crucifixion – Institutionalized outbreak

Wilson SVD

Palm Sunday

      Is 50: 4-7; Phil 2: 6-11; Mth 26: 14-27: 66

Palm Sunday is the final Sunday of the Lenten season and it commemorates the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, days before his crucifixion. We now enter into the culmination of the Lenten season, what we call the Holy Week. This week highlights the climax of the mission of Jesus in which, the deepest meaning of his life is unfolded and his teaching is concretized in his own words and actions. As per the Gospels, Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a young donkey amidst lavish praises of the people, who threw colorful clothes and branches of olive branches; probably a customary expression of respect to important people. Palm branches are symbol of peace and victory and donkey represents humility as opposed to power and pride.

To understand the passion, crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus, one needs to grasp the Matthean narrative plot in its entirety. Quite often we are quickly inclined to perceive this great event of Calvary as a result of our sin. This is true. However, I perceive the passion event as politically and religiously well-crafted collective attack to end Jesus and his followers, presuming to wipe off Jesus and everything of Jesus.

Institutionalized outbreak

When child Jesus was born, Herod began the hunt for the babies of Bethlehem and he killed almost all of them. Herod died but the hunt did not die with him. God warned Joseph and the family fled to Nazareth and Jesus grew up in hiding. Now Jesus returns to Judea, the region of his birth. He returns not to Bethlehem but to Jerusalem. Upon Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, it becomes clear that the Herod syndrome is still alive. It was not just Herod that hunted down the babies but it was an empire: Behind Herod stood Rome. And so now, Pilate stands instigated by the religious leaders, to kill the baby that escaped long ago. Time does not matter to the empire. Vested interests religious heads join hands with the power mongers to crucify one single man to demonstrate power and domination. A well-planned collective institutionalized attack on the single revolutionary. The institution is powerful and so, the people who gathered to welcome him now disown him, people who shouted ‘hosanna’ now yell crucify him. It is part of the mechanism of the institution to have displays of domination and power in public: the entire event from court of Jerusalem to Calvary is deliberately made to happen in public. Always, an empire or an institution presumes to be powerful. History has several examples of the contradicting factor; Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King (Jr) and many others who were persecuted by the institutionalized vested interests groups - they are dead but they continue to live and inspire.  

The multinational corporate companies, the political parties, institutions of caste, creed, language, culture, interests’ groups and even religious institutions and leaders carry out such well-designed institutionalized attack perpetuated by vested interests: To which institution do I belong to? To which ideology do I incline to? Do I not switch to different institutions as per convenience?  Can I be different? Can keep myself away from such ill-motivated attack on others?

Undivided focus

Jesus successfully countered the collective institutionalized attack by his undivided focus on his mission. The story of passion and death portrays particularly the obedience of Jesus to his Father – commitment to His mission. The fascinating moments in the garden of Gethsemane, is an outstanding example of his unconditional focused obedience to the Father. One of the things that amazes me is Jesus’ focus. He is set like flint towards Calvary, there is no wavering, no detour, come what may. He knows about the ill-plot lying ahead but he is ready to take up his cross and die. Crucifixion was a crime and obscenity. He died once and so we are alive today. What is my goal in life? Am I focused, whatever may be trial and challenges? Do I stand for justice? One may have to face in life, an individual, or collective or collectively institutionalized attack? There are many vantage points: we can find reflections of ourselves in many of the characters – sometimes we are like Judas, kiss and betray; sometimes like Peter, deny; sometimes like the disciples who act rashly upon Jesus’ arrest and later desert him; sometimes like the religious leaders, who stage manage the entire event; sometimes like Pontius Pilate, wash hands off the whole affair. None of them live today, only Jesus who had undivided focus, died but gave us life and lives with us. Who am I like? Let us celebrate life for life is beautiful….

Lazarus Lives – Am I alive?

Wilson SVD

Fifth Sunday of the Lent

                Ez 37: 12-14; Rom 8: 8-11; Jn 11: 1-45

Most of us have stood at the tomb, faced an open grave, either buried or scattered the

ashes of our beloved ones. We all know well what it is like, to be confronted by the stark realities of death and the flood of conflicting emotions that comes along with it. The story of Lazarus being raised from the death in John 11: 1-45 is developed around such situation that brings alive the conflicting emotions of losing the dear ones. This is an occasion to encounter concretely Jesus in his divinity and in his humanity.

As per me, the historicity of this event is of less importance and there are certain aspects of the story that interests me and I would like to discusses on two of the features in this miracle story:

1.     God acts in His own time. 

2.     Lazarus lives – Am I alive?

1. God acts in His own time

The death of Lazarus is to be seen as an occasion for a divine intervention that would glorify God. According to the gospel, Lazarus of Bethany, the brother of Martha and Mary was seriously ill and his sisters sent a word to inform Jesus. Jesus loved Martha and her sister Mary and Lazarus. The Greek verb used here is philein (φιλεῖν) – it describes the real love and trust among the friends and so, here it indicates the genuine friendship that existed among Jesus, Lazarus and his sisters. We need to note the separate mention of the three persons by name and this is probably meant to lay stress on Jesus’ affection for each of them individually. He did not simply love the family but he loved Martha, he loved Mary and he loved Lazarus. There was a genuine love and friendship among them. i.e. God loves each one of us individually and personally.

