EASTER OCTAVE- THURSDAY

The Witnesses

Acts  3: 11-26; Lk 24: 35-48

"You are witnesses", declares the Lord in the Gospel and "We are witnesses", proclaims Peter before the people! 

We are Witnesses! We would become witnesses only when we have seen, we have experienced, we have been touched and we are so affected that we want to shout it out! 

Can I claim that I have seen the Lord? Do you think it is difficult to see the Lord?

Can I say that I have experienced the Lord? Have you really capitalised on the continuous presence and protection of the Lord? 

Do I feel touched by the Lord? What does the Lord mean to my daily life?

How much am I affected by the Lord? How are my priorities and principles shaped and transformed by the Lord?

These are some self ruminations that can make us true witnesses. Are we ready to take up the challenge of being witnesses to the Lord?

EASTER OCTAVE - WEDNESDAY

The Graduation Post-Resurrection

Acts 3:1-10; Lk 24: 13-35

The Apostles and Disciples discovered their real selves post-resurrection: it was not just a continuation but a graduation. From doing what Jesus said, they began to do what Jesus did and what Jesus would do! When they were with Jesus around Galilee and Judea, whatever Jesus wished they carried out - Jesus sent them on errands, on missionary journeys, he directed them at every step as to what to do, and they carried out orders. Now, when Jesus is with them after Resurrection, they seem to know exactly what is to be done! This did not happen all of a sudden... they were schooled... they were prepared... they were transformed and they Graduated!

They learnt things from Jesus, they learnt things about Jesus and they learnt to be Jesus! The Gospel presents to us the methodology that Jesus followed to educate his followers: the methodology of walking with them ("pedagogy" sounds so close to this meaning). Jesus walked with them and they learnt to grow into Jesus. They were able to understand what Jesus had spoken till then, they were able to do what Jesus did in their presence and they did it all, in the name of Jesus!

We are disciples and apostles of the Post-Resurrection era and we cannot behave still like those before. Let us graduate, from merely obeying rules to becoming like Jesus, from merely carrying out orders to understanding the mind of Jesus, from merely doing what Jesus wants to acting in the name of Jesus! We should make Jesus present today wherever we are.

EASTER OCTAVE - TUESDAY

What Next?

Acts 2: 36-41; Jn 20: 11-18

We were out celebrating the pasch with a group of youngsters during the Easter Triduum and at the end of the 3 days of experience the group was exuberant in their gratitude and vociferous in their admiration of all that was done during those days. Without throwing a wet blanket on their normal exuberance and the expected exhilaration, we had to ask them this crucial question : WHAT NEXT?

Many of our faith experiences and adventures of spiritual nature will go worthless, if we do not ask ourselves, 'where do I go from here?' This is what the people ask Peter, and this is what the Risen Christ directs Mary about. You have seen the Lord, you have experienced the Lord, you have tasted his living presence... do not stop with it. 

Go all out and share it with the others. Go all around and fill the earth with that love. Go to everyone and speak to them of what your Father and their Father has done to the whole of humanity. We are people with a spiritual experience. We are people with a never dying faith. Let the world know!

Easter People - Grow amidst Struggles

Easter Octave - Monday

April 22, 2019: Acts 2: 14, 22-33; Matthew 28: 8-15

There has been no dearth of conspiracies and controversies right from the beginning of the Christian Faith. The Word today brings out the very first controversy, a controversy about Christ's resurrection itself. But the same passages point also towards the fact that there was a constant increase in the number of people who wanted to be part of this new found faith! That is the message, both of today and of the season of Easter!

We will grow amidst struggles, if we are convinced that we are growing out of the will of the Father. We would be stifled by even the smallest hurdle if we are growing out of our own necessity, and for the sake of proving our own selves!

At times in our personal lives, or in our life of ministry, or in our professional lives, we feel like pushing our way through with plans and projects. Sure, they will see the light of day, but only to soon find its way out - may be due to failure or lack of true significance. If we want something to be established, we are taught today: we need to allow things into God's hands! Amidst all controversies and calumnies, judgments and prejudices, we are challenged to be founded on Risen Christ, grow in our faith and deepen ourselves in hope!

Let us remember, Easter People grow amidst struggles!

HOLY WEEK 2016 -The Silent Saturday

THE TASK: REMAIN

26th March

The Lord rests in the tomb this day...everything is silent! There will be a dawn very soon...but until then we are invited to Remain Silent, Remain Patient and Remain Waiting.

