WORD 2day: 1st October, 2014

Is it right to say: Man proposes; God disposes?

Job 9: 1-12, 14-16; Lk 9: 57-62: Remembering St. Teresa of Lisieux 

Lord's ways are unique and the best thing that can happen to us is God's plan. Job today explains how a radical surrender into the hands of God is the best way or the only sound way of living human life. Man proposes; God disposes - we have heard this often. It is unfair to state it that way, because it is God who is the Master; God proposes! The best thing for us is to accept that proposal, without minding the momentary inconvenience it may cause. 

The Little flower whom we remember today reminds us of the same child like attitude. She would say: 'what matters is not great deeds, but deeds with great love'! The Little way that she proposes is simply a total, loving and radical surrender into the hands of God; allowing God to propose and being ready to dispose ourselves to those divine plans.

We see a collection of episodes in the Gospel today, which illustrate this truth. What we are called to do is not great work, but God's work. It is the Lord who created us and it is the Lord who commissions us! At times we think we are the masters of the things that we are involved in, but it is the Lord who is using us and if only we become aware of it, great will be our happiness! The Little Way, Job's life and Christ's demands to his disciples: these are just different ways of saying- be attentive when God proposes and that is the best thing that can happen to you!

WORD 2day: 30th September, 2014

A God who suffers

Job 3: 1-3, 11-17, 20-23; Lk 9: 51-56

The readings today have a very different kind of a message to give us! James and John wish to bring fire down from heaven to punish the people who did not accept Christ. Job's friends pressurise Job to curse God and get done with God, for all the suffering that God has caused him! Jesus rebukes James and John and Job refuses to give into the counsel of his friends. Job is presented as the prefigurement of the suffering servant that Jesus was to be!

It is not just a suffering servant's figure that we see here, but the image of a compassionate God who suffers on our behalf. It is not true that it has happened just once in history...it had always happened, and it keeps happening that the Lord feels so much when we are adamant, arrogant and whimsical: a compassionate God who is so madly in love with us!

It is 'Christ'ian maturity and 'Christ'ian mindset, to endure our suffering not blaming God or complaining to God, but seeking to find God during those moments of suffering. When we seek God, we will find God so close to us that we would understand that even God suffers along with us! "When you search for me you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart I will let you find me, says the Lord" (Jer 29:13). Our God is not a God who makes us suffer, but a God who suffers, when we suffer! Let us learn to feel the Lord's presence and draw strength from it, during our moments of struggle!

WORD 2day: 29th September, 2014

See Angels; Be Angels! - Celebrating the Archangels

Dan  7: 9-10, 13-14 (or) Rev 12: 7-12; Jn 1: 47-51

Celebrating Archangels, Michael, Gabriel and Raphael gives us an opportunity once again to remind ourselves of the significance of the angels within the Christian tradition. Angels in the Old Testament were considered the extensions of God... when the angels came, they said, 'the Lord visited' them: take the case of the visitors to Abraham (Gen 18) or the case of Jacob fighting with the man of God (Gen 32) etc. Michael, as the strength of God; Gabriel as the messenger of God and Raphael as the healing of God, is a well known understanding of the Angels and their functions.

Celebrating the Archangels today gives us two lessons - To See the Angels and Be the Angels:

To see the angels, is to see the hand of God at work in our everyday experiences, not to be blind to the daily miracles that happen around us.  It is a special grace to perceive it and God is active on our side all the time; it is left to us to acknowledge it and gain the advantages of it.

To be the angels, is to be extensions of God's presence to the others, to be extensions of God's love to the others. When we stand by someone in trouble, when we side with the oppressed and the victimised, when we speak out for the truth and bring God's message to people, when we empathise with those who are suffering and bring healing to them, we are being angels to those persons. That is our call, to be angels to the others, specially the needy and the weak. 

PUTTING ON CHRIST

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time: 28th September, 2014

Ezek 18: 25-28; Phil 2: 1-5; Mt 21: 28-32

Have in you the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus! That is the invitation, the liturgy today offers us! In short it can be understood, in Paul's own terms: to put on the mind of Christ. The readings also offer the graded way of putting on Christ, putting on the New Man, to have the mind of Christ! 

The first way of putting on Christ is doing good: to do good is easy, though one has to choose to do it. What one does is noticed, appreciated or criticised, analysed and evaluated. In receiving those appreciations,Jesus would conclude that you have already received your reward.  According to the mind of Christ, doing something externally is good, but not good enough. External signs were considered by Jesus as hypocrisy! 

