TWENTY SEVENTH ORDINARY SUNDAY OF THE YEAR B!

Once, an English teacher asked her 9th Std. Students to give her a word denoting a marriage with many wives. A student answered, “Maam, it is polygamy.” “Correct,” she said. “How about a marriage with two spouses,” another student replied, “Maam, it is bigamy.” “Correct,” the teacher said, “And how about a marriage with only one wife?” A student raised his hand and blurted out, “Maam, monotony!”– Actually, what the student meant was “monogamy,” of course. However, unwittingly, his answer touched on a problem in marriage, that is, monotony, the absence of love and happiness, which can lead to divorce, which Jesus condemns in today’s Gospel. Today, on this 27th Sunday, our Lord teaches that marriage should be monogamous, permanent, and indissoluble.

We touch today on a very topical, very sensitive, and very painful reality of life in our time—the question of divorce. Similarly, today’s Gospel indicates that it was a controversial question in Jesus’ time and in his society as well. In reply to the Pharisees’ question about the permissibility of divorce, Jesus quotes from the book of Genesis in a passage used in our First Reading today. It expresses in beautiful language the ideal of the perfect marriage. Speaking about the companion God had given him: The man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken.” Therefore, a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh. What God has united, man must not divide. The man who divorces his wife and marries another is guilty of adultery,” and vice versa. This teaching of Christ forms the basis of the Catholic Church’s teaching against absolute divorce.

We are hardly shocked nowadays when we hear that a couple we know have decided to divorce. There are some places where as many as half of the marriages end in the divorce courts. The percentage among Catholics is often on a par with the rest of the population. Even where the figures are not high, they are growing nearly everywhere and are a matter of serious concern. We should well remember dear spouses that divorce is the absence of love; patience, forgiveness, and understanding of each other. It is also a broken consent and promise of staying together in good times as well as bad times taken on the day of the blessing of the marriage in the church.

I remember an incident of a lady who was seeking divorce from her husband. She came to the office of Dr. George W. Crane, a Newspaper columnist and a psychologist, wanting to divorce her husband. She confided that she hated her husband and intended to divorce him. She declared firmly, “I do not only want to get rid of him, but I want to hurt him as well before I divorce him,

Dr. Crane suggested a brilliant plan “Go home and act as if you really love your husband. Tell him how much he means to you. Praise him for every decent trait. Go out of your way to be as kind, considerate, and generous as possible. Spare no efforts to please him, to enjoy him. Make him believe you love him. After you have convinced him of your undying love and that you can not live without him, then drop the bomb. Tell him that you are getting a divorce. That will really hurt him.”

With revenge in her eyes, she smiled and exclaimed, “Beautiful, beautiful. Will he ever be surprised!” And she did it with enthusiasm. For two months, she showed love, kindness, listening, giving, reinforcing, and sharing. When she didn’t return, Dr. Crane called her. “Are you ready now to go through with the divorce?”

“Divorce?” she exclaimed. “Never! I discovered I really do love him.” Her actions had changed her feelings. Motion resulted in emotion. The ability to love is established not so much by fervent promise as often repeated deeds.

That is the power of love! Love is the best medicine for any sickness which cripples human life. The reason for this incredible power of love is simple: True Love flows from the heart of the one who is Love... God! Genuine Love gushes forth from the fount of the One who is Love Incarnate.. Jesus!

The Gospel of the Day is a wonderful exposition of Jesus emphasizing the importance of love, unity, and faithfulness in the relationship of marriage. Marriage is built on love. However, it is not only a romantic love. One set of readings that many couples chose for the wedding Mass are the readings from St. Paul. We are all familiar with the words, “love is kind, love is gentle, etc.” Well, for those who are married those words sound great on the wedding day but, often, as two people live together, they learn that true love is not just the words spoken at the nuptial celebration. Love is not only an emotion. Love is also a decision. The emotion doesn’t become the reality of love until both parties personalize the words. A wife will be kind to her husband... the husband will be gentle with his wife. The words are not as important in a marriage as the decision each party makes to put the words into action for living and loving together for eternity in good times as well as in bad times. That requires sacrifice of one’s ego and a sacrifice of owns own selfish requirements.

As we all know from the scriptures that marriage is an eternal covenant between husband and wife made before God Himself. The couple makes this together with a promise that they freely give themselves, one hundred percent and not just fifty-fifty, to each other. This covenant is different from an ordinary contract that covers property and others. For example, if we want to rent an apartment, we sign in the contract stating if how months or years, let’s say year, we are going to rent this apartment. Marriage is different. It is because this is not for how many years but a contract with a permanent union

We know that marriage is founded on love, but we also know that marriage is much more than love. Marriage entails more than physical attraction. Sam Levinson, the Jewish humorist, says, “Love at first sight is easy to explain. It is when people have been looking at one another for 40 years that love becomes a miracle.” We are a community that believes in that miracle. We believe that life-long growth and faithfulness are possible. Yet to reach that possibility, the high ideals of patience, forgiveness and sacrifice must be embraced. We are proud to recognize that there are people here this morning, people that we know in our family and friends who have taken on those high ideals and have made them real.

