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Jesus: We enter into yet another hour of prayer. By now you are familiar with the need of introducing some deep inner quiet especially as far as your feelings go. Utilize the help of deep rhythmic breathing which tends to slow down the rush of thoughts as well. Once you have achieved this your prayer will be undisturbed and you will benefit from it. Else, much of your time will be spent in dealing with distractions. So, give yourself some time to be quiet and still before you plunge into the prayer itself. And again, don’t forget the brief review of the last week’s spiritual effort.

[Time for quiet reflection and prayer]

Jesus: As you begin reading the Gospel of this Sunday slowly and prayerfully, you will notice that I praise the heavenly Father for revealing these deep and important mysteries to broken and humble people while hiding them from the learned and wise of this world, from those who think that they are self-sufficient and know everything. The context for this saying is that John the Baptist came preparing God’s people for the Messiah and they would not listen to him but rejected him saying that he was possessed. Some time later, I began My preaching and they would not accept Me either, saying that I was a glutton and a drunkard. Notice that these accusations came from the Pharisees and their scribes – the most learned and devout among the Israelites. Why is it that they failed to accept both John and Me?

Herein lies a very important lesson for all who wish to follow Me. It is not enough merely to know what God says. What God communicates with people is never solely for knowledge or information alone but that people might act on these instructions and change their lives. Whatever God reveals should always lead to action, effective action like that of the farmer who accidentally came across a treasure in the field he was working in. Now if that farmer had merely rejoiced to know that there was a treasure there in that field, how would that have profited him or anyone else? But notice that in the parable, the farmer having discovered the treasure and decided that he wants to have it, first collects all he has and converts that into ready cash. Then he goes and buys that field and consequently the treasure is his. Kingdom people always show resolute action in the face of life’s decisive moments. They don’t sit on the fence and start up a never-ending discussion, which ultimately leads nowhere. They size up the situation, filled with promise as it is, and move quickly and resolutely.

It is the simple, humble people who don’t have much to lose and who have the courage to risk it all, who ultimately discover and enter into God’s kingdom. God is the one who is pre-eminently active and his action is always in favour of the ones he chooses and who respond positively. And so, it is not surprising that his followers too will be persons who prefer action to philosophizing! The people who choose to talk rather than act are basically afraid to lose; they do not dare to take risks in life. They dilly-dally seeking for time, for more information on the question, for advice from more experienced persons – the list is never-ending! This arrangement of the Father whereby it is the enterprising (the violent) who storm into the kingdom giving their all, is so marvelous that I praised him for it. These are the ones to whom the Father and I reveal the secrets of the kingdom. For we know that such persons will not be satisfied with mere knowledge – they will begin living these mysteries of the kingdom. Soon they will become living examples or witnesses of what kingdom life is all about. And others who see them will spontaneously want to enter the kingdom themselves.

Remain in silence and look into different areas of your life. How much do you see yourself ready to take risks to practice what I speak about? How seriously to do you take the different promises that God makes to his people. Take one, just by way of an example. “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your father’s great pleasure to grant you the kingdom.” You will have heard these words several times. But, how deeply have you committed yourself to take this as the foundation on which you will build your life’s response to the Father? When you come for Eucharist, for example, do you come to give thanks to the Father for having gifted you the kingdom? Is the whole of your life a conscious act of praise and thanks to the Father for this great gift to you? And does your life reflect the truth that you are a kingdom person, an insider who right now enjoys all the love and protection of the Father?

Once God has accepted you into his kingdom and you too have consented to belong to it, you become a ‘member of the household of God.’ How often do you see yourself exercising the freedom that family members have in their own homes? They are free to go into any nook and corner of the house, they don’t need to ask permission to do what does not impinge on anyone else’s right and freedom. They speak to the members of the family with respect, yes, but also with inner freedom, not measuring their words and wondering what effect their statements would have on others… and so on. Would that be the kind of freedom that you experience when praying to the Father? Or when you come into his presence? Or when you deal with other Christians, especially in your own family?

If you have tried to speak to others about this truth that the Father has already gifted you, what is the most common response you have received? Almost certainly, those who hear you speak of this truth will be greatly enthusiastic to hear it. They will most likely agree wholeheartedly with you that this is true. They might even begin to tell others about it. But when you enquire how much this truth really influences all their thinking, willing and acting, you would possibly be surprised that somehow it has remained only on the level of thinking! Remain in deep silence and stillness and try to feel the truth of My teaching – that the Father’s plan to reveal his deepest secrets to the lowly and humble is truly marvelous and wise. Seek to be perfectly silent and still – with no thoughts, feelings or anything else going on in your mind! After spending sufficient time in this revitalizing silence, move into a prayer of praise of the Father yourself. Use your own words and try and keep it as selfless as possible. This simply means that you praise the Father for what he is in himself, not restricting yourself to thanking him for what he has done for you personally.

If you have time you might also reflect a little on how the Father reveals these truths to the lowly and humble. Generally, God comes to us through the five avenues that he himself has given us: by putting (good) thoughts into our mind, wholesome feelings into our emotions, beneficial decisions into our will, inspiring images into our imagination and energizing recollections into our memories. All you need to do is to listen deeply and discern whether what seems to come to them through these five avenues is really from God. The simplest and surest test is always: does this help me to be more loving, more in line with God who is love? Would this line of action that you contemplate help build people up rather than destroy them? Once you can answer these and such questions to your satisfaction, you could reasonably presume that you are in line with God’s will. Remain in silence again and reflect on any recent experience where you had to discern in a given situation whether you were on the right track or not … Place all your reflections in My loving heart and let the Spirit work on you as you remain perfectly still and silent.

As you emerge from this silence, spend a few moments interceding for others in need. You could think particularly of those who have major decisions to make, decisions that affect the lives of other people, be they few or many… and conclude with the usual brief vocal prayer or hymn.

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Jesus : We prepare to enter into another hour of prayer by maintaining a few minutes of deep interior silence. Remain for as long as you can without distractions in this silence – as this is the heart of all real prayer. However, it is not easy to do this unless you are sufficiently experienced in the art. You will recall that before doing physical exercises like Yoga or whatever, it is always recommended that you spend a little time in warming up movements. This short time will bring you the maximum benefit of the exercises that follow. Similarly, with your hour of prayer – the warming up is important. Before you plunge into the prayer proper, spend a few moments make a brief review of last week’s spiritual effort.

