Drooping hands and weak knees, or faith alive?

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 4th week in Ordinary time

February 1, 2023: Hebrews 12:4-7,11-16; Mark 6:1-6

God is all powerful except before our free will... it is not that God is incapable but God has chosen to implant within us, that freedom which is God's own image and likeness. At times we may feel we are afflicted, but we are not without the means to withstand these afflictions. We have within us the necessary strength to stand up to these. At no time are we faced with a trial that is beyond our capacity. That is the promise of the Word: 1 Cor 10:13.

However, there is one thing that can drive us to despair... drooping hands and weak knees. Drooping hands symbolise my lack of faith in the capacity God has placed within me. Weak knees symbolise the lack of dependence on God, the pride that makes me ignore my need for God. When these happen, I find myself helpless, because I do not perceive the Lord, although God is so close to me and so concerned about me - just like those who were not able to see Christ, in Jesus!

It can happen easily to us - that we are guided by the drooping hands and carried by weak knees, that we give up easily and lament readily. We forget the fact that we have had moments of difficulties and have been carried across by the loving presence of God. We are so focused on the problems around us that we fail to see a presence that challenges all those problems! We would refrain from this, if only our faith remains active and alive every moment of our life!

What do I choose, specially in moments of difficulties and trials: drooping hands and weak knees? or a faith alive?

Arise, run and endure!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT 

January 31, 2023: Celebrating St. John Bosco, the Shepherd of the Young
Hebrews 12: 1-4; Mark 5: 21-43

Arise, run and endure is the call today! Situations of death and darkness, moments of drowning spirit and desperate feelings, struggle between right knowledge and raging temptations... these abound in our daily life. But we are called to Arise from these landslips and Run the race that is alloted to us, with an Endurance that is ready to put up with any difficulty, even upto shedding blood.

The endurance comes from the hope that Our God is an awesome God and can do anything for us. The strength to run the race comes from the faith that the Lord our God is running along and is ever present by our side. The capacity to arise comes from the love that God showers on us, out of which God keeps holding my hand inspite of all situations and keeps whispering into my ears, my son, my daughter, my child, my friend... arise! This is the experience of perpetual rejuvenation that faith offers to those who are in God. 

Don Bosco, was gifted with that perpetual youthfulness! He could arise, run and endure endlessly in life, because he was in God! That total attachment to God and to God's will, made him so youthful that he could identify with the young readily and the young found in him an extraordinary shepherd, a shepherd who knew and had the smell of his sheep. May his intercession help us to experience continuously this rejuvenation from the Lord and may it make us compassionate and empathetic to the youth around us. Let us pray for the grace to ceaselessly arise, run and endure.

Who is your hero?

WORD 2day: Monday, 4th week in Ordinary time

January 30, 2023: Hebrews 11:32-40; Mark 5:1-20

The Letter to the Hebrews lists today a set of heroes, heroes of valour and vigour, heroes in history on whom the people pinned their hopes! But they were all gone in the way of their fathers. Today we too have our own heroes - persons or role models or absolute values or needs or priorities - heroes of various kind. It is important to ask ourselves who is our real hero?

With what Jesus did to the people of Gerasenes, they should have made him their hero. Jesus solved their years of problem in a moment. He just sent the legion of demons away from their living quarters...but did Jesus become their hero? No! They asked Jesus to leave - may be because they felt their loss (that of the swines) was too much! And probably, they had some other considerations for their hero.

The world today has too many things to contend with, when it comes to the Lord being the hero! Even drawing people to God, there are many who propose material well being as a source of attraction. Come to the Lord, you will have all the prosperity you can think of. Come to the Lord and you will have your dreams so miraculously fulfilled. How many times we hear these jargons and can we get sillier than this?

Jesus taught them, that to have him meant losing a lot of other things. It was hard for them. Because the wellbeing that Jesus proposed had a different meaning altogether - it was being free from demonic possessions, slaveries and fears that do not let humans be humans, which prevent persons from living their lives to the full. It is all about what our choice is. The crucial question therefore is: who is my hero?

BEING HIS

Humble, Integral and Simple!

4th Sunday in Ordinary time: January 29, 2023
Zephania 2:3, 3:12-13; 1 Corinthians 1:26-31; Matthew 5:1-12

Once again we have the beatitudes to reflect upon, a splendid description of a true people of God, the real people of the Reign, people who can belong to God and make present God here and now - in short, HIS people!

Seek the Lord, Seek humility, Seek Integrity... Zephaniah summarises the entire message of today in those words. Being poor in spirit, peace makers, humble of heart, vulnerable in spirit - those are the true characteristics of a person of the Reign... and today we can put them all into one single call - the call to be HIS people... to be HIS means, to be Humble, Integral and Sincere! That is how we become HIS.

Humble: Humility is to attribute praises to God from one's heart! We are today living in a context where people claim to be almost gods, or greater than even God. There are people living with us who are regular visitors to heaven (according to their claim) or even form part of the council of saints there! Funny! This is in contrast to the kind of picture that Jesus paints for persons who are of his kind. Jesus when he lived on earth, though he could have claimed credit for everything he did or said, he declared: 'All that I speak, I do not speak on my own; all that I do, I do not do it all on my own!' That was the Son of God. He attributed everything good to God! He was clear about where his own goodness came from! That is humility - to accept the reality, and to be efficacious instruments of God's powerful presence.

