Washing our hands!

Food is an essential part of our living. “Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity” said Voltaire. We have never made it until we have our own salad dressing, until then we’re stuck behind the French, Italian and Russians. All religion has dietary codes for the believers. The Jews have Kosher Laws that prohibits people from eating pigs, camels and those that chew the cud and divide the hoof (Lev 11:4). It rejects more than 35 different animals and birds – in modern language they are about 60 or more. Islamic Halaal laws prohibit all dead meat, swine. Al-Maidah 5:3 states that all food, “that on which have been invoked the name of other than Allah, that which hath been killed by strangling, violent blow, headlong fall, or being gored to death, has been eaten by a wild animal…”

Hinduism traditionally held a rigorous approach following the Dharmasastras (Hindu religious & legal codes). The rules they believe enlighten their approach to mental, physical and spiritual health. Food comes in three categories: Satvic (that which is considered ideal – Vegetarianism) thus following the teachings of Bhagavad Gita 17:8 “It creates a pure, peaceful and balanced mind.” Rajasic (stimulates and excites the passions). It produces disease, pain and grief. Beef and all carnivorous birds are forbidden. Third category is Tamasic: tasteless, stale, decaying, rotten, cooked overnight – Alcohol.

Christians follow the same tradition as the Jews and Muslims. From the time of Jerusalem Council in Act 15, we were allowed to have our own identity. Noah accepted the unclean animals in the ark along with the clean animals. The Jews were given ravens in the wilderness. Peter was asked to eat wild meat as all things are good and created good. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer."1 Tim 4:5.

Jesus did not come to change the Law; rather enlighten us for what the Law was originally intended. A gift, money, car keys or anything for that matter in my culture given in left hand is not accepted and sometimes insulting. My superior in my seminary days always told me ‘a clean desk is a clean mind.’ These customs and traditions though are not central to life and practice of our religion, they help us to better our focus and attention. Texting can be a psychological illness, prevents our ability to drive or pay attention to our surrounding.

Our ‘clean’ food and instructions of purification should result in our ability to see God and love neighbor. It will be foolish to have all clean food and clean habits yet missing God amidst all that hassle. Who worries about making an apple pie that her son loves when the son is dead! Purity has a say in our faith formation only when it takes us close to God. Demand on purity as an imposition on account of selfishness, pride, arrogance will only result in chaos and confusion.

Moral evolution and scientific research must go hand in hand, writes our Pope, and that Charity must animate them in a harmonious interdisciplinary whole, marked by unity and distinction. (Caritas in Veritate, No. 31)What we see is just the opposite: we have reached the zenith of scientific research and our moral evolution has been buried deep and rotting. What goes inside is the body and blood of our Lord, thus every Christian is given the responsibility to bring out Christ in all that we do and say. When Jesus washed the feet of the disciples we know the value of that washing. When Pilate washed his hands, we know what that meant! Have you washed your hands?

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The Abandoned!

Many atheists believe that Christianity is based on fear, dishonesty and it preys on the innocent and is extremely egocentric. Some even talk about Christianity that breeds authoritarianism, is anti-intellectual and anti-scientific thus it is cruel. There have been more attacks on Christianity compared to the attacks on all the religions put together, both physically and intellectually down through the centuries. Nearly every decade witnesses a controversy on Christianity, especially the Catholic Church. Almost all of the controversies only strengthens and consolidates the faith of Catholics. Catholicism is one of the most professional, balanced and the most complete revelation of God to people.

Instead of talking about the outsiders, it is important to talk about who comprises the people of God. St. Peter gives us the hint as to the qualities of the people of God. 1. The people of God have a conviction as who is God and who is not! False beliefs and rash conclusions have made us grownup teenagers who operate their world by instincts rather than by wisdom.

Nasaruddin earned his living selling eggs. Someone came to his shop one day and said, “Guess what I have in my hand.” “Give me a clue,” said Nasaruddin. “I shall give you several: It has the shape of an egg, the size of an egg. It looks like an egg, tastes like an egg, and smells like an egg. Inside it is yellow and white. It is liquid before it is cooked, becomes thick when heated. It was, moreover, laid by a hen.” “Aha! I know!” said Nasaruddin. “It is some sort of cake!” (De Mello, The Song of the Bird, P 58). This conviction is not a sure guarantee that we will live happy hereafter, rather a constant effort to purify ourselves by the body and blood of Christ and also clearing our minds by the study of Scriptures. The Jews in the first reading were not absolutely free from serving other gods, nor those who abandoned Jesus.

2. The people of God are called to life. All were given freedom to choose between life and death. Every time we sin, we choose death and every time we do good we choose life. Jesus, when asking the disciples, “Do you also want to leave?” makes it clear that we all have freedom and nothing is imposed. It is the way God created us. Life is choices. Love, anger, fear and courage are all life-choices. “Sometimes we choose the best-version-of-ourselves, and sometimes, we choose a –second-rate-version-of-ourselves. Our choices echo throughout our lives, and into history and on and on into eternity.” (Matthew Kelly, The Rhythm of Life, p 4).

