The Spirituality of the Remnant and the Rest

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

August 5, 2026: Dedication of the Basilica of Mary Major - Our Lady of Snows
Jeremiah 31: 1-7; Matthew 15: 21-28

The theme of yesterday continues, the unending faithfulness and love of God. The Lord renews the covenant with the people in spite of their failures because the Lord had always loved them with an everlasting love. Today the Word warns us that those who will finally taste the fruits of God's faithfulness are the remnant and the rest of the people who come by and stick to the Lord.

The Remnant - these are those who choose to differ from the mainstream inspired by a genuine conviction and sincere effort to be integral. They are remnant because, they are the few who remain, who choose to remain, combating all the lures of the times and the wiles of the evil one, all for the sake of being with God.

The Rest are those who are least expected to be favoured in the eyes of the Lord. The world has its own criteria of judgement - the acceptable, the chosen, the privileged, the gifted, the special and so on; but the Lord has a totally different set of criteria... single minded dedication to the Lord, genuine love for God's people and authentic life after the mind of God.

A feast like today - the dedication of a Basilica from the 5th century... reminds us of our tradition that dates centuries and even millennia... but what does that matter if we do not today, here and now, within our hearts and in our own personal lives do no live by what the Lord wants: do not conform to the world; instead be transformed in Christ into new beings!

The grand basilica stands in reminder of the Reign of God which is mighty bigger and wider than this... waiting for everyone to enter and become sons and daughters. But unfortunately, those who will finally enter will be only the Remnant and the Rest!

Note: if you wish to listen to a very short history of this feast day, click the link:

https://www.franciscanmedia.org/dedication-of-saint-mary-major-basilica/

Growing conscious of God's faithfulness and love

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

August 4, 2026: Remembering St. John Marie Vianney, Cure of Ars
Jeremiah 30: 1-2, 12-15, 18-22; Matthew 15: 1-2, 10-14

"You shall be my people and I will be your God" - every time that we hear this statement... we need to be filled with an awe about the unfailing love of God. What does really matter what I do and what my merits are, in front of this boundless love of God? What do my so called great sacrifices and pious practices measure up to, in comparison to the immeasurable love of God? Hence a constant question that should be present in my mind always is this: how worthy is my faithfulness to God vis-a-vis the faithfulness of God towards me?

The only concern that should fill my mind is how to translate that awe into attitudes, attitudes of absolute gratefulness, total obedience and boundless humility towards God. If these attitudes develop in us, how peaceful we can grow to be! They would reduce to the minimum our tendency to judge others or consider others unbearable. How irritable we get and how fast we lose our patience with people. Between husbands and wives, between friends, between colleagues, between collaborators in the same team... how forbearing are we? How patient and non judgmental can we prove to be! That would be a reflection of how conscious we are of the unending love and unfailing acceptance of God.

John Maria Vianney whom we remember today, stands out in this character. He was not a great intellectual or an aristocratic legend who commanded respect instantly! He was a simple man, humble person but profound in his consciousness of God's faithfulness and love. It is with that quality that he brought the entire faith community around him, back to a filial relationship with God. How much we become people and persons of God depends much on how conscious we grow of God's faithfulness and love!

Note: For a few pictures taken at Ars where the Saint laboured...go to link:

https://www.facebook.com/antonychristy/media_set?set=a.2126828617388398&type=3

Real Prophets or Prophets for Profit?

 

 WORD 2day: Monday, 18th week in Ordinary time

August 3, 2026: Jeremiah 28:1-17; Matthew 14: 22-36

The Word today reminds us of our call to be a prophets... how far are we aware of the fact that each of us baptised in the Spirit is called to be a priest, a prophet and a prince (or princess)? Of course, knowing is one thing, and being convinced of it is another; but being it, much less said, is totally a different thing.

Today we have umpteen number of preachers, prophets and evangelists... all proclaiming from rooftops and laptops, day in and day out. Especially during these moments of crisis and lockdown... there are numerous of them, everywhere in every form! Let us beware dear friends, as the first reading points out, being a prophet is not speaking things that others would love to hear from us -like the myriad of fortune tellers, prediction prodigies, healer wheelers, and prosperity preachers today who do things to woo more and more  'customers'. Jeremiah warns Hananiah today in the first reading against his false sense of prophecy! And we read about the sad end of Hananiah. 

