Towards Jerusalem!!!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

October 1, 2019: Remembering St. Teresa of Child Jesus

Zechariah 8:20-23; Luke 9: 51-56

Towards Jerusalem... we see the decision to go to Jerusalem, both in the first reading and the Gospel. The first reading speaks of people who would want to go to Jerusalem, to witness the glories of the God who stood by the Hebrews through their thick and thin - "let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you!" The Gospel presents Jesus who is determined to go to Jerusalem... in spite of knowing what awaits him there; to offer his life for the very people who were so stubborn as to turn their face away from him. 

Jerusalem - is not merely the glorious hill of the presence of the Lord but also a challenge to live up to that presence which demands from us endurance, obedience and primacy of God. It is not easy to be welcoming to the Lord - for when he comes he is very demanding! 

St. Teresa, whom we remember today, was aware of this challenge and willingly took it upon herself. She was ready by her heart, mind, soul and strength to remain continuously and constantly prepared to receive the Lord and remain faithful to the Lord. She died just 24, and within fifty years became a great model in the Church. While she lived, she wanted to be almost everything for the sake of the Lord's love - a contemplative disciple, an active apostle, an ardent missionary, a doctor of the Church, a martyr and even in being a martyr she wanted to be a martyr not in just one way, but in every way possible. Obviously, she was burning with love for the presence of the Lord. 

How eager and longing are we for the presence of the Lord, that is what Jerusalem signifies! Are we ready always to focus our attention towards Jerusalem - that is, do we dare to set our face towards the presence of God?

Growing Up to be Children

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

September 30, 2019: Remembering St. Jerome
Zechariah 8: 1-8; Luke 9: 46-51

"They shall be my people and I will be their God" - the crux of the faith that has been handed down to us through centuries, is this covenant that God made with our ancestors in faith. God has remained faithful ever since. St. Paul reminds us in his letter to Timothy, even "if we are faithless, he remains faithful - for he cannot deny himself" (2Tim 2:13). 

Being God's people means being God's children - and that is being focused totally on God, taking directions from God, and always remaining open and docile to God's promptings, as do the children who are fascinated by their parents. This is where the Word of God comes into play - the Word that came down to reveal the fullness of God to us, is the Word that continues to come down to us, continuously even today, to make us aware and attached to the will of God here and now. But if we do not know the Word who once came down, we will not know the Word that continues to come down even today! 

St. Jerome said that in simple terms: not knowing the scriptures is knowing Christ. Not to know the Word made flesh in time and history, is not to know the Word that comes to us here and now, because the Word is a living Word, a living person, a presence that surrounds us today, here, now, in the very context where we need to make our choices, for or against something.

To be children of God, we need to grow up! It is not growing up from being children, but growing up to be children. Children who are mindful and focused totally on God and what God wants from us, that we do not give into our divisions, partisan feelings, ego trips and self-fulfillments but always remain faithful and attached to God and God alone. Growing up to be children, though it may sound a paradox, let us grow up to be children, only then can we inherit the Reign!

INDIFFERENCE - THE MOST UNCHRISTIAN ATTITUDE OF ALL

Look, think and fight!

29th September, 2019 - 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Amos 6: 1,4-7; 1 Timothy 6: 11-16; Luke 16: 19-31

Indifference, the worst of all vices and the most dangerous of all attitudes; it is one thing that the Lord cannot bear! Woe to those who are indifferent, warns prophet Amos. And that is precisely what Jesus presents in his parable too. It is something that God just cannot stand - God will 'spit you' out of God's presence, if you are lukewarm, reveals the Lord himself(Rev 3:16). 

Consider the example of that courageous teen, Greta Thunberg who is standing up to the cause against the exploitation of our common home, the universe (see the resonance of Laudato Si of Pope Francis here)! It is highly disheartening to see, even some Christians maligning her and calling her names! There are those who do that because this pointing-out-the-truth is so difficult for their agenda. But there are others who call her leftist and socialists' puppet - the question is: SO WHAT? "Let Truth come from any side"; learn to look at the truth in its face! One need not hail the girl as the saviour of the world or go behind her into the streets, but can one not see the truth that she is trying to highlight? Whom are we faking, not willing to face the truth? This is indifference to truth: one of the deadly qualities we can find in today's world!  

If you have a living faith, then fight the good fight of the faith, challenges St. Paul through his letter to Timothy today. 'Blessed' are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness(Mt 5:6), not those who remain in their safe havens caring nothing for anyone around. St. Paul recalls to our minds today, how Jesus bore witness to his faith and to the truth right upto his cross! "For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth," declared Jesus with a courage that disturbed Pilate.(Jn 18:37). When it came to bearing witness to truth and righteousness, or feeling compassionate for those who were helpless, or reaching out to the sinners and the outcast, or speaking out for the rights of those who were oppressed - of their right to be healed as sons and daughters of God, of their right to dignity and of their closeness to the Reign of God - Jesus never hesitated; and his true disciples would never hesitate too!