Speaking to me, a youngster asked me, what happened after Jesus died and before he rose? What was he going through? I said, He was silent! He was waiting! He just remained! This is the call of this unique day of the year in the Church: this is the only day in the whole of the Church when no Eucharist is Celebrated...the altar remains stripped, the tabernacle remains empty and the Church remains silent: waiting in patience to see what is going to happen next.

It is not so easy to remain silent in a moment of crisis. Multitudes of questions, thousands of thoughts will pass by our mind breaking our silence. Only the one who has an unwavering faith in the Lord can remain silent at these moments.

We have grown slaves to instant results. We seem to have have lost the natural patience of our forefathers, in the name of development and technology. Only the one who hopes in Someone greater than oneself, can remain patient and see things happen.

Compare waiting for a public utility, may be a transport or one's turn in a crowded office, with waiting for one's beloved! While former seems irritating, the latter looks exciting. The difference is the love that is involved: Only the one who loves the Lord immensely, remains waiting, for the Lord to act on his or her behalf.

Today is the day to remain...to remain silent, to remain patient, to remain waiting, because the Lord is getting something beautiful ready for us!

HOLY WEEK 2016 - The Good Friday

THE TASK: SURRENDER

25th March

Into your hands Lord I commend my Spirit...that was not merely words said by Jesus at the end of his life, it was an attitude with which he live his entire life. That is precisely why even his death proved to be a triumph.

Jesus is the High Priest, the Sacrificial Lamb and the Sacrificial Altar at one and the same time. The Sufferings of Christ become the salvation of our beings. The Cross becomes the sign through which we are saved.

Sufferings in our lives have to be faced with a sense of surrender, that they may serve to be instruments that reveal the very significance of our life. 

HOLY WEEK 2016 - The Maundy Thursday

THE TASK: SERVE

24th March

Maundy Thursday - the very name reminds of the mandate we have from the Lord and Master, a mandate that is so compelling because it was not given merely in words, but in and through a life that was lived! All the three events we remember today have the same message in different forms!

THE LORD'S SUPPER:

The First event is the Lord's Supper...not so much what they and how they did it, but what transpired in the mean time becomes the first mandate to us. It is the same with our families and communities too...not so much what we have at table and the variety of the spread that really matters, but what transpires around it. How many of us enjoy our table-time, in contrast to merely respecting time-table! The former concerns persons and the latter, programme. 

Jesus uses the encounter at the table, not merely here but with Zacchaeus, with the Simon the Pharisee, with the disciples to Emmaus and so on, for a spiritual encounter, an encounter that would transform the life of the other. How many of our table encounters have ended up as spiritual enrichments? Here again he uses this table-time to bring a strong lesson to the disciples: LOVE IS SERVICE!

THE EUCHARIST:

The second event is Jesus giving us his body and blood... an anticipation of what is about to happen on Calvary. Jesus anticipates the blessing of the sanctifying act, the salvific self-giving in inviting his disciples to eat his body and drink his blood. What gruesome agony he underwent on those following days - all for the love that the Father has for us; all for the love that Christ wanted to manifest to us. Jesus infact exemplifies the mandate that he gave just a while back. The lesson is so clear: LOVE IS SELF-GIVING!

THE PRIESTHOOD:

The third event is the institution of the Priesthood... as the ministry of making present this mandate given and exemplified. Priesthood is a gift to the Church, a gift that makes present the mercy of God to God's people. It is a ministry that perpetuates the self emptying of God. The Son of man who came to serve and to be served, continues to minister to his beloved flock. Priesthood becomes thus a standing reminder to serve and offers a splendid lesson: LOVE IS LIVING FOR THE OTHER. 

HOLY WEEK 2016 - The Spy Wednesday

THE TASK: TRUST

23rd March

Judas, can easily be presented as the epitome of the ills that the present society is infected with. There are three tendencies in Judas that we are called to beware of:

- What will you give me? Looking for a gain, a personal gain, a sordid gain, a material gain, from whatever the situation be! The society today is growing in this tendency, that not only persons see each other as potential gain or loss, but they manipulate each other towards one's own gain!

- Is it I Lord? Not really getting the grips of oneself. The society today is quick to blame the others for all evils, unable to point to oneself and get in touch with the personal limitations that add to the social scourge! Issues that affect our society like corruption, caste and other discrimination... aren't they arising from individual insensitivities?

- It was dark outside... because he did not have God in his heart, he had only the money bag in his mind. As he left, it was not only dark outside, more dark within him! He was going through a tough time: whether to trust God or to take things into his own hands and push it forward - a likely temptation that many of us undergo: to trust God or push our way forward! 

Let us learn to Trust God and wait on the Lord's will.

