The wicked bend their arrows and shoot from the shadows

 When people snipe at you and their verbal arrows pull you down, your foundations are destroyed. It's sometimes unfathomable; it can inflict a deep wound in your mind.
 Don't be surprised when poisoned arrows hit you. When people make a sly or petty verbal attack, that's capable of wrecking your life. These arrows can come from your friends, relatives and colleagues. Oh my God, what did I do. When your close relatives thwack you with such arrows, the effect can be devastating and lead to a cataclysmic upheaval in your mind.

 Venerable Rev PK Zachariah of Mar Thoma Church says people who are close to you can give you nightmares with cruel verbal arrows. Take Psalms 11:1-3. "How then can you say to me: 'Flee like a bird to your mountain. For look, the wicked bend their bows; they set their arrows against the strings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart. When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?"
 They shoot from the shadows. There can be several reasons from jealousy, greed, money to hatred. Anything. They may not directly confront you. It can hit your indirectly and you won't know from which direction it came to you. There are vindictive and vengeful people around us. Some of them are wolves in sheep's clothing with a wicked mind. They want to teach you a lesson. "Hey, who are you... I will show you your place," they tell themselves.
 I'm sure most of you might have encountered such wicked arrows from your near ones. "When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?" David experienced it in a bitter way when his son Absalom rebelled against him and wanted to kill the king. Our Lord Jesus Christ also faced this when Judas betrayed him. It's a heart-wrenching experience and your tempted for retaliation.   
 But it's Christian way not to retaliate. "Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing," says 1 Peter 3:9. 
 "But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you," says Mathew 5:44. Our Lord clearly tells us to pray for those who send wicked arrows and assault you verbally.   
Yes, He is watching everyone and every move. "The Lord is in his holy temple;  the Lord is on his heavenly throne. He observes everyone on earth;   his eyes examine them. The Lord examines the righteous, but the wicked, those who love violence, he hates with a passion. On the wicked he will rain fiery coals and burning sulfur; a scorching wind will be their lot," Psalms 11 says.
 These are tough words... "fiery coals and burning sulfur". It's also a warning from God to those sending wicked arrows.
  

Devil will come back again and again to trap us… but slam the door on his face

 If you think that devil will leave you alone after tempting you once or twice, you’re mistaken. He will come back... again and again. Our victory depends on how we can thwart his attempts again and again. Devil will try to trap us through many ways. It can be through somebody – even a close relative – or internet or our devious and deceitful thoughts and actions instigated by the Satan. It can be our jealousy, envy, greed, adultery or arrogance.

 If we are trapped by the devil and remain oblivious to that situation, my God, it’s quite serious. This situation can keep us away from eternal life in Heaven. We can’t give our souls to Satan. It belongs to God.

 As Pope Francis says, the devil always comes back to us; he never stops tempting man. “The devil has patience. He never leaves that which he wants for himself… that is, our souls,” he says.

 Devil can come back again and again through other people or a sinful situation. After the temptations in the desert, when Jesus was tempted by the devil, in Luke’s version it says that the devil left Him for a time, but during the life of Jesus he returned again and again.

 Pharisees and Sadducees tested Jesus several times. Who inspired them?  “When they put Him to the test, when they tried to trap Him, in the Passion, finally on the Cross… ‘But if you are the Son of God… but you come, you come from us, so we cannot believe,” Pope says.

 In Luke 23:8, we read that Herod questioned Jesus about many things. But He kept silent. Who was acting through Herod? The answer is very clear.  Luke 23:36-37 says, “the soldiers also mocked Him, coming up to Him, offering Him sour wine, and saying, ‘If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!"

  Our Lord Jesus was tested repeatedly. We will also face situations when our faith gets tested again and again. Don’t succumb to the machinations of the devil. This detestable creature will act through your relatives, friends, colleagues and superiors. We should be able to see through the devil’s games. Devil has patience. He wants our souls for ever. Internet is a great trap laid by devil to lure people these days. Hundreds of porn sites on the internet are booby traps laid by devil. Many of our children and adults are being trapped by devil through this devious route.

  The biggest problem is that we lose the sense of sin occasionally. There’re others who have lost it for ever. Pope Francis earlier warned that when the Lord is absent among men, they “lose the sense of sin” and others risk falling victim to “Christian mediocrity.” The Pope referred to the “grave sin” of “adultery” as an example.

 Rev Fr Xavier Khan Vattayil, a well-known preacher, says constant prayer and a life in Jesus Christ is essential to keep away evil forces. How can we guard ourselves from the attacks of devil?

