St. Xavier’s Parish, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad, has 634 families residing in the western side of the city. Built on St. Xavier’s College Campus in 2001, it has an attractive church whose distinctive hallmark is the aesthetic Risen Christ with an Indian resonance to it and a welcoming gesture that attracts people to pray. An interesting facet is also the word “Navrangpura” means a complete spectrum of 9 colours and it coincidentally matches the nine ethnic communities that constitute the parish.
29 March, 2014
Fourth Sunday of Lent 2014
Fourth Sunday in Lent A
30 March 2014
José Enrique Ruiz de Galaretta S.J.
THEMES AND CONTEXT
THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL
This text of the First book of Samuel
Falls within the tradition of the divine choice of the least worthy in the eyes of men. The problem is to find a new king, for Saul has proved himself unworthy and has been rejected by the Lord. The prophet Samuel is searching for the one chosen by God, who happens to be the last, the least appreciated of all. God’s choice is never made by taking into account the merits of the man. This is a theme constantly found in Scripture. Paul will develop this theme at length in the first chapter of the first letter to the Corinthians.
THE LETTER TO THE EPHESIANS
The theme of light is developed. Before you were darkness, now you are light. The text develops a beautiful symbolism: you were darkness, your works were works of blind people, they were sterile. The light exposes what is sterile, unclean. Now you are enlightened by the light of Christ. Earlier you were asleep, now you have awakened to the light.
THE MAN BORN BLIND
This is the second of the great “SIGNS” of the Gospel of John brought together in these Sundays of Lent. Last Sunday the sign was Water. Today it is light. Not only the light that shines in the sky, the sun, but the light that is born in man, which draws one out of darkness. Let us pause to analyze the story of John.
1. We are dealing with a story of an event that took place, made use of by the evangelist for catechetical purposes. Jesus cured blind people (Mark 8 & 10, Luke 11 & 18, Matthew 9,12,15,20,21). This is one of the stories, the only story of a blind man recorded by John. The healing is briefly told. John, with a perfect sense of drama, uses this healing to show the progression of the men of good will towards the light, which is to accept Jesus, and the regression of the “just”, who are increasingly plunged into their blindness, preferring their own ideas on God, to the Word itself.
2. Above all, the miracle takes the form of a sign. On the whole, it shows Jesus as a prophet, confirmed by the signs. Together with this they are concrete signs: Jesus is light, and the healing with water. They are symbols of baptism. This story was used in the primitive Church in the preparation and the scrutinizes before baptism, and baptism itself was presented as enlightenment, getting out of darkness to come to the light of Christ, who is life and fertility. There is a beautiful phrase of Saint Augustine: “This bind man stands for the human race. If blindness is the lack of faith, enlightenment is faith..(The blind man) washes his eyes in the pool of Siloe, which means “The One Sent”: that is, he receives the light of Christ.”
3. The story is placed in the usual dynamics of John, of opposition of pharisaic “orthodoxy” to Jesus. Jesus is considered a sinner, because he breaks the Sabbath rest. Hence he cannot come from God. So then this is a story in which Jesus “provokes” legality. There was no immediate need for a cure. Hence the story is written from the perspective of the Passion and of the Cross, as the height of the blindness caused by the darkness that rejects the light.
In the story there is an allusion to the threat that those who follow Jesus would be expelled from the synagogue. Beside the fact that this would help us to date the text during or shortly after the official expulsion of Jewish Christians (around the year 90), there is included here the extension of the persecution to the followers of Jesus.(“If they have done it to me...you too.” “A time is coming when anyone who persecutes you will believe he is giving glory to God.” “Happy are those who suffer persecution for justice...”).
4. All this shows us one of the fundamental core ideas of the Gospel of John. Jesus is not rejected only – nor chiefly- by “the world”, that is, by worldly ways of living. There is a still more disquieting rejection on the part of religious people, “the just”. Jesus is received with delight by “sinners”, those who are conscious of their insufficiency, those who know they are sinners, those who are looking to be freed by God from their condition of sinners, a burden to them, and from which they cannot free themselves. Jesus is regarded with suspicion and finally rejected by those who thought of themselves as just, those who fulfilled the law. And it is true, they did fulfill it. But they are blind: they do not know that they do not have any merit, and what they have is a gift of God for them to help their brethren, and nevertheless they have made of their “virtue” a reason for arrogance and believe that God is in debt to them, unlike their sinful brethren. This leads us to the theme of the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican, of which we spoke in the thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time.
R E F L E C T I O N
God is Water for the journey through the desert. God is Light to help us walk without stumbling. We are continuing on the wonderful world of symbols with which the Bible and the Gospels speak to us – so marvelously – of God. The symbol of light comes from the beginning, from the book of Genesis. The first word of God that appears in the Bible is :God is light and order. With God reality can be seen; without God, all is darkness and chaos. Exodus continues to make use of the symbol: God guides the people, like a pillar of fire. And it goes on being developed in the Prophets, especially in Isaiah: “The people who walked in the darkness saw a great light.” “Arise, Jerusalem, for your light is coming.” John takes up this thread from the prologue to his Gospel.
In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
The light shines in the darkness,
but the darkness has not understood it.
The true light that gives light to every man
was coming into the world.
He was in the world,
and though the world was made through him,
the world did not recognize him.
He came to that which was his own,
but his own did not receive him.
This is the drama that makes up the inner train of thought of the Gospel of John. Jesus, the light of God which shines in the darkness, and men close themselves to the light, in an inexplicable mystery.
This theme supposes a deeper entry
Into the theme of sin and God. God is light, but we shut ourselves off from the light, and that is the essence of sin.
GOD IS LIGHT
Quite often we understand God as someone added on to reality, as if there existed things, events, the ordinary tasks of our lives and...besides, religion, the faith, God. It’s all the other way around: there exists one Reality, and we are in it in the dark, trying to grasp it only with our senses and our reason. And with them we see very little, we proceed blindly, we stumble, we lose our way. God is the light that helps us not to live blindly. With God we understand things, life, work, death...
All this clarifies still more the notion of “sin” in the Gospel: a blunder for lack of light. We have insisted too much on judicial aspects of sin: obedience, guilt. And too little in factual objective aspects: disorientation, error, stumbling for lack of light. We have insisted too much on the condition of freedom of the human being: I am able to choose and when I choose apart from God, against the law of God, I do so by exercising my freedom in a culpable manner. The Gospel does not consider us free, responsible persons, but slaves of sin: and God does not judge free and responsible persons, but helps blind slaves, to see better and free themselves from their chains.
