NEW BEGINNINGS (1)

We have been meditating on the beginnings of the history of our Judeo-Christian spiritual traditions. We have completed a series of twelve meditations titled “In the Beginning”. Today we begin a new series titled “New beginnings”. We will meditate on major events, stories and significant revelations in the many men and women in the Scriptures, who were called by God to make a fresh start, to begin again, and to embrace God’s plan for his creation. It is my hope that this will challenge each of us to read the Bible as we continue to reflect on the many events that reveal the wisdom of God.

BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD.

Be in your prayer space, follow the usual steps and settle into silence.

Sit still…..Relax…….Do not rush………

Take a couple of gentle, slow and deep breaths…becoming aware of your breath going in and out… stay focused on this breath of life……

Settle into silence, into peacefulness, into profound silence, into pure joy. Keep listening in such quietness and serenity. Come to that place, that space within, that place of deep silence, solitude, to just being here and now, without having to accomplish something.

Now from the depth of your heart begin to wish your mind well……….

May my mind be clear and spacious like the sky……

May all negative thoughts drift away like the clouds………

May my mind be filled with comfort, ease, serenity, peace……

May my heart be pure, simple, undivided that I may see you……………

May my heart be confident and trusting that I may be safe in you………….

May my heart be hopeful, optimistic and positive that I may be free in you…………

And Keep repeating these words in your heart

Prayerfully Read and Reflect

Ex.3:14 – I am who am

God has revealed himself as “I AM”.

God is ever present, unfailing, unfathomable, unconquerable, benevolent love…Creating, redeeming and governing, in unbroken covenant love.

In the beginning, God had called man to image him to participate in his creative (life-giving), redeeming (saving) and governing (ruling) acts. Man failed in his call to image God.

God calls man again and again to participate in his life, to share in His creative, redeeming and governing work. St. Paul reminds us that we are co-creators with God.

Reflect on what this call means for you in terms of your own personal life today!

As man failed to respond to God’s call to image him, God called him again and again to new beginnings. We want to take some time to meditate on these new beginnings and reflect on our own call to begin again……

The New Testament offers an amazing number of titles (over fifty) that people gave to Jesus. There is one title that no one gave him, but himself, “Son of Man”. He alone called him by that title. He represented not only the male sex but also the female – the whole of “Man’, the whole of “Humanity”, the very “essence of humanity”, the one who as “Son par excellence” does what the Father does, creates a new humanity, a new heaven and a new earth.

This is the call of every person who shares in “humanity”: do what the Father does, participate in creating a new humanity, a new heaven and a new earth.

BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD.

Isaiah 49:15-16     I will never forget you……..See, upon the palm of my hands, I have written your name.

Isaiah 62:2-5     You shall be called by a new name: My delight, Holy People, redeemed of the Lord, Frequented, not forsaken. The people of God are likened to a beautiful, beloved bride.

Phil. 4:3        Names of the faithful ones are recorded in the “book of life”

Rev. 2:17        God has a new name for each of us

God has his own special name for you. He chose you before the foundation of the world, formed you in your mother’s womb, knows and calls you by name right now, here, in this place, at this moment.

Listen to him calling you by name….calling your special name!

Accept, affirm and welcome the name God gives you!

Pray that God helps you to be faithful to the name he gave you!

I will change your name. You shall no longer be called wounded, outcast, lonely or afraid. I will change your name. Your new name shall be confidence, joyfulness, overcoming one, faithfulness, friend of God, one who seeks my face. (D.J.Butler)

Are there any names from which you need healing and freedom?

Do you know someone who is “wounded, outcast, lonely, or afraid? Can you do something to change that name?

How about a change of your name to: “Confidence, Joyfulness, Overcoming one, Faithfulness, Friend of God, One who seeks my face.”??? Write these and other names down – pray about them.

Pray that the Holy Spirit will give you “new names” – new identities or a deepened sense of the identity that God gives you in Jesus.

DEAR LORD, SOMETIMES, I FEEL DEFINED BY THOSE ASPECTS OF ME THAT FEEL WEEK AND VULNERABLE. SPEAK, LORD, YOUR WORD, WHICH WILL DEFINE ME. GIVE ME THAT NAME WHICH WILL IDENTIFY ME. AMEN.

Wherever you may be in your spiritual journey, whatever you may be doing at this point in your life……………….

Affirm your goodness, the good deeds you do, the loving things that you make happen for yourself and others……..But make it with a gentle understanding of your weakness……

God is forever loving you. You do not have to change, grow, follow certain rules, or be good in order to be loved………You are loved so that you can change, grow, be good, be loving………….

Each one has his/her gift……………………..you have yours.

Each one has his/her call……………………..you have yours.

Each one has his/her place…………………..you have yours.

