Come Thou Long Expected Jesus

(Photo courtesy: Jean-Mark Arkalian)

“You too must stand ready because the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”  Matthew 24:37-44

This year, on 01st of December we begin our countdown to Christmas, and we are reminded that this season is not just time to prepare for celebrating Christ’s birth.  Instead, we are pointed to wait in hope and expectation for Christ who is to come.  Gladly, God does not stop surprising us through his Son. 

As Advent starts on Sunday and a new liturgical year, we hasten to begin a fresh new year by waiting for the Lord Jesus Christ, who will manifest himself to us just like us taking the form of a human person. 

Even though we do not know the day or the hour, we are told we must stand ready and waiting, so that we are not caught unprepared.  

With this beginning of the Season of Advent – a beautiful season when we prepare ourselves to celebrate the coming of Christ at Christmas, our hearts should be full of positive expectations.  But we also need to prepare ourselves, really question ourselves, about whether we’re ready for the coming of Christ in Judgement at the end of the world.  

Over the next few weeks, our readings will focus on the longings of the people of Israel for the coming of the Messiah through our readings from the prophet Isaiah and the Gospel readings surrounding the birth of Jesus. A number of readings, like this weekend’s reading from the Gospel of Matthew, are the stories which Jesus tells about the end of the world.

The liturgy of Advent is a school in which we learn to listen and to wait with expectation and with hope.

§ We learn that God encounters human history and sanctifies it by His life, death and resurrection.  So time, history has a meaning and our life is significant in God's plan.

§ God does not abandon us or our world but continues to live in it with patience with great simplicity and sobriety. Thus calling us to a new life of the Kingdom where joy of peace, truth and justice are possible.

§ Advent allows us to enter into the deeper meaning of the reality of life, suffering, despair, pain, loneliness, powerlessness and so on and so forth. All these find their fullest expression when we realise that our Saviour is with us "Emmanuel". God never lets us down.

§ With its incredible power of hope, Advent opens ourselves to greater and newer possibilities. By renewing our life in the Holy Spirit, the Lord remains in our time and for all time, thus assisting us in carrying the message of our Saviour to our brothers, sisters and creation.  In other words, God comes to us in our misery and need, in truth and love, thus the second person of the Trinity should become man to the humanity.

§ Among the graces of Advent is openness and humility. These give us the freedom to learn how we can best serve, "our Lord who has become man, for me." (Sp. Ex. §104)  

A few things might help us in this Advent Season:

± We can show this readiness to welcome Christ in how we welcome others.  

± By reaching out to our sisters and brothers when they are in need. 

± By standing alongside them and working with them to build a better future.  

± By supporting those who are vulnerable because of their age, illness or poverty. 

± And by ensuring that all people feel valued, respected, safe and loved.

Eternal God,

you will come when we do not expect you.  

Help us to welcome you now in one another,  

to reach out to our sisters and brothers,

who are in need of care and support.

And in this way may we be found ready,

when you come again in glory.  

O Wisdom, Lord and Ruler, Root of Jesse, Key of David, Rising Sun, King of the Nations, Emmanuel, Come, Lord Jesus.

Amen.

A happy Advent to you!

- Olvin Veigas, SJ

01 December 2019

Advent: Waiting with Joyful Hope

01st Sunday of Advent - Readings: Isaiah 2:1–5; Romans 13:11–14: Matthew 24:37–44

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The readings for the first Sunday of Advent are very enriching. They are full of joyful hope, waiting for a future which is certain only in God. 

Prophet Isaiah is a good example of the kind of hope that flows when our vision has been touched by God. Isaiah preaches to his people who are forlorn, tiered of waiting for liberation. Despair and desolation was in abundance among his flock. Century after century of subjugation had lead the people to disown their God of ancestors. Instead, Isaiah is full of hope. Isaiah trusted in the Lord so strongly no words of discouragement would lead him to abandon his God. He sees the fingerprints of God and the subtle movements of God’s Spirit. Isaiah recognised that his nation’s sufferings were not meaningless but a key part in God’s plan for the salvation of the world. However, the present might be distressing and painful, he could see a bigger picture. Isaiah had hope.

