The sins of the ‘just’

A reflection on the parables

 

There is a clear, focused, sharp and disturbing message that comes to us in the parables of Jesus. In most of the parables we see two groups: One group is good, obedient, hardworking,  everything seems to go right with them; the second group is rebellious, disobedient, lazy, sinful and everything seems to go wrong with them. The conclusion to most of the parables is almost shocking – the good are shut outside and the sinful are celebrating inside.

In the parable of the Prodigal son, the sins of the younger son is clear and known to all. He rebelled, he went far from home, he wasted money, he did things that are wrong, finally, he repents comes back home and everything works out well for him, and is celebrating inside the house with his father. Instead, the elder son who stayed at home obeyed his father, worked hard, finally is bitter, angry, upset, and refuses to come inside the house.  (Luke 15.1-32)

In the parable of the pharisee and the tax collector, the Pharisee is a man of prayer, he fasts twice a week, he contributes generously. According to his estimate, he is not a thief, nor an adulterer. With outstretched hands and with a sense of pride, close to the altar, he says a prayer of thanksgiving to God. Instead the tax collector knows that he is a sinner and with head bowed, beats his breast and acknowledges his sins. While the pharisee knows well the sins of the tax collector and his own virtues, the tax collector does not point a finger at anyone except himself.

The sinner near the door with his face bent down is perhaps the prodigal son on his way back home, and the self-righteous pharisee is the elder son, for he seems to have all the virtues of the elder son. Jesus concludes the parable saying the pharisee went home satisfied with himself  and the sinner went home sanctified before God.  (Lk.18.9-14)

In the parable of the workers in the vineyard, we have the punctual, hardworking, sacrificing obedient workers sweating it out twelve hours a day. While the second group is lazy, easy going, merrymaking escapists who try to avoid work and get money for work half done. They might have been in the bars or on the beeches when the master came in the morning looking for workers. They worked an hour in the cool of the day while the early comers worked in the heat and the dust the whole day. Both receive the same amount at the end of the day.  The lazy ones go home whistling and dancing, joyfully surprised at their good fortune while the early comers are angry, bitter, and grudge the generosity of the master to the latecomers. It is not difficult to see the elder son, who grudged the generosity of the father to the prodigal son,  among these grumblers. ( Mt.20 1-16)

In the parable of the wedding banquet, there are those whom the master invited with much care and love, his friends, collaborators, ministers, he reserved for them special seats of honour and sent his servants to remind them of the invitation. While the second group from the streets and lanes were not so close to the master nor prepared for the banquet and invitation came to them almost by chance. They had a pleasant surprise and responded almost at once and are finally at the wedding banquet dancing and celebrating while the first group took the invitation for granted and refused to attend. The younger son was surprised at the party thrown for him while the elder son took it for granted and was perhaps busy buying lands, trying out oxen, and making arrangements for a honeymoon trip. ( Lk.14.15-24)

In the parable of the two sons, we have the first son almost rebelling, refusing, almost challenging the authority of the father,  but later he repents and does what the father wanted. Instead, the second son says ‘yes’ to his father and does the opposite and refuses to do what the father commanded. ( Mt.21.28-32)

In all these parables the virtues of the first group are evident. Others as well as themselves know they are good, prayerful, fasting, punctual, sacrificing, hardworking, chaste, obedient, respected, esteemed, almost impossible,  even for the devil’s advocate, to find fault with them. They could very well be candidates for canonization.  But in the end, they turn out to be the grumblers, unhappy, jealous, angry, and refusing to join the celebration.  Beneath the cloak of goodness lies the resentful, accusing, grudging,  self-righteous person ready to surface at the first provocation.  

Instead, the second group is rogues, thieves, adulterers, lazy and disobedient. Society and they themselves know their sins, they repent, they ask forgiveness and everything turns out to be right for them. They are finally at the wedding banquet, happy and surprised at the generosity of the master, rejoicing,  dancing, and celebrating with the father.

  The message of Christ is clear and sharp. It is better to rebel and repent than profess obedience and disobey. It is better to be in the streets and lanes and be surprised by the invitation than be friends who take the invitation for granted. It is better to be a sinner who acknowledges his sins and receives salvation as a free gift than a self-righteous person who demands from God his rights. It is better to wander and come back home than be lost at home, not knowing what a home is, who a father is.

