Man in defence of God

 Very many times we think and act as if we are defending and protecting God.  We act under the impression that God needs to be defended.  This is done in all innocence and goodness. No malice or sense of pride.  Pure good will. 

And it is exactly in some such contexts, God jolts us from our thoughts: "Get behind me Satan!" 

What we fail to DISCERN is that, it is not God who needs salvation; but I!  

Temptation of Christ (Ilya Repin)

Dreams and discernment

 Listening to the brief homily of the Mass of St Joseph, it struck me that Joseph received all his communication or 'instructuons' via dreams! He dreamt an angel telling him to take Mary as his wife. He was told in a dream to flee Jerusalem. He was informed in a dream to return from Egypt. He truly was a man of dreams!! And faith, to believe that what he saw in a dream was what was actually expected of him.

Then it also struck me, Don Bosco was a man of dreams! The number of dreams that full his biographies! So did Martin Luther King dream! And Abdul Kalam speak of his numerous dreams. 

All these great visionaries and leaders were guide by dreams. If course, not all of them would have been something they went through, at night lying flat in their bed. Yet these are the facts that drove them. That propelled their actions and their whole life.

Hence the confirmation of my prayer which Ive been praying more and more: 

Lord grant me the wisdom to discern Your will and the courage to live it, no matter the cost.

Vocation

Everytime we speak of 'vocation' in our religious circles we most often mean 'vocation to priestly and religious life'.  It is as if vocation to married life or any other form of life is not a vocation.  When this partial outlook is pointed out we cover up saying that even they are vocations, but the former is the crowing of all vocations! 

However, I feel strongly convinced that unless and until we really understanding vocation in its universal and true sense, we will only be 'selling' vocation; doing recruitment rather than discernment.  As educators of the young, we are primarily called to help young people discover, discern and follow their vocation.  And every person's primary vocation is to love and be loved!  The vocational discernment is to help young people ask themselves basic questions about meaning and purpose of his or her life.  As long as we sincerely and passionately engage in this noble apostolate we are true to our own calling as Salesians. Otherwise we are only 'pedlars' or vendors of the Salesian career - all in the name of youth ministry and vocation promotion.  

The post youth synod apostolic exhortation by Pope Francis, Christus vivit no. 286 describes the great vocational question that every young person has to ask himself or herself as "for whom am I?"  This is more deeper and way too personal than merely asking oneself, "what am I to do?" or "who should I become?"

Joseph Cafasso, discernment and compassion

Some interesting facts learnt this morning... 

As we commemorate the feast of St Joseph Cafasso, a trusted confessor of Don Bosco during his early years of theological studies and priesthood, I learnt that 

• Fr Cafasso was merely four years older to Don Bosco
• That Fr Cafasso passed away in his late forties. 

I always thought of him as someone much older than Don Bosco.  Of course, Don Bosco himself was no teenager around his ordination, but still for someone that young to be able to guide Don Bosco in his early stages of vocation and apostolate, especially with such great influence and finesse, is truly remarkable.  

That grace of discernment, helping oneself and others discern one's life-choices is something that has always fascinated me.  I greatly admire those people who have a great sense of calmness about how they do it, the depths which they see and the paths they help others walk on.  

Fr Cafasso came from a rather poor family.  His delicate health did not make things any better for him.  However, he was able to convert that personal pain into compassion for others.  Those struggles and challenging experiences of his life, he was able to transform into meaningful lessons for himself and also for others too. That's something! That's truly some grace and effort.  

Listening and following

In the readings of the week we see Elijah beginning very solemnly and with great confidence.  Then he loses all of that confidence and trusts and takes flight.  He literally hides himself in a cave out of fear of being murdered!  And when God meets him in the gentle breeze, he tells him to go back to where he came from. To face his torturers rather than flee.  To walk right into the face of death, rather than in the opposite direction.  And Elijah does what he is told.  

Elijah in more than one sense is a very failed prophet.  A very flippety-floppety prophet.  Someone just like us.  Like me.  Courageous and daring at one moment.  Timid and anxious the next.  Emboldened and  very outgoing on one day.  The very next day wake up confused and tired!  But in this very unsteady life pattern, there is one thing Elijah teaches us - me - very clearly:  listening to God!  He is gifted with the grace of discernment and when he hears God speak, he follows!  No more crippling fear. No withholding doubts. No petty vision of mere survival. 

