Reflections - The Corruption of our Soul

The Corruption of our Soul

It is free, but comes at huge cost

The move from analog (newspaper) to electronic (television) and now to digital (search engines and social media) has resulted in torrential transmission of information, communication and entertainment. At hands’ reach, and at the click of a button. Not all good and largely untrue too.

As humans, we are genetically, prime time and breaking news oriented. The FOMO factor – the Fear of Mixing Out may well be designated by the US Food and Drug Authority (FDA) as a disease.

A ping on our mobile and pong we respond. Depending on the number of digital media and channels that we are subscribed to, some of us could well contend for the world table tennis championship title.

The information spewed out is cataclysmic and yet too little to satiate our appetite. It has become our daily diet that takes us away from more worthy pursuits.

There is an arms race between countries, and vested interests within the countries, with differing ideologies and goals, to command the airwaves or undersea cable capacities – to get the news and entertainment to us – fastest – to the fastest finger. The more we click and consume, the better the goals of the vested interests are met, and greater the money for the abetting media.

In this ping-pong world, the rat-a-tat of bouncing messages from one chat to another and from one platform to another, can consume a whole day, with very little of significance being done.  

If there is increase in panic attacks and anxiety bouts that people are experiencing these days the mobile phone is the prime suspect for this epidemic. Put it on detox for a day and then two and see the difference.

There is so much news coming to us and almost all of it bad, it is no surprise, that peace of mind, has become a privilege that only people in media dark world enjoy.

Or those who are aware of the malicious attempt of the perpetrators, have taken measures to shut off the channels spitting out the pervasive and pernicious news. They have developed a system by which they choose to focus only on tested, verified channels providing stream of affirmations. In the grossly upended world of bad news, there is still much good to be found, if we diligently and deliberately seek it.

That is key. That should be our endeavor. We need to diligently and deliberately seek what we want and not be swamped by the menacing swarm of WhatsApp and other posts.

Getting to hear messages of affirmation that is edifying is the long tail. If you take book distribution for instance, the ‘Head’ is all the popular books with substantial marketing dollars supporting it.

And, then there are some good books with good content which does not get the publicity, but by word-of-mouth people get to hear about it. Some become best sellers by the sheer weight of their content. This is the long tail before the prominence.

Which are the books that have sold in millions?

Don Quixote by Miquel de Cervantes has sold 500 million copies; A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, 200 million copies; The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien, 150 million copies; The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, 142 million copies; followed by JK Rowling Harry Potter Series; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis, 85 million copies; The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, 80 million copies; Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, 70 million copies.

The most read books tug at some deep emotions within us related to salvation, solidarity, security, serenity, success, striving, strife, struggle, survival, seduction, secrecy and sorcery. All of it to do with our interaction with our fellow human being, humanoids, human-like animals, extra-terrestrial beings, Gods or the God Almighty. 

The Bible, the Quran, the Gita, Mao Tse-tung’s Quotations exceed the print runs of all of above – though not necessarily bought, but distributed.

These books touch upon a range of emotions of a set of communities each numbering over a billion. Then there is the Torah of the Jews and such like smaller communities. Some inspired and common to many communities and one a mere propaganda tool.

From the High-Definition, the News-on-Steroid world that we live in today, when we hark two millennia back, the transmission of news was either on horseback or use of a runner or at gatherings of places of worship, town centres and road junctions, or from hill and mountain tops. (The Beatitudes; the Teaching before the feeding of the 5000 by Jesus).

The credibility of the transmitter, the content, and the source was of utmost importance. The sources then were either the sacred books or decrees from kings, emperors, governors or local administrative head.

The content were essentially directives formulated in different forms but seeking a definite action from the listener. The transmitter made the difference, if he carried the heft of the sender of the message. The message structure too mattered.  

Mark Anthony (‘Caesar’s burial’), Abraham Lincoln (‘Gettysburg Address’), Martin Luther King (‘I have a dream’), John F Kennedy (‘Ich Bin Berliner’), Winston Churchill (‘Blood, sweat and tears’); and many forgettable ones - Hitler, Mussolini, Franco – they all had one thing in common – the ability to arouse feelings of liberation or prime the masses for sacrifices or a fight.

David Ogilvy, in Ogilvy on Advertising to illustrate what a good advertisement must do, gave the example of Greek Athens’s engagement with Macedonia, “When Aeschines spoke, they said, ‘How well he speaks.’ When Demosthenes spoke, they said, ‘Let us march against Philip (Philip II of Macedonia).’

