Many Parables, One Message.

In most of the parables of Jesus, there is a  sharp, focused, and disturbing message that comes across clearly.

In many of the parables, we see two groups of people. There is the first group for whom everything seems to go well. They are the close friends of the master, they work hard the whole day in the vineyard, they don’t wander from home, they are close to the altar and pray with uplifted hands. What is impressive about this first group is their virtues. They are hardworking, dedicated, chaste, sacrificing, obedient,  they say ’yes’ to their father’s request, and they are punctual. They are not thieves nor are they adulterers. Everything seems to go well with them.  They are held in high esteem by people. These could very well be considered candidates for Canonization!

There is a second group in most of the parables for whom everything seems to go wrong. They live in the lanes and by lanes, they are lazy and report for work at the eleventh hour, they wander far from home  wasting their father’s property, they come close to the church door but don’t enter in.  What is evident about this second group is their sins: They are disobedient, they rebel,  they wander, they are lazy, they are thieves, rogues and adulterers. Their friends, their families, the society know their sins and treat them with disdain.

What is shocking is the conclusion of these parables. The good ones turn out to be the grumblers, unhappy, resentful, jealous, angry, refusing to go inside the house while the rebellious, lazy, sinful ones    are celebrating at home, they are  happy and contented.

 The  rebellious son who wandered far from home is celebrating inside the house,  while the hardworking obedient elder son is in the servant’s quarters refusing to go in. The lazy ones who reported at the eleventh hour for work are going home whistling and singing while the hard working ones who worked the whole day under the sun, are bitter and angry at the generosity of the master. Those from the lanes and by lanes are in the banqueting hall celebrating, while the close friends of the master are outside busy with fields, bulls, and wives. The rebellious ’no’ son repents and does the father’s will, while the ‘yes’ son refuses to do what the father wants. The sinner near the door of the temple goes home sanctified while the Priest in the sanctuary goes home satisfied.

What message has these parables for us who are good Christians,  Religious or Priests? To which group do we belong? Do we consider ourselves hardworking, poor, chaste, obedient, staying close to the altar, presbytery bound, close friends of the master?  Or do we find ourselves lazy, disobedient, gone far from home, living in the lanes and by lanes, sinful, and in need of forgiveness?

These parables offer a message of hope and forgiveness to those who have wandered far. At the same time, it is a warning and a challenge to those who consider themselves ‘good’ and ‘holy’. It is better to be a sinner who repents than a ‘saint’ who counts his virtues and condemns others' failures. It is s better to live in the lanes and by lanes and accept the invitation and attend the wedding banquet than to be friends of the master and take his invitation for granted and be busy with buying,  accounting, building, and finding fault. It is better to say ‘no’ and repent and do the father’s will than be the ‘yes’ sons and daughters and never do what the father wants. It is better to wander and come back home and celebrate with the father than to be at home and never know the father. 

-        Fr TVGeorge sdb      

 

 

WHAT MORE?

Mathew 19: 16-22

The young man who comes to Christ is enthusiastic, eager, earnest and sincere about wanting to be good. He comes running, he kneels, he shows respect. He acknowledges Jesus as a master and teacher.  Christ welcomes him with an open mind and gives him time and attention. The young man asks a very fundamental question, “Good Master, what good must I do to have eternal life?”( Mt.19.16).  The young man was lucky to have come to the right source, with the right question, but there were some fundamental flaws in his question. The master, like a good teacher, corrects him and tells him that when the term ‘good’ is used for him, it should be used as a noun and not as an adjective. Jesus invites the young man to see ‘the Good’ in the person in front of him rather than just a good teacher. Again Jesus corrects and tells him that eternal life is not something he can achieve as a result of ‘his’ doing, nor can it be achieved by ‘doing‘ something. Jesus tries to make him see that eternal life is very close to him and that someone else has done something for him to have eternal life. Did the young man understand the explanation? It was perhaps too much and too early for him to grasp.  

