DON’T SAY ‘I DON’T HAVE ENOUGH’
In the midst of the daily depressing news of deaths due to landslides and accidents in this month of July, we
heard with a deep sense of relief of the miraculous revival of an elderly 60-year-old male passenger who had
collapsed due to heart attack at Terminal 2 of Delhi airport on Wednesday July 17, 2024. A young lady doctor,
Priya by name, returning from the Amarnath Yatra along with her doctor husband, jumped to the rescue of this
man and administered Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) to the man by pumping his chest with all her
strength and with no other medical instrument to aid her, and within five minutes, the man whose heart
had stopped beating, came back to life – all because of the timely help given with immense love and a
spirit of self-sacrifice to a stranger by this young lady doctor and those with her. In the video, we
can see the young doctor checking his pulse and, as he shows signs of regaining consciousness, addressing
him repeatedly with the respectful words of Indian culture, “Uncle, are you ok?”
In her interview she describes herself and other doctors with her as ‘God’s agents’. The incident revealed
how God is all-powerful, all-loving, and all-provident and who has a plan for us. This opportunity came
in her life because her return flight to Jaipur was delayed by two and a half hours; otherwise, she
wouldn’t have been there to help this man.
This is the quintessence of spirituality and Our Lord Jesus Christ has taught us exactly this, for instance
in the parable of the Good Samaritan (cf. Luke 10:25-37). The true spirituality which gives expression
to the ‘divine’ within us and which is supremely pleasing to God beyond all rituals and externals of
religion is to jump into action to help anyone in need beyond caste and creed and all other
considerations.
We should also never forget the parable of the Final Judgement (Mathew 25: 31-46) with its great lesson for
salvation: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world”; “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my
brothers, you did it to me”.
We must remember always the words of Our Lord: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter
the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
(Mathew 7:21-23). And what is the ‘will of the Father’?
Let us listen to Chiara Lubich in her reflection for July 20, 2024:
“The proclamation of the Gospel will be effective if it is based on a witness of life… It will be
effective if we make our love concrete by giving and responding to people in need, feeding and
clothing them, housing those who are homeless, offering friendship to those who are alone and
desperate, and giving support to those undergoing a time of trial. If we live in this way, the
world will see how captivating Jesus is and if we become another Christ, his work, with our
contribution , will continue”.
Almost every month of the calendar year we remember Our Blessed Mother, and of all her feasts, certainly
the solemnity of her Assumption (August 15) could be assigned the highest place because it sums
up her life of discipleship whereby we see her fully partaking in the Resurrection of Christ.
‘Discipleship’ is the beautiful and spiritually rich term that speaks to us of that great mystery in our
life of following Jesus and walking in his footsteps. This has been the core of Christian life
from the beginning as the New Testament describes it to us from the calling of the first disciples
to their being sent, in the power of the Spirit, to be witnesses of Christ to the world.
All of us are called to be disciples of Christ from the day of our baptism, and we look firstly at Mary as
our model followed by Joseph her Blessed Spouse, the Apostles and the Saints.
In the life of Mary our Blessed Mother, discipleship takes on different shades but one that is striking
is contained in the first words of her ‘Magnificat’. She praises, thanks and rejoices in God because
“he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will
call me blessed” (Luke 1: 47-48).
Is this spiritual pride or is it utter humility before God? Undoubtedly the latter is the fact, and therein
lies the secret of discipleship.
Our Blessed Mother fully recognizes her ‘lowly’ situation in society, yet she does not refrain from loudly
affirming the immense mercy of God towards her in lifting her up to be the channel of graces and
blessings for all generations because she is the chosen vehicle to bring the eternal Son of God
into this world - Jesus the Saviour of the world.
Years later, at the wedding in Cana, she demonstrates this greatness when, in a behind-the-curtains scene,
she saves the young couple from embarrassment on their wedding day (cf. John 2: 1-12). This is true
discipleship i.e., a quick response of confidence and courage to a needy situation without caring
for one’s status whether lowly or high but using one’s God-given gifts to bring joy and blessedness
into other people’s lives without looking for any human applause or recognition. What Our Blessed
Mother was to the couple at Cana she is for the whole of humanity today; and she teaches us the
same truth – ‘don’t’ say, I don’t have enough; with what you have you can work miracles to build
a better world; only selflessness can make you a channel of goodness and love in a world of sadness
and gloom.’
