Goodness of Persons - the sign of undeserved love of God!!!

16.07.2013: Citta' di Marostica and Monte Asiago...

This evening was eventful...there were two couples (all of them 65+) who invited me (infact forced me) to join them on a visit to another couple who had a house in the near by mountain!!! I joined them...and we started around 4 in the evening, and I returned to the room at 11.30... after an evening indeed eventful!

MAROSTICA

Citta' di Marostica...or City of Marostica, is a city of world renown - though it is a small little town. If you google "Marostica" you will see for yourself the tradition that is attached to this small fortified city from the 10th Century. The popularity of the city today is the Chess that is played with live characters on the board, every other year to mark a historical event that is more than 500 years old. In the then brave city known for its rustic valour, there were two young men who loved the same belle. And when it came to settling for one of them, as their instincts went they decided to fight in the public square, with the obvious result that the one who dies loses the hand of the coveted beauty. When the father of the girl, saw how bloody it was getting, he suggested to them another method... instead of slaying each other, that they play a game of chess and show their bravery through their combat skills, with the agreement that the one who wins the game, wins the hand of his daughter. Thus began a tradition, that is commemorated once in two years, in the very same public square where the first chess was played. I stood this evening on that very square in the citta' di scacchi, or the city of chess! I compared in my mind the various traditions we have back in our culture, lifting the millstone in the public square, taming the fighting bull, hitting the prized pot blindfolded..and many others. 

From the public square we took a walk around the little town and came to the part where there are two churches from one from the 15th century and the other from the 17th century...the one from the 17th century, where we entered first was a Church built in the patronage of St. Antony... you would wonder if it is St. Antony of Padova or St. Antony of Egypt, the Abbot. You would have the same doubt even if you entered the Church because both the Saint Antonys are represented with their statues their. Your doubt will be clarified only when you exit the Church and read the plaque that is place beside the entrance...which reads, St. Antony, the Abbot...the third century saint, whose feast day is celebrated on 17th January (Vanatthu Anthoniyar as he is known in our place!!!).

Standing outside the Church, there was a dilemma - whether to proceed or to visit also the second Church that was their. Though the others said otherwise, I felt we should go and pay a visit to that Church too, though it looked much smaller and less inviting from outside. When we reached there, and prayed for a while and came out, those who accompanied me, thanked me profusely - for it was a Church dedicated to Blessed Mother of Carmel!!! (Today - 16th July...was the feast proper of Our Blessed Mother of Mt. Carmel) and to visit the Church of the Lady of the Scapular...was a special blessing! One of them rightly pointed out, "Our Blessed Mother herself brought us here today"

MONTE ASIAGO

Monte Asiago, where the couple awaited us, is another historical landmark on the map of world history. The two World Wars were fought on this mount...Italy, supported by England, America, Hungary and Austria; versus Germany, supported by its allies. It was ground zero of the battle and it is said on this mount alone 24,000 Italian soldiers have died for the country along with three to five thousand of the ally soldiers. Just a question of 200 meters from the house to which we went, there were two cemeteries... for the soldiers who died in the war. Not just that the whole area is surrounded by symbols and memories of the wars, which have not left the minds of the people here. Infact the couple whose house we reached told us, that just that morning as they dug a small part of their land infront of their house to make a vegetable garden their pickaxe brought out from the land a bomb-shell still not detonated...when they panicked about it, an expert who had come from the museum, told them that it is already dead, due to the water and mud that have entered it. The bomb-shell was carried away to the museum! however they had something else to show us, another equally prized recovery, a star that might have adorned the shoulder strap of a General or someone of his ranks those days...and they showed us also what they have found there over the years...bullet shells, bullets, balls used in the olden day canons etc.

As we had our dinner together, the 3 couples and I, they asked me to bless the meal and in my silence, I turned my grateful heart to the Lord. These three couples, not related, but just friends...had a fellowship among them that was so admirable. What prompted them to invite me to be part of that fellowship today? Who am I to be part of them? Being of the waning generation, they were more at home with the dialect than italian; unless very conscious about my presence, they were spontaneously conversing in the dialect, which i understood little. However, I enjoyed being with them and listening to them; I pitied them for having had to every now and then switch from their dialect to italian so that i may understand what they said. 

My ultimate feeling was this: besides the great historical things and the picturesque mountains that i came across, i felt i was blessed to be around persons with such goodness in their hearts. People who had no, absolutely no need to have taken me along and made sure i had a good evening, but were going out of their way to make me feel loved, accepted and cared for. It was a true sign of the love of God showered on me, however little I deserved it in reality.

