Religious life Christ centred or auto-referent?

21 June 2015 XII sunday of year B

1st Profession of Avinash Inasappa, Arvind Xaxa, Jackson Melbin, Sudhakar Kummari, Samir Montry.

Today we have an interesting gospel (Mk 4:35-41). It was not chosen purposely for the celebration, it is the one offered by the liturgical calendar; but nevertheless it is very useful for our reflection.

Jesus has been preaching the whole day about the kingdom of Heaven. I do not know if you remember the four parables we have heard in the last couple of weeks. The Kingdom of Heaven is the presence of God among us, a God who takes care of us, makes things bear fruits etc. Now it is evening and the disciples decide to go on with their life, cross at the other side of the lake, pass on the stormy waters of life. The apostles are expert fishermen, they certainly know how to forecast a storm and how to handle it, but this time they seem to be hopeless. Another strange thing is that Jesus, who usually is so caring and has made so many miracles, this time is just sleeping as if he doesn't care of the life of his friends and even of his own.

They have to wake him up and somehow scold him to get rescued from the dangerous situation.

The point the gospel whants to underline is that all the teachings they have received so far, the miracles they have witnessed, seem suddenly to be useless, forgotten: life is different. Jesus himself becomes not relevant.

You have been spending a whole year studying, preparing yourself for the moment of your profession. You are now expert as the apostles were expert, and like them, tonight you will be thrown in the stormy waters of real life.

I think that the three vows you make today will not be a problem for you, as a matter of fact you have been living them all through your life: you never got married, you never had a girlfriend, at least a serious one, you never had money to waste or spend in whatever you like, and you have always been obedient to your parents and superiors. Truly speaking, for some strange reason, from now you will see that girls are more interesting and also more attractive; you will be put in charge of some seminarians or of some social work and asked to take decisions, and the more you get into it the more you get independent, the more difficult you will find to accept the opinion of your superiors; you will be asked to handle money, go and buy things and you will feel stronger the temptation of buying things for yourself. But I know you will do well in all these situations.

The storm on the waters of your life will not be caused by the vows, at least not in its depht, but in the way you answer to three basic questions: Who is God? Who are these people around me? Who am I? It is what we normally call relationships.

The apostles were struggling because they felt (at least at the beginning) that all Jesus' teaching had nothing to do with real life, Jesus was not relevant in this occasion, he was sleeping, he forgot about them. Probably they woke him up so to have an extra man holding the steer or taking the water out of the boat. But when they woke him up he was able to quiet the waters and everything returned to be easy. You will live your daily life and start thinking that God is not relevant in your daily problems, he is not there not only because your prayer will become less and less, but also because they will become one of the many things to do, relegated to some well defined time, to be done hoping that distractions and tiredness will not make them dry and useless.

You are consecrating your life to the Lord: how many hours of your day are you giving him? 1, 3, 5, 10? what about 24? Where will you meet him? In the chapel? Of course, but what about the dining room, the study room, the playground, your bedroom?

The apostles thought the environment was at war against them, they had to fight to conquer it. The more the responsibility grows, more people enter in touch with you, more often you will find yourself fighting, in need to conquer the others, tame them, but this process will not work well.

What did you come here for? To fight? To conquer? Who are those around you?

At the beginning the Apostles thought they could make it because they are the expert, they are heroes, they didn't bother that Jesus was sleeping; at the end they are desperate, hopeless. Who are you?

Pope Francis has spoken several times to religious, priests and even bishops. He has indicated a danger in our life: he called it autoreferentiality. By this world he means the tendency to put oneself at the centre, to live a life in order to satisfy your desires, needs, comfort, safety. To do that a person needs more and more things, but they are never enough; he needs to conquer the others so they can serve him, they can give him what he is looking for. If you are the boss everybody will please you, compliment you, do whatever you wish; you really look like a king and it feels nice. So religious crave for ever higher positions, what the Pope calls carreerism. If you cannot boss the others you can always buy them with your gifts and favours, but it will not make you satisfied.

All these situations are difficult when you live in a community, you have to share with others opinions, decisions, resources. It is much easier when you are independent, you live by yourself, you take your own decisions, you handle your own money.

Who are you? A hero? A superman? A loser? A hopeless? A depressed?

Who are the others? A threat? A danger? A target? A tool?

Who is God? A machine? A dictator? A nobody?

Pope Francis speaks of putting Jesus at the centre. He invites us to live relations based on God's love, compassion, care, mercy, service. This is the meaning of the vows you are doing today. This is the only possible way to live them and to make them into instruments which will bring joy, the joy of the Gospel, which builds freedom, not because you are free to do whatever you want, but free to be yourself, free from fear.

This is my wish for you today. You will go to 5 different places: Kerala, Telengana, Karnataka, Italy, but you all will go to the same environment: the kingdom of God present wherever you are.

You will deal with different people but you all will meet the same person: Jesus living in each one of them.

You will do different works but you will have the same task: serve Jesus in the poor, in the needy, in everyone.

Be generous with Jesus, put him at the centre of your life and when you feel he has gone to sleep, wake him up and he will bring back your peace.