BEING EASTER PEOPLE (3)

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……

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

Take a moment. Bless your day. Let your day Bless you……Take another moment. Bless your world. Let your world bless you……

Prayerfully, reflectively read the following……Dwell on the thoughts that speak to you in this moment……

Last week, we reflected on the different stories of the resurrection of Jesus and the responses of the many who heard the story. One thing in particular stood out for us in our reflection was the way the women and later the disciples raised to the tomb of Jesus.

This meditation invites you to reflect on what it means for you to race to the tomb of Jesus with the women and the disciples.

Racing to the Tomb:

Easter comes after the race to the tomb. Imagine if you can, visualize compassionate women racing to the tomb, early in the morning, wondering what they will do when they get to the tomb, how they will roll the stone away from the tomb, how they will get around the guards……

Let us join Mary of Magdala and the other women of compassion and start racing to the tomb!

• Racing to the tomb is a way of moving through doubts and fears and uncertainties and embracing the emptiness of the tomb……this must happen if we are ever to understand life.
  

• Racing to the tomb is a way of moving into the unknown….not knowing what awaits you on arriving at the tomb…..compassionate women found that death and the emptiness of the tomb have been changed into life.
  

• Racing to the tomb means losing life…it also means finding life! It means wheat falling into the ground and dying only to rise again.
  

• Racing to the tomb means life dug out of death, joy born out of sorrow, light breaking out of darkness.
  

• Racing to the tomb means taking a risk of looking into the tomb to see if Jesus is really there!
  

• Racing to the tomb means being alert, awake and sensitive even in our moments of confusion and like Mary, remember to check with the gardener…mystery of life and death would get unraveled.
  

• Racing to the tomb means being blessed, like Mary, to run into the gardener….in the gardener she found the one she was looking for! God does have ways of surprising us!
  

• Racing to the tomb means being ready and willing to remove all the stones from the doorways of the tomb, however huge the stones may be, if we wish to find the hidden life in us.
  

• Racing to the tomb means moving with confidence…..The women moved to the tomb wondering who will roll the stone away from the tomb…they moved with uncertainty….but they moved all the same!
  

Having arrived at the tomb, let us look into it to see if Jesus is really there. The mystery of hope unfolds before the tomb – only an eye of faith can see it as it unfolds. The Cross and the tomb call us to wait in Hope for victory/glory beyond understanding.

We can withdraw from the tomb……… OR look deep inside and find it empty…… OR look around and find HIM alive and moving and calling us.

Remember…Jesus stepped on death, stepped into the tomb, leaped out of it, moved out into the world….life to its fullness is his gift to us! Embrace it!

We will be racing to the tomb as long as we live. We will be looking into the tomb to see if Jesus is really there!

We now take a moment to contemplate on racing from the tomb…ON BEING and becoming Easter People……

We become Easter people as we continue to race from the tomb. Imagine if you can, visualize Mary of Magdala racing from the tomb, early in the morning, wondering how she would break the news to her friends……Let us join Mary of Magdala and the other women of compassion and start racing from the tomb!

• Racing from the tomb is a way of moving into the unknown trusting in the promise: “I will go ahead of you into Galilee”
  

• Racing from the tomb is a way of announcing the good news of God’s love even when you know you have not fully matured in faith!

• Racing from the tomb is a way of reaching out and forming community with others.

• Racing from the tomb is reaching across boundaries, breaking down barriers and entering into fellowship with all people.

• Racing from the tomb is reaching out, with hope, to those who are afraid, lonely, skeptical, or disappointed.

• Racing from the tomb means I have a reason for striving to be good, remaining faithful and being hopeful.

• Racing from the tomb is a reminder that Christ gives new power and strength to be His witness to the world.

• Racing from the tomb is taking time to discern a situation before acting on impulse.

• Racing from the tomb is seeing the power of God’s Kingdom in seemingly simple acts.

• Racing from the tomb means being positive and optimistic.

   

• Racing form the tomb means walking in faith…however imperfect it may be.

   

• Racing from the tomb means believing and trusting even without understanding.

Add your own:

Fr. Gus Tharappel, msfs

BEING EASTER PEOPLE (2)

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……

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

Take a moment. Bless your day. Let your day Bless you……Take another moment. Bless your world. Let your world bless you……

Prayerfully, reflectively read the following……Dwell on the thoughts that speak to you in this moment……

We continue our meditation on being Easter People……Easter people must remember and bless themselves with the gifts of their master. The master’s farewell gift was “Peace” and his first gift on his return after the resurrection also was “Peace”. Today’s meditation is on this gift.

Jesus gave his disciples his farewell gift: PEACE. He said that this was not the kind of peace the world would give. It is enduring peace, lasting peace, eternal peace. The word for peace used in this context is “shalom” and shalom means “total Well-being”, “the highest good”, “that which befits God”. It is not the absence or the end of war or conflict. It is the presence of shalom, even in the midst of tension. This is the kind of peace, shalom that Jesus experienced in loving and fulfilling the Father’s will.

Peace I leave with you, My Peace I give unto you. Jn. 14:27

Blessed are the peacemakers. They will become sons of God. Mt. 5:9

On the evening of the first day of the week, when the doors were closed….Jesus stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you” (John 20:19)

Peace is God’s gift, the divine resource, as it were, waiting to be tapped into, experienced and enjoyed. The Peace that lives within empowers us to go on in hope, even when storms of life disrupt relationships, incredible tragedies happen, mega-companies lie and cheat the public, ministers of God sin and abuse their privileges and so on.

The Peace that lives within remains an ever renewable “wellspring of courage” because that Peace is of God and that peace is God himself.

“Seek what you seek, but not where you seek it. Your heart has been made for God and it shall be restless until it rests in Him”. (St. Augustine)

Remember……..Deep down in every man, woman, and child, is the fundamental truth of God, of the Sacred Presence, of Sacred Love, of Sacred peace. It may be obscured by many things, but it sure is there for us to touch, to feel, to experience, to celebrate – to dwell, to rest, to abide………

Let us re-call and re-member our earlier reflections on peace as the quality of our inner being, as a state of being in harmony with all, as an attitude that brings us into communion with God and all that is of God and from God……

In Hebrew, the word for Peace is “Shalom” and it does not refer to a negative state – it does not mean the absence of trouble. Peace – Shalom – always meant everything which constitutes the highest good of man, the total well-being of man.

In the east when one says to another, “Salaam”, or shalom, he does not mean that he wishes for the other person the absence of evil things – he wishes him the presence of good things.

In the Bible, Peace is not only the absence of or freedom from trouble – but the presence and enjoyment of all the good that is of God and from God.

The Peace that Jesus spoke of comes not from evasion of issues – it comes from facing them, dealing with them and conquering them.

The Peace that Jesus offers is not passive acceptance of things – but active, creative, dynamic facing them, dealing with them – the making of peace, even when the way of peace is a struggle.

Jesus said, Peace-makers will be called “Sons of God”, God-like persons, doing God-like work. The person who works for peace is engaged in the work which the God of peace is doing (Rom.15:33; 2Cor.13:11; I Thess.5:23).

Shalom, Peace means everything which constitutes the highest good of “man”. It means making the world a little better place to live in, lifting others a little more, lifting the world a little further.

“Die when I may, I would like it to be said of me that I always pulled up a weed and planted a flower where I thought a flower would grow.” (Abraham Lincoln)

The Jewish Rabbis held that the highest task, which a man can perform, is to establish right relationship between man and man – peacemaking, the force that binds/unites – the force that brings harmony.

Peace is the most human dream of all….Peace was the dream of the Jews…….Peace was always the dream of Christians…Peace was the dream of all sages….. Peace is the dream of all religions…..humanity has a common good which belongs to all: Peace.

The dream of peace lives in the heart of humanity even when they are living within the most atrocious wars….Peace is hunger, a thirst, a passion……

A great Russian mystic, St. Seraphim of Sarov used to say: “acquire peace in you and thousands around you will find it”. We must never underestimate the force of that peace that comes from the heart!

If you want peace, be peaceful…..teach yourself to take a completely different approach, a gentle approach, a “peacefulness approach”.

If you want to experience peacefulness you must begin from a posture of peace. One word of caution: Be prepared to stay in that posture for as long as it takes.

My Prayer for you:

May you fearlessly dream, speak, stand and work for justice and peace!

May you make no peace with oppression, injustice, violence or war!

May you strive to be a shining witness of reconciliation, harmony and peace!

May you reach across boundaries and barriers to form community with all people!

May you be a peaceful person and may your presence bring peace!

And may God who has loved you without measure fill you with blessings and grace and the experience of joyful communion of the saints of God……..and be “peace” for all!

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)

If you find yourself in a situation where there are no peaceful persons, strive to be a peaceful person and if you find yourself in a situation where there are no peacemakers, strive to be a peacemaker.

Fr. Gus Tharappel,msfs

BEING EASTER PEOPLE (1)

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……

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

Take a moment. Bless your day. Let your day Bless you……Take another moment. Bless your world. Let your world bless you……

Prayerfully, reflectively read the following……Dwell on the thoughts that speak to you in this moment……

We began our Lenten Journey with a cross traced in ashes on our foreheads on Ash Wednesday as a declaration of the necessity of repentance, of change of heart and of faithfulness to the Gospel values. We heard God’s call: “Come Home”..wherever you may have been and whatever you may have been doing, “come home”.

We met Jesus in different situations during our journey through lent. We heard his word and saw the way he interacted with the world around him.

On the first Sunday of lent, we met Jesus (Luke 4:1-13) being tempted in the wilderness, rising above the temptations to a new power and strength and coming to call people to repentance and new life in the Kingdom of God. We met Jesus making a deliberate choice of method to fulfill his mission and rejecting methods contrary to God’s Will.

On the second Sunday of lent, we met Jesus (Luke 9:28-36) and heard the voice of God declaring Jesus as the “beloved Son” and calling all disciples to listen to him.

On the third Sunday of Lent, we heard Jesus talking about (Luke 13:1-9) the suddenness of death and the need to be prepared and ready, to repent, to reform and change our ways!

On the fourth Sunday of lent, we read (Luke 15:1-3, 11-32). the story of a young man running away from home, turning around in repentance, and being embraced by the forgiving love of his father. We met a father who let his son make his own choices and regretfully let him go his way and welcomed him back, without conditions, on his return.

On the fifth Sunday of lent, we read (John 8:1-11) the Story of Jesus forgiving the woman caught in adultery and calling her to new life. We heard Jesus calling us to repentance, conversion and transformation of our life. We heard Jesus calling us to let go of the past and live a new life, a life of Grace and truth and walk in forgiving love.

On Palm Sunday, we remembered Jesus entering Jerusalem to face rejection and eventual death. We remembered his passion – passion for his father’s will, passion for humanity, passion for you and me and suffering and dying out of that passion.

On Holy Thursday, we remembered Jesus transforming bread and wine into his life and giving his life to us as food and drink. We remembered him washing the feet of his disciples and calling them to follow his example in gracious and self-sacrificing service.

On Good Friday, we remembered Jesus being betrayed, tried, judged, condemned and crucified. We remembered him dying on a cross. We remembered Jesus giving himself totally in life and in death. We remembered the cross, sign of shame and punishment, becoming the symbol of sacrifice, healing, unconditional love, total giving, redemption and salvation. We remembered and relived the passion, the cross and the death of Jesus.

The journey that we began in ashes brings us now to the fire – unlike the fire of terror, we encounter a purifying, life-creating fire that gives light to a dark and despairing world. It is the fire that lights the Paschal candle which proclaims: “the light of Christ”. It is the fire that brings us into the light of Christ and lights up our own path……….

Our Lenten journey brings us to Easter – to new life, to new beginnings, to new presence. We celebrate our call to be an Easter People, a People of the Resurrection, a people transformed by the death and resurrection of Jesus, a people who must continue to journey in faith, in hope and in love. We must move on and meet Jesus, alive, where we are, now, at this point in our history.

We now take a moment to reflect on the different stories of the resurrection of Jesus…..

The Gospel of Mark (Mark 16:9-15) tells us that Jesus rose from the dead and first appeared to Mary Magdalene, but the followers of Jesus refused to believe her testimony. The disciples did not expect Jesus to be visiting Mary of Magdala after his resurrection. After all, her past was not that great and she was not one of the specially chosen apostles….she did not fit the common criteria for a visit from the world beyond…..

Be open! The Lord has his own way of surprising us! He comes to us through the most unexpected people, events, places and situations! No one expected to find the messiah in a manger or on the cross….that is just the way God revealed the power of His unconditional, unconquerable, benevolent love for us.

Two of the disciples on their way to Emmaus had an experience of the risen Jesus, while they were on the road. The disciples did not believe them either.

The Gospel of Luke (Luke 24: 1-10) speaks of two young men in white robe at the tomb of Jesus. They said to the women of Galilee who came to visit the tomb: “He is not here, but he has been raised……and they (the women) returned and announced all these things to the eleven and to all others”.

HE IS ALIVE! He goes ahead of us into our Galilees…..He will meet us where we are and we must move on and meet him where we are….in life and in death……

In the Gospel of John, we read the moving story of Mary of Magdala (John 20:1-9) going to the tomb of Jesus early in the morning and running to Peter and John to tell them that the tomb was empty. Peter and John went to the tomb and found everything as Mary had described. This excerpt concludes by saying that they believed without understanding the scripture “that he had to rise from the dead”.

Real faith is born of relationship. It is not an affirmation or acceptance of doctrines or acceptance of details of an event that can be verified scientifically or otherwise. To believe is to relate…to believe is to trust…to believe is to be intimate…to believe is to be in communion. Our belief in the resurrection and our commitment to live a resurrected life is the result of our communion with the risen Christ.

Finally, Jesus appeared to the eleven disciples and rebuked them for their disbelief. Then he sent them with the mission: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the good news to all creation”.

Jesus surprised them again by sending them with his message to fulfill his mission. Men of weak faith……..men who could not see beyond their disappointment………men, who did not grasp all that Jesus said to them about his death and resurrection while he was among them, were sent to proclaim the good news of the resurrection!

Don’t wait and don’t hesitate to share and announce the good news of God’s love till you have fully matured in faith!

I wish you Peace – God’s Peace – the peace that Jesus promised, the kind of peace the world can not offer. Peace in your hearts, peace in your homes, peace in your community, peace in your country, peace in the world. I pray for you that you may have peace in your hearts, you may think peace, feel peace, speak peace. You may have a word of peace for your family, your friends, your neighbors and for all……You be men and women of peace. May your presence proclaim God’s peace.

I wish you a very happy and joy-filled Easter. May the risen Lord bring you the richest and the finest of His blessings during this wonderful season and keep you safe in the center of His love. You are in my prayer especially during this season.

Fr. Gus Tharappel,msfs