Fifth Sunday of Easter
Sometimes, scripture overwhelms me. It overwhelms me not because of its demands but because the demands seem overwhelming in the context in which I must live it. If there were no people except the ones we get along with, Christianity would be so easy. In today’s gospel reading, Jesus says to his disciples, “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn 13:34-35). In the very contentious times in which we live, Jesus’ “new commandment” seem unrealistic.
Third Sunday of Easter
Last Monday, I celebrated the 28th anniversary of my Ordination. When I joined the seminary in 1983 and was ordained in 1994, I would not have imagined that I will be where I am today. On July 1, I will become the pastor of five parishes. If I must be honest, I am nervous. The immensity of the task is overwhelming. I realize that I am a certain juncture of my life.
But let me draw the attention away from myself. Perhaps, we have all been at important junctures of lie - a new job, a promotion, a termination, a transition, news of a serious or terminal illness, a life-threatening surgery, an age milestone, a break-up, a divorce, a death.
Second Sunday of Easter: Sunday of Divine Mercy
This is the story of Maria Faustina Kowalska, the nun to whom we owe the Divine Mercy Devotion. She lived for a brief 33 years. That is the same number of years we assume Jesus lived. Born in Głogoweic, Poland, in1905, she first felt the call to become a religious at the age of 7. Her parents refused her because of her young age. Then at 16, after a social dance at a park, she literally ran away from home to go to Warsaw. She knocked at the doors of many convents but no place would accept her. One of them even said, “We do not accept maids here!” When the mother superior of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy did receive her, she did not have the money to pay for her religious habit. She then worked as a housemaid to make the money she needed. After her religious profession, and then as a nun, she was often assigned menial tasks, sometimes as a cook and other times as a gardener in the convents. It was during these times that Christ was beginning to reveal himself to her as ‘Divine Mercy.’ When she first shared of her apparitions, visions, and conversations with her companions, nobody believed her. On the contrary, she was asked to submit herself to psychological tests. Fortunately, when she was found to be of sound mind, her confessor began to give credibility to her mystical experience. Soon thereafter, however, she was stuck with illness (most probably tuberculosis), and on Oct 5, 1938, she was gone! Before her death, though, she had predicted a terrible war. Not one, but two World Wars happened soon after. Her diary, which she kept throughout these years, has now become legendary. It has also become the prayer of the millions of people who pray the chaplet of Divine Mercy.
Easter Sunday The Resurrection of the Lord
It was January 11, 2019. I had been back home only for two days. That was the day I lost my beloved father. Dad was buried in the local parish cemetery. In Kerala, one of the 29 States in India, common Catholic cemeteries are rare. This is because from ancient times, parishes have maintained their own private but smaller cemeteries for their parishioners. This has huge implications for parishioners. They cannot own permanent individual graves for their loved ones. After three years, the remains of their loved ones are reverently and prayerfully removed and put in a common well along with other people’s remains. Someone else is then buried in the same grave. My family always knew that we would have my father’s grave only for three years. But then, the pandemic ravaged the world. More people died than they would otherwise die normal times. We barely had my father’s grave for two years. On my last visit home, I went to visit my dad’s grave. It was no longer there. Someone else had already been buried in the same grave.
Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion
Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness;
and found human in appearance,
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross. (Phil 2:6-8)
Basing myself on four ideas: Jesus emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, and humbled himself becoming obedient unto death, I would like to offer this simple meditation.
Fifth Sunday of Lent
Find today's reflection at this link:
"Neither Do I Condemn You:" A Rereading of the Woman Caught in Adultery.
Fourth Sunday of Lent
We have heard the parable of the prodigal many times. I feel that Jesus left the parable left wide open. For example, did the older son join in the celebration? Did the older son finally see the father’s point of view? Did the two brothers reconcile? What kind of a son was the younger son once he got back? Like a good movie or a novel, this parable cries for a sequence.
Whereas the parable is left open-ended, the introduction to parable is very clear. In fact, the introduction to the parable is as important as the parable itself. Luke introduces the parable in these words, “Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So to them Jesus addressed this parable....” Luke tells us Jesus’ target audience (the Pharisees and the scribes), the problem he was trying to address (the complaint of Pharisees and the scribes that Jesus eats with tax collectors and sinners), and the problem itself (tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus).
