WORD 2day: Easter Saturday 2017

The Culture of Easter is Courage 

22nd April: Acts 4:13-21; Mk 16: 9-15

The culture of Easter is courage -it was born of the courage that Jesus showed in obeying God the Father without reserve and Jesus passes on the same courage to his disciples too. One of the clear proofs of Easter is the Courage that we see in the disciples, who were till then frightened and lost, timid and trembling but suddenly became so vociferous and invincible, outspoken and uncontrollable. What made that difference? The Empty Tomb is only an indication to what could have happened but the Courage of the disciples is the concrete proof of something extraordinary which had taken place. 

I am fond of making this contrast arising from the scene where Peter (along with John) speaks up to the rulers and elders vis-a-vis the scene on that maundy thursday night at the courtyard where he fumbled and fell so low in front of a mere servant maid! He who said in fear, I dont know the Jesus you are talking about, says today, I cannot stop proclaiming Jesus just because you command me to. Where did this extraordinary courage come from - that was in response to the command of the Risen Lord: go out to the whole world and proclaim good news to all creation. A new culture had been born, a culture of total fidelity and unlimited courage. 

The invitation for us today, is to feel this courage redoubling amidst crisis situations and tempting moments. Can we feel the unfailing presence of the Risen Lord with us, that we may live upto this culture of courage!

WORD 2day: Easter Friday 2017

The Sound of Easter is Positive 

21st April: Acts 4:1-12; Jn 21:1-14

The very sound of Easter is positivity. There are voices that discourage, there are noises that confuse, there are stories that mislead. As Easter people we are called to remain positive, productive and affirmative. We are challenged to be life giving. That is what Peter and John do: they announce Christ, because they were convinced that it is in that name that humanity has life. There is no other name given here on earth, through which a person could be saved. The only name that can give life is Jesus! And so they proclaimed that name, filling the earth with life, energy, wholeness and meaning. There were those who could not bear it or hear it or understand it. 

Even the disciples did not hear that initially - they heard voices that disturbed them, they were frightened; they heard noises that confused them, they were discouraged; they heard stories that misled them, they were returning to their old lives. But Jesus intercepted them, giving them back their meaning, direction and purpose - they heard his voice, they heard the call, they heard the sound of easter - the positive call to go on! Amidst discouraging experiences and disturbing factors in life, we are called to go on without giving up, because the very sound of Easter is positive!

WORD 2day: Easter Thursday 2017

The Fragrance of Easter is Hope

20th April: Acts 3: 11-26; Lk 24: 35-48

The part that remains even after the thing is removed from vicinity is the fragrance! And the fragrance that is left behind by Easter is that of Hope! The people throng all around Peter and John, because they have seen something terrific. The were excited at the prospects of seeing more things as such. They were enjoying and cherishing that moment. Just imagine the excitement that would have been when the disciples  witnessed Jesus stand amidst them, that Jesus whom they thought was killed. Jesus, makes them understand that these events have always been there, foretold and awaited. Now that they are fulfilled, you get the fragrance of it, and it is hope!

Our life has to be filled with this fragrance, if not we have not yet experience true easter. Out minds, our households, our relationships, our workplaces and wherever we are, we need to sense the fragrance of hope - which says, the Lord will triumph, love will triumph, the will of God alone will triumph! Do you smell hope wherever you are? Do people smell hope, where you are?

WORD 2day: Easter Wednesday 2017

The Touch of Easter is Mercy

19th April: Acts 3: 1-10; Lk 24: 13-35

The touch of Easter is Mercy; a boundless, limitless,  endless mercy. A very curious fact that we can ask ourselves: the apostles betrayed Jesus, denied Jesus and abandoned Jesus when he needed them the most. But when Jesus rose from death and came to meet his apostles, did he ever ask them the question - why did you do this to me? Never. In the Gospel today, with the two disciples on their way to Emmaus, Jesus joins them and shares their concerns, enquiring and clarifying their doubts and anxieties. The apostles were filled with grief when Jesus was killed. When they came to know that Jesus rose, indeed they were happy but more than that, they felt guilty. They were wondering how they would face Jesus. Jesus on his part, with a merciful heart treats them with love and forgiveness. 

The apostles did not miss learning that lesson - they were schooled at the school of mercy of the Son of God. Peter and John demonstrate that at the Beautiful Gate in the first reading today. Gold or silver we have none, in the name of Jesus, get up and walk, says Peter and the crippled man received his healing. 

If we are to be Easter people, we need to be people with forgiveness and love, sensitivity and care, in short people of boundless mercy. The touch of easter is truly, mercy!

WORD 2day: Easter Tuesday 2017

The Shape of Easter is Heart

18th April: Acts 2:36-41; Jn 20:11-18

If someone asks me to represent Easter with a shape, I would draw a heart! Yes, Easter is a matter of the heart. Youngsters often ask me this curious doubt: why did Jesus choose to appear to Magdalene first. I would say, he had no other choice, because she was the first one to go in search of Jesus, the most passionate of all Jesus' disciples, one who loved Jesus with the whole of her heart. Her heart was filled with Jesus and she yearned for Jesus and Jesus appeared to her! What a privilege! It was granted because of the heart, because of her love. 

