Lent Day 26: Welcome back dear prodigals

We love to talk in terms of binaries and like the ‘us’ and ‘them’ usage in society, community and church. That is how we also come to usages like prodigal, the one who has gone astray and the like. Even though one of the meanings is reckless, I think it also means the one who has thought differently and done things which have ruffled quite a few feathers in the family and community. Another usage could also be the odd one out. Prodigals need not always be the one who has committed a mistake, but the one who has chosen to take a risk and stand against the usual doings of society. 

Latest interpretations do choose to use different usages than prodigal son. A younger son, the returning son, the different son. Repentance is a key element in the story in St. Luke 15. But this can also be seen differently. Even though the son appears to have repented the response of the Father is not suspicious and judgmental but welcoming. In verse 20 we read, “But while he was still at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.” 

Every house and community has a so called prodigal son or daughter. Someone who has decided to chase their dream, do things differently and show courage in treading into unknown territories. They have perhaps upset others, made people talk about them and even create stories about them and chosen to go against the established values of the family and community. We should be careful when we say that the younger son repented and came back. It does not mean that he feels that everything he did was wrong, his family was always right and so he is now at the mercy of his father and family. 

It can mean that everyone appreciates support for chasing their dream. Some things can go wrong in between as they can for anyone and anything. But then trying again is no harm and accomplishing dreams also means failing many times before being successful. The younger son had failed but that does not mean that he was completely wrong and had given up. He comes back to be in the comfort of and to get the support of his father and family. 

We need to do the same with our children. They should be given the freedom to dream, to differ and to go their way. Differing is not a crime and not the end of the road. Rather, it is a right that everyone has. It does not suggest a cutting of ties and a negation of family. The Supreme Court in India today, in one of its judgments said that everyone has a right to dissent and every criticism is not an offence. 

Many have left the church citing differences, disagreements and conflicts. But they would also like to come back to their church from where they would like care, compassion and love. We must run to welcome them like the Father welcomes the returning son. The same should be at home too. Many children have left their homes due to many reasons. Their return should be a celebration and they should be welcomed back with warmth and love. 

It is obvious that those who are here will argue that they have to be given precedence for having stayed back and showed loyalty. But that does not mean anything. If anyone stayed back, it was perhaps their inability to leave, to voice their dissent and to follow their dream. Faithfulness to a family, community or church is not through presence and obedience but through dissent and disobedience. It does not suggest mutiny but difference of opinion while maintaining the love and care for one another. This lent, let us try to welcome back those who left. Welcome them back to our heart, home, community and church. Amen.

Lent Day 20: Knowing God enough to not ask

How easy is it to ask something to a loved one? Even though many think it is easy, that is not the case. We will be reluctant on two counts. One, we won’t ask because we don’t want to trouble them. Two, we won’t ask because we know that they are not in a position to give. Contrary to what we think, the more we love a person, the less we would want to ask. We also care a lot about the person close to us that we always want the best for them and we also wouldn’t want them being troubled by anyone else as well.

St. Mark 11: 24 reveals a difficult verse for us. It says, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” The problem with this verse is the problem of expectation. Since there is a promise in the prayer, when someone prays and still does not get an answer, it can be felt and argued that the priest or person praying does not have the gift to pray, ask and receive. Since Jesus’ words are very assuring the prayer is as good as being answered.   

There are two kinds of children. The ones who will keep asking even though they know that their parents either do not want to buy them something or have other pressing concerns and the ones who understand the situation their parents are in and are therefore very empathetic and understanding in their approach. Lent is a time for developing this understanding. Being a child of God does not just mean that all our prayers will be answered. A child should have the maturity to know what and when to ask. Some children gain this maturity at a young age and take up the responsibility of the house along with this.

We can ask for something and relentless asking will also lead to God accepting. But during lent, if we consider ourselves part of God’s plan for the kingdom of God, we will become part of God’s solution for the world. We will brainstorm along with God, provide food for the hungry on behalf of God and worry about the world along side God. Lent is a time to develop a spiritual maturity which will take us to higher heights of renunciation which will mean being closer to God than we ever were. Amen.

 

 

Lent Day 16: A shameless lent

Shame is something that Christians have to deal with and overcome to grow spiritually. It is something which prevents us from being good human beings and from exploring our abilities. Shame can be felt by ourselves and we can be ashamed of someone else. Children are taught about shame from a young age when they are asked to cover up by telling them, “Shame, shame, puppy shame”, and “Shame, shame, puppy shame, all the monkeys know your name.” Children are asked to dress properly by indirectly shaming them.