WORD 2day

17th July, 2013

God reveals himself to Moses, and thus to the people of Israel, and thus to the whole world - the very first revelation of the God who intervenes in history is a revelation of a God who stands by the suffering, the poor, the oppressed! While the dominant, the oppressive and the powerful lot float on their cloud of pride and arrogance, creating petty gods of themselves and idols of their power and penny, the Lord rests with the weak, the suffering, the little ones who put their trust in the Lord. The interim picture of the situation may look favourable to the powerful and the dominant, but at the denouement it wont certainly be so! The last shall be first, the least shall be the greatest, the humble shall be exalted, the persecuted shall be consoled - these repeated paradoxes taught by Jesus are not asking one to wish misfortune for oneself or to negate the fullness of life that Jesus himself brought. It is to remind us that the fullness of life is not in the power, possession and prosperity that we hold so dear - it is in right priorities! It is understanding one's origins, one's duties, one's giftedness, one's call, one's mission, one's relatedness to the other, one's responsibility for those around oneself and to the humanity as a whole. When I understand all this and live my everyday life in all earnestness, it would be a reason to thank and praise God, as Jesus does today - "I thank thee, Lord of heaven and earth!"

WORD 2day

16th July, 2013

Yesterday we spoke of the situations of injustice in the world and the readings drove us to a reflection on it. Today, the readings issue a warning to us! The Lord is patient and merciful, but at the same time just and righteous. The Lord has a predilection for the poor, the oppressed, those who are sinned against, those who are denied of their rights, those who are constrained to live in conditions that they actually do not deserve to suffer. The warning is this: that we take care to see where we actually belong! We are not called merely to judge who is right and who is wrong and give a verdict on persons. We are called to remain on the side of the right, the truth and justice. It is not that we may be oppressors, but even if indirectly by our inaction and silence we allow the oppression of a person or a people go scot-free, we are on the wrong side, on the side of injustice! As the famous holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel says, "We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented." Our help is in the name of the Lord, affirms the Responsorial Psalm today. When we are a help to the oppressed, we are acting in the name of the Lord. The Lord raises Lord's judgement, Lord's Hero from where and when, we know not. But surely our help is in the name of the Lord, and let us strive to be always on the side of the Lord. If we fail, the Lord warns us today, "I tell you that it shall be more tolerable on the day of judgement for the land of Sodom than for you."

WORD 2day

15th July, 2013

Just yesterday after the Sunday Eucharistic Celebration, when I came out of the Church, one of those who had participated in the Celebration, among many others, came over to me and wished me. He introduced himself and said he is from Srilanka! My feelings became a little mixed, frankly speaking, but i did not want that to take the better of me! He asked me whether I am from Calcutta!!! (He would have preferred it that way). And when I said, I am from Tamilnadu, I could see his feelings were mixed too! Though I did not wish to, he began a discussion on the prevailing problem between the Tamils and the Sinhalese in Srilanka and its repercussions in Tamilnadu. He then said, "its unfortunate that these problems are prevailing and it can never be justified on whatever ground that people are denied their fundamental right to live in peace!" and he added, "to what extent the inhuman selfishness of a small group of people can cause an havoc in the world!" One cannot but think of the prevailing situations of inhumanity, cruel hegemony, political manipulation, socio economic oppression and human right violations all over the world, when we read the first reading today! When we find ourselves in front of these suffering brothers and sisters, we cannot close our eyes or switch off our minds. No one can be neutral, in our own way we have to take our stand - that is what Jesus says in the words - "I have come to bring not peace but sword!" Our solidarity, our affirmation of justice and peace, our simple gestures of care and concern for the oppressed brothers and sisters, though it may appear to be like a mere glass of water, will be much rewarded in the Reign of God, because however simple, those gestures show that we stand for truth, liberty, peace and justice - in short - for the Reign of God!

The Scourge of the #hashtags and the Urge to be counted

In these days of ‘netmospheric supremacy’…where everything seems to be dominated by social network, with posts and comments, likes and shares, tweets and retweets, updates and whatsapps, there is a new phenomenon that is catching up! Communication, faster communication, instant communication…and now it is notable communication that matters! What am I rumbling about?

It is about #using #hashtags #everywhere in the #updates one wants to #add to his or her own #post or #wall or on #socialnetworking sites!

