Easter,Apr.410

Easter,10

Easter always arouses in our hearts feelings of hope and joy. The spring is around us. There is more day light and there is a silent stirring in the hidden lives of plants and trees. Flowers and leaves are about to explode into their full bloom before our eyes soon.. Nature which was hiding under the cover of the shadow of winter is coming out in its full power and glory. It is natural for one to feel exuberant and happy at this time.

The passage from the Gospel is a marvelous account of the impact of the resurrection.

There was a feeling of emptiness, helplessness, of sorrow, of having lost everything among the disciples. May Magdalene came to the tomb to pay her final respects and to embalm the body again. It id not cross her mind that Jesus would rise from the tomb The apostles also did not think that Jesus would arise. They just took the words of Jesus about His resurrection very casually. If Jesus were God, he would have struck the soldiers dead and would not have allowed himself to die so shamefully, they thought. They were engaged in their routine tasks of their daily lives, but kept the company of one another.

May found an empty tomb. She right away thought that they had taken him away. She rushed to the Apostles. She did not say he was risen but only that they had taken the Lord away.

The apostles ran to the tomb, for another meeting with failure and disaster. But when they came, they looked into the tomb and found all the clothes neatly folded. It struck them all of a sudden that Jesus was not taken away but that He had risen. All the words of Jesus about His resurrection came alive in their minds. They believed.

May stood crying and looking for Jesus. Then, Jesus appeared to her. Jesus called her in the way he always called her: “Mary.” That was enough for her to recognize Jesus. She heard the same voice and the same tone. She could not stand the ground any more. Joyfully she burst out: “Teacher.”

She came back and told the apostles: “I have seen the Lord.”

It is in emptiness, loneliness and in suffering that we can experience the Lord.

We often think of our failures and sufferings as painful situations. But they are the events that open the door of life to Jesus. Once we experience Him in these situations, nothing can take away the joy from our life.

Through our failures, tragedies, painful and agonizing events…when things turn bad for us, when others insult us, when we are not appreciated, when we think we cannot do anything and that we don’t have the talents…. Jesus comes into our lives, calls us by our name and lets us know that He loves us.

The resurrection of Jesus gives us hope, hope that no one can take way from our lives---hope that grows and strengthens our lives.

Resurrection is the corner stone of our faith. St. Paul said: “ If Christ had not risen, our faith would be in vain.”(1Cor.15:15) If Jesus had not arisen, his life would be similar to that of any prophets or teachers the world has seen. Jesus established his power over death and destruction---proved himself to be the Lord of the Universe through his Resurrection.

Empty tomb is a challenge to all of us to reawaken our faith in Jesus It is a call for a total assent from our part to His presence in our midst.

Jesus speaks to each one of us as he spoke to Thomas: “Come and put your finger in my wounds and believe.” It is a call to faith. If we believe in the resurrection of Jesus , believe in his presence in our midst, then our attitudes and behavior would definitely have to undergo deep change.

For many of us, resurrection has not happened as a personal experience. We remain entombed in our selfishness. The tomb has to become empty today. The stone of indifference has to be rolled away from our lives. The dazzling spectacle of Jesus rising from the tomb of selfishness has to happen in our lives.

Good Friday,Apr.2,10

Good Friday,10

In a book “Why Bad things happen to Good people,? ”Harold Kushner, a Jewish Rabbi wrote about the untimely death of his son:“Why was my son taken away from me? I have never wavered in my duties to God and people in my life.”

The same question is asked by every one of us when tragedies happen in our lives.

On this Friday, we ask the same question in a very pointed way: “Why did Jesus have to die? Was there any other way Jesus could redeem people?”

There was this priest-theologian, Newhaus, telling us in a book of his that an old man who lived in the same apartment building that he lived in once stopped him on his way and told him:“Father, I can believe in everything what the Church teaches us, but I cannot believe in a Father who tortures and kills his son”.

Yes, this was a thought that puzzled even the people of Jesus’ time. St. Paul himself said that Cross was a folly to the Greeks.