Gospel means GOOD NEWS PRECISELY FOR THIS REASON: It brings us light to live properly, it informs us about who God is, it frees us from that judicial stance, brings light about God and about the human being: a wonderful news: we can see, we can journey, and God is our light.
SIN IS TO BLOCK OUT THE LIGHT
This second theme of the reading of the man born blind is more moving and chilling. Enclosed in the cave of the world, in the dark subterranean labyrinth of making sense of life, the light of Jesus shines out, and everything is illumined with joy and hope...but some shut their eyes, return to the shadows, reject the light...And these are not “the sinners” but the “just”. It is the most dramatic argument of the Gospels, when John says that “the darkness did not receive him”, he came to his own and his own did not receive him.”
Why did they not receive him? It is quite clear historically: Jesus does not fulfill messianic expectations , does not promote political liberation, he is not interested in having Jerusalem made the centre of the world, he does not back the interests of the priestly class...Politically and economically speaking, Jesus is of no use to them.
To go deeper along this line of thought, Jesus strips religious leaders of all power. Leaders are there to serve; pastors have no purpose beyond seeing to it that the herd of sheep live well; there are no sacred intermediaries between God and the heart of man. It is the very idea of religion that is at stake. The leaders of Israel saw very clearly that Jesus was a most serious danger. The temple loses leadership, Jerusalem will not be a holy city, the priest will not control the mysteries... It’s inevitable that they will reject Jesus, understandable that they will do away with him from their midst.
Going a little deeper into this attitude, we see that it comes from the fact that they have taken possession of the Word of God for their own benefit. They have put God at their service: God is used so that the people of Israel can be greater than other nations, that the priests can be greater than the faithful, so that the learned control the faith of the people. They have taken possession of God for their own benefit. And when the light of God is shone on them they appear naked and filthy... There are only two options: wash themselves in the new Water, use the light to change...or block the light, try to stamp it out... or try again to gain possession of it and confine it to again make use of it.
In the crude language of the recently cured blind man an unbearable light shines for the leaders, the priests and the learned: they have no option but to expel him from the synagogue...and to persecute Jesus. The discussion of Jesus with them is dramatic. It is reflected at the end of this gospel: Jesus said: For this I came into the world so that those who do not see, see; and those who see remain blind.”
The Pharisees who were with him heard this and asked him: “Are we too also blind?” Jesus answered: If you weren’t blind, you would not have sin; but, since you say you see, your sin remains.”
FOR OUR PRAYER
1. Let us read the story of John, very slowly, savoring each detail. As we read it see the hand of John as he tells it to us. John was there, he saw the healing. John sees and believes. And he transmits faith relating what he saw and believed. Read the Gospel with the eyes of John, believing in Jesus, accepting the challenge of believing in Him, ready to accept the Light even though it hurts the darkness in us. John has understood that Jesus breaks the Law, which is “something else”. Contemplate in Jesus the effort of the love of God to save. Renew faith in Him, accept him as the light of life. Accept that God is like what Jesus shows him to be. Make an act of trust in God, my Savior.
We make ourselves present at the scene, we mix with the people, we join one of the groups. Which one? Do I feel relieved, enthusiastic about what Jesus does and says? Do I feel frightened, tempted to reject him, as if the light of Jesus were a danger to the kind of life I lead?
2. The Salt of the earth, the light of the world... that’s you all: let them see your deeds and recognize the Father. A wonderful summary of the meaning of our lives: to make the Kingdom shine out, that it should be clearly seen and attractive. In our own lives we have enjoyed the company of people who have given us much light. It is our vocation. It is not what we say but what we do that can give a little light to this society.
3. During these days the assassination of Bishop Oscar Romero completes thirty years, which was celebrated with champagne the day he died. His assassins still rule the very country they continue to crucify. They are an existing example of the fierce resistance of the darkness to the light:”they preferred the darkness for their works were evil.”
Neither the assassination of Romero nor that of Ellacuria and his companions, men and women, nor of so many others has been officially recognized as martyrdom, but it doesn’t matter: the spiritual sense of the people of God has canonized them. They did so while they lived and they continue to do it. They do not need to tell us from above what light is and what darkness is all about. Thank God, we have eyes.
PSALM 27
The Lord is my Light and my Salvation, whom shall I fear.
The psalmist expresses faith in God, Way and Word, and in symbols appropriate to his times points out the dangers of life, his trust in God and his longing for Him.
22 March, 2014
3rd Sunday of Lent - Pagola/ Vally D'Souza sj
Third Sunday in Lent (A) 23 March 2014
At
ease with God
José Antonio Pagola
It’s a charming scene. Tired from the journey,
Jesus is sitting at the well of Jacob. Soon a woman arrives to draw water. She belongs to a semi-pagan
people, despised by the Jews. Quite spontaneously Jesus begins to talk to her.
He is incapable of despising anyone. Rather, he pleads with great tenderness:
“Woman, may I have some water.”
The woman is surprised. How dare he make
contact with a Samaritan! How does he stoop to speak to an unknown woman? The
next words of Jesus will surprise her still more: “If you knew the gift of God
and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would
have given you living water.”
There are many people who, through all these
years, have been distancing themselves
from God, without noticing what was really happening in their hearts. Today God
happens to be a stranger to them. Everything to do with him seems empty and
meaningless to them: a childish world ever more remote.
I understand them. I know exactly how they
feel. I, too, have gone on slowly distancing myself from that “God of my
childhood”, who awakened in me so many fears, discomfort and unease. Probably,
without Jesus I would never have found a God who today is for me a Mystery of
goodness: a friendly, welcoming presence in whom I can always confide.
I have never felt drawn to the task of
verifying my faith with scientific proofs: I think it is a mistake to treat the
mystery of God as if it were a task needed to be proved in a laboratory.
Neither have religious dogmas helped me to find God. I have quite simply
allowed myself to be carried by a trust in Jesus that has kept growing through
the years.
I would not be able to say exactly how my
faith is sustained through a religious crisis which also shakes me up as it
does everyone else. I would only say that Jesus has drawn me to live faith in
God in a simple way from the depths of my being. If I listen, God does not
remain silent. If I open up to him, he does not close up. If I open my heart to
him, he accepts me. If I surrender to him, he sustains me. If I collapse, he
raises me up.
I
believe that the first and most important experience is to find
ourselves comfortable with God because we find him a “saving presence.” When
someone knows what it is to be at ease with God because, in spite of our
mediocrity, mistakes and egoism, he receives us just the way we are, and
encourages us to face life peacefully,
he will not easily abandon his faith. Today many people abandon God before
having known him. If they had the experience of God Jesus communicates, they
would seek him.
