Easter 2nd S,May 1,11

Easter,2nd S,May 1,11

Easter 2^nd S,May 1,11

(Jn. 20:19-29)

In the last few days, we were reflecting on and reliving some of the important moments in the life of Jesus as well as in the history of our salvation. If Lent was a time of introspection and purification, Easter is the time for renewal and dedication. We become more assured of the continued protection of the Risen Jesus in the various events and activities of our lives during this season of Easter.

In today’s Gospel from St. John, we read an account of the first appearance of Jesus to the apostles In his first appearance, Jesus offers them greetings of peace and shows the wounds and scars in his body. The apostles seeing the wounds and scars realize right away that the same Jesus who walked with them and who suffered crucifixion is the one standing before them. Jesus breathes into them the Spirit of life by telling them to receive the Holy Spirit. He gives them the power to forgive sins .The apostle, Thomas, is not with them and, hence, he refuses to believe that Jesus had risen unless he can prove it physically by touching the body of Jesus. Jesus again appears before the group when Thomas is with them and asks him to come and put his finger in his wounds and to believe that He had risen. Thomas realizes that he is before God Almighty and exclaims, “My Lord and My God,” acknowledging Jesus as the Lord of the Universe.

What Jesus offers them is peace, a life without fear, a life in union with Him .It is the same peace that He offers to each one of us. “Christ’s peace should cast out the fear that runs the world and too easily takes our imagination captive”. In the glow of Christ’s peace, the fear that chills our hearts and creates ill will and hostility among our neighbors should dissipate.

Caught in the hardships and struggles of life, we look for help and protection. In the midst of defeats and failures, we want support and encouragement. Our faith in the Lord Jesus offers the support and encouragement we look forward in life.

Resurrection of Jesus offers us His abiding protection. He is alive in the Universe. He will not abandon us.

He also wants us to continue the ministry of forgiveness and healing that He carried out during his earthly life. As he told the apostles to go and reconcile people, so also he is asking us to be instrument s of peace and reconciliation among the people with whom we live.

“Christ’s peace is a costly gift that demands radical conversion. Because that peace is all embracing, it rips away our prejudices and tears asunder the protective walls that afford us comfortable assurance.”(America Magazine, April 25,11)

This Easter season should be the beginning of a new life, a life dedicated to love and forgiveness. Without love and forgiveness, Christian life will be an empty shell, a walking shadow, a hollow stuff. As T.S. Eliot puts it, “we will be hollow men” if we don’t have love and forgiveness in our hearts.

Speaking of service(diaconia) as an essential feature of the Church, Cardinal Kaspar in his book “Leadership in the Church”, says : “ The Church is alive where the corporal works of mercy are performed…The Church is likewise alive where the spiritual works of mercy are performed: correcting sinners, teaching the ignorant…gladly forgiving those who insult us….”

What is needed, hence, is a reinforcement of forgiveness and compassion in our relationships with others. Easter becomes a reality when we can offer peace to one another in all honesty and truthfulness.

We remember also at this time all those who have lost their lives and homes in the great disaster that was wreaked upon the South of the country by a series of tornadoes. Their Easter peace was shattered. Through our prayers and monetary helps we shall try to restore some kind of semblance of peace in their hearts seething with anger and sorrow.

(The Greek word used here for peace is "eirene"which indicates a messianic blessing brought about by the grace and loving mind of God. It produces a new relationship with God, removing all traces of distress caused by sin.)

Easter 11

Easter,Apr.24,11

Jn.20.1-18

Easter always arouses in our hearts feelings of hope and joy. The spring is around us. There is more day light and there is a silent stirring in the hidden lives of plants and trees. Flowers and leaves are about to explode into their full bloom before our eyes soon. Nature which was hiding under the cover of the shadow of winter is coming out in its full power and glory. It is natural for one to feel exuberant and happy at this time.

The passage from the Gospel is a marvelous account of the impact of the resurrection.