Choosing ministers

In the first reading of the day, we hear the apostles asking the community to find replacement for them to carry on, responsibly and with diligence, the work they were doing - doing charity.  It is interesting to note that the apostles did not merely appoint people of their own accord.  They asked the community to choose. They merely approved and blessed them. 

One might argue that they themselves were picked up by the Lord - not proposed and chosen by the people.  And they considered prayer and preaching their main task.  But for doing charity, they request the community to elect persons. However, in an age when there is not much of a difference in prayer and charity, when one is called to do both, without being biased towards one or the other, do we also not ought to take into consideration the means of choosing/appointing disciples?  Should formation of priests and religious, and most importantly, promotion of them over the years, be the sole privilege of the priests and religious?  Should not the lay people whom priests and religious work for and with, not have a say in their formation? 

The most formidable reason I fully endorse the need for the approval of the people (formators and lay staff) in permitting priests and religious to the orders or vows is the criteria listed in the Acts: respectable people filled with the Spirit and with wisdom.  This will also go on to confirm the fact that every one is capable of discerning the Spirit and recognizing wisdom - not just the religious, or the educated! While it is God who offers us our vocation, it is our individual responsibility to make that vocation useful to others.  So why not ask the community - the whole community, and not just the religious or priests alone - to help in the discerning the worthiness of individuals for pastoral ministry?

Listen

It's been a while since I've paid attention... it has been mostly self-talking and self-hearing!  

Action reflection

The readings of Sunday, very sharp and going around in vicious circles for me!  They present a down to earth spirituality, on one side and on the other, shows the height of its conceptualization.

The first reading from Isaiah is the practical spirituality:

Thus says the LORD: Share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless; clothe the naked when you see them, and do not turn your back on your own. Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed; Your vindication shall go before you, and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.

To do good, one does not need high level thinking and reasoning.  Just do it!  Do it for the less advantaged, those marginalised, those in need! Just do it!

Then comes the second reading, the lofty part of spirituality:

When I came to you, brothers and sisters, proclaiming the mystery of God, I did not come with sublimity of words or of wisdom. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear and much trembling, and my message and my proclamation were not with persuasive (words of) wisdom, but with a demonstration of spirit and power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.

If I'm to carry out what is good and needed, as Jesus did, I need to know Jesus!  Now understanding why he did what he did, is no easy task.  That requires great amount of reflection.  Merely imitating what Jesus did, will not take us far... sooner or later, we'll get tired of doing it or lose our sanity, unless backed by great amount of motivation and inner strength.  And from where do we gain that? From knowing - not merely an intellectual discovery - why he did what he did! 

However, one clue to resolve this going round in circles, one chasing the other and being chased, lies in the last phrase of the second reading: power of God.  Doing everything (action or reflection) all by ourselves may land us in that merry-go-round.  But if we let ourselves be guided by God's hand, perhaps we stand a better chance to actually get going!  

The fragility of discernment

Reflecting on the action of the three wise men, one cannot but admire them for their courage.  The risk they undertook to find this divine revelation.  On the one hand, we call them 'wise', and on the other, they start off with nothing but an intuition/inspiration and a star in the night sky!  No certainty.  No guarantee of success.  Furthermore, tradition states that they set off alone - no convoy, no military escort.  And if they are to follow the only practical guiding principle - the star - they could only travel at night.  The risk of brigands and thieves.  And it was not coal or grass they were carrying! 

Yet, they undertake the journey.  They weigh the positive outcome as far more superior to the risk they undertake in that journey.  They trust the star.  They trust their intuition.  They trust themselves.  They believe it is a divine power leading them.  For placing their confidence in all such criteria, I wonder if they'd be called 'wise' by today's standards.  Yet our Christian tradition always held them to be 'wise men from the East'.  

Wisdom of the wise men

The three 'wise' men who visited the infant Jesus in the manger, are they called 'wise' because they visited Jesus or were they wise beforehand and therefore able to find Jesus? 

