4th Sunday in Ordinary Time : Year: B
Deut 18.15-20; Ps 94(95); 1 Cor 7.17, 32-35; Mk
1.21-28
In the Cave of the Heart
A group of trekkers who were exploring a mountain
chanced to come across a cave. They entered the cave
only to discover a loin-clad yogi sitting in the
serene silence. They shook him out of his deep
meditation and asked him: “do you not feel the heat
in summer and the cold in winter? Are you not
troubled by insects and mosquitoes? How do you sleep
on the bare floor without a mattress and a pillow
and a sheet to cover you? Do you not feel the pain
of loneliness?
The yogi patiently listened. Then, he said, “When
you have travelled down to the depths and have
experienced the Self in the cave of your heart, then
there is no room for discomfort of any sort, no
loneliness, and no pain. You experience no want.
For, you have found lasting peace.
Jesus the Teacher
In today’s Gospel passage we are invited to see
Jesus as the teacher. Throughout his life he taught.
He taught to people and his very life was teaching
through living his life. Teaching is a divine task.
Teaching ensures future of humanity. Being a good
teacher is a task of transmitting wisdom of God
himself. Although the teaching ministry of Christ
lasted only three and a half years, during that time
He showed that He was the world's master teacher. He
performed great miracles and taught a new way of
life. His teaching was simple. He used words the
common people could understand, and took His
illustrations from the things with which His
listeners were familiar. Many of His principles were
set forth in parables. A parable is a true-to-life
story with a special meaning.
The things Jesus taught are more important than His
methods. He gave us a complete way of life, which He
summed up in one sentence, "So in everything, do to
others what you would have them do to you, for this
sums up the Law and the Prophets."(Mt 7.12)
God's Kingdom
One of the great themes of His teaching was God's
kingdom. His claim was, "The time has come. The
Kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good
news."(Mk 1.14-15).
This is a reminder to all of us that the world is
not out of control. God is still in charge, but He
has given us free-will. We are not like machines
wound-up by God. Rather we are free, and yet ruled
by a King, and that is God. When Jesus spoke of the
Kingdom of God it was to invite people to submit
themselves to it. Jesus told parables to illustrate
what He meant by God's kingdom.
The Parable of the Sower
"A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was
scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and
the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky
places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang
up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when
the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they
withered because they had no root. Other seed fell
among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.
Still other seed fell on good soil, where it
produced a crop - a hundred, sixty or thirty times
what was sown."(Mt 13.3-8).
Obviously the resulting crop depended on the kind of
ground that the seed fell into. What Jesus meant
here is that if our hearts are hard, bitter, and
filled with pride and self sufficiency, then even if
the good seed comes to us, even if we hear and learn
about His kingdom, we won't accept it. However, if
we accept God's will in our lives, the Kingdom of
God will be within us.
A Hidden Treasure
On another occasion Jesus told of a treasure hidden
in a field. A merchant found it "... and then in his
joy went and sold all he had and bought the
field."[Mt 13.44] It is true that when we find the
Kingdom of God, we receive much joy, but there is a
price to be paid. Our becoming a member of the
Kingdom of God, and following Jesus may offend many
people. Our honesty may well make some people around
us uncomfortable. We may lose friends, brothers and
sisters. Our families may well turn against us.
Joining this Kingdom of God may mean the loss of a
job, imprisonment, or even death. Jesus recognizes
that you may have to pay a high price to come into
this Kingdom but it is still well-worthwhile.
Different Dimension of the Kingdom
Once some of the Jewish leaders from the sect of the
Pharisees asked Jesus when the kingdom of God would
come (Lk 17.20-21); Jesus replied, "The Kingdom of
God does not come visibly, nor will people say,
'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom
of God is in you." Many people who were listening to
Jesus were longing for a political revolution. They
wanted Jesus to be their Messiah in a political
sense, to overthrow the Roman rulers and release
Palestine from its bondage. Jesus refused such a
demand because that was not the real problem.
Mankind’s fundamental problem is not political. It
is sin. Jesus came to deal with sin (Jn 6.15)
According to him God's kingdom was a universal
kingdom, not restricted to any particular people.
Therefore He taught them that this kingdom is within
men's hearts. It was not something that was going to
be established in the future, but something that was
being established there and then. One can become a
member of this kingdom by following Jesus and His
commandments.
The Parable of the Lost Son
Jesus did not tell this parable just to entertain
the people who were around Him. He intended to show
that God receives even the wicked person who repents
and turns to Him, because He wants everyone to be
saved and come to him through Jesus. In this parable
we see how one may turn away from God to find his
own way of adventure and folly. However God in his
mercy and kindness awaits and leaves the door flung
open for him expecting that one day this child of
Adam may see a shaft of light and return to him.
Why Jesus?
Why should submission to Jesus be the only way to
inherit the Kingdom of God? It is because He is the
king of the kingdom. He did not act like worldly
teachers. He introduced a totally different concept
of leadership. He taught his disciples: "Whoever
wants to become great among you must be your
servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave
of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be
served, but to serve, and to give his life as a
ransom for many." [Mk 10.43-45] He demonstrated this
concept by washing the feet of his disciples [Jn
13.4-17]. Later he gave his life for them and for
us. On the other hand He did prove his authority and
trustworthiness by the many signs he provided, and
by the many prophecies he fulfilled particularly by
getting out of the tomb [Rom 1.4; 10.9].
Blessed are You
Jesus gave his followers assurance about the future.
At the day of Judgement he will say to those who
have chosen to follow His way, "Come, you who are
blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the
kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the
world."(Mt 25.34)
Practical Conclusion
Have you ever wondered what makes a great special
education teacher? What separates a mediocre teacher
from a terrific teacher? It's not easy to define,
however, here's a list of qualities:
• You love your role, you love being with your
disciples/listeners and you couldn't imagine doing
anything else. You were meant to teach special needs
of your listeners; you know this in your heart.
• You have a great deal of patience and know that
little steps in learning go a long way.
• You know the listeners well and they are
comfortable and at ease with you, they enjoy having
you as their teacher and look forward to teaching
each day.
• You provide a non-threatening, welcoming
environment that nurtures each of the listeners you
work with.
• You understand your listeners, you know what
motivates them and you know how to scaffold
activities to ensure that maximum learning occurs.
• You take each person from where they are and
provide experiences that will maximize success.
You're always discovering new things among them.
• You are very comfortable working with exceptional
learners and learners with diverse needs.
• You thrive on challenge; can easily build
relationships with your listeners and their friends.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
Calgary - Canada
3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time : Year: B
Jn 3.1-5, 10; Ps 24(25);1 Cor 7.29-31; Mk 1.14-20
Shirt of a happy Man
A story is told of a king who was suffering from a
malady and was advised by his astrologer that he
would be cured if the shirt of a contented man were
brought to him to wear. People went out to all parts
of the kingdom after such a person, and after a long
search they found a man who was really happy...but
he did not possess a shirt. (Pastor's Professional
Research Service, "Happiness"). That is why Oscar
Wilde wrote, "In this world there are only two
tragedies. One is not getting what one wants, and
the other is getting it." He was trying to warn us
no matter how hard we work at being successful,
success will not satisfy us. By the time we get
there, having sacrificed so much on the altar of
being successful, we will realize that success was
not what we wanted.
Disturbing statistics on stress
A few years ago, The Comprehensive Care Corporation
of Tampa, Florida published a booklet about stress
in our modern world. The facts are disturbing. (1)
One out of four (that’s 25% of the American People)
suffers from mild to moderate depression, anxiety,
loneliness and other painful symptoms which are
attributed mainly to stress. (2) Four out of five
adult family members see a need for less stress in
their daily lives. (3) Approximately half of all
diseases can be linked to stress-related origins,
including ulcers, colitis, bronchial asthma, high
blood pressure and some forms of cancer. (4)
Unmanaged stress is a leading factor in homicides,
suicides, child abuse, spouse abuse and other
aggravated assaults. (5) The problem of stress is
taking a tremendous toll economically, also. In our
nation alone, we Americans are now spending 64.9
billion dollars a year trying to deal with the issue
of stress. That is why Jesus shared the “good news”
with us a long time ago when He said: “Come to me
all of you who labor and are heavy laden and I will
give you rest” (Matthew 11.28). Jesus’ call to be
disciple is to care for the overburdened. The
disciple is to carry his own cross and then help
those who carry heavier burdens.
Discipleship
Discipleship is costly. Jesus’ call to follow him in
turbulent times has been eloquently expressed by
Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his book Discipleship
(Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, Vol. 4). Karl Barth says
of this book that it is “easily the best that has
been written on this subject,” and that, “I cannot
hope to say anything better on the subject than what
is said here by a man who, having written on
discipleship, was ready to achieve it in his own
life, and did in his own way achieve it even to the
point of death."
Pastor and Theologian
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran pastor and
theologian during the turbulent years 1930-45. His
book on discipleship was written during the years
1935-37 when he was leading the illegal Confessing
Church’s seminary at Finkenwalde. Until the Gestapo
closed it down in late 1937, Bonhoeffer trained
young men to shepherd the church, to preach, to do
good theological thinking. His life would end in the
concentration camp of Flossenberg where he was
executed in April, 1945.
Passing through Fire
For Bonhoeffer, there is a very concrete
spirituality manifested in the life of discipleship.
It is spirituality gained by passing through the
fire. “When Christ calls a person, He bids them come
and die.” “And if we answer the call to
discipleship, where will it lead us? What decisions
and partings will it demand? To answer this question
we shall have to go to him, for only he knows the
answer. Only Jesus Christ, who bids us to follow
him, knows the journey’s end. But we do know that it
will be a road of boundless mercy. Discipleship
means joy.”
Murder Plot against Hitler
During this period of his life, it is important to
note that Bonhoeffer eschewed violence. He could be
considered a ‘pacifist.’ Of course his later turn
about to participation in the murder plot on Hitler
does signal a very real change in him. Walter Wink
raises this question: “If counter-violence appears
to be the only responsible choice, this still does
not make violence right. Bonhoeffer is a
much-misunderstood case in point. He joined the plot
to assassinate Hitler. But he insisted his act was a
sin, and threw himself on the mercy of God. Two
generations of Christians have held back from full
commitment to non-violence, citing Bonhoeffer’s
example. Had he known, both that his attempt would
fail, and that it would have the effect of
justifying redemptive violence in the eyes of so
many Christians, I wonder if he would have done it.”
It was not easy for Bonhoeffer to go back on his
commitment to non-violence seen in his book on
Discipleship. His later writings indicate that he
had spent some considerable time reflecting on the
implications of this change. Bonhoeffer’s life and
his book on Discipleship are important resources
when considering the possibilities of the
redemption.
Jesus is the Model
Today I would also want to emphasize that it is
Jesus as the human model that is essential. That is,
it is an aspect of Jesus’ priestly function: to
model our spirituality for us, our relationship to
God. Why? Because we are included in Him, Jesus is
our corporate head, the Second Adam, the One who got
it right.
I believe that Bonhoeffer was desperate, in the
sense that, he was watching from the inside, the
destruction of everything he held dear as a German,
a Lutheran, a theologian, a Berliner. It must have
been awful.
Luke 14.27: And whoever does not bear his cross and
come after Me cannot be My disciple.
Cost of Discipleship in our Daily Life
Denying ourselves means being willing to renounce
any so-called right to plan or choose, and to
recognize His Lordship in every area of life. To
take up the cross means to deliberately choose the
kind of life He lived. This involves:
• Coping with opposition of loved ones
• Coping with reproach from the world
• Forsaking all else for Him if need be, and the
comforts of this life.
• Complete dependence on God.
• Obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
• Proclaiming an unpopular message.
• Being alone
• Suffering for the sake of righteousness.
• Enduring slander and shame.
• Pouring out one’s life for others.
• Death to self and to the world, denial of self.
A Brand New Life
It also involves beginning a brand new life, real
life in Jesus! It means finding out the real reason
for our existence. And it means eternal reward. We
so often run away from a life of cross-bearing. Our
minds are reluctant to believe that this could be
God’s will for us. Yet the words of Christ “If
anyone desires to come after Me” mean that this is
the cost of discipleship for each of us, but
consider the blessings to follow, and the joy that
comes from living close to the Lord.
When we meet the Lord on that day to we want Him to
say "Well done my good and faithful servant.” So it
is all or nothing. What a change is wrought in our
lives when we surrender our all to the Lord.
Practical Conclusion
Becoming a disciple of Jesus often involves
sacrifice...
• For Simon and Andrew, it meant leaving their
business behind
• For James and John, it also meant leaving their
family behind
• For all four, it meant lives of service that
included hardship, ending in martyrdom or exile
Becoming a disciple of Jesus means to seek the
lost...
• Jesus wants His disciples to become "fishers of
men" - Mk 1.17
• Just as He come to "seek and save the lost" - Lk
19.10
As Disciples of Christ today...
• Are we willing to sacrifice for the Lord?
• Are we willing to seek the lost?
• If not, can we really claim to be disciples of
Jesus Christ?
Jesus would have everyone become His disciple today
(cf. Mt 28.19-20). May "The Call of Four Fishermen",
and the service they rendered to the Lord, inspire
us to greater dedication as disciples...
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
Calgary - Canada
2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time : Year: B
1 Sam 3.3-10, 19; Ps 39(40); 1Cor 6.13-15, 17-20; Jn
1.35-42
Life Example
I was travelling back from Bishop Bosco Penha’s
office (2009). I got down from a taxi at Check Naka
(Dahisar - Mumbai). I boarded another taxi to Mira
Road. I travelled less than 100 yards, I could see a
hand wave from the window of a car. I thought taxi
driver must have done a mistake. Well, within
minutes the car stopped right in front of our taxi.
I was afraid. A gentleman came down from the car and
wished me “good evening father”. I was surprised. He
said, ‘father, come with me, I will take you to Mira
Road’. He paid the taxi driver. When I was in the
car the gentle man introduced himself to me and
said, ‘father now I have kidnapped you’; I said
‘what do you want from me?’; ‘nothing father’, ‘I
want my house to be blessed’. Okay I said. He drew
the car towards his house, I went in. I found a big
house, clean, beautiful. He went into the kitchen
and prepared a tea for me and a few snacks. After a
while he told me, ‘father I am sorry I took your
precious time. Please bless my house’. I blessed the
house and I told him that the tea was good. He told
me that he is able to cook good food. I enquired
about his family, he said that his wife is a manager
in a bank, and he himself is the head of a company
and his two children in Panchagini in a private
school and they would go to meet them every weekend.
He told me that he cooks, sometimes his wife cooks,
he does all kinds of house work and there is plenty
of good will and love in the family. I looked into
his eyes full of love and understanding. I was
surprised to know that a man with such status,
prestige and wealth, lives a love-filled life. I was
happy for the man and his family.
He was Amazed
Ravi had been blind all his life. He had never seen
the sun, or the moon, or the stars. He did not know
that the sky was blue, as that the grass was green.
He did not know what a tree looked like, and could
not even begin to imagine what shape and colours a
bird might be.
His family and friends would say to him “The sun is
shining brightly today,” or “There are thousands of
stars in the sky tonight.” Ravi could not see them.
He would become angry, he often said “There is no
sun. There are no stars.” People felt sad because
Ravi was so angry. They told him that even though he
could not see them, the sun and stars were still
there.
Sometimes people would talk to Ravi about the
beautiful colours of nature, but he did not listen.
One day his sisters were talking. They were trying
to decide what colour saris they should wear for a
wedding. One said she would wear red, the other
preferred yellow.
“What does it matter,” shouted Ravi angrily, “There
is no such thing as colour.” Everything is dark. The
colours are only in your mind.”
Slowly people stopped talking to Ravi about the
things they could see. They knew it would only make
him cross. Then one day, when Ravi was twenty, his
family and friends heard of a man who might be able
to help Ravi. He was called The Buddha, and people
who had met him said he could make people walked who
had never walked before. And he could make blind
people see.
His family and friends took Ravi to the Buddha. Ravi
was not quite sure what was going to happen, but he
was not afraid. The Buddha gently soothed Ravi’s
eyes with four different lotions and suddenly, he
was able to see. He knew that the sun and the stars
shone in the sky. He saw how beautiful the colours
of nature were. He marvelled at the trees and birds
around him and he saw his sisters in their richly
coloured saris. He was amazed.
Come and See
Jesus said to his followers, ‘come and see’ meaning,
you need to open your eyes and see what you really
want when you are with Jesus. Today we need to look
closely Jesus who is calling us for an experience.
The Lamb of God
Who is Jesus for you? John calls Jesus the Lamb of
God and thus signifies Jesus' mission as the One who
redeems us from our sins. The blood of the Passover
Lamb (Exodus 12) delivered the Israelites in Egypt
from death. The blood of Jesus, the true Passover
Lamb (1 Cor 5.7), delivers us from everlasting death
and destruction. It is significant that John was the
son of a priest, Zachariah, who participated in the
daily sacrifice of a lamb in the temple for the sins
of the people (Exodus 29). In Jesus he saw the true
and only sacrifice which can deliver us from sin.
How did John know the true identity of Jesus, as the
Messiah? The Holy Spirit revealed to John Jesus'
true nature, such that John bore witness that this
is the Son of God. How can we be certain that Jesus
is truly the Christ, the Son of the God? The Holy
Spirit makes Christ known to us through the gift of
faith. God gives us freely of his Spirit that we may
comprehend the great mystery and plan of God to
unite all things in his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
What are You Looking For
John in his characteristic humility was eager to
point beyond himself to the Christ. He did not
hesitate to direct his disciples to the Lord Jesus.
When two of John’s disciples began to seek Jesus
out, Jesus took the initiative to invite them into
his company. He did not wait for them to get his
attention. Instead he met them halfway. He asked
them one of the most fundamental questions of life:
“What are you looking for?” What were they looking
for in Jesus and what were they aiming to get out of
life? Jesus asks each of us the same question:
“What’s the goal of your life? What are you aiming
for and trying to get out of life?”
Invitation for Fellowship
Jesus invites each of us to "come and see" for
ourselves that his word is true and everlasting.
"Come and see" is God's invitation for fellowship
and communion with the One who made us in love for
love. Augustine of Hippo tells us something very
important about God and how he relates to us: “If
you hadn’t been called by God, what could you have
done to turn back? Didn’t the very One who called
you when you were opposed to Him make it possible
for you to turn back?” It is God who initiates and
who draws us to himself. Without his grace, mercy,
and help we could not find him.
Discover and Share
When we discover something very important and
valuable it's natural to want to share it with those
closest to us. Andrew immediately went to his
brother Simon and told him the good news of his
discovery of Jesus. And it didn't take much to get
Simon to "come and see" who this Jesus was. Jesus
reached out to Simon in the same way he did to
Andrew earlier. He not only addressed Simon by his
personal name, but he gave him a new name which
signified the call God had for him. "Cephas" or
"Peter" literally means "rock". To call someone a
"rock" was one of the greatest compliments. The
ancient rabbis had a saying that when God saw
Abraham, he exclaimed: "I have discovered a rock to
found the world upon". Through Abraham God
established a nation for himself. Through faith
Peter grasped who Jesus truly was – the Anointed One
(Messiah and Christ) and the only begotten Son of
God. The New Testament describes the church as a
spiritual house or temple with each member joined
together as living stones (see 1 Peter 2:5). Faith
in Jesus Christ makes us into rocks or spiritual
stones. The Holy Spirit gives us the gift of faith
to know Jesus personally, power to live the gospel
faithfully, and courage to witness to others the joy
and truth of the gospel. The Lord Jesus is ever
ready to draw us near to himself. Do you seek to
grow in the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ?
Practical Conclusion
The grace of being with Jesus opens our eyes. We
will see what we have never seen. We will be open to
a new world of Jesus. There will be plenty of good
will, forgiveness, love, presence, kindness and
everyone will be happier. That is what happens when
we meet Jesus. We need to heed his call. Change will
happen.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
Calgary - Canada
Baptism of the Lord Jesus : Year: B
Is 55.1-11; Ps 12; I Jn 5.1-9; Mk 1.7-11
We want to be Christians
Once I was in the parish office, there came a Hindu
family wanting to become Christians. I told them,
that it is a process by which they have to be
introduced to Christianity. I asked them a simple
question: “why do you want to become Christians?”
They answered, “Father, we have wonderful Christian
neighbors, their life is so great, they are
charitable, helpful that we were deeply inspired by
them. They helped us when one of our family members
was seriously ill, and they even stayed with the
member for a long time in the hospital. Now that we
have this great experience we want to be like them.
We also read Bible with them, and they instruct us.
That is why we want to become Christians.” Then I
said to them that they have to undergo one year of
intense course. But they said, they were even ready
for 2 years intense course to become Christians.
Baptism: The Door to the Church
The Sacrament of Baptism is often called "The door
of the Church," because it is the first of the seven
sacraments not only in time (since most Catholics
receive it as infants) but in priority, since the
reception of the other sacraments depends on it. It
is the first of the three Sacraments of Initiation,
the other two being the Sacrament of Confirmation
and the Sacrament of Holy Communion. Once baptized,
a person becomes a member of the Church.
Traditionally, the rite (or ceremony) of baptism was
held outside the doors of the main part of the
church, to signify this fact.
The Necessity of Baptism
Christ Himself ordered His disciples to preach the
Gospel to all nations and to baptize those who
accept the message of the Gospel. In His encounter
with Nicodemus (John 3.1-21), Christ made it clear
that baptism was necessary for salvation: "Amen,
amen I say to thee, unless a man be born again of
water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the
kingdom of God." For Catholics, the sacrament is not
a mere formality; it is the very mark of a
Christian, because it brings us into new life in
Christ.
Types of Baptism
That doesn't mean that only those who have been
formally baptized can be saved. From very early on,
the Church recognized that there are two other types
of baptism besides the baptism of water.
Baptism of Desire
The baptism of desire applies both to those who,
while wishing to be baptized, die before receiving
the sacrament and "Those who, through no fault of
their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or His
Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere
heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to
do His will as they know it through the dictates of
conscience" (Constitution on the Church, Second
Vatican Council).
Baptism of Blood
The baptism of blood is similar to the baptism of
desire. It refers to the martyrdom of those
believers who were killed for the faith before they
had a chance to be baptized. This was a common
occurrence in the early centuries of the Church, but
also in later times in missionary lands. The baptism
of blood has the same effects as the baptism of
water.
The Form of the Sacrament of Baptism
While the Church has an extended rite of Baptism
which is normally celebrated, which includes roles
for both parents and godparents, the essentials of
that rite are two: the pouring of water over the
head of the person to be baptized (or the immersion
of the person in water); and the words "I baptize
you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Spirit."
The Minister of the Sacrament of Baptism
Since the form of baptism requires just the water
and the words, the sacrament, like the Sacrament of
Marriage, does not require a priest; any baptized
person can baptize another. In fact, when the life
of a person is in danger, even a non-baptized
person—including someone who does not himself
believe in Christ—can baptize, provided that the
person performing the baptism follows the form of
baptism and intends, by the baptism, to do what the
Church does—in other words, to bring the person
being baptized into the fullness of the Church. In
both cases, a priest may later perform a conditional
baptism.
Infant Baptism
In the Catholic Church today, baptism is most
commonly administered to infants. While some other
Christians strenuously object to infant baptism,
believing that baptism requires assent on the part
of the person being baptized, the Eastern Orthodox,
Anglicans, Lutherans, and other mainline Protestants
also practice infant baptism, and there is evidence
that it was practiced from the earliest days of the
Church.
Since baptism removes both the guilt and the
punishment due to Original Sin, delaying baptism
until a child can understand the sacrament may put
the child's salvation in danger, should he die
unbaptized.
Adult Baptism
Adult converts to Catholicism also receive the
sacrament, unless they have already received a
Christian baptism. (If there is any doubt about
whether an adult has already been baptized, the
priest will perform a conditional baptism.) A person
can only be baptized once as a Christian—if, say, he
was baptized as a Lutheran, he cannot be rebaptized
when he converts to Catholicism.
While an adult can be baptized after proper
instruction in the Faith, adult baptism normally
occurs today as part of the Rite of Christian
Initiation for Adults (RCIA) and is immediately
followed by Confirmation and Communion.
The Baptism of Jesus marks the beginning of His
public ministry and his mission entrusted to him by
the Father. John, the forerunner, was preparing the
way for Jesus by preaching repentance and baptizing
people in the Jordan as they acknowledged their sins
and received baptism of repentance. John also
proclaimed that one greater than he would come and
“baptize you with the Holy Spirit” (Mark 1.8). With
these things in mind, it is not surprising that John
resisted when Jesus asked to be baptized by him. Why
did Jesus need to be baptized? Why would he submit
to John in this way? There are a number of reasons
worthy of exploration. First, Jesus certainly was
not baptized for forgiveness of sins, since He was
sinless. There was no need for Him to repent. Still,
in this act, He showed His solidarity with sinful
humanity and gave indication of His role as Savior.
Second, as indicated in the second reading, this
event expresses Christ’s anointing as the Messiah.
It also reveals His identity as the Son of God
through the voice coming from Heaven and brings to
light the Trinity through the action of Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit seen at the baptism. Finally, Jesus’
baptism prefigures the Sacrament of Baptism that He
would institute, in which we receive the Holy Spirit
and are adopted as children of God, while also being
cleansed of our sins.
Practical Conclusion
Baptism has six primary effects, which are all
supernatural graces:
The removal of the
guilt of both Original Sin (the sin imparted to
all mankind by the Fall of Adam and Eve in the
Garden of Eden) and personal sin (the sins that
we have committed ourselves).
The remission of
all punishment hat we owe because of sin, both
temporal (in this world and in Purgatory) and
eternal (the punishment that we would suffer in
hell).
The infusion of
grace in the form of sanctifying grace (the life
of God within us); the seven gifts of the Holy
Spirit; and the three theological virtues.
Becoming a part of
Christ.
Becoming a part of
the Church, which is the Mystical Body of Christ
on earth.
Enabling
participation in the sacraments, the priesthood
of all believers, and the growth in grace.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
Calgary - Canada
Epiphany of the Lord : Year: B
Is 60.1-6; Ps 71(72); Eph 3.2-3a, 5-6; Mt 2.1-12
The Three Wise “Skulls”
If you ever visit Cologne (Köln) Cathedral in
Germany you can walk around the sanctuary and behind
the main altar there is a large reliquary said to
contain the bones or at least the skulls of the
three wise men. “How did they get to Cologne?” you
might ask. If the relics of great saints have been
travelling across the globe then that makes it
easier for us to understand the explanation. The
wise men’s bones are said to have been located in
Persia and then brought to Constantinople by St.
Helena. St. Helena was the mother of the emperor
Constantine who was the first Roman Emperor to
convert to Christianity. The bones were transferred
from Constantinople to Milan in the fifth century
and to Cologne in 1163. So not only did the wise men
journey during the lives but even after deaths their
relics went on a journey. Although Matthew does not
tell us the names of the wise men, in the West they
have traditionally been given the names Gaspar,
Melchior and Balthasar. Matthew does not tell us the
number of wise men, he simply states that they
offered three gifts.
Journey to Heart
The journey the wise made to Bethlehem was not the
only journey they made. They also made a journey in
their hearts from paganism to worshipping Jesus.
They were not Jews; scholars tell us they were
priests of an Eastern religion who consulted the
stars (Zoroastrian priests). One of them may have
been a king (there is speculation that one of them
was Azes II of Bactria who reigned from 35 BC to 10
AD). Therefore we could say they were followers of
some kind of pagan religion. Before they set out on
their journey to Bethlehem to worship Jesus they
were star-readers but they went on an interior
journey from reading stars to worshipping Jesus as
Savior. Their old way of life as astrologers when
they consulted the stars before they came to belief
in Jesus reminds us of those who look to horoscopes
for guidance.
The Wrong Way
Those who follow horoscopes are called to journey
like the wise men from reading stars to worshiping
Jesus. Horoscope readers need to ask themselves who
is in charge of their life, the stars or God?
Believing that the stars control our lives
contradicts believing that God is in charge of our
lives. Remember that the first commandment asks us
not to have any strange gods. Indeed the fact that
God has sometimes revealed the future to prophets or
saints (Catechism of the Catholic Church §2115)
shows that it is God and not the stars that control
our destiny. The Catechism of the Catholic Church
states, “Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm
reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the
phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums
all conceal a desire for power over time, history,
and in the last analysis, other human beings, as
well as a wish to conciliate power. They contradict
the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to
God alone.” (§2116)
The wise men journeyed from that kind of life to
worshiping Jesus as the Savior. This is the true
story of someone who converted from that life to
faith in Jesus.
From Paganism to Faith
The wise men’s journey of a thousand miles or more
westwards from Persia which could have taken three
months is really a symbol of the inward journey they
made in their hearts, a journey from paganism to
belief in Jesus as the Savior of the world. Indeed
not just the wise men but all of us are on a journey
to get closer to Jesus our Savior. Our journey may
not be from reading stars and consulting horoscopes
but we each are called to allow Jesus be Lord of
each part of our lives, not just when it suits us.
We each have a journey to make to Jesus because none
of us is yet fully converted and each of us has
corners in our hearts and lives in need of Jesus’
healing and redemption. Like the wise men we too are
relying on the grace of God to lead us to the light
of Jesus our Savior.
Evangelization and Renewal
The wise men through the grace of God came to faith
in Jesus. What about those who do not yet know that
Jesus is the Savior? What about those who have not
yet made that journey to Jesus? Can those who are
not Christian get to heaven? Yes, they can. I think
we can see part of the answer in the account of the
wise men. By the grace of God the wise men were led
to Jesus. Even though they did not know Jesus they
had a desire to meet Jesus. In their own way, with
their beliefs, they lived as best they could and
this eventually led them to Jesus. Vatican II says,
“Those who, through no fault of their own, do not
know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who
nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and
moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will
as they know it through the dictates of their
conscience – those too may achieve eternal
salvation.” (Lumen Gentium no. 16)
The Journey of the Church
Of course this does not mean that the Church does
not have to spread the Gospel and can sit back and
be lazy. The Church’s mission and vocation is to
help people make the journey to Jesus, to come to
know that Jesus is the one Savior of the world worth
journeying towards. Jesus’ last command before his
ascension was to baptize all nations, so we have the
duty to preach the Gospel to those who have not yet
heard of Jesus. Again we remember that the wise men
were not members of the Chosen People, the Jews. Yet
God revealed to them that Jesus was born. This is to
show us that Jesus came not just for the Chosen
People, the Jews, but Jesus came to save all people,
Gentiles as well as the Jews.
Anecdote 1: The Fourth Wise man: Henry Van Dyke has
a story about a fourth wise man. His name was
Artaban. He had planned to travel along with his
fellow kings. However, he got delayed because he had
to assist a woman who was dying. So, he missed the
march west. As gifts, he carried a precious
sapphire, a rare ruby, and an exquisite pearl. He
had to give up his sapphire to help a starving
family. When finally he found the stable, it was
deserted. Mary and Joseph had scooped up the Child
and escaped into Egypt. Artaban gave the ruby to
secure the life of a babe destined to be destroyed
by the mad King Herod. His search for the King of
kings continued for thirty-three long years. When he
learned of the events on Calvary, he rushed there to
ransom Jesus with the priceless pearl. But on the
way he met a man about to be sold into slavery. To
his master he gave his pearl as ransom. At that
moment, the earthquake struck. He was critically
wounded by falling debris. The man he had just
rescued held his head in his lap. He whispered into
his ear, "Because you did it for one of these, you
did it for me." Artaban had found his King.
Practical Conclusion
The same spirit that prompted Artaban to help the
dying woman, the family, the infant, and the slave
should motivate us to move out of our underground
bunkers and do something similar, transferring our
Bibles from our dusty shelves into our hearts and
spirits.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
Calgary - Canada
4th Sunday in Advent : Year: B
2 Sam 7.1-5, 8-12, 14,16; Ps 88(89); Rom 16.25-27;
Lk 1.26-38
Moses had led God's people out of Egypt around the
year we now reckon as 1250 B.C.E. Joshua led them on
an invasion of Palestine around 1220. Judges ruled
them from 1200 to 1025. The last Judge, Samuel,
anointed for them their first king, Saul, around
1030. David succeeded Saul in 1010. The "Ark of God"
all this time was an ornate chest containing the
stone tablets inscribed with the covenant that God
struck with Moses on Mount Sinai (thus the chest's
familiar title, "Ark of the Covenant"). (See Exodus,
chapter 25 for the origin of the Ark.) It was the
people's single most sacred object. The chest was
quite portable, appropriate for nomadic people. When
the nomads stopped for a while, they erected a
special tent for the Ark. But now they were more
settled, so much so that their king has a permanent
house. He wants to make a permanent house for the
Ark.
The great irony here is that God is too great to
need a house, and, in a neat turn of phrase,
promises a house of another kind for his would-be
architect. God asks David "Should you be the one to
build me a house? Come now, boy king. You are too
big for your britches. You want to make a house? I
will tell you about making a house."
Ordinary to Extraordinary
Oliver Napoleon Hill was born to a poor family in
1883.
He fought his way out of his backwoods Virginia town
with a burning desire to be successful. He was
always searching for ways to improve himself and was
involved in numerous ventures, including managing a
coal-mine, practicing law, and becoming a business
journalist. His big break came when he had the
opportunity of meeting Andrew Carnegie, the “Steel
King”. Andrew Carnegie asked Napoleon Hill if he
would take up the challenge of devoting 20 years of
his life in order to prepare a formula of success
for helping others to become successful. Andrew
Carnegie would provide him with letters of reference
to meet hundreds of successful people in the likes
of Woodrow Wilson, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison,
Theodore Roosevelt, John D. Rockefeller, to name a
few. Napoleon Hill made his decision to take up the
challenge in less than 60 seconds. Later he came to
know that Andrew Carnegie had given him 60 seconds
to make up his mind, failing which he would have
lost his chance of undertaking the important
assignment.
After 20 years of dedicated research in 1937 he came
out with his best seller, “Think And Grow Rich”,
which has helped countless of people around the
world to achieve success. One of his famous saying
was, “Whatever the mind of man can conceive and
believe, it can achieve”.
So the next time you think your contributions, your
acts of charity, your works for justice, your gifts
of love, and your talents are nothing, or that they
are small in comparison to those of others, remember
that when one is added to another, and then to
another and so forth, great things can happen from
nothing. In the same way, what seems to be ordinary
can be transformed into something extraordinary with
just a little extra nothing.
Your mission is to create great things once again
out of nothingness, to transform the ordinary into
the extraordinary.
The Humble Handmaid of God
Some years ago a vandal attacked Michelangelo’s
Pietŕ with a hammer, seriously damaging the face and
arm of the figure of Mary. A magazine article
suggested that the act was a parable of the violence
done to Mary by the church - by Roman Catholics who
have idolized her and by Protestants who have
ignored her. While Protestants have criticized
Catholics for coming close to ascribing to Mary the
lead role in God’s salvation drama. Protestants
could be accused of making her into a prop. But we
can be thankful that Luke’s witness to the
annunciation (Luke 1.26-38) stands as a corrective.
One of the great delusions that goes with wealth,
power and status is to think we are in control of
our lives. The most difficult lesson for most people
to realize is that God values the heart, not what we
possess. Everything we have is on loan to us. We are
only stewards of His possessions. He is really not
interested in appearance, performance or status. Not
even in the church.
How would you like to be on the board of trustees of
the Kingdom of God telling God what to do and how to
do it? Don't respond too hastily. Far too many of us
in attitude and actions are that way.
God's timing is always perfect, and He really does
know what He is doing.
The Fulfillment
As we look at Luke 1.26-38 let’s keep in mind that
the central figure is Jesus Christ. The Scriptures
are abundant in their testimony that Jesus fulfilled
the Old Testament prophetic promises of the coming
of the Deliverer (Lk 4.16-21; Acts 2.16-21, 25-36;
3.12-18, 22-26; 7.2-53; 13.16ff). Luke and Matthew
make it clear that the historical events they are
reporting are seen as the fulfillment of the Old
Testament Scriptures. The first coming of the
Messiah was to be an advent of humiliation while the
second is one of consummation and glory of the
kingdom of God. The day draws near when Christ shall
take His great power and reign as King of kings and
Lord of lords. His kingdom alone shall possess an
everlasting kingdom and His dominion will not end.
However, it must first come in deep humiliation. But
even if the Son of God, the heir of all things, had
come to reign on the earth as a king at the first
advent even that would have been condescension to
come on earth as king.
The Angel Gabriel Was Sent
When God chose to act in the fulfillment of Old
Testament prophecy regarding salvation of man He did
it at a specific place and time in the history of
Israel with specific people and concerns the birth
of a historical person. These are historical events
that Luke is reporting. He does not say, “Once upon
a time… ” He said just the opposite, “In the days of
Herod, king of Judea. . . the angel Gabriel was sent
from God to a city in Galilee, called Nazareth”
(1.5, 26). History is full of Herod and his evil
family. The Jewish people hated him because he was
an Edomite, not a Jew. Here was a king who did not
have a drop of king David’s blood flowing in his
veins, appointed by the power of Rome to the throne
of a Jewish nation. Luke notes another significant
historical marker in establishing the historicity of
Jesus’ birth. In 2.1 he writes, “Now it came about
in those days that a decree went out from Caesar
Augustus, that a census be taken of all the
inhabited earth.” No honest scholar can deny that
Luke is asserting that these events took place as
part of universally accepted history.
God Spotted Nazareth
In his search God passed over Imperial Rome,
Jerusalem and the Temple and came to a village in
Galilee of the Gentiles. What was Nazareth like in
the days of Jesus? The town was located 70 miles
northeast of Jerusalem, and sat on a hillside above
the highway between Tyre, Sidon and Jerusalem. The
population was 15,000. It was a hot bed of
corruption with Roman soldiers passing by each day
and spending the night there, Greek merchants and
travelers were coming and going selling their wares.
Dwellers were rude, violent and of evil repute. How
significant that God passed over Jerusalem, the
Temple, and the politicians and went to a town in
Galilee. He went to the Galilee of the Gentiles.
Even in this hotbed of corruption He had his chosen
servants. In the darkest days of human history, God
has always had His elect remnant ready to accomplish
His will and purpose. He always has had on hand
those who are available to Him. And our day is no
exception.
Her name was Mary (1.27)
She was probably just a teenager between 13 and 15
years old. This was the normal age for the Jewish
betrothal or formal engagement. We know that she was
engaged to Joseph who was a descendent of King David
(v. 27). It was important for Luke and Matthew to
carefully note that Jesus descended from the lineage
of King David (2.4; 3.23-38; Mat 1.1-17; Rom 1.3; 2
Tim 2.8).
On the Way to Marriage
It would seem very strange to us, but Mary and
Joseph’s parents got together and arranged for the
marriage of their children. The Jewish marriage
consisted of two stages: one was the engagement
which was followed a year later by the marriage
proper. This engagement was a formal agreement
initiated by the father seeking a bride for his son.
The two mothers and two fathers got together and
negotiated the marriage arrangement and then the
qiddushin took place. This formal betrothal was
binding like a marriage. The second most important
person involved in the marriage contract was the
father of the bride. Remember, he stood to lose the
most in the deal because he was giving up his
daughter and helper on the farm or in the family
business. The couple was engaged when the father of
the son paid the purchase price to the bride’s
father and a written agreement and oath were signed.
When the marriage contract was finalized by the
parents of the couple, even though the marriage
ceremony had not been celebrated, the bridegroom
could not be rid of his betrothed except through
divorce. If Joseph had died between the engagement
and marriage, Mary would have been his legal widow.
If, during the same period of time, another man had
sexual intercourse with her, Mary would have been
punished as an adulteress. This engagement period
usually lasted for a year and was as binding as
marriage. The legal aspect of the Jewish marriage
was included in the betrothal; the wedding
celebration was merely recognition of the agreement
that had already been established. This is why
Joseph had a perfect right to travel with Mary to
Bethlehem. The engagement was taken a lot more
seriously than in our day. Even though the
engagement was legally binding, and the couple was
considered husband and wife, they refrained from
sexual contact until the second stage of the
marriage ceremony was fulfilled.
Here we find Mary humble, ready to do God’s will
with total surrender to him.
Mary an Example of Faith
Luke perceived Mary as a significant role model for
all of us. We discover anew each day that we have
trusted in people and things that can’t deliver and,
like Luke’s original readers, we need direction and
hope. Luke points us to Mary. He does not present
her as a goddess, nor a stiff statue gathering
cobwebs in a musty cathedral, nor a plastic figurine
molded with a sweet and innocent countenance to
stand lifeless in a coffee-table crčche. Luke’s Mary
is a genuine example of faith acted out in
discipleship and response to God’s word.
She Responded an Odd Call
If Mary’s ears had been less keen and her soul less
willing, she might not have understood. If her eyes
had been able to see only the broad, bold outlines
of trial, tragedy, rejection and hardship, she might
not have sensed the divine presence or heard God’s
word of grace and favor. But she heard and
responded, even to such an odd call in such a common
hour of life. Her story reminds us that the oddest,
most inglorious moments are packed with the
annunciation of God’s presence and God’s call to
serve.
Practical Conclusion
Your mission is to create great things once again
out of the resources and talents given to you; to
transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. Life
is fullness. Life is movement. Life is joy and
happiness, provided we become interested in what we
are doing and are conscious of the time we use for
it. Each day is a gift that is offered to us in
time. When we get up, we tend to see the time and
then we begin to check the time before and after
each commitment or work. In our daily work we should
never become a victim of the so-called monotonous
routine. That is dangerous. We need to train
ourselves to hold life as something precious like
gold or silver and then work for bettering our
performance in whatever we are involved. We look at
Mary who considered everything as coming from the
Lord and she said FIAT.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
Calgary - Canada
3rd Sunday of Advent : Year: B
Is 61.1-2a, 10-11; Lk 1; 1 Thess 5.16-24; Jn 1.6-8,
19-28
"Rejoice: The Lord is nigh." As Christmas
draws near, the Church emphasizes the joy which
should be in our hearts over all that the birth of
our Savior means for us. When we give time to the
Lord, we experience that joy in our hearts. The
great joy of Christians is to see the day drawing
nigh when the Lord will come again in His glory to
lead them into His kingdom. The oft-repeated Veni
("Come") of Advent is an echo not only of the
prophets but also of the conclusion of the
Apocalypse of St. John: "Come, Lord Jesus," the last
words of the New Testament. When the Lord draws near
to us, we feel secure, happy, and joyful. But we
need to give that time to the Lord that he may
instruct us and make us ready for his arrival.
Today is known as Gaudete Sunday. The term Gaudete
refers to the first word of the Entrance Antiphon,
"Rejoice". Rose vestments are worn to emphasize our
joy that Christmas is near, and we also light the
rose candle on our Advent wreath.
The Appointment
Carl Jung tells the story of a man who was seeing
him for counseling. The man wanted an appointment at
a particular time on a particular day. "I'm sorry,"
said Jung, "but I have an appointment at that time."
When the two met together the next time, the client
was furious. "You told me that you had an
appointment on Tuesday. But I happened to see you. I
know exactly where you were and what you were doing.
You were sitting on the bank of the river, doing
nothing other than dangling your toes in the water!"
"That's right," said Jung. "It was my appointment
with myself and I never break it!"
Appointment with oneself is important and in the
same way appointment with God is also important in
our life. God is dwelling in our heart. The more you
go deeper, closer you come to God. Today we do not
have time for that. Too much of the world enters,
instead we allowing ourselves to be alone with God.
Carl Jung was correct when he said that it was an
important appointment.
Time for God and Time for Others
Third Sunday in Advent invites us to have time for
God. Of course when guests come to our home, we give
all the time to them, so that they do not get upset
with the things that are new around them. In order
to get to know God better, we need to give time to
him. When we want to develop relationships with our
friends, with our husband or wife, with our parents
or with our children, we set aside time to do so.
Indeed we talk about spending "quality time" with
someone when we want to work on our relationship
with them: that is, time spent with someone alone
with no hidden agenda and no distractions. God wants
to spend quality time with us, time when He has our
undivided attention.
Mary and Martha
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, He
came to a village where a woman named Martha opened
her home to Him. She had a sister called Mary, who
sat at the Lord's feet listening to what He said.
But Martha was distracted by all the preparations
that had to be made. She came to Him and asked,
"Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to
do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "You are
worried and upset about many things, but only one
thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and
it will not be taken away from her."
Wholehearted Attention
Mary chose to spend time with Jesus and refused to
be distracted; Martha chose not to spend time with
Him. And Jesus said that Mary had chosen better.
(Later, we see Mary express her devotion to Jesus in
a most extravagant way, pouring a bottle of
extremely expensive perfume over Him. Again, Jesus
commends her action.) Jesus invites us to learn from
Mary and spend time with Him as she did, letting Him
change us by the encounter.
Being with God
How much do we value spending time with the Lord?
Does the idea of being with Him fill us with
expectation and joy as it did Mary? Given how
incredibly wonderful God is, it is somewhat
astonishing how little time many of us spend on
deepening our relationship with Him. When a young
man and woman are in love they are on in spirit. If
we let God captivate our heart with His love, then
we too will desire to be with Him above anything
else, and we become one with him.
Jesus’ Appointment
The gospel accounts record various occasions when
Jesus Himself withdrew to places of solitude to
spend time with His Father: Once, "very early in the
morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left
the house and went off to a solitary place, where he
prayed." Another time, "after he had dismissed the
crowd, he went up on a mountainside by himself to
pray. When evening came, he was there alone." Luke
writes that "Jesus often withdrew to lonely places
and prayed." If this was part of the rhythm of
Jesus' life, how much more do we need to build it in
to the rhythm of our lives too.
No Time
Are we willing to invest time in our relationship
with God? Western ideals-filled society is so
goal-oriented that we often find it hard enough for
us to invest adequate time in developing deep human
relationships, let alone in deepening our
relationship with God. It seems ridiculous that we
are so unwilling to invest more than an hour or so
each week in meeting with God. The trouble is that
giving time to just being with God, to just being in
His presence, is in conflict with the values of the
world we live in. Are we willing to 'waste time' in
this way?
Tough Decisions
We may need to make some tough decisions to do this.
Spending time with God is important - indeed it's of
crucial importance to the way we live - but it never
seems urgent. As a result we find it easy to
postpone, delaying indefinitely until it never
happens. But, the window of opportunity is now:
"Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on Him
while He is near", says Isaiah. We need to "seize
the day" before the years pass away and God misses
out on the best part of our lives. Why let slip the
opportunity of having a close relationship with him
now? Most of us will need to plan in order to give
time to communion and fellowship with God. We need
to make practical decisions about how we use our
time. We should all arrange to have a regular
companionship with God.
We should have a similar attitude about meeting
regularly with God. It should be an unbreakable
appointment.
Forced Relationship
God is unlikely to force us to spend time with Him
(though sometimes He may let us go through a time of
illness or unemployment to help us see what is
important. Do we believe we're too busy to find time
for this? Our society seems to honour busyness, but
we need to decide whether we can afford not to plan
time alone with God into our timetable. Some of us
work long hours irrespective of any real need to do
so and many of us pursue unnecessary goals (perhaps
most obviously greater wealth and a higher 'standard
of living'). Probably all of us spend time on things
that are neither urgent nor important. How we spend
our time shows what we value. We can't do
everything. We have to choose. Are we choosing not
to spend time with God, in favour of other
activities? Or are we willing to sacrifice the
unimportant, saying "no" to some of the demands we
or others place on us, in order to give time to God?
How much is our relationship with God really worth
to us?
Practical Ways
What this means in practice will vary widely
according to our circumstances. For some, it may
just be necessary to enter unbreakable appointments
with God in a diary - and then keep those
appointments. For others, it may be right to give up
participation in Sunday outing in order to be able
to attend church regularly. Others may decide that a
change in employment is required. In pursuit of
intimacy with the Lord, are we willing to reject the
values of our culture? Are we willing to choose a
lower 'standard of living' in order to pursue the
higher 'quality of life' that we find as we live in
close communion with our loving heavenly Father?
Practical Conclusion
In addition to our regular daily and weekly times
spent with God, it is also good to plan some more
extended periods of time for the sole purpose of
deepening our relationship with our Father.
Structuring a short meditation on God every few
months is likely to be one of the most profitable
things we ever do. If we give a day or weekend
totally over to meeting with God, the benefits are
likely to far outweigh any 'sacrifice' we make. We
may feel we are too busy to do something like this,
but we have no problem finding time for holidays, or
to spend with family and friends, or for pursuing
our hobbies or making progress in our work. No, the
most difficult problem is not in finding time but in
deciding that it is important enough to find the
time. If we truly love the Lord with every part of
our being, it should be evident in our diaries and
calendars!
Time given to the Lord in prayer can be enormously
beneficial to ourselves as it impacts our health;
physical, psychological and spiritual. Let this be
our Gaudete, a rejoicing when we give our time to
the Lord who comes without delay.
He may find us waiting for him and we rejoice
because he comes with gifts of peace and joy to us.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
Calgary - Canada
1st Sunday of Advent : Year: B
Is 63.16b-17; 64.1, 3-8; Ps 79(80); 1 Cor 1.3-9; Mk
13.31-37
The Cow Tongue There once was a king who loved to eat. When the
castle cook grew too old to prepare the meals
anymore, the king looked for a new cook. A young man
applied for the job. The king said to him, "I want
you to cook me the best and most important dish in
the whole world."
The night the king sat down at the table. When he
looked at the special dish, he exclaimed, "Why,
that’s cow tongue!"
The young man answered, "Yes, it is. Nothing is more
important than the tongue if it is used correctly.
The tongue is used to teach, to explain, to command,
to defend, to calm. Tongues are used to sing to
babies and to make bargains. Tongue has to be the
most important thing for a king."
"I must say I didn’t realize that, young man. You’ve
opened my eyes. Therefore, tomorrow night, I want
you to fix me the worst dish you know."
The next night, the young man served the king cow
tongue. The king said, "What goes on here? Last
night, tongue was the best dish in the world.
Tonight it’s the worst. How can this be?"
"The difference is what you do with it, Sir," said
the young man. "Tongues make gossip, stir up
trouble, and tell lies. Tongues are cruel and
hypocritical. Therefore, tongue can be the worst
dish in the world."
"Yes, I see. I also see that I need your wisdom in
my court. I’ll get someone else to do the cooking."
Forgiveness
Vatican forgave John Lenon on 23rd November in 2009.
He is one of the members of the Beatles group. He
had claimed that the Beatles group was greater than
Jesus Christ. Now they have come to know that they
are aging and dying and cannot compare themselves
with Christ as they get less and less popular. Jesus
did not organize concerts; he was just like a man
like me and you. He came to save us all. Never did
he work for his own popularity.
Blameless Before God
Today's readings reveal to us that God is faithful,
His Word being unchanging. They teach us the end
result of righteousness. They tell us that although
we presently dwell in our present sinful physical
bodies that seek to oppose what is spiritual, we can
still be blameless before God on the day of our Lord
Jesus Christ. These are all very powerful statements
that deserve to be reviewed so that they may be
understood.
For those who turn their hearts away from the Lord,
God treats them as children, disciplining them as a
loving Father (Heb 12.8) Allowing all to enjoy their
free will, the Lord permits them for some time to
stray away from His ways, hardening their hearts so
that they do not fear Him.
Be Awake
Jesus asked his disciples to keep awake, in the
evening, or at midnight, or at the cockcrow, or at
dawn. By this, he meant to be spiritually active and
consistent. Do not take a break in your spiritual
lives to relapse into sin. For that sinful moment
may be the moment when you will be called and judged
according to the actions of your heart at the moment
of physical death.
Patience of God
When you buy a house on loan and have to make
monthly payments you are vigilant with patience.
What happens if you miss a monthly payment? You lose
your house! In his infinite grace, God patiently
awaits for all to live according to his Holy ways,
not suddenly calling everyone who misses on a
payment. If he did so, he would not have any
children left because we are all sinners, weak in
the human nature.
Be Conscious
Keeping awake, means we become conscious of
ourselves. We need from time to time remind
ourselves of the dangers that are around us. A lot
of things happen. Someone dies of road accident,
perhaps he/she never thought of it; someone
discovers that he/she has a serious illness on a
fine morning. Keeping awake in these times of
uncertainty is necessary so that we do not lose
ourselves in the valley of sadness.
Fearless Often when I hear talk about Christ's coming, it
is presented as though it is something to fear.
Images of death, guilt and sinfulness leading to the
awesome Judgement throne of a righteous God come to
our mind. Perhaps we very naturally think of it in
terms of the days of our life having come to an end
and the eternal night about to fall. But Paul's
image is reversed. It is not the day that is about
over - nor is it the darkness and evil of night that
approaches. Rather, it is the night that is about
over and the dawn will come with a glorious day
ahead. Are you sleeping yet? Wake up - walk with
Christ - for the glorious day of the Lord is coming.
He is Coming Soon
It reminds me of a favorite story: There was a young
deacon that had recently entered the ministry and
was trying hard to develop a style of preaching
without notes that he liked. He had worked hard on
preparing his Advent sermon and the time had come
for delivering it. But shortly after he began he
found that he had forgotten what he was planning to
say. He knew that the main point was to emphasis
that Christ was coming soon, so he decided that he
would just repeat that line in hopes that it would
stir his memory. So he said; “He is coming so.” But
it didn’t help - so he tried again; “He is coming
soon!!!” Nothing. So after a dramatic pause he tried
again - but this time he put his all into it,
slapping his hands down on the pulpit and really
leaning into it. “HE IS COMING SOON!!”
Unfortunately, the pulpit was old and a little weak
in some spots and it broke free and the deacon was
thrown forward into the front pew right into the lap
of one of the members sitting there. The deacon
picked himself up and apologized to the woman. But
she simply said: “Oh, it’s my own fault. I should
have moved back right away. After all you told us
three times that you were coming soon,”
Watching and Waiting in Daily Life
I guess for most of us there have been times in our
lives when we have wanted to stay awake all night.
It might be because we wanted to read or study,
maybe because we were excited about something
happening the next day or because we were on a long
journey and travelling at night was more convenient,
maybe because we had to work. Whatever the reason it
was sufficiently necessary or interesting to keep us
wake. Yet as the night drew on tiredness sets in and
often we awaken in the morning with a book fallen to
the floor or if driving need to pull over and sleep.
I have not worked at night very often but I found
the hardest time was 3-4 am when my eyes wanted to
close and concentration was at its worst.
Parable of 10 Virgins
We all remember the parable Jesus told about the 10
virgins, five of whom were wise and five who were
foolish. All of them fell asleep waiting for the
bridegroom to arrive. Though they all fell asleep
the wise had at least prepared for the bridegroom
coming, they had tried to remain alert and prepared
before sleep (or death) overwhelmed them.
Now our primary goal in life must be to keep our
eyes firmly fixed upon God’s Kingdom and the things
that we so dearly believe in. Indeed he shall very
soon come, as stated in the parable of the 10
virgins:
"Come out to meet him!”
Let us then daily fix our eyes upon his coming
Kingdom, for it will generate zeal to stay alert and
striving to develop a character pleasing to the Lord
Jesus. It has been a long night, the ‘bridegroom’
has tarried long and it is now almost dawn. It is
well worth just considering and meditating upon how
to remain awake. Our Master will come, our hope is
certain; as we read "Your eyes will see the King in
his beauty and view a land that stretches far"
Isaiah 33.17. At that time there will at last be
peace when the earth is ruled by a righteous King,
God's righteous and just law going forth from
Jerusalem.
Practical Conclusion
If you want to know what it means to be happy, look
at a flower, a bird, a child – they are perfect
images of the kingdom. For they live from moment to
moment in the eternal now; with no past and no
future. So they are spared the guilt and the anxiety
that so torment human beings and they are full of
the sheer joy of living, taking delight not so much
in persons or things as in life itself. As long as
your happiness is caused or sustained by something
or someone outside of you, you are still in the land
of the dead. The day you are happy for no reason
whatsoever, the day you find yourself taking delight
in everything and in nothing, you will know that you
have found the land of unending Joy called the
kingdom.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
Calgary - Canada
Christ the King : Year: A
Eze 34.11-12, 15-17; 1 Cor 15.20-26, 28; Mt 25.31-46
Who, who are you?
One stormy night many years ago an elderly couple
entered the lobby of a small hotel and asked for a
room. The clerk explained that because there were
three conventions in town, the hotel was filled. He
added, "But I can't send a nice couple like you out
in the rain at 1 o'clock in the morning. Would you
be willing to sleep in my room?" The couple
hesitated, but the clerk insisted. The next morning
when the man paid his bill, he told the clerk,
"You're the kind of manager who should be the boss
of the best hotel in the United States. Maybe
someday I'll build one for you." The clerk smiled,
amused by the older man's "little joke." A few years
passed. Then one day the clerk received a letter
from the elderly man recalling that stormy night and
asking him to come to New York for a visit. A
round-trip ticket was enclosed. When the clerk
arrived, his host took him to the corner of 5th
Avenue and 34th Street, where a grand new building
stood. "That," explained the elderly man, "is the
hotel I have just built for you to manage." "You
must be joking," the clerk said. "I most assuredly
am not," came the reply. "Who, who are you?"
stammered the clerk. The man answered, "My name is
William Waldorf Astor." That hotel was the original
Waldorf-Astoria, one of the most magnificent hotels
in New York. The young clerk who became its first
manager was George C. Boldt. The story reinforces
today’s gospel message: blessings come from prudent
action as the King of the Universe is going to
reward each one according to what we really deserve.
Gregory Peck
The famous actor Gregory Peck was once standing in
line with a friend, waiting for a table in a crowded
Los Angeles restaurant. They had been waiting for
some time, the diners seemed to be taking their time
eating and new tables weren't opening up very fast.
They weren't even that close to the front of the
line. Peck's friend became impatient, and he said to
Gregory Peck, "Why don't you tell the maitre d' who
you are?" Gregory Peck responded with great wisdom.
"No," he said, "if you have to tell them who you
are, then you aren't."
The Kings
The history of mankind has witnessed various types
of kings and rulers. There were rulers who involved
themselves in all types of corruptive and
destructive power of money, violence and lust, like
the Roman kings who destroyed nations and enjoyed
their life and lived lavishly. There were arrogant
and violent rulers who were sporting war, violence,
and hatred; for example Nero, Hitler, Idiamin and
many others. Today we speak and celebrate the
Kingship of Christ, who is the king of kings, but
with a difference. He came into this world, son of
God, made man, born of a woman, born poor, who came
to die and to give life. He said, “I have come to
give life, and life in abundance” (Jn 10.10). What a
paradox. I have come to give life – that means
sacrifice my own life – and give it to you – in
abundance.
Only this kingdom…
An old hermit was once invited to visit the court of
the most powerful king of those times.
• I envy such a saintly man, who is content with so
little - said the ruler.
• I envy Your Majesty, because you are content with
less than what I have - responded the hermit.
• How can you say such a thing, if this entire
country belongs to me? - said the offended king.
• For precisely that reason. I have the music of the
celestial spheres, I have the rivers and mountains
of the whole world, I have the moon and the sun,
because I have God in my soul. Your Majesty, on the
other hand, has only this kingdom.
The Ancestor’s Bones
There was a king of Spain who was very proud of his
ancestors, and who was known for his cruelty to the
weak.
One time, he was walking with his advisers across a
field in Aragon, where - years before - he had lost
his father during a battle, when he found a holy man
searching a large pile of bones.
What are you doing there? - asked the king. Honored greetings, Your Majesty - said the holy
man. - When I heard that the king of Spain was
coming this way, I resolved to recover the bones of
your late father and present them to you. But
however hard I search, I cannot find them. they are
exactly the same as the bones of country folk, the
poor, beggars and slaves.
Word Meaning
The name is found in various forms in scripture.
King Eternal (1 Tim 1.17), King of Israel (Jn 1.49),
King of the Jews (Mt 27.11), King of kings (1 Tim
6.15; Rev 19.16), King of the Ages (Rev 15.3) and
Ruler of the Kings of the Earth (Rev 1.5)
Those who fought against suppression of the Church
in the French Revolution have vehemently noted the
French words 'Dieu Le Roi' beneath the
heart-and-cross, meaning 'God (is) the king'.
The ideological movement of Christ's Kingship was
addressed in the encyclical Quas Primas of Pope Pius
XI, published in 1925, which has been called
"possibly one of the most misunderstood and ignored
encyclicals of all time". The Pontiff's encyclical
quotes with approval Cyril of Alexandria, noting
that Jesus' Kingship is not obtained by violence.
"'Christ,' he says, 'has dominion over all
creatures, a dominion not seized by violence nor
usurped, but his by essence and by nature.'"
Not Just Human Power Pope Benedict XVI has remarked, that Christ's
Kingship is not based on "human power" but on loving
and serving others. The prefect exemplar of that
acceptance, he pointed out, is the Virgin Mary. Her
humble and unconditional acceptance of God's will in
her life, the Pope noted, was the reason that "God
exalted her over all other creatures, and Christ
crowned her Queen of heaven and earth.
On this Sunday which closes the liturgical year, the
Church celebrates the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus
Christ, King of the Universe. In the Gospel we
listened to Pontius Pilate's question to Jesus. "Are
you the King of the Jews?" (Jn 18.33). Jesus replies
by asking in turn. "Do you say this of your own
accord, or did others say it to you about me?" (Jn
18.34). And Pilate answers. "Am I a Jew? Your own
nation and the chief priests have handed you over to
me; what have you done?" (Jn 18.35).
Not of this World At this point in the dialogue, Christ states.
"My kingship is not of this world; if my kingship
were of this world, my servants would fight, that I
might not be handed over to the Jews; but my
kingship is not from the world" (Jn 18.36).
Everything is clear and transparent now. Faced with
the priests' accusation, Jesus reveals that his is
another kind of kingship, a divine and spiritual
kingship. Pilate asks for confirmation. "So you are
a king?" (Jn 18.37). At this point, excluding every
erroneous interpretation of his royal dignity, Jesus
indicates his true kingship. "I am a king. For this
I was born, and for this I have come into the world,
to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the
truth hears my voice" (Jn 18.37).
