Luke 16; 19-31

Who are you like?

Anyone who believes in the Lord gets a call sometime or another in their lives and sometimes several times to identify themselves with someone in Biblical history. Today is one of those days when the Lord invites us to find out who we are truly.

If you do believe in miracles and God-cidences, if you believe how God in his eternal wisdom calls people to awareness of themselves before God, then today the Lord calls to one of them.

All the readings today calls the listen to identify who there are in this world.

• Are you the one who enjoys the finest things of life to pass judgment on those who do not have it. Do you count yourself to be blessed and great because of the wealth, fame, money and knowledge you have?
• Are you the one who grieves over the destruction of Joseph, the tribe and the people who is destroyed by sin of life. Do you have courage and compassion to call upon God to rescue the destroyed people around you?
• Are you the one who sets the prisoners free and opens the eyes of the blind? Are you the one who becomes the light in the darkness and destruction?
• Are you the righteous one who lives a Godly life which demands Godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness?
• Are you the Christ in today’s world who brings life to all things dead or going to be dead around you?
• Are you the haughty, angry, unforgiving, uncaring, ruthless tyrant who enjoys in the riches of their wealth, ideology, theology and knowledge?
• Are you the Lazarus who looks for mercy from the everyone around you?
• Are you the Abraham who challenges the dead and the living to live a righteous life without losing himself in the process?
• Are you Moses in today’s world who goes out to people who wanders away from God to return to God?

Today God calls us to act. Act like any one of the above and act like the one you identify yourself closer to and want to be like.

No matter who you are, if you believe in the Lord and believe in redemption, today the Lord calls us to action. Today is one of those days when the Lord calls us to become real in our faith and what we profess everyday.

Journey of faith is a journey of struggle. But ultimately we should be able to walk beside the Lord and say these in prayer. Please repeat after me:

Prayer

Lord help me to grieve over the destruction of the sinner.

Lord help me to be the light to the eyes of the blind.

Lord help me to endure and righteous.

Lord make me the Abraham who want me to be challenging.

Lord make me the Moses to speak the truth.

But above all, Lord make like yourself on the cross

Who brought life through death.

Amen.

Luke 16; 01-13

Godliness – Call of the Steward

Peace and dignity is a result of godliness. How do we become Godly? Where do we start and what are the secrets of Godliness?

After the days of creation and the days of sin, God searched for people to take care of his wealth. God’s wealth was more than the things of this world. God’s riches were planted in the hearts of people. Man had to nourish them and grow the riches that were planted within him. But again God’s wealth was more than the love that was planted within mankind. It was God’s dearest of all creation, mankind, that is you and me. In short God’s wealth was the people of this world.

How do we become the best in the world? It is already written in the creation narratives.

God made us all stewards of each other. God entrusted us with each other. Remember the days when God entrusted Abel to the care of Cain. What happened to Abel? Abel was killed by the keeper. The wealth was stolen from God’s hand. It was mismanaged by the person entrusted by God. Cain lost his purity. His jealousy and selfishness overcame him. He lost his dignity and Godliness. Charges were brought against him.

2000 years later we continued to fail to be the keeper of the brother. Then a nation, and a people rose up rose up and claimed their brother and sister. That is why we are celebrating the 50^th anniversary of America’s one of the most important civil rights victories – Desegregation of Central High, Little Rock, AR . Why? Because here men and women took ownership of the other. Brothers and sisters were entrusted to the care of the other and they took care of them. People of all kinds and colors gave their lives to achieve and proclaim this sublime truth. Getting to that point of truth was not an easy task for anyone.

The ugly head of this monster rose up again a few days ago. This is why people were outraged when a young woman was raped and beaten without mercy in West Virginia a few days ago. Men and women with a conscience and accountability, who are the stewards of God’s wealth, namely mankind, are outraged. Wouldn’t God be outraged? Is it not another Abel sacrificed by Cain-s of today’s society? Who is the keeper of the brother? Who is the keeper of the sister? Where is the faithful steward of the Lord?

We should be proud of ourselves, we should be proud of our people who had the courage to take ownership of their actions. Our people decades ago had the courage to be the keeper of their brother.

This is what was lacking in the people of Israel. The rich landlords, the wealthy class of the Jewish people oppressed the poor of Israel. They bought them with money. They made them slaves and considered them lesser human beings. God’s best wealth was trampled down on earth and those who were entrusted with their care misused it.

Do not plunder God’s wealth for the sake of self identified security and pride. Do not plunder God’s people for selfish ends. Do not give away God’s wealth to reap fruits of sin and selfishness.

Now the question therefore is how to become Godly? How can we stomp down the evil head of this monster? Become Godly, become like the Son himself.

1. Godliness is in the ability to recognize the wealth entrusted to our care. The greatest of all the wealth in this world is the human being in whose hearts God has planted seeds of love that can give birth to eternity.