As this debate raged on in my mind as I entered the Church for Mass this morning, I tried to find the answer to it in the readings.  So, after long, many many days, I paid close attention to the readings read in the Church.  Nothing very clear to clarify that doubt.  But then sometime after the gospel reading something else struck my mind which totally answered the question, but in a very different way. 

What flashed in my mind was the fact that their wisdom was not their doing!!  That they were termed 'wise' is actually not for what they did, but basically for recognizing that they were part of something greater.  The actual work was being done by God!  He was manifesting Himself - Epiphany.  That was the great event.  The three men who visited the infant did not make that happen.  They did not have any direct role to play in this manifestation.  All that they did was become aware of it and witness it!  Their greatness lay not in making the manifestation happen, but in discerning it, recognizing the event, and participating in it with reverence.  That's what wisdom consisted in! 

It is easy to get our focus misplaced... after all, the three kings/wise men are the new entrants to the crib.  The rest have been there for sometime now!  What is new or different easily catches our eye and we tend to focus on it, rather than the main event unfolding.  But the wisdom of the three kings offers us this lesson: to be able to discern the main point, from out of a million other things (perhaps new and flashing and great and amazing things!) happening.  And see ourselves in the light of that main point, rather than make ourselves the centre of attention and the rest revolving around us.  

Vocation promotion

Listening to a talk on vocation came across a very different image of the whole process of vocational discernment and guidance.  That of a person using a metal detector!

The idea is that in today's world, vocation (in particular, to religious or Salesian religious life) is not something that is apparent or evident.  Even for the concerned individual. Leave alone for the one helping others to make a choice for religious life.  It is like buried under several things/layers.  Exactly like one searching for something special or different, using a metal detector, the one searching has to cover a lot of area.  Often finding nothing.  Pay great attention to even the slightest indicator for he or she never knows where exactly is the object located.  Searching for those indicators which are not always very prominently visible.  Makes sense for someone involved in vocation promotion. 

However, the drawback of this imagery is that this gives the appearance of vocational guidance as a distant and technical task. Also as something of a detached task from the mission one is engaged in (as in a hobby) or that it is the only mission (much like vocation promoters in our Indian provinces - full timers).  Not something that as an offshoot of the mission, prolonged and communitarian.  Nevertheless, the analogy is worth further reflection. 

Distinguishing truth from falsehood

The first reading of the day, from the first letter of St John, offers us some guidelines in discerning the spirit of truth from that of falsehood.  The criteria John offers is based on whether the prophecy or words coming to us carry the name of Jesus.  If yes, then they are from the true God; if not, they are from the evil one. 

I wonder if the same criteria is applicable and relevant even today.  If going by Jesus' name alone we can cleave the truth from the untruth.  If viewed from a purely religious perspective, it may cause more harm than good, if we adamantly stick to this criteria to be universal.  More than ever, today the world looks for authenticity, integrity and wholeness.  If what is presented to us covers all aspects of life; not just the material and economical, but the spiritual, emotional, social... that it is for the good of all and not just me and those dear to me... that it is for all the time to come and not just beneficial immediately, here and now... perhaps these are some of the factors that would help me discern the validity of any prophecy or message. 

On the other hand, if I look at Jesus' message, the Gospels, it contains all the above and more.  Hence John is not too far off the mark or being too parochial in citing Jesus as the criteria of distinguishing between what is from God and what is not. 

When I'm weak, then I'm strong

One of the many Biblical paradoxes: when I am weak, then I am strong. A very good meditation on humility and openness.  The weakness experience here is not oppressive, even though it is meant to be.  The weakness does not prevent one from buckling, even though that is exactly what weakness is all about.  Rather, in those moments of struggle and giving in, we feel strong enough to carry on.  Rather than give in, feel the urge to keep going. 

However for me to really experience that I need to be doing what God wants me to do;  furthermore, not my work, but His work. So it is not me doing His work, it is me sharing in His endeavours.  Therefore the task is not mine alone nor am I totally indifferent about the work ("not my responsibility").  I have the strength because I'm not alone; because he who has entrusted me with a task, is taking the major responsibility and I have only to accompany; because the achievement of result is not my goal, making the best of efforts is. 

