Zacchaeus,Elia 1st S,Aug.29,10

Zacchaeus, Elia 1^st S,Aug.29,10

(Lk.19:1-10)

In today’s Gospel, we read about a very moving encounter between Jesus and a notorious tax collector. Zacchaeus was hated by his people because of the work he did and because of the way he did it. Not only that he worked for the Roman colonizers but also collected exorbitant taxes. He was fattening himself at the expense of his countrymen. There was a great feeling of hostility towards him.

It was at such a moment in his life that he heard about Jesus and his journey through his village. There was the grace of God working in his heart. He wanted acutely to see Jesus. He forgot all about the feelings people had about him. He knew this was the moment. He did not want to lose the occasion nor wait for another day. As he was short of stature, he climbed a sycamore tree to get a good view of Jesus.

Seeing Jesus would fill his heart. It is not money that was going to fill his heart any more. This vision of Jesus would be more precious to him than any of the taxes he would collect in his life. He saw Jesus and saw him to his heart’s delight. He heard His words and saw His interactions with His disciples. He felt an indescribable joy flooding his heart. He knew that this moment would change his life. All of a sudden he saw Jesus looking up to him and heard Jesus calling out his name: “Hurry down , Zacchaeus, because I must stay in your house today.”

We can never fathom the feelings of joy and excitement that ran through his heart. Jesus was going to stay with a man hated by the people of his time! It seemed to be an unbelievable moment for the disciples and on-lookers. The Prophet, the Son of God, the one who was never thought to be associating with sinners was going to spend a day with a person considered a sinner and an object of contempt and derision by the people of his time. But it was happening before their eyes. The most holy person and the most sinful person were going to spend the day together.

But change had happened in the heart of Zacchaeus the moment his eyes were laid on Jesus. The desire to see Jesus already transformed his heart. His heart began to melt. He was willing to sacrifice everything to see Jesus. He did not mind mixing with the crowd or hearing their derisive whispers provided he would get a moment to spend with Jesus. The meaning of his name was “righteous.” Until the moment he saw Jesus, he was unrighteous. The vision of Jesus changed him drastically. He began to lead a life true to the meaning of his name.

H did not ask for any great favor. He did not ask Jesus to spend even a moment with him. He just wanted to see Jesus. That vision was anything more than he wished in his life. That vision of Jesus was more than the value of all the wealth he accumulated in his life. Things were happening very fast in his life. Money and wealth all lost its sheen and glamour for him. What was more important was to be a follower of Jesus, to be a recipient of his love. He announced forthwith that he would give a fourfold restitution of all the property that he acquired by evil means. He would give half of his property to the poor. The response of Jesus was magnificent and beautiful to this great change happening in the life of this public sinner: “Salvation has come to this house.”

It is the desire to see Jesus and to experience his presence that changed the life of Zacchaeus. Our desire for Jesus would change the nature and direction of our lives. We have to desire for the presence of Jesus in our heart as he did. Everything else in life should become secondary to the presence of Jesus in our heart. What often happens is that we never allow Jesus to transform our lives. Jesus is kept on the periphery of our lives. The moment he takes possession of our heart, transformation would happen in our lives. Our arrogance, selfishness and hardheartedness would disappear once we surrender ourselves to Jesus.

This encounter should also remind us that however unworthy we are, Jesus would not abandon us. We may think that because of our sins we won’t be considered worthy of the love of Jesus. No one is out of the ken of the providence, the compassion and the love of Jesus. We are all under his protection and love. Our unworthiness makes us more worthy of His love and compassion. That is the most consoling thought we get from this encounter between Jesus and Zacchaeus: “ The son of man came to seek and to save the lost.”

As Archbishop Sheen has remarked in his book “The Eternal Galilean”: “For only those who walk in darkness can ever see the stars.” Our unworthiness opens our hearts to the flow of divine grace. May the Lord who came to spend a day with Zacchaeus stay always in our hearts and help us to be reflect His love in our dealings with others.

Kaitha,7thS,Aug.22,10

Kaitha,7^th Sunday,Aug.22,10

(Lk.18:1-8)

Thomas Merton, one of the foremost spiritual writers in America wrote: “By reading the Scriptures, I am so renewed that all nature seems renewed around me and with me. The sky seems to be pure, a cooler blue, the trees a deeper green. The whole world is charged with the glory of God and I feel fire and music under my feet.” These words of Thomas Merton actually describe the disposition of every one who is rooted in prayer and whose heart is at peace with himself and God.

