Worthless

No one likes to lose. Everyone likes to gain something. If at all anyone wants to lose something it would be something or someone they don’t want anymore. Almost always the losable things are viewed as worthless. No one fights for worthless things: the things that would not bring any happiness, money, power or fame, the people who mean nobody to us; the people who cannot make us happy or the people who are not able to give us anything back.

The pain of losing is common not only for human beings but for God too, in fact only God knows that pain fully since we have been frequently losing ourselves. No one will die even for a just man, says St. Paul. Jesus died for us when we were still sinners. Losing becomes difficult to us only when we know the true worth of a person. That true worth of a person is fully known to only God since our worth comes from God. God created us to be valuable and respected since we are the image and likeness of God.

The Gospel passage reveals certain truth to us today. In the eyes of man, that lost sheep or the lost coin is worthless. We tend to say: “I have the ninety nine. I don’t want to risk my life by finding the lost one.” The voice from the ninety-nine says, “He should not have gone out, now see: he is in great danger.” These comments make us aware of the worthlessness of the lost one. We tend to know the worth of everybody according to their usefulness or blindness to the real self of the person who we call ‘lost’.

The easiest way to God’s heart is taking part in the journey of God in finding the lost sheep: in other words recognizing everyone’s worth by not human standards, rather God’s standard. That will certainly make us sharers of the joy in heaven. Let us continue to pray that we recognize that our personal worth and the worth of all human beings come from God. Amen.

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Jesus is our resource

After so many months of media focusing on two candidates, now that the elections are over, it can concentrate on other things. Elections took with it a well-constructed planning and execution. Every planning center very much on the resources at hand. Most intellectuals agree that we start from where we are now, what have we been doing in the past year or so, and what will happen if we continue do what we do now. This will guide us to where we want to be in the future and how do we get there. We, then go on to name our priorities, define target groups and sequence activities. This should also open up the possibilities on who will lead and who will partner, how we should set targets and find resources.

We need a plan to build a house. To build a life, it is even more important to have a plan or goal. The two parables in today’s gospel: the person constructing the tower and the king marching into the battle bring out the totality of human life. Today’s gospel brings out the importance of taking life seriously in its totality, that is life before, during and at the end of a major decisions that we make in life.

Following Christ demands this commitment that we should be aware that we are making a major decision in life by accepting Him as our Lord and God. This major decision is taken at our baptism is to be nurtured and nourished in our day to day lives by the way we live our lives under the influence of the Holy Spirit and also finishing the race wisely and responsibly. Thus following Jesus has a strong impact on us not only at the start of our relationship with him, rather during and at the end of our human existence here on earth.

This commitment does not close our eyes on the hurdles and difficulties that we might encounter on our journey. Winning over those difficulties are possible only when our faith is strongly rooted in Christ. Jesus is our resource to live this life meaningfully. Let us pray that we may grow to maturity in our faith. Amen.

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New meaning to the way we live our lives

Woody Allen said, “There are worse things in life than death. Have you ever spent an evening with an insurance salesman?” Death is a subject that is evaded, ignored, and denied by our youth-worshipping, progress-oriented society. Death is seen as a threat to humanity, an enemy to be conquered or a prison to be escaped; it is not perceived as an integral part of our lives that gives meaning to human existence. ‘Every man dies – not every man really lives’ says William Wallace. We often ask what the meaning of our life is. It is the other way around: we are questioned by life.

Our God is the God of life. He reveals His Sacred Name to Moses as the God who is. Whenenver God the Father conversed with the people, He referred Himself as the God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob. This God is the God of the living. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses and other people who come under the line of the Divine, live and dont see death.

We know that life is pleasant; death is peaceful, but the transition is only troublesome. Our life leads us through Death. Christians are people of the Resurrection. Our faith is built on the resurrection of Jesus. We profess that we believe in the resurrection of the dead. Adam was not created by God as mortal (Council of Carthage 418). Man is made for something better than death. Man made death as part of his life through the miasma of evil. Jesus came to liberate man not fighting death, rather accepting death and transcending it through his resurrection.

