PENTECOST SUNDAY OF THE YEAR 24

19 MAY 2024: THE PENTECOST SUNDAY + 20 – 25 MAY 2024   19 MAY 2024: THE PENTECOST SUNDAY 1.      We celebrate the great feast of Pentecost, the unique day when the Holy Spirit descends and fills the receivers with power. In fact, as Jesus was leaving the earth at the completion of his human mission, he repeatedly comforted his disciples that he would not leave them as orphans, promised them to send the Holy Spirit, and thus assured them his continued presence through the Spirit. 2.      Therefore, the descent of the Holy Spirit is the greatest assurance and sign of God’s own presence, guidance, and power. Pentecost is the initiation of this great outpouring of the Spirit. It is the beginning of a new era, a new time of the Spirit, a new mode of living, walking by the Spirit, living in the realm of the Spirit. 3.      In recent times, it is a very happy thing that the role of the Holy Spirit is more and more realized in our life as God’s faithful children. Consequently, we see so much invocation to the Spirit, so many charismatic prayer movements and sessions, so much emphasis on the Word of God as the communication of the Spirit, so much focus on the gifts of the Spirit such as miracles, tongues, prophecy, etc. There is certainly so much revival, vigor, and enthusiasm, which are all concrete signs of the power of the Spirit. 4.      But wait and beware! There is always the danger of limiting the Holy Spirit only to these external demonstrations and expressions. Holy Spirit is not only some eloquent preaching, some animated and moving prayers, some evocative intercessions, some touching devotion, some powerful healing, some impressing gift of tongue, some happening prophesying, a great mass appeal and gathering huge crowds. 5.      Certainly, as the Spirit is powerful and vivacious, it can have such great external impacts. But the sad thing is, the Spirit is so much confined only to these factors, so much domesticated only to these, so much so that only some groups are charismatic groups, filled by the Spirit, and the others are ordinary mortals, or only some prayer modes are Spirit-powered modes, and the other prayer ways are just the ordinary. 6.      We see in all this, two unhappy tendencies: reduction and arrogance. That is, reducing the Holy Spirit ultimately to powerful preaching and wonders, and also nurturing a disguised spiritual pride of possessing the Spirit to use it at one’s own liking. 7.      And the greatest sad effect and consequence of such tendencies is a failure to renew life. In other words, there is so much demonstration of the power of the Spirit in different spiritual activities, but hardly any real change in concrete life. The power of the Spirit is predominantly restricted to the spiritual zone, with no inflow into the daily life zone. 8.      This creates a wide gap and abyss between spiritual power and success but a practical weakness and value failure. The whole issue is that these spiritual activities and powers do not guarantee a good and holy life. Just listen to how clearly Jesus brings to attention this fact: “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not speak in your name? Did we not cast out devils and perform many miracles in your name? Then I will tell them openly: I have never known you; away from me, you evil people!” (Mt 7. 22-23). 9.      Therefore we must sincerely question and see: How much the power of the Spirit is challenging and changing my weaknesses? How much does the spiritual illumination of citing many quotations, enlighten and guide for the right thoughts, attitudes, decisions, and actions? How much does the expertise and eloquence of preaching the Word lead to practising the Word in real life? How much the Spirit makes one grow in honesty, in patience, in unity, in generosity, in purity, in holiness, in serenity, in self-control – this is the whole issue. 10.  Claiming to be filled and empowered by the Spirit, but living exactly contrary to the fruits of the Spirit, in grudges and resentments, in needless tensions and disturbances, in anger and impatience, in dishonesty and cheating, in impurity and malice, in criticism and slander, in indifference and selfishness, in greed and grabbing, in division and discrimination, in pride and false dignity, in self-glory and cheap popularity – is this the Holy Spirit? 11.  What kind of Spirit this is? Great display of the gifts of the Spirit (cf. 1 Cor 12. 4-11)! Good! But where is the witness to the fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5. 22-23). Let us not limit the Holy Spirit. Let us not drain his power. Let us not dilute his role. Let us not tame him to suit our convenience and advantage. Let us not privatize him to project and promote self-glory.   20 MAY 2024: GENESIS 3. 9-15, 20; JOHN 19. 25b-34, MARY, THE MOTHER OF THE CHURCH Indicative: Today on the Monday following the Pentecost Sunday, Mary is honoured as the Mother of the Church, following the declaration of Pope Francis on 3 March 2018. Mary is truly the Mother of the Church 1.      How meaningful it is that we celebrate Mary as the Mother of the Church soon after the Pentecost! If a new church is born on the Pentecost, the day of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, fittingly she needs a mother. Mary is that mother who feeds, nurtures, strengthens, guides and accompanies this newborn church. 2.      