The second level of putting on Christ is being good: doing good alone is not enough according to the mind of Christ. An excessive insistence on doing things, can easily lead to hypocrisy, legalism and ritualism. We are called to be good, that our actions flow out of the person that we are; that from our internal goodness people experience a goodness that brings them to experience the goodness of God. Ezekiel points out in the first reading today that God does not see one's actions but the inner disposition from which those actions proceed. We may be doing the best of things at a given time, but a wrong intention or a imperfect motivation behind can make the whole affair totally unchristian. That is why, though doing good is so important, being good becomes something very crucial.

The third level of putting on Christ requires not only that we are good, but we remain good. It is a reminder that our goodness has to be something that is sustained and not sporadic, constant and not conditioned! To remain good, is a challenge. At times we can be good and do good; but to remain good always is a demanding task; but putting on Christ means precisely that. Here we are dealing with the grace of perseverance. It is hard to persevere in being good. Saying 'yes' to his father, the son fails to do what he accepted to do: it is like the seeds that fell among the thorny bushes or those which fell on the shallow rock. The initial fervour dies and soon every thing becomes so monotonous and meaningless. Instead, with the grace of perseverance, every new day is a renewed challenge to remain with the Lord, to remain good, to really put on Christ.

Putting on Christ is a matter of doing good, but more than that it is being good, being good all our life and every moment. Are we ready to take up the task? We would do the right thing to pay heed to the life task that God gives through St. Paul today: Have in you the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus!

WORD 2day: 27th September, 2014

Live; love and experience God

Eccl 11:9 -12: 8; Lk 9: 43b-45: Remembering St. Vincent de Paul 

Life is short and life is limited, but it offers ample opportunity to do things that are remarkable. It never forces anyone, leaving far behind every one who complains of a life of boredom and monotony. For a Christian, life cannot be boring because he or she has a life task to accomplish and daily directions to carry out, from the Lord. That is why St. Paul would write saying, "do not grow weary of doing right" (2 Thess 3:13). It might invite criticism, jealousy, opposition, persecution and even crucifixion! But what matters is to do the will of God, and do it willingly. On a day remembering St. Vincent de Paul, who dedicated himself to serving the poor with a compassionate heart and a self sacrificing spirit, this lesson to do will of God at whatever cost becomes more demanding. 

The other day, I happened to see the video uploaded by someone, of the boy who was eaten by the white tiger, in a zoo. Such a long time that the boy was going through the trauma of hanging between life and death. What did the crowd do? What did the officials do? There was a crowd there, screaming and going mad, and a few among them recording it on their cell phones. But what did they do to save that boy? It was a crucial time, a crucial issue of life and death, a crucial moment of taking decisions and making choices. In fact I myself was traumatised looking at that video; imagine the trauma that boy would have gone through!

Life is short and life is limited; let's live it to the full, let us do all the good that we can to every one around. Let us not waste our life in envying, calumniating, gossiping, judging and spreading hate! Let us live to the full, love each other and experience God close to us!

WORD 2day: 26th September, 2014

IN GOD'S OWN TIME

Eccl 3: 1-11; Lk 9: 18-22

Two great enemies to spiritual health, as spiritual masters point out are: Anxiety and Curiosity! Anxiety is against faith because it points to a lack of trust in the Lord; And Curiosity is lack of patient acceptance of the present.To both these, and to many other spiritual ailments the corrective given is Surrender!

In short, surrender can be described as the assurance that in God's time everything will happen. Patience, trust and the unfailing confidence in God's goodness, are the ingredients of this mentality of surrender. Especially when things aren't going the way we would want them to, we need this quality to remain sane and secure.

In the Gospel today, we find Jesus as a personification of this quality. He was neither curious nor anxious about his mission on earth. That is why he was more interested about their personal conviction than the public opinion; and he was stern that they don't go about frenetically spreading their conviction and forcing it  on people, but to let them arrive at that conviction through their own experience too! That serenity on Jesus' part comes from the attitude of Surrender, an assurance that everything will be made beautiful IN GOD'S OWN TIME.

WORD 2day: 25th September, 2014

From Vanity to Sanity, towards Sanctity

Eccl 1:2-11; Lk 9: 7-9

TINNUTS... one of our formators used to sigh often, when we were in our initial formation. And the expansion of it goes this way: There Is Nothing New Under The Sun.The first reading speaks of vanities in life. Labour, dreams, experiences, senses...everything is a vanity if they are not in the right perspective.

The Gospel presents to us a personification of vanities, Herod! Herod had every opportunity to realise the vanity with which he was living. But he made no use of them, he even put an end to them. That would surely affect him all his life. That is why the Gospel says, "he kept saying, I beheaded John."

Are there vanities which surround us today? Aren't there opportunities offered to realise them and to do away with them? From Vanity to Sanity...that is the ordinary journey we are expected to make, to embark upon the extraordinary journey towards sanctity!

