Homily 24.02.2015
Readings
: Is 55, 10-11
Mt
6, 7-15
Human
life is often termed as a journey towards meaning or to the divine. Human
restless hearts long to rest in the one in whom they are totally at home. I
believe that we are on a journey to the Promised One with a promise in our
hearts. This journey marked by a gradual movement from an impersonal to a
personal and an intimate relationship with the promised one. The promise in our hearts helps us to look at
the stars even amidst the despairs of life.
The first reading of the day from Deutero
Isaiah, written towards the end of the Babylonian exile, speaks of the power
and the purpose of God’s word.
There
is an undertone of a strong and a loving covenantal relation between YHWH and
his people. We are presented with the image of a God who is faithful and caring
even when the people have broken that trust.
It may be apt at this point to
remember the New covenant mentioned in the book of Jeremiah, where the Lord
says, “ the days are coming when I will make a new covenant with the people of
Israel…. I will write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they shall be
my people”
There
is a close relation between the first reading and the gospel of the day as it presents
us with a gradual movement in the understanding of a faithful-a personal God
YHWH to a loving and a personal God, whom we are taught to call – “Our Father”.
The
prayer “Our father” gives uespecially the first part of it presents us the
picture of a sincere personal communion between God and his people, where . As
we are aware, the first part of the prayer hints at the deep and personal
relation between God and his people and where one feels at home with. The
second part of the prayer flows.. Having felt at home with God, one asks him of
one’s deeper needs like a child to his father. Forgiveness and seeking for
protection or security are the two major themes that emerge here.
You and I have learnt several
methods of prayer over the years. Whave learnt to articulate the deeper nuances
of prayer.
But
one thing that has often haunted me is that- what really prayer is? What does
it do to me or what is it supposed to do to me?
Those were the first days of my RTC
Life. I was in a village named Gowrenahalli, visiting people for my academic
requirements. I was moving from house to house, listening to the stories of
people, of their pains and struggles, their unfulfilled dreams and aspirations.
One thing that I kept repeating, whenever I met someone who wpeople in struggling,
‘these
things will pass away; your situation would change…’
One
Tuesday afternoon, as I was walking in the hot sun, I came across a small hut,
where an aged lady and her daughter live. Gowramma, 67 year old lady, welcomed
me to her small hut, where there was hardly anything to sit on. As we began our
conversation, Gowramma opened the pages of her life. She had lost her husband
years ago. Despite the dire poverty she was in, somehow she had managed to get
2 of the three, of her daughters married.
As
Gowramma was quite weak and not able to work; her last daughter, was the sole
bread winner of the family. I did feel the pinch of poverty when Gowramma offered
me a glass of water saying, “We do not
take coffee, tea etc. We are poor. We don’t have money for all this.” Later
I learnt that they were living on eating 2 times Raagi balls and water.
Talking to Gowramma, I learnt that
she had absolutely no one to support and help her except her last daughter. But
she too was to marry and go away soon. Listening to her, I was sure that none
of the three daughters was in a state to take care of her. I was haunted with
the question of Gowramma’s future..
Trying to sympathize, I thought of
repeating the same slogan, which I used to do in other houses. But…
Moments
later, gathering herself, Gowramma said, “The God who gave me this life, will never
let me down.” Her voice was shivering; tears were still flowing in her
eyes, but no doubt, her words were filled with the deep conviction that the God
she believed in cared for her like a Father and will never let her down.
God
alone was her security. She believed that God will provide her the daily bread
when there is no one to…..She trusted that God like a father will protect her
from evil for she knew of the deep relationship that she had with God.
She may not know what a covenantal relationship
was but she was aware of a God who made that covenant with his people,
including her.
I understand that her deep conviction is but a
mirror of her faith emerging from the prayer- which is nothing but her simple
and genuine way of living.
Yes
Gowramma knew the one who keeps his promises; the one who is ever faithful.
Today
all her daughters are married today and gone away. But Gowramma is not let
down. The village takes care of her.
Do
you and I firmly believe that the God who loved his people- whom we are taught
to call our Father, will not let us down – even when we are lonely- defeated-
branded or rejected?
During this Eucharist, let us
earnestly plead for the grace of to – believe and experience and genuinely call
God as “ Our Father”
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