Patient Endurance and Hope-filled Efforts

February 1, 2019

Friday, 3rd week in Ordinary time
Hebrews 10: 32-39; Mark 4: 26-34

I remember seeing this cartoon long back sent via the social network, and I went in search of it to place it here! We see a man digging a tunnel in search of precious metals and at a point he decides to stop his pursuit. Only we the viewers see that the man was just a few inches away from the treasure hidden away in the ground! "You need endurance to do the will of God and receive what he has promised", says the Word today. 

We cannot be like the nursery kids on a class project of growing a plant in the pot. From the time they plant a seed, they would keep returning to the pot every other minute to see if something has grown. The Reign of God grows in silence and obscurity; you will never know it is there around until you really believe it to be. That is why Jesus declared, 'the Reign of God is amidst you; within you' (cf. Lk 17: 21). 

Look at those beautiful words that letter to the Hebrews addresses us with today: we are not the sort of people who draw back, and are lost by it; we are the sort who keep faithful until our souls are saved! (v.39). It takes faith to remain when everything seems to be working against you!  It takes patience to hold on when events and persons come against you with plans and expressions so discouraging or disparaging. It takes hope to keep working towards good and towards perfection, come what may. It takes Christ to keep loving every one even amidst all these undesirable experiences!

In patient endurance and hope-filled efforts one will unlock the levels towards a fuller realisation of the Reign which is already there growing within us, among us and allover us! 

Inspire each other to love

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

JANUARY 31, 2019 - FEAST OF ST. JOHN BOSCO
Hebrews 10: 19-25; Mark 4: 21-25

As children of God, we are children of love! It is not enough that you wish to love every one, you need to love in fact. It is not enough that you love every one, you need to inspire everyone to love! That is truly evangelisation - filling the world with good news! The good news that God wants to give the world is: God loves us and therefore we can love each other!

The first reading today has a call that summarises our Christian vocation to the full. To love is an undeniable vocation we have;  to inspire each other to love and to goodness is the complete understanding of it. We would certainly fail, if we do not understand what we are called to: to love, to spread love and to fill this world with love, as an act of filling this world with God. Especially today when so much of hatred is spread around and forced on peoples and nations... we need to hold love out to this world in every way possible.

This is why the Lord speaks of the imagery of light: to be lighted to light up. It takes a lot of effort to truly love; to rouse others to love it takes much more effort, a lot of sacrifice and a great amount of dedication. Yes! but the key is right there and the Lord puts it neatly: the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you, and still more will be given to you!

Let us thank God for the great person whom we celebrate today: St. John Bosco. At times as soon as we say that name people think of him as a proprietor of great big institutions and educational campuses. True, may be! But that was not who he was. He was a man who loved those whom no one wanted to love; he went after those who did not initially want to love him in return! But he gave without measure...he received it all absolutely without any measure! The best identity he liked for himself was: sign and bearer of God's love to the poor young! Let that we be...signs and bearers of God's love, inspiring each other to truly love!

Yield and Grow!

January 30, 2019

Wednesday, 3rd week in Ordinary time
Hebrews 10: 11-18; Mark 4: 1-20

Not Sacrifice but obedience is what I wish, says the Lord; an obedience that is not considered a sacrifice on your part, but offered out of an immense love that comes from your heart. It cannot be something that is forced on you from elsewhere... but it has to be something that arises from your heart, from the core of your being, transforming your entire self into an acceptable living sacrifice unto God (Rom 12:1). 

A life that is acceptable in the eyes of the Lord - that is what the Word impresses upon us this day: living an acceptable life in the presence of God. It is never the case that the Lord rejects us or finds us unacceptable; the Lord said he had come to call the sinners and not the righteous! But the fact is we choose to alienate ourselves from the Lord by the very choices we make on a daily basis and at every moment of decision making.

We may easily complain...the situation around is bad or that the conditions of life are not conducive. The Lord is not a demanding officer of returns, but a loving parent who wishes to see us grow. Our conditions differ: some more cosy and comfortable, others tough and torturous, yet others inspiring and helpful, while some really evil and gruesome! 

The Lord knows everything, all that surrounds us and whatever is within us. Sometimes we think we are thrown here in this situation; remember, we are not thrown, we are sown! There is a purpose to everything that is there around us and if only we obey and yield to the Lord, the Lord is creating something new!

All that is asked of me is that I do my best without any compromise, wherever I am or in whatever condition I find myself in; the rest the One who has sown me here will take care. All that I need to do is, keep growing... keep yielding to the Lord because it is the Lord who gives us the growth!

What you call, 'formalities'...

Tuesday, 3rd week in Ordinary time

January 29, 2019

Hebrews 10: 1-10; Mark 3:31-35

I remember, quite some time back, when I got to know a new person in life... it was a strange experience. The person would apologise for even a small or simple fault. The person would endlessly go on giving explanations and justifications for some thing that happened or something that did not happen - at times to the extent of wearying me. However, I was totally aware those were 'necessary formalities' of politeness, the relationship being at initial stages. 