WORD 2day: 24th September, 2014

In plenty and in want...

Pro 30:5-9; Lk 9: 1-6

Recently I heard of a young man, barely reaching his forties, who resigned his promising and colourful job. The reason: they were paying him unreasonably high! The first reading speaks of a mindset of this sort- a man who wants to live neither in want nor in plenty. Not in want, because he will not think of shortcuts to get rich; nor in plenty, that he does not forget the one who gives. 

Jesus instructs his apostles on being a messenger of God. The crux of his instruction is not merely about whether to have or not to have, whether to possess or not to possess, but it is all about depending on God or not! Poverty within the worldview of the Reign of God, in terms of Jesus' thinking, is a fundamental dependence on God. Being grateful for what God gives, and being expectant like a child to be given things in love. 

It is more than what proverbs suggests, while the passage from the proverbs carries a tinge of cynical realism, the Gospel offers a proactive sense of dependence out of true human freedom, that defines a true disciple and a dedicated apostle. This is the same as St. Paul suggests, to learn to live in want and in plenty, because we can do anything through the one who strengthens us (cf. Phil 4:12,13).

WORD 2day: 23rd September, 2014

The Right thing to do...

Pro 21: 1-6, 10-13; Lk 8: 19-21

Doing the right thing is better than sacrifice says the first reading today. And the right thing is imprinted in our hearts. The Word of God, comes to us through various ways: direct proclamation is just one among them. There are situations and persons whom we come across who bring us a challenge to face and respond to. The Word of God comes along, instructing us what is right and what is to be avoided. There is the inner voice within us, that "sound of sheer silence" (1 Kgs 19:12), which tells us at the right moment the right thing to do. 

All that we need to do is first of all, be attentive: attentive to the Word that comes across to us. Secondly, be sincere: sincere to admit that we have received the word and to recognise the demands that it places. At times because of the demands that the Word places on us, we pretend not to have heard, or not to have understood the real meaning of the Word. It would serve no purpose and we in fact deceive ourselves by doing it. Thirdly, our task is to be diligent, in carrying out amidst all struggles, what the Word tells us. 

The Gospel today assures us that when we do all the three we would be considered not merely disciples, but mother, brother, sister, in short, coheirs with Christ to the Reign of God. But when we stop short of them, we would be deceiving ourselves warns the letter of James (1:22).  

WORD 2day: 22nd September, 2014

Think good; Do good; Be good!

Pro 3:27-34; Lk 8:16-18

The first reading today has a wonderful set of practical tips for a happy living. Those tips can altogether be summarised in the phrase: think well of all; speak well of all; do good to all. This is the runway to happiness, but rarely taken by many! We prefer to complicate our lives, make it distrustful, enigmatic and suspicious. Neither are we happy nor do we allow others to be happy. 

Recently, I asked a person who came to me with a problem at home, "What is you choice: to be happy or not to be?" And the person said, "ofcourse, to be happy!" and immediately added, "but I am afraid I wont be able to do the things that you told me to. They would take me for granted and make me more and more a fool!" Then I concluded, "so, you choose to be unhappy!"

At times, that is the fact! We choose to be unhappy and we are experts at making ourselves unhappy over anything at all. Jesus today seems to tell us, "you want to be happy? choose it! manifest it! Let it be seen in your lives, in your choices!" Lighting the lamp and putting it on the stand, is the metaphor to living a life that is God-worthy and making it known to others that they may be challenged. The simple formula to begin with is what is said in the first reading; in other words: think good! do good! be good!

It is your face Lord, that I seek!

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time: 21st September, 2014

Is 55: 6-9; Phil 1: 20c-24, 27a; Mt 20: 1-16a

It is your face O Lord that I seek, prays the Psalmist (cf 27:8). Seeking the face of the Lord is the sweet task given to a lover of the Lord. The Lord declares, I have not told you to seek me in vain, as if I were absent from you! The Lord is always with us and the Lord's countenance sheds its light upon us and that is the joy of our Christian living.

But we on our part are invited to Seek the Lord, say the readings today. We are called to seek the Lord, seek the Lord above all else! Lord awaits to shine forth on us, it is ours to seek. St. Paul tells us in the second reading today, it becomes even a longing to end this existence on earth and get to the Lord, that we may behold the face of the Lord! But it is not ours to decide, we are expected to live our earthly sojourn as long as the Lord wills it for us; but even within this sojourn the Lord will enable us to behold the Lord's face, if we seek it.

