Reflections for Ash Wednesday

Saying "NO" to worldly temptations

Today is Ash Wednesday, a day of fast, abstinence and prayer. It is a day when the priest imposes ashes on our foreheads to remind us of our mortal bodies which will perish one day.

We still remember the words the priest uttered when imposing the ashes on our foreheads when we were children – “Remember man that thou art dust and unto dust thou shall return”. These words of our priest, though very meaningful did not mean much to us at that tender age. When we were young, we were full of strength, energy and vitality. Death appeared alien to us. We considered ourselves to be strong and invincible and we continue to enjoy life to the fullest.

Today being much older, inflicted with so many ailments and our vitality is rapidly draining away, we realize that death is something real and imminent. We have already witnessed the death of many of our friends and relatives, some of whom were very dear to us. Today what our priest proclaimed on every Ash Wednesday has become more significant.

The imposition of ashes reminds us, despite our social status,wealth and power,we are all mere mortals and our physical bodies, however strong and beautiful, would perish one day. Today we may be alive with great power, wealth, beauty and strength but tomorrow our bodies may be reduced to nothing but dust. Reflecting on those words of the priest should make us realize that greed for material comforts of our mortal bodies is indeed foolish. In fact it is more important to cultivate the love of Christ that is within each and every one of us, which will bring everlasting rewards from God.

Today we may take leave from our jobs to fast, abstain and receive the ashes without fail, but has the significance of the act really touched us in the way it should? Many of us don’t even know what the priest is saying or doing. We receive the ashes because it is a trend which we have to follow like we did as children.

This is the reality of the fast moving world today, to follow the trend in order to be accepted into the system. The trend involves rampant breaches of God’s laws – greed, lust, cheating, corruption, adultery, hate and violence; in fact the list is endless. The sad thing is that we are slowly but surely beginning to accept these “sins” as norms with total disregard for the teachings of Jesus although we claim to be his followers. We are tempted to follow the trend as if we don’t we’ll be left behind in this keenly competitive world.

Life has become a keenly contested race which we have to win at all times and at all costs to protect and safeguard our mortal bodies. We are least perturbed that by our win someone else more deserving may have lost, which does not seem to bother us. The real test of our faith is whether we can go against the trend to be magnanimous to allow someone more deserving than us to win at times.

As Christians can we say “NO” to this worldly trend and follow that set by Christ? Let’s pause to reflect on the true meaning of the words that we will once again hear this Ash Wednesday as we receive the ashes on our foreheads, “Remember man that thou art dust and unto dust thou shall return”.

Let this Ash Wednesday be a reminder that our mortal bodies are not going to take us far in the Kingdom of God. May those words give us some strength and courage to say “NO” to the material trend that is fashionable today. May they give us some meaning in the direction we are heading in our own lives.

Sunday Reflection 6.3.11

Being doers not just preachers (Mathew 7:21-27)

Last Sunday’s Gospel reading taken from Mathew 7:21-27 was a clear reminder by Jesus that we should not be hypocrites who preach his words but to do not live by them.

His words “Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doth the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven “are crystal clear that which applies to each and everyone who claim to be his followers.

The celebrant took the opportunity to remind us of this important commandment of Jesus, to build our houses on rock and not on sand which could be easily swept away by the rain. He reminded us of its relevance in our lives in the family and the community around us but stopped short of applying it to many of our priests who do not live by what they preach. They do not show us the way to follow Christ in the manner in which He wants.

Many of us are like the foolish man who built his house upon the sand only to be washed away by flood waters. It is time for us to realize our foolishness and be like the wise man who built his house founded on rock.

Many of us never fail to go to church, observe all the rules of the faith, do penance during lent, read and memorize the bible and even obtain degrees in the study of the Holy Book but are we really following what Jesus told us? We say “Lord, Lord” many times but how sincere are we in our prayers? Do we love God the way He wants? Do we love our neighbor in the way He told us to do so? Do we see Jesus in every person we meet along the way?

If we do then we will be like the wise man who built his house upon the rock which will stand the test of time. If we hear God’s words but do not live by them then we will be like the foolish man who built his house on sand only to be washed away by the rain and God will say to us, “I never knew you”.

Having read these words of Jesus let us ponder on our lives. Who are we like, the wise or foolish man? If we are like the latter, it is still not be too late to change ourselves. Let us ask Jesus to guide us in the right path so that one day He will recognize us for doing what he commanded – being good doers than preaches.

