Denaha -Epiphany,8th S,Feb.27,11

Denaha-Epiphany,8^th S,Feb.27,11

(Mk 1:1-8)

The opening words of the landmark book , “ The Peace of Soul” by Archbishop Sheen, published in 1949, in response to the spiritual conflicts experienced by people in the our times are worth remembering: “Unless souls are saved, nothing is saved; there can be no world peace unless there is soul peace.” We often forget that it is the changes that take place in the hearts of people that cause great transformations in the world at large. In our rush for prosperity, conveniences and advancements in life, we often ignore the fact that unless our hearts are right with God’s will, we can never experience those material benefits that we crave for.

It is through repentance and reconciliation with God that receive real happiness in our life. It is this spirit of reconciliation that today’s Gospel offers to the people of Israel as well as to us .

The reading from Mark’s Gospel introduces the ministry of Jesus through the eyes of John the Baptist. The ministry of John the Baptist serves as a great introduction to the mission of Jesus.

John Baptist is followed by a great crowd of people, waiting for every word that falls from his lips. They are willing to repent of their sins and to become reconciled with God. But John the Baptist is very careful to delineate the limits of his ministry. He tells them that he is not the Messiah and that he is only a forerunner. The one who is to come after him is the real one. The baptism he gives does not make them the children of God nor does it give them the Spirit of God .It is only a baptism of repentance.

We are thus given a very clear insight into the ministry of Jesus. It is Jesus who should become the focus of our attention. Jesus is the source of our life. Whatever may be the challenges and hardships we face in life, we can confront them if we are united with Jesus. Union with Jesus through prayer and participation in the Eucharist gives a sense of confidence that no one else can give us in our life.

We should never be afraid of people nor be worried about our future. What Jesus told the Apostles is being repeated to each one us: “ Don’t be afraid….I am with you until the end of the world.”

Jesus is our hope, our salvation. We should feel happy and confident in our life because of our faith in Jesus. Even good people can cause us harm. In religious life too, we come across people who are supposed to be holy and spiritual doing us harm. We find them engrossed in gossip and calumny. Because of the mistreatment we receive from them or because of their mistaken understanding of our actions, we suffer in silence. We become confused and out of focus. Interactions with such people may make us lose our spiritual moorings. It is then we have to remind ourselves with the words of St. Paul: “As long as Christ is with us, who can be against us?”

May the words of John the Baptist announcing the ministry of Jesus give us confidence to preach His message of love and hope and offer the same to all those who work with us. May our proclamation of the message of Jesus also help us to face the challenges that confront us daily in our lives.

Denaha-Epiphany,7thS,Feb.20,11

Denaha-7^th S,Feb.20,11

(Mt.8:5-13)

A few years ago, an engineering student was in charge of making arrangements for masses for the Catholic students of Rose-Hulman Institute of Engineering in Terre haute, Indiana. He also was the one who gave rides to the priest to say the mass. One Sunday night when he brought the priest to the students’ lounge where the mass was to be said, he found that he had lost the key to the hall. He saw all the students standing in front of the hall waiting for it to be opened. He felt ashamed and deeply troubled. All of a sudden he knelt down beside the car , before the priest and students, and prayed to the Lord to help him. Then,he stood up and looked around, and lo and behold , he saw the key lying a few feet away from him. What struck every one that was there was the strength of his faith. He was confident that the Lord would help him. There was no sense of diffidence or shame in kneeling down and praying for help.

It is about such expressions of faith that the Lord deals with in today’s Gospel. Jesus praises the centurion for his faith and his trust in Him.

The centurion was a Roman soldier working for the emperor of Rome. He had a hundred soldiers under him. He was vested with great power by the emperor. The Jews were under his control. It is this man who is recognized as a person of authority who comes before the Lord and sees in him a power that is even above that of his emperor. When the centurion’s servant fell ill, he finds all remedies useless and finds that Jesus has the power to heal him. He recognizes the Divine Power of Jesus which the Jews could not even grasp. The one who never read the prophets and never heard about the interventions of God in history realizes all of a sudden that Jesus is far superior to the emperor of Rome. He did not want Jesus to walk towards his house. He just asks Jesus to speak a word and that would be enough to give health to his servant. The words that he uttered have become the words that every Christian utters before he receives the Eucharist: “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed.”