Seek the Lord, today! says the first reading and the Gospel parable too. The urgency of seeking the Lord is expressed so well and so plainly in the first reading, where Isaiah urges that we seek the Lord while there is still time! Instead of just standing around and staring at things that will do no good and focusing on elements that would lead us no where, it is important that we seek the Lord and seek the Lord today, here and now! It is a call to make a choice, to make up our minds, to discern our ways and set on a determined seeking!

Seek the Lord with Hope, says the parable that Jesus presents. Don't worry if you wasted your time till now, make up your mind right now and seek the Lord with hope; do not think if the Lord will accept you or not. First of all, the Lord has not rejected you from the eyes of the Lord in order that you wonder whether the Lord will accept you. The Lord's love is unconditional, and the Lord does not love us to the extent that we deserve it. If only the Lord were to calculate how deserving we are, how many of us can really stand before the Lord and claim the love of God for ourselves? "But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us"(Rom 5:8). That is the love with which the landowner gives the same wages to the first and the last. This is the hope that Jesus gives us: at no point of time does God reject you! Seek the Lord with Hope and you will definitely find the Lord, assure the readings today.

The Lord is with me, the Lord lives with me, moves with me and sustains me! But it is upto me to seek that presence of the Lord, seek that grace of the Lord and seek that face of the Lord so that the light of God's countenance may illumine my daily life! 

WORD 2day: 20th September, 2014

Sowing, Growing and what is in between

Remembering Martyr St. Andrew and companions: I Cor 15: 35-37, 42-49; Lk 8: 4-15 

The readings today speak of sowing and growing, and what goes on in between these - dying and being reborn! In the context of celebrating martyr St. Andrew and companions , or any martyr for that matter, the aspects of dying to ourselves and being reborn in Christ is a criterion for Christian living (cf. Rom 6). Many of us who claim to be followers, disciples and apostles of Christ, still refuse to die to certain tendencies and elements within our self, which militate against the Spirit who wants to dwell within us, for we are called to be the temples of the Holy Spirit (cf. 1 Cor 3:16, 6:19).

Of course there are situations that are against our becoming totally the dwelling place of God: like the parched land or the scorching heat or the choking thorns. That is everyone's experience and cannot be ever a valid reason for our personal lack of commitment to belong to God and for our lagging in efforts to grow closer to God. God has sown, God has called us and chosen us and appointed us each, in our life and in our own context. What matters now is our personal commitment, perseverance and loving decision to belong and to grow into the image and likeness of the One who has caused us and called us! 

WORD 2day: 19th September, 2014

The Resurrection Community

I Cor 15: 12-20; Lk 8:1-3

The Readings today point to an identity that is so fundamental to a follower of Christ. First of all the effects that Christ has on his followers is the Resurrection effect: that is a life filled with hope! If Christ were not raised from the dead, our faith would be in vain - declares St. Paul today. We are filled with a hope so great that nothing, not even death can take away the meaning of our life. Secondly, we find today Jesus amidst the first community that he himself had initiated - the Twelve, and some women! That is another Resurrection effect - the fruit of rising above all the pettiness of the world, discarding the divisions, despising the differences of gender or geography, and becoming one community, one people! 'We are all baptised into the one Spirit - Jews or Greeks, free or slaves, we are all filled with the same Spirit', St. Paul would instruct ( cf. 1 Cor 12:13). Today, let us look at our faith community: is it one body? is it united in the Risen Lord? Is it "following" the Lord? Does it have the "mind" of Christ? Are we really Resurrection Community?

WORD 2day: 18th September, 2014

Humility and Gratitude - signs of spirituality
I Cor 15:1-11; Lk 7: 36-50

By the grace of God I am what I am, states St. Paul in today's first reading. That statement brings out two salient features of a truly Spiritual person. The first is Humility; the other quality flows from it and it is, Gratitude.

Humility is a sign that one knows oneself, understands oneself, places oneself in the right perspective and accepts what the Lord has called one towards. It is not abasing or belittling oneself; that would be a misunderstanding. Humility is looking at oneself from the perspective of God!

Gratitude is a quality that is sine qua non, for a life that wants to define itself with the adjective, "spiritual". A grateful heart is a holy heart. The woman who was forgiven, was offered a totally new life and that made her so exuberantly grateful that she did not hesitate to expess it through all means she thought would help.

A humble person is spiritual and a grateful person is holy.

WORD 2day: 17th September, 2014

Love is all what matters!

1 Cor 12:33 - 13:13; Lk 

Just yesterday I read somewhere, the saying from Buddha: in the end, only three things matter, how much you loved, how gently you lived and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you! Jesus had further simplified all this and said: Love one another as I have loved you; that alone matters! St. Augustine surely was not exaggerating when he said: love and do what you will! Infact, the only condition that Jesus places in sharing his identity with us was LOVE (cf. Jn 13:35).

