Pride

A former and famous world heavyweight boxing champ, considered among one of the greatest sportsman of all time was also infamous for bragging, often saying, "I am the greatest!" 

 Once before the take off on an airplane the stewardess reminded this boxer to fasten his seatbelt. "Superman don't need no seatbelt," he told her with pride. 

The stewardess was unwilling to compromise. So she retarded, "Superman don't need no airplane either." 

 The boxer was naturally discomfited in his pride. In shame, he fastened his seatbelt without saying an extra word. 

 Pride can block a person from being open to the views, trends and wavelengths of other people and situations. Even shutting out God from our plans, proposals and journey - under the impression that 'I can do it all'.

Glory and power

This morning for the morning prayer and meditation, there was this particular Psalm that we were reading personally.  The opening stanza reads thus: 

O give the Lord you sons of God, 

give the Lord glory and power... 

The first impression on reading this was a sense of diminishing oneself and exalting God, above and over oneself. It is as if God needs that sort of glorification and power and that we need to surrender that to Him.  The feeling was not very comfortable; that of giving up of oneself in order to merely increase His power and majesty.  

Nonetheless I continued reading the Psalm, and a few verses down this is what I read

The Lord will give strength to his people, 

the Lord will bless his people with peace. 

And what really hit me instantly was this great realisation that all the glory and majesty the Psalmist was exhorting us to surrender to God, for his sake, what apparently seemed to be self-negation for His luxury, is actually being utilised by God to empower me!! So all the glorification and praise and exaltation, is coming round to actually benefit us; benefit me!  

And of course, unless one is willing to undergo that act of diminishing oneself, of self-negation, of passing through the dark night of losing oneself, one cannot expect to be open to being strengthened by God.  To be blessed with peace, and even to cherish it, when one receives it, one must be willing to undergo the turmoil or uncertainty of oneself.  

Grandiosity

Aiming for the sky is always considered a challenging and motivating factor.  However, practically speaking, that long distance goal is only good in theory.  In real practical life, it is one step-at-a-time. 

Most often we Salesians fail, and miserably at that, because we think too big.  Well, dreaming of huge grand plans is nothing harmful.  The danger is embarking on it purely on the dream alone.  Not really testing it out in bits and learning from it, before going for the big kill.  We often are in a hurry to make it big!  We forget that it takes years of hard work and effort, including a humility to constantly evaluate ones own work and learn from it.  Humility also to accept the fact that we do not know-it-all.  Therefore the need to involve and learn from others who are experts in that field.  Once we have worked on a small task, involving people, gaining experience and wisdom, and have significantly proved it to be successful, then present it as a working model.  Then take up something bigger and gain from that experience... learn, evaluate, experiment, involve, reflect, plan.  By this time you have a network in place (of people, places, contacts, experiences, information).  Bigger tasks will naturally come your way or be entrusted to you. 

Mere grandiosity, solely on the basis of 'reaching out' is something we religious should be cautious about.  Don Bosco did not straight away build large houses and churches!  He first started meeting boys in the streets, in the prisons, in their work places.  He then gathered them on Sundays.  Again, not in a grand place of his own.  His initial boarders were living with him in his house, not a large well-furnished boarding house!  He built up his work bit by bit.  As the felt need presented itself, he undertook bigger houses and places.  He did not build (buildings) and then start working!!  

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.  

Gratitude

Thinking about thankfulness and gratitude, the theme of the Gospel tomorrow, where Jesus cures the ten lepers and only one returns to thank him, I remembered reading an article recently about how gratitude adds value to life. 

However, even at the end of the article, I still did not see what different or 'scientific' was the whole argument about.  It was like stating what we already know - or is it?  The article (found on Aeon) basically argued for gratitude to be the simplest way to lead a life of well-being, primarily also because gratitude leads one to grow in other virtues. 

NJlifehacks

I think there is basically - more in India than here in the West - a sense of entitlement.  That one is entitled to what one receives;  and for what one is entitled to one need not go about being grateful to others, certainly not to the ones 'below' us! And for those we pay, they are not doing us a favour.  They are getting paid for it, so why 'thank' them?  But the whole notion of gratitude is not about justice or balance.  It is not as if to set right the equation, that one thanks.  Basically gratitude is an attitude, not a means we use to level off trade or equations.  And the best thing about gratitude: there are no adverse side-effects, only further advantages! 

Cicero did have a point when he stated:

Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, it is the parent of all others.

