Following Jesus

On his journey to Jerusalem, Jesus meets three men who are anxious to follow him. Two of these voluntarily come forward to follow Jesus. But as we read in the gospel, all the three seem to be unfit or unprepared for the challenges involved in following Jesus. To follow Jesus is not a walk in the park.

To the first young man bursting with enthusiasm who, with whole-hearted response, vowed to be a follower of Jesus wherever he would go, must have been surprised to hear Jesus dampen his spirits and warn him off with the caution, that the Son of Man did not have a home to call his own. Jesus left his home at Nazareth, and settled in Capernaum. But that must have been merely a base for his activities. Jesus had no possessions or securities. Nor did he have institutional provisions for his nomadic mission of spreading God’s Kingdom in Galilee. His friends and followers were mainly from the lower class, though there were some including some pious women who were his benefactors. To all intents and purposes, Jesus did not have a place to lay his head.

Jesus is only being fair when he makes it clear in very direct terms what is expected of those who wish to join his group. If we want to accompany him we must know what we are doing and be aware of the harsh realities of life. To follow Jesus to Calvary can be no casual accompaniment of a wandering preacher. Less of romance, more of reality-bites. The message is harsh but clear – if anything at all stands in our way or takes priority over Jesus in our lives, then we are not free to follow him. Jesus would have certainly failed in any of our modern ad firms—who earn by the second (not merely by the minute)!

To the second man Jesus says, “Let the dead bury their dead.” It is not a polite thing to say to someone who just wants to provide a simple, human service to his father. A service, it needs to be said, that was required under Jewish law. Burying the dead and honouring one’s parents were both mandates, not suggestions.

But time is short, and Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem and his death. The shortcut across Samaria leads to shunning this time, as the Samaritans are not keen on a prophet destined for Jerusalem. The disciples would like to see them punished, but Jesus is not going to dignify that request with anything more than a curt reprimand. There is no time to lose.

To everyone, Jesus tells us what he says in this text to the man who wishes to bury his father: “Follow me.” Sometimes we have what seem to us good reasons for not dropping everything, but more often we make excuses.

To those who want to follow him, Jesus points out that the way he is going holds no glamour. Those who hesitate, Jesus rejects. The only disciples Jesus can use are those who put their hand to God’s plow and do not look back. That is what he tells the third young man, who too had conditions or duties to be fulfilled. You can only plow a straight line if you keep your focus on what you are doing—like Jesus, who is resolutely making his journey towards Jerusalem and the cross.

Every day we are faced with a situation similar to these three young prospective disciples. In the midst of our work, as we are hurrying about our business, we encounter Jesus who beckons us to come and serve. He longs for us to acknowledge his loving presence in silently carrying out his will. But how many times we have said, “Why now, Lord?” “Perhaps I’ll catch up with you later.” “Why don’t you come later?”

We could make other similar excuses. But having a habit of making excuses makes us halfhearted, which is one of the biggest reasons why we don’t feel fulfilled in life. Halfheartedness robs us of the joy and satisfaction that come from achievement.

What will be our response if we chance to meet the Lord today? Is there some kind of irritation with regard to Him? Do we want to postpone our following Him? Don’t we think it is easier to worship Jesus than to follow him?

Only one thing God wants of you: to call Him “my father,” and not stop following Him? (Jer 3:19) He wants from us a relationship, a loving devotedness.

Sts Peter and Paul, Apostles

We celebrate the feast of the two greatest apostles of the Church, Peter and Paul. They were the two major personalities from whom the mission of Jesus grew and spread to every corner of the world. As the Preface for today’s Mass puts it: “Peter raised up the church from the faithful flock of Israel. Paul brought your call to the nations, and became the teacher of the world. Each in his chosen way gathered into unity the one family of Christ. Both shared a martyr’s death and are praised throughout the world.” Each one represents two very distinct roles of the Church in its mission to the world.

Peter represents that part of the Church which is the source of its stability: its traditions handed down in an unbroken way from the very beginnings, the structures which help to preserve and conserve those traditions, the structure which also gives consistency and unity to the Church, spread as it is through so many races, cultures, traditions, and geographical diversity. Peter today is represented by the Pope, who is the great symbol of unity and continuity. Without his role we would see the Church break up and disintegrate.

Paul, on the other hand, represents another key role, the prophetic and missionary role. It is that part of the Church which constantly works on the edge, pushing the boundaries of the Church further out, not only in a geographical sense but also pushing the concerns of the Church into neglected areas of social concern and creatively developing new ways of communicating the Christian message. If the Church is to remain relevant, if it is to continue speaking in a meaningful way to rapidly changing world, if it is to keep up with the new knowledge and ideas which change our ways of understanding the world in which we live, it has to renew itself constantly in the way it expresses its message, in the way it structures itself, in the way it communicates its message, and in the way it dialogues with the world.

The readings today emphasise the presence of God in the work of his Church. Peter’s faith and acknowledgment of Jesus as the Messiah-Christ and Saviour-King are rewarded by his being made the foundation on which Christ will build his Church. Through Peter, Jesus gives his Church a guarantee of never-ending protection. And he gives to Peter, as his representative, the powers, which he himself had received from the Father, the “keys of the Kingdom”. 

We see that in the first reading where Peter is thrown into jail for preaching the message of Christ and the Kingdom. As Paul, who was himself in prison more than once, will say later, the word of God cannot be bound. Peter finds release and then goes back to the only thing he can do – proclaim the message of his beloved Master. The miraculous release from prison symbolises that protection over his Church which Jesus had promised in the Gospel.

Paul in the second reading speaks first with gratitude of how his life has been spent in the service of his Lord. “I have fought the good fight to the end; I have run the race to the finish; I have kept the faith.” May we be able to say the same as we approach the end of our life. Paul also speaks of how God continued to protect him through all kinds of trials and persecutions. “The Lord stood by me and gave me power, so that through me the whole message might be proclaimed for all the non-believers to hear.” He too knows that the Lord will continue to protect him but he also knows that when his time comes he is ready to go.

Paul’s love for Jesus is so intense that he finds it difficult to choose between staying alive and working for the Kingdom or dying and being reunited with Jesus, his beloved Lord. As he said once in a memorable phrase, “For to me life is Christ, to die is gain.” In either case, he is with his beloved Lord.

As we celebrate the feast of the two “pillars” of the Church today, let us remain faithful to the traditions which have come down to us over 2,000 years but, at the same time, be ever ready to make the necessary changes and adaptations by which the message of Christ can be effectively communicated to all those who still have a hunger for that truth and love which over the centuries never changes.

Let us pray today for the whole Church all over the world; let us pray for our Holy Father who is the focus of unity for Christians everywhere. Let us also pray for those places where the Church is working under great difficulties.

Celebrating Love

Today in the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we celebrate love. We celebrate God’s unconditional love. God only and always loves.

Is there anything that I need to do first to merit God’s love? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. We don’t earn or merit God’s unconditional love; He has loved us even before we were conceived in our mother’s womb, from the beginning of the universe, and even before this universe took shape. Alive or dead we belong to the Lord. We are His Beloved, no matter what. His love for me does not depend on my worthiness, or on my good works. He always and everywhere loves me, He loves me whatever condition I am in. Sinful or holy, just or unjust, good or bad, ugly or beautiful.

God loves us with an everlasting love. His faithful love never ends. His mercies never cease. They are new every morning; great is His faithfulness. God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Such utterly free and gratuitous love is the only love that validates, transforms, and changes us at the deepest levels of consciousness. It is what we all desire and what we were created for. It is to show that every creature, every human person craves for love and communion. Even the physical structure of the universe is love. Once you allow it for yourself, you will almost naturally become a pipeline of the same love for others.

The more we receive His love, the more we are able to love. Once you can accept mercy, it is almost natural to hand it on to others. You become an instrument of what you yourself have received. I may not understand His unconditional love, but the more and more I experience His love, I am able to open my heart in love towards others. But if I don’t accept mercy and love, then I won’t be able to pass it on to others.

