To belong and to proclaim

WORD 2day: Monday after the Epiphany Sunday

January 4, 2021 - 1 John 3:22 - 4:6; Mat 4: 12-17, 23-25

The texts begin to orient us towards the Baptism of Jesus, which is the next major event we would be soon commemorating. Today the Word speaks to us of two key elements: Belonging to God and Proclaiming God! These are the two fundamental marks of identity that we should have as Christians: to belong to God and be God's children and to proclaim God and invite everyone to a life worthy of God who has gifted that life to each of us. 

Belonging without proclaiming would make us dead weights burdening the faith community; proclaiming without belonging would make us false prophets and hypocrites. The order is important too: that we first belong and then we speak up. That is why we see Jesus himself first withdraw into loneliness and ascertain his belonging to the One who had sent him before he began to go around proclaiming the Good News!

Needless to say, the resonance between the personal life of belonging to the Lord and the life of  ommitment to ministry (ministry at various levels: family, parish, congregation, community of faith etc...)is the fundamental quality of integrity that Jesus demands of us, his disciples.

TO BE PEOPLE OF LIGHT

January 3, 2021: Solemnity of Epiphany

Isaiah 60: 1-6; Ephesians 2: 2-7 a, 5-6; Matthew 2: 1-12

The Light came to the earth; the Lord came unto His own but His own received him not! We are people of the Light and that is the feast we celebrate today! The feast which reminds us that we are the people of the Revelation. God has revealed Godself to us and awaits our response.

I remember an experience that I had a few years back. Two of us were sent to pick up a priest from the railway station. This is no strange experience! How many times we would have received people in the airports and railway stations! But the twitch here was. ..we did not know the person we are going to pick up. All that we know was that we are going to pick up a middle aged priest from another State, who was coming to Chennai. We positioned ourselves in a prominent spot and awaited the guest as the crowd started spilling into the platform from the train. Crowds and crowds of people were passing by but we did not spot our guest. Many who were standing alongside with us waiting for their guests were gone. There was one standing beside me for quite sometime. A man with a dhoti and a white shirt with a long grey beard! He didn't even seem to be looking out for someone. The best surprise was when he asked us. ..'so are you waiting for a priest from this particular State? , 'yes'! And when he said. .."I am the one", we didn't know really how to react!

At times, the Lord reveals Godself but we have certain preconceived ideas that don't allow us to see the Lord. Today we are invited to be people of the light., that is people who live in light always, people who are ready and prepared to receive the revelations that God wishes to give us.

The Lord reveals himself to us constantly. ..first of all through extraordinary means: let's pray that God gives that gift to many of us! But there is another way God reveals, the ordinary means: through prayer experiences, spiritual direction, liturgical celebrations, etc. Let's take care when we celebrate these moments in life so that we don't miss the revelations involved.

There is the third way which is more subtle and more challenging: the Daily means. The fact is that the Lord constantly reveals himself through every day experiences...through people we encounter, through challenging situations we face, through successful experiments we have, through people who come to us in need, through persons who demand our responsibility and so on. Let's open our eyes, our ears, our hearts. ..that we may receive the Light that encounters us daily in our life.

Encountering Christ

WORD 2day: January 2, 2021

1 John 2:22-28; John 1: 19-28

The identity of Jesus as both God and Human was a major issue of controversies in the early Church. The first reading we have today is an indication to such feuds that existed. What matters, as John so rightly points out there, is not the philosophical and theological justification of who Jesus is; but the personal experience of the person of Christ, an encounter with Christ.

John the Baptist foretold the coming of Christ and pointed out when Christ really came. His prophetic gift gave him the privilege of understanding Jesus and identifying Jesus when he came. There were many who saw what John saw, heard what John heard...but they did not identify Christ. Even John, at a certain point, sent his disciples to ask Jesus if he were the Christ. And Jesus sighed, 'happy is the one who never doubted the Son of Man.'

