Faith

Punctuated with prayer – Thursday, 29th week in ordinary time – Ephesians 3:14-21

In the text of yesterday, Ephesians 3:12 spoke of the boldness and confidence we all have (Jews and Gentiles) to approach God because of the access we have through Christ. This great mystery of unity, this unmerited salvation of all in Christ, this privilege of being joint heirs in the promise of Jesus is the reason why the author to the Ephesians begins this text with an act of great humility and thanks; “he bows his knees before the father.” The author to the Ephesians punctuates his letter with a moment of prayer.

The prayer of Paul begins with a publicly manifested action of reverence. As an aside; external gestures of reverence are slowly fading in the Catholic Church. As one pastor once said, if your knees are giving way, bow at your hip. If you hip is giving way bow at your neck and if you neck has given way close your eyes and if that is not possible find it in your heart to make an appropriate gesture of reverence according to your physical ability; acknowledging the great presence before whom you enter.

Let me back this with scripture. Solomon prayed on his knees (1 Kings 8:54). Ezra prayed on his knees (Ezra 9:5). The Psalmist called us to kneel (Psalm 95:6). Daniel prayed on his knees (Daniel 6:10). People came to Jesus kneeling (Matthew 17:14, Matthew 20:20, and Mark 1:40). Stephen prayed on his knees (Acts 7:60). Peter prayed on his knees (Acts 9:40). Paul prayed on his knees (Acts 20:36), and the early Christians prayed on their knees (Acts 21:5). Most importantly, Jesus prayed on His knees (Luke 22:41). So, give God some knee-mail!

It is not merely the external gesture of prayer to which our attention is drawn but to the prayer itself. The prayer made to the father of Jesus is that they may be spiritually (not just power in your muscles) strengthened with the power (dunamis) that comes through the spirit. The Greek word dunamis (from which we get our word dynamite) speaks of a special kind of power; the ability to do or to accomplish. It is an enabling sort of power, because it equips us to do good things while leaving us freedom to exercise that power. But this measure of power is given in “according to the riches of HIS glory.
What a prayer! The riches of God’s glory are infinite. So, Paul is praying for God to shower these Ephesian Christians with not just some blessings but with infinite blessings.

Paul moves to the second petition of his prayer, that “Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith as they were rooted and grounded in love.” There are two powerful elements here. The prayer is an invitation for Christ to dwell. The word Dwell uses the ancient Greek word for a permanent home. Jesus wants to settle down in our heart, not just visit as a stranger.

Spread the love ♥
12      
12
Shares
Continue Reading
Faith

Faith is a mystery, yet not mysterious. Wednesday, 29th Week in ordinary time – Ephesians 3:2-12

Chapter 2 and 3 of Ephesians constitute the central theological section of Ephesians and appeals to the unity of the Church. Galatians tells us of the sharp divide between Gentile Christians and the Jewish Christians in their approach to the practice of this infantile Christian faith. Ephesians speaks of the unity that we are called to in Christ.

These chapters, from the letter to the Ephesians, is reminder of the one who unites both Jews and Gentiles; namely Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:14 says, “he is our peace, in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is hostility, between us.”

Clearly, there are lessons that we can take away from this teaching . First, principle to the text is the primacy of the role of Christ. It is he and he alone that unites us. He is our peace! By our own efforts we ‘come to pieces.” Secondly, within the community of believers there can be no dividing walls. The church is one because those within it are joint recipients of the saving grace of God in Christ. Hence no group is better or greater than the other. No language, no tradition, no culture can create a one-upmanship in this unity that we are called to. But, one is bound to ask, ‘how then do we explain that Christians continue to experience disunity?’ Paul does not say that incorporation into Christ somehow erases the differences among men. However, such differences that do exist should not be the cause of alienations.

Unity is not uniformity. In bringing about peace Christ broke down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility that exists.( 2:14). While differences exist, the hostility has been taken away. In doing this Christ “ abolished ‘the law’ (the cause of the hostility) with its commandments and ordinances.” It was the slavish following of the 613 interpretations of the decalogue that had spiritually paralyzed the Jewish Christians and physically alienated the Gentile Christians. By abolishing the law and replacing it with the law of love, Christ has reconciled both groups (2:16) by creating a new humanity in himself (2:15) in place of the two groups. His action has brought peace; the focus once again is not on our desire or effort but Christs’ action.

Paul reminds us that he was commissioned to preach this Good news or as he calls it “this mystery (3:3). “In English a ‘mystery’ is something dark, obscure, secret, puzzling. What is ‘mysterious’ is inexplicable, even incomprehensible. The Greek word mysterion is different. Although still a ‘secret’, it is no longer closely guarded but open. More simply, mysterion is a truth formerly hidden from human knowledge or understanding but now disclosed by the revelation of God.” Here is something we need to understand about the mystery of faith that we profess and as Paul professed. We cannot ferret out an understanding of the mystery by use of reason or intuition. We can understand only when or if God chooses to open the door to our understanding. We can understand only if God makes known what otherwise would remain hidden and this he has done for us.

Spread the love ♥
12      
12
Shares
Continue Reading
Faith

Why do Catholics Prohibit Non-Catholics From Receiving Holy Communion!?