Love breaks all barriers; it is stronger than death, cruelty, violence, selfishness and sinfulness of humanity. Only in love I can understand that no one is perfect, no human enterprise is perfect. Only in love can I know that except for God, nothing is perfectly anything.

The dynamism that God is, is called Love. Love is the nature of God himself. God is Love. And interestingly, the dynamism that unites us together is also called love. We humans become capable of truly loving, only because God’s love has poured into our hearts.

Divine love is the template and model for all human love, and human love is the necessary school and preparation for any God-encounter. If you have never experienced human love, it will be very hard for you to access God as Love. If you have never let God love you, you will not know how to love humanly in the deepest way. Of course, grace can overcome both of these limitations.

We as imperfect persons can accept love and also give love to others. In facing the contradictions that we ourselves are, we are able to accept others as they are. That’s how I am able to forgive others, and also love my enemies.

Good Behaviour

Mt 7:21-29

“Jesus said to his disciples: It is not those who say to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven.”

We come today to the final reading from the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus spells out the essential quality of the true disciple. He or she is not to be measured merely by external activities. It is not enough, for instance, to keep saying “Lord, Lord…” That by itself will not bring a person under the kingship of God. It will not be enough even to be able to perform wonders like casting out demons or working other miracles even in the name of Jesus. The true disciple is someone who is totally united to God in heart, soul and mind. Such a person is one who listens to Jesus’ words and carries them out.

Good behaviour and actions are the only way to honour the Lord. Our prayer sessions and liturgical practices can become a mere sham, if they are not translated into correct behaviour and good actions. Today, therefore, is an opportunity to break down our hypocritical behaviour, our superficiality and lack of depth.

Our biggest sin could be superficiality. The shape of evil is much more superficiality and blindness than the usually listed sins. Sin is to stay on the surface of even holy things, like Bible, sacrament, or church.

To live a Christian life only on the surface, that is, only with words and externally conforming behaviour, is like building a house on sand. Once we come under attack, we will collapse because we have no deep foundation inside. We see that happening frequently when people who have lived in an outwardly Christian environment move to a purely secular situation. They fall away very quickly. So let us be like that sensible person who builds his house on rock, the firm foundation that is Christ with the vision of Christ also the vision of our own life, a life built on truth and love.

As Gandhi said, you have to dig one deep well, not many shallow ones.

By their fruits

Mt 7:15-20

Our reading contains a warning which must have been very relevant in the early Church but has not lost its meaning in our own day.

Prophets who are wolves in sheep’s clothing. On the outside, they seem to have the image of Jesus, his gentleness and love, but in fact they are religious predators, using people for their own ends. There have been unfortunate examples of this in some so-called evangelists who, in the name of the Lord Jesus, ripped off countless numbers of trusting people, many of them elderly and not well off, by making them pledge large sums money they could not afford.

How can you recognise them? By their ‘fruits’, by the way they behave and not just by what they say or the claims they make. It is not that difficult to separate the genuine from the false. As Jesus says, it is not possible for a bad tree to consistently produce good fruit nor for a genuinely good tree to produce bad fruit. Very often we have to admit that we try to make a good impression on people and we often try to hide from others what we believe to be our weaknesses.

Integrity and transparency are precious qualities to be found in any person and they are not easy to achieve. Most of us wear masks of some kind. Most of us can identify with the title of John Powell’s book – ‘Why Am I Afraid To Tell You Who I Am?’ In fact, people can often identify more easily with a person whose faults are admitted. They feel that they are dealing with the real person and not a phoney. This can apply very much to pastors and other religious leaders.

Jesus is calling on us today to be really genuine people. Take care of the inside and the outside will take care of itself.

Take Courage

The following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Take courage. For just as you have borne witness to my cause in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness in Rome.”

We are now coming to the end of the Third Missionary Journey of St Paul. Events are moving very fast as we have to finish the Acts in the next three days! And a great deal is happening, much of which will have to be passed over. It might be a very good idea to take up a New Testament and read the full text of the last eight chapters of the book.

As we begin today’s reading let us be filled in a little on what has happened between yesterday’s reading and today’s. After bidding a tearful farewell to his fellow-Christians in Ephesus, Paul began his journey back to Palestine, making a number of brief stops on the way – Cos, Rhodes, Patara. They by-passed Cyprus and landed at Tyre in Phoenicia. They stayed there for a week, during which time the brethren begged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. They knew there would be trouble. But there was no turning back for Paul and again there was an emotional parting on the beach.

As Paul moved south, there were stops at Ptolemais where they greeted the community. Then it was on to Caesarea where Paul stayed in the house of Philip, the deacon, now called an ‘evangelist’. (Earlier we saw him do great evangelising work in Samaria and he was the one who converted the Ethiopian eunuch.) Here too there was an experience in which Paul was warned by a prophet in the community of coming suffering. Again they all begged him not to go on but he replied: “I am prepared not only to be bound but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” They then accepted God’s will and let him go.

When they arrived in Jerusalem they received a warm welcome from the community there. However, as the seven days stipulated were coming to an end, Paul was spotted by some Jews who had known him in Ephesus. A mob rushed into the temple and seized him, and might have harmed him, if the Roman commander had not seen the riot. He rescued Paul, then arrested him and put him in chains and thus out of the reach of those wanting to harm him.

It was only after the arrest that the commander realised the Greek-speaking Paul was not an Egyptian rebel. Paul then asked to be allowed to address the crowd and, in a longish speech, told the assembled Jews the story of his conversion on the road to Damascus. At the end of the speech, the crowd bayed for his blood and Paul was about to be flogged in order to find out why the Jews wanted him executed. At this point, Paul revealed to the centurion that he was a Roman citizen and that, unlike the garrison commander who had bought his citizenship, he had been born one. This created great alarm among his captors and he was released.

Paul’s freedom of movement, however, didn’t last long. The Roman commander then ordered a meeting of the Sanhedrin to be convened so that Paul could address them. While those of the high priestly line were mainly Sadducees, the Sanhedrin also now included quite a number of Pharisees. Their approval was needed, however, in cases of capital punishment (as happened in the case of Jesus).

He began by telling them that everything he had done was with a perfectly clear conscience. On hearing this, the high priest Ananias ordered that Paul be struck in the mouth. Paul hit back – verbally. “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall.” He said this because, although Ananias was supposedly sitting in judgement according to the Law, he was breaking the law by striking the accused. Josephus the Jewish historian tells us that Ananias was actually assassinated in AD 66 at the beginning of the First Jewish Revolt. When Paul is accused of reviling the high priest, he said he did not realise Ananias was the high priest and apologised.

It is at this point in today’s reading that one of the most dramatic scenes in the Acts, begins. Paul knew his audience. He professed loudly and with pride that he was a Pharisee, knowing that his audience consisted of both Pharisees and Sadducees. Addressing his words specially to the Pharisees, he said that he was on trial because “our hope is in the resurrection of the dead.” That was not quite the whole story, of course, as he made no mention of Christ but it immediately put him on the side of his fellow-Pharisees.

His words on resurrection immediately diverted attention from him to this contentious dividing point between the Pharisees and the Sadducees. All of a sudden the Pharisees make an about-turn: “We do not find this man guilty of any crime.” A brawl ensued. It got so serious that the tribune, fearing Paul would be torn to pieces, came to his rescue and put him back in the fortress.

That night Paul received a vision in which he was assured that he would be protected in Jerusalem because it was the Lord’s wish that he give witness to the Gospel in Rome. The Lord appeared to him and assured him at night (when everything was dark) said: “Take courage! I will be with you!” It is a promise given not only to Paul but to all of us as well: “I will be with you always.” This divine assurance should help us to be the master of all tensions and events, rather than their victim. God’s support is always there for us.

We need to bear witness to the resurrection of the Lord, and hope in the resurrection of the dead. That is, we need to testify that God is completely alive and fully incarnate in our physical world, and that nothing is possible without Him. That following Him, imitating Him is our only joy and happiness.

