TWENTY FIFTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR - B

TWENTY FIFTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR – B: (Wisdom 2:12, 17-20; James 3:16 – 4:3; Mark 9:30-37) Theme: Jesus invites us to be “the last ones” and servants of the world Reflection: The authentic power is manifested only in the service - We are in the continuation of the last Sunday’s Gospel. We have reflected last week on the meaning of “Christ”. As we have already unveiled Christ means “the anointed” of the Lord. In the Old Testament the kings, the priests and the prophets were being called and anointed by the Lord for a special mission. They are all anointed of the Lord. The question of Jesus is the starting point for this revelation: who do you say that I am? (Mark 8:27-35). And Peter immediately answers, of course with the inspiration from above (Math 16: 17), “You are Christ” (Mark 8:29). In fact, Peter and the other disciples as well, would have thought that Jesus is one of the anointed ones of God. In their proclamation what was revealed is that Jesus is the coming Messiah or the future king sent by God to liberate the people of Israel from the Roman domination. Their knowledge and hope in Jesus is only to that extent: he is the King and Messiah. They have developed their knowledge of Jesus after listening to his words of proclamation with authority. They have increased their hope in Jesus after seeing the wonders and the miracles he performed with the divine power. They could not move even an inch ahead in their understanding of Jesus. They believed and followed him only with this aspiration: that he would announce a war against Romans, he will gain the victory and finally he would establish his kingdom in which they will be with the higher ranks. More than this or other than this, they cannot digest anything else because all their hopes will be shattered and all their following him will be an utter waste. - The logic of Jesus is just opposite: In fact, Jesus is the anointed one of God sent for a special mission of establishing the kingdom of God. Until this aspect the disciples are correct in their understanding. Yes, Jesus is the Christ. But the difference and the novelty lie in something else. Christ is not just as the mere anointed one of God to be a king, a priest and a prophet as the Old Testament demonstrates. He gives totally and radically different meaning to the word “Christ”. He has come to fulfil all that the law, the prophets have told about him (Math 5:17ff). He does not abolish but accomplish it with the ultimate significance. As Christ, the Messiah and the Anointed one of God, Jesus has the power: power over everything. After all, everything is made in and through him (John 1:1-3; and Col 1:15-20). He has the power over whole creation and his power is ultimate. Still Jesus does not prefer to use his power as the world considers. He gives a new meaning. He opens a new face and phase for the exercise of power and authority. He has the power but he does not use his power to dominate the world but to love the world. He has the power but he does not use his power to be served but to serve the people. He has the power but he does not use his power to take away the life of others but to pour out his life for other. He himself utters that he has not come to be served but to serve and to give his life for many. His power is for the people. His power is at the service of salvation. His power is for the establishment of the kingdom in which peace, justice and fraternity reign (Rom 14:17). - “Christ” finds its completion only in the Paschal Event: Christ, who is powerful and authoritative anointed one of God, makes himself a servant and a victim for the salvation of the world. The word ‘Christ’ has its final say only in the passion, death and resurrection. This is what Jesus announces to his disciples: the Son of Man must undergo suffering, has to meet the death and on the third day he raises again to life (Mark 8:31 and today’s gospel Mark 9:31). This is the ultimate meaning of being Christ. The logic of Jesus is not understood well. Peter has taken him apart and rebuked him not to have such kind of suffering. The disciples did not understand what he has said and more over have the fear to ask him what it means (Mark 9:32). The way of Jesus is hard to understand and harder to follow. But his way is sure and it leads to what we are hoping for: the eternal life. In this way, Jesus never utilizes his power his self-glory but keeps it at the service of the will of God and the salvation of humanity. Readings: We do not have any personal ambition, but the will of God - The three readings of today provide to us the same teaching: we are to be available always for the service of God and other brethren. They encourage us to give up what is personal and take up what of is common good. We are invited by the word of God to leave aside the personal desires and aspirations in order to give a space for the will of God and well-being of the community. Only then we are called the just, the wise and the children of Go. - The just man is a the disposal of God’s will (first reading): A person is called “just man” not because he is perfect and no one is perfect but only strives to be on the way to perfection. A person is considered to be just only because he places his total life in the hands of the Lord (vv. 19-20). His total trust is in the Lord. He throws himself upon the providence of God. He does not fear any difficulty. He does not step back because of his suffering. Instead, he embraces the will of God and accomplishes it until the end, even losing his life. Only such a person is called ‘just’ in the consideration of God. In the various trials of life he is already prepared himself to face them. Therefore, just man is the one who is available always for the will of God. He allows and surrenders himself so that what God wants passes through him. His life thus becomes an instrument of God’s love. In a word, the just man has no personal life but his life an offering for the Lord. - The wise man works for the peace (second reading): St. James uplifts us with his radical teaching. His letter is directed to the rich and to those who want to dominate the society and thus create confusion. His each word is so precious which admonishes those who desire for the upper hand in the community. His each chapter is for proclaiming the justice, equality and peace. Today’s passage is one of such apostolic admonition. He says that each Christian is endowed with the wisdom from above: wisdom of the Spirit. Therefore, each Christian is placed in the world to be wise. Wise man is always at the working of the peace and reconciliation. On the other hand, the ignorant and selfish create division and thus lead to the fight and war. St. James is very clear in this aspect for he says that every war and every fight comes from the selfish motives and personal passions for man. The wise man is never selfish but gives and utilizes his knowledge and wisdom for the betterment of the society and for the well-being of each one. Who are we Christians? We are participants in the will of God and sharer of his wisdom because we belong to Christ. Therefore, we are wise and wisdom is from above. We should surpass the logic of the world. We should throw away the measure of the world. We should fall spy to the passions of the world. As the wise men we have to work for the establishment of God’s peace among men. Indeed, Jesus sees it as beatitude: “Blessed are the peacemakers because they will be called sons of God” (Math 5:9). In this way, we, as the wise men of God, do not work for the building up of our personal Manson but strive for the construction of peaceful community. - Embrace the child and imbibe its attitude (Gospel): In the gospel, there is a discussion about who is great. This question has come about in the mind of the disciples just because they have a different idea of Jesus. As we have already reflected, they have considered Jesus as the coming messiah who will establish his kingdom and place them in the important posts. The question, thus, is who will be great there in that kingdom. The discussion and the preoccupation of the disciples did not escape the knowledge of Jesus. Jesus asks them about which that they are speaking on the way. They kept quiet. They do not have any answer. They do not want to exhibit their ambitions. Their silence did not keep Jesus silent. He starts again explaining them what it means to be with him. As it was in the last week so also today. Jesus teaches a different mode of behaving. Jesus shows a new face of being great. Being great is not being in higher rank or higher position. The meaning Jesus unveils is this: the first should be the last and least of all. It did not reach to the mind of the disciples. The words are not enough for their capacity to comprehend him. He takes a child and keeps it amidst them and says that anyone who receives this child receives him and his Father. - Why did Jesus take a child? It has a great meaning. The first meaning is this: A child has no personal ambition. Its life is always in the hands of its parents. It places its complete trust in its parents. It does what they say. It acts as they guide. It has no its personal life. In a word, its life is not its own life but the life of its parents. When Jesus gives the example of the child, he asks his disciples to learn the attitude of the child. They should not have their own will. Their will should be of the one who called them. Their whole existence is for the fulfilment of the will of God. The second meaning is this: in the Greek terminology, the child means “the small” and in the Hebrew terminology, it means anawim, “the poor”. The small and the poor are deprived of belongings and belongingness. They are nothing in the society. In the biblical understanding, it is poor and the least whose side God takes. Even, the poor and small from their part, dependent only the providence of God and thus they place their trust in the Lord. The disciples of Jesus have to learn such kind of attitude: being poor and little. They do not have any personal desires but the will of the one who sustains them. No one should have personal ambitions but the requirement of the Gospel. Conclusion: Being first in the service of the kingdom of God – the state of the Spirit - Renounce what we have and give out what we are: The two conditions that Jesus proposes for the authentic following are these: first, the disciples have to renounce their belongings and second, they have to give up their life for others. The first condition demands that we give up what is ours and what we possess. It may be wealth, property and the belongings. Jesus invites his disciples to leave everything (Math 16:24; Mark 9:23), their house, their families, their kith and kin, and their possessions and follow him (Luke 18:29-30). In a word, they should not have any personal desires and ambition. The second condition demands that that we do not consider our life as more important than God’s will. Jesus proclaims that anyone who saves his life on earth will lose it and anyone who loses his life for the sake of him and for the sake of the gospel will save it. We are called to save our life. We are asked to preserve our life in eternity. The only requirement for saving one’s life is to lose it for the good cause. The two conditions are necessary for the authentic following of him. - We have to the last and least ones to consider the goods of the earth as more important than heavenly treasure. Jesus in fact warns us not to accumulate treasures on earth but in heaven where no one will steal them and nothing will eat it away (Math 6:19-21). On the other hands, we have to be the first ones to witness for the kingdom of God. We have to be the one who initiate and fulfil God’s will. Indeed, we have to the least ones in the world in order to be the first one in the kingdom of God. We need not worry about the world. Surely, the world will not understand us. It did not understand the logic of Jesus. That’s why it did not spare even his life. It has put him to death. Jesus is the first one to do what he says. He said that one has to be a child and he made himself a child in the Incarnation. He said that one has to be a servant and he made himself a servant in the Last Supper washing the feet of the disciples. He said that one has to be the last and least of all and he made himself a least of all in the death on the cross. Thus, he is the first one to be given the glorious resurrection and he is the first one to be place above all (Phil 2:6-11). Those who are last in the world will be the first in the kingdom of God. This is the logic of Jesus. Even in our regard, many a time our testimony will be a failure. Our words will go in vain. Our actions are misinterpreted. We need not worry about the consideration of the world. We have to look for the place the kingdom of God. The world will laugh at us, will scold us, murmur at us and insult us. Nothing would pain us because we decided to follow Jesus and we can expect all these strange attitudes from the society around us. As for us, we have to strive to be first but first in the kingdom of God. - Being poor and small is the spiritual condition: the condition that Jesus is asking us to wear is not the economic condition of rich and poor. Economically people may be rich and poor. That is not the matter. Being small is not in the aspect of state of life. Some may be consecrated and others may be laity. That is not the matter. Being little is not in the terms of social ranking: master and servant, great and small, leaders and common citizens. It is not the matter. What Jesus indicates is Our Spiritual Condition: we need to be spiritually poor. The first beatitude itself teaches us to be in this state: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God” (Math 5:3). Our confidence should be always in God. Our spirit should rejoice in God. Our life should find its fulfilment in God. Our hearts should rest only in him. We have to learn to be in this state of the spirit: we are still joyful when we are considered little and poor in the world for we will be the first ones in the kingdom of God. Thus, we have to carry in our hearts the invitation of Jesus: be the least and servant of all.

