Saturday, 28 February 2015
Sunday, March 1, 2015 - Second Sunday in Lent - Look at the Son.
To read the texts click on the texts: Gen 22: 1-2, 9,10-13,15-18; Rom 8:31-34; Mk 9:2-10
I still remember that night,
eight years ago, when I received a call at 11.45 p.m. I knew immediately that
it would be from someone with a very great need or someone in great despair. It
was. The father of a young man was calling to tell me that his 23 year old son
had just died. He was his only son. The boy was coming home from work when a
drunk driver knocked him down and fled the scene. He was taken to hospital but
declared dead on arrival. At the funeral Mass the next day, there was not one
person in the church who was not moved by tears by the sight of that young man
in his coffin. The questions on everyone’s lips were: “How could God…” and
“Why”?
I do believe that the answer to
our every “How could God…” and “Why” is provided for us in God sending his only
son.
The first reading also speaks to
us about a father and his only son. Abraham was asked to give up his only son,
and this, after being promised that his descendants would be as numerous as the
grains of sand on the seashore. How could God, who had made such a promise,
expect it to be fulfilled, if Isaac was to be sacrificed? This kind of
sacrifice would result in cutting Abraham off from his future. Abraham did not
know that God was actually testing him. He heard the command from God as
something that he was being called to do. However, he did know that God would
provide and find a way. He believed that God could do even what was impossible.
This is why his constant response to God was “Here I am”. This willingness and
faith of Abraham resulted in God being able to work in and through him. It
resulted in the promises of God being fulfilled in the life of Abraham. He did,
indeed, become a great nation and his descendants were as numerous s grains of
sand on the seashore.
The willingness and faith that
Abraham showed was exemplary. However, it pales in comparison with the
willingness and faith that Jesus showed when he took up his cross. This is what
God commanded Jesus to do and this is what he did. While in Abraham’s case, he
was stopped before he could complete the act of offering his son, in the case
of Jesus, he had to go the full way to show his obedience to God’s will and fulfil God’s plan for the salvation of the whole world.
We are given a foretaste of this
obedience in the scene of the Transfiguration. The figures that appear with
Jesus on the mountain are Elijah and Moses. These were prophets who were
considered (along with Enoch) as alive in the presence of God. The voice from
heaven, after addressing Jesus as beloved son, asks the three disciples who
were with Jesus on the mountain to listen to him. Despite being God’s beloved son, Jesus would
have to go to his suffering and death and, only then, enter his glory. There
was no other way. Jesus did not simply obey God; he obeyed God because he
trusted. He knew that God was in charge and, even in what seemed like defeat
and death, there would be victory and new life.
We sometimes tend to think that
Jesus is most clearly Son of God only in glory, not in suffering. The
transfiguration challenges us to revise our understanding of how God’s presence
comes to the world. Even as he stands transfigured, Jesus is aware that the
cross is a certainty in his life. He is aware that, though he is beloved son,
he will have to suffer and die. The
command to silence, given by Jesus to the disciples, reminds us that glory and
suffering cannot be separated.
Yes, Jesus was able to go to the
cross in the full knowledge that God would always do what was best for him. He
was aware that the God who delivered Elijah and Moses would also deliver him.
He was able to go through the cross because he knew that, in and through the
cross, he would save the world. That Jesus continues to live today is proof
that his faith and confidence in the goodness of God was affirmed and
confirmed. It was a proof that Paul experienced when he told the community in
Rome that “neither death nor life…. nor anything else in all creation will ever
be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord”.
The message then, on this second
Sunday of Lent, to every one of us, is that God continues to be in charge. He
continues to want what is best for each of us at every moment of our life. Even
at those times when we cannot see his hand as clearly as we would like, or
cannot feel his presence as tangibly as we would want, he is still working for
our good. This was confirmed in the life of Abraham, but fulfilled in the most
perfect way in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Every time we
are tempted to ask “Why” or “How could God….” we have only to look at his Son.
Friday, 27 February 2015
Saturday, February 28, 2015 - How often has the expectation of some “reward” been your motivation for “doing good”? Will you “do good” without any expectation of reward today?
To read the texts click on the texts: Dt 26:16-19; Mt 5:43-48
In the last of the six antitheses, Matthew focuses on the love command.
. While there is no command to hate the enemy in the Old Testament, yet, there
are statements that God hates all evildoers and statements that imply that
others do or should do the same. Jesus, makes explicit here the command to love
enemies. This is the behaviour expected of a true disciple of Jesus. They
cannot merely love those who love them, since one does not require to be a
disciple to do this. Everyone, even the vilest of people can do this. The
conduct of the disciples of Jesus must reveal who they are really are, namely
“sons and daughters of God”.
