WHY DO WE SUFFER?

On 8^th March, 2006 I received the sad news of the untimely death of my sister-in-law. She left behind her loving husband and three little kids and her in-laws. She died within six hours of her third delivery with some complications. As soon as I received the news, I rushed to the chapel,  full of anger, crying questioned God, “Why did You let this happen?” I was angry with God. This is not only my reaction but also the reaction of hundreds of thousands when a sudden terror strikes. One of my friends was narrating a similar experience. He lost his father when he was very young, then his mother and sister due to tuberculosis within a period of six months at the age ten. Now became totally orphaned. He was angry at God till he was fifty years old.

My niece, Lavita who could not see her mother  

Whenever some disasters strike, we scold God as if He is the one who is responsible for it. It may be because we are formed in that way. It is a perennial problem that why there is suffering. In philosophical language this is called the ‘Problem of Evil.’

The problem of evil can be stated as follows. God is good, all powerful, Omnipotent, Omnipresent etc. He knows everything – our past, present and future. At the same time evil is a reality. Sufferings do exist. Why then the all powerful, all knowing God allows suffering?

If God allows sufferings and evil to take place, then God is not powerful. Therefore, it is either God is powerful; if not evil is powerful. For years the philosophers, theologians and scholars in various capacities have tried to answer. None could answer satisfactorily.

According to Hinduism the present life is the fruit of our past Karma:  Greater the sin in the previous life, greater the sufferings and slower the mukti (salvation). Better live this life and not escape the suffering. Escaping would be postponing the salvation. Thus sufferings are salvific.

According to Plato human being is basically a soul. Body is a prison of the soul. Soul existed in the ideal or perfect world. Due to some wrong committed by the soul, it came to the earth and took a body. Therefore, the human being has to suffer and the ideal thing is ‘death’ where the soul is liberated from all sufferings. Plotinus, a neo-Platonist once remarked, “I wish I had no body.”  St. Augustine too had this kind of notion in mind when he wrote his book, The City of God in which advocates that the body as something negative. For him, we are evil people, sinners, do not know what we are.

One of the answers given by the Christian mystics for our sufferings is ‘our sins,’ that we have gravely sinned and therefore is this condition. If so, what sin has that child committed to take away its mother in the birth itself, who could not even taste even a drop of mother’s milk? What mistake is that ten year old child has committed to remain his whole life orphaned? Further what sin that aborted child committed to be deprived off from heavenly glory and remain in the ‘limbo.’ For St. Augustine the children who died before the baptism go to the ‘Limbo.’ Therefore, for me it is not the sin of commission for which we are suffering. More than this it is the sin of omission, we are guilty of. Sin of Omission is the sin we collectively are committing: the degradation of nature, pollution, unjust distribution of wealth, unjust wages we give to our workers, our lack of love and concern for the much needed person, our unfaithfulness to our commitments etc.

In order to console the person in distress, some people say, “God thought it was best thing for you. He has a purpose in it.” Can a good God who loves his people so much will take away the happiness one has? For me, if so, he is not God at all. God suffers when his child is in danger. Consider a mother whose child is sick. How much pain and suffering the mother undergoes for the child? Why? Just because, she love her child. Love leads one to suffer. If I love, I need to suffer. The Good Shepherd goes in search of a lost sheep leaving behind the ninety nine;  just because,  the Shepherd was in distress, in agony, in pain. Therefore, our suffering is not a best thing for God, neither a good thing nor He has a purpose for me in it.

Most of our problems are created by us. When a smoker gets a Lung cancer, it is the disease which he himself demanded. When a drunkard gets multiple organ failure in his unripe age, it is his own fault. When a prostitute gets an AIDS, it is again the fault of the victim as well as of the society. When a man dies of hunger in the street, it is the fault of our society who does not like to share its food. Thus most of the sufferings are either the result of the sins of commission or of omission.

Certain problems are co-incidental (kakataleeya). A Man was walking and suddenly a tree fell on him and he dies on the spot. What is the reason? It just happened so. It is not because of the presence of Rahu or Gulika or any other stars. Often people go to check with astrologers about the problem who not only bring some more problems both psychologically but also economically. These soothe-sayers fill their pocket by misleading the innocent people. Thus some things happen because of our stupidity.

