WORD 2day: Finally it is all about perseverance!

Thursday, IV week of Easter: 30th April, 2015

Acts 13: 13-25; Jn 13: 16-20

The first reading presents to us a vast gamut of information: Paul and his companions proceeding while John remaining back, the history of Israel with all the ups and downs, right up to John the Baptist! The Gospel presents Jesus who speaks of being a worthy messenger to the Master and of the one who would turn a traitor. Out faith life is full of experiences of faithfulness and failures. They need not be moments or experiences of desperation, but concrete reminder of our reality and a call to be conscious of my strengths and weaknesses!

I am reminded of a phrase I came across recently somewhere: the Lord does not expect you to be perfect, but he wants you to be honest! Knowing our weakness and knowing our limitations and acknowledging them with humility, and being ready to work on ourselves, begin anew everytime and being at the task given to us by our master: that is being witnesses to the ends of the earth...that is the point. Finally it is all about perseverance! 

WORD 2day: Getting Orders!

Wednesday, IV week of Easter: 29th April, 2015

Acts 12:24- 13:5a; Jn 12: 44-50

A life of faith is all about getting orders and carrying them out. We find in the first reading today that the Apostles got orders directly from the Holy Spirit, to set apart Barnabas and Paul for a particular task. Elsewhere too in the Acts we see similar accounts of getting orders for the regular running of the Church. In the Gospel, Jesus clarifies that he got his orders from his father and instructs us that we too need to follow suit. Get orders and carry them out!

Two things can hinder us from getting orders: One, not hearing: because we do not listen sufficiently. We are so busy with running our own shows that we are thoughtless about the orders that direct us constantly! 

The second reason is more serious: pretending not to hear! This is a conscious despise of the orders that are given us. The Lord, the Spirit of the Lord keeps inspiring within us or keeps supplying us with clear cut directions and orders to be on the right path. At times owing to the inconvenience it can cause, or the difficulty it will put us through, we pretend not to hear those orders and proceed with what we think best. And when things turn out for the worst, we begin to panic and blame everyone else, including God.

Can we train ourselves to get orders and carry them out on a regular basis!

WORD 2day: Counting on the hand of God

Tuesday, IV week of Easter: 28th April, 2015

Acts 11: 19-26; Jn 10: 22-30

The hand of God was with them, we read in the first reading today. And Jesus says in the Gospel that no one can take his sheep away from his hand or from his Father's hand! The hand of God is that which gives us protection in times of trials and victory in times of struggle. The Word invites us to live with the confidence that the hand of God is always with us. 

When we embark upon a journey that is in keeping with the will of God, when we take up projects that glorify the name of God, and when we start the good things that we are upto in the name of God, we are called to count on the hand of God. We see great feats achieved by people that transform the world and enhance humanity, they are done with the hand of God. When selfishness and self glory dominates, the great things may happen but its efficacy will not last long!

As St. Paul would say, "whether we eat or drink, or whatever we do, let us do everything for the glory of God" (cf. 1 Cor 10:31). Then we will dare to count on the hand of God!

WORD 2day: Who can hinder God?

Monday, IV week of Easter: 27th April, 2015

Acts 11: 1-8; Jn 10: 11-18

The Son of God decided that he will lay his life down for us, for the entire humanity, for every one whom God has created in God's own image and likeness! Can anyone segregate some, on the basis of whatever be the reason, and speak in terms of one being excluded from God's purview, or in terms of being more acceptable or less acceptable in the eyes of God than the others...who can hinder God from loving God's own children and from showing them God's mercy? 

Only one thing can hinder us: our choices, our personal choices for or against God and belonging to God. Condemnation, Discrimination, Condescension - are all mindsets that are un-Christian. Obedience, Surrender and loving submission to God are traits of a child of God! 

SHEPHERD SUNDAY

IV Sunday of Easter
A Poster Thought

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

Feast of St. Mark: 25th April, 2015

1 Pet 5: 5b-14; Mk 16: 15-20

Once, a few years ago, I was trying to explain today's Gospel reading to one of the tiny tots in the family. After I had explained all that Jesus had said about picking up the serpent and drinking the deadly potion and fighting the demon... the boy just looked at me and asked : so all of us are Shaktimaan? (Shaktimaan was one of those superhuman cartoon characters those days in India).  The readings today remind us of the superhuman call that we have all received! 

