THE WORD AND THE SAINT

Commissioned to be loyal servants of the Reign

30th September, 2015: Remembering St.  Jerome

Neh 2:1-8; Lk 9: 57-62

Jesus rejects one who wanted to join him;   while he deliberately invites another who is not prepared enough to join him at that moment. The message is clear- we are here on a mission,  each of us. The more conscious we are about what God wants of us at a particular moment,  the more prepared we shall be for the sacrifices that mission would entail. The more we think we are accomplishing something within our capacity and through our expertise, we tend to long for recognition and affirmation, we would be least prepared for the hardships.

Nehemiah was ready to face the risk of seeking the permission from the king and undertaking the arduous task of rebuilding the city,  because he felt commissioned. St.  Jerome lived his entire life in the secluded cave for the sake of the Word because he felt commissioned.

Wherever we are and whatever we do,  if only we are conscious of the fact that we are commissioned to be loyal of the Reign,  we would definitely make an enormous difference.

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

The Felt Presences of God: Celebrating the Archangels

29th September, 2015

Dan 7: 9-10, 13-14; Jn 1: 47-51

Angels - how do we understand them? Angels are of various types and categories in various traditions. Every faith tradition speaks of angels, and each from its own perspective. As we well know, the Christian understanding of Angels is much drawn from the Jewish understanding of Angels, which in turn was much influenced by the Egyptian understanding. However, the Catholic teaching has gone through much refinement and we should thank God for the continuous revelations that we have had right through our faith tradition. 

Angels are the extensions of God; they are infact the felt presences of God. When a person needs to hear what the Lord wants of the person, the One who speaks those words is Angel Gabriel, the message of God. When a person badly needs a healing, a boost of health to carry out his or her assigned tasks in life, the One who brings that healing or the necessary strength is Angel Raphael, the healing of God. When a person feels weak and worn out, unable to withstand the tiresome world, the One who strengthens them is Angel Michael, the strength of God. How many persons we come across on a daily basis, in our homes, our families, our communities, our workplaces, who long to hear a good word, who look for a soothing balm for their hampered hearts, who long for a sustaining assurance! 

What am I going to do for those in need around me today: for the least, how much time am I ready to spend with them? What good words do I have in store for them? What encouraging gesture of mine is going to strengthen them in their endeavours? In short, how do I plan to start being a felt presence of God to my neighbour?

WORD 2day: 28th September, 2015

The Lord calls us 'MY PEOPLE'

Monday, 26th Week in Ordinary Time

Zech 8: 1-8; Lk 9: 46-50

The Lord time and again reiterates that the Lord shall be our God and We shall be the Lord's people. To be the Lord's people, we have to make a choice: there are two grounds presented in  the Word today. One, that we behold and recognise the presence of the Lord amidst us! To behold the Lord's presence we should be worthy and prepared. To recognise the presence of the Lord we should be open and eager to experience it.

The second ground is, to live our life according to the Lord's values and criteria. As St. Paul would often remind us: not conforming to the standards of the world but being recreated in the image of Christ (cf. Rom 12:2). 

The Lord calls us "My People"... are we prepared and worthy to call the Lord, "My God"?

FEELING J?

Feeling Jealous? or Feeling Jesus?

27th September, 2015: 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Num 11: 25-29; Jas 5: 1-6; Mk 9: 38-43,45,47-48

Jesus gives us a lesson against feeling jealous. Feeling zealous is not Feeling Jealous. The first reading and the Gospel bring it out so clearly. The second reading points to the rest of the complications within feeling jealous, how it leads to greed and avarice and finally to perdition. 

Today we are aware of the denominations fighting with each other, the various churches giving into a sense of unchristian rivalry, the infights within a parish community, clashes and stand offs on the basis of caste or region within the churches... are these truly part of a Reign feel?

The Reign Feel is God Centered... it was not Moses or Aaron or Joshua...it was God, the I AM who was leading the community. Zeal for the Reign would make us think in terms of God and not in terms of divisions and establishments.

