Sleeha 6thS,June 27,10

Sleeha 6^th S,June 27,10

(Lk.12:57-13:9)

In today’s Gospel, Our Lord speaks about the need for repentance by mentioning two tragic events that took the lives of a few people known to his listeners. Jesus knew what was going on in their minds. For, many were under the impression that these tragic and untimely deaths were due to some great sins they had committed and that their deaths were the punishments God meted out to them. Jesus lets them know that accidents would happen and that their deaths were not at all due to their sins. He uses the occasion to let them know that one should always be prepared for any eventuality that would happen in one’s life. Real deaths happen when we lose our eternal life.

People are asked, hence, to give up sins, to repent and come back to their faith in God. What is important is living according to the will of God. It is not death that has the final say on our lives but it is the way that we live that determines our eternal life. Hence, Jesus makes a direct appeal to his listeners to eschew their hard heartedness and obstinacy and accept him as their Savior and return to their filial relationship with God.

Jesus uses a very vivid example to show them how necessary it is to live according to the will of God. We become fruitful when we fulfill our purpose in life which is to live according to the will of God. It is not by indulging in sinful actions and refusing to accept God that we fulfill the purpose in our life. When we live a righteous life and live in obedience to God’s will, we produce fruit in our lives. Also it is a warning to Israel as a nation to change its attitude and accept Jesus as their Savior. Israel is the fig tree in God’s vineyard and if it does not produce fruit, it is not fulfilling the purpose for which it was created and would lose its relevance. Israel would be rejected.

Today’s Gospel, hence, is a powerful appeal to each one of us to come to repentance and to return to the Lord. We do not have to wait and dither. Just as the Galileans who were killed by Pilate and the people who lost their lives because of the fall of the tower at Siloam, we too may encounter tragedies in our lives. What is important is our readiness in life to meet any eventuality. The choice is ours. We can make that decision whether to live according to our Lord’s teachings, or to pursue the path of selfishness and arrogance.

We can go criticizing the Church and not practicing a prayer life. We can stop participating in the Eucharistic celebrations and live a life full of vengeance and hatred. Or we can change our ways and accept the Lord in our life and lead a good life, inspiring our families to live according to the teachings of Jesus.

Time and tide wait for none. It is our duty to seize the opportunity and make changes in our lives. The sacrament of Confession offers us the opportunity to show repentance and accept forgiveness and begin a new chapter in our life. All of us are weak and fragile. We fall and fail. No one is born a saint. The struggle to become perfect is never over; it is an ongoing struggle. But the Lord offers us the opportunity to repent and to be made whole. The love and compassion of the Lord are always there. He is ready to forgive and accept us when we return to him in repentance.

As G.K. Chesterton has said, “Man is straighter when he bends and taller when he bows.” It is in our humility and repentance that we become worthy of God’s grace.

Sleeha,5thS,June20,10

Sleeha 5^th S,June20,10

(Lk.12:16-34)

According to Deuteronomy, 21:17, when the family property is divided between heirs, the eldest gets double the portion of the younger one’s. When disputes arise, they approach the Rabbi for the resolution of the dispute.

It is in this spirit that one man approached Jesus for help in the division of his family inheritance between him and his brother.

Jesus uses the occasion to give his views on property and on the providence of God.

Through a very telling parable Jesus shows how fragile are man’s relations with his wealth.

The parable is a very powerful one in making us aware that our hold on wealth is very brittle. The rich man thought that he could go on enjoying his good harvest by building more barns .He could store them and live for many years without any worry. There was no thought in his mind about the poor and the needy or of the need to help them. He was concerned only with his needs . He was under the belief that the abundance of material supplies would give him a longer hold on life. He never realized that he was dependent on God for his life. At any moment, his life would end in death. If life is so transient, how much more transient is our relationship with wealth. Jesus, thus, makes him understand that what is real is spiritual wealth--- our conformity with the will of God.

