Power of the Church

“Son of Man came not to be served but to serve…” Has it ever occurred to you why Jesus had to instruct his disciples umpteen times as to who will be the authority or who will be in power after Jesus? Once I was at a Mass in a parish, and since it was Lent, the colour of the vestment was either Rose or Purple. As I was preparing for the Mass, I reached out for the purple vestment, but at once a loud voice filled the sacristy saying, its supposed to be Rose and not purple. I was perplexed about whole this bizarre episode of the man. I explained to him that its either purple or rose and in the footnote I told him, if that makes you happy I shall wear the Rose. Then someone in the sacristy whispered to me, why did you budge to his demand, you are the authority in the Church. My immediate reaction was, I am here to serve not to be in authority or power.

It is natural that every human person longs or has power over someone. May be parents over children, teachers over children, and the top notch in a firm over the person under them, priest over faithful etc. Throughout the human history we have witnessed several wars in order to dominate the other. The recent war that is prevalent in Israel and Palestine is the clear example that one nation out rightly dominates the other. Power has made some leaders adamant even adamant to destroy other fellow humans.

In the Gospel of Matthew, when mother of Sons of Zebedee requests Jesus to make her sons to sit on the left and right, Jesus is puzzled at the power mongering people in his own friends circle. It is obvious for the mother of Sons of Zebedee to raise her sons to that power to be the successors of Jesus, because she clearly misunderstood the mission of Christ here on earth. At this time, Jesus was becoming a powerful and revolutionary figure but with he was clear about the purpose of being that revolutionary. He was not looking for a popular revolutionary rather he was service-minded revolutionary. He had a mission of God the Father or in other words to help people to build the kingdom of God. This was not clear to the disciples hence a temptation to be on his right and left.

The Church is a missionary Church, which at the service of the people who is in need. The Church calls us to be at the service of the people on the one hand, on the other had it calls us to reach out to the poor. To do this, we need a strong disposition of service and not of authority. The words “authority” or “hierarchy” in its negative sense have reflected a purpose that is contrary to the purpose that Jesus intended. It is not a pleasant feeling when someone commands us to do this or that in the house of God. However, if this is done in a service minded heart, it is acceptable. We can be sure that Jesus wants us to be at the service of the people, hence words of Jesus, ‘I have come for the sinner and not for the righteous’ come in handy to present my argument. We have see Christ in our mission, in other words, we have make Christ as the centre of our work in the Church. We have to guard against the temptation of domination, power and authority. It is because of Christ’s love for us, our Church today is sustained. It is fed on the Word of God and the Eucharist, from which we draw our strength. At the end, we will joyfully reap the fruits from God’s own garden, a hundredfold, sixty or thirtyfold.  

Kingdom of Heaven

Is there a heaven? Is there a hell? If so, who will go where, and who determines this? These are the few questions that haunt us, particularly the religious persons. The people battle with these questions especially at the death of a beloved person. Expressions like, “go my beloved in peace”, “rest in peace”, make us wonder whether there is place or a state of life after death. Some might define it as an eschatological issue. Sometimes it is scary to think about the furnace in the hell, and who would like to be roasted in the furnace. But generally we are positive about our own life and we reward them will heaven, in face pray for that grace.

My question is does heaven exist? What do we mean when we say kingdom of heaven may come? Kingdom heaven or kingdom of God is not a place either her

e or hereafter. The Greek word basileia is better translated as ‘kingship’, or ‘reign’, or ‘rule’, so it is a ‘reign of God.’ It is an environment or a situation where God’s values prevail. Hence, heaven is here and now; when we built that kingdom of God, we have the heaven.

Is this world a kingdom of heaven? I suppose most people would give me a negative answer because the values of the world do not really correspond according to Kingdom values. At times the evil seems triumphs and good defeats. It occurred to me when the MH17 airliner tragedy in Ukraine hit the headlines, that evil people seem like triumph and destroy the innocent people. It is really shameful for us that there is a few people who try to destroy the kingdom values like the termites in the ground. But it is all-momentary, one day my hope of kingdom of God will surely prevail here on earth.