3. We all have answered and said, “No we don’t want to leave, we will stay.” Now we have to be clear in answering this question. We stay here for a purpose. We are not in a limbo or purgatory here, temporary stay. “I will check out what Christianity and Christ is all about”, “I am here for my wife or my kids or for my parents.” Most often we guess. Marriage has been pushed down from the status of a Sacrament to a guess work in our modern world. Religion and spirituality who gave us meaning to our lives and morality have been reduced into a recycling bin. Bible-in-the basement is the trend. If we are to stay we need to ask: Am I ready to stop serving other gods? My selfishness, my ego, my arrogance, my pride and my small-mindedness. Now that I m sure who I serve, I ask, “Am I ready to serve God with all my heart, my mind and soul?” How? Or is it easy to answer the previous question, “Do you also want to leave?”

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Humility is a forgotten virtue!

Once I was travelling in Europe and I asked my friend “what is so special about your country?” and he said in reply, “Food”. It is hard to come up with anything worthwhile apart from infra-structures, the haves and have not’s when talking about countries. We all are proud of our country. The road-system in USA is the best that I have seen anywhere in the world! The educational policy is the most expensive compared to any other country. But who are we? What do others think of us? How do we project ourselves to us and others? “Americans who travel abroad for the 1st time are often shocked to discover that, despite all the progress that has been made in the last 30 years, many foreign people still speak in foreign languages” (Dave Barry) or is it true that “When good Americans die they go to Paris” (Oscar Wilde).

Humility is the forgotten virtue in most societies in our modern world. In the 1st reading today, we heard about Wisdom drawing all the simple people. The simple always enjoy the fruits of wisdom. The meat and wine are not the ordinary meal of the people, they symbolize a feast. Tagore, the poet who wrote the Indian national anthem, once said, ‘We come nearest to the great when we are in great humility’.

Many of us think that intelligence is wisdom or intelligence is the by-product of wisdom. Though intelligence gives us the ability to share what we know in different formats, Wisdom is the holistic ability to grasp knowledge that is valuable to our lives. This is what the Upanishads call Vidya. Vidya is the knowledge of the Brahman. In other words, those who possess wisdom speak the language of God. Avidya the ignorance takes us away from the light and we are termed ignorant. We just have the intellectual capacity to read and write.

The past three Sundays have brought in the concept of bread and Jesus being our flesh. In John’s Gospel this theme is very central to the teachings of Jesus. In the Prologue of John, we hear that the Word was made flesh. What would we say when asked, ‘why?’ Why was the Word made flesh? The Word was made flesh so that we may have life and that life in fullness. God spoke through his Son Jesus (Heb 1:1). Think of a world where the Word still remains Word. Think of the Wisdom that never called us to come and dine! Think of a God who never came in search of us!

The Greek word ‘to eat’ here has a real urgency and munching connotation. It is urgent that we eat this flesh in order to live. It is not a casual breakfast that we eat after mass or funnel cake after a meal! Have you ever experienced real hunger or real thirst? Have you seen anyone who eats when hungry or drinks when thirsty? Why? It is the issue of life and death. My body needs it. In the same way our life needs this food.

The Word became flesh. It is not right now to say ‘let us make this flesh words, words, words. That’s what we do when we are so filled with pride and arrogance. Word becoming flesh is the humility of God in action. Take this, eat and drink – God’s humility in action that is remembered day after day. If the all powerful El Shaddai, the God of the universe could come to our heart in a thin, round unleavened wafer, why do we blind others of our pride and arrogance and pretend to be someone we are not? Christians who eat that flesh necessarily live out that humility by clearly witnessing the primacy of God in our lives. Humility is a solid foundation to all our virtues (Confucius). Let us pray that we witness God’s humility in all our words and actions. Amen.

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God is for us!

There is an old Hindu story told of a monk who was set out to journey a long distance. He had a small bag with him to carry basic things. When the evening fell, the monk decided to rest in an inn on the way. A thief also stayed in the same inn. The thief noticed the monk had a bag with him and in that bag there is a big diamond. He tried to steal the diamond that night. The monk realized the intention of the thief and called him near and readily gave the diamond to the thief. The thief took the diamond and ran off. After a few days, the thief realized that he made a mistake. He searched for the monk and asked him one more thing: “Dear monk! I don’t want this diamond anymore, but please give me your generous heart.”

Most often we don’t ask questions like: What is the purpose of my life? We all want to live. This want is most often selfish in many ways. A survey tells us that nearly 68% men work more than 40 hours a week. 62% work on weekends. The demands are such that we have to struggle to get both our ends meet. I can’t attend mass because I don’t get what I want here. If God can offer 30 or 40 dollars a mass I will readily come for the mass. The book A Nation of Wimps states that “Using the classic benchmarks of adulthood – leaving home, finishing school, getting a job, getting married, and having children – it has been found that 65% of males had reached adulthood by the age of 30 in 1960. By contrast, in 2000, only 31% had. Most self-help books teach us to live for ‘myself’ and ‘my success.’ Christians are not formed that way. If happiness if our goal, where do we find it?

