BEING SAINTS!

The ABC of Being Saints

Solemnity of All Saints 

1st November, 2015

Rev 7: 2-4, 9-14; 1 Jn 3: 1-3; Mt 5: 1-12 

I have always loved to listen to and recount the anecdote about this boy who was taken to a traditional Cathedral for the first time by his mother. The boy was tremendously impressed with the splatter of colours on the floor due to the rays that shone through the stain glasses on the walls. The boy with his eyes wide opened looked at those stain glasses and asked his mother...'mama,  what is this? ' 'Oh they are the saints! ' said the mother looking at the pictures on the stain glass. That stuck to the boy's mind. And the next day in class when the catechism teacher asked,  who are saints... he shouted out. .." saints are those who let light shine through them! "

I think that's the best possible definition for a saint. A saint is the one who let's the light,  the light of the Lord shine through him or her. 

A saint is the one who ACKNOWLEDGES the supremacy of God,  allowing God to take charge of one's life. 

A saint is the one who BELONGS totally to God, placing God at the centre of his or her life, feeling close to God.

A saint is the one who COMMITS oneself to God's cause,  to God's people,  to God's will, on a daily basis! 

That is the ABC of Being Saints in our lives today! 

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

29th October, 2015
Remembering Bl. Michael Rua

The Second in Command

Bl. Michael Rua reminds us of the importance of cooperating with the operating grace! A man who never felt bad to play the second fiddle with Don Bosco around. A son who was found to be a perfect heir to that saintly father. A salesian who was capable of replicating his role model Don Bosco. A leader who was gifted in taking forward the dream left behind by the visionary founder. A holy man for whom righteousness was his second nature. He was a perfect second in Command,  first to Don Bosco and the rest of his life to the Lord who led him!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

28th October, 2015: Remembering Apostles Simon and Jude

Eph 2: 19-22; Lk 6: 12 -16

The Name Game

We remember the apostles Simon the zealot and Jude son of James also called Jude Thadeus. These apostles have become relatively less known,  they say, because of the confusion with their names. Simon was confused with Simon Peter and so lost his prominence. Judas confused with Judas Iscariot and so became infamous. Reflecting on this fact in tradition,  I was struck by the opening prayer of the Eucharist today, which goes thus: 

O God, who by the blessed Apostles
have brought us to acknowledge your name...
The apostles were all about acknowledging God's name,  not their own. Whether Simon or Jude or any other apostle, they were all out to spread the Good News and give glory to God,  building up the Body of Christ on earth: the People of God.

Building is our work but we are very much part of the building itself. We are all building ourselves up together to give glory to the name of the Lord. Let's beware of the name game that is going rampant these days: divided among ourselves under so many names and calling names at each other, maligning each others' names and playing the dirty worldly name game! That is not very becoming of that One Name we have on earth by which we will be saved,  the most sweet and glorious name of Jesus. The division in the Church is the greatest of all scandals against the Gospel. With that one Cornerstone, let us unite and give glory to God's mighty name!

WORD 2day : 27th October, 2015

Midwives of the Reign of God

Tuesday,  30th week in Ordinary Time
Rom 8:18-25; Lk 13: 18-21

Paul gives us a vivid imagery for the whole creation - the entire universe is waiting to be recreated, be made new, be born anew, to give birth to the New earth and New heaven... Jesus likens that recreation to the coming of the Reign of God.

The creation and the renewal... what is our role in it according to Paul?  We who are already made new in Christ are invited to be facilitators in this process of re-creation; midwives in this process of new birth. We are called to assist the world in bringing forth the Reign of God  into this world like a large plant, or a seasoned dough...

Let us understand where we belong - to the Reign and not to world. Let us strive for the ultimate renewal - from within,  not a mere external adjustment.