Jesus praises his faith publicly by saying that not even in Israel He has found such faith. He points out that it is not nationality or race that is going to decide one’s path to salvation but strong faith in God.

The centurion is a model for great faith. His profound sense of humility is seen in his words and actions. In a worldly sense, it was very outrageous on his part as a Roman soldier to come to a Jew for help. Throwing aside such considerations, he comes before the real authority and feels his place before him. He recognizes that the person standing before him is not just a teacher or a prophet but more and above than all these. The centurion recognizes the Divine Presence in Jesus.

Also he does not ask anything for himself. He asks this great favor for his servant. What we find in this centurion is another noble trait of character: his profound sense of humanity. Compassion and solicitude for the welfare for another drives him to come before Jesus. He is acknowledging the authority and power of Jesus publicly before a crowd endangering his own reputation and position. But, he is not afraid to acknowledge his faith publicly.

What we gather from this encounter between Jesus and the centurion are the various facets of faith that are needed in our life. Our faith should be characterized by humanity and humility as reflected in the life of the centurion.

Many a time we are puffed up with our pride in our talents and gifts and become very arrogant in our dealings with people. The Christian dimension of our faith does not make any impact on our life. In our exercise of authority as parents, teachers and ministers, we are not much different from the non-Christians.

We should reflect on the transformation that has happened in the life of the centurion because of his faith. He becomes profoundly humble as well as very caring. As Christians, our lives too should be characterized by such humility and compassion.

Denaha-Epiphany,6thS,Feb.13,11

Malcolm Muggeridge was one of England’s well-known critics and B.B.C. commentators. It was his documentary and book called “Something Beautiful for God” that gave a lot of international publicity to Mother Teresa when her ministry was not known greatly outside India. Even though he was an agnostic at the time he interviewed Mother Teresa, he felt changes happening in his life because of his contact with her. Towards the end of his life, he converted to the Catholic faith. In one of his last essays, he speaks of his desire to leave the world very touchingly: “So, like a prisoner awaiting his release, like a school boy when the end of the term is near, like a migrant bird ready to fly south,…I long to be gone.” Those words bring out his profound humility and acceptance of the will of God in his life. We hear in those words of Malcolm Muggeridge a very true echo of the words uttered by John the Baptist in today’s Gospel: “He must increase, but I must decrease” where John expresses his desire to fade away from the hectic activities of the world and leave it open for the ministry of the Lord.

The passage we heard just now from the Gospel brings before us through the words of John the Baptist the importance of the ministry of Jesus Christ.

John the Baptist knew fully well that his time and mission were over. It was time for him to depart from the scene. Hence, he urges his disciples and followers to follow Jesus as he is the source of life. He was just preparing the way, clearing the ground , making the world ready for Jesus to proclaim his message of salvation. Jesus is the bridegroom and the world has to follow him.

There is no tinge of sadness in the words of John the Baptist; on the other hand, there is a sense of joy in the sense that his mission is over. The man who romped on the stage of the world history as one of the great prophets is now willing to leave everything and fade way as the ministry of Jesus begins to unfold.

Those words of John the Baptist should be on the lips of every follower of Jesus Christ: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” Our duty is to proclaim Jesus and make him revealed to the people. It is Jesus who should be proclaimed and followed. It is he who should be loved and obeyed. We are just pointers showing the way to Him.

Many a time what does happen is that we try to become the focus of attention. We become dispirited and sad when we are not given due recognition for our work or contributions or when the focus of the world is not turned to us. We become angry and sad when others ignore us. We feel let down and neglected on those occasions. It is in those moments we lose the perspective of John the Baptist that Jesus is the most important person in our life. Mother Teresa has beautifully pointed out this fact in one of her statements: “I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world.”

We are instruments in the hands of God and through our words and actions, however small or insignificant they may be, we have to proclaim Jesus. As parents, teachers and ministers, we should stand on the sidelines and allow those who are entrusted to our care to become followers of Jesus.

Our sufferings, our sacrifices and our hard work may not be acknowledged and we may be often ignored and neglected. Our work for the family and for the church may be belittled and ignored. Those who are our colleagues or who are in authority may not give due recognition to our work. Such actions should not deter us from our main mission which is to make Jesus known and loved.

Let the words of John the Baptist that “He must increase but I must decrease” be the words that guide us in our ministry of service and love.

