PRAY AND LIVE YOUR SUNDAY
July to September 2007
| 1st July 2007 | 13th Sunday of the Year | Lk. 9: 51-62 | |
| 8th July 2007 | 14th Sunday of the Year | Lk. 10: 1-12, 17-20 | |
| 15th July 2007 | 15th Sunday of the Year | Lk. 10: 25-37 | |
| 22nd July 2007 | 16th Sunday of the Year | Lk. 10: 38-42 | |
| 29th July 2007 | 17th Sunday of the Year | Lk. 11: 1-13 | |
| 05th Aug 2007 | 18th Sunday of the Year | Lk. 12: 13-21 | |
| 12th Aug 2007 | 19th Sunday of the Year | Lk. 12: 32-48 | |
| 19th Aug 2007 | 20th Sunday of the Year | Lk. 12: 49-53 | |
| 26th Aug 2007 | 21st Sunday of the Year | Lk. 13: 22-30 | |
| 2nd Sept 2007 | 22nd Sunday of the Year | Lk. 14: 17-14 | |
| 9th Sept 2007 | 23rd Sunday of the Year | Lk. 14: 25-33 | |
| 16th Sept 2007 | 24th Sunday of the Year | Lk. 15:1-32, | |
| 23rd Sept 2007 | 25th Sunday of the Year | Lk. 16: 1-13 | |
| 30th Sept 2007 | 26th Sunday of the Year | Lk. 16: 19-31 |
| July 1, 2007 | 13th Sunday in Year - C | Wait for God’s Hour of Grace |
Jesus: We begin yet another hour of prayer in which we will look at some of the fundamentals of Christian living. Begin with the usual time of silence and stillness so as to quieten your mind and heart. Put aside all extraneous thoughts and feelings, particularly things that absorb or disturb you. Create a kind of vacuum within you so that the Word of God will resound and echo deep within you for a long time, even. Then, tell Me briefly how you have fared in your spiritual effort of the past week.
[Time for silent prayer and reflection]
Jesus: As you can see, every event of My life revolved round the Father’s plan or “hour.” In your prayer today you could identify with Me as I set My face towards Jerusalem, or you could choose to identify with any one of My disciples, or even with the people of Samaria to whom the disciples were sent. By way of example, this is how you could identify with Me. Right from the time of My baptism, I was fully conscious that I was One who was ‘sent’ by the Father with a very definite plan and purpose – to reveal the compassionate heart of the Father especially to invite wayward sinners back into the Father’s loving embrace. All through the history of Israel, you will have noticed a constant backsliding on the part of Israel, the chosen nation. They sincerely promised obedience, but within a matter of hours they would be back at doing their own will in open disobedience to the Father. That seems to reflect the tendency in every human heart – everyone seems to find it so difficult to obey. But sometimes, their resistance would get even violent and so for one desiring to fulfill the Father’s plan this could involve facing suffering and possibly death too, maybe even a violent one – the opposition coming from those who insisted on doing their own will and following their own designs.
Now there are two ways a person can face suffering and eventual death. The first is to wait till it happens and then accept it lovingly and patiently. This is the way most people would approach it, and that’s fairly reasonable too. Why should one unnecessarily court suffering ahead of time? As it is, there is enough of misery in the world, and everyone has a fairly big share of this unpleasant commodity. However, the danger with this approach is that when suffering and rejection actually hit us, we could tend to shy away from it, partly because we are not ready and alert. And then, before one knows what is happening, the instinct of self-preservation gets the better of us and we find ourselves running helter skelter to secure our lives, as the apostles did when My actual passion began.
Because of all this, the better though more difficult way
is to be ready and willing even to anticipate that difficult moment, to
go out to meet it even before it overtakes you. It is with this in mind
that I “set My face towards Jerusalem” and sent My disciples
ahead to prepare the way. However, they failed to understand that this ‘way’
had to include rejection. You will notice immediately how they panicked
in fear and wanted to resort to violence before they themselves were the
victims of it. They had not understood the basics of the Christian following.
They had been in My company, but nothing much had changed in their thinking;
their paradigms of life were still those of the Old Testament. You will
recall how on the night before I actually suffered and died, I gave My disciples
a ritual meal in which to express this same approach – of not waiting
till things happened, but of taking charge of one’s life and with
a faith-filled love surrendering it totally into the Father’s hands!
Unfortunately, although initially My followers responded well, yet after
some time here too they began entering into the dynamic of the meal, but
only superficially – without a real meaningful surrender. Somehow,
most of My followers seem to be satisfied only with words, like the others
mentioned in today’s Gospel; these make tall promises, but most certainly
will not live them out.
When we come to consider your own behaviour, how do you find yourself reacting,
especially when there is question of something painful or negative happening
to you?
Adorer: Lord, I am no better than the disciples of old, as I too tend to run away from unpleasant situations. And what is worse, I tend to justify my cowardly behaviour, giving all kinds of plausible reasons. But deep down, I know that this is not the truth: basically I am still afraid of losing my life and all that is precious to me. Lord, what would be a real and lasting remedy for this kind of spinelessness?
Jesus: I am happy that you asked Me about this because there is a good and lasting remedy, if you are prepared to use it. The reason why you feel like escaping from all these sufferings is that you feel that once lost, there is nothing to look forward to beyond this suffering. But if you can convince yourself of the truth that God, the Father, holds you in the palm of his hands and will never abandon you and has an unbelievably great reward waiting for you (Himself), you will find all fear melting away and disappearing for ever. Remember the suffering servant song in Isaiah 49:1-6 in which the prophet reminds himself that God had chosen him even from his mother’s womb, that he has called him by name, that even if a mother forgets the child of her womb, God will not forget his chosen ones. These truths enable him to remain steadfast – and the same will happen to you too. But, you would need to train yourself to remember these truths repeatedly. This is the reason why the Jews were asked to write this on parchment and tie it around their foreheads, on their arms, to nail it to the doorposts and so on, so that whichever side they turned, they would remember it and be able to face life with confidence.
However, mere external reminders will not suffice. You need first of all a deep personal experience of God’s love which is so different from human love. Then you would have to recall and relive this experience of the Father’s tremendous personal love of you. This conviction must somehow burn itself into your consciousness and become a part and parcel of your thinking. Only then will it effectively help you. Nevertheless, don’t forget that this conviction also is a gift of the Father to his beloved. So, spend the rest of your prayer time in silence interceding with the Father for this precious grace… but do this by remaining in perfect silence and stillness. Let God’s Spirit abiding within you do the interceding. Remain in it for as long as you can. As you move out of prayer, spend a few minutes in intercession for others. Remember, this hour of prayer is a luxury given to you not just for your benefit alone, but also that others may benefit through you. Conclude with a hymn, bhajan or ejaculatory prayer of your choice.
