We had our monthly recollection as scheduled in the handbook, i.e. on March 12, 2011. Fr. Bruno from the Congregation of the Passion (CP) was requested to preach the recollection, but due to illness, he couldn't make it, and Fr. Sony from the same congregation substituted him.
We began the recollection on the previous night with an introductory talk in the main chapel. Fr. Sony said that Jesus died for us, to save us and complete the saving plan of God. In the success of this whole Christ-event, Judas Iscariot played and important role. We all are also given one each plan to be executed and for helping us to do that, we also have various Judases in our lives and amidst us. There are people who always pull our leg and try to put us down, criticize us and put hurdles on our way. We must thank God for such Judases and pray for them, not curse them or condemn them. They are the ones who help us to come closer to God and help us to complete God’s plan for us.
The next day’s talk was in the auditorium and Fr. Sony CP, took the parable of the prodigal son (or better, the parable of the compassionate father) for our reflection. He evaluated each character of the parable and told us their strengths and weaknesses. He also invited us to reflect whether in whose role we fit. Are we like the father who instead of guiding his younger son gave away the property, in spite of knowing what the son would do with it? Or do we focus on his compassion for the son and his giving more importance to freedom. Our heavenly Father is also like that, He gives us the choice to do what we want, but when we make mistake, He is ready with compassion to accept us back, provided we come back with a repentant heart.
Sometimes we, religious don’t realize that we become like the elder son. We work whole our lives like slaves, not actively taking part in relating with our Father or brothers and sisters. And when we don’t get proper reward for our service, we grumble. Sometimes we become or in fact we are very often like the younger son. We go away from our Father and come back repenting when we make mistakes and realize our foolishness. Our aim should be to become like our heavenly Father. Jesus said, “Whoever has seen me, has seen my Father.” Can we say like Jesus that we also reflect the image of our Heavenly Father in ourselves through our life and works? The recollection was concluded with Holy Eucharist in the afternoon.
