1. Jesus was humiliated in the very heart of his own teaching by his own disciples when they were fighting for position. This is the last night. He was teaching them with his life example and stories for three years. They have to become the Church and continue his mission. So he does three things as a response: a. he exchanges the symbol of position with a symbol of service (stole with towel), b. they want to “take” and he says “Take this and eat” and he “gives”; c. finally he prays to the Father to keep them together in unity. These are the 3 symbols we used as we began the Lent on Ash Wednesday: a. fasting is what we do to ourselves (humility-washing – vis-à-vis love yourself), b. almsgiving is what we do for others (love your neighbour) and finally c. prayer is what we do with God (love God). These are the foundations of our faith – the two commandments lived, explained, understood differently.
Palm Sunday: Journeying with Jesus beyond the Palms and Spears
2012: http://www.tkayala.com/2012/03/palm-sunday-homily.html
As we have come to accompany Jesus in this week when we enter into his paschal mystery which is the suffering, death, resurrection of our Lord, we also reflect his humanity that took upon himself the human sufferings, rejection, betrayals and sin so that we be freed from them all.
-We have been fickle and wavering to stand by your values and principles, lord have mercy.
As we have come to accompany Jesus in this week when we enter into his paschal mystery which is the suffering, death, resurrection of our Lord, we also reflect his humanity that took upon himself the human sufferings, rejection, betrayals and sin so that we be freed from them all.
-We are sinners who have compounded the anguish of sin around us, Lord have mercy
-We are simple people who tend to act like kings expecting respect and reverence; our pride has prevented us from being Christians, Christ have mercy-We have been fickle and wavering to stand by your values and principles, lord have mercy.
Lent 5 B - Unless a grain of wheat falls -----will be lifted up
"When I am lifted up..."
Check the Sundays gone by: First the devil lifts him up in the desert, then the Father lifts him up at Mt. Tabor, then Jesus "lifts up" ordinary people - Jews and Gentiles - who came to the temple to worship at the Passover by chasing away those who made his Father's house into a den of thieves and then we had Moses lifting up the bronze serpent in the desert as a symbol of raising people from the snake bites. First one was to tempt (worldly gratification), second was to comfort (spiritual consolation in prayer), third to cleanse and liberate people (mission, ministries) and the fourth was healing and salvation. Now Jesus says, "when I am lifted up..." This is to me more than the crucifixion. This is an ultimate human and spiritual desire to be lifted up from the darkness, sorrows, debts, daily chores, disappointments, failures and even deaths...from this world (moksha). This is the cry of Christians from Syria, Iraq, Pakistan and India. This is the shout of black people from Fergusson, Alabama, USA. Who's there to lift us up? Our mission is to lift people up. When husbands and wives, parents and teachers, politicians and bureaucrats learn to lift up their wards, each other, our society, our nation will get saved. Every confession, spiritual direction, counselling, preaching, every hand that wipes the tears off the cheeks, every arm that holds is to "lift up".
Check the Sundays gone by: First the devil lifts him up in the desert, then the Father lifts him up at Mt. Tabor, then Jesus "lifts up" ordinary people - Jews and Gentiles - who came to the temple to worship at the Passover by chasing away those who made his Father's house into a den of thieves and then we had Moses lifting up the bronze serpent in the desert as a symbol of raising people from the snake bites. First one was to tempt (worldly gratification), second was to comfort (spiritual consolation in prayer), third to cleanse and liberate people (mission, ministries) and the fourth was healing and salvation. Now Jesus says, "when I am lifted up..." This is to me more than the crucifixion. This is an ultimate human and spiritual desire to be lifted up from the darkness, sorrows, debts, daily chores, disappointments, failures and even deaths...from this world (moksha). This is the cry of Christians from Syria, Iraq, Pakistan and India. This is the shout of black people from Fergusson, Alabama, USA. Who's there to lift us up? Our mission is to lift people up. When husbands and wives, parents and teachers, politicians and bureaucrats learn to lift up their wards, each other, our society, our nation will get saved. Every confession, spiritual direction, counselling, preaching, every hand that wipes the tears off the cheeks, every arm that holds is to "lift up".
Lent 4 B - The Venom becomes the Cure
First the devil takes him up the pinnacle of the temple to be tested. Then as if it were the angels take him up the mountain to be consoled. In Lent, we experience both desolation and consolation. From the wild beasts to the benign friends. Then the Lord goes into the temple to cleanse it. That's into each of us: the animals, the haggling and the scheming part of us.
Like nitroglycerine that can become dynamite in the paste form but good for the heart in small portions, snake venom is itself the cure for snake bite (anti-venom). The cure is within each of us when we are raised in Jesus, when we are examples that others can look upon, when we take upon us the sin or burden of a community or a family, when we accept to be martyrs for others. Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, etc chose to be raised on such a pole for the liberation of their nations. They accepted to be ridiculed, laughed at and pierced.
Like nitroglycerine that can become dynamite in the paste form but good for the heart in small portions, snake venom is itself the cure for snake bite (anti-venom). The cure is within each of us when we are raised in Jesus, when we are examples that others can look upon, when we take upon us the sin or burden of a community or a family, when we accept to be martyrs for others. Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, etc chose to be raised on such a pole for the liberation of their nations. They accepted to be ridiculed, laughed at and pierced.
Incredible India - More Ironies
Vegetarians deciding
what kind of meat non-vegetarians should eat……
Straights deciding
on limits of gay lovemaking…..
Lent 3 Sunday B - God is in Command - Cleansing the Church
If we carefully observe nature, we will realize, everything around us has a structure. Every structure is for a purpose. Planners begin with function and design structures. Now lots of user-friendly structures have evolved because of that like ramps, escalators, low-floor buses, etc.
In the 12th century, Fibonacci came up with a sequence of 0,1,2,3,5,8,13,......by which all plants, fruits, waves, galaxies, are structured. His golden rectangle taken from this sequence is what is followed in the digital screens. TV or computer monitors can't be square any more.
Computers understand only binary numbers or "0" and "1" and that's the sign we see on the power button of any modern electronic equipment. What is it? Male and female joined together. In the first chapter of Genesis, we read God made them male and female.
In the 12th century, Fibonacci came up with a sequence of 0,1,2,3,5,8,13,......by which all plants, fruits, waves, galaxies, are structured. His golden rectangle taken from this sequence is what is followed in the digital screens. TV or computer monitors can't be square any more.
Computers understand only binary numbers or "0" and "1" and that's the sign we see on the power button of any modern electronic equipment. What is it? Male and female joined together. In the first chapter of Genesis, we read God made them male and female.
Ironies That Can Only Exist In India
India is a land of contradictions. While most of these contradictions arise from societal and economic issues, quite a few of them arise from our hypocritical attitude as well. The problem is that while all of us want these problems to disappear, we still stick to our “chalta hai” attitude and let things be as they are, waiting for someone else to clean up our mess. Ironical isn’t it. These things are even more so.
a. A BLACK CAT passing by the crossroad can stop hundreds of people what a RED LIGHT on traffic signal has failed to do for long time!!
b. Indians are obsessed with screen guards on their smartphones even though most come with scratch proof Gorilla Glass but never bother wearing a helmet while riding their bikes.
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a. A BLACK CAT passing by the crossroad can stop hundreds of people what a RED LIGHT on traffic signal has failed to do for long time!!
b. Indians are obsessed with screen guards on their smartphones even though most come with scratch proof Gorilla Glass but never bother wearing a helmet while riding their bikes.
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