Generosity of Heart

For our first reading, we have the last part of St Paul’s farewell speech to the church elders of Ephesus. Paul gives us a glimpse into his own personal dynamic. His imitation of Jesus Christ is the key to his life. In all he does he is led by the remembrance of the life and the words of Jesus.

He quotes Jesus’ words, “Happiness lies more in giving than in receiving.” (Another translation: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”) This beautiful saying of Jesus is not found in the gospels, but only here in the Acts of the Apostles. We can see how this saying has influenced St Paul’s life—giving himself and his life totally to others.

The goodness and happiness within a person is manifested by one’s generosity of heart. The more one is able to give her life, her time and talents to others, then that person is generous, good, kind, etc.

But grabbing, taking advantage of others and their goodness is very common in our societies. Selfishness and self-centredness have become a way of life in this world. From politics to religion, a life of selfishness is seen to be unfortunately common. Comfort-seeking and self-glorification have become common even in the church circles. The name of business is nothing but profit-making.

An infant is born into this world with closed-fists. But as it grows it needs to open up its fists, in an act of giving itself more and more. It is a movement from selfishness and egoism to true generosity and goodness of heart. All our successes, achievements and wealth cannot contribute to our growth, unless we are able to give, to contribute, and to share.

“There is more happiness in giving than in receiving.” To follow Jesus we need a big heart and mind. We need to give more and more, and perhaps become poorer in terms of worldly riches. Christian life therefore is a life of sacrifice. But it is a life, inspired by the Spirit and led by the Spirit. Which means, it is an inner process of being vivified by the same Spirit that enlivened Paul and other disciples.

Jesus’ Way

Acts 20:17-27. John 17:1-11.

“And now you see me on my way to Jerusalem in captivity to the Spirit....”

At the end of his life with Jesus Christ, Paul decides to go to Jerusalem. He says: “Compelled by the Holy Spirit I am going to Jerusalem.” Paul feels that the Holy Spirit is asking him to go to Jerusalem. He also knows that the Holy Spirit is warning him that if he goes to Jerusalem he will be arrested. He is going Jesus’ way. Jesus, too, knew that he had to go to Jerusalem and that he would be arrested there. Jesus’ disciples asked Jesus not to go. Paul’s friends do the same (Acts 21:12).

Paul’s story follows the pattern of Jesus’ story. The journey to Jerusalem is the final one. Jesus and Paul both began their journeys reaching into their inner self. Jesus did that before he came out of Nazareth and while he was in the desert after being baptized by John the Baptizer. Saul did it when, being struck by the Lord at Damascus, he turned into the Paul we know. Both Jesus and Paul then continued their journey through life, reaching out to the people they met around them. And both Jesus and Paul decided that going to Jerusalem would be the final part of their journey, bringing all they had experienced and rallying all those they had met. All his life, Jesus was on an inner journey, an outer journey, and a centering journey. So was Paul, following the way of Jesus.

If we are faithful in the world in which we live, our story will be like Jesus’ and Paul’s, though not necessarily as dramatic as theirs, but certainly just as real as theirs. Any time we enter into ourselves in prayer we will discover that we are called to reach out and bring the whole world with all its people together in the Lord. This is the way Jesus went, and Paul, and all those who lived the Way before us.

The Spirit is inviting us and challenging us today!

Fulfillment of God’s Promise

Jesus said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.”

The celebration of Ascension can evoke some strangeness within us. Jesus goes away to heaven, and why is this cause for a celebration, and not sadness? Isn’t Jesus going to be absent, then?

No, Jesus is not going to be absent. But he is going to be present in a new way: more powerful than before. Technically, he is not going away, but he will be present in a concrete, precise way. Jesus will be present in the Eucharist, the memorial-meal that he had instituted before he suffered and died. He is going to be present in and as the Word of God. He will be present in those people, even if they are two or three, who are gathered in his name. Jesus will be present in the Church, he being the Head and the Church being the Body of Christ. He will be present in and through His Spirit. Jesus’ presence is not going to be restricted to Israel, but opened up to the whole universe. (Historical becomes trans-historical. Particular becomes universal.)

Therefore, the ascension is not about absence but a celebration of the new presence of Jesus. The fullness of his Godhead is revealed in today’s solemnity. He is going to be seated at the right hand of the Father, that is, he is God from ever, for ever—revealed and manifested fully in the Paschal Mystery of his Passion, Death, Resurrection, Ascension and the Pentecostal outpouring—and its culmination will be experienced in the Second Coming of Jesus.

So, when will be experiencing his glorious and visible “Coming” of Jesus? Will it be end of history? Will it be the end of the world and the universe? God the Father is in charge of times and seasons. As Jesus instructs, it is not for us to know the times or dates the Father has set by His own authority. We wait. We allow God to have His way. It is not upto us, but it is all upto Him.

How to live ascension in our daily lives?

When we meet with suffering or misfortune, we don’t give up hope. Sometimes we could become dejected based on factors we cannot control: the destructive choices of a spouse or child, the state of the economy or politics and its effect on our lives. But we don’t give up hope. We know that life will be restored to us, in one way or another. This is ascension in our lives.

And we go about like Jesus, making very convincing signs of new life within us. We plant seeds and hope they will grow. We take off the clothing of mourning and put on a fresh shirt, get a haircut or do a facial. We gather with friends whom we have put off visiting when we were beset with sadness. We reach out to offer our help, after so long being on the receiving end of sympathy. When new life comes to us, it is unmistakable and uplifting to everyone around us. It is an ascension of body and spirit. This is the fulfillment of God’s promise. As we live our hope, we will surely see that God’s promise is already being fulfilled.

“In the time after his suffering Jesus showed them in many convincing ways that he was alive.” Let us try this. Let us also show that Jesus is alive in our lives.

Visitation and Magnificat

In the Visitation, Mary carries Christ to Elizabeth, but it is Elizabeth that blesses Mary. The Other is my blessing. The poor, the young, the downtrodden, those living on the margins of society... they all are my blessing. “Blessed are the poor.” And Jesus did not say, “Blessed are those who care for the poor.” Unless I become one among the poor, one among the marginalized, I don’t get my blessing. It is they who bless me. I may give Christ to them, but eventually it is they who will save me.

Inspired by the Old Testament tradition, with the song of the Magnificat Mary celebrates the marvels God worked in her. This song is the Virgin's response to the mystery of the Annunciation: the angel had invited her to rejoice and Mary now expresses the exultation of her spirit in God her Saviour. Her joy flows from the personal experience of God's looking with kindness upon her, a poor creature with no historical influence.

The Magnificat celebrates the greatness of God, who reveals his omnipotence through the angel's message, surpassing the expectations and hopes of the people of the Covenant, and even the noblest aspirations of the human soul.

In the presence of the powerful and merciful Lord, Mary expresses her own sense of lowliness: "My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden" (Lk 1:47-48). The Greek word "tapeínosis" is probably borrowed from the song of Hannah, Samuel's mother. It calls attention to the "humiliation" and "misery" of a barren woman (cf. 1 Sam 1: 11), who confides her pain to the Lord. With a similar expression, Mary makes known her situation of poverty and her awareness of being little before God, who by a free decision looked upon her, a humble girl from Nazareth and called her to become the Mother of the Messiah.

The words "henceforth all generations will call me blessed" (Lk 1:48) arise from the fact that Elizabeth was the first to proclaim Mary "blessed" (Lk 1:45). Not without daring, the song predicts that this same proclamation will be extended and increased with relentless momentum, At the same time, it testifies to the special veneration for the Mother of Jesus which has been present in the Christian community from the very first century. The Magnificat is the first fruit of the various forms of devotion, passed on from one generation to the next, in which the Church has expressed her love for the Virgin of Nazareth.

"For he who is mighty has done great things for me and holy is his name, And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation" (Lk 1:49-50).

