Lent 3rd S,March 20,11,Mt.20:17-28

Lent 3^rd S, March 20,11

Mt 20:17-28

I am sure you are very familiar with the following words from the inaugural speech from President John F. Kennedy: “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”. It was a call for selfless action. A lot of young people, responding to that call, fanned across the poor counties of the world to help them to rise from their economic and educational backwardness. Working for other people became a great and noble call.

Robert Greenleaf’s book on Servant Leadership explains who a great leader is: a good leader is one who strives to enhance the potentials of the people entrusted to his care. Servant leadership is a new definition of leadership. Leadership does not consist in dominance but in helping others to become great.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks about leadership among his followers.

Jesus first explains to his disciples the most important phase of his mission. He is referring to his passion, death and resurrection. It is through suffering and crucifixion that he is going to achieve the redemption of the human race. But he will rise up and thus will conquer the forces of death and destruction

It is through suffering for others that He will attain the glory of the Resurrection. Jesus as the leader will suffer for his people. It is the people that are important. He would wash their feet. He would do every thing for them, going all the way to the ultimate sacrifice of his life.

To the apostles, Jesus offers thus a new vision of leadership. The mother of the Zebedees does not grasp the full implications of what Jesus said. She has desires like any other human mother. Her sons who are following Jesus should not end up in their lives without anything. There should be some tangible benefits for their sacrifices. They and the family should get some thing in return. But Jesus offers something intangible which could not be quantified.

We get different roles in life as authorities and mentors. As parents, teachers and priests, how do we discharge our responsibilities? Do we use our positions for our dominance over others or do w e use them for the good of the people entrusted to our care. As parents, do our attempts consist just in promoting our personal glory or are we concerned with the real welfare of the family that is entrusted to our care?

We may experience many hardships in our roles as parents and mentors. People may not appreciate what we are doing. We may suffer failures, financial disasters, loss of jobs etc. We may not be considered great administrators. We may feel despondent in our work because of failures. But we should remember that we are following Jesus. His path to success is through the way of the cross.

Never be afraid of failures. The cross is our road to hope and success.

Lent,4th S,March27,11,Mt.21:33-46

Lent,4th S,March 27,11

(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 accept Jesus as the Savior of our lives. The moment of conversion is near us and it would be foolish to refuse to accept Jesus in our lives. We are running after mirages of worldly glory and prosperity.

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.”

Lent,2nd S,March 13,11,Mt.7:15-27

Lent 2nd S.March 13,11

(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 cheats and deceivers. There is no conformity between their words and actions. They don’t live according to their faith. Jesus warns us to avoid 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. People who are essentially bad can never produce good actions. Actions may appear to be good but they are inherently defective.

Jesus, hence, 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.

It is not the words that one speaks but the actions that one does that count in the eyes of God. Those who listen to the words of Jesus and live by those words will have definitely a strong spiritual foundation. They will able to withstand the power of the evil.

In a 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 guided by our faith in God.

Many a time what happens in our life is that we keep a distinct polarity between our faith and daily life. Many of our words and actions come from our selfishness and arrogance. Even when we act in the name of Christ, we are actually acting through our selfish motives. That is why those Christians who are in authoritative positions are such bad specimens of Christ and fail to draw people to Him. We can do all kinds of spiritual exercises in the name of Christ but if they are devoid of the soul of love and compassion, they are worthless.

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, 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 our Lord.