Both the readings point to this mothering and accompanying role of Mary. In the gospel, Mary stands at the foot of the cross. Jesus in his dying moments from the Cross, does the mutual entrustment: he entrusts the disciple to the care of Mary, saying, “Woman, behold your son!” and he entrusts Mary to the care of the disciple, saying, “Behold, your mother!” 3.      We know that the disciple represents all the disciples and thus all of us as well. Thereby, we are under the mothering of Mary. Like a Mother so tender, caring, and grooming, Mary continues to mother her children. The first reading from Genesis reports on this mothering of Mary, stating that Mary is the new Eve, the mother of all the living, the mother of the saviour whowould bruise the head of the evil one. 4.      We see that the present society languishes in an atmosphere of lack of love, tenderness, sensitivity, and guidance. In other words, this is all the lack of a mother’s heart, the lack of a mothering spirit. Evil breeds when mothering fails. The same thing happens in the church as well. 5.      When the so-called followers of Christ denounce and discard the very mother of Christ, they are throwing away deliberately the mothering by the mother. One who does not love the mother, cannot love others as well. This obligatory memorial of Mary as the Mother of the Church is a clear call for all of us to rediscover and recapture the lost love, devotion, and imitation concerning Mary. Imperative: Jesus knows that we all need a mother, the Mother. He gives his own mother to be our mother. Why do we want to be orphans, rejecting to love her and to be loved by her? (Reflection 2) Focus: Faith is not so much a matter of beliefs and doctrines but is a relationship, in belonging and adherence    Happy indeed it is to venerate the beautiful Mary as the Mother of the Church soon after the great Pentecost! Mother of the Church is not a mere title in the cap of the litany of the Mother in honour of her. It is not merely an expression of the tutelage of the Mother over the Church. It is also not in the sense of begetting the Church. Rather, being the Mother of the Church is in the sense of "mothering" the Church, protecting her, guiding her and taking care of her. Mary as the Mother of the Church is the head, the Mother of all the disciples. It is a matter of "Trust and entrustment". Jesus trusts his mother whom he loves so much and entrusts her with the care of his church that he loves as well. Similarly, he also trusts his disciples so much and entrusts them with the care of his mother. Mary fulfils her sacred duty through her maternal affection, guidance and strengthening. The disciples accomplish their duty of caring for the Mother through their filial devotion to her and imitation of her. This in fact is the continuation of the perennial "thirst" and the "finishing of the mission".   Direction: In Mary as the Mother of the Church, we have a lover, bearer, promoter, guide and formator of the Church, which is not a mere structure but a community of believers, a family of God's children   21 MAY 2024: JAMES 4.1-10; MARK 9. 30-37   Focus: Greatness is a natural desire and aspiration of everyone. There is nothing wrong in itself. But the problem is when it is wrongly understood and wrongly pursued and acquired through false ways and means   1. In the gospel, the disciples were engaged in a discussion about who was the greatest. Today we are invited to reflect once again a little deeply and sincerely about our own concept, pursuit, and means of gaining that greatness. Jesus dispels the wrong notions of greatness and clarifies what it means to be truly great and how to become rightly great. 2. In the first place, real greatness is not something material. It does not consist in money and material possessions. Real greatness is not something merely social. It does not consist in power and position, status and prestige. Further, real greatness is not merely intellectual. It does not consist in great intellectual calibre, academic excellence, achievement, bundles of knowledge or reckoning honours of educative contribution. 3. Then what is true greatness? How does one obtain it? The gospel and the other readings make it clear. True greatness consists in not desiring to be placed over others, dominating and bossing over them. It is not eager to be first in power and position but first in service. 4. True greatness is commitment to God's will and mission. Subsequently, it also implies the readiness and courage to face the consequences, to go through the ordeal of the way of the cross, even to the extent of death. This is what Jesus did. This is what we find in the lives of the prophets, the righteous exemplified by the suffering servant of Yahweh. 5. True greatness is receiving even children, that is the vulnerable, the uncountables and negligibles in the society. It accepts and respects them. This is contrary to the mindset that one becomes great by association with big people. This is why often we find that great people may have their own "social circles", or "privileged elite". They create an aura around them that there is an air of inaccessibility, unconcern and uninvolvement. 6. Further, true greatness consists in receiving the example of a child. Among numerous qualities of a child, are purity and guilelessness of heart, total trust and dependence on God, love for God and always seeking to please Him. 7. The second reading from the letter of James offers us some more pointers to true greatness. It is to be free from all greed, selfish ambition and arrogance. It is to be free from all disorder and every vile practice. True greatness essentially consists in “enmity with the world and friendship with God”. Direction: In the ultimate analysis, to be truly great is to consistently nurture spiritual tenacity and productivity and to lead a righteous and forbearing life    22 MAY 2024: JAMES 4. 