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| July 8, 2007 | 14th Sunday in Year – C | Strength and support in community |
Jesus: We are ready to enter into another hour of prayer – and so we set aside the first few minutes for attaining a deeper inner stillness and peace. It is only in this kind of atmosphere that My words can have any lasting effect in your life. Don’t omit a brief resume of last week’s effort to live out the prayer you made.
[Time for silent reflection and prayer]
Jesus: Today’s Gospel passage from Luke will remind you of the second time I sent out disciples, this time in pairs, emphasizing the community dimension of apostolate. So, you could choose any one apostle/disciple as your companion and dialogue with him, or maybe even interview a pair that has just returned from their apostolic endeavours. As an example, we shall attempt such an interview.
As you listen to the account of the disciples, you cannot but be struck by how often the word ‘I’ comes in their conversation. They were so exultant that they had been able to work such great miracles. They had been sent out to establish God’s kingdom, but they seemed to seek more the thrill of their own success. Did you notice that I had to remind them of this when I said: ‘Yes, I have given you power… yet, do not rejoice… rejoice rather that your names are written in heaven.’
Adorer: Yes, Lord, this did strike me, not so much because I was judging the disciples, but because that is exactly the way I go about my little tasks. I am so full of the Self, that in every situation I seem to be primarily interested in what I am going to get out of it. “What’s in it for me!” sums up my attitude in most of my endeavours. Lord, why am I so worried about my own self-gain? Is it because my self-worth is so low? And what does it mean when you say ‘that your names are written in heaven’?
Jesus: Yes, one reason why you and others too, focus more on the Self, is that your self-image is so fragile. Secondly, you possibly see yourself only as a hired worker or labourer before the Father, without much standing in his presence. Hence you would have to depend on the work you do to gain his appreciation. That is why My suggestion to the disciples is: ‘rejoice that your names are written on the palm of the Father’s hand.’ This means that you are ‘someone’ in the eyes of the Father, his beloved (and not just a hireling), that he has chosen you as his mouthpiece or instrument. It is his opinion of you that makes all the difference. Once you are convinced that the Father cares for you ‘personally’ (and not just as a number or a faceless pawn in the Kingdom), then you will automatically find yourself focusing less on the Self and more on the Father and his actions in your life.
Remember, that in the Scriptures, the name a person bears stands for the person himself. Thus, when you ‘glorify the Father’s name’ (as required in the Lord’s Prayer) you glorify his person; or again when you dishonour a person’s name by mis-spelling, mis-pronouncing or caricaturing it, you dishonour the person himself. Now when I say that you should rejoice because your ‘name’ is written in heaven, it simply means that YOU, as a person, are noteworthy, you belong to ‘heaven’ or to the Father and that he will never disown you, nor allow you ‘to hurt your foot against a stone … he has given his angels charge over you (see the whole of Psalm 90/91 for this point). In short, God appreciates you not for the work you do (that is true of a slave), but for who you are – this is true of the son or family member!
Remain in silence allowing this thought to penetrate deep into your consciousness till it generates a strong and unshakable faith in the Father’s love for you. Visualize the difference that this would make in your day-to-day activity once you are deeply convinced of it. Try to be as still as possible while you interiorize this truth – and after you have spent a good amount of time in this, spend a few minutes in petitions for the needy as you emerge from your prayer. End with the usual vocal prayer, hymn or bhajan.
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15th Sunday in Year – C Go and do the same
yourself
July 15, 2007
Jesus: We begin one more session of prayer with the usual procedure of calming your mind and heart to be able to listen better. Be firm with all extraneous thoughts and feelings and also use the help of slow, rhythmic breathing. After you are sufficiently quiet mentally, recount your experience of the past week briefly.
[Time for silent reflection and prayer]
Jesus: For today you could choose to identify with the lawyer who asked the question, or again become one of the players in the story. You certainly would not need much help to play the part of the priest and levite, nor of the wounded man and much less of the Good Samaritan. The important point would be to enter into their feelings and experience the event from the inside, as it were.
I would suggest that you take the position of a neutral observer who happens to be on the roadside while the scene unfolds before you. You first notice the hapless traveller merrily trudging along… see how he is suddenly waylaid and mercilessly beaten and robbed and finally left for dead on the side of the road. How he must have prayed that some passerby would rescue him, or at least help him get back to his destination. Hearing someone approach, he looks up expectantly and hopefully, only to see the priest (and later the levite) uncaringly pass by. What is worse is the expression on their faces… as if he was a leper - they seem to express disgust for his unfortunate condition. It makes him feel as if he were a dangerous animal, as his cries for help fall on deaf ears. After the levite too showed a similar reaction imagine him thinking that he would perhaps have to remain there till his death – alone, condemned, helpless. His cries, even to God, seemed to be futile.
As he sees the Samaritan approaching, he would have thought that even though he needed help, it would be better if the Samaritan did not offer it because of the cultural distance between the two groups. And yet, the obvious compassion on the Samaritan’s face, his readiness to break his own plans for the journey and his attempts to reach out to him, would have changed all that. In spite of an inner repugnance, he senses a deeper bonding on the level of their common human-ness, and he possibly would have appreciated his own ‘human’ condition for the first time in his life. He certainly was not an animal, there was still something good and human in him. Each gesture of the Samaritan made his eyes bulge with surprise and his heart expand with gratitude: the wine and oil poured lovingly on his wounds, the careful bandaging – and to top it all, he is lifted and placed on the mount while the man himself walks the remaining distance to the inn. All this is simply unbelievable – was he dreaming or was this something real?!? And to climax it all, he can’t believe what he hears the man say as he prepares to leave the next day: ‘Take care of him and I will pay you …’ Was he really worthy of such loving treatment?
In silence, and one point at a time, drink in deeply and identify with the feelings of the wounded man – then try to realize that this wounded person is you. This is the way God deals with you when you are mauled by sin and selfishness, and left for dead. No one cares to even cast a second glance at you when you are in this condition, much less befriend you in any way. But He will not abandon his own: ‘he does not crush the bruised reed, nor snuff out the smouldering wick!’ Appreciate the Father’s love for you, as you have never done before. Allow it to percolate into every pore of your skin, till it heals you of all self-doubt, anxiety, worry, self-condemnation and the like. Just knowing that you mean such a lot to Him would change everything in your life.
Unfortunately, most often people just skim over the parable (and most other Gospel stories) without squeezing out of it every drop of compassion the Father has for sinners. If you wish the Word to be really a lamp for your steps, and the words that bring eternal life, then you will have to give it time and deep listening. Do that in stillness and silence for as long as you can now. Finally, as you move out of this silence, spend a few minutes interceding for those in need. Remember particularly those who are entangled in the web of suffering and are looking around for some help. Reach out to them with love and compassion even if you don’t know who they are concretely. Conclude with the usual vocal prayer or hymn.