The Reign Feel is Jesus Centered... I belong to Apollos, I belong to Paul, I belong to Barnaba...the early Church already had factions we come to understand from the preoccupations of the Apostles like Paul and James.

The Reign Feel is Other Centered... not calculating my gains, my possessions, my comfort and my luxury; it is not getting obsessed with what I can profit or what I can hoard for myself, not looking for the fame that I can have or making my name known allover!

The Reign Feel is also feeling J... not Jealous but Jesus...It is feeling Jesus: it is thinking like Jesus, reasoning like Jesus, choosing like Jesus and prioritising like Jesus! 

WORD 2day: 26th September, 2015

God and God alone

Saturday,  25th week in Ordinary Time
Zech 2:5-9,14-15; Lk 9: 43-45

Beginning with last Sunday Jesus has been dwelling on the theme of his suffering. It is not yet the close of his ministry, if we carefully watch the context in the Gospel. What then is Jesus proposing to teach? Life with the Lord is not a career,  it is not a life securing strategy. It is infact,  on the contrary,  a challenging self giving. When we make a choice for God, we are taking a risky step of giving away our traditional concepts of security,  social upward mobility, self satisfaction and so on... but beyond all these insufficiencies there is the only Reality that can give meaning and fulfillment: God and God alone! It is the underlying presence of the ever living God that gives joy to a God's child, happiness beyond all struggles,  calmness beyond  all anxieties,  loveliness beyond all brokenness. God and God alone, can fill our beings truly!

WORD 2day: 25th September, 2015

Shaking up the earth and heaven

Friday,  25th week in Ordinary Time
Hag 1:15 - 2:9; Lk 9: 18-22

Jesus' self understanding and his consciousness of the Divine mandate was so strong and clear that it shook the earth and heaven; not merely that once when he died on the cross rejected and condemned, but every time he came in touch with an old fashioned clichéd concept of spirituality. The same shake up happens everytime a follower of Christ lives up to his or her call and mandate. The Christian has to be filled with the glory of the Lord from within. Be it Maxmillian Kolbe,  or Oscar Romero, or the thousands of Christians who stand up to their faith even if it costs their life.  Today let us be mindful of every situation or opportunity that would give us the possibility of manifesting the glory of the Lord enshrined within us.

WORD 2day: 24th September, 2015

Anxious to see Jesus?
Thursday,  25th week in Ordinary Time
Hag 1: 1-8; Lk 9: 7-9

We see in the Gospel today,  Herod anxious to see Jesus! Are we too anxious to see Jesus? For Herod it was because of a feeling of threat and a feeling of curiosity. If not for these two, he would have seen him much before Jesus was taken around for crucifixion.  Threatened because he thought there was John to challenge him again. Curious because he wanted to excite himself with some spectacle.

If we are moved by these two,  a feeling of threat or a feeling of curiosity,  we would only be anxious and needlessly so. We would ever be incomplete and empty as Haggai points out today. Anxiety would only blind our eyes and block our hearts. If we surrender with serenity we would see and feel Jesus right beside us,  intimately close to us.

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

Taking nothing is taking everything

23rd September,  2015: Remembering Padre Saint Pio

Ezra 9: 5-9; Lk 9: 1-6

The tendency of the world is to fill us with something so that we don't realise the emptiness within us that can be filled only with God. Or hearts are made for you,  said St Augustine. Give me souls take away the rest,  prayed Don Bosco in the footsteps of St. Francis de Sales. All these saints just as the saint that we have today,  Padre Pio. ..throw a challenge at us: to accept the absolute space that God has in our life! We can't replace God with anything other than meaninglessness and despair in our life. May Padre Pio intercede for us that we may fill ourselves with God and this fill the world with God.

