THE WORD AND THE SAINT

The Call to Give - a life of fruitfulness 

Remembering St. Lawrence, the Deacon-Martyr - 10th August, 2017
2Cor 9: 6-10; Jn 12: 24-26



The best of all giving, is giving of oneself! Giving of one’s abundance, giving of whatever little that one has and giving even if one does not have enough for oneself – these are praise worthy in their respective order. But the highest of all giving is Self-giving. 

Celebrating the Deacon-martyr, St. Lawrence, we are reminded of the early Christian communities that were so much characterized by persons who were blessed with the special charism of Giving of their own selves, apart from what they possessed. They were cheerful givers, and so we find their numbers kept growing unprecedentedly. The very spirit that they radiated held captive those who saw them and multitudes were drawn to emulate it. They were ready and willing to die to themselves that Christ may come alive in them! St.Paul’s words were true in so many of those early Christians – “I live, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal 2:20) and “for me to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil 1:21). These were not mere catchy sayings; they were true lived experiences and we witness it in great martyrs like St. Stephen, the apostles and St. Paul himself. St. Lawrence follows suit very closely later in the third century. After all, they had but one model who had invaded and conquered their minds, hearts and spirits - Jesus the ultimate personification of self-giving - the grain of seed that chose to fall to the ground, that it may abound in its fruits: we are the fruits and let us be worthy of the grain which has borne us. 

WORD 2day: 9th August, 2017

You become what you believe

Wednesday, 18th week in Ordinary Time

Num 13:1-2,25 - 14:1,26-29,34-35; Mt 15: 21-28

'Woman, great is your faith! Let it be unto you as you have believed' said Jesus and the girl was healed, because she believed that the girl could be healed. 

'I shall do to you just as you have said' the Lord told Israel and they spent 40 long years in the desert, because they did not believe they could take over the land as the Lord directed them. 

The Word has this to declare to us: you become what you believe. Beware what you really believe! The worst thing that I can do to myself is, be negligent about the Lord with me. The Lord is with me, and if I am conscious of that presence, my attitude towards life will be completely transformed by that consciousness. If I believe theoretically in the presence of the Lord but am insensitive to it in reality, the loser is me! 

If I believe the Lord is with me, specially during moments of crisis and difficulty, I would emerge victorious in the name of the Lord. If I fail to believe in the presence of the Lord with me, great is my worry and heavy is my labour, and the result - it is all left to chances! Lord I believe and I am certain I shall behold the best you have prepared for me!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

Like the Men of God

Celebrating St. Dominic - 8th August, 2017

Num 12:1-13; Mt 14: 22-36

The Word speaks of two Men of God today - not merely by the popular title but by their very life style and the way they respond to tough situations. Moses, against whom the very people whom he served grumbled, including his closest collaborators. What did he do? Held it against them? No, that was not becoming of a man of God. Even when Miriam stood affected by her own sin, he intercedes with the Lord, obtaining her health back. he proves to be a man of God.

Jesus the Son of God, the ideal man of God proves himself so, by being so unaffected even when he knew his own disciples knew him not. They did not understand him, they thought him to be an evil spirit. In spite of it, when Peter wishes to walk on the water, he gives him that privilege. He was so patient, kind and gentle with the disciples, because that is the mark of a person of God, a God who abounds in mercy and love.

The third man of God whom we are given with today, is Dominic, the 12th century Religious Founder - one who is attributed with the great miraculous event of receiving on our behalf the Marian Rosary. Dominic as the very name means, belonged to go God and lived his life for the people of God and for the spread of the Reign of God. 

The call is loud and clear - to live for God, for God's people and above all for the establishment of the Reign of God, here and now.

WORD 2day: 7th August, 2017

Fed Up - a frequent word today!

Monday, 18th week in Ordinary Time

Num 11:4-15; Mt 14:13-21

The very first skimming through today's Word, sent my thought whirling to so many experiences of today. Boredom of the youngsters, hatred for the routine on the part of the middle agers, taking the little but taxing sacrifices of others by the elders- these are prevalent experiences pointed out by many today. An oft-used term for this experience is feeling or being  fed up. 

The first reading has an example of what we humanly do when we are "fed up" and the Gospel portrays the true Christ-ian response. Humanly speaking when we are fed up, we grumble. Moses was no different from the people - they grumbled among themselves but Moses grumbled to God. Finding fault with God and asking God for an explanation, sometimes I tell the youngsters, is nothing wrong. But it is justified only when a meaningful warm rapport precedes it. Moses had that disposition, the people did not - that is why the former was justified, the latter were not.

