THE WORD AND THE SAINT

As the Lord commands...

August 1, 2019 - Remembering St. Alphonse of Liguori

Exodus 40: 16-21, 34-38; Matthew 13: 47-53

'As the Lord commanded' - we find that phrase repeated atleast thrice in today's first reading, leave alone counting the number of times it appears in the whole life of Moses narrated in the book of Exodus. Doing what the Lord wants, was the key preoccupation for Moses and that is what he taught his people...hence he is presented as the greatest law-giver!  He even made it clear to the Lord when he said, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here" (Exo 33:15). Being with the Lord and never going away from the Lord's presence was everything for the people of Israel. 

Good fish and Bad fish...resembling the sheep and the goats (in Mat 25)... Jesus presents the reality of the choice that we have to make in life - a radical choice for or against God that would determine every single decision and even the minutest moves of our life. There can be no compromises in this - it is either being in the net or being cast out of it! 'A scribe instructed in the Kingdom of heaven' is a person who is strong as a scribe in the laws and the commandments, but with a clear perspective of the Kingdom that reinterprets, reinvigorates and rejuvenates all understanding one has of God and of spirituality. 

To be instructed someone has to instruct! Alphonsus Liguori, whom we remember today, was a saint of the 18th century, who felt a special call to instruct people in faith, to preach the Word to the people...that they may always remain in the presence of the Lord. Even today his disciples, the Redemptorists (priests whose name you see with a suffix CSSR) prove themselves powerful instruments of God's mercy inviting people to conversion, to spiritual renewal and to remaining in the presence of the Lord.

Remaining in the presence of the Lord forever, is possible because the Lord accompanies us, 'as cloud by day and fire by night' the presence of the Lord goes before us. With that illumining and guiding presence, we can be sure of staying always within the net, because it will become our way of life to live and do, as the Lord commands! 

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

The need to cover your face! 

July 31, 2019: Remembering St. Ignatius of Loyola

Leviticus 23:1,4-11,15-16,27,34-37; Matthew 13:54-58

The need to cover your face! In the first reading today, we have an interesting account of Moses who would cover his face with a veil because, it shone after the meeting with the Lord. We see in the television newscast and other dailies where people cover their face, when taken into police custody or arrested for some malpractices! Two extreme reasons which can lead us to cover our face - one, shame or the other, a holy embarrassment - it all depends on one fact - where lies your treasure or Which is the pearl you are in search of? 

Many of the saints who found their treasure in the Lord, were found to act crazy! They gave up everything - their wealth, their prospects, their career, their comfort, their health, even their life - because they found the Lord and the Lord's will for them! Some of them were even considered lunatic and taken to asylums. As St. Paul says, they have behaved like "fools for Christ"(1 Cor 4:10). 

Ignatius of Loyola whom we remember today, was a man of those ranks. In the thirtieth year of his life, he came to know the Lord at a closer communion and fell so madly in love with the Lord that he was ready to do anything "FOR THE GREATER GLORY OF GOD" (ad maiorem Dei gloriam). A holy madness that led to the great movement of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) and so many other movements related to that; a craze for the divine that has produced scores and scores of holy men and women in the last 5 centuries, and the present Holy Father our beloved Pope Francis! 

We will have no reason for shame, if the Lord remains clearly our focus. We will have nothing to fear, if what matters to us is nothing but the greater glory of God. We will have no wrong reasons to cover our face, if our treasure and our pearl remains forever, the Reign of God!

Looking for the Tent of Meeting

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 17th week in Ordinary time

July 30, 2019: Exodus 33:7-11, 34: 5-9,28; Matthew 13: 36-43

Let your light Shine - is a constant invitation from the Saviour to all those who profess their faith in him. What do we do for the light to shine - of course we have to do things right, just and loving! But more fundamental than that - before we DO anything, we need to BE. Like Moses, we need to be in the presence of the Lord, in the Tent of Meeting - then our light will shine, as the face of Moses shone so much that the people of Israel were afraid of gazing at it (2 Cor 3:7). 

The Gospel today, gives us the same invitation, in and through the explanation of the parable of the weeds explained to us by Jesus. "The righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father" says the Gospel, underlining the circumstances in which we will shine to the world! Infact, many of us are in search of this Tent of Meeting (Exo 33:7)... in places of pilgrimage, in events of miraculous nature, in our practices of strenuous personal piety and so on! 

Understanding all these appreciable efforts, the readings today give us two possibilities of spotting this tent: 

One, the Inner Sanctuary of personal integrity, that Jesus speaks of in the parable of the weeds. The Lord has blessed us with goodness within us, it depends on our use of personal freedom to retain that goodness or contaminate it with baser tendencies. 

The second is the Mobile tents of the personal around us, where God encounters us at every moment of our day. Living as Moses did for the others and in total dedication to their well being, is an unfailing means to encounter the Lord. 

Let our hearts be tuned to the Tent of Meeting that we may encounter the Lord today!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

Celebrating the Home-makers - Remembering St. Martha

July 29, 2019: Exodus 32: 15-24, 30-34 (or) 1 John 4: 7-16; John 11: 19-27

Let us begin with an interesting fact that today's feast is a fruit of a mistake... a mistaken identity in history which equated Mary Magdalene with Mary, the sister of Martha. If you remember exactly a week ago (on 22nd) we celebrated the feast of Mary of Magdala, calculating a week from there, in history they wanted to celebrate the alleged sister of Mary, that is Martha!?! Though a mistake, a happy mistake and we should be happy to celebrate today the feast of this person, who was all preoccupied to express her love for Jesus Christ in every way that she possibly could. 

