Mt 17.17: “Bring him [the boy] to me”. This was Jesus. The disciples of Jesus had tried their best to get the boy healed before Jesus came after his tryst with God, His Father at Jesus’ transfiguration event. But nothing came of it. So Jesus somewhat disappointed asked them to bring the boy to him.
I hear him say this to me and to all who are working with young people. When we are powerless to do for a boy or girl to heal them of any weakness, Jesus tells me: Bring him/her to ME! How often we like to do things on our own but some cases need lots more of faith.
This story is much more elaborate in Mark 9.14-29 with many more interesting details. For instance, when the apostles ask Jesus why they could not cast out the demon in the boy, Jesus replies “This kind [of devil] can only come out through prayer.” Mk 17,29. So to handle the possession of some of our young people can be healed only through faith and prayer. In this context recall what Jesus said in the Gospel of John 15.5: without me you can do nothing! Faith and prayer imply that we rely more on Jesus than on our own expertise or skills alone. Sure we need expertise and skills but they avail nothing unless we have faith and prayer.
As I reflect on this simple statement of Jesus, I see this invitation to parents, teachers in schools and colleges, formation centers, parishes, hostels, youth centres with teenage boys and girls, who are not easy to handle. Bring him/ her to ME. Bring her to me in prayer. Sit with him/her to listen to them to help them discern their problem area and after having done all we can for them we bring them to the Master for his touch.
I also feel that often when we fail to help our young people, we tend to blame them and their environment and companions and all sorts of imagined causes for their behavior seldom thinking that we might be part of the problem rather than the solution. This is when we take them to Jesus. This means also that we go along with them for we might need fixing more than the one we take to Jesus. It is very unflattering to realize that we need fixing too. In the Marcan narrative, the father of the boy realized that his faith was weak, so he prayed: “I do believe, help my unbelief” Mk 9.24. In our everyday language, we could paraphrase: I have some faith but it is so weak, so small, so ineffective. Please help me to grow in faith. Jesus says: come to me and I will help you increase your faith at least to the size of the mustard seed. Bring him/her to me. Come yourself to me. Bring me yourself, your weak faith and I can help to increase it.
Showing posts with label Bible Reflection. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bible Reflection. Show all posts
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
From Fr. Tom : We are God’s work of art, Reflections on Eph 2.10
For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Eph 2.10 NIV)
For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (ETV).
For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them.(NAB)
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them (RSV)
The best translation that I like goes like this: We are God’s work of art….
This is more expressive of the marvel that we all are (cf Ps 139). As I read this verse in preparation for this day’s (Monday of 29th Ord. week) Eucharist, it struck me right in my face! I am God’s work of art!!!!! Wow!!! Fantastic! Most of the time I, and like me many of us, am looking at the tapestry that God is weaving of me from the underside, the earthly side, the limited vision of my human fragility. Besides, the work is not over! God is at work on me and it will take my whole life time to complete the masterpiece that he is weaving or like an embroidery that is stretched out on its stand. We, like immature children, full of irrepressible curiosity creep in when the master artist is away from his studio to peep at the work! We get to see only the reverse. We are too much in a hurry to see who we are but we get to see only the underside with all its loose ends. But persons like Paul make us see the face of the embroidery and are more than convinced that they are still in the process of being made and are more than convinced that a masterpiece is in the making. Those million needle pricks are only signs that we are in the making. There will come a time when Jesus, the Master Artist, is through with his work and will present it to His Father as his gift to Him!
This made me realize what a marvelous self-image that Paul had of himself. We are not junk! God made us like Himself (Gen 1.26: Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness,….). When we put ourselves down, put others down for any reason whatever, we are giving great displeasure to our Maker, the Master Artist! We do not appreciate his work of art! It shows us in a very poor light. It would only show how poor we are as artists! This is why we must refrain from judging others, we must be non-judgmental (cf Mt 7.1-5). They like us are in the making. The whole of Scripture is inviting us to this view of God about us. This may give us idea why God never gives up on anyone of us.
I do not know if you have seen any really fine mosaic art. I have seen some of the best in St. Peter’s Basilica, in the Vatican, Rome. It is made of thousands of small pieces of different coloured marble all pieced together to form a masterpiece of art. In many ways the person must be a consummate artist, even more accomplished than the one who works with paints and brushes on canvas or one who chisels out a statue from a block of marble. This is where the genius comes into play: to choose the perfect piece to fit that exact spot in the picture. We are all mosaics, made of broken pieces of our lives. God never gives up on us. He is at work in us all the time. St. Augustine, who had messed up his early life and was saved by the tears of his saintly mother Monica, could appreciate what God did for him. God, the perfect artist, took hold of his broken life and made a masterpiece of him as we all know. The same can be said of Paul, Mary Magdalene and the Samaritan woman at the well. It also happens to all or most of us. You and I are works of art of the greatest Artist of all time – God.
