Sts. Joachim and Anne

Reflection on Sts. Joachim and Anne reminds us of the graciousness they received from God, how they have been living a righteous life in such a way Mary could be born in fullness of grace. I am slow to believe in a magical intervention of God to 'remove' the stain of sin from Mary. Instead, Immaculately conceived Mary is the fruit of filling in of grace through care and preparedness of her parents, grandparents and innumerous elements that stood with them as real presence of God through many generations. It is the work of God in humble human hearts.

'The holy' that become unworthy

 "Jesus, we have a problem to accept you into our 'holy us.' You are not fitting into our holiness codes that keep us a pure group." 'The holy' become unworthy of the gospel, because their holiness rejected the kingdom of God. Often it happens to us too. Those who think of themselves as custodians of faith and holiness become obstacle for the coming of the kingdom. Part of the WYD is "to create a more just and inclusive world." Will our holiness give space for that justice and inclusiveness?

him whom my heart loves

 

“I sought him whom my heart loves…. I will seek him whom my heart loves…. I found him whom my heart loves.” To love and to be loved is a longing and fulfilment. Love burns like fire. It extends the person, and let the love of the other enter the innermost depth.

Mary Magdalene is seen as a person filled with love for Christ.  Her experience of healing had led her to walk with Jesus very closely. She too stood by the cross with mother Mary. Her eager longing for Jesus brought her even to the tomb of Jesus very early in the morning. It was lifeless body placed in the tomb. But her love would not allow that body to take the burden and pain of lifelessness in the tomb. Because she herself had known tomb of pain and darkness.

Her healing from ‘seven devils,’ shows the freedom she entered through the love of Jesus. She experienced comfort and consolation in the love of Jesus in all the tormentation she had been suffering. True love touches our innermost being, our history, our pain, burdens, and all that shape us.   

When Jesus called, ‘Mary!’ the call once again uplifted the life and healing that Mary Magdalene had once experienced. So, the person of Mary can be seen as a person who received love, life, healing, and consolation. Her attitude was not of a bond of attachment, but a communion in love, much more than a friendship or a following.

That love made her worthy of being an apostle to the apostles. Her love made her a prophet, for she came to understand the truth of the resurrection and proclaimed, “I have seen the Lord.”

It is the same love that Jesus asks of us, in our life, devotions, prayers, offerings and all that we do. It is in the communion of love we can find our freedom and healing. It is there we are transformed into apostles. In the communion of love, we are called to respond in justice where the weak are persecuted. Only with the communion of love we can be prophets who see the truth in compassion and mercy.

Unfortunately, perhaps, this is what we desire the least. If love is absent, we don’t look for Jesus. Instead, our systems, mission, proclamation and devotions become spaces of symbols and terminologies of arrogant dogmatism, activism, and militancy, like iron rod, sword, weapons etc. Mary Magdalene invites us to reexamine our own Christless tombs and seek consolation of Christ’s love, and at the same time to stand at the tomb of Jesus to hear him calling us by our name.

Come to me ...

We are troubled and distressed. 

The presence of Christ consoles us, and strengthens us.
"I am with you" is clarified with "come to me all who are burdened..."
The comfort of God's presence is shown in "I AM who am." 

In our anxious moments, God is there by our side.

Religious resources

Religions, today, prone to separate their fold from others, and create dynamics to operate this separation in the most effective way. More than any of the virtues of religion, all claims of true/original/real faith act politically within religion itself and towards other religions. We need to begin speaking of the resources of humility, conviction, interconnection, empathy, and generosity within the scriptures, beliefs, customs, and perspectives. Absence of such elements create barriers and make them thicker and harder.

'Failure' of Jesus

 'Failure' of Jesus in his time, and in ours is that he was not ready to turn the gospel into an entertainment. Though spontaneous genuine human expressions are, of course, our incarnating capacity to receive the gospel, entertainment, we know, enthuses our emotions making us to cry, dance, ... binding us to momentary high feeling. Jesus did not offer a spiritual 'kick,' a feel good. Gospel is a filial relation, a mature response.

Wise, Learned, and the children of God

The 'children' who would inherit the kingdom of God, were the poor, the sinners, the unlearned, women, and also children according to age. They could not afford to keep separating walls if they were to survive. Instead, the scribes and the learned made themselves higher using these separating walls.

The children of God have no high walls around them that keeps them away from others and protect them in 'holiness.' The children of God 'extend their tend.'

Peace - Fear

Fear stands against truth. When fear sets into power, it abuses power and tries to destroy everything. Fear favors partiality, causes suspicion and division.

Peace is born of truth, and the truth can be understood only in peace. But if one stands for peace and truth, the first opposition will be from one's own side, because the other is expected to be seen as an enemy. The option for peace is the Christ-option. Anyone who prefers any other thing to Christ-peace-truth, that will cause fear and destruction of life.

Christ-seed

There is a Christ-seed in every creation. They are all in birthing process of bringing/ revealing Christ to another. As humans we are also groaning within the birth pang of becoming another Christ. The Gospel is the light to see the Christ seed inside of us. The Christ-inside is not a mental freedom or a psychological happiness. The kingdom within is the reality of Christ's face in our very lives, whereby all may see each other in Christ. That is the way we grow into the whole Christ.

