Call to be Healers

Gen: 44: 18-21, 23b-29,45:1-5                                                                                  Mt 10: 7-15

The dream of the greatest man of our generation was to wipe every tear from every eye. That may be beyond us. But as long as there are tears, our work will not be over.

Jawaharlal Nehru.

Dear Fathers and Brothers the liturgy of the day invites us to understand the purpose for which you and I are created.

                  

 The first reading of the day reminds us of the tragic story of Joseph, that turns out to be a blessing to the nations. Making meaning out of his present, Joseph believes that all that happened was part of the plan of God, to use him as an instrument to preserve life. God made use of the breakdown Joseph had for the good of the people.

                   Those were the days of my novitiate. I was placed in one of the backward villages of North Karnataka. As part of my daily routine I used to take classes for the children in the village. As days passed by, I did notice a small boy coming and staring at me every day, from a distance. After a couple of weeks, the boy gathered courage to come and sit with me. For my dismay I did notice the palms and the feet of the boy were torn apart. Later I learnt that this boy was under bonded labour. His parents had sold him for Rs 1500/- for 10 years. Basava, aged 8 used to work from morning 5 till night 10 in the cowshed of the landlord.

             Troubled yet determined with revolutionary ideas, to liberate this small boy, arrangements for the money were made, with the help of our center. But one of the biggest disappointments of my life then came, when all our efforts were opposed by the parents themselves.

            Lost and dejected and not able to make sense out of the reality, I was walking back to the centre. Far from my sight, came a voice calling. The little boy Basava standing before me with a fading smile asked me, ‘ Sir I too want to study, I too want to be like others. Can you help me…? Broken, shattered and helpless, I was, standing at the crossroads. This changed my approach to life drastically.

               Dear friends are there moments in your lives when you feel lonely, dejected, way ward or lost in a house like this?  Do you remember a moment when you felt that hardly anyone really understands you...? Aren’t there moments when you walk quietly and locked yourself behind the closed doors failing to face the reality of life…? Should the pain, struggles, our search for meaning or other major setbacks in our lives be seen only as a calamity?

             The liturgy of the day assures us that God never wastes a breakdown. For our God is a God, who has plans for our welfare and not for our harm.

           

 If we recall the vocation story of Moses, we understand that God called Moses because God heard the cries of the poor and the lowly. There are millions of people around the globe, like the little boy, asking for our help and seeking liberation. Thus I believe if you and I are religious today it’s because God has heard the cries of the poor and the lowly somewhere at some corner of the world(as in the case of Joseph and Moses). The dark moments of our lives, as in the case of Joseph, need to be understood as part of God’s plan in preparing us as instruments of preserving humanity.

             The Gospel of the day continues the message of the first reading and invites us to be healers in a wounded world and to be life givers.

             I would like to conclude this reflection with a short story. There lived a small bird in a forest. One night there was fire in the forest. Every one ran for life but the little bird was carrying drops of water in its little beak and was trying to quench the fire. Surprised by the act of the bird, someone intervened and asked, ‘What a foolish thing are you doing? Do you think you can quench this fire with your little beak?

           The bird replied, ‘There are three categories of people. People of first category – set the fire, the second – stand and watch and I belong to the third category, who are called to quench the fire.’

          Dear friends, during this Eucharist let us ask for the grace to be able to make meaning out of our present. Let us earnestly pray for the grace to be healers and to be persons who quench the fire and preserve life.