Second Sunday in Advent

Second Sunday in Advent

Three kinds of baptism: Water, Spirit, Fire

“I baptize you with water. . . He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Mt 3:11)

We find three kinds of baptism in the Gospels – water, the Holy Spirit and fire. Water cleanses and purifies; water is a life-giving symbol; and water in Carl Jung’s archetypes expresses the collective unconsciousness. When people are baptized with water they are cleansed, invited to be nourished and become a part of the collective unconsciousness of the Christian community that welcomes them.

Being baptized with the Holy Spirit on the other hand is experiencing what happened to Jesus at his baptism: The heavens opened and God’s voice was heard, “This is my beloved in whom I am well pleased; my favor rests on him and my delight is in him.” When we hear these same words addressed to us and they become the driving force in our daily lives then we are baptized with the Holy Spirit. We experience that we are children of God and God’s beloved and delight; we know deep within that as children we are Divine heirs and everything that is God’s belongs to us. Our lives witness to the interconnectedness of all people, life and creation.

Mahatma Gandhi’s Non-violence or Satyagraha movement was based on the Sermon of the Mount. The foundation of this philosophy was that we experience our individual identity in the Divine Essence and find the interconnectedness of all of life. Gandhiji invited the British into this reality. He also gave the low caste and the untouchables in Indian society an experience of his philosophy. He called them Harijan which means people of God. This is the baptism with the Holy Spirit because as people of God the Harijan were Divine heirs and God’s beloved and delight.

Mahatma Gandhi or the Harijan were not Christians but were baptized with the Holy Spirit. Besides, Jesus did not baptize (Jn 4:2) and Paul is convinced that he was not called to baptize but to bring the Good News to the Gentiles. The Good Thief on the cross also made it to heaven without being part of a Christian community.

The Baptism of fire reminds me of some Jesuits who wanted to join forces with a group of atheists who were committed to the cause of justice and worked for the liberation of the poor. The atheists refused the Jesuits’ offer because they believed that these Jesuits were not committed enough – if they fell sick they would be taken to the best hospitals and if they were in danger of being killed they would be transferred. But these atheists were fully committed and paid a heavy price – some were beaten others tortured and some even killed – and they continue to be there living the Gospel values even though they are not Christians. I believe that these atheists are baptized with fire. Mahatma Gandhi like some of these atheists was killed for his beliefs and so was Jesus.

First Sunday in Advent

First Sunday in Advent

Be Awake: Matthew 24: 42

Be awake! is a powerful call during the season of Advent. Before Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit they were without knowledge and consciousness. Like many people today they were living in their sleep. After they ate the forbidden fruit they realized that they were naked and woke up. In that transparency they experienced their true identity, namely, the image and likeness of God or better still, they were the Divine Breath. Advent is a season given to us to relish the forbidden fruit and wake up!

The Ignatian Contemplation to Attain Love will help us wake up. Ignatius begins by stating that love ought to manifest itself more by deeds than by words. The deeds, Ignatius explains, is not about doing great things but rather, soaking in a relationship with God in a mutual exchange of everything. I bring everything that I have and pour it into this relationship and God brings everything that God has and does the same. God receives my everything and now waits for me to receive God’s everything!

At the beginning of the Advent season I would like to spend time on the first point of this contemplation that Ignatius gives us for our prayer. “I will call back to memory the gifts I have received. . . I will ponder with deep affection how much God our Lord has done for me, and how much he has given me of what he possesses and . . . desires to give me even his very self, in accordance to his divine design” (SpEx 230-234).

Advent, then, is a time to sit back and take in all the gifts that God has given me from God’s bountiful possessions – my personal good qualities and talents and the many blessings that have come to me through people and experiences, happy and painful. I let the Divine presence in all these gifts soak into my deepest being.

And I pause in silence and amazement for a very long time taking in this tremendous reality: God wants to give me the Divine Self in Its fullness because this is the divine design!

My God, show me how and give me the courage to sit back and receive your love for me in all its fullness.