In the art world, huge sums of money are involved when the work of a master are auctioned. The greater the artist, the more money the masterpiece will fetch. It is no wonder that God’s Son, Jesus, paid with his most precious blood for purchasing our most valuable souls from the tyranny of Satan. Satan, wicked as he is, knows fully well the preciousness of our souls. That is why he will move every force on earth and hell to get the control of even one soul. Now we can understand and appreciate why the Lord appears countless times to chosen souls to convince us and offer us every divine means to save our souls. This is why the great Apostle of the Gentiles, Paul, risked his name and fame, even his very life, to convince us to save our souls from eternal damnation. This made St. Francis de Sales, that intrepid missionary of the Chablais, exclaim with ardent zeal for souls: Give me souls, take away the rest. Don Bosco, hunter of souls, repeated the slogan with his life and works.
For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (ETV).
For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them.(NAB)
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them (RSV)
The best translation that I like goes like this: We are God’s work of art….
This is more expressive of the marvel that we all are (cf Ps 139). As I read this verse in preparation for this day’s (Monday of 29th Ord. week) Eucharist, it struck me right in my face! I am God’s work of art!!!!! Wow!!! Fantastic! Most of the time I, and like me many of us, am looking at the tapestry that God is weaving of me from the underside, the earthly side, the limited vision of my human fragility. Besides, the work is not over! God is at work on me and it will take my whole life time to complete the masterpiece that he is weaving or like an embroidery that is stretched out on its stand. We, like immature children, full of irrepressible curiosity creep in when the master artist is away from his studio to peep at the work! We get to see only the reverse. We are too much in a hurry to see who we are but we get to see only the underside with all its loose ends. But persons like Paul make us see the face of the embroidery and are more than convinced that they are still in the process of being made and are more than convinced that a masterpiece is in the making. Those million needle pricks are only signs that we are in the making. There will come a time when Jesus, the Master Artist, is through with his work and will present it to His Father as his gift to Him!
This made me realize what a marvelous self-image that Paul had of himself. We are not junk! God made us like Himself (Gen 1.26: Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness,….). When we put ourselves down, put others down for any reason whatever, we are giving great displeasure to our Maker, the Master Artist! We do not appreciate his work of art! It shows us in a very poor light. It would only show how poor we are as artists! This is why we must refrain from judging others, we must be non-judgmental (cf Mt 7.1-5). They like us are in the making. The whole of Scripture is inviting us to this view of God about us. This may give us idea why God never gives up on anyone of us.
I do not know if you have seen any really fine mosaic art. I have seen some of the best in St. Peter’s Basilica, in the Vatican, Rome. It is made of thousands of small pieces of different coloured marble all pieced together to form a masterpiece of art. In many ways the person must be a consummate artist, even more accomplished than the one who works with paints and brushes on canvas or one who chisels out a statue from a block of marble. This is where the genius comes into play: to choose the perfect piece to fit that exact spot in the picture. We are all mosaics, made of broken pieces of our lives. God never gives up on us. He is at work in us all the time. St. Augustine, who had messed up his early life and was saved by the tears of his saintly mother Monica, could appreciate what God did for him. God, the perfect artist, took hold of his broken life and made a masterpiece of him as we all know. The same can be said of Paul, Mary Magdalene and the Samaritan woman at the well. It also happens to all or most of us. You and I are works of art of the greatest Artist of all time – God.
In the art world, huge sums of money are involved when the work of a master are auctioned. The greater the artist, the more money the masterpiece will fetch. It is no wonder that God’s Son, Jesus, paid with his most precious blood for purchasing our most valuable souls from the tyranny of Satan. Satan, wicked as he is, knows fully well the preciousness of our souls. That is why he will move every force on earth and hell to get the control of even one soul. Now we can understand and appreciate why the Lord appears countless times to chosen souls to convince us and offer us every divine means to save our souls. This is why the great Apostle of the Gentiles, Paul, risked his name and fame, even his very life, to convince us to save our souls from eternal damnation. This made St. Francis de Sales, that intrepid missionary of the Chablais, exclaim with ardent zeal for souls: Give me souls, take away the rest. Don Bosco, hunter of souls, repeated the slogan with his life and works.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Bible Reflections from Fr.Tom Luke 6:45
It is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks” Lk 6. 45c
There are several other renderings of the same passage: “For a man’s words flow out of what fills the heart (NAB). “For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of” (ETV).
Jesus was speaking in the context of giving principles of life that should guide a Christian. Just before this he spoke of the good tree giving good fruits and bad tree giving bad fruit. This sentence we are figuring out is a beautiful summary of it. It is another principle of life to guide ourselves by. You give what you have.
I recall an incident from the era of the infamous Berlin Wall that separated the Communist “heaven” of the East Berlin from the free West Berlin. Barbed wires and armed guards with fierce hounds on leash prevented those from outside to get in nor allow those inside “heaven” to get out. The life in East Berlin was horrible, many risked their lives to get out to the free world. Many died in the attempt. Guards marched up and down the artificial separation, day in and day out. As could be imagined, the soldiers often became quite bored of this task they had to do. They sought some relaxation. So the soldiers on the East Berlin side made a parcel of some very filthy things, packaged it nicely and threw it over the wire fence. Soldiers parading along the West Berlin side, more to help the escapees than to guard, picked up the parcel. When they opened it they were deeply disgusted. They wanted to play the game, so they went to market and bought lovely chocolates, toffees, and goodies that were hard to come by in “heaven” and made a parcel of it and threw it across with a note attached: “ Everyone gives what he has most”!