WORD 2day : 26th October, 2015

Not Slaves but Heirs

Monday,  30th week in Ordinary Time
Rom 8: 12-17; Lk 13: 10-17

The point of discussion in the Word today is the difference between slaves and heirs and their respective traits. A slave is governed by fear, is ruled by law and bound to restrictions. An heir is governed by freedom, is guided by love and empowered with spontaneity. Jesus proves to be the rightful heir,  experiencing God as the Abba and feeling the need to render a child of God wholesome. Laws and regulations did not matter to him;  threats and warnings looked despicable in his sight. The greatest of all good news is,  Christ has given us the same Spirit that was in him,  that in our spirit we may be convinced that we are rightful sons and daughters of a merciful God.

AN EMPATHISING LORD

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 25th October,  2015
Jer 31: 7-9; Heb 5: 1-6; Mk 10: 46-52

"God"...How do you understand that term... the Almighty,  the Omnipotent,  the Mighty One? ... you are still short of arriving at the God whom Jesus introduced to us. In and through Jesus we have a God who is all these but more than all these,  a God who is close to us,  a Father who loves us,  a mother who cares for us,  a beloved who longs for us,  a friend who stays close to us and a SavIour who came down to save us... in short,  an Empathising God!

How do we understand an Empathising Lord? 

1. LIKE US
We have a Lord who is like us... like us in every way except in our sins. A Lord who came among us,  ate,  drank, laughed,  cried,  enjoyed, celebrated, loved, worked, faced hardships and temptations... He was like any of us,  just like us and therefore, when we suffer,  when we are troubled,  when we have problems and temptations,  the Lord perfectly knows what we are through. He is not someone who would judge us from afar or look down on our weaknesses but some one who would put His hands around our shoulders and comfort us, someone who would sit by our side and say, 'it's okay! I have been there too'! The second reading brings this out strongly.

2. LIKES US
We have a Lord who likes us... who loves us,  who feels for us,  who wishes that we were happy,  who wants to heal us,  who wants to give us all that we need,  who wants to walk us to prosperity and fullness,  who wants to give sight to us,  who wants to listen to us,  who wants to reach out to us! God our Father and Mother who spared no effort,  giving up even the only Son; the Son who keeps back nothing, not even his own life- his body and his blood;  the Spirit who comes down to dwell within us,  within our poor bodies,  in our lowly conditions,  in our daily toils. This is the Lord who loves us, likes us so much that he is ready to do any thing for our sakes. In the first reading and the Gospel we have a exposition of the Lord who is merciful and kind,  who is in love with us. The Gospel in a special way speaks of a Lord who listens to a lone cry amidst the large crowd, and has mercy on that person and heals the person in love!

3. LIKENS US
The Lord who came down to be like us,  the Lord who dies to show how much he likes us,  does not stop with that... God wants to liken us to Godself. The first and the second reading presents to us a God who wants to make us God's sons and daughters,  God's children, God's beloved ones,  God's favourites. God invites us constantly towards this fullness of becoming God's own. We become God's own by opening or eyes of faith. We become God's own by crying out with faith. We become God's own by trusting in faith that God can do and will do everything for us! Thus becoming God's children we will be with God, close to God and like God,  for we will see God face to face,  as says St. Paul.

We have an Empathising Lord who was like us,  who likes us and who longs to liken us to Himself.

WORD 2day : 24th October, 2015

The Spiritual and the Unspiritual

Saturday,  29th Week in Ordinary Time
Rom 8: 1-11; Lk 13: 1-9

Not all those who suffer are people who deserve it and not all the good we enjoy we deserve it. What God gives God gives without even counting whether I deserve it... but in the course of handling them I prove whether I had deserved it or not! The Word invites us to think of the distinction between Spiritual and Unspiritual we would make in our lives.

'Spiritual' is thinking of God and godly things; it is putting the good of the other first vis-a-vis the good that can happen to me! It is counting the blessings from the Lord and acknowledging every bit of the Lord's doing in my life.

'Unspiritual,' would be thinking all the time of increasing gains and reducing pains; it is putting my pleasure before anything else,  even in the smallest of things that I get to do for others. It is constantly complaining against God and claiming absolute personal credits for any thing that is good in my life.

Where do I belong: the Spiritual or the Unspiritual? 

