One of the criminals, who were hanged there railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us.” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me, when you come into your kingdom.” And he replied to him, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

God, be merciful to me, a sinner!

The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector deals with two types of prayer (18:9-14) or two contrasting ways of relating to God. As we can note, this story is narrated soon after Jesus’ parable on the necessity of prayer (18:1-8), dealing with an unjust judge and a widow, who prays for justice persistently.

The episode of the healing of the ten lepers in Lk 17:11-19 is part of Lucan Travel Narrative (Lk 9:51-19:44) that describes Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem with his disciples. The episode of the encounter between Jesus and ten lepers begins with the following verse: “On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee.” In the light of the journey that began in Lk 9:51, “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face toward Jerusalem”, we understand that Jesus is resolutely moving toward his passion and will meet the fate of a prophet in the holy city.

In the Gospel according to Luke, there are two attitudes of wealthy people that endanger them to experience the divine blessings of God’s kingdom: a) godlessness and b) heartlessness. Firstly, the parable of the rich fool in Lk 12:13-21 is certainly the best example for rich man’s tendency to substitute God with wealth, and his failure to look beyond the material treasures.

Chapter 15 of Luke can be considered the ‘gospel within the Gospel’. Uninterruptedly, Lk narrates three parables of Jesus, all three dealing with the theme of God’s limitless mercy.

1. The Parable of the Lost Sheep (vv.3-7) - the shepherd, who ‘lost’ a sheep and ‘found’ it.
2. The Parable of the Lost Coin (vv.8-10) - the woman, who ‘lost’ a coin and ‘found’ it.
3. The Parable of the Lost Son (vv.11-32) - the Father, who ‘lost’ a son and ‘found’ him back.

“A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead” (v.30). During my studies in the Holy Land (at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem) in 2013, I had the opportunity to go down this perilous road from Jerusalem to Jericho many times with my NT history teacher and classmates. The road connecting the two cities is approximately sixteen miles long and it passes through Wadi Qelt. Geographically, Wadi Qelt is a valley that runs west to east across the Judean desert. Every time, we passed by this road, either our teacher or my classmates reminded one another of how Jesus and his disciples could have walked this part of the desert, and how the parable would have come alive to Jesus’ audience, who were exposed to the imminent risk on this hazardous path.

Jesus experienced God as unconditional love. This profound personal experience of God as love, probably occurred during his baptism, in contrast to the prevalent Jewish understanding of God as lawgiver, led him to proclaim a ‘scandalous gospel’ that was manifested in his liberative ministry of healing and exorcism; the provocative events of dining with tax-collectors, outcasts and sinners; touching lepers; declaring the ritual purity obsolete; allowing women to be his followers and affirming the poor as the beneficiaries of God’s blessings.

“Be Merciful, even as Your Father is Merciful” (Lk 6:36)

Buena Noticia para usted - Good news for you

5 domingo de Cuaresma C / 5 Sunday of Lent

“Son of David, have mercy on me” (Mk 10,46-52)

Jesus not only reveals God’s mercy by his teachings, but also by his concrete actions—healings and miracles. All he said and all he did illustrate his Father’s tender mercy. Every act of Jesus in the Gospels, filled with compassion and moved by pity was directed to the sinners and the needy and thus, became an expression of divine mercy. He ministered to the sick and liberated those who were tormented by the evil spirits. He not only restored the sick people to physical wholeness, but also restored them to a filial relationship with the Father. These acts of mercy manifested by Jesus and experienced by people enabled them to recognize that the reign of God is truly an existential reality. In this direction, Cardinal Walter Kasper writes, “Jesus’ existence was totally for others.”

Mt 18,23-35 – Parable of the Unforgiving Servant or the Merciful King?

Why did Jesus use parables in his teachings? It is to help people understand who God is and what his reign or kingdom is like. To Jesus, such parables were the preferred means for communicating the message of the reign of God and its values. So, the parable would begin with, “For this reason, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to…” Synoptic Gospels contain many parables of God’s mercy that invite the hearers and readers to be merciful like the Father. One such example is Mt 18,23-35 that focuses on how we must show mercy to our fellow human being. Though the original story ends by v.34, the Matthean addition in v.35 transforms this parable into a story on ‘forgiveness’. Moreover, in the context, the parable is preceeded by Peter’s famous question about the limits of forgiveness. Applying this message to his community, the evangelist has beautifully crafted the story on the ‘reciprocity of mercy’ told by Jesus and placed it in the ecclesial context (Community Discourse 18,1-35) to focus on the need for forgiveness in the community.

