“He took the bread...he blessed it… he broke it… and he gave it”

He took ….

In the supermarket, we go from one floor to the other and take whatever we want depending on our likes and our budget.  It is not even one percent of what is there that we pick. We leave more than what we take. What we have chosen and taken is wanted and dear to us.

You are chosen and taken by someone. He has taken candidates from the cities and villages, from the lanes and by lanes, from all the tribes and languages, from all classes and social milieus. Someone has seen you and picked you because he likes you. The choice was entirely his. “He called those whom he wanted” ( Mk 3.13) . You are chosen, called, and set apart from the rest.

 My call came to me on a hot summer afternoon when I was in Class Seven. “There is someone here to meet those who want to become Priests”, the teacher announced. More than half of the class put their hands up and came out of the classroom, more to escape the humidity and stuffiness of the crowded classroom on a hot afternoon than the thought of becoming Priests. “ Before Philip called you I saw you”    I often think of this verse from the Gospel of John. Long before Fr Philip Thayil called me out from my classroom, I was seen, chosen, and taken note of by someone else. 

He blessed….

I am taken, chosen, and called for a blessing. I still remember the blessing that my father gave me when I left home for the first time, and I also I remember the last blessing he gave me before he departed from this world. These are memories we cherish.

I have been chosen for a blessing. From this blessing comes power, strength, and energy. I am made energetic, new, and alive with his blessing.  I am empowered and made different because he has blessed me. He has set his seal on me. I am his.

One loaf of bread is enough for five thousand if it has a blessing on it. One seed is enough for a hundredfold if it is blessed. A touch on the hem of his garment is enough for a cure. With his blessing    Peter will become a Rock against which nothing can prevail, and Saul the persecutor, will turn into a Paul, the evangelizer.

A marriage becomes a sacrament with a blessing. One is admitted to the Church through a blessing. Forgiveness of sins is granted through a blessing. Bread turns into his body and wine into his blood through a blessing. Blessing is power. It transforms. It changes. Blessings makes one  new.

 “He called them to be with him.”  We are called for a blessing.  To be with him is the greatest blessing. Our vocation is to be with him. Holiness is being with him.

 He broke …

We are taken and blessed so that we can be broken. A loaf remains a single loaf until it is broken. A seed remains a single seed until it dies. A lamp is not a lamp until it burns. Salt is useless until it goes into the boiling water and loses its colour and form. The vine has to be pruned so that it can yield more.

Suffering, pain, and death are not  misfortunes for those who have been blessed. They are the pathway to greater life, to the fullness of life. There are no saints in heaven who have not been broken. “ Whoever loses his life will find it”

It is the power of his blessing that makes us endure the pain and death. The knife that prunes is held by the hands of a loving father. The bread is broken by none other than one who has blessed it. He is holding you while breaking you. He will not break or prune more than you can endure. 

He gave …

We are chosen, blessed and broken to be given. Bread is broken to be shared. Vine is pruned so that it can produce more. Salt looses its color and taste and is thrown into the boiling water so that it can give taste. A light is lit and dies, so that many can find their way. Cross has no meaning without resurrection and a Pentecost.

“ He called those whom he wanted to be with him and to be sent out”. We are blessed so that we are enabled to give. We are consecrated so that we can be send out.  We are broken so that we can be shared. We die so that we can bring new life.

Jesus was chosen and consecrated by the Father, broken on the cross, so that we might have life. What he did with the five loaves and fish is the summary of his life. He did it again at the last supper.  With the two disciples of Emmaus, he did it again.  Every time the Eucharist is celebrated, every time one is called to follow him he repeats the same action, he takes the bread, he blesses it, he breaks it, and gives it .  It is the summary of his life. He wants your life too to be taken, blessed, broken and given.

 -Fr T.V. George sdb

            FIRST THINGS FIRST

        “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Mt. 6.20)

Stephen Covey in his famous book, ‘The Seven Habits  of Highly Effective People’ says, “ If I try human strategies and tactics to get other people to do what I what…to be more motivated – while my character is fundamentally flawed, marked by duplicity and insincerity then in the long run I cannot be successful.”  In simple words he says that one can try all the tactics and techniques, all social interactions and party games, but if one’s character is not honest and sincere, one cannot succeed. He adds, “Only basic goodness gives life to techniques”.

Jesus in the Gospel seems to be suggesting the same. The world is constantly telling us to collect more - more money, more fancy clothes, bigger houses, latest phones. Students  are constantly told have more knowledge, cultivate your talents, get one more certificate, go for a higher degree. In life these are important for success. But these are secondary. These should not come at the expense of the Primary. We need to keep First things First.