Each one has/her mission…………………….you have yours

Each one has his/her prayer…………………you have yours.

Be Your Best. Do Your Best. Give Your Best.

Leave The Rest To The Lord.

Fr. Gus Tharappel,msfs

IN THE BEGINNING (12)

BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD.

Be in your prayer space, follow the usual steps and settle into silence.

Sit still…..Relax…….Do not rush………

Take a couple of gentle, slow and deep breaths…becoming aware of your breath going in and out… stay focused on this breath of life……

Settle into silence, into peacefulness, into profound silence, into pure joy. Keep listening in such quietness and serenity. Come to that place, that space within, that place of deep silence, solitude, to just being here and now, without having to accomplish something.

Now from the depth of your heart begin to wish your mind well……….

May my eyes be open to see your face, Lord,

May my ears be open to hear your word, Lord,

May my mind be open to know your wisdom, Lord,

May my heart be open, to love like you, Lord….

In our last meditation on the faithfulness of God, on His faithful presence in history and in our own personal lives. We meditated on God’s love for us being so strong and so unconditional that God is always there in us, for us, with us, around us….always loving us and calling us to love……faithfully present…always PRESENT!

We reflected on the new kind of relationship that Jesus proclaimed, one that is born of faithfulness, obedience, surrender to the will of the one you love…one that goes far beyond blood relationships. Real relationships, true connections, bonds of love are established around shared goals, shared ideals, shared conflicts and pains, shared cause, shared obedience/fidelity, what the Scriptures call “covenantal bond”.

This meditation is an invitation to dwell again on the faithfulness of God, to abide in His faithful presence…..

Take a moment…Pray the following Psalm…Psalm 85

You have favored, O Lord, your land;

You have restored the well-being of Jacob.

You have forgiven the guilt of your people;

You have covered all their sins.

You have withdrawn all your wrath;

You have revoked your burning anger.

Restore us, O God our savior,

And abandon your displeasure against us.

Will you be ever angry with us,

Prolonging your anger to all generations?

Will you not instead give us life;

And shall not your people rejoice in you?

Show us, O Lord, your kindness,

And grant us your salvation.

I will hear what God proclaims;

The Lord – for he proclaims peace

To his people, and to his faithful ones,

And to those who put in him their hope.

Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,

Glory dwelling in our land.

Kindness and truth shall meet;

Justice and peace shall kiss.

Truth shall spring out of the earth,

And justice shall look down from heaven.

The Lord himself will give his benefits;

Our land shall yield its increase.

Justice shall walk before him,

And salvation, along the way of his steps.

The Psalmist celebrates and sings the steadfast love and faithfulness of God.

The long journey from Babylon to Zion is a very important part of Israel’s (and our) life-long pilgrimage home. God had brought them back home once and rehabilitated them and he would do it again (Verse 1-3). The Persian king Cyrus had issued his famous edict in the year 538 B.C. giving permission for the Jews to go home. They returned home and found their land devastated. They were now disillusioned and yet found confidence in remembering how Yahweh had rehabilitated them in the past when they returned from Egypt. Yahweh will do it again because he is a God of faithfulness and steadfast love.

Abide in this thought for some time: God is faithfulness and steadfast love.

The Psalmist prayed: (verses 3-9) “restore us again…revive us again….show us your steadfast love’. His saving love is an ever present reality…..actually here and now in our midst for those who fear him, for those who worship him in awe. Only the eyes of faith could see it. Israel’s human eyes could see only the ruins of their nation. The Psalmist invites and challenges them to look beyond the ruins to the presence of the God of love, who will rehabilitate them and empower them to rebuild their nation as he has done for them in the past.

Taker moment…pray: restore us again, revive us Lord, renew our spirits, show us your steadfast love…….

Our Psalmist continues: God’s “hesed”, his steadfast love and his “emet”, his faithfulness have met (verses 10-13). God’s covenant love, steadfast love and his utter fidelity to his covenant have now converged and met at this point in history. God can be relied on. The return and the rehabilitation of his people is the proof that God’s love and faithfulness have embraced.

The Psalmist continues: his love and peace have kissed. As Jesus said, the Kingdom of God has come…it is now a reality. Emmanuel, God-with-us is here, in this moment, in this place. An ancient Jewish mystic said, “Prayer is the moment when heaven and earth kiss each other”.

Take a moment….abide in this thought for some time: Emmanuel, God-with-us is here, right here, right now….in this moment.

Our Psalmist declares that this amazing and remarkable union between God’s steadfast love and faithfulness has an effect on God’s people. Faithfulness will spring from the earth…love will look down from heaven. Faithfulness and love will dwell in the land. It is all God’s doing….it is pure Grace.

