THE WORD IN LENT -11

People peculiarly God's own!

First Week of Lent: Saturday, 28th Feb, 2015

Dt 26: 16-19; Mt 5: 43-48

Recently there was a row on a comment passed by a leader of one of the religious nationalist groups in India on Mother Teresa and her motivations behind all the service she had rendered to the least of the Indian Society.Of all the retorts that came by, I loved the cartoon some one posted; it was a cartoon depicting Mother Teresa holding that gentleman who spoke rather ill of her, as a mother would hold her little child! And the caption read in Mother's own words: if you judge others, you will not have the time to love them. For me this was the best response, because it brings out our nature: people peculiarly God's own(Dt 26:18)! We have had so many examples of this peculiarity which the Word demands from us - Pope John Paul II who met the one who attempted to assassinate him, the family of Sr. Rani Maria who accepted the murderer of their daughter as one their family members, Mrs. Gladys Stein who instantly forgave the one who burnt her husband and two sons alive and recently the mother of the two brothers among the 21 coptic christians killed in Egypt! 

These people are peculiar in the eyes of the world and that is our call too: to be people peculiarly God's own. The only way to belong to God is to be God like in our love for others, loving everyone with no conditions, no limits and no expectations! Difficult? Yes! Any alternative options? Definitely No, if we want to be truly God's own!

THE WORD IN LENT -10

The Right Righteousness

First Week of Lent: Friday, 27th Feb, 2015

Ezek 18: 21-28; Mt 5: 20-26

The "Scribes and the Pharisees"...we find this phrase very often in Jesus' words. What did he have against them? Was he then a sectarian too... dividing and categorising people by the group they belong to? No! Never! Jesus himself was a Pharisee and he had disciples among pharisees, tax collectors and zealots. Then where is the justification for the usage of this phrase, 'the scribes and the pharisees'? 

The phrase actually refers to, that category of people, need not be necessarily only the scribes and the pharisees, who consider the external signs and legalistic fulfilments more important or significant than the interior disposition. What we do is important, but why we do what we do, matters much more! The internal disposition with which something is carried out, truly determines the value of the act or the attitude. Righteousness often can remain a matter of image building or opinion creation. Jesus, explains today his version of righteousness - the right righteousness. It consists of meekness and humility, openness (lack of judgments) and acceptance, endurance and perseverance, and endless hopefulness. Against these measures on the scale, where does my righteousness stand?

THE WORD IN LENT -9

The Lord who is at hand

First Week of Lent: Thursday, 26th Feb, 2015

Est 12: 14-16; 23-25; Lk 7:7-12

The Lord is at hand, always, in all circumstances, specially in difficulties and troubles. This is the promise of the cross. Because as the letter to the Hebrews would affirm, we do not have a master who does not understand us. We have someone who understands us and knows us, for he himself has gone through all that we are put through in life. A very Christ-ian attitude in the face of difficulties and struggles would be to approach any situation with an endless hope, a limitless certainty that God is with me, whether I can feel it or not at a concrete moment, in a concrete manner. 

There have been moments in the lives of the saints when they have been through darkness and obscurity. It is in the manner that they handled such experiences that they have deserved their identity of sanctity. Today, we are growing weaker and weaker in our faith-life, that we are discouraged, desperate in the first moment of our failure or trial. The increasing number of suicides and increasing multitudes of God-forsakers are only symptoms of such a deficiency. 

Our Christian faith would be meaningless without this conviction, for which Esther today stands witness and Jesus shines as an advocate - the conviction that the Lord is at hand, always, in all circumstances, especially when I am through struggles and difficulties!

THE WORD IN LENT -8

Conversion - an internal choice

First week of Lent: Wednesday, 25th Feb, 2015

Jon 3: 1-10; Lk 11: 29-32

Waking up a sleeping person is not as difficult as waking up someone who pretends to sleep. Lent is all about conversion; and conversion is something absolutely personal. External signs of it are appreciable, but they are not all. At times we can have splendid extremal signs of religiosity and concern for others while they may merely be hypocrisy and hidden agendas. But the good or bad news is that,  God knows our innermost thoughts and yearnings. We create and maintain whatever image we would like with those around us, but with God it is always the truth and nothing but truth. 

