Towards the Fullness of Life[i] ….
Being fullness
Īśa Upaniṣad (Ī͞͞͞͞͞śāvāsyopaniṣad) speaks
of a mantra of fullness in this way, “Om Pūrṇamadaḥ, Pūrṇamidam, Pūrṇāt Pūrṇmudacyate, Pūrṇsya Pūrṇmādāya,
Pūrṇamevāvaṡiṣyate”[ii] which can be translated as,
“That is fullness, This is fullness, From the fullness only fullness proceeds, if
fullness is removed from the fullness, fullness alone remains.” God is fullness or perfect.
When one accepts God in one’s life, the divinity of God does not diminish, it
remains constant. Just like a piece of iron acquires magnetic quality in the
presence of a magnet, so too, the person who possesses this divinity becomes
divine. Perfection, completeness or totality is the key to be an authentic person.
Biblically,
fullness can be stated as, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is
perfect” (Mt 5:48). What Matthew is intending in saying ‘perfect’ is, to be
pure in mind and heart, to be loving and forgiving, to be generous and open-minded.
Fullness or to be perfect is a virtue to be inculcated in one’s life. It is not
a ‘one-day’ affair, but a journey, a pilgrimage from birth to death, a constant
inward search and the experience of belongingness with the divine.
Thus
the Biblical perfection can be explained in the following ways:
a. To be Holy:
‘To be Holy’ is a vocation given by God himself to every individual. The
gravity of this vocation is made further serious due to the quality of the
person who called, “Be holy because I, the Lord
your God, am Holy” (Lev 19:2, Dt 18:13); “The One who has called you is Holy”
(I Peter 1:15-16).
b.
To be blameless / faultless: The Lord who has called is perfect, has
no any taint. He is a perfect Lamb.
Therefore, following His footsteps, the follower has to be blameless and
faultless in the blamed and faulty world. This is a real pilgrim journey, a
testing ground towards the fullness.
c.
To be pure:
To know the worth of gold, it has to be burnt in fire. The contaminated states,
unworthy tendencies, unbecoming qualities need to be burnt in the fire so as to
bring out a quality spirit in each and every one of us. In the words of St.
Paul, “Since we have these promises,
dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body
and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God” (2 Cor 7:1).
d. To be the children of God: It is often seen that a flash of fire
is potential to be a massive fire. When the spirit with us is the spirit of the
Lord, what less it can be not called member of the same family? However, one
truly becomes member of Christ’s family when one lives that Spirit. In the
words of St. Paul, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children”
(Eph: 5:1).
Non-perfection to Perfection
To fill something in a
container, the container should be either empty or half-filled. One cannot fill
in the container which is already full. One is not born perfect but becomes
perfect. One journeys towards the perfection. We only run the race. The completion
is achieved only when we are in the divine paradise.
To be perfect and
complete in life, first and foremost, one need to realize the imperfection in oneself.
Then only the rest of the things, the divine life will follow. Often when we
refer to three areas when spoken about a holistic growth – physical, mental or
intellectual and spiritual. All these areas are as important as the parts of
the body. Considering the perfection as vocation and a pilgrim journey, one can
think of fullness in three other areas as well, viz., personal, family and
society.
Fullness in the Personal life or the Self-perfection
It is often said, one
cannot evangelize to the empty stomachs. The physical needs are to be catered
at the very outset in order to reach the fullness. It is the common experience
of most of the people, that when a person is hungry, sick or homeless finds
difficult to pray. In today’s commercial
globalized society, as the sicknesses, troubles and health related hazards are
increasing, one ought to keep one’s health good with the available ordinary
means to one’s disposal. However, one is not bound to use the extraordinary
means if they are out of one’s reach. The question here therefore, is not how
to pray but how to make this state a spiritual pilgrim journey. A spiritual
person offers every sufferings or one’s sorry state at every intervals for a
good cause and thus makes it emancipatory. The grace of God follows automatically
visibly in the present world as well as after death in hundred folds (cf. Mk 10: 29-30).
This is very much
applicable for the mental health as well. Mental health, does not just mean the
psychological well-being, rather, the intellectual abilities and formation as
well. Most of the tension in today’s world is due to ‘pressure.’ Parents pressurize their children to excel in
the way they want and never see the interest and talent of the child born with.