What are the "great things" that the Almighty accomplished in Mary? The expression recurs in the Old Testament to indicate the deliverance of the people of Israel from Egypt or Babylon. In the Magnificat, it refers to the mysterious event of Jesus' virginal conception, which occurred in Nazareth after the angel's announcement.

In the Magnificat, a truly theological song because it reveals the experience Mary had of God's looking upon her, God is not only the Almighty to whom nothing is impossible, as Gabriel had declared (cf. Lk 1:37), but also the Merciful, capable of tenderness and fidelity towards every human being.

"He has shown strength with his arm, he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts, he has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away" (Lk 1: 51-53).

With her wise reading of history, Mary leads us to discover the criteria of God's mysterious action. Overturning the judgements of the world, he comes to the aid of the poor and lowly, to the detriment of the rich and powerful, and in a surprising way he fills with good things the humble who entrust their lives to him (cf. Redemptoris Mater, n. 37).

While these words of the song show us Mary as a concrete and sublime model, they give us to understand that it is especially humility of heart which attracts God's kindness.

Lastly, the song exalts the fulfilment of God's promises and his fidelity to the chosen people: "He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity for ever" (Lk 1:54-55).

Filled with divine gifts, Mary does not limit her vision to her own personal case, but realizes how these gifts show forth God's mercy towards all his people. In her, God fulfils his promises with a superabundance of fidelity and generosity.

Inspired by the Old Testament and by the spirituality of the daughter of Zion, the Magnificat surpasses the prophetic texts on which it is based, revealing in her who is "full of grace" the beginning of a divine intervention which far exceeds Israel's messianic hopes: the holy mystery of the Incarnation of the Word.

St Joan of Arc

Joan of Arc, nicknamed “The Maid of Orléans,” was born in 1412 in Domrémy, Bar, France. A national heroine of France, at age 18 she led the French army to victory over the English at Orléans. Captured a year later, Joan was burned at the stake as a heretic by the English and their French collaborators. She was canonized more than 500 years later, on May 16, 1920.

The daughter of poor tenant farmers Jacques d’Arc and his wife, Isabelle, also known as Romée, Joan learned piety and domestic skills from her mother. Never venturing far from home, Joan took care of the animals and became quite skilled as a seamstress.

Joan of Arc began to have mystical visions encouraging her to lead a pious life. Over time, they became more vivid, with the presence of St. Michael the Archangel and St. Catherine designating her as the saviour of France and encouraging her to seek an audience with Charles—who had assumed the title Dauphin (heir to the throne)—and ask his permission to expel the English and install him as the rightful king.

In May 1428, Joan’s visions instructed her to go to Vaucouleurs and contact Robert de Baudricourt, the garrison commander and a supporter of Charles. At first, Baudricourt refused Joan’s request, but after seeing that she was gaining the approval of villagers, in 1429 he relented and gave her a horse and an escort of several soldiers. Joan cropped her hair and dressed in men’s clothes for her 11-day journey across enemy territory to Chinon, the site of Charles’s court.

At first, Charles was not certain what to make of this peasant girl who asked for an audience and professed she could save France. Joan, however, won him over when she correctly identified him, dressed incognito, in a crowd of members of his court. The two had a private conversation during which it is said Joan revealed details of a solemn prayer Charles had made to God to save France. Still tentative, Charles had prominent theologians examine her. The clergymen reported they found nothing improper with Joan, only piety, chastity and humility.

Finally, Charles gave the 17-year-old Joan of Arc armor and a horse and allowed her to accompany the army to Orléans, the site of an English siege. In a series of battles between May 4 and May 7, 1429, the French troops took control of the English fortifications. Joan was wounded, but later returned to the front to encourage a final assault. By mid-June, the French had routed the English and , in doing so, their perceived invincibility as well.

Although it appeared that Charles had accepted Joan’s mission, he did not display full trust in her judgement or advice. After the victory at Orléans, she kept encouraging him to hurry to Reims to be crowned king, but he and his advisors were more cautious. However, Charles and his procession finally entered Reims, and he was crowned Charles VII on July 18, 1429. Joan was at his side, occupying a visible place at the ceremonies.

In the spring of 1430, King Charles VII ordered Joan of Arc to Compiègne to confront the Burgundian assault. During the battle, she was thrown off her horse and left outside the town’s gates. The Burgundians took her captive and held her for several months, negotiating with the English, who saw her as a valuable propaganda prize. Finally, the Burgundians exchanged Joan for 10,000 francs.

Charles VII was unsure what to do. Still not convinced of Joan’s divine inspiration, he distanced himself and made no attempt to have her released. Though Joan’s actions were against the English occupation army, she was turned over to church officials who insisted she be tried as a heretic. She was charged with 70 counts, including witchcraft, heresy and dressing like a man.

Initially the trial was held in public, but it went private when Joan of Arc bettered her accusers. Between February 21 and March 24, 1431, she was interrogated nearly a dozen times by a tribunal, always keeping her humility and steadfast claim of innocence. Instead of being held in a church prison with nuns as guards, she was held in a military prison. Joan was threatened with rape and torture, though there is no record that either actually occurred. She protected herself by tying her soldiers’ clothes tightly together with dozens of cords. Frustrated they could not break her, the tribunal eventually used her military clothes against her, charging that she dressed like a man.

On May 29, 1431, the tribunal announced Joan of Arc was guilty of heresy. On the morning of May 30, she was taken to the marketplace in Rouen and burned at the stake, before an estimated crowd of 10,000 people. She was 19 nineteen years old. One legend surrounding the event tells of how her heart survived the fire unaffected. Her ashes were gathered and scattered in the Seine.

After Joan’s death, the Hundred Years’ War continued for another 22 years. King Charles VII ultimately retained his crown, and he ordered an investigation that in 1456 declared Joan of Arc to be officially innocent of all charges and designated a martyr. She was canonized as a saint on May 16, 1920, and is the patron saint of 

Counter-Cultural

“In Him we live and move and have our being; and indeed as some of your own writers have said: We are all God’s children.”

Paul had a difficult time preaching at Athens, the pinnacle of human sophistication. He didn’t like the town. Some Athenians didn’t react well to his street preaching; they called him a talking bird. But some philosophers invited him over to the Areopagus, their great place of discussion and decision making.

Luke doesn’t take kindly to the Athenians, either. About this invitation he notes that they wanted Paul to amuse them. They liked new fads and novel ideas. They were intrigued by Paul’s belief in a resurrection.

Paul’s main theme, however, was not the resurrection. The God he preached was not the God of one group, tribe, or race, but of all people. He was preaching the God in whom all of us “live and move and have our being.”

Paul had prepared his speech carefully, for at that point he quoted Aratus, an Athenian philosopher, who had written: “We are all his children.” If this is true, Paul explains, then we have quite a lot to repent for. If we are going to be judged according to that norm, our uprightness falls far short. Jesus lived that truth to the full; therefore he was raised from the dead.

At the mention of the resurrection most of his audience burst out laughing. Were they laughing at the idea, or did they laugh because they didn’t want to accept the Way of Jesus Christ, a Way that teaches us to love everyone—including our enemies—because we are all in the same way the children of God?

It is a Way that goes against the grain of this world: a religion that is counter-cultural. It is a Way that divides not only those who hear it for the first time, but those of us who are used to it.

To believe in the resurrection is not merely a brainy thing, it needs faith and a heart that accepts God-Mystery.

Holy Spirit: Light and Strength

The Holy Spirit gives us grace to be aware of our sinful ways and to depend on God so that we can live a holy life. (Jn 16:5-11)

Holy Spirit is both light and strength. Grace means light and strength. Holy Spirit is the giver of grace, He is grace himself!

He is light from heaven, He is light of our hearts. He sheds light on everything that is within us and that is in the world. The evil will be revealed, the darkness will be dispelled. We don’t see the light, but we see because of the light. We don’t see the Holy Spirit, but it is because of the Holy Spirit that we can know what is good and what is bad. It is He who manifests the sinfulness and deceit of worldly ways. He operates on our knowledge, to tell us what is true and what is not.