The challenge is for me to be humble and open enough to see that I'm not in this alone.  There are others, there are well-wishers, friends, guides, confreres, loved ones... there is God.

Joseph called Barsabbas

In the selection process for the replacement of Judas, Joseph and Matthias are the finalists.  Unable to decide upon which one, the apostles pray and cast lots (initially reminded me of the soldiers at the foot of the cross casting lots for the robe of Jesus).  The lot falls for Matthias and he is announced as one of the apostles. 

What became of Joseph called Barsabbas?  Simple: He carried on his life and ministry!  That's how I would like to remember him.  If among all the people they had to choose from, the apostles zeroed in on these two men, they surely must have been men of faith, men dedicated to the ministry and truly in love with Jesus.  So I don't think being granted the title of an 'apostle' would have made any big difference to their personal character.  All that happened was that one got an additional role and responsibilities, the other didn't get that role... but the ministry and life of faith continued.

How often in life, have we seen people give up everything for a particular goal or post?  And once they do get the post, life is totally different.   It happens all the time in politics and with politicians.  It happens also with priests, religious and bishops..., especially those whose aim is the post (religious politicians?).  I wish Luke the author of the Acts had enumerated the qualities of Joseph and Matthias and a bit more of the selection criteria.  But honestly speaking all that was needed is clearly mentioned:

...it is necessary that one of the men who accompanied us the whole time the Lord Jesus came and went among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day on which he was taken up from us, become with us a witness to his resurrection.

...been with Jesus and his people and a genuine witness of all that Jesus stood for... we get the role for being this, with the confidence that we would do better.  If those basic qualities for which we were granted the role and related responsibilities are compromised with, then one has no right to continue in that role or claim anything related to it.  That would be the story of Judas, not Joseph Barsabbas!

God's Rosebud!

An interesting anecdote and poem about discernment. 

A new minister was walking with an older, more seasoned minister in the garden one day. Feeling a bit insecure about what God had for him to do, he was asking the older preacher for some advice.

The older preacher walked up to a rosebush and handed the young preacher a rosebud and told him to open it without tearing off any petals. The young preacher looked in disbelief at the older preacher and was trying to figure out what a rosebud could possibly have to do with his wanting to know the will of God for his life and ministry. But, because of his great respect for the older preacher, he proceeded to try to unfold the rose, while keeping every petal intact. It wasn't long before he realized how impossible this was to do.

Noticing the younger preacher's inability to unfold the rosebud without tearing it, the older preacher began to recite the following poem...

It is only a tiny rosebud, 

A flower of God's design; 

But, I cannot unfold the petals 

With these clumsy hands of mine. 

The secret of unfolding flowers 

Is not known to such as I. 

GOD opens this flower so easily, 

But, in my hands they die.

If I cannot unfold a rosebud, 

This flower of God's design, 

Then, how can I have the wisdom 

To unfold this life of mine?

So, I'll trust in God for leading 

Each moment of my day. 

I will look to God for guidance 

In each step along the way.

The path that lies before me, 

Only my Lord and Savior knows. 

I'll trust God to unfold the moments, 

Just as He unfolds the rose.

Vocation Sunday reflection

Each of us has a vocation. Each of us belongs to the Good Shepherd's flock. Each of us has a call! I am a Salesian Brother, but that's not my primary vocation. That's merely how I live out my vocation.

Our primary vocation is to be with Him, and to bear witness to Him; to love God and love life. That's our basic vocation: to love and serve!

And so I constantly ask myself, do I find my life and the way I live it meaningful? Is this the best way that I can be useful to the most number of people? And if my life meets both these criteria, meaningful to myself and useful to others, I know I am living out my vocation well.

And since my vocation is deeply connected with God and others, I need to
constantly listen, be aware, be attentive, be open
be willing to discern, differentiate, interpret, put to test and finally,
be ready to make choices, not just comfortable choices but bold and appropriate choices.