WORD 2day : 22nd September, 2015

Built into a People of God

Tuesday,  25th week in Ordinary Time
Ezra 6:7-8,12,14-20; Lk 8: 19-21

The Word today speaks to us of the need to be built up into a People who together form the real dwelling of God. In listening to the word we are sanctified and by living it out we are raised to be holy sanctuaries of the Divine. In our oneness of heart we are transformed into a Temple where the Lord powerfully resides,  manifesting God's true glory to the world. The people of Israel faced not merely moments of subjection and trial but also moments of freedom and deliverance, such as we see in the first reading today. We are built by God's own hand and we need to grow into God's own people!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

21st September, 2015: Remembering St. Matthew. 

Eph 4: 1-7, 11-13; Mt 9 :9-13

There are a few clear messages that the calling of Matthew can offer us:

God hates sin not the sinners.

When it comes to God's call there are no Jews and no gentiles;  there are no favourites. We become favourites depending on the prompt response we give to that call.

God dares enter my private home and dine with me no matter who the others are, whom I have invited. But do I dare to let God come over!

YOU REALLY WANNA BE GOOD?

20th September 2015: 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Wis 2: 12,17-20; Jas 3:16 - 4:3; Mk 9: 30-37

In one of the recent conversations, someone remarked to me: 'why should I be good when everyone else seems to be discouraging me from that? And not just that, they take advantage of me. And I am forced to give up on being good!' How true and real it is! Everyone of us wants to be good, but on a second thought we wonder whether we really want to be good, given all the consequences of it.

The Word today brings out this theme in such a picturesque manner. 

If I want to be good, I will be mostly alone! Or atleast the majority will be against me, opposing me and trying to get me renounce that wish. The first reading presents that so vividly. Even if not so directly, we will surely sense people talking behind our backs, pulling down our spirits, assassinating our character, calling names and fixing us into pigeon holes. How are we going to react to them? Are we going to go around convincing each of them that we are good and we want to be good? Are we going to be bogged down by all the pressure that they create around us? For us here in Tamilnadu, we have a great example these days in the person of Sagayam IAS, a civil service official who has been shunted to over 29 posts in 21 years, all because he has vowed to be honest and sincere. He seems to be fighting a lone battle. Are you ready for it? 

If I want to be good, I will have to suffer and who knows, even be killed! Think of persons like Bl. Oscar Romero. Or think of the scores of whistle blowers in India who have been erased from the face of the earth in the recent times. Being good is not all that easy. You need to resolve to be good, inspite of the eventual rejection and every such risk. Jesus was clear about what is going to happen to him; he instructed the apostles about it time and again though they did not really understand what he meant. They were busy playing the game of the majority, seeking the prime places and the limelights. Jesus today takes his time off, makes sure no one interrupts, in order that he can drive home this lesson deep into the hearts of his beloved brothers. That is what the Word wants to do to us: drive home the lesson into our hearts...we have no reward here below if we want to be good, but still we have to be good! Now comes the question...but why? Why have we to be good? Because...

If I want to be good, I am godly! If I am a child of God, as Jesus tells me to be, I have to be good. God is good, all the time: we know it so well! If God is good, I who am God's child, I have to be good too! I have to be good even though there are no rewards for it. Apostle James says, if I am of God, then I will be good, pure, peaceable, gentle, full of mercy and good fruits (cf. Jas 3:17). People may not appreciate it, but I have to be good because I am a child of God. People may take advantage of me and take me for a ride, but I still have to be good because I belong to God. I don't need a reason; or rather I don't have a reason to be good, other than the fact that it is my true nature to be good, for I am created in the image and likeness of God and it is godly to be good!

Ask this question to yourself: Do I really want to be good? If so, am I prepared for all its consequences?

WORD 2day : 19th September, 2015

To see and perceive; to hear and understand

Saturday, 24th week in Ordinary Time
1 Tim 6:13-16; Lk 8:4-15

Jesus draws an important difference between seeing and perceiving, and between hearing and understanding. And he offers us an explanation that is so practical and down to earth. We can refuse to see;  or hardly manage to see; or see but do not really perceive;  or see, perceive and behold!