1. Godliness is in the ability to live a truthful life. What Pontius Pilate lacked in his life was this, which made him ask the question ‘what is the truth’? It is a mirror that shows your inside out as God sees it. Truth is internal, external and eternal.

1. Godliness is a result of righteousness. Truthful living is making the unjust realize injustice.

1. Godliness is being accountable to God for the gifts and blessings we have received. The whole principle of being a steward and not the one we see in the story today is being accountable to the one who has entrusted to our care great and small things of this world. Regardless of the significance of what we do in this world, we are called to be accountable. Regardless of the smallness of the matter we are entrusted to, doing it faithfully we turn into Godly people.

Today we heard the story of the people of Israel who were are reprimanded for their unfaithful ways in keeping God’s riches. This story is not about money. But it is about true wealth, the Care Of Souls entrusted to the care of the chosen people of Israel.

In the first reading we find the way the people of Israel thought they could buy the poor to satisfy their greed. They thought they could trade men and women for some cheap coins. They thought they could buy the children of God with fancy sandals or thrifty nickels.

And then we read in 1^st Timothy the greatness of doing business with God. God does not trade men and women with the cheap coins made of perishable metal. God does not buy them with silver or a pair of sandals. God does not even care to balance the faulty accounts of mankind. God gives His Christ as a ransom for all. The price of each and every human was paid over and full to the brim and beyond human expectation reclaiming the best of all creation and the greatest of all wealth for Himself. God went beyond balancing human accounts to bring about an everlasting surplus.

Today’s story is the story of abundance of God’s grace and the poverty of man’s thinking. When the man was about to be sacked from his job and all that was entrusted to him, instead of turning to the Lord of abundance for mercy, help and kindness he turns to the poor man who do not have the abundance of God. He turns to the poor man for his future and security. He plays shrewd by giving the wealth stolen from the abundance of the master. He tries to buy security, safety and a home coming by buying the poor man giving him the portion of the master’s wealth.

Godliness is in the ability to become A Ransom For the Other so that the other will find God and be happy being with God. Godliness is in the ability to see the greatest wealth in the smallest of all human beings, and being faithfully returning to God what belongs to God.

· Being a good steward is the ability to recognize the greatest wealth – people.

· Being a good steward is the ability to be truthful in all things – letting God be God, and man be man.

· Being a good steward is the ability to respond to God with all our heart – weather what is entrusted is big or small.

Luke: 15: 1-10

God’s infinite love finds us all
God’s infinite care seeks for us.
God’s merciful love, God’s compassionate care
Makes all mankind whole once again.

Mankind was created to be complete and whole without the blemish of sin. In the days of Narnia, in the days of Garden of Eden human race was without the stain of sin. But then those days passed. Mankind moved into a time and space where the finiteness stepped into human experience and man struggled with it. Because the unlimited reality of time and space in which they were created and to be part of, became limited experience that they are not used to.

Adam and Eve, supposedly infinite creatures became finite overnight. Why because they tasted, as the story goes, the fruit of finiteness that decayed and rotted. They took into themselves the nature of finite matters and thus became limited beings with an end spanning to a few years. Unbounded and endless nature of man became bounded, limiting his freedom.

But in this story of losing infiniteness the saddest person was not the human being. It was the creator who made them to be infinite. For the creator made mankind to be His friends, children and companions in the creative work. God enjoyed the company of his friend. For God took an evening walk with Adam everyday. God conversed with him and his friend Eve everyday about the things he was planning for them.  Mankind was created to be co-creators with God. God discussed His plans and planets. God shared with man His dreams and visions for the millions of stars and galaxies . God enjoyed the silence they both shared and enjoyed the company of each other. He lost it. God lost his friends.

God was sad because God had great plans for Adam and Eve. He hoped for the days ahead when Adam and Eve, all their children and children’s children will become the joyful sound in the Garden of Eden. The music of heaven would be adorned with the sound of music from the throats of his children. Garden of Eden was his dream and his hope. God wishes to walk with man every evening. God’s love for His creation was and is for more than pleasure. God’s creative mind was excited for the possibilities of co-creation. He lost it. Man became limited in his imagination, limited in his scope, limited in his life. There came boundaries and limits in his mind. Colors became seven and sounds became seven. Limited numbers and spaces became the rule for mankind who were created to live without them. God lost his hopes for his sons and daughters to return on their own. 

God was sad because God’s love for mankind slowly pushed his infinite nature to take upon the finiteness of those whom he loved most. God became limited and bound by time and space for once. Because God’s heart was moved with compassion for Adam and Eve, who were created in the image and likeness of God. God’s heart ached. He was sad rather than angry. He was in grief and he mourned for the day he lost them. God promised to become finite to go along with his loved creation – the human race.