HOLY WEEK 2016 - The Preaching Tuesday

THE TASK: LISTEN

22nd March

After Jesus cleansed the Temple and drove the money changers and vendors out of it, he did not hide himself somewhere safe, but he intensified his preaching among the people. He was seen talking to people, instructing his disciples and challenging the folks. 

But as the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah spoke of the people, they never understood what they heard, though they were hanging on to the lips of the Lord. He spoke to the disciples about the imminent things to come, but they were equally unprepared when things began to happen. Jesus did not want them to be caught by surprises, but they were not keen enough to grasp all what Jesus said.

The invitation is also to us today: to Listen. To listen and not merely hear. We hear the Word so much but nothing in us changes. We hear and speak and discuss but fail to grasp the essential meaning of the Word or fail to see the transformation that it can create within us.

To listen and to be truly transformed, to listen and to understand the Word in its essence, to listen and to put it into practice in our daily life - that is the task entrusted to us today!

HOLY WEEK 2016 - The Cleansing Monday

THE TASK: CLEANSE

21st March

This is the day that the conflict between the Jews and Jesus erupted to its peak. Jesus enters the Temple and begins to cleanse it! The zeal for his Father's House set him afire, and his disciples were obviously enthused about it. Against the background of the triumphal entry into Jerusalem the previous day, the disciples thought it was the beginning of some kind of a revival of Israel. They never imagined that would be the beginning of the end of Jesus' life! Jesus himself would soon become a victim of the evil social order, that Jesus picks the whip against today. 

The task entrusted to us today is to Cleanse... as Jesus cleanses the temple!

We are called to cleanse our lives, cleanse our social lives of the unjust order, cleanse our family life of unholy priorities, cleanse our personal lives of sordid impurities.

The Merciful Shepherd wishes to carry us through from darkness to light, from sin to salvation, from death to new life...provided we allow ourselves to be carried. Cleansing is saying 'yes' to the Lord, allowing the Lord to carry us, choosing to be transformed and built once more into the Holy Dwelling Place of God!

The readings point to us the thickening plot, where the Jews intensely turn against Jesus and everything that is connected to Jesus. They find Jesus as challenging their very existence and they cannot wait to get rid of him. But the Beloved Son of God is upto his duty, come what may! 

Mercilent Digest

As we enter into the Holy Week from today...we come to the end of the Mercilent Reflections. Here is the digest for the entire season:

Mercilent Thoughts
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
13. Be Different
14. Be Wise
15. Be Careful
16. Be Joyful
17. Be Pliable
18. Be Grateful
19. Be Blessed
20. Be Judicious
21. Be Loving
22. Be Spiritual
23. Be Yielding
24. Be Life-giving
25. Be Diligent
26. Be Testimonies
27. Be Prepared
28. Be Illumined
29. Be Drawn
30. Be Free
31. Be Eternal
32. Be Dependent
33. Be Fulfillment

HOLY WEEK 2016 - The Palm Sunday

THE TASK: ENTER

20th March 2016

The task given to us by the Lord is to ENTER... as he enters the city of Jerusalem! 

Jesus entered the city knowing well that it is going to lead him to trouble. When we decide to take it upon ourselves to be like the Lord, there will be problems from all side. There will be those who wait to kill us; there will those who long to see our downfall; there will be those who criticise us; there will be those who stand by and watch us suffer; there will be those who take pleasure in remaining unconcerned about the cause we stand for! But I am called to enter into that life that the Lord calls me to live, for God and for God's mission.

Jesus entered the city, with joy and enthusiasm of the people. A sad Christian is a sorry Christian. The task that we take upon ourselves to build the Reign of God may be demanding but that cannot take away the joy and enthusiasm from within us. I have to be the cause of joy and enthusiasm for the people, I cannot be an hindrance to their joy and happiness; much more I cannot be the cause of the grief of the people! I am called to take up the tough task of standing up for the Lord, but with a joyful heart and a glad spirit.

Jesus entered the city, to complete that task that was entrusted to him. He had his task clear cut, and he was aware of it. He had told that to his disciples time and again: that he would go to Jerusalem and suffer and be handed over to those who will kill him. Though he prayed that the bitter chalice should pass away, finally he submits himself to God and that is how he becomes our way to the Father. In his obedience Jesus paves a way to our salvation. How far am I prepared to go all the way in obedience to the One who has called me!

The challenge is to enter the life that the Lord wants us to. It may cost our comfort zone, our close acquaintances and even our life. But that is not going to be for too long. I have to go a long way...but the Lord God is with me, and his Word shall protect me. Hosanna in the Highest!

MERCILENT 2016 - 19th March

BE FULFILLMENT: stand on the promises of God!

