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."

Narrow door

Christ is the door.
Our struggle to expand our hearts to that of Christ makes the path seemingly narrow. 

But, it is the law we must add to our nature to go beyond letters to the understanding what God wills, and others might be expected to do.
The law of letters is about actions, the new law is about attitudes.
Narrow door is our sincere efforts to put on the attitudes of Christ.

Law and loving God

Loving God cannot be ensured by any law. It has to be grown in one's own depths.
Efforts for a virtuous life opens these depths as fertile soil, seeing all things in God's benevolence.
These efforts also include reflection, critical, intuitive, and creative.

Law must ensure this freedom, that its exercise facilitate loving God with all our heart, all our mind and all our strength. One who follows, and those ensure the accomplishment of the law must see that the law has opened ways of freedom for critical, intuitive and creative reflection.

Christ, the Word, the source of peace

Christ, the Word, is the welcoming Truth,
not an intolerant truth.
Christ, the Word, is the source of peace,
because the Word is the source of life.
The Word causes reconciliation and forgiveness,
because the Word is the harmony and communion of all things.

Condemnation and grace

"For God sent his Son into the world
not to condemn the world,
but so that through him the world might be saved."
But what a joy for us to preach condemnation than salvation.
Did God ask us to do that?
What is the standard behind our understanding on holiness, salvation or escaping condemnation?
How much portions of our retreats and seminars take about salvation and grace, or are they more about right and wrong, often judging the 'sinful they'?

Jesus did condemned sins, but they were not destructive to any one. Instead, they ensured love and life. If the risen Christ is the first fruit of the new creation, the similar fruition must be present in us also. But do our life, especially our judgments say that we are here as a sign of God's love, saving and liberating, and not as agents of condemnation.

false safety at the risk of the gospel

 Whether gospel is safe in our hands is more important question than whether Christians feel safe. In the name of false securities do we sacrifice the gospel itself? The difference between defining Christians to be a number of people believing in certain customs and traditions, and those following certain values based on the Gospel of Jesus is very significant and decisive. Identifying paths for new safety and security seems to be escaping from what the gospel is asking us. I have been noticing some arguments which represented a strange social fabric of the ecclesial vision. Accordingly, Indian Christians are only those who were baptized by St Thomas and their descendants. They must preserve and continue their traditions and customs, but not adding anyone to their group. Those joined the Christian fold during the time of the missionaries must return to their original beliefs, because their motivation was not right. Thus go the arguments. These were not the opinions of any Hindu ideology, but of many powerful social media groups of traditional St Thomas Christians. Here, ‘who are Christians?’ itself develop new definitions. But I also observed some strange views with regard to preserving family by girls marrying early, increasing number of children, even neglecting the need for education of girls. I am not sure whether our women must agree to it or whether this is what the Christian dignity would envision for girls. It is certainly possible that we may be able to manipulate the scripture and customs and make a tradition for them. But minimum education and remaining family-women contradicts the cry of the same community against social domination of other communities. Ultimately it is all about reducing the Christian community into an isolated and polarized number in society which the so called leaders can use for their bargain.

Evangelization happens by sharing one’s experience of the living presence of Jesus, and by the experience of others seeing something significantly sustaining one’s life. The initial mission has not been of intolerant domination. Faith became a definition to be believed when the emperor’s religion had to be the religion of the empire. Colonisers had it in their cultural-political interests. though some functioned as their agents, it is always notable that the missionaries stood against any form of injustice by the colonisers themselves. Those who understood the gospel of Jesus learned the good things in the lived values of people whom they met, and objected to what was against justice, truth and humanity. An arrogant proselytization would never be the mode of Jesus’ preaching of the Gospel also.

Pope Francis often spoke against proselytization, and he repeatedly says that true evangelization is by example or witness. There may be cases of imprudent cases where people are manipulated in the name of healing, economic benefit etc. But that accusation just for the sake of tarnishing Christian community is not right. Imprudent approaches may be provoking other communities, on the other side an intolerant approach is also on the growth among the fringe groups. Catholic Social approach is not being in isolation, a separate group. Some specific ideologies may be promoting such tendencies. But generally that is not the case. Genuine Christian approach cannot be pro-Hindu, pro-Jain, pro-Muslim etc. Nor it can be anti-Hindu, anti-Jain, anti-Muslim etc also. Similarly it cannot be pro-BJP, pro-Congress, Pro-AAP etc nor anti-BJP, anti-Congress, anti-AAP etc also. Basic dictum for our sociopolitical stand is to be valuing of the equal human dignity, because we are all the children of God. Any inhuman treatment irrespective of culture, religion, tribe, or cast, must pain a true Christian conscience. That is as s response from the beatitudes that Jesus offered.

I thirst

Jesus entered his last moments facing the pain of hell. they were the moments when God was absolutely absent for him. That emptiness is an indescribable brokenness and crisis. Yet, 'why have you abandoned me' still holds a hope in such a a presence. we find the voice of hope of life even in the emptiness in the words, "into your hands, Lord, I commend my Spirit." It may have been the most painful and conflicting moments than any temptations. It is the thirst for the communion in love that cannot be broken, but now absent, that extends his heart towards the Father. The cry in "I thirst" is a continuation of "why have you abandoned me?"

 
The same communion of love is the true motivation for our relationship with Christ. The sentimentality formed in response to the cruelty and humiliations suffered by Christ can only bring a change that cannot take roots in Christ. (The exaggerated media representations of the sufferings of Christ produce a kind of anti-nonchristian inimical tendencies on one side and a victim mentality within Christians on another side). Christ continued to be on the cross despite the scornful challenges to come down form the cross to prove that he was truly the Son of God. That was the assurance of his love for us. If he had come down from the cross with all his divine power, it would have emptied the interior grace and truth of the stand he took for justice, mercy and love. Because they were to be lived by his followers in love for one another.


Social and cosmic extend of Christ needs to be reflected deeply if Christianity has to find its significance in the future. "Why have you crucified me? "why are you persecuting me" surely come in the line with "you did not give me food to eat and water to drink." We have not meditated sufficiently on our making of the body of christ mutually building through love, service, and communion, and through the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Christ was made an adorable great something, and the living Christ among us was kept aside. Persons, religions, nations, cultures, all kinds of others seek today mercy from the other.

Mammon rules

Mammon rules the world,
mammon rules over God and worship.
Mammon condemns the world for blasphemy.

Idealised faith

 Ideologies in the name of God, whether it be conservative or progressive, do not intend to praise God. They only arrogantly worship themselves. Idealised faith is not a faith at all. It is secure worship of definitions. Some call it certainty of faith. Theology did evolve over time though 'Jesus Christ is same yesterday, today, and for ever.'

The crucified

Moses raised bronze serpent in the desert.
Was it a sign of punishment or sign that God gives life.
Son of man was lifted up on the cross.
Do we see punishment, or the love of God.

The way we view the crucified defines our way of Christian life.

Old wine skin of Sin and Punishments

Salvation is based on God’s love and goodness. We have tied it with sin and punishment. We still seek the security of old wineskins. We have not let grace free us into new wine. Sin, sin, and only sin and their punishments are the reality we can see inside the old wineskin.

At the very moment the prodigal son asked for his share of the property, the father kept a book writing down all the offences he got from the son. While the time he came back the book was full, marking the punishments due for all the offences. Who bore the punishments of the prodigal son?

Luke 15 father is quite different. He did feel the pain of all the offences, rebelliousness, separation, squandering, pathetic end and everything. But he received him not less than his own son. Divine justice is of a heart full of love.

Why do we want to push the equations of penalty and punishment to God's heart? To suit the theology we want, should we disfigure the face of God?