One of the things that interests me in this episode is, in spite of the close friendship, Jesus does not immediately come to attend his suffering friend. He takes time. ‘A friend in need is a friend in deed,’ an old cliché; we would expect Jesus to take action immediately on receipt of the news about Lazarus's illness. The message of the sisters is a plea for help, a petition in desperation, probably their only source of support was their sick brother. But Jesus simply remained where he was for two days and continued his work. When Jesus reached Bethany, Lazarus had been dead for four days. Jesus delayed and why did he not show up before his friend could die? It is not that Jesus deliberately allowed his friends to suffer bereavement in order that he might perform a spectacular miracle. I am convinced that Jesus delayed because he wants us to know that he is not moved by any external forces or emotional attachment but solely by his determination to do the will of God. Hence, God acts according to His own time and His own will and everything has a purpose, the purpose is ‘the glory of God.’ Jesus (God) is not be coerced, not even by his dearest friends.

In the tomb, nothing can be more powerful than tears, Jesus was disturbed in spirit and he wept. He was a human being, full of compassion but his compassion is not to be manipulated by external compulsions. Jesus is not a magician to be impressed by whims and fancies. Tomb is a symbol of pain, loss, grief, aching heart and a place where myriad feelings can flood our hearts. The closer Jesus gets to Martha, Mary and Lazarus, the more deeply he feels their pain and grief. This miracle story assures us that we are not abandoned by God in times of trouble. God is not impassive in the face of our problems; Jesus wept. God feels with us and He loves us in ways more than we can comprehend.  When our prayers are not answered as quickly as we expect, it does not mean that the delay is out of unconcern rather it is a purposeful delay. The delay could be for a day, a week, few months or years. Like Lazarus, we may be even decayed but we will not be abandoned. We can trust our God even when he seems to be absent. God weeps with us, shares our grief and acts at His own time and would definitely remove the stones at an opt time and makes fully alive. God will be glorified through our sufferings. God is present in our sufferings; He is suffering with us.   

2. Lazarus lives – Am I alive?

No elaborate embellishment; Lazarus is raised over the flood of Jesus’ tears. Raising someone from death is a work of God. God nurtures life and only He can sustain life. Jesus cries out with a loud voice into the silence of a dead man’s tomb and Lazarus comes forth from the cave tightly bound in the clothing of death. This image is very striking and captures my attention. Lazarus is raised from dead and he is emerging out of the cave tightly wrapped in the clothing of the death and he did not come forth in dazzling robe. From this perspective, I consider it an imagery that is pregnant with profound meanings and implications. Death is a physical state when one stops breathing, feeling and thinking, in other words it’s when one stops living. I perceive death of Lazarus as a symbolic representation of death of many aspects of our lives. One of the facts of our lives is, many of us are alive but dead long ago, probably waiting for the day of our burial. Many of us are just alive but are dead long ago; could be we are spiritually dead, death of humanness, death of values and principles, death of inner freedom, death of confidence, death of joy, death of relationship, etc. We are wrapped tightly in these clothes of death. As Lazarus we need to raise from the cave and unwrap these clothing of death. We see a huge increase in the number old age homes around; is it not a sign of death of love?  We see a considerable escalation in orphanages, homes for HIV/AIDS infected and affected; is it not a sign of death of values? Poor becomes poorer and the rich continue to amass wealth; is it not a sign of death of humanness? Increase in violence, division, enmity; is it not a sign of death of humanity? We notice, a growing tendency to be politicians and perpetuators of caste and groupism in the garb of religious men and women, is it not a sign of death of commitment? When I am compulsively addicted, slave to sin and negativity, is it not that I am dead? When I distance myself from God and church activities, is it not that I am dead? The story of Lazarus exhorts us to die with our old self and from our old attitudes (egoism, arrogance, pride, selfishness, etc). We are invited to feel God’s presence and carry out an inner search to diagnose; Am I alive or dead? where is God calling me to come alive?  Jesus visited Lazarus tomb and brought him back to life. May God visit us that we may celebrate life for life is beautiful…….

A Blind man – what is my attitude?

Wilson SVD

Fourth Sunday of the Lent

                1 Sam 16: 1, 6-7; Eph 5: 8-14; Jn 9: 1-41

“A few years married couple divorced.” Different people approach and interpret this event differently; the couples themselves, the parents, relatives, friends, neighbors, and church leaders, etc. Our attitude has the potentiality to either transform or destroy our lives and others. Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference (Winston Churchill). Life is a journey and in this journey, inevitably, we all encounter problems, hard situations and tough times. How do we approach a problem, a tough situation? How do we respond to difficulties and hard-hitting events? What is my attitude towards people and regulations? A problem or a hard situation can be approached from different perspectives with diverse attitude. Right perspective and right attitude leads to success and amicable solution instead a wrong perspective ushers in disaster. The gospel today is built up on the contrast between light and darkness, born blindness and acquired blindness, physical blindness and spiritual blindness. Jesus and his disciples are walking along when they encounter a man born blind and Jesus dramatically makes the blind see and the blind man progressively confesses the true identity of Jesus. The entire chapter revolves around the interrogation and the presumed controversy in healing the blind man.  A narrative critical analysis of this miracle story reveals intensely, the actions and reactions, perspectives and attitudes of different persons towards the blind man. We can derive several life principles from the characters involved in this miracle story. These are vivid characters with deft and profound touches, the narrator brings our lives alive before us through these people.

