Wednesday, February 27, 2013
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013 - LENTEN WEEKDAY-LUKE 16: 19 - 31
1. The description of the rich man makes it very clear that he was living a very luxurious life. He was clothed in purple and fine linen and his robes were expensive costing many times the value of a working man’s daily wage. He was feeding himself on exotic and costly dishes. He broke the law which forbids work on the Sabbath because it also positively tells everyone to work the rest of six days. This rich man does not work for his food.
2. In those days there were no knives, forks or napkins. Food was eaten with the hands and the hands were cleansed by wiping them on hunks of bread which were then thrown away. Lazarus was waiting for it.
3. Lazarus is the only character in any parable given a name by Jesus. The name is the Latinized form of Eleazar and means God is my help. He was a beggar, full of sores and the street dogs were around him.
4. The text give no indication that the rich man was guilty of moral wrong or for that ,matter that Lazarus was morally right. The rich man is condemned for his sin of omission
5. The sin of the rich man was that he did not bother about what was happening around him. He was in his own world comfortable with what he had. He did not reach out to the needy and the poor.
So many things happen around us, like the kiling of Tamils in Sri Lanka, the brutal rape case of young girl in Delhi and other several crimes against women, hanging of Afzal Guru and other political issues, bomb blast in Hyderabad, resignment of our Holy Father and several other incidents. What is my reaction towards all these incidents. If I am least bothered about any of these issues or say to myself ‘what can I do as an individual and remain quiet, or I go on without even having an opinion about these stark realities, we will have to face the same fate of the rich man.
Courtesy
William Barclay the New Daily Study Bible
The New Jerome Biblical Commentary
Monday, February 25, 2013
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2013 - LENTEN WEEKDAY MATTHEW 20: 17 – 28
1.
The natural human concern with status
and importance is clearly one of the most fundamental instinct which must be
unlearned by those who belong to God’s kingdom.
2.
Whether the mother herself misguided by
pride in her sons, made the request or from the personal ambition of the two
disciples, the request was made with the brother’s full consent.
3.
This story is also an indication that
there were people other than the twelve travelling with the Lord during his
ministry. The mother of the sons of Zebedee will be named among the women at
the cross) 27: 56), and is presented there as one of ‘many women who had
followed Jesus from Galilee and looked after him (27: 55)
4.
The place on the king’s right is
traditionally that of highest honour and authority, but where two people are
concerned that on the left is necessarily also included without any sense of
inferiority (2 Kgs 22: 19). But true nature of Jesus’ kingship is such that
they are ready to be crucified along with him one on the right and the other on
the left.
5.
Servant here means to be subservient,
dependent on the master, owned, lacking any self-determination, at the mercy of
their owner, expected to obey, powerless, with few legal rights, beaten,
alienated from any legitimated social existence, without honour, despised by
the elite etc.
I remember reading an
anecdote from the online sermons of one of my professors. ‘It was in the
afternoon, Stephen came running to his friend Mark who was having his lunch in
the office and started gasping and panting heavily. ‘What happened to you’
asked Mark. You know after having a plate of Biryani (South Indian delicacy), I
was coming out of the shop, a car stopped in front of the shop. A group of men
with masks on their faces, started firing on all sides. Many got killed and
very soon we were in the pool of blood. By God’s grace I was saved and I am
here alive now’ told Stephen without a break. After a brief moment of silence
Mark said to Stephen ‘So you went out to eat Biryani without me’ Jesus openly
tells His disciples about his fate, which is the sole purpose of going to
Jerusalem. There was no one among them who felt bad about what Jesus told them.
Several times we are concerned with topics and issues which are very mean. The
decision of our Holy Father to step down from the seat of greatest honour is
one clear example of practicing humility and counting on things that really
matter.
