Finding the Fundamentals of our Faith

The WORD in ADVENT - First Monday

November 28, 2022: Isaiah 4: 2-6; Matthew 8: 5-11

We began Advent yesterday with a call, "to return to the Reign"! And what could that mean - it means to find the fundamental meaning of our faith in the Lord, which fills us with hope, love and joy!

One of the concrete expressions of faith is, total confidence that the Lord has the power to act on my behalf! The Word today explains this reality to us in a splendid manner. Isaiah infuses hope into the people in exile that the Lord will bring back their glory to them, that the Lord will forgive all their iniquities, cleanse them and heal them! He is building up their shattered faith. 

It is the same faith that Jesus notices in the centurion, a non-Israelite, a 'pagan' according to the Jews... Jesus sees the confidence that the centurion had in Jesus' power to heal that servant at home. He had no doubt whatsoever and surrendered the whole situation to Jesus. He did not demand, nor did he prescribe to Jesus what is to be done; he just surrendered. The faith stands out here. 

Work-stress, family problems, personal crises, misunderstandings, relationship issues, daily concerns, discouragements, health issues... when we are faced with these - we need to have an unassailable confidence that Our Lord has the power to act on our behalf. Let us pray for the strength of faith, to say as the centurion does today: "Lord, only say a word, and your servant will be healed!"

RETURN TO THE REIGN

Climb, Conduct and Celebrate!

November 27, 2022: New Liturgical Year - 1st Sunday of Advent

Revelation 22: 1-7; Romans 13:11-14a; Matthew 24: 37-44

Let us begin with wishing each other a happy and blessed New liturgical year! And right at the outset the Lord invites us today, to RETURN to the REIGN of God.

 

The Church is the sign and the sacrament of the Reign of God. We are the Church, the people of God! Therefore we are expected to be the signs, the bearers, the heralds of the Reign of God today to the world. And how can this happen if we are not people of the Reign, if we are not mindful of ushering in the Reign of God here on earth, or making the Reign felt concretely, if we do not really believe in what Christ said: 'The Reign of God is amidst you!' (Lk 17:21) Hence, the invitation today, to return to the Reign is basically a wake up call, to wake up to the reality, to wake up to our real identity, to wake up to our dignity as the People of the Reign and to live up to that identity on a daily basis.

It is an invitation to CLIMB the mountain of the Lord... yes, to walk in the way of the Lord, to walk in the light of the Lord...as the first reading repeats in different words. It is fundamentally an invitation to climb, to go up, infact to grow up. We are invited to go up, grow up, above our tendencies of conflict and our feelings of rivalry and jealousy, above our petty considerations of ourselves and self centered strivings for pleasure. It is a call to transcend what is popularly considered to be 'desirable' and reach the thinking worthy of the Reign - where swords can turn into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks; where all manipulation and exploitation will give into genuine love and sincere goodwill for the other.

It is an invitation to CONDUCT ourselves worthy of the Reign. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, invites us St. Paul. And in doing it, let's not wait for an opportune moment... for "now is the acceptable time, now is the time of salvation!" (2 Cor 6:2). Waiting for another moment will be a mistake, a blunder, a foolishness on our part. Let us make the choice, a choice for God, a choice for the light, a choice for the good, a choice to be awake, a choice to be the people of the Reign. Let us not blame the world, the society, the times... the choice is ours, and let us make it now - To accept the invitation of the Lord and "walk in the light of the Lord"(Is 2:5). We will find the joy that the Lord can give, the joy that the Light can shed, the joy that cannot be taken away from us, and in that joy we will find the Reign of God amidst us!

It is an invitation to CELEBRATE the Reign of God amidst us, not waiting to reach the end but celebrating it all the way. Advent is not a preparation towards a celebration, it is a celebration in itself, a celebration of the peace, the prosperity, the security and the salvation that the Lord brings us. The Reign of God becomes a reality when we celebrate our love and joy together as brothers and sisters in the Lord. This is the meaning of the phrase, All the way to heaven is heaven! As we pray in the responsorial psalm, we are walking, walking towards the Reign, but all through the way we are called to celebrate the Reign of God..celebrate the love we share, celebrate the equality we have, celebrate the justice we stand for, celebrate the brotherhood and sisterhood that we work to establish forever - that celebration is returning to the Reign!

