In their name!

The Solemnity of the Holy Trinity

31st May, 2015

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit...This is the most famous phrase we have grown with. The making of the Cross with the names of the persons of the Trinity has a number of significance: accepting the rule of the Cross over us,  invoking the continuous presence of the Lord in our lives and above all the blessings of the Trinitarian God on ourselves. The solemnity we celebrate today is one of the defining truths of a Christian.

It is very clear to understand that our faith in the Holy  Trinity, has its origins from the earliest of the historical times. The Scriptures already possess this clarity which signify that this way of understanding and believing has been there from the Early Christian times.

Apart from this historical roots,  we see in the concept and belief of the Holy Trinity,  an important foundation for Christian life. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Spirit. .. 

In their name. ..

...We have our being: Right at the creation we find God the Creator at work through God's Word, while the Spirit of God hovered over the waters.  God made the humans in God's image and blew God's spirit to give life and the Word took that same image to save that humanity at a later stage. Our very being is in the Trinity. 

..We have our identity: Believing in the Trinity affects our identity as human persons and as Christians. As human beings we are challenged by the image we possess and as Christians we are challenged by the nature of that image. The nature of God is a community. Our very identity is communitarian,  and our journey has to be constantly towards this perfection. 

...We have our mission: The mission that is entrusted to us is not something that is done by us as individual persons but it is a mission to establish the Reign of God,  that is the Reign of Communion,  the Reign of Love,  the Reign of Equality,  the Reign of Order, the Reign of Justice. This Reign exists and is exemplified in the Trinity. 

Today let us grow in our consciousness about the intimate sense of connectedness we have with the Trinitarian God. May that consciousness make us immensely grateful,  truly loving and passionately communitarian.

WORD 2day: 30th May, 2015

Jesus: The Word and Wisdom!

Saturday, 8th week in Ordinary Time

Sir 51:12-20; Mk 11: 27-33

The Second person of the Trinity is the Word; it is the Wisdom which personified God's guiding presence for the people of the Old Testament. The readings taken together give us a twin perspective of Jesus and Jesus' relation to the figure of Wisdom! 

1. Jesus has Wisdom: the Gospel presents to us the way Jesus tackled the trap that was laid for him by the shrewd pharisees and scribes. Jesus proves that he had the Wisdom, a great gift from the Lord. It is fundamentally knowing what to say and what not to say at a particular point of time and saying what is to be said in the best way possible with the choice of the right verbal or non verbal language! Now that was Jesus' forte. Be it in the event we read in the Gospel today,or the incident of the woman caught in adultery, or the case of the samaritan woman, or the discussion with the disciples asking for power and position... everywhere Jesus knew the right thing to be said and he chose the right sense of doing it.

2. Jesus as Wisdom: the way the first reading presents Wisdom, we come to clearly understand what the Old Testament speaks of as Wisdom is not merely a quality or a faculty, but a person, a personal presence of the Almighty! When Jesus lived and moved around, people readily and without much difficulty saw the Wisdom that he was. Jesus was, and is, the Wisdom that fills us with light and shows us the way. If only we accept the Wisdom of Christ in contrast to rest of the truth claims of the world, we would find that joy that is complete, that Christ alone can give. 

WORD 2day: 29th May, 2015

Being Godly...

Friday,  8th week in Ordinary Time
Sir 44: 1, 9-13; Mk 11: 11-26

The readings today speak to us of an essential dimension of human life: being Godly. If we can showcase some difference for being human beings vis-a-vis the 'lower' beings, it has to be by being Godly. However these days the social network seems to present us with cases of many of these animals,  the so called 'lower' beings,  with qualities and actions much more edifying than those of the humans.

Today the Word outlines 2 signs of being Godly...

Being rooted in God - finding one's solace and fulfillment in nothing less than God,  finding the hand of God in every bit of one's well being, being grateful for and conscious of the good that God continues to do, standing by to find out God's will and accompaniment in daily journeys of life. ..these are signs of being rooted in God.

