It is the Master who sends!

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

July 9, 2022: Isaiah 6: 1-8; Matthew 10: 24-33

It is the Lord who sends; it is the Master who calls; it is the Teacher who commissions! It is not because I am worthy to be sent, or qualified to be called or skilled to be commissioned... but it is because it is the Lord who calls! As St. Paul says it in such simple terms: "those whom he called, he justified" (cf. Rom 8:29). However unworthy I am, when the Lord has appointed me for a mission, he makes sure that mission goes on through me.

On my part the challenge is to be mindful of the fact that it is the Lord who has sent me and commissioned me and to be convinced that the Lord takes care of everything around me, provided I live my life faithful to the call. A thousand may fall at my side and ten thousand at my right hand, but nothing will come near me, for I have made God my refuge, prays the Psalmist (in Ps 91:7). I may not be worthy for the call, but I need to be mindful all the time - be it of the call or of my unworthiness!

It is the Lord who has called me and it is Lord who has commissioned me: I am accountable to the Lord and only to the Lord. In this world and to those around me, I have nothing to prove! So all the craze about success and accomplishment, is a horrendous mistake, is it not? 

All that I need to do, is stand in awe at the majesty of the Lord, believe in the Lord's sovereignty and submit myself in total faith into the hands of God, saying "Here am I Lord, send me!" When the Lord does, we will see the glory of God revealed in marvelous ways! All praise to the Lord and the Lord alone!

God is with us!

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

July 8, 2022: Hosea 14: 2-10; Matthew 10: 16-23

"For the ways of the Lord are straight," declares prophet Hosea today(Hos 14:10). Straight, and therefore tough. Straight and therefore no compromises. Straight and therefore no confusions! Everyone knows the ways of the Lord; everyone knows what is acceptable to the Lord and what is not; it is made known by the Lord to every human person in their innermost self. No one can say, at any point of time, 'I did not know this is not acceptable in the eyes of the Lord!' Our heart seems to know it, so innately!

The words of Jesus in the Gospel are quite frightening as we find Jesus trying to warn us, in circumstances that we choose to be good, when we choose the ways of the Lord and choose to be God's disciples or apostles of the Word. Jesus does not promise any prospects, instead persecutions aplenty. He does not announce any offers, instead oppressions. He says it very clearly that we will have to suffer for his sake, for the sake of the Word and for the sake of the Reign of God.

But there is one thing that he assures: the consolation of the Lord, the consoling and affirming presence of the Lord with us. Because what we have chosen is the way of the Lord, we are certain to find the Lord present with us all the way. The way might be filled with pitfalls and climbs, and hurdles, thorns and thistles... but we are sure amidst all these, that the Lord walks with us, speaks on our behalf and acts in and through us. What a mighty consolation we have: God is with us!

God's instruments of Love

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

July 7, 2022: Hosea 11: 1-4, 8,9; Matthew 10: 7-15

The readings today present to us yet another intimate dimension of God's love: the love of a loving parent, the love of a father or that of a mother. The very same compassion that Yahweh had towards the people of Israel, Jesus exhibits towards all. The longing of the Lord to hold us close to Godself, the yearning to be close to God's children and assist them in every bit of their difficulties, the readiness to understand their uneasiness and provide them with solutions of true and eternal joy and give them an experience of wholeness... the heart of God goes out to God's people in compassion and love.

There is an added dimension presented in the Gospel, when Jesus tells his disciples whom he wishes to send among the people ahead of him... to go to heal, to listen to, to empathise with and to be there for the people, specially those who are suffering. Jesus seems to say, God wants to endlessly show God's love to the people and we are the instruments through which God will accomplish that desire! 

It is here that the wonderful prayer of Francis of Assisi becomes so meaningful and precious: Lord, make me an instrument of your peace! To sow love, mercy, forgiveness...that is the mission of a person of God. Let us realise today that we have a specific mission wherever we are: let us not look for love, let us give it; let us not look for understanding, let us live it; let us not look for mercy, let us be merciful. 

Let us be God's instruments of love.

Compromises and Christian Focus

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

July 6, 2022: Celebrating Maria Goretti
Hosea 10: 1-3,7-8,12; Matthew 10: 1-7

The Word continues from where we left yesterday... the discussion on a commitment devoid of all compromises. There is an added illustration today with Maria Goretti proposed as a model for it. Her's was one life of determined focus on the Lord and the ways of the Lord. There is yet another saint whose shadow passes us by as we discuss this -Dominic Savio whose feast we celebrated precisely two months back - one who decided he would die rather than sin. 

The compromises of Israel were way too high but still the Lord stood by them because the Lord is in no way a person who would compromise. The Lord is the Lord of promises! It is on this faithfulness we are called to build our life. 

Maria Goretti was firm in her focus and today that firmness is dubbed as conservatism or dominant moralism. It is enough to look at the kind of rights that are claimed today and the way that the Church is always looked at as and accused to be an enemy of these so called personal rights!  But are personal rights absolute? Then what happens to the social wellbeing and common good; what happens to the solidarity; what happens to integrity? 