To the sheep, those who have persevered in their
living faith until the end, Jesus will say, come,
you that are blessed by My Father, inherit the
Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the
world. For when I was hungry, you gave Me food. When
I was thirsty, you gave Me something to drink. When
I was a stranger, you welcomed Me. When I was naked,
you gave Me clothing. When I was sick, you took care
of Me. When I was in prison, you visited Me. For as
you did it to one of the least of these brothers and
sisters of mine, you did it to Me.
To the goats on His left, He will say, you that are
accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire
0prepared for the devil and his angels. When I was
hungry, you did not feed Me. When I was thirsty, you
gave Me nothing to drink. Etc...
Today's Gospel echoes the eternal Divine love and
justice of our beloved King. He will show His
eternal love to those who have shown love in this
world. He will show His eternal justice against
those who have failed to live a righteous life.
Divine justice shall favour those who have been
persecuted because of their living faith in Christ.
He Made It
There was once a Catholic King’s son who went out
into the world, and he was full of thought and sad.
He looked at the sky, which was so beautifully pure
and blue, then he sighed, and said, how well must
all be with one up there in heaven. Then he saw a
poor gray-haired man who was coming along the road
towards him, and he spoke to him, and asked, how can
I get to heaven. The man answered, by poverty and
humility. Put on my ragged clothes, wander about the
world for seven years, and get to know what misery
is, take no money, but if you are hungry ask
compassionate hearts for a bit of bread. In this way
you will reach heaven.
Then the king’s son took off his magnificent coat,
and wore in its place the beggar’s garment, went out
into the wide world, and suffered great misery. He
took nothing but a little food, said nothing, but
prayed to the Lord to take him into his heaven. When
the seven years were over, he returned to his
father’s palace, but no one recognized him. He said
to the servants, go and tell my parents that I have
come back again. But the servants did not believe
it, and laughed and left him standing there. Then
said he, go and tell it to my brothers that they may
come down, for I should so like to see them again.
The servants would not do that either, but one of
them went, and told it to the king’s children, but
these did not believe it, and did not trouble
themselves about it. Then he wrote a letter to his
mother, and described to her all his misery, but he
did not say that he was her son. So out of pity, the
queen had a place under the stairs assigned to him,
and food taken to him daily by two servants. But one
of them was ill-natured and said, why should the
beggar have the good food, and kept it for himself,
or gave it to the dogs, and took the weak, emaciated
beggar nothing but water. The other, however, was
honest, and took the beggar what was sent to him. It
was little, but he could live on it for a while, and
all the time he was quite patient, but he grew
continually weaker. As his illness increased, he
desired to receive the last sacrament. When the mass
was being celebrated, all the bells in the town and
neighborhood began to ring of their own accord.
After mass the priest went to the poor man under the
stairs, and there he lay dead. In one hand he had a
rose, in the other a lily, and beside him was a
paper on which was written his history. All were
surprised at his courage. Well, he really was a
happy man. Being miserable, he had known the real
world. He was content, in spite of being poor and
miserable.
Yes, our King became poor, died a death of a
criminal on the Cross and redeemed us.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
Calgary - Canada
33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time : Year: A
Prov 31.10-13, 16-18, 20, 26, 28-31; 1 Thes 5.1-6;
Mt 24.36, 25.14-30
Freeing the Angel
One day the great Michelangelo attracted a crowd of
spectators as he worked. One child in particular was
fascinated by the sight of chips flying and the
sound of mallet on chisel. The master was shaping a
large block of white marble. Unable to contain her
curiosity, the little girl inquired, "What are you
making?" He replied, "There is an angel in there and
I must set it free."
The Last Good Morning
A talented young man by came in and wished all of us
“good morning” and went to sea shore for spending
time with his friends on a Sunday. Evening we
received a shocking news that he got drowned in the
sea and we could not digest this fact. We were all
thrown in the dark. The young man had to join a new
job after having finished his study just the
following Monday. All this changed the entire life
of the family. This incident has been the talk of
the town for at least year now (2008). Life is
precious and can never be substituted with anything
else.
She has Cancer
The man came in tears. I had never seen him weeping
ever. He was a jovial parishioner. He told me that
his wife has been diagnosed with cancer. He wept
saying that she has to undergo chemotherapy and he
was uncertain about her life. Yes, it is true what
Jesus said. 'About the day and hour of the coming of
the Son of Man, no one knows, neither the angels of
heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
Hence I invite you to reflect your present state of
your life, and deeply be thankful to God. Every
moment you live be deeply grateful to God that he
has been good to you. Your attitude is to add
flavour to your life, so that God be praised through
you.
Parable of the Talents
St. Matthew's Parable of the Talents, which is the
name given by most Christians to the story we have
just read, St. Matthew's Parable of the Talents is
actually only one of a collection of three stories
which our Lord taught on the subject of shrewd
stewardship. The third is the tale recorded by St.
Luke in chapter 16 of his Gospel that is known as
the Parable of the Crafty Steward or the Parable of
the Dishonest Manager or some similar wording of the
same theme.
Do your Business
The two stories of our dynamic duo, the second one
of which is also recorded by St. Luke in the 19th
chapter of his Gospel, are quite enough to keep us
occupied. This morning's reading is known as the
Parable of Talents. The story recorded by St. Luke
in chapter 19 is known as the Parable of the Ten
Talents. In St. Luke's story, if you will remember,
Jesus suggests not so much a landowner as a lord or
crown prince who has to leave his kingdom and travel
to a far country in order to be made king. Before he
leaves for his coronation, the lord calls 10 of his
slaves to him and gives each a mina, small fortune
with which each is told to "do business" for the
crown prince until he can himself return to them as
king. Each of the selected slaves takes his mina and
begins to deal with it. Meanwhile, however, many of
the other citizens and slaves of that land become
restive and begin to speak of rebellion against
their absent lord. They go so far, in fact, as to in
the end, actually plot out an insurrection.
When the King Returns
Well, of course, as we know, the lord does return
and he does return as king, fully empowered and
totally in command at last. Shortly thereafter, he
calls the 10 slaves and asks of each of them a
financial report about their success in using his
trusts. We are, interestingly enough, only told
about three of the reporting slaves. The other seven
simply disappear in the ensuing action. We are told
thus that the first slave reports to his master,
rather proudly in fact, that he has made 10
additional minas out of the one entrusted to him.
The king is deeply pleased, and as a reward, gives
the profitable slave lordship over 10 cities, one
city for each of the minas he has earned. The second
slave reports, with equal pride and identical
wording, that he had made five minas out of his one.
He, too, is praised by the king and given the
oversight of five cities, one for each of his earned
minas.
He buried the Talent
The third slave is the last from whom we hear, for
his story we are led to understand, is very sad
indeed. Like the fearful slave of today's Gospel,
this slave has also chosen to hide his mina away
where it will be safe from theft and from corrupt
usage until his master's return. He explains this
decision, as does our fearful servant in St.
Matthew, by saying, to quote one translation, "I was
afraid of you, for you're a tough man; you collect
what you didn't deposit and reap what you didn't
sow." So far, our two stories are, in other words,
pretty parallel, having only minor differences but
the same point.
Lost Chance
But now the king of our second rendition responds to
the overly fastidious and fearful slave rather
differently and far more clearly and emphatically
than does the landowner in St. Matthew's telling of
the story. The king says, "I will judge you by what
you have said, you evil slave! If you knew I was a
tough man, collecting what I didn't deposit and
reaping what I had not sown, why didn't you put my
money in the bank? And when I returned, I would have
collected it with interest." And then the king said
to those standing nearby, "Take the mina away from
him and give it to the one who has 10 minas."
Unjust Treatment
Understandably, here, as in the story of the talents
itself, those who are standing there and hearing
this judgment are outraged. Being moral subjects,
they protest that giving another mina to a man who
already had 10 is unfair - pretty much the same
accusation against the king that the fearful slave
had already made to his own undoing, but moral
insurrectionists apparently learn very slowly. So
the king turns to the protesters and delivers one of
the most frequently quoted lines of Christian
scripture. He says, "I tell you that to everyone who
has, more will be given; and from the one who does
not have, even that which he does have will be taken
away." After that, the king summarily orders the
slaughtering in his presence of those who had
plotted his overthrow and the story is ended.
The End
If we never know what happened to the other slaves
in St. Luke's story, we also never know what exactly
happened to the fearful one beyond his being
stripped of his one mina. In St. Matthew's story, as
we have read, we find that the fastidious or anxious
servant, and not a group of insurrectionists, is the
one exiled to the outer darkness where there is
weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. Either
way, however, the question - the central, the
overriding, the compelling question still remains.
Reaping Without Sowing If we are to understand, as obviously we are,
that the Messiah is the king or lord or master in
both stories, and if Jesus who is telling the tale,
is Messiah, then what are we to make of these
pictures of himself and of his nature that he has
left us? What are we to make of a lord who rewards
one of our own kind for using the ways of the world
to enrich the king upon his return? More to the
point, what are we to make of a lord who condemns,
exiles, strips bare one of our own kind, for
electing to not use the ways of the world to enrich
the king upon his return? Usury, which is the word
to translate what our more cautious, more socially
correct contemporary translations refer to as
"bearing interest," usury was and is a sin in
Judaism, and in a lot of other places as well. And
nowhere do nice people ever go around reaping crops
they didn't sow? What's happening here?
Breaking Traditions
Well, for one thing, if we are honest with our
texts, we have to say that the nature of sin and
spiritual error is being defined in a very
uncomfortable, unconventional, and un-codified way.
If we are honest, we would also have to say that it
is being defined in much the same way that Jesus was
given to defining it during his teaching life. To
the ongoing consternation of the religious, we know
he ate on the Sabbath from the grain he and his
disciples gathered along the roadside as they
walked. He refused to stone an adulteress, as the
law required, and then made it impossible for others
to do so. He talked in depth and publicly to a
Samaritan who, even more damning, was a Samaritan
woman. He sat at table with flagrant sinners
including tax collectors. Over and over again, by
act as well as word, he pushed against the moralist
and the derivative codes of religion, but never more
clearly and incontrovertibly than here in our three
parables.
The Total Fulfilment
Lest there might be any mistake in the minds of
those around him about the difference between Torah
- the law - and moralist and derivative codes, Jesus
very explicitly tells his students and through them,
us, that not one jot or little of the law as given
by God at Sinai will pass into inefficacy until the
kingdom itself comes. He says as well that anyone
who teaches or empowers another to break Torah would
be better off thrown into the sea with a millstone
tied around his or her neck than to do such a thing.
But he just as clearly defines Torah by saying that
all the Law and the prophets are summed up in this.
"You must love the Lord your God with all your heart
and all your mind and all your soul and your
neighbor as yourself...for in this all the law and
the prophets are indeed fulfilled."
We hear a great deal very frequently about Jesus'
summary of the law and the prophets, but almost
without exception, what we hear about is that second
part, the part about loving our neighbors as
ourselves. It is a good principle, a good summary of
the divine imperative, a good compass for
determining direction, but it is also only half of
the Messiah's whole summary. It is, to be precise,
the second half, the subordinate or secondary
position. Love your neighbor, in other words, while
it may be of great social good, is of no spiritual
or religious use without its other and primary
companion piece of "Love God with all your heart,
all your mind, and all your soul."
To know God, as the moral slave knew, is to be
afraid. To know God, really know God to the limits
of human observation, is to concede that he does
indeed make his rain to fall upon the just and the
unjust alike. To know God as far as observation will
take us is to acknowledge, as the fearful slave
acknowledged, that he's a tough man, playing by
rules we can easily question and often find
deplorable. Such knowledge would make almost any
thinking person afraid, and thus it was that the
unprofitable slave took up the shield of playing it
safe in order to hold his fear at bay.
But what of the profitable servants in both our
tales? Were they not also afraid? Of course they
were! Common sense alone teaches us that no slave is
without fear of the master. Moreover, the profitable
servants were clearly thinking and observant folk
who knew as surely as did the fearful one what was
the nature of the king. Why then did they not
likewise fall into heaps of terror, or at the very
least, into heaps of paralyzing anxiety?
It would seem from both our stories, that they loved
the master, the landowner, the king. Or if love be
too weak and abused a word nowadays to be applicable
here, and I suspect that the profitable servants
yearned toward the master. They positively glowed in
the light of him and his approval. They also yearned
so completely that they gambled with his goods in
pure blind faith that that was really what he meant
for them to do. They yearned so completely, in other
words, that they believed his intentions his spirit,
if you will - as they understood it, and they
gambled themselves on fulfilling it. They, in short,
loved the master with all their hearts and souls and
minds, for this is the first and great commandment,
and all the others are secondary unto it.
And the only proper response to such stories as
these, it seems to me, is to pray that God may give
each of us such grace and faithfulness in our times
as he gave to those faithful servants in their
storied ones.
Practical Conclusion
• There is no point in brooding over lost
opportunities
• Cash in on the present occasion and try to develop
your talents
• Try to offer the fruit of your wok to God, and God
alone
• This is the way you can pray and sanctify
everything you do
• Such attitude will lead you to be thankful and you
will be just before God.
• Try your best not to waste time and talents.
• Lost time will never be ours.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
Calgary - Canada
32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time : Year: A
Wis 6.12-16; 1 Thes 4.13-18; Mt 25.1-13
I Never Lived
A woman in the hospital was weeping after being told
she was terminally ill with cancer. When a friend
sought to console her she replied, "I'm not weeping
because I'm dying. I'm weeping because I never
lived." The awareness of limits and wasted time
means we can take up a conscious stance with regard
to our own inevitable mortality. It is this mature
insight that will protect us from slavishly
following what the culture wants us to do and
squandering our time in seeking the approval of
others by conforming to their rules and values.
The Second Coming
In Warren Wiersbe's Meet Yourself in the Psalms, he
tells about a frontier town where a horse bolted and
ran away with a wagon carrying a little boy. Seeing
the child in danger, a young man risked his life to
catch the horse and stop the wagon. The child who
was saved grew up to become a lawless man, and one
day he stood before a judge to be sentenced for a
serious crime. The prisoner recognized the judge as
the man who, years before had saved his life; so he
pled for mercy on the basis of that experience. But
the words from the bench silenced his plea: "Young
man, then I was your savior; today I am your judge,
and I must sentence you to be hanged." One day Jesus
Christ will say to rebellious sinners, "During that
long day of grace, I was the Savior, and I would
have forgiven you. But today I am your Judge. Depart
from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire!"
Intelligent Wood Chopper
One man challenged another to an all-day wood
chopping contest. The challenger worked very hard,
stopping only for a brief lunch break. The other man
had a leisurely lunch and took several breaks during
the day. At the end of the day, the challenger was
surprised and annoyed to find that the other fellow
had chopped substantially more wood than he had. "I
don't get it," he said. "Every time I checked, you
were taking a rest, yet you chopped more wood than I
did." "But you didn't notice," said the winning
woodsman, "that I was sharpening my ax when I sat
down to rest."
The Bridegrooms Arrival
There are a number of obscure aspects about
Matthew's story. The setting is the awaited arrival
of the bridegroom, but it is not certain whether he
is coming to meet his betrothed at her father's
house or, as is more likely, he is returning to his
own home with his bride (it is there the "wedding
banquet" will take place, 25.10). The bride is not
mentioned at all in the story (although a later
scribe added a reference to the bride in v. 1). From
what is known of first-century Palestinian marriage
customs, after the period of betrothal was completed
the groom would go to his bride's family home to
conclude the dowry arrangements and bring her to his
own house or that of his family where a celebration
would take place. Also uncertain is the role of the
ten "virgins" (the Greek refers to parthenoi;
translation "bridesmaids" is not literal and assumes
they are part of the bride's party). If the setting
is the groom's house, they may be associated with
his household or family. In any case, they are part
of the wedding celebration and are to meet the groom
with lighted lamps when he returns.
Different Attitudes
The parable wastes little time in illustrating the
different attitudes among the ten virgins-five are
"foolish" and five are "wise" (25.2). Matthew used
these identical labels to contrast the wise man who
built his home on rock and the foolish one who built
on sand at the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount
(7.24-27). In the parable of the virgins, the
contrasting reactions are the preparations each
group makes for the awaited return of the groom. The
foolish take no oil for their lamps while the wise
take flasks of oil with them. When the bridegroom is
delayed, all of the virgins become drowsy and fall
asleep. Suddenly at midnight the signal is given
that the groom is arriving and the procession is to
meet him. When the virgins begin to trim their oil
lamps (replacing the burned wicks and adding new
oil?), the foolish realize they have no more oil.
They ask the wise virgins for some, but they in turn
calculate that there is not enough for everyone.
Improbable as it may seem at midnight, the foolish
virgins must go off to try to purchase more oil for
their lamps.
The Final Arrival
Meanwhile the groom arrives and "those who were
ready" (see the same word used in 24:44, "you also
must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an
unexpected hour") entered into the wedding feast
(25.10). Then the door was "shut" so that no one
else could enter. The foolish virgins finally arrive
but they are too late. They cry out, "Lord, lord,
open to us" but the groom rebuffs their last-minute
pleas-"Truly . . . I do not know you" (25.11-12).
This exchange is nearly identical to the warnings of
Jesus at the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount.
Those who cry out "Lord, Lord" but fail to do the
will of God are rejected by Jesus ("I never knew
you; go away from me, you evildoers") and therefore
cannot "enter the kingdom of heaven" (see 7.21-23).
Keep Awake
Matthew drives home the lesson of the parable in its
concluding verse: "Keep awake [gregoreite; see the
same verb in 24.42, 43] therefore, for you know
neither the day nor the hour" (25.13). "Staying
awake" is used metaphorically for a stance of
thoughtful readiness in view of the certain but
unknown hour of the parousia. All of the virgins
"slept" (see 25.5), but the wise virgins had made
preparations to be ready no matter when the
bridegroom would arrive.
Who is the Bridegroom? How far to push the allegorical dimensions of
this parable have been debated, we are not pretty
sure. Matthew himself signals some key allegorical
features. The bridegroom is surely intended to
represent the Son of Man. The Hebrew Scriptures
refer to God as the bridegroom who takes away
Israel's barrenness and shame (see, e.g., Isa
54.1-8; Jer 31.32; Hos 2.1-20). In the New
Testament, the image takes on eschatological tones,
probably due to the motif of the end time as a
wedding feast (see Mark 2:19-20; John 3:29-30; and
the similar image of the community as the "bride" of
Christ: 2 Cor 11.2; Eph 5.21-33; Rev 19.7; 21.2, 9;
22.17).
The Parousia
That Matthew refers to the parousia of the Son of
Man is clear from the overall context of the
apocalyptic discourse where the parable functions as
one of several exhortations to readiness in view of
the parousia. Also, Matthew had already identified
Jesus as the "bridegroom" earlier in the Gospel in a
passage with strong eschatological tones (see 9.15).
In the parable of the wedding feast (22.1-10),
Matthew had also introduced wedding imagery as a way
of speaking of the judgment that would befall not
only those who violently rejected the original
invitation by the king, but even those invited later
who do not wear a wedding garment (22.11-14). In the
story of the virgins, the "delay" of the bridegroom
(25.5; see 24.48), the dramatic shout announcing his
sudden arrival (25.6; see 24.31), and the address
"Lord, lord" (25.11; see 7.21-23) all point to Jesus
as the triumphant Son of Man coming at the parousia.
Practical Conclusion
Wisdom is something we ‘choose’ like the five
bridesmaids did. Having chosen it wisdom becomes
second nature to us.
We can also reject it like the other five
bridesmaids did. And then we remain condemned to a
foolishness we ourselves cannot see.
I don't know if there really is a door but I do know
there really will be such a moment, such a moment of
truth; I pray that when it comes, we may all find
ourselves together in the wedding hall - for all
eternity.
Waiting for God is not laziness. Waiting for God is
not going to sleep. Waiting for God is not the
abandonment of effort. Waiting for God means, first,
activity under command; second, readiness for any
new command that may come; third, the ability to do
nothing until the command is given.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
Calgary - Canada
30th Sunday in Ordinary Time : Year: A
Ex 2.21-27; I Thes 1.5-10; Mt 22.39-40
Do you love me?
There is a very tender and moving scene in the play,
Fiddler On The Roof. Tevye and his wife Golda are
being forced to move from their home in Russia. One
day Tevye comes into the house and asks his wife,
"Golda, do you love me?" "Do I what?" "Do you love
me?" Golda looks at him and then responds. "Do I
love you? With our daughters getting married and
this trouble in the town, you're upset, you're worn
out, go inside, go lie down, maybe it's
indigestion." Tevye interrupts and asks the
question, "Golda, do you love me?" Golda sighs as
she looked at him and says, "Do I love you? For 25
years I've washed your clothes, cooked your meals,
cleaned your house, given you children, milked the
cows. After 25 years, why talk of love right now?"
Tevye answers by saying, "Golda, the first time I
met you was on our wedding day. I was scared, I was
shy, I was nervous." "So was I," said Golda. "But my
father and my mother said we'd learn to love each
other, and now I'm asking, "Golda, do you love me?"
"Do I love him?" Golda sighs. "For 25 years I've
lived with him, fought with him, 25 years my bed is
his! If that's not love, what is?" "Then you love
me?" Tevye asks. "I suppose I do!" she says. "And I
suppose I love you too!" he says. "It doesn't change
a thing, but after 25 years it's nice to know." "Do
you love me?".
Challenging Task In today’s Gospel, Jesus leaves us his classic
formulation of love, a teaching so simple that a
child could grasp it, and yet so challenging that
not even the saints quite live it. Christ clearly
distinguishes between love of God and love of
neighbor, calling love of God the first and greatest
commandment and love of neighbor the second. But
even though he distinguishes them in this way, Jesus
does not separate them. He instead insists that the
second is like the first, and uses the same Greek
word for both God-love and neighbor-love.
First God then Neighbor By ranking and relating God-love and neighbor-love
in this way, Jesus establishes an order of loves—a
hierarchy of first things and second things. There’s
a certain rule that applies to everything arranged
in this way, a rule that we’ll call the rule of
“second things.” The rule goes like this. whenever
we prefer the lower to the higher, the part to the
whole, and—in general—“second things” to “first
things”, we lose not only the first thing (which one
would expect), but we lose the second thing as well.
Priorities
Illustrations of this rule are everywhere. When we
put our job before our families, for instance, not
only do we hurt our relationship with our family,
but we also quickly lose the true pleasure of
working. Work uncoupled from community tends to
become compulsive rather than rewarding. The same
pattern holds for whole societies. The history of
the 20th Century has shown that whenever countries
violently suppress religion for the sake of human
freedom (as they did in the heyday of atheist
communism) the result was not only a forgetfulness
of God, but a loss of human freedom as well.
Whenever we put humanity before divinity, we get
neither right.
Family
Though this rule of “second things” holds quite
generally, it applies in a special way to Christian
marriage. For it is in this particular form of
neighbor-love—the love between husbands and
wives—that the second commandment is most “like” the
first. “Marriage based on exclusive and definitive
love,” writes Pope Benedict, “becomes the icon of
the relationship between God and his people and vice
versa. God’s way of loving becomes the measure of
human love” (DCE 11). Because marriage is called to
bear a special “likeness” to God’s love, our natural
human love requires a special form of assistance to
meet this standard. We need God to lend His own
strength to our love, the seed of which strength he
plants in every sacramental marriage.
Because of the special demands of marriage, putting
first things takes on special urgency here. When
husband and wife do not love each other for God’s
sake, even their love for each ends up stunted. Why?
We are made with an infinite longing, a yearning to
love perfectly and to be loved perfectly. But there
is no Mr. or Mrs. Perfect. No single person—no
matter how compatible according to eHarmony—can bear
the weight of our infinite expectations. After a
smooth beginning, marriages almost always pass
through a time of trial, even a phase of
disillusionment—a time when the other’s faults and
limitations become infuriating and when we realize,
moreover, that he or she is unlikely to change. It’s
then that the proverbial “seven-year itch” arises.
And it’s then that our love is either matures into
something deeper, or it dies.
Deeper Love
It is also then that we need to call upon the
reserves of a love deeper than our natural
affection. And our ability to tap into this
reservoir depends on the degree to which we have
cultivated friendship with God. Entering into
friendship—any friendship—increases our ability to
see things from that friend’s perspective, to
appreciate the things he/she appreciates and to
reject the things that he/she rejects. God’s
friendship is like this too. By entering into
friendship with Christ, then I “learn to look on
this other person not simply with my eyes and my
feelings, but from the perspective of Jesus Christ.
His friend is my friend”.
Prayer and the sacraments give us, little by little,
the ability to look at our husband or wife (or any
neighbor) through Christ’s eyes. We strengthen this
vision when we meditate on Christ in the Gospels,
when we receive him worthily in the Eucharist, and
when we accept his forgiveness in confession.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the Luther pastor killed for
resistance to the Nazi party, used to exhort the
couple in his wedding homilies, “Live in the
forgiveness of one another’s sins.” So essential.
But nearly impossible if we have not contemplated
Christ’s indulgence toward our own sins.
Practical Conclusion
As Christ sees it, friendship with God is that first
thing on which our love of neighbor depends. Hence,
taking a moderate time apart to cultivate our
friendship with God is not taking “quality time”
away from our spouses and our children and our
neighbors. It ensures instead that the time we spend
with them is “quality;” for prayer changes the
quality of our love, salting our love with divine
fire. Do I want to be a better husband, wife,
father, mother, and neighbor? I must put first
things first. I must love God more ardently–with my
whole heart, soul, mind and strength.
Remember that the persecution of Jesus and his
followers was championed by well-meaning religious
people motivated by what they believed to be zeal
and love for God. The same people asking about the
first commandment are the ones trying to entrap and
kill Jesus. They are so conscious about love of God.
Why then are they so insensitive when it comes to
love of neighbour? Saul who later became St Paul is
a good example of this kind of skewed religiosity.
Jesus prophesied that "an hour is coming when those
who kill you will think that by doing so they are
offering worship to God" (Jn 16.2).
The error of the Pharisees is still here with us.
There are still many Christians who try to separate
love of fellow human beings from love of God. Their
commitment to faith does not include commitment to
human rights and to justice and peace issues. We
shall do well to heed the message of Jesus in
today's gospel: that true love of God and true love
of neighbour are two sides of the same coin. Any
attempt to separate them is a falsification of the
message of Christ. "Those who say, 'I love God,' and
hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those
who do not love a brother or sister whom they have
seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen" (1 Jn
4.20).
Fr. Rudolf V. Dsouza OCD
Calgary - Canada
29th Sunday in Ordinary Time : Year: A
Is 45.1, 4-6; I Thes 1.1-5; Mt 22.15-21
Alexander’s giving The story is told that one day a beggar by the
roadside asked for alms from Alexander the Great as
he passed by. The man was poor and wretched and had
no claim upon the ruler, no right even to lift a
solicitous hand. Yet the Emperor threw him several
gold coins. A courtier was astonished at his
generosity and commented, "Sir, copper coins would
adequately meet a beggar's need. Why give him gold?"
Alexander responded in royal fashion, "Copper coins
would suit the beggar's need, but gold coins suit
Alexander's giving."
Five Bananas
I was having a wonderful time at the sea shore. The
ceaseless waves beating the shore and the freshness
of the surroundings just made me feel very happy and
relaxed. Just at that moment, there comes a toddler
with a sad face asking for alms. As usual I put my
hand into my pocket and wanted to give him any coin
I could get at that moment. Well, lucky I got 5
rupees coin to give. He was ecstatic and he ran
away. After about 10 minutes he appears again, in
his hands 5 bananas. He offered me one. I declined
to take any and said that all was his. Well, he sat
just there and started eating one after another.
Then I saw him eating even the soft inside skin of
the banana. I felt too sorry for him. I imagined
this lad must have been hungry for more than a day.
The Saviour Coin
Jesus asks to see a coin used to pay the tax, a
Roman denarius, which was imprinted with a bust of
Tiberius Caesar and bore the inscription in Latin,
"Tiberius Caesar, august son of the Divine High
Priest Augustus." Both the image of the emperor and
the inscription would be offensive to observant
Jews. Jesus turns the tables on the leaders by
asking them whose image and whose inscription is on
the coin. When they concede that both belong to the
emperor, Jesus renders his famous aphorism: "Give
therefore to the emperor the things that are the
emperor's, and to God the things that are God's." In
a single brilliant stroke Jesus silences his
enemies, and they go away amazed at his answer
(22.22). He answers their provocative question about
paying the tax with an oblique answer-if the coin
belongs to Caesar then it can be given to him. But
Jesus immediately lays alongside this concession
another more profound and more encompassing
requirement: "[Give] to God the things that are
God's." The comprehensive scope of "what belongs to
God" makes it not a parallel with the concession to
Caesar but a principle of commitment that moves far
beyond civic obligation and even overrides it. The
hostility of the leaders and their efforts to best
Jesus only serve, for Matthew's Gospel, as a foil to
highlight the wisdom and authority of Jesus the
Messiah.
Theology of Giving
Today giving has become difficult. We are living in
a society that eats our income systematically. Go to
malls and restaurants, and you come back empty.
Whatever you take with you is not enough for
yourself and your family. Difficult days are ahead
as we have just witnessed the markets meltdown.
Moreover, we hear families separated and people
depressed.
Give to God what belongs to Him
Then why Jesus says “give to God what belongs to
God”? Of course the Jewish authorities sought to
trap Jesus in a religious-state dispute over the
issue of taxes. The Jews resented their foreign
rulers and despised paying taxes to Cesar. They
posed a dilemma to test Jesus to see if he would
make a statement they could use against him. If
Jesus answered that it was lawful to pay taxes to a
pagan ruler, then he would lose credibility with the
Jewish populace who would regard him as a coward and
a friend of Cesar. If he said it was not lawful,
then the Pharisees would have grounds to report him
to the Roman authorities as a political
trouble-maker and have him arrested. Jesus avoided
their trap by confronting them with the image of a
coin. Coinage in the ancient world had significant
political power. Rulers issued coins with their own
image and inscription on them. In a certain sense
the coin was regarded as the personal property of
the ruler. Where the coin was valid the ruler held
political sway over the people. Since the Jews used
the Roman currency, Jesus explained that what
belonged to Caesar must be given to Caesar. This
story has another deeper meaning as well. We, too,
have been stamped with God’s image since we are
created in his own likeness (Gen 1.26-27). We
rightfully belong, not to ourselves, but to God who
created us and redeemed us in the precious blood of
his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ (see 1 Cor 6.19-20).
Paul the Apostle says that we are to present our
bodies as a living sacrifice to God (Rm 12.1).
Self-Giving
Give to God what belongs to God." We should first
give back to God our own selves upon which God's
image is engraved. We don't bring back to God "what
belongs to God" in a human being. Jesus went to the
cross to do that. "Give to God what belongs to God"
does not mean just lip service. Jesus spoke with the
full realization that he was casting his life away
so that humankind in sin would be pardoned for sin
and handed over into God's hands as His. In order to
bring that about, he had the conviction to sacrifice
himself. He had the full intention to pay the full
price. In fact, the Lord did pay the price. With his
own life! Therefore, the Bible says it like this to
us, "You are bought with a price." This is how it is
written, "You are bought with a price. Therefore,
show forth the glory of God by means of your bodies"
(I Cor 6.20).
The Pharisees and Herodians were the local
authorities who did not enjoy popular support in
Galilee. They had decided that it was time to kill
Jesus (Mt 12.14; Mk 3.6). Now, by order of the
priests and elders, they want to know whether Jesus
is in favor of or against paying tribute to the
Romans. A deliberate question, full of malice! Under
the guise of fidelity to the law of God, they seek
reasons for accusing him. If Jesus were to say: “You
must pay!” they would accuse him, together with the
people, of being a friend of the Romans. Were he to
say: “You must not pay!” they would accuse him,
together with the Roman authorities, of being a
subversive. A dead end!
Show me a coin
Jesus is aware of their hypocrisy. In his reply, he
wastes no time in useless discussion and goes
directly to the heart of the question: “Whose
portrait is this? Whose title?” They answer:
“Caesar’s!”
Jesus’ conclusion
Jesus then draws the conclusion: “Pay Caesar what
belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God!”.
In fact, they already acknowledged Caesar’s
authority. They already paid Caesar what belonged to
Caesar since they used his money to buy and sell and
even to pay the tribute to the Temple! Hence, the
question was useless. Why ask something whose answer
was clear in practice? They, who by their question
pretended to be servants of God, were in fact
forgetting the most important thing: they forgot to
give God what belongs to God! What mattered to Jesus
was that “they pay God what belongs to God”, that
is, they mislead the people that they had lead away
from God through their own fault, because through
their teachings they prevented people from entering
the Kingdom (Mt 23.13). Others say: “Pay God what
belongs to God”, that is, practise justice and
honesty according to the demands of the law of God,
because by your hypocrisy your are denying God what
is due to Him. The disciples must be aware of this!
Because it was the hypocrisy of these Pharisees and
Herodians that was blinding their eyes! (Mk 8.15).
Levies, tributes, taxes and tithes:
In Jesus’ time, the people of Palestine paid very
many levies, taxes, tributes, fines, contributions,
donations and tithes. Some scholars calculate that
half of a family’s income went to pay levies. Here
is a list that gives an idea of all that the people
paid in levies:
Direct Taxes
Levy on property (tributum soli). The taxation
officers of the government checked on properties,
production, the number of slaves and then fixed the
amount to be paid. Periodically, new taxation
amounts were set in accordance with census taken.
Levies on persons (tributum capitis). For the poor
without land. This included women and men between
the ages of 12 and 65 years. The levy on the
workforce was 20% of the income of every individual.
Indirect Taxes Golden crown: Originally this was a gift to
the emperor, but then became a compulsory levy. It
was paid on special occasions such as feasts or
visits of the emperor.
Salt levy: Salt was the emperor’s monopoly.
The tribute was paid on salt for commercial use. For
instance, salt used by fishermen to salt fish. That
is the origin of the word “salary”.
Levy on buying and selling: For each commercial
transaction there was a levy of 1%. It was the
taxation officers who collected this money. For
instance, to buy a slave they asked for 2%.
Levy on professional practice: For anything at all
one needed a permit. For instance, a shoemaker in
Palmira paid one denarius per month. One denarius
was equivalent to a day’s salary. Even prostitutes
had to pay their taxes.
Levy on the use of public utilities: Emperor
Vespasian introduced a levy on the use of public
baths in Rome. He used to say, “Money has no smell!”
Other Taxes Toll: This was a levy on the movement of
merchandise, collected by Publicans. Toll was paid
on the road. At certain points there were soldiers
who forced those who were reluctant to pay.
Forced labour: Everyone could be forced to
render some service to the State for five years,
without remuneration. This is why Simon was forced
to carry Jesus’ cross.
Special subsidy for the armed forces: People
were obliged to offer hospitality to soldiers.
People also had to pay a certain amount of money for
the nourishment and support of the troops.
Levy for the Temple and for Cult Shekalim: This was the levy for the upkeep of
the Temple.
Tithe: This was the levy for the upkeep of
the priests. “Tithe” means the tenth part!
First fruits: This was the levy for the upkeep of
the cult. That is, the first fruits of all land
products.
Practical Conclusion
We will listen to this message spoken to the Jews
and the people who have been bought with a price.
"Give to God what belongs to God." Therefore, what
we ought to do is to be God's own people by (his)
grace and to offer ourselves up to God. First, we
offer to God our bodies "as a holy living sacrifice
for God's pleasure," (Rm 12.1). That's (true)
worship from us (to Him). Everything we have comes
from God. Naked I came and naked shall I return,
blessed be the name of God (Job).
Fr.
Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
Calgary - Canada
28th Sunday in Ordinary Time : Year: A
Is 25.6-10a; Phil 4.12-14, 19-20; Mt 22.1-14
Lower your Bucket- Taste and See
More than a century ago, a great sailing ship was
stranded off the coast of South America. Week after
week the ship lay there in the still waters with not
a hint of a breeze. The captain was desperate; the
crew was dying of thirst. And then, on the far
horizon, a steamship appeared, heading directly
toward them. As it drew near, the captain called
out, "We need water! Give us water!" The steamship
replied, "Lower your buckets where you are." The
captain was furious at this cavalier response but
called out again, "Please, give us water." But the
steamer gave the same reply, "Lower your buckets
where you are!" And with that they sailed away! The
captain was beside himself with anger and despair,
and he went below. But a little later, when no one
was looking, a yeoman lowered a bucket into the sea
and then tasted what he brought up. It was perfectly
sweet, fresh water! For you see, the ship was just
out of sight of the mouth of the Amazon. And for all
those weeks they had been sitting right on top of
all the fresh water they needed! What we are really
seeking is already inside us, waiting to be
discovered, waiting to be embraced, the Holy Spirit
of God who has been living within us from the moment
of our Baptism. The Holy Spirit is saying to us at
this very moment, "Lower your buckets where you are.
Taste and see!" from deep in our heart. The Kingdom
of God is right there.
Conflict
Both this week and last week we heard Jesus reach
out to the religious leaders of his time with an
almost desperate voice, a desperate love. He saw
where they were headed (he sees where some of us are
headed). He knew how much they were entrenched in
their sin and he longed to call them to conversion.
He loved them (sometimes you yell the most at the
kid you love the most). Last week the religious
leaders of his time were represented as the
unfaithful tenants in God’s vineyard.
They were the ones who refused to listen to the
prophets and even killed the Son. This week the
religious leaders they were the invited guests to
the wedding banquet. It was the custom of the time
to send runners out with invitations informing the
invited that there would be a wedding feast soon and
to get prepared. When the meal was ready the runners
would return to bring back the guests.
Apocalyptic Language
The western Catholic Church Tradition is not an
apocalyptic tradition, but our prayers and scripture
texts still very often make use of apocalyptic
language (i.e., language describing the end of the
world as punishment for evil-doers and as a time of
vindication for committed Christians). Apocalyptic
language originally served the purpose of consoling
and encouraging ancient Jewish believers when the
Assyrian Empire laid siege to the northern Kingdom
of Israel in the late 8th Century BC. Apocalyptic
language was used again when the southern Kingdom of
Judah came under assault in the late 7th and early
6th Centuries by the Babylonian Empire of
Nebuchadnezzar II. Thereafter, major catastrophic
Jewish societal crises saw apocalyptic language come
into use by the likes of the prophets Jeremiah,
Ezekiel, 4th Isaiah, and Daniel. Sometimes the
apocalyptic voice announced good news and hope.
Today’s text is just such a hope-filled passage,
from what is called the Apocalypse of (4th) Isaiah
which is likely a 5th or 4th Century BC insertion
into 1st Isaiah’s work, appearing as chapter 25.
This text was written during the Persian era (539 to
325 BC). The prophet used the image of Mount Zion,
on which Jerusalem rests and which served as the
Jewish centre of the world. The top of Mount Zion
was also therefore the vantage point from which to
see through “the web that is woven over all
nations,” i.e., to spiritually and metaphorically
“see past” human death to a consoling afterlife.
This passage is among the earliest of Old Testament
texts which hint at or even assert that there is
life after earthly death. Never before had that
belief been an important theme for ancient Judaism.
Abraham, Moses, David, Elijah and not even 1st
Isaiah had proposed an afterlife as an important
component or motivating factor of faith in the God
of Israel.
After Life
Indeed, we might have expected Moses to have
mentioned such belief since he was born in Egypt and
raised in the very household of a pharaoh. The
Egyptian culture believed strongly in the idea of an
afterlife as is evidenced by the pyramids and other
tomb structures and their associated inscriptions,
art, and artefacts. But, Judaism seems to have taken
no notice until this 4th contributor to Isaiah
(hence, our name for this anonymous hand, “4th
Isaiah”). This text is a frequently chosen Old
Testament text at Catholic funeral liturgies. It is
the most primitive ancestor of theological
speculation which eventually articulated faith in
what Jesus labelled “the Kingdom of God,” in
“resurrection from the dead,” and in “everlasting
life.” This is a profoundly important message which
was a significant theological platform for the very
Gospel Message announced by Jesus of Nazareth. It
would be, after all, in Jerusalem and on that very
Mount Zion, that Jesus would suffer, die, and rise,
thereby introducing a new, improved and expanded
covenant to succeed that of Moses. And, this new
covenant would be made open to all peoples and to
all nations. This new covenant would come to be an
offer of universal salvation, wisdom, justice, and
peace. Even death would not impede this salvation.
Death would be destroyed and reduced to a merely
ordinary place in the process of life; it would no
longer be seen to be the permanent end or
annihilation of life.
The Kingdom of God
The early Christians embraced the hope of the Gospel
Message most firmly and transmitted that hope by use
of Jesus’ metaphorical images of “the kingdom of
God.” The mystery of God’s Kingdom as proclaimed by
Jesus in the Gospel texts was always described
metaphorically precisely because it described a
Mysterious Reality, beyond the comprehension of the
human mind. Today’s Gospel parable is a kingdom
parable. It asserts for those who claim to have
faith in the God of Israel that their cooperation
with that kingdom is important. They must behave
appropriately as citizens of Heaven already, here
and now in this life. It was to the chief priests
and elders that Jesus addressed this parable. They
were the noble citizens of Judaism of the early 1st
Christian Century, and the others in Judaism assumed
that they knew how to effectively cooperate with
God. The parable hints, however, that merely the
status of being invited and even admitted (admitted
in and dressed up in a wedding garment) is not the
same as full, conscious, and active participation.
Being there is insufficient.
Jesus’ different View
Engaging the mystery of God’s Kingdom is much more
important however imperfectly because remember
Jesus’ references to the fact that “prostitutes and
tax collectors” enter God’s Kingdom ahead of the
Jewish leaders!). Perhaps we must reconsider with
some self-criticism how easily we Christian
believers can become passive and merely status
conscious, while at the same time effectively
“opting out” of active and committed Christian
fellowship and life.
Our Participation
The cultural Catholics who (passively!) attend Mass
only on Christmas and Easter, or even those who
attend more frequently out of fear of the punishment
of “mortal sin for missing Mass” – these indeed
manage to take up space in the liturgical assembly
without actively belonging. The parable used the
metaphor of donning a wedding garment for the idea
of participation in the feast. I hesitate to make
passivity of membership a sufficient cause for
eternal exclusion from God’s Kingdom (which, indeed,
some in the Church have sometimes asserted!), but I
will put forth that those who attend Mass for merely
cultural reasons, or out of fear, genuinely miss the
point of the very Gospel of Christ and of the
profound wisdom, peace, fellowship, joy, and justice
that comes to the committed, intelligent, and
balanced participating Christian.
In our Times
Even in the modern society in which we live, in
which so much is mere superficiality, people still
like “dressing up” for occasions like weddings. They
attend the wedding joyfully and enthusiastically
partly because they understand something of what a
wedding is about. Thus, might it be at Sunday
liturgy. People would be there more appropriately if
they genuinely understood that this was the weekly
Gospel thanksgiving feast at which the baptized
fellowship, hear God’s Word boldly and powerfully
proclaimed, by which they are edified, and through
which they give thanks to God for life, love, and
faith. It is fully a festival occasion which ought
to draw in, lift up, console, and challenge all who
claim Christ and his Gospel!
We hear today for the final time from the imprisoned
St. Paul in his message to the Philippians. He
expressed his gratitude to them for the kindnesses
they had shown him. He placed their kindness in the
larger context of his life which had included
everything from great blessings to great burdens. It
was just such an attitude of gratitude that allowed
his Gospel conviction and confidence that God’s
Grace supplied a sufficiency for all believers in
all circumstances. Paul had embraced the Cross of
Christ, which became in early Christianity a
metaphor for embracing reality in the fullest, most
intelligent, and most prayerful manner. Paul had
even been thankful for the sufferings that had come
his way in life. His gratitude was without bounds.
Practical Conclusion
With hope in life even beyond human death, and with
the knowledge that we too have indeed been invited
and called to God’s Kingdom. If this is the case can
we not make gratitude and kindness to God and to
each other the public and private hallmark of our
Gospel lives?! We are invited every day to live in
God’s Kingdom because every day offers us many
opportunities to experience God in His Kingdom here
on earth. The Kingdom is right here. Just lower the
buckets of our soul and tasted it. It does not cost
us much. Just open our hearts to God’s grace and we
are in His Kingdom enjoying the fruits of the Holy
Spirit.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
27th Sunday in Ordinary Time : Year: A
Is 5.1-7; Phil 4.6-9; Mt 21.33-43
The Lighthouse
A guard in charge of a lighthouse along a dangerous
coast was given enough oil for one month and told to
keep the light burning every night. One day a woman
asked for oil so that her children could stay warm.
Then a farmer came. His son needed oil for a lamp so
he could read. Another needed some for an engine.
The guard saw each as a worthy request and gave some
oil to satisfy all. By the end of the month, the
tank in the lighthouse was dry. That night the
beacon was dark and three ships crashed on the
rocks. More than one hundred lives were lost. The
lighthouse attendant explained what he had done and
why. But the prosecutor replied, “You were given
only one task. to keep the light burning. Every
other thing was secondary. You have no excuse.”
It’s a Choice
Temptation is a choice between good and evil. But
perhaps more insidious than temptation is conflict
where one must choose between two good options. The
lighthouse keeper in our story found himself in such
a conflict situation. So also are the would-be
disciples in today’s gospel story. In such cases the
good easily becomes the enemy of the best One must
then say no to a good thing in order to say yes to
the one thing necessary. Today’s gospel is a
sequence of four incidents and encounters with
people who could have become followers of Jesus but
who were held back by ulterior concerns and motives.
Each encounter highlights a different concern.
God’s Vine
If you were a first-century Jew and heard for the
first time that Jesus was the true vine and his
people were the branches (Jn 15.1, 5), you would
have mixed emotions. On one hand, we would be quite
familiar with the idea of comparing people to vines
and vineyards. Grapevines were a familiar sight in
Palestine. The Bible, the Old Testament, frequently
refers to Israel as being a vine that God planted.
We may have recited Psalm 80 in your morning
prayers. In verses 8-9 the Psalmist says to God,
"You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the
nations and planted it. You cleared the ground for
it; it took deep root and filled the land." We would
know how God brought Israel out of Egypt and planted
it in the promised land.
We have read the words of the Hebrew prophets who
likened Israel to a vine or vineyard. You would
recall the words of Hosea who said that "Israel was
a luxuriant vine that yields its fruit" (10.1).
Hosea meant that Israel increased in prosperity. But
he went on to say that Israel's prosperity
unfortunately led to increased idolatry. "The more
his fruit increased the more altars he built."
We may have chanted these words of Isaiah. " . . .
my beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill …
He expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild
grapes" (5.1-2). No doubt, we were haunted time and
again with the words of God spoken to his people
through Jeremiah. "I planted you as a choice vine,
from the purest stock. How then did you turn
degenerate and become a wild vine?" (2.21). That
would have reminded us of Ezekiel's chilling words
spoken against Judah. "Therefore thus says the Lord
God. Like the wood of the vine among the trees of
the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel,
so I will give up the inhabitants of Jerusalem"
(15.6).
Vine and Vineyard As a first-century Jew we would be very familiar
with the symbolic meaning of vine and vineyard. In
fact, the idea was so prevalent in the first century
that in one of his parables Jesus expressly made use
of the vineyard motif as symbolism for Israel (Mk
12.1-12). Jesus concluded the parable by saying that
the owner will destroy the tenants and give the
vineyard to others. In response to the parable, the
religious leaders wanted to arrest Jesus because
"they realized that he had told this parable against
them." The symbolism of vineyard was not lost on
them.
When Jesus began to tell the parable that is the
gospel of today he began with an image familiar to
his listeners - including you and me. This image is
the vineyard, and the word 'vineyard' usually
symbolizes some kind of spiritual good.
But now Jesus took this image, surely dear to the
hearts of the Galileans who listened, and turned it
on sort of upside down. We know, it's not unusual
for Jesus to take a word or an image associated with
the holy and turn it around and associate it with
the dark. He did it in the Parable of the Leaven for
example.
Community vs Collection of People
As I understand this parable, it is Jesus'
commentary about groups and about what happens when
there was no real community, only collections of
people, none of whom understands or cares about
other each other. We have come thousands of years
since Jesus told this parable, and in some ways we
have made wonderful progress in community building -
even our nation is one example, another our own
Journeying Community. There have also been disasters
too. Is this the way to fulfillment?
The Parable and its Plot
A landowner goes to a distant country and there he
establishes a vineyard in imagination it is in
Galilee and he rents or leases the vineyard to local
people and agrees to accept a portion of the produce
as payment. He then returns home probably some
cosmopolitan city such as Caesarea Philippi, Jaffa
or Jerusalem. Time passes; the harvest season comes
and goes and so does the time when he is supposed to
receive his payment. The grapes that the vineyard
produced he might now be willing to accept as
raisins, but he receives nothing. He is troubled,
downright angry. He expects his payment when it is
due, and nothing arrives, not even an explanation.
There is a total lack of moral involvement here; the
landlord buys, leaves, and waits for his money. He
is totally indifferent to what is happening back at
"the farm." He probably lives like a king many miles
away. The lives of the tenants are as nothing to
him. He could be like present day C.E.O.; and
millions of stock holders who have no clear idea to
what use their investment are used.
The Rent Squad
This landlord sends his slaves, emissaries or the
Rent Squad, as you will. A party of three goes to
the vineyard, and being completely unprepared for a
violent encounter, they suffer greatly. One is
knocked in the head with a rock, another is beat up
and a third one is actually killed. We can only
guess at what the landowner makes of this situation.
Perhaps he does not even know what has become of his
rent collectors, so he sends a second deputation
consisting this time of a more than three persons, a
cadre now but they receive a similar rough reception
of beatings and a killings; but still no rent. In
this parable, there are potentially three
communities. tenants, rent collectors, and
landlords; they are totally separate from one
another.
Community requires shared beliefs, and in this
parable there are none. We could hear in this
details the present day situation among Israelis -
Palestinians; we hear Indians and our neighbours,
Pakistanis. Enmity that never found a soothing
relief.
He sends his Son
Eventually the owner in a truly idiotic fashion
sends his own son who is, the owner thinks, able to
protect himself by his status in society alone so it
seems. When he shows up, the tenants perhaps
miscalculate and presume that the owner is dead. So,
believing the son to be the sole surviving heir,
they kill him in the expectation of acquiring the
vineyard for themselves. The plan is absurd and
illegal, just as it would be today, but they are
driven by their otherwise hopeless economic
situation.
These tenants, probably decent, honest people in the
beginning, have now become truly a dangerous band,
and now they have gone beyond the law and are
criminals. The reason is the desperate need for
money to survive. Under these circumstances, their
behavior is not surprising.
The Land is leased
One verse in Matthew 21.33 is very important. It
says that the landowner leased the land to the
tenants. It does not say that He gave it to them. He
leased it. When something is leased, something is
expected in return. Equally, those who qualify to
become the children of God, are expected to become
shining lights (Mt 4.16) in the world. They are
expected to shine in the love of Christ towards all.
They are expected to grow in the fruit of the Holy
Spirit. These spiritual qualities are what the
Heavenly Father expects His children to present to
Him in return for His blessings in acknowledgement
and appreciation of the gift of life that God has
given them through the Blood of Christ.
Think about it this way for a moment. We are all
tenants on borrowed land; none of us owns the earth.
Do we care for this piece of 'land' we've been
given? We are also landlords and might lord it over
others. We need to see how we treat those who share
the earth with us.
End of Tenants
Now near the end of the parable, Jesus asks "...
when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he
do to those tenants?" And the answer is that the
owner will put those wretches to a miserable death
and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will
give him his produce at the harvest time.
Tenants such as these become hard strapped for cash
and simply try various strategies to avoid paying to
the landlord fees or rent or a portion of the
produce. The story is about to repeat itself until
some saving insight develops on all sides. Half of
the world's population lives even today on less than
$ 3 a day! And a billion go to bed hungry every
night.
Jesus' parable is provoking; it is a strong warning
about the consequences of groups estranged from one
another. In it, all are 'foreigners' to one another;
nothing is in harmony; the world is out of order,
and it was against that state of things that Jesus
social teachings were directed.
Practical Conclusion By way of contrast to so such negativity, the
parable implies that we are the tenants of the new
land where we are called by Jesus. We both cultivate
and receive cultivation. We have been given a
treasure within us and around us and asked to take
good care of both.
Well then having spent these minutes dwelling with
such awful disorder, shall we close with what are
more happy, consoling words, lines from another
source - from one who was a worker in the vineyard
of the Lord; he truly was a worker, a true tenant.
Fr.
Rudolf V. D’Souza
26th Sunday in Ordinary Time : Year: A
Eze 18.1-4,25-32; Phil 2.1-11; Mt 21.28-32
Get yourself a Rifle and Fight
We have not been called to be pious saints sitting
in the corner with hands folded in complacent
contemplation. We are called to be soldiers in the
army of Christ.
During the Revolutionary War a young man is reported
to have come to George Washington and said: "General
Washington, I want you to know that I believe in you
and your cause. I fully support you." Washington
graciously thanked him and asked the young man,
"What regiment are you in? Under whose command do
you serve? What uniform do you wear?" The young man
answered, "Oh, I'm not in the army. I'm just a
civilian." The general replied, "Young man, if you
believe in me and my causes then you join the army.
You put on a uniform. You get yourself a rifle and
you fight."
That is Christ's summons to us. If we believe in him
and the cause for which he died, then we are called
to take up his cross and walk in his footsteps doing
those good things that he would do if he were with
us in the flesh today.
No one will steal Harry
A group of friends went deer hunting and paired off
in twos for the day. That night one of the hunters
returned alone, staggering under an eight-point
buck.
"Where's Harry?" he was asked.
"Harry had a stroke of some kind. He's a couple of
miles back up the trail."
"You left Harry laying there, and carried the deer
back?"
"Well," said the hunter, "I figured no one was going
to steal Harry."
First Catch the Rabbit
Haddon Robinson points out that one old recipe for
rabbit started out with this injunction: "First
catch the rabbit." Says Robinson: "The writer knew
how to put first things first. That's what we do
when we establish priorities - we put the things
that should be in first place in their proper order.
The Gospel of today speaks of doing God’s will and
not just having an intention. That means we need to
put first things first; what is first in our life?
It is of course God’s will. How does that will of
God manifest in our daily lives? It is through
surrendering to God’s will again.
They failed to Keep God’s Law
Ezekiel, for his part, relayed this message from God
to the Jewish exiles in Babylon, many of whom had
come from the royal, priestly and wealthy families.
Only a few years before Jerusalem's destruction,
King Josiah had urged them to devote themselves anew
to following the Mosaic Law. But their capital and
Solomon's Temple were both gone. Surely they thought
God had unfairly punished them, they whined – for
hadn't they done what had been asked of them?
Not exactly, Ezekiel replied. What Jesus said of
first-century Jews also had been spoken by Isaiah
about their immediate pre-exilic ancestors. “These
people honor Me with their lips but their hearts are
far from me” (Isa 29.13, Mk 7.6). When we exalt
ourselves for this or that good deed or pious act,
we risk developing the pride that can in fact turn
us away from our fellow human beings. Such pride can
lead us far away from God – farther away, in fact,
than those who had the most sordid record of sin but
have turned to God and turned their lives around. If
they stay the course but the self-righteous remain
blind to their own sins, who in the end will enter
through Christ's narrow gate?
Be sure of My faithfulness, God says. But only those
who fully realize that they don't deserve to enter
heaven are most ready to trust in Me. And that is
why the gate is narrow. Those who puff themselves up
have a hard time getting through indeed.
He Humbled Himself Now St. Paul enters our discussion. What proof
do believers need that God wishes our attitude to be
the opposite of pride? Look at “God-with-us”
himself. Adam and Eve, giving in to the pride urged
upon them by the serpent, literally tried to grasp
equality with God in the Garden of Eden. But if
anyone born of woman ever had the right to that
equality, it was Jesus Christ – and, of course, He
already possessed it as the Second Person of the
Blessed Trinity!
Instead, our Lord did the exact opposite. He who
could have called for our absolute service at any
moment on earth instead humbled Himself, served us
and sacrificed Himself all the way to the cross. If
God would so humble Himself for the sake of us lost
and condemned humans, how can any of us ever be so
proud as to think we deserve heaven?
Sacrifice for one another
With that in mind, Paul says, let us love each other
as brothers and sisters (filios) and empty ourselves
in self-sacrifice for each other (agape). Let us
never think we are better than our neighbor. We are
all lost and helpless before God – we all share the
same sure and certain hope of heaven that He made
possible for us. Only by living as Christ lived
among us can we be exalted as He was.
The Two Sons
This brief parable is a favorite in children's
religious-education classes, whether Catholic or
Protestant. But we adults can fail to recognize
ourselves in the vineyard. Do we obey our heavenly
Father when we fail to follow through in answering
His call? If we go to church, go through the motions
and say the right things yet ignore our neighbor and
serve ourselves first, how can we be sure of
entering heaven before – or even after – those who
wander for years but come to their senses and come
back to Him in time?
The Warning
Jesus, who spoke this parable during Holy Week, was
warning the Jewish leaders that they had fallen into
the trap of pride. Like their ancestors in Ezekiel's
time, they had forgotten that they were nothing
without the God who had chosen them. John the
Baptist, even as he announced the coming of the
Messiah, had warned them that they had to repent.
But now the Messiah had come and in fact was
speaking to them – and still they allowed their
pride to rule their hearts. Still they assumed that
they had earned their way to heaven and those
downtrodden wretches were doomed.
For God no one is far away
Guess what, Jesus is telling them – and us. Those
“downtrodden wretches” are turning to Me! They are
heeding their heavenly Father's call to work in his
vineyard, tardy though they may be. They are
humbling themselves. They recognize what you fail to
recognize – that no human being born with Original
Sin can ever hope to enter the narrow gate on his or
her own. John tried to tell you.
For God it is never too Late
Now I'm telling you. It's not too late. But don't
let your time run out. Humble yourselves. Learn from
Me – and come to Me. Don't wait too long and find
the gate closed forever.
Practical Conclusion No matter how spiritual we may seem to be, if we
are not sensitive to the needs of persons around us
we are no better than the rich man at whose gate sat
the beggar Lazarus. This is what St. Paul meant when
he said, "If I have prophetic powers, and understand
all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all
faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love,
I am nothing..." (I Cor 13.2) My guess is that St.
Paul knew Christians who were so spiritual and yet
so insensitive to the needs of others.
There is a story that comes out of the Second World
War that will haunt you if you think about it. It is
about a little Jewish boy who was living in a small
Polish village when he and all the other Jews in the
vicinity were rounded up by Nazi troops and
sentenced to death. This boy joined his neighbors in
digging a shallow ditch for their own graves. Then
they were lined up against a wall and machine
gunned. But none of the bullets hit the little boy.
His naked body was splattered with the blood of his
parents, and as he fell into the ditch he pretended
to be dead. The grave was so shallow that the thin
covering of dirt did not prevent him from breathing.
Several hours later, when darkness fell, this 10
year old boy crawled out of his grave. With blood
and dirt caked to his little body, he made his way
to the nearest home and begged for help. A woman
answered the door and immediately recognized him as
one of the Jewish boys marked for death by the
Nazis. So she screamed at him to go away and slammed
the door. Dirty, bloody, and shivering, this little
boy limped from one house to the next begging for
help. But he always got the same response. People
were afraid to help.
Finally in desperation, he knocked on a door, and
just before the lady of the house could tell him to
leave, he cried out, "Don't you recognize me? I am
the Jesus you say you love?" The lady froze in her
tracks for what seemed like an eternity to the
little boy. Then with tears streaming down her face
she threw open her arms. She picked up the boy, and
took him inside to safety.
Sometimes we need to be reminded that when we do it
unto the least of these, we do it unto Him.
Christian Discipleship is a call to availability. It
is also a call to sensitivity.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
25th Sunday in Ordinary Time : Year: A
Is 55.6-9; Phil 1.20-24, 27; Mt 20.1-16
The Law of the Seed
Take a look at an apple tree. There might be five
hundred apples on the tree, each with ten seeds.
That's a lot of seeds. We might ask, "Why would you
need so many seeds to grow just a few more trees?"
Nature has something to teach us here. It's telling
us. "Most seeds never grow. So if you really want to
make something happen, you should better try more
than once."
This might mean. • You'll attend twenty interviews to get one
job.
• You'll interview forty people to find one good
employee.
• You'll talk to fifty people to sell one house,
car, vacuum cleaner, insurance policy, or idea.
• And you might meet a hundred acquaintances to find
one special friend.
When we understand the 'Law of the Seed', we don't
get so disappointed. We stop feeling like victims.
Laws of nature are not things to take personally. We
just need to understand them - and work with them.
Successful people fail more often. They plant more
seeds.
Is God Unjust? Has God been unjust to us? To me? To my family?
To my Country? To my community? These questions
cannot be answered. But God’s grace is really great.
It comes to us without any of our merits. Whatever
we have today has been a gift of God’s grace.
That’s what the parable of the laborers in the
vineyard is really about. God’s grace comes to
different people at different times and in different
ways. And that includes everyone here. Perhaps some
of us may feel that we have not been the persons we
could and should be. Maybe we are correct. But we
haven’t missed our opportunity for salvation. God’s
grace is amazing. There is still time for him to
radically change our lives. The landowner has
"hired" (misthoomai) the workers (ergates), which
implies an offer to pay (misthos) them for their
work. In contrast, Mt 21.28 has a father telling his
son, "Go and work (ergazomai) in the vineyard
today," which may not involve payment for work done.
An Agreement
"What do you pay your volunteers?" is a question
raised by experts in volunteerism. We don't pay them
with money, but what kind of recognition, self-fulfillment,
joy, sense of accomplishment, etc. do they receive
for their work? An agreement (symphoneo) is reached
between the landowner and the first workers. (Symphoneo
was used in 18.19: "if two of you agree on earth
about anything you ask, it will be done for you by
my Father in heaven.") A denarius for a day’s work
does not indicate a generous landowner. It was the
minimum wage a family in poverty could exist on.
