World Vocation Sunday

(Fourth Sunday of Easter)

Recently I had a phone call from India. The number looked unfamiliar. Even though I had no clue whatsoever about the identity of the person on the other end, I picked up the phone. With excitement I asked, “Are you John?” “Yes! This is John! What a surprise. How did you recognize my voice?”, he exclaimed. John invited me for a college reunion. We never had any contact for at least 17 years. Still I recognized his voice. It is not easy to forget the voice of someone whom we love, even if we don’t have any contact with that person for a long time.

In the gospel reading (John 10:11-18) Jesus makes a similar statement. Jesus says, “I know mine and mine know me. I know my sheep by name and mine recognize my voice” The key to friendship is this mutual recognition. The key to discipleship is the same, too. No discipleship is possible without listening to and recognizing the voice of Jesus.

Why is listening to Jesus important?

Listening to Jesus is important because as we heard in the first reading (Acts of the Apostles 4:12), Jesus is the only name given for our salvation. Jesus became the sole source of our redemption through his supreme care for all humanity that led to the sacrifice of his life. The relationship and commitment of Jesus to humanity is compared to a good shepherd because for a Jew, the imagery of a Good Shepherd is the highest symbol of God’s faithfulness to Israel. God’s love for Israel is compared to that of a good shepherd. Psalm 23, for example, describes God as a Good Shepherd.

A Good shepherd knows his sheep by name, gives hundred percent care for each sheep and if he loses one, he looks for the lost one until he finds him. Finally, a good shepherd defends and protects the life of his sheep. If a shepherd lost a sheep he had to have a very good explanation. He had to prove that he had done everything possible to find the sheep. If someone attacked a sheep and killed it, the shepherd had to prove that he put up a good fight to save the sheep by showing marks of wounds and injuries.

In the person of Jesus, people saw the manifestation of God’s caring love. In Jesus, we see all these virtues. Calvary is the last proof of his faithfulness. Hanging on the cross and showing his wounds, Jesus says: ‘I have done everything to save you’. We are the fruits of his sacrifice. God approved the way Jesus walked and presented Him to the world by bringing him back to life. Listening to Jesus is, therefore, vitally important, and the early disciples recognized that. They declared: ‘ There is no salvation thorough anyone else, nor is there any other name under Heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved”.

Listening and recognizing the Voice of Jesus is the mark of our faithfulness. Jesus had done everything to perfection. Now it is our turn to show our faithfulness. This we do through the act of listening; constantly listening to his voice and recognizing his presence. The problem is that we are bombarded with a lot of voices (distractions) today. The voice of the secular society, the voice of the self and the voice of various isms are a few among them. Many of these voices appeal to our ears and look good. In the midst of these confusing voices how do we discern Jesus’ voice? How do we prove that we are his faithful Disciples? There are different tools to discern Christ’s voice in our life and understand God’s plan for each one of us. They are prayer, Scripture reading, the celebration of the sacraments, charitable works and different ministries in the church.

Listening Alone is not Enough

Following the Word of Jesus completes the act of listening. Listening alone is not enough. St. James says: “Be doers of the word and not hearers only” (James 1: 22). Listening is complete in the act of following all the way to the extend of laying down one’s life for the sheep entrusted to oneself. St. James continues: “If anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his own face in a mirror. He sees himself, then goes off and promptly forgets what he looked like” (James 1:22-24). To the woman who said to Jesus, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breast at which you nursed” he replied, “Rather blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it”. (Luke11: 27-28)

Responsible Stewardship is the proof of active following. Following Jesus means taking the responsibility of our call. We too are shepherds in our own life situations. Some of us are parents, some of us are teachers, some of us are doctors. We are given responsibilities of one kind or the other. The important question is how are we taking care of our ‘sheep’?

There is this little story. It is about a father knocking on the door of his son’s bedroom at eight o’clock in the morning. The father said, “Son, get up. It’s time to go to school”. “I’m not going to school today. I have three reasons for saying this,” the son replied. “Number one, I want to sleep. Number two, going to school is boring. Number three, the kids are teasing me”. The father then replied, “But you have to go to school today. I, too, have three reasons why you must go to school today”. “Number one, it is your duty. Number two, you are fifty-five years old. Number three, you are the Principal of the school”.