[Time for silence reflection and prayer]

Jesus : Begin this reflection by reading the entire Gospel passage – basically for today you have the parable of the Sower. St. Matthew’s gospel dedicates the entire ch. 13 to the key teaching I shared with the people. You notice that I got into a boat and from there began My teaching. This boat is symbolic of the Church through which I now continue to teach even today. Picture yourself, therefore, listening to Me standing right before you and telling you this parable. Don’t picture Me as I would have looked twenty centuries earlier, but rather you could picture Me as your Parish priest or Bishop or any other person who regularly instructs you especially in and through the Gospels.

However, as you listen don’t immediately make applications of the teaching to your practical life. That can come a little later. First, focus your attention on Me – what am I really telling you today? All these parables are about the inner nature of the kingdom. So, in his relationship with you (and others who care to listen), God the Father is the Sower and his word, the seed, reveals what his inner qualities are like. Notice first of all that the Father grants his seed-word generously to all kinds of soil (people), the good and the bad alike. It is not that he is careless about where the seed falls; rather his love is bountiful and he is fully confident of its inner power to produce plenty wherever it receives even the slightest flicker of a response of goodwill. I told you that I came to call sinners to repentance, so there is every reason to say that I would give all kinds of soil a fair chance, and certainly several chances. In fact, I will never write anyone off as a gone case! Recall My efforts even at the last moment with a person like Judas or the thief who was crucified with Me at Calvary.

For you to be like the good soil, it simply means that you have to bring to the proclaimed word an openness that puts no conditions. Don’t let yourself say to God something like this: ‘Lord, I am ready to do anything you ask, except…’ Or, ‘Don’t ask me to forgive my neighbour who keeps harassing me regularly…’ When you approach the word with such barriers, the chances are that you will miss the entire challenge or punch of what I say to you. Rather approach the word with the spirit of the adventurer who is ready to take on whatever challenges lie ahead of him. He doesn’t know how difficult the problem is going to be, but he feels strong enough to face it, head on. Such a person knows that he can count on the inner reserves of strength and courage that he has already. These reserves are not necessarily of one’s own making, but are received as a gift, an on-going continuous gift. Try just this simple approach when you next hear the Word proclaimed and see what a difference it could possibly make for you.

Another simple technique to help you benefit from the Word is to carefully listen to every word that is spoken and attend especially to what strikes you as ‘strange’ or ‘odd’ in the story. Our problem often is that we have heard the Gospel stories so many times, that we tend to take them for granted. We tell ourselves: ‘Ah, I know this story backwards! I have heard it millions of times!’ Rather each proclamation of the Word should be listened to as if it were the first time you were hearing it. That strange or unusual word would most likely be the point at which I ask you to move away from the beaten track - and if you do, you will probably strike gold. Another way of putting it is: when listening to the Word try the technique involved in “lateral thinking” which says: ‘If you keep digging in the same hole that has not produced water so far, there is not much chance that you will strike water with further attempts! Wouldn’t it be far better branching off in another direction rather than to continue digging deeper and deeper in the same barren hole?’ It helps sometimes to turn the parable or story upside down and look at it in a new way. However, always check the message you derive with other places in the Bible to see if it resonates with those more established teachings.

Remain in silence and listen deeply to what the Spirit says to you about this parable of the sower… Hook on to the thought that seems to come up repeatedly and continue listening attentively to the still inner voice.

Before you conclude your prayer, turn your mind and heart to a few needy people you know and intercede for them with the Father. Remember always that this precious time of prayer granted to you is God’s gift and it is meant not only for your benefit, but also for others. Open your heart to some of these needy people and finally conclude with the usual vocal prayer or hymn.

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Jesus : Remember the warming up exercises we mentioned the last week and use the first few moments to get into the mood and atmosphere of serious prayer through your inner silence and stillness. Don’t omit the brief review of last week’s spiritual effort.

[Time for silent prayer and reflection]

Jesus : We continue with the parables for the subject of our prayer this week also. Read the passage slowly and carefully, focusing on every word that catches your attention. You could, e.g. focus on the introduction itself – ‘The kingdom of God could be compared to…’ Here you could pause and ask questions like: “Why would an ‘enemy’ want to sow darnel or weeds among the good seed that the farmer sowed in his own field?” The answer could lie in the fact that tension between good and evil seems to be part of the entire set up everywhere in the world. So, without wasting time trying to unearth the reason or ‘why’ behind this, see if you can discover some of the advantages of such a procedure.

You notice that facing opposition or obstacles seems to be a regular pattern in the life of anyone who wishes to follow Me. No sooner does someone set out to follow Me in doing good than he experiences difficulties or opposition from some quarter or other. The four men carrying the paralytic on a stretcher to bring him to Me were certainly attempting a good thing. But when they reached the place where I was teaching, they found that, try as they might, they just could not get in. Similarly, when Jairus earnestly requested Me to come to his house and heal his dying daughter, the woman sneaked up from behind and took up so much of My time. She was caught up with her own need, no doubt, but in the bargain, she thwarted Jairus’ attempt to obtain healing for his dying child. This is a recurring pattern – yet we can see in it an opportunity to test the strength of the petitioner’s desire to obtain what s/he is looking for! Had either of the petitioners in the two examples given above been less enthusiastic or keen on getting his gift from Jesus, they probably would have returned home empty-handed. The obstacles that seem to block our path then, show us how keenly we want the blessings sought.

On some occasions you will have noticed that I explicitly ask the petitioner: ‘what do you want me to do for you?’ By doing this, I give him/her the chance to articulate the real felt need and not be satisfied with a mere imaginary need. Even when they do not exactly specify their request, as when the father of the epileptic boy pleaded: ‘Lord I do believe, please help my unbelief!’ the keenness shines through the petition quite clearly. And so I had no hesitation in granting him the request.

