PILGRIMS TO PARADISE

Wisdom, Knowledge and Discernment - a journey kit for the wayfarer

18th Sunday in Ordinary time: July 31, 2022
Ecclesiastes 1:2,2:21-23; Colossians 3:1-5,9-11; Luke 12:13-21

A wise man lived in a tent in the deserts of Arabia. Numerous people went to meet him everyday either for a blessing or a counsel or merely to see the saintly man! Once entered a man who was totally surprised that there was nothing, absolutely nothing inside the tent – not even a stool for a furniture! And he asked the wise man, “Where are your furnitures?” The wise man looked up and instead of answering that question, retorted, “and where are yours?” “But I am only a traveler, a passer-by” protested the visitor. And without losing his calm the wise man quipped, “So am I; a traveler, a passer-by!”

We are all travelers, passers-by, pilgrims towards our heavenly home, pilgrims to paradise! We do not have a permanent home here, we are looking towards it, says the letter to the Hebrews(13:14). When the Word of God repeatedly reminds us that we are merely “strangers and pilgrims” (Heb 11:13; 1 Pet 2:11), it is not a negative outlook on our life here and now, but a lasting perspective to understand it in the right manner! We are not permanent here on earth, however famous or important we are – and that is an obvious truth, so much forgotten or so much neglected by our ambitious world! We are not in an oblivion, as if to say we do not know our origins nor our future! No! The second reading today tells us, “Brothers and sisters, you are risen with Christ” – We are resurrected people, people of the Risen Lord, who awaits us in the heavenly abode, for us to be with him for eternity! We are on a journey, we are on a pilgrimage! And on this pilgrimage we need a travel kit! The Liturgy today reminds us of three essential components that should find their place in that kit – those components are Wisdom, Knowledge and Discernment!

The first of the components is Wisdom – the capacity to know the difference between the vanities and values in life! There are those who run after wealth all their life and finally discover that they have infact lost their whole life for nothing! Attachments, Ego, Vain glory, prestige, power and pleasure can mislead our minds and spoil our spirits, leading to a life so empty and erroneous. Persons entrusted to us by God, Love that brightens every morning and illuminates every night, Relationships that give meaning and make us feel wanted- these can help us live our life for others and ultimately for God, who is the very source of that life and the only One who can throw light on its real meaning! Vanities and Values – both shine but it depends on me to differentiate the real brilliance and the fake lustre.

Knowledge is another necessary element to never lose our way on this journey! Knowledge is not merely a collection of information, it is the capacity to choose between the virtues and vices! St. Paul instructs us through his letter to the Colossians today (3:10) that to put on the new person, is to be renewed in the fullness of knowledge after the image of the One who has created us! God is the fullness of knowledge, that is, the fullness of Virtues who shows us how our lives have to be lived! “To make them know the beauty of virtue and the ugliness of vices” was the task given to Don Bosco, the educator of the young, by the Risen Lord and the Blessed Mother. The right knowledge guides us on our path and leads us through right choices.

The third and the most difficult of all is Discernment! To store up right treasure in the right place! The clarity of what is truly the treasure to be sought and the choice of the right place to store them, is the most important truth every religion and faith intends to present. The readings today direct us to this discernment! Living in a world of consumerism and globalization, days of technological advancement and communication revolution, we are today made to think deep with the situations of war, violence, killings, greed, corruption, domination, deception, exploitation and dehumanization all around us. The choice is ours, either to be carried by the current or to swim against the current! If we are carried by the current we are dead and buried in this world of vanity! If we dare to stand against it and swim countercurrent, we are people of the Risen Lord, the followers of the living Lord, real pilgrims to paradise!

The plight of a prophet

WORD 2day: Saturday, 17th week in Ordinary time 

July 30, 2022: Jeremiah 26: 1-11,16 ; Matthew 14: 1-12

Constant threat to life, drastic insecurities of life, total unacceptance from the rest of the so called normal people, pressures of helplessness...these form part of the usual plight of a prophet, not just in the days of Jeremiah and John the Baptist but even today. That explains why real prophets are a rare phenomenon. However, it has often occured to me that, the difference between a true prophet and a self-righteous egoist is very thin and dangerously subtle.

The first element that can demarcate the two is the FOCUS. When Jeremiah spoke to the people and the princes, he never looked for support or people who can come to his defence. His focus was determinantly on what God wanted him to say and nothing else.

The second element is DETACHMENT from the result. Though the message is definitely pointed towards a change, a result, the prophet is not excessively anxious about it. At times a self righteous person can be on a ego trip claiming credits and proving his point. A true prophet desists this tendency naturally.

