Easter - brings to our mind thoughts of New Life!
On Easter eve, I have sets of news items - good and bad - relating to life.  There is the news of Sr. Merin Paul CHF, a nun retiring from the post of headmistress, donating a kidney to one Mr. Shaju, belonging to some Hindu community. Re-affirming the claim of Christians as resurrection people. Shaju is getting new life, thanks to the bold decision of Sr. Merin Paul.

One practical step of being a resurrection people is to be a conscious and willing donor.  A parish where everyone has pledged one's organs to promote life.  Not necessarily now, but at least after our death, which has to happen some time or other.

On the other hand, we have before us various communities facing threat of life - Syria, various pockets of middle-east, Kashmir, Afghanistan, Egypt... there is Fr. Tom who is still under the custody of terrorists.

We repeatedly pray during the holy week about Jesus redeeming the world through his suffering and cross - വിശുദ്ധ കുരിശാലെ വീണ്ടു കൊണ്ടു . Are we willing to be co-redeemers with Christ in offering our very many sufferings, some of which cannot be wished away? Some of which still remain in spite of our prayers and efforts and pray with our Lord, 'not my will, but thy will be done'?  Can we take a cue from the lives of Sts. Teresa of Lisuex and Alphonsa of Bharanaganam, who rose to sainthood by means of their suffering which they dedicated to the redemption and conversion of many?

It is a feast of Joy.  Hence with St. Paul in Phil 4:4, we echo, Rejoice in the Lord.  I say again, rejoice. Jesus speaks of a joy that no body will take away.  Jesus says in Jn 16:27 When I meet you again, you will rejoice.
When you meet Jesus again - we meet Jesus typically in the Holy Qurbana, in our community sacramental celebration.  But are we able to meet him again? Especially when we step out? In the sacrament of our fellow beings, in the sacrament of other beings of the planet. If and when we are able to 'see him again', 'meet him again' in such presences, as did John, at the sea shore, saying that 'It is the Lord!', then we will rejoice, and our happiness cannot be taken away.  For that we require such a vision.
Our community celebration, our christian fellowship, our communion should help us to see Christ in the most unexpected contexts.

Thirdly, Easter brings us 'peace' as the risen Lord's gift.  In the letter to Philippians, it is said, 'offer your needs through supplications, prayers and praise' and then the Lord's peace which transcends all y our imaginations shall be yours.
In the holy mass, this experience is given to us in 3 stages - as the abiding presence in the word of God; just after we have offered ourselves together with the Lord in the symbols of bread and wine and finally after the rites of reconciliation - with God, humans and planet - we are made ready to call God our Father.

Fourthly, this Easter experience is a challenge and a call for each of us to 'rise up' and to 'rise above'. Rising up, everyday and everytime, from our falls and failures; rising above our petty thinking, petty minds to the realm where the Lord reigns, and the Lord lives.   Hence the call during the mass, 'Let your minds be on high' or 'Lift up your hearts'.  This going beyond is symbolised in the mass, by the initial 'removal of the veil' and the singing of resurrection hymn which reminds us of Jesus' victory on the cross, where at his death, the veil preventing our entry to the Lord's place, was torn, and Jesus went beyond the earthly boundaries to the realms of the Hades and is said to have liberated the souls imprisoned there.

Lastly, Easter reminds us again of 'life and life in abundance' (Jn 10:10).  It is Christian call to maintain life, the gift of God, and all that supports and sustains life.  While we laud people who donate blood and organs, and perhaps, start feeling bad that we are going about with two kidneys, we ignore the more basic duty of ours to maintain life and prevent those situations that lead to the destruction of life - that is a call to preserve, protect air, water and soil, greenery.

When we learn that 9% of Kerala population is under stress and is likely to be victims of depression, we have to rethink about the life-styles we live and ensure that we are there to change our lives for the better; we are there for others and for life.  We are there to listen to one another and support them

May Easter be truly a feast celebrating life, promoting its abundance by being ready to spare or at our end, donate one's organs, by raising our minds and hearts to God's own realm, by rising above our narrow limits daily, by rejoicing in the Lord, and meeting Lord again and again, everywhere and in everything and by finding and realising God, our peace!
Happy Easter!