As we begin the year, and the wonderful season of Advent, let us pay heed to the invitation from the Lord - to Climb the mountain of the Lord, to Conduct ourselves worthy of the Reign and in that joy, to Celebrate the Reign of God, every day in our relationships in our family, in our communities, in our parish, in our localities and wherever we are. May the joy of the Gospel, the joy of the Reign, fill our hearts all through this new year.

Neither inaction nor hyper action

WORD 2day: Saturday, 34th week in Ordinary time

November 26, 2022: Revelation 22:1-7; Luke 21: 34-36

Behold I am coming soon! At times it does annoy when we hear people go hysteric about this statement. It is not a statement to make one panic, but a gentle reminder as to how one should live one's daily life.  St. Paul understood this well and instructed the thessalonians: "For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness" (1 Thess 5:2,4).

This only means that neither inaction nor hyper action is expected of us; neither carousing nor drowsiness! It is not a call to live our life on pins and needles, anxious about the next moment; nor is it a call to live our life in mourning and bewailing for the lost moments. The call is simply to make the best of this moment and live the 'here and now' to the full, conscious and loving. That is the sense that the Gospel presents us: be vigilant at all times! 

Neither inaction, which is the product of lamentation of the past, nor hyper action which is a frenetic preparation for an unknown future at the cost of the present, would help us says the Word today. The secret is to live our lives as children of the light, calm and composed, but awake and vigilant! Every end leads to a new beginning, provided we are awake and aware. As we end this liturgical year, we begin the new year, yet another opportunity to journey, through time and space, towards fullness we are called to.   

Heaven, Earth and the Word

WORD 2day: Friday, 34th week in Ordinary time

November 25, 2022: Revelation 20: 1-4,11- 21:2; Luke 21: 29-33

We have heard the phrase in english, 'he moved earth and heaven to achieve something.' Moving heaven and earth is symbolically used as doing even what is impossible. Heaven and earth become a kind of immovable reference points naturally. Physics, Kinetics, Geography, History ...all of these subjects and others take heaven and earth as reference points to make possible an explanation for their theories and principles. Today the Lord says, these are not truly the unchanging reference points, they cannot be.

The true reference point for our life, for our actions, for our choices, has to be the Word. For those who hear the Word, keep it in their heart and live by it, will find a place in that New Heaven and New Earth... the heaven and the earth may keep becoming new and newer, it does not matter, as long as what matters to us is the Word and being faithful to it. 

There is always a yearning in our human heart to find something that can be unchanging, constant, a reliable ground on which one can build his or her life. This is why relationships that are unreliable and fluid are so unnerving for persons. The society today is tired of it - be it in interpersonal level (in friendships, courtships or among couples), in the social levels (lack of policies, unjust systems etc) or in the global levels (international stand offs and capitalistic hegemonies)! Everywhere, there is a disillusionment because there is a lack of solid unchanging ground! The fact is there can be nothing absolutely unchanging. Even the earth and the heaven will pass away sometimg. But God alone never changes! There is our constant, unchanging and never ending reference point.. God, the Living Word!

Victory and Power to the Lord

WORD 2day: Thursday, 34th week in Ordinary Time

November 24, 2022: Revelation 18:1-2,21-23,19:1-3,9; Luke 21:20-28

Reacting to the first reading of today, many take off with imaginations and guesses as to who is referred to as the whore and who is the condemned. There are so many of the non-catholic denominations today who point an accusing finger with a heartless judgement: the Catholic Church is the Babylon of the Apocalypse! This kind of a finger-pointing and childish pickering is definitely not the purpose of these descriptions in the book...it is not intended as solving some mystery puzzle!

The simple message that these imageries have, is a challenge to make a choice, a choice for God. Amidst all the dreadful things that happen around, we are called to remain firm in the Lord. Amidst all the inexplicable evil around, we are called to side with the truth and fearlessly face the consequences that could arise. Amidst all the dark powers that seemingly dominate the scene in the world today, we are called to firmly believe that the victory and power belong to Our Lord!

