Beginner Monk

(especially for priests and religious...) This gospel passage is very familiar to all of us. There we come across two main characters other than Jesus. They are the disciples and the Samaritan woman. They represent two categories of people. The Samaritan woman represents a zealous religious or even an outsider who has his/her own responsibilities in his family and society. And the disciples represent a passive religious like most of us. The gospel passage deals with the incidents happened after the dialogue between the Samaritan woman and Jesus. When the disciples came back they saw Jesus speaking with a gentile woman. They were astonished. Because she was a Samaritan – a pagan. Very often we also get disappointed or jealous when we see Jesus intervening through laymen or outsiders. They perform miracles, they see visions, they predict future, they hear god’s voice…and we wonder just as the disciples did. There are a number of examples for this. Mario Joseph - a Muslim w...

“Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called      the sons of god”. This is one of the 8 beatitudes upon which we are reflecting today. This verse has 2 parts. 1 st  is about peacemakers and the latter is about the son ship of God. Let’s see them one by one. Blessed are the peacemakers. At Jesus’ birth, the angels from heaven sung “Glory to god in the highest and peace to people on earth always. “See down in the manger, God has sent his peace to dwell with you” (Luke 2:14). This song of glory is an inevitable part of our life. We begin our prayers with this song and of course, this is one of the most repeated prayers in our liturgy. By repeating the song of the holy angels, we proclaim the great truth that Jesus is the real peace and he is always with us. Peacemaker means one who brings peace. Bringing peace means being Jesus in the world and being Jesus in the world means becoming the sons of God. How can we become Jesus in the world? The gosp...

At the very outset, wishing you the greetings of the feast of our beloved founder, St. Kuriakose Elias Chavara (Jan. 3). In connection with the feast, the holy church wants us to reflect on the beatitudes which are very familiar to us. The 8 beatitudes could be understood as 8 spiritual tests. Those who win the tests will be awarded. I would like to present St. Chavara as a champion who had won these 8 victories. Let us see some of them. Those who are poor in spirit will achieve the medal of the kingdom of God. Poverty here means not just material poverty. Someone who longs for the Lord is the one who is poor in spirit. Only a simple-hearted person can keep this longing for the Lord always. St. Chavara had a childlike heart to call Jesus – Appa, St. Therese of Avila – Amma, and all the saints as his family members. Let us think about how much we are complicated within our heart. Those who mourn will be awarded the reward of consolation. A heartbreaking incident in the life o...

We have different dishes like Appam, Puttu, Upma, Idly, Chapati etc. for our breakfast. We all enjoy it. Still, we may not love all the dishes in the same way. In the gospel, when Jesus sends the 72, for his mission, the first thing he asks them is to eat all that is set before them. (even though there are different things on which Jesus is speaking about, let me stick on to one). Today, let us meditate on this single verse: “eat all that is set before you” (Lk. 10: 8). Jesus never asked his disciples to eat what they prefer. Because he wanted his disciples to be adaptable in all situations of life. May this adaptability be the theme of today’s meditation. Adaptability has its application in different realms. It can be of situations that are provided to us like food, facilities, money etc. and here we should ask, can I eat the variety of food that is provided here? Am I satisfied with the facilities and money that is provided to me? Adaptability has an internal application...