BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD.

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

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……

Breathe in all that is of God and from God…all that is true, honest, pure, admirable, noble, decent, virtuous, worthy of praise, good, loving, kind – all that deserves respect..

Breathe out all that is not of God and from God……..

Settle into silence, into peacefulness, into profound silence, into pure joy. Keep listening in quietness, stillness 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 I invite you to consecrate your time and all that come with this moment….in your own way, in humble, simple, may be even inadequate words………..

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

We need Lent……

• to review and renew our life as disciples of Christ commissioned by our baptism, as Christ was commissioned by His, to be instruments of God’s love in our day and in our time and in our community.
  

• to be in greater communion with God. Just as friends need to spend time together, need to talk together and need to grow closer to one another, we need increased opportunities for prayer, for dialogue with God, which Lent offers.
  

• to become more focused, more disciplined, more attentive to what matters in life – what sustains and what is worth living for. So, Lent involves more focus, more discipline, more attention.
  

• to focus on the essentials – faith in our God of Compassion, mercy, forgiveness, healing and grace; hope in our God who is faithful in completing what He has begun and love that is generous, gracious and benevolent.
  

• to put our priorities in order. Lent offers opportunities for making sacrifices, doing penance, cleansing and emptying our cluttered lives.
  

   

• to let go off those things that hold you back and hold you down and make you unfree.

   

• to face your sinfulness, struggle if you have to and transform your lives.

   

• to become less self-seeking and more self-giving.
  

• to move our attention from our own needs to see more vividly the needs of others.
  

• to see beyond our own needs and to reach out to others in need.
  

• to open our eyes to see other’s struggles, to open our ears to hear other’s cries that call out for a response……to open our hearts to the cry of the poor and oppressed and the suffering and the marginalized.
  

• to pause, to meditate, to reflect, to contemplate the mystery of God’s love, to spend time with the Lord. The “busyness” of our life far too often robs us of time for prayer and reflection.
  

   

• to create silence and listen to your heart, listen to others, listen to God
  

   

• to live more fully Christ’s commission, “take up your cross and follow me”.
  

• to live more fully Christ’s commission, “the one who loses his life finds it and the one who holds on to his life loses it.”
  

• to live more fully Christ’s commission, “You are the light of the world…you are the salt of the earth”.
  

The Church invites us to make this season a time of intense prayer, doing penance and giving alms. The disciplines of Prayer, Penance and Almsgiving are pathways of Lenten Spirituality. They are wonderful and life-giving disciplines, which bring us closer to God and to God’s people. Prayer strengthens our connection to God. Penance builds our character and helps us get rid of unhealthy habits which weaken our ability to love God, others and ourselves. Almsgiving helps to care for others – to reach out to the less fortunate, the unfortunate , the disadvantaged, the poor, the marginalized and suffering people in our community.

May your Lenten days of prayer, penance and almsgiving help you to be reborn in spirit, empower you to love without limits, teach you to pray constantly, help you seek the wisdom of God, enable you to live in compassion and help you celebrate the joy of Easter. May God bless you and your family and keep you safe in His Love.

Fr. Gus Tharappel,msfs

Romans 6:3-4

BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD.

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

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……

Breathe in all that is of God and from God…all that is true, honest, pure, admirable, noble, decent, virtuous, worthy of praise, good, loving, kind – all that deserves respect..

Breathe out all that is not of God and from God……..

Settle into silence, into peacefulness, into profound silence, into pure joy. Keep listening in quietness, stillness 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 I invite you to consecrate your time and all that come with this moment….in your own way, in humble, simple, may be even inadequate words………..

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

We continue our meditation on being anointed priest, prophet and king, at our baptism. Our baptism brings us into solidarity with Christ and with him into solidarity with all people of God as brothers and sisters.

To be anointed is to be set apart, consecrated…..to be set apart for sacred use in prayer, in sacrifice, in worship, in the service of God….to be separated from other common things used for common purposes.

Take a moment now and consecrate your time and all that come with this moment….in your own way, in humble, simple, may be even inadequate words………..

Our last meditation was on being anointed priest. We now take time to meditate on being anointed prophet, at our baptism as Jesus was……..

Gleaning through the history of the prophets in the Old Testament, we gain a number of insights about who they were, what they did, how and why they were called and what their mission was. This will enable us to understand what our own prophetic calling is.

The prophets of Israel were men who spoke the truth in God’s behalf. They were not scientists or lawyers or philosophers or theologians in the sense that we know today.
They were preachers, proclaimers, heralds. Their aim was to persuade people to act: to change their ways, to turn to God, to turn away from “other” gods, to listen to God, to seek the wisdom of God and so on. They stood before God for their people and before their people for God.

The prophets were voices of the love, the truth, the justice, the peace and the intimate presence of God. They stood for love, truth, justice and peace.

Take a moment…reflect on the possibility of participating in this prophetic mission in seeking and standing up for love, truth, justice and peace……..

Their experience of God was that in God, love and truth and justice and peace had met…had come together, merged…..and so God’s voice was a voice of love and truth and justice and peace, all in one and one in all…….and the love, truth, justice and peace were unchanging, everlasting, eternal. This is what the prophets were called to proclaim.

• The prophets were to proclaim the unconditional, unconquerable, everlasting love of God.

• They were to proclaim God’s truth…that he is ever present, unchanging.

• They were to proclaim God’s justice….God brings us into himself, reconciles us with himself…it’s God’s doing.

• They were to proclaim God’s peace, Shalom….God brings all things into harmony with himself; God seeks the highest good of his people.

   

• They reassured their people of divine compassion, mercy and tender care.

   

• They also warned their people of the consequences of choosing evil ways and turning away from God and community.

   

• The prophets had a passionate attachment to the religious traditions and the revealed word of God.

   

• They encouraged their people to embrace whatever, within their society, can serve to deepen their commitment to God and to live noble lives and avoid whatever threatens their commitment to God and a life of virtue and honor.

   

• The prophets were other-centered – never centered on themselves. They were at the service of God in their people’s behalf…not for themselves. Personal ambition, desires, or fears were set aside for the sake of the reign of God and the good of the people. The other-centeredness is not separation from others. They were integral part of the community, speaking to the community from within the community.

   

• They had a compassionate understanding of their society, an intense, fervent/ardent devotion to their religious tradition, a passionate love for God’s word and an unselfish dedication to others.

   

• They were men and women of courage and wisdom, standing up for the “righteousness”, the holiness of God in the form of a cry for justice or forgiveness or healing or truth or peace or reform or renewal or concern for others…never for themselves.

We are called and anointed to participate in this prophetic mission.

Take a moment…reflect on the possibility of sharing in this prophetic mission of Jesus. Go back to each of the above ‘bullets’ and reflect on what each of them mean for you at this point in your life.

Take another moment reflect a little more intensely and personally on the thought or insight that seems to have special significance for you at this point in time. What does it say to you at this time and what does it call forth from you?