"In the days to come the mountain of the Temple of the Lord shall tower above the mountains and be lifted higher than the hills. All the nations will stream to it. …………He will wield authority over the nations and adjudicate between many peoples; these will hammer their swords into ploughshares, their spears into sickles. Nation will not lift sword against nation, there will be no more training for war. O House of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord."

St Paul in his letter to the Christians in Rome encourages them to live their life fully according to their new covanent of love. Through their baptism they have become children of light. Therefore, St. Paul summoned them to rise from their slumber:

"You must wake up now: our salvation is even nearer than it was when we were first converted. The night is almost over, it will be daylight soon."

And in our Gospel reading Jesus commands us: "Stay awake, because you do not know the day when your master is coming." The persecutions, sufferings have meaning only when we put our trust in our Lord. Every Christian is called to dream, to dream about God. 

Keeping our sight on God we must move on that road that leads us to light out of darkness. We are invited as we begin this new liturgical year to leave behind the works of darkness, and all that stops us from reaching to God. We shall strive to be part of that new world order founded on the principles and dynamism of our Lord Jesus Christ, where the Holy Spirit bestows on us with his plentiful gifts and graces. May we be truly children of hope. 

- Olvin Veigas, SJ

1st December 2019

Align with God and You will Shine Brightly

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time C - Readings: Malachi 3:19-20A; 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12; Luke 21:5-19

(The Destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem, Francesco Hayez, 1867)

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The readings of today call us to align with God our Creator, thus we may shine brightly. We are invited not to be distracted even by beautiful parts of our life. Instead, we are called to know the reality of life. What remains with us is true reality and that true reality is God. In other words, we are invited to enter fully into God's reality.   

Gospel reading of today reminds us that not to too attached to the present state of the world - even the beautiful parts, even our life here. Because everything pales in comparison to the life God has in mind. 

The God of the scriptures is the God of righteousness. Such a God of justice lifts up the poor, holds servants in highest esteem, forgives the unforgiveable, loves those who disown Him.  We can see the God's justice from different perspectives. Justice is sun: it destroys with a blazing heat and heals with rays of light. Justice is a witness to God: it leads to martyrdom and eternal life. 

Therefore, I am called to align with God. Thus I may be healed than destroyed by God's justice. Then my identity will be perfect when I align with God's justice which comprises when I practice mercy, forgive others and myself, practice love, do good, practice service, show compassion and mercy, be nice to others and see the good in people. Thus others joy becomes my joy, others healing becomes my healing. As a consequence, I might shine brightly.

C. S. Lewis' The Great Divorce, gives allegory of the afterlife in which he tells us when people arrive in heaven, even the softest grass in heaven feels like knives to their feet. Giving witness to the Gospel is to critique of our contemporary ways of living despite the reaction they might provoke. "To live here is to change often is to become more perfect"(Newman)

St John Henry Newman wrote beautifully this poem which tells us the nature of God: "Lead, kindly light, amidst the encircling gloom, lead thou me on." In this connection, we could ask for a grace to discern our life in the Spirit, so that we authentically align with God to shine brightly on this universe. 

- Olvin Veigas, SJ

17th October 2019

Being Radically Different for the Kingdom of God

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time C - Readings: 2 Maccabees 7:1–2, 9–14; 2 Thessalonians 2:16–3:5; Luke 20:27–38

(Icon of Christ Pantocrator from Macedonia, 14th C)

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"Now he is God, not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all men are in fact alive." (Luke 28:38)

We are God's making. He created us in his image and likeness. God did not fashion death, he didn’t make it.  Could we go further, then, and see in death some kind of advantage?  The horizon is a helpful boundary to our vision. The frame of a painting can highlight the beauty and value of what is contained within.  St Ambrose recalls that ‘death was not of God’s fashioning’ (Wis 1:13) but goes on to argue that God gave us death as a 'remedy’ for our sinful and pitiful condition: ‘Deathlessness is no blessing but only a weariness if grace does not transfigure it.’ 