Bearing forth God's fruits - one who bears forth God's fruits will bear it forth for others and not make a living out of it as it was happening in the Temple;  he or she will bear it forth in season and out of season, in abundance and always mindful that the fruits belong to God.

WORD 2day: 28th May, 2015

The splendid gift of truly seeing!

Thursday, 8th week in Ordinary Time

Sir 42: 15-25; Mk 10: 46-52

To truly see the nature and observe all that it points to, to truly see the creation and the creatures and all the marvels they possess, to truly see the process of change and rejuvenation inbuilt in the nature and drink in their splendour, to truly see all that happens around one and sense the lessons that they offer... it is a splendid gift! Not all do possess it.

Today, we can without exaggeration join Bartimaeus and ask the Lord that we may see, see truly, observe clearly, listen intently, understand deeply and find the splendour of God's presence with us and within us. Without God's grace we cannot see God's presence and receive God's directions for our daily life. To see a teary eye and read the helplessness in it; to see the troubled spirit and hear the cry for understanding; to see the disturbed minds and understand the yearning for true love, it is an essential and lovely gift that we can ask God for: the splendid gift of truly seeing!

WORD 2day: 27th May, 2015

A Lord with a difference

Wednesday, 8th week in Ordinary Time
Sir 38: 1, 4-5, 10-17; Mk 10:32-45

The Lord: that is how the disciples and the community began to interpret their Christ-experience. But for generations this Lordship was an experience of those people. They knew their Lords who were ruling them. ..they knew the Lord God who demanded their awe and respect. ..the first reading pictures that experience quite vividly.

There was something different about Jesus being their Lord. He served,  he loved,  he self-emptied,  and the height of all, demanded that all be so. Loving each other, serving each other and not 'lording over others'. Giving joy that is complete,  peace that the world cannot give, and love that is life giving,  Jesus proves a Lord with a difference.

WORD 2day: 26th May, 2015

Honest and Unattractive Marketing

Tuesday,  8th week in OrdinaryTime
Sir 35: 1-12; Mk 10: 28-31

Buy one get two; pay less get more;  paisa vasool... these are well known marketing techniques followed by the business brands, big or small. At the most the attempt to be sincere would be marked with an asterisk in smallest font size possible and stated "conditions apply" - all an attempt to hide what it really costs.

But today Jesus seems to be inviting people promising them 100 fold of what they give up and adds 'persecutions and death' too as inevitable part of the package - plain and clear! The First reading too promises sevenfold of what we offer to the Lord, but insists: 'offer no bribes, these God does not accept! Trust not in sacrifice of the fruits of extortion.'

It's all an unattractive type of marketing but honest. The fruits of discipleship is all made known to us. ..and along with it, what it truly costs. Will that kind of a propaganda attract many;  yes, many among those who honour honesty and dare to pick up the cross.

WORD 2day: 25th May, 2015

BE ALL FOR GOD

Monday,  8th week in Ordinary Time

Sir 17: 20-24; Mk 10: 17-27

We resume our normal journey after a long, eventful and significant detour into joys and sorrows,  passions and glories, pains and victories of Christ. The readings today present Jesus too about to set on a journey and Jesus gives us a clear and splendid orientation for our journey.

Live your life, all for God! While you still have the time come back to God from your strange ways. There may be great intense moments when you feel connected with God. Those are gifts,  do cherish them. But your faithfulness to God has to be seen in the normal long run, in the daily choices and determining priorities you possess. Seek perfection and there is no end to that journey; it goes on and on until you be all for God!

The Spirit and the Spirit's handmaiden!

24.05.2015

A HAPPY FEAST OF PENTECOST...

HAPPY FEAST OF MARY HELP OF CHRISTIANS...

