2009-Holy Saturday: Contemplation of the Tomb of Jesus

Contemplating the Tomb of Jesus Question: The tomb where Jesus was buried... Where is it? What does it look like? Is there a picture of the tomb? Can you visit the burial site of Jesus? It would be really nice if I could tell you that the photo below is of the tomb that Jesus once was laid in. Though this tomb, well outside of Jerusalem, serves as a great example of a first century burial place, that's all it is... a great example.

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Does it sound odd

to contemplate the tomb of Jesus?

Let me explain... For several years now, whenever I make a retreat or give a retreat to others, I have found it very, very fruitful to enter into this contemplation or suggest it to others. What does contemplation of the tomb really mean? “Now there was a man named Joseph from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, who had not consented to their purpose and deed, and he was looking for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud, and laid him in a rock-hewn tomb, where no one had ever yet been laid. It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning. The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and saw the tomb, and how his body was laid; then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.”

Luke 23: 50-56 Taking this Gospel passage as the faith-history of the burial of the body of Jesus, you are invited to follow the vivid sequences in the narrative. -I Take part in the burial of Jesus with lively sentiments just as I would take part in the funeral of one of my dear ones... ============ Having taken part in the burial of Jesus, spend sometime sitting at the tomb of Jesus with Joseph of Arimathea, the women and others. You may confidently imagine that Mother of Jesus is there too. ->Enter into a dialogue with any one of them or with all of them. Have a faith sharing on the mystery of Jesus’ life, passion, and cruel but redemptive death with a sense of wondering and trusting faith. ->Feel the emotions that emerge from within the depth of your heart. ->See that all the others have gone from the tomb with genuine sorrow ... ->Spend a few moments at the tomb with the body of Jesus in the tomb... ->Become aware of any unfinished business in my life that keeps showing up every now and then and crying for deliverance and healing... ->They can rightly be called ‘dead matter’ in us... ->Identify each dead matter and try to give it a name, e.g., suppressed anger, refusal to forgive, lack of reconciliation, jealousy, stubbornness, showiness, false justification, misunderstanding, lack of acceptance, destructive criticism of others, resistance to God’s Spirit, etc... ->I can give a decent funeral to all such experiences... ->Just imagine that I throw the “dead-matter” one by one into the tomb of Jesus... ->In fact, Jesus has already taken all my unfinished businesses into his passion and death and offered them to God. “It is finished.” ->My conscious acceptance of my negativities and throwing them into the tomb of Jesus will certainly liberate me into a redeemed person that I am called to be by my baptism. ->This is faith-sensitivity; and I can spend sometime/much time allowing my eyes of faith to wander at leisure into the inner feelings and movements that emerge... -> A feeling of Time, space –> dissolving into mystery of God…! -> The tomb of Jesus becoming a transit route/ a pathway to God’s

Mystery.… -> An experience of all my “dead-matter” being purified and

transformed in Christ…. -> Our life is not written off, but written into the very heart of God’s own

life, love and compassion. So be it!

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2009-Good Friday

GOOD FRIDAY Contemplation of the Passion CORE GRACE OF THE DAY To feel one with Christ in His suffering because He suffered for me. I should make greater effort to be with Christ through all his anguish, struggle, and suffering. The contemplation of the Passion demands that I pay special attention to how the divinity hides itself so that Jesus seems to be utterly human and helpless. To identify myself with the suffering Christ is to experience the mystical grace that calls for greater recollection, prayer as well as penance. Passages from Scripture: Mtt 26: 30 to 27: 66 Mk 14: 32 to 15: 47 Lk 22: 39 to 23: 56 Jn 18: 1 to 19: 42 The Agony in the garden…Betrayal by Judas… The Arrest of Jesus… Christ before Annas… The denials of Peter… Christ before Caiphas… The High Priest… The first trial before Sanhedrin… The mocking of our Lord… Christ or Barabas… The scourging… Behold the man! The condemnation… The Way of the cross… Meeting of Jesus and Mary his mother… Simon of Cyrene… Meeting with the women… Arrival in Golgotha… Nailing… Division of clothing… Crucified between two thieves… But standing by the cross of Jesus was Mary, his mother… The burial… Is 53: 1-12 He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities.. 1 Pet 2: 21-25 By his wounds you have been healed… Psalms: 25; 28; 31; 62… Divine Reading… The Last Words: “Father forgive them…” Lk 23: 34 “This day you will be with me in paradise…” Lk 23: 43 “Woman behold your son”, “Son behold your mother” Jn 19: 25-27 “I am thirsty” Jn 19: 28 “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” Mk 15: 34-35 “It is finished” Jn 19: 30 “Father into thy hands I commend my spirit” Lk 23: 46 ========================= I should aim at a deeper conformation and confirmation of myself to what I perceive God is asking of me in the suffering Christ. The light and strength necessary for this comes from my absorption into Christ… Eucharist is the WORD MADE FLESH ever more interiorly present nourishing us conforming us to Himself, confirming us and transforming us in our mission of loving service. ++++++++++++++++++++++ Heal your inner wounds through the cross of Christ. In faith, hope and love, just surrender to the suffering Christ. Believe in his healing power. He suffers for me. His suffering, passion and death heal ME of MY infirmities. Is that not the meaning of redemption brought about by Christ? Believe and experience the difference in your life! +++++++++++++++++ vmalpan@gmail.com

2009-Holy Thursday: Institution of the Eucharist

Do this in remembrance of me...