What are we looking at… a communication that is becoming more an end in itself! Communication is to communicate and not for its own sake! More than communicating what one wants to, the fact that one has communicated becomes more to be recognised, and something that cannot be left unnoticed. Going on a Facebook page or a twitter or other popular social networking sites, one notices today the invasion of the hash tags, right into the subject matter, which were once just used as merely tag keys at the end of a subject or the content. The scourge of this sign does not leave you even when what is being reported is a sensitive or a heart churning issue! Media reporting proves sans ethics when it seeks to increase its readership or TRP rating or likes or hits…even on an issue like a natural disaster or inhumanity against someone! And individuals follow suit, justifying and reifying the craze into a legitimate need to get noticed or get counted!

In a short time now, this will be already an accepted phenomenon…and I just want to record my annoyance before anyone finds it “too late”. Am I acting under an urge to be counted too?

LUMEN FIDEI - VII

Blessed is she who believed

Concluding Section (Art. 58-60) and some Personal Remarks...

As a concluding note the encyclical presents to us a model or an exemplification of all that has been spoken about. And in right words it says, "the Mother of the Lord is the perfect icon of faith" and quotes the words of St. Elisabeth in the Gospel according to St. Luke (1:45), 'Blessed is she who believed'. Calling the Blessed Mother, "good soil", the encyclical calls to our attention the meaningful expression of Justin Martyr, 'In receiving the message of the angel, Mary conceived faith and joy'(58). Mary can be pictured as someone who closely followed Jesus in his entire salvation journey right from the moment of the Word becoming flesh to the moment when this son of hers was raised to the right hand of the Father as the eternal Lord and sovereign judge (59). 

The last article(60) is a beautiful prayer made on behalf of us all, to the Blessed Virgin ...

to Sow in our faith the joy of the Risen one,... 

to Remind us that those who believe are never alone,... and

to Teach us to see all things with the eyes of Jesus.

Personally...

The experience of reading through and reflecting on this Encyclical has borne one remarkable fruit in me - not to look at faith as something that is just between me and my God. It is definitely much more than that, it is something that defines my day to day life, my every relationship, my decisions on even the most ordinary things, my priorities - in short the entire world in which I live. I cannot think of my faith as something that is apart from me, for it has become the very personality that I am, from the very moment that I accepted it in my baptism and confirmed it through other sacraments of initiation. It is a gratuitous gift that God has placed within me, in the core of my being and it affects every aspect of my life. It makes me go out of myself and find myself in solidarity with the brothers and sisters in the same Lord to whom all of us respond in our own way, influenced by our personal traits and social upbringing. The very understanding of the institution of the Church as the communion of persons united in one expression of faith, is something that can facilitate readily our journey towards making present the Reign of God on earth.

However, there is one point on which the encyclical gives away a necessity of growth within the Church and the Official Magisterium of the Church. It is the aspect of Inclusive Language. The encyclical, or the least to say its English translation, still has a language that is highly masculine. Except in three places (art. 21,26,45), everywhere else the reference to a Christian or to the person to whom the encyclical is addressed, remains masculine - that is "he" or "him" or "man"! If the Magisterium can learn from the evolving times and the growing sensitivity, and become more inclusive in its language, it would be a more Reign-likely picture of the Church that it can offer to the world. 

If at all there is something that can be felt as a lack, it could be pointed out that the practical application of faith and the pastoral challenges it poses could have been treated a little more elaborately. Though the fourth chapter undertakes the task, personally at the end of the chapter, I could not help feeling disappointed that some current issues and urgent problems have not been touched upon. The feeling notwithstanding, the encyclical given its nature cannot speak of everything and within its scope, it appears quite complete!

Being the first one of the Pontificate of Pope Francis, LUMEN FIDEI has set the tone to the pastoral-minded Pontiff's wish for the flock that he shepherds. He has thrown a candid invitation to the faithful, to live their faith than just to possess it. Living the faith brings one's religious convictions to the daily life, and to the events and persons that fill it, and requires one to converse, dialogue and relate with the other, thus building relationships that lead each and every one to do one's part towards building the Reign of God, here and now!

The End... A personal summary by... Antony Christy sdb. 

BE LOVE! BE COMPASSION!

14th July, 2013: 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Religion has been traditionally considered a search for God, some of them are long-winded and some others super-human. The Liturgy today differs from this point of view and indicates to a Christian that living as a Christian is neither too hard nor too far off. Jesus Christ the Son of God has brought it so close to us, by becoming one of us and having lived out for us in his own life a model to be emulated, an example to be followed and a path to be retraced. Those who wish to take the unbeaten path need not worry, for this path traced by Jesus will forever remain unbeaten for not as many as enough dare take that path. The Challenge thus is alive for you and me today!