The Gospel has a symbolic message in the same lines. Jesus chides his disciples for their lack of faith, especially Peter. It might look a bit too demanding on Jesus' part to expect the disciples to remain unperturbed when they are almost sinking, and Peter to remain calm when he was almost drowning. But the point that the Master makes is that his disciples should be perturbed by nothing, absolutely nothing! 

"Let nothing disturb you", he would say to them often. In today's world so immersed in numerous kinds of concerns, with the crisis all around us, wouldn't it be truly prophetic to live a life so unperturbed! Not to be prophets for profit, but real prophets who live with a serenity that comes from knowing that 'it is the Lord' who is in charge. The Lord says that today: do not fear, It is I. 

The plight of a true prophet

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

August 1, 2026: Remembering St. Alphonsus Marie Ligouri
Jeremiah 26: 11-16, 24; Matthew 14: 1-12

Constant threat to life, drastic insecurities of life, total unacceptance from the rest of the so called normal people, pressures of helplessness...these form part of the usual plight of a prophet, not just in the days of Jeremiah and John the Baptist but even today. That explains why real prophets are a rare phenomenon. However, it is an undeniable and curious fact that the difference between a true prophet and a self-righteous egoist is very thin and dangerously subtle.

The first element that can demarcate the two is the FOCUS. When Jeremiah spoke to the people and the princes, he never looked for support or people who can come to his defence. His focus was determinantly on what God wanted him to say and nothing else.

The second element is DETACHMENT from the result. Though the message is definitely pointed towards a change, a result, the prophet is not excessively anxious about it. At times a self righteous person can be on a ego trip claiming credits and proving his point. A true prophet desists this tendency naturally.

The third element is absolute FEARLESSNESS. A fearlessness that makes them hard people to handle for the authorities and the hierarchy. But that fearlessness comes from their unwavering trust, confidence and hope in the never failing presence of the Lord!

Just yesterday we celebrated a prophetic founder, St. Ignatius and today we have another: St. Alphonsus Ligouri, the founder of the Redemptorist Congregation - a great theologian, lyricist (incidentally, those who know the famous Italian carol tu scendi dalle stelle, it was he who penned it), musician, pastor, writer and thinker. He was a true prophet too and he had to pay its price. As a bishop and as a founder-leader he was a demanding prophet. We cannot judge the internal matters of the Congregation he founded, but anyway, the fact was that he was expelled from very congregation he formed and he suffered this trauma in the last years of his life. However, his focus, his detachment and his fearless love for the Lord, kept him going.

Are we courageous enough to remain focused, and fearlessly attach ourselves to truth and the Truth? That will make us prophets, but are we ready to face the plight that awaits?

Doing it God's way

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

July 30, 2026: Jeremiah 18: 1-6; Matthew 13: 47-53

Have thine own way Lord,

have thine own way

Thou art the potter,

I am the clay

Mould me and make me,

after thy will

while I am waiting

yielded and still.

What a beautiful prayer it could be for us to make this day, inspired by the passage from Jeremiah... to accept the Lord as the potter, who makes me, moulds me and uses me to behold the glory of the Lord and share it to the world! If only this is always the case, that we are in the hands of the Lord and that we do just what the Lord wants us to do - the world will be a paradise, the Reign of God here and now. For is that not what we pray: May your will be done, here on earth, as it is in heaven!

In the parable that Jesus tells us today about the Reign of God, he brings out a fundamental element of either belonging to the Reign or not belonging to it. The angels will separate the good from the bad; the wicked from the righteous; the docile from the obstinate; the obedient from the rebellious; the discerning from the naive. Yes, the criterion is: doing the will of the Father, being clay in the hands of the Divine potter, not rebelling, not disobeying, not trying to act too smart!

Have you heard it said, that the anthem in heaven is, "I did it God's way"; while in hell it is, "I did it my way." The secret is here: doing it God's way! Living our life, God's way!

Selective Hearing Impairment

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

July 29, 2026: Remembering the Holy Siblings - Martha, Maria and Lazarus
Jeremiah 26: 1-9; John 11: 19-27

Thanks to our beloved late Holy Father Pope Francis we have the feast of the Siblings today... remembering Mary, Martha and Lazarus who were disciples of the Lord, together as siblings. Is it not apt to celebrate this day as Siblings day? With that joy, let us pay heed to the Word today.