In spite of that superhuman qualities we are called to be humble and loving,  compassionate and kind. That makes the powers given us more efficacious, just like the Lord whom we mirror in our own selves. Mark a simple young boy joined the band of these superhumans and today we celebrate him. Let's join the band too... proclaiming in our own way everyday the Gospel of love and hope. 

WORD 2day : The Voice, the Bread and the Messenger

Friday, III week of Easter: 24 th April, 2015
Acts 9: 1-20; Jn 6 : 52-59

The Voice from heaven touched him;  the man sent by heaven healed him;  the bread from heaven strengthened him. What an example of the Word,  the Sacraments and the Community of faith working together for God's Reign to be established!

WORD 2day: God draws those who are drawn

Thursday,  III Week of Easter: 23rd April, 2015
Acts 8: 26-40; Jn 6: 44-51

Phillip is mightily used by God,  taken from place to place by the Spirit. It was because he allowed himself to be used;  he submitted to the plans of God. The Court Official is chosen to belong to the Lord because he had a fundamental thirst for the knowledge of the matters of God.

Jesus declares that it is the Lord who draws one to himself. And the Lord draws those who are drawn to the Lord in their choices,  in their priorities,  in their daily decisions. It is ofcourse the Lord who initiates but it is upto us to readily and promptly acknowledge these initiatives and respond to them from the depths of our beings. The one who begins the good work in us will surely bring it to its completion (cf. Phil 1:6)in God's own time.

WORD 2day: An experience that grips

Wednesday,  III week of Easter: 22nd April,  2015
Acts 8: 1b-8; Jn 6: 35-40

When things were getting worse the believers were getting stronger. They were scattered, but once in diaspora they continued their witnessing. There was something in them that made them just reckless about their new experience. That experience was so gripping that it made them forget all the pain they had to go through.

We keep receiving news after news of people who are ready to give up their life at the hands of the heartless fanatics these days. They too are capable of it because they are gripped by the experience they have had of the Risen one.

Just yesterday read about a preacher who wishes to go to Syria, to be of assistance and consolation to the people who are being persecuted for their faith. What a radical decision -  will it be possible without being gripped by a life changing experience? For me today Jesus has to become that experience,  that experience which grips me to a total transformation that I will fear nothing, for I know my Lord will raise me up on the last day, come what may!

WORD 2day: A chip from the same block

Tuesday,  III week of Easter: 21st April, 2015
Acts 7:51 -8:1a; Jn 6: 30-35.

Sometimes when I speak to the youngsters about the suffering that Jesus underwent, about his endurance of passion,  his capacity to surrender into the hands of God,  his capacity to forgive etc.,  they tend to retort saying: 'but he was son of God!" That is a heretic way of thinking,  I used to threaten them.

Yes Jesus was the Son of God but he was a human person and fully so. He was not appearing to be a human being,  he was a human being. As the letter to the Hebrews says,  he was like us,  a human being in everything! That is infact the most challenging part of our faith. That Jesus lived our life,  he went through all that we experience ourselves: feelings and temptations,  sufferings and anxieties,  irritations and all of human realities. The challenge is that we live in his footsteps.  The early Church was highly conscious of this call and we have today in the first reading the fruit of this.

Stephen was a chip from the same block as Christ. That is what we are called to be,  a chip from that same block.

WORD 2day: Shining in the Lord

Monday, III week of Easter: 20th April, 2015
Acts 6:8-15; Jn 6: 22-29

His face shone like an angel. But they decided to kill him all the same! They saw the great works and words that Jesus had but they ran after him only for the food they could get. At times we kill the things that pertain to God not only by being against them but by even not being attentive to the true spirit of it.

It is easier to ward off dangers from the quarters that are known to be contrary to us. But the more dangerous ones are those that seem to take a neutral stand within us and amidst us,  they can be real spirit dampeners and blind leaders.

Christ: the Fulfillment

III Sunday of Easter: 19th April, 2015

Acts 3: 13-15, 17-19; 1 Jn 2: 1-5a; Lk 24: 35-48

What am I upto? What is happening in my life? Why am I going through all that I am going through in life? I have always been very obedient to the Lord and in spite of that I am through so many things in life...but why? - these are some questions we often come up with or listen from people. 

