Our Spiritual Journey!

Some of our journeys in life have no sense of direction or destination. This pastor began to preach the homily when suddenly two men came with machine guns one in front and one at the back of the church. The man in the front spoke up, “Those who want to take a bullet for Jesus remain in your seats.” Within seconds the people ran for their lives including the assistant priests. Only 20 or more people were left in the church. The man spoke again, “Ok Father! The hypocrites have all gone, please begin your homily.” If our spiritual journey is not planned we would not have any goals to achieve in life.

One of the parables for the religious educators narrated by Fr. Anthony De Mello is that of a sheep found a hole in the fence and crept through it and wandered far off and lost his way back. Then he realized that he was being followed by a wolf. He ran and ran, but the wolf kept chasing him, until the shepherd came and rescued him and brought him back to the fold. In spite of everyone’s urgings to the contrary, the shepherd refused to nail up the hole in the fence. God respects us and gives us freedom to choose. Life is full of choices. God’s love is the freedom we enjoy in choosing.

Magi Caspar from Tarsus, Melchior from Arabia and Balthazar from Sheba were to come together as a unit, a community. This unity from different backgrounds sometimes opposing backgrounds were not work of people. The 12 disciples of Jesus and their differences so unique but in the presence of Jesus could work together. Husbands and wives coming from different family backgrounds, mindsets, and other numerous differences were joined in marriage by God. Begins the journey of life: to search for meaning, to search for happiness, to search for inner peace and love.

We all need a Star to guide us on our way. It could be the power of the Bible, Marian devotion, Daily Eucharist, Power of the sacraments or just a simple personal prayer, but we all need some form of spirituality for our day-to-day sustenance. Most of our wandering and losing ways could be avoided through this.

We all will experience a TIME WITH HEROD. Most lives confusion starts there. All the violation of the commandments, all the power and glory of the nature of God’s love will be blurry or even diminished and forgotten. Temptations rule us. Power of sin takes possession of us. We decide whatever we see and hear are facts and truth. We don’t ask God to guide us to the truth. Our hasty decisions were about to bury us alive! But God still guides us through all those confusions.

After numerous attempts, struggles, trials and temptations, we find God. We realize the importance of giving in the presence of God. Myrrh is a symbol of human vulnerability. It is symbolic of the humanity of Jesus. Like us, he experienced joy, sorrow, fear, frustration, loneliness. The gift of incense is symbolic of the divinity of Jesus. Gold is an ideal gift for a King. The ideal king led by love. Epiphany is after all realizing that we should have something to give to God. It is not just the epiphany of God, rather our own epiphanies.

The more we bring the best in us to the benefit of the other and God, the more we are blessed with the wisdom and love of God. Wise men were guided by the Wisdom of God. Wise men would have spoilt the whole salvation history. They would have killed Jesus. After all the wisdom of man is never enough when it comes to loving other and loving God.

Where am I going? What am I searching for in life? What are my Herod-times? Do I feel the need to model my own Epiphany with that of Jesus? How wise am I? Do I value God’s wisdom as an anchor in my spirituality and way of life?

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New Year Resolutions!

I have been checking on the most common New Year resolutions around us: It’s always been Lose Weight, Manage Debt, Save Money, and Get fit, Quit Smoke or Drink. "People are so worried about what they eat between Christmas and the New Year, but they really should be worried about what they eat between the New Year and Christmas."

In a way, New Year is everyone’s birthday. New Year is a special time to reflect on God’s generosity. It is a time to be happy that God gave us enough and more opportunities to share His love and care with different people. Rarely do we admit that ‘Time’ belongs to God and our bodies are timed. God is beyond time, but He loves us in time. Every opportunity that we get on earth to show our love, faith, care, responsibility is special and important to us. Wasting, ignoring or being indifferent to those opportunities is equal to saying no to time, thus God’s generosity.

