Dear parish family Greetings and Blessings to each of you. 

Bible: A mirror, flashlight and a sandpaper for a positive personal and Community life 

In one of my recent homilies I referred to Bible, ‘not as a tool to change others, but as a mirror to judge ourselves’. I have been following “The Bible in a Year” podcast hosted by Fr Mike Schmitz. To, those new to this, I would certainly recommend this podcast. Though I have read Bible many times, when I listened to this podcast, I could see, hear, learn, understand, meditate and live Bible from a whole new perspective. 

Flashlight is always handy to see the way forward, to discover what is hidden. It often unfolds things we haven’t noticed through our regular perspectives, especially the dark shades. 

It is said that face is the mirror of one’s heart. A mirror is always a tool to examine oneself not only in our external appearance, but also how actually we are living the word of God in our daily lives. As imperfect human beings, we are often tested in our life, and usually that arises out of our lack of trust and faith in God. Is my face reflecting my heart? 

We read in Wisdom chapter 3, “like gold in the furnace he tried them, and like a sacrificial burnt offering he accepted them”. In our brokenness, struggles and sufferings, a sandpaper approach will help us, to understand, the way in which God is purifying and cleaning us. 

When we go through the lives of Patriarchs in the Bible, especially, that of Abraham, Isaac Jacob, we can clearly see how God tests them and helps them to understand His word and His ways. In other words, Bible act as a tool of continuous improvement – Kaizen, to grow closer to God. (Kaizen: is a Japanese management theory that encourages taking incremental steps to transform habits or we can say changing method of tidying up). 

 The present lockdown and its associated difficulties help us to rely on Bible as a tool to initiate small, step-by-step changes to transform our life and to grow stronger and stronger in our faith. Thus, faith becomes a platform for us to fall-back when we are tested. Many of you have already told me, how you are finding comfort through your faith and how you value faith as a key element of your every day journey to happiness amidst the chaos created by the lockdown. 

I believe, flashlight, mirror and sandpapers are essential components for a positive personal and community life, provided we are able to look life in the light of faith. 

Fr James T Antony CMI