Thursday, November 6, 2014 - Do you believe that you have been forgiven/accepted/loved? Will you forgive/accept/love in return?

To read the texts click on the texts: Phil  3:3-8; Lk 15:1-10

While the parable of the Lost Sheep, which makes up part of our text today, is also found in the Gospel of Matthew, the parable of the Lost Coin is found only in the Gospel of Luke. Also the setting for the parable of the Lost Sheep is different in Matthew and Luke. Whereas in Matthew it is part of the Community Discourse, in Luke it is told in the context of Jesus’ table fellowship. i.e. his eating with tax collectors and sinners, .and the murmurings of the Pharisees and the scribes because of this act.

In the first story of the Gospel text of today, the shepherd leaves the ninety-nine sheep to go in search of the lost one. The joy of finding the lost sheep is compared with the joy that God “feels” over the repentance of one sinner. By implication, Jesus’ action in accepting sinners and eating with them reflects God’s gracious spirit toward those who were held in contempt by the Pharisees and scribes.

The second parable, that of the Lost coin features a woman with ten coins. A drachma was a silver coin worth about a denarius, or a day’s wage. Hence ten drachmas was not a great sum of money. This makes it clear that the parable is pointing not to the great monetary value of the coin or loss but to the human reaction to prize what is lost, even if it is of lesser value than what one still possesses. Since in this parable there is no comparison with the other nine coins like there was in the Parable of the Lost Sheep with the ninety-nine who had no need of repentance, the parable focuses even more sharply on God’s joy at the recovery of what had been lost.

The parables therefore seem to focus not on the need for repentance but on the rejoicing and the call to the righteous to join in the celebration. Whether one will join in the celebration will reveal whether one’s relationships are based on merit or mercy. Those who cannot rejoice exclude themselves from God’s grace.

Choose One

CLICK HERE

Wednesday, November 5, 2014 - What are the things, which are the persons, which are the events that are preventing you from following? What will you do about them today?

To read the texts click on the texts: Phil 2:12-18; Lk 14:25-33

The sayings in these verses are addressed to the large crowds that are following Jesus. Those who wish to follow are asked to consider the cost of that following and to check whether they have it in them to persevere. Three conditions are laid down to following. The first (14:26) is renouncing family ties. This of course does not mean hating family, but means not letting anyone including family come in the way of following. When it comes to a matter of choice, following Jesus must take precedence over family ties.

The second condition (14:27) is carrying one’s cross. While in Luke 9:23 the challenge is to “take up” one’s cross, here it is to carry it. This means that the disciple who intends to follow Jesus must be prepared to face the same fate as Jesus, which will include rejection, ignominy and even death.

Before the third condition of giving up possessions (14:33), two parables are told to illustrate the folly of failing to consider what following would entail. These parables are found only in Luke’s Gospel. The first (14:28-30) is about a man who intends to build a tower, but would not do so until he has first counted the cost of doing so. This calculation is done not after he has begun the work, but before he begins it, in order to ensure that he can finish what he has begun. If he does not do, he will be ridiculed. The second parable (14:31-32) is about a king who before he can go to war with another king would first ensure that he has enough soldiers and strength to resist the other. If he realises that he does not have enough, prudence will demand that he not start the war, but instead sue for peace. In the same way anyone who wishes to be a disciple must first count the cost and only on finding that he/she has the strength to persevere, must dare to follow.

The third condition (14:33) is that of giving up possessions or total renunciation. This means that nothing or no one can be allowed to come in the way of following Jesus on mission. If one allows oneself to be restrained by things or persons, one cannot be a disciple in the true sense of the word.

We can come up with numerous excuses why following Jesus today is not easy. However, no matter what they might be, they will still remain excuses. If we are determined to follow and are convinced of his call, excuses cease and following begins.

We can be different, yet ONE

CLICK HERE

Tuesday, November 4, 2014 - How have you responded to the invitation that God is constantly issuing?

To read the texts click on the texts: Phil 2:5-11; Lk 14:15-24

The setting for the parable in these verses is the meal introduced in 14:1. It is known as the parable of the great supper or banquet. After the host has sent invitations to those whom he desired to come for his banquet, he sent his servants to call those guests when everything was ready. The guests however began to offer excuse. The first excused himself because he had bought a piece of land which he wanted to go and see. This excuse is absurd, since no one would buy a piece of land without first inspecting it. The second excused himself because he had bought five yoke of oxen, which he had to go and see which again is absurd for the same reason. These excuses bring out the fact that it is material possessions and their hold on the persons concerned which prevent them for responding to the invitation. The third guest allows family commitments to hinder his response. While such a reason is plausible, it serves to highlight the fact of the total rejection of the host’s invitations. 

On hearing the excuses through his servants, the host is angry. He now reaches out to the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind. This list is identical to the list mentioned in 14:13 and the ones whom Jesus challenged his host to invite. Since there is more room, a second invitation is sent in order to fill the banquet hall. 

The point being made by the parable is that many of those who take for granted that their places are reserved will find themselves out of a place and their place taken by those whom they considered unworthy. 

While the invitation of the host is important to enter the banquet hall, one excludes oneself from it by the choice that one makes.

Procrastination is a sin of many of us. We keep putting off till later what we can and sometimes must do now. To get over this sin one needs to start now and not later.

Sorrow need not rob you of joy

CLICK HERE

Monday, November 3, 2014 - When was the last time you did an act without expecting anything in return? Will you attempt to do such an act today?

