“ON EARTH AS IN HEAVEN” (Matthew 6:11)

Rev. Fr. Augustine Vallooran V.C.

Christmas is not merely a commemoration of the birthday of Jesus Christ. There is a personal and salvific significance in this event. It is the answer of God to the eternal longing of the human heart for heaven. It is at Bethlehem that heaven descended on earth to become a reality for the entire human existence.

   

Gazing upon the manger, the novelist Hemingway wondered if what had happened at Bethlehem was birth or death. If it were birth, it should have been the beginning of life growing into full glory. However what really took place in the manger was the complete emptying of divine glory, signalling in fact, the beginning of the end of life. The Son of God had shed all His divinity to take on the human form. The Almighty had chosen to become a most helpless baby. The eternal God has chosen to be confined by the vicissitudes of time. The Creator has opted to become the created. This decision of God’s, St. John calls, Love. "God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life." (John 3:16)

“This Life Was The Light Of The Human Race” (John 1:4)

Behind this Divine descent into the earth, there was a purpose that everything on this earth may have the Fragrance of God. No wonder had Jesus asked us to pray and the only prayer He had taught us was for everything on this earth to reflect the heavenly reality - "Let it be done on earth as it is in heaven."

 

The Divine Light that shone on the earth was eclipsed by the rebellion of man against God. Darkness spread as a result. There was darkness in the heart of man who lost even his self-esteem. Man was going into hiding, lost in shame and a sense of inadequacy to present himself before God. There was darkness overwhelming man’s relationship with his companion and he started fault-finding and distancing himself from her. Material nature was in revolt against man becoming oppressive, denying him even the fruit it would yield as a matter of course, exacting from him sweated toil to feed himself. The earth was giving forth thorns and thistles hurting his existence. Humankind was languishing oppressed by this darkness.  

Jesus started His public ministry inviting everyone to the Kingdom of God, promising that God would wield authority over everything affecting humankind. All that man was called to do was repent which meant turning over to God, surrendering his life. When a paralytic was brought to Jesus (Gospel of Mark Chapter 2), the Lord asserted for everyone to hear “that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” (Mark 2:10)  He publicly absolved the sins of this man and gave him healing, asking him to get up and walk. That is what Jesus did with all cases of oppression and different illnesses when those affected turned to Him. When the elements of nature rebelled and rose as a storm in the sea, He brought calm with a Word (Matthew 8:26). The ultimate act of Jesus to redeem human relationships restoring love, was the washing of the feet of the disciples during the Last Supper (Gospel of John Chapter 13), thereby washing away all stains of hatred and pride, dissension and discord accumulated over the centuries in the human heart. He gave the command of love initiating a new warmth in the human family saying, this would be the seal of their connection with God. “I give you a new commandment: As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. It is by your love that all will know that you are my disciples.” (John 13:34-35)

“The Kingdom Of God Is In Your Midst” (Luke 17:21)

Wherever Jesus went and in whatever He saw, He perceived the reflection of the Father's Love. He looked up to see the birds in flight freely over the horizon and He was reminded of the Supreme Love of the Father for every man and woman. It is the Father who feeds them, He pointed out, reasoning that, if the Father was so concerned about these birds how much more He should be about us. In the lilies of the field He saw the fruit of the Father's caring gaze. So meticulously were these flowers arrayed, that even the grandeur of King Solomon’s attire could never match the splendour of these. It is the Father’s Caring Providence that fashions them so beautifully. How much more He would be mindful and caring towards His children, Jesus reasoned (Matthew 6:26-30). He was instructing men and women of all times in the way to life - freed of all stresses and bondages by trusting in God’s Loving Providence. This in no way meant that one could afford to be lazy or irresponsible. In fact, in the parable of the talents, He illustrates with emphasis that laziness is wickedness and that everyone is compelled to hard work and be responsible in the degree of the capabilities given to him (Matthew 25:14-30). Yet one cannot let the beauty of life be lost in the scorching heat of the earthly rat race. Rather, the focus of life should lead us to be enthralled by the captivating Love of our God.

When a woman had invited Jesus home for a meal, He had observed her kneading flour in the kitchen after adding a pinch of leaven to the mass of flour. His perception was that even as the leaven transformed the flour so would His Father’s Love permeate the hearts of all men and women slowly but surely (Matthew 13:33). This was the certitude in His Heart that the transformational Love of the Father would prevail and usher in the whole mankind and the world into the Light of the Kingdom of His Heaven. Sharing this assurance to the disciples, He bid them to continue to proclaim the Love of the Father and become agents of God’s Kingdom. As the leaven works in the dough, so should the Love of God in our hearts do, becoming a power that would transform our generation.