The Disciples  

The disciples asked Jesus, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, he or his parents that he was born blind? The Jews generally believed in a direct cause-and-effect relationship between suffering and sin. The idea that children inherit the consequences of their parents’ sin is intertwined into the thought of the Old Testament (Gen 25:22, Ex 20:5, Num 14: 18, Is 65:7). However, the emphasis here is on the attitude of the disciples and not the causal relationship between sin and suffering. The disciples’ attitude is focused on acquiring information and not in helping or understanding the person. The concern of the disciples is not the suffering of the blind man but the cause of the blindness. Who is wrong and who was responsible? The question does not promise solution to the suffering of the blind man instead such enquiries can deepen the pain of the sufferer, creating victim attitude and guilt felling.  How do we approach a problem? What is our attitude towards persons who suffer? Oftentimes are we not focused on mere information, collecting data, nitty-gritty details that do not in any way aid alleviation of pain.  

The Parents

The parents of the blind man knew pretty well that it was Jesus that gave sight to their son. But, they were obviously uncooperative because they were afraid of the Pharisees and the political authorities. The parents conveniently escape citing the legal age of their son suitable self -testimony.  The parents did not want to involve into the issue due to the intricacies, complications and consequences they may have to face later. There is no greater betrayal for a child than to be abandoned by his parents. The children confide in the parents totally. The parents who are to defend and protect, disown him. Are there the traits of this parents in us? Do we run away from problems and peoples unwilling to face the pressures involved? Do we opportunely pass on the bug to others? Do we disown, abandon and betray people who trust us? Do I sacrifice truth and justice due to fear?

The Pharisees

The Pharisees were narrow-minded, self-righteous and bitterly power-conscious persons. They deliberately refuse to believe what they see with their naked eyes. They did not believe first that the man was born blind and they suspected that this was a miracle faked between Jesus and the man. Their carry out series of interrogation not to verify the truth but to prove that they are right. They resort to abuse the blind man, insult and accused him that he was born in sin (indicating pre-natal sin). These are people who suffer from the syndrome of voluntary unhappiness, finding fault with everything and everyone. Do we act like these Pharisees; misusing our power and position, threatening the weak, criticizing, plotting against others and finding fault with everything and everyone.

Jesus

Jesus went around sharing life and doing good. Jesus is interested in the human person and not in the root cause of the suffering, he is focused on alleviating the pain. Therefore, Jesus does not question at all, he just acts positively and affirms magnanimously. He sees in the problem an opportunity to display the works of God and helps the man live better. Affliction, sorrow, pain and disappointments are opportunities for displaying God’s grace. By helping others in trouble, we can demonstrate God’s love to them. To help another in need is to share the love of God and manifest the glory of God to others. He is least concerned about what others say and he upholds humanity over law.  When we see suffering, do we perceive it as a problem or an opportunity having a divine purpose? When someone suffers from physical or mental or spiritual impairment, what do we see in that person? An inconvenience or opportunity?

The Blind Man

The blind man is a fascinating character in this episode, who displays a perfect model of steady progression and transformation. He begins by calling Jesus a ‘man’ – a man called Jesus opened my eyes. Later, he goes on to call him a ‘prophet’ and finally confesses that Jesus is ‘the Son of God, the Messiah.’ He is dispelled from both physical and spiritual blindness. What is my understanding of Jesus?

I am more convinced from this episode that pain and adversities are powerful vehicles to promote personal and community growth. Our problems can be turned into wisdom. Our life can be made better by the things that devastate our hearts. What matters is right perspective and right attitude like Jesus. Let us celebrate life with right perspective and right attitude for life is beautiful….

THE WOMAN AT THE WELL – AN ALTERNATIVE PERSPECTIVE

Wilson SVD

3^rd Sunday of the Lent (A)

                    Ex 17: 3-7;    Rom 5: 1-2, 5-8;     Jn 4: 5-42

Jesus and the Samaritan woman. A memorable encounter in St. John’s Gospel. The story of the nameless Samaritan woman at the well, recorded only in the Gospel of John, is a revealing one, full of many truths, fraught with symbolism and powerful lessons for us today. We know from the historical sources the hatred that existed between the Jews and the Samaritans. At the time of Jesus, the animosity was predominantly religious yet it also had social repercussions. Jews utterly despised the Samaritans as having no claim on their God. The Samaritans did not observe all the regulations which the Jews did and so, they were suspected to be unclean and this uncleanness was also believed to be transmitted to the utensils they were using. As per the cultural norms, a man does not speak with a woman on the street, not even his own wife, and certainly not with another woman. Amidst such socio-religious ambience, Jesus has a fascinating dialogue with this unnamed Samaritan woman. 

