মুক্তিপণ যীশু মানব পরিত্রাণে উৎসর্গকৃত এক পাস্কার-মেষশাবক

 

যীশু খ্রীষ্ট, আমাদের পরিত্রাণের নিস্তার-পর্ব  এবং এই পর্বের মুক্তিপণ-মেষশাবক, দুঃখভোগ করতে সক্ষম যিনি, মানবতার পোশাক পরিহিত যিনি, ঈশ্বরের দুঃখভোগকারী লোকদের জন্য তিনি নিজেকে উৎসর্গ করেছিলেন। তিনি আত্মা ও দেহের রোগব্যাধি  জয় করেছিলেন। তিনি মানবজাতির  ধ্বংসকারী – মৃত্যুকে– মারাত্মক আঘাত করেছিলেন ।   তাকে মেষশাবকের মতোই নিয়ে যাওয়া হয়েছিল; ভেড়ার মতো জবাই করা হয়েছে; পাঁঠার মত বলি দেওয়া হয়েছে । নিজেই  মুক্তিপণ হয়ে,  তিনি মানবজাতিকে দাসত্ব থেকে পৃথিবীতে মুক্তি  এনে দিয়েছেন; আমাদেরকে দাসত্ব থেকে মুক্ত করেছেন ; অন্ধকার থেকে আলোর দিকে নিয়ে এসেছেন । তিনি তাঁর আত্মা এবং রক্ত দিয়ে এক  সীলমোহরে মানুষের আত্মাকে একহৃদে  আবদ্ধ  করে রেখেছেন ।  লজ্জায় মৃত্যুকে ঢেকে রেখেছেন। তিনি পাপকে আঘাত করেছেন এবং বংশধরদের পাপ-অন্যায় লুটিয়ে  নিয়েছেন। মানবতাকে তিনি চিরকালের জন্য আপন করে নিয়েছেন। অনেক কিছু সহ্য করে সবার মধ্যে উপস্থিত থেকেছেন।

সার্ডিসের সাধু মেলিটো লিখেছেন : আবেলে তিনি নিহত হন, ইসাহাকে  আবদ্ধ, যাকোবে অপরিচিত  ও  নির্বাসিত, যোষেফে  বিক্রি ও মোশিতে অনাবৃত ও মৃত্যুমুখি  হতে হয়েছিল । তিনি নিস্তারপর্বের মেষশাবক হয়ে বলি হয়েছিলেন, দাউদে নির্যাতিত  এবং   প্রবক্তাদের মধ্যে অসম্মানিত হয়েছিলেন।   তিনি এমন একজন মানুষ ছিলেন যাকে ‘গাছে’  ঝুলিয়ে রাখা হয়েছিল; তাকে মাটিতে সমাহিত করা হয়েছে এবং তিনই মৃতূদের মধ্য থেকে পুনরুত্থিত হয়েছেন । এক নিঃশব্দধারী  নম্র  মেষশাবক, এক নিহত মেষশাবক, –এই  ঈশ্বরের মেষশাবককে পাল থেকে ধরে নিয়ে যাওয়া হয়েছিল; তাঁকে বলি দেওয়ার জন্য, মিথ্যা ভাবে, জোড় করে, টেনে নিয়ে যাওয়া হয়েছিল; শেষ-বিকেলে বলি দেওয়া হয়েছিল, সন্ধ্যার শুরুতে মারা গিয়েছিলেন  এবং রাতে তাঁকে কবর দেওয়া হয়েছিল। কিন্তু তাঁর কোনো হাড় ভাঙেনি, গুড়ো হয়নি; ক্ষতবিক্ষত হয়েও তাঁর শরীর ক্ষয় বলে কিছু জানে না। তিনি এখন পৃথিবীতে জীবিত ও সক্রিয়।

আমরা প্রত্যক্ষ করি, রাজা সলোমনের মতো যীশুও একটা গাধার পিঠে চড়ে জেরূসালেম নগরদ্বারে প্রবেশ করেন। লোকেরা দায়ূদের রাজ্যের উত্তরাধিকারী ও  "ইস্রায়েলের রাজা, হোসান্না" বলে তাঁকে অভিনন্দন জানায়। কিন্তু, যখন  যীশু জেরুজালেমের মধ্যে প্রবেশ করবেন, তখন কিন্তু যীশুকে কাঁটার  মুকুট পড়িয়ে দেওয়া হবে এবং ক্রুশ থেকে তিনি রাজত্ব করবেন – একদম সলোমনের বিপরীত!