We cannot give what we have not. From the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. If your heart is full of venom, hatred, violence, rape, murder, and abuse, it will surely pour out when they can act out these ideas with impunity. Godara and Orissa are fresh examples of this. If your heart is full of love, forgiveness, peace, joy and brotherliness, it is sure to pour out when there is need for it. Jesus was full of forgiveness and love, so in his final moments of extreme agony on the cross when one would have expected him to get engrossed in his own agony, but he cried out those immortal words: “ Father, forgive them for they know now what they do” (Lk 23.34, cf.23.43). Jesus’ heart was full of this forgiveness, so no wonder that is what poured out of him in his final hours of suffering. That was how Stephen died, with forgiveness on his lips for his murderers (Acts 7.60).
This is why St. Paul writing to his Christians of Philippi urged them: Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you (Phil 4.8-9).
Paul earlier in the same letter to his dear Philippians asked them to have the mind of Christ: “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus…..” Phil 2.5.
Our Christian formation must be to fill our hearts and minds with the spirit and “mind” of Christ. In a world filled with values and maxims contrary to Christ’s values, we need to heed the advice of Paul to his Christians of Philippi quoted above. While we live in the world we must not allow its values of exploitation, pleasure seeking, deceit, murder and the like to invade our hearts (cf Rom 7.7-25). Be careful of what you listen to, read, speak about and think about. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…. (Rom 12.2)..Be careful of what you watch especially in the internet. How many young people have had to shed bitter tears for having allowed themselves to indulge themselves in it “for just once!” What we watch in the quiet of our rooms and cells and internet caffes, have a tendency to get chiseled into our minds with terrible consequences. Remember how fragile we are: 2 Cor 7.7. Unconsciously the venom is sure to worm its way in your heart. It is very difficult to get ourselves detoxified of it except by the Blood of Christ. So be aware! Be warned!
Bible Reflections from Fr.Tom on Psalm 119, 130
“The unfolding of your word gives light. It teaches the simple.”
Ps 119, 130.
Unfolding of your word: the first image that comes to mind is unfolding our clothes before we can wear them. So is the word of God. The Word of God must be unfolded, opened up, unraveled, explained so that we can understand them. Often we are too lazy, too languid and too uninterested to take the trouble to reflect on the word and make it digestible. It is like the food we eat, unless it is digested, it can do us grave harm to our health. So also, the Word of God unless we take the trouble to ‘unfold’ it, it remains useless for us. Jesus explained that the seed of God’s word not understood would be stolen by the birds of the air if they fell on the foot path of life ( cf Mt 13.19).
Word of God must be received with joy and humility and treasure it in the heart and meditate on it. Mother Mary is the model of this attitude. Of her Luke says: Mary remembered all these things and thought deeply about them” Lk 2.19 (cf Ps 119.15: I meditate on your preceptsand consider your ways..) She remembered them and thought deeply about them. This is the process of unfolding. Thought deeply: this is meditating. Some one has aptly said: if you know how to worry, you know how to meditate. Meditating is turning over an idea in our mind over and over again – as we do when we worry – until the idea becomes clearer and clearer with time. “By simple definition, meditation is continued or extended contemplation, especially of a spiritual or devotional nature. In practical terms, meditation involves concentrating on a single thought or mental image to the exclusion of all others.”
Our modern world militates against this process: we want precooked food, instant noodles and coffee and the like. We do not want to take the trouble to weigh, think and assimilate the word we hear. To us, alas, can be applied what Jesus lamented in Mt 13. 13-16. Jesus was saying why he speaks to the crowds in parables. Parables need unfolding to understand: 13This is why I speak to them in parables: "Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. 14In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: " 'You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. 15For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.] 16But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.
There is another malaise: surfeit of information. We are bombarded with an avalanche of information that was never available before. We hardly digest the message we have just received when another one comes with pressing urgency. In order to do what Mother Mary did we need silence of the heart and mind to receive the word of God and profit from it. We need to become more and more choosy about what we expose ourselves to; choosy in what we want to receive and choosy in what we want to meditate upon.
The Word of God is quite unlike human word. We need the help of the Holy Spirit to listen, treasure, ponder over and put it into practice. We need the Lord to open our minds (Lk 24.45; Acts 16.14) to hear and be transformed. Then the word of God becomes light that lightens our path: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (Ps 119.105).
Such wisdom is available only for the simple hearted, the humble of spirit, those who hunger and thirst for God’s word: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled (Mt 5.6).
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
The secrets of the Heart from Fr.Tom
“God who knows the secrets of the heart?” Ps 44.22.
I am of the opinion, that if the Holy Spirit were to inspire us to understand the full import of this verse, I think our lives would dramatically change. If we were to be deeply aware and convinced that God knows every intention, desire and motive of our every action and wish, we would be mighty careful of what we do, say and desire. God will expose the motives of men’s hearts: 1 Cor 4.5: He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. Let us explore this further.