WORD 2day: Winding up to begin anew

Saturday, VII week of Easter: 23rd May,  2015

Acts 28:16-20, 30-31; Jn 21: 20-25

Don't you find a sense of winding up in the readings today? A type of 'and-they-lived-happily-thereafter' narration! Paul seems to settle down for good in Rome as an honoured guest in house arrest,  while Jesus seems to be bidding his final bye as the book of John comes to an end. The end is for a new beginning. ..the Church awaits the all important feast of the Pentecost tomorrow,  an outpouring of the Spirit that led to a renewed life and radical witness.

The message today is our call to'follow Christ' in season and out of season,  whether we are free or captive,  whether we live or die, whether we eat or drink! Good news has to be announced by all means and the responsibility is ours,  irrespective of our state of life or situation at present. How prepared and willing am I?

WORD 2day : Towards a true sense of Christian Leadership

Friday,  VII week of Easter: 22nd May,  2015
Acts 25: 13b-21; Jn 21: 15-19

Jesus seems to be preparing the second level of leadership. Peter he appoints already before he goes and Paul he seems to be taking to the all the ends of the earth that he may bear witness, true to his promises. In this Jesus offers us an insight into Christian leadership;  it does not consist in power and position but in bearing witness and serving the community of faith. Infact in such a perspective every baptised person is called to play a role as a leader: in witnessing and serving!

Today looking at our communities, be it parish communities where the laity scheme their way to positions of honour and fame,  or the members of the religious congregations or the clergy playing dirty politics and divisive games... true understanding of Christian leadership seems to have taken a back seat. The Gospel Acclamation reminds us today that the Spirit will teach us the truth and all the truth. May the Spirit of the Lord rekindle our faith and lead us towards true sense of Christian leadership.

WORD 2day: As in Jerusalem, so in Rome. ..

Thursday,  VII week of Easter: 21st May, 2015
Acts 22:30 - 23: 6-11; Jn 17: 20-25

Just out of one danger, Paul is promised more of them! Courage! says the Lord. We can live our life with courage and confidence because the Lord goes before us. Just as the Lord promises today to Paul,  it will be as in Jerusalem also in Rome, and in every other place. .. for the Lord precedes us wherever we may go.

All that we need to do is remain united,  remain one,  witness to the oneness we see between the Father and the Son. Jesus continues to pray that we may be one because that would be the first witness to the Reign that he longed to establish on earth.

Jesus promises us the glory that God alone can give,  that comes from the perfection of being one! That determination,  that decision to remain before the world one and bold,  will be the work of the Spirit who is the fellowship between the Father and the Son. Wherever we are,  let us be aware and convinced that we possess the glory that the Lord has promised, and live up to that glory,  to that gift,  to that person who has called us as one.

WORD 2day : The Spirit that makes us One

Wednesday,  VII week of Easter: 20th May, 2015
Acts 20: 28-38; Jn 17: 11b-19

From parting mood to prayer mode... today the readings capture both Jesus and Paul praying for and praying with their beloved followers. They invoke the Spirit who unites and warn the followers of the spirit of discord.

The passages today give us a cue as to how we can discern the right move in the face of differences among us. Be it in a family or in a community of faithful,  given the fact that we are thinking individuals,  there is bound to arise differences of opinion. As long as they are from the Spirit these differences will only lead to growth and renewal. But we are warned against the differences caused by the ravenous wolves and treacherous beasts. Ruled by ego and dominated by envy,  these differences are aimed at destroying the unity of the people of God.

What comes from the Spirit unites us,  for the Holy Spirit is the Spirit that makes us one! Let us remain in the Spirit and remain united in love above everything else. May we live worthy of the prayer that Jesus made for us: that they may be one!

WORD 2day: The One Spirit

Tuesday,  VII week of Easter: 19th May,  2015
Acts 20: 17-27; Jn 17: 1-11

We see both Paul and Jesus in a parting mood;  Paul is sensing an imminent trouble and Jesus is sure of a fast approaching end. But both have a sense of having completed the task given to them. Apart from that both have a note of passing on the mission to those around them - Paul to the presbyters and Jesus to the apostles. There is one thing in both cases that ensures the continuity: the One Spirit.

