A joy that is complete

WORD 2day: Thursday, 5th week in Easter time 

May 07, 2026: Acts 15: 7-21; John 15: 9-11

The ultimate wish of the Lord is our joy, not a joy as that which the world promises, but a joy that is complete, wholesome, flawless and endless. The joy that the world gives is conditional, limited and time bound. It lasts for a while and leaves a vacuum when it disappears due to some reason.

The joy that is promoted by the world is based on feelings, things and doings! It comes from what we do, what we achieve, what we prove to the world. That explains why it is so flimsy and passing. It disappears as soon as that feeling changes, or when that thing is no more, or when we fail to achieve something that we dreamt of achieving!

The joy that the Lord gives comes from what we are; it comes from the fact that we are loved, that we are accepted unconditionally and that we are united to the One who never changes! It is not the various rules and regulations that we uphold that matter, but love!

Love is all that matters! And in that love that God has for us, we find our true joy, the complete joy!

The Rise of the Next Gen...

THE WORD AND THE SAINT... and the happenings today

May 06, 2026: Acts 15: 1-6; John 15: 1-8

We celebrate Dominic Savio today - the teenage saint... 

He is considered the jewel of Don Bosco's Educative System; the piece of cloth that made an excellent garment for the Lord, through Don Bosco the saintly tailor; the 14 year old boy who loved God above all; the youngster who was matured much beyond his age; the spiritually thirsting young lad, who was extremely pliable at the hands of his mentor; the boy who fixed his gaze on sanctity and refused to take it away from there even for a passing moment; the young soul to which God had revealed the true glory of the sacraments of confession and communion; the adolescent who stuck to his original fervour, inspite of all the moments of discouragement and derision. He stands out as the shining proof of what a rising generation can do!

The first reading presents to us a young Christian community (not in age, but in experience). We have the account of the first ever ecumenical council held - the Council of Jerusalem! It stands as a wonderful Christian model of handling crisis and confusion: getting together in brotherly dialogue and faithful communion. A young community setting a model for the entire history to come. 

Coincidentally, in a State in India (Tamilnadu, the State of my origin), these days there is big history being created, politically - with a brand new party coming to power, totally powered by the Next Gen. There is such a lot of criticism about it, but let us face it: it is a strong statement of the rising generation, the so-called Gen Z! What matters is how they mature their dream, how they stay focused, and how they really be the change that they want to bring about. 

The Next Gen is always full of promise... the society needs to stand by them and see them propose dreams; but on their part the rising gen need to take the fostering generation into confidence too... May God bless the Next Gen... and may they become the blessing for the entire humanity.

Troubles or No Troubles... Fear not!

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 5th week in Easter time

May 05, 2026: Acts 14: 19-28; John 14: 27-31a

"It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God," say Sts. Paul and Barnabas (Acts 14:22). Elsewhere in the Acts (see 5:41) we read, "they rejoiced that they were considered worthy to suffer dishonour for the sake of the name" of Jesus, after having received severe flogging. The apostles startled the world around them with their fearlessness! Nothing could contain them or control them. They were overwhelmed with enthusiasm, for they felt the presence of the Risen Lord with them.

In today's Gospel, after giving his peace, the Lord instructs: 'do not let your hearts be troubled!', for the peace that he gives us is unlike the peace that the world gives. The peace offered by the world is a peace of compromises and conveniences, a peace of inaction and suspicious silence! But the Peace that Christ gives, is the peace of the Reign, the peace that comes from justice and equality, peace that comes from true love and compassion. It is no contract of just war or war against terrorism; but a total cessation of war or corruption or injustice or any inhumanity!

This peace, Jesus has given us as he promised! It is enshrined in the Word. If only we live the Word we shall realise that our life shall be founded on true love for the entire humanity and compassion for the least and the last. How blessed it shall be, if we realised this truth. And once we do so, we are called to witness to it and challenge the world to do the same. Our call is to spread it, take it to every heart that longs, to every corner of the earth.

When we begin doing it, we shall certainly face troubles, floggings, stonings, criticisms, threats and persecutions. The times are near for that and in some cases it is already here... but let us fear not; and let not our hearts be troubled!

To be signs of God's power

WORD 2day: Monday, 5th week in Easter time

May 04, 2026: Acts 14: 5-18; John 14: 21-26

Jesus seems to be winding up his earthly phase with his disciples and he bids them farewell as if to say they have to take his place there after. This whole week we shall listen to this series of sayings from Jesus. He had assured them, that their faith in God and their faith in him, will stand them in good stead... they will do all that he did and even more (cf. Jn 14:12). Today he promises an added facilitator: the Holy Spirit. All these promises were not mere words... they worked.

