John the Baptist teaches a lesson on Self-knowledge

Self-knowledge is indispensable to all. Socrates is known for his wisdom of ‘knowing thyself’. People jokingly say that if someone knows them they will run away or if I knew myself I’d run away. Know yourself; don’t accept your dog’s admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful. Thomas Merton said, “The first step toward finding God, who is Truth, is to discover the truth about myself: and if I have been in error, this first step to truth is the discovery of my error.” Buddha also speaks of in the same line, “A man should first direct himself in the way he should go. Only then should he instruct others.”

Self-knowledge is the gift of God. John the Baptist shows a great depth in self-knowledge: I am not the Christ, I am not Elijah, and I am not the Prophet. Self-knowledge leads us to better understand and appreciate our vocation: to be the voice for God. He shows a great depth of humility in accepting his vocation when he said that he is just a voice in the desert and when the Messiah comes, he is not fit to untie the sandals. We should note here that the slaves take pride in untying their master’s sandals. John the Baptist stretches the limits of his humility to not even be called a slave. Self-knowledge prepares us to accept and live our vocation in the spirit of humility.

The coming of the Messiah is indeed a preparation of the self. The more we commit ourselves in understanding and loving our own selves as God wants us to, the committed we will be in getting ready to welcome him. We live in a world filled with corruption and injustice: people are afraid to speak out and let the wrong people to speak up. Word of God needs a straight path to our hearts and to our society. The Word of God needs voice. We are the voice of the Word.

Rather than investing a lot of time on how to compartmentalize people thus we selfishly feel good, let us invoke the blessings of God to reveal to us what we want to know. Let our self-knowledge bring joy and happiness to us and to our society. Let our voices turn the hearts of people to God. Only then we can show people like John the Baptist, “Behold the Lamb of God.”
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Elijah and John the Baptist

At every Passover Seder, Elijah's the one with the special wine goblet. At every Jewish circumcision, he's the one with the special chair. And at the end of every Sabbath, he's the one Jews pay tribute to in song. He's a prophet, miracle worker and champion of the poor. He's an ethical role model and solver of centuries-old disputes over Jewish law. He's also the only prophet the Bible never says died.

John the Baptist preached a message of repentance and baptism. He predicted the Day of Judgment using imagery similar to that of Malachi. He also preached that the Messiah was coming. All of this was done in a style that immediately recalled the image of Elijah to his audience. He wore a coat of animal hair secured with a leather belt (Mt 3:4, Mk 1:6). He also frequently preached in wilderness areas: near the Jordan River. In the annunciation narrative in Luke, an angel appears to Zechariah, John's father, and tells him that John "will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God," and that he will go forth "in the spirit and power of Elijah (Lk 1: 16-17)."

Both are very closely related to the coming of the Messiah. Their importance is felt in their vocation to turn the hearts of many to God. That is a necessity and a challenge in the season of Advent. We need their message and exemplary lives to understand and appreciate the Coming of the Messiah. It was John the Baptist who pointed out to people, Behold the Lamb of God. We will behold God only through turning our hearts to Him in great faith and humility. Amen.

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Mary: Our Lady of Guadalupe

Some say that the test of any man’s character is how he takes praise. There are people who falsely praise us for the things that we did not do. There are people who praise to win our support or to gain something. There are people who praise others to cover up their ugly sides. There are worthy praises given to worthy people but it happens very seldom. Praising can be good or bad depending on how the person praises and how the praised person takes it.

On the 8th we have celebrated the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. Today, we have another big event: we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. We praise and honour her for accepting the role of being the Mother of God; for accepting all the problems and challenges that it includes. She took in confusions and lack of understanding as part of Divine plan. She did not know how she would become the mother; she did not know why the Child had to be busy with His Own Father’s business; she did not know why he had to travel to preach the Good News; she did not know why he had to suffer and die; she did not know how he cured people and multiplied bread. Yet she pondered and prayed so that God might reveal His love and light to her heart and mind.

The Blessedness is the theme of today’s readings. Mary was called ‘Most Blessed’. Mary herself proclaimed that she will be called blessed by all generation. Blessedness is the key teaching of Jesus and occupied the prime position in the Sermon on the Mount. Blessedness is the challenge of the Church today that the Christians are called to share the blessedness of the Mother who in turn the greatest model who followed the spirit of the Sermon on the Mount.

The more we praise and celebrate our life, the more there is in life to celebrate (Oprah Winfrey). We have a lot to celebrate and praise God since we have received innumerable gifts through Mary our Mother: Our Lady of Guadalupe and all those who come into this Church. May they receive the peace and joy of Our Lord and be blessed by the intercession of Mary. Happy Feast to all! Amen.
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Mary full of grace; Mary the handmaid of the Lord.