We know today that Prophesy did not die out after the Bible was compiled. We now know that a prophet is not necessarily someone who predicts the future, but someone who is brave enough to speak out loud what is obvious to everyone. But be aware, stating the obvious is prophetic. It can get you into trouble….all the prophets of the Old Testament and Jesus too, got into trouble.

We share in the prophetic mission of Jesus and we have reason to be prophetic and there is much to be prophetic about……we must be prophets in our own land and time. We must bring good news to the poor and the oppressed, to the neglected women and children, to the victims of abuse and oppression, to those who carry heavy burdens, to the sick and the suffering, to those who are burdened with war and violence, to the widows and orphans……..we must proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor as Jesus did!

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. God has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19)

You are anointed to bring good news….to proclaim a year of the Lord’s favor. How awesome and challenging!!!!

May God help you live out more fully your anointing to share in the prophetic mission of Christ. May God empower you with His Holy Spirit to fearlessly and courageously to work for justice and peace! May He enable you to never make peace with oppression, injustice, violence or war! May you strive to fulfill your anointing to bring good news, to proclaim a year of the Lord’s favor!!!

Fr. Gus Tharappel,msfs

We take a break from our usual meditation to get ourselves into the spirit of Lent. We will return to our theme next week. This morning let us reflect on the season of Lent and on what the season calls forth from us.

BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD.

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

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……

Breathe in all that is of God and from God…all that is true, honest, pure, admirable, noble, decent, virtuous, worthy of praise, good, loving, kind – all that deserves respect..

Breathe out all that is not of God and from God……..

Settle into silence, into peacefulness, into profound silence, into pure joy. Keep listening in quietness, stillness 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 I invite you to consecrate your time and all that come with this moment….in your own way, in humble, simple, may be even inadequate words………..

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

Prayerfully, gently, slowly read…..take time…go slow!    

We begin our Lenten Journey with a cross traced in ashes on the foreheads of all who came to Church on Ash Wednesday as declaration of the necessity of repentance, of change of heart and of faithfulness to the Gospel values. The priest or the minister says, “Repent and believe in the Gospel” as he traces the cross in ashes on the forehead of the faithful who come to Church on Ash Wednesday. Lent begins with the call to repentance.

The opening message of Jesus was: “Reform your lives! The reign of God is at hand!” This is the good news…this is the Gospel….the presence of the reign of God, the ‘already’ and ‘not yet’ of Christian life. We do not know how or when all things will be transformed.

To repent is to turn around and toward. Jesus invites is to turn around and toward the kingdom of God. He calls us to realize that we are going in the wrong direction. We are citizens of the Kingdom of God and we need to turn toward the kingdom. On our earth the Kingdom of God is already present in mystery: it is and it is not yet. It is the beyond that is within! One who is transformed by the Gospel values will come to know the “beyond that is within”. This is our hope.

As deformed by sin, violence and war, the shape of this world will pass away. We are offered the hope that God is preparing a new dwelling place and a new earth where justice and peace meet, embrace and abide……… and the blessedness that comes from this transformed world will surpass all the longings for peace which spring up in the human heart.

Our hope is not a passive waiting for things to happen. It calls forth continual conversion if we are to hasten our journey into the Kingdom of God, a Kingdom of truth and life, of holiness and grace, of justice, love and peace. The ‘kingdom of heaven’ and ‘God’s reign’ reveal the dynamic relationship we have with God, which enables us to accomplish what God wills. This calls forth a change of heart…real repentance, a real turn around, not just a feeling “sorry” for our sins.

To be part of that reign means to enter into a process of continually experiencing conversion. John the Baptist and Jesus called for “repentance” and that is what conversion is…an ongoing, life-long conversion!

Abide in these thoughts for some time

A necessary and integral part of this continual conversion for the disciple of Jesus, in search of a more just and non-violent world, is the conversion from discouragement and the temptation to escape the suffering of the world to an enduring commitment based on hope. The temptation we often face is to give up the struggle totally, to stop reading the newspaper, to withdraw into a privatized spirituality.

This is not the spirituality of the Gospel of Jesus. The Beatitudes, which flow from the heart of the Gospel of Jesus, lead us to ‘creative insecurity’ or ‘dynamic insecurity’. If you are secure, you don’t need grace….you don’t need prayer…. you don’t need brothers and sisters… you don’t need the power of God. If the reign of God is to be ours, we must have hope…..we must keep going….we must change our attitudes and grown into the “beatitudes”…we must get on the road to conversion.

In the New Testament, Jesus announces the arrival of the Kingdom, the reign of God, in the world. It is a future near at hand…..a future present in the present!!! The believer lives in hope. The concept of hope is most fully developed by St Paul, especially in his letter to the Romans. We boast of our hope for the glory of God. (See chapter 5) In hope we were saved. But hope is not hope if its object is seen; how is it possible for one to hope for what he sees? Hoping for what we cannot see means awaiting it with patient endurance. Rejoice in hope, be patient under trial, persevere in prayer. (See Ch. 8 & 12)

Jesus’ resurrection is our most radical sign of hope. It means that the power of sin and death has been overcome (1 Corinthians 15) and that we share in the freedom of the resurrection. We share in it as individuals and as a people. The season of Lent calls us to make a journey from Ashes to fire…..to Easter….to the resurrection of Jesus. Our hope is in this resurrection, that of Jesus and our own.

Believing in the resurrection means making a commitment to live in hope despite the injustices that we are aware of, despite the acts of violence that we read about or, perhaps, have experienced.

We must open our minds and our hearts and our whole life to welcome the abundance of God’s goodness and Grace and be transformed by this gift in abundance. The resurrection of Jesus and the hope of our own resurrection calls us to conversion, to a transformation of our life in Christ.

Nothing prevents personal transformation more than closed mind or heart. Change can not take place if we cling to and clutch at what we think is unchangeable.

When our security is at stake, we may withdraw or fight instead of listening or thinking or praying and talking about the challenges before us. We tend to defend our positions and our feelings and search for others to help us defend them instead of letting them go, or receive new information or listen to different perspectives
that call us forth change in us and in others.

We must remain open and be filled with wonder and awe and surprise……to be unafraid to die and rise again……to give up the present securities and comforts and accept new challenges…to hear new things….to meet new people …to be a people of the resurrection.

Rejoice in small victories and concentrate on the good already being done rather than continually lament the absences. This disposition leads us to hope and enables us to work for further change with perseverance. Let us make our journey of Lent and let it takes to rejoice in the resurrection of Jesus.

My Prayer for you:

May your Lenten days of prayer, penance and almsgiving help you to be reborn in spirit, empower you to love without limits, teach you to pray constantly, help you seek the wisdom of God, enable you to live in compassion and help you celebrate the joy of Easter. May God bless you and your family and keep you safe in His Love.

Fr. Gus Tharappel,msfs

Romans 6:3-4

BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD.

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

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……

Breathe in all that is of God and from God…all that is true, honest, pure, admirable, noble, decent, virtuous, worthy of praise, good, loving, kind – all that deserves respect..

Breathe out all that is not of God and from God……..

Settle into silence, into peacefulness, into profound silence, into pure joy. Keep listening in quietness, stillness 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 I invite you to consecrate your time and all that come with this moment….in your own way, in humble, simple, may be even inadequate words………..