As we commemorate our dead today, we ought to remember three things for our reflection:

1. The dead has left behind a lesson on our approach of the divine. They have shown what to do and what not to do in responding to God’s love. As we thank God for their lives we pray that our lives carry a certain worth. They have shown us how we must prepare ourselves for our life and death.
2. Jesus accepted and went through death personally to be glorified. Death is not the end of human life, rather a start of the eternal life. Our life on earth is a preparation to that life.
3. Human life has to be respected. Every Christian has the responsibility to raise voice against efforts put in killings, persecutions, war and other mode of irresponsibility which curtail people’s freedom to prepare themselves for our after-life.

Let us pray that we be not afraid of death, but give new meaning to the way we live this life thus God would guide us all through. Amen.

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Clarity & prudence in approaching the Saints

Hero worship is very common among the youth of the world. The heroes of the youth are often movie actors, musicians and bands and the like. In India, whenever a movie is released of a particular actor, the fans would put up very tall poster of their heroes and anoint those posters with milk: a practice which is reserved to only the gods. These heroes influence the youth so much that their whole life is centered on these heroes who would never know them.

God wanted to show his human heart to people, so that we would love him and his human heart through our Lord Jesus Christ. The saints are people who teach us how we approach the human heart of God in Jesus. This people include saints of the OT, starting with Abel to all the early Christian Martyr and of the present generation. They are not gods, rather instruments of God to turn the hearts of people towards God himself. Most instances in history and the present generation, who have not been instructed properly, limit their search of God in the saints alone and don’t go further. There are Christians who invest a lot of time on saints than God. Saints are viewed as the heart of God. A Franciscan priest, Fr. Mychal Judge said, “Lord, take me where you want me to god, let me meet who you want me to meet, tell me what you want me to say and keep me out of your way.”

This feast of All Saints reminds us of two important things:

1. The urgency to practice the qualities of the saints: looking at the shining example of the Saints to reawaken within us the great longing to be like them; to live near God, in his light, in the family of God’s friends. Our Pope says, “Being a Saint means living close to God, to live in his family. And this is a vocation to us all, reaffirmed by the 2nd Vat.

2. Clarity and prudence in approaching the saints: that these saints don’t block our way to God. The Beatitudes in today’s Gospel talk about the qualities of Jesus himself. These saints were reflections of Jesus, thus they are called ‘Blessed’. Our efforts are towards that particular goal: to journey towards becoming ‘blessed’ ourselves, thus we participate the blessedness of Jesus.

Let us pray that these saints walk with us, helping us to find the human Heart of God in and through Jesus Christ. Amen.

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Politicized Sabbath

There are people who say that the golden rule is that there are no golden rules. Franklin Roosevelt says, “Rules are not necessarily sacred, principles are.” There are also people who vow, that if we follow all the rules, we will miss all the fun. Our Constitution is formed in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, general welfare etc. More than a simple feeling of an obligation that we follow a set of rules, we respect and care for our society and make it a livable and a lovable place.

Love is God. God is spirit. Spirit flows without any hurdles. Love flows without any unnecessary hurdles. Rules and regulations do have the capacity to limit our acts of love. We have to be realistic and practical with our love also. Pope Leo XIII talks of the difference between the two poles of attention: the temporal and the religious aspect of our existence. “They are distinct in their origin and nature. For matters of the temporary order - however lawful, however important they be - do not extend beyond the limits of that life which we live on this our earth. But religion, born of God, and referring all things to God, takes a higher flight and touches heaven. For her will, her wish is to penetrate the soul, man's best part, with the knowledge and the love of God and to lead in safety the whole human race to that City of the Future which we seek for.” (Encyclical CUM MULTA)

For the Jews there is no distinction between the laws of religion and the laws of the government. The following of the law concerning Sabbath had been politicized long ago and curing a sick man by the power of God has been watered down to a mere discussion of a murder plot against Jesus by Herod and other leading Pharisees.