13-17; MARK 9. 38-40 Focus: Life is not a story of unhealthy competition but healthy cooperation and collaboration. All the more the work for God and good is a matter of working together and supporting one another 1.      When John sees someone casting out demons, he objects to it before Jesus because he does not belong to their group. We need not blame him for jealousy. It can be a simple zeal for his master. But his reaction is quite indicative of our own attitudes of jealousy and ‘privatization’. Often in the life of many, jealousy plays havoc. They cannot tolerate any others doing good and great. 2.      This is because they monopolize and privatize everything. They think all the good belongs to them; only they have a right; only they must possess everything or at least the major portion. The same tendency affects the spiritual ambit as well. They feel that God’s grace must be only for them. 3.      This in turn springs from the attitude of self-centrism. ‘I’ becomes the norm and measure of everything. This is similar to what St James reproves as arrogance. It is arrogance that tries to program one’s life pushing God outside the territory of one’s life. 4. It is arrogance that depends too much on one’s own will and plans to ignore God’s will and plans. It is arrogance that forgets the transience and uncertainty of earthly life. It is arrogance that boasts of one’s greatness and success. 5.      Thus, this chain of egoism, monopoly, arrogance, and jealousy leads to a lot of resentment, resistance, slander, and explicit harm against others. Therefore, we should persistently guard and fight against these evil pressures. 6. We must bear in mind that grace and good works are no one’s privileges or prerogatives. We have no right to resist any good in the name of allegiance. Whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, is sinning. Also whoever resists the right thing, is sinning Direction: All our competence, talents and abilities are God’s gifts. And all these are meant for God and good. God’s work is always a collaborative project that invites all to be involved and accomplish collectively. No one has a right to block anyone doing good! 23 MAY 2024: JAMES 5. 1-6; MARK 9. 41-50 Focus: Living a scandalous life and giving a bad example will certainly invite God’s wrath and judgment. For it is not only self-ruin but also ruining others through misguidance 1.      Jesus comes heavily on scandals and bad examples. Those who cause scandals and influence and lead others to sin deserve to be killed. He bluntly declares: Whoever causes others to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. 2.      In this context, St James in the first reading gives us one dominant cause of scandal and that is lust for riches. Men in their riches become unwise and arrogant, indifferent to God, unconcerned and unjust toward others, and deceptive and corrupt. God will condemn them. 3.      Therefore, whoever gives scandals to others, whoever lives a deviated life, whoever misguides others to wrong ways, whoever deceives and manipulates others with cunningness and falsity, whoever creates, justifies, and promotes evil, instead of avoiding it, is liable to God’s displeasure and death 4.      But alas how many are least bothered about setting a bad example to others? How many politicians, famous and influential people, religious leaders, parents, and elders continue to give bad examples to others? 5. That indifference to God, that lack of prayer, those quarrels, that anger, that needless anxiety, that irresponsibility, that negligence in faith matters, that deception, that greed, that selfishness, that failure to guide, to counsel, to correct, to inspire, that lack of tenderness, understanding, and kindness, whether in the families or in the parish or in the neighbourhood or in the places of work – all these, are they not scandals which we give to our dear ones, to our neighbours or colleagues? 6.      One great antidote to this disease is awareness of the gravity of sin. Sin is not fun. It is something serious. Its consequences are grave. Losing our limbs is preferable to committing sin. It is better to go to heaven handicapped rather than go to hell with all the limbs. 7.      Another remedy is to help and support those who belong to and work for Christ. Jesus says, “Whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward”. 8.      Further, another way to counter the pull toward scandals is to be more responsible for our role of being salt. Just as salt preserves things from decay and deterioration and adds flavor, so also with our saltiness of a good example, we can salten life.   Direction: Time and again we are surrounded and shocked by scandals and bad examples. In such a context, on the one hand, we need to increase our immunity to resist their negative influence; on the other hand, we need to enhance our strength for positive influence and a good example   (Reflection 2)   Focus: A bad example is detestable in the sight of God and is liable to God’s judgment 1.      One major defect of today’s society is the increase of bad examples and scandals. More and more people get accustomed and tuned to wrong and evil. The pity all the more is, they are least bothered. Many give more importance to their self-gain and pleasure rather than setting a good example. Many do not feel any social and moral obligation to walk a good life and help others to walk the same. 2.       