At times we can be deceived by interpretations and cultural fads. At times love can be considered a relative, emotional feeling. But are these truly 'Christian'? Christianly speaking love is not a deceptive concept...it is an absolute criterion and that is why St.Paul so beautifully lists the characters of true 'Christian' love. Those traits the Word offers us today are fool proof ways of being a Christian. Pleasing others, dancing to tunes, earning name and fame... these actually should not matter; after all, love is all what matters!

WORD 2day: 16th September, 2014

Compassion or Comparison?

1 Cor 12: 12-14, 27-31a; Lk 7: 7-11

Each of us is given special gifts from the Holy Spirit, special gifts according to the special calling that we have. If we become aware of the call that we have received, we would also become aware of the gift that is given to us, to live up to that calling. To be prophets, or to be apostles, or to be teachers, or to be leaders, or to be interpreters... these are all different calls which are lived out by means of various tasks that we are called to carry out. But the fundamental purpose of all these, the call underlying all these calls is just one: to be holy and blameless, before God in love (Eph 1:4). 

The readings today, taken together, give us this all important Christian lesson for life: be compassionate and do not compare! As St. Paul instructs, to rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep (Rom 12:15), that is the way we can realise, that we are One People! Comparisons will lead to jealousy and fights which will make us enemies, and we would lose our very identity of being God's people.

WORD 2day: 15th September, 2014

Remembering the Mother of Sorrows

1 Cor 11:17-26, 33; Lk 2: 33-35 or Jn 19: 25-27

A heart pierced with an arrow is a famous symbol today, a symbol very romantic. But there was a heart that was once told: one day a sword shall pierce you! And that heart remained patient and bore that piercing for the sake of that one "yes" that was pronounced at the beginning of the string of those events. The Mother of Sorrows is an icon that challenges us to understand the meaning of Christian living. As St. Paul would say, 'the reign of God is not a matter of food and drink, enjoyment and fun, a romantic feeling or a colourful happening'. It is a matter of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (cf. Rom 14:17). Righteousness, requires a hunger and thirst for it (cf Mt 5:6); Peace and Joy in the Holy Spirit consist of doing the will of the God, come what may. 

Following immediately the Exaltation of the Cross, the feast of today, establishes the truth that, in living a Christian life, there are a certain things clearly difficult and demanding. It requires an absolute choice to live a truly 'Christian' life  to the full. Mary made that choice and stuck to it right up to the end and that is what we celebrate today. She has shown us what it means to be a disciple of Christ, the Lord of the Cross! May our Blessed Mother, strengthen our spirits, increase our endurance and deepen our faith. 

Look up to the Lord and be Loved

14th September 2014: Exaltation of the Cross

Num 21: 4b-9; Phil 2: 6-11; Jn 3:13-17

We have today a beautiful remembrance, the celebration of the Christian symbol of Love: the Cross. The Cross is taken more often than not, as a symbol of suffering! Yes, it was a symbol of suffering, until the loving Lord took it into his embrace, on his shoulders and climbed on it to give his life for us...all this out of the limitless love he had for us! He changed its meaning and ever since, the cross has come to symbolise love, the unconditional, limitless and boundless love that the Lord has for us.

Hence the feast that we celebrated today gives us a fundamental lesson for living our daily life: Look Up to the Lord and Be Loved!

Look Up: 

At times we are lost in the troubles that we have, in the daily struggles and everyday chores; so lost in those that we have time only to murmur, to lament and to complain. We do not have the patience and the capacity to look up! Look Up, look beyond, look upon high and you will see the horizon that will give you hope. Our troubles are big, our concerns are challenging, but the horizon is there, the silver lining is there...we have to look up to notice that. Hope is the key to Christian way of life. 

Look to the Lord:

Let us look to the Lord; it is from the Lord that our help comes! The Psalms further insist: Look upto Him and be radiant (34:5). 'Looking Up' alone is not enough, we can be deceived or distracted or misled. Looking to the Lord is the key to Christian Problem Solving. Unless through the Son of God who has come down from heaven, no one can go to the Father who is in heaven, says the Gospel today. The real solutions to our problems lie in the hands of God: it is in looking to the Lord that we will have life, life in all its fullness. It is a call to refrain from telling the Lord that our problems are big; but a call to tell our problems that our Lord is big and mighty!

Be Loved:

The Lord is filled with love, a total self emptying love that does not count the cost! God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that we have eternal life. The Son so loved the world that he gave everything up, and showed his love in the total self-giving on the Cross. We are promised a measure of love that no human mind can comprehend, because it is eternal and limitless. Such is God's love for us, but nothing can be done if I keep myself away from it. When I claim that love, in total obedience and surrender unto the Lord, I feel loved! When I rebel and keep myself away, I prevent myself from experiencing that love which is so present all around me. The key is allowing myself to be loved by God, seeing myself as being loved by God, identifying myself as the beloved child of God. 