The command to “be perfect
as your heavenly Father is perfect” does not mean to be without faults, but
means to be undivided in love as God is undivided in love.
The love we have for others
is more often than not a conditional love. We indulge in barter exchange and
term it love. We are willing to do something for someone and expect that they
do the same or something else in return. It is a matter of “give”, but also a
matter of “take”. When Jesus asks us to be like the heavenly Father, he is
calling us to unconditional love.
Thursday, 26 February 2015
Friday, February 27, 2015 - How many times did you get angry yesterday? Will you attempt to make it one less time today?
To read the texts click on the texts: Ezek 18:21-28; Mt 5:20-26
The righteousness of the disciples of Jesus must exceed that of the
Scribes and Pharisees whose standard of religious piety and practice was high.
These of course did what they did only to be seen by people and to show off
their piety. The disciples are called not merely to avoid being hypocritical.
In the six antitheses (5:21 -48)
that follow, Matthew shows what it means in practice for the righteousness of
the disciples to exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees. Each of the six
begins with what was said of old and what Jesus is now saying. In these verses
(5:21 -26) Matthew narrates
first of the six, which is about the Torah’s prohibition of murder (Exodus 20:13 ; Deut 5:18 ). The supplementary “whoever murders
shall be liable to judgement” is not found verbatim anywhere in the Old
Testament, and seems to have been added by Matthew to introduce the word
“judgement” which he uses in the next verse. After stating the law and adding a
supplementary, the Matthean Jesus then radicalises the law and calls for an
interiorization of it (5:22 ).
The call seems to be to submit one’s thoughts about other people, as well as
the words they give rise to, to God’s penetrating judgement. It is a call to realize
that God wills not only that human beings not kill each other but also that
there be no hostility between human beings. The next verses (5:23 -26) are an application of what Jesus
says. Reconciliation is even more important than offering worship and
sacrifice. The disciples are called to work for reconciliation in the light of
the eschatological judgement toward which they are journeying.
If we come to worship God and there are feelings of anger, revenge or
hatred in our hearts, then our worship remains incomplete. It is only an
external worship and not true worship. God does not need our adoration, but if want
to adore him it must also come from within.
Wednesday, 25 February 2015
Thursday, February 26, 2915 - Is the home of your life built on rock or sand? How will you show that it has been built on rock today? Is the home of your life able to withstand the storms that threaten it from without? If No, what will you do about it today?
To read the texts click on the texts: Isa 26:1-6; Mt 7:21,24-27
The three chapters beginning from 5:1 and ending at 7:29 contain one of
the most famous discourses of Matthew, known as “The Sermon on the Mount”. This is the first of the five great
discourses in the Gospel of Matthew.
Each of the five ends with the phrase, “and when Jesus had finished…”
(7:28; 11:1; 13:53; 19:1; 26:1). The Sermon on the Mount begins by showing
Jesus as a Rabbi, teaching ex-cathedra (5:1) and ends by showing Jesus as the
Messianic prophet, addressing the crowds (7:28). The Sermon is a composition of
Matthew. An analysis of similar texts in the Gospels of Mark and Luke indicate
that many verses found here in Matthew are also found in Mark and Luke in
different contexts. This does not mean that Jesus did not say these words. It
means that Matthew has put them together in this manner. Most are agreed that
the theme of the Sermon is found in 5:17-20, in which Jesus speaks about having
come, not to abolish but to fulfil the Law and Prophets. He issues a challenge to those listening to
let their “righteousness” be greater than that of the scribes and Pharisees in
order to enter the kingdom. This they
will do if they internalize the law rather than if they simply follow it as a set
of rules and regulations.
The text of today is from
the conclusion of the Sermon. It begins with Jesus stating emphatically that
mere words on the part of people, even if one addresses him with lofty titles
and fervent pleas, will not gain one entry into the kingdom. Entry into the kingdom is determined by
“doing” the Father’s will. Right action is more important than right words.
What it means to do the
Father’s will is brought out clearly in the parable of the two builders. The
point here, besides action, is one of foresight. The builder who builds his
house on sand is doing, at first glance, as well as the one who builds his
house on rock. It is only when the rain falls, the storm comes, and the wind
blows, that the difference is seen. The house built on rock continues to stand,
whereas the one built on sand falls. The wise person represents those who put
Jesus' words into practice; they too are building to withstand anything. Those
who pretend to have faith, which is a mere intellectual commitment, or who
enjoy Jesus in small doses as and when it suits them, are foolish builders.
When the storms of life come, their structures fool no one; above all, they do
not fool God.
