11th AUGUST.TUESDAY, WEEK 19

Feast : St. Clare of Assis

Saint  Clare of Assis was one of the first followers and helpers of Saint Francis of Assis. She founded the Order of poor Ladies, a religious order for women in the Fransiscan tradition, and wrote their Rule of life, the first monastic rule known to have been written by a woman. Following her death, the order she founded was renamed in her honor as the Order of Saint Clare, known today as the poor of Clares.

1.Dt 31:1-8

2.Matthew 18

Leadership

The reading from the book of deuteronomy gives us the clue about two different forms of Leadership that can emerge in time of change, one formal and conservative, held by leaders like Joshua, the apostles and bishops; the other more interanal, depending on promtings of the Holy Spirit, inspiring courageous initiatives. These leadership styles are not mutually exclusive, and both serve God's People in quite different ways. The former handles routine matters, is concerned with continuity and uniformity, and is devoted caring for the ninety-nine sheep who are placidly there, thriving in the status quo. The second helps the Church to locate the lost sheep, the elusive ones who stray from the safe, conservative path. There can be more joy over one lost sheep found than over repeated formulae and prosaic ideas.

Questions reveal priorities

In our daily life sometimes we tend to ask questions, practically these questions in turn point towards our priorities, values and what we think important. For example the question that the disciples put to Jesus in today's gospel, " Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" suggest a certain interest on their part in status and standing. In response to their question, Jesus did something in action and said something. He first of all called a child over and placed the child in front of them; he then informed them that they needed to become like that child just to enter the kingdom of heaven, never mind become child-like not childish, child-like in the sense of child-like trust in a loving Father, which leaves our judgement to God and grabs at nothing, including status and standing.Greatness comes to those who make themselves as dependent on Godas children are dependent on adults for their existence and well being

Actually this is a question of what man aims at. If man aims at the fulfilment of personal ambition, the acquistion of personal power, the enjoyment of personal prestige, the exaltation of self, he is aiming at precisely the opposite of the Kingdom of Heaven; for to be a citizen of the kingdom means the complete forgetting of self, the obliteration of self, the spending of self in a life which aims at service and not power.

The child character in the readings today teaches us the following:

1.Child's humility: A child does not wish to push himself forward or wishes to prominence but left in obscurity and to fade into the background. It is only as he grows up that his instinctive humility is left behind.

2.Child's dependence: It is natural for a child to be dependent. For him can never face life by himself. He is dependent on those who love him and care for him. For us if we accept the fact that we are dependent on God, then a new strength and a new peace would enter our lives.

3.Child's trust: It is because the child is dependent and so he trusts his parents that his needs will be met. When we are children we cannot buy our own food or our own clothes, or maintain our own home; yet we never doubt that we will be clothed and fed, and that there will be shelter and warmth and comfort waiting for us when we come home. When we are children we set out on a journey with no means of paying the fare, and with no idea of how to get to our Journey's end, and yet it never enters our heads to doubt that our parents will bring us safely there.

The humility of a child is the pattern of our behaviour as Christian to one another and is dependence and trust are the pattern of our attitude towards God the Father of all.