Every leadership includes the wisdom to know the proper people for a definite job or responsibility. Barak Obama knows in his wisdom as to who is going to be good at this and good at that in running the country. A Bishop knows in his wisdom as to who fits well as the VG or the chancellor. A CEO knows in his wisdom as to who would serve the purpose in bringing profit to business. If man possesses a little wisdom and could do this much, we should have realized God is wisdom in its fullness and has chosen Mary by giving her the most important responsibility.

The Immaculate Conception is a doctrine of the Romans Catholic Church in regards to Mary. The doctrine says, “…the blessed Virgin Mary to have been, from the first instant of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of Almighty God, in view of the merits of Christ Jesus the Savior of Mankind, preserved free from all stain of original sin.” We believe that Mary was protected from original sin. Mary in the Catholic Church is indelibly special and will remain so for all ages: She proclaims, “All generation will call me blessed.”

Holiness in living certainly brings in the full grace of God. Mary, a simple woman of history could portray such high level of holiness that the Universal Church stands in awe and praises God for the person of Mary. II Vatican does not talk on the air, when it proclaimed that, “all are called to holiness.” We are not left hopeless as to how to be holy as human beings; we are given the Mother of God as the proof and model to live in holiness and experience the grace of God.

This life in grace calls for the nearness of God. It also brings in the wisdom of God to accept the responsibility that he has given us. Mary knows her responsibility: I am the handmaid of the Lord. If God or Angel Gabriel has to address me, would they use the same address: “you, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”? Mary is not an idol to be worshipped but a lesson to be followed, thus we become people of grace. Amen.

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We are in a world of dying communication

Plato believed that wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something. The purpose of communication is to build communities, to understand and to promote intimacy and mutual valuing. We live in a world of advanced communication. More and more Google and yahoo and other giants are enslaving people to communicate 24 hours for business. Though they serve the purpose of connecting the people they alienate the people in the long run. Heartfelt handwritten calligraphies that were treasured once are replaced by impersonal, typed, one line or one-word emails and SMSs. We live in a world of dying communication. Man is going to be silent very soon and create machines to propose love to his wife, machines to sing National Anthems, and machines to pray to God.

The Gospel demands that we become communicators of the coming of Jesus. We announce the advent of the Messiah and prepare the people through repentance and forgiveness. That is a greater challenge compared to the challenges of communication laid out by the modern Information Technology. While the IT industry tries to silence man for good, Church demands our proclamations be louder. Noisy people are not tolerated; children are avoided; TV programs are restricted to News, church pews are 'noise-less' zones are 'people-less' zones.

Preparing way for God necessarily includes preparing way for ourselves, since we are missing from this world by our selfish attitudes, and mindless rituals and habits. We need to re-accommodate ourselves in families and societies and humans fully alive. Every communicator or messenger has to feel deep down and be convinced that we need the coming of Jesus to make us more feel human and humble and loving. John the Baptist is a great example of the messenger in our modern world: He was single-minded in his vocation; simple and humble before God and man; lived and died for the values of life.

Good communication is as stimulating as black coffee, and just as hard to sleep after. Today’s gospel should make us feel difficult to sleep. We are all messengers and communicators of God’s love. Our paths are crooked and leading our family and society astray. We need to make our paths straight and that path has to lead to God. Let us pray that God inspires us and motivate us to form a civilization based on loving communion and communication.

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Our leadership is founded on the compassion of God.

There are different kinds of leaders in our society. Among the many leaders, most would concentrate on production and progression. Every field has its own leaders and nearly all the leaders work towards a successful career and progress. Not all the leaders choose to become leaders: some are forced as leaders; some force themselves as leaders; some become leaders on account of seniority; some accept to be leaders as there are no options.

All Christians take part in the common priesthood of Christ; thus all take part in the leadership of Christ. We are all leaders. The Christian leadership is founded on the compassion of God. His heart was moved; he saw them a sheep without a shepherd. This leadership is not based on business or profit; nor is utilitarian in nature; rather it is based on love and compassion of God.

We are aware that the harvest brings a lot of joy. It brings a sense of security that we will not be short of food. The harvest Jesus is talking about is so obvious: God is so compassionate and generous with His love and we have received every grace and blessing from God. What have we done with those graces and blessing? Have we shared the compassion of God by being compassionate ourselves? Have we shared the love of God by being generous with others?

God wants leaders or laborers for his harvest: they are to not only witness God’s compassion shared; they also encourage filling the gaps where there is no compassion. It seems the field needs a lot of filling to do. Let us get on with our work as laborers. Amen.
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God’s eyes always speak the language of His Heart

Thomas Hardy said, “There is a condition worse than blindness, and that is, seeing something that isn’t there.” There are so many circumstances in life we feel a certain thing, a person or a place is going to give us the ultimate happiness and peace. We have grown tired in putting our trust in men: Psalmist says, “fools put their trust in men; wise put their trust in God.” Quite often we feel that it is better to remain blind than to witness all these corruption, social cruelty, injustices, faithlessness and unorganized society and people.

