Where did this man get all this wisdom?

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

Remembering St. John Maria Vianney - 4th August, 2023

Leveticus 23: 1,4-11,15-16,27,34-37; Matthrw 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!

As the Lord commands...

WORD 2day: Thursday, 17th week in Ordinary time

August 03, 2023: Exodus 40:16-21,34-38; Matthew 13:47-53

'As the Lord directed' - we find that phrase repeated atleast thrice in today's first reading, leave alone counting the number of times it appears in the whole life of Moses narrated in the book of Exodus. Doing what the Lord wants, was the key preoccupation for Moses and that is what he taught his people...hence he is presented as the greatest law-giver! He even made it clear to the Lord when he said, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here" (Exo 33:15).

Being with the Lord and never going away from the Lord's presence was everything for the people of Israel. Good fish and Bad fish...resembling the sheep and the goats (in Mat 25)... Jesus presents the reality of the choice that we have to make in life - a radical choice for or against God that would determine every single decision and even the minutest moves of our life. There can be no compromises in this - it is either being in the net or being cast out of it! 

Remaining in the presence of the Lord forever, is possible because the Lord accompanies us, 'as cloud by day and fire by night' the presence of the Lord goes before us. With that illumining and guiding presence, we can be sure of staying always within the net, because it will become our way of life to live and do, as the Lord commands!

Can you hide the glow?

WORD 2day - Wednesday, 17th week in Ordinary time

August 2, 2023: Exodus 34: 29-35; Matthew 13: 44-46

Let us 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 this man find something strange in him? 

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. There was something concrete that had taken place, There was an encounter that made a tremendous difference, a difference that could not be missed.

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, sincerity, above all humility that I exhibit to my fellow beings when I encounter them. Because, if I have truly encountered the Lord, I cannot hide the glow!

The Tent(s) of Meeting!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

August 1, 2023: Remembering St. Alphonsus de Ligouri 

Exodus Exodus 33:7-11,34:5-9,28; Matthew 5: 13-19

Let your light Shine - is a constant invitation from the Saviour to all those who profess their faith in him. What do we do for the light to shine - ofcourse we have to do things right, just and loving! But more fundamental than that - before we do anything, we need to BE... right, just and loving!

Like Moses, we need to be in the presence of the Lord, in the Tent of Meeting - then our light will shine, as the face of Moses shone so much that the people of Israel were afraid of gazing at it (2 Cor 3:7). Just as we have in the saints, specially like those of Alphonsus de Ligouri we celebrate today, we have people who shine, shine and make the presence of God powerfully felt amidst us. "You are the light of the world" declares the Gospel, underlining the circumstances in which we will shine to the world! 

Infact, many of us are in search of this Tent of Meeting (Exo 33:7)... in places of pilgrimage, in events of miraculous nature, in our practices of strenuous personal piety and so on! All these are appreciable efforts and readings today give us two possibilities of spotting this tent: 

One, the Inner Sanctuary of personal integrity, that Jesus demands in the personal integrity and relationship with God. The Lord has blessed us with goodness within us, it depends on our use of personal freedom to retain that goodness or contaminate it with baser tendencies. When we preserve our inner goodness, we encounter the Lord deep within us! the tent of inner sactuary.

Second, is the Mobile Tents of the Other, where God encounters us at every moment of our day. Living as Moses did for the others and in total dedication to their well being, is an unfailing means to encounter the Lord. Alphonsus founded the Redemptorist Order to preach, to call everyone to conversion, for he knew to encounter the other is to encounter God - the mobile tents of the other.

Let our hearts be tuned to the Tent or the Tents of Meeting, that we may encounter the Lord, whenever, wherever and however that the Lord wills!

Faith, Tradition and Grandparents

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

July 26, 2023: Grandparents' Day: Celebrating Sts. Joachim and Anne, the parents of Mary
Ecclesiasticus 44:1,10-15; Matthew 13: 16-17

The first setting in which faith enlightens humanity is the family, declares the first encyclical of Pope Francis, Lumen fidei (52). It further explains that passing of faith in the family happens in the process of shared expression of faith within the family, helping children to become aware of their faith and grow and mature in it. 

Christian faith is always communitarian and it is passed on primarily in families. Many researches on the level of faith being lived (or practiced) in Europe vis-a-vis India, say that one major reason for the degeneration in Europe is the weakening of the institution of the family. Those who hand on faith to us are really God-given. Most important among them, our parents and grandparents who not only give us life but show us also how to live it, from their own experience. 

Celebrating a day to remember the parents of Mary, the Mother of God and our Mother, provides us an opportunity to remember with thanks these our fore-runners in faith, as the first reading suggests, 'let us praise famous persons, our parents in their generations. These were persons of mercy, whose righteous deeds have not been forgotten' (Sir 44:1,10). Infact, thanks to them, we are in a position better than them due to their hard work, great example and their dreams for us! 

Jesus acknowledges that in his words (Mt 13:16-17) and exhorts us to live up to our blessedness, our giftedness, worthy of the faith and tradition that is transmitted to us, from our predecessors. A grateful remembrance of our grandparents if they are no more, or a bear hug to them if they are still with us, will be the right thing to do today!

