CYRIL CARAPIET

Introduction: Two days into our bereavement.  At the time of our bereavement human words prove inadequate, So, rather than look for words to express the inexpressible, let us hand ourselves over to the Church’s liturgy that invokes God’s mercy upon our dear friend and brother, and proclaim our faith in his resurrection in Christ.  The moment he closed his eyes to this world and opened them to the light of eternity, all was suffused in the love of God and the saints, and he was in a flash rejuvenated forever. Such is the advent of the comforting love of God. May it be so for us all as we prepare to celebrate the holy mysteries of Jesus.

TRIBUTE:

Lord, grant that the greater harvest

Which we came on earth to save

May be golden and ripe for the reaping

‘Ere we go to the lonely grave;

That our souls in the last dread autumn

May be clean as the hill and the lea,

When we bring life’s grain to the haggard

And offer it all to thee.

(A Harvest Prayer, from the Irish)

.           It is harvest time, and a much loved and respected one among us has joined the immense throng in obedient ascent to the Lord’s beckoning. The grain was mellow and golden by heaven’s reckoning, and we handed our beloved father, friend and brother over to the transcendent Lord of the vineyard and wheat field.

 A robust citizen of Calcutta, handsome and stately, this noble-hearted man presented a picture of true manhood.

We may well be left asking if all the accumulated excellence and achievements of the departed should be exposed to futility.

The self-sacrificing love of husband and father, a most devoted parishioner; entertainer par excellence his singing voice proved there was music in his soul. The countless hours of adoration of the Eucharistic Lord. The devoted services to his Church that he loved so much. The uplifting assistance to the poor and distressed. The wit and humour of his considerate hospitality. Should this all be exposed to futility? The answer is “no”, since the Resurrection of Christ and the Assumption of his Blessed Mother point our bodies with their comprehensive histories towards a transcendent consummation which we call ”community in God”.

In a world torn by competitive contention, Cyril Carapiet  lived on an island of serene confidence, drawing inspiration from Jesus his music Master. His shop was set on a hill and paved with perfection.

 Ageing graciously is more than a process that happens naturally. It takes years to know the Jesus you first loved and who called you, and to attain the grace of accepting that everything comes from the hands of God. Contending with God rather the devil is the quality of maturing years, and the fruit of it is not more contention but a deeper sense of peace. This last period of life has a depth and spirituality all its own. Here tranquility is neither forced nor artificial.

Life is a game or a piece of music, if that’s how you want it, and the way you choose to play it is the key to being a winner or loser. Coming in first does not make you a winner, any more than coming in last makes you a loser. In the words of Granland Rice, “When the one great Scorekeeper comes, he counts not whether you won or lost but how you played the game.”  Cyril played with  integrity and serenity. His departure was serenely sweet.

What he believed in faith he now experiences, in the words of the Prophet Jeremiah, Chapter 31: “I have loved you. I guard you as a shepherd guards his flock. They will come and sing for joy on Mt. Sion. I will guide them to the streams of water. Men, young and old, will rejoice. I will turn their mourning into joy. Stop your crying and wipe away your tears.” And from the book of Revelation, chapter 1: “I turned round to see who was speaking to me, and when I turned, I saw....one like a Son of Man, dressed in a long white robe tied at the waist with a belt of gold. His head and his hair were white with the whiteness of wool, like snow, his eyes like a burning flame, his feet like burnished bronze when it has been refined in a furnace....His face was like the sun shining in full strength. When I saw him I fell at his feet as though dead, but he laid his hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid...I was dead and look...I am alive forever and ever.”  “Look at my hand and feet...it’s me...touch me.” (Lk 28, 39).

Now in the sadness and smile of our memories he reposes.

We witnessed him hasten home in God’s embrace.

He is now in peace, in fulfilment, in loving.

Into the cycle of living and dying and rising again we let him go.

Into the tapestry of rain and sunshine we let him go.

Into the dance of the stars and planets we let him go.

Into the wind’s breath and the hands of the star Maker we let him go.

We love him, we miss him.

We want him to be happy.

Cyril Carapiet,

 our faithful friend, devoted father and loving brother in the Faith,

Into the darkness and warmth of the earth

We lay you down.

Into the sadness and smiles of our memories

We lay you down.

Into the cycle of living and dying and rising again

We lay you down.

May you rest in peace, in fulfilment, in loving.

May you run straight home in God’s embrace.

Into the freedom of wind and sunshine

We let you go.

Into the dance of the stars and the planets

We let you go.

Into the wind’s breath and the hands

of the star Maker

We let you go.

We love you, we miss you,

we want you to be happy.

Go lightsome, go laughing,

Go prancing home !”

            So, we shall carry our friend to the edge of the river and gently place him in the boat about to depart. Let the sails fill with the sweet Zephyr of the Spirit he loved so much and convey him to the further shore. As he wafts away into the soft sunset, into the embrace of eternity, he turns to wave to us a fond farewell.

