Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy #5

# THE CONCENTRIC OVALS

The next element that stands out in the Logo is the concentric ovals that we find...do you notice that it is not merely one regular oval but a set of ovals one differentiated from the other with differing shades. 

The concentric ovals are symbolic of the dynamic nature of our relationship with Christ, because in that relationship Christ carries us, transports us...there is a movement that is seen in the progression of the concentric shapes. 

As we said, the one who is carried is symbolic of humanity, that is representing each of us. The One who carries is Christ,who carries us out of sin towards salvation; out of death towards new life! That is what the mercy of God does to us, taking us from sin to salvation, from death to new life. 

The Call: The progression of the shapes also has another pertinent invitation, to go deeper into our life, our identity and our call. 'Put out into the deep', calls Jesus and that is the message, that we do not remain complacent with a shallow level of living our life, instead go deeper and deeper into the gift and task that our life is! In short, our life is a journey, a constant movement, a call to grow towards a state of holistic and salvific relationship with the Merciful Lord.

MERCILENT 2016 - 29th February

BE PLIABLE: dare to change

Monday, 3rd week in Lent
2 Kgs 5: 1-15; Lk 4: 24-30

One of the toughest call we have as human persons is to be pliable in the hands of our Lord. We falter from our original nature of being children of God and deviate into a life that is so unbecoming of the chosen children of God. The Merciful Lord never writes us off, instead God offers us the opportunity to return to Godself. At times what the Lord expects from us, may be something very trivial (as Naman was asked to do, in the first reading today). At times it may be quite demanding (to be questioned by the one who is no different from you, like Jesus did to the Pharisees)...but what matters is our readiness to change, our nature of being pliable in the hands of our Lord.

Changing is not so easy- it involves leaving our comfort zones, it involves leaving things that seem to gratify us, it involves a kind of sense of accomplishment we might have in carrying out something. None of these matter, when it comes to surrendering ourselves in the hands of the Lord and doing just what the Lord wants of us! We know what the Lord wants of us; let us not feign ignorance. We know, yes! But the question is, do we dare?

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Submit to the directions of the Lord and dare to make changes in your behaviour.

Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy #4

# THE COLOURS

The colours that have been used in the logo of the year of mercy, have a specific message to communicate. Let's begun with having a good look at the logo. And note the colours that stand out.

Red: signifies the blood of Christ. The Blood of Christ is a sign and symbol of God's mercy. For God so loved the world that God sent God's only Son to give us life. Christ gave his life for us as the most intense expression of God's mercy.

White: signifies the light of Christ. The light that takes us to the Father,  the light that makes it clear to us who we are, the light that defines where and how we need to be journeying - that is the light we are looking at.

Blue: signifies the earth and so the humanity,  that is "we"...we are called to be sons and daughters of God sporting the very image and likeness of the One who has willed us into existence.

Gold: signifies the call that we have received as humanity. If you closely glimpse at the golden hue it is on the person who lies on the shoulder. If Christ is the one who is carrying, the one who is carried is Adam. The first Adam brought in sin through his disobedience,  Christ the second Adam brings in salvation through obedience. We are called and challenged.

The Call from this element of the logo, is to understand the face of the mercy of God-Jesus Christ, listen to Him and surrender ourselves to His projects.

REAPING TIME

MERCILENT 2016 - 3rd Sunday in Lent: 28th February

Exo 3: 1-8, 13-15; 1 Cor 10: 1-6, 10-12; Lk 13: 1-9

It's reaping time; it's time to show the difference in my life. If I do not show that difference, that bit of growth that comes from an authentic eagerness towards perfection, I deny myself the possibility of truly experiencing that saving grace of the merciful Father. I have no excuses to make and that is what the readings today establish without doubt.

I have no excuses because, I am accompanied with daily miracles by the Lord. As the Lord accompanied the people of Israel as a cloud and the pillar of fire, the Lord accompanies me with daily miracles in my life. I may or may not recognise the countless miracles that happen all around me but they are constantly there. The daily dose of life, the air that I breathe, the vital sustenance that is ensured...what are these but miracles. The guidance that I receive from daily experiences, the indications that I am given to regulate my life, these are miracles that I keep experiencing from the Lord's accompaniment.