Holy (Maundy) Thursday

The Thursday before Easter, observed in commemoration of the Last Supper of Jesus. Also called Holy Thursday.

The word "Maundy" comes from Middle English "maunde", ceremony of washing the feet of the poor on this day, from Old French "mande" , from Latin (novum) mandātum, (new) commandment (from Jesus's words to the Apostles after washing their feet, John 13:34).

Homily "What is it with the washing of feet? For us, in our heavily shooed and socked culture (well, for men, anyway) the washing of feet seems a rather odd custom. After all, unlike Jesus’ day, it is not something we normally do to welcome visitors to our house. We might expect them to remove their shoes to protect the carpet, but for us to wash their feet ... I don’t think so. And while ladies may often bare their feet, men do rarely. Couldn’t we rather just note the symbolism of the gesture, the warmth of the welcome, the humility of Christ. Yes, we could, but let us not lose sight of the physicality of the gesture. In fact, Holy Week is all about physicality. Jesus does not say the disciples are welcome, or portray a humble attitude, but he washes their feet. He does not sit and meditate in silence, but he prays out loud, ‘Father take this cup away from me’. He does not just say our sins are forgiven, or pray for reconciliation with the Father, but he suffers and dies on the cross. He does not just tell us that one day we shall dwell with him in heaven, but his body rises from death and eats with his disciples. It is not simply ideas, or thoughts, or beliefs. These are actions, events, physical encounters. And so too with the Mass. He does not simply say - you are in communion with me - you are close to me in spirit - I will always be in your heart and your memories. No, he says do this to remember me. He takes bread and wine. He blesses, breaks and shares. He says this is my body and blood - not represents, not stands for, nor reminds you of - but is. Physically, really, truly. Whatever our ideas, or thoughts, or beliefs, however much or little we understand, what we never must neglect is what we do. Actions speak louder than words. That is why we wash the feet." ************Fr. Peter's Blog vmalpan@gmail.com

2009-Holy Week: Tuesday

African Painting of the Vth station of the Way of the Cross Simeon helps Jesus... +++++++++++++++++++ The Cost of Discipleship Diciple is one who learns from the Master Prayer: That I may be placed with Christ the Son. AIDS TO PERSONAL REFLECTION AND PRAYER Passages from Scripture: = 2 Cor 4: 7-18 Renunciation is the basis of Christian Discipleship… It helps us to accept the hardships and humiliations that will be part of our life… = Isaiah 29: 13-14 Deeds, not words, are the proof of the true disciple… = Mtt 10: 17-25 If they have persecuted Jesus, then the disciples must also expect to be persecuted… = Mtt 10: 26-33 Who will take her/his stand for Christ? We must be fearless in the choice of what Christ stands for. This fearlessness will give the disciple the freedom to confess always Christ before all… = James 2: 14-17 Faith is like that: if good works do not go with it, it is quite dead… = Mtt 16: 24-26 Any one who loses her/his life for my sake will find it… = Mtt 5: 3-12 The beatitudes are the cross of Christ realized in practical living… The key to all of them is the first; “Blessed are the poor in spirit”… = Mtt 16: 13-20 Who do you say that I am?… ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' "He it is, the innermost one, Who awakens my being with his deep hidden touches. He it is who puts his enchantment upon these eyes and joyfully plays on the chords of my heart in varied cadence of pleasure and pain. He it is who weaves the web… in evanescent hues of gold and silver, blue and green, and lets peep out through the folds his feet, at whose touch I forget myself. Days come and ages pass, and it is ever he who moves my heart in many a name, in many a guise, in many a rapture of joy of sorrow.” '''''''''''''''''''''''Rabindranath Tagore: Gitanjali Comments to: vmalpan@gmail.com

2009-Holy Week: Monday

The Cross

The Cross, fundamental law for the life of young people:

Benedict XVI calls upon young people not to "turn back upon themselves." The cross is the only way to build a "Universal Kingdom" of encounter among different cultures. It is also the way of true love, which implies "sacrifice," renunciation," and obedience to the will of God. "He who promises a life without this constantly renewed gift of self deceives people." Vatican City (AsiaNews) - A crowd of at least 40,000 people took part in the first ceremonies for Holy Week, with the celebration of Palm Sunday in St. Peter's Square, presided over by Benedict XVI. Most of them were young people from Rome and various nations, with multicolored T-shirts, hats, shoes, bandannas, and a thicket of palms and olive branches, who had come for the 24th World Youth Day, which this year is celebrated at the diocesan level. Last year, the Day took place at the worldwide level in Sydney (Australia), and in 2011 will be held in Madrid. For this reason, at the end of the celebration Australian young people handed over the Cross of the young people to their Spanish peers. After the long and moving singing of the Passion of Jesus according to St. Mark, the pope addressed the young people with a profound, demanding proposal. Taking his cue from today's celebration, the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, the pontiff recalled the value of the days in Sydney ("the essential objective was this: We want to see Jesus"), acclaimed, as in today's liturgy, as "he who comes in the name of the Lord," and as the "kingdom of our father David that is to come!" (Mark 11:9f). The pope asked: "Do we understand what is the Kingdom of which He spoke in the interrogation before Pilate? Do we comprehend what it means that this Kingdom is not of this world? Or do we perhaps desire that instead it should be of this world?" "We can recognize two essential characteristics of this Kingdom," he explained. "The first is that this Kingdom passes through the cross . . . the second characteristic says: his Kingdom is universal." But Benedict XVI immediately stressed what makes the kingdom of Jesus Christ different: "[it] is not the rule of a political power, but is exclusively based on the free adherence of love - a love that, for its part, responds to the love of Jesus Christ that is given for all. I think that we must constantly relearn these two things - first of all, universality, catholicity. This means that no one can set up himself, his culture, and his world as absolute. This requires that we all accept one another, renouncing something of our own. Universality includes the mystery of the cross - transcending oneself, obedience to the common word of Jesus Christ in the common Church. Universality is always a transcendence of oneself, the renunciation of something personal. Universality and the cross go together. This is the only way in which peace is created." To the "We want to see Jesus" (John 12:21) - the theme of the Day in Sydney - Jesus responds with his words about the "grain of wheat that dies" (John 12:24), which is "the fundamental law of human existence. 'Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life' (John 12:25). He who wants to have his life for himself, to live only for himself, to clutch everything to himself and exploit all of its possibilities - this is the very person who loses his life. It becomes tedious and empty. Only in the abandonment of oneself, only in the disinterested gift of the 'I' in favor of the 'you', only in the 'yes' to a greater life, proper to God, does our own life become full and great." The pope explained that this principle established by Jesus is in the end the very principle of love: "Love . . . means leaving oneself, giving oneself, not wanting to possess oneself, but becoming free from one's self: not turning back upon oneself - what will become of me - but looking forward, toward the other - toward God and toward the people He sends into my life. And this principle of love, which defines the journey of man, is once again identified with the mystery of the cross, with the mystery of the death and resurrection that we encounter in Christ.""An upright life," the pope specified, "also includes sacrifice, renunciation. He who promises a life without this constantly renewed gift of self deceives people. There is no such thing as a successful life without sacrifice. If I look back over my own life, I must say that precisely the moments in which I said 'yes' to a renunciation were the great and important moments of my life."

<catholic.asia@gmail.com>

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vmalpan@gmail.com

Lent 40, Palm Sunday

Meeting God in a Braying Donkey ‘EE-AW, EE-AW.’ That was the sound which would greet me early every morning, when I was p.p. in the mountainous country parish of Birch Grove, Grenada. First one donkey would bray. Its call would be taken up by another donkey, then another one, until the whole valley reverberated with the sound of donkeys greeting each other. And what a mournful noise a donkey makes! It sounds as though it’s in great pain or is carrying all the cares of the world on its back. The dawn chorus of braying donkeys reminded me of S. Paul writing about the whole of creation groaning as it waits for its redemption.These humble beasts unwittingly seemed to express the universal growing pains and longing for Christ to return in glory to renew the whole of creation, both in heaven and on earth. We people articulate that yearning when we pray, ‘Come, Lord Jesus, come.’ In its own way the donkey’s bray seemed more eloquent and heart-felt than our many words –certainly it’s much noisier. As I toyed with the thought of the donkey sounding as though it were carrying all the cares of the world I was pulled up with a jolt. In a flash I realised that there was one donkey, which did exactly that. On Palm Sunday it carried our saviour into Jerusalem and to his Passion. On that donkey’s back rode the one who bore the burden of the guilt of our sins, a burden, which he would remove through his death on the cross. That donkey unwittingly played an important walk-on part in the drama of our salvation, as it carried our saviour to his Passion. It’s very appropriate that at least one breed of donkey has a dark cross on its shoulders. This is seen as reminding us of the privileged role one of them played in helping our saviour carry and remove all the troubles of the world. With the doleful donkey I, too, groan or bray for the renewal of the whole of creation. With the Palm Sunday donkey I, too, must help those who are overburdened to carry their load. Christ identified with them, and so must I.And isn’t it strange that a donkey is present at the birth and at the Passion of our saviour? The presence of this lowly beast of burden frames the whole of Christ’s life. As Jesus bore our sins on the cross he assumed the role of a beast of burden. We, too, are called to take up our crosses and follow him. Another thought has just occurred to me. Perhaps the donkey’s braying is not only a doleful lament before the Lord, but also its way of singing his praises. I must learn from the donkey to do both. This humble beast of burden has its own special way of leading me to God. Credit: My Way God's Way by Peter Clarke O.P. ----------------------------- Comments to: vmalpan@gmail.com