நம்பிக்கையில் அகலும் இரவுகள்

ஆகஸ்ட் 1, 2018: எரே 15: 10,16-20; மத் 13: 44-46

முதல் வாசகத்தில் இன்று இறைவாக்கினர் எரேமியாவை காணும்போது நமக்கே உள்ளம் கலங்கிவிடுகிறது. இறைவனுக்கென்றே வாழ்ந்த அவருக்கு ஏன் இத்தனை துன்பங்கள் என்று அவர் மீது இரங்கத்தோன்றுகின்றது. அவரும் தன்னையே நொந்துக் கொள்கிறார்... தான் ஏன் பிறந்தேன் என்று வேதனைப்படுகிறார். எத்தனை பேர் இவ்வாறு இன்று சிந்தித்துக் கொண்டிருக்கிறார்கள்... அங்கலாய்த்துக் கொண்டிருக்கிறார்கள்! நம்மில் சிலரும் கூட இப்படிப்பட்ட மனநிலையோடு இன்று வாழ்ந்துக் கொண்டிருக்கலாம்! துன்பங்கள், துயரங்கள், கடன், குழப்பங்கள், உடல்நிலை கேடு, மனநிலை தடுமாற்றம், உறவுகளில் விரிசல்கள், புரிதலின்மை, தவறான புரிதல்கள், சண்டைகள், சச்சரவுகள், என பல நிலைகளில் இருள் நம்மை சூழ்ந்திருக்கலாம்... ஆனால் எரேமியாவுக்கு இருந்த அந்த தெளிவு நம்மிடம் உள்ளதா? எங்கிருந்து வந்தது அந்த தெளிவு? 

எத்தனை துன்பங்கள் வந்தாலும், எத்தனை தோல்விகள் அடைந்தாலும், எவ்வித இருள் என்னை சூழ்ந்தாலும் நான் வீழ்ந்துவிடேன்! ஏனெனில், என் ஆண்டவர் என்னோடிருக்கிறார்... அவர் மீதுள்ள நம்பிக்கையில் இந்த இருள் சூழ்ந்த இரவுகள் கடந்து போகும், அருள் நிறை காலங்கள் என்னை வந்தடையும் என்ற தெளிவு அவரிடம் இருந்தது. ஆண்டவர் என் சார்பாய் இருக்கும் போது எனக்கெதிராக இருப்பவர் யார் (உரோ 8:31), என்று சூளுரைத்த பவுலடிகளாரை போல, பல புனிதர்களை நாம் இந்த நாட்களிலே சந்திக்கவிருக்கிறோம்... நேற்று நாம் கொண்டாடிய இஞ்ஞாசியார், இன்று நாம் நினைவுகூரும் அல்போன்சு லிகோரியார், இன்னும் இவ்வார  இறுதியில் வரும் மரிய வியான்னி என்று அனைவருமே இந்த வாழ்க்கை முறையை நமக்கு முன்மொழிகிறார்கள்!

நிலத்தடியில் மறைந்து கிடந்த புதையலை கண்டடைந்தாற்போல், உலகறியா விலையுயர்ந்த முத்தொன்றை கையிலேந்தியதுபோல் உணர்ந்தார் எரேமியா - ஒரு இறைவாக்கினனின் முழுமையான மனநிலை அது. நாம் ஒவ்வொருவரும் அத்தகையதொன்றையே கண்டடைந்துள்ளோம்: நமது நம்பிக்கை. அது நமது இரவுகளையும் இருளையும் இல்லாமலாக்கும் அரிய ஆற்றல் கொண்டது. அதை நாம் உணர்ந்திருக்கிறோமா? இறைவன் என் பக்கமிருக்க, யார் எனக்கெதிராக இருந்தால் எனக்கென்ன, என்று துணிந்து வாழும் கிறிஸ்துவர்களாய் உருவெடுப்போம்! 

A Clarity amidst all confusions

Wednesday, 17th week in Ordinary time

August 1, 2018: Jer 15:10, 20-21; Mt 13: 44-46

The first reading pictures to us Jeremiah as a person totally lost, confused, demoralised a bit and to an extent even at his wit's end. He speaks of how miserable he is and how he is surrounded by the evil doers and god haters. However, amidst all these confusions, there is a constant clarity that is visible: the clarity that God is for him. He was convinced, whoever be against him, God was for him. As St. Paul puts it, "if God is for us, who can be against us?" (Rom 8:31). That clarity is the lesson today!

Once again falling back  to the first reading we see that, Jeremiah endures all pain and suffering, all persecution and injustice for the sake of the mission entrusted to him, because he was confident that it was God who has entrusted it to him. Like the treasure hidden in the field and that exceptional pearl sighted among the rest, he had the promises of God well fixed in his mind. That was enough a reason for him to risk even his life.

We have had great saints in history who have lived this life of prophecy, who have lived their lives in the midst of utter confusions and endless tribulations. All of them were ready to give up anything in life, or even give up their life, because they had unearthed an unbelievable treasure in the midst of that barren land, because they had sighted the most precious stone in the midst of all the deceiving glitters. If we find the Lord, if we become aware of what the Lord has to offer us, we shall have that enviable clarity amidst confusion; and that alone is enough for a meaningful living.

Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam...

Remembering St. Ignatius of Loyola...

Tuesday, 17th week in Ordinary time

July 31, 2018: Jer 14: 17-22; Mt 13: 36-43

I was wondering why the Lord made me today listen to a person who was out of the blue sharing with me the whole lot of his personal vocational journey. I was restless to get back to my room to finish up a few commitments of the day, but the person would not leave me. After a long session of listening to the person, I come to reflect on the Word and It strikes me with such a bolt: Rescue us O Lord for the glory of your name! The person was sharing with me the possibility of how so much of our own personal glory and ego could get mixed up with what we call, 'God's will'. 

Killings and Insensitive acts against human dignity fill the dailies of these days. Scandals abound in the Church which I love and treasure. Uncertainties and clueless difficulties keep increasing by the day. Things which we have been upholding for centuries are brought under ruthless questioning at times - and the first reading brought this scenario to my mind with such lucidity. And I questioned, 'why Lord? why this today?'

The Gospel came as a response: because there is evil along with what is truly good; there are intentions and projects initiated by the enemy but everything looks like good. Do not be eager to judge what is good and what is evil - you cannot; you will go wrong! "WAIT" said the Lord. The only thing that you can judge is your own intentions and your own purposes and your own projects and your own thinking! Be sincere - identify the grain and the darnel, but within you! Distinguish the seed from the weed, but within you! What you hold on to, is it from the Lord or is it from the evil one?

Whatever you wish, whatever you say or whatever you do, let it be to give glory to God and to God alone! We have a great example of this in St. Ignatius of Loyola who lived, worked and initiated a movement all for the greater glory of God. Let this wonderful motto be ours too: Ad maiorem Dei gloriam - to the greater glory of God!

The God of small things!

Monday, 17th week in Ordinary time

July 30, 2018: Jer 13: 1-11; Mt 13: 31-35

God chose what was foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what was weak in the world to shame the strong. God chose what was low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God (1 Cor 1:27-29). 

Jesus is fond of presenting his Father as the God of small things! He thanks God for keeping the secrets from the elites but revealing them to children (cf. Lk 10:21) and compares the Reign of God to a mustard seed and to a pinch of yeast. He invites us to learn of his meekness and humility (cf. Mt 11:30) and mediates the salvific love of God through his sheer obedience (cf. 2 Phil). Mindful of this, St. Paul sighs, "what do we have that we have not received?" (cf. 1 Cor 4:7).

At times when religious opinions clash on the floor of the social networks these days, we notice quite many who fight tooth and nail to establish that they are right, desperately wanting to "defend" God. Though it is an admirable gesture, most of the times I end up smiling within me. Let us remind ourselves of our smallness before God! It is nothing more than a realistic understanding of what we are in front of the majesty that God is adorned with. It is better to be a small little thing in the presence of God than a mighty big being without God. It just would not make any sense; not forever! 

The foolish man says in his heart, 'there is no god' - derides the Psalmist (14:1). The secret lies in keeping it simple and being grateful for every small thing that we have; for our God is a God of small things!

HAND IN HAND WITH GOD

The Need... a heart, an eye and a mind!

17th Sunday in Ordinary time: 29th July, 2018

2 Kgs 4: 42-44; Eph 4: 1-6; Jn 6: 1-15

The times are bad...those are the words that we hear from almost all contexts today. Economic or Cultural or Moral or Political or Religious... every corner of human existence seems to echo this judgement invariably. Need, misery, unbalanced growth, neglect of a majority, domination of a few, the gross problem of the migrants, resistance and revolts all over, a general sense of loss of meaning and a sort of helplessness that fills the minds of every person of good will... that is what the scene looks like today!

What am I going to do? That is the most pertinent question at the moment. Am I going to give in to that sense of helplessness and hopelessness. That cannot be a Christian attitude, says the Word today. I need to work hand in hand with God and things will surely change. I am fond of a movie titled, I am Gabriel, which begins and ends with the same frame - a shot of village name board. In the opening shot the board reads, 'where good things never happen' and the closing shot has the same board and the same reading, with that "never" erased! Where good things happen! Nothing much has changed; just a word removed and the entire sense changes. Even in that village during the movie, nothing much happens but the entire village goes through a revival! How do we revive the earth, and the humanity... by acting hand in hand with God.

GIVE... a heart to give - that is the essential correction needed for the humanity today. We need to have a heart to give, to give with all our heart. That is what God does. God gives, and gives, and gives! When we begin to grow within us a heart to give, to truly give not merely of what we do not want, nor of what is excess with us but of ourselves and of what we actually need and of all that we have, that is Giving after the heart of God. God is essentially a Giver! Elijah is ready to Give, Jesus wants to Give, God is ever ready to Give! Do I have the heart to Give?