Coming back to our parable, the presence of the darnel among the wheat will only show how strong the good seed, the real wheat, is. It should be tough enough to withstand all opposition and interference and continue to grow strong and tall. Only that kind of seed will be worth having, after all. Applying this to yourself, you will recall what I say elsewhere: ‘If you wish to be my disciple, take up your cross…’ Discipleship will be costly; belonging to the kingdom too will have its price-tag. And only those who are made of sterner stuff will be able to persevere; the rest will most likely fall by the wayside.

Against this background, remain in silence and quietly look at the pattern of your behaviour – are you the kind that is tenacious and holds on till the end, or do you give up at the slightest obstacle you encounter? Listen to what the Spirit tells you with regard to how you usually face difficulties that come across your path in life. You might also ask of the Spirit to show you how secure your inner spiritual resources are: are they like wheat that can withstand the evil effects of cockle when they grow side by side, or would you need to do some weeding? Remember that God believes that the wheat sown in you is powerful enough to withstand all opposition and that is why he tells the servants to wait till harvest time. Remember to do more listening than talking in this period of silence.

If you still have time, you may move to the next parable: the key point seems to be – the kingdom of God comes into your life through incidents which look pretty insignificant. A stray word heard from an unknown person could spark off a reaction in you which opens you up to God’s grace… the death of a friend or some other tragedy happening to someone else could serve as a wake-up call for you… The beginnings are usually very small, almost unnoticeable - and yet if you are attentive and receptive, a lot of good can follow. The kingdom usually works very silently and unobtrusively; you don’t even notice its presence until quite some time later when you look back and notice the evident growth in your life. Once again, spend some time in silence and stillness and right at the end of your prayer, devote some time to petitions for those in need. Finally conclude with the usual vocal prayer or a hymn.

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Jesus : We begin again with the usual period of deep silence and stillness in which you seek to be as attentive to My voice as you possibly can. Remain in this silence for as long as you can. When you feel you are quiet enough and can move to the need reflection stage, you could move on to the Gospel of this Sunday and read it slowly and prayerfully. Do find some time for a brief review of last week’s living out of what you prayed over.

[Time for silent prayer and reflection]

Jesus : Today’s set of parables calls for a different kind of response from the person wishing to enter into God’s kingdom. Notice first of all that the kingdom bursts into a person’s life unexpectedly, maybe even he least desires it. The farmer who while ploughing a field discovers a treasure did not actually set out to find one. He was busy with his routine work, but all of a sudden he realizes that he is faced with a mighty big decision. The treasure he discovered is too precious to let go. At the same time, he cannot afford to buy the field and at the same time keep all that he possesses - and still acquire the treasure. He needs to figure out what to keep and what to let go. After mature reflection he chooses to part with all that he has in order to obtain the treasure; and even so he would be the richer for it at the end of the transaction. This, of course, would be the ideal response one could make to God’s offer inviting a person to enter into the kingdom, beckoning one to enter into a deep personal relationship with him. However, we cannot afford to forget that there is a very personal and serious choice involved here – one that requires careful consideration!

Once you opt for the kingdom, everything in your life will change – even if not dramatically and immediately, but it will - slowly and surely. Yet you will probably notice that the initial step seems rather easy; later, one thing will lead to another and before you can say ‘Jack Robinson’ you will be well on the highway towards deep intimacy with the Father, Son and Spirit. Your entire life will have acquired a new direction, such that even your close friends and relatives will marvel at the changes they notice in your life-style. Recall Zacchaeus and the breadth of his response to My invitation – even though he would have had to part with most of his wealth, he would have been a new yet happy person from then on.

After the process is begun, all you will need to do is respond generously to every call the Father gives you believing that he never asks anything of you which is not for your good and positive benefit; nor will he ask of you something that is beyond your present capacity. What you need is a measure of generosity and total trust in the Father’s fidelity. Outstanding biblical examples like Abraham, David, Jeremiah and others will inspire you at moments of such decision. But, when you respond to the call positively and generously, you will be the first one to benefit. He will lead you step by step and even though there will be big sacrifices asked of you, in the sense that you will be called to let go of several things or even persons, yet you will experience within yourself a deep peace and joy; you cannot miss the sense of fulfillment that will come upon you.

Remain in silence as you visualize all this happening to you. It would help if you could spend some time pondering over all those vital crossroads in your life, as it were. At these points, it is so easy to let the Self dominate, or allow fear to get a grip on you and prevent you from responding generously. Don’t ever allow yourself to go backwards, no matter what the cost. Generally, the thing you prize most will be the first thing the Lord asks of you: check, therefore, what it is that costs you most: honour, good name, material possessions, friendship, health… already now while still in prayer express your readiness to let go of all, even if everything in you keeps screaming in pain and fear.

When you have come to the end of your silent prayer, turn your mind to a few intercessions for persons who, maybe, are afraid to ‘sell everything in order to obtain the treasure they have found’. Conclude with the usual short prayer or hymn.

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Jesus : As you enter into this hour of prayer begin with the usual brief period of deep inner silence and stillness. Remember we compared this to the warming-up movements you need to do when beginning your daily period of physical exercise. Take this part seriously and you will notice how great are the benefits you derive from the efforts you make in this direction. Ensure that you spend a little time also reviewing with Me your progress in applying all that you learn in prayer to your life during the week.

[Time for silent prayer and reflection]

Jesus : The Gospel for this Sunday begins with the information that when I heard of John’s death, I withdrew with My disciples to a lonely place. Try to discover for yourself why I chose this time, soon after the death of John the Baptist, to withdraw and undertake a new direction in My work among the people… Could it be that now that John was no longer on the scene, this would be the best time to lead My disciples into a deep inner experience of the Father’s providential love and care, as I fed the people in the desert. This experience would be diametrically the opposite of all that the Old Testament offered the people. Notice further that the mention of the boat in which we withdrew to this lonely place could also signify that the entire Church is being invited to share this experience. So, picture yourself joining the group and enter into the experience, as from the inside.

Spend a little time savouring the enthusiasm of the people themselves, who hurried to the place on foot, braving the elements, not knowing how long they would be there and ready for any kind of hardship. Possibly what encouraged them up was their confidence that as long as they were with Me, they would not suffer any real want, harm or difficulty.