Celebrating St. Joseph, Spouse of Mary

2 Sam 7: 4-5,12-14,16; Rom 4: 13,16-18,22; Mt 1:16,18-21,24

Though today is a Solemnity, an exception granted by the Church to deviate from the Lenten sobreity, we could go on with our mercilent thoughts as today's saint brings to a fitting conclusion the mercilent attitudes. 

St. Joseph embodied a great number of fulfilments of the Lord's promises...that is the key to understand today's Word. Beginning from the promise given to David through Prophet Nathan and ending with the interpretation given by St. Paul about those who stand by the promises of the Lord, Joseph is figured as a sign of the fulfilment of the Lord's promises. 

How does St. Joseph stand out as a sign of Fulfilment...that would be the attitude we take to heart today. He was Simple, Silent and Single-minded!

Joseph was simple, he never wished to complicate issues. Even when he wanted to reject Mary due to the information he had, he wanted to do it in a very unnoticed manner. He remains all through the Gospel too, an unnoticed simple saint and that is why God deigns to fulfill God's promises through him.

Joseph was silent, he does not speak even at places where he could have made some solemn pronouncements after great events like, the visions to accept Mary, the warning to run away to Egypt, the event of finding lost Jesus in the temple. Joseph remains in holy silence just cooperating with the Will of God.

Joseph was single-minded in his commitment to carrying out what God wanted. He had no second opinions when it came to obeying orders from the Lord. It was this single-mindedness that made him receive those visions: because he was so filled with the anxiety to do the will of the Father who sent him that he had clear directions in and through those dreams!

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Be simple, be silent, be single-minded: be fulfillment!

MERCILENT 2016 - 18th March

BE DEPENDENT: it's no loss of your self image!

Friday,  5th week in Lent

Jer 20: 10-13; Jn 6: 63-68

The days are such that people clamour for recognition and go a long way to hold on to their self image and their due credits. It is not anymore rare to hear of conflicts for credits - that someone usurped it from someone else and so on. It goes even to an extent where one even claims credit for what has been gifted so gratuitously by God!

The good that we accomplish is not totally our own for us to claim absolute credit for it. First of all it is the Lord who gives us the opportunity to do that good. Secondly it is the Lord who empowers us to do that good. Thirdly it is the Lord who clears the hoards of hurdles that could possibly arise in accomplishing the said good.

That is why Jesus gives the people the work that he accomplishes as testifying to his origin from the Father. And Jeremiah is not stifled by the enormous attack on him... because he is totally convinced that what he does is God's work and not his own.

The key is to acknowledge dependence on God and to be convinced that it is no loss of one's self image or autonomy or self esteem. As St. Paul would challenge,  'what do we have that we have not received? ' (1 Cor 4:7)

The Mercilent Attitude for today : Let us express our dependence on God repeatedly and with real conviction.

MERCILENT 2016 - 8th March

BE LIFE-GIVING: flow from the Sanctuary!

Tuesday, 4th week in Lent

Ezek 47: 9-12; Jn 5: 1-3,5-16

The River was life-giving and wholesome.  The reason: it flowed from the Sanctuary. Jesus was life-giving because he flowed from the Eternal Sanctuary,  his Father and our Father! We are called to be rivers that flow from the Sanctuary... to be life giving. 

I am fond of repeating a story that I read a long while ago, about the man who bought a new hunting dog which could surprisingly walk over the water. He wanted to flaunt the special capacity of his dog before his neighbour and took him along once when he went hunting. He shot a game which fell across the river and the dog ran over the river and picked the hunt and returned. Looking at his neighbour he asked,  did you notice anything? Yeah, I see that your dog does not know to swim, said the neighbour. We are sometimes experts in picking up whatever is negative. They could not even see that the man who was a vegetable for the past three decades could walk now;  they only saw that he was carrying a mat which he should not. 

The more we get in touch with our inner Sanctuary where the Lord abides,  the more we respect the living Sanctuaries that is our brothers and sisters in the Lord, and the more we long for the chosen sanctuaries where the Lord deigns to wait for us,  the more life giving we should turn. Our very presence should enhance joy, hope and life wherever we are. It will happen only if we flow from the Sanctuary,  living our life from the deep. 

The Mercilent Attitude for today : Live to the full,  give life to all. 

MERCILENT 2016 - 17th March

BE ETERNAL: belong to the covenant.

Thursday, 5th week in Lent

Gen 17: 3-9; Jn 8: 51-59

Today we have the account of the Abrahamic Covenant - I will be your God and you shall be my people. And Jesus completes that account in the Gospel saying, 'whoever keeps my word will never see death'. The one who believes in the Son and does the will of the One who sent the Son, will have eternal life - this is what Jesus meant and said in various terms at various instances. 

