Reap what you sow
Today’s Readings are an eloquent commentary on how modern man should invest in living wisely. The fact that “we have no time to stand and stare”, as the Welsh poet W. H. Davies so beautifully puts it, sets a huge limitation on our physical, social, psychological and spiritual wellbeing. We fail to realise how we fritter away our lives when we should only be thanking God for adding life to our days, and not simply days to our life. Today’s Readings are thus a fascinating eye-opener for our jet age.
Come to think of it, they are apt for all times, for human nature has hardly changed since its inception, and we, like little children, still need to be reminded of what is good for our health and what is not. The First Reading (Wis 12: 13, 16-19) therefore goes back to the basics, showing us the omniscience and omnipotence of our God who, at the same time, cares even for the least of His creatures. He balances justice with mercy – providing an inspiring model for human administrators of all time. In our times of misery, the wisdom of Solomon draws our attention to the comforting reality that there is n-o-n-e like God, Who fills us with hope by forgiving us our sins.
Of course, it is one thing to sing ‘O Lord, you are good and forgiving’ when the going is good; and quite another when our minds are beset by fear and our hearts clouded by doubt. Under such circumstances, do we still have the verve to praise the Lord and trust Him, as Job did? It is not easy but try we must – and we can rest assured that God will turn and take pity on us. All we need is to have our ear to the heartbeat of Jesus our Lord.
St Paul in the Second Reading (Rom 8: 26-27) is quick to point that “the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words.” Several masters of Catholic doctrine as well as saints of old have taught us, by word and example, that it is of the essence to trust in divine providence. We can gain insight not through prayers, rituals and pious practices alone but also through our sufferings in the daily grind. It is legitimate to ask for what we want but we also ought to learn to align our will to the will of the Father in Heaven.
Finally, the Gospel (Mt 13: 24-43) the parable about the Kingdom of Heaven comes close on the heels of last Sunday’s Parable of the Sower. Jesus compares the Kingdom to a man who sowed good seed in his field. Jesus warns us against blindly trusting the world, for its spirit drives a wedge between us and God, just like our enemies do who plant weeds among the wheat we have sowed. Consider how many parents today lament the company their children keep! No wonder Don Bosco urged the youth to avoid bad company like poisonous snakes.
The problem of evil, weakness and death that the parable raises will have its final solution only at the end of times: the Father will have the weeds bound in bundles to be burned, whereas the wheat will be gathered into His barn. It is unknown when this will happen, but then, its delay amounts to opportunities for sinners to repent!
Meanwhile, we ought not to leave it all to God alone. You and I are duty-bound to discuss the divine plan of salvation and strive towards influencing people accordingly. For instance, have we spared a thought for Manipur? And what have we done concretely in that regard? Let us not lull ourselves into believing that we are powerless; we have God on our side, yet how fervently have we prayed? On the other hand, those who think they are powerful have their days numbered and will soon come to reap what they have sown.
Jesus also compares the Kingdom of Heaven to a mustard seed which, though the smallest of all seeds, grows into the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree. Furthermore, He likens the Kingdom to leaven that a woman has hidden in three measures of meal, till it is all leavened. While the former parable convinces us that, no matter how poor, humble or apparently inconsequential we may be, God takes care of our future; in the latter parable Jesus hints that everything that has been hidden hitherto will come to light through His Bride, the Church. Truth will prevail.
It is therefore fundamental that we continually refresh our understanding of God’s Kingdom. Our aim should be to let His Kingdom come here on earth and have all nations gather to worship Him. It will undoubtedly be a win-win situation for God and man. Although the world we live in is a bundle of contradictions let us not lose heart. We are sinners, yet called to be disciples of Christ. We who are made in the image and likeness of God are called to transcend human nature and embrace divinity! We have been endowed with a free will and would do well to use it wisely. The bottom line is that we will reap what we have sown.
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Tiklem
Conto de autoria de Willy Goes | Traduzido do concani, por Óscar de Noronha*
“Ó burro, pense um bocadinho, seu animal! Ó seu búfalo, faça uso do seu bom-senso, se é que lhe resta algo! Ó seu boi, estão a desmanchar-se todas as propostas de casamento que a sua irmã recebe. E sabe quem é a causa disso? Você!” disse a mãe ao Brikston, dando-lhe um forte puxão de orelhas.
Brikston reagiu com tanta raiva, difícil até de imaginar. E por quê? Não porque tivesse sido chamado burro ou boi, mas porque a mãe lhe deu um puxão de orelhas.
“Não sou rapazola de dez anos, para estar assim a dar-me um puxão de orelha,” disse o filho.
Brikston tinha vinte e oito anos… não se sabendo se se devia considerá-lo moço ou homem. Era bem instruído, mas a sua bebedeira lhe estava a dar cabo da vida. Era dono de um táxi, mas em vez de ele o conduzir, para melhores lucros, deixando o táxi a cargo de um motorista, ficando ele o dia todo sentado a beber na taverna. Este não dava conta do dinheiro ganho; e, por sua vez, o dono contentava-se com a receita desde que lhe assegurasse a sua garrafa.
“Ó mãe, com esse forte puxão de orelha, agitou a minha cabeça e me causou muita raiva! Por isso, pare de falar, antes que eu expluda como um vulcão,” disse em tom de ameaça.