We read in the 1st reading one of the finest blessings in the OT. We need God’s grace & blessings every day to keep our time holy and God-filled. It makes us to act fast on love: the shepherds went in haste. We cannot afford to idle away in experiencing the grace and blessings of God. It compels us to reach out; to seek the face of God in others. It should make us restless. St. Augustine experienced that: “Our hearts are restless until they rest in God.” God’s gift of time is an invitation to seek His Face, His Kingdom. Mary as mother of God experienced the restlessness in her heart. The agony and ecstasy she had to go through in her continued efforts to fulfill God’s will never missed to affect her Son in the womb. Jesus was not only sharing her blood as nourishment, but also her spirituality, her restlessness and her rejoicing in the Lord in time. It took her and Joseph eight days to call the baby ‘Jesus’. Those eight days were great days of preparation - a desert experience – longing to call the baby ‘Jesus’ a name meaning Savior.

God creates us in time, gives us necessary grace and blessings to make our time holy by the way we live. Today as we reflect on the response of Mary to the call of God, on how she made all efforts to make her time holy, let us reflect on our own response to the call of God: our call to be a father, a mother, a son, a daughter, a grandparent, a friend and a child of God and a child of Mary. This will lead us to pray for our country, our world and its peace. We need peace to purify our time. Today is a special day traditionally we pray for World Peace. Pope JP II said, “To pray for peace is to open the human heart to the inroads of God’s power to renew all things. To pray for peace is to pray for Justice, for a right-ordering or relations within and among nations and peoples. It is to pray for freedom of every individual. It is to seek God’s forgiveness, and to implore the courage to forgive those who have trespassed against us.”

Mary is the model of the Church and a great source of inspiration to all of us. By remembering her faithfulness to God, we live out her values and inspiration all the days of this year and the years to come. Let us make all our God-given time holy following the example of Mary, the Mother of God. Amen.

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Christmas Tree

Christmas for Christians is a day of gratitude. Gratitude leads us to prayer, where our hearts are filled with wonder and praise. Christmas leads us to the sense of wonder. God presents himself as tiny, fragile, vulnerable, and dependent compared to the strong, muscular, powerful, parenting and patronizing people we are in front of God. We often see parents and friends finding similarities between the child and parents. This child Jesus not just resembles certain features, rather is the ultimate replica of God the Father. This child is not a super child in any way: it cries, smiles, holds our fingers, and kicks legs to show excitement. Christmas makes us wonder in a new way. God so weak and vulnerable is asleep with his creation which is strong and powerful.

If there is no Christmas, we would not have experienced this sense of wonder at all: we would have missed touching his soft little cheeks, fingers and toes; missed to see him sleep peacefully, see him cry, see him reach out to him mom, his confused looks and his innocence. This brings in a great lesson of all time: to reach at the cave of one’s heart, one must become childlike. A child has a great power to make us focus our attention completely whoever we are, whatever degrees we hold. God not only became childlike, God became a child. This proves that God will go all the way, take any risk, sacrifice any level, and give up anything to reach the cave of our hearts.

Concentrate on the Christmas trees: Let us divide the tree into three parts: The base, the middle and the top. The base is well set. Everyone is given the opportunity to witness God’s revelation. God initiated this love. God continuously sends us signals and reveals his heart to us in million ways. The base is so big and large like the heart of God. Our spiritual journey begins when we fully accept and appreciate that we are chosen and loved by God. Gradually we try to understand and feel the importance of God in our lives: thus we begin to respond. Through words (prayer) and deeds (Works of charity). We respond to God’s call by our faith, hope and love. There will be dry leaves and dry branches of our inability to grasp the message of God and also our lack of commitment to live in the presence of God. Continual efforts on our response to God’s love make us grow spiritually and holistically. As we climb higher we become aware that we are so tiny and powerless, so fragile, confused and weak. But that is the moment God comes near to us. We experience the nearness of the Star: The star that shows the beauty of the tree, the star that illumines every nook and corner of the tree, like God fills our body and soul through the Eucharist. That is the message of Christmas: People experience the physical and spiritual nearness of God.

Do I have a Christmas tree? How does it look like? Through my selfishness and irreligious attitudes, I have cut the branches of the base off; I never listened to the revelation of God in my life. I have cut down all the branches in the middle that I vowed never to have faith, hope and love in my life. By cutting down the new growth, I have said good-bye to the Star! Dear friends! God gives us another chance! Look! A new shoot is coming up! And you can’t stop them! Merry Christmas!