Just a couple of days back a person remarked to me, 'these days I get to hear so many pentecostal preachers and invariably everyone one of them is speaking of the second coming of Christ. Don't they gave anything else to speak of?' It set me wondering how important a theme it is but how flimsily understood. Today Paul speaks of it to Timothy too. For all that we may believe, Christ is not going to "come", as if he is not here! He said I am with you always. Christ, who is already here with us,  will be revealed in God's own time. Till then it is our duty and our call to see and perceive Christ in every person suffering and every person in need; to hear and understand Christ speaking in every cry for justice and every groan in pain. Then we will behold the Lord when the Lord is fully revealed!

WORD 2day : 18th September, 2015

A Follower of Christ

Friday,  24th week in Ordinary Time
1 Tim 6: 2-12; Lk 8: 1-3

The Word today establishes that to be a follower of Christ,  it does not matter whether you are a man or a woman,  a jew or a gentile, of noble birth or from a sinful past, all that matters is from the moment you decide to be Christ's follower, to show that in your normal conduct and your everyday choices. Christ should make such a difference in your life that you look at everything in a way different from that of the rest of the world. As Paul insists with the Romans,  'do not conform to the standards of this world' (cf Rom 12:2). Be different if at all you wish to make a difference.

WORD 2day : 17th September, 2015

More loved;  more powered

Thursday,  24th week in Ordinary Time
1 Tim 4: 12-16; Lk 7: 36-50

It is not that she loved more and so she was forgiven more,  but she was forgiven more and so she loved more and more.   It was not because Timothy was more powerful that he was entrusted with the people of God,  but because he was entrusted with the people of God he was made power filled. Leaders and inspirers are powered more and loved more because they love God and live for God  (or for others). Let us grow up to be more and more conscious of how much we are loved and empowered... that we may be more loved and more powered.

WORD 2day : 16th September, 2015

Being Childlike versus being childish

Wednesday, 24th week in Ordinary Time
1 Tim 3: 14-16; Lk 7: 31-35

Unless you become like these children you will not enter the Reign of God,  said Jesus. It is the same Jesus today in the Gospel compares the generation to the children playing and derides them for it. How do we make sense of this? Simply by understanding the difference that exists between being childlike and being childish. The former is having the disposition of a child,  totally dependent on God and loving towards others. The latter would be behaving immature, with oneself at the centre of everything,  one's own ideas,  demands and wishes. St. Paul instructing Timothy's church invites them towards this maturity,  to grow into God's family.

At times in our prayers and lifestyle we can remain stunted as children,  expecting that our wishes be fulfilled and our demands be met by everyone else. It is not being loved but loving, it is not being understood but understanding,  it is not being forgiven but forgiving that makes one a true disciple of Christ.

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

Suffering with a purpose: Blessed Mother of Sorrows

15th September,  2015

1 Tim 3: 1-13; Lk 2: 33-35

Suffering is neither a curse nor a gift. We know the pain it can cause and the gloom it can create. But can we imagine a life without it? That it is present in every life,  does not make suffering in itself a cause for celebration. That would make up for a sadistic temperament. How then does Suffering become salvific?

Suffering, with a purpose, makes it meaningful and suffering with a divine purpose makes it salvific. Today we celebrate our Blessed Mother immersed in suffering... she didn't know for what she was suffering! She wondered about it and kept pondering in her heart. All that she knew was that there was a divine purpose to that suffering. She believed it and she surrendered herself to that divine purpose. And there suffering turned salvific.

Let us evaluate every suffering that we undergo and see if there could be a divine purpose in it. That has to be revealed, as it was revealed gradually and slowly to our blessed mother. We need to keep everything in our heart and ponder; become aware of our experiences and see God's hands in them and gradually realise the Divine purpose in our suffering. And then we will see,  that suffering will turn salvific!