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

Our last meditation was on being identified with Christ in baptism. Our baptism brings us into solidarity with Christ and with him into solidarity with all people of God as brothers and sisters.

We are identified and affirmed as “sons of God” and empowered with the Holy Spirit to live as sons of God and to fulfill the mission entrusted to us.

In Baptism we are immersed into the mystery of love, God’s love. We are washed clean, given a clean garment, a lighted candle and anointed priest, prophet and king….all symbolizing our character….an indelible character!!!

You are anointed priest, prophet and king…How awesome!

Abide in these thoughts for some time

To be anointed is to be set apart, consecrated…..to be set apart for sacred use in prayer, in sacrifice, in worship, in the service of God….to be separated from other common things used for common purposes.

Anointing with oil, after cleansing/washing, signifies separating, protecting, safe-guarding – separated for and safe-guarded from…….The oil that is used for this anointing is also separated, set aside and not used for any other purpose.

Anointing is also a way of “refreshing and invigorating”, an act of hospitality. One of the reasons for anointing with oil was to trap dirt on the surface of the skin so that it did not get into the pores so it was easier to wash off the dirt….reflect on what this means!

Anointing with oil was also done for healing of wounds. In recent times, many have associated anointing with conferring of power. This idea comes from Acts of the Apostles (Acts 1:8). The Holy Spirit comes and gives power. To understand it as being empowered does make sense, but to see it as being given power is wrong interpretation.

Take a moment now and consecrate your time and all that come with this moment….in your own way, in humble, simple, may be even inadequate words………..

Reflect on being anointed priest at your baptism as Jesus was……..How does it feel at this time as you reflect on being anointed?

Many thoughts and insights come to me as I reflect on being anointed. Thoughts of atonement, sacrifice and oblation, self-sacrifice and total giving and much more.

Searching through the Scriptures and reflecting on the priesthood beginning with Aaron, what stands out as the most basic purpose of the priesthood is “sanctification” – the sanctification of the priest himself and the people of God.

Sanctification, could be described (though inadequately) as making of a saint. It is a process of growing and helping others in holiness….to be restored to our dignity, to our true identity.

St. Paul says, to our true citizenship: “You are fellow citizens of the saints and members of the household of God – being built to become a dwelling place for God in the spirit” (Eph.2:19-22)

We are anointed priest, at our baptism, to participate in this process: to facilitate our own growth in holiness and that of others. Our baptismal call is a call to holiness, “You are fellow citizens of the saints…”

This implies a call to ongoing conversion of life. We participate in the priesthood of Christ when we facilitate our own conversion and that of others.

Growth in holiness means forgiveness, healing and reconciliation. All we do for forgiveness, healing and reconciliation for ourselves and others is a participation in the priesthood of Christ.

Growth in holiness means self-sacrifice, self-gift and eventually total giving. The priest of the ancient days sacrificed bulls and goats for atonement. Jesus sacrificed himself for redemption. We participate in his priesthood by our self-gift, by living self-sacrificing lives……

Jesus took bread, broke it and said: “do this in remembrance of me”….to do what he did, not just remember the words. What he did was break bread, break himself and give himself. We are anointed priests to break ourselves and give ourselves to one another.

Jesus took the cup, blessed it, shared it and said: “this is my blood”…this is my life, I our this out for you……I empty myself for you. We are anointed priests so that we may pour our lives out for one another.

Take a moment now and consecrate your time again and all that come with this moment….in your own way, in humble, simple, may be even inadequate words……

Reflect on being anointed priest at your baptism as Jesus was……..How does it feel at this time as you reflect on being anointed?

Remember: to be anointed it to be set apart, to be separated, to be safe-guarded, to be protected, to be refreshed, invigorated and to be empowered…….

Pope Benedict in his call for the year of priests underlined the necessary and “indispensable struggle for moral perfection which must dwell in every authentically priestly heart.” This applies to all who share in the priesthood of Christ.

Our Baptismal call is not just for membership in an organized Church. We baptized into Christ. St. Paul tells us, “Are you not aware that we who are baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Through baptism into his death we were buried with him, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the father, we too might live a new life….our old self was crucified with him so that the sinful body may be destroyed……to live with him….will never die…dead to sin and alive for God” (Romans 6:3-11)

May God help you live out more fully your anointing to share in the priesthood of Christ.

This is my prayer for you today:

May you continue to be remarkable signs of hope!

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 shining witnesses of reconciliation, harmony and peace!

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

And may God who has loved you without measure fill you with blessings and grace and the experience of the joyful communion of the saints of God……..

Abide in this prayer for some time

Fr. Gus Tharappel,msfs

Romans 6:3-4

BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD.

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

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……

Breathe in all that is of God and from God…all that is true, honest, pure, admirable, noble, decent, virtuous, worthy of praise, good, loving, kind – all that deserves respect..

Breathe out all that is not of God and from God……..

Settle into silence, into peacefulness, into profound silence, into pure joy. Keep listening in quietness, stillness 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 I invite you to consecrate your time and all that come with this moment….in your own way, in humble, simple, may be even inadequate words………..

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

As deformed by sin, violence and war, the shape of this world will pass away. We are offered the hope that God is preparing a new dwelling place and a new earth where God’s justice and peace meet, embrace and abide……… and the blessedness that comes from this transformed world will surpass all the longings for peace which spring up in the human heart.

Abide in these thoughts for some time

A couple of weeks ago, we celebrated the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan. When Jesus stepped forward to be baptized, he thereby affirmed his solidarity with us sinners in a public way. He became for us God-with-us-sinners, in the flesh. His conception, his birth, his life and work with Mary and Joseph, his struggle with human weakness, his friendship with people including his enemies, all of which proclaimed his solidarity with us sinful men and women.

Jesus wished to be completely in solidarity with us and so stepped into the Jordan river with self-admitted sinners to be baptized by John, to be immersed into all that is human and all that is divine, of God and from God.

Our baptism brings us into solidarity with Christ and with him into solidarity with all people of God as brothers and sisters.

As Jesus was being baptized, he was Identified and affirmed as the beloved son of God and empowered with the Holy Spirit. This is what happens at our own baptism. We are identified and affirmed as “sons of God” and empowered with the Holy Spirit to live as sons of God and to fulfill the mission entrusted to us.

To be identified as “Sons of God” means to be immersed into the very likeness of God, to be immersed into the mystery of God’s life and love……… that the sons inherit the characteristics and qualities of the father. This is what it means to be sons of God….to be immersed into the character of God, to be identified with the image of God, to be called and named to image God.

The servant songs of the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 42, 49, 50, 52) celebrate the character of the servant of God who suffered and died for the sake of truth and justice. They also give us a vision of the character of every baptized person, the disciples of Jesus today.

When the servant songs were first composed, it was Israel who was to see its identity and purpose described therein. Israel was called, named, identified, chosen and sent so that other nations will come to know God’s salvation, justice and peace.

