The Journey 363

Saturday, December 29

Read; John 4. Luke 13: 10-20

                 It is a sad day today for all of us, to all those who claim that they are Indians. A day when we hang our head in shame. A day when I feel angry, hurt and anguished. The reason for this anger and pain, the death of a 23 year old girl, at the hands of some of the most sadistic elements living today in the society. A nation that prayed so fervently for a girl who was fighting a losing battle not only with respect to her health but also the laws of the land and a corrupt system. A girl who at her death bed tells her parents that she wanted to live, but it was fight against hope. I believe we all are in one way responsible for her death. Thus as she lay battling for her life, first in a hospital in Delhi and later in the multispecialty hospital in Singapore, it was millions of Indians also battling not only with the law enforcement agencies, politicians and male chauvinist and misogynist, but also fighting within themselves thinking and wrestling to as to how one could live in this country upholding  the dignity of woman, the girl child, thus making every space in the nation a safe place.  She leaves with us her pain, her cry for help and her determination to live and fight against unjust systems, the fight against insensitive people. Though dead, her voice cries out "let this not happen to anyone anymore". As the girl was battling for her life, it was baffling and strange that people from all corner were trying to hog the limelight, some by either consciously or unconsciously making derogatory statement, while some in the media acting as if they are the watch dogs of justice and gender equality, abusing power at all levels. There are times in life when some experiences convict you, even when you are far away from those experiences in person. I think the death of this young girl is a tragic experience that we Indians will have to live the rest of our life with the feeling that we all were part of the system that perpetrated this crime. But then rather than being cynical it is imperative that each one us take certain radical decision in our life which will help all of us in the creation of domain both public and personal, where every "space" both public and personal is a space where woman is respected and she is always affirmed for her individuality and identity, and an affirmation not based on gender and her right to live with dignity, where dignity and right to live is not defined by the by the so called male chauvinist or the misogynist that is there in the society and within each one of us.

                        One of the hallmarks of the ministry of Jesus Christ was that he consciously affirmed the rights of the less privileged at that specific time of history. As we meditate on the theme "Transformed Living" let us meditate as to how Jesus becomes a model to all of us in the creating of new order, a silent revolution so that we all engage in building of family, church and a society, where the dignity and the rights of woman and the girl child is affirmed and respected at all cost. The portion that we shall use for our meditation is from John 4 and Luke 13: 10-20. When we observe the public ministry of Jesus Christ we find that even as he was engaging in a dialogue with the Samaritan woman [John 4] or engaging in a confronting dialogue with the male teachers of the law as they came to condemn and punish a woman who was caught in adultery, he deliberately took the side of the oppressed woman to teach other and also to convict them that he stands for a new order, he stand for a kingdom where gender, race is affirmed and that no one because of his/her gender or race will be discriminated or  abused. One of the ways that Jesus affirmed the rights of woman was that he would always do certain things symbolically while encountering woman. Symbols that were powerful, symbols that showed to the world, what he stood for and what his  values and  focus of ministry was. In Luke 13: 11, we find Jesus touching the woman who was completely bent over, and on another occasion [ Mark 5: 25-33] forcing a woman who was healed because she touched his the cloak,  to come in the presence of everyone and declare that she was the one who was healed. In another instance he touches the dead body of the son of widow at Nain [ Luke 7:13] and comforting her and then raising the dead boy to life. On all these occasion Jesus used action like placing hand on the bent woman, giving a woman a place in the centre, touching the dead body, action that were detested, actions that were not socially and culturally and religiously un acceptable. It is in these form of counter actions and symbols that Jesus brought a change in the existing discriminatory laws in the religious and the social life of the Jews. Our Lord teaches us this day that we also can do certain symbolic actions in our own life, in our personal and public space where we consentize others that we stand for the dignity and affirmation of woman, and that we will oppose anything that are discriminatory. With the death of the 23 year old woman, every Indian would be thinking what can I do as an individual to bring about change and transformation in the society and I think Jesus Christ teaches us that let us as individuals in our own free will and in our space and time, do thing symbolically that affirms the right and dignity of women, symbolic actions though small and  silent which could be a catalyst for a systemic change and transformation.