It was noon, a hot day, Jesus was weary with travelling and so sat by the side of Jacob’s well, tired and exhausted and he knows pretty well that women come to the well to fetch water. The Samaritan woman comes there with a jar and Jesus makes a simple request, could you give me a drink? She turned in astonishment and said, “I am a Samaritan, you are a Jew, how is it that you ask a drink from me? She was astonished that Jesus was violating the Jewish cultural taboo. Now, the Jews were not supposed to speak to Samaritans and men were not permitted to talk to women in public places and further, it is unexpected of the Rabbis to converse with socially marginalized women. Jesus was willing to toss out the rules, break the barriers. Jesus was consciously crossing the boundary between the Jews and Samaritans, and between man and woman. The woman focused on law and Jesus focused on grace.

As their conversation progresses, the woman is under impression that Jesus is claiming to be greater than her ancestor Jacob. Jesus makes a break through, asks her to call her husband. And she responds that she has no husband and is living with a man to whom she is not married legally. Jesus acknowledges the truthfulness of her answer and reveals his knowledge of her entire life. This revelation by Jesus of the woman’s past has been the crux for the traditional exegesis and many commentators conclude that the woman is promiscuous and immoral. Some other exegetes prefer an allegorical interpretation; her five husbands are the five gods whom the Samaritans revere according to 2Kg 17: 24ff.

I prefer to read this story from an alternative perspective. Jesus exposes a deeper truth that she has had five husbands and now lives with someone who is not her husband. In my opinion, how the woman came to be married five times, or her moral life holds no significance for the story. The emphasis here, is on the woman as the person and the uncanny knowledge of Jesus.  Let the analysis not make her a victim of oppressive patriarchy. She does not deserve our opprobrium but a genuine understanding. If the woman was leading an immoral life, the men were also equally responsible and why not talk about that; Is it not possible that she had been married so many times because of economic and social reasons rather than lustful ones? In the first century Palestinian culture, could she survive by working for wages? In a society that granted no legal standing to women apart from their relationship with a man – father, husband, brother or son. Hence, she can be legitimately considered a marginalized person, subject to economic, social and legal exploitation. Here status is akin to that of a slave, probably therefore, she is not even given a name in this episode. She is type, not of a deplorable, degenerate woman but she is a symbol of Samaritanism, a personification of Samaritan community. Therefore, I derive two important lessons from this encounter.

 1. Lord meets us where we are

                                     2. The woman makes a difference

1. Lord meets us where we are

Jesus encounters the Samaritan woman at the well, in fact, Jesus was waiting for her. The Lord meets the woman in her brokenness, in her poverty, in her social discrimination and exploitation. The story teaches that God loves us in spite of our bankrupt lives. Jesus meets this outcast woman in public and affirms her openly. She leaves her jug behind and runs to proclaim, in her newness she forgets her misery. She was longing to be accepted, cared for and loved and Jesus approached her, when everyone rejected her. God values us and actively seeks us. The Lord meets us wherever we are.

2. The woman makes a difference

She is an extraordinary woman. The crux of the story is; will you allow God to use you just as you are – with all the experiences, failures, success, flaws and all mess? Will you allow God to take his Word through you?

Many of us, may be familiar with this story; One day a man was walking along the beach and noticed a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean. Approaching the boy, the man asked curiously, what are you doing? The tiny boy replied, ‘throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf (waves) is up and the tide is going out. If I do not throw them back, they will die.’ The man smiled and said, ‘my son don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish and what difference can you make? Having listened politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it back into the sea and then said confidently to the man, ‘ask that one because I just made a difference for him.’

Jesus meets the woman in her brokenness, he sees not what she is but what she is capable of becoming. The woman’s perspective changes, she gains insight into Jesus’ identity and a discriminated woman becomes a witness to the entire city of Sychar. A woman, going to win all the men of the city, to evangelize the entire city, to evangelize men, Jesus converts an outcaste woman into an evangelist. He demonstrates that there is no gender or any socio-cultural discrimination in the sight of God. She did make a difference, a great difference indeed and the entire city believed in Jesus through. She becomes an instrument of living water, she participates in the universal mission of Jesus.  Will I allow God to work through me?  Let us allow God to work through us and celebrate life for life is beautiful……

TRANSFIGURATION – A CHECK POINT

Wilson SVD

2^nd Sunday of the Lent (A)

                    Gen  12: 1-4;    2 Tim 1: 8-10;     Mtt 17: 1-9

Jesus ascends a mountain taking three of his intimate disciples (Peter, James and John) and on the top of the mountain  (the mountain name is not specified and that is not important as well), he was suddenly transfigured before them (μετεμορφώθη ἔμπροσθεν αὐτῶν). How; ‘his face shone like the sun’ (ἔλαμψεν τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ὡς ὁ ἥλιος - after Moses beheld God’s glory, his own face shone with that glory cf. Exod 34:29–35, Dan 12:3, 2 Esdr 7:97), his garments became ‘as white as light’ (λευκὰ ὡς τὸ φῶς). Moses and Elijah appear and converse with Jesus. A calm and serene atmosphere exits, Peter offers to pitch three tents to continue to dwell there. And from the bright cloud a voice exclaims, “This is my beloved son, in whom I take delight, listen to him.” Jesus and the three disciples descend from the mountain. What is the significance of this event?