Then, God had to work things out. God planned his course of action. God meditated over the pros and cons of what his decision would bring. God prepared the way, thousands of years preparing to plunge into the finiteness of humanity where his loved creatures seem to travel easily. God watched them carefully day and night. He learned their ways. He understood their passions and desires. At times God became upset. For God so loved his creatures, he promised to let go of His infiniteness for a short while. God so loved mankind. God so loved mankind. God was upset because man get out of the pits he jumped into. God watched them helplessly. For it was not His realm. Limitedness was not God’s character. God struggled with man’s failure. But God’s love overcame His struggle.

Then God found a way to struggle with his pain and move closer to God’s people. God found men and women who could at least understand his pain and become his spokes person. God chose them who in their finiteness took time to experience the infinite character of their creator. People like Moses and Aaron walked with God and conversed with God. People like Abraham and Isaac took their time to go for an evening walk and sometimes days and nights with him. God became real again in the lives of people who had lost Him because of the intrinsic difference.

Moses became a friend of God. He spent his evenings with God. Moses loved God, he challenged God and he called God to change the course of His action. Moses reminded God of his own love for humanity. Moses invited God to walk with him like a friend. God enjoyed every bit of the challenge Moses threw at Him. For God was waiting for a chance to come down to the midst of his most loved creation in the whole wide world.

God realized mankind can not put up with delays – Moses was delayed and that is what man always is and God was never late, God was always with them. It is not in the basic nature of man as they were created by the omnipresent God.

God realized mankind can not put up with monotony of the world although in God always life was vibrant, new and creative as they are used to.

God realized mankind can not live without seeing His face as was in the days of Garden of Eden.

God could not keep away any more. Even though it was man’s sin that separated him from God, it became God’s need to love mankind as God saw how lost mankind was without God. God need friends to walk with. God need friends to talk to. God need friends to plan things. And again God saw how hard it is for humanity to adjust to the limited nature of this world as they are created to be without limits of the time and space. How terribly they miss seeing the face of God everyday in their lives. Thus it became God’s need to find us, who are lost. For God so loved the world, that God decided to take upon human nature that He can journey them to endlessness.

Walk with your children today, walk with them to heaven if you find them lost in the finiteness, limitedness of this world. For that is not their nature. Walk with them and walk towards God who is never late, never away and always creative. Let us get back to the Garden of Eden and take a walk with God.

Listen to the podcast of this sermon. Click here

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C & R by Fr. Jos Tharakan

Luke 24, 1-10
Easter day: 2007
Partners in Business

Today we celebrate Easter, the day of Resurrection, the greatest feast of the Christian Church that gives meaning from historical events that involved, a birth, a life, suffering, pain and even death and at the same time hope for future from an event historically significant, and wondrous. Events that happened in Jerusalem as depicted here by Luke also points to some of the basic practices we as a church are called to.

There are three beautiful stories here today.
1. The story of new dawn.
2. The story of rolled away tomb stone.
3. The story of the empty tomb.

The Story of a New Dawn

Darkness was leaving the earth. At early dawn, when the sun was breaking into a new day, the women came to see the Glory of God. Let us go back to the beginning of creation. In the beginning there was chaos and darkness and His spirit moved over the chaos and brought forth life and light. So this day is very significant as here there is a second creation beginning with a different focus. In this creative process God also takes his weak creatures partners in business. However both events regardless of who partnered with whom, God makes sure that when darkness is removed, there is a new dawn with a new life.

At the early dawn the women came to see the body of Christ. It is typical human behavior that we search for dead bodies. Instead of looking for new life and new creation every morning mankind looks for dead bodies. Read the news and watch the TV. The new dawn is suppose to bring new creation, new life, new love, a new world.

Let us be reminded that every morning we wake up is filled with great potential for a transformative process within ourselves. Let us not look for the dead but the living. Let us see the dead coming alive rather than oil the dead and wait for their corpses.

The story of rolled away tomb stone.

The women who were with him at his death, came to see his dead body. But they were surprised to see the rolled away tombstone.

The women who came to the tomb came simply because of their love for their dear one and also it was the custom of the people. Jesus was buried with all family ritual whereby a close family member provides a clean cloth, oils to cover the body of Christ. AS was the custom of the time, here comes the women to anoint him again, on the third day. So, in their minds they were expecting the corpse of Christ lying alone in the cave. They went after a dead man’s body.

Here comes the second and very interesting question. They found the stone rolled away from the entrance of the tomb.

1. Was the tomb stone rolled away so that Christ could come out of it? Or
2. Was the tomb stone rolled away so that the women could go in?

What do you think? Yes, the tomb stone was rolled away for mankind to enter eternity. Because may be this is what tomb stones mean.

• ” The tomb stone represented those that separate humans from God.
• ” The big and heavy tomb stone represented the sins of human nature that blocks the world of the living and the world of the dead.
• ” Tomb stones keep corpses inside and their spirits are trapped within.
• ” Tomb stones make bones and decayed flesh contained.