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.

Bishops and authenticity

In the first reading of the day Paul admonishes the Corinthians to be squabbling with one another and then approaching an 'outsider' to arbitrate justice, forgetting that within the believing community there are individuals who are capable of amicably resolving the issue with greater depth and insight.  But this lack of trust of the one (or some) within is also an indicator that either there isn't one at all or that people have divided up life into faith-related and other-related so neatly that one does not have a bearing on the other.

The first imagery that came to my mind as I read this passage was the scandal of sexual abuse and the Church, all over the world, especially involving Bishops who either were involved directly in the abuse or covered up cases for the sake of 'preserving' the image of the Church.  From that perspective, I found myself reading Paul admonishing the Bishops rather than the people.  I should say, my experience of the Bishops in my lifetime has not been a very happy one.  Only on rare occasions have I met or interacted with Bishops whom I've come across as genuinely human.  Most don't even deserve to be called Christians, leave alone be ordained!

However, Pope Francis' homily this morning about the same reading, sheds a slightly different light which perhaps I've not looked into.  Speaking almost on behalf of and to the Bishops he

invited them to remember three things in these troubled times: their strength lies in being men of prayer; they should have the humility to remember they were chosen by God; and they need to remain close to the people. 

The Bishops Pope Francis has in mind and is speaking about are those who truly feel the burden of being human, not the ones who've decided and live as though they are above everything. (More quotes from the sermon). 

Individual humility and community solidarity

The grave injustice we read about in the first reading of the day, from the book of the Kings, about Naboth being killed by king Ahab for his plot of land reflects very much some of the happenings around the world today.  Someone poor and innocent is murdered merely for holding onto what is rightfully his.  The oppressor, who is much richer and powerful, gives in to his greed and commits a murder.  What's more heartbreaking is that the king and the queen, those in the highest of authority, prey upon those whom they are supposed to protect and strengthen.  Not only the rulers, but the whole system is against the poor and innocent.

What would one's response to such a tragedy be?  Or what can one do if one finds oneself in similar situations?  The Gospel seems a very absurd response:  show the other cheek!

...offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on (your) right cheek, turn the other one to him as well. If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well. Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.

Where then is justice and how can one live an honest and simple life?  One can answer that it lies in the following passage from the Kings, when the wrath of God prophecies against Ahab and Jezebel - but that does not save neither Naboth, nor Ahab!  However, the gospel passage itself has a response.  It is of individual humility and surrender.  But that's what one is to do when one finds oneself in such a situation: surrender; not react.  But as a community each one is to stand for the one being oppressed.  Every act of injustice is to be challenged without being aggressive or hateful... just state that the act is wrong!  Gandhiji, a non-Christian understood this perfectly well!  Christian ethics is always communitarian. 

That also means that when there is injustice being meted out to someone in the society, I need to take a stand on behalf of those oppressed. This is where our society fails itself:  we expect everyone else to support and stand by us when unjustly treated, but rarely do we stand by someone who is in a similar situation.  Individual humility (having done all one can do to prevent the injustice) and community solidarity:  Sounds utopian but actually possible and humane.  No violence, no hatred, no unprovoked anger.  

Playing the second fiddle

The saint of the day, St Barnabas, is said to have stood as a witness and presented Saul, after his conversion, to the apostles as a genuine Christian.  They do undertake some missionary journeys and do much good.  However, history remembers Paul more than Barnabas.  While both carried out their missionary activity, initially together, it is Paul who almost overshadows Barnabas with his eloquence, wisdom and reach.  Perhaps this was also the cause of their parting ways - could be! 

What strikes me is that Barnabas was - at least initially - willing to play the second fiddle, if one might use such a hierarchical language in ministry.  In cricketing terms, Barnabas let Paul do the real scoring and only lend his support by rotating the strike.  Barnabas, was one of the apostles, a chosen one of Christ. Paul, on the other hand, a newcomer, one who had never seen Jesus during his lifetime here on earth.  Yet Barnabas let Paul take the lead. 

This was possible only and as long as both of them understood that the mission at hand was greater than their individual egos.  A good lesson for us priests and religious when engaging in ministry: letting the Spirit work rather than insisting on it working (only) through me, or worse, emphasizing my work.  