The readings today seem to speak of a similar experience of what you call 'formalities' with God! When our relationship with God has still not set off on its way to maturity, we would weary God with our formalities of rituals, rites and legalities. But when we build a true and personal relationship with God, we would mind nothing more than a bonding - like mother-child, like brother-brother, like brother-sister, like friends and so on! 

If we develop a deep and intimate relationship with God, who is so close to us all the time, we would at any given moment make choices and decisions in keeping with God's will for us then and there. What is needed for this is a disposition that the readings today give us: Behold, I come to do your will. Once we arrive at this level of relationship, there would be no grave need for silly formalities and the Lord would say, 'you are my loving child and today I have begotten you!' 

It is this readiness to do God's will that makes Mary the first disciple of Christ, more than merely the biological mother that she was to Jesus! The fundamental disposition is to never lose sight of that one absolute, in relation to which all our choices and decisions have to be made: God's Will, and a total surrender to it...everything else is just what we call 'formalities'.

New Covenant: the Promise and the potholes

January 28, 2019

Monday, 3rd week in Ordinary time

Hebrews 9:15, 24-28; Mark 3: 22-30

Jesus' promise of the New Covenant is a promise of eternal salvation. The Word affirms that this salvation is given to all, by that sacrifice once and for all, on Calvary. Every one is promised forgiveness and salvation, but every person has to claim that salvation for oneself. The greatest of gifts, the New Covenant of Salvation is guaranteed to all but we can be caught up in our own potholes, refusing to claim it all for ourselves. There can be three blocks that could prevent a person from personalising this salvation. 

The first is the social block - that the background and experience handed down does not allow one to experience this salvation. This can be overcome by appropriating a new experience that can change the entire life of a person. The society calls this conversion, may be from one faith experience to the other, but fundamentally a change of vision.

The second is the personal block - that the weaknesses within us, the limitations that we personally experience keep us away from God. This can be worked out of too, with the grace of God and with the help that God sends our way, like sacraments, persons and processes of varied nature. This too is called a conversion, an internal, personal conversion!  

The third and the most dangerous is a psuedo block, because of which I deliberately keep myself away from God. It is my lack of openness and bias against anything spiritual that takes me far from the promise of the New Covenant. I go around demonising whatever and whomever I do not like - there is no remedy to it because it is my choice and no one else or nothing else can save me! This is the state that Jesus warns us against in the Gospel today.

St. Thomas Aquinas, the saint we celebrate today can be easily considered the most important of all the theologians who have explained the Church's teachings. He has written an incredibly voluminous literature, expounding the truths of faith. But at the end of it all, when he had an intimate experience of God, he exclaimed that all that he had done till then were almost rubbish! He had nothing that could block not even his own tremendous contribution to faith - He experienced God and felt himself as a child of the New Covenant!

BEING GOD'S PEOPLE

Identity, Call and Mission

3rd Sunday in Ordinary time: January 27, 2019

Nehemiah 8:2-6,8-10; 1 Corinthians 12: 12-30; Luke 1:1-4, 4:14-21

Jesus came and lived here on earth amidst us to remind us about our call to be God's people and to show us how to do it! People of God - that is our identity, that is our call and that is our mission. 

But looking at history - sometimes, it has been a dangerous proposition too! We see that the people of Israel, calling themselves the chosen people of God, killed and butchered clans and clans of the so-called 'others'; Jesus himself was killed because they thought it is better that one dies instead of the entire lot of the 'chosen people' being put to risk; think of those the times when we called ourselves the 'people of God' and went with flags marked with crosses menacing nations and even killing thousands; what about those who in the name of 'superior race' or the 'chosen race' wished to blot out the rest of the world; after all these have we anything to say when a group calls the rest as 'infidels' and threatens to eliminate people, if they don't become one of them? All these have unmistakably and gravely gone wrong somewhere, somewhere right at the foundations! 

When the Word tells us today we are called to be God's People, it is not a statement of pride or superiority or elitism or some kind of messianism claiming that the entire world is at our mercies! Absolutely no. Certainly, it is a statement of an identity that God wishes to give us, but along with it comes a call and a mission that defines it all. Yes, there are three tasks outlined for us by the Word this Sunday:

1. Beginning with the Word - Our Identity

Being God's people means beginning with the Word: our identity lies there, not in the structures we have and the statistics we boast about (that we are the greatest in number and that we have survived for 2000 years and so on!) Our identity is based on the Word, the Word which has always guided humanity, the Word which had become human and the Word which calls us everyday without ceasing to a life of love and compassion. Our identity has to be created on the foundation of the Word of God. 

When Nehemiah the leader and Ezra the priest wanted to give an identity to the heart broken people, they did it with the Word, reading it aloud to them and getting them to hear it and be strengthened by it. When Jesus wanted to establish his identity among his own people, he did it with the Word, teaching in the synagogue for the first time. As individuals, as families or as communities, if we wish to identify ourselves to others, we need to found ourselves on the Word. 

