COSMETIC LIVING TO COSMIC EXISTENCE

33rd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

“When you have my funeral procession, keep both my hands opened in the open casket। Let the people know that their king is not carrying anything with him when finally he leaves this world” ,Alexander the Great told his friends. Alexander conquered more than two third of the world. Towards the end of his life, he realized the truth. Nothing in the world has real worth in the final analyses. They are just fleeting bubbles. Jesus tried to communicate the same message when He made this comment about the temple. “All that you see here- the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down” (Lk 21 :5-19). Three things are important.

WORK FOR WHAT REALLY MATTERS!

People live in one of the following three levels:- Appearance level, Having level and being level.
The first group’s main concern is accidentals. They are shallow minded people. They are living in the cosmetic world. The second category is crazy after possessions. Like Alexander the Great, they believe that piling up worldly things create heaven for them. Unfortunately, appearance will disappear and possessions will perish. People living at the being level are the real people. Their focus is substance rather than accidentals। All the saints belong to this rank.

CHALLENGES OF LIVING THE TRUTH!

Many people these days live in denial। They pretend things are great and try to create this impression. The fear of losing security is behind this deceptive mode of living. To live an authentic life in this social milieu is tough. The challenges are colossal. Jesus himself warned against these challenges. There will be false prophets. These ‘prophets’ can be people from our own faith community who spread false teaching which has an easy appeal. There will be war and insurrection. This can be our own personal conflicts between ‘narrow gates and wider gates’. One may experience earthquake and famine. In other words, in the midst of confusion and chaos, one may be scared of losing one’s ground of faith. The holy people faced similar experiences. They, however, faithfully stood with truth and thus their life became a living testimony of what really matters. They became a model for us in faith.

PROMISE OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE!

Remember the comforting and encouraging words of our Lord: “I myself will give you the wisdom to make your adversaries powerless…You will be hated by all because of my name but not a hair on your head will be destroyed.” We hear the same message from Malachi: “For you who fear my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays” (Malachi 3:20). Therefore let us ‘stand erect and raise our heads’ and by our perseverance we will secure our lives.

Work for things that you can carry with you when you leave this world। What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?

Mission Sunday

-October 18-

Today is Mission Sunday. We often talk about being on a mission. What is a mission? How can we become missionaries? A mission is simply sharing our faith experience. If we have a strong experience, we cannot help but share it. I remember an incident that happened some time ago. One of my friends developed blood cancer. He visited many doctors but none could help him. My friend was terribly disappointed. “There is a Pilgrimage Center in Goa. Make a pilgrimage there and offer some prayers then you will be healed,” someone told him. He made the pilgrimage and to his great surprise he was miraculously healed. He was very excited by this, to say the least. Since then, whenever he meets a cancer patient he tells them: “Go to Goa…! You will be healed.”

This is what mission means. It is sharing our Christ experience with one another. If we have a strong experience we cannot help but share it. Saint Paul says: “The love of God urges us.” Pope John Paul II said: “Faith is complete when it is shared.” This is what we see in the lives of the Apostles and the Disciples. When they experienced the power of the Risen Lord, they started to share it. When they were stopped from preaching, Peter and John said to the Sanhedrin, “It is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20). We are the fruits of their sharing.

Our Church is missionary by nature. The dimension of sending was explicitly implied in Jesus’ calling. He called them to ‘be with Him and to be sent’. Different times in his ministry Jesus reminded his disciples of this Task. When he appeared to his disciples after the resurrection Jesus said: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.. I am with you always, until the end of the age.”(Mt. 28:19-20) Minutes before His Ascension Jesus repeated the same: “You will receive the power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the Earth”( Acts. 1:8).

Now it is our turn to continue this mission. How do we carry out this mission? How do we proclaim the God News of Jesus? We can become missionaries in three ways:
1. By becoming pray-ers. Our model for this is Little Theresa of the Child Jesus. She never saw the world that was outside of the four walls of her convent. But, by her prayers alone, she became the Patroness of Missionaries.
2. By witnessing. Jesus says: By your love show the world that you are my disciples. So living our faith in our day to day life is the most powerful way of Evangelization. People may not read the bible but they do read our lives. Actually mission begins with the evangelization of the Evangelizer.
3. By sharing. Jesus himself is our model. He emptied Himself to fill our emptiness. He became poor to make us rich. By sharing our being and our possessions with the underprivileged we can become living Gospels.

