THE WORD AND THE FEAST

The call to be prophets – Remembering the Martyrdom of John the Baptist

August 29, 2019: Jeremiah 1: 17-19; Mark 6: 17-29

The call to be prophets, like Jeremiah and John presented to us in the Word today - is not an elitist call, that is reserved for a club of specially chosen specimen. No, it is a call that is addressed to every baptized child of God. But what is the world in general moving towards?

The world seems to be at home with a culture of sin today! Be it social or economic or political or cultural arena – there is a cloud of sinfulness that pervades and waits to consume everyone present. Religious and Spiritual realms, unfortunately, are no exceptions to this in any sense.

More treacherous than this situation, is the lack of sense of sin, that justifies sinfulness, sometimes without even the conscious assent of the persons involved. We have become so mindless of sin that certain of them do not even appear to be so... judging the other, discriminating the other in our minds, giving into our prejudices and not really giving a chance to the other and so on.

The question posed to us by the feast today is, which part we would rather play? The seducing forces that draw people to sin; or the wicked plotters who play the protagonists in spreading sinfulness; or the passive infected who continue to perpetrate sinfulness by their mere inaction; or the silent spectators who aid the spread more than do anything to stop it – all these groups are represented in the Gospel today. There is also John the Baptist, who dares to stand for truth and righteousness, even at the cost of his own life! 

What would be my choice?

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

A life of Integrity – Remembering St. Augustine

August 28, 2019: 1 Thessalonians 2: 9-13; Matthew: 23: 27-32

Yesterday was the mother, and today the son! St. Augustine is known for his passionate search for truth! And in the process he came across the Truth beyond all truth, the One Truth that accounts for all other truths and he declared, “Late have I known thee!” 

The Word of God both encourages and challenges us, explains St.Paul in the first reading and it depends on each of us, what we make of these encouragements and demands! And Jesus lashes it out at us; he minces no words: the demands are so categorical and so inescapable. We can of course pretend and wield facades that create an aura that is all hoax... but how long and to what extent? What would we achieve at the end of it all? 

Augustine tried it - he created a make-believe world around him and wanted to live in that preposterous state all his life. Thanks to the mercy of God, through the tears of his mother he saw the horizon of truth. He learnt to understand the call from God, as St. Paul says today, "as God's message and not some human thinking". That made all the difference.

Being worthy of God is the project that the Word and the saint of today propose to us and it is a matter of the inner self. No amount of exterior adornment or  rationalisations or self-justifications can give the internal peace, which comes only from a life of communion with oneself, with others and with God. This in one word could be called, “Integrity” – and that is what Jesus calls us to: a life of integrity.

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

Pleasing God alone: Remembering St. Monica 

August 27, 2019: 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8; Matthew 22: 23-26 

Not to please humans but God, invites St. Paul today in the first reading. Our spirituality can reach its dreary bottom if we are constantly conditioned by our intention to please those around and live up to their praises and affirmation, and strive to evade their critiques and denunciations. 

An externally illustrious life, with a painful emptiness within, cannot endure in its glitter for long. On the contrary, a life that might look apparently uninteresting could inspire and change people and history for ever, if it is built on deep spiritual convictions. 

St. Monica, a simple mother with her perseverance in prayer and firmness in her hope, believed that her son will one day turn to the inner richness that God alone could give and she saw her belief come true! 

Our spirituality cannot consist of straining out gnats, that everyone around may praise us for our diligence and in the obscurity of our privacy swallow camels without any qualms. How impoverished we shall be if we are so attentive about our external image, others' opinions, social status and success banners but mindless of the dirt, the negativity, the selfishness and the connivance we harbour within! 

St. Monica understood this truth in her heart and saw through the misery of her son's spirit. And she knew exactly what was lacking there within him. She prayed hard and won for him, his salvation through God's mercy! 

May the saint of today inspire us to thank God for our mothers who are our first catechists!

Conversion - turning to God!

WORD 2day: Monday, 21st week in Ordinary time

August 26, 2019: 1 Thessalonians 1: 5, 8-10; Matthew 23: 13-22 

Evangelisation is one topic that the Church can never tire itself speaking of, because it is the primary reason for its being. As soon as the Church speaks of evangelisation, the anti-church civil society would interpret it as ‘Conversion’ and in turn those factions never tire themselves of accusing the Church of conversions. 

Conversion - while it would mean mere numbers for the referred-to civil society, the readings today present to us what true conversion should be for us, the people of God. It is not so much numbers, as a way of life that counts. It is a choice made for truth, justice, love and peace - in short, for God! 

Right priorities and right values are crucial within this discourse. St. Paul underlines it in such clear terms writing to the Thessalonians, that our faith should be active; our love committed and our hope firm. Active faith is love of God, committed love is self giving towards the others and firm hope is the confidence in our self identity that we are chosen by God and made for eternal happiness.

Faith in action, love as concrete compassion and hope as unceasing optimism – these are the reasons why Pope Francis is so fond of repeating – a ‘Christian’ can never be sad! 