Reference
The Gospel of
Matthew – R.T France
Matthew and the
Margins – Warren Carter
Thursday, February 21, 2013
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2013 - THE CHAIR OF ST. PETER, APOSTLE (FEAST) MATTHEW 16: 13 - 19
He said to them,
"But who do you say that I am?"Simon Peter replied, "You are the
Christ, the Son of the living God."
Who is St. Peter?
What significance does
this question have? Today there is a lot of hue and cry over the authority of
the Pope. Imagine when you read the morning newspaper you read a headline which
says that the General of the Indian Army feels that there is no reason to defend
our country. Will we not be surprised and shocked? Same thing happens with
regard to the Holy Father and his authority. Many including Catholics and even
the Clergymen who are supposed to defend the Pope, do question the authority of
the Pope. For all these people, today’s gospel gives a clear answer. We all
know this character called Peter. He represents some of us who keep messing up
things again and again in our life. Everyone misspeaks occasionally. Peter does
so daily. He blurts wrong words like a whale spouts salt water, spraying folly
everywhere. He always hurts someone. Oh, Peter and his quick-triggered tongue.
This is the kind of person our Lord chooses to lead his Church. He gives him
the authority to bind people with laws. He gives him the keys of heaven. Keys
are the emblems of authority and this language was addressed to Peter because
of the Power that was to be conferred on him. He was to organize, toil, and
manage the affairs of kingdom as the Head, of course not absolutely but under
Christ the Head. Among the Jews when a scribe was admitted to his office a key
was given to him as the symbol of duty he was expected to perform.
Today the whole Church
is shocked and surprised with the announcement of his retirement of Pope
Benedict XVI the 265th Pope who is known for his intelligence, holiness, strong
character and erudition. There are a lot of rumours about his decision. He has
made his decision in the light of faith and he gave us all the real and valid
reason for his retirement. The moment I heard about his decision, like
everybody I was shocked and was utterly disappointed. But as I began to reflect
about his decision, I begin to see the real humility this person has in front
of God. When everybody including the clergy and religious are craving to go up
the ladder in terms of power and position, here is our Pope who just decided to
give up a post (secular term) which is the greatest post we can think of in
this world. Let us respect and believe that this is the real will of God and
continue to pray for him and for the one who is going to lead us after him.
Who do People say I am?
Any Communication gets
completed only when there is a feedback. Jesus being a good communicator wanted
to get the feedback from his disciples. Feedback can be both positive as well
as negative. He just asks his disciples to know what exactly the people think
of him. The feedback given by the disciples is quite positive. Some call him
Elijah, John the Baptist, Jeremiah. He was considered to be one of the
prophets. Surely it is a compliment for Jesus and His mission.
This is an important
lesson we need to learn from Jesus. As human beings, and more specifically as
Christians we live in communities. We do not live in isolation. Therefore we
cannot be too individualistic in our attitude. We should be mindful of what
other people think about us and our way of living. Though we do not live for
the sake of others, we also do not live only for our sake. If majority of our
community members feel that our way of life is not that okay, we need to pay
proper attention to that feedback. If many our community members point out to
us saying that we seldom attend Sunday mass, we do not live a proper life
worthy of a Christian etc., we should not ignore their view totally by shunning
them. There could be some traces of truth in that. Jesus was ready to listen to
the feedback.
We need not know
everything about us. There are certain things which only when somebody points
out to us, we will come to know. We see the whole world and the reality around
us, using our eyes, we cannot see our own eyes. We need mirror to see our eyes.
People with whom we live might serve as mirror at times. Therefore we should
also take suggestions of people into consideration.
Who do you say I am?
Last year I went along
with my friend to watch one of the league matches of IPL. I was longing to see
Sachin playing. I was delighted throughout the match and came back home
happily. Many asked me about the match and I was happy to share my personal
experience with them. I was describing Sachin for quite a long time. Suddenly,
someone a critique of cricket asked me, ‘Did you get his mobile number? I gave
him a strange look. He continued. Do you have his email id? Do you know his
house address? And finally asked me, do you really know him? This made me to
reflect deeper. I know Sachin for a long time. I know how many centuries he has
made but do I really know him? Is he related to me? Does he know my name?
