Faith

Jesus wept – Thursday, 33rd week in ordinary time – Luke 19:41-44

Luke’s Gospel is structured around Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem. The last stage of this journey turns into a triumphant procession from the Mount of Olives into the city. The text of today corresponds to Palm Sunday in the scriptures. In the days to come the great shepherd will become the lamb of God! Luke tells us how the powers of this world rise up to try and stop Jesus.

For now, “he approaches the path down from the Mount of Olives” when the whole multitude of the disciples begin to praise God singing Hosanna. Contrary to popular belief, in all four Gospels we don’t find the triumphant entry taking place as Jesus enters the city of Jerusalem but on the path down the mount of olives. It is on this path that he pauses and weeps over Jerusalem and then enters the city.

Jesus was riding a donkey a rather unusual animal one might think for such a triumphant entry. In the ancient Middle Eastern world, leaders rode horses if they rode to war, but donkeys if they came in peace. So the riding of the donkey was not demeaning, it wasn’t a symbol of lacking power. When Jesus indicates to his disciples that he should ride on a donkey that no one had ever ridden before, he is initiating a public, kingly act. He is revealing openly that he is the Messiah.

Jesus entered Jerusalem on what could only be the most chaotic day; it was Passover. Jerusalem was the centre of the Jewish faith. Everyone would be there and ironically most of them wouldn’t even know God was right there in their midst. They were too busy expecting this great king; a man who would lead the nation to their greatest moment as they would go to war and defeat their Roman oppressors.  

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Faith

Paralysis by analysis – Wednesday, 33rd week in ordinary time – Luke 19:11-28

We are told that Jesus breaks into another parable soon after the Zacchaeus encounter. Jericho was fifteen miles from Jerusalem and Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem for the Passover and it seems that many believed that he was going to establish His kingdom immediately. Therefore he told a parable to the crowd to show that the kingdom would not be established immediately as they had thought. Instead, according to what the Father had planned, Jesus must go to the cross first. There is a sense of departure in this story of Jesus; they were not to expect a coronation but rejection.  

The parable seems to have two parallel story lines. First, the hostility between the king and the citizens who want to be rid of him. Second, the interactions between the king and his slaves. The latter receives the most attention. The parable of the unpopular king, while is a clear reference to the hatred that the Jews had for Jesus also had its roots in a historical fact. At the death of Herod the Great, his son Archelaus had to undertake a long journey “to receive kingly power.” He could not be king in Judea until his claims had been ratified by the government in Rome. Because of his unpopularity, a group of 50 Jewish subjects went to Rome to complain against his kingship. Archelaus killed his enemies on his return.

The parable has three types of slaves; the faithful ones who obeyed because they loved and trusted their master and wanted to please him. The unfaithful  one who disobeyed because he ‘feared his master’ and the rebellious citizens who rebelled because they hated their king. To each of these slaves, ten pounds were given when the king went abroad. The ‘mina’ represented here by a pound was the equivalent of three months wages for a labourer or close to 100 denarii. Each servant was given ten pounds to do business with until the king came back. The amount was the same to  signifying equal opportunity in spite of the fact that each slave was different.

The first servant had earned ten pounds with the one pound that had been entrusted to him. He had an awareness that the money was not his own (“your pound”) and he used it as best as he could in the advancement of his master’s interests and is given a reward of ruling over ten cities. The second managed to make a profit of only five pounds and for this he is given five cities to rule over. Although he earned less than the first man he was not reprimanded for his smaller profit. Instead, he was commended and his reward was to be over five cities

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Art/ Heritage

THE BOMBAY SEMINARY: Ordinations

 The Sacerdotal Ordinations marks the climax of Seminary formation. ‘It is this goal which sustains the students through his ups and downs, through his mountain and valley experiences, through the bright mornings and the dark nights of his soul!’

During the sixty years of its existence, the Goregaon Seminary has contributed to the training of several hundreds of diocesan priests of the Archdiocese of Bombay. So does this ‘Seminary Graduation’ also hold a history? Let’s explore this story of the Bombay Seminary.