Being the headmaster of the school, it was his responsibility to get up early in the morning, reach the school on time and motivate the staff and students. In order to lead our homes, communities and nations in the right direction we need to follow the example of the Good Shepherd, Jesus.

Following Jesus Through Priestly and Religious Vocation

Today we are invited to hear Jesus’ call in a in a particular way. Today is World Vocation Sunday. We are called to listen to his call to the priesthood and religious life. As you are well aware, today our church is suffering from a shortage of priestly and religious vocations. We cannot imagine a situation where we don’t have enough priests because no priest means no Eucharist and no Eucharist means no Catholic Church.

The problem is not with God, it is with us. God is still calling us to ministry but we either do not recognize his call or we fail to respond to it. If a person fails to respond to God’s call not only he/she, but the whole community suffers. Therefore the families and communities have a great responsibility to encourage our young men to consider the priesthood as one of their options. On this day, I invite parents to see how they are listening to the voice of God and shepherding their families to bring up good shepherds. Family is the primary catalyst of faith formation. Family is the domestic church where vocations take root.

The Fourth Way

(Third Sunday of Easter)

Peace is in short supply!

I was watching the Television with a group of children. The show was a scene from the borders of Afghanistan where the Peace Keeping Force was doing their regular patrolling. Seeing the Peace Keeping Guards armed with weapons, one of the children surprised me with this question: “Father, how can they bring peace through guns?” I thought that was a relevant question.

It is an undisputable fact that world is in need of peace more than ever before. It is marked with war, violence and hatred. The number of broken families and wounded personalities are on the ascent. The language of aggression and threat make the situation even worse. Naturally every heart beats with the same question: How do we give peace a chance?

Where is the problem?

There is no shortage of peace talks today. Serious discussions and various efforts are taking place towards restoring peace and order. The hope for peace, however, is still remaining in the realm of meetings and discussions. Where is the problem? The problem lies in the methodology, in the approach. Our leaders are trying to restore peace either through compromise or by tolerance or by domination/submission. Any peace that emerges from compromise, tolerance, or submission is not real as it does not address the real issues. For example, through war you may bring peace in a region. In war there is always a losing side. Moreover, the majority of the victims of a war are innocent people. The defeated people will wait for an opportunity to strike back. The cycle of hatred is not broken but continues. In compromise, the minor party always feels victimized. Each is an example of pseudo peace. This kind of peace is only temporary and peripheral. As long as the problem remains, this pseudo peace is only a pretension.

The Fourth Way!

There is a fourth way to peace - the way of Jesus. According to the Bible, Jesus assumed human form for a single purpose: to bring peace on earth. When Jesus was born, the angels sang the song of peace! The Risen Lord always greeted his disciples with peace. Jesus is the Prince of Peace.

Jesus used neither scare tactics nor might to bring peace but he used the law of forgiveness and conversion. The Gospel reading for the fourth Sunday of Easter (Luke 24:35-48) underscores this point. The Risen Lord came to the room where disciples were hiding out of fear and wished them peace. In order to make peace a real deal, Jesus did three things:

• Removed the fear from the hearts of the disciples


• Made them aware of their sinfulness


• Forgave their sins

1. Jesus removed the fear of the disciples.

People who live in fear cannot think rationally. Their primary concern is self defense. They won’t see the truth. Because of their fear, for instance, in the person of Jesus they saw a ghost! Fear blinds our perception and wrong perception leads to wrong action.

The first step in a process towards peace is to remove the fear from the hearts and create a sense of trust. The disciples were tormented by fear. Their fear was not external, but rather internal. Their fear resulted from a sense of guilt for betraying Jesus. Fear can be real or unreal. It can be from within or without. As long as fear exists trust is impossible and peace never begins. Jesus did not reinforce their fear by blaming them for their betrayal. Brooding over past sins only paralyzes our present.

