GOD REVEALS... AND WE???

Receive, Realise and Respond

3rd Sunday of Easter: 30th April 2017

Acts 2:14,22-33; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Lk 24:13-35

Christ is the fullness of Revelation of God. What God has been revealing through various means and varied persons, God finally revealed in fullness through God's own Son and there is no other revelation that is fuller than this. However, Revelation has not ended with it. It goes on even today, it continues, it progresses! What is most important is what we do in the face of this continuous, progressive revelation.

We receive. The disciples as they walked, when the Lord offered to walk with them, they accepted it, they received him. When Jesus began to speak to them about a lot of things that have happened they listened with patience, they received it. When they found Jesus had something divine to offer them, they invited him to stay with them, they received him in their house. Today as the Lord offers us revelations, we need to be in a postion tto

We realise. Once Jesus broke the bread, they realised it was the Lord. Once we experience a unique sign from the Lord we would realise that it is the Lord who is at work. The Lord communicates himself to us, we need to realise how great we are to receive it and realise how wonderful it is to have the Lord with us.

We respond. The disciples as soon as they realised it was their Master, they could not wait, they left and returned to where they started from, to meet the apostles. They didnt mind the distance they had covered, nor the effort or the tiredness, they wanted to respond wholeheartedly and they did it.

Even today, in and through the proclamation of the Word, through the experience of people shared, through the events that take place around us, through the majesty of the nature and power of the miracles, the Lord keeps revealing Godself to us :let us receive, realise and respond to it with love.

WORD 2day: 29th April, 2017

Waiting on tables and Walking on the waves

Saturday, 2nd week in Easter

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

There are two things that occupy our minds as the Word speaks to us today: one, the bread and the other, the waves. 

Waiting on the Table, which was a regular duty among the believers becomes a concern and some are dissatisfied with how it was going on. The Lord inspires them to understand the concern with such clarity that they do not compromise on the basics. The concern is addressed but nothing of what is essential is lost - they set apart a ministry in order that the centrality of the Word is not lost. 

Waves that rose against the boat, made the disciples frightened. But the Lord walks up to them on the waters, on the very waves and reassures them to row on. Interestingly, they were disturbed by the waves but they were more terrified to see someone walking on the water towards them. The Lord's words, do not fear - comes as a challenge for them to understand what to fear and what not to fear. They were hardly away from the land, but they needed the Lord to realise it.

Waiting on tables or walking on waves, what is important is that we never lose our clarity and priority. Place the right thing first and every other thing will fall in place. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and everything will be given unto you! 

WORD 2day: 28th April, 2017

Gamaliel and the Miracle of Multiplication

Friday, 2nd week in Easter

Acts 5:34-42; Jn 6:1-15

Gamaliel proved a true God-fearing man and his words become a miracle. The Notice the beautiful connection made in the Liturgy of the Word today: there is a multiplication of the loaves reported in the Gospel but we see that unfolding in reality in the Acts, in the form of the Multiplication of the Christians. From a mere handful, the people of the Way begin to grow in leaps and bounds. 

The miracle happened because of the following three reasons:

- the Apostles and the band kept God and God's Word above everything else, even above their own lives.

- the Apostles and the people considered it God's mission and not their own enterprise; they gave the entire credit to God.

- the Apostles had no other hidden agenda, for instance their own glory, making a living, or creating a following for themselves. They surrendered themselves totally to the Lord and they were multiplied!

WORD 2day: 27th April, 2016

Obedience - the first quality of God's servants

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

Today we have a great lesson from the Word. The first and the most important virtue of Easter people is Obedience. The lesson can be understood in three phrases.

1. Obedience makes Jesus the beloved Son of God. As St Paul would say, it  is because of his obedience that the Father raised him as the highest and have him a name above every name.

2. Obedience made the apostles mighty.  By nature the apostles were not bold. But when they began to obey God they became uncontrollable. Today we hear them say, Obedience to God is much more important than anything else.

3. Obedience makes us free. When we obey we need not worry. Obeying reduces the burden off our shoulder. Because God cares instead of we being worried about something.

If we have to prove close to God one fundamental necessity is to obey. Are we ready?

WORD 2day: 26th April, 2017

Idiots for the Lord

Wednesday, 2nd week after Easter

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

We are fools for Christ's sake, says Paul (1 Cor 4;10). Until we see the sort of things that happen in the first reading today, we do not understand the meaning of that statement of Paul.  Peter and John are arrested, tortured but they refuse to be intimidated. They are found in no time in the synagogue proclaiming exactly him whom they were forbidden to speak of.

