PERSEVERANCE IN YOUR JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM

Job 3:1-3.11-17.20-23/Lk 9:51-56

Job's sufferings are intense and they were rare in this form in any community of the people of Israel. Those sufferings can never be compared to any patriarch of Israel who existed before Job. But Job is teaching the way how to approach the problem of suffering in our life. He never blamed God at any moment of his life even if he would lose his life. He blamed the day of his birth; he blamed himself, but he never blamed God. He refused to blame God while his friends were forcing him to deny God. 

Nowadays, many people lose faith easily, especially when their close friends/beloved ones disappear suddenly from their life by death. People blasphemy against God for simple discouragements in their life. Satguru says, "Do not blame others for your situation, look to your past to find what led you to where you are." Job is making this process towards self-realization. 

Job lost his family, wealth, and even his health. But he firmly decided not to curse God. The Book of Job is not speaking a lot about his strong faith in God. Today it is not our wish to lose our money,  everything. We should cultivate our hearts like Job did even in smallest losses in our life. 

Jesus also had the same heart in his journey toward Jerusalem. Samaritans did not welcome Jesus as he was journeying to Jerusalem. Usually, the Jews travelling from Galilee to Judea (north to south) would avoid entering into Samaria because it is defilement/impurity for them, so they used to walk close to the Jordan. Jesus breaks the tradition, he wanted to travel to and through Samaria which was less crossed by the people. Jesus is not hindered by the rejection, he takes a different route and continues his journey. It is written, "he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem". His focus was clear.  

When our focus is clear, we need not blame anyone. God is the supreme companion of our journey. We ask God for his perseverance on our side. 

Today also the Church commemorates St. Vincent de Paul, the French saint who became the symbol of the successful reform of the French Church. He started his life by just doing his simple pastoral ministry in Clich. While preaching, he loved to prepare well the people for the sacrament of Confession. This work became his passion. The need to evangelize and assist these souls was so great and the demands were beyond his own ability. There he founded the male and female order and another one for the lay institute of women. Today we pray for all the Vincentians for their fruitful ministry around the world. 

It is not I who live, but Christ who lives in me (Eccl 3:1-11, Lk 9:18-22)

 The author of the Book of Ecclesiastes tells not only that everything is vanity, but also through today's readings, he says "there is time for everything in our life". Everything in our life happens according to fate/time. Things will not be transformed even though you do not like them; The Sun rises every day, the birds travel and nature does its duty and so does human life also. The question arises; Is everything in life already predestined? Successful people ask this question very often. Is my destiny put here? or hard work? Satguru, an Indian sage says: when you are less conscious of your activity, life will look like an accident. When you are walking, your body registers many kinds of smells, and voices, but we are not conscious. You are only conscious of less than one percent of your activity, When we are doing something unconsciously, then they will definitely look accidental.

Saturday 30th Week Romans 11:25-29 Luke 14:7-11

Salvation is personal, not private. 

St. Paul argues with the People of Israel who thought they would be redeemed because they were the only ones called. That is not so. If so, even Paul was redeemed, was also a son of Abraham. But he wants to preach against the private faith. 

Their individual salvation has nothing to do with God's choosing to bless the gentile nations as He had chosen to bless Israel with the promised Messiah.

We need not try to choose the place of honor, I need not go alone, we should go together, and learn to be redeemed together. 

The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord! - Beautiful sufferings of Job

The first readings of this week are taken from the book of Job. The book of Job is a part of the wisdom literature in the Hebrew Scripture. And the book is under the category of proto canonical section. The book is canonized even though we do not know clearly the author and time when the book was written. Did Job really exist? Is it an epic story? We do not know. But for the Jews, Job is the metaphor/symbolic figure in whom we are all present. 

The book deals strongly with the problem of suffering and evil. One thing is certain here: the book was written at an important time when there were different concepts on suffering. 

• Suffering was a product of the fall, a consequence of human sin/disobedience against God. (cf. Book of Genesis; Adam and Eve rebelled against God and so suffering entered into the world) 
• Suffering/evil is due to our wrong /sinful choices. (cf. Deuteronomic laws) If you do good, you will be rewarded, if you do bad, you will be punished. 
• Suffering is there because there is a generational curse. He or she is born disabled because his/her generation has committed sin.

The book of Job is the turning point in the history of salvation about the true understanding of human suffering. Job did not bother about satan, he believed in the powerful God who controlled  the satan. Look at the words of Job, "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away". He was very sure that God took all the things away, not Satan. It was God who allowed the suffering to enter the human world. God permitted Satan to make suffer/test His servant for a certain time. 

A Philosophy author said, "Others are the Hell" which is true when you do not look at God, when you start comparing yourself with others. Job did not look at others while suffering. He looked at God. 

In today's Gospel, disciples are envying someone who was casting out demons in the name of Jesus. Jesus did not see them as hell but as means to enter into heaven. “Do not prevent him, for whoever is not against you is for you.”

LIFE IS MEANINGFUL BECAUSE THERE IS GOD

1st Reading Eccl 1:2-11 and Gospel Lk 9:7-9

From today onwards, the first reading comes from the book of Ecclesiastes, for three days. Ecclesiastes, in Hebrew, is also called Qohelet, (Preacher), and is considered one of the Old Testament books of wisdom literature. The book starts with the frustrating (but important) message of the author: "Everything in this world is vain, meaningless or useless". 

