Divine Mercy Sunday: All of us have a place in his heart.

Today is Divine Mercy Sunday. We celebrate God's Mercy and love.When you go through the Bible or the history of Israel what is clear is that God is a God of Mercy. There is no doubt about it. From Genesis to Revelation His mercy is proclaimed.
When Adam sinned and went away from God it is his mercy that promised him Salvation. When Cain killed his brother and was dreading the creation, it is his mercy that promised him protection. (Cf.Gen.4/15-16). It was his mercy that listened to the wonderful prayer of Abraham for Sodom and Gomorrah and was ready to spare the whole city of sinners just for the sake of at least ten good people. It is his mercy that saved the people of Israel from bondage in Egypt with all those miracles or plagues. It is his mercy that divided the Red sea, fed them with Manna and gave water from the Rock. In spite of their grumbling and rebellion. It was his mercy that forgave them when they worshiped the golden calf, crediting all what he has done for them to the calf that eats grass. Tremendous to know his love and mercy for them. All the prophets who followed later, spoke of his love and mercy for them in Babylonian exile. Prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea,….. Every one spoke about his mercy.
And When Jesus came, He spoke of a God who is a Father-figure. A Father who is ready to forgive the Son who swindled his money and wasted it in a life of debauchery. Embracing him and celebrating his return; What can we say of such mercy. A shepherd who is ready to leave the ninety nine for the sake of one lost sheep and celebrating its return. So Jesus showed us a God who is merciful. He not only preached God of mercy, but he himself was a 'mercy-incarnate'. Dining with sinners, befriending them, forgiving them, saying that he came for them. And above all he preached mercy. Look at the sermon on the mount. Full of compassion, love and mercy. Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy. And the only time when he speaks about the last Judgement ( Mt.25/33 ff) he confirmed that our judgement depends on our corporal acts of Mercy. That is the only “credit-card” or “debit-card” you can take with you when you die.
What else can I say. Bible is full of Mercy and it is a book of mercy. And our God is a God of mercy. And I believe, if God were to punish every one then and there for our sins. What will be situation in the world. Imagine if god were to wither the hands of one who sins with hand and blind the eyes those who sin with their eyes and so on. It may sound funny. But imagine and see how many of us will be walking around with all our parts intact. I don’t know. But He is a God of Mercy. He is so merciful that he makes the Sun to shine both on the good and the bad as well and he makes the rain to fall on both the good and the bad.
Yes, God has a place for every one in his heart. Look at the picture of Divine Mercy.(You can also see it on my photo-space) There two types of rays that come out from his pierced heart. One is red and the other is white. They both usually signify the blood and water that flowed from his heart when it was pierced. But there is another significance to it. The red rays represent sinners and the white rays represent saints. In Isaiah we read “even if your sins are as red as crimson I will wash them and make them as white as snow or wool. White symbolising purity. So there is a place for every one in Jesus’ heart. Saints and sinners all have a place in his heart.
So celebrate his love today and approach this font of mercy. Do not delay. Amen

