There is a French word named “sabot”.
It is a word which means a ‘wooden shoe’.

The English word ‘sabatoge’ comes from this root word ‘sabot’.

According to one theory, ‘sabatoge’ was the practice of throwing a wooden shoe or wooden clogs into a machinery (particularly power looms) to stop the work.

The word has come to mean ‘any attempt to hinder production or spoil a product or mess up a plan’.

In our lives, there is a ‘sabot’ – a wooden shoe that is often cast into our souls to hinder us from accomplishing the plan of God and to stop our work for the Kingdom of God.

That ‘sabot’ is called worry… and it is thrown by Satan!

It clogs our peaceful relation with the Lord and disrupts our life of joy and harmony.

In the Gospel of the Day, Jesus warns us regarding this device of ‘sabotage’ – worry – that we often encounter and experience in our lives.

The Lord firstly invites us to have a clear conviction regarding our loyalty: to God or to mammon.
He says, “No one can serve two masters… You cannot serve God and mammon” (Mt 6: 24)

We can be faithful and committed to only one of them.

To whom have we pledged our loyalty and allegiance…?
… to the True and Living God who alone is worthy of every honour and who alone is able to bless our lives with true joy and happiness….?
… or to false and make-believe effigies of money, wealth and possessions which may give momentary satisfactions but fail miserably in rendering true peace of mind…?

When we have made this pledge and commitment to the Lord, He invites us to “live” this commitment.

One of the strongest signs of “living” this commitment is to “trust” in Him!
And the external sign of “trusting” in Him is to not get into the vice of “anxiety”

Jesus asks this very practical and logical question:
“Can any of you, by worrying, add a single moment to your life-span?” (Mt 6: 27)

• All of us, surely, as we live our lives have our quota of tensions and troubles.
• All of us, without doubt, as we discharge our duties, will have our share of pressures.

But do we let these tensions and troubles and pressures to get converted to needless “worries” and undue “anxieties”?

Humans, as we are, stresses and strains are sure to come our way…
But, does my Christian Faith help me to convert such circumstances to occasions to trust in God deeper and build our faith stronger?

 For a person on deep faith, situations of tension are made into moments of seeking God deeper and experiencing His providence.
 For a person of higher trust, circumstances of worries are transformed to occasions of cherishing God’s presence and developing an approach of stronger reliance and dependence.

The evil one will no doubt hurl the “sabot” – shoes – of worry and anxiety on us
• He does know that discouragement are an easy trap for us to stumble in our life of faith
• He does know that anxieties are easy snares to corner us with fretfulness and fear.

 The evil one seeks to sabotage our desire to seek the Lord and work for His Kingdom
 The evil one tries to sabotage our good intentions to be a messenger of His Kingdom

Do we succumb to those attacks of “anxiety” and “worry”?
Or do we stand firm, in faith and trust, placing our faith in the Lord, entirely?

When the wooden blocks of worries are hurled on us…
… let us seek the help of the wood of the Cross…with Christ Crucified as our strength…
And boldly declare, with hope, “I seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness”!

God Bless! Live Jesus!

The story of King Midas is well-known…

This tale from ancient Greece tells of a king named Midas who did a good deed for a Satyr (a class of Greek gods) and was granted a wish by the GOD of wine, Dionysus.

For his wish, Midas asked that whatever he touched would turn to gold!

Although Dionysus tried to dissuade him, Midas insisted that the wish was an excellent one, and it was granted!

Excitedly, Midas went about touching all sorts of things, turning them into gold .

Soon Midas became hungry.
He picked up a piece of food, but he couldn’t eat it, for it had turned to gold  in his hand!

“I’ll starve,” moaned Midas, “Perhaps this was not such a good wish after all!”

Midas’ beloved daughter, seeing his dismay, threw her arms about him to comfort him, and, she too turned to gold !

“The golden touch is no blessing,” cried Midas.

He cried out to Dionysus, begging the god to take back his power.

Dionysus instructed him to travel into the hills, and bathe at the source of the river Pactolus.

And sure enough, as Midas bathed, the power of the golden touch flowed into the water.
The water becomes speckled with tiny flakes of gold.

Midas left the river, free of his curse and feeling like a new man.

Greed and avarice made King Midas to consider gold as the greatest treasure.
However, life taught him the lesson for true happiness by making him realise the transient nature of worldly treasures.

The Gospel of the Day present Jesus teaching us the lesson of not being attached to earthly riches, and instead, invites us to discover our true treasure in the Lord.

Our Blessed Lord says, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal…” (Mt 6: 19)

Jesus points out to the futility of having our security on earthly goods by citing two similes:
• Moth and rust
• Thieves

Any possession or any wealth on the earth, has to face a danger from both these aspects:
Those which cause damage from within… Those which cause destruction from outside.

