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).

Few Notes From The Sunday Bible Class of 07/09/2008

My Thoughts on Sunday Bible Study Class: When a JY brother invited me for this class I expected food there. ;-) But on attending the few sessions I realized what one gets there is ‘food for thought’ & ‘food for the soul’ which is word of God. I like the scripture in apostolic letters where we are exhorted ‘To be able to give an account of the hope we have’ – or in other words we have to be equipped to explain/defend our faith. For this we need knowledge & insights into our catholic faith. This Sunday class is working towards the same. Lets ask ourselves, can we ever be fully catholic without knowing anything about the treasure-trove that it has in the form of its teachings which cater to our spiritual needs. And lastly, the best thing about this class is – Its FREE !! ;-)

Bible class of 7/9/2008 – A Short Summary
Fr. Tom enlightened us on 2 topics this day, which touched upon,
a)Paul’s Paradigm shift & his qualities
b)The immaculate conception

A) Paul’s Paradigm shift:
As we all know well, the ‘Christ Encounter’ on the road to Damascus changed Saul forever. Until then an upholder of the Law, we see dramatic change in Paul. From a persecutor he is now a preacher. Earlier the Law alone was his reference, now Christ & Grace become his refrain. This ‘change of thinking’ which results in ‘change of person’ is what can be simply put as a ‘Paradigm shift’ or ‘Paradigm change’. Later we see renewed Paul exhorting us to ‘Put on the MIND OF CHRIST’ or ‘not to conform to the standards of the world, but to be transformed, by the RENEWING OF THE MIND”.
We see clearly how paradigm shift in Paul resulted in changes in his Attitudes ( the way we respond to people, situations) & thoughts , actions. Paul went thru what is called ‘Metanoia’ – change of attitude. The call to change is for all of us. Let us check ourselves – has the Christ experience brought about any changes in my attitudes & thinking? Like Paul can we also say “Be imitators of Christ, as I am of him”? Are we thinking with a Christ’s Mind? Do we look at people & situations through Christ’s eyes?

Trivia Time: Did you know 1 Thessalonicans is the first ever book of the Bible to be written down. Gospels were written much later. Imagine Paul writing this letter not knowing it would one day be part of the Bible. He was building on nothing. No wonder scholars look up to him as a ‘greatest mind’ next only to Christ.

B) Immaculate Conception: Many are not aware that Immaculate Conception is NOT birth of Jesus thru a virgin. This dogma of the Catholic Church asserts the immaculate conception of Mary, in her mother’s womb. Jesus being born of a virgin is refered to as ‘Virgin Birth’ & is akin to God’s act of original creation, where in thru the power of spirit, he created everything out of nothing.
Immaculate comes from the latin origins – Im(without) + Macula (stain). An assertion of this is also reflected in the annunciation where angel of the lord addresses Mary as “Favored one” – in the greek original the word used is “Kecharitomane” which translates to ‘full of grace, intensively & extensively”. So Mother Mary was without sin – even at the time of conception & afterwards too.
To understand this better, lets look at our own lives. For example I have never indulged in smoking or drinking. In fact never felt like doing it for there was not even a temptation to see its taste. This is not because of my own strength. So I will say ‘God has given me the GRACE not to be into this sin’. If god can give me GRACE to stay away from some sins, can not the same God give full GRACE to Mary to stay away from all sins’.

Gifts of the Holy Spirit in Mary (Saint Thomas Aquinas).

I just happened to read this article and thought it would be interesting to look into ourselves and ask Mama for what we lack.

 

1.Gift of Fear	Annunciation
2.Piety	Visitation
3.Knowledge	Presentation
4.Fortitude	Finding in the Temple
5.Counsel	Wedding at Cana
6.Understanding	"Who is my mother?"
7.Wisdom	Passion

1.In the Annunciation the Archangel frees Mary from her fright so as to bless her with the holy fear of the lord. For the Holy spirit's gift of Fear disposes us to reverence God and to be completely devoted to him. As Mary proclaims, "God's Mercy is from age to age on those who fear him". Fear of the lord is a kind of foundation on which the other gifts are built and is the beginning of wisdom(Ps 111:10). It is not a matter of 'servile' fear -the fear of one who obeys the master because of punishment - but a 'filial' fear- the fear a good son should have about ever losing his relationship with his father.