Today we are living in a world that has innumerable justifications for being indifferent towards others - one's duty and family, corrupt system and government, anti-people policies and laws, legitimisation of insensitive craze for development and technology, rapid growth and advancement - the list can go on endlessly. And it is effortlessly easy to cast the blame on some else and hide behind the mask of myself being part of the 'affected' and the 'left behind'. In simple terms, the Word challenges me today to place myself in the shoes of the rich man and look at the world around me! Have I done whatever I could in my context, for justice, righteousness, dignity of all and true freedom of the children of God. If I say, 'what can I really do?' - beware, that could be the visible trace of Indifference within!

Indifference is the most unchristian quality one can have. The readings today outline the three levels in which INDIFFERENCE grows.

FIrst Level: Indifference as a fruit of Blindness - the inability to see the suffering around, the incapacity to sense the heavy burdens that persons around me carry, the failure to feel the unseen tears of those crying out for help... these are unchristian to the core. LOOK says the Lord, perceive the suffering in the eyes of your brother and sister... even if you cannot do much, atleast be there for them!

Second Level: Indifference as a sign of Selfishness - even after seeing the suffering and the pain, if I fail to be moved, if I refuse stand by someone because I could get into problem, or because I could lose my opportunity to go ahead in life, or because I could earn enemies in the bargain, I am unworthy of being called the disciple of the Lord who died for me! THINK of the others, and not solely of yourself, says the Lord. Can I think of anything other than Me, Myself and Mine? I am my brother's keeper!

Third Level: Indifference as a form of Malice - it is a sin! "Silence encourages the tormentor; never the tormented!" says Elie Wiesel an Holocaust survivor, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. He continues,"the opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference." How perfectly Jesus would agree to these words! For, this is what Jesus meant by that parable! You just cant be silent spectators, you just can't stand by the sidewalks and see things happen, not even sit in the stands and cheer! No... FIGHT the good fight of the faith!

For the sake of the Truth, for the sake of righteousness, for the sake of justice, for the sake of the exploited, for the sake of the voiceless, for the sake of God's will on earth, for the sake of the Reign of God here and now - can I today resolve to do my little part? Do i dare to denounce my Indifference?

The Lord shall be our glory!

WORD 2day: Saturday, 25th week in Ordinary time

September 28, 2019: Zechariah 2:5-9, 14-15; Luke 9: 43-45

Praising the Lord at the marvels that happen and thanking the Lord when everything goes the way we think - they are not too difficult though even that needs a heart that is grateful and eyes that are attentive. To be mindful of the struggles even at moments of rejoicing, being convinced that it is in those struggles that the real meaning lies, not in these momentary successes we could be taken up with - that is true Focus! This is what Jesus teaches us today.

If to be Christ's disciples is to 'put on Christ's mind', the real mind of Christ is revealed in his state of being absolutely focused on doing what God wants! Jesus was clear about his mission. Though the disciples were excited after the event of transfiguration and the healing of the possessed, Jesus gently but firmly brings them back not to get lost along with the noisy crowd and lose track of where they are bound to, towards that moment of Truth - when Jesus would prove that nothing else matters to Him when it is the question of doing the will of the One who sent Him. 

When the Lord promises in the first reading, "I am coming to dwell among you and I shall be your glory", it is not a promise of absence of struggles and testing situations; but an assurance of presence, the presence of a person who knows what we are going through, who has gone through what we are going through and who holds our hand all through, whatever be the situation we are going through! That is a promise beyond anything we need! 

Not the prosperity of wealth, not the fulfillment of your wishful dreams, not the success that your prove before the world, not the projects you get through establishing your name, not any of these, says the Lord, but I shall be your glory! If only we fix our eyes and focus our minds on the Lord and what the Lord wants of us, the Lord shall be our glory!

Rebuild my house - don't give up!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT 

September 27, 2019: Remembering St. Vincent de Paul

Haggai 1:15 - 2:9; Luke 9: 18-22

The Lord who commissioned us yesterday,'rebuild my house', today assures us that we are not alone on the job! "Work, for I am with you... My Spirit abides among you, fear not!" says the Lord today. 

Each of us has a mission entrusted to us - how big it is or how simple it is, are totally irrelevant questions because, big or small, it is important! In our own way, as we accomplish the life mission that we are given with, we are building the house of the Lord, rebuilding the temple of the Lord, establishing the Reign of God. We need to realise it - that is precisely the call today. 

When we sincerely realise that and accept it to our hearts, we would dare go to any extent in accomplishing it. We see that no amount of struggles or sufferings could keep Jesus away from looking into what was in store for him, with serenity and faith. He rests assured that his God would vindicate him, defend him and deliver him, as the psalmist prays in the responsorial today. 

The readings and the saint we remember today, St. Vincent de Paul, remind us that we have no reason to lose hope, no excuse to give up, even if every thing around us seem to be grim and gloomy. Let us be at our task, let us keep doing our bit to 'rebuild the house', rejuvenate humanity, and put God into a world that tends so easily towards being godless!

