28th Ordinary Sunday (Cycle B)

Wis 7:7-11           Heb 4:12-13          Mk 10:17-30

There was a man who had worked all of his life, had saved all of his money, and was a real miser when it came to his money. Just before he died, he said to his wife, 'When I die, I want you to take all my money and put it in the casket with me. I want to take my money to the after life with me.' And so he got his wife to promise him with all of her heart that when he died, she would put all of the money in the casket with him. Well, he died . . . He was stretched out in the casket, his wife was sitting there in black, and her friend was sitting next to her. When they finished the ceremony, just before the undertakers got ready to close the casket, the wife said, 'Wait, just a minute!' She had a box with her; she came over with the box and put it in the casket. Then the undertakers locked the casket down, and they rolled it away. Her friend said, 'I know you weren't fool enough to put all that money in there with your husband.' The loyal wife replied 'Listen, I can't go back on my word. I promised him that I was going to put that money in that casket with him.' Immediately her friend asked, 'You mean to tell me you put that money in the casket with him !!! ?' The wife said, 'I sure did. I got it all together, put it into my account and wrote him a cheque. If he can cash it, he can spend it.'

St Paul says: We brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it (1Tim 6:7). Today’s liturgy of the word, invites us to reflect upon the worldly riches we possess which we never take with us when we leave this world.

In today’s gospel, we see, a man came eagerly to Jesus seeking for eternal life. But when Jesus made a last note: “Go and sell what you own and give the money to the poor and… then come, follow me,” (Mk 10:21) he was shocked and went away grieving, for he was a man of great wealth. It was indeed a great challenge for him to forgo his wealth in order to inherit eternal life. The same words of Jesus are addressed to each one of us now and it stands as a challenge to us. We are not people of great wealth but we have attachment to certain things and it is a hard reality for us to give up even those. In order to point this as the hard reality, Jesus says, “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for someone rich to enter the kingdom of God” (Lk 10:25)

Once Italian most renowned and honoured actress Sophia Loren sobbed about the theft of her jewellery and was telling it to Italian film Director Victoria De Sica. Immediately Director Victoria replied, “Listen to me, Sophia. I am older than you and if there is one great truth I have learnt about life, it is this: Never cry over anything that can’t cry over you.”

Some of us might have insured a life insurance policy. Even I have one. An interesting definition I read about Life Insurance: A contract that keeps you poor all your life so that you can die rich. It looks funny but we still carry on with it. I do not mean to say that all those who are insured are fools.

By all these examples and quotes I only invite you all to reflect deeper about life realities. Often we fail to realize that the things that we seek most and rely upon are really paradoxical. May be we have not really initiated a serious thought about it. But today’s gospel initiates such a thought in us.

Today’s gospel invites all of us to ask one important question: What is our real possession? What we posses in life like our houses, jewels, money, cars, etc. can we consider them as our real possessions? The rich man in the gospel believed what he had as great wealth as real possession and found it hard to forgo those.

Let us always remember that what is temporal, cannot be the sustainer of what is eternal? We as Christians are called to inherit eternal life. Therefore, our worth and value is much more than that of what is temporal, tangible and perishable. The created is never greater than the Creator. The material things are never greater than the author of life who is God.

As we are called by God to a Christian way of life which is a greatest gift, we are God’s own possession. If we are God’s possession, what is the point in, we rely ourselves on other possessions which has no power in itself. While Jesus sent his twelve disciples on a mission, he instructed them not to carry staff or bag or bread or money or a spare tunic (Lk 9:3). It is an indication that any possession even in small form would very much hinder our real Christian journey.
- It would deviate our right orientations
- It would shake and shatter our strong convictions and determinations
- And ultimately, it would terminate our good will

Jesus says: Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moth and woodworm destroy them and thieves can break in and steal. But store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where neither moth nor woodworm destroys them and thieves cannot break in and steal. For wherever your treasure is, there will your heart be too (Mt 6:19-21) What is the best way to store up treasures for ourselves in heaven? The best way is to share our possessions with others who are in real need which Jesus gives as an advice to the wealthy man. For that, we need the heart to look at others with genuine love.

Once, a rich man met a Rabbi requesting him to teach one important lesson in life. The Rabbi took him near to the window glass and asked him, “What do you see?” The rich man replied that he sees men, women and children walking in the streets. Again the Rabbi took him before a mirror and asked him, “What do you see?” The rich man replied, “I see myself”. The rabbi said, “What you saw in both was through the glasses. Through one, you were able to perceive others whereas in the other you were able to see only yourself. The one in which you saw yourself was glass which had silver coating on one surface. Similarly, when you attach yourself to wealth, money and possession you will see only yourself and not others.”

It is true that as long as we have core attachment to the worldly possessions, we will never have the heart to turn to God or to others in the real sense. St Paul acknowledges that: ‘The love of money is the root of all evils’ and there are some who, pursuing it, have wandered away from the faith and so given their souls any number of fatal wounds (1Tim 6:10).

To the man who was following the commandments of God very faithfully, Jesus pertinently pointed out: You lack one thing? If non-sharing of wealth is that which lacked in the wealthy man in the gospel to inherit eternal life, let each one of us ask to ourselves: What is that which is lacking in me?

Pentecost Sunday (Cycle B)

Acts 2:1-11                 1Cor 12:3b-7,12-13               Jn 20:19-23

How often we make prayers addressed to the Holy Spirit directly? In our prayer sessions, usually we address our prayers to the heavenly Father or Jesus Christ or Blessed Virgin Mary or any saints, but hardly we invoke the Holy Spirit. It is because we have not been habituated in that way in our upbringing. This is a point of thought today as we celebrate the feast of the Holy Spirit which is a commemoration of the Pentecost event as we heard in today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles.

The presence of the Holy Spirit is not an unbelievable thing. People easily deny the working of the Holy Spirit for many reasons. One of the reasons is Holy Spirit is not visible to the naked eyes. On the contrary, it is surprising to note that people easily believe the presence of the evil spirits and its various activities like unusual paranormal phenomenon, demonic possession, black magic, witchcraft, sorcery, etc. From another angle of thought, if Holy Spirit is denied on the ground of non-visibility, then the human spirit or soul should also be denied on the same ground. But, the human soul in an undeniable aspect of the human features. Many religious and other traditions have affirmed its indispensable presence. These traditions say that the human physical body may perish but the human soul continues to exist even after a person’s death. We look for eternal life which is founded on the existence of the human spirit. This is a foundational belief of the human existence. But we should be surprised to note, that a few religious traditions and some philosophical schools have even denied the existence of the human soul.