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Christmas involves God and us

An ancient Christian Legend: When the son of God was nailed to the cross and died, he went down to hell and set all free. The devil wept and mourned, for he thought he would get no more sinners for hell. Then God said to him, “Do not weep, for I shall send you all those who are self-righteous in their condemnation of sinners and hell shall be filled up once more until I return.” Two weeks in a row we see John the Baptist taking the center stage in gospels, preparing the people for the Messiah. Last week we heard John’s voice in the wildness and this week, we concretely understand that voice. The voice makes sense today.

Everyone has a lesson to learn here: Common people were asked to share what they have with others; tax collectors were asked to be fair and honest, and soldiers were asked to be just. The biggest challenge for the Church today is the same question, ‘What should we do’? Quite often this question is changed or wrongly asked as ‘what should he or she or they do’? Many of us think it is heroic to pray for Osama and his conversion! It is highly fashionable to remember in prayers: “God! Give my husband a good heart. God! Give my wife an understanding spirit to lead my family! Yes. God! Thank you for creating me a Mister Perfect and a Mrs. Perfect.

God! US spends more defense than the rest of the world combined, we have 150 or more US installations all over. The quality of healthcare is 37^th in the world just above Slovenia. Yes, we should voice against where money comes and where it goes. That doesn’t hide your chaotic, selfish way of life where you don’t provide anything for your family and be selfish in all that you do! Lawyers make more than $ 400 an hour and cheat the system and people, yes, we should voice against it, but that doesn’t hide our own cheating behaviors. It is hard for us to accept, understand and forgive people who make our lives in day-to-day basis. What should I do – is the result of our ability to accept, understand, forgive and love.

Every Prophet and a person of God make this question mandatory for all disciples of Jesus: ‘What should I do now?’ John the Baptist symbolically explains how this question can take effect in us in a radical way. Sandals are normally removed by slaves and it’s the right of the slave to remove the sandals of their masters. It necessarily takes in a series of activities: waiting on the master’s arrival, walking towards the Master humbly and bowing down in adoration, kneeling and removing the sandals and washing the feet. It also carries the meaning of resting the feet of Jesus. Now let us ask the question again, ‘What should I do now’? This question is a question not asked by everyone, rather a question asked by a disciple, a servant of God.

How do I get rid of bad feelings in my heart about people who hurt me badly? How do I increase my level of patience in building up my family, in understanding my wife, husband, son, daughter and friends? How do I show my love to God who challenges me with so much pain in my life this year? Most of my Christmas cards to people this year carried this message: ‘May peace and joy be a main source of your Christmas celebration’. Christmas involves God and us. Let us put our whole efforts in asking ‘What should I do now?’ and answering it with love. Amen.

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City of Joy

Recent studies reveal that 45-55% of married women and 50-60% of married men engage in extramarital sex at some time or another during their relationship (Atwood & Schwartz, 2002 - Journal of Couple & Relationship Therapy). The recent flooding of news on Woods brought out a kind of worry in moral conduct of people! But this time the moral conduct is connected to the 5 million or 55 million business deal. Here we reflect ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths’. No wonder John the Baptist was far off in the wilderness and the Word came to him there!

Certainly the Greek architecture and the Roman civilization come in handy here that a city is being planned and built: both the 1^st and 3^rd readings today reveal that a lot of work is put in leveling ground, paving roads. JRS is preparing for a new king, the Messiah of a political nature. It is certainly a moment of great joy. Ironically enough no one was informed of this Messiah: Caesar, Pilate, Herod, Philip, and the 2 high priests were ignorant of his arrival, but preparation has to be done by a strange man who lives in the forest. All the planning has to necessarily start with a symbolic cleansing of a bath.

There are couples coming to see us at the rectory requesting baptism for their children. They have never seen me since they don’t come to church but they have to baptize their children to keep the tradition going! I almost always forget in asking them if they need the baptism of John the Baptist! The task of the Baptist is to bring people to God through baptism by water. The Gentiles wanting to become Jews had to be circumcised, had to fast and be cleansed in the Mikvah – ritual bath. John was also baptizing the Jews as the Jews though a covenantal people, were far from God like any other gentile and be reconverted.

