4th Sunday of Advent (Cycle B)

2Sam 7:1-5,8-12,14,16                  Rom 16:25-27                  Lk 1:26-38

The legend of the exquisitely beautiful girl Shakuntala and the mighty king Dushyant is a thrilling love story from the epic Mahabharata, which the great ancient poet Kalidasa retold in his immortal play ‘Abhijnanashakuntalam’.

While on a hunting trip, King Dushyant of the Puru dynasty meets the hermit-girl Shakuntala. They fall in love with each other at first sight and, in the absence of her father, Shakuntala weds the king in a ceremony of ‘Ghandharva’ - a form of marriage by mutual consent with mother Nature as the witness. When the time comes for Dushyant to return to his palace, he promises to send an envoy to escort her to his castle. As a fond remembrance he gives her a signet ring. One day when hermit Durvasa stops at her hut for hospitality, Shakuntala, lost in her love thoughts, fails to hear his calls. The angry sage turns back and curses her: “He whose thoughts have engrossed you, would not remember you anymore.” On the plea of her companions, the enraged sage relents and adds a condition to his curse-statement: “He can only recall you upon producing some significant souvenir.” Days roll by and nobody from the palace comes to fetch her. Her father sends her to the royal court for their reunion, as she was pregnant with Dushyant’s child. While travelling, Shakuntala’s signet-ring accidentally drops into the river and gets lost. When Shakuntala presents herself before the king, Dushyant, under the spell of the curse, fails to acknowledge her as his wife. Heart-broken, she pleads to the gods for help. Meanwhile, a fisherman finds the signet ring in the stomach of a fish and hands it over to king Dushyant. On seeing it, the king recollects the past and suffers from an intense feeling of guilt and injustice. Then, Shakuntala forgives Dushyant and they are reunited happily. She gives birth to a male child. He is called Bharat, after whom India gets her name.

This legendary story tells us how a promise was made, forgotten and then, fulfilled. But today’s story from the gospel tells us how a promise was never forgotten, unfailed, unbroken and fulfilled.

Today’s gospel is a passage we have heard on different occasions and feasts, like the feast of the annunciation of the Lord and on various Marian feasts throughout the annual liturgical period. But, in the context of advent season, this conveys to us that God has been faithful, is faithful and will be faithful to the promises He has made. The announcement about the conception of Jesus Christ in the womb of Mary is a sign of God unfailing to keep His promises. God promised a Messiah and a Saviour to the Israelites and the humankind at large, to liberate them eternally from the clutches which manifested in various forms. The long awaited coming of the Messiah was ensured during the moment of annunciation.

This element of God fulfilling His promises and never failing on that is a great lesson for us today, because as humans, we face the challenge of how hard we struggle to fulfill the promises we have made. Quickly our promises are relaxed due to its incompatibility with our struggles of life. Even otherwise, when we face with a profit or benefit to our end, we are prone to give up the promises we make to others. The priority of our promise shifts pushing the self-benefit to the first position. Such an unpromising behaviour is unjust. A promise is always a promise. A vow is always a vow and cannot be revoked. The integrity of a person is revealed through the promise one makes and fulfills it.

We are not without the practice of promises in our human life. Trust is built on a person, when that person shows himself or herself to be promising in character. Our blessed mother, Mary whom we encounter in today’s gospel proved her to be promising throughout her life, without ever going back on her promise. From the human community, she stands as the epitome of a promising character. From the divine side, God projects Himself to be of promising nature. We see an exchange of promise between God and Mary.

There are different areas of life, in which people make their promises. During the sacrament of matrimony, the couples exchange their promise of fidelity and love to each other. In the life of priestly and religious vocation, the concerned candidate gives the vows of obedience, poverty and chastity. In the contract between two parties, they sign the agreement. In receiving loans, we sign the surety paper. Life is filled with promises but only a few are fulfilled.

Broken promises are always a source of mental agony and suffering. We know the pain when one of the spouse betrays the partner in a marital relationship. That is the most agonizing pain a person could encounter in a human life than the pain a chronic physical ailment could offer. That is the effect of a broken promise.

When looked at from the perspective of promises, the salvation history is nothing but another version of God’s unfailed promises interwoven with Israelites’ broken promises. The life of Israelites is a recurring story of broken promises at different times, but still God had sustained to be faithful to His promises. It is ironical to note that a single promise of God continued to be alive amidst an atmosphere of human dead promises. The embodiment of God in the human form of Jesus Christ became the pinnacle of God’s promise actualized. The embodiment of God is celebrated as Christmas.