Being helpless once again

Last weekend I visited the Salesian Sisters home at Cowley which houses nearly 15 of their elderly Sisters.  This was my second visit to their place since I came to the UK.  Of the 15, three are quite badly off.  Fr John wanted to visit and pray for one of them specially and hence we made the visit.  We first met the three Sisters and then sat for long with the rest of the community happily remembering past events and recalling history!! 

Meeting those three Sisters who were quite ill and aged, it struck me how feeble they were.  I'm sure, once they would have been full of life, running around doing a hundred and one things all at once.  They'd have been bulldozers and jet planes for all one knew, driving people and things around them.  Yet here they were so drained of all energy and strength.  They hardly spoke and had no memory of people.  Wonder what was going on in their minds.  They seemed exactly like babies - only the light in their eyes missing and the bodies too weak to show their dynamism. 

All those of us who claim to be active and working, full of energy and in 'power' need to visit people in their final stages of life - to merely remind ourselves that whatever we do or say now, we will one day come to be like these helpless and dependent individuals.  No matter how great a person I am today, no matter how many people I am 'head of', I too was once weak and feeble and so will once again be!  

Etiological challenges

To be born in a Catholic family and to grow up as a believer has its own 'conditions'.  Everyone who believes, or does not, has a particular historical origin, an etiology.  An etiological challenge is when one sees some aspect of the causal origins his or her belief as problematic. 

Different spheres have different names: in religious circles it may be called a 'faith crisis'.  However, these etiological challenges help one to cultivate intellectual humility.  A necessary ingredient to avoid fundamentalism.  To be able to see that the other holds beliefs (even contrary to yours) for exactly the same reasons you hold what you believe in.

Etiological challenges also help one to constantly revise ones beliefs.  The possibility of totally giving up of ones beliefs too is not to be ruled out.  However, when done with sincerity and openness, it helps one to render ones initial beliefs more meaningful and inclusive than total abandonment. 

Another advantage is that they help one to move a state of indoctrination to and through experience.  While self-reflection is of great value, social interaction is not to be discounted.  None can avoid an etiology; but to remain ignorant or worse, deny it, is no merit - neither to ourselves, nor to others, least to our belief system itself!  

Confirmation bias

In my reading during the day, I came across this phrase 'Confirmation bias' meaning, actively looking for things that help your argument and dismissing things that don't.

This is a tendency we find in everyone.  It is often the same bias that prevents us from admitting that we were wrong.  But there is another side of this as well.  Far from acknowledging mistake or error, we go to great lengths to devise strategies that affirm an outright error.  The author of the book Being Wrong, Kathryn Schulz points out five responses people offer to defend their mistake rather than admit them:

1. time-frame defence: just got the calculations a bit mixed up... but not wrong.
2. near-miss defence: it almost happened as I said it would 
3. out-of-left defence: it was almost going to happen as I said, but for that unexpected incident...
4. I was wrong, but it is your fault: not my doing... if I hadn't listened to your advice, it would have been as I said
5. better-safe-than-sorry defence: thinking and doing what I did, it would have been wrong for me to act otherwise... 

In all these there is a sort of 'mental accommodation' into which we ease ourselves to justify that what we think, hold, and believe is right, even if we know it is wrong!

Washing of the hands

As I entered the Church for the Maundy Thursday service, I did not find any arrangements for the washing of the feet.  Wouldn't have been too surprised if that part was skipped altogether!

Then was wondering would there be any washing of the feet at all.  Because we'd need warm water, (the climate being cold), then the issue of smelly feet and socks.  Anyway, we instead had the washing of the hands and everyone was involved.  The alter servers stood before the sanctuary with a bowl of water, a small cup and a towel. The priests began and then helped the next person by pouring the water on his/her hands and wiping it.  That person then did the same for the next person.  And so it went on.

A symbolic gesture and meaningful too... involving everyone.

Called to love and serve

Reflection for Maundy Thursday (April 13, 2017)

By washing the feet of his apostles, Jesus offers them one of his last practical lessons in apostleship: service. As this particular act goes hand in hand with the institution of the Eucharist, it also gets endorsed by the command, 'Do this in my memory'. The tradition of washing the feet of 12 persons on this day is more than a dramatization of what Jesus did at the last supper. It is to be a response to the command of humble service.

Priesthood, then is seen not merely as means of sharing love and the sacrament, but that of service too. A priest, by his very consecration, is called to love and serve. He is called to do it with and for a divine purpose, much higher than mere human respect and feelings. Unless this divine dimension is perceived by those whom we serve, we fail in our mission as apostles.