Moth and rust cause damage from within…
…they spoil money, render precious things useless and cause irreversible harm to costly goods

Thieves cause destruction from outside…
… they loot valuable things, threaten lives for acquiring wealth and induce immense tension and worry.

However, the Lord says to place our treasure on things that are eternal and heavenly.

The advantage?
There is to be no fear of destruction: from within or from outside.
Moth and rust cannot affect them… Thieves cannot loot them.

That is why the Lord would assure to His disciples, later on in the ministry:
“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you; not as the world gives, do I give you peace” (Jn 14: 27)
“…your hearts will rejoice and no one will take your joy away from you” (Jn 16: 22)

St Paul would later articulate this in his letter to the Romans:
“For I am convinced that neither death, not life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the Love of God in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8: 38)

Jesus assures a treasure and wealth that cannot be either damaged from inside or can be destroyed from outside.
• There is total guarantee in placing our hearts on heavenly treasures.
• There is full assurance in letting our mind set on spiritual wealth.

What do these teachings mean for us?
 Am I simply being forbidden to use wealth?
 Am I simply being discouraged from having money with me?

Jesus goes a step beyond these queries and seeks to check our intentions and our attitude:
“For where your treasure is, there your health also will be” (Mt 6: 21)

• Is my heart constantly set only on worldly treasures and riches…
… and fails to, instead, give the prime place and honour to the Lord and set priorities for Him?

• Is my life constantly only worried about money, properties, gadgets and possessions…
… and fails to, instead, accord the rightful and due place to the Lord and concerns for Him?

Any of us can, at any time, fall into the desire to have the wishes that King Midas had: an attitude of avarice and wanting to have only wealth and earthly treasures.

But can I know and realise, that all such external possessions will not be able to assure my true peace and happiness?
 The real treasure is to be cherished only by having the Lord as our only true possession!
 The greatest joys of life come by clinging on to those realities which have eternal value!

May the intercession of St Romuald, who lived a life as an Abbot, and practised immense austerities inspire us.

As he says, “Better to pray one psalm with devotion and compunction than a hundred with distraction”, let us ask the grace to have a single-mindedness in our following of the Lord.

God Bless! Live Jesus!

Old Betty worked for several years as a maid, in different houses.

She was once asked the meaning of the Biblical verse “Pray without ceasing” and what it meant for her life.

“Well, it just means what it says,” said Betty.

“When I wash my face in the morning, I pray to God that many sinners may be washed in the blood of Christ during the day.

When I put on my clothes, I pray to God to clothe me with Christ and with His humility.

When I take up the broom to sweep, I think of the woman who swept the house for the lost piece of silver, and I pray God to sweep the world and to save lost sinners.

When I clean the vessels and they begin to shine, I pray to the Lord to brighten my soul.

When I wash clothes, I pray that God may wash away the filth from human hearts and all may remain fresh in His grace

When I wipe the windows and scrape the rust from the front-gates, I pray that God may cleanse the society of the dirt of inhumanness and take off the rust of indifference”

And thus Betty went on mentioning the things that gave her an opportunity of approaching God in prayer.

How beautiful and a practical life of prayer, isn’t it?

The Gospel of the Day is a beautiful exposition by Jesus on prayer.

The Lord highlights the essential dimensions that constitute real prayer and goes on to give the blueprint of an Ideal Prayer by teaching the “Our Father”.

Jesus says, “And in praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words”(Mt 6:7)

In the context, when we look closely into this verse, we see that Jesus is pointing to the important principle in the pagan religions: the spoken word is most important for effectiveness of any prayer or sacrifice.

Prayer had assumed the nature of being a formula or a procedure that had to be strictly followed for its efficacy.

The pagan understanding was all about “pleasing the god” and “tapping the Divine power” by one’s words and verbal formulae.
• Historically it is reported  of an occasion when the presiding magistrate at a Roman pagan festival forgot to include the “Roman people” among the list of beneficiaries in his prayer; the festival had to be started all over again!

It is therefore the attitude towards prayer and perception of God that Jesus condemns.

And this is a strong and relevant message that the Lord seeks to drill in our minds: Prayer is not to be reduced to being a formulaic key to unlock the power of the Divine!

It’s not our many words that makes God to grant His grace
.. Rather, it is by His Will and His graciousness that we receive His blessings.

Then what is meant by prayer?
The blueprint of prayer – The Our Father – that Jesus teaches gives us the answer.

Prayer is…

• Acknowledging His greatness
(Our Father, who art in heaven)

• Ascribing glory and honour to Him
(Hallowed be Thy Name)

• Seeking His Kingdom to come
(Thy Kingdom come)

• Longing for His Will to be done in our lives
(Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in heaven)

• Putting forward our needs and offering our aspirations to His Providence
(Give us today our daily bread)

• Choosing to actively being reconciled to all people to receive His forgiveness
(and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us)

• Imploring to keep away from sin and all evil inclinations and desires
(and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil)

Our whole life ought to be translated to acts and deeds of prayer.

