Speaking Our Minds...

4th Sunday Ord. Time - Year B.

Speaking Our Minds...

Most people do not hesitate to speak their minds when the occasion calls for it. Parents, for instance unhesitatingly correct their children. Husbands and wives peak out whenever the welfare of the other is concerned. Friends do the same. Of course it is easy, and still, much good can come from doing so, to speak our minds. We take such daily "speaking out" in stride.  However, this is not the case when it comes to speaking out in God's name; we almost forget our prophetic calling which we received during baptism. This Sunday's readings remind us of this solemn heritage. How do you feel about "speaking your mind"? As a prophet, what makes you exercise your heritage?

Thought of the Day...

“There are five balls we juggle in life: family, friends, health, work and spiritual life. Remember, of these five, only work is made of rubber. The rest are made of glass. Don’t drop any of them. They are fragile. Handle with care.”

CHRISTIAN MORALITY AND CONSCIENCE.

Introduction.

Gal. 3, 10-11: For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.”

1. Who are we?

2. Who is a Christian?

3. What is moral and morality?

4. What is conscience?

5. What is the foundation of morality and conscience? etc...

To talk of Christian morality and conscience should be clear from the beginning that we are investigating or talking of a theme in Christian perspective. We take for granted a world where someone other than ourselves knows the final word, who in revealing his own intimate secrets makes us known to ourselves. This Divine revelation by no means dispenses us from personal reflection and quest. However we would not assume the terms involved. Definition of them helps us to understand better the matter: Christian, morality, and conscience:

LOVE: ISN'T BLIND, NO FEAR AND NOT POSSESSIVE...!

LOVE: ISN'T BLIND, NO FEAR AND NOT POSSESSIVE...!

1 John 4, 16-18: God is love.

Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.

This is how love is made complete among us so

that we will have confidence on the Day of Judgment:

In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love.

But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.

The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

 

        

 

Mostly people confuse love with possession. It's easy to see why; it's built into the fundamental assumptions of our culture. "You're mine," says the popular song, "and we belong together." Hardly anyone stops to question the sentiment.  As soon as we feel love, we immediately attempt to possess. We speak confidently of my boyfriend, my wife, my child, my parent. We feel justified in holding expectations about those people. We consider that perfectly reasonable. Why? Because all our concepts of love ultimately derive from romantic love and romantic love is furiously, frantically possessive. We want to be with our lover, to have them to ourselves, to feel their eyes on us, to consume their minds and bodies...to possess them.

            So strongly do we equate love with possession that we may even feel if someone doesn't want to possess us, they don't really love us. Yet I would argue that what we call romantic love is not love at all. It's a kind of emotional storm, an overpowering, thrilling attraction - but it isn't love.  Because real love isn't possessive. It can't be. We'd all agree that love involves giving, not taking. Yet the desire to possess actually springs from the lover's own need — the need for approval from the beloved, for support from a parent, for straight A's from a child, for status, for financial security - for something.

            A possessive lover is overly focused on what he's getting, not what he's giving. The lover may dignify his dependency with the name love, but it's a lie. How can you really love somebody when you're dependent on them for things you need? That isn't love, that's just manipulation to keep the needed stuff coming your way. Robert Palmer sings about being "addicted to love," but nobody really is. People are addicted to their needs. And love isn't the same as need. It just isn't.  

            Of course, a loving relationship will produce interdependencies. But all too often, the pleasure of freely giving changes to a fear of possibly not getting. It's just that this person - your husband, your girlfriend, and your child is suddenly so important to you. You worry about what's going to happen. What they're going to do. And at that moment, love stops. People sometimes wonder if they're feeling real love. These same people never wonder if they're sexually aroused, or sad. Then what's the problem about recognizing love? Most often, because they're sensing a conflict: they're feeling the depth of their need, not the heights of their love.  

            There are ways to know real love. It feels calm. It's steady, and it can easily last a lifetime. It's nourishing people grow under its influence. They become who they really are, and now what someone expects them to be. Real love isn't blind; on the contrary, people feel understood, accepted for who they really are. It's healing. People recover. So whenever you hear that love is blind, or love can't last, or love is destructive, you can be sure that you're hearing a description of lust, or desire, or need. And it's an accurate description, because needs really are transient and destructive.

