UP WITH THE LORD

The Event, the Effect & the Edict - the 7-UP

The Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord: June 1, 2025

Acts 1: 1-11; Ephesians 1: 17-23; Luke 24: 46-53 

As the Lord goes up, let us reflect on the 7-UP... 

The Lord ascends today to his Father and our Father! It is not an abandoning, as he himself very rightly had already assured us. It is an invitation! The invitation is to Go Up with the Lord. And this invitation to go up is given in 7 steps... let's call it 7-UP!

In the first reading we are presented with the THE EVENT: 

Christ ascends to the right hand of the Father!

Christ, GAVE UP the divinity and became like one of us (Phil 2). 

     How prepared are we to give up! The world tends to tell us to hold on, hold on to power and domination, to popularity and gain, to limelight and adulation. That is how we prepare even the upcoming children, convincing them it is important to prove oneself and make everyone know one's own utility and importance.

Christ GOES UP today, by his obedience and fulfillment of the Divine Will (Heb 10:7) 

     Going up, is a consequence and it happens because the Father draws us up! The Father who had sent Jesus, the Christ to the world, had found in him, an absolute obedience and a childlike trust - those are the very messages imparted to us by the Ascending Lord, in order that we may measure up to the standards of the Father and go up.

Christ will SHOW UP leading everything to its fulfillment (Heb 10:36)

     You will see the Son of Man come the way you saw him go, says the messenger from the Lord. Yes, the Lord shall show up, soon - but we need not panic or fret. Christ shall show up and we shall rejoice in it, if we live a life that is founded on the words and the commands of the Lord. 

The second reading highlights THE EFFECT: 

Because of the Son who was raised by God to God's right hand, you and I are made worthy to accede to the presence of God!

We are RAISED UP by the fact that Christ became like us (2 Cor 8:9) 

     As Peter would remind us elsewhere, 'we were once no people; but now we are made people of God'. We are the people of God and not that we deserve to be! We were raised up, we were given an identity that is so great and enviable... the challenge is that we live up to it. 

We are DRESSED UP by the virtue of our baptism, (Col 2:12) 

    Receive this white cloth and bring it unsullied to that encounter with the Lord at the end of your life, was the challenge we accepted at our baptism. We are dressed up and our character is defined in such precise terms. All that we need to know is shape ourselves into that character, be transformed into it and grow in that identity. 

We are BUILT UP into the family of God (1 Cor 10:17).

     The challenge I have received is not just mine - its ours. The call is given within a family, the family of God's people, God's sons and daughters. I am built into a family, a temple, an abode for God. I am living my call fully only as long as I am living in unison with the rest of God's family- divisions, discriminations, and defamations are all deviations!

The Gospel from Luke reminds us of what Jesus passed on to us, THE EDICT: 

You are and you shall be my Witnesses on the Earth!

We are challenged to STAND UP for the Lord in the World today (Rom 12:2) 

     The world has its own standards, priorities and agenda. If I am truly a son or a daughter of God, I have stand of the Lord amidst all these contrasting and contesting priorities. That is why St. Paul gave a standing order: do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed! To be transformed is to be become like the Lord - if we live in the Lord, we shall die and rise in the Lord! Ultimately, we shall go up with the Lord!

 

Reminders of the presence of God

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

May 31, 2025: The Feast of Visitation

Zephaniah 3: 14-18a; Luke 1: 39-56

We celebrate the feast of the Visitation of our Blessed Mother to Elizabeth. When Mary entered Elizabeth's household, there was a sense of God that was felt, for two reasons. 

Firstly, Mary was carrying Jesus within her and the effect was felt! Second, Mary herself was transformed into the presence of God for Elizabeth!

The first reading today turns our attention to the words of Zephaniah explaining what the Lord in our midst is doing: God exults, God renews and God dances! God exults in the wonderful gifts that we are to Godself; God renews those parts of us that are not as good as they can be; God dances with joy over everything that we are able to do in God's eternal plan.

Anyone who expresses this exultation of the Lord, this call for renewal and the rejoicing of the Lord in God's children, is a reminder of the presence of God. In fact when Elizabeth says, 'what have I done to deserve that the Mother of my Lord should visit me!', she becomes the reminder of the presence of God to Mary! When Mary turns to Elizabeth and says, 'My heart exults in the Lord and my soul rejoices in the Lord my saviour', she becomes the reminder of the Lord's presence to Elizabeth and to the entire household! 

We are called to be reminders of the presence of God, to be the presences of God to those around us. When we exult in the Lord, when we do our part to renew those around us, correcting them with care and love, when we rejoice in the goodness of others and the good things that happen to them, we become God's presence amidst God's people! 

Can we be today, God's presences wherever we are, and a reminder of that presence to whomever we meet? 

The path of perfect perseverance

WORD 2day: Friday, 6th week in Easter time

May 30, 2025 - Acts 18:9-18; John 16:20-23

The Word today could lead us to think of two phrases quite familiar in everyday parlance. The first one is 'the path of least resistance' - in the name of being natural and spontaneous, going with the trends, keeping abreat with the times, there are numerous compromises that are made and very many values that are lost,  thanks to this mode of thinking.

The second phrase quite equally popular is 'the path of least persistence' - advocating the theory that there is no virtue in insisting on making something work, while in practicality it does not. It is the famous mindset of trying out, just trying out. Just give it a try, and that is all about life. The famous tee shirt phrase - just do it, sums it all. The first failure, people quit, and they do so without any qualms of conscience.