From the perspective of those who are shamed, coming back to the view of the public becomes extremely difficult, because they think of what others will say. This leads to the creation of  panic, creation of introverts and even people with psychological issues which become difficult to resolve. From the perspective of those who gain happiness from shaming others, shaming is used as a weapon against those they don’t like or want sidelined. Shame is also what some people feel when we do something they don’t like. For them we have humiliated the family, spoiled the name of the community and things like that. St. Mark 2: 16, talks of one such feeling of shame. Verse 16 has the scribes of the Pharisees saying, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?

The Pharisees among others tried for a while to appropriate Jesus or have Jesus as someone who said what they wanted to hear and say. Perhaps they would have also accepted him as their Messiah if that was the case. But to their shock, he kept surprising them and doing things they did not like. They are upset that Jesus is eating with the tax collectors and sinners. John the Baptist in their observation did not do anything like this but Jesus crossed all limits.

The church and Christian community finds it difficult to question the stand of the Pharisees. So much that the youngsters are even advised by not just the family but also the priest that they should not bring shame to the family and community. I wonder why priests don’t read this passage of the gospel and why even now youngsters are looked upon with suspicion in the community and church. What is wrong if someone follows their heart, decides to go for a work they like or loves someone from a different community or caste? What shame will that bring to the community and what shame do we have which even our Lord Jesus did not have.

Those who bring shame to the community and family are also not welcomed back home and are seen as the prodigal son and daughter. Even though the bible story has the father welcoming back the son, despite the reservations of the elder son, this does not happen often in Christian families. Many people who make a decision at some point of time in their life, may want to reconsider later. But their family refuses to accept them and this leads to them remaining outside the fold.

Even the Indian parliament has this habit of saying “Shame, shame”, when one political party or the other does something which is not acceptable to the other. Such immature reactions are unfortunately still followed. When the entire society does such things, the Christian community should differ during lent and question the entire concept of shame. As Jesus dined with the tax collectors and sinners, our youngsters and others have the freedom to do what they want. They should witness to Christ and not to our family, community and tradition. Amen.

Lent Day 11: There is a child in all of us

We are in a hurry to grow up and our family, community, society and even church would like it if we grew up faster. Lot of encouragement is given to those who according to society, mature earlier or grow up fast or faster. Those who remain like a child are scolded and compared to those who have seemingly grown up. The pressure this puts on a child is unfair. There are also houses where one parent is missing or has some addiction and so a child or children are forced to take up the responsibility of the household at a young age. We also see around us children from deprived backgrounds who don’t have a proper childhood and don’t even get the opportunity for a decent education. 

Safe spaces for children are also limited and society is not too concerned about that. It is not only that children can’t just be children but there are so called adults who are looking for chances to misuse and abuse children, again leading to children being restricted and limited in their everyday life. On the other hand, children are also treated in a way that they know nothing and so always need the help, support and guidance of adults. Churches do not take children into consideration while devising their programmes and services. The language and style of a service usually does not suit children and yet no one is bothered about it and wants to do anything about it.

This is where we have to read St. Matthew 18: 3, which says, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” It appears that Jesus is inviting our attention to the importance of children, who a child is and why we should be like children to enter the kingdom of heaven. We are asked to have a child like innocence, a child like attitude, a child like framework and a child like view to life. This is directly opposite to what happens in church now. We are guilty of trying to manner and force our children into our framework and our needs.

There are two things to look at and understand here. One, children in the Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church are baptised while they are a baby. It is not just that they are given child baptism, but unlike other churches, they receive the Holy body and Holy blood of Jesus Christ right after baptism. There is no confirmation at a later stage and children can receive Holy Communion right from the beginning. Two, children in the church stand right at the front of the church for service. After the priest and altar assistants who are in the altar, the children occupy the premium position in the church. Both of these things suggest the importance of children in the church. They are perceived to know the nuances of Christian faith and the importance of Holy Communion right from childhood. They also stand in the front, suggesting that they are prime witnesses to our Lord Jesus. Knowingly or unknowingly the church already gives importance to children. The problem is that it is ignored at the time of implementation of the policies of the church.

I am also guilty as a priest of sometimes feeling irritated when children make noise and speak to each other during the Sunday service. But I realise during this time of lent that I need to change my attitude towards children during the service. We also need to spend more time with children to learn about the child like qualities that impressed Jesus. Along with this, churches and homes have to be child friendly, child oriented and child centred, which will make children more comfortable and happier. Let us become a child like church this lent. Amen.

