Let the Truth be Told

 The Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle C): January 30, 2022

Readings: Jeremiah 1:4–5, 17–19; Psalm 71:1–6, 15–17; 1 Corinthians 12:31–13:13; Luke 4:21–30

Jesus is driven out of the synagogue in Nazareth

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The liturgical calendar of this week has been very rich with the celebration of the life of many saints, namely, Sts Francis de Sales, Timothy and Titus, Angela Merici, Thomas Aquinas and the Conversion of St Paul. We need such holy men and women to inspire us when things go bad in us or when we get bored with the things which do not seem to have changed. Each saint that we remembered had something special to contribute towards the growth of our Church or humanity in general. St Thomas Aquinas (1227-1274) is one of the splendid personalities that the Church produced in the medieval ages. His contribution to the intellectual life of the Church in general and global human civilization, in particular, is immense. He is known to have combined both reason and faith in his thought process in order to assent to truth. We might not use his Summa Theologiae very much in our daily life but certainly, his beautiful hymns that he composed for Corpus Christi are still on our tongues like Tantum Ergo Sacramentum, Panis Angelicus, etc. This Sunday, the liturgical readings too have such a bent of Aquinas where they call us for something different and invite us to follow and live the truth.

1. Jesus purifies all that is false

The gospel reading (Luke 4:21–30) from St Luke is the continuation of last Sunday. Jesus is in his hometown synagogue. Probably, until now Jesus must have been an active listener. But today, after reading the scroll of Isaiah which is known as the Nazareth Manifesto, Jesus begins to speak from the pulpit and explains its relevance and significance. The great works of prophets Elijah and Elisha do not interest his townsfolk instead pricks their conscience very badly. Such behaviour of Jesus which must have been contrary to the existing rules was quickly called into question. Moreover, Jesus quickly picks up the murmuring of the people and begins to substantiate his arguments on his role in their society by narrating the episodes from the Old Testament. People become furious and hostile. Instead of peace and tranquillity in the Lord's house, anger and frustration grow among the attendees. The truth is not allowed to be heard. Jesus is simply kicked out of the temple. 

Called to Unity for a Greater Cause

 The Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle C): January 23, 2022

Readings: Nehemiah 8:2–6, 10; Psalms 19:8–10, 15; 1 Corinthians 12:12–30; Luke 1:1–4, 4:14–21

Jesus is reading the scroll of Isaiah in the Synagogue of Nazareth 

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By the time we celebrate the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, we have prayed a weeklong prayer for Christian unity. Perhaps, in a Catholic-dominated country like India where the Orthodox and the Protestant brothers and sisters make comparatively a smaller number, the urgency for Christian Unity has not taken deep roots. This argument is based on the number of articles that are published in the theological and popular Catholic journals of India. Even if I search with a floodlight, sadly but hardly any article on ecumenism could be found in our journals today! Having myself lived in the heart of the robust and influential with an almost State Religion status of the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow for many years, brushing aside any sort of ecumenical fervour in spirit and action would cost dearly your apostolic endeavours as a priest. In this context, the liturgical readings of this Sunday remind us very powerfully that we are all called to be part of the one body, one book and one mission, in fact, called to be ecumenical in every way. 

1. Lack of unity is self-destruction 

Let's start with the book of Nehemiah which speaks about the sad state of affairs of the Israelites (Nehemiah 8:2–6, 10). Priest Ezra and the captive Israelites return from exile in Babylon, the infamous Babylonian captivity which took place in 586 BC.  Foreign and non-Jewish king Cyrus of Persia not only sends back the Jews to their own Fatherland but also rebuilds their ruined temple in 538 BC. Then Ezra and Nehemia having rebuilt the ruined city and its walls come together with the Israelites to celebrate their unity by reading the book of Thora, the scriptures. Both Ezra and Nehemiah are contemporaries. They are given the task of rebuilding the Israelites, their temple, their land, and their nation. People quickly understand that if there was such a destruction of their national culture, tradition, religion, freedom and prosperity and very sense of nation, it is due to the Babylonian captivity, it is because of their discord with God and one another. If the people had to live in bondage first with Babylonians and then with Persians it's because of their lack of unity among themselves. They had forgotten the God of their ancestors. They had neglected their covenant with the Lord and His commandments. Moreover, they had gone behind the pagan Gods, both king and his people. Now, a new stage was set for the renewal of the covenant and the re-establishment of the Law of Moses as the people’s rule of life. 