Join the people as they mill around; listen to what they have to say about their expectations of Me… accompany them through the entire event, as their sick are healed and later they themselves receive enough to eat in that difficult and barren place… or even as they return home and express their plans for the following days/months. Listen also to the reactions of My own disciples when they suggest that I send the people away to go and fend for themselves as regards their material needs of the moment. Notice that this reaction indicates that they have not understood the basic quality of God, our Father, viz. that he will never abandon his own in a difficult situation. They were too frightened to take the risk, lest the people should get after them for being unable to meet their needs adequately. What does all this tell you about the way you handle difficult situations? In silence and stillness review your habitual behaviour in tight situations and then listen deeply to what the Spirit has to say to you.

The most important point here is to discover some of the sterling qualities of the Father. It is to this Father that you relate when you come to pray, or even as you face the nitty-gritty of daily living. Once you understand some of his essential qualities, try to imagine what a difference this would make in your daily life, if you were able to remember these qualities at the right moment… This is the important teaching I wanted to get across to My disciples, and I could not do it while John was around. The reason is simply that John was steeped in the Old Testament approach; good and inspiring as that was (don’t forget that John was the very best of what the OT could produce – yet ‘the least in the kingdom of God is greater than John’) it seemed to miss the point altogether. The Israelite approach to God was more one of fear, of distance, protocol and rubrics which had become the be-all and end-all of religious services among them. I rather spoke of God as ‘Abba’ which really is the equivalent of ‘dad’ or ‘papa’ – a term of intimate familiarity and that is how I wanted people to know God and relate to him – that he loves them tremendously and is waiting to literally ‘serve’ them as his very dear children.

In deep silence try and savour these truths and see if there is any change (repentance) you need to introduce in your relationship with God. Are you also the kind of person who is satisfied with merely reciting prayers, or do you talk to God as to a loving Father? Does God come into and become part of the daily events of your life? Or does he figure in your life only when there are serious problems or difficulties that you cannot handle by yourself? Let the Spirit lead you through this time of silence, and as you reach the end of your hour, devote a little time to intercessions especially for those who you know are in difficulties. Conclude with a brief vocal prayer or a short hymn.

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Jesus : By now you are used to the format with which we begin this prayer – a few minutes of deep silence and stillness. Enter into this hour with great care and earnestness and when you have quietened your mind and heart, spend a few minutes in a quick review of the past week. After all, the value of your hour of prayer is proportionate to the change it brings about in your day-to-day behaviour. To the extent that your un-Christian values and habits give way to a more Christ-like manner of behaving, to that extent can you say that your prayer has been effective. I came and continue to make Myself present in the Eucharist not just to adorn your altars and tabernacles, but to make a real difference in the lives of My followers.

[Time for silent prayer and reflection]

Jesus : You will remember that we said last time that I took the disciples into the lonely place because I had something important to teach them, viz. how to relate in a loving manner with God as Father. The teaching was not over when I sent the disciples off in a boat to the other side of the lake. Nevertheless, they had received as much as they could take at that moment, so I Myself went off into the hills to spend some quiet time with My Father reviewing the incident of the feeding. The Apostles seemed to have picked up the key message I gave them, but it needed to be further reinforced.

The storm rising over the lake became then the perfect setting for Me to teach them that once the Father has accepted people as his own, uniting them with himself in Covenant, he will never desert them especially in time of dire need. As the storm grew more and more life-threatening the disciples found themselves helpless against its fury. What made things worse was that they saw Me walking over the raging waters coming towards them and thought it was a ghost. A ghost would have been the last thing they would have wanted to contend with in such a situation, like the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back!

Now this is where the lesson lies. If they had understood something of the nature of God the Father, they would have interpreted the scene differently. God usually does not add one problem to another, unless it is needed to deepen the faith of the participant. He is not a cruel heartless tyrant who when his children ask for bread would deceive them by offering them a stone that looks like bread, or when the children want an egg offer them a scorpion instead! Rather, he knows what his children really need and most often anticipates their needs, providing them relief even before they ask for it. So rather than look on that mysterious figure as a ghost coming to attack or harm them, their instinctive understanding should have been that it is God himself who comes towards them in a strange unforeseen manner in order to bless them and share in their difficulties. Had they been able to look at the situation in that way, their reaction would have been one of joy and gratitude.

How often do you not interpret reality wrongly mainly because you lack faith? Faith is the power to see things from God’s point of view. And if God is love, then whatever he designs for his children must be likewise an expression of that love. Think of the recent sickness you (and others around you) underwent, interpreting it as a punishment for some sin you had committed, or the failure in an examination or interview as being abandoned by God! Go over a couple of such incidents but this time try to look at the event in a more positive manner. Notice, particularly, the kind of feelings that this new interpretation generates in you, and as you slip into a deep inner silence and stillness make a few prayers of praise and thanksgiving. Don’t necessarily articulate these prayers consciously but rather stay in that atmosphere of praise and thanks; allow the Spirit of God to pray within you. Note carefully how all these positive reactions in you stem from the root cause – the way you choose to look at reality around you.

Another simple reflection: it would have taken perhaps just one disciple who adopted this new positive, faith-filled way of thinking to change the entire scene. It could have been that some of them did think within themselves in a positive manner as suggested above, but they did not have the courage and conviction to share their viewpoint with the others in a way that would influence them and change their approach! They chose rather to succumb to the group pressure and go along with the majority opinion. What a beautiful chance for ‘apostolate’ that was missed. From this simple reflection you need to learn that you have to be independent on most occasions and act decisively not because others around you do so, but rather because of what the Father does for you. It is he who calls you and not your superior, parents, friends of whoever. Learn to see the events of your life as directly connected with the Father and make your response one of love and gratitude.

As you remain in silence see whether you too have faced some such situation in which you could have turned the tide for others, but (maybe consciously) chose to let things be the way they were. Check with the Spirit to see how you could make a difference wherever you are. Again in silence, let the Spirit work in you and fill you with his strength and power to be an apostle wherever the chance occurs.

After spending a fair amount of time in silence, turn to petitionary prayer for those in need and then conclude your prayer with a brief hymn or vocal prayer.