Integral: Integrity is to have no discrepancy whatsoever between one's words and one's life! We see today people who live in total divided selves. They seem to be crying bitterly, but rejoicing in their hearts; they seem to be slogging for the good of others, but actually plotting against everyone to make their own way up; they seem to speak with honey in their lips, but there resides treacherous poison in their hearts; they put up a front of service and generosity, while all that they think of is their own self promotion and self glory! How can we understand this, particularly when it comes from a so-called "Christ-ian"? This lack of integrity will not only question the meaningfulness of one's own faith, but even drive people away from anything that has to do with God or Godliness. 

Sincere: Sincerity is to accept what one is and putting on no appearances! Drawing from integrity, it is to be what one is and manifest just that to everyone around. There are people who live two or three lives simultaneously - one for the larger public, one for the immediate circle of friends, and another for the intimate circle. At times, persons do anything that they can to make people believe their false selves. But let us pose an extremely simple question: what do they gain by it - except that they end up never living their lives, leave alone living it to the full! It is sincerity alone that can help one live one's life - although it may cause a considerable cost!

We are called to be HIS people - people who are Humble, Integral and Sincere; people of the beatitudes, loving and forgiving people of the Reign!

Keep calm! Keep faith!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

January 28, 2023: Remembering St. Thomas Aquinas

Hebrews 11: 1-2,8-19; Mark 4: 34-41

One of the clearest signs of faith in a person is what we get to hear in the Word today: Keeping calm! It is not keeping calm when everything is going well and everything is under control.  While even that is getting into the list of rarities, the call today is specially and particularly, to keep calm under pressure situations and situations of trouble. That is the true test of faith.

The Saint we celebrate today was a great exponent of Christian faith and a person who loved the Lord and grew in that love without ceasing. St. Thomas Aquinas who was such a great proponent of theological truths, did not consider those truths as great as one simple and absolute truth: that immense love of God. 

Our growth in faith is marked by our unassailable trust in that love of God, and an unhindered growth in our relationship with God. Yes, we are called to grow in our faith, in our way of feeling connected to God, in our consciousness of the presence of God with us.

There are some qualities that can help us keep calm... as indicated in today's readings: I can keep calm, ...
     - if I consider God someone close to me;
     - if I am convinced that everything that is happening in my life is known to God;
     - if it doesn't matter to me what's happening, because I am forever convinced that God is in-charge, God is in control, and that God is in love with me!

Do not draw back

WORD 2day: Friday, 3rd week on Ordinary time

January 27, 2023: Hebrews 10: 32-39; Mark 4: 26-34

In a true struggle, in a sincere rethinking or in a serious growth process there sure is one rule that we need to take to heart: do not draw back. When we engage with a serious and a valid cause, there will certainly be difficulties and discouragements, owing to external factors or internal dispositions.  External factors could be those which lay a block or threaten our progress. Internal factors could be fear of failure or doubts of one's own capabilities. Whatever it may be, the rule for a Reign person is: do not draw back!

Jesus teaches us this hard way in his own life and mission. He was the Son of God... but chose to become a human to show humanity what its real identity and call were! He struggled and battled with his own people, with the rulers and with the powers of the evil world. One thing that was clear in his way of life and spirit of mission. 

Is this not a clear message that Jesus gives: Do not withdraw. Keep fighting even if you think you are buried... you will one day arise to shine!

Coversion: an absolute choice for God

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

January 25, 2023: Conversion - an absolute choice for God

The feast of Conversion of St. Paul invites us to reflect on our conversion. Unfortunately, in today's context, the word 'conversion' has more political connotation than spiritual! In fact today is a beautiful occasion for us to remind ourselves that conversion is not about numbers, nor about increasing the fold.

It is a personal decision to go towards God, an about-turn (as the Greek word 'metanoia' suggests); it is an absolute choice for God! Choice for God... because we begin to see the role that God has played in our life and choose to actively acknowledge it; Absolute... because nothing else matters as much as God and God's will do! 

We are called to conversion... may not be as dramatic as that of St. Paul's, as we read in the first reading today, but more demanding! Yes, we are called to daily conversion. To be aware, each day and each moment, of those things that take us away from our progress towards God. Nothing - no demonic powers, no distracting languages, no cunning serpents, no poisoning lifestyle - should lead us away from God... we are called to make an absolute choice every day, for God and for God's Word. Not merely in words but by my very life, I am obliged to proclaim God's message. "Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel," reminds me St.Paul (1 Cor 9:16).

The one absolute: God's Will

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

January 24, 2023: Remembering St. Francis de Sales
Hebrews 10:1-10; Mark 3: 31-35

It is a familiar theme in Christian parlance to discuss the fact that each of us has a vocation and that he or she is called by name, each one, in a very specific manner. Each of us has a purpose and is called to achieve that purpose without fail, or atleast strive to. But one question always remains and stands out: how will we know what God wants of us?