Another interesting fact is that today, the Church gives us a choice in the first reading- either from Exodus or from the Letter of St. John, but sticks to the Gospel according to St. John for the Gospel reading. So let us turn our attention to the Gospel from St. John, the scene of Jesus' arrival after three days of Lazarus' death. Thanks to this passage of  John, it redeems the image of Martha as a workaholic and helps us identify in her a person who had a deep understanding of who Jesus was. 

The affirmations that Martha comes out with shows how practical her faith in Christ was; that she set out and ran towards Jesus indicates the eagerness she had to meet him; and the openness she had towards the Lord and the Lord's power over any circumstance shows how deep her faith was. An active love for God and a unwavering faith in the Lord - these are the two lessons that Martha teaches us. 

How relevant they are for the world of today, which is characterised by a godless spirituality, inhuman development and unethical rationality! However, on a practical note, it is a good day to express our gratitude and felicitate the home-makers (the so-called house-wives!!!) who make our lives so pleasant!

PRAYER IS RELATIONSHIP

An Authentic Christ-ian Prayer

July 28, 2019: 17th Sunday in Ordinary time

Genesis 18: 20-32; Colossians 2: 12-14; Luke 11:1-13

Prayer... A Christian Prayer... An authentic Christian Prayer... A Christ-like prayer... is fundamentally one's Relationship with God. Out of the numerous attributes to God that were proper to the historical experience of the people of Israel, which was his own experience too, Jesus picked that of 'Father'. That was the most scandalous of all, for the Jews. When Jesus called God, Abba, Father (Mk 14:36) as we see in Gospels, he was demonstrating an intimate relationship that existed, not only between him and the One who sent him, but also between everyone who believes in him and in the One who sent him...as John says, to all who believed in him, he gave the right to become the children of God (Jn 1:12). Radically for Jesus, faith was a process of acknowledging a God who reveals Godself as a father, a mother, as one who created us, one who cares for us! Consequently, Prayer for him was a relationship that one shared with God; a relationship that is built on a personal sharing, that is, on DIALOGUE.

Prayer is a Dialogue... a dialogue where there is a sharing of minds and oneness of heart. Abraham, today is presented in the reading as dialoguing with God... he does not only speak his mind but listens to God and gets to know God's mind. A beautiful picture of a person in conversation with God - trying to raise his preoccupations, with the limited knowledge that he has, but with the concern he has for the life of the others. And an amazing depiction of God who knows very well that there will not be even 10 righteous people as Abraham claims, but listens patiently to his pleas, allows him to talk and permits him to share his concerns. 

At times when we begin to furnish a list to God and ask that to be granted on order; or when we make programmes and suggest God to follow; or when we find problems with God's designs and suggest improvements - we need to remind ourselves of this dimension of prayer - prayer as a dialogue! It consists not only in speaking but also in listening, waiting for and accepting God's will. Prayer is a dialogue, a dialogue that is initiated by the overwhelming RECOGNITION OF GOD'S GOODNESS.

The overwhelming recognition of God's goodness and majesty is what initiates the process of dialogue! The Psalm beautifully presents the human heart opening itself up to God, in praise and thanksgiving! A true Christian prayer begins there! St. Paul formulates this so well in his letter instructing, "do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God" (Phil 4:6). 

When we recognise the loving presence, the helping hand, the protecting wings, the sheltering solace of God on a daily basis, we cannot help singing the praise of God in spite of the endless needs and preoccupations we can possibly have in life! That recognition of God's goodness and majesty and our readiness to acknowledge and submit to it, bestows on us the greatest of all gifts, the TOTAL ACCEPTANCE BY GOD. 

God accepts me totally, unconditionally, in spite of all my imperfections and iniquities - this is the realisation out of which a lovely relationship is born - that relationship we call, Prayer.  The second reading today affirms that God has forgiven me, buried all my sins and nailed them to the Cross on which my saviour Jesus died for me! And with the same Jesus, God has raised me to the status of God's child, in my baptism! God loves me so much that God accepts me with all my limitations, with all my childishness, with all my idiosyncrasies. 

Comparing this relationship to friendship in the parable that Jesus narrates today, he subtly communicates a point that we can be sometimes foolish, simplistic and thoughtless in the things that we ask from God or in the way we ask for them. Still, we need not hesitate, we can go right on and do it, because God accepts us as we are. It is that affirmation that gives us the right to stand in the presence of the Lord and be ourselves, as Abraham dared to be! 

Let us treasure this great relationship we have with God, yearn to be in God's presence and live in God's presence as authentically as possible, as innocent and dependent as children, as grateful and obedient as sons and daughters, as rightful and loving as Jesus himself was towards God, whom he revealed to us our Our Father and Mother! 

You cannot surprise the Master

WORD 2day: Saturday, 16th week in Ordinary time

July 27, 2019: Exodus 24: 3-8; Matthew 13: 24-30

You cannot surprise the Master; you can never surprise God! With all the goodwill, as the people of Israel said a loud 'yes' to the ordinances of the covenant and made that solemn ceremony of swearing by the sacrificial blood which God instituted as the blood of the covenant. We too make promises galore. When everything seems to be going well,  we find ourselves unwittingly giving into something we would rather not. We can call it infidelity to God, breakaway from God, sin, or merely a mistake! But when we do find ourselves in such situation, lies the challenge that Jesus wants to address today! 