We come for mass, and
sit like spectators in the stadium, sing songs if we know, partly listen to
sermons and then go away. We might know how many miracles Jesus did; where he
was born; we might know the names of his parents, and so many other minute
details. But do we really know him. On your way back home after the mass, if a
non-Christian brother/sister asks you why do you go every Sunday to the Church,
what answer will you give? Some of us might emphatically say, we go to receive
Jesus Christ. But if that person asks you again, ‘who is this Jesus? Do we have
an answer for that question? Will that answer come from our personal
experience?
Who is Jesus Christ?
To the banker, hidden treasure (Mt 13, 44), To
the builder, one foundation (Is.26,16), To the carpenter, door (Jn. 10, 7), To
the doctor, great physician (Jer.8, 22), To the educator, great teacher (Jn. 3,
2), To the engineer, new and living way (Hb.10, 20), To the farmer, sower and
Lord of harvest (Lk, 10, 2), To the florist, rose of Sharon (song of songs (2,
1). This list is endless. But Jesus asks us today, who do you say I am? If we
do not have an answer that comes immediately from our heart, probably it is the
high time to enter into a personal relationship with Him. Let us move from the
level of knowing about Jesus to Knowing Jesus.Wednesday, February 20, 2013
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2013 - LENTEN WEEKDAY - MATTHEW 7: 7 - 12
1.
Prayer demonstrates how deeply we trust
God and how much we love and depend upon Him. A person who really trusts God –
who really knows that what he asks is going to be received – will bring more
and more to God. He will come to God in prayer more and more. But the person
who is not quite sure about receiving, will only occasionally come, usually
only in emergencies. God easily sees how much we really love and trust Him by
our prayer life.
2.
One should seek the kingdom of God and
justice in prayer. It is not merely asking what one needs for himself or
herself.
3.
The Jewish Rabbis had a lot of wonderful
concepts on prayers. ‘God is as near to his creatures as the ear to the mouth’.
A man is annoyed by the requests of his friends, but with God the more a person
requests Him the more He is pleased with him or her.
4.
Jesus carefully chooses His examples.
The little round limestone on the sea shore were exactly the shape and the
colour of the little loaves, the serpent here means the eel which is actually
an unclean fish which is forbidden to eat.
5.
God will always answer our prayers but
in His own time and in His own way. He would never refuse our prayers. We need
certain amount of patience and perseverance.
This morning around 5
am there was a knock on my door. I got up half asleep and opened the door and
found an elderly man standing outside. I knew the old man who was from one of
our sub parishes. He normally comes for prayer requests and some help. I got
irritated and asked him, what he wanted. He kept looking at me in silence. I
was all the more angry and asked him what he wanted from me. He looked at me
gently and told me, ‘Father this is for you, I have brought some ground nuts
from my field, please take it and give me back the bag, I am on my way to
Vellore’. I emptied the bag, and sent him away. I came back to my room and
looked at the ground nuts. I asked him what he wanted but he came to give what
I wanted.
Courtesy
William Barclay,
the New Daily Study Bible Series
The New Jerome
Biblical Commentary
Preacher’s
Outline and Sermon Bible
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2013- LUKE 11: 29 - 32
1. Sign: This word does
not simply mean miracle, since Jesus had already supplied many of them, it must
refer to some assurance or authentication that Jesus is truly from God. Around
the year AD 45, man called Theudas arose claiming to be the Messiah. He
persuaded the people to follow him out to the Jordan with the promise that he
would cleave the river in two and give them a pathway through it to the other
side. He failed miserably and was dealt severely by the Romans. People expected
Jesus to perform some feats of this sort.
