PENTECOST - Year C

PENTECOST – Year C (Acts 2:1-11; Romans 8:8-17; John 14:15-16, 23b-26) Theme: The Descent of the Holy Spirit and the Ascent of the Humanity Reflection: Pentecost – the Fiftieth Day of the Resurrection of Jesus - Today we celebrate the Pentecost – the feast of the Holy Spirit. It is the commemoration of the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Mary and the Apostles, the first community of believers. Holy Spirit is the greatest and ultimate gift of Risen Jesus. He proclaimed about the coming of the Holy Spirit. He promised the same the Advent of the Spirit. And finally He sent the Spirit of Truth and the Advocate of Life to his disciples. Thus, the proclamation and the promise are realized today with the hovering of the Holy Spirit. It is made a reality. - Pentecost is not the name of the feast. It is an adjective which underlines the Greek term with the meaning of the “Day”. Therefore, it is the Fiftieth Day. What actually means is the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Fiftieth Day. Why and what is this fiftieth day? It is the fiftieth day from the Resurrection of Jesus. Forty days the Risen Jesus appeared to the various believers including the disciples; he confirmed them in faith; he commissioned them to proclaim the Gospel of Life; he asked them to wait for the coming of the Spirit for the strength; then he ascended into heaven on the fortieth day; after ten days of Jesus Ascension Jesus has sent his Spirit into the world and on to his disciples. Therefore, it is on the fiftieth day of the resurrection that the Spirit has come down. The number “fiftieth” may not be the truth of revelation. The number is the Church’s creation with the deep study of the Scriptures. It is not, thus, as though God has followed the numbers correctly and has acted accordingly. God has no particular time and particular dates. He acts according to his Will and to his Goodness. - Fiftieth is the divine number: It is the Church, always under the guidance of the Spirit, who has understood the number of the fiftieth. In the scripture it is already indicated that it has divine connotation. It is the number of symbol and significance: seven is the holy number and the day after seven times seven (thus forty nine), the fiftieth is the holy number which reminds of the Year of the Grace of the Lord. Therefore, the fiftieth number indicates the “fulfillment of a time of God in history.” In the Old Testament it remembers two events: o The memory of the Covenant: the first event is the Hebrew feast, the feast which comes after the seven weeks of the Paschal escape from Egypt. In this feast they remind themselves of their alliance with God on the Mount Sinai. Therefore, they commemorate the day of the Law and the day of the Covenant which God has made with them through Moses. o The Year of God’s Favor: the fiftieth year was celebrated as the year of God’s favor. It is the precept of God himself that the people of Israel have to follow and observe. According to the precept the fiftieth year has to be proclaimed to be the year of pardon, liberation and restitution. The slaves have to be forgiven of their guilt. They have to be liberated. And finally, they have to be given back their properties. In a word, the slavery is eradicated and the liberty is proclaimed. This indicates that the Lord has showered upon them His Favor. Pentecost – the Day of God’s Grace - Announcing the time of God’s Action and Favor: The Old Testament celebrates every fiftieth year as the Year of God’s special favor. As we have already reflected, those who are under the slavery are offered the forgiveness, freedom and regain of their belongings. It is as though they have said good bye for the past and oppressed life and have restarted their life from the beginning. The old is gone and the new has begun. They are no more slaves but free children of God because it is He who has given them the favor of life. - In fact, Jesus himself started his mission with the proclamation of the event of God’s Favor which will be ultimately realized in Him. His first words remind us this truth: o “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19). Jesus repeats and realizes in himself the prophecy of Isaiah and thus he says “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21). o In the beginning of his public appearance he announced the kingdom of God: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news” (Mark 1:15). With these words Jesus inaugurates God’s kingdom of freedom, love and the peace in the Holy Spirit (Rom 14:17) and invites his hearers to accept it so that they will also have a new life of forgiveness, liberation and restitution. - Spirit will announce what Jesus has accomplished: today’s gospel gives the nourishment for the truth that the work of the spirit is only the continuation of what Jesus has already fulfilled. Spirit continues. The agents of the work of God are Jesus and the Spirit. Jesus established and confirmed the kingdom of God by his death and resurrection. Now it is the time of the Spirit to carry on the same work of sanctification and the salvation of humanity and the world. It is what Jesus already promises about the Spirit saying that “He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (John 16:14). Spirit does not act on his own without the command of Jesus. He does not speak of his own things and for his own glory. He only takes what is already proclaimed and fulfilled by Jesus and reveals their significance in the individual and community life of the believers. This is the work of the Spirit sent by Jesus. Thus, Jesus who is not physically present in the world after his ascension sends the Spirit to be present with the believer and with all so that all will be offered the possibility for God’s favor. - Spirit gives the testimony for the Christ’s event: the assurance of Jesus is that the Advocate is the ultimate testimony for his work. He says “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf” (John 15:26). The Spirit that the Risen Jesus will send is the Spirit of Truth. He will reveal the truth behind the words of Jesus, the words which seemed to be hard for his listeners (John 6:60-71). He will make them understand the loving design of God behind every word and action of Jesus. He has nothing but to speak and to act in the name of Jesus. He does everything on the behalf of Jesus and in the place of Him. Therefore, the only task of the Spirit in the world is to give testimony to the mystery of Jesus Christ. - Spirit is the ‘Breath’ of the Resurrection: After he has risen from the dead and while the disciples are still with the fear of Jews, Jesus has appeared to them and breathed on them. This breath is the breath of life and thus, is the breath of the Spirit and he continues with that: “receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22). Jesus has already given them the experience of the Spirit in that moment. The disciples have experienced with it feeling inside of them the peace and the courage. Only that they have to still wait for the descent of the Holy Spirit in the fullest manner and that happens in the Pentecost. The coming of the Holy Spirit is the fullness of life and God’s favor. This is what Jesus has promised and fulfilled. For this he has come into the world, manifested it with his words and deeds, accomplished it with his paschal event, and finally brought all his followers to it in the Spirit. The purpose of whole of life of Jesus is to announce God’s favor to all and call them all to participate in it with the power of the Spirit. Pentecost – the Day of Fire and the Day of Unity - Spirit of Fire: the Holy Spirit has descended upon the Apostles in the tongues of fire. It is one of the forms of the Spirit in the Bible. There are many images with which the Spirit is attested: the water, the dove, the wind and so forth. But the very moment of His Descent has taken place in the form of fire. Therefore, the fire must have some very special significance. The Spirit appeared in the tongues of fire. What are the common characters of fire? o The fire burns: the first quality of the fire is to burn something that comes into its contact. It makes into ashes what is put into it. It extinguishes what exists before. And the Spirit as Fire does the same. It takes hold of us and burns us to the end. It makes us into ashes. It burns what we are before. What we are will be burnt out and we become Spirit filled, as if we do not have anymore our life and but life of the Spirit. Our old existing will be extinguished so that breath of the Spirit refills us. o The fire moulds: the second quality of the fire is to mould. We here of the proverb: “the gold is tested by fire”. Here the fire has the capacity to give another shape to what is put in it. The better example in our day-to-day life is the iron put in the fire. In the fire the iron is shaped and reshaped as one wants. Iron is molded in and by fire. So also with the presence of the Holy Spirit. As fire it moulds our hardened hearts. Our lives are rocky and hard before the Spirit’s coming. With the coming of the Spirit we become mild and gentle. We become so elastic to be shaped according to the will of God. o The fire forms and transforms: the burning and molding characters of the Holy Spirit are destined to form us into the image of God and to transform us into his Children. Our old nature will be eradicated and we start new life. We are no more old creatures but new creatures with the efficacious presence of the Holy Spirit. The formation of our Christian life and the transformation of our Christian task begin its course with the coming of the Spirit. Spirit does not keep quite. It starts its work immediately. - Spirit of Unity: the first miraculous happening of the day of Pentecost is exactly this. The spirit gathers together all the believers of Jesus Christ under one roof. It creates in them the dimension of communion. This is what happened when the Spirit has come upon all those gathered here. The principle of the union and communion is the primary gift of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. o Without the Spirit, the division: There is a mention of the tower of Babel in the first chapters of the book of Genesis. What happened there is on the contrary to the plan and purpose of God. There, men have acted against the will of God. They wanted to exhibit their human knowledge and capacity. In their blindness of pride and arrogance they started building the tower so that they could reach the heavens. They rejected the being God’s creature and thus depending on him for their existence. They evil intention is manifested in their will to climb heights of heavens with their own capabilities. In a word, they have started acting against the spirit and will of God. What