Easter 2008: Christianity is not a vanity

Let me wish you a Happy Easter.
One of the most fascinating books in the Bible is Ecclesiastes. The book begins saying “The words of the preacher, the son of David, king of Jerusalem. Vanity of Vanities, says the preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” Then he goes on explaining why he is saying this. He says “Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labour which I had exerted, and behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun.” (Ecc. 2:11)
Then I said to myself, " As is the fate of the fool, it will also befall me Why then have I been extremely wise?" So I said to myself, "This too is vanity."(Ecc. 2:15)
And again I work hard and save a lot of wealth. When I die I have to leave it for others to enjoy. And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the fruit of my labour for which I have laboured by acting wisely under the sun This too is vanity. (Ecc.2:18-19)
And finally “For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same. As one dies so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath and there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is vanity.( Ecc. 3:19)
This makes us to ask the critical question. Is our human life a vanity? All what we do in life; do you think they are a vanity? A waste of time? One of my friends shocked me after my first mass when he said “ Don’t you think you are wasting your life by becoming a priest? Because there is so much to enjoy in life which you are going to miss out.” Jesus, this is not what I expected on the first day of my ordination. A life of sacrifice, a life of service and a life of holiness, sincerity, honesty and dedication: is it not a waste of time? Yes! I say ‘Yes.’ Our Christian life with all the above said things would have been a vanity; ‘a chasing after the wind’ if Christ is not risen from the dead. Yes, I would have been wasting my life and energy here if Christ is not risen from the dead. You would be wasting your precious time here in the church if Christ is not risen.
Personally for Jesus the man-incarnate: his life would have been a vanity and a chasing-after-the-wind if he had not risen from the dead. Let me put it this way. He was man (incarnate) who went around doing good. Look at the words of Peter to Cornelius. “He went around doing good and curing all who had fallen into the power of the devil because God was with him” (Acts 10/34 ff.) Yes he always believed that God was with him and he is doing his father’(God’s) will. That gave him the boost to carry on his work
Even when the opposition was developing and the enemies were planning his death; he always believed that his father will not abandon him. In the Garden of Gethsemane he prayed to his father about his anguish about the impending death asking him to take it away. But at the end abandoning his will to father’s will. And when he was abandoned to die alone on the cross he cried “My God my god why have you forsaken me” But at the end he said “Into your hands Father, I commend my Spirit.” Now such a life of total dedication to God and of full service to man “Can it be a vanity? A useless effort. A meaningless exercise? A chase-after-the-wind? No it cannot be. To vindicate this “God raised him from the dead” or “he rose from the dead.” Saying ‘life of total commitment to God and service to humanity cannot be a futile exercise; a Vanity.’ No it cannot be.
This is what we celebrate today. As we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, his victory over sin and death and all the other things we believe, what we celebrate is our own faith and its worth. This is St. Paul clearly states in his epistle to Corinthians (1 Cor. 15: 14) “If Christ has not been raised from the dead then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.” I wonder if vanity can survive so many centuries and can conquer so many hearts.”
So what we celebrate today is the truth that Christianity is not a Vanity but a reality. Are you a devout catholic and a believer of total dedication to God and service to humanity and people are looking at you as a mad man or woman, or laughing at your religiosity. Don’t worry. Its worth enduring. Your goodness is used and abused. You are not appreciated and accepted for your faith. Do not be discouraged. You will be the ultimate winner. Because the Lord is Risen. Halleluiah. Amen

Palm Sunday - A : Tongues special

Today is Palm Sunday. it’s a wonderful day to remember Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. This is one of the rare days we have two gospels read. And these two gospels are quite opposite to each other. In the sense, in the first Gospel its all about the people shouting "Hosanna", "glory" and so on. But when it comes to the second gospel which is quite a long one(Psassion narrative), its all about planning and executing an innocent man. We hear people shouting “crucify him… crucify him“. What happened to the "Hosanna" they sang just a couple of days ago. Now they say "crucify him". How typical of human nature it is. The same tongue that sang praises also hurls down curses. Tongue has no bones you see, it can bend as it likes. That is why Bible is so concerned about the control of Tongue. In fact no other part of the body is mentioned as much as a tongue with regard to its control.(Please refer to the end for statistics).
Today I just want to share some insights about what the Bible says about tongue. Specially about “sins on the tongue”. I know many may not be happy with what I say, but I cannot resist.
Bible obviously asks us to be careful about the following:
A. The Lying Tongue : The tongue that says lies. (Proverbs 25:18 John 8:44,Pro. 6:17).
B. The Flattering Tongue : The tongue that gives undue praise to gain favour. (Psalm 5:9)
C. The Proud Tongue : The boastful tongue. (Psalm 12:3-4)
D. The Overused Tongue: The tongue which is used unnecessarily. (Ecclesiastes 5:2, Ecclesiastes 5:3)
E. The Swift Tongue: Its an hasty tongue, tongue which speaks without control and thought. (Proverbs 18:13, James 1:19)
F. The Backbiting Tongue ; Tongue that speaks ill of others when they are not there. (Proverbs 25:23 and Romans 1:30)
G. The Tale-bearing Tongue : The tongue that loves to tell tales about others which are often not true. (Proverbs 18:8 ,Rom. 14:19; Philip. 2:3)
H. The Cursing Tongue: The tongue that calls down curses on others. (Romans 3:13-14 , Psalm 109:17-18)
I. The Piercing Tongue : The tongue that pierces and hurts others’ hearts.Proverbs 12:18 ,Col. 4:6, Titus 2:8
J. The Silent Tongue: The tongue that keeps silent when it has to speak, specially about its faith.Mark 8:38
So Every day examine and see
A. Are my words APPROPRIATE?
B. Are my words PLEASANT?
C. Are my words PURE?
D. Are my words LOVELY?
E. Are my word ENCOURAGING?
F. Are my words SOFT?
Let me end with Proverbs 18:21, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof." God bless you. Have an enriching experience in Holy week.
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Do you know that:
The word “tongue" is referred to over 100 times in the Bible
The word “Words” is referred to over 500 times in the Bible
The word “Lips” is referred to over 100 times in the Bible
The word “Mouth” is referred to over 400 times in the Bible
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5th Sunday of Lent-A: Death is dead