The same Spirit that was in Jesus,  he gave to his apostles,  to Paul and then Paul to the elders...the Spirit of courage and strength. As Paul would explain in 2 Tim 1:7, the Spirit of power,  of love and of self discipline. Power, which makes us fearless;  love which makes feel for the others;  and self discipline which enables us to do the will of the One who calls us,  come what may!

WORD 2day: Spirit of the Conqueror

Monday,  VII week of Easter: 18th May,  2015

Acts 19:1-8; Jn 16: 29-33

No one probably understood Jesus when he was around. They were only making their guesses,  putting together things that they saw,  the things they heard and the things that were being reported. Today,  as many other times Jesus confronts them with the truth! When the disciples presume that they knew and understood what Jesus was saying,  Jesus makes them realise their folly and their weakness - not out of despise - but out of genuine concern.

They still had not known the Spirit,  as those men of Ephesus whom we come across in the first reading. Jesus introduces to them and speaks to us of the continuous presence of God,  which is the indwelling Spirit. It is with the coming of the Spirit that the apostles come to understand Jesus and Him,  they become conquerors.

We are invited today to contemplate this Spirit of the Lord, who will make of us too: conquerors of the world and all its viles.

THE LORD GOES... TO BE

Ascension of the Lord: 17th May, 2015

Acts 1:1-11; Eph 4: 1-13; Mk 16:15-20

Ascension. The Lord goes up, the Lord goes up to his Father, to the One who sent him, to the one who had given him a mission to accomplish! The Lord goes up, but has he accomplished?

The Lord goes up, with the PROMISE OF THE FATHER: I am going, but you remain! 

I am going says the Lord; but assures that he will not abandon us totally. The Lord will give us an helper who would fill us with the same passion and fire that was in the Son of God. The promise is so concrete and sure, that the next step depends on that. They would be told to do what they have to do. And then it happens...the promise of the Father, crying out to the apostles, to us: you are my beloved sons and daughters, today I have begotten you in my Son! It is the promise of the Father as we read in the Book of Joel (chapter 2) that the Father will fill us with the Spirit!

The Lord goes up, with a PARTING MESSAGE: I am going, You too go!

Go and be my witnesses! Go proclaim my message! Go continue my task! It is like the famous relay race! The Lord has done his rounds, and now the baton is in our hands. It depends on us to take it forward, says the Lord, as he gives his parting message to the Apostles. Go all over the world; Go to all people; Go to take my message!

The Lord goes up, into a PRESENCE BEYOND: I am going, but I am with your forever. 

This going of the Lord is not a going in the literal sense of the word, because if the Lord were to be gone, we would not exist. The Lord goes, to be with us ever more powerfully, ever more closely and ever more unceasingly. As the Lord promises, the Lord have overcome the World (Jn 16: 33). The Lord goes, precisely that he could be with us always and everywhere, till the end of times, as a conqueror, as the power that enlivens us, as a person who has gone before us showing us the way.

The Lord Goes... to be with us...forever, always and everywhere!

WORD 2day: God's venture

Saturday, VI week of Easter: 16th May, 2015

Acts 18: 23-28; Jn 16: 23-28

Apollos, Priscilla, Acquilla, Paul... there is a band of apostles, all working in the name of the Lord. Among themselves and when in company of others, they did not consider their ego as something inviolable. They were ready to give in, to be corrected and to be taught. We see this lived out beautifully in the first reading today.

Jesus in the Gospel too, offers himself and the Father as an example of living in union of spirit. They think alike, they plan alike and they form a worthy part of the salvific band of God. Have we, you and I, the readiness and will to be concerned about God's ventures!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

                                                                                                                                                                                                   

WORD 2day: A joy that no one can take!

Friday,  VI week of Easter, 2015: 15th May, 2015

Acts 18: 9-18; Jn16: 20-23

The joy that things give are gone with the things gone. A mere feeling,  or a moment of happiness that comes from an external reason and fulfilled desires will last just as long as the situation does!

Today the Lord promises us a joy that no one take away from us,  that no situation can diminish. The dimensions of this joy is completely different from the joy that the world and its attachments can give.