Even now, if we fail to fulfill the promises we make to God or to others in the name of God, He continues to be faithful to his promises He gave to us. We read in Mt 20:28, the last promise made by Jesus before he ascended into heaven, which is, also the last verse in the Gospel of St Matthew: Look, I am with you always; yes, to the end of time. Here, we note that ‘Emmanuel’ which means ‘God is with us’ (Mt 1:23) closed his earth’s journey with a similar note. To consider this promise of Jesus as fulfilling or as failed is a matter of our faith.

The parable of the two sons (Mt 21:28-32) said by Jesus exposes the second son to be failing on his promise. While the first son, who refuses to his father’s instruction, later changes his mind and does what his father wants, the second son, who says, “I go,” makes a promise that he never fulfills—and possibly never intends to fulfill. His word contradicts his performance. To his father, he conceals his determination to disobey. The warning to us is not to be a son who promises to work, then neglects to keep his word. God has called us, and we have accepted that calling, during the renewal of our baptismal commitment on every Easter vigil service, promising we would do what God expects. Now we must perform what we have promised.

Only a person, promising in small things would be entrusted with great things. Lord Jesus said: “Anyone who is trustworthy in little things is trustworthy in great” (Lk 16:10). Let us introspect, whether we are promising in little things. If yes, there are greater responsibilities awaiting us!

2nd Sunday of Advent (Cycle B)

Isa 40:1-5, 9-11                  2Pet 3:8-14                  Mk 1:1-8

A woodsman was once asked, “What would you do if you were given eight hours to chop down a tree?” He answered, “I would spend the first six hours sharpening my axe.”

Rigorous preparation is the key to success for many endeavors. There will be no effect without a cause. No effect will happen without a cause. Similarly, no organized event would become an actuality without being preceded by a preparatory stage. Whether it be a marriage event, a birthday celebration, a farewell function, all have its own preparations prior to it. So also, our forthcoming celebration of Christmas. In view of that, today’s liturgy provides meditative points for us to reflect in order that we may worthily prepare ourselves to approach the historical event of Christ birth.

Our Church provides the icon of St John the Baptist, to instruct us towards a need for change both within and without. Straightening the herky-jerky, unsteady, uneven, coarse, rugged paths of the Messiah was the mission entrusted to St John the Baptist. The path that would be travelled by the saviour is the path of the human soul. The human soul is at a loss of peace within due to its herky-jerky, unsteady, uneven, coarse, rugged nature. Its path needs straightening. We go to parlours to straighten our hair to appear good. As humans, we give good importance to the externals than the internals. This tendency is because of our fragile nature. Therefore, this gives a priority call to straighten the path of our soul.

We always complain about the uneven roads because it makes our journey tiresome and annoying. Even if it is cost effective, we like to take the toll roads to have smoother journey and also to reach faster to the destiny. Similarly, our journey towards the celebration of Christ birth needs a smoother travelling experience. As a matter of preparation, our mind and attitude need to be shaped, evened, flattened, straightened before we encounter the celebraton of Christ birth.

Anything that does not allow change, has to face the state of stagnancy. Anything that stagnates, is prone to vanish and become extinct quickly. Hence, change is inevitable for any being in this universe. All the more, it becomes vital for a human being to change towards betterment. Without change, nothing would encounter growth or betterment. Change should not be towards the worst, rather, its movement should be towards the best. We do not like monotony. We become bored of a song, when we listen to it again and again, however we have liked it in the beginning. This applies to anything that we are attracted towards in the beginning. Therefore, we look for change in our surroundings to keep ourselves happy. But the secret of happiness lies in our positive change within. A refreshed mind each day is the secret to happiness.

When we go to a shop to buy some product, it is our usual experience that if the shop keeper hands a product in which its outer cover appears unclean or little damaged we ask him to give another one. In such cases, we do not even check the actual product inside a box cover rather we are very particular about the outer cover. The important thing is to check the actual product that resides inside the box whether it is working in good condition. Most often, we check the actual product after returning home and make a complain about our carelessness of not checking it at the right spot. What does this tell us? We have a tendency to be quick in worrying about the peripheries and the superficials rather than the foundations and internal matters.

This awareness is expected of us in the light of today’s gospel to march towards real repentance and transformation. Our growth consists in becoming nobler and nobler each day. There should be change in us for something better. That is why there is difference between a primitive man and a modern man. A modern man is not similar to a primitive man. There is a lot of progress in a modern man in comparison to a primitive man. But we cannot speak about the difference between a primitive lion and modern lion, a primitive buffalo and modern buffalo. Human beings alone possess the capacity to become better every day.