There was a feeling of emptiness, helplessness, of sorrow, of having lost everything among the disciples. May Magdalene came to the tomb to pay her final respects and to embalm the body again. It id not cross her mind that Jesus would rise from the tomb The apostles also did not think that Jesus would arise. If Jesus were God, he would have struck the soldiers dead and would not have allowed himself to die so shamefully, they thought. They were engaged in their routine tasks of their daily lives, but kept the company of one another.

May found an empty tomb. She right away thought that they had taken him away. She rushed to the Apostles. She did not say he was risen but only that they had taken the Lord away.

The apostles ran to the tomb, for another meeting with failure and disaster. But when they came, they looked into the tomb and found all the clothes neatly folded. It struck them all of a sudden that Jesus was not taken away but that He had risen. All the words of Jesus about His resurrection came alive in their minds. They believed.

May stood crying and looking for Jesus. Then, Jesus appeared to her. Jesus called her in the way he always called her: “Mary.” That was enough for her to recognize Jesus. She heard the same voice and the same tone. She could not stand the ground any more. Joyfully she burst out: “Teacher.”

She came back and told the apostles: “I have seen the Lord.”

It is in emptiness, loneliness and in suffering that we can experience the Lord.

We often think of our failures and sufferings as painful situations. But they are the events that open the door of life to Jesus. Once we experience Him in these situations, nothing can take away the joy from our life.

Through our failures, tragedies, painful and agonizing events…when things turn bad for us, when others insult us, when we are not appreciated, when we think we cannot do anything and that we don’t have the talents…. Jesus comes into our lives, calls us by our name and lets us know that He loves us.

The resurrection of Jesus gives us hope, hope that no one can take way from our lives---hope that grows and strengthens our lives.

Resurrection is the corner stone of our faith. St. Paul said: “ If Christ had not risen, our faith would be in vain.”(1Cor.15:15) If Jesus had not arisen, his life would be similar to that of any prophets or teachers the world has seen. Jesus established his power over death and destruction---proved himself to be the Lord of the Universe through his Resurrection.

Empty tomb is a challenge to all of us to reawaken our faith in Jesus It is a call for a total assent from our part to His presence in our midst.

Jesus speaks to each one of us as he spoke to Thomas: “Come and put your finger in my wounds and believe.” It is a call to faith. If we believe in the resurrection of Jesus , believe in his presence in our midst, then our attitudes and behavior would definitely have to undergo deep change.

For many of us, resurrection has not happened as a personal experience. We remain entombed in our selfishness. The tomb has to become empty today. The stone of indifference has to be rolled away from our lives. The dazzling spectacle of Jesus rising from the tomb of selfishness has to happen in our lives.

Palm Sunday,April 17,11

Palm Sunday,April17,11

(Mt.21:1-17)

In 1980, Archbishop Romero of El Salvador in one of his sermons to his people spoke of the harvest that comes because of the grain that dies. Right after those words, as he was celebrating the mass, holding the Body of Jesus in his hands, he was shot dead by some rogue members of the military. His blood got mixed with the Body of Jesus. The Archbishop gave his life to protect the defenseless lives of his people in imitation of his Lord and Master, Jesus Christ. The sacrifice of his life was an act of love.

Today as we celebrate the Palm the Sunday, the gateway to the Holy Week, the great week celebrating the Passion, death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, we become reminded once again of the great sacrifice that Jesus has made out of his immense love for each one of us.

Let us recall for a moment what happened on the Palm Sunday. Fulfilling of the prophecy made by the Prophet Zechariah (Zec 9,9) that emphasizes the humility of the king who comes, Jesus rode on a donkey, indicating that he was no earthly king, but a person of peace.

(The fulfillment is composed of two distinct OT texts, Is. 62,11(“Say to the daughter of Zion”) and Zec.9,9. “The ass and the colt are the same animal in the prophecy, mentioned twice in different ways, the common Hebrew literary device of poetic parallelism. Matthew takes them as two”)

He rode into Jerusalem and the people acclaimed him with shouts of joy. Garments and branches of trees were spread on the street and people shouted “ Hosanna to the Son of David.”(Ps.118,25).(Hosanna, a Hebrew acclamation meaning “Save us”(2 Sam 14:4,Ps.118:25) and “ Blessed is he …from Ps.118:26, the last of the Hallel Ps(113-118)).