The joy that the Lord gives comes from the Lord and just as the Lord is,  so is the joy that the Lord gives: unchanging and ever present! It comes from the fact that God is with us, as the Lord promises in the first reading! With us always,  strengthening and empowering us in the daily struggles of life.

WORD 2day: I chose you!

Celebrating St Mathias, the Apostle: 14th May, 2015

Acts 1: 15-17, 20-26; Jn 15: 16

Every relationship is a response! Relationships can never be forced upon persons. I wish to relate to a person, I choose to relate to the person and then I leave the response of the person, to the freedom of that person! Only then there is a healthy relationship that blooms. It is the same with God's choice too!

You have not chosen me, I chose you!, reminds Jesus today. With the beautiful example of Mathias and Barsabbas, Jesus brings out another element of the election theology! When God chooses, God chooses individuals (not masses), for a unique purpose and specific plan. As God reminds us through Jeremiah, God has a plan for each of us (Jer 29:11) and God alone knows what the plan is and how it would come through. All that we need to do is submit, surrender to that plan and walk by it.

And when God chooses, God chooses not for merely privilege, position and power; but for commitment, suffering and giving one's life! At times today, as the readings of the past Sunday reminded us, we cannot stop with thinking we are chosen therefore we are special! We are chosen, we are special but it does not stop with that; we are specially chosen to strive, fight, struggle, suffer and thus, usher in the Reign of God. Mathias is counted in the band of apostles. Of course a privilege, but with that came the burden of the Messenger of the Word, the burden of the Elder of the Community and the burden of a Shepherd.

The Word speaks today: You are chosen! Are you ready for all that it entails? 

MARIA DOMENICA MAZZARELLO

May 13th: Celebrating Mother Mazzarello!

Despite our differences...
let us grow in our mutual esteem,
convinced always that we are,
all of us, instruments, 
humble instruments,
in the hands of God.

Mazzarello found in Don Bosco
the hand of God, which could
take her forward in the yearning
to belong to the Lord
and to the children of the Lord.

Don Bosco found in her
a God-sent apostle who could
translate his charism for the girls...

The saints recognised each other as such, as soon as they saw!
It is upto us today to unite as brothers and sisters towards the glory of God and salvation of the young!

WORD 2day: The Spirit of Truth

Wednesday,  VI week of Easter: 13th May,  2015

Acts 17:15,22 -18:1; Jn 16: 12-15

The Spirit of the Lord convicts because the Spirit leads us to the truth. We have all the truth right in front of us. We fail to see them and understand them,  we are tempted not to see them or understand them, we choose not to see them and understand them!

When we fail to see,  the Spirit gives us the wisdom and leads us to see it,  leading us to light, as St Paul tries to lead the Athenians.

When we are tempted not to see, the Spirit fills us with the courage to see it,  making us free and bold as children of God,  as Jesus promises his disciples.

When we choose not to see,  the Spirit convicts us,  as we heard yesterday and makes us understand how mistaken we are. Peter,  Paul,  the other apostles and everyone who owes his or her rapport with God to a dramatic conversion,  would vouch for this role of the Spirit.

But for all of these. ..I need to open my mind to the Word. ..If not I will laugh at the Word or postpone listening to it,  to another convenient moment, as the people do in the first reading today.

WORD 2day : The Spirit that convicts

Tuesday, VI week of Easter: 12th May,  2015

Acts 16: 22-34; Jn 16: 5-11

Jesus wishes that his disciples moved on to the next level. He is trying his best to introduce them to the Advocate,  the Divine Counselor!  Today's readings bring out one important aspect of this advocate: the aspect of the Spirit which convicts the individuals,  communities and all those who truly believe.

Receiving the Spirit is not an ordinary task. It is a divine mission that the Lord promised to those who sincerely ask for it. For when the spirit comes... the Spirit would convict the person. What should we do to be saved. ..that is the question that would fill or hearts. What should I do to be acceptable in the eyes of God? 