Third Sunday of Lent
Over the last couple of years, I have been offering adult faith-formation series based on some of the great saints of the church. Thus far I have reflected on John of the Cross, Thérèse of Lisieux, Oscar Romero, and Francis of Assisi spanning from the 12th Century all the way to the 20th Century. Preparing for each of the series, reflecting on them, and delivering them has not only been a fascinating experience for me, but it has also been life-transforming. There is one thing that is common to every one of these Saint’s lives – a pivotal moment that changed the trajectory of their lives. For John of the Cross, it was his 9 months in prison imprisoned by his own brothers; for Thérèse of Child Jesus it was her ninth Christmas; for Oscar Romero it was the assassination of Fr. Rutillio Grande; and for Francis of Assisi, it was his embrace of the despised leper.
Second Sunday of Lent
There are two supernatural events narrated in today’s scripture readings. The first event concerns Abraham (Gn 15:5-12, 17-18). Abraham heard God speak saying, “I have brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you possession of this land.” But Abraham needed a clarification. “O Lord GOD,” he asked, “how am I to know that I shall possess it?” After God instructs Abraham to prepare various animals for sacrifice and after much patient waiting, a “smoking fire pot and a flaming torch” passed between the pieces of flesh and consumed the sacrifice. If you try to imagine the scene, that must have been a spectacular sight!
The second event is the Transfiguration of Jesus. Once again, the experience is supernatural. There were no animals for sacrifice, a fire pot, or a flaming torch this time, but the scene is not any less spectacular. Peter, James, and John not only got a glimpse of the transfigured Jesusbut like a movie trailer, important figures from salvation history appeared in the scene to join and converse with Jesus.
What goes on your mind as you hear these stories? They seem events in the far distant past, don’t they? Especially since such experiences are uncommon for us, perhaps, there is even an inclination to treat them as unrealistic.
First Sunday of Lent
Scripture Readings
Temptations are real. Temptations are inevitable. Temptations are an everyday affair. Yet, we do not spend too much time reflecting on them. This is because our focus is on avoiding temptations rather than succumbing to them.
The Gospels, however, tell us about the temptations of Jesus. They reflect upon them. They not only tell us what Jesus’ temptations were, but they also tell us what Christ did when he was tempted and how Jesus overcame the temptations. In fact, today’s gospel seems to suggest that Christ’s temptations were not a chance happening. Jesus was “led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted…” (Lk 4:1). In other words, Jesus went into the desert to face his temptations.
Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Words matter. Perhaps you have heard much about the baptism controversy that as gone viral in the Catholic and social media world. Fr. Andre Arango, a priest in Arizona, substituted the word ‘I’ with ‘We’ in the words of baptism. Instead of, “I baptize you…,” over the years at thousands of baptisms he said, “We baptize you…” After much discussion between the diocese and the Vatican, all the baptisms performed by Fr. Arango were declared invalid. People went back and forth about whether a small pronoun can make all the difference. Well, it does. Imagine that at a wedding, instead of, “I do,” one of them said, “We do!” The wedding would be invalid. Small words have huge implications. Similarly, in the Sacrament of Baptism, when a minister baptizes, Catholics believe that it is really Christ who is working through that person. When the word 'we' is used, it means that the community of worshippers is doing the baptism. That is what makes the baptisms done by Fr. Arango invalid. Words matter. Even small words carry big implications.
Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Different elements make what we call religion, faith tradition, Christianity, or Catholicism. A religion compasses many dimensions – revelation, doctrines, traditions, rituals, practices, and ethics. Together, they make a religious tradition, and more specifically for us, Catholicism.
During different days and seasons of the year, the scripture readings at liturgy focus on different dimensions of our faith. Sometimes the focus is on revelation. For instance, God appearing to Moses in the burning bush is an example of divine revelation. Similarly, we consider Jesus’ incarnation to be the climax of divine self-revelation. At other times, the focus is on doctrines. From the creation story, for example, emerge our doctrines about God, human origin, sin, and redemption. In the New Testament Jesus’ teaching on the kingdom of God and the Paraclete are examples of doctrines. Often enough, the focus of the scripture readings is also on rituals. The institution of the Passover in the book of Exodus and the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper are examples of communal ritual celebrations. And finally, there is ethic or morality - the demands that revelation, doctrine, and rituals make on our daily conduct.
