To behold the Lord in the Ordinary!

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

February 4, 2026 - 2 Samuel 24:2,8-17; Mark 6: 1-6

Falling into sin, giving into our imperfections, falling short of what is expected of us, are all common human experiences. The experience becomes truly problematic, when we have fallen and we do not wish to admit it or we are not ready to get out of it. 

David was a chosen one of God. He was blessed with experiences and graces that no one else had been blessed with... but he falls and he falls repeatedly. When things go wrong and miseries come his way he realises his folly. But only to know and acknowledge that it has already gone out of hand. 

The Lord's grace is ever present with us - but it is possible that we do not realise it or we refuse to behold it in our obstinacy. We just take things for granted and push things aside without paying the attention that they deserve, because we are used to them, because we have always seen them, because they are "nothing new" to us. 

The ordinariness of Jesus was an obstacle for the people to accept the great things that he was upto - we see that in the Gospel today. For us today, it is important that we learn to behold the Lord's graceful presence, in the ordinariness of our lives; if not, it will be too late when we realise it, as it happens to David. We better resolve to be ready and eager to behold the presence of the Lord in the ordinariness of our days.

They call you strange! Does it matter?

WORD 2day: 4th Tuesday in Ordinary time

February 3, 2026 - 2 Samuel 18:9-10, 14, 24-25, 30-19:3; Mark 5: 21-43.

Sometimes we might appear 'strange' to those around us.

 

David appears so, in today's first reading at least to those who brought him the news of the death of his son Absalom. For those who were close to David, it seemed well deserved that Absalom met with such an end for all that he had done to David; but for David, it was unbearable; he cries inconsolably. He appears strange for the people who wanted to celebrate the victory. 

Jesus looks strange to those around, when he asks who is that who touched him, when there was a whole multitude that was crushing him! He appears strange when he tells those people at Jairus' house, 'the child is sleeping.' In fact, the disciples expressed their surprise and the people ridiculed him. 

However, there is an element here in these cases, that the people around could not see - that which made it natural for Jesus (and for David). But for the people, it was strange. The element in reference here is, the capacity to see everything from the eyes of God and comprehend  everything from the perspective of God! 

When David looked at it from the perspective of God, it was his loving child who was dead! When Jesus felt the touch from the perspective of God, it was a special touch of intense prayer and when He saw the child on the death bed, it was God's glory yet to be revealed. When we look at our own successes, failures, difficulties, trials, temptations and struggles from the eyes of God - they will have completely different meanings - could be 'strange' for others, but truly 'miracles' for ourselves!

Total Offering - Familiarity, Flexibility & Filiality

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

February 2, 2026 - The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

Malachi 3: 1-4; Luke 2: 22-40

The readings of today were offered for our reflection only recently, on the 8th day after Christmas. They are given once more today, but they open a whole new perspective today with all that surrounds it liturgically! Today is also the 30th World day of Consecrated life - a message for which from Pope Leo: Consecrated Persons : Prophetic witnesses of peace in a Wounded world.

Keeping all of these in perspective, we have one lovely challenge posed: the Challenge of Total Offering to the Lord. Not just persons in Consecrated Life, but every one of us is called to offer ourselves totally to God and that alone can give us true meaning, happiness and above all true peace in life and to the world.

From the readings of today, we can pick up three signs of our total offering to the Lord:

Familiarity: As the Holy Family which enters the Temple with that ease and eagerness to perform their spiritual duty, so are we called to remain always familiar with the Lord.

Flexibility: Performing the duty was not merely a ritual, even for us it shouldn't be so! We are called to be pliable in the hands of God, as malleable as the silver and gold in the hands of the smith, so that we can become what the Lord wants us to.

Filiality: It is towards filiality that we are ultimately invited, as the Word reminds us repeatedly. This filiality inspired and enthused Jesus to belong to God totally and we are called to imitate the same self-giving!

Let us grow more and more, familiar, flexible and filial - that we could become true testimonies and instruments of peace to this wounded world.