St.John the Evangelist summarizes the whole theology of the Cross in a few telling words: “God so loved the word that He sent His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him may have eternal life.” Love is reason for the death of Jesus

Jesus tells us that only through sacrifice that we can show our utmost love: “ No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

He shows that even in nature, death is the source of life: “ Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and decays, it cannot give new life.”

Because Jesus walked through the path of suffering, we know we can walk through the same path.

Sicknesses, tragedies are a part of life. They are not God’s punishment.

Jesus shows how they can be sources of strength for us, for hope for us.

We can carry these crosses—alcoholism in the family, abusive behavior, drug use, financial destruction, sicknesses etc-- as long as we carry them with Jesus beside us.

The words Jesus uttered on the cross should be on our lips every day.

“Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.”

Good Friday is a not a day to weep over the Crucifixion of Jesus, but a day to weep over the Crucifixion that we do everyday through our sinfulness.

If Jesus had not walked the path of defeat, and had not drunk the last drop of suffering through his excruciating pain on the cross, we would not get the courage to “ to take up our cross and follow Him.”

Jesus did walk the path of suffering, conquered suffering and death, rose up in glory and because of that, , we know that the path of suffering does not lead to defeat. Hence the cross is our glory, the sign of our hope and joy.

As St. Paul says in his letter to the Galatians,“ I never boast of anything but the cross of our Lord, Jesus Christ.” St. Augustine says, “Let us confess Christ crucified…not fearfully but joyfully, not ashamed of it but proud of it.”

As walk along the path of suffering in our own personal lives , when our dear ones are experiencing agonizing pain in their lives, or when we experience great losses or undergo severe tests, the cross of Jesus is our comfort. When people closest to us are taken away from us and the bonds of love are broken, this cross will be the sign of our confidence and hope. As Jesus walks beside us with His cross when we go through the painful experiences of our lives, we should say with him:“ Father into thy hands I commend my spirit.”

Let this be the day for us to renew our spiritual strength, to get reconciled with those with whom we are estranged, to offer forgiveness unconditionally to those who have hurt us.

The Cross of our Lord invites us to choose to love, to forgive, to reach out, to realize that suffering is the shadow of the outstretched hands of Jesus.

Holy Thursday,Apri.1,10

Holy Thursday,10

One of America’s foremost spiritual writers, Thomas Merton, was not a Catholic in his youth. He had no religion. He led a very riotous life. While he was a student at Columbia University, N.Y., he passed by a Catholic Church once, and saw people going in and coming out of the church. Just for curiosity, he went in. He saw the Blessed Sacrament exposed and people, kneeling and praying. He did not understand anything at that time. But he went in and knelt there as others did. But then, he felt something different happening in his life. He was really touched by the grace of God. He felt changed and transformed. When he came out of the church, he wanted to know more about the Catholic faith. He met a Jesuit priest and that led to his conversion and later to his vocation as a priest in a Trappist monastery. His presence before the Eucharist changed the whole course of his life.

Today we are gathered here to celebrate the institution of the Eucharist and to commemorate the sacrifice of love that Jesus accomplished for us.

The Eucharist was instituted at the celebration of the Passover meal, the Jewish celebration of their liberation from Egypt. Jesus, during that Passover meal, changed the bread and wine into his body and blood.

He broke it and shared it in anticipation of the crucifixion that he would undergo. It became a meal as well a sacrifice for our sins.

It is not just a symbolic presence. It is a real presence. Jesus is really present in the Eucharist.

Our Lord wanted to be with us, forever. How consoling it is to know that the Lord of life is always with us. Even if there is no one to support and encourage us in our life, He will be there for us.

Others have come and offered their ideas, thoughts to their disciples to live by. Their advice was: “Take our ideas. Live by them.”

Jesus offered his life: “Take it .Eat it and drink it. This is my life. Live in me.”

In St. John, Jesus says, that He is the living bread that has come down from heaven and that those who eat it will have eternal life.