2. Building up the Word - Our Call

The Word was made flesh, the flesh was given to us and we were made One Body in Christ. The Word invites us to build up our communities of faith, in communion and sharing, thus building up the Word into a formidable challenge to the ways of the world. This task is to build up our believing community, the Body of Christ, the Body of the Word. 

The Word was made flesh, in order that God's salvation plan could be brought to its culmination in Jesus Christ the Son of God. Today the same Word has to be made flesh... the Word has to become a Body, the Body of Christ, the Body of the Word... that is our Community of faith - united as one body with the head that is Christ, the Word who lives amidst us. When we build up the community, we build up the Body of the Word, we build up the Word. When we break, divide, shatter, weaken, dismember this Body, we are killing the Word! We have just finished celebrating the Unity Octave (18 to 25 January), praying for the unity of all Christians, are we really ready to forget our differences, leave aside our past and unite in the name of the Word? 

3. Becoming the Word - Our Mission 

The word you have heard is fulfilled today in your hearing, declared Jesus. He was the Word personified...and we are today called to model our lives after him, to become the Word, to grow into the Word, into the living Word, into living images of Christ for the world today, offering sight to the blind, liberty to captives and  freedom to the oppressed.

Many a times we think our mission is to memorise a few verses from the Bible and go shout it in the face of people and get them some how by hook or by crook, by fears or by tears into our fold and say, "we have saved them". What a sham! We are not sent merely to throw the Word at others; we are sent to live It amidst others! We are not expected to swallow the Word only to spit It elsewhere, but to become It. Our mission is to be nourished by the Word and Become the Word! Seeing us people should be able to look at us and say: 'what we heard is being fulfilled in you!'

Becoming God's People is an identity we need to found on the Word, a call to build our families and communities on the Word, and a mission to transform ourselves after the Word. Can our daily lives be truly fulfilments of the Word, here and now?

Apostles: to live and to inspire!

THE WORD AND THE SAINTS

January 26, 2019: Sts. Timothy and Titus

2 Timothy 1: 1-8 (or Titus 1:1-5); Luke 10: 1-9

Timothy and Titus are two models we are presented with today.  They were both finds of St. Paul on his journeys. Inspiring the listeners to make a life choice is a special gift that some are given with. St. Paul possessed this and used it well for the Reign of God. Timothy and Titus join the great band of apostles that Jesus initiated.

The Word on this feast day offers us three insights:

1. Timothy had received Faith as a gift from God and St. Paul asks him to fan its flames... So are we called to fan to flames of God's glory, the gift we have received, our Faith. In it rests the real meaning for humanity! We have it...do we realise it?

2. Titus becomes a child to Paul in faith... So do we become brothers and sisters, bonded by faith, that is the relationship we have with God. It is God who unites us - hence, are we mindful of the unity we share or are we looking for reasons to divide and discriminate among ourselves?

3. We are all sent...just as was St. Paul to live the Word and inspire persons! Inspire people whom we meet, by our words making them so founded on the Lord and the Lord's Word, that the listeners would feel like giving praise to God and give their lives to God! This is what we are called to - to be Apostles, that is, to live and to inspire, in the name of the Word. Can we?

Conversion: an Absolute choice for God!

THE WORD AND THE FEAST: Conversion of St. Paul

January 25, 2019: Acts 22:3-16; Mark 16; 15-18

The feast of Conversion of St. Paul invites us to reflect on our conversion. Unfortunately, in today's context, the word 'conversion' has more political connotation than spiritual! There are anti-Christian elements in some societies who call us Christians, a cancer! There are those within us who hardly hesitate to call names at our universal communion, citing as cause the scandals that have been unearthed. These are truly difficult times.

But on the contrary, today is a beautiful occasion for us to remind ourselves that conversion is not about numbers, or increasing the fold or sustaining the crowd without losing adherents. Conversion is a personal decision to go towards God, an about-turn (as the Greek word 'metanoia' suggests); it is an absolute choice for God! 

Choice for God... because we begin to see the role that God has played in our life and choose to actively acknowledge it; Absolute... because nothing else matters as much as God and God's will do! We are called to conversion... may not be as dramatic as that of St. Paul's, as we read in the first reading today, but however, more demanding! Yes, we are called to daily conversion. 

To be aware, each day and each moment, of those things that take us away from our progress towards God. Nothing - no demonic powers, no distracting languages, no cunning serpents, no poisoning lifestyle, no disparaging scandals - should lead us away from God... we are called to make an absolute choice every day, for God and for God's Word.  Not merely in words but by my very life, I am obliged to proclaim God's message. "Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel," reminds me St.Paul (1 Cor 9:16)

Obedience and the Power from above!

January 24, 2019

Thursday, 2nd week in Ordinary time

Hebrews 7: 25 - 8: 6; Mark 3: 7-12

The letter to the Hebrews gives a distinguished importance to the quality of obedience of Jesus! In fact it speaks of obedience as special ministry of the Son of God. St. Paul's letters too have the same dimension (eg: Phil 2). At times holiness does not consist in doing great things to a great effect, but in simple and humble submission to the Lord. 