The Journey 362

Friday, December 28

Read: Luke 2: 41-52

                  One of the hallmarks today in the life of many individuals is the journey to religious places. Christians all over the world plan the holy land tours and there are people including clergy and pastors who has taken upon themselves of arranging holy land tour as a part of their vocation. People of every religion wants to undertake a pilgrimage journey where they visit sites that has significance to their religious beliefs.  The news agency Huffington Post has released a list of places that people love to visit as a part of their spiritual pilgrimage throughout the world. The places are the following. The visit to the Ganges in India is the first on the list. It is believed that about 20 million people vast the Ganges river, as they consider that this river represents life, purity and goodness. The second pilgrimage site is Mecca, where approximately about 13 million Muslims visit as a part of the spiritual pilgrimage. The third pilgrimage site is the Golden Temple in India, where on an average about fifty thousand people visit every day, and this temple is the holy place of the people of Sikh faith. Next on the list is Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico city, which is considered as the most popular Marian shrine in the world and  where about 10 million people visit every year. The Vaishno Devi temple in Jammu and Kashmir in India is next on the list where over 8 million people visit this religious site every year. The Lourdes in France is next on the list and this is the place where Catholics celebrate the Virgin Mary's ascent to heaven. Next on the pilgrimage list is the Bahai Gardens in Northern Israel where about half a million people visit. The next on the list is the Vatican, the holy place for the Catholics, with its various monuments to various saints and place of the Pope, all circled around and a place where about 4.2 million people visit every year. Jerusalem is next on the list, as this is an important place for the Jews, Christians and the Muslims. The birth place of Jesus Christ, the city of Bethlehem is next popular pilgrimage place on the list where about 1.4 million people visit this city and its surrounding historical sites.  Machu Picchu a mountain top in Italy is the next site that people visit more frequently. Machu Piccchu is an Incan pilgrimage site and a large number of people come to spend time in this picturesque mountain top. Next on the pilgrimage site is Rumi's tomb in Konya, Turkey. About 2 million people visit this site which is the place of the tomb of Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi. The Bodi tree is the another famous pilgrimage site where about 1 million people visit this site, the place where Buddha meditated for 49 days before he attained enlightenment. The next and the last important site is Stonehenge in southern England, a site that consists of mysterious circle of upright stones. Thus people of all religion or of no religious belief undertake a journey of pilgrimage, but the question that one needs to ask is how does this visit whether a pilgrimage which could be just casual or holiday have an impact on our Christian life. Does these visit bring about change and  transformation or is these visit more of a holiday or is it just blind following of certain religious traditions of faith.                          

                                  Any journey that an individual undertakes in relations to getting to know the roots of one's faith should help us to have new perspective about our faith living and only then can we consider these types of journey faith-fully significant.  Even Jesus undertook a journey of pilgrimage. This journey is found in Luke 2: 41-52 and this is the portion that we shall meditate today in our devotional journey "Transformed Living". One of the hallmarks of this passage is that Jesus is going to temple along with his parents in his young age to celebrate the festival of Passover. There are lots of requirements that each Jewish family has to do when they undertake this annual pilgrimage to the temple of Jerusalem and I believe both Joseph and Mary might have communicated to Jesus the various requirement of the Mosaic laws. One of the most unique aspect of the journey of Jesus to the temple was that He uses this journey of pilgrimage to engage in dialogue with teachers of the law and we find in Lk 2: 46, that he was sitting among the teachers of the law, listening to them and asking them questions. Here is Jesus Christ unmindful of things happening around and discussing seriously his faith issues with teachers of the law. We need to remember that at this time, his parents had already left the temple and had started their return journey. Jesus it seems was so engrossed in his discussion with the teachers of the law that he seems to have forgotten that he was supposed to be in the close company of his parents. That is why when Mary returns in search of the missing Jesus, and finds him discussing with the teachers of the law, she is upset and she ask Jesus as to why He did this to them, as to why He treated them like this, because they were so worried about him. That is when Jesus gives the most astounding reply "Don't you know that I should be in my Father's house"?. Jesus with this reply tells his mother that his pilgrimage is all about helping him with his vision and ministry that He has to do in his Father's vineyard. The annual journey to Jerusalem bring in the life of Jesus, a vision for his future ministry and thus He is able to prepare himself to work in the ministry that God the Father had prepared for Him. Until and unless we are renewed in life and has a new vision for  our ministry, all journey whether to the church or to the religious places has no significance. Let us pray that God will always equip us with his vision whenever we undertake a faith journey.