"God didn’t make death. God takes no delight in the ruin of anything that lives.  God created everything so that it might exist.  The creative forces at work in the cosmos are life-giving.  There is no destructive poison in them.  The underworld[a] doesn’t rule on earth." [Wisdom 1:13-15 Common English Bible (CEB)] Further the book of Wisdom says, "God created us for incorruption, and made us in the image of his own eternity, but through the devil’s envy death entered the world, and those who belong to his company experience it.  But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment will ever touch them." [Wisdom 2: 23] 

We can start to become reconciled to our mortality when we learn to see death as a new beginning, not merely an end.  God is our future and He is our end.  This is the faith of the saints.  St Thomas More, the day before his martyrdom, wrote to his daughter Margaret Roper, praying that ‘we maie merily meete in heaven’. 

We will not see our end instead we will see our end in God.  If God brings forth life in us, will he not give us life even if our bodies get old, die and decomposed.  Our life after this earthly pilgrimage would be absolutely different from what we have now with all its culture, tradition, system, norms, values, patterns of seasons, etc.  Certainly, it would be another new beginning in God.

Therefore, Jesus calls us to be radically different form others but for the sake of the Kingdom. Our existential questions will have meaning only in God. Only God can give meaning to our lives.

- Olvin Veigas, SJ

10 November 2019

God Comes to Us Where We are

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time C - Readings: Wisdom 11:22-12:2; 2 Thessalonians 1:11-2:2; Luke 19:1-10

(Zacchaeus and Jesus)

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"God is lover of life" says the book of Wisdom. He has fashioned us in such a way that His dream for us is fulfilled in our life.  Therefore, God implanted in us a deep desire for him (Desiderium Dei).  Zacchaeus too had a deep desire to see Jesus and save his soul.  This aspiration of him is fulfilled when Jesus himself recognises Zacchaeus on a sycamore tree. Moreover, Jesus goes to the house of the so called "sinner" and touches the conscious of the rich man which is so beautifully gets transformed.  When we desire for God, He comes to us where we are. When we desire salvation, it comes to us where we are.   

Olvin Veigas, SJ

02 November 2019

One Year since the Operation

(Photo courtesy: Jean-Mark Arkalian)

It’s unbelievable! I am a year old since I went under the knife.  On 31st October 2018, I went though eight hours long operation, thus the agonizing Ulcerative Colitis disease was laid to rest once and for all along with my larger intestine and appendix. 

As I look back the day that I lived with so much uncertainty, fear, and anguish but also full of hope that finally I had decided to say yes to the doctor’s suggestion, certainly, since then things have brightened up.  The amount of time that I took to discern and decide on this important aspect of my life is unforgettable one.  Often, it is very difficult to take decisions that involve very much your life and its future, in spite, of ones stringent intellectual capacities or human feelings.  Often it so happens to us that the more knowledgeable you are less likely you are to take a decision for yourself.  It’s easier to suggest to someone else or decide for others. But not for you…!

I thank God today for everything that has happened to me since I made a decision to break this cycle of hospitalization, discharge, steroids, tablets, anaemia, diet, room bound life, etc, etc.  Today I am full of life and vigour, joyful and enthusiastic, hopeful and looking for the future that only God will lead.  Even though, I was not afraid of death and knowing that this disease would kill me little by little with all its pain and agony, I was afraid to be in that state of continuous pain for long. Because you can take it only to a certain extent. 

In any discernment, listening is very important.  By the time, I arrived at the decision of operation, I had stopped listening to doctors any longer.  Every doctor had given me hope that I would be healed through medication.  I have experimented with allopathic, ayurveda, siddha, naturopathy and homeopathy. In addition to cortisones, I had taken infliximab and then adalimumab biological medications, even tried with FMT therapy.  Only thing that my disease did was to help the pharma companies to become richer and have the side effects on various parts of my body deeper.   First, I received the medical treatment in Russia (Moscow) then in Italy (Rome) and finally in India.  I should say that everyone tried to give me the best medical care wherever I went.  People have been very kind to me within their limited space and time, energies and capacities.  I suppose, ultimately, we are all limited realities or unfinished realities.

When people asked me what I am doing during this sickness, being stuck to my bed and room, unhesitatingly I used to answer that I am waiting for death.  Today, I do not say that any longer.  Death might come anytime but I am sure that Ulcerative Colitis will not lead me to death.