Hence, Christian obedience is not merely doing something that is commanded, but being conscious of the overwhelming Grace that surrounds us all the time and leads us by hand every moment of our lives. It is a humble acknowledgement and submission to the Power from above! When we submit ourselves in our entirety, we begin to possess not only the consciousness of this power of God but the very power itself, as true and trusted children of God.

Jesus possessed this consciousness of the proximate presence of the power from above and that was sensed by all, specially the evil spirits that he often  encountered. It is by this power from above that he became the high priest who can save all of us - the power invested in him by the Father. 

Each of us has received our share of this power to grow and nurture ourselves into true people of God. What if we are mindful of this power and start using this power - of course the opposition from the enemy camp will be more, but will we not set up ourselves as great signs of God's presence to this world that needs it so badly? And another question that is more crucially relevant is: to what end are you willing to use this power - your own selfish ends or for the greater glory of God?

To save or to kill...to be good or appear good?

January 23, 2019

Wednesday, 2nd week in Ordinary time

Hebrews 7: 1-3,15-17; Mark 3: 1-6

The Word today speaks of two religious disciplines that mattered much to the Old Testament people of God: the practice of tithing and the observance of the Sabbath. Both of these taken in their legalistic sense, would be practices very sacred but of least significance. 

Imagine, a tenth of your possession given grudgingly, or as in the example of Ananias and Saphira (in Acts 5), trying to make it as minimally affecting as possible, but calculated to yield optimum returns... will bear no spiritual fruit. Keeping Sabbath, intended to be the day of the Lord, as a day of dead and insensitive inactivity instead of holy and active worship to God, will be of no spiritual value. 

The key to right understanding here is, not just giving of what we have, but it is giving of what we are; it is not remaining firm and insensitive to the need of the other when you are in every way, though in a position to reach out but setting aside a considerable time when you will think of God and the people of God, instead of getting stuck to thinking about yourself all the while! 

Today, there can be more than one reason for someone to do good- seeking popularity, establishing one's own name, looking for recognition from people and society, proving your point to those who see you do that good, wishing to create an image that is pleasing for the public, etc. But Jesus invites us to do good, precisely where no one knows you. No one understood who Jesus was; they did not really care to. They thought they knew from where Jesus came - but that was not true! They never knew or understood Jesus until Jesus had left them. However, Jesus did all the good that he could, he could not wait, the time was short! He invites us too - to do good precisely  where no one knows you, but might need you the most! 

Be good, do not just try to appear good! Not because you get a reward or a recognition and not because people would stand by you...but because you are convinced of doing that good, saving people, making people sense God close to them. Never grow tired of doing what is good.

Faithfulness versus faithfulness

January 22, 2019

Tuesday, 2nd week in Ordinary time

Hebrews 6: 10-20; Mark 2: 23-28

The crux of the the first reading today,  or for that matter even of the whole Gospels, is the fact that God is faithful forever. God's faithfulness is the anchor of our soul, that unfailing surety of our well-being, the goodness that never ceases and the pertinent question is,  how do I find my faithfulness vis-a-vis that of God!

In demonstration of God's faithfulness,  God gives! God gives without count, without any limit, without restraint, without conditions or calculations,  without anything expected in return. Just imagine the abundance of goodness that we enjoy: the air that we breathe, the water that was given which we have exploited to the utmost, the earth that we have contaminated and the balance of the entire cosmos that we have devastated without any qualms. 

Now the question is, what do we do to demonstrate our faithfulness to God? A weekly appointment, kept up with so much of burdensome feeling;  a few fragmented moments every day, mostly out of routine and sometimes out of fear; and some special days' activities which form so much part of our customs? All of them so legalistically followed sometimes with such insensitivity towards expressing our true love and gratitude... I know I am being too negative about it. 

When it comes to being faithful to God, we compare ourselves with others, with those who are much worse than ourselves in lifestyle, with those who have done something wrong to us and so on! Why don't we compare our faithfulness with the faithfulness of God? It would do so much good, if today we gave this dimension a serious thought: God's Faithfulness versus our faithfulness!

New People for New Times

January 21, 2019

Monday, 2nd week in Ordinary time 

Hebrews 5:1-10; Mark 2: 18-22

When the Lord announces in the book of revelation,  'Behold I make all things new'...its not merely about some things to be made again or re-created;  it's primarily about a new mentality,  a new perspective that God wants to instill and inspire in us. The source and the spring of this new perspective is Christ himself. He is at the same time the high priest and the sacrifice; the prophet and the Lord of the prophets!

In fact with a new way of relating with us,  with the unique way of sharing our very nature with us,  Christ makes us a new people! And that is what the Lord wants to see in us: our new selves - free from the shackles of the past and the prejudices of the ages - to relate with each other anew and to live each other without any conditions or preconceived notions.

The times are new... everyday the world is changing. There are things good that come our way and there are things that get from good to bad and from bad to worse. There are newer experiences for ourselves and for others around us: are we sensitive to all these and open to the persons around, or are we lost in our own small little world? The homeless migrants, the innocent persecuted, the ordinary exploited, the voiceless tortured... the experience is so painful all around. Jesus becomes one among us and one like us, ready to make of himself the very offering and the high priest to offer it: it is an invitation to remain sensitive to others, in spite of our own problems. To be compassionate with the suffering, our own troubles notwithstanding. This is what it means to be new people, for the new times! 