WORD 2day : 23rd October, 2015

Pride: The Urge to prove myself
Friday,  29th Week in Ordinary Time
Rom 7: 18-25; Lk  12: 54-59

Many a trouble today brews in the waters of wanting to prove oneself at all cost. The world teaches us from our earliest that one should prove oneself...is it the same as living one's life to the full? While proving oneself is always a phenomenon in comparison with the other where the other becomes a threat or a competition or an element to be eliminated, living my life to the full is a serene acceptance of who I am what my capacity is and living it to the most. Here the others are my companions, my co-passengers and my colleagues! There isn't much need for proving myself, infact proving myself would turn detrimental within this mode of living.

The Word instructs us on this today,  inviting us through St Paul to understand the reality of our self: that is humility. It tells us that there is no need to justify oneself before people,  for God knows who we are: that is faith. However weak and wrong we could be,  God accepts us as we are and walks us to salvation through Jesus Christ if only we are ready to surrender: that is hope.

We would do well to stop worrying about the past but take lessons and move on. Pride would never allow that...with pride,  I would be worried only about proving myself!

WORD 2day: 22nd October, 2015

Demanding a choice

Remembering the Pope of the Media Age
Rom 6: 19-23 ; Lk 12: 49-53

The call to make a choice can sometimes place us in contrast with another person or group of persons. Mixing up persons and issues is a sign of lack of maturity. When we say God hates sin but not the sinners, we are referring to this capacity to love a person irrespective of the differences. That is a quality that leads to a healthy dialogue. Remembering today the great Pope Saint John Paul II, a man of dialogue and peace,  we are called to be persons who are convinced about what we believe and what we live, but at the same time persons who never judge others or look to divide persons!

WORD 2day : 21st October, 2015

Integrity: Being Slaves to Righteousness

Wednesday, 29th Week in Ordinary Time
Rom 6: 12-18 -18; Lk 12: 39-48

Jesus continues his instruction as to how we need to be prepared for that hour of reckoning at any point of time in our life. Infact Jesus is ridiculing all the funny discussions and calculations about when that hour will come - some self proclaimed eschatalogical quacks make much ado of the end and its timings and miss the entire point that Jesus is driving home here.  No matter when and where,  you know what to do and why to do it. Take care how you do it - not seeking human attention but going by merely God's approval.

This is what we call Integrity where I don't need an external recognition and I have developed an internal system of convictions and criteria that makes me almost a "slave" to Righteousness... doing nothing but good, speaking nothing but good,  thinking nothing but good, no matter how unlikely the returns are, or what the consequences would be. I am good and righteous and there is no because!

WORD 2day: 19th October, 2015

Faith versus Foolishness

Monday, 29th Week in Ordinary Time
Rom 4: 20-25; Lk 12: 13-21

Ultimately it is my faith that is going to make a difference, says the first reading and the Gospel corroborates the fact saying, 'if i don't realise that, I am getting more and more foolish!' In the face of death, what would anything other than my relationship with God mean to me. The source and destiny of my existence is God and God alone can make any difference to my being in the final analysis. A bit of realism and humility will bring every one to this thinking but the sad fact is that it takes a whole lifetime for some to come to that realisation. If we have it already, it is a reason to thank God for having inspired us early. Let us grow in the realisation, become more and more founded on our faith and less and less foolish in our life.

SUNDAY REFLECTION - 18 Oct, 2015

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time 

Is 53: 10-11; Heb 4: 14-16; Mk 10: 35-45

WORD 2day: 17th October, 2015

Faith that speaks and acts!

Saturday,  28th Week in Ordinary Time
Rom 4:13,16-18; Lk 12: 8-12

Jesus assures us, true faith speaks for us. We need not hunt for ways and means of explaining and defending our faith;  it has to be self evident and self explanatory. We don't need mighty big formulae to hold on to a faith...all we need is the realisation of the constant and unceasing presence of the Lord with us. When I am convinced of this presence I can hope against hope as Abraham did. Such a faith speaks on my behalf, clarifies things for me and others and acts in my favour in the ultimate analysis.

WORD 2day: 16th October, 2015

Faith and what follows!

