Saturday, February 20, 2010

Lent 2nd S.Feb.21,10

Lent 2nd S., Feb.21, 10.

(Mt.7: 15-27)

The reading from today’s Gospel is a powerful reminder to each one of us about the need for a spiritual renewal in our lives.

Jesus is warning us about the false prophets. They appear to be spokespersons for God but actually they are hypocrites. There is no conformity between their words and actions. They don’t live their faiths. Jesus warns us to be beware of false prophets who are out there to deceive people. They are like bad trees that cannot produce good fruits. Good actions come from those who are good in their lives.

Jesus wants his disciples to have their lives based on the solid foundation of their faith in him. Only those who live their lives in conformity with the will of God will have a life that is solid and strong and their lives will never be disturbed by the power of the evil forces.

What is important is not the words that one utters but the way one lives. It is those who listen to the words of Jesus and live by the words of Jesus who will have a strong spiritual foundation. They will able to withstand the power of the evil.

In very few words, Jesus has laid out before us the map of our spiritual life. What is important is the conformity between our faith and our life. Our life should be a reflection of our faith in God.

When we examine our lives as Christians, we find that many a time there is a wide gap between our faith and our daily lives. We live in two worlds. We say and utter words of faith but we don’t see those words translated into our actions. The way we think, act and feel are worlds away from our faith.

We are arrogant and selfish like any one else. There is nothing that makes us different. We retaliate when we are hurt. We abuse others when we are challenged. Our words are contemptuous and derogatory.

This season of Lent is a beautiful opportunity to make a deep change in our lives. Instead of depending on the external rules of fasting, let us go into the innermost depths of our hearts and do some fasting there. It should be a fasting from anger and selfishness, from spiteful and angry feelings and from biting and sniping remarks.

As Arch Bishop Sheen remarks in his beautiful book, “Lift up your Heart”: “Motive is what makes the saint. Sanctification does not depend on our geography, or on our work or circumstances. 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.”

All our humdrum tasks of life---typing, office work, work at home, caring for the sick child, teaching, administrative tasks, being subordinate to arrogant bosses, working with gossiping and sniping colleagues---every such task “ can be ennobled and spiritualized if it is done in God’s name.”

May the words of Jesus that we heard in today’s Gospel make us turn a new chapter in our lives and make us better followers of Christ.


Friday, February 12, 2010

Len 1st S.,Feb.14,10

Lent 1st S,Feb.14,10

(Mt.4:1-11)

Today marks the beginning of Lent. We will be observing in the next 40 days the memory of the days Jesus spent in the desert, fasting and praying in preparation for the great ministry that He would be undertaking .As Jesus finished his forty days of Fast, the devil tried to entice him into his ways of thinking and acting by offering Him the ways of the world. The devil offered him the glory of a miracle worker, of a show man and lastly that of an all powerful king. But Jesus drives him away by telling him not to tempt the Lord his God but to offer worship. That stern and serious command is strongly indicative of the great spiritual heights that Jesus has reached through his time of prayer and fasting in the desert.

What is important , according to Jesus, is not the exhibition of the power and glory of His divinity but submitting himself to the will of His heavenly Father and accepting the mission entrusted to Him.

The Temptation of Jesus in the desert is a reminder to each one of us that we too will be passing though crises in our lives. But we have the presence of God in our hearts to overcome the power of such weak moments and situations.

We are people prone to temptations. We are fragile and weak and only by the grace of God do we get the strength to overcome our own inner weaknesses and sins.

When sicknesses and tragedies pursue us, when financial disasters take away every bit of security in our lives, and when our weaknesses and sins make us strangers in the land of grace, we have to remind ourselves about the constancy of the faith and the strength of loyalty of Jesus. We have to be very focused and clear about our mission and goals in life.

We should not look for the approval or the applause of the people. The applause and popularity are fleeting and won’t last .What is important is to keep our gaze steady on Jesus and his mercy. The things of the world, then, lose their power over us.They will have no power to hurt us so long as our minds and hearts are turned to God.