One thing we realise: the world stands in need of liberation, true liberation, a liberation that arises from truth and integrity

Being Compassionate come what may!

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

July 5, 2022: Hosea 8: 4-7, 11-13; Matthew 9: 32-38 

The readings today present to us two contrasting realities: the obstinate sinfulness of the people and the absolute compassion of the Lord. In the first reading, Hosea points out how despicable the people were getting. The dwindling faith, the blatant compromises, deliberate choices for what is ungodly, absolutisation of human autonomy, justification of a lawless economy - these are experiences that the society is grappling with also today!

Is there a way out of these? Surely no, as long as the idolising tendency of the human person does not disappear. Today we make idols out of money, possessions, our own ego, power and position, status and social image. How many values, persons and principles we sacrifice in the bargain! As if that is not enough, the society is ever ready to demonise those who stand for justice and truth, those who speak up for God, those who stand for God's people. The so-called mainstream society ostracises those persons as anti-socials, conservatives and anti-progress individuals.

Jesus presents himself to us as a motivating role model, inspiring us to stand for God and for the values of the Reign, inspite of the world that threatens us. Jesus is absolutely compassionate even when he finds that the people were not ready to understand him totally, some of them infact were calumniating against him. It was so because it was Jesus' passion to make people feel the compassion of God. God has been compassionate with us even when most of the times we were not worthy of it and therefore the question is: can we be still compassionate, though we find those around not really worthy of it!

To be the compassion of God...

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

July 4, 2022: Hosea 2:16, 17c-18, 21-22; Matthew 9: 18-26

We begin to hear from Hosea from today... and Hosea brings out an intense dimension of God's love towards us. He offers the analogy of a spousal love to the relationship between God and God's people. A reminder to us, of the how compassionate God is towards God's children.

Jesus brings out the same compassion in his own way, his heart goes out to the woman with the suffering and his tender love reaches out to the girl on the death bed. The readings present to us Jesus, as the compassion of God and in doing so has an underlying commission to us. We are called and challenged to be the compassion of God in our own way, wherever we are and in whatever we do.

In these times when the very meaning and implications of love is misunderstood, misinterpretted or insensitively neglected, when faithfulness and mutual commitment in family living is more and more under crisis, when possessions and positions mean much more than persons... the message is truly challenging - to be the compasion of God to others. 

A prerequisite would be that we first open ourselves to that compassion of God... like that lady who sought to touch at least the elm of the garment of Christ! She knew touching Christ or Christ touching her would change the entire life for her and she believed so firmly in that. The world today needs to have this openness to God, to open ourselves to the touch of God! We too, with all our pious practices and devotions, may forget to really open the core of our hearts to the Lord. If only we allow the Lord to touch us, we shall be transformed into the Lord's compassion for everyone around us.

Today, let us be conscious of every moment when the Lord gives us an opportunity to be God's compassion to others in our own way. Though little deeds, they might go a long way in making the day blessed for us and for the others.

HE CAME... HE DIED!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

July 3, 2022: Celebrating St. Thomas the Apostle to India

Isaiah 52: 7-10; Ephesians 2: 19-22; John 20: 24-29

The one who said, "Let us also go, that we may die with him" (Jn 11:16)...
went all the way in his life for his Saviour...
and upto India, he came, and he died!!!

The Apostles are the foundations of our faith says the reading and the liturgy proclaims the same truth too! Celebrating St. Thomas today, the diverse legends notwithstanding, we thank God for this great Apostle, specially for having brought Christian faith to the South of India. 

"Bringing Faith", "Passing on Faith", "Transmitting or Communicating Faith" - these terms puzzle me. Faith is a gift from God, a grace, an inspired response given by a person to the Self-revealing God! If so, can faith be 'brought', 'passed on' or 'transmitted or communicated'? The question does not in anyway negate the process that is referred to here with gratitude and recognition of history; instead it offers an opportunity to bring forth a nuance that dazzles within it.

Transmitting faith or Communicating faith, means primarily testimony of one's faith, that inspires faith in others! The testimony of one's personal response to God, that inspires the others to respond likewise! The Apostles' way of transmitting faith was that, they responded to the God who revealed God's self and in that response they challenged all who were around to respond to the same Lord!

The story told of St. Thomas and his evangelising activity in the southern part of India, is basically a testimony lived and held out as a challenge. The Challenge is not merely to accept the testimony, but to become a testimony ourselves and continue being the salt and the light of the earth! 

Feast of St. Thomas leaves us with three lessons...

1. We are One Church built on the Apostles.

The feasts of the apostles, any apostle for that matter, is a reminder of the essential unity that has to exist within the Church. As Paul so vehemently opposes (cf. I Cor 1:10-13), right from the earliest times division has always been a dreaded scandal within the Church. In spite of this reality, the divided body of Christ today drains the Church of its witnessing power and evangelical authority. 

