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.