The People saw in the apostles great prowess... they healed the paralytics and gave life to the dead. The people found it so overwhelming that they thought that the gods had descended on them. If we really believed in the Lord and beheld his risen presence with us truly, people would see great things in and through us. The world needs people of God today; the world longs to see the real majesty of God revealed in ordinary things and we ought to be the instruments in the hands of God.

Especially during moments of trials and darkness, be it global, common or personal, persons  and the humanity in general, needs people of God - not those who "use" the name of God to achieve their ends, not those who manipulate the situation to instill the fear and guilt that would make people run to God, not those who make use of the opportunity to make themselves "on demand" and "popular" - but true people of God, who would make the presence of God felt in all simplicity and silence, sincerity and service. That requires that we surrender ourselves to God and remain totally disposed to God's will.

How prepared am I to dispose myself into the hands of God? Can I allow the Spirit of the Lord to take hold of my self, and reveal through me the merciful, loving and powerful presence of the Lord today, to those around?

The Word, the Joy and the Spirit

WORD 2day: Saturday, 4th week in Easter time

May 2, 2026: Acts 13: 44-52; John 14: 7-14

The event narrated in the first reading can be analogically compared to a concept that most of us are familiar with, working on a Word document in a computer... whatever has been selected can be deselected; what has been done can be undone; whatever has been undone can be redone; whatever has been keyed in can be edited, deleted, copied, pasted... all this is possible until that moment of saving the document! Once the 'save' command is given, there is apparently no way of going back (though with technicalities there are other possibilities). But the analogy ends there, let us not probe too deep into it. The point is: let us not think the good we do, the grace we received, the blessed choices we once make would remain forever! Just yesterday, we heard the Lord telling us: "you are my child; I have begotten you." This would not remain forever true; if it has to, then we have to make a definitive, life long choice of belonging to the Lord. And this has to be seen in our lives. Analogical to saving a document, it is allowing ourselves to be saved by the Lord!

The first reading identifies that jealousy, opposition, contradiction, calumny, derision, persecution and vices of the sort abounded against the believers as they embraced their new found faith in the Lord. But amidst all these, the Word says, the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit. That was the reason the Word spread all through the region. The Word spreads with true inner joy, with true interior choice for God and God's purposes. Jesus already spoke of this connection between the Word and joy: I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete (Jn 15:11).

We would be missing the whole point if we do not get more and more in touch with God everyday of our life. Jesus would ask us too the same question: 'Have I been so long with you and you still have not got really in touch with me, my father, my life style, my passions, my values and so on?' Once we get truly in touch with Jesus, and thus with God our Father and Mother, with the Spirit who enlightens us each day, we will emanate a joy that is irresistible. Let us remain united to Christ, who is united to the Father and thus give the world the joy that it longs for.

Work - the likeness of Divinity in humanity

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

May day 2026: Celebrating St. Joseph the Worker

May day, for a Christian holds much more than mere glorification of work. This is because of the very nature of God that sanctifies this essential aspect of human existence. The first reading underlines the fact that the work of creation is an essential image of God and goes on to imply that right from the origins, it has formed a characteristic part of humanity, which holds the likeness and image of God.

St. Joseph pictured as a worker, the working hand and the leader of the Holy Family, is not merely an imagination but a practical possibility and the Church today capitalises on this possibility to draw inspiration from a saint who reminds us of this essential element of our human existence and the way to go about it with serenity and simplicity.

Work is a participation in the Creative initiative of God. Work can never be a slavery; it can never be carried out solely for an external gain or out of external pressure. Work when it is done merely for the material returns, it becomes a commodity and that is where exploitation and alienation begins. 

Every person has the right to work and the duty to do his or her part in the upkeep of our common home, not in damaging it to ruin. How lovely it would be when every person does what he or she can to make this world a better place..that would be paradise, the garden of Eden, the Reign of God here and now.

Today, let us promise to respect the dignity of labour and look at our opportunity to contribute through work as a personal participation in the image and likeness of God and in God's creative mission.

Called to be messengers

WORD 2day: Thursday, 4th week in Easter time

April 30, 2026 - Acts 13:13-25; John 13:16-20

St. Paul makes a long list of messengers running right upto John the Baptist; Jesus in the Gospel, speaks of sending his own apostles as messengers. 

Messengers are people of God, people of the Message, people who carry what the Lord wants God's people to know, persons who share with the world what the Lord wants to. 

The Message, is the core of our faith. It has been so, it is so and it will always be so! They call it the Kerygma! The message was announced through ages through prophets and persons of God (cf. Heb 1:1). 