Truly speaking, can we ever know for sure, what God wants of us? If we can stay tuned to God's voice and God's promptings, we would at any given moment make choices and decisions in keeping with God's will for us then and there. What is needed for this is a disposition that the readings outline today: Behold, I come to do your will. 

It is this readiness to do God's will that makes Mary the first disciple of Christ, more than being merely the biological mother that she actually was to Jesus the Christ! The fundamental disposition is, never to lose sight of that one absolute, in relation to which all our choices and decisions have to be made: God's Will, and a total surrender to it.

Francis de Sales was convinced of it, not only in his life but also in the lives of those whom he directed. In his Treatise on the Love of God, he dedicates two full chapters on finding the will of God for each of us - the crux of it according to him is the love we have for God. We obey God because we love God, he says. "Whoever truly takes pleasure in God desires faithfully to please God and, in order to please God, desires to conform to God." In that process of expressing our love, we become children of God - that is, brothers and sisters of Jesus our Lord. 

The Promise of the New Covenant

WORD 2day: Monday, 3rd week in Ordinary time

January 23, 2023: Hebrews 9:15, 24-28; Mark 3: 22-30

Jesus' promise of the New Covenant is a promise of eternal salvation. The Word affirms that this salvation is given to all, by that sacrifice once and for all, on Calvary. Every one is promised forgiveness and salvation, but every person has to claim that salvation for oneself. There can be three blocks that would prevent a person from personalising this salvation. 

The first is the social block - that the background and experience handed down through the generations, which does not allow one to experience this salvation. This can be overcome by a new experience that can change the entire life of a person. The person should however be open to that experience. 

The second is the personal block - that the weaknesses within one, the limitations that one personally experiences, keep us away from God. But this can be worked out of, allowing the grace of God to work within oneself. 

The third is a psuedo block - because of which I deliberately keep myself away from God. It is my lack of openness and an unspiritual bias, that takes me far from the promise of the New Covenant. 

Jesus has promised me the New Covenant, but I need to make myself worthy of receiving that covenant and being part of it. Am I worthy of inheriting the promise of the New Covenant?

REIGN - DO IT YOURSELF!

The Problem, the Cause and the Challenge

January 22, 2023: 3rd Sunday in Ordinary time
Isaiah 8:23 - 9:3; 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17; Matthew 4:12-23

Christians divided among themselves is a terrible scandal to the rest of the world. We are in the midst of the Unity Octave or the Prayer week for Unity among Christians,. These days the Word has been offering us ways in which our daily life and Christian creed come together in making us a new people. It is easier to brush aside the message saying it is impractical, than to take it seriously and examine our situation - personally, and in our immediate context.

The Readings this Sunday has a practical logic that they follow: they present a problem, they indicate the cause and then propose the challenge! The Problem: Darkness, gloom and hatred in the world. Cause: Divisions among persons, for whatever reason it be! Challenge: Repent and Accept the Reign of God. The readings taken together seem to present to us a "do-it-yourself " guidebook towards making the Reign of God present amidst us.

Step 1: Perceive the Problem: the darkness, the gloom and the hatred that surrounds today. Killings, wars, provocative political policies, inhuman oppressive practices, social unrest, economic exploitations, manipulation of the powerless and the suppression of the voiceless - today it looks like the world is a dangerous place to live in and it seems to get worse by the day! Isaiah speaks from such a context in the first reading, as explains Matthew in the Gospel: people who sit in darkness and land overshadowed by death! The world is such, yes; but how is it around you and me! The first step the readings suggest today is to take note of our situation: look around...it could be your family, or your parish, or your locality - identify the darkness, the shadow of death that hovers, anything that does not allow you and those around you to live your life to the full.

Step 2: Identify the Cause: self-centered vision and egocentric outlook on life. Divisions on the basis of various categories - be it economic, social, religious, traditional or whatever - are opposed to the Gospel message. How sad it is to see a Christian community divided on the basis of caste! How painful it is to see a Christian community where there are still people who have absolutely nothing to live on, while there are others who can spend lavishly on unreasonable luxuries! How scandalous to see a Christian community that comes together on the Sunday, celebrates together the sacraments and goes back unaffected by each other! How contradicting to see a Christian family divided within - for the sake of property or money, due to ego clashes or owing to years of hatred! The second reading pleads that we identify the cause of those situations that does not allow us to live our Christian life fully!

Step 3: Accept the Challenge of the Reign: to repent and be the change! We want the world to change, but we are not ready to be the change. We are scared to be taken advantage of, we do not want to take any risks. We preach peace and pray for prosperity in the world, but what do we do for it in practice? Are we ready to forgive without hesitation, love without calculation, help without expectation, contribute without remuneration? Are we ready to just leave everything and follow Christ as the disciples did? Follow Christ, to preach the Reign, by first of all living ourselves as the people of the Reign! If we are ready...then, the people who sit in darkness will see a light; those dwelling in the land overshadowed by death will see a light. Let us repent, be the change, and spread peace, love and life!