Sunday, July 6, 2025

Encounter that touches

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

July 7, 2025: Genesis 28:10-22; Matthew 9: 18-26


Encounter with God - the Word presents three of them today: Jacob's encounter with God, the ailing lady and the little child encountering Jesus. There are two messages that stand out in the entirety of today's events. 

Firstly, any encounter with God rejuvenates. Jacob was given a new vision of life; the lady with the haemorrhage was given a new life; and the little child was given back her life! One cannot remain the same after having encountered God. 

The second message, which is carried specially by the Gospel account, is about the special encounter through TOUCH - It is interesting to note the two accounts of Luke which seem to point to a fact: whether you touch God or God touches you, the fruits are the same! The lady, sad and suffering touched Jesus, and Jesus touched the little child dead and gone... the effect was the same - a new lease of life. 

Touching God or God touching us, they are the same - for they both are fundamentally an encounter and "Faith is born of an encounter with the living God who calls us and reveals his love" (Lumen Fidei, 4).

May be another important feature can be underlined too - that God met Jacob on a ground and while he slept; Jesus encountered the diseased lady on a road and amidst a jostling crowd; Jesus touched the little girl in a room and while she lay dead! It does not matter where we are, or what we are up to, the living God can encounter us anywhere and anytime, provided we are ready and willing to accept and behold the encounter. 

Behold I stand knocking at the door, says the Lord! May Lord Jesus touch us so that we may be healed by that encounter that touches our entire being!

Saturday, July 5, 2025

PEACE - THE GOOD NEWS FOR TODAY

The call to conviction and commitment!

14th Sunday in Ordinary time - July 06, 2025
Isaiah 66: 10-14; Galatians 6: 14-18; Luke 10: 1-12, 17-20



What could be the Good News today to the world, in these days of unrest – anything sweeter than or more reassuring than peace? We observe unrest at all levels - Global, National, Local - at all levels there is a sense of acute unrest, a feeling of insecurity and anxiety.

At the global level news like the Ukraine – Russia conflict, the Israel – Iran conflict, the continuing conflicts in the Middle East such as those in Lebanon and Syria, the never ending and sometimes never considered issues of some African nations such as Somalia, Haiti, Mali and so on, the ongoing tensions in Myanmar… these signs of unrest stand out as a reminder of the loss of hope in humanistic solidarity!

At the national level, the various uprisings, the increasing polarizations, the unchecked politicisation of crimes, the exploitation of political power, the manipulation of the media platforms, these are just the tip of the iceberg of unrests that are aggressively active underground.

At the local level, the recent custodial death and the uproar against it, the varied killings and sexual harassments reported, the constant effort to create political and socio-religious unrest, these are just another set of events laying bare the unrest that rules the minds of persons in today's society.

Just to add to these instances one opinion that is being considered as a wisdom for human flourish these days: there are people who seem to say, 'it is alright to be selfish' and some even saying, ‘it is legitimate to be self-centered’! What a stage we have reached where people not only justify selfishness but propagate it as if it is a virtue, a virtue of the new age, post-truth pragmatic school, that is threatening to make all religious values meaningless!

The Word this Sunday, presents us with what could be the good news for a time that is marked by such unrests: the good news of PEACE.

"Peace" is the term that is common to all the parts of the liturgy of the Word today. The Lord promises a peace of comfort to God's people in the first reading; the psalmist hopes for the peace of the Lord and invites to pray for it; St. Paul wishes and blesses the people of God with peace; and finally Jesus highlights good news as a sharing of peace!

But what kind of a peace is the Word speaking to us about?

A peace that promises... Comfort but not Compromise

Though the Lord time and again promised the people of God peace in their borders and the justice in their homes, the Lord does not compromise on anything. Of course, the Lord has a great and true promise of comfort and well-being. But the comfort that the Lord promises does not consist of any compromise.

We see in the political arena today people who speak flabbergastingly about principles and policies and not too far within the timelines, they begin to speak and promote just the opposite of what they have been speaking a while before! There are people who speak of something but as soon as it touches them personally, do exactly the opposite things. Compromises seem to be a competence of coping with life! It is propagated as a way of gaining a peaceful life!

