THE REIGN HERE AND NOW

6th September, 2015: 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time 

Is 35: 4-7; Jas 2: 1-5; Mk 7: 31-37

The deaf hear and the dumb speak... that was not merely a statement of compliment to Jesus,  but it was an expression of a hopeful longing! A longing of generations that the Reign of God would be established wiping every tear off the eyes of humanity. When Jesus did these wonders among people,  they found in those wonders and signs the very symptoms of the imminent Reign of God,  as foretold by the prophets of old. They hoped it would come around atleast then. ...and Jesus did promise them that. I have come that I may proclaim the year of the Lord,  initiating the Reign on earth (cf. Lk 4: 18), declared Jesus. Anyway,  Jesus was not deceiving them or letting them down; he told them clearly,  the Reign of God is among you (Lk 17:21). If they wanted to make it present or make it a reality, they could have done it. They were not ready for it.  The challenge is the very same today... if we want it we can make it a reality today, here and now! But we are not ready;  we do not want to! 'Oh no... how we wish it became a reality today', we might say. But the Word challenges us today: Do you really want the Reign present here and now? Then...

1. Behold the Reign

If I truly wish that Reign is established here and now, I have to firstly believe that the Reign is amidst us. Through persons of good will, through initiatives of selfless promotion of well being of the downtrodden, through the numerous who are ready to lay their lives down for a cause that might not concern their good at all,  through the ascendancy that God has over the earth,  the humanity and history,  the Reign is in reality present right in our midst and all that I need to do is realise it. There are so many signs of it;  there are ample evidences of it. God is at work in reality, let us acknowledge it. In partnering with persons and agencies of good will, in recognising the presence of the Lord in the world through various simple signs,  in attributing to God every single inspiration to common good,  we behold the presence of the Region here amidst us. The first reading from Isaiah presents us these symptoms of the  reign.

2. Block not the Reign

There are certain attitudes and habits through which I become a block or an hindrance to the Reign. The mere fact that I too belong to the so called church and I too have received the Baptism doesn't guarantee that I will allow the Reign come alive here and now. Discriminations on the basis of any criterion - caste or colour or community or availability of resources - is an apparent block to the Reign, says James today.

3. Be Agents of the Reign

The ultimate call is to be positive agents of the Reign in the manner that each one is called to be. My words and attitudes, my thoughts and convictions, my deeds and dispositions have to be Reign friendly. They have to be life giving. They should offer the light to the blind, the voice to the dumb, the hearing to the deaf, the liberation to the suffering... I need to become the agent of the Reign of God here and now. How long am I going to blame the other, moan the times and wait without doing anything? The call is clear: to actively do my part in making present the Reign here and now. How ready am I for the sacrifices involved? How prepared am I to take upon myself the hardships that would come my way and the inconveniences i would have to put up with?

Happy are those who hunger and thirst for the Reign of God, for they shall be satisfied!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

5th September, 2015: Remembering Blessed Mother Teresa

Continuing in faith: stable and steadfast
Col 1: 21-23; Lk 6: 1-5

Stand firm in Faith without drifting away,  instructs St Paul in the first reading today. Nothing but faith has to be the foundation of Christian life. Faith is the personal response that one gives to a self-revealing God. Experiences may vary,  outcomes may differ and success and failure may find equal probability in what we take up. ..but none of these should make me waver or drift away from the journey I have begun in the Lord.

We have a great example for that today in the person of Blessed Mother Teresa of Kolkata. A person who had every reason to be shaken and to drift away,  but she stood her ground stable and steadfast in faith! Nothing but what God wanted from her,  mattered to her. In her life choices,  major decisions and day to day living,  she based herself on the solid foundation of faith. Many accused her of many things, as we see in the Gospel today, but she remained firm,  continuing in faith, stable and steadfast!

WORD 2day : 4th September, 2015

To reconcile everything

Friday, 22nd week in Ordinary Time
Col 1:15-20; Lk 5: 33-38

Paul states the ultimate destiny of all creation- to be reconciled in Christ. Humans, animals and all creatures alike ultimately have to be reconciled into one in Christ. That is the essential movement of all reality and any thing that militates against this is from the evil one.

Anything that divides,  separates or stratifies cannot be trusted to be from God. Even if it is a spiritual practice or a theological concept that takes one away from the movement of reconciling everything in Christ,  it has to be suspected. Be it traditionalism or novelties,  be it supernaturalism or practicalities,  be it customs or innovations,  the movement should always be towards one destiny: ultimate reconciliation in Christ. If that is left out of focus,  even the best of our efforts will either be selfish or ungodly!

How reconciling are my thoughts,  words and deeds?  Is Christ the Omega Point always my focus, in all that I say or do?

WORD 2day : 3rd September, 2015

The Capacity for God-vision

Thursday,  22nd week in Ordinary Time
Col 1:9-14; Lk 5: 1-11

Jesus demonstrates to the first disciples an extraordinary capacity of perceiving reality. We can call this God vision. ..the capacity to see beyond the apparent,  the ability to perceive even what is not yet. This is seen in two levels in the Gospel today. Jesus seeing the catch of fish where it wasn't apparently and Jesus seeing the possibly of Peter and others with him becoming fishers of men. Jesus promises them that he will develop in them the same capacity: the capacity for God-vision.