 We wave back and say:      Adieu, Cyril, son of Charles Wilton and Ella Teresa Carapiet…, Adieu. 

Let us pray

O great and merciful God,

Bring our dear friend and brother, true son of the Church at his last awakening,

into your house and gate of heaven,

to enter into that gate and dwell in that house

where shall be no darkness nor dazzling,

but one equal light, no noise nor silence, but one equal music, no fears nor hopes, but one equal possession, no ends nor beginnings, but one equal eternity in the habitations of your glory and dominion,

forever and ever. Amen. 

A Prayer for those gathered here

Lord of eternity,

whose power is infinite,

whose days are without number

and whose mercy is beyond our fathoming:

keep our faces always turned towards you,

so that, each day, we remember

that life is your gift,

and the hour of death unknown.

And when finally we meet you face to face,

transform us in the fire of your love,

and receive us into your eternal kingdom.

Amen

Church of St. Ignatius,

Kolkata,

2^nd. December 2015.

ELLA THERESA CARAPIET

                            ELLA THERESA CARAPIET

                                      Anniversary Mass

                                        5^th. April 1993

Penitential Rite: It’s been a year, less a day, since our dear mother, Ella Theresa, left us for her Heavenly Home. We shall always remember how beautifully she died, with the holy Name of Jesus on her lips and the Body of the Lord in her heart, the Church providing all that the law requires for the benefit of a departing Christian.

Better than any spiritual exhortation about modelling our dying on that of Jesus’ on the Cross was our own mother’s death.

We have come together, family and friends, to tank our Heavenly Father for the gift of the life, love and death of Ella Theresa Carapiet. As we pray for her deepening joy in the wonderment of the Holy Trinity, we also beg the merciful Lord to cleanse and purify us for that final hour when we hope to enter into the Death-Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

THE HOMILY: Like most parents, our mother, Ella Theresa, saw her children grow up, leave the ancestral home and make their own lives. She saw us leave one by one, until only Mary was left, and even though we visited her regularly, she knew that life would not be the same again.

Her return from hospital, many years ago was marked by an acute debility of her legs that would keep her home-bound foe the rest of her earthly life. Yet home-bound was heaven-bound. The little house in Bow Bazar she loved so much was her last station for heaven that she will love forever.

For the time being she waited, waited in a solitude not unwelcome and, in turn, made fruitful by her faith which bore the message that all would be well.

What must not have gone through her mind: memories of sorrow, images of delight, childhood and marriage, the meetings with people, the quiet chats with friends, the splendid liturgies in her church, and, the best of all, the deep communings with her Eternal Father in heaven. Heaven came down to a little room lived in by a tiny woman!

To what went on between them only faith can testify, even though the details will remain a secret. The cleansing of divine love, the healing of memories, the perception that this world is but a passing show, and the ultimate truth that she had always known, that, at the end, only God matters. And through it all she must surely have heard one golden note of angelic music to which no human voice or instrument can compare itself: that it was getting time to leave, for the Father was calling his daughter back to where she belonged, with Him forever. And the manner of her death, still so fresh in our minds, bore the stamp of a simple and placid response to His summons.

Nothing is lost, since God is faithful and will not expose our lives to futility. All the accumulated excellence of our human endeavours, the heavy crosses that we bore, the battles that we fought, the losses sustained, the victories secured, have all been taken up into God to be illuminated in His glory. For the human, to be truly human, must consent to enter the divine, otherwise is not human.

I said that Ella Theresa saw her children leave their ancestral home and make their own lives. But Christian hope assures us that she will see them return and take their places with her in the Father’s house, this time forever.

And if she has a prayer, it must surely be that high priestly prayer of Jesus himself before His passion and death, recorded by St. John, the Evangelist:

“Heavenly Father, I pray that where I am they also may be.”

Amen.

RISEN JESUS WILL WIN

THE RISEN JESUS WILL WIN

1 Corinthians 15:24-28

Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he 'has put everything under his feet'. Now when it says that 'everything' has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all. (NIVUK)