I have no excuses because, I am alerted by regular warnings. Even as I choose to do things that do not really go well with the call that I have received from the Lord, I am warned from within. Even as I see people fumbling and falling, mistaking and missing their way in life, I am given with warnings to change my life, lest I go far far away from the Lord. At times I squander the warnings I receive as I am busy judging people, branding them and writing their destinies unduly. I need to begin to take the cues all around me and be attentive to the warnings that keep coming my way.

I have no excuses because I am affirmed with such abundance of mercy from the Lord. I am given chances after chances, offered countless opportunities and limitless forgiveness from the Lord, that I may grow over my faults and failures, towards making choices that lead me to fruits that show me to be a true son or daughter of God. The Lord invites me to bear fruit, fruits that will show me to be worthy of the image and likeness that I bear; that I may be merciful as the Father. Be ye perfect as your heavenly father is perfect.

Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy #3

# THE SHAPE

Looking at the Logo for the Year of Mercy, one could wonder, why that shape of say, an almond... the oval? Why not a more perfect shape like a circle that would have symbolised the complete and unending love of God. But the oval, has more to say than what apparently appears. 

The shape of an oval is said to be a highly familiar shape used in the traditional iconography of the early church. It came to mean something very deep and fundamental within the faith expression of the early christian artists. The clue is in how this Oval is formed? It is formed when two circles intersect and find a common space...that is, it is formed in the union of two circles. That was why it came to symbolise for the early christians, the union of the two natures of Christ - the human and the divine.

Amidst the controversies that existed in the Early Christian Theology, whether Christ was more man or more son of God, this symbol came to express the right understanding of Christ as the perfect union of humanity and divinity. Today the logo for the year of Mercy picks up on that one composite nature of the Son of God, which is the epitome of the expressions of the Mercy of God - Jesus Christ is the face of the Mercy of God.

The Call that this element of the Logo gives us, is to understand the divinity that the Lord has placed within our beings and live to be deeply human and deeply holy at the same time.

MERCILENT 2016 - 27th February

BE JOYFUL: You are loved without measure!

Saturday, 2nd week in Lent
Mic 7: 14-15, 18-20; Lk 15: 1-3,11-32

Just yesterday, I heard that touching song that speaks of God's grace as, 'Oh Outrageous Grace!'...yes, an outrageous grace. An immeasurable love, an abundant grace, limitless mercy...that is God. What should I fear when the Lord loves me with such an immeasurable love. The Lord looks at me as a shepherd madly in love with his sheep, willing to lay down his life for his sheep, however undeserving I may be.

The Call is twofold here: one, however immeasurable God's love is, I need to make myself deserving of that great love of God. If not, I run the risk of depriving myself of that outrageous love, that immeasurable mercy by distancing myself from the Father like that younger son.

The second call is to accept my brother (or sister) who fails! If I do not look kindly on the limitations of my brothers and sisters and show mercy to them, accepting them with forgiveness and forbearance, I would be standing out of the house of my Father, again depriving myself of the mercy and love I can receive without measure!

I need to be filled with joy that the Lord loves me, then nothing will disturb me! I would be ready to experience the mercy of the Father and share the same with the other. When I lack that joy, I would turn so negative that I will deprive myself of all mercy!

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Rejoice, the Lord loves you!

Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy #2

#2 The Motto

What we shall be doing in the coming days is first to understand the logo offered for our minds this year. The first element that stands out from the logo is the motto: Lk 6:36.

MERCIFUL AS THE FATHER: Mercy is the identity,  a call and a challenge to an authentic disciple of Christ.

Mercy is that dimension of love that highlights unconditionality of a person's love and the need to offer and ask for forgiveness. That is the identity of a true Christian. For from this they will know you are my disciples- from the love that you have for one another.

At times we begin with great spirits but we stop very soon owing to difficulty in finding models! The call is to grow up towards being like the Father. The Father is the ideal, the image towards which we grow.

That is obviously a challenge too! It is a life long task to grow to be like the Father. Be perfect as the heavenly father is perfect (Mt 5:48)... that's the Mattean version of the motto.

'Keep Growing'...that is in other words what the motto says. We can never stop growing. The heavenly Father is the one who calls, is the model and the destiny towards which we grow.

