MEMORIES, RELICS … DO THEY REPLACE PRESENCE?

I still treasure my dear Dad’s pipe, he used to enjoy smoking; I still treasure his favourite books and some drawings he used to make. My Dad was chief draughtsman with the Admiralty. Though, as I said, I still treasure these objects, nothwithstanding that he was called by the Risen Lord fifty-five years ago. Yet what I treasure mostly of all are his advices, his morning call for Mass, his tips on life, my upright character is all due to dad, besides many many other forget-me-nots.

Coming to think of it, those are all relics and priceless advices. Have we ever thought that Christ has not left any relics behind Him, though His Shroud (according to Pope Paul VI) is the greatest relic the Church owns. But, it’s still a relic, besides the Cross, which according to Tradition was found by St.Helen. Yet, Christ did something which no man could do, or can ever do; He remained with us, Body and Blood, in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. That is much better than a photo, or a scroll He used to read from, or, a carpenter’s tool, He used in His father’s worksop. HE remained with us not only to talk to Him, to keep Him company, but, especially as a source of nourishment.

When we receive His Body and Blood, the Sacred Host, we will be partaking of His Divine nature, and we will be declaring that we want to be changed into His nature, thereby we must behave just as Christ did when he was on earth. We have to love everyone, we have to be merciful, we have to lend a helping hand to the community. We have to keep this in mind, otherwise, in Paul’s words: ‘We will be signing our condemnation”. This is no joke, receiving Holy Communion can’t be taken lightly. It is a great privilege, once we receive it with devotion, and let His Divine Nature change us completely.

The Eucharist makes us conscious of our responsibility towards our community; the hunger for justice, the hunger for bread, the hunger for love, the hunger for reconciliation and mostly … the hunger for God. Then will the promise made by Christ be fulfilled: “So they who eat my Body and Blood, will live for ever. Your ancestor’s ate manna in the wilderness and are dead. Whoever eats of this bread live for ever.” But going back to Paul, we have to be on the look-out that the we will not turn Body and Blood of Jesus, into poison for us. We have to be very careful that whilst we receive the Body and Blood of Jesus, we have to steer away from hatred of our brothers and sisters, we have to behave just as Christ had behaved, even with His enemies; the Pharisees, the Sadducees the Scribes, the priests and the Jewish throng.

This can only come about with the frequent and worthy reception of the Holy Eucharist. The reception of the Holy Eucharist should be looked upon as a privilege, a feast (Isaiah), a chance to change our life. Was it not Francis of Assisi who preferred to remain a Deacon, as he did not deem himself worthy to bring Christ alive on the altar. And to do that he must ordain as priest, That’s the stuff Saints are made of… and God looked upon his lowliness (Magnificat).

In fact it is Feast, it is a Banquet, and no one in his senses goes to a banquet, to a feast, to a dinner without partaking of the drinks and food offered … I consider it an offence, bad manners, lack of etiquette. So how can we go to participate in the Sacrifce of the Mass, in the Lord’s Banquet, without receving, accepting the ‘Bread of Life’. It is so much a Feast that even the Celebrant ‘welcomes’ the participants, we give the sign of Peace to each other. Even Paul tells us to welcome each other (Cor.) Who has never realised that the Sacrifice of the Mass is a FEAST, must be missing much, rather everything.

Jesus multiplied the bread and the fishes. Remember that the fish, Ichthus, has become a symbol of Christ. Ichthus is an acrostic for "Iēsous Christos, Theou Yios, Sōtēr, which translates into English as "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour".

LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDOURED THING

“Love is a many splendored thing, love is nature's way of giving a reason to be living, the golden crown that makes a man, a king.”

So run the lyrics of a song, so popular in our youth, sung by Matt Monro. How very true, how spiritual is the thought. Yes, it gives a reason for living, and, fulfilled love crowns the life of the persons who are the ‘lovers’, and the ‘beloved.’

‘Once on a high and windy hill’, so continues the song. But with all due respect to the writer of the lyrics, we need, for record’s sake, re-write, ‘Once, in eternity’, because God, the ‘Lover’ sometime in eternity, decided to share His ‘love’, with someone else, because ‘love’ can never be called ‘love’ if it is not shared.

Three elements are needed to have ‘love’, a lover, a beloved and ‘love’ itself. You need a Romeo, a Juliet and love that binds them together. You can’t have a Romeo, on his own, not passing on, sharing (sic) his love with no one else. Let us apply the same argument with reference to God. According to John “God is love”, the whole Gospel, in his version, shows how God is love. So God is the ‘Lover’ our Romeo, so to say. He passed on, shared His love, on to His Son, our Juliet, so to say. But, between these two there exists ‘love’ which binds the two together.