Instead, the peace that the Lord promises, is far from this - what matters to the Lord, matters truly and matters always, without change or without exceptions. When we are clear of what the Lord expects of us, and when we make a conscious choice for it, we are filled with a peace that comforts us, even amidst difficulties and pressures – no compromise can be justified!

A peace that is born out of... Convictions and not Convenience

The Lord as he sends his messengers ahead of him puts them through a rigorous drill, to learn to put up with inconveniences for the sake of the convictions they would live by. There is this tendency in the culture today to consider what is convenient as true! A pragmatism of sorts, which says what does matter is that which leaves you with peace of mind! But what kind of peace of mind are we speaking of – that of time being, that which keeps you under uncertainty, that which leaves you internally unsettled, that which tends to kill your conscience?  

The conviction of a provident God, the conviction of the ever-loving God, the conviction of the ever-present God... leads to a peace of mind that defeats all consumer crazy claims of the day. Like St. Paul, we would be able to say, I have learnt to live in want and in plenty (cf. Phil 4:12). That’s the key to peace.

A peace that is experienced through... Commitment and never Compulsion

Peace is the good news that the Lord offers, but the bad news is that it is upto me to accept it or not. When Jesus teaches them to wish peace to all… it does not mean an empty wish, a wish that makes no difference! “Shalom” that is wished for is something concrete and something that changes life qualitatively! But this wish can bear its effects only when it is “received”… if there is a person of peace, your peace shall remain or it shall return – that is what Jesus said. The Lord promises peace, but it depends on us to receive it, deserve it, behold it.

However, it is not all that too easy to accept that offer of peace, because it involves quite a bit of discipline and sacrifice! Again, the choice is always mine. Behold I place before you life and death: remember those words that the Lord said in Deuteronomy? It is the Son of that God who speaks to us today and he will never be less demanding. When we decide to be deserving of that peace promised by the Lord, without any external compulsion, we shall make some concrete commitments, be it personally or be it collectively – like commitment to truth, commitment to love, commitment to mercy, commitment to family, commitment to sanctity!

In summary, the good news that the Lord wants to offer us today is peace...a peace that flows from personal integrity and interpersonal solidarity! Are we ready to receive that peace, prepared to behold that peace, eager to activate that peace in our lives: we can do it only through our convictions and commitment!

Friday, July 4, 2025

To be predilected children!

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

July 5, 2025: Genesis 27: 1-5, 15-29; Matthew 9: 14-17



Cursed be everyone who curses you and blessed be everyone who blesses you! To be God's "predilected" child (if I can use that term) is an incredible honour; and that is what we are. (How beautifully John expresses this in 1Jn 3:1-3!). In the corrupt culture of the day, it is pretty easy to understand this predilection... there is so much of talk about nepotism today, where a VIP's son or daughter, or a person who has the backing of a key personality in the society gets above anybody and everybody else to win favours in the society!

Jacob was the chosen one, he was the one picked to bring forth the 'predilected' people of God. And because he was chosen, everything works in his favour. Unjust! Unfair! Undeserved! - we might say all that and all that is true! God's love that is 'poured' into our hearts (Rom 5:5: not just given but poured into our hearts); it is unjustly given, unfairly lavished, undeservedly heaped on us. What a way to communicate that truth via the story of Jacob - a cheater yes, but who becomes an identity for God on earth - God refers to Godself as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and God of Jacob!

This logic is totally different! This logic will not fit into the usual logic of the give-and-take, the cause-and-effect; this is a totally different logic of God's love, God's prodigal love for each of us. And if we try to fit this into the normal logic we will be frustrated, like pouring new wine in old skin, or old wine in new skin or stitching a new cloth to an old shrunken one! The call is to be drenched in this entirely unconditional love of God, and to understand how privileged I am to receive this love; and the most important of all, to exhibit that awareness in concrete, day to day actions and attitudes.

Thursday, July 3, 2025

Mercy, not Sacrifice

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

July 4, 2025: Genesis 23:1-4,19, 24:1-8, 62-67; Matthew 9: 9-13.