I was reminded of the meaning of the word,  "idiot"... comes close to what  Paul  wishes.   Idiot is that person who is so occupied with just one thing that everything else goes into oblivion. The Apostles and the disciples were all idiots... idiots for  Christ's sake.

There are other sets of idiots who are pitiable. They are idiots, who turn so due to their choices... it could be power,  position, possession or any other reason. They are pitiable because they miss the best that they can ever have: the Risen Lord.

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

A 'Go' that binds

25th April, 2017
Celebrating Mark the Evangelist

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

Mark comes out as a dedicated young man convinced of his call and enduring in his response. The apostles and disciples were extremely different from each other in their calibre and character. But what bound them together was the 'Go' that they received from the Lord. It was the commission from the Master that kept them  going. We see generations of them following each other in responding whole heartedly to the project entrusted. Mark becomes the representative of the generation that immediately followed the 12 and Mark leaves indelible trails by his commitment and dedication. The call is to the young today: can you dedicate yourself to the commission from the Lord... to Go!

WORD 2day: 24th April, 2017

The Spirit Rocks

Monday, 2nd week after Easter
Acts 4: 23-31; Jn 3:1-8

The Spirit rocks and the Early Christian Community experienced it in concrete. The Spirit rocks, rocks in two ways: one, it rocks the complacency of an individual's or community's heart; second, it rocks the entire thing around that every one experiences something that he or she has been dreaming about. 

There have been people in history who were rocked by the Spirit in their heart...right from Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses and the prophets, right upto John the Baptist and Nicodemus today, they were rocked in the spirit and they began searching for the eternal truth. 

When the Spirit raised people, it rocked the entire world and history. Things were changed as they were never before. Today the Spirit awaits to rock the world through you and me. Being instruments in the hands of the Lord is to rock the world in the Lord's name - the Spirit will do it if only we are ready to yield! Are we ready to rock... let us let the Spirit within us rock!

MERCY: The Mark of a Christian

23rd April, 2017: Divine Mercy Sunday

Acts 2:42-47; 1 Pet 1:3-9; Jn 20: 19-31

This Sunday is liturgically called the Low Sunday which marks the end of the Easter Octave. "A week later" or "eight days later", indicates the Gospel today; it was a week later that Jesus appears to all the eleven, including Thomas and patiently, mercifully and lovingly leads them to true faith. The feast of Divine Mercy was instituted and fixed for this day by the  Pope Saint John Paul II, who was very much attached to this devotion, inspired by the Polish nun St. Faustina and her visions.  A very strong message of today is MERCY!

The first reading speaks of how the early community of Christians becomes a mighty witness to the Lord. They were the epitome of the command that Jesus gave, 'be merciful as your heavenly father is merciful'. Mercy becomes their way of life, or rather their renewed way of life. As a mark of being a Christian, mercifulness to each other specially to those in need, becomes the point of attraction for many...and as the reading goes - the Lord added to their number everyday! Mercy, we know, is the high point of Christian identity. But what matters most is how it is lived on a daily basis. It begins with our life at home: with our dear ones, elderly parents, sickly loved ones, troublesome children, rebellious youngsters... how is our relationship? What level of patience and acceptance do we manifest?

The Second reading speaks to us of the source of mercy, God the father of Jesus Christ who in mercy sent the only Son for our salvation! The Mercy of God is given to us as the example and the measure of our "genuineness of faith"! Preaching and believing in high ideals of love and compassion, if we but hate people and divide families, envy others and detest their well being... we are far far away from God, the God of Mercy and compassion.

Jesus' encounter with the disciples after his resurrection manifests a special quality of mercy... it is an encounter that is full of unlimited forgiveness and unconditional love! There is no demand that the disciples have to render an account for having abandoned Jesus at the crucial moment of suffering, for having betrayed him or having denied him! All that Jesus does is, tell them he is with them and invite them to be his witnesses throughout the world. That is the mercy of God embodied, incarnate, which dwelt among us in flesh and blood and dwells among us today in the Spirit. Mercy, hence, has to be lived today in forgiveness and love; there can be no place for grudge and grievance, envy and slander, cheating and stealing, killing and enmity. 

As we celebrate the Divine Mercy of Jesus...let us understand and accept Mercy as our mark of identity as God's own children, the distinctive character of persons who call themselves Christians! Let us be merciful as our heavenly father is merciful.