MERCILENT 2016 - 26th February

BE CAREFUL : The Master will return

Friday, 2nd Week of Lent

Gen 37: 3-4,12-13,17-28; Mtt 21: 33-43,45-46

Being recipients of mercy does not exempt us from being careful! Taking care that we do not fall out of gear with the entire ambient of mercy that the Lord creates. Within the design of the Lord there is an eternal stock of mercy, but at times we may make choices and decisions that might remove us from the whole circle of mercy!

Speaking to the Young, they ask with alarm, 'will God never punish'...'he will punish at an extreme level won't he'...'does the mercy of God exclude punishments for sins'...these are genuine attempts the young make to balance between mercy and justice on the part of God. I love to tell them, you need not try to paint God in a balanced picture! God is not a perfect balance of justice and mercy, the Lord is merciful in God's justice too! God's justice in a great way includes an abundance of mercy. But that in no way makes it easy for one who decides to stay away from the mercy of God! 

Be careful to choose the mercy of God; take care to submit yourself willingly to the mercy of God. When the Master returns He must find you within this ambient of mercy, if not it would have been your fault.

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Take care of every moment and remain within the ambient of mercy!

Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy #1

#1 Why Extraordinary?

Jubilee Year or the Year of Lord's Favour is a phenomenon that comes from as early as the book of Leviticus. It was every 50th year as 7 sets of 7 years (49 years) came to a close.

However the Catholic Church began this tradition of celebrating the jubilee years from 1300 onwards. Though it began with once in 50 years very soon it became a year of celebration every 25 years!

That is how we have the 25th Jubilee year proclaimed in 2000! Ordinarily the next Jubilee should have been in 2025. But since the Holy Father did not want to lose the significance of the 08.12.2015, he has announced an "EXTRAORDINARY" year of jubilee, dubbing it Jubilee Year of Mercy! 

What is special about Dec 8, 2015: It was the 50th anniversary of the Closure of the Vatican Council II, a council that has changed the face of the Church for the world today! Let us take to heart the teachings of the Council and experience the depth of the mercy of the Lord.

MERCILENT 2016 - 25th February

BE WISE: Know, understand and act.

Thursday, 2nd week of Lent

Jer 17: 5-10; Lk 16: 19-31

Every thing in this world is passing. Wealth or power or relationships or popularity - everything is just for a while. Knowing this is one thing, but living by it and making convictions based on it is completely another thing. We know it well that what we gain by our effort here, lasts but sometime still we hold on to them: our titles, our accomplishments, our status, our social image and so on. The Word today reminds us, to face facts. It challenges us to begin to understand what we know and act on what we truly understand. If I know nothing in this world lasts forever, I would understand it is not worth giving my life for it. If I understand it is not worth giving my life for something, I would not make that my priority over others. Where does the problem lie? Why am I lost in things that do not really matter? Why is it that I know something but still I live contrary to it?

God alone lasts forever; and what comes from God alone matters truly. Wisdom is when I come to realise that I know this fact and I begin to restructure my life based on that conviction. The greater challenge is to resist the temptation of giving up in between and ape the standards of a lesser order. God alone matters and it is wisdom that helps me understand that.

The Mercilent Attitude for today: In God alone put your trust.

MERCILENT 2016 - 24th February

BE DIFFERENT: Don't conform to the world

Wednesday, Second week in Lent

Jer 18: 18-20; Mtt 20: 17-28

The world tells you to lead; be led. The world tells you to rule; submit. The world tells you to prove yourself; be yourself. The world tells you to compete; collaborate. The world tells you to be the first; be the least. The world tells you to dominate; serve. The world tells you to come up; grow up. Don't conform to the world, lest you would not belong to Christ! You have a special task: to be different so that you inspire people to be different, and thus make a difference to this world, making it a different place to live. The crux is, be different!

Your life should make people conspire against you, because you stand out in the crowd, standing for the Reign values of righteousness, peace and joy. Serve, suffer and slog for the least, the lost and the last, you would have done it for the Lord. Power, pleasure and passivity in the face of the miseries around you, will count you among the insensitive lot. To be authentically a Christ-ian, be different. Are you ready to be branded, ridiculed, trodden upon? If yes, you are a true disciple of Christ.

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Be different, and make a difference.