Jesus was the perfect transmitter. His content was par excellence. His heft came from His Father in Heaven. His style was simple for his audience who were the underlings of society.

Often, He spoke in Parables. He believed that not all are interested in His message, and of those who are interested, must make the effort to understand the Parables so that His teaching sticks and is realized in action.

Very unlike the efforts of today’s transmitters pursuing their agenda. They take over the airwaves or digital bits and bytes, and relentlessly hammer the message to stand out in all the noise, intent on achieving their objectives in their lifetime. And, so the self-inflicted trauma and panic attacks that we as consumers of their messages bring upon ourselves.

We needn’t. There is so much good in the world. If we can only turn our attention toward it, and switch off from what is titillating, temporary and tempestuous that does nothing but cause us mental grief and agony.

Jesus had three years to get the job done and the effect for all times to eternity. Our pursuit should be to gain serenity and eschew sorcery which comes in so many disguises unknown, undetectable, and undecipherable to us in the news, books and entertainment we consume.

Jesus did not have a broadcasting device. Just his soothing voice. He did not scream, but taught in an even tone. He reserved his harshness only to the ‘learned’ who had become arrogant and ardently protected their privilege. He did not arouse mercurial emotions that would make people do something ‘rash’. We know of some leaders who do to stay in power.

The ‘rash’ part He reserved for himself given what it entailed – his suffering, death and resurrections – which His disciples will emulate in time – after the descent of the Holy Spirit upon them at Pentecost, and St Paul separately after his Damascus experience.

Jesus followed a process.

He first recruited full time able followers – in ones and twos - until he had twelve. Then, there were women who supported His ministry – most were called Mary – but there was a Joanna and a Salome - of all Mary Magdalene was the most prominent.

At first Jesus taught these chosen exclusively. Mk 4:11-12

He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that, “‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’^”

This is an echo of what we here in Isaiah 6:9-10. He said, “Go and tell this people: “‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

Both these verses in Mark 4:11-12 and Isaiah 6:9-10 have to do with the four responses in the Parable of the Sower in Mt 13 of how people receive the Word; the fifth being hardening of the heart which is a constant theme in the Old Testament; of Israelite’s treatment of the prophesies and the prophets leading to the exile and destruction of the Jerusalem temple.

So as part of Jesus’ ministry, to bring the kingdom of God on earth, He chose disciples (they did not choose Him; as with our God; we don’t choose, He chooses us) and it was for them (and us) to say ‘Yes’.

Some outright rejected the call. Others followed Him and were willing to endure the consequences in the hostile environment in which Christianity evolved.

However, when Jesus taught the disciples, the key teachings about his arrest, suffering, death and resurrection did not appear to get traction with the disciples. They were simply overwhelmed by Jesus’s miracles and ‘kicked’ to be part of His entourage.

Then he undertook the part of his teaching that the disciples chose to ignore – the suffering and humiliation of crucifixion in the company of thieves. When the events unfolded, the disciples except John became scarce, as Jesus had said (John 16:32), “Look, an hour is coming and has already come when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.”

After the resurrection Jesus appeared to the eleven disciples, and many others in Jerusalem, where the disciples were still there attending the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread. 

Subsequently, the disciples left for Galilee. Jesus repeatedly told through Mary Magdalene and others, “But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as he told you.” Mk 16:6-8.

The disciples too felt safer in Galilee with their own people, away from the hostility of the Jews in Jerusalem. They met Jesus on the mountain as He had said, got their faith in the resurrection confirmed many times over, and they were all set for ‘The Great Commission’ "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” Mark 16:15

Toward this end the disciples returned to Jerusalem, to be crowned with the Holy Spirit. ‘The Great Commission’ was set in motion, of which you and I are the beneficiaries, “For this is the will of the of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day.” Jn 6:40

The choices we make in our consumption of media and news which all comes to us free (which is what we think), actually comes at a great cost – the cost of our peace of mind and also of our soul.

Better to pay for the media and channels of our choice and be disciplined in what messages we allow to enter our heart. For whatever enters is bound to either corrupt or sanctify our soul. We should not give in to tardiness in this critical area of our life.

In any case, be committed to a worthy task that takes up 60 percent of your time, with just 10 percent for media-related communication, so that the balance 30 percent you can enjoy sound sleep and a healthy existence.