Certainly we have heard people explaining the reason for not approaching the sacrament of Eucharist or reconciliation for years, saying that they feel they are not worthy, that they feel they are too weak or that they keep falling into the same sin again and again, that they don't want to disrespect the sacraments. Here lies the trap of the enemy! A subtle but dangerous trap...the trap of self pity which leads to sad succumbing into one's shortfalls. 

Who is not unworthy? Who is not weak? And who does not have limitations! It is while we are still in sin, that God loves us, affirms St.Paul (Rom 5:8). It is while the weeds are still present the Lord permits the crop to grow, in the parable that Jesus narrates today. You cannot surprise or shock God; God knows everything, absolutely everything (Ps 139). God is patient and kind; with all our impurities, limitations and infidelities, God still loves us and waits for us to grow in our hearts, strong good crops that would outdo the weeds. 

Everyday is an opportunity to suppress a weed and allow a good crop to grow in our hearts and become more and more worthy of the gratuitous gift of love that we receive from God. Let every day be a sacrifice of praise that we offer to the Lord!

THE WORD AND THE SAINTS

It's Grandparents' Day!!!

July 26, 2019: Celebrating Sts. Joachim and Anne

Exodus 20: 1-17; Matthew 13: 16-17

The first setting in which faith enlightens humanity is the family, declares Pope Francis in his 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 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. 

Maybe, 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! Let us celebrate them!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

Called to Contradictions

July 25, 2019: Remembering St.  James the Apostle

2 Corinthians 4: 7-15; Matthew 20: 20-28

We believe; so we speak!  That was the watchword of the band of apostles, as St. Paul notes in the first reading today (2Cor 4:13).Though there was a time when even the apostles did not understand what Jesus was upto... they looked at Jesus like any other leader, carrying forward his career! But in time, Jesus made them understand that they are called to follow, a leader who is 'crazy' in the terms of the world, a man who was full of contradictions. 

Whoever among you would be the great must be a servant, and who would be the first must be a slave. James and John today become the occasion for Jesus to reinstate his philosophy of life, indeed a tough one. St. Paul understood that philosophy perfectly and he expressed it lucidly when he said, we carry within our bodies the death of Jesus, that the life of Jesus might be manifested in us. He says, death was at work in the lives of Apostles, so that life can be experienced by those to whom they carried the message. 

When we would think it is important to abandon death and seek life, the apostles seemingly seek death, to give life! And they invite the others to believe and once they believe, the believers too seek to carry within themselves the death of Jesus, so that the world may receive life in Christ. That is the chain of apostleship that is passed on to us... to be apostles is to carry the death of Jesus within us, that we may ultimately manifest the eternal life in Jesus to the world. 

James, the first of the apostles to be put to death (Acts 12:2) bears a resounding witness to this way of life; a life of contradiction; the life of apostleship. 

To become fertile soil

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 16th week in Ordinary time

July 24, 2019: Exodus 14:21 - 15:1; Matthew 12: 46-50

Those who have ears, let them hear; those who have eyes, let them see; those who have a heart, let them feel... how pained Jesus would have been to say this! The people saw him cure the sick, give sight to the blind, make the deaf hear and the mute speak, drive the demons out and raise people from the dead! Inspite of all these the people were not ready to believe him! He was wondering what kind of a heart they had... rocks, or thorny bushes or sandy sidewalks... how he wished they were good fertile soil. 

However Jesus knew what kind of people he was dealing with - the children of the people who saw the plagues one after another in Egypt, but still readily murmured when they saw the Egyptians pursue them; the people who saw the Egyptians perish right in front of their eyes, but still readily murmured when they had nothing to eat; the people who saw the manna fall from nowhere and the quails that fell right into their mouths, but still readily murmured that they would die for want of water; the people who saw water gush forth from a rock in the middle of the desert, but still readily murmured that manna was tasteless and the quails were stale! 

Hard and stubborn as they were, nothing pierced their hearts to make it bear fruit as God wanted from them... the warning to us is clear! How prone we are to murmur against God in times of trouble, forgetting the abundance of graces we have received! The capacity to see God's presence in our daily life will decide, whether we are sandy sidewalks or rocky ruins or thorny bushes or as God wants, fertile soil!

The Will or your whims?

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 16th week in Ordinary time

July 23, 2019: Exodus 14:21 - 15:1; Matthew 12: 46-50

The first reading sets us thinking... the greed of the king and his adamant decision to exploit the people led him to destruction! However, the reading is clear, he did not die, his own people did! The Egyptians, the horsemen and all who followed him died! We can be very sure not all of those who died wished to pursue the people of Israel; it was not their wish, they did it because they were enrolled, they were commissioned by the authority. But all the same, the destruction was theirs. 

How close it seems to what is happening today in the world... the leaders who mislead, the leaders guided by warped politics and selfish interests who lead the whole people astray, the partisan mentality of the people who destroy themselves, following the leaders who however remain in their zones of security! Wars, civil clashes, terrorist attacks, border conflicts, nuclear craze, killings in the name of caste and creed - how many of these we find today because of a group of leaders who manipulate everything for their ends! This can end only when every individual is able to think for himself or herself and have the freedom to say 'no' to what one thinks is not right, or what one thinks does not enhance humanity and its existence. 