Denha,5th S,Feb.6,11

Speaking of Hamlet in Shakespeare’s play of the same name, Victor Hugo mentions in one of his critical reviews that Hamlet is every one of us. The problem with Hamlet is his indecisiveness. His confusion and ambivalence are well pronounced in his soliloquy that begins with the famous words: “To be nor not to be.” Most of us too become confused like Hamlet when confronted with difficult choices we have to make unless we are helped by the grace and power of our faith.

Today’s Gospel presents before us a person like Hamlet in Nicodemus. He is really confused and spiritually paralyzed as to the choices he has to make in his life whether he has to be aligned with Jesus or work against Him. He has to get these matters cleared and hence he comes to Jesus Himself straight away.

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.

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.

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 leads 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 have to see things not in the perspective of the world but that of the spirit. When difficult choices face us, we know where to turn. We should not be turning to those who deny their faith in Jesus for guidance and advice but to Christ. The cross of sicknesses, failures and insults is hard to carry by our personal efforts but with Jesus beside us , we can carry it.

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.

We too will become enlightened when we commit ourselves totally to Jesus as our Savior and Lord and will never be afraid of any hostile forces in our life.

Denha-Epiphany,4thS,Jan.30,11,Jn.2:1-11

Denaha 4^th S,Jan. 30, 2011 ,Jn.2:1-11

Scott Hahn , one of our foremost lay theologians, is a convert to Catholicism. After becoming a Catholic, he began to understand the power and grace of the sacraments. Speaking of the sacrament of marriage, he says: “The Sacrament of matrimony enables us to enlarge our vision of human life to see history as the sphere in which God enables us to become co-creators, co-teachers, co-redeemers with the one who created and redeemed us all, Jesus Christ.” He goes on to us say that as the sacrament of marriage is a channel of grace for the spouses, the time he spends in daily conversations and interactions with his wife is not just a worldly moment but one that is suffused with divine grace. His wife becomes a new tabernacle of the grace of God for him. Those words of Scott Hahn reveal to us the Christian conception of marriage.

In today’s Gospel, we become awe-struck at the presence of Jesus at the wedding at Cana and at the marvelous manner in which he begins his public ministry by changing water into wine.

The reading from the Gospel presents before us one of the most compelling and beautiful scenes in the Gospel of St. John. The marriage at Cana is an event replete with multiple layers of meanings. Mary’s intercession, the compassion of Jesus, the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus, and John’s special emphasis on signs and the hour are all packed compactly in this tight description of the marriage at Cana.

The family at Cana which might have been very close to Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary is caught in a crisis because of the shortage of the supply of wine. Mary intercedes for the family with her son, even without being asked for help by the family. Jesus, in spite of the fact hat he has not begun his ministry, does accede to the request of the Bl. Virgin Mary. She tells the people to do as he tells them. Even though she does not get a positive response from Jesus, she knows He would do what she asks of Him. The guests are surprised by the abundant supply of wine as well as by its excellent quality.

Six jars of water are customarily kept at a Jewish home for the purpose of cleansing for those who get defiled by contact with the dead as mentioned in Numbers19:11-12.Six stone jars used in those times would hold 120 gallons of water.

The evangelist uses the Greek word, “ semeion” meaning, sign or a miracle, for the miracle performed at Cana. The signs of Jesus according to the evangelist are miracles that reveal the power and glory of God working through Jesus Christ. The Fourth Gospel mentions seven signs in its first part from ch.1-12. Hence, the first half of the Gospel has been called the “Book of Signs.”

What strikes one when reflecting on this passage from the Gospel is the presence of Jesus at a wedding. His presence makes it an important event of grace for the couple. The presence of Jesus symbolizes the flow of divine grace in the lives of the married couple. The abundance of the supply of wine is an indication of the bounteous experience of the grace of God when one gets united with Jesus, the Lord of Life.

At a time like ours, when the institution of marriage experiences great stresses and strains, it would be of immense benefit if we reflect on the presence of Jesus in the life of Christian families. Recent studies have revealed that more than a million of children live in broken homes. Couples are willing to part ways when difficulties and strains affect the marriage. They forget the words of Jesus that “what God has united, let no man separate.” His words on the unity of marriage are clear and emphatic.

As Mary has approached Jesus, so too every Christian family should approach Him. A life without the presence of Jesus will be like a ship without an anchor. It will be wrecked by the storms that rage over it.