WORD 2day: Easter Saturday 2017

The Culture of Easter is Courage 

22nd April: Acts 4:13-21; Mk 16: 9-15

The culture of Easter is courage -it was born of the courage that Jesus showed in obeying God the Father without reserve and Jesus passes on the same courage to his disciples too. One of the clear proofs of Easter is the Courage that we see in the disciples, who were till then frightened and lost, timid and trembling but suddenly became so vociferous and invincible, outspoken and uncontrollable. What made that difference? The Empty Tomb is only an indication to what could have happened but the Courage of the disciples is the concrete proof of something extraordinary which had taken place. 

I am fond of making this contrast arising from the scene where Peter (along with John) speaks up to the rulers and elders vis-a-vis the scene on that maundy thursday night at the courtyard where he fumbled and fell so low in front of a mere servant maid! He who said in fear, I dont know the Jesus you are talking about, says today, I cannot stop proclaiming Jesus just because you command me to. Where did this extraordinary courage come from - that was in response to the command of the Risen Lord: go out to the whole world and proclaim good news to all creation. A new culture had been born, a culture of total fidelity and unlimited courage. 

The invitation for us today, is to feel this courage redoubling amidst crisis situations and tempting moments. Can we feel the unfailing presence of the Risen Lord with us, that we may live upto this culture of courage!

WORD 2day: Easter Friday 2017

The Sound of Easter is Positive 

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

The very sound of Easter is positivity. There are voices that discourage, there are noises that confuse, there are stories that mislead. As Easter people we are called to remain positive, productive and affirmative. We are challenged to be life giving. That is what Peter and John do: they announce Christ, because they were convinced that it is in that name that humanity has life. There is no other name given here on earth, through which a person could be saved. The only name that can give life is Jesus! And so they proclaimed that name, filling the earth with life, energy, wholeness and meaning. There were those who could not bear it or hear it or understand it. 

Even the disciples did not hear that initially - they heard voices that disturbed them, they were frightened; they heard noises that confused them, they were discouraged; they heard stories that misled them, they were returning to their old lives. But Jesus intercepted them, giving them back their meaning, direction and purpose - they heard his voice, they heard the call, they heard the sound of easter - the positive call to go on! Amidst discouraging experiences and disturbing factors in life, we are called to go on without giving up, because the very sound of Easter is positive!

WORD 2day: Easter Thursday 2017

The Fragrance of Easter is Hope

20th April: Acts 3: 11-26; Lk 24: 35-48

The part that remains even after the thing is removed from vicinity is the fragrance! And the fragrance that is left behind by Easter is that of Hope! The people throng all around Peter and John, because they have seen something terrific. The were excited at the prospects of seeing more things as such. They were enjoying and cherishing that moment. Just imagine the excitement that would have been when the disciples  witnessed Jesus stand amidst them, that Jesus whom they thought was killed. Jesus, makes them understand that these events have always been there, foretold and awaited. Now that they are fulfilled, you get the fragrance of it, and it is hope!

Our life has to be filled with this fragrance, if not we have not yet experience true easter. Out minds, our households, our relationships, our workplaces and wherever we are, we need to sense the fragrance of hope - which says, the Lord will triumph, love will triumph, the will of God alone will triumph! Do you smell hope wherever you are? Do people smell hope, where you are?

WORD 2day: Easter Wednesday 2017

The Touch of Easter is Mercy

19th April: Acts 3: 1-10; Lk 24: 13-35

The touch of Easter is Mercy; a boundless, limitless,  endless mercy. A very curious fact that we can ask ourselves: the apostles betrayed Jesus, denied Jesus and abandoned Jesus when he needed them the most. But when Jesus rose from death and came to meet his apostles, did he ever ask them the question - why did you do this to me? Never. In the Gospel today, with the two disciples on their way to Emmaus, Jesus joins them and shares their concerns, enquiring and clarifying their doubts and anxieties. The apostles were filled with grief when Jesus was killed. When they came to know that Jesus rose, indeed they were happy but more than that, they felt guilty. They were wondering how they would face Jesus. Jesus on his part, with a merciful heart treats them with love and forgiveness. 

The apostles did not miss learning that lesson - they were schooled at the school of mercy of the Son of God. Peter and John demonstrate that at the Beautiful Gate in the first reading today. Gold or silver we have none, in the name of Jesus, get up and walk, says Peter and the crippled man received his healing. 