Eternal can have three meanings: 

Endless (anantha), that is what we are called to: though we have a beginning we are destined to an existence that is endless as we will become one with the Lord, and not just perish. 

Beginningless (anaadhi) that is what God is: One who is without a beginning or an end.

Beyond these two meanings there is a third meaning which is very difficult for the human mind to understand. That is, Timelessness. Eternal means timelessness, beyond time, beyond all categories of before and after, earlier and later, and all other chronological considerations. This is what confuses the Jews. How can Jesus speak of Abraham as if he were someone who still lived? 

We can become eternal when we become one with God. We become timeless. We have nothing much to do but just obey, just carry out orders, just live on in the way that the Lord says, make choices for the Lord and the Lord's will, reject anything that detracts our life's paths. Our eternal life can begin right here, when we belong to the covenant.

The Mercilent Attitude for today: What does God want of me at this moment? - let that be a constant question on your mind.

MERCILENT 2016 - 16th March

BE FREE: Hold on to One, True God

Wednesday, 5th week in Lent

Dan 3: 52-56; Jn 8: 31-42

Freedom of the Children of God - is a phrase that we are used to hearing. What a tremendous sense it makes when we seriously think about that fact, that we are children of God. It makes us free, secure and sincere!

Free because we need not think of pleasing anybody else, we need not compromise to favour someone else other than my God who is beyond anybody or anything. All the furnace around me cannot consume me. All the predators around me cannot prey on me. Because I am a child of God and even amidst the fire, the Lord walks beside me!

Secure because the one who is with me is the most trustworthy one you can ever think of - One who keeps promises, One who keeps back nothing from me for the sake of my happiness, One who treasures me having written my name on His palm.

Sincere because I have no necessity to hold on to anything that is not true. I need not put up an appearance, I need not prove myself beyond what  I really am, I need not be anxious about whether I will be rejected or sidelined, I need not bother how dire the consequences will be. I have come to bear witness to the Truth, said my Master. That is the same vocation I share.

My Lord is my Master and I am liberated, I am free and I don't have to fear anything!

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Do not fear; Just feel Free and act Sincere!

MERCILENT 2016 - 15th March

BE DRAWN : Lift up, look up and live on!

Tuesday, 5th week in Lent

Num 21: 4-9; Jn 8: 21-30

Falling is a daily experience in our life and that is why we need to constantly rise up and move on! It is not falling but remaining fallen, out of laziness or stubbornness, that renders a person 'lost'. However the same experience of a fall, when approached with true humility and a broken heart, can become uplifting and enthuse one to live on. The difference is, we need to be drawn by the Lord, towards the Lord! No one can come to the Father, unless the Father draws them!

How can we be drawn to our God? The Word today gives us the formula: lift up, look up and live on. 

Lift up Jesus, as your Lord and saviour, as the one who alone can rescue you, as the one who has the ownership over you. Declare it from your heart and surrender.

Look up and gaze at that power drawing you to himself, realise you need the Lord and confess your dependence on the Lord. Allow yourself to be drawn into his eternal love and merciful forgiveness! 

And when you do that you will live on; you will find meaning in life beyond all the pressures around you; you will find an inner peace inspite of the turbulence that surrounds you; you will have that joy that the Lord alone can give!

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Turn to the magnificence of the Lord every now and then and surrender yourself completely.

MERCILENT 2016 - 14th March

BE ILLUMINED: the Light is with you!

Monday, 5th week in Lent

Dan 13:41-62; Jn 8: 12-20

We have a dramatic episode in the first reading today. Though the innocent Susanna being blamed is a lent-worthy theme, the point of reference today is Daniel. Daniel, who was illumined by the light of the Lord and filled with the Spirit, delivers Susanna from the treacherous plotters and the mindless mob. To instruct the ignorant and to illumine the confused are spiritual acts of mercy and that is the call that Daniel's episode offers us today.

We are called to fight against the treacherous plotters, deceivers who lead people astray, people with hidden agenda who manipulate the weak and the vulnerable. We fight them by throwing light on the truth and standing by it amidst threats and treason. Tougher still is the other task: that of illumining the ignorant and the mindless, who do not have clear thinking of their own, who swallow all that they are told, who follow the mob so blind that they do not even know what they live for. At times our faith choices too become such a following of the mob and that is a crucial element we have to be careful against. 

Jesus is the Light that illumines our minds, reveals the falsehoods and bears testimony to truth. Jesus sheds light on what we need to do, where we need to journey towards, and where we are at this moment!