However, Jesus shows a qualitative difference in the way he would respond in a situation like this: Jesus was "fed up" too, when he knew what they did to John the Baptist. He knew that was how his life would go too. When he wanted to really grieve for his cousin and great prophet, he could not. People were there too, they were every where. Was Jesus "fed up"...no, he wasn't. He went to the extent of making sure the people were fed, not fed up! 

What is important to ward off the feeling of being fed up, is to count your blessings, everyday, every little thing that comes to you! And with that mindset - you would reduce hearing: Fed Up - a frequent word today!

TO BURN TILL WE ARE CONSUMED

The Transfiguration of the Lord : 6th August, 2017

Dan 7: 9-10, 13-14;  2 Pet 1: 16-19; Mt 17: 1-9

There is terror all around, there is darkness thickening all around, there is treason and treachery plotted all around, there is deception from the evil and the majority of the world seem to be falling into it... when you find yourself in such a situation, what do you do? You burn brighter! That is what Jesus teaches us. Yes, to be extinguished by the threats around is not truly Christ-ian. 

When problems arise, when threats increase, when troubles augment, when failures mount, when enemies surround, if you are truly a disciple of Christ what do you do - you burn brighter. But things affect - it doesn't matter - you burn till you are consumed, says the Word today!

"A lamp shining in a dark place until day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts" - a wonderful comparison that St. Peter presents to us. It would apply to our faith, our life of witness, our trust, our commitment to the Reign of God and every bit of our faith and its expression here and now, all leading us towards that eternal glory that awaits us as children of God(Jn 1:12), co-heirs with Christ(Rom 8:17), people meant for the future glory (Rom 8:18). 

Our Christian life is rich and its richness will be lost if we lose the sense of mystery in understanding it. Mystery is not merely something that is unknown and incomprehensible, but it is something that is beyond all our rational calculations and empirical conditions; yet it is not totally alien from our experience; it is part of our lived experience, an experience we live on a daily basis, an experience that sustains our faith and offers meaning to our life.

The feast of Transfiguration is a symbol, a prefigurement and a surety of the glory that rests within us, as children of God. However, we are warned not to lose our grip on our daily living, on our concrete initiatives towards ushering in the Reign of God in the pretext of dreaming about a future that is glorious and splendid. 

In practical terms, to be people transfigured is to live our lives with our eyes fixed on heaven and our feet planted firm on ground, to never lose the hope that the Lord offer in Himself and to never rest from our efforts to build the Reign of God here on earth. It is a call to burn until we are totally consumed, totally consumed for the sake of the mission that the Lord entrusts to us, consumed living our daily life to the full, empowering every person to live it to their full. 

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

Churches, Jubilees and Hypocrisy

Celebrating the Basilica of Mary Major - 5th August, 2017

Lev 25: 1,8-17; Mt 14:1-12

We celebrate today the feast of the dedication of the Basilica of Mary Major, one of the four major Papal Basilicas in Rome. It has a great historical background as it was one of the first basilicas built in honour of Mary, Mother of God. The miracle that is said to have happened to reveal the exact spot chosen by our Blessed Mother herself, the miracle of snow in the mid summer night, gave rise to the title Our Lady of Snows! Celebrating a Church and its history is a jubilation!

The first reading speaks of another Jubilee, that the Lord wanted the people of Israel to commemorate. We get the mind of God so clearly - jubilee according to the Lord is not merely eating and drinking, the glory of the Lord in a Church is not merely about the pomp and splendour, our true faith is not in the richness of the tradition or in the complexity of heritage - it is in the compassion we have for others and the personal integrity that we manifest in ourselves. 

This is what Jesus loathed in Herod. Jesus had hardly any respect for him because he lacked integrity. He lived a life that was so far from God, from good and from truth! Building spectacular churches, celebrating splendid jubilees and organising fantastic festivities - these will remain empty noise, or hardcore hypocrisy, if we do not commit ourselves to compassion and justice! 

As we celebrate the feast today, let us ask our Blessed Mother to save us from this hypocrisy and form us into true disciples of Christ, committed to justice, truth and compassion.

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

Where did this man get all this wisdom?

Remembering St. John Maria Vianney - 4th August, 2017

Lev 23: 1,4-11,15-16,27,34-37; Mt 13: 54-58

People wondered at Jesus - a simple carpenter's son - from where he got all the wisdom that he manifested! That was almost the same question that the world raised when it saw a gullible seminarian-turned-parish-priest, do wonders from the confessional and the pulpit! No one ever thought Vianney the simple priest would leave such a mark on this world. He, who went through limitless blocks in his journey towards priesthood, has come to be known as the patron of not only all parish priests but of all priests in pastoral mission. 