“Ó, você e a sua raiva, meto-os numa lata. Ora, você é bêbado. Não temos medo da cobra feita de folíolo nem da fúria de um bêbado. Oiça agora o que eu lhe tenho a dizer. A sua irmã recebeu uma proposta de casamento. O noivo é empregado do Estado. São quatro irmãos; e este é o mais novo. São três rapazes e uma rapariga. A irmã é tikli – nasceu após três rapazes. Os dois mais velhos já são casados. O noivo está resolvido a não casar enquanto não case a sua irmã,” disse a mãe a Brikston.
“Ó meu Deus! Então, por ser tiklém, esta coitada vai ficar solteira. Ninguém casará com ela; nunca se realizará o seu casamento nem o do irmão. Rejeite a proposta, e veremos outro noivo para a nossa Florishka,” sentenciou o Brikston, como se não houvesse dificuldade alguma em se achar noivos.
“Ó seu boi, quem vai achar outro noivo? Porventura, estarão eles à venda no mercado? A família convidou-nos a ir hoje à sua casa. Diz que enquanto a irmã não achar noivo, ele quer ficar seguro de noiva. Eu estou já velha, é sua responsabilidade casar a sua irmã. Vá com ela à casa do rapaz,” ordenou-lhe a mãe, acrescentando: “E não se embebede. Se não, pode ele rejeitá-la por ser irmã de bêbado. É o que tem sucedido em casos desses.”
“Bom, farei como a mãe quer. Vou levar a Florisha à casa dessa gente; e também verei se a irmã do rapaz encontra noivo,” disse Brikston, tomando sobre si a responsabilidade de casar a irmã.
Brikston e Florishka chegaram à casa do potencial noivo. Foram bem recebidos, sentaram-se e estiveram a conversar. Stanzar, o noivo, era funcionário público do Upper Division Clerk - UDC. Não tinha vícios de fumar nem beber. Pela conversa, via-se claramente que Stanzar se simpatizara com Florishka. A sua irmã constituía o único impedimento: ele não casaria antes de ela se casar.
“Onde está a sua irmã? Podemos conhecê-la antes de partirmos?” perguntou Brikston a Stanzar.
“Sem dúvida, não deixem de falar com ela antes de partir, e vejam se lhe acham noivo. Mas só vos previno: ela é tiklém: nasceu a seguir a três irmãos,” explicou Stanzar. “Trishka… Trishka, anda cá.”
Vindo ao encontro dos hóspedes, Trishka cumprimentou-os com uma risada. Era bem-parecida, de tez clara, de estatura mediana. Tinha sempre um riso na cara e porte jeitoso. Era de encher a vista. Logo que a viu, Brikston ficou estupefacto, preso ao seu lugar, porém, como se a levitar. Dentro do seu peito, o coração palpitava sem parar.
“É esta a sua irmã? Como é seu nome?” perguntou Brikston, embora apenas há uns momentos Stanzar a tivesse chamado pelo nome.
“Trishka. O meu nome é Trishka. E o seu?” perguntou suavemente.
Ouvindo essa voz tão doce, Brikston levantou-se e, aproximando-se da Trishka, disse, estendendo-lhe a mão: “O meu nome é Brikston. How do you do?”
“Nice name. I am fine, thank you.” respondeu Trishka, apertando a mão.
Após mais dois dedos de conversa, Brikston levantou-se, passou uma vista de olhos por todos, e dando uns passos em direcção de Stanzar, despediu-se com um aperto de mão.
“Não sei se você gostou ou não da minha irmã, e nem me preocupo com isso. O facto é que gostei da sua irmã, Trishka. Poderíamos conversar mais sobre o assunto, o mais cedo possível, em minha casa. Por hoje é só. Vamos embora. Mog asum di.” E dito isto, partiram.
“O quê, seu bêbado! Você deu a palavra a essa tiklém? Antes disso, devia pelo menos consultar-me, seu animal! Não sabia que ela é tiklém? Quem se casa com uma tiklém?! Uma vez boi, sempre boi.”
Dito isso, a mãe de Brikston ia dar-lhe um puxão de orelha, quando ele, segurando a sua mão, impediu-a.
“Diga o que quiser, mas não me puxe a orelha,” disse Brikston terminantemente à mãe, apontando o dedo no ar. “Isso de tiklém-biklém não me interessa. É tiklém não por culpa própria! Coitada, nasceu depois de três irmãos. Que mal há nisso? Não presto atenção a essas superstições. Se isso de ser tiklém-biklém lhe interessa, isso é lá consigo. Vou casar-me com Trishka, and that is final!” disse Brikston firmemente.
“Tens alguma coisa a dizer, querida, a respeito da decisão do nosso bêbado?” perguntou a mãe, dirigindo-se à Florishka.
“Mãe, em primeiro lugar, pára de lhe chamar bêbado, boi, burro… Tu mesmo lhe deste o nome de Brikston, então porque lhe chamas de bêbado, boi, burro…. Quanto mais lhe chamares de bêbado, mais ele beberá. Chama-lhe pelo nome próprio, com carinho, e vê lá como ele vai mudar. Em segundo lugar, já que ele escolheu noiva, deixa-o casar com a rapariga. Isso de tiklém-biklém é cantiga.”
É claro que a mãe não gostou do que ouvira da boca de sua filha Florishka.
“Já percebi. Disse o rapaz não casará sem que a irmã fique arrumada: é por isso que tu estás a apoiar o teu irmão! Se por casar com a tiklém lhe vier a acontecer algo, seja a ele ou a nós, serás tu responsável. Percebeste?” disse a mãe, furiosa.
Correram os dias no meio dessa polémica, mas Brikston, sempre intransigente, casou com Trishka. Um mês antes, haviam casado os respectivos irmãos, Florishka e Stanzar.