Jesus gives the Jews,  the so called chosen people the challenge of the simple people of Nineveh. Today too the highly sophisticated, the so called devoted, and the self proclaimed Spiritual people are given the challenge of a simple and unsophisticated person who converts in his or her heart of heart towards God. He or she would be much greater and much closer to the Reign of God! Conversion is a matter of the heart... an internal and absolute choice for God. 

Oscar Romero, a prophet of our times!

A Miracle of Sorts...23rd Feb!

For a while now I have been thinking of writing a piece on Oscar Romero whose annual remembrance fall this day, next month. And finally yesterday, I forced myself to sit down and pen it. And what a day to start - a coincidence? I prefer to call it a miracle!

23rd February, 1977 - Oscar Romero took up the Archbishopric of San Salvador and that was the beginning of the martyrdom of this great prophet of our times. When he was killed on March 24, 1980 he had already made the Church in El Salvador true to its original image: the image of the prophet Christ!

THE WORD IN LENT -7

Rethink Prayer 

First Week of Lent: Tuesday, 24th Feb, 2015

Is 55:10-11; Mt 6:7-15

Prayer is a fundamental act of a believer. However, the way we understand it can differ quite drastically. Apart from the clarity that prayer cannot be mere favour list made to God and apart from the comprehensive understanding that prayer should essentially include an act of contrition, that of thanksgiving and of praise along with the petitions made, prayer should be understood basically as a relationship with God. I love to share my personal definition of prayer as "living our life with God", every moment of it - joys and sorrows, failures and successes, temptations and threats, difficulties and dreams! All this, with the confidence that the Lord is with me and that God's ways are best that can happen to me at anytime. 

Asking for and clamouring for something is very much like a child's relation to his or her father or mother! But remaining solely at that level would leave us childish. We need to move to the next level of submitting into the hands of the Lord; abandoning ourselves to the eternal Will and the powerful Word of the Lord. This we will be able to do only when we trust the Lord as our Father, as someone who protects us always and rescues us when we are in distress. 

Let us rethink our outlook on prayer - it is not begging God; neither is it making a wishlist to God nor counselling God as to what is best to be done! Prayer is a loving entrustment of ourselves into the hands of God, our loving Father and Mother.

THE WORD IN LENT -4

Choosing God

Saturday after Ash Wednesday: 21st February, 2015

Is 58: 9b-14; Lk 5: 27-32

"Follow Me" - is the loud and clear invitation from the Lord. The choice is ours! The crux of lenten practices is disciplining oneself to choose God.

When we choose the Lord, we follow the Lord. When we choose the Lord, we choose the ways of the Lord. When we choose God, we would choose justice and love. When we choose God, we would choose to love our brothers and sisters with sincerity and commitment. When we choose God, we would choose to stand against all oppression and malice. Killings in the name of God and persecutions in the name of one's spiritual affiliations, are the heights of insincerity and hyprocrisy. When we choose to hurt another, we choose to be opposed to God. When we choose to slander the other, we choose to be contrary to God.

The call today is to choose God...on a daily basis. In our relationships, in our priorities, in all our interactions, we are called to choose God and to make that choice clear and loud for every one to see, be inspired and emulate. 

THE WORD IN LENT -6

Love and be holy

First week of Lent, Monday: 23rd Feb, 2015. 

Lev 19: 1-2, 22-28; Mt 25: 27-31.

Already in the Old Testament with the call to be holy the Lord instructs the people on how to be holy. Notice the criteria presented,  that they are all about relationships and mutual responsibility among persons. Right enough in the Gospel we see Jesus letting us know the terms on which we will judged in the end of days. Again it is of relational nature.

It was unfortunate that at some point of time there had been developed a spirituality that claimed that one's holiness is a matter of private concern. Some times our lenten practices may fall in those lines;  let us beware. Pope Francis has been right in telling us to choose penance in such a way that it benefits the poor. However,  its not merely of the financial part that we are worried about, but mainly the part of the inter personal interaction.

Love,  and do what you like, said St. Augustine. Loving is the only way towards Christ like holiness.