The Word of God is in my heart! What God wants of me, what really matters to lead a life worthy of the One who created me, is right within me! It is in the core of my being, because I am created in the image and the likeness of God (Gen 1:27) and having been created in God's own image, I have within me all that is Godly...all that is characteristic of God, I have it embedded in the core of my being! If nothing hinders or distorts it, this is what I will manifest too in my daily life! This is what the book of Deuteronomy teaches us today in the first reading! The latest encyclical Lumen Fidei (LF 20) makes reference to this passage and speaks of the exegesis made by St. Paul on this passage from Deuteronomy - in Romans 10:6-7 we read St.Paul telling us, that we need not wonder how will we come to understand this inherent nature of ours - because we have Jesus Christ who has revealed it to us!

Christ came to reveal to us not merely who God was, but who we were; that we are the image and likenesses of God, that we are sons and daughters of a God who is love and compassion. A literal translation of the Hebrew version of Psalm 103, would read, "The Lord is compassion and love" (Ps 102(103):8) - not merely that God is compassionate and loving, but God is compassion and love! Christ was the visible image of this invisible God - Christ was the love of God personified, Christ was the living image of Compassion. He came to reveal to us, how much God loved us and how filled with compassion God is. Our call to be Christians is not a call to believe in some truths and adhere to some moral virtues, it is to live as Christ lived, to think as Christ thought, to feel as Christ felt, to love as Christ loved!

That is why Jesus did not stop with the two great commandments, he made them just one and said - "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another" (Jn 13:34). According to Christ it is not enough to love the other as I love myself... but I am called to love the other as God loves me, as Christ loved me - that is, to love unconditionally, to love without counting the cost, to love even upto the death on the Cross!

That is a challenge! That is why when they asked Jesus who is my neighbour, Jesus did not answer them directly. He gave them a parable and made them reflect, to whom they have to be a neighbour! Yes the Lord invites me today to be a neighbour to every person who is in need, every person who is suffering alone, who is left to bleed on the pavements of the present world of globalisation, consumerism and technological domination. I am asked to be a neighbour to everyone who is tired and heavy laden, everyone who is lonely and sick, sick in the body, mind, heart and soul. Let me not ask anymore the stale question, who is my neighbour! If I am truly a Christian, I would ask a question more pertinent - TO WHOM SHOULD I BE A NEIGHBOUR...and the answer will be right before our eyes.

And the way to be a neighbour is what Jesus explains today! To be like himself, to feel for the other like Jesus, to live like Jesus, to love like Jesus - that is to BE LOVE, to BE COMPASSION in the world today. That is the most fitting way to be a Christian today.

WORD 2day

13th July, 2013

A Challenge and an Assurance! The challenge is to belong to God, come what may. It is not an easy task considering the prevailing atmosphere today. I know of so many youngsters who are so inspiring by the absolute choice that they have made for God and the will of God. People who have had great ambitions and plans, but  have just thrown them into the air for the sake of a vision that God inspired. Persons who have had prospects so promising, but have ignored those just because they felt they have been called for a specific mission, a mission in the footsteps of the Master-saviour. Daring individuals who have made choices for which they are being derided, called names and have suffered worst experiences of want and willful deprivation. A challenge! When this challenge is taken up, one could find oneself on a tossing sea or a troubled sky, but nothing would disturb the person for he or she has found a ground so firm, a base so strong, a root so deep - the Lord who calls, commissions and walks one through. At the end of all the tribulations, pervades a serenity, a sense of accomplishment, the same sense with which Jesus gasped on the cross, "It is accomplished." That is the tone in which Jacob aka Israel speaks today of his end and what should come after. The Lord does not leave us merely with the challenge, he attaches an assurance! The assurance of God's caring presence with us! The new encyclical Lumen Fidei calls this 'the accompanying presence of God' (LF 57). An assurance that arises from the fact that God loves us, that God values us, that God cares for us, and above all, that God counts on us! 

LUMEN FIDEI - VI

God prepares a city for them

Chapter 4: Articles 50-57.

Faith is not merely a journey alone, affirms repeatedly the encyclical, it is also a process of building, building a city, a society, a place where humanity can live together. As Noah the first builder in faith built the Ark, and Abraham set up tents, we are called to build the world in to a place habitable for humanity today. As we see in those persons of faith, firmness of faith marks the city which God is preparing for humankind. Faith is born of an encounter with God's own love and hence it does not speak of an interior firmness or steadfast conviction of the individual alone; it illumines every human relationships (50). The light of faith enhances the "richness of human relations, their ability to endure, to be trustworthy, to enrich our life together"(51). Anything other than love, if it becomes the basis of human unity, it involves calculations of utility! Hence a the light of faith is at the service of justice, law and peace, as a way of creating enduring and enriching human relations. The Old Testament for example, presents to us persons like Samuel and David, whose faith enabled them to "administer justice"(51).