There are some natural calamities taking place in the universe. Fall of comets, eclipses and movements of planets and stars affect the earth and due to which there are tsunami like situations, extreme weather conditions  etc. Landslides, lightning and thunders, flood etc are natural happenings.  There is a law of nature behind these activities. I cannot ascribe these activities to God. They happen according to the law of nature.  Some things by nature have to be like that. For example, a tree cannot walk and should not walk and it is not meant to walk. It is the beauty of creation.

Often we ask wrong questions and get trapped there. Instead of asking “why did God take away my sister-in-law” I should have asked, “why did it happen, what is the reason?” Obviously the reason is clear. She had a long medical history. She was sick when she was a child. Her parents did not take care well due to poverty and lack of medical facilities in the village. Her liver got damaged, her kidneys got affected. Parents without knowing these things married her to my brother. Accordingto the doctors, “with these conditions, she should not have had pregnancies.” But still, she was pregnant thrice. Is it not the blessing of God that she survived in the previous two deliveries? If God is allowing to become my brother a widower, she should have died in her first delivery itself. God does not want someone to suffer; rather wants someone to live happily which we, the human beings do not understand.

During one of my retreats, a preacher answering the problem of evil said to a nun who questioned God for taking away her mother, “God took away your mother, so that you can be a good mother for many who have lost their mothers and are looking for mothers love. You can be a good daughter to those mothers who cry for their daughters’ untimely death, who cry for their children who have abandoned them.” Religious vocation is this, ‘to be mothers, sisters, fathers, brothers to many.’  Religiously this may give some relief to our convictions and the vocation we live. But what is the reality of death itself?

Death is inbuilt in us. Every material being which has a beginning has to have an end. Death is that end. One cannot stop it. The mere fact that God created me an embodied person, I need to suffer, feel pain, experience heat etc. However, God gives me freedom. It is up to me to use or misuse.

Another common mistake we commit is, “it is written in my fore-head” meaning to say that God has already decided to happen so and so. Everything is finalized. We are just puppets in the hands of God. God plays the strings as he likes whether we like it or not, just dance. This is a narrow understanding. Of course God knows. God by knowing himself, knows everything. We by knowing something, know something else. To know the temperature of today, I need to experience what heat is and how it changes. I cannot know the future nor can determine the future. If I can predict the future, I make it to happen. God predetermines what and who we are, but he does not work each and every details of our life. These details are left for us to work. That’s why the consciousness and freedom is given to us and to no other beings this faculty is given.

I am indebted to St. Irenaeus for giving me a dynamic world view against St. Augustine’s Static world view. For Augustine, God created everything perfect, beautiful. Human beings are the  most perfect creatures created by God on the earth. But human beings failed and therefore, sinned. This sin is the original sin which we still bear the consequence. For St. Irenaeus, God neither created human beings perfect, nor as mature. We are created to become perfect and mature and we become so by loving. We grow towards perfection by becoming fully human and fully alive. Eating the apple at the Garden of Eden is like child stealing a chocolate or jam when the parents are away. Children see porn. It is not bad. It is bad just because they are not yet matured to see it. Once they become mature, they can see it.  Is this Original Sin, a sin to be condemned generation to generation? Driving out of paradise is not a punishment rather it is a way of correcting the person to become mature, to be fully human and alive. We have to learn in the process. By learning we grow and mature.

Fr. Raju Felix Crasta

MISSIONARY PARADIGM

“Go forth and make disciples everywhere” is the missionary command given by Jesus to his disciple. Following this call, disciples went far and wide to actualize it with a true spirit. We the religious too being the followers of same Rabbi, need to actualize the call we’ve received. In reality the zeal remains vibrant for a few days after our Ordination or profession and within no time this spirit evaporates and we become ordinary people.  Here let me share two paradigms we usually fall into.

Duck Paradigm

Ducks do not live in isolation. Often they live in groups. Further they look for ponds or streams to swim. They catch small fishes. They just float and swim in the water, cleaning the dirt from their bodies.

Many of our religious people live as Ducks. Happy with the religious life within the four walls of convents, presbytery or monasteries or seminaries. They are happy that they get everything ready-made. There is a ready-made stream or pond to swim in the form of school or parish or an institute. Happy with the little service they do. Happy with the little development it is already making. No extra work, no extra burden to carry and no extra initiatives. Once in a year they clean their dirt (confessions), that too out of compulsion, as it is the rule. No doubt, they don’t do missionary service or in the heart they do not have love for the mission; they do have and are doing, however not with the missionary zeal as they ought to be.

