“Sailing together with the Lord over the clean waters of humility and meekness!”

(Based on 1 John 5:14-21 and Jn 3:22-30 – Saturday after Epiphany)

Imagine a theatre on opening night.

The hall is packed.
The lights dim.
The curtain rises.
Behind the scenes is a stagehand.

(A stagehand is a person who works behind the scenes in a theatre, to manage the technical and physical aspects of a production.

He is responsible for ensuring that sets, lighting, sound, and props are ready for performances)

The stageman quietly goes about his work….
… adjusting lights, moving props, opening curtains etc.

Every scene runs perfectly…
The actors shine…
The story unfolds beautifully.

At no point does the stagehand step onto the stage.
He is unseen. He is unheard. He is unnoticed.
The final curtain falls.
The applause roars.

Afterward, one curious spectator approaches him and asks:
“All this time… you were here…
Why didn’t you come on stage?
Why didn’t you let people see you?”

The stagehand smiles and answers:
“If they see me, they will not see the story.

My work is not to be noticed…
… it is to let the story shine.”

This is so beautiful an example for our Christian living: Humility is working behind the scenes…
… so that Christ takes the spotlight!

This was the hallmark of the ministry of John the Baptist
He prepared the way.
He baptized.
He called people to repentance.

And then he stepped aside…
… so that Jesus alone could be seen as the Light.

The Gospel of the day invites and challenges us to ponder over this aspect…
… by presenting the dramatically humble personality of John the Baptist!

One of the most supreme and vital messages that we learn from the life of John the Baptist is Humility – a virtue in direct contrast to the dangerous vice of Pride!

This is what we learn from the life of St John the Baptist.

He sought not his own way, but the way of the One who sent him.
He wanted not his light to shine, but the Light of Him who sent him.

The Gospel of the day has a scene of a dispute arising.

John the Baptist, by his bold preaching and his radical life-style, had attracted many disciples.

Some of these disciples come and told John: “Rabbi, the One who was with you across the Jordan, to Whom you testified, here He is baptizing, and everyone is coming to Him” (Jn 3:26)

Think of the confusion of these disciples of John…

Their teacher who baptized, is now being overshadowed.

John had preached about repentance, had baptized and had pointed to the coming Messiah.

This should have been a time for John’s disciples to celebrate, now that Jesus was coming to the forefront!

But they forgot an important aspect of ministry…
… that we are doing all for HIM!

But John the Baptist remained unperturbed and undisturbed.

He stood firm…
… because his eyes were fixed on “the One greater than himself.”

He displayed an angelic countenance of humility!

As St Augustine says: “It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.”

Like a good coach, who drills discipline and restraint into “his men”…
… John tells his disciples: “Let’s get back to the basics!”

John reminds His disciples that He is only the friend of the bridegroom… (Jn 3:29)

“The friend of the bridegroom” was a term used in Jewish weddings of the time.
This friend would:

Stand by the bridegroom, assisting him in ceremonial preparations and serving as witness
Encouraging joy and overseeing the celebration
Standing as an advocate and protector

John reminds His disciples that his ministry is not of his own, but received from God!
… that He is not to take centre-stage, but only the One greater than him!
… that He was not to be the Messiah, but only the forerunner of the Messiah!

In our life, it is easy for us to lose our focus from the Lord and have a selfish preferences for ourselves…

In our works, we often forget the blessings that the Lord has showered on us…
… and instead tend to attribute all successes to our own talents and abilities.

In our ministry, we lose sight of the Lord, the
real purposes of our vocation and the mission…
… and instead seek to fulfil our personal agenda and motives.

It is easy to bask in the glory of popularity and fame…
… and to enjoy the sunshine of reputations and recognitions.

But let them never lead us to have a “self-centred” approach of just “looking into” ourselves.

Let us have the humility to accept that it is God’s power being manifested in our works…
… And it is by His Grace that we move forward every moment of our life

Yes, “drown” not in the murky waters of pride, egoism and selfishness…

Rather “sail” together with the Lord over the clean waters of humility and meekness!

God Bless! Live Jesus!

“Extending to the Lord our hands… our hearts… our lives…!

(Based on 1 John 5:5-13 and Lk 5:12-16 – Friday after Epiphany)

Life sometimes is quite strange!

Often, when things go all well, and it seems that everything is fine
… disasters strike in life.

This is the experience of many of us in our lives.

Think of a man who is in his early thirties…

He has a wonderful wife, with two lovely children.
It’s a home with a lot of joy and happiness.

One day, the man comes back home after work – he is a mason.

On coming back, he informs his wife of a tiny sore that has been nagging him for sometime
This sore had turned a bit reddish after the heavy day’s of work.

With much insistence and persuasion by the wife, the man agrees to show it to a doctor.

