WORD 2day : 30th April, 2016

They hate you? Don't Worry, Be Happy!

Saturday,  5th week in Eastertide
Acts 16: 1-10; Jn 15: 18-21

People around you find you a pain in the neck,  for the right reasons... be happy! People call you outdated and impractical and living in a world that does not exist because you stand by values... don't worry!  People dump you and wish to see you destroyed because you disturb their "peace"... be blessed!

Everyone,  even the worst among the lot,  seems to be comfortable with you... be careful! No one has any problem with your ideas and absolutely every one seems fine with your values... look into yourself! There is no opposition at all to what you do and not even those who discourage you... beware!

Yes!  That is what the Lord says. If you stand by truth and live by values,  you are sure to be branded 'utopian' and kept aside from the so called 'steps forward'. It is wonderful to be acceptable to all,  but at what cost?

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

Remembering St. Catherine of Siena

29th April, 2016

1 Jn 1:5 - 2:2; Mt 11:25-30

For the popularity that she enjoyed and the wisdom she possessed, if Catherine of Siena were to have been a male religious, she would have certainly been a Bishop and a Cardinal, or could have even gone on to become the Pope! That is why the Gospel of the day fits in so well with this saint: you hid the truths from learned and clever and revealed them to mere children. 

Catherine was just 33 when she died and she learnt to write only towards the end of her life, while in her life time she had accomplished feats as great as convincing the Pope Gregory XI to get back to Rome from Avignon, negotiating peace between Rome and Florence, serving at the Papal Court of Pope Urban VI as a counsel!

Dedicating herself to Christ at an early age of 7, she did experience a hurdle at the age of 16 when her family wanted her to enter into a marriage. But she rededicated herself to the Lord and became a Third Order Dominican. That gave her the possibility of moving with people and directly working for their welfare in the world. She considered strongly that she was mystically married to Christ and did everything in her life at His bidding. In an atmosphere of rising promiscuity, Catherine of Siena seems a great model of what young disciples of Christ could achieve in life.

WORD 2day: 28th April, 2016

To Remain in his love

Thursday, 5th week in Eastertide

Acts 15: 7-21; Jn 15: 9-11

Peter, Paul, Barnabas, James... what great names in today's first reading. All heavy weights in faith, the greatest apostles coming together to determine the future course of the Way. The Congregation that was gathered was divided. They had differences of opinions. There was a traditional group, infact James was part of it. There was a progressive group and Paul and Barnabas were championing it. Peter was the bridge, the "pontiff" - right enough! And we see the Apostle James, the first Bishop of Jerusalem steering the entire discussion in such a godly fashion.

The whole argument was resolved on one fact: what is important is not circumcision nor uncircumcision (cf. Gal 5:6; 6:15) but faith working through love; what is important is REMAINING IN HIS LOVE. That is the crux of Christianity. It is not rules or rubrics, it is not law or legal fulfillments, but the love of Christ that gives meaning to our lives. Anything inspired by true and genuine love for God and for the people of God, leads us to true life in God. Anything that divides the people of God and brings hatred among them, is not from God and is against the Spirit of the Lord. Keep Reflecting!   

WORD 2day: 27th April, 2016

Christian Mode of Conflict Resolution

Wednesday, 5th week in Eastertide

Acts 15: 1-6; Jn 15: 1-8

We see a conflict arising in the Early Christian Community - two factions: the Conservatives and the Progressives. When the conflict arose, they immediately fall back to the roots, they come together and resolve it. The moment conflict arose they thought of getting together and not splitting into groups - that is a Christian Attitude.

A truly Christian attitude of conflict resolution is an attitude of unifying, a promotion of solidarity, a strengthening of bond and an assurance of fellowship. The growing number of denominations and divisions within the so-called Christian Community, is a counter witness, says the erstwhile encyclical Evangelii Nuntiandi. The greatest scandal to the world is a divided Church.