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| July 22, 2007 | 16th Sunday in Year – C | The one thing necessary: be fully there |
Jesus: We enter into this hour of prayer with the usual time for silence and stillness. You will have noticed that when you are still, you penetrate the Gospel passage a lot more deeply and derive much more profit from the teaching. So, spend a good amount of time on this. Before you delve into the prayer itself, share a little about how you sought to deepen your self-appreciation from last week’s prayer.
[Time for silent prayer and reflection]
Jesus: If last week we looked into the Christian duty of reaching out to the needy, this week we look at its correlative duty: full personal attention to God while at prayer. You could identify with Martha, Mary, or Lazarus who, though not mentioned in the text, would have most likely been present, though silent and in the background. Or you could be just a bystander, observing all that is going on.
As a bystander, you first notice Martha, bustling along working herself out to the bone preparing one dish after another. Note particularly the clang of the pots and pans and she seeks to draw attention to her ministering. She has a plan for the day and certainly wants Me to have a pleasant time at their home. She wishes to give Me the best, knowing how tired I usually am. All her intentions are good, but somehow, being the kind of person she is, there is still a lot of self in her approach. This emerges when she begins to pity herself (“Lord, don’t you care that I am left to do all the work by myself!”). When a person works without this kind of self-interest, even though the work be hard and long-drawn, at the end of it all s/he would think more of the person for whom it was done, rather than of oneself who is tired and exhausted as a result. There is nothing sinful about the Self creeping into one’s well-intentioned projects, but the tragedy is that it fails to bring one any closer to God. In fact, it can get a person even further entrenched into the Self, so that the next time it becomes easier and easier to focus on Self – till, after a short while, one becomes almost totally blind to the insidious and poisonous machinations of the Self. Everybody else around the person can see the malady so clearly – all except the person concerned.
Now, the contrast becomes almost unbearable when there is someone nearby who approaches life in the opposite direction – totally for the other with practically nothing for the self. That is a perfect description of Mary! Thus, the very being, posture, attitudes and words of Mary would subconsciously have convicted Martha of her futile attempts to attract attention to herself. And so, it is not surprising that Martha turns against Mary and even begins to attack her verbally. But notice also the typical approach – never directly confronting Mary, but complaining to Me about her (Tell her to help me!... she has left me to do all the serving by myself!) If you ever notice such tendencies and approaches in your behaviour, you can be sure that the Self has somehow crept in and lies hidden somewhere in the deep recesses of your being. It is worth noticing the simplicity, the spontaneity, the genuineness in Mary’s approach – she is personally involved in the conversation and while she too is focused, in one sense, on the Self it concerns not so much what she can get out of it for herself, but rather on how much she can give of herself. It could be that she had wanted to speak to Me about something disturbing her – but rather than make that the centre of the conversation, she chooses to listen to all that I have to say, giving Me the opportunity to unburden Myself. She truly wants Me to be happy the way I need to be happy, and not the way she plans my happiness.
Adorer: Lord, what a relief it is to deal with such a selfless individual – it truly reinvigorates a person and sends him/her off ready in turn to give of him/herself where needed. I would like to remain now in silence and stillness, trying to visualize myself being selfless in this way in my dealings with different persons: in my own home, with each member separately, with my colleagues at work, with those I meet while traveling or in the market-place…
Jesus: Yes, do spend some time reviewing the most important relationships you have. But then also include a brief review of the quality of your presence during liturgical services, particularly at the Eucharist, and during prayer before the Sacrament. Does your presence in such interactions bring life and love to those who deal with you? Or does it bring only admiration and praise of your talents and skills? Further, after the whole episode is over, what is it that remains uppermost in your own mind: the joy the other felt, the benefit s/he received, some further way in which you could be of help - or the praise that you received, or the hurt you felt because you were not appreciated sufficiently and so on.
As you remain in silence and stillness, seek to listen deeply to what wells up within your own heart – that will give you a more accurate picture of what your real attitudes are in this matter. Do not be afraid of what you may discover within yourself. Even if it is a decidedly unchristian attitude you come up with, place it before Me and ask Me to transform your attitude, to make you more Christ-like in your dealings with others.
As you emerge out of this prayer, spend a few minutes interceding for others in need and conclude with the customary prayer or hymn.
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| July 29, 2007 | 17th Sunday in Year – C | Lord, teach us to pray the Christian way! |
Jesus: This week we focus on the Christian way of praying – a crucial and fundamental topic for all Christians. So, prepare yourself even better by maintaining a deeper silence and stillness. Also add a brief report of last week’s spiritual effort. It is helpful to catch up with mistakes before they recede into the past. Thus, they will not vitiate or weaken even the present prayer that you make.
[Time for silent prayer and reflection]
Jesus: It is helpful to recall the background in Luke’s Christian community to their request to learn how to pray the Christian way. Luke’s community consisted of Christians of a gentile background and having learnt John the Baptist’s way of praying, they still felt that there was something lacking in their approach. This ‘something’ they picked up as they observed the community itself at prayer. There was a lot that was distinctive about the way the truly Christian community (the Risen Lord present in their midst) prayed and this is here outlined as a model for all Christians, even for you of the present generation.
Position yourself therefore, as an observer present at the Christian gathering in which this teaching on prayer is being given. Notice, first of all, how the leader emphasizes that all truly Christian prayer is addressed to the ‘Father.’ Every single prayer that I make in the Gospel stories is addressed to the Father, except of course, the cry of anguish expressed on the Cross: ‘My God, my God …’
Adorer: Lord, I think I understand why You could not address this anguished supplication to the Father. Was it not because the concept of ‘Father’ and abandonment just do not fit together? So, if you called on God as Father, Your faith experience of his fatherhood would have made You realize that he cannot be far – and so You would not have felt abandoned at all.
Jesus: That expresses it well and accurately. But it is worth remembering that in this prayer the word ‘Father’ is not used just as a title, as when a priest is called ‘father.’ The term expresses the truth that God is the source and origin of all that one is and has. It recalls a grateful awareness of God’s commitment to your welfare (not a hair of your head falls with your father knowing it!). In short, it envelopes a tremendous amount of feeling as it is expressed; it cannot be uttered lightly and without attention and much less can it be said meaningfully by one who does not acknowledge God as true ‘father’ – the source and support of life. Remain with this one thought itself and see how deeply you really regard God as father. Do you see yourself always and in all circumstances as a son/child or do you sometimes relate to him only as a hired labourer in the vineyard, or worse still, as a wretched sinner who is cast out? Even though persons are sinful, yet the Father looks on them as ‘graced sinners.’ If you could focus only on this aspect for this hour of prayer – but in such a way that it makes a real difference in your life from now on, that would be sufficient.
Adorer: Lord, I see now that my greatest drawback is the superficiality with which I approach things. I am satisfied with only a surface knowledge of things, even my Gospel reading. Here, for example, it never ever struck me that I am supposed to mean the fact that God is truly ‘my father.’ Lord, help me in this prayer to fathom the depths of this truth and live it out during this week.
