<\/p>\n
Reading: From the Gospel according to St. John 2: 1-11
\nDear and Respected Brethren,
\nAfter a hard and harsh preparation of about 20-21 days including the
\ndays of three days fasting, we are having the final touches of our
\nspiritual preparation to enter the 50 days fasting along with the
\nentire Church. The Holy Church has exhorted us to fast and she only is
\nleading us in the fasting. The first day of the Great Lent is known as
\nKothine in Syriac and Pethoortha in Malayalam. Pethoortha literally
\nmeans the day on which we would have different and large quantities of
\ndishes on our dining table. The Lents come to be effective by Sunday
\nevening. The first day of the Fasting is regarded as the day of total
\nchange in our total life style. All of us are supposed to spend more
\ntime for prayer, meditation as well as caring the poor and needy. One
\nwho advised us to fast to win the Satan and evil forces is our role
\nmodel. He fasted for 40 days and we are intended to copy the style
\ntaught by our role model, Lord Jesus. So the Holy Church insists us to
\nhave peace and harmony with one and all in our family and
\nneighborhood. So we observe the Subukono service which is literally
\nmeant for reconciliation among brethren and others. We all must take
\nthese things like the Subukono etc more seriously.
\nToday\u2019s reading tells us about the marriage at Cana, where our Lord
\nalong with His mother as well as disciples were invited. And of course
\nthere is no need of an explanation of the further incidents that took
\nplace there. Let\u2019s meditate on the four things.
\n1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cMy hour is yet to come\u201d (Verse- 4)
\n2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cSix water pots of stone after the manner of the purifying of the Jews\u201d
\n3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The uniqueness of St. Mary, mother of God
\n4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The obedience of the servants.<\/p>\n
About which hour our Lord is talking? We all know that this was a part
\nof our Lord\u2019s answer to His mother. Which was the hour to come? St.
\nMary, mother of God also was aware of the hour mentioned by our Lord
\nand that is why she did not retort to Lord Jesus. She instructed the
\nservants to do what was ordered by her son. She was confident that her
\nson would honor her request and will do something to rescue the hosts
\nof the reception. She was so sure that our Lord would do something
\npositively. For this reason we seek the continuous intercession of St.
\nMary, mother of God. Our Lord meant the hour of salvation, when and
\nwhere wine the usual drink of those days, as His life giving blood. At
\nthe hour He took up the cup of wine and said \u201cThis is my blood, come
\nand partake from this, so that you all would have everlasting life.
\nYou will live in me and I in you.\u201d The hour is of salvation or
\nre-instating of mankind in God. Are we serious of the hour of
\nsalvation? We partake the Holy mysteries every now and often. Still do
\nwe accept them with due seriousness? Let us think.
\nThe second thought is about the six water pots. The water pots were
\nsupposed to reserve water for the purification of the Jews. We are so
\nsure that the Jews were so particular about their external purity than
\ntheir internal purity. They never bothered about their internal or
\nspiritual purity. We are also not indifferent. We got so many
\ntraditions and rituals along with our worships and prayers. How many
\nof us really interested about our internal sanctity and purity? Our
\nworship year started with the sanctification. Were we able to sanctify
\nourselves? Or let us find out what steps were taken by us in regard to
\nour personal purification. After sanctification Sunday we have crossed
\nthe Dedication Sunday also. Let us think whether we could dedicate
\nourselves to God\u2019s full disposal. If our performance was not as
\ndesired, it is the time for us to repent and have a nice and genuine
\npurification and dedication before entering the Great Lent.
\nThere were six water pots of stone. The number \u20186\u2019 is also important.
\nThe purity we attain and our dedication to God on the first day of the
\nweek must last long throughout the week or it must be the same on the
\nremaining six days of the week. The water which was stored in the pots
\nwas not good enough to grant the users a genuine and real
\npurification. Our Lord wanted to teach this lesson to one and all and
\nhence He selected the six water pots for His first miracle on earth.