In Baptism we are immersed into the mystery of love, God’s love. We are washed clean, given a clean garment, a lighted candle and anointed priest, prophet and king….all symbolizing our character….an indelible character!!!

We are identified, named, chosen and sent to be symbols of God’s “salvation, justice and peace” for the world. Just as other nations came to know God’s salvation, justice and peace through Israel, today the world must experience the salvation, justice and peace of God through us and our church and our church institutions……..

Abide in these thoughts for some time

Israel was to be the sacrament of solidarity that God intended for all people. This unity, solidarity was to be accomplished by the establishment of justice on earth…..not merely “distributive justice”, one that metes out same measure to everyone, but a “substantive justice”, one that is attentive to “the full enhancement of human life”….one that would touch all aspects of human interactions and social institutions.

Today, we, God’s people, the church, the body of Christ must be and become the symbol, the sacrament of God’s salvation, justice and peace.

Justice has to do with right relationships…right ordering of all relationships. Justice is a whole network of relationships and not just “same measure to everyone”. The basis of justice for Israel was the nations covenant with God. The basis of justice for us is our covenant with God….our baptism, our immersion into God’s life and love.

Israelites were to father the fatherless, mother the motherless, welcome the strangers, feed the travelers and show hospitality to resident aliens…not only because the outsider and the orphan deserved it, but because this was the manner in which God cared for Israel. They were to reflect the character of God….they were to give to others what God gave them….they were to act toward one another as God had acted toward them.

Their justice was supposed to be justice NOT of humankind, but the justice of God…the practice of justice was an expression of covenantal love, God’s love as well as their own. This is the kind of justice we are called to practice….giving others what God gave us, acting toward others the way God has acted toward us, loving others the way God has loved us, “love one another as I have loved you” was the command Jesus gave his disciples…….

Jesus came to save and liberate us from sin, but he also came to liberate us from all other forms of enslavement as well: sickness, poverty, injustice, corruption, inequality, etc. Jesus, in his words and works, taught us that salvation and liberation are not simply otherworldly realities; rather, they are to shape our human experience now. Jesus did not merely promise heaven when you die; on the contrary, he demanded that through the sharing of the rich with the poor, there be daily bread on the table, here and now.

He was not merely a reformer but a liberator. He came to liberate us from all binding and oppressive forces and restore us to our dignity as sons of God. This agenda of Jesus is the mission of the church, his body. The motivation for all our efforts at justice and liberation is that we are one body; we share one baptism; we are all given to drink of the same Sprit; we, though many, are one; we, though with different social status, different ethnicity, different gifts, different functions, are all one body in Christ. It is this very oneness that must move us to action, for, when one of the members of the body of Christ suffers, all are affected. Therefore, each of us is responsible for the freedom and dignity of all of us.

Abide in these thoughts for some time

This is my prayer for you today:

May you continue to be remarkable signs of hope!

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 shining witnesses of reconciliation, harmony and peace!

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

And may God who has loved you without measure fill you with blessings and grace and the experience of the joyful communion of the saints of God……..

Abide in this prayer for some time

Fr. Gus Tharappel,msfs

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……You are breathing in the breath of life, the gift of God….breathe in all that is of God and from God and breathe out all that is not of God and from God……

Now I invite you to consecrate this day and all that come with this day….in your own way, in humble, simple, may be even inadequate words………..

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

Gently, prayerfully reflect on the following thoughts:

It is Saturday morning… We are together again…and this is a very special morning…it is Christmas……time to contemplate and celebrate the birth of Jesus! We made a quiet and prayerful journey through the season of Advent. We sang and prayed “O come, O come, Emmanuel” for four weeks during our Advent journey. Last week, we meditated on “gift-giving” and “gift-receiving” and we come now to meditate on the birth of Jesus.

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

Be grateful
for today and every day, for the miracle of life, for the amazing grace and blessing of your history, for the men and women who gave you spirit and tradition and for today, be specially grateful for the birth of Jesus and the hope that he proclaimed…….

Prophets and patriarchs and great spiritual men and women of history dreamed of the day of the Lord, when the Lord would break into history. They gave vivid and dramatic descriptions of their vision of God coming to save his people.

The Prophet Isaiah had a beautiful vision of the Lord’s house being established as the highest of all mountains, raised above all hills, to which all nations would came. On this mountain, he says, a sense of brotherhood, harmony and peace would come. The Prophet announced that all instruments of destruction would be turned into creative, life-giving instruments, “sword into plowshares…..spears into pruning hooks……..” From this vision came the call of Isaiah to “walk in the light of the Lord” (Isaiah 2:1-5)

The prophet again described the joy that would come when the righteous ruler reigns. In his day the prophet says, “the desert and the parched land will exult……strengthen the hands that are feeble, make firm the knees that are weak…the eyes of the blind will opened….mute will sing……they will meet with joy and gladness and sorrow and mourning will flee” (Is. 35:1-10). The whole cosmos will reflect the joy of a redeemed people. God will do what the world thinks impossible. We now celebrate and affirm the possibility of a world transformed by the coming of Christ, the juts one, the prince of peace.

The prophet Zephaniah called his people to rejoice because, “The Lord is in our midst”. “Shout for joy! Sing! Be glad! Fear not!”. Be happy! Because “The Lord is near”! (Zephaniah 3:11-18).

Our belief in the nearness of our God should remove all fears and anxieties while bringing true and abiding peace. God himself will rejoice and “sing joyfully as one sings at festivals”, says the Prophet. We rejoice with our God during this Christmas season because “God is in our midst”.

We celebrate Christmas, the birth of Jesus, the incarnation of God’s Word of love. We proclaim and affirm, once again, that we are a privileged people, a people blessed and graced by God’s unconditional love revealed in Jesus. Let us think, meditate, reflect and contemplate this mystery that we celebrate every year.

The birth of a baby is always an act of trust, much more so the birth of the divine baby. Any baby born into the world is an act of trust in the future of humanity. The birth of Jesus called forth even greater trust than could be imagined. The circumstances of his birth were extraordinary and even mysterious.

Mary had to trust, Joseph had to trust, Elizabeth had to trust, Zechariah had to trust – And God himself trusted! (If we could use this expression about God). Trusting the angel, trusting the dreams and trusting the Holy Spirit – all seem fantastic. But it’s all about trust, simple and pure. Trusting a young Galilean girl with a baby to be the messiah, savior is an amazing story of “TRUST”!

Reflect on being called to trust….trust God…..trust each other in your family and

Community….trust your children…..trust your elders…trust the wisdom of your church or your spiritual tradition…….

Reflect on creating a trusting climate in your home, neighborhood and country.

Jesus came among us as Emmanuel, “God-with-us”, God incarnate. Seek and find him “here and now”. He is “EMMANUEL”,

God-with-us NOW.

We often burden ourselves with thoughts of past failures and mistakes or fears about the future and future problems. If we feel alone in our struggles with such issues, it just may be because we have not come to know God as “Emmanuel”, here and now. God’s presence in power, in compassion and in love is available to us in the “here and now” of each day. This is especially important for us now in our own history as we face many urgent issues and concerns in families, communities and the world.