Today we would do well to pray for this grace... To identify Jesus when he comes so that the encounter may enrich our life and bring meaning to it. In varied ways, in our neighbours, in our brothers and sisters, specially in those who are in dire need and helplessness, we are challenged to encounter Christ who is God but who had deigned to assume our nature and live in the poor and the oppressed! The New year that has just begun offers a great scope for the encounter - provided we remain open inspite of the tough times we have had and trying times that may come our way. These situations notwithstanding, we are called to meet Jesus, encounter Christ, in our daily lives.

God's Presence, Peace and Every Blesssing

New Year and the Solemnity of the Mother of God

January 1, 2021: Numbers 6: 22-27; Galatians 4: 4-7; Luke 2: 16-21

We celebrate 2021: It is a fresh start, a new year, a treasure of 365 days! It is a gift, a gift in all ways: precious, beautiful, wrapped and presented. First of all, it would be too rude not to receive it as a gift. Secondly, it is wrapped...and it is important that we receive it with a sense of wonder, surprise and gratitude. Trying to know everything, in the name of predictions and presumptions, would strip it of its wonder! Specially in the context of the pandemic that is still threatening us  around, to reduce the upcoming year to a set of predictions and chances would be an injustice to the core. To approach it with a wry and dry mentality will make it devoid of its surprise. Let us behold it with gratitude and a sense of childlike curiosity, prepared to receive the gift on a daily basis, one day at a time!

We celebrate the Lord: The greatest gift we can have, that with which we begin every new year, is the loving presence of God! The babe in the manger is the highest gift that we can ever have. The Emmanuel, God with us, is the most precious gift that one can ever behold. That the Lord is with us, fills us with hope: that whatever it be as the year unfolds day by day, we would never be alone facing it. We have the Lord with us. Days and days of confusion and frustration, months and months of restriction and helplessness - they are all at the back of our minds as we begin this new year. But let them not crowd out from our minds the recognition of God's presence, a presence that gives us strength and positive outlook on life - that which we call, hope!. 

We celebrate the gift of the Lord: given in and through the Mother of God! The Mother of God is a gift, a reminder and a challenge to us. 

    The Mother of God, is a gift: God gives her to us as a protector, a guide, a refuge as we begin this new year, with all its surprises. A reason to be grateful to God and a treasure to be used all through the year, the accompaniment of our blessed mother, who walks with  us and leads us by example.

    The Mother of God, is the reminder of the Word made flesh, the Lord who has cast away all distance and difference and become one like us, just to show us how much God loves us. She remains a constant sign of the fact that we need to be ever grateful to God, that we are what we are - thanks be to God. She is the epitome of God's salvation history and its bountiful effects on our human existence. 

    The Mother of God is a challenge, a challenge to give, to give endlessly. She gave herself, when the Angel approached her! She gave the world the Son of God, born of a woman, when the fullness of time came. She gave that child to the Lord, offered him in the temple and offered him to the Father's work! She gave up her young son, for the sake of the salvation of the world. She gave up everything and gave everything! She stands as a challenge for us today to give - to give and never to count!

This year, which is given into our hands today, as a gift pack, will be filled with peace if we live it in the way that the Lord wants us to; after the example of our Blessed Mother. She said that yes, and she said that for her whole life, not knowing what it meant and where it will lead her. All that she was assured was, the Lord was with her. We are assured too that the Lord's presence will go with us, that the Lord's countenance will shine on us. 

Let us begin with hope and that will give us peace: 

    May the Lord bless you and keep you!

    May the Lord let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you!

    May the Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace!

May your New year 2021 be filled with God's presence, peace and every blessing!

Thank You Lord for 2020

WORD 2day: The last day of the year

December 31, 2020: 1 John 2: 18-21; John 1: 1-18

There is a discussion of the last days, in the readings today and indeed it is the last day of this year! As we begin this day, let our hearts be filled with thanksgiving! The light, the true light, the Word, the Eternal word is here amidst us! Let this day be dedicated to thank the Lord for all the experiences of the year that is just passing by, though it has been apparently tough and trying.  