The third element is absolute FEARLESSNESS. A fearlessness that makes them hard people to handle for the authorities and the hierarchy. But that fearlessness comes from their unwavering trust, confidence and hope in the never failing presence of the Lord!

The plight of the prophet is the plight of every Christian, if he or she lives one's Christian call to the full. Are we prepared really for this plight?

Beware of Selective Hearing Impairment

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

July 29, 2022: Remembering Martha, Maria and Lazarus
Jeremiah 26: 1-9; John 11: 19-27.

The auricular experts explain that there are different kinds of deafness... mild hearing loss, moderate hearing loss, moderately severe hearing loss, severe hearing loss and profound hearing loss! At times spiritually too these hearing impairments can be calculated in a similar fashion, but we need to add one more crucial type of hearing challenge. That is, Selective Hearing Loss - hearing only what I want to hear, or refusing to hear what I do not want to hear merely because it causes me inconvenience. 

When Jeremiah spoke to them about the impeding danger and their need to return to the Lord, the pople deemed him liable to death. The Word of God keeps rushing into our hearts. It would cleanse it, refresh it and fill it with life, if only we allow it to. If we are biased, prejudiced and suspicious, we would break no ground towards perfection. At times with these biases and prejudices, we fall prey to the syndrome of 'hearing merely what we want to hear'!

When Martha told Jesus, "if you were here, my brother would not have died!" Martha's (and Maria's) hope in the Lord was plainly expressed in those words. But the Lord challenges them to journey further in her hope, not to get stuck to cliches, not to remain with mere statements and memorised aphorisms...but to go all the way out in trusting the Lord. It is like what St. Paul says about Abraham (Rom 4:18)... Jesus invites Martha and Mary 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! Martha, Maria and Lazarus are given to us, in contrast to the people whom Jeremiah encountered, as persons who accepted the challenge from the hands of the Lord... to hear completely, to hear integrally... and to avoid the prevalent malefficence of selective hearing impairment. 

To hear and trust in the Lord, is simple in times that are pleasant. It isn't 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! 

Amidst all our pressing concerns and pressurising opinions of the world, let us beware of selective hearing impairment, and hear, listen and trust in the Lord wholeheartedly. 

The Pot and the Store house

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

July 28, 2022: Celebrating St. Alphonsa 

Jeremiah 18: 1-6 ; Matthew 13: 47-53

Being a pot in the hands of the potter gives me the hope that I will never go waste. The potter knows me and knows the world that is around. God will make certain that I am relevant and needed in God's own time and design and use me as the store house of God's grace for others! Saints are such instances!

St Alphonsa was merely 36 when she died and half of that short life was spent in sicknesses of varied nature. But the Lord used her powerfully to bring out the best in her in keeping with the purposes the Lord had defined. She was a simple pot, weak and humble but holding the best of gifts as the store house of the grace of God. It is all about our docility to the mighty will of God.

In the parable that Jesus tells us today about the Reign of God, he brings out a fundamental element of either belonging to the Reign or not belonging to it. The angels will separate the good from the bad; the wicked from the righteous; the docile from the obstinate; the obedient from the rebellious; the discerning from the naive. It is said the hymn in heaven is, "I did it God's way"; while in hell it is, "I did it my way." The secret is here: doing it God's way! Living our life in God's way!

A clarity amidst all confusions

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 17th week in Ordinary time

July 27, 2022: Jeremiah 15:10, 20-21; Matthew 13: 44-46

The first reading pictures to us Jeremiah as a person totally lost, confused, demoralised a bit and to an extent even at his wit's end. He speaks of how miserable he is and how he is surrounded by the evil doers and god haters. However, amidst all these confusions, there is a constant clarity that is visible: the clarity that God is for him. He was convinced, whoever be against him, God was for him. As St. Paul puts it, "if God is for us, who can be against us?" (Rom 8:31). That clarity is the lesson today!

Once again falling back to the first reading we see that, Jeremiah endures all pain and suffering, all persecution and injustice for the sake of the mission entrusted to him, because he was confident that it was God who has entrusted it to him. Like the treasure hidden in the field and that exceptional pearl sighted among the rest, he had the promises of God well fixed in his mind. That was enough a reason for him to risk even his life.

We have had great saints in history who have lived this life of prophecy, who have lived their lives in the midst of utter confusions and endless tribulations. All of them were ready to give up anything in life, or even give up their life, because they had unearthed an unbelievable treasure in the midst of that barren land, because they had sighted the most precious stone in the midst of all the deceiving glitters. If we find the Lord, if we become aware of what the Lord has to offer us, we shall have that enviable clarity amidst confusion; and that alone is enough for a meaningful living.