Robin Sharma makes a powerful statement in his spiritual novel, The Monk who sold his Ferrari: There is nothing noble about being superior to some other person. True nobility lies in being superior to your former self.

It is true that every day we need to become superior to our former self by refining our own self, our inner thoughts, our soul. Every time we need to ask these questions:
- Am I better in my attitudes at present compared to my past?
- Am I better in my thoughts today compared to yesterday?
- Am I better in my motives now compared to the earlier moment?
If we ask these questions and positively act according to it, PEACE IS NEVER AT A DISTANCE. We need strenuous effort on our part to become better in our attitudes, thoughts and motives.

In such efforts, we also become tired sometimes saying to ourselves: However, I try my best to become better, my surroundings remain the same and people around me are no better. Therefore, we ask the question: To what end this change is helpful? What is the point in me alone or one person changing oneself, when the whole world is acting contrary to what I desire, the desire for peace and love? Is it just for my personal spiritual advancement alone without leaving any effect in my surroundings? Let us not forget what natural law states: Any change will not stop with a single entity rather it creates ripples of changes in the other entities and the surroundings, like the single stone thrown in the lake creates continuous ripples in the layer of the water. No social change will occur in mass level without being initiated in a single person.

Let me conclude by sharing with you the story that was told by Noble Laureate Kailash Satyarti from India in his Nobel Lecture while he received Nobel Prize for Peace for the year 2014, along with Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani young girl: A terrible fire had broken out in the forest. All the animals were running away, including the lion, king of the forest. Suddenly, the lion saw a tiny bird rushing towards the fire. The lion asked the bird, “what are you doing?” To the lion's surprise, the bird replied “I am on my way to extinguish the fire.” The lion laughed and said, “how can you kill the fire with just one drop of water, in your beak?” The bird was adamant, and said, "But I am doing my bit.”

Let each one of us do our bit!

Solemnity of Christ the King (Cycle A)

Ezek 34:11-12, 15-17                1Cor 15:20-26, 28                Mt 25:31-46

A woman who was working in a factory and whose job was to inspect the meat products stored in the factory’s industrial meat freezer, ended her work shift with a final visit to the sub-zero temperature room before calling it a night when catastrophe struck! As she entered the frigid zone, the door, which only opened from the outside, accidentally closed, leaving her locked inside with slabs of frozen meat products, and not a soul in sight to witness the incident. The woman screamed and pounded on the several inches thick metal door, but no sound was heard as all the other workers had gone home for the night, and the sound-proof room effectively muffled her calls for help. As time passed, the woman felt the cold starting to seep into her bones, and she began to experience the early symptoms of hypothermia. After five hours spent trapped in frigid temperatures, she finally resigned herself to the inevitability of death, as all of her extremities started going numb, and a deep cold sleep slowly invaded her consciousness. To her great surprise, the freezer’s vault door suddenly opened, revealing the night security guard’s image. The woman was saved! When she was back to normal, she asked the security guard why he had opened the meat freezer, something that wasn’t within the normal scope of his routine during his night rounds. His answer was totally unexpected and moved the lady to tears of gratitude. The guard said, “I have been working in this factory for 35 years, hundreds of workers come in and out everyday, but you are one of the few who greet me in the morning and say good bye to me every night when leaving after work. Many treat me as if I am invisible. Today, as you reported for work, like all other days, you greeted me in our simple manner ‘Hello’. But this evening after working hours, I curiously observed that I had not heard your ‘Bye, see you tomorrow’. Hence, I decided to check around the factory. I expect to your ‘hello’ and ‘bye’ everyday because they remind me that I am someone. By not hearing your farewell today, I knew something had happened. That’s why I was searching every where for you.”

How often does this happen in real life? Do we treat people we see everyday at home or at work like invisible entities, taking them for granted like pieces of furniture? In our foregone indifferent gesture of treating others as invisibles, we fail to see the visibility of Jesus Christ in them. In such a context, the following words of Jesus in today’s gospel become appropriate: Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me’ (Mt 25:45).

A simple question that emerge from this insight is –
- Whom do we favour much?
- What kind of people form our closer circle?
- About whom we say things that are positive?
- Whom do we consider as influential?
- What kind of personalities we feel proud about? 

Certainly, for majority of us, the least, the needy, the vulnerable, the marginalized, those on the periphery will not fit into the answer to the above questions.

What category of people are found in the close circles of those who rule and command the people. Not the simple and the least! Rather the powerful, the wealthy, the reputed, the strong, the influential are the kind of people who form the nearer circle of those who govern the people, for the simple reason, both the dominant class receive their mutual benefit at the cost of the dominated. But Christ, the king whose solemnity we celebrate today centralizes the least and the burdened as the primary citizens of His kingdom. And those who care of these primary citizens are in the advantageous position to receive God’s favour and inherit the kingdom that was prepared from the foundation of the world.