The Mecilent Attitude for today: Surrender to the Lord and pray for his illumination, that you can understand God's ways and share it with others.

RELAUNCH TIME

MERCILENT 2016 - 5th Sunday of Lent - 13th March

Is 43: 16-21; Phil 3: 8-14; Jn 8: 1-11

Lent is no time for regret or remorse. Neither is it a call to resume our life after a short break. It is a time to Relaunch, relaunch from the forgiveness of the Lord!

The experience of being forgiven is a refreshing moment, it is not a moment that reminds us of all the wrong that we have done. If it does so, then it ties us to our past. We will be filled with regrets and remorse and guilt will reign supreme! That is what happened to Judas. He betrayed his friend and teacher - Jesus. Yes, it was wrong but it wasn't worse than Peter who denied even knowing the Master who loved him so much. But we see Peter come out of that treacherous situation unscathed, not Judas! The reason, with Judas there was regret, remorse and the resultant guilt. With Peter there was the will to relaunch! That is what the Lord challenges us to today, as he tells us: Go sin no more! 

At times our lenten experience can become an interim experience, as it happens in an institution during the moments of 'inspection' or 'verification'. It is like my experience. I have the habit of filling my table with books and notes that I work with. It may look like a mess over my table, but I go on with my work. At a point of time I would just take it upon me to start clearing the mess and start putting some order. When the table looks empty and orderly, one of the staff would remark with a smile: "let us see how long it lasts!" Rightly so, the books and notes would return in no time! Lent cannot be that short time of "putting order" and then to resume the 'ordinary life'. That would make it all an excessive effort for too little a cause.

Lent has to be a moment of Relaunch! It should be a time when I have to decide on elements to be TRASHED in my life. St. Paul speaks of that categorical choice for Christ: when everything else becomes rubbish. It is a moment to ascertain the only thing to be TREASURED - the renewing mercy of God brought to us by the redeeming love of Christ. And it is a challenge to TONE UP our life, forgetting the failures  of the past and Relaunching our journey with Christ. That is what Jesus tells the woman: behold I create something new for you, a new life, a new start. Come, start again and and be joyful, let us journey together in love and mercy of the Father!

I am reminded of the Strenna for 2016 given by our Rector Major: With Jesus, let us journey in an adventure of the Spirit. Let us relaunch, and rejoice!

MERCILENT 2016 - 12th March

BE PREPARED: they will hate you for no reason!

Saturday, 4th week in Lent

Jer 11: 18-20; Jn 7: 40-52

Speaking of the recent killings at the Missionaries of Charity in Yemen, quite a few reports end with the phrase: 'the reasons for the attack are unknown!' Why should a group of people who are with the old, the sickly and the destitute, be killed? Because they were being good? Because they were living their life for others? Or merely because they were doing it all in the name of Jesus?

Jeremiah was hated for living a righteous life. Jesus was hated for the good he was doing and the joy he was bringing to the poor and the oppressed, and moreover because he was from Galilee! The world does not need a reason to hate you. It will find a reason by all means, unless you compromise with it. The moment you stand for what you believe and live in conformity to only what you stand for, you got to be prepared! 

Mercy, would have it that even in the face this hatred you continue loving, that you continue doing good, that you do not retaliate nor seek to avenge them some how! The best example is the Cross that shines before us specially during this season, the greatest sign of the power of mercy! Forbearance towards those who do wrong against you, is definitely an act of mercy.

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Be ready and prepared for opposition when you wish to be good; don't compromise!

MERCILENT 2016 - 11th March

BE ENDURING: let nothing disturb you!

Friday, 4th week in Lent

Wis 2:1,12-22; Jn 7: 1-2,10,25-30

Enduring all odds is a necessary quality for a servant of God. If only a person wants to remain faithful to what the Lord has called him or her for, the person has to grow tough from within. One cannot allow something to affect him or her so easily, if the person wants to go all the way with one's vocation. 

Endurance means the capacity to dedicate oneself for a cause and to stand by that cause come what may. Here we are speaking of the Lord's chosen ones and their capacity for total dedication. There are two types of situations that can make one lose one's endurance: the opposition of the Godless and the indifference of the thoughtless.

The Godless interpret everything that you do in their own sense and malign your name and whatever you are upto. The first reading says, their malice makes them blind to anything that is godly. The thoughtless are the so called 'religiously diligent' people but who are lost in their own world, who wish that everyone fits into their framework of understanding. Jesus is struggling against these in the Gospel today. 

We may be faced with the Godless who oppose us, malign us, persecute us...are we going to give up being messengers of the Lord? We may be surrounded by the self righteous lot who find fault merely because we do not fit into their frameworks...are we going to lose heart? If we are broken because of these experiences, that is a fragrant offering we can give the Lord but we need to endure! The worst of everything is if we ourselves fall into one of the two categories - the godless or the thoughtless. Let us be careful.