Companies and work places put pressure on the workers to produce more, however,
without creating enough work-atmosphere. Even this pressure is being carried to
the family life. Some decades ago, the
education regarded to be the sole chattels of elite class and further even
among them more so of men. Women were looked down upon. As the reservation
policies gearing up, education standards increasing, liberation movements
catching up the momentum, one cannot sit idly at the hearth warming up oneself.
As it is commonly said, “either you are in or out, but non in-between,” one
need to deeply involved in education if one likes to march ahead in the
changing scenario of the world.
The spiritual realm
stands out from the previous two realms. In fact, this is the power-house to be
‘Complete’ and ‘Full’ in life. Spirituality does not merely mean that one
should sit in the prayer room, read scripture and meditate. More than this,
what is being read, meditated, must be practiced. The final step of meditation is called the
‘meditative contemplation’ or ‘nidhidhy āsana’ in the
Indian Spirituality. The spirituality one has must be seen in one’s way of life
and in dealing with the other. The person has to become more polite, humble,
generous, forgiving, accommodating, social, etc. Such a person, in the biblical
terminology is termed as, “Perfect as Heavenly Father is Perfect,” in other
words, ‘blameless, pure, holy and faultless.’
Fullness in the family or the Family Perfection
Family is the basic
unit of the Body of Christ. Just as the body of Christ is holy, faultless,
sinless, pure and perfect, so too must be the family. A Family consists of a father,
mother, and children; in other words, creators and the created. Each one should
assists one another to make the family complete. Without a husband, the wife is
incomplete and without a wife, the husband is incomplete. Both become one
family along with their offspring.
All the aspect spoken
above in the personal life is applicable to each one in the family and together
they co-operate Christ to build a domestic Church (Eph 5: 29). It is said, ‘no
one is perfect.’ Knowing one’s shortcoming and weakness in the family is not
the beginning of downfall, rather it is the genesis of formation an ideal
family. No one hates ones’ body, but loves it. As the parts of the body each
one has to co-operate to make a family complete. If one’s spirituality is good enough, would
be helpful in assisting the member of a family in helping to overcome the
weakness of other (cf. 2 Peter 3: 4; 1 Tim 2:10). In the process of helping to
overcome the weakness, at times the family undergoes a great deal of turmoil. But one should realize, that only
after a chaotic atmosphere, a paradise like situation can emerge (Cf. Gen 1 and
2).
Certain practices help
to construct a happy family. Regular community prayers, regular meals,
recreation and jovial atmosphere, sharing of one’s encounter of reality in
life, at times common picnics and outings help the family to move towards the
fullness.
Fullness in the Society or the Social Perfection
Society cannot exist
without families. The basic unit of a society is therefore, the family. Good of
the society lies in the good of the families. The society is maintained and
preserved not because of the hundreds of thousands of evil people, but because
of few good people. Knowing this, Abraham, the father of faith, argues with the
prophet, “Will you sweep
away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty
righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the
fifty righteous people in it (Sodom and Gomorrah)?” The argument ends until Abraham reaches “ten
righteous people.” At each time the prophet of God answers, “… for their sake,
I will spare” (cf. Gen 18: 16-33).
There are
extra-ordinary people who tried to be one of those who tried to spare the
society and became one of those “ten righteous people.” People like Gandhi,
Martin Luther King Jr, Helder Camera are such people of the last century. In
our own tribal society, missionaries like Constant Lievance, J.B. Hoffmann, Stockmann, John
Deeny and our own tribal leaders – Birsa Munda, Sidho Kanho, are noteworthy
here.
Only those can spare
the society who are spiritually, mentally and intellectually ‘perfect’ and
‘full’. Only when one has has something, can give out something. Out of one’s
fullness, only fullness can emanate. If the person is selfish, he cannot but
give only selfishness. If a family is generous, the generosity can be seen in
their dealing with their neighbors and the people in need. Once Blessed Theresa
of Kolkota took some rice and gave it to a Muslim family who were literally
starving for days. Immediately the Muslim Lady who took rice divided it into
two parts and gave the second part to her neighbor. Upon Nun’s asking, the lady
replied, “They too are starving like us for three days.” Only spiritually
moved, people can do this! They are
‘Perfect and the Heavenly Father is Perfect.’