Jesus goes further to explain how necessary it is for man to depend on the loving providence of God. He asks his listeners to look at the birds of the air and the flowers of the earth around them. The beautiful flowers and the carefree birds are taken care of so lovingly that they bloom and fly without any anxiety and worry in their lives. No petal is plucked from the tiniest of flowers. None of them grows deformed. No birds are harmed in their flight. If God is so kind and generous to the little things of nature, how much more would He be to men who are the most beloved of his creatures. Jesus then shows the uselessness of worries and anxieties. He asks further whether it is possible for man to increase his height by an inch through his worries. It is God’s providence that takes care of us, gives us longevity of life and determines our stature. For every bit of our fragile life, we are dependent on God’s mercy.

Hence, what is important is growing rich in our relationship with God. That means , we have to be helpful and merciful We have to help the poor and the needy. When our neighbors are deprived of the bare necessities of life, it is not right in the eyes of God that we squander our wealth in unnecessary enjoyments of the luxuries of life. We have a responsibility to help the poor. We cannot just shirk that responsibility by saying that it is the job of the Government to take care of the poor. If we know that some one is suffering from hunger or from lack of financial support , we have to reach out to that person. Pope Paul V1 has spoken of this very eloquently in his Encyclical, “Populorum Progessio: “ Increased possession is not the ultimate goal of nations nor of individuals….The exclusive pursuit of possessions thus becomes an obstacle to individual fulfillment and to man’s true greatness.”

What He tries to make us realize is that it is not material wealth that is important. Beyond sustaining our physical needs, it has no value in our lives. We should never become salves to our wealth or talents. We are just their stewards and custodians. We have to use the surplus for the welfare of others.

Jesus knows man is prone to worries. Hence he gives us very strong assurances of Gods protection in our lives.

Sleeha 4th S.June 13,10

Sleeha 4th S,June 13,10

(Lk.6:27-42)

General Douglas Mac Arthur addressing the cadets of the West Point, in his booming voice, spoke to them about duty, honor and country and told them that those words described what they ought to be, could be and would be in life. He added that these would be their rallying points, helping them to have courage when courage would fail , to have faith when there would be no reason for faith, and to keep their hope alive when there would be nothing to hope for. Those words, in the eyes of Mac Arthur, are words of the hope and life of every American soldier. If we can just turn around and ask ourselves what the rallying words of our lives would be as Christians and what words Jesus would offer us to keep our lives alive, we would find them in today’s Gospel.

In the reading from the Gospel, we find Jesus addressing his listeners, asking them to love their enemies, to do good to those who would hate them, to bless those who would maltreat them and not to judge people.

Many of the contemporaries of Jesus were waiting for a political liberator who would free them the Roman occupation through force. They expected a political liberation from Jesus. But the liberation that Jesus offered them was not by force but through love. It was a new world view for them. Jesus wanted the liberation to start from one’s own personal life. The change should happen in one’s heart. It is through love, forgiveness and mercy that one would have to bring about changes in lives as well as in the world.

The words from today’s Gospel thus set before us a way of life that is deeply desired by Jesus. The natural bent of our lives to hate those who hate us and to bless those who bless us. We want to retain our grievances against those hold grudges against us. But Jesus wants us to go against the grain of our lives and make a turn around. It is this call of Jesus that changed the lives of Francis of Assisi and Mother Teresa.

Today Jesus wants us to make a deep change in the way we react to situations around us. Our words and actions should come from love and we should focus on forgiveness and mercy.

Jesus thus offers us two guidelines for spiritual transformation in our lives:

1. Do unto others as we would have them do unto us. If we want to be respected and loved, we have to give respect and love first.

2. Confront our faults first. Before we go correcting others, we have to correct ourselves first. The more we forgive others, the more will be forgiven us.

Abp. Sheen points out very beautifully in this context by saying that our spiritual maturity consists in loving the other with the same love that we have for ourselves: “ We learn to walk by waling, to play by playing and to love by loving…Doing kind acts to people makes us find all people lovable. And if love is not there, we put it there and then every one becomes lovable.”

When we live by the words of Jesus, we no longer become bothered by the ill-will of others. The peace and joy in our heart depend on our willingness to follow Jesus in our lives. He alone is the anchor of our lives and he alone can give us the happiness that we want utmost in our lives.

Sleeha 3rd S,June6,10

Sleeha 3^rd S,June6,10

(Lk.10:25-37)

In today’s Gospel, in response to the lawyer’s question as to who will be saved, Jesus lays down his ideas on salvation and on the concept of a neighbor. The question of the lawyer is still relevant even after the lapse of so many centuries. That question is still in the hearts and minds of every one who thinks about the goal or destiny of one’s life.

The lawyer himself gives the answer, prodded by Jesus. Basing himself on the teachings from Dt.6:5, and Leviticus 19:18, he replies to Jesus that in order to attain salvation he has to love God totally and his neighbor as he loves himself. When Jesus accepts this thoughtful response, he wants to go further and probe the mind of Jesus on His understanding of the neighbor. So Jesus through the parable of the Good Samaritan explains the meaning of a neighbor. Jesus opens the door of love to all irrespective of one’s place of birth, nationality or status in life. Any one who is in need of our help is our neighbor.

The parable is very riveting on account of its details. The distance from Jerusalem to Jericho is 17 miles and it is a rugged road passing though very rocky and deserted areas. Robbers could hide there without being seen by the unwary travelers .It is a descending road.

As the traveler was attacked and left for dead, two persons, holding very important positions in the society passed him by. The priest and the levite are associated with Temple worship and they were afraid to care for the wounded man because if they touched a dead body, they won’t be able to offer worship in the Temple (Number 19:11-13).But only a Samaritan who was considered an outcast by the Jews came to help the bleeding man. Not only did he give him help but his help was very lavish. He carried him to the inn, took care of him and offered his own money for his care. His compassion and mercy were unbounded.

The priest and the levite represent us who have no time for others. We are wrapped in our own personal concerns that we don’t get time to be of help to those who are around us, the needy and the lonely. We concern ourselves with small issues and arguments and close our eyes to those around us. We don’t have the time to speak against evil and corruption; we get bogged down to our disputes about rights and privileges and about groups and clans.

Jesus broadens the concept of the neighbor and makes every one in need of our help as our neighbor. A true Christian would be always at the service of those who are need of help. We cannot just pass them by. Their wounds, their poverty, their joblessness, their lack of medical care etc are all our problems and would invite us to get involved in order to help them.

The parable teaches us “ that love knows no boundaries.” “Love reaches out to any in need, regardless of who the person is….the parable does not invite us to go out to risk our lives and become heroes. It invites us to reach out to risk our pride and become humans. It invites us to ask, “Can I help?”(Mark Links).

This parable opens a world of pure love and compassion , inviting us to get involved to help in order to create a world of peace and security for all.

The words of St. Vincent De Paul are very relevant: “Your cloister must be the streets of the city and your chapel the parish church”. We have to turn our attention to the needs of the people around us; we cannot shut ourselves in our closed world of spirituality. An authentic Christian will always be concerned with the needs of others.

Trinity Sunday,Sleeha 2nd S,May 30,10

Trinity Sunday,Sleeha,2^nd S,10

(Jn.16:12-15)

Today we celebrate the feast of the most Holy Trinity. In today’s Gospel, while speaking about the Holy Spirit who will be given to the disciples after his departure from the earth, Jesus mentions his identity with the Father as well as with the Holy Spirit.

In our faith journey from the time of our baptism until our death , it is in the name of the Father , the Son and the Holy Spirit that we are blessed and anointed. Our daily life begins with the sign of cross in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. Jesus, without resorting to any high flown language of rhetoric expresses very simply that God is three in one.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church points out that the Trinity is a “mystery of faith in the strict sense, one of the mysteries that are hidden in God, which can never be known unless they are revealed by God.” It is a mystery beyond our comprehension. We know it because Jesus has revealed it. It is incomprehensible because human reason is incapable of comprehending it.

Just as one cannot look at the Sun with naked eyes, so also one cannot understand the mystery of God with one’s intellect. St. Augustine in his book on the Trinity says: “Before You lies my knowledge and my ignorance; where you have opened to me, receive me as I come in; where you have shut me, open to me as I knock. Let me remember you, let me understand you, let me love you. Increase these things in me until you refashion me entirely.”

Sir Isaac Newton speaking of the vast vistas of knowledge that lie ahead of him as he tries to understand the mysteries of the Universe says: “ I do not know what I appear to the world but to myself I appear to have been like a little boy playing on the ocean shore…finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell…while the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.” If Newton felt so baffled and awed by the mysteries of the universe, there is no wonder that we would be really struck by sheer incomprehensibility while we try to grasp the mystery of the Trinity.

In trying to understand the mystery of the Holy Trinity, we often ask ourselves why Jesus should reveal this doctrine to us and whether we would be much more comfortable in knowing that God is one than knowing that God is three in one.

Our Lord has a purpose in revealing this mystery. If Jesus had not revealed this, we would never know that it is love that is in the heart of God. Jesus calls God as Father and wants us to call Him also as Father. To Philip who asked him to show the Father, Jesus responds by saying that seeing Him is seeing the Father. Jesus gives also an inkling into the love that is in the heart of God in the parable of Prodigal Son, one of the most beautiful parables in the Gospel. Without the son even asking for a meeting, the Father waits on the hill desiring intensely to meet him and pour his love lavishly on him. Jesus has summarized all his teachings and commandments into the commandment of love: “Love one another as I have loved you.” Nothing else is more important in his eyes than

a life based on love. Nothing else can transform human life except love.

Through the revelation of the mystery of the Trinity, Jesus invites us to replicate the love that is in the heart of God. He is asking us to live in love whatever may be our preoccupations, professions or states in life. In our homes, work places and social gatherings, the guiding motive for our actions and thoughts should be this unselfish concern for the well-being of the other person.

Christian societies and Christian families are often violently torn apart because of this lack of love, compassion and understanding. We are too much caught up in the spirit of the world that we become too aggressive in pursuing our selfish and personal ambitions to the detriment of the happiness of other people.

The celebration of the feast of the most Holy Trinity is an invitation to each one of us to become icons of love in the community in which we live. May the people who interact with us may feel and experience the Christian love that is in us which reaches out to others , seeking their well-being and goodness.

Pentecost, Sleeha 1st S,May 23,10.

Sleeha 1^st S,May 23,10

(Jn:16:5-15)

(Pentecost)

Today we celebrate the feast of the Pentecost. On this day we celebrate the founding of the Church, the first public gathering of the faithful who accepted Jesus as their Savior.

Pentecost is a Jewish Feast known as Shavout and it marked the end of the grain harvest. It was celebrated 50 days after the Passover, in commemoration of the Ten Commandments received by Moses on Mt. Sinai. It was on the day of the Pentecost that the disciples gathered in the Upper Room in prayer. As described in the Acts of the Apostles (2:1-4), as they gathered for prayers, tongues of fire descended on them and they were filled with the Holy Spirit. Immediately after, they became very strong and confident about their faith in Jesus and ventured out in public to speak about Jesus. Until that time, they felt cowardly to face the public, in spite of the assurances by given Jesus during His various appearances to them that He would be with them. On this day, Peter walked to the courtyard of the Temple and addressed the vast crowd thronging there speaking about Jesus and asking them to accept Him as their Savior.

On that day itself, some three thousand men accepted baptism and became the first members of the Church.

The feast of the Pentecost is an important day in the story and development of the Church. It is on that day that the Spirit promised by Jesus came to abide in the hearts and minds of the disciples and gave them the courage and confidence to speak on His behalf.