At a point in history, the Message became the Messenger... that was the crucial phase of history when the Message, the Sender, the Messenger (or the Medium) all came together in one sacred and mysterious union - in the person of Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word. Wow! What a wonderful experience, we are speaking of here! 

After this crucial phase of the identification of the Message with the Messenger, in Christ the Message of the loving Father made Messenger,  we see that, what once was done by a select few among the people, has been handed over to the entire people of God and every child of God. This is indeed the call of every Christ-ian. The wonderful experience now becomes a duty given to us. 

We are His messengers and we are called primarily to live the message and in and through that, announce the Message to the World. Now the question is - am I aware of the Message? 

Do I really know the Message? Am I convinced that I am a messenger? Do I love the Message as much and in order that I may live that message?

Set apart...to become!

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

April 29, 2026 - Acts 12:24 - 13:5; John 12: 44-50

The Word grew and spread, today’s readings tell us. While the Acts of the Apostles speak of one type of spreading, the Gospel seems to insist on another. As apostles, we cannot keep the Word all to ourselves; we would not be "apostles" if we did. We are obliged to take it to the whole world. We have an urgent calling to bring the Word to the entire world and spread it to those who are ready and eager to hear it! 

The second type that Jesus insists upon is interior spreading. The Word I have received, the Word I bring to others, cannot be something foreign to me. First and foremost, I must ensure the spread of that Word within myself. May I listen to, understand, love, and live this Word within me even before I intend to bring it to others. Letting the Word spread throughout my entire being, transforming me into that Word itself, is the simplest way to spread the Word. 

When I succeed in letting the Word spread within me—in my heart, my mind, my body, and my entire spirit—I will become the living Word, just as Christ was the Word incarnate! In that way, all I would need to do is be there, to simply be. 

Therefore, the calling we have is not only to listen to and proclaim the Word, but to understand that we are set apart, just as Paul and Barnabas were... set apart, to become the Word, to become the message, to become the Gospel.

To be called Christians

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 4th week in Easter time

April 28, 2026: Acts 11:19-26; John 10:22-30

It was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians, evidences the first reading today. They needed a name, a different name to refer to the people of the new way of life! They were initially called the people of the Way... it was obvious, because Jesus had declared "I am the way, the truth and the light!" But however it was too abstract. They needed something concrete to refer themselves to. And looking for one, they narrowed down on that with a reference to a person, to someone central to their lives and convictions, the One who inspired this way of life: Christ himself.

It takes time to be called a Christian, to be identified with the name of the Nazarene who made a crucial difference in and through his life. Even today, it is the same: it takes time to be identified a Christian: our lifestyle, our attitudes, our priorities, our relationships and our loving ways should merit the name. There is another subtle but important detail: We have to be called Christians, we cannot be calling ourselves that!

Yes, we have to be called Christians... no use claiming ourselves that name, priding in it or tagging ourselves with it. We have to be called... which means, we have to live. Seeing our lives, seeing our convictions, seeing the difference we make, seeing the ideals we hold on to, seeing the formidable challenges we pose to humanity and the society around, people should be inspired to call us 'Christians'... we should be called Christians.

As Jesus says in the Gospel today, 'the Father and I are one', so should we be able to say: Christ and I are one. What a model we have in St.Paul who declared, "it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me!" (Gal 2:20). When that happens, we could be called Christians, too!

The real birth of the Church

WORD 2day: Monday, 4th week in Easter time

April 27, 2026 - Acts 11: 1-18; John 10: 11-18

We have been seeing throughout last week, that people listened to the Word, they were touched by it and they joined the disciples... and they became a church. However, the real birth of the Church was only when the so-called Gentiles listened and accepted the Word... until then it was seen just as a rebellion within a group of closed people!

St. Paul would declare in his letter to the Galatians, "there is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male or female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus" (Gal 3:28). It is when the whole people are made heirs to the promise made to Abraham, it is only when every one was made into one fold, under One Shepherd, Christ Jesus - that the real Church was born.

The real spirit of Resurrection is opening up! Yes, it is opening up the closed tomb, opening up the closed minds, opening up the dampened faith, opening up the hopeless spirits, opening up the thoughtless ritualistic minds, opening up the hypocritical prejudiced mindsets, opening up the closed mentalities, opening up the secured borders of kinship to the fellowship of the Reign of God, opening up the world to a whole new Spirit: behold I make something new, a new heaven and a new earth!

The challenge is alive until today, to remain one flock, one fold, one people - which means to stay clear of all discrimination within the Church, to choose not to conform to the standards of the world but to be renewed in the Spirit of the Lord and to put on the mind of Christ, the Risen Christ. Constantly, on a daily basis, we are invited and challenged to renew our faithfulness to the One Shepherd and be transformed more and more into worthy members of the Shepherd's flock.