REJECTION

REJECTION And he did not work many mighty deeds there because of their lack of faith. - Mt 13, 54 – 58. We have a remarkable story in today's gospel. We see a classic example of how familiarity can breed a hostile environment for Jesus' work among us. In this home town place of worship, Jesus isn't able to work any mighty deeds because they thought they knew him, and didn't have faith in who he could be for them. He's the carpenter's son. They knew his family. They thought they knew everything there is to know about him. Isn't it also true that we can become hardened? Don't we too often get ourselves into a place where our sophisticated "knowlege" of so much can block our ability to be open to mystery, i.e., what we don't know, don't understand, can't yet imagine? I've asked before, and I didn't get the answer I wanted. I know this priest. We know what he's going to say. I know the prayers by heart. The liturgy is the same each week. And, when we aren't open, Jesus' hands are tied, his power is limited. I sometimes think about how we receive the Eucharist - a gift so familiar, almost something that has become "ordinary" to us. I think, in contrast, that whenever a famous person (in fact, even a few people I've never heard of) come to my town for a concert or a talk, an incredible number of people stand in line with great excitement and pay really steep prices for a ticket to sit in a crowd of thousands, just to catch a glimpse at the person, or to say "I was there." And, if we get to get close, or perhaps shake the celebrity's hand or get an autograph, that would be memorable for a long time. Yet, each Sunday, for many of us (and for some of us, on a daily basis), we are able to receive the "Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity" of Jesus himself. We receive what we call a "holy communion" with him. Yet, sometimes we get up in a "communion line" as if we are bored, distracted, focusing on the clothes and behaviour of others. Wouldn't it be an incredible unleashing of Jesus' power, if we were to be really open, alert, ready for this encounter with him? What if, in preparation, we were to practice paying attention to the Eucharistic Prayer to the Father, giving thanks and asking for the Spirit to transform the gifts on the altar? What if our hearts were deeply involved in that request? "Father, please transform these gifts so that they may become the Body of Blood of Jesus, for my salvation, today and forever!" What if we joined - inside of us, at a deeper and deeper level - in that request that "we might be gathered into one by the Holy Spirit" (Eucharistic Prayer II) or begging that the Father "grant that, we who are nourished by the Body and Blood of your Son, may be filled with his Holy Spirit and become one body, one spirit in Christ" (Eucharistic Prayer II)? Imagine looking up in a new way, with a completely open heart, as the priest says, "Behold the Lamb of God. Behold him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those who are called to the supper of the Lamb." Imagine really feeling, experiencing that this Jesus, here in front of me, has taken away my sins, and I am so blessed to be called to this supper. It is possible to say the next words at a deeper, more conscious place in our hearts (echoing the words of the Roman official who so impressed Jesus by his confidence in Jesus' healing power: "Yes, Lord, I know I'm not worthy. Just say your word - just let it be done - and my soul will actually be healed." We can let the healing happen - the struggles in our families, the wounds that sometime handicap us, the bad habits we seem stuck in, the anger and judgments we hold on to. It can all be healed, just by our being open to it. We could talk with Jesus on our way up to this communion with him. "Lord, I am asking you to let me receive you more fully today. You know what struggles we had at home before we left to come here. You know how wrapped up I am in so much worry, fear and anger. Let me be open to your love, as I receive you. Renew me by this communion with you and, please, fill me with your peace. United with you more completely, more gratefully, I know I can be more loving and forgiving at home, more hopeful and courageous at work, more generous and active in my parish community. Remain in me today and every day this week and let your Spirit connect me with your Spirit in others whom you call me to love." We know Jesus has power to save us and heal us. We just need to take the steps, beyond the ordinary and familiar, to let his power and his love work in us.

DRINK THE CUP?

Mt. 20, 20 – 28: “Can you drink the cup.....”

(Priests in competition and dominance)

As we see Jesus going up to Jerusalem, he turns to each one of us and asks: “Can you drink the cup that I must drink?”

Today’s world tells us that we don’t need to drink it, because it denies and disowns that Christ-attitude towards suffering and sacrifice. The message of the media, which is constantly invading our senses and trying to persuade our minds, is this: Go through life with the maximum quantum of pleasure and the minimum amount of pain. All suffering must be shunned. Desensitise yourself with drinks and drugs. You only go around once. Grab all you can, and don’t be responsible for anything to anyone.