MERCILENT DIGEST #1

Mercilent Thoughts - first 2 weeks
1. Be Merciful
2. Be Pro life
3. Be Integral
4. Be Shining
5. Be Godly
6. Be God's
7. Be Open
8. Be Prayer
9. Be Good
10. Be Christ
11. Be Rock
12. Be Exalted

MERCILENT 2016 - 23rd February

BE EXALTED: Recognise the goodness of the Lord

Tuesday. Second week of Lent

Isa 1: 10,16-20; Mt 23: 1-12

The Lord will exalt the Lord's servant. We are certain to be exalted when we remain servants of the Lord. 

Be exalted,  invites the readings today and that invitation has two implications: one, remain faithful to the Lord and the Lord's call and you will be exalted. Inspite of the present troubles around or the limitations within you,  you will be exalted-that's the lesson of mercy at lent. 

The second implication is,  be exalted means don't exalt yourself! Seeing your values, witness and everyday way of life,  the Lord will exalt you in, through and in the presence of the people. Let your principles and priorities be praise worthy and your thoughts and acts will be Lord-worthy! You shall be exalted. 

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Acknowledge the good the Lord accomplishes in you! 

MERCILENT 2016 - 22nd February

BE ROCK: Love the Church and stand by it

The Feast of the Chair of St. Peter
1 Pet 5: 1-4; Mt 16: 13-19

Just a few days back, I read a half baked argument from one dissident from the Catholic Church, seeking to question the authority of the Bishop of Rome! I was laughing to myself because, he was a Catholic Priest who has found his new wisdom in an independent church. Is it ignorance or arrogance that these independent churches, who insist so much on the primacy of the Word, do not see the historical fact underlying the first reading today. Peter writes as an Elder among Elders, instructing the rest of them in the way of the Lord: this is what the Holy Father does... as a Bishop among Bishops, he encourages and animates the shepherds towards a holistic government of the Church. 

The Authority comes from Christ himself and that is the fact we celebrate today. Praying for Pope Francis today, is a God given task, especially in the background of the controversies that are raked up by the western media in the past week! Floods and waves will batter against this home, but it will not be moved, because it is build on a Rock - let us give praise to the Lord. We have a great tradition and a wonderful faith deposit that has been handed down by marvelous people of God, let us love it treasure it, keep it and faithfully pass it on.

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Love the Church and stand by it.

MARKING TIME

Mercilent 2016 - 2nd Sunday: 21st February

Gen 15: 5-12; Phil 3:17 - 4:1; Lk 9: 28-36

Our Christian life is a Marking Time... we do it diligently and with dedication, but we are not bound to it forever, we look to Marching forward, towards our glorious home.

From our school time drills in March Past, we are taught two types of march: Mark Time March and Forward March. Marking Time is when the marching has already begun, but it has not started moving, it is yet to take its real form moving in unison! 

MERCILENT 2016 - 20th February

BE CHRIST- Love genuinely, without measure

Saturday, First week of Lent

Dt 26: 16-19; Mt 5: 43-48

The Perfection that Christ expects from us is being like him, that is being love! The love that we speak of is genuine love, a love that is seen even in odd times, specially in odd moments, inspite of odd times! How enduring is your love? 

Jesus becomes the epitome of love, not because he loved us when we were waiting to love him in return; but because he loved us even when we cared the least for his love; as St. Paul observes, he died for us even while we were sinners! 

At time how calculative and how selective we become in sharing our love - is that truly Christ like? Loving genuinely, that is, without measure and without conditions is the call that we have today.

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Love, without calculating or measuring the cost!

MERCILENT 2016 - 19th February

BE GOOD: Not just doing some good but be good!

Friday, First week of Lent

Ezek 18: 21-28; Mt 5: 20-26

Doing some good now and then is not good enough, the Word challenges us to BE good, and be good consistently. 

Once having been good, does not count! Being persistent in your goodness is the challenge.

Rationalisation and Justification will not excuse you, if you cease to be good. Never tiring in doing good is the sign expected from you.

Making a show of your goodness by way of legalities and fulfillment of requirements amount to nothing, the Lord can see through your paraphernalia and judge you by your internal self. Are you essentially good?

What you do to manifest your goodness does not matter, whether that goodness truly exists within matters much. 

Your external image of being good means nothing because the Lord knows your thoughts that pass judgments on others, your words that kill persons, your wishes that rob people of their respect and dignity. Being Good means being good at the core of your being, every bit of you being good! Yes, it is tough, but we have no choice if we want to call ourselves children of this Merciful Lord.