WORD 2day: Love that prevails

Monday, VI week of Easter: 11th May, 2015

Acts 16: 11-15; Jn 15:26 - 16:4a

Speaking of the new believer in the Lord, a lady of considerable renown, Paul says she prevailed over us! It is true love that prevails, a selfless love inspired by the newly accepted good news! The Lord opened her mind to listen to the Word and her heart to be the consolation for the messengers of the Word. The Lord provides through her.

Today, providing for the messengers of the Word, in ways truly numerous, is one way that we can make love prevail. We may have troubles from every corner, opposition from all sides and forces waiting to devour us - as we say Jesus telling us in the Gospel today. But nothing of this will block us from going ahead in our task and the challenge entrusted to us. The Lord will open minds, inspire hearts and remove blocks, that we may have all the back up needed to take the message far and wide. This has been, or this is at present, my experience too, personally! How many times I would have felt the providence of God, at the exact right moment! Persons coming to my aid, friends pitching in their bit, and so many other unbelievable ways in which the Lord has provided, or numerous ways in which Love has prevailed!

WE ARE CHOSEN

6th Sunday of Easter: 10th May, 2015

Acts 10: 25-26,34-35,44-48; 1 Jn 4:7-10; Jn 15: 9-17

We are Chosen, we are chosen people of God, we are a chosen race: this is a truth that is repeatedly stressed in the Word today. We are given a sign that we are chosen and there is a reason for having been chosen and there is a fruit that is expected of us because we are chosen. Let us understand them one by one.

We are chosen: that needs two clarities. One, we did not choose, but we are chosen! So it is none of our merit that we are within the count of the chosen! If we are here, it is because we are chosen! It not only fills us with a feeling of being special, but it should also fill us with an awe of the inner nature offered unto us. The second clarity is the same as what we said finally here: being chosen is not merely a privilege, but a burden too!

The Sign of being Chosen: Spirit. The sign of being chosen is given in the third person of the Trinity - the Holy Spirit who comes to dwell in us! We become dwelling places of the Spirit, chosen dwelling places of the Spirit (1Cor 3:16 & 6:19). That means our being chosen necessitates two self understandings within us: One, that we are the people of the Spirit and secondly, we belong to God! (1st Reading)

The Reason for being Chosen: Joy. A joy that is complete, is what the Lord wants to offer us. That is the reason for which the Lord has chosen us. A joy that does not fade with time, a joy that does not depend on external conditions and fulfillment of one's desires, a joy that is eternal because the source of it is eternal, timeless: it comes from the Lord! It resides in our hearts and comes from the Spirit who is within; no external conditions can take it away! The Lord fills us with a joy that is not like what the world gives, not like the joy that our possessions give, unlike the joy that our pleasures give... this is the joy that the Lord alone can give! (Gospel Reading)

The Fruit of being Chosen: Love. That you may bear fruit, and bear it abundantly! The fruit is love, the outcome of being chosen is the love that we hold out to every person around us. To love as God loved; without counting the cost, without thinking whether the other deserves it or not; without losing any chance of forgiving and enduring. That is true love and that is the love that we are called to live. (2nd Reading)

We are Chosen... chosen by the Spirit, chosen to be joyful, chosen to love! If we do not love, we do not see the fruits of having been chosen; if we do not have the fruits, it means we do not have the joy of having been chosen; if we do not have the joy of having been chosen, it means we have not allowed the Spirit of the Lord to dwell within us! 

Let us remember! we are the people of the Spirit, we are the Chosen people of God.

WORD 2day: GPS Enabled?

Saturday, V week of Easter: 9th May, 2015
Acts 16: 1-10; Jn 15: 18-21

Almost gone are those days when people bound for a place that they have never been to,  find their destinations with the help of people on the road,  bystanders, fellow passengers etc. Now a days with the smart phones everyone is GPS Enabled: Global Positioning System!