If we are to be Easter people, we need to be people with forgiveness and love, sensitivity and care, in short people of boundless mercy. The touch of easter is truly, mercy!

WORD 2day: Easter Tuesday 2017

The Shape of Easter is Heart

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

If someone asks me to represent Easter with a shape, I would draw a heart! Yes, Easter is a matter of the heart. Youngsters often ask me this curious doubt: why did Jesus choose to appear to Magdalene first. I would say, he had no other choice, because she was the first one to go in search of Jesus, the most passionate of all Jesus' disciples, one who loved Jesus with the whole of her heart. Her heart was filled with Jesus and she yearned for Jesus and Jesus appeared to her! What a privilege! It was granted because of the heart, because of her love. 

Jesus was seen by only those who loved Jesus! Magdalene, then the close disciples, then the eleven...it was a matter of the heart. Precisely that is the reason people were cut to the heart when Peter spoke to them of Jesus. They were cut to the heart and so they understood Jesus and his call - they were baptised. 

Today, if we wish to meet Jesus, the Risen Jesus, then we need to prepare our heart. We need to be cut to the heart, to encounter Jesus truly. When we close our heart, we would never get to see the Risen One. Yes, the shape of Easter is heart. Open it wide and the Lord will abide!

WORD 2day - Easter Monday 2017

The Colour of Easter is Green

17th April: Acts 2:14,22-33; Mt 28:8-15

Green is the colour of life! New life - that is what Easter stands for. We are Easter people; people of life, people of new life, people of eternal life. There is always a group of people in the world who are against life and anything that upholds life. The Gospel today also speaks of a people who are determined to stifle life by all means or any means, whereas there is the Holy Spirit in the first reading instilling new life into the apostles. 

Jesus' rising to life is a call to new life, a life that is lived in its fullness, in spite of the culture of death that is prevalent all around us. Violence and Conspiracy, Neglect and Indifference, Hatred and Enmity... these are spread in abundance by persons and groups. However good we may be, there is always a force against us to put us down or hate us or threaten us or discourage us. Would we give up being good? Would we give up being life-giving persons? We would not if we are a Easter People.

Let us colour our lives green! Let us be life giving people, whatever the circumstances be! Jesus lives, and we will live, let us love, live and let everyone live! Let us go green!

LOVE-LENT 2017 - HOLY WEEK #7

THE SILENT SATURDAY - 15TH APRIL, 2017

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! The Lord waits...

LOVE-LENT 2017 - HOLY WEEK #6

GOOD FRIDAY 2017 - 14th April

LOVE DIES - FOR YOU AND ME

LOVE-LENT 2017 - HOLY WEEK #5

MAUNDY THURSDAY- 13th April, 2017

LOVE SERVES...
Exo 12:1-8,11-14; 1 Cor 11:23-26; Jn 13:1-15

Love is basically a willingness to submit oneself to a way of life that wishes the good of the other. Knowing the needs of the other, without having heard from him or her is a sign of love. Committing myself for the good of the other, without ever thinking of what I would gain, is an attitude of love. Being ready to lay down one's life for the good of the other is the ultimate act of love. It all begins in being at the service of the other and the good of the other. 

Maundy Thursday is the day on which the Lord gave us the famous mandate, the mandate of love: love one another as I have loved you; love in action - wash each other's feet; love to be identified as belonging to Christ. The Eucharist instituted is a loving service in action, by the Son of God who gives himself up for our good. Priesthood that is initiated today is a service, a ministry of bringing the Lord to the people. In every one of these, that which stands out is love. 

Love is our identity, love is our mission and love is our meaning. Love is seen in service, true and selfless service.

LOVE-LENT 2017 - HOLY WEEK #4

THE SPY WEDNESDAY - 12th April, 2017

LOVE HURTS...
Is 50: 4-9A; Mt 26:14-25

Starting from Monday, we have heard the three songs of the suffering servant from the book of Isaiah... a set of songs that expresses the sufferings that a servant of God or the prophet of God undergoes. It becomes a prefigurement of Christ's suffering. The servant of God, even the Son of God, finds all around  him, those who plot his downfall, those who want him to fail, to be destroyed: how prepared are we to face such people and still go about with dedication and commitment to the Will of God. Do you think it will be possible to go on loving even at these moments? It is simple to remain with the Lord and say I love, when things go on well; but when things do not go the way we want them? That is what led to the fall of Judas! But look at Jesus...it hurt him to have loved these people - the one who betrayed, the one who denied and the those who abandoned him but he never ceased loving them, much less react. 