This agreement speaks against interpreting this
parable primarily as an illustration of God's
generosity. The wages aren't that great. The workers
have barely enough to live on. They remain in
poverty, but their needs for this day will be met.
Thus it may be better to translate agathos (v. 15)
as "good" than as "generous". It was good for the
landowner to give the workers a minimum wage that
was enough to live on for the day. It was not a
generous wage.
An interesting picture can be created with the word
"idle" (argos = lit. "not working" which can imply
"doing nothing" or "being ineffective"). The "cure"
for being unemployed (at least in the parable's
picture) has to come from someone else being willing
to invite you to come and work. This results in two
benefits: the hiree is given what is needed (work &
wages) and the hirer receives what is needed (work
done).
We need to Work
Does God need us to work? That seems to be a theme
in Matthew where Jesus says: "The harvest is
plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask
the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into
his harvest" (9.37b-38). Perhaps our great emphasis
against works-righteousness (which is centered on
getting what one deserves, i.e. "What do I have to
do to be saved?") has kept us from seeing the
importance and necessity of good works (which is
centered on responding to God's grace, i.e. "You are
saved, what are you going to do?").
The "cure" for our unfulfilled and non-productive
lives is not going out and finding something to do
to fill up the time that benefits just me; but
hearing our "owner's" invitation to work in his
vineyard.
The Owner’s Fault
The whole problem at the end of the parable is the
landowner's fault - not because he paid them all the
same, but because he paid the last first. Remember,
as I said near the beginning of these notes, this
parable comes as an explanation of Jesus statement:
"Many who are first will be last, and the last will
be first" (Mt 19.30). Now we see what happens when
this is acted out.
If he had paid a denarius to the first ones hired
first, they would have gone home and not seen the
last one's hired getting paid the same amount. The
payment order allowed the first hired -- the long
term workers (or church members?) to witness the
last one's getting paid, which resulted in the first
hires to think that they would get more (v. 10).
The word for "think" (nomizo) does not refer so much
to a rational process (as logizomai), but "to
assume," "to presume," "to suppose," based on what
one expects to happen or what is "customary" or the
"rule" (which are meanings for the root nomos).
Usually such assumptions are wrong as in its other
uses (Mt 5.17; 10.34).
God’s Ways
Look at some of the amazing ways that God has
changed people we know. So often we have all
encountered a person who has done serious damage to
his or her life and family through alcohol or other
chemical dependency. Then we marvel how God’s Grace
not only led that person to recovery, but made him
or her, a source of strength for others looking to
recover. That is the amazing Grace of the Divine
Employer.
John Paul II was very much aware of the working of
God’s Mercy. He addressed women who had suffered
through an abortion and empowered them with the
determination to work for life and protect other
women from going through what they went through.
This is the amazing Grace of the Divine Employer.
Don’t Give Up
The Gospel encourages us not to give up on
ourselves. God never gives up on us. We can always
start new, whether we have just been lukewarm
Christians or whether we have been at war with God.
Not only does God refuse to hold us to our pasts, He
forgives us through confession and transforms us to
become vehicles of conversion for others. The Divine
Employer does not want us wasting any more time.
Even if we are pretty well advanced in age, and the
day is drawing to a close, He still has work for us
to do.
Pride of Performance does not represent ego. It
represents pleasure with humility. "The quality of
the work and the quality of the worker are
inseparable." Half-hearted effort does not produce
half results; it produces no results.
What are you Doing? Three people were laying bricks. A passerby
asked them what they were doing. The first one
replied, "Don't you see I am making a living?" The
second one said, "Don't you see I am lying bricks?"
The third one said, "I am building a beautiful
monument." Here were three people doing the same
thing who had totally different perspective on what
they were doing. They had three very different
attitudes about their work. And would their attitude
affect their performance? The answer is clearly yes.
The Traditional Symbol The vineyard was a traditional symbol for Israel
(see especially the classical text of Isa 5.1-7) and
Matthew will present another vineyard story in
21.33-46. Although the story itself does not
directly state this, the reader can presume it is
the harvest time since the landowner hires a number
of day laborers to work in the vineyard. The story
begins reasonably enough. At dawn a "landowner"
(literally, the "head of the household") goes into
the village marketplace to hire laborers and offers
them the usual daily wage of one denarius; see
18.28). The fact that the landowner himself hires
the laborers (instead of his manager mentioned in
20.8) is somewhat unusual and begins to put the
spotlight on the one who is the focus of this story.
The landowner goes back to hire additional workers
at different periods of the day (literally in the
Greek "early in the morning," "noon," "the third
hour" and, finally, "the eleventh hour"), tracking
for the reader the long day of hard work. No
specific wage is promised, only the landowner's word
that he would pay "the usual wage" (literally, "what
is just"; dikaios, the term so favored by Matthew;
see, e.g., 1.19; 27.19). Curiously the laborers
hired last, when asked why they are idle, reply that
"no one has hired us"-an explanation that suggests
they were willing to work but were ignored.
The parable breaks beyond the conventional pattern
when at sundown the landowner sends his manager to
gather the laborers and gives them their pay
(payment was expected at the end of a day's labor;
see Lev 19.13; Deut 24.14-15). The manager is
instructed to give out the wages "beginning with the
last and then going to the first"-words that alert
the reader to the words of Jesus framing the
parable. The laborers hired last receive a full
day's pay of one denarius and when those hired first
come for their wages, they expect to receive more
and thus complain to the landowner when they receive
pay equal to that of the other workers. The
expression of their complaint is one of the keys to
the parable's interpretation: "These last worked
only one hour, and you have made them equal to us
who have borne the burden of the day and the
scorching heat" (20.12).
The landowner's reply is gracious (he addresses the
laborer as "friend," 20.13; see also 22.12) but
firm. The laborer received exactly what was agreed
and was not treated unjustly. More important, the
landowner is supremely free to do what he wishes
with what belongs to him and therefore the laborers
should not look on his generosity with an "evil eye"
(the literal expression behind the "envious"; see
above 6.23). Therefore the parable ends with a firm
emphasis not on conventional assumptions about a
fair wage but on the sovereignty and generosity of
the "lord of the vineyard" (the literal words of
20.8). He is the one who determines that the last
shall be first and the first shall be last.
Practical Conclusion Excellence comes when the performer takes pride
in doing his best. Every job is a self-portrait of
the person who does it, regardless of what the job
is, whether washing cars, sweeping the floor or
painting a house. Do it right the first time, every
time. The best insurance for tomorrow is a job well
done today.
Michelangelo had been working on a statue for many
days. He was taking a long time to retouch every
small detail. A bystander thought these improvements
were insignificant and asked Michelangelo why he
bothered with them. Michelangelo replied, "Trifles
make perfection and perfection is no trifle."
Most people forget how fast you did a job, but they
remember how well it was done.
Fr Rudolf V.D’ Souza OCD
Triumph of the Cross : Year: A
Num 21.4-9 OR Phil 2.6-11; Jn 3.13-17
Trees Can Teach Us
“And that's the way it is with us." In his book,
Healing for Damaged Emotions, David Seamonds deals
with people who have scars that nobody else can see.
He uses the analogy of those beautiful giant sequoia
and redwood trees in the far western part of our
country. "In most of the parks," says Seamonds, "the
naturalists can show you a cross section of a great
tree they have cut, and point out that the rings of
the tree reveal the developmental history, year by
year. Here's a ring that represents a year when
there was a terrible drought. Here are a couple of
rings from years when there was too much rain.
Here's where the tree was struck by lightning. Here
are some normal years of growth. This ring shows a
forest fire that almost destroyed the tree. Here's
another of savage blight and disease. All of this
lies embedded in the heart of the tree, representing
the autobiography of its growth. "And that's the way
it is with us," Seamonds continues. "Just a few
minutes beneath the protective bark, the concealing,
protective mask, are the recorded rings of our
lives. "In the rings of our thoughts and emotions,
the record is there; the memories are recorded, and
all are alive. And they directly and deeply affect
our concepts, our feelings, our relationships. They
affect the way we look at life and God, at others
and ourselves."
The Triumph
The Feast of the Triumph of the Holy Cross on 14th
September commemorates the victory that Our Lord
accomplished through his death and resurrection. The
cross is a mark of great suffering and humiliation,
but it is a horrific symbol which we adore because
through it we have come to know the great love that
Jesus has for us, and through the wounds that it
inflicted, we have been healed. The Cross of Jesus
Christ was found in the fourth century by St. Helen,
the mother of the Emperor Constantine. According to
the legend, a goodly Jew named Judah was the only
person who knew of the location of the cross. Under
pressure from St. Helen, he revealed that it had
been buried under the temple of Venus which had been
built by Emperor Hadrian at Golgotha. As she found
three crosses buried at the site, it seemed
impossible to determine which one was the cross of
Christ. Just then a funeral procession was passing
by the place, and Helen had all three of the crosses
brought to the side of the dead body. When the third
cross was placed upon the dead man, he rose to life,
confirming that this was indeed the life-giving
cross of Jesus. There are probably hundreds of
legends and stories that are attached to the finding
and veneration of the cross (each with a hundred
variations), and all of them seek to remind us of
how dearly we value the sacrifice the Jesus made by
carrying it. The cross is the burden that he lifted
when he walked among us, it is the symbol of his
suffering, it is the altar on which he as our high
priest offered himself as the sweetest victim.
Reasons for Suffering
The Prodigal Son and the Lost Sheep (Lk 15)
They suffer because they run away from home; they do
not keep the Commandments, which are like the Laws
of Traffic. If you pass the red light or you come
out of the road, you may hurt others or yourself.
God is after them, and waiting for them, for their
repentance, their change of life, not to punish
them, but to bring them home, to take them on His
shoulders, and receive them with a great feast,
organized in person by God! (Lk 15.5-6, 22-24).
"Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses
one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in
the open country and go after the lost sheep until
he finds it? 5And when he finds it, he joyfully puts
it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his
friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice
with me; I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you
that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in
heaven over one sinner who repents than over
ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to
repent (Lk 15.4-7).
The Correction of God
They are like injections God gives to the ones He
loves... I am a Medical Doctor and people even pay
me to put them injections!.
"Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not
despise the discipline of the Almighty (Job 5.17;
Heb 12.5-11, Jas 1.12, Prov 3.11).
For he wounds, but he also binds up; he injures, but
his hands also heal (Job 5.18, Is.30.26, 1Sam 2.6,
Hos 6.1).
"My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because
the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes
everyone he accepts as a son. “Endure hardship as
discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what
son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not
disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline),
then you are illegitimate children and not true sons
(Heb 12.5-8)... The only place in the Bible where
the word "bastard of God" is used... and you are not
a "bastard son of God", because you are disciplined
by the Lord.... God has not given up you and me!
Moreover, we have all had human fathers who
disciplined us and we respected them for it. How
much more should we submit to the Father of our
spirits and live! 10Our fathers disciplined us for a
little while as they thought best; but God
disciplines us for our good, that we may share in
his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the
time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a
harvest of righteousness and peace for those who
have been trained by it (Heb 12.9-11).
A suffering, a cross, for a pagan is like heavy load
that crushes him into the mud, with even
desperation... for a Christian, sufferings are like
wings that bring him closer to Heaven... on top of
making him happier on earth.
If you ever feel that you are good for nothing, you
are still good enough to be a Saint, and to be a
Saint a person can be on earth... and in Heaven. And
God Himself is with you and for you, He wants you to
be a Saint, now, even if you feel to old or too sick
or too weak or too abandoned... God is all away for
you (Mt 5.48, 10.30, 1Thes 4.3).
The Sufferings
Because every Christian is another Christ... and
every Christian has to be a co-redeemer, like Mary,
an evangelist to help people to go to Heaven.
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in
my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which
is the church, in filling up what is lacking in
Christ's afflictions (Col 1.24).
Every pain or sorrow is an "individual cross"... the
best weapon to help relatives and friends to go to
Heaven... Jesus did not redeem us with his wonderful
sermons, nor with his miracles, but with his
Cross!... and our daily cross is our best way to be
evangelists, the best reason to rejoice,
For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake,
not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for
His sake (Phil 1.29). These are the sufferings of
Jesus on the Cross... and of all the Saints,
starting with Virgin Mary in Egypt and Calvary, St.
Peter crucified, St. Paul beheaded, the other
apostles martyred... If you ever suffer, don't
dismay, you are in good company!.
The Chastisements
The Flood of Genesis 6, Sodom and Gomorrah of
Genesis 19, the 10 Plagues of Ex 7-12... the Hell of
the New Testament!... they all come from God himself
directly! If anyone tells you that God does not
chastise, he doesn't know a thing about the Bible...
God punishes, and with infinite power in his
justice, He is God! And He is not a fool!, Do not be
deceived. God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he
sows (Gal 6.7).
The Lord saw how great man's wickedness on the earth
had become, and that every inclination of the
thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.
The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the
earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the
Lord said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have
created, from the face of the earth-men and animals,
and creatures that move along the ground, and birds
of the air-for I am grieved that I have made them."8
But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord (Gen
6.5-8).
Just for one man, Noah, mankind was not wipe out
from the face of the earth... you and I have to be
the Noah for our relatives and friends... Then the
Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and
Gomorrah-from the Lord out of the heavens (Gen
19.24)... yes, directly from God Himself! In the New
Testament it is directly from the mouth of Jesus
Himself. He will say: 'Depart from me, you who are
cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil
and his angels... "Then they will go away to eternal
punishment, but the righteous to eternal life" (Mt
25.31-46).
Practical Conclusion
Many reasons may be given to explain why we qualify
to receive the gift of eternal life through the
redemptive plan that was achieved in Christ. But
there is only one reason. It is the incredible love
of God for the world. God sent the Son into the
world in order that it might be saved through Him. (Jn
3.17) I love a quotation and paraphrase of Martin
Luther: "Can a rock that has been in the sun light
all day not fail to give off warmth and heat at
night?" Can a rock that has been in the warmth and
heat of the sun light all day not fail to give off
warmth and heat at night? Can a Christian who has
lived in the sunlight of God's love not fail to give
off warmth and love? No. That is why you have to
have first things first. You don't say to others,
"Start loving each other. Be nice. Be nice. Be
nice." No, no, no. First, we need to live in the
sunlight of God's love. We need to bake in the
sunlight of God's compassion. We need to absorb
God's light into us. And then...we start to give off
the love. May your light shine on me, O Lord. May
your love shine on us, God, so that there will be
peace in our family and on the earth.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
24th Sunday in Ordinary Time :Year A
Sir 27.30-28.7; Rm 14.7-9; Mt 18.21-35
First Things First
It is rather comical when the primary things are
made secondary. Victor Borge told about a couple
going on vacation, standing in line waiting to check
their bags at the airline counter.
The husband said to the wife, "I wish we had brought
the piano."
The wife said, "Why? We've got sixteen bags
already!"
The husband said, "Yes, I know - but the tickets are
on the piano!"
Levis or Nothing
Long back there was an ad of Levis pants on TV. The
words were magical: “Levis or Nothing”. I used to
think of this ad and tried to find a sense in it in
the following of Christ; I would coin the phrase as:
“Forgiveness or Nothing”. In Christianity if there
is lack of forgiveness; there is going to be nothing
at all. Father forgive them for they do not know
what they do.
Forgiveness is one of the hallmarks of Christian
faith. Not only that we can receive forgiveness from
God, but that we must grant it to others too. And we
are constantly confronted by the need to forgive
people because we all have people sin against us, in
big things and in little things. From injustice in
the workplace, or some sort of abuse in a friendship
or marriage, down to the daily little slights we
receive from others, like people pushing in front of
us in the checkout line at the supermarket.
And we know that we can allow these things to build
up, to make us bitter, to nurse these grievances
until all that is left in our heart is a nasty
festering mess of hatred. All because of what OTHER
people have done to us, not because we've gone out
to do wrong to others. And often it doesn't seem
fair. After all, sometimes we don't want to forgive,
what we want is JUSTICE.
As C.S. Lewis put it, "To be a Christian means to
forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven
the inexcusable in you". As N.T. Wright puts it,
"failing to forgive one another isn't a matter of
failing to live up to a new bit of moral
teaching"--to fail to forgive means to "cut off the
branch we are sitting on". It is to deny the very
basis of our own salvation - forgiveness of sin.
I will make all things New Two peacemakers went to visit a group of Polish
Christians ten years after the end of World War II.
"Would you be willing to meet with other Christians
from West Germany?" the peacemakers asked. "They
want to ask forgiveness for what Germany did to
Poland during the war and to begin to build a new
relationship".
At first there was silence. Then one Pole spoke up.
"What you are asking is impossible. Each stone of
Warsaw is soaked in Polish blood! We cannot
forgive!".
Before the group parted, however, they said the
Lord's Prayer together. When they reached the words
"forgive us our trespasses as we forgive . . . ",
everyone stopped praying . Tension swelled in the
room. The Pole who had spoken so vehemently said, "I
must say yes to you. I could no more pray the Our
Father, I could no longer call myself a Christian,
if I refuse to forgive. Humanly speaking, I cannot
do it, but God will give us strength!".
Eighteen months later the Polish and West German
Christians met together in Vienna, establishing
friendships that continue to this day.
Unique to Matthew The concluding parable, one unique to Matthew,
anchors the call for limitless forgiveness in a
theological conviction (18.23-35). The story of the
king who decides to settle his accounts has certain
fantastic features that smack of popular
storytelling. The monarch begins his accounting with
a "slave," a member of the royal household, who owes
a staggering amount, "ten thousand talents." Ten
thousand was the highest denomination in ancient
accounting and Josephus reports that the entire
yearly revenue from the Jewish tax was only six
hundred talents! When the slave is unable to pay
this amount, the king threatens to punish the slave
by having the hapless debtor and his entire family
and possessions sold. The slave appeals for more
time to pay off his debt even though this, too,
seems an act of fruitless desperation. The king is
deeply moved by the plight of the slave (the verb
splangchnistheis-literally a stirring of one's
intestines-implies a profound emotional reaction),
and instead of simply giving him more time he
decides to forgive the "loan" (curiously Matthew
uses "loan" [Gk. daneion] rather than "debt" [Gk.
opheilema] here).
Ungrateful Slave
Instead of being overwhelmed by his unbelievably
good fortune, the slave goes out and acts brutally
toward a fellow slave who owes him only "a hundred
denarii" (by contrast, a single "talent" may have
been equivalent to between six and ten thousand
denarii!), by seizing the man by the throat,
ignoring his plea for mercy, and casting him into
prison. The rest of the slaves are greatly saddened
by this display and report the merciless servant to
the king. Judgment comes swiftly-the angry king
condemns the slave for his lack of mercy and has him
tortured and cast into prison until he should pay
his original debt.
Reciprocal Act
This vivid story and its concluding saying
illustrate Matthew's fundamental theology of
reconciliation: "So my heavenly Father will also do
to every one of you, if you do not forgive your
brother or sister from your heart" (18.35). The
driving motivation for unlimited forgiveness within
the community is imitation of God's own way of
relating to humanity. Because the slave was already
forgiven a staggering and un-payable debt by his
king, he should have lived his life in memory of
that inaugural grace. Matthew asserts an identical
motivation in 5.43-48 where love of enemies is
motivated by the realization that the Father in
heaven "makes his sun rise on the evil and on the
good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the
unrighteous" (v. 45). Likewise, Matthew's emphasis
on the threat of judgment for those who do not
forgive echoes previous teaching in the Sermon: The
disciple prays for forgiveness of debt "as we also
have forgiven our debtors"-a codicil of the prayer
amplified in the sayings that are appended to the
prayer: "For if you forgive others their trespasses,
your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if
you do not forgive others, neither will your Father
forgive your trespasses" (6.14-15). For Matthew, the
divine will remains the guiding ethical principle
for the community, a divine will proclaimed in
Jesus' teachings and embodied in his actions.
Reluctance to Forgive
Part of our reluctance to forgive, I suspect, is due
to this misunderstanding that the purpose of
forgiveness is for the benefit of the one who has
wronged us. We don't want the person who hurt us to
gain anything, so instead of forgiving them, we
harbour bitterness. But as Lewis Smedes points out
though, "the first and often only person to be
healed by forgiveness is the person who does the
forgiveness". The Christians in Poland found that
out.
Forgiveness, like all of the other commands of
Jesus, is not meant to burden us--it is meant to
liberate us. Forgiving others is for our own good.
Forgiveness in the Community Forgiveness is also for the good of the church.
There are a lot of hurting people in this community
we live in. Are people staying away from church
because they suspect we will make them feel worse?
What would happen if we gained a reputation for
being a loving and forgiving church? A church full
of people addicted to forgiving one another?
Jesus reduced the mark of a Christian to this: "By
this all men will know that you are my disciples, if
you love one another"(Jn 13.35). Look around the
sanctuary. Do you love everyone that is here? Maybe
you don't even know the name of everyone here! Maybe
you know some people very well, but you still
struggle to love them. Perhaps some of these people
rub you the wrong way . . . perhaps you are
insisting on harbouring bitterness toward them. Have
you forgiven them? Or do you simply "tolerate" them?
If love is the distinguishing mark of a Christian,
how do we get there? Forgiveness. We learn how to
love by forgiving those who have wronged us.
Forgiving and Loving
Let us resolve today to be known as a forgiving and
loving church. Where do we start? How about coffee
hour. Be good to one another. Love one another.
Forgive one another. And do it over and over and
over again. Because the more you forgive, the more
you will see the benefits of it for yourself, and
most importantly, for the Church of Jesus Christ
We are reminded in today’s parable that if we demand
justice from others, then we can only expect justice
ourselves. And because we, ourselves, have sinned
against God, if it is justice we demand, then the
justice we will receive, is that we will be
condemned and “handed over to the torturers”(Mt
18.34). Because God does not give us justice, He
gives us mercy.
Mercy isn’t always easy. Most of us go through some
time in our lives when we find it almost impossible
to forgive. Sometimes every emotion in our heart,
and every bit of logic in our head, screams out at
us saying that this person does not deserve our
forgiveness. And the truth is that they don't
deserve our forgiveness. But we also do not deserve
the forgiveness that our heavenly Father gives us.
And if we accept forgiveness from Him, how can we
refuse to give it others? As we will soon pray in
the Our Father. the forgiveness we ask for from God,
depends on us forgiving the trespasses of those who
trespass against us. God puts forgiveness before us
as a moral obligation. We must forgive, or else we
will not be forgiven.
But we know that must also forgive for our own
sakes, because it is the only way to heal the
bitterness that can otherwise possess our hearts.
Even though mercy is difficult, not having mercy
brings us even more difficulty, it leaves us with a
wound in our heart that can eventually destroy us.
When forgiveness is especially hard, we’d do well to
remember that it wasn’t easy for Christ either -it
led Him to the Cross.
Sometimes, when forgiveness is particularly
difficult, and it only comes with time, it has to be
the result of a long slow process, of a long way of
the cross. Sometimes we need to carry our injuries
as part of our own Cross, in union with Our Lord, as
we walk the way of the Cross, until we are able to
join Him in forgiving, just as He forgave His
executioners from the Cross.
With the grace that comes to us from the Cross and
the example of Jesus on the Cross, we can find the
strength to forgive others.
There is no peace except in the cross, no peace
except in forgiveness. So let us think today of
those times when we have failed to forgive others,
and ask the Lord for the help and grace to be able
to forgive as generously as He has forgiven us.
Practical Conclusion
“Hate the sin; love the sinner.” Such a rule turns
out to be the realistic response to sin and
injustice. For only in this way do we renounce our
claim to vengeance—both personally and
nationally—without abandoning our claim to truth and
justice. Yet putting this rule into practice depends
on the experience of having been forgiven by Him to
whom we owe everything. Hence, the more a culture
loses contact with this experience, the more it
separates itself from wellspring of forgiveness, and
the more it makes itself unfit for the “real world.”
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time : Year: A
Eze 33.7-9; Rm 13.8-10; Mt 18.15-20
Triple Doorways
Over the triple doorways of the cathedral of Milan there are three
inscriptions spanning the splendid arches. Over one is carved a
beautiful wreath of roses, and underneath it is the legend, "All
that which pleases is but for a moment."
Over the other is sculptured a cross, and there are the words, "All
that which troubles us is but for a moment."
But underneath the great central entrance to the main aisle is the
inscription, "That only is important which is eternal."
If we always realize these three truths, we will not let trifles
trouble us, not be interested so much in the passing pleasures of
the hour. We should live for the permanent and the eternal.
Three Point Plan
In our Gospel text today, Jesus gives us a three-point plan for
handling disagreements in the community known as church. Hear my
phrasing there again while think about the horrid song “We Are the
Church”: Jesus gives us a three-point plan for handling
disagreements in the community known as church. This emphasis on
community – and not individuality – is hammered home by the
conclusion of the Gospel text today, “For where two or three are
gathered in my name, I am there among them.”
Community Standard
The post-resurrection writer of this Gospel ascribed to St. Matthew
would have known about the various and sundry issues causing strife
in the Matthian church – the church over which Matthew would’ve been
leader. This manual for maintaining community standards was a way to
keep the people of the community in harmony, and in addition to the
levels of trying to reprove a sibling, these three steps dealt with
the seriousness of issues – major schism making offenses would’ve
almost certainly wound up before the whole of the community.
These instructions for, in plainest terms, church discipline – the
maintenance of community standards for the good of the Church, and
it doesn’t end very nicely, “If the offender refuses to listen even
to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax
collector.” Matthew – the most Jewish of the Gospels – uses this
language to say that when someone is in clear violation of the will,
standards, and principles of the community the church community is
to wash their hands and kick the dust of their feet. It’s harsh
words that are meant to be harsh: the Church hearing this originally
was young and schism was breaking various churches apart from the
moment of the resurrection. The only way to preserve this new group
of Jews and Gentiles following Jesus as Messiah was to keep the
community together without personal petty conflicts – or heretical,
schismatic ideas – was to have a form of discipline and way to expel
people from the body.
Vending Machine
It is important to note, however, that it’s not a single member that
calls for the expulsion of a member or two members or three members
from the body. Before that step was taken, an individual, two
additional individuals, and finally the whole church community must
have first spoken to them. Before moving to the end of this text, I
implore you not to hear that God is a vending machine whose buttons
can be pressed if two people (or more) are pushing them. This
requirement of more people is part and parcel of what is really the
crux of this text: community. Jesus again underscores that in the
conclusion of this selection from the Gospel, “For where two or tree
are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” Christ – and the
early church mothers and fathers – didn’t intend for Christianity to
be practiced in solitude. Full stop. Whether someone “believes in
organized religion” or not, being together with others for the work
and worship of Christ is part of this religion, and in the first
century, it took the will of the community – bound together in
tension of being human beings trying to do their best in the world –
to expel members.
Blame Game
Students blame teachers for their poor results; children blame
parents and parents blame children for family discord; while workers
blame the management and the management blames the worker. Everyone
is blaming each other, but nobody is prepared to shoulder the blame.
Nobody is prepared to search within for their faults. And nobody is
bold enough to admit their mistakes and do something about them.
This is the reason for the misery which plagues our lives.
We speak of a thing as correct with reference to some rule or
standard of comparison; as, a correct account, a correct likeness, a
man of correct deportment. We speak of a thing as accurate with
reference to the care bestowed upon its execution, and the increased
correctness to be expected there from; as, an accurate statement, an
accurate detail of particulars. We speak of a thing as exact with
reference to that perfected state of a thing in which there is no
defect and no redundance; as, an exact coincidence, the exact truth,
an exact likeness. We speak of a thing as precise when we think of
it as strictly conformed to some rule or model, as if cut down
thereto; as a precise conformity instructions; precisely right; he
was very precise in giving his directions.
Quality Control
In any industrial production process, a quality controller is on
hand to ensure that the product being manufactured is up to
standard. It is his responsibility to ensure that faulty goods are
rejected and only the perfect products are packed for sale. Without
this step, a company's reputation is likely to suffer. The same is
true in life. By failing to assess our faults within, and by not
taking appropriate measures to correct them, we are unable to live
at peace with the world.
Hence, it is essential that we regularly pause and ask ourselves,
"What are my faults? And what can I do to correct them." Only then
can progress be made. This habit of introspection is important in
every aspect of life. Consider a team - in football, cricket,
baseball or any other sport - which performs below standard. Only by
analysing and accepting their mistakes can individual players and
the team as a whole improve. To help a player improve, the first
necessity is for him to analyse his own performance and his own
strengths and weaknesses. The second requirement is a good manager
who gives constructive criticism.
The Selling Game
If real progress is desired, then introspection, admission of faults
and steps for their correction are essential. In the intensely
competitive consumer market, companies which adopt a self-critical
review policy succeed and progress rapidly. Those who believe, "no
consumer is wrong," or "if anything is wrong, it is wrong with me,"
or "you can always improve" will be more capable of meeting their
customers' demands and so increase their profits.
Regular Review
Until one reflects within, the intensity with which baser instincts
have taken a controlling grip in one's life will not be realised. If
one does not stop to reflect, one's actions will lead one away from
God.
The same attitude of indifference and acceptance of sinful ways can
be said about other sins that have gradually become acceptable
within society by most of the people. These are the sins of divorce,
common-law relationships, the removal of prayer from the schools,
the teaching of atheism etc... All of these are perversions of the
truth that lead away from God's Holiness and holy ways.
While some may be hesitant to speak up against the sins of others,
saying, "It is none of my business.", or "They are protected under
the Charter of Rights.", this is not so according to God. As a
Christian, we have an obligation to make it our responsibility and
we have an obligation to contact our representatives of the
Government to ask that the Charter of Rights and the laws be changed
to reflect the ways of God. Until such time as it is done, God will
condemn us alongside those who live in sin!
Regular review, regular check, regular correction, examination is a
must to make progress in our life. First of all parents are invited
to show the right path to children, teachers are expected to correct
children so that they may really make progress and achieve their
goal. Management must review the condition or workers, and workers
must review their work performance, so that they work as per their
commitment they had made on the day agreed to work in that firm.
Practical Conclusion
Being in community requires putting ourselves aside – and our
passions and factions aside. As St. Paul directs, “I come with
Christians far and near to find, as all are fed, the new community
of love in Christ’s communion bread. As Christ breaks bread and bids
us share, each proud division ends. The love that made us makes us
one, and strangers now are friends…Together met, together bound,
we’ll go our different ways, and as his people in the world, we’ll
live and speak his praise.”
As we gather around this table – we practice an act of community in
sharing a meal together. As we gather around this Altar we affirm
our belief in Christ as Lord, who breaks bread with us and causes
proud divisions to end. As we gather around this table we meet with
one another to share in this feast. When we leave from this table,
though, we remain bound, tied inexplicably with the entire body of
the baptized. Whether we like them or not, we have to live in a
community of love with them…or at least try. And as we go our
separate ways – with those we like and don’t – we must do the work
and the worship of the Holy and Triune God.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time : Year: A
Jer 20.7-9; Rm 12.1-2; Mt 16.21-7
Life Experience
We have been visiting the families in our parish with the help of
the Small Christian Community animators. It’s an experience that can
teach us many more things than sermons and books. Once I met a pious
woman, who shed tears in her home when I enquired her about the
family situation. Her entire family was in Kuwait and they are now
in India since 9 years. Times are very difficult for that family.
But, she said to me, “father, where there is a will there is a way.
I was always thinking that it is possible to have a good life only
when we are abroad. Of course my husband was working and I was just
doing the housewife. But when we came back from Kuwait, my husband
went into depression and we found it difficult to adjust. I started
going from house to house giving tuitions with the little knowledge
of the subjects. But today after almost 7 years of my constant touch
with the children, they are coming home and I have more than enough
now. I feel energetic, healthy, and feel a sense of responsibility.
We do not lack money, and we can go on with our life. Our children
are growing and they will reach their destination”.
Change
Friends, nothing in this world will improve unless we change! Unless
we change our thoughts, our words and our actions according to the
Divine Will of God, nothing will improve. Prayers are fruitless when
there is no sincerity of heart. As Jesus said, "Not everyone who
says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only
the one who does the will of My Father in Heaven" (Mt 7.21).
Hard Work
Nothing can we obtain in this world without hard work. If people
have made a mark, they have behind their success tireless efforts
and constant hard work. Hence, it’s a hard reminder to all of us
that we need to work, never give up and always look ahead with the
hope that we can do it, we can achieve our goal and we are capable
of reaching there.
Today’s passage reminds us that suffering is a fact of life, but not
necessarily unfortunate fact of life. How big is our perspective? Is
meaning compressed in the matter of our own existence, in which case
suffering is the darkness of 'lights out'. Or is the matter of our
own existence just a vignette on the cosmic stage of meaning, in
which case suffering is but a temporary shadow in the corner of the
stage?
God's loving goodness and omnipotence are so great as to encompass
painful and unpleasant circumstances in serving His ultimate good of
drawing all things to and in Himself (Rm 8.28).
Suffering Servant
The suffering of man has been taken up by the Divine Suffering
Servant (cf. Is 52.13; 53.12). Jesus emptied Himself to become
incarnated into suffering humanity (Phil 2.5-8). Denied His self;
will to accept work of Suffering Servant (Lk 22.42). His
resurrection reality is the victory over suffering (I Cor 15.57).
Christians are incorporated into the suffering Person and work of
Jesus Christ in the Body of Christ (Rm 8.17; II Cor 1.5; 4.7-12,17;
Phil 3.10; Col 1.24; I Pet 4.13). Suffering has a beneficent
purpose. Suffering is the birth pangs for the greater experience of
life. In suffering life becomes more real than the superficialities
of comfort. Suffering is analogous to the surgery required to heal
the disease of our self-orientation (Mt 9.12. True love is
strengthened and perfected by suffering.
Christian responses to "suffering" has a positive value. This does
not mean that Christians should seek, desire, court, invite, or
pursue suffering or claim proud badge of courage in "suffering for
Jesus" or develop persecution-complex or martyr-complex
What is Needed
Mystery of Suffering
Acceptance of the situations of life and consider that suffering is
not so much a problem to be solved rationally, but a mystery to be
observed personally and spiritually. Only way to "see" the mystery
is by the reception of the revelation of God in Jesus Christ. Thus
we participate in the mystery of Christ (Col 1.27; 2.2).
Our sufferings, sicknesses and adversities are not happenings in
themselves, but are defined by the effect we allow them to have on
us. Entrust ourselves to God, His purposes and ways Recognize His
sufficiency of grace in the situations (II Cor 3.5; 12.9).
Receptivity of God's activity – Faith
Persevere - Rm 5.3; 12.12; Jas 1.12
Endure - I Cor 4.12; II Tim 4.5; Jas 1.3,4
Entrust ourselves to God - I Pet 2.21-23; 4.19
Practical Conclusion
Embrace your difficulties and appreciate them for providing new ways
to grow spiritually. Try to think of the positive benefits and
spiritual lessons that troubles can almost certainly provide. Here
are some of them:
Very few
people begin a spiritual journey because they are blissful
happy. In fact, men and women are typically drawn to the
spiritual path because they want help in dealing with
difficulties. Each challenge in our lives opens the possibility
of awakening our heart.
When we are
going through dark times, we are better able to let go of
egotism and arrogance. Difficulties can help us grow in
patience, understanding, and humility; they can help us seek out
meaningful connection.
This is an
ideal time for self-reflection and an examination of those ways
in which we have contributed to our own problems—our own misery.
Are any of our current difficulties, for example, caused by our
own carelessness and lack of mindfulness?
When our
troubles seem overwhelming, often we can use this as a way of
growing our compassion for others. Reflect on the millions of
others who—just like you—are going through tough rimes right
now. Empathize with these brothers and sisters with whom you
share so many emotions
Fr.
Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
21st Sunday in Ordinary Time :Year: A
Is 22.19-23; Ps 138.1-3, 6-8; Rom 11.33-36; Mt 16.13-20
“I don’t Care one Bit”
The bishop of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris during the early part of
the last century was a great evangelizer who tried to reach out to
unbelievers, scoffers, and cynics. He liked to tell the story of a
young man who would stand outside the cathedral and shout derogatory
slogans at the people entering to worship. He would call them fools
and other insulting names. The people tried to ignore him but it was
difficult. One day the parish priest went outside to confront the
young man, much to the distress of the parishioners. The young man
ranted and raved against everything the priest told him. Finally,
the priest addressed the young scoffer, saying, “Look, let’s get
this over with once and for all. I’m going to dare you to do
something and I bet you can’t do it.” And of course the young man
shot back, “I can do anything you propose, you white-robed wimp!”
“Fine,” said the priest. “All I ask you to do is to come into the
sanctuary with me. I want you to stare at the figure of Christ on
His cross, and I want you to scream at the very top of your lungs,
as loudly as you can. ‘Christ died on the cross for me, and I don’t
care one bit.” So the young man went into the sanctuary, and looking
at the figure, screamed as loudly as he could, “Christ died on the
cross for me, and I don’t care one bit.” The priest said, “Very
good. Now do it again.” And again the young man screamed, with a
little more hesitancy, “Christ died on the cross for me, and I don’t
care one bit.” “You’re almost done now,” said the priest. “One more
time.” The young man raised his fist, kept looking at the crucifix,
but the words wouldn’t come. He just could not look at the face of
Christ and say those words any more. The real punch line came when,
after he told the story, the bishop said, “I was that young man.
That young man, that defiant young man was I. I thought I didn’t
need God but found out that I did.”
The Context
The conversation between Jesus and Peter receives diverse
interpretations and even opposite ones in the several Christian
Churches. In the Catholic Church, this is the foundation for the
primacy of Peter. This is why, without in fact, diminishing the
significance of the text, it is convenient to place it in the
context of the Gospel of Matthew, in which, in other texts, the same
qualities conferred on Peter are almost all, attributed to other
persons. They do not belong exclusively to Peter.
It is always well to keep in mind that the Gospel of Matthew was
written at the end of the first century for the community of the
converted Jews who lived in the Region of Galilee and Syria. They
were communities which suffered and were victims of many doubts
concerning their faith in Jesus. The Gospel of Matthew tries to help
them to overcome the crisis and to confirm them in the faith in
Jesus, the Messiah, who came to fulfill the promises of the Old
Testament.
Who do People say that I am?
Jesus asks the opinion of the people and of his disciples concerning
himself. The answers are quite varied. John the Baptist, Elijah,
Jeremiah, or one of the Prophets. When Jesus questions about the
opinion of his own disciples, Peter becomes the spokesman and says.
“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!”. Peter’s answer
signifies that he recognizes in Jesus the fulfilment of the prophecy
of the Old Testament and that in Jesus we have the definitive
revelation of the Father for us. This confession of Peter is not
new. First, after having walked on the water, the other disciples
had already made the same profession of faith. “Truly You are the
Son of God!” (Mt 14.33). In the Gospel of John, Martha makes this
same profession of Peter. “You are the Christ, the Son of God who
has come into the world” (Jn 11.27).
“Blessed are you, Peter!”
Jesus proclaims Peter as “Blessed!” because he has received a
revelation from the Father. In this case also, the response of Jesus
is not new. First Jesus had made an identical proclamation of joy to
the disciples for having seen and heard things which before nobody
knew (Mt 13.16), and had praised the Father for having revealed the
Son to little ones and not to the wise (Mt 11.25). Peter is one of
these little ones to whom the Father reveals himself. The perception
of the presence of God in Jesus does not come “from the flesh nor
from the blood”, that is, it is not the fruit of the merit of a
human effort, but rather it is a gift which God grants to whom he
wants.
Peter receives three attributions from Jesus. (i) To be a rock of
support, (ii) to receive the keys of the Kingdom, and (iii) to be
foundation of the Church.
i) To be Rock
Simon, the son of Jonah, receives from Jesus a new name which is
Cephas, and that means, Rock. this is why he is called Peter. Peter
has to be Rock, that is, he has to be a sure foundation for the
Church so that the gates of the underworld can never overpower it.
With these words from Jesus to Peter, Matthew encourages the
communities of Syria and Palestine, which are suffering and are the
victims of persecutions, to see in Peter a leader on whom to find
support, to base themselves concerning their origin. In spite of
being weak and persecuted communities, they had a secure basis,
guaranteed by the word of Jesus. At that time, the communities had
very strong affective bonds with the persons who had begun, who were
at the origin of the community. Thus, the Community of Syria and
Palestine fostered their bond of union with the person of Peter. The
community of Greece with the person of Paul. Some communities of
Asia, with the person of the Beloved disciple and others with the
person of John of the Apocalypses. Identifying themselves with these
leaders of their origin helped the communities to foster their
identity and spirituality better. But this could also be a cause of
dispute, like in the case of the community of Corinth (1 Cor
1.11-12).
To be rock as the basis of faith evokes the Word of God to the
people who are in exile in Babylonia. “Listen to me you who pursue
saying injustice, you who seek Yahweh. Consider the rock from which
you were hewn, the quarry from which you were dug. Consider Abraham
your father, and Sarah who gave you birth; when I called him, he was
the only one, but I blessed him and made him numerous” (Is 51.1-2).
Applied to Peter, this quality of peter-foundation indicates a new
beginning of the people of God..
ii) The keys of the Kingdom
Peter receives the keys of the Kingdom to bind and to loosen, that
is, to reconcile the persons among themselves and with God. Behold,
that here again the same power to bind and to loosen, is given not
only to Peter, but also to the other disciples (Jn 20.23) and to
their own communities (Mt 18.18). One of the points on which the
Gospel of Matthew insists more is the reconciliation and forgiveness
(Mt 5.7.23-24.38-42-48; 6,14-15-35). In the years 80’s and 90’s, in
Syria there were many tensions in the communities and there were
divisions in the families. Some accepted Jesus as Messiah and others
did not, and this was the cause for many tensions and conflicts.
Matthew insists on reconciliation. Reconciliation was and continues
to be one of the most important tasks of the coordinators of the
communities at present. Imitating Peter, they have to bind and
loosen, that is, do everything possible so that there be
reconciliation, mutual acceptance, building up of the true
fraternity “Seventy times seven!” (Mt 18.22).
iii) The Church
The word Church, in Greek eklésia, appears 105 times in the New
Testament, almost exclusively in the Acts of the Apostles and in the
Letters. Only three times in the Gospels, and once only in the
Gospel of Matthew. The word literally means “convoked” or “chosen”.
It indicates the people who get together convoked by the Word of
God, and who seek to live the message of the Kingdom which Jesus
came to bring to us. The Church or the community is not the Kingdom,
but an instrument or an indication of the Kingdom. The Kingdom is
much greater. In the Church, in the community, what happens when a
human group allows God to reign and allows God to be ‘Lord’ in one’s
life, is rendered or should be rendered present to the eyes of all.
Fisherman Peter
Peter, who was a fisherman of fish, became fisherman of men (Mk
1.17). He was married (Mk 1. 30). He was a good man, very human. He
was a natural leader among the twelve first disciples of Jesus.
Jesus respects this leadership and makes Peter the animator of his
first community (Jn 21.17). Before entering into the community of
Jesus, Peter was called Simon Bar Jona (Mt 16, 17), that is, Simon,
son of Jonah. Jesus calls him Cefas or Rock (Jn 1.42), who later
becomes Peter (Lk 6.14).
By his nature and character, Peter could be everything, except
pietra – rock. He was courageous in speaking, but in the moment of
danger he allows himself to be dominated by fear and flees. For
example, the time in which Jesus walked on the sea, Peter asks.
“Jesus, allow me also to walk on the sea”. Jesus says. “You may
come, Peter!” Peter got off from the boat and walked on the sea. But
as soon as he saw a high wave, he was taken up with panic, lost
trust, and began to sink and cry out. “Lord, save me!” Jesus assured
him and saved him (Mt 14. 28-31).
In the Last Supper, Peter tells Jesus. “I will never deny you,
Lord!” (Mk 14.31), but a few hours later, in the Palace of the High
Priest, in front of a servant , when Jesus had already been
arrested, Peter denied, swearing that he had nothing to do with
Jesus (Mk 14. 66-72).
When Jesus was in the Garden of Olives, Peter takes out the sword (Jn
18.10), but ends fleeing, leaving Jesus alone (Mk 14.50). By nature,
Peter was not rock!
But this Peter so weak and human, so similar to us, becomes rock,
because Jesus prays for him and says. “Peter, I have prayed for you,
that your faith may not fail, and once you have recovered, you in
your turn must strengthen your brothers!” (Lk 22.31-32). This is why
Jesus could say. “You are Peter and on this rock I will build my
Church” (Mt 16.18). Jesus helps him to be rock. After the
Resurrection, in Galilee, Jesus appears to Peter and asks him two
times. “Peter, do you love me?” And Peter responds two times. “Lord,
you know that I love you!” (Jn 21.15,16). When Jesus repeats the
same question a third time, Peter became sad. Perhaps he remembered
that he had denied Jesus three times. To this third question he
answers. “Lord, you know all things! You know that I love you very
much!” And it is then that Jesus entrusted to him the care of his
sheep, saying. “Peter, feed my lambs!” (Jn 21.17). With the help of
Jesus, the firmness of the rock grows in Peter and is revealed on
the day of Pentecost.
On the day of Pentecost, after the descent of the Holy Spirit, Peter
opens the door of the room where all were meeting together, locked
with a key because of fear of the Jews (Jn 20.19), he takes courage
and began to announce to the people the Good News of Jesus (Acts 2.
14-40). And he did not stop doing it! Thanks to this courageous
announcement of the Resurrection, he was imprisoned (Acts 4. 3).
During the trial, he was forbidden to announce the Good News (Acts
4, 18), but Peter does not obey this prohibition. He said. “We know
that we have to obey God more than men!” (Acts 4. 19; 5. 29). He was
arrested again (Acts 5. 18-26). He was tortured (Acts 5. 40). But he
said. “Thank you. But we shall continue!” (cf. Acts 5. 42).
Tradition says that, towards the end of his life, in Rome, Peter was
arrested and condemned to death, and death on the cross. He asked to
be crucified with the head down. He believed he was not worthy to
die like Jesus. Peter was faithful to himself up to the end!.
Completing the context
Peter had confessed. “You are the Christ, the Son of the living
God!” He had imagined a glorious Messiah, and Jesus corrects him.
“It is necessary for the Messiah to suffer and to die in Jerusalem”.
By saying that “it is necessary”, he indicates that suffering has
already been foreseen in the Prophecies (Is 53. 2-8). If Peter
accepts Jesus as Messiah and Son of God, he has to accept him also
as the servant Messiah who will be put to death. Not only the
triumph of the glory, but also the journeys to the cross! But Peter
does not accept the correction and seeks to dissuade him. The
response of Jesus is surprising. “Get behind me, Satan! You are an
obstacle in my path because you are thinking not as God thinks but
as human beings do”. Satan is the one who separates us from the path
which God has traced for us. Literally, Jesus says. “Get behind me”
(Get away!). Peter wanted to place himself in front and indicate the
direction. Jesus says. “Get behind me!” He who indicates the course
and direction is not Peter, but Jesus. The disciple has to follow
the Master. He has to live in continuous conversion.
Practical Conclusion
The Word of Jesus is also a reminder for all those who guide or
direct a community. They have “to follow” Jesus and not place
themselves in front of him as Peter wanted to do. No, only they can
indicate the direction or the route. Otherwise, like Peter, they are
not rock of support, but they become a rock of obstacle. Thus, were
some of the leaders of the communities at the time of Matthew, full
of ambiguity. Thus, it also happens among us even today!
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
20th Sunday in Ordinary Time : Year: A
Is 56.1, 6-7; Rm 11.13-15, 29-32; Mt 15.21-28
“Never give up!" Years ago in Illinois, a young man with six months schooling to
his credit ran for an office in the legislature when he was 23 and
was beaten. Next he entered business with a partner but failed in
that too, and spent the next seventeen years paying the debts of his
worthless partner. He fell in love with a charming lady and they
became engaged, but she died. The next year he had a nervous
breakdown. Relying on the power of prayer, he ran for the post of
Speaker (at 29), of Elector (at 31) and for a seat in Congress (at
34). He was defeated each time. He then tried to obtain an
appointment to the U.S. Land Office, but didn’t succeed. He became a
candidate for the Vice-Presidency and lost. Two years later he was
defeated in an election to the Senate (at 46). He ran for office
once more and was elected the sixteenth President of the United
States in 1860 when he was 51. That man was Abraham Lincoln who put
his trust in the power of persistent prayer coupled with
never-fading faith in God’s goodness. It took Winston Churchill
three years to get through the eighth grade, because he couldn’t
pass English! Ironically, he was asked many years later to give the
commencement address at Oxford University. His famous speech
consisted of only three words: “Never give up!" In today’s gospel
after teaching the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus instructs us that we should
never give up in our prayer life.
Repentance
It was evening and a woman came to my office profusely shedding
tears. She told me that her condition at home was miserable. She
neglected her children and was living a careless life with another
man out of wedlock and in the process of this relationship she
aborted 4 babies. Her daughter threatened to commit suicide recently
because she was feeling totally left out and felt no affection and
love towards parents. This woman felt absolutely sorry for all that
had been happening in her life. I could not give her a ready
solution. I told her that she should go for a short retreat and then
come to me for further counseling. She accepted this suggestion and
went for a retreat and came back to speak to me after a few days. I
saw her deep serenity and she told me that her daughter had been to
a priest for counseling and now she wishes to change and live a
peaceful life. This was the time I told her that she should rely on
God, and change her life style. I told her that she should always
say to herself that she needs God’s help.
Sinful Canaanites
What is unusual about the event in the Gospel is that the woman was
a Canaanite. In Deuteronomic and post-Deuteronomic literature, the
Canaanites were viewed as sinful race that embodied every possible
evil and godlessness. The Canaanites were viewed as a nation that
was to be exterminated. As it was not the general practice for the
Jewish people to mix with the Samaritans, it was not the general
practice for them to mix with the Canaanites. So what was Jesus to
do when He was approached by a race that was avoided by the Jewish
people?
- This woman refers to Jesus by the messianic title "son of David"
(15.22).
- At first, Jesus ignores the woman's request and the disciples
complain that she is badgering them (15.23).
- Jesus responds to them by saying that he was sent only to the lost
sheep of the house of Israel, i.e., the Jews (15.24).
- After the clever repartee, Jesus responds by saying that her faith
(or trust) is enormous and informs her directly that the exorcism is
fulfilled (15.28).
We see here the great faith of the woman, extraordinary courage to
approach Jesus, and her strong conviction that prayers will be
heard.
The coasts of Tyre and Sidon
These cities were on the sea-coast or shore of the Mediterranean (Mt
11.21). He went there for the purpose of concealment; perhaps still
to avoid Herod (Mk 7.24)..
A woman of Canaan
This woman is called also a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth (Mk
7.26). Anciently the whole land, including Tyre and Sidon, was in
the possession of the Canaanites, and called Canaan. The Phoenicians
were descended from the Canaanites. The country, including Tyre and
Sidon, was called Phoenicia, or Syro-Phoenicia. That country was
taken by the Greeks under Alexander the Great, and those cities, in
the time of Christ, were Greek cities. This woman was therefore a
Gentile, living under the Greek government, and probably speaking
the Greek language. She was by birth a Syro-Phoenician, born in that
country, and descended, therefore, from the ancient Canaanites. All
these names might with propriety be given to her.
He answered her not a word
This was done to test her faith, and that there might be exhibited
to the apostles an example of the effect of persevering
supplication. The result shows that it was not unwillingness to aid
her, or neglect of her. It was proper that the strength of her faith
should be fully tried. God does not answer our prayers immediately.
Often we feel that there is great silence. Of course God answers in
silence of our hearts.
I am not sent
This answer was made to the woman, not to the disciples. The lost
sheep of the house of Israel were the Jews. He came first to them.
He came as their expected Messiah. He came to preach the gospel
himself to the Jews only. Afterwards it was preached to the
Gentiles; but the ministry of Jesus was confined almost entirely to
the Jews.
She worshipped That is, bowed down to him, did him reverence. She saw in Jesus
certainly a divine person. She believed in him and had the assurance
that he would provide her whatever she wanted and the need would be
provided. She said Lord, help me. This is a proper cry for a poor
sinner, who needs the help of the Lord Jesus.
He answered
That is, it is not fit or proper. A stiff answer on the part of the
Lord. We do not know why the Lord answered her so impolitely. But
the circumstance shows that we need to become humble before God when
we ask something for ourselves.
Children's bread
The Jews considered themselves as loving children of God. To all
other nations they were accustomed to apply terms of contempt, of
which dog was the most common. It is designed as an expression of
the highest contempt. The Saviour means to say that he was sent to
the Jews. The woman was a Gentile. He meant, that it did not comport
with the design of his personal ministry to apply benefits intended
for the Jews to others.
Our Saviour did not intend to justify or sanction the use of such
terms, or calling names. He meant to try her faith. As if he had
said, "You are a Gentile. I am a Jew. The Jews call themselves
children of God. You they vilify, and abuse, calling you a dog. Are
you willing to receive of a Jew, then, a favour? Are you willing to
submit to these appellations, to receive a favour of one of that
nation, and to acknowledge your dependence on a people that so
despise you?" It was a trial of her faith, and not lending his
sanction to the propriety of the abusive term. He regarded her with
a different feeling.
Dogs eat the Crumbs
"What you say is true. Let it be that the best food should be given
to the children. Let the Jews have the chief benefit of thy
ministry. But the dogs, beneath the table, eat the crumbs. So let me
be regarded as a dog, a heathen, as unworthy of everything. Yet
grant one exertion of that almighty power, displayed so signally
among the Jews, and heal the despised daughter of a despised heathen
mother."
Great is thy faith
That is, thy trust, confidence. The word here seems to include,
also, the humility and perseverance manifested in pressing her suit.
The daughter was healed then. Going home, she found her well and
composed (Mk 7.30).
Practical Conclusion
We heard in the first reading that "The House of Prayer for all
peoples" (Is 56.7) formerly known as the Temple, is now called the
Church, the Church being the physical building in which the faithful
worship the Lord God. If you recall, Jesus made reference to the
"House of Prayer for all the nations" (Mt 21.13; Mk 11.17; Jn 2.16)
when He drove the money- changers from the Temple. In the Gospel of
John (Jn 2.13-22) the application of the House of Prayer is
developed to mean more than the physical building of gathering for
worship. The House of Prayer, the Temple, is defined as consisting
of Jesus' own body. Jesus offers himself in service to all nations
and people. The woman in the Gospel of today is symbolic of our
willingness to reach out to all kinds of people in service. Faith in
God can make all such things happen.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
19th Sunday in Ordinary Time : Year: A
1 Kgs 19.9, 11-13; Rm 9.1-5; Mt 14.22-33
Door to successful living
Thousands upon thousands of young boys grow up bouncing basketballs
and dreaming of a life in the National Basketball Association - the
professional ranks. But only a handful are chosen each year. Woe to
the young man or young woman who is talented at sports but neglects
his or her education! Thousands upon thousands of new businesses are
started each year, but only a small number of people in our society
become super-successful in material terms. The higher you go up the
scale, the smaller the numbers become. Thousands upon thousands of
young couples each year stand at the altars of churches like this
one and pledge their love to one another, but half these marriages
will end in divorce. Many couples will stay together only for
convenience, for appearances or for the children. Only an estimated
10% will find true fulfillment in their marriages. The door to any
kind of successful living is a narrow one. That is why Jesus reminds
us in today’s gospel: "Strive to enter by the narrow door, for many
I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able." Successful
living requires making hard choices. It requires dedication and
sacrifice. How can Christian faith demand any less?
The narrow gate
Someone once said to Padarewski, the great pianist, "Sir, you are a
genius." He replied, "Madam, before I was a genius I was a drudge."
He continued: “If I missed practice one day, I noticed it; if I
missed practice two days, the critics noticed it; if I missed three
days, my family noticed it; if I missed four days, my audience
noticed it. It is reported that after one of Fritz Kreisler's
concerts a young woman said to him, "I would give my life to be able
to play like that." He replied, "That's what I gave.” The door is
narrow. Why should we think we can "drift" into the Kingdom of God?
The Christian life is a constant striving to do the will of God as
Jesus revealed it. We need to strive because there are forces of
evil within us and around us, trying to pull us down.
The Commitment
Robin and Wilma loved one another. They decided to marry. Kids were
born. Wilma gave up working because she had to take care of kids. As
months and years passed the stress of life and distance between
Robin and Wilma due to work resulted a strain in their relationship
and commitment. Both of them began blaming themselves. Then they
started blaming one another and finally they blamed God. As the kids
were growing, unhappiness became visible among the family members.
Wilma stopped communicating with Robin, Robin began sinking in
alcoholism. Wilma began sinking in depression and doubt against
Robin. Children began sinking in irresponsible behaviour and
addicted to bad friendships, smoking, and frustration.
Life is a Blend
Well, life is a blend of commitment, faith, patience, love,
forgiveness and understanding. This blend can take a family a long
way in spite of all the uncertainties and sufferings. But doubt can
really sink us as it sank Peter, unless we call upon the Lord to
help us we would drown all together in the ocean of insecurity and
pain.
Just look at Peter. Over enthusiastic, and wants to walk towards the
Lord on water. At the Lord’s word he jumps. Then he begins to doubt
himself, “can I do it”? Then he looks at the deep sea, and doubts
the environment, finally he might have doubted the Lord. Well, then
comes the helpless cry, “Lord save me”.
To get into a boat
Either they were afraid to return into the jurisdiction of Herod, or
they were unwilling to embark without their Lord and Protector, and
would not enter their boat till Christ had commanded them to embark.
From this verse it appears that Christ gave some advices to the
multitudes after the departure of his disciples, which he did not
wish them to hear and went towards Capernaum, Matthew 14.34. John
6.16,17, or Bethsaida, see Mark 6.45.
He went up to pray
He whom God has employed in a work of mercy had need to return, by
prayer, as speedily, to his maker, as he can, lest he should be
tempted to value himself on account of that in which he has no
merit-for the good that is done upon earth, the Lord does it alone.
Some make this part of our Lord's conduct emblematic of the spirit
and practice of prayer, and observe that the proper dispositions and
circumstances for praying well are.
Retirement from the world;
Elevation of the heart to God;
Solitude; and
The silence and quiet of the night
It is certain that in this Christ has left us an example that we
should follow his steps. Retirement from the world is often a means
of animating, supporting, and spiritualizing prayer. Other society
should be shut out, when a soul comes to converse with God.
Tossed with waves Grievously agitated. This is the proper meaning of the word
plunged under the waves, frequently covered with them; the waves
often breaking over the vessel.
The fourth watch
Anciently the Jews divided the night into three watches, consisting
of four hours each. The first watch is mentioned, Lamentations 2.19.
the second, Judges 7.19; and the third, Exodus 14.24; but a fourth
watch is not mentioned in any part of the OLD Testament. This
division the Romans had introduced in Judea, as also the custom of
dividing the day into twelve hours. see John 11.9. The first watch
began at six o'clock in the evening, and continued till nine; the
second began at nine, and continued till twelve; the third began at
twelve, and continued till three next morning; and the fourth began
at three, and continued till six. It was therefore between the hours
of three and six in the morning that Jesus made his appearance to
his disciples.
Walking on the sea
Thus suspending the laws of gravitation was a proper manifestation
of unlimited power. Jesus did this by his own power; therefore Jesus
showed forth his Godhead. In this one miracle we may discover
three.-1. Though at a distance from his disciples, he knew their
distress. 2. He found them out on the lake, and probably in the
midst of darkness. 3. He walked upon the water. Job, speaking of
those things whereby the omnipotence of God was demonstrated, says
particularly, Job 9.8, He walks upon the waves of the sea.
intimating that this was impossible to any thing but Omnipotence.
“It is a spirit”
That the spirits of the dead might and did appear, was a doctrine
held by the greatest and holiest of men that ever existed; and a
doctrine which the cavaliers, free-thinkers and bound-thinkers, of
different ages, have never been able to disprove.
“It is I; be not afraid”
Nothing but this voice of Christ could, in such circumstances, have
given courage and comfort to his disciples. those who are grievously
tossed with difficulties and temptations require a similar
manifestation of his power and goodness. When he proclaims himself
in the soul, all sorrow, and fear, and sin are at an end.
Bid me come on the water
A weak faith is always wishing for signs and miracles. To take
Christ at his word, argues not only the perfection of faith, but
also the highest exercise of sound reason. He is to be credited on
his own word, because he is the TRUTH, and therefore can neither lie
nor deceive.
Peter-walked on the water
However impossible the thing commanded by Christ may appear, it is
certain he will give power to accomplish it to those who receive his
word by faith; but we must take care never to put Christ's power to
the proof for the gratification of a vain curiosity; or even for the
strengthening of our faith, when the ordinary means for doing that
are within our reach.
When he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid
It was by faith in the power of Christ he was upheld; when that
faith failed, by which the laws of gravitation were suspended, no
wonder that those laws returned to their usual action, and that he
began to sink. It was not the violence of the winds, nor the raging
of the waves, which endangered his life, but his littleness of
faith.
Jesus stretched forth his hand
Every moment we stand in need of Christ. while we stand-we are
upheld by his power; and when we are falling, or have fallen, we can
be saved only by his mercy. Let us always take care that we do not
consider so much the danger to which we are exposed, as the power of
Christ by which we are to be upheld; and then our faith is likely to
stand strong.
The wind ceased Jesus is the Prince of peace, and all is peace and calm where he
condescends to enter and abide.
Thou art the Son of God
It is probable that these words were spoken either by the sailors or
passengers, and not by the disciples. Critics have remarked that,
when this phrase is used to denominate the Messiah, both the
articles are used, and that the words without the articles mean, in
the common Jewish phrase, a Divine person. It would have been a
strange thing indeed, if the disciples, after all the miracles they
had seen Jesus work, after their having left all to follow him,
Messiah. That they had not as yet clear conceptions concerning his
kingdom, is evident enough; but that they had any doubts concerning
his being the promised Messiah is far from being clear.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
18th Sunday in Ordinary Time : Year: A
Is 55.1-3; Rm 8.35, 37-39; Mt 14.13-21
The Lost Hand I was watching a YouTube video of a man who had lost his right
hand in an accident long back. He procured help from his friends and
is now able to use an electronically managed artificial hand. I
found the man extremely happy to use this hand and he attempts to
operate it well. I could find on his face immense happiness and I
felt a deep compassion for this man. I entered into myself and felt
how fortunate I am having both hands. Whole day I spent praising God
for the gift of hands and at the same time I felt deep compassion
towards those who have lost one or the other physical faculty of
their body due to accidents, sickness or by birth.
