Dissent and way forward

"If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea.  If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.  And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell.  And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.  "For everyone will be salted with fire.  Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it?  Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another." (Mark 9:42-50)

Many of us do not know the above Jesus; the man; the God, who exhorts his followers to cut their hand off, or their leg, or to tear out the eye which causes them to stumble. Gruesome !!! Jesus should be all about hope and love, the good things of life.... Well, in fact he is, but in order to achieve some, you lose some. And the whole drama of life is figuring out what is really important to us; what sustains us and what is dispensable. And what sustains us is not bread alone, but every word that comes from the mouth of God. Getting the right perspective, that is what counts then...

So it is very heartening to see Pope Benedict speaking straight from his heart at the homily during today's Chrism mass. 

This applies to the Catholicism of our country, England as well. We pride ourselves on our freedom of speech within the Church, and in many places, faith within the Church and in our families is pushed to the limits, in the name of freedom. Freedom of speech, freedom of thought and freedom of the diversity of human person. But as the Holy Father says, at times, we need to be very careful about when freedom turns into anarchy and if we don't have our eyes fixed on him in whom is the fullness of freedom, we may never realise when we go wrong.

In our zeal for change and progressiveness, are we shelving the "what-we-think-is-not-so-good" parts of the 'good news', and preaching a gospel according to me, Mr. Progressive ?

Feed my lamb..

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” 
“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

On the shores of Tiberius, early on a morning, when there was little hope, nor faith nor joy, a man commanded Simon Peter, "Feed my lambs"...

Wishes and prayers for all the 22 new cardinal designates, named by Pope Benedict the 16th during today's angelus. As a member of the Syro Malabar Church, I am especially happy to see the name of Archbishop Mar George Alencherry, also among the twenty two new cardinal designates. Congratulations to all and especially to Mar George.

It was also hugely uplifting to read the response of one of the cardinal designates, the Archbishop of New York, Timothy M Dolan to this news. As the New-york times rightly puts it, Archbishop Dolan is one of the rising stars of the Catholic Church in America. In his response, he says,

"let’s be frank: this is not about Timothy Dolan; this is an honor from the Holy Father to the Archdiocese of New York, and to all our cherished friends and neighbors who call this great community home."

It is precisely this no nonsense approach that makes Archbishop Dolan so endearing to most Catholics, especially the young of the Church. He is precise in saying that the office of the Cardinal is more about the Archdiocese of New York than about the person of Timothy Dolan and the same is the case with Mar George Alencherry as well. As the head of the Syro Malabar Church, this is a gift from the Holy Father and the global Catholic Church for the small church in Kerala, acknowledging and recognising us, even though we are, but a tiny drop in the ocean of the Holy Mother Church.

Although on the one hand,  this is not about the person of Timothy Dolan, or of George Alencherry, or of any one of the other 22, on the other hand, in a different dimension, ultimately, this is entirely only about the person who is being made the Cardinal. Well, this is a paradox, but this paradox is what Christianity is all about. Today's feast of Epiphany is about the coming of the three wise men, to pay homage to the "King of the Jews", the saviour of the world. Yet, every Christian who has experienced the love of God at one point in his or her life, 'knows' deep down, that Christ would have come down from Heaven and would have definitely died on the cross, even if it were to save me alone. The gospel is all about breaking the barriers of one's self in search of God, and when eventually I see Him in the face of my neighbour, I move closer to finding the God in me. The grain of wheat that falls down into the ground and dies, only to bear much fruit..

As Pope Benedict says, Christianity is all about a God who comes in search of man, a God whose heart is restless for man, and a Christian is one who realises that the man whom God is searching for, is me indeed. When God calls a person to a higher office, yes, the office takes precedence, and yes, there is grace given from above for the fulfilment of the responsibilities associated with the office, but most importantly, God is more concerned about the person and much lesser about the office. The love of God is searching out new ways to bring me closer to Him; to His Son, through His Spirit. The call of the above twenty two to this higher office is in one sense God's infinite love leading his children into the fullness of His knowledge. When I realise this, all I can do is stand in wonder and awe, and proclaim, "Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!"

O God, give your wisdom and power to your chosen ones that we may be your witnesses, where you have called us to be... 

Alter Servers

Last week Francis Phillips wrote an article in Catholic Harald about why she thought the "The Cambridge chaplain is right to accept female servers at Tridentine Masses". Coming from an Eastern rite (syro malabar), my understanding of the "divisions" between the EF and OF forms of the Eucharist was pretty limited until Fr Alban McCoy decided to allow female alter servers for the Extraordinary Form. Finally today morning, there was the official clarification from Vatican stating that girls are not allowed to serve at the Extraordinary Form of the Mass. For a change, its is good to see the Holy See coming out promptly with a clear directive to settle a matter of dispute.

During the course of the last couple of weeks, it was a little sad to see some of the comments from both the traditionalists as well as the reformists on the subject. Obviously both groups felt very strongly on the subject and confrontation to an extend, is understandable. In matters of faith and specially when the groups or the individuals involved, think or 'know' deep down that they are doing the will of God, then consensus is out of question and even reconciliation becomes very difficult. Pope Benedict says this in one of his books, "There must not be a communion in which the avoidance of conflict becomes the prime pastoral value. Faith is always also a sword and may indeed promote conflict for the sake of truth and love ". Therefore, differences of opinion in themselves is in no way wrong, in fact, it can many times be considered a sign of life in the Church. The problem often is, how do we try and address this difference of opinion?