 The Journey 360
Wednesday, December 26
Read: Luke 15: 11-32
             I am sure you all had a wonderful celebrations of Christmas yesterday, with gathering of family and friends, along with traditional Indian cuisines. One of the hallmarks of celebration of Christmas is the exchange of gifts. Gifts that symbolizes our love and our care to the giver. That is why children love Santa one of the symbols of Christmas celebrations, because in a mythical way Santa gives them the gift that they want most desperately. It is in this context that one of the news item written by Hannah Furness in news agency The Telegraph caught my attention. A survey was done recently as to know what will be the present or gift that children would want the Santa to give them this Christmas and the answers surprised the people who undertook the survey. The gifts that the children wanted varied. The gifts that were most sought after were live reindeer, pet horse, car, dog and other animals, while some children went a little far fetched imaginative by asking for moon, a time machine, while some even wanted Eva Longoria, snow and so on. I pad and I phones also was on the list. But what was the most strangest and cute need that the children expressed and one which topped the list was not these material things. The need or the gift that topped the list of the most wanted gifts for Christmas from children of British parents was that they wanted a “Dad”.  Along with “dad” they also wanted a new baby brother or sister. Children in Christmas asking Santa that what they need most in life is their dad or they wanted an addition in their family in the form of a sibling. Does this survey highlight anything about the needs of our children or is it just a need to the children of the British parents?. I think it does. Behind the joy of every celebration lies the fact that there are individuals or children who would want to cry out and shout to the world that these celebrations sometimes are meaningless until my life is truly blessed with a gift that is truly a blessing and what can be a bigger gift to our children than giving them the love, care and support from parents especially dad. The exchanging of material gifts during Christmas may be important but more important  is in strengthening of our bonds of our family that makes any celebration especially Christmas more significant and more meaningful. Hence this season can we do some introspection in our life so as to check whether we truly strengthen our family relationship so that we don't reach a state in our family life where our children are forced to ask imaginary individuals like Santa that they need a “Dad”.
                We are meditating on the theme “Transformed Living” and the portion that we shall use for our meditation is from Luke 15 . Many authors have referred this passage not only as the story of the prodigal son but this is also referred as the story of a loving father. What make the character of the father in this parable so powerful and a paradigm for many of the parents especially father’s of today. In an Indian context where rule and authority of father is sometimes seen as unquestionable, the father in this parable is very different. When his youngest son ask for his share, there is no arguments between the father and son that usually occurs in an Indian home. “ Don't you know, I struggled hard to earn this kind of money and how dare you ask your share, don't you have any shame”…..dialogues like these or various other kinds can occur in any family when a son who is hardly in in his teens gathers courage or become so audacious to ask for the share of his property. But the father in this parable does just the opposite. He grants the wish of his youngest son. What does that reflect of the father. Was he not concerned of his son’s future and was he not worried and angry that his money or his financial empire that he built so painstakingly being wasted by a son who has no concern for the feelings of the father nor the hard work that he had put all these years to raise his son and also make the family financially sound?. But here is a father who allows his son to take a risk, a father who allows his son to explore the wide world and personally evaluate as what is greatest treasure in this earth. The son feels that the greatest joy and treasure in life is to enjoy life with all the money in hand, life to spent in the company of friends and tasting the good things of life. A life where there is no boundaries, a life where you don't have someone to dictate over you just like your dad and mom. But in the end of the son’s adventure with life, he realizes that the greatest treasure was not in a life lived without any boundaries nor a life where you don't have any one to correct you, on the contrary a life is wonderful when there are boundaries, when you have a dad who is there to correct, but more lucky if you have a dad who gives you the freedom to explore the world, find out the truths of life by yourself, risk your life so that hard truths of life are learnt daily. I think the father in this parable was ready to help his child to understand that the true value or gift that you have in this world is your family. Your parents, your children or ones family as a whole. But somehow today we as parents or dad do not allow our kids to live independent lives, lives where we help them to sometimes risk their life so that they learn valuable lesson in life. For many of us parents we tend to be very over protective and even after our kids have got married and settled down we still have no qualms in meddling in their life. This Christmas season let us give our children not only gifts but also give them the true value of what it means to be in family, where they have the freedom to explore, the freedom to be oneself, the freedom to risk so that through all these exercise the true and greatest gift that God gave to us “The family” is truly understood by the next generation.