As Jesus stepped out and was passing by a farm in the Judean countryside, He saw a farmer sowing seeds in the routine of his field work. He observed that while some seeds fell on the ploughed field and ground made fertile, some seeds went to waste, falling on the wayside amidst thorns and thistles and on rocky ground (Gospel of Matthew Chapter 13).  It struck Him to point out the parallel that the Word fails to touch and transform some because the disposition of their hearts was inappropriate. However, there was His prompt reassurance that God’s word would surely find receptive hearts.  

“The Light Shines In The Darkness And Darkness Has Not Overcome It” (John 1:5)

 

 Even in life’s certain seemingly negative realities, Jesus could discern God’s Passionate Love which would not forsake humans in their folly but draw out of these dark experiences the Grace of the Father’s Redeeming Grace and Goodness. One can sense the Lord’s immense Mercy stretching out to embrace the wretched sinner in the cry of the Father, “How can I give you up, or deliver you up, my people? My heart is overwhelmed, my compassion is stirred.” (Hosea 11:8)  Jesus speaks of a judge who so unmindful of God and of neighbour, used to be ruthlessly unjust but relenting to a hard-pressed widow’s persistent pleadings, gave her justice just to be rid of her nuisance. Narrating this parable, Jesus concludes how much more attentive the Compassionate, All-Loving Father would be to those calling out to Him in their distress. (Luke 18:1-8) 

There was nothing in this world that could remain impervious to the Love of the Father. Jesus notices a parent indifferent to the son. He would then go on to describe that however wicked a father might be, he would never give the son a serpent when the boy would ask for a fish, or a stone when the child hungers for bread. From such a situation Jesus raises our attention to the generous Love of the Heavenly Father who waits to give His very Spirit to His children (Luke 11:9-13).

The sole intent of Jesus was to mould the vision of His disciples in such a way that all that they saw when they looked around would raise their hearts to rest on God’s Love. He was impressing upon the disciples the one truth that no human situation, however hopeless it might seem, should drive them to despair; rather their hearts must be able to perceive God’s Hand moulding it to usher in the Kingdom of heaven.

“See What Love The Father Has… That We May Be Called Children Of God” (1 John 3:1)

 

The youth at the time of Jesus, as at any other age, would have been up to rebellion, insistent on their way in life and often rushing into disaster. Jesus gave them a new hope in the Love of the Father.  However devastated by their sinful ways, the Father, Jesus assures, would be waiting to receive them and restore to them all that they had lost, as His Grace alone could do. That is the message in the most-loved parable that Jesus had narrated of the Prodigal Son (Gospel of Luke 15). Even in man’s rebellion of sin, God’s Love would not abandon man. His Heart is in search of those lost, just as the Good Shepherd goes after the stray sheep to bring it home to the celebration of heaven. His Love does not take offence and cannot remain indifferent to the plight of the rebellious. His Heart cannot rest even if a single person were to be lost in sin and grief.

Just as no aspect of human existence would remain excluded and set apart from the Father’s all-embracing Love, so would every strain of human sickness and suffering be embraced by His mission on earth. During His pursuit to bring about the Kingdom of God on this earth, the Lord would prophesy twice that when He is lifted up on the Cross, He would draw all men and women to His kingdom (John 3:14,15; 12:32). The misery of suffering resultant from sin in every moment of human history enters Him and is told on Him. He took it all upon Himself. When He was betrayed by Judas, all the agony of human deception coursed through His Heart. The grief of every human person devastated by a trusted friend’s betrayal or a spouse’s unfaithfulness would break the Heart of Jesus at that very moment. When He was condemned most unjustly by Pilate what Jesus suffered in His Heart was the desolate pain of all men and women in history who were unfairly treated and punished. When He offered Himself to be flogged at the pillar, what bruised His Body was the sum total of pain borne by the sick and the suffering. When He carried the Cross on His shoulders, what weighed His Body down was the burden that was and would be carried by every human person traversing this valley of tears. The moment of the Passion and the Death of Jesus contained in itself all the agony and isolation of death that every human must face. The Lord chose to be one with every human person of every generation by identifying Himself with every strain of suffering they had to endure. Salvation flowed out from that moment of Calvary over the length and breadth of the history of humankind. That was the moment of the realization of the prayer that Jesus led us to say - Father, Thy Kingdom come!

Before Jesus would ascend to His Father, the disciples seek to know from Him the hour when the Kingdom of God would be established on earth. Jesus, however, would respond that what was achieved by Him was to be completed by their witnessing, “You shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)  He would clarify that this ministry of spreading the Kingdom of Heaven all over the world was to be carried out in the Power of the Holy Spirit. The disciples took up the task that is the task to be continued by everyone who believes in Jesus.