TWENTY FOURTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR - B

TWENTIFOURTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR – B (Is 50:5-9a; James 2:14-18; Mark 8:27-35) Theme: We are anointed servants of God: Let us proclaim our identity with the deeds of faith Reflection: Person and Mission of Jesus are intertwined - Last Sunday, through the reading, the Church has presented to us Jesus as the Saviour. By working a miracle and by healing a deaf and dumb man, Jesus revealed himself to be the Redeemer who saves and restores human being. He has come into the world to make everything perfect. This was the surprising and overwhelming proclamation of the people who have observed what Jesus has done: “He makes well everything. He makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak” (Mark 7:37). Jesus manifests himself as the one who renews and perfects everything: he brings back the original identity of man being created in the image and likeness of God. Through this passage as many other similar miracles we know that Jesus is the Saviour of man and Restorer of the creation. In other words, Jesus is the Messiah. This is the truth that the Church proclaims with today’s scriptural readings. - Indissoluble unity between the person and mission of Jesus: Jesus as person is not separate from his mission. He is what he has come to fulfil. His mission defines his identity. Already carrying the name, indicated by an angel, Jesus he takes up a mission of saving because Jesus signifies Saviour. The Christ is also a name which indicates not who is but what he is and what he does. Christ means an Anointed by God, Messiah who comes to save his people, and a “One Sent” by the Father to reveal his eternal plan of love and to make the people to participate in it. In this way, already in his name Jesus Christ he contains his mission of being “an Anointed servant, sent by God, for the salvation of the world”. This unity between his name and his mission is what makes him a perfect Son of God. Today’s readings present to us this indissoluble knot between his being and his doing of Christ. - Christ means an Anointed one of God: In the Old Testament we have many references to the anointing of God. God anoints the prophets, kings and priests. They are consecrated with the oil for a mission of being God’s instruments. The anointing with the oil signifies the choice that God makes. He chooses for himself few by calling to himself, by making them accept his plan and by consecrating them with the anointment of the oil: kept apart for a particular mission. The ever alive example is King David. In this way, the name Christ has a meaning of “anointed one of God”. In the Gospel, when Peter answers to the question of Jesus makes a profession: “You are Christ” (Mark 8:29). They would have already known the elements of the Old Testament. Peter, in particular, even without realizing well of what he is telling revealed, through the inspiration of the Spirit, that Jesus is the Christ. The ultimate significance of what it means of Christ is not yet revealed. Already by bringing the opinion of the people, in which Jesus is understood as the prophet, the disciples also would have understood him in that way: as the consecrated and anointed prophet of God. Only little later Jesus explains to them what it means to be the Christ. Readings Faith is professed in responding to the question: who do you say I am? - “Who do you I am? … You are Christ”: The dialogue between Jesus and disciples must have started casually. Jesus is going towards the villages of Caesarea Philip and only on the way Jesus just asks his disciples about the idea of the people about him. o General question: “Who do the people say that I am?” is the general question of Jesus to his disciples. The disciples would have immediately answered because his name and fame is already in the minds of people. They have taken the place of the common people and answered: you are John the Baptist; you are Elijah and one of the prophets. Why the name of John the Baptist? His is the contemporary prophet to them. The people have seen him and they have listened to him. He has just beheaded. People have still fresh memories of him. Therefore, when they saw Jesus proclaiming the kingdom of God with the similar words of conversion and repentance (Mark 1:15) as that of John the Baptist, they have thought that he has come back to life in the person of Jesus. Why Elijah? Elijah is considered to be the greatest prophet of the Old Testament and he is taken up into heaven. There is a belief that he would come again. People are aware of this and thus thought that Elijah has come back to them. Why any other prophet? The preaching and the performances of Jesus are more similar to those of the prophets they have been reading through the Old Testament pages. Therefore, people have considered him to be one of the prophets. o Personal question: “But who do you say that I am?” is the particular and personal question posed by Jesus to his disciples. Whether he is happy or not of the public opinion of him, he wants to finds out what these twelve would say about. Jesus would have really expected something different. They are with him all these days. They have seen him with the authoritative preaching. They have observed the miracles he has done in front their eyes. They are closely associated to him until now. Now they should know little more of him that the common public. Jesus expected this and the reply of Peter would have made him content. Peter, as usual taking the voice of all, responds: You are Christ. Jesus is happy because he has said it right: He is truly Christ. At the same time Jesus is aware that they did not understand well what they are professing. Even Peter is not conscious of its significance. Or at least they would have connected what they heard from the people to what was already referred in the Old Testament: Jesus as the anointed prophet of God. The truth that they have not comprehended it correctly is exhibited immediately when the same Peter has hindered Jesus (Mark 8:32-33). o The Son of Man must suffer, die and rise again (Mark 8:31): Mark notes well that after Peter has made the proclamation “You are Christ”, Jesus warns them not to tell it to anyone and then immediately starts teaching them. Yes, it is a teaching. He teaches them that “the Son of Man has to suffer much, and to be refused by the elders, by the leaders of priests and by scribes, has to be killed and, after three days, has to rise again” (v.31). This is the new teaching. Jesus reveals the supreme significance of what it means Christ. He surpasses the common meaning that the Law and the Prophets have attributed to this name and unveils the true and authentic meaning of it: Christ should suffer, die and rise again. In this way, Jesus goes beyond the identity of the prophets. He reaches to another level, higher and ultimate level: being a suffering servant of God, anointed for a mission. o Christ is the Suffering Servant (Is 50:5-9): When Jesus has declared that the Son of Man must “suffer” (Mark 8:31) he refers himself to the image of Suffering Servant found in Isaiah. As the first reading of today presents to us, the servant, here, offers whole of his existence for the call he accepts with unwavering faith in God. This passage is full of significance of Christ: it is the third songs of the four suffering servant hymns in the book of Isaiah. The servant is defined as a man who is persecuted for the cause of the word which he has to listen from God and to announce it to the people. His message is directed to the unfaithful people (v.4). His voice, which is actually the echo of God, is confronted with the violence. The destined people, instead of embracing the word of God, have become foolish. The wise word of the prophet has fallen into the hands of the vice. The servant being “filled with the wisdom of God” has been treated by them as the buffoon. The identity of the servant is contained in his courageous encounter with these people and in carrying his mission with the faith in the one who has sent him. He knows that he would be victorious because it is not the will of the men but will of God (vv.7-9 and Mark 8:33 – “Go behind me Satan! You think according to men and not according to God”). In the trust that the servant placed in God the new evaluation of the suffering is revealed: suffering is not a sign of rejection but of election. - Jesus reveals his identity: Jesus, by teaching to the disciples and by admonishing Peter through this passage, reveals his identity. He shatters the old way of thinking of the anointed in the Old Testament. He opens the new dimension of Christ: Anointed Servant of God, Sent to save the world, by passion, death and resurrection. Christ is fully realized only in accomplishing his mission and he manifests it on the cross: “it is accomplished!”. This is true identity of his. His proclamation of God’s kingdom and his performance of marvellous actions in the form of miracles and other incidents is only a preface for what he contains. His content is his mission of taking up the cross and losing the life. He is confident, as it was the case with the suffering servant (Is 50:8-9), that the One who sends him on this mission will assist him with the life. Conclusion: Jesus invites us to preserve and proclaim this identity - By name and by mission we are Christians: We are called and consecrated in the Baptism, Confirmation and in the other sacraments. With profession of faith in the Baptism our name is changed: more than our proper name we carry within us the name of Christ, and it is for this we are called Christians. With the Confirmation we are sealed with the Holy Spirit to live as Christians. With Reconciliation and with Eucharist, we are nourished with grace of God to carry on our mission of being Christians. We need to preserve this identity. We should never delink the knot between what we are (Christians) and what we do (faith, hope and love). Our mission is to live as Christ lived and to become truly “alter christi”. - “Take up the Cross” is the call: after unveiling the meaning of Christ, Jesus invites his disciples to participate in his life. The one who listens to him and wants to follow him has to really become “the anointed servant for the mission of God”. Here is his call: “if someone wants come after me, has to abandon himself, take up his cross and follow me. Because who wants to save his life, loses it; but who loses his life for my cause and of the Gospel, will save it” (Mark 8:34-35). We need not worry of the way. He has already prepared the way for us: the way of the cross. We have to leave aside our worldly aspirations. We need to abandon all that controls our earthly life. Not enough. Leaving alone is not enough. We have to take up. We have to take up the cross. The following of Jesus cannot be otherwise. The one, who refuses to take up the cross, cannot become an authentic Christian. Not enough to profess our faith in the formula of prayers, in the Mass and in the hundred and one prayers we make. Faith is not a simple confession but it is an act of carrying. - Faith without works is dead (James 2:1): Faith is not just a profession but a procession. We need to carry it in our life. We need to transform it into action. Apostle James is very keen in teaching us in a very radical manner. He says that we are dead if we do not profess our faith with action. We are dead not in the body but in the spirit. We are dead not in the mind but in the heart. Action should manifest what we are. Our identity is in our mission: losing our life for others. Taking the cross means carrying our daily troubles and difficulties, insults and pain, not for our sake but for the sake of the Gospel. We blame God for the little troubles we have and we enough abandon him because he is not helping us in our condition. Is this not selfish attitude? We call upon God for our personal needs. But the truth is that we are persons in Christ: Christians. We have a task of showing that we, Christians, are still alive. How to manifest that we are still alive and in spirit? By working for salvation of us and of others. Therefore, we have to keep in mind this truth: We are anointed servants of God – Let us proclaim our identity with the deeds of faith

TENTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR - B

TENTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR – B (Genesis 3:9-15; 2 Cor 4:13-5:1; Mark 3:20-25) Theme: We are the instruments of God’s will in and for the world Reflection: We are created to belong to his family - The last two weeks’ themes find their fulfilment in this week. We have been reflecting on the observance of the law is good. Even this observance has to give a way to the human dignity and human need. More than as an obligation we need to live the spirit of the law which calls for the integrity of mind and heart – coherence between intellect and affection. As today’s readings make it clear, Jesus summarizes the discourse on the observance of the law and says that one needs to do the will of God. Only when we do act according to the will of God we become his family. - In fact, God has created us not to be here on earth and away from him. He has created human beings to be with him. It was his desire when he formed man in his image and likeness: he breathed into man his life so that the man is always with him. Man’s dignity of being created in his image and likeness reveal that God called man to be in his family of Godhead. Whole of his creation has its culmination in the creation of man and woman. They are the crown of creation. They are placed as the owners and head of all the living creatures. They are given the dominance over all that is created. This is God’s will for man: man enjoys being with him and man always remain in his family. - However, as the Bible reveals to us, man has rejected to be a member of God’s family. He neglected his status of being his handiwork. He wanted to create his own family. He wanted to live separately and divided from him. He tried for the individual family. For this he has used his intelligence: to be more than God. He was so confident that he could live without or apart from his Creator. This is the arrogance of man: he wilfully and consciously rejected God’s will. Man is now found himself away from God’s family. Man is now ready to create his own world and his own family in which God has no place and His will find no priority. Thus, already in the beginning itself, God’s desire was shattered by man. - Attitude and behaviour of man with regards to God his Creator is manifested in his conscious disobedience and in his fall into the trap of the devil. As the consequence he has to face a shameful throw. He has been thrown away from the beautiful house, Garden of Eden. He has been placed outside of his family. He has been removed from the grace of God’s presence. Finally, he entered into the world. He has become a mixed being: a being with the double standards and a being with the double-mindedness. He has something of goodness in his human nature because he is created well by God. He has also something of evil tendencies in his human nature because he opted to choose what is placed before him by the Satan. - He is a being who is always in a constant struggle with himself. There is always this fight within him. He is in battle between what God wants from him and what he wants to do in his freedom. Whom to choose? is the biggest question in his life. Though he feels himself to be autonomous and eternally free being, he also feels from the other side that he cannot live all by himself. He is not only rational being but also relational being. He belongs to the family, to the society, to the world and also to God. He knows that he needs others and he needs God. But with is scientific adventures and technological growth he pretends to be the only master of the world. He pretends as though he never needed God for anything. Even in his helpless situations he prefers to lose his life rather than to return to God. In this way, he permanently goes away from the house of God and he keeps himself detached from the family of God. - He forgets his origin: man is not of his own creation. He is created by God. He is created to be in the family of God. This is, in reality, his identity as the human being created to be higher than any other creature. When he moves away from this bond of familiarity with God, he loses his dignity. He forgets his origin. He buys his own destruction. He soon realizes that the consequence of his coming of his family is the death. Very often man tries to give more importance to the mind and intellect, rather than to the heart and love: they are the fountain of family life. - “Adam! Where are you?” (First reading): God knows that man willed to stay away from him. He knows that man by this attitude has bought for himself a loss of life. He knows that man has also a nature that is basically good and that it is only controlled by the evil spirit. He knows that man desires to come back and in fact, many times he tries enough to get away from the family of devil, to enter into his family. He also knows that man has become spiritually so incapable that he cannot by himself come out this situation. Knowing all these, God himself has taken a first step. He comes out to meet man. He comes out to call man. Indeed, he searches for man. He cries out to man: where are you? (Gen 3:9). This inquiry of God about man is not finished with this question to Adam. We are Adams. We have many times tried to stay away from God. God does not wish that we are away and we are perished. He invites man to come back. He encourages man to return to the Garden of Eden. For this, God himself has opened a way for man: the way of God is Jesus Christ. He has come to call man to do the will of God so that they belong to God’s family. Readings: The requirement to belong to the family of God – to do His Will - “My food is to do the will of my Father”: This is the affirmation of Jesus. He has come not to do what he wills but what his Father wants from him. He always proclaims his identity as the one who does the will of His Father. He often declares that he has come to fulfil the will of God, his Father, and he invites all to do the same. This accomplishment of Gods’ will is that which confers to us that familiarity which makes our relation with Him something intimate and confidant. We have his invitation in today’s Gospel: “Who is my mother and who are my brothers? Turning to those who were with him he said: here is my mother and here are my brothers! Because the one who fulfils the will of God, is my brother, sister and mother” (Mark 3:33-35). Jesus always considers that he has nothing else to do expect carrying on the mission designed by his Father. The fulfilling of the will of God is something very constant in the whole life of Jesus. He has even taught us, as to his disciples, the prayer of “Our Father” in which he proclaims: “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. Garden of Gethsemane is the garden in which Jesus utterly commits himself to his Father and thus manifests his perfect obedience. In this way, in the garden of Gethsemane Jesus gives to the Father what the first man failed to give in the Garden of Eden: the desire to be with him always. In this Gethsemane, in the time of agony and pain, Jesus prefers to do the mission for which has come: “Not my will, Father, but yours be done”. These are the examples of his life to show that he is not for himself even for a single moment. His identification is his mission. His mission is to fulfil his Father’s will and desire. - Two separate situations – those who are inside and those who are outside: the Gospel presents to us two situations. Already some are with Jesus inside the house. They came to him to see him, to listen to him and to be with him. They belong to him. They belong to his family. They belong to the one family of God. There are few who have come and stayed outside only to observe what he is about to do. They are only curious and concerned of what he is going to do. They are only there to plot and to put him to test. They did not really come to be with him. They have come only to find fault with him. They refused to enter in to stay with him. Thus, few are inside, with him and for him; few are outside, away from him in mind and in heart. When his family members and his relatives have come to see him Jesus provokes a new mode of being in relation to him. He did not reject his mother and he did not try to humiliate her in the public as many speak. He, in reality, elevates them. He takes the context and proclaims the requirement to belong to God’s family. - His family belongs to him: when Jesus questions the crowd who is his mother and brothers, it is not that he pretends as though not knowing them. He knows them. He knows who his mother is and who his brothers are. They are part of his life. They are part of his journey of the mission. They are part of his intimate relationship. The question here is not his relationship with them. Jesus wants to reveal the truth about God’s family taking this context as an occasion. Mary and his brothers are already his family. They already follow him. They are already on the way to do what he is doing. Therefore, through their arrival to see him and through the question raised to the people about them, Jesus clearly indicates that they are with him always. Jesus takes the ordinary situation in order to reveal the extraordinary truth: His real family is those who do the will of God. - New mode of relating: Jesus, through the passage of the Gospel, opens the space for the new mode of relating to God. He makes us participate in his intimacy with God and with us. In front of him nothing is indifferent. Jesus speaks of God in the radically different mode and introduces a new concept of familiar relation with Him. His teaching of God, as our Father and himself as our Brother, is something new to his audience. For some people it is hard to digest calling God as the Father. Many think that God should be someone who is beyond our comprehension. Many feel that God should be a totally different and powerful being who controls us. At the situation of this kind, Jesus brings about a new kind of relationship: Father and Children. We all of us, along with Jesus, make one family. He himself calls God as his Father and asks us to do the same: “Our Father who is in heaven”. Everyone is invited into this intimate rapport between God and us. It is for establishing this “family of God” that Jesus made all of us equally saved and shared by his mission: by his cross he broke down all the barriers of difference and indifferences and by his resurrection he opened a the door of this new family of God. Conclusion: We have to be instruments to build up family of God in the world - Mutual respect and embrace: something that is essential in the family or any kind of relationship is mutual giving and receiving. Jesus gives us golden rule: “Do unto others what you want them to do for you” (Math 7:12). Relationship grows only in this exchange of virtues. We give and therefore we receive. We receive therefore we give. Life is a mutual exchange of respect. We have to embrace everyone with equal dignity of being our brothers and sisters. Jesus never calls us slaves, instead, calls us brothers. Indeed, we are his brothers and we have to behave in the same worthy manner. This is what we have to learn. We should work for the society of mutual respect and uplifting. We should be the pioneers of such society in which prevail only justice, equality and fraternity. If we accept Jesus as our Brother and if we really want to be with him, in his family, we need to do as he has done. By love and forgiveness he embraced all. Let us try all that we could in order to arrive at this level of the vocation of faith. - We may be “out of mind” for the world, still we need to be Jesus’ instruments: In the Gospel we find the people who considered Jesus as “out of mind” (Mark 3:21). The teaching of Jesus often created incomprehension and confusion in the listeners. When he talks people get divided: few understand and follow him and thus become his family and others cannot digest what he talks and thus become his opponents. Jesus does not mind all these things. He has come to proclaim the truth, to show the way and to give the life: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life”. He fulfils this at any cost, at the cost of incomprehension as the consequence of which people say that he is out of min. He fulfils this even at the cost of his life which he has done on the cross. - Many a time, we also come across same kind of situation. When we live our faith and preach the gospel, people may say that we are out of mind and out of the world. This has happened to Jesus and would it not happen to you? Jesus himself already reminds: “they will persecute you for my sake… if you sustain it till the end… the rewards will be great in heaven” (Math 5:10-12). We need not fear about this. We have to continue to do the will of God until the last breath of our life. This is what Jesus wants from us. Only this way he wants us to enter into the family of God. Only this way he wants us to be the instruments of establishing a family of God in the world. - Our confidence is Jesus himself: It is not so easy first of all to know what God wills for us and all the more to fulfil it with our testimony of the words and actions. It is furthermore difficult when the world hates us, laughs at us and creates lot of tribulations and sufferings. We have a foundation for our faith and vocation: Jesus who has undergone all these before us and for us (second reading). We should not be discouraged of all these situations because we have an eternal place (second reading – 2 Cor 5:1). Our joy is this that we belong to him: Our family is God’s, we are with him and we will be with him forever. Thus, with courage and confidence we have to serve as the instrument of creating God’s family in this world.

NINTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR - B

NINTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR – B: (Deuteronomy 5:2-15; 2 Cor 4:6-9; Mark 2:23-3:6) Theme: We are to sanctify the Day of the Lord by elevating human dignity Reflection: Sabbath is for man and man is not for Sabbath - Last Sunday we have reflected upon giving more importance to the spirit of the law rather than to the letter of the law. Again, observation of the rituals should lead us to the living of faith. Living of faith calls for the radical change of the self. New wine should be poured in the new seeds. There is a requirement for the change of heart. The newness of heart is the place that God chooses to dwell in. God has already made us His bride in the incarnation of his Son Jesus. Human nature is intimately tied to the divine nature with his taking up of the image of man. What was old and ruined in the human flesh and mind is cleaned by his blood on the Cross. Old and stony heart is replaced by the new and fleshy heart. It is the work of the merciful love of God. He promised to give a new heart that burns and desires for him. He, in fact, has prepared our heart through the word of his Son and the power of his Spirit. Yes, our heart is prepared because he wanted to be with us and in us. He wanted to make us his beloved bride. He becomes an ever faithful bridegroom who loves always in spite of the infidelity of the bride. Jesus has revealed this mystery of spiritual intimacy and union between God and humanity. As long as God speaks to and acts for man, man remains ever new. He celebrates the feast of love. It is always a fruit of living with the heart than a mere practice of the liturgical rites. - Similar theme of giving prominence to what is of human value is highlighted in today’s readings: Sabbath is made for man and man not for Sabbath (Mark 2:27). Whatever may be the situation and whatever may be the condition of the law, man in need needs to be attended. Man is the centre of creation and the whole creation is handed over to him so that he would use it for the betterment of his life. The nature, the days, the laws, the time, etc., are at the service of man and man decides how to act according to them. This is the dignity that the man enjoys over everything that is creaturely. After all, God has created man little less than the angels (Ps 8). In every creaturely order and structure man holds the primary importance. This is what Jesus reminds to the Pharisees. Pharisees are those who put more of an accent on the observation of the law because it is given by the Lord himself. The law of the Lord should take an upper hand. Yes, indeed, but Jesus reveals that law is only for the building up of the image and dignity of man. In fact, God has given to man the law or the commandments so that by faithful and meaningful living of them, they attain the eternal bliss with him. If there arises any situation in which the well-being of man is neglected and rejected in the name of the practice of the law, then the law can be changed according to its service to man. - Jesus makes well the paralyzed man on the day of Sabbath (Mark 3:1-5): the gospel is noteworthy. Jesus answers his opponents on the question of keeping the Sabbath. He counter-questions them with the reference of what David has done when he and his disciples were hungry (Mark 2:26; and I Samuel 21:2, 7). They did not mind of keeping fast but entered into the Holy of the holies and have eaten the bread which they are forbidden to eat. What is important is what is required of the moment. They are in need. They are in hunger. They are dying of hunger. The law was there but the life is more valuable. Law should be at the service of man and not at the killing of life. Jesus affirms this still further by working a miracle on the prohibited day according to the law: “extend your hand”, he says to the paralyzed and his hand is healed (v.5). Jesus works the miracle for two reasons: the integrity of man is important and to break the malicious intentions of the Pharisees. He knows that they have come to him to find some fault in him for accusing him (v.2). In reality, they are anxiously waiting whether he would do something so that they can blame him. Jesus does not fear. He does not mind their thoughts. His target is to heal the paralyzed person. He is always conscious of his mission: to set right what is not well. His whole presence is for the lifting up of fallen man into sin and illness of health. It is for this reason, Jesus more than arguing with the Pharisees, asks them just one question: “which is right to do on the day of Sabbath, to do good or to do bad, to save life or to kill it?” (v.4). Even the Pharisees are aware that the man in need is to be taken care of. But for them the law prevail over everything else even at the cost of one’s life. Such a vigorous practice is their observance. - Here the situation is still worse. They want to test Jesus and see how he would react to the behaviour of his disciples who eat on the day of prohibition. They want to trap Jesus if at all he teaches otherwise than the Law of Moses and if at all he does some work against the command of the Lord. Jesus would have well said to the paralyzed man to come the next day and he would cure him. In this way, he could have solved all these confrontations with these hard-hearted Pharisees. But Jesus does whatever is good and right for the restoration of man in spite of threat and incomprehension that surrounds him. His good will has no limits. He does not stop for the fear of others. If something of him is required he does then and there without minding the evil intentions of the religious authorities. He came into the world “not to abolish the law, but it accomplish it” (Math 5:17ff). Even in this context Jesus is not totally abandoning the prescribed law. He, in turn, reveals the meaningful usage of the law and thus reveals the truth: that the law is for man and not man for the law. Readings: Jesus does not deject but sanctifies the Day of the Lord - The Sabbath is a Prescribed Law (first reading): the day of Sabbath is given by the Lord himself. In the first reading of today we have the clear message of God: “observe the day of the Sabbath for sanctifying it, as the Lord, your God, has commanded you. You may work for six days and do everything of your work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath in the honour of the Lord, your God: you should not do any work…” (vv.12-13). He has commanded his people to observe it as the day of remembrance of all the marvellous deeds he has done for liberating his people (v.15). - The Sabbath is the day of rest: in Hebrew the word Shabat signifies ‘the rest’ and therefore, the Hebrews consider it as the seventh day of the week. For them it indicates the day in which “God brings to the completion the work he has done and stopped from his every work on the seventh day. God blessed the seventh day and consecrated it, because in it he has ceased every work that he has done with the creation” (Gen 2:2-3). God has rested on the seventh day. He withdrew himself from every work. He blessed it and sanctified it. Therefore, this seventh day and this day of Sabbath is considered theologically to be the “Day of the Lord”. - The Sabbath is the day of liberation: God adds an ulterior significance to the Sabbath. It is the day of the memory of the liberation. God has called his people out from the slavery of Egypt, the land of pain and suffering, the land of cry and disgrace. He has made them to come out of it in order to set out towards the Promised Land, the land of liberty and joy and the land of milk and honey. The prescription of the Sabbath is given to them so that the people of Israel, his chosen and liberated nation, have a day of celebration. No one should work on that day: neither the master nor the servant, neither the children nor the animals… everyone should rest. Here rest does not signify that they pass the time in chit chat and while away the time in doing what they like. No, here rest means “to be with the Lord”. It is the day for the joyful celebration. It is the day for glorifying the Lord for his powerful presence amidst them. It is the day for offering the praises to the Lord for the eternal covenant he made with them. It is the day for remembering and living the miraculous moments of God’s liberation. For this the Lord ordains this day: “remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt and that the Lord your God has made you escape from it with the strong hand and extended arms; for this the Lord, your God, commands you to observe the day of Sabbath” (Dt 5:15). - Jesus truly sanctifies the day of Sabbath: in the gospel presented to us we can note well what Jesus does: he actually sanctifies it. How does he sanctify it? What does it means to sanctify? Sanctify means to make it holy and therefore, to make it worthy of the Lord’s will. God wills that everything is well. By setting right something that goes wrong we partake in the sanctifying work of God. Jesus does the same. Not only on the day of Sabbath, but in all the days of his life, he dedicates himself, for the restoration of man. Jesus sanctifies the day of Sabbath in three ways. First, he works for the new creation: he sets out to make man new; the paralyzed become well again. He is no more an old being but becomes new creation with the working of Jesus. Second, he liberates man: he decides to free him from the clutches of physical illness, social shame and spiritual bondage of curse; he becomes free being. Third, he invites the paralyzed man to be at rest: until now the ill man was restless; his mind was preoccupied with lot of insults and disgusting look of others; now he is at peace with himself. By doing this Jesus actually does not abolish the law of Sabbath but sanctifies it. He has come into the world to bring man into the dignity of being God’s children. - “Son of Man is the Lord of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27-28): Jesus, taking the situation into his hands, into his favour, proclaims himself as the Master of the Sabbath. Thus, he demonstrates himself as the Lord of the time and the Lord of the new creation. He gives new life to the disabled and to the paralyzed. The days are in his hands. The times are under his control and supervision. He makes the time to move. He alone can restore the life without being affected by the law and the prescriptions. He goes beyond the exterior observation of the law which does not mind any more human requirements. He touches the interior need of man: man needs to be touched, he needs to be lifted up, and he needs to be saved. Whether on Monday or on Sunday is not important. He desires to be restored. This is what Jesus does. This is what Jesus alone can do just because He is the Lord of the Sabbath. Conclusion: Let us throw away unnecessary laws in order to embrace a man in need - Sunday is the Day of the Lord – let us sanctify it: For us Christians, not any more the Saturday but, it is Sunday which is the day of the Lord. It is the day of the Lord because it is the first day of first creation. It is the day of the Lord because it is the first of new creation in Christ: Jesus is risen to life putting an end to death on the first day of the week. Therefore, it is the day life. If we are called the people of resurrection, then we are also the people of the first day and therefore, also the people of Sunday. It is the day of the Lord. As we believe it believes our day. It is the day to cease ourselves from the fatigue of the work. It is the day to apart ourselves from others. It is the day to be alone with the Lord. It is the day to recall to our mind, all that God has done in our life to bring us to this status of dignity of his children. And finally it is the day to glorify the immense love of God for us. It is in this way we sanctify the day of the Lord, the Sunday. - Testimony of the martyrs of Abitene – “without Sunday we cannot live”: At the earlier times of Christianity we have a living testimony of the martyrs of Abitene in the year a.c. 304 under the imperator Diocletian. These Christians who are asked to give up their Sunday celebrations have courageously replied: “We cannot live without Sunday”. They have sacrificed their life in order to sanctify the day of the Lord. They have not valued much their earthly life because they believed in the heavenly life: the life with the Lord. They have preserved their Christian identity. It is true, indeed, that the Sunday is the day of the true liberation from the slavery of sin and death. It is true, indeed, that the Sunday is the day of the thanksgiving, of Eucharist. Therefore, it is the day of Eucharistic banquet. We cannot live without that bread of life. - We are in journey towards the eternal Sabbath: as long as we are here on earth, we Christians need not fear although we are surrounded by difficulties and sufferings. We need not fear because we are passing, we are moving towards that Eternal Day of the Lord. Now we sanctify the Sabbath with the testimony of faith and this testimony prepares for us a space for the celebration of Eternal Sabbath. Our celebration of Sunday in time and in history will take us into the Sunday without end – Eternal Sunday. In fact, we are preparing for that. In fact, all that we accomplish on earth is a storing of life in heaven. In fact, we observe all the commands of the Lord, not as a mere obligation, but to obtain the new life in the Lord. - Living man is a glory of God (St. Irenaeus): As Jesus said to the paralytic man, he says to every one of us: extend your hand. We are no more closed beings. We are no more poor who hind themselves. We are no more disabled and paralyzed being in acting for God. Our fear and the feeling of shyness are removed. Our hands are made extended. We are asked to come out. We are asked to get us. We are asked to walk along. We are no more dead, in sin. We are given life. We are given new life. We are restored to the new creation. We are living being. Our life is God’s glory. The sanctification of the command of the Lord consists in this: coming to life and glorifying God. Jesus defends life, not the law. If law goes wrong, it can be corrected and modified. If man loses life, it is difficult to restore it. In fact, Jesus has come into the world, “to give life and to give it in abundance”. Jesus goes into the essence of teaching: the gift of life is the supreme norm and it has to be given a priority in any and every circumstance. We are asked to sustain this life which is given to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus. We are made well and we are called to make well also others. It is the only way we can sanctify the day of the Lord: by defending and by elevating human dignity.

EIGHTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR - B

EIGHTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR – B: (Hosea 2:16b-17b, 21-22; 2Cor 3:1b-6; Mark 2:18-22) Theme: We are called to celebrate the feast of Spouse’s love for us Reflection: We are invited to the joy of new communion with Christ - In this eighth Sunday of the liturgical year the Church invites us to make our journey towards the feast and towards the celebration of joy. We need not be too much immersed with the rituals of the fasting and foregoing. We need to travel. We need to make a journey. We need to move actually from the moment of fast to the moment of feast. The preparations are necessary but they are not the end. The end will be the celebration. We need to walk towards this celebration. We need to make a feast because the bridegroom is still there with us, rather we are still with the bridegroom. We need to jump with joy because the powerful and efficacious presence of Jesus is still with us, rather we are still abiding in his dwelling place. The readings of today are particular in giving us this message. The message is in three aspects: God wills to make a bond of love with the humanity, Jesus is the spouse of the Church, the new creation and finally, we need to put on new communion with him. - Last Sunday we have meditated upon the theme that we have to be the bearers of God’s pardon to our fellow brethren. We become this by carrying the same fragrance of forgiveness and embrace. We need to embrace all with understanding and kindness despite their infidelity towards us. We need to extend our warm welcome to all who come to us. We need to also invite even the wrongdoers towards the life of acceptance by pardon. We have to act in such a way, we have to open our heart such a way that they see God’s goodness and love in us and through us. Only from this life of forgiveness and acceptance of each other that the life of unity and fraternity is possible. Where there is fraternity we become the children of the same Father who has united us in spirit. In this way we build up the community of love and all of us together we become one People of God. In this way we construct an edifice worthy of Jesus’ presence and all of us together become one Body of Christ, to which he himself is the Head. In this way we create a space for being the Indwelling Temple and all of us together become a Bride of the Holy Spirit. - There is a link here to the last Sunday’s and today’s reading. There is a continuation. We become the instruments of God’s bond with the humanity. God wills to be united to the humanity. He shares his intimate love by being a God of patience, kindness and a God who enters into the human history. His love is always the same with his people. It is for sharing of his love that He chose and called to himself a nation by setting it apart and higher than other nations. It is for sharing of his love that He made an eternal covenant of faithfulness with his people. It is for sharing of his love that in spite of their frequent infidelity He went in search of them by the means of judges, kings and prophets. His love is unending. He wanted to make his people his bride. This will of God to share his intimate union with his people has been fully realized when he has sent his beloved son to take the flesh of man so that He and humanity become one in Christ. And we, the sanctified Church in the Spirit, and whole human race who is given the offer of love, become the Spouse of Jesus. The readings of today lead us deeper into the meaning of it. Readings: Eternal Love of God invites humanity to become his faithful partner - “I will make you my spouse forever” (first reading): God’s continuous love to the unfaithful Israel is expressed well in this reading. Through the prophet Hosea God calls back his people who have gone away to the indissoluble bond with him. The image used here is strong and full of significance. God appears as the ever faithful Bridegroom whereas the Israel appears as the adulterous people. Therefore, the reading presents to us the dream: the love (Israel) will come back, the spouse will find her again with the freshness of love, the warm arms of the spouse are always open for her return, and there will be the celebration of the new bond which will nullify her past life of misery and adultery. o God makes his people his own: All these elements of waiting of the faithful bridegroom, return of the unfaithful bride, knot of love new love between them is manifested in the precious words of prophets: “Here, I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart… I will make her my spouse forever” (v. 16-21). Nothing will stop this love. Nothing in the world will hinder this bond: God will make her his bride in justice and in law, in love and in benevolence, in fidelity and in knowledge (v.21-22). God will make her his own in everything, and she will remain in him for ever. The past is forgiven and forgotten. The unfaithfulness is overtaken by love. The period of foreign invasions, upper hand of the enemies, destruction of their temples and deportation into slavery find their end because of this love of the bridegroom. He delivers his bride from these clutches. He purifies and sanctifies his unfaithful bride with his eternal and promised love. o God is delicate in his love: the love with which God has loved us and loves us is very great in his delicacy. He does not want to hurt any of his people. He knows the weak attitude of his people. He knows that his people have utterly become unfaithful and they will not be able to come back by themselves. His love has no limit. His love does not turn back. It goes to any extent. It goes in search of the lost sheep. It is he who takes the initiative by remembering his faithfulness. It is he who leads his bride to the lonely place and speaks to her heart opening his arms of love (v.16). God prepares an appointment of love and makes a space for the interaction of two loving parties. His delicate love breaks the barriers of infidelity of his people and invites them to get immersed in its sweet presence. - God imprints this love in our hearts (second reading): God’s love is no more in words but in actions. It is written not by the verbal language but by the language of the heart. St. Paul writing to the people of Corinth exclaims that we are the letter of Jesus written by the Holy Spirit. o With this particular passage Paul proclaims two things: the end of the alliance that is founded on the ‘letter’/ on the word and on the law on the one hand and the beginning of the new covenant written not on the tablets of the stone but on the tablets of the heart (v.3). It again takes us back to the message of the first reading: God will guide us into the desert place (alone with him) and will speak to our heart (Hosea 2:16). His love which is renewed in the Spirit of Jesus will be imprinted in the heart because it is there that he dwells. o We are also reminded of the announcement of the prophet Jeremiah (31:31-34): the spirit is infused into us and it is the spirit of the living God which will give an interior transformation rather than exterior practice of the letter of the law. Again the Old Testament leads us to the beautiful prophecy: “I will give you a new heart and put in you a spirit that is new, I will take away from you the heart of stone and I will give you a heart of flesh” – is the word of prophet Ezekiel (36:26). o This is the announcement of the renewal of the love that is broken between two parties and the commencement of the new creation. This takes place when Jesus Christ who reveals the will of God’s love to the humanity by the power of the Spirit. Paul reminds us again of the condition we are brought into: we have not received a spirit of slavery to fall again in the fear but we have received a spirit of adoption so that we can cry out to him ‘Abba! Father’ (Rom 8:15). o When God speaks to our hearts and imprints his love within our flesh and soul we become his own. We become partakers of his life. We become sharers of his love. We are made new by the cleansing of our past of unfaithfulness and adulterous life. We are unfaithful because we have neglected his wonderful actions in our life. We are adulterous because we have substituted his love with the desire of the worldly pleasures and we are carried with these attractions of the false love which destroys us instead of making us joyful. To put in a word, connecting it to our theme: God made us His own and he has made us loving bride. - With Jesus, the Bridegroom, we celebrate the joy of love (Gospel): the context of the gospel is a confrontation of Jesus with the Pharisees who give lot of importance to the fasting and the observance of the law. Jesus takes this polemic situation and brings an extraordinary teaching from it. He does speak of the fasting but connects it to the celebration of the joy. He does not totally rule out the virtue of fasting but gives it a true significance. He proclaims that fasting should not be for the sake of fasting but it is for the sake of preparing for the encounter with the joyful celebration. Jesus’ teaching is totally new. He takes the common situation and from it pulls out the novelty of the kingdom of God. One such thing happens in today’s gospel. Jesus taking the argument of fasting, guides his disciples to the new teaching: the presence of the bridegroom cancels out the requirement of fasting and with him starts the new life. o The bridegroom is with them (v.19): the observation of the fasting is needed. But only as long as there are preparative days and only as long as there are mourning days. The Pharisees are aware of only the fasting according to the letter of the law and not according to the spirit of the law. Jesus reveals them that there is a period when the bridegroom is there. When he is there, it is not any more a time of mourn or fast, but a time of joy. Jesus asks them to observe the law but observe them with the spirit of it and with the true and higher meaning of it. They have to practice with the heart. Heart knows well the presence of the bridegroom because it is the place of his love. By teaching this Jesus indicates two things:  He is the bridegroom: Jesus reveals that he is the bridegroom who has come to call to himself the whole humanity. In his incarnation he has become united with the human flesh. Indeed, he has made the human flesh to be in full communion with him by being born of human accord. He is the bridegroom who has come to sanctify and save his bride from the pleasures of human flesh and thus to make her his bride in the Spirit. With his presence the bride has to celebrate not with the fasting but with the feasting. Jesus invites his disciples and Pharisees as well to see in him the bridegroom promised and sent by the Father to fulfil in him the eternal covenant of love.  