PRESENCE, PEACE & BLESSING

Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God - World Peace Day - New Year Day

January 1, 2026: Numbers 6:22-27; Galatians 4:4-7; Luke 2: 16-21

It is a fresh start, a new year, a treasure of 365 days!

It is a Gift, a gift in all ways: precious, beautiful, wrapped and presented. First of all, it would be too rude not to receive it as a gift. Secondly, it is wrapped...and it is important that we receive it with a sense of wonder, surprise and gratitude. Trying to know everything, in the name of predictions and presumptions, would strip it of its wonder! To approach it with a wry and dry mentality will make it devoid of its surprise. Let us approach it with gratitude and a sense of childlike curiosity, prepared to receive the gift on daily basis, one day at a time!

The greatest gift we can have, that with which we begin every new year, is the loving presence of God! The babe in the manger is a the highest gift that we can have. The Emmanuel, God with us, is the most precious gift that we can behold. That the Lord is with us fills us with hope: that whatever it be as the year unfolds day by day, we would never be alone facing it. We have the Lord with us, all the time, every day and every moment.

The gift of the new born Saviour is what we celebrate today: Mary, the Mother of God! The Mother of God is a gift, a reminder and a challenge to us. The Mother of God, is a gift: God gives her to us as a protector, a guide, a refuge as we begin this new year, with all its surprises. The Mother of God, is the reminder of the Word made flesh, the Lord who has cast away all distance and difference and become one like us, just to show us how much God loves us. The Mother of God is a challenge, a challenge to give, to give endlessly. She gave herself, when the Angel approached her! She gave the world the Son of God, born of a woman, when the fullness of time came. She gave that child to the Lord, offered him in the temple and offered him to the Father's work! She gave her young son, for the sake of the salvation of the world. She gave up everything and gave everything! She stands as a challenge for us today, to give, to give and never to count!

The gift of an year! This year, which is given into our hands today, as a gift hamper, will be filled with peace if we live it in the way that the Lord wants us to; after the example of our Blessed Mother. She said that yes, and she said that for her whole life, not knowing what it meant and where it will lead her. All that she was assured was, the Lord was with her. We are assured too that the Lord's presence will go with us, that the Lord's countenance with shine on us. Let us begin with hope and that will give us peace.

The gift of peace! Peace be with you - that is the message that the Holy Father gives us on this 59th World day of Peace... he wishes the world a peace that is "unarmed and disarming". Pope Leo in his message reflects: "Goodness is disarming. Perhaps this is why God became a child. The mystery of the Incarnation, which reaches its deepest descent even to the realm of the dead, begins in the womb of a young mother and is revealed in the manger in Bethlehem. “Peace on earth,” sing the angels, announcing the presence of a defenseless God" -  there lies the key to peace. Not in threatening the other with economic or emotional sanctions... but in being defenceless in our choice for good, for the good of the other, and the for the good of all. The choice has to me personal, absolute and sincere! We have a whole year to practice this choice, haven't we?

May the Lord bless you and keep you!

May the Lord let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you!

May the Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace!

May your New year 2026 be filled with God's presence, peace and every blessing!

Sing to the Lord a NEW song!

WORD 2day: December 31, 2025

7th day in Christmas Octave - 1 John 2: 18-21; John 1: 1-18.

Oh what a day to sing a new song! When everyone thinks of something that is ending, the Word calls us today to sing a new song! Not that the liturgy does not take note of the last day... it does! The first reading indeed, speaks of the last days and the things that pertain to the last day! But the responsorial invites us to sing a new song!

That is truly a Christ-ian spirit! To sing a new song when every one thinks everything is coming to its end, for our hope has no end. It is a beginning for us... a new beginning, in the Lord, in whom we have "received grace upon grace" (John 1:16). Interesting to listen to the Gospel, which begins, 'In the beginning there was Word.' It is indeed a moment of faith.

Today is a day to thank the Lord for everything, for everything that we have walked through this year. Some, we may label 'good', and others we may label 'bad'... but invariably everything has happened with the knowledge of God and there is nothing more blessed than to offer everything up into the hands of God this day, as we await an all new grace from God's hands... a new year that begins at the end of this day.

With all the increasing hate-mongering and violence-inducing events around, it could be that the uppermost feeling today is one of a painful sigh or a yearning cry, but let us not let that happen. Let us not give into any kind of hopelessness today. Let us not allow ourselves to be surrounded by some fearful darkening recall of disturbing experiences from the year that is just passing us by.

Let us decide and choose to prepare ourselves in thanksgiving, to receive an all new grace from God's hands, a grace of 365 days - a brand new 2026!