"From that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over" ...says the Gospel today. The plot thickens and the tempo builds towards the climax. There are eyes that keep watching out for the right moment to lay hands on Jesus...and the most unfortunate fact is that it is led by one from the inner most circle of Jesus' collaborators! Yes, love hurts, but never retorts!

LOVE-LENT 2017 - HOLY WEEK #3

PREACHING TUESDAY - 11th April, 2017

LOVE NEVER GIVES UP
Is 49:1-6; Jn 13:21-33, 36-38

"Though I thought I toiled in vain... yet my reward is with the Lord", this feeling expressed by Isaiah in the first reading fits perfectly the state of Jesus' mind, as he bids a bitter farewell to his disciples today. Arriving at the fag end of his ministry, Jesus knows what is in store and prepares himself for it. Judas' betrayal, Peter's denial...he foresees everything and forewarns them too, but everything in vain. However, he knows that in everything God works for the good of those who love God (cf. Rom 8:28). 

Just after the cleansing of the Temple and the controversy created by it, Jesus is found preaching at the Temple, for the last time. The Jews, the high priests and the scribes, have always challenged Jesus regarding the authority with which he is doing all that he does! Jesus does not care to prove his authority not because he could not but because it was so obvious. His words were accompanied with signs, his teachings were authenticated with his living and no one needed any proof for Jesus' authority. They were not ready see the obvious truth. But Jesus' love does not let him lose heart...he goes on. That is true love - it never gives up. 

Believing involves repentance! Believing comes from a conviction, from an experience. Repent and believe - that was the invitation with which the Lent began! How far have you travelled? 

LOVE-LENT 2017 - HOLY WEEK #2

CLEANSING MONDAY - 10th April 2017

Is 42:1-7; Jn 12:1-11

The flame burns more vigorously as it is about to quench itself, they say. The perfume spreads itself more vivaciously when it is about to vanquish itself. The love for his father and the passion for his mission, burns ever brighter as Jesus nears the cross. Jesus is about to enter into his last few days, and more and more begin to believe in him and come to him. Even while these happen, the stubborn heart of Judas does not give way, the plotting spirit of the high priest and scribes does not change! 

This day within the Holy week is called the Cleansing Monday, as we see Jesus after entering Jerusalem, paying a visit to the Temple and cleansing it! Don't make my Father's house a den of robbers, he cries. As the scripture says, the zeal for his house consumes him, the love for his father consumes him, the love for his mission consumes him. 

All the good that Jesus did, all the signs that marked his mission did not manage to convert that one section of the people, because they had their hearts hardened and their eyes blinded. May we hear today the yearning cry of the Lord to true conversion. May we make up our mind to truly break away from some act or tendency that we habitually fall in. As Jesus cleanses that temple, the invitation to us is clear: our body is the temple of the Lord, is it maintained as the Lord's dwelling place or has it turned into a robber's den. Isn't it time for us to take note of it and cleanse it for all its impurities. Our love for the Father, for the Lord and for being the dwelling of the Spirit, should consume our selves! 

LOVE-LENT 2017 - HOLY WEEK #1

Palm Sunday 2017: 9th April

LOVE CELEBRATES LIFE

Is 50:4-7; Phil 2:6-11; Mt 26:14-27:66

Jesus enters Jerusalem. Jesus knows well what awaits him there... he had told his disciples that the Son of Man would be handed over to be tried and tortured; he had seen people plotting against him and waiting for a moment to lay hands on him; he had heard the whispers against him that it is better that one man dies for the whole of Israel. In spite of all these, Jesus sets his face towards Jerusalem, he enters Jerusalem.

Just as we find a festive atmosphere suddenly in the midst of the lenten sobriety this Sunday, so did Jesus find the joy of those people as he entered Jerusalem. He joins them in their celebration, notwithstanding the anxiety that clung to his soul. When someone suggested that he stop the people from all the frenzy, he disagrees with them and allows the jubilation and joins them in it. Love Celebrates, come what may!

Jesus' solemn entry into Jerusalem, is not merely a road show; it is much more. Like the disciples who had the transfiguration experience to sustain themselves, the common believers are given this solemn reception as something that they can fall back upon when things would look to be going wrong. He wants them to understand the celebration and the following confusions, the jubilation and the following tragedies, the triumphant entry and the shameful exit...all of these as part of a grand plan, the salvific plan. All that we need to do is to realise that life is from God's hands and learn to live life from God's hands. Surrender every thing, every little thing that happens - joy or sorrow, challenge or victory, opportunity or obstacle...surrender every thing into the hands of God and find its meaning from there. This is living life from God's hands! When we do this there will be no dearth for celebration in life.