Jesus and the Canaanite Woman (Mt 15,21-28)

The healing of the daughter of the Canaanite woman is a fascinating narrative where the divine mercy and the persevering faith cross paths and converge at the end, resulting in a healing. The puzzling account of the Canaanite woman’s faith occurs in the narrative block of 13,54-17,27 that deals with “faith in Jesus”. The message of the kingdom, proclaimed in the Parable Discourse (13,1-53) is subsequently met with threefold human response: rejection, misunderstanding and faith (wavering faith, little faith, and deep faith).

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy (Mt 5:7)

“Jesus Christ is the face of the Father’s mercy.” These introductory words of Misericordiae Vultus, the Papal Bull of the Indiction of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy turn our attention to the gospels, to illustrate how the mercy of God became “living and visible in Jesus of Nazareth, reaching its culmination in him” (MV 1). Various texts in the New Testament vividly portray how Jesus reveals the mercy of God through his words (discourses, parables) and his deeds (healings, miracles). In other words, his whole life becomes an embodiment of divine mercy.

By: Antonio M. Pernia, SVD

(Arnoldus Nota April 2009)

Inspiration:

It all started in 2002 when confreres Fr. Justus Rottuk and Fr. Narciso Cellan pedalled their way from Nairobi, Kenya to Arusha, Tanzania for two days in an attempt to raise some money for the communications apostolate in the province. Although they were amateur cyclists, they had no escort vehicle to board, they nevertheless succeeded to reach their destination.

World AIDS day was celebrated with a mega rally organized by Sarva Seva Sangh (Mumbai), Holy Spirit Hospital and Mahakali Caves Road ALM on Tuesday, 1st December 2015.

The rally on the theme ‘Fighting for the healthiest generation’ began at 9.30 am from Gyan Ashram gate, Mahakali Caves Road and Holy Spirit Hospital Gate moved on two directions passing through, Shere-e Punjab, Pump House, Malpa Dongri, Mahakali Caves Road, Thakshila, Bindra coplex and concluded at Holy Spirit Hospital, Andheri (E). The students from St. Arnold School, Satya Sai Vidya Mandir, Canossa School and Holy Spirit Nursing School participated in large numbers.

At the concluding venue the Nursing students of Holy Spirit hospital presented a role play on HIV/AIDS and police inspector Mr. Jhadhav from MIDC police station addressed the gathering. Nearly 600 people including students participated in the rally which was concluded at 11.30 am at Holy Spirit Hospital.

Later in the evening Sarva Seva Sangh put up street play titled ‘Jeevan Ki Adhoori Kahani’ with B.Ed students from St. Theresa’s B.Ed College, Santracruz (W) in various slum communities at Mahakali Caves Road and Subhash Nagar. More Street plays will be staged on Wednesday evening at Malpa Dongri, Pump House area.

Mathew Korattiyil

Father Silvére Maurutto, a Divine Word Missionary in Congo has dedicated himself for some years now to the construction of bridges over river Yolo, Lemba and Kalamu that joins Mombele neighbourhood with the rest of Kinshasa city.

The project operates in three parishes: St. Arnold Janssen, in Mount Sinai, Northeast of the city. Our lady of Rocks and St. Brother Michael Guasmo, South of the city.

By Fr. Ivan D’Silva, SVD

Ambassa (Tripura) October 20, 2021: Holy Spirit Parish, Ambassa conducted three days of marriage preparation course from October 18 to 20.

“I live with HIV, not AIDS” was the opening statement of the awareness movie presented to people living with HIV/AIDS.

Indore, India: A Medical Camp was organized at Janivkas Kendra on 26th June 2014 from 11am to 3pm. The camp was organized in collaboration with Index Medical College and Research Center, Indore.

Rome, June 29, 2014: All the participants of the new Provincials Workshop of the SVDs (Society of the Divine Word) along with the Generalate and the Nemi staff celebrated the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul at the Domitilla Catacombs, Rome. Fr. Robert Kisala, SVD, the Vice General was the main celebrant.