He is also the strength from above. He is the dispenser of all gifts—gifts are always good. He comforts us, nourishes us, strengthens us. He does not only operate in our minds, but He also operates on our wills, to give us strength to do what we know to be good. Our good wills are helped to become good performances if we allow the Holy Spirit in our lives.

He cleanses the hatred, freshens the faded, cures the wounded, heals the diseased, softens the hard ones, warms up the cold ones, brings to the right path those who go astray. Without His light there is nothing other than sin in human life. All the goodness is inspired by the Spirit. If we see goodness it is because the Spirit has already been active—silently active and moving everything towards goodness.

Holy Spirit therefore inspires goodness and holiness within us. He is author of all holiness!

A New Presence

We are in the last week before Ascension. Jesus says, “It is better that I go away. When I go away, I will send the Counsellor (the Helper) to you, and when he comes, he will vindicate the paths of righteousness and justice.”

Jesus’ going away is not an absence of God, but a new presence. This presence is the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity, who is God from all ages. The coming of the Spirit is associated with Jesus’ glorification: his cross and resurrection. In his glorification Jesus gives us his Spirit.

God is present everywhere and always. God is Spirit, that is, God who is mightier the heavens and the universe is within us. God’s seeming absence is in fact a mighty presence: He is present in an atom and He is present in the largest of the galaxies. A silent presence that moves the universe. We live and move and have our being in Him. Without Him we will fall into nothingness.

The work of the Spirit is to remind us of Jesus’ life. From within us He will give us the wisdom and courage to face the world, and to proclaim God’s word.

And the Spirit will convict the world of its unbelief. He will break the unbelief that is within us and that is outside of us. The only way forward is to allow the Spirit to deepen our faith in Jesus. Belief in Jesus is salvation itself. “Sirs, What must I do to be saved? – Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

Fundamentalism

“The hour is coming when anyone who kills you will claim to be serving God; they will do this because they not known the Father or me.” (Jn 16:2-3)

We see how true this statement of Jesus is. Fundamentalism even in the name of religion is on the rise. Besides tribalism, culturalism, regionalism and other group biases, fundamentalism in the name of serving God is a sad reality in our world. Wars and violence in the name of religion are becoming common.

Jesus says that this phenomenon of religious fundamentalism is due to ignorance of the true: “they have not known the Father or me.” Even being a Christian you can become a fundamentalist, if you truly do not known the Father or Jesus Christ. The greatest sin one can commit is to be on the surface, to be superficial. Superficiality has to be fought on all levels. Before we point a finger at others’ superficiality, we need to discover in ourselves if there are superficial attitudes. If don’t deal with them or remove them, we too can be superficial which leads to fundamentalism.

Love is not love unless it is free. If we don’t want our love to become manipulation we need to know God more and more deeply. We need to allow him more and more in our lives. Prayer and reading the Word of God are ways to deepen our knowledge, and interiorize what we know about God.

As Henri Nouwen says, “People who pray stand receptive before the world. They no longer grab but caress, they no longer bite but kiss, they no longer examine but admire.” Prayer makes us attentive and sensitive to others. We can become more and more relevant only when we truly pray.

For this, we need the Spirit of truth to be convinced of divine things. We need to ask and beg for God’s help, which is never far away.

St Rita of Cascia (1377 - 1447)

St Rita’s is an exciting story of a wife, mother, widow, and member of a religious community.

Rita (Margherita Lotti) was born near Cascia, in Umbria in Italy. She was married at the age of 12 into the family of Mancinis, despite her frequently repeated wish to become a nun. Her husband, Paolo Mancini was rich, quick-tempered and immoral and had many enemies, especially the Chiqui families. Rita endured her husband’s insults, abuse and infidelities for 18 years and bore him two sons, who grew to be like him.

Towards the end of his life she helped to convert her husband to a more pious way of life, but he was stabbed to death by his enemies not long afterwards. He repented before he died and was reconciled to the Church.

Rita gave a public pardon at Paolo’s funeral to her husband’s murderers. But her sons, along with their uncle Bernardo Mancini (Paolo’s brother), planned to avenge their father’s death. Rita, fearing that her sons would lose their souls, tried to persuade them from retaliating, but they wouldn’t listen. When Rita’s pleas were unavailing, she prayed that God should take their lives if that was the only way to preserve them from the sin of murder. They died of natural causes a year later!

Rita asked to join the convent of St Mary Magdalen at Cascia. She was rejected for being a widow, since the convent was for virgins only, and later given the impossible task of reconciling her family, Mancinis, with her husband’s murderers, Chiquis. She implored her three patron saints John the Baptist, Augustine of Hippo, and Nicholas of Tolentino to assist her, and she set about the task of establishing peace between the hostile parties of Cascia. Popular religious tales recall that the bubonic plague, which ravaged Italy at the time, infected Bernardo Mancini, causing him to relinquish his desire to feud any longer with the Chiqui family. She was able to resolve the conflicts between the families and, at the age of 36, was allowed to enter the monastery. She remained there until her death at the age of 70.

St Rita is certainly a model for mothers, widows, and religious women. She is widely honoured as a patron saint of impossible or lost causes.

Peace

“Peace be with you! My peace I give to you; not as the world gives peace do I give it to you. Do not be troubled! Do not be afraid!”

Peace is the first gift of the risen Jesus. Even if you have locked the doors, locked your heart and mind, Jesus can walk through them. Jesus can walk through closed doors and hearts to give his peace. He can bring peace to impossible situations.

What is peace? In Jn 14, we have a clue. “Do not be troubled! Trust in God and trust in me! In my Father’s house there are many rooms.” (Jn 14:1-2) A room is meant for resting, refreshing, sleeping for our physical and mental well being. We move in and move out of the room. So peace could be that is what is needed for our spiritual well being. Or, shall we say, resting in God is peace.

The more you are connected to God, the more you are in peace. Peace is a state, a spiritual state more than a feeling. It is a state of rest in God. Not only dead people rest in peace, we too need to rest in peace.

Peace is being at home with God. It is the same as saying, home is where your heart is. A home is not bricks and mortar and cement, but it is about connection with persons, with your loved ones. In the same way, if your heart is with God, or if God is in your heart, then you are at peace. In Is 26:3, we read, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”

Peace is not the peace of the graveyard. It is about life, liveliness, activity, centredness…. Peace can exist even with my problems and troubles. Peace is not the absence of all the problems, it can co-exist with my problems even.

Jesus’ peace is not as the world gives. The world thinks that peace is the absence of war and violence. But that is only partially true. Peace is about living in the presence of God, because His presence itself is our peace. St Paul says, “The Kingdom of God is not a matter of food and drink; but it is justice, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Rom 14:7)

So peace is not self-sufficiency or self-complacency, it is dependence on God. He gives us enough peace for the day, like manna. We cannot store more than we need. We need to “collect” it day to day.

If we are at peace with God, we can proclaim peace. And the Scriptures praise the peacemakers, “Look, there on the mountains, the feet of one who brings good news, who proclaims peace!” (Nahum 1:15) Jesus also proclaims it, “Blessed are the peacemakers, they shall be called children of God.” (Mt 5:9)

Peace is not so much a destination, as it is the means. There is no way to peace. Peace is the way. God promises peace to His people, His faithful servants; He grants us peace if we do not turn to folly and worthlessness. (Ps 85:8)

Today, let us pray for peace in our hearts, in our homes and in the world. We will have peace the more and more we allow God into our lives. “Lord, grant us peace, because all that we have done has been your doing.” (Is 26:12)

A New Commandment

Today we move into the fifth Sunday of Easter, when we rewind to the Last Supper scene and words of Jesus then, where he gives us a new commandment: “Love one another as I have loved you.”

There are hundreds and thousands of definitions of love. And one of the best definitions that gives a lot of sense is Jesus’ own definition. “There is no greater love than to give one’s life for one’s friends.” It captures the essence of what love is. Love is all about sacrifice, and putting others first before oneself.