CCC 1256 affirms that ‘in case of necessity, anyone, even a non-baptized person, with the required intention, can baptize’. This uncertainty in meaning caused a lot of damage to the Universal church. How many people were killed and nations waged war, temples desecrated, religions ridiculed thinking that ‘they were going to die unless they are baptized!’ That’s exactly what we don’t want to see in our Church – portraying Jesus as a political ruler with inhuman ideologies and rules that separate people and give a wrong signal to the world that we got everything and they have nothing!

Our baptisms have effect only if we live out our values not so much as just Christians but as good people. Christ was baptized to show us his humility that he will go through this process of John’s baptism is necessary to our Christian calling. Church teaches us that from His pierced side flowed blood and water through which are baptized and be born of water and the Spirit. But before that happens, we adhere to the person of John the Baptist and his call to repentance! If John the Baptist were to be a Catholic, he would have called all the baptized Catholics for a baptism of reconversion.

Let us work together in preparing the way of the Lord! In order to plan the City of Joy, we need to know what we have to start with. Every crooked ways, every mountains and hills, every winding roads, rough ways have to be cleared and be ready to welcome a little child eager to smile and play, hold our fingers and sleep peacefully at our manger! The Dawn of the City of Joy is at hand!

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Advent: A Season of Hope!

There is a story told about Mother Teresa getting ready to enter the pearly gates. She was not admitted into heaven. She asked ‘why?’ St. Peter told her that there are no slums there in heaven. On the contrary, Jesus was not welcomed because there are only slums here: the slums of valueless homes, marriages, habits and upbringing; the slums that murder our human dignity and respect, the slums that breed inequality and corruption. The 1^st day of the Church’s calendar year is a great reminder that Advent is about our coming to senses with ourselves too! Glory of God is people who are fully alive!

If Jesus is coming we can’t be going! There are two things that are involved here: the readiness of Jesus to come down. The readiness includes the sacrifice of the warmth of the Father and His nearness, sacrifice of his status as King and his uniform! Stripping himself of name, fame, money and emptying himself. These are the numerous different stages of Jesus’ coming down. Advent is also our readiness to climb up a few steps from being selfish to being aware of our selfishness and make amendments; being stubborn, greedy and jealous to being aware of our faults and repent. If Jesus had to take 10 steps to meet the level of humanity in the 1^st century, he had to take 100 or more steps to reach the modern humanity. We would be able to welcome him with open arms only if we stay where we are or go up the ladder or wait! Pray: Lord, I can’t climb up! Why don’t you hurry down and meet me! Advent has the meaning only if there are people waiting or inviting!

Our Pope calls this season of Advent as the season of hope on which he wrote his 2^nd Encyclical Spe Salve. He quotes St. Augustine there by saying, “Man is created for greatness – for God himself; he was created to be filled by God, but his heart is too small for the greatness to which it is destined. Suppose that God wishes to fill you with honey (a symbol of God’s tenderness and goodness), but if you are full of vinegar, where will you put the honey? The vessel, that is your heart, must first be enlarged and then cleansed, freed from the vinegar and its taste. This requires hard work and is painful, but in this way only do we become suited to that which we are destines.” (Spe Salve No. 33).

All pregnant women are given the guidelines on what to do and what not to do, what to eat and drink and what not to eat and drink during pregnancy and sometimes after delivery. Cigarette smoke contains more than 2500 chemicals and still we see 18% pregnant women smoke which results in still births, newborn deaths etc. Recent Government survey http://www.marchofdimes.com/ indicate that about 1 in 12 women drink during pregnancy thus we have 40,000 born with FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders). Advent could be viewed in that term: a mother expecting a baby. Christmas is the birth of a child. As Christians we are to bring forth the divine in us for other to cherish and enjoy. If we don’t know what to avoid, or ignored all the bad things that affect our system in our faith, hope and love, we will give birth to a dead Messiah!

If Jesus should be revealed to us, let us put on the works of Charity. We certainly want to see a healthy, well nourished, beautiful baby at the crib. No one here is barren; all are given the strength and graces throughout the Advent Season to bring forth our Christian nature, value and vocation and renew our commitment to God and one another. Let us look out for opportunities to the works of charity and God bless all of you with grace during Advent! Happy Advent!

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Boys Scout: Sharing the joys of Priesthood

On Saturday I was invited to the Boys Scout people to answer questions on Priesthood and Religious Life. These are the questions that they asked me and I would like to share with you my answers.