-         T.V.George sdb

 

                                                             

                                      The sins of the ‘just’

A reflection on the parables

There is a clear, focused, sharp and disturbing message that comes to us in the parables of Jesus. In       most of the parables we see two groups: One group is good, obedient, hardworking,  everything seems to go right with them; the second group is rebellious, disobedient, lazy, sinful and everything seems to go wrong with them. The conclusion to most of the parables is almost shocking – the good are shut outside and the sinful are celebrating inside.

In the parable of the Prodigal son, the sins of the younger son is clear and known to all. He rebelled, he went far from home, he wasted money, he did things that are wrong, finally, he repents comes back home and everything works out well for him, and is celebrating inside the house with his father. Instead, the elder son who stayed at home obeyed his father, worked hard, finally is bitter, angry, upset, and refuses to come inside the house.  (Luke 15.1-32)

In the parable of the pharisee and the tax collector, the Pharisee is a man of prayer, he fasts twice a week, he contributes generously. According to his estimate, he is not a thief, nor an adulterer. With outstretched hands and with a sense of pride, close to the altar, he says a prayer of thanksgiving to God. Instead the tax collector knows that he is a sinner and with head bowed, beats his breast and acknowledges his sins. While the pharisee knows well the sins of the tax collector and his own virtues, the tax collector does not point a finger at anyone except himself.

The sinner near the door with his face bent down is perhaps the prodigal son on his way back home, and the self-righteous pharisee is the elder son, for he seems to have all the virtues of the elder son. Jesus concludes the parable saying the pharisee went home satisfied with himself  and the sinner went home sanctified before God.  (Lk.18.9-14)

In the parable of the workers in the vineyard, we have the punctual, hardworking, sacrificing obedient workers sweating it out twelve hours a day. While the second group is lazy, easy going, merrymaking escapists who try to avoid work and get money for work half done. They might have been in the bars or on the beeches when the master came in the morning looking for workers. They worked an hour in the cool of the day while the early comers worked in the heat and the dust the whole day. Both receive the same amount at the end of the day.  The lazy ones go home whistling and dancing, joyfully surprised at their good fortune while the early comers are angry, bitter, and grudge the generosity of the master to the latecomers. It is not difficult to see the elder son, who grudged the generosity of the father to the prodigal son,  among these grumblers. ( Mt.20 1-16)

In the parable of the wedding banquet, there are those whom the master invited with much care and love, his friends, collaborators, ministers, he reserved for them special seats of honour and sent his servants to remind them of the invitation. While the second group from the streets and lanes were not so close to the master nor prepared for the banquet and invitation came to them almost by chance. They had a pleasant surprise and responded almost at once and are finally at the wedding banquet dancing and celebrating while the first group took the invitation for granted and refused to attend. The younger son was surprised at the party thrown for him while the elder son took it for granted and was perhaps busy buying lands, trying out oxen, and making arrangements for a honeymoon trip. ( Lk.14.15-24)

In the parable of the two sons, we have the first son almost rebelling, refusing, almost challenging the authority of the father,  but later he repents and does what the father wanted. Instead, the second son says ‘yes’ to his father and does the opposite and refuses to do what the father commanded. ( Mt.21.28-32)

In all these parables the virtues of the first group are evident. Others as well as themselves know they are good, prayerful, fasting, punctual, sacrificing, hardworking, chaste, obedient, respected, esteemed, almost impossible,  even for the devil’s advocate, to find fault with them. They could very well be candidates for canonization.  But in the end, they turn out to be the grumblers, unhappy, jealous, angry, and refusing to join the celebration.  Beneath the cloak of goodness lies the resentful, accusing, grudging,  self-righteous person ready to surface at the first provocation.  

Instead, the second group is rogues, thieves, adulterers, lazy and disobedient. Society and they themselves know their sins, they repent, they ask forgiveness and everything turns out to be right for them. They are finally at the wedding banquet, happy and surprised at the generosity of the master, rejoicing,  dancing, and celebrating with the father.

