The Journey 55
Saturday, February 25
Read: Genesis 3
Key Verse: “And Adam named his wife “ Eve” because she would be the mother of all living”. [ Genesis 3:20]
          Names; The most beautiful aspect about a person is his/her name. Every individual expects that others address them by their name. It is through addressing their name that we show the other person love, respect and also acceptance. Most often in the context of an Indian family even in the US, the spouses addresses each other in names that are very intimate like “Kutta”, “Mole” in Malayalam or names like “ honey” or some other names that only the respective spouses know. These names are very sweet to hear as far as the spouses are concerned but sometimes this can cause rift in an another family. A wife was heard complaining to her husband that the she felt jealous and envy of her friend in the church. When her husband asked the reason for her envy, she said that her friends' husband was so loving and would always address her as “Mole” and “Kutta”. The wife sighed and said “ I wish and dream that one day I would also be addressed like that”. The husband kept silent. “Why are you silent”? The wife asked. The husband after his traditional momentary silence and reflection replied, “those are the names that he calls her when is in love with her, ask her what he call her when he is angry at her”?
           This is what makes all the difference in the transformation in the family. On Saturday we meditate on how we can bring transformation in the family and we are meditating on the life of Adam and Eve. In the bible, names were very important and the naming of a person was also very important. The name shows the character and also the vision and mission of the person. Two notable naming in the Bible is the God renaming Abram as Abraham and Jesus Christ renaming Peter as the Rock. Both are instances when through the calling of names their mission in life and their character is being reinforced and communicated to them. In Genesis 3: 20 we also find a unique thing that Adam does, after he is driven out of garden of Eden. He names his wife “ Eve”, which means the “mother of all living”. Adam is in a state where he may be in total despair and frustration at the rebelling that he had done with God. Now he is reaping the fruits of the labour of sin. But one of the most beautiful aspect is that, Adam does not harbor any ill feeling towards his wife, since she was the one who began the process of downfall. He does not express his anger nor his hurt, but by calling her Eve, he is becoming the channel of God’s grace, and forgiveness thus leading to the transformation in their family. I believe this action of Adam is very powerful and something that we all can replicate in our family life. There are times when we are hurt and angry by the action done by our spouse, and when that happens we often vent out our anger by calling our spouse all sorts of names that is derogatory and also pure filth. It is high time that even when our spouse hurt us, we resolve not express our anger and displeasure in a sadistic and hurtful manner, but express our anger and our disagreement in a healthy way. Let us not hurt our spouses and our family members by using names and words that brings hurt to them because we are questioning who they are, their character and so on…...sometimes that can be un repairable. Let us address our spouses in a way that shows respect, concern and care.
How do you address your spouse and your children?
Let us Pray: Lord you want us to show respect love and concern to our family members. Help us to address them in names that are pleasing to them and take a decision never to hurt them. Amen

