Faith

#Influencer – The nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary – Matthew 1:1-16, 18-23

It’s been a while since I have penned my thoughts on the Blessed Virgin Mary. Quite recently I celebrated a mass in preparation for this great feast. Mind you, the rank of this Marian celebration, her very birth, is that of a feast, one rung lower than the three high solemnities in her honour; solemnities like the Assumption or Immaculate conception or that of Mary mother of God. Yet there is no denying that in the hearts and minds of Catholics in India, this day is no less than Christmas. You may not have a novena in preparation for the birth of the saviour but no one misses this novena. She is our love and the love of every catholic who finds in her a loving mother.

At the heart of many Marian novenas and devotions is a petition that hang on our lips. After all the ‘Memorare’ (my favourite prayer) itself proclaims, ‘never was it known that any one who fled to thy protection, who implored thy help or sought thy intercession, was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence I fly unto thee Oh Virgin of Virgins MY MOTHER.” This prayer, traditionally attributed to St. Bernard of Clairvaux and popularized by another Bernard, Fr. Claude Bernard, in the 17th century was said daily by St. Francis de Sales and St. Teresa of Calcutta taught others to pray it when they most needed help. Mother Teresa would pray it whenever she was faced with an emergency situation and most needed a miracle. It never failed her and has proven its miraculous character over the years through thousands of testimonials.

Yet it is not what she gives us in answer to our prayer that should draw us to her but who she gives us; her son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. The Gospel of today rightly dwells on the greatest gift that our Blessed mother gave us, her son. She gave us Jesus by her yes to the will of God. The gift of Jesus, surpasses any personal petition even if that petition asked may not be for ourselves but for the life of another. She knows that accepting Jesus in our lives will help us face any storm that life throws as us. “What can separate us from the love of God? Can tribulation or distress or danger?”

Mary understood this power of Jesus’ presence in her own life. It is his power that strengthened her when she bore him and at once had to become a migrant and refugee in Egypt. It was his strength that taught her to let go of her son and let His God take over in doing the will of the father. It was his strength that gave her courage to stand at the foot of the cross and watch Jesus die for humanity. It was his strength that emboldened her to accept John and by extension all of us as her children, even though humanity had driven nails in his hands and feet. She knew from her very experience that it is to her son that she must point to at the wedding at Cana when she said, “do whatever he asks you.” We honour her not for what she can give us but who she gave us.

To the world that seeks #influencers, may I present to you humanities first and dearest #influencer; Our Blessed Mother. If anyone can influence her son to grant the gift of His presence in our life, it is her. Ask her to lean across the table today and whisper into Jesus’ ear for you. Let her say on your behalf, “they have no wine.’ Then sit back and watch Jesus work in your life.

Happy Birthday Mama Mary, I love you dearly.

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A matter of intimacy – Wednesday, 23rd Week in ordinary time – 1Corinthians 7:25-31

Clearly, there were ‘concerns’ (7:1,8:1,12:1 and 16:1) that the Corinthians had and Paul is responding to these concerns raised by Stephanas and his companions (16:17). Verses 1-40 of chapter seven deals broadly with matters relating to marriage and celibacy but in particular to marital obligations (1-7) the unmarried and widows (8-9) separation and divorce (10-16) and maintaining status quo within one’s state of life in the context of the Lord’s second coming (17-35).

In order to get to the text of today we need to cover some ground on the matters taken up by Paul in verse 1-24. Paul in chapter 5:9-10 had expressed his stern judgement on sexual immorality. Perhaps this along with the Gnostic thinking that prevailed at that time, led some to believe that avoidance of all sexual relations is the best way to prevent any form of sin. For Paul, celibacy is not a ‘spiritual ace’ that one can throw and win the game; it is a special gift of God that only some receive.

Paul clearly admits that he is the recipient of this gift. Reading this statement on Paul’s gift of celibacy, one should not assume that Paul was a bachelor. He could have been a widower considering that Acts 26:10 tells us that he was once a member of the 40 strong Sanhedrin and that only married men were eligible to be members of the Sanhedrin. For Paul, this gift of celibacy is an exception and not a rule and since it is an exception it cannot become the general principle for Christians. In that sense it should not be looked as at a prize to be won or a merit to be earned.

Paul clearly rejects the view that sexual relations within a marriage should be denied by any partner in that marriage, rather married couples should have the right to conjugal intimacy. This right is not merely for the asking of the husband but interesting also the asking of the wife; this at a time when the rights of women were practically non-existent and considering Paul’s other statements. Yet Paul permits the practice of continence or self -restraint (as some couples do in Lent) for spiritual reason. Yet, Paul is quick to state that this cannot be for prolonged periods as it brings temptation and may be dangerous to the spiritual life of the partners who may then be led into sexual immorality. Yet continence is not demanded from a couple but like celibacy, it is a gift.

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Winning the war, losing the battle – Tuesday, 23rd Week in ordinary time – 1Corinthians 6:1-11

Chapter six of 1 Corinthians needs to be read along with chapter five. Both these chapters take on specific issues that have clearly divided the community of Corinth. But it almost seems like chapter 5 and 6 was an interruption in his letter brought about by some news from Corinth, compelling Paul to address it by putting ink to parchment. It is probable that Paul receives the grave news of a case of incest in the church (5:1-5) and about notorious legal disputes among its members (6:1-6).

Apparently, a prominent man in the church had married his stepmother. His father must have died or been divorced, for this sexual union is not termed as adultery. Such a marriage was forbidden by the Jewish law (Lev. 18:8; Deut. 22:30; 27:20) and also by  Roman statute. But Paul does not appeal just to Jewish or Roman law; Paul is certain that even pagan sensibilities are being offended by such an act.