What is the meaning of suffering? What is the ultimate purpose of life? Will I be totally certain of it at any point of time within my lifetime? If yes, then where is the element of mystery that makes my life so rich?

Very rarely does a Sunday Liturgy lack any reading from the Old Testament. If you notice today, all the three readings are from the New Testament. And there seems to be a logical reason behind it. The readings are all taken from the new testament to draw home to us the fact that Jesus Christ,the Son of God, is the fulfillment of the promises from the initial promise at the Garden of Eden right through the law and the prophets! The first reading and the Gospel establishes that in clear terms. When the fullness of time had come (Gal 4:4), God sent the fulfillment of God's promises.

If Christ is the fulfillment, we are called to be fulfillments too. It is true that Christ is the fullness of Revelation, the climax of God's revelation and the entirety of all that is to be revealed about God. But that Revelation to the world is going on,in progress even today, continuously, in and through you and me. That is what God wished and Jesus initiated. that we become the continued fulfillments of God's salvific plan. Jesus made us living testimonies of the unfolding plan of God. We are not finished products and God's salvation plan is not a closed chapter. The salvation is wrought by the blood of Christ, but that salvation history is being written, chapter by chapter, a page a day!

Yes, our everyday is a page of our salvation history. Our choices, our lifestyle, our decisions, our assents and our negations - everything is part of the holisitic salvation history being written by God, in and through my life. The question is, how flexible am I in the hands of God; how faithful am I to the mind of God; how freely do I submit myself to the plan of God? The teachings of the Lord, that comes our way through the various elements of our faith life, like the commandments, the traditional expressions of faith, the need to find time and space for God in one's life, the obligation to express that importance of that time and space, through our thoughts, words and deeds of love towards our neighbours, the invitation to live our daily life with the perspective of eternity always before our eyes: that everything finds its fulfillment only in God... these are those elements which make our everyday a fulfillment of God's plan and project. 

Christ, the fulfillment of all the promises so far, invites us to be the continued fulfillments of the salvation history that he brought to its perfection, on a daily basis by knowing, recognising and submitting to God and God's designs!

The stir in the sea: COMPLAINTS

Saturday in the II Week of Easter: 18th April, 2015

Acts 6: 1-6; Jn 6: 16-21

When we get together, we will surely have misgivings and clash of opinions, unless we fail to think freely and forget our individuality. We see in the first reading today the earliest of misunderstandings and complaints that arose in the new born church! The way the apostles dealt with it, was so Christ-like.

When the sea was stirred with the storm that arose, and the hearts of those in the boat were disturbed too, Jesus walked up to them and said: It is I; do not be afraid. He assured them, the stirring will cause no damage, if you understand the Lord is with you. The storm will not upset the boat, until you know that it is the Lord who is in charge! 

The Apostles were not alarmed, they were not reacting to the complaint. They knew that it was a sign the Lord was giving them for their own growth. Confusions, complaints and contradictory opinions were instrumental moments through which the Lord effected solid evolution in the Christian faith experience post resurrection. 

Today in the parish communities, or in the basic christian communities or in the families or in the Religious communities, how do we look at differences of opinions? Is there a true freedom of expression? Are we matured enough to look at these as experiences of growth? That requires a true mindset of faith.  

The test of time: ENDURANCE

Friday in the II Week of Easter : 17th April, 2015

Acts 5: 34-42; Jn 6: 1-15

One term that unites the two readings today is the term "test". Jesus himself is tested with such a big number to feed. He tests his disciples with a task given them. And in the first reading we have Gamaliel setting up a test of time for the believers! All of these are tests that bring out the quality of Endurance.

If Jesus were to have taken an escapist mode of reaction to the situation,  or the disciples the shirking mode,  or the first believers a comfort seeking compromise mode... we would have nothing of what we believe and belong to today.

Endurance is the time tested virtue that enables us to stand the test of time. The Martyrs of old,  great saints in history,  the holy ones of our times,  all of them stand proofs to one fact: Endurance helps faith mature and endurance is a mark of a mature faith!