Jesus: Remain in deep silence and stillness allowing the Holy Spirit to work on your consciousness and make you more deeply aware of this truth… As you come out of this silence, spare a few minutes for the needs of others. End your prayer with a hymn or a short vocal spontaneous prayer summing up all that struck you in this hour.
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| August 5, 2007 | 18th Sunday in Year - C | Trust in God brings true peace of mind |
Jesus: As we enter in this new hour of prayer, start with a calm and composed mind and heart. Drive out all extraneous thoughts and feelings and render yourself open to receive all that I wish to share with you. Note particularly the thoughts and feelings that keep repeating themselves to you almost to the point of being a nuisance. Place all these in My hands and allow Me to dispose of them. Then tell Me about your week’s effort to live out what you have prayed here.
[Time for silent reflection and prayer]
Jesus: For today’s prayer you could identify with either of the brothers, or again become a bystander as you watch them argue over their inheritance – or you could even be an onlooker as the rich man systematically breaks down his existing barns and builds new ones, only to die the day he completed the project.
I suggest that you first interview the disadvantaged brother. Listen to him complain about the raw deal he has been getting from his brother who grabbed all the ancestral property. You will soon notice that he is totally focused only on himself and the loss he has sustained. The more he broods over this fact, the worse his moods and situation becomes. Finally, the whole business becomes just intolerable to him – he has to do something about it, or he will go insane. And that is why he approaches Me.
Observe carefully his reaction on hearing My response.
Didn’t he look thoroughly disappointed and perhaps even more, frustrated?
He certainly did not get what he was looking for! And yet, My answer to
him was a challenge to him to look at the problem from a totally different
perspective. That is what I usually do – offer you an alternative
way of viewing the problem and from this new angle, it is no longer a problem,
but rather an opportunity for you to grow.
Adorer: Lord, wouldn’t it be true to say that the
fact that this person is mentioned in the Gospel indicates that he is actually
one of the Christians of Luke’s community? Yet, there seems to be
something fundamental missing in his very Christian commitment which begins
with a readiness to “lose yourself.”
Jesus: Yes, that is the point he seems to have missed altogether. A Christian is one who is a nobody, has nothing, but who willingly and joyfully places his nothingness in the powerful hands of God, the Father, and together with him steps out in faith to do great things for the Kingdom. This Christian has forgotten that while at the time of his Baptism he commits himself to the Father to build his kingdom, at the same time, the Father also commits himself to the Christian to care for him. “Not a hair of your head will fall without my Father knowing it!” I promised. So, in short, the gist of what I said to him was: be calm and if possible rejoice, because the Father asks you to trust in him. He will provide for all your needs, present and future, for your own needs and also those of your family and near and dear ones. Give God a chance to show that he too is committed to your welfare and well-being. And you cannot do this except when you are taken advantage of, oppressed, treated unjustly and so on. That is why the beatitude says: “how happy are you when they reject you, persecute you… rejoice and dance for joy…” because then you will experience God’s closeness to you.
Adorer: Lord, unfortunately, most of us do not understand this logic which is so true once a person really experiences God’s goodness and care, and especially his faithfulness to his promises. Without that experience it all looks and feels so threatening and painful.
Jesus: Yes, but did not notice that I also have a message for the oppressing brother – namely, that he learn to share with others. A person doesn’t become happy by taking advantage of another, especially in the same family. The Lord’s prayer calls for sharing of all one’s blessings. In this way, the needy are cared for in God’s name, and the well-to-do practice generosity and compassion in imitation of the Father. But they can do this only if they recognize and accept God as their father and want to radiate his love. Also, they would need to acknowledge that all that they have has come from the Father; if they attribute their good fortune to their own industry or good luck, they would certainly not be inclined to share with others.
Adorer: Lord, I notice that the one who asked the question is not at all happy with Your answer. Permit me to reflect on it deeply to savour its wisdom. I want to remain in deep silence and stillness and allow Your Spirit to guide and direct me along this challenging path. Be with me, Lord as I do this.
Jesus: Yes, you could now move into the usual period of deep silence and stillness. But remember that the idea is to remain perfectly still and make no suggestions to the Spirit about what he is to do… As you emerge from this deep silence, reach out to others in need, particularly to those whom you know as having not yet understood this teaching of Mine. Ask earnestly on their behalf and the Father will grant them this wisdom. End with the usual brief prayer or hymn.
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| August 12, 2007 | 19th Sunday in Year C |
Key to happiness: Conviction of God’s personal love |
Jesus: We now begin another hour of prayer and of deep personal relationship and so first of all prepare your mind and heart by observing a profound inner stillness and peace. Consciously rid your being of all disturbing thoughts and feelings and create a kind of inner vacuum which will attract and retain all that I have to say to you. But before we actually begin our conversation, tell Me something about your effort of the last week.
[Time for silent prayer and reflection]
Jesus: Since today’s passage contains several sayings, you could seek to identify with the characters of each piece. Thus in the very first sentence you could become part of the flock cared for by the Father. Watch him granting you the kingdom and personally experiencing all the joy and fulfillment that goes with such a gesture. Keep in touch with all that goes on within your own mind and heart – but then don’t neglect to savour something of the pleasure the Father also experiences in granting the kingdom to you. To really understand what it means to possess the kingdom, imagine yourself as a labourer who first of all is never sure of getting sufficient work to earn what his family needs; besides you do not possess the instruments needed for the work and so have to either hire them or beg/borrow from others. You are thus never too sure that you will have the implements even if you did have the assignment.
Imagine what you feel if you could save money from each assignment and look forward to the day when you could buy your own tools, expensive as they are. But what would you feel if someone freely donated the entire set to you. What a sense of freedom, of pride in the possession of those tools, what care would you not take of them – and how happy would you not be? But do realize that what we are talking of here (kingdom) is something far greater because what is gifted to you is actual sonship of God. Now, not only a set of tools, but the entire house belongs to you: ‘All that I have is yours!’ says the Father. This is totally unbelievable and unimaginable. Stay with this truth for as long as you can, savouring it deeply – it could revolutionize your entire life.
If you have time, similarly reflect on the scene of the
return of the Master to a situation where all the servants have been very
loyal and faithful to their allotted tasks. Become one of these conscientious
servants and watch the Master himself put on an apron, seat the servants
down at table and himself serve them. What an unbelievable reversal: drink
it in step by step, as you draw the parallel to your own relationship with
the Father. All he asks of you is to follow his plans for your good –
if you did only this much you would be filled with immense blessings. But,
for being faithful to God’s plans, imagine how much more he will shower
on you ‘when he returns.’ All this almost seems as if all that
God is looking for is a plausible ‘excuse’ to bless you (people)
beyond measure. And how often does it not happen that people do not give
him even a hearing, much less a chance to show his generosity and love.
