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Commentary of the Gospell
Mimesis
Scriptural passages sometimes serve as brilliant windows to human psychology too. Look at today’s scene: Wanting to know what name Zechariah would like for his son, his relatives and neighbors “made signs” to him. Zechariah was only mute; he was not deaf! They could have asked him simply and directly in words as he could hear perfectly! Instead, seeing him mute, they simply imitated his muteness, unthinkingly. Well, that sums up human history as well. As René Girard, a French-American thinker who is the proponent of mimetic theory (mimesis = imitation), has observed, we human beings are such compulsive imitators that we borrow one another’s desires as well, not knowing what to desire, and end up in all conflicts. Imitate, we must. It is in our nature. But we must imitate intelligently and the right model. Christ offers himself as this model: “Learn from me… and you will find rest” (Mt 11:29).
DECEMBER 24, 2022
Singing of Mercy
Zechariah’s words are powerful, because they emerge from 9-month long incubation of a God-experience in silence and prayer. There is one thing in common in the songs of Zechariah and Mary: a sense of absolute gratitude to God’s mercy that reigns supreme. “This is the work of the mercy of our God,” Zechariah declares. Such is the conclusion of anyone who has had a God experience. Ascetic Silouan the Athonite, an eastern Orthodox saint, arrived at great humility after long years of spiritual trials, and thereafter he prayed and wept for the whole world as for himself. One of his sayings goes thus: “Understand two thoughts, and fear them. One says, ‘You are a saint,’ and the other, ‘You won’t be saved.’ Both of these thoughts are from the enemy, and there is no truth in them. But think this way: I am a great sinner, but the Lord is merciful.” Soon we will sing, like Zechariah, celebrating this Mercy-Made-Flesh.
DECEMBER 25, 2022
Behold the Mystery!
In front of the greatest Mystery of all times, words fail. Silence, wonder, tears, joy are the natural expressions. There is just one thing we can do today: Behold the Word-Made-Flesh! Stand there at the crib in your church or at home. Take in the scene: The highest expression of God’s Love. The helplessness of a baby who is God. The vulnerability of God who is the most powerful. The Master of the universe becoming a cave-man. God of the highest heavens becoming a little child in the manger. One who sits on the throne of stars now lies on straw in a stable. The one who feeds the world now lies in the feeding trough, as food for the world…. Stay before the scene in absolute silence, take it all in, and then break into a song and hug those around you. For, today, salvation has come into our lives, hallelujah! Merry Christmas!
DECEMBER 26, 2022
A Copernican Revolution
In the narrative of Stephen’s death – the protomartyr of the Church – there is an extraordinary moment (which, incidentally, is left out in today’s first reading, but which we must consider). Verse 60 tells us that Stephen died asking God on his knees to forgive his murderers! This was extraordinary, because until then, no figure in the Old Testament had done so. Even the last prophet murdered in the OT, Zechariah, died cursing his enemies (cf. 2 Chr 24:22; Lk 11: 50-51). What caused such a Copernican 1800 shift in Stephen, and thereafter in every martyr of the Church who would do the same? Nothing but the grace of the Crucified who modelled for the entire world how to confront human evil with the powers of love. “Martyr” means “witness”: witness to this revolution of love Christ brought about. As Jesus promised, at such moments, it is the Holy Spirit himself witnessing to Christ, through them.
DECEMBER 27, 2022
John 2.0
John outran Peter and reached the tomb first; but he did not enter. He let Peter enter first and then followed him. That’s not the John we have known until now: This son of thunder was competitive – he plotted, with his brother, to siphon off the most prestigious seats in the Kingdom (Mt 20:21). He was rivalrous – he debated as to who among the disciples was the greatest (Lk 9:46). He was jealous – he silenced someone who was healing in the name of Jesus, just because he did not belong to their group (Lk 9:49). He was sacrificial – he wanted Jesus to invoke fire from heaven to destroy the Samaritans (Lk 9: 54). When and how did John learn to respect authority, give way to Peter, and walk behind? Perhaps he learned it in the Upper Room, at the first Eucharist. There, leaning on the breast of Jesus, John heard Jesus’ heartbeat, and emerged as a transformed man: John version 2.0
DECEMBER 28, 2022
Little Seeds of the Church
It appears that the birth of Jesus unleashed much violence in the world – we have a series of stories of martyrs following Christmas. Even today, as per available statistics, Christians form the most persecuted religious group in the world. Why does it happen? Such violence results due to the inability of the powers-that-be to stand the truth of the Gospel. The massacre of the Holy Innocents that we keep memory of today resulted because King Herod simply could not accept the birth of Jesus, whom he mistakenly took to be a challenger to this throne. The Gospel continues to be inconvenient for many in the world and they would do anything to silence its voice. However, as Tertullian wrote in his Apologeticus, “we spring up in greater numbers the more we are mown down by you: the blood of the Christians is the seed of a new life.” May the Holy Innocents sustain our faith!