Before these women went to the tomb these were the events that should mankind should be ashamed of for a life time.

• ” Peter was ashamed and afraid to own his friendship with Christ. And so are we. We are afraid of owning our own friendships with God and others.
• ” John was ashamed and afraid to stand up for Christ. And we are afraid to stand up for our fellow men.
• ” Apostles were ashamed and afraid to walk behind Christ on his way to the cross. And we are reluctant to walk with people in their pain, suffering and death.
• ” The women cried their heart out but couldn’t help him. And we cry out for others and we fail to help.

So, on this day of resurrection this is what happened.

• ” Tomb stone that blocked their faith was rolled away.
• ” Tomb stone of shame was rolled away
• ” Tomb stone of fear was rolled away

Therefore in the final analysis tomb stone was rolled away by the power of Christ’s new life and was not rolled away by anyone but the new life. So the answer is, Christ had to come out of the tomb for He made the spirit and the flesh redeemable and redeemed and not to be destroyed. The stone, the sin, the fear, the anger, and all that block us from reaching God was rolled away once and for all.

So, Easter is a day when we are called to remember the experience of Mary and the women and apostles who ran into the tomb.

The story of the empty tomb.

This is the story of every new Christian and a faithful old one. The one who believes in Christ is walking into a new dawn of life. The spirit of God will hover over him or her and begin a new creation. At the early dawn of each day of their life, they will walk into the empty tomb of their yesterday and realize they are not dead any more or done enough to quit. They are called to live today. And if at the end of day if it feels like they are dying, be sure, the day of resurrection is waiting. They have become partners with Christ in his life, death and resurrection.

Apostles and those who followed Christ in all centuries went through death and resurrection.

But this day, they ran into the empty tomb to see the Glory of God. Their fear and their shame was melted at the new dawn. When the spirit of God hovers over us, when we step into a new dawn of resurrected people, there is a new creation and there is a new life.

So today, the day of resurrection should teach us two things.
1. The darkness of the night of our life needs to go before the dawn comes into life.
2. And every morning we have to walk into the empty tomb of our yesterday’s life so that we can be resurrected to give a new life.

Fr. Jos

Luke: 15: 11-32

Story of two sons of a loving father is widely understood as the story of the prodigal son, and speaks of the son who squandered all his possessions and inheritance in loose spending.

We also perhaps have heard that it is the story of the prodigal father rather than of the prodigal son.

Great compliment to humanity:

Today’s story of the prodigal son is an event where Christ gives a great compliment to mankind, which ties back into the whole story of creation where God created man in his own image and likeness. In last week’s reflection I shared how we are primarily divine than human. WE also learned that before we let someone down for whatever reason that we will think twice to whom we are going to say, that I won’t give you a second chance or may be a final chance. For God would. God always gives a second chance and even a third and fourth and even a final one with an extended period. For God’s love surpasses His anger and justice.

Here is a story that proves the several chances we get in our lives and at the same time, where God compliments us along with our second and third chances and invites to claim our identity. In saying this story to his disciples Jesus uses a beautiful phrase. When the son who squandered all his money in wasteful living, “He came to himself”

When a man or woman comes to himself or herself he or she comes to senses. Or when a man or woman comes to himself or herself he or she comes closer to God recognizing his or her life in the past and the need to be closer to their Father, who is God himself. So, when a man or a woman is in himself or herself is closer to God than ever. This points to the eternal truth that we are the living tabernacle of God, all of it created in his own image and likeness and when we find that God within us, we come to our senses and when we come to our senses we come closer to God.

Isn’t this wonderful to know that to be a better person we don’t have to go on searching all around us but within us and come and get in touch with ourselves. For God lives there. So, today’s first lesson for us is to pray this small prayer. Recite it after me as I pray this.

God bring me to myself, to my senses.
God bring my father to himself
God bring my mother to herself
God bring my son to himself
God bring my daughter to herself
God bring my friends to themselves
God bring my neighbors to themselves
God bring humanity to themselves
That we may see You within ourselves first
That we may see You in others
That we may live a life filled with love. Amen.

Make this prayer to the heavenly father who is all love. Make this prayer to the Father who complimented humanity for being essentially divine and close to God than away from God.

So today as we reflect on the prodigal son, let us take into heart the nature of the prodigal father who expends all his love without reserve to us sinners. This story came alive to be a great compliment to mankind, because there was a father, a great creator who believed in humanity and empowered mankind to take on the job of recreating love on earth.

How did that happen? What exactly happened here when the son returned?