No sooner they establish themselves in the institution, than they become faceless and one among the crowd. They follow a strong crowd mentality. Now the concern of the people is not their concern, but their concern is forced on to the people whether the people like it or not.

I had been to a parish on my holidays. An old man of about 60 years came to meet the parish priest at around 3 O’clock in the afternoon. As he pressed the bell, a stern reply came from inside not even bothering to see who the person is, “Don’t you know that this is my siesta time? Come after 4 O’Clock.” This is not just one incident from a presbytery. There are several such common incidents from other institutes also. The question is, where is my pastoral / religious commitment gone? Like little ducks we are happy to swim in the same pond, catch small fishes and float in the same water.

Eagle Paradigm

Eagle by its very nature lives an isolated life; lives in the high mountains and in the dangerous places. Mostly their nests are in the dangerous places. They are the only birds which fly high in the sky and have the sharp vision. They catch not only small fishes or worms but larger birds and animals even. They seldom fly alone.

Some of the religious people are like eagles. They like to fly alone, swim against the current. Fly in different situations and conditions. They like challenges, they like to live in an isolated, dangerous places. Their nests are amongst the dangerous people and situation. They do not fear for the animals or hard situations. They catch not just little fishes, but all kinds of fishes and birds. They have a sharp vision. They can see not just far but beyond their time.

These are the people who do not have time for themselves. There is no distinction between day and night for their service. When Blessed Joseph Vas was in Mangalore, he was asked to take Holy Communion to a sick man by a group of people. With utmost sincerity, he takes and walks miles and miles at night without knowing that the people are trying to trap him. It is the Eucharistic miracle that saved him from death on that night says the history.  That’s why such missionaries live forever.

Mother Theresa, Xavier, Martin Luther King, saints are some of the examples for this ‘eagle missionaries.’ What kind of missionaries you want to be? Is it eagle type or duck type? Are you ready and able to take risk in life or like to move with the anonymous faceless crowd?

(This is a sermon I preached sometimes ago for a religious community). 

IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

On December 8, 1854, Pope Pius IX that pronounced and defined in the “Ineffabilis Deus,” the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This dogma states that the Blessed Virgin Mary, "in the first instance of her conception, by a singular privilege and grace granted by God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful".


On behalf of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, today we too proclaim a four-fold joy:

We proclaim that God is daringly loving, a God who freely and abundantly gives to his creation: his love - a love that represents the pure pleasure of giving. One should weigh Mary's Immaculate Conception not only in terms of a brilliant move in salvation history. God loves Mary for herself. True love is not utilitarian, but daring, because it is sure of itself and sure of the loved one.

We also proclaim the grandeur and nobility of Mary. She is full of Grace yet without merit, the Queen of Saints, yet remains the handmaid of the Lord. Mary's grandeur is with God and her true nobility is rooted in her poverty.


In proclaiming the Immaculate Conception we simultaneously proclaim the Immaculate Concept of the human person. What Mary is, we should have been, that is, the living embodiment of the un-corrupted concept of man or woman. This dogma is not only about Mary the exception, but also about us, each one of us, the unfortunate rule. The immaculate concept of the human person implies the original unity of creation and grace. And so what in Mary is reality becomes our destiny, meaning that in a very real way she, the Immaculate, will always be a challenge to our human and religious identity.


We also proclaim that sinless-ness and sanctity are "privileges of action" and not mere status symbols. All action in faith is love. Therefore, the Immaculate Conception is a perfection of love. We may rejoice because through sinless-ness and sanctity the Immaculate Conception becomes our ‘end,’ which means that she is our way to perfection, just as she herself had to go the way of Christ's perfecting love, all the way to the Cross and from there to the ever present, yet invisible, core of the Church.


The Immaculate Conception of Mary that served to underline the universality of sin in the past serves today to teach us about the universality of redemption. The same Christ whose love and obedience to the Father preserved Mary from sharing in the universal human disaster, this same Christ makes Himself available to the desperate world of today. The redemption that kept Mary sinless is still there to take away the sin and the failure and the aimlessness of every human being who is willing to accept it. The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception implies the universality of original sin, but it also reflects the doctrine of the efficacy of Christ, of the universality of redemption.