To be true to one's vocation of priesthood is to be true men of prayer and service. These two dimensions are not to be seen as different or one following the other. They are so intertwined that one flows into the other. Jesus, even in his last moments on earth, shows how deeply these two aspects are inter-related while in the Upper room.

Jesus and judgement

Reflection for April 3, 2017: Woman caught in adultery

With human authority comes the temptation of becoming judgemental. While Daniel at the end of his hearing reveals the plot of the two sinister men, he does not issue a final statement. He merely exposes the lie of the two men. Jesus at the end of all reports against the woman, does not condemn anyone, not even the men who were ready to stone the woman. He merely poses a soul-searching question. The verdict in both cases is self-imposed, not super-imposed. It is this non-judgemental character of Jesus that the Holy Father, Pope Francis, time and again calls our attention to. To judge someone is to place oneself above those being judged.

Jesus in the gospel passage of the woman caught in adultery, shows us that not all issues need to be judged with lengthy debates and arguments. When we truly love people and not become judges over them, no one feels small and humiliated; rather, everyone becomes humble and grateful.

Learning from St Francis de Sales

Today we commemorate the feast of St Francis de Sales.  Besides being the founder of the MSFS, he is venerated as the patron of the Salesians of Don Bosco.

Stained glass arcade of St Francis de Sales at Saint Paul Catholic Church (Westerville, Ohio)

When Don Bosco founded his congregation for the youth at risk, his natural choice of St Francis de Sales was not an impromptu decision.  It was out of a personal and historical resonance with the Saint that made Don Bosco propose St Francis de Sales as the patron.  Of all the virtues of St Francis, what attracted Don Bosco and something which moulded his own life, was the virtue of self-discipline.  St Francis is renowned for his gentleness and meekness. However, he was not 'born' with those virtues.  He had to strive to excel in them.  Don Bosco was much worse.  He was short-tempered, rebellious, hard-headed and as stubborn as a mule.  Don Bosco himself acknowledges these vices in his life.  And with this baggage he could not have done much for the kids to whom he was keen to reach out to.  For they too were of similar character!  Don Bosco then makes the difficult choice: to change himself in order to be useful to the boys whom he loved most. In this arduous task of working on oneself, he chose St Francis de Sales.  Though, honestly speaking, he did not have as much a success as did St Francis, but there was considerable change.

Sanctity

A lovely quote by Dag Hammarskjold about what it truly means to be a spiritual person.  To know where one stands vis-a-vis God, His people and oneself...

You are not the oil, not the air -- only the combustion point, the focus, where the light is born.
You are only the lens in the flood of light. Only like the lens can you receive, give, and own the light.
If you seek yourself, “in your own right,” you hinder the meeting of the oil and the air in the flame, you rob the lens of its transparency.
Sanctification -- to be the light or in the light, effaced, so that it may be born, effaced so that it may be gathered and spread.

Humility

... perhaps an invitation for us to introspect and see who is the 'hand' and who is the 'tool' ... and may be then rejoice!

Contentment

An excerpt from Dag Hammarskjokld's Markings: 

He came with his little girl. She was wearing her best clothes.
You saw how careful she was with her fine coat.
Others saw also -- saw, with indifference, that it had been
another little girls' fine coat,
which had been fine another year. 

In the morning it had been festive in the sunshine.
Now most people had already gone home.
The balloon sellers were counting the day's receipts.
Even the sun had kept abreast with the others and gone to rest behind a cloud.
So it was quite bleak and deserted when he came with his little girl
to taste the joy of spring and to be warmed in a newly polished Easter sun. 

But she was satisfied.
They were both of them satisfied.
For they had learned a humility which you have yet to grasp.
A humility which never compares, which does not reject
that which is for 'something else' or for 'more'. 

Better than others...

Somehow am drawn by fascination to Dag Hammarskjold.  The more I read about him, the more I feel surprised by the depth of his character.  Today I began reading his journal, titled Markings or Waymarks.  More than a chronicle it is a collection of his poetry and writings.  Couldn't get the original publication, but have with me a translation and a commentary of the same.

Here's one of the early quotes from his book. This was written sometime when he was still a student and in his early twenties.  It is good to have a right understanding of oneself.  Realizing one's potential is good. Taking pride in it, too. But letting it get to your head is dangerous!

"Better than others." Sometimes: I am that in any case.
More often: Why should I be?
You either are or not what you can be -
like the others.