The returning man had made a decision whether he wants to be part of the family or not. The younger son who returned with a contrite heart decided, knowing fully well what he had done, that he shall not ask for anything other than the place of a servant who does not have the right to be recalled for work for another day. He said, he shall not even be called a slave or servant for a servant is part of the family and food is secured. So, with deep humility and contrite heart the second son admits his failures and accepts all that is due to him as a sinner and a son who broke the law. The younger son was not prepared to seek a second chance with the father for he knew in himself, when he turned to himself, what he had done against the magnanimous love of his father.

Even without asking for it, the father goes out of his way to give him a second chance. Father didn’t stay all those years angry and mad for what his had done. He didn’t forget his younger son because he was away. He had his hearts eyes upon the son who was away from his household. He didn’t judge him, fear him, or was angry at him, but rather loved him, loved to spot him even from far in his blindness of the old age.

So, when the son returned, he had no time to waste to treat him like a stranger and a criminal. He was not an outcast because of his sins. He only was lost and he is found. He didn’t even allow his son to talk a word of apology to him at first. At the sight of his son, he ran to embrace him, he called out to his servants to make a feast on the return of his son. He went out of his way to pacify his older son, the angry brother. The angry brother…. That is for another day or two for us to reflect on. Now the father called all his family to make a feast and clothed him with honor and power.

By giving him the robe, the father announced to the entire family that he is honored member of his family. By giving him the ring he announced that he has the authority of a son in his family. By giving him the shoes, he gave him freedom. Wearing shoe was considered the sign of freedom in the world of slaves.

According to the tradition where I grew up when a man and a woman is married, it is customary that the man adorns the woman with a beautiful dress during the service and then a beautiful ring on her fingers. As the service in the church is over and return home the mother of the groom or bride will wash the feet of the one coming into her home and give him or her the freedom of a daughter or son.

So, today my dear brothers and sisters as we go away from this holy place, remember this:

o We are called to come to our senses by returning to our inner selves where God made us beautiful and divine beings. Come back to your senses.

o We are called to give honor, power and freedom to people in our homes and in our lives.

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© 2007: Rev. Jos Tharakan. Requires permission to reproduce. Email: fathersjos at gmail.com

As For yourself, Do it now

Luke: 12:6-9

Today Jesus is sharing a beautiful parable with his disciples, the parable of the vineyard where a man planted a fig tree. There are some great lessons the Lord is teaching us today.

1. God gives us a favored place. We all have experience of gardening, farming and growing plants in our backyard. It takes a lot of time and energy to do it. However it is one of the most rewarding experiences. I don’t do it as much these days, which I regret as I used to while in the seminary. Making flower gardens and planting fruit trees were such a wonderful thing because you see the beautiful flowers and fruits in different seasons. Similarly when this man planted the fig tree, he expected to reap the fruits in due season. But he was disappointed when he came to collect the fruits. Because there were no fruits. So will I be if all my hard work has been wasted. If all the plants and fruit trees didn’t flower or fruit.

God in His eternal wisdom planted us in the right place where we should bring forth fruits and flowers of the spirit. We were specially favored and cared for. We were chosen from the very beginning and planted us in a place that would bring fruits of salvation and redemption to ourselves and other around us.

So, this is all what the Lord is trying to say, we were specially chosen and set apart as was in the case of the fig tree. We were not a mistake. We were planned and nourished to bring forth fruits of love, compassion, care and understanding. Our souls were laden with great potential so our favored position will bear much fruit.

Lesson: Become aware of the unique call we are blessed with. Much will be expected of us as much is given to us.

2. God calls us to avoid disaster. No matter what happens each day at the end of the day, let us be useful to someone and bring forth fruits. Or else the Lord is very clear that he wants to cut down the tree. He wants to bring an end to it.

Lesson: If we are not useful and bring forth fruits of spiritual life, that day will come like a thief without warning and we will not have a chance to change. Make life fruitful and useful or else the day of disaster is closer than we think.

3. Life is brought about through risking one’s own life. There is not a single human being on earth that has come to this world without risking someone else. Every man and every woman is here because someone else at one point was willing to give up their life for him or her. The very fact of our life demands sacrifice as that is how we came about. Anyone on earth does not get to that point of giving life to someone else without risking one’s own comfort and life. So the fruits of our life demand a life changing act of self sacrifice.

A young student, who watched a generation of microscopic being born and die made a decision that he will never be a weak link in the course of this life cycle.

Lesson: Never become a weak link in this cycle of life.

4. God gives a second chance in life. This fig tree was about to be cut down and the keeper of the vineyard said, No Lord, Please let me nurture this tree for one more year and if it does not bring forth fruits then you can cut down. You know it went on for three years already. Second chance is given to most of us. If only we are open and willing to take the second chance we will bring forth an abundance of grace and blessings to people around us.

Lesson: God gives second chance, so shall you. Give second chance to people and never deny it. Many people respond better to second chance as life has taught them new lessons from the failures of the first chance.