Emmanuel is God’s word that carries a power which no other word carries. This word has the power to change attitudes, convert minds, transform hearts and change the course of a person’s life. It can dispel fears, instill hope, awaken courage, and inflame weakening faith. Emmanuel, “God-with-us”, “I am with you”, carried people from Abraham to Paul through very difficult and testing times.

Today, we are called to experience this at every point in our life. We are blessed and “Graced” and privileged to know “Emmanuel”. When fears threaten to overwhelm us or keep us from being authentic witnesses of the Gospel, “I am with you” transforms our fears and failings into courageous faith. When doubts and depression set in, “I am with you” brings and nurtures hope and lifts our spirits.

When things seem impossible, “I am with you” enables us to trust and face the impossible. When friends are few and sometimes far away, “I am with You” assures us that we are never alone. When sickness set in, when death approaches, when it is difficult to see beyond pains, sufferings, and uncertainties, “I am with you” inspires us to trust and “hang-in-there”.

Throughout our lives, in good times and in bad “I am with you” is the song of God singing in our hearts. It is the song of redemption and salvation and Grace and Love and healing and…….It is the word, “Emmanuel” – “God-with-us” – “I am with you” that keeps us faithful on our journey of life and leads us to holiness, to perfection, to which we are called.

Reflect on God’s intimacy, God’s closeness to us and your closeness to God and to each other! Reflect on ways to nurture this closeness.

Be Grateful because Christmas Reveals:

• Love and life in all simplicity, purity and glory
  
• End of darkness and the dawn of light
  
• End of alienation and beginning of communion
  
• End of brokenness and beginning of healing
  
• End of absence and beginning of presence
  
• End of aloneness and beginning of God-with-us
  

As we celebrate Christmas, we contemplate the deepest and the most profound presence of God in our life. We contemplate the depth of God’s Love. We contemplate the heart of God in Jesus. I pray that you have a heart of Love and Compassion.

May God bless you and your family with the most profound experience of His Love and may that experience be your hope and your strength.

Fr. Gus Tharappel,msfs

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……You are breathing in the breath of life, the gift of God….breathe in all that is of God and from God and breathe out all that is not of God and from God……

Now I invite you to consecrate this day and all that come with this day….in your own way, in humble, simple, may be even inadequate words………..

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

Gently, prayerfully reflect on the following thoughts:

For some people the season of advent the “holiday season”, for others it is Christmas season and for still others it is just the winter season…

Whatever one may call it, it sure is the season of “gift-giving” and “gift-receiving”. The season brings with it signs of joy – colorful decorations and lights, smell of pastries, music in the air, people busying themselves searching for gifts – lots of signs of joy all around. “Gift-giving” moves to center stage.

Many have become cynical about all the glitter and the glamour and the gift-giving and all other excitement because of what is considered “over-commercialization” of Christmas. There is a lot of truth to it. Sears and J.C. Penneys and Kohls and Macys and Sam’s Club and Wal-Mart and all other Marts make some money. Why not? They exist to make money while providing wonderful service to all of us. They provide us “stuff” that we use to show our love for one another because of the joy we share in the birth of Jesus. It is up to us to make choices that reflect our love for Jesus and for one another while others may find it an opportune time to make a living.

We also know that all the excitement brings tensions, anxieties, jealousies, resentments and other such slings and arrows. But, as in many situations, there is truth and goodness and love behind the bright lights, the colorful boxes, and the rush of shoppers bringing home their treasures, something precious that holds all the excitements together.

The gift of God in this season is His son Jesus, who came bringing the light of the world, forgiveness of sins, healing of brokenness and conversion of life through his death and resurrection. This gift is an enduring, everlasting and ever present gift.

The gifts that we give one another wear out. Remember the number of gifts that you received last year or any other year. Remember opening those gifts and the joy that came because someone loved and cared to show their love. You kept opening those gifts. There was always the last gift and no more to open. The gifts stopped with what you could play with, or wear, or eat or hang on the wall or whatever……the real gift that you could hang on to was the joy of knowing that someone loved and cared to show that love.

The gifts that came beautifully wrapped may or may not be there anymore…..but the love shared lingers. It is up to you now to let this lingering love grow and become more personal and intense. May all the gifts you give and receive during this season become powerful signs of your love for God and one another.

Many say: “I spent too much on gifts at Christmas that nobody really needs”; “I dread this time of the year because I am forced to spend time and money for people that I really don’t enjoy being with”; “I feel so bad that I can’t give to my children as much as others give” and so on…… You may add your own or other statements that you may have heard…..

May be, it is time, to BE A GIFT.

I have heard the story of a missionary, in a small village in Africa, who explained to the young students how Christians give one another gifts at Christmas as an expression of their love. One Christmas morning, one of the students brought the missionary a beautiful and unusual seashell. The missionary asked the student where she got this unusual and extraordinary shell. The student explained that she had walked many, many miles to a certain hidden inlet since it was the only place where such a shell could be found.

Touched by her thoughtfulness, the missionary said, “I don’t know how to thank you. It was just so wonderful of you to go so far to get this lovely gift for me”. The student simply replied, “Long walk, part of gift”.

Take a moment……dwell on this thought: “Long walk, part of gift”.

The gift the girl actually gave was something of herself, her “thoughtfulness”, the “long walk”, not the “shell”. However, the real gift, the “lasting”, the “enduring”, the “eternal”, the “profound”….. “The Gift” was “herself”.

Real “gift-giving” is giving of ourselves – not the things we possess, not the talents we have, not our knowledge and experience, not things tangible – but those intangible, enduring, invisible, immeasurable and eternal aspects of who we are in all the richest, the most profound and the deepest part of our life.

Our main focus today is that of the gift – gifts given and gifts received. Christians of many different cultures exchange gifts on Christmas Eve or on Christmas day or on Boxing Day or at Epiphany. We must take this opportunity to consider the many collective and individual gifts with which each of us has been blessed as well as the challenge of gift-giving prompted by that privilege.

The fact that you are now reflecting on Advent bears witness to the gifts of faith that you are nurturing well. You have been blessed with the gift of family, parents, children, brothers or sisters, wives or husbands, with the family of the faithful, whose shared prayers, mutual support and service are, in themselves, priceless gifts.

Most of us are properly clothed, have enough to eat, have a place to live and have the means of livelihood. All these are gifts that, unfortunately, many in this world do not enjoy, while others take them for granted. Even those circumstances in our lives that bring us pain and sorrow can be accepted as gifts because these unavoidable and inevitable sufferings can become opportunities for growing kinder, humbler, truer, as well as more understanding and compassionate toward others.

The giftedness that each of us is privileged to enjoy must generate a sense of gratitude in our hearts. This gratitude must necessarily be translated into generous gift-giving – not that we could ever adequately reciprocate for all we have been given – nor does God demand or expect absolute reciprocity. Rather, gifts-received are to be gifts-given and gifts-shared with others.