To some extent all of us have bought into this “good times” philosophy of life, which pretends to change this “valley of tears” into a “valley of Valium” or Prozac and other drugs for instant happiness. Now-a-days words like “obedience”, “self-denial”, “commitment”, and “accountability” have become unmentionable words. Now the mentality of governments, parents and many church leaders is “throw gifts, food, money, anything at them, but keep them happy!”

Over and above the smoke of our dreams and delusions stands the loving but lonely figure of Jesus. In back of him, casting a long shadow, is a tall cross, and his question, “Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?” To most of the people in the world the cross is a stumbling block, a madness to be avoided. But to us who believe that there is in suffering the challenge of metanoia, the invitation to life transformation and personal growth, suffering is a valuable teacher.

Taking his disciples aside, Jesus predicts for the third time the fate awaiting him when he arrives Jerusalem. Clearly and emphatically he reveals that he will be handed over, subject to mockery, cruelty and brutal execution. He concludes with confident conviction that he will rise from the dead.  Into this profound moment breaks not more enquiry or even humble adoration but pride, manoeuvring and selfish ambition. James and John looking for status, recognition and power in his kingdom. Where there should be sadness over an impending death there is ambition for worldly preferment.

Today’s priests are engaged in competition; they want power and authority and such things to dominate others, like the two Zebedee brothers. Jesus seems to be telling us that we must love persons and use things; not the other way about: use persons and love things. Jesus seems to be saying: don’t ever give your heart away to a thing. If you do, then that thing, whatever it may be, will gradually become your master. It will own you and lead you around like on the leash of addiction. Worrying about it will keep you anxious and awake at night. But, worst of all, if you give your heart to a thing, you will soon begin the great inversion of priorities. When you begin to love things, you start to use persons to get those things. If you give your heart away to the things of this world, you will soon begin competing with others to get all you can. Competition among priests has left so many unhappy and dissatisfied. If you choose to run down this road, you will be tempted to cheat, bring down others, and cut corners on your integrity. What unnecessary turmoil, in the midst of which there is the clear summons of Jesus, “Whoever does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple” (Lk 14,27).

My dear friends, our duties in Morning Star College are clearly stated. Only those who are faithful to them can go with our Lord. There is no other way to maturity, wisdom and fullness of life. And we must stake our lives on the surrender of faith that the cross of our duty always demands.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, set us free from seeking the approval of others. Purify our motives as we seek to draw closer to your Son, Jesus. Teach us about true greatness in your kingdom. Give us a heart and disposition that want to serve and not to be served, to love more than to be loved, and to give more than to receive. Amen.

Feast of St. James,

St. James, apostle



Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/072516.cfm

2 Corinthians 4:7-15
Psalm 126:1bc-2ab, 2cd-3, 4-5, 6
Matthew 20:20-28


A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:

Whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant.(see Matthew 20:26)

The only greatness that matters is not the ability to lord it over other people, but rather the ability to put oneself aside and serve completely. This greatness is so obvious that too often people cannot notice it.

Think about how difficult it is, sometimes, to make even the smallest sacrifice, say, five minutes to listen to the story of a child, a minute to console a coworker during a rush to a job completion, or some money to a person who has nothing. Sometimes we do these things willingly, even easily. But more often than not, every demand upon our time and resources is more than a mere inconvenience.

To be a servant, to give willingly and unstintingly, to be completely at another's "beck and call," that is strength, that is greatness. The ability to set oneself to the side and to move forward, helping others, it's hard to think of a greatness that could exceed that!

To be truly great, to be great as it really matters to God and to the rest of the world, we must be exceedingly small. Jesus completely emptied Himself on the cross, of dignity, of everything. When we ask for help to put ourselves aside and serve the needs of others, we imitate Jesus.

When we say, "Not my will, but Thy will," we are true disciples. A tower of strength is not the person who stands up for him- or herself, but the person who stands up for others, serving them completely.

WEDDING HOMILY

LOVE AS HIGHEST VALUE   -  WEDDING HOMILY

In a sense every wedding is a royal wedding with the bride and groom as king and queen of Creation, making a new life together so that life can flow through them into the future.

William and Catherine, you have chosen to be married in the sight of a generous God who so loved the world that he gave himself to us in the person of Jesus Christ. In the Spirit of this generous God, husband and wife are to give themselves to each another.