CHOOSING GOD'S WAYS

1st Sunday of Lent: 22nd February, 2015

Gen 9: 8-15; 1 Pet 3: 18-22; Mk 1: 12-15

For the past three days we have been seeing about choices, essential at Lent. Today the readings sum up the list by inviting us to seek the ways of God as a whole! In the recent weeks we have been receiving videos and photos and reports of people being burnt, slain, beaten, and beheaded for the sake of their faith! Even yesterday I saw a clip from someone showing a brutal beating up of a group of men who were distributing pamphlets expressing their faith. What was in the pamphlet? How offensive was that?...to those questions I have no answer. But one thing I know, whatever was there on the pamphlet, the treatment meted out to them was not justified at all. And the way they bore it, was moving and challenging! God bless them for their sacrifices.

Accepting God's ways is not an easy task. When things go well, it is fine! Miracles and great favours are also God's ways. But when it comes to accepting suffering, accepting struggles from the hands of God...the challenge is enormous. It doubles, when we do not really know why we are going through what we are facing and what we are moving towards. We have three imageries for us to understand that anxiety, and still submit to the Lord.

1. Noah's Ark: That is the imagery of a work which seems meaningless and crazy: building an ark on the arid ground! There is a forewarning of something and Noah chooses to act on God's directions. Meaninglessness and Fruitlessness of his activity does not bother him! 

2. The Desert of Temptation: Jesus is driven by the Spirit into the desert, says the Gospel passage we read today. Desert, wilderness, impending temptations, frightening dangers...nothing stops Jesus from walking in God's ways. He knows for sure, that God has appointed God's angels to protect him and keep him from stumbling on the stone that is not within God's design. A perfect submission to the Lord.

3. The Passion of Christ: We are reflecting a lot these days, and preparing ourselves to behold in its gravity the passion that Lord Jesus went through for the sake of God's love for humanity. It seemed to Jesus, at times even to us, that it was an over-doing on God's part. Yes it was! Because, it is the very nature of God's love to over do. Everything is given to us in abundance. And the passion, seemed to lead Jesus into such an obscurity. But he did not resist submitting to that design and that is why we had that invincible light at the end of the tunnel, the single point of our hope: Resurrection.

The call is clear: to choose God's ways. In spite of the struggles that exist in it, we are called to lovingly submit to God's ways and that would be the only sure way to our salvation.

THE WORD IN LENT -3

Choosing Joy

Friday after Ash Wednesday: 20th February, 2015
Is 58: 1-9a; Mt 9: 14-15

What is the purpose of fasting... what do you think? Some one remarked to me, I wish to come down by atleast 10 kilos at the end of the lent! Another one said, the next forty days will help my diabetes! What is your purpose...why do you fast?

What if you fasted the whole day and because of it you get irritated and frown on every one whom you come across? What if you prayed for a long three hours and on coming out you lose your head on the first person you meet! 

Fasting should make us more controlled; it should make us more detached; more calm and serene! It should fill us with joy that comes from the fact that we have participated in the sufferings of the Lord, not proud of it or haughty about it! Fasting cannot be for feeding one's ego and a means of self-justification. Fasting is a choice, a choice for joy, the joy that comes from Christ, the joy that gave the apostles the courage to go on inspite of the threats and dangers. 

THE WORD IN LENT -2

Choosing Life

Thursday after Ash Wednesday: 19th February, 2015

Dt 30: 15-20;Lk 9: 22-25

The Word today invites us to choose life. Choosing life is to choose the author of life, instead of the spices of life. Those which add taste and colour to life are good but not essential to live. We would be highly mistaken if we give them the priority place in our life. Life is all about choices and choices are made at every instance in life... every word that I choose to say, every thought I entertain, every deed that I choose to do should manifest a will and a commitment to promote life, and life to the full of everyone!

IT'S LENT AGAIN

Ash Wednesday: 18th February, 2015

Joel 2: 12-18; 2 Cor 5: 20 - 6:2; Mt 6: 1-6, 16-18

It's the holy season of Lent again: Happy Lent! Don't consider that a strange wish! Lent is meant to be a happy season: it is no season of mourning, but a happy season of a return to home, from all the wandering. If this season has to move towards a fruitful direction, then we have to heed to the four fold call that Lent has...

LISTEN to the Word: the first call is to listen to the Word. Harden not your hearts as at Meribah, says the Lord. We have to make it a habit of listening to the Word of the Lord on a daily basis. Lent can be a training, a tuning into that habit.

ENCOUNTER the Lord: In the Word, in the daily events, in the people whom we meet, in the people whom we don't like to meet, in those whom we avoid on purpose, we are called to encounter the Lord. An encounter is more than just a coming across; it is bouncing into someone, beholding the person in all entirety and building up a positive loving relationship!