To read the texts click on the texts: Phil 2:1-4; Lk 14:12-14

In the context of the meal to which Jesus was invited and in which he noticed how guests chose places of honour, the Lucan Jesus directs these verses to the host. The challenge in these verses is that the host not invite others in order to gain a private advantage. The four groups that one must not invite (friends, brothers, relatives and rich neighbours) are balanced by the four groups that one must dare to invite (the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind). The point of inviting the latter group is that they will not be able to repay the favour. The reward or repayment for such an act will come from God himself.

If we understand that unconditional love means expecting nothing in return from the person that one loves, then we can understand what Jesus is inviting us to in the text of today. However, many of us like to keep a record of the right that we have done for others so that they might do the same for us. Our relationships are built on barter rather than love.

PRAY NOT FOR THE ONES WHO HAVE GONE BEFORE US BUT TO THEM. THEY ARE NOW OUR INTERCESSORS

Heavenly Father, your Son Jesus revealed you to us as a God of the living and not of the dead.  We believe that you are the source of life and all that comes from you is life in abundance.

We come before you with grateful hearts for all the blessings you showered on our near and dear ones in this life. We thank you for taking them to yourself because we know they are alive with you and enjoying a life that is eternal and will never come to an end.

We pray Father for each one of gathered here that we may lead lives that are centred on you. Let us always remember that you are a gracious and generous God and that you always want what is best for us. Give us the grace not to have any regrets about the past or to be obsessed with the future, but to live fully in the present moment. Let us so live our lives that if you were to call us to yourself even at this moment, we will be ready to come to you our God of love and life.

We ask our Blessed Mother Mary to continue to be our intercessor and give us her courage to say yes. We ask this through Christ your son our Lord who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and forever.

How do you want to be remembered?

CLICK HERE

Sunday, November 2, 2014 - Commemoration of the Faithful Departed - Not the end, but a transition

To read the texts click on the texts: Isa 25:6-9; 1 Thes 4:13-18; Mt 11:25-30

Whenever the Commemoration of the faithful departed (All Souls) falls on a Sunday, the following Sunday is the Feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of St John Lateran. Each of these days in its own way is an invitation to reflect on the meaning of God’s people gathered to be church.

The commemoration of the faithful departed reminds us that we are still one with those who have gone before us into eternal life, and that death is not and can never be the end. Since they are alive, we still owe them love and support in Christ’s name, even beyond the grave.

While the readings for today’s feast may be chosen from a great variety found in the Masses for the dead, I have taken the ones mentioned above. This gives us an opportunity to look at the mystery of death and the new life that Christ has won and promised for all of us who believe.

The question of where we go when we die is a question that has puzzled and continues to puzzle the minds of many, It is a question that brings out the fact that we realize that his life has to end and all of us, no matter how strong we are, no matter how rich or poor, have to die some day. Death has been and will continue to be a mystery. While we know that we have to die and today with the advancement of science and technology can delay death for some time, and we can tell how a person may have died, what we will never know, what will always remain a mystery, is why a person must die at a particular moment in time. This feast does not provide the answer to this question, but informs us that for us, as believers, death is not and can never be the end.

It is quite amazing to find a text like the first reading of today in the Old Testament in which we do not find any clear theology of the resurrection of the dead. During most of the time before Christ, only a vague idea of afterlife is found: an “abode of the dead” called Sheol, whose inhabitants had only a shadowy existence. God’s favour or disfavour was understood only in terms of the present life. However, as hard times and tragedies befell the Jewish people, ideas of life beyond this life began to emerge. Isaiah saw this as eternal restoration of the nation, where death would be destroyed and the whole people would live forever. The text comes from within the block of material known as “The Isaiah Apocalypse” (Is 24-27). The view of the future within these chapters is universal in outlook and speaks of God’s power in the cosmic as well as the earthly realm.  An invitation to a feast is issued and those who will heed the call are invited to the mountain of the Lord, Zion with the choicest of food and drink. It is an invitation to feast and rejoice and an assurance that all tears will be wiped away God will reveal himself as a God who saves. Death itself will be destroyed.

In the Gospel text Jesus responds to the disciples of John the Baptist to their question whether Jesus was the Messiah, expressed exasperation with the crowd who recognize neither John nor Jesus, and denounces the cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum. Indeed, this entire section of Matthew’s Gospel seems to dwell on the “failure” on the part of Jesus to measure up to the expectations people had in terms of what a “Messiah” would look or act like.

But despite so much blindness and such closed attitudes, this is not the last word. The invitation and message will find acceptance among the open and receptive of which there are still some left. For the most part the wise tend to become proud and self-sufficient and unreceptive. On the other hand, the childlike are most often unself-conscious, open, dependent, and receptive. They are willing to let God work in their lives. They are willing to believe that in Jesus, God has indeed brought salvation from sin, failure and even death itself.

Even as we commemorate the faithful departed, we must remember that the readings of today do not focus on death at all, rather they focus on life and life in abundance. In writing to the Thessalonians, Paul makes clear that we cannot behave as a people who have no hope.

Death does take away from this life the person who has died, and this results in our missing that person. However, our grief has to be a controlled grief. It has to be a grief subdued by the hope that all who have died in Christ are sure to rise with him. After God has spoken in Jesus, death is seen only as a transition from one kind of life to another. In the words of the sixteenth century poet John Donne: “Death, thou shalt die”.