Mary is the model of the Church, the one who is totally committed to Christ, His first and most pre-eminent follower, but follower none the less. We, too, profess a commitment to Christ, we, too, claim to be His followers. The original sin from which Mary was preserved is the original sin from which we, too, have been freed. The grace of Christ that was hers is the same grace of Christ that is ours. Mary is significant for us because the central factors in her life are the central factors in our own. The Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary has served as a reminder of the need for redemption to a world that was smug and self-sufficient. The Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary has also served as a sign of the accessibility of redemption to a world in despair. Perhaps the lesson is that, no matter in which direction we may be facing, we need Mary Immaculate in our lives in order to remember who Christ is and who we are ourselves


Let us remember that God not only endowed Mary with the necessary graces and dispositions to fulfil worthily the role of Mother of His Son, but also the role of the Mother of all mankind. Because of her fullness of grace her maternal heart burns intensely to bring all followers of her Son - more closely to Him still; and those who have wandered astray, she seek more than we can ever know, to bring them back into the fold.


Mary is our model of perfect redemptive suffering. She offered her own suffering as a mother for the sake of our salvation. What if you could offer up your temptations or sufferings for the sake of someone else’s salvation? Would you be willing to give up a certain sin or even bad habit if it could help someone else go to Heaven? What would those offerings be? Who would you offer them for? What were your “straws for the manger” yesterday? What will they be today?


There is a prose written in honour of the Blessed Mother in the 11th Century: 
“Inviolate, spotless and pure art thou, O Mary, who wast made the radiant gate of the King. Holy mother of Christ most dear, receive our devout hymn and praise. Our hearts and tongues now ask of thee that our souls and bodies may be pure. By thy holy prayers obtain for us forgiveness for ever, O gracious queen. O Mary, who alone among women art inviolate."

MADE FOR EACH OTHER

Marriage is as old as the world itself. However, the phenomenon of divorce is a recent one. Earlier, when a boy married a girl, the relation was understood not only as the union of two souls, but also two families. And the bond remained forever.  

In today’s globalized and technocratic world, people are so busy among themselves that they do not have enough time for the relations.  The family relations have become secondary. Though the parents and the children live under the same roof, eat the same food cooked in the same vessel, eat at the same dining table, yet far away from each other. In other words, the ‘friends’ living far away are more ‘closer’ than the people living ‘nearby.’ Members of the family  go to schools or to work and come back and glued to the internet, chatting, watching TV programmes or stick the ear-phone in ear and listen to the music as they wish. In such environment, where is the scope for family relationship?

In most of the time, reason for the cleavage of bond is because of the misunderstanding. One fails to understand the other. Husband thinks he is superior to wife and vice-versa. Children, as they grow older, think that the parents have no right over them. Recently I came across a few reflections of a house-wife who thinks that husbands should understand their wives better. The same applies to the wives too. Let me share these thoughts: 

"Love her … when she sips on your coffee or tea. She only wants to make sure it tastes just right for you.

Love her… when she "pushes" you to pray. She wants to be with you in Jannah (Paradise).

Love her… when she asks you to play with the kids. She did not "make" them on her own.

Love her... when she is jealous. Out of all the men she can have, she chose you

Love her… when she has annoying little habits that drives you nuts. You have them too.

Love her… when her cooking is bad. She tries.

Love her… when she looks disheveled in the morning. She always grooms herself up again.

Love her… when she asks to help with the kids homework. She only wants you to be part of the home.

Love her... when she asks if she looks fat. Your opinion counts,  so tell her she's beautiful.

Love her… when she looks beautiful. She's yours,  so appreciate her.

Love her...  when she spends hours to get ready. She only wants to look her best for you.

Love her… when she buys you gifts you don't like. Smile and tell her it's what you've always wanted.

Love her… when she has developed a bad habit. You have many more and with wisdom and politeness you have all the time to help her change.

Love her… when she cries for absolutely nothing. Don't ask, tell her it’s going to be okay

Love her… when she suffers from PMS. Buy chocolate, rub her feet and back and just chat to her

Love her… when whatever you do is not pleasing. It happens and will pass

Love her… when she stains your clothes. You needed a new thobe (kurta / suite) anyway

Love her…when she tells you how to drive. She only wants you to be safe.

Love her… when she argues. She only wants to make things right for both

Love her… she is yours. You don't need any other special reason!!!!

                                                                                                                Author unknown

Family is an integral part of the society we live. The family which stays together, prays together lives forever. Such families do not break. Each one has concern for the other. They have something to share and something to laugh at.  Mistakes are part of life. When one does mistake, the other corrects him/her. There is a mutual understanding.