Take a moment…Reflect on possibilities of gift-giving:

The gift of good advice; the gift of being optimistic; the gift of being patient with the problems of life; the gift of hanging in there and holding on; the gift of spreading smiles around; the gift of knowing what’s wrong and doing what’s right; the gift of believing in your abilities; the gift of picking up the pieces and so on….

OR other gifts such as a kind word; a helping hand; the assurance of our prayers; the constancy of our companionship; the gift of our time; the gift of listening with undivided attention to another person’s conversation; the gift of our silence or support when gossip flies; the gift of forgiveness, freely given; the gift of forgetfulness of others’ past faults; the gift of not allowing the words, “I told you so” or “Will you ever learn?” or any other sarcastic, contentious or self-serving remark to cross our lips…..

These gifts, along with the gifts of our shared faith, hope, love and mutual support and service become practical and attainable possibilities in our lives because each is founded in and flows from the ultimate gift of God’s saving grace.

Today, we celebrate the gift and the grace present among us and within us in Jesus. Gifts received; gifts given!

Abundance and lack exist simultaneously in our lives.

When we choose not to focus on what is missing,

but on the abundance that is present – love, health, family, friends, work,

the wasteland of misery falls away and we experience daily joy.

Fr. Gus Tharappel,msfs

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……You are breathing in the breath of life, the gift of God….breathe in all that is of God and from God and breathe out all that is not of God and from God……

Now I invite you to consecrate this day and all that come with this day….in your own way, in humble, simple, may be even inadequate words………..

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

Gently, prayerfully reflect on the following thoughts:

The spirit of advent is a spirit of joy, of hope, of love, of gifting, of giving, of sharing, of preparing, of praying, of celebrating, etc. Signs of this spirit are all around us. Homes and shopping centers are decorated and Christmas music has begun to fill the air. As the pace of this season picks up, allow your senses to capture the spirit of Advent.

Look at the lights – all kinds of lights – see the beauty and the glory of the lights. Let the lights
remind you of God’s eternal word “Let there be light” and the command of Jesus, “You are the light of the world”.

Listen to the Christmas music, listen to the sound of the crowd in the shopping centers, listen to all kinds of sounds. Let the

sound you hear remind you of the cry of your children, the cry of the poor and the oppressed, the cry of the people for

peace….much more, the ancient praises of God, and the call of God that many have heard and responded joyfully.

This time of the year we hear Bible readings and sermons about the birth of Jesus. We hear all kinds of music, hymns, songs

about the birth of Jesus. In all this, let us hear words of God’s love. And let us speak words of God’s love.

We smell all kinds of food – cookies, cakes, pies, breads, pastries – all kinds of goodies. People do more baking at this time of

the year and do more sharing at this time. Let the smell and all the sharing spirit remind us of God’s compassionate love,

God’s mindfulness, God’s gift of Jesus and God’s gift of His Holy Spirit abiding in us..

People do more touching during this time – a hug, an embrace, a letter, a phone call, a gift, a kind word – so many ways of

touching others. Let every touch remind us of the loving touch of God. We have been touched by God. We have changed

because He has touched us. Let us learn to touch each other with His love. Let us allow our touch to be blessing, healing,

empowering, encouraging, supportive – life-giving.

This year our Sunday Scripture readings are from “cycle C” of the Lectionary. Thoughts of “justice and peace” permeate the Scripture readings of the four Sundays of Advent. Jeremiah, Baruch, Zephaniah and Micah call us to live a life of justice and peace.

The first Sunday of Advent reminds us of the prophesy of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 33:14-16):

God will raise a “just shoot” in the line of David, who will restore God’s people and who will establish justice and peace for all. Jesus came proclaiming “justice and peace” for all. We continue his mission…we dream of justice and peace…we work for justice and peace…and we live in justice and peace.

On the second Sunday, we listen to Baruch encouraging his readers to remain faithful to their sacred heritage and traditions (Baruch 5:1-9): God will bring all dispersed people home and their homecoming will happen “by the light of his glory and with his mercy and justice for company”.

On the third Sunday, we hear Zephaniah (Zephaniah 3:14-18) calling the humble and the lowly remnant of Israel to rejoice. He assures us: God himself will rejoice and “sing joyfully as one sings at festivals”, says the Prophet. Let us rejoice with our God during this season of Advent because “God is in our midst”.

On the fourth Sunday, Micah promises God’s justice tempered with God’s steadfast love. Despite the sinfulness of God’s people, God would send a ruler to shepherd his people because of his steadfast love and faithfulness. (Micah 5:1-4)

The season of Advent calls us to live a life of justice and peace which are integral parts of the reign of God. There is an urgency in our world for justice and peace. During this season of Advent let us keep this urgency in our minds, hearts and prayer.

The second readings of the four Sundays call us to be prepared and be ready to meet the Lord when he comes. On the first Sunday, we listen to Paul teaching the Thessalonian community to “live lovingly and blamelessly” as the way to prepare for the Lord’s coming (I Thessalonians 3:12-4:2). On the second Sunday we read about Paul encouraging the Philippian community to let their love mature, “ripen”. He prayed for them, “that your love may increase ever more…….that you may be pure and blameless….filled with the fruits of righteousness…..” (Philippians 1:4-6, 8-11)

On the third Sunday, we listen to Paul encouraging his readers and us today not waste time fretting or worrying. Instead, channel all energies into prayer, with gratitude. Paul says that those who call upon God in grateful prayer, will be empowered to endure anxiety……they will know God’s peace, which surpasses all understanding. This is the reason for rejoicing. (Philippians 4:4-7). On the fourth Sunday, the author of the letter to the Hebrews reminds us that God prepared Jesus and sent him to do what all the Jewish rituals could not accomplish and Jesus accomplished it through his saving sacrifice in obedience to the Father’s will. In this obedience we and the whole world are redeemed and sanctified. This is the reason for the joy of the season.

Reflect on the saving sacrifice of Jesus! Reflect on your call to let your life become loving, caring, giving and self-sacrificing.

Pray for each other: “may your love increase ever more….may you live blameless lives and be filled with fruits of justice”.

The Gospel readings of the four Sundays are from Luke. Luke tells us how Jesus encouraged the disciples to stand strong, alert, awake and continue to fulfill his mission in all situations. God will break in at the least expected moment, through least expected events, people and situations. So it is urgent to stay awake, alert and prepared. Jesus said to them, “Pray constantly for strength…” (Luke 21:25-28; 34-36).

On the second Sunday, we hear John the Baptist calling his people to fill what needed to be filled, level what needed to be leveled, make straight what was crooked and make smooth what was rough in their lives (Luke 3:1-5).Today, we are challenged to change what need to be changed and bring about a transformation of our life in Christ.

On the third Sunday, we hear John the Baptist challenging his listeners to repent and prepare the way for the Lord. John asked them to be faithful to who and what they were, to be faithful to their responsibilities as the way of preparing for the advent of the Lord. Do not abuse your privileges, do not abuse those you serve, give yourself in service – Be good and be faithful. Do your duties well. (Luke 3:10-18)

On the fourth Sunday, we read about Mary’s visit to Elizabeth bringing much joy and comfort and courage. (Luke 1:39-45). They truly became a source of blessing and Grace for each other as they shared how God was working through them and through the new lives they were nurturing within them.