Jesus entered the temple, and as today’s Gospel describes, he cleansed it by driving out the merchants and stopping the commercial dealings that were done there .He healed many who were sick and suffering.

This was a decisive moment in his life. He knew these shouts of acclamations would disappear and they would clamor for his blood. Those branches and leaves that were spread as a red carpet to receive him would turn out to be instruments of torment. The shouts and acclamations would reverberate later as “Crucify him”, “Crucify him.” But Jesus was undeterred in his march towards the goal of his life. What mattered to Jesus was not the opinion of the people but his obedience to the will of God.

Palm Sunday is in fact the celebration of his obedience to the will of the Heavenly Father. He has told his disciples that it was necessary for the Son of Man to suffer(Lk.24:46). But when he is lifted up from the earth, he will draw all to himself (Jn.12.32). But it is necessary for the Son of Man to suffer and die. That is the will of the Heavenly Father. Nothing can deter him from that goal.

The suffering and death of Jesus turn everything upside down. The power of death is shattered forever. The cross, instead of becoming a sign of derision, has become a symbol of hope and joy.

The outstretched hands of Jesus on the Cross are the hands that offer us comfort and healing. We shall not allow ourselves to be distracted by the obstacles and hardships that pop up in our way. As long as Jesus is with us, we can overcome those obstacles. Whatever that looms large as imponderables before us will melt like ice when the power of His grace is present in our hearts. When He is beside us, we can sing in our hearts songs of joy because no power on earth will have any hold on our lives.

The cross is our symbol of hope and confidence. Our tragedies and our pains don’t go unanswered. They will be transformed by the power of the cross into sources of grace for us.

The cross is a constant reassurance of God’s continuing love for us. In spite of our sins and failures, God’s love reaches out to us and reminds us that it is for us that He died to give us hope. It is a reminder that we will never be abandoned.

Let this Holy Week be an occasion for us to feel that once we carry the cross of our life with him on our side, our steps will not falter and He will be there to hold us in His arms.

Lent,6th S,April 10,11

Lent,6thS,April 10,11

Lent 6^th S, April 10,11

(Jn.10:11-18)

We are gathered today under the shadow of the passing away of our beloved Major Archbishop, Mar Varkey Cardinal Vithayathil.

To all those who knew him, he was a man of inestimable love and openness. The concern and sensitivity he showed to the people who visited him are unmatchable. Through his words and actions he brought the love of Jesus to heal and comfort every one who felt hurt and put down. The transparency and openness he exhibited in his life can never be forgotten. Words of love and concern tumbled down from his lips. His monastic simplicity and loving concern were evident to every one who came into contact with him. He was a genuine shepherd to his people.

Today as we reflect on the words of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, we can find a good example of that shepherding in the life of our Major Archbishop.

God as a Shepherd is a concept that is familiar to every Jewish heart. Jesus in today’s Gospel evokes all those loving and comforting images when He tells his listeners that he is the Good Shepherd and he would lay down his life for the sheep. It is not just green pastures and water that he is offering. He is offering Himself and all that is implied by that sacrifice.

The Israelites were very familiar with the lives of shepherds and they were aware that a real shepherd would recognize his sheep and the sheep would also recognize his voice. It was a custom in those days for sheep belonging to different shepherds to be enclosed together in one pen. Each shepherd would call his sheep and the sheep would recognize his voice and go out with him. Using that image, Jesus reminds his listeners that He is close to His followers and that He would sacrifice his life for them.

This parable of the Good Shepherd gives us hints of the warmth of the love that Jesus has for his followers.

Jesus is our Savior and He will guide us through the right paths. He will protect us from our enemies. He will comfort us in our troubled times. He will be with us in our most vulnerable moments. He will carry us in his arms when it is difficult for us to walk the paths of life. His love will always envelop us.