Prayer is our life- line to God, the source of our hope and dreams. A life devoted to prayer keeps us sober and sane and enables us to face the challenges of life with great equanimity of mind. We are at every moment of our life aware of the abiding presence of the Lord who loves us and cares about us. We live in a mind-set up that is secure and anxiety-free because we know the Lord will not abandon us. Our cries to him in the loneliness of our hearts and in the darkest moments of our lives will not go unanswered.

It is about prayer that Jesus speaks in today’s Gospel. We often wonder about the methods and contents of prayers. We ask ourselves: “Am I praying properly? What is lacking in my prayer life? Will God be happy with the way we pray? Am I consistent my prayers?” We look for answers in the lives of saints and holy people. We run after preachers for more ideas about prayer or to deepen our prayer life.

Wee, here in today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us all that we should know about prayer.

In the first parable, through the attitude of the corrupt judge Jesus lets us know that we should not cease from praying just because we did not get the response immediately .We should be knocking at the doors of heaven unceasingly. The corrupt judge who is not interested in dispensing Justice is forced to respond to the cries of the woman because e of her insistence. If a corrupt, fragile, weak and criminally-lazy can respond to the requests of a poor woman, how much more would the response of God who loves us when we approach him with our cries and requests. God will never abandon us. Whatever may be requests, we should place them before Him and ask Him unceasingly for a solution or for a response. He would respond to us. It is to the heart of a Father that we send our requests.

Through the parable of the Pharisee and the publican Jesus lays bare the attitudes and the dispositions needed for a good relationship with God. When we are before God, we should realize our littleness, our fragility and our nothingness. Before the august majesty of God, before his immeasurable goodness, we are puny, little beings, having no worth of our own. We are what we are by the pure graciousness of God. We should not stand before God in a mood of self-satisfaction. All our good acts are not the tickets to buy rewards from God. Our smugness and our being satisfied with our own selfish acts are self-defeating. We become hypocritical and filled selfishness when we try to narrate the good acts of life to earn the graces OF God. We can never stand anywhere near God .Our good acts and pious devotions should not make us think that we deserve to be praised and rewarded by God .It is our humility and repentance that count before God.

Today as listen to these words of Jesus on prayer, let us offer our hearts to Him in pure gratitude and thank Him for all the blessings we have received in our lives.We shall ask Him to bless us with His continued protection.

Assumption of the Bl.Virgin Mary,Kaitha 6,Aug.15,10

Assumption, Kaitha 6thS,Aug.15,10

(Jn.2:11-19)

Today we celebrate the feast of the Assumption of the Bl. Virgin Mary, a feast that is very close to the heart of every Catholic. The name of the Bl. Virgin Mary evokes in our hearts all the sweet memories of her protection, guidance and intercession for us. Wordsworth, one of the great poets of English Literature has said very beautifully of Mary that “ she is the tainted nature’s solitary boast.” The great Protestant Church historian Jarslov Pelican who was a former professor at Yale University wrote in his book on Mary that one of the great weaknesses of Protestantism was that it neglected the role of Mary in Christianity. He added: “It is impossible to understand the history of Western spirituality and devotion without paying attention to the place of the incomparable role played by the Blessed Virgin Mary in the salvation history of the human race.

The Assumption of the Bl. Virgin Mary was declared a doctrine of the Church on Nov.1, 1950 by Pope Pius Xll with these words: “ The immaculate mother of God, the ever virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.”

What this doctrine means is that as Mary was free from the original sin because of her being the Mother of God, she could not be subject to decay and disintegration. She was granted the privilege of the glory of the Resurrection at the end of her life that we would enjoy at our Resurrection.

In the early centuries of Christian history, there arose a dispute on the role and title of Mary. The Fathers of the Church decided once and for all the role of Mary at the Council of Ephesus. At the Council of Ephesus in 431, Mary was declared Theotokos, the Mother of God. From that time onwards feast days in honor of Mary began to be celebrated in the Church.

What does the Assumption of Mary mean for each one of us? How does it influence our lives? The Assumption of Mary holds in anticipation our own resurrection, the integration of our body and soul at the end of our earthly existence. It means that death has no final say over our lives and it offers us hope in times of despair and diffidence.

In today’s Gospel, we see the great concern and love that Mary has for those who are in need of help and assistance. At the wedding feast at Cana, even without being asked for help, our Blessed Mother came to the help of the family and requested her son to do a miracle for them Jesus acceding to her request, even before the assigned time of the public revelation of his ministry, came to the rescue of the family because of the insistence of Mary. This is what our Bl. Mother will be doing for us. She will be constantly interceding or us before her Son. As she spoke for the family with the words, “ They have no more wine”, she will be speaking for us , raising our needs and our helplessness before Jesus.