OTHERS...an eye for the others - is the radical perspective that needs to guide humanity today. People have ceased to think of the other. Whether a daily scene of jostling in the public places like railway stations or bus terminus or the national politics and policy lobbying...every where humanity has grown cold to the other, thinking only of the self, only of the petty private interests. Even when they think of the common good, they think of what is common to a small circle to where they belong, and not the Greater Common Good...the good of the whole humanity, the good of the whole world - Lokasamgraha, Sarvodhaya, vasudhaiva kutumbaka,  Universal brotherhood and Sisterhood, the care for the Common Home...these have become merely wishful thinking!

DO... a mind determined to do - this is the fundamental mindset that can redeem the situation today. At times the good willed persons can lose heart seeing the enormity of the opposition. But that will only be a curse on ourselves. The Word today presents to us the determination of the man who brought the barley loaves to Elijah, Philip who brought the boy with the few loaves to Jesus...they knew what they were doing actually is nothing before the task that lay before them, but they were kind of determined about what they were doing. The One Lord who takes care of everything, the One Lord who is aware of everything, the One Lord who just waiting for us to do our simple part and take our responsible place in this humanity, will see to the needed revival. The Lord will provide the change that is needed for the times, but the times require that we act hand in hand with God. 

In Giving, in being sensitive to the Other, and in being determined to Do..., we act hand in hand with God, infact we initiate the very "new thing" that God wants to do - the new heavens and the new earth, the Reign of God here and now!

Harvest is Cutting!

Saturday,  16th week in Ordinary time 

July 28, 2018: Jer 7:1-11; Mt 13: 24-30

Yesterday we spoke of bearing fruits and today we speak of harvest. Harvest is not merely fruit bearing; it's also cutting. It is a sign that enough time has been given to an individual to make up one's mind. Compromises and conveniences abound in today's life style and it does not disturb a casual conscience.

There is the other extreme of a conscience which pictures the Lord of the harvest as a tyrant, a heartless landlord and a stringent due collector. It makes life look like a misery,  every bit of it so precarious, as if I am pressurised, as if I am driven to frustration with all the strife of the world. That is not truly a Christian vision of life.

Christian way of life is all about taking responsibility for every choice that one makes, mindful of the experiences that have shaped one, graces that have gratuitously enriched the person, undeserved love that has been invested in the person and the great hopes that are pinned with respect on to the person. 

When we look at it this way, the Lord comes across as a loving and merciful father and a kind and compassionate mother who gives life and leads us every moment by our hand and empowers us to bear fruit. 

However, it is  our choice to bear fruit or not. We have to make that choice in time, before we  realise, the harvest would be around. And harvest is cutting; that we cannot forget or change!

Grow up and Bear Fruit...

Friday, 16th week in Ordinary time

July 27, 2018: Jer 3: 14-17; Mt 13: 18-23

The discourse of Sunday is still running through - that of the Shepherd. The Lord is our Shepherd and has given us all that we need to live our life to the full, yet we falter at times and the reason is because we are "disloyal children" of God, as Jeremiah reminds us today. The Shepherd is faithful and diligent, but on our part we are childish and distracted. The good news is that the Lord never gets discouraged! The Shepherd never abandons. 

Let's pause here to look at another important dimension of the discourse - that is what the readings in liaison with each other wish to call our attention to. The Shepherd is faithful and the Shepherd is perfect but what about us? It can be too convenient for us to imagine ourselves as sheep, and take advantage of the helplessness that characterises a sheep. But the readings today introduce another imagery: the crops and the need to bear fruit. 

The Lord has given us all that we need to live, to be nourished and to bear fruit, in our own way and capacity! The Lord has not given all of us the same goal and does not wait at the finish ready to rank us in succession. No. We are each given a goal that is unique, a call that is personal and a commission that is specific. All that we need to do is give our hundred percent. In comparison that hundred could be 30 or 60 or 100, but that does not matter as long as I have given my hundred percent and borne the fruit that I got to. 

Grow up and Bear Fruit, the Lord invites. It is fine to take shelter under the Lord as a timid little sheep but that is not all that you are! Grow up and bear fruit and you shall be called truly Children of God. 

Grandparents' Day!

26th July, 2018: Sts. Joachim and Anne, parents of Mary

The first setting in which faith enlightens humanity is the family, declares the encyclical Lumen Fidei (52). It further explains that passing of faith in the family happens in the process of shared expression of faith within the family, helping children to become aware of their faith and grow and mature in it. 

Christian faith is always communitarian and it is passed on primarily in the family. Recently someone observed to me, sharing on the level of faith being lived (or practiced) in Europe vis-a-vis in India, that one major reason for the degeneration in Europe is the weakening of the institution of the family. Those who hand on faith to us are really God-given. Most important among them, our parents and grandparents who not only give us life but show us also how to live it, from their own experience. 