 Christ did not want to put off an honest seeker, so to put a smile on his face, Christ goes on to suggest something in which he was good at. He points out to him the shortcut, the common way to eternal life and tells him, “Keep the commandments” ( Mt. 19.17). The young man was an expert in the knowledge and in the meticulous application of the commandments given by Moses. The young man is almost testing the knowledge of Jesus when in return he asks, “Which ones?”( Mt.19.18).  Christ reminds him,  six out of the Ten Commandments, especially those that have something to do with one’s neighbor. With a tinge of pride and self-conceit the young man is quick to respond, “I have kept all these. What do I still lack ?”( Mt.19. 20).

Christ had a good knowledge of this young man. He appreciated his efforts and hard work and gives him full marks for his knowledge and the practice of the Old Testament Commandments. He had tried and seemed to have succeeded in keeping the Commandments of Moses. If we want a candidate from the Old Testament for canonization clearly the young man is a front runner because we are told in the Gospel of Mark, “Jesus looked at him and loved him”(Mk.10:21). No one can be more suitable for the altars than the one  Christ loves.

The young man is in search for more. He wants to do more. He loves challenges. “What do I still lack?” ( Mt.19:20), is a sincere question of one wanting to do good. If Christ had asked him to climb Mount Everest or to codify all the laws in a five-volume work, he was prepared to do so. Anything that he could ‘do’ more he was ready.

But Jesus asks him ‘to be‘ more. Just as Christ told Martha of Bethany that she lacked one thing, the most essential thing, now he tells the young man what he lacks is the fundamental, primary, ‘the one thing necessary’ for eternal life. Just as Mary chose to be with Christ, so now Jesus asks the young man, “Follow me” (Mt.19:21). Now that the young man has come to Christ and asked him the most important question, Christ gives him the best way to holiness, “Follow me.” The path to eternal life is following Christ. The path to eternal life is no more just scrupulous keeping the Old Testament laws, but following Christ and doing as he did.“Love as I have loved you” ( Jn13:34), is the New Commandment.

The Old Testament path to perfection that the young man has been following was a path of negation; by not doing some things, by not stealing, not killing, not committing adultery, he could obtain holiness. But from the dawn of the New Testament and the initiation of the new kingdom, perfection is no more a negation but a positive action. Since the Sermon on the Mount, perfection consists in wishing those who do not wish you, ingoing two miles when someone asks for one, in offering the right cheek when someone strikes you on the left,  in giving more than what is asked. , “a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over” ( Lk.6.35).

The young man wanted a challenge and Christ gives him the challenge.  He points out to him the path to eternal life, invites him to holiness and perfection. “ If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give the money to the poor…then come and follow me” ( Mt 19. 21).   

In the English language, there are ‘active verbs and passive verbs.’ Active verbs involve action and movement. Most of the commandments that Jesus proposes involve initiative, action, movement. It is doing something, it is giving something, it is loving someone and it is following someone.  Go, sell, give, come, follow – all these verbs that involve action, movement. Holiness for Christ is no more a negation but a positive commitment. He summarized all his commandments into that one active verb ‘love’. The young man was an expert in the Old Testament spirituality. Now Jesus invites him to the new way of life, to the New Testament way of life.

Christ invited the apostle Mathew with the same words with which he invited the young man, “Follow me” ( Lk.5:27). Mathew got up, left his money table and followed him. The young man too got up but only to go away. Mark tells us, “he went away sad for he had many possessions”( Mk 10.22). The many possessions he had, stood in the way of following Christ.

Every young person is a rich person, a person of ‘great possessions’. Rich in gifts of both mind and body. Look at the accomplishments of young people in sports, academics, music, arts, in generosity, in commitment. Let not the wealth, the beauty, charm, the talents, the abilities, come in the way of following Christ. The young man of the Gospel went away ‘ sad’. What a sad conclusion to what could have been a great classic love story! What a missed opportunity! Not even the name of this young man is known when he could have been one of the greatest of Saints like Peter or John, with names inscribed on stones and pillars, with Churches and Basilicas dedicated to his name.