2. Evil and Adulterous
generation – the term is used as a metaphor to describe infidelity with respect
to God. God’s relationship with his people is that of a marriage covenant (Hos 1-3,
Is 57:3, Jer 3:9)
3. Sign of Jonah:
According to St. Luke, the sign of Jonah is Jesus’ preaching of repentance to
the marginalized as Jonah preached to the Pagan people of Nineveh, with
reference to death and resurrection. The point in common is return to life
after apparent/real death not so much to do with the number of days (three days
and night in the belly of the fish and three days in the tomb).
4. The Pagan Ninevites
who repented at Jonah’s preaching will condemn people of Jesus’ generation for their
failure to repent in response for Jesus’ preaching. They repented even though
they were pagans and had a lesser preacher (Jonah)
5. Queen of South:
Queen of Sheba (Saba in South West Arabia) came to hear Wisdom of Solomon from
a great distance, People of Jesus’ own generation failed to respond to his
preaching to them.
Asking for a proof or a
sign is a very normal thing. The world is full of signs and miracles which our
Lord Jesus performs every moment but we fail to take notice of it. If something
bad happens we blame it on God and if something good happens we think, it is by
chance. We are in no way different from people who lived in Jesus milieu. When
sometimes we see the people of other religions praying in our Churches with
deep reverence, it make us bit uncomfortable and Jesus tell us today that the
people who have faith in Him irrespective of their religion will be the first
ones to taste salvation. It naturally leaves a warning for us Christians who
take salvation for granted!
Courtesy
Sacra Pagina Series
Life Application
Commentary
William Barclay’s
Commentary
Monday, February 18, 2013
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013 - LENTEN WEEKDAY, MATTHEW 6: 7 - 15
1.
There are three ‘you’ petitions and
three ‘we’ petitions in this Matthean version of our Lord’s Prayer. Among the
three ‘you’ petitions the central petition is “May your kingdom come” which
expresses hopes in the coming of God’s kingdom – all creatures will declare the
holiness of God!
2.
The three we petitions presupposes
eschatological expectation a. Sustenance for the day (heavenly banquet), b.
Forgiveness of sins (involves judgment) c. Divine protection in eschatological
testing (dangerous struggle with Satan).
3.
This prayer is considered the shortened
version of Eighteen Benediction of Jews which consists of 3 introductory
praises, 12 petitions for personal and communal needs and 3 concluding praises.
4.
The specific words which Jesus used are
not any more sacred than request we might make expressing the same kids of
desires to the Father; we should seek to learn to pray like Jesus not merely
what Jesus prayed.
5.
The pattern of meaningful prayer is to
begin by majority on the person and nature of God and His kingdom interests,
coming to the personal requests and needs only secondarily.
Our Father
: Should be prayed in fellowship with other believers (Communitarian)
Hallowed be thy name:
‘Hallowed’ means to sanctify - make holy; we should come before God with an
attitude of reverence for God’s perfection.
Your kingdom come thy
will be done: God’s kingdom is not completely
fulfilled on the earth – therefore the task of spreading of God’s kingdom
around the world is given to the Church and the kingdom servants.
On Earth as in Heaven:
There is no sin and rebellion in heaven; hindrances are present only on earth.
Give us today our daily
bread: During Jesus’ time most of the people lived ‘hand
to mouth existence! This phrase befits all the lowly and the marginalized.
Forgive us our debts:
One does not gain forgiveness by forgiving but a person evidences his or her
own forgiveness by forgiving others.
Lead us not into Temptation:
God does not give us temptation it the work of the Evil one. But here we pray
God to give us the strength to stand steadfast in our love for God and win the
temptations as did Jesus.
We pray this prayer
number of times without realizing that it is the compendium of all the types of
prayers like prayer of praise and thanksgiving, prayer of petition and prayer
of penance! Tertullian calls it as the summary of the Gospels. Let us pray this
simple and profound prayer realizing its worth.
Courtesy
Sacra Pagina
Series
Holman New
Testament Commentaries
Introduction to
New Testament – Raymond Brown
Sunday, February 17, 2013
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2013 - LENTEN WEEKDAY MATTHEW 25: 31 – 46
1.