The auricular experts explain that there are different kinds of deafness... mild hearing loss, moderate hearing loss, moderately severe hearing loss, severe hearing loss and profound hearing loss!

At times spiritually too, hearing impairment can be calculated in a similar fashion, but we need to add one more crucial type of hearing challenge. That is, Selective Hearing Loss - hearing only what I want to hear, or refusing to hear what I do not want to hear merely because it causes me inconvenience.

When Jeremiah spoke to them about the impeding danger and their need to return to the Lord, the people deemed him liable to death. The Word of God keeps rushing into our hearts. It would cleanse it, refresh it and fill it with life, if only we allow it to. If we are biased, prejudiced and suspicious, we would break no ground towards perfection. At times with these biases and prejudices, we fall prey to the syndrome of 'hearing merely what we want to hear'!

When Martha told Jesus, "if you were here, my brother would not have died!" Martha's (and Maria's) hope in the Lord was plainly expressed in those words. But the Lord challenges them to journey further in her hope, not to get stuck to cliches, not to remain with mere statements and memorised aphorisms... but to go all the way out in trusting the Lord. It is like what St. Paul says about Abraham (Rom 4:18)... Jesus invites Martha and Mary to hope against hope!

Martha's confession about Christ has nothing less than the confession of St. Peter! The faith that Martha had in Jesus was so profound that she believed when Jesus was around nothing could go wrong. Jesus acknowledges the trust that Martha had in him, but invites her to go a step ahead and trust that even if things went wrong, she had nothing to fear for the Lord was with her always! Martha, Maria and Lazarus are given to us, in contrast to the people whom Jeremiah encountered, as persons who accepted the challenge from the hands of the Lord... to hear completely, to hear integrally... and to avoid the prevalent malefficence of selective hearing impairment.

To hear and trust in the Lord, is simple in times that are pleasant. It isn't that very simple to trust in the Lord "always". Even when things go wrong, or especially in such situations, we are called to be calm but vigilant; seeking solutions but not begging remedies. Not looking for any solutions anxiously, but daring to remain patient with the issues of life is a clear sign of total trust in the Lord that the Lord alone is our hope!

Amidst all our pressing concerns and pressurising opinions of the world, let us beware of selective hearing impairment, and hear, listen and trust in the Lord wholeheartedly.

Time to return to the Lord - today and now!

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

July 28, 2026: Jeremiah 14: 17-22; Matthew 13: 36-43

Rescue us, O Lord, for the glory of your name - the response for the psalmody inspires us to pray today. These words would mean so much in today's context too: tears, fears, death, sickness, influencing, hunger, unemployment, migration, terror, wickedness, enmity, slandering, sledging and all that is happening all around us - how tiring it has become everyday to expect some news or some difficulties in living our human existence today!

Who has been the reason for all this - war and confusion: is it true that God has abandoned us? Or is it that we have abandoned God, and God's ways?

All that God sowed into our lives has been good and nothing but good; where does this hatred, exploitation, greed, manipulation, violence, vengeance and the rest of the evils come from? All from within us; from our evil thinking, from our evil tendencies, from our evil choices, from our abandoning of God. And if we want things to be set right, there is only one way out - that we leave this way of the evil one and return to the Lord, in hope, faith and love!

And when do we do this? Wait for the last minute possible? It is fine so, if we are ready to face and endure all these evil till that last minute and remain still strong enough to cling to the Lord. That is what the world seems to think today: there is time; there is time for thinking about God and all that pertains to God. We can always make it up to God, there is no hurry - people think - because God is loving and merciful and at anytime that we turn to the Lord, God will receive us into God loving mercy!

Yes, it is true... God is loving and merciful, ready to forgive and ever willing to reach out to us in embrace. That is on God's part. But imagine, if I go so far away from God that it would be so difficult for me to return to the Lord! In my thoughts and choices, attitudes and actions, decisions and priorities, if I am so far away from God... even if I decide to turn to God - it would be a herculean task to return. That is the experience of so many today, people wriggling under the pains and slaveries that they wish to get away from, but unable to. 