When we cooperate with this God vision, God brings out of us the best that we never even imagined. And eventually as persons of God,  God will give us the capacity to look at the best in a person even at a point where it is not apparently visible. St Paul had become expert fisher of humans and we see him manifest that quality of God vision- he perceives in the people of Colossia a people who are called for great things and not merely new converts.

To be true disciples and apostles of the Lord,  we need to surrender to the God-vision and grow in our capacity for God-vision. 

WORD 2day : 2nd September, 2015

All out for the Word

Wednesday,  22nd week in Ordinary Time
Col 1:1-8; Lk 4: 38-44

Paul,  Epaphras,  Jesus...all seem to be on the move. With a sense urgency and a feeling of detachment they seem to move on from one place to another with the task of proclamation filling their minds. The question today is about our sense of apostleship. Are we filled with this urgency and are we convinced about this task given to us?

Proclamation is not the work of a few, it belongs to each and every one who is baptised. It is not an added feather to our hats but an essential mark of a Christian. Ofcourse there is no one way of proclamation. Preaching is just one way;  example,  witness,  convictions,  values,  compassion and limitless love are all ways of sharing that Word with the world.

Let me ask myself 2 questions today: am I convinced of my call to proclaim?  And what is my specific way of proclamation?

WORD 2day : 1st September, 2015

The Source of Authority

Tuesday,  22nd week in Ordinary Time
1 Thes 5: 1-6, 9-11; Lk 4: 31-37

Jesus spoke with authority,  felt the people. Infact the Scribes and pharisees too spoke to them from pedestals and pulpits. They found a qualitative difference in what was said by Jesus and the way he said it. They saw persons cast out demons but never the way Jesus did it. There was something peculiar about Jesus and the people noted it. Jesus' authority came from within,  from his self realisation of who he was in the core of his being. The source of his authority was not some where out in the wilderness or in some far away reality. It was from God whom Jesus felt right within him, present so faithfully and powerfully.

In the first reading St.  Paul reminds us of the fact that we too, possess the same authority because the source of all authorities resides within us. 'Alive or dead,  we should always be united in Christ' says Paul. And our authority would come from this union at the core of our beings.

WORD 2day : 31st August, 2015

A warning against practical atheism

Monday,  22nd week in Ordinary Time
1 Thes 4: 13-18; Lk 4: 16-30

One of our philosophy professors would often refer to what is called practical atheism. We know what atheism means: it is saying there is no God. It is much safer and clearer than practical atheism which actually is a stand of subtle self deception.

Practical Atheism is the way of life where a person lives his or her life as if God did not exist,  though theoretically the person claims to believe in a god. For all practical purposes there seems to be no difference between the life of an atheist and this person who claims to believe in God. At times we can live our life with values and priorities that are so ungodly,  with mere external practices that seem religious.

The readings today invite us to examine our deep seated convictions and judge for ourselves how much our beliefs transform our lives.

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

The Head on a Platter

The passion of John the Baptist: 29th August, 2015

1 Thes 4: 9-11; Mk 6: 17-29

The head on a platter, is a phenomenon prevalent even today! A person, when he or she finds another unacceptable or unpalatable or intolerable, decides to get rid of the person from his or her life! The world today, as ever, acts as a collective person to do the same! First attempt is to silence the person as Herod did; the more determined effort is to totally eliminate the person as Herodias planned. The predicament of Truth and those who stand for truth remains the same even today. The world may ask for your head on the platter, but make sure you have it on your shoulders, reminds us the first reading today.

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

Holiness: God's overarching call

Remembering St. Augustine: 28th August, 2015

1 Thess 4: 1-8; Mt 25: 1-13

At times it makes me wonder: how many compromises I make; how many concessions I make to myself; in how many ways I make things easier for myself; in how many senses I lose sight of the right spiritual priorities in life... what am I upto in my daily life? 

All that I do, all that I carry out as my duty, all that I enjoy doing, all that I am good at doing...everything should lead me to that one destiny that God invites me to:  Holiness. That is the overarching call of God, despite all the varied shades of events and experiences in life.

Holiness, today the readings explain, is nothing but integrity. Integrity is the quality of being what I am, what I am called to be and what the core of my being is, without considering the consequences and inconveniences it could cause. Integrity is that oneness of my mind and heart, that oneness of my thoughts and perspectives, that oneness of my actions and attitudes that does not keep changing as the situations around me keep changing. 

St. Augustine arrives at this oneness, though a bit late, but with a certainty that no one else has manifested. St. Monica, though not a greatly educated lady, understood that the crux of integrity was simplicity, that oneness of everything. It may take time, it may prolong till the eleventh hour, but the Lord will surely be there to receive the persons of integrity, for 'this is the will of the Father: our sanctification' (cf. 1 Thes 4:3).

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

Tough times of parenting: Remembering St.  Monica
27th August, 2015: 1 Thes 3: 7-13; Mt 24:42-51

Imbibing the readings of today with the saint of today before our minds, offers an insight so lovely and urgent. In these days of exaggerated levels of promiscuity and compromises,  the worst affected are the young and the children. Parents, if considered the householders placed in charge of these young souls, need to be constantly on the guard as the Gospel pictures it today. They have to be constantly on their knees, like St. Paul who felt the need to pray for his spiritual children.

It was this same act of faith on the part St. Monica that saved her son and gave us a great theologian in the person of St. Augustine. Monica stands today a great example for the parents of a faith family. Let us pray for troubled mothers who agonise on account of their vagrant children. May the Lord protect the children of these days from the viles of the times.