Time of passion and the time of life: Jesus indicates that there will be the time when he will be surrendering himself to suffering and death and it will be the proper time for the fasting and mourning. The bridegroom will be taken away (v.20). Then begin the days of preparation: preparation for new life. The new life will be offered in the Resurrection. Jesus invites his listeners to understand this truth that they have to prepare to meet him in fasting but once they find themselves with him they should give up what is past and start a life of love with him: a life of a true bride. o New patch and new wine (vv.21-22): the mini parable confirms the novelty that Jesus brings about: the new patch cannot be put to the old cloth and new wine cannot be poured into the old grapes. The new life is to be totally radical and reformative. The new life cannot be just a mask for the old life. We cannot just put on the new shirt on the dirty body. When the body is bathed it should be covered with the fresh and clean cloth, otherwise there is no use of the bath taken. So also with the life of Christ. When we accept him we have to follow him thoroughly. We have to give up our old self. We are sanctified and saved and thus we have to put on the new cloth of joy of Jesus. This is what Jesus is inviting his people to understand: with Him everything is new. Fasting leads to the feast of joy and the preparation leads to the celebration of life. Conclusion: We are called to live in the newness of heart - The ritual is sacred but the heart values more: we remind ourselves of a small story. There was a priest who used to tie the cat to the pillar before starting the prayer because it was disturbing him. It has become almost a custom: before the prayer he ties the cat. One day priest died and the new priest who observed the old priest has done the same: he too ties the cat before the prayer. It continued and continued. One day even the cat died. The priest has brought the new cat because he thought that the prayer cannot be started if there was no cat tied. Often our ritual practices become a habit of daily observance rather than living of its meaning. The Pharisees were like this: they do rituals but do not understand the spirit of its practice. Jesus condemns this kind of practice. - What is sacred has to be carried more in the heart rather than just in the ritual performances. We need to learn to understand what the Spirit is inspiring us to do behind our liturgical celebration. Daily Mass and Sunday Mass are very good and it keeps us ‘united’ to Christ as the bride to the bridegroom. But if the Mass becomes only an observance of the law otherwise of which is a sin, then there is something wrong with our practice. It becomes a mere ritual: we come and go without learning anything from it. We do it without taking the spirit into ourselves. We have to offer to Jesus not our sacrifices and rituals but our hearts. The Bible is clear in this: I want kindness, sacrifices and it speaks elsewhere: these people sing for me with the lips but their hearts are far away from me. God needs our heart. God desires our soul. God wants our interior offer. - Listen and speak to the heart: yes, God desires our heart. Heart is the place for the encounter of love. God and man meet there. They meet there to express the words of their love. They meet there to extend the warmth of their love. They meet there to exchange the gestures of their love. One speaks and the heart of the other responds. One listens and heart of the other rejoices. It is the language of the heart. It is the ritual of the soul. It is the spirit-filled life of love. In fact, God always talks to the depths of our heart. This is the newness of message that Jesus has brought about. Kingdom of God is not the question of food and drink but the peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom 14:17). This kingdom is within us. It is within our heart. It is Jesus himself who indwells there in our heart by the power of the Spirit. All the exterior celebrations, be it fasting or any other ritual performance, have to help us to reach to the interior life of our heart. Otherwise, we fall into the tendency of the Pharisees: they perform but do not live. To be true Christians and to be the true bride of Christ we have to listen to our heart and speak to our heart because Jesus has permanently fixed his tent there. - In Christ we are new creation. In Christ we have new life. In Christ we become new beings. We are called to live such newness of life with radical decision: we accepted Jesus and we are there with him forever. We should not go back to our old nature because it becomes infidelity (first reading). We should not neglect what is written on the stones of our heart because it becomes spiritless life (second reading). We should not just cover what is old with the new mask because it becomes broken life (gospel). We are called to allow ourselves to be led, to be accompanied and to be loved by Jesus, the Bridegroom and the Head, who takes the initiative. He takes the first step to guide us into place of meeting (first reading), he writes upon our heart his letter of love (second reading) and he is the Spouse in whose presence we have celebration and feasting of love. - Our task is to open the heart: as the partakers of Jesus’ life and as the sharers of his love we have also a mission to accomplish: we need to open our heart to the others. By opening our life to others we extend the fragrance of Jesus love. By opening our heart to others we invite others to leave aside the fasting and celebrate the love of Jesus because they too have now become new creation and new bride to him. We ourselves have to become a spirit-filled life rather than the letter-filled ritual. We need to make this journey from the letter to the spirit. We need to move from the stone to the flesh of heart. We need to begin our travel from the fasting to the feasting. Only then we are capable of leading other to the same celebration of joy, love and life.

TWENTITHIRD SUNDAY OF THE YEAR – B (Isaiah 35:4-7a; James 2:1-5; Mark 7:31-37) Theme: We are invited to set right everything, our life and the life of others Reflection: We are the means of communication of God’s life to others - Today Jesus is calling each of his followers to work for the good and to set right everything that goes wrong. In other words, He is inviting us to create everything anew. What is old and the damaged has to be either repaired or replaced by the new and the good. The readings of today encourage us towards this task of restoration and renewal of personal life and also the life of those who enter into our sphere. We are always in connection to what we have already reflected on the last Sunday. Last week we have meditated upon the theme that we have to carry Jesus in our hearts by the coherence and integration between the word we speak and the deed we accomplish. Today we step little further and note that when Jesus is there with us and within us we are reformed and renewed. Only then we can once again repeat the words of St. Paul: “It is not I who live but the Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20). - The presence of Jesus makes us new beings and transformed creatures. Our fearful and trembling past is smashed away and the joyous and enthusiastic future is offered to us by the power of his presence. Jesus who enters into us is not silent and indifferent. He does something inside. He cuts open the heart to clean it and to enhance it. He makes it his own. But for every action he will to fulfil in us he seeks for our acceptance and our readiness to respond to him. He does not impose his will but seeks for our free cooperation. When he speaks he expects our attentive ears. When he acts he expects our attentive eyes. When he calls us he expects our attentive heart. In brief he does not do anything without our attentive response and collaboration. Therefore, he invites us to share in his life and to spread it through the testimony of life. And in this way we can become the restorers of our own life first and the life of those who are discouraged and desperate. - The church is asking us to fill ourselves with this mission of restoring and rebuilding the Christian faith and vocation. She proposes the readings that empower us with the lot of message. She enables us to note the capacity that we have and we are given: we are capable of renovating everything as Jesus has restored the life of the deaf and dumb as we encounter it in the gospel. We are saved and the possibility of salvation is given to us, Christians. We need to recognize and realize what we are called for: we have to count on the spiritual energy that we have so that we re-create and make well all that is not alright. To put in one word: we are called to communicate the true life to those around us. We can communicate it to others only because we have this life in us as the fruit of our saviour. In fact, he has come to give us life and to give it in abundance (John 10:10). What we need for the communication is the language either of the words or of the gestures. Jesus does the same in today’s gospel. He communicates what he has to the deaf and dumb. He makes him to hear and he makes him to speak. He opens to him the space to communicate. Through the communication it is possible to renew everything. In this way, we may also call this Sunday as the Sunday of communication. - Our Christian life is full of these elements of communication: we use both words (formulas) and the symbols (gestures) in the Christian liturgy. These are the means of communicating the life of Jesus to the faithful. We have the language of the sacraments. “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” are the words used and oils are the symbols utilized in the rite of Baptism for inviting the believer into new life. “This is my Body given up for us” and “this is the cup of my Blood poured out for the forgiveness of sins” are the words used and the bread and wine are the symbols utilized in the Eucharist for nourishing the faithful for the spiritual growth. In the similar manner all the sacraments and the liturgical rituals contain the methods of communicating the life of Jesus to the followers. - Right use of the means is very important. Even in the world we have methods of communication. In particular, with the development of scientific and technological sphere the means are reached to the peak state. The modern man is rightly called a man of computer or a mobile computer. With the internet the communication has taken its super rapid speed. But we can stop ourselves here to ask only one question: where does this development is heading to? And how far the communication is helpful for the building up of man and society? What is required is not only the growth of the communication methods and skills but “the right and meaningful use” of them for making the man renewed and the world renovated with peace, solidarity and love. Through the reading of today and especially through the miracle is worked in the gospel, Jesus is inviting to make use of Christian vocation to build up the just and right society because we are called to set right everything. Summary of the readings: Jesus has come to make everything anew - Word of Hope (first reading): God sends the prophet Isaiah to his people with the message of hope and the proclamation of the day of salvation. God listens to the cry of his people who are in the Babylonian slavery. He does not abandon his people. He heeds their prayers. He sends them the messenger to communicate to them the coming of the new joy and new life. Proclamation of hope is very clear: “take heart, do not fear! Here is your God… comes to save you” (v. 4). This message fills his people with courage and hope. Their God comes to restore