Compassion Today compassion is not there among people. Jesus felt
compassion towards the flock that was poor, miserable, helpless,
sick, down trodden. Today people have many things in their life, but
we find people complaining for things they do not have. They are
blind, and do not see what God has done to them. It is enough to
visit some hospitals to discover how people suffer immensely due to
multiple causes of sickness, accidents and other grave reasons.
Compassionate Jesus
"He had compassion for them and cured their sick!" (Mt 14.14) Jesus
had compassion for His flock, the restless souls that followed Him
wherever He went so that He could feed them with spiritual food that
comes from the richness of the Word of God. By answering their
calling, these hungry ones were enriched with spiritual food that
healed their souls. Through the Lord Jesus, they received spiritual
knowledge and understanding of the mysteries of God, inclining them
to continue to desire more and more.
When facing suffering, pain, persecution, famine or even death,
where do we turn? Do we do as Jesus did when He heard that Herod had
beheaded John the Baptist? Do we turn to God through the Lord Jesus,
the only begotten Son of God? Jesus calls us, "Come to me, all you
that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you
rest" (Mt 27.11).
Multiplication of Bread
The mentioning of the loaves of bread and the fish in today's
reading of the Gospel was symbolic. They foreshadowed what was to
come after the death and glorious Resurrection of our Lord Jesus.
The fish echoes the Words of Jesus to Peter and Andrew, "Follow Me,
and I will make you fishers of people" (Mt 4.19). The bread echoes
the ministry of the priesthood in the Holy Catholic Church. It
echoes the calling of holy men to become holy priests as instruments
of God. Through these holy men, the Church Sacraments are
administered and souls are saved.
When Jesus heard that Herod had beheaded John the Baptist, he
withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the
crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he
went ashore, Jesus saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them
and cured their sick.
Jesus and the Crowd
Jesus doesn't see the crowd as being an ignorant bunch of fools who
need proper teaching about the Bible or about the church or about
the kingdom. Jesus sees the crowd as people with problems, people
with illnesses, people, who are hungry. Perhaps we think too much
and spend too much time and energy just trying to teach people. What
about their other needs?
I've often used this quote from the course Witnesses for Christ,
"You don't throw a drowning person a sandwich no matter how good the
sandwich is." For news to be truly good, it has to meet some need of
the hearer/receiver.
Jesus also suggests that prayers may be answered in different ways.
The sick are healed instantly by Jesus alone. They present their
needs and Jesus responds.
The hungry are fed after a lot of work by the disciples.
The disciples don't actually present to Jesus the need of the crowd,
but their solution: "Send the crowds away so that they may go into
the villages and buy food for themselves" (v. 15). It seems like a
reasonable request. Boring writes:
The disciples assume (or hope) that the village markets will be able
to cope with crowds of five thousand plus. Contrary to Jesus'
teaching, they look first to the imperial economy to supply the
need, rather than to God (6.25-34)
How often are our prayers asking God to bless our plans, rather than
putting ourselves at God's disposal?
Feed them
Jesus tells them, "They need not go away; you give them something to
eat" (v. 16). Note that the use of "you" is emphasized in Greek. Why
does Jesus do this? Perhaps it was a word that the disciples needed
to hear. When Jesus sees the sick, he heals. When he sees the
ignorant, he teaches. When he sees the demon-possessed, he
exorcises. When he sees the hungry, he provides food. When he sees
disciples, he challenges them to go to work: "You do something."
(Or, more specifically, "feed the hungry.")
Have you ever thought about how much work it would be to distribute
food to 5000 men, besides women and children -- and then to clean up
the mess? Could it be significant that there were 12 disciples and
12 baskets of garbage picked up at the end?
It would have been so much easier for the disciples if Jesus had
done what they asked, "Send the people away." He will do that later
in v. 22.
There certainly could have been other ways of feeding the hungry
that didn't involve so much work by the disciples. Jesus could have
miraculously made the people's hunger pains disappear. If Jesus was
going to miraculously make food appear -- why not have it appear in
the stomachs -- no work for the disciples and no garbage to clean
up. Jesus could have waved his hand and the magic words, "Colonel
Sanders," and every family would have their own bucket of chicken
right in front of them.
As I suggested in other notes, Matthew has an emphasis that being
disciples means more than just being learners. It also means being
workers. This text also suggests that the disciples need to be
stewards of the meager resources at their disposal.
Sometimes, for divine miracles to occur, disciples may have to do a
lot of work. Perhaps that is a difference between disciples and the
crowds. While all received the benefit of the miracle; the disciples
were asked to work and work hard to make it happen -- and then to
clean up the mess -- each had one of the twelve baskets to fill up.
Along this line Boring states: "However the story is interpreted,
Jesus' charge to his disciples stands: 'You give them something to
eat.' The source of the feeding is God, but the resources are human.
The work of the disciples, the "bread" of human effort, is honored,
used, and magnified by Jesus."
The First Temptation
One might also make a comparison/contrast between the first and the
other two temptations. In Matthew's account, the Tempter's first
request is to turn stones (plural) into loaves (plural) of bread (Mt
4.3). (In Luke's account stones and loaves are singular.) In
Matthew, it does not seem to be a temptation just to feed himself,
but to do some miracle where much bread is produced. This is perhaps
a temptation to do something that brings glory to himself even
though it may provide food for the hungry. In that wilderness it was
neither the proper time nor motivation to miraculously provide food.
When he does miraculously feed the crowds, it seems unlikely to me
that the crowds even knew about the miracle that produced the bread.
They just received a portion from the disciples. Jesus did what was
needed without drawing great attention to himself -- especially
himself as a miracle worker. His act was not motivated by the
Tempter. It was not motivated by his desire for personal glory. He
just blessed the food before a meal as was usual in Jewish families.
With such a large crowd, some probably didn't even hear his prayer
or see him looking up into heaven.
Eucharist and Eschatology
Matthew has a stronger connection between this feeding and the Last
Supper (Mt 26.20-29). The verbs "take, bless, broke, & give" are
exactly the same in Greek (although their forms and tenses may
differ) in both contexts. (There are slight differences of words in
comparing these two texts in the other synoptics.) In addition, in
Matthew, the fish disappear during distribution.
Also in Matthew there is a greater hint that this feast prefigures
the end time feast. Matthew's other use of the Greek anaklino = "lie
(sit) down" = "lie/sit at a table to eat" (v. 19) is in 8.11: "Many
will come from east and west and will eat with Abraham and Isaac in
the kingdom of heaven."
It's hard to tell where the crowd came from to meet Jesus on the
beach (v. 14). Often trips in a boat signified going to a Gentile
territory (8.28; 14.34) or back to Jewish lands (9.1). Whether they
were Jews or Gentiles or both, it was a "great crowd" (v. 14),
probably coming from east and west.
He was Alone
After John's death, Jesus seeks to be alone. The crowds don't allow
it. But after caring for their needs, he dismisses the crowds, and
he goes up the mountain by himself to pray (v. 23). We all struggle
with dividing our time and energies caring for our own needs and
caring for the needs of others - our time alone with God and our
time together with the saints and the needy. According to family
systems theory, this is a primary tension that each healthy person
(or group) faces. Caring for self (as an individual and as a group)
and caring for others are both important. An over-emphasis on either
leads to unhealthy narcissism or enmeshment.
I think that we also need to struggle with "salvation by grace
through faith" and the demand to bear good fruit. James 2.14-17
says: "What good is it my brothers and sisters, if you say you have
faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or
sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them,
'Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,' [same word as in Mt
14.20] and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the
good of that? Faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead."
Get to do something
Theologically, I am aware of the heresies of Pelagius and his little
brother Semi. We can't add anything to God's gift of salvation.
However, practically speaking, we can't just pray that God would
provide housing for the homeless or food to the hungry or money in
the offering plate. We need to spend a week or more working for
Habitat for Humanity. We need to send money to Hunger Appeals and
food to food banks. We need to be generous with our regular giving
to the church.
I wonder what might happen if at all our congregational potluck
meals we invited the homeless and poor to come and eat; know that
they couldn't bring a dish to share. Certainly, most of our
congregations donate to food banks to feed the poor and hungry; but
what about the fellowship that comes about by gathering in groups
and eating together? Don't they also need that?
In our text the disciples express concern for the needs of the
crowd. They bring those needs to Jesus. We need to pray for others.
Sometimes Jesus' answer to our intercessions is, "You do something
about it." We might push the answer even further, "I've provided you
with food, and distribute it. I've provided you with money donate
some. I've provided you with time and abilities, volunteer them."
Frequently the image of the church as a "hospital for sinners" is
used. That is a good corrective to the impression that it is a "club
for saints." However, as a "hospital for sinners," in order for the
church to do its "healing" ministry, it will need dedicated,
committed, and trained workers and volunteers, just like a hospital
needs doctors, nurses, administrators, dieticians, housekeepers,
volunteers, etc. Sometimes we come to church being more of a sinner
in need of healing -- a consumer. (Especially using the image of
Holy Communion where we consume Christ in bread and wine,
consumerism may not be a bad image for the church). Sometimes we
come to church being more of a volunteer to bring God's miracles to
other sinners - a contributor.
From what I've read about the early church, primarily Hippolytus of
Rome, they were more concerned about right living than they were
about right theology. For example, he has a list of unacceptable
occupations, which had to be given up in order to join the church,
e.g., prostitution. Baptismal sponsors testified to the behaviors of
the candidates, not the orthodoxy of their faith-statements. At the
same time he also has the first clear reference to baptizing infants
before they can speak or do anything. I also realize that Hippolytus
is not scriptures or part of our confessions; but with our many
consumer-minded church members' "serve me" attitudes, perhaps we
need to stress the need for contributing-minded church members with
a "serve others" attitude. Divine miracles can require a lot of
human work.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
17th Sunday in Ordinary Time : Year: A
1 Kgs 3.5-12; Rm 8.28-30; Mt 13.44-52
What is then the Kingdom of Heaven?
There is an old fable in which the mighty oak tree which stood for
over one hundred years finally was blown over by a storm. The tree
fell into a river that floated it downstream until it came to rest
among the reeds growing along the riverbank. The fallen giant asked
the reeds in amazement, "How is it that you were able to weather the
storm that was too powerful for me, an oak tree, to withstand?"
The reeds replied, "All these years you stubbornly resisted the
winds that swept your way. You took such pride in your strength that
you refused to yield, even a little bit. We, on the other hand, have
not resisted the winds, but have always bent with them. We
recognized the superior power of the wind and so, the harder the
wind blew the more we humbled ourselves before it."
Compare the serene and simple splendour of a rose in bloom with the
tensions and restlessness of your life. The rose has a gift that you
lack. His perfectly content to be itself. It has not been programmed
from birth as you have been, to be dissatisfied with itself, so it
has not the slightest urge to be anything other than it is. That is
why it possesses the artless grace and absence of inner conflict
that among humans is only found in little children and mystics.
The Buried Treasures
The Gospel metaphors of a buried treasure and the pearl of great
price speak as clearly today as they did long ago. However, the
methods Jesus allowed of the wise individuals seeking such priceless
items make less constructive sense in our era. Indeed, to discover
buried treasure on someone else’s land (by trespassing?) and then to
purchase that land keeping the rightful owner ignorant of what he or
she has would be considered serious fraud today. And, the mere
purchase of the greatest pearl by liquidating all of one’s assets
might not actually bring any genuine advantage beyond simple status
of ownership. It might well be considered excess and obsessive
pride.
The Dragnet
The image of a fishing dragnet might strike modern believers as
harsh, but it does point out the sad situation of being called and
chosen even passively, only to be excluded when that passivity
yields to apathy and ingratitude. I’ve pointed out before that the
ancient Christians were quite apocalyptic in their appreciation of
the created universe and in their expectation of how all creation
might come to an end within a few human generations. Our modern
appreciations and expectations have evolved and sophisticated
commensurate with the modern sciences of cosmology and anthropology,
so we can and must truly assert that ours is not an apocalyptic
Church and we are far more sophisticated and nuanced than were
believers in that original audience. We do not look forward to nor
even expect God the Creator to eventually destroy the universe or
the peoples of the planet. Rather, our understanding of God’s
Salvation has evolved, expanded, and enlarged so that God’s gracious
gift of life and the fullness of loving life might be lost on no one
at all. This is a huge shift from ancient times and can irritate and
destabilize the expectations and beliefs of some Christians who
pretend to live in an out-of-date cosmology and in an out-of-date
anthropology. Some simply cannot imagine what “infinite mercy” and
“perfect love” of the Creator God might entail for the Created
Universe. The kingdom metaphor of the dragnet is no longer about
those who fail to believe, but rather it is about us who do actively
believe. It exhorts us to be active, not passive, in our daily
faith. We ought to cultivate sufficient appreciation of God’s
goodness so as to appreciate our calling to Gospel life.
Change of Mind
Ultimately, all three metaphors (a buried treasure, a pearl of great
price, and a dragnet) are fully appreciated only by the genuine
“scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven.” You are
that scribe! The Kingdom of Heaven was the very point of what Jesus
preached in his Gospel. The imperative from Jesus upon the
announcement of that Kingdom was that hearers must “repent” and
“believe.” The Greek word which finds its way into our English
translation as “repent” is “metanoia” which literally means “change
your mind” or “go beyond your mind” or “think again” or “keep
thinking” or “reconsider!” Each of us ought to be a scribe
instructed in the Kingdom of Heaven who’s minds and imaginations are
alive with ideas of how to live the Gospel of hope and justice!
Who finds a Hidden Treasure? The traditional view is that the man who finds the hidden
treasure is the Christian believer. We discover the kingdom of God,
and it is so precious to us that we give all that we have to obtain
it.
Imagine a field-buyer and the merchant as speaking of the believer,
in a "count-the-cost" sort of admonition. I believe that this is the
traditional and popular view on the passage.
There is, of course, nothing at all wrong with that attitude,
indeed, we should all have it. But as commendable as the attitude
might be, it’s not what the passage is about. The argument begins
with the claim that Jesus speaks of the same thing in each of the
parables. That seems pretty obvious. Now consider the last of the
three kingdom parables – the one about the fisherman and the fish.
The Lessons
Consider your sad condition. You are always dissatisfied with
yourself, always wanting to change yourself. So you are full of
violence and self-intolerance, which only grows with every effort
that you make to change yourself. So any change you achieve is
always accompanied by inner conflict. And you suffer when you see
others achieve what you have not and become what you are not.
Like the Rose? Would you be tormented by jealousy and envy if, like the rose,
you were content to be what you are and never aspired to what you
are not? But you are driven are you not, to be like someone else who
has more knowledge, better looks, more popularity or success than
you? You want to become more virtuous, more loving, more meditative;
you want to find God, to come closer to your ideals. Think of the
sad history of your efforts at self-improvement, that either ended
in disaster or succeeded only at the cost of struggle and pain.
Aim at the Kingdom
Now suppose you desisted from all efforts to change yourself, and
from all self-dissatisfaction, would you then be doomed to go to
sleep having passively accepted everything in you and around you?
There is another way besides laborious self-pushing on the one hand
and stagnant acceptance on the other. It is the way of
self-understanding. This is far from easy because to understand what
you are requires complete freedom from all desire to change what you
are into something else. You will see this if you compare the
attitude of a scientist who studies the habits of ants without the
slightest desire to change them with the attitude of a dog trainer
who studies the habits of a dog with a view to making it learn
something. If what you attempt is not to change yourself but to
observe yourself, to study every one of your reactions to people and
things, without judgement or condemnation or desire to reform
yourself, your observation will be non-selective, comprehensive,
never fixed in rigid conclusions, always open and fresh from moment
to moment. Then you will notice a marvellous thing happening within
you. you will be flooded with the light of awareness, you will
become transparent and transformed and you will certainly find the
kingdom of God within you (Lk 17.21).
Is Change a Remedy? Will change occur then? Oh, yes it will be in you and in your
surroundings. But it will not be brought about by your cunning,
restless ego that is forever competing, comparing, coercing,
sermonizing, manipulating in its intolerance and its ambitions,
thereby creating tension and conflict and resistance between you and
Nature — an exhausting, self-defeating process like driving with
your brakes on. No, the transforming light of awareness brushes
aside your scheming, self-seeking ego to give nature full rein to
bring about the kind of change that she produces in the rose;
artless, graceful, unself-conscious, wholesome, untainted by inner
conflict.
Since all change is violent she will be violent. But the marvellous
quality of Nature-violence, unlike ego-violence, is that it does not
spring from intolerance and self-hatred. So there is no anger in the
rainstorm that carries everything before it, or the fish that devour
their young in obedience to ecological laws we know not, or body
cells when they destroy each other in the interest of a higher good.
When Nature destroys, it is not from ambition or greed or
self-aggrandisement, but in obedience to mysterious laws that seek
the good of the whole universe above the survival and well-being of
the parts.
Practical Conclusion Kingdom of God is never attained by violence. It is this kind of
violence that arises within mystics who storm against ideas and
structures that have become entrenched in their societies and
cultures when awareness awakens them to evils their contemporaries
are blind to. It is this violence that causes the rose to come into
being in the face of forces hostile to it. And it is to this
violence that the rose, like the mystic, will sweetly succumb after
it has opened its petals to the sun and lives in fragile, feeling
loveliness, quite unconcerned to add a single extra minute to its
allotted span of life. And so it lives in blessedness and beauty
like the birds of the air and the flowers of the field, with no
trace of the restlessness and dissatisfaction, the jealousy and
anxiety and competitiveness that characterize the world of human
beings who seek to control and coerce rather than be content to
flower into awareness, leaving all charge to the mighty force of God
in nature.
This is the Kingdom Jesus preached through multiple parables to make
us understand that the reality of God’s kingdom is here, now, around
you and within you (Lk 17.21).
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
16th Sunday in Ordinary Time ; Year: A
Wis 12.13, 16-19; Rm 8.26-27; Mt 13.24-43
Weeds Grow
Lenon, a young man approached me saying that he was feeling totally
lost in his life. He had no job, and was in to many types of
addictions. I tried to guide him, help him. In the process I
discovered that as soon as he finished his 10th, he was out with the
youth, especially in the college. He was told that going for mass,
visiting church and praying was the task of old ladies. So slowly he
gave up all that he learnt from his childhood. All this happened
over two years of his college life. He would never come for mass,
never pray. Gradually he entered into the habit of drinking alcohol
with his friends, wasted money and now he is weak, jobless, and
suffers intensely. What made this young man lose all that he had
learnt? Bad talk, bad thoughts, and bad friendship. Wheat grows,
weeds also grow, but at times weeds out number wheat, and the entire
crop is destroyed.
The Six Seashells
Many years ago, missionary Bob Roberts was a guest speaker in a
church. In this service he was sharing his burden for hungry
children in the Philippines. Afterwards a young boy, about seven
years old, came up to him and said, “Jesus spoke to me tonight while
you were telling us about the hungry children . . . When you said
that for a quarter a day you could feed a child and give him a
vitamin, I thought, I’ve got to help. But I didn’t know how I could.
That’s when Jesus spoke to me.” The lad extended his hand and said,
“This is my shell collection. I believe Jesus wants me to give these
shells to help the children.” With those words, he placed the shells
in Roberts’ hand. Roberts accepted the shells, but he wondered how
they could help hungry children.
A few weeks later, Roberts spoke to another congregation. Reaching
into his pocket, he pulled out the seashells and told about that boy
and his desire to feed hungry children. At the end of the service, a
man approached Roberts and said, “I would like to purchase those
shells for $100!”
Bob Roberts added this comment, “My freckle-faced friend may never
know that his sacrificial offering provided 400 meals for Filipino
children. He may not have understood how the Lord would use this
small gift to feed the hungry, but he knew God wanted him to give
what he had…”
The Good Seed
Last Sunday we meditated on the parable of the sower. Jesus
explained the parable to the disciples and they were satisfied.
Today we meditate on the parable of the good seed that fell on the
good ground and then the seed sprouted and the workers noticed that
there were also weeds along with the good. Now the dilemma, what to
do with the darnel, or the weed? Do they have to weed the weeds?
Jesus cautions them. Let them grow, when the time for the harvest
comes, you can pluck them first, bundle them and burn.
Modern Situation
My son and my daughter were very good. Now they are not. Modern
world, school, market, malls, play stations, cyber cafés are the
places where they gather good and evil. Bad seeds sown in school and
college campuses must be rooted out and parents have greater role in
weeding them gradually and slowly at the same velocity of getting
them sown. Of course when the weed is already grown, some parents
use humiliating language and violent means of facing such
situations. Of course Jesus says you need to have patience.
Weeding the Weeds
How to weed the weeds? There is a method proposed. Leave the weed to
grow. When both the wheat and weed have grown, it is easier to pluck
the weed out. So what we should do? We need to allow all that is
good to grow, and the evil will have a lesser chance to overpower
the good. So, if you are good in some areas of your life, continue
to be good, and let the evil be there, but be watchful, it will die
out or it will be easier to pluck the evil through the power of the
good. Do not allow the weed to grow and choke the good. Concentrate
on good, and then you will see a marked change in your approach.
Find out the goodness you have. Just do not concentrate on the bad
habits. For example, if you are good at listening music, go ahead,
and monopolize this habit, and your habit at bad thoughts will
disappear.
You are in the habit of watching bad movies, continue to watch
movies that are good. The desire for bad movies will die eventually.
Then try to overcome addiction to good movies too. That will help
you get out of this vice.
Let us analyze the passage
• He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man,
• the field is the world;
• and the good seed, these are the children of the kingdom;
• and the darnel are the children of the evil one.
• The enemy who sowed them is the devil.
• The harvest is the end of the age,
• and the reapers are angels.
Four parables in Matthew Chapter 13 deal with "Nominalism" in the
visible church. Christ is not the only one sowing seed, the devil is
also. But while Christ sows the Word of God, the devil sows lies. If
one responds properly to the Word of God, he becomes a son of God.
But if one responds to the devil instead, he becomes a son of the
devil. There are only these two kinds and these are distinct. There
are no "half weed, half wheat" hybrids. "He who has the Son has
life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life." 1John
5.12 You are either one or the other.
However, this is not to say that it is necessarily easy to
distinguish between the two. "Jesus was referring to a weed called a
"darnel", which looks exactly like wheat in its young stages and, in
fact, only the expert can distinguish some species of this darnel
from true wheat. Later on, the differences are remarkable. The
darnel has far smaller seeds than wheat, and it is claimed that
these seeds, when ground to flour, are poisonous, due perhaps to a
particular fungus which develops in the seed itself!" (from
Zondervan's Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible.) An appropriate
description of the devil's seed!
Examine the Fruits
It becomes easier to distinguish them when they grow to maturity and
produce fruits. "Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them (Mt
7.20). Paul, disturbed at their behavior, even questioned the
Corinthians. "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the
faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in
you unless, of course, you fail the test?" (II Cor 13.5) And how do
you test yourself? By examining the out workings of your faith. "No
one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed
remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of
God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the
children of the devil are. Anyone who does not do what is right is
not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother (1Jn
3.9,10). But though the distinctions may be subtle now, they will be
clear in the judgment. A weed may be growing next to a stalk of
wheat and think it has a common destiny with the wheat. But its end
is destruction. The weed is also harmful to the wheat, its roots
trying to starve the wheat from its source. False brethren can even
become institutional leaders and bring much harm to the maturity of
the believers. In his final farewell, Paul speaks to the elders of
the church at Ephesus. "I know that after I leave, savage wolves
will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your
own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw
away disciples after them (Acts 20.29,30)
Hidden Leaven
Though it might seem counterintuitive, Jesus almost certain intended
these parables of hiddenness as an encouragement to his disciples.
There was no point denying what they could plainly see. The crowds
following Jesus were a mixture of weeds and wheat: some were
faithful and generous, to be sure, but there must have also been the
merely curious, the insincere, and the traitorous. Christ’s words
must have then appeared the smallest of seeds. They brought him
ridicule from influential circles, from those that seemed most able
to shape public opinion and determine “political correctness.”
Christ’s healing ministry must likewise have come across as a very
hidden leaven: Jesus healed somewhat at random, most often helping
those who counted for little in the eyes of the world. The
temptation to discouragement must have been strong.
Refusing the Oath of Supremacy
Nor was the age of the apostles unique in this regard. We might also
think of how St. Thomas More, patron of this Church, experienced the
Kingdom. More would have experienced firsthand the impossibility of
discerning the weeds from the wheat in his own life. Even in 16th
Century England, in a nation that considered itself Catholic to a
person, More found himself one of only six citizens refusing the
Oath of Supremacy. To all appearances, the true faith was everywhere
in retreat, driven underground by the King, abandoned by the clergy.
Its few defenders imprisoned. How strong the temptation to lose
heart must have been! And doesn’t this same temptation to
discouragement touch our lives too? The good wheat seems so hard to
identify; scandals emerge precisely among those who presented
themselves as most dependable. The impression grows that the Church
is reverting to seed—her disciplines less appealing to the young,
her message less influential in culture, her voice more marginalized
in centers of policy and learning. The doubt begins to rise in our
hearts—will His kingdom endure? Or is it a spent force, destined to
lose ground indefinitely?
Practical Conclusion Through today’s three parables, Christ speaks the same message
to his disciples, to St. Thomas More, and to us: “Take heart!” My
victory is slow and hidden, but it is sure. In every land and in
every age, my good wheat is ripening, and is being gathered into the
barns of eternal life. Though weeds temporarily obscure the growth,
they cannot stop it. Though the worldly influence of the Church
fall, still, the leaven of my life is rising in generous hearts. In
the end, my truth will tower like a tree above all the lies and all
the confusion arrayed against it. And those who have held fast to
that truth will make their eternal home in its branches
Fr. Rudolf V.D’Souza OCD
15th Sunday in Ordinary Time : Year: A
Is 55.10-1; Rm 8.18-23; Mt 13.1-23
You Reap what you Sow
There is a Chinese saying which carries the meaning that "A speech
will either prosper or ruin a nation." Many relationships break off
because of wrong speech. When a couple is too close with each other,
we always forget mutual respect and courtesy. We may say anything
without considering if it would hurt the other party.
Words Hurt
A friend and her millionaire husband visited their construction
site. A worker who wore a helmet saw her and shouted, "Hi, Emily!
Remember me? We used to date in the secondary school." On the way
home, her millionaire husband teased her, "Luckily you married me.
Otherwise you will be the wife of a construction worker." She
answered ,"You should appreciate that you married me. Otherwise, he
will be the millionaire and not you."
Frequently exchanging these remarks plants the seed for a bad
relationship. It's like a broken egg - cannot be reversed.
Jesus Spoke
Jesus came out of a house along the Sea of Galilee. There was such
large crowd that gathered to listen to Jesus that he is preaching
from a boat to the people on the shore. The large crowd was there
listening. But what kind of hearers were there? What kind of hearers
are there today?
Jesus tells us about four ways people respond to the gospel. This is
one of the parables that Jesus himself interprets. It tells how
truth enters or fails to enter the hearts of men.
Jesus uses an everyday truth of farmer sowing seed. As Jesus spoke
this he may have seen a farmer off in the distance scattering seed.
Here is what we find out about what Jesus really means when he
tells.
The story of the farmer sowing seed.
The Sower is the one who preaches the gospel.
The Seed is the Gospel.
The Soils are the conditions of the hearts of men.
The main point of the parable is the effect of the Gospel is
determined by the heart of the hearer. Because this is the main
point some people like to call this the parable of the soils. But
Jesus called this the parable of the sower in verse 18 when he says,
listen then to what the parable of the sower means.
Why do preachers of the gospel get discouraged? It is because they
have the most important message of all and yet so many people have
little regard for it. If you had the cure to cancer, you would tell
it to all. But it would be discouraging if no one acted on your
message.
But there is encouragement to all who share the gospel from the
parable of the sower. Not everyone will respond to your message, but
some will. That is something to be encouraged about. You can expect
people to respond in various ways.
Hard Hearted
As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the
birds came and ate it up (Mt 13.19). When anyone hears the message
about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and
snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown
along the path.
We sometimes speak of someone as hard-hearted. You just can’t get a
message into their hearts. This kind of person is represented by a
trodden path. This is the person who is closed to the gospel. They
may have a million different reasons but the bottom line is that
this is a person that is not interested to receive the gospel. We
find in vs 4 that some of the seed fell along the path. The path is
hard and not easily penetrated so the birds came and ate the seeds
sown along the path. Paths along the field become trampled by foot.
Soon these paths become as hard as pavement. What if you planted a
corn field in a paved parking lot? You would not get any crops. It
is not the kind of soil that will support the seed to grow into a
mature plant. The path is the hard heart of men. The bird is the
devil that snatches away the Gospel. The heart often becomes hard
over the years. After rejecting the gospel so many times they become
hardened. I talked to a man saved at age of forty years. He said the
odds of his being saved were one in three thousand.
There are so many people who have hardened their heart to the
gospel. They have become too hard hearted to respond to Jesus
message. They are the ones that make evangelization unpleasant. It
is dangerous when the young person thinks; I am young so I will live
my life according to the world’s ways and then in my later life
receive Christ. They may come to find out the moment of opportunity
is past for them and they have become hard hearted. Satan can snatch
the gospel from them, as easy as a bird eats the seed that falls on
the hard path.
Shallow Hearers Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It
sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun
came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they
had no root (Mt 13.20-21).The one who received the seed that fell on
rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it
with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When
trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls
away.
Some seeds will fall on rocky soil where the earth covers the rock.
The seeds can’t go deep. These seeds germinate quickly and spring up
very fast. But when the sun comes out there is no substance. The
plant withers and dies. The roots never really penetrated the soil.
Do you know the impulsive person? First they take up jogging and buy
jogging shoes, sweats, headband and a sports watch. They get up one
morning drink a raw egg and jog five miles. Afterwards they get sore
and tired and quit. Before you know it they have moved on to the
next activity. They are enticed into something else. Jesus spoke of
the spiritually impulsive person. Think of the crowds that were
willing to follow Jesus until things got tough. Even he is talking
about the shallow hearers to a massive crowd that gathered there at
the Sea of Galilee. Many of them would prove to be shallow hearers.
Here is the one who hears the gospel and responds openly and
emotionally. Troubles and trials come and that’s it for them. There
are gone. Many people make spur of the moment decisions and they are
gone. Others go from one great meeting to another with no real
commitment. They are Spiritual gypsies. They are shallow hearers.
The crowds are ready to gather and hear whoever is popular. But
Jesus path led him to the cross. He calls us to take up our own
cross and follow him. There are many superficial believers who will
just wilt away when the trials and tribulations come. These trials
work perseverance in true Christians.
The shallow hearers may be attracted to the blessings, abundant life
and heaven. But they don’t count the cost of discipleship. Following
Jesus is a call for obedience. After we have a negative experience
with the hard hearted we get excited when someone shows a quick
response to the gospel. But without really becoming rooted in Christ
they wilt away.
Compromising Hearer
Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants
(Mt 13.22). We have the luxury in this parable of having the
explanation of the meaning that Jesus gave in private to his
disciples. He gives us this explanation in vs 22.
The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man
who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the
deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. For some who
receive the gospel their spiritual life is choked out by the worries
of life. We have three enemies to our spiritual life; the world, the
flesh and the devil. The devil worked on the hard heated and
snatched away the seed. The flesh got the best of the shallow
hearer.
This time it is the cares of the world that choke out the sprouts
soon after the seed has been sown and the shoots start to sprout.
The deceitfulness of wealth is what ends the spiritual life of the
seed that falls among the thorns, the compromising hearer.
The deceitfulness of wealth is not limited just to the rich. The
poor who are working hard to get ahead can be snatched away
spiritually by wealth too. For the rich the trap of pursuing
luxuries and pleasures can choke out their spiritual life.
They may profess to follow Christ at one time. But now there is no
evidence of spiritual fruit. They have no spiritual power. Their
lives do not reflect the godliness of Jesus Christ. It is ironic
what some call the “good things in life” may actually be the briers
and thistles that choke out the gospel
Reproducing Disciple
Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a
hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown (Mt 13.23).
But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man
who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding
a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
Don’t be discouraged because some people you work with are not
continuing on in their walk with Christ. Some will produce spiritual
fruit yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. We
have a name for these kinds of people. We call them the super
spreaders. When researchers track down the infectors of certain
viruses they can sometimes point to a few who affected the masses.
You sow the gospel in the heart of one super spreader and they have
started a spiritual movement. The few that do! It is exciting when
someone responds and serves Jesus and reproduces.
Not everyone you share the gospel with will have hardened hearts.
You should have hope. There are those who will receive the gospel
for what it is, the words of eternal life. You don’t always know
when seed has fallen on good soil. We sow in hope. We are
anticipating the gospel seed to fall on good soil in a receptive
heart. When it does we reap one hundred fold. We will have joy when
we share the gospel. It is never easy to go out and share Christ
with others but there is a joy in it. Psalm 126.6 He who goes out
weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy,
carrying sheaves with him.
Practical Conclusion
There is a principle that when you sow abundantly you reap
abundantly. “Remember this. Whoever sows sparingly will also reap
sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously”
(II Cor 9.6).
This passage may be talking about your financial giving, but the
laws of sowing and reaping apply to sharing the gospel. The more you
share Jesus Christ, the more seed that will fall on good soil.
'As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return
there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and
sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall
the word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me
empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in
the thing for which I sent it'" (Is 55.10-1).
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
14th Sunday in Ordinary Time : Year: A
Zech 9.9-10; Rm 8.9,11-13 Mt 11.25-30
Captured and Crucified At one point early in Julius Caesar's political career, feelings
ran so high against him that he thought it best to leave Rome. He
sailed for the Aegean island of Rhodes, but en route the ship was
attacked by pirates and Caesar was captured. The pirates demanded a
ransom of 12,000 gold pieces, and Caesar's staff was sent away to
arrange the payment. Caesar spent almost 40 days with his captors,
jokingly telling the pirates on several occasions that he would
someday capture and crucify them. The kidnappers were greatly
amused, but when the ransom was paid and Caesar was freed, the first
thing he did was gathering a fleet pursues the pirates. They were
captured and crucified! Such was the Romans' attitude toward
crucifixion. It was to be reserved for the worst of criminals, a
means of showing extreme contempt for the condemned. The suffering
and humiliation of a Roman crucifixion were unequaled.
Nature’s Secrets
A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening
appeared, he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it
struggled to force its body through that little hole.
Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had
gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther.
Then the man decided to help the butterfly, so he took a pair of
scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The
butterfly emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small,
shriveled wings.
The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that,
at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to
support the body, which would contract in time.
Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its time
crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It was
never able to fly.
What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that
the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly
to get through the tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from
the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready
for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.
Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If God
allowed us to go through our life without any obstacles it would
cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been.
And we could never fly.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you
rest.”
The Invitation Jesus invites all who want rest, to come to Him, the source of
rest. The invitation is not come to a religion and follow a program
of rules and requirements. That is what many of the Jews experienced
under the Pharisees. They had 613 commandments in addition to
interpretations of how to fulfill these commandments. They took
God’s Word and made it into a burden. We may not go to this extreme
but there are many books offering a formula on how to have a blessed
life. They give us the 7 keys, the 10 ways, the 4 steps to a happy,
blessed, life. Many of these books can be helpful but to find rest
we need to follow Jesus’ recipe who has the rest to give. Jesus
invitation is not to a list of rules or a formula for success.
Come to Me
Jesus says if you want rest then come to Him. He invites us to have
a relationship with Him but we have a problem and that is to be in
relationship with God we must be righteous as God is righteous but
we are not righteous; we are sinners. Sure there are people worse
than us but that does not change the fact that we are still sinners
and God cannot accept sin. We can do nothing to remove our sin and
be righteous. No good work or religious rituals will do it. For this
reason, Jesus died on the cross and rose again paying the
consequences for sin so that when a person repents of their sin and
receive Jesus as Lord and Savior they are forgiven and receive Jesus
righteousness. When a person has Jesus’ righteousness they have
relationship with Jesus.
Coming to Jesus begins with having a relationship and then to be
close with Jesus. It is possible to have a relationship but not be
close. We know if we do not spend time with our spouse and children
we can drift apart. We have a relationship we are not close. Jesus’
ingredient to rest is get close to Jesus. Bring your cares, worries,
troubles, concerns, problems, heartaches, guilt bring it to Jesus.
Come to Him with it all, do not hold back, do go to the formulas,
techniques, rules, first come to Jesus. Relate with Him.
1 Peter 5.7 “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
Those struggling with life’s circumstances, those burdened with
guilty and remorse, those who are self-critical feeling they have
not achieved much compared to others, those who feel they have
failed as parents or spouses, those who are heavy laden with
struggles. Jesus invites you to come to Him and find rest. Come to
Jesus and be refreshed, come and get the burden lifted.
Illustration Thomas Brooks explains Jesus’ words: “Christ says: ‘Come, and I
will give you rest.’ I will not show you rest, nor merely tell you
of rest, but I will give you rest. Jesus has the greatest power to
give it, the greatest will to give it, and the greatest right to
give it. Rest is the most desirable good, the most suitable good,
and to you the greatest good. Christ gives peace with God, and peace
with conscience. He will turn your storms into an everlasting calm,
and will give such rest that the world cannot take from you.”
Transition: To be refreshed we need to follow the recipe to rest.
The first ingredient is to come to Jesus. The second ingredient is
to
Take my Yoke
In Jesus recipe for rest the yoke refers to the bar of wood which
was placed over the shoulders of two animals, usually oxen enabling
them to pull loads or farm instruments. But it is used
metaphorically to illustrate having a commitment to Jesus. We come
to Jesus and take His yoke. You may think that I want to rest not
have a yoke of expectations.
Rest is not void of responsibility and commitment. Jesus is not
offering a nap but rest as a way of life. Taking Jesus yoke is to
submit to Him, follow Him, serve Him, have Him first in our lives.
Take up our cross and follow Jesus, seek first the Kingdom of God,
be a living sacrifice.
The Wisdom of the Simple Our Lord Jesus thanks the Father for giving a greater
enlightened wisdom to the simple than the worldly wise people. That
is why simple people are able to dig deep into God’s kingdom. Most
of the complex type of people does not really enjoy life, and that
is a fact. They are too much worried about their wealth, beauty,
power and all kind anxieties to keep themselves fit and never really
reach to enjoy the simple joys of life.
Riding a Donkey
God has given each one of us the wisdom and strength to be what we
are and to make the most of now than later. That is why we read the
First Reading from the Book of Zechariah that promised the coming of
our King who would arrive in Jerusalem, humble and riding on a
donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. In fulfillment of what had
been spoken through the prophet Zechariah, this event took place
when Jesus triumphantly entered Jerusalem a few days before His
crucifixion (Mt 21.5; Jn 12.15). This event identified Jesus as the
One who was to rule as the King of kings in the spiritual Jerusalem
(Gal 4.25-6). His simplicity and humility should inspire us. He was
not at all concerned what people would think and tell.
We hear Jesus say that His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
When we live our Christian life as a new creation, enjoying the
gifts that we have received we are overwhelmed with gratitude.
To explain this, while those of a worldly heart seek to accumulate
their treasures, those of a spiritual heart give freely what they
own. While the worldly minded hold grudges, those of a spiritual
mind forgive. While those of the worldly way avoid Church
attendance, the spiritual minded person cherishes the presence of
Jesus in the Holy Eucharist and continue to enjoy a richer presence
of the divine in their daily activities.
So, let us, in all our daily thoughts, words and actions, let us
remember to value our ongoing presence before the indwelling Spirit
of God. Through Jesus, let us strive to worship the Father in spirit
and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship Him (Jn
4.23). May we always remember to place God first in our lives. May
we always remember to love our neighbours as we love ourselves. To
succeed in this goal, we must seek to walk hand-in-hand with the
indwelling Holy Spirit who is our Guide in all things. By doing
these things, Jesus will find rest in our hearts and our souls will
find the true and perfect rest in the Heart of Jesus.
Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens
and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me;
for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your
souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.'"(Mt 11.25-30).
Practical Conclusion
"Little children live intensely in the present moment, neither in
the past nor in the future. As the French writer La Bruyre once put
it, ‘Children have neither past nor future, but they have something
we seldom have—they rejoice in the present.’
This is the child-like trait which the New Testament would have us
imitate. Age quod agis—literally, ‘do what you are doing’…The future
does not yet exist and the past is gone forever. What we have is the
present moment. By it we are fashioning our eternity.…"
God’s Children
One winter day, a little boy was standing on a grate next to a
bakery trying to keep his shoeless feet warm. A woman passing by saw
the frosty-toed child and her heart ached. He had on only a
light-weight jacket and no shoes, and the air was chilly, the wind
sharp.
"Where are your shoes, young man?" she asked. The boy reluctantly
admitted he didn’t have any. "Why don’t you come with me and we’ll
see what we can do about that?" the woman said. Taking his hand, she
led him into a nearby department store and bought him a new pair of
shoes and a warm jacket.
When they came back out onto the street, the little boy was so
excited that he immediately started to run off to show his family
his gifts. Suddenly he halted, turned around and ran back to the
woman. He thanked her and then hesitated, "Ma’am, could I ask you a
question? Ma’am, are you God’s wife?"
The woman smiled and said, "Oh, no, I’m not God’s wife, just one of
God’s children."
The little boy grinned and nodded enthusiastically, "I knew it! I
just knew you were related!"
'I thank you, Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, because you have
hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have
revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious
will.'
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
12th Sunday in Ordinary Time : Year: A
Jer 20.7, 10-13; Rm 5.12-15; Mt 10.26-33
Then Die like a Man Sitting majestically atop the highest hill in Toledo, Spain, is
the Alcazar, a 16th-century fortress. In the civil war of the 1930s,
the Alcazar became a battleground when the Loyalists tried to oust
the Nationalists, who held the fortress. During one dramatic episode
of the war, the Nationalist leader received a phone call while in
his office at the Alcazar. It was from his son, who had been
captured by the Loyalists. The ultimatum: If the father didn't
surrender the Alcazar to them, they would kill his son. The father
weighed his options. After a long pause and with a heavy heart, he
said to his son, "Then die like a man." (Daily Walk, April 16,
1992).
The Struggle
When I hear my friends say they hope their children don't have to
experience the hardships they went through--I don't agree. Those
hardships made us what we are. You can be disadvantaged in many
ways, and one way may be not having had to struggle. William M.
Batten, Fortune.
The Conversation
There was this museum laid with beautiful marble tiles, with a huge
marble statue displayed in the middle of the lobby. Many people came
from all over the world just to admire this beautiful marble statue.
One night, the marble tiles started talking to the marble statue.
Marble tile. "Marble statue, it's just not fair, it's just not fair!
Why does everybody from all over the world come all the way here
just to step on me while admiring you? Not fair!"
Marble statue. "My dear friend, marble tile. Do you still remember
that we were actually from the same cave?"
Marble tile. "Yeah! That's why I feel it is even more unfair. We
were born from the same cave and yet we receive different treatment
now. Not fair!" he cried again.
Marble statue. "Then, do you still remember the day when the
designer tried to work on you, but you resisted the tools?"
Marble tile. "Yes, of course I remember. I hate that guy! How could
he use those tools on me, it hurt so badly."
Marble statue. "That's right! He couldn't work on you at all as you
resisted being worked on."
Marble tile. "So???"
Marble statue. "When he decided to give up on you and start working
on me instead, I knew at once that I would be something different
after his efforts. I did not resist his tools, instead I bore all
the painful tools he used on me.."
Marble tile. "Mmmmmm......."
Marble statue. "My friend, there is a price to everything in life.
Since you decided to give up half way, you can't blame anybody who
steps on you now."
Cross and Crown
Struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If we were to go
through our life without any obstacles, we would be crippled. We
would not be as strong as what we could have been. Give every
opportunity a chance, leave no room for regrets, and don't forget
the power in the struggle.
Suffering and pain is a part of life. No one can evade or escape
such things in life. Jesus instructs his disciples that they should
be ready for any eventuality.
Jesus says, "Do not fear those who kill the body; rather fear him
who can destroy both soul and body in hell." (Mt 10.28) This is a
very powerful passage of the Holy Bible. In simple English, it
means, "Bear your crosses and at the end, you shall be rewarded."
Those who deny their crosses, they shall be disowned by the Lord.
Man’s Search for Meaning
While reading Viktor E. Frankl’s “Man’s Search for Meaning,” I was
impressed by his insight into the mental suffering of human beings.
After having himself suffered through some of the most torturous
conditions known to mankind, he not only survived, but shared his
newfound knowledge with the rest of the world. His greatest legacy
is his impressive understanding of human nature and the valuable
lessons he passed on.
While people often recommend this book, they rarely put into words
what it is that so impressed them. I’d like to share some of what
gave me those “Aha!” moments, where the light bulb went off in my
head and I recognized the value of the lesson. One particular
passage was related to the transitory nature of life and how his
therapy “logotherapy,” is an active technique, rather than reactive.
What struck me however, was how he points out a fundamentally sound
view of old age that I believe is one we would all wish to emulate.
What a joyous and wonderful way to live! To live fully each day, so
that you can end your days without regret, envy or loss. In his
book, he repeatedly speaks of finding the meaning of life and
meaning in suffering. The two are irrevocably intertwined. Suffering
occurs in every human life. The ability to transform tragedy into a
personal triumph is as unique to each person as it is necessary.
Here is a great example from his book.
“Once, an elderly general practitioner consulted me because of
severe depression. He could not overcome the loss of his wife who
had died two years before and whom he had loved above all else. Now,
how could I help him? What should I tell him? Well, I refrained from
telling him anything but instead confronted him with the question,
“What would have happened, Doctor, if you had died first, and your
wife would have had to survive you?”
“Oh,” he said, “for her this would have been terrible; how she would
have suffered!” Whereupon I replied, “You see, Doctor, such a
suffering has been spared her, and it was you who have spared her
this suffering - to be sure, at the price that now you have to mourn
her.” He said no word but shook my hand and calmly left my office.
In some way, suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds
a meaning, such as the meaning of sacrifice.”
Of course, Frankl himself found such meaning with memories of his
wife’s love while enduring the torments of the Nazi camps in hopes
of eventually reuniting with her. Since we cannot always avoid
suffering in life, the idea of finding a meaning in it is immensely
sound. Although I thoroughly support and believe in happiness and an
optimistic view, I find great healing in the idea that if we suffer,
we suffer for a reason.
I’ve known friends and family members who suffer in harsh, chaotic
home situations, or work jobs they dislike. Far from wanting
unhappiness, many of them simply suffer these problems for a greater
good, or a greater meaning. They may be trying to pay for their
children’s college funds, or they are working to heal an addicted
person in their family.
Finding the meaning in our suffering helps us endure our pain with
dignity and grace. It gives us endurance far beyond our usual
capacity and fills us with hope and love. It is an inner freedom
that not even the worst circumstances can remove from us. May we all
be blessed to know the meaning that gives purpose to our lives.
Therefore Jesus says, Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot
kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in
hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them
will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs
of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more
value than many sparrows.
Do not Fear them Three times in this short passage Jesus bids his disciples not
to be afraid. In the King's messenger there must be a certain
courageous fearlessness which marks him out from other men.
(i) The first commandment is in Mt 10.26-27, and it speaks of a
double fearlessness.
(a) They are not to be afraid because there is nothing covered that
will not be unveiled, and nothing hidden which will not be known.
The meaning is that the truth will triumph. "Great is the truth,"
ran the Latin proverb, "and the truth will prevail." When James the
Sixth threatened to hang or exile Andrew Melville, Melville's answer
was: "You cannot hang or exile the truth." When the Christian is
involved in suffering and sacrifice and even martyrdom for his
faith, he must remember that the day will come when things will be
seen as they really are; and then the power of the persecutor and
the heroism of Christian witness will be seen at their true value,
and each will have its true reward.
Speak the Truth
They are not to be afraid to speak with boldness the message they
have received. What Jesus has told them, they must tell to men. Here
in this one verse (Mt 10.27) we are given to understand the true
function of a preacher.
First, the preacher must listen; he must he in the secret place with
Christ, that in the dark hours Christ may speak to him, and that in
the loneliness Christ may whisper in his ear. No man can speak for
Christ unless Christ has spoken to him; no man can proclaim the
truth unless he has listened to the truth; for no man can tell that
which he does not know
Living the Truth
In the great days in which the Reformation was coming to birth,
Colet invited Erasmus to come to Oxford to give a series of lectures
on Moses or Isaiah; but Erasmus knew he was not ready. He wrote
back: "But I who have learned to live with myself, and know how
scanty my equipment is, can neither claim the learning required for
such a task, nor do I think that I possess the strength of mind to
sustain the jealousy of so many men, who would be eager to maintain
their own ground. The campaign is one that demands, not a tyro, but
a practiced general. Neither should you call me immodest in
declining a position which it would be most immodest for me to
accept. You are not acting wisely, Colet, in demanding water from a
pumice stone, as Plautus said. With what effrontery shall I teach
what I have never learned? How am I to warm the coldness of others,
when I am shivering myself?" He who would teach and preach must
first in the secret place listen and learn.
Listen and Learn
The preacher must speak what he has heard from Christ, and he must
speak even if his speaking is to gain him the hatred of men, and
even if, by speaking, he takes his life in his hands.
Men do not like the truth, for, as Diogenes said, truth is like the
light to sore eyes. Once Latimer was preaching when Henry the king
was present. He knew that he was about to say something which the
king would not relish. So in the pulpit he soliloquized aloud with
himself. "Latimer! Latimer! Latimer!" he said, "be careful what you
say. Henry the king is here." He paused, and then he said, "Latimer!
Latimer! Latimer! be careful what you say. The King of kings is
here."
The man with a message speaks to men, but he speaks in the presence
of God. It was said of John Knox, as they buried him, "Here lies one
who feared God so much that he never feared the face of any man."
Without Fear
The Christian witness is the man who knows no fear, because he knows
that the judgments of eternity will correct the judgments of time.
The Christian preacher and teacher is the man who listens with
reverence and who speaks with courage, because he knows that,
whether he listens or speaks, he is in the presence of God.
Jesus invites his disciples not to fear those who kill the body.
Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall
not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known - that is, there
is no use, and no need, of concealing anything; right and wrong,
truth and error, are about to come into open in deadly collision;
and the day is coming when all hidden things shall be disclosed,
everything seen as it is, and everyone have his due ( 1 Cor 4.5 ).
Practical Conclusion We may deny him with our words. It is told of J. P. Mahaffy, the
famous scholar and man of the world from Trinity College, Dublin,
that when he was asked if he was a Christian, his answer was: "Yes,
but not offensively so." He meant that he did not allow his
Christianity to interfere with the society he kept and the pleasure
he loved. Sometimes we say to other people, practically in so many
words, that we are Church members, but not to worry about it too
much; that we have no intention of being different; that we are
prepared to take our full share in all the pleasures of the world;
and that we do not expect people to take any special trouble to
respect any vague principles that we may have. The Christian can
never escape the duty of being different from the world. It is not
our duty to be conformed to the world; it is our duty to be
transformed from it.
We can deny him by our silence. A French writer tells of bringing a
young wife into an old family. The old family had not approved of
the marriage, although they were too conventionally polite ever to
put their objections into actual words and criticisms. But the young
wife afterwards said that her whole life was made a misery by "the
menace of things unsaid." There can be a menace of things unsaid in
the Christian life. Again and again life brings us the opportunity
to speak some word for Christ, to utter some protest against evil,
to take some stand, and to show what side we are on. Again and again
on such occasions it is easier to keep silence than to speak. But
such a silence is a denial of Jesus Christ. It is probably true that
far more people deny Jesus Christ by cowardly silence than by
deliberate words.
We can deny him by our actions. We can live in such a way that our
life is a continuous denial of the faith which we profess. He who
has given his allegiance to the gospel of purity may be guilty of
all kinds of petty dishonesties, and breaches of strict honour. He
who has undertaken to follow the Master who bade him take up a cross
can live a life which is dominated by attention to his own ease and
comfort. He who has entered the service of him who himself forgave
and who bade his followers to forgive can live a life of bitterness
and resentment and variance with his fellow-men. He whose eyes are
meant to be on that Christ who died for love of men can live a life
in which the idea of Christian service and Christian charity and
Christian generosity are conspicuous by their absence.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
Body and Blood of Christ : Year: A
Deut 8.2-3, 14-16; 1 Cor 10.16-17; Jn 6.51-52
Transformation In the year 1263 a priest from Prague was on route to Rome
making a pilgrimage asking God for help to strengthen his faith
since he was having doubts about his vocation. Along the way he
stopped in Bolsena 70 miles north of Rome. While celebrating Mass
there, as he raised the host during the consecration, the bread
turned into flesh and began to bleed. The drops of blood fell onto
the small white cloth on the altar, called the corporal. The
following year, 1264, Pope Urban IV instituted the feast of the Body
and Blood of Jesus, today’s feast Corpus Christi. The Pope asked St
Thomas Aquinas, living at that time, to write hymns for the feast
and he wrote two, better known to the older members of our
congregation, the Tantum Ergo and O Salutaris. That blood-stained
corporal may still be seen in the Basilica of Orvieto north of Rome,
and I had the privilege of seeing it during the time I lived in
Italy.
The Sacrifice Jesus offers his own body and blood for our nourishment. No
human person could tell what Jesus told his disciples. For an
ordinary person who is not enlightened by faith, this sounds unusual
and practically abnormal. How can a person give his flesh to eat and
his blood to drink?
Corpus Christi During the Easter season, we have probably heard or said these
words attributed to St. Augustine. "We are an Easter people…." As we
gather on this Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ,
often called Corpus Christi, could we not, should we not, also
proclaim. "We are a Eucharistic people!" As the Catechism of the
Catholic Church teaches us. "The Eucharist is ‘the source and summit
of the Christian life.’ ‘The other sacraments, and indeed all
ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up
with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed
Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church,
namely, Christ himself, our Pasch’ (no. 1324). In brief, the
Eucharist is the sum and summary of our Faith. ‘Our way of thinking
is attuned to the Eucharist, and the Eucharist in turn confirms our
way of thinking’" (no. 1327).
Do we really understand how central to our lives as Catholics is
this core reality of our Christian Faith? The Eucharist, both
sacrifice and sacrament? As we gather on the Solemnity of the Most
Holy Body and Blood of Christ, let us ask ourselves some basic
questions, the answers to which can serve as a barometer of our true
understanding of the Eucharist.
Preparation
How we prepare for the celebration of the Eucharist reveals what we
understand about this central mystery of our Faith. So, how do we
prepare? Are we aware that we will be reliving in this sacred ritual
the Dying and Rising of Jesus? Are we eager to receive the spiritual
food which will nourish us at the two-fold table of the Lord? His
Living Word in the Liturgy of the Word and His very own Body and
Blood in the Liturgy of the Eucharist? Admittedly, there are
situations that ruin even our best plans, but do we try to arrive on
time or, even better, try to arrive early in order to quiet our
minds and hearts as we prepare to hear God’s Word and to receive
Jesus in Communion? In our prayer during the week, do we reflect on
the Scripture readings for the next Sunday, so as to allow the Holy
Spirit to make us more receptive to its proclamation in the liturgy
and to the lessons which God wishes to teach us? Yes, how we prepare
reveals what we understand.
Dress
How we dress for Mass also reveals what we understand. Let me be as
clear as I can. I am not referring to clothing that is fancy or
expensive, but rather, I am stating that what we wear should be neat
and clean and reflect our understanding that we are taking part in a
sacred religious action. Therefore, our clothing should be
appropriate to the celebration of the Eucharist as both sacrifice
and sacrament. A note of caution was written by late Cardinal Ivan
Dias for all the parishioners about the dress code for the Holy
Eucharist in the Archdiocese of Bombay in 2006. What we might
appropriately wear at the beach or at a picnic, for example, is not
the appropriate style of dress in church. Let me repeat, our
clothing need not be expensive or fancy, but it should reflect what
we are doing in this sacred place as we celebrate the Eucharist.
Understanding
How we participate likewise reveals what we understand about the
Eucharist. Are we spiritually ready to receive the Lord Jesus in
Holy Communion? Jesus Christ is "truly, really and substantially"
(Council of Trent) present in the Eucharist. Therefore St. Paul
writes in our second reading to the people in Corinth. "The cup of
blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of
Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the
body of Christ?" And, later in that same letter he reminds the
people. "For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you
proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. Whoever, therefore, eats
the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will
be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord" (I Cor
11.26-27).
Reconciliation
We must constantly ask if we ourselves are guilty of profaning the
Body and Blood of the Lord when we come to receive Communion at
Mass. What are some practical ways by which we can ensure we are
receiving the Lord in a worthy manner? We must examine our
conscience and determine if we are in mortal sin. Have we sinned
gravely against God in some area of our lives? If so, we must first
be reconciled with God and the Church through the sacrament of
reconciliation.
Jesus Christ is both true God and true man. By virtue of His
divinity, He knows all things. By virtue of His humanity and His
earthly life, He can relate to our human experiences. Jesus knows
that we are not perfect. He knows that we were born with a fallen
human nature, and that we struggle against that nature every day. He
simply asks that we confess our sins when we fall so that He can
forgive us, heal us with His grace and, thereby, begin to transform
us into His image and likeness. The Eucharist is the source and
summit of our lives, and Jesus asks us to recognize that and begin
to live it.
Participation
Do we participate fully, consciously and actively in the celebration
of the Eucharist, observing the gestures given to us by the Church
for this reverent yet active participation, at times responding in
spoken word or in song, at other times silently praying in union
with the priest? Do we approach Holy Communion without fear, but
with reverence? If we choose to receive Jesus on the tongue, do we
do so reverently? If we choose to receive Jesus in our hand, do we
make a throne of our hands and thereby receive Him reverently?
Remember, the priest is to place the sacred host into your hands;
the communicant is not to reach out for the host. Yes, how we
participate reveals what we understand.
Our Daily Life
Finally, how we live reveals what we truly understand about this
core reality of our faith. What we celebrate in sacred ritual here,
we must live out in daily life out there. Here we are transformed by
the sacred Body and Blood of Jesus in the Eucharist to become the
Body of Christ alive in the world, witnessing to His Gospel of life,
of love, of forgiveness, of truth and of unity.
Practical Conclusion
Today we celebrate the source and summit of our Faith, Jesus Christ,
truly, really and substantially present in what looks like a wafer
of bread and ordinary wine. Jesus is absolutely clear in His
statement. "My flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in
him. … Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats
this bread will live forever."
May the same love which poured itself out from His Sacred Heart,
pour itself into our hearts so that we may be fervent apostles of
the Eucharist and, in turn, set the world ablaze with the love of
Christ. Yes, the Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian
life. We are a Eucharistic people.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
Trinity Sunday : Year: A
Ex 34.4-6, 8-9; 2 Cor 13.11-13; Jn 3.16-18
A New World
Imagine a world where all your best friends live in the same
neighborhood, where everything they ever wanted to do or be is right
there, waiting for them. You could all stay in the same location.
You could all travel together, to places you'd all enjoy. You might
split off for a while here or there, but you'd always come back to
each other. If you wanted to visit each other, imagine there being
special meeting places for each of you, all in your neighborhood,
and no more than a mile or so away. Not 5000 miles.
Imagine no wars. Imagine peace. No electronics. Always acoustic
guitars, always singing, always gathering together each day.
Imagine everyone learning from everyone, teaching. Good things,
always good things. Imagine if kindness, love, caring, honesty,
gentleness, laughter, hugging, smiling, friendship, were the only
things all people ever knew.
Teamwork. No government. When making a decision, people thrived on
the virtue of fairness, and everyone, of one accord, chose what was
really best for all.
Imagine immortality. No pain, grief, or suffering.
Imagine no racism, hate or greed.
Imagine saying, "What a wonderful world!" and truly meaning it.
Remember the warmest hug you've ever gotten, and you will have love.
The most genuine good thing someone has ever said to you, and you
will have kindness.
Imagine sharing the spotlight with your friends, being in it
together, and you will have fairness.
Remember that we are all human, and you will have equality.
Sing together, you'll have unity.
Keep doing good little things for someone, and you'll build trust.
"The secret to a genuinely peaceful world is within us.
We can make it so, if we all start now.
Right now, pledge to do acts of kindness each and every day
Be gentle, kind, caring, and loving
Always smile. Laugh!
Learn. Teach. Above all, be patient.
Share, be part of a team, and be fair.
Listen. Sing. Play. Be the music.
Hug someone.
Remember the ultimate goal of true unity...
And the world will live as one."
Unity and Eternity
Trinity signifies unity in eternity. This is what we all long. But
our life, that is practical life does not seem to help this unity.
The root of the word "Trinity" originates from the Latin word "trini"
which means "three each," or "threefold." "The term has been used as
early as the days of Tertullian (200 A.D.) to denote the central
doctrine of the Christian religion. God, who is one and unique in
His infinite substance or nature, or Godhead, is three really
distinct Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Each of
these Persons is truly the same God, and has all His infinite
perfections, yet He is really distinct from each of the other
Persons. The one and only God the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit; yet God the Father is not God the Son, but begets the Son
eternally, as the Son is eternally begotten. The Holy Spirit is
neither the Father nor the Son, but a distinct Person having His
Divine nature from the Father and the Son by eternal procession."
In other words, in Jesus dwells the Father and the Holy Spirit. And
the same can be said about the Father and the Holy Spirit. In each
one dwells the other two Persons of God. This truth is supported by
a verse in the Letter of Paul to the Colossians. "In Him (Jesus) all
the fullness of God was pleased to dwell bodily." (Col 1.19; 2.9)
"All the fullness of God means the Father, the Son and the Holy
Spirit.