Wednesday, 29 April 2020

Reflections - Who told you?

Who told you?

The lie of the devil

After the serpent had beguiled Eve with his prosecutorial questioning (Gen 3), “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.”

“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

We know what happened after: Eve ate and gave to Adam and he too ate off the fruit.

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

When God visited the garden, He could not find Adam or Eve, and so God called out, “Where are you?”

Adam answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

And God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

This reflection is on:

·         ‘Who instructs us?’

·         ‘Who puts thoughts in our head that makes us anxious or make us do wrong?’

·         ‘Who do we listen to?’

In the Biblical episode we just read, God had instructed Adam not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil; the Serpent craftily put thoughts in Eve’s head (she had not heard directly from God, it was hearsay from Adam); Eve listened to the serpent, ignoring God’s instructions and ate the fruit and so did Adam.

Of the three, the SERPENT, ADAM AND EVE, who got the harshest punishment from God for the transgression?

Eve was let off with child birth pangs (not to downplay that it is severely painful when undergoing one), and that she will desire and be submissive to her husband. But, to be desirable, Adam the husband, would have to toil and earn a living by the sweat of his brow for all his life.

There’s a lovely passage from ‘The Brief Remarker on the Ways of Man’ by Ezra Sampson, about man’s discomfort when circumstances force him to depend on his wife’s earnings. Today, it is perhaps different and welcome. Not so, two millennia back.

The story of Tobit and his wife Anna from the Book of Tobit, “About a silly quarrel between a venerable old couple and a goat.

Tobit of old, and his wife Anna, unluckily fell into a tough quarrel upon the question, how she came by the kid that he heard bleating in his house. He, very uncourteously, accused her of stealing it; while she, in return, broadly hinted that, notwithstanding his pretensions, he was no better than he should be. Behold, thou and all their works are known. The tongue can no man tame.

And, besides it is agreeable to the laws of pneumatics, that the lightest bodies should rise the highest, especially in a tempest. Wherefore, in spite of the degrading subjection in which the wife was held, under the husband in that age and country, Anna had the last word; and a cutting word it was.

Poor Tobit, it seems, had more than his match; for the retort that his rib made upon him, was so keenly sarcastic, and touched him so deep, that he fell a weeping. Indeed, he was not much to be pitied as he manifestly was the aggressor. Had he patiently enquired into the matter, instead of blurting out his provoking suspicions, the bitter fray between them had never have been.”

I am sure many women would like to share this passage with their husbands when the husband is unjustifiably rude or provocative in his statements about the woman.

On that light note, let’s switch back to the question, who got the harshest punishment, the ‘short end of the stick’ from God?

The SERPENT did.

¹⁴ So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,

“Cursed are you above all livestock
    and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
    and you will eat dust
    all the days of your life.
¹⁵ And I will put enmity
    between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
    and you will strike his heel.”

The serpent was not Satan. The ‘energizer’ directing the serpent’s action was Satan. This is so important for us to understand.

The Word says, God has given Satan some (but limited) power, “and you will strike his heel”. Whose heel? Jesus’ heel – and yours and mine.

But, God by giving us Jesus, His only begotten Son who suffered, died and was resurrected; Jesus’ “will crush Satan’s head”.

The battle between Mother Mary and Satan would rage on. “And I will put 

enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers”.

Remember, Mother Mary always, always wins. To be victorious, we need to ‘Hail’ our Mother in the Rosary. 

At the foot of cross, when taking his last few breaths, Jesus commended Mother Mary to John, the disciple Jesus loved. John is us.

We are Jesus’ loved disciples. We need to bring Mother Mary into our home and seek her favour and intercession to ward off all evil spirits. The evil spirit cannot withstand her presence in our life, as they could not withstand the presence of Jesus when He approached them.

“When Jesus arrived on the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, He was met by two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs. They were so violent that no one could pass that way.

“What do You want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “Have You come here to torture us before the appointed time?” (Mt 8:28-29)

People who do wrong are not Satan.  It is the one who lives within them and makes them do the ‘wrong’ is Satan. That’s who we must admonish.

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Ep 6:12

Mary Magdalene was violent and threatening when a demon was within her. When Jesus cast out the demon from her and from so many others during his three-year ministry, they became sober, lovable, and wanted to follow Jesus.