Jesus was constantly motivated by the Mission that was entrusted to him by the One who sent him. It was this mission that defined his thoughts, words and actions. When there was a temptation of resting on the glory of the wonders that were happening, or the pressure from the people to make him their king, or the tendency towards attachment to a particular place or people, Jesus had his mind clear. He always said, we have to go to other villages and proclaim the good news! Living Life for God's Mission, was all that mattered for him. That is why a call from Herod for signs or a plea from Pilate for a submission or the threats from the high priests - all of them fell on a deaf ear. Jesus' mind was focused on just one thing: living life for God's Mission.

I came that you may have life; life in all its fullness: this was the self definition of Jesus' mission. The true glory of God is a human being fully alive, and Jesus is the prototype of this. Difficulties, rejections, let downs, oppositions, criticisms and condemnations, nothing really mattered for Jesus. He understood living to the full consists of all these experiences put together. What matters is hope, trust, and courage in the Lord with which to leap into the future which is filled with joy, splendour and peace that God alone can give. Behold, I come to do your will, says the Son and challenges us to do the same: to live our life to the full. Not to give up at the first of problems, not to give in to the least of the tests, but to remain faithful to the will of God, and obey with the same humility as the Son of God who emptied himself to the point of accepting death on the Cross. 

Let us look at the picture that the readings paint today...the man who foresees a terrible time amidst the people gathered around in extraordinary jubilation; the calmness of Jesus and the excitement of the people. This is living the moment to the full, living every thing that comes our way with intensity, this is celebrating life come what may! 

If we truly love the Lord, let us live our life from God's hands, live our life for God's mission and live our life to the full, after the example of our Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

LOVE-LENT 2017 - THE WORD IN LENT #32

Love is to gather, not scatter.

Saturday, Fifth week in Lent - 8th April, 2017
Ezek 37: 21-28; Jn 11: 45-56

Love is to gather, it is not to scatter. In the name of love for a person, if someone shatters every one else and scatters everything that is there, is it truly love? In the name of love one pressurises, forces or makes someone endure an undue pain, is it true love? In the name of loving someone or something, if a person advocates division and cruelty to others. is it truly love? Love does not polarise. Love does not set one against the other. Love does not spread calumny or hatred against others. Love is not an exclusive relationship that promotes ghetto mentality. Love is a broad sense of openness to the entire world. In loving one, I become a loving person myself...and thus I become one who gathers, not one who scatters. If I truly love, I will not be able to think thoughts of hatred, thoughts of division, thoughts of possession, thoughts of manipulation, thoughts of exploitation, thoughts of deception. Love, if true, makes me gather, not scatter!

LOVE-LENT 2017 - THE WORD IN LENT #31

Love is vulnerable, yet...

Friday, Fifth week in Lent - 7th April, 2017
Jer 20:10-13; Jn 10:31-42

Love is vulnerable, in the hands of those who receive it. Once love is extended, no conditions can be laid as to how the other should handle it. If conditions are laid, that love is not true, nor is it strong. The strength of true love is in its vulnerability. The Lord gave himself up in love, without counting the cost or expecting any returns. They did what they wished with him, just as we see in the case of Jeremiah who is taken for granted by the people to whom he was sent. But the question here is, though we know love is vulnerable, yet can we refrain from it? God loved the human beings into existence and lavished God's love upon them - they took it for granted and broke it right away!

Everytime God came forward to reveal God's love in any concrete way, human beings have always been taking advantage of its vulnerability. The height of it was killing of the God's own Son! We are sons and daughters of that love, that kept becoming stronger and stronger in the face of its vulnerability. How do we love? Precautious? Calculative? Expectant? Choosy? Is my love strong enough to be vulnerable?

LOVE-LENT 2017 - THE WORD IN LENT #30

Love is a Covenant, and so...

Thursday, Fifth week in Lent - 6th April, 2017
Gen 17: 3-9; Jn 8: 51-59

Love is not a contract, it cannot be. A contract is a give and take - love is a pure giving. That is why God is love and God's love is unconditional and without limits. The Word explains to us today, if love is not a contract, what is it? It is a Covenant.

Love is a Covenant, so unchangeable - it does not change. Even if one of that parties of the covenant fails in his or her obligation the covenant does not change. That is why God's love is unchanging whether we measure up to it or not. God has made a covenant and God will not change.

Love is Covenant, so eternal - it is timeless, it is at the same time retrospective and futuristic. Eternal is not merely endless, it is without beginning or end. God's covenant is such, it encompasses the entire humanity regardless of time - that is how Jesus is the saviour of the entire humankind, not only to those who come after him. So Jesus is the saviour of Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob of every single human person. The Jews find it difficult to understand because they looked at their religion as a contract, not as a covenant.

God's love is a covenant and God expects that our love for each others has to be a covenant too - loving everyone regardless of what we gain out of it; loving everyone without counting the cost; loving everyone without demanding the other to deserve it. Let our love be a covenant too!

LOVE-LENT 2017 - THE WORD IN LENT #29

Love, if true, sets free!

Wednesday, Fifth week in Lent - 5th April, 2017
Dan 3: 14-20,24-25,28; Jn 8: 31-42

Truth will set you free; true love will set you free; it will make you experience that freedom even inside a furnace. The Word speaks of true love and its capacity to set persons free. Faithfulness to One God was an act of love for the Jews - an act of unfailing love, inspired by the unending love of God. Today we see the story of the three men inside the furnace - the icons of love and faithfulness to God.

Jesus shows the same faithfulness in his fearlessness. He speaks against the compromises the Jews continue to make and accuses them of being slaves to their own compromises. In fact compromises lead to bondages, while true love and faithfulness lead to freedom. 

We have our daily furnaces to prove our love and faithfulness to God. The offer is clear and open: I will set you free, truth will set you free, true love will set you free, the Lord declares. Are we ready to be set free?

LOVE-LENT 2017 - THE WORD IN LENT #28

Love, Look Up and Live

Tuesday, Fifth week in Lent - 4th April, 2017
Num 21:4-9; Jn 8: 21-30

All those who look up to the one who is lifted up, will find life! But anyone who looks up?... looking up can have very many motivations. 

One is a mere curiosity to know who is there and what is there. Just knowing about Christ and knowing about the Faith, may be an exercise of curiosity, not really leading us anywhere remarkable. 

Another motivation of looking up would be to make the most of the moment. It is to get whatever the benefits that are promised, however convinced or not I may be. It is an attitude of eclecticism, picking up what seems good all around and having them compiled together- not really bothered whether they contradict or comply. This can serve as a starting point to a faith experience, but cannot become a permanent faith choice!

The third is looking up with love, with trust, with hope that it is in the one who is lifted up there is an answer to every issue that I face in my life. I look up in love and I look up to love and it is in love that I am lifted too. The Love of the Lord urges me and I can love, even amidst circumstances that appear so loveless. I look up and I see Love lifted up and that is a call to lift my love up. Yes, it is in love, I look up and I live!

LOVE-LENT 2017 - THE WORD IN LENT #27

Love - and how you treat the other

Monday, Fifth week in Lent - 3rd April, 2017
Dan 13:1-9,15-17,19-30,33-62; Jn 8:1-11

We don't live as islands and we cannot. We share our time, space and experiences with others, very few of whom we consider, 'related' to us and the others remain 'strangers' or 'outsiders'. However, there can be three types of attitudes towards the other, that we see around us. 

First is, knowing little and manipulating it. This is Evil. We know very little about the person, but even that very little we try to make use of, for our own good, manipulating and exploiting the other, without even offering the other the due dignity and respect the person deserves. The two evil men in the episode of Susanna and all those who were involved with the woman spoken of in the Gospel today - they come under this category - the Use and Throw Society.

The second category is, knowing nothing but judging. This is Sinful. We know nothing much about the person but we judge the person, basing ourselves on the judgments and opinion spread by people. Whether we try to know the real truth or not, we are more eager to judge, hold an opinion and keep ratifying it by our own interpretation. The people who stood around in both the episodes in the Word today, are of this category. We are so busy judging the persons that we do not have the time to really understand what the person is going through - the Curious and Judgmental Society.

The third category is, knowing the person and loving the person genuinely, that you try to empathise with the person and understand the person, leading the person to a holistic dignified life. This is Love. Jesus and Daniel, give us a wonderful example of this disposition to persons. Love is all about how you treat others. Whether Jesus or Daniel, they were respectful, mindful of the dignity of persons, willing to listen to them, open to accepting them and eager to see them live, live a happy and wholesome life : this is love. Only those who do this belong to a truly Christ-ian Society.