My dear spouses, please do note what Helen Rowland has to say for eternal happiness and togetherness in their married life, “To be happy with a man you must understand him a lot and love him a little and to be happy with a woman, you must love her a lot and not try to understand her at all.”

At the end, let us reflect on these words: “A marriage may be made in heaven, but the maintenance must be done on earth.”

  TWENTY SIXTH ORDINARY SUNDAY OF THE YAER B! 

There is a joke about a man in the prison who was generously donating his body organs. He donated first one of his kidneys, then one of his eyes, then an arm. The warden became suspicious and growled: “Hey, you are escaping by installment!”

In today's gospel, Jesus talks about bodily mutilation. He tells us to “Anchor!” on sin, and all those that lead us to sin. His words are clear: Let people and let things that lead us to sin be done away with. 

Jesus, remind us that there is nothing more important in this life than heaven. Nothing should get in the way of us achieving that place He has prepared for us, and that means we need to make changes in our lives. So, as we stop and hear Jesus in this exaggerated phrase, of plucking out our eye and cutting off our hands and feet, we are invited to step back and ask, what are our eyes, what are our hands, what are our feet, what are those things that lead us into sin and how do we root them out of our lives. After all, God has given us everything, He has given us the gift of His love. He wants what is best for us, the challenge for us then is to root out sin; to root out those things that are not good for us, those things that hold us back from the relationship He wants for us.

Specially the eye and the heart are two brokers of sin, the two handmaids of sin. Also, there are instincts in us and certain parts of our physical constitution that minister us to sin. Our hands become instruments of sin according to what we touch and how we touch, in lust or greed or violence. Our feet are used for sin according to the places we have them take us. Our eyes become doorways for sins according to what we choose to look at or refuse to look at. 

 Remember, we have more sins than we have bodily parts. Besides, even if all offending parts were removed, our hearts and minds, are still the source of all sins. These sayings are actually about our attitudes, dispositions, and inclinations.  Jesus is inviting us to integrate our bodies into our following of Christ, so that our hands become instruments of compassion, healing and comfort, our feet help us to bring the Gospel to the world, and our eyes learn to see, and our mouth to speak the Truth, Goodness and Beauty all around us.

By these startling words about self-mutilation, Jesus also means that we must cut out of our lives all practices that keep us away from God and retain only those habits that draw us closer to God.  

If Jesus had been here in this modern time, He would have surely added these some modern parallels to the radical actions, “If your TV causes you to sin turn it off! If your computer causes you to sin: disconnect it! If your magazine subscription causes you to sin, cancel it! If your job position or power causes you to sin, resign! If your bank account causes you to sin, give it away.” In other words, absolutely nothing is worth jeopardizing our eternal life with Jesus Christ.

Jesus is setting before all disciples the one supreme goal in life that is worth any sacrifice.  That goal is everlasting union with God Himself beginning here, with our fidelity to following His will for our lives. God alone leads us to everlasting peace and happiness.  Just as a doctor might remove a limb or some part of the body in order to preserve the life of the whole body, so we must be ready to part with anything which causes us to sin and which leads us or others to spiritual death.  

The Gospel of today finally challenges us: “Decide!  Cut away anything that prevents us from a radical decision for Jesus Christ!  Decide for Christ! Let us  sincerely pray: Lord, we need you. Come into our lives. Set us free from sin by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lord, forgive us. Lord help us. Lord, have mercy on us. Remember, God’s love is greater than all our sins. God’s mercy is broader and deeper than we can imagine. Let us decide for Him.

 Whose Father is He?

A beggar came asking for food. I totd him to cơme around to the back door and asked him to sit on the floor while I went in and brought the left-over food.

I brought him food and said, let's  pray. Now repeat after me, "Our Father in heaven". He said, "Your Father in heaven". l said, "No, say Our father in Heavern". He again said, "Your Father in Heaven"!

This irritated me! I asked why do you say Your father when I say "Our Father"?

He said, "Sir, it is like this. If I say Our Father; then we both become brothers. If we are brothers, you would invite me from the front door and not from back. You would ask me to sit on your dining table not on the floor. You would also not give me stale food ! Sir; somehow it is not possible that we are sons of the same Father !

He may be your Father, but he can't be Our Father!

Whose Father is He?

 It took a beggar to teach me the truth !