Biblical Proof
The next question that some may ask is, "Are there any biblical
passages to support that in the fullness of God, there are Three
distinct Persons?" The answer to this is "Yes!" We can quote the
closing of the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus told His disciples, "Go
therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit..." (Mt
28.18) And we can quote the closing words of St. Paul in the Second
Letter to the Corinthians where He states, "The grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit
be with all of you." (2 Cor 13.13) These biblical passages affirm
that while there is One God, there are Three distinct Persons in the
Godhead.
God’s Love
God created us and loved us enough to give himself to us. He
rejoices in seeing the world filled with his love working through
us. The Father is the Creator. The Gift of Himself is the Son. The
love that fills the world is the Spirit.
The theologian who best presented God as love was St. Augustine. St.
Augustine put it this way. the Father is the One who Loves. The Son
is the One who is Loved. The Spirit is the very act of Loving. The
simplification of this for the young people and for us is that God
is love in every possible use of the word. He is the Subject Love,
he is the Object love, and he is the verb Love.
St. Augustine's Confessions “Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new. late
have I loved you. You were within me, but I was outside, and it was
there that I searched for you. In my un-loveliness (I guess he means
selfishness), I plunged into the things which you created. You were
with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you;
yet if they had not been in you they would not have been at all. You
called. You shouted. You broke my deafness. You flashed. You shone.
You dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I
drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you; now I
hunger and thirst for more. You touched me and I burned for your
peace.” And the most famous passage from St. Augustine: “It is you
who move us to delight in your praise. For you have made us for
yourself, and our heart is restless until it rest in you”.
The essence of God is Love. And we human beings are made in his
image. We are integral, whole, when we give ourselves over to God's
love. We reflect our very nature and are at peace with the world
when we take a step away from our own selfish drives and trust
ourselves into the hands of sacrificial love.
Can we describe God? Down through the ages preachers have asked this
question; and ever more than on this Trinity Sunday, when we
preachers have the task of explaining what it means to say that God
is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
A Little Girl Angel
A story beloved of preachers tells of how the great fifth-century
North African bishop St. Augustine strolled along the shore of the
Mediterranean wondering how to explain the Trinity. As he did so, he
saw a little girl going back and forth into the sea, filling a small
bucket with water which she poured into a hole she had dug in the
sand. “What are you doing, dear?” St. Augustine asked. “I’m trying
to empty the sea into this hole,” the child replied. “How do you
think that with your little bucket you can possibly empty this
immense ocean into this tiny hole?” Augustine countered. To which
the girl replied. “And how do you, with your small head, think you
can comprehend the immensity of God?” No sooner had the girl spoken
these words than she disappeared.
The Shell
The story contains an important truth. God is a mystery. not in the
sense that we can understand nothing about God; but that what we can
understand is always less than what we cannot. Pope Benedict, who
has a special love for St. Augustine, has put the little girl’s
shell into his coat of arms as a reminder that God is always
shrouded in mystery. One thing we can understand is how people have
experienced God.
The Cloud
Our first reading shows us Moses experiencing God in a cloud — a
symbol of mystery, for in a cloud we cannot see clearly. The same
divine cloud appears at Jesus’ Transfiguration, when his clothes and
face shone with heavenly light. A cloud enveloped Jesus at his
Ascension. At the Transfiguration Peter, James, and John experienced
fear, and bowed down in worship. Moses does the same in our first
reading. The witnesses to Jesus’ Ascension also bowed down in
worship. This is the first way people experience God in the Bible,
as the utterly Other, whose presence inspires awe and worship.
At the very moment, however, in which Moses was worshiping the true
God atop Mount Sinai, his people below were bowing down in worship
to a golden calf. a deity of their own devising, who made no demands
upon them; who symbolized a superhuman virility and power which, the
people vainly imagined, they could harness to their own ends. This
is idolatry — for the Bible one of the worst sins there is. We
become guilty of idolatry whenever we suppose that prayer and other
religious practices give us access to some supernatural power which
we can turn on or off like the light switch; which we can use to get
whatever we want. God always hears and answers prayer. But he does
so in sovereign freedom. not at the time, or in the way that we want
— or think we can dictate. God is never at our disposal. We are at
his disposal.
God’s appearance to Moses at the very moment when Moses’ people were
committing the ultimate sin of idolatry shows that God is not only
mysterious and fearful. He is also tender and compassionate. He is a
God of love. This is how Jesus experienced God. Our gospel reading
reflects this experience. “God so loved the world that he gave his
only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish, but
might have eternal life.”
Jesus devoted the whole of his early life to helping people
experience God’s love. He demonstrated this love through deeds of
compassion. He illustrated God’s love through stories still told and
pondered twenty centuries later. And on Calvary he gave us the
supreme example of love.
Following Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, his friends came to
realize that he had not left them. He was still with them, though
the manner of his presence was different. They recalled that Jesus
had foretold this. “I will not leave you orphans. I will come back
to you” (Jn 14.18).
“I will ask the Father and he will give you another to be your
Advocate, who will be with you forever — the Spirit of truth” (Jn
14.15).
“I shall see you again; then your hearts will rejoice with a joy no
one can take from you” (Jn 16.22). This joy at Jesus’ continuing
presence is the third way people experience God.
Sharing God’s Love
Pondering these three ways in which people experienced God, the
Church developed the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. The God who is
one is also three: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is the
description, in formal religious language, of how we experience God.
He is the utterly Other, who inspires awe and worship. But he is
also a God of love, a love so amazing, so divine, so undeserved by
sinners like ourselves that he kindles within us an answering love,
love for God, love for our fellow humans. And whenever we experience
God in either of these ways — as the Almighty creator and Father of
the universe whose presence inspires awe, or in his Son Jesus in
whom we see unconditional love in human form — we are experiencing
God in and through the power of his Holy Spirit. The Spirit is God
at work in our world, and in our hearts and minds, here and now. The
Spirit is God’s love. the love exchanged between Father and Son, the
love poured into our hearts — not just to give us a warm feeling
inside, but to share with others.
Our second reading, finally, speaks about this sharing. “Encourage
one another, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of
love and peace will be with you.”
Practical Conclusion
The little girl’s words to St. Augustine are true. God is too
immense to get into our small heads. But the threefold experience of
God is within the reach of all, even of children. God discloses
himself to us in these three ways to lift our eyes from earth to
heaven; to make us, through the power of the Holy Spirit, what Jesus
was and is for us
The Trinity Sunday must evoke in us the sense of unity in our
families and institutions. If there is no unity all that happens in
and around us will not have any meaning for us. Hence, we must try
to dialogue, set goals to promote love peace and joy and harmony.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
Pentecost : Year: A
Acts 21-11; 1 Cor 12.3b-7, 12-13, Jn 20.19-23
Generous Father
I observed the father of a lad giving him a Dollar just before
entering the Church. I asked him why he gave money to the lad before
entering the Church? He told me that the child is trained to be
generous towards God and people. I was impressed and was
appreciative of the attitude of the father.
Toy and a Box of Manure
There is a story of identical twins. One was a hope-filled optimist.
"Everything is coming up roses!" he would say. The other twin was a
sad and hopeless pessimist. He thought that Murphy, as in Murphy's
Law, was an optimist. The worried parents of the boys brought them
to the local psychologist.
He suggested to the parents a plan to balance the twins'
personalities. "On their next birthday, put them in separate rooms
to open their gifts. Give the pessimist the best toys you can afford
and give the optimist a box of manure."
The parents followed these instructions and carefully observed the
results. When they peeked in on the pessimist, they heard him
audibly complaining, "I don't like the color of this computer...
I'll bet this calculator will break... I don't like the game... I
know someone who's got a bigger toy car than this..."
Tiptoeing across the corridor, the parents peeked in and saw their
little optimist gleefully throwing the manure up in the garden. He
was giggling. "You can't fool me! Where there's this much manure,
there's got to be a Rose!"
Pessimist Disciples
The event of Pentecost was to fill the pessimist disciples with the
Spirit of courage and joy. In our life there are so many things that
happen. We tend to take them simply without analyzing their
importance to us. At times we are so accustomed that we do not even
think that they are from God. Are we filled with the hope of the
Resurrected Lord? Or do we worry about things that matter only
concerning our material life? Are joyful? Or do we make things
sadder as we pass through them?
Full of Mystery
There are events so wonderful, and so full of mystery, that ordinary
language cannot describe them. Such was the Pentecost event which we
celebrate today. In our first reading Luke, the writer, uses symbols
to describe something beyond the power of words to portray. The
coming of God’s Spirit, he writes, was “like a strong driving wind.”
“Tongues as of fire” rested on these first Christians, who suddenly
received power “to speak in different tongues.” These three symbols
– wind, fire, tongues – are not arbitrary. Each tells us something
about God and his mysterious work in the world.
Wind
The word used by Luke is used elsewhere in Scripture to designate a
person’s “breath” or “spirit.” (Cf. Gen 2.7; Acts 17.25) At birth
breathing begins. At death it ceases. The coming of God’s Spirit is
said to have been “like wind” because the Spirit is the Church’s
breath. Before the coming of this Spirit-breath, the Church’s life
was something like that of an unborn child in the womb. Only with
the coming of this “strong driving wind” did the Church receive the
fullness of divine life.
This divine breath gives the Church an astonishing power of
self-renewal. Again and again in history the Church has become so
corrupt through the sins of its members that people have predicted
its imminent demise. Yet time and again the Church has risen,
through the power of this divine Spirit-breath, renewed and
purified. For this recurring phenomenon there is but one possible
explanation the fact that the Church lives not from its own
strength, and certainly not from the strength of its members, but
from the continual in-breathing of God’s Spirit, who is the Church’s
life-breath.
Fire
When breathing stops, so does body heat. Deep within the collective
soul of this great family of God which we call the Catholic Church
is the fire of the world’s greatest love. the unbounded love of God
for all he has made. That is the secret of the Church’s magnetism.
People in the Church who are cold, hard-hearted, always ready to
criticize, to complain, and block the warmth of that love. They act
not as heat conveyers, but as heat shields. Which are you about the
Spirit’s fire? Are you a heat conveyer, or a heat shield?
Fire warms because it burns. If combustible material is nearby, fire
spreads rapidly. Christianity, it has been said, cannot be taught.
It must be caught. Are you burning with that fire? Are you handing
it on to others?
Fire also gives light. God sent his Son into a dark world to be the
world’s light. This light shines today through God’s continual gift
of his Spirit to his Church and to each of its members. He wants us
to serve as lenses or prisms of that light. “Your light must shine
before others,” Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount, “that they
may see your good deeds, and glorify your heavenly Father” (Mt
5.16). And in John’s gospel Jesus warns. “Bad people all hate the
light and avoid it, for fear that their practices should be shown
up. The honest person comes to the light, so that it may be clearly
seen that God is in all he does” (Jn 3.20f).
When we fear God’s light, we need to ask God burns away whatever
causes us to shun the light, whatever stands in the way of our
spreading the light, fire, and warmth of his Holy Spirit.
The Tongues
The first Christians spoke different languages to symbolize the
Church’s work through history. proclaiming to all peoples, in all
languages, the wonderful truth of God.
That
God is, that he is real;
That he is
a God of love, who looks for a response of love – for himself,
and for our sisters and brothers;
That God
has made us for himself, to serve, love, and praise him here on
earth, to be happy with him forever in heaven;
That he is
the God of the impossible, who can do for us what we can never
do for ourselves. fit us for life with him, here and in
eternity.
The Strength
of the Spirit
That we are Christians in a land undreamed of by anyone on that
first day of Pentecost is proof that the Spirit’s “strong driving
wind” did not blow in vain. Those first touched by that wind were
blown into places, and situations, they never dreamed of. Even those
who never left Jerusalem found their lives utterly changed.
The Power of the Spirit
This same wind of the Spirit is blowing in the Church today. Is it
blowing in your life? Or are you afraid of that wind – of what it
might do to you, and where it might blow you? Cast aside fear. The
wind of God’s Spirit, like the winds of the sky, blows from
different directions. But in the end this wind blows all who are
driven by it to the same place. The wind of God Spirit blows us home
– home to God.
The Spirit of Love, Peace, Patience
The Spirit of the Lord has given us the spirit of love, truth, joy,
peace, patience, generosity, kindness, goodness, self-control and
humility. We need to bear witness to them. Then perhaps we could say
boldly that we are the children of God and children of the Spirit of
Jesus Christ.
“(The laity) works for the sanctification of the world from within
as a leaven … (making) Christ known to others especially by the
testimony of a life resplendent in faith, hope, and charity (Lumen
gentium, 31). “The laity is called in a special way to make the
Church present and operative in those places and circumstances where
only through them can it become the salt of the earth.”
God won’t ask…
There are people here who are doing those things every day. Are you?
One day the Lord will examine us about how we have responded to the
call to be his messengers to others. Here, ahead of time, are some
of the questions in that examination.
God won’t ask what kind of car you drove; he’ll ask how many people
you drove who didn’t have transportation.
God won’t ask the area and beauty of your house; he’ll ask how many
people you welcomed into your home.
God won’t ask about the clothes you had in your cupboard; he’ll ask
how many you helped to clothe.
God won’t ask what your highest salary was; he’ll ask if you cut
corners to obtain it.
God won’t ask what your job title was; he’ll ask if you performed
your job to the best of your ability.
God won’t ask how many friends you had; he’ll ask how many people to
whom you were a friend.
God won’t ask in what neighborhood you lived; he’ll ask how you
treated your neighbors.
God won’t ask about the color of your skin; he’ll ask about the
content of your character.
The testimony of deeds before words is powerful. You probably know
the saying. “What you are speaks so loud that I can’t hear what you
say.” Words are cheap and our world is inundated by words. People
today are more impressed by deeds than by words.
Practical Conclusion
Bearing witness to Jesus Christ in daily life is difficult. If you
doubt that, it probably means that you have never seriously tried it
for any extended period. With our own resources alone, the task is
impossible. But we are not alone. We have an unseen companion in the
missionary task, the same divine master and Lord who is saying to us
right now, as he said to that little band of weak sinners and
doubters on a Galilean hilltop two thousand years ago. “Behold I am
with you always, until the end of the age.”
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
Ascension of the Lord : Year: A
Acts 1.1-11; Eph 1.17-23; Mt 28.16-20
The Sea and the Desert
"The sea was much better," the traveler complained. "Whenever I got
tired it at least had its currents to push me forward on my journey
but you," he looked at the vast desert surrounding him, "you are of
no help."
He went down on his knees, dead tired. When his breaths restored
back to normalcy, a while later, he heard the desert's voice.
"I agree. I am of no help like the sea and thus I often depress
people. But do you really think people will remember you for
crossing the sea? Never! For the sea doesn't allow you to leave any
mark. I, on the contrary, do. Thus, if you cross me, I swear, you
will in turn immortalize yourself with the imprints you leave over
me!"
The traveler got the essence and got up to walk on. "It's always
about the imprints," his heart echoed.
Jesus Imprints
"He was lifted up, and a cloud took Him out of their sight" (Acts
1.9). Jesus left lasting imprints on the lives of the Apostles. That
is why they were all filled with enthusiasm for the message of
Christ. He made an impression, not like other people, his impression
made through his death and resurrection. His impression is a tough
reality, but always helpful to all those who were with him and want
to be with him.
God’s Traces
We always find difficult to find God’s traces. The best way to
describe His existence is to say that God was "present." This nature
of God echoes the Words of Yahweh and Jesus who both claimed to be,
"I am." (Ex 3.14; Jn 8.58, 18.5; Rev 1.8, 22.13) "I am" means "I am
present; I am here!" In the case of God the Father, it can also
mean, "While you may not see Me, I am here. I am present."
Now a days it is so difficult to convince people of God’s presence,
and it is so essential to their life yet the difficulty remains a
stark reality.
Faith Experience
A girl approached me and said, father, please pray that I may not
lose my faith. I said, “Dear, just pray and you will not lose it”.
She said to me, “father, I am in great trouble. My boyfriend whom I
loved has left me, and I feel it is not worth living in this world”.
I told her that she might get a better boy. What else could I say?
“Is it true father?” “Yes,” I said, “just pray and keep a watch and
you will see God will help you.” It happened in a month. She was all
happy, because she got another one, much better than the previous
one.
The Promise
Faith works, but it makes us wait and always takes us through a
tough path. The Gospel of John tells us, "As the Father has life in
Himself, He has granted the Son (the Word) to have life in Himself."
(Jn 5.26). "In Jesus all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell
bodily." (Col 1.19,2.9) Jesus said, "Whoever has seen me has seen
the Father. Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the
Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my
own; but the Father who dwells in me does his work. Believe me that
I am in the Father and the Father is in me..." (Jn 14.9- 11)
St. Paul affirmed our capability of knowing the nature of God when
he stated, "Ever since the creation of the world His eternal power
and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood
and seen through the things He has made. So they are without
excuse." (Rm 1.20)
Looking Up
When we celebrate Ascension of our Blessed Lord into heaven, we need
to look up, means we need to look for the things to come. This
expectation should keep us always alive. Often in this modern world
people always tend to look for the material things, that they need
immediately. There is a strong tendency to get everything we need
and we want them immediately. Not necessarily this should be our
approach.
Forgetting the Roots
I was watching a programme on 27th April, conducted by Burkha Datt,
in NDTV by name “affluence mania”. Leading industrialists and CEO’s
was participating in this programme. They were responding to
questions put by the viewers, who were convinced that they need to
enjoy life, without much reference to their parents and
grandparents. They were of the opinion that life is short and good
and we need to make best of it with regard to spending the money one
has earned. Then, what about the moral values? Of course some of
them insisted that they were at terrible at stake.
Losing Ground
I am just reading today’s news paper (29/4/2004 – DNA) report of one
Josef Fritzl, Austrian, 70 years old, who had 7 children from his
own daughter Elizabeth. The neighbours of this man are hanging their
heads in total shame. He had imprisoned his daughter in 1984,
drugged her and kept her for almost 20 years in the basement of his
home and molested her, abused her. What a shame and cruel reality of
this modern world. She must have undergone the tortures of hell in
the hands of her own father. This is what we say our morals are at
stake when we do not see beyond the reality of the world.
Practical Conclusion
Ascension is looking forward with hope of great joy. Let us
celebrate it with due reverence to life, to the neighbour and to the
world to come where we will have our rooms as he has gone before us
to prepare one for us.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
5th Sunday of Easter : Year: A
Acts 6.1-7; 1Peter 2.4-9; Jn 14.1-12
I will Give Myself
It is said that Cyrus, the founder of the Persian Empire, once had
captured a prince and his family. When they came before him, the
monarch asked the prisoner, "What will you give me if I release
you?" "The half of my wealth," was his reply. "And if I release your
children?" "Everything I possess." "And if I release your wife?"
"Your Majesty, I will give myself." Cyrus was so moved by his
devotion that he freed them all. As they returned home, the prince
said to his wife, "Wasn't Cyrus a handsome man!" With a look of deep
love for her husband, she said to him, "I didn't notice. I could
only keep my eyes on you- -the one who was willing to give himself
for me."
Sacrifice
A woman, carrying her baby on her back, was trapped by a prairie
fire. As she looked about, she realized there was no way of escape.
Hurriedly she took the baby off her back and began digging a hole in
the earth with her bare hands. She then placed her child into it and
covered the child with her body. Later the woman was found dead, but
the child was saved.
The Centre Holds
The gospel presents Jesus as the guide in life, as the ‘way, truth
and life’. The Christian centre is the person of Christ. Our work
for Jesus and our love for people, no matter what our calling in
life, flow from this. Mother Teresa was once asked why she did what
she did, and she simply said ‘for Jesus’. This centre always holds,
it cannot be unhinged. It is a deeply personal relationship. we are
led by Jesus ‘one by one’, known by name, not as just one of a
group. We follow him as one we know, not a stranger. Studying his
life and times, getting to know the places and events of his life,
becoming familiar with the gospels and getting to know him in the
heart in prayer is the way of keeping our centre of conviction and
motivation strong. As this happens freedom grows and we begin to
find him everywhere.
The Early Church
To the extent that the Acts of the Apostles relates an idealized
memory of how the earliest Church was established and grew, it
provides interesting milestones of ecclesiastical evolution. Only
slightly less important to Church evolution than the descent of the
Holy Spirit on the apostles and disciples at Pentecost was the
fairly quick evolution from a Jewish Church to a Gentile (i.e.,
Non-Jewish) Church over only a few decades. But the catalyst of that
shift from Jewish to Gentile was the remarkable effectiveness with
which the Gospel spread and the consequent Church membership
increased. The small number of original disciples who knew Jesus
well at his death, burial, and resurrection increased exponentially
beginning with the Church’s public launch at Pentecost. In last
Sunday’s text from Acts, the summary note was made that “about three
thousand” were baptized on that Pentecost Day. Indeed, that number
was merely an indicator of the Church’s growth rate not only then
but consistently over the years, decades and centuries to come.
Today’s text recalls the evolution of specialized ministries which
the Gospel community found necessary because of great growth. The
intimate fellowship which Jesus’ original disciples enjoyed would be
challenged by sheer numbers. New needs arose in that expanding
Church to what 20th Century Christians call “social ministries”
which are indicated in Acts by the care for widows and “the daily
distribution.” Remember that those most idealistic earliest
Christians were said to have “held all property in common” (see Acts
2.44) in a very simple sort of communal socialism. Thus, each
individual and household would have received daily rations of food
and supplies. But, the primary task of the apostles since Pentecost
had become the practical and urgent preaching of God’s Word. It fell
to the Twelve to reorganize the community and to divide up
ministries and tasks. The Church’s first major change was from being
a very small community to becoming an ever-enlarging community, sort
of like moving from a domestic family to a regional society. True
then and true still today. “To live is to change; to live well is to
change greatly!” (Attributed to John Henry Cardinal Newman, 19th
Century British Churchman).
The Church is at her wisest when she learns how to change
graciously, compassionately and intelligently. Many who embrace
their religious faith actually forget how to change, and demonstrate
that forgetfulness when they resist any and all good and healthy –
and necessary! – change. The institution of the ministry of deacons
was an example of effective and reasonable change. Note, too, that
the setting of this change was in the Jerusalem Church, and that
“even a large group of priests” had come to be involved in the
Gospel community. These “priests” would have been Temple priests in
Jerusalem for the Christian “presbyterate” would not be so visible
until the apostles likewise needed assistance in presiding over the
liturgical assembly.
Peter’s Guidance
Our weekly lesson from 1st Peter is a section which precedes last
week’s lesson. It harkens back to the Old Testament rationale by
which God’s Chosen People, the Israelites recently freed from
Egyptian slavery, were instructed by God to be holy just as God was
holy. Hence, their relationship with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob had become a very, very different relationship from what all
other Old Testament era ethnic groups and religions typically had
with their divinities. (Note. the Hebrew word kadosh translates as
“holy” which literally means “different from”). Peter reminded the
Gentile Christians of Asia Minor that just as the ancient Israelites
had been called to be holy, so too they as new Christians were
likewise and just as much expected by God to live a vocation to
holiness. Peter cited the text from Exodus 19.6 which was a
practical, constitutional statement by God about God’s People. ‘You
are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of
his own ...” These words are even used in the sacred Eucharistic
liturgy to remind our assembly in our own day of the dignity of the
Christian Vocation. Thus, for the audience of 1st Peter, in an era
when persecution was not unusual but was often dangerous, the Gospel
community was a veritable home for the homeless, i.e., a safe
community of Gospel fellowship in a society which was very often and
very easily intimidated by and hostile to the Gospel’s genuine and
profound goodness and love, justice and peace.
The Last Supper
The Gospel narrative today is again not a Resurrection appearance of
Jesus, but rather part of John’s Gospel memory of the short hours
just at the end of the Last Supper. John seems to presume that we
know the supper details (bread, wine, blessing) and supplies to us
instead a memory of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples. After
the example of foot-washing was explained as a metaphor for mutual
service, he proceeded to teach and explain. These dozen verses show
Jesus trying to encourage and support the Eleven and whoever is with
them by first assuring them of “a place for you” in the kingdom.
Thomas, famous a few days later for his scepticism about Jesus’
Resurrection, admitted the fearful but private worry in each of them
with “We do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?”
Philip too was a disciple willing to risk embarrassment by
suggesting that they have not really “seen” the Father but that they
are willing to be shown.
Practical Conclusion
Jesus made significant use of metaphor as he provided them a glimpse
of the profound mystery of the Divine Presence, of his
Christological importance, and of the hope he had tried to instil in
them. Jesus’ “I am the way, the truth, and the life...” was a huge
summary of the reality of God’s Presence and of his essential
oneness with God. “... no one comes to the Father except through me”
seems addressed somewhat narrowly to those in the room with him.
Thus, the “no one” becomes more strictly “on one among you” because
they have already been given access to God, whether or not they
appreciate it. Seemingly, Philip fails to the test of appreciation,
at least that night. That line “no one comes to the Father except
through me” has too often been used by literalist Christians to
assert exclusion of non-Christians and even other Christians from
eternal salvation. Jesus was more reasonably addressing only and
principally that small group of the Eleven plus a small number more
of disciples. He had no real reason to be talking explicitly to us
today or against non-believers though history over the centuries.
After all, he had just said that in his Father’s house there are
many (!) dwelling places. Why would he assert the greatest hope only
moments later to restrict that to the self-righteous? Logic should
always paint Jesus as Saviour in the business of successfully saving
every one and excluding no one! Let God be the judge! Let us be the
best examples possible of the community which has experienced and
embraced God’s love! Let us imitate Jesus’ generosity and love of
others just as we profess and hope for his generosity and love for
ourselves!
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
4th Sunday of Easter : Year: A
Acts 2.42-47; Ps 23; 1 Pet 2.19-25; Jn 10.1-10
The Shepherd saves them
It is said that in the Highlands of Scotland, a sheep would often
wander off into the rocks and get into places that they couldn't get
out of. The grass on these mountains is very sweet and the sheep
like it, and they will jump down ten or twelve feet, and then they
can't jump back again, and the shepherd hears them bleating in
distress. They may be there for days, until they have eaten all the
grass. The shepherd will wait until they are so faint they cannot
stand, and then they will put a rope around him, and he will go over
and pull that sheep up out of the jaws of death. "Why don't they go
down there when the sheep first gets there?" I asked. "Ah!" He said,
"they are so very foolish they would dash right over the precipice
and be killed if they did!" And that is the way with men; they won't
go back to God till they have no friends and have lost everything.
If you are a wanderer I tell you that the Good Shepherd will bring
you back the moment you have given up trying to save yourself and
are willing to let Him save you His own way.
God is Shepherd
Today is the Good Shepherd Sunday; a day in which the church recalls
the relationship between God and his people as described in the
image of Shepherd and Sheep. In Ezekiel 34, God addresses the
leaders of Israel as shepherd and took the responsibility of caring
for the sheep, and became the shepherd of the flock of his people.
In Psalm 23 David now addresses him as the Shepherd of his people.
In John 10.11 Jesus addresses himself as the good shepherd who lays
down his life for his sheep. In today’s gospel reading Jesus tells
his followers, “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they
follow.”
Jesus the Shepherd
Jesus is obviously our shepherd, there is no doubt about it but
there can be a lot of doubt about whether we are the kind of sheep
that we ought to be. In our reflection we are going to consider the
two words Jesus uses to address the sheep of his flock – he hears me
and follows me.
The Voice
Hearing the voice of the master or the leader is natural in
parent-child relationship. It is a sign of loyalty. Our dogs and
cats hear us more than any other person no matter their disposition,
they can be silent to the voice of an outsider but the moment they
hear the voice of their owner, they jump up. This kind of reaction
is proper to the relationship of a father or mother and child. The
same also should be true of our relationship with God. In the light
of the gospel, if we reach close relationship with God, we would be
able to distinguish His voice from the many voices that are urging
us to follow them – parents, teachers, doctors, government, coaches,
employers, advertisers and marketers – each trying to influence our
values and behaviors with their voices.
The Other Voices
The problem with us is that we pay attention to these other voices
than the voice of God. We can listen and believe the weather
forecaster, the astronomer, the medical doctor and the economist,
but when God speaks, we take it for granted. Look at the ease with
which we make reference to the speeches of historians and
politicians, but pay little or no attention to God’s. One of the
signs of parental upbringing is the ability to recall and use the
speeches of one’s parents or teachers to buttress speeches as Jesus
did. He maintained the culture of his religion by always quoting it
(Mt 5.43; 19.4).
They Follow
This brings us to the second thing demanded of the sheep in the
gospel reading today, namely, following the Lord. The sheep does not
only listen to its shepherd but followed him and his instructions.
Listening to God is one thing, but following him is another. We can
listen to God without following his words. The problem with
Christianity today is that on Sunday so many people come Mass to
listen to the voice of God but when the Mass is over, they go home
and follow their own conscience, opinions and ways of life with the
expression “I have my own life to live the way I want it. This
mentality has done more harm than good. But no one who believes in
God does things his or her own way. This is what it means to follow
Him.
Practical Conclusion
So, it is in following him we prove that he is our shepherd.
Believing in him is not enough if it cannot lead us to following
him. As it were, the good news today demands of us. (a) ability to
keep and practice the Lord’s teachings in the Bible and the
teachings of the Church (b) ability to use the light of His teaching
to assess the numerous voices trying to influence our values and
numerous voices trying to influence our values and behaviors (c) and
the ability to draw inference from his word and teachings to
buttress our points and arguments.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
3rd Sunday of Easter
Acts 2.14, 22-28; 1 Pet 1.17-21; Lk 24.13-35
One Dead – Another Alive
Dr. Seamands tells of a Muslim who became a Christian in Africa.
“Some of his friends asked him, 'Why have you become a Christian?'
He answered, 'Well, it’s like this. Suppose you were going down the
road and suddenly the road forked in two directions, and you didn't
know which way to go, and there at the fork in the road were two
men, one dead and one alive--which one would you ask which way to
go?”
Life After Death
As Vice President, George Bush represented the U.S. at the funeral
of former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. Bush was deeply moved by a
silent protest carried out by Brezhnev's widow. She stood motionless
by the coffin until seconds before it was closed. Then, just as the
soldiers touched the lid, Brezhnev's wife performed an act of great
courage and hope, a gesture that must surely rank as one of the most
profound acts of civil disobedience ever committed: She reached down
and made the sign of the cross on her husband's chest. There in the
citadel of secular, atheistic power, the wife of the man who had run
it all hoped that her husband was wrong. She hoped that there was
another life, and that that life was best represented by Jesus who
died on the cross, and that the same Jesus might yet have mercy on
her husband.
Disturbed Disciples During the weeks after Easter, the church puts us in touch with
the first men and women who experienced the risen Jesus in an
attempt to deepen our appreciation and understanding of this, the
linchpin of our faith. In describing those early believers, Gunther
Bornkamm once remarked, “The men and women who encounter the risen
Christ in the Easter stories have come to an end of their wisdom.
They are alarmed and disturbed by his death, mourners wandering
about the grave of the Lord in their helpless love. . . like the two
disciples on the way to Emmaus, their last hopes are destroyed”
(Jesus of Nazareth, Harper and Row, New York. 1960).
Therefore it is erroneous to think that the resurrection narratives
can be explained away as a human invention or as a product of wish-fulfillment
on the part of Jesus’ disciples. After Jesus’ death, they were at a
loss; it was only through their revelatory experiences of the risen
Lord that the disciples began to understand the Jesus event as a
work of God which forever changed the course of human history. As
the early believers explained in today’s first two readings, Jesus
was sent according to the set plan and purpose of God; through his
dying and his resurrection God has worked miracles, signs and
wonders in our midst (Acts). All our faith and hope as believers are
centered on this mystery (1 Peter).
The Presence of Christ
In his assessment of the resurrection appearances and of the gospel
narratives which have preserved these experiences, Bas Van Jersel
suggested that these texts were intended not only to inform would be
believers concerning the fact of Jesus-risen but also as an
interpretation of his resurrection for the life of the disciple
(“The Resurrection of Jesus”, The New Concilium, Herder and herder,
New York. 1965). In other words, accounts such as the one recorded
in today’s gospel help us to understand that faith in the
resurrection is not confined to a past event; nor is it relegated
solely to a future moment when we also be raised by God from death.
Rather, the resurrection appearances represent the church’s
understanding concerning the permanent presence of the risen Lord
with us now. How and in what manner do we experience him among us?
What are the implications of his presence? How must it influence our
faith? Our life style?
Experience of Resurrection
Matthew, in his gospel, told his readers that they would find and
experience Jesus in the hungry when they fed them; in the thirsty
when they gave a drink of water; in the stranger to whom they gave a
welcome; in the naked whom they clothed, in the ill whom they cared
for and in the prisoner whom they visited. In another passage, the
evangelist assured his contemporaries of an experience of Jesus’
presence whenever and wherever two or three would gather together in
prayer (Mt 25.35-36, 18.20). For his part, the fourth evangelist
offered the assurance of Jesus’ abiding presence in the gift of the
Spirit. Like Jesus, the Spirit would teach the disciples, remind
them of his words and works, guide them to the truth and be with
them always (Jn 14.16).
In today’s gospel, Luke reminds believers that the ultimate
encounter with the permanent presence of the risen Jesus comes in
the breaking open of the Word and in the Breaking of the Bread which
is the Eucharist.
Proclaimer and Proclaimed
The book of Acts has sometimes been called the account of how the
proclaimer became the proclaimed. In Acts, Luke builds a bridge
between Jesus. who came in human flesh with a ministry of healing
and reconciliation. . . who died on the cross for the salvation of
all peoples. . . who rose in victory over death and sin to live
forever. . . and the church. whose presence in the world continues
to manifest the saving plan and purpose of God in human history. In
this excerpted periscope, Peter and the Eleven are portrayed as
empowered by the Spirit and intent upon proclaiming the good news of
salvation just as Jesus had been endowed with the Spirit when he
inaugurated his public ministry (see Lk 4.14-21). Among the
Israelites, there was a widespread belief that God had “closed the
heavens” and that the Holy Spirit had descended on no one, prophet
or leader, since the last of the canonical prophets, Haggai,
Zechariah and Malachi (Jerome Crowe, The Acts, Michael Glazier Inc.,
Wilmington. 1983). Aware of this belief, Luke made it clear in his
account of Jesus (Luke) and of the church (Acts) that God rent the
heavens and came down (Is 63.19) and has poured out his Spirit on
all of humankind (Joel 2.1).
Like the other sermons or discourses in Acts, Peter’s reflects a
Lucan hand. A literary technique, popular and well documented in
Hellenistic literature, speeches or sermons attributed to key
character in a story were actually a careful composition of the
author and served a vehicle of the ideas he wished to convey to his
readers. Constituting approximately one quarter of the book of Acts,
the twenty-four discourses vary in form and content; by
incorporating these sermons into Acts, Luke has addressed the
missionary apologetic and ecclesial concerns of his readers.
The Sermon
In this particular section of Peter’s Pentecost sermon, Luke defends
the manner of Jesus’ ministry and death on the cross as a part of
the “set purpose and plan of God” (vs. 23) for our salvation. As
Joseph Fitzmyer has explained, Luke focuses on “the in-breaking of
divine salvific activity into human history with the appearance of
Jesus of Nazareth among mankind.” Everything that happened to Jesus,
even his ignominious passion and death, as well as everything that
will happen to the church because of its faith in Jesus “is a
manifestation of a plan of God to bring about the salvation of human
beings who recognize and accept the plan.” (The Gospel According to
Luke, Anchor Bible, Vol. 28, Doubleday and Co., New York. 1981). But
God’s saving plan did not end on Calvary; indeed God raised Jesus to
life thereby breaking the grip of sin and death upon believers.
By citing Psalm 16, Luke drew on the support of the Hebrew
scriptures, as the other evangelists and Paul, particularly when the
intended audience of the discourse was Jewish (vs. 22). This psalm
and others like it (cfr. Ps 22,110,118) were used extensively by the
early church in their efforts to present Jesus as the promised
Savior and authentic fulfillment of Israel’s messianic hopes. Today
its words continue to strike a chord in the hearts of those who
understand Jesus as the center and culmination of the two testaments
(Old Testament New Testament) of our faith.
Christian Vocation
Someone whose uniqueness distinguishes him/her from the mainstream
of human society or whose ideas and values are unsynchronized with
those of the general population is often said to “march to the beat
of a different drummer.” In his letter to the Christians of Asia
Minor the pseudonymous author of 1 Peter encouraged his readers to
aspire to a similar description. Having been delivered by Christ
from the futility of their former way of life, Christians should
subsequently conduct themselves in a worthy manner. More often than
not, this required that they cease or forego certain activities
while dedicating themselves to a life-style which was consonant with
the grace of their Christian vocation.
Abstract God of Plato
Earlier in his letter the author had characterized the life of a
person before being redeemed as one dominated by ignorance and
inordinate desire (vs. 14). As William Barclay (“Peter,” The Daily
Study Bible, The St. Andrew Press, Edinburgh. 1975) explained, the
pagan world was suffocated by ignorance, convinced by its
philosophers that God was unknowable. “It is hard,” said Plato, “to
investigate and find the framer and the father of the universe; and
if one did find him, it would be impossible to express him in terms
which all could understand.” Aristotle spoke of God as the “supreme
cause, by all men dreamed of and by no men known.” Coupled with this
burden of frustrated ignorance was an attitude of self-abandon with
regard to the senses. Whereas “desperate poverty prevailed at the
lower end of the social scale,” the higher echelons were notorious
for their “sheer fleshliness.” By their own historians’ accounts,
Romans and Greeks were shamelessly indulgent. At one banquet,
Emperor Vitellius served two thousand fish, seven thousand birds and
thousands of dollars’ worth of peacock’s brains and nightingales
tongues. Martial tells of women who had reached their tenth husband;
Jerome wrote of a woman married to her twenty-third husband, she
being his twenty-first wife. Homosexuality was so common that many
no longer considered it aberrant. But believers in Jesus, having
been rescued from such godlessness were to live otherwise!
Pilgrims on Earth
In terms reminiscent of the exodus from Egypt, the author of 1 Peter
called his readers to be reverent sojourners, faithful to their
constant companion on their journey through life, viz. Jesus. By his
blood they had been redeemed and through him they had the joy of
knowing God. No longer simply the supreme cause who could not be
known or understood but only dreamed of, God, the loving Father had
revealed himself and his saving plan in the person and mission of
Jesus.
Like the recipients of 1 Peter, believers on the brink of the
twenty-first century live in societies which are often characterized
by interests and values contrary to those of the gospel. This
ancient Christian author reminds his readers that their baptismal
commitment calls them to center their faith and hope in God (vs. 21)
and to “march to the beat of his drum.”
Journey to Emmaus
Like the two disciples making their way from Jerusalem to Emmaus,
contemporary believers of Jesus live after the fact of Jesus’
resurrection and in the interim between his two advents. Like
Cleopas and his companion, we search for the daily experience of
Jesus which sustains and strengthens our hope and which inspires our
faithful discipleship. In their encounter with the risen Lord, we
learn of the manner in which he remains present until his climactic
appearance in glory.
Breaking of Bread
In this superb narrative, Luke has provided his readers with a
treasure of christological and apologetic insights drawn from the
different levels of gospel tradition. At the very basis of the story
was the experience of the first witnesses of Jesus, vindicated by
God and risen from death to glory. Surrounding that primitive core
of gospel kerygma was the ongoing experience of the church in Syrian
Antioch in the mid-80s AD. In the almost two generations following
Jesus’ death on the cross, the Christians of Antioch had been
encountering the risen Lord in the sacramental breaking of the
bread. For his part, the evangelist had structured this narrative in
a recognizable liturgical pattern. In both word (vs. 27) and
sacrament (vs. 30) the risen Lord is made known and communicated to
the believing community.
They did not Recognized Him
Notice the motif of delayed recognition which informed this and most
of the other resurrection narratives. Initially, the disciples did
not recognize Jesus because he was transformed by the glory of his
resurrection. Nevertheless, Luke was careful (as were the other
evangelists) to underscore the continuity between the Jesus whom the
disciples had known during his ministry and the risen Lord whom they
were now encountering. He taught them, ate with them and then opens
their eyes to the knowledge of his presence.
As Jesus broke open the word for them (“he interpreted for them
every passage of Scripture which referred to him” (vs. 27) the
disciples’ hearts began to burn within them (vs. 32). They implored
him “Stay with us!” (vs. 29). Then, in a manner which recalled his
last supper with them before his cross, he took the bread, blessed
it, broke it and gave it to them; at that point, they came to know
him. The searching, hoping fire in their hearts was transformed into
recognition and faith.
Luke draws attention to the significance of this moment by
declaring, “with that, their eyes were opened” (vs. 31). Opened eyes
(a term mentioned eight times in the New Testament, six of which are
in Luke-Acts) indicated a deepened understanding of revelation. In
this instance, the disciples’ opened eyes meant that they had begun
to comprehend the mystery of Jesus, dead, risen and ever present.
Jesus’ disappearance at the point of recognition (“he vanished from
their sight,” vs. 31) was not a disappointment but yet another
signal that the risen Lord would remain forever with his disciples
in the breaking of the bread and in the sharing of his word.
Practical Conclusion
The experience of those early disciples is ours at every Eucharistic
celebration. With fire in our hearts, the word reveals who he is; in
the blessed and broken bread the paschal experience is renewed, We
who hear the word and share the bread are nourished and sustained.
Jesus lives; he stays with us. Hope and faith are not in vain.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
2nd Sunday of Easter : Year: A
Acts 2.42-47; Psalm 118; 1 Pet 1.3-9; Jn 20.19-31
Mikhail! Christ is Risen It was May Day, 1990. The place was Moscow's Red Square. "Is it
straight, Father?" one Orthodox priest asked another, shifting the
heavy, eight-foot crucifix on his shoulder. "Yes," said the other.
"It is straight." Together the two priests, along with a group of
parishioners holding ropes that steadied the beams of the huge
cross, walked the parade route. Before them was passed the official
might of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics: The usual May Day
procession of tanks, missiles, troops, and salutes to the Communist
party elite. Behind the tanks surged a giant crowd of protesters,
shouting up at Mikhail Gorbachev. "Bread!...Freedom!...Truth!"
As the throng passed directly in front of the Soviet leader standing
in his place of honor, the priests hoisted their heavy burden toward
the sky. The cross emerged from the crowd. As it did, the figure of
Jesus Christ obscured the giant poster faces of Karl Marx, Friedrich
Engels, and Vladimir Lenin that provided the backdrop for
Gorbachev's reviewing stand. "Mikhail Sergeyevich!" one of the
priests shouted, his deep voice cleaving the clamor of the
protesters and piercing straight toward the angry Soviet leader.
"Mikhail Sergeyevich! Christ is risen!"
Risen Christ and Fearful Disciples
Today’s Gospel narrates the impact of the Risen Christ’s presence on
the fearful disciples. In symbolic language typical of St. John, the
Gospel tells of Jesus’ greeting, his breathing on the disciples and
his imparting of the Holy Spirit with the power to forgive and to
retain sins. The story of Jesus’ later appearance to Thomas
highlights the merit of those who will not have seen Jesus but will
believe in his presence and his teaching. In this way Christians
will experience “life” (v.31).
The Acts of the Apostles recalls the simple characteristics of
Christian life. prayer and the Eucharistic sacrifice, instruction in
the faith, life and possessions in common. This simple sincerity
wins the admiration of others.
The Power of the Lord
Psalm 118 rejoices in the presence and the power of the Lord. The
Lord protected and saved the just from persecutors. The rejection
and apparent failure of the psalmist, comparing himself to a stone
discarded by the builders, has been turned by the Lord into success
and vindication, a cornerstone.
The Joy
The First Letter of St. Peter speaks of an inheritance that is
guaranteed for those reborn as Christians. Even now Christians are
filled with a joy that is “indescribable and glorious” (v.8). This
joy is capable of bearing the trials of this life, which purify and
strengthen faith in our future inheritance eternal life.
The Experience
What is evident from the Gospel text is the emotional impact on the
disciples of Jesus’ appearance. “the disciples rejoiced when they
saw the Lord.” (v20). Our faith is reflected not only in the
intellectual content of our belief, but in the experience of the
personal presence of Jesus Christ in our lives. We do not see Jesus
but we can, and should, experience his presence in our lives. Our
faith is not just a guarantee of future happiness; it should also
open our minds and hearts now to a real experience of Jesus’
presence.
The Christian way of living
The Acts of the Apostles describes the characteristics of Christian
life. of living in and for a community. It is so strong that
individual possessions are divided among all members according to
need. Prayer, work necessary to sustain basic needs, and the giving
and receiving of instruction in the faith are part of the
Christian’s daily schedule.
A time of Trials
St. Peter reminds the scattered first Christian communities that
they “may have to suffer through various trials” (v.6). The text
suggests the durability of faith (which includes the experience of
joy) even in the midst of suffering. In this sense the experience of
faith is worth more than fire-tested gold. This is certainly the
testimony of the first Christian martyrs who were sustained by the
experience of a rock-solid faith. The text does not imply a “testing
by fire” on the part of God, but the Christian’s sustaining
experience of faith even though Christians may have to pass through
earthly fire.
Resurrection and Trials
Christians today suffer from reduced expectations. We have come to
regard the Christian faith as something like an ointment to be
rubbed on in times of need. The faith is reduced to some words of
comfort and consolation when there is nothing else to say or to do.
It has become a theoretical doctrine, an abstract explanation of
ideas.
The center of Christian life is the experience of Jesus Christ. This
contact is real, personal and overwhelming. It gives ordinary people
a courage and a conviction that they know is worth more than
anything they have. It also gives them a real joy that nothing can
undermine. We need, as Christians, to have greater expectations;
there is a treasure to be found. Christianity is not a present-day
palliative for the woes of life, a mere opium for the people; it is
the experience of fire within, an unbreakable all-conquering spirit.
It is a love that always gives more.
Practical Conclusion
When we consider the Acts of the Apostles’ description of Christian
community life one may perhaps think it refers to some strange sect
(of which there are many) with its cultish practices disconnected
from normal life. We may also think that it is an impossible,
impractical ideal of naďve simplicity. Have we become accustomed to
a token form of Christian living? What do we think parish life is?
Is it inspired by the desire to hold all things in common, to want
to live together as Christian brothers and sisters, sharing a common
experience of Jesus Christ? Our lives are certainly more complicated
than the scattered Christian communities of the first century after
Christ, but nothing should impede our desire to live and to build an
authentically Christian life in community.
We have the desire to live in communion with others; we know how
difficult real, intimate bonds are to achieve and to sustain. We
need to re-examine the state of our Christian communion with others,
starting with those nearest to us.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
Easter Sunday : Year: A
Acts 10.34a,
36-43; Col 3.1-4 (Or 1 Cor 5.6b-8);
Jn 20.1-18; in the afternoon Lk 24.13-35
He is Risen Indeed
Dr. George Sweeting tells of an incident in the
early 1920s when Communist leader Nikolai Bukharin
was sent from Moscow to Kiev to address an anti-God
rally. For an hour he abused and ridiculed the
Christian faith until it seemed as if the whole
structure of belief was in ruins. Then questions
were invited. An Orthodox church priest rose and
asked to speak. He turned, faced the people, and
gave the Easter greeting, "He is risen!" Instantly
the assembly rose to its feet and the reply came
back loud and clear, "He is risen indeed!"
Is there Life after Death? Madonna the great singer, attempted to answer
the question of, “Why am I here?” by becoming a
diva, confessing, “There were many years when I
thought fame, fortune, and public approval would
bring me happiness. But one day you wake up and
realize they don’t… I still felt something was
missing… I wanted to know the meaning of true and
lasting happiness and how I could go about finding
it.”(The Oprah Magazine, “Oprah talks to Madonna,”
January, 2004, 120.)
Others have given up on finding meaning. Kurt
Cobain, lead singer of the Seattle grunge band
Nirvana, despaired of life at age 27 and committed
suicide. Jazz-age cartoonist Ralph Barton also found
life to be meaningless, leaving the following
suicide note. “I have had few difficulties, many
friends, great successes; I have gone from wife to
wife, and from house to house, visited countries of
the world, but I am fed up with inventing devices to
fill up 24 hours of the day.” Josh McDowell, The
Resurrection Factor (San Bernardino, CA. Here’s Life
Publ., 1981).
Pascal, the great French philosopher believed this
inner void we all experience can only be filled by
God. He states, “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the
heart of every man which only Jesus Christ can
fill.” William R. Bright, Jesus and the Intellectual
(San Bernardino, CA. Here’s Life Publ., 1968),If
Pascal is right, then we would expect Jesus to not
only answer the question of our identity and meaning
in this life, but also to give us hope for life
after we die.
Can there be meaning, without God? Not according to
atheist Bertrand Russell, who wrote, “Unless you
assume a god, the question of life’s purpose is
meaningless.” Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life
(Grand Rapids, MI. Zondervan, 2002). Russell
resigned himself to ultimately “rot” in the grave.
In his book, Why I am not a Christian, Russell
dismissed everything Jesus said about life’s
meaning, including his promise of eternal life.
Jesus Triumphs Jesus actually defeated death as eyewitnesses
claim. He alone is able to tell us what life is all
about, and answer, “Where am I going?” In order to
understand how Jesus’ words, life, and death can
establish our identities, give us meaning in life,
and provide hope for the future, we need to
understand what he said about God, about us, and
about himself.
Summing up, I use the words of Arthur Ashe, the
legendary Wimbledon player as he was dying of AIDS,
which he got due to infected blood he received
during a heart surgery in 1983. From world over, he
received letters from his fans, one of which
conveyed. "Why does GOD have to select you for such
a bad disease"?
To this Arthur Ashe replied. The world over 5 crore
children start playing tennis, 50 lakh learn to play
tennis, 5 lakh learn professional tennis, 50,000
come to the circuit, 5000 reach the grand slam, 50
reach Wimbledon, 4 to semi-final, 2 to the finals,
When I was holding a cup I never asked GOD "Why
me?".
And today in pain I should not be asking GOD "Why
me?"
Life after death promise keeps us Sweet, Trials keep
us Strong, Sorrow keeps us Human, Failure keeps us
Humble, Success keeps us Glowing, But only GOD KEEPS
US GOING..... EVER STRONG…
The Resurrection
The main sources which directly attest the fact of
Christ’s Resurrection are the Four Gospels and the
Epistles of St. Paul. Easter morning is so rich in
incident, and so crowded with interested persons,
that its complete history presents a rather
complicated tableau. It is not surprising,
therefore, that the partial accounts contained in
each of the Four Gospels appear at first sight hard
to harmonize. But whatever exegetic view as to the
visit to the sepulcher by the pious women and the
appearance of the angels we may defend, we cannot
deny the Evangelists’ agreement as to the fact that
the risen Christ appeared to one or more persons.
According to St. Matthew, He appeared to the holy
women, and again on a mountain in Galilee; according
to St. Mark, He was seen by Mary Magdalene, by the
two disciples at Emmaus, and the Eleven before his
Ascension into heaven; according to St. Luke, He
walked with the disciples to Emmaus, appeared to
Peter and to the assembled disciples in Jerusalem;
according to St. John, Jesus appeared to Mary
Magdalene, to the ten Apostles on Easter Sunday, to
the Eleven a week later, and to the seven disciples
at the Sea of Tiberius. St. Paul (1 Cor 15.3-8)
enumerates another series of apparitions of Jesus
after His Resurrection; he was seen by Cephas, by
the Eleven, by more than 500 brethren, many of whom
were still alive at the time of the Apostle’s
writing, by James, by all the Apostles, and lastly
by Paul himself.
An Outline
Here is an outline of a possible harmony of the
Evangelists’ account concerning the principal events
of Easter Sunday.
The holy women carrying the spices previously
prepared start out for the sepulcher before dawn,
and reach it after sunrise; they are anxious about
the heavy stone, but know nothing of the official
guard of the sepulcher (Mt 28.1-3; Mr 16.1-3; Lk
24.1; Jn 20.1).
The angel frightened the guards by his brightness,
put them to flight, rolled away the stone, and
seated himself not upon (ep autou), but above (epano
autou) the stone (Mt 28.2-4).
Mary Magdalene, Mary the Mother of James, and Salome
approach the sepulcher, and see the stone rolled
back, whereupon Mary Magdalene immediately returns
to inform the Apostles (Mk 16.4; Lk 24.2; Jn
20.1-2).
The other two holy women enter the sepulcher, find
an angel seated in the vestibule, who shows them the
empty sepulcher, announces the Resurrection, and
commissions them to tell the disciples and Peter
that they shall see Jesus in Galilee (Mt 28.5-7; Mk
16.5-7).
A second group of holy women, consisting of Joanna
and her companions, arrive at the sepulcher, where
they have probably agreed to meet the first group,
enter the empty interior, and are admonished by two
angels that Jesus has risen according to His
prediction (Lk 24.10).
Not long after, Peter and John, who were notified by
Mary Magdalen, arrive at the sepulchre and find the
linen cloth in such a position as to exclude the
supposition that the body was stolen; for they lay
simply flat on the ground, showing that the sacred
body had vanished out of them without touching them.
When John notices this he believes (Jh 20.3-10).
Mary Magdalen returns to the sepulchre, sees first
two angels within, and then Jesus Himself (Jn
20.11-l6; Mk 16.9).
The two groups of pious women, who probably met on
their return to the city, are favored with the sight
of Christ arisen, who commissions them to tell His
brethren that they will see him in Galilee (Mt
28.8-10; Mk 16.8).
The holy women relate their experiences to the
Apostles, but find no belief (Mk 16.10-11; Lk
24.9-11).
Jesus appears to the disciples, at Emmaus, and they
return to Jerusalem; the Apostles appear to waver
between doubt and belief (Mk 16.12-13; Lk 24.13-35).
Christ appears to Peter, and therefore Peter and
John firmly believe in the Resurrection (Luke 24.34;
Jn 20.8).
After the return of the disciples from Emmaus, Jesus
appears to all the Apostles excepting Thomas (Mk
16.14; Lk 24.36-43; Jn 20.19-25).
The Apparitions
The harmony of the other apparitions of Christ after
His Resurrection presents no special difficulties.
Briefly, therefore, the fact of Christ’s
Resurrection is attested by more than 500
eyewitnesses, whose experience, simplicity, and
uprightness of life rendered them incapable of
inventing such a fable, who lived at a time when any
attempt to deceive could have been easily
discovered, who had nothing in this life to gain,
but everything to lose by their testimony, whose
moral courage exhibited in their apostolic life can
be explained only by their intimate conviction of
the objective truth of their message. Again the fact
of Christ’s Resurrection is attested by the eloquent
silence of the Synagogue which had done everything
to prevent deception, which could have easily
discovered deception, if there had been any, which
opposed only sleeping witnesses to the testimony of
the Apostles, which did not punish the alleged
carelessness of the official guard, and which could
not answer the testimony of the Apostles except by
threatening them “that they speak no more in this
name to any man” (Acts 4.17). Finally the thousands
and millions, both Jews and Gentiles, who believed
the testimony of the Apostles in spite of all the
disadvantages following from such a belief, in short
the origin of the Church, requires for its
explanation the reality of Christ’s Resurrection,
for the rise of the Church without the Resurrection
would have been a greater miracle than the
Resurrection itself.
Opposing Theories
By what means can the evidence for Christ’s
Resurrection by overthrown? Three theories of
explanation have been advanced, though the first two
have hardly any adherents in our day.
The Swoon Theory
There is the theory of those who assert that Christ
did not really die upon the cross, that His supposed
death was only a temporary swoon, and that His
Resurrection was simply a return to consciousness.
This was advocated by Paulus (“Exegetisches Handbuch”,
1842, II, p. 929) and in a modified form by Hase (“Gesch.
Jesu”, n. 112), but it does not agree with the data
furnished by the Gospels. The scourging and the
crown of thorns, the carrying of the cross and the
crucifixion, the three hours on the cross and the
piercing of the Sufferer’s side cannot have brought
on a mere swoon. His real death is attested by the
centurion and the soldiers, by the friends of Jesus
and by his most bitter enemies. His stay in a sealed
sepulchre for thirty-six hours, in an atmosphere
poisoned by the exhalations of a hundred pounds of
spices, which would have of itself sufficed to cause
death. Moreover, if Jesus had merely returned from a
swoon, the feelings of Easter morning would have
been those of sympathy rather than those of joy and
triumph, the Apostles would have been roused to the
duties of a sick chamber rather than to apostolic
work, the life of the powerful wonderworker would
have ended in ignoble solitude and inglorious
obscurity, and His vaunted sinlessness would have
changed into His silent approval of a lie as the
foundation stone of His Church. No wonder that later
critics of the Resurrection, like Strauss, have
heaped contempt on the old theory of a swoon.
The Imposition Theory
The disciples, it is said, stole the body of Jesus
from the grave, and then proclaimed to men that
their Lord had risen. This theory was anticipated by
the Jews who “gave a great sum of money to the
soldiers, saying. Say you, His disciples came by
night, and stole him away when we were asleep” (Mt
28.12). The same was urged by Celsus (Orig., “Contra
Cels.”, II, 56) with some difference of detail. But
to assume that the Apostles with a burden of this
kind upon their consciences could have preached a
kingdom of truth and righteousness as the one great
effort of their lives, and that for the sake of that
kingdom they could have suffered even unto death, is
to assume one of those moral impossibilities which
may pass for a moment in the heat of controversy,
but must be dismissed without delay in the hour of
good reflection.
The Vision Theory
This theory as generally understood by its advocates
does not allow visions caused by a Divine
intervention, but only such as are the product of
human agencies. For if a Divine intervention be
admitted, we may as well believe, as far as
principles are concerned, that God raised Jesus from
the dead. But where in the present instance are the
human agencies which might cause these visions? The
idea of a resurrection from the grave was familiar
to the disciples from their Jewish faith; they had
also vague intimations in the prophecies of the Old
Testament; finally, Jesus Himself had always
associated His Resurrection with the predictions of
his death. On the other hand, the disciples’ state
of mind was one of great excitement; they treasured
the memory of Christ with a fondness which made it
almost impossible for them to believe that He was
gone. In short, their whole mental condition was
such as needed only the application of a spark to
kindle the flame. The spark was applied by Mary
Magdalen, and the flame at once spread with the
rapidity and force of a conflagration. What she
believed that she had seen, others immediately
believed that they must see. Their expectations were
fulfilled, and the conviction seized the members of
the early Church that the Lord had really risen from
the dead.
Such is the vision theory commonly defended by
recent critics of the Resurrection. But however
ingeniously it may be devised, it is quite
impossible from an historical point of view.
Criticism
It is incompatible with the state of mind of the
Apostles; the theory presupposes faith and
expectancy on the part of the Apostles, while in
point of fact the disciples’ faith and expectancy
followed their vision of the risen Christ.
It is inconsistent with the nature of Christ’s
manifestations; they ought to have been connected
with heavenly glory, or they should have continued
the former intimate relations of Jesus with His
disciples, while actually and consistently they
presented quite a new phase that could not have been
expected.
It does not agree with the conditions of the early
Christian community; after the first excitement of
Easter Sunday, the disciples as a body are noted for
their cool deliberation rather than the exalted
enthusiasm of a community of visionaries.
It is incompatible with the length of time during
which the apparitions lasted; visions such as the
critics suppose have never been known to last long,
while some of Christ’s manifestations lasted a
considerable period.
It is not consistent with the fact that the
manifestations were made to numbers at the same
instant.
It does not agree with the place where most of the
manifestations were made. visionary appearances
would have been expected in Galilee, while most
apparitions of Jesus occurred in Judea.
It is inconsistent with the fact that the visions
came to a sudden end on the day of Ascension.
Keim admits that enthusiasm, nervousness, and mental
excitement on the part of the disciples do not
supply a rational explanation of the facts as
related in the Gospels. According to him, the
visions were directly granted by God and the
glorified Christ; they may even include a “corporeal
appearance” for those who fear that without this
they would lose all. But Keim’s theory satisfies
neither the Church, since it abandons all the proofs
of a bodily Resurrection of Jesus, nor the enemies
of the Church, since it admits many of the Church’s
dogmas; nor again is it consistent with itself,
since it grants God’s special intervention in proof
of the Church’s faith, though it starts with the
denial of the bodily Resurrection of Jesus, which is
one of the principal objects of that faith.
Modernist View
The Holy Office describes and condemns in the
thirty-sixth and thirty-seventh propositions of the
Decree “Lamentabili”, the views advocated by a
fourth class of opponents of the Resurrection. The
former of these propositions reads. “The
Resurrection of our Saviour is not properly a fact
of the historical order, but a fact of the purely
supernatural order neither proved nor provable,
which Christian consciousness has little by little
inferred from other facts.” This statement agrees
with, and is further explained by the words of Loisy
(“Autour d’un petit livre”, p. viii, 120-121, 169;
“L’Evangile et l’Eglise”, pp. 74-78; 120-121; 171).
According to Loisy, firstly, the entrance into life
immortal of one risen from the dead is not subject
to observation; it is a supernatural,
hyper-historical fact, not capable of historical
proof. The proofs alleged for the Resurrection of
Jesus Christ are inadequate; the empty sepulchre is
only an indirect argument, while the apparitions of
the risen Christ are open to suspicion on a priori
grounds, being sensible impressions of a
supernatural reality; and they are doubtful evidence
from a critical point of view, on account of the
discrepancies in the various Scriptural narratives
and the mixed character of the detail connected with
the apparitions. Secondly, if one prescinds from the
faith of the Apostles, the testimony of the New
Testament does not furnish a certain argument for
the fact of the Resurrection. This faith of the
Apostles is concerned not so much with the
Resurrection of Jesus Christ as with His immortal
life; being based on the apparitions, which are
unsatisfactory evidence from an historical point of
view, its force is appreciated only by faith itself;
being a development of the idea of an immortal
Messiah, it is an evolution of Christian
consciousness, though it is at the same time a
corrective of the scandal of the Cross. The Holy
Office rejects this view of the Resurrection when it
condemns the thirty-seventh proposition in the
Decree “Lamentabili”. “The faith in the Resurrection
of Christ pointed at the beginning no so much to the
fact of the Resurrection, as to the immortal life of
Christ with God.”