Paul does not limit himself to demanding the severest punishment for this offender; he strongly condemns the complacency of his fellow members who seem to have given their stamp of approval. Instead of being undisturbed by the incident they should be grieving as though a death had occurred in their midst! Paul demands that a congregational meeting be called at once and his decision in the matter, to have this brother excommunicated, be ratified. For Paul, to condone the sexual immorality of a member is deplorable, but to boast of such freedom as a spiritual privilege, is perverse. Moreover, the lax attitude of these Corinthian leaders is like leaven, infecting the life of the entire congregation.

But sexual immortality was not the only issue at hand. Paul is indignant that Christians should be taking their trivial property disputes into pagan courts. He simply can’t believe what these Corinthian Christians are doing because of the scandal it brought to the name of Christ. For Paul, the Christians (he calls them saints) will one day judge the world and fallen angels. If that is to be their calling, if they are being prepared right now for such a glorious destiny, why do these Corinthian Christians allow those least esteemed by the church (that is, the secular judges) to decide disputes among Christians?

We know from Greek jurisprudence, that the very manner in which these courts were conducted became a matter of everyone’s business. The local judge sat in what was known as the “bema” seat of the civil magistrate, located in the heart of the marketplace. Greek culture found a good legal battle entertaining and anyone’s lawsuit soon became public knowledge. It was said in jest that ‘all Athenians were lawyers’ indicating the interest of the civil population in legal matters. It’s like saying, all amateur cooks who watch MasterChef are qualified food critics and even worse, all press reporters covering the Vatican are theologians.

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Memorial – Saint Teresa of Kolkata, living the Gospel in five words

“You did it unto me” (Matthew 25:40) are just five words but Saint Teresa described these words as the Gospel in summary. For mother Teresa her life of service was but a reflection of her love for Jesus; it came naturally. She did as the Gospels formed her and while some in the world may think she was politically incorrect she was clear; she was no politician but a humble nun who spoke fearlessly of the cherished Gospel values she held.

Minute in body, giant in faith, Mother Teresa was born to an Albanian family on August 26, 1910, and was given the name Agnes Gonxha. At age 18 she chose to become a missionary. and entered the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Dublin, where she received the name of Mary Teresa. The following year she moved to India, where she ministered for nearly 20 years in a school of her congregation, teaching the wealthy young people in the area. On September 10, 1946,  Mother Teresa received what she called her “calling within a calling”. That day,  Jesus revealed to her His pain at seeing indifference and contempt for the poor, and asked Teresa to be the face of His mercy: “Come, be my light. I cannot go alone.”

On October 7, 1950, Mother Teresa received permission from the Holy See to start her own order, “The Missionaries of Charity”, whose primary task was to love and care for those persons nobody was prepared to look after. In 1965 the Society became an International Religious Family by a decree of  Saint Paul VI.

During her life Mother Teresa received more 120 prestigious awards and honours including the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour. In 1971, Paul VI conferred the first Pope John XXIII Peace Prize on Mother Teresa, and in 1979 she won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Always ready to help the poor and needy, Mother Teresa was also strongly committed to the defense of life. Her speech at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony on October 17, 1979 was unforgettable. “The greatest destroyer of peace,” she said on that occasion, “is the cry of the innocent unborn child. For if a mother can murder her own child in her womb, what is left for you and for me to kill each other?”.

When a Catholic priest asked if she attempted to convert people, she reportedly answered, “Yes, I convert. I convert you to be a better Hindu, or a better Muslim, or a better Protestant, or a better Catholic, or a better Parsee, or a better Sikh, or a better Buddhist. And after you have found God, it is for you to do what God wants you to do. ”

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Suffering fools easily? – Saturday, 22nd week in ordinary time – 1 Corinthians 4:6b-15

Paul did not suffer fools easily and while he could be a gentle giant, he knew also slay a dragon. Some apparently ‘wise’ members of the Corinthian community seemed to have daggers drawn at Paul. From 4:3 we know that they questioned his authority as leader or as an apostle. Some had clearly rallied around Apollos who was a more erudite preacher and were routing for Apollo’s leadership in the Church of Corinth.

Paul reminds the Corinthians that both he and Apollos were servants and stewards (4:1). Interestingly when Paul speaks of a servant, he usually uses the Greek word doulos, which translates as slave. Here he uses the Greek word hyperetas which translates as an ‘under rower’. Paul is making a point. They are not slaves but and workers; workers who one would find in the galley of a ship. Being workers, they were clearly not leaders, just ordinary chaps doing their job assigned to them.

But doing their job was exactly what the Corinthians were not doing. They, it seemed were bent on division and disunity and had quite forgotten who had done the planting and who was assigned with the watering of this community’s faith.

Paul uses sarcasm to make a point and boy is he sarcastic in this text. It is true that Corinth was a wealthy city and that wealth had trickled down to its citizen. Now that they were professionally landed their money spoke and not their faith. Paul says it as it is, “you have become rich and quite apart from us (the apostles) you have become kings.

The true gladiators for Christ were not the Corinthians who had begun to live a fanciful life; fancy enough to now begin to disturb the unity of the community. It is not their wealth per se that Paul is attacking but their lifestyles that have led them believe they are ‘kingmakers’ in the community. The apostles and those faithful to Christ are the true gladiators who are condemned to death in the arena of faith and they are the ones who have sacrificed rather than glorify themselves.

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