5. God also gives a final chance. Look at this, the fig tree was given another year. The master had been coming over and over for the last three years. Now the fig tree is given a last chance to bring forth fruit. So, are we. God in his eternal mercy and love, continues to give us chances over and over. God in his love for us never abandons us after one sin or failure. God’s love is greater than sin and even that of a mother.

The Lord says: Even if a mother forgets her child, I will not forget you.

Lesson: Take nothing for granted. Waste nothing when given a second chance. Give a last chance to someone. And for yourself, do it now.

• Today God is calling us to rejoice over our favored position.
• Today God is calling us to live a useful life
• Today God is calling us to sacrifice our life
• Today God is giving us a second a chance to bring forth fruits of love
• Today God is giving us a final chance and asking us to do the same

And as for yourself, DO IT NOW

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© 2007: Rev. Jos Tharakan. Requires permission to reproduce. Email: fathersjos at gmail.com

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

How many among us would like to be poor?
How many among us would like to starve to death?
How many among us want to live without clothes to wear or roof over your head?
Do we have a desire to control our lives, businesses or whatever?
Is there a desire to control things around us?
We often come up with the answer, absolutely not.
I don’t have any desire to control anything around.
One of my friends always asks me this questions and I always gives this answer.
I am not trying to control anything or anyone

There are four ways to look at the word poor:

1. As poor
2. Someone who has no influence, money or power
3. Because no influence downtrodden by others and oppressed by men
4. Because he has no earthly resources has completely put his trust in God.

How can we become a pilgrim in this world of tourists?

This is the beginning of discipleship. Namely:

” Trusting the foolishness of God in the death of Christ that brought salvation
” Trusting in a God who could not protect his own son but brought salvation
” Entrusting everything to God blindly like Jesus: into thy hands I commend my spirit

One day there was a wandering monk. He collected his bread and water from people, went around the villages, praying for people and slept under the trees. One day when he came to a village a poor villager came running up to him and said: ” Give me that stone. Give me the precious stone”

The holy man asked him what stone is he talking about? He continued, last night I had a dream and in my dream the Lord said, go to the holy man who sits at the outskirts of this village under a tree. Ask him for the precious stone and that will make me rich.

The holy man searched in his bag and pulled out a stone and said to himself, “He probably meant this one as he handed it over to the villager. I found it on the forest path a few days ago. You can certainly have it”. He looked at the stone and was amazed as it was the biggest diamond he had seen and it is worth millions in monitory value.

He took the diamond and walked away. He could not sleep all night thinking about the stone and all that would happen to the stone, the money that would come to him and on and on. In the morning he came back to the holy man and gave him back the stone and said, ” Give me the wealth that makes it possible for you to give this diamond away so easily”

This is the beauty of poverty in spirit. It is not the lack material wealth that a person poor. It is the awareness nothing on earth can make him rich and it is God who makes everything possible.

” The hope of the poor shall not perish for ever (Ps: 9: 18)
” God delivers the poor. (Ps: 35: 10)
” In thy goodness, O God, thou dids’t provide for the needy. (Ps: 68: 10)
” He shall defend the cause of the poor of the people (Psalm: 72: 4)
And on and on.

God is talking about a person who has put his or her entire trust in the Lord. Who has accepted divine will and God’s will.

There is a French proverb:

“When you die you carry in your clutched hand only what you gave away”

” Poverty in spirit is the awareness that I can not do anything with out God
” Poverty in spirit is the knowledge that I can not save myself.
” Poverty in spirit is the awareness that I can not push back my own grave to salvation
” Poverty in spirit is the knowledge that I am helpless and God is the helper

Therefore pray for contented mind. A man is blessed with what material possession he has but rather how happy he is with what God has blessed him with. When his or her heart is in God all around him becomes nothing but worthless objects as the precious and biggest diamond you carry within you is God himself.

Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven!

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© 2007: Rev. Jos Tharakan. Requires permission to reproduce. Email: fathersjos at gmail.com

Today as we are celebrating the Baptism of Jesus, the Lord is inviting us to become a covenant people like Jesus through whom God’s covenant was fulfilled. While Jesus baptism was a fulfillment of God’s promise, God is seeking a lot more of his children to continue the legacy of Christ in this world. For God called us by name, created us in his image, made us heirs of heaven, and thus invited us to become like his own son, by being righteous.

But why did Jesus get baptized as Jesus was born without sin? Jesus was without sin. Baptism was for the sinners. This always puzzled me. I didn’t understand the reason for Christ the savior to be baptized by John, who after all was a simple prophet lesser than Christ himself.

Baptism of Christ was a fulfillment of God’s promise to humanity that I will be with you everyday of your life.

Baptism was a way of understanding and sharing human frailty without sharing in the sinful nature of humanity. Thus God can understand the pain, suffering, anxiety, sadness, and all the negative things human world goes through. How can you redeem a world if the redeemer does not know what he is redeeming one from?

