TRIALS AND TEMPTATIONS
























“No man, without trials and temptations,
can attain a true understanding of 
the Holy Scriptures.”

 John Bunyan

My mom, 85, lives with my eldest brother’s family. We are five brothers. One is in Kuwait, two (including me) are in Mumbai and two are in our hometown, Mangalore (Mangaluru). In these difficult times, we four brothers feel so relieved and reassured – if those are the words, I can use to describe our feelings – that mom is in safe hands!

Here in Mumbai, the very night when our PM announced the 21-day lockdown, both my wife and I packed our bags and moved to my in-laws’ place, with whom our 27-year-old son had been already living. My father-in-law is 85 and mother-in-law is nearing 80. The health has not been good and, now, the maids had stopped coming. Thus, we had to take a prompt decision, that very night… which proved to be the right one.

On the surface, these things seem very ordinary. But, when we pause and think about them, they seem extra-ordinary… How many elderly and ailing parents are caught up in a helpless situation in these hard times! I know of so many… parents of some of my dearest friends. I really feel bad and I really pray for their well-being…

Every time I call home to talk to my mom and brother, I end up saying a silent prayer – ‘Thank you’ – to my brother and his family. “Stay Blessed!” … These words do make sense now!

This is the Holy Week for us, the Christians. Today is the Blessed Thursday, which we call ‘Maundy Thursday’. The entire Lenten season has passed in this manner – in quiet isolation… No usual church activates … like the Way of the Cross, the powerful retreats (Missions), the profound ceremonies of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and the bright Easter… All just passed – though, three days are still left – in true contemplation. Maybe, that’s what Lord wanted us to know: How Lent should be… How contemplation and veneration should be!

Today was the evening Jesus had spent His last moments with His Apostles… He had washed their feet and ate with them the Last Supper. Though symbolically we Christians celebrate the Last Supper during the Mass every day, only some go home with its profound experience…

The hours after the Last Supper were very, very intense moments in Jesus’ life… We call them ‘The Passion of the Christ’. Jesus knew what was coming upon Him, and, He was going through His greatest test. After all, He was human, like the rest of us, here on this earth… He was experiencing the gripping fear and sorrow, now… He had lost all His strength… It was not east to stay firm on His faith… The temptation was to compromise – escape from the Path, give in to the Devil. So, it was the battle of Faith and Fear… Which Jesus won through His intense prayer at the Gethsemane Garden:
“Not mine, Thy will be done!”

That’s when He passed the Test – the test of Trials and Temptations… That’s when He regained His strength to face what had come to befall Him...






And, today, my mom and father-in-law, both, remind me of such gracious attitude towards Life – its trials and temptations…

It’s easy to give up and give in…
It’s tough to hold on… stay faithful.

A Blessed Thursday to all…


GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.: Virendra Verma

Video: Paul  Baloche/Cybertracker Imperium

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