happened henceforth? God has divided them in confusion. He made them not to understand each other. All were talking in the same language but no one understood the other. The confusion of their language and the division of their work and finally, they collapsed in failure. It is an event in which it is proved that without God’s spirit of oneness no one can succeed. o With the spirit, the unity: the opposite happens with the coming of the Spirit. We see this in today’s first reading. There are people from different parts of the world gathered there. On the day of the Pentecost, after receiving the Spirit, all are filled with the gift of tongues. They started speaking in other languages and for the surprise of everyone (Acts 2:7), all the hearers are able to understand them clearly in their native language. It is all because “the Spirit gave them ability” (Acts 2:4). There was the confusion of the language and the misunderstanding in the case of Babel Tower. Now just the opposite. With the spirit there is the clarity of language and understanding of each other. o All the believers are united into one family of God: all those who profess faith share in the same grace of the Lord and therefore belong to the one family of God. We are not anymore expected to live in the confusion and misunderstanding. Instead, we have to manifest our openness to the other and our hearty comprehension towards the others. The space that is created by the Spirit is: all to be united with one heart and one soul. This was the first quality of the first Christian community filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:43-47 and Acts 4:32-37). The unity of the believers is exhibited ultimately in their sharing and offering each to the other in fraternity. Therefore, there is the fraternity of love and unity. Pentecost – a task to eliminate the distances and testify the life of community - World of division: now we are living in a world which is divided in all its spheres. The division is seen among the family members, in the society, in work and in the communities of Christian faith too. This is the reality that exists now, though often we negate it. o The technological development has proved itself failure of unity because it has cause many divisions in the various aspects. It has fallen short of its success of communion. It has given the possibility of individual and private life rather than encouraging the common and community life. In this way, although the technology has produced the impression of creating free choices, it has ultimately destroyed the common sense of the people because with the private life they have completely forgotten their community responsibility. o Growth in the other arias, like that of the psychology, philosophy and even sociology have given, rise only to the respect of individual. Of course, they are very important for personal growth and character development. But they are not enough for the Christian witness. They have blocked the testimony of the Christian togetherness, because they learnt to live personally and not for the community. o And in all the other spheres of human life, there are many hurdles that stop the virtue of personal sacrifice and the sharing of one’s talents and capabilities (not only material goods) with others. It is our experience in the daily life. The personal talents are mostly used for the accumulation of personal wellbeing, rather than, for the common good and for the building of just and loving society. o In this way, today’s society is consummated and contaminated with the individual and private life and success than the common welfare which is the part of building the kingdom of God. In a word, the world of today is the witness of various divisions rather than the unity which is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. - Christians are the witness of the unity: in this situation, we as Christians are called to be the first ones to live this unity and to proclaim it with their life and action. We have to be the living testimony for the God’s proposal and act of unity in the Spirit. In this way, we have to be united first with the same mind and heart. Our community or parish life should be of one family of believers. We have to witness this not with our words alone, but more effectively with our very living. In a word, we have to be An ANSWER for the World division and we have to be A RESPONSE to the World’s attitude of private life. - The question we have to ask is: are we really the people of the Pentecost? Then the answer becomes easy in the light of the word of God that is proclaimed to us today. Are we united ourselves first? Are we ready to be burnt by the Holy Spirit so that we are molded into the formed and reformed beings of God’s Spirit? Are we ready to be taken over by the spirit so that we become the witness for the unity of the Spirit? - The answer is not of a word but of our very life. Our daily living is the proof for the presence of the Spirit. We are the ones as such to remove the distances, between the families, between friendships, between those who work in the various working fields and finally between the communities of various forms. The only way for saying that we are celebrating the Pentecost is that we are full of the Spirit and the witnesses of Christian unity and life. - Therefore, let us remind ourselves that “We are the people of the Holy Spirit and hence people of Life”, and only then we celebrate the feast with the worthy manner. Glory be to the Spirit, Amen.

ASCENSION OF THE LORD - YEAR C

ASCENSION OF THE LORD – Year C (Acts 1:1-11; Heb 9:24-28; Luke 24:46-53) Theme: With the ascension of Jesus we are raised to the Capacity to Transcend Reflection Jesus ascends with the glorious body - Today we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension of Jesus. Jesus enters into the heavens. It is the important moment in the life of Jesus. He has come down from heaven and accomplished the purposed for which he has come and now is the time to go back and sit in the glorious throne from where he has descended. This moment of ascension complete the earthly life of Jesus even in his glorious body. Before the passion, death and resurrection earthly life of Jesus was in his human body. But once he has passed through the moments of suffering, death his body has become glorious. - It is with the glorious body that Jesus appeared to the disciples and other people after his resurrection. It is because of this glorious aspect that Jesus was able to enter into the room with the doors closed. It is because of this glorious aspect that Jesus was not recognized immediately by the disciples of Emmaus though he was walking with them and talking them about the scriptures. It is because of this glorious body that Jesus can appear to them suddenly and disappear from them in a fraction of a second. - Today Jesus ascends to heaven with the glorious body. He is taken up into heaven by the Father. He has the power to come down and has the power to go up too, just he has the authority to give his life and to take it again (John 10:18). He is always conscious of this and especially with this consciousness of his time to return to His Father (John 13:1-2) that Jesus has put himself towards Jerusalem and starting living the moments of glory in the humility and in the death on the cross. After gaining victory over sin and over death through his resurrection of the body Jesus confirms the glorious life that awaits all who believe in him. Assuring it further the hope of eternal life that Jesus ascends into heaven. Therefore, it is with the ascension that the earthly life of Jesus reaches its completion and it is with the ascension that the descent and the mission of the Holy Spirit has its beginning. Ascension is a moment of Joy and also a moment of Mission Entrusted - Jesus did not ascend into heaven immediately after his resurrection. He would have certainly done it. He preferred to remain with his own for some more time. It is not only to prove that he is truly risen. Apart from confirming them in the faith of risen life, he has something more to do. He has to give final testimony to all that he has done before the resurrection. His testimony of risen life was consisting in his donation of peace, unity and love to his people so that they all stay together as one community of believers. This is what we have been reflecting all through the time of Easter. To have a glance at what we have meditated upon we remind ourselves: that Jesus has offered peace to the frightened disciples; that he has given the comfort and consolation to the disparate disciples of Emmaus; that he has donated to them the possibility of remaining with him and be united to him with the resurrected life as the binding force. - This shows that Jesus had to accomplish the mission of affirming and confirming his disciples in the faith and hope of the eternal life. As a continuation of this mission Jesus entrusts the same vocation of calling the people of all nations into the faith that can save them. Jesus accomplishes from his part what is to be completed on earth. Even commissioning of his disciples to go and proclaim the gospel is part of his Risen Mission. only after doing this that He ascends into heave. This is what we hear from the readings of today: “After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God… when he has said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up” (Acts 1:3, 9). And again “So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven…” (Mark 16:19). He has given them the mission of preaching the good news of risen life and only then he ascended into heaven. - This indicates that there is certainly a connection between the resurrection and the ascension: the connecting aspect is the mission of proclamation and testimony. Jesus after showing them the glory and joy of resurrection he does not leave them like that but gives them the mission of testifying this glory and joy to the world. This mission in which we participate is the knot between the risen life we are called to in our baptism and the eternal life we will receive with our ascension into heaven. Therefore, we have the joy of having life of Jesus and we have also the vocation of spreading this life through our word and work. This is the preparation we can do for the moment of our ascension one day into heaven. Human capacity blocked by sin and re-opened by Jesus - “Reach High”, “Hold the skies” and “Climb to the heavens”, are the words we often use in our life. This is the aspiration every man has. Everyone wants to “go up” in life, “reach the heights”, and “touch the sky” and thus wants to climb to the heaven. Human being is capable of doing this. Naturally he is given the capacity for transcending what is below and to reach what is above. - Human