Remain in deep silence drinking in the unbelievable quality of the Father’s
love, for it is so crucial for your well-being. Once you are convinced of
this, there will be nothing that you would lack, nothing would ever disturb
or worry you.
Adorer: Lord, I feel You have given me
sufficient material for a whole week of deep prayer. I want to remain in
silence and drink it all in, so that from within my innermost being these
truths can influence my life and bring me that inner confidence that the
Father is always on my side and never against me. Lord, I can glimpse already
the difference this truth can make in my life. Thank you for alerting me
to it.
[Time for deep inner silence and stillness]
Jesus: As you emerge from this stillness,
spend a little time praying for the needs of others, especially those whose
self-image is poor, negative and shaky. Visualize someone close to you in
whose life this truth will make a major difference and pray earnestly for
this person. End with the usual hymn or brief vocal prayer.
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| August 19, 2007 | 20th Sunday in Year C | Jesus’ passionate commitment to his mission |
Jesus: Friend, we begin yet another hour of prayer, but once again with a view to getting the maximum benefit from this prayer, it is imperative that you spend the first few minutes in deep silence. In today’s world, there are so many distractions that you experience at every moment that it is virtually impossible to remain concentrated for any period of time. But for prayer, this single-mindedness is crucial.
Once you have settled down within yourself, recall briefly the successes and difficulties you experienced in the week that has just ended. Maybe there is something that you can learn for this week’s prayer.
[Time for silent prayer and reflection]
Jesus: For this week, you could position yourself among those who listened to Me. From this vantage point, you could focus both on Me as I speak and also on the audience as they listen and react to My message. Today’s teaching is rather paradoxical: the kingdom suffers violence, passion, enthusiasm and yet is a kingdom of peace, justice, fellowship, love and forgiveness. For that matter, anything that is worth its salt does call forth passionate commitment especially from those who know its value and worth. Once a person has tasted the joy and peace of the Kingdom that God offers, s/he would not want to get entangled in anything that might diminish its power in his daily life.
Adorer: That is so true Lord, and don’t we see it in the lives of saints? Once converted, they focused single-mindedly and almost fanatically on their new found treasure. Everything else took on a relatively lesser value for them. And in fact, isn’t this the characteristic of all true and deep love? For the passionate lover, every other woman/man means little in comparison with the beloved! Lord, would it be too much to ask You to grant me a special insight into this truth?
Jesus: This is the very reason why I came into the world and taught people. However, this truth particularly cannot be taught; it needs to be caught. That is why, all I can do is share with you the passion of My own life and commitment. That should spark off something in you. When this dedication comes from within and is built up step by painful step, there is every chance that it will last for quite some time. A merely transitory fascination, coming mostly from the outside, generally does not last long. It is like a flash in the pan – come and gone in a second.
I also draw your attention to the fact that this passionate commitment to the kingdom will necessarily put you at variance with your very own near and dear ones. This simply means that there will be occasions in your life when you will experience a tug-of-war within yourself: your attachment and concern for these loved ones on the one side, opposed to the demands of the kingdom (sometimes appearing to be most unreasonable, but never to one who approaches them from the inside). You have one such example in the life of St. Peter Julian Eymard, founder of the Bl. Sacrament Fathers. After being a diocesan priest for five years, he decided to join the religious congregation of the Marist Fathers. After obtaining the necessary permission, he arranged to escape from the rectory without informing anyone from his parish. But as he emerged from the rectory, he bumped into his sister who was his housekeeper and had returned from the city. On learning of his intentions, she pleaded with him to stay back for just one day – to which his spontaneous but characteristic response was: ‘Tomorrow would be too late.’ Undoubtedly, this sounds rather cruel to say to one who was expressing nothing but genuine love and concern. Even as he departed, you can be sure Fr. Eymard’s own heart would have been crushed with deep pain and anguish – that he had hurt his only sister who had sacrificed her entire life for his ministry. She is no way was being self-centred or mean; and yet, that is the way of love and only one who is caught up with the demands of the kingdom will understand this logic!
Adorer: Lord, I am beginning to understand something of what You are trying to get across to me. I know that listening to this only superficially will not make much sense. And so, permit me to remain in total silence and listen with the heart. Pour out your Spirit upon me that I may gain wisdom of heart. Also, through Your Spirit point out areas and occasions when I too would need to practice this kind of choices in favour of Your kingdom.
Jesus: Do enter into this deep silence and remain perfectly still as the Spirit works on your inner being, transforming you from within. Remain in this silence for as long as you can. And then as you emerge, don’t forget to spend a few minutes expressing your care and concern for those in need. Conclude with the customary hymn or short vocal prayer.
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| August 26, 2007 | 21st Sunday in Year C |
Mere attendance is insufficient – real presence is needed |
Jesus: We begin this hour of prayer in the usual way – with a definite period of consciously chosen silence and stillness. The more busy and agitated you are, the greater the need for this initial period of silence. Don’t forget to link your breathing with this effort to be quiet and still. Consciously slow down your breathing, making it more rhythmical and deep. As you begin to settle down, recall the past week and its highlights – was there anything that happened from which you can learn something about either prayer itself or the way you live out what you have prayed?
[Time for silent prayer and reflection]
Jesus: In today’s prayer, you could take the stance of a bystander in the crowd listening to My teaching. First of all, try and enter into the mind of the person asking whether there would be only a few that would be saved! What could be his motivation for such a question? Could it be that he was doubtful about himself, or that he felt that he in particular was doing such a lot, and hence there could be no doubt that he would be among the saved? This seems to be the most plausible reason and so I answered him along those same lines.
Adorer: Lord Jesus, what would you have meant by saying ‘ensure that you enter by the narrow door’?
Jesus: The narrow door, of course, is the path that always follows God’s will, not one’s own. When you are on your own, you have a ‘long rope’, a wide berth, as it were, and can do whatever you choose to. When you decide to follow God’s will, your own preferential choices are necessarily limited and somewhat restricted. But it is a sure way and will lead to life eternal. Remember what I said on another occasion: ‘It is not those who say, Lord, Lord, who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but those who do the will of My Father.’ This is the path that most definitely leads to life, even when it seems to restrict life to some extent here on earth. It always provides you with what is most conducive to growth and development. It is something like maintaining a strict diet and a tough regimen of daily physical exercises – these are painful and demanding at the time of execution, but there is no gainsaying their benefits both on a short term and long term basis, if one wishes to keep good health.
Adorer: Lord, what does the parable of the master driving the servants away mean?
Jesus: First of all, it reminds you that the time in which you can exercise your freedom of choice is somewhat limited. Secondly, you don’t know exactly when the probation period is going to end. And finally, the outcome will depend on how one has conducted oneself throughout the period in question. But one thing is sure, viz. that the positive results are way beyond imagining. “No eye has seen, nor ear heard…” Faith assures you that the Father will definitely grant you much more than you bargain for – and that is what makes the discipline and sacrifice well worth it. But if you neglect the gift, then serious repercussions follow.