Transfiguration is a fascinating story in the Gospel of Matthew that has wealth of theological significance and intertextual associations. All the synoptic Gospel writers have recorded this event (Mk 9, 2-13; Lk 9, 28-36, Mtt 17, 1-9). The event of transfiguration is sandwiched between the first and second prediction of Jesus about his own death and resurrection (Mtt 16, 21-23 & 17, 22-23). Therefore, the story of transfiguration has distinctively manifold meanings, however, I perceive this event to be serving primarily two main purposes;

1. A check point for Jesus

2. An assurance for the disciples that Jesus is the messiah

 A check point for Jesus

We know of the mount of temptation and the mount of sermon and now the mount of transfiguration. At this point of Matthean narrative, there is a possibility that Jesus was under certain predicaments; an inner desire for confirmation of his further journey. Why did Jesus go to mountain top? Why did he make this expedition to the lonely mountain slope? To be with himself, to pray and to consult God, the Father. We must place ourselves, as far as we can, in Jesus’ place. By this time, he was on the way to the Cross. Jesus had to make quite sure beyond any doubt that he was doing what God wishes him to do. He needed to check himself and proceeded confidently. He had to make pretty sure that it was indeed God’s will that he should go to the cross. Jesus went up to mountain to ask God, ‘Am I doing God’s will in setting my face to go to Jerusalem?’ Jesus went up to listen the voice of God. He would take no step without consulting God. How then could he take the biggest step of all without consulting him? Of everything Jesus could have asked one question and only one question: “Is it God’s will for me?” And that is the question, he was probably battling within in the loneliness of the slopes of the mountain. The fact that Jesus restricts this experience to the inner circle of his disciples points to its particularly special character, the necessity to keep it secret as this was his personal struggle - the need for further authentication that he is on a right path. I am more inclined to believe that Transfiguration confirms Jesus' self-understanding of Who he is and his identity is reiterated and authenticated by the voice from the heaven, “This is my beloved son, in whom I take delight, listen to him.” (A repetition of Baptismal promise). In biblical tradition, cloud is symbolic presence of God (Ex 13:21, 22, 40:34, 34:5, 1 Kgs 8:10, 11, 2 Chles 5:13).

We can evidently infer a chiastic structure from this narrative:

a. Narrative introduction (1)

b. Jesus is transfigured (2–3)

c. Peter’s response (4)

d. The divine voice (5)

c. The disciples’ response (6)

b. Jesus speaks (7)

a. Narrative conclusion (8, 9)

and if so, then God is the centre character of this pericope. Hence, God affirms and endorses and Jesus descends from the mountain to continue his mission with renewed enthusiasm and zeal.

Jesus heard the voice of his Father at Baptism and overcame the temptation in the wilderness. Now, he prepares to enter the holy city of Jerusalem, knowing well the implications and here again his Father speaks, reassures, confirms and affirms. The presence of Moses and Elijah, the two great figures of Israelite history, reiterates God’s affirmation.  The mount of transfiguration initiates the heroic journey of Jesus towards the mount of Calvary, the most adventurous journey in human history, a journey beset with perils, a journey involving a cross, but a journey enveloped in glory. The mount of transfiguration shadows in anticipation the mount of Calvary.

Significance of Moses and Elijah

Moses and Elijah represent the law and the prophets beyond any doubt but their presence is a symbolic expression of a more profound indication for Jesus. Both of them encountered many enemies in their lives and there is something uncanny about the way they left this world. It is assumed that God took Moses away (Dt 34: 5-6) and Elijah was taken away in a chariot of horses and fire (2 Kg 2, 11). Jesus too will undergo not a mysterious death but a shameful one, a death on a cross in order make the world glorious. Moses and Elijah now appear before Jesus and Jesus will be resurrected from the death and will be glorified, thus, law and the prophets culminate in Jesus, therefore Jesus is greater than Moses and Elijah.

2. An assurance for the disciples that Jesus is the messiah

A few days ago, the disciples heard Jesus speaking in a most unexpected and disconcerting way about his death; probably they were confused, they needed at this point some assurance of the true identity of Jesus as messiah, the Son of God. This is particularly important because Jesus needs them to hold on to him and later continue his ministry.  Hence, there is a pressing need for Jesus at this point of commencing his decisive journey towards Jerusalem to assure his disciples that he is truly the messiah but not exactly the messiah of their expectation. The logical presentation of this event is clear; Jesus elicits his messiahship and proceeds to instruct the disciples, the truth concerning his identity as the messiah, the Son of God- a contradictory messiah, a suffering servant. Father endorses the identity of Jesus as the messiah, and the presence of Moses and Elijah indicates the imminent passion, suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus. The disciples see Jesus as they had never seen him before, a glorious Lord. The mount of transfiguration transforms the disciples, alters their conception about the messiah and vindicates that Jesus must walk the path of rejection and crucifixion. The disciples’ perspective on Jesus changed with this experience. The suffering servant and the glorious messiah are blended perfectly well.