In this passage we have fresh clues to the mission of the Lord Jesus Christ. The salvation-work of Jesus was completed on the cross and assured at the resurrection. Soon after, He returned to heaven where His mission continues. He is building His kingdom, His church, and not even death or hell can prevent Him (Matthew 16:18) . In the process, Jesus is in direct and masterly opposition to every authority which defies His kingdom. Jesus is no longer dealing with the sins of the world; that was settled at Calvary. Now He is intent on bringing every wicked spiritual power to submit to Him (Ephesians 1:18-23) . It is a battle which will involve us too. These unseen evil beings under Satan's command terrorise the world and the church. They want to disrupt the work of evangelism and discipleship, desperately hoping that believers will fall away or compromise and so dishonour their Lord. Our spiritual battle is not with wicked people but with their unseen evil spiritual mentors (Ephesians 6:12). So it is a great encouragement to know that Jesus is not just the Captain of our Salvation (Hebrews 2:10) but also the Lord of Glory (1 Corinthians 2:8). One day every being, seen and unseen will acknowledge that He is Lord over all (Philippians 2:9-11). When death itself, the ultimate consequence of all evil activity, has been destroyed, Jesus will present the Kingdom to Father God. Until then He is appointed as head over everything. His essential victory over Satan's evil mastery was shown in rising from the dead, but Satan and his minions are furious because they know their time is short (Revelation 12:12) … so every day presents some new battle for the people in Christ's kingdom. But when He comes again there will be peace; the conflict with evil will be over. Then God the Son will hand over the kingdom, His incorruptible Bride, to God the Father and give all the glory to Him. Whatever battle you face now, Jesus is there to command you, and all opposition, to submit to His authority. Even apparent defeats or delays will eventually be shown to be His masterstroke of strategy in bringing His enemies to their knees. The resurrection assures us of all this. It not only promises that we belong to Him and will receive a new body one day, but also gives us the confidence that as we battle with evil on earth, Jesus is being powerfully active in the heavenly places (Ephesians 3:10) . We are not alone. Jesus will win the victory. All we have to do is to be strong in the Lord and let His mighty power do all that we cannot, while we act obediently under His command.

Heavenly Father. Thank You that Jesus is still working actively to defeat the evil which seeks to oppress me. Thank You that He prays for me and takes authority, as He chooses, over rebellious spiritual beings which seek to pull me away from Him into despair and defeat. Forgive me for thinking that I am on my own and that I cannot win, wrongly accepting failure as normal and compromise as being wise. Please help me to trust Jesus every day, knowing that He is dealing with all I cannot see so that I can stand secure in Him. In His Name. Amen.

RISEN JESUS WILL WIN

THE RISEN JESUS WILL WIN

1 Corinthians 15:24-28

Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he 'has put everything under his feet'. Now when it says that 'everything' has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all. (NIVUK)

In this passage we have fresh clues to the mission of the Lord Jesus Christ. The salvation-work of Jesus was completed on the cross and assured at the resurrection. Soon after, He returned to heaven where His mission continues. He is building His kingdom, His church, and not even death or hell can prevent Him (Matthew 16:18) . In the process, Jesus is in direct and masterly opposition to every authority which defies His kingdom. Jesus is no longer dealing with the sins of the world; that was settled at Calvary. Now He is intent on bringing every wicked spiritual power to submit to Him (Ephesians 1:18-23) . It is a battle which will involve us too. These unseen evil beings under Satan's command terrorise the world and the church. They want to disrupt the work of evangelism and discipleship, desperately hoping that believers will fall away or compromise and so dishonour their Lord. Our spiritual battle is not with wicked people but with their unseen evil spiritual mentors (Ephesians 6:12). So it is a great encouragement to know that Jesus is not just the Captain of our Salvation (Hebrews 2:10) but also the Lord of Glory (1 Corinthians 2:8). One day every being, seen and unseen will acknowledge that He is Lord over all (Philippians 2:9-11). When death itself, the ultimate consequence of all evil activity, has been destroyed, Jesus will present the Kingdom to Father God. Until then He is appointed as head over everything. His essential victory over Satan's evil mastery was shown in rising from the dead, but Satan and his minions are furious because they know their time is short (Revelation 12:12) … so every day presents some new battle for the people in Christ's kingdom. But when He comes again there will be peace; the conflict with evil will be over. Then God the Son will hand over the kingdom, His incorruptible Bride, to God the Father and give all the glory to Him. Whatever battle you face now, Jesus is there to command you, and all opposition, to submit to His authority. Even apparent defeats or delays will eventually be shown to be His masterstroke of strategy in bringing His enemies to their knees. The resurrection assures us of all this. It not only promises that we belong to Him and will receive a new body one day, but also gives us the confidence that as we battle with evil on earth, Jesus is being powerfully active in the heavenly places (Ephesians 3:10) . We are not alone. Jesus will win the victory. All we have to do is to be strong in the Lord and let His mighty power do all that we cannot, while we act obediently under His command.

Heavenly Father. Thank You that Jesus is still working actively to defeat the evil which seeks to oppress me. Thank You that He prays for me and takes authority, as He chooses, over rebellious spiritual beings which seek to pull me away from Him into despair and defeat. Forgive me for thinking that I am on my own and that I cannot win, wrongly accepting failure as normal and compromise as being wise. Please help me to trust Jesus every day, knowing that He is dealing with all I cannot see so that I can stand secure in Him. In His Name. Amen.