The Mercilent Attitude today: Be good, don't be satisfied with doing some good!

MERCILENT 2016 - 18th February

BE PRAYER: Pray, with your life

Thursday, First week of Lent

Est 4:17; Mt 7:7-12

Be Prayer - it may sound a bit odd, but that is what matters more than saying prayers! Both, the example of Esther that is offered and the teaching of Christ on asking, seeking and knocking, reiterate that specific dimension of prayer. At times we are busy saying prayers that we do not realize our call to 'be prayer'! 

Being Prayer has two meanings: One, being the one who prays..."pray-er"! Bringing one's whole self into prayer that it becomes a self offering to the Lord with heart, soul, body and mind! 

Secondly, being prayer means being what we pray. If we pray for peace, we become the agents of peace; if we pray for the needy, we become the consolation of those in need; if we pray for the Church, we grow to be responsible members of the Church, and so on. 

Esther, in her act of praying was getting ready to offer herself totally despite risks, for the sake of God's people. Jesus concludes his teachings on prayer with the golden rule: do unto others what you wish be done unto you! The key is here: let us mean what we pray, and be daring enough to take up the challenge that our prayer poses to ourselves. Praying is not an easy job; it is demanding!

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Pray, with your life not merely with your words!

MERCILENT 2016 - 17th February

BE OPEN: Listen to the Word all around you

Wednesday, First Week of Lent

Jon 3: 1-10; Lk 11:29-32 

Wickedness of the generation that Jesus refers to in the Word today, is the tendency to justify, rationalise or counteract the call to conversion. It is a common experience that we see, within ourselves or around us, the numerous reasons given for justifying a wrong doing even after we know clearly that it is wrong. It is also possible to see persons who rationalise a wrong doing in the name of circumstances, consequences and customs. There are others who make sure they sideline or eliminate those people who raise pertinent questions, disturbing questions or upsetting queries. These are various ways in which people react, when they are put in the dock sometime or the other. 

The challenge today is offered by the people of Nineveh, as Jesus refers to! They paid attention to the message when it came, they listened and they acted upon it. If only we are to truly listen to all the messages we receive and genuinely act upon at least a half of them, we would never be called "wicked" by Jesus! The need is to be open: to be open to receive the Word, the call from the Lord towards conversion, from anywhere and from anyone. 

That call to integrity, to authentic christian living, to radical witness to the Gospel way of life, is all around us. We are called to witness to the gospel with our very lives - are we ready?

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Listen, the Lord is speaking, through everything and everyone around.

MERCILENT 2016 - 16th February

BE GOD'S : Believe and belong to the Lord your God.

Tuesday in the First Week of of Lent
Is 55:  10-11; Mt 6: 7-15

Yesterday we were invited to reflect on being Godly and today we are reminded of our fundamental nature of belonging to God: we are God's own...God's sons and daughters. 

At times we get so busy with all that we involve - things, persons, activities, dreams, plans and projects - that we forget to whom we belong. It is like a player in the midfield playing so vigorously that he forgets for whom he is playing. Funny, isn't it? That is what happens with us, so regularly and so unwittingly. Most of our problems in life crop up from this situation...our frustrations, our competitions, our anxiety to prove ourselves, our arrogance, our pride, our self conceit, they come from the fact that we are not mindful of the fact that we are all God's. 

God's word, God's plan, God's design, God's reign - these are the overriding principles that should govern our lives if we are convinced that we are God's.

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Belong to God, in all that you are and in all that you do.

MERCILENT 2016 - 15th February

BE GODLY: Unconditional in your giving

Monday, 1st Week of Lent

Lev 19: 1-2,11-18; Mt 25:31-46

Be Holy, for I am Holy, invites the Lord today. We are called not only to be God's people, but also to be Godly people. That explains the motto of the year of Mercy: Merciful like the Father. It is not only about showing mercy to others, but doing it as God does! That is where the key is. The Word today gives us clearly what to do (the Gospel), what not to do (first reading), what not to fail in doing (Gospel) and what to abstain from (first reading). All of them put together, the call is to become like God; to be Godly.