The path of least resistance or the path of least persistence seem to be the trends of the world today. But the Word today, insists on the path of perfect perseverance. It is the path of least resistance to the Will of God and the path of least persistence to one's own whims and fancies. 

We see the Apostles and the their disciples do that...when the Lord instructs them to do something they offer no resistance at all. With all the sufferings that come their way, they keep persevering, though they certainly had moments dark and dangerous. Nothing stopped them because they were on the path of perfect perseverance.

Seek the Lord and find joy!

WORD 2day: Thursday, 6th week in Easter time

May 29, 2025: Acts 18: 1-18; John 16: 16-20

There is a promise from the Lord today: your sorrow will turn into joy! 

At times, it may seem too lofty a promise and most of us might look at it with suspicion. However, it is not so because the Lord is wrong or deceptive, but maybe our understanding of true joy is not right at times!

Ever heard of the anecdote about this monk who went into contemplation and came out "enlightened" after almost a decade? Since everyone considered him "enlightened", a man approached him with a question: what difference do you find between the world as it was when you went into contemplation a decade ago and that of today? He said, "when I went in the land was down and the sky was up there, there was summer and winter, and there was day and night." "And Now?", the questioner quipped with his curiosity soaring! "Ah, now the land is down and the sky is up there, there is summer and there is winter, and there is night and there is day!"

Would you be wondering that the story is incomplete, if I end it there? No, you need not! The fact is, indeed the things remain the same, but the way the enlightened person see them is completely different from the way others see it! Your sorrow will turn to joy, not only because everything around you will turn upside down, but because you will find yourself different, your priorities would become different, your concerns turn out to be different. That will make all the difference!

When those people rejected Paul outright, he couldn't care less! He was just the same and walked off cool, because for him that rejection mattered nothing! For him sorrows had turned into joy, everything was joyful, for in everything, he sought the Lord!

Spiritual Experiences and Spiritual dispositions

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 6th week in Easter time

May 28, 2025: Acts 17:15, 22 - 18:1; John 16: 12-15

"When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked...", we read in the first reading today. 

Some experiences are beyond our grasp at an initial instant; some experiences may be totally confusing while others may leave us with nothing to say. There are ways in which a person responds to a data that is beyond one's perception or beyond ordinary explanations. One way is to outrightly reject it and another is, to ridicule it just because one cannot understand it. These modes of responding display an arrogance that is not even humane, leave alone spiritual. The Greeks in Areopagus laugh at Paul and some consider him 'confused'... hardly a few tried genuinely understanding him! 

A more appreciable type of response, a bit more humane or simply human, would be that the  person begins to enquire about the new data presented and make some scientific efforts to understand it. However even this would not suffice when it comes to certain types of experiences. The Greeks found it hard to grasp, not because they were not intellectually prepared, but because they were not gripped by the Spirit... a Spiritual disposition alone can lead to beholding some types of truths! 

A Spiritual disposition in approaching new experiences would enable a person to perceive the truth in what is said, understand its true meaning and find relevance for one's life. This sort of a mind will not reject something merely because it seems new or it has not been so till then. The one who empowers a person towards such a disposition is the Spirit of truth, introduces Jesus in the Gospel today.

The beautiful expression of St. Anselm, 'faith seeking understanding', is a grace! "When the Spirit of truth comes, the Spirit will guide you into all the truth"... the truth of what I am upto, the truth of who I really am and what I am called towards. Openness, respect and a sense of wonder are prerequisites for one to have real Spiritual Experiences! 

Once again today, let our prayer be: Let your Spirit guide us O Lord!

What do I do to be saved?

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 6th week in Easter time 

May 27, 2025: Acts 16:22-34; John 16: 5-11

"What must I do to be saved?"... that must have been a very familiar question those days! We hear that addressed to Jesus by the rich young man and in a little different words by the disciples. Later, to the disciples it is addressed quite a few times as recorded in the Acts: the crowds on the day of the Pentecost, Cornelius to Peter, and today the jail guard to Paul and many such events...

After Christ has been raised, the question in fact is redundant! For Jesus says, I shall send you the Holy Spirit and the Spirit shall enlighten you on everything. Today, we live as people of the light, for whom everything should be clear as things in a daylight. But we find still so much of darkness, despair and delusion, in the world. What could be the reasons?

As Pope St. John Paul II would say, "many Christians are living in a state of 'silent apostasy;' they 'live as if God does not exist.'" The most probable reasons for above said delusion could be these: lack of sense of sin, compromised vision of righteousness and a careless attitude of judgement. These are what we witness today in the world, and sometimes sadly, even within each of us! Might be, that our values, priorities and choices blur the light that the Spirit wishes to shed on our minds. 

Let us submit ourselves to the Spirit and pray, 'you stretch your right hand and save me O Lord'. Let the enlightening Spirit of the Lord guide us on!

The mutual delight - the Lord and the people

WORD 2day: 6th Monday of Easter

May 26, 2025: Acts 16: 11-15; John 15:26 - 16:4a

The Christian faith had already taken root in that short time and it is beginning to take wings as we see! Spreading far and wide, the faith in Christ was not merely an intellectual assent to some truths the apostles were sharing, but it was a dedication of their concrete lives. We have two different examples of that in the Word today.

The first is that of Lydia, who finds her new found faith impelling her to sustain the proclaimers of the Word. She would take no refusal, about she hosting the apostles in her home, says the first reading. She was delighted in the Lord! The second is about the Apostles, who were moving from one place to another without any lag or slackening because they were so delighted in the new apostolate entrusted to them. Looking at these sorts of His children, the Lord was taking delight in his people says the responsorial psalm!

