Wealth

‘Wealth’ has been regarded as a blessing on man from the beginning of time. Wealthy people are sometimes viewed as symbols of gods. All religion talks about wealth as a gift of God. Goddess Lakshmi in Hinduism is viewed as the goddess of wealth. In Islam, all wealth is the possession of Allah with which humans are entrusted. It is a responsibility; it must be earned through permissible means and spent in permissible ways, such as spending on one's self and those for whom he is responsible for, without extravagance or waste. The Jews and the whole of Old Testament is very clear that being wealthy is synonymous with being blessed by God.

“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed” said Gandhi. Whether it be Wall Street, or corrupted politicians greed catches us up very quickly and easily. Casinos attract us more than our sweet little homes. Our most important achievements are quite often financial achievements. A lot of our petty talks are subjects of comfort and financial security. We tend to forget that happiness does not come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have. Oscar Wilde said, “There are many things that we would throw away if we were not afraid that others might pick them up.”

In today’s gospel Jesus conveys a message that if we are not ready to appreciate God’s presence in all that he has given us, we would never appreciate what he would give us in the future. The man in the parable did nothing wrong: he was blessed by God; he had bountiful harvest; he stored all the grains; thought of widening the store houses. What he had failed to do was to appreciate God’s presence in all his happy moments. Much is given and much is expected.

Wealth is also a responsibility for Christians. Early Christians had everything in common. That may not be a good idea in the pluralistic and a vast Catholic Church of modern day. What could be possible is that the Christians see themselves as responsible people. In what way can I take part in my responsibility to share the work of God? What are some of the things that I can share with the people around me to spread the love of God? Amen.

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Love for God and Country

The Economy crash was the topic these days. The driving force of US Economy is the middle class where most people come under. The middle class constantly worry about paying different bills. Taxes of every kind pop up everywhere. Politicians drive the people to get health care insurance, tax for that and tax for this. A frustrated middle class man said, ‘money is not the most important thing in the world. Love is. Fortunately I love money’. We hear the cry of so many people who have lost their jobs, cannot pay their bills, and encounter similar problems related to money: If you want to know what God thinks of money, just look at the people he gave it to.

Today’s gospel talks about two different ways of repaying: repaying Caesar and repaying God. To repay means to pay back or refund; to make return for. This calls for our duties as civilians: repaying our country. This country has given us so much that we call it ‘mother’. Our patriotic spirit is expressed not just placing our Country Flag in some corner or on top our houses, but taking part actively in its advancements; working for peace in our surrounding; and inspiring others with our dreams. Scientific and technological and economic advancements are necessary but our patriotic spirit should bring forth our longing for peace and justice; our longing for a society filled with love and respect for each other.

Our patriotism has its roots in our thirst for God. All those who love their country do not just love the paraphernalia of this country; rather love the people and the land. People are God’s image and likeness. Our love for God compels us to care for our country. Patriotic spirit and religious spirit are so much alike: both have the tendency to repay. We repay the country since our whole personality is shaped by this country. We repay God since our whole being is consecrated by God so that we may have life and life in fullness.

Let us define patriotism. George McGovern explains, “The highest patriotism is not a blind acceptance of official policy, but a love of one's country deep enough to call her to a higher plain.” Pablo Castles shares us that “The love of one's country is a splendid thing. But why should love stop at the border?” Kennady told us not to ask what the country has done for us. May be it is good to list out the things that this country has done for us. Patriotism should not limit us to one place, one people; it should prepare us for a broader outreach. That is where Christianity is felt as the bridge between nations and cultures and languages. God is the God of the universe. Even if we fail to understand different lessons of the world, we all understand the lesson of love. God’s love is the lesson that unites us and makes us people of not just one country but people of the universe.

Do I understand and take it to heart the demands of being a patriot? Do I acknowledge that God calls me to a higher level of love and peace and justice? What am I repaying to God what belongs to God?

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Importance of PEACE in Luke

All cultures, all languages have their ways of greeting one another. In Indonesia they say Selamat Pagi for Good Morning. Chinese say Ni Hao, Bonjour for French, Hola in Spanish, Ohio in Japan means hello; Namaste in Hindi. Hebrew have a unique way of greeting: greeting with a rare word: Peace – Shalom.

