we would have lost because of our prefixed judgements! How many growth experiences we would have lost because of our prejudiced mindset. How prepared are we to let go?
Gen 22: 1-2, 9a,10-13, 15-18; Rom 8: 31b-34; Mk 9: 2-10
God's love is demonstration today and we are invited to behold that true, genuine, authentic and matchless love in the name of Jesus our Lord and Saviour!
What does the call to "behold" mean? It means to observe, understand and accept it in all its fullness. We would do well to do it today, with the help of the readings.
Observe that God's love is a love that gives: Are we ready to give? Yes...a bit of our changes in the pocket, a few of our currencies in the wallet, some of us a little more...may be our enjoyment of a movie or two during the season of lent, or our stylish make overs or things of that sort! But Observe, calls the second reading today: observe the love that God has for us. Because that love, God gave, God gave Godself; God's own son, the only Son, the Word who was One with God.
Understand that God's love is a love that gives all: God's love is not merely a love that gives but a love that gives everything, gives all that God is...The Gospel reminds us of that: Jesus shows us and his disciples, what he has given up for the sake of the love he had for us! The first moment we find it, we feel like holding on to it. The apostles wanted to remain there...Jesus reminds us: "No... you call is to give, to give up, to give all, to give of yourself; that is my love!"
Accept God's love into your heart: To behold God's love would finally mean accept God's love into our hearts, fill our hearts with God's love! Abraham was ready even to give up his son, because he was filled with God's love; by then he had experienced what God's love means and what change it can bring about in his life. That is why he did not consider anything on par with God's love. In our life to, if we believe and behold God's love, that has to be seen. It has to be seen in our lives, our day to day relationships, our choices and our responses to events. To behold God's love is to be held by God's love and hold out that love to all whom we come across!
May our lives be transformed, by God's love into God's love!
Remembering St. Martha: The Lord alone is our Hope!
Jer 14: 17-22; Jn 11: 19-27
Is it not you alone Lord our God to whom we look? - these words express well the mindset with which Martha told Jesus, "if you were here, my brother would not have died!" Martha's hope in the Lord is plainly expressed in these words. The Lord challenges her to journey further in her hope. It is like what St. Paul says about Abraham (Rom 4:18), Jesus invites Martha to hope against hope!
Martha's confession about Christ has nothing less than the confession of St. Peter! The faith that Martha had in Jesus was so profound that she believed when Jesus was around nothing could go wrong. Jesus acknowledges the trust that Martha had in him, but invites her to go a step ahead and trust that even if things went wrong, she had nothing to fear for the Lord was with her always!
It is simple in times that are pleasant, to trust in the Lord; it is not that very simple to trust in the Lord "always". Even when things go wrong, or especially in such situations, we are called to be calm but vigilant; seeking solutions but not begging remedies. Not looking for any solutions anxiously, but daring to remain patient with the issues of life is a clear sign of total trust in the Lord that the Lord alone is our hope!
Storing up treasures for oneself versus being rich toward God - is the contrast that the Gospel presents us! Being rich by the standards of the world, or atleast having more than just enough, seems to be the driving force for a big majority today. Storing up wealth, is not easy - work, fatigue, stress, competition, strain, pain, sacrifice, fight, strife... it involves all these and more. Being rich toward God - consists of just one thing, one single thing - to remain still in God's presence! Through darkness and cloud, through storm and turbulence, 'be still and know that I am God' (Ps 46:10). Abraham, through all moments of probable doubt and hopelessness, "grew strong in faith as he gave glory to God" says the letter to the Romans. That was reckoned to him as righteousness! Through our daily work and responsibilities, concerns and discouragements, struggles and temptations, let us learn to 'be still' and 'grow strong in faith'! Let us be ever convinced that God is capable of doing what God has promised.
Jesus speaks of sin against the Holy Spirit in the Gospel today (Lk 12:10; also look up Mt 12:31-32). This is one of the most frequently asked questions among the youth at discussions. Moral theologians and Scripture Scholars have tried to make sense of it and one familiar interpretation given is this- the sin against the Holy Spirit, considered 'unforgivable' by Jesus, is the sin of presumption! Theologically, presumption is a vice against the virtue of hope; in simple words it is giving up hope! When one gives up hope, he or she crosses the human limits to decide that God is incapable of acting on his or her behalf and at that point the person loses any kind of needed disposition to receive anything from God, including forgiveness! It is not that God does not want to forgive, but the person has removed himself or herself from the possibility of receiving it. The first reading says of Abraham, that "hoping against hope, he believed"(Rom 4:18)...and thus he received all that blessings that he did! Our faith should be founded on Hope, and that is the fundamental attitude of a person of the Spirit.
