Parental Advice

Today’s Gospel Text:  Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom; 43 and when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, 44 but supposing him to be in the company they went a day's journey, and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintances; 45 and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions; 47 and all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 And when they saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously." 49 And he said to them, "How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" 50 And they did not understand the saying which he spoke to them. 51 And he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; Luke 2:41-51

Reflection: What do we teach our children?

It is always nice to see parents teaching their children the good things of life, the many positive human values, on how to live and behave in society and with others.

Most of the character formation of a child takes place at home: 

In school or in friends circles a child picks up traits which may spoil the character of a child but yet it need not always be a worry with good parents who know the art of parenting.

They can pick up from the bad things their child has learnt and make it work for the good of the child; on how not to behave from existing bad behavior patterns as examples to unlearn.

But the problem arises when parents themselves don’t live as role models to their children and there is a big discrepancy in what they teach their child and what they portray.

With what moral authority can a parent teach the child to be courteous or kind and they themselves often don’t practice what they teach their children.

This in no way means that one should stop teaching ones children the good behavior patterns of life, just because one cannot live up to the normal standards of living.

Every individual is duty bound to teach what is right and wrong, because sound morality is based on truth and is the essence of life and just because one is on a suicide mission does not mean that one should drag the whole world with it.  

In the gospel we could have a similar confusing situation which the Child Jesus goes through and revealed to us in that part when his parents ultimately finds him and he confronts them: "How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" (vs. 49) 

A careful look at that statement clearly shows us from where he learnt that and yet he knew that the very source from where he learnt  such wisdom were also an authority on what his future action should be and when it has to be performed.

Prayer:  Lord, help me to go back through my childhood and learn whatever sound things I have learnt from my parents, teachers, mentor’s and elders, in keep with your word and renounce all that is not of you.

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us

Covetousness

Today’s Gospel Text: One of the multitude said to him, "Teacher, bid my brother divide the inheritance with me." 14 But he said to him, "Man, who made me a judge or divider over you?" 15 And he said to them, "Take heed, and beware of all covetousness; for a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." 16 And he told them a parable, saying, "The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully; 17 and he thought to himself, 'What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?' 18 And he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns, and build larger ones; and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.' 20 But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' 21 So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." Luke 12:13-21

Reflection: "Extreme desires about what does not belong to you," that’s what covetousness is all about!

Who could that covetous character be in the gospel story? Was it the man who wanted his brother to divide the inheritance or the man who asked Jesus to be the arbiter to divide the property?

It could be either, yet what is important is that things may not belong to us and yet we may be covetous about life and situations.

We could be covetous about other people’s property or wealth or belongings or we could be covetous about other people’s gifts and talents or we could be covetous about the clothing’s of others.

In the spiritual realm, we could be covetous about other people’s spiritual gifts or we could be covetous about their positions and power or the privileges they enjoy on account of their positions. The later could exist even in the secular world, which often leads to work place politicking.

We could be covetous about the creative actions of others too.

In all these things, the real problem arises when one degrades oneself to such an extent that they would find their identity in having much rather then in being; as for us Christians it is a being that is reconciled with God in Christ Jesus.

Ones life is made up by the abundance of God’s grace offered to us freely through faith by the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross. Further, this life can only progress as we attach ourselves more and more to him by being detached from the worldly attachments of sin and bondages.

Prayer: God our Father, free your children from every bondage of covetousness and possessions, so as to walk freely in your grace.

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us

Purpose of Forgiveness

Today’s Gospel Text: Then Peter came up and said to him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?" 22 Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven. 23 "Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began the reckoning, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents; 25 and as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, 'Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.' 27 And out of pity for him the lord of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But that same servant, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat he said, 'Pay what you owe.' 29 So his fellow servant fell down and besought him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you.' 30 He refused and went and put him in prison till he should pay the debt. 31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. 32 Then his lord summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you besought me; 33 and should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?' 34 And in anger his lord delivered him to the jailers, till he should pay all his debt. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart." Matt 18:21-35

Reflection: It is always good to remind ourselves of the great injunction of our beloved Lord to forgive our brothers and sisters in the Lord, even seventy times seven.