being is a composite of both body and soul, thus a physic and a spirit. He has a need of the body and a need of the spirit. More than a need he has a desire: A desire to become better and best, a desire to supersede all, a desire to stand on the highest point of achievement. He is in tension between these two realities which are integrated into him as one being. The body seeks for something visible, touching, and earthly. The spirit instead looks for something invisible, beyond peripheral and thus other worldly. This tension that makes man both being and becoming. As a being he is in the world and as a becoming he wants to go beyond this world. - It is natural aspiration of man to grow and to better himself. The natural philosophy also affirms this that man is capable of transcending himself because he is spirited being, not just biological being. The theological understanding of man also confirms this that man is “the image and likeness of God” and thus has the dignity of his fellowship with God, the divine being. - The desire is took the wrong direction: the desire of human being to utilize his natural capability to reach heights is thwarted by his selfishness and pride. Biblical revelation helps us understand it better. The desire of first of man has taken wrong step and wrong decision. He desired not only to go beyond himself and to reach certain heights but more than that “he wanted to be God”. This is the first sin of man and we call it original sin or original guilt. By desiring to be like God man has lost his lost his natural capacity to ascend. He became incapable because he failed to judge between good and bad and finally failed to choose good and has fallen to the temptation of equating himself with God. From here the natural desire of man to reach heights has taken another direction. In everything man stated looking for his own achievements and success in selfishness and in pride. The result is that he has become purely earthly and this worldly. He started suppressing his spirit which strives for goodness and for something beyond this world. He started neglecting and destroying the cries of the soul which longs for the life of happiness and blessedness. As a result, the doors of heaven and the possibility of transcendence are blocked in some way. Alone and by himself, Man finds himself incapable of attaining what his spirit desires. He needs someone to open the doors of the skies/heavens. He needs someone who can bring back to him the possibility for transcendence. He needs someone who can buy back to him the natural capability which is lost by his sin of pride and arrogance. It is Jesus who has come to rescue man from this condition of incapacity and put him in the right way of self-transcendence. - In Jesus the Heavens are Opened: the heavens are opened by Jesus for his coming and for his going back, thus for the incarnation and for the ascension. By his death, resurrection and ascension Jesus has re-opened not only the doors of heaven but also the blocked incapacity of man. Man is made capable again. Man is raised from the fall of grace. Man is given the capacity to transcend. The way is prepared, the truth is revealed and the life is offered and it happened in Jesus who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Today’s liturgy reassures us this truth that in the ascension of the Lord our humanity is elevation to the divine living and divine nature. - Peter too proclaims the truth that in the resurrection and ascension of Jesus we have become participants in the divine nature: “His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Thus he has given us, through these things, his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust, and may become participants of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:3-4). We are made holy. We are made capable of godliness. Our human nature assumes the divine nature. Our body becomes glorious with the effect of resurrection. Our spirit is place in the capacity to transcend and reach heights with the effect of ascension. - Paul also acclaims our condition of being elevated with the fruits of the paschal mystery of Jesus, that is, with his death, resurrection and ascension: “God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved – and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:4-6). We are saved. We are given mercy. We are raised to new life. We are elevated to the grace of sitting with him in heaven. With the death our human old nature is buried and with the resurrection we are called to participate in the divine and glorious nature. - The work of God in Jesus Christ and in the Spirit is this: that God knows the helplessness and pathetic condition of man and thus he himself comes down in the person of Jesus to drag man out the pit of incapacity. He does this with the very act of assuming the same fallen nature of man. He has taken upon himself the fallen and deteriorating nature of man as the consequence of sin and has raised it to the glorified and transcending divine nature. We are called to Ascend and Transcend: we are placed in the ascending movement - With the work of Christ and in particular with his resurrection and ascension Jesus has made fallen man divine and holy. Man is brought back to the ascending movement. With the selfishness, pride, arrogance of technological development on the one hands, and with the fears of limitedness and desperation on the other, Man is in continuous and constant struggle in his journey towards the transcendence. To such man, an answer for his paradoxical existence and strength for his frightened living is provided in the very person of Jesus Christ. Therefore, the solution is available. - The availability of the answer or solution is not enough. First thing is that man should come to the consciousness of that God has already answered all his existential problems. Secondly he should believe that he is elevated to the capacity for transcendence. Thirdly, he should step ahead to assimilate to himself the dispositions available. Only then man can fully become capable for making this movement towards the heavens – reaching to the skies. - Once he knows where he stands with the faith made available in God he always has the possibility to “look upwards”. This looking upwards, growing in heights has the positive meaning. It is not as the first man has done with desiring to become ‘like God’. It is looking up with hope and not with arrogance. The hope of rising above himself and reaching out to God who is the sources of this ascension. - We, as Christians, have to understand that we are the children from “above” and we belong to the nature and sphere “above”. This knowledge leads us to the truth that we have no stable tent here on earth but only up in the heavens. This truth which keeps us looking above as the disciples were looking above as Jesus was ascending. They did not want to keep their eyes down or their sight on earth. It is here that the angels remind them this ascension will take place also in their lives when they carry on the vocation that he has called to. - Look above but work down: the ascension also teaches us that we are in the world and we have to work in and for the world, at the same time keeping in mind that we are not of the world. Our citizenship is not of this world. Our permanent living is not in this world. Our tent is only temporary here. One day we have to fly. One day we have to rise above. One day we have to reach the heavens. But the time we have now and here is the time of hope. - With the hope as our weapon we keep on battling with the earthly nature that makes us fall again and again. With the hope as our instrument of growth we strive for the realization of Kingdom by and through us in the world. And with the hope as our guard we rise every moment above ourselves so that we come nearer and nearer to our future ascension. Conclusion: One thing we should keep in mind always: as the result of the ascension of Jesus we are called to Ascend and Transcend: we are placed in the ascending movement. Our true humanity is being available for the work of the Spirit in and through us. Our true divinity is to look upwards with the hope of meeting our Lord one day in His Glory. Mean while what we have to do is: to keep ourselves completely in this movement towards the Glorified Lord.

SIXTH SUNDAY OF THE EASTER - YEAR C

SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER – YEAR C: (Acts 15:1-2, 22-29; Rev 21:10-14, 22-23; John 14:23-29) Theme: As Resurrected Christians, Let us “be in” the shelter of the Lord Reflection: God Pitches His Tent Amidst Us - We are in the six Sunday of Easter. This long celebration of Easter joy encourages to be with the risen Lord. This is the time to make a decision of coming out of our earthly belongingness. With the Easter strength and hope, we learn to break open the earth and its passions and pleasures, which often misguiding and trouble creating, and thus resurrect from it. We do not belong to the earth or to this world anymore because we are risen with the Lord and the risen Lord is not of this world but of the heavenly world. We carry in us and along with us both the joy and the task of the Easter celebration: Joy of being risen with Jesus and the task of being risen people. The Christian task of being risen people is reminded everyday and every week in the liturgical celebrations. The present Sunday, the present week, we are renewed to take up upon ourselves the task: the task is to be in the shelter of the Lord always because we are risen with the Lord. - Being in the shelter of the Lord is not our human merit but the merit of Jesus Christ who has opened to us the possibility of entering into the heavenly house. What is the heavenly house? It is the eternal presence of the Lord. If we allow ourselves the Lord to enter into our life, our life itself becomes the heavenly house. Indeed, the eternal desire of the Lord is this: to stay with his people and in his people. He has expressed his desire of “living” with his people, or making his shelter among his people, long ago and from the beginning of time. We can see the glances of the shelter of Lord in the people of Israel. The Lord, Yahweh, who wills to be always with and for his people, makes himself a pillar of cloud, and thus brings all his people under his shelter. It is with the shadow of his presence that he leads them into the promised land. The people of Israel have journeyed for very many years under the shelter of the Lord and thus finally reached to their freedom in the promised land. The life and the journey of Israel, God’s chosen and beloved people, is only the pre-figuration and the preparation for the eternal journey of the entire world into the shelter of the Lord. The promise of the Old Testament is realized. The