Is the perfection
possible?
This is a common question most of us ask, “Is perfection
possible?” At the outset, it seems to be impossible. People think that nobody
can become perfect. This is a similar question as whether or not the holiness
is possible. There is nothing impossible
when the grace of God is at work. Living a perfect life is a hard task, but not
impossible. Nobody can be perfect, yet perfection is attainable and we can
become perfect. It is an onward journey, a pilgrimage. Perfection is achieved
when we are in the presence of God, when we reach the ‘beatific vision’. Till
then ours is a journey.
What does it mean when Mt. 5:48 is tells us, “Be perfect as
the heavenly Father is perfect?” Jesus wants us to be sinless, blameless, pure
and holy. Blameless would mean, like a good vehicle without any complaint.
Imperfection in life is a part of human being and this cannot be neglected.
However, one can reduce the imperfection and march towards the perfection. God
is perfect and without sin and therefore, He expects us to be so.
There are several people in the Bible who marched towards the
perfection and fullness. It is not that they were perfect from their very
birth. When Isaiah was called by God, he said, “My lips are dirty” (Is 6:5), Jeremiah
said, “I cannot speak, I am still a child” (Jer 1: 6), Moses was a murderer (Ex 2:12), King David was
an adulterer and murderer (2 Sam 11:14, 15), and St. Paul was a persecutor of
Christians (Acts 8:3). Yet they are the perfect examples for us to follow. What
is beautiful in them is, they learnt to become perfect by observing the
commandments of God. If God can make them perfect, why can’t us?
In our pilgrimage towards the
fullness of life, there are ups and downs. Some of the tidal waves are gift to
us. They are to test our steadfastness as God did with Job, “The Lord
said to Satan, have you considered my servant Job, that there
is none like him in the
earth, a perfect and an upright
man, one that fears God, and does away with evil?" The beauty in this test is, “In all
this Job sinned not” (Job 1:8; 22).
Job walked in the footsteps of God, so too the stalwarts in the scripture
mentioned above.
Mary
is a perfect example for the fullness in life. From the day of her conception
till her assumption she lived for the people and after her assumption, she
continuously intercedes for her children. This is the reason, she is called to
be the ‘Mother of God’ and ‘Mother of Humanity.’ She kept everything in her
heart - all the prophesies about Jesus, all that happed to Jesus in her time
and even the way of Calvary. She silently, walked the path with Jesus. She
bravely led the fearsome apostles and the newly baptized Christians towards the
fullness of life.
Conclusion
Let us thank God for
the gift of Jamshedpur diocese. The preaching of Good News, Spiritual renewals,
Faith formation and Catechetical teaching, the number of formal and non-formal
educational institutes, different grades of schools, health assistance in
various capacities from village to town, social development programmes in
various degrees among all the citizens without having any discrimination to any
religion and culture in the different parts of the diocese, is itself
self-explanatory to tell you that the Jamshedpur diocese over the years has been
marching towards perfection and has
achieved a greater part of it. Yet, there are miles to go before we retire. Our
ancestors have contributed their sweat and blood and now, it is our duty, the
duty of every individuals to contribute and journey towards this perfection. Let’s
hope as Christians that we may move still greater success in all these areas
and make this diocese a perfect paradise where there is ‘Fullness of Life’ forever.
[i] This article is an outcome of the
reflection as Jamshedpur diocese is celebrating its Golden Jubilee, under the
banner, “Towards the Fullness of Life…” Part of it is already published in the
News Letter of Jamshedpur diocese during the year.
[ii]
ÅWa
iw.kZen% iw.kZfena iw.kkZRiw.kZeqnP;rs AA iw.kZL; iw.kZeknk;
iw.kkZesokof’k”;rs AA ÅWa ‘kkfUr% ‘kkfUr% ‘kkfUr%A ¼bZ’kkokL;ksifr”kn~ 1-1½ Narayana Ram Acharya, bZ’kkfn foa’kksRrj’krksifu”kn~ % 120
Upanishads - A compilation of Original Sanskrit texts of 120 well known Upanishads, Mumbai: Nirnaya Sagara
Mudranalaya, 1870, p. 1. Translation mine.