The sermon speaks of grace,
but the grace of God is known only in that community committed to doing God’s
will, as revealed in Jesus. There can
be no calculating “cheap grace.” One
must take the Sermon on the Mount seriously as the revealed will of God to be
lived. The subject matter of the sermon is not the person of Christ, but the
kind of life Christ’s disciples are called to live. One cannot avoid
Christology and appeal only to the teaching or great principles of Jesus, for
these are inseparable from the claims of his person. But, for Matthew, the
converse is also true: “Correct” Christological understanding can never be a
substitute for the ethical living to which Jesus calls his disciples.
Christology and ethics, like Christology and discipleship, are inseparable for
Matthew.
While some regard the Sermon
as an ideal to be read and not lived, others see it as being capable of being
lived out by only a select few. These kinds of interpretations miss the point.
Since the Sermon is addressed to both the disciples and the crowd, there is no
doubt that it is meant for all. It is a challenge to be lived out by anyone who
professes to be a disciple of Jesus.
Tuesday, 24 February 2015
Wednesday, February 25, 2015 - What sign are you seeking from the Lord? Will you believe in His love even without this sign?
To read the texts click on the texts: Jon3:1-10; Lk 11:29-32
Jesus’ debate with the crowd
following the exorcism of the demon that made a man mute (11:14-16) continues.
One of the challenges posed by some in the crowd was to demand from Jesus a
sign from heaven. The response of Jesus is not to give in to their demand for a
sign. A similar saying is also found in Matthew (12:38-42) which indicates that
both Matthew and Luke have taken it from the “Q” source {Mark also has the
episode of the demand for a sign and Jesus’ response (Mk 8:11-12), but it is
much shorter and does not have the details found in both Matthew and Luke}.
However, Luke has so formulated the response of Jesus, that it forms an
inclusion. It begins and ends with Jonah. Through this, Luke has associated
Jonah’s preaching with Solomon’s wisdom. Since Luke makes this association, for
him the sign of Jonah was not Jonah’s being in the belly of the whale for three
days and three nights (Mt 12:40), but the call to repentance that Jonah
preached. As the people of Nineveh repented after the call by Jonah, so Jesus
calls the crowd to repentance after his proclamation. The Queen of Sheba, or
the Queen of the South, journeyed from her kingdom in southwest Arabia to test
the reports she had heard of Solomon’s wisdom (1 Kgs 10:1-13; 2 Chr 9:1-12).
When she had tested Solomon with “hard questions” (1 Kgs 10:1), she was
convinced of the wisdom God had given to him and blessed the Lord who had set
Solomon on the throne of Israel (1 Kgs 10:9). At the judgment, therefore, she
also would rise to condemn that wicked generation because they had one who was
greater than Solomon, and they did not hear him.
Jesus thus refuses to give
the crowds any other sign, because any demand for a sign meant that they have
not understood what Jesus was about, and what his mission was. Jesus also knew
that for those who believe, no sign is necessary, whereas for those who do not,
no sign is sufficient.
The call to repentance is a
call to look at everything in a new light. The old is past, the new has come
with the coming of Jesus. If one persists in the old way of looking which is a
way of finding God only in miraculous and spectacular events, one will miss
him. Now he can be found in all things and all things can be found in him.
Monday, 23 February 2015
Tuesday, February 24, 2015 - How will you acknowledge your dependence on God today? Is there someone who you think has hurt you whom you have not yet forgiven? Will you forgive that person today?
To read the texts click on the texts: Isa 55:10-11; Mt 6:7-15
The three chapters beginning from 5:1 and ending at 7:29 contain one of the most famous
discourses of Matthew known as “The Sermon on the Mount”.
It is important to have a
brief background of the Sermon in order to appreciate fully each separate text
within it. The first point that we note about the Sermon on the Mount is that
it is the first of the five great discourses in the Gospel of Matthew. Each of these
five ends with the phrase, “and when Jesus had finished…” (7:28; 11:1; 13:53; 19:1; 26:1). It begins by showing Jesus as a Rabbi
teaching ex-cathedra (5:1) and ends by showing Jesus as the Messianic prophet
addressing the crowds (7:28).
The second point that must
be kept in mind is that the Sermon is a composition of Matthew. An analysis of
similar texts in the Gospels of Mark and Luke indicate that many verses found
here in Matthew are found in Mark and Luke in different contexts. This does not
mean that Jesus did not say these words. It means that Matthew has put them
together in this manner.
The third point is the
theme, which will determine how one will interpret the Sermon as a whole. Most
are agreed that the theme of the Sermon is found in 5:17-20, in which Jesus speaks about having come
not to abolish but to fulfill the Law and Prophets, and issues a challenge to
those listening to let their “righteousness” be greater than that of the
scribes and Pharisees in order to enter the kingdom.
