Then Jesus told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear.”- Matthew 13:3-9

Many of us have known this parable since we were little children. I remember my Sunday school teacher asking me what kind of soil am I? Now, that I am older, I realized that she shouldn’t asked a ten year old boy such difficult question. It did not traumatize me. I just did not have the maturity to answer the question. I was a child. My mind was still trying to figure many things. I did not even know the dynamics of the gardening. As I grew older, I read this parable and hoped that I was the soil that bore good fruit like everyone reading this. All of us want to be fruitful. All of us wants to be the best soil to receive the seed of the Word of God.

This is how we would interpret this parable as individuals. It is good way to reflect on this parable in our personal devotional time. However, we are here today as one body of Christ. We are tasked to understand this text as a community. Therefore, we need to listen to this parable the way the first hearers of this parable heard this. They would have interpreted the soil as a type of community. In those times, the individual is no one without the community. This is why, in the past, being exiled was a dreadful punishment, even comparable to death. Socrates, the famous Greek Philosopher whom almost everyone knows without much effort, refused to choose exile when he was unjustly convicted at a trial. He would rather risk death than to be exiled. Being without a community means losing your individuality. It was a fate worse than death.

The importance of being part of a community is not a cultural thing. It is a human thing. As human beings, we are social animals. It is the way God created us to be. We need the presence and influence of the other to grow as individuals. It is God’s design. When Jesus came into this world, He came to start a new community or as St Paul stated,

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17

The parable of the sower is about the New Creation. It was scandalous for the first hearers, especially to the Pharisees and the Jewish leaders. Jesus used the idea of the sower not because they lived in agricultural society. The language is rooted in the Prophetic tradition in the Old Testament. The idea of sowing and reaping was always associated with the hope of those who wanted to return to the promised land, the Land where they believed that God has prepared for them. The people of Israel believed that God especially handpicked them. They were the people who were entrusted with Holy Word of God. However, Jesus tells us in this parable that the Word of God was sowed generously and indiscriminately. God’s word of Life and Hope was not given to just one nation but to every people. Unfortunately, not everyone is interested. Some people or communities were interested but they lacked the depth. Some tried to have the best of both worlds and ended up losing everything. Like Jesus said,

“What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” Mark 8:36

The Sower sows the seed generously. People gathered together might receive the word or reject it or not even value it. However, the generosity of God is bestowed upon all peoples. It doesn’t matter if they are in the church or outside the church. Some might think this is a scandalous thing to say. However, God’s word is not present exclusively in the church. The Pharisees thought that they were the exclusive custodians of the Word. However, God is not limited in His grace. He generously plants His Kingdom in all peoples.

This parable is scandalous. It is proposing a new mindset. It is introducing a new world vision.

God sows generously in hearts and minds of all people!

There is no such thing as a favored nation or people or individual. The word of Life is sowed freely. However, there are different qualities of soils. All of us want to be the good soil. Unfortunately, we don’t determine the quality. Soil cannot make itself good. In order for the soil to be perfect for bearing fruits, it needs a Gardener. Who else can be our Gardener except the Father Himself?

The gospel of John is the last gospel to be written. He fills the lacuna in the other gospels. He states it explicitly through the mouth of Jesus,

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.” John 15:1

We cannot make ourselves the good soil as community. We need the gardener. He is not just helping us. We need more than help. We need to be transformed.

We are, in reality, hopeless without the action of the Divine Gardener. Perhaps this is the most scandalous thing for the Pharisees to hear. They believed that they were preparing for the coming of the Messiah. They believed that their actions and politically maneuvering could open the door for the Kingdom of God. All they did was allow the ways of the world to contaminate their faith and blind them from the true presence of the Christ. In the same way, we find communities which received the word of God with joy only to slowly turn into toxic communities which go against the very person of Jesus.

The soil that becomes fruitful is a community who waits for the divine Gardener to prepare the soil to bear good fruits.

Waiting is not doing nothing. Waiting means opening ourselves to the presence of the Holy Spirit in our midst. It means acknowledging that the Work of God in our midst is real and active. This is not make believe. The Kingdom of God is here. The New Creation is real. However, we are not its creators. We are part of the New Creation. We are part of the Body. We are not the whole Body of Christ. We are just part of the body and the body can only act in accordance with the Head who is our Lord Jesus Christ.

Waiting means our hearts and minds are open to God. It means we are willing to become His instruments. We do this through prayer. Prayer is not passive. True and biblical prayer is a prelude to action. A poor imitation of prayer is one which negates action. We pray to ask God to use us as an instrument of His grace. Prayer also helps us endure painful moments in our community. It gives the wisdom to know that sometimes pain and suffering is a necessary process in the growth of a community in order to bear fruits. As the prophet Jeremiah prophesied,

Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns. Jeremiah 4:3

We break the fallow ground so that we can become a community that allows the seed of the Kingdom to grow deep into our lives. Removing the thorns which stifle and contaminate our growth can be a painful process. We cannot do this on our own because we are not loving and generous like God. Only God can remove all that hinders our growth without destroying anyone’s life in the process. Only God is Loving enough to be our gardener.

God wants to create a new creation. It doesn’t happen overnight. It doesn’t happen through adopting special biblical programs and strategies. It happens when we open hearts and minds to receive the presence of Jesus in our midst. Wherever Jesus is present, there is transformation. Whenever we gathered together with expectation to see Jesus act, we will see His actions. It is not enough for us to gather together. Everyone does this. We gather together with expectation to see Jesus. Then we allow His actions to dominate the actions of our lives. Only when we do this, we will see the Holy Spirit transforming our community into a community which bears the fruits of the New Creation.

In closing, this is the essence of our ministry in the streets. Everyday we go to the streets and wait for the person of Jesus to bring all the people whose hearts and minds are open to Him. He draws us together. Then He breaks the fallow ground in our hearts and remove all the thorns so that we will bear fruits of the New Creation. His New Creation is present everywhere. We just need to wait for the Holy Spirit to open our hearts and minds to perceive it.

‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’
Matthew 11:28-30

We have been busy lately. I am not quite sure why. It doesn’t seem like we are doing anything more than before. However, we seem to be running out of time. This might appear to be a good thing. Being busy can give us the impression that we are important. However, it is easy to fool ourselves with activities. Jesus was not a busy man. He took time to be with people. He never forsook an opportunity to be with someone even when there were many things which needed to be done. He also took time to be alone with God, to reflect on what He had seen and heard.

This week was a full week for us. I was tempted to take time off from reflecting on this week’s events so that I could keep on doing things without thinking about them. These verses from the gospel struck me. They are profound words but at the same time, they are also familiar words. Those who grew up with the 1928 Book of Common Prayer (I am talking about the U.S.) would remember these verses cited from the gospel. Usually this verse is quoted immediately after our general confession. They were part of the “comfortable words”. They are indeed spiritually comfortable words. They are meant to speak to our innermost being. They are supposed to bring relief to our souls. The same relief that St Paul sought when he wrote these words;

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! Romans 7:21-25

The apostle reflected on the wretched state of humanity. Not wretched in the manner of being decadent or perverted but the inner toil which torments and makes us even hate or despise ourselves.

If I were to use a scripture to define our missionary work among the homeless young people, I would use this verse from the gospel. It expresses perfectly the good news. Jesus came to relieve us of this burden that we bear. Perhaps homelessness makes it more difficult for people to guise this burden. Our young people don’t carry a burden which is uncommon to the rest of the world. They carry the same unbearable burden as the rest of us. They just don’t have the luxury of hiding it like us. We can hide our burden with busyness or various activities helping us to forget the battle within our souls.

The verse invites us to look deep into our hearts and ask what are these burdens that Jesus wants to release in us. It is definitely not the burden of suffering in this world. Jesus promised suffering, pain, and rejection in this world. He emphasized many times in His teachings that the values of the Kingdom of God are not only incompatible with the values of this world but they are also despised by the world. He is not talking about relief from the burden of sin and guilt. There are churches which believe that once we become Christians, we are free from guilt. Guilt helps us. One of the most endearing hymns, a little overused albeit, “Amazing Grave” conveys a sense of guilt of sins committed in the past. The notion of the heaviness of sin committed made John Newton, the blessed composer of the hymn, deeply appreciates grace. Our guilt also reminds us that we have no room in our faith in Jesus to ever take the position of the Pharisee in the parable who believed that he was better than the tax collector. Guilt reminds us that we come into the presence of God through grace and nothing can be said of our own personal merit.