Christ the King

Feast of Christ the King 21-November-2010

The King and the Thief

“Today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43).

Jesus spent most of his public life with those who religion and society had condemned. He was King among tax collectors, prostitutes and sinners and gave them an experience of being children of God and heirs of God’s Kingdom. Therefore it is not surprising to find Jesus crucified between two thieves who were condemned by society.

One of the thieves crucified with Jesus cursed Jesus even in the last moments of his life. This thief proclaimed with the religious people around the cross that Jesus was an impostor. ‘You saved others, save yourself and save us too.’

The good thief on the other hand contemplated Jesus hanging on the cross. In the darkness and emptiness of that moment all material passion and comfort were taken away from Jesus; he is scoffed and sneered at as a fraud by the social and religious leaders and by many who had once shouted Hosannas to Jesus. But that weak and powerless body radiated the greatest freedom and authority of the inner spirit. The mystery of the cave in Bethlehem had climaxed on the cross at Calvary. The good thief, an acclaimed sinner, now joined the simple shepherds and the wise Magi in recognizing sovereignty. He was given the grace to receive the gift of the Gospel: God loves us totally and unconditionally just as we are. He is King!

The story of the good thief is also a striking example of a person who at the very moment when he is about to be condemned forever uses the darkest part of his personality to steal paradise. In every one of us we have the two thieves standing on either side of the source of life. Just like the good thief we need to make our shadow work for us to claim the light. It is through the strength of our shadow that we all tap the source of the fountain of life-giving water that is deep within us (John 4:37-39). From the story of the good thief we also learn that when we befriend our shadow it purifies and enlightens us. The other thief resisted his shadow and lost the freedom of the Kingdom of God.

Where do we experience the reign and power of the Kingdom of God in today’s world?

33rd Sunday

33^rd Sunday 14-November-2010

Some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God. Luke 21:5

Today’s Gospel reminds me of the story of a holy man who visited the Vatican. The Pope took him around, showed him the Vatican splendors and exclaimed with much pride, “If Peter were alive today he would never be able to say, ‘Silver and gold I have none’ look what we have done for the Church of Jesus Christ!’ The holy man replied, ‘True. Peter would never be able to say, ‘Silver and gold I have none’ but neither would Peter be able to say, ‘Get up and walk!’ (Acts 3:6)

The other story is from the Rabindranath Tagore, the Nobel Prize winner for literature. People once complained to a king that a holy man led the people to sing God’s praises in the open fields and refused to enter the temple built by this king. This temple was built when the people were starving and the poor were victims of gross injustice. The king went down to the holy man and ordered him to lead the people back to the temple that he had built by paying the best artisans from different parts of the world and adorned the temple with the best mosaics, stained-glass windows etc. He had also consecrated the temple with very expensive rituals and introduced elaborate liturgies. He, therefore, threatened to throw the holy man out of the country if he disobeyed his command. The holy man responded by saying, “Abandon me where you have abandoned my God.”

And Jesus said, “As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another, all will be thrown down” Luke 21:6

What would Jesus say about your religion and your Church?

 

32nd Sunday

32^nd Sunday 7-November-2010

God is the God of the living: Luke 20:27-38

The Pharisees and the Sadducees are often mentioned together in the Gospels but their beliefs were very different. The Pharisees were a religious group that accepted any government that allowed them to practice their ceremonial law. They accepted both the written Scriptures and the oral traditions.  The Pharisees were middle class businessmen who were in direct contact and daily connection with the common people. And so even if they were the minority in the Sanhedrin, they had the backing of the majority of the people in decision making.

The Sadducees on the other hand, were the priests and the aristocrats who aligned themselves with the Romans and used their political connection to amass wealth for themselves, status and power. They accepted only the authority of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible and had no use for the Prophets and the rest of the Bible. They were fundamentalists, conservatives and took the Pentateuch very literally. As priests they believed that they were the ordained teachers of the Jewish way of living.

Jesus was looked upon as an un-ordained Rabbi for whom lived-experience was paramount. His personal experience kept him focused on the spirit of the law and gave him freedom from the written law and the many rituals, superstitious and oppressive traditions.