Christ continues to call young men and women today to follow him,‘ Go, sell, all you have come and follow me.” It is an invitation to love as he loved, to obey as he obeyed, to experience the greatest of freedom, by giving up all.

                                                                                          -Fr T.V. George sdb

 

                                                             ‘Crumbs’ and ‘fringes’

Mathew 15:21-28

 Jesus stands corrected. He loses the argument. He loses the debate. He changes his course of action. Jesus is challenged by a woman and a gentile. 

In the Gospel of Mathew Chapter 15, a woman comes after him shouting almost yelling asking for a cure for her daughter. Jesus walks straight forward without even a glance at her.  The disciples try to silence  the woman. She is a nuisance to their tranquil moments. She is a woman and a gentile. She has no right to make such a fuss.

The disciples urge Jesus, “to send away the woman”. The only way to do that according to them is, “to give her what she wants.”  But Jesus argues, “I am sent only to the house of Israel.”  By this time the woman has caught up with the group, and kneeling at Jesus’ feet she begs, “ Lord, help me.” Even this plea seems to fall on deaf ears.  Jesus again has an argument in defense of his inaction, “It is not fair to take children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”

If Jesus had made this remark in our modern day, perhaps  he would have been sued for racist remarks. He has enough reasons to refuse her and up to this moment, he has been winning the debate. The woman is smart. She uses the very argument of the opponent to defeat him. She exposes the fallacy in his argument. She says she is not asking for bread, nor is she asking for a place at his table. She is asking for not even the crumbs on the table. She is asking for what is often reserved for the dogs, the crumbs that fall from the table.

Jesus is confused. His defense falls flat.  Not even 'a 56-inch-chested man' can refuse a request for crumbs that fall from the table. Jesus gives way to her humility, persistence and faith. Accepting defeat Jesus says, “Woman, great is your faith. Let your wish be granted”. Jesus who was apparently cold, stubborn, and unconcerned, changes course of action when faced with persistence, humility, and great faith. If a Canaanite woman could win over him, how much more we, the children of the family. Ask for the crumbs that fall from the table we will obtain enough to feed five thousand. Ask for few drops of wine, and he will give you ‘up to the brim’.  

The woman suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years considered herself unworthy  to face Jesus and request for a cure. Unseen, unknown, unheard, and yet in the middle of a crowd, she struggled to touch ‘the fringe of his clothes’ She got what she wanted. Another gentile, the Centurion confessed, “ I am not worthy to have you under my roof’,  and he too received what he wanted. Persistence, humility and great faith will win mighty blessings from God.

Like the Pharisee in the temple, the elder son,  the labourers who worked the whole day under the sun, let us not insist on our ‘rights’ and ‘worthiness’. We have no rights with God. Like the Canaanite woman, like Bartimeus, like the prodigal son, we can only ask for ‘mercy’ and for the ‘crumbs’.  

Lord, I am not worthy of the high places in heaven. I am not a St Paul, or a St. Benedict, or a Mother Teresa. I am not worthy to dine with you at your table. Let me live at least on the ‘outskirts’ and the ‘fringes’  of heaven and dine on the ‘crumbs’ that fall from your table.          

                                                                                                               -Fr TVGeorge sdb

        

                                                                 Two Songs, One Theme

        Two women meet, one young and the other old. Two songs they sing, but the theme is the same. Two children listen, both are still in the womb of their mother. It all begins. The salvation story begins. At the beginning is the greeting of a woman and the leaping of a child.

Good News cannot wait. It’s always in a hurry. The younger woman has a glad tiding to share. So she hurries over the Judean hills ‘leaping and bounding’. She cannot wait until the message is shared. She greets the elder woman, her cousin, but it is the child in the womb of the elder woman, who hears and understands the message first. The child in the womb leaps in joy at the message the younger woman brings.  The child, destined to become a great messenger of this Good News, begins his mission while still in the womb of his mother. He begins his ministry, starting with his mother. He proclaims his first sermon to his mother, not with words but with dancing and ‘leaping’ while still in the womb. The younger woman has ‘the Message’, and the older woman has the Messenger. Both the message and the messenger are still in the womb of their mother.