The promptings of the Spirit: OBEDIENCE

Thursday in the II Week of Easter

Acts 5:27-33;Jn 3: 31-36

We must obey God rather than men; we must obey God's directions rather than men's directives; we must obey the promptings of the Spirit rather than the rulings of men! What a clarity on the part of the disciples. If only we had today that same clarity! 

Do not conform to the standards of the world; rather renewed in Spirit conform to the mind of Christ, instructed St. Paul well in this line (cf. Rom 12:2). At times we justify conformity and compromise on the grounds of peace in the house; other times we create division and sport rebellion under the pretext of being unique and convinced, while it could just be a way of promoting one's own convenience! Our own innermost self is our judge, and ofcourse the one who resides there: the Spirit of the Lord! 

Obedience is not merely conformity to the rule; nor its opposite mere negligence of the rule. It is all about being sincere to the innermost promptings of the Spirit. Being understood when one follows that promptings, is not always guaranteed. Being misunderstood cannot prevent me from being sincere to those promptings. One who obeys will see life (cf. Jn 3:36).

The Spirit frees : TOWARDS LIGHT

Wednesday in the II Week of Easter

Acts 5: 17-26; Jn 3:16-21

From the prison to freedom,  from the chains to an unfettered spirit,  from fear to total commitment. .. the Spirit strengthens one to walk towards the light! At times truth hurts and at times it costs much,  but if in the Spirit, we would count nothing too demanding.

People like Bro. Mario of Chalakudi fame who have risked their lives for the sake of Christ in their lives are living illustrations of the episode from Acts that we read today. Another youngster in my life who has inspired me is one known to me who chose to be a Christian and chose to become a priest and threw his engineering post in a firm and disappeared from his family to join a religious congregation, because they were mad at him in the family.

If I have the courage to see the Truth,  accept it and live for it,  nothing can stop me, not even death;  because I have within me eternal life.

The Key: FROM ABOVE

Tuesday in the II Week of Easter

Acts 4: 32-37; Jn 3: 7B-15

The first Chrsitian Community gives us a challenging example today, a prophetic witness! Just imagine that to be the state of our parish communities, or our basic christian communities...or even the Religious Communities of Consecrated life... can this model be emulated today? It is easy to brush it aside, calling it an outdated model, or an impractical ideal, or a time proven failure! But the challenge remains.

Jesus provides the key to the challenge: live your life as if from above. We have received our life and everything in life as a gift from above. And when it is time for us to report back from where we come, we will go without anything in our hands. When we see things from above then, we would laugh at our folly as does the Lord now from heaven (see Ps 2:4). Just look at your life, even as you live it today, a little from above! You will understand how foolish we can be... with our attachments and avarice, jealousy and treachery, and every other inhumanity for the sake of things that do not matter at all!

The key is: live life as from above. Learn to look at life from above!

To be shaken and to shake up!

Monday of the II week of Easter

Acts 4: 23-31; Jn 3: 1-8

A fundamental requirement to be born again is to be shaken up!  When the Spirit of the Lord stirs hearts and souls a new being is born and that new being is what Jesus proposes today as the being born again;  being born of the Spirit.

As individuals,  as families, as faith communities we need to shake ourselves up,  allow ourselves to shaken up and to shake up each other! Let's be renewed in the Spirit and live our faith to the full.

MERCY: the mark of a Christian

12th April, 2015: Second Sunday of Easter

Acts 4:32-35; 1Jn 5:1-6; Jn 20:19-31

This Sunday is liturgically called the Low Sunday which marks the end of the Easter Octave. "A week later", indicates the Gospel today; it was a week later that Jesus appears to all the eleven, including Thomas and patiently, mercifully and lovingly leads them to true faith. The feast of Divine Mercy was instituted and fixed for this day by the late Pope John Paul II, who was canonised (declared a saint officially) on this ocassion last year! 

The first reading speaks of how the early community of Christians becomes a mighty witness to the Lord. They were the epitome of the command that Jesus gave, 'be merciful as your heavenly father is merciful'. Mercy becomes their way of life, or rather their renewed way of life. As a mark of being a Christian, mercifulness to each other specially to those in need, becomes the point of attraction for many...and as the reading goes - the Lord added to their number everyday! Mercy, we know, is the high point of Christian identity. But what matters most is how it is lived on a daily basis. It begins with our life at home: with our dear ones, elderly parents, sickly loved ones, troublesome children, rebellious youngsters... how is our relationship? What level of patience and acceptance do we manifest?