Mercy not Sacrifice! Mercy and Sacrifice actually stood for two paradigms that were in confrontation as a result of Jesus' life and teaching. God and one's relationship to God was explained purely in terms of sacrifice, sacrifice which stood for fulfilment of the requirements based on regulations and customs. The challenge is alive even today - that we do not make our spirituality a sacrifice-based spirituality. Fulfilment of the precepts, keeping the commandments, making vows and carrying out the same, offering suffrages and being faithful to our prayers to be 'said' or 'done'.

Mercy, instead is fundamentally a relationship. I remember our Scripture professor explaining the meaning of the hebrew word for mercy - rahamim (or rachamim) which comes from the root, rehem (or rechem) which means "womb". Biblically, as Jesus uses, mercy thus refers to a compassion one feels to a child in the womb or a bond very intimate that arouses a warm feeling towards the other!

Far from, doing something to help the other or giving something to someone in need, Mercy is to feel one with the other, specially with someone who is really in need. That is why the statement of Jesus that follows, I have come not to call the righteous but the sinners - a feeling one with the needy!

When we really feel one with somone in trouble, or difficulty, or temptation, or a struggle, much before branding that person a 'sinner' or a 'weakling' or a 'traitor' or an 'infidel', we would strive to stay close to him or her, find out what actually is going on and share moments of solidarity that would walk that person right out of that situation. That is what Jesus did and that is what he expects of you and me: mercy, and not sacrifice!

Wednesday, July 2, 2025

Faith is to be Communicated!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

July 3, 2025: Celebrating St. Thomas, the Apostle

Ephesians 2:19-24; John 20: 24-29

The first reading celebrates the unity we have as a community of faith, with the Apostles. 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 not withstanding, we thank God for this great Apostle, known not only for his doubt but also for his determination to go with Jesus and die with him (John 11:16)! 

Thomas is called the Apostle of India, and there are great legends regarding how faith was brought to India by the Apostle already in the first century after Christ. Not entering to the history of the events, let us remain with the event itself...

"Bringing Faith", "Passing on Faith", "Transmitting or Communicating Faith" - these terms have always interested me, personally. 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 in Christ Jesus, and in that response they challenged and invited all who were around to respond to the same Lord!

The history narrated about 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, in whichever corner we find ourselves!

May St. Thomas inspire us and intercede for us!

Tuesday, July 1, 2025

With open eyes...

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

July 2, 2025: Genesis 21: 5, 8-20a; Matthew 8: 28-34


Hagar had almost given up. For her it was all over. She found no scope of living on and no chance of surviving that desertedness. All that while the well was just round the corner. She was so filled with self pity that she was not able to see the ample opportunity just there for hers to take. All that God did was open her eyes that she may see the well.

However blinded she might have been, Hagar, finally does see unlike the people of Gerasene who never saw till the end, who it really was that had entered their village. Their self pity of having lost their swine in thousands, blinded their eyes from perceiving the great and wonderful blessings that Jesus had in store for them. What a great miss it was; they asked Jesus to leave!

Our problems and troubles, our suspicions and judgements, our prior experiences and disappointments, can easily blind us to the great things that surround us. Sometimes these may even block the blessings that we could receive in life. Not that miracles do not happen, but most of the times we are not in a position to see the miracles that abound all around us. We choose what is not necessary, what could be easily done away with, what does not really help us live our life to the full. And we reject the truth, the fact, the light, the way, the meaning, the sense of life!

If Hagar had still failed to see what the Lord was showing her, she would have thrown her life away. If only the people of Gerasene saw who it was that they were rejecting; if only they beheld the blessings that he brought; if only they lived their lives with open eyes...

Monday, June 30, 2025

Be Still... and know that God is!

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

July 1, 2025 - Genesis 19: 15-29; Matthew 8: 23-27


Fire and brimstone all over, but Lot and his family were promised safety... all because of, the scripture says, one man who walked in the presence of the Lord - Abraham! It was on Abraham's account, due to his faithfulness to God and his unswerving decision to live in the presence of the Lord, that Lot is saved! But even there, nothing could prevent the perishing of his wife, a typical representation of the category of persons who have lost their heart and soul to overly attachments. That is a lesson on what becomes of the promises of the Lord when we do not cooperate!

