Lent Day 9: Our churches should not be profitable institutions

Many churches these days are trying to be professional in their approach and running. Some even appoint professionals to run churches. Many are even asked to advise priests on what to say and do. It is like the professional election strategists who advise political parties on how to run their campaign, how to select candidates for the elections and what manifestos to concentrate upon. Even though knowing the pulse of people and realising their needs is important, running a church like a business is fraught with danger.

Many churches do not like giving refreshments to their own people, don’t help the poor and don’t believe in giving but only in receiving. They would also like to have a profit at the end of the year. But are churches supposed to be like this or do they exist solely for the purpose of helping the poor and needy and taking care of the spiritual needs of their community? The business model is then also extended to church institutions like schools and hospitals. I will concentrate on churches for now.

St. Luke 6: 33-34 says, “And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again.” The essence of these verses is a reminder from Jesus that we have to be good and do good to others, irrespective of the response and without expecting anything in return. How many churches are following this advice and model?

Churches these days are looking into the feasibility of prayers, worships and perhaps even miracles. What will we get seems to be the query before we offer a service. What will we get if we give food, what will we get if the church is open for service, what will we get if the church offers spiritual services? So much that the offertory has become a part of every service. Whether we offer anything or not, we would like to get money from people.

This lent, we should rethink what we are doing. Can we offer something without expecting anything in return? Can we stop discussing profits and huge bank balances? Can we end questions of feasibility before giving food to the poor? There are many orphanages and old age homes which do not know where the money will come from for the next meal! And yet, it comes, because of God’s grace and because God makes people act. Christian faith has always run with hope and not with financial planning, feasibility studies and reports.

If we continue with this trend, we will not be far from the day when we will be advised to close our churches and institutions because they are not economically viable. We cannot do sensible charity and community formation. Because there is nothing sensible about our faith. We have a Lord who told us to show our other cheek when someone slaps us on one, to forgive when someone has to pay us and to not ask someone who has taken money from us. There is nothing sensible about this. A negation of this will lead to a negation of the very words of Jesus. May our lent offer us insights to fight the greed of churches, priests and lay leaders to make the church a profitable enterprise rather than a compassionate space which reflects God’s love. Amen.

Lent: A time to go hungry

St. John 2:1-12

As we enter into lent, the passage St. John 2:1-12 is of essence to us. We may wonder what a celebratory passage linked to a wedding will give us leading to lent. But at the same time it offers us a few great things for lent. LENT very simply put can be expanded to mean “Let’s eliminate negative thoughts”. Many a time this one thing can make the Lenten experience meaningful and leaving out this one aspect will negate everything else we do.

Mother Mary, Jesus and his disciples go for a wedding at Cana and in between Mary tells Jesus that the wine is over. Jesus’ reply suggests negativity by saying what is it to us that the wine is over. Mother Mary on the other hand tells the helpers to do as Jesus says. It has positive thinking written all over it. Jesus then shows us an important thing to follow during lent. He asks the helpers to fill the six stone jars with water. We also are capable of doing this. But what happens later suggests what Jesus actually did. He tells the helpers to take the water to the steward and make him taste it. The helpers know it is water. But the steward doesn’t! After tasting it he calls the bride groom and says that usually people give inferior wine after the guests have had some, but in this case it appears that the best was saved for the last.

In our lives we do a lot of charity. But should the model of our charity be changed during this lent? Jesus suggests so. He does not simply listen to his mother and do something. They may have not brought any gift for the wedding. But Jesus gives the best gift possible for him at the time by turning the water into wine. Do we give our best for charity? Isn’t the word charity itself coined to suggest that we are doing a favour to someone? Our help or rather our responsibility during lent is to give our best to the church, to the people and to those who need food, shelter and clothing. This is not a charity but this is our responsibility. Mother Mary is also asking us to provide our best. This lent, can we start off by saying that we can indeed give our best.

Secondly, lent should also be a time when we provide the most basic of needs of human beings and that is food. Jesus provides wine so that the people had something to drink. And this should not be seen as strong wine but wine for subsistence and celebration. Can we start a kitchen for the poor, or cook in our houses and give to those who are hungry? Lent does not mean living comfortable lives and eating vegetarian food but giving to others till it hurts us. Jesus did his first miracle when Mother Mary asked. It was not his time but he does it. It hurts for him to do it and that is why the quality of the wine was exceptional. We should similarly lent till it hurts. Our lent could be giving ourselves in sacrifice or our lent could be lending something to others till it hurts us, or our lent could be helping the church till it hurts.

There is a Sri Lankan priest I know. The interesting thing about him is that he works among the poor and refugees. One thing he does week after week and not just during lent is to cook food for his congregation, which comprises very ordinary people. He cooks the food on Saturday evening and takes service on Sunday morning. After service he serves the food that he cooked to the people who attended the service. His work is not something simple and it is not just charity. Rather he shares and eats with the people who are there. His giving hurts so much that he does not have money for his needs and the needs of his family. Can we lent like this?

To sum it up, our lent should be an experience. We should not just be concerned about the diet and eating vegetarian food but helping others with food and shelter till it hurts us. It is not just our stomach which should growl in hunger but our body, mind and soul which should feel the hunger that others feel every day of their lives. May this lent make us experience hunger and reach out to people who are hungry and helpless. It is not easy to help them but if we are ready to be hurt and hungry, we can easily help them. Wishing you a lent which will make us go hungry so that others may be fed. Amen.