This is really a two-way movement of Grace. This is the inward and outward movement we have reflected on many times in the past. God’s Grace transforms us from inside and out. God’s Grace first. God makes us right with himself. This empowers us to respond to God…… love and faithfulness spring up within us. St. Paul calls it justification. Because we are justified, that is, because love and faithfulness spring from up within, we are able to love God and others and remain faithful to that love.

Take a moment and pray: Lord, Grace us and empower us to be faithful in love and kindness and compassion.

Our Psalmist is also a great visionary. He closes his poem saying, Justice shall walk before him and salvation along the way of his steps. God’s justice will go before us as it was in the days of Moses. He will make his footsteps on the way where we are to plant our feet. We are to step in the footsteps he has first made in the mud and dirt of life’s journey. We are to walk the path our master has walked. We are to make the journey that many saints have made.

Take a moment and dwell on this thought for some time: He will make his footsteps on the way where we are to plant our feet. We are to step in the footsteps he has first made in the mud and dirt of life’s journey.

Jesus spoke the parable of the Sower (Mathew 13:18-23). Seeds fall into all kinds of soil…only those that fall into good soil have the opportunity to sprout and grow and yield a rich harvest. Knowing that the seeds will fall into different types of soil, even into rocky and thorny ground with little chance of growing to fruitfulness, the good and diligent and faithful farmer keeps sowing, trusting in the possibility of a good harvest.

A chicken farmer suffered great loss every year because his land flooded during the monsoon. Because the farm had been in the family for several generations, he did not want to leave it. The flooding became more and more serious with each monsoon. It was too much of a challenge to move the chicken to safety on higher ground. One year the water rose rapidly and the farmer lost hundreds of chicken.

That was the last – the farmer had to make certain decisions. He told his wife, in despair: “I have had it, but I am trapped”. We can’t afford to buy another farm and we couldn’t sell this one anyway because of the yearly floods. I don’t know what to do.”

His wife saw an opportunity in their adversity. “Raise ducks”, she recommended.

Troubles come into every life. No one escapes them. We can and we must be faithful even in those troublesome times. We can take adversity and turn it into advantage, take a burden and turn it into a blessing…….

Knowing that the seeds will fall into different types of soil, even into rocky and thorny ground with little chance of growing to fruitfulness, the good and diligent farmer keeps sowing, trusting in the possibility of a good harvest. Be faithful even in the face of uncertainty!

Take a moment and pray…..

God grant me,

        The serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

        Courage to change the things I can,

        And the Wisdom to know the difference.

        Living one day at a time;

        Enjoying one moment at a time;

        Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace.

        Taking as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it;

        Trusting that He will make all things right,

        If I surrender to His will;

        That I may be reasonably happy in this life,

        And supremely happy in the next.

                - Reinhold Niebuhr

Fr. Gus Tharappel,msfs

IN THE BEGINNING (11)

BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD.

Be in your prayer space, follow the usual steps and settle into silence.

Sit still…..Relax…….Do not rush………

Take a couple of gentle, slow and deep breaths…becoming aware of your breath going in and out… stay focused on this breath of life……

Settle into silence, into peacefulness, into profound silence, into pure joy. Keep listening in such quietness and serenity. Come to that place, that space within, that place of deep silence, solitude, to just being here and now, without having to accomplish something.

Let us begin with a prayer in our heart:

Open my eyes Lord, help me to see your face,

Open my ears Lord, help me to hear your word,

Open my heart Lord, help me to love like you….

Now from the depth of your heart begin to wish your mind well……….

In our last meditation, we met two women, Ruth and Naomi, moving out of a very difficult situation in life, without the security only men could have provided in their culture, returning to a home that seemed to offer a promise…only to find their hope fulfilled far beyond expectations!

Their brave and bold decisions embody and bring about God’s blessings. They have faithfully journeyed with the God of faithfulness and they now stand as witnesses to the God of inclusive, all-embracing and unconquerable love.

This meditation invites you to dwell on the faithfulness of God, to abide in His faithful presence…..

It is often difficult to understand the faithfulness of people. It is much more difficult to understand God’s faithfulness, to believe that God’s love for us is so strong and so unconditional that God is always there in us, for us, with us, around us….always loving us and calling us to love……faithfully present…always PRESENT!

Exodus, Chapter 12, describes God as keeping vigil with people. Our God is always keeping vigil with us, surrounding us with love, compassion, mercy, Grace….God’s faithfulness is a constant loving presence. As we grow in understanding, acceptance and appreciation of God’s steadfast love, we will grow in our own faithfulness………….