On December 21, 1946, at the Church of St. Peter’s Bandra, Valerian Gracias, the then newly consecrated Auxiliary Bishop of Bombay conferred the Sacred Priesthood on Fathers Andrew Dias, Jonathan Dias, Rudolph D’Souza, and Blaise Nazareth. Factually this was the first batch of seminarians to complete all their ecclesiastical studies in the Diocesan Seminary of Bombay.

In the Parel-Bandra Era, due to the inadequacy of space at the Parel Seminary, the annual Sacerdotal Ordinations were held at several venues. The extensive and impressive St. Peters’s Church, Bandra was most often chosen for the ceremony (1946, 1949, 1951, 1953, 1957). However, the interplay of several factors also shifted the venue to other sites. For example – the Gloria Church, Byculla (1947, 1956); St Francis Xavier Church, Vile Parle (1948), St. Andrew’s Church, Bandra (1952), St Mary’s High School Grounds, Mazagaon (1959) and the then Pro-Cathedral (1950).

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Faith

When a wealthy man got through the needle’s eye -Tuesday, 33rd week in ordinary time – Luke 19:1-10

Jesus enters Jericho on his way to Jerusalem. For many, Jericho was a pit stop, the last one before heading on to Jerusalem. But this is no ordinary city. Jericho which is below sea level was amongst the largest cities of ancient Israel. It was a centre of trade, commerce, business, industry and agriculture. It had been a very important city for many generations. In fact, well before the time of Christ, the Romans knew and valued the city of Jericho. Marc Antony once gave the city of Jericho to Cleopatra as a gift. King Herod built a summer palace there as well as a stadium for horse racing and chariot racing.

In this city lived Zacchaeus. The name “Zacchaeus” means the “righteous one,” but apparently Zacchaeus wasn’t living up to his namesake. Rather, he was known around town as a “notorious sinner.” Zacchaeus was a government contractor with the Roman Government in charge of all transported goods into Jericho, which gave him almost a license to extort money for big commissions. Tax collectors were greedy extortioners and most Jews would have considered Zacchaeus a traitor,

Into this town enters Jesus and Zacchaeus is curious to see who this man is. Zacchaeus not only climbs a tree he goes out on a limb, literally and metaphorically. Just the sight of Zacchaeus out in public without his Roman security could have put his life in danger. So why does he seek to see Jesus? Perhaps he had heard about a fellow tax collector who had been called by Jesus whose name was Levi, also known as Matthew. Perhaps he had heard about the healing of Bartimaeus.

In any case Zacchaeus climbs a tree to see the Lord only to be seen by the Lord. While the people of the city saw his as a traitor, in the eyes of Jesus he was a lost sinner in need of a Saviour. Jesus calls this chief tax collector by name. “Zacchaeus, come down; for I must stay at your house today.” There is both intentionality and urgency in Jesus’ summons

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Faith

Blind but not mute! Monday, 33rd week in ordinary time – Luke 18:35-43

Luke 18:35- 19:10 is a summary of Jesus’ ministry to the outcast. Luke now uses a story of Jesus’ mercy towards a blind beggar to conclude his travel narrative and to summarise Jesus’ ministry for societies unfortunates.

Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem (9:51) and he is approaching the town of Jericho. Jericho  is about 15 miles from Jerusalem and was a popular resting place because it was an oasis. It was here that the pilgrims gathered to make the final leg of the journey to Jerusalem to celebrate the annual Passover feast.

Luke’s Gospel tells us that a blind man was begging by the roadside. We know from Mark’s Gospel ( Mark 10:46-52)  that his name is Bartimaeus. Ask any beggar and he will tell you that they know all about the ‘good spots’ to solicit charity and Bartimaeus knew that there would be a mass of people in Jericho that day preparing to make the final journey to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. That’s why he was sitting by the roadside with his hand out.

Clearly the popularity of Jesus precedes our Lord, for hearing the commotion Bartimaeus asks what’s happening only to be told that Jesus of Nazareth was passing that way. While he could not see he could certainly hear and Bartimaeus has heard of Jesus enough for him to make up his mind that Jesus was more than just the man from Nazareth but the Son of David. 

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