When Holy Scripture uses the word “ Heart” it means the inmost part of our make up as human beings. It is the very essence of our being, emotions and sensibilities. We might now call it our soul, our spirit. That is why when we say that we love someone with our whole heart, we mean that we love that person very dearly, very deeply from the depths of our being. That is how God wants to be loved: with our whole hearts: Deut 6.5: “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”
For Jesus, the heart is the source of our being and acting. “Mt.15.19.For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. Again: Mt 6. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Sin begins in the heart: Mt 5. 28.But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Our hearts can be sinful and sullied by sin. Human heart can be very deceitful: Jer 17. 9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? So in Ps. 51. 10 we pray with the psalmist: Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. In the beatitudes, Jesus tells us that those who have clean, pure heart will see God: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God (Mt 5.8). This is why we need to have clean hearts. Since sin sullies our hearts, we need to shun sin as a plague, as a venomous serpent.
Sinful hearts can be purified by the word of God: “You have been made clean already by the teaching I have given you” Jn 15.3. This is why we need to keep the word of God in our hearts like our Blessed Mother: “But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart (Lk 2.19). So it is not enough to hear or read the word of God but we need to understand it (St Mat. 13.19: “When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart”.
Jesus was deeply aware of what the Pharisees and the Scribes were thinking and the motives of their actions. So in Mt 23. 1-36. It is a sad reading. They who thought were serving God ended up doing exactly the opposite because their hearts were perverse. We had better take care lest we be indicted too.
Let us end with a prayer for a change of heart as he did for Saul: 1 Sam 10.9: As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul's heart…” Lord change my heart too. Or better ask the Lord for a new heart and a new spirit: Ezechiel 36. 25 “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”
I am of the opinion, that if the Holy Spirit were to inspire us to understand the full import of this verse, I think our lives would dramatically change. If we were to be deeply aware and convinced that God knows every intention, desire and motive of our every action and wish, we would be mighty careful of what we do, say and desire. God will expose the motives of men’s hearts: 1 Cor 4.5: He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. Let us explore this further.
When Holy Scripture uses the word “ Heart” it means the inmost part of our make up as human beings. It is the very essence of our being, emotions and sensibilities. We might now call it our soul, our spirit. That is why when we say that we love someone with our whole heart, we mean that we love that person very dearly, very deeply from the depths of our being. That is how God wants to be loved: with our whole hearts: Deut 6.5: “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”
For Jesus, the heart is the source of our being and acting. “Mt.15.19.For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. Again: Mt 6. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Sin begins in the heart: Mt 5. 28.But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Our hearts can be sinful and sullied by sin. Human heart can be very deceitful: Jer 17. 9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? So in Ps. 51. 10 we pray with the psalmist: Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. In the beatitudes, Jesus tells us that those who have clean, pure heart will see God: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God (Mt 5.8). This is why we need to have clean hearts. Since sin sullies our hearts, we need to shun sin as a plague, as a venomous serpent.
Sinful hearts can be purified by the word of God: “You have been made clean already by the teaching I have given you” Jn 15.3. This is why we need to keep the word of God in our hearts like our Blessed Mother: “But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart (Lk 2.19). So it is not enough to hear or read the word of God but we need to understand it (St Mat. 13.19: “When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart”.
Jesus was deeply aware of what the Pharisees and the Scribes were thinking and the motives of their actions. So in Mt 23. 1-36. It is a sad reading. They who thought were serving God ended up doing exactly the opposite because their hearts were perverse. We had better take care lest we be indicted too.
Let us end with a prayer for a change of heart as he did for Saul: 1 Sam 10.9: As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul's heart…” Lord change my heart too. Or better ask the Lord for a new heart and a new spirit: Ezechiel 36. 25 “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Dogma - Mary,Mother of God
Sharing – Nisha Francis (Asst.Coordinator - Wednesday Prayer Group)
*********************************************************************************On Sunday, the 31st of August, a group of 11 of us gathered at the JY office for the Bible group to learn more about “Mary, our Mother”. The session was led by Mr.Paul Cheerankal, who works for GE & who led us through an extremely enlightening 180 minutes of facts about our Mamma Mary.A briefing of the session would be as follows: The Catholic Church since many, many years has been issuing ‘Dogmas’ or teachings which are openly accepted by the church. These dogmas are nothing but interpretations of the Holy Scripture and every dogma is based on a reference to the Holy Word of God. One such dogma released by the Church states that Mary is the Mother of God. We may often wonder that God is the Almighty, so why would He need a mother. It is by His great virtue that Mary has been titled the Mother of God. This can be compared to the great truth that we are called the sons and daughters of God, not because we deserve it but only because of our Lord’s virtue & His great Love due to which He sent His only Son to die on the cross for us and pay ransom for us by His Precious Blood. God is the Holy of Holies, in spite of this; He came down, humbled Himself and welcomes us to have union with Him.