The favors of the Lord, I will sing forever;

through all generations, my mouth shall proclaim your faithfulness….(Psalm 89:1)

Give thanks to him; bless his name….his kindness endures forever,

And his faithfulness to all generations……(Psalm 100)

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

His faithful love (loving kindness) endures forever….(Psalm 136:1)

Your faithful love (loving kindness) is before my eyes,

I walk in your truth……Psalm 26:3)

Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you. See upon the palms of my hands I have written your name. (Isaiah 49:15-16)

Though the mountains may go away and the hills be shaken, my faithful love will never leave you……(Is.54:10)

Be grateful for God’s faithfulness in love, mercy, compassion…….

Since God is PRESENT, moment by moment, we could walk barefoot all day. God speaks through the real world. He is in our struggles, our failures and our successes. Don’t limit God. Take off your shoes – walk through the day – make the leap of faith – give God your best.

The DISCIPLINE of appreciating ordinary events and people can help us see life in a new way. This is what ATTENTIVENESS means and attentiveness facilitates AWARENESS. It takes real discipline to “attend to” – take note of – ordinary things. For most of us, it takes deliberate effort to be attentive. Major happenings like birth, moving, promotion, financial loss, death, etc. force themselves on our consciousness. The ordinary realities of life simply pass by – they just go by or we just go by them. Morning comes and evening comes, one day passes.

There were bells on the hill, but I never heard them ringing…

There were birds in the sky, but I never saw them winging..

(Meredith Wilson, The Music Man)

Helen Keller had eyes that were blind and ears deaf from birth, but she has helped countless people see and hear in a different way. Helen says, “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.”

Become present to the moment:

1. Relax. Be present to this moment. Be present to yourself. Be present to God.

1. Gently become present to the past 24 hours. Attend to persons, places, situations, events, things, etc. that you encountered this day. Become aware of the feelings and reactions that stir up within you. Attend to them without judgment – not judging whether or not you should feel this way.

1. Be present to the whole day. Be present to yourself. Be present to all you encountered. Become aware of what God is calling forth form you in this moment.

    

2. Make plans to continue this DISCLINE during the coming week.

Fidelity, Obedience, loyalty – great spiritual values – are not values lived out in monasteries and religious houses. They are lived out where we are – where we live and work – where God has placed us.

God is faithful where God is. We are called to be faithful where we are.

“Bloom where you are planted” Says St. Francis De Sales

Let us commit ourselves to be faithful. We may be tired and weary of our duties, responsibilities, daily chores….as a parent, a spouse, a farmer, a priest, a nun, a teacher, a doctor, a lawyer, a welder, a social worker….whatever.

Full of life and energy or tired and weary, let us CHOOSE TO BE FAITHFUL.

Be Faithful to who and what you are, no matter how others behave!

Be Faithful! Be there! Be Still!

Read the following story slowly, reflectively………do not rush……………

A minister, passing through his church in the middle of the day, decided to pause by the altar and see who had come to pray. Just then the back door opened, a man came down the aisle. The minister frowned as he saw that the man had not shaved or cleaned himself he in a while. His shirt was shabby and his coat was worn and frayed. The man knelt, bowed his head, then rose and walked away. In the days that followed, each noon time came, each time he knelt just for a moment, and walked away.

The minister’s suspicions grew, with robbery a main fear. He decided to stop the man and ask him, “What are you doing here?”

The old man said, he worked down the road, lunch was half an hour and lunchtime was his prayer time for finding strength and power. “I stay only moments, see, because the factory is so far away; as I kneel here talking to the Lord, this is kind of what I say:

“I just came again to tell you, Lord, how happy I have been, since we found each other’s friendship and you took away my sin. I don’t know much of how to pray, but I think about you every day. So, Jesus, this is Jim, checking in today..”

The minister feeling foolish, told Jim, that was fine. He told the man he was welcome to come and pray just anytime.

Time to go, Jim smiled, said Thanks and hurried to the door. The minister knelt at the altar – he had never done it before. His cold heart melted, warmed with love, and met with Jesus there. As the tears flowed, in his heart, he repeated old Jim’s prayer:

“I just came again to tell you, Lord, how happy I have been, since we found each other’s friendship and you took away my sin. I don’t know much of how to pray, but I think about you every day. So, Jesus, this is me, checking in today..”

Past noon one day, the minister noticed that old Jim hadn’t come. As more days passed without Jim, he began to worry some.

At the factory, he asked about Jim and learned that he was ill. The hospital staff was worried, but he had given them a thrill. The week that Jim was with them brought changes in the ward. His smiles, a joy that was contagious changed people. The head nurse couldn’t understand why Jim was so glad, when no flowers, calls or cards came, not a visitor he had. The minister stayed by his bed, he voiced the nurse’s concern: No friends came to show they cared!!!

Looking surprised, old Jim spoke up and with a winsome smile; “the nurse is wrong, she couldn’t know, that in here all the while everyday at noon He is here, a dear friend of mine, you see, He sits right down, takes my hand, leans over and says to me:

“I just came again to tell you, Jim, how happy I have been, since we found this friendship and I took away your sin. Always love to hear you pray. I think about you each day. And so Jim, this is Jesus, checking in today.”