Life and Death for an Apostle

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

July 25, 2023 - Celebrating St. James, the Apostle

2 Corinthians 4:7-15; Matthew 20: 20-28

We believe; so we speak! That was the watchword of the band of apostles, as St. Paul notes in the first reading today (2 Cor 4:13). Though there was a time when even the apostles did not understand what Jesus was upto... they looked at Jesus like any other leader, carrying forward his career! But in time, Jesus made them understand that they are called to follow, a leader who was 'crazy' in the terms of the world, a man who was full of contradictions. Whoever among you would be the great must be a servant, and who would be the first must be a slave. 

James and John today become the occasion for Jesus to reinstate his philosophy of life, indeed a tough one. St. Paul, though he came late into the fold, understood that philosophy perfectly and he expressed it lucidly when he said, we carry within our bodies the death of Jesus, that the life of Jesus might be manifested in us. He says, death was at work in the lives of Apostles, so that life can be experienced by those to whom they carried the message. 

When we would think it is important to abandon death and seek life, the apostles seemingly seek death, to give life! And they invite the others to believe and once they believe, the believers too seek to carry within themselves the death of Jesus, so that the world may receive life in Christ. That is the chain of apostleship that is passed on to us... to be apostles is to carry the death of Jesus within us, that we may ultimately manifest the eternal life in Jesus to the world. 

James, the first of the apostles to be put to death (Acts 12:2) bears a resounding witness to this way of life; a life of contradiction; the life of apostleship, a life that is all about giving one's entire life, that the others may have life in all its fullness.

Being Still and Knowing the Lord

WORD 2day - Monday, 16th week in Ordiary time

July 24, 2023: Exodus 14: 5-18; Matthew 12: 38-42

The people ask for a sign and on this count people have never changed or grown for the better in history. Asking for a sign or clamoring after magics, being obsessed with persons who claim to have the ability to perform extraordinary signs, predictions and healings... these are prevalent even today. The answer from the Lord is very simple and straightforward.

All that you need to do is, be still. The tendency to run after signs and frenetically looking for miracles should cease if we really keep growing in our faith maturity. Tear shedding statues and blood oozing artefacts cannot be the kindling factors of our faith; if only we could be still and see the works of God in our lives, if only we could be still and observe the way the Lord accompanies us on a daily basis, in the ordinariness of our daily life, we would be filled with messages and revelations enough to fill our thoughts and increase our faith.

What do you think is the most important factor in life - knowing in advance what is going to happen, or knowing how to respond to a situation when it actually comes; trying to look for miracles here or there or learning to recongnise and acknowledge the miracle that is to be discovered in the daily events of our lives? 

All I need to do today, and everyday, is Be Still... and know that the Lord is with me.

The First Missionary of the Risen Lord

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

July 22, 2023: The Feast of Mary of Magdala
Song of Songs 3: 1-4; John 20:1-2,11-18

To we celebrate the feast of Mary Magdalene, the first Missionary of the Risen Lord! 

At times those who wish to show themselves as being faithful and pious have recourse to practices like spending time and energy to appease God, pilgrimage, fasting or other forms of self denial. The feast of Magdalene reminds us of the fact that the love of God is totally gratuitous and greatly challenging. 

The Lord teaches Mary Magdalene, that faith is not merely clinging on to him, but going ahead of him, announcing the Lord's presence to the world, bringing the great news of hope to all around and waiting for the command from the Lord for further action. A mere sentimental attachment to the Lord is an easy alternative while an integral living, a courageous announcement and a personal transformation, makes oneself the message to be shared with all! 

This is true faith: a personal transformation that leads to a convinced proclamation, through a compelling witness. Let us not look to cling to Jesus; let us take Jesus to others by becoming ourselves so filled with Jesus, just as Mary Magdalene was. Mary Magdalene is so special in the history of Faith - when we read the Gospel of St. John, chapter 20, we see, that the apostles Peter and John came to the tomb, they saw, they felt that something great is happening and went back to where they stayed. But Mary Magdalene, stood there, by the tomb; she remained still; she would not leave; her perseverance was great; her endurance was tremendous; her capacity to be still was praiseworthy and the Lord rewards her 'being still'. 

The Risen Lord appears to her as the first one among the disciples to see the Risen Lord and the one to carry the great message to the rest of them... the first missionary of the Risen Lord!

Relationship as True Worship

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

July 21, 2023: 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! We see the historical transition from an understanding of sacrifice as a demand and requirement, to a liberating understanding of God. This is brought in 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 fulfillment. That fulfillment 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 fulfillment 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.

Coming and Going...

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

July 20, 2023: Exodus 3: 13-20; Matthew 11: 28-30 

The Word that dominates the first reading today is 'Go'... Yahweh sends Moses to the Pharaoh. The term that stands out in the short but sweet Gospel of today is, 'Come'... the Lord invites the burdened to rest. Come and Go... may look like two opposite words but the reason given for both the movements is the same: because I am with you, says the Lord.

Coming and going... refer to the docility of the chosen, the willingness and readiness with which a messenger of the Lord vows to act. Going anywhere mattered nothing to the prophets of old or for the apostles in the New Testament... they just went, where the Lord sent them to. Added to that, it did not sound a "sending" according to them; it meant an invitation, "come", "come, be mine!", "come, be me where I send you!". That remains the same even today, even with us.

Every day and in ways mysterious or means ordinary, the Lord keeps sending us these instructions: come, go, speak, share, remain, endure and so on... are we prepared to listen and eager to act upon it? When we do it, there is bound to be a myriad of struggles and endless strife... but the Lord will give us the strength, make the yoke easy and the burden light. Easy and light, because the Lord is with us!