2. Jesus made them aware of their sinfulness

Unconditional forgiveness does not mean unconditional approval of behavior. Peace will not last if it is based on denial. Jesus wanted them to be aware of the consequence of their sin, not for retribution but for their conversion and change of hearts. With this purpose in mind, Jesus showed them the mark of the nails in his hands. The nail marks on his hands and feet reminded them of the devastating effect of their sins. Before we move on with life, it is important to take the responsibility of our behavior and validate it.

3. Jesus forgave them

And finally, to make peace real, we need to bury the past and look ahead with new possibilities. The past events did not influence Jesus’ relationship with them, but the future possibilities bound them together. Jesus wished them well. Jesus offered them forgiveness and ate with them as sign of reconciliation.

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Here we have a paradigm for peace. Here we have a peace mission. It is not through compromise or tolerance or might, but through understanding, forgiveness and mutual benefit. We are blessed when we become peacemakers. Peace is possible as long as there are people with Good will.

Divine Mercy Sunday

The first Sunday after Easter is celebrated as Divine Mercy Sunday. In 1930, Jesus appeared to Faustina, A Polish Nun, and revealed to her the nature of God’s love. Jesus said to her: “My love is unlimited and available to all, especially to the poor sinners”. Jesus blessed her with a prayer for mercy. Sr. Faustina started a special devotion to the Divine Mercy of Jesus and popularized it. Our Late Holy Father Pope John Paul II encouraged this devotion and in 2000 on the day of her canonization, the Pope advised the universal church to celebrate this devotion on the first Sunday after Easter.

Mercy, another name for God. God is merciful and compassionate. The whole Bible is a series of stories that proclaim the unfailing and unconditional love of God towards humanity. The expressions like “Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you. See, upon the palms of my hands, I have written your name; your walls are ever before me” (Isaiah 49:15-16) talk volumes about the nature of God’s love. The Evangelist John beautifully summarized the depth and width of God’s love in the following statement: “ For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that every one who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” John 3:16).

Divine Mercy! What does it Mean?

The word mercy is derived from the Latin word misericordia. Misericordia is a combination of two words: miseri and cordia. Miseri means suffering and cordia means heart. Misericordia means a heart that is willing to suffer for others. God is merciful means that God has a heart which is willing to suffer for us, willing to do anything for us.

Jesus, Mercy incarnated. “I desire Mercy not sacrifice, I haven’t come to call the righteous but sinners” (Matthew 9:13). These words of Jesus beautifully explain how much Jesus possesses the heart and mind of God. Paul says: “God, who is rich in mercy, brought us to life with Christ” (Ephesians 2: 4). Sharing the mercy and love of God was Jesus’ mission. Jesus invited everyone “To find rest in him” (Matthew 12:28-30).

The readings for the second Sunday of Easter further substantiate this point. The Gospel (John 20:19-29) talks about two specific actions of Jesus that reflect his mercy and compassion.

1. When Jesus came to the room where disciples were hiding out of fear and remorse, he said to them: “Peace be with you, receive the Holy Spirit”. Jesus did not bring the past. He did not scold Peter for denying Him on the way to Calvary. Transcending the past, forgetting everything that had happened a couple of days ago, Jesus offered them peace and reconciliation.
   
   By offering them the Holy Spirit, Jesus was absolving them from their failures because God the Holy Spirit is the principle agent of sanctification. This is evident, if you recall the prayer of absolution in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. “God, the Father of Mercies, through the death and resurrection of Jesus, has reconciled the world to Himself and sent the Holy Spirit upon the church for the forgiveness of sins…”



2. Jesus showed the same mercy towards Thomas too. When Thomas was reluctant to believe in the resurrection, Jesus came to him, showed his wounded hands and satisfied his desire in the way Thomas wanted.

The way of mercy is the way of Grace. God is merciful. It is not enough to receive mercy from God. We need to show mercy to others. This is evident when Jesus said: “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy” (Matthew 5:7) and “I desire mercy not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners” (Mt 9:13). The disciples understood this message. After they themselves witnessed the mercy of Jesus, they started a new life style based on the same principle. The second reading (Acts of the Apostles 4:32-35) is the practical application of this new life style. “They took care of each other. There was no one among them who was in need”. Jesus expects us to show mercy to one another. On the day of the final Judgment, the only criterion that Jesus is going to use will be ‘whether we were merciful to one another’ (Matthew 25:40,45). Finally, as the second reading (1 John 5:1-6) states: When we practice mercy in our daily life, we proclaim that we are the children of God.