I am inclined to think that the kingdom of God is here on earth which can be present in our day today life. The pastor in the movie ‘the heaven is for real’ talks about the heaven being present here and now. He says, when a child is born, mother sees the heaven, when a patient is cared for by the nurses, they see the heaven. Therefore, it is significant to think about it and reflect on the kingdom of heaven being here and now. 

Photo: Lovely children from Kumu village in Lethem

Living the Liturgy: Encouraging more participation

Invariably a few of our faithful will be analysing the Mass being monotonous and jarring with routine way of celebration. Someone w

ill come with a confused mind, to say that priest gave an excellent homily or the choir was melodious. There are blames on our way of celebrating the Mass. My article in the previous Catholic Standard on the Eucharist, highlighted some of the important as aspects of the Mass. But there are many more who feel that our liturgy can be improved with more vibrancy and gusto. My question is, who has to make the liturgy vibrant, the presider or the faithful? Everyone can ask a question, what happens to me (presider) and to the faithful whilst celebration of the liturgy? This question could be crucial to keep in mind as we discuss this wonderful discussion on liturgy.

When we think of the liturgy, the first thing comes to our mind is rubrics. The rubrics of the Church are the guidelines for liturgy. They are to be understood and as far as possible applied in our liturgies. This can sound a little traditional and ‘conservative’. Does following rubrics make me traditional or ‘conservative Christian’? I was also of the similar opinion about liturgists, who are the strict followers of the rules of the liturgy. This makes us not to talk about it in our daily conversations, thus resulting in remaining in the archaic understanding of the liturgy, i.e. pre-Vatican understanding.

Liturgy comes from a Greek composite word leitourgia, which means a public duty, a service to the state undertaken by a citizen. Its elements are leitos means public (people), and ergo means to do. From this we have leitourgos, which means a man who performs a public duty or a public servant. The above etymological definition of the word liturgy shows us that liturgy is what people do, or simply what is done in public by both the presider and the people.

Liturgy as participation: When we celebrate the Liturgy we actively participate in the work of God, in other words we respond to God’s call to mission. We participate in the life of God in the celebration of the Liturgy. We participate in the Trinity, because Trinitarian mission is witnessed through sending His Son and Son assuring us an advocate, the Holy Spirit. Our participation in the Liturgy makes us participate in the Ecclesia of the Church.

We are privileged to join the heavenly court in singing “Gloria in Excelsis deo”, a song that is sung by the angels at the incarnation of the Son of God. How beautiful to be part of that chanting. We imitate the angels whilst we celebrate the Liturgy with an active and meaningful celebration. In a way we are impersonating the angelic voice, “Gloria.”

It is not a passive participation. I was watching a cricket match at the providence stadium. I was marvelled at the participation of the spectators in the stands. Everyone with one voice supporting the home team with all their heart and mind and with utmost spontaneity. I was inclined to think, how about that kind of participation in our Liturgy, a participation that involves our whole self, heart, mind and with utmost spontaneity. We have to know the mind of the Church as it is prescribed by the rubrics but this must not curtail our spontaneity and creativity.  

Liturgy as a Journey: An apparent question is, where does the Liturgy begin and end? I was delighted to see at Meadow Bank parish, the choir master would come in advance and teach the response to the Psalm to the congregation before the Mass began. I thought it was wonderful when it is done in that Liturgical approach. Sometimes, people read the readings before hand so that they set an ambience for the proper Liturgy. So, the Liturgy begins much before the proper Liturgy. We have to prepare spiritually to enter into the mood of Liturgy. Hence observing the journey of the spirit, in other words, back and forth of the spirit within us. St. Ignatius in his spiritual exercises asks the directees to observe and watch the inner movements of the spirit. Therefore, my initial question would fit in here, what happens to me whilst I celebrate the Liturgy?

When we invite any guests for a meal to our homes, we prepare much in advance, planning for the cuisine, and then we enjoy the meal together, and at last we don’t just go away, rather we live that experience of eating together. Thence our meal does end at meal time but it continues. The Eucharist is a meal, it is a food for our nourishment, it continues to nourish us after the celebration of the Eucharist. The new missal has wonderful dismissal rite, the ones I like the most, “Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord”, “Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.” The Eucharist does not end rather it continues, we are send forth by the presider on a mission of Christ, to bring good news. The Liturgical journey does not begin and end just with the Eucharist. The journey continues.