O casamento de Brikston com a tiklém provocou grandes prejuízos a muitos co-aldeãos, ou seja, às tavernas, pois, Brikston parou de se embriagar e nem sequer suportava o cheiro a álcool. Mais, ficou desempregado o motorista do táxi, pois Brikston tomara-lhe as rédeas, vindo a ganhar rios de dinheiro. Aos poucos, teve meios para adquirir mais dois carros de praça, de modo que, em três anos de casado, já tinha três carros em casa, um conduzido por ele próprio e os outros dois entregues a motoristas da sua confiança. Estes prestavam contas regularmente. Além disso, Brikston consertou a sua casa e investiu dinheiro no banco. E assim se tapou a boca da mãe.
Ao fim de cinco anos de casamento, o casal tinha já três filhos. E estando grávida pela quarta vez, a mãe de Brikston aguardava a sua hora, ela que há tantos anos esperava que lhes viesse algum azar por via da tiklém. Efectivamente, nasceu-lhes uma menina, uma nova tiklém.
“Já viu isto? Já lhe tinha prevenido para não casar com a tiklém. Veja como a tiklém nos trouxe uma nova tiklém, como não podia deixar de ser... e quem casará com ela?” – desafiou a mãe ao Brikston.
“Ó mãe, esta criança, coitadinha, acaba de nascer. Quando ela crescer e estiver na idade de casar, encontrará um outro como eu; e tal como a presente tiklém me trouxe grande felicidade, também esta nossa fará o mesmo. Entretanto, a mãe faça votos para que chegue a ver a felicidade da recém-nascida.”
* Nota do Tradutor: Embora a língua concani modernamente se escreva sem acentos ortográficos, vai acentuada a palavra tiklém só para indicar a pronúncia adequada aos leitores portugueses.
Sobre o Autor
Willy Goes (1963-) é contista e autor de nove livros, sete em concani e dois em inglês. Actualmente é o Director do Goa College of Art. Foi membro do Conselho Consultivo do Concani na Sahitya Akademi, Nova Delhi. Apresentou trabalhos em seminários e ganhou prémios pela escrita criativa e fotografia.
Publicado na Revista da Casa de Goa (Lisboa), Série II, No. 23, Julho-Agosto de 2023, pp. 57-62 https://rb.gy/8qj52
Ligeiramente editado neste blogue.
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Called to Sow
Quite interestingly, the theme of sowing in the Readings today runs parallel to our monsoon sowing season. The First Reading (Is 55: 10-11) points to how the rain and the snow come down from heaven to help sprout the seed that will ultimately produce the sower’s bread. While this speaks volumes of God’s magnanimous concern, what follows is a clincher: “… so shall my Word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”
Those words coming from the Father find echo in the Gospel’s well-known Parable of the Sower (Mt 13: 1-23). Here Jesus speaks of four types of soil – flat, rocky, thorny and fertile – a metaphor for categories of people’s minds and hearts. The Sower is God Himself and the seed, His Word, that bears fruit only when our minds and hearts are receptive. The seed does not produce results in soils (read spirits) that are shallow, hard and knotty, for they only pay lip service, or hit back at God’s Word, or even stifle it.
Why did Jesus speak in parables? It was a teaching tradition of His time to tell simple stories in prose or verse; parables comprise some of the very best short stories ever told and have turned into an important literary genre. Parables sometimes come across as riddles but the fact is that they contain profound teachings, central to Jesus’ doctrine. That was indeed Jesus’ manner of reaching out to folk who were not given to know the secrets of God’s Kingdom.
Above all, parables have the purpose of making us aware of real-life situations and have us firmly decide on a course of action. Therefore, we as Christians have a heavy responsibility on our shoulders: we who have been let into the secrets of the Kingdom have to be Sowers of the Seed on God’s behalf. We can do this first by learning Catholic doctrine and then evangelizing through word and deed. We need to use our talents in God’s service, without worrying about the success of our efforts. We cannot be indifferent to God’s call; rather than be seduced by the world, we have to set out eyes on the treasure that lies in Heaven.
Meanwhile, as St Paul in the Second Reading (Eph 1: 3-14) reminds us, we have to be thankful for every spiritual blessing. God has chosen us very especially, inscribed us on the palms of His hands. For our part, we must respond by living a virtuous life. We ought to be thankful for the insights into the mystery of His will and fulfil its purpose. Finally, like the rain and the snow, we must return to Him at the end of the world, forming one body.
Messiah of Peace and Hope
Right from the eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time, we have been looking at the messianic role of Israel, on the one hand, and, on the other, looking at how Jesus was preparing His disciples for the apostolic mission. And today, the fourteenth Sunday, Zechariah famously announces the coming of the Saviour at an unspecified time in the future and, in the Gospel, Jesus spells out the nature of His Kingdom.
Zechariah is a common name in the Bible. The figure we encounter in the First Reading (Zech 9: 9-10) is one of the twelve minor prophets of Judah (and not to be confused with the New Testament Zechariah who was the father of John the Baptist). Zechariah was born in Babylon where his ancestors had settled after the Babylonian capture of Israel in 597 BC. Some seventy years later, when Babylon in turn was captured by the Persians – whose policy it was to repatriate foreigners and have them worship their own gods – Zechariah and fellow Jews returned to Israel.