In 1973 Philosopher and psychologist called Ernest Becker wrote a book called The Denial of Death for which he won Pulitzer Prize in 1974, just two month after his death. In that book he says that we human beings spend our lives terrified of death at an unconscious level. Let me quote “For behind the sense of insecurity in the face of danger, behind the sense of discouragement and depression, there always lurks the fear of death, a fear which undergoes many complex elaborations and manifests itself in many indirect ways……No one is free from fear of death…” (Page 16). Is it not in a way true? Nagging in the back of our minds is how fragile our lives are. All of us are afraid of death. Is it not?
In the good old days churches used to be the biggest buildings around. Today look at the hospitals. There are hospitals around here that are bigger than any of the churches– pushing back death. The percentage of our nation’s income going for health care is skyrocketing far beyond that of any other nation. Every news program and newspaper gives you your daily dose of health news. We don’t like death. Man has declared a war on death. Yes, two thousand years ago one man started this war and challenged death. He is none other than Jesus.
Over the past weeks the Gospel of John has been telling the story of Jesus’ battle against the power of death. A woman living in the death of being a hated outsider in her culture meets Jesus at a well and finds the acceptance she has long been searching for. And a blind man after a lifetime of social and religious ostracism reaches out to Jesus for healing. And then in today’s gospel Jesus faces death head-on when he learns Lazarus is dead. And so here, just before Jesus faces his own death, he stares the great enemy in the face. And what has been a series of skirmishes between life and death turns into a full-blown confrontation.
Scholars will argue that this isn’t a resurrection; it’s a resuscitation, because, after all, Lazarus will still face a final death. But it’s a story about God’s power to meet us in our tombs, when we feel there is no way out. New Testament scholar Raymond Brown calls these “sign” stories – signs of the ways Jesus is continually breaking open the tombs of our lives, until in this last story it’s death itself that he defeats.
Now I want to reflect with you what this event meant for each one involved in the story.
What it meant to Lazarus?
Eugene O'Neill once wrote a play called Lazarus Laughed about what happened when Jesus brought Lazarus back from the dead. From the first time Lazarus’ friends see him after he has been raised, he is full of joy and laughter. "What did you see on the other side of death?" they ask. And Lazarus answers, "There is no death! There is no death! There is only life!" And he bursts into a laugh that O'Neill describes as full of acceptance of life and a profound joy.
In the play, after Jesus' death, Lazarus preaches about the living Christ who could free people from the intimidation and enslavement which the fear death brings. His great confrontation comes when he faces the cruel Caligula, heir to the Roman throne. Caligula brings Lazarus before him and threatens him with torture and execution. But Lazarus looks into his face and laughs softly, and says to him, "Death is dead, Caligula, Death is dead!"
The biggest change in Lazarus, after experiencing Christ’s new life, was that he wasn't afraid any more. He could hope.
What it meant for Jesus?
It was almost like a down payment on the promise of His own resurrection to come just weeks later. Here is a man who is awaiting death. Awaiting his own personal encounter with the common enemy. It is a rehearsal of the battle and victory over the common enemy. It would have filled him with lot more courage and confidence. It would have given him an assurance to go ahead. The fear of death is removed.
What it meant for the Pharisees?
It filled them with fear. Fear of insecurity. So the life-giving incident turns out to be life threatening. They go out and plan immediately how to kill him.
What it means for us?
Think back to times when things seemed so dark you thought you’d never see light again. The relationship had dried up, the child was losing her way, the job was defeating you. But somehow, through nothing you could do on your own, you found yourself turning toward hope, and light began to enter. Someone reached out to you, you found a new strength, a new way to face things, and you began to feel your way forward. Experiences like this, the experience of Lazarus and Jesus’ own resurrection should fill us with that same assurance. “Death is dead. No more death. He conquered it.” Amen.