In the Bible, the moment in which Abraham is asked to give up his son is the first time that love is mentioned by name: "Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I shall point out to you." Love is given a name in the moment of sacrifice, at the moment in which we face the terrifying possibility of loss. Suffering is the moment when love appears.

And Jesus asks us to love others as he himself loved us. That’s really a great challenge. The measure of love is to love as Jesus himself loved, as God himself loved us. As St Francis de Sales puts it, “The measure of love is to love without measure.” So love is a divine quality.

How to understand love then? Love is a force. It is the most powerful force on earth. It is the energy that sustains the universe, moving us towards a future of resurrection. We can say so many things about love, and try to define love. But it is love that defines God and all of us even. Love can’t be seen or touched, but it is that which every one around us can feel it immediately. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin says, “The physical structure of this universe is love.” So we can say that even what we touch and see and hear is all a result of love, God’s love.

Love defines God: God is love. The best understanding of God is that He is love. There are some beautiful Biblical verses that remind us of God’s love. “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” “My heart yearns for Ephraim, my favoured son.” “Can a woman forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child of her womb? Yet though she forget, I will never forget you. I have written your name upon the palm of my hands.” “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but may have eternal life.”

The Bible is God’s love letter for us. Page after page proclaims His great love for us. His love has no terms or conditions: He loves us not because we are good. But He loves us because He himself is good, because He himself is love. His love is immeasurable, and that is the only measure we can use to love each other.

A great challenge indeed!

Quality of Life

A long life may be a blessing, but a really long, long life on this earth is not a blessing—it may be even a curse. Think of the various illnesses and weaknesses that could attack us in our very long life. Rather than the quantity, we are certainly interested in a better quality of life: the fullness of life, as Jesus himself promises. We yearn for it, to possess it not only in our afterlife (after our death), but to possess it as much as possible during our earthly life even.

Jesus gives the fullness of life to those who thirst for it here and now, at least a foretaste of what we will be experiencing after our death. Jesus said that we have a heavenly home, that he himself was gladly going there, and that he would take care to prepare for us a place. A place that will be ready once our turn comes to go home, having done our part here on earth.

These are the words that we read in today’s gospel: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.”

There’s a life beyond this one, a house of “many dwelling places,” and Jesus, who died and rose, is going to prepare a place for us. What could be better? The day will come, one way or the other, when the bodies in which we live will no longer support our lives in this world. We are mortal beings imperfect and corrupt; so we will suffer and die. But when that moment comes, Jesus our Savior will be there. It’s a divine promise. And he will take us to where he lives beyond death. Our job is to stay focused on Jesus, who forgives our sins and leads us in the way of salvation.

Jesus himself is the Way, the Truth and the Life. So why fear? To be close to the person of Jesus is to be already on the way. To be close to Jesus is to have attained the truth. (So how can his promises be false?) To be close to him is to have attained life—the fullness of life that he promised, the quality of life that each and every one of us thirst for.

Paul’s Mission Begins

We are continuing to read from the Acts of the Apostles for our first reading these days. Saul, after his conversion and after he begins his missionary journeys, will no more use the Hebrew form of his name “Saul” but will use the Latin form of his name “Paul.” Being aware that he is set apart by the Holy Spirit not merely for his “own people” but that he is sent to all people, especially the non-Jews, he wants to become a universal person, a man for all. For Paul, who was already a Roman citizen (Acts 16:37), it is a further step in becoming integrated into the world of the non-Jews.

Once the mission began, Paul becomes the obvious leader. From our readings yesterday and today, we come to know that Paul and his companions do not stay in Cyprus; they leave behind groups of believers who have been hastily instructed.

When they set sail and arrive on the continent, at the inhospitable area of Perga, John Mark leaves them. Paul’s daring plans may have scared him. They go through the mountain range of modern day Turkey and reach the heart of the province of Pisidia at Antioch (which must not be confused with the Antioch of Syria).

Paul is invited to speak in the synagogue, and in his discourse he returns to the history of Israel (similar to Peter’s discourse in Acts 2 and Stephen’s in Acts 7), which may not interest us but for the Jews there was nothing more interesting than being reminded of this history that they knew by heart and which gave them their identity in the midst of other people. Today Paul presents this history, highlighting a series of facts that gives it meaning and clearly leads to Christ. Paul shows that God’s promises to Israel have been fulfilled in the resurrection of Christ.

We as Christians are invited to be witness if Christ’s resurrection from the dead. Our lives need to be a joyful testimony of resurrection, that God can do the impossible even in our lives. God is in control of our lives and ways, and if only we allow Him into our plans today we can see His marvels and wonders.

As from today’s (and tomorrow’s) first reading we understand that God is active in history, first in Israel’s history and then in Jesus Christ and then in the life of the early Christians, and now we are in that line of history where God is entirely involved. He is the source and the end of all these events, but also He is the Way, one who is grounding all these events in history. God is not only at the beginning and the end of every road, but He himself is that Way: the process, the journey, the means by which we can arrive at our final destination.

Our Christian faith is not a brilliant doctrine of some intelligent thinkers, but it is the outcome of what God has done in history, of what God has done concretely in our lives. The resurrection makes a new departure for all human history. Even our broken dreams and shattered lives have a meaning if we allow God into the picture. He can transform everything and everyone! Isn’t this also the meaning of resurrection?

St Matthias, Apostle

While choosing between Matthias and Joseph Justus (also known as Barsabbas), Peter had one criterion, that, like Andrew, James, John, and himself, the new apostle be someone who had been a disciple from the very beginning, from his baptism by John until the Ascension. The reason for this was simple, the new apostle must become a witness to Jesus’ resurrection. The above piece of information opens a window into understanding the large group of unnamed disciples who stuck to Jesus during his lifetime. Matthias (and many others) followed Jesus, and believed in him, went around with him.

Clement of Alexandria says that Matthias, like all the other apostles, was not chosen by Jesus for what he already was, but for what Jesus foresaw he would become. He was elected not because he was worthy but because he would become worthy. Jesus chooses all of us in the same way. He does not call the qualified. He qualifies the called. What does Jesus want you to become?

Do you feel unprepared, or not fully equipped for God’s work? Then you are completely okay to start working for God. The very weaknesses and radical insufficiency of our lives are those that lead us into larger life and love.

So let us not be afraid of our weaknesses and woundedness. Every prophet, every disciple of the Lord felt unworthy for God's work. Our emptiness and our nothingness can in fact be a great blessing. Only thus can we allow the Lord into our lives, and through us into others' lives. What the Lord wants from us is mere surrender. But complete surrender of yourself!

As Richard Rohr writes, "It is as though everything that seemed disappointing and 'fallen,' all the major pushbacks against the flow of history, can now be seen as one whole movement, still enchanted and made use of by God's love. All of it must somehow be usable and filled with potency, even the things that appear as betrayals or crucifixions."

Do you love me?

Simon, a fisherman, at a certain point in his life, encounters Jesus, the Rabbi and miracle-worker, but feels unworthy and sinful in Jesus’ presence. He says, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” Peter faces his own fear and unworthiness. But this encounter profoundly changes him, and at the invitation of Jesus, “Follow me,” he leaves everything and follows the Lord.

And as you know, he becomes Peter, the Rock. On this rock Jesus builds His church. He becomes the first Pope of the Church: Christ’s own Vicar on earth.

Peter was weak. But he was fully for Jesus. His weaknesses didn’t deter him from following the Lord. We see how Peter was converted again and again: he came back to Jesus again and again (as today’s gospel beautifully portrays). Conversion, as we might have guessed, is not a one-time event in our lives; it is a process of changing or transforming one’s heart. It is a heart transplant, a painful process of removing the heart of stone, and replacing it with the heart of flesh for love alone.

Peter tells us today: “Don’t be afraid of your weaknesses. Even I was weak.” We need to embrace our brokenness and woundedness. Perhaps this is our cross. Perhaps this is our death before our final, physical death. And as we learn from Jesus, it is only through death we receive life. Only through accepting the cross we get new life (resurrection).