Our lives

The Mount of Transfiguration was for Jesus a spiritual mountain peak. Was he taking the right way? Was he right to journey out to Jerusalem and embrace the Cross? I would say, it was the experience on the Mount of Transfiguration that enabled Jesus to unyieldingly walk the way to/of the Cross. We too need check points in our lives. I am more than convinced that every now and then, we need to do a check, an introspection, a soul-searching exercise; where am I going? What am I doing? Am I on the right path? Are my goals just?, etc. It’s very normal for us to be at the cross roads of our lives; desperately longing for a direction, a confirmation, a word of affirmation. Like Jesus we ought to go to the mountain top to listen to and to be refreshed by God.  There are many things that can trouble us, create doubt in us; anxiety, worry, fear, sin, debt, career, failures, sickness, etc. Are we struggling to know God’s will in our lives?  Then the event of transfiguration speaks directly to us. Mountain is a place of encounter with God. Mountains are symbols of our lives, they inspire us, test our strength and expose our weaknesses. These mountains or the check points could be the our moments of prayer. At the mountains, we are pulled out of the ordinary life and are energized to face the valleys in our lives. These check points produce fruits only when they are accompanied by prayer, faith in God and obedience to God’s ways.  Our perspectives change in presence of God. Our lives are transformed in the presence of God.  

 Where is my mountain, my place of encounter with God, my place of stillness, solitude, quiet, reflection. It can be anywhere where I feel comfortable. It was on Mount Horeb that Elijah encountered God, not in the wind, and not in the earthquake, but in the still small voice (1 Kings 19:9–12). Let me stop, check, confirm and proceed to celebrate life for life is beautiful….

Temptation an inner conflict

Wilson SVD

First Sunday of the Lent

                               Gen 2: 7-9, 3: 1-7;   Rom 5: 12-19;   Mtth 4: 1-11

One of the commonly narrated stories is, ‘on a morning of a beautiful day, children walk into the school with mixed feelings, surprisingly they notice a basket full of chocolates placed in a room with an instruction above, ‘kindly take one each chocolate because God is watching.’ Children, as they came in picked up one each chocolate and were moving to their class rooms.  One of them noticed in the next room, a basket full of apples, she with her tiny hands pushed it to the corridor and placed a note, ‘you may take as many apples as you wish because God is busy watching the chocolates.’

The event of temptation of Jesus as narrated in the gospel (Mtth 4: 1-11), the dramatic experience of Adam and Eve in the garden (Gen 3: 1-7) and our lives today have a striking resemblance. Temptation is part of human existence and we live in a world of temptations that are more real and rampant than ever before. There are times in our battle against these adversities, we become weary and succumb to the irresistible. Why do we struggle and what is the purpose of the temptations?

One of the motifs of the evangelist Matthew is to present Jesus as the new Adam and new Moses. In this passage, we encounter interesting parallelism with the event of garden of Eden and to the experience of Israel in the wilderness; Israel experience a season of testing in the wilderness after the deliverance from Egypt and the establishment of the covenant relationship. The major difference is, Adam, Eve and Israel succumb to their test while Jesus emerges victorious demonstrating perfectly his identity as Son of God. It is important to observe that the event of the testing of Jesus occurs immediately after the baptism of Jesus (Mtth 3: 13-17), where he is declared the Son of God and his Sonship is vitally important to his mission. This account is placed here deliberately because it serves as an important prolegomenon to the ministry of Jesus. How does Jesus prove his Sonship? How does Jesus authenticate his identity as Son of God? Does he exhibit the qualities that are called for in Sonship to the Father? This is what is being dramatically depicted in this event of temptation.

I would prefer to analyze this pericope not as an outward experience of Jesus but primarily as an inner struggle that went on in his mind, heart and soul. This is probably a subjective experience of Jesus; Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Spirit and in the desert Jesus is alone, i.e. Jesus is with himself and in solitude emerges the inner struggle, the real self and desire to establish his identity, a struggle to choose God or charms of this world, pleasure or pain, service or power - this is definitely an inner battle. The tempter talks to Eve, when she was alone in the garden; Probably, Adam and Eve too underwent an inner struggle. Human beings are battling constantly between the two competing impulses one to do evil and another to do good. The Hebrew word for evil is hara and the root of this word indicates that prompting to do evil is rather a force within the individual than an influence from outside. It is through our inmost thoughts and desires that the tempter comes to us. The temptation is launched in our own minds first and thus the tempter finds his allies and his weapons in our own inmost thoughts and desires.

This inner conflict could be elaborated in the following three categories;

The pericope consists of three temptation segments, framed by an introductory sentence (vv 1–2) and a concluding sentence (v 11);

1.  to turn stones into bread (vv 3–4) – Desires of the flesh

            2.  to jump from the pinnacle of the temple (vv 5–7) - Pride of life

3.  to receive the kingdom of the world by worshiping the devil (vv 8–10) – Desires of the eyes

1. Desires of the flesh

The desires of the flesh is a temptation to satisfy bodily needs. Eve saw that the forbidden tree was good for food and was tempted.  Jesus was hungry and was in need of food after forty days of fasting. Jesus undergoes an inner struggle to make use of his divine powers to satisfy his physical needs. Jesus wins over this temptation taking recourse to Det 8:3. The point here is Jesus will not make use of his divine powers for his personal advantages, he knows God will give him food at the right time and so he waits and consciously postpones his physical needs.  What about us? All of us at certain times, go through this experience of conflict between physical needs and needs of a higher value. One of the oppressively rampant struggle today is we are not able to wait and postpone our physical pleasures. The modern society is struggling with the syndrome of dissatisfaction. We are not able to say, its enough, I have sufficient, I am happy, I am contented.  The phenomenon of pleasure and instantaneous enjoyment seems to rule the toast today, consequently, dependency on alcohol and drugs are on constant increase, value for marriage is diminishing and live-in relationships, divorces are on upsurge. Pleasure seeking attitude considers human beings as disposable commodities.   The challenge is, can we postpone consciously or say no to the physical gratification for a higher value?