Let our Christian-ness be shown in our compassion and love, not in our pride and arrogance, or in our legalism and ritualism! Let us become new people for the new times!

WHEN YOUR LIFE RUNS DRY

Jars, filled and transformed!

January 20, 2019: 2nd Sunday in Ordinary time

Isaiah 62:1-5;1 Corinthians 12:4-11; John 2:1-11 

Today the Word establishes the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus. After the Baptism where Jesus is seen in public this is the incident that can be interpreted as the beginning of his life and work among people. The Word also defines what the purpose of the ministry is: it is to replenish the rapport between God and God's people.

The imagery that holds the common thread between the first and the Gospel reading today is that of marriage. Often the relationship between God and God's people is spoken of in terms of the faithfulness between the bride and the groom, as in the first reading from Isaiah. God wishes an intimate relationship with God's children but at times our lives run dry. It's also a pastoral concern that after all the weeks of Advent and Christmastide the ordinary season might seem too ordinary and eventless - that is the ordinariness of life. As the wine ran short, our lives too will run dry at moments.

We hear often people saying today: 'that's it, that's the end of my patience', 'I cannot stand it anymore', 'why should I put up with it anymore?', 'I have reached the brink of my tolerance', 'I cannot go on further', or 'I give up'...and so on! These are the moments we are referring to - when our life runs dry! What can we do? Nothing! Nothing can be done at that time and that is why the Lord invites us right at the beginning of this liturgical year, when our spirits are still fresh and alive - prepare for a dry moment, anyway the Lord shall be with you there too!

When it is so probable that the dry moment would show up, but we can do nothing then because we are dry, it only goes to say that we should do something already now. Permit me to make an allegorical interpretation of the Word today: it seems good reflection to make on our lives. There are three things beautiful that could happen when our life runs dry...

1. Have your jars ready: When the wine ran short and Jesus looked around, there were six stone jars according to the custom of the Jews. When our life runs dry and the Lord wants to intervene we should have something ready for the Lord to use from our lives. Like the loaves the Lord used, like the mud that the Lord used, we see the Lord using these jars today to make the Lord's presence felt. When our life runs dry too, we need to have at least empty jars ready... that is the basic disposition to the Lord, our ordinary and regular habits of prayer, our basic ongoing relationship with the Lord and not some occasional business based interactions, our hope that the Lord is with us constantly, our trust in the goodness that belongs to God... these the basic dispositions that the Lord can work on. It is important that we work on these and keep these ready in our ordinariness of life, for a dry patch. The culture today seems to switch from celebration to drudgery... one moment you are happy and effervescent and once it is gone you are down in the dredges. There is no midway about it. We are called to be sober, conscious and aware of what we are going through and build attitudes, habits and support systems that would serve us at times of dryness.

2. Get your jars filled: Use all the gifts that you have, to stand strong, endure the moment. It is important that we endure them, when we reach moments of trials and dryness. One who endures shall receive the crown, instructs James (1:12), isn't it? You have splendid gifts given you, by the Spirit of the Lord. Gifts that can sustain you, strengthen you and take you across a weak patch... if only you are aware of them and know how to use them. These are your weapons in moments of dryness, provided you know you possess them. In your youth get to know your Lord, says Ecclesiastes, to mean that when we are in good spirits to ascertain the foundations of our life that we shall be supported when times come that may assail us. Take up the arrows in your quiver, which until then were preserved for this moment. Do no be unaware of the extraordinary gifts of prudence, will and endurance that the Spirit fills you with - they are great means to sustain yourself at passing moments of darkness. Remain firm with the Lord, become aware of the presence of the Lord and call upon the Lord, waiting on the Lord!

3. Taste the transformed wine: We may have the jar and we may have them filled but it is Jesus who makes it wine! We may have all it takes to make this life meaningful and fruitful but be wondering why it isn't really working out... Jesus renders it fruitful; the Spirit makes our abilities true gifts. Wait, wait with patience and trust and the Lord will transform - your tears into joy (Jn 16:20), your shame into radiance (Ps 34:5), your weariness shall be replenished (Jer 31:25)... all this when you are able to endure with the Lord, wait on the Lord and allow the Lord to work on you! We see a tendency today, as soon as a little problem arises, we are out running from pillar to post seeking and begging someone or something to solve the problem. We have lost the courage to sit at the feet of the Lord and seek the light. We have lost the trust that everything that happens in our lives has something important to communicate to us. We have lost the faith that the Lord is there beside us even while we shall walk in the darkest of valleys and the Lord's crook and staff shall be there to guide me to light, to fullness, to sweetness of the new wine!

When our lives run dry... let's take our jars filled to Jesus and he will transform them into wine;  let's surrender to the Spirit and the Spirit will make us God's children again.

Knowing, but loving Saviour!