3rd Sunday Lent 2014 by Galarreta sj
THEMES AND CONTEXT
EXODUS 17:3-7
José Galarreta S.J.
This fragment is one of many in which the people of Israel, journeying
through the desert find themselves without water and violently protest against
Moses, all the while longing for Egypt, the land of their slavery. Moses goes before
the Lord and draws water from the rock for the people. But the deepest
meaning is found in the final phrase.
Israel asks:”Is the Lord in the midst of
us or not?” This is the fundamental question of the man of Faith, of one who
has put his faith in God, but is always tempted to give up half way.
THE TEXT OF THE LETTER TO THE
ROMANS
The message of this text, complex as are all those of Paul, is clear:
the hope of the children of God is founded on Jesus, on the death of Jesus, the
proof that God loves us. The relation of God with human beings is love: the
love shown in Jesus. The Spirit makes Jesus, the presence of the love of God,
capable of going all the way, even to death. And this fact is the foundation of
our faith. If the first text ended asking: Is the Lord in our midst or not?
Paul finds the answer in Jesus, in the fact that we see the presence of God in
our midst.
THE TEXT OF JOHN
It is one of the most beautiful and famous texts of the Gospel of John.
The marvelous staging of the scene, the development of the dialogue, the many
details that place the story perfectly in its setting...Far more important to
us, however, is its meaning. Jesus is the living water. They may seem to be
stories, they very probably narrate details that took place, but they are above
all treatises of theology.
The event most likely happened, the details capture
the atmosphere perfectly in all its details. Jesus’s passing through Samaria on the way to
Jerusalem is not mentioned in any other gospel, but it is not impossible: the
well could be that “of Jaco”, even though it’s location of Sychar has caused
discussions. The text also reflects perfectly the religious position of the
Samaritans with regard to the Jews.
On this story John builds his
“Theology of Living Water”. It would seem to be an invitation to speak of
baptism; the text, however, has a much wider baptismal implication. Water is
taken in a more biblical meaning, as appears in the Book of Exodus, exactly as
we see it in the first reading today. It doesn’t mean to submerge oneself, to
wash oneself, but “to “drink”. In this sense, the text throws light on baptism,
because there we begin to drink the water of Jesus.
On these three Sundays of Lent (3rd, 4th, and 5th),
we are going to read three narratives of the fourth Gospel. Today we read the
one of the Samaritan woman, the theme of which is “the living water”. On the
Fourth Sunday it is the man born blind, whose theme is “light”. The fifth
Sunday is the resurrection of Lazarus, the theme of which is “Life”. The three
are perfect symbols of Jesus and through him, of God.
R E F L E C T I O N
Jesus and the Samaritan woman: a world full of surprises. Jesus is tired
and thirsty, and he cannot draw water because the well is deep. Our faith is
not founded on Jesus as a magician, free of getting tired and weaknesses. We
will never tire of insisting too much on the fact that we believe in
that man.
Jesus speaks with a woman, with a Samaritan woman, and moreover with a
woman of bad repute. Even his disciples are surprised. But take into account
that he is a doctor, he has come to heal, to save, he has to be where the sick
are. Wonderful picture of God. Jesus is least interested in the Temple, in
external acts of worship; he is interested in seeing the woman setting her life
right. Jesus dreams of saving the whole world: but he needs help. This fact
defines our mission: do you want to help God
to see his children live as children? Yes, that of Jesus is different.
LIVING WATER
What water is to normal life, Jesus is to human life. Jesus is Water,
Jesus is the Word, Jesus is the one who gives the Spirit. Jesus is not a well
where one goes occasionally to drink water. He is a fountain of the spirit: he
who drinks from Jesus is a fountain. He himself feels gushing from within
him/herself the water that wells out to eternal life, and does not thirst any
more for any other kind of water, because Jesus quenches the thirst for all
other things.
It is important we acquire the way of speaking of the Bible. We always
function through concepts, and we want to comprehend reality through them with precision and clarity. But
we are speaking of God and the whole Bible and the Gospels speak of him through
images. And what marvelous images they are! The major part of our organism is
water. We cannot live without water. Thirst is the greatest agony. To find
water in the desert is an incredible miracle. That is what God means in our
lives, that is the Gospel. It would be wonderful to be able to say without
being surprised, “let’s go to drink from the Gospel of Mark.”
All these symbols express very well the condition of being human,
someone who needs food, light and water... to walk the road. It’s once more
confirmation of the image of God Jesus gives us. We prefer using other terms:
Eternal, Creator, Judge... But Jesus uses terms within our reach: water, light,
life, bread, shepherd, door, doctor, father. All of them underline the same
tendency: Jesus presents God as an ally, in the same terms as the most ancient
Revelation. Man has to walk a road. God is his best help on the road. The Word of
Jesus is the best light, water, bread for the road, God is the shepherd and the
doctor. We are used to addressing God by saying “My God”. We even say:”Father”.
It would be wonderful if it wouldn’t sound strange to call upon him saying: “Oh
my Water!”
When the Samaritan woman understands that Jesus is offering her more
than water from the well, she immediately changes over to raising customary
religious problems that Jesus isn’t interested in: the Messiah, the temple of
Jerusalem or the one on Garizim... But all that isn’t the water of Jesus. The
water of Jesus is in that true worshipers adore in spirit and in truth. And
this is not limited to saying that there must be true worship in the temple by
a surrender of the spirit to God, but that there must be true worship that downplays
the temple and changes all life into worship.
This “novelty of Jesus” had already been sown in the Old Testament, and
Jesus himself quotes the saying of the prophet Hosea “I want mercy and not
sacrifices.” But it is in Jesus that it appears most powerfully and in its most
radical meaning. God is not in the temple, like a lord living in a palace. He
is everywhere and above all in all his children, all human beings’; that’s
where we must serve God. Temples and religious places have been for religions
places to enclose gods, besides whom there are no others. Hence, for
traditional religious concepts there is a difference between the sacred and the
profane. With Jesus, this difference disappears, because there in nothing
profane. Further still, if life is not sacred, the temple is profane, because
it is useless.