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:15-16, NIV).

Baptism is a call to righteousness:

At baptism God claims us publicly. He calls us publicly to live a righteous life. This is what he intended for his Son and so shall all who are baptized. This is what the proverb says about a righteous man. “The lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous” (Prov: 15: 29)

Baptism is a call to Spiritual Security:

At baptism when a person called into righteous God is calling him into a strong tower of safety. “The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run into it and are safe” (Prov: 18: 10)

Baptism is a call to Boldness:

Through baptism one is called to stand up boldly in the eyes of this world. Regardless of what happens to oneself, to speak the truth, to live the life to be kind and just.

“The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion”. (Prov: 28: 1)

Baptism is a call to Shine forth like God’s own child.

“The righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matt: 13: 43)

How did Christ live this righteousness?

“a bruised reed he will not break,
and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.”
He will not grow faint or be crushed
until he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his teaching.

Here is our call

Do not again break those who are already broken. There are lots of broken hearted around us. Broken by sickness, poverty, pain, loneliness, abandonment and sinfulness. They are already broken and marginalized. They don’t need to be broken again. There are a lot of people out there who are marginalized by their personalities, spiritualities, orientations, and others over which they have no control and is inherent. Their dimming flame of life is the light you share. Do not dim it and make their lives dark again.

Baptism of Christ entrusted us with certain challenges.

1. Through baptism we are called to become a miracle working people. Miracle is the ability to see the obvious and present. It is not the ability to see the extraordinary. Miracle working people are those who can make others see what is present, here and now, so that one can live today.

2. Through baptism we are called to remove the blindness in ourselves and others. Blindness is a state of mind rather than a state of body. Blind people can see better sometimes. They hear you and see you through without seeing your figure.

3. Through baptism we are called to bring out the prisoners, including ourselves from the bondages of sin, fear, guilt, anger, un-forgiveness, self-righteousness. Prisons are always self made. There are no prisons outside of ourselves. Nelson Mandela was a free man in his jail cell for 25+ years. When he became a free man he was able to give freedom to thousands of others. Thus freedom is within. Prisons are those feelings that we hold on to for dear life, so that we can scorn at someone else.

4. Through baptism we are called to give freedom to those who are sitting in the dungeon of self-righteousness.

5. Through baptism we are called to bring light into the dark corners of people’s lives.

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© 2007: Rev. Jos Tharakan. Requires permission to reproduce. Email: fathersjos at gmail.com

Christmas is a historical event and a story that showed unquestionable courage to a world that is scared of everyone around to everything beyond and a story of faithfulness towards a world without a savior.

It is a story of courage because everyone involved in it had to step into darkness to bring to fulfillment a promise that was made out of love for humanity. It is a story of hope because those who made the promise kept the promise teaching us promises are to be made and kept in life for the worlds Savior to be born today.

Christmas is a story of courageous stepping into a world of uncertainties to keep the promises one make. It is a story for every person who sometime or another makes a promise, and works towards keeping it. It is also a story that gives hope for everyone in darkness and fear.

Looking deeper we find, those who involved in it needed lots of courage to make it happen when it happened two thousand years ago. Here is a small quote from Max Lucado forwarded to me by Bette Ann a few days ago.

God the father:

It all happened in a most remarkable moment….a moment like no other. God became a man. Divinity arrived. Heaven opened herself and placed her most precious one in a human womb. The omnipotent in one instant became flesh and blood. The one larger than the universe became a microscopic embryo. And he who sustains the world with a word chose to be dependent upon the nourishment of a young girl. God had come near. (Max Lucado)

How many of us are willing to give our precious child to a young girl who is 13 to take care of for life? How many of us can let go our precious possession, our flesh and blood to be taken care by a day care worker who is not mature to think for herself? It required courage from the part of God the father to trust humanity, trust this young woman to do a good job. God said to himself, “Do not be afraid. They are created in my own image and likeness”

God the Son

All of us have heard stories of alien abduction. Or at least people who are scared of alien abduction. Whether it is real or not, some are scared of it. What are we most scared of being abducted by an alien? We are frightened because there is nothing in common between me and a Martian who abducted me. I don’t know if I can talk, eat, breath and on and on. It is a fear of not knowing what is common to both that scares most.

Jesus came into an alien world. Yes of course we are created by God. But we don’t have all the qualities and nature of God. So, Christ being fully God and fully human, needed an enormous courage to say Yes to the father to be cared by an Alien, and be born to a young one.

How would you like to be cared by an alien? How would you feel if a Martian took care of you and brought you up? I am sure you will learn the language, adjust to the culture, understand the nature and on and on. But intrinsically it is a hard struggle. But for Christ, yes it was his nature to be human, except in sin. And we got that plenty around us. So adjusting to a world with sin, for someone without sin, required a lot of grace and courage if it was a willful choice. It required a lot of compassion towards us. Interestingly compassion is a result of courage one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit.