Archbishop Sheen has pointed out the need for faith in marriage by writing a book called “Three to Get Married.” According to him, “what binds the lover and the beloved together on earth is an ideal outside both…God.” He also points out that “it would be quite futile to think that marriage life will not experience problems and difficulties because of infidelity or cruelty.” He adds that “what makes life tragic is not so much what happens, but rather how we react to what happens.” He advises the families struggling with tensions and problems arising from lack of love and communication or faithfulness not to break the bond, but to utilize the sufferings for self, for children and for the spouse.

We have to look at our problems in the light of the victory achieved by our Lord over his death on the Cross. With Him around us, we can overcome all obstacles in our life.

The final victory is ours. Suffering and pain have lost the power to take away the joy from the life of Christians who believe in the power of the Cross.

Jn.

Denha-Epiphany,3rd S,Jan.23,11,Jn.1:35-42

Denaha 3^rd S,Jan.23,11

Jn.1:35-42

There is a small church in Ernakulam,Kerala, named after St. Maximillian Kolbe. Kolbe was a Polish Franciscan priest who established monasteries of their order in Japan as well as in India. He visited Cochin on his way back from Japan to Poland. When he was working in Poland, he was arrested by the Nazis and sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. When a Jew who was called to die in starvation because of the escape of a few prisoners from the camp cried out , “ Family, Family.” Fr. Kolbe offered himself to die for the Jew. He was accepted and sent to the cell to die of starvation. Since he did not die, he was given a lethal injection. Fr. Maximillian offered his life to save the life of another fellow prisoner. He was willing to carry the burden of death for another person. Hundreds and thousands have sacrificed their lives in such a heroic manner in the history of the Christian faith. We would wonder about the source of inspiration for these heroic souls like St.Maximillian. It is none other than Our Lord himself who has offered himself for the whole of mankind to redeem them from the punishment for sins and offer eternal salvation.

In today’ Gospel, we hear about the mission and ministry of Jesus as He would be the person who would carry the sin of mankind in reparation and would secure eternal life for them. St. John the Baptist sees Jesus from the angle of death and life in today’s Gospel.

St. John the Baptist, seeing Jesus at a distance, calls him “The Lamb of God” which is a term packed with a lot of meanings for Israelites. We find immediately two of the disciples of John going after Jesus and inquiring where he lives. The response of Jesus is quick: “Come and See.” Once they experience personally the life of Jesus and come to know who He is, their excitement knows no bounds. Immediately, one of them, Andrews, sees his brother, Simon, and tells him, without any doubt or vagueness: “We have found the Messiah.”

The word for Lamb, used in the address of John the Baptist, in Greek is “amnos” which refers exclusively to lambs that are meant for sacrifices at the Temple. To every Jew, brought up in the tradition of the Old Testament, the lamb would represent the sacred animal set apart for sacrifice for the sins of man. It was the blood of the lambs smeared on the doorposts that saved the lives of the Israelites from the Angel of Death.”(Exod.12:11). Every day in the Temple, lambs were slaughtered and offered for the reparation of sins. Thus the term “lamb of God”, used by the John the Baptist to refer to Jesus, was packed with these sacrificial meanings to the hearers.

What John implies is that Jesus would sacrifice his life for the deliverance of the people from the bondage to sin. It is that title that moves the disciples of John to abandon him and go in search of Jesus.

The passage from the Gospel is an invitation to each one of us to accept Jesus as the Savior of our lives, the One who has died for us to make us the children of God. Jesus is the one who gives us the courage to face the hardships and challenges of life and help us to face opposition or hostility. He will secure us peace and joy.

This is the Good News that we have to share that Jesus will never abandon us and will always be around us to protect us.

That is why Andrews wants to share it with his brother. We too have to invite people to come and see Jesus and experience the presence of his strength and support in their lives.

How comforting it is to know that however far we move from Him, He will never abandon us and that He will come in search of us. He is there to forgive our sins and to offer us the warmth of his love. As Archbishop Quinn, the former Archbishop of San Francisco has once said, the Catholic Church is not a museum of saints, but a hospital for sinners. Jesus is the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world.

As Andrews has told Peter, we too have to tell our friends that we have found the Christ. The world needs our witness.