A final reflection uniting the two themes we have proposed. The world
needs water, it is thirsty. It is thirsty for physical water, for physical
bread, for physical housing, and it is thirsty for Living Water, to know God,
to know who he is, which is his home. This is the sacred space for those who
follow Jesus, this is their worship, this is the Word of which they are the
bearers. Too often have we thought that to take the Word to the nations is to
preach religion to them. This is all a caricature, a belittling of the The
Word. The Word is not our words: The Word is Jesus, a different way of living,
a new way of relating to others, a new relationship to God. All this is
explained in words, but is only transmitted through deeds. It’s the reason why
water appears again in the last “parable”, the final judgment. In it what has
value is separated from what is worthless not by what has been preached, nor by
juridical belonging to the Church, but by the best of all the phrases that
anyone can understand:
“Because I was thirsty and you gave me to drink.”
The fact is that Jesus changes everything: our relationship with God,
the Living Water: our relationship with the others, with those with whom we
have to share our Water, the very concept of religion, which is the water that
makes the life of human beings fertile.
“IS THE LORD IN OUR MIDST OR IS HE NOT?”
This doubt of the people of Israel is perhaps also ours. Where is your
God? In a world filled with so much misery and so much evil, where is God? One
needs a very strong faith to continue to speak of a God father of all, to
continue to assert that he exists, that he knows what’s happening, that he
loves us... Why does he continue to allow so much evil his children endure?
Jesus has not explained to us the reason for this. Jesus has told us what the
Father wants to do, and that he needs us to do it. Jesus has not spoken of the
Creator, neither has he explained why the Father allows each one of our hairs
to fall, and also allows so much evil. But certainly Jesus has told us that in
this desert, the Water, the light, the salt, the bread ... is the Word of God.
This is our faith. And it is not easy to communicate it. But it is a mission we
have been entrusted with. To offer water in the desert. To be water in the desert.
This would take us back to “you are the salt...”
Christ is the proof of all this. Our faith in the divinity of Jesus is
going to be put to the test on seeing his humanity. To see him suffer and die
is a scandal. Can such a thing happen to God? “If you are the Son of God, come
down from the cross.” The same thing happens to us on seeing the cross of so
many crucified people on earth. It’s the strongest challenge to our faith. If,
after the cross, we continue to believe in God, it’s because we know that
precisely on that account he did not come down from the cross...Our faith is in
a crucified Jesus, that is: we believe in the love of God, in spite of evil in
the world, in spite of the desert, because we have seen Jesus give his life for
us, for sinful men, simply because we need to believe in love, in spite of the
fact that we see evil, hatred. Perhaps for that reason we do not have the Risen
Christ as a symbol, but of Jesus crucified. Remember the perfect saying of John
3,16: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,” endorsed by Paul in
his letter to the Romans 8,32 “God, who
did not even keep back his only Son, but offered him for us all!”
I KNOW WHOM I HAVE TRUSTED
The Israelites kept asking in the desert: “Is the Lord in our midst?
Is he or is he not?” It’s the
fundamental question of faith? Can I trust? Is all this true? We read the story
of the Samaritan woman and from our hearts the fountain of faith in Jesus
flows. I can certainly trust this One. There is no Teacher like this, no Word
like this, , no Religion like this. If this is who God is, this is Water for my
life, this is what I can trust, put my faith in.
FOR OUR PRAYER
1. A simple way of praying is to re-read the
passage from John. Everyone of his words can lift our spirit. Repeat the
reading, very slowly, stop at words, savor them, allow them to penetrate your
spirit.
Jesus and the Samaritan woman. It’s a whole new world. Jesus is tired
and thirsty, and he cannot draw water. This is the man we believe in. Jesus
speaks to heretics, with a woman of doubtful morals, Jesus saves all he comes
into touch with. Jesus does not speak of external worship nor of petty
differences between forms of worship.
And how wonderfully well Jesus
handles the conversation! From the thirst of the body to the need for God, from
the pseudo-religious talk on useless topics, to the most serious point of his
message, the urgent need for conversion.
2. The disciples surprise Jesus dreaming of the
salvation of the world.
Jesus is dreaming of quenching the thirst of the whole world; the whole
world is thirsty, the harvest is ready, and there is need of laborers for so
much work. Jesus has no thirst for any of the things for which we thirst so
much. Whoever drinks of the water Jesus gives no longer wants any other;
whoever finds the treasure of the Kingdom no longer wants any other wealth.
Let us contemplate this scene. We are seated next to Him, and we regard
the world, so full of men, women, and children, being born, needing things,
suffering, dying, needing Water from God without knowing it. Dream with Jesus
of the salvation of the world, in the happiness of all people. Listen to Jesus
who says: Look at the fields glistening golden with the harvest. The harvest is
great, but the laborers are few.
You lack one thing: come, follow me. Come with me, I will make you
fishers of men.
As the Father sent me, so I send you
3. And so, we too are surprised : we speak to God
to have him solve our problems and we find ourselves faced with an unexpected
answer: Do you want to help me save?
4. Prayer of petition for our desert. Ask God for
water for our lives. Ask the Father confidently, beginning with all our needs,
knowing that He hears me, knowing that he will give it to me, making an act of
faith in that he knows all that I need and that he gives me even more. And I
think him.
MY
WORDS FOR YOU
Psalm 42-43
An exiled priest longs for his priestly duty in
the temple, yearns for the House of the Lord:
As a deer longs for running streams, so my soul yearns for You, my God.
3rd Sunday of Lent 2014
|
|
12 March, 2014
2nd Sun Lent 2014
Dear Friend,
Though we like
novelty and want to see changes around us, yet basically we are
traditional and prefer to go on the way we always did. Yet, life is full
of changes. Sometimes we wish we would change but often we do not
believe that we can change. We give a lot of reasons why we cannot
change and so we never change. Lent is about transformations made
possible by faith. May His Word challenge and transform us. With His Spirit have a transfiguring Lent weekend! –Fr. Jude
Sunday Reflections: Second Sunday of Lent Called to be
transformed …. 16-Mar-2014
In
the first reading from the Book of Genesis we have the inspiring story
of the call of Abraham. At the age of seventy-five, when most aged
people have retired or are written off, Abraham sets out on a journey
of faith, moving from the familiar, secure and well-ordered routine in
his native place to an unknown destination, literally to ‘God knows
where’! All he can rely on is the promise of God. In obedience to God’s
call he sets off. Abraham is blessed and in turn becomes a blessing to
his people. It is never too late to change, to respond to God’s call.
Transformed by
love
“Picture an old lamp covered with layers of dust
and dirt. How wretched and useless it looks. Then someone comes along,
cleans off the layers of dirt, and polishes it until it begins to
sparkle, and then lights it. Suddenly the lamp is transformed. It
positively glows, radiating light and beauty to every corner of the
room. Whereas prior to this it was disfigured with dust and dirt, now it
is transfigured with beauty by the light. Yet, it is the same lamp.