Many accomplished people of the world when asked ‘what is one thing that you feel you lacked all your life?’, Many countries of the world when asked, ‘what do you lack as a country?’ or , ‘what is your prime threat?’, the immediate answer would be in connection with peace. Peace is integral to people personally as well as collectively. Man sees the need to be at peace with himself. All politics, internationality, religious diversity, ethnic plurality, inculturation stress the prime importance of Peace.

In today’s gospel Jesus tells his people to greet first the people with this greeting: Peace to this household. It is so much similar to ‘Peace be with you’ before the communion during the mass. What do we actually convey when we exchange peace with each other? Peace with God is the highest form of inward satisfaction that will reflect upon the outward person. The sign of peace expressive gesture which the faithful are invited to make as a manifestation of the People of God's acceptance of all that has been accomplished in the celebration and of the commitment to mutual love which is made in sharing the one bread, with the demanding words of Christ in mind in Mt 5:23-24.When we make Shalom present in each home, we actually live the Eucharistic values and spirit in our homes. The Sign of Peace by a hand shake is filled with meaning, graciousness, and Christian inspiration.

What are the little ways we experience the peace of Christ in our hearts? What are the ways we take part in bringing peace in our surrounding? Are we at peace with ourselves, with God and with our neighbours? Amen.

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Acknowledging prophets

In Genesis we see God bringing all the created things to man, so man can name them. He started naming anything and everything. In the modern world, the structures are named clearly and distinctly. We know exactly what it means to be a Pope, a bishop, a priest or a lay person. Since they are all defined clearly by the authorities, it is easy for us to understand those terms. There are certain general terms that need more than just definitions such as ‘Spirit-filled life of a Christian’, ‘Mission-oriented people’ or ‘Witnesses of the beatitudes’ and the like. These general terms fit in all categories of people in Christianity in general thus should be explained further.

‘Being a Prophet’ is one such term that needs explanation. Certainly all the baptized are called to be prophets in our witnessing of the Gospel. The earlier equivalent of the word ‘prophet’ in Hebrew is ‘God’s Spokesperson’. The prophet must be able to hear the voice of God and bring God’s words to the world. In the New Testament we see a slightly advanced definition: “One who, moved by the Spirit of God and hence his…spokesman, solemnly declares to men what he has received…” In today’s context the prophet is constantly engaged in developing the wisdom to deliver his message the way God would have it delivered. This means that he must endeavor to have the heart of the Lord for people. Prophets have huge impact on the people receiving his message. The message cannot be always gentle, but it means to be coming from God as God’s personal message.

Being a Prophet is our primary call as chosen people of God. In today’s Gospel we hear another important obligation as chosen people: the ability to see God in a prophet. How do we witness a prophet? How do we see a prophet in today’s conditions? Are we guided by the Spirit to witness the prophet and see the need to acknowledge prophets in our living surroundings? If we acknowledge a prophet, do we pay full attention to his message by taking his message to our hearts?

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Sin

Sin according to Hinduism is an intentional transgression of diving law. It does not see sin as a crime against God, but as an act against the moral order and one’s own self. The Buddhists believe that the root of human suffering is not sin, but our confusion about ego. Judaism teaches that sin is an act, and not a state of being. Islam teaches that sin is anything that goes against the will of Allah. Catechism of the Catholic Church No.1849 teaches us that Sin is an offense against reason, truth and right conscience; it is failure in genuine love for God and neighbor caused by a perverse attachment to certain goods. It has been defined as an utterance, a deed or a desire contrary to the eternal law.
The works of the flesh in the first reading are 15 or more with a volume of sub headings. In contrast, the fruits of the Spirit are nine and most of them are interchangeable. This letter to the Galatians was written around 54 AD and certainly we can imagine the list on the works of the flesh grown longer and longer, whereas the fruits of the Spirit are still crucified in church walls and traditional structures of the Catholic Church.
The only reason for this appalling situation is that we the faithful are seldom guided by the Holy Spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control are viewed as high moral standards, thus be kept aloof, rather than internalizing them in our Christian living. These gifts are given to us freely by God so that we show the people around us what they mean and signify.
All these gifts of the Holy Spirit possess the fullness of God’s grace in them, thus all the nine are given equal importance. Though ‘Love’ is the base of Christianity, ‘joy’, ‘peace’ and other gifts share the collective spirituality of a Christian in making him or her well equipped, ready to be sent as a missionary to take the Message of God to people. Undoubtedly, these are reflections of the life of Christ. When we say that we are people of love, joy, peace etc, we actually meang, we are people of God.