Adorer: Lord Jesus, it seems to me that more difficult than understanding God’s tremendous generosity in making a free gift of son-ship to us, is the question of accepting the consequences of this son-ship – of sitting at table while You yourself serve us. To keep this privilege consistently in mind is truly demanding and that is why we often settle for a purely superficial presence at Table. We are content to be able to say ‘we ate and drank with you’ – without bothering about the quality of our presence there at Table with You and the Father. Lord, guide me in ways that will make my presence at Eucharist truly meaningful and worthwhile. I certainly wouldn’t want to hear these words from You at the end of everything, when there are no more chances of changing.
Jesus: You are right. And so, I would recommend that you sit back in silence and stillness and allow this message to sink deep into your consciousness as you permit the Holy Spirit to guide and shape you. Try to remain absolutely still, and don’t make any kind of suggestions or recommendations – just be still and listen deeply. Focus on the key point which is always a total loving and obedient surrender into the Father’s hands, allowing him to fulfill the plans he has for you. Remember what the prophet Jeremiah tells us: “I know what plans I have for you, plans for your welfare and not for your harm … I prepare for you a future with hope.”
As you emerge out of this stillness, spend a few minutes praying for others, especially for those desperately in need, those nearing their end in this world, those neglectful or careless about the way they celebrate Eucharist. Finally, end your prayer with the usual brief spontaneous prayer or bhajan.
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| September 2, 2007 | 22nd Sunday in Year - C |
Focus, not on self but on others |
Jesus: We enter into this hour of prayer for this week again with the usual time of silence and stillness. The more busy the background from which you come to this prayer, the more important is this time of silence and perhaps the longer it will take you to achieve the required degree of stillness. Yet, it is worthwhile spending all the time needed to attain this – as it will influence the quality of your prayer a lot. Once you are reasonably silent internally, spend some time telling Me about the past week …
[Time for silent prayer and reflection]
Jesus: In today’s Gospel passage you have several personages with whom you could easily identify. However, it might be best if you remained close to one of the simple, ordinary guests who isn’t much involved in the proceedings. This will leave you free to observe minutely all that transpires at the table.
The first thing that catches your attention is the manner in which almost all guests were eyeing the places of honour – the unbelievable scramble for the first places, as if their very enjoyment of the party depended totally on where they were going to be seated! Look deep into their eyes and hearts to register what happens as I tell them the parable – ‘seek rather, the last seats so that …’ Soon you begin to notice something strange. All those who entered after I made My suggestion are now making a bee-line for the last seats, guided by those who heard Me speak; and it is not long before there is an equal confusion and scramble at the lower end of the table; exactly the same as was happening before at the head of the table. So, nothing had changed actually. And this must have made some of them at least, to think more deeply about what was the real intent of My message.
Adorer: Lord Jesus, I begin to sense something. Could You have been telling them (and us too), that the place a person is seated in at such functions doesn’t really make any difference to who s/he is. It is not the place that gives a person honour, but the person who gives a place some meaning. True greatness comes from inside, and not from external characteristics which are fleeting and changeable, anyway. And yet, Lord, how easily do we not fall into the trap of thinking that externals like clothing, friends, place, position and so on are what make a person great! Permit me Lord, to sit in silence and mull this over – to see where such a paradigm operates in my life at present …
[Time for silent reflection]
Jesus: A further point you need to consider is that true greatness comes not from what humans think about you, but from what God confers on you. Thus a person could be lame, blind, deaf, dumb or even morally defective (known in those days as a ‘public sinner’ for they believed that sin brought upon people such physical defects, even from birth!). While all this gives him/her a certain level of acceptance and standing in society, yet, there is something deeper to his life. The way God refers to the person matters a lot more: He sees each person as his beloved child, weak and faltering undoubtedly, yet lovable and with great potential. And it is from this angle that you too must learn to relate to others. That is why I suggested that for your parties you call such socially unacceptable persons. The idea is not that you do this ‘literally’ but that you learn to respect each person for what s/he truly is: a child of God.
Adorer: Lord Jesus, what a powerful way
of bringing home this truth. I always thought that you wanted us literally
to call the outcasts of society for our celebrations – even though
after doing all that we continue to think of them as inferior, or worse
still, as paying for their sins, while we as the more righteous ones and
hence not meriting God’s punishment. What hypocrisy, Lord. Thank you
for opening my eyes to the deeper meaning of this statement. Once again,
I would like to remain in silence and plumb the depths of this challenge
You place before me. [Time for interior silence and reflection]
Jesus: At some point, consciously choose to remain perfectly
still – cut off all reflection and thinking so that you are totally
open to the action of God’s Spirit in you and remain in this stance
for as long as you can… As you prepare to emerge from your prayer,
spend a few minutes praying for others. Finally, end with a short vocal
prayer or hymn.
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| September 9, 2007 | 23rd Sunday in Year – C | The cost of belonging to the Kingdom |
Jesus: We begin yet another hour of prayer in which we will share some very intimate moments of interaction. That this time may be fruitful to the maximum, it is important to be fully present to what is happening – which means that you have to consciously set aside every other preoccupation that could be a hindrance. And since most people have so many irons in the fire at the same time, this is no easy task. Yet, after so many hours of prayer, you must be fairly attuned to this kind of work and so, go about it in a business-like manner. When you are sufficiently quiet interiorly, tell Me something about the past week. I am mainly interested in seeing how you live out what you have prayed over, so that this hour doesn’t remain only ‘in the air,’ as it were.
[Time for silent reflection]
Jesus: For today’s session you could identify yourself
with anyone in the crowd listening to My message… when you come to
the parable you could take the place of the one intending to build a tower
– but enter as wholeheartedly into the situation as you possibly can.
What would have certainly shocked several people among My listeners is My demand that they ‘hate’ father, mother and so on. While this is a pretty strong term in the estimation of people nowadays, yet for people of that time, it simply meant a preferential choice. This kind of situation occurs when there is a clash between two values: parents < demands of the kingdom. A classic case would occur when a person has committed himself say to go on a ‘mission’ to the neighbouring diocese. A day or two before leaving, a problem occurs in the family which necessitates his presence among them. What is he to do now? Should he leave the family to sort things out by themselves and attend to his commitment, or should be cancel the commitment and take care of his family needs?
This kind of a situation is not easy to solve and there is no readymade solution either. Each case has to be attended to on its own merits, and this calls for careful discernment. The criterion best used is: what would Jesus (God himself in a human condition) do in a situation like this? What is God’s will for me? Prayer, consultation, inner silence and detachment and several other virtues would come into play in a case like this. Above all, what is needed is ‘faith’ but an enlightened faith, not a blind faith that says: ‘God will take care of everything, so I blindly go about doing God’s work in every instance!’ It is certain that God does not abandon those who commit themselves to his kingdom, yet he expects people to also use the gifts he has given them, particularly the gift of ‘common-sense.’ So, in short, hating father, mother and all others simply means that you ‘treasure’ God’s demands more than these or other persons in a given situation, ready to leave them in God’s care, while you look after his interests, if this is God’s manifest will.