God the Holy Spirit

Some of my friends have a favorite sentence that they use in their email communications with me. “Come Holy Spirit”. You know what happens when we invite the holy spirit? Someone is going to get pregnant: Pregnant with Christ. There is going to be a birth. There is going to be a new born. There is going to be a savior in this world. If you are not serious about it, don’t call on the Holy Spirit. Every call on the Holy Spirit will and should bring Christ alive through you over and over again.

There is a big work cut out for the Holy Spirit. He or she has to get into this creative mode again with an immature, young woman. If you are an artist, musician, or let us say anything for that matter if you have an experience in what you do and the one you are working with does not, it can drive you nuts.

This is why we have our bosses. They think they know it and they think we are not yet there. So, working with a person who is still in the process of maturation can be challenging. To be sane, to be non-judgmental and caring at the same time requires a lot of patience. To bring out the savior through an immature, frivolous person can be challenging. Who can venture into that area except with the grace of courage? Creativity or Creative process is a courageous stepping into claiming our lineage with God.

Mary from Nazareth

Mary was a young 13 year old! She was a baby herself. How could she have had the knowledge, wisdom, and maturity to bring a child, a God-Child, into this world? Yes, if you are an immature, promiscuous and playful person for the sake of fun getting pregnant is one thing. However according to her culture, if found pregnant before marriage, the punishment is death by stoning. She knew it and she has seen many such things happening around her.

What would you feel if an angel appeared to you tonight and said the same? Had I lived in that culture I think I would jump out of my skin before I have a chance to think about it. Fear will overcome you, I would think, if you knew what would happen to you.

God’s grace was plenty then and is now. God’s grace was sufficient for Mary to say “yes” to the angel. It was a courageous step for Mary.

Letting Holy Spirit bring forth a Savior today through us is how we are letting Mary’s response of “ecce ancilla Domini fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum” (I am a servant of the Lord; let this happen to me according to your word) become part of our heritage.

She was told, “Do not be afraid Mary”

Joseph from Nazareth

Talk about being an introvert and a quite person. Joseph was a good, silent, sweet person according to writers of the bible. He had a dream and there he heard the girl he loves is pregnant! In the same dream he also heard it is not his, but of God! He must be nuts to believe it. He certainly was overcome with fear for what is going to happen to Mary, whom he really loved, but did not sleep with.

If you are a man you know what woman would if you talk of dreams all day long. It is not easy for a man to ask for directions. He will drive and drive until he gets lost. Talk to him about dreams. He would be thinking about super bowl behind the back. Bring to him a romantic comedy? You might catch him asleep half way through. This is man. Nothing bad about it. So, to behave other way around, requires courage. A lot of it. Specially if you have someone around you who talks a lot about dreams.

By letting dreams and visions, inspirations and intuitions talk to us, we are letting the mystery that shrouded Christ’s Birth relive through us again. Allow your dreams and listen to your intuitions. Many times our hearts are blessed with divine knowledge if only we can be STILL.

He was told “Do not be afraid Joseph” And so he heard.

Shepherds in the field

Let us think about the poor shepherds in the field. I will jump out of my skin if in the middle of the night a group of “ghosts” (Spirits) appear to me and sings, and even if they offer me a chocolate cake. Besides shepherds are kind of outcasts in the society. They don’t live in societies. They lived in the fields with their sheep, may be with others of the same kind. No one of importance paid a visit to them.

Now the angels come and say that the King of the world is here and they got to hear it first. When you are downtrodden, when in society you are considered an outcast, hearing such news first, won’t be that of excitement, but rather fear. For they are already terrorized by the existing leaders, and here comes another one. So, the angels said,

“Do not be afraid. Don’t be afraid of us being here. Don’t be afraid of the news we are going to say. Don’t be afraid of anything around and beyond.”

Where will you find your king? In a manger! It is hard to believe, but their courage brought them to the manger to find the greatest of all kings in the world.

All these basically points to one thing i.e.,The message of Christmas is a message of courage. Christmas is a season for courageous actions and fulfillment of promises. It is an invitation to walk away from fear. Fear of anything in this world.

We live in a world of terror and fear.

Fear of Terrorists,

Fear of Wars
Fear of Famine
Fear of hunger
Fear of poverty
Fear of neighbors
Fear of races, cultures, sexes, orientations, differences.

We live in a world of broken promises and unfaithful relationship. So, Christmas is a season that should remind us of the courage God himself required and the rest of the ‘clan’ needed for the savior to be born.

Let us also be reminded that if not for God’s faithfulness in keeping promises we will be still part of the dust of the earth without a hope for resurrection. Let this awareness make us courageously keep our promises in life.

Merry Christmas.