I would like to conclude this reflection with this little story. Once when Jesus and his Disciples were traveling they saw a handicapped person on their way. Seeing this person’s misery, Peter asked Jesus: “If God is such a loving Father, why did He create him without hands. Doesn’t He have any solutions for this person’s problem?” Jesus replied: “Yes! He created you with two hands.”

Less Luggage, More Comfort

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Once, a European visited a Monk at his residence. It was a small hut. The visitor was surprised when he saw his room without any furniture. Out of curiosity he asked the Monk, “Where do you keep all your furniture?” The Monk smiled and said, “Where is yours?” The European replied, “Are you kidding? I am a traveler…I carry only what is necessary for my travel.” “I am a traveler too,” the Monk answered.

Whether we accept it or not, the truth about the life is that we are on a journey. As St. Paul rightly put it, “We do not have a permanent city here on earth. We are on a pilgrimage.” The gospel story emphasizes this point today. The rich young man said, “What should I do to inherit Eternal life? Or how should I prepare for the final journey?” He was aware of the eternal nature of life.

Last month I traveled to India. Two things were in my considerations while I was packing the luggage: Take things that are allowed to carry in a plane and take whatever is necessary to make my stay pleasant when I reach the destination. This is true with our life journey too. We need to make discernment. We need to sort out things according to priority. We need to push and pull things. Jesus explained this using the picture of ‘a Camel and Needle’s Eye’. Evidently a camel cannot pass through the eye of a needle. The eye of the needle in this context represents the narrow gate on the outer wall of Jerusalem. This gate is too narrow that a camel can barely pass through. If the camel is carrying a load, even if it bent down, it cannot pass through. The camel has to be unloaded.

The rich man wanted to enter the eternal life. As the camel needed to be unloaded, he was required to be unloaded too. Jesus instructed to him to fix two things to make his travel possible. They were: sell the property and share it with the poor. His attachment to wealth and his lack of care for poor were the obstacles on his way.

Every person is different. Different people have different kinds of attachments. What are the things I need to unload to enter the Eternal Life?

----------------------------------------

CORPUS CHRISTI

(Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ)
June 14,2009

Before I received my driver’s license, I spent a few hours practicing my driving skills. Charlie was my guide and instructor. He had me drive the free-ways, the highways, the city streets, all kinds of roads. I did all the driving. Charley just sat beside me. Never once did I feel any sort of nervousness. A few weeks later, after securing my driver’s license, I went for a drive. This time I was all alone. All at once my legs and hands started to shake. My heart began to beat rapidly. “Why?” I asked myself,“ I have my license now…before I had no license ... but I never experienced any fear at all”. I started to rethink. Then I came to the insight that I needed. When I drove before I was not alone. Beside me was a person who was an expert in driving and he could control the car in case of any danger. Though he was not driving, his mere presence gave me confidence. Presence of the other is a great strength.

The awareness of God’s presence is the most powerful strength that I can have on my journey of life. The example of Peter walking over the water is a telling example of this fact. As long as he was in the presence of Jesus, Peter could walk on water. The moment he got distracted, he began to sink.

We can think of experiencing God’s presence in a numerous ways. The Eucharist, however, is the only place where we can experience the real presence of Jesus. As we celebrate Corpus Christi, the solemnity of the Body and Blood of Jesus, it is highly desirable to reflect on this aspect of the Eucharist.

The institution of the Eucharist was the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise. He said’ “I will not leave you alone. I will be with you till the end of the world.“ After the institution of the Eucharist Jesus said, ”Do this in memory of me.” His promise of staying with us is made permanent through the mystery of the Eucharist.Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist strengthens us in different ways। I would like to mention three of them. Jesus gives us:-

1. A sense of being loved through the active memory
When we celebrate the Eucharist we make the redemptive story alive, active and experiential. Active memory is something that evokes in our minds the feelings and responses that are similar to the original one. For example, the death anniversary of my Father and death anniversary of my neighbor evoke totally different emotions and feeling in me. The remembrance of my father is almost like reliving my life with him. Similarly the breaking and sharing of the Bread and Wine bring to our memories the unparallel love and sacrifice of Jesus that brought us back to life. The awareness of this unfailing love of God is our hope and comfort. If we can make this memory alive every time we celebrate the Eucharist, then we live in the presence of God all the time.