Mary is called the Arc of Covenant (carrier of God’s glory). There is only one mediator between Heaven and earth – Jesus – because in Him the nature of God & nature of man is fully united. 1Timothy 2:5 says that Jesus is our mediator. For those who might argue that we already have a mediator then why do we need Mother Mary, the answer is in James 5:16 (The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective) Mother Mary is our most powerful intercessor. Mary’s intercession is not valid without Jesus. She receives all her energy from Jesus, since she is born Immaculate (without stain of sin). Whenever we take a look at a person, we analyze them & understand them by our flesh & blood. Similarly, our flesh & blood reveals to us that Jesus is the Son of Man but it is a revelation from God to make us understand that Jesus is the Son of God (Mathew 16:13-16 Peter’s Declaration of Jesus)
Luke 1:41-45 talks about Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth. Elizabeth who is totally unaware of Mary’s condition, filled with the Holy Spirit, addresses Mary as the Mother of God, in the same way as Peter addresses Jesus as the Son of God by the power of the Spirit within him (Mathew 16:13-16 as seen above) .
A mother does not give birth only to the nature of a person but to a person completely, so Mary did not deliver the human nature of Jesus but gave birth to Jesus, true God and true man.
********************************************************************************
About Nisha - she works with accenture and is presently the asst.coordinator for professional wednesday prayer group who meet @ st.anthony's church 6:30pm
Friday, August 15, 2008
Reflections on Ezechiel 1: 2-5;24-28 from Father Tom
Last Monday, the first reading was from Ezechiel 1: 2-5;24-28.
This reading set me thinking of the grandeur and majesty of our God. Other prophets also had similar visions (Isaiah, Daniel, John the apostle) of the greatness of God. This is often called by the term: theophany, revelation of God as was the Transfiguration on Mt Thabor. Recall the bone-chilling way the Lord appeared on Sinai. Why does God do this? For my part, I think He does that to make us realize his total "otherness". He is so unlike us. When we talk of God being almighty, infinite, all holy, all light, all pure, all majesty, etc, they are abstract ideas that we have made to make us understand his total greatness, quite apart from us. This theophany makes us realize our smallness, limitedness, nothingness, our creatureliness. When we confront this greatness of God, we should naturally feel so small and puny and microscopic. This greatness alone should make us realize our constant need to be humble before this majesty. When we look at the Infant Jesus in the crib of Bethlehem, we realize how immensity was made small for our sakes. He took on our humble human nature to adapt his greatness to our size. He reduced himself even further in the Holy Eucharist to become a piece of Bread and a few drops of Wine to be our food and drink! This is mind boggling, mind blowing! In the presence of this great humility of God, our pride is simply madness, atrocious and incredible! God being humble! That is it. Of Moses it was said that he was the humblest of all men. Jesus became humble even to the point of self emptying. No wonder that the Lord hates the proud and exalts the humble. tom
This reading set me thinking of the grandeur and majesty of our God. Other prophets also had similar visions (Isaiah, Daniel, John the apostle) of the greatness of God. This is often called by the term: theophany, revelation of God as was the Transfiguration on Mt Thabor. Recall the bone-chilling way the Lord appeared on Sinai. Why does God do this? For my part, I think He does that to make us realize his total "otherness". He is so unlike us. When we talk of God being almighty, infinite, all holy, all light, all pure, all majesty, etc, they are abstract ideas that we have made to make us understand his total greatness, quite apart from us. This theophany makes us realize our smallness, limitedness, nothingness, our creatureliness. When we confront this greatness of God, we should naturally feel so small and puny and microscopic. This greatness alone should make us realize our constant need to be humble before this majesty. When we look at the Infant Jesus in the crib of Bethlehem, we realize how immensity was made small for our sakes. He took on our humble human nature to adapt his greatness to our size. He reduced himself even further in the Holy Eucharist to become a piece of Bread and a few drops of Wine to be our food and drink! This is mind boggling, mind blowing! In the presence of this great humility of God, our pride is simply madness, atrocious and incredible! God being humble! That is it. Of Moses it was said that he was the humblest of all men. Jesus became humble even to the point of self emptying. No wonder that the Lord hates the proud and exalts the humble. tom
Monday, August 11, 2008
A story of love
I and my kids have a game that we play when we take drives together. They join me during weekends on errands that have to be done and we play this game. We call it the game of imagination. In this game we take on imaginary roles and tell our tales. Usually we are rain drops, dew drops, little pebbles, rainbows, rivers etc. And we always enjoy each others tales. Last week end we decided to play the game a little differently. We decided to play a character from the bible and tell our tales. So here is the tale I told them, it was told a bit differently to them considering their ages.
I intended it to be short but it grew as I started off, bear with me ..
Caution: Don't look for correctness in terms of adhering exactly to bible passages, bible chronology etc. Enjoy it as a simple tale of love ...
The story starts in a little village near Jerusalem. I little Mary was born in that village. My village was a small but beautiful place and at the edge of that village stood my house. It was not a big house, it was small house, a hut almost, but neat and beautiful. In it lived me, my mother and my father. I have only very faint memories of that time, almost like a wonderful dream. How happy it was, it feels almost like a little reflection of heaven to me. But it was so long ago and so much has happened in my life since then that the memories are faded and distant.