January 19, 2019

Saturday, 1st week in Ordinary time

Hebrews 4: 12-16; Mark 2: 13-17

God is all knowing and we all know it and we know all about it! In spite of knowing all about us, our weaknesses and our faults, our limitations and our failures, God loves us! That is something that we can never understand to the full... God's love is bountiful and God's mercies never cease! 

God loves us not because we deserve that love but because we need that love. God's mercy is given us not because we are worthy of it but because it is God's nature to be merciful. The Word is the epitome of God's merciful love,  a love without conditions, a love beyond criteria,  a love that fills a person and challenges him or her to total conversion! 

With absolutely no demands this love leads  one to transformation. All that we need to do is dispose  ourselves favorably towards this love and surrender ourselves to it. It is like the medical check up that we go to these days, called the Master check-up! You go, and you say nothing: they do the entire analysis, a comprehensive one and let you know, what is alright and what isn't. They give you the possibility of consulting a specialist and even a prescription of medicine - it all depends on you to take it or not!

That is what happens to our Spiritual self too when we dispose ourselves and surrender to the Word - the Word does a quick comprehensive analysis and reveals to us what is good and what is not, prescribing to us the changes we need to make. It is left to us to work on ourselves! The unbelievable fact that underlies all this is the Saviour, the Lord, the High priest whom we have: all knowing, but at the same time ever-loving Saviour!

Doing all that we can!

January 18, 2019

Friday, 1st week in Ordinary time 

Hebrews 4:1-5,11; Mark 2: 1-12

Doing all that one can is not an unknown mindset or life style these days. There are people who do all that they can for a lot of things that they want to achieve, there are things for which the people are ready to do all that they can. The Word too invites us today to do all that we can - but for what and for whom? 

Do all you can to reach that place of rest, invites the letter to the Hebrews. And the Gospel presents to us those persons who did all that they can to reach that paralytic man to Jesus, so that Jesus could heal him. Doing all you can, is the call...

People are ready today to do all that they can for themselves and for their own goals... they manipulate, they compromise, they adjust, they give up, they give in, they cheat, they plot and they even kill in order to achieve their ends - regardless of whether they are religious or irreligious, whether they are lay or consecrated, whether already living a comfortable life or not! This is the sense of 'do-all-you-can' that the world today upholds!

The Word gives us a different picture: do all you can to receive the rest that God has prepared for you - that alone is eternal, everything else is passing. The gospel challenges us: do all you can for others, your neighbours,  those in need and those who are suffering, those who are miserable and desperate to find the Lord - that is the unfailing way to the peace that God has in store for you. Yes, for that eternal rest and for those in need around you, Do all you can!

TODAY - that's the key!

January 17, 2019

Thursday, 1st week in Ordinary time

Hebrews 3: 7-14; Mark 1: 40-45

By the time we end the Liturgy of the Word today, we would have heard the word 'today' atleast 9 times (from the first reading and the psalm)! In fact, that is the key to the message from the Word today. 

Any good that we wish to do, any change that we would wish to make in our life, any beginning we would love to make in our ways - the day to do it is today! The time to do it is now! There is no virtue in glorying in the past that is far gone and no use in waiting for an opportune future! Act now and act today. 

When that person with leprosy approached Jesus, he cured him then and there! Jesus was not thinking of a justification as from the past experience whether he should do it or not; he was not concerned about so many who are affected in the society and how he would reach out to all of them... those were questions that never mattered to him. What mattered was the person in front of him, who stood in need of a healing touch, a compassionate caress, a loving embrace - and Jesus gave it right then and right there. 

Don Bosco would often say, do all the good you can when you still have the time! If you wish to do something good, do it TODAY! Doing good to myself: making right choices and right direction changes from things that do not really bring true fullness into my life; or doing good to others: being there for others, setting our hearts to think of others, wishing the good of the others; or doing good to humanity: standing for the right values and perpetrating only life-giving principles... whatever be the good... let us do it TODAY. Let the good begin with me, here and TODAY! 

Casting out the demons

January 16, 2019

Wednesday, 1st week in Ordinary time

Hebrews 2: 14-18; Mark 1: 29-39

Casting out the demons has right from the Old Testament times been cited as one of the signs of ushering in the Reign of God. And that is the tradition that the letter to the Hebrews abides by, when it explains what the Son of God has done to humanity. The first reading explains that one of the key processes of establishing the Reign undertaken by Jesus was to cast the devil away! The Gospel tells us too, that Jesus stayed on and cured the people and cast demons away from their midst.

The primary tool of the devil to control human beings has always been fear! It is through fear that the devil has its way into the minds, hearts and lives of human persons. Fear makes one falter, fear induces needless anxieties, fear takes away the capacity to think and fear makes one slave to the moment! That is when we do something out of fear, it normally goes wrong and later or in the long run, we look back and say, 'how foolish we have been!'

