The Mother of Life

Reflection on the feast of glorification of St. Mary, Mother of God (December 26^th).

Christ is born! Glorify Him!!

In the book ‘Beginning to Pray’, Metropolitan Anthony Bloom references a statement from another resource that connotes the role of St. Mary the Theotokos in the Incarnation of our Lord: ‘one day a virgin of Israel was capable of pronouncing the sacred name with all her heart, all her mind, all her being, all her body, in such a way that in her word became flesh’.

The Blessed Virgin stayed with St. Elizabeth for three months wherein the wombs, outwardly silent but internally active, witnessed the Voice ministering to the Word. As Life grows in the Blessed Virgin, her organs squeeze in to make space for the growing womb carrying the Son of Most High. The heart asks the Baptist, isn’t it the Blessed Virgin’s womb and thereby her life which taught you - “He must increase but I must decrease” (St. John 3:30).

"Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary..?" (St. Mark 6:3) asked the astonished villagers who found it difficult to digest as to how an ordinary workman that they knew, was now back in the hometown as a Rabbi with His circle of disciples and whose fame was spreading far and wide. A unique passage where Jesus is addressed as the Son of Mary.

Being addressed as 'Son of Mary' could simply mean that the villagers had chiefly known St. Mary and her Son with Joseph being dead long ago.  However, in the eastern communities, the most acceptable way to address a person would be through this father irrespective of when the father died. That He was addressed as 'Son of Mary' might have been with an intent of slur- of being born to a betrothed mother. The small town would have had the murmurs doing the rounds on the special birth of Christ. This was also the sword, a daily sword, as St. Simeon predicted, will pierce the soul of the Blessed Virgin (St. Luke 2:35).

Indeed motherhood is a phase, especially the postpartum period, where the soul is pierced brutally by the changes, words, actions, silence and inaction of those around the mother and the child. Adam named his wife Eve because she was the mother of all living (Genesis 3:20). How funny is that from puberty till menopause, a girl/woman is considered ‘impure’ on certain days of the month. This very ‘impurity’ is the basis of the proliferation of the human race. The very phase of ‘impurity’ assures her of biological motherhood.

Beneath the calm exterior of a new mother lies a tsunami of changes that has happened within her. Certain hormones go from highest to lowest and vice versa following childbirth which affects all aspects of a woman's life – physical, emotional, psychological. Add to this the barrage of comments from our ‘helpful’ community ranging from the delivery method to the infants’ physical stats to the feeding techniques is a leading reason for deterioration of the mother’s mental health. In commemorating this feast of St. Mary, the Church teaches us to honor, glorify, help, and shower love on a new mother.

A paraphrased and translated sermon of Fr. Bobby Jose Kattikadu concerning the Theotokos is as follows: Our mothers can only beget us. We need the prayers of our holy Mother to help us transform into Christ-like figures. That is why He entrusted the Theotokos to St. John the Apostle and as an exemplar for the entire humanity, ‘from that hour that disciple took her to his own home’ (St. John 19:27). The impact of the Theotokos on the life of St. John the beloved apostle can be sensed immediately. During the Last Supper the disciples argue who is the greatest (St Luke 22:24). On the day of resurrection when Mary Magdalene informed St. Peter of the empty tomb, he and the other disciple (St. John) went together. “So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there.” (St. John 20:3-6).

Despite reaching the tomb first, St John displays humility as he waits for the more senior disciple to come and look at the tomb. Just a few days ago, St John the apostle argued on who should be the greatest and, in the present, he waited for the other willingly taking the second spot. It is indeed the influence of the one whose “let it be” response ushered in the story of salvation of all.

May the following excerpts be our meditation this day: “When we turn to the Mother of God in prayer, we should realise more often than we do that any prayer we offer to the Mother of God means this: ‘Mother, I have killed thy Son. If you forgive me, I can be forgiven. If you withhold forgiveness nothing can save me from damnation.’ And it is amazing that the Mother of God, in all which is revealed in the Gospel, has made us understand, and made us bold to come to her with this very prayer, because there is nothing else we can say. To us she is the Mother of God. She is the one who brought God Himself into our earthly situation. In that sense we insist on this term ‘Mother of God’. Through her God became Man. He was born into the human situation through her. And she is not to us simply an instrument of the Incarnation. She is the one whose personal surrender to God, her love of God, her readiness to be whatever God wills, her humility is such that God could be born of her. There is, in one of our great saints and theologians of the 14th century, a passage on the Mother of God in which he says The Incarnation would have been as impossible without the “Here am I, the handmaid of God” of the Virgin, just as it would have been impossible without the will of the Father.’” (Metropolitan Anthony Bloom, Beginning to Pray)

In Christ,

Rincy

 

 

 

Rachel weeping.