RISEN JESUS WILL WIN

THE RISEN JESUS WILL WIN

1 Corinthians 15:24-28

Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he 'has put everything under his feet'. Now when it says that 'everything' has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all. (NIVUK)

In this passage we have fresh clues to the mission of the Lord Jesus Christ. The salvation-work of Jesus was completed on the cross and assured at the resurrection. Soon after, He returned to heaven where His mission continues. He is building His kingdom, His church, and not even death or hell can prevent Him (Matthew 16:18) . In the process, Jesus is in direct and masterly opposition to every authority which defies His kingdom. Jesus is no longer dealing with the sins of the world; that was settled at Calvary. Now He is intent on bringing every wicked spiritual power to submit to Him (Ephesians 1:18-23) . It is a battle which will involve us too. These unseen evil beings under Satan's command terrorise the world and the church. They want to disrupt the work of evangelism and discipleship, desperately hoping that believers will fall away or compromise and so dishonour their Lord. Our spiritual battle is not with wicked people but with their unseen evil spiritual mentors (Ephesians 6:12). So it is a great encouragement to know that Jesus is not just the Captain of our Salvation (Hebrews 2:10) but also the Lord of Glory (1 Corinthians 2:8). One day every being, seen and unseen will acknowledge that He is Lord over all (Philippians 2:9-11). When death itself, the ultimate consequence of all evil activity, has been destroyed, Jesus will present the Kingdom to Father God. Until then He is appointed as head over everything. His essential victory over Satan's evil mastery was shown in rising from the dead, but Satan and his minions are furious because they know their time is short (Revelation 12:12) … so every day presents some new battle for the people in Christ's kingdom. But when He comes again there will be peace; the conflict with evil will be over. Then God the Son will hand over the kingdom, His incorruptible Bride, to God the Father and give all the glory to Him. Whatever battle you face now, Jesus is there to command you, and all opposition, to submit to His authority. Even apparent defeats or delays will eventually be shown to be His masterstroke of strategy in bringing His enemies to their knees. The resurrection assures us of all this. It not only promises that we belong to Him and will receive a new body one day, but also gives us the confidence that as we battle with evil on earth, Jesus is being powerfully active in the heavenly places (Ephesians 3:10) . We are not alone. Jesus will win the victory. All we have to do is to be strong in the Lord and let His mighty power do all that we cannot, while we act obediently under His command.

Heavenly Father. Thank You that Jesus is still working actively to defeat the evil which seeks to oppress me. Thank You that He prays for me and takes authority, as He chooses, over rebellious spiritual beings which seek to pull me away from Him into despair and defeat. Forgive me for thinking that I am on my own and that I cannot win, wrongly accepting failure as normal and compromise as being wise. Please help me to trust Jesus every day, knowing that He is dealing with all I cannot see so that I can stand secure in Him. In His Name. Amen.

FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT "Cycle "A"

Fifth Sunday of Lent “A”

Introduction: On this 5^th. Sunday of Lent, we are faced with the ultimate mystery of our existence. Union with Jesus prepares us to cross the barrier of death, so that we may live eternally with him. God created men and women for resurrection and life, and this truth gives meaning to the personal and social lives of men and women, meaning to culture, politics and the economy. Without the light of faith, the entire universe finishes shut within a tomb devoid of any future, any hope. But Jesus leads us into the ever expanding future and newness of life eternal.

The Homily:FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT Cycle “A”

Ez 37, 12-14; Rom 8, 8-11; Jn 11, 1 – 45.

We have to face that unmentionable truth, the end game reality – namely, that death is part of life and every human being, no matter how wealthy, powerful or successful, will one day die. Every human being is, in a very real sense, living on borrowed time. Sickness, wars and human disasters simply flag up the harsh truth that human life is fragile, transient and fleeting. The prophet Isaiah was so right when he sang the lament: “All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it (Is. 40, 6-7).

One day an atheistic professor was giving a lecture on today’s Gospel. He declared the account was “pure fiction”. He asked, “Why did Jesus say, ‘Lazarus, come forth ‘?  Why not simply, ‘Come forth!’”  A Christian who was sitting at the back answered the atheist, “If Jesus had not specified Lazarus, all the dead people in the cemetery would have come alive to meet their Lord.”  What about food and accommodation?  is what I ask.  So it’s good that one generation dies to make place for the next.

Jesus wanted to show by this miracle that He was the Lord of life, that the power of his own Resurrection was already operating in this miracle, and that he wanted to reward the kind hospitality of Martha and Mary, the sisters of Lazarus. Jesus overnighted with this trio in their house where he could rest his heels and cool his fevered brow. He could unwind and have a good bath and meal. In the Bethany family Christ was indeed the honour Guest.

When Jesus received the messenger asking him to return to Bethany there was a price on his head. Yet he took the risk of moving out of the safety of the mountains and go to his friend’s side no matter the consequences to his own person. As the comedian Woody Allen said, “Showing up is two-thirds of life.” This beautiful gesture tells us about the character of Jesus. He is a friend in need, and clearly we can all expect the same consideration from him today.