The Journey 54
Friday, February 24
Read: Mark 2:1-12
Key Verse: “ Which is easier; to say to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven or to say get up and take your mat and walk”. [ Mark 2: 10]
                          “Silent Hospitals Help Healing”. This was a strange news item that caught my attention. Montefiore Medical Center in New York has started a program called Silent Hospitals Help Healing (SHHH), to address one of the biggest complaints patients have about hospitals:  they are too noisy. According to the hospital sources "Noise is not only an irritant, but an obstacle to healing,".   "Studies have shown a relationship between excessive noise and a slowing of the healing process.  Noise also contributes to increasing stress and anxiety." Where do these noise come from?. People who visited the hospital were least concerned about the needs of the patient and due to this hospital became the hub of all sorts of sounds and noises.  Carts that had squeqy wheels, mobile phones ringing, people talking loudly in the hallways even late at night, as staff delivered medications, televisions blaring, hospital alarms, and the announcements on the public address system.   They all were causing a major irritant to the sick and the suffering in the hospital. The basic objective of the SHHH was to give patients a quieter environment in which to receive care and to take the needs of the patients seriously.  The effects of SHHH were remarkable.  Within two weeks, patients slept better, and staff said they felt less stressed.  Now other hospitals are also taking interest in the SHHH program. A hospital who brings in change and innovations so that the needs of the sick in the  hospital is taken seriously and the care given is qualitative and thus bringing about healing.
                           On  Friday’s we meditate on how we can bring transformation in the life of the sick and the suffering people. The passage that we are using for our meditation is from the Gospel of Mark 2:1-12.   This is one miracle where we find the magnamity of the owner of the house, and also the faithfulness of the lame man’s friend. But here in this miracle we also find Jesus condemning a group of people– the teachers of the law. On one hand you have a group of people who go all out of their way so that the lame man is given help leading to healing, but on the other hand you have this group of people– the teachers of the law, standing not only as mute witness and silent bystanders but also harboring feelings against Jesus Christ for healing that man, through the forgiveness of his sins. Why did they have to protest like this? This was because they were the teachers of the law and hence they felt that only they had the authority to interpret the books of the law. Their role all through these years, was just blind interpretation of the law without taking into consideration the needs of the suffering humanity.  What a suffering humanity needs today are not  people and community who would study and make a research on the suffering that they undergo but be more sensitive to their needs.  We are people who are often bystanders to the suffering of others basically because we are only interested in how we can find means to satisfy our selfish  needs  even when others suffer. Transformation in the life of the sick and the suffering begins when the people and the community of faith cross the line of being bystanders and consciously be a channel of healing in the life of the suffering people. That is what the friends of the lame man and also the owner of the house did, while the teachers of the law did not do. Hence let us evaluate this day whether our attitudes and our perception of life borders on “Just be Bystander”, thus being a stumbling block in the life of the suffering humanity.
Where do you stand when you see another person suffering?-With them or on the sides?
Don’t be a bystander.
Let us Pray: Dear God we are sorry that many a times we remain as bystanders in life, least concerned on what the others go through or suffer. Forgive us and make us more active so that we become channels of your grace.

The Journey 53
Thursday, February 23
Read: Nehemiah 2,3
Key Verse: “But as for me, I will enter Your house through the abundance of Your steadfast love and mercy; I will worship toward and at Your holy temple in reverent fear and awe of You”. [Psalm 5: 7 ]
                                A church in New York “Bronx Household of Faith” is asking people to pray for them as they have lost the space to worship. This church use to worship in a school building but now, because of a landmark decision of The United States Supreme Court,  they have been denied permission to use space or halls in school for worship. There are many church’s not only in New York but also in other states who uses halls and spaces in school for the purpose of worship. The Supreme Court had declined this month to hear an appeal of a lower court’s decision to uphold the New York City Board of Education’s ban on holding worship services in public schools.  Now this church and host of other church’s have been evicted and they are now desperately seeking some space so that they could gather for worship. According to New York Times the reason that the lower court disallowed worship in schools was because the court felt and the judge said that “when worship services are performed in a place … the nature of the site changes,” . If only we Christians could understand the implication of that statement and its significance on our experience and witness of faith. But in this legal struggle of a Church for existence I see a stark  contrast. The Marthoma Church in United States has some of the best church building, but is there a passion for coming together for worship? Does our church or its member go through such experiences when all of a sudden they are on the streets nowhere to go and no space nor place to worship?. Never……..but who cares?  How many of us think even when we have the best facilities for worship do we become a part of the worshiping community?
             On Thursday’s we meditate on how we can bring transformation in our parish. The character we are meditating is about Nehemiah. Nehemiah is concerned about the sad state of the walls of Jerusalem. For him the rebuilding of the walls was a matter of spiritual restoration of peoples relationship with the almighty God. This is when three people Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian start opposing Nehemiah. Here are three people who have vested interest rather than the interest of the community of faith. For them their personal goals and agendas are more important than building the walls of Jerusalem. It does not affect them even if the walls are in ruins because their vision is distorted and they have only some short term goals. It is this vested interest, and the total disregard and the apathy that they show to the genuine needs of the people of Judah  is what Nehemiah fights and opposes as he rallies his people for the mission. Transformation happens in our parish when each of its members rise above selfish and vested interest and work for the future and the future generation of the parish. One of the ills that plague some of the church’s in our diocese is the way some of the people in the parish, behave and whose expectation are so lopsided. Their only concern is about their benefits, welfare and the complying and catering to their needs. Their belief sometimes stem from the fact that the clergy in the parish are there exclusively for them. Even if their needs are factors that will stunt the growth of the parish, they are least bothered. For them matters of individual pride, prestige and sometimes language are more  important than bringing about the unity of the parish.  It is here that we need to think. When religion and spirituality are slowly and consciously weeded out of public life, can we bring about a transformation in our approach and our attitude to our parish? Parish is a space of worship and people whose goal is to worship.  Do you long to be a part of that space?
Think– Is worship; A Right or A Privilege? The answer to  this question will help you to understand the importance of a worship space in your life.                   
Let us Pray: Lord we often take the space that you give for worship for granted. We understand that there are lots of groups who need space to worship, but we do not worship even when we have the space for it. Forgive us. Amen