BEING "HIS" PEOPLE

Humble, Integral and Simple!

4th Sunday in Ordinary time: February 1, 2026
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 even than God. They claim to be all-powerful, and capable of anything on earth! They challenge anyone and despise everyone...funny that they find themselves more than worthy of any title or admiration in the world! 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 most 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! We are challenged to become true people of God, children of the Reign, His people!

Clinging to the Lord in love

THE WORD AND THE SAINT 

January 31, 2026 - Celebrating St. John Bosco, the friend of youth

2 Samuel 12: 1-7, 10-17; Mark 4: 35-41

"It is you!" - the famous finger of God against David, is the picture we are left with today by the Word. The Lord loved David, but David slipped into godlessness. However, when God pointed it out to David, like an inamorata clinging back to the beloved after a split, David comes back with remorse and love so tenderly balanced. Even when David realised he had sinned, he never panicked or never gave into guilt... he felt sorry and bounced back to the love of God, because he knew and he was convinced that the Lord was with him and the Lord loved him above anything else.

The storms may rage all around us, but we can still remain calm if only we realise the Lord is with us and the Lord loves us above all else. When the Lord is for us who can be against us? What really matters for a child of God, is to cling to the Lord in love... and everything else will fall in place!

Now, let us pause that reflection and turn to the Saint of the day! Just as God who was so much in love with the young David...so we find John Bosco a shepherd who loved the young to the last breath of his life. Don Bosco himself was so loved by God, and he just transmitted that love to the young entrusted to him. A wonderful life of faith, made manifest in actions and choices of love for the young. Let us ask for the grace of clinging to the Lord in love, and sharing the same love with each other. 

Beware of the slide...not just the fall

WORD 2day: 3rd Friday in Ordinary time

January 30, 2026 - 2 Samuel 11:1-4,5-10,13-17; Mark 4: 26-34

Jesus today gives us a parable to understand the subtle way in which the Reign of God grows in the earth - gradual and slow, but steady and strong! At times we have so much to say about God and God's ways - why is God not acting? why is so much of evil permitted? and so on... but we need to strive to understand... the process is underway; there is something in the making and it takes God's own time to come to fruition.

 

This seems to be true even with regard to situations and dispositions that take us away from God's ways. There is a gradual and slow falling away from God, slipping away from God little by little. It is not so much a fall that is dangerous, as the slide! Yes, most of the times we slide away from God, not just fall.

It is true that some times we fall into sin, but most of the time we slide into sin! David little by little slipped into sin but very soon he was in deep trouble. He lost all that he had built up by way of his faithfulness, dedication to the Lord, personal rapport with the Lord, love for his people and so on. Every thing went down the drain, when he began to slide into sin, step by step, mistake after mistake, one worse than before. 

Hence the call of the Word today is, that we be warned of sliding into sin... to be careful of the subtle ways that lead us to deep troubles. Let us beware of the slide, not just the fall. 

Worthy to be given more?

WORD 2day: 3rd Thursday in Ordinary time

January 29, 2026 - 2 Samuel 7:18-19,24-29; Mark 4: 21-25

David acknowledges the amount of good that the Lord has done on his behalf, the way the Lord raised him up from nowhere! He realises too that to be given so much means that much is expected of him. Though he failed in some ways, his love and dedication to the Lord never ceased.

The Lord chose David and raised him up, and David proved worthy of that choice inspite of his weaknesses. Doesn't that statement look like the one-line story of anyone among us - the Lord has chosen us and raised us up, and we need to live worthy of that choice inspite of our weaknesses and limitations.

There is yet another message that needs to be taken from here: it is not that David was chosen and that is no merit of his. He proved worthy of that choice and therefore remained or grew to be more choice-worthy. We are chosen... and the way we respond to that chosenness, will determine we would be further chosen or not! 

That is what Jesus teaches us in the Gospel today. The more we live humble and aware of the fact that we are chosen, the more we would be blessed. The more we would be blessed the more we have to grow worthy of it. What a lovely and interesting way to sanctity!