Only Mary Magdalene was given the privilege to follow Jesus. Rest were told to go and be reunited with their families. The family is the smallest ecosystem of a larger church. Jesus tells us, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” Mt 18:20

How much we should cherish to be part of that gathering of ‘two or three’ – the minimum size for a family?

‘Who told you?’ is a question worth asking every time there is an occasion for concern in our life.

This reflection was inspired by red spots on my hand. I was diagnosed with small vessel vasculitis a year back which tormented the lower part of my legs (that too when I was on a pilgrimage with my wife to Central Europe visiting some of the most blessed Christian sites including the Divine Mercy Shrine in Krakow, Poland, on the Feast of the Divine Mercy, April 28, 2019).

I looked at the spots and was anxious that the ailment was reappearing. Then I asked myself, who is telling me that the ailment is reappearing and making me anxious?

It cannot be God. God would not want me to be anxious. Anxiety comes from the evil one. I told myself I am going to depend on the LORD and he will make the spots dry up.

I thought of Padre Pio, who had carried the stigmata of Christ crucified to guide me.

“If certain thoughts bother you, it is devil who causes you to worry, and not God, Who, being the spirit of peace, grants you tranquillity.”

I commend these words to you as I commend them to myself.

I promised myself that I would not look at the spots again. It gave me strange relief to entrust it to my LORD and let Him handle it – for He knows best.

Then this morning when I was having bath, I scrupulously avoided looking at the spots which are on the inside part of my arm. Unless I make an effort, I cannot see it, in any case.

I was quietly pleased with myself and my resolve. Then, when I was dabbing the inside part of my hand with the towel, I could not help but look. I could not hold back the temptation. The spots were still there and next I knew; a wave of fear enveloped me.

“Do not let temptations frighten you; they are the trials of the soul whom God wants to test when He knows that he is strong enough to sustain the battle and weave his garland of glory with his own hands.” Padre Pio

The episode only made me resolve with greater determination not to look at the underside of my hand again. It is evening and I haven’t and I am most pleased with the sense of peace that rests on me.

"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

In these words, I take refuge.

When you are anxious or tormented, ask who is telling you, that the situation is hopeless? It is the evil one. Reject him. Double down in your praise of God. Whatever the issue is, He knows best.

God bless!

Tuesday, 28 April 2020 

Reflections - Touch & Go

Touch and Go

Grace makes the difference

It was March 19, 2020. The coronavirus pandemic was sweeping the developed countries having begun in Wuhan, China. It affected Singapore too, but the government’s proactive measures on the virus’s virulent nature had the spread of the virus in check. At least, it seemed that way then, but we were to know better, later.

My mother was in Singapore then, staying with my younger brother. My mother was scheduled to return back to Kochi, Kerala, on the 24^th. My brother had a sixth sense that Mum’s stay in Singapore was untenable, even for the few days that was left for her scheduled departure.

He took a call and made efforts to advance Mummy’s flight back to Kochi, Kerala. There were cost implications of changing booking dates, but in the light of what was happening, it weighed less on the decision. My brother targeted to book Mummy back on 19^th March.

Meanwhile in Kerala and Karnataka (we stay in Bangalore), the fear of contracting the virus was spreading and restrictions to free movement was being considered by both governments.

At the International airports in India, the incoming passengers were being screened and tested. In Bangalore, some of the passengers were taken further outskirts, and tested at temporarily set up facilities with no toilets and amenities, sometimes involving 10-12 hour wait for the passengers who were already bone tired from the journey and immigration process.

Some were being ordered to be quarantined in their homes for 14-28 days. The international passengers’ return to their residences and localities was spreading fear among their neighbors. Municipal wards where incoming passengers were staying were notified to the public to ensure restricted contact.

In Kerala, taxi drivers were refusing to ply to the airport to pick up international passengers.

My mother is 80 years old – but physically many years younger – she still travels everywhere on her own. But the fear created around the virus and attendant restrictions, quarantine, cab drivers’ uneasiness to ply to the airport to pick up passengers, neighbors turniing hostile toward the returnees from abroad – had created a pall of gloom and trepidation to an otherwise feisty lady – my mum.

It was in this milieu that my wife and I decided that we will travel by car to Kochi from Bangalore to personally pick up Mummy from the airport and bring her home to a place we have on Kuzhuppilly Beach.