The Sower's parable had birds, rock, and thorns to be blamed. But for those who are really interested in 'religion' often our 'religiosity' itself create noise instead of the Word. Worries in religiosity create insensitive rocks, birds and thorns.

If we desire the sprouting of the Christ-seed inside of us, we must see the Word in every being, Word in our life events, and word in history. We cannot 'enter' the whole Christ without others, all others, any other, and the other.

Spirit of the Father speaking in us

We need extraordinary courage to speak of God; not because God is to be spoken in greatness or because someone may oppose us. It is because we need an encounter with truth if we are to speak of God. Sincere contemplation in the light of grace opens to us the image of God. Though contemplation is a gift, it is not a magic. Humble practice of human virtues is necessary to nourish contemplation. As humans, the truth is known to us in human experiences and feelings. 'Spirit of the Father speaking in us' is not about metaphysical realities, it is about the truth of the presence of the kingdom in the community of creation. The truth shows to us both the beauty of it, and the ugliness due to the opposing structures we have created against grace. Truth is rejected, because many don't want a divine presence that is real and true in our humanity (The irony is that the same 'we' pretend to believe that there is a real true presence of human-God in the bread). So a practice of courage footing on our daily lives, enlivened by justice and truth is missing.

Kingdom, a free gift

 "Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils," seem to be the living signs of the kingdom of God. These signs will be absent when we we can't appear before others as mere human. Often we are under the burden of protective measures which creates barriers for curing the sick, ensuring life, bringing justice, and eradicating evils.

'God' too becomes an obstacle when God is used merely in a 'glorified' sense. There God becomes a way of escape from our human responsibilities to realise the kingdom here and now. We bypass many that deserve gratitude in just a general thanksgiving to God. Often we are concerned about sacrifices and offerings, customs and practices which are expected to bring God's blessings. We shouldn't miss the kingdom of God by overly thinking of godly things neglecting the human responses the Gospel asks of us. The freely given gospel has the deepest touch on our humanity. It is from the same humanity that we can begin to share the Gospel.

These days, neither the preachers like to preach, nor the audience like to hear that the kingdom of God is a free gift. But being in a market world controlled by consumerist values, we make a god who is a businessman. If you pay, the product is guaranteed. It ends up in finding a god like a street vendors who may not be there when one goes with a complaint about the product. Ads were exciting but delivery is poor. See the quality of 'testimonies' these days.

Christ, not sin, is our focus

Do we truly desire virtues? Often our concern is about vices, mostly without the use of the guiding virtue of prudence. The outcome is an untrue and uncharitable judgement on ourselves. When we are happy about our 'goodness' is it pride? Is it gluttony if we enjoy food? Is it lust that is there in every sexual feeling and desire? Do we have to find sin everywhere as though, God is really happy only if we run to God every time and say, "God, I have sinned," Our evaluation lists of sins must undergo a transformation based on virtues. May the gifts of wisdom and understanding give more light on ourselves. We must come back Christ, from the unfortunate times when we let the idea of sin to shape Christianity and Christ himself. May the gifts of wisdom and understanding give more light on ourselves.

fighting with God

 "I was angry with God, and I cursed God," I have always responded, "good!" because the fight was with 'God.' Wrestling or fighting with God with true feelings of our hearts of our heart is in fact graceful. Because, God is watchful that we may not be injured. Wrestling also clears the ashes, and lights the fire inside. We will surely see the face of God reflected deep within. Where devotionalism can make us blind, fighting with God keeps an open heart and mind with a living trust.

Our personal living testimony

It may have happened that some of us may have been in denial of or resistance to the grace of God (which we call the state of sin). But speaking exaggeratingly of 'the wretchedness we were in' even after we have come to experience grace, is a clear sign that we have understood the gospel wrongly. An imagined devilish, pathetic, horrible, bitter inner state is surely not an image we see reflected in the light of the Gospel. Even if we are the greatest sinners, the gospel directs us to the life of God, and ensures that life. Our personal living testimony must be about that life.

What matters to God

What really matters to God is justice, freedom, and peace. 

So forgiveness of sins foresees receiving the 'sinners' into the fold of the 'holy.' 

That is why forgiveness of sin became an obstacle for the 'holy.' 

The 'power' to forgive is the readiness to reconcile.

What really matter to God is not sacrifice and offering (itself and the style), 

but peace and reconciliation.

Divine justice

Hagar cried out for life of her child, 

no word of bitterness towards Abraham or Sarah; 

and God heard her cry. 

Divine justice is about life, not about revenge and punishment.
What do we desire when we cry for justice?

Bridegroom

Christ is the banquet and he is the bridegroom. 

The joy of his gospel is that we are in him.
The communion in him is experienced in peace, 

and is shared in participating in him with our own roles.
That's Christ lived among us, and the Kingdom brought to reality.

Thomas, Come!

Thomas, Come! See my wounds! Put your finger there, believe.
Faith is transformed into a silent wonder when we find Christ as we rise up to console and heal the wounds of the Body of Christ. The unknown depth is known as we embrace the strange and the wounded.
"My Lord, and my God."