Matthew 7:21-27

21 Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doth the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day: Lord, Lord, have not we prophesied in thy name, and cast out devils in thy name, and done many miracles in thy name?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity.
24 Every one therefore that heareth these my words, and doth them, shall be likened to a wise man that built his house upon a rock,
25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded on a rock.
26 And every one that heareth these my words, and doth them not, shall be like a foolish man that built his house upon the sand,
27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall thereof.

Sermon on the Mount Pt.3 – the Lord’s Prayer

Sermon on the Mount Pt.3 (Mathew 6:1-18)

This section of the Sermon on the Mount contains the Lord's prayer, and instructions on giving,prayer and fasting. This is also a very practical lesson for us all who do a lot of things except those commanded by Jesus himself.

Giving to others

Jesus says, “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.
So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.

But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”(Mathew 6:1-4)

We are all at sometime in our lives guilty of showing off our righteousness and generosity in public. We give alms and help the poor to gain praise from others, for some material benefits to soothe our ego which by Jesus standards is definitely wrong. Jesus says “do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing”. Jesus wants us to be humble and do good things in secret such that only God alone knows what we do.

This is indeed a difficult commandment to follow in a world where those who work in silence are suppressed and at times even punished whereas those who show off are praised and rewarded. It seems very unfair the way the good are denied their rights and the bad are rewarded but Jesus reassures us that what is done in secret may not be noticed by man but be rewarded by God who sees all things. What we have to do is to do the right thing at all times under the most difficult circumstances and God will be there for us without fail at the right time and at the right place when we need Him most.

Pray in secret

Jesus says “When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.

But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”(Mathew 6:4-6)

Fasting

Jesus says “Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.

But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you”.(Mathew 6:16-18)

Again Jesus stresses that we must not be hypocrites whom he condemns. He wants us to pray and fast in private and not openly for others to see. Our praying and fasting if sincere is not for others to see but for only for God to know. Our prayer and fasting should be a means to give us the courage to do the right thing against all adversaries and not a means to seek favours from God who knows what to give us.

Today we seem to do the opposite of what Jesus commanded – we organise mammoth prayer sessions in the form of feasts, processions and pilgrimages for the world to see.We want to show how mighty we are by these mammoth gatherings to worship God.Many of these prayer sessions have in fact become highly commercialised to attract huge numbers of tourists from near and far. Is this what Jesus really wants of us? Let’s search our hearts for the answer.

The Lord's Prayer (Mathew 6:9-15)

Our Father who art in heaven Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those who sinned against us.
Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Amen.

He continues, “Yes, if you forgive others their failings, your heavenly Father will forgive you yours; but if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive your failings either.”

Jesus even taught us how to pray in the Lord’s Prayer. This very simple but meaningful prayer is recited by us many times a day but very often we do not really mean what we say.

Very often we ask God to forgive our sins and grant us our needs but we ourselves are not willing to forgive others who have sinned against us or grant others what they need. Jesus has clearly stated that we must forgive others in order for Him to forgive our sins. God does not come directly to us to give us what we ask for but grants our needs through others and unless we are good to those we encounter there is no way God is going send people to deliver us.

In short we have to build God’s Kingdom here on earth, a Kingdom that must resemble His in Heaven where forgiveness reigns to deliver us from all evil.

Relevance of Lord's Prayer to us today

The following are some real life situations that we often encounter.

1. A leader in a community who takes all for himself and leaving little or none for those whom he is supposed to serve.At national level we see the leaders being corrupt to the core at the epense of the massess who are struggling to make ends meat.

2. Those who react with anger and seek vengence towards those who have hurt them in some way.They are unwilling to forgive others but epect others to forgive them for their sins.

3. Those in power with-holding their service to those under their care as a form of punishment for not following their directives or go against their will.

This is very common these days not only in the various institutions in the country but sadly even in our own church that diligently preaches the Gospel.We have governments which punish the people who vote against them by denying their legitimate rights.

In our church we have priests who punish their parishioners by refusuing the sacraments for not following their rules.They act as the the prosecutor,judge and eecutor to mete out punishment with no compassion or forgiveness,the fundamental principles in the teachings of Jesus.