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Ignoring God’s invitation

A man prayed in the following words, “God, for you a thousand years are like a single day, for you a million dollars are like a single dollar. Please give me dollar so than I can be happy in my life.” God replied, “For me a thousand years like a second too, so please wait a second.”Psalm 8 talks about the littleness of man, reducing man into just a breath. Man is the last creation of God. Man is formed from the earth and will return to dust. God does not owe anything to man. God is free to do anything with his creatures and creation.

In the first reading we heard today that our God is the god who gives. He gives us rich food, drink, destroys death and wipes away tears from our face. He wants us to be happy. In the second reading St. Paul explains us that God gives us strength and supplies whatever we need through Christ Jesus. It is the gospel that explains how generous God is in sharing his life with us.

God treats us with respect. He gives us equal respect and honour by inviting us. We are invited in the house of God not as creatures or slaves; rather we are invited as friends of God. He created us; he provides us everything we need to be happy in life. More than anything else, he gave us His own son to show us his love. He gives us the Holy Spirit to show how generous he is. He puts us in-charge of all his creation. He gives us his own image and likeness. He gives us heart to love and understand him.

The main thrust of the gospel centers on the priority that we set for God. The guests were not the enemies of the king; the guests were not unhappy with the invitation. The guests had other important things to do other than accepting the invitation of God. The guests said yes first, and now they went back on their word. They in a way cheated God. They had their farm to be tended; their business to be taken care of ignoring the invitation of God.

God once again reminds us, “seek first the Kingdom of God; the rest will be given to you.” God’s invitation calls us for continual renewal especially in the Sacraments of reconciliation and Eucharist. What are the different promises that we promised God that we will do? How faithful are we in keeping our promises to God and others? How faithful are we in keeping our word to God and others? Amen.

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Mary’s womb and breasts: A meditation

In the beginning was love. We are created out of love. We love God since God has loved us first. All our acts of love and kindness emanate from God’s love. God created everything and found it very good, so all the good come from God. Our response to God’s love makes us good or blessed. It is a fundamental call of Christians that we are called to be ‘blessed’ in life.

Mary was 'full of Grace' in the words of Angel Gabriel. Mary was called ‘blessed’ by Elizabeth. Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb. This reveals to us that Mary shares a certain divine quality with Jesus himself. Mary also shares the spirit of the Sermon on the Mount by being one with the blessedness of the beatitudes. It is not hard to take it to our hearts that Mary is the blessed one because she is poor in spirit.

In today's gospel Mary was called ‘Blessed’ once again by a woman. Mary’s womb contained the entire person of Jesus: His divinity, his humanness, his joys and sorrows, his suffering, death and resurrection. Mary’s nursing breasts symbolize the closest bond between the mother and the son. Jesus resembled Mary because Mary resembled Jesus and His blessedness.

Jesus’ reaction is one of wonder at the heart of the mother. Jesus witnesses his mother as observer of the word of God. It is through the observance of the word of God, one becomes blessed. Mary is blessed since she adhered to the will of God. What are some of the things that hinder us to hear the word of God and observe it?

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Persistence in Prayer

If creation and redemption of that creation is the act of love from the part of God, prayer and persistence of prayer is our response to the divine love of God. Certainly prayer in general presupposes many important elements such as, faith, humility, thanksgiving and adhering to the will of God. All our prayer in one way or other reflects our faith. Humility is the essence of prayer. We pray because God can and we cannot. Thanksgiving is our natural impulse while praying since every moment of our lives are gifted to us by God and all our history and past life reflect God’s love for us. What we most often fail to do is to pray in harmony with the will of God. We pray in the Our Father, ‘your will be done’ but pray honestly, ‘Please God, let my will be done’.