এটাও আমরা লক্ষ করে থাকি, যীশুর যন্ত্রনাময়ের সময়কালীন, শিষ্যরা ব্যর্থ হয়েছিল এবং যীশুকে ত্যাগ করেছিল। গেৎশিমানী উদ্যানে শিষ্যেরা বেশ কয়েকবার ঘুমিয়ে পড়েছিল; তারা জেগে থাকতে পারেনি। যীশু যখন প্রার্থনা করছিলেন তখন তারা তাঁর সঙ্গে যায়নি। যীশু যখন ধরা পড়লেন তখন তারা সৈন্যদের কাছ থেকে পালিয়ে গেল। পিতর কেবল  দূর থেকে পিছু নেয়। কিন্তু সে তিন তিনবার যীশুকে চেনার বা জানার কথা অস্বীকার করে। পিতর  বলে ওঠে, “আমি ওই লোকটিকে  চিনিই  না”। ইহুদীদের মধ্যে যারা যীশুর অলৌকিক কাজগুলো দেখেছিল এবং তাঁর বাক্য শুনেছিল, তারা যীশুকে পরিত্যাগ করেছিল। তারা যীশুর পরিবর্তে একজন খুনি দস্যুকে মুক্তি দিতে বলেছিল।

 

যীশু ক্রুশ থেকে চিৎকার করে বলে ওঠেন, "ঈশ্বর আমার, ঈশ্বর আমার, কেন তুমি আমাকে পরিত্যাগ করেছ?”  যীশু যখন শেষ নিঃশ্বাস ত্যাগ করেন, তখন মহিলারাও ক্রুশ থেকে অনেক দূরে ছিল। বাকি এগারো জন প্রেরিতের মধ্যে কেউই পিলাতের কাছে তাঁর মৃতুদেহ চাইতে আসেনি। একমাত্র আরিমাথিয়ার যোসেফই তা করতে  সাহস পেয়েছিল। একমাত্র পরজাতীয় শতানিক (সেঞ্চুরিয়ান) জনসমক্ষে সেই ক্রুশের তলায় যীশুকে ঈশ্বরের পুত্র হিসাবে তার বিশ্বাস স্বীকার করেছিল। যীশুর প্রতিপাদনের প্রমাণ হল এই : "তাঁর শিষ্যদের দ্বারা পরিত্যক্ত, যুদাসের দ্বারা বিশ্বাসঘাতকতা, পিতরের  দ্বারা অস্বীকার, যাজকদের দ্বারা ঈশ্বর-নিন্দার অভিযোগে অভিযুক্ত, একজন হত্যাকারীর পক্ষে হওয়া এক জনতার দ্বারা প্রত্যাখ্যাত, অন্ধকার দ্বারা পরিবেষ্টিত এক মহাসভা এবং রোমীয় সৈন্যদের দ্বারা উপহাসিত(যারা যীশুকে ক্রুশে দিয়েছিল), এবং আপাতদৃষ্টিতে তাঁর স্বয়ং ঈশ্বরের দ্বারা পরিত্যক্ত।  এই এক মর্মাহত ঘটনার্থিক মুহূর্তে যীশু সম্পূর্ণরূপে প্রতিপাদিত হয়। ঈশ্বর মন্দিরকে উপাসনার স্থান হিসাবে প্রতিস্থাপন করার পরিবর্তে, তার জায়গায় তাঁর নিজের পুত্রকে উৎসর্গ করে যীশুর আর্তনাদে সাড়া দিয়েছেন: এই ঈশ্বর-পুত্র যীশুকে অইহুদী ও ইহুদী সকলেই একইরূপে স্বীকার করবে" (রেমন্ড ব্রাউন, সুসমাচারে খ্রীষ্ট..., 163)।