We are all familiar that baptism,matrimony,last rights and funerals services are being denied to those whom the priests think are sinners as they lapse in their duties to the church as an institution.These priests forget the very words of Jesus that they preach “Let the one who has not sinned cast the first stone”

4. Those who hold God to ransom – offering to to do something in return for favours received.These are common among pilgrims who go in search of God from place to place.

5. Those who are hypocrites,pretending to do good in public but they do that with a motive to gain benefits for themselves and their families.We are all familiar with such practices being rampant among our politicians.Regretabbly knowing them we still continue to support them.

The above are just a few of the numerous eamples we have today in our midst.Are we also doing the same?It is time for us to stop and reflect on what we are doing.Are we really doing what Jesus commanded or only pretending to do what He wants? Have we forgiven those who have hurt us?Have we asked forgiveness from those whom we have hurt? If we haven’t it is never late to do so now.

Sermon on the Mount Part II – The New Law

New Law Mathew 5:17-28

In this part of his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus contrasts the old Law of Moses with the new laws of his own which was more appropriate to his time. However He made it clear that he did not come to abolish what was already there but to fulfil – giving us his new laws to supplement those already in existence. The principles of his new Laws, if scrutinised very closely, will be seen to be applicable and relevant to us today and till end of times.

It is surprising that many of us are so resistant to change despite Jesus asking us to do so. We prefer to cling onto old laws that have become obsolete. It is time for us to look into the new laws of Jesus more closely and adopt them in our own lives in the world today.

A brief summary of the new laws of Jesus as contained in this part of his Sermon on the Mount is as follows.

Old Laws of Moses		New laws of Jesus
New and old Law Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfil. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.	Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Murder You have heard that the ancients were told, "You shall not commit murder" and "Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court."	But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, "You good-for-nothing," shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, "You fool," shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.
Reconcile your differences	Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.
Adultery You have heard that it was said, "You shall not commit adultery."	But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.
Divorce It was said, "Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce."	But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
Making false wows Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, "You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfil your vows to the Lord."	But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king. Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.
Go the extra mile You have heard that it was said, "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth."	But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you
Love your neighbor/enemies You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy."	But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

The New and old lawLaw (Mathew 5: 17-28)

New law and old law

Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfil. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

A scribe refers to a teacher of religious law whereas a Pharisee is a person who thinks he is very religious, but who does not care about others. By saying that we must be more righteous than a scribe and Pharisee to enter the kingdom of heaven, Jesus has once again given so much importance to moral integrity and abhors the hypocrite who only pretends to be holy. He specifically refers to the Pharisee, reminding us that we cannot be truly religious if we do not care for others.

This is what is happening in our society today where we continue to adhere strictly to set rules and rituals that are seen as holy but doing little to care for others. How can rituals by themselves make us holy if they do not touch the hearts of those around us? The parable of the Good Samaritan clearly illustrates what is to be really holy. Are we really holy as Jesus described or are we just hypocrites pretending to be so? Let’s examine ourselves to see how righteous and sincere we are in our lives. Let us examine our hearts to see how willing we to care for others.

Murder

You have heard that the ancients were told, "You shall not commit murder" and "Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court."
But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, "You good-for-nothing," shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, "You fool," shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.

In this commandment Jesus clearly states that there is no need to commit murder to be guilty of the crime but to be angry with someone and passing remarks of ill-intent itself is guilty of such an offense. Most us may not murder or cause physical harm to anybody but we all at some time or other have reacted with anger and wished that some misfortune may befall on those who harm us which itself is wrong by the standards set by Jesus.

Reconcile your differences

Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.
Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last cent.

This law is one of the basic tenets of His teachings which we all tend to ignore. We go to church, offer prayers, hymns and money, participate actively in all the ministries but are not willing to reconcile with those who have hurt us. Jesus was absolutely clear that if we do not reconcile with those who are against us, it is meaningless to proceed with our worship.

It is timely to examine ourselves to see who we have hurt and who holds grudges against us for some reason or another and take steps to mend those ill-feelings. We all know that reconciliation is not as easy as it sounds. It can be a very humbling experience approaching someone to seek forgiveness, especially when we feel we are not in the wrong. When we approach him after finally gaining the courage he snubs us by ignoring us or even insult us further.

Jesus has told us to reconcile our differences but what are we to do if the person whom we approach for reconciliation rudely snubs us? Well Jesus assures that if we can take those insults with humility and sincerity ours will be the Kingdom of Heaven.