Then it happened, the events that changed the course of my life. I remember my father and mother talking about some dreaded disease that was sweeping through the land. Daily I heard of people going away, some times it was a neighbor, and at other times it was a relative. I never understood it clearly at that point in time. In the dark of the night, people were carried away all covered up and they never returned. One day it happened in my house too. First it was my father, he became very sick. I and my mother took care of him very lovingly. I could see the sadness and fear in my mother’s eyes. One morning I woke up, hearing my mother crying softly. Some of our neighbors came and took away my father. He never came back. Few days passed and then my mother too became more and more ill. I took care of her and a few of our neighbors helped. But one day she also went away. That day, love also slowly and silently slipped away from my life.
From that day onwards my life became dependent on the mercy of other people. For a little while I was taken care of by a few neighbors. But they slowly turned me away. I can’t blame them, we were in a poor neighborhood. One more person to feed was a great burden to them. Then on my memories are of life on the streets. I tried begging for food, but I had to go hungry to bed most of times. On the streets begging for food, I got looks of hatred, curses and slaps thrown my way rather than coins or food. I saw only eyes filled with loathing and aversion around me. During those days when night fell and I tried to sleep, hunger and tears were my companions. But along the way my heart hardened and I learned the tricks of survival. I learned how to steal, I learned how to lie like a professional and I learned how to fight for my survival. I became adept at living on the streets. As I grew up, I fell more and more into the vices of the streets.
Finally I found a way to escape from the life on the streets, sell my body. I realized that under the grime of the streets I was beautiful and I could make a living out of that. I was very much sought after and slowly those days of hunger became distant memories. I had all I wanted materially. I wore the finest of the dresses, put on the most expensive perfumes and lived a life of luxury. But love stayed away from my life.
One day one of the nightmares in the life of a woman like me came true. I was caught in the act of adultery. I was dragged through the streets to the jury of the temple priests and was condemned to be stoned to death. I looked at the faces around me and I saw only the familiar looks of hatred and loathing. Those emotions had followed me through my life and here I stood surrounded by the same emotions who had been my companions through my life. I expected nothing else from this cruel world. I was taken through the city to the outskirts. I didn't feel anything. It was a fitting end to my life. Once wretched in its hunger and lack of material possessions and now wretched in its lack of a meaning. As I was taken through the city, the crowd grew in number. They spat at me, slapped me and kicked me. I didn't feel any sadness. This was what the world had given me all these years and at the end of my life I expected nothing more.
We reached the city gates and there was the young rabbi who every one was speaking about. I too had heard him talking a few times. He talked about gods love, forgiveness, etc. Although he talked with authority and love that I have never seen in any one, I never dared to go near him fearing the crowd that was always around him. What ever he had to say, it would never apply to a prostitute like me. If he is as holy as people say, then he would never even have any thing to do with me. So I kept away from him and his crowd of followers.
The leaders in the crowd started whispering among themselves. I could not hear what it was and cared less about it. What ever they schemed, they could do nothing worse than killing me. Then they started pushing and shoving me towards the gates. Finally they threw me at the feet of the Rabbi. I didn't dare to look at his face. I didn't want any more of those despising looks from any one. The crowd started accusing me of my wrong doings. They asked Jesus what they should do with me. I heard quite a few shout Kill Her !!! They were shouting at Jesus to condemn me. I expected the condemnation at any moment. Laws of Moses dictated killing of women like me by stoning it seems. A rabbi like him would now pronounce the same what else can I expect. I looked down on to my bruised hands. My body was in pain from the kicks and blows that has been inflicted. I needed nothing, but a quick end to this suffering.
Suddenly I realized, the young Rabbi was kneeling on the sand beside me. I was waiting for those words of hatred to come from him. But he seemed to be silent. I looked at his face which was level with mine and he seemed to be looking at me. I was taken back by that look. In those eyes where I expected to find hatred I found some thing so beautiful, that it seared my heart with pain. That look was filled with something that I had forgotten for a long time. Love. The look from him was so filled with love that it almost crushed my heart. I could not bear that look. I cast my eyes down quickly and looked at the hot sand seared by the sun. No, I didn't want love to walk back into my life at this wretched end when it had stayed out of my grasp for so long. I can go to my end with out Love if I had lived all my life with out it.
The crowd slowly became very restive, they started shouting at Jesus and he was silent. Then I realized he was silently writing some thing in the sand. I looked at what he had written but could not make it out clearly. He continued to write beside me, I didn't know much of writing, but I knew within my heart, it was all about love. I again looked at his face. It still held that deep look of love in his eyes. There was the smile, which I am sure I had seen on my mother's face in that distant memory. Suddenly I felt deep with in my soul that longing to live. I wanted to live for at least a little while to cherish that love I saw in those eyes. A little while and then even if I died it would not matter.
Suddenly I was brought back to reality. The crowd was shouting more loudly for the rabbi to condemn me. I quenched those longings as quickly as they formed. What could this poor rabbi do even if he wanted to do some thing against a huge crowd which wanted my blood and nothing else ? I f they were asking this rabbi for his opinion it was just a ruse, a justification for their actions. They would stone me whether this Rabbi said yes or no. Suddenly i heard that voice. I had heard that voice only from a distance, speaking of love, forgiveness and other lofty things. It was a shock to hear that voice so near me. It contained an authority that I have never experienced before. As soon as he started speaking a hush fell over the crowd. I was astonished to hear what he said. He said "He who is without sin among you, let him throw the first stone at her". These words penetrated my heart like no other word ever spoken has done in my life. They seemed to have an authority of their own. It brought to my mind all the sins of my life. I cringed before them. I truly felt worthy to be stoned to death. I felt all the sorrow pent up within me all these years welling through me at that moment. It tore at the depths of my heart. And I awaited the pain of the first stone with all the repentance and sorrow in my heart. I wanted to atone for all that I had done with the pain of those stones. At the end of my life I had nothing left to offer as atonement. Nothing else, no possessions, no money, nothing, except my life. I laid it down as my atonement for my sins.
