Sacrifices or Self-understanding?

WORD 2day: Friday, 15th week in Ordinary time 

July 16, 2021: Exodus 11:10 - 12:14; Matthew 12: 1-8 

 

The Liturgy of the Word today traces for us an eventful journey of the understanding of God and the self-understanding of the people in relation to their God! From an importance attached to sacrifices as necessities, demands and requirements for relationship with God, to a liberating understanding of God that was brought by Jesus, who presented a God who says, "I desire mercy and not sacrifice". 

The point is not that the Old Testament's understanding was faulty; neither is it to say that Jesus negates all the understanding of the Old Testament! As Jesus himself explained, he came not to abolish the law, he came to bring it to its fulfilment. That fulfilment is achieved when we understand not just the letter but the spirit of the law and try to live it to its details. 

The sacrifices, the sanctifications, the consecrations that were prescribed were all for one reason: to bring the people closer to the Lord! To make the people understand how good the Lord has been... in order that they may lift the cup of salvation, a thanksgiving sacrifice to the Lord, as the Psalm invites us today. 

Having moved a long way from the understanding of the people of the Old Testament, the challenge is much greater for us today - to prioritise our relationship with God, in all that we carry out in the name of our spirituality, in the name of practices of piety. It is not merely a fulfilment of a duty or a necessity, for God needs nothing from us; but a thanksgiving to the ever-present Lord, a grateful beholding of the loving presence of God with us, is what really matters!

The Name of God

WORD 2day: Thursday, 15th week in Ordinary time

July 15, 2021: Exodus 3: 13-20; Matthew 11: 28-30

 

The Word presents the name of God to us today. Reflecting on the name of God, every time I narrate this experience of mine a few years ago when I was doing my licentiate in Rome. I was in a parish in the north of Italy, to substitute a parish priest during his days of Spiritual Retreat. There were a few elderly ladies who were regular for the daily Eucharist and after the celebration every day. They would spend some time every day after Mass talking to me. They loved to hear things about the Bible and one day the most vociferous of them asked - "Is there a name for our God!" Before I could say, "Yes, it is Jesus!", she intervened and said, "I mean, God the Father! Does God have a name?" And I quoted to her today's reading and said, "Yes, our God is I AM. Or when we say it...Our God is WHO IS". She was thrilled to know the name of God, and was going around telling everyone the discovery that she has made. When the Parish priest returned a week later, one of the first things she told him was, "Fr. you know, I know the name of our God. Our God is, WHO IS, or I AM, or YAHWEH"...And the Parish Priest was a bit upset; he turned to me and said - "No Father... That is the God of the Hebrews!"

YAHWEH, One who IS… It is not just a name - it was an experience. It has to be our experience today: the God who IS, who is with us, now, always, all the time. Especially in tough times as we are living today, we need to yearn for and draw strength from this experience of God with us, the God who IS with us. Yahweh, O God who IS with us, help us feel your presence and share the same with those who are in need of it. 

I did not want to pick a theological argument with the Parish priest...but thought to myself - "Yes...that is the God of the Hebrews, and therefore the God of Jesus too...the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ as St. Paul would say (2 Cor 1:3; Eph 1:3; Col 1:3)."

 

Who am I, really?

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 15th week in Ordinary time

July 14, 2021: Exodus 3: 1-6,9-12; Matthew 11: 25-26

 

What do people think of me? How do I come across to people? What kind of an image do I give of myself to others? Will this make or mar the opinion others have about me? ...these are some popular considerations we have before we decide to do something! At times this consideration of human respect keeps me back from being who I am! The Lord declares in various ways today that it does not matter so much who I am as who is with me, who is for me!

 

God identified Godself through Moses that God is WHO IS (I am), and Jesus the Son of God revealed to us a God WHO IS ALWAYS WITH US... One who is concerned about us, journeys with us, leads us by hand and wants to be with us always, especially when we are tired and heavy laden, especially when we are through the lowest moments of our lives, especially when we feel we are abandoned and all alone. Yes, Our God is who IS!

 

Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh? - I will be with you, says the Lord! What makes the difference is that, the Lord was with Moses. Who we are is important, but more important is who is with us! We may be merely children, but if God is with us, we can be worth all the wisest and powerful put together. Do not say you are merely a child, the Lord told Jeremiah.