All the four Gospels narrate the event of the Feeding of the Five Thousand by our Lord from five loaves
and two fish, but in John’s Gospel there is the mention of the boy “with five barley loaves and
two fish” (John 6: 9) which Jesus takes and over which he gives thanks to the Father, then
distributes the meal to the five thousand who were seated on the grass available there; and the
fragments that remained were twelve baskets full! The disciples (Philip and Andrew) were bemoaning
their inability to feed such a huge crowd – “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough
for each of them to get a little” (John 6: 7), and the five loaves and two fish, “what are they for
so many?” (John 6: 8).
Aren’t these reactions ‘typical’ of us even now in different contexts - at home, in the parish, in
institutions, at the diocesan level etc? They belong to our human nature that doesn’t fully trust
in God. We always carry doubts in our hearts because we have not surrendered our hearts fully to God
and the words of Jesus have not fully made a home in us. However, Jesus tells us another and deeper
truth: ‘with the little we have we can work miracles, if we trust in God; never say we don’t have
enough’.
Besides this boy who let go of his five loaves and two fish and showed us how generosity without counting the
cost can work miracles, we have many other examples:
- of the poor widow who put into the offering box two small copper coins which make a penny, all that she had
to live on, and Jesus praised her generosity and her total trust in God as being more pleasing to God
than the contributions of the rich “who contributed out of their abundance” (cf. Mark 12: 41-44)
- Peter healing the lame beggar at the gate of the Temple in Jerusalem with the words: “I have no silver and
gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”
(Acts 3:6)
- the early Church who held everything in common: “there was not a needy person among them, for as many as were
owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the
apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need” (Acts 4: 34-35).
Dr Madana Kumar, PhD in his thought-provoking book Not So With You, A Servant Leadership Imperative for
Christendom Enhancement (SAIACS Press, Bangalore, 2021) reflects on the virtue of simplicity among
Christians. He says what causes Christians to stray away from simplicity is ‘discontentment’ (cf.
pages 51-52):
“When we focus on what we do not have, we want more. Then we end up accumulating material things… If I ask
you to take a few minutes and list out all the things you don’t have enough of, I am sure we all
can come up with a decent list of things. The list might contain things like time, money, love,
health, energy, etc. If I become more specific and ask you to list out things you don’t have enough
of, because of which you are not doing enough ministry, the list might get shorter, and might contain
items like talent, skills, knowledge, courage, time, freedom, faith, etc.”
The reason for this attitude is that “all of us worry about what we do not have. When we are asked to do
something, the first thing that comes to our mind is what we do not have that might prevent us from
doing that task.”
As an antidote to the above attitude, he asks us to reflect on the story of the Widow of Zarephath in 1
Kings 17:8-24. The widow knew what she did not have and she was prepared to have the last meal for
herself and her son out of the little she had and then peacefully die. She had nothing to spare for
her uninvited guest – Prophet Elijah. But something happened after that. Elijah calmed her fears and
asked her to give him the little food nonetheless, which she did; he then gave her this word of
promise: that food will not be lacking in her home until the day the Lord sends rain upon the earth;
and it happened exactly as he had said. But that was not the end. Soon after that, the widow’s son
fell severely ill and “there was no breath left in him”. Elijah cried to the Lord for mercy, placed
the child on the bed and stretched himself three times on him pleading with the Lord to send life into
him again. The Lord listened to his humble prayer and the boy revived. Elijah then gave him into his
mother’s arms saying, “See, your son lives”.
What do we learn from this story?
“The widow was first worried about how little she had, how she did not have enough for herself, let alone
share it with the prophet. But, when the widow willingly offers up that little to the Lord, we see
the little, small offering of the widow being rewarded multiple times. When the focus changed from
what she did not have to what she could do with what she had, it resulted in a great revelation and
a great miracle”.
May it be so with us, and we will realize that this is the only way the Kingdom of God takes birth in our
hearts and in our world little by little by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Yours sincerely in the Lord,
+ Anil J. T. Couto
Archbishop of Delhi