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Jesus : We shall enter into this hour of prayer in the usual manner, maintaining a period of deep inner silence and stillness. Coming as you do from a busy schedule and atmosphere, with several things on your mind, it will not be easy to slip into the kind of stillness required for fruitful prayer. So, do make an honest effort, the best you can, to be really quiet within, especially as regards your feelings. The better you can handle your feelings, particularly the more aggressive ones like anger, impatience and so on, the easier will the prayer time be for you. You might try to consciously slow down your breathing and that will help to also slow down the rush of thoughts and feelings through your harried mind. Don’t for any reason omit the brief review of the past week, seeking always to learn from your mistakes.

[Time for silent prayer and reflection]

Jesus : You have learnt from your reading of the Gospel passage what happened as I approached the non-Jewish territory of Tyre and Sidon. The reason why I ignored the petitions of the woman begging for the cure of her daughter was that I sincerely believed that My mission was first to the Israelites. Once they caught God’s message and lived it enthusiastically the message would spread through them to the ends of the earth. What moved Me to change this understanding and practice was first of all the evident dynamic faith of the woman. She seemed to have the very attitude I was struggling so hard to get the Jews to accept – that God loves his creatures and will continue to bless them in every way possible. The woman quite naturally and humbly saw herself as part of God’s household, even if she compared herself and her child to the little puppies that are fed off the master’s table. They too belonged there, if not in the same way as the children of the household!

What a difference it would make if all baptized Catholics today had the same deeply entrenched belief that they belong to the household of God, that they are God’s beloved children! Rather, they perpetually seem to see themselves as outsiders because of their repeated failings which actually are no obstacle for God to love them. Their picture of God is that he is the demanding One who will not tolerate any faults or sinful people in his presence. And since we all fail constantly and in so many different areas, they would never have a chance before God – on their terms. But if they did listen to My message coming from the Father, that their sins do not matter at all, things would be quite different. What is more important and calls for reflection is sin – the deliberate and obstinate refusal to accept God’s freely offered love and allow it to transform people from within. This attitude of wanting to accept God on one’s own terms rather than on God’s terms of loving mercy, is what blocks them from being blessed a thousand-fold. If God were to love people only when they are good and drive them away when they sin, in what way would he be the ‘great big God’ who is so different from us? We too find it easy to keep close to those who are good, who think like us and obey our every bidding! God is far greater than you can ever imagine.

It would be highly profitable if you could remain in silence and allow the Spirit to remind you of the several harmful attitudes that you have deeply embedded in your Christian conscience. While sin is not to be taken lightly, yet you have to realize that you cannot come to God on your own steam, as it were. Your Christian life begins with the gift that God, on his own initiative and because of his unbelievable love for his children. “God so loved the world that he sent his only Son Jesus, so that anyone who believes in him may be saved!” To believe in Jesus means to be ready to ‘live in’ Jesus, to become part of his Body which is the Church, or at least to have Jesus as the centre of one’s life.

Once we are ready to do this, we approach God not on our own, but together with, as part of Jesus. So what the Father sees in us is not so much our sins as our one-ness with his beloved Son, Jesus, and that is what makes him shower his blessings on us. Now, when we ‘see’ for ourselves that the Father loves us and blesses us abundantly irrespective of our faults and failings, gradually our ‘trust’ in God grows and we find it a lot easier to be in God’s holy presence even with our evident limitations. We become less ‘self-conscious’ and much more God-conscious; our attention is on him rather than on ourselves. We sharpen and deepen our desire to accept God’s love and live by it. Isn’t this one of the meanings of what I said so often to My hearers: ‘Lose your-self in order to find your true self!’ The less pre-occupied you are with sin and failing and the more you concentrate on God’s infinite and unbelievable love for you and all people, the easier does your life become.

Remain in silence, allowing these few important insights to revolve in your mind… chew over them till they really become part of your habitual thinking. As we said the last week, even in times of difficulties, your first thought should not be that God is punishing you through that negative event, but rather that he provides you with an opportunity to allow him to be ‘God’ for you. From the start his promise to you has been: ‘I shall be your God and you shall be my people!’ All your difficulties and problems are simply situations in which God can show you more convincingly how much he loves you – if only you will allow him. The more often you allow him to show his love and power the easier it becomes when you face the next difficulty. But the opposite is equally true too: the more often you doubt or wrongly interpret your problems, the more difficult it becomes the next time to see the painful event in a positive light.

So, spend as much time as you can in silence just marveling at God’s unshakeable love for you and all people. Take some very concrete instances from your actual experience and ‘see’ that love operating especially in times of stress and difficulty. Dialogue with God our Father and allow his Spirit to speak to you too. Above all, ask of the Spirit that he transform your mind and heart, and particularly the way you think and feel about the Father, so that from now on your life will be new. Like the daughter of this non-Jewish woman, you could begin a new life from this moment – if you chose to.

As you near the end of your prayer, spend a few minutes applying this immense love of God to some of your friends and near ones who are in need, possibly with the same doubting attitude towards God’s love… End your hour of prayer with a brief ejaculatory prayer or a short bhajan or hymn.

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Jesus : We move into our prayer time with a few minutes spent in total silence and stillness. You are aware by now of the importance of this procedure and so, without more waste of time, plunge into this silence… add a brief review of the week gone by, and pick out at least one lesson you must learn from this experience.

[Time for silent prayer and reflection]

Jesus : After reading the Gospel slowly and prayerfully, we begin with this simple reflection. Right from the start of My public ministry I went about proclaiming the kingdom of God, explaining to the people who God really is, and what his kingdom is like. It stands to reason that at some point before sending the disciples off on their own, I would need to check to see how much people had really understood of what I had been teaching them. And so I asked My disciples what people said about Me and My work. And as usual, they had not quite understood what I had said. They concluded that I was like most of the other prophets who had spoken in God’s name inviting them to return to their original commitment to God.

Seeing that the people had not discerned anything different in Me and My approach I asked the disciples themselves what they had understood. Answering in the name of all, Peter gave the correct answer and yet it was clear that it did not come from his own perception or understanding. Prompted by the Spirit of God, he answered correctly but that alone would not carry him or the others through. They would need to be tested out on this, and the way this would happen is by their being invited to share in My suffering and death. Later when confronted with the possibility of ‘drinking of the Cup’ all the disciples showed themselves ready to drink of it, but when I was arrested, not one of them remained behind – ‘they all forsook him and fled.’ All this indicates that they had got the words correct, but the meaning had eluded them totally!