Mary reached out to her cousin in need. Reflect on reaching out to others, even beyond personal concerns and needs.

Mary stirred up life in Elizabeth. “The moment your greeting sounded in my ears, the baby stirred in my womb for joy”, said Elizabeth. Reflect on stirring up life in other.

Be alert and awake and be prepared to continue to fulfill the mission of Jesus in proclaiming the kingdom of justice and peace for all.
Justice means right relationship with all and peace is harmony in the universe, which results from right relationship.

Pray for each other: “may your love increase ever more….may you live blameless lives and be filled with fruits of justice”.

Fr. Gus Tharappel,msfs

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……You are breathing in the breath of life, the gift of God….breathe in all that is of God and from God and breathe out all that is not of God and from God……

Now I invite you to consecrate this day and all that come with this day….in your own way, in humble, simple, may be even inadequate words………..

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

Gently, prayerfully reflect on the following thoughts:

One of the great traditions of Christian communities has been celebrating the season of Advent every year. Many customs, traditions, practices and rituals are observed during this season. At the heart of these observances and practices are great virtues which we must nurture. Let us make this morning’s meditation a very personal and intense reflection on some of the virtues underlying the many customs and practices.

May this season bless and transform our life by the virtues that give meaning to this season.

Blessed are you God, our father of all that is!

In your infinite mercy, you came to us in our distress

and gave us Jesus your Son, to be our savior and friend, our brother and redeemer.

We thank you, Father, for the gift of “Advent”,

Make it a time of Grace and peace for all of us. Amen.

This year, our Sunday Scripture readings for the season of advent are from “cycle B”

of the Lectionary. Themes of “watchfulness, mindfulness, prayerfulness and blamelessness” permeate the Scripture readings of the four Sundays of Advent.

Be watchful – Be mindful – Be prayerful – Be blameless.

The season of Advent is a time of joyful, faith-filled waiting. We are invited to consider the weeks of preparation for Christmas as an opportunity for nurturing a spirituality of waiting in expectation – not a passive, inactive, idle and unimaginative presence in space and time – but a dynamic, active and positively imaginative waiting – a spiritual posture of waiting and longing for Christ, praying and preparing for his ultimate appearance among us – a spirituality of hope, simple and pure optimism about us and the world around us.

Dynamic waiting, positive thinking, optimistic living, hope-filled anticipation and joyful and faith-filled presence are to characterize all our Advent days and nights because we wait for Jesus the incarnation of God’s steadfast, unconditional, everlasting and ever faithful love. Jesus came to liberate all people from all forms of enslavement: sickness, poverty, injustice, corruption, inequality and so on. Jesus, in words and deeds, taught us that salvation and liberation are not simply otherworldly realities – they are to shape and form and transform our life.

The Season of Advent is meant to be a deeply spiritual experience. It reminds us that our faith in God, our hope in His promises and our love for Him and each other are the greatest wealth that we possess. It reminds us that we are a privileged people, a people blessed and graced by God’s unconditional love revealed in Jesus; that God has not abandoned the world. He breaks into our history. He enters into our history. The birth of Jesus, the incarnation, is real. The presence of or even the height of evil must not discourage us. The apparent brokenness and disintegration will be healed. God continues to bring about healing, integrity and wholeness.

The season of Advent invites us to consider the weeks of preparation for Christmas as an opportune time for cultivating an Advent spirituality — a spiritual posture of waiting and longing for Jesus, praying and preparing for his ultimate appearance among us. Each week we are encouraged to deepen the Advent spirituality even further, both collectively and individually, by considering how the purpose of the one we await affects the character of our waiting. Joy and hope-filled anticipation are to characterize all our Advent days and nights, for Jesus is the loved one whose coming we await. Because he who comes is the very salvation of God, we who await him must give ourselves over to the work of salvation.

How can we, who await a compassionate and saving Lord, live in constant preparedness for his coming?

1. Those who await a compassionate Savior must allow the words of scripture to take hold of them just as those words took hold of the prophets, apostles, evangelists and many charismatic men and women in history. Those who “await” must read, reflect, study, pray and live the word of the Scripture. This means that they must allow themselves to be transformed by it, to be turned inside out by it, to be consumed by it, to be driven and directed by it.

1. Those who “await” must also let themselves be converted by the heart, mind, will and spirit of Christ. This means loving as he loved, serving as he served, living as he lived and, when necessary, suffering and dying as he suffered and died.

1. Those who “await” for the coming of the just one must give themselves to the work of justice. Jesus put the command to “love your neighbor” on a par with the command to love God, for he wanted his followers to understand that justice is not simply about giving others what they can prove they deserve. Rather, justice, God’s justice, Jesus’ justice, is born of a love of God, self and others that cannot help but serve others in their need, without any consideration of deservedness.

1. Advent preparedness is the reminder that it is not only the economically disadvantaged who fall under the title “poor.” As is illustrated repeatedly in scripture, the poor are also lepers, widows, orphans and sinners. Even the wealthy Zacchaeus was poor, in that he was an outcast, hated by his contemporaries. Therefore, our anticipation of the coming Christ requires that the poor be recognized and their needs attended, regardless of their monetary status.

1. Those who “await” for the coming of Christ must wait faithfully – fidelity to who and what we are, to all of our relationships – with God, with one another, with the world – and to all our responsibilities however big or small they may be. If the one for whom we prepare is, indeed, the very “faithfulness” of God, then it is through him, with him, in him and because of him that we are to live lives of fidelity while we wait for his coming.

The second readings of the first Sunday of Advent this year is Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians 3:12-4:2. Paul believed that the second coming of Christ was imminent. So he encouraged the Thessalonians to be prepared and be ready to meet him. The way to prepare was to “live lovingly and blamelessly”. He praised them for their sincerity of efforts in this regard and encouraged them to “make still greater progress”.

Advent is a time when we are specially reminded of living “lovingly and blamelessly”. May this Advent and the good news it proclaims challenge us to live lives that are loving and blameless.

The Gospel reading of the this Sunday is Luke 21:25-28; 34-36. In Luke 21:5-25 which precedes this excerpt, Luke describes the prophesies of Jesus regarding the fall of Jerusalem and the terrible experience that follow. They admired the beauty and glory of their temple – gazed at it with amazement! They thought they were privileged to be in the presence of a beautiful and enduring reality, the construction of which took over 80 years. Besides its obvious beauty, the fact that the temple was revered as God’s dwelling place on earth made it a permanent structure in Jewish life and spirituality. So, they were shocked at the prediction Jesus made! Even angry! When Luke wrote his Gospel, the prediction of Jesus had come true! The temple was gone! Titus and his troops had conquered Jerusalem and leveled the temple in 70 C.E.

But God had not gone from there, nor was he gone from the hearts of the believers!
The harsh realities that Jesus predicted did come true and believers faced them with courage. They were inherent in every aspect of discipleship.