I would like to pause here and remind ourselves that this is a profound text. Therefore, there are layers of Truth waiting to be discovered for those who venture to uncover its depth. I limit myself from the perspective of our ministry to the homeless. I will address the burden I see that our young people carry which is also something I see in myself. In many ways, whenever we reach out to our neighbor in the Name of the gospel, we find a mirror reflecting our own image. Like our Lord reminded us in the Sermon on the Mount,

You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbour’s eye. Matthew 7:5

We cannot heal others confidently unless we have allowed the healing power of the gospel to transform us. Healing is a lifelong process. The more we reach out to the other in the name of the gospel, the more we discover of His healing in our own lives.

One of the greatest spiritual burdens our young people carry in their souls is the burden of proving their worthiness to the world. In other words, they want to find a reason to prove to the world that they have a right to exist. This can be proven positively or negatively. Unfortunately, the world is not a gracious place for people who are born in unfortunate circumstances like our young people. They are given a limited space in society. Either they are forced in live out their existence in an invisible manner or they assert their existence in a negative way through crime and violence. The ones that choose the former slowly slip into an existence of “non-existence” where substance abuse becomes their major comfort and eventually carries them towards physical and mental breakdown and subsequent death. Those who choose crime are also eventually brought to the path of death through violence or imprisonment. Both groups seek to become someone in this world. It is something deeply spiritual. They are looking for the same thing which all of us desire and want. They want to be considered a relevant being to someone. They want to be Loved. To be loved is to be in a relationship. Without relationships, the words of the gospel do not become the Living Word of God. They become like the Law, according to St Paul, which is dead.

Of all the apostles, perhaps, St Paul is the one who understood this the best, or at least, expressed it. He was burdened with the desire to be someone in this world. He became a member of the strictest religious sect and even adopted a violent stance against all those whom he perceived as a threat to his existence. Finally, he encountered the One who relieved His yoke. He realized that he was persecuting the very One whose Love affirmed his own personal worthiness in this world. This encounter gave St Paul the boldness to write these words,

But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

Our sins and errors did not hinder Jesus from loving us to the point of giving up His life for us. We were and are so important for God that He would sacrifice His only begotten Son to die for us. The knowledge of this eternal Love gave Paul the confidence to leave all that he knew behind and take up the yoke which Jesus gave him. It is the same yoke our Lord offers to us. This yoke is the yoke of Love where we testify of the unconditional Love of God that God pours out so freely into this world.

When we first started in this ministry in the mid nineties, we carried an unnecessary burden. We carried a burden to prove to the world that we were doing a meaningful work. Unfortunately, everything was vague about this. We weren’t sure even what exactly constituted a meaningful work. Then later on in Life when I was ordained a parish priest, I met an older parish priest who had a successful ministry for many years. He was successful but he never was a priest of a large congregation. To the contrary, his congregation never grew in numbers. However, there was something godly about him which touched people profoundly. He recommended one important thing. He said, “Just love and enjoy the people God puts in your life.” These words relieved a yoke that I was carrying in my soul. God wants us to become His agents of Love in this world. However, before we can step out into this world, we need to take the log out of our eyes. We need to know first that we are loved unconditionally by our Good Shepherd. Only then we can go into the world with a yoke that is easy and light. It is the one simple thing people are seeking in the world. We can testify with utter confidence that Jesus loves and accepts them unconditionally. The way we testify to them is the same way Jesus testifies to us. His life is the living proof of His Love. He died for us while we were still sinners. In the same way, we learn to love those whom God has placed in our lives and one day their eyes will be opened to see One who freely gives a yoke which is easy and light.

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Acts 2:1-4

There is a book written several decades ago called “The Spiritual Life of Children.” It was written by a psychoanalyst researcher who was by no means religious. He was going through all his interviews with children from previous research. The children came from diverse social and religious backgrounds and even nationalities and the basis of the research was on their mental development in these circumstances. He noticed something which he had previously overlooked. All the children, even those who came from atheistic or non-religious background, talked about their conversations with God. The children did not just talk to God. They heard His voice guiding them to do what is right. They didn’t justify this voice. They treated it as a normal thing. Since the psychoanalyst wasn’t religious, he initially did not pay attention to it. Then he took a second look at this and realized that this cannot be mere coincidence. When I read the book, I remembered my own childhood. I remembered having conversations with God and trying to figure out the world around me. Then I thought maybe I was just making this up in my head.

When I shared this with a group of Christians, they told me that it was what Freud said about the Superego. I was a little disappointed. They were using science to explain away something outside the realm of science. The author of the book I mentioned did not refer to these terms even though he was a psychoanalyst. He acknowledged the children’s recognition of this voice within their soul. The children said that it was God. They knew that this voice was something bigger and better than them. Most importantly, they knew that this voice desired what was good not only for them but also for their friends and family.

We, Christians, should not be quick to discard God’s voice with secular explanations. We are a people of faith. We need to return and become a Pentecostal Church. Obviously I am not talking about the denomination. What we call the Pentecostal Church today is not Pentecostal in the biblical sense. They are more like a church of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. There is nothing wrong with that. However, this Sunday is the day of Pentecost, an opportunity for us to reflect on how this day shaped the first Christians. It transformed their lives. Today, we need to talk to God and listen to Him on how we can continue to be a biblically Pentecostal Church.

Whenever we read the account of the coming of the Holy Spirit, our minds tend to be drawn to the fact that people spoke in many different tongues. In some churches, the gospel text is read in many different languages which can be interesting at first and then as it goes on, it tends to become a little tedious. The coming of the Holy Spirit is not about speaking in different languages but an acknowledgment that God is present in other cultures. The Holy Spirit did not come to do something new but to reveal what God is already doing in our midst. God doesn’t wait around for us to get things started. In fact, God doesn’t wait for anything. He does not live in this space called time. He is eternal and His actions are eternal. The Holy Spirit opens our eyes to see how he is working and invites us to participate in His works of grace. When the first disciples heard people praising God in other tongues, they were astonished. They saw God enabling his disciples to speak in tongues which had nothing to do with Judaism. This is an important factor.

The disciples of Jesus were Jewish people. They believed that God was only known through their Language, Law and Liturgical practices. Their prayers were prayed in Hebrew because this was their sacred language. They believed that it was the only language able to express the sacred knowledge of God. Language is not just mere words but it contains concepts and spiritual experiences of the people who speak the language. When we speak a new language, we also embrace their way at looking at Life and consequently, their spiritual experiences. The Jewish people back then did not believe that the other cultures were able to comprehend the sacred knowledge of God because their language was spiritually limited. However, when the disciples were able to speak miraculously in other languages, they realized that God was and is present in the lives and cultures of all peoples. In other words, all languages were able to speak the Sacred Things of God. Therefore, all peoples are always able to understand the mysteries of God in their souls. He is actively present and speaking to them. The Holy Spirit revealed to the disciples that He was not a God of the Jewish nation but He is the Father of all peoples.

This radical revelation changes everything. Every justification to commit genocide in the Old Testament is now brought under the scrutiny of this new revelation. All discrimination that was previously justified religiously now could no longer sustain their arguments. The new church of the Pentecostal cannot put restrictions on who can come before the Throne of God. They have to now listen to the voice of Holy Spirit in lives of the people.

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Jeremiah 31:33

Jesus also said,

God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. John 4:24

As Christians, we listen to our Lord Jesus. He is one and only authority. He taught us that we cannot understand the Truth without the Holy Spirit. This is why the Father sent the Holy Spirit to the first disciples. They needed someone to guide them and teach them how to discover the Truth. They needed to someone to help to discover how to worship in the way that is pleasing to God. In the past, God sent prophets. No one listened to them. The Holy Spirit was upon the these men and women of God but the people’s heart was hardened against the voice of the Holy Spirit. The disciples of the early church opened their hearts and minds to receive the Holy Spirit. The bible tells us that they prepared themselves through prayer.

In modern times, the idea of prayer has fallen into decadence. It becomes a selfish project where we try to manipulate God to give us what we desire. Books are written by so-called Christians on how to effectively pray to get what you want from God. Churches in this city have services to convince us that God will only answer our prayer when we use the right method of prayer. In the New Testament, prayer, among the disciples in the Book of Acts, had a simpler. It was this simple motive that helped them become a true Pentecostal church. They prayed to be open and sensitive to the coming of the Holy Spirit. The rest of the Book of Acts is an adventure that the church embarks on, discovering what it means to be a church guided by the Holy Spirit. It is a church which opens doors and overcomes barriers. It is the church that boldly proclaims,

There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28

The New Testament is a story of the movement of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the disciples. It does not have an ending. It continues wherever people are willing and open to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit. God hasn’t stopped speaking to us. It could be that people have stopped listening. Maybe we have forgotten how to listen to God’s voice. Prayer is a good start. Being open to allow the Holy Spirit to guide us is a better way because this attitude will shape the way we pray. One more thing to add is that we should never restrict how the Holy Spirit will act. God does not act according to our plans. He acts according to His nature and the Bible tells us that God is Love. Love is quite surprising. Therefore, if we are willing to listen to the Holy Spirit, then we have to be ready to be surprised too.