When an object (or a person) is loved and cared for, it is redeemed, and
rendered brighter and worthier.”
Flor McCarthy in “New Sundays and Holy Day Liturgies”
Today’s
gospel reminds us, first of all, that transformations take place in the
context of prayer. Jesus led his disciples up a high mountain, where
they could be alone. The mountain, in the Israelite tradition,
symbolized the meeting place with God. Moses had witnessed Yahweh on
the mountain and each time he encountered Him his face glowed with the
presence of God. Jesus was transfigured in their presence and ‘his face
shone like the sun and his clothes became as white as light.’ Secondly,
Jesus appears transfigured in the context of his relationship with his
Father, symbolized by the presence of the cloud and the heavenly voice.
The cloud symbolized Yahweh, who in the form of a cloud accompanied the
Israelites as they journeyed through the desert to the Promise Land.
Thirdly, this transfiguration is not only a blessing and an affirmation
for Jesus, proclaimed by the voice from heaven, “This is my Son, the
beloved; He enjoys my favour. Listen to him”, but it is also a blessing
for the three disciples, who are witnesses of the transfiguration. They
have a privileged viewpoint on salvation history as they witness Jesus
in conversation with the
father-figures of the Law and the prophets, Moses and Elijah. This
vision will reassure them when they hear other voices later opposing
Jesus, rejecting his mission, and seeking to destroy him. The
transfiguration would be only for a moment. But Peter wanted to capture
it and prolong it and make it permanent by building tents or tabernacles
to contain this experience. We too want the good experiences, the peak
moments of life to last forever. We are afraid to let go and move on, we
want to be in the past rather than move on to where the Lord wants us
to go. But the reality is that we have to come down from the mountain.”
Our transfiguration can happen in the strangest of ways when we let
Jesus into our lives.
Transfiguration
Van
Gogh was not noted for his physical beauty. In fact his face was
described by some as being repulsive. Yet as soon as he began to speak
about art, his melancholy expression would disappear, his eyes would
sparkle, and his features would make a deep impression on those around
him. It wasn’t his face any longer; it had become beautiful. It seemed
he was breathing in beauty. At times all of us can feel down and
depressed, a prey to feelings of failure and worthlessness. But then
suddenly something nice happens to us – a friend calls, or we get a
letter with some good news in it – and suddenly everything is changed.
The truth of course is that nothing has changed. It is just that a spark
of joy or hope or love has been kindled in our hearts, and we suddenly
see ourselves in a new and better light.
Flor McCarthy in ‘New Sunday & Holy Day Liturgies’
Transfiguration –A change of attitudes?
Rabbi
Abraham Twersky tells a story
about his great-grandfather who was sitting with other rabbinical
scholars studying the Talmud when it was decided to take a break for
refreshments. One of the groups offered to pay for refreshments, but
there was no one who volunteered to go for them. According to Twersky,
in his book Generation to Generation, his great-grandfather said, “Just
hand me the money, I have a young boy who will be glad to go.” After a
rather extended period, he finally returned with the refreshments, and
it became obvious to all that the rabbi himself had gone and performed
the errand. Noticing their discomfort, the rabbi explained: “I didn’t
mislead you at all. You see, many people outgrow their youth and become
old men. I have never let the spirit of my youth depart. And as I grew
older, I always took along with me that young boy I had been. It was
that young boy in me that did the errand.” –Our transformation, our
transfiguration begins in our change of
attitude.
Gerard Fuller in ‘Stories for all Seasons’
Finding God on the mountain?
The
17th century English poet, John Donne, tells of a man searching for
God. He is convinced that God lives on the top of a mountain at the end
of the earth. After a journey of many days, the man arrives at the foot
of the mountain and begins to climb it. At the same time God says to the
angels: “What can I do to show my people how much I love them?” He
decides to descend the mountain and live among the people as one of
them. As the man is going up one side of the mountain, God is descending
the other side. They don’t see each other because they are on opposite
sides of the mountain. On reaching the summit, the man discovers an
empty mountaintop. Heartbroken, the man concludes that God does not
exist. Despite speculation
to the contrary, God does not live on mountaintops, deserts, or at the
end of the earth, or even in some heaven, - God dwells among human
beings and in the person of Jesus. – Staying on the safety of the
mountain is what Peter would prefer. During the transfiguration Peter
and his companions got a glimpse of the future glory of Jesus’
resurrection. They want nothing more. However after they come down the
mountain they are told by Jesus that the glory they witnessed would be
real only after he had gone through suffering and death. We too will
share in his glory, only by sharing in his suffering and death.
Simon K. in ‘The Sunday Liturgy’
Healing Solitude
One
Sunday morning in summer when I was twelve, I was waiting for my friend
Juanita to come over. We had planned a morning together and she was
quite
late. I was fretting and complaining and generally making a nuisance of
myself. In fact I was becoming rather obnoxious to everyone else in the
house. Finally, my father said to me, “Get a book, a blanket and an
apple, and get into the car.” I wanted to know why, but he only repeated
the order. So I obeyed. My father drove me about eight miles from home
to a canyon area, and said, “Now get out. We cannot stand you any longer
at home. You aren’t fit to live with us. Just stay out here by yourself
today until you understand better how to act. I’ll come back for you
this evening.” I got out, frustrated, and defiant and angry. The nerve
of him! I thought immediately of walking back home; eight miles was no
distance at all for me. Then the thought of meeting my father when I got
there took hold, and I changed my mind. I cried and threw the book,
apple and blanket over the canyon ledge. I had been dumped and I was
furious. But it is hard to keep
up a good rebellion cry with no audience and so finally there was
nothing to do but face up to the day alone. I sat on the rim kicking up
dirt and trying to get control of myself. After a couple of hours as noon
approached, I began to get hungry. I located the apple and climbed down
to retrieve it- as well as the book and blanket. I climbed back up and
as I came over the top I noticed a tree. It was lovely and full. As I
spread the blanket and began to eat the apple, I noticed a change of
attitude. As I looked through the branches into the sky, a great sense
of peace and beauty came upon me. I began to see my behaviour in a new
light. I found myself thinking of God. It began to be prayer time; I
wanted to be a better person. I just lay there in silence. By the time
my father returned I was restored. I was different and he knew it.
William Bausch
May the reassurance of His transfiguration and our own encourage us to move on!
Fr. Jude Botelho
PS.
The stories, incidents
and anecdotes used in the reflections have been collected over the
years from books as well as from sources over the net and from e-mails
received. Every effort is made to acknowledge authors whenever possible.
