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?

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!