Our mother Church portrays our Lord Jesus Christ, as the king of a different kind and unique nature. He is a king who favours mostly the unnoticed. Today’s gospel presents the criteria of how a king should be. It presents,
- What should be the king’s primary concern?
- What should be his priorities to give a good governance?
- What should be the criterion of justice to assess his subjects and people?

The Old Testament portrays God as the king of justice all through. The same portrayal is seen in today’s gospel. However, the criterion of justice is based on the merciful acts expected of each one. We see the application of the Golden Rule: In everything do to others as you would have them do to you (Mt 7:12).

God is always wanting of radiating His mercifulness and so expects the same mercifulness returned to Him by we, being merciful towards His creatures. When that is done, he rewards us with the inheritance of the kingdom that was prepared from the foundation of the world. When He does not see the mercifulness returned, He punishes by departing us into the eternal fire. This is the criterion of justice that emerges in today’s gospel. Jesus Christ in all his teachings resemble this attitude of the heavenly Father through various parables like the Pharisee and the tax collector, the parable of the vineyard workers, the parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin, the parable of the prodigal son and others. In His approach with people, Jesus manifests the merciful face of God which surpasses justice.

It is surprising to note in today’s gospel that on the final judgement, the criterion of justice would be through the assessment of one’s merciful acts. Though God’s mercy surpasses His own justice, God would never spare anyone during the final judgement if merciful acts would be missing in a person’s life.

As we are the loving subjects of the kingship of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are called to radiate the same attitude of Jesus Christ with our fellow human beings. As subjects of His kingship, we enjoy a different kind of citizenship unlike the one we experience as a national citizen. Our Christian citizenship is not confined to any boundaries but it travels beyond borders. Our Christian citizenship is not a submissiveness to some authority but a surrender to the surpassing love of God. Our Christian citizenship is not targeted on seeking positions, but aims at human concerns.

A good king is one who puts his feet into the shoes of the other and really feels what it is like. Unlike the others who govern and rule, Jesus Christ the King, was not the one who sympathized with the suffers but empathized with them. If we acknowledge ourselves to be the loving subjects of Christ the King, are we ready to empathize with the needy?

32nd Ordinary Sunday (Cycle A)

Wis 6:12-16                1Thess 4:13-18                Mt 25:1-13

A guard in charge of a lighthouse along a dangerous coast was given enough oil for one month and told to keep the light burning every night. One day a woman asked for oil so that her children could stay warm. Then a farmer came. His son needed oil for a lamp so he could read. Another needed some for an engine. The guard saw each as a worthy request and gave some oil to satisfy all. By the end of the month, the tank in the lighthouse was dry. That night the beacon was dark and three ships crashed on the rocks. More than one hundred lives were lost. The lighthouse attendant explained what he had done and why. But the prosecutor replied, “You were given only one task: to keep the light burning. Every other thing was secondary. You have no excuse.”

We may complain about the five wise virgins saying that they were hard hearted not to share their sufficient oil to the other five virgins on their request. But the story about the lighthouse guard gives a sharp point for our thought what the five wise virgins did was right. Here it is not a question of being charitable to the other virgins but it is a question of

-  how far the righteous can allot their charitable space with those who are behaviourally careless,

-  how far the wiseful hardworking category of people have to substitute their merit with those who are complacent,

- how far the watchful can spare their time to those who are non-vigilant.

Our Lord Jesus Christ, presents the foolish virigns as personification of those who are behaviourally careless, complacent in nature and non-vigilant.

Certainly, those who do not have the opportunity for a meritorious and commendable growth deserve help from those who are meritorious. It is obvious that the child which is mentally ill or physically-challenged deserve more attention from the mother than other children who are normal.

Those who are not gifted naturely with smartness always have their share of right from those who are smart. But those who naturally possessed the wiseness, do not deserve the support of others when they failed to be diligent and hardworking. Those who are clever do not deserve a helping hand from others, when they have wasted the resources that were available at their hands. The resources would mean the capital, the opportunity, the human support and the time factor. They are like the third servant in the Parable of the Talents, who hid his master’s money without using it to procure more. The foolish virgins are no different from this foolish servant.