The Journey 52,
Wednesday, February 22
Read: John 6: 1-15
Key Verse: “And God is able to make all grace abound to you so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work” [ 2 Corinthians 9:8]
                Recycling- Everybody thinks recycling is all about waste products. Read the news report of John Ostapkovich of the CBS Philadelphia News.  He reported yesterday of a South Jersey couple who has been involved in a very innovative and life giving source. Forming an enormous kidney donation chain, thus bringing hope to untold people in the community suffering from kidney failure, thus instilling in them a sense of hope. This kidney donation chain is called kidney paired donation. A donation chain works like this: On behalf of person A, a kidney is donated to B, who has someone donate to C and eventually back to A. In this particular episode, The couple in this picture was Danny and Debbie Giaquinto of Bellmawr, who contributed to a chain of 30 kidneys. After a first kidney transplant deteriorated and Danny went back on dialysis, Debbie says she planned to donate directly to him, but at the last moment wasn’t a match. The people at Jefferson University Hospital then suggested the donation chain. “This summer, they came up with a perfect match for him and he’s a very difficult match, because he has a lot of antibodies due to the first transplant. We went in the hospital and were both transplanted. His kidney came in from California. My kidney went to Florida.”Debbie Giaquinto says she’s thrilled when looking at her health and also that of her husband’s. The Giaquintos donation chain was profiled in the Sunday New York Times. A couple who even in the  midst of crisis tries to bring in a chain of transformatory reaction in the  community.                                                                                                  On On Wednesday’s we meditate on how we can become agents in the transformation of our community. The biblical portion that we are meditating is from the John 6. Here is a portion that depicts a need of a community. Jesus is concerned about their need and He ask his disciples to provide for the needs of the community. The response from the disciples were not words of hope. It was only an unknown boy who decided to respond to the needs of the community. I strongly believe that there were others who had food and other resources which would have benefited the crowd and would have catered to the needs  of the community, but they chose to be deaf to the pleas of the disciples or may be they argued that they cannot share or may be they may have made lame excuses.  It is here that the boy shows a wonderful gospel principle through the sharing of his morsel. The principle of “ receiving when you give”. This is also what I feel the real principle of recycling is all about. In Gospel terms recycling is not the giving of the left over's or the waste that you have, on the contrary giving to God what is best, and what is precious to Him, so that through this giving, you provide for the needs of the suffering people and also for the needs of the community. The world thrives on the principle of receiving in abundance by hoarding and not giving or sharing anything with the community which is contrary to the principles of the gospel. Jesus tells us to give abundantly and when we give abundantly and then we shall also receive abundantly. The family of Debbie and Danny has been a model of what it means to give and receive and thus becomes agents of transformation in the community. Can we also consciously be agents of recycling so that we give to the community, cater to the needs of the community the best that we have.

Ready to recycle yourself ?

Let us Pray: O Lord you teach us that we should be able to recycle all that we have so that the needs of the community can be taken care of and also in the process we also receive your blessings abundantly. Amen