Friday, 28th Week in Ordinary Time

Rom 4: 1-8; Lk 12: 1-7

Faith is a gift, a gratuitous gift from God! My part is to grow in it. The more I grow in it, the more I realise how undeserving I am of it. Abraham was granted this gift and he grew tremendously worthy of it. Paul was granted this gift and he fought a brave fight to become worthy of it. Jesus accuses those who throw those pearls of faith to the swines of their ego and self centered thinking. If I have received this gift of faith, should I not be grateful for it and mindful enough to keep growing in it. Can I be boasting about it and mindlessly acting contrary to it? Jesus is warning us about something that would not look apparently like an aberration of faith, but in fact leads us gradually away from what true faith is all about - 'the yeast' of the Pharisees, that Jesus mentions in the Gospel today.

Taking my faith to be a reason for my pride, judging everyone else who does not partake of it; calling names at people who have a faith different from mine merely because of the difference and treating them with despite; making faith a means to make my living instead of making it my life and journeying genuinely towards my eternal life...these are somethings that I need to be on the guard about! Faith is a gift given to me and I need to grow in it every day, every moment.

THE MUDGUARD AND THE GENERATION X

It was still a drowsy morning, the day had not yet unclasped itself from the rain clouds of the previous night. I was on a mission to get things set for a programme to be held later that day. Riding a two wheeler, towards a destination roughly 10 kms away, after a couple of kilometers my peaceful ride was shaken with a jolt. A young lad whiffed past me in one of the latest model motor bikes. The noise and the speed that shook me were nothing when compared to what came next. He went over a puddle of muddy water created by the rain the previous night... before I could realise he had changed my plain shirt into dotted designer wear. There was mud all over me, in dots and florals and stars on my mild green kurtha. For a second I was furious with that biker but the very next moment my mind took off on another tangent! 

That bike had such a small mudguard that it would prevent the splash only for the rider himself. I wondered whether that mudguard reflected the mindset of the present generation. The older bikes have a mudguard big enough to prevent the dust or the mud being sprayed or splashed on the rest of the vehicles on the road, while the new generation bikes have such fancy small mudguards that serve only the rider himself. Does it in any way hint at the self centered and insensitive lifestyle of a generation that cares only about its own fun and thrill and nothing about what the others think or feel? 

I have never before thought about the connection between the mudguard and the generation X. Have you? 

ST. TERESA OF JESUS

15TH OCTOBER 2015: 

THE FIFTH CENTENETARY YEAR OF THE BIRTH OF ST. TERESA OF AVILA.

Let nothing disturb you.
Let nothing make you afraid.
All things are passing.
God alone never changes.
Patience gains all things.
If you have God you will want for nothing
God alone suffices.

- St. Teresa of Avila (in one of her bookmarks)

WORD 2day : 14th October, 2015

No Favourites ... just Righteousness
Wednesday,  28th Week in Ordinary Time
Rom 2: 1-11, Lk 11: 42-46

God had no favourites says the first reading and Jesus demonstrates that in the Gospel. Jesus spared no one - whether it was the pharisees or the lawyers or the chief priests or Herod or Pilate - everyone got their share! They were in no way judgements passed on people but they were an appeal to their conscience to change their ways towards righteousness. It was done with concern for their salvation.

The thin line between Righteousness and Self righteousness has to be trodden with diligent care. Judgements arise from self righteousness while righteousness make us just and loving and above all lovable!

WORD 2day: 13th October, 2015

No excuses...just Integrity! 

Tuesday, 28th Week in Ordinary Time

Rom 1: 16-25; Lk 11: 37-41

The terminology used by Paul sounds very practical, warning us that there are no excuses one can give for not recognising the hand of God in and through the immensity of the reality around. And added to that when it comes to me and God, I don't need to have proofs and justifications and evidences that I believe in God or not. Because God knows the innermost thoughts of mine and I need not be bothered about my presentations and formulations. This is the fundamental element of what we call 'integrity'...Having the least discrepancy between my inner self and my external behaviour, between my convictions and what I engage myself in on a daily basis, between what really matters for me and what I present myself as to others! Jesus uses simple terms for that in the Gospel - inside and outside! Let both be clean he says... I can have no excuses when it comes to my innerself, for I stand convicted before God who knows the innermost thoughts. 