(With my friends on the eve of my operation, 30th Oct. 2018)

On the eve of my operation in St. Philomena’s Hospital in Bangalore I was not sure what I would be expecting the next day. I had hardly slept for two hours in the night.  But, I was looking for liberation from Ulcerative Colitis from deep within.  Sr Regini of the hospital was extremely helpful since the day, I told her over the phone that I’m getting ready for an operation and needed her help very badly.  Being new to the Bangalore environment, it was a challenge in every way.  I know much better Rome, Moscow, San Francisco or London than our own Namma Bengaluru.   But I knew I was in the better hands, the Surgeon Dr Kenneth D’Cruz.  One of the well known surgeons in Bangalore had told me that he would give to Dr Kenneth eight out of ten for his professionalism.  I had met Dr Kenneth nine months ago and he had suggested me of the surgery but I had shrugged it off then. 

On the 30th of October, I received my doctor friends from Narayana Health just to give me some sort of encouragement and accompaniment.  Because I had spent large part of my working life outside the country, so I had very few local friends.  I had developed a notion over the years that it is better to have good friends than your own relatives.  For a priest this matters a lot!  My recently acquired friends helped me in this decision-making and were there in my most agonizing moments.  For me very thought of losing my larger intestine was itself a bad dream, a nightmare; moreover, not at my age.  I hadn’t met anyone with such conditions.  Dr Paul C Salins helped me in every way to discern on this important phase of my life.  I am more certain than ever that God sends always angels of good times at very important moments of life if we still hang on to Him.  Moreover, Dr Salins and Dr Samarth were there early in the morning of 31st of October just to encourage me.

One of the things that helped to calm down myself the moments before I go through the anaesthesia is what the Ayurvedic doctor MN Sudha had told me. She had said to me that when you go into the operation theatre a great fear comes into your conscious however you are strong.  Therefore imagine something that is divine, a picture of God, angel, etc.  So I had already chosen the icon of the Sacred Heart of Jesus which happens to be my favourite religious image.

In 2017, I went through 15 times colonoscopy with anaesthesia.  Each time out of curiosity, I made an futile attempt to know the last thought before I fell unconscious or what was going on in mind during that period of the effect of anaesthesia.  So too,  I cannot recall how the doctors took out my five feet long larger intestine and stitched the end part of the smaller intestine (ilium/ileal stoma) outside my stomach.  Perhaps I should not think too much about this because what is lost is gone forever and what remains here is quality life.  Now just enjoy the rest of your life!

- Olvin Veigas, SJ

31st October 2019

No Favourites but God is Open to You

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time  C - Readings:  Sirach 35:12–14, 16–18; 2 Timothy 4:6–8, 16–18; Luke 18:9–14

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Who are these Pharisee and the tax collector and why are they in the synagogue?

Why is that Jesus appreciates the tax collector over the Pharisee?

What is that we can carry home from the readings of today?

There is so much hypocrisy in our society and in people. As a result we cannot be real. Often we project what we are not. 

A humble heart serves in every way: “Humility is the foundation of all the other virtues hence, in the soul in which this virtue does not exist there cannot be any other virtue except in mere appearance” (St. Augustine).

- Olvin Veigas, SJ

27 October 2019

Don't Give up But Preach

World Mission Sunday: Readings - Isaiah 60:1-6; Romans 10:9-18; Matthew 28:16-20

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The Mission Sunday's readings remind us that each one of us, the baptised Christian is called to proclaim the Good News of our Lord Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth.  The commandment of Jesus before his ascension into heaven in Mathew's Gospel 28: 16-20, is a solid reminder that we would be continuing his work of mercy and justice, peace and truth to everyone and everywhere. 

- Olvin Veigas, SJ

20th October 2019

Your Faith has Saved You

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time C - Readings: 2 Kings 5:14-17; 2 Timothy 2:8-13; Luke 17:11-19

(Healing of the ten lepers - Photo: A. Pospelov/ www.pravoslavie.ru)

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Readings of today put us deeply into a christian perspective of faith, gratitude and missionaries of love of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Olvin Veigas, SJ

 13.10.2019