A Message from Fr. Jay
Dear Friends,
Fr. Tony De Mello, an Indian Jesuit priest, was popularly known for his story telling. In his book, ‘The Song of the Bird’, he told a story called ‘Guru’s Cat’. This is the original version of his story:
“Each time the Guru (The Master) sat for worship with his students, the Ashram (monastic community) cat would come in to distract them, so he ordered them to tie it when the ashram was at prayer. After the guru died, the cat continued to be tied at worship time. And when the cat expired, another cat was brought into the Ashram to make sure that the Guru’s orders were faithfully observed at worship time. Centuries passed and learned treatises were written by the Guru’s scholarly disciples on the liturgical significance of tying up a cat while worship is performed.”
An act becomes ritual, and eventually becomes meaningless when performed just for the sake of ritualism. The Pharisees and Scribes wanted to be ritualistic, not because they wanted to keep up the traditions that God wanted them to be following, (given through Moses in the first reading) but wanted to show off themselves as icons of purity following the rules and rituals introduced by the elders. In the marketplaces and on the streets, when they happen to mingle with sinners, Gentiles, and simple people who do not know the law, the Pharisees and Scribes wanted to show off themselves that they were ‘pure’ and better than others. Jesus condemns this egotistic and perverted thinking of the Pharisees. I like Jesus’ quoting prophesy of Isaiah.… ‘this people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me’. What is actually needed is, not the rituals speaking, but hearts speaking. The rituals should lead to hearts speaking.
The world we currently live in has been advancing more and more in ‘brain-speaking’ but dwindling in ‘hearts-speaking’. Our religion is called for making our hearts speak. In the second reading, St. James says that religion is pure and undefiled before God and the Father: we need to care for orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
What a beautiful religion we are blessed with as Catholics!
One of the beauties of our parish is that we have so many ‘hearts-speaking’ people and ministries. If you feel that you would like to become a part of it and learn how to talk with your heart, then we welcome you!
On Monday, September 2, we observe Labor Day. Let us remember in our prayers our brothers and sisters who as workers, build our country in every respect; especially those who labor in unsafe working conditions and are underpaid.
God Bless,
Fr. Jay Raju
- Reading 1: Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8
- Reading 11: James 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27
- Gospel: Mark 7: 1-8, 14-15, 21-23