In the first parish I worked, there were more children than adults in the congregation. Some of these children had never been baptized. There were about ten of them at least if my memory serves me well. I decided to have a baptism class with them. I decided to read the gospel of Mark with them. We didn’t use the children’s version. We just read from the regular Bible because this what the children wanted. We talked about some of the difficult passages. I asked the children to reflect about it. Reflection is a very difficult word to explain. I needed to put it in terms that they understood. Therefore, I explained that reflection is what they do when they talk to God in their hearts and listen to what the voice of God tells them. Then, one of the boys, Samuel, had a surprised look on his face. He asked me, “Reverend, how did you know that we hear God’s voice ?” I smiled and reminded him that I too was once a little boy like him.

God speaks to us. At each phase of our lives, He speaks to us in a different manner. The problem is that we convince ourselves that He is absent. However, the essence of the Christian faith is that God is present in our lives. He is preparing us to become His true worshippers. This doesn’t mean that we sit and sing hymns all day long. It means we become people who truly reflect the Love of God in our lives. The first disciples, with all their cultural limitations and defects, reflected God’s love faithfully. They listened to the Holy Spirit and become a vibrant Pentecostal church. Now, we can follow in their footsteps and listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit. We can continue in the footsteps of the first Christians and discover how to be a true Pentecostal church in the biblical sense.

When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up towards heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up towards heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.’ Acts1:9-11

Yesterday was the feast day of the Ascension. More often than not, this day is weakly observed and sometimes even forgotten. There was a time when it was considered very important. Just look at our Nicene Creed, they dedicated more lines to describing the Ascension of Our Lord:

He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end. 

For us, modern people, words have lost their impact. We listen to people rambling on for hours without saying anything of significance. We hear words said without any commitment or intention to put them into practice. We don’t ???much of words. However, when the Nicene Creed was composed, these words were carefully chosen and debated. There were no such thing was fillers. The bishops involved wanted to make sure that the Creed in a succinct manner communicated to the people the essencial elements of our faith. They dedicated more lines to the Ascension because it was important. It speaks of our relationship with Jesus today. We speak frequently of the Resurrected Christ and rightly so. We must also speak about the Ascended Christ. He is the same person but we must not forget that Christ rose from the dead to assume His place at the Right Hand of the Father. This is His ministry now.

Many years ago, I lived in Indonesia, more specifically the capital city of Jakarta. I was surprised to learn that the feast of Ascension was a public holiday. Till today, it is the only country where this feast day is officially a public holiday. However, it wasn’t considered a Christian holiday but a Muslim one. Muslims believed that Jesus ascended.

Muslims regard Jesus as the greatest prophet of Islam. They believe that He truly lived out the meaning of Islam from His birth to His ascension. Islam means submission to the will of God. They believe that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary. They also believe that He will return to judge. However, they do not believe that Jesus died on the cross nor rose from the dead. Even then, He is venerated by some Muslim sects, especially among the Sufis. For Muslims, the ascension of Jesus means the hope that He will one day return to put an end to evil. They believe that the prophet Jesus will return to kill the Antichrist or Satan. Thus, for the Muslims, Jesus is waiting in heaven until the final day to carry out God’s justice. This is the Muslim view of the ascension. That is consistent with their doctrines.

However, this is not the Christian view. Unfortunately, many churches tend to reduce the feast of Ascension as a mere reminder that Jesus will return the same manner. This is just a part of it. It is the future event. However, Jesus is now the fulling the essential part of His ministry at the right hand of the Father.

In reality, the whole ministry of Jesus was leading up to this. He did not come to die for our sins. He came to become our High Priest.

The Gospel of John gives us a rather different account of the Ascension than the gospel of Luke. The author of the gospel of Luke and Acts states that Jesus waited forty days after the resurrection before ascending to Heaven. However, according to the Gospel of John, Jesus ascended almost immediately after the resurrection. Right after Jesus revealed his presence to Mary Magdalene, He warned her;

Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”’ John 20:17

The accounts may seem to contradict each other, but in fact they are in agreement. Both evangelists—that is, all the authors of the New Testament—are not writing a news report about Jesus in which they would have to get every detail objectively correct. They are not doing journalistic work. First of all, complete objectivity does not exist. When someone writes about something or reports an event, it is always biased. The authors of the New Testament were also biased. They have only one objective. They wanted to give us a clear portrait of the person of Jesus. Both accounts of the Ascension do this perfectly. The gospel of John wanted to emphasize on the priestly nature of the Ascension. Jesus was ascending to bring the offering of His Life to the presence of the Father. His Life and Death on Earth qualified Him to be our High Priest and His resurrection is the proof of the Father’s offering.

Today, we only have a vague idea of what a priest is. We might think in terms of the Catholic Church or Orthodox Church and in some circles of the Anglican church. However, what we have in Western Christianity is like a hybrid of the rabbi and the priest. In Jesus’ time, the priest had a specific task. He brought the sacrifice into the Holy of Holies. He presented the people’s sacrifice before God’s altar. He represented the people before God, that is to say, the priest was supposed to be the best representative of the people. Furthermore, he could never enter God’s sanctuary empty-handed. In fact, It was forbidden to enter God’s presence without an offering. The offerings, according to the Law, had to be the best of the best; anything else was an offense to God. In the Old Testament, we can read about God’s search for the perfect High Priest to represent humanity before God. First it was Adam and Eve, then Noah, then Abraham and Moses.

The most perfect offering humans can give to God is to reflect His image in our lives. Unfortunately, none of these high priests from the past could do this. They were imperfect. They always offered animal sacrifices which were better than themselves. The sacrificed animals were innocent. They hoped that God would look at the sacrifice and forgive the failures of human beings. However, God is not interested in animal sacrifices. He wanted human beings to live their lives in a way which truly reflected the image of God.

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23

Nietzsche, one of the most formidable enemies of Christianity, once wrote that there is only one Christian in this world and he died on the cross. The rest of us are weak imitations. I have to say Nietzsche is right. I notice myself often quoting this philosopher. I am not influenced by him but his thoughts are prominent today and they are a confrontation against Christianity. We need to answer his criticism or at least attempt to do so.

We have to admit that we are indeed only weak imitations of Jesus. However, we have a priest who represents us before the throne of God. Nietzsche was not so gracious when he looked at humanity. However, our concern should not be with what philosophers or what the world thinks about us. To some extent, it is much easier to deceive a human being — just say flattering words to pamper one’s ego and we would easily win them over. Many malicious people know this. However, it does not work with God. We need someone to help us. Thanks be to God, we have a High Priest who stands before God and represents us. What does this mean for everyday life? It is a mystery but not in the sense of something unknowable. It is a mystery revealing layers of its truth as we walk in deeper communion with our Lord. As we discover each layer, our souls are filled with joy and eternal happiness. We discover the wealth of God’s love. We can rejoice that our High Priest is the filter through whom our Father looks at Humanity. In other words, when God looks at us, He sees the Light of Jesus shining in us like the stained glass in ancient churches. At night, when there is no Light, stained glass does not look beautiful at all. However, the light of the sun highlights all its beauty. In the same way, Jesus stands before our Heavenly Father and allow the Light of His Life to illuminate our souls before God. Jesus’ light manifests in us the true beauty of being; the person that our heavenly Father has created us to be.

Jesus is beside God so that our Heavenly Father can see the world through Christ. Therefore, when God looks at one of our homeless youth, He does not see Bruno as sitting there begging. He sees Bruno through the Light of our High Priest shining in Him. He sees Felipe shining in the Light of our High Priest. He sees… I’m not going to mention all the names of our youth here but it is good for me to remind myself that I need to discern the Light of Jesus singing through them and especially through the people whom I don’t particularly like.

There is also another aspect of the priesthood in Jesus’s time. The priest represents God to the people. However, I have limited space here to consider all the mysteries revealed in the Ascension. This is why we need to celebrate this feast day yearly with great reverence. We have so many things to think about and understand.

