Rom 15: 14-21
Ps 97: 1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4
Lk 16: 1-8
Success of the Mission Requires Shrewdness
While giving practical tips to his disciples about their mission Jesus told them, “Be shrewd like serpents and innocent like doves.” The same lesson is explained using the parable of the “shrewd man” in today’s Gospel. The master in the parable does not approve the manipulation by the manager, but he appreciates his shrewdness. Jesus does not approve any kind of manipulation in the process adopted for the mission, but he wants his followers to be shrewd while being sincere.
The implication of the parable is very much applicable to the situation of the Church in India, particularly north India. Ever since the BJP government came to power at the centre the Muslims and Christians are targeted through various actions by the government like beef ban, cancellation of registration under Foreign Contribution Registration Act of many organizations, appointment of RSS ideologues as the head of cultural and educational bodies and silence and inaction by the government against hate speech by the ministers, MPs and other hot heads of Sagnh Parivar, attacking and destroying churches and lynching of innocent persons on the rumour of killing cow. An atmosphere of terror is being created in the country by the Hindutva outfits. We the disciples of Jesus appear to be clueless on how to face the onslaughts of the Hindutva protagonists.
One of the accusations by the Hidutvavadies against the Christians is that our allegiance is not to the nation but to a foreign power, the Vatican. Another allegation is that we are alienated from the culture of the country. Lack shrewdness on the part of Christians appears to be one of the reasons for giving rise to these allegations. When we enter into any bishop’s house or religious house in India what we see is the photos of Pope, saints, bishops, and founders of religious congregations etc, all in foreign attire. Recently I visited a major seminary. At the entrance one can see the photo of pope and two cardinals. No photo of the national leaders could be seen even in the reception rooms. What is the impression a Hindu visitor who comes to our institutions get?
Even the public institutions like schools and colleges exhibit only a few photos of national leaders. The walls of the school compound are decorated with quotations from bible. Why can’t we include quotations from the other scriptures conveying the same message? We teach the children of our boarding houses, including Hindu children to greet the guests with “Jay Yesu”. Why not we teach them to use common greetings like “Namste”, Good Morning etc? When one opens the school magazines the first few pages are decorated with the photos of pope, cardinals, bishops, founder of the congregation etc, all in foreign attire. Many priests and nuns compel Hindu children of the boarding houses/hostels to participate in the Holy Mass and other Christian prayers. Why not we organize inter-religious prayers for the students who are not Christians?
Fr. Jacob Peenickaparambil CMI
