LOVE-LENT 2017 - THE WORD IN LENT #1

Lent - a school of Christian Love

Ash Wednesday - 1st March, 2017

We begin the Lent for this year. Let us take a look around. There is hate in the air. A few days ago, there was a video going viral on the social network of two men in islamist garb breaking the statue of our blessed mother. Recently the news agencies reported the use of anti-blasphemy law in Denmark after 46 years, against a man who burnt the Holy Koran. The recent unveiling of the statue of adhiyogi a few days earlier in Coimbatore has been embroiled in religious, socio political and ecological controversies for too long, inspite of the overwhelming support from the power centers. The anti-migrant stance of some major nations has created a sort of unrest in the minds of many. In fact there is hate in the air - for more than a few reasons. The socio-political and religio-cultural turmoil that the world is witnessing today makes life so fear ridden and devoid of meaning! 

What does the Lord expect from us at this juncture, as we begin a brand new season of prayer, reflection and renewal? It is a call to return to the Lord, to return as children, to return as persons filled with love, not ego! Rend your hearts not your clothes, the Lord says - feel sad for having filled this world with lovelessness. Refill the world with love! I believe that is the task given to us this lent - to refill the world with love. That is why beginning today we will reflect from this perspective making this the season of LOVE-LENT 2017.

Lent can be a school of Christian love - a season when the love of the Lord is made more and more manifest  than a season where we concentrate on taking upon ourselves more and more pain that makes no difference. 

Let this lent teach us to love, to love until it hurts. 

Let this lent teach us to love, ready to lay down our lives for the well being of the other.

Let this lent teach us to love, without counting the cost or expecting returns.

Let this lent teach us to love, ready to suffer for the common good and stand up for truth.

Let this lent teach us to love, putting the other before our personal likes and dislikes.

Lent can be an exceptional school of Christian love - Love shall be the Master, love shall be the methodology and love shall be the subject! Let us begin this journey of learning to love so that we can skillfully carryout the task of refilling this world with love.

WORD 2day: 28th February, 2017

Rewards of the Just Judge

Tuesday, 8th week in Ordinary Time

Sir 35:2-15; Mk 10: 28-31

That the Lord is just, is not always a convenient thing for us. At times even the best of things that we do, may not really be deigned as good owing to the intention that is behind its doing. We may act kind to someone, expecting something in return. We may try to please someone because we wish to obtain a favour from the person. We may close an eye to a fault of someone merely because we like the person and make a mountain out of molehill just because we may not like the person. All these are not factors that are known to an apparent eye; but the Lord knows them all. The Lord knows us through and through. Considering that the Lord is judge, the rewards may not be always what we like or enjoy, but the rewards will always be a means of enhancing the goodness in a child. 

In simple words, what we do is important; but why we do what we do and what we want to achieve through what we do, they matter a lot. I am not what I do, but I am what I think as I do whatever I do. 

WORD 2day: 27th February, 2017

Come, Come back, Come home

Monday, 8 week in ordinary time
Sir 17: 20-28; Mk 10:17-27

The messages have begun to invite us back home. Soon there will be lent and this message will be all the more stronger. The invitation points out to the fact that all of us need a home that is permanent; that we belong to a home that is permanent where we are ourselves and not waiting to be invited. Let's heed the invitation of the master and turn back home as early as possible.

The Reign is our home and let us  beware not to distance ourselves from it too long.  The love for our home should pull us back from wherever we find ourselves. Come, Come back,  Come home invites the Lord - with the right perspectives and right actions.

WORRY - the most unchristian attitude of all

8th Sunday in Ordinary Time: 26th February, 2017

Is 49:14-15; 1 Cor 4:1-5; Mt 6: 24-34

Worry is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but gets you nowhere. I was struck by this saying which I came across somewhere. Worrying is the most unchristian attitude of all, because a Christian has grown out of an experience of a God who is a mother, a God who is the master and a God who is a motivator! 

In the Old Roman Catholic Missal, after the Lord's prayer the prayer of deliverance would go thus: Deliver us Lord from every evil and grant us peace in our day. In your mercy keep us free from sin and protect us from all anxiety as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ. Some fellow priests, in the name of adapting it and making it more personalised, would change it slightly to say, "keep us free from sin and protect us from all needless anxiety"! I would take very serious exception to it and argue against it saying - the words 'all anxiety' should not be changed because for a true Christian, every anxiety is needless and there are no justified anxieties! If I were a Christian I should be anxiety-free! However, that version is changed today in the Missal. But the message the Word has to give us today is that: Worry is the most unchristian attitude of all.

I need to experience God as a Mother, a mother who would never forget her suckling child. A mother would never forget her child, much less a child at her breast! Even after a decades of its existence, the child would still be a child for the mother and the mother would never feel detached from it. That is how the Lord looks after me, reveals the Word. A Mother who loves her child as much or even more that herself - that is what the Lord is to me! If I knew it, if I believed it, if I were convinced of it, would I have anxieties threatening me?  I have someone who is so concerned about me and that someone is so powerful!

I need to experience God as my Master, my Master who has planned everything for me! Even before I was born, the Master thought of a plan for me, a family for me, a place for me...what a great master I have! The sad fact is that I often forget this master and go behind other masters serving them...masters like those who offer me attractive lifestyles devoid of values, those who assure me a cosy life but filled with unrighteous things, those who seem to be taking me very high in life but leave me abruptly to crash down to nothing at a crucial moment! I need to find my master, who is incharge of everything! I remember an episode told in the life of Don Bosco and his successor Don Rua. When Don Bosco thought of starting a new house in a new place, he thought of sending his confidant Don Rua there. And when Don Rua really set off, Don Bosco asked him what he had in his hand as resource. Don Rua infact had very little in his hand given by the Economer. Surprisingly Don Bosco took away a major part of that resource and leaving Don Rua with a bare minimum, he said, 'Go just with this, is not the Divine Providence even there?' God as a provider was a great experience of the people of God. If only we believe in Jehovah Jireh (the Lord who provides), we would experience miracles in our daily life.

I need to experience God as a motivator. When troubles come, the Lord does not solve them for me, the Lord motivates me to solve it myself. At times we may blame God that God is not doing things for us, while we may be constantly missing out on the numerous ways, means and helps that the Lord keeps sending for us to tackle those issues. It is like that little John who was standing at the threshold of a forest which he had to cross to reach home. He felt stranded because it had gotten dark too early and little John was frightened. He was about to cry, when an old man happened to pass by. When he knew what the problem was, he gave John the lantern he had in his hand and told him to go his way, for the old man's house was just round the corner. After a while when the old man peeped out of his house, he found the boy still standing there with the lantern, but this time really crying! The Old man came up and asked the boy what the problem was - the boy said- I wanted to go, but i can see the light reaching only upto a small distance, after that it seems to be still dark, what will I do when I reach there?  The boy may look stupid for us, but at times we act so. We worry so much about things that have not yet reached us, missing out on the myriad of opportunities that are at hand. What the boy needs to do is take those simple steps and find the light accompanying him. That is what the Lord does - the Lord motivates us to take those hopeful steps and keeps following us, accompanying us, leading us. If only we experience that, we would be truly anxiety free because the Lord is always with me!

My Mother, Master and Motivator - the Lord is there! What need I fear when the Lord is near! 

WORD 2day: 25th February, 2017

Power to the Children

Saturday, 7th week in ordinary time
Sir 17:1-13; Mk 10:13-16

The first reading brings out the majesty of being a human person. That glory and splendour arises from the fact that we have been given the very image and likeness of God. At times we create complexes within  us or among us that we are fair or dark, or tall or short, or beautiful or handsome or ugly... all these do not matter at all because fundamentally we are made in the image of God. There can be no preferential treatment or despise on the basis of gender or colour or the social roots... that would be an utter foolishness! Because the fundamental stuff,  the kernel is the same - the image of God.

The children do  not have any trouble in understanding it. That is  why the Lord declares today the power of the kingdom of God is given to the Children. Without becoming a child (of God)  I cannot inherit it - that's the Father's style!

WORD 2day: 24th February, 2017

Faithful Relationships - the crux of Christianity

Friday, 7th week in Ordinary Time

Sir 6:5-17; Mk 10:1-12

It is not rules, regulations and rituals that are at the center of Christian life and  practice, but persons, community and relationships. Genuine and sincere relationships at all levels is the true sign of Christian life. The Word today invites us to reflect on two long standing relationships in any person's life: Friendship and Marriage!

In both these what is expected of a person is faithfulness, to be sincere, genuine, authentic and integral. A faithful friend is a sure shelter and beyond price; whoever has found one has found a rare treasure! Instead of beginning to search you friendlist for the one who is such to you, begin thinking to whom are you such a treasure! It is high time today, specially for the younger generation, to leave the portals of the virtual friendship and enter into true, life changing, long standing, meaning giving relationships.

WORD 2day: 23rd February, 2017

Respect the justice of the Lord

Thursday,  7th week in Ordinary Time
Sir 5:1-10; Mk 9: 41-50

The WORD today is quite hard and as soon as we hear it we feel like saying, this is an old teaching, too rigorous and too bleak in hope. But as the wisdom of Sirach warns us, it can turn into an excuse for not changing oneself.

The Lord knows the ďeepest of our thoughts and the most secret of our intentions. It is not possible to fake allegiance to the Lord as people do to each other.

The Lord is not only all knowing and compassionate, the Lord is also just and righteous. We would be at fault to think that we can appease the Lord with some legalities... nothing short of a true intention and a sincere dedication in our efforts to become good in the eyes of the Lord, can make us acceptable! Let us not only count on the mercies of the Lord but also respect the justice of the Lord.

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

Praying for the Pope

The feast of Chair of St. Peter-  22nd February 2017
1 Pet 5: 1-4; Mt 16: 13-19

One of the Catholic traditions long taught and practiced is the practice of praying for the Holy Father.  Jesus assigned a very special role to Peter: to strengthen his brother apostles in faith and to feed His flock.

The call to pray for the pope is not praying for Pope Francis or  for any other person but it is praying for the office of the chief of the apostles... recalling how so many resent accepting it.

Today, the world wants to grow more and more detached from whatever belongs to God. The figure of the Holy Father and his role keep the Catholic Church one despite differences and united despite the variety!

Let us pray for the Holy Father in a special manner today!

WORD 2day: 21st February, 2017

To grow up to be a true child

Tuesday, 7th week in Ordinary Time

Sir 2:1-11; Mk 9: 30-37

'Grow Up!' people say, when they are upset with some people's attitudes found wanting, when people behave 'childish' and immature,as it is said. But,grow up to what? The Word today invites us, to grow up to be children. Cling on, trust, hold on, wait on the Lord...in short to be true children, true children of God. Who can wait on the mercies of the elders but a child,for when we consider ourselves grown up we crave to be independent. Who can cling on to someone else and keep trusting in their goodness, hoping that they will be led in the right path, but a child! Who but a child can look up to others and understand that he or she is the least of all who are around and helpless of the lot?

Jesus invites us - grow up to be a child... let go of your ego, learn to depend on the goodness of the Lord, allow God to take hold of your hands and you will find the true peace, the peace of a child.

WORD 2day: 20th February, 2017

Faith and Wisdom - Gifts from God

Monday, 7th week in Ordinary Time

Eccl 1:1-10; Mk 9: 14-29

Knowledge can be obtained by effort and hardwork but wisdom comes from the Lord. We may read, listen, think and increase our knowledge, but putting various pieces of knowledge together to arrive at a decision is wisdom and that cannot be acquired by purely hardwork or merely human effort. It is a gift from the Lord, because Wisdom as the first reading tells us today, belongs to God and whom God deigns to grant it, and the measure God wills to grant it. 

Belief is born from what we learn and what we understand, while Faith is not merely our lonesome job. It is our personal response to a self revealing God. If so,it is the Lord who grants us this faith as a gift and helps us grow and mature in it too. 'Lord I believe, help my unbelief"...we come across that profound prayer today. It would do a great good to us to make this prayer a regular and daily prayer, everyday in the morning asking the Lord to help our unbelief and make us truly the Lord's faithful sons and daughters! 

HOLINESS - the Identity of the People of God

19th February, 2017: 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lev 19:1-2,17-18; 1 Cor3:16-23; Mt 5:38-48

What makes one a Christian? Take a pause and answer this question within your hearts!

Is it Baptism? Yes, ofcourse, but only if it were received with a personal choice and every promise given at the proper moment is lived to the full everyday of one's life. 

Is it being enrolled in a parish? Yes, but only if the belonging to the parish makes one feel one with the Universal Body of Christ, the Church. 

That which makes of Baptism efficacious, our belonging to a parish meaningful, and makes us truly Christians is our realisation of our identity as people of God - a realisation that has to be manifested in our personal holiness and in our holiness as a community of believers.

Holiness is not a super-human quality. It is definitely not alien to being human. Because it can be seen at our very origin. God made us in God's own image and likeness says Genesis (1:27). So, holiness is our original nature, not sinfulness; Holiness is the core of our being, not sinfulness. Sin and Sinfulness have come to mar and obstruct our original nature. This is why to the chosen people, God says through Moses, "Be holy, because I the Lord your God am Holy." Because I am holy you can be holy too. Yes, dear brothers and sisters, we ought to be holy because we are FROM GOD.

Holiness is our choice, a choice made not once for all, but at every moment, at every circumstance, at every crisis. It is a choice made for God, because we realise and gratefully acknowlege choice that God has made for us. You did not choose me, I chose you, says the Lord (Jn 15:16). It is the Lord who had chosen us. It is not that we loved God but it is God who loved us first, reminds us St. John (1 Jn 4:9,19). God has chosen us and God has loved us abundantly! And our response is Holiness, because we belong to God, we are OF GOD.

Holiness is not an act, it is an attitude; it is not a set of actions but a habit; it is not merely an appearance but an internal becoming! holiness is a daily effort to become more and more like God. it is returning to the image and likeness of with which we were formed in the love of God. In our words, thoughts, acts and choices of daily life we are called to become LIKE GOD.

Our Blessed Mother and the Saints are our models and Jesus is our Way. St. John traces that course for us when he says, 'we will be like him because we will see him as he is" (1Jn 3:2). We are called not to be merely good people but God's people. Every word and act of our's has to reflect God's presence to those around us. 

We are People of God and our very identity is Holiness. If we miss out on holiness we lose everything. We are from God, We are of God and We are called to become like God because we are the people of God. Because we are the temple where God chooses to dwell, we are the presence of God that the world so badly needs today! 

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

To be transfigured every day 

Celebrating the feast of Transfiguration - 18th Feb, 2017

Heb 11:1-7; Mk 9: 2-13

Faith is a call to be transfigured daily - amidst the troubles we have, amidst the things that occupy our minds on a daily basis, that moment when we raise our eyes and our hearts to the Lord offering ourselves up in total surrender becomes a moment of transfiguration, when we are able to feel a presence that is so really sustaining us.

If we are lost in the worries and concerns and dig deep into our sorrows, we are not bad people but just that we are people without that supernatural eye that the Lord graces us with, in faith.

If we possess Faith...we possess a new light for life. If we possess Faith... we have a host of people with us who have gone before us and who stand by us today, we are never alone.

If we possess Faith, we possess the Lord, who would communicate with us on a constant basis...with faith, we will be transfigured every day!

WORD 2day: 16th February, 2017

The Spirit and the Satan 

Thursday, 6th week in Ordinary time 

Gen 9:1-13; Mk 8:27-33

The Spirit of the Lord is upon us... for the Lord has created us in God's own image. We bear the name of God. The first reading today reiterates the fact in many ways - saying God  created everything for the human beings, God gave human beings an ascendancy over the rest of the creatures and explicitly stating once again God  created human beings on God's image! Peter is  seen to be filled with that Spirit of God when he rightly points out who Jesus was- The Son of God. Yes we possess the Spirit of the Lord within us. 

A fact we need to beware is that the Satan is all the time lurching around the corner waiting for a time to pounce on us and draw us as far away as it could.  Right from the first moment of the creation this enmity is on, isn't it?  But it all depends where I belong. The Spirit or the Satan - whose side am I on?

WORD 2day: 17th February, 2017

EGO - the antonym of Christian Love

Friday, 6th week in Ordinary Time

Gen 11:1-9; Mk 8:34 - 9:1

Christian definition of Love is 'wishing the good of the other' and if this is what love means, its opposite is not hate but Ego! When I begin to look at me, mine and myself, when I begin to do anything to achieve my end, when everything around me is only an object for me to use for my good and even persons are means to my ends, that is Ego.

The Word enumerates what one loses when the ego in the person grows...the person loses God, the person loses peace, the person loses the other! Godlessness, Division and Hatred - these are the three dominant viles that the humanity faces today. Godlessness that has made the human person arrogant; Division that makes the humanity broken; and Hatred that keeps tearing apart humanity on a daily basis. Jesus invites us to throw this ego behind and walk towards genuine love, pick up the daily cross for others' sake and walk with the Lord.

WORD 2day: 15th February, 2017

The Noah's Raven

Wednesday, 6th week in Ordinary time
Gen 8: 6-13,20-22 ; Mk 8: 22-26

I was reminded, reflecting on today'sfirst reading, of an expression a good friend of mine is fond of repeating. He would call some people, the Noah's ravens - when they take up a task and set about it but never return to report the progress or the lack of it. It is indeed an interesting perspective to think from, isn't it?

Anything good or healthy we take up to has a gradual progress and we need to follow it  through. Firstly, we should not be impatient as to expecting everything to happen in a jiffy. Secondly, when we set off on the task we should be resolute enough to follow it through till its very end. Thirdly, we should not forget those who are involved with us in the task... beginning with the Lord who initiates everything that is good.

WORD 2day: 14th February, 2017

From Very Good to Despicable - Beware!

Tuesday, 6th week in Ordinary Time

Gen 6: 5-8, 7: 1-5,10; Mk 8: 14-21

The narrator records in the book of Genesis that the Lord, when the entire creation was in its place little by little, felt that they were good. But when God made the human person, God felt that was VERY GOOD. Nowhere did God regret for having created the rest of the creation. But for having created the human persons, God did...and we hear that in today's Word. Human beings slid rapidly from a grade so high as 'very good' to a grade as despicable as God looking to wipe them off from the face of the earth. Thanks to Noah, the things worked out differently. 

One Noah, became the turning point for entire humanity and entire creation, as the story goes. Can we be that one person who can stand up and make a difference? If I have to be so, first of all I have to beware of the influence of sin and sinfulness which can pervade my entire being without my realisation and change my nature - as does the yeast that leavens the entire dough. Secondly, the challenge is that I need to keep my goodness growing, my light shining, that I could become that influence that can compensate for the evil around. What is my status today: anywhere between very good and despicable?

WORD 2day: 13th February, 2017

Holding your head high...

Monday, 6th week in Ordinary time
Gen 4:1-15,25;  Mk 8:1-13

If you do well, you can hold your head high, the Lord tells Cain. It is the same that Jesus demonstrates through himself in the gospel. He lived his life, his convictions, his mission so well that he had his head always held high. Jesus invites us too to live with our heads held high - with our unwavering commitment to the Reign, our undaunted spirit of self giving and an inevitable readiness to put up with inconveniences!

Entire country is smiling at the folly that is going on in the name of politics in the state of  Tamilnadu, where I live. The legislators are backing up a person who is seen by the people as involved in an unholy scheme of things. Once the stand off is over, can the legislators really come to meet their own people with their heads held high?

Our choices and our life have to be integral to live our daily life with our heads held high.

Love and Abide by the Word

12th February,2017: 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sir 15: 15-20;1 Cor 2: 6-10; Mt 15: 17-37

Choice is the central theme running through the readings today! And there is another dominant theme that qualifies this choice - that is LAW. Law for the people of Israel was the way ordained by the Lord. Law was for them the guarantee of remaining  people of God; it was their part of executing the covenant that the Lord made with them: I shall be your God and you shall be my people! To speak or act against the law was for them a serious and punishable offence. There is a discussion on two other themes- "maturity" and "wisdom" in the second reading from St.Paul. Combining all these, Jesus in the Gospel presents to us a mature and wise attitude towards LAW. He invites us to Choose LAW... that is to choose to Live and Abide by the Word. 

Faith is a Choice...

Faith is not a blind leap, it is a conscious Choice! As Lumen Fidei n.3 affirms, faith cannot be associated with darkness, instead faith is a light that enlightens one to choose, to choose believe in God, to choose to see God alive in one's life. The first reading presents to us the same perspective today, we have the choice between water and fire, between good and evil, between true joy and fleeting pleasures, between the right and the convenient, between conviction and compromise, between life and death! The choice is ours! We cannot ride on the shoulders of tradition and custom, and justify our acts and habits. We have to grow up! Our maturity has to be seen in the wisdom we possess. It is God who gives us this wisdom, as St.Paul reminds us. Jesus embodies that wisdom and presents the same to us in his words: I have come not to abolish the law, but bring it to its fulfillment. 

A Choice beyond the Law...

Jesus declares that his disciples should make a choice not against the law but beyond the law! He gives a new meaning to law, and presents the way to go beyond, to transcend a mere slavish legalism and reach the heights of saintly perfection, through love and compassion. The words of Jesus, "You have heard that it was said,...but I say to you", heard repeatedly in the Gospel today presents Jesus as the New Moses, and describes the community of disciples as the New People of God! "See I am making all things new," declares Jesus by this (Rev. 21:5). The new law...today how do we understand that new law, the law beyond the law... L - to Love, A - to Abide, and W - the Word. To love the Word and Abide by it...is the new law that Jesus gives. The Word presents to us a guarantee to sanctity. To know the Word, to reflect on it and understand it, to love it and strive to abide by it, is the sure way to be real children of God, worthy people of God. Our life does not comprise merely of avoiding evil, it is much more profound and meaningful. It is to live, to love, to relate, to do good, to mature, to be happy, to make others happy and thus together as a community of God's children, to renew the world and fill it with joy.

To Obey the Law...

Jesus teaches the people today not to go against the law but to understand what it really means to obey the law. For Him, to obey the law was not to obey the word of the law but to obey the Lord of the law! It was so for the people of Israel; they obeyed the law as an act of obedience to YHWH. But when the Lord of the law was with them, and they did not realise it. The Word lived and moved among them, but they did not comprehend it. The danger for us too is the same: that we may be by definition the best of Christians - missing no Sunday Mass, regular with reading the Bible and reciting the prayers, strict with our fasting and abstinence, visiting as many pilgrim shrines as possible - but let us beware, we may be missing the point. These are good but not good enough - the Word instructs us: Love and Abide by the Word... to love the Word, and to live by it; not being merely hearers of the Word  but doers(Jam 1:22); to say YES to the Word and mean it, to face all the consequences of that Yes and live through it. Our YES to the Word has to be our choice, our choice to go beyond the Law and obey the Lord of the law, to live and fill the earth with love and compassion; to challenge the present standards of the world towards a new world, new heaven and new earth!

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

The Promise and the Fulfillment

Celebrating the Miracle of Lourdes - 11th Feb, 2017

Gen 3: 9-24

The Compassion of the Lord repays a mistake not with merely a punishment, but along with a promise. The Lord promises a sinless one, who would bear the Saviour and the promise is personified in our Blessed Mother. The Fulfillment of this promise has been manifested in manifold ways - one such in the recent times is the Miracle of Lourdes!

Lourdes, came as a fulfillment. It was in 1854, that the Church consolidated its centuries of experience regarding Mary and defined the truth: Mary was conceived immaculate! Soon within four years, Mary appears to a peasant girl, who knew nothing of the alphabet nor the alphabet of the dogmatic teachings - but the message that the peasant girl gave surprised everyone, not just then but even today. Bernadette said, 'The Mother said, I am the Immaculate Conception' That was a verification, a confirmation of the faith experiences just consolidated. The Immaculate Conception - the one whom the Almighty willed from eternity! 

May our Blessed Mother keep us ever mindful that we are children of Promise!

WORD 2day: 10th February, 2017

To open or not to open...

Friday,  5th week in Ordinary time
Gen 3: 1-8; Mk 7:31-37

If  you eat of this fruit your eyes will be opened, said the Satan and they ate... their eyes were open and they lost the paradise! The Satan deceived the couple to believe that they were blind and ignorant and were nothing, telling them they were yet to become like God while they actually bore the image of God. After they ate the fruit they realised their folly, because they were not blind, they just had to open their eyes to the fact.

Jesus orders 'be opened'...and the ear opens and the tongue gets loosened. Now the confusion is... which of these opening takes me closer to God?

To be open or not to be open... that is plainly the concern. Be open to all the words and signs from the Lord; be open to the reality around; be open enough to observe the folly that goes around so that you are not deceived yourself.

Let the Word open our eyes and our hearts!

WORD 2day: 9th February, 2017

Learning to rise above

Thursday, 5th week in Ordinary time
Gen 2:18-25; Mk 7: 24-35

Man-woman, rich-poor, we-they... these are dichotomies that seem very natural and no one finds fault about being conscious of these. It takes a lot of maturity to rise above the man-woman duality for instance and say wè are after all one.