This is what Christian faith is all about: the delight that the Lord has in each of us and the delight we manifest in having the Lord as our God! That Mutual Delight, of the Lord and the Lord's people turns into a tremendous testimony to the World. There are many in the world who are disturbed in their mind and in their heart, there are others who are questioning and looking at everything with suspicion or disdain. The Lord opens hearts to believe in the Salvation that is promised us, and if we dispose ourselves we shall delight in the Lord, and above all, the Lord shall delight in us! 

3D APPROACH TO TRUE PEACE

Faith, Familiarity and Discernment

May 25, 2025 - Sixth Sunday in Easter time

Acts 15: 1-2, 22-29; Revelations 21: 10-14,22-23; John 14: 23-29 

Peace I give you; My peace I give to you! The Community of the Risen Lord is called to be a Community of Peace and Peacemakers. The Word today outlines to us the approaches to establish true peace among the people of God. It is a 3D approach, a three-dimensional approach. 

D1- The First Dimension: SELF - DEEP SEATED FAITH

Faith is the spiritual tranquiliser at any moment of crisis or trouble. Faith is the assurance of the presence of God with me, which makes me courageous enough to accept the situation I find myself in. The present historical moment is defined as the era of post-secularization – which does not mean secularization has ended! Not in any imaginable terms! But the phenomenon has transformed itself taking a more dangerous form: the forces and elements of new geo-political and economic elements have been involved in a long process of polarization in the world, which has led to mutual suspicions, bitterness and frustrations between various factions of the people! Not only in the future, but already there are so many issues at stake, which put restlessness in the hearts and minds of people and societies. What do we do: give in to frustration and give up on peace?

The Community of believers were going through a time of crisis, as two factions among themselves began to take exceptions to each other. However, the situation was brought under control, but the way the decision was made is remarkable as we read it even today. "It has been decided by the Holy Spirit and by ourselves..." That is the key to their peace, their deep-seated faith that God was right amidst them all through the crisis. When crises come our way, one of the first things we negate is the presence and empathy of God. But peace comes with a deep-seated faith that never ever doubts the empathetic presence of God with me!

D2- The Second Dimension: GOD - DIVINE FAMILIARITY

The Christ-ian understanding of God is not a God who is up above the sky looking down on God's children and judging them. But it is a God who dwells with them, within them and among them. This is what Jesus promises today: If you love me, you will keep my word and my Father will love you and we shall come to him and make our home with him. Imagine a child who is walking home in the dark of night - alone and hence so frightened and freezing. Just right then the child's father comes by and places his hands on the shoulders of the child - how would that child feel? Has the darkness disappeared? Has the sun risen yet? No! But the very presence of the Father gives the child an assurance. 

When God makes home with us, we would have no lack of peace. True peace comes from the fact that the Lord lives with us. The first readings speaks of the Holy Spirit living with us, the Second reading speaks of the Father and Son making their resplendent presence amidst us and in the Gospel, Jesus speaks of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit coming to make a family with us! That is peace, a sense of total assurance that I am surrounded by the Lord!

D3- Third Dimension: OTHERS - DIALOGUE AND DISCERNMENT 

The First reading once again brings to the fore the need and the importance of Dialogue and Discernment. Peace and Understanding reigned in the Early Christian Community because of the presence of Dialogue and Discernment. Dialogue and Discernment are two phases of a single process. Dialogue is the phase where the two parties involved have their views and opinions presented to each other. Discernment is the phase where they both come to a common ground, look over and beyond their point of view and come to a consensus towards a common decision. The One who inspires this common view is the Holy Spirit who is the source of all discernment, the third party who mediates the dialogue. When this third party is not involved in our dialogues they end up without proper discernment and lead only to two stubborn sides. 

Dialogue and Discernment presupposes three dispositions: One, that I am convinced of my stand. I have made all efforts to understand the issue, go deep into its various possible dimensions and I have sufficiently thought about its pros and cons. Second, that I respect the other. I am ready and willing to listen, listen to the other and not just get fixated with my prejudices. And finally, the third disposition is that I believe that the Spirit is at work. After the Elections results were announced for the Indian pa'rliament, someone asked: "after all the prayers and implorations why has God allowed this?" What is important here is not the question 'why has God allowed' but 'what is God communicating to us' here! We need to believe that the Spirit is at work! Be still and know that God is! (Ps 46:10)

When a community has these three dimensions clear - the self strengthened by deep seated faith, God with whom we enjoy a genuine familiarity and the other with whom we are ready to dialogue and discern, the Peace of the Lord reigns. Such a community glows to be truly Christian!

Mary Help of Christians - an Experience in History!

 

The Solemnity of Mary Help of Christians

May 24, 2025

Mary Help of Christians... such sweet words to the ears of any Salesian! The Madonna of Don Bosco, Mary Help of Christians, is celebrated today with such joy and gratitude for the guidance and providence the Church feels through her.

Sometimes I have thought (as I still do), hailing from a country like India, where we live our daily lives with a majority who are not Christians, that the title Mary Help of Christians, is a bit too exclusivistic, sectarian or even fanatical. But we know that the term has a historical significance that cannot be denied or forgotten. It is not just a title, but an expression of faith of a people from a particular period of time, who experienced God's closeness through the special interventions of the Mother of God.

