For several years, the American television telecasted a show titled, “To Tell the Truth.” 

>> The show features a panel of four celebrities whose objective is the correct identification of a described contestant who has an unusual occupation or experience. 
This contestant is accompanied by two impostors who pretend to be the central character. 
The panel question the three contestants; the impostors are allowed to lie but the central character is sworn “to tell the truth”. 
After a round of questions, each panelist selects which one of the persons he believed to be the real “one”. 

>> The panel rarely reach consensus. 
The true identity of the “real one” was revealed by the moderator asking, “Will the real _______ please stand up. ” 
This phrase become a well-known expression: “Will the real ___________ please stand up?!” 

We are today placed with a similar task before us through the Gospel reading: To identify the real Jesus! 

“Will the Real Jesus please stand up?” 

The Gospel of the Day is a continuation of St Mark’s account of the Lord’s ministry. 
Jesus is engaged in His proclamation of the Kingdom of God. 

>> He is proving Himself to be a person who is of the supernatural and the extraordinary realm.
>> He teaches the Scriptures with deep authority and conviction…

… People hear God speaking in their lives! 
>> He silences and expels the forces of evil and influences the nature… 

… People experience the Divine force in their lives! 
>> He infuses life into the dead and proclaims his great power… 

… People come across the marvellous works of the Lord! 
>> He exercises His healing over the sick and the suffering… 

… People witness His glorious control and supremacy! 
People are…

… swayed over His mighty works 

… super-excited by His amazing wonders

… overwhelmed with His wonderful deeds 

>> But such occasions are the times of great testing and trial for anyone.. 
The easiest moments of losing oneself is in the midst of immense success! 

>> The most tempting times of losing one’s focus is when there are widespread victories! 
The Lord was surrounded by immense recognition and successes. 

>> The crowds were thronging around Him and His popularity ratings were soaring. 
But, just as the tree of success must be deeply grounded & rooted in the soil of stability and firmness… 

>> So also, the Lord was fully aware of His goals and mission. 
And so the Gospel of St Mark would explicitly point out the actions of the Lord… 

‘Rising very early before dawn, He left and went off to a deserted place, where He prayed’ (Mk 1: 35) 

>> ‘He told them, “Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose I have come”‘ (Mk 1: 38) 
The Lord points out to the people and to His disciples the priorities of His Life – Being in communion with His Heavenly Father and Spreading the Kingdom of God! 

>> He doesn’t get over-awed with success! 

>> He doesn’t get carried away by reputations! 
He reminds His disciples and His people to seek the “real” Jesus! 

>> He brings to the notice of His disciples and His people to long for the “real” Jesus! 

It’s a moment for us to check and examine our own lives: Am I following the “Real” Jesus? 
>> Is Jesus merely a source of healings and remedies in my moments of physical sicknesses… 

… or has He also become the true balm and consolation in my spiritual health and well-being? 
>> Is Jesus only like a call-centre agent whom I seek in order to fix some problems of life… 

… or Has He also become genuinely the treasure and the priceless fortune of my Life? 
>> Is Jesus simply a solution and answer when crisis hits my life and things go badly… 

… or has He also become authentically the greatest powerhouse and thrust of my Life? 
Am I following the “Real” Jesus? 

>> Or is it merely… 

… a Jesus of quick-fix solutions? 

… a Jesus who is a problem-solver? 

… a Jesus who is remembered in times of trials alone? 

… a Jesus who is expected to give all answers to my confusions? 
The people and the disciples, as we see in the Gospel, seemed happy and satisfied to seek Jesus who performs wonders. 
Surely, wonders and sensational deeds are good. 

>> But they are not to be an end in itself…. 

>> They are not to be made the primary motto. 
Miracles and marvels ought to become a launching pad for a deeper relationship with the Lord. 
Let us not reduce the greatness of Jesus to just miracles… 

>> Let us not bring down the immensity of Jesus to just physical needs. 
Let us rather, seek…

… the True and Living Lord for a wholesome & integral growth for eternity. 

… the Compassionate and Powerful Lord to grow in holiness & sanctity. 
“Will the Real Jesus of my life please stand up?” 

God Bless! Live Jesus!

Chess is a popular game that is loved and played by millions around the globe. 

>> It is a two-player strategy board game that is played on a chess board. 
The game of Chess brings alive a war on the board… 

…with clever strategies and witty planning 

…with constant movements and sharp tactics 
It’s a sort of..