As we exalt the Cross today, as we sing praises to the One who is lifted high for our salvation, let us resolve to Look Up, to Look to Him and to Let ourselves be loved! 

WORD 2day: 13th September, 2014

Differences, disputations and dialogue!
1 Cor 10:4-23; Lk 6: 43-49

We live in a world of pluralism today. Not just we in India, but almost every one all over the world lives in a context and culture of pluralism. Everyone finds one's neighbour different, different in his or her creed or convictions or value systems. In such a situation, what should be a true Christian disposition? Can it be one of disputation, debate or delirious defence? The result would range from a kind of disrespectful cynicism to a hateful dissent. Are those fruits proper to a tree that is Christian? How can anything be its fruit other than love:  for by this they will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for each other.

If so, what would be the right disposition? Compromise? Relativism? An anything-is-ok mentality? No, Never, says St.Paul in today's first reading. Between Controversies and Compromise, there is something called Comprehension. That, that alone, is the need of the hour today. An attitude of mature Dialogue.

What is the use of talking so much of God as love and of Christ's teachings of a forgiving and forbearing love, if we dont begin to live it? Will we not be foolish builders, building our beach side castles? Let us form ourselves into solid bulidings of enduring love and never failing faith, that we may teach the whole world the lifestyle of true love.

WORD 2day: 12th September, 2014

The need to be 'trained'
I Cor 9:16-19, 22b -27; Lk 6: 39-42.

The readings today insist on the need to be trained in being an apostle. An apostle we are, each of us by virtue of our baptism. That call is not merely a privillege, it is an obligation, a duty and a demand placed on me. Considering it merely a matter of boast leads to some unfortunate developments within the faith community, situations such as infights, ego clashes, jealousy and unchristian 'politricks'... The Gospel calls these: blind leading the blind and both into the pit!

Instead, taking the call seriously leads one to a fuller realisation of the gift that it is and of the demands it places. One of the important demands is to be trained! Both St.Paul and Jesus, today speak of this training. It would consist of fundamentally three things: humble acceptance of the call to be an apostle; attentive listening to the Word that comes to us; and diligent practice of the Word that is heard. Falling short of these three steps would make us either arrogant bigwigs or pretentious bullies but never trained disciples. The need to be trained is precisely, to gradually grow after the image of the Master Himself.

WORD 2day: 11th September, 2014

The Crux of Christianity

1 Cor 8: 1B-7, 11-13; Lk 6: 27-38

The readings today have a practical summary for Christian living; it offers for our consideration and reflection the crux of christianity: LOVE, love in all its concrete sense. In fact in the context of the letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul is slowly building up towards the presentation of the all important hymn of love. 

Christian life has to be defined by love: love understood as sensitivity towards the weak and vulnerable; love understood as the compassion towards the needy and suffering; love understood as a non judgmental acceptance of the other; love understood as giving without counting; love understood as going an extra mile; love understood as forgiveness and love understood as relationship shared in the One God, the One Father and Mother of all. At times it might look very simplistic to propose love as the solution for all problems in life, but giving a serious thought to it, everything boils down to that. Love is the only answer to all the problems in life, in the world and in the whole of existence. True love (only what is true is love), true love alone can set the world back to its perfect mode of happiness and meaning. 

Anything else can  find only pseudo remedies and temporary face-lifts. It is love and love alone that can offer true salvation to humankind, because truly, the crux of Christianity is nothing other than, true love!

WORD 2day: 9th September, 2014

Conforming to whom?

1 Cor 6: 1-11; Lk 6: 12-19

Do not be conformed to the standard of this world, but be renewed in spirit and create a counter culture, reminds St. Paul in his letter to the Romans (cf. 12:2). In today's first reading he chides the Corinthians for their behaviour which was no different from that of the others. He does not denounce them for the disputes they have, but loses his patience with them because they are not able to handle that dispute among themselves. It was a clear sign of the absence of something that was essential to their identity, according to St. Paul: mutual esteem inspired by love. Instead what dominates here is mutual competition provoked by ego. It is a reality, obviously, even today in our faith communities where there is an un-Christian understanding of authority and inhuman practice of domination! 

Aren't there churches which are closed down because of factions? Haven't there been clashes between different groups within the same community of faith? Aren't there leaders disrespected or rejected or maltreated just because of some differences, however flimsy and fiery those differences may be. The call is clear... as a son or daughter of God in Christ's footsteps, to whom do you want to conform? 