2. A sense of purpose through right direction
The major problem that we are facing today is self-ism, ego-ism, individual-ism. Here Jesus gives us a model to follow. In the Eucharist we have an action plan. First of all, this is a mechanism of breaking, sharing and empowering. When I am willing to break and share, I reveal my God given talents and share them with others bringing us to the fullness of life. Secondly, Sharing makes Eucharist. When Jesus took the bread it was a lifeless material thing. When He broke and shared it, it became Jesus himself. When we share our life, they become Eucharist. Again, everything in the world has the potential to become the Eucharist. The sacredness is hidden in the secular. It is our responsibility to unfold the sacredness in the secular and to change the world into Eucharist. This kind of understanding of the Eucharist not only give us orientation for a better life but also makes us feel good about ourselves as we become more and more useful servants.

3. A feeling of connectedness with the divine
Body cannot survive without food. A branch cannot exist unless it is connected to the main tree. The soul cannot function without being connected with its source. The Eucharist is not only the food that nourishes the soul but the bread that connect us with the Divine. In this sense it is the breath of God. Our sharing in the Divine life though the Eucharist gives us the strength and confidence to face the temporalities of life with courage and hope.

Two thousand years ago, Jesus was physically present in the world to lift up the people from their miseries. He continues his saving presence through the mystery of the Eucharist. Eucharist is his saving gift to each one of us. Approach him in faith and with confidence, you will be a different person. Bishop Sheen said, “My stay before the Blessed Sacrament changed my human ways into divine.” Stay with Jesus who is willing to stay with us.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Test Of Love

LOVE IN ACTION
I know a beautiful story about a couple with whom I personally became very close. Both of them were working in an Income Tax Office. It was at this place where they met for the very first time. Their relationship progressed and developed until it reached the point where both of them considered the possibility of marriage. Just three months before the wedding was to take place, the young man was in a serious accident and he became totally paralyzed. It was a terrible disappointment for the couple and everybody else that knew them. His fiancé stayed with him in the hospital. Her parents tried to persuade her not to do this. No one was, however, able to change her mind. She decided to marry him as they had originally planned. She said: “It wasn’t his body that I loved ... I love him ... I love his person”.

CALL TO LOVE
If there is no love, there is no Christianity. If we don’t abide in love, we don’t know anything about God because God is love. Love is not a quality of God. God is love. Jesus himself underscored this view when he said: ’By your love you will reveal that you are my disciples’. On the sixth Sunday of Easter, we are invited to reflect on this basic principle of Christianity. For example, the second reading (1John 4:7-10) starts with this advice: “Beloved, let us love one another, because God is love; everyone who loves is begotten by God”. Jesus repeats the same message in the Gospel: “As Father loves me, so also I love you. Remain in my love” (John 15:9-17). Therefore, Christian vocation, as St. Therese of Lisieux put it rightly, is a call to love.

LOVING AND LIKING
There is an inner urge in every human person to love and to be loved. Everyone talks about the beauty and fruit of love. In spite of all this talk and excitement about love, everyone finds it difficult to stay in love. Where is the problem? The problem lies in the fact that many of us are confused with the concepts of loving and liking. They are two different realities. Liking is the function of instincts of which we haven’t much control. It is an instinctual behavior. Anything that flows from an instinct is not premeditative. A human Instinct responds to whatever appeals to the senses. It can be looks of a person, the color of an object, the way she/he dresses, a certain manner of behavior, a particular quality of a person and so forth. We subconsciously fall in love with whatever is appealing to the senses. Very often we fall in love with people because of certain fascinations that have a quick impression on the senses. This sort of love ceases to exist as soon as these qualities disappear. Love based on liking alone is doomed to fail because the external appearances are transient.

On the other hand, love is a decision. It is an act of the will (Thomas Aquinas). Therefore even though we may not like someone, still we can choose to love him/her. In genuine love, likeability is only one aspect of many. Likeability definitely makes love easy; likeability makes a person more lovable.