Personally, I have always been grateful to Vatican II for introducing Mass in vernacular, as I find that it enables ordinary people like me to understand the prayers of the mass in a deeper sense, thus enabling every catholic to be part of the Eucharistic celebration in a more personal way. But I also very much appreciate the beauty, history and profoundness of the extraordinary form as well. One is entitled to his likes and dislikes, personal opinions and judgements, but as Blessed John Paul II so precisely puts it, "the person is the sole author of the(his) judgement, but he is not the author of its truth ". Just because I deem something to be right, might not mean that my reasoning is in resonance with the objective truth of the scenario. In such a case, it seems to me, to be quite unchristian to openly and publicly revolt against the decisions of the Holy Father and the Magisterium in matters of faith. If only we knew the meaning of 'obedience is better than sacrifice'. By openly rejecting a teaching of the Church, one is explicitly and quite authoritatively asserting that, "I know better" and above all, if this public contradiction to the teaching of the Church comes from a seat of authority, then it sends all kinds of wrong signals to the many people out there for whom you might be a role model, and very often, the only role model. "It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin ". Yet in my turn I too ask, "Not me, Rabbi, surely? "

This in no way imply that Christians must suffer the many injustices against us and the community. No. But every person who follow Christ should have the wisdom and humility to understand where his/her thoughts and actions cross the boundary of righteousness and ventures into egoism. If every one of my judgements and actions is dictated and determined by my perception of right and wrong (and mostly by my perception alone), then probably its time to expand my horizons a little. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.  

Veni Sancte Spiritus..

Priestly Celibacy

Watching and listening to Kate Flanagan talking about her husband (watch it here), Fr Ted Flanagan, a former Catholic priest, having had to chose between the 'two love of his life', and thereby, asserting that Priestly Celibacy is an outdated and outright foolish concept, made me a bit sad. She went on to quote a study done among British Catholics about Priestly Celibacy, which it seems said that 60% doesn't support it. I can only imagine the intensity of the psychological, social and emotional struggle that a young priest, Fr Ted Flanagen, might have had to undergo 49 years back, while he was contemplating that decision. And it wouldn't be a surprise if the young priest did not find too many sympathetic ears around him at this most crucial time of his life. Even those who might have listened may not have been too helpful. The Church has this uncanny ability to disappear when you need her the most.

Yet none of what she said, could explain to me why she told this at the start of her address, "My message to the Pope would be simple, Benedict get your act together; abolish compulsory celibacy". Ahem, I was not aware that PB16 was the one who introduced celibacy. But good that you mentioned Pope Benedict. In his lecture on the topic "Ecclesial Movements and Their place in Theology", as the then Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctorine of the Faith, Cardinal Ratzinger says this, "The Church explicitly emphazised the strictly charismatic character of the priestly ministry by linking priesthood with celibacy - which quite simply can only be understood as a personal charism and never simply as a quality of the office....The church cannot dispose of it as she wishes; it is not just there and cannot be set up or arranged by the church out of her own resources. It comes into being only secondarily through the Church's call; primarily it is through God's call to this particular person." Yes, it is primarily Gods call; realised in the charism provided by and through the spirit, renewing the priest himself and those around him, every single moment. As St Paul says, "Those whom he predestined, he also called; and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified." This call from above is the reason why JP2 said, Once a priest, a priest forever. Yes, Kate is right when she says God was or even is Fr.Teds love.

In this age of instant gratification, at times we overlook the fact that love demands sacrifice. Even the most pure form of love we humans know, a mothers love for her child, requires nine months of anxious wait where the mother's love lets her child take control of her womb; the love which gives strength to the mother through the many sleepless nights of care and protection; the many years of growing up and finally when he is ready to fly on his own, the love that manifests itself by letting go. John says Gods love is far deeper and harder to comprehend. If I love him, there are many things that I love otherwise, that I need to let go. But I reject all of them, not out of frustration and not at all, because the Pope and the church demands me to, but because I love him. In my teenage, I mistook passion for love and in my youth, ideology for love. As St Paul says, for now you see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. As I advance in age, love is slowly unraveling itself before me more and more clearly. And I understand now, I need grace, divine grace, to love; love as it is defined by God through Paul.

It was never my intention to make a critical judgment of Fr Ted. I do not know the circumstances or the realities of the time and situation; but I also think, it was a bit unfair of Fr Ted and Mrs Kate to make a judgment about priestly celibacy based their experience alone. That is not doing justice to the hundreds of thousands of priests, nuns and religious who have marched and are marching along this journey, faithfully, trusting in the providence of Jesus alone. Yes, they also feel tempted, they also feel at times that it is not worth it, yet, they walk in faith, in hope and in trust. From His passover meal to His last breath, all along the streets of Jerusalem carrying the heavy cross on his shoulders, He looked to the right, yet found no one who knew him, not even a trace of the Father he passionately talked about and in whose name he worked wonders. It was not the flogging that broke him, it was that feeling of being abandoned, whence he cried out, My God, My God, why have you forsaken me. All who have the courage to follow him, would at some point have to go through this abandonment. The above mentioned Church's ability to disappear seems less strange now.

At the end of it, it seemed a bit strange that Fr Ted did not talk even a single word. May be he was too frail. But as Kazantzakis's Francis said to Leo, "had it not been for grace, how far worse would I have been". The Mother Theresa's and the Francis's did what they did out of love for God, but also through grace that strengthened them. It is that grace that would lead every priest and nun and all those who are called to family life also, in their journey home. No, none of the vocations are easy. Harder still is the vocation to Love.