Fear, which is the tool of the devil, cannot be a criterion in faith, that is our relationship with God! The Fear of God that has always been praised as the greatest gift of the Spirit, is not the fear that we speak of here! Fear of God is the due reverence to God and not a fright that compels us to do things or perform duties or obey commands. If I do anything out of fear, it insults a God who is so loving, merciful and concerned about my well being! Instead, one of the signs that we can mature in our relationship with God is to cast our our fear, and place all our hope and trust in the goodness of God. Yes, that is our way to the Reign... casting our fears, casting out the demons from our midst or sometimes even from within us!

Choice: the Lord's and Ours

January 15, 2019

Tuesday, 1st week in Ordinary time

Hebrews 2: 5-12; Mark 1:21-28

I am reminded of a sequence from the movie Avatar as I reflect on the Word today. There would be a whole battalion gathered to attack an aboriginal tribe and occupy their land. And giving the troops a pep talk, the commander would say, "beyond this mountain everything that breathes is out to kill you"... least aware that one of his own men will be falling in love with a girl in that very tribe and with the whole tribe and its land, becoming one among them! Everything depends on the choices that we make. We make of the reality what we choose to make of it.

Speaking of choices, today the Word tells us, the Lord chose us! The Lord chose to belong to us. The Lord did not choose to be like the angels but chose be born like us and live like us, in everything but sin. Because of this choice the Lord brought salvation to each and every one of us, to the entire humanity. It is upto us now, each of us, by our choice to make that salvation our own. This we do, when we choose the Lord, when we choose the salvation that the Lord brought us, above everything else! 

Choosing the Lord would mean, choosing righteousness, peace, joy, serenity, hope and love, whatever it may cost us. It may be inconvenient, troublesome, at times even lonely to make this choice for the Lord. And we cannot ask, 'what do you want of us Jesus of Nazareth?', for we know it. It is all before us - in the very life that the Lord amidst us and the Words that Jesus has spoken to us. What is important is for us to remember - the Lord came to us... the Lord chose us! It is true that the Lord is determined of his choice... the question is, are we?

Reign: the Message and Messengers

January 14, 2019

Monday, 1st week in Ordinary Time
Hebrews 1:1-6; Mark 1: 14-20

We have come to the end of the Christmas season and Ordinary season has begun; we have finished celebrating the events around Jesus' birth and we begin to remember the life and ministry of the Lord. Rightly the readings today highlight the revelation made in and through Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, the Word made flesh, as the climax of all precedent prophecies and preparations!

Just yesterday we celebrated the baptism of Jesus at Jordan, and Jesus begins right away, proclaiming the Reign for which he stood all his life, even unto death! Till now they heard speaking about the Good news from God, and people begin to hear the Good news speaking now! The first call today is this: to be His messengers is not merely talking about him, but letting Him talk, in and through us!

Moving on, as messengers we have a message to carry... His message. His message, his life and his mission, everything was summarised in that one reality: the Reign of God. Opting for the Reign is to accept the Good news, to accept the person of Christ, to accept the life of Christ, to accept the mind of Christ! 

The Word thus calls us today, to make our own, the dream and the vision of the Reign of God; to be in our own way messengers of the Reign. Are we prepared to leave the nets and boats, the comforts and securities, the craving for popularity and love for power... leave all these and follow the Lord? 

BORN AGAIN

In Water, in Spirit and in the Word

The Solemnity of the Baptism of the Lord: January 13, 2019

Isaiah 40: 1-5,9-11; Titus 2: 11-14, 3:4-7; Luke 3: 15-16,21-22

Baptism - a moment when one is reborn, reborn through the waters, in the Spirit and by the Word - a moment when one is BORN AGAIN.

The Water: Hailing from Chennai, India, water has a special meaning for me! There have been moments that I have stood still in front of that immensity of water, on the Marina beach looking at the coast of the Bay of Bengal, wondering what a power that lies there. And it did show up once with all its true power - the Tsunami that hit in 2004... and the devastating floods that have come and gone! 

Water is not merely refreshing and renewing, but it is resetting. If that vocabulary from the e-world can be used, it would mean starting from the beginning once again. The waters of baptism claims exactly that effect on us. Being born again is not merely to undergo a ceremony and start judging the rest as damned; go around asking each other, 'are you saved?' and 'are you born again?' or 'are you twice born' and all those ungodly questions! Baptism is to reset my life, restart it with virtues and convictions that give me a new existence altogether, an openness beyond measure, a love beyond compare, because I am born again as a child of God.

The Spirit: The Mark of Ownership, the seal of the covenant between the Father and me, the One who makes me the dwelling place of God and the One who makes me call God, Abba Father! If at all we can use that term figuratively, born again, would mean be born after I am born; yes, after I am born as a human being, I am born again in the spirit as human person! 

Being born again as a human person in the Spirit, is to receive within me that all transforming presence of the Holy Spirit, which does not allow me to be any being, but makes me become a human 'person', a person after the image of God! Being born again is to possess this personal sanctity and interpersonal sensitivity: personal sanctity of purity and detachment from the tendency to sin; the interpersonal sensitivity of accepting each other as brothers and sisters, born of that One Father! These, personal sanctity and interpersonal sensitivity are the marks of the indwelling Spirit - a total absence of unholy arrogance and inhuman pride. 

