Keywords that one speaks and lives define the person. Bobby Jose’s father’s keyword was, saramille, pootte, meaning let it be, and it is okay. Mother Teresa had the word ‘I Thirst’ inscribed in every chapel. As we arrive at 40 years of age etc. we must also arrive at our keywords. If this has not happened spontaneously and organically, one must set one’s keywords and gradually converge into it.
What were the keywords of Jesus that would define and portray him? Being on the cross was the most intense time of his life, there from the cross he repeated or summarised his life and teachings once again in seven famous sayings of Jesus from the cross.
You are not lost; you are forgiven. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” The very gist of Jesus’ teaching is, God forgives, and you are not a lost being, you can stand again. He being on the cross was the greatest tangible sign of his forgiveness. We must have tangible signs of forgiveness. We must not limit our reconciliation to the confessional; it must have tangible signs in life. When Jesus said forgive seventy times seven, he was asking us to make ‘forgiving’ our culture. Something becomes a culture by practice; what is part of our culture goes deep into our existence. Everyone has something to be remorseful about. Help people forgive themselves and others.
The parable of a generous master forgiving ten thousand talents, and the forgiven servant fighting over petty cash (chiller) mirrors us quite well; and it must shudder us too.
You are not late. “You will be with me in paradise today”. In the sacrament of now, nobody is late. Don’t be troubled by the lost years, this is the moment of salvation.
Paradise is a Persian word. It is the only place it is used in the Bible. It means a fenced garden. The sultan would call deserving people to his paradise be with him as a mark of appreciation for them. It could be seen as ‘walking with the master amidst the woods’.
The parable of calling labourers to the vineyard exposes the economy of the Lord. Those who came first and those who came last, all receive the same denarius; nobody is late.
You are not alone. “Woman, behold your son. Son, behold your mother.” Two lonely people at the foot of the cross. Mary had no one; she had lost her husband early, and now her son. John had everybody, siblings, and parents. Here both are lonely. We never know the reason why people become lonely and empty. Even the bible begins with a lonely man in a garden that had everything.
The New Testament is a book of adoption. It begins with Joseph adopting Mary and her child. Here Mary and John adopt one another. In the New Testament relationships are not biological; we have Mary and Joseph, Mary and John, Jesus and apostles. Someone will take care of you; but we often close our doors from inside. Mary never closed her doors from within; thus the angel could come into her life, even at the moment of sorrow she left her doors open.
Fraternal life in the church starts with John taking Mary to his home. Or again, the apostles took her to their company. It is also a model of a deeper relationship between two genders. In Gandhi's experiment with celibacy he discovered; and he said, “By becoming a celibate man becomes a woman, so he will not violate anyone.”
‘The third man factor’, also known as third man syndrome, is a phenomenon where people experience the presence of an unseen being that offers comfort, guidance, or support during traumatic situations. The term comes from the T. S. Eliot poem, The Waste Land, which references "a third who walks always beside you". Some experts believe the third man factor is a coping mechanism, while others have explained it as a hallucination or divine intervention. In the book The Third Man Factor: Surviving the Impossible John Geiger chronicles the third man factor phenomenon, and includes stories from people who have experienced it, including 9/11 survivors, polar explorers, and astronauts. Many people have reported experiencing the third man factor, including: mountaineers, divers, prisoners of war, sailors, shipwreck survivors, etc.
Lord, Lord, why have you forsaken me? The Old Testament glorifies blessings of God and prosperity. Abraham was blessed with prosperity. The book of Job actually ends with the silence of Job. Another chapter is added to say that he became prosperous again.
Isaiah talks of Jesus as someone with neither beauty nor prosperity; with loud cries and weeping. Jesus proclaimed, ‘the foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.’ Because you are the Messiah you will not have a place to rest. One of the Latin American bishops used to conclude his pastoral letters saying, ‘May God deny you peace, and give you glory.’
I Thirst. This is the passionate desire for transcendence. Did Jesus have a slight feel at the back of his mind that he had lost his God somewhere? He was struggling? He wanted his God back. Apostolates can actually fill that vacuum. We are mystics. Being a mystic is to enjoy secret celebrations with the almighty. Francis spends 40 days on the mountain. Jesus spends hours together in lonely places.
The exegesis of this passage is that the Passover meal is now over. According to tradition there are four cups to be shared during the Passover meal, the last one they shared in the upper room was of thanksgiving, in which Jesus instituted the Eucharist. After sharing that cup they left for the garden of olives. He had also stated his intention of not drinking wine There Jesus prays to take that cup (cup of sacrifice) away; but he gets no response from the heavens. Thus he drinks the fourth cup on the cross; and now the Passover is finished.
Well-known Catholic theologian Dr. Scott Hahn, in his book, The Fourth Cup, explains Christ's Paschal Sacrifice on the cross as the fulfilment of the traditional fourth cup used in the celebration of the Jewish Passover meal.
Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.We hear Jesus for the first time in the New Testament in the temple, and that first sentence had reference to his father (Abba). Here we have his last words, here too we have reference to his father (Abba). The New Testament is entirely a new concept with the emergence of the Abba. For Jesus it was not a patriarchal word. It is more like a mother-like-father. The father in the prodigal son’s parable has gestures of a mother: hugging, bathing, clothing, feeding, etc. Abba is the master key/keyword.
Dr. Ajayan was in charge of the terminally ill medical ward. Once a father (Ramankutty) comes with his terminally ill son (Ranjith) to be admitted in the ward. The doctor and others tried in vain to reduce Ranjith’s pain, even painkillers were not helping. Seeing all this through the glass door, Ramankutty told Dr Ajayan, if I could hold my son, his pain would be reduced. Though the doctor saw the wisdom in the father’s words, that it would disturb the decorum and hygiene of the ward doctor could not permit it. In that case, the father begged, you please tell my son that I am holding him from behind the wall. To the doctor's surprise he noticed the standing tirelessly behind his wall with arms outstretched and leaning on to the wall. The father hugs us, upholds us from behind, we don’t see him. We are because of him, but we don't see him. The gospel tells, ‘no one has seen the father, except his son’ (John 6:46). You are much more worthy than his only son. God so loved the world that he gave his only son.
Notes taken during my annual retreat, preached by Bobby Jose Kattikad, Capuchin.
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