Some walked away thinking it was strange. He asked the apostles, “Would you go away?” “No”, they said: “You have the eternal life.”

Eucharistic participation should involve change in our lives. Our acts of worship should not consist in external symbols of rituals and traditions, of show and pomp but should involve a real transformation of the heart, a heart touched by the grace of God.

There should be an enactment of the Eucharistic celebration daily in our lives, transforming our selfishness, arrogance, and insensitivity into a life of forgiveness and caring. As our late Holy Father John Paul II said, “we have to return to the Upper Room to feel once again the overwhelming love of Jesus.”

Jesus washed the feet of his apostles to show them what it means to be a disciple of his: “To be at the service of the people, and not to be their masters.”

We are one body in Christ. When we participate in the Eucharist, we affirm our unity in faith and love.

Jesus did not choose thunder and lightning to become present in our midst, but the humble species of bread and wine. It is in the whisper of a comforting word to a colleague, in a kind word of encouragement to a struggling person, in the silent moments spent beside the bed of a sick person and in the love and care that we give to the elderly that we see Jesus becoming present.

Sadly, this Eucharistic transformation does not happen in our lives.

Look at the way the Christians deal with one another and others. There is no compassion or love. We harbor grudges and feelings of hatred, speak abusively about others and indulge even in acts of violence. Can we say that there is a spiritual transformation happening in our lives?

Jesus washed the feet of the apostles before he instituted the Eucharist. He was showing how necessary it was to serve one another if we carry His presence in our lives.

Today as we celebrate the this Great Feast of The Eucharist, let us make a deep resolve in the depths of our hearts to become transformed by the power of the love of Jesus and to reflect this love in our dealings with one another.

Palm Sunday,March28,10

Palm Sunday,Mar.28,10

(Mt.21:1-17)

Today we celebrate the Palm the Sunday, the gateway to the Holy Week, to the week of celebration of the Passion, death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

This day calls us to a deeper reflection on the significance of the great events of the history of our Salvation.

In 1980, Archbishop Romero of El Salvador spoke of his mission to his people by saying that the harvest comes because of the grain that dies. Immediately after the sermon with those words, as he was celebrating the mass, holding the Body of Jesus in his hands, he was shot dead and his blood got mixed with the Body of Jesus. His life was sacrificed for the people entrusted to him. Sacrifice brings life and hope.

Today Jesus reminds us of the great sacrifice He has made and of the outpouring of the abundance of life –eternal life—for all through the sacrifice of His life.

Fulfilling of the prophecy made by the Prophet Zechariah, Jesus rode on a donkey, indicating that he was no earthly king, but a person of peace. He rode into Jerusalem and the people acclaimed him with shouts of joy .Garments and branches of trees were spread on the street and people shouted “ Hosanna to the Son of David.”(Psalm,118,25) .

Jesus entered the temple, and as today’s Gospel describes, he cleansed the temple and cured the many who were sick and suffering.

This was a decisive moment in his life. He made the crucial decision to walk the path of suffering. He knew these shouts of acclamations would disappear and they would clamor for his blood. What is important is the obedience to the Will of His heavenly Father.

Palm Sunday is in fact the celebration of his obedience to the Will of the Father.

The suffering and death of Jesus turn everything upside down. The power of death is shattered forever. The cross, instead of becoming a sign of derision, has become a symbol of hope and joy.

The outstretched hands of Jesus on the Cross are the hands that offer us comfort and healing.

The cross is our symbol of hope and peace. It reminds us of the life after death and makes our life here on earth meaningful. Our tragedies and our pains don’t go unanswered. They will be transformed by the power of the cross into sources of grace for us.

The cross is a constant reassurance of God’s continuing love for us. In spite of our sins and failures, God’s love reaches out to us and reminds us that it is for us that He died to give us hope. It is a reminder that we will never be abandoned.

Let this Holy Week be an occasion for us to feel that once we carry the cross of our life with him on our side, our steps will not falter and He will be there to hold us in His arms.