The mountain is a
“theological topos” in the Gospel of Matthew (Luke’s Sermon is from “a level
place” see Lk 6:17) and
therefore means much more than simply a geographical location. Matthew does not
name the mountain, but by choosing it as the place from where Jesus delivers
the Sermon, he probably wants to portray Jesus as the New Moses delivering the
New Law from a New
Mountain. While Jesus in
the Gospel of Luke “stands” and delivers the Sermon (Lk 6:17), in Matthew, Jesus sits down. This is the
posture that the Jewish Rabbis adopted when communicating a teaching of
importance or connected with the Law. In Luke the crowd is addressed from the
beginning of the Sermon and addressed directly, “Blessed are you poor…” (Lk 6:20), but in Matthew, it is the
“disciples” who come to Jesus and whom he begins to teach.
The section on Prayer begins in 6:5 and Jesus contrasts the prayer of
his disciples with the prayer of hypocrites who like to be seen by all and also
Gentile prayer which heaps words upon words and may also mean a prayer made to
many “gods” to placate them. This kind of prayer is only for self gratification
or to receive favours. The prayer of the disciple is to God who is Father and
who knows what they need even before they can ask. Thus, prayer is not simply
to place the petition before God who is all knowing but primarily to
acknowledge dependence on God for everything.
What follows this contrast is the prayer that Jesus teaches his
disciples and which is commonly known as the "Our Father". However, a
better term for this would be "The Lord's Prayer". The reason for
this is because there are two versions of the same prayer. The other is found
in Lk. 11:2-4. There, the pronoun "Our" is missing and the prayer
begins simply with "Father". In Matthew this prayer is at the very
centre of the Sermon and must be read with that fact in mind. It begins with an
address and then goes on to make two sets of three petitions. The address of
God as “Father” brings out the intimacy of the relationship that disciples and
God share. The pronoun “Our” here indicates that God is not merely the father
of individual believers but of the community as a whole and therefore all in
the believing community are brothers and sisters.
The opening petitions indicate that prayer does not begin with one’s
needs, but with the glory and honour due to God. God’s name is and will be
honoured by all men and women, since God as revealed by Jesus is primarily a
God of mercy, forgiveness and unconditional love. The kingdom of God
has come in Jesus and is also in the future when God will be all and in all.
This is a situation in which God will show himself to be king as he has done in
the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus. As Jesus constantly did
God’s will, so it will continue to be done both in heaven and on earth. It is
only when God’s will is done rather than one’s own that there can be true and
lasting peace and harmony.
Despite petitioning God for something as stupendous as the kingdom, the
disciple also acknowledges dependence on God for something as regular and
ordinary as bread. God’s forgiveness is unconditional and without any merit on
the part of the disciples. However, in order to receive this forgiveness which
God gives graciously and gratuitously, the disciple will have to remove from
his/her heart any unforgiveness, resentment, bitterness or anger that might be
present there. The prayer ends with a final petition that God, who always leads
the people, will not bring them into a time of testing, when the pressure might
be so great as to overcome faith itself, but that he will save them from the
ultimate power of evil.
The Lord’s Prayer is not
just a prayer; it is also a way of life. The words of the prayer communicate
the attitude that one must have toward God and others. While we must
acknowledge our dependence on God for everything that we need and regard him
always as the primary cause, our attitude to others must be one of acceptance
and forgiveness.
Sunday, 22 February 2015
NET RETREAT 2015 - MARCH 23 - APRIL 05, 2015
I am
planning a Net Retreat for people of all faiths (though there may be some
specific Christian ideas and thoughts). This will entail registering for it by
making a payment of Rs. 100 (Rupees One hundred) to the Parish Office at St.
Peter's Church, Bandra.
Once this is done send me an E mail on
netretreat2015@gmail.com. After I confirm your registration, I will send you
daily from March 23, 2014 onward till April 05, 2015 material for prayer in three
formats. One will be a youtube link of a talk by me, another will be an mp3
soundtrack and the third will be a word document. All these will be sufficient
for at least one hour of prayer which you can do at ANY TIME and ANYWHERE.
I do
hope many of you will join. You do not have to travel for this Retreat except
to go deep into your heart.
Monday, February 23, 2015 - Will the life of one person be better today because of you?
To read the texts click on the texts: Lev19:1-2,11-18; Mt 25:31-46
The Gospel text of today is
a passage about the "kingdom" of God, about all those who are kin to
God, and, therefore, who are kin to each other. We are each of us kin to one
another. We are all indeed one. The deepest expression of this truth, on this
side of life, is a spirituality in which there is no split between our devotion
and our deed; no split between mystery and commandment; no split between piety
and ethics and no split between being and doing. Like mystery and commandment,
interwoven as they are, Jesus is one with the hungry and the thirsty, is one
with the stranger and the prisoner, and is one with the naked and the sick. To
care for these, is to care for Jesus. To care for them is to reach back into
the very essence of life and to touch the God who takes shape in the hungry, in
the thirsty, in the naked, in the sick, in the stranger, in the prisoner.