The Second reading speaks to us of the source of mercy, God the father of Jesus Christ who in mercy sent the only Son for our salvation! The Mercy of God is given to us as the example and the measure of our "genuineness of faith"! Preaching and believing in high ideals of love and compassion, if we but hate people and divide families, envy others and detest their well being... we are far far away from God, the God of Mercy and compassion.

Jesus' encounter with the disciples after his resurrections manifests a special quality of mercy... it is an encounter that is full of unlimited forgiveness and unconditional love! There is no demand that the disciples have to render an account for having abandoned Jesus at the crucial moment of suffering, for having betrayed him or having denied him! All that Jesus does is, tell them he is with them and invite them to be his witnesses throughout the world. That is the mercy of God embodied, incarnate, which dwelt among us in flesh and blood and dwells among us today in the Spirit. Mercy, hence, has to be lived today in forgiveness and love; there can be no place for grudge and grievance, envy and slander, cheating and stealing, killing and enmity. 

As we celebrate the Divine Mercy of Jesus...let us understand and accept Mercy as our mark of identity as God's own children, the distinctive character of persons who call themselves Christians! Let us be merciful as our heavenly father is merciful.

THE RETURN, REBUKE AND THE RESOLVE

Saturday within the Easter Octave: 11th April, 2015

Acts 4: 13-21; Mk 16: 9-15

Jesus returned, but they recognised him not! He was a bit annoyed as during his time with them. He takes the liberty to rebuke them, because he knew they loved him. It was for the same reason he did not reject them, but only rebuked them and their slowness to believe, in spite of the repeated signs and wonders. That rightful rebuke reassured the disciples much and they came to a resolve, no one or nothing could affect from then. No threats, no powers, no imprisonments, no lashes, no authority could stop them from proclaiming Christ because they were so powerfully taken up by that encounter with the Risen Christ. They knew he was with them every moment, as he had promised them!

Every day, the Risen Lord returns to us with a fresh proposal to live with us unceasingly; Our obstinacy to hold on to various concerns in life, our blindness to the extraordinary love with which the Risen Lord approaches us, our failure to see through and observe in the events of life, the Lord who walks with us - these deserve a rebuke from the Lord. It would not matter, until we reach the resolve as did the apostles, to proclaim in our words and deeds, the Lord who has won us over. We are called to be witnesses, beginning from wherever we are to the ends of the world. Are we ready? What are we upto today, in this regard?

WITH SIGNS AND WONDERS

Friday within the Easter Octave: 10th April, 2015

Acts 4: 1-12; Jn 21: 1-14

Today begins the next round of efforts to contain the good news. When Jesus spoke of it, they killed him and heaved a big sigh thinking it was over. Little did they imagine the problem was far from settled. The Reign of God is like the seed that a sower planted in his field, the Master had said... after a brief silence, it will certainly shoot up. Here the Saducees and the Pharisees begin to feel the startles as they see the first signs of sprouting. That was already too strong! From a fear filled bunch of rugged Jews, the apostles turned out to be fire filled upstarts, gradually shaping up to be formidable people of God, standing for and proclaiming the good news, namely the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Saviour of the World.

The proclamation was strong because it was accompanied by signs and wonders, as the Master himself had set the model. Walking on the Sea, hauling an impossibly large catch of fish...these were no new signs for the disciples. They were merely confirmations of the continued presence of the Lord who had lived and moved with them.The disciples would not allow themselves to be stopped by anyone or anything. Soon we will begin to hear the violence that was unleashed against the new movement of the Risen Lord. Nothing, absolutely nothing will stop them from their commitment to proclaim the Lord.

Today, if we wish to be Easter people, let our life be a proclamation and a proclamation that is accompanied by signs and wonders: signs that stand counter to the self centered  standards of the world today; and wonders that make people see the love and mercy of God in and through us!

