Do not worry about tomorrow

Ash Wednesday began the season of Lent, when the Church observes a 40 day period before Easter. Lent was earlier called the Quadragesima, which comes from the Latin word for forty. Lent means springtime. It is a time to renew our relationship with God - just like in spring everything blossoms with new life, so in our spiritual lives, we should blossom like new flowers.

Jesus said:

Ask and you will receive, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives and everyone who seeks finds, and the door is open to anyone who knocks.

Which one of you hands his son a stone when he asks for bread, or a snake when he asks for a fish? If you, then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will give good things to those who ask Him

Matthew 11:7-11

and:

Do not worry about your life, what you will eat (or drink), or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow nor reap. They gather nothing into barns, yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not more important than they? Can any of you by worrying, add a single moment to your life span? Why are you anxious about clothes? Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin. But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was clothed like one of them. If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith? So do not worry and say "What are we to eat?" or "What are we to drink?" or "What are we to wear?"

Matthew 6:25-32

The common thread in both sayings of Jesus is faith. If one has faith, one would not worry about tomorrow, trusting that God will provide. The sisters of Missionaries of Charity, to name a good example, do not have any income other than donations from people. They live out this trust in Providence, and their needs are actually provided for. How difficult it is to actually trust everything to Providence.

Fasting is a way to leave aside the worry about food, and remember God. It helps to foster solidarity with those who have little to eat. By fasting or abstaining from things that we like, we live out the message of Jesus, that "life is more important than food and the body more important than clothing". We come to terms with what we really are - creatures of God, who enjoy all good things because of His Providence and Mercy, not because of our merit.

Avoiding things of this life that give us joy is one way of living our the sentiment to God that our real treasure is not the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the things we enjoy, but God Himself. God is far greater than any of these. We have the gift of faith, through which we know, more surely than anything else, that God will keep His promise to grant us eternal beatitude if we are faithful. We hope that we will see God face to face and spend eternity with Him, and we live with that hope always.

Prayer in preparation for Holy Communion

Dear Eternal Father, I thank You for sending Your Son Jesus into this world. Lord Jesus, if an earthly bride can prepare herself so much on her wedding day, how much more should I prepare myself to receive You, who are most generous and loving. You, Lord are more perfect than any husband, giving Yourself to die on the cross for my sins. Help me to observe faithfully the fast before receiving You in the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist. Help me, Holy Spirit to prepare myself by remembering my sins, and help me to worship and adore the Lord with all my heart, all my mind, all my soul and all my strength. Help me, since only with Your help I can be faithful. I ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Prayer before listening to God's Word

"All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness."

Eternal and ever living God and Father, thank you for giving me the opportunity to listen to Your word. Send Your Spirit on me, so that I may know my faults and weaknesses through listening to this passage. Your Son, Jesus said:

"If you love God, you will obey His command."

Give me faith and love to carry out the lesson this scripture may demand of me, so that while I still have time, I may train and correct myself. May my sins be washed away through listening to these verses. I ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with the You and the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen.

The dignity and respect due to every person

Recently, the news channels brought to light, a violent attack by the Sri Rama Sene activists on women in a pub. Videos of them beating up the women, pulling their shirts were flashed. The women themselves reported being called by abusive names.

It is said that a society is judged by the way it treats its women. Mutalik, the head of the activist group, made a public statement saying that what was happening the pubs was not correct, saying that the attacks on the women was a good thing. I do not argue about the right or wrong of women drinking alcohol in pubs now. What I'd like to speak about is the dignity of every person.

In biblical history, events are recorded about the good and evil of many people. Adam and Eve, and Cain were given the freedom to choose good over evil. Adam and Eve were free to choose to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree. Cain was free to choose what he wanted to sacrifice to God.

God respected the freedom of these Biblical personalities. The people of Israel sinned many times. They broke the sacred covenant many times. God had a plan for them, that they would be redeemed if they turned back from their sins of their own accord. So God sent many prophets to warn them and ask them to repent. Finally God sent His Son Jesus, to save them from their sins.

Jesus loved the downtrodden in his time. He said his mission was to

bring good news to the poor,
proclaim liberty to the captives,
and recovery of sight to the blind,
let the oppressed go free

- Luke 4:18

Surely, it is much harder to stand up for the weak, but that's what Jesus did.

What is the highest form of social justice? Is it to treat people as a crowd, as numbers that make votes in an electorate? Jesus spoke of people as sheep. Does it mean that they were like a crowd to him, since they are a flock? Nowadays, the word flock is used as a collective, without specifying or stressing on the individuality of the members. However, in Jesus time, a shepherd knew his sheep individually. What this means is that each persons individual personality, uniqueness is treated as such.

Jesus words about his people are:

Whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep
The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice as he calls
his own sheep by name and leads them out.
- John 10:3,4

It is a very high form of respect to call a person by name, because a name is some thing that is very personal and individual to each person. It is something dear to a person.

My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
- John 10:27

Knowing in the Bible is to have intimate knowledge, a deepest bond. It implies great concern and care of a person.

I consider it a great honour to know Jesus and be called His own. And a great joy to follow him. To follow him is a challenge, constantly requiring expansion of oneself. He demands showing respect and treating people with dignity and honour. A true follower of Jesus will treat others like Jesus treated them, with utmost respect. If God treats us with so much respect, regardless of our actions, loving and forgiving us unconditionally, can we be intolerant to others?