How closely parallel the scene is, in the Gospel today - storms and waves all over, but disciples are promised safety... all because of one person who was the presence of the Lord - Jesus the Son of God! They had nothing to fear, for the Lord was with them. But there was panic and desperation, for their heart and soul was not focused on the Lord who was with them... they were focused on themselves and their problems and their dying prospects. When Jesus woke up, he first rebuked the disciples; only then the storm and the sea. What we allow the problems around us to do to us, is what really matters!

Today, don't we find ourselves in a similar situation too? War, violence, problems and weariness all over, but we are promised safety... all because the Lord's presence is with us! The Lord journeys with us, lives with us, and acts on our behalf... all that we need to do is like Abraham, "Be Still and Know" that God is!

Sunday, June 29, 2025

Our choices punish us, not God!

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

June 30, 2025: Genesis 18: 16-33; Matthew 8: 18-22


The first reading today is a bit confusing! It presents a scene which looks as if God is waiting to destroy some cities and Abraham is trying to appease the wrath of God. Though apparently that is how it is narrated, the message communicated is quite different. Apart from an important learning from today's Word, there is an important unlearning that has to happen.

Sodom and Gomorrah were cities filled with filth and sinfulness, wickedness and devilishness and on account of these, they were cities that were running themselves into destruction! It is like the ecological crisis and the nuclear risks that we have created for ourselves today! Anything goes wrong anywhere, it is going to affect a large section of humanity. One day or the other we are to reap its fruits! We already are facing the brunt of such foolishness, with the pandemic that is draining the life out of us these days!

The Wisdom of God in warning against these kind of craziness and pointing the right way is either rejected or belittled. The natural law and the divine law that is imprinted on our spirits, is the only guarantee towards a peaceful life. But we have ruined our prospects, disrespecting and discarding any law that comes from God!

When Jesus discourages one from following him and chides the other for not following him, he knows exactly what is good for each of them. God has set laws and order, keeping in mind the needs, wants and requirements for peaceful living of the entire humanity. In human pride, irrational greed and ruthless selfishness, we have made a mess of the world entrusted to us. The warning is to all of us today, if we do not mend our ways and return to the ways of the Lord, we are leading ourselves and our world into destruction. As he did with Abraham, the Lord is negotiating with and through every good willed person even today!

Now coming to the learning and the unlearning: to learn the laws of the Lord inscribed on our hearts; to unlearn any misunderstanding that God punishes or God destroys! God does not punish, our own choices do!

THE PILLARS THAT CHALLENGE

Solemnity of Apostles Sts. Peter and Paul 

June 29, 2025 - Acts 12: 1-11; 2 Timothy 4:6-8,17-18; Matthew 16:13-19


We celebrate today the two formidable pillars of our Christian faith and tradition – Apostles Peter and Paul – one a rock and the other a foundation! They both together go to prove to us that being an apostle is no privilege, it is a challenge; living my life as an apostle is no accomplishment, it is a duty! No wonder why Paul said, "Woe to me if do not proclaim the Gospel"(1 Cor 9:16) and Peter said, "we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard" (Acts 4:20). They knew, realised and were convinced of the obligation that was involved, not just the honour. At times today looking at the rat race that has unfortunately snuck even into the Spiritual or Ecclesial circles, we are invited to pray specially for our Christian leadership, and moreover, reflect on what it really entails!

The key that Apostle Peter offers lies in his incomparable declaration at the Beautiful Gate, when he tells that person who was incapable of walking – “I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk!” (Acts 3: 6)
        Let us note here the first matter of fact: he had neither silver or gold – possession and comfort in so many garbs, be it “for the sake of the mission,” “for the role to be carried out” and so on, how many compromises are made and how scandalising are the reports we come across! Aren’t they clear warnings for us?
        The second factor in that statement is the conviction of Peter, that he had Jesus with him and that he could certainly give Jesus to the person who asked him. There is no virtue in not possessing things or wealth, but it serves as a means to possess Christ and how far does our life of prayer and penance, fill us with Christ – that is a question to ponder.
        The third element to note is the power of the name of Jesus, that Peter understood and laid claim on! Jesus, the name above all names, is given to us to be invoked in every situation where there is someone in need, someone suffering, someone with the essentials at stake! When we do things for others, when we offer our service in ministry – whose name do we invoke? Whose name do we underscore and publish – that is a subtle examination of conscience at varied levels for each of us.