The unfailing criteria for such decisions and discernments, as Jesus points today, is the Will of God! When human beings are too concerned about having their will established at all costs, be it in personal lives or in social settings, it leads to autocracy or hegemony and subsequently varied forms of exploitation and destruction. The only way to enhance life to its fullness is to do the Will of God, and that is the only way to become 'the mother, the brothers and sisters' of Jesus, the Son of God.

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

Weeping blinds you... Listen and Look!

22nd July,  2019: Celebrating St. Mary Magdalene 

Song of Songs 3: 1-4; John 20:1-2,11-18

Today we celebrate Mary Magdalene, the first apostle of the Risen Lord. It may be a surprising title to give her, but factually it is so! An apostle is someone who is sent, sent with a message... and the first one who was sent, sent with a message by the Risen Lord was Mary of Magdala! Isn't it true?

Mary Magdalene loved Jesus intensely. She was delivered by Jesus from seven demons, the Gospels tell us. And after that, for her Jesus, her Master meant everything in life. The first reading is given to make us understand how intimately she had loved Jesus. She had encountered, experienced and cherished her relationship with Jesus, while he lived, in such close quarters but now the Risen Lord stands right beside her and she is unable to identify him...  the reason: she is too occupied with her weeping and complaining.

At times in our lives when troubles come by and trials abound,  we fumble and falter as if we are all alone. We fail to recognise the Lord who sticks so close to us,  because we are too busy weeping and complaining.

If only we opened our eyes and saw;  if only we opened our hearts and listened;  if only we believed in the words of the Lord,  "I have conquered the world"... we would leap for joy and love to cling to the Lord. Mary Magdalene gives us a clear message: stop weeping;  weeping blinds you;  look, listen and you will leap for joy, for the Lord is with you now and always! 

GOD VISITS US...

Behold! I stand at the door and knock...

July 21, 2019: 16th Sunday in Ordinary time

Genesis 18: 1-10; Colossians 1:24-28; Luke 10: 38-42

Behold! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me - Rev. 3:20 summarises the liturgy of the Word today! The Lord visits us, everyday; in various ways, in ways ordinary or wondrous, the Lord visits us. What is our response and what should it be - that is the question we are invited to reflect on. 

The first reading pictures God visiting Abraham. It is interesting to read the first three verses and a great lesson awaits us there. The first two verses say, that the Lord appeared and Abraham lifted his eyes and saw three men! Not in glorious light or in flaming clouds, but in three simple men, that the Lord visited Abraham. Reading further the second and the third verse together, gives us another detail, Abraham saw three men and he addressed them, "My Lord, do not pass by." Though Abraham saw the men, he was able to behold the presence of the Lord. The Message for today is established right there! Our God visits us... on a daily basis.. in one way or the other, in ways ordinary or in ways wondrous, the Lord visits us. Through extraordinary signs of awe-inspiring events or heart-breaking happenings; through a person whom we come across on a dreary daily routine, an extra smile or an overshadowing grief on the person's face; through a habitual joy that brightens the day or a repeated bad news on a newsprint; the Lord visits us! 

'I fear the Lord passing by', said St. Augustine, in simple words expressing the grief of not being ready to behold the visit of the Lord, due to the hustle and bustle of the day or the ordinariness of the experience. The Word today points to us the special capacity needed for someone in order not to allow the Lord pass by... 

The Capacity to Receive: Hospitality is not in things; it is a matter of the heart! It is not the fact that some one can afford, that makes him or her hospitable to the other. It is the heart, the love that is there in the heart, the warmth that fills that heart, that makes a person go out of one's way to extend hospitality to another person. In the ancient Israel, a stranger to the land was treated as a guest of honour, and a guest became a messenger from God! In the ancient Indian culture too, we have the age old saying, 'Adhithi devo bhava' (meaning -the Guest is God) and the great Tamil Classic, Tirukkural dedicates a whole chapter of 10 couplets on Hospitality, that is receiving guests and treating them with love and honour. 

The Capacity to receive the Lord, is seen in one's capacity to observe everything in life with a sense of gratitude and wonder, one's capacity to encounter a person every time with a new perspective and without judgments and prejudices. It is the capacity to see God in everything that is around and every person who is around. Abraham was able to encounter God in the three men that he saw; St. Paul was able to encounter Jesus in the light that threw him down from the horse and listen to his voice, calling out to him!

The Capacity to Listen: Encountering God, is basically listening to God! Every visit brings us a message. Every encounter has something to tell us for our daily life. It is a special gift to listen to the Lord, to discern what God wants of us, to hear the Lord's voice telling us 'do this' or 'be this' or 'become someone' or 'denounce something'. 

The Lord speaks in every encounter, through every person, through every event... we are expected to act, to respond and carry out the task entrusted to us. But the point of departure is always the feet of the Lord! To sit at the feet of the Master and drink in every bit of wisdom and knowledge, that when it is time for me to go forth, I am prepared to be God's presence to the others, that when they encounter me, they can feel the presence of the Lord!