It is not so difficult for us to get back to our communion even amidst all conflicts because we are all branches grafted on to a single vine: Jesus Christ! I am the vine says Jesus today, inviting us all to resolve our differences in him. A beautiful tamil hymn on love has an admirable phrase which expresses the following sentiment: let us respect the differences and live in harmony! (வேற்றுமை நிலைகளை மதித்திங்கு ஒற்றுமையுடனே வாழுவோம்) 

The more we are ready to get back to Christ and remain united in the One Lord, the more Christian we remain. Moments when I begin to contemplate division, I am disregarding the vine I am grafted on to.

WORD 2day: 26th April, 2016

Fear versus Peace

Tuesday, 5th week in Eastertide

Acts 14: 19-28; Jn 14: 27-31

The other day I got to see a forward that someone sent, a lady speaking about an alleged intellectual subversion that is happening in India. And her entire argument was that the intellectual cream of the nation is getting together under the patronage of Non-Hindu forces and subverting the entire Hindu Rashtrya, and that the dream of Hindu Rashtrya is being squashed to nothing. I could see the fear that was in her and that she intended to drive home into the minds of the listeners, giving the example of South Korea which was just 4% Christian in 1900, 18% in 1970s and over 40% in 1990 and she likened that fact to Kerala in India! Again, what I could see there was all FEAR...as we see in the first reading today. The Jews feared the rising acceptability of the new Way that they witnessed.

On the other hand we have the apostles in the same scenario: Paul and Barnabas and even others - they were calm and composed, fearless and daring, unmoved even in the face of death. What we can see here is all PEACE. The Word is teaching us today, the opposite of Peace is Fear! Where there is fear there is no peace! When fear disappears, Peace reigns. Jesus was about to go, not on a pleasant journey but on a trial and a real suffering unto death, but there is absolutely no trace of fear in him. The reason: he loved his Father and he was convinced his Father loved him! And he wishes that his disciples loved him much, and believed in his love for them. 

When we love God, and when we are convinced of the love that God has for us, we will have a Peace that no fear can take away! Peace be with you!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

Celebrating St. Mark the Evangelist

Monday, 25th April, 2016

1 Pet 5: 5-14; Mk 16: 15-20

Did Mark ever see Jesus? That's possible. But only as a young lad. They say,  it is probable that Mark is referring to himself in the young man who left behind his garment and ran when Jesus was being taken prisoner (Mk 14:51,52). However he had been one of the prominent among the second generation apostles. He was taught by Peter, accompanied Paul and Barnabas and he wrote the Gospel! 

Today Mark offers us three lessons to keep in mind. 

1. Let us be enthusiastic about the proclamation of the Good news by facilitating or helping or supporting or encouraging those who are involved in this task. We see John Mark and his mother Mary were regularly hosting the group of Christians who gathered to pray. 

2. Let us be diligent in our dedication and simple in our disposition that we are wanted by others to accompany them. Peter took Mark with him, Paul asks John Mark to be brought along, Barnabas decided to take Mark along on an important journey... Mark was a promising servant of the Lord. 

3. Let us write the Gospel today. We are called to be Gospel writers just as Mark was called to be. The fifth Gospel that we are called to write is our life itself and who knows, that could be the only Gospel read by some people! 

May Mark inspire us today to be enthusiastic Evangelisers.

WORD 2day : 23rd April, 2016

Traces of Eternal Life

These days we are listening to the Word from St. John. For St. John,  Eternal Life is the concrete difference the Christ makes in our lives. John uses the term"eternal life" 18 times in his Gospel. What is eternal  life... is it a life at the end of this life? That's how our human mind calculates. But eternal life is life that is timeless, that is a gift that God has already placed within us. We need to grow more and more aware of it.

There are traces of the eternal within us and there are steps to become aware of it: recognising the gift that life is, is the first step, where the Giver has a big role to play!
The second step is to live life the way the Lord wants me: as we reflected just recently that the Father's commandments is eternal life. This consists of living my life to the full. The third step is to be ready to give that life up for the sake of the One who gave that life to me. That is the highest union with life itself: the fullness of eternal life where we realise the Life within us,  the Lord within us and say like Jesus, I and the Father are one!