Mary Help of Christians as a title has been attributed to our Mother since the 2nd century. The invocation Mary Help of Christians, Pray for us... could go as far back as John Chrysostom in the 4th century. However, historically it is popularised from the 16th century; and in today's experience, it is identified with a spirituality lived and transmitted by Don Bosco to his sons and daughters. Considering the historical significance of the title, directly linked to the battle of Lepanto in the 16th century and the Pope's exile in the 19th century, we tend to think today that this title is revived as the fight against the Catholic Church deepens in the world. We can understand this title from three perspectives – in history, in the Church and from that of our faith!

IN HISTORY... In history we have seen persons, groups, the people of God, saints and saintly leaders of the people of God, founders of religious congregations and martyr witnesses to faith, relating in a very special and personal manner to the Blessed Mother of God. Apart from the fact that Jesus himself presented her to us as our Mother, Mary has stood by every follower and friend of her Son and proved a great protection to them in their lives. Don Bosco is one such, who experienced the constant guidance, benevolence and protection of our Blessed Mother and invoked her with this title: Immaculate Mary, Help of Christians. His experience of an ever-present mother, especially when the anti-Catholic Waldensians were against him, led him to argue about the Mother Help of Christians. And for a Salesian today, this experience is not simply handed down by Don Bosco as tradition, but lived and shared daily with the presence of this Mother, so close and caring.

IN THE CHURCH... As people of God and specially as Catholic Church we have a special gratitude and filial love for our Blessed Mother because we have been and we are privileged followers of her Son; yes, privileged, special and blessed! How much we have experienced this! We need to only feel sorry for those of our own fellow pilgrims in faith, who miss this lovely, loving and lovable mother. The children might disregard their mother and hardly care for her, but the mother would always consider them her children, and consider so with compassion and concern. As Bishop Fulton Sheen would say, we need to be compassionate about our non-Catholic brethren who are like “motherless children”!

IN FAITH... Mary, the Mother of Christ and our Blessed Mother, has an enormous role to play within the salvific plan of God. As the first reading suggests, God had in God's holy will a 'woman' who would usher in the salvation of humanity as a chosen instrument of God. St. Paul refers to this plan in his letter to the Galatians: (4:4) when the fullness of time came God sent God's son through a 'woman'... that is the 'woman' that Jesus is interacting with in the Gospel! What a lovely message from the Word, proposing to us a great model in cooperating with the eternal plan of God. The Message from our Blessed mother is a further explication of this model: 'Do whatever he tells you'.

The episode of Cana is an event par excellence that speaks to us of a mother so sensitive and concerned for us. She intercedes with her Son and instructs the people on how to relate to Him - do whatever the Lord says. This is exactly the role she plays today as well.

Mary proves to be a mother and a help to those who are with Christ! The key is to be with Christ: being with Christ is the focus here. Our Blessed Mother will never be happy with us coming to her and stopping with her - she desires to and she vows to take us to the Son and that is where our salvation lies. It would do well for us never to lose sight of this loving desire of our Blessed Mother, that we hold her hand and walk to Jesus. And on this journey, she is certainly our mother and our help! Today, let us thank this mother of ours, and learn from her the art of living close to her Son!

May Mary Help of Christians help us Christians of today to live our faith to the full! Amen.

 

We, the Holy Spirit and Love...

WORD 2day: Friday, 5th week in Easter time

May 23, 2025: Acts 15: 22-31; John 15: 12-17

It has always been a fascinating formulation that we see in the first reading today; the apostles when they communicate their decision after a long discussion and discernment on the crisis, they say, "it has seemed good to us and to the holy spirit"... To us and to the Holy Spirit!

What happens really when this link is truly strong: me and the holy spirit, we and the holy spirit! The gospel speaks to us of this - when the Holy Spirit takes hold of us, all that we do, all that we choose, all that we decide will be guided by love and love alone! We see that the apostles and the first Christians, were ready to give up their tradition, their heritage, their laws, all because they loved their new brothers and sisters in Christ. They did not want to over burden them.

Jesus had already gone a step further, when he said: not just traditions and laws, but even your life; you should be ready to lay down even your life for the sake of the other, because that is true love. If the Son of God had given up everything for the love that he has for us, why do we hesitate to give up anything... especially our ego, our selfishness, our vain glory, in response to that love that we have received, so underservedly!

Now coming back to that formulation we started with, we and the Holy Spirit, if we are in constant rapport with the Spirit of the Risen Lord, we will be filled with true love! If we are filled with true love, then we would make of ourselves true disciples to Christ, the Son of God who is Love! 

We, the Holy Spirit and Love, we will together make a wonderful "Christ"ian Community. Shall we?

To Remain in Love

WORD 2day: Thursday, 5th week in Easter time

May 22, 2025 - Acts 15: 7-21; John 15: 9-11

Peter, Paul, Barnabas, James... what great names in today's first reading. All heavy weights in faith, the greatest apostles coming together to determine the future course of the Way. The Congregation that was gathered was divided. They had differences of opinions. There was a traditional group, infact James was part of it. There was a progressive group and Paul and Barnabas were championing it. Peter was the bridge, the "pontiff" - right enough! And we see James, the first Bishop of Jerusalem steering the entire discussion in such a godly fashion.

The whole argument was resolved on one fact: what is important is not circumcision nor uncircumcision (cf. Gal 5:6; 6:15) but faith working through love; what is important is REMAINING IN HIS LOVE. That is the crux of Christianity. It is not rules or rubrics, it is not law or canonical fulfillments, but the love of Christ that gives meaning to our lives.