 हसीन पल

जिन्दगी भर मेरे साथ कभी, इतने लोग दो पल बैठे नहीं,

आज मेरे मौत पर सब, मेरे आस पास बैठे जा रहे थे।

तौफा ना दिया मेरे जन्मदिन पर, किसी ने मुझे आज तक,

मेरी मौत पर आज सब मुझे, फूल ही फूल दिये जा रहे थे।

तरस गये थे जिन्दगी में हम किसी के, दो हाथों के सहारे के लिये,

मेरी मौत पर वो आज सभी, हमें कंधे पे कंधे दिये जा रहे थे।

दो कदम मेरे जिन्दगी में चलने को, कोई हमसफर न मिला था ,

आज वो काफिलो की भीड बन, मेरे ताबूत के साथ चले आ रहे थे।

आज पता चला हमें कि, "मौत" कितनी हसीन है,

वरना कम्बख्त हम तो यूं ही,बेकार की जिंदगी' जिये जा रहे थे !

फादर विन्सेन्ट सालबातोरी

                  TWENTY FIFTH ORDINARY SUNDAY OF THE YEAR B!

(Wis 2:12, 17-20; Jas 3; 16-4:3; Mk 9: 30-37)

"He That Is Down Needs Fear No Fall" is a poem by John Bunyan

John Bunyan, a 17th-century English Baptist preacher. He highlights in the poem the virtues of humility and contentment, echoing the religious teachings which valued simplicity and a focus on spiritual growth over worldly possessions He expresses that those who maintain a humble disposition are shielded from pride and the fear of falling and lead us to divine guidance and happiness. His poem reads thus:

He that is down needs fear, no fall,

He that is low, no pride.

He that is humble ever shall

Have God to be his guide.

I am content with what I have,

Little be it or much;

And, Lord, contentment still I crave

Because Thou savest such.

Fulness to such a burden is

That go in pilgrimage.

Here, little and hereafter bliss

Is best from all to age.

In this poem, he explains that a person who occupies the lowest position in life can not fall any further and therefore has no fear of falling, whereas the great constantly fear the possibility of their downfall. The poem contrasts the burdens of excessive wealth with the benefits of living a simple life on a pilgrimage towards spiritual fulfillment. It suggests that while fullness can weigh heavily upon individuals, contentment and humility lead to eternal happiness.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches his disciples that true greatness comes from serving others, especially those who are least important. He invites us to reflect on the values of humility and servanthood. He instructs His disciples that they must resist worldly ambition and honour to serve Him more faithfully. Jesus measures our relationship with him by how willing we are to reconcile with those who have hurt us. The message of Jesus is to reawaken the child within us and regain the lost innocence. He uses a child as an example, showing that those who are willing to be last and serve others are truly great in God's eyes. Jesus teaches his disciples that true greatness comes not from seeking power or status but from humility and service.

True greatness is not measured by what we achieve but by what we surrender. When we surrender our need for power, status, and recognition, we create space for God's greatness to shine through us.

Ambition is the themes of today. And our teaching from Christ today seems contradictory. We are told that the disciples had been arguing over who was the greatest. Jesus says, "If anyone wants to be the first, they must make themselves last of all." The message doesn't fit with the way we see the world work.

Our society tells us that being right, being first, being the best is all important. But society is wrong. There is nothing good or important about being first, however there is only one thing bad about being right, or first or best, and that one thing is doing something just to be right or just to be the best or just to be the first.

So what are we supposed to do? We are called to be gentle and are called to endure. We are called to bring peace to conflict. As James tells us, the seeds of the peace maker will bear fruit in holiness. Jesus tells us to be the servant of all. It's in our nature to put ourselves first. Christ tells us not to. He tells us to put others first. He shows us a small child as an example. Put them first, serve them, and you are serving Him.

There is a huge difference between doing your best and being best. Being the best student, the best driver, the best mum, the best doctor, the best anything you can be is good, it's holy and it will bear fruit. Being better than anyone else is pointless and will only lead to conflict. Use your skills for others; welcome their needs and their vulnerabilities. Help them as you would help a child. Welcome them with open arms. You will be welcoming Christ.

Following our lord is not easy. He never promised it would be. Selflessness is not in our nature. Pride and greed are. If you are to be a follower of Christ, you need to put your human nature last to enable you to put your spiritual nature first. Work hard, but always for others, strive to do your best, but resist the urge just to be the best, if you are the best thank God that you are able to serve so well.

A call to be selfless is a hard one. It's one we will all find difficult, and without prayer and a relationship with a loving God, we may find impossible. But we have a loving God, one who is selfless, who died for us, who forgives us, and is ready to help us if just ask in prayer for help. Please pray about conflicts in your life, pray for help in bringing peace, and pray that you may be a seed of the peacemakers and bring all huge harvests of holiness.

Let us embrace the humility of servanthood and discover the true meaning of greatness in the eyes of God. May this reflection inspire you to embrace the values of humility and servanthood!

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