XII Sunday of the Year

FEARLESS IN PERSECUTION

Jeremiah 20:10-13; Romans 5:12-15; Matthew 10:26-33

Readings for the XII Sunday of the Year

On 22 May this year, a Catholic priest, Reverend Javier García, was killed in Michoacan, Mexico, the ninth slain in the country in the past four years. According to Agenzia Fides, 18 missionaries were killed worldwide last year: 12 priests, four religious, one seminarian, and one lay person. Today, as always, those who proclaim the Gospel and its values, those who stand for justice and truth, are ill-treated and persecuted. Some give up; most fight on. What sustains them? Today’s liturgy gives us an indication!

The first reading describes Jeremiah’s difficult mission: to denounce the abomination of the people and to warn them of God’s wrath. His friends discredited and denounced him; the army council threw him into prison and threatened him with death. 

Human that he was, Jeremiah was afraid; but he did not allow fear to write his script. He refused to be intimidated. What sustained Jeremiah was the profound belief that God cared for him and was on his side: “The Lord is with me as a dread warrior.”

The gospel is a continuation of Jesus’ commissioning of the apostles. In the verses preceding today’s text, he warned them about imminent persecution. Now he tells them to preach without fear. He keeps repeating “do not be afraid.” How can the apostles not be afraid in the face of persecution? 

The antidote to fear is God’s care. Jesus illustrates the Father’s deep care through the example of the sale of sparrows. Sparrows were sold two for a penny; five for two pennies (with one free). Jesus says: “Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge.” God cares even for that one “worthless” sparrow! How much more does he care for us! This knowledge of God’s love and protection overcomes all fear. 

Jeremiah and the apostles could face their persecutors with courage because they were deeply aware of God’s love for them.

We are called to be prophets – people who fearlessly denounce the wrong and stand up for the right – at home, in our workplaces, in society… everywhere. 

Am I willing to acknowledge Jesus despite intimidation? What are the fears which keep me from witnessing to Jesus and his values? Do I believe that God cares for me?

XI Sunday of the Year

CALLED TO SHARE GOD’S COMPASSION

Exodus 19:2-6a; Romans 5:6-11; Matthew 9:36—10:8

Readings for the XI Sunday of the Year

Every evening at the Oratory at Don Bosco Matunga (Mumbai), the kids play for a while before they study. I watch them as the captains choose their teams for basketball or cricket. The younger ones have their heads down and shuffle their feet as they hear the captains call the names of the older kids or the better players. Sometimes, a captain does not see an older or stronger player and calls the name of a younger kid. The joy on his/her face is a sight to behold.

Human elections everywhere – whether in politics or business or sports – is the same. We choose the best.

The attitude and behaviour in human election is in sharp contrast to divine election: God’s choice of Israel (first reading) and Jesus’ choice of the apostles (Gospel). 

From the human perspective, God’s choice is strange: he chose a weak, landless, wandering nation as his own; Jesus chose those of limited education and means as his closest followers. God chose whom he wished and gave them the gifts they needed to accomplish their mission.

In the first reading, God makes Israel an offer at Sinai. They have already experienced his care for them in the exodus from Egypt. If they want to be God’s “special possession, dearer... than all other people,” they must freely consent to God’s choice of them. God does not want puppets but partners in mutual trust and for a mission. 

What is Israel’s mission? “You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” Israel has the privilege of communicating God’s  message to the rest of humankind and of reflecting his holiness.

In the Gospel, Jesus chooses and sets apart a group of ordinary people – fishermen, a tax collector, a teacher of the Law, a zealot – to be partners in his ministry.

For what does Jesus call them? Jesus saw the harassed and helpless crowds and he was moved with compassion. And so, he called the twelve to be shepherds to care for the people and to be signs of God’s compassionate love. Further, he sent them to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” to announce that the kingdom of God was near.

God continues to call people. He has something for you and me to do in building his kingdom, in spreading his compassionate love.

Question neither his wisdom in choosing you nor his ability to equip you with all you need for the task. Say “yes” and be his ambassador to the world to bring his compassion to all.