Today in the first reading we find the apostles also GPS enabled. They are instructed where to go and where not to go. The GPS here is... God's Powerful Spirit. Jesus warns them wherever they go there will be people against them,  because they are his disciples. But nothing to worry because they have GPS enabled: God's Protecting Spirit. Come what may,  with all the troubles and persecutions the disciples will go on and on because they are GPS Enabled: God's Propelling Spirit.

The invitation to us is to be disciples of Christ in our daily life with all its struggles and temptations-disciples who have GPS Enabled!

WORD 2day: We, the Holy Spirit and Love!

Friday, V week of Easter: 8th May, 2015

Acts 15: 22-31; Jn 15: 12-17

I have always been fascinated by that formulation we see in the first reading today; the apostles when they communicate their decision after a crisis, they say, "it has seemed good to us and to the holy spirit"...

When the Holy Spirit takes hold of us, all that we do, all that we choose, all that we decide will be guided by love and love alone! They were ready to give up their tradition, their heritage, their laws, all because they loved their new brothers and sisters in Christ. They did not want to over burden them. And Christ goes a step further and says: not just traditions and laws, but even your life, you should be ready to lay down! That is true love. If the Son of God has given up everything for the love that he has for us, why do we hesitate to give up anything...especially our ego, our selfishness, our vain glory!!!

We and the Holy Spirit, if we are in constant rapport, we will be filled with true love! If we are filled with true love, then we would make true disciples to Christ, the Son of God who is Love! We, the Holy Spirit and Love, we will make a wonderful "Christ"ian Community. Shall we?

WORD 2day: A joy that is complete

Thursday,  V week of Easter: 7th May,  2015

Acts 15: 7-21; Jn 15: 9-11

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

The joy that the Lord gives comes from what we are;  it comes from the fact that we are loved,  that we are accepted unconditionally and that we are united to the One who never changes! It is not the various rules and regulations that we uphold that matter but love! Love is all that matters! And in that love that God has for us,  we find our true joy,  complete joy!

SAINT OF THE DAY: DOMINIC SAVIO

Saint Dominic Savio...May 6th, 2015

- the jewel of Don Bosco's Educative System

- the piece of cloth that made an excellent garment for the Lord, through Don Bosco the saintly tailor!

- the 14 year old boy who loved God above all

- the youngster who was matured much beyond his age

- the spiritually thirsting young lad, who was extremely pliable at the hands of his mentor

- the boy who fixed his gaze on sanctity and refused to take it away from there even for a passing moment

- the young soul to which God had revealed the true glory of the sacraments of confession and communion

- the adolescent who stuck to his original fervour, inspite of all the moments of discouragement and derision. 

WORD 2day: Uniting in the Lord

Wednesday, V week of Easter: 6th May, 2015

Acts 15: 1-6; Jn 15: 1-8

The responsorial psalm invites one to go to Jerusalem with rejoicing and we see two people going there in today's first reading: Paul and Barnabas. However, not with rejoicing but they go with a crisis. A noble fact is that they are insistent that they wouldn't burden the people unnecessarily. The forward thinking, right priorities and empathy for the believers are a few of the salient qualities that stand out in this passage. Apart from the crisis and the solution that they sought, the clear cut lesson is to understand the method of facing and resolving a crisis in 'Christ'ian terms. 

Banners and posters, anonymous letters and abusive posts, indecent demonstrations and political insinuations...none of these were used when the crisis arose. They simply got together. They united in the Lord, to find out what the Lord willed for them as one family of God. We cannot bear fruit apart from the Lord; we cannot bear much of them without uniting as one heart and one mind in the Lord! That readiness to unite gave a moral authority to the Early Christian Community and made them true and attractive witnesses (cf. Acts 2:47). 

What importance do I attach to uniting in the Lord?

WORD 2day: The peace of the Lord

Tuesday, V week of Easter: 5th May,  2015
Acts 14: 19-28; Jn 14: 27-31a

Peace. ...the gift of the Risen Lord.  Peace would mean lack of conflicts and an absence of turbulence, in ordinary terms. But Jesus seems very particular that the peace that the Lord gives us is not the same as the peace that the world thinks.