“The Wasteland grows; woe to him who hides wastelands within”

Sometime ago one of my friends sent me a few photographs with a title, “Incredible India.” The photos were speaking the reality of India in a true sense. Some were about the beautiful gardens and flowers both natural and artificial, some were about huge buildings both modern and ancient with all its grandeur and some were about the garbage dumped in the middle of the city, the burnt houses and dilapidated condition of poor people. I am not enlisting all those clips here. What made me ponder over is not the incredible development we have achieved, but the incredible potentialities we failed to achieve.

These incredible potentialities I call ‘the wastelands.’ Phenomenologically speaking ‘waste’ is that thing which is unused. It may be a byproduct or left-over which is unused or used but not fully and therefore been discarded and thrown in a dumping slot. The waste can also said to be at time ‘dirt,’ which is nothing but ‘a right thing in a wrong place’ or ‘anything out of place.’ This is the reason, there are so many innovators who make use what is being rejected by people and become ‘men of grace.’

When tribals felt the need for plates to eat rice, they plucked the leaves from the trees, sewed them together with a stiff grass petiole and the plate came to be. To drink water or rice-beer they made cups out of the leaves. It was natural to them. Today, machines are being used to make echo-friendly cups and plates. Traditional Kerala people used Banana leaf for this purpose. Later, someone came up with an innovative idea, to make plates out of Areca nut leaves which sidelined the plastic plates.

‘Wastelands’ are there in every place. It is for us to identify them and make use of them.  The more we understand and realize the need for the time, the more we understand and realize that how less we know and realize.  The less we understand and realize, the more we will be in darkness as the master said, “Why didn’t you put the money in the bank so that I may get it with interest? Therefore, take out from him what he has, give it the one that has more and throw this lazy man in the dark.”

We are all blessed with power of reason: reason to judge what is good, better and best; and reason to judge what is bad and worse for us and for whole humanity. We are endowed with dominion: a dominion to care take the other as stewards and shepherds. Only we have the unbridled freedom to be what we ‘ought to be.’ It is only we humans have dogmatic and conceptual approach to reality may be philosophical or theological. But, are we responsibly using these ‘wastelands?’ There are some people who felt and are feeling the need to be used and hence we call them ‘prophets’ and indeed they are. Are not all called to be so?

For some people the issues like, poverty, development, literacy have become the ‘golden egg laying ducks' and therefore they nourish it. For some, though they are endowed with power of reason are unable to grasp the pulse of it. Take the example of new BPL strategy: those who earn 32 Rupees per day are ‘Above the Poverty Line.’ The question is, can those people who formulate such laws live with thousand rupees per month in any given situation?

We need to re-define ourselves, our priorities and potentialities. We need to convert the ‘wastelands’ with us into ‘Paradises’. Woe to him thousand times who hides his ‘wasteland’ within himself.



Fr. Raju Felix Crasta

The   Play   Children   Play

O

n a fine Spring day, sitting in my outhouse was watching my neighboring house children Tom, Dick, Harry, Aslam, Saleem, Pinky and Rinky, all below ten years of age, playing in the playground besides the lake. As I was watching them, Harry may be out of some misunderstanding kicked little Pinky, the youngest of all, on her back. Wreathing in pain, Pinky started weeping. I was curious to know not the reason of Harry’s misbehavior but the reaction of the other children. Something beautiful happened then. Forgetting their play, the roles they were performing, all rushed towards Pinky to console her. Then a miracle happened. Within a few minutes, the yelling, weeping, sobbing, gloomy faces vanished. All started smiling and laughing. Pinky forgot her pain. All began to play another game.

As I was watching this, I was reminded of the Commonwealth games which Delhi hosted sometimes back. Almost all the commonwealth countries partook in it. All these countries who took part were once ruled by the British. Now, therefore, is it to ‘Unite’ all the subjugated countries together or to wipe away the scars which produced the subjugation and hence to give a touch of ‘Freedom?’  One may say, “The main purpose of Commonwealth Games is to increase economic cooperation, sporting spirit and peaceful coexistence among the participating nations” (see, Anushka Roy, “Commonwealth Games 2010: A Panoramic Overview,” http://www.articlecity.com/articles/travel_and_leisure/article_4499.shtml). It is true, that Commonwealth has become ‘Common-wealth’ or ‘profit making’ endeavor for some. The Hospitality industry, the ‘Techno-industry’ gains a lot in today’s National and International games. My concern is not this. Does the ‘Game’ really brings the ‘game-spirit’ or does it bring ‘co-existence’ in the real sense in the game the elders play?