After the initial check-up, the doctor tells them: “Well, the sore certainly has grown a bit. I have some of my initial observations, but I need to work on them still.
Why don’t you stay up here in the hospital for a few days, so that I can further examine?”
And so he agrees.

As days pass, the sore gets more infectious.
The doctor now is ready with his well-studied and examined decision:

“I am sorry to inform you… but you are infected with… Leprosy!”

Hearing this, the man is terrified.
Leprosy, he knew, was not just an ordinary sickness.

It was a slow death sentence – distanced from family, distanced from society, distanced from self!

Imagine that situation of the happy living family!

The man is now to leave his wife and children; his land and work…
… He is to go and live with people who were afflicted with a similar disease.
This was the law of the land.
This was the regulation practised in this area.

The Law required the lepers to keep as far away as possible from all healthy people.

Whenever someone drew near who did not have leprosy, the leper was supposed to shout, “Unclean! Unclean!”

So, with a heavy heart and a crushed spirit, the man leaves his loving wife and two children.
He goes off alone… to die!

He couldn’t even have an animal for a companion.

If he touched even a dog, the dog had to be killed so that it did not carry the disease back into the city.

Life as a leper was just too horrible and miserable.

Life sometimes is indeed quite strange!

The Gospel of the Day presents one such leper… A man who was “full of leprosy” (Lk 5:12)

One fine day, however, this leper looks up and sees a small group of people following a Man.

That Man – the leader – he comes to know… is Jesus.

The leper has heard about Jesus.

He wished to hear Him.
But the Law did not permit to go close!

As the group passes their way, this leper remembers what the Law taught Him.

And he begins to shout, “Unclean! Unclean! I have leprosy! Stay away from me! Unclean!”

But then a strange thing happens! Jesus keeps coming closer to him.

His shout increases… louder goes his cries…”Unclean, Unclean!”

But Jesus keeps coming closer and closer… till He has reached the leper!

The leper has now been afflicted probably for many years. He misses his family very deeply.

He knows he is at the edge of life
… undergoing a slow death!

But…
… Before him, now stands, someone, Who he has heard, has tremendous power!
… Before him, now stands, someone, Who he has heard, can unshackle any bondage!

And so, with tears filling his eyes and dread filling his shocked face, he asks, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean!” (Lk 5:12)

It was a cry of agony.
It was a wail of immense anguish.

He had suffered much.
He had been separated from loved ones for long.
Now he wanted a deliverance.
He wanted freedom from the captivity.
He wanted a wholesome life in his loathsome existence!

And then comes the spectacular words of Jesus, “I will. Be clean!” (Lk 5:13)

The Lord touches him!

His body was touched!
His heart was healed!
His soul was cleansed!
Life was restored! Happiness was returned!

Do you and I also feel sometimes like a leper?

Situations of happiness being snatched away
Moments of love and affection being afflicted
Times of joy, serenity and calmness being affected
Unloved? Rejected? Despised? Abused?
Helpless? Hopeless? Dying?

We may be going through hard times
We may feel that life is unfair to us
We may feel that existence is meaningless

But…
… The Lord wants to restore us!
… He wants to make us whole again!

Life is strange…
… but the Power of the Lord is more strong!

Life is complicated…
… but the Grace of the Lord is more compelling!

The Lord is here to touch us!

Let’s extend to Him our hands… our hearts… our lives…!

God Bless! Live Jesus!

“Entrusting our lives into the care of the Great Carpenter of Nazareth…!

(Based on 1 John 4:19-5:4 and Lk 4:14-22 – Thursday after Epiphany)

A carpenter is a person who works with wood.

The carpenter uses various tools and implements in order to cut, shape, chisel, carve and cut into the pieces of wood.

Gives new shapes… repairs the broken ones… polishes the rough edges etc…

The Gospel of the Day is an encounter with such a Carpenter.

Well… He is no ordinary one….

He is the Great Carpenter of Nazareth.. JESUS!

Jesus is in His hometown of Nazareth.

He walks into the synagogue, as was His custom.

He is handed over the book of prophet Isaiah and reads a prophetic passage.

All were amazed at His gracious words and they began to ask each other, “Isn’t this the Son of Joseph” (Lk 4:22)

Yeah, Jesus was the Son of Joseph, the carpenter!

And this Child of Joseph, was Himself also a carpenter!

The people would have murmured this statement to belittle Jesus.

The people would have referred Him so, because of their bias and prejudice.
The people perhaps called Him that way to show that He was just ordinary – one of them.

But what the people murmured or muttered or grumbled was indeed true…

Even later on, the people would refer, “Is He not the carpenter, the son of Mary…” (Mk 6:3)

Truly, Jesus is the Carpenter…

Not just an ordinary one, but the Great Carpenter of Nazareth!

