GOD OF SURPRISES

Third Sunday of Advent

The third Sunday of Advent is known as Gaudete Sunday। Gaudete means Joy. The Mass for the Third Sunday begins with this Antiphon: Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say rejoice! The Lord is near (Phil 4:4-5). The reason for the joy is that in Jesus we have a different kind of God. Jesus is coming not to condemn but to comfort; not to punish but to promote; not to destroy but to save.

Most of the ancient religions including Judaism that John the Baptist represents present a scary picture of God. Announcing the coming of the Lord, John said, “Messiah is coming with winnowing Fan. He will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fear.” Things did not happen the way John predicted. Jesus came with a different image. He became a friend of sinners. Jesus invited them for conversion with a sympathetic heart. Paradoxically, the Jesus ‘preached’ and the Jesus ‘encountered’ by John was different. As a result, John was puzzled about the identity of Jesus. He sent his disciples to Jesus for clarifications.

The good news about the incarnation is the new revelation of God. God is not a God of horror. He is a God of compassion and mercy. It is not the sword but unconditional love is his weapon। He is a loving father who is completely interested in our well-being. Jesus revealed the reign of God by ‘giving sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf and life to the dead.” This was what Prophet Isaiah also prophesied about the Messiah (Isaiah 35:1-10).

Often we approach God with our preconceived ideas। At times, we make absolute statements about God. The truth is that God is beyond our comprehension. The moment we define God, God becomes an idol. The moment we define God we miss Him. Let God defines us instead we define God. Approach God with a receptive spirit, God will surprise us. If we approach God with our own criteria, we receive only in that proportion.

Recently I read a story about a retired teacher। She decided to volunteer some of her times to tutor children at a children’s hospital. She was given the name and room number of a nine-year-old boy. With all excitement, she went to the Children’s hospital. She was shocked to find that he was in the burn unit. His condition was pathetic. She thought of going back home. She, however, got some courage and told the boy, “I will be your teacher while you are here. I am going to teach you English grammar. This will help you in your future.” She spent half an hour with the boy and returned home. She, however, thought that she was wasting time on this boy, and decided not to return. A few days later the boy’s mom called her and said,” Please come and teach my son. After your visit he started responding to the medicine.” The teacher returned to the hospital the following day. As soon as the boy saw the teacher, he said to his mother, “Mother I know I will live. If were dying they would not have sent her to teach me.”

Had we been hopeless and condemned, God would not have sent Jesus to the world. We are precious and priceless being before God. God trust us. God has great plans for us. Jesus came to reveal the heart of God for us. It does not matter who we are today. What is important is who we want to become. As every saint had a past, every sinner has a future. Jesus, who healed the blind, raised the dead….is with us. Do not be afraid! Let us approach him with our blindness and deafness…. He will bring us back to life. There is hope. Where there is hope, there is joy.

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?

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.