"And then the king will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did it
to one of the least of these, who are members of my family, you did it to
me.'" The text, thus, is not so much about the condemnation of God, as it
is really about the universal vision of the love of God, about the very scope
of God's love in Jesus for the whole world. Jesus remains the model of
unconditional and eternal love. This was shown in the most powerful of ways by
Jesus himself, when in total obedience to the Father, he dared to spread his
arms on the Cross in total surrender of self. Therefore, God raised him.
This understanding is
important to avoid any kind of misinterpretation that might arise due to a
person thinking that it is his/her deeds that earn merit and reward. The
righteous who reached out to the least of their brothers and sisters, did so
because of the necessity to help, love, serve, visit and feed. They dared to
listen to the promptings of the Spirit and responded to these promptings. They
did not do what they did for reward. It was not the condition of their good
deeds, but its consequences. They did not earn the kingdom but inherited it.
Inheritance is determined by the giver not the receiver. The kingdom remains a
free gift of God.
Though the unrighteousness
also address Jesus as Lord – a title used in Matthew’s Gospel only by those who
at least have some faith - it is not enough. Their address remains at the
theoretical level and is not translated into action. They did not act because
they did not believe that God could hide himself in the poorest of the poor.
They did not believe that God could be present in the scum of society and in
those who live on the margins. They believed that God could be present only in
a beautiful sunset or in the stimulating fragrance of a rose or in the silence
of one’s heart. They did not realize that our God had been made visible in
Jesus, who taught all who were willing to listen, that God was primarily a God
of the poor, and that though he was king, he came only to serve.
The sufferings borne by the
least of our brothers and sisters continue to summon and challenge us as Church
today. They continue to ask us to dare to be credible and authentic witnesses
of the Gospel. They invite us not merely to preach acts of loving kindness but
to do them. However, what we need is not merely more action, more doing for the
sake of doing. No! What we need is a universal unity of love and togetherness.
It is a togetherness that transcends all of our frontiers, the frontiers of our
mind and of our heart, the frontiers of our creeds and doctrines, the frontiers
of our ideas and concepts. This is a radical call to transcend all of those
externals that keep us apart, that keep us separated and split.
The challenge for us today
is to forget our own needs for love and happiness and to reach out in love to
make someone else happy who may be in greater need. For whatever we do to the
least of these needy children of God, these brothers and sisters of Jesus, we
do to Jesus Himself.
Saturday, 21 February 2015
Sunday, February 22, 2015 - FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT - Love Encourages New Thoughts
To read the texts click on the texts: Gen 9:8-15; 1 Pet 3:18-22;Mk 1:12-15
Lent is a forty-day period of
fast and abstinence before Easter. It begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy
Saturday when we go into Easter. Sundays are not counted, since they
commemorate the Resurrection of the Lord. While Lent is actually a translation
of the Latin term, quadragesima, which
means ‘forty days’ or literally the ‘fortieth day’, it also refers to the spring
season. The forty-day period is symbolic of the forty days that Jesus spent in
the desert, a detail mentioned by all the synoptic gospels. This is why, in all
three years, the Gospel reading on the First Sunday in Lent is about the
temptations of Jesus in the desert.
While Matthew and Luke narrate
the three temptations in the desert and Jesus’ responses, Mark does not do so.
His focus is different. Mark’s narrative of the temptations compares Jesus, who
is faithful, with unfaithful Israel. Jesus overcame the temptations when tested
for forty days, but Israel succumbed to temptations during their forty year
period of testing in the desert. The overcoming of the temptations by Jesus
leads to the wilderness being transformed into paradise, the desert being
transformed into an oasis and humans being no longer subject to Satan or his
rule. However, the overcoming of temptation, with angels ministering to Jesus,
is only one part of the story.
The second part – the positive
overcoming of temptation – is integral to the story and completes it. Soon
after overcoming temptation, Jesus comes into Galilee to proclaim his
experience of who God really is. Mark prepares for this revolutionary and
radical proclamation through four pointers or indicators. The first of these is
a time indicator (proclaiming), and a content indicator (the Good News of God).
These serve to clarify the proclamation.