The Capacity to Suffer: Encountering God is a challenge to make a choice, a fundamental choice for the Lord or otherwise! St. Paul made that choice, a 'U' Turn for the Lord - and the ultimate choice is to choose to suffer for the Lord. The Lord prepares us - Abraham was prepared to wait endlessly for the promises to be fulfilled; Martha was prepared to run about doing things for the love she had for Jesus, Mary was prepared to sit at the feet of the Lord mindless of the criticisms hurled at her, and St. Paul was prepared to say, "I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake!" 

When God visits us, it is a dangerous event, a risky experience - because after that nothing can remain what it was before. There will be a drastic change and we have to be prepared for that. The change, certainly, would not be always for the better or for a more pleasant development - more often than not, it would be towards a hardship, a task, a cross!

The invitation is clear dear friends... to behold the Lord who visits us, to let the Lord speak to us and be prepared for an encounter with the Lord - on a daily basis. Doing this our daily life will become meaningful, challenging and TRULY CHRISTIAN. 

Keep Walking

WORD 2day: Saturday, 15th week in Ordinary time

July 20, 2019: Exodus 12: 37-42; Matthew 13: 14-21

Reading passages like that of today's first reading, where it says 'that was for the Lord a night of vigil, to bring them out of Egypt'... that the Lord watched over the people of Israel as they walked into that night of freedom towards the broad day light... there is a longing in our hearts that cries... Will there not be a day when the people suffering today would walk into their freedom; the oppressed innocents, the trodden poor, the cheated multitudes, the neglected lots, the exploited masses - will there not be an end to evil in the world? Will not the Lord keep watch over these my suffering brothers and sisters to walk into their freedom, into their life of peace, into their days of tranquility? 

The response is right there in the reading too... the number of years that the Hebrews lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty! The Lord is still working on the solution, and we are all part of the process! There are many who create hindrances and blocks, but despite all, the humanity will one day see the eternal goodness, the Reign of God established forever! 

Our role in the plan, is as that of the people of Israel - Keep Walking... Jesus was cornered, plotted against... he moved on, slipped through, and went ahead doing good to the people - for he knew his time had not come, he knew the One who sent him had a proper plan and the right time - and Jesus kept walking, 'and many followed him'. 

Let us wait on the Lord, in the Lord's own time everything will happen according to the design; but on our part we are called to do the little that is our's to do, and keep walking. As Matthew quotes Isaiah, 'In God's name will we hope.' And the sign of hope is - to keep walking!

Sacrifices or Self-Understanding - what really matters?

WORD 2day: Friday,  15th week in Ordinary time 

July 19, 2019: Exodus 11:10 - 12:14; Matthew 12: 1-8 

The Liturgy of the Word today traces for us an eventful journey of the understanding of God and the self-understanding of the people in relation to their God! From an understanding of sacrifice as a demand and requirement to a liberating understanding of God, brought in by Jesus who presented a God who says, "I desire mercy and not sacrifice". 

The point is not that the Old Testament's understanding was faulty; neither is it to say that Jesus negates all the understanding of the Old Testament! As Jesus himself explained, he came not to abolish the law, he came to bring it to its fulfillment. That fulfillment is achieved when we understand not just the letter but the spirit of the law and try to live it to its details. 

The sacrifices, the sanctifications, the consecrations that were prescribed were all for one reason: to bring the people closer to the Lord! To make the people understand how good the Lord has been... in order that they may lift the cup of salvation, a thanksgiving sacrifice to the Lord, as the Psalm invites us today. 

Having moved a long way from the understanding of the people of the Old Testament, the challenge is much greater for us today - to prioritise our relationship with God, in all that we carry out in the name of our spirituality, in the name of practices of piety. It is not merely a fulfillment of a duty or a necessity, for God needs nothing from us; but a thanksgiving to the ever-present Lord, a grateful beholding of the loving presence of God with us, is what really matters.

Come and Go - in the name of God!

WORD 2day: Thursday, 15th week in Ordinary time

July 18, 2019: Exodus 3: 13-20; Mt 11: 28-30

The Word presents the name of God to us today. Speaking of the name of God, I am reminded of an experience, exactly this time some seven years ago. I was in a parish in the north of Italy, to substitute a parish priest during his days of Spiritual Retreat. There were a few elderly ladies who were regular for the daily Eucharist and after the celebration everyday, they spent some time talking to me. They loved to hear of the Bible and one day the most vociferous of them asked me - "Is there a name for our God!" Before I could say, "Yes, it is Jesus!", she intervened and said, "I mean, God the Father! Does God have a name?" And I quoted to her today's reading and said, "Yes, our God is I AM. Or when we say it...Our God is WHO IS". She was thrilled to know the name of God, and was going around telling everyone, the name of God, the new discovery that she has made. When the Parish priest returned a week later, one of the first things she told him was, "Fr. you know, I know the name of our God. Our God is, WHO IS, or I AM, or YAHWEH"...And the Parish Priest was a bit upset; he turned to me and said - "No Christy... That is the God of the Hebrews!" I did not want to pick a theological argument with the Parish priest...but I thought to myself - "Yes...that is the God of the Hebrews, and therefore the God of Jesus too...the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ as St.Paul would say (2 Cor 1:3; Eph 1:3; Col 1:3)." It is not just a name - it was an experience. It has to be our experience today: the God who IS, who is with us, all the time.