DECEMBER 29, 2022
Waiting in Hope
Simeon is a symbol of the “waiting in hope” that the season of Advent was all about. He cherished a promise from the Holy Spirit that he would not die before seeing the Messiah in person. However, given the times he lived in, with its reduction of religion to mere ritualistic services and an easy commerce for the spiritual leaders, one would have least expected the Messiah to appear then. Moreover, when someone waits for a long, long time, the wait can get monotonous, weary, and less intense and alert; and there is every chance that one may miss the target when it appears. Not so with Simeon. He waited in hope with fresh eyes, and he recognized the baby-Messiah who came by in swaddling clothes. When we pass through dark times and the daylight seems to be a distant dream, may Simeon inspire us to wait in hope for God’s breakthrough.
DECEMBER 30, 2022
Being Holy Family
Read:
The Book of Sirach offers insights into how to be a ‘holy family’ where respect, love, kindness, and care reign supreme. According to Paul, when the word of God dwells at the center of our lives, the above virtues unfold in us. Matthew narrates the flight of the Holy Family to Egypt.
Reflect:
Becoming a holy family is hard work. The family of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus testifies to it. Joseph and Mary saying “yes” to God’s will did not magically make their life any easier. They had to live through poverty, homelessness, exile, near loss of the child, widowhood, and death by crucifixion…. Doesn’t this family sound just like some families we have met around? Or perhaps even our own families? That thought should console us and give us hope. If the Holy Family went through such struggles, our struggles are not exceptional. And if they survived them with trust in the words of God, we too can do so, making the word of God central to our lives. It must also impel us to be a word of God for the families around.
Pray:
Pray for a family that you know to be going through hard times.
Act:
Reach out to that family with a practical help that you can afford.
DECEMBER 31, 2022
In the End, it all Begins…
On this final day of the year, we recall the beginnings. For, every end is a new beginning, until we reach the One who never ends. Spend some time today reviewing the year passing by. The hopes and dreams with which it began. The challenges and concerns you feared. Did they all come to pass? If things were better than you had dreamed, thank God for the same. If they were worse, well, you have made it through, and hence, still thank God. There is always a new beginning. We can always start afresh. Hold on to the finger of God and prepare for a new beginning. And remember:
In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God.
In the end is the Word-Made-Flesh. And, in Him, we are with God.
It’s just the beginning.
DECEMBER 19, 2022
Zechariah’s Barrenness
How could Zechariah not trust God’s words? After all, both he and his wife belonged to a long line of priests. Surely, he was well-educated in faith and the long history of God’s interventions in history. Besides, he was a married man with the possibility of natural conception of a child, even though it wasn’t probable at their age. Further, God speaks to him at the Sanctuary, where God’s presence is guaranteed. Look at Manoah, an ordinary man with no scholarly claims: yet he simply believes the vision his wife had! The truth is, if Elizabeth was barren in the womb, Zechariah was barren in the soul – his faith was possibly more routine noise than substance. It was in the fitness of things that he must remain silent, pondering in his heart, so that his faith would mature and be born: for the same length of time it took the baby to mature in Elizabeth’s womb.
DECEMBER 20, 2022
Being Done
Look at Mary’s response: “Let it be done to me.” Mary was initially troubled at the greeting. Then she had honest questions about the viability of the proposal. But at the end of it, she has only words of surrender: “Let it be done.” She claims no full understanding of the project. But she knows that the agency of the project is with God whom she trusts totally, with her body, mind, and soul. This willingness “to be done” to her is the epitome of kenosis, emptying of one’s own will so that God can work in her. This is no static or barren passivity: it is a dynamic passivity within which the three theological virtues – faith, hope, and love – embrace one another. Jesus inherited the “best genes”: he had a Father in heaven as well as a Mother on earth who were all about unconditional and absolute self-gift.
