Faith

Last Sunday’s Gospel ended with Jesus sternly ordering the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah. The profession of Peter was a flesh and blood declaration for even though he may have professed it, he and the others had certainly not understood it. In the absence of such an understanding, Peter and the others were ordered to be silent. Yet to them incredible power is given, power to bind and loose on earth things in the name of Christ.

The class on messiahship was not over, things still needed to be explained. So Jesus now ventures to explain the role of the Messiah. Unlike popular belief, the Messiah would not be one to rescue people from their earthly challenges but one who would ironically die to save them eternally. This very understanding, defied every image of the Jewish people, as to who the Messiah was to be.

Verse twenty-one sets the tone of who the Messiah would be. This is the first of three passion predictions of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew (16:21, 17:22-33, 20:17-19). Unlike  Mark’s Gospel where Jesus would ‘teach’ his disciples about his passion, here, Matthew indicates that from ‘this time on, Jesus would begin to SHOW his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering.’

That Jesus wants to demonstrate this suffering rather than teach it is a clear indication that we are not to be mere witnesses to his passion but are to be participants in it. We are to live the passion death and resurrection in our life. And this is not an option; for just as Christ ‘must got to Jerusalem’ so must we take up our cross and follow him (verse 24)

The words of Christ must have been a bolt out of the blue for Peter. Here he was, minutes after being instituted with incredible power only to be told that he would have to follow the master to his passion and death. The lure of power, security and influence had taken control of Peter and having made it to the top of the list, all this seemed to be slipping through his fingers before he even had the chance to cradle it in his palms, just once.

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Food

Given to me by a friend, this recipe is a winner. The mutton can be replaced by chicken, however the cooking process with change. Follow the tips with regard to the cooking of the spinach.

1 kg mutton boiled add salt keep a side – one whistle and ten minutes on slow fire

6 medium onions sliced

1/2 teaspoon of shahi jeera

One sour lime

For green masala:
8-10 green chillies
15-20 cloves of garlic
1½ inch ginger
1 bunch or 2 cups corriander
15-20 mint leaves
½ tsp turmeric powder
1tablespoon jeera powder
2 tablespons dhania powder
3/4th tbsp garam masala powder.
Grind the above to a fine paste.

Also, soak in warm water 15-20 cashews and 1 tbsp of khas khas. Grind to a paste and keep it aside.

1 bunch palak cleaned & washed. Heat water, turn off the gas, add the spinach and let it soak for half a minute. Put in the strainer and add cold water. Grind this too and keep it separate.

Method for cooking

In a pot add 3 tablespoons of oil 3 tablespoons of ghee. When the oil is hot add a bay leaf, ½ teaspoon shahi jeera and onions. Fry well. when the onions are translucent add the green masala. Fry this for two minutes on a low flame then add the cashew  and khas khas (poppy seeds) paste. Now add  the mutton stock and bring it to a boil. Add the mutton and continue to cook till the meat is tender. When cooked add the juice of one sour lime and salt to taste. Finally add the palak paste and then turn off the gas. Do not cook the palak or it will change colour to an offish green.

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Art/ Heritage

 We never know how or why God calls us, unworthy though we are, to consecrate our efforts and energies for His purposes.

I must have said these words hundreds of times during the past fifty years, either to myself or to those who bothered to ask me how I became in 1936 the first Rector of the Seminary of the Bombay Archdiocese. But it was, if anything, a partial and very general response. The real answer might sound a little dramatic, but I’ll say it because it is not only real but really dramatic.

On Ascension Thursday, May 28, 1936, at about six in the evening, as l was saying my second vespers, the Tertian Instructor came over quietly and whispered in my ear, “See me after your prayer.”

My head buzzed with images of all sorts as minutes later, I stood knocking at his door. What could have gone wrong, I asked myself. Did I break something in the kitchen? Was I in for a ‘culpa’? When the door opened, I realised to my relief that it was none of these that interested the Instructor.

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Art/ Heritage

On May 2, 1936, the Seminary was formally erected: ‘In conformity with the Canon 1354, We, by these Letters sealed with Our seal, on this day of May 1936, the eighth anniversary of our election, erect and establish the Seminary of Bombay at Parel; and with the best hopes of happy results We declare St. Anthony of Lisbon and St. Francis Xavier to be its Patrons.’                          

– Archbishop Joaquim Lima.

The Bombay Seminary at Parel was inaugurated on June 13, 1936. Aware of the legacy of the moment the Archbishop delivered a resounding and heartfelt speech. Here are a few excerpts:

…Please note, my dear seminarist, that your Archbishop will never be content with the formation of a mediocre clergy in the Seminary of Bombay. He wants the Archdiocese in this matter to hold its place among the most advanced dioceses in the world….

…Be like soldiers. Be always prepared to go wherever you may be sent by your superiors, and if you wish to be more distinguished labourers in the vineyard of the Lord, ask your superiors, when you are priests, to send you to the hardest missions…in this Archdiocese. The signs of the times are very bad! Zeal and more zeal, self-sacrifice, and more self-sacrifice are nowadays more required than they were in previous times. But how to acquire them?

Be it in your mind, my dear seminarist, that they are the delicious fruits of the tree which are always to remain fresh in the garden of your soul-i.e. the grace of God. Try to make your souls the habitual dwelling place of the Holy Ghost. He will teach you; He will guide you in your life; He will take you under his protection when the cross weighs heavily on you; He will finally make you eminent, zealous and self-sacrificing priests according to the ideal of the Church….

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Faith

Consider this for a moment; Jesus has taken on the might of the Jewish establishment in the temple itself and none of what he has to say is remotely easy to stomach. He has already pronounced five of the seven woes against the Scribes and the Pharisees and now before he steps into the fifth discourse, the eschatological discourse, he comes down heavily on the Jewish religious establishment

While our texts today will end at verse 32, it would do well to read the text till verse 36. For all those who thought that Jesus was dangerously out of line when he made a whip and drove the money changers out of the temple, his words in Chapter 23 will be louder than his actions. The words we hear him speak barely reflect the Jesus we have come to know; the one who is mild and meek.

The last two woes deal with all things dead, be they the prophets or their tombs. The very topic of death and all its trappings were linked to Jewish rites of impurity. Touching a dead person or for that matter a tombstone could render you ritually unclean. It was for this reason that the Jews took great pains to white wash their tombs less some hapless Jew stumbles on one of them and is now unclean. The whitewashing of tombs served as a sign board of warning.

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