To say victory and power belong to God, we need to feel ourselves as instruments in the hands of God when we are able to accomplish things, we need to recognise the hand of God when others are able to accomplish things, we need to accept the intervention of God when we are offered a criticism or correction in a particular situation. It is not enough to just say those words as a cliche or a formula, but it has to become our outlook on life and all its situation - that victory and power always belong to God!

Perseverance... are we ready?

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 34th week in Ordinary time

November 23, 2022: Revelation 15:1-4; Luke 21: 12-19

Perseverance in terms of targets and achievements in the world is holding on endlessly. The same, when it comes to our relationship with God is giving up limitlessly. Is it not an intriguing contrast? Holding on endlessly and Giving up limitlessly! Yes, perseverance in the spiritual sense, is to give up, to give up totally into the hands of God, regardless of the successes or failures, gains or losses, happiness or sadness, prosperity or misery!

We will never be able to do that if we have our minds fixed on something and we fix all our happiness on some results and consequences, accomplishments and acqusitions! The more we let go and let ourselves into the hands of God, the more we shall feel serene, blessed and growing! Faith is all about that. 

Faith involves giving up everything and walking with our hands in the hands of God. Indeed it's a challenging feat. Specially considering the fact that today there is a great pressure laid on people to hoard up things, keep striving to prove oneself, ensure one's career or well being in competition with each other...the times are difficult. It takes true faith and strong hope, to remain calm and unperturbed even amidst trials, temptations and tribulations. That is true perseverance, giving up and letting go! Are we ready?

Curiosity or care to change?

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 34th week in Ordinary time

November 22, 2022: Revelation 14: 14-19 ; Luke 21: 5-11

When will these things happen? We are more interested in knowing when certain things will happen and curious about predictions and premonitions, than understanding what is the right thing to be done and make the right moves in life at the right time. Curiosity, is denoted as one of the most prominent spiritual enemies of growth, because knowing for the sake of knowing makes us more infantile than mature. What does it matter knowing, when it does not really affect my life towards a positive and mature transformation?

Mistakenly, and sometimes lazily, we postpone the necessary and crucial transformations in life for an opportune time. At times that opportune moment never comes or it gets too late by the time they come by. The month of November insists on the urgency that is involved in personal conversion and community dedication to growth and maturity in faith. And specially these days leading us to the season of advent, give us a better understanding of the end time spirituality that we are called to live in these times.

Mindful of the short time that we have, we have a calling to live: live our lives to the full, a life worthy of the Lord who has given us the gift of this life!

Chosen, marked and... Given?

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

November 21, 2022: Presentation of Our Blessed Mother 

Revelation 14: 1-3,4b-5; Luke 21:1-4

We are chosen and marked with the names of Our Lord and His Father, the mark that we received at Baptism and renew at every sacrament we receive, in and through the Spirit! We are chosen, in the name of the Lord to bear the name of the Father, to be dwelling places of the Spirit of God. We are marked to represent the Lord here amidst other people and bring to fulfillment the plan that the Father has for the entire universe! 

We are chosen by the Father and marked by the Lord...What should our response be?

Our Blessed Mother answers that question perfectly: our response should undoubtedly be, a total self giving! 

Whatever little we have, whoever little that we are, we are called to give that totally into the hands of the God and we will see miracles happen. As long as I keep something of me in reserve, I prevent the free flow of grace. When I give myself without reserve and when I offer myself totally...wonders begin to happen, God's plan begins to unfurl, love begins to flow and mercy finds no bounds!

This is the meaning of the memory we celebrated today, where the total self giving of Mary as a beloved daughter of God is prefigured in her presentation at the temple! This is an apocryphal tradition that we celebrate, ofcourse it has no mention in the canonical scriptures of the Church - but it is certain to have happened, just as it would have happened for any jewish child of jewish family. But the way Mary lived out that presentation in her life, in her total self giving to the Lord, in her unreserved submission to the holy Will of God - that is what we celebrate in reality!

There is no doubt, I am chosen, I am marked...but the crucial question is, have I truly given myself to the Lord? And how much of myself have I given?

JESUS CHRIST THE KING

Yesterday, Today & Forever!