Though Jesus was beyond most of these dichotomies:  sinner-saint, sacred-profane, and so on, the Jewish  classical dichotomy of the chosen-gentile seems to have been deep seated in him. But he is ready to rise above it,  as a process of growth.  The famous liberation theologian Gustavo Guttierez would say, Jesus allowed himself to be taught by a woman, a syrophoenecian woman - there lies his greatness. He rises there above all dichotomies.

We too need to become aware of the dichotomies present in our mindsets and learn to rise above them.

WORD 2day: 8th February, 2017

Neither death nor defilement

Wednesday, 5th week in Ordinary time
Gen 2: 4-9,15-17; Mk 7: 14-23

Religious practices and principles abound in our contexts defining what is right and what is wrong; determining what is acceptable and what is inacceptable in the sight of God. The Word today has one such clarification as to what would make a person   inacceptable in the eyes of God from a Christian perspective - it is neither death nor defilement. 

Death is considered the peak of negative experiences by many religious traditions but not the Christian. Death is merely another milestone considering the totality of human experiences. It shouldn't perturb us or preoccupy us.

Defilement laws are seen as important religious factors in a society. What makes one socially acceptable or not, is a crucial religious parlance. But Jesus was categorical in stating  that nothing exists as such in his Father's mind. The Father is all Mercy and compassion!

So, neither death nor defilement can separate me from the Lord, but a deliberate choice does. I cannot live my Christian faith merely on customary practices and accepted mores. I need to make deliberate choices on a daily basis and at every moment of my life... choices that would determine whether I belong to God or no.

WORD 2day:7th February, 2017

Imago Dei - the real core

Tuesday, 5th week in Ordinary time
Gen 1:20 -2:4a; Mk 7: 1-13

Jesus had one thing that he could never bear or tolerate! Living two lives... how much ever good you may do, it does not matter as much as being good. Because Jesus is mindful of the real core of our being: Imago Dei, the image of God that is placed within us. God  saw everything was good as God created them one by one.  But when God had created human being, God found it very good. Because God saw Godself in the human person. The inner core of our being is that godliness that we can observe in God. When we refuse to see it or reject what is at the core, we become aliens to ourselves. This is  what Jesus is warning us against. Get closer and closer to the real  core of your being:  the image of God.

WORD 2day: 6th February, 2017

A touch, a word or the shadow

Monday, 5th week in Ordinary time
Gen 1:1-19; Mk 6: 53-56

We begin anew the book of genesis. What  marvellous accounts as the basis of our faith experience! God reigns... God holds everything in being... God manifests God's glory  and might in  everything. When God  said a word it was done.

When Jesus came, it  was enough people touched him, mighty things happened. There was a spiritual connect between the people and the Lord. That spiritual connect  is what we call faith.

With the same faith at a later time people would just touch the shadow of the apostles and great mighty signs would happen.

It doesn't matter whether it's a word or a touch or just the shadow... what matters is,  that spiritual connect with the Lord,  that we call Faith!

WORD 2day: 4th February, 2017

The Shepherd Divine

Saturday,  4th week in Ordinary Time
Heb 13: 15-17, 20-21; Mk 6: 30- 34

What do we have to worry about, when the Lord is our Shepherd! We need only to become the sheep of the flock that belongs to the Lord. The way to do that is to endlessly do good. Do good without any reason,  without any hesitation, without any expectation,  without any discouragement.

Three qualities are needed by all means to do this. First of all,  faith with which one accepts this challenge from the Lord. Secondly, endurance with which one withstands all disheartening factors. Thirdly, the sensitivity with which one knows what the other needs without the other even expressing it.

Our Divine Shepherd is an epitome of these qualities... who accepted the challenge of being good, endured all that worked against it and treated everyone around him with utmost sensitivity.

WORD 2day: 3rd February, 2017

Moral Code or Spiritual Integrity?

Friday, 4th week in Ordinary Time

Heb 13: 1-8; Mk 6:14-29

Is following a moral code enough to be a Christian? Moral codes are temporal and spatial- that is, what is wrong at one time may not be so at another time; what is right in a place may not be so elsewhere! If all of us are formed from and moving towards the same Divine Being, then can our life style be so subjective? That is why Jesus always stood by Spiritual Integrity rather than a set of moral precepts. 