St. Matthew the Evangelist quotes Jeremiah the prophet while detailing the massacre of holy Infants by King Herod. "Thus says the Lord: “A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation and bitter weeping,

Rachel weeping for her children,

Refusing to be comforted for her children,

Because they are no more.”"(St. Matthew 2:18 and Jeremiah 31:15; NKJV). In the book of Genesis, we read about Rachel dying after she had given birth to Benjamin, and Jacob burying her on the way to Bethlehem:

"And when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel labored in childbirth, and she had hard labor. Now it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said to her, “Do not fear; you will have this son also.” And so it was, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-Oni; but his father called him Benjamin. Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem)." (Genesis 35:16-19; NKJV).

The matriarch was buried on a wayside towards Bethlehem, and the prophet Jeremiah prophesied about Rachel crying for the Israelites, as a beloved mother would cry for her children when they would be driven from their homes and forced into exile in Babylon. A lovely Jewish tradition states that when Joseph was sold by his brothers and taken by his captors to Egypt, they happened to pass by Rachel's tomb where Joseph cried bitterly. It is then he heard his mother's comforting voice assuring him that the Lord will be with him all through.

Hundreds of years after Rachel completed her earthly course, prophet Jeremiah talked of her weeping for Israelites and St. Matthew talks of the matriarch's sorrow as she witnesses the great lamentation of the Hebrew women whose little children were slaughtered by the tyrant.

Herein the Holy Scripture attest to the awareness of our departed ones regarding us. The departed patriarchs and matriarchs, holy fathers and mothers are interceding for us. Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ said: "For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him.” (St. Luke 20:38; NKJV).

In the words of prophet Jeremiah, the Lord comforts (the departed) Rachel upon hearing her cries for the Israelites:

"Thus says the Lord:

“Refrain your voice from weeping,

And your eyes from tears;

For your work shall be rewarded, says the Lord,

And they shall come back from the land of the enemy.

There is hope in your future, says the Lord,

That your children shall come back to their own border." (Jeremiah 31:16-17; NKJV).

May the prayers and intercession of the holy mother Rachel be a source of comfort and refuge to all especially for the children whose mothers have departed from earthly life, women facing complicated pregnancies and those who suffered miscarriages, and for those couples having difficulty in conceiving.

In Christ,

Rincy

Who trespassed my garden?

 Reflection on the feast commemorating the slaughter of the infants by King Herod (December 27).

"The slayers of Bethlehem mowed down the tender flowers that among them — should perish the tender seedling, wherein was hidden the Bread of life….The murderers went into a paradise, full of tender fruits:— they shook off the flowers from the bough, blossoms and buds they destroyed — unblemished oblations he offered, the persecutor unwittingly.— To him woe, but to them blessing! Bethlehem was first to give, virgin fruits to the Holy One."-St Ephraim the Syrian (Hymns on the Nativity, NPNF Vol. 13)

Flavius Josephus recounts the end days of the Herod (in Book XVII-Antiquities of the Jews) as being agonizing beyond measure. Herod’s colon gave excruciating pain, his intestines were laden with ulcers and he had an awful appetite. Some kind of secretion was noted in his feet and belly. His private parts became rotten and produced worms. His breath produced great stench and he had difficulty in breathing while sitting upright. He had also convulsions in all parts of his body: which increased his strength to an insufferable degree. The fortune tellers shared that God inflicted this punishment on the king on account of his great impiety.

While listing down the misdeeds of Herod, Josephus does not mention about massacre of the holy infants in Bethlehem that happened under the king’s directive. It may be perhaps that the incident occurred in a tiny rural area and did not get the importance of a headline news in the Roman empire. Eusebius, in Church History-Book I, mentions that the pitiable situation of Herod immediately came to pass after he ordered the killing of infants in his bid to kill the Infant Christ.