And the reason behind this is not hard to find. Remaining close to Me and following the path of suffering that I was to take would entail suffering, possibly even death. And that is always a frightening prospect for anyone – unless of course a person’s faith in God and a deep understanding of God’s fidelity backs him up. The disciples thought they were strong enough, but experience showed that this wasn’t true at all. Remain in silence and listen to what the Spirit says to you about the level of your courage, commitment and perseverance. Listen deeply and without fear. Even if the level is not terribly high, the Spirit will put fresh heart into you and send you out as a renewed person. All you need to do is to be open to the transforming power of the Spirit. The disciples themselves were transformed after the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost – so why shouldn’t that happen to you as well?

Perhaps the deeper truth to be attended to is that each person’s life in Christ is like a journey. There are several stages to this journey and so a person cannot be expected to be perfect right from the start. Everyone makes quite a lot of mistakes but if one is open to learn, one keeps moving from one stage to another till finally one would ultimately make the grade. While in deep silence and stillness, ask the Spirit to indicate to you what you would need to do to move to the next stage. Generally it is fear that blocks one from progressing. But if you trust the Spirit he will lead you effortlessly. Sharing your situation with others is also another way of increasing your trust and spirit of enterprise, because when you see others responding generously to the Father’s call, you feel inspired to do the same too.

Remain perfectly still, without any reflecting for some time at least, and when you reach the end of your prayer, do make a few intercessions for those in need. Wind up your prayer with the usual hymn or short vocal prayer.

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Jesus : We begin our hour of prayer this week with the usual period of silence and stillness. Make a conscious effort to still your mind and your emotions if you wish to make the best of this hour of prayer. Gather all your distracting thoughts and feelings and trustfully put them in My loving hands, while you place yourself totally at My disposal. Give Me also a brief resume of your spiritual effort of this week, especially the times when you did not live up to the message you received in prayer.

[Time for silent prayer and reflection]

Jesus : Read the entire Gospel story once slowly and prayerfully, noting words or phrases that struck you. Recall how in last week’s passage, Peter had confessed in the name of all, that he saw Me as the Messiah, the Son of God. However, we also noted that Peter had not gathered this by his own efforts: it had been revealed him by the Father. But Peter had not yet digested what this really meant in practice. That is what I showed them in today’s passage – that the Christ would have to suffer and die and thus enter into his glory. Since Peter had not really understood what it meant to be ‘the Christ’ he began remonstrating with Me, seeking to dissuade Me from the cross and death. His is a natural reaction, but one that does not fit into the plan of the Father – a plan which covers almost every level of life. Seeds need to die if they are to produce a great harvest; one level of life is extinguished to give rise to a higher level – and so too, with the transition from ordinary human life to a full possession of divine life.

In your case too, while this divine life is actually gifted to you by the Father - it comes to you ‘free of cost’ as it were. But if you are going to benefit from it, you will have to make room for it, you will first have to rid yourself of the (self-centred) life you have, in fact, of all that you treasure and perhaps cling to. Maybe, subconsciously, Peter was afraid of what he would have to give up or let go if he wished to continue with Jesus. And again, Jesus’ explanation which comes in the next paragraph would have knocked the wind out of his sails – there was no way he could dodge the cross and still be My loyal follower who Myself am clear that this is the kind of end awaiting Me.

In your case, though, the cross becomes visible in the small little things that go against your plans, your convenience, your pet ideas and the like. Anything that goes against the Ego that is so deeply embedded in you is really a cross that can lead to glory. All people wish to gain their lives, but of course, the end alone is not enough. One would need to hold on to the means that I provide, as well. One thing that would make it easier to take up your cross at each moment is the realization that what God offers you is on a higher plane. If you choose to remain on the same level that you are, when you refuse to move out of your comfort zone, if you resent it when someone knowingly or unknowingly moves ‘my cheese’ – then it is you yourself who condemn yourself to remain on the same old level without any progress or gain. What you need then is the enterprising spirit, the spirit of adventure which is ready to take a risk. Or, as is said often: No pain, no gain!

Remain in silence and with God’s help try and sort out your priorities: Security or growth! Try and visualize all the benefits of security… and then move on to see what advantages there are in growth! Even if you can be a little clearer than before on these points, you will find a greater ease in choosing to accept God’s way, which is the way of life and growth. Do not be discouraged, however, if you find something inside you resisting God’s way. The Spirit can dissolve all opposition, if you place yourself on his side, or better, if you give him full permission to work things out God’s way in your life. Do this for as long as you need in silence and then move on to Intercessions before you wind up with the final hymn or prayer.

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Jesus : Can we enter into this prayer with a few moments of silence and inner calm? Given the fact that ours is generally a very busy way of life, you will need to consciously cultivate this silence and maintain it within yourself with a certain amount of discipline and firmness. Attend to this carefully and you will find it makes a big difference to the quality of your prayer. Remember to spare a few moments for a quick review of the past week – pick up one point that you can learn from last week’s prayer that will make this week’s effort more fruitful.

[Time for silent prayer and reflection]

Jesus : Having read the entire passage of today carefully, go back over it picking out the words or thoughts that struck you. You notice, first of all, that this passage (and the entire section in Matthew’s gospel) deals with life in community. Now this is one area that you cannot avoid as a Christian, because the moment you are baptized, you aere immersed into the Body of Christ, the living community of the risen Lord. And so, this section and the suggestions given here are of great importance for your Christian life.

Recall, first of all, that there is not a single day on which one does not commit some fault or other. As limited human beings you are bound to fail. Secondly, even when you positively do not intend to, your failings and limitations could hurt others around you. One can be as cautious as possible and yet there is no guarantee that your neighbour or fellow-humans will not take offence at something you say or do. So, willy-nilly you constantly provide one another with occasions to break up the community or on the other hand, to deepen the bonds that bind you together. Where unity is a key concern in the Christian community, there you have to learn to sort out your differences in a way that fosters a deep sense of togetherness.