True joy that the Lord gives comes from what we are; it comes from the fact that we are loved, that we are accepted unconditionally and that we are united to the One who never changes! It is not the various rules and regulations that we uphold that matter but love! Love is all that matters! And in that love that God has for us, we find our true joy, complete joy!

Anything inspired by true and genuine love for God and for the people of God, leads us to true life in God. Anything that divides the people of God and brings hatred among them, is not from God and is against the Spirit of the Lord.

Conflict Resolution - the Christian Model

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 5th week in the Easter time

May 21, 2025: Acts 15: 1-6; John 15: 1-8

We see a conflict arising in the Early Christian Community - two factions: the Conservatives and the Progressives. When the conflict arose, they immediately fall back to the roots, they come together and resolve it. The moment conflict arose they thought of getting together and not splitting into groups - that is a Christian Attitude. 

What we see today in the first reading is what we could call the Council of Jerusalem, the first ever Council of the Church... the first precedent to a special jubilee we celebrate this year: the 1700th year of Council of Nicea, a very crucial Council that took place in 325 AD. Councils have been a Christian way of looking at a common resolution during conflicts - steps that have led to the spirit of synodality we speak of much today. 

A truly Christian attitude of conflict resolution is an attitude of unifying, a promotion of solidarity, a strengthening of bond and an assurance of fellowship. The growing number of denominations and divisions within the so-called Christian Community, is a counter witness, says the erstwhile encyclical Evangelii Nuntiandi. The greatest scandal to the world is a divided Church.

It is not so difficult for us to get back to our communion even amidst all conflicts because we are all branches grafted on to a single vine: Jesus Christ! I am the vine says Jesus today, inviting us all to resolve our differences in him. The more we are ready to get back to Christ and remain united in the One Lord, the more Christian we remain. 

Moments when I begin to contemplate division, I am disregarding the vine I am grafted on to. Remaining in Christ is a challenging task indeed - it may at times prove boring and monotonous and not immediate in bearing the results that are expected. But it is the key to being disciples of Christ and that alone can prove effective in any sort of conflict resolution! 

Peace - Truth or Dare!

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 5th week in Easter time

May 20, 2025: Acts 14: 19-28; John 14: 27-31a

There is a game that younger generation plays - truth or dare! You say the truth or accept the dare - that is the rule of the game. Peace that Christ seems is something like that! Let us reflect.  

Peace is the first gift of the Risen Lord: peace be with you was the salutation always! That is how our new Holy Father began his Papacy too. What kind of a peace are we speaking of here? Peace would mean lack of conflicts and an absence of turbulence, in ordinary terms. But for Jesus it is different. That is why he seems very particular in explaining to the apostles that the peace that he gives us, is not the same as the peace that the world thinks. In simple terms, Christ-ian peace, is quite different from the peace that the world powers and organisations speak of, though they do nothing even about ìt. Anyway, we are not to sit on judgement on others! 

Peace, according to the mind of Christ, is not lack of conflicts but it is a victory over all conflicts, it is overcoming all the inner, interpersonal, societal and universal conflicts! It is not merely an absence of turbulence but a transcending of all turbulence, a rising above all disturbance and a resolution of all crises, not an absence of them. We see this clearly in the lives of Paul, Barnabas and other apostles who seem to perfectly understand the peace of the Lord. One trouble over, they were up for the next. 

In our times too, it is easier to give into the utopian longing for peace. Peace is in no way staying clear of crises, but it is staying calm in the midst of a crisis. At times we take the easiest way out of things... find alternative meanings and convenient descriptions to justify our comfort zones and complacent lives. Peace comes from facing the truth; if we are not ready to face the truth, of course we have to face the dare, as the game we referred to. 

Some times in families and among friends, we stay conveniently out of the lives of people and define our own boundaries, without really getting into true and difficult relationships. Peace is not staying away from misunderstandings or mishaps, but living through them with the daring Spirit of Christ, to encounter persons, to live our lives to the full, in spite of the troubles that are foreseen! Can we? 

For the apostles and the first Christians, peace was in the Lord and nothing could stop them from making it their own. Amidst all the turbulence, disturbance and crises they enjoyed a peace and serenity that no one even comprehended. That is why today, more than being a blessing, the peace of Christ is a dare! Do we dare to share that peace, the peace of the Lord?

Phase Two - Perseverence

WORD 2day: Monday, 5th week in Easter time

May 19, 2025: Acts 14: 5-18 ; John 14: 21-26

Jesus initiates the next phase, the Phase 2... and he promises his Spirit as One who will reside in our hearts and instruct us of the right thing to be done at the right time. The Spirit of truth and counsel, the Spirit of strength and determination. It is the Spirit that makes the apostles and disciples so strong and powerful even in the face of the plotters and persecutors!

The Jews and the non Jews together plot to get rid of the apostles but what triumphed was not the plot but the power of God. The Power of God was getting more and more manifest in the life and works of the apostles and they were bearing an unimaginable witness to the Christ-experience. 

What did the apostles do to acquire such power as to stand before the authorities and systems which seemed so frightening earlier - it was their perseverance. They were threatened, they were beaten up, they were arrested and they were flogged, but nothing could stop them for living their life for the Lord and for the Lord's message. 

The plots will abound even in our life, but if we are strong in our mind and heart, these plots will be overcome by the power of the Lord, invested within me by the Lord. Make us strong O Lord.

THE PROMISE OF THE NEW THINGS

The new commandment and new outlook!