 

 

The difference between faith and superstition in a time like this

It is important to sift through and differentiate between the grain and the husk at this critical time. More than ever we are faced with false prophets and prophecies which seek to benefit a particular speaker and is not the word of God. It is easy to get confused and misled and life can become very gloomy in the process. Without realising it, we tend to misunderstand many superstitions as faith. One has to talk of one's faith and there is no need to be ashamed by it. But there is no need to defend superstition, because it is not about faith but a corruption that has come in at some point of time. Below is a list of differences between faith and superstition.

1. Faith tells us that God’s mysterious intervention makes the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. This body and blood will offer eternal life. It cannot be totally understood. Yet it should not blind us but should show us light. Superstition makes us think that when we can’t offer or be part of Holy Communion on a particular day, it is inauspicious, unlucky and will be a curse for us. Services have been cancelled in several parts of the world. There are many who believe that this is not good and one should worship in the church at any cost, because otherwise it would not bode well for the community. 

2. Faith makes us visit the sick, pray for them and give them strength and hope. We see doctors as instruments of God. What is around us and for us is seen as good and not as a challenge to God. God is above everything and everyone is placed by God. We do not see a doctor as God but as a person used by God to reveal God's mercy. Superstition forces us to stay away from the doctor’s advice or even from the doctor himself/herself saying that God will heal us and there is no need for doctors or their prescriptions. Here doctors are placed on the same measuring balance with God and this is not fair to the doctors. We must respect them but do not need to worship them and whenever we do that, it becomes a superstition. But ignoring them and not going to them does not make us more religious. 

3. Faith makes us kneel and pray wherever we are. We are the same everywhere and don’t have different characters in different places. We all see the church building as a place which is special, holy and filled with memories. But we don't have two characters or behaviour, one inside the church and another outside it.  

Superstition gives us a special character when we are in a church and a totally different and negative character when we are outside it. This makes us different people at church and at home. The unavailability of a church is an unavailability of a chance to be good. But associating goodness with a place is a superstition. 

4. Faith does not make us test God and we will be like Christ who tells the devil that we should never test/ tempt the Lord our God. God is always there for us. God's love for us is unconditional. Faith makes us believe this one hundred percent. So there is no question of wanting God to do something to prove God's love for us. Superstition makes us test God to see if God truly cares about us. We want to be convinced time and again that God is with us. So much, that we don’t mind ‘forcing’ God to perform miracles. 

5. Faith is not trying to prove God’s prominence over anything but rather saying that God is everything for us. It does not mean that we refuse or disobey worldly authorities. Jesus’ advise is to give to God what is God’s and to Caesar what is Caesar’s. When a government says something for our good, people of faith don't feel challenged, because their faith is not wavering. Superstition questions worldly authority to the extend that it is made fun of, openly challenged, sneered at and disobeyed. Disobeying rules which are supposed to be good for people, is seen as a prerogative and something done to show off our pride of being religious.

 

6. Faith encourages hope and a better future no matter what the present condition. Even in the worst of times, those with faith will never give up and will continue turning every obstacle into an opportunity. People of faith are a blessing to society, because we see a glow on their faces, which radiates onto us as well. Superstition concentrates on “I told you so” prophesies which tries to tell people that we saw it coming and foresaw this much earlier. Instead of hope, fear is spread and is used as a way to get followers and supporters. These followers then spread the messages of hate and fear which will further divide communities instead of uniting them.

.  

7. Faith walks on water without talking about it. We meet people but don’t necessarily mention what struggles we went through to reach there. Every action and word is faith for such people but faith is never marketed. Faith is a matter of fact thing. Superstition creates miracles because it thrives on them. Miracles have to be talked about, blown out of proportion and packaged well when one is superstitious. So it is not whether one can walk on water but to make others believe that we can walk on water.

 

8. Faith is not overly ritualistic. It does not matter how many times you have knelt, prostrated and prayed but with what sincerity and truthfulness one has prayed. Fasting then should be a joyful exercise where no one gets to know that we are fasting. We are all ritualistic, but rituals cannot replace faith and belief. Superstition is overly ritualistic. Number of times and when and where matters rather than sincerity and truthfulness. Prayers can be rushed and mumbled as long as it is ‘completed’. The ritual then gets more importance than the act of faith.

 

9. Faith does not crumble when a church place or land is lost or becomes unavailable. It is in the heart and soul of a person. It cannot be taken away. Jesus said that one cannot destroy another's soul. Only the body can be destroyed. Faith is inside a person and cannot be snatched away no matter what. Superstition melts easily. When a physical space which is seen as important or a person who is seen as a powerful leader is lost, the superstitious crumble to pieces. It is like they have lost their way.