When we understand prayer as being a “relationship” and being in “His loving presence”, prayer becomes a joyful, a continual and a meaningful devotion.

May His grace help us to make every moment of our life, an act of prayer in order to grow in greater closeness and union with the One who loves us the most!
Let prayer become a joyful action..
Let prayer become a continual devotion
Let prayer become a powerful commitment.

God Bless! Live Jesus!

This following little story is known to us, perhaps in different forms…

A gentleman who was walking down the streets of a city was greatly interested too look at the street children – many of whom were carrying smaller children upon their backs – and managing at the same time to play their games.

“It is too bad,” said the gentleman to one little fellow, “that you have to carry such a heavy burden!”

“He’s no burden, Sir!” came the quick reply; “he’s my brother.”

The child who was carrying his younger sibling, did not count the pain or the difficulty in carrying; instead embraced the situation joyfully.

“He’s no burden, Sir… he’s my brother” – is a phrase that ought to strike a chord in our hearts.

As Christians, we need to make this journey…
… of considering people not as a “burden” but as a brother!
… of considering people not as a “stress” but as a sister!

The Gospel of the Day is an powerful exhortation by Jesus to make this transition from considering people as a “burden” and “stress” and instead look at them as “brothers and sisters”, extending the Christian virtue of unconditional love to all.

Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, continues to pull down barriers of “comfort and cosiness” by challenging His disciples to rise above the normal standards of the world.

Today He speaks on the aspect of “Love”.

Love is the fundamental and innate vocation of every human person.

The dictionaries define love as being ‘a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person’ or a ‘feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection’.

Generally speaking, love is considered only to be a human ’emotion or feeling’.
It is something that is usually understood as being “felt” or “sensed” or “experienced”.

Jesus surely did consider “love” as an emotion and a feeling.
Therefore…
• He loved the company of people….
• He cherished affection of those who followed Him…
• He treasured relationships and fostered friendships with all…

But beyond these “external” dimensions of Love… Our Blessed Lord taught and showed a higher aspect of love.
• Love, not just being a “feeling ” but ” love as a “decision”.
• Love, not just being a “sensation” but love as a “commitment”

Therefore Jesus would say, “For if you love only those who love you, what recompense will you have?” (Mt 5: 46)

Love, when understood only as a “feeling” or an “emotion” can get reduced to being just an “object” or a “thing”
• Just as one exchanges goods with each other… love is also exchanged with one another.
• Just as one shares one’s belongings and possessions with one another… love is also shared with one another
• Just as one gives and takes things from each other… love is also given and taken from each other

This understanding of love is fine.
 But it is something quite common.
 It can even be seen as something universal

But the Lord presents a higher understanding of love and demands a much supreme expression of love from His followers: “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5: 48)

Love to be a “virtue” has to surpass the ordinary realms of being “an emotion” and “feeling” and transcend to being a “radical decision” and a “faithful commitment”.

 When someone hurts us, we don’t “feel” like loving…
But Jesus says, “Love that person”, because love is a “daring decision”

 When someone continues to be lukewarm, we don’t have any “emotions” of love…
But Jesus says, “Love that person”,  because love is an “absolute allegiance”

 When someone continues to cause pain, we don’t “experience” any love…
But Jesus says, “Love that person” because love is a “challenging commitment”

Now this teaching certainly irks our “normal” understanding.
• How can I possibly love someone who has hurt and killed me, mentally?
• How can I be expected to show love to someone who still hurts me, even intentionally?
• How can I be told to love people who have no regard for me at all and treat me as an object?

It seems to be an impossibility.
It seems to be absurd.

But look to the Crucified Lord, and we have the perfect example of this Love being lived in actuality!

Jesus on the Cross shows that love is to be a “daring decision”, an “absolute allegiance” and a “challenging commitment”!

• One may not be able to “show” love.. but can we still, atleast pray and wish for the good of the person?
• One may not be able to “talk” freely to the one who has hurt.. but can we still, atleast refrain from wanting bad to happen to that person?
• One may not be able to “resist” from having bad feelings when encountering one’s enemy… but can we still, atleast offer the person to the mercy of God?

This teaching certainly seems to be a big “burden” and a significant “stress”

But this is where, we need to make a journey…
… of considering people not as a “burden” but as a brother!
… of considering people not as a “stress” but as a sister!

The Lord has walked through this journey.
He is still with us, to accompany us.
• This journey may be hard
• This journey may be hurting
• This journey may be painful
But the Lord says, “My grace is sufficient for you!” (2 Cor 12: 9)

God Bless! Live Jesus!

India honours Mahatma Gandhi as the Father of the nation.

The New Testament made a great impression on him, especially the Sermon on the Mount, which went straight to his heart.