Three times Peter betrayed the Lord. Three times he had to say, “I love you, Lord.” (This is what we read in today’s gospel.) You know, Lord, that I love you. Three times denial to three times affirmation. Three times, “I don’t know him,” to three times, “I love you, Lord.” Here is someone who moves from fear and wrongdoing, to love and deeper levels of love.

Any repetition is a deepening of commitment. Could these be three answers with three different meanings and increasingly deeper levels of commitment? Perhaps yes. Yes, I do love you… that moves from the head to the body and certainly to the heart. The final answer is certainly a heart level answer. Why do we repeat things? Why do we do certain actions again and again? Why do we say some words again and again? I want to mean more and more. I want to assure those things again and again. This is the movement to habits and eventually to virtues.

Peter affirms his love three times, and interestingly he is given three different missions. Each time it is a different command from Jesus: (1) Feed my lambs. (2) Take care of my sheep. (3) Feed my sheep.

(1) Lambs are the young ones of sheep. The young ones are to be fed and nourished in the Church. Peter as the head of the Church is given this job. (2) He is also given the job of tending and taking care of the sheep, the bigger ones and adult members of the Church. He is asked to shepherd the adults with good example and sound doctrines. (3) Peter, finally, is also asked to feed and nourish the adult members. Perhaps this also points to Peter’s martyrdom. To nourish the Church with his life sacrifice. This may be seen in Jesus’ prophecy of Peter’s suffering and martyrdom, which we read immediately after this: “Truly, truly I say to you, when you were younger, you tied your own belt and went where you wanted. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will put a belt around you and take you where you don’t wish to go.”

In this context, for one final time Jesus tells Peter, “Follow me,” and thus renews his invitation and challenge, how willingly Peter would need to follow him, even unto martyrdom, witnessing through death.

We read from Peter’s life (as given through Scriptures and Tradition), that suffering did not hinder Peter to follow Jesus. He did not betray him again. He gave his life. He gave himself to be crucified—and that too, upside down.

We need to listen to Jesus’ command of “Follow me,” again and again. Peter’s conversion, and Jesus’ forgiveness are stories that need to happen in our lives. God is ever willingly. But are we willing to receive his forgiveness?

The only greatness that gives honour to a human person is forgiveness. This is the story of salvation, redemption. Your own histories and struggles matter! Salvation lies just in them!

Nothing can stop God from loving us. God’s love does not depend on the faithfulness or the worthiness of the object. He loves. That’s all. He is love itself. God does not love us because we are good or worthy. God loves us because God is good, God’s nature itself is love.

And here’s the real surprise, God loves us precisely in our obstinate unworthiness and our repeated betrayals. He loves us when we are still a mixture of good and bad, even as we are only girding ourselves (preparing ourselves) for love.

You are not a perfectly loving person, and God still totally loves you.

(For a reflection on the first part of today’s gospel please see Jesus' Last Breakfast.)

Trusting in God

2nd Week of Easter – Saturday (4 May 2019)

Acts 6:1-7. John 6:16-21.

The earliest Christian communities too had their problems as we see in today’s first reading. “As the number of disciples continued to grow, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.” Following Christ does not mean that we will be free from all problems. But it does mean that we will be able to deal with them effectively only when we allow God into the picture. We will be able to deal with our problems only with a spiritual view.

It is really interesting to see that the Apostles chose Stephen, a man filled with faith and the Holy Spirit, and others for the work of distribution. The Apostles laid their hands on them—gave them the Holy Spirit—to do their material work. To do some “material” work they were given spiritual strength.

We may think that to deal with material things it would be enough to have material strength and intelligence. We may say that to deal with the world we need mere worldly intelligence. But today’s first reading gives us a clue to change our attitudes if needed. We need God’s Spirit to live in this world in a better way. Without God and His attitudes we can’t be impartial or pure in our motives even while doing material work.

God is needed in our life, whatever work or job we may be doing.

The lesson from today’s gospel is something similar: even when it seems like everything is going against us, we need to trust in Jesus who can walk on water. Nothing is impossible for him. Perhaps our problems will give us the light and strength to see God who is going to be there with us in a way we never expected. And before we know it, we will have arrived at our destination.

“Don’t be afraid. It is I.”

Born Again

Nicodemus said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above. …What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’”

To be “born again,” or “begotten from above,” means to enter into a whole new life. It is the completion of what began with repentance, or a “turning around.” When one repents, one makes a 180-degree reorientation, turning from the world to the kingdom, leaving behind worldly goals and taking on kingdom values. When one is oriented to the passing world, one takes on the spirit of the passing world. It is a mortal spirit, which must by necessity lead to death. Turning to the kingdom, one receives the kingdom spirit, the Spirit of God, which is immortal and leads to life. But you can’t have both.

To be born again means leaving behind every security and allowing ourselves to be carried away by the Spirit of God wherever it chooses.

In baptism we are born again. Baptism is about washing of our sins, it is a re-birth. But this event needs to be appropriated and re-appropriated again and again. We need to be converted again and again. We aren’t merely born again. We are born again and again and again. Accepting and acting upon that principle takes a lot of letting go. If we aren’t willing to move out of our comfort zones, it won’t happen. All great spirituality is about letting go: letting go of our comforts, of our egos, of our securities. Perhaps that is the only way we can mature spiritually.

Jesus’ Last Breakfast

Easter Friday (26 April 2019)

John 21:1-14.

“...there was some bread there and a charcoal fire with fish cooking on it.”

Every Christian is able to tell what the last supper was about. It is an unforgettable meal, one that is commemorated in most Christian communities in one way or another. We very rarely hear, however, about another meal that Jesus had with his disciples after his resurrection, his last breakfast with them.

Evening meals are generally nice. The day is over, the work done. Breakfast is a different issue. It is at the beginning of the day; the work has to be started, organized, and divided. When people come together for breakfast, it is often for a working breakfast.

That is what happened that day. Peter and some others had gone out fishing. They hadn’t caught anything. When they approached the lake shore they saw a man who asked them for some fish. When they told him that they hadn’t caught anything, he suggested they throw the net out once more. They did, and caught 153 big fish. By that time they had recognized Jesus, and they were surprised to be invited to a breakfast for which he had already baked the bread and some fish. It was after that breakfast that he asked Peter, “Do you love me?”

After that breakfast they got to hear with Peter what loving Jesus would mean--going out to the whole wide world taking care of his sheep and his lambs.

On the shore was that strange number of fish: 153. Experts have puzzled over that number. (I was not able to get a google image of the painting of Sr Genevieve SMMI, who arranges the 153 fish in a sum of first seventeen numerals: 1 + 2 + 3 +…..+17 = 153.) It probably represented the different varieties of fish observed in that region at the time. If so, Peter and company must have understood that the number symbolized their mission to the world. Plenty for them, and us, to do!

Newness of Life

Easter is paradox brought to the highest power. All along Jesus has been teaching the kingdom of God in parables: The last shall be first and the first shall be last; the blind see, the lame walk, and the deaf hear; the hungry are fed, sinners are forgiven, and the virgin becomes the mother. Now, in the resurrection, death gives birth to eternal life. 

The new community of faith, born at Pentecost, will take on this parabolic identity. In today's episode, a classic gospel "appearance story," humble women are given the first commission to preach the gospel of Jesus rising from the dead, while the religious and civic leaders are busy cooking up cover stories to protect their positions of authority.

Easter is all about newness of life in Christ. The risen life of Christ is ours for the taking. The power of loving with the very love of God is within us and we can fearlessly stake our lives on it. Everyone of us is entrusted with the message of the Good News of God’s love. Easter provides us with a fresh opportunity of facing ourselves with the issue of our own resurrection. It presents us with the challenge of spreading the light and the life of the Risen Christ. Are we alive in Christ with the Risen Lord firmly rooted in our hearts and actions, or are we still living in a selfish manner? Easter has no spiritual significance for us if Christ has emptied his tomb and we still lie in death in our own. If we are truly the people of God then those who are searching for meaning in life will discover from us that Christ is the way home, the resting place for restless hearts.

