A Self-critical Conscious Choice

WORD 2day: Monday, 12th week in Ordinary time

June 22, 2026: 2 Kings 17: 5-8, 13-15, 18; Matthew 7: 1-5

Judge not, and you shall not be judged, instructs Jesus today. Not to judge others does not mean justifying whatever he or she does. Between judging the other and justifying the other there is an attitude that Jesus deems Reign-worthy and that is, a Self-critical Conscious Choice.

The first need is to be self critical. When I find something wrong in the other, charity requires that I first become critical of myself... it is seeing the log that is in your eye before offering to remove the splinter from your neighbour's. Once I am aware that I too possess the same, or a similar, or a bigger weakness, my attitude changes completely. I am in a position to act with prudence and humility.

The second need is to set the home tidy first. "Do not do like they do" ... that was the instruction that the Lord had given the people when they come into contact with other people in their wanderings. St. Paul too has a similar warning for us, isn't it? Writing to the Romans, he tells us: do not be conformed to the world, instead be transformed in the Lord (cf. Rom 12).

The third need is to make a conscious choice. Do not let yourself be carried away by your emotions and the anger of the moment. How many times this happens, that we lose our cool in a moment of restlessness, and feel bad to have said something or done something that we can never undo! If we judge and react to our brothers and sisters merely in the whiff of the moment, it would not be a conscious choice, and later we will have no other choice than to regret it all our life.

In short, the Word invites us today to live our daily lives conscious of who we are, what we are called for and where we are bound to! Let us take our daily life seriously and live on a daily basis with sound self-critical conscious choices... the Word shall be the lamp to that path!

FROM FEAR TO FAITH

Challenging the culture of death towards a culture of faith!

June 21, 2026 - 12th Sunday in Ordinary time

Jeremiah 20: 10-13; Romans 5: 12-15; Matthew 10: 26-33

Look around and observe what is happening out there... there are these divisive forces at work who are determined to break humanity into pieces and make everyone suffer to the maximum; there are these moneyed who suddenly become experts in everything - in medical care, in artificial intelligence, in universal wellbeing, world peace, common good, and what not! And everyone finds it so compelling to nod to whatever they say; there are these who are blatantly selfish and greedy, but make everyone believe that they are the saviours of tomorrow; there are those who cause so much havoc for no reason, but are capable of threatening everyone to silence and do whatever they wish... what do they make a simple person like you and me feel? FEAR!

There is this fancy idea rather widespread, treating FEAR as an acronym, and expands it as False Evidence Appearing Real! In fact, fear exists only as long as darkness and falsity persist, isn't it? That is why Jesus says today, do not fear, what is in the dark will see daylight soon and then you will know well. Imagine your fear of a ghost, it disappears as soon as light comes on! Or think of how your fear of what you would trample on, just vanishes the moment some one switches on a torch or a search light! Fear is discarded by light, because fear is absence faith and faith is "the light that illumines our entire journey!" (cf. Lumen Fidei, n.1).

The Word this Sunday calls our attention to the fears that surround us and the unfortunate impact they can have on us, if we are inattentive about them. Look at Jeremiah, a man with so much enthusiasm and dedication to the Lord, for a moment he seems to be weak and trembles before this terror, about to give into its powers! The call is to remember that fear is a product of darkness.

Fear is the product of darkness: The prince of darkness makes his presence felt in fear; fear is the sign of the presence of evil! It is the power that the evil one claims to have over us children of God. There are any number of irrational fears that the evil one instills in our minds: the fear of failure, the fear of pain, the fear of shame, the fear of loss... But if we are truly children of God, children of Light, we shall see the foolishness that is involved in these fears. Why should I fear? What shoud I fear? What can harm me? What evil can come over me? Jesus reminds us, with a clarity of perspective: what is the worst that can happen to you - death? But why should I fear death?

In fact the most powerful of the tools that the prince of darkness uses against us is death! And those who give into the influence of this evil prince, go on to become perpetrators of this culture of death!

Fear spreads a culture of death: The culture of death is the culture of needless fear, the fear that makes one give into evil, give into sin, justify sinfulness and promote the rule of the evil. It is the entry of sin and justification of sinfulness and a submission to sinfulness to the extent of making it a norm for life - creating a culture that leads to death, an eternal damnation that leads to absolute meaninglessness here in our life and for all eternity. When Jesus differentiates between a death that ends our bodily existence and the death that strips us of our total sense of meaning, Jesus invites us to look at our real essence - our innermost being, that is the very element of God that resides within us. The culture of death denies this vehemently, laughs at it, belittles it and tries to shun it out of our lives and of this world.

The sense of God within us - that is the light of Faith. That is the identity of the children of Light, the identity of the children of God, the identity of a culture of faith.

Fear is overcome by a culture of Faith: In the apostolic letter, Lumen Fidei, Pope Francis (and Pope Benedict) presented to us faith as the light that can illumine the entire human existence and experience - our daily life, our struggles, our pains, our temptations, our failures, our faults and weaknesses, our sufferings and even our death! Jesus died, that we may live; in his death he brought endeless life, not only to himself in resurrection, but to the entire creation that unites with him, the saviour of the universe. This is the culture of faith - a culture that promotes hope, love, righteousness, service and responsibility. It is in this culture that we can shine as lights, just as Jesus our inner light shines within us.