The journey of the Eucharist itself is very much like the journey of the brothers going towards Emmaus. The journey unfolds itself to the journeyed. The Liturgy of the Eucharist has for ways of journeying, namely, Liturgy of the Word, Liturgy of the Eucharist (food), journey with the community, and priest who re-enacts the sacrificial journey of Christ. Therefore, there is no alpha and omega point for the Liturgy, rather, it sends us on a Mission of Christ, and hence it is constant. We begin our Liturgy where we end.

Liturgy as an expression of faith: I was enhanced to see a large group of young persons praying and expressing their faith in their own ways at the world youth day at Rio. The prayer was initiated by the Taize and a large cross attracted the youth with darkened ambience in the hall. The youth went to the cross and expressed their deep faith through the form of prayer as and when they were moved to do so. It was almost felt like a form of Liturgy but with a spontaneous approach. The Liturgy is the expression of one’s own faith and it is manifested openly whilst celebrating the Liturgy. What happens to me, when I celebrate the Liturgy? May be I am moved to express my own faith with other members in the celebration. In the Eucharist, the prayers of the faithful, is the clear expression of the faith in God. It moves one to express one’s deep faith in God. Hence, the Liturgy is the manifestation of the faith of the people and something happens to each one in the Liturgy.

Conclusion: Any footballer learns to play football by learning at the street play style, where he is not too much occupied with the rules of the game. Once the footballer learns the game, then his task is to learn the FIFA rules, which eventually helps him to follow the rule naturally.

The Liturgy is in a way like the above example, we learn to celebrate liturgy in our own way, but then eventually we are initiated into a formal Liturgy of the Church, which after all becomes part and parcel of our lives. For most of us the Liturgy has become part of our lives. In case it has not become part of us, let us make it part of us. Let us celebrate the Eucharist as if it is our own celebration, our own meal (food).

Liturgy is not merely rubrics but also creativity. Sometimes, we think that the priest has to be creative, which quite right, but it is the celebration of the people, hence, everyone has to part of this creative Liturgy. It is not merely making it lively through melodious singing; rather does the Creative Liturgy affect my Christian life. We can participate in the Liturgy with all our minds and hearts. Let us not be shy to be participative in the house of God, because we are celebrating the Liturgy as an expression of our own faith in God that we gotten from our Baptism. Let the Liturgy affect our lives, because it is connected to our life experiences. We can go to the Eucharist, as it is the first and the last Eucharist; which means not a routine another celebration of the Eucharist.

The work of our redemption is continued and the fruits are imparted during the celebration of the Eucharist (Peter Fink SJ). We draw our redemptive source from God and it is witnessed and expressed in the celebration of the Liturgy. For St. Paul, the Liturgy and Christian life are one; in other words our Christian life revolves around the Eucharist, and when we celebrate the Liturgy we live a Christian life to the full.

With these few thoughts, I appeal to all the Christians to be more participative in the Liturgy and be more creative in our approach to celebration of the Liturgy that does not mean we are shying away from the mind of the Church. 

Ultimately ask the question, what happens to me whilst celebrating the Liturgy? 

Photo: An Amerindian village celebration of the Word of God. 

“Investing in Young people”

I was invited by the Bishop of Guyana, Rev. Francis Aleyne to attend the conference of the United Nations Population Fund, w

hich is in partnership with the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sport to mark the world population day on 11 July 2014. The conference was held under the theme, “investing in young people.” There are a few important aspects of this conference I would like to pencil on my blog.

First of all, I was moved by a young woman who shared her ordeal when she became teen pregnant. She had no one to support her, the society seems to have ignored her and seen her as a person who is disgrace. She was embarrassed to even meet her friends in school. Her testimony was an important revelation for that there is no enough support to the teen mothers or single mothers in our world today. Most countries would look at them as so-called bad mothers who are runaways of the proper families.