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Let nothing disturb us and let us never be weary of doing good (2 Thes 3:13)

MERCILENT 2016 - 10th March

BE TESTIMONIES: endure, hold on and see the wonders

Thursday, 4th week in Lent

Exo 32: 7-14; Jn 5: 31-47

The Gospel today is very dense passage where Jesus speaks if his testimonies to himself and to God who has sent him. In the extensive discourse what he wants to highlight is that we know, we understand, we come to believe but these do not stand firm for long. A bit of a trouble, or a small delay in favours, or an untoward incident that breaks our plans, or an unexpected turn of events that gets us into crisis, takes us away from God. We see people going away from God, denying God, or creating their own God when things do not go the way that they wanted. 

The call is to be testimonies to the Lord and to what the Lord wants to accomplish in and through us. The recent killings at Yemen is a great testimony, because of their endurance. A couple of decades back the same Yemen had a similar attack and these sisters were asked to  leave and they refused to do so, saying the dying and the destitutes there needed them and decided to hang on, the priests who spiritually cater to them. held on too. Today their death gives us pain but remains a great testimony! The Holy Father called them, 'the martyrs of our day'. 

How enduring are we in our commitment to the Lord? How prepared are we to hold on, in the face of struggles? How persevering are we to wait for the wonders that the Lord has in store for us!

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Believe in the Lord and check how much your thoughts and words bear testimony to the Lord!

MERCILENT DIGEST II

Here is an update of Mercilent Thoughts so far:
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
13. Be Different
14. Be Wise
15. Be Careful
16. Be Joyful
17. Be Pliable
18. Be Grateful
19. Be Blessed
20. Be Judicious
21. Be Loving
22. Be Spiritual
23. Be Yielding
24. Be Life-giving
25. Be Diligent

MERCILENT 2016 - 9th March

BE DILIGENT: the Word judges

Wednesday, 4th week in Lent

Is 49: 8-15; Jn 5: 17-30

Mercy is not devoid of justice, it is a perfection of justice! Hence Mercy cannot become an escapism on my part. Can I deceive the Lord who knows me through and through? Can I escape from the Word which cuts through right till it divides the soul from the spirit and the joints from the marrow.

God's mercy is there for the taking! Yes, it is freely given without any conditions, but I should be in a position to make it my own, and that responsibility is upon me. The Word today points to us how the Lord is so enthusiastic about saving us and intervening into our life for our wholeness at the right and appointed time. It also adds, that we will be judged on the degree of our diligence in this regard.

How readily do we turn to God in times of tests? How early do we spot ourselves straying away from the path? How mindful are we about what we are called to do, in order to prevent unnecessary developments in life? As a way to keep ourselves from going astray Don Bosco used to say, do what you are supposed to be doing with a sense of diligence and that will take you a long way towards sanctity. 

Knowing what I am expected to do, understanding the purpose behind the calling and being diligent in carrying out God's will for me at every single moment...that is the way we live as people of the Word.

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Whatever you do, find God's will in it and be diligent in carrying it out

MERCILENT 2016 - 7th March

BE YIELDING: Don't be stubborn with Grace

Monday, 4th week in Lent

Is 65: 17-21; Jn 4: 43-54

At times we speak of Grace as some'thing' to be received from God: terms like more graces, special graces, immediate graces, etc betray such an understanding. The most Christian understanding of Grace would be the continual proximity of God. The Lord promises us to be with us and the Lord is always faithful to this promise. The challenge is that we realise this presence and feel it concretely. When we do that, everything turns new - the earth, the heaven, the life, the experience, the persons around, the problems that persist...everything is renewed! But the need is that we YIELD!

The Gospel today brings out this message very subtly. The Court Official's petition for a favour was a bit irritating for Jesus - Jesus expresses that but the official finds favour when he yields to the terms of Jesus: 'You Go and your son will live'...the man turns and walks! He wanted grace, the proximity of Jesus, but he willingly yields to experience it in the Lord's own terms. If I remain stubborn as to what I want to experience and that I must experience it in my own terms, then I restrict the great wonders that can happen around me. 

Yielding requires three major qualities of Faith: Confidence, Surrender and Humility. It is to say wholeheartedly : 'God is in-charge!"

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Take your life to the Lord, every situation that needs the Lord's presence and surrender it to the Lord- that's the best type of Prayer.