The Journey 359
Tuesday, December 25
Read: Mathew 2: 1-12
    Carols are an integral part of our Christmas celebrations. Most of the carol songs have certain significance behind the writing of these songs and when we understand the context behind the writing of these songs, and the faith perspective in which these carols were written, our singing of those carols and celebrations of Christ event becomes more special. One of the famous carols that many choirs love to sing during Christmas is the carol “Twelve days of Christmas”. It was only recently I came across a wonderful compilation about the history of this wonderful song by Austin Miles in his blog. Austin Miles states that the carol, Twelve days of Christmas which has baffling lyrics like the true love giving a pear tree, swimming swans, leaping lords, French hens has an interesting story and a deep meaning behind the lines. According to Mills, when one studies the events in history when the song was written, the period between 1558 to 1829, that was a time when Christians were not permitted to practice their faith openly. As a result of this persecution, an anonymous Christian wrote this song of twelve days of Christmas as a catechism for the young Christians who wanted to know more about Christian faith. The carol has two levels of meaning. The plain meaning that one can get from the song and secondly the hidden meaning which was known only to the members of the church, which they used to communicate by singing this carol. Each element in the carol has a code word for the religious truth that the children needed to remember as they began studying the elements of Christian faith. According to Austin Mills, the hidden meaning of each of the symbol in the song is the following. One partridge in a pear tree refers to Jesus Christ. Two turtle doves refers to the Old and New Testament, while three French hens refers to Faith, Hope and Love. Four calling birds in the carol referred to gospel of Mathew, Mark, Luke and John. Five golden rings recalled the Torah or the first five books of the Old Testament. Six geese are laying stood for the six days of creation while the seven swans a swimming stood or represented the seven fold gifts of the Holy Spirit, viz; prophesy, serving, teaching, exhortation, contribution, leadership and acts of service or mercy. Eight maids a milking referred to the eight beatitudes while nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Sprit which were Love, Joy, Peace, Patience,  Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self Control. Ten Lords a leaping refers to the ten commandments while eleven pipers stood for eleven disciples. Finally the twelve drummers referred to twelve point of beliefs in the Apostles creed. These interpretations may sound strange to us and we may not know the actual truth behind these lines. But yet this interpretation bring to the fore the passion the early believers had to communicate the good news of our Lord and his ministry to others. In today’s times where we do not have any hindrances nor restrictions on the way we practice our faith, Christmas for  many of us degenerates to the blind following of certain celebrations or symbols without truly understanding or comprehending the richness of its meaning nor faith behind the advent story. It is only when truly understand the significance of the symbols or the message behind the carols, only then can our celebration that we do this Christmas day become truly richer and meaningful.
                        We are meditating on the theme “Transformed Living” and the portion that we shall use for our meditation is from  Mathew 2: 1-12. This is the portion where we find the journey of the wise men. The symbol that they use in their search to find Jesus Christ is a star. It is the star that lead them on the sojourn, in their journey to behold the new born child who is prophesied as the king and the messiah. The journey with the star takes them on different routs, meeting people especially the encounter with King Herod. But finally the star takes them to the spot or the place where Jesus was laid; in a manger. The star as a symbol fulfills its purpose of guiding the wise men in their journey to encounter Christ. Here are wise men who are basically seekers, trying to know and gauge as to who this child is who is being prophesied as the King of the Jews. The journey begins with an intellectual exploration with the help of celestial objects. When the exploration begins there is no relationship as such between the explorer and the person being explored. But once the star takes them to Baby Jesus, the wise men submit their gifts as an act of reverence, bow down, worship him and then they depart on an entirely new route. Three people who are guided by the star, three people who are on a journey to encounter a new born baby. But the moment they encounter the baby, the response of these wise men is to bow down and worship, because the intellectual search has ended now with the experience of seeing the presence of God in their midst. I think this is what every celebration of Christmas should finally lead to. All the symbols and celebrations that we have for Christmas need to point to our Lord and the celebrations should help us to encounter our Lord in our life. When we are able to do that then the response from us should be to bow down and worship because we have experienced His presence in our life and in history. If this Christmas we have not been able to experience the presence of Christ in our lives and if the celebrations does not lead us to an encounter of his presence then all our celebrations are only a dead celebrations, celebrating certain dead and blind traditions that has neither meaning nor faith element in it. I hope and pray that all our celebrations lead us to experience the presence of God in our life, which make us to fall down, offer ourselves and worship him.