Adultery

You have heard that it was said, "You shall not commit adultery." But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.

Adultery is sex between a married man or woman and someone who is not their wife or husband and is forbidden by all religions. As Catholics we were all taught that such an act is mortal sin that will land us in Hell. However despite knowing that it is a grievous sin it is not frowned at as it used to be. At a time when adultery is so rampant even among Christians, Jesus teaching that even looking at a woman with lust is already like committing adultery may seem so absurd and irrational. Where do we stand on this issue of morality today where adultery, which was once looked down with great contempt, is being accepted as a norm? Is Jesus crazy and outdated by our modern standards of sophistication?

The problem is that illicit sex including adultery has been taken so lightly these days. We all succumb to our weaknesses but that does not make such acts morally right. As parents, teachers and even religious leaders we have all lost our moral integrity to lead the young. We have stopped our strong stand against such immoral activities for fear of our own guilt. It is timely for us to take the lead in stop indulging in such immoral activates and become role models for our children.

Divorce

It was said, "Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce."
But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

If Jesus is considered crazy for speaking strongly on adultery, what will he be seen as for forbidding divorce which has become so acceptable in societies all over the world. Divorce is so common today even among Catholics who are staunch followers of the Church. When our parents could stay together for life, tolerating and respecting their differences why we can’t? What has gone wrong?

What are we doing to reduce divorce among us? We organise pre-marital courses, marriage encounters sessions and even marriage counselling for those in trouble but yet the divorce rate keeps escalating. It looks as though the church is becoming irrelevant in the lives of people. Why is it so and how can we arrest its declining influence of its members?

Making false vows

Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, "You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfil your vows to the Lord."
But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king. Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.
But let your statement be, "Yes, yes" or "No, no." Anything beyond these is of evil.

Go the extra mile

You have heard that it was said, "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth."
But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.
If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two.
Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.

Believe it or not Jesus tells us not to resist the demands of an evil person but give him more than what he wants from us. To our minds this is the most impractical command in a world driven by egoism and greed for materialism. We are still holding onto the old teaching of "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth”. Mahatma Gandhi saw the essence of this teaching and adopted it into his peaceful resistance against injustice saying said that an eye for an eye will make the world blind. Well we may not see the logic of the commandment but Jesus cannot be wrong. In fact He has demonstrated how to live by this commandment by his own passion and unjust death on the cross.

We have to in our own lives live up to this commandment whether we like it or not. Whenever we can we must go the extra mile to give what we have to those who need our assistance even without them asking. We may lose some money, some time or some of our energy that cause us some inconvenience but be reassured that our sacrifices will never be in vain as they will all be rewarded by God at the right time, right place and in a right way. By giving freely to those in need we may appear losers in the eyes of men but winner in the eyes of God as Jesus was the ultimate victor despite being unjustly sentenced to be crucified not for crimes he committed but for upholding the truth.

Love your neighbour

You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy."
But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

This is another crazy commandment where Jesus asks us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. To love our neighbour who does no harm is already not that easy but to love someone who plots to harm us is almost impossible. However it is what Jesus commands us to do if we want to follow him. We can never be perfect like Jesus but that is what we should all try to if we call ourselves his followers.

Conclusion

All these commandments are very difficult ones and may seem inappropriate in our society today which has become so competitive and materialistic. Many will say it must be crazy to adhere to such obsolete commandments and if we do so others may ridicule and laugh at us. We may even be considered stupid not knowing how to survive and so on.

We are all guilty of breaking these commandments from time to time; we may not murder but we curse others with anger, we refuse to reconcile with those whom we dispute, we succumb to lust, quick to divorce and commit adultery and justify the reasons for doing so, we make false promises and refuse to share what we have with others for fear they will take advantage of our goodness and of course there is no way we are going to love our enemies.

So where do we stand as Christians? We say we are the followers of Christ but refuse to follower His commandments to the fullest. We say we are Christians because we strictly observe all the man-made rituals of the church which Jesus did not ask but refuse to follow those he truly commanded. Let us seriously ask ourselves whether we are really his followers or just opportunists who pick and choose what we what to follow for our own benefits and convenience.

These commandments come from none other than Jesus himself and as Christians we have no option but try to follow them to the fullest. We may be ridiculed and persecuted in the process but we must persevere in what we do as He himself told us “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great”

Next: Part III – The Lord’s Prayer

The sermon on the mount and the Lord's prayer