preparation has been completed. The time has come finally. God’s promise is that he would remain with his people forever. The preparation of the way for Lord and its fulfillment is now complete. Finally Jesus Christ, the Word of God, has come into the world. It is in Jesus Christ, his eternal and only begotten Son that God has made his permanent shelter among his people. God made himself one of us. God has come down to be with us. His immense love for the humanity made him to belittle himself and to appear in the human form. All this is to realize his desire of becoming a “shelter” for the man and the world. Thus God becomes ever “Emmanuel”, God-with-us. Thus God builds his house among us. All this happens in and through Jesus Christ. St. John reminds us the significance of Jesus’ birth: “God pitched his tent amidst us” (Jn 1:14). - In the mission of Jesus – in his birth, life, death and resurrection, and sending of the Holy Spirit – God has established his shelter permanently in the world and for the man. All these events of Jesus Christ on earth are included and manifested in the great Eucharistic Action. It is with the entrustment of his body and blood that Jesus makes his presence in the world until the end of times. Eucharistic presence – the ever living presence of the Lord amidst humanity – is already initiated in the Incarnation when Jesus assumes the human nature and enters into it for being very closer to the humanity. The same presence is made permanent in the Cross and resurrection. The same presence is being manifested every time when the Eucharistic celebration takes place in the “memory of the Lord”. Bringing into memory of all that Jesus has said and done is the work of the Holy Spirit who is given to us by the Risen Lord. Thus with the sanctifying grace and empowering work of the Spirit the Lord continues to offer the possibility of staying in his shelter. Not only to the small group of disciples and few followers of Jesus, but it is extended to everyone. God opens the space for everyone without any differences and barriers. It is the in the reach of every man who wills to be with the Lord. Readings: Love is the Foundation of God’s Home in the World - The shelter of the Lord, the sending of the Holy Spirit, the remembrance of Jesus are the important words found in today’s gospel. Yet they do not stand separated. They are not mere individual words. They are very closely connected with the knot of love. The bond between them can be comprehensible if we enter into the reflection of the passage. Jesus exclaims: “those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them” (v.23). It is love for the Lord that makes his presence possible. God becomes our home when we love him. Love has the immense power of uniting. It unites not only two bodies and two minds, in the physical and psychological spheres, but also unites two hearts in the spiritual level. True love brings an unbreakable union between the persons. Such a love is the basement for the coming together and above all for being together. Indeed, it is this unconditional love that made God to come down and stay with the humanity. He makes his tent in the midst of man and he continues his presence with him. He expresses and manifests his love for man in various ways. He waits with patience for man’s response of reciprocity. Although, often his partner, the man, fails to recognize the love and neglects it because of his immersion in the worldly things, God still offers the shelter of his home to him just because love does not turns back. It is purely because of his love that God has come down to the humanity. When the humanity loves and observes God’s words, God is ever ready to extend his wings of his presence. This is the assurance of Jesus in today’s passage. With true love man can make God come down and stay with him. Other way round, God is very eager to make his home with the one who calls on him with love. - The discourse continues. God comes and makes his home with us. It is the Spirit of the Lord that makes the heavenly home possible on earth and in the life of each lover of the Lord. Love makes possible the coming of the Holy Spirit. God never abandons his people. He never removes his tent from us. He never throws us out of his home. His home is eternal. It is always with us. The home – the presence of the Father and the Son – is now made available to the humanity with the descending of the Holy Spirit. Now the shelter of the Lord is present in the teaching and in the remembrance that the Spirit provides. Jesus assures us again the fruit of love – the Holy Spirit: “the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you” (v. 26). The Holy Spirit is the fruit of love between the Father and the Spirit. The same Spirit creates a bond of love between God and man by his work of reminding us of the presence – the shelter – of Jesus who has established it and left it for our living. Since the Spirit is the fruit of love, wherever people are in love he is present in them and with them and thus makes possible the home of the Lord. His teaching and his reminding has a destiny: a destiny of creating the home of love (shelter of the Lord) amidst the believers and followers. This the reason why the entire last discourse of Jesus rotates around the intimacy of love, in the particular manner in the Gospel of St. John. Even though today’s gospel passage appears only in few verses (23-29), its message is concentrated on the loving home that God establishes and continues in the midst of humanity, in the heart of each and every one of us. Conclusion: We are “the home” for the World - In the world there is more absence than presence of the Holy Spirit. In the precise words: the world is blocking the presence and work of the Spirit with pride and arrogance. What are the symptoms that the Holy Spirit is lacking in the world? The symptoms are found in the various forms: the attitude of defense, of fear and of confusion instead of openness, of recognizing and accepting the other; the attitude of creating circles, groups and borders instead of respect, equality and justice; the attitude of institutionalism and formalism where the laws and formalities have their say instead of opting for the human values and working for the profound needs of the society. On the other way, with the presence of the Spirit there will be the peace, justice and unity. And all these are compressed in one word: love. There is also the presence of the Spirit. There are people who offer themselves for the wellbeing of others – the human society. They go out to meet all the hardships and fight against the injustices and stand for the truth, only because they love – they love their life as the gift of God to live for others. But these people who make visible the presence of the Spirit are few in number. Their presence and work is often considered as futile and not of the standards to the growing world. Their humility appears as their helplessness. Their meekness appears as their weakness. Their love is treated as the selfishness by the world. - The world with its innovative ideologies, philosophies, sciences and technologies offer to us different shelters. They seem very attractive and beautiful. Often we become victims for this. We feel that we are fortunate to be in the modern world with innumerable possibilities of life. All these are indeed necessary for the human growth. But often we fail to understand that there is another aspect: the spiritual growth. In the hurried and competitive life we forget that we are losing our spirit, which means, we are losing our inner happiness, joy and peace. The absence of these virtues is the absence of the Spirit. We are covered by many other false shelters. Thus we become only the people who look well externally but internally losing our true life. Is there still possibility of getting into the home of the Lord amidst there confusing and conflicting situations? Yes, indeed. We have the possibility. Jesus is always available for us. His presence is made reachable in the Eucharistic celebration. In it and through it he speaks to us and he gives himself to us. He wills to come to be with us. He will that we also come to stay with him. Just one step towards him is enough. Jesus takes many steps to meet us. The Easter time reminds us this: the Risen Jesus visits us to be with us and to make his eternal home in us. Let us realize this and listen to him. Let us transform our love for the world and its passions into the love for Jesus and his presence. The Lord comes to make his home with us. In turn, we become homes of love for others. - We are “house of God” for others: Our God is the One who feels one with us and comes down to meet us. In his love he is with us. He becomes our home. We are called to be in this home by the Risen Lord. The closed doors of this heavenly home are opened and the entrance is made possible by his death and resurrection. We have our identity of being in the house of the Lord. The Christian identity of being in the house of the Lord entrusts us also with the task of becoming ourselves “a loving home” for others and for the world. let us take up this task and set out to open the doors of our love so that we become truly the risen Christians. Therefore, as the Risen Christians we have to stay in the house of the Lord and become “a shelter” for the others. Alleluia.

FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER - YEAR C

FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER – YEAR C (Acts 14:21b-27; Rev 21:1-5a; John 13:31-33a, 34-35) Theme: We are United with the Knot of Love because We are Risen with Christ Reflection: Love means “taking the pain” - We are entering into the fifth Sunday of the Easter. The Joy we have received and experienced on the Day of Resurrection is still within us. We carry it in our hearts. The Easter time, indeed, is the time to live and testify the joy of new life, the new life given by Jesus Christ. To live and to testify is the Easter task we need to bring it to completion in our Christian life. In fact, every week we are reminded of the special task we receive from the Lord. If we look back into the past five weeks we can understand it. On the second Sunday after Easter, a special mission of faith entrusted to Thomas: Jesus asks him to be “believing” and Thomas recognizes him as “my Lord and my God”; it is the same mission we need to carry as the consequence of our participation in the resurrection of the Lord: in faith we need to recognize Jesus as our Lord and our God. On the following Sunday, a special mission is given to Peter this time: Peter expresses his ultimate love for Jesus and Jesus gives him the mission of feeding the sheep; it is with the same mission we are sent into the world: to love the Lord and to offer ourselves for the salvation of others. The Sunday that followed also manifest a special attention we need to pay to the Lord’s voice: Jesus knows his sheep and his sheep listen to him; the mission we are given is this: listening to him attentively, knowing him profoundly and following him in obedience. - Today, the fifth week of Easter, we are called to immerse ourselves in the ocean of pure love that Jesus reveals, the love manifested in the passion and the cross. There is no love without pain. Smooth love is not a love at all. Love means giving what we are without any reserve and without any hesitation. Giving what we are means going out of ourselves: pushing back our time, our preoccupations, our energy and our own being and rendering them to the other with whom we want to build up the relationship of love. Thus, this giving out “what we are” requires a painful sacrifice. Unless we are not ready to bear this pain of extending what we are and becoming what the other is we are not really loving. It is here the first person “I” disappears and only “you” remain. The result will be that there is only one being – not two. There is a need to surpass even the “we” in love. Coming together and being together, “I” transforms into “We”, shows the interest of the one for the other and two work for each other. Thus “we” is a more positive and productive attitude of human society. But, in the aspect of love, even this “we” need to be transformed into the “You”. No “I” and no “we”. Exists only “you”. “You” becomes everything for the one who loves. Neither “himself”, nor “us” has the precedence. “You” is the part and parcel of the heart that is in love. Is this kind of relationship, called love, possible in the human life? The answer seems little difficult one. But once there takes place a true and authentic love, one thing is sure: nothing is impossible for love and in love. Not only in the divine sphere but even in the human sphere it is (can be) possible. - Love without a “will to bear a pain” is just superficial and selfish. It appears to be love and it is named as love but in reality, it is not love at all. True love needs to sacrifice. The aspect of sacrifice is not just a requirement in love but it is an attitude of love. There are few common elements that have to be sacrificed. Egoism: “my life and my wish”. Selfishness: “If I am well, it’s enough, I do not need anything more”. Use of the other: “I need you only as long as you are helpful to me and do something for me”. In reality all these elements are common in the everyday human relationship. But love is not just a relationship but it is one step higher: it is a bond in which one BECOMES the other. The question still remains: it is possible? It is not possible in these condition unless one is willing to bear the pain and make a sacrifice to leave behind what is he and what is his. If this is so, then love is possible even in the human sphere. Indeed, the true human life is just for creating and spreading this love. If we still fail to understand it better what it means to bear pain and to make sacrifice in love we have one greatest example: Jesus Christ on the Cross. He has destroyed the seeds of egoism, selfishness and use of the other: he never speaks and does for himself and in every word of his it is only his Father’s will that is expressed. He takes the pain of the man whom he loves and takes his place and thus he BECOMES the other on the cross. All this he accomplishes, and he reveals his true love for the human being, not just in his divine power but in his human powerlessness. Divine glory and divine love take the human form and reach their ultimate revelation in the human nature: Jesus is truly divine and truly human. Readings: Glory and Love are “linked with the event of the Cross” - The Context: In the Gospel passage of today Jesus uses two important words of Christian faith and they are: glory and love. Prior to the entrance into the verses of the passage, it is useful to be situated in the context. The context of the Gospel passage is the last discourse of Jesus to his disciples. His last discourse contains the essential element of Christian life and Christian discipleship. Jesus opens his intimate heart and pours it out to his disciples. Already the Chapter 13 of John begins with the same nature of the departure of Jesus. Many aspects are expressed and many acts are experienced in this last discourse. The aspects expressed are: service, love, unity and prayer. The acts experienced: the washing of the feet and the Eucharistic offering. Today’s short passage is taken from the last part of the thirteenth chapter which always prepares for the discourse of the fourteenth chapter. Few conjunctions that are used here reveal the essence of the reading. “When” (v.31): it is when Judas has gone out to betray him that Jesus starts speaking these words. “Now” (v.31): it is the hour of departure and at the same time it is the hour of completion of the purpose for which Jesus has come. “For little more” (v.33): there is only little time left for Jesus to be present with his disciples and to be in this world and this indicates that he is in his last moments of earthly life. “From this” (v.35): an example that is set and the path that is prepared will the code of Christian existence and this indicates the origin and the basis of Christian testimony. - Glory and Love: The words that Jesus uses – glory and love – are (can only be) understood from this context and from these conjunctive words. o Glory: Jesus speaks of the glory which does not pertain to the human logic and human definition. The glory he speaks is the divine glory. He says: “Now, the son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him” (v.31). God the Father is glorified in Jesus. God is glorified not just because Jesus has proclaimed beautiful words of the Kingdom. God is glorified not just because Jesus has worked astonishing miracles. The “now” shows the actual action through which God is glorified in Jesus. Yes, God is glorified because Jesus has entered into the hour of accomplishing the will of God through the perfect obedience. Jesus is there to depart and to arrive at his Father by fulfilling all that is planned for the revelation of God’s love to the world. Therefore, Glory comes not in “staying where one is” but in moving from his place (departing) and in completing his mission (accomplishment). o Love: Jesus gives a commandment of love. He says: “I give you a new commandment: that you love one another. You love one another as I have loved you” (v. 34). There are three things to reflect in this. Firstly, it is a New commandment. Secondly, Jesus himself is the Model for this love. And finally, love is the essential character of Christian life. First, the novelty of the commandment: indeed, the commandment of love is not totally strange and new to the Jews because there are various references in the Old Testament also. Then, where is the newness that Jesus brings: love for all. It is not just love for the friends and neighbors and hatred for the enemies. It is love extended to all without any barriers. The hour of hatred, violence, power and prejudice is over. Now reigns only love and love wins everything. The Old Testament love is not abolished but is perfected in the Act of Jesus in his taking the cross and bearing the pain for others. Second, Jesus is the best example of this love: Jesus commands to love one another not with any kind of love but with love he himself lived and revealed. Human imitation is based on the example of Jesus. How did Jesus stand different and new in his love towards the humanity: in Jesus love becomes “self-donation” to the other and in Jesus love becomes a “being-for-the-other”. The ultimate expression of love is here: in giving oneself to the other and becoming the other. Third, love is the fundamental Christian character: love is not just a word but it is an action. In Jesus this action reached to its climax in the sacrifice of the cross. - Both glory and love are connected only with and in the cross: the discourse of Jesus on the glory and on the love is linked with the verse “I am with you for a while” (v.33). After a while, Jesus is ready to confront the most important moment of his earthly life: taking his cross and going towards the Calvary. While he is going away, he does not leave his disciples alone, but keeps them united and for this he gives the commandment of love. Therefore, it is through the cross that the glory is achieved and it is through the cross that the love is manifested. If the cross is removed from the scene, there is no glory and love. The glory and love are the fruits, not of just the cross but of the resurrection. And in turn, the resurrection is possible through cross alone and through the death on the cross alone. Conclusion: No Christian Life without the Cross - Christian life is characterized only by cross. Jesus never promises a bed-roses life in this earthly existence for his disciples. The way that he paved for them is the way of the cross. The truth that he reveals is the ultimate love that undergoes the pain of the passion. The life that he offers is the eternal life – life of other-worldly – that is, the participation in the resurrection of the Lord. If the cross is removed from the life, there is a no Christian life at all, as if there is no Christ without the Cross. - Yet, the cross is not the end of our life. There is a victory. There is spiritual transcendence. We move from the cross and through the cross into the true and eternal life. If we forget this truth we fail to live as an authentic Christian. Christian is none other than “the other Christ”. Christ is present in him and he represents Christ. Christian, thus, has the task of bearing both “the figure and mission” of Christ: being for him and acting on behalf of him. He has in fact done this: he “is” for man and he acted “on behalf” of man. This testimony is possible only with the aspect of love. - The message of love is the characteristic of the Christian life. We may speak of love and we may give lectures on love for hours and hours and if we do not “come down to be and to act” for the other, it is not love at all. The message remains only in the words and is not transformed into concrete action. Jesus did not just say “I love you” but he showed his love by offering his life for the loved ones. Let us go and do the same. Let us spread the message not by words but by being. Let us stop speaking and start acting. However, the acting in the place of the other and for the other has its climax in pains-bearing and cross-carrying. Through this we manifest love and only through this we enter into the glory of the Lord. Therefore, let us remind ourselves that we are united in the bond of love because we are resurrected people in the Risen Christ.

FOURTH SUNDAY OF THE EASTER - YEAR C

FOURTH SUNDAY OF THE EASTER – YEAR C (Acts 13:14, 43-52; Rev 7:9, 14b-17; John 10:27-30) Theme: Let us listen to the voice and follow the footprints of the Good Shepherd Reflection: Jesus is Our Good Pastor and we are His Sheep - We enter into the fourth week of the Easter season. We still carry within our hearts the joy of resurrection. We are risen with Christ and thus we are no more slaves for the suffering and death. We have already leant live with constant joy the difficult moments of our life, even to confront the death with the smile on the face, because of the faith in the Risen Jesus and because of the love we have for him. Jesus has come out of the tomb victorious and has given the power to us also to break open the tombs of our depressed lives. All this is the content and message of resurrection. The three Sundays that have gone ahead have presented to us the hope we need to cherish. We have reflected how Jesus has confirmed Thomas in the true faith in the Sunday that followed Easter. We have meditated how Jesus has entrusted his mission of feeding the sheep to Peter after leading him to the true conversion of the heart with the confession of love. Thomas has become new creature after encountering the Risen Jesus personally. Peter has become a new being after meeting the Risen Jesus with the miraculous catch of the fish. So too all the disciples, and the many others, who have seen Risen Jesus have become new persons and in turn have come the witnesses of life. “Becoming Anew” is the gift of the Risen Jesus. He offers them the possibility of being renewed and re-consecrated. In fact, he leads them to the status of chosen people of God. He reaches them to the God’s fold. Here Jesus finally manifests himself as the Good Shepherd. - The readings are quite different today. They do not belong to the resurrection narratives. The Church puts forward the readings taken from the discourse of Jesus on the Good Shepherd and thus from the tenth chapter of John. The Church emphasizes that the ultimate realization of the self-affirmation of Jesus of being a Good Pastor takes place only after he has confronted the death and risen from the dead. The word becomes a reality. The promise becomes an actuality. He said that he is the good shepherd. Now he has become the true Good Shepherd. It is in this context that the Church brings us into the presence of the Risen Pastor. Let us thus celebrate the Sunday of Good Shepherd. We have to continue sing the Psalm: we are the sheep that he guides. For the general context we can contemplate on the Psalm 23, the hymn of the good shepherd. God himself is the Divine Shepherd. As a shepherd he leads his people: firstly into the good pastures and restores life, secondly into the secured resting places, and thirdly into the divine life with the rite of anointing. The same God who is the Divine Pastor sends his Son to be a guide and shepherd. Jesus reveals the nature of the good shepherd and finally he realizes in his own life and becomes an Eternal Pastor. That’s the reason why today we have before us both the figure and mission of the Good Shepherd. Let us ponder over his presence and his call and know what he is for us and what we are for him. This leads us to understand and to live the authentic rapport that has to exist between the Shepherd and the sheep. Readings: Listening – Knowing – Following the Risen Shepherd - The context – Jesus responds to the Jews: The gospel passage is taken from the discourse that Jesus makes during the Jewish festival of the Dedication of the Jerusalem Temple. Jews come questioning Jesus whether he is the Christ (Jn 10:24). It is not only here but in various other instances we see Jews questioning Jesus about his identity (Jn 2:18; 5:16; 8:25). The same question of Jews and religious authority about Jesus is found also in the other gospels (Math 26:23; Mk 14:61; Lk 22:67). They insist him to answer openly and clearly explain his personality and mission. It is here that Jesus explains the rapport between the Pastor (the Christ) and the sheep (the Church). At the beginning of the chapter 10 of John, the declaration of Jesus being the Good Shepherd is presented. Jesus explains it very elaborately enumerating the distinction between the two types of shepherds: one works for the payment and another works for love. The first one is the hirer who feed the sheep for the wage and when some danger happens to the sheep he runs away to safeguard himself. The second one is qualitatively different. He is the good shepherd who stands ahead of the sheep and saves them even at the cost of his own life. The long narration is evident in John 10:1-21. Even after explaining so clearly, presenting to them the figure of speech, the Jews did not understand the parable of the pastor. Now, once again, they demand Jesus to give a clear revelation of his identity. In reality, they fail to expose their willingness to listen to Jesus. Moreover, they find difficult to comprehend and to believe him because of their pride and arrogance. The language that Jesus uses is not a new one for them. It is very common thing. Moreover, they are well versed with the Psalms which explain God as the Divine Shepherd. They are all shepherds and they can understand easily what Jesus is telling. But they remain untouched and unmoved because of their unfaithfulness to God. They only pretend with the incomprehension. For such kind of people it is useless to explain because, not their ears and not even their heart is ready to accept him. knowing this Jesus answers them very shortly. The gospel passage is derived from this response of Jesus. Though the response appears long, what is given in today’s liturgical reading is the first part of the answer of Jesus to the Jews. - Good Pastor – calls, knows and offers: The attitude of the good shepherd is evident in the discourse of Jesus. The three-way relationship of the shepherd to the sheep: he calls, he knows and he offers himself. Jesus is the Good Shepherd. He calls his disciples and his chosen one. Not only gives them the possibility of entering into his fold, but above all, he knows them. He knows the existential condition and the situation of his sheep. The knowledge of them leads him to an immense love for them. He offers his life. He does not leave his sheep all alone. He stays with them until the end. He redeems them. He sees that no one can trap his sheep and makes them fall into the pit. He carries them, if necessary, on his shoulders. He leads them all into one fold, so that there will be only one shepherd and one sheep. - Good Sheep – listens, knows and follows: The attitude of the sheep, on the other hand, is also three-fold. The sheep has to listen to the voice of the pastor, has to enter into the authentic knowledge of him and finally has to follow in his footsteps. The three verbs, listening – knowing – following, have an spiritual significance. o Listening means not just hearing. It means embracing the voice and placing it in the heart. Jesus speaks and gives his word. The word is given and destined to be received. The sheep has to put it in the heart with intensity. The listening needs the attention and demands the obedience. The one who listen with the willing spirit cannot but obey it. It is from this obedient embracing of the voice that the knowledge for the one who gives the word is generated. Listening leads to the knowledge of the speaker. o Knowing means not just getting information. A genuine knowledge is far beyond just cognition. It means, in profundity, to enter into the very personality and life of the other. When one listens to the other, he get knowledge of him. He knows what he is and who is. It generates not only interest in the person but also a desire be with him. In other words, the knowledge of the person opens the space for the friendship and love. It is this pure knowledge that leads one to the following the person. o Following means not just going after one person with blind obedience. It means to take the stand of the other. It means to learn from his principles. It means to imbibe the qualitative personality and action of the other. It means, finally and ultimately, to become the other. Conclusion: We are the Good Sheep - Choice with the Knowledge: We are called to be the sheep that belongs to the fold of Jesus, the Good Shepherd. When we receive his call, we need to enter into the knowledge of him. With the knowledge of him and with the conscious awareness we have to make our choice. Though we have knowledge we are still free to make our own selection. We may accept or we may reject. The choice is ours. But the pure and authentic knowledge of Jesus certainly leads us choose him. Jesus only invites us and reveals the true life and wishes that we are enter into it but he never forces or insists anybody to accept it. He leaves the decision to the individual. Therefore, if we really listen to the voice of Jesus, we can enter into the relationship with him, and the bond between him and us becomes stronger and stronger because of love that is generated. With this we choose Jesus to be our true shepherd. - Leave aside other ways and walk in the Way: Our choice of Jesus cannot be a superficial and formal following. Jesus demands: “if anyone wants to follow me renounce himself, take up his cross and follow me”. The true opting for Jesus asks us for our full participation in his life. We need to leave, first of all, all other things. We are indeed circled by many other voices, many other ways and many other ideologies. We need to analyze and see what is authentic and true in these. Once we know that one way is genuine we need to leave aside all other ways. It is not that we do not know or we do not want to know the other voices. We need to know all of them. We need to enter into the content of them. We need to distinguish the elements that are within them. We have to be aware of its usefulness and also limitedness. Only with the complete knowledge and analysis we need to chose One Way. Once we chose Jesus, we need to throw aside all other things as merely a means to place ourselves in the true Way. Jesus has done the same thing. In order to choose the Way and Will of the Father, Jesus has renounced his heavenly glory and with obedience has trodden the path, the Way, until it becomes the Way of the Cross. Living for Jesus and becoming “other Christ” is only the aim that we need to have once we choose him. It is the example given by the Eternal and True Pastor, Jesus Christ himself. Therefore, let us listen to the voice and follow the footprints of Our Good Shepherd. This is the Easter task that the Church entrusts to each of us today and from today. Alleluia.