আমরাও কি যীশুর কাছ থেকে পালিয়ে যাব? মানব পরিত্রাণের জন্য  মুক্তিপণ হয়ে উৎসর্গকৃত  এই মেষশাবক-যীশুর যন্ত্রনায় সহমর্মি  হয়ে, আমরাও কি প্রতিপাদিত হব? সাক্ষীর প্রমাণ হব? যীশুর শিষ্য হয়ে  আমরাও কি আমাদের ক্রুশ কাঁধে  তুলে নিতে প্রস্তুত? খ্রীষ্টের জন্য এবং গরীব-অভাবীদের জন্য আমি কীভাবে দুঃখকষ্ট এবং আত্বত্যাগকে আলিঙ্গন করতে পারি? আজ আমাকে কীভাবে আমার নিজের ক্রুশ তুলে নেওয়ার জন্য ডাকা হয়েছে? তার জন্য আমি কি উপায় বার করেছি?

HUMAN PASSION TO DENY OR TO DEVOTE! A REFLECTION

 

 

I am inspired to pen these words by Bishop Barron’s recent Sermon (Palm Sunday), on his YouTube channel. So, I thought of sharing some of his thoughts and my personal reflections with the readers on my blog.

 

Like Solomon, Jesus mounts a donkey and rides into the city of Jerusalem. The crowd cheer him, ‘Hosanna, Son of David, King of Israel,’ the heir to David’s kingdom. But, when Jesus enters Jerusalem unlike Solomon, Jesus will be crowned with thorns and reign from the Cross, while being abandoned by most of His closed associates. 

According to a 20th century theologian the Gospels are basically Passion narratives with long introductions, says Bishop Barron in a recent homily. Therefore, the Passion narrative is the whole of the Gospel. On a bit different note, away from Jesus’ passion, putting ourselves in the scene, Bishop Barron suggests that we could focus on a series of people around Him, see their different reactions to the Passion events. Can we identify with any of these persons as they react to Jesus’ awaited death? The passion opens up  with the scene where Mary of Bethany anoints Jesus’ feet with the alabaster jar of perfumed oil, preparing for his predicted death and burial. She breaks open the jar of expensive perfume.  She pours it on Jesus' head. It scandalizes people around.  Judas explodes, “That's very expensive. Couldn't that nard be sold and the money given to the poor?” What a waste of an entire jar of perfume ! Yes, we could question it, “weigh it in the balance ethically”. Jesus, while dismissing his critique, praises her saying, “What she has done will be remembered for all time” and tell her to keep the rest of the oil for his burial. Mary is the first one to react to Jesus nearing his death. His death represents God's extravagant gift to us, that God went all the way down into our dysfunction. She responds with an extravagant gesture, she breaks open that jar of perfume, as though she's breaking open her whole heart.

According to Bishop Barron, the ‘odor of this woman’s perfume waft’, over the whole of the Passion narrative. This extra generous gesture suggests Jesus’ absolutely radical giving away of self – “nothing calculating, careful, or conservative”. Out of the heart’s abundance it flows,– “religion resists the strictures set for it by a fussily moralizing reason.” There are critiques who complain about the Church’s extravagance! Jesus gives himself away totally and lavishly, ‘pouring out’ his whole life for the world. Is our response to Christ a bit constrained, calculative and too careful? Are we ready to break open our hearts, pour ourselves out for the world?