10. Faith does not automatically get handed over. Not everyone can get it because it is also an individual commitment to God. Just because a parent has faith, a child cannot automatically get it. One has to work hard for one's faith and it cannot be handed on a platter. Superstition passes on to the next generation very easily. It does not matter whether it is understood or not or whether it serves a good purpose. Continuity is wrongly associated with superstition and the acceptance and embracing of superstitions.

In a time like this, we need faith and have to sift through properly to find the grains we seek. Our faith is like the grain while superstition is the husk which has to be blown away and thrown in the fire.

Picture from www.mainthingradio.com

Partnering with children to witness the birth of Christ this Christmas

St. Luke 2:12- This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.

The Santa Claus is coming to town lyrics is known in bits and pieces to many. It goes like this

You better watch out
You better not cry
Better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town

He sees you when you're sleepin'
He knows when you're awake
He knows if you've been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake

He's making a list
And checking it twice;
Gonna find out Who's naughty and nice
Santa Claus is coming to town

The lyrics of this popular song and the baby Jesus wrapped in bands of cloth in St. Luke 2:12 offer a different picture altogether during Christmas. Many a time we sing Christmas songs without thinking much about it and in this particular song poor St. Nicholas (Christmas Father) is made to look as some disciplinarian who checks whether children are good or bad before dropping off gifts for them. It is also a reminder of our own childhood when parents would force feed us with stories of some villain, thief or even crow coming and abducting us if we wouldn’t eat properly! 

It is interesting that adults use Christmas as an opportunity to discipline children when it should be a time when we look at what the young ones offer us for our spiritual revival. Jesus constantly reminds his disciples that they should become like children to enter the kingdom of God and today we are faced with the story of the baby Jesus to make that clear. Whereas in the Santa Claus song the children are told to be prepared and well behaved, in the bible story the shepherds are told about the birth of the Messiah as a child. After the announcement the shepherds are given a clue and a sign and told “You will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth…” After the big declaration of the birth of the Messiah the sign given to the shepherds is of the child wrapped in clothes. For a first time reader this is a big shift in the story. A shift from hope to hopelessness. But the shepherds were experts at their job and God tells the angel to inform them about the Messiah born as a child because God expects something more from them.

The shepherds also perhaps had something special about them. Apart from the fact that they did not mingle with the main stream it could also be that the shepherds knew the value of a baby wrapped in bands of cloth. The reason here could be that the sacrificial lamb meant for sacrifice was also what the shepherds tended and they were given much care and even wrapped in clothes at birth. Jesus as a sacrificial lamb is also steeped in symbolism. So the shepherds know the value of a babe wrapped in clothes. It is something that makes no sense for a new reader though.

When we look more deeply this has a lot of meaning. On the one hand it means that we should value children so much and give them a stake in what we do because the Messiah or savior comes to the world as a child. Honoring children is honoring the Messiah and his birth on earth. This is where we are found wanting. Violence, abuse, wars and deceit is practiced in the world because we have grown up to the level of adults who don’t listen to God anymore. The birth of the Messiah has brought in an era of peace but we are not willing to listen to the Messiah because the Messiah is a child now. This Christmas we should start listening to and respecting children because it will lead to a safer and peaceful world. Instead children are most affected in wars and violence around the world. They suffer most in all forms as they are not valued by adults.

This has to change for us to have a better world. Christmas is a sign of the time that we have to become like children and we have to take care of children. Christmas thus has to become a child oriented festival rather than an adult oriented one. A child oriented festival won’t have power, money and authority as the main foundations of the festival celebration but will have innocence, trust and belief as the main foundations. Christmas is a great time to become small like a child so that we gain entry into the presence of the Messiah and also into the kingdom of God.

Our Christmas services are far from child friendly and instead are complex rituals which have no space for children. They are expected to keep quiet and behave so that St. Nicholas will be good to them and so that they will get gifts from their family. More space can only be possible if we transform ourselves into children and witness the birth of Christ as a child. Maturity and experience will lead to us missing the event of the birth of Christ because it cannot be understood by us. This Christmas we can start first by treating our children at home properly. They need to be respected and valued so that we will see the birth of Christ through them. The partnership of the baby wrapped in clothes and the shepherds gave the world the news of the birth of Christ. This should now become the partnership between us and our children whereby we can again experience the birth of Christ in our midst. Amen.