2. Pride of life

Jesus stands at the pinnacle of the temple: probably with overwhelming conflict between pride and humility; to be proud of the possession of supernatural powers and perform spectacular stuffs, a dazzling feat or to be humble that these are a gratuitous gift. Jesus again takes a resource to the word of God ( Dt 6:16) and over-comes this temptation for pride. On the contrary, Eve desired to possess the knowledge of life and succumbed to vanity. How about us? Do we stand at the pinnacle of anywhere? Are there times, we are unduly proud of ourselves, our wealth, family, physical appearance, intelligence, talents and achievements? We boast of our technological advancements forgetting the disasters they have brought along. One of the comforts we boast of today is online shopping but in the bargain, we have sacrificed humanness. When I go to the grocer, I talk to him and meet other customers, interact and establish a bound of relationship and communion. Haven’t we sacrificed human value?  Humility is the beginning of wisdom.   

3. Desires of the eyes

Jesus captures a panoramic view of the whole universe: What a vision it must have been; the cities, the fields, the flocks and everything the nature could offer with wealth and splendor spread before him -  a conflict between power and service. Eve saw that the fruit was delightful to the eyes, made compromises, misquoted God, ate the fruit and shared with Adam. Instead, Jesus choose to serve God in humility (Dt 6: 13, 10: 20) and we are blessed with a savior. What about us? Eye is one of the human faculties that affects simultaneously mind and heart. The old cliché, ‘all that glitters is not gold’, is very true because what we see could be deceptive. Are we not allured by many things that we see or perceive? It’s true that things of this world are delightful, charming and attractive. People, wealth, nature, we wish to possess them, control and exercise power over them. Do I desire to serve or to be served?

Jesus battled against his inner conflict and emerged victorious and established his identity as a Son of God and began his mission on earth.  Therefore, these conflicts and struggles are to make us strong and enable us to conquer evil and live our Christian vocation meaningfully.  Hence, life is a battle both within and outside and the one who fights righteously depending on God emerges triumphant like Jesus. Let us fight the battle of life confiding in God and celebrate life for life is beautiful……..

Is it worth worrying?

Wilson SVD

VIII Ordinary Sunday

 1^st -  Isa 49: 14-15,  2^nd - 1 Corth 4: 1-5,  Gospel- Mtth 6: 24-34 

Sermon on the Mount (Mtth 5-7) is one of the important didactic activities of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew. Today’s gospel is an extract from the sermon on the mount (Mtth 6: 24-34).  The key concept of today’s readings is ‘do not worry.’  “Worry” is the key word and it occurs six times in today’s gospel (vv. 25, 27, 28, 31 and 34). The day’s gospel is a carefully designed ethical teaching relating to authentic Christian living.

Worry, feeling anxious or stressed, seems to plague millions of people in our world today. what precisely is worry and why do we worry at all? Worry is part of the human condition.  We all experience worry. We worry about something because we perceive it as a threat to our happy living and worry causes us to focus on that potential threat and apparently appears to protect ourselves from that threat. At times, worrying seems to help us to perform well but in reality, it is not so.  It's human nature to be concerned about the bad situations in our world and in our personal lives, but if we're not careful, worry can make us miserable. Worry is like a pendulum oscillating between the two extremities, it's always in motion but it never gets you anywhere.  When one is excessively apprehensive and obsessed with the threat (negative thinking), it can turn out to be a highly problematic complex emotion that can eventually but definitely destroy one’s life.  Therefore, when we worry, we torment ourselves, we harm ourselves. So, why do we struggle with it? And what good does it do?

The technological developments may have made our external life comfortable but are we at peace within? There were times, we wrote letters and waited for days and weeks for a reply but we were totally happy. And today, we communicate instantly but we are more tensed. The smaller the world has become, the more far we are from each other. We have become more delicate human beings. We easily harbor and nurture concerns and worries and our minds are an ocean of worries.

We are anxious, troubled, restless and our heart is heavy. In my anxious search, I fret and fume, and run from pillar to post.  I am full of doubts and worries; Do I look beautiful? Am I handsome? Am I attractive? Am I too tall or too short or too fat or too lean or too dark or too fair? Am I losing my charm as I grow in age?  How will I face pain? How can I be successful? Will I be accepted and appreciated? Will I have more friends? Am I rich enough? Do I have the latest gadgets? Am I better than him or her? If I were to be like so and so, I would be better. I am afraid of failure. I dread making mistakes; conflicts in relationships, peer group pressure, consumerism and comfort culture, economic struggles, social security, growing intolerant and violent culture, etc. Truly our mind is an ocean of worries.