Observe the quality that is underlined in the Word - it is about giving and not to worry about getting it back, it is about doing good and not being worried about receiving good, it is about loving and not insistent about being loved  in return...St. Francis' prayer strikes a chord here: Grant that I may not seek so much to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love, to be forgiven as to forgive! I cannot have conditions in the good that I do: how much; to whom; under what circumstances; why they...these analyses will make our giving conditional. The Lord instead gives and gives, never counting the cost nor the consequences. Can I grow to be as unconditional as that - that is being Godly.

The Mercilent Attitude for Today: Give, without laying conditions for it!

TESTING TIMES

Mercilent 2016- 1st Sunday: 14th February

Dt 26: 4-10; Rom 10: 8-13; Lk 4: 1-13

Testing Times never lack! Every person goes through these times in quite a succession! Lent is proposed to be a workshop to train us for testing times that might come our way, all through our life! Today the Word gives us three lessons on confront these testing times:

1. Our Disposition: Be Prepared to Wander

The First reading invites us to understand our history! Every one who has reached some significant point with the Lord in his or her life experience, has passed definitely passed through a phase of wandering. It is an essential spiritual experience to get closer to oneself, to each other and to the One who leads us.

2. Our Approach: Never Cease to Ponder

Yes, the One who leads us into the wilderness knows what is in store! We would miss it all if we do not keep pondering on the way. Pondering is such a powerful exercise that it can makes sense of everything that happens, in its own time of course. When we cease to ponder we run the risk of wandering without purpose; the point is wandering with a specific purpose, in a specific direction...which the Lord alone knows.

3. Our Attitude: Be ready to Surrender

That specific purpose, that specific direction will be revealed in time, just in time! Hence the challenge is to surrender and not to fret. Surrendering would first involve the humility of saying to myself: I am not in control of everything. Secondly it would mean lifting my eyes to accept that God is in-charge. And thirdly it is a serene acceptance of God's will with utmost cooperation on our part, not rushing through or forcing things. 

It may be tough to find times so testing, but only when we are tested, we could be sealed OK.

MERCILENT 2016 - 13th February

BE SHINING: Conform not to the world but to the Lord

Saturday after Ash Wednesday

Is 58: 9-14; Lk 5: 27-32

Let your light Shine, bids Jesus. This 'shining' is not to project our own selves but to show the way to the rest of the world. It is not about hogging the limelight, but leading the world by example. While the world would look at a person as a tax collector, a sinner, a trespasser, a male or a female, some one important or less important, the Lord would see every one as a son or a daughter, someone so lovable and someone belonging to the Lord!

When I begin to see everyone as God's beloved, I begin to see the point in reaching out to each and every one of them, in the way each one needs. The world's categories such as, useful or not, worthy or not, feasible or not, do not mean anything in the categories of the Lord. The more we conform to the Lord the more we get to realise the folly of the order that the world has created for itself, not addressing each one by their utility. When we refrain from this utilitarian logic...the Lord, the Lord's perspective and the Lord's will are the essential prerequisites to Shine! 

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Shine; let the Lord shine through you.

MERCILENT 2016 - 12th February

BE INTEGRAL: Mean what you say and do what you believe

Friday after Ash Wednesday

Is 58: 1-9; Mt 9:14-15

Prayer, Penance and Philanthropy... all three are tricky! They can be performed or they can be lived, depending on our personal disposition. What am I aiming at? A personal satisfaction at doing these? A social affirmation in being faithful to these? An appeasing of my conscience in being rigorous with these? In a special manner the Word today deal with Penance - are they means to prove my prowess? 

Isaiah blasts all egocentric motivations for penance: the sense of achieving great feats in fasting and abstinence means nothing when those practices do not lead me to true relationships and compassionate disposition towards others. What would it matter if I fast the whole day but all through the day get frustrated with everyone around me and keep yelling in anger against all? How would it be if I make sacrifices but am all the time conscious of the sacrifice I have made and serious about making it known to everyone around me? Will it really matter if I am doing great things in the name of penance this whole day, but can't spend a loving moment with persons around me who deserve or need it?

By penance, we mean to say: I wish to reduce myself and my needs, that I may encounter the Lord more in and through persons and situations around me! Do I even notice the Lord present around when I am busy telling the world I am making penances this day! Let me notice the bridegroom present with me: let me be integral in my prayer, penance and philanthropy.

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Smile at others from your heart.