THE SCRIPTURES SPEAK AND THE LORD ACTS

Thursday within the Easter octave: 9th April, 2015

Acts 3: 11-26; Lk 24:35-48

Understanding the Scriptures was an essential part of realising their identity for the disciples. From yesterday we see the Risen Lord take upon himself the task of opening their minds to the scriptures,  because it was from that understating that they were able to make sense of all that they were going through. Once clarified, their identity was extraordinarily strong and they accomplished feats that nobody would imagine. That is the power of clear and specific identity.

The questions today to us: what is our identity?  What does the Scripture say? Do we spend time listening to the Lord speak in and through the Scripture? Do we seek the the understanding of the Lord to make sense of what It has to offer us? Do we believe that the Scripture speaks to us and the Lord acts through us?

BURNING HEARTS AND THE FIRE WITHIN

Wednesday within the Easter Octave: 8th April, 2015

Acts 3: 1-10; Lk 24: 13-35

The presence of the Risen Lord was felt in a concrete sense by the apostles and those around them. The Risen Lord was there as a fire within them, burning their hearts, warming up their relationships, heating up their commitments and lighting up their understanding. Their lives were touched by the Lord and not merely they but all those who were around felt that touch. I was pleasantly surprised, two days back, when one of the cleanliness staff in our campus remarked to me as I was passing him by: 'when you are around, we all sense it fr. There is so much laughter and cheer!' I could not thank God enough for such an affirmation that day.

We are called to be Easter people, radiating joy, radiating warmth, radiating light! That does not mean we would have no problems or no struggles! They would infact abound. But that does not matter because we have within us a fire that is alive, burning and igniting every part of our selves - the fire of the Risen Lord. With that fire and with the burning hearts, we can face any situation and give new lease of life to all around us.

WHAT ARE WE TO DO?

Tuesday within the Easter Octave: 7th April, 2015

Acts 2: 36-41; Jn 20: 11-18

'What are we to do?' ask the people cut to their heart! That is the first sign of a transformed people: being cut to the heart and wanting to do something about it. I remember a gathering of teachers that I addressed in the beginning of this academic year (2014-2015). There were over 200 of them and at the end of the meeting one teacher walked up to me and said: 'Fr. I want to do something... I just can't continue the way I am. Tell me now, what should I do?' And I gave him a suggestion, and now he is part of our Evangelisation Team! I was amazed that out of the 200, there was one who was cut to his heart and changed his course in life.

If we allow the Risen Lord to encounter us through the numerous ways he usually does, we will be cut to our hearts! The Lord has a suggestion for the future course of action: Go and Announce! He would say he is going to the Father and would ask us to continue what he started. The disciples took it to heart and they did an enormous work... what about you and me today? How frequently do we have this pressing question in our hearts: What are we to do? What am I to do? 

GET BACK TO GALILEE

Monday within the Easter Octave: 6th April, 2015

Acts 2: 14,22-33; Mt 28: 8-15

The conspiracy to malign the name of Jesus and his apostles had not stopped even after having had Jesus killed. Now after the resurrection, it gets more urgent and more intense, because the opponents were already feeling the mounting pressure. Jesus in his ever cool fashion tells his disciples to get back to Galilee- Galilee, where Jesus went about doing good, where Jesus was living and moving with them day in and day out, where Jesus was sharing their daily concerns and making them feel so cared for, loved and attended to.

The lesson for us is: at times of conspiracy, at times of troubles and uncertainties, what do we need to do? Let us get back to Galilee: let us get back to the wonderful experiences we have had with Jesus. Let us get back to the basic lessons we have learnt from Jesus. Let us get back to the fundamental values that Jesus has always been offering us.Thus we will never be disoriented and we will see a light that will pierce through the present cloud.

EASTER JOY FILLS OUR LIFE

Easter Sunday, 5th April, 2015

"If Christ were not raised from the dead, our faith would be in vain" declares St. Paul (1 Cor 15:14). The Risen Lord gives us three important messages to celebrate today. And we will do well to keep these in our minds this day and all through our life. It is an expression of our faith, a faith that is alive and active, a faith that is vibrant and vivifying.

Easter is all about LIFE. Life belongs to God. God has given us life and has a specific plan for us in our life. We live our life, keeping in mind the purpose that the Lord has specified for it. When Jesus lived his life in perfect sync with the One who sent him, God raised him up from the dead! It is thus that the Lord directs our life and its purposes and brings them all to a glorious end.