 

The Lord promises to be with us, what else do we need! If God is with us, what do we lack! If God is for us who can be against us! 

Where do I belong

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 15th week in Ordinary time

July 13, 2021: Exodus 2: 1-15a; Matthew 11:20-24

Yesterday we reflected on the situations of injustice in the world and the readings drove us to a reflection on it. Today, the readings issue a warning to us! The Lord is patient and merciful, but at the same time just and righteous. The Lord has a predilection for the poor, the oppressed, those who are sinned against, those who are denied of their rights, those who are constrained to live in conditions that they actually do not deserve to suffer. The warning is this: that we take care to see where we actually belong! 

July 16, 1945 – we shall be commemorating it shortly… it was the day that the atomic bomb was dropped, bringing the World war II to an end. We are not called merely to judge who is right and who is wrong and give a verdict on persons. We are called to remain on the side of the right, the truth and justice. It is not that we may be oppressors, but even if indirectly by our inaction and silence we allow the oppression of a person or a people go scot-free, we are on the wrong side, on the side of injustice! As the famous holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel says, "We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented." 

 

Our help is in the name of the Lord, affirms the Responsorial Psalm today. When we are a help to the oppressed, we are acting in the name of the Lord. The Lord raises Lord's judgement, Lord's Hero from where and when, we know not. But surely our help is in the name of the Lord, and let us strive to be always on the side of the Lord. If we fail, the Lord warns us today, "I tell you that it shall be more tolerable on the day of judgement for the land of Sodom than for you."

People who forget their stories

WORD 2day: Monday, 15th week in Ordinary time

July 12, 2021: Exodus 1:8-14, 22; Matthew 10:34 - 11:1

  

One cannot but think of the prevailing situations of inhumanity, cruel hegemony, political manipulation, socio-economic oppression and human right violations all over the world, when we read the first reading today! When we find ourselves in front of these suffering brothers and sisters, we cannot close our eyes or switch off our minds. No one can be neutral, in our own way we have to take our stand - if we try staying neutral, so many memories will come crowding into our minds: the world wars, the holocaust, the hiroshima-nagasaki, the Srilankan tamil carnage... how many of these can we ward off from our minds? 

Not only did the Pharaoh not know the history of Joseph and things that happened in his predecessors' times, even the people seemed to have forgotten their origins - of how they reached Egypt and why they reached there and that they were there only for a while, that the Lord had said they will move to "their" land later! They began to think Egypt was their land and they would be there for eternity. They forgot their story. The Lord had to remind them. The world today too has this spiritual amnesia! 

 

That is why the Lord comes with the sword, with fire... that we may wake up and wake up the world, and bring ourselves back as people who are mindful of our stories, our experiences, all that we have enjoyed from the Lord and all that we have promised the Lord and all that we have neglected so far. At times when we face turmoils, we need to turn back to our stories thus far and draw consolation and inspiration from there. In those moments of struggle, as people of God we need to realise that we are afflicted but not crushed,  perplexed but not driven to despair,  persecuted but not forsaken (cf. 2 Cor 4:8)... let us pay heed that we do not become people who forget their stories.  

CHOSEN

To be holy and blameless in love...

July 11, 2021: 15th Sunday in Ordinary time

Amos 7: 12-15; Ephesians 1: 3-14; Mark 6: 7-13

 

To begin with, God chose us! We did not choose God! So, deserting God, or switching allegiance, looking for greener pastures, blaming monotony, seeking thrills and demanding signs are totally unbecoming of a chosen one. Situations that are trying, opportunities that are attractive, offers that are tempting might often come our way, but the one who endures till the end takes the crown. God has chosen us in Christ. As Amos in today's first reading makes it clear: it is not in our greatness or in our credibility-status or in our self-worth, that the Lord has chosen us, but in Christ did God choose us.

The reason I am chosen is because, Christ died for me! Let us clarify it further… I am chosen, because Christ died for me…it is not that Christ died for me because I am chosen, but because Christ died for me, I have become chosen. Therefore, being chosen is not out of merit, we can never merit the unconditional love of God. Being chosen is because of the love that God has for us. Anyone can become, ‘chosen’, because Christ died for all…and all that one needs to do is become aware of the fact that Christ died for him or her, that God loves him or her, that he or she is a chosen son or daughter in the Spirit of the Lord.