Beyond Sight (Easter Sunday)

In a seminar for high school students, they were asked to write down the different developmental stages in the life span of a human person. One of the students gave a very interesting answer. He wrote: There are eight stages and they are infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, middle age, old age, death and resurrection.

Life is not a destiny in itself but a journey towards God. As St. Paul says, “Death does not have the last laugh”’. This is not a unique Christian position. Every religion believes in and preaches about life after death. For instance, the Hindu Religion visualizes the goal of life as a perfect merging of our soul into the supreme God. Until one attains this goal, he/she is born again and again. Buddhism talks about nirvana / total enlightenment / liberation as the goal of human existence. Islam also believes in a final judgment after death.

Our faith in the resurrection of the body is not based on wishful thinking, but on the historical foundation of the resurrection of Jesus. We do not believe in a God who is dead, but a God who is living. By raising Jesus from the slavery of Death, God the Father is conveying to the world a number of redemptive truths.

What Did The Resurrection of Jesus Signify?

The Resurrection of Jesus vindicated the life lived by Jesus. Like any other human person Jesus struggled between two voices; the voice of God and the voice of his self. The struggle was between the temptation to make a Name for Himself through power and might, and the strong call to build up a Name for God through obedience. This struggle constantly challenged him. But victory was his. The prayer that Jesus uttered from the cross ‘Father in your hands I place my soul’ became his song of triumph. God was pleased the way Jesus walked. He raised Jesus up. Bringing Jesus back to life, God says: “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased; follow him”. On this Easter day we are invited to declare with Peter:” Between heaven and earth there is no name other than Jesus given for human salvation.”

The resurrection of Jesus declares God’s faithfulness. The first sin of humanity was mistrust. Adam and Eve, the first parents, doubted the intention of God. Even the disciples were suspicious. Lack of trust forced Peter to deny Jesus. God raised Jesus from the dead to convince the world that he is trustworthy and “even if a mother abandon her own child, God will not abandon His faithful ones”.

The resurrection of Jesus underlines the possibility of Hope. Our instant culture looks for immediate result. Our patience does not last until we see the other side of the mountain. Our world is limited within the range of our eye sight. So much so, we get frustrated easily and give up cheaply. The ‘good thief’ saw glimpses of light even in the darkest moment of his life. He did not give up. He ended up in paradise. The Risen Lord reminds us: Don’t give up. There is an Easter Sunday after Good Friday. Death is not the end of everything. We are on a pilgrimage. Our Journey is complete only when we reach heaven. So do not live as if you belong to this world and death is the end of everything.

What Does Resurrection Mean For Us?

According to St. Paul, the goal of every Christian is to know and experience the power of the resurrection of Jesus. What does resurrection mean for you and me?

The Resurrection is life in the Spirit. It is a total submission of the body to the Spirit. When the body comes under the total control of the spirit, it is death to the physical world and birth to the spiritual world. This is not something that takes place merely after death. This is something that we must experience daily. This is a daily sadhana.

Jesus Must Be Our Foundation

Our challenge is, therefore, how can we overcome the attractions of the empty promises of the world. The only answer is to place Christ at the center of our lives and makes Him our reference point. The best example of a resurrected life is the story of Zachaeus. Peace became part of his life when he allowed Jesus to direct his life. If Jesus is our role model, then we will be able to put everything into perspective. We will have proper direction in life.

Love at its best! (Good Friday)

In 1947, Aug 15, on the first Independence day of India, Gandhi made this appeal to the British: “Leave my country, not as enemies but as friends”. A news reporter asked him: “How could you forgive the British who occupied your country for several years? How could you tell them to leave as friends?” Gandhi replied: “I learned this lesson from Calvary, from Jesus on the cross”.

The death of Jesus made a difference in the world. The death of Jesus touched the hearts of Billions and it opened a new way of living. On this Good Friday let us spend a few minutes reflecting on the transforming power of Jesus’ death on the Cross.