The Jews now devised plans to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple, and to constitute a nation. They were conscious of their status as God’s Chosen People, destined to attract the nations to worship the true God in Jerusalem. This led Zechariah to write in a messianic vein, as is evident from the second part (chapters 9-14) of his book. Hopes of restoring the kingdom of David remained unfulfilled in his time, but half a millennium later, Jesus, the true Son of David, fulfilled those expectations by preaching the Kingdom to the Gentiles, so that every knee may bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
The prophecies of Zechariah came true in Jesus’ life. Note how the donkey was Jesus’ choice as He entered Jerusalem. The donkey is looked down upon today but was a noble beast back in the day; it was used by royalty on missions of peace whereas the horse was a herald of war. The significance of Jesus’ choice was surely not lost on the Jews; but while the crowds cheered Him, Jesus silently weeping for His beloved Jerusalem, anticipated that the cheers would soon turn into jeers.
In the Gospel (Mt 11: 25-30), Jesus states that the Kingdom will be more easily reached by the little ones than by the worldly wise, and by the poor rather than by the rich. The children and the poor are more attuned to the spirit of truth and love, which is God’s; the learned elders and the affluent, on the other hand, depend overly on themselves and tend to forget God, until the going gets tough and they can’t get going! Jesus graciously invites all and sundry to come to Him and be at peace; His yoke is liberating, whereas the spirit of the world is jealous and boastful, arrogant and rude; it insists on its own way, is irritable, resentful, and rejoices at wrong (cf. 1 Cor. 12: 4-8).
Our Lord’s teachings are not for individuals alone; it is for societies and countries too. It has the power to raise a civilisation, as it once did, especially in the West. Christianity has inspired art and culture, politics and philosophy; it has influenced ethical and aesthetic standards across human activity, including architecture, education, medical care, music, science. It is quite another matter that the same spirit is now conspicuous by its absence, for many societies and countries have unfaithfully and ungratefully relinquished their gold medals and settled for bronze.
St Paul in the Second Reading (Rom 8: 9, 11-13) teaches us how to live by the Spirit, making it a way of life. As we reflected last Sunday, we ought to live in the supernatural sphere rather than in the natural plane, for as the Apostle of the Gentiles reminds us: ‘You are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God really dwells in you.’ Just as family members worth their salt partake of the family ethos and thus have a sense of belonging, only those who have Christ’s Spirit belong to Him. Christ’s Spirit is life-giving; the flesh is deadening.
That’s the agenda every Christian should go by, live by, and then, as the Psalmist sings, we will have a multitude of reasons to bless God’s name, give Him glory and praise for evermore for our life of hope and joy.
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Mauzó recebe o galardão Jnanpith
“My language has never let me down," says Writer Damodar Mauzo
"A minha língua nunca me decepcionou," disse o escritor Damodar Mauzó.
Reportagem de Brian de Souza | Traduzido do inglês por Óscar de Noronha*
No seu discurso de aceitação do galardão Jnanpith, Damodar Mauzó discorreu sobre as suas inspirações criativas; sobre o que lhe representa o concani; e a necessidade de criar uma atmosfera que garanta a liberdade de expressão.
“Inspiro-me na minha terra natal, no meu povo e na minha língua”, disse Damodar Mauzó no seu discurso de aceitação do prestigiado prémio literário Jnanpith que lhe foi conferido, relativo ao ano de 2022.
Mauzó recebeu o galardão após a leitura da citação, numa cerimónia muito concorrida, realizada no Raj Bhavan, residência oficial do governador de Goa, P. S. Sreedharan Pillai, em maio de 2023.
“Na expressão das minhas ideias, a minha língua nunca me decepcionou”, reiterou Mauzó, de 78 anos, no seu discurso. Essas palavras captaram a essência da sua longa caminhada com a língua concani, que disse que ama e a qual, “por sua vez, muito me ama”.
Então, por que escreve Mauzó? Disse sucintamente: “Escrevo porque tenho algo diferente a contar e/ou a contar algo diferentemente”.
É apenas o segundo escritor da língua concani a receber este prémio; o primeiro foi o falecido Ravindra Kelekar, quem Mauzó cortesmente reconheceu como seu mestre. Kelekar liderou o movimento literário goês no pós-1961.
A obra literária de Mauzó é vasta e inclui vários géneros. Na sua carreira de 50 anos, publicou 6 colecções de contos, quatro romances, dois esboços biográficos, livros infantis e um grande volume sobre a saga do concani, no qual descreve as dificuldades sofridas à conta dos sequazes da língua durante o regime colonial português.
Mauzó publicou a sua primeira colecção de contos, Ganthan, em 1971, porém, foi só em 1983 que alcançou fama pelo país inteiro, com o romance Karmelin, sem dúvida, a sua obra mais conhecida, com a qual venceu o prémio da Sahitya Akademi. Nesse romance, Mauzó destaca as lutas de uma goesa que, para o seu ganha-pão, se desloca para o Médio Oriente. Escrito no auge da emigração goesa para o Golfo Pérsico, foi bem recebido e traduzido para 14 idiomas. É uma obra seminal sobre a experiência goesa nessa parte do mundo.
Dizendo-se um leitor voraz, Mauzó também prestou homenagem, entre outros, a escritores como Mahasweta Devi, José Saramago e M. T. Vasudevan Nair, os quais disse admirar. Também reconheceu a influência de Saratchandra Chattopadhyay, escritor bengali, que, segundo Mauzó, falou da sua dívida para com os necessitados (“suas lágrimas e desamparo”), que dão tudo, mas não recebem nada, e de Charles Dickens, que citou para “afirmar a sua crença (de Mauzó) no amor e na compaixão”.