The arrest of John serves to
remove him from the story, so that he can make way for Jesus, with whom a new
time has begun. Galilee is home for Jesus, a place of acceptance, a place of the
proclamation of the kingdom. That Jesus comes “proclaiming” instead of
“teaching” indicates that this is the message to be heard by all. The good news
that Jesus proclaims is not made up by him, but is the good news of God. It is
God who has mandated Jesus to speak these words. This indicator is crucial
because it speaks of who God is and how he regards humans who are created in
his image and likeness.
A glimpse of this good news of
God is given to us in the first reading in the covenant or promise that makes
to Noah. It is a promise that is made after the destruction of the whole world
by the flood. God’s promise here is significant, because it is the first
promise in the Bible that is to be fulfilled, not only in the lives of the
Israelites but, in the lives of all people. The whole of humanity will never
again be threatened with destruction. This covenant marked the start of a whole
new world and a whole new way of looking at, and dealing with, God. It was
completed when God sent his son, not merely to make a new covenant but also, to
be the Covenant or Promise for all times and all ages.
This then is the good news that
Jesus proclaims from God that, in him, as never before, all people everywhere
have been saved. If in the promise made to Noah, the focus was on non-destruction
of the human race, in the proclamation of Jesus, the focus is on salvation
through love. The core of the proclamation of Jesus is that God has taken the
initiative. He has loved first, he has forgiven first, and he has accepted first.
The kingdom has come, not because we are worthy or have done something
commendable. It has come because, in Jesus, God loves unconditionally. Peter
echoes this idea in the second reading of today, when he explicates that this
Covenant or Promise made by God was made even when men and women were sinners.
As humans, we have only to
respond to that love, forgiveness, and acceptance. This response is done
through repentance which never means being sorry. Rather, it means a change of
heart, mind, and vision. It is a call to realize that God’s love is given
freely, unconditionally and without measure.
Thus, on the first Sunday of
Lent, the call is to leave every negative thing. It means a refusal to walk in
the path of frustration, anxiety, or despair and to take instead the road of
happiness, peace, and joy. It means that, though the road might get steep and
the going difficult, we will continue to carry on walking the path, confident
in the knowledge that, in Jesus, we are saved, and that sin is overcome by love.
The old has gone, the new has indeed come.
Friday, 20 February 2015
Saturday, February 21, 2015 - How will you celebrate today your call to be a disciple of Jesus?
To read the texts click on the texts: Isa58:9-14; Lk 5:27-32
The call of Levi the toll
collector and his response to that call is the text for today. Toll collectors
like Levi was were those individuals who paid the Roman authorities in advance
for the right to collect tolls. Since they decided the value of the goods being
brought in, they could abuse the system and many did. Due to this also because
they were seen as colluding with the Romans, they were despised by the people
and made targets of scorn and ridicule. The calling of Levi is a revolutionary
act on the part of Jesus. When almost everyone else would have seen Levi as a
thief and corrupt individual, Jesus was able to see him as a potential
disciple. This is an indication not only of the deep insight into people that Jesus had but also of God’s grace
which is given without any merit on the part of the individual. It is a gift
and not earned but gifted.
Levi on his part accepts
this call. He leaves “everything” for the privilege of following Jesus. Luke’s
Gospel alone mentions the word “everything” to stress the total sacrifice that
Levi was called to and made. It is an indication that he left his old way of
life behind to take on a new kind of life that Jesus was calling him to. He
then arose and followed Jesus. The sequence of the actions of Levi is
interesting. He gets up and follows, only after giving up.
Levi then gives a feast in
his own house to celebrate his call. The scribes and Pharisees complain about
the scandal of sitting at table with tax collectors and sinners. By doing so
those who sat at table with them were making themselves unclean, but they were
also showing social acceptance of a group that was considered as outcasts.
Jesus’ response is in and through a proverb and a statement. It is obvious that
the services of a physician are required by those who are sick not be those who
are well. The mission of Jesus is very clearly directly to those who need him:
the sinners. Repentance is not the condition for following Jesus; it is his
purpose for coming into the world. He has come in order that sinners might be
transformed.
The call which Jesus made to
his disciples and here to Levi is startling brief: “Follow me”. This is because
his call was a call to a personal commitment to him. It was not a call to a set
of values or principles. It was not a call to any kind of philosophy or
theology. It was not a call to a particular political programme. It was a call
that had as its base and origin Jesus himself. The only reward that one could
expect from such a following was that others would be drawn to Jesus because of
one’s own commitment and perseverance.
The call is made here to
Levi, who was considered as an outcast and one who was beyond the bounds of
God’s mercy. This indicates that no one is excluded from the Mission of Jesus.
Everyone has a place, all are called. Like Levi it is important to give up the
former way of life and then to get up and follow. This requires God’s grace
surely, but also human response.
Thursday, 19 February 2015
Friday, February 20, 2015 - Do you often do the right thing at the wrong time or the wrong thing at the right time?