Biblical Icons for Family Living - #3

My contribution in the September issue of
DON BOSCO BULLETIN

Happy Birthday Mamma...

Mic 5:1-4a (or) Rom 8:28-30; Mt 1:1-23

The readings chosen for the day do not speak to us directly of Mary... but they have a truth which our Blessed Mother teaches us very strongly. The truth is that of the choice that God has made of us! As St.Paul would say writing to the Ephesians, God chose us in  Christ before the foundations of the world! The Birth of Mary signals in  utter silence the beginning of the climax of God's plan of salvation. No one knew when this girl was born that she was destined to be that woman of whom the son of God will be born in the fullness of time.

That is the mystery we are. We enshrine within  ourselves a marvellous design which we ourselves are not aware of. Mother Mary is a splendid example for us to learn from. From eternity God has chosen us for a particular purpose and each of us has to discern that purpose.

Today as we sing a happy birthday to her, our Blessed Mother will sing to the glory of the Lord for the great things God has done to her. The same things God continues to do for us and wants to do more, but our readiness to surrender and our capacity to ponder in silence are those which matter.

True Love

7th September, 2014

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

WORD 2day: 6th September, 2014

The Pride and Prejudice!

1 Cor 4: 6b-15;  Lk 6: 1-5

It is better to be ignorant or deprived than to be haughty with pride, warn the readings today. The Pharisees and the Scribes constantly had a problem with Jesus, not because Jesus was wrong, and not even because they did not know what Jesus was upto! They knew what Jesus was hinting at every time he broke a law or a custom. They knew that Jesus had something to communicate and they even knew what he had to! They did not want to listen to him, much less, accept his stand point; simply because of the pride that ruined the whole situation.

Our sense of ego and our urge to prove ourselves can sometimes fill us with a prejudice so strong that we can miss the obvious. Not just the pharisees and the scribes in Jesus' time, but even for us, it is a real danger. With our preconceived ideas and over glorified ego, we would be so filled with ourselves that we would not be able to see, feel with or love our brothers and sisters with us. In such case, is it possible to really see and love God?

TO ALL THE TEACHERS

who have taught me, 

who are known to me, who are out there trying to make a meaningfor their own life and that of others...Wish you happiness and meaning in life!Happy Teachers' Day!!!

CELEBRATING BLESSED MOTHER TERESA

The love of Christ urges me, is a fitting one liner for the life of Mother Teresa of Kolkata. Born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, she chose the name Mary Teresa in admiration of St. Teresa of Lisieux, in 1928 when she entered the convent of the Loreto Sisters in Ireland. In 1929 she travelled to India, since when it became her second home. Making her first profession in 1931 and her final profession in 1937, Calcutta (today's Kolkata) became her epicenter from where she would shake the world to consciousness. She began teaching in the famous Loreto school which stands till date proud to have given the world a giant of pastoral zeal and Christian charity. She was appointed the Head Mistress in 1944 but within hardly 2 years, she would have the life transforming "call within her call", which would change her forever from Sister Teresa to Mother Teresa! It was, as she notes, 10th September 1946 when she heard that piercing cry from the suffering Lord: "I Thirst"... and she began to thirst. Soon she found herself out of those walls of Loreto, from the safety of those building into an open air school, from the well formed daily schedules to endless wanderings on the street, from being a Loreto nun to being the foundress of a humble and simple order called 'Missionaries of Charity' in 1948. The rest is history! 

Let us draw lessons from this great person. She struggled to make sense of what God wanted of her, to understand what her faith is all about, to translate the love that she had for the person of Jesus Christ into action and to love everyone with the same love as that of Christ. Let the love of Christ urge us on too.

WORD 2day: 4th September, 2014

Realisation leads to transformation

1 Cor 3: 18-23; Lk 5: 1-11

A person who has been coming to me for some time now, to share some experiences of concern in his personal life, remarked the other day: "but, you keep saying for everything, become conscious!" I said, "yes! that's the key! become conscious, or you can make no change. Realise and you can change, you can grow, you can transform!" Realisation alone leads to proper self understanding: realisation of one's limitedness to humility and realisation of one's givenness to gratitude! It is this realisation that made Peter fall at the Lord's feet; it is the same realisation that made Paul remind us, life or death, everything belongs to God, we belong to God!

Realisation, Awareness, Consciousness, Self-knowledge, Self-realisation... various terms referring to the same reality: "Be still and know that I am God". It is not merely knowing, for we all know and we know a lot. It is more than knowing; it is, knowing that I know; it is knowing what I know and what I do not. It is a realisation that leads to transformation; that act of casting the nets into the deep, for a true catch! All that we need to do is move ourselves into that depth, the depth of realisation and the Lord will lead us to transformation.