Indeed, the cries of the little children and their mothers rattled the heavens (and does so even today).

The technological era offers a plethora of opportunities to overstep the marital boundaries and the definition of what constitutes infidelity is ever expanding. A huge majority of people live this dual life. One personality is the public image- the family-oriented avatar and the other personality lies in a secret dark world- the tech avatar for their extramarital fun. This is the reality of our society that is not talked about often.

In all this mess, a child is the oft forgotten entity. Unlike what people assume, children are acutely aware when an intruder trespasses their garden of familial ties. Despite the conscience warning against the forbidden bonds, if one continues the illicit path, it implies their acceptance to hurt these innocent ones. Herod is not merely a monstrous historical personality. Herod is a reality- each one of those is a herod who knowingly hurts an innocent soul.

Our Lord warns-“Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.” (St Matthew 18:10)

The guardian angels of these little children are their ever-present intercessors before the Father.

If you are the ‘other woman/man’, you clearly don’t want a child to rattle the heavens against you. Can you withstand the dreadful encounter of the child’s guardian angel demanding an answer- “why did you trespass the child’s garden”?  If not, then repent.

If you have been the unfaithful spouse/parent, can you withstand the dreadful encounter of your child’s guardian angel demanding an answer- “who allowed the trespasser in this garden”? If not, then repent.

May the prayers and intercessions of the holy innocents give a childlike innocence and simplicity to the blemished souls.

In Christ,

Rincy

Hope for the world and us- Reflection on the feast of the Nativity of our Lord.

 Christ is born! Glorify Him!

“It was the first time that I went to a parish under the diocese of Kottayam to celebrate the Yeldo liturgy. I reached there by 2 AM. The altar assistant was very busy and said that we would start the liturgy by 3 AM. At 3 AM, the altar assistant said that we should wait a little longer since nobody had arrived. I told him, “you stay here. I am going to start the prayers.” The prayers started but still no one came.

Then, a lizard appeared and so did a cockroach. I was grieved on seeing this situation.

The Lord said: “Don’t be sad about it. When I was born, I opened My eyes to see cattle and sheep around Me”. On understanding this, my sadness withered away.”- His Grace Geevarghese Mar Ivanios Metropolitan of blessed memory.

The scene of the nativity of Christ, amidst the animals and the shepherds who tend the sheep, reminds of our primal connection with nature. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (St. John 3:16,17 NKJV). Our restricted view considers Incarnation of our Lord for the cause of humans alone, however the Gospel underlines that God loved the world. Henri Nouwen writes in Bread for the Journey:

“When we think of oceans and mountains, forests and deserts, trees, plants and animals, the sun, the moon, the stars, and all the galaxies as God’s creation, waiting eagerly to be 'brought into the same glorious freedom as the children of God' (Romans 8:21), we can only stand in awe of God’s majesty and God’s all-embracing plan of salvation. It is not just we, human beings, who wait for salvation in the midst of our suffering; all of creation groans and moans with us, longing to reach its full freedom... Yes, we have to love the fields full of wheat, the snowcapped mountains, the roaring seas, the wild and tame animals, the huge redwoods, and the little daisies. Everything in creation belongs, with us, to the large family of God.”

St Isaac of Syria taught that in the presence of a humble person the ferocity of the wild beasts is tamed. It is so because the scent from the humble person is the same as which came from Adam before the Fall (the scent of humility); wherein Adam had affectionate relations with all the beasts, and he gave the names to them in Paradise. This scent was taken away from humanity and given back anew by Christ through His advent.

A story from the tradition of desert fathers and mothers goes like this- one day while abba Macarius was praying in his cave in the desert, a hyena suddenly appeared and began to lick his feet and taking him gently by the hem of his tunic, she drew him towards her own cave.  He followed her, saying, "I wonder what this animal wants me to do?" When she had led him to her cave, she went in and brought her cubs which had been born blind.

He prayed over them and returned them to the hyena with their sight healed. She in turn, by way of thanks-offering, brought a huge skin of a ram and laid it at Abba Macarius’s feet. He smiled at her kindly, took the skin and spread it under his feet.