One of the first stumbling blocks that people often encounter when they learn about Buddhism is the teaching on Anatta, often translated as no-self or no soul. This teaching is a stumbling block because it does not fit well with the pre-dominate Judeo-Christian background, which assumes the existence of an eternal soul or self as a basic presupposition: If there is no self, what is the purpose of a spiritual life? A spiritual life is necessarily primary for the human soul or spirit.

Even otherwise, if we deny the presence of the Spirit based on non-visibility then we have to deny the various forces that act in the universe such as inertia, potencies, energy, electricity, magnetic force, gravitational force, which are the physical properties that exist and act and also proven to be scientific. Moreover, the atomic bodies like electron, neutron, proton which has inherent force within an element also proved to exist but unseen to the naked eyes. If science could categorically affirm the existence of all these, then thinking in a logical line, the existence of the spirit could not be denied because somehow, we feel the presence of it. Just think about the paranormal reality shows that are telecasted in the western television channels. They speak in volumes about the presence of the unseen forces that affect human existence.

In today’s first reading, we note the powerful acting of an unseen force. There was an unseen force that made the people of 17 different ethnicity to hear in their own vernacular even when others spoke in their own mother tongue. It was translation of various language on the spot without any third-party intervention. In today’s internet world, translations are available at hand, on single mouse click. When we open some of the webpages, our desired language can be opted. And there is a back-hand technology doing that process. This is no miracle, since it is just an execution of a pre-installed computer programme. But to think of, on the spot translation being heard directly to human ears without any gadgets 2000 years ago, is a miracle. Even today given the advancement in technology, that mode of, on the spot translation without the intrusion of the technical gadget is an impossibility. That was the powerful working of that unseen force during the feast of the Pentecost. God’s Spirit or Holy Spirit was that unseen force.

Even today that unseen force is acting but we fail to realize it. Every baptized Christian is a beneficiary of that unseen force already from the time of baptism. You and I are its carriers. Today is a day to be reminded of Holy Spirit’s presence within us and to realize its functioning modality. God has a way of his own to trigger the functioning of His Spirit among each individual.

One of the inspiring spiritual books I have ever read and reflected is one by the author, Rick Warren. The title of the book is The Purpose Driven Life. Some of you may be quite familiar with this book. Rick Warren shares a beautiful reflection on the writings of St Paul in the letter to Galatians, chapter 5, verses from 22-23 which exposes the fruits of the Holy Spirit and the way in which how God makes His spirit function: When the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

These nine qualities are an expansion of the Great Commandment, Love and portray a beautiful description of Jesus Christ.  Jesus is perfect love, joy, peace, patience, and all the other fruit embodied in a single person.  To have the fruit of the Spirit is to be like Christ. How, then, does the Holy Spirit produce these nine fruits in your life?  Does he create them instantly?  Will you wake up one day and be suddenly filled with these characteristics fully developed?  No.  Fruit always matures and ripens slowly.

This next sentence is one of the most important spiritual truths you will ever learn:  God develops the fruit of the Spirit in your life by allowing you to experience circumstances in which you are tempted to express the exact opposite quality!

For instance, God teaches us love by putting some unlovely people around us.  It takes no character to love people who are lovely and loving to you. God teaches us real joy in the midst of sorrow, when we turn to him.  Happiness depends on external circumstances, but joy is based on your relationship to God. God develops real peace within us, not by making things go the way we planned, but by allowing times of chaos and confusion.  Anyone can be peaceful watching a beautiful sunset or relaxing on vacation.  We learn real peace by choosing to trust God in circumstances in which we are tempted to worry or be afraid. Likewise, patience is developed in circumstances in which we’re forced to wait and are tempted to be angry or have a short fuse. God uses the opposite situation of each fruit to allow us a choice. (Cf. Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life, pp.201-203)

It is true that some of the fruits have not ripened in our being. Let us understand this functional mode of the Holy Spirit and learn to appreciate the situation we are placed with, because it is a God planned situation to make the fruit to mature in us.

14th Ordinary Sunday (Cycle B)

Ezek 2:2-5               2Cor 12:7-10               Mk 6:1-6

There is a Greek mythology about the character called Procrustes whose name meant ‘the stretcher’. He was an iron smith. With the best of his ability he made an iron bed. He kept a house by the side of the road where he offered hospitality to passing strangers, who were invited in for a pleasant meal and a night’s rest in his very special bed. Procrustes described it as having the unique property that its length exactly matched whomsoever lay down upon it. He had very strange method of achieving that property when his guest laid on the bed. As soon as the guest laid down Procrustes went to work upon him, stretching him on the rack if he was too short for the bed and chopping off his legs if he was too long. Procrustes continued his reign of terror until he was captured by Theseus, travelling to Athens, who fitted Procrustes to his own bed and thus killed him.

From this mythology, the word ‘Procrustean’ is thus used to describe situations where different lengths or sizes or properties are fitted to an arbitrary standard. This mythology is also told to affirm the impossibility of attaining the universal uniformity. This line of thought fits well in the background of today’s gospel event. Jesus points to the fixed and prejudiced mind of his own people. According to that fixation, they perceived Jesus. Today’s gospel text tells us that they were astonished by his teaching. They said to each other, “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him (Mk 6:2-3).

Their astonishment was not an outcome of their positive outlook but it was their expression of non-acceptance due to their prejudice about Jesus. St John in his gospel too observes the same fact thus: He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him (Jn 1:10-11). Sometimes we are no different from Procrustus. We have a set of fixed viewpoints of others and do not accept them and moreover, we do character assassination if they do not fit to our fixed viewpoints. Jesus faced continuous opposition and rejection from his own people due to this reason.

The man of the 20^th century, scientist Albert Einstein used to say: It is easier to break an atom than to break the prejudices. We know that breaking an atom is not so easy. But it is even harder to overcome our fixations and prejudices about others. We find it hard to alter our prejudices and expect others to change themselves as per our fixations. This is an unjustifiable expectation. An interesting story is said to make this point clear

Once there was a king who became sick suddenly. Many doctors were called to diagnose on his sickness but every effort was in vain. As a last effort they decided to surrender to the spiritual power and invited a sage to cure the king. The sage visited the king and said a simple solution for the king to be cured. He said, “Everything the king looks at, should appear green in colour.” Then, he went away. After few days, the sage happened to pass by the king’s palace and wanted to visit the king. As he was about to enter the palace gate, the guard stopped him and poured upon him a bucket of green paint and allowed him inside. The sage was irritated and shocked. As he met the king, he asked the king why such a treatment was given to him. The king said to the sage, “Since you said that whatever I see should appear in green colour, whatever is in front of me is given green coating. Now, I am healthy because of your advice.” The annoyed sage rebuked the king saying, “You foolish king, instead of changing everything around, it is enough that you wear a green spectacle.”

Most often we are like this foolish king. Instead of changing our perspective about others, we expect others to fit to our frame of mind. We do not easily collaborate with those about whom we have prejudices like the people of Nazareth did not cooperate with Jesus Christ. It is easy for us to accept an advice from a book written by an author whom we are not acquainted with. But if the same advice was shared by a person whom we are well-acquainted, we do not easily accept it because of the prejudice we have about that person. In such a situation, we say to ourselves, “What worthiness he or she has to give this piece of advice to me?” Due to these prejudices and fixations, even misunderstanding between two persons occur.

I would like to share a talk delivered by the spiritual mentor, Gaur Gopal Das. Interesting talks by him are available in youtube.com. A teacher was teaching mathematics to a class of 6-year-old students. She asked a boy called Arnav, “Arnav, if I give you 2 mangoes and 2 mangoes, how many will you have?” Arnav said, “5.” The teacher again repeated the question, and still Arnav replied, “5.” The teacher was upset but remembered that Arnav’s mother had said that Arnav does not like mangoes, but he likes strawberries. So, she changed her example, and asked, “If I give you 2 strawberries and 2 strawberries, how many will you have?” Now Arnav said, “4.” The teacher was happy by the change of strategy. Just to confirm that Arnav had understood mathematics rightly, she asked Arnav again, “If I give you 2 mangoes and 2 mangoes, how many will you have?” Arnav said, “5.” The teacher was very annoyed and shouted, “How can 2 and 2 strawberries be 4, and 2 and 2 mangoes be 5?” Arnav replied, “I already have one mango in my bag madam.”

Who was right? Was the teacher wrong? No, because 2 plus 2 is 4. Was Arnav wrong? No, because 2 plus 2 is 4 and one mango in the bag makes it 5. Is it not a fact that all kinds of conflicts come because of the gap between technical rightness and practical or realistic rightness. The teacher was technically right. Technical rightness means to see the obvious, to see what is visible. Arnav was practically and realistically right. Realistic rightness means to see beyond the obvious, to see beyond what appears or visible. Realistic rightness means to see the hidden mango. Very often, all our conflicts come because of the gap between technical rightness and realistic rightness.

Whenever you find that your spouse is not loving you enough, you may be technically right, that he or she may not actually love you that much. But are you, realistically right? Why he or she is not loving you? You child may not be listening to you and technically you are right, that your child is not listening to you. But are you, realistically right? Realistic rightness expects you to see beyond the obvious, why your child is not behaving right.

The next time you see someone not fitting into your definition of what is technically right, please do not be judgmental. Go beyond the obvious and try to look for the hidden mango which will truly help you to understand the person and resolve the conflicting situation that you are in.

4th Sunday of Easter (Cycle B)

Acts 4:8-12                 1Jn 3:1-2                 Jn 10:11-18

A shepherd was tending his flock in a remote pasture when suddenly a dust cloud approached at high speed, out of which emerged a shiny silver BMW. The driver, a young man in a well-dressed suit, poked his head out of the window and asked the shepherd, “Hey! If I can tell you how many sheep you have in your flock, will you give me one?” The shepherd looked at the man, then glanced at his peacefully grazing flock and answered, “Sure.” The young man parked his car, plugged his microscopic cell phone into a laptop and briskly surfed to a GPS satellite navigation system on the internet and initiated a remote body-heat scan of the area. While the computer was occupied, he sent some e-mail via his BlackBerry and, after a few minutes, nodded solemnly at the responses. Finally, he printed a 150-page report on the little laser printer, turned to the shepherd, waving the sheaves of paper, and pronounced, “You have exactly 1,586 sheep.” “Impressive! One of my sheep is yours.” said the shepherd.

He watched the young man select an animal and how he bundled it into his car. Then the shepherd said: “If I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me back my sheep?” Pleased to meet a fellow challenger, the young man replied “Yes.” “You are a consultant,” said the shepherd without hesitation. Being impressed, the young man said, “That's correct! How did you guess?” The shepherd replied “It was not a guess. You drove into my field uninvited. You asked me to pay you for information I already know, answered questions I have not asked, and you know nothing about my business. Now give me back my sheep.”

By the gestures of the young man, the shepherd assessed the profession of the young man. Still, generally speaking, a shepherd cannot be equaled to the informational knowledge of a professional or an expert. But the wisdom and experiential knowledge possessed by the ordinary shepherd is something unique and philanthropic in nature that speaks in volumes about the love and care, he has for his flock. The shepherd in the story was well aware that the young man being a consultant cannot give good care to the sheep which he gave as a prize for the challenge won by the young man. Therefore, he was particular to get his sheep back through his wisdom. A good shepherd would never entrust even single sheep of his flock into another’s care.

All of us love to be protected. All of us love to be under someone’s care and affection. This is an undeniable emotional need of every person. The imagery of the shepherd and the sheep, centrally brings this message of care and protection. There cannot be a better imagery to bring this message so sharp and touching. The significant point of this message is that the protection enjoyed by the sheep is at the risk and cost of the shepherd’s life. The shepherd is ready to face any risk in order to protect the sheep under his care. It manifests his genuine love towards his sheep. When Jesus expresses himself as the Good Shepherd, he tries to expose these characteristics in relation to each of us.

Let us have look at the characteristics of a shepherd who is good, in the light of today’s gospel. The following are the characteristics:

- A shepherd is one who loves his people genuinely and authentically without any pretension

- A shepherd is one who sacrifices for his peoples’ well-being even to the extent of giving his life
- A shepherd is one who will not run away when his life is endangered
- A shepherd is one who will face any reality for the sake of his flock
- A shepherd is one who knows his people individually and personally
- A shepherd is one who will relate with his people to the extent the people also knows the shepherd personally
- A shepherd is one who is not only concerned about his own flock but also the uncared that belongs to other flock
- A shepherd is one who is particular not to lose even single person from his flock
- A shepherd is one who sees to that the single lost is brought back into the herd
- A shepherd is one who protects each individual in the flock to the extent that no one snatches it away

So far, we have been reflecting only on who is a good shepherd. Jesus Christ not only presents the characteristics of a good shepherd, but also sharply denotes the character of the good sheep. Therefore, the question that comes to our mind is: Who is a good sheep? Jesus surprisingly points out only one characteristic of a good sheep.

A good sheep is one who listens and follows the voice of the shepherd and does not go by the voice of the stranger. The good sheep should have good acquaintance with the shepherd in order to always recognize the voice of the shepherd, otherwise it would be misled by a stranger’s voice. A personal rapport with the shepherd becomes inevitable here

There are two options of being misled. One, by mistakenly recognizing the stranger’s voice for the original shepherd. Secondly, by willingly being fascinated by the stranger’s voice and following him. In either option, the sheep is in a dangerous position. The first is a matter of unawareness but once awareness happens, it can be rectified. But the second is a matter of volition and voluntary willingness to be yielded to a new path. It is a matter of one’s discretion and decision. It is a matter of conviction and determination. The change of a determined mind is not so easy. Bringing back to earlier path, cannot happen suddenly but needs longer time. Sometimes, it would also result in vain. Rather the change of an unknowingly misled mind is easier to be brought back of the earlier path.

Today, the world is filled with so many teachings and philosophies. These are different voices of various shepherds. These voices promise various benefits like longer life, complete enjoyment, accumulation of wealth, highest fame and so on. But these cannot promise eternal life, but only the voice of Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd. The sad fact is that, the voice of Jesus is counted as one among many voices. To the world and others, the voice of Jesus may seem to be one among the many, but to us, that is the only voice to be followed. It is a matter of belief for all of us to rely only on it fully.

We are in the pathetic state of being confused by many voices calling us. Everything seems to convince us of various benefits. We need to have a proper discernment to rightly respond to our Good Shepherd, Christ’s voice alone. This is how we could prove ourselves to be the good sheep of the Good Shepherd. If our love for God is true, we would only hold to Christ’s voice. Let each of us take time to ponder over this question: Which voice I constantly heed to?

3rd Sunday of Easter (Cycle B)

Acts 3:13-15, 17-19                  1Jn 2:1-5                  Lk 24:35-48

Till date, the mystery remains about the missing aircraft Boeing 777-200ER which took off from Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia destined to land in Beijing Capital International Airport in China on 8^th March 2014. The aircraft has not been recovered, and the cause of the disappearance remains unknown. Of all the aircraft accidents and crash so far happened, this incident remains the most mysterious and shocking. In the most advanced technological world, after all the professionals, experts and techies having invested their mind, time and energy; single evidence is unfound, undiscovered till date in this aircraft case.

The search for evidence is a curiosity of the human mind. The human mind stumbles and becomes restless when evidences are unfound. Several cases in the judiciary are unable to progress due to lack of evidences. So many investigations remain unanswered in various researches due to lack of proper evidences. As every human life has a purpose which gives meaning to one’s life, so also, evidences are important to establish a fact on this earth or to prove anything under the sun. To establish any truth or for any enquiry, evidences are crucial.

In temporal matters, especially in scientific field, experiments provide facts and evidences to prove a particular physical law. In the same temporal matter, with regard to any human incidents, the testimony about the event given by a person stand as a witness to prove the fact. In spiritual matters, evidences of temporal nature do not fit. Here is where our point of reflection for today begins. As evidences of temporal nature do not fit within spiritual matters, each of us should become live evidences. To put it in other words, we should become the witnesses for matters concerning Christian faith.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is a very significant portion and foundation of Christian faith. The fact about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is all the more difficult to be proved to those who revolve around the scientific framework of mind. We live in an age of people surrounded by scientific framework of mind. In this background, the invitation given by Jesus in today’s gospel becomes vital for each of us as Christians. As He said to his disciples as we heard in today’s gospel, He says to each of us: You are witnesses (Lk 24:48). Witness is the catch word in today’s liturgy of the Word.

Jesus invites us to be witnesses to His resurrection. He does not ask us to be evidences for the supernatural event of His resurrection but to be witnesses of resurrected life, a new type of life that began after the resurrection of Christ. The glory, the abundance of life, the new hope, the communitarian mindset, altruistic attitude and so on are the elements of a resurrected life. The disciples of Jesus experienced these after our Lord’s resurrection. We need to become witnesses to these elements.

Today’s first reading from the Acts, presents St Peter as a powerful witness of Christ. From the gospels, we are quite aware of the personality, temperament and nature of Peter. He was a man who was so timid and confused. Though our Lord wanted to make Peter strong by naming him as Cephas, which means ‘Rock,’ still he was wavering and failed to have strong conviction. For those who are well aware of the nature of Peter, it is quite shocking and surprising to encounter a different Peter altogether in the first reading. St Peter boldly points to the Jews who killed Jesus and said: You rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses (Acts 3:14,15). Here, Peter establishes himself as the witness of Christ. He makes an open confession. He makes this confession with clarity of mind unlike his earlier nature. The liturgy of the Word today, presents Peter as the model for us to be witnesses to Christ.

It is interesting to note that when Jesus was made to stand before Pontius Pilate for trial, he did not seek for any evidences or witnesses as support to prove his innocence in order to escape from the forthcoming sentence of crucifixion. Rather to be witnesses for His resurrection, He expected His disciples to be so. They too fulfilled His expectation. Now it is our turn to be so.

Generally speaking, credibility and authenticity is the mark of being a good witness. We should be realistic in being witnesses to Christ. It should not be unrealistic or artificial. It should show off very naturally from our true Christian way of living. A strong convinced Christian way of life will expose it naturally. Not much effort is needed.

An American teacher was employed in Japan on the understanding that during school hours he should not utter a word on the subject of Christianity. The engagement was faithfully kept, and he lived before his students the Christian life, but never spoke of it to them. Not a word was said to influence the young men committed to his care. But so beautiful was his character, and so blameless his example, that forty of the students, unknown to him, met in a grove and signed a secret covenant to follow Christian values. Twenty-five of them entered the Kyoto Christian Training School, and some of them became preachers of the Gospel which their teacher had unconsciously commended. This is a story of true witness.

Once Mahatma Gandhi was asked this question by a foreign missionary: Which is the greatest hindrance for Christianity to spread in India? His answer was very quick and prompt. He simply said: Christian themselves! Let us not be shocked by this fact. It is a fact because we Christians lack a witnessing life to Christ and His values. The blame is not on those Christians who live a true witnessing life and could be counted in few numbers. The accusation rests on those who proclaim themselves as Christians just for name sake and does not counter it in their Christian lives.

St Ignatius of Antioch said: The tree is made manifest by its fruit; so, they who profess themselves to be Christians are known by what they do. For Christianity is not the work of an outward profession; but shows itself in the power of faith, if a man be found faithful unto the end. It is better for a man to hold his peace and be; than to say he is a Christian and not to be.

Our call is not to be name sake Christians. Witnessing life is like two sides of the same coin. One refers to the experience of Christ. The other refers to the sharing and proclamation of the same. Without the first, the second would have no effect. Do we sufficiently have the first?

5th Sunday of Lent (Cycle B)

Jer 31:31-34                 Heb 5:7-9                 Jn 12:20-33

Arabian Knights is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. In this compilation, there is a story about the magnetic islands. These islands were so magnetic that when ships came near them they were wrecked. They were not drawn upon the rocks and dashed to pieces, nor was there any sudden explosion. These islands were simply so magnetic that they drew all the iron nails and bolts out of the ship and it fell to pieces.

Even our unsacrificing selfish minds can be compared to these magnetic islands. When our lives have been lived on a principle of selfishness, as the years go by, all our good will are sucked by our magnetic selfish mind and our life falls to pieces and comes to sorrow. One of the reason why such things happen is because we fail to cultivate an attitude of self-sacrifice.

The great Greek classical philosopher Socrates said, ‘Know thyself.’ Marcus Aurelius, the good Roman emperor who reigned from 161 to 180 A.D. uttered ‘Control thyself.’ Our Lord and master, Jesus Christ proclaimed ‘Give thyself’ and manifested himself as its model. These three very short maxims are so far considered as greatest maxims in the history of the world, which are said for the well-being of human self and society at large.

Among these three, the first two points to the well-being of the individual self, but the last one focusses on the well-being of everyone. Other-centeredness, altruism, self-sacrifice is the meaning interwoven with the last maxim, ‘Give thyself.’ Giving oneself for the well-being of the other does not mean a loss for one person and profit for the other. This is the point that is clarified by the metaphor provided by Jesus Christ in today’s gospel: “Unless a wheat grain falls into the earth and dies, it remains only a single grain; but if it dies it yields a rich harvest” (Jn 12:24). There is neither a loss nor a profit, but what remains is an inevitable process. It is an indispensable process of life.

Like the wheat grain which fully loses itself to yield a rich harvest, we are all called to live a life of sacrifice. Jesus not only said this statement to exhort his disciples to be like the grain of wheat, but also to indicate his forthcoming passion and death. That is why, before speaking about the grain of wheat, Jesus said: The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified (Jn 12:23). He showed himself as the grain of wheat. The picture of the grain of wheat tells that before the glory, before bearing fruit or before the seed could be borne, death is a necessity. Jesus death on the cross was a necessity. By this, Jesus made a deep imprint about the inevitability of his death.

Life will not offer any gain without certain amount of pain and loss. It is the pressed grapes that yields the wine. It is the squeezed olives that yield the oil. It is the crushed flowers that yield perfume. In only giving up something, something is received.  This is the universal TRUTH and PRINCIPLE. The mechanism of life ensures that no one escapes from this principle. All have to pass through this principle in order to have life.

The journey of a seed or grain is a painful path. First, it has to fall into the ground. Then, it has to become one with the soil by losing its outer shell. It has to bear all kinds of compressions that fall above it. It has to force itself to tear the soil and travel downward, and then has to grow upward by sprouting small buds upon the soil. It is a long journey which involves discomfort and uneasiness. Similar to the path of the seed or the grain, each Christian should journey towards the glory of eternal life. Jesus Christ is the best replica of that seed or grain of wheat.

When saying about Jesus Christ, it is said:

He had no servants, yet they called Him MASTER,

No degrees, yet they called Him TEACHER,

No medicine, yet they called Him HEALER,

No army, yet the kings feared Him,

He won no military battles, yet He conquered the world,

He committed no crime, yet they crucified Him,

He was buried in a tomb yet He lives today,

All because He did not come to live a selfish life, but to give His life as a ransom for many.

Most of us like to be receivers rather than to be losers or givers. Why? It is because we are mesmerized by the consumertic framework of mind. We live in a consumeristic world. Being unaware, we have been caught up by the consumeristic philosophy or ideology. It is this ideology that rules our mind. The consumeristic philosophy promotes the idea that: To have is to be. It means that: to affirm my presence, my existence to the other and to the world, I should have something or possess something. If I have nothing, then I am not worthy of being present in this world. The more I possess, then my existence is all the more affirmed. In order to affirm the fact of our existence, driven by the consumeristic ideology, we try our best to acquire more and more, where our mind is prone only to receive and not to lose or to give. We need to become aware of this ideology which has already taken control of us.

This consumeristic ideology need to be replaced by the ideology of Christ which states: To lose is to be. This is the crispy message of 25^th verse of today’s gospel, which is the next verse following the verse about ‘the grain of wheat’. Jesus said: Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life (Jn 12:25).

In our human life we are attached to many things. These attachments include things of necessity as well as unnecessary things. As Jesus Christ said, in order to gain life in abundance, we should be ready to lose our unnecessary attachments. But sadly, in today’s world we see people are quick to lose their convictions, principles, good deeds, morality and so many things which are essential to one’s life. On the contrary, we are called to give up our unnecessary prejudices about a person, our bad thoughts, our hardness of heart, our selfish motives, our caste barriers, our misunderstandings, etc., Humanity is slowly losing the value of sacrifice too. Let us not be one of those who have lost this great virtue of sacrifice.

Henry Ward Beecher, an American social reformer of the 19^th century and great supporter of abolition of slavery used to say: In this world it is not what we take up, but what we give up, that makes us rich. Let each one of us become rich in this sense.

2nd Sunday of Lent (Cycle B)

Gen 22:1-2,9a,10-13,15-18                Rom 8:31b-34              Mk 9:2-10

In African countries, they used to eat tortoise, turtle, snail etc. as normal food. The way they are cooked is astonishing to note. First, they take the big vessel and fill it with water. Then they place the small tortoise, turtles alive inside the water and slowly the water is then heated up. When they are placed inside the water, the tortoise and the turtle move inside the water and when the water slowly gets warmed up, they feel the warmth of it and feel comfortable and begin to settle down and enjoy the atmosphere. But when the water is still more heated up and at the boiling point, they realize the discomfort and die.

Sometimes our lives too are like the tortoise and the turtle. In life, as we grow, we choose to remain in a comfort zone and think that it will last forever. But the truth is otherwise. When we feel comfortable at a particular comfort zone, it is not a message for us to stay in that zone, but it is a caution that we should begin to quit the zone. Life is a continuous struggle within and without. And that alone qualifies our human status.

In today’s gospel, we note, Jesus takes along with him Peter, John and James to Mount Tabor for a new experience. When Peter saw the magnificient vision and the beautiful atmosphere around, which was momentary, he said, “it is wonderful for us to be here” (Mk 9:5). He was quite comfortable with the situation. He even thought that, that state should continue for a longer time. Therefore, he desired to put a dwelling there. But Jesus did not show interest in what Peter desired. Jesus did not allow them to stay for longer. He immediately brought them down from the mountain, because there was mission and ministry to be fulfilled.

Jesus was very clear, that his disciples should not stay in a state of comfort rather they should face the life realities. Lasting comforts would make humans, lethargic and dormant. Therefore, while steping down the mountain, Jesus was even hinting about his forthcoming suffering that he was to endure.

At this point, it would be interesting to raise a question why Jesus strongly instructed his disciples not to utter any word until his resurrection about the experience they had in the mountain. The answer is simple. Jesus was aware that the three disciples did not comprehend fully what they had seen and experienced. Their comprehension of the event did not include the other phase of life which is embraced with discomforts, with sufferings, with unpleasant situations. Jesus was keen that their sharing about the experience should not make the other disciples blind about the discomforts of life. It should not give them a picture about the glorious aspects alone about Jesus Christ. He wanted them to comprehend that he is also the suffering servant of Yahweh as Prophet Isaiah remarked (Cf. Isa 52:13-53:12).

Jesus instructed them not to share about it until his resurrection, because resurrection would follow after a period of His passion and suffering. This suffering experience of Jesus Christ would make a deep imprint upon his disciples, then they would possess a balanced comprehension of life which is a blend of both comforts and discomforts.

In the garden of Gethsamane, our Lord Jesus Christ wished to avoid the discomfort of the cross which he was about to bear, but he was quick to regain his senses and prayed to the heavenly Father, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me, yet not my will but yours be done” (Lk 22:42). During every moment of his public ministry, Jesus was well aware that his path of life would not be a bed of roses, rather mingled with thorns too. He never failed to remind to himself and to the others, that his life is filled with discomforts. Once he said: Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head (Lk 9:58). Again, thrice he spoke about the passion that he was about to endure. Mk 8:31-32 says: Jesus began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. All these statements of Jesus indicate his wider understanding of life realities and his mission.

Life has many passing realities. But with a childish mentality we wish to make certain realities which give comfort to be lasting and static. This is impossible. Even the best of people who enjoy comfort soon begin to experience discomfort. The question for us is that do we possess a disposition to take both comfort and discomfort, joy and suffering, pleasant and unpleasant situations with equal value.

Most of the parents want their children to be in the comfort zone. Therefore, they pamper them too much. The result of such an approach makes the children handicapped in course of time to face life realities. We do not want our children to suffer even a little. We protect our children from experiencing difficulties and hurdles. Therefore, we try our best to give immediate solutions to their needs and desires. As a result, they lack the endurance capacity when they face with unpleasant issues and also lack the real ability to solve any problem in their adulthood.

Today’s gospel also has another point of thought. Jesus’ quickness to bring the disciples down the mountain without allowing them to remain for a long time in that pleasant atmosphere has a lesson for those who stay in a state of spiritual luxury. Being moderate in any area of life is always appreciable, even in spiritual matters. There are people who spend full time in churches and prayer halls just forgetting their day to day duties. These people live in a state of spiritual luxury.

A deep spiritual experience with God is always a glorious time, which Peter, James and John had. Nothing can compare to a session of deep communion with God, and there is always the wish that we could remain in His presence. But such is not our calling. Our present call is to bear the cross and its message, and not to wallow around in deep spiritual experiences. We are not just contemplatives alone, but also part of an active life. Our spirits do need to be spiritually renewed, but they are always renewed for a purpose: to strengthen us for going out and bearing a much stronger winess for our Lord. Jesus took good amount of time to commune with the heavenly Father, but he did not do that at the cost of his ministry to the people. The four gospels speak at length about his active ministry and preaching as well as makes a short and strong remark about his contemplative and prayer life. Jesus striked the balance between both. We need to have this balance amidst our approaching joys and sufferings, comforts and discomforts, and thank God for both.

Let us be prompt to move away from comfort zones once we become aware of it and unlike the tortoise and the turtles, never lose the unraveled precious gifts that life has in store.

6th Ordinary Sunday (Cycle B)

Lev 13:1-2,44-46        1Cor 10:31-11:1        Mk 1:40-45

We are well aware of what happened to Mahatma Gandhi during his youthful age as a lawyer in the country of South Africa. On 7^th June 1893, while he was travelling in a train from Durban to Pretoria on a first-class ticket, a European man called the railway authorities to remove him from the coach, as Gandhi did not comply with the racial segregation rules of travel. Eventually, he was thrown out of the train. Gandhi faced social rejection for the first time, which indeed shocked him. This experience gave him the first provocation to begin his act of civil disobedience.

Rejection is the most agonizing thing a person could endure in his or her life. This rejection can come from a well-acquainted friend, from the family members, from a group of people, or at large, from the society. Whatever it is, rejection in any form is painful to anyone. The gravity of this pain depends from whom rejection emerges. If it is from the closer circle, the pain would be more. Social analysis shows that the underlying reason for suicidal attempts is the miserable experience undergone by a person due to rejection.

There are medicines to make dormant, to make passive the physical pain endured by a person. In the medical field, they are called as pain killers, pain reliever, aspirin, morphine, sedative, tranquilizer, dope, anesthetic, etc. They are available easily for money. Irrespective of the persons situation and mental health, when those medicines are applied to the human body, it works. It makes the person unconscious of the physical pain for a fixed period of time. But to soothe the mental agony endured by a person, it is not that easy. Even in a state of active moment, the mental pain makes the person restless. This restlessness may be due to the unpleasant situation encountered by the person. Mostly it occurs in an atmosphere of human relationships, misunderstandings, rejections, etc.

The leper whom we encounter in today’s gospel was one who underwent such a restlessness due to the social rejection he experienced by his own Jewish community. From what we heard from the first reading, we are able to understand the social status of a person who is affected by leprosy. The book of Leviticus 13:45-46 says: The person who has the leprous disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head be uncombed; and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, “Unclean, unclean.” He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease; he is unclean. He shall live alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.

The leper who is the victim in today’s gospel too, as per the Jewish custom was considered unclean. More than his physical pain, it was his mental agony that made him to approach Jesus Christ to be cured and get relieved of the social rejection he was undergoing. Jesus targeted the wider recognition of that person. He targeted the uprooting of the social stigma attached to that person. Therefore, as soon as he cured him, Jesus was insistent that he should show himself to the priest to be certified that he is no more a leper, so that he could regain his social recognition and wider acceptance by others. In the Jewish society, according to the Jewish law, a priest was an icon to certify and proclaim that a leper is fully cured from leprosy. That certification was important for social recognition.