She would be speaking for each one us in our hour of trial and suffering: “They have no wine, they are suffering, they have sicknesses and problems .” She would be pleading for us when we are hurting or suffering.

Mary has weathered the storm and turbulence of life. She stood at the foot of the Cross at the moment of her greatest agony and suffering, showing us through that act that it is not impossible to accept the tragedies and hardships of life as long as Jesus is with us. Mary exemplifies for us the right model of a Christian life. She is the lodestar for us in our pilgrimage on earth, guiding us to Jesus Christ, through the storms and turbulence of life.

As the French poet Claudel has said, let us also say: “Because you are there forever, simply because you are Mary, simply because you exist, Mother of Jesus Christ, we thank you.”

Kaitha 5th S,Aug.8,10

Kaitha 5^th S,Aug.8,10

(Lk.16:19-31)

In today’s Gospel, through the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, Jesus once again presents before us the stark contrast between two attitudes to life and wealth, one that of extreme attachment to one’s wealth and needs and the other, that of reaching out to come to the aid of the those who are needy and helpless. What Jesus wants from each one of his disciples is the second attitude—the attitude of coming to the aid of those who are in need of assistance.

The parable is very vivid in details in order to show the contrast between the two attitudes. The rich man is lavishly prosperous. He is dressed in fine clothes and eats well. Everything that makes life comfortable is at his disposal. He is totally indifferent to the needs of others. He enjoys his advantages with great delight. He does not have to worry about his health or about what is in store for him in the future. He is least bothered by the poverty of the people around him. .

Lazarus is in a living situation that is just the opposite of what is being enjoyed by the rich man. Lazarus is full of sores and his sores are licked by the dogs wandering around him. He is waiting for the crumbs of bread that come from the table of the rich man and they too are scantily available. He lives in sickness and poverty, abandoned by all.

After their deaths, their roles and positions are reversed. Lazarus is resting in the bosom of Abraham, enjoying eternal peace and joy while the rich man is in Hades, suffering eternal pain. Parched of thirst, he asks Abraham to let Lazarus to soothe his thirst. Abraham lets him know that the gulf between them is impassable and that their situation cannot in any way be reversed. He is told of his lost opportunities. The rich man still does not regret the sins of his life but is engrossed in his selfishness. He is more concerned with the welfare and comfort of his family. Selfishness is all that is seen in his life. He does not break out of his selfishness nor is there is any attempt on his part to be merciful and compassionate.

The rich man does not do any offense to Lazarus. His sin consists in not taking care of Lazarus when he was in need of help. His sin of omission is a serious offense in the eyes of the Lord.

“The sin of the rich man was simply that he never noticed Lazarus. He accepted him as a part of the landscape of life. The sin of the rich man was not a sin of commission, that is, doing something he should not have done. It was a sin of omission, that is , not doing something he should have done.

The sin of the rich man was basking in his own wealth and not lifting a finger to help Lazarus in his dire need.

The sin of the rich man was the same sin that is being committed over and over today. And it is the sin that is beginning to cause grave concern not only because of what it is doing to the poor but also because of what it is doing to the society.”(Mark Link S.J.)

“The rich man wanted mercy after he dies. But he showed no mercy while he was alive. The secret of obtaining mercy is to give it during the time of our human development here.”(Alfred McBride O.Praem).

This parable is a strong reminder to all of us to show mercy and compassion even when we are not bound by duty or relationship to them. The very fact that people are suffering around us is a sufficient reason for us to go out of our way to help them. We cannot be indifferent to the sufferings of people around us. There are people who need our help in some way or another. Sometimes, it is monetary help; other times, kind words and gestures that are needed from us. We can never be stingy in showing mercy and compassion. Only when we give and mercy and compassion, we also receive them in the same way in our lives.

Lazarus is everywhere in our lives. We meet him at all times. The members of the family who need understanding and sensitivity, the children who need our special attention to grow and mature in their faith and grand parents or parents who need our emotional support are the Lazarus of our lives. When we turn to the vices of alcoholism or domestic violence or use very abusive and contemptuous words hurting and wounding the feelings of people, we fall into the arrogance of the rich man.

We can never be indifferent to the misery and poverty that are rampant in our society.

John Paul ll : “We cannot stand idly by, enjoying our own riches and freedom, if in any place the Lazarus of the 20^th c stands at our doors.”

Let us ask the Lord to give us the grace to become merciful and compassionate and to have the generosity to come to the aid of those who need help and assistance.