In the course of the passion narratives, the disciples failed and abandoned Jesus. They fled from the soldiers when Jesus was apprehended. Will we too flee from Jesus? Or as Jesus’ disciples are we ready to take up our crosses, knowing that we too will be vindicated? How can I embrace suffering and sacrifice for Christ’s sake and for the needy ? How am I called to take up my cross today? Peter only follows at a distance. At the climactic moment of Jesus passion, while going through an inner struggle, he sweats blood at the Gethsemane. Peter, James and John – the intimate disciples – fall asleep. The disciples fell asleep several times; they could not keep awake. They dozed off into spiritual slumber. They did not accompany Jesus as he prayed. They did something disrespectful to their Guru. They showed their lack of spiritual attention, while a deep spiritual moment was taking place. They seemed to say: “we don't care” – quite indifferent to Jesus’ agony. It symbolizes contemporary secularism in the midst of God’s creative activity constantly happening around – God's love being poured out through the sacraments,  preaching of the Word of God and through social upliftment through acts of mercy.

We too who are intimate friends of Jesus,  often fall asleep into indifference. As Church members, what are we doing as the Lord is acting in the world? Snoozing away? Recall Prophet Eli  and Samuel ‘inside’ the temple, sleeping away! As Religious, we withdraw, we deliberately decide to fall asleep within the Church’s hierarchy, as the world’s evil and cruelty crucify Christ in the innocent people.

Again, we have a young man, running away ‘naked’ into the ‘night’ with the rest of the disciples from the Gethsemane, leaving his ‘tunic’ behind. This unexpected peculiar detail speaks of leaving our baptismal white garment that symbolizes our devotion to Christ. Like the Apostles we too have put on Christ. But at the moment of truth, when Christian faith demands our courageous witness, when things are “getting dangerous and dicey” because we are Christians, are we counting the cost? “Do we stand our ground or do we run off into the night leaving behind our baptismal identity?” Do we, like that young man, abandon our baptismal identity, run away from the struggle?

What's our attitude at those moments of truth?

The high priest, after hearing various witnesses, puts Jesus on trial at the Sanhedrin, and he asks, "Are you the son of God?” Jesus shockingly cites from  Daniel, chapter seven, saying that he sees the ancient days when one like the son of man coming on the clouds, someone who shares in the authority of God – a messianic prediction.  He affirms, "Yes, I am” – not mere a teacher, or a political leader, or just the Messiah in the conventional sense, but God from God, light from light, true God from true God. Jesus is not a distant historical figure, or a literary device, or an inspiring spiritual teacher that many modern men hold him to be, says Bishop Barron.  But he is God – the central claim of the Church. To fall short of this central faith identity, is effectively to be against Him. How often in our spiritual lives we make vow not to betray Jesus, yet like the apostles we too  deny Jesus’ true identity.

 Then we have the  “scapegoating mob” breaking out. The crowds who saw Jesus’ miracles and heard his words, abandoned Jesus. They asked for a murderous brigand to be released instead of Jesus. While  warming by the fire at the courtyard of the high priest's house, someone identifies Peter to be with Jesus. He retorts back thrice, “I don't even know Him." He denies knowing Jesus. He lies, “I do not know that man”. How often we as fellow sinners  who have pledged our complete loyalty to Him, deny as Peter the first pope did, when things get a little ‘dicey and difficult’!

Next, the Roman soldiers –if the Shroud of Turin is right – put a capped crown of thorns (not ringlet) placed upon the whole top of His head,  put the reed in His hand like a mock scepter. They put on him a purple cloth, laughing over his kingship. They beat Him and spit upon Him. Is not a lot of that going on today? There is so much of the mockery of Jesus and  of religion, through politics and religious fanaticism! And that is a kind of secularism – falling asleep, and indifferences. Have we mocked Jesus like these Roman soldiers with words, by saying/writing disrespectful things, or with our lives, or in associating with the crowd who jeered at Him?

Jesus cries out from the Cross “My God, my God, why have you abandoned (forsaken) me?” When Jesus breathed his last, women too were at a distance from the Cross. None of the remaining eleven apostles approached Pilate to ask for the body. Only Joseph of Arimathea had the courage to do so. Out of the various figures in the Passion narrative, who do we identify with?