Apart from the name of God, the word that dominates the first reading today is 'Go'... Yahweh sends Moses to the Pharaoh.  The term that stands out in the short but sweet Gospel of today is,  'Come'... the Lord invites the burdened to come and rest. 

Come and Go... they may look like two opposite words but the reason given for both the movements is the same. Because I am with you, says the Lord. Go, for I am with you. Come to me, for I am here for you! Coming and going...refer to the docility of the chosen, the willingness and readiness with which a messenger of the Lord vows to act. Every day and in ways mysterious and means ordinary, the Lord keeps sending us these instructions: come,  go,  speak,  share,  remain,  endure and so on... are we prepared to listen and eager to act upon it?

We need to be people who come and go, do everything, in the name of God, who is with us!

Who am I, really?

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 15th week in Ordinary time

July 17, 2019: Exodus 3: 1-6,9-12; Matthew 11: 25-26

What do people think of me? How do I come across to people? What kind of an image do I give of myself to others? Will this make or mar the opinion others have about me? ...these are some popular considerations we have before we decide to do something! At times this consideration of human respect keeps me back from being who I am! The Lord declares in various ways today that it does not  matter so much who I am as to who is with me, who is for me!

God identified godself through Moses that God is WHO IS (I am), and Jesus the Son of God revealed to us a God WHO IS ALWAYS WITH US... One who is concerned about us, journeys with us, leads us by hand and wants to be with us always, specially when we are tired and heavy laden, specially when we are through the lowest moments of our lives, specially when we feel we are abandoned and all alone. Yes, Our God is WHO IS!

Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh? - I will be with you, says the Lord! What makes the difference is that, the Lord was with Moses. Who we are is important, but more important is who is with us! We may be merely children, but if God is with us, we can be worth all the wisest and powerful put together. Do not say you are merely a child, the Lord told Jeremiah. The Lord promises to be with us, what else do we need! If God is with us, what do we lack! If God is for us who can be against us! 

Where do I belong?

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 15th week in Ordinary time

July 16, 2019: Exodus 2: 1-15a; Matthew 11:20-24

Yesterday we spoke of the situations of injustice in the world and the readings drove us to a reflection on it. Today, the readings issue a warning to us! The Lord is patient and merciful, but at the same time just and righteous. The Lord has a predilection for the poor, the oppressed, those who are sinned against, those who are denied of their rights, those who are constrained to live in conditions that they actually do not deserve to suffer. The warning is this: that we take care to see where we actually belong! 

July 16, 1945 - was the day that the atomic bomb was dropped, bringing the World war II to an end. We are not called merely to judge who is right and who is wrong and give a verdict on persons. We are called to remain on the side of the right, the truth and justice. It is not that we may be oppressors, but even if indirectly by our inaction and silence we allow the oppression of a person or a people go scot-free, we are on the wrong side, on the side of injustice! As the famous holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel says, "We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented." 

Our help is in the name of the Lord, affirms the Responsorial Psalm today. When we are a help to the oppressed, we are acting in the name of the Lord. The Lord raises Lord's judgement, Lord's Hero from where and when, we know not. But surely our help is in the name of the Lord, and let us strive to be always on the side of the Lord. If we fail, the Lord warns us today, "I tell you that it shall be more tolerable on the day of judgement for the land of Sodom than for you."

We celebrate Our Blessed Mother of Mount Carmel - so many events and memories, all converging on one single theme: where do we belong - to the right or to the wrong? to justice or to injustice? The scapular is not just some magical totem. It is a sign, a declared sign, a refuge we take under the power of God, under the banner of the Almighty. It is a sign of our personal choice! Yes, the choice is ours, every day, every moment.

People who forget their stories!

Monday, 15th week in Ordinary time

July 15, 2019: Exodus 1:8-14, 22; Matthew 10:34 - 11:1

One cannot but think of the prevailing situations of inhumanity, cruel hegemony, political manipulation, socio-economic oppression and human right violations all over the world, when we read the first reading today! When we find ourselves in front of these suffering brothers and sisters, we cannot close our eyes or switch off our minds. No one can be neutral, in our own way we have to take our stand - if we try staying neutral, so many memories will come crowding into our minds: the world wars, the holocaust, the hiroshima-nagasaki, the Srilankan tamil carnage, the 13 shot in tuticorin last year... how many of these can we ward off from our minds? 

Not only did the Pharaoh not know the history of Joseph and things that happened in his predecessors' times, even the people seemed to have forgotten their origins - of how they reached Egypt and why they reached there and that they were there only for a while, that the Lord had said they will move to "their" land later! They began to think Egypt was their land and they would be there for eternity. They forgot their story. The Lord had to remind them. The world today too has this spiritual amnesia! 

That is why the Lord comes with the sword, with fire... that we may wake up and wake up the world, and bring ourselves back as people who are mindful of our stories, our experiences, all that we have enjoyed from the Lord and all that we have promised the Lord and all that we have neglected so far. At times when we face turmoils, we need to turn back to our stories thus far and draw consolation and inspiration from there. In those moments of struggle, as people of God we need to realise that we are afflicted but not crushed,  perplexed but not driven to despair,  persecuted but not forsaken (cf 2 Cor 4:8)... let us pay heed that we do not become people who forget their stories. 

BE LOVE! BE COMPASSION!

Being Christian: the Image, the model and the challenge!