This much loved text presents a
practical religion of deeds of loving-kindness, love of neighbor. It has been over
interpreted to say that neither faith in Christ nor membership in the Church is
necessary for salvation, but we should understand that it is not a denial of
faith but the essence of faith.
2.
The charity list provides six of the
seven corporal works of mercy in the catechetical tradition and the additional
one is to bury the dead.
3.
The Sheep: the ones who believe in God,
the good and the faithful servants, the ones who are persistent in doing good,
the ones who seek glory and honour of God and the ones who do good
4.
Goat: The worthless servants, who
profess faith only in their lips not in their hearts, the one who are self-seeking
and the ones who do not obey the truth.
5.
Goats are not condemned for what they
did, but for what they did not do, their sin was the sin of omission, not commission.
How important it is for us to attend to the need of the poor and the suffering.
Today after the Sunday Mass
in a substation, a mother whose two sons are staying with us in the boarding
invited us for lunch. Our 25 boys and I went to their house to have our lunch. It
was a small hut and we realized that all of us could not even enter the house
and there was no place. We decided to have our lunch in front of the house
under the shades of trees. The mother her four children two boys and two girls
started serving us food joyfully. The food was in abundance and some of the
boys struggled to finish their lunch. The thought that was running in my mind
like motif throughout this day was, they had no place in the house but had a
lot of space in the heart. They had little for themselves but gave us in abundance
for us. I knew God was pleased with their charity and surely they have reserved
huge space in His kingdom. Whatever you did to the least of your brothers you
did it to me.
Courtesy
The New Jerome
Biblical Commentary
Preacher’s Outline
and Sermon Bible
Friday, February 15, 2013
Sunday, February 17, 2013 - First Sunday of Lent – Luke 4: 1-13
1.
The Spirit which fills Jesus at his
Baptism does not lead him to temptation but only helps him to overcome
temptation. As we read in James 1: 13, no temptation comes from God. Every
temptation comes only from the Evil one.
2.
Jesus’ fasting is not a penitential fast
but symbolic of fullness of the Spirit and of his helplessness, contingency and
humbling of self before the Almighty God who gives and sustains life.
3.
The Satan tempts Jesus Christ because He
would not find a better opportunity than this to restore his broken kingdom.
Jesus Christ being fully human has the possibility of falling and if He does
fall, the Devil wins the battle, but Jesus disappoints the Devil and crushes
its hopes.
4.
Jesus did not use His powers for his own
good. For the one who turned water into wine, multiplied loaves, walked on
water, raised the dead, to change a stone into bread is not a difficult task.
He chose not to do in spite of his hunger to prove to Satan that He came to the
world only for the redemption of the others.
5.
Our act of penance and mortification has
a lot of salvific value. As Archbishop
Timothy Dolan would write in his book, ‘Priests for the third millennium’
that when we forgo our legitimate pleasures like eating, drinking, sleeping by
way of penance it makes it easy for us to forgo our illegitimate pleasures.
Something that
impressed me about Jesus while going through this text was his knowledge on
Scriptures. Of course He is the Word incarnate, but in several occasions He uses
the Word of God. Even here when He was tempted by the Devil, He uses the Word
of God from Deut 8:3, 6:16, 6:13 to overcome the temptation. Such is the power
of Word of God. Jesus throughout His journey keeps using the Word of God which
gives us a simple clue to overcome our temptation. Supposing a person is
tempted very badly to misuse his body, He can use the text from 1 Cor 6:19, ‘Your
body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, within you, which you have from God’ and
pray to overcome the temptation. As St. Paul in his letter to Ephesians 6: 17,
would say, ‘take the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God’ let us march
ahead in our life’s journey taking this sword of the Spirit.
The New Jerome Biblical
Commentary
Preachers
Outline and Sermon Bible