5th Sunday in Easter time - May 18, 2025

Acts 14: 21-27; Revelation 21: 1-5; John 13: 31-33, 34-35

Behold I make all things new – that promise of the Lord is the core of the Easter experience… the Lord promises each one of us, a new world, a new beginning, a new life! That is fundamentally the Resurrection experience. Whatever happens around us in the world, we cannot give into hopelessness or desperation! No, we cannot! “Never lose hope. Do not let yourself be robbed of hope!”, the beloved deceased holy father, Pope Francis had insisted always... Yes, our call is to assist the Creator to make all things new – to behold a new heaven and a new earth! 

The Liturgy today presents to us the promise from the Father to make everything new… that is a promise, and not just that! It is also an invitation, a challenge to assist at this renovation. The promise and the process to renovation, goes through two channels of what we can and what we ought to be involved in – to take into serious consideration, the new commandment given to us and the new outlook offered to us!

While the second reading makes us aware of the promise that the Lord has for us – to make everything new for us – the Gospel and the first reading beckon us to realise our role in the task, outlining the way to accomplish the task, to realise the promise – a line of action with two key elements: the new commandment and the new outlook!  

As said already, we cannot expect that the renovation of the world could happen all by itself, automatically. It cannot. We are called to be agents of that renovation, the reconstruction that has to be taken up in and through, a new commandment – the new commandment given by the Lord, that we see in the Gospel today. The Commandment of love, that is the salvific node that we have from the Risen Lord. When we truly love each other, we shall be agents of renovation of this world, a world that is so much affected by selfishness, indifference and hatred.

The New Commandment is to love, to love each other without any reserve. There can be no love greater than giving one’s life for the one who is loved. And that is exactly what the Lord did, and that is what he leaves as an example for us to follow.  The new commandment is to love and that love alone can renew the world. The world stands in need of love, a love that is selfless, a love that is  life-giving, a love that is salvific, a love that creates, recreates and re-enlivens the whole humanity, the world, and the whole universe!

Commandment of Love, comes as the essence and the summary of the whole Christian presence. Christ speaks of the time that he will not be with his disciples and immediately presents them with the Commandment of love, as if to say – where there is love there is Christ. The corollary is more significant and consequential – where there is no love there is no Christ. “By this all will know that you are my disciples – if you have love for one another!” One cannot build the renewed world, without a genuine Christ-like love in one’s heart.

The new things that the Lord promises to make are not merely external… they are more about the new outlook that are created within us. What makes us truly agents of renewal of the world, is not so much what we can do out there, as much as what we can do within us: bringing out the new outlook that we need to have within us: the outlook of the Risen Lord. “We all have to endure hardships” in order that we can become truly agents of the new things that the Lord promises us.

Today there are many who propose projects and make manifestos, those who gather masses and garner public opinion, those who initiate movements and influence the society – all in the name of creating a new social order or creating a new world, in the name of progress and development. The Word today gives us the touchstone of Christian outlook - the commandment of love. St. Augustine said it in beautiful words, "Love, and do what you will. If you keep silence, do it out of love. If you cry out, do it out of love. If you refrain from punishing, do it out of love." 

It is this love, the new commandment that can create a new outlook within us and this new outlook alone can lead us towards being agents of a new world, agents of the new things that we can hope for, from the hands of the Lord. We have no right absolutely to expect a “making of new things altogether” unless we are ready to obey the new commandment, and adapt to the new outlook that the Risen Lord offers us: the outlook of caring for the least, the concern for those who are suffering, the commitment to the marginalized, the prophecy that challenges the neglected justice and denied rights – these which are inalienable part of the process of making everything new – the Lord will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more. And the Lord will do it through only you and me! Every hand of a disciple of Christ should wipe the tears in the eyes of those in agony. Every word of a Christian should give new life to those who have lost hope. Every community of faith should sustain those who mourn and cry in society around itself.

And today, we see that there are no coincidences… a providential event is happening… there is a new thing happening today: the new Pope who takes up his Petrine Responsibility today! As Pope Leo XIV takes up his responsibility today, we have a responsibility, not just one  responsibility, but a triple responsibility – to heed to our call to the new commandment of love, to develop within us a new outlook of the Risen Lord, and thirdly, to allow the Lord to make use of us as agents of the new world that the Lord wishes to create through us.

Behold I make everything new… is not just a promise, but a commitment, a task on our part to take up, on behalf of the Lord and the people of God

Traces of Eternal Life

WORD 2day: Saturday, 4th week in Easter time

May 17, 2025: Acts 13: 44-52; John 14: 7-14

These days we are listening to the Word from St. John. For St. John, Eternal Life is the concrete difference that Christ makes in our lives. John uses the term "eternal life" 18 times in his Gospel - that's the kind of importance that the community learnt from Christ himself.   

How do we understand this eternal life... is it a life that is at the end of this life? That's how our human mind calculates. But eternal life is life that is timeless. That is a gift that God has already placed within us. We need to grow more and more aware of it - the Risen Lord is a reminder of that need. 

There are traces of the "eternal within us" and there are steps to become aware of it: 

The first step towards it is, Recognising the gift that our life is, without forgetting the role of the Giver! We need to recognise that life is a gift and a gift from our Creator who has loved us into existence. 

The second step is to live life the way the Lord wants me. Just a few days earlier the Word instucted us, that the Father's commandments, the Father plan for us, is eternal life. This consists of living my life to the full, living it to the fullness of what is expected of me. 

The third step is to be ready to give that life up for the sake of the One who gave that life to me. That is the highest union with Life itself: the fullness of eternal life where we realise the Life within us, the Lord within us and say like Jesus, the Father and I are one!