Some might argue: ‘With or without the Blessed Trinity, I adore God, and love God, just the same’. It is NOT the same, this is a FALSE argument. If you love someone, if you are interested in sharing your life with someone, you must be interested in knowing more about that person. The more you know a person, you will be faced with a choice. You are either more attracted to that person, or you feel put-off by that person. But, if there is love, you will be attracted to him, to her. So, if you really adore and love God, you must be interested in knowing more about Him.

Another point follows this argument, the fact that God the Father passed on His love to His beloved Son, through the Holy Spirit, God’s message is one and simple. The Blessed Trinity is ‘a community’, it is a ‘family of love’. God is not an authoritarian dictator, reigning on his own since eternity, lacking love and interest in humanity.

One must keep in mind another important point, though we say that Creation was the work of the Father, but in actual fact it is the work of the Blessed Trinity. The same goes for the Act of Redemption, yes, Christ was crucified, buried and rose from the dead, but that was the work of the Blessed Trinity. Even when we pray; yes we could address the Father, or the Son or the Holy Spirit, but we will actually be praying to the Blessed Trinity , the Tri-une God.

Now how has God, the Father shown His love towards humanity? By offering His one and only Son not to condemn it, but to save humanity by His suffering, His death and resurrection, for one andall.

The Son expressed His love towards us by offering His life for humanity for there is no greater love than giving up your life for your friends. The Father and the Son have sent the Holy Spirit to sanctify the disciples of Christ and makes us adopted children of God, and, teaches us ‘the truth’.

The teaching about the Blessed Trinity shows us that God gives us a chance to share in His Divinity. God sends His One begotten Son to take human nature so that we share in His Divine nature, He makes us one with Him. Peter declared this in his second Letter: “With His power, the power of God, He made us partake of His nature, thereby we become sons and daughters of God through His eternal Son.” (2 Pet. 1:4)

“Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen”

NO … NOT FROM ALADDIN’S

I suppose it was every child’s dream: to find Aladdin’s Lamp, though rusty and dirty, and covered in dust. I remember looking up every item in an old curio shop, trying to make my day, but I never realised my dream. After all, that was just a childhood dream. Now, unfortunately, we have grown out of that age. But in our culture you still find certain people who tempt you to take part in a ‘special lottery’, or offer you the dream of your life (always at a cost). But what would I choose, if I were the lucky one?

Would it be a ‘Dream Villa’ on the Hawaiian Islands? Or rather choose a super sports car, which makes James Bond’s look cheap? They might offer me a trip round the world on a super yacht … which I would later own? Whilst trying to decide what to choose, I had another childhood recollection, I recalled Shakespeare’s Play, The Tempest. In it Prospero says: “The cloud-capp'd tow'rs, the gorgeous palaces, the solemn temples, the great globe itself, yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve, and, like this insubstantial pageant faded, leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff as dreams are made of; and our little life is rounded with a sleep.”

Good-bye to day-dreaming. I’d rather own something more fulfilling, more everlasting, like the ‘breath of life’ (Genesis); the power to change deserts into luscious gardens (Isaiah); a force that restores life (Exodus); something that causes radical upheavel and transformation. And all these gifts are found in the Holy Scripture, they are the fruit of the Lord’s Spirit, and not wishes granted only in stories, nor prizes made by expensive lotteries. Francis of Assisi, stopped day-dreaming, of becoming a famous knight-at-arms and started looking for his ‘Lady Love’, which surprised many when they got to know that her name was Lady Poverty. The Spirit took over Francis.

Where the Spirit comes transformation always happens: barriers disappear, doors are opened wide or become non-existing; all man-made structures and designed by sophisticated computer-aided programmes, disappear. Fear, crouching and hiding disappear. The New Life brings unheard of initiatives, and courageous decisions are made. Who is dissatisfied and aspires the renewal of the world and of man can count on the Spirit: nothing can resist its power. No politician, the world over, no round table conference, no agendas can bring peace. ONLY the Spirit can. And because the Spirit comes with such force, and because the result obtained is so dramatic, in the Bible it is likened to a ‘natural phenomena’ which lights up man’s imagination: hurricane, thunder, lightning, earthquake, fire and strong wind.