Help me Lord to grow in my personal integrity! 

WORD 2day: 12th October, 2015

The Call and the Reminder

Monday, 28th Week in Ordinary Time

Rom 1: 1-7; Lk 11: 29-32 

The first reading today speaks to us again about our call to belong to Christ, our call to be holy, our obedience of faith. At times we forget this fundamental call and live our daily life in the way we like, giving into our whims and fancies. We lose track of our fundamental call and go after things that matter nothing to our salvation, some of them even detrimental to our salvation. We become so callous to our failures and disorientation that we do not even realise we are going farther and farther away from our destined goal: our sanctification.

We can never justify our act, our choices or our priorities when they go against this call. We are given reminders after reminders, through persons, situations, events and interventions. The models given to us today: the people of Nineveh and Queen of Sheba, are people who were so attentive to these signs and reminders that they instantly picked up the message that God was giving them. They took the utmost effort to respond to their specific call. That is the reminder given to me today: how much have I grown in responding to the call that the Lord has given me personally? The call to belong to Christ, the call to be holy, the call to my personal sanctification! 

WORD: THE PRINCIPLE OF CHRISTIAN LIFE

11th October, 2015: 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Wis 7: 7-11; Heb 4: 12-13; Mk 10: 17-30

The Word this Sunday is on the Word.

The Word in the foundational principle of our Christian life. It is the Word that makes all the difference for the choices we make. It offers us all the wisdom we stand in need of to live a life that is meaningful.

The Word is also our Judge,  practically because the Word gives us the criteria to live by. When those criteria are met we are affirmed;  when not,  the Word holds us on a tribunal.

The Word is the treasure that gives meaning to our Christian life. It is worth giving our life in the service of the Word. At the service of the Word whatever we give up comes back manifold.

WORD 2day : 10th October, 2015

Being God's People - a sense of 'given'
Saturday,  27th week in Ordinary Time
Joel 4: 12-21; Lk 11: 27-28

Joel speaks of that day of calamity that was bound to come,  but adds a note of promise to God's people. The rest of the discussion is the whole dispute of the biblical history. ..who are these God's people? Some claim that status for themselves on the basis of their historical,  geographical,  ethnic and social background.

Jesus makes it clear in the Gospel today- all these details may matter but what matters most is the way you live your life today. Life is a given and it comes with a multitude of givens that come along with it. If God has willed me to be born at this juncture and here and now... that has within it a task and a call that comes along. I would do good to understand that task,  that call ...because that is what God wants from me and in accomplishing it or committing myself to it,   I become God's! To live my life with a sense of given, that's what will make us God's people.

WORD 2day : 9th October. 2015

A God filled life

Friday,  27th week in Ordinary Time
Joel 1:13-15,2:1-2; Lk  11 : 15-26

The thought of getting closer to God stops short of achieving that goal when people think merely in terms of a negative process of doing away with things that are in contrast- sins and evil tendencies. Joel points out the importance of emptying ourselves of these negative elements. But Jesus in the Gospel underlines the fact that emptying alone is not enough.

Emptying has to be simultaneously accompanied by a filling in. A wholesome Christian life is not that which is devoid of sin and temptation... but that which is filed with God,  filled with Christ,  filled with the Spirit... so God filled that the world around us feels the presence of God so close and near. That is basically what we mean by the Reign of God.

WORD 2day : 8th October, 2015

Faith is persistence
Thursday,  27th week in Ordinary Time
Mal 3: 13-21; Lk 11: 5-13

Whether God gives or not,  whether I find God or not, whether God opens the door for me or not... those are not my concerns. My concern is to be with the Lord till the end,  because at the right time I know God will give, open and help me find God. This is the faith that the Word today speaks to us of.

The first reading in a special way expresses a feeling that many innocents who suffer harbour in their hearts. The evil thriving,  the liars flourishing,  the swindlers soaring in life... and the innocents suffering, the honest losing, the good hearted trampled upon! True faith is persistent. It is not giving a deadline to God but inspite of all these waiting till that time when everything will be made new. Because, we know God is with us and God is for us, then who can be against us?

