KEEP GOD AT THE CENTER AND ALL ELSE AT THE PERIPHERY

September 5, 2010
Twenty-third Sunday of the Year

Wisdom 9:13-18; Philemon 9b, 12-17; Luke 14:25-33

Jesus enjoyed great popularity. Great crowds followed Him. They followed Him because He impressed them with His words, and mighty deeds. It was at the height of this popularity and fanfare Jesus now made an unpopular demand on His followers. It seems, He was not as much impressed with the crowds as the crowds were with Him. The demands were so uncompromising and obviously difficult. Indeed, Jesus risked his popularity by making such great demands on His disciples.

The Triple demands: You want to be a disciple of Jesus? Here are the requirements: 1) Renounce your relationships, 2) Renounce your comforts, and 3) Renounce your possessions.

A paradoxical command: Anyone who listens to this teaching of Jesus would ask, if becoming a Christian, a disciple of Jesus implies renouncing (“hating”) one’s parents, children, wife, husband, relatives and friends, who can follow this teaching? Have we not learned from early on in our catechism the commandment of God that we shall love, respect and care for our parents? Has not Jesus also taught us that we need to love our brothers and sisters as we love ourselves? How does Jesus make sense, then in His call to renounce all our intimate relationships for us to be his disciples?

Indeed, this teaching of Jesus is paradoxical in nature. Renunciation is not to make us desolate, orphans and miserable. This is “losing in order to gain” and “letting go in order to be complete”. These triple renunciations will make us what we all look for in our relationships, comforts and possessions: happy, whole and contented.

Center and the peripheries: The triple demands of discipleship is all about positioning: position God at the center and everything else at the periphery of my life. Remember, what Jesus said, when He was asked which is the most important commandment in the law— 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Indeed, love of God is the center of all commandments. Everything else is to be positioned at the periphery compared to the Love of God. It is the love of God that gives meaning and purpose for the love of neighbor and the love of self. I love others first and foremost because I love God. How beautiful our world would be when the Love of God is the center of all our relationships, pleasures, pursuits and possessions!

God— the center of all relationships:

The call to renounce (hate) all human relationships then, is a call to deepen our relationships in love. It is a call to make God the center of all my relationships. When God is the center of relationships, all relationships are sacred and holy. There is a tendency for human relationships to grow so exclusive that there is no room for God, so intimate and private that there is no space even for God. It is this tendency that we need to give up, hate and renounce. Instead, allow God to be the center of your family, and every relationship you cherish in your heart. Seek His will for you, consult Him, and share your joys and sorrows, victories and failures, strength and weaknesses… This is a call to transformation, to see God in every person whom you love. St Paul understood and lived this transformation of relationship in a radical way when he said, “Now I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me” (Gal 2: 20). Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, whose feast falls this day, verbalized this centrality of God in relationship, when she was asked, how is it that she is able to care for the neglected, abandoned, disfigured, and the dying people with immense love, she said: “I see Jesus in them. It is not a burden but a privilege to serve the Lord in the poor. In their cries I hear the cry of Jesus and in their smiles I see the smile of Jesus. I feel happy doing something beautiful for the Lord”.

God—the Center of my comforts:

Renunciation of comforts, if not for the grace of God, does not have any value in itself. Yet, all comforts and pleasures are sacred when God is the center of my comforts. When I allow God to be the center of my comforts and happiness, I realize another paradox of life: Cross is grace! Taking up my daily crosses no more becomes a burden for me, rather a source of joy, when done in love for the Lord. Cross becomes heavier, unbearable and miserable when I carry them on “my way”. Carry the cross, following the footsteps of Jesus. Jesus will refresh you. Cross is sharing burden. My cross is a source of grace for others. This is what self-less love, service and care all about. Because, in you I see my God whom I love more than my life itself, I give up my comforts that you may be comforted. Love without sacrifice is not true love. Sacrifices without love are not true sacrifices.

All the pleasures and comforts this world gives is legitimate and worth enjoying if God is the center of those pleasures.

God—the Center of my possessions:

Material blessings, riches and possessions may become a hindrance in my way of discipleship if I consider them above my faith, morality and Christian commitment. I might lose sight of my true calling to be a child of God if I do not make God the center of all my possessions. When God is the center of my riches and blessings, I become a liberated person, with an attitude of gratitude and love.

The story of Onesimus which we heard in the second reading gives us a fitting example of Christian attitude towards possessions. Onesimus was a slave, a property of Philemon, a Christian convert. Onesimus ran away from Philemon and came to St Paul who baptized him. Paul was now put under house arrest in Rome, and Onesimus offered to serve him. But Paul decided to send him back to Philemon with an appeal that Onesimus, by virtue of his baptism has become the spiritual son of Paul. He sends Onesimus with great feeling of love. He is no more a slave now. Accept him as a brother. For everyone who believes in Christ is His family and we are brothers to each other. Do not treat him as a slave any more. Onesimus, who was the property of Philemon is now shown to be a means of grace for his once master. By giving up the right of ownership Philemon is not losing the service of Onesimus, but he serves him all the more, with love, and Philemon, is called upon to serve him in return, in love. This change of attitude has come about because of Christ, and our call to be disciples of Christ.