The Journey 358
Monday, December 24
Read: Mathew 2: 13-23
The women in India are rallying together these days not only to champion the cause of sexually assaulted girl who is lying in a very critical condition in Delhi, but also for tougher punishment for convicted sex offenders. As these woman in India are fighting for a common cause another woman in this part of the world is also fighting for a cause and a recovery that the world is watching. She appeared first on the cover of August 2010 Time Magazine and her story was highlighted by CNN last week. Her name– Aesha Mohmmadzai, and what was shown on the Times magazine cover was the picture of her disfigured face. Today the face of the Aesha is the representation of Afghan woman. One who through her face showed the world what it means to suffer not only for being a woman but also the oppression when a woman does not toe the line of powerful male hierarchy and the religious fanatics in Afghanistan. The life experiences of this girl is tragic. When she was 12 years old, Aesha’s father promised her to a Taliban fighter as a compensation for killing a member of that family. Aesha was married at the age of 14 to this Taliban fighter and she was constantly subjected to different kinds of abuse. She bore all these abuse and one day when she was at the age 18 she ran away from her in laws, but she was caught by the police, jailed and returned to her family. Her father returned her to her in laws. To take revenge on her escape, her father in law, her husband and three other family members took Aesha to a mountain, cut of her nose and her ears and left her to die. But somehow the aid workers found her and her story first appeared on Daily Beast in 2009, while Time carried an article on her with a corresponding article “Afghan women and return of Taliban”. When the world knew her story the Grossman foundation in California pledged to perform the reconstructive surgery on her and began filing the visa process. She finally came to US two years back where an Afghan family Mati Arsala, his wife Jamila adopted her to their family. Aesha had never been to school and since she had gone through trauma for the last 10 years it was important that she had to be prepared both physically and emotionally for the reconstructive surgeries. Thus last two years under the constant care and support of the Afghan family, Aesha is going through the reconstructive surgeries this week. Hopefully she will have a reconstructed nose and ears as he enters the new year. As the world watches in bated breath, the progress of this young woman, this Christmas she represents those people especially the women folks who have always been subjected to undergo various abuse and horrors in life, where even the basic human right and dignity have been denied to them. As we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, I believe the Lord comes to us in the form of Aesha and host of battered woman seeking help and a place in our life, woman who are battered and are running daily in their life experiences from their abusers. This Christmas let us ask ourselves how can we make our Christmas celebrations more meaningful in the light of all these atrocities that happen daily in front of our eyes.
We are meditating on the theme “Transformed Living” and the portion that we shall use for our meditation is from Mathew 2: 13-23. When we read the whole story of God becoming man, the birth narrative is full of human rights issues, problems, predicament and suffering. Both Joseph and Mary go through different upheaval in life even before they get married and they have to resolve issues about ones fidelity, honesty and integrity. But God speaks to them and leads them in their times of uncertainty and at time when they were confused as to why all these things were happening. When angel tells Mary that “With God all things are possible” [ Lk 1: 37], I feel she began trusting God in all things and may have felt that with that assurance given by the angel, everything in life would be now in order. But her ordeal had only begun. They are suddenly displaced as they have to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem since Ceaser Augustus had issued a decree about the census. This made them a wandering traveler and that too at a time when she was supposed to take rest and prepare for the safe delivery of the child. After going through different form of suffering, the baby is born and that is when the family is displaced again, now it is not only Joseph and Mary but baby Jesus too. A family with a young child is asked again to move to another country Egypt because of a sinister plan of King Herod to kill baby Jesus. Thus again the family go through the routine of suffering, predicaments, having to live on the mercy of others. But then in the midst of all these suffering, there is the hand of God in every experiences of their life. You can find how God protects the Nazareth family though they go through such traumatic experiences in life. The Nazareth family represents all those families and women who are subjected to trauma and displacement, families and other individual and women who have to fight so as to at least have some element of human dignity and right to live. As we celebrate Christmas let us spare a thought for women like Aesha, the woman who lies in a critical condition in Delhi, families who are displaced and who are running pillar to post so that they can live with dignity and peace. It is when we accept these people, we are actually also opening our inn to a family who is seeking a place so that can they can give birth to our Lord.

The Journey 356
Saturday, December 22
Read: Mathew 1: 18-25, Ephesians 5: 22-28
     Two countries are united together in totally different diverse yet a common issue affecting humanity. The shooting at Newtown brought together in harmony everyone in United States, about sharing the grief of families in Newtown. As this nation stands united, my motherland India, is also united together, in a unity of protest. People all across the nation are coming together in one accord to protest against the recent sexual assault against a 23 year old para medical staff, who was sexually assaulted in a travelling bus. What really brought shock and anger in the common man is the brutality that was associated in this particular sexual assault.  The girl and her friend boards a wrong bus and the moment they are in the bus, the male friend is assaulted in a brutal way and then thrown onto the road, while the girl is assaulted sexually in a moving bus. Her ordeal does not end there, once the perpetrators finish sexually assaulting her, they also physically inflict severe injuries on her whole body and finally throwing off the bus so casually just as some of us in India throw trash on to the roads. She lies bleeding, without any protective cover neither on her body nor from anyone and finally just as in the climax of Hindi movies, the cops come when everything is over. They take her to the hospital. When the nation hears about this sordid crime, the conscience of the ordinary citizen is aroused. The country is still seeing huge protest all over the different states from Kerala to Delhi and some even going to the extent of asking everyone to sign a petition for bringing a new law which requires death by hanging for a person who is convicted of sexual assault.  I think  what everyone wants to see is that the place that they live, the family environment, the society and the nation is free from violence against woman. Can we stop the violence against woman by just bringing a law that grants capital punishment to the perpetrators of sexual assault?. I think we need to move in  a very comprehensive way. It is not only the laws that will help, but we need to understand that we live in a society where there are certain cultural norms and certain mind sets that still is the basis of human behavior, the kind of nurturing in our families and human relationship. Until we address these issues and the values that are prevalent in our family, the mindset that is prevalent in both male and female, we may not be able to move forward not only to end violence against woman but also in the process of creating a society where every individual irrespective of his/her sex is respected and affirmed. How can we as Christians play this empowering role in our society especially in these times of advent so that we become channels of change in the cultural mindset, the religious belief system so as to promote and bring about respect and affirmation of both sexes?.
        We are  meditating on the theme “Transformed Living” and the portion that we shall use for our meditation is from Ephesians 5: 22-28 and Mathew 1: 18-25. Both these portions underlines certain principles that should be the foundation of any human relationship. The basis of any human relationship should be based on love [ 1 Cor 13]. But today the basis of human relationship is more on power and control. How can I have power over others so that I can control the other person in every way. When a male tries to sexually assault a female it is not just a vent to his frustrated sexual desire and urge, but also a to have a sadistic feeling of a victor and the vanquished. The cries and the tears of the victims bringing in the mind of perpetrators of crime that they have greater control and power over the woman. When there is domestic violence and abuse in the family this could be one of the mindset that could be prevalent in the male. The feeling of having power and control over the woman. It is this understanding of power and control that Jesus Christ reinterprets. In Luke 22: 25-27., Jesus states like this “ The kings of the gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead greatest among you should be like the youngest and one who rules like the one who serves”. Here Jesus Christ brings in a new understanding of power and control. Power is not about abusing and ruling and controlling others, on the contrary power is all about service and serving others in the most humble way. In Ephesians 5: 22-28, Paul also bring a new understanding about what binds the relationship between a husband and wife. Here also the concept of power and authority is dealt by Paul. Power and authority according to Paul in this portion is all about mutual submission, respect and sacrifice. Many believers including woman always tend to see only the submission part of the woman towards her husband forgetting that there is also the concept of love, respect and service on the part of male which God commands and that submission is not a yes or Christian prerogative for a husband to dominate, control and abuse his wife or another woman. Thus power, control and authority has to be on the basis of love and service and until we redefine these concepts of power, control and authority in our minds, in our family and in our society and nation,  we have a long way to go in our fight to end violence against woman. How do you define power, authority and control in the context of your web of relationships?