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

The Cross Talk: Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross

14th September, 2015

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

Celebrating the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, our focus is on that symbol of God's love for humanity, the Tree of our Salvation. Exalting the Cross today, we are called to hearken to the voice of the Cross. If the Cross would speak to us, we would hear these three words:

1. Look Up: Look up to the Cross and be saved. It is in and through the Cross that we have been saved. Cross is not a symbol of suffering nor a sign of curse. By choosing the Cross as his weapon and throne, Christ who has conquered the world has won God's salvation for us. In all our difficulties we are called to look up and draw hope from this Cross.

2. Be Lifted Up: When we look up, we are given the light. Those who look up to Him shall never be ashamed, promises the Word. We are invited to be lifted up by the Lord...just like the Saviour who was lifted up! The love of the Lord will lift us up, inspite of the burdens we bear and the clutches that tend to pull us down. Let us surrender, so that we can be lifted up; let us humble ourselves before the Lord that we could be lifted up by the Lord.

3. Lift Up: Once lifted up, the Son of Man would draw everyone to Himself. And once we are lifted up by the Son, we should in turn lift everyone else up to the Lord. Our life has been punctuated with so many blessings and marvels from the Lord and today, we look up, we gaze at the One who is lifted up, and be lifted up ourselves. Our life in Lord should lift up the rest of the humankind with us to the Lord that everyone may look up to Him and be saved.

The ACT of FAITH

13th September, 2015: 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Is 50: 5-9A; Jas 2: 14-18; Mk 8: 27-35

Faith has to be lived, it has to be manifested, be seen and shown; if it does not, it can be interpreted as dead and good for nothing. The ACT is one perspective that the Word offers today, to live and manifest a living Faith.

Faith has to be manifested through Actions of love

Faith that is devoid of love is not Christian and that love when not shown in action is not real. Love is not treating people according your whims and fancies, it is approaching every person with a respect and reverence that he or she is an image of the living God.True love translates itself into commitment, a commitment for the well being of the other.

Faith has to be witnessed to in Choices for life

The world and its culture today is prone to death. Difficulties are highlighted, despair is amplified, destruction is perpetrated and death is felt in the air. It is nauseating for a true believer, because we are persons who have chosen life, life in all its abundance. We can never choose to be gloomy and sad, pessimistic and given up! We choose God, we choose life!

Faith should be based on the Thoughts of God

Human thinking and worldly calculations will never make us persons of faith. it is only God's perspective of all that is and all that happens, that can fill us with faith. Jesus had only the thoughts of God and he rebukes Peter for being contrary to that. Sufferings, Crosses, Sacrifices are nothing new when we take up to the mind of God. Within the perspective of God everything has its place and meaning. It is that realisation, that makes our faith come alive. 

WORD 2day : 12th September, 2015

Evidence of the inexhaustible patience

Saturday, 23rd week in Ordinary Time
1 Tim 1: 15-17; Lk 6: 43-49

Paul calls himself the evidence of God's inexhaustible patience. Aren't we all such evidences... taking into consideration the endless opportunities we are offered to bear the right fruits at the right season.

Just a couple of days ago, some one asked me why is it that people are so bad and they don't allow me to be as good as I wish to be! I believe today's Word answers that question... I am responsible for the fruits that are expected of me... there will surely be scores of others who will disturb,  distract, discourage and disorient me but I cannot lose the direction that I am given with. I cannot blame it on others or the situation when I fail to bear the fruits that I should. However we have a God who is inexhaustible in patience. It is beautiful to remember here those wise words of the saint of the gutters... God expects from us not success but faithfulness. Let us resolve to be good,  to bear only good fruits,  to never give up on the call we have received. May the inexhaustible patience of God fill us with  necessary endurance to make this journey possible.

WORD 2day : 11th September, 2015

The Real Me
Friday,  23rd week in Ordinary Time
1 Tim 1: 1-2, 12-14; Lk 6: 39-42

Humility is an essential part of holiness. Holiness never leads one to pride and anything that makes one proud is a bit short of true holiness. While realising the areas in which one has to grow and taking steps towards that growth is an important part of maturing in one's life,  mutual corrections are very Christian ways of growing up. Humility is not an artificial debasement of oneself in any way. It is knowing my real self accepting it and being at home with it; at home with knowing my imperfections and continuously working on it. St Paul was mindful of his real self all the time. He never thought of hiding his dark past and was never bloating over the glorious state of his present relationship with Christ. In fact his relationship with Christ made him more aware of his real self. In Christ I get to know my real me,  not just my past but also my call;  not merely the splinters and planks in my eyes but even the blessings and splendour given unto me. That is the real me!