One who does the will of God, lives forever

WORD 2day: December 30, 2025

6th day in the Christmas Octave - 1John 2: 12-17; Luke 2: 36-40

The feast of the Holy Family has just gone by, but the theme lingers on in today's liturgy - the first reading addressed to various categories of persons in the family, the psalm inviting the families to offer themselves to the Lord and the Gospel referring to the holy family at the temple, to offer the first born to the Lord! The cue to the message is prophetess Anna and the last verse of the first reading which says, "one who does the will of God, lives for ever" (1 Jn 2:17).

What does a family do to you? It helps you grow, grow physically, emotionally, relationally, in short, into whole human persons!

In the family, we are all called to 'grow and become strong', and to be filled with wisdom... wisdom which tells us what is God's will for us; what is acceptable and what is not, in the eyes of the Lord! What is that which helps us stay with God's will and what is that which takes us away from it.

There is yet another growth that has to be underlined: our growth in faith. Faith is not acquired once for all; every day we grow, we grow to the full into persons that God wants us to be. We have no excuse, because God's favour is upon us all as chosen children of God; if I do not grow and become strong in faith, it is me who is to be blamed, is it not?

The key to all these is perceiving, knowing and following God's will, which is simply deciding and desiring to do what would please God and God alone. That difficulties would crop when we do so, yes, it is true. But the one who does the will of God, shall live forever!

Secrets laid bare

WORD 2day: 29th December, 2025

5th day in the Christmas Octave - 1 John 2: 3-11; Luke 2: 22-35

One of the key elements of an authentic spirituality should be to lay bare all secrets. Jesus was doing exactly that, and that is one reason the pharisees and the Scribes could not put up with him.

The way Jesus did it, was by making the criteria cut and dry. He stood far from multiplying requirements and rituals. He simplified the commandments and kept to the basics. He brought everything down to one commandment and this laid everything bare. No amount of beating around the bush would matter anymore... do you love or not - that's the plain question! 

That was indeed, the only question which had to be answered and John so plainly brings it out in today's first reading. He explains lack of love as the lack of light - as darkness! It is simple according to John too... one cannot show oneself as "spiritual", as someone who loves God, except through the love for one's brothers and sisters. Love is the light that has come into the world, according to John; accepting it or not depends on each of us. 

Let your love be genuine (Rom 12): St. Paul too understood this key, the key to being Christlike!

LESSONS FROM THE HOLY FAMILY

To individuals, families and the communities!

December 28, 2025: Solemnity of the Holy Family
Ecclesiasticus 3: 2-6,12-14; Colossians 3: 12-21; Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23

Increasing number of Homes for the Aged, Orphanages, Day care centres and Night shelters for the kids on the streets, alarming rate of divorces and split families, the ridiculous family feuds and meaningless stand offs among the relatives within a family... these are no strange scenes today in a Christian Community! And much more, these are vivid testaments of a collapsing Christian faith.

Christian faith is a faith of a Community, from the earliest times known it is experienced, lived and shared in a community; and the basic unit of the community is the family. That is the reason for using the beautiful term, 'domestic church' referring to the family. It is there, that the Church grows from a seed to a seedling and then to an orchard of God's love. The Solemnity today, intends to rekindle in us our respect for families, our commitment to living our faith in our families and as families to become the nuclei of God's love that can give birth to a whole new world, a world of love, peace, joy and fellowship.

The Holy Family of Nazareth presents to us a wonderful project towards this dream:

To the Families: BE GOD CENTERED! The first reading invites us to reflect on the fact that a Christian Family is constituted by God. It is not merely the man and the woman who come together to make the family, but it is the Lord who brings them together. The second reading affirms the same in the words of St. Paul, who elsewhere points out that marriage should lead to mutual sanctification of the partners (1 Cor 7:14). As long as God is the centre of a family, the family will remain united, bonded in the love of God.

God was at the centre, in the Holy Family... God commanded, the family carried out. They listened to God, obeyed God and took directions from God. There were difficult commands to carry out, but they carried out. There were terrible issues involved, they stuck together. There were challenges to face, they did it all without losing their serenity. All because they had God, right at the centre of their family...they listened to God and took directions from God! Do we as a family, listen to God and take directions from God?

To the Individuals: BE FAMILY CENTERED! The individualistic and materialistic tendencies of the society at large, have begun to affect the individual families drastically. Individuals within a family, far from thinking of the well being of the other, have begun to calculate the gain they have from the rest of the family and stoop to dirty levels of hurting the other for one's own good!