Our practice of our religion should necessarily have an effect in the way we love our country. It should be an obvious and an objective reality that a Christian’s outlook on patriotism is different from a person who does not believe in God. All of us have a responsibility in making our government and constitutions respected and work towards unity, justice and peace. What are the ways I would involve myself in the growth of my country?

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As bright as the Sun in Palm Springs

Albert Einstein once said, “Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value.” The question here is who determines what we are or how valuable we are. People’s conclusions of us often reveal how we plan and exhibit our externals. The way we dress, relate, talk and walk about act as indicators for people who see us to brand as good, better, best or bad, worse or worst. Oscar Wilde once said, “A cynic knows the cost of everything and the value of nothing.” People equate value with price. Charge more and you will be valued more. Reducing prices makes you a commodity. Increasing prices makes you a luxury.

God is the only person who knows what we are and who we are. A husband can never know everything about his wife, and a wife can never understand her husband fully. This knowledge factor is applied to any relationship in this world. Our knowledge of other people does not depend on how much a person is trying to reveal rather how much we try to open our hearts to the other. In today’s Gospel Jesus reveals the true character of Herod: Fox. Herod’s most marked characteristic was unscrupulous cunning. Whatever position we hold, how much ever we studied, our true character is known to God as bright as the sun in Palm Springs.

‘Go and tell that fox’ indicates another important mandate for all the missionaries. Missionaries announce Good News to people. The missionary mandate of Jesus starts with the same tone, ‘Go and tell’. Here, Jesus wants the Good News to be announced to a fox: a cruel, treacherous, unworthy human being – in other words: a sinner. This is one of the attempts of Jesus to make Herod realize how completely Jesus knows him and his cunning behaviors, thus calls him for conversion.

Good News comes to us day after day, making us realize who we are and how little we are in the presence of God. Once we know and realize how vulnerable we are, we would certainly put our efforts together in returning to God through conversion. If God were to define our personality, what word or words would he use? We can never remain a secret. God knows us and shares his Good News with us.

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'Shema' is Eucharistic in nature

We get used to many things in life, starting from our own mother to our own family, job and life. Somewhere down the line, one thing or person becomes the center of our life. It reaches to the level where that thing or person starts ruling us in every aspect of our lives. Our mind and hearts are so attached to it that we never think of a moment without it. For Jews, the Shema is one such thing. Torah in its entirety is so central to the Jews. The 10 commandments were removed from the daily prayer of the Jews in Mishnaic period between 70 and 200 A.D. It is also seen as a way of commemorating the 10 commandments.

The human mind is vulnerable and unpredictable that the driving force of our lives keeps changing according to our needs and moods: our whims and fancies. Gospel talk about serving two masters is not possible. Modern world is comfortable with variety of things ruling us, influencing us beyond control. God is seen as a factor: The God factor is reduced to something like visiting a patient in a hospital. Is God under medication? Is God suffering from cancer or heart attack? John Cage says, “The grand thing about the human mind is that it can turn its own tables and see meaninglessness as ultimate meaning.”

Everything came from God, through Love. God wills that love is our driving force for all the children of God. There is one common element that unites all human beings: the love of God. The ransom paid by God for our sins is so huge. That is the proof of his love: to make us heirs of the Kingdom as God’s children. Even if we love God with all our hearts, souls, and minds and love others it would not be sufficient to fill the vacuum that we created through our infidelity and meaningless living. Continual attempts to renew our commitment to Shema would certainly help us focus on the heart of God.

"Harness the fire hidden in The Eucharist to bring about a true brotherhood and unity" says Cardinal Jaime Sin. Shema is Eucharistic in nature. Shema gets its energy from God; attempts to make us holy; leads us to join Him hand in hand for the sanctification of all. Eucharist is the source and summit of Christian life. Shema is the way we live the Eucharist. When we walk out from the Church after the mass, Shema fills our minds and hearts and takes possession of us to live as true witnesses. What are the things that rule my life at present? How do I make Shema my motivating principle in life? Amen.