The purpose of the games is to ‘unite’ all the commonwealth countries, to forget all the untoward feeling they have each other, to bring all together, a peaceful co-existence…. A noble cause indeed!

Spectacular inauguration programme made me spell-bound. The cultural programme depicted the unique art-craft, technology and culture of people. This was followed by the welcoming of the players. Players along with the team managers and representatives represented their respective countries with the Flags marched into the ground to a common rhythm and tune. Most of them were busy with their cameras to shoot the finest memories, some were busy in shaking hands with players of other countries, making friendship. Yes, they have forgotten the difference now! All have become ‘One!’  Like Pinky, they have forgotten their past…  But, for how long?

A question popped in my mind. Is this real game? Is this the purpose of the play? Children at the bank of the lake played spontaneously without any prejudices. No one won, no one lost. All were winners. Their play, simply came from their within. Though Pinky was hurt, she was not hurt at the end. She neither forgave Harry, nor Harry said sorry. What a contrast the play children play and the play, the elders play?

My thoughts went further as the days went on at the commonwealth games. Inauguration is now over, the game has already started. The players who shook hands for friendship are playing against each other as if they are the arch rivals. The ‘other player’ is seen as a rival, an enemy to be conquered. Not to forget, the managers are stimulating their players to retaliate and to be aggressive. More so, they are planning to defeat the other. Was that shake-hand which the players shook before the game, a shake of friendship or a shake of rivalry?

Yes, the whole world is God’s play-ground. We are here to play. But not like the play elders play at any arena. We need to play as the innocent children Tom, Dick, Harry, Aslam, Saleem, Pinky and Rinky play, without any guile. Even though they hurt, they don’t hurt, but love unconditionally. They don’t rejoice over the defeat of the other. They rejoice as a loving mother who rejoices when her son or daughter wins a race as if it is the mother who ran that race.

There is no distinction among the children whether they belong to higher caste or lower, black or white, rich or poor. All are one, all play as one family, as children of one family. Tom, Dick, Harry, Aslam, Saleem, Pinky and Rinky are all from different families, from different religions, from different cultures. Yet all are one.

Family is a play-ground where the members play. Each one has one’s own role in the game. One is a judge, the other player, third his opponent, fourth fielder, fifth supporter or usher… the list follows. Sometimes same person plays a double role or triple roles according to the demand of the game. Here too, no winner, no loser, but all win together. Thus all together build a home, a home of love.

PRAYING AS UNITED IN BODY-MIND-SPIRT

T

he Vatican has published the new revised Missal preserving the original spirit of the Latin text. As this missal is already being introduced to us, it is better to some of the signs and symbols such as standing, kneeling, sitting, genuflecting, procession, sign of the Cross, bowing, orans, prostrating, singing, praying is Unison, silent prayer etc. we regularly in touch with during our Eucharistic and other liturgical Celebrations. All these gestures and signs points to us a deeper meaning, our creatureliness before our Creator and therefore, there is a need to express our singular devotion not only with our Spirit but also with whole Body besides it helping us in greater attentiveness.

Standing

We do not welcome our guests sitting in a comfortable posture, rather as they approach we stand and show our respect. In some cultures like our Tribal brethren, we wash the feet or hands and apply oil and or Tika on the forehead of the guest as a mark of our respect. Traditional dictum behind this treatment is self-explanatory, “athithidevobhava,” the guest is god indeed. Besides this, as we do perform these acts, what is assumed in still deeper sense is our humility or humble gratitude towards that person or the act which is to be done soon. All these things can be aptly applied to the Eucharistic or Liturgical celebration. The priest is our guest and Christ is our unseen guest to whom we pay our honour and devotion to. We acknowledge the gift of life we received from Christ during the Sacrament of Baptism and our respect to him in the beginning of any Sacramental Celebration is the acknowledgment of the same. 

Kneeling

It is rightly said, “The shortest distance between heaven and earth is between heart and knee.” Knee signifies penance. In the past this meaning was so much stressed that kneeling was prohibited on Sundays  and Easter seasons as they were the time of Joy and Thanksgiving. But in the Middle Ages, kneeling came to be a sign of homage and adoration. Today this meaning prevails.