Celebrating a day to remember the parents of Mary, the Mother of God and our Mother, provides us an opportunity to remember with thanks these our fore-runners in faith, as the first reading suggests, 'let us praise famous persons, our parents in their generations. These were persons of mercy, whose righteous deeds have not been forgotten' (Sir  44:1,10). Infact, thanks to them, we are in a position better than them due to their hard work, great example and their dreams for us! Jesus acknowledges that in his words (Mt 13:16-17) and exhorts us to live up to our blessedness, our giftedness, worthy of the faith and tradition that is transmitted to us, from our predecessors. 

The transmission that the grandparents effect is a practical and concrete transmission of lived faith. It deals with right practice and right living. Faith in its very essence has an all-embracing quality of transforming the entire life of a person and the community to which the person belongs. Let us treasure our traditions, transform our todays and thus pave way for meaningful tomorrows. Let us pray for our Grandparents specially today and honour them in some little way. 

A grateful remembrance of our grandparents if they are no more, or a bear hug to them if they are still with us, will be in place today! 

Jesus' School of Servant Leadership

July 25, 2018: Remembering St. James

2 Cor 4: 7-15; Mt 20: 20-28

Feast of any Apostle reminds us of the wonderful words that St. Paul utters today: "we hold this treasure in earthen vessels". Every apostle has his own weakness, nevertheless the gift that they are and that they possess, surpasses everything as God's power and might is revealed in it.

Feast of St. James (with the Gospel that we are given to reflect today) reminds us of this more strongly and adds another specific teaching, a teaching from Jesus' School of Servant Leadership. In Matthew's and Mark's versions of the Gospel, we find every time that Jesus foretells about his passion, he follows it up with the discourse on servant leadership (as we see in Mt 16:24ff; 18:1ff; 20:20ff). James and John took time to realise that the only thing we can inherit from Jesus is his identity as Suffering Servant!

Eventually they wanted to bear the crown that Jesus mentioned and that is what they did. James led the community of Jerusalem... humble and service minded as the Master himself; and his blood shed like the Master's (Acts 12:2). Let us praise the Lord for the apostle St. James and be prepared to witness to the Lord till our last breath!

Mercy and Faithfulness

Tuesday,  16th week in Ordinary Time 

Mic 7: 14-15,18-20; Mt 12: 46-50a

The message that enlightened us on Sunday, continues through the week too...calling our attention to the faithfulness of the Shepherd who has committed himself to our good, without measure or without limits. The most concrete expression of God's faithfulness is God's mercy which is so boundless and plentiful. 

We are called to be merciful too: be merciful as your heavenly father is merciful, instructed us Jesus once. Our concrete way of living out mercy is being faithful to the biddings of the Lord. Being faithful to the biddings of the Lord would consist of being attentive to everything around me, being truly concerned about everyone around me and being open to the promptings of the Spirit within me.

Mercy is not about doing some charitable acts here and there and now and then. But it is becoming like God, growing in our godliness and being signs of God's faithfulness to those who are in need of it. Being God's presence to those around us, especially those who need it the most, who need it badly, who depend on it for their sustenance. 

The starting point of growing merciful, that is growing up to be like God, is to listen to the Lord and do what the Lord wants of us. That is the only way we can grow to be children of God and become truly brothers and sisters of the Son of God, our brother Jesus Christ. 

Want to see signs? Here is a project of life

Monday, 16th week in Ordinary time

July 23, 2018: Mic 6: 1-4, 6-8; Mt 12: 38-42

"To do the right and to love goodness and to walk humbly with your God" - Micah presents a project of life in these precise words (Mic 6:8). It is a project that he gives to the people to walk in the Lord's ways and not to weary the Lord with their unfaithfulness and stubbornness. 

How different are we from the people whom Micah addresses today in the first reading? Aren't we just like the pharisees and the others who were incessantly asking for signs from the Lord? Crying statues, bleeding icons, moving crosses... do not they continue to be a craze these days! Should they be? 

Of course, for us miracles are a daily feature, because our God is an awesome God. But looking for some strange phenomenon and glamorous happenings, is not the "Christ"ian outlook of a miracle. For Christ the miracle is in the hope that we can give each other; miracle is in the love that we share with every one around us; miracle is the everyday faith in the Lord and the resultant serenity amidst all the din. 

Let's resolve to do the right, love goodness and walk humbly with the Lord and we will see miracles all around us, on a daily basis!

THE 4G SHEPHERD

A Shepherd for our times

July 22,2018: 16th Sunday in Ordinary time

Jer 23: 1-6; Eph 2: 13-18; Mk 6: 30-34

Take a look at the scenario today - at the so-called shepherds, the leaders all around us! There are some who are special but they do not stand out as much as the other usual ones, the usual ones who are treacherous, fending for their own good, thinking about nothing other than themselves, ready to sacrifice anything or anyone to attain the goals that they have set for themselves which would serve them and them alone, twisting and twirling their words, having their own definitions for virtues, doing all they can to have and to retain power unto themselves, oblivious of the struggles of the least, using others as stepping stones and ready to trample upon anyone for the sake of their ascent! These are the shepherds of our times. The sad fact is, this does not happen only in the socio-political milieu today but even in the spiritual world!

