Thursday, May 23, 2019

GLORIOUS SILENCE - THE BEAUTY OF PIETY

It has been a great blessing for me to know in the person of HG Gee Varghese Mar Ivanios of blessed memory.  During his life time, a collection of Thirumeni's homilies were shared in the form of a short book by Mar Baselios Dayara (Monastery) in Malayalam 'Maunathinte Lavaniyam' -' Glorious Silence'. K.N Varghese ( Sam uncle) from New Zealand has been kind enough to translate this portion from the book.  May the Lord Have Mercy , through the prayers of  Ivanios Thirumeni 

THE BEAUTY OF PIETY 

“Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.” (St James 1:26).  The epistle of St James is one which teaches the practical aspects of Christian life. This teaches about the Christian etiquettes a believer should practise in daily life.

We are thinking about piety (bhakthi). The apostle explains that the sign of devotee is silence. Silence is heavenly experience. This might be the reason for the serious comments throughout the epistle, about the tongue. “ We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.…. The tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.  The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.……  but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison….” (St James 3:1-12)

The cause for all problems is the uncontrolled use of tongue. We should train the tongue to speak the truth. The tongue should be tamed with prayer. Lying always deceives the heart. The apostle’s exhortation is that a life of devoutness is to live without deceiving one’s own heart. We speak in vain because of the lack of awareness about the presence of God. It seems to be non-essential to be truthful in such conversations! The tongue shall be under control, if there is awareness of God. Thus silence becomes the real sign of being devout.

The next verse is as follows: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” (James 1:27). Blotless life is essential to become religious. A devout’s presence is one which consoles the miserable with empathy. Our deeds shouldn’t be for self-honour or unjustified benefits; should be innocent and with pure intentions.


“As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” (1 Peter 1: 14-16). It is to Holiness that we have been called. God is the criterion for holiness. So it is a continuous and eternal journey. A holy life is one which obeys the Holy Spirit.

In conclusion, St James the Apostle says, 

“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  Grieve, mourn and weep. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” (St James 4:7-10)