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time - July 14, 2019

Deuteronomy 30: 10-14; Colossians 1: 15-20; Luke 10: 25-37

Religion has been traditionally considered a search for God, some of them are long-winded and some others super-human. The Liturgy today differs from this point of view and indicates to a Christian that living as a Christian is neither too hard nor too far off. Jesus Christ the Son of God has brought it so close to us, by becoming one of us and having lived out for us in his own life a model to be emulated, an example to be followed and a path to be retraced. Those who wish to take the unbeaten path need not worry, for this path traced by Jesus will forever remain unbeaten for not as many as enough dare take that path. The Challenge thus is alive for you and me today!

The Word of God is in my heart! What God wants of me, what really matters to lead a life worthy of the One who created me, is right within me! It is in the core of my being, because I am created in the image and the likeness of God (Gen 1:27) and having been created in God's own image, I have within me all that is Godly...all that is characteristic of God, I have it embedded in the core of my being! If nothing hinders or distorts it, this is what I will manifest too in my daily life! This is what the book of Deuteronomy teaches us today in the first reading! In the exegesis by St. Paul on this passage from Deuteronomy - in Romans 10:6-7 - we hear the Apostle telling us, that we need not wonder how will we come to understand this inherent nature of ours - because we have Jesus Christ who has revealed it to us!

Christ came to reveal to us not merely who God was, but who we were; that we are the image and likenesses of God, that we are sons and daughters of a God who is love and compassion. A literal translation of the Hebrew version of Psalm 103, would read, "The Lord is compassion and love" (Ps 102(103):8) - not merely that God is compassionate and loving, but God is compassion and love! Christ was the visible image of this invisible God - Christ was the love of God personified, Christ was the living image of Compassion. He came to reveal to us, how much God loved us and how filled with compassion God is. Our call to be Christians is not a call to believe in some truths and adhere to some moral virtues, it is to live as Christ lived, to think as Christ thought, to feel as Christ felt, to love as Christ loved!

That is why Jesus did not stop with the two great commandments, he made them just one and said - "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another" (Jn 13:34). According to Christ it is not enough to love the other as I love myself... but I am called to love the other as God loves me, as Christ loved me - that is, to love unconditionally, to love without counting the cost, to love even upto the death on the Cross!

That is a challenge! That is why when they asked Jesus who is my neighbour, Jesus did not answer them directly. He gave them a parable and made them reflect, to whom they have to be a neighbours! Yes, the Lord invites me today to be a neighbour to every person who is in need, every person who is suffering alone, everyone who is left to bleed on the pavements of the present world of insensitive globalisation, inhuman consumerism and heartless technological domination. I am asked to be a neighbour to everyone who is tired and heavy laden, everyone who is lonely and sick, sick in body, mind, heart and soul. Let me not ask anymore the stale question, who is my neighbour! If I am truly a Christian, I would ask a question more pertinent - TO WHOM SHOULD I BE A NEIGHBOUR...and the answer will be right before our eyes.

And the way to be a neighbour is what Jesus explains today! To be like himself, to feel for the other like Jesus, to live like Jesus, to love like Jesus: to BE LOVE, to BE COMPASSION - that is the most fitting way to be a Christian today.

A Challenge and an Assurance

WORD 2day: Saturday, 14th week in Ordinary time

July 13, 2019: Genesis 44: 18-21, 23-29, 45: 1-5; Matthew 10: 7-15

The challenge is to belong to God, come what may. It is not an easy task considering the prevailing atmosphere today. 

I know of so many youngsters who are so inspiring by the absolute choice that they have made for God and the will of God.  People who have had great ambitions and plans, but  have just thrown them into the air for the sake of a vision that God inspired. Persons who have had prospects so promising, but have ignored those just because they felt they have been called for a specific mission, a mission in the footsteps of the Master-saviour. Daring individuals who have made choices for which they are being derided, called names and have suffered worst experiences of want and willful deprivation. A challenge! 

When this challenge is taken up, one could find oneself on a tossing sea or a troubled sky, but nothing would disturb the person, for he or she has found a ground so firm, a base so strong, a root so deep - the Lord who calls, commissions and walks one through. At the end of all the tribulations, pervades a serenity, a sense of accomplishment, the same sense with which Jesus gasped on the cross, "It is accomplished." That is the tone in which Jacob aka Israel speaks today of his end and what should come after. 

The Lord does not leave us merely with the challenge, he attaches an assurance! The assurance of God's caring presence with us! Pope Francis in his first encyclical Lumen Fidei called this 'the accompanying presence of God' (LF 57). It is an assurance that arises from the fact that God loves us, that God values us, that God cares for us, and above all, that God counts on us! 

To stick till the end

WORD 2day: Friday, 14th week in Ordinary time

July 12, 2019: Genesis 46: 1-7, 28-30; Matthew 10: 16-23

Enduring till the end is the test of the strength of one's faith. Israel(Jacob) today expresses that great satisfaction in having endured till the end, on seeing Joseph alive..."Now let me die!" - a sense of fulfillment! As later we would hear Simeon exclaiming in the Temple of Jerusalem on seeing the child Jesus, "At last all powerful Master, let your servant go in peace. For, my eyes have seen the salvation you have prepared for the nations!" 