The spiritual life grows as love finds its centre beyond ourselves. Faithful and committed relationships offer a door into the mystery of spiritual life in which we discover this: the more we give of self, the richer we become in soul; the more we go beyond ourselves in love, the more we become our true selves and our spiritual beauty is more fully revealed.

 You have both made your decision today – “I will” – and by making this new relationship, you have aligned yourselves with what we believe is the way in which life is spiritually evolving, and which will lead to a creative future for the human race.

We stand looking forward to a century which is full of promise and full of peril. Human beings are confronting the question of how to use wisely a power that has been given to us through the discoveries of the last century. We shall not be converted to the promise of the future by more knowledge, but rather by an increase of loving wisdom and reverence, for life, for the earth and for one another.

The more we discover about the mystery of life, the richer our theology, the more profound our worship. And as with the heart of the cosmos, so too with the cosmos of the heart. When Kate Middleton and Prince William married some months ago, how many viewers saw the magnificent moment transcending their individualities? Bishop Richard Chartres quoted St. Cath-erine of Siena when he encouraged the couple to “set the world on fire” with the intensity of their love. Something stirred in a million hearts at that moment of the famous “kiss” on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. Maybe something happened to all of creation too! Love is personal but also universal. We are finite beings with infinite capacities.

Moreover, the mystery holds whether that true love is expressed between two people in a lofty cathedral or the local cafe. Whether we believe it or not, Christian faith insists we have all been chosen and kissed by the God of all kings and queens; we have all been signed and sealed as princes and princesses from the beginning; someone fell in love with all of us before the stars were born.

BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST FATHER'S DAY

BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST

FATHER’S DAY

                      Jesus lived in Palestine. Palestine enjoys a great variation in climate and rainfall. Therefore it was blessed with a great variety of vegetation and foliage. This was especially true in the time of Jesus, when the countryside was free of the scourge of pollution produced by technology; the river Jordan and the lake of Genazareth were limpid clear of industrial effluents. Jacob’s well knew no arsenic! Humidity was almost down to zero, and even though it was hot by day there was no sticky feeling. (The only sticky entities were the scribes and Pharisees!)  Trees and fruits were abundant, with juniper and oak the most common, and olive and fig trees the most valuable because of the fruit and oil they produced. And of course the people had the wonderful “fruit of the vine”, the grapes from which they produced their deep, full-bodied red wines, so thick and rich that they had to be diluted with water before being served. Jesus referred to himself as the true vine (John 15, 1-17), and the Gospels refer many times to the vineyards and those who tended them. When the grapes were ripe and ready for pressing, you could imagine the young Jesus in his shorts treading sing-song the thick carpet of grapes with the other guys and gals, and being paid the denarius at the end of the day.

                  

                   The common grain in Jesus’ time included wheat – the most valuable – along with oats and barley. Barley was basically the poor man’s grain, and Bible commentators opine that Jesus used barley bread at the Last Supper.

                   Bread was the essential food of Jesus’ day, so much so that bread alone could sometimes be a full meal, especially that it was heavy and substantial, pure unrefined whole wheat. Downed with a few cups of full-bodied wine, there were no complaints. As the staff of life, bread was treated with great respect, and many Jewish laws governed its preparation, use and preservation. So when Jesus identified himself with bread and wine at the Last Supper, those around him knew what he was talking about: he was revealing himself as the one who gives them complete sustenance and fulfilment. This “bread of life” could satisfy completely the deepest hungers of people (see John 6, 22-5).

                   For Catholics the celebration of the Eucharist is the “breaking and eating together” of the bread that is Christ, Son of God and son of Mary. Breaking stands for sacrifice, and eating stands for sustenance. (Incidentally, bread on our tables today should not be sliced with a knife but broken with the hands and shared). So the Eucharist has its secular origins in the central place that bread and wine occupied in the lives of the people of Jesus’ day.

Today’s feast of the Body and blood of Christ is redolent with the appeal and offer of sustenance  -  material, moral, emotional and spiritual. And “Father’s Day” dovetails quite appropriately with today’s feast.