The Lazarus story also tells us that the Saviour hated death with a passion. When he saw death he groaned from the pit of his stomach like the way your stomach turns when you see a badly mangled body. What Jesus reveals to us about God is that he is deeply upset when bad things happen to people, good or bad. Jesus is a God of life and not of death. He came to battle with death and conquer it.  Death was not part of God’s original blueprint for his sons and daughters; it was only Adam’s waywardness that brought is on us. In the meantime Jesus feels deeply the death of every one of his followers, he enters into the drama and pathos of it, and shares the pain of bereavement of relatives, even today.

Hidden deep within this episode of the raising of Lazarus is the further truth, that Jesus’ gift of life to Lazarus involved his own death, the offering of his own life.  Jesus had to be willing to risk and lose his own life. Love has its peculiar cost. Parents sacrifice their lives for their children’s good. The road to Bethany was for Jesus the first step on the way to Calvary.

Consider also the words of Jesus when Lazarus came up to the entrance of the tomb: “Unbind him, let him go free.” So Lazarus’ burial cloth, the wrapping of the shroud around him, was a sort of imprisonment. The closest parallel we can find in our own lives is the imprisonment of sin. When, in the sacrament of reconciliation, we hear the priest say, “I absolve you from your sins, that’s unbinding and freeing language he is using.

Jesus is the Lord of life and was set to ultimately engage our mortal enemies, sin, Satan and death in a titanic and cosmic struggle waged on the battlefield of Golgotha. This same Jesus encountered the death of his dear friend Lazarus. Lazarus had been dead in the grave for four days. His nearest and dearest, though still grieving would undoubtedly have accepted his death. However, Mary and Martha were women of remarkable and profound faith. They understood that Jesus had the power of life over death, and that, had he been there, he could have saved their brother. And even now they believed that he could still bring him back to life. Jesus was clearly very moved, weeping openly at their grief and loss. His promise to the grieving sisters and to every human being who believes in him is the same yesterday, today and forever.

“I am the Resurrection and the life; he who believes in me will live even if he has died. And everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” In 30 words Jesus emphasises that he is the Resurrection and the life. So why in the face of that information do we keep saying over the bodies of our loved ones, “Eternal rest be granted unto you. May you rest in peace?”  Would it not be more correct to take our clue from the Gospel and say, “Eternal life be granted unto you. May you live in peace.”  That way we wouldn’t think of heaven as a large dormitory for collecting eternal bed sores!

 Obviously Jesus thinks of heaven as a place where we live it up, go to party and look our best.

Finally Martha’s reply to Jesus that she knows that her brother will rise again shows that in common with the rest of us she pushes resurrection way into the future. Jesus will not have it and replies boldly, “I am the Resurrection and the life!” Resurrection now, today, not in the future.

 We can take the opportunity in these last weeks of Lent to examine our faith in times of loss and suffering, and our hope in the face of death. And if Jesus becomes the mainstay of our lives, we can experience resurrection and life in the here and now. After all, who really wants to wait?

Yet while we await Easter, can we not in our own way give life to fellow creatures by feeding a few poor people or at least by speaking words of lively encouragement? We can do it our way just as Jesus did it his.

PRAYER  [Alcuin of York, 735 - 804] {69 years}

Eternal Light, shine into our hearts,

eternal Goodness, deliver us from evil,

eternal Power, be our support,

eternal Wisdom, scatter the darkness of our ignorance,

eternal Pity, have mercy upon us,

that with all our heart and mind and soul and strength

we may seek they face and be brought by thine infinite mercy

to thy holy presence, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT Cycle "A"

FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT

Cycle “A”: John 9, 1 – 41

“I do believe, Lord (John 9, 38). The most famous blind man in history is spoken of in today’s Gospel. And, to the horror of historians, he is without a name. An ancient legend does report that the fellow took the name “Restitutus”, meaning “recovered” or “restored”, and that he became the bishop of St. Paul Trois Chateaux in southern France. “Restitutus” or Mr. Restored came to believe in Jesus as divine. As the drama opens, the man born blind had no idea that his healer was the Lord of history. But he was well aware what he had done for him, particularly to his eyes. To add to the drama, the man was summarily summoned by the Pharisees, the Grand Inquisitors. Jesus had touched the man’s eyes with paste made of spittle and mud, and to make paste like that broke the Sabbath rest. And what was more, Jesus was not an accredited person, not one of them. In response to their third degree methods, Mr. Restitutus blurts out, “the man called Jesus gave me sight.” He had never met a person like Christ. Not surprisingly, he had put him down as someone extraordinary. Restitutus was right on the money, so to say !