It is against this background that the readings of today make a great sense to us! They present to us a Shepherd par excellence, a Shepherd for our times - the times that speak of 4G - yes, a 4G Shepherd. We would do well to look at the way the Lord leads us in contrast to the life of the so-called leaders of today. The aim is not to judge these leaders, but to learn from the Lord and to form ourselves to be the Shepherd's true flock, true followers and true apostles!

While the power conscious of today seek to divide people, stratify them and polarise them to gain their own benefits, the True Shepherd GATHERS all. The first reading and the second underline this grace that the Lord brings us - the grace of unity and peace! Yes, this is the sign of the True Shepherd. Gathering the remnant, gathering the different people, gathering all into one is the task that Jesus took upon himself - to gather everyone, to reconcile everything in God! We are called to be persons who gather, not divide, not polarise, not scatter.

While the self-centred generation of today thinks about oneself and one's own possessions, growing evermore avaricious and insensitive to others, the True Shepherd GIVES himself to us. Paul's central message has always been that: that Christ gave himself up that we may be brought to the state of being children of God. Endless greed and craze for pleasure blind the generations of today and we cannot belong to the flock of the True Shepherd if we follow the trend. We need to stand up for truth, stand out in our choices and some times even stand alone, and be ready to give of ourselves to stand for the good and for God.

While the grief struck mentality of the world is all the time striving and chasing after the comforts and in the meanwhile accumulating grief and depression, the True Shepherd GLADDENS the spirits of those who come to him. Come to me, rest in me, learn from me, be nourished of me, grow in me and become like me, calls the Lord today. The Shepherd knows the struggle that we are involved in, the problems and pains that we are facing on a daily basis - that is why he tells us today: Come apart and rest a while!

While the craving to dominate others becomes the force that moves persons to action today, the True Shepherd, who has the entire universe under his command, GOVERNS us with love, a love that is sensitive, a love that is delicate, a love that is selfless, a love that is ever-giving, a love that reaches out, a love that works marvels for our good and not for its own glory...a love that is God. That is the principle that governs the entire reality, the principle that is the foundation of everything that is good or godly: the principle of LOVE, which has to characterise the life of every one in this flock. The call is to receive this love from its source, the Lord, the True Shepherd and grow in it, and learn to give it to all, little by little! 

Choice! the choice of God!

Saturday, 15th week in Ordinary time

July 21, 2018: Mic 2: 1-5; Mt 12: 14-21

Jesus was living dangerously. But he chose to, for the sake of the Reign of God. He stuck his neck out for the poor, for the oppressed, the marginalised, the ostracised, the exploited, the forgotten in the society. He believed that the Reign of God belonged to them. His life was a hope to the least, the last and the lost. Crucifiction was not just one event of his life, it was all his life: at every choice he made and at every step he took, he knew he was getting closer and closer to the Cross!

In this choice Jesus was making present the God of the Old Testament who sided the oppressed, who stood by the just in their struggles and who kept watch over the persons who strove to live according to God's will. The first reading points out the choice of God, the choice for the poor and the suffering. This predilection on God's part distinguished Jesus and the choices he made. His choice was, the choice of God. There apparent and real dangers, and Jesus knew it well.

Nothing could stop him from proclaiming the Reign of God for he knew he had come precisely for that, to establish the Reign of the God of Truth, the God of the suffering, the Lord of the least, the protector of the lost, the hope of the last. Our identity has to be our Choices, may they be forever in keeping with the choices of God!

Something greater around!

Friday, 15th week in Ordinary time

July 20, 2018: Is 38: 1-6, 21-22, 7-8; Mt 12: 1-8

God deigns to do strange things for the love of those who trust in God! The first reading is one such episode. There are so many others, like the burning bush (Exo 3), the water from the rock (Exo 17), the sign of the fleece (Judg 6:36ff), and many more. These are merely to show that there is nothing or no one greater than the Lord and anything is possible with God!

When it comes to showing mercy to those who trusted, the Lord is lavish, prodigal and unreasonably generous, because God's love is unconditional and everlasting. That was a difficult message for Jesus to communicate to the law abiding, traditional and painfully legalistic Jews. Even today the Lord tries to impress upon us the same message, the message of how loving the Lord is, how unconditional God's love is and how far from judging the love of God is. 

No rule can be too big and no custom too important, than the love that the Lord has for you and me and the longing that Lord has for our total well being. When we feel the tendency to be legalistic, when we find ourselves prone to judge, when tasks at hand draw our utmost attention, let us realise: something greater is around us, something greater envelopes us, something greater sustains us - and it is, God's love, the love which became a human person and gave his life for our salvation. 

Come to me, all who are far away from me!

Thursday, 15th week in Ordinary time

July 19, 2018: Is 26: 7-9, 12, 16-19; Mt 11: 28-30

The yearning of a Godless soul, the struggle of a people who have gone far away from God is intensely presented in the first reading today. The world today is treading that path indeed... trying its best to define life sans God; trying to convince everyone around that it is possible to live without having anything to do with anything called god! Worse still, the trend today advocates creating our own gods and creating gods of ourselves! 