The Old Testament bears witness to the fact that blessings were passed from fathers to the sons, establishing for us, that "the first setting in which faith enlightens the human city is the family"(52). Marriage and the origin of New Life, are direct interventions of God's love. "Promising love for ever is possible when we perceive a plan bigger than our own ideas and undertakings, a plan which sustains us and enables us to surrender our future entirely to the one we love"(52). Passing on Faith in the family happens in the process of shared expression of faith within the family, helping children to become aware of their faith and grow and mature in it. The Young people need the closeness of the family and the Church, as they find themselves in the troublesome yet rich phase of their life(53). The encyclical recalls the experiences of the World Youth Days and finds in them but a manifestation of the yearning of the Young, to live their life to the fullest. "Encountering Christ, letting themselves be caught up in and guided by his love, enlarges the horizons of existence, gives it a firm hope which will not disappoint"(53). "Faith is no refuge for fainthearted, but something which enhances our lives" (53) declares the encyclical.

Faith, in concrete a situation, becomes the light for the life in the society. It invites one to look at the other as a blessing, as someone through whose face the light of God's love shines. A human person is not cast adrift in the nature of the world; he or she can never renounce one's proper moral responsibility nor can presume "to be a sort of absolute judge endowed with an unlimited power to manipulate the world around him"(54) or her.  Revealing the love of God the creator, faith enables us to respect nature and discern in it a "grammar written by the hand of God and a dwelling place entrusted to our protection and care"(55). A concrete expression of faith requires that we are responsible for 'just forms of governance' which believes that authority comes from God, at the service of the common good; for 'possibility of forgiveness' which requires time, effort, patience and commitment. "Rather than avoiding conflict, we need to confront it in an effort to resolve and move beyond it, to make it a link in a chain, as part of a progress towards unity"(55).

Faith as the source of consolation and strength amid suffering, sheds a special light on personal lives of those who suffer and on suffering as a human reality. "Christians know that suffering cannot be eliminated, yet it can have meaning and become an act of love and entrustment into the hands of God who does not abandon us; in this way it can serve as a moment of growth in faith and love." "Even death is illumined and can be experienced as the ultimate call to faith, the ultimate "Go forth from your land"(Gen 1:12)" (56). Persons who suffer have been sometimes extraordinary mediators of light, as Francis of Assisi saw his light of faith from a person with leprosy and Mother Teresa found her light from the poor and dying.(57) "Faith is not a light that scatters all our darkness, but a lamp which guides our steps in the night and suffices for the journey" says the encyclical bringing out the aspects of the accompanying presence of God with us and the ray of hope that faith offers at the service of common good. We can hear the voice of Pope Francis distinctly when we read those lines which address us saying, "Let us refuse to be robbed of hope, or to allow our hope be dimmed by facile answers and solutions which block our progress" (57).

Ending with the note of hope the encyclical earns itself the image of a beacon that guides a Christian today, in his or her life of faith, to walk one's journey with courage and optimism amidst the shadows that befall the times. (to be continued...)

WORD 2day

12th July, 2013

Enduring till the end is the test of the strength of one's faith. Israel(Jacob) today expresses that great satisfaction in having endured till the end, on seeing Joseph alive..."Now let me die!" - a sense of fulfillment! As later we would hear Simeon exclaiming in the Temple of Jerusalem on seeing the child Jesus, "At last all powerful Master, let your servant go in peace. For, my eyes have seen the salvation you have prepared for the nations!" Jesus teaches the same to us his followers, "the one who endures till the end shall be saved" (Mt 10:22). Endurance that Jesus demands is for two reasons - first, because all the troubles that a follower of Christ faces is for such a noble purpose, a cause so great, that anything can be given up for its sake - the Reign of God on earth. Seek first the Reign of God... even if you have to give up your home, your dear ones, your belongings or even your life, for you will be rewarded hundred percent, says the Lord, here on earth and in the eternal life! Secondly, because the mission entrusted to us is so vast and so immense that these troubles can measure no where in comparison to it. He says with a tinge of humour, even if you have to run from one town to the other due to persecutions, "you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel, before the Son of man comes." Such was the determination of the early Christians and the Apostles who led them from the fore. To proclaim through our daily lives the Reign of God and if we have to face hard consequences for it, to be prepared to endure it all the way - that is the call for me today.