… a battle that rages strongly

…. a combat that is highly engrossing. 
Our Christian lives sometimes represents such a game of Chess 

…with constant warfare and continual clashes with the evil forces 

The difference of course, is that the Christian warfare is not fictitious; it is real and lively! 
The Gospel of the Day presents such an action of encounter… 

… between the Kingdom of Satan and the Kingdom of God 

… between the shackles of captivity and bondage and the power of release and liberation 
Today onwards we are back to the Ordinary times of the Liturgical Season in the Church. 

>> The Liturgical colours shifts from the solemn and majestic ‘golden and white’ colours to the ordinary, yet unassuming ‘green’. 

  
It’s a time…

… to live the solemn celebrations in our regular affairs of life. 

… to give witness to the majestic splendour of God’s love in our everyday activities. 

>> The Lord, indeed, comes to meet and encounter us in the ordinary situations of our life.
Jesus is in the synagogue on the Sabbath Day and addressing the people. (Mk 1:21) 

>> His teaching is full of power and conviction…

>> His teaching is filled with passion and fervour… 
>> When one is deeply convinced of one’s beliefs…

… it overflows into one’s words and actions 
>> When one is highly passionate about one’s faith…

… it overwhelms one’s deeds and life. 
As He taught the people, Jesus encounters a man with an unclean spirit, who cried out:

” What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?” (Mk 1: 24) 
>> Where there is light, darkness cannot stand too long… 

>> Where there is immense holiness, filth cannot remain for long… 
When the Word of God is proclaimed, the powers of Satan begin to tremble… 

Imagine this situation… 
Jesus had been preaching for a while in the synagogue. 

>> All people were in rapt attention & awe, listening to His gracious words. 
But in the midst of them.. was this man, with an unclean spirit. 

>> He also was patiently hearing… 
But as the bold words flowed from Jesus, the spirit within this man began to disturb. 

>> The Lord’s voice began to reverberate his heart and mind… 

>> The Lord’s voice began to pierce into the depths of his soul… 

He began to get agitated. He began to get restless. He began to get frantic. 
And finally, he could no longer tolerate and with a massive and shrieking voice, he cried:

“What have you got to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?!”
The cry of the man is not something in isolation…

The cry of the man is not something which is unique…. 
This cry is often repeated by all of us too: “What have you got to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?” 
When we are living a life of coziness and comforts… 

… and we are encountered with situations of misery and helpless of other people

>> We hear the words of the Lord to reach out to them in compassion and love… 

… but, often we cry out, “What have you got to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?” 

  

When we are living a life in sin, bad habits and without even a sense of guilt… 

… and we are encountered by caring people who remind us of our need to give up such things

>> We hear the words of the Lord to renew and mend our lives in purity and holiness…

… but, often we cry out, “What have you got to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?” 
When we are going through our life without proper sacraments and religious practices… 

… and we are encountered by constant exhortations to deepen our spiritual life… 

>> We hear the words of the Lord to return to Him in humility and repentance. 

… but, often we cry out, “What have you got to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?” 
We are happy to remain with the spirit of luxury, the spirit of casualness, the spirit of indifference, the spirit of lukewarmness, the spirit of pleasures etc… 

>> We don’t like being disturbed

>> We don’t like being questioned

>> We don’t like being shaken up. 
If we are, we get agitated and irritated… we resist and we get wild. 

>> We even shout out: “What have you got to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?” 
But, in all such situations, the Lord wants to empower us with His powerful & bold words, “QUIET! Come out of him” (Mk 1: 25) 

Yes, our life is a constant warfare with the forces of the evil and the spirit of darkness. 

>> It’s a battle that rages strongly… 

>> It’s a combat that is highly engrossing. 
Let us not allow the evil power to “checkmate” us! 

>> Let us not give way to Satan to “defeat” us! 
The Powerful and Awe-Inspiring Lord is on our side!

>> Let us hold on to Him… and victory will be ours! 
In the language of the game of chess: Check…? 

God Bless! Live Jesus!

There is a story told about St. Patrick, a 5th-century Bishop, known as the “Apostle of Ireland”

 

Once he passed through a kingdom named Munster when the Prince King Aengus, came forth to meet him. 
This prince had already obtained some knowledge of Christianity, and asked the grace of holy baptism from the saint. 

 

Now a bishop always carries a crozier ( a stylish staff, symbol of the governing office of a Bishop) with him.  
St. Patrick’s crozier had a metal spike, so that he could stick it into the ground. 

 
When he began to baptize Aengus, he stuck his crozier into the ground beside him. 

But the crozier did not go into the ground, it went instead right through Aengus’s foot!!

 

The prince did not even moan, but just went a bit pale…

… St. Patrick, however, went on with the ceremony, not knowing what he had done.  