Persistence in prayer is not uncommon in Judaism. Shema is an example of persistent prayer. Jesus taught us to pray persistently. We have at least two instances in the gospels where Jesus teaching us this lesson. One such lesson is what we heard in today’s gospel. Another interesting passage is the persistent widow who pleads just decision from the judge in Luke Chapter 18. St. Paul teaches us ‘to continue to be steadfast in prayer’ and ‘pray without ceasing’.

Jesus not only taught us persistence in prayer, he practiced it in his own life. In the garden of Gethsemane, he knew that he is going to suffer and die, but he prayed persistently. He was strengthened by God. His prayer was heard by God, though his actual request was not answered by God.

Persistence in prayer brings out our discernment of the will of God. Ask! Knock! Seek! – All these commands are focusing on our discernment processes. We keep asking God because we want to know and feel it in our lives what God wants of us. We ask God because we want to know what God is asking us to do. We knock at his door because we want to feel God knocking at our doors. We continue to seek God because we want to feel God seeking for us, for our hearts. Persistence is a great form of prayer that brings us closer to God. Amen.

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Compassion of the Good Samaritan

Certainly Eternal life is promised to us by God on account of how we answer the same question that this Scholar asked, “who is my neighbour?” Our love for others emanates from our love for God. The same love encourages us to love our neighbours. The more we show our love for God, he blesses us with more love to be shared with our neighbours. Neighbours are people with whom we share our joys and sorrows. Neighbours are often the people with whom we share our lives with.
Jesus is at times called ‘The Good Samaritan’ by Christians. For Jews ‘Good’ and ‘Samaritan’ are two different words. The only difference between the others and the Samaritan is his human quality. The passage says, ‘moved with compassion’. It is one of the greatest qualities of Jesus we see throughout the gospels. He was moved with pity, moved with compassion. This moved him to work miracles such as curing the sick, the blind, the deaf and mute.
People talk about the ‘Heart values’ of Christians these days. As Christians we are encouraged by the Good Samaritan to understand the value of being moved with compassion. Being moved with compassion always meant to open our hearts to the promptings of the Spirit. Compassion is the quality of the divine. We share the heart of God in immersing ourselves in the compassion of God. We are compassionate to the death penalties that the Devil leaves behind in a sinner. Compassion also makes us to resemble Him and His heart on earth.
Compassion does not leave us to half-finish the business. It leads us to complete the good works. It makes us to go all the way, like the Good Samaritan. He follows through his mission of love till the last minute. He was moved with compassion at the beginning, during and end of the kind act. How do we show our kindness? When was the last time our heart was moved with compassion?

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Where would Jesus stay?

The world is so full of surprises. Continents, oceans, countries, languages, cultures and people all make us wonder at God’s mysterious power and leave us with wonder and awe. God created everything and found it very good. The Psalmist says that he put all these things under man’s feet. Man is the steward of God’s kingdom. Only man in the entire creation gets the reward of being the image and likeness of God: that is because God loves us, human beings. Man was offered a place for his life and mission. Ever since man possessed a land, he started being a missionary.

It is certainly impossible for us to live in a den or a nest. We all have, by God’s grace dwellings conducive to our needs and aspirations. Our place is our city of God: that is our home. We started possessing different dens and nests on account of our sins. Jesus expresses this concern that the son of man does not have a place to rest his head. We all live in sin as long as we still hold on to the dens and nests, rejecting to live and love as chosen people of God. That hinders our missionary activities.

St. Therese of Child Jesus certainly did her part in proclaiming to the world the importance of mission in her words and deeds. She never left the convent, but she is one of the patron saint for missions along with Francis Xavier who traveled far and wide. The Church sees the relevance of proclaiming the good news wherever we are, irrespective of being sent to different states or countries.

Missionary activities in the church are very much related to the inner disposition of the missionaries. I am able to preach the good news only if I am able to love and live. Every missionary in one way or other is faced with this question: where would Jesus stay? He cannot stay in the den nor nest. And we don’t want to see Jesus lonely, nowhere to lay his head. Is my heart ready for him to stay today? This moment… Amen.

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