Easter is all about NEW LIFE. It is said that the greatest of all proofs for the Resurrection of Christ, is the radical transformation that was  found in the lives of the apostles. They were so transformed that they were looking like new persons, they had within them, a NEW LIFE.It is this new life that we are offered in this day as Christ rises to new life as the Saviour of Humankind.

Easter is all about LIFE TO THE FULL. I came that you may have life and have it in abundance! Life that Jesus brought us is a life to the full. In his rising he offers that life to each and everyone who claims it for oneself from the hands of the Risen Lord who stands blowing on us and greeting us: Shalom! Peace be with you! Easter challenges us towards this fullness of life, because everyday that we have is a gratuitous gift from God and our only responsiblity is to live it to the full, identifying and doing away with all that can take this life away from us. 

Behold Christ the Light; Thanks be to God!

THE SILENT SATURDAY

Saturday of the Holy Week: 4th April, 2015

The only day of the year when the Church does not celebrate the Eucharist. And the Holy Communion is not distributed this day, except in case of viaticum (or communion for the sick). It signifies the fact that Jesus is laid to rest in the tomb; we believe that he went down to the dead. 

The Silence of the tomb will soon be pierced by the bright light of resurrection, but the silence in itself has great Christian lessons to offer us.

The first of all lessons is Entreating the Lord with the capacity to wait on the Lord. To be patient and allow the Lord to take control of the situation, to commend our spirits into the hands of God and allow the Lord to take charge of our life.

The second lesson is Endurance. It is to remain with the confusions, problems and trials of our life without losing heart, until that day the seed sprouts to life, until that day when everything comes together to reveal God's presence and plan.

The third lesson is the call to Equanimity. In the Indian philosophy we know that samadhi is not a state of achieving something but a state of losing everything; it is a state of nothingness, a state where needs and expectations, likes and dislikes, affections and hatred...everything seems of no great importance. There is stillness that may initially make us restless, but will slowly lead us to serenity and the serenity will lead to an transformative encounter with the Risen Lord.

Let us venture into this silence! Today, why don't you check your capacity to be in silence and solitude?

NO GREATER LOVE

GOOD FRIDAY: 3rd April, 2015

At no one's death we will rejoice; but Christ's death gives us a reason to rejoice forever and limitlessly because it brings to the fore the abundance of love that God has for us. 

For God so loved the world that God gave God's only Son... a love that lays no conditions, has no expectations, never gets discouraged, never loses hope and never closes the wide open arms. 

God's love calls me, chooses me and challenges me... to love as he loved (Jn 13:34)! We hear the words of love from the cross. 

A love that  forgives (Lk 23:34)
A love that embraces everyone despite unworthiness (Lk 23:43)
A love that cares for the beloved (Jn 19:26)
A love that endures extreme anguish for our sake (Mk 15:34)
A love that thirsts for my love (Jn 19:28)
A love that accomplishes every bit of what God wills (Jn 19:30)
A love that invites us to surrender ourselves into the Father's hands (Lk 23:46)

LET US DARE TO LOVE, AS HE LOVED!

MEAL, MEMORY AND MANDATE

MAUNDY THURSDAY: 2nd April, 2015

We have some 3s to remember today...

     - Supper, Sacrifice and Service

     - Priesthood, Eucharist and Identity

     - Meal, Memory and Mandate

Supper that Jesus shared with the disciples as a sign of his love for them; the Sacrifice that was prefigured in the bread and the wine shared at table; and the Service for which Jesus gave his lived example!

Priesthood that Jesus personified and shared with his apostles; Eucharist that Jesus himself was, the symbol of self giving love; and the mark of Identity that Jesus offered - the love with which the world will identify us as Christ's disciples!

Meal, that shows the relationship that the disciples shared with Jesus; Memory, that Jesus wants to leave behind in his own body and blood; and the Mandate to love each other as Jesus loves us, with a love that is so unconditional, so unlimited and so selfless!

The last three that we can go home with today:

- thanksgiving in our hearts for all the bountiful gifts that the Lord keeps giving, specially through our priests; 

- determination in our will to remember the Lord in our daily struggles that call for sacrifices; and finally 

- a resolve in our minds to love everyone and keep no stock of the hurts and negative experiences we have received from others for no fault of ours.