We think we have solutions for every problem and even for those that we do not have the solutions, we create shortcuts that can keep the pain and the struggle away for the time being. Hardly do we realise that the problem persists and it keeps brewing under cover, only to explode one day beyond control. And at that point we would find no return!

The Lord invites us today to the true consolation, the real solution, the authentic peace that can give meaning to our daily life and all its strife. He does not promise an absence of yoke, nor does he lure us with a negation of burden...he promises a yoke that fits us perfectly and a burden that proves really bearable: because we live it in the Lord's company. 

'Come to me' says the Lord, because all the struggle is since you have moved away from me. Come to me...and learn of me...and you will find meaning, peace, consolation and serenity! 

All things belong to God... even you and me!

Wednesday, 15th week in Ordinary time

July 18, 2018: Is 10: 5-7, 13b-16; Mt 11: 25-27

All things have been handed over to me by my Father, says Jesus today in the Gospel. 'God as the author of history', has been a concept so strongly evinced by the narratives of the Old Testament. Even the super powers like Assyria and Babylonia were considered to be commissioned by the Lord to make certain twists and turns happen in history. This is the background against which Isaiah chides Assyria saying, they think they are the masters of their own destiny and the authors of their success. They fail to understand that there is someone far beyond and above them, who "sits in the heavens and laughs"(Ps 2:4) at the folly of the proud.

The Lord scatters the proud hearted and raises the lowly (cf Lk 1:51); God reveals things to mere children and sends the haughty empty! All things are God's and from God everything draws its life and its sense. If I approach life with this sense, my worries find a way out, my concerns cringe to my feet and bearing my burdens become a child's play! What a saving wisdom it would be to recognise that all things belong to God, yes even you and me, and all that we dream; everything belongs to God, and in God we live, move and have our being!

Right Faith and Right Living

Tuesday, 15th week in Ordinary time

Is 7: 1-9; Mt 11: 20-24

Unless your faith is firm, you shall not be firm. What is that which differentiates a Christian in this world - it is not the name or the external signs or identities by belonging to a group or the other; instead, it is a matter of faith, an internal disposition towards the Lord who has called you and commissioned you. 

Right faith has to create right living; right belief and right action are after all essentially dependent in so many of the religious traditions, as we know of. 

The Integrity that Jesus demands of us is basically one of right belief and right living. Sometimes circumstances and situations can force us to take decisions or make choices that are not proper to the life that we have been called to. It is not so strange to commit such a mistake. But it is not only strange, even highly unbecoming of a child of God when he or she has received all possible warnings and all possible signs of God's directions but still makes a choice that is not worthy of a child of God. Worse still, if the person justifies that choice. And worst of all, nothing can help the one who decides to remain with that choice in spite of all this.

Faith which is not translated into right living and a living that is not guided by right faith, are totally alien to a true child of God. Even if the simplest of signs is given, a child of God will acknowledge it, make sense of it, hold on to the light that the Lord provides and and shape his or her life according to God's will. Where do I stand in this regard?

The Challenge of Orthopraxis

Monday, 15th week in Ordinary time

July 16, 2018: Celebrating Our Blessed Mother of Mount Carmel
Is 1: 10-17; Mt 10: 34 - 11:1

What Hosea spoke last week, Isaiah speaks this week...they both underline the importance of Orthopraxis! True Christian life does not consist only of worship and of adoration, it consists of justice and charity as a concrete translation of worship and adoration into action. The action that goes well with a balanced love for God and for one's brothers and sisters is called the Orthopraxis, in simple terms. 

It may sound simple but it is tough in two senses:

I may feel out of place when I begin to take this 'orthopraxis' seriously, because the rest of the crowd seems to be busy doing what they believe to be 'normal' or 'ordinary'...and I alone seem 'out of the ordinary' or in plain terms, 'a stranger'. Even those who are with me, those who surround me at close quarters may not approve of what I live by.

Secondly, it is certain to be tough because orthopraxis demands that I mean what I pray... that whatever I do on a daily basis does not go against anything that I say in my so called 'prayer'; that what I do by way of 'prayer' may find its continuation in the rest of the things that do during the day.

As we celebrate the memory of our Blessed Mother of Mount Carmel, it is opportune for us to look upto her as a model of Orthopraxis - there can be none better than her to have lived this orthopraxis absolutely after the heart of her Creator!

Let our prayer transform our daily life and may our daily life inspire our prayer! Thus will be born orthopraxis in our lives and let the world be inspired by it!

GOD CHOSE US

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time: 15th July, 2018

Amos 7: 12-15; Eph 1: 3-14; Mk 6: 7-13

To begin with, God chose us! We did not choose God! So, deserting God, or switching allegiance, looking for greener pastures, blaming monotony,  seeking thrills and demanding signs are totally unbecoming of a chosen one. Situations that are trying, opportunities that are attractive, offers that are tempting might often come our way, but the one who endures till the end takes the crown. And God chose us in Christ. Amos in today's first reading makes it clear: it is not in our greatness or in our credibility or in our self worth, but in Christ did God choose us. The reason I am chosen is because, Christ died for me!