Jesus was addressing the crowd and his mother and relatives came to speak with him (Mathew 12:46-50). When someone told Jesus about it, he said, “who is my mother and who are my brothers……whoever does the will of my Father is brother and sister and mother to me”.

Jesus spoke of a new kind of relationship, one that is born of faithfulness, obedience, surrender to the will of the one you love…one that goes far beyond blood relationships. Nothing can break the “blood connection” and yet we know that “blood ties” don’t necessarily create a bond of love or dedication or affection. History has shown that often a man’s enemies were those with whom he had “blood ties”.

Real relationships, true connections, bonds of love are established around shared goals, shared ideals, shared conflicts and pains, shared cause, shared obedience/fidelity…..what the Scriptures call “covenantal bond”.

Jesus calls us to enter into a relationship of love and obedience….an obedience that binds us together as brothers and sisters of Jesus, sons and daughters of the heavenly Father. Our common obedience makes us true brothers and sisters.

Fr. Gus Tharappel,msfs

IN THE BEGINNING (10)

BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD.

Be in your prayer space, follow the usual steps and settle into silence.

Sit still…..Relax…….Do not rush………

Take a couple of gentle, slow and deep breaths…becoming aware of your breath going in and out… stay focused on this breath of life……

Settle into silence, into peacefulness, into profound silence, into pure joy. Keep listening in such quietness and serenity. Come to that place, that space within, that place of deep silence, solitude, to just being here and now, without having to accomplish something.

Let us begin with a prayer in our heart:

Open my eyes Lord, help me to see your face,

Open my ears Lord, help me to hear your word,

Open my heart Lord, help me to love like you….

Now from the depth of your heart begin to wish your mind well……….

Our last meditation was on God’s call to let go, to move on, to journey and to trust God and be faithful to his calling. Faithfulness on the journey is more important than arrival at the destination.

It is a gift to know faithful people, people whose inner strength urges them to share their love generously, even when it costs them much. Their lives tell us that faithfulness is possible, though not easy. Faithful people reflect God’s faithfulness. Faithfulness is the characteristic of a person who simply loves and inspires a sense of confidence and trust in another, even when things don’t seem to be going well.

Prayerfully and slowly read the following story of faithfulness on the journey…Go slow, do not rush…….

In our last meditation, we met Abraham, a man of great wealth, leaving the security of the known and the sure and the certain and embracing something new and untried trusting in God and God alone and making an incredible journey of faith. We also met Jesus calling his men to leave the comfort and the joy of an extraordinary spiritual experience on top of the mountain o face the reality of life down the valley.

In this meditation, we meet two women, moving out of very difficult situation in life, without the security only men could have provided in their culture, returning to a home that seemed to offer a promise……only to find their hope fulfilled far beyond expectations!

Famine in the land of Judah forced Naomi, her husband Elimelech, and their two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, to leave Bethlehem and migrate to Moab. But their fortunes worsen in this alien land. Naomi’s husband died. Her sons married Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth. Then, ten years later, both Sons died. Now widowed and childless, Naomi came to know that there was once again food in Bethlehem and decided to return home.

Naomi set out on her journey, accompanied by her two daughters-in-law. But she soon urged them to turn back and let her go on alone. Women in those days and in that culture could find security only in the house of a husband, and Naomi had no more sons to offer them. As she kissed Ruth and Orpah farewell, they began to weep loudly. She blessed them: “Go back each of you to your mother’s house. May Yahweh be kind to you as you have been to those who have died and to me” (Ruth 1:8).

In her blessing, Naomi invoked the loving-kindness of God. She had encountered this divine kindness in the faithful love of her daughters-in-law. She asked God to wrap these women in the same loving-kindness they have shown her.

Orpah eventually dried her tears and obeyed Naomi. She returned to her people and her gods. But Ruth refused; she will not be pushed away. She spoke with passionate and fierce loyalty.

“Do not press me to leave you and to turn back from your company, for wherever you go, I will go, wherever you live, I will live. Your people shall be my people, and your God, will be my God” (Ruth 1:16). Ruth embraced Naomi’s God and her people.

Together Ruth and Naomi began a journey that neither could make alone. But it had a different meaning for each. For Naomi it was a return, through loss, grief, and anger, to a renewed hope. For Ruth, it was a venture into the unknown, to a people, a way of life, and a God different from all she had known. The two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem.

When Naomi and Ruth arrived in Bethlehem, they produced a wave of excitement among the townswomen. Naomi’s misfortunes have so altered her that her old friends and neighbors could hardly believe it was she (Ruth 1:20). They gathered round, and she somehow felt safe in their circle of interest and support. She poured her heart out to them, holding back nothing of the anger and despair she was feeling. As they hugged her and welcomed her back, they seemed able to embrace a self she had come to despise.