WORD 2day: 10th September, 2015

Put on love; put on Christ
Thursday,  23rd week in Ordinary Time
Col 3: 12-17;  Lk 6: 27-38

If we do not say that the words are from the letter to the Colossians,  one can easily misjudge those as some paraphrasing of a part from the Gospel and as words of Christ himself. Paul had so intensely taken in the spirit of Christ that his insistence of putting on Christ comes from his person much stronger than from his words. Love is presented as the crux of Christ's message. When Paul said elsewhere too,  to put on Christ he practically meant put on love. Love, understood not as childish sentiment of attachment and dependence, but a Christlike selfgiving. Love is the sweetest of all teachings of Christ and it is the most difficult of all too, for it comes inbuilt with forgiveness;  forbearance, kindness,  gentleness,  Integrity and sacrifice. Isn't that difficult enough?  The fact however is,  if we believe being a Christian is to put on Christ, it can never happen except by putting on love!

WORD 2day : 9th September, 2015

Christ : All and in all
Wednesday,  23rd week in Ordinary Time
Col 3: 1-11; Lk 6: 20-26

Confusing criteria,  disarrayed priorities,  Godless morality,  inhuman ethics and heartless secularisation of the world... this is the context in which we are called to live and profess our faith in Christ. The Word today establishes, that in this context,  we cannot put up with compromises and half baked convictions. We need to make a clear and impeccable difference in and through our lives. The world stands in need of Spirit filled Evangelisers, calls out Pope Francis. And the way is to live as if Christ is all for me and Christ is in all who stand with me towards making this world more and more liveable. Am I ready?

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

Destined, Chosen and Shared glory with

8th September, 2015

Rom 8: 28-30;Mt 1:18-23

The Birthday of our Blessed Mother brings home to us the message of being chosen from all eternity - as St. Paul affirms in Eph 1:4 - God has chosen you before the foundation of the world. God chose Mary from eternity and prepared her to be the worthy dwelling place for God's Son. That is why the Angel greeted her with those significant words: 'Hail! Full of Grace!' She, who was so full of Grace and who bore the fullness of Grace within her, becomes for us the bearer of grace. She was destined and chosen and God deigned to share with her God's glory.  

Her role as the destined and chosen one, reminds each of us our status as chosen children destined to share in the glory of the Lord. When she was born, the climax of God's salvation plan was born. Her greatness lies in the fact that she cooperated with God and it was that trait which led her to the glory that she shares with the Lord today. Everyone of us is called to that same glory and we are faced with the same demand: that we cooperate with the Lord in the eternal plan, where we have a specific and irreplaceable role to play.

The scourge of the world today remains the fact that it has lost the sense of the eternal. All that matters is the here and the now, the immediate and the instant differences that people look for. This is the tendency that leads to evaluating a  person in terms of usefulness, looking at everything from the point of view of gain or loss and judging everything with the criterion of utility.  Gender bias and gender issues that are prevalent today are because of such immature approaches to life. Celebrating the Girl Child day today, is another fitting moment to appraise the type of attitudes we sport towards humanity, whether they are holistic or not, helpful or not, balanced or not, in short - truly Christ-like or not.

Let this feast of our Blessed Mother bring health to our mind and body, to our spirit and soul, that we may be fully alive, sharing and spreading the glory of God - that is what we are chosen for and that is what we are destined for! Praised be the Lord. Ave Maria!

WORD 2day : 7th September, 2015

Good: all the time!
Monday,  2 3rd week in Ordinary Time
Col 1: 24 - 2:3;  Lk 6: 6-11

Jesus' life holds out to us a challenge that consists of a simple,  uncomplicated criterion but highly demanding. The criterion is: be good.

