As I am at the threshold of receiving the gift of
priesthood, it sets me thinking about the motto I have chosen to live the whole
of my priestly life. The very first
thing I want to emphasize by choosing this motto is the fact of being led by
Christ. In the world I live and work, I see a dominant pattern of leading
oneself. Against a philosophy of semi-pelagianism which proclaims
‘you are your own master,’ I want to bear witness to the truth ‘I am because He
is.’ Leading oneself will lead you nowhere. It will only cause you to stumble
and fall. That is the reason why St. Peter tells us that there is no stumbling
in a life that is perseveringly fixed on Christ and so he exhorts – “be all the
more eager to make your call and election firm, for, in doing so, you will
never stumble” (2 Pet 1:11). St. Peter is speaking from experience because
steeped in his own directions he fell from grace but one look from the Lord was
sufficient for him. He wept bitterly. He came back to the Lord very strongly
and lived his call of being the Rock only when he allowed himself to be led by
the Lord. Jesus clearly told him, being led is sharing in his suffering, “when
you were young, you fastened your own belt and walked where you would; but when
you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will fasten your belt
for you and carry you where you do not wish to go” (Jn 21: 18).St. Peter
understood this when he said, “for it is better to suffer for doing good, if
that be the will of God, than for doing evil” (1 Pet 3:17). It is a reminder
for me. When I left home for joining the seminary, my elder sister understood
when she quoted from the book of Sirach, “My child, when you come to serve the
Lord, prepare yourself for trials” (Sir 2:1). It is very easy to follow one’s
own inclinations and lead a life while seeking ease and comfort. But it is not
that easy when you have to constantly remind yourself – “hey Aneesh, you are
not your own, you belong to Christ.” The human heart is always a battlefield
between love and lust.” When you belong to the Lord, you cannot claim that you
belong to the world too. The line of a poet comes to my mind – “the world is
not my home, I am just a passing through.” St. John reminds me, “For all that is in the
world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is
not of the Father but is of the world” (1 Jn 2:16). So Aneesh, move from being
a ‘man of concupiscence’ to a ‘redeemed man of love.’
St. Paul teaches me to be fully saturated with
Christ and so he proclaims, “If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we
die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s” (Rom 14:8). There is no other joy except in
belonging to the Lord, “Christ Jesus has made
me his own” (Phil 3:12).And so in
this journey of being led, I am not alone I am “surrounded by so great a cloud
of witnesses” (Heb 12:1). I believe in the communion of saints. So I have the
saintly companionship of Sts. Peter and Paul and my cherished saints – Blessed
Virgin Mary (I have a special devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Undoer
of knots) and St. Joseph, Sts. John Bosco, Dominic Savio, John Paul II, John
XXIII, Kuriakose Elias Chavara (my patron saint, since my Baptismal name is
Kuriakose), Augustine, Aquinas, Monica, Alphonsa, Jose Maria Escriva, Edith
Stein and Bl. Mother Theresa of Kolkata. This may be the reason why a priest
friend of mine wrote to me, “your experience is not altogether new. The path of
experience that you are walking has already been walked by many a great men and
women. You are not alone in this journey. And so have the courage to walk.”
The incarnation of Christ constantly reminds me that
I am an embodied human being. I have a body with which I am identified as an
entity, a person, able to influence another body. This theology of the body has
its own language. If the language of Judaism is Hebrew, the language of Islam
is Arabic and my mother tongue is Malayalam, the language of Christianity is
the ‘body.’ Christ spoke to us with his body at the incarnation (Heb 1:1). The
fallen nature of humanity is restored by Christ and now we are no more fallen
but redeemed. And while I offer the Eucharist daily, I celebrate the redemption
brought about by Christ. “This is my body, given up for you.” Yes given up for me. There is objective
redemption. May God help me appropriate that redemption subjectively moment by
moment!
Ask constantly to yourself: If
you are not your own, if you are not your own making whose work are you? And
tell yourself, “You are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:10).
When we try to write the script of our life story, Jesus will gently remind
you, “You are a personal letter written by the Spirit of God (2 Cor 3:3). Be
aware that “Your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Col 3:3).
“You belong to Christ” (1 Cor 3:23).Belonging to Christ
means listening his voice: “everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my
voice” (Jn 18: 37).
“So,
as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in him, rooted in him and
built upon him and established in the faith as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving”
(Col 2:6,7). The conviction of being rooted and built upon him necessitates a
belief that “You are God’s field, God’s building” (1 Cor 3:9). “The spirit of
God dwells in you” (Rom 8:9) and so “Live your life for God” (Rom 6:10).
Because it is, “In him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). Then
we can say with St. Paul, “It’s no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me”
(Gal 2:20).
Fulton
sheen in his book, “Priest is not his own” brings about two dimensions of being
a priest – the fact of being a victim (offered) and a priest (offerer). Christ,
the High priest was at the same time the offerer and the offered at the
sacrifice on Calvary. Every Eucharistic celebration calls you and me to live in
these two dimensions, taking upon the whole of humanity and offer it to God the
Father. Then He will be pleased with your offering. Who shall climb the
mountain of the Lord? The one with clean hands and pure heart!
Let
my prayer be –
God
my Father, you created everyone to visibly image the hidden depths of your
being
Help
me to be a sign of your glory and presence,
To
bear witness to the truth that YOU alone are real.
May
my heart not rest till I rest in you!
Jesus
my brother, you came in a body
To
redeem our fallen bodies,
Help
me to appropriate the redemption that you brought about,
May
you make of me a healing presence broken and shared at every Eucharist!
Breathe
in me oh Holy Spirit your holy anointing,
May
my unheard groans of adoption cry out “abba father”
Remind
me each day of your abiding presence
To
live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life!
Pray
for me oh Holy Mother of God that I may be made worthy of the promises of
Christ!