To understand how much the wise virgins, stand as praiseworthy, we shall refer to another parable said by Jesus, i.e. the Parable of the Dishonest Manager (Lk 16:1-8). Jesus points to the smartness, astuteness, shrewdness, cleverness, wiseness, prudence of the dishonest manager who cleverly used his master’s possession to his own end and well-being. Though what was done by the manager in forwarding his master’s property to his own benefit, is unjust, still Jesus points out that his master praised the dishonest steward for his astuteness. Then Jesus goes on to say: For the children of this world are more astute in dealing with their own kind than are the children of light (Lk 16:8).

If the children of this world are smart enough, then how much more, we Christians, who are children of light are expected to be smarter in keeping ourselves to the Lord’s ways and desires. This is the point of thought, Jesus wants us to reflect upon. If the people of this world and age are clever enough to safeguard their body and its ramifications, then how much more the people of light have to be diligent in caring for their souls.

The five wise virgins stand as a prototype of those who all keep their soul undiminished from the ray of divine light. Whereas, sadly, the foolish virgins stand as a model of those who made their glowing lighted soul extinguished at a moment. These are the kind of people who are surrounded by a circle of unawareness, and they become a prey to the wrong directions of the world. They are being trapped into a veil of ignorance. They think that they are clever, but their cleverness resides only within a mesmerized circle of ignorance.

Just imagine what would have been the dialogue between the wise and foolish virgins before they could begin waiting for the bridegroom. To a question whether they should take extra oil, the reply of the foolish virgins would have been that: “we know the time of the bridegroom’s arrival and why we should unnecessarily carry extra oil and burden ourselves.” This happens within their veil of ignorance due to their unawareness.

A foresight was missing among the foolish virgins whereas the wise virgins had that. It was not only their lack of foresight but also their reluctance to invest extra effort of carrying some more oil. Their intention to forgo the extra effort made them land in a sad situation. This may happen to any of us if we try to forgo the extra effort that is wanted of us. Every good work has the ingredient of extra effort. If there are no good works from us, then it is simply the lack of extra effort.

- Do we compromise our foresight by forgoing our extra effort?

- Do we compromise our foresight by our lethargic nature?

-  Do we compromise our foresight by being over-confident?

These are the queries that should linger in our mind as we reflect on the ways of the foolish virgins.

Referring again to the attitude of the foolish servant in the Parable of the Talents, he failed even to invest his extra effort of lending the money with the lender, for his master cursed him saying: you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and on my return, I would have got my money back with interest (Mt 25:27). Surely, the master was not profit-minded in character. Certainly, if the foolish servant would have used the money to procure more, and incurred a loss, his master would have appreciated him for his attitude of investing his energy and effort.

Attitude is the mark of a person’s personality and character. Attitude defines the real merit of a person. Attitude is the little thing that makes a big difference, the difference between the wise and the foolish bridesmaids. Through the Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids, Jesus ultimately points out the kind of attitude that underlied their eventual results.

We are invited through today’s liturgy of the word to overcome our complacent nature with our diligence, to overcome our lethargic nature with our extra efforts, to overcome our ignorance by our foresightedness. This overcoming exercise could begin only with our rightful attitude towards our Christian vocation and life. Let our attitude be noble and righteous!

29th Ordinary Sunday (Cycle A)

Isa 45:1,4-6                 1Thess 1:1-5               Mt 22:15-21

Once God called the leaders of America, China and India for an emergency meeting. The leaders rushed to the meeting spot with excitement. God arrived at the appointed time and told them that He will annihilate this world in three days. “Just as Jonah did, you have to proclaim this news to your citizens,” God said. Their excitement turned into sorrow. However, the leaders made a pact that they will carry out the mandate entrusted to them by God. The leaders returned to their countries and called for a press meet in their respective capitals. The Amercian president said, “We have a good news and a bad news. The good news is that God exists. The bad news is that the world will be annihilated in three days.” The Chinese president said looking at the reporters, “We have a bad news and the worst news. The bad news is that world will be annihilated in three days. The worst news is that, contrary to our belief, God exists.” The Indian prime minister adjusted his microphone, denounced the opposition party and proudly announced, “I have a good news and a better news. The good news is that God exists. The better news is that poverty will be annihilated from India in three days.”

We have become the protagonists of half truth and shades of truth. Even the Pharisees of Jesus time were such protagonists of half truth and shades of truth. They projected themselves to be loyal to the Jewish tradition, thereby opposing the reign of Ceasar over them and at the same time, using the icon of Ceasar to trap Jesus. This was their double standard. But Jesus being well aware of their trap, wisely answers their question and also teaches a great lesson of being loyal to both God and the State.