Practical Conclusion
Besides the authoritative rejection of the foregoing
view, we may submit the following three
considerations which render it untenable. First, the
contention that the Resurrection of Christ cannot be
proved historically is not in accord with science.
Science does not know enough about the limitations
and the properties of a body raised from the dead to
immortal life to warrant the assertion that such a
body cannot be perceived by the senses; again in the
case of Christ, the empty sepulcher with all its
concrete circumstances cannot be explained except by
a miraculous Divine intervention as supernatural in
its character as the Resurrection of Jesus.
Secondly, history does not allow us to regard the
belief in the Resurrection as the result of a
gradual evolution in Christian consciousness. The
apparitions were not a mere projection of the
disciples’ Messianic hope and expectation; their
Messianic hope and expectations had to be revived by
the apparitions. Again, the Apostles did not begin
with preaching the immortal life of Christ with God,
but they preached Christ’s Resurrection from the
very beginning, they insisted on it as a fundamental
fact and they described even some of the details
connected with this fact. Acts 2.24,31; 3.15,26;
4.10; 5.30; 10. 39-40; 13.30,37; 17.31-2; Rm 1.4;
4.25; 6.4,9; 8.11,34; 10. etc. Thirdly, the denial
of the historical certainty of Christ’s Resurrection
involves several historical blunders. it questions
the objective reality of the apparitions without any
historical grounds for such a doubt; it denies the
fact of the empty sepulchre in spite of solid
historical evidence to the contrary; it questions
even the fact of Christ’s burial in Joseph’s
sepulchre, though this fact is based on the clear
and simply unimpeachable testimony of history.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
GOOD FRIDAY : Year: A
Is 52.13 to 53.12; Heb 4.14-16,
5.7-9; Jn 18.1 to 19.42
Only God Knows
Once there was an old man who lived in a tiny village. Although
poor, he was envied by all, for he owned a beautiful white horse.
Even the king coveted his treasure. A horse like this had never been
seen before - such was its splendor, its majesty, its strength.
People offered fabulous prices for the steed, but the old man always
refused. "This horse is not a horse to me," he would tell them. "It
is a person. How could you sell a person? He is a friend, not a
possession. How could you sell a friend?" The man was poor and the
temptation was great. But he never sold the horse.
One morning he found that the horse was not in the stable. The
entire village came to see him. "You old fool," they scoffed, "we
told you that someone would steal your horse. We warned you that you
would be robbed. You are so poor. How could you ever hope to protect
such a valuable animal? It would have been better to have sold him.
You could have gotten whatever price you wanted. No amount would
have been too high. Now the horse is gone, and you've been cursed
with misfortune."
The old man responded, "Don't speak too quickly. Say only that the
horse is not in the stable. That is all we know; the rest is
judgment. If I've been cursed or not, how can you know? How can you
judge?"
The people contested, "Don't make us out to be fools! We may not be
philosophers, but great philosophy is not needed. The simple fact is
that your horse is gone is a curse."
The old man spoke again. "All I know is that the stable is empty,
and the horse is gone. The rest I don't know. Whether it be a curse
or a blessing, I can't say. All we can see is a fragment. Who can
say what will come next?"
The people of the village laughed. They thought that the man was
crazy. They had always thought he was a fool; if he wasn't, he would
have sold the horse and lived off the money. But instead, he was a
poor woodcutter, an old man still cutting firewood and dragging it
out of the forest and selling it. he lived hand to mouth in the
misery of poverty. Now he had proven that he was, indeed, a fool.
After fifteen days, the horse returned. He hadn't been stolen; he
had run away into the forest. Not only had he returned, he had
brought a dozen wild horses with him. Once again the village people
gathered around the woodcutter and spoke. "Old man, you were right
and we were wrong. What we thought was a curse was a blessing.
Please forgive us."
The man responded, "Once again, you go too far. Say only that the
horse is back. State only that a dozen horses returned with him, but
don't judge. How do you know if this is a blessing or not? You see
only a fragment. Unless you know the whole story, how can you judge?
You read only one page of a book. Can you judge the whole book? You
read only one word of a phrase. Can you understand the entire
phrase?
"Life is so vast, yet you judge all of life with one page or one
word. All you have is a fragment! Don't say that this is a blessing.
No one knows. I am content with what I know. I am not perturbed by
what I don't."
"Maybe the old man is right," they said to one another. So they said
little. But down deep, they knew he was wrong. They knew it was a
blessing. Twelve wild horses had returned with one horse. With a
little bit of work, the animals could be broken and trained and sold
for much money.
The old man had a son, an only son. The young man began to break the
wild horses. After a few days, he fell from one of the horses and
broke both legs. Once again the villagers gathered around the old
man and cast their judgments.
"You were right," they said. "You proved you were right. The dozen
horses were not a blessing. They were a curse. Your only son has
broken his legs, and now in your old age you have no one to help
you. Now you are poorer than ever."
The old man spoke again. "You people are obsessed with judging.
Don't go so far. Say only that my son broke his legs. Who knows if
it is a blessing or a curse? No one knows. We only have a fragment.
Life comes in fragments."
It so happened that a few weeks later the country engaged in war
against a neighboring country. All the young men of the village were
required to join the army. Only the son of the old man was excluded,
because he was injured. Once again the people gathered around the
old man, crying and screaming because their sons had been taken.
There was little chance that they would return. The enemy was
strong, and the war would be a losing struggle. They would never see
their sons again.
"You were right, old man," they wept. "God knows you were right.
This proves it. Your son's accident was a blessing. His legs may be
broken, but at least he is with you. Our sons are gone forever."
The old man spoke again. "It is impossible to talk with you. You
always draw conclusions. No one knows. Say only this: Your sons had
to go to war, and mine did not. No one knows if it is a blessing or
a curse. No one is wise enough to know. Only God knows."
Irreplaceable Damage
This is a true story which happened in the States. A man came out of
his home to admire his new truck. To his puzzlement, his
three-year-old son was happily hammering dents into the shiny paint
of the truck. The man ran to his son, knocked him away, and hammered
the little boy's hands into pulp as punishment. When the father
calmed down, he rushed his son to the hospital.
Although the doctor tried desperately to save the crushed bones, he
finally had to amputate the fingers from both the boy's hands. When
the boy woke up from the surgery & saw his bandaged stubs, he
innocently said, "Daddy, I'm sorry about your truck." Then he asked,
"… but when are my fingers going to grow back?" The father went home
and committed suicide.
Think about this story the next time someone steps on your feet or
you wish to take revenge. Think first before you lose your patience
with someone you love. Trucks can be repaired… Broken bones & hurt
feelings often can't. Too often we fail to recognize the difference
between the person and the performance. We forget that forgiveness
is greater than revenge.
Damage will haunt us
People make mistakes. We are allowed to make mistakes. But the
actions we take while in a rage will haunt us forever.
Do we remember the lies that were testified against Jesus? (Mk
14.56)
How about when some of the people spit on Jesus? (Mk 14.65)
When Jesus was repeatedly hit by the palms of hands? (Mk 14.65)
When He was whipped and He shed His Sacred Blood? (Mt 27.26)
When He had a Crown of Thorns placed on His head? (Jn 19.2)
Do we remember when that for our sake, Jesus was stripped of His
clothing? (Mt 27.28) What embarrassment He endured for us!
Do we remember when Jesus was mocked as the King of the Jews? (Mt
27.29)
When He was hit on the head with a reed? (Mt 27.30)
When they mocked Jesus by bowing on their knees before Him? (Mk
19-20)
When they cast lots for His vesture? (Mt 27.35)
When He was beaten by the soldiers? (Jn 19.3)
When He had to carry the heavy wooden Cross of our sins while He was
in such great pains? (Jn 19.17).
Preparing to be an Eagle
Though many of us have seen pictures of a huge eagle's nest high in
the branches of a tree or in the crag of a cliff, few of us have
gotten a glimpse inside. When a mother eagle builds her nest she
starts with thorns, broken branches, sharp rocks, and a number of
other items that seem entirely unsuitable for the project. But then
she lines the nest with a thick padding of wool, feathers, and fur
from animals she has killed, making it soft and comfortable for the
eggs. By the time the growing birds reach flying age, the comfort of
the nest and the luxury of free meals make them quite reluctant to
leave. That's when the mother eagle begins "stirring up the nest."
With her strong talons she begins pulling up the thick carpet of fur
and feathers, bringing the sharp rocks and branches to the surface.
As more of the bedding gets plucked up, the nest becomes more
uncomfortable for the young eagles. Eventually, this and other
urgings prompt the growing eagles to leave their once-comfortable
abode and move on to more mature behavior.
IT IS THE DAY OF FORGIVENESS AND A DAY TO BE WITH THE
SUFFERING LOT. LET US LIVE THIS DAY IN TOTAL SILENCE OF MIND AND
SURROUNDINGS.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
Holy Thursday : Year: A
Is 61.1-3a, 6a, 8b-9; Rev 1.4-8; Lk 4.16-21
Mandatum
This day, Maundy Thursday (also "Holy Thursday" or "Shire Thursday")
commemorates Christ's Last Supper and the initiation of the
Eucharist. Its name of "Maundy" comes from the Latin word mandatum,
meaning "command." This stems from Christ's words in John 13.34, "A
new commandment I give unto you." It is the first of the three days
known as the "Triduum," and after the Vigil tonight, and until the
Vigil of Easter, a more profoundly somber attitude prevails (most
especially during the hours between noon and 3.00 pm on Good
Friday).
Coenaculum
The Last Supper took place in "the upper room" of the house believed
to have been owned by John Mark and his mother, Mary (Acts 12.12).
This room, also the site of the Pentecost, is known as the "Coenaculum"
or the "Cenacle" and is referred to as "Holy and glorious Sion,
mother of all churches" in St. James' Liturgy. At the site of this
place - our first Christian church a basilica was built in the 4th
century. It was destroyed by Muslims and later re-built by the
Crusaders. Underneath the place is the tomb of David.
Garden of Gethsemane
After the Supper, He went outside the Old City of Jerusalem, crossed
the Kidron Valley, and came to the Garden of Gethsemane, a place
whose name means "Olive Press," and where olives still grow today.
There He suffered in three ineffable ways. He knew exactly what
would befall Him physically and mentally every stroke, every thorn
in the crown He would wear, every labored breath He would try to
take while hanging on the Cross, the pain in each glance at His
mother; He knew that He was taking on all the sins of the world all
the sins that had ever been or ever will be committed; and, finally,
He knew that, for some people, this Sacrifice would not be fruitful
because they would reject Him. Here He was let down by His Apostles
when they fell asleep instead of keeping watch, here is where He was
further betrayed by Judas with a kiss, and where He was seized by "a
great multitude with swords and clubs, sent from the chief Priests
and the ancients of the people" and taken before Caiphas, the high
priest, where he was accused of blasphemy, beaten, spat upon, and
prepared to be taken to Pontius Pilate tomorrow morning.
Chrism Mass
As for today's liturgies, in the morning, the local Bishop will
offer a special Chrism Mass during which blesses the oils used in
Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Orders, Unction, and the consecration of
Altars and churches.
The Procedure At the evening Mass, after the bells ring during the Gloria,
they are rung no more until the Easter Vigil (a wooden clapper
called a "crotalus" is used instead). Parents explain this to their
children by saying that the all bells fly to Rome after the Gloria
of the Mass on Maundy Thursday to visit the Popes. Children are told
that the bells sleep on the roof of St. Peter's Basilica, and,
bringing Easter eggs with them, start their flight home at the
Gloria at the Easter Vigil, when they peal wildly.
Washing of the Feet
Then comes the Washing of the Feet after the homily, a rite
performed by Christ upon His disciples to prepare them for the
priesthood and the marriage banquet they will offer, and which is
rooted in the Old Testament practice of foot-washing in preparation
for the marital embrace (II Kgs 11.8-11, Canticles 5.3) and in the
ritual ablutions performed by the High Priest of the Old Covenant
(contrast Leviticus 16.23-24 with John 13.3-5). The priest girds
himself with a cloth and washes the feet of 12 men he's chosen to
represent the Apostles for the ceremony.
After the Eucharist
The rest of the Mass after the Washing of the Feet has a special
form, unlike all other Masses. After the Mass, the priest takes off
his chasuble and vests in a white cope. He returns to the Altar,
incenses the Sacred Hosts in the ciborium, and, preceded by the
Crucifer and torchbearers, carries the Ciborium to the "Altar of
Repose," also called the "Holy Sepulcher," where it will remain
"entombed" until the Mass of the Pre-sanctified on Good Friday.
Stripping of the Altars
Then there follows the Stripping of the Altars, during which
everything is removed as Antiphons and Psalms are recited. All the
glorious symbols of Christ's Presence are removed to give us the
sense of His entering most fully into His Passion. Christ enters the
Garden of Gethsemane; His arrest is imminent. The joyful signs of
His Presence won't return until Easter begins with the Easter Vigil
Mass on Saturday evening.
Customs
As to customs, many families have a practice of visiting the
tabernacles of three or seven nearby churches after the Mass on this
day as a sort of "mini-pilgrimage" (any nearby Catholic churches
will do). Some families visit the churches directly after the
evening Mass; others go home and wake up in the middle of the night
to make the visits (though since churches are rarely open all night
these days, this would be hard to do). The spirit of the visits to
the churches is keeping vigil in the Garden of Gethsemane while
Jesus prayed before His arrest. Matthew 26.36 "Then Jesus came with
them into a country place which is called Gethsemane; and he said to
his disciples. Sit you here, till I go yonder and pray."
Green Thursday
In Germany, Maundy Thursday is known as "Green Thursday" (Grundonnerstag),
and the traditional foods are green vegetables and green salad,
especially a spinach salad. In Latin countries, Jordan almonds
("confetti") are eaten today and also throughout Eastertide.
Back when Kings and Queens of England were Catholic, they, too,
would wash the feet of 12 subjects, seeing the foot washing rite
also as an example of service and humility. They would also give
money to the poor on this day, a practice is said to have begun with
St. Augustine of Canterbury in A.D. 597, and performed by Kings
since Edward II. Now the foot washing isn't done (it was given up in
the 18th c.), but a special coin called "Maundy Money" is minted and
given to the selected elderly of a representative town.
On this day, one may gain a plenary indulgence, under the usual
conditions, by reciting the Tantum Ergo (Down in Adoration).
Practical Conclusion
This ritual reminds of Jesus’ greatest gesture of service which no
leader in the history of mankind was able to conceive in his mind.
Here we see the son of man at the feet of his own disciples, washing
and setting an example of loving one another, to show to the world
that only love matters and nothing else.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
Passion (Palm) Sunday : Year: A
Mt 21.1-11; Is 50.4-7; Phil 2.6-11, Mt 26.14-27;66
Congratulations
Congratulations dear Christians, Congrats, you are well appreciated,
well accepted, you are sociable, you celebrate life, you run good
institutions, schools, colleges, you are good at speaking good
English, good at learning languages, but I am just warning you, you
are not people of deep God-experience. One Hindu addressing
Christians told this on a Centenary Celebration day. “I say I love
you, but I am not convinced fully that you carry your cross.” He
ended his reflection.
Our Celebrations
Look at the life of Jesus, fully equipped with humility and
surrender to accept God’s will. The son of man must suffer. The son
of man came to give life and not to take it. The son of man came to
lay down his life. There is no greater love than laying down one’s
life for friends. I want Christ for working miracles.
But I am not ready to carry my daily cross. He worked miracles, but
he also strongly invited his disciples to carry their daily cross.
We want Christ, but not his cross. We want a cross, but not a
crucifix.
The Triumph
This event of Palm Sunday constitutes the one earthly triumph of
Jesus' life and ministry. The crowd was following him because of the
great miracle he had wrought in raising Lazarus from the dead. The
sisters from Bethany and Lazarus were apparently well known. As the
crowd grew in numbers, Jesus sensed that the Father was asking him
to acquiesce to this acclamation. He sent ahead for a beast of
burden. For the first time, as far as we know, he mounted. He was
thus slightly above the crowd so that all could see him. The people
started pulling down branches from the trees and throwing them in
front of him. Their enthusiasm became contagious. The whole city was
plunged into excitement. The crowd was waving palms, singing and
proclaiming him to be the son of David, the king of Israel of times
past and the father of the Messiah. The words clearly implied a
divine visitation. That is why the Pharisees demanded, "Stop your
disciples from crying out. They are making you equal to God." He
replied, "If they are quiet, the stones will cry out." All creation
was bearing witness to the coming to final term of the life of him
who is the source of all that is.
Entry into Jerusalem
The thunderous shouts and applause of the immense crowd form the
background for Jesus' amazing entry into Jerusalem. When he came to
the brow of the Mount of Olives, the procession stopped and Jesus
wept over Jerusalem. He wept because the city could not perceive the
great opportunity that it was about to lose. He was fully aware that
the authorities were plotting his death and that the adulation he
was receiving would soon turn to condemnation. The superficial
enthusiasm of the crowd had a hollow ring.
Jesus Wept
Nothing could be worse public relations than to have the celebrity
of the moment burst into tears, especially when you are trying to
turn him into a king or a god. Jesus wept because of, the deep
tragedy that only he had eyes to perceive. "Jerusalem" he sobbed,
"if only you had known the time of your visitation. Now it is too
late." Thus, the city that he loved so much was fated to undergo
total destruction. It did not know the time of its divine
visitation.
Jesus is the paradigm of humanity, the universal human being, God's
idea of human nature with its enormous potentialities. According to
the great hymn of Paul to God's humility, the divine Person of the
Word, source of everything that exists, did not cling to his divine
dignity or prerogatives, but threw them all away. In God there seems
to be the need not to be God. In creating, God, in a sense dies,
because he is no longer alone; he is completely involved in the
evolution of these creatures whom he has made so lovable.
God with Us
Christ emptied himself of the divine power that could have protected
him and opened himself in total vulnerability as he stretched out
his arms on the cross to embrace all human suffering. In the most
real sense, we too are the body of God; we too are a new humanity in
which the Word becomes flesh; we too can put ourselves in the
service of the divine Word. Then God is experiencing human life
through our senses, our emotions, and our thoughts. Each of us can
give the eternal Word a new way in which he discovers his own
infinite potentiality. Thus, God knows himself in us and experiences
the human condition in all its ramifications. The Word lives in us,
or more exactly, lives us. We are incorporated into the new creation
that Christ has brought into the world by becoming a human being. We
leave behind the false self and solidarity with Adam, which is
solidarity in sin, death, and human misery Jesus invites us to
experience his consciousness of the Father, the Abba of infinite
concern, the God who transcends both suffering and joy and manifests
equally in both.
Practical Conclusion
Christ on the donkey, waving aside the cheers of the crowd, is
riding to his death. This is his way of revealing the heart of God
once and for all in such a way that no one can ever doubt God's
infinite mercy. The priest says over the bread and wine, "This is my
Body " The power of those words extends to each of us as Christ
awakens and celebrates his great sacrifice in our own hearts saying,
"You are my body. You are my blood." You, with all of humanity, are
a manifestation in the flesh of the new creation. Palm Sunday is a
day of great awakening that the Lord Jesus came to redeem us and
lead us to Eternal Jerusalem. We all will be triumphant with Him in
the New Jerusalem.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
5th Sunday of Lent, Year: A
Ez 37.12-4; Rm 8.8-11; Jn 11.1-45
More Alive than Before
D.L. Moody was often heard to say during the closing days of his
life, “Some fine morning, you will read in the newspapers that D.L.
Moody is dead. But do not believe it, for I shall be more alive that
morning than ever before!” If you have Christ in your life as your
personal Saviour, you will be like D.L. Moody. If you do not know
Christ, all you have to look forward to is fear and despair. If we
believe in Jesus all that we experienced in the past three weeks
will be an experience that has enhanced our life with Jesus.
A Strange Response
Here is the scene, the picture. Lazarus died in the town of Bethany,
which is a village just east of Jerusalem. Jesus was not there, but
was over in the town of Perea, which is over on the other side of
the Jordan River, quite a long distance away. Perea is near where
John the Baptist ministered (John 10.40-42). It is a long, hot, and
dusty walk from there to where Lazarus died.
The Purpose
When Jesus heard the news that his friend was sick, his response was
very unusual. Jesus said, “Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death.
No, it is for the glory of God.” That answer sounds cold and harsh,
and not at all sympathetic. How could God get glory from Lazarus
being sick? Here are several possible answers to this.
The Miracle
Jesus knew He was going to raise Lazarus from the dead and that
people would glorify God when it happened since only God can raise
the dead.
A Walking Advertisement
There are no words of Lazarus recorded in the Bible, but his whole
life was a message after his resurrection. In fact, after he was
brought back to life by Jesus we find the chief priests plotting to
kill Jesus because so many Jews became believers in Jesus on account
of Lazarus (Jn 12.10-11). Lazarus was a walking advertisement, a
walking sign, that Jesus is God. When the established religion feels
threatened, they believe they must kill the new religion...even when
the established religion is a false religion.
Glorifying God
Jesus told his disciples that he was glad he had not been present
when Lazarus died. Jesus said this so they would get a chance to
witness the resurrection and increase their own faith. Jesus let his
disciples go through difficult things in order to stretch and build
their faith. Donald Gray Barnhouse once wrote, “I believe that God
does this with everyone, with all of us all the time.” To teach us
to trust Him, God puts us in a difficult spot. When God wants us to
trust Him greatly, He puts us in an impossible spot. Think about
that!
The Friends of Lazarus
Many of Mary and Martha’s friends came to console them in the loss
of their brother. So Jesus knew that there would be a large number
of people witnessing the miracle and that they would bring glory to
God - and that many of them would be drawn to Jesus as a result of
what they saw. Lives are often changed through the experience of
another person’s death, and Jesus knew that would happen here.
The Glory of the Cross
In John 17.1 and 17.5, Jesus referred to the cross as His
“Glorification”. Just days after Lazarus’ death and resurrection
came His own death and resurrection. Jesus knew that what He was
about to do for Lazarus would cause the Pharisees to put Him to
death. His death would ultimately bring salvation to the world, and
so in an indirect way, Lazarus’ death leads to God’s glory, by
leading to the death of Christ.
The Delay
Jesus started by saying something unusual to the disciples and then
continued by doing something unusual when he postponed His visit to
see about his friend Lazarus’ condition. John says that Jesus loved
Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, yet he stayed two more days in Perea
without going to Bethany. No priest friend today would be able to
get away with that!
When there is a crisis and the priest is called to offer support,
there is no way he could wait two days and then show up at the
hospital. Yet somehow Jesus did not go to be with his friend, even
though Jesus loved Lazarus and the family.
The reason, of course, was that Jesus knew what He was going to do
when He did arrive. By postponing an immediate answer to their need
of the family, Jesus was able to arrange an even greater
demonstration of His love.
Think about this. Sometimes the love of God is delayed for our own
ultimate benefit. First, delays in expressions of God’s love can
allow time for us to think things through more clearly. For example,
we have asked God for something and the answer is delayed. Then we
have time to reflect on the situation and by doing this we can gain
more understanding and a more clear way to proceed.
Second, delays can help confirm our faith. It is easy to trust the
Lord when we have everything we need. But when God’s answer is
delayed it causes our faith to be stretched - and that is a good
thing.
The Jews in the time of Jesus had a tradition, a belief that at
death a person’s spirit remained close to the body for two days;
after that it left. Jesus may have been allowing that two-day period
to pass so there would be no question about Lazarus’ death. There is
no Biblical support for that belief, of course. But perhaps Jesus
did not want superstition or tradition to get in the way of what He
was planning to do.
The Pronouncement
Another strange turn of events happened when Jesus tries to explain
it to the disciples. He says, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep,
but now I will go and wake him up.” The disciples were worried about
Jesus going near Jerusalem since the Jews wanted to persecute Him.
They thought Lazarus would be fine by himself if he was just
sleeping, so why risk a confrontation with the Jews? But then, after
a discussion, Jesus puts it to them plainly. “Lazarus is dead.” He
wanted the disciples to see the resurrection (vs 15) so off the
Bethany they went.
A Sorrowful Response
In the middle section of this story, we see Jesus’ strange response
to death replaced by a sorrowful response.
The Sorrow of the Sisters
Mary and Martha have very different personalities, and you can see
that here as well as in Luke 10.38-42. Mary is relaxed, Martha is
consumed with concern. She is nervous about everything. Martha
accuses Jesus of letting Lazarus die needlessly - she says that if
Jesus had come earlier He could have healed him before he died. But
Jesus tells her that Lazarus will live. Martha then goes to call
Mary, who has been waiting in their house. When Mary came to where
Jesus was, she said the same thing Martha did - that Lazarus would
not have died if Jesus had come sooner. Mary is sounding like
Martha, and Martha is sounding like Mary. The two sisters were
consumed with grief, and they are very upset and confused as to why
Jesus had not come sooner to care for their brother. They say that
Jesus has let them down. Many people today say the same thing...That
they called on Jesus but He did not do things the way they wanted
Him to, so they were no longer going to believe in Him ...You have
probably talked to people like that. As Mary and Martha said, and as
many people today say, there would be no grief if Jesus would just
come when I call Him. He should do what I tell Him to do.
He Wept
Now, the next thing that follows right after the sister’s grief, is
a scene that can touch our hearts in a special way. What is it?
Well, it is the sorrow of the Saviour. Jesus experienced sorrow,
which is a very human feeling. One translation says that Jesus
“groaned in the spirit”. This means He was deeply troubled. He was
agitated, which is to say he shook with emotion. This is a picture
of Jesus feeling intensely sorrowful because of the grief of
Lazarus’ family and friends. It was their grief that prompted His
own.
And verse 35 shows in the most direct way possible the sorrow Jesus
felt over the whole situation. “Jesus wept”. Literally, the test
implies that Jesus burst into tears. He identified with the loss of
His friends and their extended family. The New Testament says we are
to weep with those who weep (Rm 12.15), and bear one another’s
burdens (Gal 6.2). Suffering of our own helps us identify with the
suffering of others, which is another reason not to resist the
troubles God brings into your life.
Jesus is called “the suffering Servant” because He had a heart
easily broken by the needs of other people.
A Supernatural Response
When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, Jesus displayed both that
He was human and that He was God. His humanity was shown in His
having the same emotion that His friends had. But He does some more
human things. You see, He does things that any human could do, right
up to the time He gets to the point where human power stopped. Jesus
approaches the scene like you or I would. First, He tells the
bystanders to take away the stone covering the tomb. Could He have
moved it with a wave of His hand? Yes, but He did not. He does the
same thing when He instructs those standing by to take the grave
clothes off of Lazarus. Could He have raised Lazarus right through
the grave clothes? Yes, but He didn’t. You see, Jesus’ miracles are
never flashy or showy. They are always easy for us to understand.
In this Gospel, we learn that Jesus does not do for us what we can
do for ourselves, but He does do for us what we cannot do for
ourselves.
So let us look for a moment at Martha, who is always the person who
is concerned with details. Martha steps in to warn Jesus that there
will be a stink if they take away the stone. She tells Jesus that
Lazarus has been dead for four days. How often do we give God advice
about things which He has exhaustive knowledge about? If we would
just obey Him it would demonstrate greater faith than when we remind
Him of this or that.
Martha has no idea what Jesus is doing. She probably thought Jesus
just wanted to see His friend Lazarus one last time. In that sense,
warning Him about the smell and condition of the body makes some
sense. But she should have known by this time to trust Jesus and
wait to see what He had in mind. Especially since Jesus tells her it
is the glory of God that is about to be revealed (vs 40). In any
event, Jesus tells the people to move the stone and they did.
Next, Jesus stands before the opened tomb and called Lazarus from
death back to life. “Lazarus come out”. And the once-dead friend of
Jesus walked out of the tomb. Some Bible scholars say that if Jesus
had not mentioned Lazarus by name, all the people in the tomb would
have come out!
This was a very great miracle - the miracle of resurrection. We know
that in the time of Lazarus, dead people were “mummified”. That
means that he was wrapped in strips of linen cloth all around his
body, with embalming spices being enclosed within the wraps of the
cloth. The body would be placed in the tomb on a shelf along with
others buried in the same tomb. Lazarus would not even be able to
see since his head was also covered with cloth wrapping. He somehow
made it outside of the tomb still wrapped in the grave clothes - at
this point Jesus gave instructions to unwrap him and “let him go”.
Someone once said two of the greatest things God gives Christians
to do are:
To remove the stones from in front of the grave, and
To remove the grave clothes from those resurrected from death to new
life.
Remove the Stone and Grave Clothes
Removing the stones is a symbolic way of saying to remove the
obstacles to a person’s faith. For example, answering their
questions, being their friend, and in all ways smoothing their path
to Jesus.
And removing the grave clothes is helping that person; our friend or
our family-member; to take off their old person and put on the new.
God gives the new life, but our part is to help them as they move
from spiritual death to spiritual life.
Practical Conclusion
Before closing our homily on the miracle of Lazarus’ resurrection,
we need to look again at the part of this miracle that spans the
centuries to our time today. This message is as valuable to us today
as it was to those people standing right there and who saw Lazarus
walk out of the grave. In verses 25 and 26, Jesus said.
I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me, though
they die like everyone else, will live again. They are given eternal
life for believing in me and will never perish. Do you believe this?
Jesus originally asked that question to Martha. But right now, He is
asking you the same question. This is the most important question in
the Bible. It is the most important question you will ever be asked.
It is true that we will die a physical death, but Jesus is talking
about spiritual life and death. You will die physically, but if you
believe in Jesus you will never die spiritually. You will live
forever in heaven with Jesus.
If you have read this story and you want to live forever, then right
now ask Jesus to come into your life; tell Him that you have sinned,
and are sorry for your sins. In the best way you know how, ask Jesus
to come into your life and give you the free gift of eternal life.
The miracle that will happen in your life is the greatest miracle of
all...you will move from death to life, and you will be “born again
in spirit” into eternal life with God. If you have never trusted
Jesus, you can do it today.
Today's Gospel reading sends out two messages to those who hear it.
First of all, through our living faith in Jesus, all our physical
bodies will be raised in the final resurrection. Secondly,
especially now with the approaching of Easter Sunday, we are called
to symbolically resurrect from sin to grace by partaking in the
Sacrament of Confession to cleanse our souls so they may be pleasing
to God, now and forever. We need also to resurrect from the present
situation of isolation and separation from one another due to
Covid19. This promises us a greater reward for all the past days of
suffering and pain especially those who lived through terrible
illness caused by this virus. Therefore, let us march forward
faithfully in our blessed hope, knowing that those who believe in
Jesus, will live.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
4th Sunday of Lent : Year: A
1 Sam 16.1b, 6-7, 10-13; Eph 5.8-14; Jn 9.1-41
Silence in the Cemetery
One day I visited our cemetery at Mira Road (Mumbai – India). I used
to say to people that whenever they have troubles and problems
disturbing them, they should make it a point to visit the cemetery.
I would dramatize a whole lot of issues that can be meditated on the
cemetery. Issues like when we are totally lost in a relationship,
when we feel poor, miserable, rejected, disappointed, they would
find an atmosphere there to reawaken a sense of uselessness, a sense
of tranquility, a sense of total surrender to God. I used to ask our
parishioners to meditate on these wonderful people who were with us
one day in the parish, joking, smiling, shaking hands, at times
protesting, criticizing etc. are now in the eternal calm of the
Father. That day I meditated on one point, what is the will of my
Father for me? I didn’t get an answer. But some sense of total peace
flooded in my heart. I felt that in spite of my sins and mistakes,
there is one who cares for me. Who gazes into my heart, the one who
tenderly caresses me. I felt myself on the top of the world. I
visited a couple of graves, especially the graves of the young ones
who left us recently, through tragic deaths. A tear came to my eye,
and a deep sense of sigh, that these young ones perhaps could have
made a difference in their families, in their neighborhood etc. I
thought for a while, and got convinced that it was the will of the
Father for them. I came back with an experience to the parish house.
I felt detached from many of my so called vicious thinking and petty
attachments. I felt free at least for a while. Now I need to work at
these things so that I can try to be free. I was holding this
experience till today, and I have shared it with you now.
Born Blind
Today's Gospel reading reminds us of Jesus being the Light. (Jn
9.1-41) As we heard, it was the story of the man who was physically
blind since birth. This reading reminds us that by nature, we are
all born spiritually blind, blind to so many multimillion things
around us. Our blindness ends when we were admitted into the Body of
Christ through the Sacrament of Baptism. By remaining righteousness
through the Sacraments of Confession and the Holy Eucharist, we have
maintained our sight. Should we choose to neglect our blessed hope
and shipwreck, surely, we will quickly find ourselves blinded by the
darkness that surrounds us. The real blindness in our lives could be
our attachments. Attachments to the way we think that others should
be.
Children of the Light
Today's Second reading (Eph 5.8-14) reminded us to live as children
of the Light. It presented the contrast between those who live a
Christian life versus the pagans. The Christians were compared to
the light versus the darkness. Why did Saint Paul feel it necessary
to remind the Ephesians of this truth? It was because some men had a
tendency of allowing themselves to be influenced by Gnostic
teachings. These individuals considered themselves enlightened and
above all considerations of good or evil. Surely, pride must have
taken over their reasoning.
The lesson that we learn from the first reading of today is that God
is free to elect whoever He chooses. Divine wisdom far surpasses
human wisdom. Human wisdom is limited to what it sees and what it
hears. Divine wisdom searches the soul, knowing every thoughts of
the mind. Divine wisdom knows those who are fearful of the Lord,
those who are humble, and those who will serve the Lord in
obedience. It knows those who will live as children of the Light.
We are all called to be light to others. We should never become
darkness. Hence, each one’s duty is to find out ways and means of
becoming the light of Christ.
Blind Attachment The blind man in the Gospel passage is attached, attached to his
own thinking. Pharisees too are attached to their way of thinking.
Now the tragedy of an attachment is that if its object is not
attained it causes unhappiness. But if it is attained. It does not
cause happiness — it merely causes a flash of pleasure followed by
weariness. and It is always accompanied, of course, by the anxiety
that you may lose the object of your attachment. You will say,
"Can't I keep just one attachment?" Of course. You can keep as many
as you want. But for each attachment you pay a price in lost
happiness. Think of this. The nature of attachments is such, that
even if you satisfy many of them in the course of a single day, the
one attachment that was not satisfied will prey upon your mind and
make you unhappy. There is no way to win the battle of attachments.
As well search for water without wetness as for an attachment
without unhappiness. No one has ever lived who has come up with a
formula for keeping the objects of one's attachments without
struggle, anxiety, fear and, sooner or later, defeat.
The Battle
There is only one-way to win the battle against blind attachments.
Drop them. Contrary to popular belief, dropping attachments is easy.
All you have to do is see; but really see, the following truths.
First truth. You are holding on to a false belief, namely, the
belief that without this particular person or thing you will not be
happy. Take your attachments one at a time and see the falseness of
this belief. You may encounter resistance from your heart, but the
moment you do see, there will be an immediate emotional result. At
that very instant the attachment loses its force. Second truth, if
you just enjoy things, refusing to let yourself be attached to them,
that is, refusing to hold the false belief that you will not be
happy without them, you are spared all the struggle and emotional
strain of protecting them and guarding them for yourself. Has it
occurred to you that you can keep all the objects of your
attachments without giving them up? Without renouncing a single one
of them and you can enjoy them even more on a non-attachment, a
non-clinging basis, because you are peaceful now and relaxed and
unthreatened in your enjoyment of them? The third and final truth,
if you learn to enjoy the scent of a thousand flowers you will not
cling to one or suffer when you cannot get it. If you have a
thousand favorites dishes, the loss of one will go unnoticed and
leave your happiness unimpaired. But it is precisely your
attachments that prevent you from developing a wider and more varied
taste for things and people.
In the light of these three truths no attachment can survive. But
the light must shine uninterruptedly if it is to be effective.
Attachments can only thrive in the darkness of illusion. The rich
man cannot enter the kingdom of joy not because he wants to be bad
but because he chooses to be blind.
The Blind Man
When some Pharisees heard the words of Jesus, they said, "Surely we
are not blind, are we?" (v. 40) To this, Jesus answered, "If you
were blind, you would have no sin. But now that you say, 'We see,
“your sin remains” (v. 41). In other words, he who is blind cannot
be guilty of sin for not knowing the truth for he is unaware of the
truth. But he who is aware of and rejects the truth, claiming that
his way is the way, he is guilty of sin. It is only when one
realizes the extent of his blindness that there is hope of seeing
the light. But what makes a case hopeless is when a person possesses
self-satisfaction.
Practical Conclusion In conclusion, "We must work the works of him who sent (us)
while it is day; night is coming when no one can work." (Jn 9.4) As
the blind man confessed Christ before others, through our Baptism we
were called to plead the cause of the Light. If we are rejected
because of our spiritual calling, let us rejoice, for it is Christ
Himself who is being rejected through our testimony. In the end, the
words of Jesus shall be fulfilled, "For judgment I have come into
the world." (Jn. 9.39). Casting out our petty attachments can make
us children of light and make us salt of the earth and light so that
we are capable of bringing some happiness, I mean light in the lives
of those who suffer more than us.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
3rd Sunday of Lent, Year: A
Ex 17.3-7; Rm 5.1-2, 5-8; Jn 4.5-42
I would be Your Slave St. Francis of Assisi was an ardent advocate of the doctrine of
the indwelling of God in man. It enabled him to love every one
equally whatever his status in life. One day he met a fellow who had
no love for God. As they walked along they met a man who was blind
and paralyzed. St. Francis asked the sightless cripple. “Tell me if
I were to restore your eyesight and the use of your limbs, would you
love me?” “Ah,” replied the beggar, “I would not only love you but I
would be your slave for the rest of my life.” “See,” said Francis to
the man who maintained that he could not love God, “this man would
love me if I gave him his sight and his health. Why don’t you love
God Who created you with eyesight and strong limbs?” That is what
Jesus tells us in today’s gospel. If we love him because of the
countless blessings he has given us by “keeping his words” he will
start dwelling within us in the company of his Father and the Holy
Spirit, making us the temples of the Triune God.
The Will of God
How can we do the will of the Father? Simple questions of this kind
can disturb us. Don’t we all agree that the will of the Father has
been revealed to us through all that happens to us around?
In his posthumously published book, Treasure in Clay, the late
Archbishop Fulton Sheen writes. “No true vocation starts with ‘what
I want’, or ‘what I would like to do,’ it starts with God.” I quote
these words because the gospel reading we have just heard shows us
Jesus entering publicly on his vocation. As he does so Jesus’ first
concern is to show that he is a man under obedience.
My Food and Drink
“To fulfill all righteousness” meant, for Jesus, doing the will of
his heavenly Father. That was all that ever mattered for Jesus.
Later, he would say that doing his Father’s will was what kept him
going. When his disciples told him he must eat something, Jesus
said. “I have food to eat of which you do not know … Doing the will
of him who sent me and bringing his work to completion is my food” (Jn
4. 31-34). Our religion is so centered on Jesus Christ that we may
fail to realize how little he did to draw attention to himself. The
theme of Jesus’ preaching was not himself, but God’s kingdom. He
came, he said, not to do his will, but the will of another. to serve
God by serving others.
This is My Beloved Son
As a devout Jew, Jesus knew by memory many passages from the
scriptures of his people — what we call the Old Testament. The words
Jesus heard as he emerged from the Jordan following his baptism,
“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” would have
reminded him of the words of our first reading, from the prophet
Isaiah. “Here is my servant … my chosen one with whom I am pleased.”
Remembering what followed in that Isaiah passage, Jesus knew that he
was not called to be the powerful, royal Messiah people were
expecting. He would not be a political leader. “not crying out, not
shouting,” as Isaiah says in that first reading. He was called
instead to a ministry of gentleness. “A bruised reed he shall not
break, and a smoldering wick he shall not quench,” to quote Isaiah’s
words again.
Why is it important for us to know this? Because each one of us was
given a similar task when we were baptized. Like Jesus, we are
called “to fulfill all righteousness” by serving God and others.
Responding to that call is the highest and best thing we can do with
the one life that God has given us. Do we really believe that?
Our Designs
Many people do not. The ambition of many people is to “do their own
thing,” as the popular modern phrase puts it. Actually, few of us
succeed very well in doing our own thing. Rich or poor, female or
male, black or white, young, middle-aged or old, all of us are
limited by circumstances not of our own making. The poor wish they
were rich; the rich think they still don’t have enough, and spend
much of their time guarding what they do have from loss. No wonder
that so many people feel they’re on a treadmill; or say. “Its war
out there.”
The Happier Way
Part of the Gospel, the good news which Jesus Christ proclaims, is
that it doesn’t have to be like that. There is another way to live.
a better way, and certainly a happier one. It is the way Jesus
lived. Jesus was never concerned with doing his own thing. He wanted
one thing only; to do God’s thing. How many of Jesus’ sisters and
brothers have discovered this key to a happy and fulfilled life we
cannot know. Most of them are anonymous. Sometimes, however, God
lets us identify some of them. Mother Teresa was such a person. So
was Pope John XXIII — as those of us old enough to remember him know
well.
Pope John Paul II was another person who found happiness in
“fulfilling all righteousness” — in doing not his own thing but
God’s thing. Weighed down in his closing years by infirmities, a
physical wreck yet still mentally alert, Pope John Paul was a sign
to the world that life is still worth living, even when one is old
and infirm. On the eve of his eightieth birthday, the Pope wrote a
letter “To my elderly brothers and sisters.” Here is some of what he
said. “Despite the limitations brought on by age, I continue to
enjoy life. For this I thank the Lord. It is wonderful to be able to
give oneself to the very end for the sake of the Kingdom of God!”
Bid me come to you
The concluding paragraphs of this beautiful letter have a message
for all of us. whatever our age or circumstances. Let me conclude by
reading them to you.After the words just quoted about his joy in
giving himself to the very end for the sake of the Kingdom of God,
the Pope continues.
“At the same time, I find great peace in thinking of the time when
the Lord will call me. from life to life! And so I often find myself
saying, with no trace of melancholy, a prayer recited by priests
after the celebration of the Eucharist. ‘At the hour of my death
call me and bid me come to you.’ This is the prayer of Christian
hope, which in no way detracts from the joy of the present, while
entrusting the future to God’s gracious and loving care. “Bid me
come to you!”. this is the deepest yearning of the human heart, even
in those who are not conscious of it.
The Words of Jesus echo our present short-term perseverance.
Entering the third week in Lenten Season, we are making every effort
to persevere in our fasting, our penances and our prayers so we may
obtain the strength that we need to overcome our sinful tendencies.
By the grace of God, we shall achieve our personal goals so we may
be one with Jesus as He is one with the Father (Jn 17.11).
Water from Rock
Today's First Reading from the Book of Exodus (Ex 17.3-7) was a
prophetic picture of what was to come through Jesus Christ. It
consisted of one of the three events found in the Old Testament that
speak of people thirsting for water.
The first event took place in Mirah (Ex 15.22-7) where Moses turned
bitter water into sweet water. The second event, (Ex 17.3- 7) the
one that was read today, took place at Rephidim. Being without
water, Moses was commanded by God to take the elders with him and to
strike the rock with the staff. Then, miraculously, water came out
of the rock. The third event took place at Kadesh (Num 20.2-13)
where once more Moses was commanded by God to assemble the
congregation and to command the rock before their eyes to yield its
water. As biblical history tell us, Moses did not trust in the Lord.
{Num 20.12) Because he struck the rock twice, he was punished and
not allowed to enter the promised land.
In view of the above events, Moses was a type of Christ, both
providing water to the people. On this subject, Saint Paul tells us,
"Our ancestors all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank
from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.
Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, and they were
struck down in the wilderness." (1 Cor. 10.4-5)
Water is symbolic of the Holy Spirit. On this subject, the Catholic
Church teaches us, "The symbolism of water signifies the Holy
Spirit's action in Baptism, since after the invocation of the Holy
Spirit it becomes the efficacious sacramental sign of new birth.
just as the gestation of our first birth took place in water, so the
water of Baptism truly signifies that our birth into the divine life
is given to us in the Holy Spirit. As "by one Spirit we were all
baptized," so we are also "made to drink of one Spirit." (1 Cor
12.13) Thus the Spirit is also personally the living water welling
up from Christ crucified (Jn 19.34; 1 Jn 5.8) as its source and
welling up in us to eternal life." (Jn 4.10-14, 7.38; Ex 17.1-6; Is
55.1; Zech 14.8; 1 Cor 10.4; Rev 21.6; 22.17) (CCC 694)
God’s Love in the Heart
Today's Second Reading (Rm 5.1-2, 5-8) informs us that God's love
was poured into our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit that has
been given to us through Christ. The Divine love of God assures
salvation to those who are justified. Having been justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Rm
5.1). Through peace with God, our reconciliation replaces our
alienation that was caused by the disobedience of Adam.
Jesus at the Well
Tired of His journey, Jesus sat on the ground by Jacob's well (Jn
4.6). (Jacob's well is located between "Tell el-Balatah" and "Askar.")
During that time, while the disciples had gone to the city to buy
food, a Samaritan woman came to draw water (Jn 4.7-8). Jesus asked
her to give Him water. At this point, the Samaritan woman said to
Jesus, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of
Samaria?" (Jn 4.9). In those days, it was unheard of for a rabbi to
speak to a woman in public, even worst for a Jew to request water
from a Samaritan. The Jewish people considered the Samaritans to be
unclean, this including their utensils for eating and drinking.
Therefore it appears that Jesus was asking to drink from an unclean
water jar? Yet, Jesus was not bothered a bit by such scruples.
The Hesitation
Knowing the Samaritan woman's hesitation, Jesus told her, "If you
knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me
a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you
living water." (Jn 5.10) What is the gift of God that Jesus was
speaking about? It was Jesus Himself! But who was Jesus to the
Samaritan woman at that moment? All she could see was a thirsty
Jewish man who had been travelling.
What is Living Water?
And what was this living water that the thirsty Traveller was
offering her? The Samaritan woman must have understood "living
water" to mean running water versus water from a well or cistern
water. But is this what Jesus was telling her? In the Old Testament,
when a reference was made to "living water," it meant "water of
life." It meant Divine vitality, revelation and wisdom (Jer 2.13;
Zech 14.8; Eze 47.9; Prov 13.14).
Literal Meaning
As Nicodemus literally took the Words of Jesus when he was told that
he had to be born again to enter the Kingdom of God (Jn 3.4- 6), the
woman also literally took the Words of Jesus. Unable to logically
understand Jesus, she said, "Sir, you have no bucket, and the well
is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than
our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his children and
his flocks drank from it?" (Jn 3.11-12).
How Could Jesus get Water?
Since Jesus had no means of getting water out of the well, where
would He get his "living water" from? When considering how great
Jacob was in the eyes of God and the people, and that he had no
better source of water than the well that was present, how could
Jesus offer to give better water?
Ordinary Water
To her question, Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks of this water
will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will
give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will
become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life" (Jn
3.13-4).
Thirst of Wisdom
In Sirach 24.20-1, we read that he who drinks wisdom will thirst
again. One could never satisfy the desire for wisdom. But, on the
contrary, through the Sacrament of Baptism, the water that Jesus
will give, will have the fountain of eternal life within him.
Understanding "living water" to mean never to thirst again, the
Samaritan woman asked Jesus for some of it so she would never have
to go back to the well to draw water. (Jn. 3.15) What followed was a
conversion in which Jesus revealed to the woman that she had five
husbands and that she was now living with another man (Jn 3.16- 8).
A Prophet
Jesus' reply to the request of the woman for living water was
intended to show her that He possessed superhuman knowledge. This
provided the woman with sufficient enlightenment to perceive that
the Words of Jesus must have had a greater meaning. Surprised, the
woman said to Jesus, "Sir, I see that you are a prophet" (Jn 3.19).
Now, the woman no longer saw a Jewish man before her, but rather, a
prophet.
Place of Worship
This provided the woman with a perfect opportunity to settle a long
standing controversy between the Jews and the Samaritans regarding
the proper place of sacrificial worship (Gen 12.7, 33.20; Deut
27.4). The woman said to Jesus, "Our ancestors worshipped on this
mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in
Jerusalem" (Jn 3.20).
The Hour is coming
To this, Jesus responded, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming
when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in
Jerusalem" (Jn 3.21). The response from Jesus indicated that soon,
it will make no difference who is right or who is wrong. For "the
Christian economy, therefore, since it is the new and definitive
Covenant, will never pass away; and no new public revelation is to
be expected before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus
Christ" (Dei Filius 3 DS 3008). Yet even if Revelation is already
complete, it has not been made completely explicit; it remains for
Christian faith gradually to grasp its full significance over the
course of the centuries" (CCC 66).
Manner of Worship
Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, "You worship what you do not
know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But
the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will
worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as
these to worship him" (Jn 3.21-22). In other words, in Judaism,
God's revelation was safeguarded. But the Samaritans, although they
had good faith, they preserved the truth in a distorted form.
Salvation came through the Jewish people. The proof was Jesus
Himself, He being Jewish. Through Jesus was the fulfillment of the
expected Messiah.
When Jesus said that "the hour is coming," He was referring to His
glorification, the "hour" when His Church would be instituted. The
final sacrifice will have been made, the perfect sacrifice of the
Lamb of God.
God is Spirit
Jesus said, "God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship
in spirit and truth" (Jn 3.24). These words are echoed in the First
Letter of Paul to the Corinthians. "The first man, Adam, became a
living being; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit" (1 Cor
15.45). Christ is the life-giving Spirit in the sense that His
actions are life-giving. God is Spirit in the sense that He gives
the Spirit. Equally, God is light and love (1 Jn 1.5, 4.8). That is
why the believers must worship God in "spirit and truth," in the
truth as thought by the Spirit who guides and teaches.
The Messiah
At that moment, the woman indicated that she knew that the Messiah
was coming and that He would proclaim all things to the people (Jn
3.25). She remembered the Words of God, "I will raise up for them a
prophet like you from among their own people; I will put my words in
the mouth of the prophet, who shall speak to them everything that I
command" (Deut 18.18). Having perceived that Jesus was a prophet
over and above being Jewish, the woman now suspected that He might
be the promised Messiah. To this, Jesus answered, "I am he, the one
who is speaking to you" (Jn 3.26). Jesus affirmed the fulfillment of
the words spoken through Isaiah, "Therefore my people shall know my
name; therefore, in that day they shall know that it is I who speak;
here am I" (Is 52.6).
The Disciples
During the Gospel Reading, we then heard that the disciples returned
and were astonished that Jesus was speaking to a woman. Following
that, the woman left and returned to the city, leaving behind her
water jar. For she had no more need for it because she had come to
the source of living water. Once in the city, the woman invited the
people to come and see Jesus who told her everything that she had
done. Her words echoed the words of Philip to Nathanael, "We have
found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote" (Jn
1.45).
My Food is…
In the meantime, the disciples were urging Jesus to eat some food (Jn
3.31).To this Jesus answered, "I have food to eat that you do not
know about”.
So the disciples said to one another, "Surely no one has brought him
something to eat? My food is to do the will of him who sent me and
to complete his work" (Jn 3.31-4). It is obvious that the disciples
did not understand the full meaning of what Jesus was saying. The
words of Jesus summed up His entire career. He came to do the will
of His Father who sent Him, even to death on the Cross. In Jesus was
found perfect obedience, to the last drop of blood.
The Gospel Reading ended by telling us that the people came from the
city to hear Jesus. As they stated, "It is no longer because of what
(the woman) said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves,
and we know that this is truly the Saviour of the world." (Jn 3.42)
Not only did the Samaritans come to believe, they also recognized
the fulfillment of the Messiah in Jesus.
Practical Conclusion From today's readings, we are reminded that as children of God,
as members of the Body of Christ, we too have been called to do the
Divine Will of He who has called us to share in the life-giving
Spirit through faith in Jesus and the Sacrament of Baptism. As Jesus
was called to complete His work, we too are called to complete our
calling through our perseverance in the living faith. To persevere
necessitates our ongoing reception of the Sacraments of Confession
and the Holy Eucharist as the means of maintaining our righteousness
before the Lord God.
With the approach of Easter that commemorates the glorious
Resurrection of the Lord Jesus, we now, more than ever, have an
obligation to reinstate our holiness through the Holy Sacraments
that have been given to us by Jesus Himself. Let us keep this in
mind as we enter the Third Week in Lent.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
2nd Sunday of Lent-Year: A Gen 12.1-4; 2 Tim 1.8b-10; Mt 17.1-9
Costly Cosmetic Surgeries
Today cosmetic surgeries are a normal procedure to enhance one’s
personality. At times these expensive surgeries can also distort
one’s appearance. I met a lady who had a plastic surgery and now she
is fighting in the court for compensation for distorting her face.
She claims Rs. 10,00,000 (CAD $ 20,000) as compensation because the
doctor who had promised her that her face would be more beautiful
had in fact disfigured it. She is suffering and is unable to come in
public. Yet, I encouraged her to face the reality. Well, she has
coped with the situation to a certain extent frequenting some
counseling sessions.
What is Human Beauty? Of course modern markets encourage us to transform ourselves
into beautiful persons. What is being beautiful? Is it not being
beautiful inside our being, in our soul than being beautiful in our
appearance? There was recently a program in NDTV about appearances.
Yes, majority were convinced that the external appearance gave them
a sense of confidence and security. What about the inner assurance
and confidence? Can we get that just being beautiful for a while?
The truth is that when you live with a person or persons for a few
days, don’t you reveal yourself fully who you are on the inside?
Lent invites us to be transfigured from inside out
The account of the transfiguration of Jesus Christ as recorded here
in Mark (parallel passages are found in Matthew 17.1-3 and Luke
9.28-36) is a demonstration to three witnesses that Jesus Christ was
who He claimed to be. In all three accounts of the transfiguration
of Jesus Christ, we are given the names of the three disciples who
accompanied Jesus and who stood as human witnesses to the glory that
was Christ's. There were also three heavenly witnesses, Moses,
Elijah, and the voice of God from heaven. Therefore, the Old
Testament law of three witnesses required to attest to any fact
(Deut 19.15) was satisfied both in earth and in heaven.
Metamorphosis
The word "transfigured" is a very interesting word. The Greek word
is "metamorpho" and it means to transform, literally or figuratively
to metamorphose, or to change. The word is a verb that means to
change into another form. It also means to change the outside to
match the inside. The prefix "meta" means to change and the "morphe"
means form. In the case of the transfiguration of Jesus Christ it
means to match the outside with the reality of the inside. To change
the outward so that it matches the inward reality. Jesus' divine
nature was "veiled" (Heb 10.20) in human form and the
transfiguration was a glimpse of that glory. Therefore, the
transfiguration of Jesus Christ displayed the ‘Shekinah’ the glory
of God incarnate in the Son. The voice of God attesting to the truth
of Jesus' Sonship was the second time God's voice was heard. The
first time was at Jesus' baptism into His public ministry in the
presence of John the Baptist (Mt 3.7; Mk 1.11; Lk 3.22).
Glimpse of Glory
Therefore, the transfiguration of Jesus Christ was a unique display
of His divine character and a glimpse of the glory, which Jesus had
before He came to earth in human form. This truth is emphasized for
us in a passage in the Apostle Paul's letter to Philippians. "Let
this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Who, being in
the form (morphe) of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with
God. But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form (morphe)
of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found
in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly
exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name. That at
the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and
things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue
should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the
Father" (Phil 2.5-11).
The Son of God came to earth in the form of a man to be the true
servant of God and to gift mankind with the greatest gift ever
given, eternal life. The transfiguration of Jesus Christ was a
visible sign in the presence of reliable witnesses of the reality of
the power of God and the glory, which is Christ Jesus
The Mountain
The traditional location of the Transfiguration is on Mount Tabor,
which is about a six day walk from Caesarea Philippi, where Jesus
had been with His disciples prior to this event. In Caesarea
Philippi, Peter had said to Jesus with faith believing, "You are the
Christ, the Son the living God." (Mt 16.16) After this declaration
Jesus confirmed its truth, and told His disciples that it was not
yet the time for them to tell others that He was the Messiah and He
began to share that He must go to Jerusalem to suffer, be killed and
be raised again to life on the third day (see Mt 16.21). The
disciples were saddened and somewhat disillusioned by this news.
Peter even tried to rebuke Jesus and prevent Him from allowing such
terrible things to happen, but Jesus rebuked Peter for his
carnality. Peter and the other disciples expected that since Jesus
was the Messiah, His glorious Kingdom would be imminent. But Jesus
taught that first comes suffering, then comes the glory and the
reward (Mt 17.24-27). Later, Peter finally learned this lesson and
his epistle reflects it (see I Pet 1.6-8, 11; 4.12-5.11).
The Three Disciples
The disciples closest to Jesus, Peter, James and John, were likely
the one’s most saddened by the news of His coming death, and they
were the ones Jesus chose to come with Him to the mountain and
witness His glory. It must have been a great encouragement to them.
As Jesus was praying and having communion with God His Father, His
appearance changed drastically. The three men watched with amazement
and awe as Jesus shone with heavenly brightness, so much so, that
there was no adequate earthly description for it. In Mark’s Gospel
the brightness is compared to exceedingly white snow, or something
cleaner than anything possible on earth. Luke’s description says
Jesus was white and glistening, and we read from Matthew’s account,
that Jesus’ face shone like the sun and His clothes became as white
as light. Many years later when the risen and glorified Lord Jesus
appeared to John on Patmos he described that His "countenance was
like the sun shining in its strength" (Rev 1.16b).
Prayer Transforms
On the Transfiguration mount, the drastic change in Jesus’
appearance occurred when He was praying and having communion with
God. To a lesser degree the countenance of Moses had also changed
when he had been in the presence of God (Ex 34.29, 30). What is on
the inside shows on the outside, like when Stephen, the first
Christian martyr was testifying to the truth, his face was like that
of an angel (Acts 6.15).
As Jesus was praying in this glorious state, Moses and Elijah
appeared in some visible form, talking with Jesus about His coming
departure that He would accomplish in Jerusalem (Lk 9.31). God the
Father had revealed to them what would happen to Jesus. Their words
were surely meant to strengthen Jesus for the trials and suffering
He willingly was soon to endure.
Peter’s Excitement
Peter was so excited to see these great men of old, that He
inappropriately made the suggestion of making three tents, one for
each of them, likely so they could stay longer, and undoubtedly so
Peter could speak with them too. Peter may also have thought that
this was the beginning of the Messiah’s earthly reign as king, but
this was not God’s timing. God interrupted Peter by causing a
bright, thick cloud to cover Jesus, Moses and Elijah, and saying
very important words, similar to the words He spoke at Jesus’
baptism. "This is My beloved Son in whom I well pleased. Hear Him!"
(Mt 17.5b; cf. 3.17) God desires that we listen to and obey Jesus,
for He is far greater than Moses, the great Law-giver, or Elijah the
great prophet. God wanted Peter to know that he could not put His
Son on the same level of importance as Moses or Elijah. Also, the
important thing is not just seeing wonderful sights and having great
experiences, but what is more important is hearing the Word of the
Lord. God emphatically commanded that we listen to Jesus!
Jesus Stands Alone
When the cloud lifted, Jesus stood alone. The three disciples had
fallen in fear on their faces when they heard the voice of God, but
Jesus touched them and told them not to be afraid. Then Jesus told
them not to tell anyone about what had happened, until after He had
arisen from the dead. Some people had already tried to forcibly make
Jesus king, and if the people were told about what Peter, James and
John witnessed, then they might once again try to do it, but it was
not the plan of God at this time.
From the Transfiguration we see three great Testimonies about the
Greatness and superiority of Jesus.
God the Father authenticated the Divinity of Jesus by His audible
voice.
Moses and Elijah representing the Law and the Prophets testified by
their presence that Jesus was from above and He was the fulfilment
of the Law and the Prophets.
The three disciples were eyewitnesses of Jesus’ glorious state. This
experience had a great effect on these disciples and their testimony
of it had a great effect on all the others to strengthen their
faith. Peter never forgot it. In his epistle he recalls the
Transfiguration saying. “We were eyewitnesses of His majesty” (II
Pet 1.16b). Likewise, when John wrote his Gospel, he recalled. "we
beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father."
(Jn 1.14) In fact, John’s whole Gospel emphasizes the Deity of Jesus
and the glory of His Person (Cfr. Jn 2.11; 7.39; 11.4; 12.23;
13.31-32; 20.31).
On the mount that day, we see represented and combined, the two
Covenants of God. The New Covenant represented through Peter, James,
and John who would enter into this covenant through the work of
Jesus; and the Old Covenant was represented by Moses and Elijah. The
Saints of old, must have looked with excited anticipation to Jesus -
the fulfilment of the Law and the prophets (Lk 24.27; Heb 1.1) and
the ushering in of the New Covenant of Grace through the work Jesus
would accomplish.
Practical Conclusion
The Transfiguration revealed the plan of God for redemption and the
importance and necessity of Jesus’ crucifixion. Moses and Elijah
encouraged Jesus in the work He would accomplish for the salvation
of the world. The Law of Moses could not save anyone, nor could
prophecies, but Jesus alone, of whom the prophecies spoke, was the
Redeemer of sinful mankind.
The Transfiguration revealed the superiority of Jesus over Moses and
the prophets.
It served as a pledge or foretaste of the future glory that Jesus
would attain by obediently suffering and going to the Cross.
It served as a dim picture of the glorious state awaiting the
followers of Jesus, those who have been redeemed by His precious
blood, will one day attain when our citizenship is in heaven. For
Jesus Christ "will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed
to His glorious body" (Phil 3.21).