This bad example is mainly failing - to trust in the Lord, to seek Him with sincerity of heart, and to love and live uprightness. It is the perversity of thinking. It is cultivating a deceitful soul. It is a body enslaved to sin. 3.       The attitude of many who set a bad example is: ‘This is my life and I want it to be happy and undisturbed’. Why should I bother to give a good example to others? It is their freedom and choice. Let them not be easily influenced by bad examples.’ 4.       There is certainly some truth in their argument. But they cannot simply evade their culpability. In fact, the gravity of their wrong is so great that it invites severe punishment. The Lord pronounces ‘woe’ on them and attests: it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea.   24 MAY 2024: JAMES 5. 9-12; MARK 10. 1-12   Focus: In any relationship, selfishness is very damaging. It leads to closed-mindedness and stubbornness. These shut the doors to understanding and kindness   1.      Today, especially the walls of married and family life are shaking and crumbling. Excessive ego and cheating are two reasons for this. People are carried away by self-pride in the name of self-dignity. Self-interests are promoted in the name of self-making. Deceiving and manipulating are justified as tools for success and happiness. 2.      This is really the corrosion of the dignity and sanctity of married life. This is visibly reflected in the increasing number of divorces. It is sad that sometimes divorces are sought even for silly reasons. Jesus today addresses this issue. He makes it very clear that marriage union is divine and sacred and so indissoluble. Any breach of this bond is never His will. 3.      In this context, humility, and fidelity can be the two greatest pillars on which the edifice of married life can be rebuilt. The efforts of both partners should be to safeguard the bond rather than being hasty to break it at the slightest pretext. 4.      A healthy family life requires more humility to acknowledge and admit one’s own weaknesses and failures instead of defending and justifying them. It calls for reducing our sense of false ego, which is inflated and blown up. It also calls for making more space for the weaknesses of the other and accepting him or her. 5.      Further, it needs more fidelity. As long as there is no trust and trustworthiness in each other, as long as there is no openness and transparency to each other, as long as there is no honesty and truthfulness, but instead, there is hiding, lying, and cheating, then surely that family life will collapse. The counsel of St James in the first reading can be relevant here. He urges us to be steadfast with patience in suffering like Job.   Direction: There can be sometimes some valid reasons for divorce and separation. However, we cannot glorify it or legitimize it. The fact remains that family life today requires more steadfastness and fidelity   25 MAY 2024: JAMES 5. 13-20; MARK 10. 13-16   Focus: Openness to God’s grace is crucial for the working of it. God can work freely and abundantly when there is humble receptivity and cooperation   1.      In today’s gospel, the whole scene pivots around children. Jesus rebukes his disciples who hinder children from being brought to him to be touched and blessed. He wants children to come to him, be close to him, and be touched and blessed by him. He also makes it crystal clear that only to such belongs the kingdom of God. 2.      We can reflect now on what it means to be children and to be childlike. Before that, some simple questions can be asked. Today how many parents take their children closer to Jesus, to the church, to the sacraments, to the spiritual animation? How many parents initiate, motivate, guide, and foster their children in matters of faith and morals? How many of them instil and ignite in their children a love for God and enthusiasm for spirituality? 3.      In the name of giving the children freedom, and respecting their individual responsibility, are the elders not failing in their responsibility? Are we ourselves not hindering them from Jesus? What a loss it is that our children miss the nearness, the touch, and the blessing of Jesus! 4.      We may also reflect on the attitude of the children of today. How many children have this longing to go to Jesus, to receive his touch and blessing? How many prefer to spend long hours watching TV, playing video games, or with their friends? How many children become so irregular to the church, especially to the Holy Eucharist and the holy confession? 5.      We can further reflect on being childlike. Essentially it means a heart that bubbles with tender affection, a guileless heart that harbours nothing negative, with humility to realize their smallness, deep trust to depend totally on God, and wholehearted surrender to Him. 6.      In the light of the first reading from the letter of St James, all this means a “praying” heart that surrenders all to God, be it suffering, sickness, or weakness. Such a praying heart is also benevolent toward others, in praying for them, healing them, and bringing them back to God.   Direction: Care should be taken so that our prayers do not become self-oriented. We need to realize the efficacy of the prayer of intercession for others. Thus our prayers must become more altruistic and benevolent