Expecting mummy’s flight to be booked on 19^th afternoon and arrival in Kochi by 10 pm in the night, my wife and I, packed up our bags to leave for Kerala by car early on 19^th morning.

Then we got a final confirmation about my mum’s travel plans by late 18^th 

evening. The flight on 19^th was full. The last flight to Kochi from Singapore (due to the pandemic) was on 20^th and fortunately my mum got one of the last few seats on the flight.

God’s providence.

However, between 18^th and 19^th the scenario for my wife and me completely changed. The Karnataka government had imposed restrictions on traveling out of Karnataka with checkposts put in place. There was also concern that the Kerala government was responding likewise to restrict entry and exit of vehicles between the states.

We had to drop our plans and inform Mummy accordingly. God’s provision prevailed again.

Mummy had no problem when she arrived at Kochi airport, other than the mandatory 28 days quarantine at home. She got transport easily. One of the cabs plying to the airport picked her up and dropped her safely home.

As I write this reflection, we are on April 26, 2020. More than 37 days from the day we were to travel to Kochi from Bangalore. The plans then were to return back to Bangalore in a couple of days after settling Mummy in with all that she needed. Or alternatively, bring Mummy with us back to Bangalore.

The big ‘IF’.

If we had left for Kerala as planned on 19^th March, we would still be in Kerala with no definite end date in sight, locked down in Kerala while our  five children are lockdown in our home in Bangalore.

A worldly response to the last-minute changes to my wife and my plan to travel by car to Kochi, and the potential consequences as narrated above would have been, “How lucky we are?”

Our response was, “Thank God for your mercy and grace on Mummy and on us”.

“But because of his great love for us, god, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved.” Eph 2:4,5

To be blessed with God’s grace is such a marvelous benediction. It wards off danger. It opens up opportunity. It closes doors (we were restricted from going). It gets you entry into places where admission is restricted.

Grace is free. You cannot buy it or work to earn it. It is given. For a purpose. To draw us closer to God.

He showers His grace on those whose hearts are yielded to Him.

You did not choose me, I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit – fruit that will last. Jn 14:16

You may not be the paragon of virtue. You may not be steeped in prayer. You may not be righteous in every sense of the word. You may not be practicing charity and alms giving. Yet you may be a candidate to receive his grace.

If the twelve apostles Jesus chose for his ministry were to be put to the above test of virtue, prayer etc., they would woefully fail.

It is not that all the apostles Jesus called to follow Him had the benefit of receiving something: ‘miraculous catch of fish’, led Simon and Andrew and James and John, sons of Zebedee to follow Jesus; Nathanael marveled and followed Jesus when Jesus said he saw him under the fig tree; Mary Magdalene, because Jesus cast out seven demons from her.

Matthew, the future apostle, evangelist and Gospel writer, may have witnessed Jesus’ miracle at Capernaum where he was running a tax collection booth for the Romans – a much reviled Jew collecting taxes from his own, the Jewish people. Jesus said, follow me, and he left the booth and followed Jesus. Jesus had not done anything personally for him from what we know. In fact, Jesus asked Matthew to host him and his disciples for a meal. Matthew was rich.

There were 5000 men and 4000 men again (and their families) on two different occasions, who were sumptuously fed by Jesus on five loaves and two fish on one occasion with 12 baskets of fragment left over after the eating.

The breaking and the multiplication of the bread was a prefigurement of the body and blood of Christ that we Christians receive in communion and at every Eucharistic celebration commemorating Jesus’ death and resurrection.

The fragments were sacramental and could not be left around to be trampled. It had to go back to the ‘tabernacle’. On Jesus’ instruction it was assiduously collected filling the 12 baskets.

Did all of them who were witness to the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fish follow Jesus? Maybe they did. Maybe they did not.

We don’t know for sure except that 3000 and then 5000 were converted in Jerusalem on Peter’s bold, spirit-filled preaching, after the Holy Spirit descended on the 11 apostles, Mother Mary, and other disciples who were gathered in the Upper Room.

In that Upper Room during his 2014 visit to Jerusalem, Pope Francis’s homily highlighted three major events that took place in that sacred space, two millennia back, and it continues to be reflected in the life and image of a fruitful Church even today:

“Here, where Jesus shared the Last Supper with the apostles; where, after his resurrection, he appeared in their midst; where the Holy Spirit descended with power upon Mary and the disciples, here the Church was born, and she was born to go forth.”