Genuflecting

Genuflecting is done by bringing the right knee to the floor. It is done to adore the Lord. Some people make the sign of the Cross along with genuflecting. Usually it is done as we enter and leave the Church or come in front of the Consecrated Body of Christ.

Bowing

Bowing signifies reverence, respect and gratitude. There are several instances during the Eucharistic celebration we bow our head. Specially during the recitation of Creed (at the words that commemorate the Incarnation), before receiving Sacred Communion, priest before celebrating the mass at the altar as a symbol of Christ’s Sacrificial Table and even during our speech as we pronounce the name of Trinity.

Prostrating

Though this posture is rarely used in the Liturgy, it has a deeper meaning and significance. It shows deep humility and willingness to share in Christ’s Passion, Death and Resurrection. It is done by the individual fully laying facing the ground. This is more Indian as we see the tradition which speaks of AstaangaPranayama in Yogic culture as a sign of Total Surrender. This is more meaningful during the Good Friday celebration and also during the ceremony of Sacred Ordination by the Ordinandi.

Sitting

In traditional Indian gurukul system, the student sits infront of Guru to learn and meditate the Word of God. In the similar way, as the Word is read and even broken to explain to us, we reflect and meditate the Word of God. Even the silent prayer and reflection also done in this posture.

Singing

“One who sings prays twice” says St. Jerome. By singing we not only raise our hearts and minds to God but also assist others to do the same. Thus it has both individual and communal aspect. Therefore it brings sacramental presence of God to his people. Singing is not only done in melodious songs but also in chants and dialogues as in the case of Holy Mass.

Orans

The priest frequently uses this ancient prayer posture, extending his hands to his sides, slightly elevated. Orans means “praying.” It invites people to pray along with the celebrant by surrendering themselves with uplifted hands to the Lord. It also gestures Christ’s outstretched arms as he offered himself on the Cross.

Silent Prayer

“Mary pondered over what ever happened in her heart (Lk 2:19).” In the similar way, we reflect and internalize whatever we heard and received. Therefore, there must be enough time in every Liturgical celebration for this. After every invitation to prayer, after the reading and sermon and or after receiving the communion there must be a time of silence.

Praying in Unison

During the Liturgical celebration, we answer to the prayers or invitation of Main Celebrant with proper answer in one voice. This is nothing but the communitarian aspect of Prayer.

Procession

Every Liturgical procession is a sign of the Pilgrim Church or a pilgrimage where we march towards our Heavenly Jerusalem. During the Eucharist we have several instances where we take procession: the Entrance rite, Liturgy of Word, Offertory and also the reception of Communion. Since it represents our Pilgrimage, the procession ought to be done with utmost devotion, attention and eagerness. It is an experience of being one with the Lord in the heavenly Jerusalem.

Sign of the Cross

The first sign of the cross is that which most people are familiar with, the gesture with which the Catholic faithful cross themselves. The symbolism of this gesture is twofold: first, the sign of the cross asserts the Christian doctrine of the Holy Trinity, and second, it affirms the doctrine of humanity's redemption through Christ's sacrifice. Catholics start the gesture their foreheads (In nominee Patris), touch their chests (et Filii), and then touch the left shoulder followed by the right (et Spiritus Sancti).This gesture is seen many times during Mass and in private prayer. It may have come from medieval practices, symbolizing Jesus' coming to earth from Heaven, His descent into Hell (the left being associated with evil) and Ascending to sit at the right side of God, the Father. The second sign of the cross is that which the priest uses to bless the congregation. This gesture is also large, and is inscribed in the air in the direction of the congregation. The priest makes this gesture several times during Mass and during other rituals of the church.

As Christians, our every action, work and prayer should begin with the Sign of Cross because on ‘this sign we find our goal.’ A sign of Cross made on the forehead, the lips and heart just before hearing the Gospel make our minds, lips and heart worthy to receive the Word. Just like a burning coal cleansed the lips of Prophet Jeremiah, so too a sign of Cross cleanses our mind, speech and heart from the impurities and make us worthy to receive the Lord’s Message. The Sign of Cross also remind us in physical way the Paschal Mystery we celebrate. Therefore, it is right and meaningful to make whenever we pass by any sacred shrines.

