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)

GLORIOUS SILENCE - A WAIT TO WAIL

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'.

Jeev Jacob and Christie Ann Ninan, from UAE were kind enough to help translating this chapter. May Thirumeni's words encourage and his prayers continue to guide us to know the will of God in our lives.

A WAIT TO WAIL

The Gospel of St. Luke Chapter 19 begins with the tale of the transformation of Zacchaeus – the tax collector. His encounter with Jesus was not a coincidence. The Holy Bible reveals that when Zacchaeus heard about Jesus he had the desire to meet Him.

The desire to meet the Lord can mean a wait of faith and vigil.

Zacchaeus was a wealthy tax collector who knew that the massive wealth he had, was inappropriately acquired. When man is immersed in sin for a long time, he ends up feeling sick of it and will be led to repent. Fanatics may however not repent because they perceive themselves to be on pedestals in their religious lives. They are religion oriented; they tend to be admirers of the self and like giving advice (solicited or unsolicited) to people. It was probably around the time when Zacchaeus was disgusted with his way of life that he had heard about Jesus. And when he learnt that Jesus was visiting Jericho he wanted to see who Jesus was. His wait for Jesus was characterized by the following:

I.An inner desire and faith to see Jesus

II.A realization of his shortcomings, and,

III.The determination to untangle the mess he was in.

Zacchaeus did not permit his height come in the way of him seeing Jesus. He ran and ascended the sycamore-fig tree and would eventually leave behind his sinful past.

If we desire to see Jesus, He will see us. And when He sees us He will not simply look at us but will call each one of us, by name. Zacchaeus knew that Jesus could lift him out of disappointment. But there were some obstacles that he would first have had to overcome. Since Zacchaeus was a short man, he was initially unable to see Jesus who was surrounded by a mob. In our lives too we will have to overcome some obstacles to meet Jesus. Unless we are filled with a desire so intense, we may not be able to see Him. 

When Jesus spotted Zacchaeus on the sycamore-fig tree, He told Zacchaeus to come down and that He would visit his house. The Scriptures testify that Zacchaeus gladly welcomed Jesus.

With deep faith, any obstacle can be overcome.

Zacchaeus was led to an unexpected encounter and experience with Jesus. His feeling of being overjoyed at Jesus’s visit was met with an unhappy mutter among the crowd that was angry to see Jesus visit the house of a big sinner among them. 

When Jesus entered Zacchaeus’s home, he did not make a speech. Jesus’s presence filled Zacchaeus’s home and heart so much that Zacchaeus involuntarily confessed to Jesus and immediately left his sinful life. This is repentance. 

With Jesus by his side, Zacchaeus, who at one point was bewildered at the amount of wealth he had amassed, now learnt to handle such wealth. He realized the Christian way of managing one’s finances. Zacchaeus decided that he would help the poor and return to those he had collected money from, four times the amount.

In Philippians 3:7-11, St. Paul reminds us, “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things loss for the excellence of knowledge of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ. And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made comfortable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.”

Faith is an intense desire to attain the resurrected Christ by any means. It is a life of faith that reforms our attitude towards wealth. Zacchaeus’s life became meaningful by his race of faith to the tree and his wait of faith while atop it. With a prayerful wait, faith is built.

Godless labour is a sin and anything that drives us away from God is evil. Salvation draws us closer to God. We must grow to the fullness of salvation. A sinful man’s talk, walk and ways are evil but when he turns to God, his ways will change. Zacchaeus had grown rich without God. When he came to his senses, while in the presence of Jesus, he must have burst into tears. 
His tears of repentance identified himself with the paternal heritage of Abraham – a heritage of intense faith, immediate repentance, complete salvation and a lifetime of sanctification.

Let us not tarry anymore but run and ascend the tree of faith as we observe a vigil to receive the Christ. In that period of waiting, as our sins become obvious to us, let us cry out to Jesus who came to seek and save the lost.