“The feast of Pentecost calls upon each one of us to practice the spiritual gifts we received at the time of our Confirmation. You and I can’t change the whole world. But we can change a part of it.”(Mark Link)

In today’s Gospel, in his farewell address to the disciples, Jesus speaks about the parting gift that He is going to give them: His own Spirit. In unambiguous words, he tells them that it is good that he goes away because He can send them the Holy Spirit. Jesus explains further what the Holy Spirit is going to do in their lives. He will enlighten their moral and religious awareness. The Holy Spirit will make them aware of the sin of the world in rejecting Jesus who is their Savior, will make them know how truthful Jesus is because of His identity with the Father revealed through His resurrection and Ascension and finally the condemnation of the world through its rejection of Jesus. The Holy Spirit will also open their minds and hearts to the plenitude of truth and they will be able to bear witness to Him and His message.

Jesus has given us a very powerful gift . The Spirit of God will be a constant presence in our lives. In times of darkness and defeat, we will never be alone. The Spirit of God will lighten our paths. In times of great mental anguish and pain, He will console our hearts. In times of crisis, He will show us the path to choose. Jesus, thus, asks us to be confident and hopeful in our lives. Whatever may be the problems and challenges we encounter in our lives, we are given the guidance and protection of the Holy Spirit. On this day when we celebrate the feast of the Pentecost, we shall reaffirm our faith in our Lord and regain our hope and confidence. We shall say with St. Paul, ”If God is for us, who can be against us?”(Rom:8,31).

Easter7thS,May16,10

Easter 7^th S,May16,10

(Mk.16:9-20)

Today’s reading from the Gospel of Mark gives a summary account of the various appearances of Jesus to the disciples after His Resurrection. The disciples were instructed, during His appearances to them, to go to all corners of the world to proclaim the Good News. They were also made witnesses to one of the most glorious events in the life of Jesus on earth—His Ascension.

Even though the Gospel narrative summarizes the event of the Ascension in a few words, we won’t be able to imagine the majesty, glory and awesomeness of the event of the Ascension. Seeing Jesus in His radiant glory ascending to His Father must have been a moment of great impact for them. It got stamped into their minds indelibly that Jesus was the Son of God, living in glory with his Heavenly Father and that every word of His was charged with Divine power. That witnessing to the glorious event of the Ascension dispelled all doubts about their ministry and they became bent upon preaching the Good News, whatever may be the consequences.

What is important to Jesus is their willingness to preach the Good News, continuing, thus, the ministry of His preaching and healing. Jesus wanted his disciples not only to preach the News but also to be of great assistance to people in their physical and emotional needs. They should expel demons in His name, heal the sick and drive away evil forces.

The task is entrusted now to all of us. We are the people who have to continue His ministry. The Gospel cannot just be kept under lock and key. It has to be revealed and proclaimed through our lives.

Recently our Holy Father in his talk to the journalists on his way to Portugal mentioned that the “sin is in the Church.” Those words have enormous ramifications. It is because of our failure to live as good Christians that people refuse to come to Jesus. There are all kinds of secular influences that try to denigrate the Christian faith because we have failed to live the Gospel in our lives. The rampant number of divorces among Christians is a mockery of the teachings of Jesus. The lack of compassion and forgiveness on the part of Christians in resolving disputes among themselves is another indication of the lack of authenticity in our Christian living.

It is through our mercy and forgiveness and through our compassion and love that we have to preach the Good News. We don’t have cross the oceans to preach the Gospel. We need just cross the street across our homes to speak a kind word to a sorrowing family, to offer assistance to the elderly, or to do errands for the shut-ins to preach the Gospel.

“The way to begin preaching Jesus to the world is to begin living Jesus in our own lives. Once we begin to do this, the message of Jesus will begin to ripple out across the world. And if enough Christians do it, that ripple will turn into a tidal wave, and that tidal wave will change the face of the earth in a way we never dreamed possible.”(Mark Link)

We can begin our evangelization from the four walls from our homes first. Creating an atmosphere of love and trust, we can prepare, thus, a few individuals under our care for the great work of spreading the Good News. By our merciful and loving interaction with the people in our work places or in our parishes, we can start the work of this new evangelization.

“What kind of civilization will prevail in the world’s future? It depends on us if it will be the civilization of love, or the “uncivililisation” of individualism.”(Pope John Paul II,February,1994.)