2. The Church in India has a special responsibility. 

The Church in India, boasting a direct handing over of faith by an apostle, has a special responsibility towards establishing the Reign of God on earth. It is unfair to claim privileges but refrain from the duties that come with it. Every person who has received the gift of faith in this country of ancient heritage and culture, has to stand firm in witness to the Gospel thus received challenging the society towards a holistic transformation, ushering in the Reign of God here and now. 

3. Doubts don't matter as long as the Lord remains close to us.

Thomas was not only the one who wanted to touch the wounds that nails made and put his hand into the hole on Jesus' side, but he was also the one who said, "let us also go, that we may die with him" (Jn 11:16). His personal attachment to Jesus covered up for his obstinacy not to believe when the rest of the apostles reported Jesus' resurrection. In our lives too, when doubts assail, when clouds gather over our heads and we tend to be overwhelmed by them, the only thing that can sustain us is our personal relationship with Jesus! 

May St. Thomas show us Christians in India, the most fitting way of living out the Gospel in our context, so that we may be ambassadors of the Reign of God, here and now.

The Reign Perspective

WORD 2day: Saturday, 13th week in Ordinary time

July 2, 2022: Amos 9: 11-15; Matthew 9: 14-17

The times are dull and dreary, the situation is grim and gloomy, the future seems bleak... this is how the situation was explained by the readings all this week and these are not feelings totally strange to us... with the pandemic still lurking round the corner and the ongoing war situation and all the socio-political turmoil that is created out of nothing! But can we be so negative and hopeless?

Christian hope is that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. The last word is always the Lord's. Amos, who has been pronouncing such vehement warning all this while, comes out with a hopeful projection of the future today. In fact some scholars say, that this part of the text could be actually an interpellation into Amos' text...it does not sound Amos they say!. However, the readings today point to the fact that things can and will change for the better. There will be plenty, there will be justice flowing like river and righteousness like an overflowing stream, in short, there will be the Reign of God established for sure!

But, we should be prepared for it. We should be prepared to have a new mindset, a totally new perspective, an absolutely different value system! Cosmetic changes will not work...patchworks will not be sufficient...little additions here and there, simple deletions at places will not suffice... these adjustments will only make the situation worse, more confused and totally disoriented. What will help is only a radical transformation in Christ. It is what St. Paul would say, 'do not be conformed to this world, instead be transformed in Christ Jesus' (cf.;Rom 12:2); 'those who are in Christ are a new creation' (2 Cor 5:17). 

And for this we have put on the mind of the Christ (cf. Phil 2:5) and that is a radically new mindset, a totally new perspective, an absolutely different value system: namely, the Reign perspective!

Mercy is our communion with the Father

WORD 2day: Friday, 13th week in Ordinary time

July 1, 2022: Amos 8:4-6, 9-12; Matthew 9: 9-13

I desire mercy not sacrifice. There is a particular perspective that a Godly person alone can have: the perspective of God. For God, every one is same; every one is a child to be loved. Why doesn't God punish? Why are evil ones not destroyed yet? These are some questions that some always pose! 

At times we like to see the untoward things that happen, as punishments from God... though infact it is we who cause ourselves the hurts and injuries. Our God is a God who loves mercy. When we make choices that are inhuman, when we hold on to priorities that are ungodly, when we act on criteria that are unjust, we drain ourselves of the divine presence that is within us and that surrounds us, because we withdraw from God, hide from our maker as Adam and Eve did in the garden of eden. And the result: famine, famine of the divine presence, famine of the Word, famine of the light of God.

The Lord calls us as he calls Matthew, to leave the table and follow Him; to leave our ungodly priorities, unjust criteria and inhuman choices and follow the Lord. When we follow the Lord, what would matter to us will be mercy, and mercy alone. It is our choice to make, a choice in our daily life, in our everyday experience, in our thoughts, words and actions.

Being Godly is being merciful. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy; in God's own mercy, the Lord will deliver God's word to us. There will be no famine of the Word of God; we will be in perfect communion with the Lord! Let us be merciful as our Heavenly Father is merciful.

To be or not to be... a prophet.

WORD 2day: Thursday, 13th week in Ordinary time

June 30, 2022: Amos 7: 10-17; Matthew 9: 1-8 

To be or not to be, that is the question, that is the essential problem of every being, specially eveyr human being who wants to makes sense of one's being. For a Christian, for a person of God, for someone who knows and realises his or her special call, this is a fundamental challenge to face. To be or not to be a Christian, to be or not to be a child of God, to be or not to be a prophet. 

Today we see Amos being threatened and asked to quit his mission of speaking the Word. He is asked to go elsewhere and not to bother those to whom he was speaking.  Amos is relentless, inspite of knowing the danger that is imminent - that he will be killed. 

Jesus on the other hand in the Gospel is called a blasphemer, an anti-Jew, a sinner! But he knew his identity and had no need to defend himself or prove himself to them. Jesus knew he had to do what he was doing because he was not doing them by himself, but for the One and according to the will of the One  who had called him and sent him! 

The call to us is simple: Be! Be a prophet wherever you are and whatever be the situation. Be a child of God, come what may! That is your identity and your call!