All those familiar with the language of the scripture know for sure that this exhortation invites us to forgive our brothers and sisters seventy times seven, which in reality means ever forgiving and never withholding that forgiveness.

Here I would like to look into one aspect of the motive or the reason for such an exhortation to forgive always, it could lead to a tendency to be tolerant of the wayward behavior of individuals in our midst.

We could be breeding a community in which we could go on sinning again and again and there could be no end to this wrongdoing.  If such wrongdoing continues on, then what witness could this Christian Community be to the world, where good deeds is the criteria for judging things.

That brings to the fore the whole human weakness and the reason for such weaknesses in individual and the need to cry to God for a spirit of patience and fortitude while dealing with people.

Unsound character is not always the fruit of unsound formation, it happens to creep in our sinful nature. In the case of some, even the best formation fails to form that most perfect character.  What is important is to have a desire to walk righteously and to keep working at it with the Lord’s help and grace. 

The Christian community was to be that crucible in which every type of individuals was to find its nest and would be working to develop their character in keeping with God’s word and God’s help.  While God would be working out his priority in the lives of the individual, the individual on the other hand would seek to work out on God’s priority in their lives.

True love exists and is made visible in such a community of the weak, where in we are still dedicated to love and care no matter what the other is going through and how the other behaves.

It is the love manifested in such a situation of unconditional forgiveness that a perfect transformation would take place, more so because God would be working out his own priority in the life of  the person, as he will keep infusing his patience in our lives.

Prayer: Lord, teach me patience as I seek your grace to forgive and love as you love and forgive us. 

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us

Faith in Jesus

Scripture/Bible: As he entered Caper'na-um, a centurion came forward to him, beseeching him 6 and saying, "Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, in terrible distress." 7 And he said to him, "I will come and heal him." 8 But the centurion answered him, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes, and to another, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it." 10 When Jesus heard him, he marveled, and said to those who followed him, "Truly, I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such faith. 11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and sit at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12 while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth." 13 And to the centurion Jesus said, "Go; be it done for you as you have believed." And the servant was healed at that very moment.  Matt 8:5-13

Reflection:  We all hold some job or the other, if not then we may have our own businesses. Even if we are sick or handicapped we still are able to do some work or the other.  The least we can do by way of labor, is pray.

Work either helps us grow or can make us stagnant, some shrivel up or even become worse in the labor they undertake.  

The human being creatively expresses through his daily work and may learn from it things that are good for his progress. They, more so, learn to relate with one another and their superiors and friends through their various interactions in the work place.

No matter how talented one may be, one of the chief qualities one carries and learns is the ethics of life; sound character, the aspect of charity and endurance, bearing up with those colleagues who are difficult to interact with, etc.   

All these action are made beautiful, if it begins with the creator and ends with seeking the glory of him who makes it possible for us to be perfected in our surroundings.  If only we knew how to draw from his presence the life, which is only him and give it to others according to the capacity of the vessel we are.

In the Gospel we have a beautiful example of learning from one’s work, which is then made beautiful in the holy presence of God:

The centurion has through his daily work learnt at least one thing and that is the power of human words to command and bring to fruition what it means.  At the same time we see in his interaction with Jesus, the limitation he must have seen in his own words to accomplish or help a person in distress.

How often we may have heard that we need to reach out to people who are suffering and in pain, just as Jesus did and went home carrying a guilt, because we have realized that somewhere deep down it is not possible in our hands, no matter how powerful we may be.

The faith of the centurion is also the absence of faith in himself and in  his own authority and might. It is a faith in Jesus who is able to accomplish all things beautifully and in his time.

Prayer:  Lord, help me not to be wise in my own eyes and teach me to fear you and turn away from evil.  So that It may be healing to my flesh and refreshment to my bones. (Cfr.Prov 3:7-8)

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us