Prayer and Family

Message from Fr. Jose Koluthara, CMI

Infant Jesus, bless all the members of our family with reverence and faith-filled prayer. Amen.

My Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In recent years, words such as “dysfunctional” have been used to describe the changing face and growing fragility of family. Almost every day media brings before us some horrific account of abuse or neglect or worse. Parents abandon children; children mistreat elderly parents. Unwanted newborns are left to die in dumpsters or in bathrooms at high school premises. Poverty creates even more problems, as children go hungry and whole families find themselves homeless. Economic concern have caused the disintegration of family bonds when one parent or both must travel far from home to earn an adequate living.
 
The Holy Family, whose relationship we honour and celebrate today was not without its own struggles. A betrothed man, Joseph feels jilted; words at the child’s presentation in the temple cause anxiety; a political threat causes the family to seek refuge in a foreign country and hide out in Nazareth after their return; a child runs away in Jerusalem; a son is arrested and executed in his prime. Truly, theirs was a family fraught with all of the ups and downs, joy and sadness of our own families. Yet, as in all good families the manner in which Mary, Joseph and Jesus dealt with the exigencies of their life together made all the difference.

Theirs was a union characterized by reverence for one another which helped them to cope with the difficulties in their lives. Another coping skill, a vital aspect of healthy holy family life, is faith-filled prayer - prayer alone and prayer together. Today’s gospel (Lk 2:41-52) illustrates beautifully that Mary, Joseph and Jesus valued prayer and allowed it to punctuate the various moments of their lives. Because of their piety and their desire to observe the Jewish feasts, the Holy Family would have made prayerful pilgrimage to Jerusalem at least once a year for Passover. Prayerfully, Mary and Joseph presented their son to God in the temple. Prayerfully, Mary pondered in her heart the will of God, to which she and Joseph submitted even without the security of full understanding. May the Holy Family help us pray together and stay together as a family.

INTERESTED IN VOCATIONS? Call Fr. Jose or visit http://www.vocationstoronto.ca/

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Babe of Bethlehem

Message from Fr. Jose Koluthara, CMI

Infant Jesus, you take away the sins of the world, grant us your peace. Amen.

My Dear Brothers and Sisters,

God chose Bethlehem for his Son. Why? If Jesus was born in Rome or Alexandria or Athens or Corinth, it would have made more sense from the point of view of spreading His message. Sophisticated Rome would have been an excellent home base for Christianity. Jesus would have found a warm welcome in Alexandria because that city was famed for its cultural, educational and commercial offerings.
Home to Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, wouldn’t Athens have welcomed the wisdom that Jesus had come to impart? Wouldn’t the thousands who passed through Corinth, who gathered there for business and pleasure, have been interested in Jesus’ words and works?
Given the divine power and purpose, Jesus could have entered into the human situation at any time in any place. So why Bethlehem? According to the prophet Micah (1st reading, Micah 5:2-5a), Bethlehem was small and insignificant compared to the other clans of Judah. Perhaps it was chosen because Bethlehem was David’s family home and the place of his anointing as king. The very name Bethlehem means, “house of bread”, an appropriate title that anticipated the one who would give bread for the life of the world. Aside from its association with David and the nurturing symbolism of its name, another aspect of Bethlehem’s history suggests its special importance. The village of Bethlehem was about five miles south of Jerusalem and the main livelihood of the village was shepherding. People on pilgrimage to the Holy City for Passover purchased their lambs in Bethlehem. How significant that Jesus, the Lamb of God, sacrificed for the salvation of the world was to be born in Bethlehem!
In today’s 2nd reading from Hebrews (10:5-10), the author reminds us of the saving power of Jesus’ sacrifice. While we celebrate the joy of Jesus’ birth, and while we rejoice in his coming among us – just as did Mary, Elizabeth and John (gospel, Lk. 1:39-45) – our focus must not be solely on the baby of Bethlehem and the peaceful crèche. Christmas’ greatest gift was nailed to a cross, and through Him all other good gifts have come – life, light forgiveness, peace, justice, hope, faith and joy.

INTERESTED IN VOCATIONS? Call Fr. Jose or visit http://www.vocationstoronto.ca/

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Characteristics of Waiting

Message from Fr. Jose Koluthara, CMI

Infant Jesus, instil in us your justice and mercy as we await your coming. Amen.

My Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The weeks of preparation for Christmas is an opportune time for cultivating a spirituality of waiting. The characteristics of the one we await affect the character of our waiting. Jesus is the loved one whose coming we await. And so joy and hope-filled anticipation are to characterize all our Advent days and nights.
Today’s scripture selections make it clear that the coming of Jesus should prompt even more than joy and hope in us. Because he who comes is justice and mercy personified (Baruch 5:1-9, 1st reading), our waiting for him must be marked by similar justice and mercy. Because he who comes is the very salvation of God (Lk 3:1-6 gospel), we who await him must give ourselves over to the work of salvation. Paul clearly understood this, as is reflected in his prayer for Philippian converts (Phil. 1:3-6,8-11, 2nd reading); therein, he expresses the wish that his readers be found rich in the harvest of justice. He also prays that they might learn to value the things that really matter while awaiting the coming of Christ. Today’s Paul’s prayer and the coming Christ challenge our values and priorities, and they challenge us to be renewed in our efforts in the cause of justice, mercy and salvation.
How can we, who await a just and merciful and saving Lord, live in constant preparedness for his coming? Author Walter Burghardt, offers five suggestions:
Allow the words of scripture to take hold of us. The word we read and study must be the word we pray, and the word we pray must be the word we live. We should consent to be transformed, consumed and directed by it.
Be converted by the heart, mind, will and spirit of Christ, who is justice, mercy and salvation. This means loving as he loved, serving as he served, living as he lived and, when necessary, suffering and dying as he suffered and died.

Help and serve others in their need, without any consideration of deservedness. Jesus wanted his followers to understand that justice is not simply about giving others what they can prove they deserve.
Recognize poor regardless of their monetary status and attend to their needs. The term “poor” should include not only the economically disadvantaged but also lepers, widows, orphans and sinners.
Let justice be a lens through which we see all of reality; for justice means fidelity to all our relationships – with God, with one another, with the world.
May infant Jesus help us live justly, mercifully and peacefully with all others through him, with him and in him.

INTERESTED IN VOCATIONS? Call Fr. Jose or visit http://www.vocationstoronto.ca/

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