The Journey 50
Monday, February 20
Read: Luke 5:1-11
Key Verse: “Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in His ways, you will eat the fruit of your labour, blessing and prosperity will be yours” [ Psalms 128:1,2]
                Being in Philly, I am supporter of Philly Sixers. But yesterday their dream run this season is running into rough weather as they lost a very close game to the Minnesota Timberwolves, 92-91. But in NBA circles, there is new phenomena that everybody talks about today “Linsanity”. It is all about an Asian American Christian, named Jeremy Lin, a Harvard product, who plays today for New York Knicks. A  month ago he was nowhere, no future and he was sent to the minor leagues of the NBA. A few days later he was reinstated with the Knicks as a benchwarmer. Two weeks back on February 4, at halftime in a home game against New Jersey, injured Knicks star Carmelo Anthony suggested to coach Mike D'Antoni that he play Lin more in the second half. That game was when people noticed Lin, where he scored 25 points, with 5 rebounds and 7 assists. The next game he had 28 points and eight assists, and last week he scored 38 points for a victory over the Lakers, capping off a remarkable week and a four-game winning streak. Yesterday was another superb day for Jeremy Lin. He had 28 points and a career-high 14 assists, which helped the  New York Knicks to defeat Dallas Mavericks 104-97 , thus ending the Mavericks  six-game winning streak. After his first big game, Lin became a starter. After the second one, he became the talk of the nation. After the third one and with the victory yesterday, he seems to be a Hall of Famer in the making.  But is the identity of Jeremy Lin only tagged to NBA. No his story is a story of how God can transform an unknown individual and bring into his life success and meaning in the sports that he is involved. When reporters asked him about the fame and adulation that he was getting Jeremy said “ "It doesn't change who I am. My identity is in Christ." And he continues to say “I've surrendered everything to God. When I play, I'm not in a battle with what everybody else thinks anymore. I just do my best, the result is what God gives”.
                 On Monday’s we meditate on how we can bring about transformation in our personal life. This week we are meditating on the life and times of Simon Peter, the first followers of Jesus Christ. In Luke 5 we find., that when Jesus boards the boat of Simon Peter, he may have been going through bouts of frustration and depression. A man who struggled all day night to make a living and also to make a decent living is left high and dry. He is desolate not knowing what his day holds for him as he has caught nothing. It is similar to a sales personnel who is struggling to get his job secure but then realizes that after a day’s of hard work, he has not been able to sell anything. We all go through this phase or experience that Peter went through.  We work and slog the whole day, but at the end of the day when we evaluate what is it that we have gained…...sometimes it is nothing. It is this void that Jesus fills the life of Peter. He commands Peter to draw the net again. But Peter knows that it is futile to draw the nets yet he says “ I will let down the nets because you say so [ Luke 5:5]. The result is obvious. They catch a huge shoal of fish. Peter cannot believe his eyes. It is here that I think Jesus Christ teaches us a valuable lesson. There are times in life when you are at a cross road, there are times in life when you don't know what should be my next move, there are times in life when you don't what step you should take. In that context, what is needed is not looking at the result or consequences but just surrender everything to the Lord. He will give us the results that is best for us. Transformation is all about not being concerned as to at the results, but putting our best for the Lord and trusting that the Lord that He will  us best for us in our life.

Lin-Sanity is all about that…………...

Let us Pray: Lord there are times when we are over concerned about our fruits of our labour. We focus more on the effort that we do rather than surrendering everything into your hands. Help us to blindly obey you . Amen

 

The Journey 48
Saturday, February 18
Read: Genesis 2,3
Key Verse: “O Lord you have searched me and you know me, Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I go from your presence” [ Psalms 139: 1,7]
               The office of the President of United Sates is always considered as an icon of position and power. Bu there are times in history when that icon looses its dignity and power. There is an incident in US history which records an event like that and it is about the former President Richard Nixon. Richard Nixon was the first President to resign from the office of the president. His resignation was after a prolonged cover-up of the what became known as the Watergate scandal. The scandal began when members of the Nixon re-election committee were caught in a breaking at the offices of the democratic party in the Watergate building. The crisis slowly deepened as when President Nixon tried to cover up the involvement of his staff in the break-in. During the investigation it became known that Nixon had made tapes of all his conversations and telephone calls. These became key items of evidence, and when the House drew up Articles of Impeachment, Nixon decided to resign instead of being impeached. Here is a president who knows that what he was doing was unlawful yet tried the best to cover up. I think it is not only the President Nixon, we all are good in covering up……...lots of things…….. How does the act of covering up affect our family life?.
           On Saturday’s our theme for meditation is “transformation in our family life”. On Saturday’s we are  meditating on the life of the first family: “ Adam and Eve”. In the beginning both Adam and Eve had a wonderful relationship with God. We find that they had an intimate relationship with God. In Genesis we find God walking along with Adam and Eve, depicting the closeness and the openness that the first family shared with God. But when sin enters human life, we find that the first family hides from God. When on a fine evening,  God searches for the first family, they go to hiding. They cannot face God and not only that in Genesis 3: 7, we find that both Adam and Eve has a sudden realization that they are naked and they sew leaves to hide their nakedness. God wanted an open relationship and fellowship with human beings, but the first family works contrary to the principle of God. Not only that they hid and they cover up what they did. It is when you are ashamed of what you have done then the process of covering up starts. When we are open to God, he understands us. We need to understand that we cannot cover up nor hide anything from God [ Psalms 139]. What is needed today in our life is to desist from covering anything that is contrary to the will of God. In the context of ones family what is needed is the experience openness among the family members. For this we need to develop an element of trust among the family members. When trust is gone that is when people start to cover up. Have you created in your family an environment where members of your family can open up, or is the environment in your family such that everybody covers up.
Ready to open up before the Lord or trying to cover up?
Let us Pray: Lord help us to work together in our family where we create an environment of trust and openness so that the sin of covering does not occur in our family life. Convict us of the sins of covering up.. Amen