NURTURE relationships: We believe that Lord Our God is fundamentally a unity of three persons. The season invites us to come in touch with the Lord, through various means -to nurture the relationships that we have received from the  Lord. By the very image and likeness we bear and by the gift we have received at our baptism, we are called to be people who value and treasure relationships, with God and with others.

TRANSFORM yourself: The ultimate call is transformation. Conversion, Repentance, Return, Reconcile, Change... we would hear these words more often these days. The Lord invites us to pass through this period of reflection and self evaluation, that we may come out with concrete plans of action that would transform our lives. 

May this lent be a blessed moment of Listening to the Word, Encountering the Lord on a daily basis, Nurture our relationship with the Lord and Transform our lives into those which become lovely offerings in the presence of the Lord. May these weeks of prayer and spiritual practices, mould and transform us into more convinced children of God.

WORD 2day: 17th February, 2015

The dangerous leaven
Gen 6: 5-8, 7: 1-5, 10; 1 Mk 8: 14-21

The Lord invites us,  as God's people to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. Another significant role the Lord assigns to us is to be the leaven of goodness; the yeast of the Reign. Today he warns us of a danger that we become a leaven of insincerity,  compromises,  mediocrity and hypocrisy. Even though we may not outwardly choose to be blatantly evil,  we may live a life of double or multiple standards,  a life of total discrepancy; that life would not only be unfit for Reign,  it would be dangerously against the Reign.

We begin the the holy season of lent tomorrow and what a time to impress on our minds this concrete message! 

WORD 2day: 16th February, 2015

The True offering: the inner spirit
Gen 4: 1-15, 25; 8: 11-13

I remember from my childhood memories that we heard the story as Cain brought some rotten fruits and leftovers while Abel brought the best of the firstlings from his flock. But notice, there is nothing said in the Word that Cain's offering was rotten;  yes, it was not acceptable, but not because it was not of international standards or of the best known quality. However the question from the Lord gives us the reason Cain's offering was abominable: because of the heart with which it was offered. His heart was probably filled with envy,  pride and malice and that renders even the best of gifts worthless.

The Gospel presents another scene where Jesus is upset with the Pharisees and the Scribes. So many had asked him for healing and miracles...he had no issues with them. But today when they ask for a sign he is worked up. ..the reason is simple: what lay in their heart as they asked for it.  Feelings of animosity, pride,  envy and hypocrisy.

When we come to the presence of the Lord to pray,  let us check our inner disposition first. Are we worthy to behold the presence of the Lord?

LIVE LIFE CHRIST-LIKE : II

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time: 15th February, 2015

Levi 13: 1-2, 44-46; 1 Cor 10:31- 11:1;Mk 1: 40-45

There was a lay missionary, a doctor by profession who passed through a village once. He stayed with the people, treated them for their sicknesses, dealt with them with compassion and after a while he moved on to the next village. The wonderful memories of that doctor never left the minds of that village. After a couple of decades a missionary preacher came to the same village. He began talking to the people in the village squares and market places. All that he asked them was: Do you know Jesus? Many said, 'No' and moved away. One old man stopped and asked him: "alright, tell me what kind of a man is that Jesus you are enquiring about!" The missionary was indeed waiting for that question. He began: Oh, he is kind, he is loving, he is compassionate, he is caring, he deals with the sick with such love...he was intending to go on, but that old man stopped him. "Now, if that is the man you are talking about, we know him! He passed by our village some 20 years back!" 

We are called to reflect on living our life Christ like, for a second consecutive week! The message is same as last week: to live like Christ. And the readings today highlight three attributes to Christ's life.

- Christ lived for Others: Just yesterday the atmosphere was filled with red vibes, as many frenetically celebrated the valentines day! How many messages about love- defining what it is, describing how great it is, demonstrating how much one is immersed in it. Love does not need so many commentaries. It can just be understood in that simple classical definition: Love is wishing the good of the other. Placing the other before myself, genuinely interested in the other's well being...that is love. Christ was love personified. He lived his life for others, entirely.