Lastly, according to the scholars, the messianic secret is revealed at the foot of the cross after Jesus died.  Till then Jesus always told his closed followers or those whom he healed,  not to tell anyone about his Messianic identity. He quieted them down, muzzled them off. In fact, people were puzzled then, as we are now. Why would Jesus be so reticent? But as Jesus bowed in death, he no longer could silence anyone, reasons Bishop Barron. In fact, the Roman Centurion publicly reveals the Messianic secrecy, "Truly, this man was the son of God." Only the Gentile Centurian confessed publicly his faith in Jesus as the Son of God.

In short, these are signs of the vindication of Jesus: “Abandoned by his disciples, betrayed by Judas, denied by Peter, accused of blasphemy by the priests, rejected in favor of a murderer by the crowd, mocked by the Sanhedrin and by Roman troops and all who came to the cross, surrounded by darkness, and seemingly forsaken by his God, in this one dramatic moment Jesus is fully vindicated. God has answered Jesus’ cry by replacing the Temple as the locus of worship and by offering in its place His own Son who will be confessed by Gentile and Jew alike” (Raymond Brown, Christ in the Gospels…, 163). 

To conclude, Bishop Barron says, the Roman centurion who put Him to death, is the proto evangelist, confirming Jesus’ as the Son of God in place of the Roman Emperor, Caesar, who was the “Huios tou Theou”(son of the God) by tradition. Can we too say those same words? And say loud and clear, with that same confidence?

  

HAVE REASONS FOR A FAITH THAT HEALS THE WORLD

 

A Christian should “give reason to anyone who asks to account for the hope that is in you” (1 Pt 3:15), but we are often not given practical guidance on how to prepare. S/he should combine historical wisdom, practical skills, strategies, spiritual insights and practical principles inspired by Jesus, to explain to another the faith with charity and clarity; be ready to dialogue, evangelize and respond to questions about the Catholic faith in any given opportunity.

The book, The Everlasting Man, a compelling defense of Christianity, (apologetics) by G.K. Chesterton changed the young atheist C.S. Lewis, on the path toward Christianity. In fact, he was convinced that Jesus compels his disciples to make a choice: either you are with Jesus, or against him. There is no third way. This historical, mythological, philosophical, and theological story written in an obscure literary style, on humanity and religion looks quite paradoxical and disorienting, writes Ron Rolheiser. Yet, it is a classical literary genius, apt even today. It can become life story of a Christian of 21^st Century, applicable to modern life. To understand this paradox is already a step close to becoming a true Christian. 

 Jesus’ life principle was one of healing humanity and the world at large, bringing in the original order set by God, which a part of the humankind has disfigured and desecrated. This is a spiritual adventure for all of us, who are destined to heal. Like the cripple who, being healed by the apostles, began “jumping and praising God” (Acts 3:1–9). This is the hope produced by a spirituality of healing. That’s why Jesus came. In Jesus the healer, divinity and humanity meet, wherein his whole body, mind and spirit become a “conduit of God’s energy”, meant to set right a world gone wrong.  Jesus manifests the healing love of God, whose ultimate intention is establishing His totally healed Kingdom. We all can be ‘conduits’ of God’s healing energy.

God reaches out to the sinner (destroyer of the Kingdom), the sufferer, the marginalized. Jesus, following the Father’s will, seeks out the sinners with love and humility. He just wants to know if we want to be well again; if we really want to heal others. But there is always opposition to this healing process in the world. Often the healing work is condemned. There is the resistance to God’s creative work, to deny that it is not needed. The leaders of the world are confounded with diverse decisions. Many lawmakers of the state ignore ethics, natural laws, morality and conscience. Why do the governances want their way? Why don’t they seek together the common good? It is because God’s ways threaten their stay in power. They expose their strategies of oppression and exclusion to boost their egos.

Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection will continue to heal the world and restore its humanity to sanity, free those under bondage of sin, enlighten those still in darkness, and heal the ‘sick’ and hungry humanity. God will not stop the healing mission, because his love is unchangeable. God will comfort his people and show mercy to them for He is gracious, faithful, holy, just, and near to those who call upon him.