This freedom overflowed into the life and teaching of Jesus and made the Sadducees very insecure and so they challenged him at every opportunity they found. They tried to trap Jesus with the question about life after death. When the Buddha was confronted with the same question he wanted to know the motive behind the question: was it a philosophical curiosity or if we really wanted to know, it could be arranged that we die and find out for ourselves. The Buddha, like Jesus, taught us how to live this life as fully and freely as we could without being obsessed or anxious about the after-life. And they both taught by example so that their lives taught us how to live their deaths how to die.

Jesus’ response to the question about life after death was that God is the God of the living and not the dead. This living God, Jesus proclaims is the God of the burning bush – a bush that burns bright and with intense energy without being consumed. And the name of this God is, I AM – not the past nor the future but God of the here and now.

There is a legend that tells us that when the Buddha was about nine years old, he raised his finger to the sky and exclaimed, “In the entire universe I alone exists.” This I is the image and likeness of God and the Divine Breath. When we experience this I that dwells within us, then like the burning bush we will begin to live our lives in all its fullness and freedom without being consumed. With little stress or strain we will be able to undertake our daily chores and duties; we will have the space and freedom to develop into the best persons that God intended and we will be most effective in our dealings with people and the world.

We will also be compelled to share this fire with the rest of the world and witness the entire universe burning with the Divine Essence without being consumed.

Does your lived-experience sometimes conflict with your religious teachings and beliefs?

31st Sunday

31^st Sunday October 31-2010

Zacchaeus the Tax Collector: Luke 19:1-10

What is conversion?

Today’s account of Zacchaeus is an archetype of true conversion. The process begins by an earnest and relentless desire for a new way of living; like Zacchaeus we need to climb our sycamore tree so that we can get a glimpse of Emmanuel, God-with-us and position ourselves so that we can be seen by the Divine; we dispose ourselves to receive God who wants to come and stay at our house and once the Divine energy begins to seep into us, the way we live changes spontaneously and radically.

Wealth had given Zacchaeus his identity and meaning in life. But after his conversion his life energy came from being part of the covenant that God made with the people through Abraham: I shall be your God and you shall be my people. The test of true conversion affects our self identity, the way we treat others in society and our perception of the universe. Zacchaeus made a public pledge to give half his possessions to the poor and if he cheated anyone of anything he would pay back four times as much.

What is it that gives me my identity and meaning in life?

Am I cheating others by hoarding more than what I need, including my own personal gifts?

St. Ignatius gives us a great model for conversion in his principles for Discernment. The goal of Ignatian Discernment is not to make decisions or change our lives but to deepen our relationship with the Divine. To attain this goal we need to climb our sycamore tree and dispose ourselves by ridding ourselves of self-love, self-will and self-interest; we purify our intellect, will and heart. And finally in freedom we allow ourselves to be seen and found by God and then conversion happens.

Conversion happens in three ways:

A.                Conversion can be as dramatic as Paul on the road to Damascus or as gentle as Matthew, when the shadow of Emmanuel falls gently across the tax collector’s table. There can be no doubt about the radical transformation.

B.                 Through a prolonged period of consolation and desolation we are drawn towards a deeper life of inner peace and tranquility, when we feel deeply loved and at the same time are torn between a shallow life that offers transient thrills – the material things of this world, honor and power.

C.                The third way has two subdivisions:

i.      We look at the ultimate goal of our lives and weigh the pros and cons of the way we are living our lives. We then make a decision to change but draw strength and inspiration to execute this decision by moving the decision to the second way, the realm of consolation and desolation (B).

ii.      We look at our lives as if it were someone else’s life; we make an assessment of that life and then apply it to our own lives.

Next we need to see if we can imagine ourselves dying peacefully while living the life that we are now living.

Finally look at the Last Judgment and see how we feel in the presence of God and the whole of creation.

Conversion of course is not once and for all. It begins with first experiencing the love of God and the more we increase our ability to receive this love the more it will affect change in us.

