Corpus Christi Sunday 2009

Today is the Corpus Christi Sunday. The day when we honour the Real presence of our Lord Jesus Christ in the most holy Sacrament of the alter. His self-giving to us in form of bread and wine in the Eucharist. Often we do not know the true meaning of the Eucharist or mass, hence we find it as a burdensome obligation every week and a boring exercise. ‘No music, no guitar, not lively.’ This is the common complaint.
Today I thought I can reflect with you about significance of the celebration of mass. In the sixth chapter of John, we read that on the shore of sea of Galilee, great number of people gathered around Jesus, and He preached to them at length. Once the preaching was over, the disciples say, let us send them away, our work is over, and let them find their own way. But Jesus said, ‘our work is not yet over, we need to feed them.’ And he fed five thousand men with five loaves and two fish, to remind them how their ancestors were fed miraculously with manna, the food from heaven in the desert. That day they were fed with the word and with the bread. Great pre-figuration of the Eucharist.
And the next day, these people go in search of Jesus to the same place, where they were fed. But Jesus was not there. And then they come to know that he was on the other side of Galilee. They rush there. Looking at the crowd, Jesus says, ‘you are searching for me because you ate the bread, not because you saw my miracles or believed me.’ Then he goes on to give a long discourse on spiritual food, the food that gives them eternal life for which they need to seek. He begins by saying, John 6:27: “Do not labour for the food that perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the son of man gives to you;” After a long discourse about it he ends up saying, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up o the last day.” Look at the words here. How precise they are. Unless you eat this and drink this you will not have this. So, eating his body or flesh and drinking his blood is a pre-requisite for eternal life.
Unfortunately, these words were hard to follow for many and they decide to leave him, without really finding out what really he meant and how is it possible. But only a handful remain with him to find out what he really meant and what really he is going to give. And as we read in the gospel today, on the evening of the Passover, which was celebrated, to remind them of the great liberation they had from bondage of Pharaoh through the sacrifice of the lamb, he the new Pascal lamb took the bread,(which earth has given and human hands have made) blessed it and gave it to his disciples saying, “Take this all of you and eat it. This is my body, which will be given up for you!” And the chalice (filled with fruit of the wine and work of human hands), “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.”
What actually was he doing there? We know that he was celebrating the first mass there. What is the meaning of the that mass he was instituting and the mass we celebrate even now? See, the next day he as a high priest is going to offer his own body and blood as a sacrifice and expiation for our sins and the sins of humanity once and for all. And when that sacrifice is made, his disciples are not going to be there. So he wants to make it present real to them now. As in the sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins, where people need to eat the flesh of the lamb that takes away their sins, and be sprinkled with the blood of the lamb for their cleansing, So he who is going to offer himself as an expiation putting an end to the sacrifices of bulls and lambs, making it present in the form of bread and wine. Thus showing them the way how they can eat his body and drink his blood and have eternal life.
So the Eucharist is making really present today the sacrifice which Jesus offered once and for all on the cross. By participating in that sacrifice and eating his flesh which he offered up for us and drinking his blood which he shed for us, we make the salvation which he gained for us, our own. We need to do this to have eternal life. This is Jesus’ will that we should eat his body and drink his blood to have life. Now, Jesus cannot say something and make it not possible. He cannot say that you have to eat my flesh and drink my blood to have eternal life, and does not do anything to make his body and blood present to us. He wanted his word to be present with us and so he gave us the scriptures, and so also he wanted his body and blood to be present with us, and so he gave us the Eucharist. The bread and wine is transformed into his body and blood and presented to us to eat and drink and have life. This is what mass is all about.
When we celebrate the Eucharist (the mass) every day, we are fed with both his word and his body. First we are fed with the word and then with his body and blood. It is a double feeding. Two course meal. We cannot accept one and reject the other. And as we don’t seek for variety in eating style, we need not necessarily seek variety in mass. And eating has never been boring for any of us although we have been eating all throughout our lives, three times a day. If it is so, then I do not know why Eucharist (the spiritual banquet) is boring, not interesting, and a burdensome obligation. It is a spiritual banquet where you eat the spiritual food. Eating should not be a boring thing. And secondly, we need to hunger for it. If we don’t eat one meal rats run in our stomachs. If we don’t attend one Sunday mass, do we feel that hunger? Rats running in our heart? Let us love the Eucharist, our spiritual food. Amen.