ENTERING THE NARROW DOOR

It is a demanding task!

August 25, 2019: 21st Sunday in Ordinary time

Isaiah 66: 18-21; Hebrews 12: 5-7,11-13; Luke 13: 22-30

The experience of standing in a queue, the tedium of entering the metal detector at places with extra vigilance or waiting for the token number at the bank… these are no rarities in our ordinary life. Jesus draws a simple example, one similar to these, our experiences.

The door to the Reign of God is narrow, not many take that door, though everyone is invited to enter the Reign. There are many other doors, which seem more comfortable, more spacious and more adorned and people prefer them, knowing least that they do not lead to the Reign of God, the greatest treasure in store for us!

Entering the narrow door is a task quite demanding – the readings today point to three traits that are needed to be able to enter the Reign through the narrow door. As Jesus tells us in the Gospel, many try to enter but they cannot.

To able to enter the door, one should be strong! Strive – says the Lord – Strive to enter – To strive means to struggle, to make all the efforts possible, to try real hard. One needs to be strong in mind, heart and soul to strive to enter the narrow door into the Reign. It is Spiritual strength we are dealing with here. Be Strong, but avoid Spiritual Obesity, warns the Lord. If you are obese, you cannot enter the narrow door – it’s obvious! 

Spiritual Obesity – Pride and Elitist mentality – which gives into self righteousness and judgmental attitude can never get us into the Reign of God. I am baptized, I am a born-again, I am a consecrated religious, I am a Sacred minister – nothing can get you in! From the east and the west, the north and the south everyone will enter and sit at the table in the Reign says the Lord. Mind you, there are no reservations here in. A bit of disciplining, as the second reading suggests, can get us in shape.

To be able to enter the door, one should be in communion! The way is long, we reflected on that last week. Communion with each other and Communion with those who have managed to enter the door before us, can really make the task easy and enjoyable. Our forerunners are our example, our model and can even be our helpers – but finally, the one who has to enter is me! It is you! That is why we are warned today – Be in Communion but avoid Spiritual Infantilism. At times we make our faith so infantile that we think everything depends on the candles we light, the formulae we repeat, the food we give up and the coins we drop. These are means to strengthen our relationship with God – but they are not everything. 

What matters most is our personal life of commitment and integrity. You cannot enter the narrow door in groups… one by one you have to do it. That means you cannot ride on the goodness of the other, either the living or those gone before you!

To be able to enter the door, one should be patient! The wait is long, for the door is narrow! Waiting on the Lord is a spiritual talent. To wait patiently, amidst failures and pressures, amidst temptations and struggles, amidst dark nights and heavy burdens, it is the only way one can be prepared and prompt when one’s time comes! There is a warning here too: Be Patient but avoid Spiritual Lethargy. In the name of patience I cannot procrastinate my commitment and postpone my conversion to a later moment. ‘Repent and Believe, for the Reign of God is near’ says the Lord. 

Being patient is not being busy with something else till my turn comes… but persevering, enduring and constantly working on myself that when my turn comes, I am in shape, prepared enough and fit to enter the narrow door that leads me to the behold the eternal glory of the Lord Almighty!

I am the door, if anyone enters through me, he or she will be saved (Jn 10:9) declared the Lord elsewhere! Jesus is the door, the narrow door, the demanding door – He is compassionate, yes; but at the same time uncompromising. The choice is ours to choose the narrow door, make ourselves strong, united and patient, to endure our everyday life and make straight the path for our feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed (heb 12:13). The door is narrow but there is enough space to enter, if we are in ready and willing.

All, but not all…

One by one is the call…

Let us enter the Narrow Door, one and all.

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

August 24, 2019: Remembering St. Bartholomew, the Apostle.

Revelations 21: 9-14; John 1: 45-51

Known in the Gospel of St.John with the name Nathanael, Bartholomew received from the Lord a great compliment. A man in whom there is no guile, says the Lord. Though he did not believe what Phillip said and originally did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah, Jesus recognises the goodness in him. 

The readings today have three lessons to teach: 

One, the readiness of Jesus to appreciate the goodness in a person even when the person did not believe in him. How many times friends turn the worst enemies when they begin to disagree with each other! 

Second lesson is from Bartholomew, who accepts the call to 'come and see' and goes, sees, believes and remains with the Lord. 

The third lesson is from the feast itself - a remembrance of the Apostles is a special invitation to each of us to recognise the call we have received to to go into the world and proclaim God's Reign. 

Bartholomew took the Gospel right upto Armenia and Arabia. There exists a legend that Bartholomew reached even India's western borders! Each of us is reminded today of our call to bear the goodnews to the ends of the world, to establish the Reign of God - beginning with the closest of our contexts - that is, right wherever we are!

How do I become God's child?

WORD 2day: Friday, 20th week in Ordinary time

August 23, 2019: Ruth 1: 1-3, 6-14, 16-22; Matthew 22:34-40

Approaching today's readings with the question, 'how does one become a son or daughter of God' - there is an example and a theory! The example is that of Ruth and the theory is presented to us by Jesus himself in the Gospel. 