Adorer: Lord, a tricky question arises in my mind. How would one know whether one is really doing God’s will while ‘abandoning’ one’s loved ones? Could not this be like the case of ‘corban’ which You Yourself condemned in Your teaching? (Mk. 7:9-13). Is there some way of knowing that we are not deceiving ourselves in such matters?
Jesus: Yes, I guess there are signs. For one thing, the question of corban that I condemned involved escaping one’s duties towards one’s parents just because a person has offered his goods to God. And in this case, they would offer their property to God precisely in order to escape this filial duty towards parents (4th commandment). What I am talking about is, first of all, a situation in which there is a clash between two demands – the demands of your natural concern and love for parents which clashes with a demand God makes on you at a given moment. You feel the tug in both directions. If you have discerned correctly and made the right choice, one of the signs accompanying would be a deep inner peace and joy that you experience – even while doing something that is naturally difficult and painful. Besides, remember we suggested that you consult with some others who have more experience – their guidance too would serve as a help. In cases like that of ‘corban’, one would still experience a nagging sense of duty calling one to attend to one’s parents; different from the peace experienced in doing God’s will when he assures you of taking care of your ‘needs.’
In short, what I am saying is not something easily done, and would normally be experienced as a kind of ‘hard testing’ mentioned in the Lord’s prayer. I asked you to pray precisely to be spared such a testing but also assured you of the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Remain in silence and stillness for a while – but let it be a deep inner stillness in which you allow the Spirit to transform your heart, to enlighten your mind, especially in this area of discernment. As you emerge from this silence, pray for a concrete experience of this kind in the near future, so that you understand better what this is all about. End with an intercessory prayer for others and the concluding hymn or bhajan.
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| September 16, 2007 | 24th Sunday in Year C | God’s compassion for his beloved children |
Jesus: We begin this week’s prayer in the usual way, with a few minutes of intense silence and stillness. May I remind you again of the value of slowing down your breathing as this would immediately slow down the rush of thoughts and feelings darting about through your mind. Pay special attention to the feelings that disturb you – try to come to terms with them. Check whether they require some level of ‘letting-go’ which you are currently resisting. When you are sufficiently quiet, turn to your experience of the past week and share the highlights with Me.
[Time for silent reflection and prayer]
Jesus: Today’s readings provide you several personages with whom you could identify yourself in prayer. There are first the tax-collectors and sinners who were crowding round Me, then the Pharisees and others who criticized both the sinners and Me too. Further, you could also take the place of the shepherd or the old woman who each lose something precious to them. In the last parable, you could well become the wayward younger son, or the elder one or even the Father.
If you have read Henri Nouwen’s classic The Return of the Prodigal and remember some of his reflections, you could use for your prayer here, any of those that have struck you and still remain fresh with you. Notice first of all, the obvious joy and sense of comfort sinners enjoyed when close to Me. Whereas earlier they would have felt unwanted and hence kept away from the holy and respected people, now they feel accepted, understood, supported and encouraged to make greater efforts at being more human. Besides feeling close to Me, notice how they also felt close to one another – because now there is something in common between them: they all begin to see themselves as ‘graced sinners’, people who still remain frail and faltering, yet loved and acceptable to God. They experience a certain affinity with all people (no matter what their race, culture or background) because they realize that all people are sinners. They feel at home in the Temple, in God’s presence and there is a certain joy and lightness in their entire being, especially in their relationships with others. Notice also how they ‘spread the good news’ and bring more and more of their ‘companions’ to Me… Now look at yourself: do you too experience the same sense of being at home in God’s presence, or are you still self-conscious about your past failings. How deep is your sense of freedom at being accepted and acceptable to the Father? [Spend some time over this reflection and then remain in silence for a while]
If you have time, you could proceed further noticing the
obvious puzzlement of the Pharisees which soon grows into repressed anger
and condemnation, a gnawing desire to ‘put them (these sinners) in
their place’ and teach them a good lesson. Remark particularly their
sense of discomfort, the agitation growing within their hearts, their banding
together to derive support and strength in their resolve, their hesitant
referring to the Law and its interpretation as they seek confirmation and
support. See how they keep checking out their stance with their like-minded
friends only - carefully avoiding anyone who might ‘rock the boat.’
All these approaches speak of a studiously adopted ‘hardened’
stance; they have their minds made up and are not prepared to budge, to
learn the truth, to listen to the good news. As you look at them intently,
do you recognize yourself taking a similar line of action in any area of
your life? Gradually slip into a deep silence and stillness and let whatever
is within you surface, even if it unpleasant and seems pharisaical. Place
whatever you discover at My feet and allow God’s Spirit to transform
it for you as you continue to remain in deep silence. If you can, visualize
what your life is going to be like once you are healed of this malady.
Time permitting, you could move on to considering the feelings and workings
of the heart of others appearing in the passage. The key point would be
to enter deeply into their thinking and feeling and make it your own –
to identify with them. Then you will begin to see the ‘problem’
not just as “out there” but as part of your own life.
As you prepare to conclude your prayer, spend a little time praying for
others in need. Conclude with the final spontaneous vocal prayer or hymn.
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| September 23, 2007 | 25th Sunday in Year – C | The need to invest wisely |
Jesus: Once again we begin our intimate conversation with a few moments of distancing ourselves from all that would interfere with our quiet. Be firm in your efforts to banish those disturbing thoughts and feelings, pushing them out of your consciousness and remaining as perfectly still and silent as possible. Then give Me a brief account of your spiritual efforts of the last week.
[Time for silent prayer and reflection]
Jesus: Today too you should have no difficulty identifying with the rich but foolish person, or you could position yourself with any one of the debtors and marvel at the steward’s ingenious ways of addressing his present problem. We shall try and get into the skin of the first debtor who owed the master a hundred measures of oil. Imagine his surprise at being told to make out his bill as owing only fifty. Of course, anyone would be overjoyed to have so much less to pay – it is certainly now within reach and he surely would have resolved to get rid of the debt as fast as possible. Yet, as you reflect on the whole episode, it strikes you very clearly that the steward is not really interested in the debtor or his/her wellbeing, but rather only in himself. He is actually securing his own position and placing the other in his own personal debt while releasing a part of the debt to the master. He couldn’t care less both about the master and about the debtor – he is totally self-absorbed, especially now that he finds himself in a tight corner.