WORD 2day : 22nd April, 2016

The WAY of life

Friday,  4th week in Easter
Acts 13: 26-33; Jn 14: 1-6

Troubled hearts and confused minds are not so rare to find these days. The degrees may vary but every person of the times seems to be troubled with something or the other. Why are your hearts troubled and why do you go confused, asks the Lord!

I remember once in our Scripture class the professor said "the Word has the answer for everything". And a student retorted, "why then are there confusions and misunderstandings? " The Professor without hesitating replied, "that's because we don't have the right questions!"

When things seem to be going wrong, when apparently there are issues that confuse, let's ask the right questions! Who am I? What am I upto?  Where is my ultimate destiny? What is the grand perspective within which my life is unfolding?

There is answer to all these in the Word today: our Way,  the Way, is ready with an answer for everything in our life, let not our hearts be troubled.

WORD 2day: 21st April, 2016

Memories that are Salvific

Thursday, 4th week in Easter
Acts 13: 13-25;Jn 13: 16-20

The Word today insists upon our memories! This was one great problem with the people of Israel - they never remembered enough all that the Lord did to them. The walk through the red sea was soon forgotten, they complained about no food; the fall of manna was soon forgotten, they detested the monotony of food; the quails were soon taken for granted, they complained about no water; the water from the rock was soon forgotten they wanted a god amidst them...that is why the Lord brings in the right corrective for them: the Covenant! The codified memory of the way the Lord loved them! Jesus wants to leave a memory too...he gives a way to keep his memory alive: in serving each other! 

The antonym to this memory we refer to here, is not forgetfulness but taking for granted! We get so used to things that happen around us, that we do not see anything "extraordinary" in them. Beginning with basic things like waking up to the day, and being able to breathe in and breathe out, and going upto the greatest wonder of seeing the simple bread change into the body of Christ, how many things we take for granted on a daily basis! A holy mind is a child's mind: everything should seem new and wonderful. This is one reason I chose to wish a person yesterday (on his birthday), 'have a wonder-filled year ahead'! Let us have a wonder-filled day ahead!

WORD 2day : 20th April, 2016

The Word and the spread

Wednesday,  4th week in Easter
Acts 12:24 - 13:5 ; Jn 12: 44-50

The Word spread far and wide present the readings today. While the Acts speaks of a type of spread, the Gospel seems to insist on another.

As apostles we cannot keep the Word to ourselves; we would not be'apostles' if we do so. We are obliged to take it far and wide. We have an impelling call to carry the Word and spread it across to those who are ready,  willing and longing to hear it!

The second type which Jesus insists upon is the spread within. The Word that I have received, the Word that I am carrying to others cannot be something alien to me. First and foremost, I have to ensure the spread of that word within me. That I hear, understand, love and live this word within me even before I intend to take it to others.

Allowing the Word to spread all over my being, transforming me into that word itself,  is the easiest way to spread the Word. All that I would need to do is,  just go and be!

WORD 2day : 19th April, 2016

They were called Christians

Tuesday,  4th week in Easter
Acts 11: 29-36; Jn 10: 22-30

In Antioch they were called Christians,  the Word says. They did not call themselves Christians,  they were called Christians by the rest of the population. Our life has to gain that name for us. There was Paul or Saul with them and Barnabas,  but they were called "Christians"!

You don't believe me because you are not my sheep declares the Lord. To be his sheep, to listen to his voice and be guided by his ways, that is the way to be called Christians.

Remember the world should call you a Christian!

WORD 2day : 18th April, 2016

Standing in God's way?

Monday, 4th week in Easter
Acts 11: 1-18; Jn 10:1-10

I have come that you may have life, life in all its fullness. The Lord has come, the Lord has encountered us, and the Lord has done everything best. Have we received the fullness of life that the Lord brought us? Aren't we still given into frustrations and discouragements,  meaninglessness and immaturities?