The Journey 355
Friday, December 21
Read: Mathew 2: 1-12
Silence at 9.30 am today. On Friday morning, December 21st, at 9.30 this nation is observing a moment of silence to remember all those who were killed in sandy hook shooting. The church bells will toll, flags will fly half mast. It is presumed that many websites will go offline for a minute and everyone both in the offices, home, hospitals in about 29 states will observe a moment of silence. According to White House, the President will also be observing a moment of silence even as he debates on how to bring tougher gun laws to tackle the rising crime. As the people are slowly recovering from the shock, the National Rifle Association [ NRA] has kept a deathly silence all these days. They finally issued a statement through their Facebook account that they are also extremely anguished at the shooting in Newtown. The NRA has scheduled a news conference today to offer meaningful contributions with regards to curtailing gun crime. As the nation seeks answers and schools and families trying to think what are the way to curb violence in the society and in the mind of kids, a Catholic Church in New York has embarked on a very novel project as their part to curb violence in society. All Saints Church in Syracuse has decided to play its part to make meaningful contribution so as to make the community a more safe place. The church has decided to raise funds for the victims of the Sandy Hook shooting but the way they are going to raise funds is the most unique part of this project. Their modus operandi of raising funds is by asking parents and children to return the violent video games and toys that they have at home. According the parish priest Father Fred Daley, this nation lives with a sense of glorified violence with programmes and films all showing violence and parents buying toys where the nature of gaming is of violent nature. Hence Father Daley states that the objective of this project is that if parents are able to return violent toys and ultimately stopped buying these type of toys, the toy companies would ultimately stop selling them. This is one small way that each of us can do something to move in a positive direction not only to curb violence but also to end the factors that promote violence. What the parish is going to do is a two way work. First they are going to collect the recently purchased toys and then with the receipts return to the stores and the money collected will be given to the victims of Newtown. Secondly there will be a general donation of old toys with the idea of getting rid of them. I believe this move by the All Saints Church is a small move to make certain corrections so as to bring peace and hope in our community. Unfortunately the majority of us are not concerned nor would want to do something so that we could play our part to make our world a safe place, where there is peace and harmony. We just casually talk, without taking any creative efforts to bring about drastic changes neither in our life nor the way we function collectively. I think this advent season, the birth of Jesus Christ should force people to consciously reorient lives and take decision that will bring about peace and harmony in this nation. How can we go about doing this?
We are meditating on the theme “Transformed Living” and the portion that we shall use for our meditation is from Mathew 2: 1-12. This portion shows a conflict of two elements or forces. One the forces of evil and the other the forces that is trying their best to conquer evil. When angels announce to the shepherds “Do not be afraid, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people”[ Luke 2: 10], what the angels announce to the shepherds is that with the birth of Jesus Christ is a message of joy and good news to all the people because He is going to save his people from sins [ Mathew 1: 21]. But then this message is not good news to the power centre of those day– King Herod. For him good news is all about dominating others, ruling over others and if they don't submit to his power, exterminate him. The game and rule of violence. The wise men comes to behold the good news but once they behold the good news, God reveals to them that they are not supposed to be channels of hatred, power mongering but on the contrary travel on a new path, individually and in community. The wise men individually and collectively deviates from the path that they had previously travelled to a new path that God wanted them to travel. I think it is this conscious deviation and creating new travelling paths that is needed for all of us today. Observing a moment of silence in remembrance of the victims of Sandy Hook is a big effort not only to unite people and making them aware of how to make our nation, a nation of peace and harmony. But this effort should not end with this noble gesture. After a few weeks things are going to be back to normal and our lives will be back to the usual frame, as if nothing happened. It is this status quo that needs to be changed. Just as the parishioners of All Saints Church are taking steps to bring peace and harmony, creating alternative steps of travelling in life for its people, we also both individually and collectively need for formulate steps and paths that will help all of us to live in peace and harmony. Let us pray that God will grant us also the wisdom and the vision that He gave to the wise men to create new paths for us to walk in the journey of life, paths of peace and hope.