 “We need to guard our hearts, where the Holy Spirit dwells so that other spirits do not enter. To guard the heart, as a house is guarded, with a key. And then to watch the heart, like a sentinel: How often do wicked thoughts, wicked intentions, jealousy, envy enter in? So many things that enter in. But who has opened that door? Where do they enter from?” Pope says.

 “We know – Jesus says clearly – that the devil always returns. Even at the end of life, He, Jesus, gives us an example of this. And to guard, to watch, so that the demons don’t enter in, we must be able to gather ourselves, that is, to stand in silence before ourselves and before God, and at the end of the day ask ourselves: ‘What happened today in my heart? Did anyone I don’t know enter? Is the key in its place? And this will help us to defend ourselves from so much wickedness, even from that which we could do if these demons, who are very clever and at the end would cheat all of us, even if they enter,” Pope says.

  We need to understand that devil is roaring around like a lion. He’s waiting for an entry. We must slam the door on his face. Holy Spirit will guide us in our efforts to reject Satan. If we are in constant prayer, as Rev Fr Xavier Khan says, we will be able to identify devil’s machinations to trap us.

Five ‘defects’ of our Lord Jesus

 Does Jesus have 'defects'? This question was raised by Rev Fr John Koovakunnel, a voracious reader, speaker and theologian. Some of us may even think that it’s sacrilegious and blasphemous to even think of any 'defects' of Jesus. He is the Son of God. Rev Fr John says our Lord Jesus has five 'defects'. But wait. He hastened to add: “because of these defects we are saved.”

  Quoting from the book ‘Testimony of Hope’ by Vietnamese Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan, Rev Fr John repeats, “Jesus has five defects.” Let’s see these defects one after another.

  The first defect is that Jesus has a terrible memory, Rev Fr John said in his sermon during the feast celebrations at Little Flower Church, Nerul.

 “When we go to Jesus and seeks forgiveness and redemption, Jesus forgets our sins. He is a forgiving Lord. He forgets our sins. This is what happened on Calvary as well. When the thief on the right side of Jesus asked for forgiveness of his sins, Jesus, ‘today you will be in heaven with me’. He won't keep our sins and sinful nature in His mind once we surrender ourselves to Him,” Rev Fr John says.

 The second defect is that Jesus doesn’t know maths. His maths is equally bad a la His memory. Leaving 99 sheep, Jesus goes around searching for one missing sheep. “Is one sheep more important than 99 remaining sheep?  For Him, that one sheep is important. It’s much moré than or equal to 99 sheep, he says.

 The parable of the ‘prodigal son’ also teaches us this fact. When the son returns to the father, he forgets everything, embraced his son and gave him a grand welcome.

   What’s the third defect? Jesus doesn’t have any logic. We human beings look at things logically. Please read the parable of missing coin in Luke 15:8-10. “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it?  And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’  Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

  There’s a feast when a missing coin is found. The woman might have spent more than 10 silver coins to arrange the feast. For human mortals, there’s no logic in this story.  

 The fourth defect is risk taking.  “During the time of elections, politicians make various promises that we will do this and that. Mostly these promises turn out to be just hollow ones. But Jesus promises one thing, if you follow me, you will face persecution and sufferings. In fact, all our saints took this risk and followed Jesus. This risk is worth taking,” said Rev Fr John.    

 By taking this risk, we get sanctification. What more you want.

 The fifth and last defect of Jesus is: Jesus doesn’t know economics. He doesn’t follow the principles of economics -- no Keynesian or trickle-down theories. Please read Mathew 20:1-16. “The owner of a vineyard went to the marketplace at the first hour of the morning to find workers for the day. His offered wage of one denarius, a Roman’s soldier’s pay for a day, was generous indeed. The workers in the first group were more than happy to work for the generous wage.

 As the day progressed and more workers were hired, the specific wage was not mentioned, but the landowner promised to pay “whatever is right.” Four groups of workers were hired, the last group just one hour before the end of the day. When the time came for the wages to be paid, the first group of workers saw the last group being paid a denarius and were naturally thinking they would be paid more since they had worked the longest. Their anger against the landowner spilled forth when they saw they would all be paid the same, even though they got exactly what they had agreed upon when they were hired.”

 The Kingdom of Heaven is also like vineyard owner. The reward will be the same whether you were saved much early in the life or just minutes before the death. The good thief on Calvary is also a good example of this. 

  I find the five 'defects' of Jesus very interesting, illuminating and enlightening. Thanks to Rev Fr John and Cardinal Francis Van Thuan.

 Who is Cardinal Francis Van Thuan?