A musa criativa de Mauzó foi sempre o homem comum goês, retratado tão eloquentemente no romance Karmelin, enquanto os temas das suas obras incluem o género, a casta, a religião e outros aspectos da condição humana. Como parte desses temas, a sua obra investigou a migração, o turismo e a mineração, que até hoje têm relevância em Goa, pois são questões debatidas no domínio público.
Mauzó referiu-se ao percurso literário do concani que, segundo ele, “sofreu golpes tremendos às mãos da sua história”. Isso também é algo que ele experimentou em primeira mão como membro do comité director do Konkani Porjecho Awaz (Voz do Povo Concani) de Goa, pois sofreu várias pauladas da polícia enquanto se debatia para que o concani viesse a ser conferido o estatuto de idioma oficial.
Enquanto as suas realizações literárias o colocaram sob os olhares da opinião pública, a sua paixão pela liberdade de expressão também veio a conferir-lhe grande projecção quando veio à tona uma ameaça à sua vida, após o assassinato da jornalista-activista Gauri Lankesh. Mauzó era então dirigente do Dakshinayan Abhiyan, um movimento lançado contra a discriminação de castas e ataques à intelectualidade e ao racionalismo.
Nada disso teria diminuído o espírito de Mauzó, pois continua a escrever e aparecer regularmente em festivais literários, incluindo o GALF (Festival de artes e literatura de Goa), do qual ele é co-fundador e co-curador.
Nascido em 1944 na Goa portuguesa, ora Estado da Índia, Mauzó fez os seus primeiros estudos, até o primeiro grau, em português, conjuntamente com os estudos primários em marata, tendo depois ido para Bombaim, onde se formou pelo PA Podar of Commerce. Começou a escrever no final da adolescência e continua a fazê-lo, não conhecendo outra ocupação além da loja que dirigia até recentemente.
Era mesmo de esperar que, ao encerrar o seu discurso, Mauzó, ou Bhaiee, como é carinhosamente apelidado esse lutador apaixonado pela liberdade de expressão, se pronunciasse sobre esse direito humano vital. Servindo-se da analogia das rodovias, que ora estão a ser construídas pelo país, afirmou que também há necessidade de “uma rodovia que suavizará o ritmo acelerado da literatura, eliminando obstáculos mentais dos escritores, fortalecendo as pontes de traduções e criando uma atmosfera encorajadora para a liberdade de expressão”.
* Publicado na Revista da Casa de Goa, Lisboa, No. 23, Serie II, Julho-Agosto de 2023, pp 45-48 https://rb.gy/8qj52
God above Self
Placing God above ourselves in word and deed is a sign of our openness to His presence and action in our lives. When we receive God’s representatives, we welcome God Himself; when we place ourselves at their service, it is the Almighty that we serve. In fact, we cannot do without Him: a reminder to the contemporary world that has closed in on itself.
The First Reading (2 Kings 4: 8-11, 14-16a) introduces us to Elisha and to an unnamed, wealthy woman who served him and, upon discerning his holy vocation, sheltered him. Elisha, who was himself the son of a wealthy landowner, had left hearth and home on being selected to succeed Elijah in the prophetic mission. He spent time with Elijah on Mount Carmel; later, he served as royal advisor and became known throughout the kingdom as a wonder worker – not least among the wonders being the blessing of a child to his long childless benefactress.
However, the focus is not on accomplishments but on total trust in God and commitment to His message. This is a point that Our Lord highlights in the Gospel (Mt 10: 37-42) when He says that those who love their kith and kin more than they love Him are not worthy of Him; those who love their life are bound to lose it whereas those who lose it for Jesus’ sake will find it. Whoever takes exception to the Lord’s words knows neither the ways of the world nor the ways of Our Lord: The world appears sweet but is deceitful, whereas Jesus, who comes across as harsh, is truthful.
Jesus is no politician currying favour with His people. He is incredibly frank, straightforward, even blunt – but never false. He does not promise us a bed of roses; on the contrary, He invites us to take up our crosses. He does not encourage us to seek service but to serve as He did, unto death. He does not point to a highway but to the narrow path to Heaven. Had we – not individuals alone but countries as a whole – wholeheartedly embraced the philosophy of the Gospel, the world would have been a better place to live in.
Pope Leo XIII in his memorable encyclical Immortale Dei (1885) [1] reminds us of how once upon a time the world had found favour with God: “There was once a time when States were governed by the philosophy of the Gospel. Then it was that the power and divine virtue of Christian wisdom had diffused itself throughout the laws, institutions, and morals of the people, permeating all ranks and relations of civil society. Then, too, the religion instituted by Jesus Christ, established firmly in befitting dignity, flourished everywhere, by the favour of princes and the legitimate protection of magistrates; and Church and State were happily united in concord and friendly interchange of good offices. The State, constituted in this wise, bore fruits important beyond all expectation, whose remembrance is still, and always will be, in renown, witnessed to as they are by countless proofs which can never be blotted out or ever obscured by any craft of any enemies. Christian Europe has subdued barbarous nations, and changed them from a savage to a civilized condition, from superstition to true worship. It victoriously rolled back the tide of Mohammedan conquest; retained the headship of civilization; stood forth in the front rank as the leader and teacher of all, in every branch of national culture; bestowed on the world the gift of true and many-sided liberty; and most wisely founded very numerous institutions for the solace of human suffering. And if we inquire how it was able to bring about so altered a condition of things, the answer is beyond all question, in large measure, through religion, under whose auspices so many great undertakings were set on foot, through whose aid they were brought to completion.”