On the one hand, the Church says that Holy Communion unites us intimately with God and with another and that it perfects us in charity, but on the other hand, every time there’s a funeral or a special Feast Mass, we hear the announcement that “Holy Communion is reserved for Catholics only.” If Holy Communion is such a great gift of God, why do we reserve It for ourselves and not share It with the whole world?

The keyword to keep in mind is ‘intimacy’. You can’t be intimately involved with everyone you know. The whole point of intimacy is that it’s reserved for a few people. Your relationship with your family members is different from the one with your colleagues or with an acquaintance. A husband and wife get intimately united in a way that they can only do with one another and not with anyone else.

Remember that in the video on Holy Communion, I said that this is also spiritual food, which means you have to be spiritually united to Christ before receiving Him physically. The Catholic Church is the Bride and Body of Christ. The Mass is not just about saying prayers together; it is the union of the Body and the Head, of the Bride and the Bridegroom. The congregation is the Bride, and Christ is present as the Bridegroom through the priest, i.e. me!

As Catholics who have been baptised and are in a state of Grace, we are part of His Body and that’s why we can receive Him in Communion, and since non-Catholics are outside the Body of Christ, they can’t participate in the intimate union of Bride and Bridegroom. It’s not about excluding them; it’s more an invitation that’s saying, ‘If you want to receive God and be united to Him, you have to give yourself completely to Him, and become part of His Body, which is His Church.’

I can make this same point in a different way. Even a Catholic who’s in a state of mortal sin is not supposed to receive Communion, because he/she has ruptured the union between him/herself and Christ and is, in a way, spiritually dead. Receiving Communion in a state of mortal sin is another mortal sin, and he/she needs to make a sincere Confession in order to receive Communion again.

LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS BELOW IN THE BOX

Spread the love ♥
12      
12
Shares
Continue Reading
Faith

Loved, not because we ticked a list but because we were lost – Monday, 29th week in ordinary time – Ephesians 2: 1-10

Paul is now addressing the Gentile Christians of the Church in Ephesus. He is recalling their new exodus from a spiritual death (verse 1) to new life in Christ (verse 4)

Physical death separates us from those we love on earth; but spiritual death on earth is a separation from God. Prior to their conversion, the Gentile Christians was spiritually dead and alienated from God. This alienation took place because of their “trespasses” and “sins” in which they once lived. While modern day sensibilities may look at these words harshly, in Greek their words weigh heavily but are presented with understanding.

Transgression (paraptoma) indicated that someone slipped and fell while “sins” or hamartia in Greek simply translated as “missing the mark.” While both these words may not be presented as condemnatory, both acknowledge the idea of failure; failure to walk upright (paraptoma) and failure to hit the target (hamartia). Both convey the idea of failure to meet God’s standard of holiness. But the point is clear, apart from Christ, one is dead in his trespasses and sins.

This failure that caused one to miss the mark is the direct result of making choices that are made based on the world’s standards. These choices when they clash with divine law pervert the divine freedom that was given to us; or as often happens, when one makes choices that are governed by false pretenders. Religious mythology current in the author’s day spoke of a demonic ruler of the earth whose function was satanic, though the name is not used here for him, he is referred to in today’s text by the word ‘air’ or “eon,” He is the ‘air’ of this world and the prince of the power of the air.

Spread the love ♥
12      
12
Shares
Continue Reading
Food


Curry chicken – Kerala style

Ingredients
Chicken – 1 kg
Onion large -3
Green chillies – 2
Tomatoes -2
Ginger -1 inch piece
Garlic – 8 to 9 cloves
Curry leaves – 4 sprigs
Grated coconut – half
Red chilli powder – 2 tablespoons
Coriander powder – 1 tablespoons
Turmeric powder – ¼ tablespoon
Cardamom- 3
Cinnamon – 1 large stick
Cloves- 3
Pepper seed- 1 teaspoon
Fennel seed – 1 teaspoon
Salt – to taste
Coconut Oil – 3 tablespoons

Method

Heat oil in a pan and add the cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, pepper seed and fennel seed sauté them well. Now add the grated coconut and sauté them well. You are roasting these ingredients and you need to stir it all well. Do this till the coconut is mildly brown. Then add 2 sprigs of curry leaves. Drop the heat and add the red chilli powder, coriander powder and turmeric powder. Stir this continuously as powdered spices tend to burn quickly. Stir for two minutes and set aside to cook down completely. When cool grind this mixture and set aside. Wash the mixer in a bit of water and save the masala water

Now for the curry – Grind the ginger and garlic into fine paste and set this too aside. Heat coconut oil in a pan and add the fennel seeds; let this crackle. Add finely chopped onion and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes or till they are translucent. Now add the green chillies and the ginger and garlic paste and the rest of the curry leaves Add chopped tomatoes and salt sauté it well. Cover and cook till the tomatoes become soft.

Now add the ground coconut masala mix along with the masala water and cook for two minutes on slow fine. Add some more water to form a curry and bring this to a robust boil. Season with salt. Now add the chicken which has been cut into small curry pieces and washed well. Cook this for another fifteen minutes or till the chicken is cooked. Check for salt and season accordingly. Serve with plain boiled rice.

Distinct to this dish is the use of curry leaves and coconut oil.

Spread the love ♥
12      
12
Shares
Continue Reading