Secondly, when did God choose me? In baptism we were buried with Christ says St. Paul (Rom 6:4; Col 2:12). Were we chosen at our baptism? But Isaiah says before I was born, while I was still in my mothers womb, the Lord called me (IS 49:1). So was I chosen when I was in my mother's womb? Jeremiah explains, before the Lord even formed me in the womb of my mother, the Lord knew me, called me and has a plan for me (Jer 1:5), to set me up as the so-called light of the world and prophet to the nations. So was I chosen, before I were being even formed in my mothers's womb? St. Paul in his letter to the Ephesisans, beats it all: God chose us before the foundations of the world. Right from the earliest moment that one can think of, I belong to God!

Thirdly, if the Lord has chosen me, for what has He chosen me: to be holy and blameless in love. To be in love, and through that being holy and blameless - that is the plan that God has for me, that is the invitation that the Lord offers me. Love and do what you like, said Augustine. When we live our lives in love, we are sure to be holy and blameless. There is no other criterion as fool proof as love, to be considered chosen or not. By this they will know that you are my disciples, by the love that you have for one another (Jn 13:35). It is only love that can make me whole. It is only love that can lead me to a life that is absolutely blameless. It is only love that can lead me to be holy! 

It's the Master who sends...

Saturday, 14th week in Ordinary time

July 14th, 2018: Is 6: 1-8; Mt 10: 24-33

It is the Lord who sends; it is the Master who calls; it is the Teacher who commissions! It is not because I am worthy to be sent, or qualified to be called or skilled to be commissioned... but it is because it is the Lord who calls! As St. Paul says it in such simple terms: "those whom he called, he justified" (cf. Rom 8:29). However unworthy I am, when the Lord has appointed me for a mission, he makes sure that mission goes on through me. 

On my part the challenge is to be mindful of the fact that it is the Lord who has sent me and commissioned me; to be convinced that the Lord takes care of everything around me, provided I live my life faithful to the call. A thousand may fall at my side and ten thousand at my right hand, but nothing will come near me, for I have made God my refuge, prays the Psalmist (in Ps 91:7).

It is the Lord who has called me and it is Lord who has commissioned me, I am accountable to the Lord and only to the Lord. In this world and to those around me, I have nothing to prove! All that I need to do, is stand in awe at the majesty of the Lord, believe in the Lord's sovereignty and submit myself in total faith into the hands of God, saying "Here am I Lord, send me!" When the Lord does send me, I will see the glory of God revealed in marvelous ways!

God with us!

Friday, 14th week in Ordinary time 

July 13, 2018: Hos 14: 2-10; Mt 10: 16-23

"Straight are the paths of the Lord" (Hos 14:10), declares prophet Hosea today. Straight, and therefore tough. Straight and therefore no compromises. Straight and therefore no confusions! 

Everyone knows the ways of the Lord; everyone knows what is acceptable to the Lord and what is not; it is made known by the Lord to every human person in their innermost self.

The words of Jesus in the Gospel are quite frightening as we find Jesus trying to warn us against being good, against choosing the ways of the Lord and being God's disciples or apostles of the Word. He does not promise any prospects, instead persecution. He does not announce any offers, instead oppression. He says it very clearly that we will have to suffer for his sake, for the sake of the Word and for the sake of the Reign of God.

But there is one thing that he assures: the consolation of the Lord, the consoling and affirming presence of the Lord with us. Because what we have chosen is the way of the Lord, we are sure to find the Lord present with us all the way. The way might be filled with pitfalls and climbs and hurdles and thorns and thistles... but we are sure amidst all these, the Lord walks with us, speaks on our behalf and acts in and through us. What a mighty consolation we have: God with us!

God's Instruments of Love

Thursday, 14th week in Ordinary time

July 12, 2018: Hos 11: 1-4, 8,9; Mt 10: 7-15

The readings today present to us yet another intimate dimension of God's love: the love of a loving parent, the love of a father or that of a mother. The very same compassion that Yahweh had towards the people of Israel, Jesus exhibits towards all. The longing of the Lord to hold us close to Godself, the yearning to be close to God's children and assist them in every bit of their difficulties, the readiness to understand their uneasiness and provide them with solutions of true and eternal joy and give them an experience of wholeness... the heart of God goes out to God's people in compassion and love.

There is an added dimension in the Gospel, when Jesus tells his disciples whom he wishes to send among the people ahead of him... to go to heal, to listen to, to empathise with and to be there for the people, specially those who are suffering. Jesus seems to say, God wants to endlessly show God's love to the people and you are the instruments through which God will accomplish that desire! It is here that the wonderful prayer of Francis of Assisi becomes so meaningful and precious: Lord, make me an instrument of your peace! To sow love, mercy, forgiveness...that is the mission of a person of God.

Let us realise today that we have a specific mission wherever we are: let us not look for love, let us give it; let us not look for understanding, let us live it; let us not look for mercy, let us be merciful. Let us be God's instruments of love.