Heaven came down on earth at the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. Heaven was experienced by everyone during His ministry on earth. The mission He had accepted from His Father was consummated on the Cross. The task remains for all of us to carry forth the graces received from Bethlehem to Calvary and to spread the Kingdom everywhere. Until every blind person sees and every paralytic gets up and walks, until every broken-hearted person is comforted and everyone enslaved in sinful bondage is liberated, until darkness is dispelled from the hearts and lives of all, the mission begun in Bethlehem should be pursued by those who have received the Good News of great Joy that was declared on the Night of Christmas. The sky that brightened up at the Birth of Jesus should remain glowing, declaring to all humankind that the Peace of the Reign of God has come to prevail on earth!

Let Us Pray

O God of Heaven we welcome You to this earth and to our hearts and homes. You love us so much You could never abandon us in the darkness of our foolish ways and helpless pain. You come to save us. Because of Your Love and Compassion for us, Heaven has come down and Glory fills the earth. Give us the Grace that even when everything seems to go wrong, we may be firm in the confidence of faith that You are there with us and You will turn everything for our good.

As we bow before You to adore Your Loving Kindness to us, we pray open our eyes that we may see the Wonder of Your Love that fills the earth. Open our hearts to receive everyone with love and honour as You did. We pray that in our hearts, our lives and this earth, Your Perfect Will shall be accomplished as it is in heaven. Come, Lord Jesus! Come!

Amen

“MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME?” (Psalm 22:1)

Rev.Fr. Augustine Vallooran V.C.

What is most deafening to the human consciousness is the silence of God. We hear the psalmist crying out, “How long, O Lord? Wilt thou forget me for ever? How long wilt thou hide thy face from me? How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?” (Psalm 13:1-2)  Greater than the trials in his life is the faith that ensures his triumph – a faith that makes him consider the unchanging nature of God’s Love. “But I have trusted in thy steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.” (Psalm 13:5)  It is this faith that will ensure the victory that lies hidden in every seeming defeat. This is the indeed the purpose of our faith.

“Who Ever Called Upon Him And Was Overlooked?” (Sirach 2:10)

Often, we are lost wondering why God should be so indifferent to our prayers and our problems. We believe and we pray because we have the Scriptural exhortation - "Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.” (Matthew 7:7)  This is a promise that the Lord Himself urges us to take on and yet there are moments when we ask and nothing is given; and when we knock and the door of Heaven seems tightly shut. Often we look for His Face and God seems to be far away from us. The song of the psalmist strikes a chord with our situation, “For thou art the God in whom I take refuge; why hast thou cast me off?” (Psalm 43:2)  When things go wrong with our lives we are upset and we are unable to understand how this could be so – after Him promising that He is there all the time - waiting to answer our prayers. We feel like complaining as Martha did, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” (John 11:21)  Scripture however continually assures us that God gives us promises that have the in-built certitude of fulfillment. “God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change His mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?” (Numbers 23:19) There is a mystery here and this is the mystery of faith!

 

There is a very moving passage in the Gospel that unveils this mystery of faith. It is the incident where a Canaanite woman approaches Jesus seeking a healing for her daughter who is possessed by demons (Matthew 15:21-28). A desperate mother meets with an indifferent Lord! Apparently rejected, she perseveres in her faith and wins the Lord’s Favour and the daughter’s life. The evangelist records that Jesus withdrew to the Canaanite region of Tyre and Sidon when this pagan approaches Him for a healing. He seems strikingly indifferent to the cry of this poor Cannanite. Here is a woman in her misery crying out to the Lord, “Master, son of David, my daughter is tormented by a demon. I can’t see her suffering like this, have mercy on me.” Jesus would seem impassive and unmoved and there is not a word from Him in response. Even the disciples appear more sympathetic towards her and plead her case, “Please Lord, do something for her. She’s calling after us.” The response of Jesus sounds like a discordant note from the compassionate disposition of the Rabbi they had all along walked with: “I have been sent only for the lost sheep of Israel. This is a pagan woman who does not qualify for my attention or for heaven’s graces.” Undeterred, this woman rushes to Him begging Him, “Please Master, have mercy on me.” The Lord gets even harder as He now takes on a despising tone remarking that “The bread of children is not thrown for the dogs.” Even then the distressed mother does not take offence but continues to plead, saying, “Master consider the poor dogs. Where will they go? They wait for the little scraps falling from the table of their master.” At this moment Jesus turns to applaud her, “Woman, great is your faith, let it be done for you as you wish.” (Matthe 15:28) One is kept marvelling what the singular greatness of the woman’s faith could be. Her faith becomes remarkable for she was ready to wait upon the Lord and to cry until the Lord would answer her. She did not rebel in anger or walk away in despair. She did not slide into self-pity. Faced with this seemingly adamant attitude of the Lord ignoring her plight and her plea, she did not question the Lord. Rather it was a deep and profound faith in the Lord that sustains her. “The prayer of the humble pierces the clouds, and he will not be consoled until it reaches the Lord; he will not desist until the Most High visits him, and does justice for the righteous, and executes judgment.” (Sirach 35:17)  In this Canaanite woman, we see a humble and patient waiting and an unquestioning belief in what God can and will do for the seeker. She is rejected yet she continues asking, knocking at the door, seeking until her prayer is answered. This firm and determined adherence to the Lord marks the greatness of her faith. She was not tired of praying or impatient in waiting. She continued to have her trust in God. If she had followed her senses she would have thought that the Lord had no intention of saving her. But the depth of her faith was superior to the great challenge before her! Jesus exemplifies this as the faith for every one of us claiming to believe in Him.