The Hebrew word "Habel" was used to refer to Vanity or meaninglessness. The origin of this Hebrew word will surprise us, that is (h)Abel, which was also the name of one of the sons of Adam-Eve. The Hebrew in those times was written  without vowels. (HBL makes also the name of Abel). 

Abel was righteous to God. He offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. Even though he found favor from the Lord, he was brutally killed . Why the good Abel was killed and the evil Cain lived? Neither God, nor his sacrifice could save him from his brother. This was the background of usage of this term by the author of Ecclesiastes, "Everything is vain, meaningless and useless". 

The author says that Labor is vain. I clean my room in the morning and it is dirty again the next day. Many people work hard in their life and after their sudden death, people never remember their work in their life. The author says "Nothing is new under the sun". The initiative you have done, is done by someone in the corner of the world. Since there are no new things happening in this world, everything is vain, the author says. 

How can we understand the message of Ecclesiastes? The relationship with God is the best relationship than any other human relationship. It never fails or leaves you down. Even though it seems that God has abandoned you sometimes. But God's relationship is better than any other human relationship which is always limited. 

Today's Gospel tells us how Herod was anxious to see Jesus (cf. Lk 9:9). Such an urge to see Jesus was born out of curiosity. Because Jesus was performing great miracles. But some people seek God because there is life. For Jesus told the disciples, "why do you come to me? are you also not leaving like others". The response from one of his disciples was, "Lord, where shall we go? for you have words of Eternal life?" 

Life is meaningless without God. But God gives meaning to everything .       

Grow my Grace, 1Cor15:35-37; 42-49 Lk 8:4-15

 Christ transforms, he is the catalyst of every change and evolution in our life. We come to this world in a weak, corruptible body that through the grace of Baptism receives in itself the strength and love of the Holy Spirit and the gift of adoption as a child of God. The sacramental grace is not visible, but it remains in us as a seed. Only after the physical death the invisible becomes visible to the person. That unvisible seed of the eternal life, sown into an invisible but eternal soul can grow in us and bring fruits of grace and love in us and for the others.

In the Gospel we find the same image of the seed. God sows, but just as the father of the prodigal son, He seemingly does nothing more to sustain that seed. He disperses the seed and goes away waiting only the harvest time. The soil is our heart and soul and he leaves to the heart of the person the wish and freedom to maintain, grow and cherish the received gift. God may seem mean to us like this. How can He expect only to come at the end of the times and collect the fruits without any personal effort? He even enrages if the fruit is missing or of bad quality. Ultimately, it is not just. 

A tempted answer is, God has prepared the soil, whatever type of soil it is. He gives graces to the person through his Word, His Holy Spirit and the Church over that initially barren land of our heart. Do we accept and embrace those graces? Do we recognize them in our life? We should recognize the value of the seed we have received in our Baptism and cherish it by tilling the hard soil of our heart, by watering it with the gifts of the Holy Spirit and by pruning the unnecessary branches with the help of the Holy Catholic Church that offers us the Word of God, sacraments. These are the working tools. The work is hard and often painful. But if we only expect to see the seed grow without any personal effort, it is possible that the fruits will hardly or even never come. The personal involment and effort to follow God's deeds and plans is fundamental.

Only now we can understand that God is not mean. He accompanies us every day, every minute in our life. He expects us to grab his sowing hand and say: be with me all the days of my life.

I AM LIFE AND RESURRECTION 1Cor 15:12-20; Lk 8:1-3

 

If the Lord is not risen, we are all dead both in this life and after death. St. Paul teaches and corrects his beloved brothers and sisters in faith, who seemingly have erred in their convictions. The philosophical teaching is concluded in a positive way: Jesus is risen and we all will rise with Him.

The first reading and the Gospel are a logical sequence that the Mother Church offers us after the messages we received through the liturgy yesterday and the day before. There was the theme of death on the cross and beneath it, but death cannot have the last word in our life. There is God who acts. God will always have the last word.

Jesus also announces the same good news in the NT; the Kingdom of God will last forever. The Evangelist Luke mentions in the Gospel that Jesus is being followed by his disciples, but he gives a very short narrative of that in today’s Gospel. He gives more details and attention to the women who follow Jesus. Why? Are they important? The chronicle may be important but the message behind those names is far more significative. These women lived in a state of sin or in touch with it. Mary from Magdala is famous for her past. There are also other wealthy persons who may have not lived in sin, but for they come from higher classes, may have been in touch with the political and religious world that is not far from sin. Not necessarily all were Jews. So, the message is that there is hope and space for all. All are welcome in Jesus’ company, whatever their origin or life may have been.  That life has been forgiven and forgotten by God’s great mercy. “Go and sin no more”. Jesus invites to go and follow him, who leads to the Kingdom of Love.

God invites all, rich and poor, small and VIPs, crippled and athletes into his Life. What he expects from us if faith that He is the Almighty. These women showed their faith also by giving their wealth to the community of Jesus. They understood that God is never short in giving his mercy and his Providence. He pays hundred times more for each pence we give: Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. That good measure is the Eternal Life, abundant and endless.