You may have to suffer,  take on yourself burdens and brickbats,  be misunderstood and be rash judged. ..but never lose your nerves;  be good. At any given point if you are left with a question. ..what to do,  or what next,  or what is my reaction... it is simple: be good. Never lose your goodness for anything or anyone's sake. It is not enough to believe that God is good all the time. ..It is important that I be good all the time and never grow weary of doing good (cf 2 Thes 3: 13).

THE REIGN HERE AND NOW

6th September, 2015: 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time 

Is 35: 4-7; Jas 2: 1-5; Mk 7: 31-37

The deaf hear and the dumb speak... that was not merely a statement of compliment to Jesus,  but it was an expression of a hopeful longing! A longing of generations that the Reign of God would be established wiping every tear off the eyes of humanity. When Jesus did these wonders among people,  they found in those wonders and signs the very symptoms of the imminent Reign of God,  as foretold by the prophets of old. They hoped it would come around atleast then. ...and Jesus did promise them that. I have come that I may proclaim the year of the Lord,  initiating the Reign on earth (cf. Lk 4: 18), declared Jesus. Anyway,  Jesus was not deceiving them or letting them down; he told them clearly,  the Reign of God is among you (Lk 17:21). If they wanted to make it present or make it a reality, they could have done it. They were not ready for it.  The challenge is the very same today... if we want it we can make it a reality today, here and now! But we are not ready;  we do not want to! 'Oh no... how we wish it became a reality today', we might say. But the Word challenges us today: Do you really want the Reign present here and now? Then...

1. Behold the Reign

If I truly wish that Reign is established here and now, I have to firstly believe that the Reign is amidst us. Through persons of good will, through initiatives of selfless promotion of well being of the downtrodden, through the numerous who are ready to lay their lives down for a cause that might not concern their good at all,  through the ascendancy that God has over the earth,  the humanity and history,  the Reign is in reality present right in our midst and all that I need to do is realise it. There are so many signs of it;  there are ample evidences of it. God is at work in reality, let us acknowledge it. In partnering with persons and agencies of good will, in recognising the presence of the Lord in the world through various simple signs,  in attributing to God every single inspiration to common good,  we behold the presence of the Region here amidst us. The first reading from Isaiah presents us these symptoms of the  reign.

2. Block not the Reign

There are certain attitudes and habits through which I become a block or an hindrance to the Reign. The mere fact that I too belong to the so called church and I too have received the Baptism doesn't guarantee that I will allow the Reign come alive here and now. Discriminations on the basis of any criterion - caste or colour or community or availability of resources - is an apparent block to the Reign, says James today.

3. Be Agents of the Reign

The ultimate call is to be positive agents of the Reign in the manner that each one is called to be. My words and attitudes, my thoughts and convictions, my deeds and dispositions have to be Reign friendly. They have to be life giving. They should offer the light to the blind, the voice to the dumb, the hearing to the deaf, the liberation to the suffering... I need to become the agent of the Reign of God here and now. How long am I going to blame the other, moan the times and wait without doing anything? The call is clear: to actively do my part in making present the Reign here and now. How ready am I for the sacrifices involved? How prepared am I to take upon myself the hardships that would come my way and the inconveniences i would have to put up with?

Happy are those who hunger and thirst for the Reign of God, for they shall be satisfied!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

5th September, 2015: Remembering Blessed Mother Teresa

Continuing in faith: stable and steadfast
Col 1: 21-23; Lk 6: 1-5

Stand firm in Faith without drifting away,  instructs St Paul in the first reading today. Nothing but faith has to be the foundation of Christian life. Faith is the personal response that one gives to a self-revealing God. Experiences may vary,  outcomes may differ and success and failure may find equal probability in what we take up. ..but none of these should make me waver or drift away from the journey I have begun in the Lord.