Children and Discernment

"... in those days, the Lord did not speak often..."  Those are the words in the opening para of today's first reading from the book of Samuel.  Really?  The Lord did not speak?  Perhaps a better way of putting it or understanding it would be to say, 'People were not used to listening' or 'It was not common to hear people say that the Lord spoke to them'.

What makes this episode of the call of Samuel is that the Lord is 'speaking' to a child!  How often would an adult tell a child to be open to listen to God speaking? Worse still, acknowledge the testimony of a child stating that the Lord has appeared or addressed him or her.  We expect and teach the children to listen to us, and no one else.  We ourselves are not atuned or open to anything beyond what we want to listen.

Another related aspect that struck me today is that the whole notion of discernment, which is now the vogue term in Salesian circles (and rightly should be so), is not something that we grow up with.  It is only after we become 'adults' that this process of discernment is introduced into our life and living.  Some may say that children are intellectually incapable of discerning, especially matters beyond the physical.  But if they don't get a taste of what it means to discern and are thereby assisted meaningfully (as in the case of Samuel, by Eli), how will they ever acquire the habit of discernment, especially spiritual discernment?  Perhaps it is we adults who are not really willing to undergo the process of discernment and in turn, prevent children and not trust them enough.  

Mixing up means and goals

In our enthusiasm to be devout and spiritual we tend to often fail to grasp the real meaning of being so.  We comfortably - and obstinately - settle for the means rather than the goal.  The means is something truly good and noble but we turn that into an end in itself, forgetting that it is supposed to lead us to the living God.  One simple example: the Bible.  The scriptures are meant to help us come closer to God.  However, it is also possible that we get so lost in the Bible that we forget God!  For those who contend that the word cannot be separated from God himself, need to ask themselves ' Is God so fossilized in the written word that he can no longer speak and make himself known through other means?'  If so, then they've never really understood God; some may have perhaps made the Bible into their God.

We Christians run the same danger of the Jews in Jesus' time.  The Jews then were sure of the scriptures, knew exactly what God was like and what he wanted.  But there comes a man named Jesus, saying and doing all the wrong things, and yet claiming to have been sent by the very God whose 'laws' he was breaking!  Today we are so 'full' of Christianity, that God himself may find it hard to enter our lives.  The readings of the day (God appearing to the Israelites on Sinai and 'blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear') are a stark reminder of waking up to this reality, rather than blaming those gone by for failing to notice the presence of God amidst them.

All that we say or do is for us to feel the presence of God.  Trust that He can use any and every means to reach to us.  We are only called to be open to His message.  Not be fixated on something so stubbornly that we block out not only any further communication from him but Him altogether!

Man of God?

Reflection for April 7, 2017: Believe in the Father

In the movie 'Evan Almighty' there is a particular point where the protagonist, a reputed modern American politician-turned builder of the Ark (at God's command) is questioned by the reporters, “What makes you so sure that God chose you (to build the ark)?” Evan replies, “He chose all of us!” 

Most often we are so convinced that God only chooses the prophets and saints, we forget our baptismal grace by which, each of us is a child of God. That each of us have a vocation. Therefore everytime a person claims to be a messenger of God, we smirk, we frown, we mock. Jesus offers us a simple remedy to verify the authenticity claims of anyone: do the works lead me to understand and believe in the Father. Even if the answer is no, we can still take it to remind ourselves of the grace we already are blessed with: being a child of God. Or use the occasion to discern our vocation, what God really wants of us.

Divergent thoughts

There are different perspectives one comes across when one starts interacting with people.  A classroom which facilitates discussion and debate is one fertile ground for hearing different and sometimes divergent views.  There are those who have similar views as oneself.  Then there are those who agree to most of what you hold but differ on some points.  There are those who agree with your point of view theoretically but practically believe that it cannot be so.  Then there are a few who have no view at all (God alone knows how... or perhaps give them the benefit of doubt and say that they do not wish to express their view).  Then there are those who hold a radically contradictory view to oneself.  In an environment of healthy discussion and exchange of ideas, this is very enriching.

However, what if the other does not want to see your viewpoint at all!  What if he or she thinks that what you hold as real and something you are very much convinced about, is utter nonsense and totally illogical?