In the first reading today we have a clue to understand this. While the Lord was ready and willing and all set to shower the Holy Spirit on everyone,  there were some who were standing on the way! Peter challenges it among them,  who are we to stand in God's way?

We allow a lot of things to stand between us and God... it could be our pride, our ego, our laziness,  our malice or could be anything that resists receiving the grace of fullness of life! If we become aware of what it is that stands on the way,  we can grow to be true sheep of the Divine Shepherd.

COME AND BELONG

4th Sunday in Easter

Acts 13: 14, 43-52; Rev 7: 9, 14-17; Jn 10: 27-30

When I am lifted up, I shall draw everyone to myself said Jesus when he was around. And after his resurrection that is what he did. He drew everyone to him. It was not merely incidental, it was always part of God's magnificent plan. Yes, it is a plan for the whole humanity, beginning with the Jews as St. Paul would often point out! But what happens depends on three considerations: the call, the choice and the condition!

THE CALL is given to every one, there is no Jew or Greek, Christian or not! The first reading today speaks of that shift that took place from the Jews to the entire world, within the salvific plan of God. Paul and Barnabas heed to that call...the call to go to the entire world, the call to be the light to the nations, the call to reach out to the ends of the earth. The call to belong is universal, every one is called to come and belong! Recently speaking to a group of youngsters, I found them struggling to understand how everyone will be saved, if only those who believe in Christ could be saved. I almost had to shove it down their throat to believe that the Father wills the salvation of ALL.And yes, salvation is through Jesus Christ alone! And the Father will see to it, that the whole creation is reconciled in Christ Jesus our Lord. The call to belong is for every one!

THE CHOICE is mine to make! I have to make a choice and when I don't  make a choice to belong to the Lord, ofcourse the Lord misses me, but loses nothing; whereas I lose everything! The apostles tried their best to impress this upon their fellow Jews, but nothing would change them. They would make a choice for their own supremacy and their own comfort and their own life style! What is my choice today? To belong to the Lord or continue in the way I think best?

THE CONDITION that the Lord places is just one: that I listen! I should know my Master and listen to my Master's voice. Isaiah has a very pointed way of saying it, when he says even the donkeys know their stable and the asses their master! At times we are very enthusiastic and we COME...the sad fact is that we fail to BELONG. My own know me, and they follow my voice, says the Lord. When we come,  stay on and belong to the Lord there is so much joy and we are filled with the Spirit. These are the two signs of our total belonging to the Master: being Joyful and being Spirit-filled. 

WORD 2day : 16th April, 2016

The Word,  the Spirit and the Eternal Life

Saturday,  3rd week in Easter
Acts 9:31-42; Jn 6: 60-69

The Disciples were graduating! From listening to proclaiming, from believing to witnessing,  from doing what the Lord said to doing what the Lord did!

It first began with their acknowledgement of the Word. Peter's statement today: where would we go Lord,  you have the words of eternal life is the starting point of their graduation. It brings out their willingness to stick their neck out for Christ.
The second level of graduation comes from the Spirit promised by the Lord. With the Spirit they felt the power of Jesus present within them. They cured the sick, raised the dead and stood before anyone without fear or trembling. They were different from what they used to be!

Finally there was something that made them completely unbeatable : the perspective of Eternal life. This is what Jesus their master wanted them to have! They learnt that no one could take their eternal life away from them. They were convinced that the joy that the Spirit gives and the peace that the Risen Lord gives, no one could snatch away from them. That was a life changing perspective!

With the Word, in the Spirit and with the perspective of eternal life,  we too can overcome the world as our Lord and saviour has done for us.