Secondly, when did God choose me? In baptism we were buried with Christ says St. Paul (Rom 6:4; Col 2:12). Were we chosen at our baptism? But Isaiah says before I was born, while I was still in my mother’s womb, the Lord called me (Is 49:1). So, was I chosen when I was in my mother's womb? Jeremiah explains, before the Lord even formed me in the womb of my mother, the Lord knew me, called me and has a plan for me (Jer 1:5), to set me up as the so-called light of the world and prophet to the nations. So, was I chosen, before I were being even formed in my mother’s womb? St. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians, beats it all: God chose us before the foundations of the world. Right from the earliest moment that one can think of, or one cannot even think of, I belong to God!

            The greatest of gifts that chosenness gives me is the sense of purpose! Purpose, reason, motive, mission, meaning…are various words to mean one fundamental truth: God’s will for us, God-willed destiny for us, God’s plan for us in eternity. For I know the plans I have for you, the Lord promises us (Jer 29:11). Whether I understand it or not, or accept it or not… in God’s own eternity I have been chosen and I have a purpose for my life!

Thirdly, if the Lord has chosen me, for what has God chosen me: to be holy and blameless in love. To be in love, and through that being holy and blameless - that is the plan that God has for me, that is the invitation that the Lord offers me. The most important call that a Christian has, or to say the defining call that a Christian has, is to love – for by that they shall know you, that you are my disciples, by the love that you have for each other. It is love that can give me the identity of being chosen! It is not any great achievement, or big diplomas and degrees, or posts and positions, or buildings or projects, or massive gathering or expensive celebrations, that will determine the ardent Christian that I am…but it is love and love only, that will define my status as chosen to be a follower of Christ.

Love and do what you like, said Augustine. When we live our lives in love, we are sure to be holy and blameless. There is no other criterion as fool proof as love, to be considered chosen or not. By this they will know that you are my disciples, by the love that you have for one another (Jn 13:35). It is only love that can make me whole. It is only love that can lead me to a life that is absolutely blameless. It is only love that can lead me to be holy! 

The Call of the Lord is to holiness and God has chosen me; when I walk thought it, I fulfill my life’s purpose. It would be sad to think otherwise! It is never God who is going to miss it when I don’t realise my chosenness and live to bring it to fulfilment; it is always I who lose my meaning, peace of mind and fulfilment in life. Gratefully today let us re-embark on this journey of chosenness.

A Challenge and an assurance

WORD 2day: Saturday, 14th week in Ordinary time

July 10, 2021: Genesis 44: 18-21, 23-29, 45: 1-5; Matthew 10: 7-15

I know of so many youngsters who are so inspiring by the absolute choice that they have made for God and the will of God.  People who have had great ambitions and plans, but  have just thrown them into the air for the sake of a vision that God inspired. Persons who have had prospects so promising, but have ignored those just because they felt they have been called for a specific mission, a mission in the footsteps of the Master-saviour. Daring individuals who have made choices for which they are being derided, called names and have suffered worst experiences of want and willful deprivation. A challenge! 

When this challenge is taken up, one could find oneself on a tossing sea or a troubled sky, but nothing would disturb the person, for he or she has found a ground so firm, a base so strong, a root so deep - the Lord who calls, commissions and walks one through. At the end of all the tribulations, pervades a serenity, a sense of accomplishment, the same sense with which Jesus gasped on the cross, "It is accomplished." That is the tone in which Jacob aka Israel speaks today of his end and what should come after. 

The Lord does not leave us merely with the challenge, he attaches an assurance! The assurance of God's caring presence with us! Pope Francis in his first encyclical Lumen Fidei called this 'the accompanying presence of God' (LF 57). It is an assurance that arises from the fact that God loves us, that God values us, that God cares for us, and above all, that God counts on us!

The challenge is to belong to God, come what may. It is not an easy task considering the prevailing atmosphere today. 