Prayer... A Christian Prayer... An authentic Christian Prayer... A Christ-like prayer is fundamentally one's Relationship with God. Out of the numerous attributes to God that were proper to the historical experience of the people of Israel, which was his own experience - Jesus picked that of 'Father'. That was the most scandalous of all, for the Jews. When Jesus called God, Abba, Father (Mk 14:36) as we see in Gospels, he was demonstrating an intimate relationship that existed, not only between him and the One who sent him, but also between everyone who believes in him and God...as John says, to all who believed in him, he gave the right to become the children of God (Jn 1:12). Radically for Jesus, faith was a process of acknowledging a God who reveals Godself as a father, a mother, one who created us, one who cares for us! Consequently, Prayer for him was a relationship that one shares with God; a relationship that is built on a personal sharing - on DIALOGUE.
Prayer is a Dialogue... a dialogue where there is a sharing of minds and oneness of heart. Abraham, today is presented in the reading as dialoguing with God... he does not only speak his mind but listens to God and gets to know God's mind. A beautiful picture of a person in conversation with God - trying to raise his preoccupations, with the limited knowledge that he has, but with the concern he has for the life of the others. And an amazing depiction of God who knows very well that there will not be even 10 righteous people as Abraham claims, but listens patiently to his pleas, allows him to talk and permits him to share his concerns. At times when we begin to furnish a list to God and ask that to be granted on order; or when we make programmes and suggest God to follow; or when we find problems with God's designs and suggest improvements - we need to remind ourselves of this dimension of prayer - prayer as a dialogue! It consists not only in speaking but also in listening, waiting for and accepting God's will. Prayer is a dialogue, a dialogue that is initiated by the overwhelming RECOGNITION OF GOD'S GOODNESS.
The overwhelming recognition of God's goodness and majesty is what initiates the process of dialogue! The Psalm beautifully presents the human heart opening itself up to God, in praise and thanksgiving! A true Christian prayer begins there! St. Paul formulates this so well in his letter instructing, "do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God" (Phil 4:6). When we recognise the loving presence, the helping hand, the protecting wings, the sheltering solace of God on a daily basis, we cannot help singing the praise of God inspite of the endless needs and preoccupations we can possibly have in life! That recognition of God's goodness and majesty and our readiness to acknowledge and submit to it, bestows on us the greatest of all gifts, the TOTAL ACCEPTANCE BY GOD.
Prayer is the relationship that is born out of the realisation that God accepts me totally, unconditionally, inspite of all my iniquities. The second reading today affirms that God has forgiven me, buried all my sins and nailed them to the Cross on which my saviour Jesus died for me! And with the same Jesus, God has raised me to the status of God's child, in my baptism! God loves me so much that God accepts me with all my limitations, with all my childishness, with all my idiosyncrasies. Comparing this relationship to friendship in the parable that Jesus narrates today, he subtly communicates a point that we can be sometimes foolish, simplistic and thoughtless in the things that we ask from God or in the way we ask for them. Still, we need not hesitate, we can go right on and do it, because God accepts us as we are. It is that affirmation that gives us the right to stand in the presence of the Lord and be ourselves, as Abraham dared to be!
Let us treasure this great relationship we have with God, yearn to be in God's presence and live in God's presence as authentically as possible, as innocent and dependent as children, as grateful and obedient as sons and daughters, as rightful and loving as Jesus himself was towards God, whom he revealed to us our Our Father and Mother!
Behold! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. Rev. 3:20 summarises the liturgy of the Word today! The Lord visits us; everyday, in various ways, in ways ordinary or wondrous, the Lord visits us. What is our response and what should it be - that is the question we are invited to reflect on.
The first reading pictures God visiting Abraham. It is interesting to read the first three verses and a great lesson awaits us there. The first two verses say, that the Lord appeared and Abraham lifted his eyes and saw three men! Not in glorious light or in flaming clouds, but in three simple men, that the Lord visited Abraham. Reading further the second and the third verse together, gives us another detail, Abraham saw three men and he addressed them, "My Lord, do not pass by." Though Abraham saw the men, he was able to behold the presence of the Lord. The Message for today is established right there! Our God visits us... on a daily basis.. in one way or the other, in ways ordinary or in ways wondrous, the Lord visits us. Through extraordinary signs of awe-inspiring events or heart-breaking happenings; through a person whom we come across on a dreary daily routine, an extra smile or an overshadowing grief on the person's face; through a habitual joy that brightens the day or a repeated bad news on a newsprint; the Lord visits us! 'I fear the Lord passing by', said St. Augustine, in simple words expressing the grief of not being ready to behold the visit of the Lord, due to the hustle of the day or the ordinariness of the experience.
The Word today points to us the special capacity needed for someone not to allow the Lord to pass by... The Capacity to Receive: Hospitality is not in things; it is a matter of the heart! It is not the fact that some one can afford, that makes him or her hospitable to other. It is the heart, the love that is there in the heart, the warmth that fills that heart, that makes a person go out of one's way to extend hospitality to another person. In the ancient Israel, a stranger to the land was treated as a guest of honour, and a guest became a messenger from God! In the ancient Indian culture too, we have the age old saying, 'Athithi devo bhava' (meaning -the Guest is God) and the great Tamil Classic, Tirukkural dedicates a whole chapter of 10 couplets on Hospitality, that is receiving guests and treating them with love and honour. The Capacity to receive the Lord, is seen in one's capacity to observe everything in life with a sense of gratitude and wonder, one's capacity to encounter a person every time with a new perspective and without judgments and prejudices. It is the capacity to see God in everything that is around and every person who is around. Abraham was able to encounter God in the three men that he saw; St. Paul was able to encounter Jesus in the light that threw him down from the horse and listen to his voice, calling out to him!