DECEMBER 21, 2022
Believing God’s Words
Elizabeth praises Mary for having truly believed that God’s words would come true, unlike her own husband, Zechariah who couldn’t come to such belief initially. When we pray, do we really believe in its efficacy? There is a story about a bunch of parishioners who took to non-stop prayer vigils before a bar that was soon to open near their church. They prayed that the bar project would not happen. On the eve of its inauguration, the building collapsed inexplicably, and so was the project cancelled. The owner of the bar, an atheist, filed a case, claiming that the collapse happened due to the prayer of the parishioners and therefore, seeking damages from them. The parishioners counter-argued that the collapse was not due to their prayer. Imagine: an atheist who believed in the power of prayer, and a bunch of believers who argued against the efficacy of prayer! Blessed, indeed, was Mary; Blessed, indeed, are those who believe God’s words.
DECEMBER 22, 2022
Mary’s Advent Hymn
On August 15, we reflected on how powerful Mary’s Magnificat was. It was so potent that it shook earthly powers in several countries. Here is a reflection from Dietrich Bonhoeffer on the power of her Magnificat:
“The song of Mary is the oldest Advent hymn. It is at once the most passionate, the wildest, one might even say the most revolutionary Advent hymn ever sung. This is not the gentle, tender, dreamy Mary whom we sometimes see in paintings; this is the passionate, surrendered, proud, enthusiastic Mary who speaks out here…. This song… is a hard, strong, inexorable song about collapsing thrones and humbled lords of this world, about the power of God and the powerlessness of humankind. These are the tones of the women prophets of the Old Testament that now come to life in Mary’s mouth.”
Today, compose your own Magnificat, giving voice to the wonders God has worked in your life.
DECEMBER 23, 2022
Mimesis
Scriptural passages sometimes serve as brilliant windows to human psychology too. Look at today’s scene: Wanting to know what name Zechariah would like for his son, his relatives and neighbors “made signs” to him. Zechariah was only mute; he was not deaf! They could have asked him simply and directly in words as he could hear perfectly! Instead, seeing him mute, they simply imitated his muteness, unthinkingly. Well, that sums up human history as well. As René Girard, a French-American thinker who is the proponent of mimetic theory (mimesis = imitation), has observed, we human beings are such compulsive imitators that we borrow one another’s desires as well, not knowing what to desire, and end up in all conflicts. Imitate, we must. It is in our nature. But we must imitate intelligently and the right model. Christ offers himself as this model: “Learn from me… and you will find rest” (Mt 11:29).
DECEMBER 24, 2022
Singing of Mercy
Zechariah’s words are powerful, because they emerge from 9-month long incubation of a God-experience in silence and prayer. There is one thing in common in the songs of Zechariah and Mary: a sense of absolute gratitude to God’s mercy that reigns supreme. “This is the work of the mercy of our God,” Zechariah declares. Such is the conclusion of anyone who has had a God experience. Ascetic Silouan the Athonite, an eastern Orthodox saint, arrived at great humility after long years of spiritual trials, and thereafter he prayed and wept for the whole world as for himself. One of his sayings goes thus: “Understand two thoughts, and fear them. One says, ‘You are a saint,’ and the other, ‘You won’t be saved.’ Both of these thoughts are from the enemy, and there is no truth in them. But think this way: I am a great sinner, but the Lord is merciful.” Soon we will sing, like Zechariah, celebrating this Mercy-Made-Flesh.
DECEMBER 25, 2022
Behold the Mystery!
In front of the greatest Mystery of all times, words fail. Silence, wonder, tears, joy are the natural expressions. There is just one thing we can do today: Behold the Word-Made-Flesh! Stand there at the crib in your church or at home. Take in the scene: The highest expression of God’s Love. The helplessness of a baby who is God. The vulnerability of God who is the most powerful. The Master of the universe becoming a cave-man. God of the highest heavens becoming a little child in the manger. One who sits on the throne of stars now lies on straw in a stable. The one who feeds the world now lies in the feeding trough, as food for the world…. Stay before the scene in absolute silence, take it all in, and then break into a song and hug those around you. For, today, salvation has come into our lives, hallelujah! Merry Christmas!