Contrast the Pope’s prophetic words with our condition today. The world is in a shambles, with atheism, materialism and individualism reigning supreme. No wonder, Russia has spread its errors across the world and is now attacking Ukraine for petty gains; France, formerly considered the eldest daughter of the Catholic Church, has been facing unrest; and in our country, the social and political scene is unbelievable – so enormous that our Shepherds finding themselves speechless have left the sheep to be devoured by the wolves. Against the particularly devastating scenario in Manipur, Archbishop Peter Machado of Bangalore has been the lone voice crying in the wilderness – God bless him! Meanwhile, the encouraging words from the state's new dispensation for the services traditionally rendered by the Christian community have provided human solace to the archbishop. Proof that the Lord keeps His promises and never abandons those who decidedly stand by Him.
Against this dismal background only the Gospel can give us hope, set us free. St Paul in the Second Reading (Rom 6: 3-4, 8-11) invites us to reflect on the fact that with baptism in Christ we die to sin and are on the path to our final glorification. Therefore, putting God above everything is a good idea. We could well say that only devponn (divinity) can protect our munisponn (humanity), only godliness can save our humaneness. That is Jesus’ radical call for discipleship. So, let us shed our natural approach to life and live supernaturally, putting God first in everything we do. Such a worldview may alienate those kith and kin accustomed to overrating the world; but it will surely keep us at peace with God. We ought to allow nothing to come between us and our God and Saviour, to whom we owe our very existence.
Banner: https://givenscreative.com/2022/11/a-week-of-challenge-servanthood-before-self/
Truth and Trust
Isn’t it ironical that everyone believes that truth must prevail but few are ready to hear the truth (especially when it concerns themselves) and act on it? Scientist, politician and layman alike want to change the world ‘for the better’, yet few have the courage to confront the real truth. Maybe we just don’t trust that the truth will keep us afloat – save us – or maybe we are simply too lazy to change our crooked ways. At any rate, we fail to stand by what is good, right and true and succumb to the forces of darkness. Such lack of integrity will sooner rather than later destroy the social fabric and, what is more, sever our ties with God.
In the First Reading (Jer. 20: 10-13), we see Jeremiah entrusted with a very difficult mission: to announce to unfaithful Jerusalem that it was soon to be torn apart. The people responded with a smear campaign; even friends issued threats and awaited the Prophet’s fall. But Jeremiah was unshakeable: “The Lord is with me as a dread warrior; therefore, my persecutors will stumble, they will not overcome me.” He notes how God “tries the righteous” and comes to their rescue. A lesson in perseverance in the face of opposition.
How many of us stand our ground when it comes to defending the Verum, Bonum, Pulchrum – Truth, Goodness, Beauty? For instance, everyone is quick to criticise a corrupt politician but they mellow in their sight if not melt down at the first sign of trouble. Every one of us has a calling to be prophetic. Jesus shows us the role of prophecy in the church, our churchmen repeat the injunction again and again but how many walk the talk, or simply call spade a spade? There were times when the church hierarchy, from the Pope downwards, authentically stood up to the secular powers and asserted God's law. That had a ripple effect in society and kept it running like a well-oiled machine.
In the Gospel (Mt 10: 26-33), Jesus sends forth His disciples to fearlessly proclaim His doctrine. He promises to expose what is hidden and announce what is merely whispered: He calls us to be upfront about God and His dominion over Creation. However, He cautions His disciples against satanic forces that can destroy body and soul; yet there is none to fear but God who alone has authority over all things. In short, Jesus calls us to be proactive, to acknowledge and stand by Him – for, then, He will stand by us, when we go to our eternal reward. And woe to him who denies Him, for they will be paid back in the same coin.
Expanding the ideas of eternal life and damnation, St Paul in the Second Reading (Rom. 5: 12-15) speaks of how sin and death entered the world through Adam and how humankind was redeemed through the supreme sacrifice of the Second Adam, Jesus Christ. Whereas Adam’s act led to our separation from God and set off our condemnation, Jesus’ Resurrection brought hope of reconciliation with God and ensured our salvation. This is the supreme reality, in the face of which everything else pales out into insignificance.
Today we are invited to examine our lives: to what extent do we believe in the existence of God? How far are we ready to overcome all odds and affirm our faith? To what extent do we trust in the Announcer of the Good News – and in Him alone? Do we suffer from a trust deficit in things that really matter? Or do we at times suffer from overtrust? At any rate, it matters who and what we trust. In the era of fake news, it matters what we finally believe and trust.
At the end of a terrible week that saw Titan go the way of the Titanic, let us realise, before it is too late, that Jesus alone is the Way, the Truth and the Life. When we trust in Him without reserve, there is no titan to fear. Note how the fishing boat trapped in that fierce storm in the Sea of Galilee did not sink as the supposedly unsinkable did the submersible went down in the North Atlantic: rather than the size of the craft or the material used it was the presence of the proverbial Pilot Jesus Christ that made all the difference.
Doctrine to the winds?
It is of the essence to look at Catholic doctrine as one whole; by looking at it piecemeal we may end up distorting it, just as by interpreting it loosely we may sooner or later water it down completely.
Here is a case in point: as seen on Corpus Christi Sunday, Jesus’ words (Jn 3: 16-18) – “God so loved world that He gave His Only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” – mean that outside the Church there is no salvation. And this is what the Catholic Church has taught down the ages.
As pointed out in our reflection last Sunday, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states that “those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience – those too may achieve eternal salvation” (CCC 847).
In short, Baptism is necessary for salvation of anyone who has heard the Good News and has had the possibility of asking for Baptism.