I any hall of fame, one must put Jesus right up front. One can borrow the words of William Shakespeare and with ease apply them to the Nazarene: “His life was gentle, and the elements so mixed in him, that nature might stand up and say to all the world, ‘This was a man’”. One fine evening, the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was hosting a dinner party. His well-fed and glittering guests were discussing Jesus Christ. They concluded that he was nothing more than a remarkable man. Their Emperor, twirling his brandy in a snifter glass, cut across them. “Gentlemen,” he said, “I know men; and Jesus Christ is more than a man.” Why Napoleon or Shakespeare ? Listen to our own great Vivekananda – Bengali Hindu philosopher. Vivekananda declared: “If I see Jesus before me, I shall put my hand into my heart, extract my blood and spread it on his feet.” Jesus used paste from spittle and mud; here is a man who would smear his own blood on his feet.

But coming back to our once blind man, Mr. Restored. He throws a fresh card on the table by confidently declaring to his enraged inquisitors, “He is a prophet !”  They are not amused, but shout in a hot frenzy, “Are you trying to teach us ?” Jesus must surely have expected that the poor fellow would get hot tongue and cold shoulder from the authorities. So he comes around to pick up the pieces. At this point begins this magnificent dialogue:

“Do you believe in the Son of man ?”

“Sir, tell me who he is that I may believe in him.”

“You are looking at him; he is speaking to you.”  And the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and worshipped him. You must have noticed a progression in the faith of the man. The man realised that Jesus was not merely a man but a prophet, and more than a prophet – the Son of God! The Spirit moved him from unbelief to saving faith in Jesus. Little by little we too have progressed in our faith: from parents to school, through first Holy Communion to Confirmation, through having to deal with doubt and difficult challenges to our faith like failure, disappointments, loss. Yet holding fast, the Spirit led us to a stronger faith. Just as God manifested his works in the blind man, so has he manifested his works in us.

The awe-struck Restitutus called Jesus divine, not because he chose to but because he felt compelled to. The man had been blind, but remember, he was never dumb. There is a rich vein of irony in this story. We can see how God turns the world’s expectations on their head. Those who are so sure they can see are, in truth, blind. Those who start out blind take a risk at Jesus’ invitation and end up seeing.  They pass from blindness to sight, and from sight to insight. The blind man now not only sees the world but he perceives Jesus as Saviour God. He contrasts with the neighbours, who remain in ignorance; his parents who cannot take a risk; and the Pharisees who refuse to believe what their eyes see. No one is so blind as the person who refuses to see.

The miracle also tells us much about Jesus. The blind man did not ask for a cure. Jesus volunteered it. He was touched to the quick by the man’s condition and offered the miracle. Nor did it matter that the blind man hadn’t the foggiest who Jesus was. Jesus is simply a soft touch for the underdog. Notice, too, he does not send the healing by Speed post or E Mail. This is a hands-on Jesus. Verse 11 of this gospel tells us he touched the man’s eyes and washed them with his own hands. If Christ had carried a visiting card, it would read: “Jesus Christ, son of man. Totally available all times.”

Lent is moving at a fast clip. How about helping a handicapped brother or sister before Easter find us handicapped ourselves.

PRAYER (by David Adam)

Light of the world,

Enter into the depth of our lives.

Come into the dark

and hidden places.

Walk in the storehouse

of our memories.

Hear the hidden secrets

of the past.

Plumb the very depths

of our being.

Be present through the silent hours,

and bring us safely

to your glorious life.

THIRD SUNDAY LENT Cycle "A"

THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT

Cycle “A”: The Samaritan Woman

Introduction: When Jesus asked the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well for some water to drink,

He was actually expressing the thirst of God for every man and woman, and to awaken in our hearts the desire for the gift of the “spring of water within welling up for eternal life” (Jn 4,14). Only the water, given by the Son of God, can satisfy our restless hearts, which sin and worldly joys could not do.

Jesus repeatedly ignored the religious and cultural etiquette about man-woman relationship. He conversed at length with a foreign woman at a wayside well, a woman to whom he had not even been properly introduced. This Samaritan woman appeared to be a shrewd but world-weary individual. The window that Jesus opened to her past suggested that she had had a racy youth, seeking happiness in successive marriages. (How very modern.) But now the glamour and excitement had gone and she found herself left out by the other women of the village, forced to collect water alone.

She is initially suspicious of Jesus’ approach, but after his offer of  “living water”, she realises he is a deeply religious man. She adopts a tone of gentle irony, pointing out that he hasn’t got a bucket. However, a spring of living water would be very convenient and save her a lot of labour. But Jesus cuts through her shield of dry humour by his divine knowledge of her past history. By disclosing details of her personal life, he won her faith so that, like many other Samaritans in that town, she came to acknowledge him as ‘the Saviour of the world’ (v. 42). The woman had the courage to be honest, and this moves the conversation to a deeper level. She asks the religious questions that puzzled her: “Where is God to be worshipped ?” “Who’s right: the Jews or the Samaritans ?”  Jesus awakens a deeper longing in her for the Messiah. Seeing her honest openness, Jesus reveals himself as the Messiah, and he does it with a directness that not even his disciples have yet experienced. So, in striking up a conversation with the Samaritan woman, Jesus demolished another barrier of a social restraint. When we try to liberate people , we break down the walls separating people on grounds of caste, class, wealth and gender.