Will my India remain?

Taylors Road, Chennai, 3rd September, 2014:

Just last evening I had a wonderful experience and I would wish to share it loud and wide. Across our institution, we have a locality where there is a settlement typical of the Chennai city. And amidst the scores of houses that stretch in four different directions, right at the middle stands a simple little chapel to Our Lady of Good Health. For the past 39 years they have been celebrating the feast of our Blessed Mother, with a novena during the days between 29th August and 8th September. September 2, has always been the appointed day for a Eucharistic Celebration to be held at that chapel. Its a mere wayside chapel and has no place even to place an altar inside. Hence usually a stage is set up beside it on the road and an altar placed on it with all due decorum. This year, they had invited me to preside over the Eucharist and I gladly obliged. At the entry of that lane, at the middle of which is the chapel, there is a temple dedicated to Lord Vinayaka (the elephant-faced deity of the Hindus). Incidentally, these days are also the days of festivities around Lord Vinayaka, and as I entered that lane I noticed that temple too decorated splendidly and music blasting away, in the usual Indian style. When I reached the chapel and when it was time for Mass, one of the organising crew went straight to the temple people and informed them that it was time for mass. Instantly, the music ceased! And the Eucharist commenced. It was our turn to blast on the speakers... and then the rest of the festivities continued! Incidentally, it is remarkable to note here that quite a few of the members on the organising committee were hindu brothers! 

It left me thinking last evening and I am endlessly proud of my Indian heritage, a culture of peaceful coexistence and respectful collaboration, a seedbed of authentic interreligious dialogue! Will my India remain the same... how I wish and pray! 

WORD 2day: 3rd September, 2014

Defining Spiritual Persons...

1 Cor 3: 1-9; Lk 4: 38-44

Paul feels bad about the fact that he is not able to speak to the Corinthians as to Spiritual people, because of jealousy, rivalry and division among them. He presents those predicaments as directly opposed to being spiritual people. Jesus in the Gospel shines as a role model in being a Spiritual person or a person of the Spirit. He heals, casts out demons and refuses to gain any popularity mileage out of it. He rebukes the demons even, not to announce his Christ image, as he wants himself to be experienced in the depths of their hearts, by each one hearing him or following him. 

Are jealousy, rivalry and other divisive mentalities totally absent today in faith communities? Leave alone the communities, what about my heart, is it totally free of it? If not, I still am an immature believer. St. Paul, in a way, defines who a spiritually mature person is: one who is integral in his or her outlook, unifying in his or her relationships, loving in his or her consideration of the other and God centered in his or her understanding of one's own identity vis-a-vis the faith community. 

Spiritual Persons are persons of the Spirit, and what matters to them is the action of the Spirit within themselves and within their communities. 

WORD 2day: 2nd September, 2014

To have the Mind of Christ

1 Cor 2: 10b-16 ; Lk 4: 31-37.

They believed firmly that no human being can ever deserve the love of God. All that one can do is live in fear of the wrath of God and live a righteous life in order to avoid punishment. Jesus turns the tables and makes it clear that one need not deserve to be loved... God loves us and that is all that matters. In his own self Jesus demonstrated how God is close to every human person and how compassionately in love God is, with God's children. It is not about begging God for love, but it is about claiming that love with authority that comes from the very fact that we are sons and daughters of that loving God.

Recently talking to a group of youngsters, I shared the same thought and it seemed like they took advantage of the concept of "claiming with the right of the children"... when I had to remind them, that it first requires that I live as a true son or a daughter, knowing my duties and my obligations, my priorities and pertaining choices! In short it is to have the Spirit of the Lord with us, who makes us realize that we are the sons and daughters of the Lord almighty. Above all these, to know our privilege as children, to understand the value of being God's sons and daughters: in straight terms, to have the mind of Christ!

WORD 2day: 1st September, 2014

Good Teachings and Right Teachings
1 Cor 2: 1-5; Lk 4: 16-30

The world today runs after so many preachers, sages, gurus, leaders, speakers, trainers, etc. There are many who practice it as a trade! Some have fans and followers across the globe. They are all good... talented... interesting... exciting... thought provoking. But the question is, how right are the teachings? It is important to differentiate good teachings from right teachings.

Teachings that are worded beautifully, formulated creatively and expressed attractively but do not lead to true harmony, self transcendence, compassionate love and mutual concern based on the fact that there is Some One who unites us all, invites all to form one beautiful community of brothers and sisters... how "right"are they?

The readings today give us a clarity: good teachings are based on human wisdom while the right teachings are founded on the power of God. The Gospel presents the sad fact that the world prefers the former to the latter.