Naomi must have been flooded with memories on this return home: of herself as a contented wife and mother long ago; of her husband and sons, of happier times…. But these were gone now. Her friends were right: She was not the same woman who left Judah a decade earlier. Life had seared and reduced her.

Naomi arrives in her homeland empty and bitter, but already there was a hint of hope: “And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest” (Ruth 1:22). The women welcomed her and Ruth, their arms laden with sheaves of grain. Although this seasonal abundance now stood in stark contrast to the emptiness of Naomi’s existence, it was an image of promise. The journey would yield distinctive harvests for both women as they mobilize their resources.

We are now reading a woman’s story set within a man’s world. Ruth and Naomi had to struggle for survival in a patriarchal environment. How would they provide for themselves? Neither was married, so neither had a husband to protect or feed or provide social status. But they were unconventional women; they carved a path between tradition and innovation. They did not succumb to the dangers and insecurities of their situation. Ruth refused to give up and perish.

Naomi did not stay stuck in bitterness; she would not let Ruth become prey to degradation and hunger. They made brave choices, using whatever power they had. Naomi devises a plan whereby Ruth would become appealing to Boaz, a wealthy farmer who was Naomi’s kinsman. Ruth succeeded in pleasing Boaz, and he took her for his wife. She gave birth to a son who became the joy of Naomi’s old age.

The same chorus of voices that greeted Naomi when she first returned in bitter emptiness now celebrated her with joy. The Book of Ruth begins and ends with a community of women embracing Ruth and Naomi in their bitterness and triumph, their emptiness and fullness. They lift up praise that is as superlative as it gets in a patriarchal culture, exclaiming to Naomi that Ruth is more to you than seven sons” (Ruth 4:15). Women and the outsider moved from the periphery to the center. A poor, widowed foreigner became the great-grandmother of King David.

The brave and bold decisions of Naomi and Ruth both embody and bring about God’s blessings. The Spirit of God that moved over the waters of creation is hidden but active in their lives. In a reversal of expectations, she who was from a despised people plays a privileged role in the story of salvation. Ruth and Naomi discover the power of connectedness. They stand as witnesses to a God of inclusiveness, who wants all to flourish. They have faithfully journeyed with God of faithfulness, of all-embracing, inclusive and unconquerable love.

Back to the Top

Read it again

Have your read the above a few times.

Are you familiar with the story?

At least, some idea of what the story is?

Are you, now, familiar with the people in the story?

If so, Now Close your Eyes.

Begin reflecting on how the story has touched you.

Fr. Gus Tharappel,msfs

IN THE BEGINNING (9)

BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD.

Be in your prayer space, follow the usual steps and settle into silence.

Sit still…..Relax…….Do not rush………

Take a couple of gentle, slow and deep breaths…becoming aware of your breath going in and out… stay focused on this breath of life……

Settle into silence, into peacefulness, into profound silence, into pure joy. Keep listening in such quietness and serenity. Come to that place, that space within, that place of deep silence, solitude, to just being here and now, without having to accomplish something.

Let us begin with a prayer in our heart:

Open my eyes Lord, help me to see your face,

Open my ears Lord, help me to hear your word,

Open my heart Lord, help me to love like you….

Now from the depth of your heart begin to wish your mind well……….

Our last meditation was on the incredible journey of Abraham, a journey of faith, of hope and of obedience. Abraham and Sarah remain our models and their faith in God, who would lead them, become our inspiration and strength. We reflected on how God calls us to journey, to move on like Abraham and Sarah, our roots sunk into no earthly place, our source of security in God and God alone. Letting go is not easy and to let go of a sure and certain and secure thing in order to welcome something new and untried is even more difficult. And that is the challenge!

Through the Scripture, we read about the God’s call to let go, to move on, to journey and to trust God and be faithful to his calling. Faithfulness on the journey is more important than arrival at the destination.

The real success and fulfillment of our life is in our faithfulness to what we have come to know as God’s plan and purpose for us.

It is a gift to know faithful people, people whose inner strength urges them to share their love generously, even when it costs them much. Their lives tell us that faithfulness is possible, though not easy. Faithful people reflect God’s faithfulness.

Faithfulness is the characteristic of a person who simply loves and inspires a sense of confidence and trust in another, even when things don’t seem to be going well.

Dwell on this thought for some time.

Two of the most basic principles of any growth are “grounding and movement”. A tree has to be grounded, put its roots deep into the earth and put out branches…..

We have to have one foot firm on the ground and move the other to make a journey. Abraham and Sarah journeyed…moved, grounded in God and God alone, their roots sunk into no earthly place, finding their identity and security in God and God alone.

