MERCILENT 2016 - 23rd February

BE EXALTED: Recognise the goodness of the Lord

Tuesday. Second week of Lent

Isa 1: 10,16-20; Mt 23: 1-12

The Lord will exalt the Lord's servant. We are certain to be exalted when we remain servants of the Lord. 

Be exalted,  invites the readings today and that invitation has two implications: one, remain faithful to the Lord and the Lord's call and you will be exalted. Inspite of the present troubles around or the limitations within you,  you will be exalted-that's the lesson of mercy at lent. 

The second implication is,  be exalted means don't exalt yourself! Seeing your values, witness and everyday way of life,  the Lord will exalt you in, through and in the presence of the people. Let your principles and priorities be praise worthy and your thoughts and acts will be Lord-worthy! You shall be exalted. 

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Acknowledge the good the Lord accomplishes in you! 

MERCILENT 2016 - 22nd February

BE ROCK: Love the Church and stand by it

The Feast of the Chair of St. Peter
1 Pet 5: 1-4; Mt 16: 13-19

Just a few days back, I read a half baked argument from one dissident from the Catholic Church, seeking to question the authority of the Bishop of Rome! I was laughing to myself because, he was a Catholic Priest who has found his new wisdom in an independent church. Is it ignorance or arrogance that these independent churches, who insist so much on the primacy of the Word, do not see the historical fact underlying the first reading today. Peter writes as an Elder among Elders, instructing the rest of them in the way of the Lord: this is what the Holy Father does... as a Bishop among Bishops, he encourages and animates the shepherds towards a holistic government of the Church. 

The Authority comes from Christ himself and that is the fact we celebrate today. Praying for Pope Francis today, is a God given task, especially in the background of the controversies that are raked up by the western media in the past week! Floods and waves will batter against this home, but it will not be moved, because it is build on a Rock - let us give praise to the Lord. We have a great tradition and a wonderful faith deposit that has been handed down by marvelous people of God, let us love it treasure it, keep it and faithfully pass it on.

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Love the Church and stand by it.

MARKING TIME

Mercilent 2016 - 2nd Sunday: 21st February

Gen 15: 5-12; Phil 3:17 - 4:1; Lk 9: 28-36

Our Christian life is a Marking Time... we do it diligently and with dedication, but we are not bound to it forever, we look to Marching forward, towards our glorious home.

From our school time drills in March Past, we are taught two types of march: Mark Time March and Forward March. Marking Time is when the marching has already begun, but it has not started moving, it is yet to take its real form moving in unison! 

MERCILENT 2016 - 20th February

BE CHRIST- Love genuinely, without measure

Saturday, First week of Lent

Dt 26: 16-19; Mt 5: 43-48

The Perfection that Christ expects from us is being like him, that is being love! The love that we speak of is genuine love, a love that is seen even in odd times, specially in odd moments, inspite of odd times! How enduring is your love? 

Jesus becomes the epitome of love, not because he loved us when we were waiting to love him in return; but because he loved us even when we cared the least for his love; as St. Paul observes, he died for us even while we were sinners! 

At time how calculative and how selective we become in sharing our love - is that truly Christ like? Loving genuinely, that is, without measure and without conditions is the call that we have today.

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Love, without calculating or measuring the cost!

MERCILENT 2016 - 19th February

BE GOOD: Not just doing some good but be good!

Friday, First week of Lent

Ezek 18: 21-28; Mt 5: 20-26

Doing some good now and then is not good enough, the Word challenges us to BE good, and be good consistently. 

Once having been good, does not count! Being persistent in your goodness is the challenge.

Rationalisation and Justification will not excuse you, if you cease to be good. Never tiring in doing good is the sign expected from you.

Making a show of your goodness by way of legalities and fulfillment of requirements amount to nothing, the Lord can see through your paraphernalia and judge you by your internal self. Are you essentially good?

What you do to manifest your goodness does not matter, whether that goodness truly exists within matters much. 

Your external image of being good means nothing because the Lord knows your thoughts that pass judgments on others, your words that kill persons, your wishes that rob people of their respect and dignity. Being Good means being good at the core of your being, every bit of you being good! Yes, it is tough, but we have no choice if we want to call ourselves children of this Merciful Lord.

The Mercilent Attitude today: Be good, don't be satisfied with doing some good!

MERCILENT 2016 - 18th February

BE PRAYER: Pray, with your life

Thursday, First week of Lent

Est 4:17; Mt 7:7-12

Be Prayer - it may sound a bit odd, but that is what matters more than saying prayers! Both, the example of Esther that is offered and the teaching of Christ on asking, seeking and knocking, reiterate that specific dimension of prayer. At times we are busy saying prayers that we do not realize our call to 'be prayer'! 

Being Prayer has two meanings: One, being the one who prays..."pray-er"! Bringing one's whole self into prayer that it becomes a self offering to the Lord with heart, soul, body and mind! 

Secondly, being prayer means being what we pray. If we pray for peace, we become the agents of peace; if we pray for the needy, we become the consolation of those in need; if we pray for the Church, we grow to be responsible members of the Church, and so on. 