Those who followed Jesus had their hearts yielded to Jesus.

Was it easy to follow Jesus under opposition from two major forces at that time in Church history?

1.   The “elders, Chief priests and scribes’ in the Sanhedrin who opposed Jesus, with the notable exception of Nicodemus and Gamaliel who argued for Jesus and Peter and Paul, respectively

2.   The Roman occupying forces, who found Jesus and the emboldened apostles a nuisance to peace in the occupied area

Following Jesus also meant giving up everything you owned to the common kitty so that all the early Christians irrespective of what they contributed, their needs would be met equally.

Jesus offered neither protection from persecution or individual prosperity.

However, In Luke 10:19, Jesus did say, “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.”

To support the great commission given to the apostles and disciples, the promise is repeated by St Mark in his Gospel Mark 16: 17-18  “And these signs will accompany those who believe: In My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not harm them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will be made well.”

Why did the early Christian risk their life and their possessions to become part of this community? What was the compelling reason?

The Jewish people were waiting for a messiah since Moses brought them out of Egypt and from slavery to the Promised Land.  Now, the Promised Land was occupied by the Romans. The general expectation from a Moses or Elijah-like messiah was to overthrow the occupiers and gain freedom from their oppressors. But Jesus did not fit their conception of a messiah.

For that the Jews will have to wait for Jesus’ second coming.

“And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.” Zechariah 12:9-10

But there were those among the Jews (and Gentiles) who were able to see that in Jesus there was redemption and salvation: forgiveness of their sins and eternal life, which no one else could offer.

Jesus demonstrated that He had the power to forgive sin and (so) He had the power to grant eternal life.

Jesus healed the paralytic lowered from the roof marveling at the faith of the people who had brought the paralytic to Jesus in such a dramatic fashion. To the disapproving Pharisees, He said, “But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." So, he said to the paralyzed man, "Get up, take your mat and go home." (Mt 9:6)

How do we in our times reach the level of maturity of the early Christian to hunger for redemption and salvation – for forgiveness of sins and eternal life?

How do we shed our possessiveness and sense of entitlement to our God-given wealth and be more liberal to tend to the least of our brethren without feeling stressed like Ananias and Sapphira who hid half their property sale proceeds from Peter and the community pool and were struck dead?

How do we wean ourselves away from our creature comforts and transition to wanting eternal life – making that desire salient to our life – working toward salvation of our soul?

How do we make sin our #1 enemy, not people?

How do we seek to unite our families around the crucified and risen Son of God, Jesus Christ?

The questions are infinitesimal and so will be eternity if we are not able to find answers for them at a personal level and at the level of the community.

We need grace. Or it is touch and go.

Sunday, April 26, 2020

Reflections - Creatures of Habit

Creatures of habit

How to get out of the rut

The standard railway track gauge – the distance between the two tracks – is 1435 mm (4 ft 8 1/2 inches). It is a 2000-year-old story going back to the Roman Empire (27 BC to 1453 CE) and Roman War Chariots. As the empire expanded across Europe and Middle East including Egypt and Judea in Israel the chariots left ruts on the road they had traveled.

To avoid damage and shattering of their wheels on the rut-impaired roads, the horse carts that followed had to have the same wheelbase, and so did the trams that followed later with the expansion of the British Empire, and the trains that followed, including the railways tracks in America that was built by British engineers. Unable to get out of the ‘rut’ most railway networks run on the standard gauge.   

Slipping into a rut can happen to the best of us, including St Paul, who was a one-man army in the spread of Christianity among the gentiles.

In Romans 7:15-19, St Paul says, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.”

Why do we fall into a rut in the first place? The short answer, “Bad Habits”. The acquired disposition to fall easily into those sins to which we have become accustomed.  

So, let us examine why we fall into a rut a little more deeply.

1.   Doing the same thing over and over and hoping for a different result. This statement is often quoted as the definition of a fool. Imagine you are playing the piano and you play the same tune over and over again. Any chance you will become a Beethoven? If anything, it makes for great Chinese torture akin to droplets of water falling on your forehead every few seconds for hours together. Imagine again what it is doing to your life when you are unwilling to recognize the boring repetitiveness of some of your actions which is not taking you anywhere. It is easy to mistake activity for progress.