Let us ask the Lord Jesus to set us free, make us whole and fill us with contentment, satisfaction and joy in our relationships, comforts and possessions. Let us also promise to the Lord, as we lay the cross of our life in this Eucharistic offering, that we will make Him the center of our relationships, comforts and possessions.

HE CAUGHT THEM!

September 2, 2010

Thursday of Twenty-Second Week in Ordinary Time
Luke 5:1-11


Great Catch: A fisherman’s dream:

Peter and his companions had a great catch as they risked their wisdom and dared to obey the command of Jesus. It was a dream catch. The greatest dream a fisherman has is to have a great catch, so great that his life could change. Indeed, this was the day Peter and his companions had it beyond their dream. They caught big. Their nets were tearing up and their boats were about to sink for the quantity of fish they caught that day. Their joy was beyond expression for they had their dream catch when they had given up after all their efforts went dry.

Eyes off from the fish to the Carpenter:
If the fish they caught amazed them, they were all the more amazed when they took off their eyes from their catch to the one who showed them the direction. The Carpenter-teacher, who borrowed Peter’s boat for a while for his teaching has now rewarded them beyond their expectations and imaginations. The fisher men rightly sensed that the Carpenter from Nazareth has a greater wisdom and power than the fisher folk. He knows the direction. It has slowly dawned on them, that, HE IS THE DIRECTION in life. They were caught up in wonder with the wisdom and direction of Jesus.

He Caught Them:
Jesus caught them! More than Peter and the companions with the amazing catch of their lives, it turned out that it was Jesus who had a great catch that day. He caught them by surprise and amazement. He caught them by faith. He caught them by His Divine word of love. Indeed, Peter and his companions realized that this was their day. Their life will be no more the same not because they had their dream catch, but because Jesus has caught them! They wound no more complain for the dearth of fish, for Jesus has offered to teach them the art of fishing. He has promised even greater catch—to catch men for His Kingdom! This realization led them to let go of their dream catch—the jackpot they hit—along with their fishing gear, hired workers, families and friends and follow the carpenter turned Master Fisherman. Now, Jesus not only provides for them, but becomes the boat of their life in which they will cross the ocean of this turbulent world. Jesus has become the fish for them, satisfying them in their physical, spiritual, emotional and social needs. From their job of fishing in the sea, they are now given the vocation to fish people and bring them to the ocean of grace. No more will they need to frantically spin for direction, for they have the sure source of direction with them.

Get Caught:
Do I feel frantic, directionless, and hopeless in my relationships and work? Let me look up to the Lord this day for direction and strength.
Do I allow myself to be caught by grace?
Do I lend my boat for Jesus today?
What are the greatest dreams I cherish in my heart?
Do I bring those dreams to the Lord, and what response do I give Him when He asks me to change the direction and let go of my fears?
How do I open myself, my life and resources to Jesus the Teacher, the Leader, the Motivator, and the Provider?
What are the things the Lord is asking me to risk this day that I may have the greatest catch of my day?
How do I respond to the call of the Lord to join him in “catching men for His Kingdom”?

Enduring Relationships

AUGUST 13, 2010
FRIDAY 19TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR II

EZEKIEL 16:59-63
MATTHEW 19:3-12

The Bible is a one single long story of enduring relationship: of commitment, loyalty, fidelity and grace. Right from the beginning God has declared: Relationships are forever.God has united us in creation and He will keep us united till the end of times. We are to live united even in the age to come.

The scripture passages for our reflection this week has a continuous theme: enduring relationship. The other day and the day before we heard Jesus reminding us of fraternal correction (gaining your brother/sister who falters) and forgiving the offender to the last breath of your life (seventy times seven). We are made for each other, we cannot afford to severe relationships, however hurting they may be. God does not lose confidence in us. Nor shall we.

The most sacred of all relationships and the most intimate, too, is found in the family, especially between a husband and wife. St Paul finds the marrital covenant as high and profound as the covennant of christ with His Church.There is no greater delight God can have than seeing a family united in love and fidelity.
The soul-touching narration of Ezekiel, in the first reading, of Yahweh's fidelity to His covenant with Ephraim is a mirror of marrital faithfulness. Yahweh loved Ephraim not because he is lovable. Yahveh cared for Ephraim not because he is gentle and obedient. Yahweh stood by Ephraim even when he was arrogant, unfaithful, rude and showed the ugly side of his life.God respects the covenant He has made with us no matter how we might humiliate Him and reject Him. The culmination and concretization of the fidelity of God to His covenant with us is found in the offering of His Son on the Cross. God will go any extent to keep us with Him. He never breaks the relationship, not even when we tend to seperate ourselves and turn away from His offer of love. This shall be the model we follow in human relationships as well.

Fidelity to relationships and marrital covenant has never been easy. From the time of creation, through the Biblical times and to the present age people struggle with the "permanance of relationship" in marriage. This is why people around us today speak of stipulating the marriage covenant not for life, but for a period of time, say one year, five years or ten years, which could be renewed upon evaluation. Relationships if they work, until they work, and as long as they are satisfactory! Our world is fragmented and everything, even love seems to be so fluid. But for us, Christians, there is one principle that cannot be compromised: stick to the relationships, be committed, be loyal and faithful. For this is the first and last commandment God has given us: Be faithful in love. What God has united, let no man put assunder!

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