November 20, 2022: Solemnity of Christ the King

2 Samuel 5: 1-3; Colossians 1: 12-20; Luke 23: 35-43

Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever! Jesus Christ is the king - yesterday, today and forever! We celebrate the Kingship of Christ this Sunday - what a wisdom for the Church to invite the faithful to end the year with their King. And next Sunday we begin a new liturgical year. Today, the readings invite us to reflect on the kingship that Christ holds and the way he exercises it! St. Paul summarises the entire feast in just three verses in the second reading - Col 1: 17,18,20.

He is before all things, and in him all things hold together(Col 1:17). The first reading establishes the kingship of Jesus in the line of David - God makes David the king of Israel and promises that his line will never end. Infact, in God's mighty plan, the kingship seems eternal, without beginning or end, for God places David a king, to rule in God's name and for Israel it was always Yahweh, who was the King! Every leadership in Christian community therefore derives from God; it is an invitation, a commitment to act on behalf of God, at the service of God's people! Jesus Christ is King, Jesus Christ has been king from eternity, as the first-born of all creation, to him all glory and majesty!

Through him God is pleased to reconcile all things on earth or heaven (Col 1:20). The verse speaks to us of a future, of the universal harmony in One Lord, One God, the new earth and new heaven where only Love will reign, that is, only God will reign, for God is love (1 Jn 4:8). Jesus Christ is King, Jesus will be forever the king. Everything, everyone is moving towards that union with God, in Christ our Lord. It fills us with a hope, despite all the tribulations we go through here and now. But it is not automatic, it all depends on the choices we make today. If we choose the Lord, we endear the Lord. On the contrary, if we choose the passing glories and fleeting pleasures of the moment, that is what we will have. As St.Paul instructs us elsewhere, if you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit (Gal 6:8).

He is the head of the body, the church (Col 1:18). The Gospel presents us a strange sort of a King. Jesus is the one who rules... who rules from the Cross as his throne, who rules with the thorns as his crown, who rules not with the sceptre in his hands but with the marks of nail on his hands, who rules not with laws but with love, a love that abounds without any measure whatsoever. Today the ruler has appointed you and me as his ambassadors - the ruler is not understood, so will we be - not understood; the ruler is not welcome into the schools and public places and the moral arena in the world today, so will we be - not welcome to voice our opinions for truth, for justice and for God. But as His ambassador, what am I doing? What am I ready to do? Yes, Jesus is King, but I am his ambassador, wherever I am... in my service of love, in my witness of faith, in my joy of hope, in my testimony of humility, in my commitment to truth and in my yearning for justice, I have to prove myself that I am the ambassador of that Eternal King.

Today we celebrate the Kingship of Christ - yes, Yesterday, Today and Forever, Jesus is King, and I am his ambassador. How worthy am I for the King whom I represent! How faithful and loyal am I to the King who has died for me, and who calls me to do the same! You are the people of God, Royal Priesthood says the Word, and that is what we are... we share the kingship with Christ - a kingship that consists in loving service to humanity and loving surrender to the Lord!

Long live our King! And let us live everyday worthy of our King!

The God of the Living

WORD 2day: Saturday, 33rd week in Ordinary time

November 19, 2022: Revelation 11: 4-12; Luke 20: 27-40

The God of the living: that is how Jesus presents his God and Father, and our God and Father.

Resurrection is the foundation of our conviction that our life is not merely made of the few years that we spend on this earth. Our life is part of the Eternal Stream, that is God and we have but a few years here on earth. We come from and we are meant for a union that is eternal and all our efforts during this life has to be towards ensuring that union for ever.

What would be the fall out if we had this truth right in front of our minds while we live? We would not unnecessarily fret to make ourselves comfortable at the cost of the other. We would not long to possess something or someone, leading to undue striving to control the other and manipulate situations. We would not harm others or harm nature just because at present we would like to make more money or make life more easy. We would not calculate everything in terms of gain and profit and dividends and surplus. What a life that would be...truly worthy of the Lord who has given us this life!

But should we wait for a terrifying moment to repent and reset our values? Jesus offers us a wonderful criterion: the criterion of Resurrection. Live as Resurrection-people; live as people of the Eternity; live as people who really believe that your life does not end here and now! In short, the Lord invites us to be ever mindful and live as people of the God of the living!