If we realise it, we shall behold the Eternal life, so lovingly gifted to us - failing which, we are the sole losers!

The "Way" of life

WORD 2day: Friday, 4th week in Easter time

May 16, 2025: Acts 13: 26-33; John 14: 1-6

Troubled hearts and confused minds... these are not rare cases to find these days. The degree may vary but every person of our time seems to be troubled with something or the other. 

The Lord would look direct into our eyes and ask us: why are your hearts troubled and why do you go confused? Do not let your hearts be troubled; do not let go of your trust in me, the Lord invites us today. 

I remember once during our Theological studies, in our Scripture class, the professor said "the Word has the answer for everything". And a student retorted, "why then are there confusions and misunderstandings?" The Professor without any hesitation responded, "that's because we don't have the right questions!"

When things seem to be going wrong, when there are pressing issues that confuse, we need to ask the right questions! Who am I? What am I upto? Where is my ultimate destiny? What is the grand perspective within which my life is unfolding? There is answer to all these in the Word today: our Way! The Way is ready with an answer for everything in our life: let not our hearts be troubled. 

It is not so easy to remain with hearts untroubled, the Word clarifies more, unless we have an ardent trust in the Lord. Trusting in the Lord would mean to keep walking. It is not just to stope everything and say, until I get an answer I shall not proceed... instead it is to hold on to the way and keep walking, walking along with the Way, and we shall see life unfold.  

Memories that are Salvific

WORD 2day: Thursday, 4th week in Easter time

May 15, 2025: Acts 13: 13-25; John 13: 16-20

The Word today insists upon our memories! This was one great problem with the people of Israel - they never remembered enough, all that the Lord did to them. The walk through the red sea was soon forgotten, they complained about no food; the fall of manna was soon forgotten, they detested the monotony of food; the quails were soon taken for granted, they complained about no water; the water from the rock was soon forgotten they wanted a god amidst them... that is why the Lord brings in the right corrective for them: the Covenant! The codified memory of the way the Lord loved them!

Jesus wants to leave a memory too... he offers us a way to keep his memory alive: in serving each other; in loving each other in concrete terms; in reaching out to each other, not for our needs but for the other in need, or the other to be loved!

The antonym to this memory we refer to here, is not forgetfulness but taking for granted! We get so used to things that happen around us, that we do not see anything "extraordinary" in them. Beginning with basic things like waking up to the day, and being able to breathe in and breathe out, and upto the greatest wonder of seeing the simple bread change into the body of Christ right before our eyes.. how many things we take for granted on a daily basis, and how many persons we take for granted too!

Like children, we are called to keep our sense of wonder alive and active - taking nothing, no one, for granted, but with wonder and gratitude, recognising every little good that comes our way. Let us have a wonder-filled day ahead!

I chose you!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

May 14, 2025: Celebrating St Mathias, the Apostle

Acts 1: 15-17, 20-26; John 15: 9-17

Every relationship is a response! Relationships can never be forced upon persons. When I wish to relate to a person, I choose to relate to the person and then I leave the response from the other side to the freedom of that person! Only then there is a healthy relationship that blooms. It is the same with God's choice too!

You have not chosen me, I chose you, reminds Jesus today! With the beautiful example of Mathias and Barsabbas, Jesus brings out another element of the election theology! When God chooses, God chooses individuals (not masses), for a unique purpose and specific plan. As God reminds us through Jeremiah, God has a plan for each of us (Jer 29:11) and God alone knows what the plan is and how it would come through. All that we need to do is submit, surrender to that plan and walk by it.

And when God chooses, God chooses not for merely conferring a privilege, or a position or power; but for commitment, suffering and for giving one's life for the other! As the readings of the past Sunday reminded us, we cannot stop with thinking we are chosen therefore we are special! We are chosen, we are special... but it entails further, that we are specially chosen to strive, fight, struggle, suffer and thus, usher in the Reign of God, wherever we are.

Mathias is today counted into the band of apostles. Of course a privilege, but with that came the burden of being a Messenger of the Word, the burden of being the Elder in the Community and the burden of being a Shepherd of God's flock. St. Mathias is an inspiring example which tells us, the Lord counts on us... the Lord has chosen us and wishes to count us into the number of his apostles!

Yes, the Word and the Saint of today speak to us: You are chosen! Be glad, but be also prepared for everything that it entails!

Our Blessed Mother of Fatima

On 13th of May 1917, Mother Mary appeared to the three children - Jacinta, Francis and Lucia and continued to do so, for 6 consecutive months on the same 13th day of the month. On 13th May 1981 John Paul II was miraculously protected from an attempt on his life. On May 13th 2000, John Paul II beatified Jacinta (she was 9 when she died) and Francis (he was 10 when he died)... they were canonized this day, in 2017, the 100th anniversary of the first apparition. Lucia died as a cloistered nun on 13th February, 2005. 

Many ask a question, is it not too much to claim that Mary keeps doing such powerful things? Is it not a mere clamorous attribution of the Catholic church? The Lord has prepared us for this: 'I tell you solemnly, whoever believes in me will perform the same works as I do myself, he (or she) will perform even greater works'... can we think of a person who believed more than our Blessed Mother?

She is the most favoured daughter of God and the specially chosen Mother of God. What a beautiful mystery she embodies! Let us pay heed to her message: repent, pray, consecrate yourself to God... the Mother would tell us today - you may think you are being threatened by the worst things in the world, but be assured you belong to God. 