For now, it is enough to remember that we have a high priest who represents us. He is not there asking for God’s favor on our part. Our God is loving and compassionate. Jesus is there to represent us. He reflects our true potential if we allow His love to break us free from the bondage of sin. He is there to remind the heavenly hosts that despite our sins and failures, we are still beautiful creations of God. He is there interceding for us so that we can become who He is.

“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. John 14:15-18

“There is only One God and His Name is Truth”

I remember being amazed when I read this banner. It was hung at the entrance of a newly constructed Sikh Temple in the neighborhood of my infancy. I was a teenager then and had recently joined the Anglican Church. It wasn’t a mere conversion but a complete inner transformation. My heart was on fire for God. I was filled with evangelistic zeal. I wanted to share my renewed faith with everyone I knew. I also had my fair share of Sikh friends but was completely ignorant of their religion. For some reason, mainly due to my ignorance, I thought Jesus was the exclusive property of the Christian Faith. The simple banner disrupted my false notion. Jesus belonged to everyone and anyone who seeks the Truth. Jesus tells us that the world cannot see nor know Him because the world is not interested in the Truth. However, those who seek the Truth will recognize the Spirit of Truth.

The opposite of truth is not lies but falsehood. Obviously, lying is part of falsehood but it does not mean lying is wrong all the time. Many people have lied in the Bible to save the life of a person. However, falsehood is a lifestyle. People who are false create a make believe world seeing and hearing only the things which feed into their lifestyle. They also create an idol who tells them lies about themselves. They are blinded by their own lies. They cannot see the Spirit of Truth. The problem is that it is not difficult to create a world of our own illusions. All of us could do it without much effort.

Bruno made an astute observation about the other homeless youth. Many of them have tattoos of their mother’s name. Sometimes fights break between them because apparently one has insulted the mother of the other. I actually have seen these silly fights break out between adults after a few drinks. He said jokingly that none of our youth has seen nor heard from their mothers for years. In fact, most of them don’t even remember their mother’s full name. They just have a false illusion of their mothers. In Bruno’s case, he doesn’t even remember what she looks like. Bruno does not have a tattoo of his mother’s name nor does he have a false notion of her, neither does have any resentment towards her. He realized that his mother was not able to take care of him and left him in an orphanage at a young age. He spent many years creating a false idea that one day she would come for him. Eventually he succumbed to reality. He realized the hard truth that nobody was coming for him. As tragic as this sounds, this has made Bruno a much more successful person than most of the other young people. He wasn’t afraid to face the harsh reality. Bruno is not the only one. In the streets, we can separate the young homeless people into two groups. Bruno, Maria, Wallace, Alex and many more are one group who have accepted the harsh reality of their situation. Then we have the other group. These latter ones tend to be involved in crime and create a narrative in their minds to justify their actions. Maria, who is part of the former group, told us recently that she learned how to eat bread when she became homeless at the tender age of 8. She is now about 25. I am not really sure what she meant exactly by this but we understood what she was trying to communicate. Her mother neglected her when she was a young child. She has severe mental illness. She was not even able to provide her basic needs of her children. Maria refused to create a fantasy about her mother nor her life. She wasn’t angry nor resentful. Maybe there was a period when we first knew her, she was a little resentful. Eventually she realized that this was useless and unhelpful. She just accepted her reality. Consequently, she is able to see many other good things which occurred in her life despite her dire situation.

In our local church, we are doing a monthly bible study on the gospel of Luke. We have found that our gospel readings make us confront harsh realities. Last Sunday, we studied the difficult passage on money which is usually a taboo subject. Money in itself is not a taboo subject. People love talking about money. However, what Jesus said about money is taboo. It is something don’t like to talk about. He called it a false god. He did not think of it as something neutral but rather as something which sets itself up against the true living God. We need to recognize this. However, it is easy for us to create a fantasy and say that this is not truth. We can reason that Jesus did not really say these things for us today or we are strong enough to resist money’s influence. We can create a list of excuses to avoid understanding and confronting what Jesus is truly saying. Jesus is quite adamant about His position on money in several moments of His teachings. Incidentally, His teachings are His commandments. He did say if we love Him, we will keep His commandments. They are not a burden. They are meant to open our eyes to see the Truth. Even in the last moments of His life, money was seen as the motivation for his betrayal. Judas chose money over his friend. Of course, some people may argue otherwise. Nevertheless, whatever their arguments may be, the gospels tell us money was exchanged. The gospel of John informs us that Judas stole from the common purse. Money had a strong hold on him. When he realized the outcome of his betrayal, he tried to return the money. He wanted to be free from its hold in his life. Unfortunately, his remorse overwhelmed him.

All of us need money to survive and live a fairly comfortable life. Jesus is not saying that we should all become like St Francis of Assisi and live a monastic life of poverty. Money is essential for life. However, we need to be careful. It is a false god and it can create false illusions. Our love for money can make us create narratives to justify almost everything to our liking. It can create an obstacle hindering us from discerning the Spirit of Truth. It can blind us from the true God. The latter group of homeless youth that I mentioned above think in their minds that money can help them gain whatever they lost. Some of them even think that they can buy themselves back into their families through their ill-gained wealth. This never happens. The money only creates false promises which it cannot deliver.

There is nothing wrong with our young people having names of their mothers tattooed on their arms. Neither there is nothing intrinsically wrong with being offended when someone says something offensive against their parents. In the same way, there is nothing wrong with having money to ensure that we have a secure lifestyle. However, there is something wrong when we allow these things to create a false idea of life. These are unreliable materials to create our own illusionary reality. The best they can do is to make us live in a parallel universe which will crumble and fall eventually. After everything is said and done, we will find ourselves as orphans in this world if we base our lives on this false gods.

Yesterday, we had to leave the streets a little early. We said our goodbyes to Bruno and the other young people. Mary wanted to use the restroom at a local restaurant before we left. I was waiting alone. Bruno called out to me and insisted that I wait for Mary at the spot where he usually stays. He wanted to spend a little bit more time with me. There was something in the way he said this that communicated explicitly his love for spending time with us. I realized that it was a joy to spend time with this young man. Someone looking at him from the outside would just see a homeless young man. We see a loving man who has faults like anyone else but his love compensates for all them. If we were to delve deep into his history, we will find that he was every reason to be angry with the world. However, he faced the harsh realities of life, the hard truths. He realized his mother did not want him. He realized that he will never get the chance that others less intelligent in this world might have. He realized that he will never be treated fairly in this world. He chose not to react in hatred and resentment. He faced the truth and was open to the voice of the Spirit of Truth. He discovered the Good Shepherd who never abandoned him. He sees the face of the Good Shepherd in the people who show love and kindness to him. He responds to them in Love. We are witnesses of this. We see and can boldly testify to the truth and faithfulness of the words of Jesus in our ministry. Those who choose not to create a false reality and accept the condition in which they find themselves will discover the Spirit of Truth. However, the Good Shepherd does not leave them in this condition of hopelessness and rejection. The Spirit of Truth guides like a Good Shepherd to a higher place where they see the eternal Truth. The kind of Truth giving them and us the joy of Life which this world can never offer.

Bruno, Maria, Wallace, Vinicius, Ana Paula and the list goes on. They were born as outsiders and excluded from the illusionary promises of this world. However, they faced the harsh realities of their lives. Then they heard the voice of the Spirit of Truth. The Spirit guides them as He guides us into the knowledge and love of the living Father who never leaves us orphans in this world.

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.’ Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’ John 14:1-7

“Do not let your hearts be troubled?”

This is easier said than done. It seems like we are living in very troubling times. We might even be tempted to think that we are being singled out by Father Time. However, truth is that there was never a time when it wasn’t a troubling time, at least I can say this for my lifetime. I wasn’t always aware of the troubles assailing humanity. Of course, I tend to look back at this period of ignorance with nostalgia; thinking things have gotten worse since then. For me, I would say it was the eighties. I looked back at this time as if everything was great and innocent. However, it was the worst period of the cold war. The threat of nuclear war was imminent. I heard songs written about impending nuclear war. Movies depicted what life would be after the war. The eighties were troubling times but I was a teenager then. The adults of my life did the worrying for me. Now, I am an adult and I have to face these troubling things of life.

Life is troubling. Perhaps it is troubling because our souls are seeking peace and tranquility which would never be found here. We try to do everything within our strength to find it here but it always seems far from reach. Our peace and tranquility is not to be found in the material world. It is spiritual, or rather, it transcends our material world. Our souls are restlessly looking for an eternal home.

As St Augustine wrote in the Confessions,

“Lord, you have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find rest in you.” (Confessions 1.1.1.)