Suddenly I realized that, no stone has been cast at me till then. I raised my eyes and looked around. And what I saw astonished me. The crowd was dispersing slowly. Around me lay scattered the stones that were brought to stone me to death. At last the only ones that were left were me, the Rabbi and his followers. The Rabbi still knelt on the ground beside me. I greedily looked into those eyes. I still saw that deep love I had seen there first. He asked me lovingly. "Woman, where are your accusers? Did no one condemn you?". I wept at the immense love that flowed from him. I fell at his feet and told "No one, Lord". He looked deeply into my eyes and told me, "Neither do I condemn you. Go your way. From now on, sin no more". At that moment love came back into my life. I was left stunned on the sand there. I could not contain all the love that came rushing back into my soul. I just sat prone in the sand and wept my bitterness out. I didn't know how long I sat there. When I returned back to my senses I was alone. All that were left were those writings in the sand and the set of foot prints leading away from those writings and me. Those foot steps seemed to be leading me towards a new life. I got up from the ground with a new hope and determination to find the meaning of the new love that I had found and follow those foot steps where ever they led ....
Love and Prayers Jose
I intended it to be short but it grew as I started off, bear with me ..
Caution: Don't look for correctness in terms of adhering exactly to bible passages, bible chronology etc. Enjoy it as a simple tale of love ...
The story starts in a little village near Jerusalem. I little Mary was born in that village. My village was a small but beautiful place and at the edge of that village stood my house. It was not a big house, it was small house, a hut almost, but neat and beautiful. In it lived me, my mother and my father. I have only very faint memories of that time, almost like a wonderful dream. How happy it was, it feels almost like a little reflection of heaven to me. But it was so long ago and so much has happened in my life since then that the memories are faded and distant.
Then it happened, the events that changed the course of my life. I remember my father and mother talking about some dreaded disease that was sweeping through the land. Daily I heard of people going away, some times it was a neighbor, and at other times it was a relative. I never understood it clearly at that point in time. In the dark of the night, people were carried away all covered up and they never returned. One day it happened in my house too. First it was my father, he became very sick. I and my mother took care of him very lovingly. I could see the sadness and fear in my mother’s eyes. One morning I woke up, hearing my mother crying softly. Some of our neighbors came and took away my father. He never came back. Few days passed and then my mother too became more and more ill. I took care of her and a few of our neighbors helped. But one day she also went away. That day, love also slowly and silently slipped away from my life.
From that day onwards my life became dependent on the mercy of other people. For a little while I was taken care of by a few neighbors. But they slowly turned me away. I can’t blame them, we were in a poor neighborhood. One more person to feed was a great burden to them. Then on my memories are of life on the streets. I tried begging for food, but I had to go hungry to bed most of times. On the streets begging for food, I got looks of hatred, curses and slaps thrown my way rather than coins or food. I saw only eyes filled with loathing and aversion around me. During those days when night fell and I tried to sleep, hunger and tears were my companions. But along the way my heart hardened and I learned the tricks of survival. I learned how to steal, I learned how to lie like a professional and I learned how to fight for my survival. I became adept at living on the streets. As I grew up, I fell more and more into the vices of the streets.
Finally I found a way to escape from the life on the streets, sell my body. I realized that under the grime of the streets I was beautiful and I could make a living out of that. I was very much sought after and slowly those days of hunger became distant memories. I had all I wanted materially. I wore the finest of the dresses, put on the most expensive perfumes and lived a life of luxury. But love stayed away from my life.
One day one of the nightmares in the life of a woman like me came true. I was caught in the act of adultery. I was dragged through the streets to the jury of the temple priests and was condemned to be stoned to death. I looked at the faces around me and I saw only the familiar looks of hatred and loathing. Those emotions had followed me through my life and here I stood surrounded by the same emotions who had been my companions through my life. I expected nothing else from this cruel world. I was taken through the city to the outskirts. I didn't feel anything. It was a fitting end to my life. Once wretched in its hunger and lack of material possessions and now wretched in its lack of a meaning. As I was taken through the city, the crowd grew in number. They spat at me, slapped me and kicked me. I didn't feel any sadness. This was what the world had given me all these years and at the end of my life I expected nothing more.
We reached the city gates and there was the young rabbi who every one was speaking about. I too had heard him talking a few times. He talked about gods love, forgiveness, etc. Although he talked with authority and love that I have never seen in any one, I never dared to go near him fearing the crowd that was always around him. What ever he had to say, it would never apply to a prostitute like me. If he is as holy as people say, then he would never even have any thing to do with me. So I kept away from him and his crowd of followers.