WORD 2day : 15th April, 2016

Drawing life from Life

Friday,  3rd week in Easter
Acts 9: 1-20; Jn 6 : 52-59

As I draw life from the Father, you draw life from me offers the Lord today! The life giving Lord takes the initiative to encounter us and offer us the precious gift of life and the wondrous gift of eternal life. The question that remains is: are we ready to behold that encounter? Saul was!

Saul, though he was in a totally contrary mindset, was ready to encounter the Risen Lord and respond promptly and absolutely. He listened to the Lord and gathered the Lord's call and went ahead to love it in his life. He was fundamentally a person who lived his life to the full and that is why when the Lord offered him the true life, he grabbed it with all his heart.

Paul is such a great model of Christian living that he was able to challenge his fellow Christians: be imitators of me as I am of Christ (1 Cor 11:1). That is what Jesus too expects from us - that we draw life from him as he does from his Father!

How hungry are you?

WORD 2day: 3rd Thursday of Easter

May 9, 2019: Acts 8:26-40; John 6:44-51

Christ proclaims himself to be the food,  the nourishment of our being. I am the bread. ..the flesh that I give is for eternal life. The Word is made flesh and it is there for our taking. But how intent are we on taking in the nourishment?

Today we see the Eunuch who encounters the Word through Philip. Though it was the Spirit who led Philip there and initiated the process,  it was the person's interest that propels the entire process of conversion and transformation. He invited Philip onto the carriage and he asked for the explanation and he demanded to be baptised. He was hungry for the Lord. He yearned for the nourishment. It was there and he claimed it for himself.

Anyone who eats of the bread that I give will never hunger and he who drinks of my blood will never thirst, says the Lord. The world is, and teaches us too to be, hungry for so many things in our lives - money, name, fame, power, possessions, prominence, ego, success, domination and manipulation! There is but just one thing we need to hunger for - the Lord, and only that will remove every other needless hunger! 

The question is,  how hungry am I for the Lord,  for the life giving bread, for the ever living  Word?

WORD 2day: 13th April, 2016

Without Hunger or Thirst

Wednesday, 3rd week in Easter

Acts 8: 1-8; Jn 6: 35-40

Luke presents a very dramatic account today of two contrasting movements gaining ground: one, the persecutions against the new believers in Christ and the other, the community of believers growing stronger by the day both in quantity and quality. They were persecuted, they were killed, they were dragged to prison, they were flogged and stoned...but nothing disturbed them. How is this possible?

Jesus gives us the answer in the Gospel: because they have no hunger nor thirst. They do not hunger for anything other than the nourishment from the Lord. They do not thirst for anything other than doing what pleases the Lord. The model for us is Jesus himself who said 'my food is to do the will of the One who sent me'.

If we truly eat the body of Christ with ardent faith and absolute and conscious understanding, we would not hunger for anything more, nor thirst for anything else. Our needless yearnings and disproportionate cravings are because we have not understood the real treasures that we have in our faith, in our spiritual covenant with the Lord.

WORD 2day: 12th April, 2016

To become the bread!

Tuesday, 3rd week in Easter

Acts 7:51 - 8:1; Jn 6: 30-35

'I am the bread that has come down from heaven', declared Jesus! Jesus becomes the bread that we may have eternal life. The bread that comes down from heaven, that is, a self giving from the beginning. To become the nourishment for humanity, in accordance with the will of the Father - that was Jesus' very purpose in life. When Jesus announced that he was the bread of salvation, he was offering himself as the ransom for our redemption.

Stephen today imitates Christ to the minutest details, even to the words that Jesus used. 'Into your hands I commend my spirit'. And the heart to forgive those who intended to kill him, imitating the gesture of Christ from on the Cross. Stephen was becoming another Christ. Stephen was not merely imitating the Bread that came down from heaven, but he was offering himself to be transformed into that bread for those around him. Saul who was looking on, was fed by that bread of faith and soon he was becoming that bread.