In other words, this troubling feeling is not going to go away. Things are not necessarily going to get better even with the best of intentions. People like to say that if only we do such and such, everything will be better. It works sometimes but with a price.

There is a neighborhood near where I live where everything is clean and safe. The city of São Paulo is neither of these even though I do love it. In this neighborhood, everything seems peaceful for those who could afford it. However, it’s streets are empty. The buildings are surrounded by barbed wires and guarded security. It looks very much like a luxurious prison. There is no life in the streets. Sometimes not a soul is seen in the streets. Some might say that there is a less of a chance of being robbed. However, there is also a less of chance of having random conversations and meaningful exchanges between people. Perhaps people think this is worth giving up for the price of security. The residents live in isolated cubicles. Their life is limited to their family unit. There is no growth. There are no challenges. Only a quiet and deserted place which is not synonymous with being peaceful. The people living there bought this appearance of security with a high price. Only a select few can live here. This so-called peace and tranquility is artificial and has a limited lifespan. It doesn’t mean that you are free from troubling worries if you live here. In this same city, the down and out areas of this city were once upon a time safe neighborhoods of the wealthy. Today they have become a haven of crime and drug addiction. Many buildings are abandoned. There are many mansions and buildings still maintaining the vague memory of their past beauty despite continuously falling to pieces. All human effort to create a place of refuge and tranquility has a very limited lifespan.

Speaking of mansions, Jesus placated the troubled hearts of the disciples with the promise of a place in His Father’s mansion. Often times, I have heard preachers speak about this as our final place in the afterlife. It is something for us to look forward to in the future. To be fair, we often use these verses at funeral services. There is a simple problem with this. Knowing where I am going after death doesn’t really help to appease my soul in my present Life. These words might comfort us when we mourn for our lost ones. However, these words of Jesus mean more than just comforting words for the afterlife. They were meant for the disciples to live their lives in the here and now.

The disciples abandoned everything to follow Him because they saw in Him a meaning for their existence. The disciples felt Jesus was going to be taken away from them. He constantly reminded them of this. They felt that they were losing a sense of focus in their lives. Maybe the disciples thought that they each would have their own mansions but it seems like Jesus had another plans. Jesus was offering something better. He was offering His father’s mansion; an eternal place of abode, a mansion not restricted by time and space. It is the dwelling place of God; in other words, it is manifested where God is present and God is omnipresent.

We are in the process of buying a place of our own. It will be our first time buying a place. It is not an easy process. We need to find the place. Before this, we need to save for it. Then we have to convince a bank to loan us the money. After securing the loan, we need to pay for taxes and maintenance. It is not easy to own a place. It doesn’t seem like a peaceful endeavor.

Jesus is not selling real estate. God is not selling us a place. He is inviting us to live with Him. He is our eternal Host and we are His eternal guests. This is actually an important detail. In Jesus’ time, the host prepared everything to receive the guest including the garments they used. The host prepared the place for the guests to stay as long as they desired. It was even considered rude for the guest to leave without the blessing of the host. Everything is on the host. In other words, the guests have to just show up and enjoy everything the Host has prepared. They don’t have to bring gifts. The host provided everything because it is His gift to the guests. All the guest had to do was to show up.

This sounds easy in our modern age because we can travel to the other side of the world within a day. In Jesus’ time, traveling could take weeks or months depending on the distance. The mansion of God is a great distance from our reality and yet at the same time it is very close to us. God is always present in our lives. However, there is a spiritual distance. This is due to our incapability of perceiving His presence in our lives. We are drawn away from His real presence because of our worries and concerns. It is understandable. We are spiritual beings with a body. Our minds tend to focus on the physical aspect of life and the spiritual seems like something up there in the sky; a great distance from our physical reality. Therefore, the journey to recognizing our heavenly abode is long and arduous.

We need to prepare. We need to organize our lives for this journey. We need to have right mindset to be proper guests and enjoy all the good things that our Heavenly Host has provided. Everything is ready for us. Jesus has prepared everything. Now, we have to prepare for the journey there. This means we should not be distracted from our preparation. Remember the parable of the wedding banquet in the gospels. The initial guests allowed the things of this world to distract them. They might have had good arguments for their lack of preparation. However, it still did not prevent them from forfeiting their place in the host’s home.

Thomas asked the important question, “How can we know the way?” In the gospel of John, Thomas also asks and says the things which are on the minds of most people. The only task of the guest is to show up and therefore, it is important to have good directions.

Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’ John 14:6

This is perhaps the most universal statement in the gospels. Whenever I read about other major religions, I always see these themes come up, “the Way, the Truth and the Life”. Jesus boldly claimed something which only God can claim. He stated that all those earnestly seek God in this world will come to discover Him.

We prepare to be eternal guests at God’s mansion by looking for the Way, the Truth and the Life. In Jesus, these are not three separate things. They are the united perfectly in Him. None of these are theoretical. They were fully manifested in His Life. When we tell people that they need to know Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, we are not preaching a doctrine. We are talking about a real living Person. He is present in our midst. We know this because He told us so. He said that He would send a Helper to open our eyes and hearts to discern His presence in this world. The first disciples gave us the gospels to help us recognize His presence in the lives of people. The writings of the apostles show us that Jesus is present despite the imperfections of the Christian communities. We need to see Jesus in spite of these imperfections. His resurrection proclaims to us that nothing can hinder His divine presence from being manifested, not even death. Most importantly, when we seek for Jesus present in our lives, we must not forget that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. He doesn’t suddenly change His message to exclude people nor to promote hatred. He is present to open doors and welcome those who are weary and heavy laden.

Jesus is present. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. He is present beckoning us to join Him and dwell with Him in the Father’s House. This Eternal Mansion is present wherever God is present even in the most troubling times.

Let’s not be troubled because we have a wonderful place in God’s house.

As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem, and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread. Luke 24:28-35

I remember it clearly although it happened decades ago. I was going on fifteen and just returned to school after a month of vacation. In Singapore, we have a month of vacation in June. It is not really summer holidays because it is summer throughout the year in our tropical island. Something happened to me during my vacation. At that time, I wasn’t an Anglican yet. My good friend had recently became one and he invited me to witness a baptismal service. The local Anglican Church had a practice of baptizing adults in the sea, after all we lived on a island. It was an overnight affair. The church rented a small cottage and had a mini retreat prior to the sacramental event. It was during this evening of prayer and contemplation where I felt for the first time of my life the reality of God in a deep and personal manner. I remember going home from the event feeling that something new had happened in my soul. I had spent my whole life involved in the church. I had attended countless catechism lessons. I watched countless Jesus’ movies and felt emotional whenever our Lord was crucified. I recited the Creeds from memory. I went to confessions regularly. However, I never felt like what I left that day at the baptismal retreat despite having all these religious baggage. I did not know what to make of the whole experience. It was something new. Vacation eventually got done and I went back to school a little different. I did not try to be different. I was trying to figure out what was happening to me. My friends noticed the difference. They let a few days pass and thought maybe it was just a phase. Days turned into weeks and they noticed that this new thing was perhaps something permanent.

One day in the school canteen, a close friend of mine who is a Muslim decided to get right to the matter. He asked what was happening to me. I was honest with him. I told him that I wasn’t quite sure myself. I shared my experience. I told him in simple words that a God who was once remote and distant now seems to be a someone close and real. He opened up and shared about his own spiritual experiences. At that moment, all barriers were torn down between us. We were two teenage boys transported from our temporal reality and brought to encounter something eternal. As we talked, we felt a fire burning in our hearts. Neither of us were trying to convert each other. We just shared about this fire in our souls. Not too long ago, I briefly reconnected with this friend. Both of us live in different continents now. We, like most people, have aged considerably and yet, we remember that moment as if it was yesterday. It is something that will live eternally in our hearts. A fire was ignited in our souls which only God had the match to light. Neither of us did anything for it to happen. It just happened through the grace of the Living God.