There is another interesting detail that we can notice, if we are a little attentive to the readings. The first reading begins with the expression that these are the last days, while the Gospel reading begins with the affirmation that in the beginning there was Word. The last days and the beginning, spoken of together. That is the norm of life - something ends and something begins. But in Christ-ian parlance - it is a matter of hope. There are times when things seem gloomy and dark - but we can never despair. The Lord is constanly making new things for us: behold I make things new (Rev 21:5)!

We would do well today to list everything that we have received from the Lord. It would do good also to list the moments of anxiety and pain that we, and the world, have been through during the year, and find out what they have to offer or teach us for our lives. It would be wonderful if we review our lives once again today, affirm to ourselves the marks of the people of God; and resolve to do away with those that do not fit in to that definition of our identity.

There is one message that the Word wants to leave strongly in our minds, as we end this year and get ready to start a new one, and that is: "The Word has become flesh; and dwells among us!" The Lord is with us and that is the note of hope with which we await the new year! Good bye 2020...!

Our disposition - surrender or manipulation?

WORD 2day: 6th day in Christmas Octave

December 30, 2020: 1 John 2: 12-17; Luke 2: 36-40

'World' or 'things of the world' as opposed to the love of the Father: by now it is considered an outdated way of thinking. Indeed, the dichotomy that is involved and implied is a bit old fashioned but the difference between the two choices, is real and concrete. Even our prayer for example could have within itself a hidden sense of excessive importance to the world and the things of the world instead of our love for God our Father and Mother.

There was a last minute preparation going on for a mega event, while unfortunately the forecast was for a likely cyclone showers! Immediately a group got down to pray and say, 'please stop the rain'! Praying, here is something wonderful, but a subtle point to be noted here is: how prepared are we to accept the will of God in things that we have planned; instead of asking the Lord to adjust to our designs? 

Whoever does the will of God remains for ever, reminds St. John in his epistle today (v.17). Prophetess Anna, or even Prophet Simeon for that matter, waited for years together, in relentless patience towards the will of God. The people of Israel waited for Godàs promised redemption...but were unable to behold it, when it came - may be because they were more preoccupied with what they wanted, than with what was within Godàs plan. 

Can we really abandon ourselves to the will of God: a surrender so beautifully symbolised by the Divine Kid in the manger these days! The year is running the final bit of its last lap...can we make an examination of conscience today? What is our disposition: surrender or manipulation?

Love - the light of life

WORD 2day: 5th day in Christmas Octave

December 29, 2020: 1 John 2: 3-11; Luke 2: 22-35

Hatred, violence, vengeance, aggression and terrorism abound today in forms varied and vicious. The talks of conversion and reconversion rob faith of its fundamental essence. The underground efforts, the camouflaged agenda and the strategic polarisation that happen make religion and spirituality quesstionable. 

The readings today give us a clear cut criterion to judge who is right and who is not. The one who loves one's brothers and sisters is in light. And whoever says he or she is in light, yet hates one's brother or sister, is still in darkness (Cf. 1 Jn 2: 8&9).

Jesus the light can never cause hatred or division. The light literally makes things lucid and nothing can escape - there can be no pretentions, prejudices or presumptions. Everything has to be candidly seen, discussed and decided upon. Especially, the internal motives of actions and decisions, render the person and the process involved, integral or not! 

There can be people who claim to be interpreting the Light but causing divisions and hatred and rivalry. Let them be certain, says the Word, that they are still in darkness. Let love, the light of life, guide us on as we come to the close of this year!

Innocents! Massacred even today!

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

December 28, 2020: Feast of the Holy Innocents

1 John 1:5 -2:2; Matthew 2: 13-18

Innocents - those who are unaware of anything wrong, those who are unaware of the evil that surrounds them, those who are untouched by the sinfulness that threatens to swallow them. The feast today is a remembrance of millions of innocents who are sacrificed even today on the altars of selfishness, licentiousness, irresponsibility and insensitivity! 

The Church remains so strong with regard to abortions, because of the inviolable dignity that life possesses, right from its very beginning. The world is running swift into a dungeon of selfishness and cruelty, which does not even think of the others, leave alone wishing the good of the others. There are persons and systems which work together to exploit the innocent and the ignorant. As a people of God, we need to stand against such systems and uphold the inalienable rights of every child of God. Can we open our eyes to the innocents who are massacred even today!