To read the texts click on the texts: Isa 58:1-9; Mt 9:14-15
The question of fasting is
raised by the disciples of John the Baptist. They want to know why they and the
Pharisees follow the rule of fasting, but the disciples of Jesus do not. Jesus’
first response is that the guests at a wedding do not fast at the wedding. It
would be absurd to do so. Since the coming of the kingdom has often been
portrayed as a messianic banquet, Matthew seems to want to insist that Jesus is
the messianic bridegroom and with his coming the wedding feast has begun. There
will be a time when the bridegroom is taken away and that will be the time to
fast. The “taking away” of the bridegroom refers to the death of Jesus.
The book of Ecclesiastes
points out wisely that “there is a time for everything”. There is a time for
feasting and a time for fasting. But here is the rub: To know which time is for
which. Even as we discern about the times for suitable actions, we must keep in
mind that rules and regulations can never be ends in themselves. They are only
means to an end. All rules are at the service of humans no matter how good or
noble they may be. If the rule becomes an end in itself, it loses its relevance
and meaning. Also, if following the rule makes one less tolerant of others and
leads to pointing out the faults of others, then it may be better to give it
up.
Wednesday, 18 February 2015
Lenten Calendar - Take one day at a time
|
Tuesday
FORGIVENESS
|
Wednesday
TIME FOR OTHERS
|
Thursday
THANKSGIVING
|
Friday
FASTING
|
Saturday
VISIT OTHERS
|
|
FEBRUARY 17
SHROVE TUESDAY
Mk. 8:14-21
|
FEBRUARY 18
ASH WEDNESDAY
True Fasting is NOT ONLY fasting from food, but abstaining from
anything that will take you away from others and from God.
Mt. 6:1-6, 16-18
|
FEBRUARY 19
At the
end of today, will you be able to say that you have lived EVERY MOMENT to the
full?
Lk. 9:22-25
|
FEBRUARY 20
STATIONS OF THE CROSS
If you want to do the RIGHT thing today, it will almost always
be the MOST LOVING thing.
Mt. 9 : 14-15
|
FEBRUARY 21
VISIT AN OLD PERSON/FRIEND
Will you look at everyone (esp.
those you are prejudiced against) as if looking at them for the first time, with
eyes of love?
Lk. 5 : 27-32
|
Thursday, February 19, 2015 - At the end of today will you consider your life as having been one that has been worthily lived?
To read the texts click on the texts: Deut 30:15-20; Lk9:22-25
On the day following Ash
Wednesday, the church makes explicit through the choice of the readings what
the overarching theme of the season will be. It has to do with suffering, the cross
and death, which here, is not primarily physical death, but death to self and
the ego.
This is seen clearly in the
first passion and resurrection prediction in the Gospel of Luke which is part
of the text for today. Like in the other two synoptic gospels, the prediction
in Luke appears immediately after Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Christ.
Immediately following Peter’s confession Jesus sternly commands the disciples
not to tell anyone of this. This is because he does not want to be
misunderstood as a glorious and triumphant Messiah or as one who will come
conquering, but as a Messiah who will suffer and die. This is because God has
ordained it and Jesus will always be obedient to God’s commands.
Anyone who wishes to follow
Jesus must be of the same mind. The first saying on discipleship which follows
emphasizes not so much the readiness to die for Jesus as much as the courage to
persevere in following him. This is why Luke adds the word “daily” after the
call to take up the cross. It is in spending oneself for the good of others
rather than pursuing one’s own selfish ambitions that true joy, peace and fulfilment
can be found. Paradoxically, spending one’s life for others results in gaining
one’s life. The final saying of the Gospel of today cuts the ground from under
our preoccupation with material and temporary wealth. What will we have gained,
even if we acquire all the possessions in the world, but lose ourselves in the
process? This saying reminds us that there are dimensions of life vital to fulfilment
and happiness that are not satisfied by financial security or material wealth.
The impulse to succeed in a
given profession, to acquire material possessions, and to prosper is powerful.
In a materialistic culture we are easily seduced by the assumption that
security and fulfilment are achieved by means of financial prosperity. We
strive for things that do not last and in the process of our striving, are not
able to see the beauty that life has to offer. We exist without really having
lived. The challenge is to seek for that which brings real fulfilment and not
illusory happiness.
Tuesday, 17 February 2015
Wednesday, February 18, 2015 Ash Wednesday - Repentance means a New Mind and a New Heart
To read the texts click on the texts: Jl 2:12-18; 2Cor 5:20-6:2; Mt 6:1-6,16-18
The season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and is derived
by counting back 40 days {not including Sundays} from Easter day. Ash Wednesday
is so called because of the imposition of ashes on
the foreheads of the faithful, which serve as a reminder of the call to
repentance and to believe in the good news. The period of Lent is a reminder of
the forty days that Jesus spent in the desert before taking up the mission he
received from his Father at his baptism.