“He Has Made Everything Beautiful In Its Time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

Scripture assures us that if we are ready to wait upon God, we will never be disappointed. He will answer our prayers. Our waiting can never be in vain when it is the Lord whom we wait for. The evangelist John describes how Martha felt defeated when the Lord made her wait. “Master, I sent word to you. I waited for you. But you did not come. Now you arrive and my brother is dead and buried for four days in the tomb.” Jesus exhorts her to the way of faith - “Did I not tell you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” (John 11:40) Martha rises to believe and she indeed saw the Glory of God. To everyone waiting, the Lord gives the assurance that the glorious will be manifested. To believe in God requires of us to wait on him biding His Time.

It is often that we want things our way. We are intent on God honouring our timetable. We are puzzled why there is not God’s instant answer to our prayer because our expectations are set in a time frame of our life which we have fixed. It would be good for us to pause and consider whether we are really sure that what we have planned would be the best for us. When we thus wait giving God a space to speak into our way of thinking and living, we will mature in faith. Waiting always releases maturity into our lives. St. Paul explains this, “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us.” (Romans 5:3-5) It is during suffering that we must wait for the Lord. It is in such maturity of waiting that our suffering can be transformed to joy.

The mark of one’s spiritual maturity is one’s singular focus in the Lord. One’s eyes are set on Him and one’s life is entrusted into His hands. I need to be totally surrendered to God’s Plan in the implicit confidence that God’s Time is the best time for me and God’s Plan is the right plan for me. There is often a childish immaturity in our hearts. The child cries when it wants something that catches its fancy and is insistent on it being given immediately. The parent, however, knows that the child’s demand cannot be complied or given in to at that instant. There must be a reason to it which is beyond the child’s comprehension. This is what often happens to us, adults though we may be. We need to wait upon God and when we do so we are told God is waiting for us. The prophecy of Isaiah gives us a beautiful picture of the spirituality of waiting. “Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you; therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him.” (Isaiah 30:18)  In our waiting is our blessedness. 

“Blessed Are Those Who Have Not Seen And Yet Believe” (John 20:29)

 

There is a commonly seen, superficial thinking which holds that if we are right with God, all things must go well with us. If things went wrong, we begin to doubt our own selves and doubt God’s own Presence with us. This was the predicament of Job, the man of great suffering, who at one point, wondered what had invited such tragedy into his life as he mourns - “If I sin, what do I do to thee, thou watcher of men? Why hast thou made me thy mark? Why have I become a burden to thee?” (Job 7:20)  When we strike a bad patch and experience a difficult time, we are terrified imagining that it is an extreme test to our faith. God’s Word is there to assure us that there is a Divine Purpose behind every such trial and suffering that we are put through. It is the trial by fire, the attestation of our faith by which we shall bear the fruits of maturity. In the journey of our lives, we are bound to traverse occasions when circumstances will be unfavourable. In such moments, it is our mature, consummate faith what will enable us to hold on, never giving up on God. How can we establish ourselves on this sure foundation of a firm faith? St. Peter affirms that it is the trials of life that will prove us and make our faith a precious asset for us - “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while you may have to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold which though perishable is tested by fire, may redound to honor Jesus.” (1 Peter 1:67)

