A NEW CREATION

Joshua 5:9a, 10-12; Psalm 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7;

2 Cor 5:17-21; Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

sA woman dropped a beautiful orange vase on the floor. It broke into dozens of small pieces. She swept the floor and threw them into the trash can. After some time, her little daughter picked up the broken pieces from the trash can and pasted them on a piece of cardboard. Then with her colourful crayons she drew stems and leaves on each broken piece converting them into a bouquet of beautiful flowers. The woman was moved to tears. Where she had seen a trash, her daughter had seen a treasure.

All the three readings point to a single fact that God’s grace dwells in us and transforms us from within. The first reading speaks of a redeemed community. The second reading speaks of a reconciled community and the Gospel speaks about a transformed community. Redemption, reconciliation and transformation are about have a balanced and inclusive relationship with God, others and nature. The first reading taken from the Book of Joshua instils a sense of hope in God as a ‘Promise Keeper’. God promised the patriarchs and Moses that he would lead the people into the Promised Land. The people crossed the River Jordon and placed their footing on the Promised Land and camped at Gilgal. It is there they celebrated the Passover, which was a spiritual practice of remembering that they were a redeemed community. In this remembrance they renew their faith in God, re-commit themselves to the covenantal partnership, and renewal their obedience to God. It is also recorded that on the day after the Passover they ate unleavened cakes and parched grains (Jos 5:11). On that day manna ceased, and the people ate of the crops of the land of Canaan. This is indicative of taking possession of the land as well as the fulfilment of God’s promise to his people. 

Like the people of Israel, we are also a redeemed community. The sign of being a redeemed community is to become a reconciled community.  If we take a deep gaze into our lives we understand that in some way or the other all of us are broken because we are fragile and vulnerable. We are aware that in as much as we are gifted we are also limited. As we journey through life, we experience the painful consequences of limitedness and sinfulness. The consequences could take the form of anger, hatred, resentment, violence, terror, torture, suicide bombing, war, exploitation, injustice, manipulation, violation of human rights and human dignity. These negative and sinful situations distort our relationships and alienate us from one another. However, despite our sinfulness, there is a ray of hope. This sense of hope is beautifully described by St. Paul in his letter to the Corinthians. He writes: “God as reconciled us to himself through Christ” (2 Cor 5:18). Therefore, each of us is a “New Creation”.

Reconciliation is not about forgiving our sinful past, it is not about maintaining a strict record of all our failures, it is not about feeling guilty for our sins, it is not about labelling ourselves as sinners. Reconciliation in its most profound sense would mean entering into a “Transforming Relationship” with God and others. This is the message that Jesus communicated to his listeners through the parable of the Prodigal Son, which in fact is the parable of the Prodigal Father.

The context of the gospel will bring out the deeper meaning of the story of the parable of the Prodigal Son. The context is about two groups of people. The first group consists of the tax collectors, prostitutes, sinners, untouchables and outcastes. The second group consists of the Pharisees and Scribes who accused Jesus of being in bad company. They were not able to digest the fact that God could be close and compassionate to sinful human persons. Jesus did not convince his listeners with skilful arguments; instead, he narrated to them a story, which they could easily understand.

The story begins with a property issue in a family consisting of a father and two sons. The younger son asks for the share of his property, which his father gives to him. He squanders the money. He loses his fortune. He is compelled by circumstances to work in a pig sty and finally he makes a serious decision in life to come back to his father. The younger son in his approach, attitude and behaviour breaks all dimensions of relationships. He breaks his relationship with his father and family by asking the share of property while his father was still alive. He breaks his relationship with his own community by moving away to a foreign land. He breaks his relationship with his religion, and therefore, with God by working in a pig sty, which is abominable to every Jew.

However, he comes back home and takes the initiate to restore all his lost relationships. He rehearses his act of contrition: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of the hired workers”. The father had no time to listen to this well-rehearsed formula of his son. His concern was the present moment. His concern was about respecting the decision of his son. His concern was about renewing and transforming the relationship. Therefore, the father finds every reason to celebrate the return of his son. The younger son becomes in a way, a “New Creation”.

The story takes a twist with the arrival of the elder brother. He is angry and his anger is legitimate because he was not informed about the celebration. Nevertheless, he was not prepared to accept his brother. He exaggerates the failures of his younger brother. Interestingly, the father who found the younger son now seems to be losing his elder son. However, he appeals to the heart of his elder son to join the celebration. It is not really known whether the elder son participated in the celebration. Jesus left the question open for his listeners to probe more deeply into the meaning of the story.