Look deeply into your own heart and be in touch with your innermost feelings. Instead of being endeared to the steward you might find yourself loathing him for his self-centred attitude. Instead of enlarging your heart with gratitude, you find yourself being more constricted and hard towards him. And possibly this is the attitude of all the others whom he treated in the same way. So, in the long run, does this crafty approach really help the steward? Even if his intention was not to deceive the master of his rightful property, or that he was simply canceling the commission he personally would have got on the transaction, yet the focus on self is clearly noticeable to all who stop to think.
Notice that a self-centred attitude in life, whether blatant or camouflaged, does not really get a person anywhere. Others immediately sense the real focus of one’s dealings and then respond accordingly. Some would be happy to play the ‘game’ but really see how their own interests can be served as well: a kind of “you scratch my back and I scratch your back” approach. Others would avoid the self-centred person like the plague, offering him only lip-service and doing the bare essential as far as he is concerned. In short, such a person cannot really maintain happy and growth-producing relationships; at most he is tolerated by most of his ‘friends.’ In the end, he remains the isolated, lonely one and that will eat him up from within even more, especially when he sees the genuine selfless people around him flourishing with several healthy and fruitful relationships with all kinds and levels of people.
So we come back to the cardinal principle which I spoke of several times and in different contexts: ‘he who seeks to save his life loses it and he who loses his life will gain it.’ With this truth in your heart, remain in silence seeking to appreciate its eternal value by just gazing at it. Allow the sentence to repeat itself and resound within the innermost recesses of your being. Visualize any areas in which you are currently a victim of this kind of self-centredness and silently place them before the Holy Spirit for transformation. Listen deeply to him yet without too much of agitation. He might have some suggestions for your improvement.
After remaining in this stance for quite some time, emerge
to make a few petitions for those among your friends and relations who have
obviously swollen egos – silently place them in the hands of the Spirit
and allow him to attend to their deeper needs. Conclude with the usual brief
vocal prayer or hymn.
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| September 30, 2007 | 26th Sunday in Year – C | Blessings are to be shared |
Jesus: Once again we meet for our weekly encounter and begin as usual with a few minutes of deep quiet and peace. You are aware that you are entering into a different sphere altogether, and if this prayer is at all important to you, it would be worth spending these first few minutes quietening yourself. Pay particular attention to your feelings, especially the negative ones, as these are more likely to disturb you all through your prayer. After achieving a reasonable amount of inner peace, launch into a brief description of your spiritual effort of the last week.
[Time for silent prayer and reflection]
Jesus: In today’s passage, you could identify with Dives, the rich man who feasted sumptuously each day, or with Lazarus, or one of the friends of Dives. You could also become one of his five brothers whom Dives sought to warn after reviewing his own painful experience. You will notice that in each case, the set of reflections that emerge is different. But it is also important to note that each and every one of the characters in the story represents a part of your own inner Self. It could be that a particular part does not show up until some specific incident occurs, but you can be sure it is there, or potentially it is present in your very make-up. Hence, always make the applications of these Gospel stories to yourself only. Don’t waste your time applying these truths to others as this will not help anyone. There is only one person in the world whom you can change and that is yourself.
Entering into the skin of Dives feel how self-absorbed he is. Each day as he wakes, his first thought is: how could today’s party be made better than yesterday’s in view of the guest-list for today? He invites to his gatherings only those of his friends who will contribute to the enjoyment of all. He would have visited and partied with his friends in their homes too. Occasionally, he would certainly have noticed poor Lazarus and might even have spared a commiserating thought for him or ordered his servant to give him some of yesterday’s left-overs. The problem therefore, is not that he despised or neglected the poor man who was his neighbour. Rather, it is that he made and maintained a difference in status, seeing his superior financial situation as the result of his own moral efforts to be good. Lazarus, in his estimation, would have been suffering because he was a sinner. With the typical reversal at the end of the story, we are reminded that only God can decide who is a sinner and who is a saint. When humans take to themselves this prerogative of God, they are bound to end up in deep trouble.
The fact is that the Father does distribute his gifts and talents unequally – but in this way he offers both the blessed and the unfortunate a chance to grow in selflessness. The rich one by sharing his blessings and the miserable one by growing in trust in the Father’s goodness.
Remember also that all sin originates in the heart/head – with a thinking that has become skewed. Also it has a lot to do with a grandiose idea of the Self – with a corresponding low opinion of the other. But if you have really interiorized the ‘good news’ that I have brought to the world viz. that all people are ‘graced sinners,’ then your esteem and respect for all people would be godly. You would be reminded to look at both the aspects: the good and the bad in the other as also in yourself. Like Augustine on seeing a notorious sinner, you would be moved to say: ‘There, but for the grace of God, goes Augustine!’ You recall that My Easter message to the disciples was precisely this: ‘whose sins you forgive them, they are forgiven.’ This statement has nothing to do with the sacrament of Confession, but rather deals with the ‘labels’ that people tend to put on others who have failed in some area or other. But notice, that you do not like to have those same labels attached to your name.
Yet that is not all. The story of today teaches you to keep your gaze fixed on the Father rather than on yourself or others. The more you appreciate his goodness, and understand the unbelievable quality of his love, the easier you will find it to live a kingdom kind of life. In fact, your heaven will have begun here on earth itself. And that is the main point that should not be missed in today’s story. You reap what you sow. The way you live now is the way you will continue to live hereafter.
Adorer: Lord Jesus, how true it is that we need to begin with the Father’s relationship with us and base all our interactions with others on this important and foundational truth. Once we are convinced that we are Your children, everything else changes. But as long as we see ourselves as individuals desperately striving to attain Your love, we are bound to remain disparate and separate.
Jesus: This is one of the reasons why the symbolism of Baptism is so important. The real immersion in water brings out the dying to the old self, the individualism and ego-centredness. The genuine and warm welcome offered by the community (represented by as a large a crowd as possible, and not just by the immediate family) with everyone truly celebrating the event, is another strong reminder of this oneness. Again, the practical way in which the community lives out its commitment in Baptism keeps alive this sense of oneness. All this is brought out so forcefully in the early Christian community where all the believers were of one mind and one heart… they shared all their belonging and alleviated the difficulties of one another and ensured that there was not a single needy person among them. For if one suffers, all suffer with him.
This ideal of Christian unity and love is not all that difficult and unattainable even today. What is needed is a strong conviction of one’s own neediness before God and a vivid awareness of the numerous blessings we have already received from the Father. Each day’s further experience of God’s goodness will deepen and sharpen this awareness – all this will bring about the true oneness of all people, as are the different limbs in the human body. Nevertheless, this is an ideal that is above mere human possibilities and so whatever is achieved can be achieved only through the power of God’s Spirit; so move now into a deeper silence and stillness, in which you allow the Spirit to take over all human activity and bring about a real inner transformation. When you come to the intercessions, recall areas n your own life in which you still experience anything that smacks of division, separation – in the family, neighbourhood, parish, workplace and so on. Pray for a definite change in your attitudes in these areas. Conclude with the customary vocal prayer or hymn.
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