One cannot speak of faith without referring to the patriarch Abraham. Abraham is a man whom God tests to the extent of being led to the readiness to sacrifice his only son. Abraham waits on God to the last moment. In fact, it is only in the last split second that God intervenes. Abraham was ready to go the way the Lord had set for him even if it meant the most painful sacrifice of his one precious son. His faith made him submit to what was God’s Will – “Though I do not understand, I believe God understands and I am ready to comply with the plan of God.” He takes his son Isaac, climbs up the mountain. Along the way, the son turns to ask the father “Dad we are going up to the top of this Mount Moriah to offer sacrifice. To burn the offering there is the firewood, to kill the lamb we have the knife, but where is the sacrificial victim?” Abraham’s heart missed a beat. Definitely he could not tell the child, “Son, you are the victim.” Abraham turns and tells his son, “God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” (Genesis 22:8)  They go all the way to the top of the Mount Moriah. Abraham picked the stones, built the altar, spread the firewood and with one leap took hold of the boy. He pinned him down on the altar and tying him up took the knife and raising it up cried out to Yahweh. The next moment Isaac would be dead, blood would gush out of his wound, a wound inflicted by his own dad. The sacrifice of his son was his own sacrifice. But that was not to be for in that last split of a second God intervenes, calling out to him “Abraham, it’s not your son that I want. It is you that I want, your undivided heart. Now I know you love me in truth for you care for me more than for your own son.”

 On Mount Moriah, Abraham became the ‘father of all believers’. We too have such Mount Moriahs in our lives where our faith is tested towards the goal of maturity. Then our faith will become an inspiration for hundreds and thousands of people around us.

There have been times when we turned to God seeking a healing from a burdensome sickness, a crucial success in an examination, a breakthrough in a tough situation such as a financial crisis and God intervened. We rejoiced and praised God! But the crucial factor is whether when what we asked was not granted, we would still be able to praise God. Would I be able to praise God even when I cannot find God?  St. John of the Cross speaks about the dark night of the soul. It is revealed how Blessed Mother Teresa of Kolkata spent months and years where she could not even feel the Presence of God. She complains to God, “God I always obeyed you. I did things the world would not understand all because I looked to Your direction. But now I am unable to go forward. I am stuck. God, where are you?” A great woman of faith who waited upon God through long dark years of spiritual dryness. She was made to go through this long sojourn in darkness to be made mature. To believe is to know that behind the darkness and the silence, God is there waiting to show favour to me. In such maturity of faith we shall become an inspiration to all.

 “Although He Was A Son, He Learned Obedience Through What He Suffered” Hebrews  5:8-9)

 

Scripture clearly reiterates - there is but one process of maturation in faith and that is to wait in suffering. We are told that when we suffer and our prayers are not answered, we must wait patiently for God, for indeed God is counting us as His own children (Hebrews 12:5-8). The Father knows that the children are to become mature. Maturing is a painful process that involves many sacrifices. Someone who wants to run for the Olympics has to wake up early morning, day after day, month after month, year after year and run and practice so that the muscles, bones and the entire body become matured  - making the person fit to run and win the race. There is a process of sacrifice to achieve the much-coveted greatness. Similarly this Scripture explains that our sonship is testified by the seal of suffering. If everything we ask for were to be granted, it could be a question mark on us as to God’s concern for us which would not allow us to be spoilt. We spoil a child by granting everything that it asks. But if we have a vision for the child’s well-being, there has to be discipline as well as restraint on the child by which alone the child could be moulded and perfected. It is for our own sake that there are times when God waits and these are times we have to suffer want, humiliation, poverty and failure. But we do not wait alone. God waits with us; watching us overcome the test and reach maturity where our lives gain beauty and value. A chosen person is called to be trained in the school of adversity. “If you come forward to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for trial… Accept whatever is brought upon you, and in changes that humble you be patient. For gold is tested in the fire, and acceptable men in the furnace of humiliation.” (Sirach 2:1-4,5)  Therefore we rejoice for every adversity becomes for us the assurance of God’s Special Favour and choice for us!

Let Us Pray:

Lord God, You love us. Your dream for us is as tremendous as Your Love is. Beyond what we can imagine or understand is what You have prepared for us in Your Great Love. Yet, O Lord, there were times we could not understand or accept Your Love. All we could see and insist on was our way. When sufferings came we rebelled against You. We thought You were absent. We imagined Your silence was a rejection. But today we know You never gave up on us even when we gave up on You.

We treasure every moment trial and pain for You were with us and in Your great unchanging Love, You continue to walk with us, transforming us into Your own glorious image. We thank You, Lord, for the seal of Your Love that is upon us. Indeed O Lord, we marvel at how great Your Love is for us  - that You should call us Your own children. In this confidence of love, O God, we will take up our cross and glorify You with every breath we have.

Amen.