Esther, in her act of praying was getting ready to offer herself totally despite risks, for the sake of God's people. Jesus concludes his teachings on prayer with the golden rule: do unto others what you wish be done unto you! The key is here: let us mean what we pray, and be daring enough to take up the challenge that our prayer poses to ourselves. Praying is not an easy job; it is demanding!

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Pray, with your life not merely with your words!

MERCILENT 2016 - 17th February

BE OPEN: Listen to the Word all around you

Wednesday, First Week of Lent

Jon 3: 1-10; Lk 11:29-32 

Wickedness of the generation that Jesus refers to in the Word today, is the tendency to justify, rationalise or counteract the call to conversion. It is a common experience that we see, within ourselves or around us, the numerous reasons given for justifying a wrong doing even after we know clearly that it is wrong. It is also possible to see persons who rationalise a wrong doing in the name of circumstances, consequences and customs. There are others who make sure they sideline or eliminate those people who raise pertinent questions, disturbing questions or upsetting queries. These are various ways in which people react, when they are put in the dock sometime or the other. 

The challenge today is offered by the people of Nineveh, as Jesus refers to! They paid attention to the message when it came, they listened and they acted upon it. If only we are to truly listen to all the messages we receive and genuinely act upon at least a half of them, we would never be called "wicked" by Jesus! The need is to be open: to be open to receive the Word, the call from the Lord towards conversion, from anywhere and from anyone. 

That call to integrity, to authentic christian living, to radical witness to the Gospel way of life, is all around us. We are called to witness to the gospel with our very lives - are we ready?

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Listen, the Lord is speaking, through everything and everyone around.

MERCILENT 2016 - 16th February

BE GOD'S : Believe and belong to the Lord your God.

Tuesday in the First Week of of Lent
Is 55:  10-11; Mt 6: 7-15

Yesterday we were invited to reflect on being Godly and today we are reminded of our fundamental nature of belonging to God: we are God's own...God's sons and daughters. 

At times we get so busy with all that we involve - things, persons, activities, dreams, plans and projects - that we forget to whom we belong. It is like a player in the midfield playing so vigorously that he forgets for whom he is playing. Funny, isn't it? That is what happens with us, so regularly and so unwittingly. Most of our problems in life crop up from this situation...our frustrations, our competitions, our anxiety to prove ourselves, our arrogance, our pride, our self conceit, they come from the fact that we are not mindful of the fact that we are all God's. 

God's word, God's plan, God's design, God's reign - these are the overriding principles that should govern our lives if we are convinced that we are God's.

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Belong to God, in all that you are and in all that you do.

MERCILENT 2016 - 15th February

BE GODLY: Unconditional in your giving

Monday, 1st Week of Lent

Lev 19: 1-2,11-18; Mt 25:31-46

Be Holy, for I am Holy, invites the Lord today. We are called not only to be God's people, but also to be Godly people. That explains the motto of the year of Mercy: Merciful like the Father. It is not only about showing mercy to others, but doing it as God does! That is where the key is. The Word today gives us clearly what to do (the Gospel), what not to do (first reading), what not to fail in doing (Gospel) and what to abstain from (first reading). All of them put together, the call is to become like God; to be Godly.

Observe the quality that is underlined in the Word - it is about giving and not to worry about getting it back, it is about doing good and not being worried about receiving good, it is about loving and not insistent about being loved  in return...St. Francis' prayer strikes a chord here: Grant that I may not seek so much to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love, to be forgiven as to forgive! I cannot have conditions in the good that I do: how much; to whom; under what circumstances; why they...these analyses will make our giving conditional. The Lord instead gives and gives, never counting the cost nor the consequences. Can I grow to be as unconditional as that - that is being Godly.

The Mercilent Attitude for Today: Give, without laying conditions for it!

TESTING TIMES

Mercilent 2016- 1st Sunday: 14th February

Dt 26: 4-10; Rom 10: 8-13; Lk 4: 1-13

Testing Times never lack! Every person goes through these times in quite a succession! Lent is proposed to be a workshop to train us for testing times that might come our way, all through our life! Today the Word gives us three lessons on confront these testing times:

1. Our Disposition: Be Prepared to Wander

The First reading invites us to understand our history! Every one who has reached some significant point with the Lord in his or her life experience, has passed definitely passed through a phase of wandering. It is an essential spiritual experience to get closer to oneself, to each other and to the One who leads us.

2. Our Approach: Never Cease to Ponder

Yes, the One who leads us into the wilderness knows what is in store! We would miss it all if we do not keep pondering on the way. Pondering is such a powerful exercise that it can makes sense of everything that happens, in its own time of course. When we cease to ponder we run the risk of wandering without purpose; the point is wandering with a specific purpose, in a specific direction...which the Lord alone knows.

3. Our Attitude: Be ready to Surrender

That specific purpose, that specific direction will be revealed in time, just in time! Hence the challenge is to surrender and not to fret. Surrendering would first involve the humility of saying to myself: I am not in control of everything. Secondly it would mean lifting my eyes to accept that God is in-charge. And thirdly it is a serene acceptance of God's will with utmost cooperation on our part, not rushing through or forcing things. 

It may be tough to find times so testing, but only when we are tested, we could be sealed OK.