The Elders, the grains and the darnels

THE WORD AND THE FEAST 

July 26, 2022: Remembering Sts. Joachim and Anne

Jeremiah 14:17-22; Matthew 13:36-43

The discussion is still on about the darnels among the grains in the field. Jesus speaks as a matter of fact and belittles the question who had sown those darnels. It is immaterial, according to him! The fact is that they were there and the grain stalks had grown even amidst those darnels! The merit has to be given to those and Jesus assures that it will be given.

Reflecting on personalities such as Sts. Joachim and Anne who stand as symbols of the elders who have kept the faith, we are challenged to emulate their lives, their commitment and their dedication to the Lord.

We are called to remain faithful inspite of and amidst the faithless crowd that looks at everything in terms of gains and benefits. Even the elders in the families are considered and valued according to their worth in terms of income and expenditure. People have no time for persons in this world, a world that absolutises productivity.

Can we take a moment today and look at our attitude towards elders? Are we grateful or are we calculative? Are we respectul or are we despising them? It is time to be grains among the abounding darnels.

Jesus' School of Servant-Leadership

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

July 25, 2022: Celebrating St. James, the Apostle.
2 Corinthians 4: 7-15; Matthew 20: 20-28

Feast of any Apostle reminds us of the wonderful words that St. Paul utters today: "we hold this treasure in earthen vessels". Every apostle has his own weakness, nevertheless the gift that they are and that they possess, surpasses everything as God's power and might are revealed in it.

Feast of St. James (with the Gospel that we are given to reflect today) reminds us of this more strongly and adds another specific teaching, a teaching from Jesus' School of Servant- Leadership. In Matthew's and Mark's versions of the Gospel, we find every time that Jesus foretells his passion, he follows it up with the discourse on servant leadership (as we see in Mt 16:24ff; 18:1ff; 20:20ff). James and John, just like the other apostles, took time to realise that the only thing we can inherit from Jesus is his identity as Suffering Servant!

Eventually they wanted to bear the crown that Jesus mentioned and that is what they did. James led the community of Jerusalem... humble and service minded as the Master himself; and his blood shed like the Master's (Acts 12:2). Let us praise the Lord for the apostle St. James and be prepared to witness to the Lord till our last breath!

PRAYER IS RELATIONSHIP

July 24, 2022: 17th Sunday in Ordinary time

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!

In love with the Lord!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

July 22, 2022: Remembering St. Mary of Magdala

Micah 7: 14-15, 18-20; John 20: 1-2, 11-18

Mary of Magdala, is one character in the life of Jesus, that many are very curious about. The conspiracy theorists and apocryphal experts find in themselves a great interest to study this person more and more and find details that are there and even those that are not there! However they all begin with one question, which the Gospel today answers.

They ask, why is it that the Lord appeared to her first and not to the apostles? The Gospel answers it so simply: because she was there! As we read in the Gospel today, she was there at the tomb early morning. Then, she ran to the apostles and brought them; the apostles saw, they believe and they left, but she was there, she stayed at the tomb and kept weeping (cf v.11). She was there and she got to see her Master. She was like that widow about whom Jesus spoke of once (Lk 18), persistent and insistent! She wanted by all means to know what happened to her Master! She stayed on because she just could not go! She was so passionately in love with her Master.

The key is here: if we are passionately in love with the Lord, we will see the glory of the Lord right in front of our eyes.

What everyone longs for!!!

WORD 2day: Thursday, 16th week in Ordinary time

July 21, 2022 - Jeremiah 2: 1-3, 7-8, 12-13; Matthew 13: 10-17

There is one thing that everyone longs for ultimately in life and beyond... peace and serenity! Every time God calls us to Godself, we are promised comfort, peace, tranquility, peace and well being. These are the lofty gifts that the Lord has in store for us. These we receive not by looking but seeing, not by hearing but listening, not by desiring for riches and luxuries but for the presence of God. When we abandon God, we find ourselves abandoned, not because God has abandoned but because we have abandoned God and moved away from God.

There are subtle ways of abandoning God - hearing but not understanding, looking but not perceiving, seeing but not taking to heart the presence and the majesty of God. We are after "useless idols" as Jeremiah says in the first reading. What everyone longs for, what the whole world is yearning for, is right near us for our taking. But we are too busy making our living, establishing our names and defining our own glories.

All that we need to do is open our eyes and see, open our ears and listen, open our hearts and perceive: we have so easily available what everyone longs for, right at our doorstep - the peace and joy that the Lord alone can give!