The two men on the way to Emmaus were apparently disciples of Jesus. There is nothing explicit in the story itself. We are never told if they had previously followed Jesus or not. We are just told that they were extremely perturbed and saddened by the events that happened. When Jesus asked them about the events, the evangelist records that they were saddened by the remark. It is understandable. When we are sad, we want to the whole world to cry with us. These two men were deeply concerned with everything which had happened to Jesus. However, they failed to recognize Him. The evangelist states that their eyes were kept from recognizing him. Some would say it was God who closed their eyes. This would be rather strange seeing that the God Incarnate was there right next them. Why would He keep them from recognizing Him while at the same time revealing Himself to them? Perhaps it was their personal worries and concerns. Perhaps it is another case of the Martha-Mary incident where one was so busy with the event that she forgot the guest of honor. However, in the case of these two men, there is a major difference. They had just witnessed an event which devastated them to the core. Martha was merely distracted with things that needed to be done. However, these two sensed that the world had lost something special and important. Their distraction flowed out of something deep within their souls. Their world had just slipped into a endless abyss of desperation and hopeless as only Light of Hope was murdered. This feeling is something most of us can appreciate in our present times. We are living in times where it seems like we are slipping into chaos on a daily basis. It seems like the world is bent on destroying all things good and sacred. Sometimes all these thoughts and worries, as legitimate as they may seem, might blind us from seeing the Risen Christ walking just next to us.

Some may claim that we are living in an unique period of history. They usually claim this in the negative sense. We can be never sure if this period is worse than any period before us. We tend to look back into past with a romanticized perspective. We don’t know what it was like back then but we do know what it is like to be living in this present moment with its fragility and vulnerability. We are seeing people deliberately embracing a path of self-destruction. We find ourselves walking alone on our personal road to Emmaus. Like the two men, it is easy for us to be so disturbed that our souls are laden with sorrow and pain. All these things can keep us from seeing that something good and wonderful is happening. I don’t mean this in a way like those who promote adopting a positive outlook on life. I find those people unhelpful. I am talking about understanding the meaning of Easter. The Resurrection story is one of Hope. It tells us that nothing truly good can be destroyed by the ignorance and wickedness which assails us. However, it is possible for us to be overwhelmed by these negative things and miss seeing the power of the Resurrection being manifested in our midst.

Maria spent a long time with us yesterday. She talked for the most part and we listened. We didn’t mind. It was nice to see her being enthusiastic about life. Maria is one of the young women who had been homeless since she was 8. Her mother has serious mental problems. For a long time, we thought Maria also suffered the same illness. We still think she does. Anyone who had seen Maria in the past would have said that there was no hope for this young girl. She was either extremely reserved or hostile. In fact, in the past, she would only talk to us to try to finagle some money from us. She would even be mad and aggressive with us when we refused to give her any. Needless to say, she was a disagreeable person.We were convinced that she was incapable of making any lasting relationship. Maria has changed today. The woman who spoke to us yesterday was someone full of Life. She is very articulate. She has fire in her soul. I am not saying that her situation has changed. She is technically homeless but lives in a shelter. She has been clean from drugs for months. She told us that she did it for herself. She recognizes that everything she learned about Life and most importantly, Love, was in the streets. She had never lived in a home before. Her mother never showed her love. She discovered what it was to love in the streets. In her words, she said that she learned how to eat and drink in the streets. In other words, her mother never provided the basic needs for her life. However, she also learned some self-destructive habits in the streets. Now, she has to learn to discern between the two. When she spoke, we felt a joy of hope. We felt that despite the darkness and hopelessness which surrounds us, God is able to bring genuine Hope into the lives of these young people. Maria is not holding on to false promises. She does not have impossible dreams. She just has one conviction; Love will help her find her way. For many years, her eyes were kept from seeing this undying Love present in the streets. Something or someone opened her eyes. She is able to see clearly. It doesn’t mean that in the future she won’t fall and slip into desperation. She is human. However, the Resurrected Christ will be present. Maria may need help to be reminded in the future and she can take refuge in the warmth of the fire of those who can see the Resurrected Christ alive in their midst.

There is a lesson I learned listening to Maria yesterday. The world might be constantly slipping into chaos. However, nothing can hinder the Risen Christ from walking next to us and making our hearts burn with zest for Life. There is nothing we can do to ignite this fire. There was nothing we did that made Maria realize that she is loved despite being abandoned at such a young age. We could have told this when she was younger. In all likelihood, she would have responded in a hostile manner. Only Jesus kindles this flame. All we can do is to testify with our lives that this fire is real and is burning in our hearts. Those who need its warmth will come close to us. Wherever the Risen Christ is present, hearts will burn with hope and love.

Therefore, we need not be burdened with the darkness that seems to envelope us. The Risen Christ has conquered death. Maria just reminded me of that yesterday. There is hope even when things appear hopeless and lost. He has conquered all hopeless and chaos. We know this because He is Risen.

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’ John 20:26-29

Recently a young person in our local church was a little perplexed by a book she was reading. The author is a prominent Christian leader in the evangelical circles. I don’t think it is necessary to mention his name. I don’t have anything against him except that his ideas did not bring comfort to this young person. She recently joined our church and we found her to be very sincere and determined in her desire to follow Jesus. The author stated that in order to fully trust God it was necessary for followers to be radical in their faith. I have no problems so far with his statement. However, he went further to define that trusting God means not having any retirement plan or any kind of financial safety net and depending completely on God to provide for the future. I am sure that many reading this would find this statement rather unsettling. Needless to say this perturbed our young friend. It made her doubt about her own faith and whether she is able to trust her life into God’s hands. For her, it is a huge risk. She does not come from a financially secure family. She worked hard to get to a point of financial independence. She likes her independence and wants to ensure that she continues to have this in the future. She is just like a majority of sincere Christians in the world. However, this author, I am sure who has good intentions, has thrown something into her path that made her doubt about her place in God’s kingdom.

We can imagine her dilemma. It is not a strange feeling for many of us. We might be constantly assailed by these doubts, taking many shapes and forms. Many times people think doubts have to do with questioning God’s existence. However, for the most part, It is mainly about ourselves. We might think that we don’t have enough faith to just make the cut. Sometimes we hear stories of people having stupendous spiritual encounters and we might feel left out and even question if there is something wrong with our faith. Thomas the apostle must have felt that way. Imagine being the only one not seeing the Resurrected Lord. It wasn’t just a great miraculous event. It was a major transformative event that would changed anyone who experienced it. Thomas was the only one who was left out.

I am not going to reflect on the nature of Thomas’ doubts. I have done this many times in the past years. However, I do want to reflect about the sense of spiritual insecurity we feel when we think we are excluded from what we perceive as a spiritual blessing. This is something which is relevant for our ministry among the homeless. All our young people feel like that they have missed out on something special God is doing in this world. Many times they believe that it is because of who they are or a lack on their part. Unfortunately, there is never a lack of people pointing their finger at our young homeless people and saying that they missed God’s blessings due to their own fault. These so-called Christians forget that all our encounters with God occur through the grace of God. None of us have done anything to deserve these encounters. None of us can do anything to merit these encounters. It is only through the grace of God. It was through God’s grace that the Resurrected Christ appeared to the apostles. None of them deserved this special visitation. To the contrary, they wouldn’t have blamed Jesus if He had ignored them altogether and moved away from Jerusalem after He resurrected. After all, the city murdered Him. The apostles knew that they did not stand by Him at the Cross. They were justifiably afraid for their lives. Their faith did not enable them to walk on the waters of chaos. They swam away in fear and hid in a safe place. Their faith was weak. The Risen Lord appeared to them anyway. He forgave them on the Cross and His appearance to them sealed this forgiveness for eternity.

Thomas, unfortunately, wasn’t there. Perhaps he thought that he was lacking something. He needed reassurance. Just like the young person in my church; just like our young people living in the streets; just like all of us. We all need to be reassured that we are included in the group who is able to see the resurrected Christ and be included in this great thing that is happening. The only thing that can reassures us is a personal encounter with the Resurrected Jesus. Nothing else would suffice.

Thomas was actually in a better position than us. Jesus pointed this out to him. He could physically touch the Resurrected Christ. We don’t have this privilege. We are the ones who have to believe without seeing. However, this does not mean that we have to believe without concrete evidence. Believing something blindly without any proof is blind faith. I don’t believe this is what Jesus meant. I believe that we have ample evidence to know that Jesus is Risen and Alive. The thing is that the evidence is there but we need faith to recognize it; Faith, not verbal persuasions nor social pressure nor a religious coercion. Faith is a recognition of a truth that includes our intellect, our emotions, and our entire being; body and soul.

Our faith helps us to embrace the complete human experience. In this world, there is a tendency to divide the human being into different parts. There are so-called “truths” that appeal solely to the emotional aspect of our humanity. They are speak of things that invoke our sentimentality. This is the most common tactic today, unfortunately employed by many churches. They preach a message appealing solely to the emotions. There are those who think too highly of their reasoning power and refuse to believe anything except things which can be proven materially. They forget that are things in Life which make Life joyful and meaningful cannot be reduced to mere physical nor emotional evidence. Love is a good example. Love is neither sentimental nor racional. It goes beyond all this and it always transform the persons involved. On the other hand, emotional and rational “truths’ lack this power to transform life. They just produce short-term changes. However, faith helps to identify and receive these life-changing presences in our lives and faith unites our emotional and reasoning aspects of our souls to act in unison to produce everlasting change in the way we live.