Young persons, especially at their teenage, are very vulnerable because they have not only changes in their body but also they are prone diseases and early pregnancies. It is in this situation that we are urged to reach out to these vulnerable people of our society. This will be a challenge for us who work with the young people of our nation. As the UNFPA helps to raise the health facilities, we are encouraged to help particularly the poor of people especially girls. Hence, it would be wonderful to work along with the health ministry to reach out to these young persons of our country.

Culture minister Dr Frank Antony, sounded very bluntly the inequalities in the distribution of the wealth of the world. According to the Oxfam Report, 1% of the world population has half of the wealth and 99% of the world population has other half of the wealth of the world. This is clear sign of an unequal world. Will this get better? I think it won’t get any better, it would get even worse because human beings are born with a vice called greed. But my concern is how can we try to reach out to the poorest of the poor in the developing countries like Guyana and India.

I was happy to hear Dr Frank mention about the parenting of the children. His convincing voice about child must have parents not mother alone or grandmother is still resonating in my mind. I do agree with him, because the child is of both mother and father. Both have to take responsibility in upbringing of the child. This calls to challenge another trend of making children and leaving with the mother, hence single mothers are on the rise. Sometimes these single mothers have to bear the brunt and meet the all the expenses of the child; many times it is hard for them in this economic crisis situation.

In the light above sharing on the conference by UNFPA, I have two important observation or suggestions. Firstly, we talked only about reaching out to the poor, but it was not clear for me about the interior young person who are more vulnerable than the coast people. The people in the hinterland of the Guyana are exposed to teen pregnancy and sexual transmitted diseases. It might be for several reasons, most importantly lack of information on responsible parenting. The concerned people can take notice of this situation and make projects to reach out to these young persons in the hinterland.

Secondly, it is significant to introduce these issues and concerns of the youth right in the school systems. Children are investing a great deal of time and money in professional subjects and just ignore some of the life issues that they are going to face in the near future. The school must have some forum to take and discuss the real life issues surrounding the young persons. It must be done on a professional basis, because as Dr Frank Antony expressed the peers guiding other peers will be a disaster. Hence, the school system can concentrate and invest time and resources to reach out to the children. The individual schools can plan a project for this, may be create a social club or life club where the children can call some of the experts to discuss their real life issues.

In all this bottom line is, tomorrow’s world belongs to today’s young people. It is they who are going to be our leaders. Hence, child is the father of the nation.

Revisiting the Eucharist: source and summit of our Faith

There are copious popular and traditional devotions in our Church today. These devotions help the faithful to find God in their lives particularly if that devotion geared towards sharing of one’s own reality. The popular devotions like reciting rosary, novenas, special devotion to our Lady and so on, bring the faithful together as a family. The Church is not only a place for self-oriented worship, rather, it is a place for the community to come together as on

e people of God to celebrate life and fellowship with our brothers and sisters. Hence, the Church encourages several community activities like fair, tea party, carry-away lunch, and other types of fun-oriented events. These aforementioned events play a fundamental role in the life of the Church in which the Church grows together as one united community; hence prayer of Jesus, “Father, that they all may be one” comes to effect in the Church. This contributes towards the development of our faith.

Every one of us draw our source from somewhere for our wellbeing and that source helps us to endure with our lives; we need to draw from this source for the same. What is our source in the Church? The Eucharist is our source and summit of our Catholic Faith. My reflection revolves around the Eucharist and its significance in our contemporary world. The Eucharist has its own significance and it has to be understood by every Christian who intends to celebrate it. We hear expression like, “I attend the Mass”, or “I go to see the Mass”; these expression at times can belittle the vital role that the Eucharist plays in the life of the faithful. Is the Eucharist a performance (stage show) where the Choir puts up a melodious theatrical show, where readers put up their best accent ever, or the priest showcases his brilliancy in elocution.  

My own experience during my short stay in the Rupununi has contributed enormously towards an understanding of the Eucharist. Since there is a lack of priests in this region, the faithful in the far-lying villages have the Eucharist only once in two months. Access to some of the villages during the rainy season is very scant; hence priest might be able to reach these villages once in a year. When priest does visit the village extraordinary happens. The faithful celebrate the Eucharist with whole of their self, in other words, looks as though they are starving for the Eucharist. The faithful gather in the Church and they spend almost whole day in the Church; they make the Church as their home for that day. This may not be the reality in the coast land of Guyana, because we are privileged to have the Eucharist at least once a week.