Risk of Concessions
On the other hand, concessions could lead the faithful to believe that anything goes. One such of my worst fears came true yesterday when I happened to attend the anticipated Sunday Mass at a chapel. The priest stated quite nonchalantly: “There is no need for baptism; living the Christian values is enough.”
In one stroke he had let the congregation know that they need not have come to church at all; just living a good life at home or elsewhere would suffice! Should we, then, dismantle our baptismal fonts?
When approached after Mass, the cleric tried to wriggle out from it at first but before long he admitted that his words were meant to appease a certain section… In the process, he had not only taken the congregation but even Our Lord Himself for granted. Thus, in a bid to sound politically correct, he had no qualms about being evangelically incorrect.
Who can deny the possibility of a non-sacramentally baptised person being saved, under the circumstances foreseen by the Catechism? But is it a cakewalk? If salvation of the baptised is difficult – for we have to pass through the narrow door – it is much more so for the non-baptised who have no access to the sacraments and other ordinary means of sanctification that God has provided to his Church!
That is why Pope Pius IX in his encyclical Quanto conficiamur moerore (10 August 1863), on promotion of false doctrines (cf. paras. 7, 8, 9, 11, 13), condemns those who believe that “good hope at least is to be entertained of the eternal salvation of all those who are not at all in the true Church of Christ” (Syllabus of Errors, 1864, para 17)
Newfangled Approach?
When a clarification was sought, the priest waxed eloquent about a “new approach” devised by the Church and, right or wrong, cited the present Pope. But then, the important point to remember is that no approach, whether old or new, is entitled to throw doctrine to the winds.
According to the so-called new approach, then, is the sacrament of Baptism only a dispensable ritual and no guarantor of supernatural life? Or am I to believe that supernatural life is nonexistent, or maybe unimportant, provided we have a good life? And should I stop believing that baptism has made me a child of God and Heaven more easily accessible?
In fact, without Baptism, we would have no access to any of the other sacraments either. More specifically, Holy Orders would be out of bounds: mustn’t priests, then, be in awe of the first Sacrament rather than make slighting references to it?
And what about the priest’s privilege to forgive sins and celebrate Mass? And if there were no Sacrament of Penance, would penitents be able to regain the grace lost through sins?
It is therefore not for nothing that St Paul has said that through baptism we “put on Christ”; and St Thomas teaches that the sacrament “configures” us to Christ!
Pray for Priests
For the above reasons and many more, let us hold the Sacraments in the highest esteem. No better person than the priest, who acts in Persona Christi, to set the example. He should by no means balance himself on the razor’s edge, lest he leave the parishioner confused and demoralised, if he has cared to listen to the homily.
I write this with a heavy heart but in the spirit of “bear[ing] one another’s burdens and so fulfil[ing] the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:1-2). Hence, I would like to end with Pope Benedict XVI’s prayer for Priests:
Lord Jesus Christ, eternal High Priest, you offered yourself to the Father on the altar of the Cross and through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit gave your priestly people a share in your redeeming sacrifice.
Hear our prayer for the sanctification of our priests. Grant that all who are ordained to the ministerial priesthood may be ever more conformed to you, the Divine Master. May they preach the Gospel with pure heart and clear conscience.
Let them be shepherds according to your own Heart, single-minded in service to you and to the Church and shining examples of a holy, simply and joyful life.
Through the prayers of the Blessed Virgin Mary, your Mother and ours, draw all priests and the flocks entrusted to their care to the fullness of eternal life where you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Banner: https://truthout.org/articles/the-shutdown-as-shock-doctrine/
Adoring the Real Presence
All of us at some point or other must have wondered as to why we Catholics consume the Body and Blood of Christ! Today, the Solemnity of Corpus Christi (Latin for “Body of Christ” and short for Dies Sanctissimi Corporis et Sanguinis Domini Iesu Christi, or “Day of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus Christ the Lord”) provides an answer to our concerns. It celebrates the Real Presence of the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist instituted on Maundy Thursday. On this day, with the shadow of the Cross by now on the liturgy, the Church is at a loss to express her joy at this ineffable gift; hence, a special feast.
This feast has an interesting history. Whereas from the earliest centuries, the Church believed that the elements used in celebrating the Eucharist changed into the Body and Blood of Christ, it was only at the Fourth Lateran Council (1215) that the doctrine was termed as "Transubstantiation". In the year 1226, canoness and mystic Juliana of Liège had visions of Our Lord, who asked her to work towards the institution of such a feast but this happened only twenty years later and only locally. In 1263, at Bolsena, Italy, when a consecrated host that bled onto a corporal at the altar was considered a Eucharistic Miracle, by St Thomas of Aquinas, at his behest Pope Urban IV issued a papal bull Transiturus de hoc mundo (1264) (unprecedentedly) declaring a universal feast: that of Corpus Christi.
However, both before and after this watershed year, there was continued scepticism about the Body and Blood consumed in Holy Communion. Back in Jesus’ time, the Jews considered the very proposal a gross violation of the Mosaic law, but Jesus insisted that only “He who feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has life eternal, and I will raise him up on the last day.” Early Christians were accused of cannibalism, so much so that, while persecution by Jews and Romans alike was rife, the faithful felt compelled to celebrate the Holy Eucharist in the privacy of their homes or in the catacombs.