 
After the ceremony, St Patrick turned to take his crozier from the ground. He saw the ground splattered with blood! 

>> He was horrified when he realised what he had done…. 

 

“Why didn’t you say something?” Patrick asked.  
Aengus answered, “Well! I thought it was part of the baptism ceremony!”

 
The new convert didn’t complain of the deep pain & even the loss of blood, thinking it was part of the ceremony. 
Well!! We could perhaps laugh over it! 

>> We could perhaps think that he was too naive in his understanding of Baptism!
 

But then, think of it, from another perspective….

>> Is not pain an intrinsic element of Baptism?

>> Is not shedding blood a real part of Baptism? 

 
Has Baptism, today, become a mere ritual with celebrations and get-togethers?

>> Or has Baptism become a life-transforming process, with its intrinsic elements of pain and sacrifices? 

 
Today, Holy Mother the Church celebrates the Feast of the Baptism of Jesus. 

The liturgical season of Christmas, celebrating the self-revelation of God through Jesus, comes to an end with the feast of the Baptism of Our Lord. 

  
This incident of the Baptism of Jesus is greatly significant and important…. 

>> It is one of the few passages that appears in all the four Gospels. 

>> It was the first public revelation of the Three Persons of the Trinity

>> It was the first official declaration of Jesus as the Son of God to the world

   
For Jesus…

… it was a moment of identification with us sinners. 

… it was a moment of decision to begin His public ministry. 

… it was a moment of approval when His Father called Him as His “beloved Son”. 

 
Each one us, as Christians have been baptized in the Lord!

What does Baptism mean to us? What has Baptism meant to us?

 

Baptism is a time when we call ourselves to have ” put on” Christ…

… a time of conversion…from the old to the new!

 
For a moment, lets borrow the idea of how the Jewish conversion would be effected…

… so that we could have a better and a deeper understanding of our Christian Baptism.

For a Gentile to become a full fledged Jew there was a basic three-step process…

 

 

1. To offer a sacrifice 
A heifer or a pair of turtledoves was brought to the priest and given as a burnt offering to God. This meant some expense involved.

 

>> It required hardship, forfeiting and sacrifice oneself to become a new person!

2. Circumcision – the cutting away of a piece of flesh from a man’s body. 
For a Jewish boy, this was done when he was 8 days old, thus the pain wasn’t remembered. 
But an adult male, who wanted to become a Jewish proselyte, had to undergo this procedure, regardless of his age. 

 

>> It required deep pain, immense agony and even shedding of blood to become a new person!

 
3. Baptism
The person stripped off all of his clothes. He then went into the water naked before the Rabbis…

…. dipped himself under water making sure to fully immerse his entire body!
>> It required a lot of humility and self-sacrifice to become a new person! 

 
Christian Baptism doesn’t have these external signs and actions as that of the Jews.

>> But the internal aspects are much more strongly present…and even more valid! 
 

To be a Baptised Person in Jesus – a passage from the Old to the New, requires: 
1. Sacrifice of oneself
Willingness to sacrifice one’s life for the Lord, in the form of money, talents, time, energy etc…
>> He who wishes to follow me, must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me (Mt 16:24)

 

2. Undergoing pain and suffering 
… Openness to share the agony and grief of life through various life situations and being patient and faithful in all trials …
>> “The Lord your God will circumcise your heart… to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul…” (Dt 30: 6)

  

3. Embracing a life of humility and dependence on God

… Readiness to overcome our pride, our selfish desires and interests and allow God’s grace and mercy to flow through us…
>> “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time” (1Pet 5:6) 
 

Most of us have been Baptized when we were too little…

>> We were not aware…. But those who loved us and cared for us, were aware.
 

Baptism was a beginning… an initiation…into a life of grace…a journey with the Lord!

  
The Spirit of the Lord is within us…

>> And the call from deep within us is strong:

“Rise up from slumber, if you are sleeping… 
As a Baptised Christian, you have a very noble vocation and an immense responsibility…
Christian Life is no joke.. 

.. it does not tolerate passivity

… it does not allow lethargy!
Look up..  

… Mother Church is waiting to embrace you in deep love with Her Sacraments…
Mother Mary and all the Saints and Angels are encouraging you to become a Saint…
Yes, You are a Baptised Child of God…Consecrated to the Lord… Holy to Him!

Be true… Be Faithful.. Be Enthusiastic…Be Proud.. to be a Christian”

 
Yes, let us re-kindle the fire and love of being a Christian…. 
Lets renew our Baptism! Lets live our Baptism!

 
Happy Feast to all of us baptized with our Dearest Lord! 

God Bless! Live Jesus!