 When fathers are gathered on Judgement Day, the Lord will gently say, “I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me a drink, naked and you clothed me, homeless and you sheltered me, imprisoned and you visited me. Come, enter the kingdom I have prepared for you.” And the fathers will be bewildered and will ask: “Are you sure, Lord? When did we see you hungry and feed you?” The Lord will reply, “Do you really not know? Do you not remember the way you carefully fed me when I was a baby; the way you loved me into my first small steps across the living room into your arms; and, later, my bigger steps into the waiting world?” “All the time that was me you were nourishing. Yes, of course, it was your child. But it was me, your God, as well.”

“When were you thirsty, Lord?” they ask. “I needed your love and comfort. You held me to your chest and I could hear your heart. As tenderly as the sun opens the daisies in the morning, your gentle voice and loving eyes opened my soul to the mystery of my true identity. I, your God, became your vulnerable child so as to experience your tenderness to me.”

“But naked, Lord, and homeless?” The Lord will reply, “I was born naked and homeless, and you sheltered me, first in your wife’s womb and then in your arms. In my rebellious years I left home, blinded by lesser lights and loves. You did not judge me, your great heart never doubted me; you forgave me, you believed in me, you drew me into a higher way of life, light-making and love-making. No matter what, on my return home, your face at the door was always a smiling sacrament of welcome.”

“But imprisoned, Lord? Surely not!” The Lord paused. “There are many kinds of prison. When I was imprisoned in my fears I cried out in the night; you came and lifted me from behind the bars of my cot and folded me in your arms. Years later you lifted me from behind the bars of bigger fears  -  fears of my own inadequacy, of my own intense emotions, of the terror and beauty of the unknown life ahead. You were the brave one, Dad, wielding the gun that defended the family and kept us together; and you gave me the guts to leap into the jaws of death like a good soldier. So, because of you I can soldier on. Bless you, Dad.”

And, so, dear friends, we go to Mass to remember and to celebrate together the extraordinary revelation that no moment is “merely” human or worldly, but rather an event of grace; every threshold a door to heaven. Jesus embraces every family, each with its own stories to tell him  -  the hurting and the healing, the sinning and the gracing. He then sits down and explains to us, amazed, how those ordinary moments of raw human life are his life too. His eyes are twinkling as we struggle to understand what he is telling us. Comforted, we eat and drink his words with the bread and wine of joy. He kisses each one of us before we leave. Our hearts are burning within us as we recall his parting words of comfort  -  our kitchens, too, are little Bethlehems, our breakfast tables are small altars; our whole lives, with their calvaries and resurrections, are one long consecration and communion. But now we are so slow to leave. “Don’t be sad,” he says, “I’ll be waiting for you at home. There are many rooms in my Father’s mansion.”

PETER AND PAUL

 SAINTS PETER AND PAUL

 The Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul is on 29 June. ‘Solemnity’ is a big word, usually reserved for the Feasts of the Lord, not the feats of the Saints. So how did Peter and Paul sneak into this honour reserved for the Lord? Can any canonised do-gooder be foisted onto the Lord’s domain? Well, if you look more closely you’ll understand that there wouldn’t be a Peter or a Paul unless there was Jesus. Were it not for Jesus, Peter would have lived and died as Simon, son of John, small time manager of Simon fisheries, limited to Lake Genasaret. And again, were it not for Jesus, Paul would have remained Saul, riding cockhorse as the persecutor of the first followers of Christ. But he was pushed off his high horse, and as his derrière hit the hard ground of reality, divine wisdom entered, and Saul the persecutor became Paul the preacher. His accumulated excellence, pride of conviction, driving stubbornness were transformed into something different, like nuclear energy that is diverted from making bombs to generating power to light up our homes.

            Simon, son of John, had very narrow ideas about messiahship and authority, and he thought he would advise Jesus how to go about his messiahship, especially how to avoid mess-ups. In the Scriptures, Peter is presented as being very prominent whenever he was accompanying Jesus, not because he said the right things, but because, more often than not, he managed to say the wrong things, speaking without thinking through what he was going to say. Jesus called him ‘Satan’, because he had a rock where his brain should have been and was blocking Jesus’ way to Jerusalem.  Jesus would make him a rock of another unimaginable quality: the Simon of nature would become the Peter of grace, the great and good St. Peter, our first Pope.

            The original Saul and Simon were convinced they were doing the right thing, but it needed our Lord to take their misplaced energy and channel it more constructively. It can happen to us, too. We could be pursuing our personal policies and parading them as the providence of God. That is why we need a good shake-up, the Spirit’s lightning flash, to keep us from self-serving politics.