2.   Doing different things, but no one thing well enough, to make an impact and a difference to your life. We get bored easily with whatever we are doing and so we seek variety. We start on a book and leave it halfway. We start on a project and leave it half way. We start on a relationship and leave it halfway. We take fancy for gardening and leave it halfway. Now imagine you are cooking and you leave it halfway. Many things that we leave halfway we do not feel its impact immediately because no one else knows about it (except in the case of the relationship and gardening – in both cases instead of fruits and flowers you get weeds and unforgiveness and resentment, the remnants of your half-effort). But, when you leave the cooking halfway, you will have to make do with something less palatable.

3.   Not doing anything significant and hoping to be significant. We all want to be someone in life. To be significant, you need to be different. But that is not enough. You need also to be relevant. You can be different with an afro hairstyle, rings on every part of your body, tattoos that make you a modern art billboard. You are different, but not significant. You become significant if with the same get-up you are also a rapper bringing joy to many with your talent. Significance comes from individuality, achieving something unique, that is, differentiated, but also relevant, to a few or large masses of people.

4.   Going down the beaten path and hoping to find something of value. What is the beaten path? It is an opening created in an untended ground on which others have walked to get where they wanted to go to find what they wanted to find. When you take the beaten path, you will end up where others have. There is safety and strength in numbers. But the value that the pioneers (identified by arrows on their back) derived from their discovery of the path will be available to you at a price – the price of conformity. Generally, when people go off-road, they prize what they discovered when they are the first to do so. The beaten path is safe but rarely produces value.

5.   Doing what is wrong and hoping all will be right. We know of the seven deadly sins: lust, gluttony, greed, laziness, wrath, envy and pride. You can add your own that went under the radar of the writers of the scriptures of the Old and New Testament. Smoking, drinking, gambling, vile and loose living. 

“There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers” (Proverbs 6:16-19).

Then there is the sin against the Holy Spirit, “Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies that people utter will be forgiven them.  But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin.” Mark 3:28-29

Pope Saint Pius X taught in his Catechism that there are six elements of this sin against the Holy Spirit:

1.   Despairing of salvation. This is when a person loses hope of salvation, judging that his eternal life is already lost and that he is condemned, even before Judgment. It means judging divine mercy as being small. It means not believing in God’s justice and power. Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus is an exemplar of this sin.

2.   Presumption of salvation is when a person cultivates in his soul an idea of his own perfection, which implies a feeling of pride. He believes his salvation has been guaranteed by what he has done. The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector praying in the temple. (Luke 18:9-14)

3.   Denying a truth recognized as such by the Magisterium of the Church. When a person doesn’t accept the truths (dogmas) of the faith, even after an exhaustive doctrinal explanation, it is the sin of heresy. He considers his personal understanding to be greater than that of the Church and the teaching of the Holy Spirit that assists the holy Magisterium.

4.   Envying the grace that God gives to other people. Envy is a sentiment of discontent because someone else obtained something good, even if you yourself already possess it or could obtain it someday. It’s the act of not wanting what is good for your neighbor. With this sin, I make myself the judge of the world. I’m revolting against the Divine Will. I’m rebelling against the law of love for one’s neighbor.

5.   Obstinacy in sin is the firm will to continue in error even after receiving the light and help of the Holy Spirit. This is when a person creates his own criteria for ethical judgment, or simply doesn’t adopt any ethics at all, and in this way separates himself from God’s will and rejects salvation.

6.   Final impenitence is the result of an entire life of rejecting God. This is when a person persists in error until the very end. It’s the equivalent of consecrating oneself to Christ’s adversary. Even at the hour of death, such a person refuses to approach the Father with humility. He doesn’t open himself to the Holy Spirit’s invitation.

If only we can utter the last few words from the Anima Christi when we are breathing our last,

“Soul of Christ, sanctify me.
Body of Christ, save me.
Blood of Christ, inebriate me.
Water from the side of Christ, wash me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.
O Good Jesus, hear me.
Within your wounds hide me.
Permit me not to be separated from thee.
From the malignant enemy, defend me.
At the hour of my death, call me
and bid me come to thee
That with your saints I may praise thee
For ever and ever. Amen.”

Reflect on your thoughts and actions that are in conflict with God’s will in our life. Check the five “doing” boxes and examine your life in that context. Then check the next six “sin against the Holy Spirit” boxes and examine yourself again.

Make reparation and a good confession. You will emerge from the rut and be a new creation.

Friday, April 24, 2020