Physical rootedness in a place is not a recurring image of the people of God in their history of salvation. In fact the image is to the contrary. They are people on the move, marching to the Promised Land.

But rootedness as a basic and fundamental attitude of trust in God, of linking and anchoring, of basic security and of unbreakable communion as essential to spiritual life, is a constant theme in the Holy Scriptures. “Abide in me and I in you. Unless you abide in me you will not bear much fruit.” says Jesus. “O Lord you are my rock and my salvation”, cries the Psalmist. Peter expresses his refusal to waiver in his decision when asked “will you also go away” and says “To whom shall we go. You have the words of eternal life.”

Paul invited the Philippians to be fellow-imitators of Christ (Philippians 3:17 – 4:1). He also encouraged them to be aware of those whose lives were scandalous and not follow them because “our citizenship is in heaven”. Paul was saying to them that they must never forget that they are citizens of heaven and that their conduct must match their citizenship.

Remember who you are! You are fellow citizens with the saints!

He instructed them to “stand fast in the Lord”. The meaning of “Stand Fast” as Paul uses is like the soldier “standing fast” in battle with the enemy surging down upon him.

Be strong! Stand fast in the Lord! Be rooted and growing in the Lord!

We are called to be……..

Rooted in divine love.

Rooted in the solid spiritual heritage and tradition of our church.

Rooted in our own unique cultural expressions of faith.

Rooted in our family traditions.

Rooted in our own personal God-experience.

Rooted in our own understanding of God’s will and purpose.

In the Gospel of Luke (Luke 9:28-36), we read about the voice of God declaring Jesus as the “beloved Son” and calling all disciples to listen to him. In the presence of Jesus, transfigured in glory, Peter, James and John felt secure, happy, at home. They felt they had reached the end of their journey and they were not ready to move on – they just wanted to stay in their experience of comfort, joy, security and glory.

Remember and rejoice in experiences of joy, success, greatness, wonder, glory, happiness and all of life’s peak experiences and be grateful, but be prepared to move on!

They had found a temporary serenity and security. But the journey of Jesus was not complete and the disciple’s journey was not complete either. They had to leave this experience, come down the mountain and accept life with all its joys and sorrows, even accept the cross and eventual death. They had to continue their journey into the unknown, uncertain and insecure future. They had to walk in mystery!

The journey of Jesus would take him to the cross and then to unending glory. His disciples must follow and travel a similar path.

On their way, Jesus would serve as their map, their route, their guide and eventually their way – and the way, the journey and the end of the journey become one.

Be prepared to accept the inconveniences, suffering, pain, cross – all of life’s struggles. Be strong and stand strong in faith during difficult times.        

Take time – be patient – discern your trials. Make decisions grounded in your faith. Prayerfully discern God’s plan for you. Be prayerful!                         

The real test of rootedness in God is the readiness to go beyond, to go to the land that He will show us. “He who wants to follow me,” says Jesus, “must deny himself take up his cross and follow me.”

To go beyond is a call for transcendence at every moment of our life. It is a call to a leap to do God’s will in every moment of one’s life. Everything is an expression of God’s provident mercy and justice.

We are called to go beyond routine ways of doing and being which produce no life, no inspiration, no spark of the divine to ways of genuine living, of truthful beholding of oneself in one’s own eyes, to ways of freshness, vigor and vitality, of spiritual youthfulness. We will reflect more on letting go and going beyond. For, take some time to reflect on being rooted, grounded in God and God’s ways!

Fr. Gus Tharappel,msfs

IN THE BEGINNING (8)

BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD.

Be in your prayer space, follow the usual steps and settle into silence.

Sit still…..Relax…….Do not rush………

Take a couple of gentle, slow and deep breaths…becoming aware of your breath going in and out… stay focused on this breath of life……

Settle into silence, into peacefulness, into profound silence, into pure joy. Keep listening in such quietness and serenity. Come to that place, that space within, that place of deep silence, solitude, to just being here and now, without having to accomplish something.

Let us begin with a prayer in our heart:

Open my eyes Lord, help me to see your face,

Open my eyes Lord, help me to see….

Open my ears Lord, help me to hear your word,

Open my ears Lord, help me to hear….

Open my heart Lord, help me to love like you,

Open my heart Lord, help me to love…..

Now from the depth of your heart begin to wish your mind well……….

Our last meditation was on God, gently, tenderly and patiently at work, creating the heavens and the earth….fashioning us in his own image and resting from the work he has been doing! We continue our meditations on the ongoing process of creation and new creation and new beginnings.

Prayerfully Read and Reflect….

The first two chapters of the Book of Genesis reflected on the origin of the world and the universe. The next nine chapters show mankind moving away from God and his tender, loving and provident care. At the end of Chapter 11, we meet Abraham, who will turn people back to God. Around the year 1850 B.C., Abraham migrated with his family from Ur (present-day Iraq) to Haran (a city near the present-day Turkish-Syrian border).