Imagine the Apostles, when they realized that the Master was about to leave them, how troubled they felt. But HE assured them that the Father will send them the “Comforter” to accomplish Christ’s Mission. The Israelites always believed that the place of God’s presence was the temple in Jerusalem. However, since Solomon’s times, they started doubting that a house made by man’s hand could hold the Lord of the universe. God had promised that He would come to live among his people: “Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for I am about to come. I shall dwell among you” (Zec 2:14).

He was not referring to a church, a temple, a sanctuary or a basilica built of marble, gold or precious gems, in John’s words: “It is in the man Jesus that God fulfilled the promise and has made himself present (Jn. 1:14). Now, Jesus gives us His assurance, God dwells and is made visible in the disciple who loves as He loved. For this is not difficult to recognize. But if any man prefers to open the door to the devil to enter the room, he takes the place of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. And the devil acts in that person.

The Spirit of God continues to teach, to upgrade according to new situations, and He will always find the appropriate answer to everything, to every problem, as long as we remain tuned in, and His action is always ‘dynamic’; He irresistibly pushes us in the right direction and leads us to make choices consistent with the Gospel. His anointing teaches you all things, it speaks the truth and does not lie to you; so remain in him and keep what he has taught you” (1 Jn. 2:27-28).

Yes, I have found ‘Aladdin’s Lamp’, not in the Curio’s Shop, but in the Teachings of the Church. Yes, I have won the expensive Lottery, my ‘Dream Villa’ is in the New Jerusalem. Would that ‘all believers’ realise what is offered to us in Baptism, when we received the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. Let us celebrate for we are ‘The Pentecost People’.

… BUT ONLY GOD CAN MAKE A TREE

He was an Italian polymath whose areas of interest included invention, painting, sculpting, architecture, science, music, mathematics, engineering, literature, anatomy, geology, astronomy, botany, writing, history, and cartography. He has been variously called the father of paleontology, and architecture, and is widely considered one of the greatest painters of all time. Sometimes credited with the inventions of the parachute, helicopter, tank, and other war machines. Many historians and scholars regard Leonardo da Vinci as the prime exemplar of the "Universal Genius" or "Renaissance Man.

Not everyone is a Leonardo, but a person could have attended to the most notable Universities and graduated ‘Summa cum Laude’. Yet, though this person possessed all knowledge about material things, and applied his intelligence and ability, but, when it comes to understanding the secrets of God, these are not easily understood. They are unfathomable and mysterious. Only HE can reveal them.

If we recall that even Mary, the Mother of Jesus, was surprised and amazed when God’s Plan begins to be fulfilled in her child Jesus, when they found Him in the Temple … and the child’s surprising declaration: "Did you not know that I had to be in my Father's house?" But she did not understand what He was saying to them, she was groping in the dark. Mary started to put things together, to put the pieces together, all the happenings, words and actions, in the life of her Son, day by day in various events, to discover the meaning. She might have understood the child’s Declaration, many years, later on when after three days He rose from the dead.

Only He, can reveal the Truth. This is the line we read (Luke, 24:46-47): “Thus it is written, that Christ had to suffer, and to rise again from the dead.” The light that illuminates the events of Easter can come only from the Word of God, as prophesied by the Prophet. It had been already foretold that the Messiah would die and rise again. I believe the disciples came to a point when they realized that this Messiah was very different from what they had expected.

According to Luke, Christ told them: ‘… that penance and the remission of sins should be preached in His Name, to all nations.’ (v.47). They must have recalled Isaiah’s words: “I will make you the light of the nations that my salvation will reach to the ends of the earth.” Now to perform such a task, such an apostolate, the Apostles could not rely on their own, personal power and strength, for as we said before, ‘Only He can reveal the Truth.’ For this reason Christ admonished them: “So remain in the city until you are clothed with power from above” (v. 49).

They are now expecting the Paraclete, not to teach them the Truth, but to make them realise the Truth which Christ had given to them, to draw away the veil from over their eyes. Then Jesus blessed them, and then they returned to their work, fully confident that the Lord was with them. This ‘blessing’ was the unwritten ‘Guarantee’ of success in their new work. What is amazing, is the note put by Luke that they returned to Jerusalem ‘full of joy.’ Luke is the Evangelist of ‘joy’ (Zechariah, shepherds). But, why were they filled with joy when their Master had departed, not to come again?

The disciples, now, felt convinced, they realised that even death should no longer cause fear, if you believe in the Lord. Jesus transformed ‘death’ in a birth to life with God. They realised that Christ’s ‘going away’ meant remaining permanently with His people, and therefore with us.