  The message of Christ is clear and sharp. It is better to rebel and repent than profess obedience and disobey. It is better to be in the streets and lanes and be surprised by the invitation than be friends who take the invitation for granted. It is better to be a sinner who acknowledges his sins and receives salvation as a free gift than a self-righteous person who demands from God his rights. It is better to wander and come back home than be lost at home, not knowing what a home is, who a father is.

-         T.V.George sdb

 

                                            

                                             In defense of vanishing secularism.

 It is a good thing that secularism is vanishing. We have made a religion out of secularism today. Just like Communism or Capitalism which has a lot of die-hard followers who are prepared to fight and even kill to propagate their ideology, so too today there is a constituency of people ready to fight for secularism. Anything that you resist will persist.  

Covid has one message for all of us. It does not know any religion. It does not discriminate on the basis of cast, religion, status or money. It has narrowed down all divisions based on these discriminations. It just needs someone with breath. It can travel free of charge at a great speed.  It has spread faster than anything else in history. It has claimed more people in a very short span of time than any religion or -ism.

Covid can only be conquered by narrowing down all divisions and coming together to negotiate, rather than fight the virus. Every negotiation is a give and take. Negotiation with Covid too must be a give and take between the demands of progress, development and the preservation, sustenance and care of our earth. We have sent the earth to the ICU. The earth will spring back. Life forms have been here on earth for millions of years. It is you who have come on this planet just the other day. Life will stay. It is you who go.

You cannot hope to destroy the earth and you continue to live. Where do you live? How do you breath? What do you drink? Where do you get sunlight from?

Covid has come to you with this message. Stand together if you want to survive. It has come to promote this unity.  It has come to tell everyone there is no other religion than humanity. It has come with this message that all those who breathe, those who feel the sunshine, those who drink water whether you are animal or plant or human, you have to unite. There is only one life. All share in that life. So don’t be like children on the sea beach trying to protect your little castle of sand and crying over its destruction when there is so huge an ocean and a vast beach out there.

Covid is not something we must fight against. It is something we must make friends with. It does us a great service by narrowing down the divisions and bringing us back to our basic root of one humanity. It is telling us to come together at least in the name of a common enemy since nothing else will make us come together. Once we are united Covid will withdraw, the earth will be greener, more birds will fly, more flowers will bloom, the sky will be bluer.

Every major religion has made a case to impose it on others. The history of Christianity, Islam, Buddhism is a bloody story of domination over others. May be today Hinduism too is feeling an inferiority complex and want to try world domination as others have attempted. The more we fight, the more we resist, the more we divide, Covid will have the last laugh and will flourish. Instead, if we can break down all barriers and divisions and come together,  we can conquer, even Covid.    

 God is at the depth of each being. God is in every life-form. Let us worship that God.  Covid has come to preach to us that one religion called -  humanity. 

                                                 

                                        “ All I have is yours.” Lk 15.31

 “My son, you are with me always and all I have is yours. ” Lk 15.31. These words addressed by the father to the elder son are very relevant especially for us, Priests and Religious.  We are sons and daughters of the father in a unique way. The father has entrusted to our care all he has – his own son, his word, his sacraments, his own body and blood. Our mission is faithfully to guard and administer these to God’s people.  In these words addressed to the elder son we see our vocation to be with him as well as our mission to guard and administer all he has given to us.

As priests and religious, we have more affinity to the elder son than the younger. We have not wandered far. We have not been too rash or irresponsible. We have not wasted the father’s property in loose living. We have not disobeyed the father like the younger son. Instead, we have been home bound, obedient, poor, chaste, dutiful, responsible and working hard. We have been staying close to the altar, administering the sacraments, preparing people for baptism, visiting the sick, preaching the word, helping the poor.

The father calls the elder son, “My son”. The father owns him.  The son has the features of the father. The father’s blood runs through his veins, The son has inherited the father’s temperament and attitude. He is the father’s son. He is his image. In spite of the harsh and hurting words of the elder son, the father owns the son and calls him, “My son”. The father does not accuse nor condemn.  He looks at the intimate relation he has to his son, than find reasons for division and quarrel.

 “You are always with me.” says the father.  Our vocation as priests and religious is to be with him. Christ called the twelve, “to be with him”(Mk.3.14).  Our first and primary vocation is to be with him.  Another word for ‘being with him’ is holiness. Sanctification of our life by listening to his word, celebrating the sacraments, experiencing his forgiveness, is our first vocation. The father invites us to be ‘with’ him always. He is with us and not against us. He invites us to be with him ‘always’  – in the church, in the presbytery, in the workplace, in the market, on Sundays and weekdays. His last words to us are “ I am with you always”.

“All I have is yours.”. The father is an old man. His days on earth are numbered. He gives away everything - his property, his house, his wealth, his servants, his bank balance, everything belongs to the son. All that the father has, he has given to us – his son, his church , his people, his sacraments, his word,  Our vocation is to pass on what we have received. The Vatican documents tell us that the role of a priest is to be teachers of the word and to be santifiers through the celebration of his sacraments. Celebration of the sacraments finds its culmination in the celebration of the Eucharist. The best service a priest can render to the church is to make the Eucharist the center of one’s own life and the lives of the people whom they serve. 

The elder son grumbles because he did not get the fattened calf but the father is offering him his entire flock, his farm, his house, his property. Jesus asked the Samaritan women for few drops of water and in return he promises her a perennial spring.  In return for the  generosity of the  boy who gave  five loaves and two fish, Jesus feeds five thousand with it and returns twelve baskets full. Jesus asks Peter for his boat to use it as a pulpit and he returns the boat full with fish. At Cana  in return for the faith of Mary, his mother, he gives six jars full with  fresh new wine, “filled    to the brim”. For every step the prodigal son takes  towards the father, the father takes a hundred steps towards the son. The son comes limping, the father goes running. We offer a drop and in return he offers us an ocean. “How much ‘more’ your  father in heaven  give” ( Mt.7.10), Jesus tells his disciples. “Give, and it will be given to you, a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap” ( Lk.6.39). “ If you only knew.” ( Jn 4.10), Jesus tells the Samaritan women. If we only we knew who the father of the prodigal son is, who our heavenly father is !  

 

Corona: Angel or Devil?

A Mediation for our times on the Cross and the Corona

 

The adjective that is used to qualify the Cross is ‘Holy’. The Friday when Jesus died is called ‘Good’. But it was not like that on that first Good Friday. The adjectives that were used for the cross on that first Good Friday were, ‘shameful’, ‘sinful’  and the enemies of Jesus found enough reason to crucify and to kill. Before the ‘Halleluia’ of Easter Sunday, there was the ‘Crucify him’ of Good Friday.

 

The slogans that we are using for Corona these days are, ‘Crucify’, ‘destroy’ and ‘kill’- the very slogans that were used on Good Friday. Will there be an Easter day when we will look back and see in the corona reasons to celebrate and exult?  Are we short-sighted like the Jews and raise the slogan ’Crucify’.   Does corona come as an enemy or a friend? Is it an Angel or a Devil?

 

I remember the week before the lockdown was announced in India there were Hindus and Muslims with swords in their hands killing each other in one of the many communal conflicts in Delhi.

 

The month before Corona struck the American continent, it was measuring distance and the capacity of its weapons to strike North Korea and vice versa. Strong and tall walls were being erected to keep its neighbours out. Leaders of great nations were not convinced that there is global warming and climate change.

 

The pride of humanity has been humbled. Precisely the nations that prided most seem to have been worst struck by Corona. Their guns cannot find the target. Their walls are not high enough to prevent a tiny virus. Their supersonic jets have become the means of travel for the virus and that too free of charge in the comfort of the palm of their hands and very secure in the depth of their lungs. Corona has ‘ brought down the proud from their seats’.   

 

Corona has come with a message, especially for those who pride in the height of their walls, the speed of their jets and the hope they place in their weapons to save them. Corona has a message for those who kill because of differences in colour, caste or religion.  Corona has no colour or caste or country. It has no religion or status or rank. It has a strong message for both those who build walls and temples. No walls or oceans can keep Corona out. No temple or religion can save you. No sword or noise can keep corona out.

 

God sent ‘fiery serpents’  to stop the grumbling, murmuring and clamouring for ‘more’ and ‘better’.  May be Corona is the fiery serpents among us today to stop our clamouring for war and for ‘more’. Leaders who plead to save the earth are being silenced. In the name of development, progress, and ‘more’, we pollute the air we breathe and the water we drink and bring about our own destruction. 