Abram heard God calling him to a new home and promising to make of him a great nation. Abram promptly obeyed, taking his wife, Sarai, his nephew, Lot, and his whole household to the land of Canaan (present-day Israel). In subsequent visions, God renewed the promises in the form of a covenant, changed Abram’s name to Abraham and Sarai’s name to Sarah, then blessed them with a son, Isaac.

We now begin a series of meditations on new beginnings with an incredible journey of Abraham, a journey of faith, of hope and of obedience.

In the book of Genesis chapter 12:1-3, we meet Abraham, the great Father of the faith and pioneer of the spiritual journey which ends in Jesus. We hear God’s promise to him that he would become a great nation and all peoples will find blessing in him. Today, he is venerated as the spiritual patriarch of the world’s three major religions, more than half the population of the world find blessing in him.

Reflect on your own call to journey, to greatness, to being and becoming blessings to others.

Be a Blessing where you are. Dwell on this thought for some time.

Trusting in God’s promise, Abraham began a journey. Living in tents, surrounded by flocks that were their livelihood, Abraham and Sarah had no permanent address. Whenever their flocks had depleted the food supply in a particular area, they struck camp and moved on. We do not live in tents today. But we still are spiritual nomads.

Like Abraham and Sarah, our fidelity to God calls us to journey, to move on, our roots sunk into no earthly place, our source of security in God and God alone. Dwell on this thought for some time.

God’s directive was simple: “go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and form your father’s house to a land I will show you” (Gen.12:1). Remember how Abraham and Sarah journeyed: no itinerary, no maps, no auto club, no named destination, no hotel accommodation along the way, no internet MapQuest, no knowledge of weather conditions, no cell phones, no Dairy Queens or McDonalds. We can only marvel at the faith that empowered Abraham and Sarah to get up and leave all they had known with no other guide or equipment than that of God’s call. A man at the age of 75, married to a beautiful wife, surrounded by caring kinsfolk and blessed with material wealth packs up everything and begins a journey to “he knew not where”.

Abraham’s act of obedience began a lifelong habit of saying “yes” with his life to whatever God planned. Dwell on this thought for some time.

Genesis Chapter 15 tells us that Abraham had faith that God, who called him to enter into a covenantal relationship, would ever remain faithful. God’s fidelity is dramatically described in the excerpted text referenced above. Ordinarily those who entered into the covenant stood between the calved animals and declared their oath to one another, signifying that they would submit to a similar fate if they breached their agreement. But in the covenant described here, God alone passed between the slaughtered animals. By not requiring Abraham to do likewise, God acknowledged and accepted human limitations.

The covenant between Abraham and God was an unconditional and everlasting bond.

Abide in these thoughts for some time

In Genesis 22, we read the moving story of Abraham journeying in faith which was so intense as to surpass human logic. Abraham was called again to do the impossible – to sacrifice his only son, to destroy his only hope for descendants. Abraham obeyed, surrendered!

His unwavering faith was rewarded far beyond anything he could envision.

In his surrender to God’s will, he became truly free, real, religious and spiritual – at one with God’s will. Dwell on this thought for some time.

Abraham’s call and response have become models for every other call. Like him, we are called again and again to leave the safe and familiar, the sound and the sane, to venture into territories unknown, uncharted and unsure. Such is the call to the infant to leave the safety of the womb into an often unfriendly and unsafe world. Such is the call of the dying to leave the known world into an unknown eternity.

In between birth and death, we experience the same kind of call many times over and over again when we: leave the comfort home for the first day of school; leave the routine of school for our first job; leave mother, father, brothers and sisters to begin our family; leave work for retirement; leave home for a convalescent home or hospice care; leave old and sure ideas for new and untried ones………. In all these “leave-takings” Abraham and Sarah remain our models and their faith in God, who would lead them, become our inspiration and strength…………….

Letting go is not easy and to let go of a sure and certain and secure thing in order to welcome something new and untried is even more difficult. And that is the challenge!

Be still for a few moments….and dwell on the following thoughts….

• Abraham making new choices…even to leave his homeland to live out his new-found faith and relationship with God!
  

• Trusting in God’s promise, Abraham began a journey. God promised to make him a blessing to the nations……..
  

• Like Abraham and Sarah, our fidelity to God calls us to journey, to move on, our roots sunk into no earthly place, our source of security in God and God alone…..
  

• Reflect on your own call to journey, to greatness, to being and becoming blessings to others……
  

• In his surrender to God’s will, Abraham became truly free, real, religious and spiritual – at one with God’s will and purpose……
  

Fr. Gus Tharappel,msfs