The Church’s long standing tradition of celebrating Eucharist still plays an essential role in the development of our faith, because the Eucharist is the central focus in the Church’s prayer life. The Second Vatican Council emphasised that all other activities are directed towards the Eucharist:

“From the liturgy, therefore, and especially from the Eucharist, as from a fountain, grace is channelled into us; and the sanctification of men in Christ and the glorification of God, to which all other activities of the Church are directed as toward their goal, are most powerfully achieved” (Sacrosanctum Concilium).

The Council Fathers’ intention is clear and explicit that the Eucharist is the centre of the Church’s devotional life. The Eucharistic devotion is encouraged among the faithful as the fountain from which we draw necessary graces, and the end towards which all other acts of Catholic devotion are directed. In other words, we derive our spiritual sustenance primarily from the Holy Eucharist. Therefore, every other devotion is directed or pointed towards the Eucharist; the Eucharist must take precedence over all other piety. The Catechism of the Catholic Church emphasises by assuring of the paramount significance; the Eucharist is the source and summit of Christian life (Faith).

In the Eucharist, we commemorate Jesus’ death and resurrection, “Do this in memory of me.” When we celebrate the Eucharist, we do it in Jesus’ own memory, in his own words. Jesus is directly present in the Eucharist; hence we are privileged to be part of that sacrifice. Jesus is primarily present in four different ways in the Eucharist, namely:

Word of God: When we read and reflect on the word of God, Jesus makes himself present to us. We receive our instructions and teachings from the scriptures. It is fundamental for us to attune to the word of God, both the proclaimer and the listener. We can prepare ourselves to hear the Word of God even before we come to the Eucharist. As priest, it is important for me to reflect and personalize the Word of God, so that I can break it during the Eucharistic celebration. Hence, for me it is not a place to showcase my theological and philosophical knowledge, rather it is a noble privilege to share the Word of God as intended by Christ himself in our context. I am humbled for this noble privilege to share Word of God with the faithful.

The Eucharist (Bread and Wine): Christ is present in the Holy Eucharist; the bread and wine that priest consecrates. We commemorate the last meal that Jesus had with his disciples; hence it is a re-enactment of the last Supper of Christ. When we do this, we do it Jesus’ memory, as for His instruction on Last Supper. The last words of Jesus at the table become key words for the Eucharistic consecration. At the Consecration, the Bread and Wine is transformed into Christ’s Body and Blood. When we receive it, we are redeemed. It is the time for us to thank the Almighty God for all the creation, and to worship him.  

Priest: The priest at the Eucharistic table is “in persona Christi”, meaning, he stands in the place of Christ. Hence, the consecration prayers in first person singular, “Take this and eat it, this is my body”, “Take this and drink, this is my cup”, “Do this in my memory.” Priest says these prayers as though Christ is saying them to us now. Therefore, we have to see Christ in priests who are in the place of Christ.

Congregation: Christ is always present in the Congregation who are active partakers in the Eucharist. We have to see Christ in each other. The sharing of peace is an opportune time for us to identify the presence of Christ in each other when we say “peace be with you.” We have to overlook our differences when we celebrate the Eucharist, because Christ intended a united Church and He has sanctified everyone with His gracious presence.

In conclusion, I would like to encourage every Christian to celebrate the Eucharist and not merely participate, attend or see the Eucharist. I am sure, when we celebrate a birthday or wedding, we really give our whole self through socializing, dancing, singing and so on. The Eucharist must become a celebration where we are dynamic worshippers. It makes me delighted, when I see faithful coming to the Eucharist with hymnals and missals, which shows that they are part of the celebration, in other words, they give their whole self; spiritual and temporal, to the celebration of the Eucharist. When the whole community joins in the celebration, it becomes everyone’s Eucharist, and I can assure that we all go home taking the Eucharist with us as the nourishment for our spiritual wellbeing. Let us yield every opportunity to celebrate the Eucharist with an unceasing hunger for it.

Photo: The Eucharist with the faithful at Diamond Parish in Guyana.