 

 We accuse Corona of killing over a million. What is that compared to the hundred million humankind has killed in the last century alone? Who is more dangerous, harmful and ‘mad’? Corona or humankind?   Corona does not come to kill and to destroy. It comes to give us a message. It comes to lessen the killing, to tell us to put away weapons of war, not to build walls and temples but to unite. Like the tweak on the ear, a teacher gives the pupil to make them learn,  the Tsunami, the earthquakes, the pestilence, the corona are tweaks to humanity that it might learn.

 

So rather than chant ‘Crucify Corona’ let us learn a lesson. Fighting the enemy will only strengthen it. Whatever we resist will persist. The sooner we learn our lesson the faster corona will withdraw.

 

Let us look up to the ‘fiery serpent’ to live.  Corona may be coming with a message for life, salvation, unity and peace for the world. Corona may turn out to be an Angel to be listened to rather than a devil to be cr

                                               

                                                         Corona : Angel or Devil?

A Mediation for our times on the Cross and the Corona

The adjective that is used to qualify the Cross is ‘Holy’. The Friday when Jesus died is called ‘Good’. But it was not like that on that first Good Friday. The adjectives that were used for the cross on that first Good Friday were, ‘shameful’, ‘sinful’  and the enemies of Jesus found enough reason to crucify and to kill. Before the ‘Halleluia’ of Easter Sunday, there was the ‘Crucify him’ of Good Friday.

 

The slogans that we are using for Corona these days are, ‘Crucify’, ‘destroy’ and ‘kill’- the very slogans that were used on Good Friday. Will there be an Easter day when we will look back and see in the corona reasons to celebrate and exult?  Are we short-sighted like the Jews and raise the slogan ’Crucify’.   Does corona come as an enemy or a friend? Is it an Angel or a Devil?

 

I remember the week before the lockdown was announced in India there were Hindus and Muslims with swords in their hands killing each other in one of the many communal conflicts in Delhi.

 

The month before Corona struck the American continent, it was measuring distance and the capacity of its weapons to strike North Korea and vice versa. Strong and tall walls were being erected to keep its neighbours out. Leaders of great nations were not convinced that there is global warming and climate change.

 

The pride of humanity has been humbled. Precisely the nations that prided most seem to have been worst struck by Corona. Their guns cannot find the target. Their walls are not high enough to prevent a tiny virus. Their supersonic jets have become the means of travel for the virus and that too free of charge in the comfort of the palm of their hands and very secure in the depth of their lungs. Corona has ‘ brought down the proud from their seats’.   

 

Corona has come with a message, especially for those who pride in the height of their walls, the speed of their jets and the hope they place in their weapons to save them. Corona has a message for those who kill because of differences in colour, caste or religion.  Corona has no colour or caste or country. It has no religion or status or rank. It has a strong message for both those who build walls and temples. No walls or oceans can keep Corona out. No temple or religion can save you. No sword or noise can keep corona out.

 

God sent ‘fiery serpents’  to stop the grumbling, murmuring and clamouring for ‘more’ and ‘better’.  May be Corona is the fiery serpents among us today to stop our clamouring for war and for ‘more’. Leaders who plead to save the earth are being silenced. In the name of development, progress, and ‘more’, we pollute the air we breathe and the water we drink and bring about our own destruction. 

 

 We accuse Corona of killing over a million. What is that compared to the hundred million humankind has killed in the last century alone? Who is more dangerous, harmful and ‘mad’? Corona or humankind?   Corona does not come to kill and to destroy. It comes to give us a message. It comes to lessen the killing, to tell us to put away weapons of war, not to build walls and temples but to unite. Like the tweak on the ear, a teacher gives the pupil to make them learn,  the Tsunami, the earthquakes, the pestilence, the corona are tweaks to humanity that it might learn.

 

So rather than chant ‘Crucify Corona’ let us learn a lesson. Fighting the enemy will only strengthen it. Whatever we resist will persist. The sooner we learn our lesson the faster corona will withdraw.

 

Let us look up to the ‘fiery serpent’ to live.  Corona may be coming with a message for life, salvation, unity and peace for the world. Corona may turn out to be an Angel to be listened to rather than a devil to be crucified.