If you send in stories or illustrations I would be grateful if you
could quote the source as well so that they can be acknowledged if used
in these reflections.
These reflections are also available on my Web site www.NetForLife.net Thank you.
*Second Sunday of Lent (A)
*Second Sunday of Lent (A)
Matthew 17, 1 to 9
LISTEN ONLY TO JESUS
After six days Jesus took with him
Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by
themselves. There he was transfigured
before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as
the light. Just then there appeared
before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, “Lord,
it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for
you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, a bright
cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I
love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” When the disciples heard
this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified.
But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” When they looked up, they saw no one except
Jesus.
As they were coming down the mountain,
Jesus instructed them, “Don’t
tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the
dead.” Jesus takes with him his closest disciples and leads them to a
high mountain. It is not the mountain to which the tempter took him to offer
him the power and glory of all the kingdoms of the world. It is the mountain on
which his closest disciples are going to discover the path leading to the glory
of the resurrection.
The transfigured face of Jesus
shines like the sun and shows them where his true glory comes from. It does not
come from the devil but from God his Father. It is not acquired by the
diabolical ways of worldly power, but by the patient way of hidden service,
suffering and crucifixion. Moses and Elijah appear next to Jesus. Their faces
do not shine but look subdued. They do
not begin to instruct the disciples but converse with Jesus. The law and the
prophets look to and are subordinate to him.
Peter however fails to sense
the uniqueness of Jesus: “If
you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for
Elijah.” He puts Jesus on the same plane as Moses and Elijah. Each one
gets a shelter. He does not understand that you cannot equate Jesus with
anyone.
God himself silences Peter. “He
was still speaking” when between light and shadows they hear a
mysterious voice: “This is my Son, whom I love”, the one with the face glorified
by the resurrection. “Listen to him”, and nobody else. My
Son is the only lawgiver, teacher and prophet. Do not confuse him with anyone
else.
The disciples fell facedown on
the ground “full of terror”’. They are afraid” to listen only to Jesus”
and follow his humble way of serving the Kingdom up to the cross. It’s Jesus
himself who frees them from their fears. He came to them as only he knew how
to. He touched them as he used to touch the sick, and he said to them ”Get
up, do not be afraid” to listen to me and to follow only me.
Even today we Christians fear
to listen only to Jesus. We do not dare to place him at the centre of our lives
and our communities. We do not let him be the only and decisive Word. It is the
same Jesus who can free us from so many fears, cowardice, and ambiguities, if
we will let him come to us, and touch us.
Two DVDs for Easter 2014
Two DVDs from Gurjarvani
1. Paskha Jagaran 2014
Readings of Easter vigil are visualized for use in the
service of Easter vigil.
“ He muj Atam “the
first response after the first reading is also part of the DVD.
There are two versions of the Easter Gospel.
1 Gujarati – taken from St John visual Bible movie, and
dubbed into Gujarati.
2. Hindi – taken from Khristayan movie of Geo George SVD
Any of them cane be used for Easter vigil Gospel
presentation.
Voices :
Ashok Vaghela
Pravin Dave
Ankit Arora
Grena
Raymund Chauhan
Ruhan, Evan
Thanks to Mamta Desai for directing the artists for audio
dubbing.
Balidan ane Punarjeevan
This DVD contains the Passion and resurrection of Jesus
taken from the movie, “The Visual Bible of St John” and dubbed into Gujarati.
The voice track is exactly the text of the Gospel according
to St John.
The first part can be used for Good Friday or both together
for faith formation purposes. The second part can be used for Easter.
Voices:
Pravin Dave
Ankit Arora
Grena
Raymund Chauhan
Ruhan, Evan
Thanks to Mamta Desai for directing the artists for audio
dubbing.
08 March, 2014
There are women who are hungry …… feed them - Women's day
FOR WOMEN’S DAY MARCH 8, 2014 - by Pearl Drego
There are women who are hungry
…… feed them
There are women who are voiceless … let them speak
There are women who are lonely, spend time with them
There are women who need sleep … stop the noise around them
There are women who are sick .. get them treated
There are women who are outcast ….
help them belong
There are women who are thirsting for skills … teach them how
There are women who are studying … support their learning
There are women who have no roof … give them shelter
There are women struggling to keep their land … give them expert legal
advice
There are women who work too hard … give them a picnic
There are women who are longing for God … teach them to pray
There are women who are composing new songs … learn their music
There are women who are washing dishes … do the washing for them
There are women who are crying with grief … comfort them lovingly
There are women who are rejected and scorned … find them a home
There are women who are tilling the soil … ensure them a livelihood
There are women who grow our vegetables … pay them their worth
There are women who are dying … hold them and accompany them
There are women who are cooking the food … give them a break
There are women who live in the prison of silence … let them shout
There are women who fight for their rights … help them to campaign
There are women who think they are no good. give them self-confidence
There are women who face daily battering … bring them to safety
There are women losing their profits …
work to change the economy
There are women facing abuse … free them permanently
There are women who reject unborn girls … teach them to value the
life of the girl
child
There are women in danger of violence … give them protection
There are women deprived of affection … hug them tenderly
There are women who are wrongly condemned … declare them innocent
There are women cooking fresh snacks … buy from them
not from the market
There are women birthing new life … give them warmest care
There are women dancing with mirth … join them with joy.
1st Sunday of Lent 2014
Dear friend,
There are some who find themselves assaulted by temptations in the circumstances they find themselves in. There are others who court temptations and let themselves be tempted though they know the situations in which they are likely to fall. We may pray: 'Lead us not into temptations!' and yet let ourselves be tempted. However, temptations by themselves are neither good nor bad. Jesus himself was tempted and saints struggled against temptations. It is how we handle them and grow in spite of them that makes all the difference. Let's pray that with the Spirit's power we fight against evil always! Have a Word-empowered 'combating' weekend! Fr. Jude
Sunday Reflections: 1st Sunday of Lent - "Led by the Spirit! Fighting temptations in the desert with God's power!" 9-Mar-2014
The first reading from Genesis reminds us that Noah alone was spared during the flood. God made a promise, a covenant that man would not be destroyed by the floodwaters and the sign of his covenant was the rainbow. God is faithful to his promise and each time we see a rainbow, it should remind us of a God who is faithful to His promise. All kinds of situations test us and there are times we will falter and fail, we may be unfaithful to our God, but God will not destroy us, He is faithful to his promise, He will save us.
First Sunday of Lent A - 9 March 2014 José Galarreta S.J. c/o Vally D'Souza sj
José Galarreta S.J.