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Prayer Request for a Seminarian in Indian Union

This is J. Arockia Prabhu, a missionary of the Sacred Heart,

studying theology in Bangalore, India.

He is suffering from 'Acromegaly' an uncommon disorder of growth harmone.

Doctors in St. John's Medical College, Bangalore are treating him now.

On 28th of October he is undergoing a surgery.

He is requesting your prayers.

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God's Patience

People say ‘when the going gets tough, the tough gets going’. Patience is often misunderstood as something passive, since it demands the time and energy in waiting. Patience is waiting. Not passively waiting; that is laziness, but to keep going when the going gets tough and slow. All human patience has limits: we break our promises, relationships, rules and regulations and even spiritual searches lose their meaning once patience is gone. As St. Augustine says, ‘Patience is the companion of wisdom’, we lose wisdom when we lose patience.

Patience of God is one of the Divine attributes or qualities. Though some great minds compare it with the wisdom or power or holiness of God, far less has been written on this particular topic. Often in the Old Testament, the patience of God is referred to as God who is slow to anger, (Neh 9:17, Ps 103:8). Though the bible does not directly talk much about the patience of God, we could feel it throughout the scriptures. The patience of God is seen as a display of his mercy. Ps 145:8 reads, ‘the Lord is full of compassion, slow to anger’. A theologian Arthur Pink distinguishes Mercy and patience. Mercy respects the creature as miserable, patience respects the creature as criminal; mercy pities him in his misery, patience bears with the sin which engendered the misery.

Along with the unconditional love of God, what we see in God the father, Son and Holy Spirit is the enormous and a deep sense of patience for the sinning people. Israel as a nation is a symbol of sinning people of the world witnessed the patience of God from the way He loved them: as a mother, as a father, as a King. God’s patience reaches its climax in Jesus Christ’s incarnation, life and suffering and death.

Today’s Gospel talks about the owner being patient with the fig tree. Our sins of the past have deleted the fruits of our faith and our Christian commitment. God is still waiting in hope that we will take deep roots and be nourished by care given to us by the orchard-keeper: ‘I leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it’. What are some of things that we can bring forth as fruits that can be given to God? What are the ways I can imitate the patience of God? Amen.

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Vocation to life

From the beginning of time, God has called us to life. The vocation that we all received is to life, and that life in fullness. From the dust, from the earth, man was called by God, like a plant that sprouts out of the earth to bear fruit. This vocation reminds us of how humble, gentle and patient we ought to be. Our vocation is for a life-time commitment and a life-time responsibility.

The whole of the Eucharistic celebration brings out the various elements of our God-given vocation. Our vocation to life calls us for humble living. What makes humility so desirable is the marvelous thing it does to us; it creates in us a capacity for the closest possible intimacy with God (Monica Baldwin). In our Eucharistic celebration we show our humility by acknowledging our faults and failures and asking God to forgive us. We listen to the Word of God and meditate on it: this shows our humility in accepting God’s word against our insufficient words. Thomas Merton says, “Pride makes us artificial and humility makes us real”.

The Bhagavad Gita teaches us that the serenity of mind, gentleness, silence, self-restraint and the purity of mind are called the austerity of thought. When we witness that God transforms our selfish hearts and our worthless offerings of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, it compels us to be gentle. The road less travelled in the mass is our road to receive the communion. That walk, that impulse within us in fixing our hearts on the heart of God makes us gentle.

All human wisdom is summed up in two words: wait and hope. Patience is the virtue that is predominant in our vocation to mission. ‘Bearing with one another through love’ and ‘striving to preserve the unity of the spirit’ need patience. Another meaningful walk to remember every day is our walk out of the Church: what am I walking into? What am I walking out of? Do I feel that my vocation calls me to walk humbly, talk gently and live with hope? Amen.

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