Today, you and I are called to become that bread: by allowing ourselves to be crushed for the sake of the Lord, ground in the din of the daily witness and made into one bread that would make nourish the Body of Christ: the faith community. We have a great responsibility towards the faith community and the way we build up that Body of Christ. By our acts, thoughts, ideas and priorities, we care called to become the bread, become another Christ!

WORD 2day : 11th April, 2016

The Rise of the Nex-Gen 

Monday, 3rd week in Easter

Acts 6: 8-15; Jn 6: 22-29

The Word begins to present to us the first generation after the Apostles! Apart from the apostles who were with Jesus, there were ardent disciples for Christ and the true people of the Way that Jesus showed. They began to imitate Jesus to the detail: an excellent example is Stephen, whose face shone like the Angel!

Jesus gives us the reason his face shone so: because he believed in the One who was sent! We too believe... yes! To what extent? Upto death? What does believing mean in practical terms: to follow what the Lord said and live what the Lord lived! Do we live after the example of the Lord? Do we carry out the Lord's teaching to the details?

Or are we clamouring after miracles and running after signs? Are we working for merely material well being or are we concerned about our own spiritual maturity? Looking at the Nex-Gen of Christ...should we not take to our heart to be truly Christ-ians in our thought, word and deed?

WORD 2day: 9th April, 2016

The uncompromisable Priority

Saturday, 2nd week in Easter

Acts 6: 1-7; Jn 6: 16-21

Jesus was with the disciples, speaking to the people all through the day and after having fed them and been in all that din, he sends the apostles away to the other shore but he himself goes alone to pray. He was very firm on his priority!

The Apostles as they began their ministry amidst the new found faith, they had their model clear and loud: Jesus! Their priorities were challenged at every step and thoroughly. But they had a Master and Friend who never gave up on his priorities. The first reading brings to us one occassion where the apostles seem to keep to the uncomprimisable priority: the primacy of God. 

Nothing can substitute a personal relationship with God: we may claim to be working for God and working in the name of God...but a personal relationship with God is not the same as the aforementioned. Our priority for primacy of God cannot waver,  cannot be compromised! It is a relationship that is spoken of here...the human-divine relationship out of which I receive 'grace upon grace' as St. Paul would claim.

WORD 2day: 8th April, 2016

The levels of Spiritual Accomplishments

Friday, 2nd week in Easter
Acts 5: 34-42; Jn 6: 1-15

In undertaking spiritual acts we can notice ourselves at three different levels: the first is the level of Human Approval. Doing things in order that others see and look up to me. Jesus was upset with the Pharisees and the Saducees because they were at this level and refused to grow up. That is a clear message to us, not to go by the approval or disapproval of the crowd, or recognition or criticism of the circle around.

The second is the level of Self Edification: This may look good apparently, but it is not good enough says the Lord. The disciples and apostles were mostly at this level originally. They did nothing for public approval, but they wanted to gain every personal mileage out of the things that were upto. They wanted seats of authority, they wanted to bring down fire and brimstone on people, they resisted anyone else using Jesus' name to cast out demons...the tendency of self edification is found in us too. Going to Church everyday for Eucharist, praying everyday regularly, keeping all the holy routine strictly...these can be ways of my self edification; that I feel happy that I am doing all that I can do! That is not bad, but for Jesus it is not good enough.

Jesus challenges us to a third level - the sense of Divine Purpose. I do something because God wills that I do it and I am certain there is a Divine purpose to it. When I have this sense of Divine Purpose, I will not clamour for my glory,  I will not be upset when people don't give me my due credit, I will not be looking to prove myself to anyone! God knows me through and through and has a plan for me. I carry it out for God's glory and for my salvation. Gamaliel refers to that sort of a spirituality and Jesus lives it in action. After that great sign of the multiplication Jesus could just move on because all that he wanted was that God be praised. 

Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam  - all for the greater glory of God! That could be our password to growth in our spiritual accomplishments. 