Mother Teresa said once, "death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies within/inside us while we are alive." That is truly challenging the culture of death - not allowing death to reign over us, but overcoming death in the name of the One who has defeated death once and forever. We are people of light, people of life, people of faith and ours is a culture of faith! Faith dispels fears! And the culture of faith, is to notice, recognise and celebrate the presence of the Light within us, in order that we can share and spread it to the farthest end of the existence.

Let us heed to the call of the Word - to journey from fear to faith, to challenge the culture of death towards promoting a culture of faith.

To whom is my allegiance...

WORD 2day: Saturday, 11th week in Ordinary time

June 20, 2026 - 2 Chronicles 24: 17-25; Matthew 6: 24-34

Infidelity, compromises, transgressions, forsaking and tryst with the unholy... these were characteristic traits of the so-called 'chosen people', the people with whom the Lord made the covenant - I will be your God and you shall be my people. However unfaithful and treacherous they got, the Lord remained ever faithful and true to the covenant that was made. Coming across passages such as we find in today's first reading, we are prone to judge the people of Israel, but let us be slow to do it!

Looking at our own lives, the Lord has chosen us before the foundations of the world (Eph 1:4) and has made a covenant with us right from our baptism: you shall be my child and I shall be your God. And ever since, how many compromises and transgressions, how many moments of failures and negligences... the Lord however has always been faithful (cf. 2 Tim 2:13). So how different is our story, from that of the people of Israel?

In the light of today's readings, let us raise a fundamental question to ourselves: to whom is my allegiance in my daily concrete living? And how absolute is that allegiance? 

Integrity demands that only each of us can be our own judge. Analysing each and every little choice that we make and the priorities we act upon, will give us a fair picture of our level of fidelity to the One who has called us. 

True greatness is utter simplicity

WORD 2day: Thursday, 11th week in Ordinary time

June 18, 2026: Sirach 48: 1-14; Matthew 6: 7-15

Elijah is singled out in the book of Sirach, among the 27 great persons of God praised for their life and accomplishments. Elijah wins that place in his simplicity, in the simplicity with which he trusted in the Lord, the simplicity with which he carried out every single command or wish of the Lord, that simplicity with which he endured his hardships, knowing certainly that the Lord is in control of everything. And that utter simplicity was his true greatness.

It is said Elijah was taken up in the whirlwind of fire... he just could not die! His life was so simple that he could not have died. This is what Jesus says, when you truly believe in Christ, you would not die, you would have eternal life, the endless life that belongs to God alone! It is all in the simplicity with which you live, believe and behold God.

This is the very same simplicity that Jesus lived and taught us... the Our Father is an epitome of simplicity prescribed to us - not just as an intercession or invocation, but as a way of life, as a holistic spirituality that comes as close as ever to the mind of Christ. How simple are our prayers? How simple is our faithful trust in the Lord? How simple is our relationship with God on a daily basis... that simplicity would be our way to true greatness!

To stay clear of trivialities

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 11th week in Ordinary time

June 17, 2026: 2 Kings 2:1, 6-14; Matthew 6: 1-6, 16-18

The only condition placed before Elisha, that he may receive a double share of the Spirit possessed by Elijah, was that Elisha should see Elijah being taken away by God. The challenge here is not to miss what is central to whatever we are involved in, being distracted with the trivialities.

The Gospel places the same condition before us. The actions that we do will have their true value depending on the fact whether the centrality of the right element was ensured. Praying, fasting and almsgiving are the three actions mentioned in the Gospel today and they together epitomise the entire religious practice of a Jew. The point is: not to miss what is central to it in getting distracted with the trivialities of human recognition and immediate rewards.

In our relationship with ourselves, with others and with God, we are invited to pay attention to the most central of all concerns: to do what is most pleasing to God at a given instant. Any other concern is only a triviality, however good and practical it could be. The spiritual prudence that Jesus teaches us today is to stay clear of the trivialities and place God at the centre and at the core.

Note: Just a word about the picture chosen for this... is it not true that our life too has so many shades interplaying themselves... all that we need to do is keep that path clearly in our focus, be aware of the various things and happenings around us, understand truly which of those matter and which do not, in short, identify the trivialities and stay clear of them!

Love - the Father's Perfection

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 11th week in Ordinary Time

June 16, 2026 - 1 Kings 21: 17-29; Matthew 5: 43-48

Coming to the end of the Beatitudes, Jesus today summarises the beatitudes into just one evocation: be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect. And what does that perfection consist of? The essence of it is Love, an unconditional love, a limitless love, a non-judgmental love that respects the inner self of a person and the person's true intentions!