The sacrifice of Jesus showed the world the possibility of transforming an evil situation into a moment of grace and reconciliation. Jesus did not deserve death. It was inflicted upon him by the powers of evil. He could have easily avoided his crucifixion by destroying his enemies. He had the power to do so. He, however, chose a different course of Action. Victory always implies defeat of someone else. And as long as there are defeated people, there is the possibility of revenge. So he chose to forgive and break the chain of hatred. He prayed, “Father, forgive them” Luke (23:34). The result was immediate. The Centurion, who was in charge of his execution, surrendered his weapon and said, “He is really the Son of God” (Mark 15:39). His worst enemy became the first evangelizer.

Jesus was really successful on the cross, especially in his act of forgiveness. There are limited options to get the world back to God and to one another. Surely one is by the act of forgiveness. The modern world takes forgiveness as weakness. The truth is just the opposite. The weakness of forgiveness is more powerful than the strength of pride. Looking at the Crucifix, Archbishop Gudier said: “There is a greater greatness than the greatness of success that is the greatness of failure”. Many of us are living in a hell-like situation, because of our unwillingness to forgive. A little more humility can bring back the lost paradise.

The sacrifice of Jesus made suffering a sacrament of grace, a means of redemption. No one likes suffering. Suffering in itself can be evil. When we accept suffering for a noble purpose, it becomes a sacrifice; it becomes a means of grace. Jesus showed this at Calvary. He accepted suffering and offered it to God for the salvation of the world. Thus His suffering became a source of grace.

Suffering and sacrifice are part of the human experience. A grain of wheat cannot produce fruit unless it falls on the ground and dies. The same way, we can’t achieve anything worthwhile without sacrificing many of our personal comforts and desires. To bring up our children in the right way, parents needs to sacrifice some of their interests. To achieve a good grade in school, students need to give up some of their fun times. All these bring certain amount of suffering. This suffering shapes the quality of our lives. Martin Luther King said: “If a person has nothing worth dying for, he is not fit to live”.

The death of Jesus challenges us to work for justice. The suffering Jesus underwent was not the result of his wrong choices. It was the suffering of the world. It was the suffering of the leper…It was the struggles of the sinners…It was the pain of the outcast…When Jesus reached out to give them a life, he lost his life. There is no doubt that ‘real love suffers and hurts’. When Mother Therese started her work in Calcutta, some Hindu priests went to the police and asked them to stop her on grounds that she was converting the people. The police visited her place, but were touched by her work of charity. They returned to the priests and said: “Yes, we will stop her if you take up the work she is doing”.

And finally, his death reminds us of our sinfulness. Remember the first murder recorded in the Bible: the murder of Abel: God asked Cain: “Cain where is your brother?” He replied: “I don’t know!”(Genesis 4:8ff). Today, we cannot say that we don’t know Jesus. We cannot wash our hands like Pilate. Let us take the responsibility of the death of Jesus and start working for the Kingdom of God.

Holy Thursday (Service: Faith in loving action)

Eileen Eagan, the author of ‘Vision of the Street: Mother Theresa’ talks about her meeting with Mother Theresa. During the conversion she asked Mother Theresa: “What makes Christianity a different religion?” “Service, service, service”, she answered. Service is the mark of Christian identity. Jesus himself said: “I have come, not to be served but to serve and give my life as ransom to many” (Mark 10:45). Even though Jesus had done a lot of things during his ministry, only one time did he say that he is giving a model to imitate (John 13:15). This was after washing the feet of his disciples.

Why did Jesus place service on the top of his priority list?

First of all, the principle of service underlines the basic truth about human existence. We are a relational being. We belong to one another. No person can grow in isolation. He needs a community. It is not enough to keep one’s blessings for oneself but we need to use it for the well being of the community. A Community does not possess talents. The gifts and talents of the community are distributed among its members. No single member possesses all the talents required to build up a community. If any one person refuses to cooperate, the community suffers (1Cor 12:12-26). In the act of serving we exercise this fundamental dimension of human existence.

Secondly, the goal of service is to prepare people to walk in the way of God and ultimately to build up the body of Christ (the Eucharistic Community)). Washing of the feet signifies that. The word ‘Walking’ was used as a metaphor in the Jewish religious culture. A good person walks the way of God. The washing of the feet was a symbolic gesture of straightening one’s path. Jesus washed the feet of his disciples to prepare them for the last supper (the Eucharist). In this sense, all forms of service must lead to evangelization.