Confession is an expression of conversion. But if we look at Confession as a Sacrament of Penance then we will work at repentance and a resolution to change before we make our confession; if on the other hand Confession is a Sacrament of Reconciliation then we will first allow ourselves to be drawn into the infinite and unconditional love of God and then go to Confession.

Penance focuses on ourselves and has the tendency to compel us to mention time and again the same sins that we have been committing since we were young adults. Penance is motivated either by guilt, anxiety or even by self-righteousness. Confession as reconciliation on the other hand is all about God and our relationship with the Divine. Every time we receive this Sacrament it is a cause for celebration of a Divine relationship that has gone deeper or a discovery of a new facet of this loving relationship. We are free from the enslavement of the material things of this world, the craving for acceptance and acknowledgment by people or clinging on to power and authority. After the Sacrament of Reconciliation we need to take our family or friends for a special meal or celebration. Penance is a condition to receive God’s love and Reconciliation is a consequence of having experienced God’s love.

How do you understand your own personal conversion?

Will you go to Confession before Communion or after?

30th Sunday

30^th Sunday 24-October-2010

The Pharisee and the Publican: Luke 18:9-14

Jesus directs today’s parable to those who trusted themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt. The Pharisee, in Jesus’ parable, stood by himself and thanked God that he was not like other people and especially like the tax collector who was considered to be a sinner by society. Like the older brother of the Prodigal son, the Pharisee spent his life slaving for God by doing good things, never disobeying any one of God’s commandments but at the same time sitting in judgment of the rest of the world.

There is probably a Pharisee in every one of us.

Can I reflect on the Pharisee in me? my family? my race? my country? my Church? my ….

The Publican’s Prayer: God be merciful to me a sinner.

It is easy to see how the Pharisee’s attitude and way of life is destructive to self and others, but what about the prayer of the Publican? On the surface the attitude of the Publican seems self-defeating: be merciful to me a sinner. If being a sinner means not being able to feel in my gut my identity in the Divine and the interconnectedness of life then this is a very genuine prayer one can make. This prayer expresses a deep desire to be able to experience that we are “the image and likeness of God” (Genesis 1), “the Divine breath” (Genesis 2) or a child of God and therefore a Divine heir (Galatians 4:7). Once we experience the Divine Essence in us we will begin to see it in every creature (Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius no. 39).

And how about praying for mercy? Mercy has at least three meanings in Hebrew and as it is used in the Bible: hesed, rahamim and hen or hanan. Hesed is a covenanted love between Abraham and Sarah (Gen 20:13), David and Jonathan (Sam 20:8) and Yahweh and the people (Ex 20:6). This love is mutual and enduring implying a response on both sides.

Rahamim literally is the plural form of ‘womb.’ God’s mercy is a maternal response that one experiences in the core of one’s being. God’s mercy embraces us and nurtures us like being in the womb of the Divine, and also encourages us to keep growing. Interestingly the Quran begins every one of its 114 suras or chapters, except chapter 9, with the words Bismillah Ar-Rahman Ar-Rahim, which means, In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate.

The third word used in the Bible is hen/hanan, which means grace or favor. This is a free gift, with no mutuality either implied or expected. This gift depends solely on the giver and usually occurs between unequals.

St. Ignatius’ prayer seems to combine the best of the Pharisee and the Publican:

Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will, all that I have and possess. You have given all to me. To you, O Lord, I return it. All is Yours, dispose of it wholly according to You will. Give me Your Love and Your grace, for this is sufficient for me.

In the context of the Spiritual Exercises this prayer is a mutual exchange between the lover and the beloved, between each one of us and God. We give everything that we have and are to God and receive everything that God has, including the Divine essence (SpEx 230-237).

One of the best responses to today’s parable is the prayer of Mary:

My soul magnifies the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for God has looked on the no-thingness of this handmaid. From henceforth all generations will call me blessed for God who is mighty has done great things for me and holy is God’s name.

Can you suggest the best attitude one needs to cultivate when one prays?