During the season of Lent, we become very much aware of the suffering and death of Jesus for our salvation. We become once more reminded of the immense love that Jesus has for each one of us. He will never abandon us and will always be with us in the darkest moments of our lives.

The parable also is a reminder to each one of us to become good shepherds to our neighbors. We are given different tasks in our lives. We interact with so many people in our lives. We can be distinctively different in those daily interactions. We can pour the oil of love and comfort into our dealings with people. To be a caring husband, a loving father, or a sensitive administrator is something that we can do in our lives. People will recognize then that we are different.

Can we be good shepherds to the people who are entrusted to our care? There is a beautiful novel written by Tony Hendra called, ”Father Joe: the Man Who Saved My Soul.” Fr. Joe, a Benedictine Monk was the constant in his life during all the troubled times of his life. When his marriage failed and when he became a failure in his journalistic profession as well as in personal life, he went to Fr. Joe asking him the permission to join the monastery. Joe told him to go back and become a better husband and a better father to his children.

Yes, we can be good shepherds. Our family life and our life in the community will undergo a sea change if we can turn out to be loving and caring to those who are entrusted to our care.

Lent 5th S,April 3,11,Jn.8:12-20

Lent 5^th S, April 3,11

(Jn.8:12-20)

In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks about his identity with God the Father and speaks of himself as the Light of the World, the Savior, who has come to redeem mankind. He calls upon his listeners to understand His identity and commit themselves to Him.

The inner area of the Temple contained three Courts. The Easternmost court was the Court of the Women and it contained the Temple treasury. During the Feast of Tabernacles when all the Jews were expected to come to Jerusalem and live in booths, remembering the time they spent in the desert, the Temple would be illuminated with lights and torches. Those lights also reminded them of their expectation of the coming of the Christ.

It is in the background of the lights, standing near the Treasury, during the festival days of the Feast of the Tabernacles, that Jesus announces himself as the Light of the world and asks his listeners to accept this light and not to walk in darkness.

The listeners are earthbound and they do not understand that Jesus is proclaiming himself as the Christ, the hope of their lives and the fulfillment of their dreams. Instead of opening the eyes of their minds and seeing Jesus as the Christ, they begin to question him as to his origin, identity etc. Jesus uses their own legal requirements (Dt.17:6) to show that he is not revealing these great truths on his own authority only but also on the authority of the God the Father. The Father is also testifying on his behalf through the works he is doing and the words he is uttering. To their query as to where his Father is, Jesus tells them that seeing him is seeing the Father. He and the Father are one. He reveals, thus, his identity with God the Father.

But their eyes remain closed. They do not want to accept the news of the salvation. They are unwilling to commit themselves to Jesus.

What does this passage mean for us? Is Jesus the light of our lives? Are we willing to walk in the light of our faith? Are we willing to commit ourselves to Jesus or are we looking for excuses to refuse to commit ourselves to Him?

The decision is ours to make. It is a personal decision. We have to make a choice. We have to decide whether we want to live according to the teachings of the Lord or according to the teachings of the world. Our commitment to Jesus would involve dramatic changes in our outlooks.

Often we don’t enjoy peace and joy in our lives because we are very arrogant and unforgiving. Most of the conflicts in the heart of our families do come from our arrogance and selfishness. We never give God a chance to remake our lives. We never examine our attitudes and decisions in the light of our faith in Jesus.

What is lacking in our lives is this willingness to walk in the light of faith in Jesus Christ. It is sad and disappointing that in spite of the great teachings of Jesus on love and forgiveness, Christians are very remiss in living according to those teachings. Churches and communities, parishes and religious organizations are too much pervaded by the spirit of the world and hence there exist too much division and antagonism among them. We don’t find our people compassionate and forgiving. The compassion and love that come ebbing out of the words of Jesus to the woman caught in adultery “ Don’t sin. I don’t condemn you” are absent from our spiritual vocabulary.

This Lent offers us a golden opportunity to reshape our attitudes and become people of great compassion and love.

Thomas Merton points out beautifully well the impact of love in the following words: “When we love the other, we obtain from God the key to our understanding of who he is and who we are.”

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.”