Picture credit- www.yourhomechurch.org

The cries of children from Bethlehem: An inspiration to fight for good

St. Matthew 2:16-18

One of the most tragic incidents mentioned in the bible and that too in very few words, is the killing (cold blooded murder) of children two years and below in and around Bethlehem by Herod. The usual reaction to the story is wondering about the cruelty of Herod and about why the birth of Jesus led to the killing of several babies and how justified is such a birth of the savior of the world. It has parallels to the saying “mother killer” when a birth of a baby leads to the death of the mother due to some birth complication.

The association comes for many people and the more one thinks about it, the more one is perplexed by the association of how this can happen. This association is what prevents us from raising our voice and doing good. We think that if we say something and that leads to something happening to someone, that we are responsible for that. It is though a very naïve understanding of the situation. We have to sometimes say things for the common good and for the benefit of society. We are not opposing a person but the evil in a person which even he/she may or may not be aware of.

Herod was a leader and the birth of Jesus needn’t have bothered him too much. Yet he is surprisingly rattled. The birth of a baby upsets him! This also makes us think what kind of a leader he was. But what he ends up doing through the murder of innocent children is that he reiterates that he is inherently evil. So who was the reason of the deaths?  Herod or Jesus? Many a time we think that if not for Jesus the children would not have died.

One must come out of the understanding that Jesus was responsible for the death of the children. There was only one planner and executioner and that was Herod and perhaps his advisors. If we do not accept this, many of us will step back from doing any good because we will think that others will be sacrificed in the process of what we are going to do. The thought is always “I can sacrifice whatever but why should others be affected?” This thinking is not helpful because it will prevent us from doing any good even though we are capable of it. The celebration of Christmas and the time which follows up to new year will be like this. It is a time to not just remember the birth of Christ, but to do what he did. In the process we are bound to ruffle feathers, bring discomfort to others and be a thorn in the flesh to many. This is why we must understand that celebration and dejection go hand in hand. There was wailing and sadness in Ramah and mothers were crying because they had lost their young ones. But we need to cry only if Jesus lead to the death of the children. Contrary to this he did not. It was Herod who had planned and implemented this. Jesus was only a ploy he used.

There are many leaders who do likewise. Someone else is made out to be the reason of a cruel decision. It appears so in the case of the death of the young here as well. But that is where we err and we must know that the birth of Jesus leads to the birth of courage and expression of views and opinions in a culture that cannot express itself. The murder of the babies is the cowardice of Herod and nothing else. The women wailing are made to think that the reason is something/someone else. But as soon as they would have known who the conspirator was, they would have stopped crying because the children died cruelly at the hands of a dictator.

Civil wars rife in Syria and Iraq and international conflicts like in the case of Israel and Palestine and internal conflicts in many parts of the world all lead to genocide and the brutal killing of children. The killers will always say that it happened because of some rebels and external forces. The truth though is that it happens because the regime wants to quell dissent in various forms. The killing of the babies by Herod reminds us of the danger of regimes who will justify their actions and use religious symbolisms to say that they are right. The killing of the children instead should remind us of the birth of Jesus who went against the shrewdness and injustice of repressive regimes and instead stood with the people and fought for life and human dignity.

The birth of Jesus is not a time to cry but a time to raise our heads and question countries and dispensations that are anti people and oppress people. The people of Syria and Palestine among many other countries deserve to have access to their mother land and live a life of dignity there. We must not allow the creation and continuance of Herod like figures who use the birth as an excuse to take life instead of encouraging life and dignity. The innocent children died a violent death due to such sinful characters and this should not continue to happen during the commemoration of Jesus’ birth narrative.

Prayer for children

We seek your guidance God to be who we are meant to be and not what we are made to be. We look at you wherever we go not in planned and strict ways, but in freedom and without fear. We understand you in significant ways although others call it childish. Lord Jesus, you understood us so well to even question others during your time and you advised them to become like us and in so doing taught everyone what the kingdom of God is. We do not claim anything because we don’t even know what it is that we should claim. We can’t offer you anything because we don’t have much to offer in the ways of the world. We will not make tall promises of change because we are only learning what this world is. There is only one thing which we can say for sure and that is that we are happy because you have accepted us, just the way we are. We are small, don’t have jobs, don’t own anything and yet you accepted us dear Lord Jesus. We come to your presence knowing that you can make us feel the best. We are thankful for our parents, grandparents, teachers, family and friends. We ask that we may be guided and walked through by you so that however small and insignificant we may appear, we will always be seen with you and in you. Help us to live well and live in abundance with you God. Amen.