One’s philosophy and vision of life can be a strong factor in loving someone. For example, what inspired Maxmillian Colby to die for a fellow prisoner was the statement of Jesus that “there is no greater love than laying down one’s life for one’s friends.” Jesus could lay down his life for all humanity because he accepted everyone including the prodigal son as members of his family. Even though, we may disagree with someone or do not like certain behavioral patterns of a person, still we can make a decision to love him/her. The decision to love someone helps us to look for the likeability in that person. That in turn changes our attitude towards him/her. This is the challenge Jesus places before each of his followers.

Criteria of Love
Love is an act of will. It is wishing the good of the other as other. Love is sacrificing one’s self to the extent of creating enough space in one’s self for the other. How do we know that we really love someone? What are the parameters of love? Christian love has three characteristics:
1. It is other oriented. The moment you start to think about others and their growth, you have begun to live Christian Love. If your life and activities do not bring happiness and growth to others, yours is not Christian love.
2. Christian Love is action oriented. Love is not an abstract thing. It should take on a concrete form. For example, we make available our time, talents, and treasures to the person we love. In genuine love there is always an exchange of words, an exchange of persons and an exchange of gifts. God so loved us by sending His own Son. Jesus loved us by giving His own Body and Blood. We must show our love through concrete actions.
3. Christian Love is expensive. There is no genuine love without a price or sacrifice. For example, to forgive someone who offended us or to defend somebody whom we don’t like…is really a sacrificial act. The amount of sacrifice that goes along with our concrete actions measures the real depth of our Christian Love!!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No one is rich enough to do without a neighbor (Danish proverb)
Love your enemies, for they tell your faults (B.Franklin)
***********
A mother was telling her six year old about the Golden rule.
‘Always remember,’ she said, ‘ that we are here to help others.’
The youngster mulled this over for a minute and then asked, ‘Well, what are the others here for?’ (Christian Herald)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Haste Makes Waste

A boy found a caterpillar on a bush. He had learned in school that the caterpillar becomes a butterfly once it breaks out of its cocoon. He wanted to help the caterpillar on its journey. He gently broke the shell of the cocoon and released the caterpillar. The broken shell simply ended the caterpillar’s hope of ever becoming a butterfly.

The very struggle to break free from the cocoon is nature’s way of strengthening the caterpillar. So when the time is right, in natures on way, the new butterfly can fly away to a whole new life.

Haste makes waste. Although painful, patience is messianic. There is time for everything. It is working through a process that any worthwhile growth takes place. Be patient! Impatience cannot solve the problems of tomorrow but it destroys the happiness of today.

How does God interview?

A couple of years ago I visited a Theological Institute in India. While I was there, a young priest came to me and with a beautiful smile he said,” Father Sebastian, do you remember me? I am Paul. Years ago I came to you for an interview. For whatever reasons, you did not select me to join the priesthood. Even though I was disappointed, I did not give up my desire. I went to a different seminary and I was lucky; they selected me and here I am!” It was a moment of embarrassment and joy. I was embarrassed because of my shallow discernment about his future. I was delighted because even though I failed in my judgment, God did not deny his desire to be a priest. This was, however a learning moment in my life. I will never forget the lesson: God sees the heart, while we look at the outer appearance.

We, often, evaluate people on the basis of external appearances. The initial impression may not necessarily reveal the depth and wealth of a personality. The first reading for the fourth Sunday of Lent (RCIA) underscores this point (1Samuel 16: 1ff). Samuel came to the house of Jesse to anoint one of his sons to be the successor of Saul. Samuel was impressed by Eliab and went ahead to select him. God said no. When Jesse was asked to present all his other children, he hid David thinking that he was good for nothing. Jesse was also mistaken. God had a different plan. David was his choice. The story of David and Goliath is another example of human miscalculation. When David offered to fight against Goliath, Saul rejected his proposal as a joke. Saul was proven wrong. David killed the mighty Goliath.

The Lord said to Samuel, “Do not judge from appearance. Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the Lord looks into the Heart”. It is not the appearance or the possessions one has but the inner beauty that determines ones real worth. Look at the group of disciples Jesus selected. Out of the twelve, only one had a last name. One was a tax collector, a few of them were poor and illiterate fishermen, another was a member of a militant group, some were power mongers and one was a doubter. None of them was merited to be his disciple from a worldly stand point. Paul was no exception, as he was the persecutor of the church. The Old Testament does not have a different story. The genealogy of Jesus does not present a proud family story either.