“To set right a disjointed universe, God broke open his own heart in love” writes Bishop Barron. God worked through many prophets, to gather the scattered children of the dysfunctional world into a divine life. Humanity is God’s centre of love. God’s power breaks open to include both the happy and the hopeless. The human quest for God is reversed, as God himself as the ‘hound of heaven’ goes out in search of the ‘sick’ for a wholistic healing. The essence of Christianity is, therefore, a self-emptying divine love, wherein we partake in the essential healing mission of the Trinitarian God.

In the actual world, on the contrary, we see a “scapegoat mechanism” (René Girard) worked out by the powerful of the world, who have the insatiable human need for scapegoats, in order to justify their misdeeds. According to Bishop Barron, God’s power acts in opposition to that energy of scapegoating:  God directs the energy of scapegoating violence back on the self-powered leaders, exposing the dangerous consequences of scapegoating over the unstable order of the society.

God sets a new order: a transformed world, through the divine and creative healing touch, perfecting the human nature, conformed to the original natural plan. This new order – Kingdom of God– is breaking out in the world; divided people are coming back together, and God is going to reign. Human race must live now as members of this new kingdom. People themselves will engage the enemies of the world, to deal directly with those powers opposed to God’s creative mission, confronting the “political oppressors, religious charlatans, and self-absorbed Pharisees.” And the Universal Truth will set the enslaved people free, and heal them from the worldy ‘diseases’ and its many extended symptoms. The ill-motivated people will be called to come out of their stubborn self. God wants the good, and only good of humanity. We all ought to be healed of all our ego. We all ought to opt for ‘Theo-drama’ and not ego-drama, following God’s will in our life. Consequently, we shall worship God in spirit and truth in a healed world. Ultimately, a healed humanity will realize that no devotion (worship) is more pleasing to God than that which is directed to the poor needy (St. Leo the Great). A healing faith helped by reason, like a hidden force, can bring about transformation in the world, beyond what our eyes perceive, because “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb 11:1).

 

 

 

RELIGIONS AND SPIRITUAL REALITIES

 

In spiritual life we seem to seek truth as if it is available in the proximate near-experience of the Ultimate Truth. In the realm of spirituality, like all other realities, it is not so. According to Sumit Paul, Einstein’s theory of relativity applied to spiritual realities, finds that every faith, religious code, doctrine, dogmas, belief system, ideology is subjective ‘truth’ (so called!) (timesofindia.com/speaking-tree, 14.4.2024). In the present situation, the majoritarian’s absolute faith-claim to be the only truth, is false and bigotry.  Nothing that is earthly is perfect. A religious faith system cannot be called the ultimate truth. When each religion asserts itself to be  the only ‘true’ belief system and every ideology claims to be the only perfect way of life, the post-modern principle seems to hold good: there exists only subjective truths and relative realities. My belief in my faith ideologies is my subjective interpretation of the reality. It is my ‘truth’ which can be non-truth in other’s interpretation of the same reality. If we cannot accept this relative reality of our understanding, we cannot empathise with other’s ‘truth’ as well. Absolute truth in this physical world is an enigma. As our knowledge and understanding is limited, all that we live through, think through and feel through, is out of a subjective experience or partial interpretation of the same reality. Therefore, when we recognize and accept the principle of relativity of truth, we will stop claiming absolute or superior ideological and religious ‘truths’ over others.

Consequently, there is no Universal Truth within human existence. No single theory, idea, ism, doctrine, or belief is acceptable to every individual. The foundations of a claimed and established truth can never be universal, as one or the other will doubt it’s veracity. We only interpret reality which we do not know in its totality. This unknown or partially known reality is the only truth. The subjective interpretations are all individual’s or a groups’ perceptions, which come only in fractions, and not in its entirety. We see realities from our possible and perceived ‘angles’, and they are only partially true.