To stick till the end

WORD 2day: Friday, 14th week in Ordinary time

July 9, 2021: Genesis 46: 1-7, 28-30; Matthew 10: 16-23

 

Enduring till the end is the test of the strength of one's faith. Israel (Jacob) today expresses that great satisfaction in having endured till the end, on seeing Joseph alive..."Now let me die!" - a sense of fulfilment! As later we would hear Simeon exclaiming in the Temple of Jerusalem on seeing the child Jesus, "At last all-powerful Master, let your servant go in peace. For, my eyes have seen the salvation you have prepared for the nations!" 

Jesus teaches the same to us his followers, "the one who endures till the end shall be saved" (Mt 10:22). Endurance that Jesus demands is for two reasons - first, because all the troubles that a follower of Christ faces is for such a noble purpose, a cause so great, that anything can be given up for its sake - the Reign of God on earth. Seek first the Reign of God... even if you have to give up your home, your dear ones, your belongings or even your life, for you will be rewarded hundred percent, says the Lord, here on earth and in the eternal life! 

Secondly, because the mission entrusted to us is so vast and so immense that these troubles can measure nowhere in comparison to it. He says with a tinge of humour, even if you have to run from one town to the other due to persecutions, "you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel, before the Son of man comes." Such was the determination of the early Christians and the Apostles who led them from the fore - to stick till the end, the very end.

To proclaim through our daily lives the Reign of God and if we have to face hard consequences due to it, to be prepared to endure it all the way - that is the call for me today. 

Shalom - Carrying God's message...

WORD 2day: Thursday, 14th week in Ordinary time 

July 8, 2021: Genesis 44:18-21, 23b-29, 45:1-5; Matthew 10: 7-15

 

The theme of yesterday continues still - Being sent, and sent on a mission! The Lord sends the twelve to carry his message to all the people of Israel, a message of gladness, healing, restoration, peace and joy... in short Shalom! 

As Joseph notes in the last verse of the first reading today, "it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you". It was with a mission that Jesus was sent to us and it is with a mission that Jesus sends us today - he says to each of us: "As the father sent me, so I send you"(Jn 20:21). 

Each of us is sent! Sent with the promise of Shalom; Shalom which is fullness of blessings that we wish for every brother or sister in the Lord, or for that matter that is what we wish for the whole world as sons and daughters of the Good Lord. We may wonder, why the whole world... is it not only those who are good to me; those who are my well-wishers? But the Lord and the Word today have it otherwise.

We are presented with the example of Joseph who in spite of all that they did to him tells the rest of the sons of Jacob, “I am your brother"! Isn't that the true Christian attitude expected of us? This is possible only if we look at everything from the perspective of God as did Joseph, and of course Jesus! That is shalom... not just being good to those who are good, but being good and... period - irrespective of what others are and what the world is.

Let this day be another opportunity for us to carry the Lord's message today: Shalom to you! 

 

His band... of brothers and sisters

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 14th week in Ordinary time

July 7, 2021: Genesis 41:55-57, 42:5-7a, 17-24a; Matthew 10: 1-7

 

The Twelve... that is the common element in the two readings today. The 12 tribes and the 12 apostles, was not a mere coincidence, it was more than that. It was a choice to resemble because the Lord was raising a new people of God, the New Israel, a new band of brothers and sisters. 

Jesus had a big following, that is, his disciples and from them he sends these 'Apostles'; we are among his disciples already by our Baptism and he wants to send each of us with a specific mission. And each of us sent, exactly to where we are - to our homes, to our neighbourhoods, to our parishes, to our societies... to establish the Reign of God, that is, to assure the needs of all, to stand by the neglected and guarantee them their rights, to stand against the ungodly forces, the unjust systems, the corrupt and inhuman dominations, to empower the people towards a peaceful, serene and human existence. 

The naming of the Apostles - with a function given to them: to chase the evil spirits and to heal the sick! Apostles are those who are 'sent' (literally too, 'apostolos' in Greek); sent in the name of God with a specific mission. Joseph of the Old Testament, was an apostle too - sent ahead by God to Egypt in order to provide for God's people at a later time! So, providing for God's people, liberating them from the ungodly forces and giving them a life in all its fullness - those are the duties of an apostle, on behalf of the Lord who sends him or her.  

Have I made real efforts to understand my call and my mission as an apostle, the Lord's band of brothers and sisters?