Do you worry about things that are unreal?

Are you more anxious than relaxed?

Are you more unhappy than happy?

Are you afraid of being happy and joyful?

Do you hesitate to hang out with friends?

Are you unwilling to take ordinary daily risks?

Do your worries affect your normal daily activities? 

Are you an obsessive negative thinker?

Are you unduly worried about your food, clothing and comforts?

If yes, then the Lord is precisely talking to us today. Unfortunately, there is no wonder pill that can magically relieve us of worrying. The human scientists have suggested various ways to handle our worry, perplexity and the consequent negative complex emotion. However, they are all a temporary relief and not a permanent solution. Jesus offers us a simple but a permanent solution through todays readings.  Jesus addresses the root cause of the problem and not just the symptoms.

What is my fundamental choice in life? What am I after in life; God or Wealth?  All my life activities, choices, actions and preferences depend on this fundamental choice. The Greek word ‘mammon’ (μαμωνᾷς )  is translated from the Aramaic noun mamônā  ( מָמוֹנָא), and the word means  ‘wealth, property and material possessions.’ The root of the word has a sense of pejorative connotation; indicating to the unjustly accumulated wealth, ‘mammon’ of unrighteousness, a fortune more than the need. Jesus specifically speaks about such wealth because they eventually substitute everything in life and become source of concern, focus, greed and breed worry and anxiety. Affiliation to materialism is inevitably in conflict with loyalty to God. Wealth becomes one’s master.  ‘mammon’ of unrighteousness produces disloyalty, worry, anxiety, jealousy, doubt, fear and makes life miserable on the contrary loyalty to God provides serenity, peace and harmony. In today’s context ‘mammon’ could be the desire for power, authority, fame and name, being addicted to electronic gadgets, social media, drugs, alcohol, pleasure, consumerism and accumulating materials beyond one’s need, etc. Therefore, what is my fundamental choice in life?

Jesus emphatically exhorts, ‘not to worry’ (μὴ μεριμνᾶτε). The Greek word, merimna (μεριμνᾶ) here means ‘to be anxious, fearful, to worry anxiously’ and it specifies not just the mental anxiety but the actions that result from it and so ‘worry’ is an activity of both mind, heart and physic.  The evils of worry are sleeplessness, jealousy, anger and it brings old age pretty soon (1 Macc 6: 10, Sir 42: 9 and Sir 30: 24). Jesus urges not to worry about life, what to eat, drink or about the body. Food, drink and clothing are needs of the body and are essential to life (τῇ ψυχῇ literally is ‘your soul’ but ψυχή is regularly used for life in the NT). Jesus establishes a contrast between life and body (God and wealth). God is the source of life and if so, will he not provided the essentials to sustain life and supply to the needs of the body. Hence, worry about even the basic necessities is worthless.   

Jesus beautifully illustrates the absurdity of being anxious by drawing examples from animal and natural world: The birds of the sky (τὰ πετεινὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ) do not ‘sow, reap or gather’, the verbs ‘sow, reap and gather’ (σπείρουσιν, θερίζουσιν, and συνάγουσιν), point to the human undue preoccupation with financial security, accumulating ‘mammon’ of unrighteousness, storing grains, fatty bank balances, properties and the various contemporary addictions. The point that Jesus brings home is ‘the birds do not store up for future, they neither have bank balances nor shares in markets but work daily, take one day at a time and the Lord provides them unfailingly.’ And same is the truth with the beautiful and splendid flowers of the field that blossom and wither on the same day. The breaking point here is the rhetorical question, ‘are you not worth much more than these? (οὐχ ὑμεῖς μᾶλλον διαφέρετε αὐτῶν). The creation account in the book Genesis states that the human beings are created in the image and likeness of God (Gen 1: 26-27) and they constitute the final and climactic act of creation and are given authority over the rest of the world (Gen 1: 28). Hence, isn’t it futile to worry?

The practical question that proves the inutility of anxiety is ‘what is the advantage of worrying?’ Worrying is most likely to shorten a person’s life than to extend it (Sir 20: 21-24). Anxiety produces stress, and stress pressure and pressure sickness and sickness medical bills and the medical bills once again produce worry and the cycle goes on and on non-stop.  This elicits that by being anxious one cannot extend one’s life even by a small fraction of a second. Why should we then worry at all, when we cannot even change the least of things? Thus, Jesus promptly establishes the sovereignty and the providential nature of God and the futility of anxiety.

Therefore, the root cause of worry is essentially distrust in God. Worry is caused by not trusting God to take care of the various situations of our lives. Very often we trust our own abilities and fall short of our own expectations. Hence, if our fundamental choice in life is God then worry vanishes instead if wealth is the essential choice of our life then our mind is an ocean of worries.  The answer to incapacitating worry is fundamental option to God and strong trust in God, for we are His precious children and our Heavenly Father’s love is profound then mother’s love (Isa  49: 14-15) and He takes care of everything (Matt 11: 28-30). Therefore, my friends worry not, give it to God, take one day at a time and celebrate life for life is beautiful…..