- Christ lived for the Marginalised: Pope Francis has a concrete, unavoidable point to make, when he repeats : Go to the periphery! He invites us to live life Christ-like. Today's first reading tells us where the persons with leprosy lived: ostracised, in the peripheries, in the obscurity of humanity. If they were able to come to Jesus, it actually means Jesus went to those peripheries, those margins of the society. Jesus reached out to those in need, those in agony, those in the periphery. It is easy to love people who deserve our love; it is easy to love people who will love us in return; but it is Christian to love everyone, even those from whom we will receive nothing, not even the recognition of our love in return.

- Christ lived for God: When a reporter commented to Mother Teresa, looking at the dirtiest tasks that she was involved in, like washing the wounds and wiping the puss: 'Mother, even if they gave me a million dollars I would not be able to do this!', the Blessed of Kolkata seemed to have said: 'Even for a couple of those million dollars, I would not do this. I do this for the Christ whom I see in these faces'. Whether you eat or drink, do everything for the glory of God, invites St. Paul. Christ did all that he did, said all that he said, was all that he was, because it was God's will for him. That is the lesson for us too.

Living our life Christ like is challenging indeed. But if we strive with all our heart, sincerely and humbly, we too will be able to tell the world as did St. Paul: Be imitators of me as I am of Christ! (1 Cor 11:1). Will I ever grow to that level?

THE WORD AND THE EVENT

Love is Compassion
Gen 3: 9-24; Mk 8: 1-10

Sts. Cyril and Methodius are pitifully overshadowed today by the celebration of the Valentines Day! However the day and coincidentally, the readings give us an insight into true love.

The first reading tells us what true love is not! The serpent seemed all concerned about the first couple. ..it actually was not! Eve seemed to be eager to give Adam every thing good she had... she actually was not. She was only adding an accomplice to her act of curiosity. Adam seemed all 'obedient' to Eve. .. he actually was not. He was only intent on passing the blame and washing his hands off. That in no way is Love.

The Gospel presents to us the Love in action. The Lord felt compassion for the people. Without their asking he came forward to feed them. He was willing to put at stake all (7 loaves) that they had. This was only symbolic of the real Salvific Love we see in the Lord: God loved us first;  God came forward to save us;  God did not keep anything back,  not even God's only Son!  That is Love.

Let the Lord alone be our model in love;  a love that gives to the full without reserve or with nothing to receive!

WORD 2day : 13th February, 2015

Beware of half truths
Gen 3:1-8; Mk 7: 31-37

We see a striking similarity in the claims of both the Satan and the Lord, in the the Word today. Do what I say and your eyes will be opened,  says the serpent. Ephatha, Be opened, says the Lord to the deaf ears of the man. Both take place...but one opens to fullness of life and the other to destruction of life.

Today in our situations of daily life we don't  deliberately choose the evil,  the lie,  the destruction of life... we are deceived by the look-alikes. The evil one taunts us with lies which look like truth,  while they are really half truths. Half truths are more dangerous than the plain lies; they can make one walk one's own way to perdition. It is important that we remain faithful to the truths taught to us,  clarify them further and deepen them instead of being carried away by the fancy teachings and fantastic claims.

WORD 2day : 12th February, 2015

One God;  One Humanity
Gen 2: 18-25; Mk 7: 24-30

Man - woman, we-they,  rich-poor, high-low... these categories of daily consideration of people,  things and  events is something to be transcended. Jesus himself receives a lesson from that syro phoenecian woman.

At times people are apprehensive about inter religious dialogue or multi religious initiatives. They prefer to look at the other as different,  separate or even contrary. If we truly mean what we say and what we pray: I believe in One God - then I need to become more and more proactive and look at the reality as One Humanity!

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

Our Lady of Lourdes- the fullness of grace
Gen 2:4b-9, 15-17; Mk 7: 14-23

Can Jesus be more plain? However the point he is making is not about what is to be eaten and what not...but what is the right disposition that justifies a person;  his or her choices,  habits and behaviour. What matters most,  Jesus declares, is the internal disposition of a person, and not the external appearance.

Celebrating Our Lady of Lourdes today, we are inspired to thank God for the great gift of her person and the fullness of grace that she possessed. In her maternal love she communicates that grace to the entire humanity. Today not just we,  but even the world at large remembers as the world day of health. Our prayer today is that we journey intently towards that fullness that God challenges us to.