In the Transfiguration we see the King of righteousness in His
glory; we see the glory of His Person, the glory of His kingdom; the
glory of His Nature; and even the glory of His submission to the
will and plan of God that He go to Jerusalem to suffer at the hands
of evil men, yet we also see the glory of His power. Jesus had the
power to prevent His crucifixion, but because of His great love for
mankind, He willingly suffered and bore the sins of the world upon
Himself that we might have forgiveness of our sins and eternal life
in heaven with Him.
The Transfiguration was a glorious revelation and a glorious
experience for both Jesus and the three disciples to witness. It had
a glorious outcome, for in it we see that, even though Jesus was to
die, the outcome was predetermined, for He would be the Victor over
death and even be glorified in death. Jesus is the glorious King
indeed and He is worthy to be enthroned on our hearts and be King
over our lives.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
First Sunday Of Lent : Year: A
Gen 2.7-9; 16-18, 2-5, 3.1-7; Rm 5.12-19; Mt 4.1-11
The Accident
Two employees of a soft wear company died on spot at Kashimira,
close to our Parish at Mira Road St. Joseph’s (India) on 16th
January 2008. People were shocked. All three didn’t wear helmet
while riding the motorcycle. In spite of the warnings I used to give
to young people in my parish, when such incidents occur our heart
breaks. There is no way we can convince people. Were they tempted to
travel with that velocity? Or were they overtaking a long vehicle? I
am not here to judge. But my contention is that temptations just
arise from nowhere. We need to be on our guard. Temptation to cross
a road without attention to speeding vehicles, temptation to do
things that are not healthy for our life, temptation to overdo
certain things can really land us into greater troubles. This Sunday
reminds us that even Jesus was tempted, but he faced all these
temptations squarely with the power of prayer and fasting. Can we
take a lesson at the inception of lent?
And immediately the Spirit impelled Him to go out into the
wilderness. And He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by
Satan; and He was with the wild beasts, and the angels were
ministering to Him (Mk 1.12-13).
The Temptation of Christ
So, begins and ends Mark's account of the wilderness temptations.
Mark's concise summary helps establish the setting for the
temptation of Jesus. The wilderness temptation is the first recorded
event that follows the baptism of Jesus. It's important to review
Christ's baptism to better understand the nature of Satan's attacks.
Baptism of Jesus
When Jesus was baptized God declared, "This is my beloved Son in
whom I am well pleased" (Mt 3.17; Mk 1.11). Satan challenged this
declaration in the first two temptations.
The wilderness
Following the baptism, Mark indicated that the Spirit “immediately”
led Jesus into the wilderness.
The word “wilderness” refers to deserted areas in the unpopulated
wilds of Palestine. It is often translated as “desert.” Mark
indicates Jesus was "with the wild beasts," presumably isolated from
the distractions of humanity (Mk 1.13).
Jesus fasts 40 days
Jesus “ate nothing” for 40 days prior to the temptation (Lk 4.2).
Moses and Elijah endured similar fasts before receiving divine
revelations from God (Ex 34.28; I Kgs 19.8). And after He had fasted
40 days and 40 nights He was hungry. And the tempter came and said
to Him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become
bread” (Mt 4.2-3).
The First Temptation
Satan tried to place doubt in the mind of Jesus with the words “If
you are the Son of God.” Matthew shows that the devil came at the
end of Jesus' fast.
The Trap
The danger of this temptation was not in making bread. Jesus was not
under a prohibition from miraculously creating food. On two
occasions Jesus used his power to create bread for a multitude of
people (cfr. Mk 6.35-44; Mk 8.1-21). The real peril lay in Satan's
proposed reason for creating bread. That reason is “If you are the
Son of God”. Satan was challenging Christ's credentials.
Jesus quotes Moses
But He answered and said, “It is written, Man shall not live on
bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God”
(Mt 4.4). Jesus immediately perceived the real danger, and responded
with a passage from Deuteronomy 8.3. In that passage, Moses reminded
the Israelites that God humbled them in the wilderness when He
provided manna from heaven.
His humble attitude
This quote gives insight into Christ's mindset during this ordeal.
His reliance on God's will is contrasted with reliance on temporal
things, like food. Jesus humbly relied on God. He rendered obedience
by not doubting God's declaration, “This is my beloved Son.”
The Second Temptation
Then the devil took Him into the holy city; and he had Him stand on
the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If you are the Son of
God throw yourself down. For it is written, 'He will give His angels
charge concerning you,' and, 'On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone’” (Mt 4.5-6).
Satan took Jesus to Jerusalem to stand on the temple. There Satan
challenged Jesus to throw himself down. Although the exact spot is
not given, Josephus recorded that Herod's royal portico towered 450
feet over the Kedron Valley.
Satan quotes scripture
Having lost the first challenge to Jesus, Satan appealed to
scripture by quoting Psalm 91.11-12. When isolated from other
passages, this proposal seems reasonable. If Jesus were God's Son,
then scripture promised to save Him.
Jesus Responds
Deceptively, Satan tried inciting Jesus to test the scripture. Jesus
addressed the real issue by quoting Deuteronomy 6.16. Jesus said to
him, "On the other hand it is written, “You shall not put the Lord
your God to the test” (Mt 4.7).
Testing God
To commit this act would have tested God, not scripture. Putting God
to the test does not refer to an exam. Rather, the idea of
“experimenting with God” is contained in this phrase.
Had He fallen to this temptation, Jesus would have substituted
humble faith in God's guidance with a blatant challenge to the
Father's loving-kindness. God protects His children, but also
expects them to exercise sound judgment.
Practical lessons
The contrast between the first and second temptations is
instructive.
• The first challenged Jesus to doubt his position. Satan tried to
undermine Christ's confidence.
• The second encouraged him to be over-confident in his standing
with God. So confident that he would recklessly endanger himself to
prove God would save him.
Personal Application
The two temptations of doubt and of recklessness are real today. A
faithful Christian may doubt her salvation for lack of feeling or
perceiving God's presence in her life. This is the danger of the
first temptation.
The second is more sinister. A disobedient Christian may live in
sin, recklessly presuming that God will forgive, regardless of his
actions. Paul warned of this attitude when he wrote "What shall we
say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase? May
it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?" (Rm
6.1-2).
Jesus' method of Interpretation
The second temptation gives special insight into how Jesus
interpreted scripture. Jesus interpreted scriptures in light of
other passages, so that they harmonized.
Satan isolated a passage from Psalms 91.11-12, and suggested that it
applied to the limited situation he presented Jesus with (throwing
himself from the temple). When isolated from other passages Satan's
suggested interpretation appears logical.
Jesus quickly showed that this perverted interpretation did not
harmonize with scripture. He quoted Deuteronomy 6.16 which reads,
"You shall not put the Lord your God to the test."
Trends Today
The primary cause of church division today is improper
interpretation of scripture. The first violation of Jesus' method of
interpretation is to isolate a passage from other scriptures. The
second violation of Christ's method is to interpret a passage
outside it's proper context.
Read for yourself
Relying on another's interpretation is dangerous. Had Jesus relied
on Satan's false interpretation, He would have failed. The
Christians in Acts 17.11 were “examining the scriptures daily to see
whether these things were so.” Even though they had apostles
teaching them, they took responsibility for verifying the accuracy
of the things they were being taught. This responsibility falls on
each Christian, not just church leaders.
Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain, and showed Him
all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory. And he said to Him,
"All these things will I give you if you fall down and worship me"
(Mt 4.8-9).
The Third Temptation
Since no mountain stands high enough to view all the world's
kingdoms, it's likely that Satan exercised some supernatural power
to show Christ “all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time” (Lk
4.5).
Satan's authority
Jesus did not question Satan's authority to grant the world's
kingdoms. Bear in mind, however, that Jesus did not directly address
Satan's apparent deceptions in the first two temptations. Either
Satan possessed this authority, or he was validating his reputation
as “the father of lies” (Jn 8.44). In either case, Satan's authority
was not the issue. His suggestion violated the first commandment,
"You shall have no other gods before Me" (Ex 20.3).
Jesus Responds
Then Jesus said to him, “Begone, Satan! For it is written, “You
shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only” (Mt 4.10).
Jesus quotes Moses; this time from Deuteronomy 6.13.
Gospel differences
The order of the 2nd and 3rd temptations is inverted in Matthew and
Luke. Which account is chronological? Many commentators believe that
Matthew's account is chronological, while Luke's is topical. This
opinion is founded on two facts. Matthew 4.5 and 4.11 contain the
word "then" when transitioning through this event. Luke connects the
temptations with the word "and," which contains no chronological
inference. Jesus' response to the third temptation strengthens this
view. The words "Begone, Satan!" likely signal an end to this trial.
Angels Minister to Jesus
Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to
Him (Mt 4.11).
When Satan left, angels attended to the needs of Jesus. The next
angelic appearance during Christ's ministry occurred when He was
praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. An angel appeared in the garden
to strengthen Him (Lk 22.43).
Was Jesus Tempted?
Some assert that Jesus could not be tempted by citing the following
passage.
Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God"; for
God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone (Jas
1.13).
Two claims
Two claims are given to support the above conclusion.
1. Jesus was God in the flesh.
2. Since God cannot be tempted, Jesus was immune to temptation.
The True Claim
The first claim agrees with scripture. Jesus was indeed God in the
flesh. See John 1.1-5, 14 and Colossians 2.15-18 for this evidence.
The False Claim
The second assertion does not agree with scripture. Twice the writer
of Hebrews indicated that Jesus was tempted. For in that He Himself
has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted
(Heb 2.18). For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize
with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet
without sin (Heb 4.15).
Practical Conclusion Jesus was tempted by Satan, and was in fact tempted in all the
ways that we are tempted today. Yet He did not sin. One reason Jesus
is our perfect high priest is because he can sympathize with us. He
knows how it felt to be tempted.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
6TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR A
Sirach 15:15–20; 1 Corinthians 2:6–10; Matthew 5:17–37
Jesus’s radical approach to the Ten Commandments not only to its
essence but wants to present them in a perfect way giving a very
clear explanation and referring to its innermost essential perfect
sense. What Jesus says about what has been taught in the past is
uncomfortably clear: those rules are not enough to achieve
perfection of love. His followers are allowed no anger, no abusive
language, no lustful thoughts, no divorce, no oaths. It is hard to
avoid the demands of these teachings. We try to water them down at
times, claiming they apply only to certain people or are meant as
ideals. It doesn’t work. Jesus spoke them to the crowd, not to a
specially chosen elite.
Jesus makes the claim that God’s law does not go far enough, that it
is inadequate. His willingness to overrule the law of God is a sign
of the divine power and authority with which Jesus taught. And that
power and authority is the guarantee that somehow or other, I can,
indeed, live as he calls me to do. The reason that I can is my
Baptism. In Baptism, I am united with the Risen Lord, the One who
has overcome death. Nothing, then, is truly impossible in living as
he did. I can do it if I be willing to try.
The Pharisees considered the Mosaic law to be the summary of all
wisdom, human and divine, a complete and sure guide of conduct, an
assurance of good relations with God. This value of the law Jesus
did not accept—as is evident from his own non-observance of the
Sabbath rules and the laws of Levitical cleanliness. Yet in the
beginning of our Gospel today, Jesus asserts that his mission is not
to annul or destroy the Mosaic law but rather to fulfill it or bring
the law to final perfection. He meant that his disciples were to
follow exactly his complete and perfect understanding of the law. He
explains what he means by six examples (four in this Gospel and two
next Sunday). In each of these six examples, Jesus presents an
antithesis between the old understanding of the law and his
pronouncement of the perfect law. There is no easy, consistent
pattern, however. What we understand here is that the law of Moses
was good enough, but Jesus gave to this law a perfect
interpretation.
In the first example, Jesus not only prohibits murder but even
anger, which can lead to murder. Then he insists that fraternal
relations are more important than cultic duties; that is, we must
first be reconciled with our neighbor before we bring our offering
to God’s altar. There must be extra effort on the part of one who
gets angry to rectify this disorder in order that he can live
peacefully with his family members or neighbours.
In the second example, Jesus not only prohibits adultery, but also
lustful desires that can lead to adultery. Again, he insists on
internal disposition not just external acts. This admonition server
very well to all who are trying to trivialize the seriousness of
this sin. In this modern world we know how people can get addicted
to mass media junk that can invade our minds and hearts innumerable
ways. Jesus wants wholehearted purity than just avoiding a big sin.
In the third example, he takes up the question of divorce. Regarding
divorce, there were two governing views at the time: the
conservative opinion (Shammai) which only permitted divorce in the
case of adultery, or the liberal opinion (Hillel) which permitted
divorce for lesser causes. Jesus rejects both views and does not
permit divorce for any reason at all. Marriage is for life. There is
no separation. Once married they both become one flesh.
In the fourth example, Jesus not only prohibits false oaths, but
also implies that truthfulness should be secured by the inner
integrity of the person, without the deceits and lack of trust
surrounding some oaths and vows of the time. False oaths often make
people believe, yet in reality more insistence on something would
mean it contradicts its spirit.
In the fifth example—which will be read next week—our Lord rejects
“an eye for an eye” retaliation of revenge and proposes
non-resistance. In the last example, Jesus teaches not only love of
neighbor but also love of enemies, after the example of God who
sends rain on good as well as bad people.
The Lord said, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Scribes
and Pharisees you will not enter God’s Kingdom. This is because he
is not concerned with negative legalisms but with positively doing
the will of God. He is not concerned with carefully following
complicated legalisms but with loving attitudes after Jesus’ own
model. His first concern in not with the complexities of law but
with the demanding ideal of love, generosity, kindness, patience and
peace. In a word, his morality is internal, all encompassing and
loving. This helps us understand the meaning of todays Gospel.
Paul did not try to use impressive words that showed great wisdom
(2.1-4). But there was great wisdom in his words, although most
people in the present age would not recognise that wisdom. That is
why Paul called that wisdom a mystery, in other words, a secret. God
had sent Paul to declare that secret knowledge, in public. And still
people could not understand it.
Paul’s mystery is all about what true greatness really is. True
greatness is called glory; it belongs to God alone. The mystery is
that, at a future time, God has a plan to share his glory with all
his people (1 Cor 15.51-52).
In Corinth there was a problem to understand what Paul was teaching
them. This is what was happening with the church in Corinth. They
were seeking wisdom, but they were doing so in the wrong way.
Although they had committed to Christ and received the Holy Spirit,
they were seeking generic or worldly wisdom rather than God’s
wisdom. And because they were seeking generic wisdom, which in their
day was made up of complicated philosophical ideals, they felt like
the gospel message that Paul had delivered to them was too simple.
Likely they were embarrassed about the seemingly weak idea of a
crucified Messiah and they wanted something more, so they sought out
the wisdom of their culture.
An example: we all know what it takes to lose weight – you must eat
healthy and exercise. It’s very simple; we’re just not willing to do
it. Exercising we maintain our health. In the same manner spiritual
health is to be promoted with our constant efforts. This will turn
out to be a great happiness and joyful experience to all who benefit
from you. One thing is theory that in order to lose weight we need
to do a set of exercises; the next most important thing is to do the
exercise which is beneficial to us. Here is the most important part
we need to play; that is leaving aside an ideal rule, we need to get
into working out a suitable work out for our body; then the result
will follow. This is what Jesus meant exceeding the righteousness of
the Pharisees and Scribes.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
5TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR A
Isaiah 58.7–10; 1 Corinthians 2.1–5; Matthew 5.13–16
God wants a kind of fast that is accompanied by the loosing of the
shackles of wickedness, lifting the yoke of oppression, feeding the
hungry, providing shelter for the poor, clothing the naked, and
helping the needy neighbor. Those who thus practice social justice
are assured of guidance, healing, and a protective escort. “Your
righteousness” may mean the abovementioned acts of mercy or it may
mean the righteousness of God which is imputed to those who believe.
Prophet Isaiah’s prediction that the godly one is assured that
whenever he calls, the LORD will answer … “Here I am.” If he will
eliminate oppression, stop pointing… the finger in accusation or in
scoffing, and cease from mudslinging and slander, if he will
alleviate human need, both spiritual and physical, then God promises
that his night will turn to a bright day. He will enjoy guidance,
abundant supply of good things, health and strength, beauty and
fruitfulness, and national restoration.
There is a growing consensus of opinion that there is one . . .
fundamental and essential need: a true and deep love of self, a
genuine and joyful self-acceptance, an authentic self-esteem, which
result in an interior sense of celebration: ‘It’s good to be me; I
am very happy to be me.
What would Christ say about all this? Very simply, he tells us that
self-love is not only good, it is also the starting point for
following him: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mat
19.19).
When we are light within then that light shines outside of us. When
we live in darkness, then there is no light within and no way to
enlightenment.
Calling us to be the light and salt of the earth is a fundamental
calling of Christ to be resourceful and lovable around us. Love and
kindness can transform our lives and we are capable of shedding
light on the dark corners of our life.
Today’s Gospel strongly affirms this attitude. Jesus himself cries
out to all his disciples: “You are the salt of the earth… You are
the light of the world.” The point we easily miss is that Jesus does
not tell us to become the salt of the earth or to make ourselves the
light of the world. Rather he affirms that we are salt and light
already, because Jesus has called us, and we have responded to his
call. Most of the world has not heard this call of Jesus or has not
responded to it. Jesus wants us to know that by our faith in him, by
his grace and new life, we are salt and light. So Jesus wants us to
manifest what we are: “Your light must shine before others.”
Inner Strength He begins with the assurance that our essential salvation and
intrinsic goodness is from God. Through baptism and our faith, we
are already given that wondrous relationship of love and acceptance
by God as his sons and daughters. That relationship is constant and
almost indestructible; it establishes our fundamental value and
goodness by itself; it does not depend on our social position or our
natural abilities. Then, in a dozen different ways, Paul urges us to
deepen, to grow, to progress in that reality, to live according to
our status as children of God. For example, Paul tells us that we
are children of light; therefore, we should walk as children of
light.
Our Mission
Well in the Gospel of today, Jesus calls us to be the light of the
world and salt of the earth. This great invitation turns out to be a
great hope in the age of darkness and tastelessness. When we are
capable of shedding light on darkness, then we see all that is
inappropriate, and we correct ourselves. We can invite others into
this light. It is Christ who is the light of the world makes us
bright in our approach to the world and people. Only a changed man
can change the world. This change could be brought about by creating
a new man, a citizen of the world, by training the mind in moral and
spiritual discipline.
This short gospel today must be an eye opener to all of us to be
help to the other. Both salt and light have the ingredients of joy
and happiness.
Paul on his part wanted the Corinthians to get back in touch with
how the essence of his message had come alive among them. Paul saw
how easy it was for them to slip into the values of a society that
esteemed a person for learning or wealth, for status and fame. Paul
wanted them to remember "the mystery," how they had experienced a
love of God and community that had revealed the utter emptiness of
those societal standards.
When we are too worldly in our approach to life the light within us
dims and the salt loses its taste.
When Jesus taught his audience was composed of Israelites. As God's
chosen people, they possessed the Word of God, and were supposed to
be salt and light in the world. Gradually, throughout Jesus'
teaching ministry, he refined this idea that each one who followed
him was to have a spiritual impact on those around them. He sent
them out to all the towns around them to preach repentance and the
coming of the Kingdom of God. Christ had made it clear at the end of
his earthly ministry that the gospel was to have a universal
application. He commanded his followers to go and teach all nations,
to baptize them, and teach them everything he had taught. (Mat
28.18-20). This has properly been taken as a mandate for all
Christians to spread the gospel of Christ to everyone. This includes
both concepts of salt and light. We are to do as much good in the
name of Christ as we can, and we are to share the light of the
gospel with as many as we can.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
THE PRESENTATION OF THE LORD
Malachi 3:1-4; Hebrews 2:14-18; Luke 2:22-40
God will send His messenger, a promise that had an early and partial
fulfillment in John the Baptist, but awaits a later and complete
fulfillment when Elijah (4.5) will prepare the way of the Lord, . .
. the Messenger of the covenant whom they desired. The irony here is
that when He later arrived (His First Advent), the nation of Israel
did not delight in Him but crucified Him instead. In verse 3.2–4 The
day of His coming will be the Second Advent. The Lord will come in
judgment on sin, and who will be able to stand? This purifying
ministry, pictured by Christ’s cleansing of the temple, awaits final
fulfillment at His Second Coming. The sons of Levi (priests) will be
purified so that they can make offerings of holiness and
righteousness that are pleasant to the LORD, as in the days of old.
The Gospels proclaim it is the Precursor, St John the Baptist who
was born 6 months before Jesus, that God sent to prepare His way.
Putting these evangelical facts together, we can comprehend the
words of the Prophet Malachi. The Lord God promised that He would
send a Precursor to prepare His way. Since there is only 6 months
between the birth of St John the Baptist and Jesus it is clear that
the prophecy meant that suddenly after the Precursor, the Lord
Himself will come. So, soon after the Baptist’s birth, God entered
His temple.
The Glory of the Lord will appear in the temple, signifying the
coming of Christ to the temple to clean it of all idolatry and
corruption. But before he does this, he will come to fulfil the law.
That is what we celebrate today, the coming of the Lord to the
temple and presenting himself in the temple.
Mary comes to the temple with Joseph bring the baby Jesus. This
feast is also regarded as the feast of the purification of Mary in
the temple.
The words of the prophet Malachi are fulfilled in the poor parents
presenting their firstborn son along with their humble sacrifice of
two turtledoves. (Now I am sending my messenger— he will prepare the
way before me; And the lord whom you seek will come suddenly to his
temple; The messenger of the covenant whom you desire—see, he is
coming! says the LORD of hosts. Malachi 3.1) The mother of God – the
Theotokos, in no need of ritual purification – and her husband did
not set themselves above the Law.
The Gospel of Luke speaks of Anna the Prophetess and Simeon who
praise the coming of the Lord to the temple. In Redemptoris Mater,
Pope John Paul II wrote that Mary heard in Simeon’s words something
akin to a second Annunciation, “for they tell her of the actual
historical situation in which the Son is to accomplish his mission,
namely, in misunderstanding and sorrow. While this announcement on
the one hand confirms her faith in the accomplishment of the divine
promises of salvation, on the other hand it also reveals to her that
she will have to live her obedience of faith in suffering, at the
side of the suffering Savior, and that her motherhood will be
mysterious and sorrowful.”
After celebrating the Nativity of our Lord, with its splendor in
both the Church and the popular culture, it would be easy for one’s
mind to drift and overlook the significance of the fortieth day
after the Lord’s birth. The Catholic Church gives very significant
importance to this feast.
What is the real significance of the presentation of the Lord in the
Temple? According to the Mosaic law a mother who had given birth to
a man-child was considered unclean for seven days; moreover she was
to remain three and thirty days "in the blood of her purification";
for a maid-child the time which excluded the mother from sanctuary
was even doubled. When the time (forty or eighty days) was over the
mother was to "bring to the temple a lamb for a holocaust and a
young pigeon or turtle dove for sin"; if she was not able to offer a
lamb, she was to take two turtle doves or two pigeons; the priest
prayed for her and so she was cleansed. (Lev12.2-8).
The "just and devout" man of Jerusalem who according to the
narrative of St. Luke, greeted the infant Saviour on His
presentation in the Temple (Lk 2. 25-35). He was one of the pious
Jews who were waiting for the "consolation of Israel" and, though
advanced in years, he had received a premonition from the Holy
Ghost, Who was in him, that he would not die before he had seen the
expected Messiah. This promise was fulfilled when through guidance
of the Spirit he came to the Temple on the day of the Presentation,
and taking the Child Jesus in his arms, he uttered the Canticle Nunc
dimittis (Lk 2.29-32), and after blessing the Holy Family he
prophesied concerning the Child, Who "is set for the fall, and for
the resurrection of many in Israel", and regarding the mother whose
"soul a sword shall pierce, that, out of many hearts, thoughts may
be revealed".
Practical Conclusion
Jesus is brought to the temple to fulfil the law. Later in his life
Jesus spends lot of time in the temple and on one occasion purifies
it of all sorts of worldliness that had entered the temple. On our
part visiting a church or a sacred place must evoke in us the
sentiments of love, devotion, adoration and prayer in us. This helps
our soul to direct attention to heavenly things in spite of living
in the midst of worldly affairs.
Jesus is the complete fulfilment of the Law and the Prophets. Jesus
once had asked his disciples, who do the people say that “I am?”
Some say Elijah, Jonah and others says one of the prophets. Jesus
fulfills in us a great role of the saviour. He leads us, guides us
and inspires us in our daily tasks and works.
When we have Jesus with us, we have fulfilled the law. Jesus is
above the law himself as he noted often during his life that “the
son of man is the Lord of sabbath” (Mt 12.1-8).
This is day also is dedicated to the Religious men and women for
their consecration through the vows. Candlemas Day is another name
for the feast of the Presentation of the Lord. Forty days after His
birth, Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple for the rites of
purification and dedication as prescribed by the Torah. According to
the Book of Leviticus (12.1-4), when a woman bore a male child, she
was considered “unclean” for seven days. On the eighth day, the boy
was circumcised. The mother continued to stay at home for 33 days
for her blood to be purified. After the 40 days, the mother and the
father came to the temple for the rite of purification, which
included the offering of a sacrifice — a lamb for a holocaust (burnt
offering) and a pigeon or turtledove for a sin offering, or for a
poor couple who could not afford a lamb, two pigeons or two
turtledoves. Note Joseph and Mary made the offering of the poor (Lk
2.24).
We also remember our parents presenting us at church for our
baptism. We were dedicated to God, and given the name, “Christian.”
We, too, received a lit candle from the paschal candle, at which the
priest said, “You have been enlightened by Christ. Walk always as a
child of the light and keep the flame of faith alive in your heart.
When the Lord comes, may you go out to meet Him with all the saints
in the heavenly kingdom” (Rite of Christian Initiation). Therefore,
as a light, each of us must bear witness to Our Lord.
Let this feast of the presentation of the Lord in the Temple
enlighten us to be his servants and bearers of his kingdom.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
3RD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR A
Isaiah 9.1-4; I Corinthians 1.10-13, 17; Matthew 4.12-23
Now we are carried forward to the coming of the Messiah. The
northern territory of Israel, called the land of Naphtali, which had
been brought into contempt by the invaders, will be made glorious
(Galilee of the Gentiles was the Savior’s boyhood home and the scene
of part of His public ministry). Christ’s First Advent brought light
to Galilee. His Second Coming will bring joy to the nation and put
an end to slavery and war. A precise prediction about the Messiah
who would bring respite to the land of Naphtali, that is the land
Galilee of the Gentiles.
Great Light
Through the Gospel of Matthew, we learn that Jesus choosing his
first disciples moves quickly to his ministry (Mt 4.12-23). The
prophet Isaiah announced a future of liberation and great joy for
all of Galilee, through the image of light that dispels the darkness
in which the people walk. The Gospel, quoting verbatim the same
passage of the prophet Isaiah, presents Jesus as the Light thus
fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy. He is the light that was promised to
dispel the darkness of sin and to free man from the obscurity in
which he is enclosed.
When Jesus heard that John the Baptist had been put in prison, He
realized that this was a move to His own rejection. In rejecting the
King’s forerunner, the people were, for all practical purposes,
rejecting the King also. But it was not fear that drove Him north to
Galilee but was going right into the center of Herod’s kingdom—the
same king who had just imprisoned John.
In moving to Galilee of the Gentiles, He was showing that His
rejection by the Jews would result in the gospel going out to the
Gentiles. Jesus never thought of rejecting any people around him. He
invited them all to listen to him. Those who rejected him perhaps
did not know him or were doing so out of jealousy.
He moved to Capernaum by the Sea of Galilee, an area originally
populated by the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali. From this time,
Capernaum became His headquarters (Mat 4.14–16). Jesus’ move to
Galilee was a fulfillment of Isaiah 9.1,2. The ignorant,
superstitious Gentiles living in Galilee saw a great light—that is
Christ, the Light of the world. From then on Jesus took up the
message which John had preached: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven
is at hand.” It was a further call for moral renewal in preparation
for His kingdom. The kingdom was near in the sense that the King was
present.
He Chooses his Disciples
After which we find in Matthew’s account the call of the disciples
Peter and Andrew. This is the second time Jesus called them. In John
1.35–42 they were called to salvation; here they are called to
service. The first took place in Judea; this one in Galilee. Peter
and Andrew were fishermen, but Jesus called them to be fishers of
men. Their responsibility was to follow Christ. His responsibility
was to make them successful fishers of men. Their following of
Christ involved more than physical nearness. It included their
imitation of the character of Christ. Theirs was to be a ministry of
character. What they were was more important than what they said or
did. Just as with Peter and Andrew, we are to avoid the temptation
to substitute eloquence, personality, or clever arguments for true
spirituality. In following Christ, the disciple learns to go where
the fish are swimming, to use the proper lure, to endure discomfort
and inconvenience, to be patient, and to keep oneself out of
popularity. In verse 4.20 Peter and Andrew heard the call and
responded immediately. In true faith, they left their nets. In true
commitment and devotion, they followed Jesus.
The call came next to James and John (Mt 4.21-22). They, too, became
instant disciples. Leaving not only their means of livelihood but
their father as well, they acknowledged the priority of Jesus over
all earthly ties. By responding to the call of Christ, these
fishermen became key figures in the evangelization of the world. Had
they remained at their nets; we would never have heard of them.
Recognition of the Lordship of Christ makes all the difference in
the work we do. He is the King of everything we do.
What do we learn from these accounts of the call of these disciples?
It is a radical following of Christ who calls us at any time. These
disciples were at work and were busy. They could have clearly
replied to Jesus saying, ‘well, we finish our work, and go home and
bid farewell to our family members and then come and follow you.’
Nothing of this sort happened. They immediately followed Jesus
without a second thought.
He calls us to “repent” or to reform our lives. He does not merely
present a set of rules to follow; he does not demand a retreat from
the world; he does not demand a monkish existence; he does not
require a specific devotional life of prayer, sacrifices, and
special practices. We cannot narrow down his call to any one of
these forms. His call is more universal and demanding: a metanoia, a
total change of heart, a complete transformation of one’s life, a
radical decision for God. Most of Jesus’ parables are a challenge
compelling his hearers to respond to his message. Such a radical
decision means that the mystery of Jesus becomes our plan of life,
our interpretation of life’s meaning. It means that all our deepest
questions about human life—the source of it, the sense of it, the
model for it, its purpose, direction, goal, and hope—all of these
are answered in the person of Christ.
Ministry
In verse 23 Matthew summarizes Jesus’ public life and work this way:
he proclaimed, “the Gospel of the kingdom, and [cured] every disease
and illness among the people.” He implies that the message of God’s
kingdom that Jesus brought is aimed at all people in all their
dimensions; not only at their soul, but at the whole person, body
and soul, their whole concrete, suffering existence. For Jesus our
Lord is not only a preacher and adviser; he is also a healer and
helper. And he is for all people, not only for the strong, healthy,
capable, and righteous, but also for the weak, sick, incapable,
sinning, and outcast. He does not take away all human failure,
illness, and tragedy; but he begins to transform the curse of human
existence into blessing even now.
Mission Today
Today all over the world missionaries and followers of Christ do the
same work. They proclaim and serve. They heal through their service
and alleviate sufferings through their generosity.
Concretely today Jesus calls us when we are at work. He will see
that we are his instruments of service and Gospel. Through this
Gospel we learn how to respond to Jesus’ call. From the first
disciples we come to know what real detachment for God’s kingdom is.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
2nd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR A
Isaiah 49:3, 5-6; I Cor 1.1-3; John 1.29-34
This first reding from Prophet Isaiah is a
prediction about the suffering servant of God. These
were prophecies uttered during the Babylonian exile
to encourage the Jewish exiles to persevere in their
trust in Yahweh, who would soon liberate them from
Babylon, and consequently send them the
long-expected Messiah, promised to Abraham.
The opening verses of this letter of St. Paul to the
Corinthians have been chosen for the reading because
they show the prophecy, read in the first reading,
as fulfilled among the pagans, as well as
emphasizing the purpose of the Messiah's coming: the
sanctification and true enlightenment of all
nations.
These verses from St. John’s Gospel present John the
Baptist as a symbolic example of a ‘bridegroom’s
friend’, as Christ’s excellent and exemplary
witness. The Baptist’s pre-eminent witness was
affirmed in two ways: firstly, regarding the content
of his testimony and secondly with respect to its
style.
After the celebration of the birth of John the
Baptist and Christ the Lord, the liturgy shifts its
focus on the mission of both. John the Baptist
preaches the imminent arrival of God’s Kingdom and
predicts about the one who is going to baptise them
with fire and the Holy spirit and confesses that he
is not worthy to carry his sandals. Jesus on his
part just begins to prepare for his mission choosing
his apostles and disciples. Both are fully engaged
in their task and the path for God’s Kingdom is
being prepared.
The preaching of John the Baptist was to reawaken in
people the sense of urgency for something greater
than what they have been seeking in their daily
lives. There are a lot of ordinary longings in our
lives, but there is one that is underlying all other
longings. Ordinary longing signifies emptiness; it
recognizes our limitations, our awareness of being
incomplete.
John’s story of the baptism is considerably
different from what we find in the other three
gospels because John wants to refute the view held
by some that John the Baptist was superior to Jesus.
Thus, this writer does not give us an account of the
particulars of Jesus’ baptism. Rather, he has John
the Baptist give testimony to the meaning of the
event. Almost the entire reading is composed of the
Baptist’s words, which clearly say that the
revelation of Jesus as the Lamb of God was the sole
purpose of John’s mission. The gospel writer also
concentrates on demonstrating that Jesus is indeed
the servant of God described in the servant songs of
Isaiah.
“Behold the Lamb of God”
This phrase “The Lamb of God,” John used twenty-nine
times in the book of Revelation, and it has become
one of the most precious titles of Christ. It sums
up the love, sacrifice, suffering, triumph and final
victory of Jesus Christ. While some think that
John’s use of the term “Lamb of God” for Jesus may
refer to the Passover lamb, the primary reference
here is to the Suffering Servant who is described as
like a lamb led to the slaughter. The Passover lamb
had no connection to sin, yet for the sins of the
people it was slaughtered; in the same way the
Servant bore the guilt of us all and who takes away
the sin of the world.
Atonement
After expulsion from the Garden of Eden, Adam and
Eve faced a devastating future. Having opened the
door to mortality and temporal life for us, they had
closed the door to immortality and eternal life for
themselves. Due to a transgression they had
consciously chosen obeying the temptations of the
evil one, they now faced physical death and
spiritual banishment, separation from the presence
of God forever. What were they to do? Would there be
a way out of this plight?
Unfortunately, as a symbol of genuine repentance and
faithful living, the ritualistic offering of
unblemished little lambs didn’t work very well, as
so much of the Old Testament reveals. The moral
resolve that should have accompanied those
sacrifices sometimes didn’t last long enough for the
blood to dry upon the stones or on the temple altar.
They did remember they were to regularly offer for a
sacrifice unto God a pure, unblemished lamb, the
first male born of their flock.
According to Old Testament law, animals were used as
a blood sacrifice for sins. This ritual was used to
demonstrate to the Israelites the seriousness of
their sins. The blood was shed to pardon the sin.
But the blood from animal sacrifices could not
actually remove the sin. A lamb without defect was
one of the acceptable animals that was used for this
purpose (Lev 4.32). It was necessary for the
Israelites to go to the priest time after time to
sacrifice animals to pardon their sins.
The real Sacrificial Lamb In Jesus we find the real sacrificial lamb who
takes away the sins of the world. He is the one who
is going to redeem mankind from sinfulness. The real
sacrifice offered on the Cross. That is why John
boldly calls Jesus “the Lamb of God”, who takes away
the sins of the world.
When John the Baptist baptized Jesus, John witnessed
the Holy spirit descending on Jesus declaring Him to
be the Son of God. John knew that Jesus was the
Messiah that had been prophesied in the book of
Isaiah 53.7, "He was led like a lamb to the
slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is
silent, so he did not open his mouth." There are
over 100 prophecies in the Old Testament predicting
the coming Messiah. The Jews were awaiting His
arrival. John recognized Jesus as the Messiah, the
Son of God, and the person that would fulfill the
role as the lamb sent by God to be both the Passover
Lamb and provide the blood sacrifice for sin.
During Jesus' 33 years of life on earth, living and
experiencing everything that man experiences, He
lived without sin. This made Him the pure and
spotless lamb that was without defect - a perfect
sacrifice. Heb 2.17 says, "For this reason he had to
be made like his brothers in every way, in order
that he might become a merciful and faithful high
priest in service to God, and that he might make
atonement for the sins of the people." Jesus Christ,
by dying on the cross, nailed all of our sins to the
cross (Colo 2.14), cleansed us from a guilty
conscience (Heb 10.22), freed us from condemnation
and from the grip of sin over our lives (Rom 8.1-2),
and assured those of us who believe in Him to have
everlasting life with Him in heaven (Jn 3.16).
God sent Jesus into the world to be a one-time
sacrifice for all sins. Heb 9.24 says, "For Christ
did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a
copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now
to appear for us in God's presence."
This is the Sunday that promises us that Christ is
the one who comes to save us and is already here
saving us always. The Sacraments are the very
presence of Christ amidst us and who helps us to
offer our daily lives to him so that he can purify
us with his blood. The Holy Eucharist is what
cleanses us from our sinfulness with his body and
blood offered in the Holy Communion.
Takes Away the Sin of the World
Salvation doesn’t cost us anything; it’s free for
all who believe the gospel. Discipleship, however,
does cost us something. Following Jesus is often not
easy. Being a disciple requires making choices—to
love and honor God, to treat people for what they
are—fellow imagers of God that he loves and wants to
bring into his family through the gospel. Think
about Jesus’s own life. It wasn’t easy. As St. Peter
affirms, “Christ also suffered for you, leaving you
an example, so that you might follow in his steps”
(1 Pet 2.21). Jesus lived a life of sacrifice. He
put God first, followed by his “neighbor” (everyone
else): “You shall love the Lord your God with all
your heart and with all your soul and with all your
mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a
second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as
yourself. On these two commandments depend all the
Law and the Prophets.” (Mat 22.36-40) Jesus lived
this way not so God would love him or be happy with
him. God loved Jesus already, long before he ever
came and “did works” (performed) to fulfill the
covenant. He loved Jesus “before the foundation of
the world” (Jn 17.24). Jesus came to liberate us
from our sinfulness and take away that scar of the
evil one.
During this week we need one thing on which to focus
our attention, that is on Jesus. John the Baptist
wants us to recognize Jesus is the only one who can
lead us to God’s Kingdom. Mere repentance preached
by John the Baptist allows us to accept Jesus; but
it is Jesus who gives us that eternal kingdom
through his own life and grace.
The suffering servant Jesus is beginning his journey
of redemption of mankind. He begins to impact even
John the Baptist’s disciples who come to him to see
and find out all that is about true kingdom of God.
It's easier to think about our wishes and wants: our
favorite food, a winning team, a good grade, a nice
car or house, good clothes. Those things are fairly
easy to attain, but they don't make any real
difference in our life; they quickly prove their
shallowness.
On a deeper level, we desire health and life, we
long for loving relationships, and for the good of
those whom we love. We might regard those as
"natural sacramentals," signs or foretastes of the
goodness God desires for us. As sacramentals, the
objects of our longing can lead us to our depths.
But they also bring the danger of becoming goals in
themselves, even transforming themselves into idols
by becoming the only things we strive for.
Our hearts are restless until they rest in God. That
is what we call the fundamental and eternal longing
that cannot be satisfied with the ordinary things of
life. Jesus the Lamb of God who takes away the sin
of the world gives us the real meaning of life and
helps us to transcend the trivial things of this
world so that we fix our attention and focus on God
alone.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
BAPTISM OF THE LORD
Isaiah 42:1–4, 6–7; Acts 10:34–38; Matthew 3:13-17
The servant mentioned in the first reading in general is Israel,
God’s chosen people. But there are many individualized
characteristics in these servant songs that seem to indicate one
individual who represents the collective Israel. Only in the New
Testament do the scripture writers identify Jesus as the individual
fulfillment of these servant prophecies. Jesus is the Son of God,
and called servant of God. He is the one who brings liberation and
freedom. Through out the advent season we reflected that the one who
comes in the name of the Lord is going to bring prosperity and
freedom to the house of Israel.
Good to note how the first reading begins: “Here is . . . / my
chosen one with whom I am pleased, / Upon whom I have put my
spirit.” The Hebrew word for spirit is ruah (that can also mean wind
or breath). The image is that of a force or power of God enabling
his servant to act in a manner beyond human capability. It is seen
as the power given to the long-awaited Messiah.
It needs to be pointed out that Jesus did not need the baptism of
John. John was baptizing as an external sign of interior repentance.
Jesus had no need to repent. But, nonetheless, He comes to John.
John resists at first but Jesus insists. Why did He receive baptism?
Accepting the baptism of John, Jesus affirms all that John had said
and done and affirms his sacred role of preparing the way for Jesus
and for a new era of grace. Therefore, the Baptism of Jesus acts as
a bridge between the Old Testament prophets (of which John was the
last) and the New Testament era of grace and truth, and John again
we notice is the first prophet of the New Testament.
Second, it has been said that when Jesus entered the waters of
baptism, He was not baptized by the waters, rather, His Baptism was
one in which all the created waters of this world were, in a sense,
“baptized” by Him. Entering into the waters, Jesus sanctified water
and poured forth His grace making all water the future source of
salvation.
Baptism of Jesus was an epiphany and was a moment of manifestation.
As He emerged from the waters, “Heaven was opened, and the Holy
Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice
came from Heaven, ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well
pleased.’” This manifestation of the sonship and divinity of Jesus
took place in a physical, audible and visible form so that all
present would know, without question, that Jesus was the Son of the
Father. Thus, His baptism is a way in which the Father introduced
His Son and His Son’s mission to the world. This mission was to
begin immediately and would culminate in the resurrection of the
Lord.
Just when the Baptist's activity seems so successful, it is "then"
that Jesus first appears on the scene in a surprising turnabout.
John has said that the one who is to come will baptize with the Holy
Spirit and with fire. Instead, Jesus comes seeking to be baptized by
John. Matthew alone seeks to address the problem by having John
attempt to avoid Jesus' request. If, after all, baptism has to do
with repentance and with bearing fruit that befits righteousness,
why should Jesus have to be baptized? But the threefold reference to
baptism in this passage and Jesus' response to John both serve to
emphasize the importance of this event coming at the beginning of
this narrative of the good news about Jesus.
Jesus says that this baptism must take place to "fulfill all
righteousness," and with his words the reader begins to realize that
righteousness has to do with much more than simply human ethical
response, but rather has to do with the whole plan of God in this
one who comes as savior, and thus is a sign of Jesus' obedient
submission to God's marvelous grace. The unique reference to the
opening of the heavens "to him" and the clear public announcement of
God's good pleasure name Jesus as God's beloved Son (Mark says, "You
are…"; Matthew writes, "This is…") and mark this event as revelatory
of God's presence and approval.
What do we learn from this feast of the Baptism of the Lord? First
truth is that we too are baptised with the same Spirit of the Lord.
We are baptized into his very life
We are grafted to Christ Our Lord. Remember the parable of the vine
and the branches. We become the branches of Christ who is the vine.
Unless we are one with Christ the Lord, we are not going to bear
fruit that will last.
We become Children of God
In John 1.12 we find an excellent expression. All who receive Christ
through faith become children of God. This is described using the
Greek term exousia, often translated as a “right” or an entitlement.
There are spiritual hounors given to all believers, simply based on
being part of that family. However, this word also implies the power
to do something. Becoming a child of God doesn’t simply result in
privileges, but spiritual power. A name, legal documents, a
conversation, is a symbol of that person. The “name” of Jesus is not
a magical formula. “Faith in the name of Jesus” means trust in His
person, His sacrifices, and his salvation. This is not for everyone,
however. This verse specifies that this power or right is only
extended to those who receive him especially through baptism.
We are the Temple of the Holy Spirit
In his letter to the Corinthians St. Paul boldly confesses that we
are the Temples of the Holy Spirit (I Cor 6.19).
All of us become brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus
We are all related to one another through the sacrament of Baptism.
This relationship is far beyond how we are related to one another
within our families. This is a spiritual relationship that helps us
understand the great mystery of God who has adopted us as his
children and hence we are related to one another as brothers and
sisters in Christ our Lord.
Moreover, we connect ourselves with the whole lot of holy people and
Saints as our big family through the baptismal grace of Christ.
Because of our baptism we are saved; yet like Jesus, we must live
out that salvation now in this world like all those saints and holy
people lived their grace sharing and helping people around them.
This same Holy Spirit was given to us at our baptism; that Spirit
empowers us to follow in the way of Jesus with great confidence as
real children of God; that same Spirit urges us to fulfill our
mission by submitting to the will of God as it comes to us naturally
in our ordinary Christian lives and become holy as our Heavenly
Father is Holy.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
EPIPHANY
Isaiah 60.1-6; Ps 72.1-7; 10-14; Eph 3.1-12; Mat 2.1-12
Epiphany is a wonderful feast that gives us an indication how God
chooses his representative from all walks of life. These three kings
traveling from far East come to Jerusalem to worship the newborn
King. Their travel was harsh with all kinds of hurdles and the most
difficult and concerning hurdle was King Herod. They over came all
these hurdles to come and worship and present their gifts to the
King. The star guided them to the place where Jesus was.
Why did God reveal Jesus to the Magi? We know the story of the Magi
coming to worship Jesus very well. But have you ever stopped to
wonder why God revealed Jesus to the Magi and not the “Evil and the
Great” King Herod? God has his ways of revealing His greatness
through insignificant ways to ordinary people.
Who were the Magi? Very little is known about the Magi. Matthew
doesn’t even record how many of them there were. All the Bible tells
us is that they came from the East to Jerusalem. The number is
unknown.
It is accepted that the Magi were a priestly caste from Persia once
a mighty country where modern Iran and Iraq are now located. They
were probably astrologers. In the second century, church father
named Tertullian suggested that these men were kings because the Old
Testament had predicted that kings would come to worship the
Messiah. Tertullian also concluded that there were three kings based
on the number of gifts mentioned, gold, frankincense and myrrh.
It is in the sixth century, someone decided that their names were
Melchior, Baltazar and Gaspar. And the term Magi is the base from
which our modern words “magician” and “magistrate” are derived. The
Magi, in the eyes of the Jewish people to whom St. Matthew wrote his
Gospel, had two explanations against them.
The first explanation against the Magi was that they were Gentiles –
Persians to be precise. After all weren’t the Jews alone God’s
chosen people. But the second and more important explanation against
them was that they were astrologers. And astrology was expressly
forbidden – on pain of death – in the OT. (Dt 18.9-14) So why did
God reveal himself to astrologers?
I can think of three reasons why God revealed Himself to the Magi
because Christ came not only for the chosen ones, but to all nations
to preach the Gospel for all nations
First of all, God revealed Jesus to the Magi to show us that the
Gospel - that Jesus’ birth heralded - is for all nations. This was
well predicted by Isaiah the prophet long ago.
It is not just to the select few righteous people in the world. We
don’t have to wait until we are living a “morally good life” before
God seeks us out. If moral perfection was God’s criteria, I doubt
any of us would be sitting in church today.
God accepts us “sinners and saints alike” – and these Magi were
perhaps not living a good life? Or had their own ambitions? Were
they just rulers? Were they free from violence?
The Magi sought Jesus. The second reason - that I think God revealed
Jesus to the Magi - was that the Magi were SEEKING God despite being
not chosen people. The Magi sought Christ out to worship him. God
honours a spirit within a person that SEEKS God. We have examples in
the Gospels when Jesus met with the Siro Phoenician woman and
Samaritans who confessed their full faith in him.
We won’t get everything right – but if we have a right heart God
will honour us
And God reached out to the Magi by a Star.
But that wasn’t a chance Star – God had ordained and it had been
prophesied over a millennium earlier by Balaam the prophet when he
said – referring to Jesus: "I see Him, but not now; I behold Him,
but not near. A Star will come out of Jacob; a sceptre will rise out
of Israel (Num 24.17)
The third reason is the very attitude of the Magi because they were
docile, and they had several right moves in the direction of God.
They obeyed the ordinary revelation of God manifested through a
star. The first of these right attitudes was that they were obedient
to the guidance of God. They weren’t too big to follow the star. As
St. Matthew records them saying: They weren’t star gazers – they put
their beliefs into action. And even though they didn’t know the
destination they were prepared to step out in faith. Following the
leading of the Lord can be quite risky and it can be time consuming.
Their faith was so strong that they could overcome all kinds of
hurdles and dangers on their way.
The Magi probably had to go from Persia to Jerusalem – a journey of
a good 1000 miles – on foot and travelling with camels. Even though
the Scripture narrative shows us that their arrival was quick, but
then given the distance they had to travel and must have taken many
weeks to arrive at Bethlehem.
Scriptural References By this moral story Matthew shows how Christ is the fulfillment
of these prophecies. Thus, in the Book of Numbers, Balaam
prophesies: “A star shall advance from Jacob” (Num 24.17). Also,
Isaiah prophesies: “Caravans of camels shall fill you . . . / All
from Sheba shall come / bearing gold and frankincense” (Isaiah
60.6). Again, Psalm 72 (vv. 10–11) foresees: “The kings of Arabia .
. . shall bring tribute. All kings shall pay him homage, all nations
shall serve him.” Finally, Micah praises Bethlehem: “You, Bethlehem
. . . From you shall come forth for me; one who is to be ruler in
Israel” (Micah 5.1). In sum, Matthew uses this popular legend to
show the fulfillment of all these prophecies. Also, this passage
shows the mind of Matthew as proclaiming Christ the Savior of the
Gentiles. Matthew’s Gospel was completed after 80 ad. At that time
the infant church was growing fast in the Gentile world—in Syria,
Egypt, Ethiopia, Asia Minor, and Greece. In this context the Magi
were representatives of these people, who had come to believe and
worship Christ.
Today this great narrative of Matthew must provoke us to take the
Gospel to all nations through our lives lived in witness to Christ.
The witnessing could happen in our neighbourhood families, in the
place of work, in our society, during a celebration etc. There are
multiple opportunities for us to evangelize and proclaim the life of
Christ’s kingdom here on earth.
Life is a journey of faith. Faith is what makes us children of God.
All are invited to this great experience of having an encounter with
Christ our Lord, along with Mary and Joseph. Let us bring all our
talents, time, resources, pains and sorrows to offer them to Christ.
He will make us return to our daily life through another better way
as did the Magi who got back to their country through a different
route.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
MARY MOTHER OF GOD – SOLEMNITY
Numbers 6:22–27; Galatians 4:4–7; Luke 2:16–21
God gave to Mary a very special privilege be Theotokos- Mother of
God Himself. Mary becomes the Tabernacle of God here on earth as she
bears in her womb the Son of God. The Holy Trinity, the undivided
unity becomes incarnate in the person of Jesus in the womb of Mary.
That is why she is the Mother of God.
The Gospel today presents Mary as the mother of Jesus: The shepherds
“found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger.” Why did
the shepherds find Jesus and not others? They were meek and humble
of heart, we can hear the words of Christ himself “learn from me for
am meek and humble of heart”. Shepherds worked hard to earn their
living. Their task was to protect the sheep, lead them to pasture,
accompany them in their perilous journey. Jesus would do the same to
his own people, he would accompany them, lead them, pasture them,
and protect them from predators.
And then adds: “Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in
her heart.” On this day as we begin the first day of the New Year,
it should be a moment to reflect in our heart. Mary kept all these
things in her heart. Its an invitation to all of us to keep all the
things in our heart; that is being grateful to God for the past year
and look forwards with courage and strength to the new year of
challenges and difficulties.
This passage is an incisive choice for this feast of the Mother of
God, for it includes the two outstanding reasons why Mary is our
mother and our model. First, Mary is the mother of Jesus, by whom we
are all made God’s children. As mother of Jesus, she is preeminent
of all God’s creatures. As “Mother of God” she is the mother of
God’s children. And secondly, Mary is the exemplar of faith. As she
reflected on the all that happened, she slowly discovered the
meaning of God’s way of salvation; as she continued to fulfill God’s
will, she became “our tainted nature’s solitary boast.”
As we are reflecting on the Gospel of Luke we find that throughout
the Acts of the Apostles, Luke shows the early church behaving as
Mary did, giving itself completely to Christ’s mission and making
time for discernment and reflection as it carried Christ into the
world. Luke presents Mary as a symbol of the church so skillfully
that we can almost miss his emphasis. Her freedom to serve Christ’s
mission, bring him into the world, and ponder the significance of
his life became the pattern for both collective and individual
discipleship. This is very well reflected in prayer and service of
the faithful in the early church.
When we give ourselves over to Christ’s mission in big ways and
small, we offer Christ to the world in new ways. Today
evangelization has taken a renewed enthusiasm among many
missionaries. It is to preach Christ through prayer and good works
as Mary did in the early church.
World Day of Peace
Today is the world day of peace (and the feast of Mary, the Mother
of God). And this story exemplifies well a Christian approach to
peace and solving social problems. We have to admit that Jesus did
not produce any program for the renewal and transformation of social
structures; he did not outline any political or cultural ethics; he
has no practical answers for modern social ills; he has no detailed
solutions for the grievances of one country against another or for
territorial disputes. He does not even give an entirely clear
statement on the morality of war or revolution. Therefore,
Christians—even Catholic leaders—can have very diverse opinions
about civil disturbances and revolutions within countries, about
border disputes between countries, about practical solutions in
Israel, Ireland, Afghanistan, North Korea, and India and in many
violently unjust situations in African or South American countries.
How can we create peace around us? It is through self sacrifice. If
Mary and Joseph were peace loving couple, then those who love peace
become like Mary and Joseph.
In sending his disciples forth on mission, Jesus told them:
“Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ And
if a son of peace is there, your peace shall rest upon him; but if
not, it shall return to you” (Lk 10.5-6). Jesus’ mission was to
preach and teach the peace of God. When he was with the people, he
always promoted peace among all types of people. He was friendly
with the Samaritans, the Romans, the pagans etc. He never rejected
anyone. This is a great example of Jesus Himself to all of us.
Christ, the Prince of Peace, does have an impact on peace in the
world. One way is along the lines of the story we began with. For
the whole thrust of Christ in the New Testament is toward the
reformation of the individual. This reformation is accomplished not
by law and order but by the free decision of the individual person.
That is, Jesus does not set up social laws to bridle cruelty and
injustice, for that achievement would still leave us with a cruel
world. Rather Christ positively teaches justice, forgiveness and
love, so that people and institutions might really be changed. The
implication is that radical social action alone is not enough to
cure our social ills; we also need compassionate and just human
beings. What a change there would be in so many social and political
crises if the values of Christ were taken seriously: his
identification with the weak, poor, underprivileged, and oppressed;
his teaching on forgiveness of enemies; removal of prejudice and
superiority in political situations. Such is Jesus’ way of reforming
the social order—not by specific social movements or political
systems but by the reform of the individual members and promoting
peace wherever there is a possibility. Through his Beatitudes Jesus
invited a special world order that will promote peace if we begin to
realize how rich are these teachings and practice them. In his
parable of the last judgement Jesus forcefully affirms that those
who love the weak and oppressed will share his kingdom of peace
(Mat. 25).
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
HOLY FAMILY – FEAST
Holiness is the integration that places God unambiguously at the
centre of one’s life and concern. Holy Family of Nazareth is a
wonderful example for our daily life that placed God as their
centre. Why this family is Holy? Because of holiness of all the
three: Jesus, Mary and Joseph. God is Holy and He invites everyone
to be holy as he is. The Holy Family lived a holy life bowing to
God’s will in every detail of their life. Jesus’ whole concern was
to do the will of the Father, Mary accepted God’s will as fiat.
Joseph surrendered to God’s will because he was asked to take Mary
as his wife and to take care of Jesus in the face of dangers the
family faced right from the beginning of their family life.
Mary and Joseph are faithful disciples of Christ. He lived with them
and they were transformed in life.
Ordinary life of Mary and Joseph transformed every bit of their
intentions and experiences.
Celebrating the Sunday following Christmas as the Feast of the Holy
Family, the Church encourages us to look to the Family of Jesus,
Mary and Joseph for inspiration, example and encouragement. They
were a model family in which both parents worked hard, helped each
other, understood and accepted each other, and took good care of
their Child so that He might grow up not only in human knowledge but
also as a Child of God. Jesus brought holiness to the family of
Joseph and Mary as Jesus brings us holiness by embracing us in His
family. The Catechism of the Catholic Church gives the following
advice to the parents: "Parents have the first responsibility for
the education of their children. They bear witness to this
responsibility first by creating a home where tenderness,
forgiveness, respect, fidelity, and disinterested service are the
rule. The home is well-suited for education in the virtues. This
requires an apprenticeship in self-denial, sound judgment, and
self-mastery - the preconditions of all true freedom. Parents should
teach their children to subordinate the 'material and instinctual
dimensions to interior and spiritual ones.'" The CCC adds: “Parents
have a grave responsibility to give good example to their
children.”(CCC #2223).
Joseph’s Docility
We have the gospel from Matthew. After the Magi had departed the
angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph and instructed him to take the
child and flee to Egypt.
It was such a difficult task for Joseph with all kinds of tensions
surrounding he had leave for Egypt.
Joseph, acting with complete docility, rose up, took the Child and
his Mother by night, and fled into Egypt (Mt 2:14). Thus, began the
first of the persecutions that Christ Jesus would undergo on earth
all throughout history, whether against Himself or against members
of his Mystical Body.
It was the flight to Egypt that saved the little babe of Bethlehem.
It was a very harsh journey and dangerous too. There were two main
roads to Egypt. The easier road was also the more traveled one; it
passed through Gaza and then ran south along the Mediterranean
coast. The other road, less used and therefore the more prudent one,
passed through Hebron and Bersabee before crossing the Idumean
desert and entering the Sinai Peninsula. In either case, it would be
a long trip of several hundred miles lasting from ten to fourteen
days. This would be the safest route because of its rugged nature.
Before beginning this arduous journey, everything had to be done in
haste. In Hebron or Bersabee (the latter about forty miles from
Bethlehem), they could procure provisions before setting out across
the desert. In that initial stage of the trip, they may very well
have joined up with a small caravan, for it would have been almost
impossible to travel that road alone. The oppressive heat, lack of
water, and danger of bandits made it advisable not to cross the
desert on their own. The historian Plutarch writes that, in 155
B.C., Roman soldiers making the same trip to fight in Egypt were
more fearful of the hardships to be faced in the desert than of the
battles to be fought ahead.
What we find here in this explanation the daring spirit of Mary and
Joseph in taking this arduous journey to Egypt. It required
strength, determination, courage, endurance and patience. Imagine a
little baby had to travel a long distance with such a cold weather
and uncertainly on the way because of robbers, violent people, dusty
roads and at times no roads etc.
Let us compare all these situations to our own life. Today we have
all kinds of comforts and conveniences in our surroundings. How can
we celebrating the feast of Holy Family live a life of dedication
discipline and detachment? How can we help our family members to
understand that life is difficult, yet it is worth living?
Life is a journey and a challenge. Holy Family’s journey opens us a
very powerful theme of difficulties we face along our spiritual
journey. It is a journey every member of a family must undertake.
Its going to be harsh, difficult, with all kinds of uncertainties
and insecurities on the way. The virtues of Joseph and Mary will
help us traverse this terrain of our family life’s journey.
Practical Conclusion
Today family life has become very difficult to live. In this modern
world there are multiple concerns for the parents to take care of
their children.
Work: Work has become the priority in every family as the modern
society has pushed the members to earn more because they must spend
more on their children, on food, clothing, home etc. Daily work also
has made family members distance themselves as they must be away
from home for their daily source of income.
Workload has created tensions between the children and parents as
they must prepare for next days work. Hence, children feel neglected
and abandoned. Parents scarcely get time to spend with their
children and with one another. This becomes a vicious circle of
activities and offers not enough time to relax and enjoy life.
Food: Family lives together must have at least one meal in common.
The modern lifestyle does not allow most of the family members
present for food in their families. Work and friends have taken all
the time they have. If a family must be stronger it should have time
to have food together. When preparing food and consuming food there
is such a lot of reciprocal interaction that can bond the members
together.
Prayer: Family that prays together lives and loves together. Prayer
as we define it as recitation of psalms, Rosary, Angelus etc. All
these prayers and many other types of vocal prayers including
reading of the Holy Scripture can help members to understand life
and all that comes with it.
Recreation: Today the word ‘recreation’ has become quite
individualistic enjoyment. With our smart electronic gadgets
recreation in common has lost its lustre and importance. We need to
revive its sense especially in our families.
Let us ask the Holy Family to bless us with the grace and strength
to live our lives united with our family members in happiness and
pain; poverty and joy; sickness and health.
Let us end on a positive note. We can all find plenty of inspiration
today for Christian families in the first part of this reading to
the Colossians. “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones . . . heartfelt
compassion, kindness . . . gentleness, and patience.” These are
critical virtues in any family; the motivation for doing so is that
by baptism we have been clothed in Christ (cf. Galatians 3.27), and
so should put on these virtues that correspond to our new life in
Christ. And because we are all very human, we need forbearance and
forgiveness: “Bearing with one another and forgiving one another . .
. as the Lord has forgiven you.” I suspect husbands and wives know
even more than I how necessary forgiveness is among spouses. Family
life is such a close existence that it is bound to include offenses
and human failures; it demands this Christian virtue again and
again. “And over all these, put-on love, that is, the bond of
perfection.” And for our children, parents know that love is not
taught by words; it is caught by them—in the home, more than
anywhere else. God bless our families. They are the fount of our
personality and of all our Christian living.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
CHRISTMAS – YEAR A
Christ is born. A long-awaited prophesy is fulfilled. Saviour has
come, Emmanuel – God with us.