Lent,6thS,Mar.21,10

Lent 6^th S,March21,10

(jn.10:11-18)

There are very few psalms in the Bible whose beauty and appeal are as alluring as that of the Psalm 23. The words: “The Lord is my Shepherd, there is nothing I shall want” have an unmatchable spiritual power that can console any person caught in the worries of daily life. To know that the Lord is the Shepherd and that He will come to our aid at the most vulnerable moment of our life is a great source of support.

God as a Shepherd is a concept that is familiar to every Jewish heart. Jesus in today’s Gospel evokes all those loving and comforting images when He tells his listeners that he is the Good Shepherd and he would lay down his life for the sheep. It is not just green pastures and water that he is offering. He is offering Himself and all that is implied by that sacrifice.

The Israelites were very familiar with the lives of shepherds and they were aware that a real shepherd would recognize his sheep and the sheep would also recognize his voice. It was a custom in those days for sheep belonging to different shepherds to be enclosed together in one pen. Each shepherd would his sheep and the sheep would recognize his voice and go out with him. Using that image, Jesus reminds his listeners that he is close to His followers and that He would sacrifice his life for them.

This parable of the Good Shepherd gives us hints of the warmth of the love that Jesus has for his followers. Jesus is our Savior and He will guide us through the right paths. He will protect us from our enemies. He will comfort us in our troubled times. He will be with us in our most vulnerable moments. He will carry us in his arms when it is difficult for us to walk the paths of life. His love will always envelop us. How consoling it is to hear those soothing words from the Lord that He is our Good Shepherd.

During the season of Lent, we become especially aware of the suffering and death of Jesus for our salvation. We become once more reminded of the immense love that Jesus has for each one of us. He will never abandon us and will always be with us in the darkest moments of our lives.

The parable also is a reminder to each one of us to become good shepherds to our neighbors. We are given different tasks in our lives. We interact with so many people in our lives. There is a way we can be distinctively different in those daily interactions. We can pour the oil of love and comfort into our dealings with people. To be a caring husband, a loving father, or a sensitive administrator is something that we can do in our lives. People will recognize then that we are different.

The challenge is to each one of us to show that we are good shepherds to the people who are entrusted to our care. There is a beautiful novel written by Tony Hendra called, ”Father Joe: the Man Who Saved My Soul.” Fr. Joe, a Benedictine Monk was the constant in his life during all the troubled times of his life. When his marriage failed and when he became a failure in his journalistic profession as well as in personal life, he went to Fr. Joe asking him the permission to join the monastery. Joe told him to go back and become a better husband a better father to his children. Yes, we can be good shepherds. Our family life and our life in the community will undergo a sea change if we can turn out to be loving and caring to those who are entrusted to our care.

Lent 5thS,Mar.14,10

Lent 5^th S,Mar.14,10

(Jn.8:12-20)

In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks about his identity with God the Father and speaks of himself as the Light of the World, the Savior, who has come to redeem mankind. He calls upon his listeners to understand His identity and commit themselves to Him.

The inner area of the Temple contained three Courts. The Easternmost court was the Court of the Women and it contained the Temple treasury. During the Feast of Tabernacles when all the Jews were expected to come to Jerusalem and live in booths, remembering the time they spent in the desert, the Temple would be illuminated with lights and torches. Those lights also reminded them of their expectation of the coming of the Christ.

It is in the background of the lights, standing near the Treasury, during the festival days of the Feast of the Tabernacles, that Jesus announces himself as the Light of the world and asks his listeners to accept this light and not to walk in darkness.

The listeners are earthbound and they do not understand that Jesus is proclaiming himself as the Christ, the hope of their lives and the fulfillment of their dreams. Instead of opening the eyes of their minds and seeing Jesus as the Christ, they begin to question him as to his origin, identity etc. Jesus uses their own legal requirements (Dt.17:6) to show that he is not revealing these great truths on his own authority only but also on the authority of the God the Father. The Father is also testifying on his behalf through the works he is doing and the words he is uttering. To their query as to where his Father is, Jesus tells them that seeing him is seeing the Father. He and the Father are one. He reveals, thus, his identity with God the Father.