No man-made Religions (faith-system) are universally true. Yet, we all within our  partial truth-experience, claim them to be the best and the absolute.  It is quite natural to do so, because we all suffer from spiritual worldliness and religious pride, claiming that which is mine is the best.   We can never be certain about the  objective  truth, except that we believe  it to be so. This  belief is in some systems, codes, creed, rituals and norms. Therefore, we can only acknowledge and claim that these systems and codes are true. If this is so, human limitations in knowing the Truth should make us humble. We need to look at our faith experience and belief, as a part of the reality, and not the only reality. We cannot insist on our view of reality and forcefully load it on others. The fact is, truth as a continuous process, it evolves and expands.

Let us consider the concept of divine revelation in religions. The interpretation of these revelations found in the Sacred Scriptures, believed to  contain revelations from the Almighty, significantly vary  according to diverse religious traditions. These texts are considered absolute truth by the believers. However, different biblical scholars and theologians interpret the Scripture contents differently based on different criteria and methods. Some passages are understood as metaphorical while others, as a direct command from God. The interpretations of passages on morality, salvation, and prophecy (exegesis, hermeneutics) contained in the believed-to-be divinely inspired Bible, diverge across denominations, e.g. creation story in Genesis—whether literal or allegorical. Again, within the Religion, the countless sects/denominations emphasize in varied measures the different aspects of the texts. These variations arise due to socio-cultural context, personal experiences, and individual perspectives. Each believer’s understanding of divine truth is shaped by their upbringing, traditions, education, and spiritual journey which is ever evolving with time and space. Thus, while the core texts remain constant, the subjective prism through which they are viewed, leads to diverse interpretations. In short, the concept of universal Truth in the light of varied interpretations of revelations, exemplifies how religious truths are inherently subjective. What resonates as profound and absolute for one person may differ significantly for another, highlighting the relativity of spiritual understanding that constantly evolves and expands.

Similarly, we recognize and acknowledge Jesus’ uniqueness in so far as it evolves and expands in its understanding of the Truth in our present situation.  His pre-eminence flows from his uniqueness, in as much as his words, actions  and the experiences of his disciples/followers evolve with the present interpretation of his actual life, words and works. Yet, the extent of understanding of such interpretations is only partial. Christians believe, Jesus is the Wisdom, he is the Message. But they are understood and interpreted in our partial human ways. Christianity may deny to be a system of ideas, even though there are gradually developed doctrines, system, norms, codes and creed. It is also claimed that Christianity is not a moral code of conduct for human behaviour; that it is not an "ism,” (monotheism). To say, on the contrary that Christianity is a person, – that no idea can substitute for the person of Christ– is contradictory and erroneous, because it is a man-made religion with a developed system of belief, relied upon some doctrines codes, creed, customs and rituals.  The person of Jesus, believed to be ever living and active in the Church today, itself is an idea out of our memory, – a belief in the notional idea of Jesus, as a person. In reality, he is a distant figure of History who lived and died, but made alive through the Christian belief, that through a divine power he is living and active in the Church and in the world. This is only a fraction, a partial belief of an individual or a community of the Absolute Truth, called God, Allah, Parameswara, the Almighty, Mother, or ‘Father’ as addressed by Jesus.

FATHER’S LOVE ABOVE THAT OF SONS’ AND DAUGHTERS’

 

The book of  Exodus (20:1-2) states, “I, the Lord, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. You shall not have other gods besides me. You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth; you shall not bow down before them or worship them [….] You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain.” Through Moses, this is clearly communicated to the people of Israel, but they almost immediately break the First Commandment of the Sinai covenant and worship the golden calf (Ex 32:1-35). After this deviation, the ten laws are drastically multiplied into 613 with do’s and don’ts, as a “yoke of discipline” against idolatry and aids to true worship. But they are used as suppressive measures by the highly clerical society.

Later, prophets Jeremiah, Ezekiel and others predict that these laws will be written in the human heart (Jer 31:31-33; Ezk 11:19), acting in full freedom as sons and daughters of the Father. The New Law of love is internalized by means of imbibing socio-moral virtues for a total union with God as His children. It depicts the prodigal portrait of God, who is love itself (cf. Mk 12:28–34). And we are destined to  access this divine love. Following the law of “spiritual physics” this love-gift possessed only in the measure it is given away, says Bishop Barron. If you cling to it, it disappears. In John Paul II’s term   “the law of the gift” is the ‘defining dynamic’ of the Father that all sons and daughters will have to follow.