MERCILENT 2016 - 11th February

BE PRO-LIFE: Choose Life even if it means Death

Thursday after Ash Wednesday
Dt 30: 15-20; Lk 9: 22-25

One of the pronounced acts of mercy is being pro-life! The readings today give us a precious insight into being pro-life.

Being Pro-life is not merely not killing someone or something. It is promoting life in all its forms, and specially in its fullness. While the first reading says the Lord has set both life and death in front of us, for us to choose, Jesus says he chooses to die! In choosing to die, he infact was choosing to live to the full and give life to all of us, life in all its fullness. 

The message that Jesus offers us is very clear: choose life, even if it means death. Even if you have to die, or sacrifice, or suffer, or be antagonised, be hated, be branded negatively...choose to stand by life, be a pro-lifer! Anything that stops you from living your life to the full, be it your so called situation,or your personal attitude, it needs to challenged. For yourself, for others and for every one around you, wish life in its fullness and work towards ensuring it. 

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Be Pro-life!

MERCILENT 2016

I desire Mercy, not sacrifice!

Ash Wednesday : 10th February, 2016

Wish you a Merciful Lent - Mercilent 2016!

May the season we start today, be a season of mercy! We are invited to receive the Mercy of God, experience it so intimately that we share with it authentically. 

God our Father and Mother declares, 'I desire Mercy and not sacrifice' and our Lord and Saviour invites us to go and learn its true meaning! (cf. Mt 9: 13)

Lent is not all about myself and all what I do for my own sake! It is about others, it is about the Other. It is about growing towards the Father, it is growing to be like the Father.

PRAYER: Prayer is to grow towards the Father: more open and more docile. It is growing out of myself, growing out of my petty plans and enslaving self image!

PENANCE: Penance is to grow to be like the Father... thinking more about the others and the Other. Convinced that I should decrease and He should increase, we grow to be more and more like the Father: merciful, loving, kind and forgiving!

PHILANTHROPY: Love of persons around, is an easy way to grow out of oneself! It is in being sensitive to the needs and struggles of the other, that we learn to perspectivise those that are our own! Every good deed that we do should take us to higher plane of living our Christian life: forgetting our own wants and reaching out to the more needy. 

WORD 2day : 8th February, 2016

To Rest or to Reach out

Fifth Monday in Ordinary Time
1 Kgs 8:1-7,9-13; Mk 6 : 53 -56

The first reading speaks of the first temple built for the Lord... ever since, it had been a point of contention. However, how do we understand the temple for the Lord: a place of rest for God? Would that be a good way to understand?

In contrast to the established temple in the first reading,  we have a wandering Lord in the Gospel. Could anyone stop Jesus from his work... no one could -they only thought he was going out of his mind.

Jesus considers reaching out to people compelling and urgent. There was a constant urge in his heart to move on. He wished to build his resting place amidst the cries and woes of people, sickness and sadness of the afflicted, trials and troubles of their daily lives. Let us learn to see the Lord dwelling in true and sincere encounters.

CALLED

An identity, a mission and a promise...

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time: 7th February, 2016
Is 6: 1-8; 1 Cor 15: 1-11; Lk 5: 1-11

We are called...by our very existence, our choices, our upbringing, our traditions, our context, our experiences, our adventures, our explorations, our convictions and our challenges... we are called! On a daily basis, we need to become aware of this call and respond to it whole heartedly!

Our calling is our identity...not merely a tag! A tag is not our identity, it changes as often as we decide or others decide to! Our call determines our identity, our deep seated understanding of ourselves

Our calling is our mission...not merely a job! Mission is life long, it is a process and not merely a performance. It is our life, its journey, its twists and its turns, its ups and its downs, its ebb and its flow: it is the way we live our life!

Our calling is a promise...not merely the present! There is much to look forward to, there are things that are unexpected, there is a need to put out into the deep and just wait for a surprise! 

The Lord who has called is there all the time, let us adventure in the Spirit!

WORD 2day : 6th February, 2016

The Strange Choices

Remembering St. Gonsalo Garcia
1 Kgs 3: 4-13; Mk 6: 30-34

The choices we make are based on the priorities we hold. We are aware of so many psychological testing based on the types of choices a person makes, leading to the reasons and applications of the same into an analysis.