The liturgical
year is developed in three years. There is an Ordinary Time, the normal Sundays
of the year, which can be up to thirty three. And two special cycles – usually
called “the heavy seasons” which are the
Christmas Season and the Easter Season.
We have just finished celebrating the
Christmas season. Now, after a few intervening Sundays taken from the Ordinary
Time, we enter the Paschal Season. Basically, we are always celebrating the
same thing, God the Savior with us, but during Easter, we enter more deeply
into the human and into the divine. The human is seen from its more disturbing
dimension:”man is a sinner”.
And God seen from his most hopeful
dimension: “made sin for us, obedient
unto death of the cross: died, risen, and triumphant at the right hand of the
Father.”
This teaches us once more, what God is like
and what the human being is like. We not only discover the love of God, the
Savior, but also the possibilities and the destiny of man. Just as Jesus did,
we go through the cross to the resurrection, from death to life.
The Season of Lent
The two ‘heavy’
seasons are preceded by four or five weeks of preparation. Advent prepares the
Nativity with a basic theme: prepare the way of the Lord who is coming. Lent
prepares Easter by symbolizing human life: we come from sin, pain, and the
encounter with God fully. It is very important to situate ourselves well: it is
not a matter of a season in which, so that God forgives us, we devote ourselves
to do penance for sins which we do not do the rest of the year. We are dealing
with a season in which we remember more intensely a fundamental constituent of
human life: to accept a Savior God, to emerge from darkness and death to meet
with the light and life manifested in Jesus.
Neither do we do
penance to obtain God’s forgiveness. It seems as if we were to buy the
forgiveness of God, and that’s not true. God always forgives us, loves us,
calls us. Neither is it a time of sadness; on the contrary, it is a time of
celebration and being energized: we celebrate the fact that life is a
meaningful struggle. We celebrate the fact the struggle , the overcoming of
sin, is the work of God for us, and has a glorious end. We celebrate the fact
that even though we commit errors, God is there to make up for them. And we
celebrate all this looking up to Jesus, who had a life of difficulties and
darkness like all of us, who died a disgraceful death because he was faithful
to God, and who is alive and triumphant because he has reached the height, the
first of all of us, the one who shows us that victory is possible.
Five weeks, forty days till Easter. For
forty years the Israelites journeyed through the desert: they were coming out
of slavery, the Lord was leading them in the form of a column of light, the
Lord went with them in the Tent, fed them with manna. They were going towards
the Land, the fatherland. What a marvelous image of human life, full of trust
in God, guide and strength for the way to the Fatherland!
Who is it that has robbed us of the
happiness of Advent and Lent? Who has reduced the message to penance before a
God sitting in judgment? Why have we forgotten that what we celebrate is “GOD
the LIBERATOR”? Who is it that has been left with only ashes and has forgotten
that it is God who gives life to ashes?
THEMES
THE TEXT OF
GENESIS
It is a summary
of parts taken from Chapters 2 & 3. Its author (whom we call the “Yahwehist”
because he calls God Yahweh) is taken up with the task of the creation of man
and of his condition on earth. He sees that there is suffering and laborious
work for the human being. He sees,
above all, that there is a dangerous
tendency to evil, to believe they are gods, to enjoy what they like against the
law of God. And he builds up this precious story to express all this: his
message is magnificent:
God has created
the human being. The human being is a living element of the earth, like all
others, but God has put in him his spirit, and has given him laws so he lives.
The human being despises those laws, believing himself to be wiser than God,
and thence come all his problems.
Of course, this is the account of something
that happened. Historically this is not how human life began, neither was there
ever a Garden of Eden. It’s a story invented by the Yahwehist author to send us
this magnificent message. The author isn’t interested in knowing out of
scientific curiosity what happened a million years ago. He is interested in
knowing what a human being is, and he expresses with this story, something
fundamental about his faith: with God you have light and order; without God,
chaos and misfortune. This will be one of the most important lines of argument
of the whole book of Genesis and even of the whole Bible.
The
Letter to the Romans
Paul makes use of
the text of Genesis and develops it. He accepts the symbol of Adam,the first
man, and presents Jesus as the “new Adam”. From Jesus we receive new life, the
life of sons. Adam symbolizes man subject to sin. Jesus is man, Son of God, who
triumphs over sin. Through him, through Jesus, we can all be sons, conquer
temptation, enter the Kingdom.
But this text is
obscure. It seems to indicate that Paul was using the story of Genesis, taking
it to be historical, or applying it as such. In short, it creates more problems
than it solves. I suggest changing it for Romans 7,5.
THE
GOSPEL OF MATTHEW
The
story contains much symbolism. It is possible that Jesus would retire, on this
occasion and in many others, to the desert, to fast and pray. It was a habitual
practice; it was so among Christians throughout history, and it continues to be
so. The text shows us also that Jesus suffered temptations in his life; this
confirmation of the temptations of Jesus
is very important to know him, and to build a proper Christology, in which the
humanity may not seem a mere appearance.
The story of the temptation is evidently
“staged”. The most profound temptations of Jesus are presented in a single story, the ones which he undoubtedly suffered
in his spirit during his whole life. Jesus was tempted like any human
being, as was symbolized in the story of
Genesis. Temptations to power, to use the Word for his own advantage, to serve
the powers of the world... Jesus shows himself as the conqueror of temptation,
able to conquer it to follow the Word and serve God alone.
We are overwhelmed by the human reality of
Jesus. He needs to pray , experiences temptations... This trend will culminate
in various stories in which Jesus “retires to pray” or “spends almost entire
nights in prayer”, and, of course, in the garden of Olives and in the vocal
prayer with which he fights his abandonment on the cross.
A significant fact: neither the temptations
in the desert nor the anguish in Gethsemane are mentioned in the fourth Gospel.
It would seem that in such circumstances Jesus would appear “too human” for the
author.
During forty days we portray the life and we
illustrate it with the Word. Forty is the biblical number for human existence
(400 years in Egypt, 40 years in the desert, forty days Elias spent on the road
to Horeb...) It represents “a “provisional time”; this is only a way; on the
way is the cross. On the horizon is the Resurrection, the Ascension, the
freedom, the fullness.
The first theme of our Lenten meditation is
our human condition. We are sinners. At times we simplify this concept giving
it the meaning of “we are guilty of disobeying God”. The meaning is more
profound. Our condition of sinners means above all that we do not know to
distinguish what is good for us, and that we feel strongly attracted to things
which seem good to us but which spoil us. All this is included in the concept
of “temptation” .