It is not lack of conflicts but it is a victory over all conflicts, inner,  societal and universal! It is not an absence of turbulence but a transcending of all turbulence, a rising above all disturbance and a resolution of all crisis not an absence of them. We see this clearly in the lives of Paul,  Barnabas and other apostles who seem to perfectly understand the peace of the Lord. One trouble over, they were up for the next. Their peace was in the Lord and nothing could stop them from making it their own. Amidst all the turbulence, disturbance and crisis they enjoyed a peace and serenity that no one even comprehended.

Do you dare pray for that peace,  the peace of the Lord?

WORD 2day : The Next Phase

Monday, V week of Easter: 4th May, 2015

Acts 14: 5-18 ; Jn 14: 21-24

Jesus initiates the next phase... he promises his Spirit who will reside in our hearts and instruct us of the right thing to be done at the right time. The Spirit of truth and counsel, the Spirit of strength and determination. It is the Spirit that makes them so strong and powerful that Paul and Barnabas were considered to be like gods.

This is a reminder of what Jesus promised us in yesterday's Gospel: the one who believes in me will do all that I do, and even more than that! The Holy Father in his letter Evangelium Gaudium speaks of Spirit-filled Evangelisers... that is what the Lord wants us to become,  in and through our daily life,  within our families and wherever we are!

WORD 2day: Joy and the Holy Spirit

Saturday, IV week of Easter: 2nd May, 2015

Acts 13: 44-52; Jn 14:7-14

The disciples were filled with joy and holy spirit, says the first reading today. It becomes hard to connect that this is the ending note of a passage speaking about the rejection and insult of the apostles by their own fellow Jews. Elsewhere too we would read that they returned happy that they were able to suffer for the sake of the name of  Jesus (cf. Acts 5:41). However it would make sense once we read and understand what Jesus tells us in the Gospel today: whoever believes in me will do the works that I do and will do greater ones than these. The apostles seem to have inherited it from their Master to consider themselves blessed for having to suffer for righteousness sake, to thirst for justice. 

It has become a normal experience for me to be laughed at, when I speak to groups about standing for truth and facing the consequences. Be it groups of youngsters or groups of consecrated people, they smile when I say stick to the truth and stand for the right wherever you are. They would smile and conclude with saying, 'then that would be the end of us"...meaning that they would lose any future if they did it! It would be like, they telling me: that sounds good when said, but living it is not feasible. I appreciate the honesty of these people, but constantly question myself: when will I be matured enough to shake the dust off my feet and walk!

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

St. Joseph, the Worker: 1st May, 2015

The 3 Dimensions of Work

Gen 1:26 - 2:3; Mt 13: 54-58

Every work that we do should have three dimensions to it,to make it truly holistic! On a day such as today, it is right that we dwell on this aspect of Work. 

The First dimension is the Self: work as a self expression of the one who works. Everything that I do, should become part of what I am. I should be able to see at the end of the work, in the outcome, a bit of me. The beautiful example is given in the first reading today,where we see God at work and at the end of it all, God found that it was good; God found that God was present in the works that God had created.

The Second dimension is the Other: work should add to the common good. Every work of mine should add to the common good in some way or the other, directly or indirectly. A carpenter for example is someone who expresses his or her self in a product that would serve the common good; or a sculptor or an engineer or a teacher... 

The Third dimension is God, the author of all work: work should be a participation in the divine design, the eternal plan, the creative mission of God. The psalm brings out the crux of it, invoking the Lord to give success to the work of our hands. It is in the eternal plan that our work draws its meaning and success. At  work, we partake in our role as co-creators with God the Creator!

Having said all this: let us ask a question. How many of us are involved in a work, an occupation, a livelihood that reflects all these 3 dimensions? Where is the place of "money" within this grand picture of 3 dimensions? Are our thoughts about our work and our calculations about out career, fitting into this framework? Or have we moved far far away from any such holistic thought pattern?