Should we wait for that last moment? Is it not time to return to the Lord, today and now?

The God of small things!

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

July 27, 2026: Jeremiah 13: 1-11; Matthew 13: 31-35

God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God (1 Cor 1:27-29).

Jesus is fond of presenting his Father as the God of small things! He thanks God for keeping the secrets from the elites but revealing them to children (cf. Lk 10:21) and compares the Reign of God to a mustard seed and to a pinch of yeast. He invites us to learn of his meekness and humility (cf. Mt 11:30) and mediates the salvific love of God through his sheer obedience (cf. 2 Phil). Mindful of this, St. Paul sighs, "what do we have that we have not received?" (cf. 1 Cor 4:7).

Let us remind ourselves of our smallness before God! It is nothing more than a realistic understanding of what we are in front of the majesty that God is adorned with. It is better to be a small little thing in the presence of God than a mighty big being without God. Just being mighty and powerful... do you think It would make any sense; certainly, not forever!

The foolish man says in his heart, 'there is no god' - derides the Psalm (14:1). The secret lies in keeping it simple and being grateful for every small thing that we have; for our God is a God of small things!

Jesus' School of Sevant Leadership

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

July 25, 2026: Remembering St. James, the Major

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

Feast of any Apostle reminds us of the wonderful words that St. Paul utters today: "we hold this treasure in earthen vessels". Every apostle has his own weakness, nevertheless the gift that they are and that they possess, surpasses everything as God's power and might is revealed in it.

Feast of St. James (with the Gospel that we are given to reflect today) reminds us of this more strongly and adds another specific teaching, a teaching from Jesus' School of Servant Leadership. In Matthew's and Mark's versions of the Gospel, we find every time that Jesus foretells about his passion, he follows it up with the discourse on servant leadership (as we see in Mt 16:24ff; 18:1ff; 20:20ff).

The world today asks without fail, in doing anything, "what is there FOR ME in it?" The tendency to look for a gain in everything, doing only those that will bring something in return for me, doing everything in a manner that things will turn in my favour, or doing things with a mind to manipulate them in order that I gain the most given any situation - these are some competences that are advocated by the society today and everyone is expected to grow in this expertise. Jesus' school of leadership, has a totally different mindset to offer.

James and John took some time to realise that the only thing they could inherit from Jesus was his identity as Suffering Servant! That is what Jesus repeatedly taught them - you serve and in serving you become a person of God! Once James and John understood it, they understood what it meant to be a true apostle of Christ.

Eventually they wanted to drink the cup that Jesus mentioned and that is what they did. James led the community of Jerusalem... humble and service minded as the Master himself; and his blood shed like the Master's (Acts 12:2). Let us praise the Lord for the apostle St. James and be prepared to witness to the Lord till our last breath, in our humble service!

What everyone longs for...

WORD 2day: Thursday, 16th week in Ordinary time

July 23, 2026: Jeremiah 2: 1-3, 7-8, 12-13; Matthew 13: 10-17

There is one thing that everyone longs for ultimately in life and beyond... peace and serenity! Every time God calls us to Godself, we are promised comfort, peace, tranquility, peace and well being. These are the lofty gifts that the Lord has in store for us. These we receive not by looking but seeing, not by hearing but listening, not by desiring for riches and luxuries but for the presence of God. When we abandon God, we find ourselves abandoned; not because God has abandoned but because we have abandoned God and moved away from God.

Look at the double mistake that the Lord points out through Jeremiah: one, forgetting the source fountain and secondly creating little cisterns thinking that you will store water for ever, but even those cisterns are leaking and so weak! What a powerful imagery to understand the kind of priority crisis we have in the world today! Yes we are constantly abandoning God, to our own detriment.

There are subtle ways of abandoning God - hearing but not understanding, looking but not perceiving, seeing but not taking to heart the presence and the majesty of God. We are after "useless idols" as Jeremiah says in the first reading. What everyone longs for, what the whole world is yearning for, is right near us for our taking. But we are too busy making our living, establishing our names and defining our own glories.

All that we need to do is open our eyes and see, open our ears and listen, open our hearts and perceive: we have so easily available what everyone longs for, right at our doorstep - the peace and joy that the Lord alone can give!