Conclusion

The Church fosters to preserve these signs and postures as a sign of unity. We are not free to change these postures to suit our own individual piety, rather these signs give unambiguous witness that we are all belong to one flock of Christ’ Body.

Reference:

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Poona Diocesan Life, Vol. XXVIII, No. 276.

PERFECT Vs IMPERFECT

This is a short anecdote with beautiful insights I came across recently and thought of sharing it with you. It gives a beautiful message for our life. We need to accept our life with all perfections and imperfections, with all joys and sorrows, with all good, uneven and narrow patches. This is our existential reality.

After a long day at work, my mother laid the table and put a plate of sausages and toasts that were very much burnt for my father. I remember waiting to see how he would react. My father, evidently, noticed it, but he took the burn out toasts and simply smiled at mom and asked me about school and the children.

I don’t remember what I actually said to him, but I did notice how he spread butter and marmalade generously and enjoyed the toasts. When I left the table that night, I remember overhearing my mother telling my father how sorry she was for burning the toasts so badly. I will never forget my father’s response:

“Darling, don’t worry about it; actually, now and then I enjoy toasts that are burned.”

Later that night, I went to kiss good night to my father and I asked him if it was true that he liked toasts that are over burned. He hugged me and gave me these reflections:

Mom had had a hard day at work, was very tired and, moreover, a little burned toast does not harm anyone. Life is full of imperfect things and imperfect persons; we must learn to accept the defects and be ready to celebrate the differences among people: it is the best way to build up healthy and lasting relationships.

Burn toasts should never break anyone’s heart. Understanding and tolerance are the foundation of any relationship. Always try to be more loving than what you think to be necessary, because every person, at this time, will be fighting some kind of battle. Everyone has problems and every one is learning to live; and probably life isn’t long enough for us to learn all we need to learn.

The road to happiness isn’t a straight one. There are many turns and twists called MISTAKES; there are traffic lights called FRIENDS, warning lights  called FAMILY, and everything can be achieved if you have: an extra tyre called DECISION, a powerful engine called LOVE, a good insurance called FAITH, in abundance; lots of fuel called PACIENCE, and, above all, an experienced driver called GOD.

Author not known

As I read this anecdote it questioned my own existence. We are created by God not as perfect being, but imperfect, marching towards the perfection. We are earthen vessels, brittle and feeble. Therefore, we need to accept others also as they are, just as we are. Mistakes are part of our journey. But there are traffic lights to light up when it is dark in our lives, warning signals when we are chilled, extra step in when our ‘going go’ punctures, extra-mile fuel in the form of love to speed up our velocity, guaranteed life insurance in the form of theological virtues, above all the experienced driver, Jesus.

LIVE THE WORD LIBERATE THE WORLD

There are thousands of youth who have not realized the worth of their life, lost in the world: do not know where to go or what to do. Yet they think they are in the right track. “Kao Pivo Maazaa Maro” (Eat, Drink, and Make merry) seems to be the motto of such people. What a tragedy! Some are ready to do something, but are unable, due to the circumstances. And some have the willingness to do or try to improve the quality of life of others, but they are seldom encouraged.  

“If you continue in my Word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." (John 8:31-32). We need to liberate the youth who are enslaved by various clutches of bondages. To liberate, we need to be rooted in the Word, need to be true disciples of Truth.  

John Paul II addressed the youth of Switzerland he asked them this question: “Dear young people don’t ask the question what is the truth? It is clear that Jesus is the truth. Ask the question who is the truth for you?” Make Jesus as your truth.

Read the Word and your world will change. The word of God has the power to lift you up from your wretchedness, from the sin. He loves the sinner and hates the sin. Peter writes in his letter why the youth stumble? It’s because they disobey the Word and go in their own way. "A stone that makes them stumble, and a rock that makes them fall. They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do” (1 Peter 2: 8).

Pope John Paul II again gave a call to the youth saying ‘do not be afraid to be the saints of third millennium.’

Today’s church & society needs young people who think positively. This world needs to be liberated from so many evils; on one side corruption, another side terrorism; communalism & casteism; environmental degradation & natural calamities; immoral acts such as abortion, homosexuality, lesbianism, fornication, adultery & suicides. All of these destroy the family values and the rich cultural heritage of our nation; as a matter of fact the human life & the world are in of great danger.

Lk 4:18 says “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, ...” He was very much clear in His Mission, God’s will of liberation.

Let us acclaim then,  “Here I am Lord, send me”