The apostles met the Risen Lord and their lives were transformed immediately. You cannot meet the Risen Lord and not be transformed. We can only meet the Risen Lord through faith. Thomas missed this event but he was surrounded by people who were transformed by this special event. He wanted what the apostles had but he also wanted assurance that he wasn’t left out. He wanted something more which none of the apostles had experienced. He wanted to touch the wounds of our Lord ensure that He was truly the Risen Lord. It turned out that it wasn’t necessary. The evangelist did not say that Thomas actually went through with his demand. Just the mere presence of the Lord sufficed for Thomas to be transformed and be the first the gospels to confess the divinity of Jesus.

We are not going to meet Risen Lord in the same way as Thomas. We will have to believe without sensory experiences or at least without the so-called five senses. However, it doesn’t mean that our encounters will be inferior to that of the apostles. As scripture as reminded us in Hebrews 13:8,

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever.

This text, in all likelihood, was written by someone who never met Jesus personally. He or she came to know the Risen Lord the same way we, in our present times, will meet Him in our daily lives. The Risen Christ who ignited the faith of Thomas is the same for all seasons and times. There are no circumstances nor situations nor experiences to hinder Him from manifesting Himself to us. He is able and willing to meet us where we are spiritually and transform our lives in the same manner He transformed the lives of the apostles.

The Risen Lord meets us where we are. This is not restricted just to our spiritual space but also includes our human nature. We, as humans, are social creatures. We learn and acquire virtues and vices through our interactions with people. The Risen Jesus manifests Himself constantly through people. We receive the truth of the Resurrected Lord through the testimonies of people. They were by no means perfect people. They were just people who were constantly transformed by their encounter with the Risen Lord. They were people who were able to sense the presence of the Risen Lord through faith in their daily lives. After all, we do not serve a God who is dead and buried. He has Risen from the dead and active in our midst. We have a long list of people in the history of our faith who reflected the living Reality of our Resurrected Christ. We also have people in the present who reflect this reality. They are not found in high places nor in social media nor on television. We can see the truth of the Resurrect Lord in their lives. God always meets us where we are. He places people in our lives to reflect the reality of the Risen Christ. These people are close to us where we can touch and feel His presence like Thomas was able to touch and feel the presence of our Lord. However, we need to have faith like Thomas did in order to encounter the Risen Christ.

Thomas kept company with those who were transformed by the Risen Lord even though he himself was assailed by insecure thoughts. He chose to remain with those who were touched by the Risen Lord and transformed.

I told the young person to forget about giving up her financial security. Maybe her desire for financial security is an obstacle or maybe it is not. She needs to sense this from the Risen Lord and not from someone who has no commitment nor responsibility towards her. Besides, we cannot earn the right to meet the Risen Lord with our actions. All we can do is offer our souls and bodies as living sacrifices and wait. The Risen Lord will meet us where we are spiritually. Once we meet Him, the reality of the Resurrection will fill our hearts with confidence. Then we won’t be afraid to die to ourselves daily because we know that God will raise us and transform us into something new and great. We will have the confidence to do things that perhaps we thought we were beyond us. The Risen Christ will give us the necessary strength to overcome obstacles in our lives. He will guide us to a place where we can see His Living presence more clearly, where there is always hope and joy. We see Him in the street and we are always filled with joy and hope. His presence gives the boldness to testify to the world;

Christ is Risen indeed!

Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots. Luke 23:34

Sometime ago I ventured into Nietzsche’s philosophy and I read his masterpiece, Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Anyone who knows this philosopher will tell you that this is not the book to begin with when reading this rather intriguing philosopher. Anyway I read it. I did not understand it. It was just a little too much for my brain. However, there was a character in the book whom I found to be extremely interesting. He was known as the ugliest man in the world. He was a man who could not bear God’s scrutiny over his life. He desired to escape from God’s presence because every time he sensed the divine, he was aware of his hideousness. Finally he did the most despicable thing. He murdered God. Of course, Nietzsche was the self-proclaimed enemy of the Christianity. His thoughts on Jesus are rather complex. They tend to waiver between extreme admiration and something else. He chose to take a different route contrary to Christianity from this allegory. Nevertheless, the allegory is a powerful one. It is the Good Friday story. Humanity could not tolerate God’s presence because they did not like their reflection in His Light. They saw God face to face and they murdered Him.

There are several passages in the Old Testament where certain prophets desired to see God’s face. The warning is always the same. No one can see God’s face and live. God’s true identity reveals our own hideous nature and it causes our demise. However, it seems like the passion story in the gospels reveals something different. Humanity ends up killing God. They saw the face of God and they murdered Him like the ugliest man in the world. It seems like God died. Does this mean God was wrong in the Old Testament? Perhaps He was afraid to show His face because He knew that Humanity would seek to destroy Him?

In reality, we cannot murder God. We just murder ourselves in the process. Even Nietzsche, who was an ardent atheist, wrote that the ugliest man fell into a state of depression. Now, he was an orphan without a God, aimless in Life without any Hope.

God was brutally murdered. His crime was that He was God Incarnate who revealed the true nature of God. This is the only purpose of His Life on earth. He wanted to show God’s face to the world. However, whenever God is manifested, His judgment is also present. We cannot divide God into compartments. God is not a loving God in one instance and then a terrifying judge in another. He is One God. His presence manifests the completeness of His being.

Where God’s presence is manifested, there is judgment. It is not the kind of judgment we find in this world, where there are accusers who rightfully or wrongfully accuse us. God’s presence just reveals who we are. There are no accusations; just revelation. The Light of the world shines brightly to reveal everything and nothing is hidden in the darkness. For some, this is a blessing. The man in one of the gospel healing stories, who was a paralytic, found relief when his sins was revealed. Jesus revealed His sins not to condemn him but to forgive. Jesus identified that the burden of sin had paralyzed his whole life. He received his judgment with joy because He knew that the judge was loving. Remember the gospels always stated that Jesus was different from the rest of the religious teachers. He spoke the Truth. He gave people the courage to come forth and receive Healing. Many came and were healed from the heavy burden of sin. Unfortunately, many also prefer the darkness because they strive in it. It is working for them. They delight in their ugliness. For these, God’s presence is burdensome and tiresome. They did not want God’s presence in this world. They did not want His scrutiny. They did not want to know that sin has distorted their lives and made them hideous. They want to remove all reminders of it. The only way to do this is to remove God. However, if we try to remove God, then we commit suicide. Without God, we cease to exist. Our whole existence depends on God.

For “In him we live and move and have our being”; as even some of your own poets have said, “For we too are his offspring.” Acts 17:28

The argument is a philosophical one. St Paul addressed a group of men who were interested in all things religious and philosophical. It was during the ancient times when there was no clear distinction between these two. However, it explains why in the Old Testament, God was so adamant in warning the people that they would die if they saw His Face. It wasn’t that God would kill them but the contrary was true. This is what we see in the Passion narrative. Humanity wants to kill God and in doing so, they end up destroying their own existence. Without God, nothing can exist. However, the world did not end at the Cross. Humanity murdered God Incarnate but it still continued in its existence. Nothing bad happened to humanity.

There are two options here for us. One is we could say that God doesn’t exist, that He is something we made up in our minds. This is the route Nietzsche chose even though he believed that Jesus was the most perfect man who existed. He did this in his convoluted manner. This option would require us to deny something deep and profound in our souls. It would require us to deny something in our souls seeking to be united with something higher and more powerful. In other words, the atheistic route would be a negation of an important aspect our spiritual makeup.

The other option which is essential for the Christian faith is recognizing God’s unconditional forgiveness. The greatest reveal at the Cross is that God’s presence judges but not the kind of judgment which condemns but forgives. Without forgiveness, we would cease to exist. Without forgiveness, there would be no humanity. There would just be death.

At the Cross, the words of forgiveness have become rather common knowledge. At least, common knowledge in terms of familiarity. The depth of their meaning is yet to be discovered. The verse tells us that Jesus utters these words and the soldiers continued to insult Him by dividing His clothes, completely oblivious to His powerful words. They were too obsessed in glorying in their hideousness. Nevertheless, they were included in the forgiveness. For many of us, especially Christians, this is hard to accept. We, as humans, understand forgiveness as a response to repentance. We cannot imagine forgiveness without a act of contrition. There might be some of us who are able to forgive someone without this action. However, our idea of forgiveness is something more beneficial for our own souls. We forgive someone to relieve ourselves from the burden of bearing grudges and carrying all the anger and hatred. None of these reflect the powerful words of Jesus at the Cross. This kind of forgiveness was unique. It is the kind of forgiveness only God can bestow upon us.