Jesus is same, yesterday, today and tomorrow! No time can change what Jesus stood for. The letter to the Hebrews presents to us a set of values which are not merely moral codes but are frameworks for spiritual integrity. Spiritual Integrity is knowing what is right to be done, being convinced of it and living by it, come what may. Even if we have to face extinction from this life, our stand shall not change. Just as John the Baptist who was ready to give up even his life. But how do we know what we are holding on to is right? That is where we need to be divinely informed, where we need the grace, the help of the Holy Spirit to hold on to eternally life giving perspectives.

2 highlights of 2-2...

2nd February and the 2 highlights

There are two important highlights for today - apart from and arising from the feast of the presentation that we celebrate.

1. Candlemas: 

Today in the Catholic Church we have the tradition of blessing candles and entering the Church in procession with the candles. This is called the Candlemas and it signifies the entry of the Light of the World (Jesus Christ) into the temple. 

2. World day of prayer for Consecrated Persons: 

This was begun by Pope St. John Paul II in 1997. He invited every Catholic member of the Church to pray for the Consecrated men and women and thus praying, to promote vocations to consecrated life.

Intercessions for the World day of prayer for Consecrated Life 

For those consecrated to God by the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience that they may seek to live their baptismal promises more intensely and have the grace to persevere in their commitment to the Lord and serve with open hearts and willing spirits. 

For those who have responded to the prompting of the Holy Spirit to be a consecrated person that they may experience the support of the Church as they continue their growth in holiness. 

We pray for all those who are discerning their vocation in life, particularly those whom the Lord is calling to consecrated life. May they be given the wisdom to hear God's call and the courage to respond generously. 

For all who actively support the promotion of vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life, that they may see the fruit of their efforts in a rich harvest of vocations. 

That the life and mission of the men and women in consecrated life be a means of sanctification for them and building up the kingdom of God. 

For all pastors and parish priests of our diocese, that they will recognize and invite those men and women being called to ordained and consecrated lives to answer the call. 

For all involved in the examination of candidates to priesthood or to consecrated life, that their choices will benefit the Church. 

That many young women will be open to Jesus’ call to consecrated life to serve the many needs of the Church and of the world. 

For all men and women preparing for the priesthood or consecrated life, that their days of formation be filled with joy, peace and the certainty of God’s love. 

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

Surrounded by Examples

2nd February, 2017: Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

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

Mary, Joseph, Simeon, Anna...Jesus is surrounded by such persons of holiness and self giving, and the child himself is initiated into that spirituality! 

Mary who, said that Yes of total self giving and right from that moment has been silently following the directions of the Lord.

Joseph who, accepted every injunction from the Lord and has serenely been carrying them out.

Simeon, the prophet who feels he has lived on only to see the salvation that the Lord has truly prepared.

Anna, who had decided to depend on the Lord alone and had dedicated her entire life, waiting on the Lord.

When surrounded by such people what do you think will happen of that Child...it grows into Jesus, who is  prepared to lay down even his life for the sake of doing the will of the Father, whom sent him.

What a message for us today to grow in self giving and to grow our children in self giving. Offering oneself to God and offering one's self to fulfilling God's will, is a life style handed down by parents and elders right from the earliest impressionable age! 

It requires first that we develop that quality within us and let it glow for the rest to see and follow!

WORD 2day: 1st February, 2017

Drooping hands and weak knees or faith alive?

Wednesday, 4th week in Ordinary time
Heb: 12:4-7,11-16; Mk 6:1-6

God is all powerful except before our free will... it is not that God is incapable but God has chosen to implant that freedom which is God's own image and likeness within us. At times we may feel we are afflicted but we are not without the means to withstand them. We have within us the necessary strength to stand up to these. At no time are we faced with a trial that is more than our capacity. That is the promise of the Word - 1Cor 10:13.

However, there is  one thing that can drive us to despair... the drooping hands and weak knees... drooping hands symbolise my lack of faith in the capacity God has placed within me, weak knees symbolise the lack of dependence on God. These happen and I find myself helpless, because I do not perceive the Lord so close to me and so concerned about me - just like those who were not able to see Christ in Jesus!

What do you choose:  drooping hands and weak knees or a faith alive?