The first thing that helps in this regard is to check your way of interpreting reality around you. While there are at least some persons who deliberately and consciously set out to irritate others and make life difficult for them, most people do not mean to hurt one another. So, if you can begin by believing in the goodwill of the other, when you can remind yourself that your brother/sister does not really mean to hurt you, more than half the pain is removed from the very start. Further, you will notice that when the trust level between your ‘friend’ and you is fairly high, you don’t take offence all that easily. You are much more ready to make allowances for the good intentions of the other. It is when you already have something ‘against’ your ‘brother/friend’ that you begin to interpret his actions somewhat negatively. So, before you can even go and ‘have it out with him’ it might be helpful to pause and ask yourself: ‘Is there anything that I do which contributes to this disturbed relationship between us? What is it that I can do to improve the situation, from my side?’ When you have done this homework, you will find it quite easy to ‘confront’ your brother and look at his side of the story with a lot more compassion than otherwise.

Besides, when in the confrontation your brother/friend can clearly see that you don’t mean to accuse or blame him, that you also accept some share of the blame for the disturbance, he will be much more open to listen to you and acknowledge his part of the ‘cause.’ The problem gets worse when either party takes on a self-righteous stance viz. that the other is totally in the wrong, while you are entirely totally innocent, or the aggrieved party. This kind of approach puts the other person on the defensive automatically and when this happens, s/he most likely will not even listen to what you say. His/her greatest preoccupation at that moment is to find suitable arguments to defend him/herself. The end result is that the confrontation doesn’t make any headway but ends in a deadlock, with each party digging its heels even more determinedly making sure that s/he does not budge from the position taken up from the start.

Further, it is helpful to remind oneself from time to time that no one in his right senses would deliberately do something wrong, just for the fun of it. If your brother does something that seems to you to be wrong, most likely it didn’t seem wrong to him in the first place. Or maybe while realizing that it was wrong, he saw some other ‘good’ in that approach and that is what made him choose to do it. So, when confronting him, it would be helpful to focus on what is the ‘good’ your brother saw in the action, in the first place. Look at the situation from his viewpoint, seeking to understand him and the possible motives for his action. In this way, you will be searching for the ‘truth’ much more objectively while also inviting him to do the same.

The usual approach, however, is to judge (or worse, pre-judge based on some previous incident which could have been totally different from the present situation) the action as wrong and insist on looking at it from your point of view only. This approach can only lead to a head-on collision and in the end will not allow either party to really access the ‘truth.’ Now all this presumes that you approach the matter in a calm and dispassionate manner. To reach the truth, one must be able to see clearly. If all you can do is to ‘see red’ then there is not much likelihood that you will achieve anything worthwhile. So, before you approach your brother, it would be helpful to make a brief prayer to the Holy Spirit for inner serenity, for clear-sightedness, for a genuine desire to seek the truth before venturing to have it out with him. The result of such an approach cannot but be positive and healing. Relationships will be maintained, and especially, the level of trust between the two will not diminish but instead grow – because the genuineness of the person is clear for all to see.

It is when two or three disciples gather together in this manner, in an atmosphere of love and acceptance that we can hope to have the dynamic and transforming presence of the risen Lord in our midst. However, most often we seem to believe that the mere presence of two or three Christians in a given place will make the risen Lord effectively present. You seem to forget that I said that you need to be present ‘in My name’ and not just anyhow! In other words, the true Christian who lives with others as a body, a living community forming the body of Christ, has to live in an atmosphere of love. When s/he does not live in love, then s/he disrupts community and will not listen to anyone either. That is when the others are to treat him/her “as a pagan or a tax-collector!”

Remain in silence once again and let God’s Spirit point out to you whether your habitual attitude throughout the day is one of love or not. Place those areas where you find you fail in the hands of the Spirit and request him to infuse his divine love into your life once again. “Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle in them the fire of your love…” After spending a fair amount of time listening to the Spirit, turn to the Father with a few earnest petitions on behalf of your needy friends and neighbours. Conclude with the usual hymn or short vocal prayer.

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Jesus : We move promptly into our prayer with the preliminary moments of inner silence and calm. Relish these few moments that you get and make the best use of this inner stillness. During My stay on earth, I often withdrew into the hills at the dead of night because that atmosphere of silence and peace is what makes for real communion with the Father. Remind yourself to include a brief review of the past week’s spiritual effort so that you can learn from it.

[Time for silent prayer and reflection]

[Note that the reflections that follow are based on the Gospel of the 24th Sunday and not on the feast of the Triumph of the Holy Cross]

Jesus : Once again, read the entire Gospel slowly and prayerfully to see if any particular work or phrase strikes you and grips your attention. You could, for example, stop and ponder over the question that Peter put since it was uppermost in his mind – the number of times one must necessarily forgive others who offend him. Notice in Peter’s question which is worded thus: ‘how many times … if he wrongs me.’ But in the parable which is given as an answer to Peter’s question, the problem seems to be that the second servant could not pay back to the first what really, in fact, belonged to the Master. For, if he had taken such a huge debt running into crores, he certainly would not have had his ‘own’ money to lend to others. Whatever he gave to the second servant then, would most likely have been out of what he himself had borrowed from the master. And so, when the second servant could not repay him, whom was he really offending? Certainly not the first servant, but really the master!

The story then seems to highlight the truth that all that we have is ultimately something we have received from the Father as his free gift. So, when a neighbour or brother fails to return what seems to be our ‘due’ it isn’t really ours to demand. See what the message is when you understand the hundred denarii in terms of honour, reputation, gratitude and things like that, and not so much merely in terms of money or property. Should you then be so sensitive when others do not give due credit to you or your work? Or, for that matter, should you be sensitive at all?!? Should you not rather practice what the early Christian writings tell you so forcefully: if someone will not repay what he owes you, don’t chase after him pestering him till he returns it. Rather, be generous and ready to lose what truthfully is not really yours, but simply received as a gift from the Father. When you look at your life in these terms, what a different scenario do you not have? How different human relationships would be among brothers and sisters who so often fight among themselves because of ancestral property, if you and others too could remember this important truth?

Remain in silence and try to savour this truth… visualize what your life would be when you can practice this approach spontaneously and joyfully – even when others around you do not! Ask God’s Spirit to enlighten you on how you are to behave when others take advantage of you because you adopt this ‘gospel vision’. What about the deep peace and joy that you experience when you follow Me, a peace which the world cannot give and which is worth much more than money or property. Drink in this wisdom till you begin to feel it in your very bones, as it were. Then as you prepare to conclude your prayer, remember a few others who are in need of your intercession and finally take the concluding hymn or short vocal prayer.