The Jews were in great expectation of a Messiah.

Their concept of a Messiah would have been one who is very powerful, kingly, majestic etc.

But Jesus, the Messiah doesn’t ornament Himself with all such expected grandeur.
He doesn’t robe Himself with a showy magnificence or armour Himself with majestic works.

He takes the role of a Carpenter.

He identified Himself with the common people…
He became one with humanity with hard labour and gritty toil.

On one of the tombstones, in Great Britain, there is an epitaph written for a man named Thomas Cobb.

It says, “Here lies Thomas Cobb, who mended shoes to the glory of God, for 40 years.”

Yes, glory and honour can be rendered to God in any activity – small or great, menial or expert!

What is my understanding about the duties and responsibilities entrusted to me?

Am I aware that in all works – small and great, I can be giving glory to God?

Do I perform all my tasks, with a Sacred Sense that it’s an extension of God’s creative works?

A carpenter’s work is to fashion new things from ordinary wood and also to repair things that have been damaged.

The Great Carpenter of Nazareth is wanting to do the same in our lives…

He wants to create us anew and refashion our lives.

He wants to give new shape and utility to our brokenness and damaged parts of life.

Are we ready to let the Great Carpenter of Nazareth to work in our lives?

Hammer in some of the nails of discipline and virtues?
Chisel away sin and other unwanted portions of our life?
Polish some places of life that have lost its sheen and shine?
Drill in some screws to tighten the lethargic and sluggish areas of life?
Level some habits in us that can hamper the balance of our spirituality?
Measure some of our activities to determine how much exactly is needed?

In Mt 12:20 we read, “… a bruised reed, He will not break..”

We all of us have our brokenness in life… damages in relations… bruises in thoughts..

But the Great Carpenter assures that He will not let our bruised reeds be broken!
He wants to mend us..
He wants to repair us…
He wants to fashion us anew!

As a stanza in one of the lesser-known carol titled, “Behold a little Child” goes…
“Christ, Master Carpenter,
We come rough-hewn to Thee;
At last, through wood and nails,
Thou mad’st us whole and free;
In this thy world remake us, planned,
To truer beauty of Thine Hand.”

Knock… Knock… The Carpenter is already here…

Let’s open the door to Him…
… no matter, even if the door is also damaged!!

Let us entrust our lives into the care of the Great Carpenter of Nazareth… !

God Bless! Live Jesus!

“Trusting that the Lord is with us and hears our cry of deep anguish and fear!”

(Based on 1 John 4:11-18 and Mk 6:45-52 – Wednesday after Epiphany)

Played with li’l children?

When elders play some game, with little children, we usually change some rules of the game.

It could be a game of cricket, or football or just passing the ball etc…

We relax some of the rules to make it easy for the child to enjoy the game a little more.

Sometimes for fun, we even, play badly, so that the child may win…
Sometimes, we even make some adjustments and act as if we don’t know how to play well..
Sometimes, we even play, as if we are losing very badly so that the child may enjoy more…

We do a bit of “acting” to see the reaction of the children.

Well…
… for the Lord, we are li’l Children…

And no doubt, He too loves to play some tricks with us, His kids!

The Gospel of the Day is an example of how the Lord loves having “some fun” with us, His Little Kids…

The Lord has performed a stupendous multiplication of the five loaves & two fish among the five thousand men. (Mk 6: 34-44)

He then makes His disciples to get onto a boat, while He retires to enjoy His precious moments with His Abba Father on the mountains, to pray. (Mk 6: 45-46)

It’s at that time, the disciples, who are out in the sea, travelling on the boat, face a great storm.

As the disciples are struggling against the waves that hit them and the gushes of wind lashing against their boat, Jesus comes walking on the sea, towards them.

St Mark’s Gospel is very particular in mentioning a strangely overlooked statement: “He meant to pass them by” (Mk 6:48b)

Another translation of this sentence would read, “He intended to pass them by!”

Now, that’s strange, right?

The disciples are struggling for life and are in deep danger…

And does the Lord wish to just pass them by?

The boat is to capsize and it’s a terrible resistance against the forces of nature…

And does the Lord just want to pass them by?

Did He not see them?

Or does He not care?

Well… this is where we introduce the aspect of the Lord having some “fun” with His children!

On another occasion also, Jesus would do something similar…

On the road to Emmaus, with the two disciples, when they reach close to their destination, Jesus does a similar “prank”
“As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus gave the impression that he was going on further” (Lk 24:28)

Yet, on both occasions…
… when Jesus is called up, He responds positively.

In the boat, when the disciples saw the Jesus intended to pass them by, they cried out in fear.

And this prayer… of fear and worry… was heard by the Lord, and He responds!

On the way to Emmaus, when the two saw that Jesus was going away, they requested his presence.