The Journey 354
Thursday, December 20
Read: Luke 2: 1-20
We come across lot of people in our life. At times you leave impression on their life and at other times it is they who make lasting impression on you. Today I would like the world to know about a wonderful person who has made a lasting impression on my life and ministry. Her name is Lata and she is the daughter of Cherian Philip and Geetha Cherian, members of the New Jersey Marthoma Church, USA. She has two other sisters Melissa and Loraine. Today is her 20th birthday and please read the blog that Lata wrote on her birthday today.
“My name is LATA. I am down syndrome. That is what everyone says. According to people, I am not intelligent. Yes, I can't do so many things that most of them do. But I do a lot of things for others. My main job is worshiping my Creator. I love to sing and praise HIM. I like to intercede for others, especially for those who suffer. Everyday I pray for my family, relatives, friends, neighbors, for evangelist, pastors, priests, Bishops and for all those who serve the LORD. I pray for the peace of the world. I pray for all the people in all the countries. I just want this world to know that JESUS is the only way to heaven. I want to be a blessing not a burden for others. I know JESUS will use me for HIS GLORY. Amen. December 20th is my birthday. I am grateful to the LORD for giving me a chance to live in this world. Thank you LORD for creating me so special. Thank you for everyone who prayed for me and supported me. I thank my Dad and Mom for all their hard work and sacrifices. I have a request for everyone. Please take care of everyone who are special like me. God will reward you greatly in heaven”.
Lata has always been special from the day we met three years ago. She was very regular in attending and partaking in the Holy Communion. I would always say a special prayer as I offered the holy elements to Lata. When she leaves the church, she would leave with a smile and a greeting for all of us. One of her painting adorn our front room of my parsonage. She has a special way of praying and that is what you find in her blog. What makes her special is that she consciously tried to enter into my world and hence today as she celebrates her birthday, I felt I need to enter into her world. One of the tragedies in life is that we always want others to know us, to relate to us, and enter our world to make us special, but we never attempt to enter into a world of another person, especially an individual who is diversely and uniquely different from us. As we celebrate advent, I think one of the truths that we need to learn and incorporate in our life, is to consciously enter into the world of others, to make them special and make a difference in their life. Lata all these years entered into life of others and made them special and hence on her birthday I feel we need to enter not only to the world of Lata but host of other people who are different from us, so that our lives are made special. How can we do that in this advent season.
We are meditating on the theme “Transformed Living” and the portion that we shall use for our meditation is from Luke 2: 1-20. Who are the main characters in the Christmas story. The main characters are two unknown characters; Joseph and Mary. We just don't know much about them as they were relatively unknown and they came from a relatively unknown background. When Jesus was born, the good news of the saviour birth is announced by the angel to a group of people who is always on the move, their shelter is often the open sky– the shepherds. These are the people who were the first witnesses to the birth of our Lord. Is there any thing special in the way God uses these ordinary individuals in His incarnation ministry. I believe yes. In choosing Joseph and Mary and depicting shepherds as the first receiver of the good news, God is communicating to the world through incarnation that it is these ordinary people who are special to him and it is these ordinary people whom he values. The common people who has nothing to boast, except their poverty, suffering, the financial issues, lack of proper housing, and last but not the least lot of handicaps in life which make them outcast in the society. In any society, people who are poor, suffering or one who is different are often relegated to the background. Their place is in the periphery of the society, family and church. It is in such a context that through incarnation, God tells his people the message that He values and has a preferential option for all these people and they are the ones whom He values and loves the most. This is what makes Lata special and God “loves” Lata more than all of us and His love for her is very “special”. It is this understanding that God gives to us that we need to incorporate in our life of loving others who go through crisis, people who are special and who are often relegated to the periphery of human life. Another aspect in the Christmas story is the conscious attempt of God to enter into human life and history and make us his children. In all other faith, you find people trying to reach God and please him through various means. But through Jesus Christ we have Lord who come into our life and to our world and shares our humanity with him. It is this wonderful aspect that make advent so special. I have a God who entered into my world and made all of us special. Hence this Christmas let us also try to enter into the world of another person, especially those people who need our love, respect and not sympathy, thus making our world more beautiful through the diverse differentness in each one of us. There are lot of people like Lata who have entered into our world, so can we this day enter into the world of people like Lata, so that we could truly appreciate her and praise God for His wonderful ways and unique ways [ Psalms 139] because just as she prayed God is using mightily for His glory