We can discern the originality of Jesus’ behaviour. While not denying the past, he welcomed the future; in fact, he was creating a new future for us. Jesus was never bound up by “a priori” prejudices. He watched, he listened, and he understood that the woman, her attitudes, answers, protests, expectations, her faith, all went to show him that she too was ready for the Kingdom of God. So he could speak about the new water that he would give her. In the meantime he gave her a catechetical instruction on the Holy Spirit and sanctifying grace  -  something that he had not done for his own disciples. It again goes to show that the Gospel is for everybody, and it is not surprising that non-Christians sometimes accuse us of betraying it. Jesus completed his Father’s work in the woman by giving her the living water of sanctifying grace. He wants to do the same with us: he wants to bring us into the state of grace where we are living fully the life of the Spirit. This water takes us out of death (sin, isolation, ignorance of God); it leads us into life (forgiveness, knowledge of God’s love, a living relationship with him).

Jesus called for the removal of the “line of control” between human beings. And today he also draws attention to the obstacle between ourselves and the future  -  the unexpected future that lies outside the territory of our  present habits, our likings, our ideas. God is not a fixed point. His work is not a monotonous repetition. Our God is the God of Exodus, the living God who awakens ever new and often surprising forms of life.

We need not deny our past. But let us get out of it and be better than the past. A growing child remains the same creature while being transformed all the time. So it is with each one of us, with all communities of faith, and with the Church. A church that does not renew itself is doomed. True fidelity to the past involves openness to the future. Jesus proclaimed it in public places. “The Kingdom of God is at hand. It’s here. You can feel its pressure.” And he added, “So, repent.” Or “Change your hearts.” If we want to follow Christ we are vowed to daily conversion, to a change of heart, a melting of those hardened attitudes towards certain people.

This season of Lent is the time to question every aspect of our life. I repeat, every aspect; not pick and choose what we are going to question and leave certain facets unchallenged because they’re too irksome to handle. We are called upon to adapt every dimension of our being to the needs of the future. Jesus, ahead of us, is always a figure on the horizon, a figure crossing the frontiers. Our society, our whole world, our church, are living through a transitional period unparalleled in history. Never has Jesus’ call been more pressing: “Change your hearts.”

See the beautiful butterflies emerging from their cocoons. We musn’t be afraid to see the cocoons breaking open to the springtime sun. For it is springtime. The Italian poet Dante’s lines are intended for us, for every day of our lives:

“Don’t you see ?

We are caterpillars born to make

that angelic butterfly

that flies freely towards justice.”

PRAYER: by Michel Quoist

To be there before you, Lord, that’s all.

To shut the eyes of my body,

To shut the eyes of my soul,

And be still and silent,

To expose myself to you who are there,

exposed to me.

To be there before you, the Eternal Presence.

I am willing to feel nothing, Lord,

to see nothing, to hear nothing.

empty of all ideas, of all images.

In the darkness,

Here I am, simply,

To meet you without obstacles,

In the silence of faith,

Before you, Lord.

This week we hear in the gospel reading the story of Jesus, tired, hot and thirsty, sitting straight down at the well. Give me a drink. This is not the social call of If Jesus Came to My House, and it is not the spiritual equivalent of a room inspection. Can I believe that the Lord needs something from me? Can I believe that his need is greater than my need to be ready for him? 

More than that, can I trust that what the Lord wants is not something that I have prepared, but what is really flowing in me – in my life, my thoughts, my fears and desires?

This is not just a nice image, it is the reality of prayer. This is the good news, that “Christ died for us while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8) – in other words, before we were ready. Christ is already sitting on the well of my life, tired, hot and thirsty. 

Can I accept this encounter of unreadiness? Can I trust that this encounter of unreadiness between myself and the Lord is itself the gift that God is offering, the greatest “if only you knew” of my life? Can I believe that allowing the Lord to encounter me, a sinner, without preparation, will uncover in me a spring that will never run dry?

Walk past the tap. Go down to the creek. More than what you have prepared, Jesus wants what flows.

SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT "A"

SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT

Cycle “A”: Gen 12, 1-4a; 2 Tim 1, 8b-10, Mt 17, 1-9

Introduction: When Pope John Paul II introduced the Five Mysteries of Light into the weekly cycle of the Rosary meditations, he filled what had long been missing from the existing fifteen decades: the public ministry of Jesus. In each mystery Jesus reveals himself, enlightening and illuminating our lives. On this second Sunday of Lent, the liturgy focuses on the fourth of these mysteries: the Transfiguration of the Lord, according to the tradition of Mathew. In his Transfiguration Jesus gave us a glimpse of his divinity, but also reminds us that his glory will be seen in the shame and shadow of the Cross. In the life of Jesus, shame and glory are the two sides of the same coin. And so it almost inevitably will be in ours, especially the shame of our sins. But if we offer ourselves with all our sinfulness to our Father, we shall hear him say to us as he said to Jesus, “You are my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” So with great confidence in our most loving Father we entrust ourselves to him and confess our sins: “I confess…”

The Homily:On this beautiful second Sunday of Lent we recall the splendid Transfiguration of the Lord. We believers are witnesses to the true nature of Jesus Christ as Son of God, a nature that revealed itself in a burst of dazzling light, the pure transparency of divinity. Today Jesus tells us what God is like .Yet the picture is not complete unless you keep observing. The Son of God is not content to stay in a blaze of glory, but he begins to descend the mount in order to ascend another mount called Golgotha. And as he descends he says strange things like laying down his life as a sacrifice for all men and women. That’s the kind of God we have come to know - a God whose glory is spelled out in wounds, painful cries, darkness and death. A God pretty much like we are; worse off than we are. Every time we celebrate the holy sacrifice of the Mass we renew that mysterious word and sacrifice of Jesus, and in the process of our celebration we beseech God to take possession of our hearts and transfigure them.

Now let us listen to Peter as he blurts out that famous line, “Master, it is good for us to be here.” His words came tumbling out, the best he could muster in his wonderment and admiration at the splendour he witnessed. He could say no better: his words were the best expression of his intelligence and the exhilaration of his emotions, “Master, it good for us to be here.”

My dear friends, have we not sometimes said the same, when we felt the nearness of the Lord and were fain to leave his presence as he drew us closer to himself, and we sensed his irresistible attraction, the beauty of his Godhead? And we said something like what Peter said: “Lord, it feels so good to be with you.”

My dear friends, our Lord Jesus bids us to hunger for him. Faced with the insatiable desires of the marketplace, we are invited, not to repression, but to hunger for something more than the marketplace. We are passionate people, and to kill all passion would be to stunt our humanity and allow it to wither. That would make us preachers of death. Instead, we must be liberated into deeper desire for the boundless goodness of God. So we beg God to make himself irresistible; that our fascination for him may never wither away. Our desires go astray, not because we ask for too much, but because we have settled for too little, for tiny meaningless satisfactions. The ideal for us is not to control our appetite at all, but to allow them full rein in the wake of an uncontrolled appetite for God.  The advertisements that line our roads invite us to struggle against each other, to trample on each other in the competition to fulfil our endless desires. But our God offers us the satisfaction of infinite desire freely and as a gift, for God is the most beautiful, most attractive, most lovable and satisfying of all.  The glory of Jesus is our glory, too.

On the mountaintop, Peter, James and John saw Jesus as he really is, and as he would be after his resurrection. They had a glimpse of his true glory as Son of god. Yet after this they had to go back down the mountain and continue their lives. Later, they had to endure the suffering of seeing Jesus die on the cross before they experienced the joy of his resurrection. We may have experienced times when we feel especially close to God, when we seem to glimpse his glory and are filled with his life. But these feelings do not last. We have to live our own lives in a world full of evil and suffering, where God seems distant. It is then that we can recall the times when God was close to us. They remind us that God is real, and that we have the hope of future glory to strengthen us. For Jesus, his glory and suffering were intimately linked. We pray that in our suffering we may believe that his risen life is at work in our very pain.

Yes, indeed, we are all awkward customers, plagued by our own follies and by the very many difficulties of being human in a world that runs to so much inhumanity. We are not easy to work with or to work through.

It is important to handle every experience to the best of your ability now. You may have to practise more patience, strive that much harder, reach inside yourself for a little more strength, and muster a little more faith in God and yourself. If after you have given everything you have to give, you still come up short, you will have nothing to be ashamed of. You can experience the inner peace of those who know they gave their all. You will be a success regardless of the outcome. You will be better, not bitter, knowing that in God’s presence you did your best.

So, my dear friends, we can say, and with all others who bear witness to the work of God in the midst of us, we can say with thanksgiving and wonder:

“Lord, it is good to be here.”  “It’s good to be with you, Lord. May I be with you forever.”

PRAYER: One of the best-loved hymns written by Isaac Watts of Southampton (1674 – 1748: 74 years)

Lord of the worlds above,

How pleasant and how fair

The dwellings of thy love,

Thy earthly temples are!

To thine abode

My hearts aspires,

With warm desires

To see my God;

O happy souls that pray

Where God appoints to hear!

O happy men that pay

Their constant service there!

They praise thee still;

And happy they

That love the way

To Zion’s hill.

They go from strength to strength

Through this dark vale of tears,

Till each arrives at length,

Till each in heaven appears:

O glorious seat!

When God our King

Shall thither bring

Our willing feet.