Today in the Word,  we have some strange choices: Solomon who chooses a less attractive but more divine choice; Jesus who makes a tiring tough choice of being with people; the apostles who have just returned from hectic outing but glad to be with Jesus once again... and another group whom we celebrate today, Paul Miki and companions who chose to die for the sake of the Gospel. Incidentally among this group we have the first proclaimed Indian saint : St. Gonsalo Garcia.

When we are united with the Lord, in heart and mind, our choices will be strange and people will notice it. Don't be alarmed, we do have company!

WORD 2day : 4th February, 2016

The Handing over

Remembering John de Britto
1 Kgs 2:1-4,10-12; Mk 6:7-13

David hands it over to Solomon;  Jesus hands it over to his apostles;  the Apostles have handed it over to us! We have to take it forward! While Jesus gives a long prescription of how to take it forward,  David sums it all up or the Lord sums it all up to David in a phrase: “If your sons are careful how they behave, and walk loyally before me with all their heart and soul"... that's the key!

Persons like John de Britto,  St Thomas and others who had come to India and given up their lives are examples for us to live what is handed over to us. The key that the first reading gives us is absolute. It binds me in my conscience not merely in my external behaviour. Living for God is proclaiming God;  living for God's Reign is establishing God's Reign here and now!

WORD 2day : 3rd February, 2016

Misleading Mentalities

4th Tuesday in Ordinary Time
2 Sam 24:2,8-17; Mk 6: 1-6

I come in the name of the Lord -that was David when he began his adventure with the Lord. Today we see him counting his strength. He seems to be taking stock of what and how much he could achieve, as if all that he had achieved till then were purely because of his own capabilities!

The people who encountered Jesus could not but be amazed...but those who have always seen Jesus growing amidst them refused to be amazed inspite of the great things that happened. They did not believe in their own people being so blessed. Truth had to be told by someone who came from elsewhere! They suspected their own capabilities.

Both these are misleading mentalities: the Lord has blessed us with qualities and capabilities that is for the good of all and we need to put them to use... mindful always of the fact that these came from the Lord and it is for the Lord's purposes they have to be used.

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

2nd February, 2016

Mal 3: 1-4; Heb 2: 14-18; Lk 2: 22-40

The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord
The Closure of the Year of Consecrated Life

The readings of today were offered for our reflection only recently, on the 8th day after Christmas. They are given once more today, but they open a whole new perspective today with all that surrounds it liturgically today!

We celebrate the feast of the presentation of the Lord and the close of the year of Consecrated Life that Holy Father Pope Francis announced from Dec, 2014.

Keeping all of them in perspective, we have one lovely challenge posed: the Challenge of Total Offering to the Lord. Not just persons in Consecrated Life, but every one of us is called to offer ourselves totally to God and that alone can give us true meaning and happiness in life.

From the readings of today, we can pick up three signs of our total offering to the  Lord:

Familiarity: As the Holy Family which enters the Temple with that ease and eagerness to perform their spiritual duty, so are we called to remain always familiar with the Lord.

Flexibility: Performing the duty was not merely a ritual, even for us it shouldn't be so! We are called to be pliable in the hands of God, as malleable as the silver and gold in the hands of the smith, so that we can become what the Lord wants us to.

Filiality: It is towards filiality, we are ultimately invited to, as the letter to the Hebrew reminds us. This filiality inspired and enthused Jesus to belong to God totally and we are called to imitate the same self-giving!

Let us grow more and more, familiar, flexible and filial. 

WORD 2day : 1st February, 2016

The Curse of Compromise

4th Monday in Ordinary Time
2 Samuel 15:13-14,30,16:5-13; Mk 5:1-20

The society today has many issues to sort but if there is something that seems to be having apparently no solution, it is the curse of compromises. It has no solution because one does not see it as a problem,  and  at times we find unlimited justification for such compromises.

Just because Saul was a Benjaminite,  today we see a man cursing David on Saul's account forgetting and justifying all that Saul did against David. How many compromises are made just because someone is on my side,  known to me or related to me!

The people in the Gospel were ready to live with the demoniacs and their troubles... they didn't want too much of disturbance in their cosy lives. They even ask Jesus to leave their neighbourhood because Jesus was making everything new. They were more for compromises.

The world has begun to put up with anything. They compromise on everything for certain gains and calculations. Would Jesus like that?  Or would we give up on Jesus due to this curse of compromise!