Immediately after the six antitheses (5:21-48) in the
Sermon on the Mount, there follows instructions on three practices that were
common among the Pharisees as a sign of closeness to God namely almsgiving,
prayer and fasting. All three though only a means to
reach God can be made ends in themselves. Almsgiving can be ostentatious,
prayer can be used to show-off and fasting can be used to point to one’s self.
Jesus cautions the listeners about these dangers and challenges them to make them all internal activities that will lead the way
to God rather than being made ends in themselves. The focus thus is on the
motivation with which one does what one does. If the motivation for doing good
is to win the admiration of human beings, then that
action is selfish and self motivated and so does no good at all. If the action
is done out of a sense of duty or obligation, it
cannot be called pure and is instead diluted. However if one does the action
and accepts that the reward is in the performing of
the action itself, such an action can be salvific. This is the challenge not
only of Ash Wednesday, but of the whole season of Lent, “to give and not to
count the cost, to labour and to look for no reward.”
For us as Christians, Jesus has simplified matters. There is absolutely no obligation in the
Christian way of life except the obligation to love. When there is love then
all our actions come from our hearts and spontaneously without counting the
cost. Almsgiving becomes generous and spontaneous,
prayer becomes union with God and leads to action and fasting is done in order
to show our dependence on God and not on earthly things.
Wednesday, February 18, 2015 - Have you seen and met the Risen Lord? If no, what is preventing you from doing so?
to read the texts click on the texts: Gen 8:6-13, 20-22; Mk 8:22-26
The miracle story that is our text for today is the second of
the two miracle stories in Mark in which Jesus uses external methods. The first
was in 7,31-37 in which Jesus cures a deaf man with an impediment in his
speech. By placing this miracle immediately after Jesus poignant question to
his disciples about their lack of understanding (8,21) and just before Peter’s
Confession of Jesus as the Christ (8,27-30), Mark probably intends to hint to
the reader that the disciples too wall understand. Their blindness will also be
healed.
The healing takes place in two stages to probably correspond with the
two answers to the questions of Jesus (8,27-30) about his identity. The first
is the response of the people who say that Jesus is John the Baptist or Elijah
or one of the prophets (8,28) and this seems to correspond to the first stage
in which the blind man can see people but who like trees walking (8,24). The
second is the response of Peter on behalf of the disciples that Jesus is the
Christ (8,30) which seems to correspond to the stage where the blind man can
see everything clearly (8,25). At the end of this episode, Mark leaves his
readers with the question of whether the disciples like the blind man will also
be able see.
Some of us have a tendency to pigeon hole God and put him in a
compartment. This leads to seeing him merely as one who fixes things for us or
one to whom we go only in need. We might fail to see that he is always there
and is much bigger than anything we can ever imagine.
Monday, 16 February 2015
Tuesday, February 17, 2015 - What is the leaven (influence) that is affecting your vision of who Jesus really is? Will you cleanse your heart to see rightly today?
To read the texts click on the texts: Gen 6:5-8; 7:1-5,10; Mk 8:14-21
The text of today contains a dialogue between Jesus and his
disciples and ends the long sequence, which began with Jesus teaching the
crowds from a boat (Mark 4,1-8). This is the third of the three incidents at
sea in which the disciples seem to be at sea in their attempt to discover who
Jesus really. The first was in Mark 4,35-41 when Jesus calms the storm so that
the disciples have to ask, “Who then is this?” the second in Mark 6,45-51 when
Jesus comes walking on the water and Mark comments that “the disciples were
utterly astounded for they had not understood about the loaves for they did not
understand about the loaves but their hearts were hardened” (Mark 6,51-52) and
here in the third incident in this section they also fail to understand. (Mark
8,21).
The disciples think that Jesus is rebuking them because they had
forgotten to carry food, when in fact he is rebuking them for their hardness of
heart. When Jesus questions the disciples about the feeding miracles, the focus
of his questions are not on the number of people who were fed (this would be
asked to indicate the magnanimity and abundance of the miracle) neither are
they on the smallness of their resources (which would indicate the stupendous
power of Jesus) but on the breaking and gathering. The disciples know the
answers, but are not able to perceive that Jesus is able to provide anything
his disciples’ need. They are taken up with his power, but do not really understand.
Like the disciples we tend sometimes to focus on things that are
not really necessary and so lose sight of the bigger picture. We can get caught
up in details and so not see the whole. We might have a narrow view of the world
and so lose sight of the fact that we can find God in all things and all things
in him.