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

St. Scholastica - a spirituality true to Christ

Gen 1:20 - 2:4a; Mk 7: 1-13

The Word today invites us to understand the true Christian spirituality. Spirituality itself is a sense of being connected to everything and everybody...and further still, Christ's, Christ-like and Christian Spirituality is a sense of feeling an obligation to love people, fend for their good, be interested in their well being and spend oneself for the happiness and well being of the other. It cannot be merely a dry or rigid performance rituals and lifeless obedience to rules and commandments. 

Christ's spirituality consists predominantly of love: which is to go out of one's way to make the other happy; it is to wish the good of the other always in spite of the troubles and inconveniences for oneself. Just imagine if today anyone, even those who claim to love each other, would fit into this definition of love. If you would you are well on your way in mastering Christ's spirituality.

St. Scholastica was some one who loved the Lord intensely, that was shown in her love for her brother - a genuine and holistic love. She took him as her guide and St. Benedict loved her too and walked her to sanctity with such warmth and affection. What a beautiful example of siblings we have here - saintly siblings!

WORD 2day: 9th February, 2015

As many as touched were healed

Gen 1: 1-19; Mk 6: 53-56

It did not matter whether they touched the Lord or the Lord touched them, they were healed. Both ways it is an act of faith: to touch the Lord and to allow the Lord to touch us! 'Speak Lord, but a word and my soul shall be healed,' we pray! A word, a touch, a glimpse or a gaze, a whisper...that is all that it takes for us to receive the fullness, from the hands of the Lord who has made us and continues to guard and protect us.

All that we need to know is to understand that we are handiworks of the Master Creator and live our lives according to the mind of the One who has loved us into existence with a well defined purpose and an eternal plan. How prepared are we to allow the Lord to touch us? How eager are we to touch the Lord with all sincerity of heart? Because, when the Lord touches, nothing remains the same; they change, they transform, they are recreated!

Send forth you Spirit, O Lord and the World shall be recreated!

LIVE LIFE CHRIST-LIKE

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time: 8th February, 2015

Job 7:1-4,6,7; 1 Cor 9: 16-19, 22,23; Mk 1: 29-39

To Live Life Christ-like...that is the call that the Word gives us today. To live for the Gospel, to live for the Reign, to live for the People of God and to love everyone with your heart and soul: that is the life task given to you and me, to everyone called in the name of Christ.

Proclaim to the world that God is love! Live that love and spread it around, a true and genuine love that does not possess but a love that brings the whole world together. A love that reaches out, heals, frees, unites, enhances, enriches and rends every one whole.

When you proclaim that, you will have trouble. Because there are forces that stand for a heartless egoism, a selfish development, an inhuman exploitation and an unbridled avarice! Now you will become the odd one out, when you speak of love and live for it. But still you will do it: because that is what you are called for.

The need is to answer three questions-

First of all to which band do I belong: Am I truly an apostle of love? Only I can answer the question regarding the deepest motivations of my soul.

Secondly: If I proclaim the message of the Reign, the Gospel of love, does my style of life, coincide with the proclamation. In simple words, do I walk the talk? Is there that moral integrity within me because of which I can command the evil forces with authority and they will go silenced before me! The authority that Jesus had before the demons and all other forces that challenged the wholeness of life.

Thirdly: If I identify myself with Christ and Christ's message, what do I do on a daily basis to justify my identity, stay relevant to my self-claim and be counted in that number? Will my lifestyle speak before my words ever leave my tongue? Will the values I stand for, make me stand before the Lord or cringe at His sight? Have I felt the burden of the Reign within my heart, an urgency that unsettles my heart, a passion that sets me afire?

May be today, these questions will orient us to respond to the call that the Word gives us!

WORD 2day : 7th February, 2015

Doing the Will of God: doing good to others!
Heb 13:15-17, 20-21; Mk 6: 30-34

The Gospel presents a picture of frenetic activity today. The disciples are all intent on doing good, as their master himself who went around doing good. At times we can be at a loss deciding what is God's will at a point of time.  The readings today seem to suggest one simple criterion: do good to others;  do good to as many as possible;  do good to all!

God is the shepherd who knows our needs and cares for them,  but God does it through God's sons and daughters who become shepherds in turn.  We are called to be the sheep of God's flock but at the same time to grow to be shepherds to each other,  doing as much good as we could to each other. That would be the easiest way of experiencing the continued presence of God.