God has been termed ‘blind’ by people who are blind in themselves. Many philanthropists still believe that God is blind for a reason. We believe in a God who sees our nakedness. Our God not only sees our nakedness; he is also ready to accept us with our sinfulness. The blind men prayed, “Have pity on us” reveal that God is generous and accepts us with open eyes.

It is the open eyes of God than made the blind prodigal son to open his eyes; the blind Zacchaeus to open his eyes; blind Saul to open his eyes and accept his role as Paul. God’s eyes always speak the language of his Heart. That Heart speaks the language of his eyes. That is the sign of true love. Our love can never be true when our eyes speak one language and hearts speak some other language. Our eyes have to be opened to speak the language of our hearts. Our hearts have to be opened to speak the language of our eyes.

Let us feel us the eyes of God so that we see our society with the eyes of God. Let us feel the Heart of God so that we love our society with the Heart of God. Amen.

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Both the houses were hit by rain, floods and winds!

Man is constantly building his character till he dies. Parents, friends, teachers, neighbours, relatives, travels, education, religion, strangers, good experiences, bad experiences and thousand other things influence building such a complex character. All these efforts in building should necessarily result in bettering his character. Everything we do carry all our previous learning and character building.

Jesus tells us that the greatest and the most important thing that should influence and better our character is the Word of God. Every character building done under the influence the Word of God actually builds a home for God. Wise people are the ones who build homes for God; with God we build a solid home filled with love and happiness. Fools build houses for themselves selfishly and never experience the real presence of God and keep calling God, ‘Lord, Lord’.

Living as a good fearing person, so spiritual and religious does not take away any of the demands of being human and vulnerable. We will still get physical sickness, meet with accidents or even get ourselves caught in the hands of terrorists. The gospel tells us that both the houses were hit by rain, floods and winds. The stronger the construction the severity of the hits is going to be. We have taken great efforts in building it; we got to put in great efforts in safeguarding it also.

Word of God builds us personally as well as communally. It builds our homes, our society and the whole human race. Let us pray that we continue to build our character on the Word of God. Amen.

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People waited for three days!

God is often understood as ‘Father Christmas’, running a huge supermarket bigger than Wal-Mart or Macy’s. Some even demand that that is the sole reason why God exists! There have been compelling reasons to avoid gold and diamond ornaments in the imageries of Jesus or God the Father except Christ the King image. Good shepherd, Good Samaritan and other imageries derived from the public ministry of Jesus portray that he was a simple man, did not possess anything.

We live in a fast-food culture. Travel, cars and internet everything has to be fast today. Prayer has to catch up to this culture. God has to act in an express way. Both the readings today talk about the various things that God has provided us and still is providing us. One of the permanent curses on humans is the ignorance as to what we want and how much we want. There is a lot of wisdom to back up these two important notions in our day-to-day life. Man is so overwhelmed by needs that he is always in need of something in life. No one, nothing satisfies him to the full.

Our vulnerability results in the loss of faith. The people waited for three days before Jesus took initiative to feed them. Waiting is the last thing that comes to the minds of Christians when it comes to God. Waiting eagerly for God such as Advent, or Marana Tha, forces God to take initiative. If only God knows we are waiting for him, he in turn shows a tremendous love and affection like a loving mother.

Let us pray that God would give us wisdom to know what we want and much we want so that nothing blocks or hinders us getting close to His heart. Let us waiting be a source of inspiration and strength and our prayer be Marana Tha, Come Lord Jesus. Amen.

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We participate in the childhood of Jesus by being childlike

The Childhood of Jesus is an active devotion in the Catholic Church for nearly a 1000 year. The Church always showed a deep reverence to the Child Jesus. Many saints are seen carrying the Child Jesus such as St. Athanasius, St. Jerome, St. Bernard, St. Francis of Assisi and St. Anthony. The history so used to witnessing a God as almighty, powerful, tall and wise ‘Father’, child Jesus seem to give us a different lesson altogether. Advent and Christmas seasons have a deep impact on us in projecting Jesus as the Infant.

Among the numerous interpretations on today’s gospel what fascinates me most is the way each sentence is constructed. This reading is one of the public prayers of Jesus directed to His disciples. Jesus first thanks God for revealing Himself to the childlike. This quality of being childlike is followed by the intimacy between Father and Son. The conclusion is the most interesting where Jesus claims that the revelation is actually through Him. In theory we read two different revelations in the same gospel.

We qualify to receive the revelation from God only when we take part in the childlike quality of Jesus. One of the unsurpassable qualities of being childlike is the quality of the sense of wonder in children. For children the world is filled with surprises. Everything surprises them. They wonder at how powerful their father is; they wonder at how creative Mickey Mouse or other cartoon shows are. Sense of wonder is also a sure sign of simple faith and dependency.

Let us pray that we continue to live like children, participating in the childlike quality of Jesus. In this way Jesus continues to reveal the Father’s Heart since Jesus is the fullness of all that God is and does. Amen.

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