Faithfulness - a matter of everyday living

Wednesday, 14th week in Ordinary time

July 11, 2018: Hos 10: 1-3, 7-8, 12; Mt 10: 1-7

Faithfulness to God and a contrary tendency, this is the theme that runs entirely through the book of Prophet Hosea. He insists on the need to remain faithful to God, or in case of a fall, to renew our faithfulness and cuddle up back to God's love. The worst thing that can happen in a relationship is not an accidental breach of faith, instead a deliberate choice of treason, and an obstinate repetition of the same.

The Gospel reminds us of our special calling, the call to belong to the Lord and to follow him; a call by name! The reminder is made specific as the Lord instructs the apostles to go into the lost flock of Israel and not outside. The point is for us to understand that we as people of God, chosen children of God, we are the first one's who need to be converted. As the teachings of the Church insists upon with such clarity, the evangeliser has to be first evangelised; one who proclaims the Word has to first challenge oneself against the background of the Word!

Our faithfulness is not only a matter of life and death, it is primarily a matter of simple, ordinary, day to day decisions and choices. It has to be exhibited in our day to day priorities and be lived on an everyday basis. Faithfulness is better understood as a matter of everyday living, rather than an overall project of life.

The Right Belief

Tuesday, 14th week in Ordinary Time 

July 10, 2018: Hos 8 :4-7,11-13; Mt 9: 32-37

We widely practice religion but rarely do we truly believe! Practices of piety, fulfillment of the so-called ritual requirements, attendance at the Church - these would merely be religion if they do not arise from a belief, that is right and real.

Placing our trust on things, relying  entirely on what we do or perform, thinking in  terms of appeasements and votive sacrifices are modes of religion practiced and do not lead to  the right belief. They are more need fulfillments and life coping than a true, empowering and life enhancing relationship. The latter is specifically what faith is all about.

Faith alone can lead to Right Beliefs: there is a difference between a belief and faith. Faith is an encounter, a relationship out of which a conviction is born and the conviction translated into concepts is belief. The difficulty of our times is the fact that this process is reversed: people are introduced, sometimes forced into belief and then faith is expected to be born and to mature! Can this really happen?

Our belief is in a person not in a power; it is not about some legalistic fulfilment of requirements or subservient submission to a power but about a loving relationship with a person. It is in this relationship, in other words called faith, that belief is born; and that belief would certainly be the Right belief.

Take a moment during the day  today to evaluate how right your belief is!

What has betrothal got to do with faith?

Monday, 14th week in Ordinary Time

July 9, 2018: Hos 2: 16, 17-18, 21-22; Mt 9: 18-26

I will betroth you to myself, says the Lord in the Word today. It set me thinking on the various elements of a relationship of betrothal! 

And the more intriguing part came by when in the Gospel Jesus speaks to us of an unconditional and unwavering faith! Now the question became more complicated in my mind - what has betrothal got to do with faith!

Betrothal is commonly a traditional, conservative concept of giving a couple-to-be some confident space to move in. It is an organised and formal mode of courtship. It is an enamouring phase of a marriage - where there should be utmost confidence, a lively striving to impress each other and an absolute vying with each other to shower love! 

Faith is all about that - a feeling of having been enamoured by God that I feel so confident in the Lord, I strive to please the Lord whatever it takes, I accept anything from the Lord whatever it is and never even for a moment doubt if the Lord is all for me!

Does my faith measure up to such a personal attachment to the Lord?

THE CALL AND THE CONTRADICTIONS

JULY 8, 2018: 14th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Ezek 2:2-5; 2 Cor 12: 7-10; Mk 6: 1-6

Here are some contradictions that you could ponder on, this Sunday... 

based on the Readings we have: 

1. You are sent by God to a particular space and time: till the end of your time you will not realise it to the full and not as long as you are in the space where you live!

2. You are sent to a people, the people with whomever you find yourself in reality, but they will never look at it that way and you will long to be sent elsewhere all your life!

3. You are called to be a prophet - though it means living a life of a prophet, it is decided only in the way you die. It is, literally or symbolically, a call to die for a cause!

4. You are sent to a people who would not easily accept you; if they accept you easily, may be, they are not the ones to whom you are specifically sent!

5. You are sent - that does not mean you are special... just look around and you would see scores of persons much better than you, however that does not excuse you from following your call.

6. You are sent - therefore it doesn't matter if you don't love the task that you are entrusted with, it is your duty not your hobby; do it with your full heart and energy!

7. You are sent - that does not make you are strong, it makes you weak and vulnerable! But it is in that weakness and vulnerability that you would make the One who sent, better known to the rest!

8. You are a prophet to the people which means you would be rejected by them, at least by the dominant and the majority - if you are easily accepted, you are no prophet!

9. Popularity and Prophecy do not go together - mind you, if you seem too popular in a place, you are conforming to their ideals, and not to the one who sent you. So don't strive to make yourself acceptable!

10. The One who sent you, sent you to the rebels, not to the patriots! Hence if you are comfortable with those who are inside the flock, you are mistaken - you haven't started to live your call yet!