2.In the Visitation and in the Magnificat Mary manifests the Spirit's gift of Piety that prepares God's people to be promptly responsive in a special way to the divine inspirations he sends. Real Piety is a virtue that governs our behaviour at all times and not only when we are engaged in prayer, worship and other acts of religious devotion.

3.The gift of knowledge provides sure and correct judgement about the things of faith, in differentiating between what is and is not consistent with the faith. In presenting Jesus to the temple and making the offering 'in accord with the law of the lord' Mary manifests the gift of knowledge . This also blesses Mary with new knowledge from the words of Simeon and Anna.

4.The gift of Fortitude enables us to stand our ground amidst dangers. Through the event of losing Jesus in the temple Mary is being prepared for the even more gruelling experience of the cross.

5.Counsel is reasoned inquiry that leads us to deliberate action. Mary's words of counsel lead the waiters to her Son and the Gift of Counsel leads us also to Jesus.

6.In the incident where Jesus asks "Who is my mother?" Jesus enlightens the crowd of their need to reach beyond their own preset notions, conceptions and prejudices to certain deeper truths that only the Holy Spirit can reveal.

7."Near the cross of Jesus there stood his mother'(Jn:19:25 )How could Mary endure to witness the agony of her son? Wisdom empowered her to witness this passion. The wise person is one who considers the ultimate cause of things and uses it to judge other things with certainty. Despite the suffering of the passion, this gift enabled the blessed mother to see beyond the anguish to the ultimate cause and the ultimate need for her Son to die for sinners.

Source: The Gifts of the Holy Spirit According to St.Thomas Aquinas by Fr. Peter John Cameron,O.P.

Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows

The Blood that reminds....

Today looks like I  got out of the wrong side of the bed! My little one too was cranky. He  insisted on going to the balcony in the chilly wind outside. As he persisted I just put him angrily in the balcony. No sooner had I put him over there I found him standing in a mini pool of blood with a small wound on his little foot - I guess must have scratched somewhere in the balcony. My emotions are difficult to explain but its anybody's guess. The sight of the blood  made a deep impression in my mind.I was full of compassion for the poor little fellow as I kissed him a thousand times.

That reminded me of the Father God who looks at the Blood of his Son! I know He is a much better Father, beyond comparison and am sure He didn't put His Son into the world the way I put my little one into the balcony. By the way, is He too guilty of putting His Son's life at risk? But,  I guess  He would be looking at the Precious Blood the way I looked at my son's blood. He would have had an everlasting impression of this Blood in His heart too! He would say 'No, Never again! I pardon! This Blood is too valuable for Me! He would be filled with Compassion and Forgiveness.

Lets keep reminding the Father about the Precious Blood of His Son. Litany of the Precious Blood

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.”

The Wind & The Heat Package

As the day was getting hotter with the Sun shining through the closed window, cursing the heat ,I felt like opening the window.Wow, much to my relief, the cool breeze took away with it my frustrations.I guess many of us would have had this daily experience. The window when it was closed, just let the Heat in and when it was opened it also let in the Wind which made things easier.I didn't know (with the windows closed) it came as a Package -the Wind was there with the Heat!

Isn't this the way the Ruhah or Pneuma (Wind-Holy Spirit ) works in our lives? At first sight when the Heat (the troubles) comes into our lives we experience only the Heat of it but when we decide to OPEN the windows to let the Wind in it becomes a different experience! The cool breeze just takes away the Heat and lets us relax amidst all the Heat around us.

Lord help us to look out for the Wind which accompanies(or follows)the Heat of our lives!

John 3:8 The wind blows...so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.

joe

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