 

The Journey 47
Friday, February 17,
Read: Mark 2:1-12
Key Verse: “ Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God and smitten by him and afflicted” [ Isaiah 53:10].
                           A news that caught national and international attention was in 2003, was when two kids Bency and Benson, aged five and nine,  were denied admission in a local school in Kollam district of Kerala, in India, because parents of other students studying in the school protested against admitting both  Bency and Benson to that school. The reason for their protest was that both the kids were HIV positive. The siblings were orphans, [they who had lost their parents , who were also HIV positive], had no one to support them except their grand parents. Society shunned them and they were discriminated in every way. Even when the government tried their level best to get them back to school, the literate society of Kerala blocked their way to live a honorable life and a life where they could study with other students in school. When everybody was ostracizing the kids, our church took a bold stand. The then Diocesan Bishop of Thiruvanthapuram– Kollam diocese, who is also the present diocesan bishop of the North American Diocese-Theodotius Thirumeni came forward and took the initiative and different transforming measures to see to it that both the sibling be given support, both financially, socially and emotionally, so that they could live in the society in an honorable way. The snap on the cover of the devotion shows thirumeni with the kids and the then vicar of the Kaithakuzhy Marthoma Church– Raju achen, in the auto rickshaw that the thirumeni provided for the welfare of the kids. Thirumeni was also instrumental in starting a project named “Snehatheeram”in 2000, a rehabilitation centre for the HIV patients, which is now functioning effectively today and has become a home for a number of families who are ostracized because of HIV. When society was concerned only about their comforts, the church felt that we need to take risk and suffer so that a person who is suffering can experience some amount of solace and peace.
                           On  Friday’s we meditate on how we can bring transformation in the life of the sick and the suffering people. The passage that we are using for our meditation is from the Gospel of Mark 2:1-12.  While reading this portion most of us may have concentrated only on three aspects– 1. the suffering of the sick person, 2. The graciousness of His friends and 3. The compassion of Jesus. One of the things that we take it for granted is the owner of the house. Do you know the pain that he went through when he realized a few people  without his permission made a big hole [ if the person in the mat has to pass through that hole, the hole had to be big] in the roof of his house. Poor fellow, he thought he could be a good host to Jesus Christ, but now the host has to pay a big price. Has anyone thought about his issue?. But I think he might have been happy at the outcome when he saw the sick person getting up from the mat, taking the mat and walking with a smiling and also an astonished face. I am sure he might have thought “ Yes  my house is in a  bit of shambles because there is a bog hole in the roof, but thank God, my home could be a channel of God’s grace and healing on a person suffering for a long time”. Today I believe  my life has been blessed because someone else at some point of time has taken pain so that my life is blessed. We all are indebted to someone or the other because they never complained about their pain, on the on the contrary they only looked at the benefits that the others, people like us would get. It is time for us also to repay that grace we received in our lives.
Can we consciously suffer or endure pain so that that we can bring joy and peace to a person in suffering and pain?
Let us Pray: Dear God we know our life is blessed because someone consciously suffered for us. Help us also to suffer for others so that their life is blessed with peace and happiness. Amen