Ruth, a moabite, who lost her hebrew husband, still becomes a part of God's salvation plan and becomes one of the few women referred to in the long history of the Israelites. How does it happen? The answer is, true and selfless LOVE. And that is the connecting link between the readings today.

Love is the only way one can become a child of God, as John puts it so simply in his letter - 'Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God' (1 Jn 4:7). John learnt it from his master and beloved friend, Jesus who dared to synthesise the whole of the law and the prophets (that is, the whole of Hebrew Scripture) into two directives, which actually amounted to just one command: LOVE. 

Now we are back with the question we began with: how do I become a child of God. Neither some ritual, nor some practices of piety, not even some grand acts of heroism can achieve that status. There is only one way, taught by the Only Son of God and that is the way of love. Let us love one another and become God's children.

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

August 22, 2019: Celebrating the Queenship of Mary 

Isaiah 9: 1-7; Luke 1: 26-38

On this day, which is exactly a week after Assumption of Mary into the presence of God, a tradition in the Church celebrates the Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth. Though it is just a memoria, it is worth celebrating and reflecting!  

In what does Mary's Queenship consist? 

We are not dealing here with a contestable fact that would irk the Non-Catholic friends, as if we are claiming an undeserved and an over-exaggerated place for Mary within our religious convictions. It is obvious that we have misgivings with the non-Catholics, but certainly they cannot miss this point, if only they reason it out logically.

The choice of the readings today beautifully expresses the Church's stand on this: The glory of the Lord that is revealed in incarnation is the point of focus, according to the first reading from Isaiah, while the Gospel presents the role of Mary in that glorious event - a humble role of a servant who tells God, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done unto me according to your word!" 

Her Queenship does not consist in pomp or splendour, but in filial submission and total dedication to the plan of God. She remains the same even now, forever - a humble handmaid who carries out the plan of God. If only our non-Catholic friends believe in the life eternal that is promised to us, where will they place that lovely person who was an instrument in the hands of the Divine, in executing the magnificent salvation plan? Obvious, as close as possible to the Divine, above every other being on earth, because she proved so worthy of it.

Leaving aside making sense to the non-Catholic friends, those within the fold need to understand this fact: Mary is Queen, in her simplicity, in her humility, in her docility, in her total submission to the Lord. Let us never lose sight of this in our over enthusiastic celebration of this loving Blessed Mother of ours! Let us take her as our model, an inspiration, a challenge to make ourselves simple, humble, docile and totally dedicated to God's will. 

There is no surprise Mary was crowned the Queen, because Jesus had said: One who humbles oneself, will be exalted!

The standards of the Undiscerning mind

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 20th week in Ordinary time

August 21, 2019: Judges 9: 6-15; Matthew 20: 1-16

Just yesterday we reflected on God's choices; today we get to reflect on the human choices. If God's choices were strange for noble reasons; the human choices are strange too, but for all wrong reasons - lack of judgement, result of manipulation, jealousy and maliciousness! 

The first reading is a picturesque presentation of this situation, by way of a parable narrated by Jotham - how we end up at times happily choosing the bramble as our shelter and hope! We create standards for ourselves, which are no standards at all in the sight of God and in the perspective of eternal life, and then we wish to live up to it, even at the cost of lives - Oh, what a colossal loss of life and meaning! All because we lack that one great gift of discernment.

Discernment - it is a very important grace that we need in our daily living - to make the right choices! Haste and Imbalanced judgements make up for the mistakes we land in. But the moment we realise that, we are called to return to the Lord, and be God's people. We need not think of what hour and what stage it is; it's never too late with God's love, as long as the will to return is nothing but genuine. 

 All that God wants is that we choose to say 'yes', when he calls! The choice is truly ours.

The standards of the Almighty

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 20th week in Ordinary time 

August 20, 2019: Judges 6: 11-24; Matthew 19: 23-30

The Lord's choices are curious, infact, strange! There is a series of them we can cite from both Old Testament and the New. Today's first reading presents to us one such personality - Gideon, a fear-stricken young man who defines himself as the least of all in Israel - is chosen by God and called, "Mighty Warrior". The numerous others like Jacob the less-stronger, David the puniest of the sons, Solomon the son of the coveted wife and over to the New Testament the uneducated  fishermen and  despised sinners as disciples and apostles -  the list is endless. 

The whole of Salvation History is accomplished in and through these so-called odd choices. One thing is very clear: "it is impossible for humans; but for God everything is possible." While the world and we ourselves look for something, God looks at something else and expects something totally different from us! 

Infact, that which God sees and expects is the most appropriate and when that coincides with what I see and expect from myself - the miracle happens: the first becomes the last and the last becomes the first! What I need to know and follow is what St. Paul counsel the Romans in his letter (12:2): Do not conform to the standards of the world! Be renewed in Christ and you shall fit the standards of the Almighty.