Jesus was seen by only those who loved Jesus! Magdalene, then the close disciples, then the eleven...it was a matter of the heart. Precisely that is the reason people were cut to the heart when Peter spoke to them of Jesus. They were cut to the heart and so they understood Jesus and his call - they were baptised. 

Today, if we wish to meet Jesus, the Risen Jesus, then we need to prepare our heart. We need to be cut to the heart, to encounter Jesus truly. When we close our heart, we would never get to see the Risen One. Yes, the shape of Easter is heart. Open it wide and the Lord will abide!

WORD 2day - Easter Monday 2017

The Colour of Easter is Green

17th April: Acts 2:14,22-33; Mt 28:8-15

Green is the colour of life! New life - that is what Easter stands for. We are Easter people; people of life, people of new life, people of eternal life. There is always a group of people in the world who are against life and anything that upholds life. The Gospel today also speaks of a people who are determined to stifle life by all means or any means, whereas there is the Holy Spirit in the first reading instilling new life into the apostles. 

Jesus' rising to life is a call to new life, a life that is lived in its fullness, in spite of the culture of death that is prevalent all around us. Violence and Conspiracy, Neglect and Indifference, Hatred and Enmity... these are spread in abundance by persons and groups. However good we may be, there is always a force against us to put us down or hate us or threaten us or discourage us. Would we give up being good? Would we give up being life-giving persons? We would not if we are a Easter People.

Let us colour our lives green! Let us be life giving people, whatever the circumstances be! Jesus lives, and we will live, let us love, live and let everyone live! Let us go green!

LOVE-LENT 2017 - HOLY WEEK #7

THE SILENT SATURDAY - 15TH APRIL, 2017

The Lord rests in the tomb this day...everything is silent! There will be a dawn very soon...but until then we are invited to Remain Silent, Remain Patient and Remain Waiting.

Speaking to me, a youngster asked me, what happened after Jesus died and before he rose? What was he going through? I said, He was silent! He was waiting! He just remained! This is the call of this unique day of the year in the Church: this is the only day in the whole of the Church when no Eucharist is Celebrated...the altar remains stripped, the tabernacle remains empty and the Church remains silent: waiting in patience to see what is going to happen next.

It is not so easy to remain silent in a moment of crisis. Multitudes of questions, thousands of thoughts will pass by our mind breaking our silence. Only the one who has an unwavering faith in the Lord can remain silent at these moments.

We have grown slaves to instant results. We seem to have have lost the natural patience of our forefathers, in the name of development and technology. Only the one who hopes in Someone greater than oneself, can remain patient and see things happen.

Compare waiting for a public utility, may be a transport or one's turn in a crowded office, with waiting for one's beloved! While former seems irritating, the latter looks exciting. The difference is the love that is involved: Only the one who loves the Lord immensely, remains waiting, for the Lord to act on his or her behalf.

Today is the day to remain...to remain silent, to remain patient, to remain waiting, because the Lord is getting something beautiful ready for us! The Lord waits...

LOVE-LENT 2017 - HOLY WEEK #6

GOOD FRIDAY 2017 - 14th April

LOVE DIES - FOR YOU AND ME

LOVE-LENT 2017 - HOLY WEEK #5

MAUNDY THURSDAY- 13th April, 2017

LOVE SERVES...
Exo 12:1-8,11-14; 1 Cor 11:23-26; Jn 13:1-15

Love is basically a willingness to submit oneself to a way of life that wishes the good of the other. Knowing the needs of the other, without having heard from him or her is a sign of love. Committing myself for the good of the other, without ever thinking of what I would gain, is an attitude of love. Being ready to lay down one's life for the good of the other is the ultimate act of love. It all begins in being at the service of the other and the good of the other. 

Maundy Thursday is the day on which the Lord gave us the famous mandate, the mandate of love: love one another as I have loved you; love in action - wash each other's feet; love to be identified as belonging to Christ. The Eucharist instituted is a loving service in action, by the Son of God who gives himself up for our good. Priesthood that is initiated today is a service, a ministry of bringing the Lord to the people. In every one of these, that which stands out is love. 

Love is our identity, love is our mission and love is our meaning. Love is seen in service, true and selfless service.

LOVE-LENT 2017 - HOLY WEEK #4

THE SPY WEDNESDAY - 12th April, 2017

LOVE HURTS...
Is 50: 4-9A; Mt 26:14-25

Starting from Monday, we have heard the three songs of the suffering servant from the book of Isaiah... a set of songs that expresses the sufferings that a servant of God or the prophet of God undergoes. It becomes a prefigurement of Christ's suffering. The servant of God, even the Son of God, finds all around  him, those who plot his downfall, those who want him to fail, to be destroyed: how prepared are we to face such people and still go about with dedication and commitment to the Will of God. Do you think it will be possible to go on loving even at these moments? It is simple to remain with the Lord and say I love, when things go on well; but when things do not go the way we want them? That is what led to the fall of Judas! But look at Jesus...it hurt him to have loved these people - the one who betrayed, the one who denied and the those who abandoned him but he never ceased loving them, much less react. 

"From that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over" ...says the Gospel today. The plot thickens and the tempo builds towards the climax. There are eyes that keep watching out for the right moment to lay hands on Jesus...and the most unfortunate fact is that it is led by one from the inner most circle of Jesus' collaborators! Yes, love hurts, but never retorts!