Arrested only a few months after his appointment, Archbishop Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan was imprisoned by the Vietnamese government for 13 years and then released to house arrest. In 1991, Van Thuan was expelled from Vietnam. He went to Rome and began his work in the Roman Curia as Vice President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. Since 1998, Archbishop Van Thuan served as the Council's President. In 2001, Van Thuan was named a Cardinal.

 Every year, John Paul 2 used to select a preacher for a course of spiritual exercises for himself and the Vatican's Roman Curia. For the Jubilee 2000, he chose Archbishop Van Thuan. Testimony of Hope is the complete text of those Spiritual Exercises. In his book, Cardinal Van Thuan addresses our need for hope at the beginning of the 21st century. He faced what he described as the agonizing pain of isolation and abandonment. The hope he discovered in imprisonment is also our hope for the Church and the world at this momentous point in history. 

Vatican seeks deep reforms for redistribution of wealth

 Vatican’s pro-poor tilt is more visible these days. I won’t say it’s a Marxist tilt. It doesn’t miss an opportunity to question the “trickle-down” theory which assumes that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world.
 Vatican, led by Pope Francis, trashes this theory saying that “this opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic system.”
 Earlier this week, keeping alive the concern for the poor and social justice, the pontiff made it abundantly clear that it requires, on the one hand, deep reforms that provide for the redistribution of the wealth that is produced, and the universalization of free markets in the service of families; and on the other, redistribution of sovereignty, both on the national and the supranational level. This stance may make Leftist economists happy. Many economists like Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz are also on the same path.
 The issue is the exploitation of labour markets, as well as the growth of poverty and inequality. The widening rich-poor gap in many emerging economies and less developed countries is a story of exploitation, inequality and iniquity among people. On the other hand, the throw-away culture is flourishing with people having deep pockets and bank balances waiting for the market to offer new things to grab them.
 Three months ago, Pope Francis said in an interview that the banner of the poor is Christian… poverty is at the heart of the Gospel. "I would only say that the Communists have stolen the banner,” he had said.
Benedict XVI’s encyclical Caritas in veritate, which Pope Francis called “a foundational document for the evangelization of the social sphere” drew attention “to the benefits, but also the dangers of globalization.”
 Vatican Radio quoted Pope Francis as saying, “it is necessary to keep alive concern for the poor and social justice, which must involve the sharing of the riches that are produced and “the universalization of free markets in the service of families” as well as “the redistribution of sovereignty, both on the national and supra-national levels.”
 The Gospel story of Zacchaeus the tax collector is an example of how it’s never too late to correct injustice. The Zacchaeus story is all about legitimate redistribution of wealth.  Zacchaeus said, "half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much." And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham.…"
 Addressing the participants of the Plenary assembly of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace some days ago, Pope Francis said, “one of the aspects of today’s economic system is the exploitation of international disequilibrium in labor costs, which relies on billions of people living on less than two dollars a day.” Such an imbalance not only does not respect the dignity of those who supply the cheap labor, but it destroys sources of employment in those regions where it is more protected, he says.
 This raises the problem of creating mechanisms for the protection of labour rights and the environment, in the presence of a growing consumerist ideology, which does not show responsibility in the confrontation between the cities and the created world.
 In other words, the State of social rights – and, in particular, the fundamental right to work – is not to be dismantled. This cannot be considered a variable dependent upon the financial and monetary markets. It is a fundamental good with respect to dignity, the formation of a family, and the realization of the common good and of peace.
 Vatican says education and employment, access to welfare for all, are key elements for the development and the fair distribution of goods; for the achievement of social justice; for belonging to society and participating freely and responsibly in political life, understood as the management of the res publica (the State or Republic).
 It’s very clear in its view that visions that claim to increase profitability, at the cost of the restriction of the labor market that creates new excluded, do not conform to an economy at the service of humanity and the common good, to an inclusive and participatory democracy.
Another problem arises from the persistent imbalance between economic sectors, between salaries, commercial banks and banks of speculation, between institutions and global problems: it is necessary to keep alive the concern for the poor and social justice.
 Pope Francis says the principle of Caritas in veritate is extremely topical. A truth-filled love is, in fact, the basis on which to build the peace that today is especially desired and necessary for the good of all. “It allows one to overcome dangerous fanaticisms, conflicts for the possession of resources, migrations of biblical proportions, the enduring wounds of hunger and poverty, human trafficking, injustice, and social and economic disparities, imbalance in collective goods,” he says.
 His message: The Church is always on a journey, seeking new ways to proclaim the Gospel.