DECEMBER 26, 2022
A Copernican Revolution
In the narrative of Stephen’s death – the protomartyr of the Church – there is an extraordinary moment (which, incidentally, is left out in today’s first reading, but which we must consider). Verse 60 tells us that Stephen died asking God on his knees to forgive his murderers! This was extraordinary, because until then, no figure in the Old Testament had done so. Even the last prophet murdered in the OT, Zechariah, died cursing his enemies (cf. 2 Chr 24:22; Lk 11: 50-51). What caused such a Copernican 1800 shift in Stephen, and thereafter in every martyr of the Church who would do the same? Nothing but the grace of the Crucified who modelled for the entire world how to confront human evil with the powers of love. “Martyr” means “witness”: witness to this revolution of love Christ brought about. As Jesus promised, at such moments, it is the Holy Spirit himself witnessing to Christ, through them.
DECEMBER 27, 2022
John 2.0
John outran Peter and reached the tomb first; but he did not enter. He let Peter enter first and then followed him. That’s not the John we have known until now: This son of thunder was competitive – he plotted, with his brother, to siphon off the most prestigious seats in the Kingdom (Mt 20:21). He was rivalrous – he debated as to who among the disciples was the greatest (Lk 9:46). He was jealous – he silenced someone who was healing in the name of Jesus, just because he did not belong to their group (Lk 9:49). He was sacrificial – he wanted Jesus to invoke fire from heaven to destroy the Samaritans (Lk 9: 54). When and how did John learn to respect authority, give way to Peter, and walk behind? Perhaps he learned it in the Upper Room, at the first Eucharist. There, leaning on the breast of Jesus, John heard Jesus’ heartbeat, and emerged as a transformed man: John version 2.0
DECEMBER 28, 2022
Little Seeds of the Church
It appears that the birth of Jesus unleashed much violence in the world – we have a series of stories of martyrs following Christmas. Even today, as per available statistics, Christians form the most persecuted religious group in the world. Why does it happen? Such violence results due to the inability of the powers-that-be to stand the truth of the Gospel. The massacre of the Holy Innocents that we keep memory of today resulted because King Herod simply could not accept the birth of Jesus, whom he mistakenly took to be a challenger to this throne. The Gospel continues to be inconvenient for many in the world and they would do anything to silence its voice. However, as Tertullian wrote in his Apologeticus, “we spring up in greater numbers the more we are mown down by you: the blood of the Christians is the seed of a new life.” May the Holy Innocents sustain our faith!
DECEMBER 29, 2022
Waiting in Hope
Simeon is a symbol of the “waiting in hope” that the season of Advent was all about. He cherished a promise from the Holy Spirit that he would not die before seeing the Messiah in person. However, given the times he lived in, with its reduction of religion to mere ritualistic services and an easy commerce for the spiritual leaders, one would have least expected the Messiah to appear then. Moreover, when someone waits for a long, long time, the wait can get monotonous, weary, and less intense and alert; and there is every chance that one may miss the target when it appears. Not so with Simeon. He waited in hope with fresh eyes, and he recognized the baby-Messiah who came by in swaddling clothes. When we pass through dark times and the daylight seems to be a distant dream, may Simeon inspire us to wait in hope for God’s breakthrough.
DECEMBER 30, 2022
Being Holy Family
Read:
The Book of Sirach offers insights into how to be a ‘holy family’ where respect, love, kindness, and care reign supreme. According to Paul, when the word of God dwells at the center of our lives, the above virtues unfold in us. Matthew narrates the flight of the Holy Family to Egypt.
Reflect:
Becoming a holy family is hard work. The family of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus testifies to it. Joseph and Mary saying “yes” to God’s will did not magically make their life any easier. They had to live through poverty, homelessness, exile, near loss of the child, widowhood, and death by crucifixion…. Doesn’t this family sound just like some families we have met around? Or perhaps even our own families? That thought should console us and give us hope. If the Holy Family went through such struggles, our struggles are not exceptional. And if they survived them with trust in the words of God, we too can do so, making the word of God central to our lives. It must also impel us to be a word of God for the families around.
Pray:
Pray for a family that you know to be going through hard times.
Act:
Reach out to that family with a practical help that you can afford.
DECEMBER 31, 2022
In the End, it all Begins…
On this final day of the year, we recall the beginnings. For, every end is a new beginning, until we reach the One who never ends. Spend some time today reviewing the year passing by. The hopes and dreams with which it began. The challenges and concerns you feared. Did they all come to pass? If things were better than you had dreamed, thank God for the same. If they were worse, well, you have made it through, and hence, still thank God. There is always a new beginning. We can always start afresh. Hold on to the finger of God and prepare for a new beginning. And remember:
In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God.
In the end is the Word-Made-Flesh. And, in Him, we are with God.
It’s just the beginning.