The first reading is an extreme type of an example for God's love and mercy. As the psalms and other books in the Old Testament describe, God always manifested Godself to be slow to anger, abounding in love, ready to forgive and longing to remain in relationship with humanity. Though Ahab's acts were so gruesome, the mere fact that he repented for those and felt sorry for his foolishness, turned the entire issue upside down. Ahab finds favour in the eyes of God, Ahab becomes lovable all over again.

The message is pretty clear. For us too, the merciful Lord awaits and awaits with an ever burning love, to get us all back into Lord's own embrace for eternity. But this getting back will not happen automatically. It needs more attention to basics through developing traits such as personal integrity, spiritual identity and sense of belonging to the Reign. 

Above all these we are challenged today to possess the epitome of Christian living: Love, the Father's Perfection!

The Extra Mile...

WORD 2day: Monday, 11th week in Ordinary time

June 15, 2026 - 1 Kings 21: 1-16, Matthew 5: 38-42

Jesus presents us today the most impractical of all his teachings... showing the other cheek, giving more of what you are deprived of, and walking that extra mile with the one who tries to take advantage of me. This was in fact the teaching, they say, that inspired the "satyagraha" movement of Mahatma Gandhi.

The first reading presents us with the exploitative element that is always present giving us the opportunity to practice our virtues and attain our salvation. At times the evil around us threatens to take the better of us, but the Word today reminds us of a fundamental attitude we are called to: "do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Rom 12:21).

Jesus did not only say this, he lived it to show by example. When God decided to show the world how much God loved God's children. God decided to send God's only Son...and the Son went an extra mile and not just put up with the atrocities of human kind but went on to give his life for the same humanity that rejected him and brought salvation!

That we can identify ourselves as disciples of Christ, we are expected to be spiritually prepared to allow ourselves be taken for granted without letting the goodness within us go down the drain; we are called to be who we are regardless of what others are! It is of course difficult and demanding...but that alone can make a difference in the world - that extra mile.

Chosen...

Chosen: Recognizance? Gratitude? Reminder?

11th Sunday in Ordinary time - June 14, 2026

Exodus 19: 2-6; Romans 5: 6-11; Matthew 9:36 -  10:8

The Readings today, taken together remind us of the call that we have received from the Lord, as we get back to the Ordinary Sundays after a long time... with the lent, pasch and then the following solemnities of the Lord that had occupied our minds all this while. 

Now my question while reflecting on these readings was this: where do we begin? 

If we begin from the second reading, the message is one of Recognizance! We are weak and feeble, the Lord has chosen us to be God's own people and has called us and set us apart for the sake of his people. We are recognizant of the gratuitousness of our call and election. 

If we begin from the first reading, the message would be one of Thanksgiving! We are called to be God's people and God has made this choice right from time immemorial. We have been weak and feeble and have failed Him in this call. But the Lord continues to call us and accompanies us with his powerful presence. It is a thanksgiving that emanates from our hearts and we wish to walk with the Lord more faithful and committed.

If we begin with the Gospel, it would be a powerful Reminder! We are called to be God's people and some of us are set apart to serve the people in the name of the Lord. This call comes from the very beginning and it is part of our very essence. Therefore, our weaknesses and our frailties cannot become an excuse, because the Lord called us well aware that we are weak... hence the responsibility that we have to rise up and measure up to the call and grow, deepening our commitment and our promise to remain faithful to the Lord, who has called us. 

Whether, Recognizance, or Thanksgiving or the Reminder of our Responsibility... we are called today to become aware of who are are and what we are called to and keep forging ahead. May God be our help and our sustenance. 

Baptism - the most fundamental gift of all

Peter and Paul... You and Me!!!

WORD 2day: Saturday before Pentecost

May 23, 2026: Acts 28: 16-20, 30-31; John 21: 10-25

These days we have been continuously hearing of Paul and Peter, the two great leaders who led the band of apostles in their proclamation of the Gospel and the initial formation of the Church. They announced the Gospel in season and out of season, in the prison or out of it, in political custody or in the public squares, in health and in sickness, among the faithful or among skeptics, among simple peasants or to learned philosophers. Nothing held them back from preaching the Word.

Looking for ideal situations to evangelise, bemoaning the political atmosphere or the social apprehensions, finding excuses for remaining unnoticed Christians and justifying our lack of initiatives towards evangelisation: these are very common these days. Tomorrow we will be celebrating the feast of the descent of the Holy Spirit causing giving birth to the new form of the People of God - the Church.

Imagine if the Church would have really been born, if the Christians of those times were as calculative as some of us are these days. An experience that I had just yesterday, provoked me a bit. A person from South America was enquiring me, how many percentage of Indians are Christians. I said, official statistics says, we are 2.7 percent. And immediately he remarked, ofcourse with a smile and for a joke, (but it provoked me to think): "you guys have to work more"! Apart from the fact of needing to work on the front of proclamation, it reflects the state also of our witnessing life, the daily testimony that is the first proclamation that we have to make to our context!

Let us pray for the Spirit, the Spirit of power, love and self-discipline, the Spirit of courage and wisdom, the Spirit who strengthens apostles and empowers martyrs, that we may be persons filled with the Spirit and become powerful witnesses of the Gospel, in our daily life, wherever we are!