He would say to one of his disciples, “The gentle figure of Christ, so patient, so kind, so loving, so full of forgiveness that He taught His followers not to retaliate when abused or struck, but to turn the other cheek, I thought it was a beautiful example of the perfect man…”

“The message of Jesus as I understand it,” said Gandhi, “is contained in the Sermon on the Mount unadulterated and taken as a whole…

The Gospel of the Day presents this lofty teaching of Jesus on non-retaliation and the power of forgiving love.

It is significant to read that in this Passage of the Sermon of the Mount, Jesus is instructing some of the core personal tasks that has to be taken up by each individual Christian.
• The Sermon on the Mount makes a personal obligation on each Christian
It is worth meditating and reflecting on each line of this Great Sermon, and examining to what extent am I living this lofty and powerful teaching of the Lord in my life.

One of the highly debatable and confusing teachings of Jesus is contained in today’s Gospel reading.

Jesus says, “Do not resist the one who is evil. But if any one strikes you on the one cheek, turn to him the other also” (Mt 5: 39)

This verse could easily raise a lot of doubts and questions…
• Did Jesus mean that Christian should be passive to evil?
• Did Jesus teach that we should suffer unnecessarily in the face of social evils?
• Did Jesus teach passivity and being lethargic when one encounters wickedness and evil?

The one direct answer to all such doubts is seen in the light of the life of Jesus Himself…
• He was always actively against evil and sinful activities
• He was a constant opponent to oppression, condemnation and human wickedness

Then what would have Jesus meant by those strong phrases of “resist evil.. and turning one’s cheeks?”

There could be, speaking in general terms, three responses to evil:
1. Opposing with violence
2. Bearing everything passively
3. A courageous non-violence

The first two responses are also popularly called as Fight or Flight
…either FIGHT against the evil… or take FLIGHT from the evil situations

FIGHT: oppose with evil and violence
FLIGHT: run away from the situation or passively be submissive

But the way of Jesus is a higher one… a much higher and bolder one: the way of ACTIVE NON-VIOLENCE.

The Greek word that is used by St Mathew, for “resist” is “antisthemi”

‘Antisthemi’ is not a passive or a weak term.
It was a classical Greek ‘military’ term.

It means…
… to take a stand against, to oppose or to resist
… to establish one’s position publicly by conspicuously “holding one’s ground,”.
… It means refusing to be moved (” being pushed back”)

This clearly shows that “to resist evil” is not merely a passive act of submission, rather is a firm, courageous and bold action of holding onto one’s convictions of truth and opposing every reaction to subdue truth.

This is further illustrated in the example that Jesus gives, “of turning one’s cheek, when hit on the right cheek”

In the culture of Jesus, the left hand was commonly used for unclean tasks, and only the right hand was considered appropriate for such actions as striking another person.

Now, its common sense to note, that if one hits with the right hand, it would hit the other person only on the “left” cheek.

Therefore, if the person is hit on the “right” cheek, as in the example of Jesus, it simply means, that one was hit with a “back-hand”.

What is the significance of a back-handed slap?
A backhanded slap, had a greater message than merely hurting or causing pain…
Instead, it meant to be an act of “severe” humiliation… of “terrible” insult!

A backhand slap, in the time of Jesus, was the usual way of admonishing inferiors:
Masters backhanded slaves; husbands, wives; parents, children; men, women; Romans, Jews.

What is the response that Jesus suggests for such an act of dreadful humiliation?
Not Fight… Not Flight.
Rather, a strong and bravely opposing act of courage: “turn the other cheek as well!”

It is a calculated response intended to invite the aggressor to consider his or her actions.
This bold action of turning one’s cheek robs the oppressor of the power to humiliate.

It is as if the oppressed person is saying,
“Try again if you want, buddy!
Your first blow failed to achieve its intended effect.
I deny you any power to humiliate me!”

This was how our Blessed Lord who gave this supremely lofty teaching demonstrated in His life… by dying on the Cross!
• The Cross was a powerful opposition to evil and sin.

The One who died on the Cross did not die a passive death…
Rather, He boldly preached against every act of oppression and mightily spoke against every form of discrimination!

As Christians, we need to be bold and courageous to “resist” every evil and sinful deed.
In Christ, we have a teaching that is not passive, but is “extremely” active and powerful.

To merely FIGHT or simply make a FLIGHT in the face of oppressions, is cheap and ordinary…
In fact, it is “no spirituality”.

But to “be bold in one’s convictions” and “to oppose” evil, even to the point of giving up one’s life, is a lofty, supreme and mighty spirituality.
• Jesus embodied this spirituality.
• Many great men and women in history have been inspired by it and lived it.

As Christians, the followers of the Bold Jesus, are we ready to embrace this “powerful” spirituality?

God Bless! Live Jesus!