Will you be happier if you make more money? Researches show that people in rich countries are not happier than those in poorer ones. No significant difference can be found between the happiness of the millionaires on the Forbes list with the Maasai herdsmen in East Africa. “The Annual poll by the University of CA and the American Council on Education found that entering freshmen rated becoming “very well off financially” first on a list of 19 goals, ahead of choices such as helping others, raising a family or becoming proficient in an academic pursuit” (Alison Grant for SunHerald.com)

Since every family is different it is good to ask what kind of family do we really want to be? What do we want to be remembered by? It is not enough for Christians to know you by your name. The people who murmured against Jesus did not know anything about Jesus except his parents’ name. Jesus opens his heart and reveals them who he really is. That is possible only in intimacy and love. Every bishop and priest takes on the responsibility with a mission statement. My ordination card carried my mission statement as “Through Him, with Him and in Him” all my days. Since we are all made for a mission to love, every family should sit together and spend some time on its own mission statement.

The celebration of the Eucharist witnesses the opening of the Tabernacle. Every consecration clearly states Jesus telling us “Take and eat; take and drink”. In the same way the Christians participate in opening our own tabernacles – our hearts to God and others. Every encounter with God necessarily makes us generous with love and compassion. If Christ can give his body and blood to the whole world, we can give our love at least to a few.

Someone said, God writes a lot of comedy… the trouble is, he is stuck with many bad actors who don’t know how to play funny. Our tabernacles are locked for a very long time. The locks are rusted and we have lost the keys to open them. The purpose of our existence is to live God and love God and others. We are created for a single purpose – to love. Every intake of the bread of life nourishes the love within us.

For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. (Col 1:16) Let us pray that we find our life’s worth in Him and continue to live for God since God lives for us. Amen.

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Filling and fulfilling

Arthur Ashe, the legendary Wimbledon player was dying of AIDS which he got due to infected blood he received during a heart surgery in 1983. His fan asked: 'Why does GOD have to select you for such a bad disease'? To this Arthur Ashe replied: 'The world over -- 50 million children start playing tennis, 5 million learn to play tennis, 500,000 learn professional tennis, 50,000 come to the circuit, 5000 reach the grand slam, 50 reach Wimbledon, 4 to semi final, 2 to the finals, when I was holding a cup I never asked GOD 'Why me?'. And today in pain I should not be asking GOD 'Why me?'

The parish register tell us that we have about 3600 families: even an average of 3 would take us to 10000. A website gives us a calculation that 52% of the people of Nazareth are Catholics. In truth we can say it is 20%. If we exclude the people who cannot come to the church for health reasons, and with 4 masses each Sunday we should at least have 2500 people in church. The chosen are 250. All hunger is not the same: there is hunger from relief from boredom, hunger for affection, hunger for a way to relieve anger or sadness, a hunger for a way to deal with loneliness or stress or a hunger for stimulation. How many reach semis and finals in experiencing God’s love – a bunch of men in black (church guys) and a few others?

If ‘Christianity is one beggar telling another beggar where he found bread’ (D T Niles), why are there no beggars found here? If Holy Eucharist is the mode of communication, what do we actually communicate to God? Gimme-gimme attitude of us filled and still filling our stomachs. Visits to Holy shrines and pilgrimages are made most often to get something. God help my dog! God help my cat! – these are comparatively more in requests than – Lord! Teach me how to love.

What is filling us? Most often we are like the husband in the movie Fireproof – Dad! Don’t give me lessons on God. A man is given a 40 days lesson to get back his wife. The parasites – the addictions in other things blinds us to see love. God does not need 40 days. Try an act of kindness, a little love shown in listening to our son, daughter or parents or grandparents, a smile that comes from the heart – you are back on. God is a God of small things.

Our bishop in his mission statement includes ‘mission in holiness’. That necessarily brings in our participation. If we are part of Christ’s body, our face should be in the body and blood of Jesus. It is not enough to say Jesus is the bread of life – Our Christian commitment is the ability to proclaim that we are that bread. Our aim is not just filling the stomach; it is fulfilling God’s love. We are what we eat! We become what we eat.

“There is more hunger for love and appreciation in this world than for bread.” (Mother Teresa). Children need to be fed. No parent would say ‘God has given me kids to feed, feed and feed’. As a child my family's menu consisted of two choices: take it or leave it. Children are given too many choices and one of them is God. God is not a choice. God values us. We undervalue God. Here, all kneeling counts, all words are heard and every heart is embraced. I am bread for others just as Jesus is bread for us all.
Amen.
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