Both the women have a song to sing. The lyrics are different but the theme is the same. The older one sings the blessedness of the younger one, “Blessed are you among women, blessed is she who believed.” The younger one looks up and proclaims the greatness and mercy of the one who blessed her. “My soul glorifies the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my savior.” Both the children, still in their mother’s womb, listen. They will remember the song and repeat it thirty years later.  

Mary’s child would recall the words of Elizabeth and say, “Blessed are those who listen to the Word of God and do it”. It is the same blessedness that Elizabeth had sung thirty years ago,” Blessed is she who believed.” The child of Elizabeth, thirty years later, now grown strong and fearless, would remember the greeting of Mary and ‘the Message’ she brought. He would be the first to exclaim, “ Look, there is the  Lamb of God.” One of those who listened to this message was  Andrew. He at once went  and shared  the message with his brother Peter, “We have found the Messiah.” Peter recognized  the Good News and proclaimed loudly, “You are the Christ, the son of the living God”, and  three years later, in his first sermon after Pentecost, he would proclaim the same message and bring three thousand people to accept  that message.

And on and on…the Good News has traveled, down the years, from person to person, from one generation to the next, from one corner of the earth to the other. But it all began with the greeting of a woman and the leaping of a child. Both had a song to share and each had a child to sing it. The two songs have become the anthem of everyone who follows  the message and is repeated all throughout the day, all over the world,  over and over again, down the centuries, from one generation to the next.

Have you heard this song, and its message,
Pass it on;
It was not given for you alone,
 Pass it on;
 Let it travel down the years,
 Let it resonate in another’s ears,
Till the ends of the earth hears,
Pass it on.                                                                                                      - Fr TVGeorge sdb

 

Two Burning Candles

( A unique Birthday Celebration)

 The day was 05 January 2023. I was in a far remote village in West Nepal, living in a rented house, all alone. No one within 500 km knew that  it was my birthday. I too wanted it to be a quiet event.

 The chirping of the morning birds made me get up rather early. Sitting in bed, I thanked God for the new day and for the gift of life. I had a wash as usual. Put on the heater for it was a very cold day. How wonderful the warmth on a cold day!  Boiled a little water.  Had a cup of hot black coffee and few biscuits with it. I had hundreds of cups of coffee in my life but today on this cold day I really enjoyed it. That was my first delight of the day.

Then I went to the chapel. I had got up early to have more time in the chapel. I wanted my birthday celebration today to be in the Chapel. Except for the Lord and me, perhaps no one in the entire country knew it was my Birthday. So I decided to make my time in the chapel very special. My community was some 500 km away.

I looked around to see how to make it special. I got a brilliant idea. Every day I used to burn one candle only for Mass, for good candles were not available in the market. Today I picked up two brand-new candles and burned them on both sides of the Tabernacle. In the gospel of the day I came across the verse, “Before Philip called you I saw you”. I had enough time and matter to go back in memory to all that had happened ever since Fr Philip Thayil had recruited me back in 1966. The Word of God was my banquet. I drank deeply it. I made a speech to thank the Lord for his accompaniment. Together with the warmth of the coffee that I had, I realized the hundreds of things I had taken for granted.  At least today I must mention them in my speech. I was able to get up without aid from my bed. All cannot do that. I can make the sign of the cross. Many hands cannot be lifted. I could walk to wash myself and put on my dress. I had warm socks and a cap to keep me warm. I had silence and the luxury to take my own time for the Mass. I could think, I could read, I could pray.  Lord Thank you for the things I so often take for granted!

I looked up at the two candles. They were burning bright and their flames were dancing in rhythm. I told the Lord, ‘That is for you on my Birthday’. Two flames on both sides the tabernacle dancing in a slow, rhythmic, colorful, bright, and passionate manner. As I was busy with the banquet, I told the Lord to enjoy the dance of the flames. My birthday party needed at least an hour of pure entertainment. So the show went on till the two candles were burnt out.