The
first temptation is to consider ourselves “gods”. Immediately after comes the second temptation: to live to satisfy our
likings, to pay attention to only what we like. In this way, we make this life
our final destination: making this life the most agreeable possible. Then we
turn to God to help us to make this so.
And since God does not help us in this, we think “God does not hear us, God
does not help me... there is no God.” The greatest temptation.
It’s wonderful the way the author of Genesis
represents all this. He has invented a story in which we feel ourselves
portrayed. The irresistible attraction for what is forbidden, the suspicion
that although forbidden it is not bad, to prefer what I think and feel to the
Word of God... The author of Genesis is a wonderful writer; he knows how to
create images that describe us perfectly; he is also a profound theologian. He
has been able to give a body to our
condition as sinners.
Quite often we have diminished these ideas
and these stories by giving them a historico-juridical dimension. There was a
first man, a first couple, who disobeyed God. Juridical dimension: God punished
them, and now all of us their descendants are paying the consequences. In short:
our parents lost their riches and we are born disinherited. It is a sad
caricature of the human condition. Our “original” sin does not lie in its
historical origin. We call our human condition original sin, drawn by what does
not suit us and deceived as to good and evil, which is the origin, the source
of all our errors, of all our sins. The story of Genesis does not relate what
happened, but represents the way we are, the most profound and obscure aspect
of our human condition.
And the Gospel shows that Jesus is one of
us: subject to temptation, attracted by apparently good things. Jesus had many
other temptations, and they appear in the Gospels. The most terrible one was,
doubtless, the one of Holy Thursday, when he felt himself abandoned by his
Father, the most bitter of all the temptations of the human being: “Are you
there? Is it true there is a Father who takes care of my life? Is it true that
all this makes sense?”
Jesus can conquer
temptation. From “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”, Jesus can pass
over to “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” He does so after a long
period of prayer, of vocal prayer reciting psalm 22. God has not freed him from
death, he has not taken away from him the
chalice of the Passion. But he has given him the strength and the light
to carry the cross and to die.
Jesus does not conquer death by escaping from
it. Jesus does not use his powers to live well and escape daily life. Jesus
makes of his life and his death a triumph of the Spirit, that is, Jesus
conquers temptation, lives like a new man. Jesus, a man like us, but “a man
full of the Spirit”. The power of the Spirit makes him truly man, a man as he ought
to be. That is, that in Jesus we see the complete human situation : the human
being burdened with weaknesses and obscurities... and full of the power of God
which makes him conquer all that to fulfill the plan of God, which is
liberation. Jesus is also a pilgrim and experiences the seductions and the
terrors of the road. But the Spirit of God is with him.
A Christology
“from above” would read this like Paul: he stripped himself of the divinity”
(Philippians 2,7). “Made himself sin for us.” (2 Cor. 5.21).
The incarnation
is not to be taken lightly: love is a force that tends to identify those who
love each other. That is why the love of God makes him man, truly man, who
assumes the human condition totally.
A Christology
“from below” would read this like the Synoptics or the Acts: “who is this?” (Mt
8,28) Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you ... handed
over... whom you have put to death
...God raised him from the dead and has received from the Father the Holy
Spirit” (Acts 2,22...).
All this is
presented well in the fragment of Paul. Everything is symbolic in the language
of Paul. The kingdom of sin leads to death. The son of Adam is “the old man”,
deceived and spoilt. Jesus is the First Born, the first of the “new Men”, who
build their lives attentive to the Word, conquering temptation, overcoming sin
that tries to seduce them. The language of Paul is very juridical, and seems to
understand the story of Genesis as history. It is not true. Within it we ought
to learn to understand the profound message. The relation of man with God
cannot be reduced to a juridical plane of guilt-satisfaction-pardon. It is far
more profound.
So then, we have begun Lent with a
consideration about our human condition as sinners. And we have been sent a most
important first message: “sinners” does not mean “guilty”. It means we have to
seek our life, and we are in danger of being mistaken, through error and
because the deceits of the road attract us. The Word of God is profound when it
defines the human being.
The concept of sin is much more profound than
the concept of “disobedience”. When God presents himself as Savior, Liberator,
he does not present himself simply as a bland judge, but as Light so that we do
not get lost, Bread and Water to journey with strength, Shepherd who leads the
flock to good pastures, Doctor who heals when we fall sick, or are wounded as
we journey... And all these images are far more profound and speak of the human
being much better than our concepts of “guilt”. “redemption”, “pardon”, which fall far short of and
belittle the human being and his relationship with God.
FOR OUR PRAYER
1.
Allow yourself to be
carried away by admiration. How magnificent is the author of Genesis, who knows
the human being so well, and how well he speaks of God! Two thousand nine hundred years ago, a man
knew more about the human being and sin
than us. In his words we feel the Presence of the Spirit of God, we feel God
speaking to us. Experience the Word in the very ancient texts and give thanks
to God.
2.
CONTEMPLATION
Contemplate Jesus on the pinnacle of the Temple, in the highest tower.
Before the eyes of his imagination appears all the attraction of the world:
kingdoms, power, pleasures, popularity, fame, glory. For a while feel the
attraction of the “world”.
Contemplate
Jesus: he smiles, he sees that all this is purely appearance. He does not allow
himself to be deceived. And he descends from the Temple, and begins to journey
along the roads preaching and healing. He has chosen well. Make an act of trust
in him. Jesus knows how to live, Jesus knows how to overcome temptation, the
very temptations that can spoil my life.
3.
CONSIDERATIONS
It is possible that many things bother and worry us. We have fears,
doubts... Bring them to the Father, one by one, in a spirit of sonship.. WE are
like a little child who is confiding in his Father. He always hears us. Ask
him, shamelessly, all that we believe is good. And end with the words of Jesus:
“ But not my will, but thine be done.” And give thanks to God, because we know
that his will is done.
4.
PETITION
For all human beings tempted by the appearance of good, for all those
who put all their efforts in enjoying this life as if nothing more existed.
For us, Christians, the Church, who have received so much light, who
know Jesus but who have not succeeded in trusting him and continue to be
tempted between the seductive attraction
of this world and trust in his Word.
MY WORDS FOR YOU
King David desired a married woman, Bethsheba. To gain her, he had her
husband killed. The prophet Nathan confronted him with his sin. In his
repentance, David composed this psalm,
PSALM 50. We make it our own. We too feel we are sinners, the condition of
sinners weighs on us. With the words of David, we ask God for liberation.
Psalm 50 Have
mercy on me, O God, in your kindness blot out my sins.