Trinity Sunday 2009

I remember a wonderful story I read from Leo Tolstoy. Its about a bishop in Russia who once when he was travelling by boat heard about an island where only three men lived. He decided to visit them out of his pastoral love and care. But many objected saying "The old men are not worth your pains. I have heard said that they are foolish old fellows, who understand nothing, and never speak a word, any more than the fish in the sea" (Tolstoy, p.3).But he insisted that he should go. He went and saw them. He asked them how they pray. They said we pray saying "Three are ye, three are we, have mercy upon us" (Tolstoy, p.4).” But bishop insisted that they should learn at least the “Our Father……” So he stayed the whole day and taught them ‘the Lord’s prayer.’ And towards the evening he left with great satisfaction. But after some time he saw the three old me speeding up in their boat to ask “ Bishop, how to begin the prayer, we forgot.” And the bishop seems to have said, “Don’t worry about what I taught you, go and pray the way you know best to pray, “Three are ye, three are we, have mercy on us.” This story tells us that for a simple believer, doctrinal accuracies do not matter.
On this trinity Sunday I am going to reflect on the mystery of the Trinity with this simple faith. Because I strongly feel that for those who believes it, nothing is needed to prove, but for those who do not believe, nothing can make them to believe. Trinity for me is not someone or something that is in my head I need to reason out to believe, but Trinity is something or someone I experience everyday in my life. Father, Son and the Holy Spirit are not up there in the sky about whom you have to reason out and believe. They are here and we encounter them everyday.
God the Father is giver of life and giver of every good thing in my life. Every day you and me see so many beautiful things and experience so many blessings. Where do they come from? Everyday when you and me experience the beautiful sunshine, showers, success, Don’t you see the hand of God the Father in these? And the message of God for you and me? I love that hymn which says “Every tiny star that twinkles in the night sky and every drop of morning dew, every pretty butterfly, everything that wriggles-by, tells the fascinating news to those who dare to hope. And the message is God still loves the world.” Friends, for those who have eyes to see, the whole world is a manifestation of God’s love. In everything that is created beautifully We can see the Father and feel so close to him. So for me, God the Father is not a concept of the mind but a reality I look at everyday.
Secondly, Jesus Christ my redeemer is someone whom We encounter everyday. It is he who lifts us up when we fall. Every time you forgive someone or forgiven by someone don’t you feel his presence? Every time you participate in the Holy Eucharist and receive his body and blood, don’t you feel so close to him? Every time you make your confession, don’t you feel his forgiving love? Yes! It is in these sacraments we encounter him and feel so close to him. And every time you come across a person in need, don’t you see Jesus in him? So Jesus Christ redeemer is not someone who lived some two thousand years ago and lives in the pages of history, but he is someone who lives even today. He said “Lo! I will be with you un till the end of time.” He is there. Whatsoever you do to the least of my brethren, you have done it to me.” So we can see him everyday.
And finally, Holy Spirit the sanctifier, the Paraclete, the counsellor is also part and parcel of our daily life. Holy Spirit is the guide. He is the one who inspires every good work. Every time we see some good things done or some good things said, we can feel his presence. Life is full of choices. And it is he who helps us to choose the best. All the great things you achieve are possible because of the holy Spirit. It is he who is giver of gifts and talents. It is who brings our efforts to succeed. Trinity is a reality, not just a doctrine. It we humans who dispute with each other to see whether they are equal to each other or subordinate to each other and so on. But God is love. And there is perfect love existing between the three persons of the Trinity. Perfect love has no subordinates only equals.
So in conclusion, let me you give some practical tip to see how we can make the trinity part and parcel of your life. Each day before you go to bed, take five minutes: for the first one and half minute, think of all the good things that you experienced or the blessings that you got that day and thank the Father for that. For the next minute and half, think of anything where you failed to do well, your sins, and ask Jesus for forgiveness. And for the final minute and half, think of the thinks that you need to do the next day, and ask the holy Spirit to lead you. End up with “Our Father…” Make Trinity part and parcel of your life. Amen.