During the time of Jesus, there were two false concepts of citizenship seen in the Pharisees and Herodians. The first false concept is that religion is supreme. This is seen in the view of the Pharisees. They believed strongly in the heavenly world, so much so they believed that all obedience and loyalty were due God and God alone. In fact, all things on earth were due God. The state and all other power and authority were to be subject to religious rule. Therefore, they were strongly against paying taxes to a foreign king. Such was an infringement upon God’s right.

The second false concept is that the state is supreme. This is seen in the view of the Herodians. The Herodians were not a religious party but a political party of Herod, the King of Galilee. They were supportive of Rome, compromising wherever they could in order to preserve their own power and influence. They had compromised to such a point that they gave some degree of consent to pagan temples. They held that government was dominant over religion; consequently, they would agree that taxes must be paid to Caesar rather than to God.

The Herodians and the Pharisees were bitter enemies. To find them together was strange indeed, but their hatred of Jesus brought them together against Jesus whom they considered a common enemy. The Gospel of Mark 3:6 witnesses to this fact thus: The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against Jesus, how to destroy him. Therefore, it is obvious, that the question raised to Jesus about the paying of tax was a plot to trap him. But Jesus used the occasion to teach the truth about citizenship, a truth which was both astounding and earth-shaking to the people of that day – earth-shaking because the Jews believed that the loyalty of a citizen belonged only to God, and the rest of the world believed that loyalty belonged to the ruling monarch of their territory.

A total submission to the state or a total submission to the religion, both these extremes are not advocated by Jesus. Jesus does not centralize either. Jesus himself sets the model, he submitted himself fully to the heavenly Father’s will and at the same time, he too paid the taxes. We are expected of possessing this balanced attitude of Jesus.

Jesus surprised the world of His day by declaring there was an earthly, physical citizenship to which some things are to be given; and there was a spiritual, heavenly citizenship to which some things are to be given. He revealed a very important truth for believers of all ages, that is, they have a double citizenship. They are citizens of heaven, but they are also citizens of this world. They have an obligation to the government under which they live. They receive the benefits of government just as the other citizens do: for example, roads, sewage, water, protection, public transportation, etc. Therefore, believers are to pay their due share. In the Indian context, in the wake of new economic evolution of GST (Goods and Service Tax), this teaching becomes all the more imperative.

Though Jesus’ view about double citizenship is surprising to us, it also appears to us that Jesus seems to contradict. He says in Mt 6:24 – No one can serve two masters for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. But Jesus also tells in today’s gospel to render what is due to God and to render what is due to the state. God and the state are two masters and how can we be loyal to both? This is where we need to have a clarity. St Paul gives a clarification in this regard. He says: Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God…. For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, busy with this very thing. Pay to all what is due them – taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honour to whom honour is due (Rom 13:1,6).

The state does not stand as a structure in contradiction with God as per the biblical tradition. In the history of Israelites, we see, they were a cluster of people who were directly governed by God. But at a stage, when they requested for a human kingship, though God was unwilling he granted them king Saul. His successor was King David, a man of God’s own heart. From then on, God led the people of Israelites through the human kings. Their obedience to the human leaders, meant obedience to God himself, provided that the leaders walk in the way of the Lord. It is not serving two masters but serving the one and only master, God.

A government is a God appointed institution, to take care of the common good of its citizens. If a government provides needed goods and services then we must, in justice, give back to the government our loyalty and support. As Christians, we must discern to what extent a given government and its policies merit their loyalty and support. Finally, let us basically understand that the duty to the nation as a citizen is very much interwoven with our obligation we have received through our vocation to a Christian life.

27th Ordinary Sunday (Cycle A)

Isa 5:1-7                      Phil 4:6-9                    Mt 21:33-43

Daniel Webster was a famous Englishman. He compiled the famous Webster English Dictionary. Once, someone asked him, “What is that often lingers in your mind?” Webster replied, “My individual accountability to God”.

Our accountability to God is the central theme of today’s gospel, which we are called upon to reflect. We note in the parable of the wicked tenants, that they were not only unaccountable to the vineyard owner, but intentionally planned to abduct the vineyard, which made them even to kill the son of the vineyard owner.

The parable of the wicked tenants has two characteristics: 1. Historical 2. Predictive

1. Historical: It means this parable covers the history of Israel from God’s perspective, just as God sees it. The landowner is God. The vineyard is Israel. The tenants are the chosen race of Israel and their religious leaders. The servants are the prophets, and lastly the Son is Jesus Christ. Jesus summarizes the whole of history of Israel from God’s perspective in a story form.

2. Predictive: This means Jesus through this parable predicted or revealed exactly what was going to happen to Israel, that is, they were going to reject God’s own Son; and because of their rejection and cruelty, God was going to reject them by giving the Kingdom of God to another people and no more Israelites alone would be the chosen people of God.