The leaders in the crowd started whispering among themselves. I could not hear what it was and cared less about it. What ever they schemed, they could do nothing worse than killing me. Then they started pushing and shoving me towards the gates. Finally they threw me at the feet of the Rabbi. I didn't dare to look at his face. I didn't want any more of those despising looks from any one. The crowd started accusing me of my wrong doings. They asked Jesus what they should do with me. I heard quite a few shout Kill Her !!! They were shouting at Jesus to condemn me. I expected the condemnation at any moment. Laws of Moses dictated killing of women like me by stoning it seems. A rabbi like him would now pronounce the same what else can I expect. I looked down on to my bruised hands. My body was in pain from the kicks and blows that has been inflicted. I needed nothing, but a quick end to this suffering.
Suddenly I realized, the young Rabbi was kneeling on the sand beside me. I was waiting for those words of hatred to come from him. But he seemed to be silent. I looked at his face which was level with mine and he seemed to be looking at me. I was taken back by that look. In those eyes where I expected to find hatred I found some thing so beautiful, that it seared my heart with pain. That look was filled with something that I had forgotten for a long time. Love. The look from him was so filled with love that it almost crushed my heart. I could not bear that look. I cast my eyes down quickly and looked at the hot sand seared by the sun. No, I didn't want love to walk back into my life at this wretched end when it had stayed out of my grasp for so long. I can go to my end with out Love if I had lived all my life with out it.
The crowd slowly became very restive, they started shouting at Jesus and he was silent. Then I realized he was silently writing some thing in the sand. I looked at what he had written but could not make it out clearly. He continued to write beside me, I didn't know much of writing, but I knew within my heart, it was all about love. I again looked at his face. It still held that deep look of love in his eyes. There was the smile, which I am sure I had seen on my mother's face in that distant memory. Suddenly I felt deep with in my soul that longing to live. I wanted to live for at least a little while to cherish that love I saw in those eyes. A little while and then even if I died it would not matter.
Suddenly I was brought back to reality. The crowd was shouting more loudly for the rabbi to condemn me. I quenched those longings as quickly as they formed. What could this poor rabbi do even if he wanted to do some thing against a huge crowd which wanted my blood and nothing else ? I f they were asking this rabbi for his opinion it was just a ruse, a justification for their actions. They would stone me whether this Rabbi said yes or no. Suddenly i heard that voice. I had heard that voice only from a distance, speaking of love, forgiveness and other lofty things. It was a shock to hear that voice so near me. It contained an authority that I have never experienced before. As soon as he started speaking a hush fell over the crowd. I was astonished to hear what he said. He said "He who is without sin among you, let him throw the first stone at her". These words penetrated my heart like no other word ever spoken has done in my life. They seemed to have an authority of their own. It brought to my mind all the sins of my life. I cringed before them. I truly felt worthy to be stoned to death. I felt all the sorrow pent up within me all these years welling through me at that moment. It tore at the depths of my heart. And I awaited the pain of the first stone with all the repentance and sorrow in my heart. I wanted to atone for all that I had done with the pain of those stones. At the end of my life I had nothing left to offer as atonement. Nothing else, no possessions, no money, nothing, except my life. I laid it down as my atonement for my sins.
Suddenly I realized that, no stone has been cast at me till then. I raised my eyes and looked around. And what I saw astonished me. The crowd was dispersing slowly. Around me lay scattered the stones that were brought to stone me to death. At last the only ones that were left were me, the Rabbi and his followers. The Rabbi still knelt on the ground beside me. I greedily looked into those eyes. I still saw that deep love I had seen there first. He asked me lovingly. "Woman, where are your accusers? Did no one condemn you?". I wept at the immense love that flowed from him. I fell at his feet and told "No one, Lord". He looked deeply into my eyes and told me, "Neither do I condemn you. Go your way. From now on, sin no more". At that moment love came back into my life. I was left stunned on the sand there. I could not contain all the love that came rushing back into my soul. I just sat prone in the sand and wept my bitterness out. I didn't know how long I sat there. When I returned back to my senses I was alone. All that were left were those writings in the sand and the set of foot prints leading away from those writings and me. Those foot steps seemed to be leading me towards a new life. I got up from the ground with a new hope and determination to find the meaning of the new love that I had found and follow those foot steps where ever they led ....
Love and Prayers Jose
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Lk 23.43 Sunday reflections from our dear Father Tom
If we want to weed out all the bad, the weeds, we see, soon there would be no one left as we all, even the best of us, are weeds sometime or other. Imagine if God were to have blasted Saul of Tarsus when he was first persecuting the Christians. Or Peter were to have been annihilated when he denied Jesus! God waited for the right moment to convert both. This is the story of all of us. Sometimes we are weeds, sometimes we are wheat. Because of our human weakness, our decision today can be overturned tomorrow. It is not so for pure souls like the angels. They rebelled once and were thrown out of heaven as their decision was final. But not for us human beings. So as long as we are on earth, we can turn to wheat or weeds. Only after death, there is no more change. The state we die in is the final choice we make and that remains fixed. The "good" thief was a weed all the while until he met Jesus on the cross and he crossed over and became a wheat and marched right into heaven with Jesus (Lk 23.43). Tom
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