If we slow down enough to notice the expression on the face of infants, we will see that they look at their surroundings with a sense of amazement. As we grew, we ignored the sense of sacredness and awe in comprehending the world around us that quietly and continually preached the glory of God.

The Nativity of our Lord coming at the end of the yearly journey is a milestone to renew hope for the onward voyage. The commercial dynamics teach us the more we spend, the better we have celebrated Christmas. Our Christmases have become merrier in a worldly sense, but we have forgotten to share the flame of hope that the birth of our Lord proclaims. Five years back, enroute on our visit to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem we were given a general advice that those with infants/toddlers need not stand in the long queue to the Altar of Nativity (an underground space which marks the spot where Jesus was born) and could directly go to this Altar by means of another route. As we reached the church there were a multitude of pilgrims and we somehow couldn’t get in touch with the tour personnel to get information on this alternative route. With a year-old baby in arms, who would get cranky easily in a crowd, I had almost made up my mind that the baby and I would miss the Nativity Altar. Suddenly, a tour guide from another group- a considerate cheerful old man with a black and white keffiyeh around his neck asked if we were Orthodox (and he was too). He said that we need not wait in the queue and gave us clear instructions on how to proceed to the Altar of Nativity. We went to the holy place with hearts full of gratitude and the baby kissed the place where our Lord was born. A silent miracle witnessed.

In the elderly man, we saw the shepherds ‘who made widely known the things concerning Baby Jesus (St. Luke 2:17). In the midst of tiredness and dejection, as we heard this elderly man’s guidance, we felt how Jesus Christ wants the little children to come to Him (St. Luke 18) even to the cave where He was born.  

The shepherds- common everyday folks- shared the Gospel with others serving as a model for us to be the quotidian harbingers of hope to others once the celebrations and noise are over. A translated excerpt from  Kaikkudnna (by ‘Saker’- His Grace Zechariah Mar Severios Metropolitan, Baselian Books) is as follows:

“It is saddening to see that our dealings and interactions with others hardly fail to generate a sense of optimism and faith in others. It is frightening to think about how many days in our lifetime have passed, without us, having presented hope and courage to those whom we met. When will the time come, when our visitation to our neighbour’s home offers him comfort? How much more time is needed for our words to become a source of hope and relief to our colleague? We need to think if we are indeed becoming blessings for our homes.

In a poem, a tree asks a man: “For so many years, you all have cut my branches to make ‘crosses’. But why don’t we see a Christ amongst you?””

In Christ,

Rincy

 

Our oblivion of the sacred silence.

Reflection on the holy Gospel reading (St. Matthew 1:18-25)- Revelation to St. Joseph the just.

The crux of Christmas and thereby the story of salvation of mankind can be summed up as the humility and love of God for man that made Him willingly endure Cross and trample death. In communities with a deep foundation of patriarchal values, machismo is the norm while the godly virtues of humility and silence is considered highly incongruous for the man of the house. In this backdrop we remember the angelic command to an ordinary carpenter-St. Joseph the just, an epitome of silence of humility who faithfully and silently ministered his betrothed Blessed Virgin and her Child.

In my limited knowledge, only two parishes in India under the Malankara Orthodox Church are named after St. Joseph the just (one in Tughlakabad, New Delhi and the other in Bangalore).

Why is our tradition strangely silent in commemorating the feast of the foster father of our Lord? Why have we allowed his memory to fade? 

 - Is it because St. Joseph’s mission of servant leadership in domestic life upends the societal privileges of men in a family set-up? The renowned poet from Kerala, K Satchidanandan writes- “To love a woman is to exchange the harshness of your muscles for the tenderness of a flower.” (While I Write; Harper Collins). To follow St Joseph’s mission in family life is to execute the great burden that society has traditionally thrust upon women- to silently continue work amidst sufferings and to be content with a second place in home and life.  

 - Is it because the role of St. Joseph as the helper (of the Blessed Virgin and her Child) will trigger the combustible egos of the patriarchal society that fosters a skewed concept of family dynamics wherein the commitment to marital duties falls chiefly on the woman?