Luke tells us how Jesus encouraged the disciples to accept these hardships as opportunities to bear witness to him and to the good news of salvation. He says: “stand up straight and raise your heads for your ransom is near at hand” – remember his teachings, trust his word and not give over to apocalyptic anxiety. He warned them about doomsday prophets, “many will come in my name………do not follow them…..….” He encourages us not to worry about fearful omens and not give in to the dread of suffering that could come as a result of following him.

Our faith today is being tested. We need to stand our ground – be deeply rooted in our faith tradition. Paul encouraged the Thessalonians to live “loving and blameless” lives. This is what Jesus teaches us today, “stand up straight and raise your heads…” Our faith must be true, our witness must be authentic and continuous, our prayer must be intense and unceasing, our service must be generous and practical, our hope must be our strength, our love must be forgiving and gracious and benevolent…….

Jesus had talked about the “Day of the Lord” and the terrible events that surround that day. He talked about what he himself had to face and what his disciples eventually would face. Hearing all this, the disciples wanted to know what they should do and what signs they should be looking for. Jesus used familiar imageries of sun, moon, stars, gathering of clouds, budding fig tree, etc. to describe the reality of God breaking into history. Jesus called them to recognize the coming of God in all happenings.

Be alert, stay awake and continue to fulfill the mission of Jesus in whatever situation you may be………recognize the presence and movement of God in all you do!

Jesus continued to call his disciples to be alert and awake and to stand strong. He told them about the difficulties ahead. Throughout his ministry, Jesus emphasized that the suffering of persecution for the sake of the Kingdom and for the cause of justice was an integral part of being a disciple. The “Day of the Lord” will come. No one knew the time or the day or the hour. God will break in at the least expected moment, through least expected events, people and situations. So it is urgent to stay awake, alert and prepared. Jesus said to them, “Pray constantly for strength…”

Be watchful – Be mindful – Be prayerful – Be blameless.

Take time during the week to reflect on the possibility of cultivating watchfulness, mindfulness, prayerfulness and blamelessness as enduring qualities of our Christian character. We will reflect more on these themes during the coming weeks.

Fr. Gus Tharappel,msfs

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 I invite you to consecrate this day and all that comes with this day….in your own way, in humble, simple, may be even inadequate words………..

Pray with me as you begin this meditation….

Thank you, Yahweh, with all my heart;

I sing praise to you before the angels.

I worship at your holy temple and praise your name
because of your constant love and faithfulness,

because you have shown that you and your word are exalted.

You answered me when I called to you; you built up strength within me.

All the rulers of the earth will praise you, Yahweh,
because they have heard your promises.

They will sing about your ways and about your great glory.

Even though you are exalted, you care for the lowly.

The proud cannot hide from you.

Even when I am surrounded by troubles, you keep me safe;

You oppose my angry enemies and save me by your power.

You will do everything you have promised me;
Yahweh, your faithful love endures forever.
Complete the work that you have begun. (Psalm 138)

Keep praying….

Thank you God, with all my heart for …….

Thank you God, you answered me when I called out to you….

Thank you God, You built up strength within me…….

Thank you God, you care for the lowly……

Thank you God, You keep me safe……

Thank you God, I know you will do everything you promised….

Thank you God, your faithful love endures forever…..

Thank you God, I know, you will complete the work you have begun in me……

Dear Lord, where would I be without the gift of my family and friends and all those reliable and dependable people who serve me daily? I thank you today for their presence in my life. I thank you for the gifts you have given to each one. I thank you for the many ways in which they touch my life. I thank you for their laughter, their encouragement and their support. I thank you for every experience I have shared with them, whether good or bad, happy or sad, their presence in my life has made me a better person. Thank-you!

Prayerfully reflect with me….

While there may be many things wrong in our world, many people unfaithful to their commitments, many projects incomplete and imperfect and so on, there definitely are many things right with our world, many people doing the best they can, many projects contributing to the growth and stability of our communities. We often take for granted things that work properly most of the time and people who live decent and virtuous lives.

So, the next time you are tempted to feel that things are bad, remember….

• there are some things that work very, very well
• there some people that work very, very well
• there are some things that are dependable, reliable
• there are some people who are dependable, reliable

Heavenly Father,

We praise You and thank You today for your abundant blessings.
Remind us to be humble in our abundance,

Help us remember the sacrifice of those who have gone before us.
Let their example remind us to always be thankful,

to always surrender ourselves to your plan and purpose for us.

We thank you, O Lord,

for Your gift of Yourself, for your gift of our life,
for your gift of our faith, our health, our family, our friends our Church and our country.

Prayerfully reflect with me….

While forgiveness heals the heart of old hurts, gratitude opens it to love. Gratitude showers many blessings. It dissolves negative feelings: anger and jealousy, fear and anxiety and so on. Gratitude deflates the barriers to love.

Gratitude creates joy, which is itself a blessing that heals and empowers. The great Taoist sage Chuang Tzu even went so far as to say that “When one reaches happiness, one is close to perfection.” When we are happy, we like to make others happy, and this fosters kindness and generosity. Gratitude is a gift to everyone. I believe, that is why Saint Paul urged us to “Rejoice always” and to “Give thanks in all circumstances.”

Like other attitudes, gratitude must be cultivated. We don’t have to wait for our fairy grandmother to shower us with gifts before feeling thankful. We can develop gratitude by reflecting on the gifts that are already ours. This reflection can be done for a minute, a day,

or throughout a lifetime. Most people celebrate their birthdays and holidays, but those who cultivate gratitude celebrate every day. We can be grateful because we are happy, but we can also be happy because we are grateful.

We tend to forget how very different the laws that govern the mind are from the laws that operate in the physical world. In the world, if we give a thing to another person, whether it be a toy or a diamond, we lose it and the other gains. Yet in our mind and heart the opposite is true. Whatever we intend for another person we experience ourselves, whatever we give we gain.

The words “As you give so shall you receive” are profound statements about the way our minds work. This is the basis of the prayer of St. Francis, “Grant that I may not so much seek
To be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive.”

Gratitude brings light and warmth into our hearts, spreads joy and radiates positive energy into the world. The more we consciously and consistently grow in our practice of gratitude, the more blessings we will experience.

You cannot be grateful and bitter.

You cannot be grateful and unhappy.
You cannot be grateful and without hope.

You cannot be grateful and unloving.
So just be grateful.

Ever loving and faithful God, you have blessed us with a new day with new opportunities and possibilities. You have blessed us and graced us with food to sustain us, work to serve you by serving others, people to love and care for – we thank you. We know that you are a God of mindfulness – you keep us in your heart. Help us be mindful of your presence in us, deep in our hearts, among us and around us. In our joy-filled days, help us be grateful for your blessing and grace. In our difficult moments, difficult days, and difficult periods, help us remember that you are our refuge and our strength, our comfort and our safe shelter. Bless us, bless our day, bless our work, bless those we meet, bless those who love and serve us and bless those who do not love us. Grace us that we may live and grow in your love, gratefully, gracefully, faithfully and joyfully. Thank you, God. Amen.

Fr. Gus Tharappel,msfs