April 25, 2017 Tuesday St. Mark

I was invited to offer Novena Mass in preparation for the feast of St. Joseph, the worker at Kadavanthra.  The liturgy was dedicated for environment workers (activists?).  Do I belong there? 

In the gospel, Mark chapter 16, it was about proclaiming the good news. Are our salutations genuine, and bear the good news that I am there for you? 

Is our coming, our being a good news for others? 

Is our human/christian presence a good news for the planet and life, in general, and for other humans in particular? 

Our commitment to environment appears like our 'good morning' greetings! It is just the training.  It is merely good manners and means, in fact, nothing - though theoretically I wish you a  good morning when summarised as 'good morning',  is a pledge and commitment to do whatever possible to make his/her morning really good.  

That is why, while we are discussing environment, and dedicating the prayers for environmentalists, we are merrily using flex banners and those plastic decorations which will all add to unmanageable waste for the planet. It is something like being George Bush when he says  'American way of life cannot be compromised'.  We speak many things, but our way of life cannot be compromised. 

In today's reading, St. Paul's exclamation  'that I have run my race well' (1 Tim 6) appears timely.  We are all in a race, but a race to GROW MORE!! grow more money - greater GDP? Is this possible? Then, there is a counter poser: Is it possible for the generations to come to be? ഇനി വരുന്നൊരു തലമുറയ്ക്ക് ഇവിടെ വാസം സാധ്യമോ?

Now there are more people running - within one's  house, in far away open areas - they drive till there by car, and then 'work out' to keep fit. It's more like 'run for your life'.  But is our quality of life improving? Yes the QoL indices indicate that - but they are replete with contradictions - hospital beds available per thousand population is one indicator, we seem to be improving upon that; but is that an indicator of 'good life', or a life style that is more prone to illness, requiring more support of medicines and all the paraphernalia that accompanies modern medicine? 9% of Kerala population is said to be prone to depression? There is greater morbidity among Keralites, life style diseases are becoming increasingly common among them. 

In this connection, we remember St. Joseph the worker and we are reminded of the biblical dictum, 'with the sweat of your brow, you shall earn your bread'.  Is this a curse, or just a way of understanding the inevitable human predicament? We are in a culture where the human effort is to avoid toil to the extend possible.  The effort is to avoid the 'sweat' at any cost - by means of technology, by introducing amenities that will avoid toil and sweat.

Coming back to an earlier theme, we are in an economy termed 'money economy', where money is expected to grow - grow on a continuous basis, endlessly.  However, as the ancient Cree Indian saying goes:  “When the last tree is cut down, the last fish eaten and the last stream poisoned, you will realize that you cannot eat money.” 
It is very interesting to note some of the malayalam sayings in this regard: 
കൈ നനയാതെ മീൻ പിടിക്കുക 

പത്താഴം പെറും  ചക്കി കുത്തും 
അമ്മ വയ്ക്കും ഞാൻ ഉണ്ണും  This indeed is a statement of the present generation of Malayalees.  

In this context, I am inspired to share a two fold action plan to celebrate the feast of St. Joseph the worker.
1. That a Christian family will devote the amount of time it collectively spends to consume food, shall be spent also to produce food. It is proved that even with a minimum of two cents of land, such a life style can ensure green vegetables for the family all through the year.  Our experiments with organic kerala have proven that.

2. That all parish celebrations will ensure that there would be NO DAMAGE to the planet, that there would be no activity that would pollute the earth, water or air.  That it would be free of disposable plastics etc

Then the dedication of the day, for environment workers, would be meaningful.

Lastly, a special dedication - the true environment worker (actor) today is the food producer - the farmer who produces food. They are the most neglected and the most afflicted section of our money economy.  With my experiments in food production, paddy cultivation in 3.5 acres of land, I can vouch for that.  As we were reminded by the Indian saying, we need to remember that 'money cannot be eaten', and we cannot take for granted the co-creator work of the food producing farmer.  They are our sustainers, they need to be sustained, they need our prayers.