            Peter and Paul were very human. Peter was impetuous, impulsive and unstable. Paul was zealous, proud and violent. Peter denied the Lord and Paul persecuted him. Peter was unschooled and pedestrian. He was known to be a bungler to his friends and a bruiser to his enemies. He didn’t look to be the kind of person to walk away from a fight. Remember that when the crunch came at Gethsemane he sliced the high priest’s servant’s ear and only stepped back at the word of Jesus who would go it alone. The other disciples didn’t walk away, they ran!

Paul was an educated man with a proud pedigree, coming from a different background and of different mettle.  He wasn’t much more promising though than Peter. A Greek-speaking Jew, well educated, but a narrow-minded Pharisee down to the hem of his cloak. Self-righteous to his eyebrows, somewhat haughty and aggressive, with hatred for the Christians and disdain for the gentiles.

            Yet these two were the founders of the church in Rome and Christianity’s greatest apostles. What miracle transformed their common clay into the greatness of sanctity? In Peter and Paul God saw what the human eye could not discern. Someone has said very beautifully that Jesus looked at men and women and loved them not so much for what they were as for what they could become, i.e. what his love could make them.

            Saints Peter and Paul were people like you and me, people with weaknesses as well as strengths. When they were first called by Christ   -  Peter from his fishing nets and Paul from his ultra Jewish orthodoxy  -  they must have wondered why the Lord had chosen them. What had they to offer? Why them?

Peter recognised that he was a sinner, and at one very low point even told the Lord to leave him. Paul described himself as one born out of time and the greatest of sinners. Yet Jesus had seen their potential to be great disciples. He was willing to take a risk with them; and he took it because theirs was an openness to change and grow. They rose to the challenge, and the name of Jesus reached many parts of the world. Paul realised his mistake early enough to become the greatest missionary and theologian the Christian world has ever known. He started out as the hatchet man of the Pharisees and ended up by being a fool for Christ.

            And as for Peter, he turned out to be the good and gentle shepherd that Jesus wanted him to be. And as Jesus had also foretold, he too was led like a lamb to his martyrdom. The story is that he was crucified upside down. G. K. Chesterton has a beautiful line on this. Peter, indeed, hung upside down. “He thus saw the landscape as it really is: with the stars like flowers, and the clouds like hills, and all men hanging on the mercy of God.” Suspended there on the cross, Peter the Shepherd now also became the lamb of sacrifice: shepherd and lamb combined into one testimony of faith and love.

            Here is a good lesson for popes, bishops, priests and those who wish to serve in the church’s ministry.  Clerical leadership has more often than not described itself in the imagery of royal shepherding than in the imagery of sacrificial lamb. Generally speaking, the only popes, bishops and priests in recent centuries who have combined lamb and shepherd in their daily lives have merited to be canonised. One such priest was St. John Mary Vianney. He lived and cared for his people in a manner suggestive of the divine lamb and shepherd.

            In the crypt of St. Peter’s basilica in Rome are the tombs of the popes. The two tombs that are most patronised and covered with flowers are those of Pope John XXIII and our dear departed Pope John Paul II. The millions who visit these two tombs have made the point clear that these shepherds-lambs have merited to be declared that they belong to the order of Peter and Paul for all time.

PRAYER (St. Peter): God of mercy; we are as Peter; we lose our nerve and deny in the time of trial. Calm our anxiety, heal our cowardice, take away our shame, and make us free.

             (St. Paul):  All-perceiving Lover,

                              sensing each disguise,

                        kindly you uncover

                              bruised and aching eyes.

                        Wake us into wonder

                              At your dawning day

                        Halt us with your thunder

                              On our stubborn way.

DON BOSCO

DON BOSCO

Today we celebrate the memorial of Giovanni Melchior Bosco known to us as St. John Bosco. John's father died when he was only two years old, and so, as soon as he was old enough, he was out earning extra money for his family. Life was hard but not without fun and enjoyment as well. He loved going to circuses, carnivals and fairs, learning from the magicians and performers how to act, juggle and do tricks. He would stage a one-man show for the children of the village and afterwards he wold deliver the sermon he had heard at Mass earlier in the day. John Bosco was ordained priest in 1841, but before his ordination he had worked as a tailor, baker, shoemaker and carpenter. He had a remarkable talent and ability to work with young people and found places where they could meet, pray and play. He founded the Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB) in 1859 and the Daughters of Mary, Help of Christians in 1872. He died in 1888 and was canonised in 1934 by Pope Pius XI.