The will of our heavenly Father is of great importance in our lives and we have to submit ourselves to Him. It does not mean that we are going to be defeatist in our mentality because of our submission. We accept the will of God because we know He loves us and He will do anything to protect us.

Lent is a time for us to strengthen our inner freedom, our openness to God. Through our act s of love and compassion, of mercy and forgiveness and through the self-control that we exercise on our own weaknesses and sinful passions, we enlarge this freedom and openness. Lent should make us more loving and merciful, sensitive and caring to the feelings of people. What is the meaning of a penitential season if it does not make us internally transformed? If we do not show love and compassion to the people who come into contact with our lives daily, all our penitential devotions mean nothing.

Let the beginning of the Lent may be a true occasion for us to change the direction and the nature of loves. Let each day be an occasion to show acts of love, mercy, and forgiveness.

As Bishop Sheen Says, it is when we are in the dark that we can see the stars .In our poverty, weakness and sinfulness, we become more aware of the love, forgiveness and protection of our Lord.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Denaha,5thSun.Feb.7,10

The passage from Today’s Gospel gives in a nutshell all that took place in the personal encounter between Jesus and Nocodemus. The context is very interesting to note. Nicodemus, one of the reputed teachers of Israel comes to Jesus at night. He is afraid to meet Jesus during the day time because of the fear that his colleagues would isolate him. The darkness of the night is also indicative of his spiritual blindness. He needs the Eternal Light to open His eyes to the Dawn of Salvation.

Jesus speaks to him about new births, about the need to accept the Savior for salvation and about his passion, death and resurrection.

Nicodemus is deeply troubled, confused and disturbed at the presence of Jesus in their midst. The words and actions of Jesus make him think that he is the Redeemer. But if he is the Savior, why there is that much reluctance to admit Him as the Savior by the Pharisees. He wants to meet Jesus and talk out this matter with Him. He comes to Jesus for clarification for further elucidation of His mission.

Within a few highly packed words, Jesus speaks to him about the new birth he has to undergo to receive salvation and also about His own death and resurrection. All these matters of the spirit are beyond the comprehension of Nicodemus. He is still at the material level of understanding. He asks how one can be reborn. Jesus takes him gradually to go beyond the material world into the world of the Spirit and shows that the impact of spiritual life cannot be visibly seen. The spirit blows where it wills.

Jesus also tells him how His death and resurrection would prove to be the source of eternal life for every one. Using an incident very familiar to the Jews from the Book of Numbers, Jesus tells him how people are going to be saved by His Resurrection just like the people who were saved by looking at the raised bronze serpent.

Nicodemus is every spiritual seeker, every genuine wayfarer in spiritual life. He is our own image in our search for the meaning of life. His confusion and bewilderment are own confusion and bewilderment when we are at the cross roads of life, knowing not where to turn.

The baptism that we have received makes us unique sharers in the life of Christ. It makes us the children of God, and the abodes of the Holy Spirit. We are called to live out a new life. We are not just spectators but participants in the life of Christ.

We are not at the periphery like Nicodemus in this event. We are in the circle. Jesus is with us. We are given a new life. We have to realize the implications of this new life, a life that transforms us at the depths of our hearts.

A Christian life offers us a new vision of reality. We see things not in the manner of the world but in the manner of the spirit .For arrogance, and selfishness, we have mercy and compassion. We have forgiveness and the spirit of reconciliation to guide our lives.

The Cross is our banner of victory. The outstretched arms of Jesus are there to protect us. His hands remind us that He is always there to embrace us in the warmth of His love against the forces of destruction and hostility.

Nicodemus later in life came in the broad daylight to receive the body of Jesus as a converted man, as a spiritually enlightened person, no more afraid of any one.

So , we will become when we commit totally to Jesus as our Savior and Lord, never being afraid of any thing in our life.