WORD 2day: 5th December, 2014

First Friday of Advent

Is 29: 17-34; Mt 9: 27-31

Seeing is a gift, a great gift indeed. 

Not seeing is a sad thing. It is difficult to really understand where we are and what is around us! We would not know the imminent danger and we would be unaware of the risk that lies at the next step. 

If 'not seeing' is a sad thing, not knowing that you cannot see is still worse! It is more dangerous than not seeing...because when you know you cannot see, you will learn to be cautious; you will feel like getting help; you will know that you are vulnerable.

When you do not know that you cannot see, you think that you see everything, when in fact you do not see! It is a dangerous situation and you are all the more vulnerable. You would be treading a risky path but you will never know when you will be trapped. There will be help available just beside you, but you will not make use of it, because you wouldn't think you need it.

The Lord is our light and he is there right beside us - both in person and in and through other persons! Depends on us to cry out: "Son of David, have mercy on us!" Let us then pray for a threefold grace: to know it when we are unable to see; to know that there is just beside us the Lord, who is the light; and that we may see!

WORD 2day: 4th December, 2014

First Thursday of the Advent

Is 26:1-6; Mt: 21, 24-27

The Lord, the Rock:

The Word today presents to us the image of the Rock! And invites us to reflect on the Rock of our lives.

The Rock is solid, unshaken and strong. The Lord is solid hope, unshaken by circumstances and strong by our side. The Lord is not swayed by moods as we humans are. The ways of the Lord are just! Justice reigns where God reigns.The foundation of the peace that the Lord gives is not compromise but Justice.

The Rock is stable, supporting and still. The Lord is a stable foundation, who supports and sustains our very existence and is patient and still allowing our ways. Imagine if the Lord were impatient with us and prone to reacting to our ways...can we stand our ground? We are alive because we are sustained by the endless patience of the Lord.

The Rock is peaceful, calm and unperturbed. The Lord is the source of our peace in this troubled world, someone unchanging on whom we can rely. The Lord is calm and unperturbed that our childish ways and imprudent lives do not move the Lord to action instantly. The Lord is unperturbed and allows every madness that is going on; even those who deny the Lord standing right over Him; even those who fight against the Lord pitching their battle right over him: the ground on which everything lives and moves!

The Lord is our Rock, and we would do well today to accept it and fine tune our ways to the ways of the Lord!