The Capacity to Listen: Encountering God, is basically listening to God! Every visit brings us a message. Every encounter has something to tell us for our daily life. It is a special gift to listen to the Lord, to discern what God wants of us, to hear the Lord's voice telling us 'do this' or 'be this' or 'become someone' or 'denounce something'. The Lord speaks in every encounter, through every person, through every event... we are expected to act, to respond and carry out the task entrusted to us. But the point of departure is always the feet of the Lord! To sit at the feet of the Master and drink in every bit of wisdom and knowledge, that when it is time for me to go forth, I am prepared to be God's presence to the others, that when they encounter me, they can feel the presence of the Lord! The Capacity to Suffer: Encountering God is a challenge to make a choice, a fundamental choice for the Lord or otherwise! St. Paul made that choice, a 'U' Turn for the Lord - and the ultimate choice is to choose to suffer for the Lord. The Lord prepares us - Abraham was prepared to wait endlessly for the promises to be fulfilled; Martha was prepared to run about doing things for the love she had for Jesus, Mary was prepared to sit at the feet of the Lord mindless of the criticisms hurled at her, and St. Paul was prepared to say, "I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake!" When God visits us, it is a dangerous event, a risky experience - because after that nothing can remain what it was before. There will be a drastic change and we have to be prepared for that. The invitation is clear dear friends... to behold the Lord who visits us, to let the Lord speak to us and be prepared for an encounter with the Lord - on a daily basis. Doing this our daily life will become meaningful, challenging and TRULY CHRISTIAN.
Fr. Klement Vaclav’s visit has once again cleared the dust over the discussion on missionary spirit in our province. Being a missionary, needless to repeat, is a Vocation by itself. I recall the visit of Fr. Vaclav a couple of years back – when a few of us asked if we can opt to work in a foreign land for a few years on agreement, he drew a clear cut distinction between being a missionary and working in a foreign province! Yes, the crux is the movement from being a missionary to becoming a missionary! Unless I am a missionary, I cannot become a missionary. It was in this regard that Teresa of Child Jesus was made the patroness of the missions. Though she might not have become a missionary, she was a missionary at heart, a missionary in Spirit. What spirit of a person is indicative of his or her missionary vocation, is the question I begin this reflection with.
1.The Spirit of Abraham – To leave behind!
When God asked him to leave behind his people and walk into the wilderness he did it! He was a missionary, going towards that land and life that God promised him. (Gen 12)
2.The Spirit of Moses – To own God’s people!
When God called the suffering lot “my people” and sent Moses to liberate them, he had to consider them all not just “His people” but his own people. (Exo 5) Though they were all from various tribes and clans, they were all ‘his people.’
3.The Spirit of Joshua – To dare in the steps of the Leader!
When Moses died, Joshua the youngster felt a big burden on his shoulder. But the promise that the Lord gave, “I will be with you as I was with Moses” enlivened him (Jos 1) and in that strength he dared in the footsteps of his Master!
4.The Spirit of Esther – To risk for the sake of one’s people!
The meteoric rise of Esther was destined. She knew little what it meant. But when it was made clear to her by her uncle Mordecai(Est 4:14), she risked her life and stood by her people. She liberated them from a treacherous plot, risking her own life.
5.The Spirit of Jeremiah – To feel the fire of God’s Word burn within!
Jeremiah suffered the worst among the prophets. No wonder he is taken to be the matchless OT parallel of the suffering Messiah. Even when he realized his sufferings were unwarranted (Jer 20:7ff), he took them upon himself, because otherwise he felt he could not… His word was in his heart like a fire, and he was weary holding it in.
6.The Spirit of Paul – To live to proclaim!
“Woe to me if I do not proclaim the Gospel!” proclaimed St. Paul. (1Cor 9:16) When it came to knowing Christ and proclaiming him, for Paul nothing really mattered – his life, his dignity, his intelligence, his wisdom everything amounted to nothing.
7.The Spirit of Mary – To realize one’s blessedness!
The Blessed Virgin Mary, when she was called to be part of God’s salvific mission, understood little of what it entailed. But she was certain of two things – one, of her lowliness and second, of her blessedness. When she exclaimed ‘from now on all ages will call me blessed!’ (Lk 1:48) she in no unclear terms realized her identity and that empowered her never to lose that identity as ‘the blessed one of God.’
It is high time I realize, I need not go somewhere to be a missionary. But if I am a missionary at heart, in spirit, I will find an urge to go somewhere to proclaim, to witness to live my life, for the sake of the Kingdom!