\nHere we are supposed to learn the great lesson that purification is
\ngranted by God as and when a human being would repent. Repentance is a
\ngreat factor of every fasting, whether it is small or big. Our
\npreparations to enter the Great Lent started with the three days
\nfasting where top priority was given to repentance. The repentance of
\nthe people of Nineveh was well honored by God Almighty and in the
\nEastern tradition it is regarded as highly appreciable. The King and
\nthe people of Nineveh fasted for 40 days and nights together.<\/p>\n
Though our Lord said, \u201cmine hour is not yet come\u201d she did not get
\ndepressed. We do not find her compelling our Lord to do what was apt
\nfor the right moment. But we find her telling the servants \u201cwhatever
\nHe says unto you, do it.\u201d What does it mean? She foreknew what would
\nhave happened there soon and she was so sure and certain of it. We
\ncould realize that St. Mary had a thorough knowledge or
\npre-information that our Lord would do there or what was needed and
\nhow He might perform the miracle. That is the reason for honoring her
\nas the mother of God (Theotokos). God Almighty has shown the world
\nthat He would not reject the recommendations or intercessions of the
\nnoble virgin Mother of God. Our Holy Church honors her and seeks her
\ncontinued intercession by reciting the prayer \u201cHail Mary\u201d in all
\nKaumas (starting prayers.) We believe without doubt that the vigilant
\npresence of St. Mary is always there in heaven with our Lord and
\nSavior. Let us make sure that we do give due prominence for the
\npresence of St. Mary in our houses as well as in all our celebrations.
\nWe are not sure about the nature of the servants who were present in
\nthe house at Cana. Even their number is not mentioned in the Holy
\nScriptures.\u00a0 But we could learn that they were so obedient to St.
\nMary, a young lady in their view, whom they never knew before. The
\nresponse taken by them is really appreciable. The Holy Church is
\ntelling us continuously to do certain things as well as she forbids us
\nfrom doing certain things.
\nFrom tomorrow the Holy Church will be observing the great Lent of 50
\ndays and she is exhorting each and every one to avoid something from
\nour routines and to include certain in our lifestyles. The Lenten
\nseason is of prayer, meditation and giving alms. The Holy Church
\ninsists us to be strict in observing the Lent as our Lord and Savior
\ndid. Lord Jesus is our role model in the observance of Lent and
\nfasting. He fasted for forty days together and advised one and all of
\nus that the observation of Lent and fasting is the only way to win
\nSatan and the evil forces. The Lenten season is a gift from the Holy
\nChurch for us. Fasting and observation of the Lent would enable all of
\nus to be more close to God Almighty. In our Canonical prayers it is
\nsaid that one who observes Lent or Fasting do remain in heaven always.
\nSo also it is said that fasting would provide wings to fly unto the
\nheaven. How many times we all might have observed the great Lent so
\nfar? Were we able to fast as desired by our Lord and Savior? Let us
\nthink soundly. In the contemporary world we might opt to fast to
\nachieve certain worldly gifts or blessings. Or we must be advised by
\nthe Physicians to do so.
\nSt. Mary told the servants there to do what was asked to them by Lord
\nJesus. She is still telling us to \u201cwhatever He says unto you, do it..\u201d
\nAre we able to identify her voice and instructions? Are we able to
\nidentify the voice of our Lord? Let us make sure that we would obey
\nthe instructions, let them be from our Lord God or from St. Mary,
\nmother of God or from the Saints and Apostles. If we turn away from
\nattempting to identify the divine intimations, our so called Christian
\nlife would be of no value. Let us make a decision to observe the great
\nLent with much more seriousness. The charm and beauty of fasting must
\nbe our aim and ambition
\nPrayer, fasting and charity are the three weapons to be carried during
\nthe Fasting. Our Lord appreciates and honors the prayers, fasting and
\ncharity without publicity and public events. Now a days we are trying
\nto give maximum publicity in every possible means. Let us try to fast
\nas shown by our forefathers. Let us adopt their faith, enthusiasm and
\ninterest while observing Lent and Fasting. Let us try to fast as much
\nas we could and let us have moderate meals throughout the Lenten
\nseason. Let us not forget the fact that our forefathers used to
\nreserve separate pots for the Lenten Season. Though we could not have
\nsuch and similar strict observation, let us try to copy their style of
\nobservation as far as we could.
\nMay God bless us all.
\nJose Kurian Puliyeril
\nKottayam<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Reading: From the Gospel according to St. John 2: 1-11 Dear and Respected Brethren, After a hard and harsh preparation of about 20-21 days including the days of three … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotional-thoughts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31946"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31946\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31951,"href":"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31946\/revisions\/31951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}