I liked my birthday party.  Just me and him. Two hours of banquet, dance and delight. During the day, Fr Provincial called me to ask me how is the Birthday celebration going on. I said just fine. He had no idea about the nature of the celebration. I prepared some millet for breakfast and a cup of black tea. The rest of the day I declared a mini fast. No one came around to disturb my peace. It was a day of music, singing, and thanksgiving.

For dinner I wanted a celebration, I had cheese in my fridge. I got some meat  from the market.  I prepared them by myself. Before going to bed I once again spent some time in the Chapel and thanked the Lord for the day. I had a unique Birthday Celebration with one who really matters and two burning candles for a gift for the chief guest.

                                                                            -  Fr T.V.Georgesdb

 

                                                                   ‘It’s a ghost’

Jesus walking on the water appears to the disciples as a ghost. The hand that is extended to them to hold are  seen as  hand of a ghost. The steps hurrying to save them are seen as feet of a ghost.  So often in life people coming to help and to save are seen as enemies. Many prefer to die beneath the waves than to hold the hands that are extended to save.

In life, we often see things not as they are, but as we are. We see what we fear. In the midst of fear, the apostles in the tossed-about boat are able to see only the waves, winds, death, and ghosts. Even the hands of God that are extended to them they fear. Peter needed extraordinary courage to step on the waves and move toward what everyone said was a ghost.

In the town of Genneserat, the man possessed, pleaded with Christ to leave his shore and go back to where he came from. The people were annoyed at the loss of their pigs and requested Christ to leave them alone. They feared the one who came to set them free. They preferred their pigs and slavery rather than their freedom.

After the miracle of the loaves, after people had eaten enough, they were enthusiastic to make Jesus a king. How our politicians would have fanned the popularity and declared an election! But not Christ. He knows that the enthusiasm is only as long as the bread  lasts in their stomach! Tomorrow it will be ‘Crucify him’. Rather than prolong their claps and appreciation, Jesus disperses the crowd. First, he packs the leaders of the crowd into a boat and puts them out to the sea. Then he makes his way to the mountaintop to settle the bill and give credit where it belongs.

In the cool of the evening, amidst the rays of the setting sun, the green mountain top is a beautiful parlour to meet his Father. Evening falls, night comes, and hours pass, yet Jesus goes on talking with his Father right into the late night. He has many things to share, many bills to settle, and many matters to discern. Unlike so many of us, who after brief success in our schemes, make our way to the beaches and the bars, Jesus spends long hours with his Father.

From the mountain top the disciples in the boat are not lost to him, he has a good view of them. He could hear them singing and clapping at the start, for they too had enough of bread.  In their excitement and joy, they failed to notice the gathering clouds on the horizon. Soon the sky grew darker, the waves became bigger, the wind stronger, and the muscles that held the row weaker. They find it more and more difficult to steady their sails, for the wind turns ‘against’ them. So long as they can manage the boat, Jesus  will not go to them. What they can do, he will not do. At the same time, he will not allow them to sink beneath the waves. He will be on time to hold them up. In their fear, they look around for their master and regret that they had forgotten to invite him in their initial excitement and joy. The beginning was so nice, but midway it’s hell.

Making a playground of the ocean and its waves, Jesus hurries to them. In their fear, their eyes are blurred, and they see the one that had just a few hours ago fed them, as a ghost. The waves and winds were bad enough and now there is a ghost too they need to handle. When things go wrong everything seems to go wrong. So like a helpless baby fallen on the ground, all they can do is cry out in desperation. Like the father who runs to the prodigal in the faraway country, Jesus hurries toward them on the waters.