and renew the life of his people. The current of the waters in the desert (v.6-7) signify that when God comes to his people, there will be again the greenery of joy and the fountain of life. Again here the symbol of water communicates the truth of life. The desert will become the good pasture. The discouraged life will become the spirit-filled life. The life of slavery will turn into the life of freedom. The people of foreign land will become the children of Promised Land. This takes place in the coming of Jesus into the world. The waters of river Jordan is the symbol of conversion and new life. The water that flowed from the side of Crucified Jesus along with the blood is the symbol of sanctification and new creation. The promise of the prophecy is fulfilled in Jesus who has poured out his life for the salvation of all. In this way, Jesus has restored and renewed the man who has fallen into sin and ruined his life. - Salvation for all without preferences (second reading): St. James is little radical in his proclamation. He highlights that the differences and discriminations are the creation of man and not of God. God has no preferences and no differences (Acts 10:34; Rom 2:11; Gal 2:6; Eph 6:9). For him all are same and he has made all of us one in Jesus Christ (Gal 3:28; Rom 10:12; 1Cor 12:13; Col 3:11). He is the Lord of all. He offers divine life to all. All are equally his children. Man, instead, with his mean, selfish and arrogant attitude create the barriers and thus breaks the wall of justice, equality and peace. But the creation of God and the salvation of Jesus proclaim the message of totality and equality. God has created man in his image and likeness. Therefore, every human being carries in him this image and thus all men have only one thing in common, that is, the image of God. Insofar man has this he is child of God and insofar he is child of God all other human beings become to him brothers and sisters. - All other differences, personal or social, are only the secondary level and the imagination and ignorant creation of man. The rich may one day become poor or a poor may one day become rich. The luxurious man may become street boy or street boy may one day become luxurious. The ignorant may become intelligent and the intelligent may one day finds himself out of mind. The state and the status of each man may change according to the conditions and possibilities. But one thing remains common and permanent in every man: the image of God in him. That is what has to be counted with the human relationships and only than there will be new creation of society and restoration of peace and equality. - In fact, Jesus has come for this and has accomplished this. From the first instance of his life he has offered his life for all and not just for one small group of his kith and kin. Often he visited the pagan villages and has worked more miracles in their presence than in his own home town and among his own people. He has come for all and he died for all. His extended hands on the cross show that with this death on the cross he has “embraced all to himself” and has attracted to himself all (John 12:32). He has proclaimed the kingdom of peace and justice and invited all to it: rich and poor alike, Jews and pagans alike, and those own and those who are others. We keep aside all the differences and discriminations when we come to the table of the Lord: we are filled with the same word and nourished with the same bread and thus we become one people. We become, thus, renewed people and restored nation for the Lord. - He sets right everything (gospel): in the gospel we may observe two attitudes from the part of Jesus in performing the miracle and two attitudes from the part of the people in responding to the miracle. o To bring and to proclaim – the two attitudes of the people: The deaf and dumb has not come to Jesus by himself but the people have brought him to Jesus. They carried him to Jesus and prayed that he might do something. This is the first attitude of the people: they have faith in the power of Jesus and have led the disabled man to him. And then, when Jesus has accomplished the miracle and has made them to speak and to listen, the people have acknowledged the marvellous opera of Jesus. They could not control their joy (v.36). They could not stop their great surprise. They started glorifying God for the good deed he has done. This is the second attitude of the people: they proclaim and praise with the joy that he has done everything new (v.37). o Gestures of creation and the working of miracle – the two modes of performing the miracle: Jesus, by healing the deaf and dumb, manifests that he has come to make everything new and to restore everything to the original state. To reveal this truth he does the miracle but does it by using some gestures of creation. He uses four gestures as we note in the gospel: taking him apart and touching him with his hands (v.33) and looking into heaven and breathing into him (v.34). These gestures take us back to the remembrance of the first creation in the genesis. Jesus has descended from heaven to bring about new creation on earth and to indicate this he adapts the similar gestures of the creation account. This is the first attitude of Jesus in working the miracle. There is yet another attitude: not just by the word but by the action. When the people have brought the deaf and dumb to him, he has not preferred to speak but to act. He has not opted for the words but for the deed. The deed speaks more than the word. “Be open” is the word that Jesus uses but uses it at the end and after completing the action. He could have very well said as in the many other instances with word: your faith has saved you… be healed… and so on. But here, in this particular miracle, Jesus manifests an act of new creation and thus he gives preference to doing more than to speaking. - These two attitudes of Jesus in healing the deaf and dumb man reveal to us that he has come to restore what is damaged, to renew what is outdated, and to seek and to save what is lost. He brings the man into the original status of fullness: now he listens and now he talks. He is a complete image of God and thus he is a new creation. Jesus thus has communicated his fullness of life to this particular deaf and dumb and to us all through the means of the word (proclaimed) and the sacraments (performed). Our task: To set right our life and the life of others - We are called to set right our life first: we have to acknowledge the miraculous action of Jesus in our life. He has saved us. He has sanctified us. He has called us to himself. He has communicated his life to us. We are made new creation. We are new beings in the Lord. St. Paul proclaims it with the great voice: in him we have become new creation (2 Cor 5:17). But often we become spiritually deaf and dumb. Often we fall into temptation of talking more of other things than the marvellous deeds of the Lord. Often we tend to listen more of worldly things than the word of the God’s love. We give more attention to the listening and speaking of what we like and what is passing away. We do not make right use of our senses. With false usage of our organs of the body we become spiritually and even personally disable. We do something become we ourselves fail to understand what we do. And as the world changes or rapidly grows into science and technology the situation become still worse. - Immersed in the senses and sounds of the worldly pleasure we become an illusion. Our life becomes just a Maya. We pretend to be good and well whereas we hide our true nature and condition. That’s why we become physically sick, mentally inactive and spiritually inattentive. We really need a cure. We really need a care. We really need a healing. At this juncture, Jesus is calling us today to just wait and see where we are and what we are. He is inviting us to seek his aid so that we receive his healing. One thing is sure and we all know well: we cannot overcome this difficulty and incapacity by ourselves. We need someone divine and powerful: someone who can set right everything in our life. That someone we have is Jesus himself. We have to seek his presence. We have to carry all our burdens and fears to him with the faith that he can do something. We need to ardently pray so that he takes us apart (to be with him alone), he touches (to have his personal experience), he makes us look high in hope (heaven pours down the grace) and finally he breaths into us (breath of God is the spirit of life). We are set right. We are healed. We are made anew. And we become new creation. - Holy Mass is the fountain of Christian life: the celebration of the Eucharist to which we come every time is the moment of salvation. It is not just an external ritual but it is a marvellous saving act of Jesus which touches our internal life. Even here, there is a word that is proclaimed. God opens us his own and demands an attentive attitude to it. We have to embrace the word into the heart. More than that, there is a deed that is performed: the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ. It is a great act because Jesus donates himself to us. Not just his word but whole person of Jesus enters into us in the form of communion. We have to receive him with a gesture of love. The listening of the word leads us to the performing of an act. The words are important but more than that we have to give ourselves. This is the mission we are asked to do from now on: to proclaim his message of salvation which we have already received with the testimony of life. - We have to set right the life of others: the consequence of the proclamation is that we fulfil the task of calling or carrying others to Jesus so that they too will have the restoration of their life and they too become the new creature. The people around are discouraged as the people of the first reading: they are disparate because they are missing the way, missing the truth, and missing even the life. They are worried and taken away by the blows of the world’s temptations. They do not see anything good. They do not listen anything good. They do not speak anything good. They do not do anything good. In this pathetic situation they find themselves out of place and without hope. They remain there with heart broken and with the life torn. - Who have to proclaim to them the message of hope? It is we. We have to take the place of the prophet Isaiah. Who have to announce to them the truth that they are saved without any differences? It is we. We have to take the place of Apostle James. Who have to carry them to Jesus so that he could heal them? Again it is we. We have to slowly invite them to Jesus. If needed we have to extend our hand to take them to hand and guide them to Jesus. We know the he is the way, the truth and the life. They too have to acknowledge this. It is possible only when they come into contact with him. We have to be the meeting point between Jesus and others. Let us be like the people of the gospel who have carried the deaf and dumb to Jesus. - This is the task we are given today: we set right ourselves first with the participation in the mysteries of Jesus and we set right the life of others when we lead them to Jesus. We can only fruitfully and successfully lead them when we testify our life: testimony needs more of deeds than words.