MAUNDY THURSDAY - FEAST OF BREAD

Maundy Thursday celebrations bring me to Bread Vicharam.  (It's now the era of vicharam. चिंतन बैठक, വിചാര വേദി, hence some bread vicharam).

In Jesus' life, it appears that 'bread' had a very central role - not like anybody else - invariably in whose life, bread, read food, has a central role.  Here it is more in the realm of thought, and action besides eating!

Coincidentally, he was born in Bethlehem, which meant 'house of bread'.
One of the first instances narrated about his adult life is regarding his intense days of preparation in the wilderness, where he felt hungry, and he was enticed by the tempter to convert stones into bread! Use spiritual powers for satisfying one's physical needs.   Jesus' response is very interesting : It is not by bread alone that humans live, but also by the Word of God.  That does imply that humans have the need for 'bread' - food, though a full human life requires more than food.  We have Maslow's hierarchy of needs in modern psychology.

So the questions 'who will give bread' or 'how will one get bread' are very fundamental in nature.  The Malayalam saying in this regard is worth reflecting: പത്തായം പെറും, ചക്കി കുത്തും, 'അമ്മ വയ്ക്കും ഞാൻ ഉണ്ണും.  It shows a culture and experience where things are taken for granted and one thrives on the many givens and lives an unconcerned life, as things are there - available.  A related saying could be അപ്പം തിന്നാൽ പോരേ കുഴി എണ്ണുന്നത് എന്തിനാ? That is usually a reprieve - who are you to look into hows and whys of things; or just plainly, 'that's none of your business'! It can also be looked at the other way, happy to get things done without having to bother about the hows-and-whys.

While he thwarted the tempter with a very word-of-god based answer, he never undermined the significance of bread.  That's why the prayer he taught prioritises the human need of bread.  Of the list of things one asks regarding one's apparent direct well being the first one is that of 'the daily bread'.  He was a realist to the core to recognise the disposition Gandhi would later refer to thus: It is futile to preach religion before a hungry stomach.  Elsewhere he has commented: God appears before the poor as food.  Yes, Jesus is also articulate in that he refers to a 'need based economy' - it is not for storage, not for a tomorrow yet to arrive, it is for the need of the day.

There are two miracles narrated in the gospels - where bread is being multiplied feeding 6000 plus and 4000 plus.  He had sympathy for those who were hungry and didn't have the security of food, even though it was of a temporary nature.   He insisted that food be given to them.  And the food multiplied?? Was it multiplication or sharing of resources which everyone had, leading to abundance? To me, it is happier to believe that the miracle happened in the minds of people, leading to a conversion - from self-centred use to generous sharing of limited resources.  Private possessions turning common property resources! lending the experience of abundance.

Jesus is a conscientious consumer - the present SDGs lists among the 17 goals 'responsible consumption and production' as the 12th goal. He ensures that abundance does not lead to wastefulness. Every crumb is picked and collected and stored for next use. In this era, a basic Christian challenge is to create a counter culture for the extremely casual and wasteful culture,  The latter is also one of the  causes of visible environment degradation and at times, ecological disasters.

Jesus' experience of natural hunger has provoked him to respond in a manner that may be shocking.  He apparently pronounced a judgement against the fig tree, which showed appearances of productivity, but was not really so.  It is sometimes interpreted as insightfulness of Jesus who could see through the contradiction of the tree, which was indicative of its imminent decay? Only Jesus knows. However, when we pray the Lord's prayer for God's will to be done, and God's reign to come, it definitely implies 'responsible production'.  His parable of the sower is also a parable regarding productivity as natural, as God's will.

This is a consumer's world.  But as I come back this week after the annual Vishu round of our Organic Fair (12th in a row - this year termed 'Jaiva Karshikotsavam'), I am thrilled by the relatively newer insight we are trying to propagate in terms of 'food security' and 'food safety' (safe food);  That if each consumer is willing to spend the time s/he usually spends in eating, for food production, at least one's requirements of vegetables and tubers can be taken care of.  More so, if it is done in the family mode - insight from UN International Year of Family Farming celebrated in the year 2014.