The Word: The Word, made flesh, who speaks to us and invites us to a life that is modelled after him. To be born again is to be transformed into the image of Christ, to put on the mind of Christ and to bear his likeness. 

I was once amused by the sharing of my elder sister who teaches in a Government School in a village on the outskirts of Chennai. She shared about her children in class, who do not know terms like Christian or Catholic, telling her, "teacher neenga Yesu thaane, appadina leavu mudinji varum pothu sweet eduthuttu vaanga!" (Teacher you are Jesus isn't it? then bring sweets when you come after Christmas holidays - instead of saying, 'you are a christian', they say, 'you are Jesus, isnt it?'). That set me thinking- Aren't you Jesus? Am I not Christ? Have I become another Christ - alter christus? The Word challenges us towards that... to be born again, is to be reborn in the image of Christ: it is not just an event, but an experience; not just a happening, but a process for life,which is begun at the moment of our baptism!

Let us remember today the great gift we have been given in our Baptism and resolve to live that call to be Born Again - in water, in Spirit and in the Word.

The Best man's call

January 12, 2019

Saturday after Epiphany

1 Jn 5: 14-23; Jn  3: 22-30.

The stage is all set for the Baptism of the Lord. All through this week, we have reflected on all the passages around the event of baptism of Jesus! Only thing left is to celebrate the great event of Baptism itself, which we will be doing tomorrow. Today we are presented with the person of the baptiser!

We have the identity and role of John clarified: John calls himself the best man! What a beautiful imagery of a prophet and a minister... one who rejoices for his master! But not anyone would be chosen the best man for a bridegroom! it will be the best friend of the bridegroom who will have that privilege. And he will have the honour of staying the closest to the bridegroom all through the ceremonies of wedding!

The call is very clear: to grow in our relationship with the person of Christ, to an extent that we would be considered persons close to Christ, the begotten children of God. Everyday is an opportunity to grow in this relationship. By this evening we would begin the celebrations of the Baptism of the Lord... this day, let us dwell on our baptism... and thank God for the grace given to us in baptism. 

We have said yes to our call, at our baptism. Have we been entirely true to that yes? Let us make amends in our breach of promises and lack of commitment to the Lord and renew our resolve to grow ever closer to Christ our Lord! Let us renew our baptismal commitment, grow in our love for Christ and become worthy to be called persons close to Christ, the true begotten ones of God!

The Spirit, the water and the Blood

January 11, 2019

Friday after the Epiphany
1 John 5: 5- 13; Luke 5: 12-16

'I have nothing to prove' - that would be an integral way of living! But, the culture today seems to be full of demands for proofs and credentials and a craze to get oneself noticed. We live in a culture of ads and publicity. We are fond of proving to the world, our superiority and our credibility. 

It takes extreme forms like people going to any extent to attain success and parade it to the world or at times even silly forms like craving for 'likes' on a facebook post! There are times today, when we feel we are worth, only when the world around thinks of us so, or only when the society certifies us so. There is a dearth of space for personal integrity and moral authority - everything is ruled by opinions!

The first reading outlines three testimonies for Son, or three testimonies  for the definitive intervention of God in history. The same three testimonies: the Spirit, the water and the blood, are given to us... at our baptism, to testify to our relationship with God: as God's children! The Spirit which is the mark of being God's children(Rom 8:16); the Waters of baptism, the waters of eternal life that spring within us to cleanse us and make us belong to God (Jn 7:38); and the Blood that washes us clean (1 Jn 1:7). It is our life in the Spirit, our waters of belonging to God and the blood in which we are saved, which are the marks of our Christian identity!

We have nothing to prove, we belong to the Lord. Our life, our witness, our love shall be integral proofs of our life in the Lord!

We love, because God loves us!

January 10, 2019

Thursday after Epiphany

1 John 4: 19- 5:4; Luke 4: 14-22

Can we notice that we began this week as a preparation towards the Lord's baptism, but day after day the Word is speaking to us of love? Is it surprising? No, it is in order! Yes, baptism is all about our identity and the crux of the identity that we receive as baptised, as children of God is LOVE.

To love, is not an extraordinary quality for us sons and daughters of God who is love; love has to be our essential nature! The fundamental question is not whether I am ready to love or not; it is whether I am a Christian or not! If I am a Christ-ian, then love has to be my second nature. Where there is no love, there is no God...where there is no God, there is no Spiritual life! True spirituality is true love.

The correlation of two readings bring out to us an all important point: to love is a charism given by the Spirit to each of us; to love is a commitment on behalf of my neighbour. That difficulties and sacrifices are involved, is a matter of fact. But that in no way can take away the call that I have: to love. 

And why should we love? Not because it is easy to do. Not because it gives us pleasure, as the world miscalculates today. Not because it creates a situation of peace and tranquility, then we are using love as a means. We love because God loved us, God loves us and God always loves us! When we don't love the other, we not only hate them, but we conceal ourselves from the love of God, which flows freely towards you and me! Yes... it has to be our nature to love. We love because God loves us!