In fact Jesus was predicting the emergence of new set of people who would worship God in the ways of Christ. To put in other words, there would emerge a community of true fellowship which would act in Christian ways and would bear fruit. It was a prophecy made by our Lord. There are several important facts that need to be understood at this point in order to grasp the significance of the Lord’s prophecy.

Israel was the nation of people raised up by God. In what all ways, God made them to be privileged?

a) Israel bore up the name of God in the world.

b) Israel was given the very words of God, that is, the Word of God, the revelation of God.

c) Israel was a greatly privileged people in spiritual things.

d) Israel was given the glorious plan of salvation that a Messiah would come to save them.

e) Israel was given the glorious privilege of being God’s witnesses upon the earth.

But the people of Israel miserably failed to realize these privileges which they enjoyed. Israel failed God in its God-given mission. Therefore, Jesus prophesied that God would turn against them and would take away His kingdom from them and would entrust it to another people, and it happened for the following reasons:

i) God turned from Israel because they rejected and killed the promised Messiah, God’s own Son.

ii) God turned from Israel because they were unfruitful.

iii) God turned from Israel because they were unfaithful.

iv) God turned from Israel because they failed to uphold the gospel values.

v) God turned from Israel because they were a disobedient and obstinate people.

vi) God turned from Israel because of their unbelief.

vii) God turned from Israel because they were unaccountable and disloyal.

Today, this parable is addressed to each one of us. All these would apply to us, if we have a similar tendency as that of the wicked tenants. We are living in a time, in a scenario where unaccountability is seriously addressed, whether the person is a leader in high position or an ordinary citizen. If you persist to be unaccountable, what is given to you will be removed from you and given to another. Although God is merciful, compassionate, lenient, at the same time, He also never fails to be a serious judge like our judicial system which is sometimes strict in keeping to the law.

In our lives, when others turn unaccountable to us, we become quickly furious and it is indigestible to us. If that is the case with human relations, how then we can expect God to be still patient with our unaccountable nature and actions. Jesus used parables like parable of the prodigal son, parable of the lost coin, parable of the lost sheep, and parable of the vineyard workers, to bring out the merciful, compassionate, kind nature of God. But also Jesus did not fail to strongly record that God will not be forever patient with our unbecoming acts. And this message is strongly brought out by Jesus in today’s gospel.

We have ample examples from the Old Testament to show that the same God, who was kind to the cry of the people of Israel when they were under Egyptian slavery, did not also spare anybody who intentionally went against Him. Moses, who was chosen to lead the people of Israel into the promised land of Canaan, due to his unfaith at a moment, was denied to enter into the land of Canaan. Saul, who was chosen by God to be the first king of Israel, had to encounter death by his own soldier due to his disloyalty to the Lord’s ways. King David was gloriously chosen to succeed Saul, due to his sustained personal sins had to experience the pain of the loss of his first born Absalom who was hanging between heaven and earth (Cf. 2Sam 18:9). Even after many pleadings of Abraham, God did not spare Sodom and Gomorrah. No one will be spared from the sight of the Lord, if they do not repent and continue to give justifications for their disloyal acts.

We need to have a balanced view about the nature of God who is both merciful and a righteous judge. The nature of God cannot be fixed to one of these two extremes. His mercy will be upon those who begin to repent and ready to make up for their faults. Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector stand as a model for us. He not only repented but undid what he unjustly procured. The temporal powers we hold are nothing when compared to the majestic omnipotence of God. The wicked tenants failed to realize this. Often we are hypnotized and mesmerized by the temporal powers thinking that they would guard us till the last. But it will not because they do not have the internal sustainability in itself in comparison to the vast spiritual power. Let us not intentionally continue to test the patience of God anymore!

25th Ordinary Sunday (Cycle A)

Isa 55:6-9                    Phil 1:20-24,27                   Mt 20:1-16

The Nobel Prize-winning economist and philosopher Amartya Sen, in his famous book An Idea of Justice published in 2009 puts across a story to make his point clear. Three children – Anne, Bob and Carla – are quarrelling over a flute: Anne claims the flute on the ground that she is the only one of the three who knows how to play it; Bob demands it on the basis that he is from a poor family and unlike others, he has no other toys to play with and it would therefore mean a lot to him if the flute were given to him; and Carla says that it belongs to her because she has made it with her own labour. The important thing to note here is that none of them questions their rival’s argument but claims that his or hers is the most persuasive. 

