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!