Jesus teaches the same to us his followers, "the one who endures till the end shall be saved" (Mt 10:22). Endurance that Jesus demands is for two reasons - first, because all the troubles that a follower of Christ faces is for such a noble purpose, a cause so great, that anything can be given up for its sake - the Reign of God on earth. Seek first the Reign of God... even if you have to give up your home, your dear ones, your belongings or even your life, for you will be rewarded hundred percent, says the Lord, here on earth and in the eternal life! 

Secondly, because the mission entrusted to us is so vast and so immense that these troubles can measure no where in comparison to it. He says with a tinge of humour, even if you have to run from one town to the other due to persecutions, "you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel, before the Son of man comes." Such was the determination of the early Christians and the Apostles who led them from the fore - to stick till the end, the very end.

To proclaim through our daily lives the Reign of God and if we have to face hard consequences due to it, to be prepared to endure it all the way - that is the call for me today. 

Shalom - carrying God's message

WORD 2day: Thursday, 14th week in Ordinary Time 

July 11, 2019: Genesis 44:18-21, 23b-29, 45:1-5; Matthew 10: 7-15

The theme of yesterday continues still - Being sent, and sent on a mission! The Lord sends the twelve to carry his message to all the people of Israel,  a message of gladness, healing,  restoration,  peace and joy,  in short Shalom! 

As Joseph notes in the last verse of the first reading today, "it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you". It was with a mission that Jesus was sent to us and it is with a mission that Jesus sends us today - he says to each of us: "As the father sent me, so I send you"(Jn 20:21). 

Each of us is sent! Sent with the promise of Shalom; Shalom which is fullness of blessings that we wish for every brother or sister in the Lord,  or for that matter that is what we wish for the whole world as sons and daughters of the Good Lord. We may wonder, why the whole world... is it not only those who are good to me; those who are my well wishers? But the Lord and the Word today have it otherwise.

We are presented with the example of Joseph who in spite of all that they did to him tells the rest of the sons of Jacob,  "I am your brother"! Isn't that the true Christian attitude expected of us. This is possible only if we look at everything from the perspective of God as did Joseph, and of course Jesus! That is shalom... not just being good to those who are good, but being good and... period - irrespective of what others are and what the world is.

Let this day be another opportunity for us to carry the Lord's message today: Shalom to all! 

His Band... of brothers and sisters

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 14th week in Ordinary time

July 10, 2019: Genesis 41:55-57, 42:5-7a, 17-24a; Matthew 10: 1-7

The Twelve... that is the common element in the two readings today. The 12 tribes and the 12 apostles was not a mere coincidence, it was more than that. It was a choice to resemble because the Lord was raising a new people of God, the New Israel, a new band of brothers and sisters. 

The naming of the Apostles - with a function given to them: to chase the evil spirits and to heal the sick! Apostles are those who are 'sent' (literally too, 'apostolos' in Greek); sent in the name of God with a specific mission. Joseph of the Old Testament, was an apostle too - sent ahead by God to Egypt in order to provide for God's people at a later time! Providing was yet another important mission of God. So, providing for God's people, liberating them from the ungodly forces and giving them a life in all its fullness - those are the duties of an apostle, on behalf of the Lord who sends him or her. And all these carried out for one purpose to make present the Reign of God amidst the people here and now! 

Jesus had a big following, that is, his disciples and from them he sends these 'Apostles'; we are among his disciples already by our Baptism and he wants to send each of us with a specific mission. And each of us sent, exactly to where we are - to our homes, to our neighbourhoods, to our parishes, to our societies... to establish the Reign of God, that is, to assure the needs of all, to stand by the neglected and guarantee them their rights, to stand against the ungodly forces, the unjust systems, the corrupt and inhuman dominations, to empower the people towards a peaceful, serene and human existence. 

When Pope Francis calls the Church to "take to the streets of the world" and to "reach the very outskirts of existence", he is reminding us our call as 'apostles', and our mission as heralds of the Reign of God. Have I made real efforts to understand my call and my mission as an apostle, the Lord's band of brothers and sisters.

The Struggle of life and death

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 14th week in Ordinary time

July 9, 2019: Genesis 32: 22-32; Matthew 9: 32-38

It's puzzling! Among a few puzzling details of the Old Testament is the likes of today's account from Jacob's life. The Lord (!?!) wrestled with Jacob, says the reading today - and elsewhere we see a similar account of God trying to kill Moses (Exo 4:24). Whatever may be the exegesis, the first disclaimer here is not to take these lines literally. There is a symbolic or a interpretative meaning to these happenings! 

One thing we can guess here is that these men had something really to struggle with, a struggle of life and death! But they stood firm on the side of the Lord who had called them and after that struggle of life and death, there is something remarkable, a change that is radical, a happening that defines history forever. For, Jacob after that struggle comes to be called Israel, a name that would define the People of God forever. Incidentally, Moses after that struggle comes to establish a new covenant with the Lord in the sign of circumcision - again something that would define the People of the Covenant, ever since. 

Jesus had the same struggle, constantly there were people who followed him as there were the others who tried their best to demonise him (Mt 9:34). The struggle went on right till the cross - the struggle of life and death, but he stood by the Father who had sent him. And after that struggle, he was not anymore merely Jesus, but Jesus the Christ; there came the event that changed the World for ever, it changed the history not only of the world in general, but of you and me in specific! Today we are saved, in his struggle, in his death, in his wounds, in  his blood and in his Resurrection! 

The question to me is - how ready and willing am I for a struggle?