The Word today coincides so well with this saint - underlining for us the importance of priesthood. The first reading reminds us that our life is one of celebration, filled with festivals of  daily thanksgiving. The priest is not only a mediator in such thanksgiving sacrifice, but also a living reminder of that call and commission that we have - to praise and thank the Lord always.

Secondly, the Gospel speaks of the fact that these priests are not some other worldly beings but are ordinary people who are chosen by the Lord and ordained to be so. You can not only look for some miracles from them, but look at their very beings as miracles! That is what the Lord has made them to be. You wonder how this could be...that is the wonder that the people had - how could this be, do we not know him as carpenter's son, they said! 

John Maria Vianney's life is one great example of the wonders that God can play with simple persons and events. All that we need to do is, remain open to the Lord, never forget to thank and praise the Lord for everything in life!

Today, let us pray for our parish priests in a very special way! God bless these wonderful men of God!

WORD 2day: 3rd August, 2017

The Cloud and Fire in your Storeroom

Wednesday, 17th week in Ordinary Time

Exo 40: 16-21, 34-38; Mt 13: 47-53

Those who become disciples of the Reign are like the householder who brings out from his storeroom things both new and old! In fact we have right in our own storeroom the cloud and the fire - the cloud that can guide us by day and the fire that can illumine us by night. It is right there for our taking, as it was for the people of Israel. Why doesn't God have his say in today's happenings, many ask. They think they have broken the very belief in the existence of God, by crying foul against the inhuman events that keep taking place today. The readings today give us a beautiful insight. 

When the Israelites wondered where to go and in which direction to march, whether to take on the enemy or not, they would always look up to Yahweh for a step by step guidance and it was readily there. That is what we see - the cloud by day and the fire by night. Some argue whether something of that sort can ever happen today. The fact is, the Lord is ready to accompany us but are we sufficiently disposed to behold that accompaniment?  What would that disposition be: that of Moses. As the first reading says today- to do what exactly the Lord directs us to do! This is the key to using to the full the cloud and fire that has been given to us, just in our storeroom, because we are of the Reign. 

If we live worthy of the name and worthy of the tradition we have evolved with, we will certainly behold the cloud and the fire, we will have no moment in our life that is dark and empty. Let us strive to behold the cloud and the fire in our daily lives. That is truly our call to belong to the Reign!

WORD 2day: 2nd August, 2017

Can you hide the glow?

Tuesday, 17th week in Ordinary Time

Exo 34: 29-35; Mt 13: 44-46

Just imagine the person who has just found a treasure in his field - he is so excited he runs to sell the ground. Will no one sense something fishy in this man who has been so possessive about his land all this while? Imagine likewise, the man who has found the most precious pearl, that he is frenetically seeking to sell everything that he has. Will not those who see these men find something strange in them? That is the glow that the first reading is speaking of. Moses had a glow in his face whenever he came from the tent of meeting. 

If your time with the Lord is true, authentic and sincere, can you hide the glow? If there is no glow, was that time with the Lord worth it? Worse still, if there is an attitude of pride or egoism after all the time you spend with the Lord, how authentic has that meeting been? Did you really meet the Lord? 

The time that I spend with the Lord has to be directly proportionate to the kindness, generosity, forgiveness and sincerity I exhibit to my fellow beings when I encounter them. Because, if I have truly encountered the Lord, I cannot hide the glow!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

The Word and the World

Remembering St. Alphonsus di Liguori - 1st August, 2017

Ex0 33:7-11, 34:5-9,28; Mt 13: 36-43

Yesterday we had a founder to thank God for, and today we have another! Alphonsus di Liguori founded the order of the Redemptorists in the 18th century and even today, their work towards the preaching of the Word is unparalleled. 

Moses brought to the people the Word from the Lord, the Word that would make them walk in the right path. When we stay in the light of that Word, we bear fruits that can be gathered into the barn. When we stray away from the Word we become darnels which remain to be thrown into fire. This was in short what the Order of the Redeemer wanted to communicate to the World. The World has to fall in line with the Word and each of us has a duty to be a reminder to the world. 

At times we ourselves become scandals to the world, not living of lives in the light of the Word. Alphonsus and his order comes to remind us of that - a constant reminder to stop, think, renew and resume our journey always in the light of the Word. Let the world truly get in touch with the Word!