1. 1. What does it mean to be vowed?

A vow is a solemn promise underpinning a commitment to God or to another person.

Legally: The vows as presently and popularly understood set the boundaries for personal, communal, and moral behavior within which the person is expected to live and whose transgression incurs censures of various type, the ultimate one being expulsion from the order or congregation.

2. 2. What does it mean to be promised?

A promise is so general a word that it is used in interpersonal relationships. We promise that we will be faithful to someone in a married relationship; we promise to not to drink or smoke; we promise to buy something for our sons and daughters etc. In religious sense, we make our promise to God on certain focus that we are concerned about; we make our promise to the other person being fully aware of the real presence of God before, during and after the promise.

3. 3. What does it mean to be committed?

Commitment is the actual immersing of ourselves in the promise or vows that we professed. My commitment to my vow and promise is shown in the way I live out those vows and promises.

4. 4. How does your commitment level benefit you?

Vows that I professed are very high moral standards that i set before me. It is with constant efforts and interest that I experience my commitment. In that sense, the commitment level helps me to be a better person with good moral stand and eagerness to serve others.

5. 5. How does your commitment level benefit the secular community?

Secular community we mean here is all those who don’t see me as a priest. This necessarily brings in all my human qualities such as my ability to show care and concern, to relate and dialogue, unite and collaborate, organize and educate. This brings out my other God-given potentials to put in use for the benefit of the society and be able to transcend my horizon and to reach out. A fair amount of commitment is expected in all forms of service.

6. 6. How does your commitment level help benefit the faith community?

When it comes to faith community I am projected there as a leader. My commitment to my vows as a religious priest is indispensible and very valuable as I engage myself in God’s business and my efforts to lead others in the same path. Thus my commitment also has the nature of my responsibility: vows are never aimed at self-purification, rather are made for the service of the Kingdom of God.

7. 7. How does your commitment level help you fulfill your baptismal commitment?

By ‘Baptismal commitment’ we mean our yes and no: yes to the power of light and no to the power of darkness. It also incorporates our tendency to focus on the yes and maximizing our efforts on the YES, rather than focusing and stressing the importance of NO. My baptismal commitment is the strength and fountain through which I approach all other sacraments. My baptismal commitment is the foundation on which my religious commitment takes shape: to value and appreciate the power of light in my life and my life as a reflection of God’s light.

8. 8. What does your commitment entail in your lifestyle?

Constitution 32 summarizes all of what and who we really are: “Ours is a spirit of family and a spirit of brotherhood, formed by kindness and understanding, by compassion and mutual forgiveness, by gentleness, humility and simplicity, by hospitality and a sense of humor."

My commitment to religious life encourages me to live out these values as a Missionary of the Sacred Heart.

9. 9. How does your commitment witness God’s presence?

Vows as made for larger horizon and a vast number of people though the vows are made by a limited, humble, lacking individual. My commitment to my vows is shown in the way I think and relate to others trusting in God’s guidance. The intentions of the heart almost always unknown to others, but known fully God helps me to purify myself so that I am worthy to serve Him and the people. The above mentioned qualities are sure signs of a Missionary of the Sacred Heart that I fondly adhere to follow in my relationship with others. God is present in a place where 2 or 3 gathered in His name. I try to make that presence visible and as human as possible for a human society.

10. 10. What do you get out of your commitment?

· A An immense sense of happiness for sure.

· A great amount of humility that I am of a little service to a small number of people in a small way.

· A A renewed strength to serve.

· A A great circle of friends.

11. 11. Why did you make this level of commitment?

I practically grew up in the seminary. I have never known any of the demands and expectations of religious life until recently. I was so limited in many ways to understand and conceptualize the whole vocation. My rich religious background and priest friends helped me tremendously in my earlier decisions. When I made this decision all I had in mind was to live a pure and dedicated life, serving God and others in my own little ways. I value priesthood a great platform to meet and serve people.

12. 12. Did you feel called by God to make this commitment? How can you tell?

I was far from being perfect in all those years of my seminary training. The first few years were filled with innocence and purity and the rest was all trial and error. I was fortunate to have good hearted people around me to guide me and support me. The number of people who enjoyed my company, the depth with which I was able to motivate young people in my ministry as a seminarian and the priorities that I chose before my needs and comforts are all come in handy when answering this question. It’s always a great feeling someone who lived with me in my ups and down answers this!