Pentecost: Holy Spirit, the Sanctifer.

Today is the day of the Holy Spirit. There are so many ways in which we refer to this third person of the Trinity. We call his as the spirit of the Father, Lord and giver of life, Advocate, counsellor, Spirit of truth and so on. With all these names, one important suffix with which he is referred to is called ‘the sanctifier’. Holy Spirit is the sanctifier. If God the Father is the creator, and God the Son is the Redeemer, then, God the Holy Spirit is the Sanctifier. Today I want to reflect together with you and see what this ‘sanctification’ means. Or ‘What do we mean when we say that the Holy Spirit is the Sanctifier?’
First of all let us understand what sanctification means. Or what does it mean to sanctify? "Sanctification" or ‘sanctify’ comes from two Latin words: sanctus which means holy, and ficare which means make. So to sanctify means to make holy. And when we say that the Holy Spirit is the sanctifier, what we mean is that ‘the Holy Spirit is the one who makes us holy.’ Hang on! Then what does Jesus do? Is he not the one who redeemed us? Is he not the one who shed his precious blood for us and delivered us from the power of sin and death through his own passion and death. Yes, No doubt about it. But it is the Holy Spirit who makes this salvation available to us and to the nations. It is the Holy Spirit who helps us to make this salvation our own. He does this through the ministry of the church whose birthday we celebrate today and through his own indwelling. Let me explain.
Now, what do we mean when we say that the Holy Spirit sanctifies us through the Ministry of the Church. What we mean is that, it is the Holy Spirit who is the soul and heart of the church. It is he who guides the church. It is he who is active in the church’s ministry of the proclamation of the word of God. It is the Holy Spirit that gave the courage and wisdom to the Apostles to go out and preach. It is the same Holy Spirit that enabled the people who were listening to the Apostles to understand what they were hearing in their own languages. Look at the first reading and see how the people wonder and say, “How does it happen that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, people of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia ………..; we hear them preaching in our own language about the marvels of God.” How is it possible? It is the Holy Spirit that enabled them. Remember the word of Jesus in the gospel too. “I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you now. But when the Spirit of Truth comes, he will lead you to the complete truth.” As if to say ‘Now you cannot understand many things but when the Holy Spirit comes he will help you to understand everything.’ So men down the ages were able to preach the word of God under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. In fact the scriptures themselves were written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And it is this word through which we are sanctified. Jesus says in St. John’s gospel, “you are cleaned already by means of the word.”
And secondly, the Holy Spirit sanctifies us in the Church through the ministry of the Sacraments. Sacraments are the channels of grace through which we are sanctified at each and every stage of our life. Baptism when we are infants, Communion when we are around ten (age of reason), Confirmation when we are fourteen, Marriage or priesthood when we are adult, confession whenever we want it from the age of reason, and Anointing of the sick when we feel that we are at the evening of our life. So at each and every stage of our life there is sacramental grace offered to you and me for our sanctification. And Holy Spirit is the dominant person in all these sacraments. He is the one who sanctifies us through the sacraments.
And finally, he sanctifies us through his own indwelling. By virtue of Baptism, we are made as the temples of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us. He acts as the voice of God in our conscience directing us towards the truth and goodness. He also acts as the power and strength of God in us enabling us to bear spiritual fruits in abundance. St. Paul says to Galatians in the second reading “What the spirit brings is very different: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control.” These are the fruits of the spirit. Anyone who is lead by the Spirit dwelling in his heart will bear these fruits. And these fruits are the signs of the sanctified person. They say “You know the tree by its fruit.” So also we know our sanctity by the fruits we bear.
So, today under this special aspect of Sanctifier, then, let us to invoke the Holy Spiritand say (“Altissimi donum Dei, fons vivus, ignis, caritas et spiritalis unctio,”) I.e gift of the Most High God, gift given to our souls to lead them to sanctity; living fount of grace, fire, divine love, spiritual sweetness. Come. And again( Septiformis munere, digitus paternae dexterae,) dispenser of the seven gifts by which You make our spiritual life perfect, finger of the right hand of the Father which indicates to us the road of sanctity. Come and fill us today. With great joy, love and desire let us invoke the Holy Spirit, the Sanctifier! today and everyday. Amen.