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Jesus : We remind you again to begin this hour of prayer with a few minutes of conscious effort to quieten your mind and heart. Even though this may appear to you to be a routine way of beginning this prayer, yet the more consciously and effectively you silence your mind the greater hope there is of you making quality prayer. Include a quick review of last week’s spiritual effort

[Time for silent reflection and prayer]

Jesus : As you read the Gospel of the day you will realize that you have before you another parable describing what the kingdom of God is like. You will recall that this parable has been understood in several ways, many of which have nothing to do with what I originally tried to teach My people. What is unmistakably intended here is that God does not restrict his invitation to enter the kingdom to any one group or period, but that everyone is called and given a fair chance to benefit from the invitation if s/he wants to. No one can complain that God has been partial in this matter – and in fact, why would God want to be partial? There is no one who can truly ‘give him’ anything and so he would not have reason to love one more than the other! After all, no one can claim as a right that s/he must enter the kingdom; it is a free gift that the Father offers to everyone – those who hear the message, understand what is involved and are ready to pay the price involved (which is losing oneself and allowing God to be the king of one’s life) will be the ones who will be in the kingdom. In this matter, good intentions alone are not sufficient – one must act decisively and take the plunge.

Notice also that no matter at what hour the invitation is received, merely by accepting to enter the kingdom a person gets the entire ‘package’ as it were. There is no more or less in this matter; one is either in the kingdom or not. There are no first seats and last… this is a matter of personal relationship with the Father. And so the measure can only be the depth to which one empties oneself of all obstacles like selfishness. Now while the parable is expressed in terms of working do notice that all the workers called later in the day are simply told: ‘You go into my vineyard too, and I will give you a fair wage!’ There is no explicit reference to work. Now the point is not that the later workers do not work or did not have to work, but rather that they are so touched by the generosity of the master in calling them at that odd hour, that the work they undertake is not done in view of wages; it is done rather out of love. It is no surprise then that when it is time for them to be ‘paid’, they get the full day’s wages.

In silence, listen to the Spirit explain the implications of this parable. Could it in some way refer to the historical situation of God’s dealings with all people? The first group he called into his kingdom seem to represent the Israelites with whom he entered into a fairly clear legal contract – the first covenant: the just wage for a full day’s work! All the other nations called later in the piece, which include all of us today, are invited into the kingdom more as an act of kindness and generosity on the part of the master. While we too work, this labour is more out of love than of contractual duty. In fact, those who came in at the last hour seem to be rewarded merely for being in the vineyard – there was hardly any substantial work they could have done. In Me, his Son, God extended a much more generous invitation to all nations offering them the kingdom as sheer gift. Realizing this, your response should be much more enthusiastic because now you work not as a servant, but as a son, without specified working hours or job description – there should be an understanding of love between you and God. Allow these reflections to sink into your innermost consciousness so that when you get back to your work-a-day situation you realize how privileged you are and so respond accordingly.

Still holding on to this privileged position, intercede with the Father for the needs of your brethren and friends and end your prayer with the usual brief hymn or prayer.

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Jesus: Today too as you have done each time you come to pray, spend the initial moments setting your mind and heart at rest so that you can listen more deeply and carefully to My voice and the promptings of the Spirit. Include also a few minutes of review of the past week.

[Time for silent prayer and reflection]

Jesus: For this week we have yet another parable but as you read it carefully and prayerfully you notice that it seems to focus more on the kind of response people generally give to God’s invitation to Covenant or kingdom. Some respond generously and enthusiastically, but later don’t do much about it; these people are filled with good intentions and they mean well, but ultimately don’t really derive all the benefits that the kingdom offers. There are others who travel in the opposite direction: initially they refuse the invitation, but later, for whatever reason, they change their decision and enter in – but now they go the whole way and benefit totally from all that the kingdom offers.

Those in the second group remind us of blind Bartimaeus who asked Me; ‘Lord, that I may see again!’ The implication seems to be that he had been a sighted person earlier but because of some neglect he lost his eyesight and turned blind. Having realized from experience the value of the sight that he lost, he now was insistent that he meet up with Me and request for his sight back. And when I did restore it to him saying: ‘Your faith has brought you healing; go your way!’ he was clear that he would walk the way I took – leading to Jerusalem where I would meet with My cruel death and from there on to the Resurrection and the new life that the Father had in store for Me and My followers. Or again, we recall the ‘good thief’ who literally stole the kingdom in the nick of time.

But more important than the responses of these people and something that you cannot afford to overlook is the generosity of the Father who does not revoke his gift once he offers it. The ‘sinner’ therefore has the opportunity to come back no matter what his previous responses had been. Applying this truth to yourself, do you realize that today, even as you make this prayer, you have the opportunity to decide that you will give yourself wholeheartedly to the Father’s call. But before you can do this, you must have the reason for your choice very clear in your mind. I would recommend that you don’t choose this because the rewards are so great; rather focus on the Father’s love… reflect on what it means to abide with such a generous, loving and faithful Father. Consider also what is the only condition God puts – obey, enter into My plan for you, which ultimately is for your good and not for your harm.

Once you are clear about the Father’s marvelous qualities, then your decision will be a wise one and will last the distance. Remember always that in this relationship you are the first one to benefit from the Father’s goodness and love. It is not for his sake that he invites you into the kingdom. Rather, his very nature is love which is diffusive of itself; and so all he asks of you is to receive his love and let it produce all its beautiful ‘fruits’ in your life. Never forget also that once you come so close to God’s love, you yourself become a channel of this love which now should flow on to others with equal generosity and graciousness. Are you ready for such a life? Ponder over this in silence and in the power of God’s Spirit give your answer to him … repeat it several times to ensure that you really mean it. Visualize in your mind’s eye how you are going to keep this commitment of yours faithfully throughout the week…

Ensure that you maintain at least a few minutes of total silence in which you do not consciously engage in any thoughts, feelings, words or decisions. Keep as perfect a blank within you as you are capable of. After you have done this for a sufficiently long period, then turn to a few petitions on behalf of others in need … Conclude with the usual prayer or hymn.

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