WORD 2day: 7th April, 2016

We and the Holy Spirit

Thursday, 2nd week of  Easter
Acts 5: 27-33; Jn 3: 31-36

The Spirit and the witnessing to the Lord are very closely knit and that is what the Word brings out today. If we have to witness to the salvation that we have experienced in the Lord - firstly, it is possible only with the Spirit: for no one can proclaim that Jesus is Lord except through the Spirit. Secondly, it is the Spirit that makes the witness efficacious. 

When we submit to the Lord, the Father fills us with the Spirit says Jesus today in the Gospel...and that is what is needed utmost in our lives. It is happily surprising to see the way the Apostles looked at, understood and related with the Spirit: We and the Holy Spirit are witnesses to these things! For them the Spirit was someone who lived with them, within them!

Today, our Christian witness would go a long way in bringing the Lord to the people and bringing the people to the Lord, if the Spirit becomes our constant life companion!

WORD 2day : 6th April, 2016

God so loves!

Wednesday, 2nd week in Easter 

Acts 5: 17-26; Jn 3: 16-21

Acts of the Apostles contains as many wondrous events that took place as in any of the Gospels, beginning with the ascension of the Lord. We see a totally different kind of persons in the apostles. They were confident, truly courageous and absolutely committed - this was never the case when they had Jesus around. What made the difference? The difference was that they realised, 'God so loved the world...'!

They realised what Jesus did to them only after the Lord had left them! They also realised the immense plan that God had for humanity and for themselves. They were so filled with the Holy Spirit that they felt the effect of it all over their selves. The fundamental of all these: to realise how much God loves!

Even today, true conversion can happen only where there is a personal realisation of how much God loves me! Meditate everyday on the love of God for you personally and you will see the change of perspective it can offer!

WORD 2day: 5th April, 2016

From oneself to ONE SELF

Tuesday, 2nd Week in Easter

Acts 4: 32-37; Jn 3: 7-15

We have today a picture perfect explanation of the First Christian Community. What an inspiring life they had lived, that in no time thousands joined them. The Apostles led by example! But one thing that we need to keep in mind: they were not always the same. Peter did not like Mathew joining the band; James and John wanted the posts of authority and cut a bad figure among the rest; Judas always aimed at the coffer; Thomas cared two hoots for the opinions of others...they were all fundamentally and unsurprisingly a selfish lot. The beauty and the challenge from them is, how they were transformed from their self centered lives to a selfless communion. That was a transformation from oneself to ONE SELF. They could not have done it all by themselves.

This transformation to One Self, is what Jesus means in the Gospel: being born of the Spirit. Being born of the One Spirit, they were all transformed into One Self, One body in Christ, One community of believers, One in heart and mind.

Today we are called to examine our lives - both personal and that in common - whether we are ruled and guided by selfish interests or by the overarching Spirit that makes us One. People filled with the Spirit can give up anything for the Communion that makes the presence of the Lord felt here amidst us.

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

THE SOLEMNITY OF ANNUNCIATION - 4th April, 2016

Is 7: 10-14, 8:10; Heb 10: 4-10; Lk 1: 26-38

What is postponed is not cancelled, declares the Mother Church today. We missed the opportunity of celebrating this feast as it fell on the Good Friday this time. But the Church as a Mother, so concerned about the holistic upbringing of her children, proposes that we celebrate it today, so that we may not miss the great lessons that the day offers us - a list of three of them:

God has a plan: The sweetest fact that we can believe about ourselves is the plan that God has for us. How important I am, that the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth has a specific plan for me! I have a purpose and I am special - how blessed to know that!

Mary had a space for God: Mary had a space for God to enter into her life and encounter her. She did not shut the divine message off with her preoccupations and personal dreams. She let God into her life. I need to give God a space in my life!

The God-Human encounter: God proposes and Mary cooperates - that has to be the salvation story of every person on earth. In her 'yes' Mary told that Lord: Here I come to do your will...everything fell in place with that self-offering.

Learning to read the messages of the Lord and preparing to respond to them whole heartedly with a sense of absolute self-giving: The Salvation Plan unfolds - even today, and for everyone around!