THIRD SUNDAY OF THE EASTER - YEAR C

THIRD SUNDAY OF THE EASTER – C (Acts 5:27b-32, 40b-41; Rev 5:11-14; John 21:1-19) Theme: Let us throw ourselves into the sea of death in order to rise up with Jesus Reflection: Risen Jesus manifests himself to his beloved ones - Risen Jesus continues to manifest himself: We are in the third week of the Easter season. In all these days and the days to come, we continue to be in the joy of risen Jesus. He is risen. We rejoice with the hope because we will be also resurrected one day. Jesus himself appears and testifies his resurrection with his coming to his disciples in the glorious form in order to increase in them the faith. He does not ascend immediately. He has two important things to do before ascension: rising the ground-fallen disciples with the desperation and sending them on the mission of God’s love. It is for this that Jesus visits his disciples often after his resurrection. His visit has a purpose. He manifests himself as truly risen so that the disciples can overcome the darkness of doubt and enter into the light of faith. It is with this purpose that Jesus has come to encourage his twelve dear ones. - To lead his disciples in the mission: Jesus continues to reveal his resurrected glory to lead his followers in the mission. Though he appears to all the twelve, every time he entrusts a particular mission to a particular disciple. Last Sunday we have heard of the example of Thomas. In fact, Jesus appears to him and asks him to be a faithful and thus entrusts to him the mission of faith. With the Thomas we have also learnt to recognize and acknowledge the risen Jesus as “Our Lord and Our God”. Jesus comes to visit his disciples for the third time. Today we have the third visit of Jesus in which he entrusts “the mission of feeding the sheep” to another disciple, Peter. Indeed, every visit of Jesus is a mission-oriented manifestation. Readings: Jesus entrusts to Peter the mission of Feeding the Sheep - Disciples break open the closed doors and come out: The resurrected Jesus comes to meet his disciples for the third time. This time, not in the closed doors of the room but in the open space. By now, the disciples have opened their doors and have come out. By now, their fear did disappear. By now, they have received the grace of the Risen Jesus. By now, they have wide open their eyes of faith. Once they have reached to such a spiritual enrichment with the power of resurrection, they need not sit in the house worried and depressed. They are no more closed people but risen ones. As the risen ones they move out. First among them to go out is Peter and following him the others: “I am going fishing” and others immediately respond, “we will go with you” (Jn 21:3). They have come out and worked hard but that night they have not caught anything. - Human capacity ends and God’s grace begins: The disciples have tried for the whole night. They worked hard. They have put in all their strength. But there is a limit to the human power. There is a confines to the human capacity. Human fatigue may face failures. But the story is not over for the Christians and Christian faith. At the end of all this human abilities, after the night of human failures, certainly there enters the divine presence and power. At the end of the night there is a light. At the end of the struggle there is a success. At the end of human loss, there is a divine intervention. This truth is revealed in the gospel of today: the disciples have failed to catch the fish and there enters Jesus to lead them to the enormous quantity of the fish. Only thing needed is to have faith that there is always one who stands by us and to have confidence in the words of Jesus. Jesus tells his disciples to throw the net on the right side of the boat and “they do it” and their positive and faithful response to his word made the miracle possible. With the miraculous fish, there is also a recognition of the Risen Jesus. - The exclaim of joy – “It is Jesus!”: The one disciple, most loved by Jesus, by name John realizes suddenly after the miracle that it is Jesus and he exclaims it with the joy. The attitude of Peter is quite different: when he heard that it is Jesus, he jumped into the sea. There are two important elements to understand here: o First – Peter’s nakedness in the presence of the Jesus’ Greatness: The similar incident takes place when Jesus calls Peter for the first time (Luke 5:1-11). There also Peter finds himself in the helplessness after the night of a great struggle for the fish and Jesus tells him to put the net on the right and there is a great fish. When seeing this, Peter realizes his sinfulness: “go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” (Lk 5:8). In front of the wonderful presence of Jesus, Peter knows and accepts his own powerlessness and incapacity. It is only after he has kept open his life before Jesus that he receives the mission of fishing the men. Even the risen Jesus want to make Peter realize once again his mission of fishing the world and feeding the sheep and he does this today once Peter jumped into the waters. He jumps into the water, not because he is afraid of Jesus’ presence this time, but with the hope of reaching his risen Lord as early as possible without waiting for the boat to arrive at the shore. This shows the eagerness and readiness of Peter to be with the Lord and to witness his great act of love. o Second – The gesture of Baptism: The jumping of Peter into the waters and getting up at the feet of Jesus reminds us of the gesture of baptism. In the baptism we are immersed in the waters of death and rise up with Christ into the new life. This places the truth unveiled: we need to pass through the waters of suffering, passion and death and only then we can enter into the life of divine grace. If we do not immerse ourselves, there is no possibility to rise up. This also gives us the hope of enduring our daily difficulties. We can endure them because at the end of them there awaits for us the joy. Only when Peter does this immersion and thus participates in the life of Christ, he also the possibility of rising with Christ in the glory. This is the hope we need to have in the face of impossibilities we think of. - Jesus entrust his mission to Peter: Jesus has seen the attitude of Peter who is prepared to immerse himself into the faith in Him. Jesus wishes to confirm this still further. For this he asks Peter three times the question: Simon Peter! Do you love me more than these? (vv. 15-17). Prior to his Passion, Peter has rejected to acknowledge Jesus for three times. Jesus must have surely been offended very much with his attitude. Forgetting this, Peter feels offended when Jesus asks him the question for three times. Jesus asks the question, indeed, not to offend him, but to restore Peter in the faith and love. Peter has to overcome his human fragility and fear to witness the truth. Peter has to affirm his ultimate love for the one who calls him, for Jesus. When Jesus has understood that Peter is now ready and only then he transfer his mission to his care by commanding to him: “feed my sheep”. How much love Peter has poured into the mission of Jesus can be observed in the way he has offered his life. He accepts with joy the crucifixion but with the up-side-down. In fact, the first reading narrates the testimony of Peter. He is no more frightened to talk of Jesus in public. Three things are evident in the testimony of Peter. Firstly, he courageously responds to the Sanhedrin: “we must obey God rather than any human authority” (Acts 5:29). Secondly, he bravely revives his mission: “we are witnesses to these things” (Acts 5:32). And thirdly, above the words, their witness is confirmed by bearing the persecutions for Jesus: “they rejoiced that they were considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name” (Acts 5:41). The same Peter who has negated the knowledge of Jesus, has become his ardent testimony. This is possible only because he has allowed himself “to be transformed” in the faith of resurrection by throwing himself into the waters of love of Jesus. Conclusion: Only the one who undergoes pain for Jesus is worthy of glory - The risen Jesus is in his perpetual glory, not because he has proclaimed beautiful things of the Kingdom of God, not because he has worked wonders and miracles of healing and restoring the sick, but because and only because he has accepted and endured the suffering that has come on his way. He has lived his passion with utter obedience and with ultimate love. It is this pain borne that brought him the glory. The Book of Revelation, the second reading of today, makes the point clear. “Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” (Rev 5:12). The lamb is glorified, but the glorified lamb is not an ordinary lamb. It is a lamb that is slain. It is lamb that accepts slaughtering. This manifests the truth once again why Jesus has carried with him the wounds even after his resurrection and within his glorious body. They are the sign of entering into glory. The lesson is here for us: we need not worry when we need to face the tribulations, accusations and incomprehension in life. They are only, and the only means that make us worthy of glory. Bearing upon ourselves the wounds of the cross of suffering and living our pains with joy is the only Christian way to reach to the heights of God’s ultimate blessing. Jesus is the greatest of all examples. Following him, the Apostles and number of martyr-saints have entered into the glory by witnessing Jesus even at the cost of their blood and life. The Christian truth remains the same for ever: the pain for Jesus leads us to the glory in the same Jesus. - Seen from the view point of the gospel the lesson can be learnt in this way: we need to immerse ourselves in the ocean of suffering in order to rise up with Jesus. The path we have received with the baptism has to continue until the end. We need not lose heart when we encounter difficult moments. The night will be over and the day will come. The weakness will pass away and the divine power will replace it. The empty boat will be refilled with the great quantity of fish only if we listen to Jesus and throw our life nets in the place where he indicates, in the Church. The joyful word and the rejoicing smile are to be the answers for the senseless comments that are made on us and about us. We lose nothing if only we follow Jesus. Indeed, we will gain more honor and glory, a honor that is authentic and the glory that lasts forever. Therefore, let us throw ourselves into waters of death in order to rise up with Jesus.