The Word made sense!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

January 28, 2026: Remembering St. Thomas Aquinas 

2 Samuel 7: 4-17 Mark 4: 1-20

We know, and let us hope that we are convinced, that the Word of God is alive and active! In fact, the Word comes to us everytime with a specific call and life changing challenges. We would render it "dead"  if we do not make the real sense out of it. Listening and understanding the Word and what the Word really wants from me, is an essential part of the process. It may sound a difficult task, but truly, no.

The Lord provides us the possibility of making sense too, only that we have to be ready and open. The Lord sends events that can help us experience the sense, persons who can explain the sense - at times they are direct, other times applied. But the condition is that we need to be ready and open.

We see David today, so open and eager, as Prophet Nathan tries to make sense of the Word to him. The disciples ask Jesus to make sense of the Word to them and Jesus does it so impressively. Receiving the Word and making sense of it should lead us to concrete changes in life. If not the Word would be dead as the seeds picked by the birds or scorched by sun or suppressed by the thorns. 

One of the ways the Word is made sense of is Theology - and today we celebrate a great theologian who has been a great foundation for the theology of Catholic Church for centuries together - St. Thomas of Aquino. He was a person totally ready, open and eager to make sense of what the Word wanted to communicate - that is why he was so fertile in his academic and spiritual life, the fruits of which we continue to enjoy till date. 

Let us ask him to intercede for us to be spiritually fertile giving fruit in abundance, each one in our own way.

Doing God's will... but why?

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

January 27, 2026 - 2 Samuel 6: 12-15, 17-19; Mark 3: 31-35

Doing God's will, is presented to us as a duty. Not just that, but it is also at the same time, a guarantee of righteousness. There can be various motivations for doing God's will in life.

It could be because of Fear - that I am afraid that if I do not do God's will I might get into trouble or I might ruin my well-being. It is carrying out our duties out of fear of undesirable consequences that may arise on the contrary.

Secondly it could be because of Obligation - that I am expected to do it; that is, doing the duty for the sake of the duty. I am given to feel that I have been brought up and always been taught that way, and therefore it should carry on for life that way. Though there is an appreciable discipline involved here, it seems very robotic and slavish.

Today, David in the first reading and Jesus in the Gospel, give us a beautiful outlook on doing God's will - doing what God wants, because of Love - because I love God! I have experienced the love of God to such an extent, that I cannot but do what pleases God; I cannot count the cost; I am ready to give up anything for the sake of doing the will of God. That is the disposition revealed when Jesus declared with no hesitation: "My food is to do the will of the one who sent me!" (Jn 4:34).

It is only when we are convinced of this fact that we become like Jesus; we become his brothers and sisters... that is, we become the loving children of God our Father and Mother.

Discipleship costs...

THE WORD AND THE SAINTS

January 26, 2026 - Remembering Sts Timothy and Titus

2 Timothy 1: 1-8; Luke 10: 1-9

Timothy and Titus are the two models we are presented with today. 

They were both finds of St. Paul on his journeys. Inspiring the listeners to make a life choice is a special gift that some are given with. St. Paul possessed this and used it well for the sake of the Reign of God. Timothy and Titus join the great band of apostles, that Jesus initiated and Paul joined later in God's own time. 

Today the call remains open. We are all on the jouney towards the Reign and the Reign, although is yet to be made visible, is already present in the world today. Every one of us, by our baptism is entrusted with the task of establishing the Reign of God. The question is, how conscious are we about it? The more we become conscious of it, the more we grow in the sense of our call.

What is our response? Examples such as Timothy's and Titus' impel us towards action. St. Paul who identified these two apostles, also inspired them. They learnt from the spirit of Paul who said, woe to me if I do not proclaim the Word. Paul himself learnt from Jesus, for whom doing what the Father wants is like food and drink. 

As the Gospel presents to us, the task entrusted to us, costs dearly... sometimes costs even one's very life! The Apostles knew it and still embraced it because, they had an urgency for the Reign - the Reign of God is very near to you!