Only God can forgive us without confession. Only God’s eyes can penetrate into our souls and see our deepest desires, the kind of desires reaching beyond our sinful ones. The desire to be loved and known. God sees us and His Light reveals that we are going about the wrong way to fulfill profound desire. We are missing the mark but cannot see it. In our blindness, we continue to murder the only One who can fulfill our most deepest desire. Fortunately, there is unconditional forgiveness. He forgives us and refuses to retreat His presence from us.

The forgiveness of God is not a mere forgetting of our sins. His forgiveness means that His love continues to sustain despite our hard heartedness. The soldiers kept dividing his raiment among themselves but He still forgave them. The soldiers were still able to move and have their being in Him. God did not retreat His Life from them. In the same way, today God’s forgiveness rules in Life. It is unconditional but many walk through Life without realizing this unconditional Love. They go through Life as if they are abandoned and alone in this Life. They fail to see that God’s forgiveness walks with them every single moment in their lives. They fail to see because they are still dividing his raiment among themselves. They are lost in the world of their own self-hatred. Hatred towards God is really self-hatred because in the end, we just kill ourselves with this hatred.

However, Good Friday is not about hatred. It is about God’s judgment. He judged the world and He said, “Forgive them for they do not know what they do.”

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. John 13:34-35

I have to admit. I am not a fan of the washing of the feet. I know that some people find it moving during the Maundy Thursday service. I am not one of these people. I always feel a little anxious whenever the celebrant calls people to the front to wash their feet. I get a little stressed out whenever this happens. It is not that I am worried that my socks may have holes and sometimes they do. It is just that I feel a little awkward. I mean it is not a custom in modern times or at least where we live to wash one’s feet. Besides, if I were to suggest doing this with one of our youth, they might be think that I am an odd fellow to say least. This does not mean we shouldn’t stop doing something just because it makes us feel awkward. I think liturgy should challenge us. It should make us think about how we live our lives. The symbols used should remind us of our higher vocation. There are many things in the liturgy of Last Supper which are challenging and speak directly to our present reality. Perhaps they might even be a little disturbing if we think about them more profoundly. I am referring to the new commandment.

As a young child I used to sing a Catholic hymn based on this commandment. Maybe some of you might know it. “They will know we are Christians by our Love, by our Love.…” Now that I am older, I have my fair share of experience with disagreeable characters, I find it a little harder to sing this hymn with the same enthusiasm. However, this commandment goes beyond just being patient with people who are not quite likable. Jesus is commanding us to love them like He did. The fact that He waited all this time to drop this bomb on his disciples was because He wanted to show them and us how to love exactly. It is not open to our personal interpretation of love. His Life is a living example of how this Love should be manifested. This is really the essence of Jesus’ ministry. He wanted to clear all misconceptions about God and Love. He came to reveal the true nature of God.
In the Old Testament, the people had an idea of a tribal God. They thought God’s actions were only favorable to one nation of tribes even though God had sent prophets now and again to remind them that He was a God who acted in all nations. However, they could not erase from their minds an image of God who was a warrior fighting political battles like a regular King. Their idea of God could be appeased with sacrifices and violence towards whomever they thought was against Him. Jesus taught us throughout His ministry that He came to fulfill the Law. The objective of the Law is to reveal the essence of God to all people. This new commandment is the consummation of this ministry. His passion operated on the basis of this New Commandment. It showed us how to face a world invested in dividing each other through hatred. Jesus, through His life and death, revealed to us a superior path. He commands us to do the same.

I recently read a disturbing comment by a so-called prominent Christian leader stating that this commandment was restricted to fellow Christians. In other words, we should only love fellow Christians as Jesus loved us. This interpretation relieves them from expressing love and compassion to anyone whom they deem as unworthy of God’s love. This is the spirituality of the Pharisee which Jesus told us time and again that we should supersede. Jesus is the standard. He loved people who were not Jews in His time. He attended to Syrophoenician woman and the Roman centurion. He welcomed people who were considered as outcasts. He even transformed a Samaritan woman with a dubious background into a prophetess to her community. The list goes on and on. Jesus, at the Last Supper, broke bread with Judas whom He knew was going to betray Him to a certain death. Judas might not have thought that Jesus was going to die an horrific death but despite this, betrayal is still an hurtful and hateful thing to do especially to someone who loved him unconditionally. Jesus did not refrain from washing Judas’ feet. There are some Christians who argue that Jesus did not wash Judas’ feet. I don’t understand why this is an issue. Jesus’ washing of Judas’ feet is coherent with our Lord’s lifestyle. He loved His enemies. St John Chrysostom gave an insightful interpretation of this action. He said that perhaps Jesus was hoping that this act of Love might convert Judas’ heart. Every act of Love is an act of evangelism. It is also an act to persuade our souls to look beyond our lives to discover true divine Love.

The thing about this Commandment is that is impossible for us to love one another like Jesus loves us. The bar is too high. In our ministry, we have some undesirable characters who also like our companionship in the streets. I cannot say that the feeling is mutual. To the best our abilities, we tolerate them. However, Jesus is not encouraging us to tolerate the disagreeable personalities of Life. He wants us to love them like He loves us. Jesus served without prejudice. He healed and restored the lives of many. However, only a handful returned to express their gratitude. The rest just left and maybe even forgot about our Lord. Jesus loved them nevertheless. We, as mere mortals, like to receive feedback. We want to love people who appreciate our efforts. Jesus loved unconditionally. Loving someone is difficult even when we like the people. People are complex and not always easy to love. The Holy Week liturgy reveals this to us. People can shift their opinions from enthusiastic love to complete hatred. This is not just something we read in the gospel passion. This reality is experienced in everyday life. I have known people who once upon a time loved working with the homeless youth. Their enthusiasm made us feel a little ashamed because we did not have their same zealous love. Then, we met these same people again and they seemed to have changed their position. They say hateful and hurtful comments about the homeless in general. People are complex which makes them even harder to love them like Jesus did. To make matters worse, Jesus said this Love would be the sign proving we are His disciples. In other words, we are not followers of Christ unless we love one another like He loved us. Neither our baptism certificate nor regular church attendance is going to prove that we are His disciples; only the presence of unconditional love in our lives.

On that day many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?” Then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.” Matthew 7:22-23

Jesus, then, goes on to say;

Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. Matthew 7:24

As wise people, we need to know how to construct our lives on this new commandment.

This new commandment is not something that came out of nowhere. It is the summary of our Lord’s ministry. He came to live among us to show us how to live our lives in this world. The unconditional Love that He freely bestowed upon us is not only for us but for the world. He wants to continue to testify to the world the everlasting presence of Unconditional Love in our midst. However, Love is not something which can be expressed in words. It cannot be reduced to doctrines nor some fanciful words of an eloquent preacher. Love is an action. It is something that we have to live out. Unconditional Love is not merely tolerating certain difficult people. Jesus did not tolerate people. He loved them with concrete actions. His Love was always active and never a passive nod to the idea of unconditional Love. However, all this still does not answer the question whether it is even possible for us to love like He did. The short answer is that it is humanly impossible. We need His divine presence to guide and empower us to love. It is difficult even to love those whom we find agreeable and pleasant. People are complex and Jesus loved them in all their complexities. The proof of this is one of His final words on the Cross,

Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” And they divided His garments and cast lots. Luke 23:34

It seemed to me that they knew exactly what they were doing. However, Jesus was able to see beyond the obvious and many times we just see what’s in front of us. We need Jesus to guide and show us how to love one another like He loves us. The Eucharist reveals to us how. We need to constantly feed on His Life. His Life and words are powerful and living. They are not mere concepts but they are living words moving our souls to spring forth living waters. We need to be in the company of people who have been touched by the power of God’s unconditional Love and are willing and open to share this powerful Love with their lives and actions. We need to listen and obey the voice of the Holy Spirit who wants to use us to become instruments of Unconditional Love. The Lord’s Table is the symbolic place where all these necessary elements are united.

The Lord’s Table is where we come together and listen to the living words of our Lord and allow these words to transform our hearts so that we can live out this new commandment. It is humanly impossible for us to follow this commandment. However, we have Jesus to guide us. He will always be there waiting for us and all we need to do is to be willing and open to His unconditional Love.