RENEWAL TIMES

MERCILENT 2016 - 4th Sunday in Lent - 6th March

Josh 5: 9-12; 2 Cor 5: 17-21; Lk 15: 1-3, 11-32

I remember it was during our Novitiate year, we were suggested to follow a spirituality of identifying ourselves with one of the plants or trees that stood in our campus and observe its growth and reflect on our own growth in relation to it. Looking out of the window from our study hall, there was a  tree which was almost dead, its bark dry and dark. But I had chosen that tree, because I was drawn by the small little shoot that jetted out right on top, tender and green! I was so happy to see how life can come out of such tough situations! The very next day I saw someone had cut the tree and the tree lay down flat on the ground! I was so grieved and feared what sign the Lord is giving! When I spoke to my Spiritual Director, he said not to lose hope and to look out for another plant or tree. But I had made up my mind never again to try this exercise on myself anymore. After a fortnight or more one fine morning as I sat in the study hall and just casually looked out, my eyes widened as I saw the dry bark of the tree on the ground, but a new leaf that had just sprung up from that so-called dead bark! Oh what a message of Hope that was: the Renewal Times!

Behold I make everything new, the Lord promises! The Lord is continually making things new. Our task is to Trust in the Lord! To trust in the Lord even amidst great tragic news as that of the killings that we heard of in Yemen yesterday!

The First reading speaks of the trust that the wandering people of Israel had and how that Trust did not fail. They eat the produce of the land they were promised! The Manna stopped that was not sad...because there was something better given to them.

The Manna stopped yes, but they were to Taste a different bread, the bread of the Mercy of the Lord. They tasted and they gave praises to the Lord: Taste and See that the Lord is good.That was something new and far more greater than what they had tasted till then.

The Tasting of the Lord is a tough call, because it requires that we Tread the path of the Lord, that we think like God does - the call to be Merciful like the Father! Only when we show mercy, can we taste mercy!

The elder son in the parable narrated in the Word today,is no different from the younger son. The younger son was physically away, but the elder son was spiritually so far away from the Father: he had been calculating, expecting, comparing, grumbling and grudging all work! How sad, that he was so near the Father yet so far. If only we wish to taste the goodness of the Lord, we need to Trust in the Lord and Tread in the Lord's path.

Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy #10

Some Special Proposals for the Year

 # HOLY DOOR OF MERCY

I am the door and only through me can one go to the Father, promised the Lord. I will enter his gates with thanksgiving in my heart,  I will enter his courts with praise! 

The Holy Father invites us to enter the holy door of mercy, through which we can experience the love of God who consoles,  pardons, and instils hope. 

It is not a magical act that we enter the door and the mercies of the Lord get sprayed all over us! The Holy Father bases himself on a solid theological background as he announces this traditional invitation in these post modern times. There is a threefold condition that enables one to receive the mercy of the Lord efficaciously. 

First condition is Faith, that is a filial trust in the Father and a fraternal relationship with the Son, united in the Spirit. 

The second condition is Preparation, preparing oneself through the sacrament of Reconciliation and a well received communion. 

The third condition is the union with the intention of the Universal faith community,  the Church.

With these three conditions when a faithful makes a conscious spiritual exercise of entering the specially consecrated door, the person receives an indulgence, that is the grace of salvific forgiveness for oneself and for the souls in the purgatory.

It is indeed an uplifting experience to engage in such a pilgrimage to enter this door and find the solace that God has in store for us. 

MERCILENT 2016 - 5th March

BE SPIRITUAL: it is to grow more and more loving

Saturday, 3rd week in Lent

Hos 5:15 - 6:6; Lk 18: 9-14

Being Spiritual at times is confused with being self-righteous! Being self-righteous involves a large dose of judgement of the other. When you judge, you do not love. So being self righteous you begin to love the other lesser and lesser, and yourself more and more! It is a kind of narcissism (a pitiable condition of excessive self love). Whereas today the Word invites us to love more than to sacrifice, to get to know who the Lord is and who we are in relation to the Lord, than making our spiritual efforts mere rituals. 

Being Spiritual truly should mean growing more and more loving. More loving towards God and more loving towards those around us. Growing more loving means, that we grow more and more open, to appreciate the other sincerely, to sensitively confront the other in their shortcomings, to readily accept my own limitations with gratitude when pointed out, to reach out to the other in whatever way I can even if it costs me a bit.

Being Spiritual means to understand within me what the Spirit wants of me and to lead my life in the Spirit's path. The Spirit of the Lord wants us to grow more and more loving and less and less judgmental. The Holy Father seems to be repeating this time and again and infact this quality is the crux of true mercy in dealing with each other.  

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Relate lovingly, become conscious of your tendency to judge and grow more and more loving!