John Bosco was blessed with practical and godly wisdom. He once instructed the young people in his care. He once instructed the young people in his care: "Fly from bad companions as from the bite of a poisonous sake. If you keep good companions, I can assure you that you will one day rejoice with the blessed in heaven; whereas if you keep company with those who are bad, you will become bad yourself, and you will be in danger of losing your soul."
Don Bosco was especially devoted to the Eucharist and encouraged everybody to receive Holy Communion. "Do you want Our Lord to give you many graces? Visit him often. Do you want him to give you few graces? Visit him seldom. Visits to the Blessed Sacrament are powerful and indispensable means of overcoming the attacks of the devil. Make frequent visits to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and the devil will be powerless against you."
Don Bosco cultivated a warm and kind approach to the young and saw that gentleness and affection were more winning than rough and harsh treatment. "This was the method", he said, that Jesus used with the apostles. He put up with their ignorance and roughness...He treated sinners with a kindness and affection that caused some to be shocked, others to be scandalised and still others to hope for God's mercy. And so he bade us to be gentle and humble of heart."
Since the time of Don Bosco times have changed and young people with them. Young people seek their own levels; young people select what is of value to them; children learn from people they trust and love. There were those things that made a difference in my development as a person, teacher and writer. No one had to tell me I loved the sound of music or the vice of my mother singing "Silent Night" as she prepared dinner one evening.
Children know what is around them. They know adults have power over them; they know cats have voices. Children also know very early that they will someday die. When a child feels the need to advance intellectually, he will just ahead and take that step. I believe our schools take too much credit for things that happen to children. Growing children do what grown-ups do. If parents smoke cigarettes their children will up smoking. If parents are readers there is a good chance that their children will read. Life imitates life. Our children look to us for any hints of themselves.
There are other things included in my philosophy of education. Somewhere there is a desire to teach children to distinguish between what is genuine and what is false. I know that we are born with different abilities and limitations, but I believe that we all have that unique something, a soul perhaps, that can be brought out by a teacher. We can help the young know the truth and choose the good. We can help them have confidence in themselves.
And we adults learn a lesson or two, also. When Jesus spoke about children, he told us that adult human beings need to recapture childhood. Children have the capacity for great faith, greatness and forgiveness. Many thousands of people, including children, died in the concentration camp in Ravensbrook during World War II. Near to the body of a child a prayer was found. "O Lord, remember not only the men and women of good will, but also those of ill-will; but do not remember all the suffering they have inflicted on us. Remember the fruits we have bought, thanks to this suffering: our comradeship, our loyalty, our humility, our courage, our generosity, the greatness of heart which has grown out of all this. And when they come to judgement, let all the fruits which we have borne be their forgiveness."

REPUBLIC DAY HOMILY

REPUBLIC DAY HOMILY

INTRODUCTION:   Today we celebrate the (....) Republic Day of India. In various parts of our country functions will be conducted to mark the day: hoisting the National Flag, singing the National Anthem, staging different cultural programmes, and delivering speeches on freedom, equality, prosperity and national integration, which will remind us that after many years of fragmentation, colonialism and oppression, we have come together to define for ourselves and to show the rest of the world that we the people make and rule our country. The celebration also reminds that, with all our differences, we the people of India should work for equal rights and privileges. Many years have passed since measures were passed and efforts made to bring freedom, equality and prosperity to all sections of people. But the sad reality is that not much has been done.

During the Eucharistic celebration let us ponder on certain aspects of India as a Republic and see if we have failed to cooperate positively in its growth; if not, then ask forgiveness of God and resolve to embrace some of the challenges it poses for each of us.

THE HOMILY:

THE  GOSPEL’S  REPUBLIC:  John 8, 31 - 36.

 “So if the Son sets you free, you will indeed be free.”