We have a great example for that today in the person of Blessed Mother Teresa of Kolkata. A person who had every reason to be shaken and to drift away,  but she stood her ground stable and steadfast in faith! Nothing but what God wanted from her,  mattered to her. In her life choices,  major decisions and day to day living,  she based herself on the solid foundation of faith. Many accused her of many things, as we see in the Gospel today, but she remained firm,  continuing in faith, stable and steadfast!

WORD 2day : 4th September, 2015

To reconcile everything

Friday, 22nd week in Ordinary Time
Col 1:15-20; Lk 5: 33-38

Paul states the ultimate destiny of all creation- to be reconciled in Christ. Humans, animals and all creatures alike ultimately have to be reconciled into one in Christ. That is the essential movement of all reality and any thing that militates against this is from the evil one.

Anything that divides,  separates or stratifies cannot be trusted to be from God. Even if it is a spiritual practice or a theological concept that takes one away from the movement of reconciling everything in Christ,  it has to be suspected. Be it traditionalism or novelties,  be it supernaturalism or practicalities,  be it customs or innovations,  the movement should always be towards one destiny: ultimate reconciliation in Christ. If that is left out of focus,  even the best of our efforts will either be selfish or ungodly!

How reconciling are my thoughts,  words and deeds?  Is Christ the Omega Point always my focus, in all that I say or do?

WORD 2day : 3rd September, 2015

The Capacity for God-vision

Thursday,  22nd week in Ordinary Time
Col 1:9-14; Lk 5: 1-11

Jesus demonstrates to the first disciples an extraordinary capacity of perceiving reality. We can call this God vision. ..the capacity to see beyond the apparent,  the ability to perceive even what is not yet. This is seen in two levels in the Gospel today. Jesus seeing the catch of fish where it wasn't apparently and Jesus seeing the possibly of Peter and others with him becoming fishers of men. Jesus promises them that he will develop in them the same capacity: the capacity for God-vision.

When we cooperate with this God vision, God brings out of us the best that we never even imagined. And eventually as persons of God,  God will give us the capacity to look at the best in a person even at a point where it is not apparently visible. St Paul had become expert fisher of humans and we see him manifest that quality of God vision- he perceives in the people of Colossia a people who are called for great things and not merely new converts.

To be true disciples and apostles of the Lord,  we need to surrender to the God-vision and grow in our capacity for God-vision. 

WORD 2day : 2nd September, 2015

All out for the Word

Wednesday,  22nd week in Ordinary Time
Col 1:1-8; Lk 4: 38-44

Paul,  Epaphras,  Jesus...all seem to be on the move. With a sense urgency and a feeling of detachment they seem to move on from one place to another with the task of proclamation filling their minds. The question today is about our sense of apostleship. Are we filled with this urgency and are we convinced about this task given to us?

Proclamation is not the work of a few, it belongs to each and every one who is baptised. It is not an added feather to our hats but an essential mark of a Christian. Ofcourse there is no one way of proclamation. Preaching is just one way;  example,  witness,  convictions,  values,  compassion and limitless love are all ways of sharing that Word with the world.

Let me ask myself 2 questions today: am I convinced of my call to proclaim?  And what is my specific way of proclamation?

WORD 2day : 1st September, 2015

The Source of Authority

Tuesday,  22nd week in Ordinary Time
1 Thes 5: 1-6, 9-11; Lk 4: 31-37

Jesus spoke with authority,  felt the people. Infact the Scribes and pharisees too spoke to them from pedestals and pulpits. They found a qualitative difference in what was said by Jesus and the way he said it. They saw persons cast out demons but never the way Jesus did it. There was something peculiar about Jesus and the people noted it. Jesus' authority came from within,  from his self realisation of who he was in the core of his being. The source of his authority was not some where out in the wilderness or in some far away reality. It was from God whom Jesus felt right within him, present so faithfully and powerfully.

In the first reading St.  Paul reminds us of the fact that we too, possess the same authority because the source of all authorities resides within us. 'Alive or dead,  we should always be united in Christ' says Paul. And our authority would come from this union at the core of our beings.