And this prayer… of earnestness and desire…was heard by the Lord, and He responds!

Similar situations here…

The Lord in a sort of a “prank”
… intends to pass by.

It seems that He is not so interested in their concerns…

Yet, when they call out to Him
… He responds!

Just like elders while playing with children, who “act” for some time….

Jesus’ “acting” of being disinterested or “not knowing what to do” pays off…

The disciples reach out to Him in earnest prayer…and a miracle is performed!

The Lord seems to pass by, not because He is not interested in us.

It is rather just His way of making us to also reach out to Him in prayer

Divine disposition does not do away with human actions….

Divine help does not rule out human initiatives.

We are not to sit back and wait in passivity for God’s help…

We are to call out on Him, in prayer, in faith, in love!

Our lives sometimes have to face the consequence of this “prank” or “acting” of the Lord.

We struggle in the boats of our life, against dreadful storms of problems…
We row hard with all our might, and sometimes feel that it’s going to be the end of our life…

We get frightened and are afraid that somehow the waves will have the better of ourselves…

And the Lord, just “seems” to pass by

But when we cry out in deep anguish and fear… the Lord hears!

Our anxiety and fears itself becomes a prayer in the Presence of the Lord!

Is our life passing through deadly storms of faithlessness and isolation?

Are the dreadful waves of hardships and miseries assaulting us?
Does it seem that the Lord is “just passing by”?

Lift up the sagging and weary spirits…

The Lord is very much with us!

Let’s open our hearts and lives to Him…and hear Him say, “Take courage, it is I… Do not be afraid!” (Mk 6:50)

God Bless! Live Jesus!

“Living in confidence, with a strong affirmation, ‘Why can’t I, with Christ!'”

(Based on 1 John 4:7-10 and Mk 6:34-44 – Tuesday after Epiphany)

A missionary priest – who had spent many years in the missions – while addressing a group of seminarians exhorted:

“Life often takes us through moments of questioning of our capabilities!

‘How can I… ?’ will be a question that will often haunt you!

But with my tough experience in the missions, I can confidently tell, that life becomes so much easier when we turn around the apprehensive question, ‘How can I…?’
… to a strong affirmation, “Why can’t I, with Christ!”

Yes… one of the easiest doubts that often crops up in our daily life is the “doubt in our abilities” – “How can I….?”

How can I do the job?
How can I be expected to study so much?
How can I ever succeed in such a situation?
… etc.

Such doubtings of our abilities can leave many of our plans and aspirations to be at a standstill…

The Gospel of the Day brings us face-to-face with such kind of a situation – a situation of “doubts in abilities.”

It was a late evening…

The Lord had finished preaching the Word of God to a large crowd of people.

The disciples sensed that it had got too late and requested the Lord to send the people away…
… so that they could fetch some food for themselves.

“This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat.” (Mk 6: 36)

But the Lord had different plans… as always!

The Lord loves to challenge us in our comforts

He tells the disciples, “You give them something to eat” (Mk 6: 37)

This statement came as a shocker for the disciples. “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?” (Mk 6:37)

The disciples were not prepared to accept the challenge of the Lord

They perhaps thought from a financial point of view…

It would be too expensive to feed so many!
… And doubting their ability, they thought – “How can it be possible?”

They perhaps thought from a sociological point of view…

It would be too impractical to handle so many!
… And doubting their ability, they thought – “How can it be possible?”

They perhaps thought from a comfort point of view…

It would be a botheration for us to look after so many!
… And doubting their ability, they thought – “How can it be possible?”

Logic sometimes tells us that some things are too hard.

But the Lord invites them to look at the strength of their ability… which is He Himself!

When problems come, we often “doubt our abilities” because we look only into ourselves…

We fail to look to the Lord, Who is the solution to our problems.

When difficulties encompass us, we often “doubt our abilities” because we think that we are the master of everything…

We fall short of recognizing the power of God, which is, in fact, our true strength.

When crisis befalls us, we often “doubt our abilities,” because we get totally tensed and worried within ourselves…

We do not look up and see the hand of God, waiting to lead and guide us.

The disciples, who were “doubting their abilities”, finally let themselves into the ways of the Lord…

And then the miracle happened!

When we entrust everything into God’s hands, miracles occur

Before the Lord…
… logic can dissolve!
… reason can be floored!

Yes…
… Life will continue to challenge us with problems, wherein we “doubt our abilities.”
… Life will always ambush us with painful difficulties, wherein we “doubt our abilities.”

Let all those moments, be a chance for us to allow the Lord to multiply His blessings in us…
… to let the Lord increase His grace in us.

Let us make efforts to turn around the apprehensive question, ‘How can I…?’
…. to a strong affirmation, “Why can’t I, with Christ!”

God Bless! Live Jesus!