The Journey 353
Wednesday, December 19
Read: Luke 2: 41-52, John 10
             You are mad...These are the word that we sometimes use, and use it so randomly without understanding the deep and lasting consequences on others. Everyone goes through bouts of anger, depression and other emotional and mental upheaval that impact very negatively in the life of others. As this nation is discussion on gun control, a good number of people are also discussing a subject that we take it for granted and are sometime least bothered. The mental health of individuals. Just as we spend millions to revitalize our physical health, the issue of mental health is also of utmost importance. The issue of mental health came to the fore, when questions were addressed as to what made a 20 year old, to go to a school and then cold bloodedly kill innocent young kids. Was he and his family suffering from some form of mental health issues? What was the issues at home and what was the problem that his mother was facing while racing these kids? We do not know. But people started taking more a serious note when another mother wrote a blog about the erratic and suicidal behavior of her school going son and asked the world to help her. A mother who did not know how to go about with a son who was always getting angry, throwing tantrums and threatening to kill himself and the mother. These behavior made the mother to write a blog that has now gone viral and several news agencies have reported about her blog. Liza Long is a writer based in Boise and it was she who through her blog describes the agony and fear that she goes through daily as she deals with her son, and the need to discuss and take seriously mental illness.  Liza Long describes some of the behavioral disorder that her son is expressing and her inability to cope up. She write that one day when he was asked to wear the school dress code, he began abusing her with vulgar words and told her that in America he also has rights. On another occasion she had to call the cops when he suddenly pulled out a knife and threatened to kill her, just because she asked her to return the library books that was overdue in school. Much worse was on another occasion when he threatened to jump out of a moving car, and she had to literally hold on to her son tightly, with the fear that he will jump any moment. Liza Long cries and appeals for help, not knowing whether her son has ADHD, or autisms spectrum or any other behavioral disorder. She is scared as to what is going to happen tomorrow, especially in the light of Sandy Hook shooting. Her blog went viral and now the son is being treated for mental illness. I think the story of Long is not isolated one. I understand that this sort of behavior occurs in most of our homes and parents are scared to talk about mental health issues leave alone address it. Even when we go through depression or other emotional outburst we fail to see that we need help and we tend to hide our emotional and mental issues. There also people who subtly hide their mental and emotional issues sometimes even in the garb of spirituality by showing extreme sense of commitment through involving in spiritual activities or by expressing some high emotional spiritual fervor. This make us to ask the question as to what is the relationship between mental health and fullness of life or eternal life that our Lord gives to us.
                             We are meditating on the theme “Transformed Living” and the portion that we shall use for our meditation is from Luke 2: 41-52  and John 10. In John 10, Jesus describes his focus in ministry where by he underline the basis of his ministry– which is his relationship as a shepherd and the sheep. The shepherd who helps the sheep to find green pastures, having an intimate relationship with them and protecting them from the forces that destroy them. It is through this relationship that Jesus communicates that He has come so that we can all have fullness of life [ John10:10]. It is to this goal that Jesus want to lead all of us in life—to truly experience life in its fullness. How do we experience that fullness of life when a person come in relationship with Jesus Christ. In the old testament-it is the word “shalom” that is equivalent to the term fullness of life. In the old testament perspective shalom or fullness of life means living ones life fruitfully in four dimension of living. The first dimension is related to ones relationship with creator God, secondly one relationship with his/her fellow human beings, thirdly ones relationship with this wonderful world and finally one relationship with oneself. Thus according to the Old testament concept, an individual can experience shalom or fullness of life only if he/she has a qualitative relationship in all these four areas of ones life. It is in this perspective that we  find in Luke 2: 52, when Jesus goes back to Nazareth and submits himself to his parents, Jesus experiences growth in relation to wisdom, stature and also in his relationship with his Father and his fellow human being. This is what the model Jesus gives us. If we need to experience fullness of life, we need to develop all these shalom areas of life or the areas of growth that Jesus wants us to grow. But unknowingly as we live today, we have not at all taken seriously these wide facets of living fully. Though some of us have taken our relationship with our creator God seriously, the rest of the areas like our relationship with our fellow human being, the world are all not even thought of. The nourishing of our intellectual areas of our life, the emotional need of our life nor our social needs are not taken seriously and as a result you have a number of individuals who are reflecting the sickness that is present in their mind. Let us therefore take seriously our life in a comprehensive manner so that every aspect of our life are taken seriously and thus we move forward to experience life in all its fullness. It is only then can many of the social deviant behaviors can at least be controlled or channelized.