So, who deserves the flute? Should it go to Bob who hails from a poor family, for whom it represents the only source of entertainment as he has no other toys to play with? Or to Anne who can actually make practical use of it; or to Carla to whom it must belong by virtue of her right to the fruits of her labour? The answer, according to Amartya Sen, is that there is actually no one “right” answer to this puzzle. The point he tries to emphasize here is that there is no one perfect process or criterion to arrive at a conclusion that would be acceptable to all.

The question as to who really deserves the flute can be decided in many ways – either through a process of reasoning or on compassionate grounds such as charity or by majority opinion or by an arbitrary method like tossing the coin. One of the things that Amartya Sen tries to prove in his book is this: Who gets the flute depends on the idea of justice one has. Certainly our idea of justice varies from person to person.

Similarly, Jesus’ notion of justice exposed in the parable of the labourers, whether acceptable to us or not depends on our idea of justice. Whatever may be our idea of justice, but the invitation given to us through the liturgy of the word is to make Jesus Christ’s outlook of justice as our own.

This is a parable most of us would be disturbed about. The parable does not seem to be convincing for all of us. It is a hard teaching for us to digest. How those who toiled little could be equated with those who have toiled, suffered, experienced the pain of the work, and spent all their energy all throughout the day? Apparently the parable does not seem to provide a justification for being equally paid. Here is where we need to look into the notion of justice Jesus had.

Jesus is giving a new dimension of justice. The notion of justice in the mind of Jesus is interwoven with charity. The meeting point or encounter between justice and charity is not something friendly and often rivalry if perceived from human logic. This is very crucial to understand. What we should keenly note in the owner of the vineyard is that he was both just and charitable. He paid the amount that he agreed. He did not betray or cheat them. He paid what he promised. By paying an equal amount to the other set of workers who laboured less than the first set of workers, the owner has given them surplus or extra which they do not deserve for the amount of work they have given. This surplus or extra refers to the charity done by the owner. It is not a payment done for their undeserving labour, but a charity done for their need.

By being charitable to others, he was in no way acting unjustly towards the first set of workers. The act of the owner is justified on the grounds of the existential condition of the workers who came later to work. It is not that they were unwilling to work throughout the day, but there was no one to provide the work. If the owner would have paid them even after looking at their attitude of unwilling to work, then certainly what he did would be unjust.

If we rightly understand the justification which lies on the side of the owner, then, the attitude of the first set of workers towards the others is one of jealousy. The parable teaches us to become aware that the basic need of every human being is the same. The persons who were called at the last hour had the same basic need as that of those who were called for work in the morning, mid-morning, and at noon.  The parable exposes the social evil of unemployment. The owner of the vineyard was able to sense that. He was able to understand at large that the others did not have opportunity to invest their labour and energy in order to earn their livelihood and at the same time their basic need is inevitable. It is a matter of survival and also a lack of opportunity. The urge for survival and the impossibility of an opportunity to earn the survival is the most utter condition of many in the world. This understanding made him to surpass the acceptable framework of justice and to act on charitable grounds.

Let me put a pertinent question to you: Does a person who has no means to earn his or her living has a right to exist in this world? Certainly yes! If your answer is otherwise, then it would imply that those who are insane, physically deficient, old-aged should not survive. We should situate the parable in the wider context of the human community. God is so compassionate with everyone. As a matter of justice, if He should judge us and provide us according to our capacities, our dispositions and our actions, then it may apply to some of us that we do not deserve the life we have now. It is purely as a matter of charity, compassion, mercy, kindness that surpasses justice we still have the Divine Providence.

So far, the exposition we had on the parable was based on a social context. Looked at from the context of our Christian community, the parable invites us to check our attitude we have about our fellow brethren. The parable gives a serious warning. Since many have received the great privilege of coming in the Christian Church and fellowship very early, right at the beginning, they cannot claim a special honour and a special place. All persons, no matter when they come, are equally precious to God.

There are people who think that, because they have been members of a Church for a long time, the Church practically belongs to them and they can dictate its policy.  In the Christian Church seniority does not necessarily mean honour. Based on seniority we tend to have an exclusivistic mentality. Therefore, the perpetrators of evil, people belonging to other religions, those who engage in unbecoming acts are seen to be undeserving of Divine providence, because we think their capacity and disposition does not equate to the blessings of God they receive, as we note in the parable that the first set of workers thought that the other set of workers who came later do not deserve the same amount as they received.

If our attitudes and mentality is similar to that of the first set of workers then the parable should hit us and break that mentality which is unchristian. The words of John the Baptist which target this mentality in the Pharisees and Sadducees is targeted to us now: The axe is already laid at the root of the tree (Mt 3:10). It is up to us to uproot this unchristian mentality!