Nonetheless, Jesus who is at the centre of all history had to be right. Note how Jesus’ radicality was born with Him in the manger (feeding trough) in Bethlehem (literally, ‘house of bread’), and was confirmed at the Last Supper when He declared unequivocally that He is the Bread of Life. On hearing objections, He did not soften his language but reinforced it. Obviously, taking Jesus at His word, the Church teaches that the Eucharist is not symbolic but real, in fact, “the source and summit of Christian life”. It is said that just as death came into the world by eating the forbidden fruit, eternal life is restored by eating the Bread of Life. If His flesh is food, by the same logic, His blood is drink.
Meanwhile, the First Reading (Deut. 8: 2-3, 14-16) speaks of manna – a perishable bread! Moses told his people that by this God made them know “that man does not live by bread alone, but that man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord” (which, in the New Testament, is also Jesus’ wise retort to Satan in the wilderness). Moses was only exhorting his people to remember God not only in bad times – when they need His help – but also in good times, when they tended to forget Him.
In the Second Reading (1 Cor 10: 16-17), St Paul too highlights the sublime mystery that is the Holy Eucharist. He shows the sheer incompatibility of the Christian eucharistic feast and pagan sacrificial banquets. The Eucharist is truly sacrificial in nature and bears the Real Presence of Christ. The Apostle of the Gentiles draws our attention to the power of the Eucharist – that “because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of one bread.” The Israelites of old merely consumed the offerings; Christians who consume the Body and Blood of Christ gain eternal life.
Finally, Joan Carroll Cruz's Eucharistic Miracles and Eucharistic Phenomenon in the Lives of the Saints (Tan Books: 1991) and others on the same topic will let us see, concretely, how "real" the Presence is. While the Holy Trinity is a central tenet of our faith, as we saw last Sunday, the Holy Eucharist, being a real communion with Christ, is a central feature of ecclesial life and most worthy of perpetual adoration.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3H5f7oePQE
The Holy Trinity, a deep Mystery!
Close on the heels of Sunday of the Holy Spirit comes Sunday of the Holy Trinity, this latter being the central mystery of our faith and life (CCC 234). We believe in One God, who is not alone, solitary, but a Trinity, a Triune God, a divine family of life and love. As the Father sent His Only Son, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, Jesus Christ, to be born in the world; and, in turn, Jesus Christ, who upon ascending to the Father, made sure that the Third Person, the Holy Spirit, would descend upon the world, it is but natural that we acclaim them all together today – in the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity.
The First Reading (Exod 34: 4-6, 8-9) takes us back to the beginning, to witness Moses’ encounter with God the Father. God rightly introduces Himself as “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” This delightfully accurate self-description so comforts Moses that he promptly invokes his “stiff-necked people” (a true description of the miserable human race) who, by relapsing into idol worship, had provoked Moses into breaking the tablets inscribed with the Decalogue. Moses calls upon God to pardon their iniquity and their sin, and take them for His inheritance, or say, forgive their shortcomings, restore them to health and become beneficiaries of His love.
The Gospel (Jn 3: 16-18) refers to the Second Person, in the words of none other than Jesus Himself: “God so loved world that He gave His Only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” Here we have an endorsement of God’s love and the promise of eternal life to those who believe in Him. In the words of bishop St Cyprian of Carthage (3rd century AD), salus extra ecclesiam non est, or extra Ecclesiam nulla salus, which means that outside the Church there is no salvation.
So, what about “he who does not believe”, as Jesus put it? God’s love expressed through Jesus – who died to save us – is so great that we lose our salvation if we do not stand by Him and embrace the Faith. This is what the Catholic Church has traditionally taught. The present Catechism of the Catholic Church, quoting Vatican II document Lumen Gentium, explains: “Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience – those too may achieve eternal salvation.” (CCC 847) Food for thought and discussion beyond the Reading of the day!
The Second Reading (2 Cor 13: 11-13) speaks of the Holy Spirit. St Paul teaches us to greet one another saying, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” Familiar words. That’s how the Apostle of the Gentiles ends his letter to the Corinthians; and that’s how we begin the liturgy of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. So routinely do we pronounce these words that we fail to appreciate their deep meaning.
The fact is that none can claim to have fully understood the Holy Trinity. But, as the Catechism says: “God has left traces of his Trinitarian being in his work of creation and in his Revelation throughout the Old Testament. But his inmost Being as Holy Trinity is a mystery that is inaccessible to reason alone or even to Israel's faith before the Incarnation of God's Son and the sending of the Holy Spirit (CCC 237). The Father is revealed by the Son; the two are revealed by the Spirit (CCC 238-248) The whole divine economy is the common work of the three divine persons. (CCC 258) The ultimate end of the whole divine economy is the entry of God's creatures into the perfect unity of the Blessed Trinity. (CCC 260)
So, how do we proceed from here? Even before trying to delve into the Mystery, we must acknowledge how privileged we are as Christians to have been let into what is indeed the Mystery of the intimate life of God. It is profound, simply overwhelming, incomparable! If we have not fully understood it – and we never will – there is nothing to fear. St Augustine tried to reason out, but to no avail; there is that famous story of how a little child set his questions at rest…. So, out of the mouths of babes...!
On the other hand, what the mind cannot do, our hearts can – faith can! How does a mother understand her baby who only babbles? She does it with love. And that is how, even with reference to everyday things, we may understand the working of the Trinity, "God has left traces of his Trinitarian being in his work of creation". One popularly quoted instance is the flame of fire, which has three attributes (heat, light and shape) and yet is one; and can never be a flame of fire if one of them is missing! The same trinitarian spirit must inspire our domestic life.
Today provides us with an opportunity to meditate upon this fundamental Mystery of our faith and love and to initiate a personal relationship with each of the three Persons of the Holy Trinity!