TO LOVE IS TO LIVE

LOVE-LENT 2017 - THE SUNDAY SCHOOL

Sunday 5 : 2nd April, 2017
Ezek 37:12-14; Rom 8:8-11; Jn 11:1-45

The signs of life are newness, change, growth, freshness and development. We are called to be People of Life. Being people of life is not that easy today, because we live in a Culture of Death. Death is signified by a state of stand still, a state of no change, a state of decay, a state of giving up, a state of discouragement. The world today is filled with these signs - everyone seems to be giving up very easily. People see corruption and mismanagement, but give up that nothing can be done. People see sinfulness and decadence, but give up saying that is the order of the day... Are these really people of life? Can a Christian take this stand towards life?

The Readings today invite us to be PEOPLE OF LIFE... because we are children of the God of Life. God gives us life and constantly renews us. In the first reading, we are invited to reflect through Prophet Ezekiel, the gift of Life that is given to us by the very author of life, that is God. In faith we have a relationship built between God and us: You shall be my people and I shall be your God...that is the alliance that God has made with us, and is faithful to. You shall be my children and I shall be your father and mother; You shall be my flock and I shall be your shepherd; You shall be my beloved and I shall fill you with my love..says the Lord. Today the Lord promises us amidst all the darkness of the world and the shadow of death, to fill us with God's Spirit and make us live. As those dry bones, gathered together and stood up to life, so can we rise up in this world as people of life, IN FAITH.

We are constantly challenged and threatened by the darkness that surrounds us, as the darkness that surrounded Lazarus in the tomb. Lord it's been four days since he has been laid there, they said. Four days...the Jews believed that from the fourth day after death, the process of decay began. The decayed body comes to life, the situation of total hopelessness is brought to life by the Hope of Resurrection...Jesus declares, I am the Life and Resurrection. In Baptism we are all united to the death of Christ on the Cross, and that gives us the hope of sharing the Resurrection of the Lord. We are called to live as People of life, people who look to the light, people who look up to resurrection, people who are filled with joy and optimism, people who live IN HOPE.

If we are people of life, it has to be seen in our daily life... we cannot live a life that is like anyone else and call ourselves people of life. We cannot grumble and mourn like everyone and call ourselves people of life. We cannot give up and groan like the rest of the world and call ourselves people of life. We cannot just succumb to sinfulness and evil and still call ourselves people of life. St. Paul in the second letter makes it clear to us...we are to live our life in the Spirit, not the life of flesh. Life in the Spirit is filled with light, radiance, joy and above all, Love. The Spirit of the Risen Lord has to fill our life and thus we will be light to the nations, witness of God's love to the people around, testimonies of the Resurrection that is promised to us and signs of the eternal life that we are called to. The foundation is love...to live a life that is filled with love, love for God who loves us abundantly and love for our brothers and sisters, with respect and dignity to each and every child of God. We will stand for, radiate and uphold life as people of life, IN LOVE.

Let us heed the call that the readings give us today: TO LIVE, to be people of life, in faith, in hope and in love. To behold life from God's hands in Faith, to radiate the presence of God in Hope all through life and to become more and more like God in living a life of Love.

LOVE-LENT 2017 - THE WORD IN LENT #26

Love: the strength that seems weak!

Saturday, Fourth week in Lent - 1st April, 2017
Jer 11: 18-20; Jn 7: 40-52

A friend of mine once told me, "I hate that person" and I immediately asked her, "why?". She said it as a matter of fact, "I don't like the beard that he sports, that he is tall and well built and that he has that big bike." Are you wondering whether these are reasons enough to hate a person? I too wondered, but she did not. Many have many strange reasons to hate persons. While that level of strangeness can be debated, my question remains this: can I hate someone, being a disciple of Christ? It is one thing to disapprove of what one is or what one does, but to hate a person, to the extent of intending to get rid of that person... that is a serious issue. 

Christian way of living would mean I love everyone, irrespective of who the person is and what he or she has done to me or failed to do to me! The Word today presents to us the cases of Jeremiah and Jesus - both hated for reasons known only unto the haters. They were scheming to kill Jeremiah and he was not even aware of it, until the Lord revealed it to him; he was so innocent. Jesus was hated because he was from Galilee...what a reason!

Jesus or Jeremiah, may seem weak here - but they are truly strong, people who loved the Lord and the Lord's people. Love at times may look like a weakness or timidity, but actually it is a strength, a power, something that is going to triumph ultimately. Will you endure until that moment?