May the Queen of Holy Rosary, our Blessed Mother of Fatima, pray for us and for the entire world. 

To listen and to follow - being Christians

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 4th week in Easter time

May 13, 2025: Acts 11:19-26; Jn 10: 22-30

The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me! The believers in Antioch were called 'Christians', because they belonged to the Lord... they listened, they followed! 

Listening to the Lord would not mean just hearing the Word, it would mean to drink in the principles of the Lord. It is, as St. Paul would reiterate most often, to put on Christ's mind! It is thinking like Christ, having the priorities of Christ, having the same motivations and purpose as Christ - the fulfillment of the holy will of the Father. 

Following the Lord would mean, to live like him. As an effect of listening to the voice of the Lord, and thinking as the Lord does, our choices and our values would mirror those of the Lord himself. And the result: our actions, our decisions, our judgements, align themselves with those of the Lord. Our actions will have to be our witness, not merely our words or our titles.

Would anyone, unknown to me, looking at me and my actions, say I should be a Christian? Not because of the cross I might be possibly wearing, nor with the name tag that I may probably have, but with the attitudes that I sport and the actions that spontaneously emanate from me! 

I am tempted to ask myself today: is it right to say that a person will do good if he or she is a Christian, or to say, anyone who does good to the other without expecting anything in return, is truly a 'Christ-ian'?

Standing in God's ways!

WORD 2day: Monday, 4th week in Easter time

May 12, 2025: Acts 11: 1-18; John 10:1-10

I have come that you may have life, life in all its fullness. The Lord has come, the Lord has encountered us, and the Lord has done everything best that we can ever imagine. While that is the fact, the question is, have we received the fullness of life that the Lord brought us? Aren't we still given into frustrations and discouragements, meaninglessness and immaturities?

In the first reading today we have a clue to understanding this. While the Lord was ready and willing and all set to shower the Holy Spirit on everyone, there were some who were standing on the way! Peter challenges it on their face: who are we to stand in God's way?

In fact, we allow a lot of things to stand between us and God... it could be our pride, our ego, our laziness, our malice or could be anything that resists receiving the grace of fullness of life! We might think we are doing the best we can, but we might be doing only what we like... and what assurance do we have that we are doing the best? The best is what the Lord wants of us... and how do we know it, if we do not surrender ourselves totally into the hands of the Lord. 

What matters is that we identify what it is within us, that stands between and our Lord. And if we become aware of what it is that stands on the way, we can grow to be true sheep of the Divine Shepherd!

COME AND BELONG

The call, the choice & the condition!

May 11, 2025: 4th Sunday in Easter Time

Acts 13: 14,43-52; Revelation 7: 9, 14-17; John 10: 27-30

When I am lifted up, I shall draw everyone to myself said Jesus when he was around. And after his resurrection that is what he did. He drew everyone to him. "Everyone" is the key here - in illo Uno unum (in the One we are one)... that precisely is the motto of our new given Holy Father Leo XIV... to be one in the One! It was not merely incidental, it has always been part of God's magnificent plan. Yes, it is a plan for the whole humanity, 'beginning with the Jews' as St. Paul would often point out and indicates in the first reading today! However, what happens in concrete, depends on three considerations: the call, the choice and the condition!

The Call is given to every one, there is no Jew or Greek, Christian or not! The first reading today speaks of that shift that took place from the Jews to the entire world, within the salvific plan of God - it had to happen. Paul and Barnabas pay heed to that call... the call to go to the entire world, the call to be the light to the nations, the call to reach out to the ends of the earth. 

The call to belong is universal, every one is called to come and belong! AT times believers have a hard time understanding how everyone will be saved, if only those who believe in Christ could be saved. We have to absolutely beleive, what Jesus taught us: that the Father wills the salvation of ALL. Yes, the salvation is through Jesus Christ, and that is the only name given to us for our salvation! But let us not rule out the fact that the Father will see to it that the whole creation is reconciled in Christ Jesus our Lord: that is the Eternal plan. The call from all eternity, the call to belong, is for everyone!

The Choice is mine to make! Each of us has to make a choice and when one does not make a choice to belong to the Lord, of course the Lord misses a precious child, but loses nothing; whereas the person loses everything! The apostles try their best to impress this upon their fellow Jews, but nothing would change them. They would make a choice for their own obstinacy, supremacy and comfort, and their own life style! 

This is where the hitch lies; though it is God's will that everyone heed the call to belong, God will never force it on anyone - that is not God's style! The possibility is offered to me: behold, I place before you life and death, salvation and ruin, eternity and end, says the Lord. What is going to be my choice today? To belong to the Lord, to belong to the flock or continue in the way I think best?

The Condition that the Lord places is just one: that I listen! I should know my Master and listen to my Master's voice. Isaiah puts in very simple words: he says - even the donkeys know their stable and the asses their master (Isa 1:3)! The call as we presented it earlier is to come and belong... there are two steps to it. At times we are very enthusiastic and we COME...but the sad fact is that we tend to fail to BELONG. My own know me, and they follow my voice, says the Lord. 

We begin with so much enthusiasm, only to soon find some excuses to fall by and give up. If only we can work out of the emotional overtures and truly commit our ways to the Lord, we shall not only come, but continue to be and belong to the Lord forever. When we come, stay on and belong to the Lord, there is so much joy and we shall be filled with the Spirit. 

These are specifically the two signs of our total belonging to the Master - being Joyful and being Spirit-filled: a joy that no one can take away and the Spirit that enlightens every bit of my daily life... what more do we need?