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

Gonsalo Garcia - yet another Indian!
Heb 13: 1-8; Mk 6: 14-29

In the recent weeks we have been remembering saints,  blesseds and martyrs connected to India. Bl. Devasagayam,  St. Joseph Vaz, John de Britto and today it is Gonsalo Garcia. Though world wide it is commemorated as Paul Miki and companions,  for us in India it would be just and right to focus on Gonsalo Garcia, who formed part of that group of missionaries who gave their life for the Kingdom.

Some interesting facts about St. Gonsalo: he was born of a portughese father and an Indian mother. He left India when he was 15. He was among the 26 missionaries killed in Nagasaki, Japan.

As the first reading points to us,  we have a great lesson of zeal and passion for the Word from the life of Gonsalo Garcia. He was intent on going as a missionary and that is what he did. He knew he risked his life but he did not mind dying for his Master. He was crucified along with the others and it is said they brought his head to his birth place vasai.

WORD 2day: 5th February, 2015

The Urgency of the Reign
Heb 12:18-19, 21-24; Mk 6: 7-13

Already at the start Jesus initiated the Reign with a sense of urgency. It was very true because Jesus was not an isolated reality or a mere solitary person. Jesus was the climax of God's self revelation to the world... the fullness of revelation and the summation of it. Reign was already there in their midst and Jesus was perfectly justified in saying: the Reign of God is in your midst (Lk 17:21). If it were so 2000 years ago,  what do we make of today and our responsibility here and now? Do I have a sense of urgency about making present the Reign of God here and now?

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

St. John de Britto: The Red Sand Martyr

John de Britto is a Jesuit Missionary, who formed part of the famous Madurai Mission! He came to India in 1673 and was imprisoned in 1684 and deported back to Lisbon, Portugal in 1687. However he came back to India in 1690 and was killed in 1693!

An information to those not from India or South India: The place where John de Britto (Arulanandar) was killed is in a place in the diocese of Sivagangai, called Oriyur! The sand in the particular field where he was allegedly killed has a sand that is totally red, so strange to the terrain around! It is considered a miraculous phenomenon and is seen and felt even today!

A challenge to those from India, especially South India: The feast of John de Britto does not only bring to our mind the wonderful gift that we have received from the Lord through missionaries such as these, it also brings to mind the bitter memories of things that have taken place in the region in the recent past. I don't wish to narrate them here or delve deep into them: the challenge that is very clear is, A Church that is divided on the lines of caste, cannot be truly CHRISTIAN. Any number of reasons can never justify dividing a church on those grounds or having internal fights on the basis of caste or clan! The question is: Are we truly Christian?

WORD 2day: 3rd February, 2015

Arise, run, endure!
Heb 12: 1-4; Mk 5: 21-43

Arise,  run and endure is the call today! Situations of death and darkness,  moments of drowning spirit and desperate feelings,  struggle between right knowledge and raging temptations. ..they abound in our daily life. But we are called to Arise from these landslips and Run the race that is alloted to us with an Endurance that is ready to put up with any difficulty,  even upto shedding blood.

The endurance comes from the hope that Our God is an awesome God and can do anything for us. The strength to run the race comes from the faith that the Lord our God is running along and is ever present by our side. The capacity to arise comes from the love that God showers on us, out of which God keeps holding my hand inspite of all situations and keeps whispering into my ears,  my son,  my daughter,  my child,  my friend... arise!

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

Feast of the Presentation of the Lord: Tests,  results and marks
Mal 3:1-4; Heb 2: 14-18; Lk 2: 22-40

Do not bring us to the test we pray,  but our life is full of tests. It is in and through these tests the true quality of our life is brought to the fore. Mary at the temple today stands model to this brave spirit of a God-filled person.

More than the results of the tests,  what matters is the manner in which we go through it. They are not mere situations to be overcome but are experiences to learn from. The true result is not whether you succeed or not;  but that you come out of it better,  refined,  polished,  purified, and made more whole. St. Joseph after every crisis that he faces comes out more flexible at the hands of God. A serene example.

The marks of these tests should be seen in your capacity to offer yourself into God's hands more and more. The effect of the tests could either make you stronger or break your spirit... the mark of a God-filled person is to come out of it ever more stronger in his or her will to surrender to the Lord. That child presented today at the temple,  will grow  up to be the best ever example of someone who grew out of every test and remained faithful to his consecration!