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today we hear from the Sermon on the Plain. The Sermon on the Plain is Luke version of Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount. Much of the content between the two versions of the Sermon is very similar, but there are some key differences. I would like focus on just one of them. Unlike Matthew’s Beatitudes which focus on the “Blessed are…”, Luke’s Beatitudes are divided into two sections. The first four Beatitudes promise ‘blessedness’ and the second four declare ‘woes.’ The “blessed” are contrasted from those, against whom, Jesus proclaims “woes”. The contrast is between the ‘poor’ and the ‘rich’, between the ‘hungry’ and those who are ‘filled’, between those who ‘weep’ now and those who ‘laugh’ now, and finally, between those who are ‘hated for the sake of the Son of Man’, and those about whom ‘people speak well’.
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Over the last couple of months, I have been accompanying a very dear friend of mine through his terminal illness. I would describe this friend as “a good man.” He is a really good man - married, faithful to his wife, children and family, God-fearing, and genuinely good to everybody. In more ways than one, he is a model for me. As the end of his life approaches, he shared some of his fears with me. Prominent among them is his fear of standing before God. As a pastor and friend, I know that he has nothing to fear. His life has been right and just. Yet, he says that he is afraid. I have not reached a conclusion whether his fear rises from the religious formation he received as a child, or it is the “Fear of the Lord,” which we know as one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps it is the latter. This latter gift is also called “awe of God.” It means a healthy fear of God.
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today’s gospel reading is from the gospel of John. It is important for us to know that John does not have an infancy narrative or the genealogy of Jesus. Instead, John begins his story with the real origin of Jesus – “In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God.” John’s Christmas is described in the simple words, “The Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us.” Since John does not have an infancy narrative, he does not have the traditional story of the epiphany with the three magi. Today’s gospel reading of the miracle of turning water into wine is John’s epiphany story. That is why this gospel account ends with the words, “Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs at Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.”
The Baptism of the Lord
Of all the events of Christ’s life, the Baptism of Jesus is the most difficult one to wrap our minds around. Jesus’ baptism raises questions. Jesus was baptized at the hands of John the Baptist. But John’s baptism was a baptism for the forgiveness of sins. If Jesus was without sin, then why was he baptized? Second, Jesus is the very source and font of all the effects of a Christian baptism - cleansing from original sin, becoming a temple of God’s glory, and a new life through the Holy Spirit. Does it not seem strange that Jesus should subject himself to the very graces, of which, he himself is the source?
The Epiphany of the Lord
Epiphany – meaning, ‘manifestation’. It is an event as important as Christmas itself. Jesus incarnated at Christmas and Jesus manifested to the world at Epiphany are two sides of the same coin.
We get much of the information about the magi directly from the gospel of Matthew. Matthew tells us that magi from the East arrived in Jerusalem and finally in Bethlehem where they did homage to the Christ-child and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh (Mt 2:1-12). But there is information we do not have in the gospels that are now part of the tradition. For example, Matthew does not say how many magi were there. That there were three kings is an extra-biblical tradition. There are many interesting developments in the tradition of the magi/three kings, and today I would draw some practical implications from the biblical and extra-biblical texts and traditions.
Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph
We have just celebrated Christmas. When we think of God’s plan and all the ways in which God could have come to us, is it not truly amazing that Christ came into a home? I find it fascinating that Christ was born into a family. The implication of this reality is immense. Just as Christ’s incarnation gave new dignity to the human race, Christ’s birth into a family brought new dignity to the human family, to the home.
I offer three practical implications of Christ's birth into a family for our families.
Fourth Sunday of Advent
The Beacons of Light initiative of the Archdiocese has been a needed but complex and challenging process. Personally, having been right in the midst of the process as a parish priest, its impact on what lies ahead is frightening. Considering the humongous task ahead, honestly, I feel very, very small. I wonder if you have felt similarly – where an experience or a life situation makes you feel small.
Third Sunday of Advent
The third Sunday of Advent is always celebrated as “Gaudete Sunday!” Translated as “Rejoice Sunday,” the name comes directly from the scripture readings chosen for the day. “Shout for joy, O daughter Zion! Sing joyfully, O Israel! Be glad and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem!” (Zep 3:14). In today’s second reading from Philippians, Paul says, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: Rejoice!” (Phil 4:4). The joy that today’s reading is referring to is the joy of God’s presence – God’s healing, restoring, reconciling, comforting, redeeming presence!
In three points, let us try to understand the joy of Gaudete Sunday.