But their eyes remain closed. They do not want to accept the news of the salvation. They are unwilling to commit themselves to Jesus.

What does this passage mean for us? Is Jesus the light of our lives? Are we willing to walk in the light of our faith? Are we willing to commit ourselves to Jesus or are we looking for excuses to refuse to commit ourselves to Him?

The decision is ours to make. It is a personal decision. We have to make a choice. We have to decide whether we want to live according to the teachings of the Lord or according to the teachings of the world. Our commitment to Jesus would involve dramatic changes in our outlooks.

Often we don’t enjoy peace and joy in our lives because we are very arrogant and unforgiving. Most of the conflicts in the heart of our families do come from our arrogance and selfishness. We never give God a chance to remake our lives. We never examine our attitudes and decisions in the light of our faith in Jesus.

What is lacking in our lives is this willingness to walk in the light of faith in Jesus Christ. It is sad and disappointing that in spite of the great teachings of Jesus on love and forgiveness, Christians are very remiss in living according to those teachings. Churches and communities, parishes and religious organizations are too much pervaded by the spirit of the world and hence there exist too much division and antagonism among them. We don’t find our people compassionate and forgiving. The compassion and love that come ebbing out of the words of Jesus to the woman caught in adultery “ Don’t sin. I don’t condemn you” are absent from our spiritual vocabulary.

This Lent offers us a golden opportunity to reshape our attitudes and become people of great compassion and love.

Thomas Merton points out beautifully well the impact of love in the following words: “When we love the other, we obtain from God the key to our understanding of who he is and who we are.”

Lent,4th S,March7,10

(Mt.21:33-46)

In today’s Gospel, Jesus, through the parable of the tenants, exposes the treacherous mind-sets of the Jewish leaders who refuse to accept him as the Savior. Instead of seeing the clear evidence that is present before them about the divine nature of Jesus and his mission, they close their eyes to the fact of acknowledging him as the Savior and dabble in questions of legal purity and faithfulness to their rituals and traditions.

The parable is also an allegory. Those who hear the parable know right away that the owner of the Vineyard is God and the tenants are the Jewish leaders. The servants are the prophets and the son is Jesus Himself. Just as the servants killed the slaves and the son , so too, the forefathers of the present generation have persecuted and killed the prophets and now they are trying to kill him. Jesus warns them of the great punishment that awaits them if they continue persisting in their refusal. The kingdom of God will be taken away from them and given to those who are open to accept the will of God.

What is the relevance of the parable for each one of us today?

During this season of Lent, we are preparing ourselves spiritually to become more open to the will of God in our lives. Our past lives have been an accumulation of sins and omissions. Our hearts were turned away form God. We were more concerned about our material well-being, forgetting the more profound and deeper aspects of our lives. We forget that what is important in our lives is the acceptance of the will of God.

If we examine our lives, we will find that we have been very selfish and uncharitable. Our words have wounded so many people. Our actions have not been in conformity with our faith. We have wandered far away from the paths of love and forgiveness. Our family life has become strained because of our selfishness and arrogance. We cannot accept our neighbors and we are negative and critical about them. In so many ways, the vineyard of lives is not producing fruits nor are we willing to allow the Lord to change the vineyards to be fruitful.

Today, Jesus gives us another opportunity to look at the vineyard of our lives and see what we can do to be more faithful and responsive to God in our lives. We have to listen to the word of God that comes to us through the Bible and the Church and see in what way we can change our attitudes and mind-sets in order to be more charitable and forgiving. What is the purpose of all these acts of penance if they do not help us to become more loving and compassionate? The measure of our attachment to Jesus comes from our openness to our neighbors, friends and members of our families.

Archbishop Sheen puts it beautifully in his book, “Lift up your Heart”: “The truth is that it makes no difference where we are; it all depends on whether what we are doing is God’s will and done for love of Him.”