            But love is something else entirely. An emotion of deep caring that asks nothing in return, an emotion that is fulfilling without any expectation at all, is so rare that most people in our society can't imagine it. They can't imagine feeling it, or receiving it. They may even come to believe it doesn't exist. But it does.  And it's the best thing there is. And as Paul puts it in 1st Corinthians 13:4-8 - Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres.

ALLAMANO - A FATHER IN THE FAITH OF INNUMERABLE CHRISTIANS

BLESSED JOSEPH ALLAMANO FOUNDER OF THE CONSOLATA FATHERS, BROTHERS AND SISTERS.     A short biography and some aspects of the spiritual doctrine of Blessed Joseph Allamano     PRESENTATION I am happy to have a chance to present this small book on the life and spirituality of Bd. Joseph Allamano, whom many of us Kenya Christians rightly consider as our Father in the Faith. When Bd. Joseph Allamano founded the Consolata Missionaries, he wanted them to continue the missionary activity of Card. Massaia (a Capuchin, born in the same area as Bd. J. Allamano) in Ethiopia. However, for various reasons (political, etc.), his desire could not be fulfilled. As a consequence, we, people of Kenya, especially those living in the Central part of our Country, benefited. His missionaries came to Murang'a, Nyeri, and later went also to Meru, Embu, and Marsabit. They were the first to preach our Faith in these areas, so that their Founder and Father can rightly be considered as the Father in the Faith of the people living there.

Feast of Blessed Joseph Allamano 2014 - CANADA

On Monday February 17, 2014 a Family day was observed in the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan. On the same day the Consolata Missionaries in Toronto gathered to celebrate the feast of blessed Joseph Allamano.

All the Consolata Missionaries, staff, benefactors and friends came together to celebrate the Founder’s passing to the glory of God.

Mass was celebrated at 1:00pm with full attendance at the Chapel. After Mass, the community convened in the hall for lunch.Fr. Michael Mutinda, the main celebrant, was joined by Fr. Jose Fernandes, the local Superior, Fr. Peter Turrone, Fr. Sosimi Atandi, Deacon Yair Morales, Deacon Joseph Afryie, a Permanent Deacon of the Archdiocese of Toronto. Three other priests working in the archdiocese of Toronto also joined for the celebration of mass.

In his homily Fr. Michael emphasized on the mission of blessed Joseph Allamano, an Italian Diocesan priest of Turin who founded Consolata Missionaries. His work is the work we are all called to do.

From the gospel reading, the acronym word STAND became a theme that Fr. Michael accentuated on. The word stand gives us interest to talk about: in this modern society where by it seem every thing is falling: spirituality, morality, love, economy, missions, etc. Jesus in his life used the word stand as a precedence of healing. Stand, take your mat and walk, your faith has healed you; little girl, stand etc. The Blessed Allamano shares this in deep experience. He was in deathbed when he recovered miraculously and stood up to found our congregation. Let us also stand in different ways!

S - serve with simplicity: as Consolata, we are called to serve the poor too as Jesus did (the charism) but always with simplicity. “The good must be done well without noise,” says Allamano.” Our service is not doing miracles but doing the ordinary in extraordinary way”.

T - teach by testimony. Pope Paul VI says, the modern world will listen more to witnesses than teachers and would listen to the latter if only they are former! We are all called to give testimony of holy life to all. Holiness is the first and foremost vocation and teacher to convert souls. “First saints then missionaries”, says Allamano. He adds, the aim of our congregation is to sanctify ourselves then others.

A - announce: announcing is a consequence of holiness. We don't need words to announce the glory of God, as much as we need to live it! In the book of the Prophet Isaiah 66, it is said: "they will announce my glory to the nations." This is our biblical theme as Consolata missionaries.

N - news and novelty of life: the Bospel should never leave anyone unchanged! We cannot come out the church the same as we went in if really the Gospel has impart in our lives. The poor cannot remain the same if really theY have the good news.

D - depart and deliver: Jesus proclaimed deliverance to the captives... today we need to deliver what? sin, forgiveness, unity, love, mission, vocation, and how? Now depart and deliver, our Mass is ended!More than ever, there are a lot of works to be done in the field of evangelization. There are now over one billion people who are part of the great Catholic communion to which we belong.

If we were to describe the most common color or complexion of the members of our Church it would be brown. If we were to look on a map to locate were most of the Consolata missionaries in the world lived, it would be in the regions where there is great physical or material poverty. If we were to describe the economic status of most of the world's Catholics, most of us would live in poverty.