Families break down and there is a lot of hostility among people. Many experience a lot of stress in their lives. They are looking for the Savior. We who have known the Savior and experienced His love and forgiveness have to share them with others. As John the Baptist points to Jesus, we too have to become pointers to Jesus, inviting people to experience the presence of Jesus in their lives and to remain with Him.

Denaha-Epiphany,2nd S,Jan.16,11.

James Martin S.J. is a prolific writer on contemporary spiritual issues. As a young man he worked in the Wall Street, after his graduation from the Wharton School of Business. But he felt that the work in the world of Finance was not satisfying his inner spiritual hunger. He resigned his job and decided to work full time for God--to become a Jesuit priest. Like Thomas Merton, he abandoned everything he had in the world of material success and opted for total poverty. He wrote a beautiful work called “In Good Company” detailing the spiritual transformation that has taken place in his life. Only those who have deep convictions can witness to those convictions without any fear or anxiety. James Martin belongs to that group.

Today in the Gospel reading, we come across a person with tremendous spiritual strength and confidence who had no fear of men or material powers. It is none other John the Baptist about whom Jesus remarked that “among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist.”(Mt.11,11)

Jesus has not started his preaching and the voice of John is heard over the hills and valleys of Palestine .People are rushing towards him as if he were the savior. The Jewish leaders are really perplexed at the great crowds John is drawing and at the tenor and power of his words calling people to repentance and to a closer union with God. So they send their emissaries to ask him directly to describe who he is. They ask him whether he is Elijah or a Prophet like Moses or the Christ himself.

It was the belief among the Israelites that before the arrival of the Messiah, one of the great prophets like Elijah or Moses would appear. According to prophet Malachi, Elijah would make final preparations for the arrival of the Messiah. In Deut.18:15, the expectation is for a Moses-like prophet. Hence John the Baptist is peppered with questions concerning his identity.

Refuting all these notions and expectations, he asserts that he is none other than a path-breaker, a voice crying in the desert to prepare the way for the One who is to come after him, the real Prophet and Savior. John also points out the distinctive difference between what he offers and what Jesus is going to offer. He offers a baptism of water, a ritual cleansing whereas the Baptism of Jesus involves the cleansing of the soul. Jesus alone has the authority to forgive sins.

Baptism has a history in the life of the Jews. The rite of immersion once meant legal purification for those who contracted some impurity under the Law. Baptism was also used as a rite to receive the gentile converts into Judaism. John’s baptism is something similar as a sign of conversion or of repentance. But the baptism that Jesus gives confers the Holy Spirit, makes one a child of God and cleanses one of sins.

What comes out of this testimony of John is the awareness of his own limitations and also of his powerful proclamation of the authenticity of the mission of Jesus. In spite of enjoying such a high regard among the people because of his austere life and penance, he is humble enough to acknowledge that he is only a shadow, an echo and that he is not the one who should be given a prime place in their hearts. He is to be considered only a slave as he is only worthy enough to do a slave’s work, untying the laces of the master’s sandals. Referring to John, St. Augustine says that John’s greatest merit lies in his act of humility.

How can we reflect in our life the sense of humility and the power of testimony that John exemplified in his life?

Our arrogant ways, contempt for our neighbors, and our glorification of our achievements etc do not become us as the followers of Christ. Our talents and accomplishments, our family and our resources and everything that we have should be seen as gifts of God. We are just dispensers of the gifts of God. Such an attitude will enable us to become more compassionate and forgiving in our lives.

Many a time we are very shy of bearing witness to our faith in the Lord. Even in our family circles, we are unwilling to share our faith. Parents very rarely share their experience of their faith with their children. Some leave that task of sharing to priests and CCD teachers.

We don’t realize that we live in a world that is unabashedly materialistic and hostile to a Christian way of life. During the Christmas days, people are afraid of even mentioning the word, Christmas. All religious symbols of the Christian faith are ignored. As the Holy Father Pope Benedict has remarked in his recent book “Light of the World”, a negative type of tolerance (not offending anyone) is being created in the minds of people. In such a willful silence, if those who believe do not witness to Christ, it would be a great betrayal of Christ. To quote the Holy Father again,” we need a sort of revolution of faith in many senses---the sense of courage even to contradict commonly held convictions.”(Salt of the Earth,p.33)

It is through our words and actions that Jesus should become revealed. May the words and life of John the Baptist inspire us to become bearers of the Good News.