            Devotion to our country is deeply rooted in our nature. It is a source of power and strength, inspiring noble ideals and heroic sacrifices. Loyalty to country enhances a person’s character. This comes by the proper use of freedom. The word “freedom” is not to be taken lightly; and Jesus certainly did not, since he knew how easily it could turn to licence and bind a man to falsehood and lead to self-destruction. So he would work to liberate man and put him on the way to that wholesomeness that is at ease with God and fellowmen. No one can claim this freedom by a natural privilege, either by being a descendant of Abraham or being born after 1947. To belong to an elect nation needs more than the negative claim of not having been born of prostitution into an idolatrous people. No one becomes free by the accident of birth into a particular caste or nation or community. A slave owner is as much or even more a slave than his subjects.  Just as Christ invited the Jews to imitate the faith of Abraham rather than make a nominal appeal to descendance from him, so also he invites us Indians to confront our freedom and respond courageously to the call of God in this particular moment of our history, which is a far cry from ethnic pretentious and caste peculiarities. One who refuses Jesus Christ makes a pact with the forces of falsehood and hands himself over to the culture of death.

            So what do we see in Jesus ?  Here is one who scouted the claims of the Pharisees, denounced the false certainties of a frozen religion and invited the people’s faith in him as the ground of their freedom. What scandalous provocation ! Such a person, they thought, ought to be ostracised, left among the enemies of the people, the schismatic Samaritans and despised classes, or to the power of evil. And that is precisely where we find Christ, among the sinners and outcasts and those who have not broken through to freedom.

            Just when the opposition touched a very high point of tension, Jesus affirmed that HE IS greater than Abraham himself. In fact, he attributes to himself the supreme title of the divine liberator of all peoples: “I AM”.  “I Am” will lead us into freedom and the future of unlimited possibilities, even if it means going by way of the cross and hardship. When as a nation we have put aside our hubris and false sense of independence and allowed the one who is greater than Abraham to take over our lives, we shall realise what the true freedom of God’s republic is.

            Our patriotism does not stand under the claim of an exclusive nationalism, any more than loving one’s mother implies despising other mothers. Our country plays a rôle in the ensemble of nations, which is greater than itself. Different countries exist that they might enrich one another. Today especially we need to ensure that the call up of patriotic feeling is not based on selfish retreat. It is within our country and through it that we must work for the world’s renewal. Such action presupposes that our country exists and is in robust health, which in turn supposes moral discipline. Corrupt individuals do not make for a strong nation. Even this is not enough, for a country that wants to be strong must also be loved. And our love for India is not real unless it bears fruit in love and fair treatment for all its citizens, whoever they may be. This is consonant with God’s desire for nothing less than complete human authenticity, which offers a wide palette of enriching attitudes. Freedom is a necessary risk. God took a “risk” with his creation, and since he has conquered the human heart through the pierced and risen heart of Jesus Christ, we can confidently hope that the nation, self-assured in its material and human resources, will undergo a change of heart, and that all will yet be well.

            While to the present leaders we pledge our co-operation, we recall with affection the leaders who have died, so also our brave soldiers who shed their blood on the field of battle. A nation that forgets its past has no future and deserves none. The future, as far as we can see, is shadowed in trials, and calls on our courage. But the best stories of heroes are about those striding  bravely into an unknown tomorrow, full of risks. So, trusting in one another’s loyalty and, above all, in the God of exodus, who will lead us, we march with strong hearts and firm steps, for we “have many miles to walk and many promises to keep.”

INTERCESSORY PRAYERS:

Our response is: Lord, hear our prayer.

1. Let us pray for the Church leaders, especially Pope John Paul II, bishops, priests and religious, that they may be able to lead the Christian flock in the path of true love and freedom.

2. We shall pray for the political leaders of our country, that they may be guided by the grace and wisdom of God to selflessly promote justice and equality among the people.

3. Jesus, you are the Prince of Peace, let all the people experience your peace.

4. Heavenly Father, you guide and lead this Republic of ours. We thank you for the freedom, peace and prosperity we enjoy. Guide our steps in our march towards true freedom, true happiness, true peace and true salvation.

PRAYER: Bishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu (1931 - )

{An outspoken opponent of apartheid, Desmond Tutu has also condemned violence as a means of seeking to overcome injustice. He continues to preach a simple message of the love of God.}

Bless our beautiful land, O Lord,

with its wonderful variety of people, of races, cultures and languages.

May we be a nation of laughter and joy,

of justice and reconcilement, of peace and unity,

of compassion, caring and sharing.

We pray this prayer for a true patriotism,

in the powerful name of Jesus our Lord.