SECOND SUNDAY OF THE EASTER - Year C

SECOND SUNDAY OF THE EASTER – YEAR C: (Acts 5:12-16; Rev 1:9-11a, 12-13, 17-19; John 20:19-31) Theme: We Need to Recognize the Risen Jesus as “Our Lord and Our God!” Reflection: Risen Jesus appears and encourages to grow in faith of him - Eight Days are over. The Easter joy is still in our hearts. We carry with us the new life we have received from the Risen Jesus. We have been risen with Christ. We have learnt from him to rise above the material earth and to travel towards the things of the heaven. The Easter message has brought us to this day – the day of recognizing fully the Risen Jesus as our Lord and our God. - Jesus is risen from the dead. He is still on earth. He wishes to reveal the resurrected glory to his disciples. The revelation of the risen life is needed so that the disciples will come back to the knowledge and acceptance of Jesus in the fullest manner. Jesus would have gone into heaven soon after his resurrection but he does not do it immediately. He does not climb into heaven because he has something more to do. His mission is accomplished: the mission of manifestation of God’s salvation to the world through his life, death and resurrection. The accomplished mission needs to be entrusted for its continuous realization in the world until the times. This commission of the mission is not yet over. Jesus has to complete this entrustment before he ascends into heaven. For this he stays back after his resurrection. - He has already chosen the disciples prior to his passion. He has even placed himself in their hands with the Eucharistic Supper. He has given himself to their responsibility while giving them his Body and his Blood and commanding them to do it in his memory. But it was all before the great Action of the Cross and Resurrection. It was all before the disciples come into the fullest understanding of him. Now the things have been transformed. The new life is inaugurated. The doors of the heaven are opened to the fallen man. The eternal glory is manifested in the resurrection of Jesus. The possibility of salvation of the world is made available. Every man is enabled to access to the offer of God’s redemption. All this has taken place not just in the death of the Lord but in the resurrection of the Lord from the dead. It is because of this death is necessary to enter into the glory of resurrected life. Jesus has manifested this truth and unveiled its necessity by his own personal entrance into the experience of death and new life. - This is the mystery of salvation that God realized in Jesus Christ. In turn, Jesus wills that this mystery is extended to the entire world through the continuation of the same mission he has accomplished. For this he needs to entrust the mission to his disciples. Prior to the entrusting of the mission, he needs to call back all the dispersed disciples. With the arrest of Jesus, almost all of his followers have run away from him expect few who have followed him secretly and finally just one remained until the cross and has been entrusted with his mother. They have abandoned Jesus. They have left Jesus alone. More than anything, they have not placed their trust in him by following until the end. They have run for their life with the distrust and unfaithfulness to Jesus. But Jesus knows that they have acted this way only because of their ignorance and incomprehension of the true mission that he has to fulfill. Now is the time. Jesus is risen. He has to bring back those of his hidden disciples. He has to fill in them the courage. He has to put in them an heart of comprehension of the true life and a commitment to it. He has to do it personally. It is for his Jesus did not go to his Father immediately after his resurrection. He remains for few more days to show himself to his disciples. He stays back in order to meet them in their places and to lead them to the true place of Calvary and of the Garden of Life. - The risen Jesus sets out to seek them. The gospel reading of today appears in this context. It is not only the episode of the recognition of Jesus on the part of Thomas but it is the episode of all the disciples who have found again the great Joy of seeing the Lord, dead and risen. They know truly that he is put to death. Now they know certainly that he is alive again and is with them. This is the true faith and authentic testimony of the disciples. Once we enter deeply into the gospel passage we understand that the faith of the disciples empower us to recognize Jesus as Our Lord and Our God. Readings: Faith overwhelms with the Joy of Recognition: “My Lord and My God!” - Risen Jesus Acts and Speaks: The profound entrance into the gospel leave a space for the deeper meaning of the appearance of the risen Jesus to his disciples. Jesus goes out to visit his disciples where they are. On the same day of his resurrection Jesus offers his risen presence to them. The gestures and the words of Jesus have an immense effect on the life of the disciples. We will reflect upon the attitude of Jesus in his action and in his words. o The evening of that day, the first day of the week (v.19): what is “that day”? It is the day of the resurrection. The evening of the same day of his coming back to life, Jesus walks towards his followers. Why the evening? May be in the human logic, evening indicates the hour of darkness, hour of desperation and hour of discouragement. But in the Christian logic, biblical understanding, “the evening” has a special significance. It is an hour of recompense for the work done: it is in the evening that the workers are paid their wages (Math 20:8). It is an hour of healing: it is in the evening that Jesus has cured many sick people (Mark 1:32). It is an hour of nutrition: it is in the evening that Jesus has multiplied the five loaves of bread and two fish and fed them (Math 14:15). It is an hour of interaction with Jesus: it is in the evening that the risen Jesus meets the discouraged disciples of Emmaus and gives them the gift of his sight (Luke 24:29ff). And now again, it is in the evening that Jesus comes to reveal his risen life to his disciples. Thus, evening is an hour of visitation of the Lord. o Jesus enters even if the doors are closed (v.19): The doors are closed. Indeed, the hearts of the disciples are closed with the fear of giving their life for the Lord. But their closing of the doors of their house or their hearts is not an impediment for the Jesus’ entrance. Jesus can still enter and Jesus enters. Often, our life is closed to the arrival of Jesus. Our conscience is closed to the voice of the Lord. However, Jesus speaks and enters. It is his wish to enter and be with us. o He stands amidst them (v.19): Jesus is the centre of our life. He has come into world only for this: to be with us (Emmanuel) and to pitch his tent among us (John 1:14). Jesus participates in our conditions and situations and takes them upon himself as the centre. o “Peace be with you!” (v.19): This seems to be the first word of Jesus to his disciples after his resurrection. The disciples indeed need peace. They were frightened. They were hidden. They closed themselves. They lost peace and they lost life itself. Jesus knows their condition and that is the reason why he utters his first words: peace be with you! In the same passage the phrase appears three times. It shows how much they are in need of peace of mind and heart. He does not pacify them just with the words but he gives them a proof of his resurrection: the wounded body. o He shows them his hands and his side (v.20): Jesus carries the wounds of the cross in his body even after his resurrection and even after taking the new life. It has a great significance. The suffering, the passion, the death and therefore, the cross, is an element we need to carry always. It is the treasure of our Christian life and it is the richness of salvation. For this, we, the Christians need not fear of bearing within us the wounds. It is only after the cross that there is a resurrection. It is only after the death that there is life. o Disciples experienced a great Joy in seeing the Lord (v.20): The fear has disappeared. They remained wonderstruck. Their joy was immense. Although, they have heard Jesus speaking of his rising on the third day, they truly did not understand those words. Now they have personally seen the Lord. Their joy is doubled when they confirmed him to be Jesus by looking at the signs of the nails in his hands. o He breaths his Spirit and entrusts the mission (vv. 21-23): Breathing the spirit means giving the life. It happened in the beginning of the creation when God breathed into the nostrils of the first man his spirit and made him live. It happens now in the beginning of the new creation when Jesus breathes his spirit to his first testimonies and makes them live. It is the Spirit of the Risen Jesus that the disciples receive. They do not fear anymore to share in his mission – mission of giving their life for the Lord and for the world. - Faith means Recognizing the Lord (vv. 26-29): The first visit of the risen Jesus takes place when Thomas is not present. He is not there. He has gone out. He has missed the possibility of seeing the Jesus. He returns to the place. The disciples express their great joy: “we have seen the Lord.” He does not will to listen to them and believe them. He has his own mode of confirming the reality. He wants to have a personal experience. He wants to touch Jesus. He wants to put his fingers in the wounds that the nails have made and put his hand in his side. Only then he is ready to believe. Until then he places himself outside of the true joy of risen Jesus. Jesus does not want to lose even single one of his disciples. He comes to meet them again after eight days. The doors are still closed. Jesus enters and utters the words of peace. Immediately he calls Thomas: “Come my dear Thomas. You want to do something. You want to test and attest. Come! Look at the wounds in my hands. Put your hand here in the side is pierced.” Thomas realizes the amount of his distrust in him. He recognizes and exclaims with the faith: “My Lord and My God!” (v.28). This the true recognition that emerges from the true faith. The other disciples have only experienced great joy but not a great faith and that’s why they are still in the closed doors and they are still incapable of coming out to testify him. On the other hand, Thomas is different. He did not believe in the beginning because he wanted personal experience. Once he has got that experience his faith is firm, not only in the overwhelming joy but also in the recognition of the risen Jesus as His Lord and his God. Once the recognition of the Lord takes place, the doors have to be open and the barriers between Jesus and us have to be broken. That is the true Easter we can celebrate and live. Conclusion: Let Us Open Our Doors – to the Lord and to our neighbors - Open the Heart to the Lord: The Faith of Thomas is given as a model for us in the Gospel of today. We miss the possibility of meeting Jesus. But Jesus does not miss us. He does not want to lose us. Though we close our hearts Jesus is capable enough to enter and affect our life. Closed doors do not matter to him. They cannot in anyway block his coming. We need to recognize the Lord who stands by us and amidst us. His presence is to be accepted. Thomas recognizes and accepts Jesus as his Lord and God. Immediately he opens his heart to the Lord not only to acclaim him as his Lord and God but also to go out and proclaim it with the testimony of his life. The faith does not remain personal always but it reaches to the other to affect him in the spiritual life. We need to learn such an attitude of recognizing Jesus. We need to break the sealed tombs of our life. We need to break the chained jails of our closed life style. It is faith that makes us open our hearts to the Lord. Do we have such faith in the Risen Jesus? If we say “yes”, we need to break open our heart to the Lord. As a consequence, we open also the door of our house to those who knock them. - Open the House to the Neighbor: We receive the Joy of Life in this Easter celebrations. What we receive is not certainly for ourselves only. It is for sharing with others. We receive the life to extend it to our neighbors. Christian life is to be elevated with the confidence in the other. The trust in the other is what is lacking in the present world. We live as though we do not have any neighbor at all. We are not interested in the other and often we become indifferent to the needs of the others. It is not certainly a Christian attitude. Christ is never for himself: his entire life is for the Father and for the world. So also our Christian life: to be for the Lord in whom we believe and to be for the neighbor with whom we live. Therefore, we need to keep the door of our life open to those who wish to enter. Our true recognition of the Lord makes us move to the other with the doors of our hearts open. This is the true Easter testimony that the risen Jesus expects from us.