In our society too, there are people who face social rejection. They are secluded from the main face of the society. Even today we have lepers’ colony, were lepers live in seclusion without having a normal way of life like others. Moreover, we have people who are affected by the ailment of AIDS. They too, are seen with a negative stigma. There may be various reasons for having been affected by HIV+. It may be due to their negligence, carelessness or free lifestyle. Whatever may be the reason, but there is a wrong social stigma attached to these persons, that they have led an immoral, infidel life.

Also, this is the case with homosexuals. Our church is keen to point out the distinction between homosexuals who are conditioned by birth and those who engage in individual homosexual actions. Regarding those who are homosexually conditioned, they are intrinsically disordered and have no taste for a heterosexual life, and they stand not responsible for such a sexual orientation since the time of their birth. They have the difficulty to overcome that tendency in their normal lifestyle because their sexual orientation is fixed during their birth.

Our mother Church encourages the faithful to be understanding towards this kind of homosexuals but certainly does not approve of their sexual acts. In a report titled Relatio post disceptationem, which was issued during the 11^th general assembly of the synod of bishops while debating on family issues, article no.50 states: Homosexuals have gifts and qualities to offer to the Christian community: are we capable of welcoming these people, guaranteeing to them a fraternal space in our communities? Often, they wish to encounter a Church that offers them a welcoming home. Are our communities capable of providing that, accepting and valuing their sexual orientation, without compromising Catholic doctrine on the family and matrimony?

Ultimately the point is this: Are we able to provide a fraternal space for those who are seen with certain stigma in the society, whether it be a leper, an AIDS patient, a homosexual, a transgendered, etc. All these people are basically human beings. They too carry the image of God in themselves. They are not alien beings. Since the time of the Old Testament, any Jewish leper carried the stigma of being unclean, and therefore, he or she is an untouchable. Even in our country India, the evil of untouchability is obvious. There are many social reformers who fought against this social evil. Mahatma Gandhi was also one among them. Today’s gospel is an episode, where we see Jesus silently fighting against such a social evil. It is an indirect silent scream of Jesus Christ.

We need to have a check upon our perception of people, in general. Why do we brand people, why do we stamp people with certain stigma? Our social culture has created a closed mentality among many, not to disclose what they are undergoing, since a stigma is attached to what they are enduring. In our society, an AIDS patient is not able to have a normal public life like others, due to the negative perception interwoven with what he or she endures.

It is we human beings, who create a hell in this earth by our negative perceptions. This world is a beautiful and wonderful world created by God to live a happy life and to make others life happy. Everything is a matter of perception and perspective. Acceptance and rejection are just an outcome of these perceptions. Our perception and perspective design this world to be either a heaven or a hell. Let us examine and see where do our perceptions stand? What does our perceptions make this world for the other – HEAVEN or HELL?

4th Ordinary Sunday (Cycle B)

Deut 18:15-20        1Cor 7:32-35         Mk 1:21-28

In the world history, the regime of Hitler is unlikable by many. Because of the totalitarian authority he exercised, great masses of Jews were put to dehumanizing, agonizing, excruciating, painful death. It was in wartime that Hitler's authority showed itself in an absolute form. As Commander-in-Chief of the army, Hitler made himself so central to the strategic planning of the war that everything had to go through him. He ran the war, a situation which left his generals frustrated. They knew he was making major errors, yet they felt they could not stop him. Hitler’s authority was such that, he extracted unconditional obedience from his subjects. It made them even to act against their humane conscience. Hitler’s authority was feared by many in his time.

In this background we need to have a look upon the authority of Jesus Christ which is incomparable with any human authority. In an atmosphere of people who love freedom, words such as authority, dominance, supremacy is disliked. But in today’s gospel, we see people perceived the authority of Jesus with awe. His authority was looked at with wonder and surprise, unlike the authority manifested by the Jewish leaders. It is true, a desire for domination is inherent in every human person, and hence some people turn out to be power mongers. The authority of Jesus did not have the trace of domination. Rather it was a manifestation of his love towards the people.

We see in the first reading taken from the book of Deuteronomy, that God authorizes a person to be a prophet to take his word to the people of God. The prophet is only permitted to say what God has asked him to say nothing less or nothing more. Before the people of God, the prophet stands with authority in the name of God. It is not his personal authority that he exercises over them but the authority bestowed upon him by God. In such case, the prophet is expected not to misuse the authority given to him by God. Therefore, we find a strong statement in the first reading where God says: Any prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, or who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded the prophet to speak – that prophet shall die (Deut 18:20). The decisive reflection we imbibe from this is that, any misuse of power or authority, in God’s name for personal gain is subjected to condemnation.

Jesus never used the authority endowed upon him by God for his personal gain but only to institute the Kingdom of God among the people and for their well-being. There were many Rabbis in the Jewish society equally speaking about the Scriptures like Jesus, still Jesus made a difference from them.

Normally, human beings exercise their power and authority over other human beings. But unlike them, Jesus exercised power and authority over the unclean spirits. He was never so stern with anyone as he was stern with the unclean spirits. Jesus who had remarkable power over the unclean spirits, was so loving and compassionate towards the people and did not lord over them. That is why, with amazement they commented: What is this? A new teaching – with authority! (Mk 1:27). This was a rare combination, they found in him. Since it was a rare blend of compassion and authority in a single person, we note in the gospel these words: At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee (Mk 1:28).

Why the fame of some people spread so fast? For example, we are aware about the fame of celebrities. It is because of their extraordinary nature or talent, they enjoy good fame. It is because of their behaviour or talent or temperament or personality being unusal than the ordinary people, they gain popularity so soon. This is what happened in the case of Jesus Christ too. His manifestation of authority was something unusual than the rest of them. The reason for this unusual behaviour was his strong personal integrity.

Personal integrity means the undivided personality in a person. Integrity is the qualification of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness. It is generally a personal choice to hold oneself to consistent moral and ethical standards. In ethics, integrity is regarded by many as the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one's actions. There lies perfect synchrony between the person’s thought, words and deeds. It is always a challenge for everyone to establish this synchrony in themselves. It needs great courage to evolve such a synchrony.

Most often, it is a difficult task for us to speak out boldly what we think in mind. We do not express so easily whatever thought that arise in our mind. We need purity of mind to do that, but we lack that as vulnerable beings. Again, it is also challenging for us to keep to our words. We also fail to keep our words or act according to our words. Jesus did not have this difficulty or challenge within his personality. He boldly spoke to anyone what he thought in mind and always acted as per his words. There was perfect synchrony between his thought, words and deeds. Nobody was able to find a disharmony among them. This aspect of his authority founded on his personal integrity also had a link to the authority that was given to him from above.

Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me” (Mt 28:18). By this, he did not mean an authority against human beings. It is not even an authority of man over man. It only means that the above given authority has to be synchronized and personalized in one’s personal integrity. While meditating on these words of Jesus, St Pope John Paul II once stated, “It is the authority that enables man to be revealed to himself in his royalty, in all the fullness of his dignity. It is the authority the specific power of which man must discover in his heart, through which he must be revealed to himself in the dimensions of his conscience and in the perspective of eternal life.”

The great Italian artist, Leonardo da Vinci said, “Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence.” Jesus strengthened his authority in his calmness, silence and serenity. For thirty years he did not enter into the public domain. All these were silent years of strengthening his authority and forming his personal integrity, in order to manifest his authority that was marveled by many in his days on earth. Our quest for building integrity in our personality should be modelled after the personal integrity of Jesus Christ.

We need to seclude ourselves in calmness and silence from our routine busy life like Jesus, to understand that authority is for serving the people in a wider context, and not to use them for one’s end. Finally, let us take into our heart, the advice of St Peter, who was the first pope of the Church: Do not lord it over those in your charge, but be examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you will win the crown of glory that never fades away (1Pet 5:3).

2nd Ordinary Sunday (Cycle B)

1Sam 3:3b-10,19        1Cor 6:13c-15a,17-20       Jn 1:35-42

‘Come and see’ is the catch word in today’s gospel. In common understanding, this three-worded phrase is an invitation to experience something worse or better. In 1985, the feature film titled ‘Come and see’ was a large box-office hit in the Russian screens. This was a Soviet war drama film portraying the horrifying experience and witness of a young Belarusian boy. The horrifying experience takes place in an atmosphere of Nazi punitive action. The title of the movie ‘Come and see’ points to the tragic experience of a boy turning from a cheerful teenager into a gray-haired old man. But in today’s gospel, the same title comes as an invitation to a joyful and spiritual experience. It came as a response to the enquiry made by Andrew and his companion. Though short, it is a very fascinating phrase to ponder about.

Apart from considering the phrase as an invitation, there is another side to it when seen from the standpoint of a person who utters it. Very few people have the guts to utter this short statement. Only those people who possess personal integrity could invite others to enter into their internal forum and influence them to follow their belief, philosophy and lifestyle. Jesus was one such kind.

When Andrew asked him, “Rabbi, where are you staying?” (Jn 1:38b), Jesus could have simply replied him by just mentioning about the place of his stay and would have went away. Most of us would do that only. But Jesus was different and unique. He immediately said, “Come and see” (Jn 1:39). That made all the difference in those who encountered him. With that approach, Jesus was able to attract a cluster of people to God’s own advantage and His mission. In inviting various persons to join in his discipleship, Jesus always had a direct style of telling them, either “Follow me” or “Come and see”.

But, the first reading presents the vocation narrative of Samuel which was of different style and extraordinary in nature. It was beyond the ordinary way and something supernatural. Either way, whether ordinary or extraordinary, vocation to a noble life comes from God. The same applies to our Christian vocation and discipleship.

The vocation narrative of St Andrew, in the gospel, presents a model of how a progress should happen in vocation to Christian discipleship:
- First, he hears the testimony about Jesus from the mouth of John the Baptist
- Secondly, he receives a direct experience of Jesus, the Messiah, by staying with Him
- Thirdly, he passes that testimonial experience to his brother Simon, to the extent of turning Simon into a disciple of Jesus

Therefore, we see the reception of a testimony, the experience of that testimony, and powerfully transmitting it by witnessing to that testimony. Our Christian call and life should have these three elements. A similarity we see in St John the Baptist too.

Before John the Baptist could witness to Jesus as the Lamb of God, he had the experience of Jesus Christ while he was conceived in the womb of Elizabeth. While Mary visited Elizabeth being conceived of Jesus Christ in her womb, Elizabeth said to her, “As soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy” (Lk 1:44). This leaping for joy was an outcome of John’s experience of the presence of Jesus Christ in his vicinity. Then, as per the desire of God, he grew with the mind of becoming a forerunner of the Messiah. When the time came, he witnessed to Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God, and made others as witnesses to the same fact by baptizing with water.

Hence, any witness should pass through these three noble stages of receiving a testimony, experiencing that testimony, and finally, witnessing to that testimony. Our Christian vocation would be in vain, if it does not culminate in a life of witness. Sadly, our Christian life stops with the reception stage. Hardly it switches over to the experiential stage. Very rarely it reaches the witnessing stage. Most often our Christian living is non-persuasive, and mediocre.

Till the time of Jesus’ resurrection, the Christian vocation and discipleship of Jesus’ disciples did not have the expected depth in their witnessing. But after experiencing the Spirit during the feast of Pentecost, they turned out to be powerful witnesses of Christ. They were able to spread the gospel of Christ to various corners of the world, though they lacked the current advantages of media, technology and transport.

Through the gospel, today Jesus utters the words ‘Come and see!’ to each of us as an invitation to a responsible Christian living. Our priorities in life dictate our choices and our choices determine the outcome of our lives. Whether we arrive at the right destination or not depends on our choices that are often between alternatives that appear equally attractive but lead to entirely different results. A responsible Christian living rests on the right choice we make between available alternatives. Certainly, one of the alternative would point to the gospel values of Christ. It needs real guts to opt that in this current world of so many pressures. When we live a responsible Christian life, that will be a witness to the faith we have accepted in Jesus Christ. We need not become great preachers in the pulpit to witness about Christ, rather our responsible Christian lifestyle would be sufficient to echo the gospel values of Jesus.

A company advertised an opening in its sales force. It received more than thousand applications for the job. But, of those many letters and resumes, one letter stood out: “I am presently selling furniture at the address below. You may judge my ability as a salesman if you will stop in to see me any time, pretending that you are interested in buying furniture. When you come in, you can identify me by my red hair. I will have no way of identifying you. That way, the sales abilities I exhibit will be no more than my usual everyday approach and not a special effort to impress a potential employer.” The sales manager took the applicant up on his challenge and visited the furniture store. The red-haired man got the job.

Like this salesman can we challenge God to check on our disposition to a responsible Christian living? A tree is assessed by its yield of fruits and not its leaves. Similarly, our Christian witness is shown by our good attitude and its eventual actions. God does not look for pretensions in our life of witness. Our witness should be real and genuine. How enthusiastic and authentic we are, to respond to his call?