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

LEPANTO, LORETTO AND OUR LIFE                                                                                      

7th October 2015: The feast of Our Blessed Mother of the Holy Rosary

Acts 1: 12-14; Lk 1: 26-38

The feast of our Blessed Mother of the Holy Rosary reminds us of the battle of Lepanto 1571! The Christians were at war defending themselves against the Ottoman Empire. They were at sea, as we know, it was a naval battle and the Rosary brought them the desired victory. At the recommendation of the Pope, the Church began to celebrate Our Blessed Mother as Our Lady of Victories. It was then that Pope Pius V added that invocation, "Mary Help of Christians", to the litany of Loretto (that which we pray normally). Truly Mary was a great help for them at sea! Every Christian and every one of us, is at sea on a daily basis, with our concerns and temptations battling against us. Today this naval battle can be won not with bullets but with beads, the beads of the Most Holy Rosary. 

As Mary was there in the upper room with the disciples praying, she is there every time we invoke her through the Holy Rosary. And every time we pray this powerful prayer, she strengthens us to say, just as she did, a whole hearted 'yes' to the will of God. As Pope St. John Paul II would often remind us, the Rosary is infact a compendium of the Gospels, a summary of the Paschal Mystery! The Rosary is a weapon that guards us from our foe malign. It is a vehicle that commutes us closer to God the Father. It is a fragrant garland that unites us with our Blessed Mother, thus sanctifying us into children more and more worthy of her divine Son, our Lord and Master. 

WORD 2day: 6th October, 2015

The Art of Prioritising

Tuesday, 27th Week in Ordinary Time

Jon 3: 1-10; Lk 10: 38-42

Martha was doing a lot of good but what Mary chose was deemed to be the best. At times we spend our time and energy doing a lot of things, all of them good may be! But what is the best we can choose at a given moment, I believe that is the point of discernment. The best that I can choose at a point of time, is what is expected of me from God right then. The people of Nineveh had a keen sense of discernment and they made a concrete and clear choice. They had their priorities clear. My choices actually reveal my priorities. 

Spending hours together for an entertainment, investing enormous energy towards getting merely an appreciation, dumping whole life down the drain hoarding money, these are some warped priorities that threaten us these days. A majority of us give into it consciously or unwittingly. Jesus teaches us today the art of prioritising. Place not just the first things first, but the most important things first! You may have to even give up on somethings, not merely because they are bad but even if they are good, merely because they are not as important. Seek ye first the Reign of God and everything else will be given unto you - that's a pearl of the art of prioritising!

WORD 2day: 5th October, 2015

Lacking Compassion is lacking God

Monday,  27th week in Ordinary Time
Jon 1:1 - 2:1, 11; Lk 10: 25-37

Recently talking to a group of parish leaders on living our faith in our day to day life,  I observed the reality of the treacherous imbalance in the so called development in India. A gentleman from the crowd immediately made a statement so categorically that left me wondering. He said, 'all these poor people you say,  are poor because they are lazy and irresponsible!' When I retorted with a question,  'all of them?'...he conceded a bit saying, 'atleast half of them' and then on my further pursuance he came to saying, 'atleast a big number of them'!

At times we make rash judgements on persons because we lack compassion. When we lack compassion, we lack godliness. Jonah today wanted the people of Niniveh to perish in their sins. He did not want to call them to conversion of their heart because he thought they would escape the punishment that was due to them. We could be like Jonah so much guided by vendetta but we are called to reach out like the Samaritan, doing all that we could to anyone in need...not stand there enquiring whether the person is deserving or not, whether my efforts will bear the best results or not. That is lack of compassion, and lacking compassion is lacking God.

PRAYER for 14th Ordinary Synod of Bishops - Tamil

PRAYER for 14th Ordinary Synod of Bishops

FAMILY: The Vocation and Mission Today

4th October, 2015: 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gen 2: 18-24; Heb 2: 9-11; Mk 10: 2-16

FAMILY is the basic unit of a holistic humanity, not the individual. Where this fact is gainsaid, we see the genesis of every problem the world is infested with today. The Word today invites us to dwell on this theme of Family and rightly this day has been chosen to initiate the 14th Ordinary Synod of Bishops, which would reflect on the theme: The Vocation and Mission of the Family in the Church and the Contemporary World. The Synod which begins today, in the Vatican, would last for 3 weeks and each of these weeks would highlight a sub theme, the very themes that we can find underlined in the readings today.