 - Is it because on such feast day(s) the sermons on St. Joseph’s silent relentless service to his betrothed Blessed Virgin and her Child will prick the societal conscience as it will serve as an yearly reminder to the menfolk of their duty to selflessly serve their home/community? 

 “Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.” (St. Matthew 1:19-20; NKJV).

Seen from the conventional lens of the society this verse is understood to praise St. Joseph’s magnanimity in not divorcing the holy Theotokos for her alleged unchastity. However, seen from the spiritual lens of St. Joseph, it is an act stemming from his humility. How is St. Joseph’s intent to separate from St. Mary considered just and an act of humility?

In the Old Testament narrative regarding the birth of Samson we note that Manoah doubted his wife's story about an angelic visit promising them parenthood. The Angel of the Lord gives a patient hearing when Manoah probes further (ref: Judges 13, NKJV).

The betrothed Virgin tells Angel Gabriel during the annunciation - “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” This very statement of St. Mary shows her resolve to lead a celibate life. It is improbable that St. Joseph would be unaware of the Blessed Virgin’s determination and her spiritual depth. If St. Joseph doubted the Virgin’s chastity, he too could have asked for proof like Manoah did - praying for a second angelic visitation in his presence. If God was so patient with Manoah's questions, surely He would have heeded to the righteous man’s request to alleviate doubts on the Virgin Birth.

On a closer scrutiny of the verses, we note that unlike the various angelic visitations in the New Testaments, wherein the angels reassure the listeners to not be afraid of their presence, St. Joseph is instead asked not to fear in taking St. Mary as his wife.

"When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” (St. Luke 5:8; NKJV). This passage tells the incident about Jesus calling the four fishermen as disciples and the miracle of catching a multitude of fishes. After the miraculous catch of the fish, Simon Peter becomes aware that he has encountered holy, and he asks Jesus to go away because he sees himself as unworthy to stand close to Him.

As a devout Jew, St. Joseph would be aware of the prophecies of Isaiah regarding the Virgin birth of the Lord. Those great frightening events prophesied ages ago were now unfolding right before his eyes. Like Simon Peter requesting the Lord to depart from Him being aware of his own unworthiness, the righteous St. Joseph considers himself extremely unworthy for the great calling. He is overwhelmed with the great fear of the holy- the great fear of being in the same dwelling as the Lord and His mother and it is this holy fear of his that the angel comforts. 

Origen says: "But if he had no suspicion of her, how could he be a just man, and yet seek to put her away, being immaculate? He sought to put her away, because he saw in her a great sacrament, to approach which he thought himself unworthy." (Catena; Thomas Aquinas)

St. Joseph’s dilemma with a pregnant Virgin can be contemplated in the first four beatitudes [St. Matthew 5:3-10] - a broken (poor in spirit-v.3) and grieving (mourn-v.4) man who mourns in silence (meek-v.5) longing to do what is right (hunger and thirst for righteousness- v.6]. Jesus calls such a man blessed.

In the next four beatitudes the virtues of St. Joseph can be contemplated upon. While going through upheavals for sake of our Lord (mockery for being with a young pregnant Virgin, displacement, massacre, exile etc.), in little what the Scripture says about him, we can sense that St. Joseph is merciful (v.7) towards the needs of his family, his conduct is pure (v.8), and he tries his best to give a life of peace to the Theotokos and her Child (v.9). The beatitudes end with a promise of the kingdom of heaven to those who are persecuted for righteousness’s sake (v.10). St. Joseph led a life of great struggle in silence and indeed, he was blessed to receive the taste of heaven- to depart the earthly life in the arms of his Lord and His mother.

How many men engrossed in the travails and temptations of the world can afford to look at their family mercifully, lead a life of purity for their children to emulate and ensure peace in their home? If ever a day is set apart commemorating his feast of St. Joseph the just, then such day should be dedicated as the Father's Day of the church. Such a day ought to serve as a great reminder for the fathers (whether spiritual or biological) to follow St. Joseph's footsteps, and to seek his intercessions so that they faithfully and selflessly conduct their stewardship duties towards home and the church. 

By the prayers and intercessions of St. Joseph the Just, may the Lord strengthen us to follow our calling faithfully and may He be pleased to dwell in our unworthy hearts and homes.

In Christ,

Rincy