“Lord, we are your people. Open our hearts this Easter season and increase the gift of your life within us.”

Maundy Thursday

As Pope Francis says, a closed church is a contradiction in terms. Love is what makes a church an open entity. Without love a church or a family is a contradiction in terms. In the same way, without service and humility, our church or community could become a closed one. True meaning of love is service and humility. This is proved by Jesus’ self-giving in the Last Supper, and by his sacrifice at the wood of the cross. What we commemorate in Maundy Thursday is nothing but love: love as self-giving and life-giving. Jesus gives himself as food to nourish us to give us life and newness. He is ready to suffer for us out of sheer love as he becomes the Passover Lamb in food and drink, and in his life-giving act on the Cross.

First Reading: Ex 12:1-8, 11-14

“It is the Passover of the Lord.”

The story of Passover is a dark passage from slavery to freedom, leaving a trail of blood and weeping in its wake. The angel of death, unlike other celestial visitors, is no gentle spirit. The streets of Egypt, like the shores of the Red Sea, would be strewn with the dead before Israel walked free.

Other kinds of oppression require other kinds of deaths. When truth is suppressed, many lies must die for truth to be set free. Our cultural lies about who is beautiful, who is valuable, who must be put to death. Our moral fictions about who is categorically good and who is bad must be exposed. If we do not murder the lies about what will satisfy the human heart, then those lies will smother the search for real love and real hope. 

Tonight we keep in holy memory the night of Israel’s great liberation. At the same time, we acknowledge the sober reality that the cost of freedom is often very high.

Second Reading: 1 Cor 11:23-26

“This cup is the new covenant in my blood.”

When it comes to redeeming a world from the grip of sin, God did not get off easy. If there was a way to wave a wand and make salvation available, Jesus did not choose it: he did not look for the quick fix for a broken world. Jesus wanted to show us the way to freedom by walking the road himself.

The deliberateness of the choice is what stuns us. Jesus sat calmly at supper that night with his friends, celebrating a feast day. Master of his own table, he performed the role of head of household in the breaking and sharing of the bread. In the familiar ritual action, he saw a foreshadowing of his self-offering, and told his disciples--as he had so often before--what was to come. And he asked them to remember, when the events of this hour were past, what he had said and done that night.

We still do. Sometimes with as little understanding as those who first shared the meal, we come to the table and eat the bread, drink the wine. We do it because Jesus told us to, and we know this is the way we will come to understand what he did and why he did it. We may celebrate this supper a hundred times, or thousands of times, in our lifetime. If just one of those times leads us to understanding what we do, it will be enough.

Gospel: Jn 13:1-15

“Jesus realized that the hour had come.”

The Transfiguration on Mount Tabor was an amazing event, but just as startling to the disciples was this transformation of Jesus at the last supper. He went from Lord to servant in a matter of moments. Rather than a glorification in light and mystery, he humbled himself with a towel and some water. He washed their feet. 

So striking was this gesture that nobody could say anything for awhile. And then of course it was Peter, always blurting out something, who manages a response. First Peter questions Jesus; and then Peter refuses him. The poor fisherman would never learn that less is sometimes more.

And now it is our turn to respond to the idea that the Lord of the Universe is prepared to wash our feet. Suddenly we feel Peter’s dilemma, the sweaty palms, the confusion, even the denial. O Lord, don’t do this. Don’t humble yourself for the likes of me. But Jesus washes our feet anyway, because it is the only way we will know who we are called to be: precious children of a loving God. And once we see ourselves this way, we will recognize each other as well. And we will take up the towel and the basin, and start washing.

The Prophecy of Caiaphas

5th Week of Lent – Saturday

Ezekiel 37:21–28. John 11:45–57.

Today’s gospel reading offers us a study of human nature in a case of high drama. The Jewish authorities are gravely concerned over the numbers of followers Jesus is attracting because of the signs and wonders he performs. They fear that, if this phenomenon continues, “the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation.” The high priest Caiaphas, however, is a practical man. He tells his compatriots: “You know nothing at all; you do not understand that it is better for you that one man die for the people, than that the whole nation perish” (Jn 11:50). Caiaphas embraced an expedient solution to the problem of Jesus. Rather than face Jesus, and examine the validity of his “signs,” he prescribes taking the easy way out: kill Jesus and all problems will be solved.

But God can use even impossible situations for our good and for our salvation. God can write straight with crooked lines. We need a new set of eyes to grasp that crookedness and evil (whether in me or in the other) can be used by God to make it an integral part of His merciful design. When Caiaphas, who was corrupt and who made it to the top, prophesies, “It is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish” (Jn 11:50), John the Evangelist comments, “Caiaphas did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one” (Jn 11:51-52). Even Caiaphas becomes part of God’s design.

Whenever we have problems with our authorities, we must remember that God can even use corrupt people for His own glory. Even problematic superiors, elders, authorities and politicians can be used by God. The universe is not ruled by selfish men and women, though they can cause great harm to us individually and collectively. But if we allow God into the picture of our lives, then the scenario can change. A little mustard seed of faith in this regard can move great mountains of problems that we may be facing. Our God is a God of history, deeply involved in our lives—yours and mine.

Perhaps from today can we allow a little more space and time for Jesus? He can transform impossible situations for my good. Instead of worrying and fretting about situations, can we do something about them by allowing God and His Spirit to take charge of those moments? We need faith, a lot of faith… Our Lord is ready to grant even that for us!

The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.

The Burning Bush

Moses, a murderer, is on the run from the law. He escapes into a new land, into Midian. There he gets married. He gets committed to his father-in-law’s shepherding business. Gets settled, but only almost. It was at this time that God hears the groan of the Israelites who were under the Egyptian slavery. Lord God hears their sigh in Egypt and remembers His covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

While Moses thinks everything’s well with himself and his world, he gets his call from above. In one of his shepherding trips beyond the wilderness and into Horeb, which actually turns out to be the Mountain of God, he encounters a bush that burns without being consumed. How curious! That’s not only strange, but something impossible. Contradictory! That can never happen. Struck by awe, he takes off his shoes as he is instructed. The very earth beneath his feet becomes holy ground, because he encounters Being Itself, God Himself. He surrenders himself to God, who shepherds him away from his usual business to something unusual and unimaginable. Moses becomes the great Liberator, God’s greatest instrument in the history of Israel.

The Burning Bush stands for our spiritual journey which is a constant interplay between moments of awe followed by a general process of surrender to that moment. We all have these special moments of encounter with the divine, with the transcendent creating in us a sense of awe and wonder. But do we follow it up with a moment of surrender?

We all have these awe moments many times not just once or twice in our lifetime. These are our Burning Bushes. They show that God is real, His love is really real—everything else is relative, when we heed to God’s voice from within these burning bushes, and surrender to the Person behind it, our life will take turns… many turns, many changes. Every God-encounter invites us to transformation.

These God-encounters come to us as tears, inspirations, admonitions, suggestions, new strength, new brighter light, persons, insights, joy, peace, etc. When I was doubting my priestly vocation (whether to go ahead or not, whether to continue or not) I received not just encouragement, but concrete signs from above. I listened to a story and I was not able to stop my tears or sobbing for very long. I received a phone call from someone, and she said, “the Lord wants you to be a priest.” I met another person, a religious, and she said, “Why do you waver? Why are you not steady? Don’t doubt, go ahead.”

We need to be in touch with ourselves and with reality in order not to miss these beautiful moments. We need to be on our knees and not give up on prayer in order to catch hold of the burning-bush moments in our lives.

God is more intimate than we are intimate to ourselves. God is the only one who is absolutely real. He is more real than what I touch, and see, and feel. God is the one who is in charge of our lives and our histories.

We need only to believe!