 Money can be stolen, house may come crumbling down in an earthquake, clothes can be soiled or eaten by moth, phones and computers can become rusty. These are necessary and needed but they are not primary, these can easily be lost and destroyed. You  cannot always take them with you wherever you go, to keep them safe. Any way these cannot be carried beyond the grave.

There are things in life which cannot be destroyed, things you can carry with you always, things that can be taken with you even beyond the grave. These are the Primary, the first things, ‘the one thing necessary’, the real treasure that Jesus invites us to seek. What are they? Your character, your values, your integrity, honesty, humility, sincerity, your kindness, these are more important than the things you possess. A person with good character is better than one with much wealth.  A sincere person is better than one who cheats and gets good rank. One who is honest is better than the one building a big house by dubious means.

Your character goes with you where ever you go. Your generosity will follow you even after your this life. Though you gather a lot of things, cultivate talents, though you may be an orator, musician, a walking-encyclopedia, but if your character is flawed you cannot be successful. Secondary greatness without primary greatness cannot succeed in the long run. What you are is more important than what you have. What you are, speaks more than what you say.

Let priority be given to character, values, integrity, kindness, nobility, love and  honesty. These are the treasures which Jesus speaks of, which no moth or rust can destroy or thief steal from you. Knowledge, skills, talents, money, house, clothes are important but they are secondary. Keep First things first. Seek treasures that cannot be destroyed and which can be stored in heaven.  

It is a long way to heaven.  Heavy luggage is not allowed. Travel light. Keep only what you can take with you in the cabin. These days people carry heavy books, documents, posters etc…in pen-drives. Now technology allows many things to be uploaded to the ‘Cloud’. Things that really matter, the Primary things, the treasure, upload them to ‘The Cloud’ above so that they may remain safe, and when you are up there in the next life, you can easily download them.                                                                                              -Fr T.V. George sdb

 

       
                                                      ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ OR  ‘Yes’ and ‘No’

“What you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘ No’”( Mt. 5.37).  Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount calls us to be people of integrity and honesty, to be  persons of value and conviction, to say, ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ and not both ‘Yes’ and ‘No’. Jesus warns us against taking oath and swearing. We take oath  often to convince others that we are credible, to tell the audience our words can be trusted. Yet, can our words be trusted? Have we kept our oaths and our vows?  Both, the one who speaks for the motion and one against, take the oath. What is truth for one is lie for the other. Can both be right?  Can black and white coexist? Leaders who take oath to defend the Constitution, are the first ones to break it. People who make vow to be poor are often richer than those who don’t take the vow. One takes oath often to conceal a lie. Truth is so rare.

Jesus was plainly honest. He spoke the truth whether in front of Pilate or the Pharisees. He could have escaped death by explaining away some of the misunderstandings. Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?”. Jesus was silent, and looked at Pilate. In that look and silence Pilate saw the Truth though he was not ready to accept it. Jesus did not give two hours of lecture on what is truth. Truth is grasped oftener than not in silence. Too many words are often an indication of a lie.  Truth needs no defense. It is its own defense. One who is in the truth needs no fear. Only one who lives the lie, needs News Channels and bellowing anchors to shout and drown the truth in noisy arguments and many words. 

St Francis of Assisi used to tell his followers, “Preach always, and use words only when it is a must”. Jesus told his disciples, “As you go, preach that the kingdom has come”. The person is the message. The kingdom is as close to people as they are. One preaches by one’s witness. A person’s life is the truth. When there is contradiction between words and body language, the body is the truth. Words often only distract. Too many words, too long preaching, and raising of one’s voice can be indications of something to hide, of duplicity and insincerity.  

The word ‘sincerity’ comes from two Latin words, ‘sine’ which means ‘without’ and ‘cera’ which means wax. In earlier days when Romans made marble statues, as they chipped at the  marble sometimes cracks occurred and to hide the crack they used wax. To be sincere means, to be people who are without wax, without a crack, no duplicity and nothing to hide. You are what you say.

In one of the Psalms, the Psalmist prays to be delivered from those “whose lips utter blessing, but in their heart they curse”. This is duplicity. This is what it means to live a lie, saying one thing and living another, having a blessing on their lips and a curse in their heart, like Judas betraying Jesus with a kiss or like the pharisees who address Jesus as ‘ Master and Lord’, while they are on a mission to catch and kill.

With Psalmist let us also pray that we too be saved from those whose lips utter blessing but in their heart they curse. Let us be people without wax. Let us live the truth and not a lie. Let our words have a meaning and not just empty phrases. Let our words be ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ and not ‘Yes’ and ‘No’.

-Fr T.V.George sdb