Every person is a potential saint because every one is the image of God. Every person is a potential evangelizer because every one shares the breath of God. Give each one the proper environment and they will surprise the world with miracles. The story St. John Viany is the living witness of this truth. Many times we make wrong calculations and judgments on people. Our wrong impressions can ruin a person’s chance to grow and minister to the community.

When God calls someone, He does not look at his/her abilities to perform, but his/her willingness to cooperate. God does not lack anything. He does not depend on our power. It is not our power, but God’s power on display in ministry. God supplies what we lack. God said to Jeremiah: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you” (Jer 1:5). Jesus said to Ananias about Paul: “This man is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before gentiles, kings and Israelites…” (Acts 9:15). God’s approach to an interview is different. He is not looking for our smartness but willingness and faithfulness.

Two things are important. First of all, do not prevent anyone from ministry under worldly considerations. Every person is a worthy instrument in the hands of God because ‘it is not we but Christ who lives in us’. Secondly, do not shy away from ministry thinking that you have nothing to offer, because ‘if God is with us nobody can stand against us”.

It is difficult to come to this awareness because we live under the influence of secular thinking and acting. We need the light of Christ to see things differently. Like the blind man of the Gospel story (Jn 9:1ff), let us approach Jesus and pray for the grace to see the way God sees, hear the way God hears and evaluate the way God evaluates.

Step Out

A few months ago, we had a seminar on Eastern Spirituality. During the informal discussion, one of the participants made a comment about young people turning away from God and leaning towards worldly pleasures. Responding to this comment another participant made this observation that perhaps these young people are searching for truth and happiness in their lives and in the process they may be making mistakes. This does not necessarily mean that they are turning away from God. He is right. Life is a learning process. Each one of us seeks for the truth and real happiness in life without knowing that we can only discover it with God.

In the Gospel, there is a story about a real seeker, the “Samaritan Woman”, (John 4. 7-43). The Samaritan Woman was searching for God, and during the process, she came upon Jesus. The Bible says that, she was a “woman with five husbands”. According to many scholars, the word “husband” in this particular context symbolizes ‘religion’. The ‘Samaritan Woman’ was an earnest seeker. She was searching for God and in the process she moved from one religion to another until she found Jesus.

As soon as she discovered Jesus, her search was complete. She immediately embraced him and began her mission. She went back to the town and told the people there, “Come and see the man who told me everything that I have done”. This action was a clear proof for her possession of the Truth.

Christian life is a journey towards Jesus. It is a process. The story of the “Three Wise Men” (Matthew 2. 1-12) will help us to understand this process. These men went through three stages before they found Jesus in their lives.
● “they looked out”
● “they stepped out”
● “they reached out”

The Three Wise Men “looked out”.
We do not possess the full reality. The entire universe together constitutes the full reality. Hence, to see this reality, we need to “look out”. All things in this world are symbols that point to the truth. These wise men were kings, they were self sufficient in many ways but they had the humility to explore different possibilities. They “looked out” and they saw the “star”, the symbol of a greater reality. A person who thinks that he knows everything, his values as absolute and he does not need help from anyone will not see that star of growth.

The Three Wise Men “stepped out”
It is not enough to simply see the reality. We need to have the courage to step out from our own little ‘palace of security and world of illusion’ to see the truth and embrace it. The three wise men took the risk. They stepped out of the palace and made the dangerous trip.

Very often we travel the wrong path, our values and beliefs are not authentic. But we are not ready to change because we don’t want to take the risk. Success belongs to the Brave.

The Three Wise Men “reached out”
Thanks to their willingness to step out of themselves, these three wise men finally reached Jesus, the truth, the way and the Life. They returned home ‘by another way’.

“Herod” on the other hand, thought he was everything and had seen everything. He thinks of himself as the center of reality. He stepped in to his own world. He was afraid of facing the realities. He “looked in”, “stepped in”, and “stuck in”.

Let us continue our search for truth with an open mind and reach the fullness of Truth.

Fr. Sebastian Vettickal, CMI