MERCY, FAITH & SEEING

2ND SUNDAY IN EASTER: 3rd April, 2016

Acts 5:22-16; Rev 1:9-13,17-19; Jn 20: 19-31

The Risen Christ is the face of the Mercy of God;  the Risen Lord appears to strengthen the Faith of his disciples. They see and they believe. Thus we have the three key terms of the day: Mercy, Faith and Seeing!

Mercy of God: Thanks to Pope St. John Paul II, we have a great feast to celebrate today! The Mercy of God is essentially that aspect of God accepting us as God's children without any conditions. 'If you should see our guilt O Lord , who can stand before you', exclaims the Psalmist. God chooses not to see our limitations and our failures. The blood and water that flowed from the heart of Jesus is the proof that Jesus is the face of the mercy of God.

Faith in Christ: You believe because you have seen, blessed are those who haven't seen yet believe. Faith is not having to see, not having to look for proofs, not having to rely on evidences but accepting in the depths of our beings the merciful presence of the Risen Lord with us, all our life. The fundamental message of resurrection consists in the hope of the presence of the Lord with us.

Seeing the hand of the Lord: Relying on the Mercy of God and basing ourselves on the faith we have in Christ, we are called to live a life of trust and mercy. We are called to grow more and more merciful, like the Father Himself. Today we have the call and the way to live it, both outlined in the readings. It is a special gift to grow in that sensitivity with which we readily notice the hand of God in the developments that surround us. 

Experience the immensity of God's mercy, grow in your faith in Christ and See the way God raises you as witnesses of God's merciful love!

EASTER OCTAVE - SATURDAY

The Command and the Obedience

Acts 4: 13-21; Mk 16: 9-15

The Apostles in front of the elders and the high priests were not saying anything untrue, nor were they speaking figuratively. They were stating a fact: that they have received a command from their Master and their obedience to that command is absolute. The Gospel presents to us that scene where the command was given. There is something very important to note here. That command was not for the apostles alone!

I remember an experience from our Scout Master's Training days (it is still fresh though 20 years have passed). The Leader-Trainer would demonstrate the drill standing in front of the troop and he would announce: "the Command is only for me" and then proceed with the demo. When Jesus lived with his disciples he was in the command-is-only-for-me mode. But once he demonstrated what it means to take the good news of the Reign of God to the people, he opened the command to the rest of his followers. The command was not for the apostles alone, but for every person who wanted to follow Christ. He has shown us by example what it means to live that command on a daily basis.

Today, we have received the command too. The threatening circumstances, like that of Fr. Tom's case now and the rest who were killed in Yemen, or the scores that are undergoing the same treatment all over, can warn us as the elders and the high priests did: do not speak of the good news from Christ. But whom are we going to obey?

EASTER OCTAVE - FRIDAY

The Cornerstone

Acts 4: 1-12; Jn 21: 1-14

Annas, Caiaphas...we are still familiar with these names because we have just a few days ago heard those characters speak. They are back again... not with a similar case as Jesus whom they crucified recently but with the same case. They should have ended up with a fear as to how far it is going to take them. Rightly so, because it has been over 2000 years and that one single case is not yet written off. This is what Jesus wants to impress upon with his disciples.

They thought they had discarded him; they had infact buried him as the corner stone on which the whole edifice would rest for ever. The Cornerstone joins two walls: the jews and the non jews, the living and the dead, the sinners and the righteous...all these binaries are dissolved in Christ. In Christ, we become one people, one Church, one Body, one heart and one mind.

Today, Jesus makes it a point to prove to his apostles that he is not yet over! The haul of fish, the breakfast set up and the words of proof that Jesus gave them - it was all meant to tell the apostles who thought everything was over, that it is not yet over! Jesus wants his presence to continue. The responsibility is on our shoulders. The more we become one people, one in heart and mind, we would make the presence of Christ more and more felt in our midst.