Listening to Challenges: The Synod would begin with listening to the Challenges of the Family in the contemporary world. In a world that is filled with individualism, materialism and consumerism, the family has become an entity that is seen to be an hindrance, a block, a burden that slows down one's personal progress towards self fulfillment. In the Gospel, Jesus underlines the problems of infidelity and unchastity around the reality of marriage. With the increasing numbers of divorce, reducing numbers of marriages, growing justification of co-habitation, newer claims to the nature of marriage, we are called to listen to the times and understand the challenges involved in building a family today.

Discerning Vocations: The First reading highlights an indelible nature of marriage and family. Being a Family or a Marriage is a vocation. It is not a phenomenon that happens by default. It has to be a conscious choice, well discerned and taken up with absolute commitment. Discerning Vocations here would mean the need for persons to make a choice and the role of the community in helping a person make that choice with ease and seriousness. It would mean also the need of the pastors and those who play that role in some manner or degree, to accompany individuals within this context. To mark this fact of family being the locus of one's calling,  during the Synod,  on 18th of October,  the parents of St. Teresa of Liseux will be canonised acknowledging their role as parents in promoting sanctity in their family. 

Exploring the Mission of the Family Today: In the second reading we see that the Word reminds us of the most fundamental function of a family: it makes us brothers and sisters in the Lord. Though every person is an individual, each with his or her interests and motives, dreams and vision, desires and ambitions, we are never islands. We are called to live in a family, to begin with and that family is required to become the basic building block of a humanity that is loving, respectful and caring towards everyone else around us.Today a Christian family specially has an enormous responsibility, a mission to accomplish - Evangelisation. It is to share the love of God to the world today. A family is a lived experience of God's love on a daily basis - to share that love with everyone around and with the world at large is simply what Evangelisation means today. Specially against the background of war and injustice, exploitation and domination, violence and crime, terrorism and fanaticism, the Christian families have to become beacons that bear out true love and compassion reminding the world of the Lord who is ever present in our midst and the Lord who is madly in love with you and me.

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

Their angels are constantly before the Lord

2nd October,  2015: Celebrating the Guardian Angels
Bar 1: 15-22; Matthew 18:1-5,10

The Guardian angels are a special way of God's expression of protective concern over God's children. Every time I think of the Guardian angels I am led to think of a saint of recent times,  Padre Saint Pio. He had many a times vivid experiences of the angel protecting him and those he followed up spiritually. There is something that I read recently that comes to my mind.

In those days when the cellphones were not yet that common,  and the whatsapp and twitter were still in the oblivion, one of his Spiritual sons who lived in the States met with an accident. A friend of his knew the bonding between Padre Pio and his friend, and so rushed to a nearby post office to send him a telegram. When he reached there,  the post master handed him a telegram from Padre Pio which read, "take care and get well soon". The friend was awestruck and he asked Padre Pio,  how he managed it. Padre Pio answered with a smile,  "do you think the angels travel as slow as your trains? "

Let's count on the protecting grace of God so concretely experienced in the angels. God be blessed in the Angels and Saints!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

The Word that moves!

1st October, 2015: Celebrating St. Teresa of Child Jesus

Neh 8: 1-12;Lk 10: 1-12

When Ezra read, the people listened, they cried, they celebrated, they gathered and they built themselves up - the center was the Word. 

The Seventy two: they went without money or deposit, without security or shelter, without food or furniture - the center was the Word. 

St. Teresa: lived just 24 years, never crossed her convent walls but today is known as the patroness of the missions - the center of her life was the Word. 

A life centered around the Word- that is the life that the Lord has invited us too. From a tender finger to a mighty power, the Word can move everything and today it beckons us to submit our lives too. Let us be moved by the Word and be people of the Word today.