 The Israelite’s Shema of loving God with all heart, mind, body and strength, invites us to examine our conscience. What bothers me from the ultimate concern of my life as a child of the Father?  How do I woe total allegiance to a God that I cannot see? The solution is here: the Shema is fulfilled, – as Jesus adds the second to the first – only through loving my neighbour as I love myself. In Mark 12:28-34, Jesus reminds the Scribe, “The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength (Deut 6:4-5). The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev 19:18).  Those who do not love their brothers and sisters whom they see, cannot love God whom they do not see (1Jn 4:20). The power and wisdom of the new law lies in not making the unseen Father’s house (family, Church) a marketplace, through over-ritualistic functions. Instead, “Whoever loves God must also love his brothers and sisters”(1Jn 4:21). Doing so “is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” According to Bishop Barron the logic is simple: God who is love, loves everything and everyone. Therefore, if I want to love God, I  need to love what and whom God loves.

 Today, there is the urgent need to reject false ‘gods’ we have created for ourselves, and love the true God the Father whose children we are. Like Jesus, we are called to do the Father’s will on earth. Love of God and neighbor is the ultimate law of unified love because this God of love is the only true God of the whole universe. Love needs to be responded with love. The ineffective sacrifices of the past are to be replaced by  the ‘sacrificial fire of love on the Cross’ for the love of neighbour.  Jesus’ sacrificial love becomes the source and model for the Christian love of neighbour (Mary Healy, The Gospel of Mark, 248). Here is then the challenge to continue loving for  the Kingdom’s sake.

 The salvation history is premised on a humanity being part of God’s family as sons and daughters, extended to all the nations and its citizens. The human-made Religions with its mores, codes and creed are to direct us to live unitedly in God’s family, through love of the Father and love of our brothers and sisters – a guide to a spiritual path of relationship. The gift of God’s love on humanity through Jesus was made flesh (Jn 1:17). The corrupt religions of hatred and violence are to be replaced by true love of neighbor in spirit and truth. It is a call to cleanse the evil and unjust practices.

 The awesome power and wisdom of God is manifested  through the crucified Jesus who died out of concrete love for humanity, fulfilling his Father’s will. Similarly, we are called to share in the divine communion as sons and daughters. The goodness of God is manifested through us, when we love each other as brothers and sisters. When we listen to the Father and heed to his voice (will) in our life, we commune with God by being in communion with each other. As prophets we translate “faith into the everyday life of a community before God” (Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth, 4).

 In Lent, we are asked to  join Jesus, follow his standard of loving our enemies (brothers and sisters), while witnessing to his mercy and salvation by turning our  hardened hearts into hearts of flesh that can truly love. With resistance to the hypocritical legalism and  the corrupted institutional religions that Jesus fought against,  we too are called to transform them — Church, doctrines, priesthood, sacrifice, liturgy— into a  loving relationship between the Father, and sons and daughters, – ever building up the family of God. Beyond abstraction, institutional norms and mere ‘change of mind’, we are to change our hearts of ‘doing’ (concrete actions) through a spiritual power and our availability towards our brothers and sisters.

As God is ever faithful to his sons and daughters, we are to called to be His faithful sons and daughters, rebuilding God’s family of love.  As the Father is full of mercy, so too we are to  be ‘vessels of mercy’ in the world today. If we know we have offended our brothers/sisters, we open our hearts and encounter and reconcile with them in humility,  imitating God's mercy without counting the cost. A heart that is open to the needy around, shows true love in action. We have to rise from our prayerful knees and go out to feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, comfort the sick and visit the prisoner, for we find the Father in them who are in need. Therefore, love of neighbour  is the concrete expression of our love of God who is truth, goodness, love and beauty. This love is worship, more important than prayers and sacrifice.