Just two days ago we were presented with St. Stephen as the first martyr... but is Stephen truly the first martyr? What about the innocents who gave their life up for the sake of Christ! Yes, they did not make a choice to, but they did not have a choice! At times there are those who are not given even a choice...but in their innocent death are revealed great and profound truths.

The Innocence of the children and the innocence demanded of us: the difference is what is underlined in the first reading today. The innocence of the children was forced on them, they were helpless and vulnerable, but they were all for the Lord and the Lord's Reign. The innocence expected of us has to be of our choice, a choice that is well informed of one's own goodness and limitations. I am expected to make a choice for the Lord in spite of the weaknesses within me, overcoming them with a sense of total surrender to the Lord and the Lord's Reign.

FAMILY: WHERE GOD ABIDES

The Solemnity of the Holy Family

27th December, 2020 - Genesis 15:1-6, 21:1-3; Hebrews 11: 8, 11-1217-19; Luke 2: 22-40

Celebrating the feast of Holy Family... we are given a challenging model, a role that we have to play as families in today's context.

The Holy family offered the Lord to the world: 

Do we offer the Lord to the world as families? 

Do we offer the Lord to wherever we live? 

Do our way of life offer the values of the Lord to our surroundings? 

Do the families and individuals around us have the Lord to take home from us, when they visit us?

The Holy family brought the Lord to Jerusalem: 

The Lord said he lives where two or three are gathered in the Lord's name! What about our families...aren't we gathered in the name of the Lord and by the holy will of God? If so, aren't our families responsible of bringing the Lord to the community, the gathering of the families? Are our Church gatherings, our communities real union of families or some mass of people congregated?

The Holy family created a space for the Lord to live with them: 

Have we created a concrete space for the Lord in our homes? It is not about the altars we have at home, neat and decorated. It is not about the pictures we hang or the calendars we stare at. It is about the living space, it is about a membership in the family!

The Holy family does more than just standing around and blessing us today! 

They challenge us to be bearers of the Lord to the world. Can we accept that challenge?

Persecuted Christians - the epitome of the Reign to come

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

December 26, 2020: St. Stephen, the first Martyr
Acts 6: 8-10, 7: 54-59; Matthew 10: 17-22

Persecutions and Martyrdom have never been alien to Christian Faith. St. Stephen is the first Biblical evidence to it. Continuing in the line of the prophets and persons of God who have been treated at will by the world in the Old Testament, we see Jesus and most of his disciples facing the same end in the New Testament. 

Some time ago, a person posted on the facebook saying he (or she?), was offended when the Churches all over the world were praying for Christians in Iraq and the person questioned: "Why only Christians? Why not others?" Today Christians in Iraq or Syria or Lebanon or China or India... all these 'persecuted Christians' should by now be a collective term for us...it should stand for and remind us of every person persecuted for truth, every person tortured unjustly, every person discriminated and trampled under the tyranny of violence and force! It is not merely Fr. Stan Swamy who is in prison, but every person who is unjustly held, tortured without cause and taken to task for standing by truth, has to be prayed for and sustainted.

St. Stephen knew what it meant to suffer for Christ; it meant suffering for the things that really matter; it meant standing for true beliefs and convictions that can elevate your spirit to the heavens open and the angels coming down! It was Stephen who also imitated his Master literally: while Jesus prayed for those who crucified him and offered his spirit into the hands of his loving Father, Stephen prayed for those who stoned him and surrendered his spirit into Jesus' hands. What an example for us to emulate! The other message, strong and clear, is the fact that it is an integral part of being a Christian, to suffer for what is right, for what is expected of me and for the cause of the Reign, which is justice and truth.

In fact, the crux of Christian identity in the pluralistic context today, is standing up for the Reign - that is, for justice, truth, peace, integral joy of all and the uplifting of the down trodden. Let our Christmas be extended, all through our lives - in becoming ourselves, epitomies of the Reign.