4th Sunday of Lent: Who is blind?

The passage we read today for our gospel is widely recognized as one of the master pieces of Johannine story telling. This is the sixth of the seven "signs" in John's gospel. It is the primary biblical text on blindness. It is far longer than any other, and John uses the case to provide a message about our being spiritually born blind.
I would divide today’s gospel reading into two sections. First section is the actual miracle itself. Second part is the reaction of the people to that miracle. How each person was compelled to respond to the central challenge the miracle presented, and how well or badly they responded. There are friends and neighbours first, then the parents and the Pharisees and above all the blind man himself. I prefer to concentrate on only two people I. e. man born-blind and the Pharisees.
The miracle itself is used only as a launch-pad for a greater thing to come. Last week the thirst for water at Jacob’s well was used as a launch-pad for discussion or discovery of “the life-giving water“. In the same way the physical blindness and healing in today’s gospel is only a launch-pad for a discussion on spiritual blindness or healing of the spiritual blindness. This story contains the journey of two people in two opposite directions. The man born blind moves from blindness to the full sight but this journey is also marked in contrast with the growing blindness of the Pharisees. Both start from the same point but head towards opposite directions. The starting point is the healing of the physical blindness of the man born-blind.
Let us first of all look at journey of the blind man himself. Even after he was cured physically he was still spiritually blind. Because he could not recognise who Jesus actually is. But he journeys through and discovers who he is. Doubted by friends, abandoned by his parents, questioned, insulted, and caste out by the Pharisees, he has stumbled from belief in Jesus as “a man”(v.11), to “a prophet” (v.17), to a suggestion that he must be “from God”(v.33) And finally he ends up prostrating before him saying “Lord, I believe” (v.38). It is here that he is fully cured of not only his physical blindness but also spiritual blindness. He is clearly able to see who Jesus is.
Now let us move on to the Pharisees. They move from spiritual blindness to intellectual and physical blindness. It may sound strange but that’s what is happening.
Once they witness the miracle, the Pharisees become divided, and so cannot decide the case. The evidence that the blind man can now see is not important to them. They ignore the core evidential issue, that a man who heals a man blind from birth must be the messiah. These men are only interested in their regular habits of thinking, about the "legal principles" for deciding cases involving suspected heresy. But principles often conflict, with one person emphasising one principle, another one asserting another. For some, what matters is whether the Sabbath law, as they understood it, had been broken. Others however are bothered by another principle: how can a sinful man do such signs, because only God could be behind them, and God does not listen to sinners (Ps 34:15-16). Which principle is the more important becomes the crux of their argument. They all miss the important issue that this is a messianic sign, which demands a faith response. They close their eyes to the sign.
When the man healed of his blindness tries to teach them the true logic saying “Only a man of God can heal. He healed me. Therefore he must be a man of God.” They say, “Get lost, you man born in utter sin. You are trying to teach us.” They close their mind and intellect. Thus they become intellectually blind. And they refuse to acknowledge the miracle they have witnessed, thus they even go physically blind. What else we can call it.
If you ask me I say all of us have blind- spots in our lives. All of need healing. We all have blind spots -- in our marriages, our parenting, our work habits, and our personalities. We often wish to remain in the dark, preferring darkness to light. It is even possible for the religious people in our day to be like the Pharisees: religious in worship, in frequenting sacraments, in prayer life, in tithing, and in the knowledge of the Bible – but blind to the poverty, injustice and pain around them. Let us remember, however, that Jesus wants to heal our blind spots. We need to ask Him to remove from us the root causes which blind us: namely, self-centeredness, greed, anger, hatred, prejudice, jealousy, addiction to evil habits and a hardness of heart. Let us pray: “God our Father, help us see Christ more clearly, love him more dearly and follow him more nearly.” Amen.