TWENTY SECOND SUNDAY OF THE YEAR - B

TWENTY SECOND SUNDAY OF THE YEAR – B (Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8; James 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23) Theme: We are invited to carry the Word of God in Our Hearts Reflection: Listen to the word and practice it - We have to decide to follow and to serve Jesus. This is the message that we have reflected on the last Sunday. We have already decided to walk in the word and footsteps of Jesus. After meditating on the entire sixth chapter of St. John’s gospel we have joined our voices with that of Peter. Taking his words and making them our own we have accepted and embraced the prayer: “to whom shall we go Lord, you have the words of eternal life and we have known and believed that you are the Holy One of God.” We have also assumed to ourselves the words of Joshua: “As for me and for my family, we will serve the Lord.” With this we have made a choice to follow and serve the Lord until the last breath of our life. We are nourished by the words of Jesus which are spirit and life. We are satisfied by the living bread which is his body and blood. Now we are not for ourselves but for the Lord. It is for this reason of being nourished and satisfied with his word and Eucharist that we have decided to follow and to serve him. - What does it mean to follow him and serve him in its profound significance? It means this: carrying him in our heart. The hour of just listening to his word and to watching his celebrations is over. Now is the hour of living what we have received. How long we pass the time just with the tongue and with the ears? How long we keep on talking and hearing what the Lord has accomplished for us? Now is the time to ‘act with the heart’. Our life is not only that of the prophet who speak in the name of the Lord. Our life is more than that. It is that of the living testimony. Our words should testify what our actions are. Our actions should reveal what our words are. There should be coherence and balance between what we say and what we do. This is the true and sincere testimony of life. We live by our hearts and not anymore by our lips and by our outside appearances. The word of God takes us into the depth of our heart. We have to make a movement without stopping ourselves with the mind and with the tongue. - What to carry in our heart? We have to carry Jesus himself in our hearts. He is the master and ruler of our heart. He needs to be there. We have to allow him to be there. He seeks that we open our heart to him. He wants that we offer him our heart as his dwelling. What happens when we give our heart to him? He makes it his own. He fills it with his presence. He feeds it with his word and spirit. He uplifts it to the desires of heaven. It is here we have the ultimate meaning of Paul’s words: “it is not I who live but it is Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20). Who stays in our heart, that means, in our whole life, is Jesus himself. We carry within us none else that Jesus himself. Our words become his words. Rather, his words flow out from our lips. Our actions become his actions. Rather, his actions gush out from our hands. Our love becomes his love. Rather, his love emerges from our heart. This is the significance of having coherence in our love. This is the meaning of carrying Jesus in our hearts. The readings of today exhort us in this mode of comprehension and guide us towards the life of integrity. God wants the spirit of life than mere observation of the law: Sincerity of heart and the coherence of life - Israel is God’s nation (first reading): The people Israel is the nation elected and redeemed by God. They have to be always such a holy and blessed nation. They can sustain in being such a nation only when they carry the law of the Lord in their hearts. If we glance well the first reading from the book of Deuteronomy, we encounter three important phases in the admonition that is made by Moses to his people. o First – they live and enter into the God’s land: listening and practising the law and the command of God is the only step to have the life and to enter into the Promised Land: “Now, Israel, listen the law and the norm that I teach you, and you keep them in practice, so that you live and enter into the possession of the land that the Lord, God of your fathers, is to give you” (v.1). o Second – they become source of wisdom and intelligence to the world: by listening and observing the commandments of the Lord they will have the authentic knowledge and the true intelligence and the world looks at them for the inspiration. They become the fountain of world’s life because they have the true spirit of wisdom and knowledge. The words of Moses clarify this: “observe them therefore, and keep them in practice, because, that will be your wisdom and your intelligence to the eyes of the peoples, who, hearing all these laws, will say: ‘this is the great nation and his people are wise and intelligent” (v.6). o Third – they have to acknowledge and embrace the Lord who made himself near to them: they become the holy nation and chosen people of God because of the sincere observation of the law. They have their God very closer to them. No other nation has this possibility. Their God is so kind and loving that he wants to stay with and within them and he remains in their heart in the form of the commandment of love. He comes closer to them when they invoke him. Once again we have the question of Moses raised to his people to affirm this: “In fact, what great nation has the gods close to it as the Lord, our God, who is near to us every time we call upon him? Which nation has the just law and norm as the legislation which I give you today?” (Vv. 7-8). o In this way, Moses exhort his people to be a nation that is worthy of being called “God’s nation”. It happens when they give importance to the presence of the Lord amidst them. It happens when they hear his voice and practices the commands he writes on their hearts. This condition applies also to us. We have to listen and practice well the word of God in order to have the possibility of living and entering into God’s kingdom. We have to heed and observe well the law of God in order to become ourselves the fountain of wisdom and knowledge to the world. We have to give way to the command of God’s love in order to enjoy his presence with us. In a word, we too are invited to become God’s nation by listening to him and by sincerely opening our heart to him. - God’s religion (second reading): St. James goes little further to call God’s nation, the people who listen and practice the word, as a religion that is holy and without stain (James 1:27). He encourages his community with the truth. He says that Jesus Christ is the great gift and perfect present which has come down from heaven (1:17). The word that has descended from the Father and the word that has generated us as his new creation is Jesus himself (1:18). Such a Word is with us. Such a Word made itself the word of truth for us. Of this truth we have to be attentive and receptive. We cannot neglect either its presence or its power. The apostle askes his people to do two things: o First – we need to embrace the word with docility. The word is not just listened but it is planted in us and this word has the capacity to bring us to the salvation. The presence of the word is this: it is like a seed in our hearts and it is already implanted within us; and the seed that is sown in us ‘begins its growth’ and it starts its movement towards becoming bigger and larger. Our life starts taking its form and not according what we think and do but according to the presence of the seed and its work. The power of the seed is this: it reaps for us the fruit of salvation; it leads us to the gates of heaven; and finally it offers for us the possibility of being God’s chosen people. The only thing we need to do is to accept and to take to our heart the word that is presented to us as the greatest gift of God. The attitude we need to manifest in embracing this word is the docility. We need to be humble and receptive so that we permit the word to grow in us. We need to open the space for God’s word to act in us and to initiate its operation of making us new creatures. o Second – we need to extend our hands to the world. What is carried in our heart is not only for ourselves but is kept open for others. The word we have implanted within us enables us to stand by others and stand for others. The love that is interior becomes operative in the exterior world. It is here that we become the true religion of God: by reaching out to the needy and by keeping ourselves away from the world’s contamination (James 1:27). We have two parallel directions to take: towards interior life – we have to limit ourselves to the word that is in us without giving any chance to the world to control us; and towards exterior life – we have to cross the selfish boundaries and make a room for others to enter into our sphere so that they find their refuge in us. Thus, we are invited to become a true religion: a religion that has Jesus as the corner stone, a religion that has a commandment of love as the foundation and basement, a religion that has word of God and tradition as the pillars and a religion that has the sanctification of the Holy Spirit as the roof. In the word of the teaching of the Church: the word has the revelation as the voice, Jesus Christ as the face, the Church as the house and the mission as the way. - Testimony of the heart, not of the lips (Gospel): The gospel is very strong in proposing a life of sincerity and coherence. Jesus, taking the occasion of confrontation with the Pharisees who give lot of important to the outside rituals, offers an important teaching to his disciples. The question of the washing of the hands leads to the question of looking inside. The Pharisees and Scribes came to Jesus to question him: “why your disciples do not act according to the old tradition, but takes the food with the impure hands”? (Mark 7:5). In order to answer them Jesus quotes from the law and prophets they themselves know well. He reveals the condition in which they are: they praise with the lips but their heart is away from God (v.6). He shows them that they are not worthy of glorifying God because they neglect what has been handed over to them by Moses and teach to the people what they have invented for their convenient authoritative life (v.7). And finally, points out their futile observations because it is not coming from the love of God: “you, reject the commandment of God and observe the tradition of men” (v.8). - In a word, Jesus teaches them that what is more important, is not just the lips to sing for God but a heart that embraces him with the unconditional love. He invites them to realize that the observance of the law is important but it should not remain only peripheral and formal but it should enter into the depths of actual living. He calls them to understand well (v.14) that the structure of religion is needed but they should never remain exterior, instead, it should lead the people to the integrity and coherence of life. Ears are needed to listen to the word. Lips are necessary to speak the word. But what God desires is something else and something very interior and deeper: the heart. Carrying the word in the heart is very important. That means, building the coherence between the word spoken and the deed done is what Jesus is asking us to opt for. Therefore, the spirit of the law is to be taken into consideration instead of going for the futile observation of the exterior rites. We have to say good bye to the hypocrisy and live an honest and sincere life. To put it in the words of Pope Benedict in the inaugural homily of the synod on the Word of God: “when God speaks, he asks always for the response; His action of salvation demands the human cooperation; His love attends correspondence. (…). Only the Word of God can change the heart of man in profundity, and it is important, then, the individual faithful and the community enter into an intimacy with it.” Two tasks ahead of us: Leaving the hypocrisy and living the concrete love - As we hear the word of God today and as we see it implanted in our hearts today, we are also given two tasks of faith: Jesus calls us to abandon the life of double-mindedness or hypocrisy and he also invites us to welcome the life of love. - Leave out the life of hypocrisy: the first task of faith before us is to leave out the attitude of Pharisees and scribes. Their attitude consists in making many laws for the people but failing to practice them for themselves. As Jesus demonstrates, they lay big burdens on the shoulder of the common people but would not lift even a small finger to help them. What they speak is very sweet because they speak well. What they do is very pretending because they do not do what they speak. There is coherence between their lips and their hands because their words and actions go in two opposite directions. There is no integrity between their mind and their heart because they what they think is away from what they feel. This is the life of pretention and this is the life of double-mindedness and this is the life of hypocrisy. We are given the task of getting away from this kind of attitude. Lot many times we also pretend to be good outside but inside we are altogether different beings. We live with hypocrisy. The worst thing is that we search some excuses also for this kind of living. We blame that the society in which we live is such that we cannot but fall into such temptation. We blame that the politics are misguiding us in the various directions and thus we miss the way. We blame that the technological developments and the electronic media is tearing us apart with various misconceptions. Finally we justify ourselves for our attitude. In our personal life and to get the things done in our own life, we highlight the aspect of freedom and liberty. We say that we are free beings and we can do whatever we want. We forget conveniently the truth that the same principle of freedom applies to every sphere. The world is offering many options both for good and for bad and it is we who have to decide what to choose. The faith is offering the life of joy, peace and love and it is in our hands either to accept it or to reject it. The choice is ours. The decision is free. There is no room for blaming anything else than our own attitude. Therefore, instead of looking for some escape from the demands of faith, let us search for the integrity of life: let us connect both the mind and heart, and let us knot both the words and actions. Thus we may become the true nation of God. - Live the interaction of love: our faith is not just a formal way but it is a concrete task. We have to live our faith. Profession of it in the baptism leads us to its practice in life. Therefore, the faith or any liturgical celebrations are not mere exterior rituals. Even the Holy Eucharist what we are celebrating now is not just an external rite. Rather it is an interaction of love between God and us: God comes to meet us and we set out to meet him. We have to live this moment of love. Many times we fail to do it. We fulfil our Sunday obligation of seeing a mass. Very good. But not enough. We need to do more. External performance of the rite should make us enter into the depth of our heart, the fountain of love. Let us consider the interaction of human love. What happens there? We prepare well to meet someone we love. We want that those precious moments remain as long standing memories of life. We desire that those moments would not ever over. In other words, we try to prolong and preserve this interaction all through our life. Do we not need to have the same attitude in the case of love interaction between God and us? Do we really live that moment? Mass is the love interaction. Do we prepare well for this moment? Do we have enough time to spend for it or we get agitated if mass becomes long? How do we look at it? We have to examine and re-examine ourselves. We have to allow the love of Jesus flow through our heart. This happens when we listen to the word attentively and receive the bread sincerely. In other words, we have to live and share this moment of love interaction. Thus, we can become God’s religion. - We have these two tasks to fulfil: to throw out our hypocrisy and pretension; and to implant within us the interaction of love. This is the meaning of carrying Jesus in our hearts. And in this way we do justice to our reflection of the theme: We are invited to carry the Word of God in Our Hearts.