The Good of the Family was the uppermost criterion in the Holy Family... Mary did not mind the running around, be it when she was still carrying or after the delivery; Joseph did not mind taking up the burdens of transferring them every time; all that was in their mind was the Good of the Family and Jesus was no exception as Luke says in his Gospel, "he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them' (Lk 2:51). Do we as individuals, place the good of the others in the family before my own interests?

To the Churches: BE COMMUNION CENTERED! The Local Churches, that is the parishes, are essentially God's Family of families. In the wise and eternal plan of our loving Lord, the Universal Church in the world is the communion of Churches in various nations, namely the dioceses; the Diocesan church is the communion of the local parish churches; the Parish church has to be the communion of the domestic churches, that is the Family! All of us united in the name of the Father, Son and the Spirit, who invite us to form one, big, universal family of loving hearts - that family which is called the REIGN OF GOD.

The Holy Family did everything with just one objective in mind: that God's will be done. Mary said that to Angel Gabriel: Let it be done unto me according to your will, and ever since she did nothing but obey the Lord with thanks, praise and reflection in her heart. Joseph carried out every command that was given to him without speaking a word of doubt or objection - all for the will of God to be done. Do we as part of a parish church or a faith community, do our part to grow in our communion with each other, towards forming one, big, God's family - the Reign of God? 

This year we shall be missing out on the feast of the Holy Innocents, but they are certainly and succintly presented to us by the background of the Gospel when we read shuttling of the Haly between Egypt and Bethlehem. Let us take to heart the lessons from the Holy Family today...and as families be God centered, as individuals be Family centered and as a Parish be Communion centered.

Joy - the sign of Christian life and ministry

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

December 27, 2025: Remembering St. John, the Evangelist
1 John 1:1-14; John 20: 2-8

The Christmas joy continues, even as we commemorate St.John the Evangelist today. "The Joy of the Gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus," says the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, no. 1. Though the Gospel today draws our attention to the scene of the resurrection, the message is more focused on the all important encounter with Christ that redefines one's life. When a person encounters Christ in all earnestness, there is a choice, a categorical choice for Christ and Christ's mission!

As St. Paul affirms that it is no merit that an apostle proclaims the Word, but woe to him if he does not (1 Cor 9:16), today we see John explaining that in the first reading: I am called to announce Christ, not merely because others will benefit from it; but primarily that my joy may be complete (1 Jn 1:4). That is the Christmas joy too, the joy of beholding the revelation of God's love and sharing it with the other.

For a Christ-ian, a joy-filled proclamation of Christ is the only way to live his or her life - joyfully proclaiming Christ in every word, every action and every choice that is made, at every moment of one's daily life. 

The Reign Dream

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

December 26, 2025: St. Stephen, the first Martyr

Acts 6: 8-10, 7: 54-59; Matthew 10: 17-22

Persecutions and Martyrdom have never been alien to Christian Faith. St. Stephen is the first Biblical evidence to it. Continuing in the line of the prophets and persons of God who have been treated at will by the world in the Old Testament, we see Jesus and most of his disciples facing the same end in the New Testament.

Religious fanaticism and the consequent discrimination and communalism is dangerously being justified these days as patriotism and conservatism! Be it the secularistic values that is spread globally, or the anti-secular system that is being forced into the fabric of tolerance and conviviality in great enviable traditions, the hate speeches and hidden agenda... these are signs of anti-Reign elements in the world today.

St. Stephen knew what it meant to suffer for the Reign and die for Christ; it meant suffering for the things that really matter; it meant standing for true beliefs and convictions that can elevate your spirit to the heavens open and the angels coming down!

It was Stephen who also imitated his Master literally: While Jesus prayed for those who crucified him and offered his spirit into the hands of his loving Father, Stephen prayed for those who stoned him and surrendered his spirit into Jesus' hands. What an example for us to emulate! Not only praying what Stephen prayed but seeing what he saw: the open heavens - that is open hearts, high ideals, profound humanity, in short, the Reign dream!

Buono e Santo Natale a tutti!

 

Merry Christmas to all

 

CHRISTMAS NOVENA - Day 9: O Morning Star!

24th December: O Morning Star...

The 7 O-Antiphons are over with yesterday...
but the Novena ends today...with the rising of the Morning Star!

O Morning Star, Radiance of eternal light
Sun of Justice, come and enlighten those who live in darkness
and in the Shadow of death.

Morning Star, actually is the star that is seen in the east shining bright just before the dawn! It is considered the imminent sign of the morning that is already rising.

The Lord is not just near...but the Lord is here!!!
We celebrate the Rising Star, the Morning Star that announces the break of day!
The Lord comes to rule in our hearts, not just in the world...
Let us prepare ourselves..for the Lord is here