13. 1 3. Does your commitment have any benefits?

Benefits are rewards here! The benefits are many. From young to old if I am able to contagiously produce a smile, my rewards have no boundaries. A hug from an old grandma, a strong handshake from a strict businessman, a smiling nod from the crowd of my homily, tears swelling when sharing family problems and a look that assures me that ‘you are a good guy, thank you for listening’, a little infants fingers at baptism, a little girl’s hug at Wegman’s, emails and letters of encouragements after a bad thought in homily, breakfasts and dinner outs with friends oh boy!

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Christ the King!

Democracy is the gift of Greeks to the world. They brought in this idea of governance: of trial by law, of civil freedom of speech, thought and expression and more importantly of worship. I always wondered why the Statue of Liberty has a Greek face! The past 20 years or so, the world has been experiencing a democratic revolution: A research claimed that 117 of the world’s 191 countries are considered democratic. Democratic countries have been more successful in living peacefully with neighbors, educating citizens, economic growth and similar other areas. Democracy is the present solution to live as free and respected citizens.

But today we are not celebrating ‘Christ our Democratically Elected Leader Sunday’ rather ‘Christ the King Sunday’: No opinion polls, no votes. We have created systems that works, a system that makes us successful. Everything is planned and executed meticulously: order and form. That is a not a guarantee that it will make us better people. The moment a leader is elected, the most important thing for him/her is: how would I keep my position? The more organized the system is the more organized the crime and corruption be. Criminals do update!!! An outdated criminal is handicapped in an advanced system. Nepotism is the present norm: when I am in power I make sure I get this for my family and friends!

Christ as King is seen in light of the Kingdom. The very first words of public ministry are ‘The Kingdom of God is near! – isn’t it easier to say ‘the King is here’ or In Lord’s Prayer, we say ‘Your Kingdom come’. Isn’t it easier to say Oh please come our Dear King! And in baptism we are anointed like Jesus as Prophet, priest and Kings or Queens! The communal aspect is stressed here that Christ is King with all the citizens not UNDER him but WITH him. Just like we share the role of a priest and prophet through Jesus, we also share the leadership of Jesus in our society.

In today’s gospel Jesus makes the distinction that his kingdom does not belong here. Jesus kingdom is not just spiritual, or relegated to a future age beyond history or in heaven rather it is life here and now ruled by God. “Every aspect of personal and communal life would experience a radical reversal. The political, economic, and social subversions would be almost endless—peace-making instead of war mongering, liberation not exploitation, sacrifice rather than subjugation, mercy not vengeance, care for the vulnerable instead of privileges for the powerful, generosity instead of greed, humility rather than hubris, embrace rather than exclusion, etc. The ancient Hebrews had a marvelous word for this, shalom, or human well-being.” (Dan Clendenin).

This is an enormous responsibility to be leaders of values. The initiative has to be from us. Every Christian should be proud to be the initiator of a common good. We can’t afford to be a bystander, watching others do the good works and just praise them with our lips. If the kingdom does not belong here, we don’t belong here! Our hearts, minds and bodies as leaders in God’s kingdom does not belong to this world: it belongs the King. Christ can be King only if has a Kingdom! Where is the Kingdom and where are His people and what are they known for?

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Second Coming of Christ!

Everyone wants to know the answer to the billion dollar question: When is the world going to end? And no one wants to answer exactly why they want to know the answer! A great advertisement now of the movie 2012 of the Mayan calendar. There are other predictions that are around too: Novelty Coincidence Dec 2012, Pope Leo XI declaration in 2014 – after 500 years, mystical number 666 according to which it should be 2028, Asteroid 1997 – 2028 Oct 26^th and thousand other predictions.

Almost all cultures and civilizations have their practice of calendars. What the world is using now is the Gregorian calendar put to use by Pope Gregory XIII who lived in 1502-1585. Different logic and astronomy merged with different spiritualities were used in devising a calendar. Scientifically it is impossible to pin point when God created the world. We don’t even know for sure when Christ was born. When devising a calendar the priest astronomers took into account a limited area of concern such as for a particular people, land and ecological environment. No one calendar was intended for the whole world till the Gregorian calendar.