Most of the world's baptized Catholics owe their faith to great missionaries who have left their families, friends and comfort zone, and through their vow of obedience, they follow their superior’s directions and sweep through the globe to preach the Good News about Jesus. Faith in Jesus Christ circles the globe largely as a result of the heroic efforts of missionaries to endure profound hardship to bring the good news of salvation to the world and even to die. Yet we live in a world that is very hostile toward religion of all kinds. Christianity in particular, some might argue, bears the repercussion of this discrimination and outright persecution.

The days of the martyrs are not long gone, but instead happening now more than before. Recently, two Salesians priests were murdered. Let us continue to pray for all men and women who are suffering these atrocities for exercising their fundamental human right to express and practice faith.

Blessed Joseph Allamano was such a missionary. Due to his failing health, he wasn’t able to travel out of Turin, but this did not stop or discourage him to be a missionary. His deep faith and desire to spread good news compelled him to establish missions that started to send their missionaries to Africa and eventually spread to all the continents. His work laid the groundwork for the spread of the Catholic faith in over twenty-five countries and give consolation to thousands of people in the globe.

 

Paul Mageto

 

Not only ten (10) but 613 Commandments.

The Hebrew word translated “Law” in the Old Testament is Torah. The Encyclopaedia Judaica says of this word, “Torah is derived from the root vrh which in the hifil conjugation means ‘to teach’ (cf. Lev.10:11). The meaning of the word is therefore ‘teaching,’ ‘doctrine,’ or ‘instruction’; the commonly accepted ‘law’ gives a wrong impression. The word is used in different ways but the underlying idea of ‘teaching’ is common to all” (“Torah”).

            According to an ancient tradition, the Torah existed in heaven even before the world was created. The concept of the pre-existence of the Torah is shown in the works of Philo, a Jewish philosopher in Alexandria, Egypt, who lived during the time of the apostle Peter. He wrote of the pre-eminence of the Word of God (the Logos) and identified it with the Torah.

            There are a whole lot more than only 10 Commandments found in the Old Testament, there are 613 Commandments! In studying the Torah, the Five Books of Moses, intensely, the Jewish Rabbis have found a total of 613 laws and commandments given to Israel. We read in the Talmud, the compendium of ancient Jewish religious knowledge and history: Says Rabbi Simlai: “Six hundred and thirteen commandments were transmitted to Moses on Mount Sinai. Three hundred and sixty five of them are negative commandments [prohibitions], corresponding to the number of days in the solar year. The remaining two hundred and forty eight and positive commandments [i.e.. injunctions], corresponding to the number of limbs in the human body” (Makkot 23, Judaism, Arthur Hertzberg, page 86).

            In Celebrate! The Complete Jewish Holidays Handbook, by Lesli Koppelman Ross, we read that at Mt. Sinai the Ten Commandments were followed up by 603 other laws, both ethical and ritual, that encompassed a total of 613 mitzvot and commands. The author states, “The 248 positive mitzvoth were said to correspond to what the rabbis believed were the number of bones in the body, and the 365 negative mitzvot were said to correspond to the days of the year. Together they suggest that we devote every part of our bodies, every day of our lives, to following God’s Word”.

            Therefore, there are both "positive" and "negative" mitzvot (do's and don'ts) which can be divided into 365 Negative Mitzvot (to remind us not to do bad things every day of the year) plus 248 Positive Mitzvot (the number of bones in the human body - for a total of 613. In this way, Hebrews and Jewish people are able to obey the mitzvot with their entire body. (mitzvot is plural, mitzvah is singular).

            The Law is God’s Divine Instructions in Righteousness without which man would have NO blueprint for moral, holy living. Jesus Christ attempted to abolish the rabbinical, man-made opinions and traditions that kept people in bondage. Neither He nor His apostles ever spoke against the Law nor suggested that after Jesus’ death the Torah was to become null and void. The Apostle Paul said, “Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law.” (Romans 3:31)

            Where does one find those original 613 commandments? They come straight from the Torah. You can see them sprinkled throughout the Torah in places such as Gen 26:2-5; Ex 15:25-27; Ex 16; Ex 20:6; Lev 22, 26, 27; Num 15, 36; Deut 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31. There are more, but you get the picture. Here is the whole list of them: