Art/ Heritage

THE MARTYRDOM OF ST. THOMAS, Apostle of India by Peter Paul Ruben (1637 – 1639)

Tradition has not been kind to St. Thomas, an intriguing apostle of Christ. Tarnished for his thick-headed insistence of a personal sensory verification of the Resurrection, Thomas has invariably inherited the role of a doubter. But through his frank scepticism emerged the undeniable confession of ‘My Lord and My God’ and an inextinguishable spark of faith that set the world on fire!

But what happened to Thomas after his famous episode of incredulity? Was that the season finale? Well, the ‘Acta Thomae’, a document principally concerning the saint’s life, takes this story of faith forward. Legend states that in the act of distribution, India fell to the lot of St. Thomas. However, the apostle refused to venture into this foreign land. The ‘never giving-up’ Christ then appeared in a supernatural way to Abban, an envoy of the Indian King Gundafor. Abban invited Thomas to serve his master as an architect. Thomas agreed and set sail to India.

This royally funded project involved building a palace for the King in the Roman style of art. But the gutsy Thomas distributed the entrusted treasury among the poor. King Gundafor was furious and had the saint imprisoned. Later he realised that the apostle’s intention was not to build a palace on earth where ‘moth and rust destroy and robbers break in and steal’ (Matthew 6: 19-20). Instead Thomas desired to build an eternal palace in heaven through the noble acts of charity and love. The King had Thomas released and freed from trial. As the saint went about the country preaching the Good News, his faith was once again brought to task by King Misdai, who condemned him to death.

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Faith

On Prayer and Preaching

Preparing a Sunday homily firstly involves a clear understanding of the text of scripture . You can’t begin a homily looking first for a joke or an anecdote even though our flock often seek ‘practical homilies’. There is nothing more practical than the Gospels. The fact is that they are not broken down for us.

The first reading of this Sunday is a warning to all preachers ( Jeremiah 23:1-6) “ woe to the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock of my pasture.” This Sunday, Jesus looks at the crowd and has compassion for they were like “sheep without a shepherd”. His first reaction to the crowd that seemed woefully lost was not to be a social worker ; He TEACHES them first and in doing so he nourishes their souls ( verse 34) it is then that he feeds their bodies ( miracle of the 5000). Our flock needs to be fed with the Word of God and not merely told bed time stories even if that is the popular thing to do .

But Jesus has something for the hard working preacher as he does for the laity. He does not want us to be so immersed in work that we don’t rest with HIM. The apostles GATHERED around Jesus ( that’s the beginning of prayer). They began (as we do in prayer ) telling him all that they did and taught. Then comes the second part of prayer, when we listen to Jesus . Jesus now spoke to them and in this case offered practical advice “ come to a deserted place and rest “

This Sunday’s Gospel is not some spiritual lotion, smoky prayer or healing bath. It’s clear practical advice on where we can find rest .

Fr Warner D’souza
Share if you agree. Write in if you have a view . No Amens please

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The man and His mission – Saturday, 15th Week in ordinary time – Mt 12:14-21

Chapters 11 and 12 of the Gospel of Matthew see the unfolding hatred for Jesus. Verse 14 makes their intention abundantly clear; “the Pharisees went out and took counsel against Jesus to put him to death.” Interestingly Jesus is least bothered about being on the popularity charts of the Pharisees. He is literally a man for the masses, a man on a mission and that’s what he does in the face of constant opposition.

Human tendency, by and large, responds negatively to criticism often causing one to withdraw. For Jesus that was a luxury he could not afford. He had a mission and doing the will of the father was paramount for him. Scripture tells us that, “When Jesus realized this (the plot of the Pharisees), he withdrew from that place. Many people followed him, and he cured them all.”

Perhaps there is something for us to ponder about. It is essential to reflect both on the message and the man, for Jesus’ words were backed by his actions. Jesus is fully human and fully divine and hence Jesus surely experienced the rejection, hate and animosity. He was not protected by a divine shield that sanitized him from human emotions of pain and suffering, yet he chose to focus on the positive, he chose to move on and do not merely good work but God’s work.

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Cornfield controversies – Friday, 15th week in ordinary time – Mt 12:1-8

 The relationship between Jesus and the Pharisees reaches a flashpoint in chapter twelve; so much so that by verse fourteen they have made up their mind to “destroy Him.” Jesus had no axe to grind against the Pharisees, He Just came so that all would do the will of His Father in heaven (verse 50) and that included the Pharisees.

Somehow the Pharisees saw His presence as a threat to their beliefs and way of life. Jesus saw their practice of the faith as a yoke enslaving people.  Jesus was not anti Torah or anti- Sabbath, He just challenged their interpretations of the Sabbath when it evolved into nothing more than, “mountains hanging by a hair, for there is very little scripture and more rules” (JBC)

Ironically the Old Testament, especially the First five books of the Law, has just one thing to say about the Sabbath; keep it holy (Exodus 20: 8- 11). The Rabbis seemed unhappy with such a basic law and found it necessary to specify thirty nine actions as forbidden on the Sabbath; amongst them were reaping, winnowing, threshing and preparing a meal. But every law has an exception and this was no different. Humanitarian grounds exempted one from these actions on the Sabbath. Saving a life took precedence over keeping the law.

The narrative in today’s Gospel takes place on the Sabbath. Jesus and his disciples walked down the thin narrow strips between the cornfields which were considered a right of way and it is there that hunger pangs kick in, it is here that the controversy takes root.

For the record, it was the disciples who plucked the corn and ate, not Jesus. Yet the nit-picking (should have been corn picking) Pharisees don’t correct the disciples but find fault with Jesus; “your disciples are breaking the law.” In reality, the disciples broke no law. Remember the exception made on humanitarian grounds?  That comes into play now.  The disciples were hungry and that was a humanitarian ground to break the law.

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Can a burden be light? Thursday, 15th week in ordinary time – Mt 11:28-30

In his prayer of thanksgiving, Jesus expressed his gratitude to His loving Abba for revealing the mysteries to the simple and hiding it from those who claimed to be intellectual.  But Jesus did more than make a prayer of thanksgiving, He also told us what the revelation was; that He has been handed all things by the Father and no one knows the Father except the son and those that Jesus chooses to reveal it to.

Now that the secret is out of the bag, Jesus takes this revelation one step ahead. Having told us the revelation He now wants us to participate in this revelation; to become one with this mission of the Father and the Son. 

There is an intimacy in this whole pericope. Jesus is so intimate in His prayer with the Father and now is so intimate with the disciples. The invitation is filled with tenderness; “come to me”, says Jesus. Jesus speaks as the personification of wisdom. You can touch the feminine characteristics of Jesus, the giver of rest and comfort like a mother to her tired children. (References from the JBC)

Jesus is making one more attempt to win over his detractors. His invitation is to give rest is to all, the Pharisees included but as we know, they reject His offer.  They will continue to relentlessly attack him in chapters 11 and 12 and finally bring judgment upon themselves when they blaspheme against the Holy Spirit. (Verse 32)

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