What if God says you have only 3 months to live as a church! You are all going to die! What would you do? Our last days will be filled with goodness: a much better husband, much better wife, much better citizen, and much better neighbor – better than what we are now. The most important question to ask here is why do we need to be under threat of death to be better stewards? (Mary W. Anderson). Why should our goodness be always under the pretext of fear or a condition? I go to mass, confession and make sure I receive the anointing because – of the fear of going to hell??? I do these things because I know the value of grace in my life and how these help me to be close to God!

Who would have guessed that Jesus would be born to Mary and Joseph in a manger? Of all prophesies that talked about the 1^st coming of Jesus, how much more unpredictable his 2^nd coming will be! The intensity of the love of the Father is shown in giving his Son for us; in the same way the 2^nd coming will be a moment of immense grace. Jesus in the 2^nd coming will bring same powerful message of Love suited to our digital world filled with anger and corruption; war and intolerance, chaos and confusion. (if the teacher is so fearful, students can’t learn properly) Jesus 2^nd coming should never bring fear; rather it should increase faith, hope and love in everyone.

Our commitment to serve God and God alone is a great preparation for the 2^nd coming of the Messiah. He could come in any form, any time, and any circumstances. Jesus reveals his humility when he talked about the Parousia. If all cultures and civilizations plan out a 2^nd coming, we would end up telling everyone 100s of dates and times and boast on possessing more knowledge than the person coming that is Jesus himself! Our duty here is to prepare the way for him like John the Baptist. We have a responsibility to cover, and an obligation to fulfill: to prepare our hearts, our communities, our societies and our countries for that glorious event! When the son of man comes, will he find faith?

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Giving is Divine!

The twelve tribes saw the importance of priesthood and the centrality of the Temple. The Levite tribe had to take up the important duty of being priests and safeguard the vicinity of the Temple. Priesthood and the Temple have always been the responsibility of the people, the 12 tribes put together. Thus from the beginning it is people’s responsibility. Tithes, taxes, gifts and donations are part of and parcel of Churches around the world. Starting from the Peter’s Basilica in Rome to the smallest mission churches in Africa has been built with people’s money.

I remember celebrating mass in a remote village in India where people brought tube lights as offering and I could see their names all over the tube lights where the light is hardly coming out of the tubes. Writing the name of the donor on the gifts is a popular practice in all donating circumstances. Why do we do that? Is it because we want people to know where the gift comes from? There are priests who put their names into anything and everything they build. I remember Father Malcolm Fyfe building Indian Union from the scratch never left his name onto anything that he did.

The similarity between the two widows is of generosity. They were in absolute poverty and their love for the other dominated their need to survive. Widows’ life is not an easy one. Many think they are like any other people. Not many have a clue what is to be without a husband, without a wife. It brings along a great lesson on how to be without the number 1 and also how to be with God who should have been the number 1 from the very beginning. These widows have made those shifts from the vulnerability of the people to the stronghold of God.

Jews believed in wealth as a blessing from God but Jesus advocated poverty as the best means to save riches in heaven. Buddha talked about desires. Francis of Assisi revealed to us the importance of poverty. The reason for their shift is the strong conviction as to what is priceless and what is of less value and what is worthless. It is often not clear when we live among comforts, pleasures and intense happiness but gets clear when we are prepare ourselves to see beyond these. The objective for our gifts should never be anything in return. People expect love, respect, name, fame, recognition, power and also a sense of accomplishment whenever we present a gift to someone. These expectations are rewards from people. On the other hand as Christians we expect reward from God and God only.

As religious we take the vow of Poverty. All our belongings and possessions belong to the society. Our will is made in our early days of profession. If the vow of poverty brings in just a sense of purity and holiness to the life of the member, that is a mediocre profession. The vow of poverty necessarily includes others as much as it includes the self and God. Every professed member takes the vow of poverty to make others rich. Purity and holiness also are points of interest for others to judge, whereas ‘making others rich’ is a great way to exercise our spirit of generosity. In this way we share God’s own generosity since God gave us his own image and likeness and God gave us everything in and through the Son, Jesus. God gives gives and forgives; we get, get and forget. Taking is human and giving is divine. What do you want to give? Why do you want to give?

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