The journey of life is a journey across the sea. The beginnings are all music and claps. Somewhere midway the waves and wind are sure to come. Let those who are at the beginning, not wonder why those celebrating their silver and golden Jubilees are finding it so difficult. Wait for your turn. You don’t see the turbulence and the undercurrents. It’s calm at the shore, not so in the middle. Those who are toiling the waves and the winds and terrified by ghosts, those who are at the last leg of their journey, be assured, he will come walking on the water. So long as you can manage the boat, he will not come. What you can do, he will not do.  Fear not, he will not allow you to sink beneath the waves. He will be on time to hold you and take you across.

-        Fr T.V.Georgesdb

                                                                 Reap what you sow

Falsehood cannot lead to sustained growth. Like the seeds among the thorns, there may seem to be a quick growth but sooner than expected the poison contained within the system will destroy the entire edifice. Like a house built on the sand, the first storm and rain will bring the entire building down. Falsehood can have many shades – lie, politics, pride, prejudice, scheming, groupism,  personal agendas, quick-fix solutions etc..The cancer that is contained within any of these falsehoods will manifest itself sooner or later.

Only goodness can lead to lasting growth. Goodness has no cancerous cells within. Its growth may be slow and painful. Though slow in the long run, it will be healthy growth. Fruits and crops that are speedily grown with the aid of pesticides and poison, their effects are revealed in those who eat them. Instead, crops that are grown without pesticides but with more sunshine and rain although it may take a little longer time will lead to better health and longer life. Goodness too has many shades – dialogue, discernment, gifts of the Spirit, transparency, openness, sincerity etc..

We reap what we sow. If we sow seeds of politics and prejudice into our systems, be prepared for rivalry and division. If we have injected poison and falsehood into our system don’t be surprised how the quick growth is followed by resentment and complaints.

Memories are short. We easily forget what we have sown. A year or two, five years or twenty is not a long period of time in the life of an association or organization.  Sometimes the results are soon, but oftener than not, those who reap the fruits are different from those who sow. After enforcing personal agendas and packaging lies as truth, we wait for good results. It cannot be. Those who did the packaging are often out of the scene and those who follow are left to bear the brunt of the storm and taste the poison.

Stephen R. Covey in his famous book ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ says that one can try out many strategies and tacticsto get other people to do what one wants, to make people work better, to make people love them and one another – but if one’s character is fundamentally flawed, marked by duplicity and insincerity - then in the long run one cannotbe successful.  He says, “Eventually if there isn’t deep integrity and fundamental character strength, the challenges of life will cause true motives to surface and human relationship failure will replace short-term success. It is character that communicates most eloquently… Only basic goodness gives life to techniques.”

I would like to repeat the last phrase, “Only basic goodness gives life to techniques.” We can have any number of party games, conferences, motivational talks, or retreats to build up broken relationships and fix flaws in our system but fundamentally it is character, honesty, integrity, and goodness that give success to the seminars and motivational talks.

We don’t need to look far for examples to illustrate the truth of what is stated above. Decisions to suppress or relocate communities to satisfy personal agendas have been reversed in less than two years. Place to shelter candidates has been shifted around to please the whims of a few and the net result after two years is, there are no more candidates. Making provision for higher studies and their growth by a few voices that are louder and shriller at the expense of those in formation without assessing the consequences of what we are doing nor consulting people who are affected by these changes, has resulted in the drying up of our formation houses. We are too close to see its effects and we wait to see the results of an environment of animosity on those whom we form. Big buildings we have put up for training with big funds from donors lie vacant because politics and injustice have been at play from their inception. Mission stations even after six years it has been approved and the foundation stone blessed fail to takeoff because pride and prejudice have been at play. The list could go on. 

The debate that is taking place in the country on the ban of the BBC documentary has a lesson for us, as a  parliamentarian has said,  “ Truth has a funny way of resurfacing .“

We reap what we sow. If we sow seeds of politics, pride and prejudice we shall reap fruits of division, competition, and rivalry. If we sow seeds of consensus, dialogue, and openness, we shall reap fruits of  joy, unity, and sincerity. We reap what we sow.

-        Fr T.V. George sdb