In narrating this story Jesus communicated an insightful and powerful message to his listeners. He wanted them to understand that God respects our decisions to come back to him with an open heart. God provides a second chance, a third chance and any number of chances. All that matters to God is the here and now. If we are prepared to change our lives, then, we can experience the powerful intervention of God. It is within the power of God to put the broken pieces of our lives together. It is within the power of God to see a treasure, where others just see a trash. Therefore, the embrace of God is available to every human person. It is essential to realize that no one can claim a special closeness to God on account of race, nationality or even religion. God’s unconditional love and unconditional acceptance is available to every human person. The story of the prodigal son and the prodigal father could be our own story. We need to convince ourselves that Jesus is our wounded healer. If we could turn our lives into the gentle hands of God we would experience healing, transformation and peace-filled relationships in our personal lives.

Henri Nouwen narrates this story in his book The Wounded Healer. A rabbi asked Prophet Elijah when the Messiah would come. Elijah replied that the rabbi should ask the Messiah directly and that he would find Him sitting at the gates of the city. “How will I know him?” the rabbi asked. Elijah replied, “He is sitting among the poor who are covered with wounds. The others healers unbind the wounds of many persons and bind them up again. But the Messiah unbinds one at a time and binds it up again saying to himself, “Perhaps I shall be needed. If so, I must always be ready so as not to delay for a moment”.

Jesus, the Wounded Healer, relates to us on a very personal level: one on one. In a gesture of surrender let us place our addictions, compulsions, guilt, anger, hatred, conflicts, painful moments and all that is disturbing us in the hands of the wounded healer and provide God another chance to work a miracle in our lives!

Prayer

Abba Father, we thank you for being prodigal in your mercy. May we through the power of the cross take small efforts to become a redeemed, reconciled and transformed community.

In Jesus’ Name we pray!

THE HOUR OF JESUS

Wis 2:1a, 12-22; Psalm 34:17-18, 21 and 23; Jn 7:1-2, 10, 25-30

Human persons are driven by their inner thoughts and motivations, which have a firm grip over our lives. Our inner thoughts and intentions shape our perceptions and direct our life along a personalised path. There are many in this world, who are grounded in evil and are guided by evil forces, though they are also the children of God and created in God’s image. Their final destination is the grave and nothing beyond. In such a framework, persons who are controlled by evil inclinations and intentions negate God and divine providence, glorify self-indulgence, exploit the weak and raise their hands against the righteous. This is the context of the passage taken from the Book of Wisdom.

This passage has been read and interpreted with Christ and the Cross at the background by many scholars. Christ is the righteous person, the Son of God, the suffering servant, who had been condemned and eliminated through a shameful death. Christ is the true representative of all righteous persons. A righteous person is a child of God, walks in the ways of the Lord, and eagerly waits for God’s plan to unfold. The conflict between the unjust oppressors and the righteous person is succinctly described in this passage. The evil doers abhor the presence of the righteous person because the presence and life style of a righteous person is a burden to them, mirrors their sins, points to their spiritual deviations, and challenges them to change their ways. Therefore, they decide to put the righteous person to test, torture and a shameful death to see whether the protective hands of God would deliver such a person, who is a child of God. However, it is very sad to note that the evil doers in opposing the righteous person do not understand the mysteries of God and are in effect opposing God himself.   

The Gospel also pictures the ongoing conflict between the Pharisees, who do not understand the mysteries of God and Jesus Christ, the righteous man. Jesus in put on trial. The opponents of Jesus are waiting for the opportune time to eliminate him. It is in such a situation, Jesus avoids Judea and moves to Galilee, the place where he began his ministry. Later, he goes to Judea when the people were celebrating the feast of booths. This feast reminded them of their sojourn in the wilderness dwelling in tents and Gods’ providential care. Jesus entered the temple and began to teach with authority while the feast of the booths was being celebrated.  

A group of Jerusalemites were discussing about Jesus and his origins. They knew of the plot to eliminate Jesus. The discussion was focused on the origins of Jesus. They trusted their belief that the origins of the Messiah would be unknown. Since they knew about the geographical origins of Jesus, they confidently denied that Jesus was the Messiah. Jesus shattered their confidence and endorsed the fact that the people really know from where he came from. However, he strongly affirmed: “You know me, and you know where I come from. . . . But the one who sent me is true, and you do not know him” (Jn 7:28). Further, he attested that he knows the Father and had been sent by the Father. They were not able to digest that they had been refuted by Jesus and tried to arrest him. They were not able to lay their hands on Jesus because the hour of Jesus had not yet come. The hour is the ‘Jesus Moment’ when he would be handed over to human hands. It would be a moment of grace when Jesus would completely surrender himself to the will of his Father. It would also be a moment of his glorification. It would also be a moment when God would be glorified in Jesus.      

Prayer

Abba Father, give us the courage to resist the patterns of evil that surrounds our life and trust in your saving power to deliver us.      

In Jesus’ Name we pray!