 

The Body and Blood of Christ

WE BECOME WHAT WE EAT

Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14b-16a; 1 Corinthians 10:16-17; John 6:51-58

Readings for the Body and Blood of Christ

We give a lot of thought to the food we eat. And that’s good because our diets significantly affect our lives and the planet. In many ways, we become what we eat.

We need to pay attention to our spiritual diets because these affect us even more. Our minds gnaw at the stressors in our lives and soon we find we’re consumed by them. The media constantly bombards us with quick-fix ads, hateful speech, and violent entertainment; social media could give us even more negativity. It’s so easy for us to become angry, bitter, and materialistic. In the spiritual sense, it’s even more true – we become what we eat.

The readings on the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ highlight the importance of spiritual nourishment. 

Jesus’ teaching in the Gospel takes place at the beginning of the feast of unleavened bread, which recalled how God nourished the people with manna and with his word in the desert (cf. first reading). While reiterating that memory, Jesus emphasizes that the bread he gives is different from the manna in the desert!

- The manna that was not eaten within the day had to be thrown away; it was no longer any good. After Jesus fed the five thousand, twelve baskets of fragments were gathered and saved; this indicates that this bread lasts.

- The manna was limited and only for the Jews. The bread which Jesus gives is for always and for all people. 

- The manna nourished the people only during the journey to the Promised Land. The bread of life nourishes us with eternal life. 

Jesus emphasizes that whoever eats his flesh and drinks his blood has eternal life. We become what we eat!

St Paul, in the second reading, reminds the people of Corinth about the significance of the Eucharist. By participating in the Eucharist, we become the body of Christ; we become one. We become—or we ought to become—what we eat.

Jesus nourishes us for always by giving us his word, and his body and blood.

Am I satisfied with the junk food the world offers or do I feast on Jesus the Word and the Living Bread? 

Do I live in communion with those around me or is the Eucharist only a ritual act I perform?

The Holy Trinity

GOD LOVES AND FORGIVES

Exodus 34:4b-6, 8-9; Daniel 3:52-56; John 3:16-18

Readings for Trinity Sunday

Thomas Edison was working on his crazy contraption: the “light bulb”. It took his team twenty-four hours to put together each bulb. Once, after the team finished crafting a bulb, Edison gave it to a boy to carry up to the storeroom. The youngster took each step with extreme and watchful caution. At the top of the stairs, he dropped the priceless piece of work. When the team finished the second bulb, after twenty-four hours of work, and it had to be carried upstairs to the storeroom, Edison gave it to the same boy!

Why would Edison forgive someone who destroyed his handiwork? It’s bizarre. It defies understanding.

So does the reality that our God always forgives us though we constantly and repeatedly destroy his handiwork.

The readings on Trinity Sunday are not incomprehensible theology explaining the doctrine of the Trinity. They highlight something more incomprehensible and yet deeply consoling and hope-filled:  God’s forgiving love! His love is not a sentimental love but a non-condemning and forgiving love.

The first reading describes the incident after the debacle of the golden calf. God is willing to renew the covenant with Israel despite its incessant infidelity. Why? He tells Moses that he is “a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity.” This succinct poetic description of God is an oft-repeated statement of Israel’s belief and describes God’s relationship with his people, one which is portrayed right through the Old Testament.

The gospel is a summary and the core of the Good News! Jesus tells Nicodemus that God sent his Son not to condemn the world but because he loved the world. Through his entire life and ministry, Jesus lived out this core of the Good News – he sought out the sinner and the outcast. 

Grappling with the mystery of the Trinity – three persons, one God – is tough. It’s tougher to live out the mystery of the Trinity: to love as God loves, to forgive as God forgives. And yet this is what God calls us to do.

In the second reading, Paul gives us a program to imitate our Trinitarian God: “Encourage one another, agree with one another, live in peace.”

Do I forgive and love like God does? Whom will I forgive and love in the week ahead? How will I encourage and live in peace?