Participating in the Joy of Others

The Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle C): January 16, 2022

Readings: Isaiah 62:1–5; Psalm 96:1–3, 7–10; 1 Corinthians 12:4–11; John 2:1–12

Jesus performs a miracle in Cana from water into wine

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During this Christmas Season, I witnessed a number of weddings. I attended a few of them either presiding over the Eucharist or as a preacher. In fact, I had done hardly before. In my 10 years as a priest abroad, (i.e., until 2016, in the US, UK and Russia), I blessed or attended no Church weddings at all! The recent weddings in my native place gave me a glimpse into how India has changed in its way of celebrating love and life together. The sanity and sanctity of wedding celebrations have been taken over immensely by the external pomp and glamour so much so that the reality of life, its context and content has little meaning. I also wondered in such external celebrity hype and over-commercialization of the weddings, does the question of suffering and sin, anger and frustration, loneliness and stubbornness in a couple's life could be transformed into harmony and peace, joy and laughter, fellowship and togetherness in the long run. In contrast to this, we have a wedding feast at Cana attended by Jesus and his beloved mother Mary. 

1. Large heartedness of Mary 

On the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, we have a Gospel passage from St John enumerating a beautiful episode of the wedding celebration in Cana (John 2:1–12).  In fact, St John the Evangelist gives us the first miracle of Jesus ever performed in his Gospel and that too happens to be at the marriage feast. As the passage suggests to us, it is a social celebration where everyone seems to have been invited, Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the disciples. There seems to be a close family bond between the marriage party and the family of Jesus. What is fascinating is the initiative of Mary in proposing to Jesus to do something for the marriage host to save his self-respect. Mary had absolute faith in her son and would respond immediately. Jesus' quick intervention was utterly necessary to save the skin of the host. It was a question of lack of wine at the wedding party. The scarcity of a traditional drink would spoil the whole celebration itself.

Called to be the Beloved Forever

 The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord - Cycle C: January 9, 2022

Readings: Isaiah 42:1–4, 6–7; Psalm 29:1–4, 9–10; Acts 10:34–38; Luke 3:15–16, 21–22

A mosaic on the Baptism of the Lord by Fr Marko Rupnik SJ

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Most of the cultures or traditions have definite ways of educating their people. For example, in ancient India, there were sages or gurus who had mastered a certain kind of ability to give spiritual depth to the seekers. They anointed their disciples and continued the legacy of their masters. Russian Christian tradition and history speaks about Starets (Старец) or elders who were spiritual masters in their own capacity, and common men and women would run to them seeking advice on spiritual and other matters of life. The imagery that comes to our mind as we celebrate the Baptism of our Lord is that of an elder, John the Baptist leading young Jesus into a ministry of faith and service in building the Kingdom of God. There is someone who is an experienced wise man initiating or laying a strong foundation towards the future work of a person of God.

1. God's way of leading is wholesome

Fyodor Dostoevsky, the author of the classical novel Brothers of Karamazov takes Starets Zosima as a spiritual guru in educating his son Aloysia. The role of persons like elder Zosima is to show a path of morality, righteousness and truth to people. We need to have virtuous and upright people who already walked that path for a long time. Such leaders and teachers are like signposts or like educating a child to walk. Today in the liturgical readings, we heard the names of prophet Isaiah and John the Baptist, both in different times of the history of humanity guided their people in their cosmic and acosmic quest for truth.

God's Revelation at an Opportune Time

 The Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord (Cycle C): January 02, 2021

Readings: Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13; Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6; Matthew 2:1-12

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As we celebrate the feast of the Epiphany of the Lord, we are on the threshold of a new year. Perhaps, our hearts and minds are full of dreams and aspirations, plans and projects for the New Year 2022.  We might be having a number of commitments and resolutions, ideas and pledges for the year which is ahead of us. We make plans and God blesses them. We work towards the implementation of tasks ahead of us while God realizes them silently. We have said goodbye to the year 2021 which was in many ways not so kind to us with the second wave of Corona pandemic taking away many of our near and dear ones and making many orphans and jobless.  We hope that the New Year 2022 truly becomes a year of grace and blessings, peace and prosperity.  I wish all my readers greetings of the New Year.

1. What belongs to God is known widely and urgently

Today we commemorate the familiar account of the visit of the Three Wise Men also called as Magi to the little baby Jesus. The word Epiphany literally means "a showing," "a revelation," "making known," which emphasizes the revelation of Jesus to the world. In fact, these three wise men are travellers from the East belonging to a certain category of people in society who exercised certain power or authority. Unlike the Shepherds who are simple and always on their feet, the Magi are learned and come to know the birth of Jesus through the books and knowledge of the celestial signs namely astrology and come from the East. From the East sun rises and makes the world bright and beautiful. So too the Magi reveal to the world, who the baby Jesus is all about, through the symbolic gifts they offer to baby Jesus namely, gold, frankincense and myrrh.