Let us turn to Apostle Paul – he has another crucial challenge to pose, through his declaration in his letter to the Galatians – “it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (2:20). 

        For Paul living or dying did not matter – what mattered to him was Christ, and Christ alone; everything else was a rubbish (Phil 3:8) for him. The world today dares to consider everything rubbish, even God and faith as rubbish for the sake of attaining what it considers success and win! Sometimes the so-called spiritual persons are readily prey to this thinking. 
        Christ living in him, was a bold claim that Paul had, but he was honest about it. That is why for him no sacrifice was too demanding; no loss was worth lamenting; no gain was really worth contemplating! Everything and the whole of him belonged to Christ! 
        Thirdly, that statement underlines the intimate relationship that the apostle had with Christ, his Master! The apostles present the same challenge to us: to have a love for Christ that would consume us totally in our body and soul, making us aglow with the love for Christ and Christ's mission of the Reign of God!

These two pillars – Peter and Paul, stand testimonies to how a life in Christ has to be lived! One shows in action and the other in his commitment; one in his total dependence on the Lord and the other in a total consummation for the sake of the Lord. For them the true treasure, the true strength, the true source of wellbeing was Christ and they depended on no one or nothing else, they feared no one or no forces, they cared about nothing else other having Christ with them! They realised their responsibility to be stones on which the community shall be built, and not to be the cracks from which the community would be divided!

They were uncompromisingly convinced of their commission to proclaim the Gospel even at the point of death! Killing the apostles pleased the Jews, we see in the first reading today: those were the times when the first apostles braced themselves to stand for the Message of Christ. They found themselves at the point of being sacrificed, but nothing discouraged them from bearing witness to Christ and his message! It is a fight, a race - not just a glamorous show to be an apostle, we are reminded today. The lion's mouth, the evil that surrounds and the powers of death are certainly to be found, when I begin to understand, accept and live to the full, my call to be an apostle... but at no point will the Lord's deliverance be lacking! 

The Apostles give us a strong lesson: when I decide to run the race, to fight the good fight, 'the Lord will rescue me from every evil and save me for his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.'

Friday, June 27, 2025

Finding the Lord when we look for...

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

June 28, 2025: Remembering the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Isaiah 61: 9-11; Luke 2: 41-51



Following the Sacred Heart, we remember the Immaculate Heart - once again a genius of the meaningful and significant tradition, that we can be proud of as our heritage. The Immaculate Heart of Mary stands for a total dedication to God, as a response to the grand design that God has for the salvation history of human kind, so concretely manifested in the heart that we celebrated yesterday.

We observe and behold from the heart of Mary, three lessons to live by...

1. The heart was pierced by sorrows as Simeon predicted. No matter how much it was pierced, how deeply it was hurt, or how cruely it was tortured, Mary's immaculate heart always glowed for the love of God and beat for the fulfillment of God's will.

2. The heart of Mary was absolutely open to the working of the Spirit and it was at the beck and call of the Word. We see this right from the moment she heard the greeting from the angel. Openness to the Spirit is a matter of the heart and Mary exemplifies it to the utmost.

3. The heart of Our Blessed Mother was filled with 'God-thoughts' and that was because she kept everything that was happening, in her heart and pondered over them. She recognised, acknowledged and accepted interventions of God in her life, and found herself being moved and animated by the Lord, the Lord's Word and the Lord's Spirit.

In imitation of this heart of our mother, we are challenged to open our hearts to God, glow for God and for God's love, and allow ourselves to be guided by the Lord; thus we shall experience strongly the presence of the Lord in our hearts, and we shall never lose the Lord from our sight and we shall find the Lord whenever we look for the Lord!