Each year when we celebrate this awesome Day and season of Christmas
we are thrilled, and we expect something new will soon happen to us
or something new is awaiting us. It has a very powerful message to
all of us. The newborn King of the universe is among us brings
always something new. A new initiative, new idea, new way to lead a
better life, new person to meet who can enrich our life. But above
all we need to know Jesus is the one who brings all things new to
us. It’s a deeply spiritual season to bring us back from our
boredoms and darkness. The king of the Light is with us and its time
to rejoice. He is the one who is opening our eyes to see the real
light, the one who will make us walk and will cure our diseases and
infirmities.
In the process of the Birth of Christ our Lord, we find the
spirituality of “a knock at the door”. Who is knocking at our door?
Joseph seeking a place in the inn to make Mary comfortable as she is
about to give birth to Jesus.
But there was a reply, no room in the inn. Very sad to know that
there is no room in the inn for Jesus. He had to be born in a place,
but there is nowhere to go.
Cold Night of indifference
Its indeed a cold night. We can just imagine if a newborn baby does
not get enough warmth. The baby could become sick and weak. In the
case of Baby Jesus, the animals must shelter this Royal little one.
With their company to provide much needed warmth Mary and Joseph
find great relief. Surely God stoops low to come from lightsome
heaven to our war-torn, dark, cold, indifferent world. As He stoops,
He stoops to the lowest place, being born not in a palace or even in
a comfortable home. He stoops on to a manger. God will defeat
Satan’s pride with humility. All who will find Him this fateful
night must also stoop. True, God is non-competitive as Bishop Barron
says often in his teachings.
Humility
Even to this day, when one visits Bethlehem and wants to see the
place of Jesus’ birth, one must first enter the church through what
is called the “Door of Humility.” For security reasons, this door
was built to be only about four feet high. One must stoop greatly to
enter through it. Yes, we must stoop to find our God. The site of
the birth is at the other end of the basilica, under the altar area.
Here again, more stooping is required; down steep stairs, through
another low and narrow door, and into the cave. To touch the spot,
one must kneel and reach forward into a narrower part of the cave.
Here Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, says the inscription.
The only way to get there is to stoop.
Finding God One of the best lessons we can learn from this very situation of
Jesus born on a manger is to understand how we can find God in
ordinary events of life. The whole of the Scripture tells us how God
found ordinary people to communicate His message. There is no need
for highly qualified atmosphere for God to communicate what He wants
us to know. He manifested himself to shepherds, fishermen, children,
poor and the sinners, tax collectors, Zacchaeus, the blind, the
deaf, the dumb etc.
The Knock
Christmas is a time to find out who needs some comfort. It is our
duty to seek and find out those who are in need of our help.
Jesus knocks at the door of our souls. He may knock at dawn, during
the day or at midnight. Scripture says, Behold, I stand at the door
and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come
into him and eat with him, and he with me (Rev 3.20). An old song
says, “Somebody’s knocking at your door! Oh Sinner, why don’t you
answer?”
At Christmas one unique truth we learn is that the Lord comes always
and meets us on various occasions. It is up to us to let him in or
tell him there is no room in our inn.
There is a beautiful Christmas custom in Ireland. The centre piece
of Christmas holiday in Ireland is the dinner. After the
often-lavish meal the kitchen table was again set and on it was
placed some bread and milk and the table adorned with the welcoming
candle. If Mary and Joseph, or any wandering traveller happened to
pass by they could avail of the hospitality.
If you will receive the gift of Him tonight and make greater room
for Him in your heart, you will have victory and transformation in
Christ Jesus. There will come to you the increasing gift of
transformation into the very likeness of God. Tonight, is a night of
gifts and Jesus stoops low to give us a priceless gift: the power to
become children of God. Is there room in the “inn” of your heart? If
there is one you have become the child of God already.
Reaching out to Others
Let us celebrate this Christmas with a great desire to reach out to
Christ who is homeless, poor, naked, stranger, wanderer. When we can
help someone in need our Christmas will be brighter, and its joy
will last longer.
What is Christmas many may ask especially when the world has
commercialized this festive season. For those who do not recognize
Christ as their Saviour, Christmas Solemnity will probably does not
bring any other meaning than sharing gifts and receiving gifts, see
some colourful lights and pass on to the next year.
There is much to learn from Christmas. It’s a gift, it shows us
humility, manifests poverty, we learn from the shepherds, the
ordinary people of village. That’s exactly is the strategy of God
who cares for the weak, the widow, the stranger, the abandoned and
the lost.
Why did the Lord Jesus need to come from Heaven to earth and to be
born in Bethlehem’s manger? There was a three-fold purpose, and this
is mentioned in Galatians 4.5, 6 and 7.
He came in order that we might be REDEEMED (verse 5). To redeem, in
this case, means to deliver from the bondage and the curse of the
Law. The curse of the Law is the penalty which comes because we have
broken the Law, and we all have broken the Law, and therefore we are
under the curse and are in danger of punishment. But Christ came to
redeem us from the curse of the Law, and He did this by offering His
life and shedding His blood on Calvary’s cross (1 Peter 1.18-19).
Thank God, every believer can sing: “Free from the Law, O happy
condition, Jesus had bled, and there is remission …”
He came that we might receive the FULL RIGHTS of sons (verse 5).
God’s purpose in the incarnation is that we might become sons of
God, and this sonship is based upon redemption - “to redeem……that we
might receive…”. The Son of God became the Son of man that we, sons
of men, might become sons of God. Who, then, are the sons of God?
They are those who have the Spirit of adoption in their hearts -
compare Galatians 4.6 with 1 John 3.1.
He came that we might become HEIRS of God through Christ (verse 7).
Compare Romans 8.16-17, where we are told that we are co-heirs with
Christ. Because He shared our humanity, with all the consequent
sufferings which this involved, we, by His grace and through faith
in Him, are to share His glory. In the parable of Luke 15, the
father said to his elder son, “My son, you are always with me, and
everything I have is yours” (Luke 15.31).
Practical Conclusion Christmas is a time of rejoicing, sharing, and a time to become
aware of all the spiritual riches we have through Jesus our Saviour.
It’s a time too to know what we have; and what we can do, with what
we have, for the glory and praise of God.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
FOURTH SUNDAY IN ADVENT
Isaiah 7:10-14; Romans 1:1-7; Matthew 1:18-24
The angel appearing to Joseph in his dream utters similar words of
Isaiah Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and they
shall name him Emmanuel. Matthew wants to make it very clear to his
community that God was acting in a very precise way to make people
understand that he is the one who is directing the history of
mankind. He will send His Son to liberate them from oppression and
give them freedom from slavery.
It was foretold by the prophets and proclaimed throughout the whole
of Sacred Scriptures that He would be the One who would fulfil and
bring them to completion the promises made (II Sam 7). Our God will
be Incarnated and born due to the generous willingness of the
‘Virgin’ who, from the very beginning of time, was chosen to be the
Mother of the Savior.
What a prediction that has saved the world through the birth of
Jesus the Son of God through the Blessed Virgin Mary.
During the reign of the evil King Ahaz, war broke out between Judah
and Israel. Pekah, the king of Israel, entered into an alliance with
the King of Syria (Rezin). The latter two went to Jerusalem to
besiege it.
When Judah’s King Ahaz learned of the coalition against him, his
heart sank along with his people. He was an evil king and could not
reasonably expect God’s intervention for him or in fact doubted God
could save him. God had not given up on Judah. God sent the prophet
Isaiah to Ahaz to give him a promise of the perpetuity of Judah.
The message from Isaiah was one of comfort. Even though the kings of
Israel and Syria formed a confederacy against him, God will
intervene. Isaiah told Ahaz to ask for a sign to authenticate the
promise from God. He refused. So, Isaiah gave a sign from God, “a
young woman will conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name
Immanuel”.
God did not want to abandon Judah. The word “Immanuel” means God
with us. The virgin’s son was God manifest in the flesh. This sign
was not fulfilled during the days of Ahaz. This is a promise that
God will be true to the descendants of David. Judah will have a
future. That future will be established through “Immanuel.” This was
a sign for the perpetuity of the nation.
The New Testament clearly saw this passage fulfilled in Christ. At
the end of the genealogy of Jesus Matthew makes this statement, “So
all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the
Lord through the prophet, saying: ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with
child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which
is translated, ‘God with us’” (Mt 1.23).
Both the Old and New Testaments promise the coming of Jesus Christ.
God keeps his word. God indeed came in flesh and was born of a
virgin. He was supernaturally conceived without a human father,
“Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord
commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her (did
not have sex with her) till she had brought forth her firstborn Son.
And he called His name Jesus” (Mt 1.24-25).
“Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah was like this” (v. 18a).
Matthew began this Gospel by asserting that Jesus is “Messiah, the
son of David, the son of Abraham” (1.1). Now he reasserts that Jesus
is the Messiah. In his description of Jesus’ birth, he gives none of
the details about the manger or the shepherds that we find in Luke.
His account of Jesus’ birth focuses primarily on Joseph, through
whom Jesus is the son of David (1.1-16). Message for us is that the
promise is fulfilled and we believe and welcome Jesus in our life.
The birth of Jesus was in a village, on a manger; since there was no
inn available, he was born among animals.
“For after his mother, Mary, was engaged to Joseph, before they
came together” (v. 18b). Jewish marriage starts with an
engagement arranged by parents, often while the boy and girl are
still children. Prior to marriage, couples begin a yearlong
betrothal like marriage except for sexual rights. Betrothal is
binding and can be terminated only by death or divorce. A person
whose betrothed dies is considered a widow or widower. Here we find
the courage of Mary, who accepted the will of God. Joseph had to
endure secretly great anxiety.
“She was found pregnant by the Holy Spirit” (v. 18c). There
are numerous stories in Greek and Roman mythology of such
conceptions, but “it is most important that we do not lapse into
paganism by…presenting Jesus as a demigod, half human by virtue of
birth from a human mother, half god since begotten by a god.
Christian doctrine affirms Jesus’ full humanity and full divinity. A
great challenge for both Mary and Joseph. Joseph’s faith had to be
like that of Abraham who trusted in God and put all his faith in
him.
“Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to
make her a public example, intended to put her away secretly” (v.
19).“But when he thought about these things, behold, an angel of
the Lord appeared to him in a dream” (v. 20a). This is the first of
three occasions in which an angel appears to Joseph in a dream. In
each instance, the angel calls Joseph to action and Joseph obeys.
Joseph’s silence. Matthew does not record one word that Joseph says.
In this first appearance, the angel commands Joseph to take Mary as
his wife. In 2.13, the angel will tell Joseph to take the mother and
child to Egypt to escape Herod’s wrath. In 2.19, the angel will, at
the death of Herod, tell Joseph to return to Israel. In a fourth
obedience, after being warned in a dream (no angel this time),
Joseph will go to Nazareth (2.23). There is total obedience on the
part of Joseph. An obedience that demanded a lot of sacrifice on his
part.
“Don’t be afraid” (v. 20b). The angel will repeat these exact
words to the women at the tomb following Jesus’ resurrection (Mt.
28.5). Jesus will use the same words on several occasions (Mt.
10.31; 14.27; 17.7; 28.10). He is not to hesitate but is to wed
Mary. Both of them are magnanimous accepting what God had planned
for them.
“She shall bring forth a son. You shall call his name Jesus, for
it is he who will save his people from their sins” (v. 21a).
Mary’s role is to bear a son, and Joseph’s role is to name him. By
naming him, Joseph will make Jesus his son and bring him into the
house of David. Joseph in the Old Testament was the son of Jacob who
rose to prominence in the kingdom of Pharaoh the king of Egypt.
Joseph even though betrayed by his brothers becomes their rescuer.
The name, Jesus, “is the Greek form of the Hebrew Yehosua, which
means ‘YHWH is salvation’. It is related to the name Joshua––Moses’
successor.
“For it is he who will save his people from their sins” (v. 21b).
The first Joshua saved the people from their enemies; the second
Joshua (Jesus) will save the people from their sins. Jesus was with
the tax collectors and sinners most of the time and he said that he
came to call back the sinners. It is therefore reassuring to see, at
the outset, that Jesus has come to save us from our sins.
Practical Conclusion
How can we imitate the virtues of Joseph? : no complaint, no self
importance, just obedience, fearlessness and silence.
One of the best things on this Sunday to learn to take courage in
our lives no matter what comes and what goes away. Like Joseph we
need to listen to God all the time. Joseph could have had a
comfortable life if he wanted to do what he desired. But he obeyed
God. To be sensitive to his message and promptings. One thing I
repeat we learn from Joseph is silence. He accepts God’s word
transmitted to him through the angel. He does not utter a word,
rather obeys and takes this challenge gratefully. Advent is a time
of silence of Mary and Joseph, which can help us reap rich spiritual
benefits. Joseph’s obedience is remarkable in contrast with the
disobedience of King Ahaz. Joseph’s reliance on God and King Ahaz’s
reliance on worldly Assyrian Kingdom that destroyed him.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
THIRD SUNDAY IN ADVENT - A
Isaiah 35:1-10 ; Psalm 146:5-10 or Luke 1:46b-55 ; James 5:7-10 ;
Matthew 11:2-11
This Sunday is called Gaudete Sunday, a Sunday of rejoicing.
“Rejoice with the joy of singing” says Isaiah. A true joy that is
created when the Lord comes with recompense. He is the one who
liberates and frees. What more? The eyes of the blind shall be
opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap
like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. For
waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the
desert. All these things that happen to people and to the earth will
bring joy and gladness unending.
Our Rejoicing
When we rejoice at something that we have or achieved, it lasts just
for a while. There is another type of rejoicing that comes from the
Lord, it is called the inner joy, spring of living water gushing
from our heart because we are favoured by the Lord, that lasts
forever. God is here. God will come. Isaiah offers assurance for
present and for future. In the future, Isaiah asserts that God will
act for the people to reverse oppression and deliver them. The
prophet does not describe specific conditions of oppression but
speaks in general terms in a direct address to the audience: God
"will come and save you" (35:4b). When the Lord does something in
our life it remains as a permanent mark throughout our life. It
brings us joy unending.
God's arrival brings something more. When God comes, "the eyes of
the blind and the ears of the deaf will be opened. Then a lame man
will leap like the stag; a silent man's tongue will shout. Because
waters will break open in the wilderness, and streams in the desert"
(35:5-6). God's arrival transforms every inability into ability and
every lack into miraculous abundance. God's coming brings the
capacity to see and hear to those whose senses are starving for
light and sound.
Can we see God in our lives? Is it possible that we are still
blinded by the world and its temptations? When God brings us light
and sound, it is our duty to offer our senses and our souls. Isaiah
35 invites us to reflect on this Advent season not only as God's
coming in Christ, but also as our coming home. God comes. God is
here. We leap and shout and sing. And together we walk home.
St. James invites us to be patient, like the farmer patiently
waiting for the crop. It’s virtually a long wait until the crop can
be filled in the barn. When we look around us today, literally
people lose patience. They cannot wait a second or a minute just to
help someone else in need. Our attention to mass media has dulled
our minds towards our neighbours. That is precisely what St. James
mentions in this reading that we should stop grumbling against our
neighbours and stop judging them. The real judge is God himself who
is practically at the door. We need to strengthen our hearts and
wait in patience for the Lord’s coming.
In the Gospel of Matthew, we find a question from John the Baptist.
He was unable to see what Jesus was doing as he was in the prison.
So, he sent his disciples to find out what’s happening.
Jesus comes on the scene as one who proclaims the kingdom of God,
calls upon people to trust in God, heals the sick, and befriends tax
collectors and persons labeled “sinners.” It is little wonder that
John, now sitting in prison with time to think, questions whether
Jesus is the one to come or not. Jesus fits neither John`s
expectations nor those of Jewish messianism in general. John’s
question in 11:3 is therefore totally understandable: “Are you the
one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”
Jesus speaks of his mission in one of the clearest statements in the
gospels about it: “the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the
lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the
poor have good news brought to them” (11:5).
Gaudete Sunday must evoke in us a great love and devotion to Jesus
who makes all things new. Never in the history of mankind such
revolutionary acts were seen or performed. Jesus is the Lord and God
making history quite interesting and new. He is God himself, fully
human liberating people from their bondage.
It’s now our turn to imitate Christ in everything we do. St. Mother
Teresa of Calcutta lived the example of Christ during her life time
showing light to those who were in darkness, helping the lame to
walk, taking care of the lepers and making the deaf understand what
others wanted to communicate and many who felt that they were dead,
were raised to life through her prayers and hard work as a
missionary.
This kind of mission in imitation of Christ our Lord will bring joy
to the one who shares his/her life with those who are less fortunate
and helpless.
The alternative hymn we have for our liturgy today is the Magnificat
of Mary. She was filled with gratitude to God and sang this hymn in
praise to Him. My soul magnifies the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God
my Saviour. When we help some one who is in need, we participate in
the mission of God who is always keen on liberating his people from
oppression. Mary went to help Elizabeth her cousin who was 6 months
pregnant. It was a great joy for Mary to be of help to Elizabeth.
Let us rejoice then on this Sunday preparing for the coming of the
Lord. May His love and mercy allow us to be stronger than ever in
making others rejoice in what life offers them. At the same time, we
keep our hearts open to God’s infinite mercy that it may flow within
us.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT - A
Isaiah 11.1-10; Romans 15.4-9; Mathew 3.1-12
Lot of people today are interested in predicting what will happen in
a few years from now. Some predict how the present poorly maintained
ecological system would impact our environment and the entire
planet. Others predict what’s going to happen if there is a nuclear
war among the nations. Many are interested to know what will happen
in another 10 years from now. Most of these predictions may not be
realized.
Today’s first reading entirely reflects on how Isaiah predicted that
Jesus is the new stock of Jesse will bring justice, understand the
weak and help the poor. He will be able to defeat the wicked and
help the needy and the lost.
The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him; that is what we have
seen in the Gospels, a spirit of counsel and of strength. He stood
firmly against all injustice and corruption. His delight was to do
the will of the Father, establishing His Kingdom here on earth.
In the Gospels we find Jesus judging the poor with justice,
providing them everything they needed. He struck the wicked with the
rod of his mouth and outwitted the Pharisees and Scribes.
Then Isaiah predicts that all animals will live in peace and
harmony, that is going back to the very life of the garden of Eden.
Wolf and the lamb, leopard with the kid, calf with the young lion
and little child will guide them. There will be no harm done on the
mountain of the Lord. All will be filled with the knowledge of God.
Well, we have a fuller knowledge of all these prophesies fulfilled
in the person of Christ the Lord because his kingdom was an
everlasting kingdom for all, including the gentiles. Jesus invited
all of people to listen to him and welcomed them with warmth and
generosity.
Prophet Isaiah was optimistic of God’s deliverance and his rule. He
encouraged people who were dismayed but hopeful of the realization
of God’s kingdom.
In his letter to the Romans Paul affirms that whatever was written
was for our instruction. He insists that the Sacred Scriptures help
us to endure patiently all our trials and temptations. This in view
of accepting Jesus Christ that we must live in harmony with one
another. When we can accept Jesus our Saviour, we also show that
Gentiles are called to fellowship with us. The invitation extends to
all people to come to Jesus and be saved.
St. Paul reminds us that we have a history. It is the history of our
salvation recorded in the Old and New Testaments – all of which was
written for our instruction. It is there to encourage us and help us
to endure the hardships we face. It also gives us a well-founded
hope in what Jesus has promised!
Paul teaches us that we are a community of disciples who live lives
of faith. We truly need the support of one another. And we must look
beneath the appearances of others and discover the truth that lives
within them.
John the Baptist appearing in the desert of Judah is a sign that his
mission was to extend not only to the people of Jerusalem, but to
the entire region. Most of the teachers and preachers appeared in
Jerusalem, but John appeared in the desert. Jesus later appeared not
only in Jerusalem but all over the entire Israel.
John’s apparel of camel’s hair and leather portrayed him as a
prophetic figure like Elijah (2 Kgs 1.8) whom it was believed would
return to herald the messiah (Mal 4.5). The diet of locusts and wild
honey recalled the wilderness period when the newly escaped refugees
from Egypt were being formed as a people by God in the Sinai. But
locusts were also a symbol of divine judgment in scripture (Ex
10.12-20, Deut 28.42), as honey was a sign of promise and blessings
(Ex 3.17). Perhaps John’s diet signaled that the coming reign and
its emissary, Jesus, would bring both judgment and promise upon the
earth, a fact that is borne out in the rest of the gospel, that he
said he came to bring fire on earth.
John the Baptist urges us all to repent and to change – especially
from the dishonesty within ourselves. Few of us are people of
complete integrity. Most of us are hiding something – and most of us
want to appear better or more than who we really are. However, we
must become disciples who aspire to honesty and integrity. We cannot
be like the Pharisees and the Sadducees of today’s Gospel. They came
with everyone else to the Jordan – but their coming was only for the
sake of appearances and to judge and to find fault with John. They
were far from the conversion and repentance that John was urging.
And, as such, they would not escape the wrath of God. For they would
not be able to accept the truths, the gifts, and the salvation that
Jesus came to bring!
John the Baptist affirms so strongly the power of God. He was
convinced that God could raise children for Abraham from those very
stones in the desert. He would not care the faithless pharisees and
scribes who lived a life of luxury. What counts is not our
appearance but the fruitful outcome of our life. Repentance requires
that we be genuine in our approach to life and situations. If a tree
refused to yield fruits, it will be cut down and thrown into the
fire.
The readings of todays liturgy invite us:
To see in Jesus the saviour of mankind and the one who will not
judge by our appearances. He will do justice to the poor and the
weak. Jesus will gather the nations and that is what John says,
‘gathering wheat into the barn.’
However, John clearly affirms that Jesus who will baptise people
with fire will be their real saviour. Humility of John is evident
when he says that he is unworthy to carry Jesus’ sandals. John was a
very powerful prophet and preacher. That is why people from
Jerusalem, Judah and Jordan came to listen to him.
Let us celebrate this second Sunday in Advent with a resolution that
will transform us. Looking at John the Baptist we must be inspired
to repent and come back to Christ our Saviour. It is purely our
decision, and no one can force it upon us.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT – YEAR A
Isaiah 2:1-5; Psalm 122; Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24:36-44
We are in this holy season of Advent. It’s a time for waiting for
the Lord to come into our lives. We all wait for so many things to
happen in our life. A little baby waits for her mother to come and
feed her. Parents always wait for their children to return from
school; a friend waits for another friend at home or at a location
that they had decided to meet. Waiting for relatives to come;
waiting for a bus, waiting in the airport for the flight, waiting
patiently for our turn to meet a doctor etc.
But this waiting during Advent is a very special one for the chosen
ones that their Lord will come to rule them. This is what Isaiah
waited concerning Judah and Jerusalem. It was after the destruction
of the Temple in Jerusalem a patient waiting for the fulfilment of
God’s promises to re establish the reign of God in Judah and
Jerusalem was due.
The prophet elaborates stating that the people will climb the
mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. It will be
the desire of the people then to be instructed by the Lord. They
would not heed any other earthly king’s instruction.
The Psalm we sing during the Holy Eucharist will resonate the great
happiness of people who long to go to the house of the Lord. The
Psalmist then knew already that the city of Jerusalem was a
well-built city by King David and he gathered all the nations
together, all the tribes of Israel. But Isaiah’s prediction came
after its destruction.
St. Paul in his letter to Romans very clearly mentions that its time
to wake up from sleep. When we are in sound sleep, we practically
forget what’s happening around us. We don’t even know if there is
any imminent danger around us. St. Paul’s intention was to remind
his listeners that they should wake up to their reality around them
as he was preaching Christ the Lord of heaven and earth.
The Gospel of Mathew particularly attracts our attention. Jesus
warns his disciples that it will be like those days of Noah when the
Son of man comes. People will be busy with their worldly affairs,
busy in their business, marrying and giving in marriage, eating and
drinking and merry making. Well during the time of Noah people did
not give heed to what Noah was doing. They perhaps mocked him for
building that huge ark. Noah work was hard, first he had to build
the ark, then gather all that was necessary to keep them alive
during the predicted flood. Then he had to gather all kinds of
animals and species in pairs to keep them alive on board.
The analogy of Christ's return being like a thief in the night is an
important one, and we find it also used elsewhere (e.g. 1
Thessalonians 5:2). The imagery itself implies an arrival at an
unexpected or surprising time, hence the exhortation to stay awake.
As verse 44 says, he will come at an unexpected time.
Our waiting is manifested in our deep faith and hope we have. It is
faith that instructs us to be awake.
What we should do then? Prepare our hearts, minds and our
surroundings for the coming the Lord. He may come today, tomorrow or
day after. It all depends on us how we prepare ourselves well for
the day of the Lord.
Advent is a time to renew our spirit. We all know how tired we are
because of our daily lifestyle. We tire ourselves working, spending
time with our friends, earning, spending on things we desire, and
gradually we get old without our awareness. What we need to do is to
pause for a while and think of the real goal we have in our mind.
What’s that goal? Some material achievements? They are good in
themselves, but greater than these achievements we need to aim at
our personal joy in the Lord’s coming to whom we need to give an
account of what we have been doing.
We the faithful must stay vigilant and awake, knowing that Christ
will return, though the timing remains unknown. The phrase "the day
or hour," or even just the phrase "the hour," simply means the
timing. It is not suggesting that the general time frame of Christ's
return can be known in advance, but that the specific day or hour is
obscure.
Judah and Jerusalem must be ready for the Lord’s coming. They must
be encouraged to wait in hope.
Paul inform the Romans that they have to wait for the Lord fully
awake. Jesus warning serves us better understand the uncertainly
when the Lord will appear.
Jesus’ return sudden and unexpected
He shares several examples to illustrate, beginning with an allusion
to the days of Noah in verses 38 and 39. Jesus doesn’t focus so much
on the evil prevalent in that day, but instead focuses on the
ordinariness of daily life: people are eating, drinking, and getting
married. They have no concept that life as they know it is about to
change radically, that their eternity is about to begin.
The scenario reminds me of Christmas time. We calendarize Christmas,
or “Christ-Mass,” because of the birth of a Savior. But, for the
most part, the holiday is completely overtaken by the commercialism
of the season. Advent that is just before Christmas has become the
mecca of consumerism. Instead of preparing our souls, all these
activities save our economy. There is nothing wrong with a strong,
family-oriented celebration centered around gift-giving. I love
Christmas as much as anyone else. However, I am thankful that the
Lectionary organizers always start off the church year, the first
Sunday of Advent, with the second coming of Christ: Jesus came once;
Jesus is coming daily in our lives and will come again on the final
day. It takes us back to the basics.
So, Jesus talks about the extraordinary happening in the middle of
ordinary, everyday life. Jesus’ return will be sudden; it will be
unexpected. To illustrate, he gives a couple of examples from
everyday life. Two farmers are working in the field; one is taken
one is left behind. Two women are grinding wheat: again, one taken,
one is left behind (vv. 40-41).
“Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.
Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and
the other left.” (vv. 40-41)
In both settings, there seems to be little difference between the
two men, or between the two women. They look the same on the
outside. Yet, one heads to eternal life and one heads to
destruction. In the blink of an eye. Everything changes. Without
warning.
Our role is to be ready Jesus says simply, “Keep watch...” (v. 42) He gives an example involving home security. Back then they
didn’t have police as we do today. The military might protect the
upper crust of society. But if you were middle class or lower, you
were on your own. Jesus said, “If you knew when the thief was
coming, you would be ready to catch them in the act.” But since we
don’t know, we must maintain a state of readiness around the clock.
So many people today have perimeter cameras up around their homes.
When they go on holidays, they check their phones several times a
day if there is any intruder in their home property. This will alert
them, and they can have a control over the situation. Yes, keeping
awake is the right word for ADVENT.
Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD
Recent photos of ongoing construction of
Tiampo Memorial Hall at Carmel Hill - Canada : September 18th 2019
Dear Friends,
Here
we go with the latest photos of the ongoing construction of Tiampo
Memorial Hall at Carmel Hill - Canada. As we are nearing the end of
summer, we have observed considerable work being completed. You will
notice through these photos the packing of the outer walls of the
hall with anti fire and anti weather proof material. The outer walls
of the hall must be layered with at least 3-4 types of material
before it is tiled to perfection. There is an addition to the hall
building; a small boiler room construction, where wood chips will be
burnt into a system to heat up the hall during the wintertime. At
the same time a lot of work is going on inside the building;
plastering, tiling of the floor, plumbing, and work of the kitchen.
During these months we had the visitation by Rev. Fr. Johannes
Gorantla OCD, the Definitor General who was appreciative of the work
done. Fr. Alexander Braganza and Fr. Rajesh Madtha have been working
very diligently to keep the campus ready for visitors and groups who
come to pray and spend their time in spiritual activities.
Please click here for the photos.
BLESSING OF THE FOUNDATION OF MOUNT CARMEL
SPIRITUALITY CENTRE - EDMONTON - CANADA
Dear
Friends, A long awaited day dawned on July 1st
(Canada Day), 2019 at Mount Carmel Spirituality
Centre - Edmonton - Canada. Fr. Mario Fernandes and
Fr. Ivan Sanctis celebrated the Holy Eucharist and
invited people to pray for the success of the new
building of the Spirituality Centre and also asked a
special prayer for Helen Chua Tiampo and Fr. Rudolf
V. D'Souza for their great initiative of this new
project that will consists of 40 self contained
rooms, a Hall, a big chapel with a capacity for 250
people, a residence of the Carmelite Priests
(Monastery) etc. After the mass Fr. Mario Fernandes
superior of the Spirituality cum Monastery (recently
this existing structure and community has been
canonically erected by the Definitory) blessed the
foundation. There will be an Open House of
information session on July 19th. A lot of money has
already been spent to clear the trees and the
mountain that gave way to this level space for the
building. Please click the link below for the
photographs. We are grateful to Fr. Mario and Fr.
Ivan for their initiative and for the solemn
blessing of the foundation. We are also grateful to
Steve Creighton (Helen's Secretary), Darrell
Wickstrom (Helen's Lawyer - Fasken Martineau), Pam
Prior (KPMG), Kent Elliot (KPMG), Emmet McGrath
(KPMG) for their suggestions on finances and their
wholehearted support for this new venture of the
Carmelites.
Please click here for the photos.
TIAMPO MEMORIAL
HALL ALBUM NUMBER 7
Dear
Friends,
These are the photos clicked during March-April 2019, springtime in
Canada. A lot of progress of the construction of Tiampo Memorial
Hall can be witnessed through these photos. You will notice through
this album that a lot of interior design work will be accomplished
in the following months. Due to incessant rains and other technical
hurdles the exterior work slowed down dramatically in February and
March, yet the intensity of the work is continuing. Frs. Alexander
and Melvin Pinto have been not only catering to the continuous
groups that visit Carmel Hill, but also doing the extra work of
monitoring the progress of the hall. Ms. Helen Tiampo visited the
site on April 14th with Fr. Rudolf and was very satisfied with the
progress done so far. Mr. Steve Creighton has been very helpful to
fix a few problems at the site with the assistance of the architect
and engineers. We hope to complete the work in the coming months,
but the exact date of completion is yet to be confirmed. Now that
Fr. Rajesh Madtha the new community member has just joined Little
Flower Monastery on June 15th, he will be contributing his share in
shaping this place.
Please click here for the photos.
REV. FR. JOHANNES, DEFINITOR GENERAL ENDING
HIS PASTORAL VISITATION with the INAUGURATION OF THE NEW BOOK
Dear
Friends,
On May 14th Rev. Fr. Johannes Gorantla, Definitor General concluded
his pastoral visitation in Canada with a fraternal gathering at St.
Edmond's Church Rectory. During this concluding celebration Rev. Fr.
Johannes encouraged all members to be faithful to Carmelite Charism
and congratulated all for their selfless service and dedication. Fr.
Jerald D'Souza, the Regional Superior made arrangements for a
wonderful dinner and welcomed all members of Western Canada. We also
remembered other members who could not be present for the occasion.
The Definitor General highlighted some features of the Region
especially focusing his attention on the two establishments; one at
Carmel Hill-Little Flower Monastery that has been already
canonically erected and the other where the process is on for
canonically erecting the Mount Carmel Spirituality centre. He
insisted that at all our places of pastoral ministry there should be
minimum of 3 members present. This would be officially realized by
April end 2020. During this occasion Fr. Definitor General released the new
book of Fr. Rudolf "Living in the Loving Castle" along with Helen
Chua Tiampo.
Please click here for the photos.
click on the image for an enlarged view
LIVING IN THE LOVING CASTLE, Canadian Carmelite Publication, Deroche
(Canada, 2019), pp. xiv+174.
Rev. Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza OCD has completed his new book on the
Interior Castle of St. Teresa of Avila titled: Living in the Loving
Castle. This is his 35th literary product. The book contains 27
articles methodically written scanning through Mansion after Mansion
browsing through every chapter. These articles partially appeared on
the Karnataka Goa Carmelite Province’s Website during the V Birth
Centenary Year of St. Teresa of Avila. Now this complete volume, can
be termed as Commentary on the Interior Castle of St. Teresa is
available in a book form Published under Canadian Carmelite
Publication – Canada. The articles on the above-mentioned website
received a lot of positive and encouraging feed back from many
readers from all over the world. The book has 188 pages helping
anyone for a smooth easy reading. Most Rev. Greg Homeming OCD,
Bishop of Lismore – Australia has given his very positive short
review printed on the back-cover page. Rev. Fr. Charles Serrao OCD
(Provincial) has written a beautiful Foreword for the book. The book
will be marketed mainly in North America and copies can be ordered
from Little Flower Monastery – Deroche – Canada.
HOLY WEEK AT MOUNT CARMEL SPIRITUALITY
CENTRE AT EDMONTON
It
was a great weekend beginning from Holy Thursday till Holy Saturday
hundreds of pilgrims visited our Mount Carmel Spirituality Centre.
Frs. Mario Fernandes and Ivan Sanctis organized the celebrations
well and Fr. Rudolf V. D'Souza presided over all the celebrations.
On Good Friday there were approximately 1500 people visited the
centre in batches beginning at 6.30 am till the early morning of the
Holy Saturday for the Stations of the Cross devotion. The community
members had to provide them all the facilities including
arrangements for food and snacks. For the Holy Saturday vigil mass
there were around 50 people present from the neighbourhood, as it is
not a parish. People were also very curious to know the ongoing
ground preparation works for the construction of our Spirituality
centre.
Please click here for the photos.
TIAMPO MEMORIAL HALL ALBUM NUMBER 6 Dear Friends,
It
has been a considerable time that we updated you on our ongoing
construction of Tiampo Memorial Hall at North Deroche Road, Carmel
Hill. The construction work slowed down during winter time
especially in December 2018. Now that there the weather condition
has improved, we see a lot of work in progress. You will notice over
all construction work and in a very special way you see a small
foundation has been put for the boiler. This facility is designed to
cut the cost of heating system. It will work with chopped wood. The
technology is simple, ecological, perennial and cost effective. It
is enough that once in two months the chopped wood is loaded into
the system and the boiler will work through without interruption and
no need for any fuel or gas. The present system in the monastery
works with propane gas and is expensive. This will be sorted out and
both connections (wood and propane gas) will be in place in case
there is an emergency. We had the pleasure of working with the
community members especially Fr. Alexander Braganza, superior and
director of the Institute, who has been monitoring the work as well
as the security matters at the site throughout. We acknowledge
special attention given by Steve Creighton whenever we ran into some
trouble at the site. He has been very engaging in this process. More
photos will be posted in the forthcoming album.
Please click here for the photos.
click
on the image for an enlarged view
TIAMPO MEMORIAL HALL ALBUM NO. 5
Dear
Friends,
Here I enclose Tiampo Memorial Hall album no. 5. The work has
continued even during this winter due to better weather conditions.
The wooden beams of the hall are getting in place. The wood which is
imported from Germany is called CLT (cross laminated technology) has
the resistance to climate fluctuations and durable for 150-200
years. They are chemically processed and machine glued together.
Each beam has approximately 8 layers of wood pressed together with a
type of glue that does not allow moisture or heat penetration. With
CLT wooden beams even 12 story buildings are erected in North
American continent. This CLT technology is safe and fire resistant.
Please click below this link for more information on the type of
buildings built here in North American continent:
We had a rare visitor to our property, Fr. Ivan Sanctis from
Edmonton community who was here for a few days for his annual
retreat. The donor Ms. Helen Tiampo too visited the site and was
very happy with the progress of the work. Please click the link
below for photos. Its a huge album with photos taken on different
occasions.
Please click here for the photos.
MOUNT CARMEL SPIRITUALITY CENTRE HAS BECOME
THE TALK OF THE TOWN
Dear
Friends,
With the Magic of Fr. Mario and Inspiration from Fr. Ivan Sanctis,
Mount Carmel Spirituality Centre at Edmonton has become the talk of
the Town. More and more people flocking at the centre has
invigorated our friars. In 2019 we plan to organize multiple
retreats, seminars and contemplative prayer sessions. With the work
at the centre progressing and a number of people interested in
spirituality is good news to all of us. Fr. Mario and Fr. Ivan
arranged a short retreat recently.
Please click here for the photos.
Mount
Carmel Spirituality Centre construction site
Dear
Friends,
A lot of work is going on within Mount Carmel Spirituality Centre
campus - Edmonton. The photos you will find in the album give a
glimpse of the levelling of the site. This entire area was a
mountain and they have almost levelled it for the construction of
the Spirituality Centre. There is a lot of ground work to be
completed before the construction starts. Before clearing this
mountain, the district ordered to remove a lot of trees. This was a
thick forest with huge trees. They were cleared during summer time.
As you see snow around, it took almost three months to come to this
stage. Well, work may halt within a few weeks from now for winter
pause and Christmas time as movement of vehicles and machinery will
be very difficult. During winter normal temperature is below zero,
at times it can come down to (minus) -40 Celsius. Enjoy the photos.
Please click here for the photos.
MOUNT CARMEL SPIRITUALITY CENTRE - EDMONTON
Fr.
Mario and Fr. Ivan organized a number of retreats at Mount Carmel
Spirituality Centre at Edmonton and this centre is getting popular
in the Archdiocese. The photos below are of one of such retreats.
More albums and photos will follow. In spite of the work at site for
the new building of the Centre, a number of people are eager to come
to this place of silence and Contemplation. People for now try their
best to stay in the wooden cabins until the fully furnished centre
is ready. The community members meet from time to time to discuss
the ongoing spirituality and retreat programs. There is also a great
demand for retreats in the Archdiocesan parishes. Fr. Rudolf
recently preached a retreat and he will be giving a series of
retreats on Carmelite and Christian Spiritualty at the Centre. The
next retreat will be held on February 1-2, 2019 at the centre: Theme
- God Experience through the Holy Scripture. The next album will
highlight the ongoing the construction site of Mount Carmel
Spirituality Centre.
Please click here for the photos.
TIAMPO MEMORIAL HALL ALBUM NO. 4
Dear
Friends,
This is Album number 4 of Tiampo Memorial Hall under
construction at Carmel Hill (Canada). The mounting
of wooden walls has begun. The wood that is needed
for the entire hall has already been stacked in the
compound. A lot of space cleared around the hall is
for parking lots approximately for 200 cars. We are
grateful to Fr. Alexander Brangaza (Superior) and
Fr. Melvin Pinto for sacrificing their time both in
managing the programs at Little Flower Monastery and
monitoring the work that is taking place at the
construction site. Please click the link below for
latest photos.
Please click here for the photos.
TIAMPO MEMORIAL HALL ALBUM NO. 3
Dear
Friends,
Here are the latest photos of the ongoing
construction of Tiampo Memorial Hall at Carmel Hill,
Canada. We have obtained the basic necessary
permissions from the Fraser Valley District and the
foundation of the Hall is almost complete. We had
the great privilege of having Helen visit the site
on September 10th. Fr. Alexander Braganza and Fr.
Melvin Pinto offered us their wonderful hospitality
in the Monastery. The ground Engineer of Alfred
Horie Constructions, Mr. Dennis Cardin showed us the
site and explained in detail how this hall will be
constructed. The next move of the construction of
the Hall will be raising of the walls. The material
for this second phase has already arrived from
Germany. These photos clicked by Rev. Fr. Alexander
Braganza OCD, Superior, Little Flower Monastery.
Please click here for the
photos.
Dear Friends, Jivitamruth series in Daijiworld
24X7 from Episode 219-269, a total of 50
Episodes on Christian Spirituality
will be transmitted live twice a day from the second
week of September till beginning of December. The
hosts of this series are Fr. Rudolf V. D'Souza
(Canada) and Mr. Denis Mascarenhas (Oman - Muscat).
The episodes will be relayed from Monday
till Friday every week from 7 am till 7.30 am and
evening 7 pm till 7.30 pm.
TIAMPO MEMORIAL HALL WORK PROGRESS ALBUM NO. 2
Dear
Friends,
Here in Canada we have a wonderful hot summer. It's
really great to have the Sun with his full force on
us during this time of the year, especially this
year. The work at Tiampo Memorial Hall at North
Deroche Road is in full swing. With all the initial
hurdles overcome we have a temporary building work
permit thanks to the hard work of our Architect John
Clarke, Darrell Wickstrom and Steve Creighton. The
basic foundation work is almost complete. You can
see the infrastructure being slowly in up word swing
process. Due to summer holidays the work is a bit
slowed down but will certainly pick up as soon as
the summer holidays are over. A lot of underground
work is complete and now we wait for the wooden
structures to arrive from Germany. You can still see
a lot of concrete work that is completed. Huge road
work is in progress and a big parking lot is being
constructed. You can see the huge pile of stones dug
out of the foundation excavation which will be
crushed on site and used for the construction of the
hall. Please click the link below for the visuals of
the work site of Tiampo Memorial Hall.
click here for the photographs
Guardian Angels Parishioners gave a solemn
send off to Rev. Fr. Rudolf V. D'Souza
On
July 7th Guardian Angels Parishioners gave a solemn send off to Rev.
Fr. Rudolf V. D'Souza OCD, after completing 8 years 11 months at the
parish. Rev. Frs. Jerald D'Souza, John Alex Pinto, Fr. Alex Braganza,
Fr. Melvin Pinto, Fr. Rajesh Madtha and Fr. Vincent D'Souza were
present for the occasion. Solemn mass was celebrated at 4 pm and Fr.
Rudolf preached during mass and thanked the parishioners for their
support, friendship, love and warmth of fellowship. At the end of
the Holy Eucharistic celebration the souvenir book of Guardian
Angels Parish titled PEARL OF SPIRITUALITY was solemnly released by
Helen Chua Tiampo and all parishioners were gifted with this book on
Saturday and during all the masses on Sunday July 8th. This book
contains a complete profile of the parish from its foundation till
date. Special focus on the various upgrades that were accomplished
during the time of Fr. Rudolf being Pastor have been exhaustively
reported. In addition to this a complete report of all the projects
realized in Canada and in India has been elaborately given with the
appropriate photographs. Fr. Rudolf as he was very active in his
preaching and writing, a section is dedicated to his mass media
apostolate including an entire section on the kindle books recently
uploaded on amazon. The last part of the book is dedicated to
various parish activities, groups and apostolate with relevant photo
albums. The book contains 222 pages and is well documented.
Please click the link below for more details on the book titled:
PEARL OF SPIRITUALITY
CONSTRUCTION WORK PROGRESS OF TIAMPO
MEMORIAL HALL AT CARMEL HILL ALBUM NO. 2
Dear
Friends,
The work at Carmel Hill has begun with full force with the
construction of Tiampo Memorial Hall progressing rapidly. The recent
developments are the ground is cleared and the stones are crushed
and removed. Infrastructure for the Hall construction is getting
ready. The underground water and sewer equipment has been already
installed like septic tank, pumps etc. Now the work will continue to
erect concrete pillars and then the basic structure will be seen.
For more details please click the link below.
Tiampo Memorial Hall construction at Carmel
Hill - Canada
Dear
Friends,
Here I send you photos of the construction of the Tiampo Memorial
Hall at Carmel Hill - Canada. We will be regularly updating you the
progress of the work. The ground has been cleared of stones and
rubble as on in the first week of March 2018. This work has been
massive as practically the adjacent mountainous area had to be
brought to the level of the existing Little Flower Monastery. We are
yet to get permit from the District as some conditions are to be
fulfilled. We are grateful to all the work force for this tremendous
job. A very special thanks to Helen.
Please click here for more details:
CONGRATS TO FR. STENY MASCARENHAS OCD Dear Fathers and Brothers, Here is the link to the upgraded Grotto of our Lady engineered
by Fr. Steny Mascarenhas OCD the Pastor of St. Anthony of Padua
Church - Agassiz. Fr. Steny has proved himself to be an able,
dedicated, hardworking pastor in the parish and in the neighborhood
and has united the divided parish within this short period of time.
We congratulate him for his great success. Fr. Steny has introduced
apart from Carmelite Spirituality among the people; popular
devotions to Mother Mary of Mount Carmel, St. Anthony of Padua, St.
John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila and St. Elijah. He has
visited people in the parish and instilled in them desire for
faithful following of Christ. His presence has enhanced the faith of
people and has enhanced their desire for spirituality and
contemplation. From time to time Fr. Steny conducts what we call
Carmelite Medition and Contemplative sessions. Hats off to you Fr. Steny.
Dear Friends,
Here
is a first shot at the on going progress of the external Stations of
the Cross at Carmel Hill - Little Flower Monastery. The trail of the
Stations of the Cross extends to more than a kilometer and goes
right up to the adjacent mountain at the back of the monastery. We
are happy to note that a lot of people have already paid a visit and
many come to do the devotion of the Stations of the Cross. You can
also see Rev. Fr. Alexander Braganza who has been recently appointed
Superior at Carmel Hill. The Stations of the Cross will be
officially inaugurated when Rev. Fr. Charles Serrao (Provincial)
will make his pastoral visitation in September this year.
Dear Friends,
This
is to share the joy of the arrival of the Stations of the Cross
statues from the USA (Dallas) and we have unpacked them and kept in
our barn. When the winter is over we install them from the Monastery
to Mountain top with a beautiful trail for the use of the faithful
who will visit our Monastery. We are immensely grateful to Helen and
her company and those involved in making this dream come true.
The first
step at Mount Carmel School at Kadaganchi!
The
Ground Floor of the Mount Carmel School, Carmel Giri, Kadangachi,
Kalaburagi was inaugurated on the 26th of January, 2017. Most Rev.
Robert Miranda, Bishop of Gulbarga blessed the Crucifix that was
unveiled by Rev. Fr Charles Serrao, Provincial Superior. After
placing it at the entrance of the school, all venerated the Cross.
Then the Provincial unveiled the plaque bearing the name of the
Helen Chua Tiampo, the magnanimous sponsor of the project. Fr.
Rudolf V. D’Souza, the regional Superior of the Carmelites of the
Canada Region inaugurated the completed building by cutting the
ribbon. After a meaningful prayer service, the Bishop blessed the
newly constructed building along with Fr Rudolf V. D’Souza.
There
followed a small cultural programme organized by the staff and
students of the school. Fr Arun Bennis the Head Master of the School
spread a red carpet of roses to all the invitees. Fr Sylvester
Pereira, the Superior and correspondent of the School presented a
bird eye view of the project and the history of the venture. The
Bishop addressed the gathering and appreciated the dedicated service
of the Carmelites in the diocese of Gulbarga, especially in
Kadaganchi Village. The LKG and UKG children of the school were
exuberant as they sang and danced to the tune of music in an
enchanting dance performance.
Fr Rudolf V. D’Souza who was present on behalf of the Sponsor
expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the local team for their
untiring job and committed work in realizing the venture. Quoting
the Vedas he said our school is geared towards leading the people
from falsehood to truth, darkness to light and death to life – a
total transformation of life and appealed for the support and
cooperation of the localites and the parents in leading the school
to greater heights. Rev. Fr Charles Serrao expressed sentiments of
gratitude to one and all especially the contribution and the hard
work of Fr Rudolf V D’Souza without whom the project would have been
a bed of thorns. The Bishop, Fr Rudolf V. D’Souza, Fr Sylvester
Pereira and Fr Lawrence D’Cunha were honored by the provincial. The
local community honored the Provincial for his support and
encouragement. Rev. Fr Nelson Pinto compered the whole programme.
The presence of many priests from the diocese of Gulbarga was
commendable. The parents and many people from the village witnessed
the historical event. After the programme all the invitees were
served snacks and cold drinks. Click
here for more photos.
Canadian Carmelites' Regional meeting held
at Kitchener - Hamilton (Ontario)
We the members of Canadian Carmelite Region of Karnataka-Goa
Province met together at Kitchener-Hamilton from August 22nd to 25th
for our annual meeting. after our arrival on n August 22nd, we had
the solemn celebration of the Holy Eucharist on August 23rd; Fr.
Rajesh Madtha, the Birthday boy being the main celebrant and Fr.
Jason Tellis the inspiring preacher. Fr. Rajesh Madtha was
felicitated after the mass and people who gathered prayed for him
and congratulated him. After the Holy Eucharistic celebration, we
had morning prayer followed by a great breakfast. At 10 am we began
the meeting by the reading the last meeting's report and election of
the secretaries for registering the minutes of the meeting. Many
issues connected with the region and its development were discussed.
Fr. Jerald D'Souza presented the annual accounts to the members and
Fr. Ranjan D'sa briefed the members the obligations all residents
have towards CRA (Canada Revenue Agency) were elaborated. We also
discussed the prospects the Carmelites have in Canada and the need
for recruiting new vocations was also an important point that was
thoroughly discussed.
After the meeting, we had a great lunch and thereafter we visited St
Joseph's Cloistered Carmel at Agatha - Hamilton. We all the members
are intensely grateful to Fr. Jerome Mascarenhas and Fr. Roshan
D'Souza for making our stay comfortable and providing us with
tempting banquets of great and delicious food. We also thank all the
members especially Fr. Jerald D'Souza for organizing the event and
Fr. Ranjan D'Sa for technical support. Frs. Jason Tellis, Fr. Mario
Fernandes, Fr. Victor Fernandes have provided us with the logistical
support and Fr. John Pinto for his great moral and spiritual support
during this week. Fr. Steny Mascarenhas and Fr. Godwin were busy in
contacting the local security to keep us safe during this great
event. Fr. Alwyn Sequeira was entrusted with the work of liturgy and
spirituality and was successful in keeping up the real Carmelite
Spirit among us. We did not give any work given to Fr. Rajesh Madtha
as he was celebrating his birthday. Fr. Alfredo was entrusted with
the task of monitoring the situation and we thank him. Since Vijay
Martin is new to Canada we kept him completely free; Frs. Melwin
Pinto and Ronald Sequeira were also given total freedom as they
looked tired and came from a missionary hard working region.
On August 24th we traveled to Niagara Falls to spend a day in fun,
relaxation, and sightseeing. On August 25th most of the friars left
back to their communities. Fr. Rudolf V. D'Souza OCD
CARMEL HILL CANADA - GETTING STRONGER AND
BIGGER - PHOTOS MAY-JULY 2016
Dear Friends,
It is my pleasure to let you know that our Monastery in Canada:
Little Flower Monastery (Carmel Hill) is getting stronger and
bigger. Since May this year till the end of July we had
approximately 11 groups ranging from Bible Study group, Neo
Catecuminal group, Jesuits Students, Aspirant Deacons, Angelina's
Prayer Group, Lay sisters, Lay people, Blessed Sacrament Parish
prayer Group etc. have come and experienced God and our hospitality.
We are excited that many more have booked our facility and it is
growing stronger and bigger. We have heard reports of our Monastery
from far East of Canada (Ontario) to Vancouver a distance of 7000
kms. We get many visitors and are excited to know that this facility
is indeed growing. Bro. Frank Sharma a new aspirant is doing his
pre-postulancy in our facility and Bro. Joseph Giroux is continuing
his religious life with regular prayer and community life and Fr.
Alwyn Sequiera is managing the whole campus with caliber and
expertise with the help of the community members. Apart from the lay
people many diocesan priests have been visiting the facility and
getting to know what Carmelites can offer to their parishioners.
With the Blessings of Archbishop Michael Miller CSB who has been the
greatest support of this Monastery we are growing in our attempt at
sharing our charism to the whole Vancouver Archdiocese. Moreover,
many Christian denomination groups are interested in using our
facility for Bible Study, prayer and spiritual-theological
formation. This has been a great gift to Karnataka Goa Province and
we are ever grateful to Helen Chua Tiampo and her team that supports
her vision for the Carmelites in Canada. With regards and prayers Fr. Rudolf V. D'Souza OCD
Canadian Carmelite Charitable Society
MOUNT CARMEL FEAST AT ST EDMUNDS CHURCH
NORTH VANCOUVER
The Canadian Carmelites of Karnataka Goa Province celebrated Mount
Carmel Feast on July 16th at 10 am in St. Edmund's Church - North
Vancouver. Fr. Jerald arranged a wonderful celebration with the
Bishop Paul Terrio from St. Paul's Diocese (Alberta) was the main
celebrant and Fr. Rudolf and Fr. Jerald were concelebrants with the
Bishop. We had also the pleasure of the presence of Frs. Steny
Mucarenhas, Fr. Alwyn Sequeira, Fr. Rajesh Madtha, Bro. Joseph
Giroux and Bro Frank Sharma (aspirant to Carmelites). There were
more than 250 people present along with a wonderful presence of
Secular Carmelites. The liturgy was well organized and Bishop Terrio
gave a great homily stressing the importance of Prayer,
contemplation and devotion to Mother Mary of Mount Carmel. The
celebration ended with the blessing of scapulars and distribution.
At the end of the liturgical celebration Fr. Rudolf invited all
people to go to Carmel Hill a place of prayer, contemplation and
meditation. He also stressed that the facility available is not only
for religious retreats but also for lay people to spend time in
peace with God. The parishioners organized a grand luncheon in the
School hall and all were happy and joyful to celebrate this great
Carmelite event. We congratulate Fr. Jerry for organizing this great
celebration with a wonderful choir and other liturgically creative
moments during this event.
St. Dominic Parish, Hamilton Diocese -
Ontario, Canada
Dear Fathers,
This is a good news from Canada. We have a new parish in Hamilton
Diocese - Ontario. The new parish priest is Fr. Ranjan D'sa. St.
Dominic Parish Oakville was established in 1955. Now approximately
500 – 600 people attend the weekend masses. The parish takes care of
two elementary schools and a high school. The parish has a small
chapel and the weekdays masses are celebrated in the chapel. It also
has a small parish hall only used for parish activities. The area is
residential and very beautiful. It is on the shores of Lake Ontario.
On the 16th and 17th for the first time in the history of St.
Dominic parish, we celebrated the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
- scapulars were distributed to all. Cudos to Fr. Ranjan D'sa for
taking up this great responsibility as Pastor. Fr. Ranjan through
his expertise as the Spiritual counsellor can do wonders in this
parish and draw more vocations to Carmel. He has been a great pastor
in St. Andrew the Apostle London Ontario for more than 6 years now
and has transformed this parish as a centre of Spirituality and
Contemplation. We wish him all the success and good time in this new
venture.
ALBUM NO. 32: SNAP SHOTS AT CARMEL HILL
Dear Friends,
Here I present to you the latest Album no. 32, containing various
snap shots of/at Carmel Hill. These photos were clicked at random
from March 19th to May 15th (2016). You will find in the first
section the furnishing of the commercial kitchen, visit by our
Architect John Clark and Paul Ownes, a special Photo of our dear
Archbishop Michael Miller CSB, valuable visit by our dear Fr.
Johannes Gorantla (Definitor General from Rome), the photos of a few
groups who spent time at Carmel Hill and are totally amazed at
nature, surroundings and the beauty of the place; Fr. Alwyn and Bro.
Joseph Giroux the community members who manage the facility
beautifully and a few nuns who spent time at our facility for
spiritual recollection. All looks good at Carmel Hill; and the
preparations are on to accommodate new groups in the coming days and
weeks. We thank again in a special way Helen Chua Tiampo who made
all this possible through her team of advisors, estate planners,
accountants, and lawyers; and a special remembrance of her dear
parents: Jaime and Josephina Chua Tiampo and we pray for the repose
of their souls.
For more details of the recent brochure and flyers please log on to:
www.carmelhill.ca
Thanking you for your prayerful support and encouragement.
Sincerely
Fr. Rudolf V. D'Souza OCD www.carmelhill.ca
Dear Friends,
Here I send you the latest video of fully furnished
Little Flower Monastery - Vancouver (British
Columbia) Canada.
Enjoy the video. We have 10 groups booked already
and we are going ahead with full swing massive
advertisement blitz for the Little Flower Monastery
programs.
BROCHURE OF CARMEL
HILL, CANADA
click on the
image for an enlarged view
Dear Friends,
Here you have a 3 minutes short profile video of our
Little Flower Monastery at Carmel Hill Canada. Enjoy
the show.
BLESSING AND DEDICATION OF THE LITTLE
FLOWER MONASTERY CHAPEL ON MARCH 19TH, 2016
Dear
Friends,
Here I send you photos of the Blessing and Dedication of the Little
Flower Monastery Chapel by Archbishop Michael Miller CSB on March
19th 2016 - Solemnity of St. Joseph, Patron of Canada. The weather
was perfect and was the first day of Spring this year. Along with
the Secular Carmelites there were 75 guests present for the
celebration. Fr. Jerald D'Souza organized the liturgical celebration
taking care of the meticulous details printed in the liturgical
guide and distributed. Frs. Alwyn Sequeira, the Superior of the
house, Bro. Joseph Giroux OCD, the bursar and Frs. Steyn Mascarenhas,
Rajesh Madtha, Jason Tellis and Fr. Richard Francis D'Souza OCD were
present on the occasion. Archbishop solemnly began the celebration
blessing the Holy Water at the entrance of the Chapel and sprinkling
on the faithful as he processed into the Chapel. After the readings
Archbishop preached a spiritually enriching homily highlighting the
importance of the blessing and dedication of a Chapel which has its
roots in the Old and the New Testament. During the mass Solemn and
long prayers of dedication were recited and sung; and the Litany of
the Holy Saints was sung, after which the anointing of the Altar was
held in a very solemn way; abundant oil was poured on the Altar
Marble Slab and in a special way the Altar Relic was blessed and
incense was burnt. After the celebration and before the final
Blessing Fr. Rudolf V. D'Souza thanked the Archbishop for all his
help and guidance and thanked each and every one who was
instrumental in making this Blessing ceremony a great spiritual
nourishment and experience. We thank Molly Dias and Susan and Larry
for their help.
Helen's parents Jaime and Josephine Chua Tiampo were specially
remembered and gratefully acknowledged Helen's contribution towards
this massive building of the Little Flower Monastery. On this
occasion we thank all those involved in this project: Helen's Estate
Planners, her lawyers Darrel Wickstrom, Leo Amighetti, Accounting
department KPMG represented by Pam Prior, Kent, Emmet McGrath,
Helen's secretary Steve Creighton, Francis Wong and others. May God
bless them all for their time, efforts and their contribution. We
also thank the Architect John Clark, Paul Owens, the Alfred Horie
Constructions: Steve Paone, Dennis Cadrain and his helpers.
ARIEL
SHOTS OF OUR MONASTERY at Carmel Hill
Dear friends,
Here are the ariel shots or drone shots of our property and the
monastery at Carmel Hill. These photos were clicked by Dennis
Cadrain. We all thank him for this unique service to us. Enjoy the
photos. Fr. Rudolf V. D'Souza OCD
Canadian Carmelite Charitable Society www.carmelhill.ca
Click on the
image for an enlarged view
LITTLE FLOWER MONASTERY: COMPARATIVE ALBUM:
FEBRUARY 24, 2015 and 2016
Dear Friends,
Good morning. Hope you had a wonderful week. Here I send you a
comparative album of the photos clicked on February 24th in 2015 and
on February 24th 2016. This comparison will certainly raise your
eyebrows as to the work that is accomplished within one year from
the moment we started cutting trees to the completion of the
landscaping around the monastery. We will be posting the 31st album
shortly. Thank you for your support and interest in this venture.
LITTLE FLOWER MONASTERY ALBUM NO. 31 -
First Visitors - Come and See Dear
Friends,
Here are the first visitors to our facility. When we
met Archbishop Michael Miller CSB recently he said
to us that a Diocesan Spirituality institute
"Rosemary Heights" has been shut down due to
maintenance costs as that building was old. He told
us that there are many groups who would want to come
and use our facility. Already a few groups have
booked our facility after April this year. This is
very encouraging to us. Well, we will make the best
use of this opportunity to diffuse Carmelite
Spirituality and to be a great service to the people
of God and to the Archdiocese of Vancouver.
All the best
Grand celebration organized for Fr. Alwyn
Sequeira ocd
Dear Friends,
We had a grand celebration organized for Fr. Alwyn
Sequeira ocd. He arrived Vancouver on January 19th
and successfully completed his procedures in getting
all his initial documents for his stay in Canada. On
February 16th he met Archbishop Michael Miller and
the Vicar General Fr. Joseph Phung. Then he he was
introduced to various administrative departments in
the Diocesan Chancery. Then in the evening we had a
grand welcoming celebration at St. Edmunds community
with an introduction from Fr. Jeson Tellis and
prayer by Bro. Joseph Giroux, sumptuous dinner
arranged by Fr. Jerald D'Souza and Fr. Steny
Mascarenhas. Fr. Rajesh Madtha offered him flower
bouquet and welcomed him into Canadian Carmelite
Community. After our wonderful meal we gave him a
tearful sendoff praying that he will continue his
stay at Carmel Hill with Bro. Joseph Giroux OCD.
Fr. Rudolf V. D'Souza OCD
www.carmelhill.ca
click here for the photographs
Canadian Carmelite Charitable Society (C.C.C.S.), formerly Rafiki
Fundraising Society, was incorporated in 2006 with the purpose of
fundraising to provide aids to alleviate poverty of children in Africa. Over
the past few years, financial assistance was provided to projects in Kenya
and Nigeria. In recent months, it has been providing sandwich lunches to the
poor in the West-End in Vancouver. It is currently establishing a personal
development institute, spiritual centre, retreat centre and educational
institute in the Fraser Valley in mission to serve the Greater Vancouver
area.