Serving others is not as easy as we think since we are living in a culture that emphasizes on self promotion and self glorification. Jesus not only served symbolically but also concretely. He served others to the extent of breaking and sharing his body. Service at its best is Eucharistic Service. In this we exercise our Christian identity. Christianity is not a self oriented religion but an other oriented religion. The important question, therefore, is not what did accomplish for yourself but rather what did you do for others? (Matthew 25:40).

The Eucharist, the climax of Jesus’ self giving service, not only serves as a constant inspiration to give of ourselves, but also nourishes us on our spiritual journey. It is the food that strengthens us to reach out to others even to the point of sacrificing our life.

Jesus also wanted this spiritual food made available in the church until the end of time; therefore He instituted the Priesthood by authorizing his apostles to continue to do it in His memory” (Luke 22:19). Christian service is not possible without Eucharist. The Eucharist will not be made available without out our priests.

As service marks the identity of Christian life, no one is excused from taking up responsibilities in the church. The call to service is the direct effect of Baptism. Like the early church, let us grow together as a family by taking care of the needs of each other. “The community of believers was of one heart and mind….There was no needy person among them…Everything was distributed according to need” (Acts 4: 32-35).

A journey towards Easter! (Palm Sunday)

Finally, we are in the holiest week of the year. The week between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday is called Holy Week. During these days we commemorate the foundational events in the history of salvation that transformed the world and human destiny. We witness the institution of Priesthood, Eucharist, Ministry, as well as the Passion, Death and the Resurrection of Jesus. Each of these needs to be reflected and meditated upon. In this brief presentation, however, I would like to invite your attention to the contrast between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday.

These two Sundays symbolize two kinds of glory- the man given glory and God given glory. On Palm Sunday, people crowned Jesus with Kingship. They sang hosanna to him. They spread their cloaks along the road (Lk19:28ff). This excitement and human praise, however, did not last long. Four days later the same throngs that hailed him failed him. They shouted: “Crucify him!”(Lk 23:210). The praise and glory of human hearts often emerges from a calculated mind and a selfish goal. Human behavior is unpredictable as it changes according to the mood of the mob. Anything founded on the shaky foundation of human emotions and conveniences cannot stand the test of truth. The human mind fluctuates and is most often influenced by selfish motives. Convenience dictates conscience. The glory that the world offers is like a house built on sand. The Palm Sunday reflects this reality. In the long run, this kind of glory becomes a meaningless victory.

On the other hand, Easter Sunday talks about a different kind of glory, God given glory. On Easter Sunday, God exalted Jesus and bestowed on him the Name that is above every name (Phil 2: 6-11). This eternal and everlasting glory resulted from Jesus’ unfailing commitment to the will of God. As Paul described, because Jesus sought the Kingdom of God even to the point of sacrificing his life, God greatly exalted him”.

Our life is a journey from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. Being an embodied spirit, the human person constantly struggles between the life (spirit) principle and the death (body) principle (Freud). The tendency to seek the things of the earth often overpowers the human’s basic orientation to the things of above. As worldly glory is more attractive to the senses and less demanding, many people traveling along this road.. As Thomas Grey rightly put it, “The path of glory but leads to the grave”.

Jesus reached the mountain of resurrection by traveling up through the hill of Calvary (Good Friday). There is no bypass to resurrection. The rocks of Calvary must hit and break our ego before we reach the height of Resurrection. His life was a constant Yes to God and No to Satan. Resurrection is an ongoing process. It is the result of a series of dying process. It begins with our Baptism. The new orientation that we inherit through the sacrament of Baptism needs to grow through our vocation. There are fascinations and attractions on the way to distract us. Very often it is difficult to say no to them. The call to commit to our vocation is our Calvary as it demands sacrifice. Whether it is in our family, workplace, school or personal life, to experience Easter, we need to take up the cross with Jesus. Let us not stop on the way. Let us continue our journey towards Easter Sunday. Let us work for the treasures that last even after our passing from the world.