He had a very bready thinking when he compared the Kingdom of God to the leaven in the flour which permeates the entire lump and makes it bread-ready.  The father of our nation, was very close to his thinking, perhaps more articulate in this regard.  He spoke about 'bread labour' and labour to produce bread as an essential human duty, and to be made part of basic education.

In his bread-dialogues, Jesus shows how God the father is the provider of 'true bread' (Jn 6:32) and those who eat that will not hunger.  That was really fascinating that the disciples asked without hesitation 'give us this bread always' (Jn 6:34), then Jesus makes a revelation as himself being that bread and those who come to him shall not hunger, and those who believe in him shall not thirst (Jn 6: 35).  The latter part is a water-thought, and that calls for another discussion.

But here Jesus goes on to make some very drastic statements : that he is bread of life (6:48), the real food (6:55)  those who eat this bread from heaven will not die (6: 50) and that in order to have life, human being ought to eat his body/flesh (and drink his blood) and those who do so, shall have eternal life and will be brought back to life on the last day (6:54) and those who eat his body and drink his blood shall live in Jesus and Jesus in them (6: 56) and as Jesus has life from the father, those who thus 'eat' shall live because of him (6:57).

This inspiration and teaching is further reinforced during the last supper in Mathew's narration.  Where he took bread, blessed and broke it and said, 'this is my body given up for you. Do this in memory of me'. (Mtt 26;26; Lk 22:19).

That we have to consume Jesus in order that we assimilate him and assume him (his nature) is a fundamental call.  When we consume Jesus we are in Jesus and Jesus in us.  Is consumption basically limited to the sacramental bread, or is it symbolic of consuming Jesus' person - life - teaching, that we turn to Christ?  Is Jesus ever in our day to to day consumer list or is he merely a ritual appendage?  I consume Jesus and in turn, get consumed by Jesus - fire - en-theos - enthusiastic?

After his death and disappearance, Jesus reappears with bread in the foreground or background- when the bread is broken, the disciples en route Emmaus recognised him (Lk 24:30); when the disciples recognises him at the sea-shore, he had prepared for them bread and fish (Jn 21: 9-13).

The triple challenge the pass over celebration offers us are:
1. To recognise the presence of God, of Jesus beyond the sacramental bread to the bread presence of human beings, all having the potential to be blessed, broken and shared.  That is a greater sacrament of God, created in God's image and likeness as insisted by the venerable martyr bishop Helder Camera.
2. To produce food and be part of God's reign where everyone is to have one's daily bread.  This is equally a call to be responsible in consumption and avoid all wastefulness.
3. A call to consume Jesus beyond the bread presence - his person, his teachings, his values - that we in turn are consumed by him.


In addition, not to forget the significance of table fellowship beyond the divine table - that has to invariably happen at home; and even in the friendship, neighbourhood, parish communities - where we gather to celebrate our oneness our shared Christness through meals, with Jesus as the permanent invitee and invisible head.  Hence the Hebrew instruction: 'You shouldn't feel lethargic in coming together' (10/25).

P.S. I stop with two bready experiences.
1. After 123 days of anxiety, involvement, organising, coordinating, facing resistance and lack of cooperation, fear of lack and abundance of rain/water, pestilence etc. we could reap our crop of paddy, sabari, from Thottara Puncha, near Arayankavu.  Our joint venture (Rajagiri and SH college, practically managed by SH college) in about a hectare has yielded about 2 tonnes of paddy and about a full truck of hay.  At a very optimistic calculation the loss would be around Rs. 50000.00. But perhaps if we convert intangibles like education of students, inspiration for organic farming, maintaining soil fertility etc. then in might be of profit.  It is hoped that some rice and some rice flour will be made available for sale.
2. On Good Friday, I was struck by a small cardboard box in front of my room - could it be some bomb? Maybe, may not be! I didn't open it or remove it.  When the office staff came and found it they took the risk of opening it and found to our relish and surprise ripened mangoes and an egg, with Easter & Vishu greetings written using a green sketch pen.
No clue as to whose gift.  That's again, food!