Rebuild my House

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

September 26, 2019: Remembering Pope St. Paul VI
Haggai 1:1-8; Luke 9: 7-9

"Rebuild my house" - the famous call that set St. Francis of Assisi in motion. We hear the same words today, not just from the Word today but also from the world today. Like Francis of Assisi who misunderstood that call and set about initially building the ruined chapel, it is possible that we limit this "my house" in the Word of God to the Church. Pope Francis has time and again warned us of it in these half a decade of his papacy. 

We remember today another saintly pontiff, Pope St. Paul VI, who was instrumental in taking forward the 'Renewal' set ablaze by his predecessor Pope St. John XXIII...in and through the Vatican Council II. Though Vatican II could be seen as a call to renewal of the Church, it is more a call to renewal of the Church in the world, in a world that was so rapidly changing and transforming itself. Pope Paul VI has played a giant's role in shaping the Church to be what it is today, of course aided by the Council, but above all imbued with the Spirit!

When the Lord laments, "my house is in ruins" God refers to the entire humanity - is it not for God to dwell in humanity that the mystery of Incarnation and the story of salvation was realised? Killings in the name of God, killings for money or power, manipulation of the poor and the powerless by the moneyed and the muscled, silencing of the just and righteous, destruction caused by greed and avarice - humanity, the house of God, is in ruins! 

"Rebuild my house," commissions the Lord. Am I serious about doing my bit?

Please Note:
After having posted the reflection, I realised that from the Vatican, on Feb 6, 2019 there was a directive to henceforth celebrate the feast of this great Holy Father on May 29th (His Ordination Day) instead of September 26 (his birthday). I regret for the wrong commemoration, but not for the reflection... May be the Spirit of the Lord wanted it so, in these days when there are so many so easily speaking against the Papacy! 

Be filled and fill the world... WITH GOD

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 25th week in Ordinary time

September 25, 2019: Ezra 9: 5-9; Luke 9: 1-6

Often have we heard the saying, 'God chooses not the worthy; but makes worthy the chosen'. It's true, not only regarding particular individuals, but regarding all, even the entire humanity. 

To be believers in God, to be baptised into God's household, to be called 'Christians', is no achievement of ours. It is because the one who created us, has called us! 'It is not you who chose me, but I chose you' declared Jesus. When this truth really dawns on us, apart from an overwhelming gratitude, we would be filled with docility and humility without measure. 

This is exactly what we see in the readings today: a candid realisation of being chosen inspite of our unworthiness; and a clear instruction from the Lord as to how to manifest our docility. 

Ezra, in and through his prayer, makes it so clear how unworthy the so-called 'people of God' were of that status! Not merely before having been chosen, but even later, even as they were being raised up in front of the eyes of their neighbours and enemies. Jesus, reminds his apostles what it really means to be an apostle - to 'be' an apostle first, before 'doing' anything! Most of the commands that Jesus gave them was to do with themselves, and not exactly what their task was or what the target was! 

If we truly realised how merciful and kind God has been in choosing us, we would fully comprehend the meaning of the teachings Jesus gives today. The teaching given in all detail, can be simply stated in one phrase: Be filled with God and fill the world with God!

Being the Household of God

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 25th week in Ordinary time

September 24, 2019: Ezra 6: 7-8,12,14-20; Luke 8: 19-21 

'House', 'Mother', 'brothers and sisters' ... today's readings present to us terms that seem to draw a highly familiar note to our faith. It is important to look at our faith and its expression in terms of living in the presence of God, living as brothers and sisters of the Lord and as brothers and sisters in the Lord, instead of duties, obligations and rituals to be faithfully carried out. 

It is all a question of priority and clarity of the essentials. At times we get lost in the minute details and let go of a gross reality - may be this is what Christ spoke of when he said of the Pharisees and Scribes: you strain the gnats, but swallow the camels! It is not for laughing at them, but for us to question ourselves whether we are being blind to larger deformities in our Christian faith, than the rubrics, rituals and rites that we fight about. 

The basic premise of our faith has to be a loving relationship with God which makes us related to each other, and makes us persons dwelling under the same roof - every place we encounter each other becomes a 'house of God' to encounter God in the other, alive and active, warm and vibrant. Understood thus, can faith ever divide us? In spite of our faith, if we consider some 'apart' from us, 'lower' or 'higher' than us or not belonging to us, what kind of followers of Christ are we? And worse, if it leads to harming the other, will it still be worthy of the name 'faith'?

By our call and our baptism we are called to live as a household of God, a household that invites, welcomes, receives and embraces everyone as brothers and sisters! What is important is not merely being in the household of God, but being the household of God.

Holiness - beyond your history or geography!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

September 23, 2019: Remembering Padre Pio
Ezra 1:1-6; Luke 8:16-18

Today we come across an event which seemed messianic for the people of Israel, in fact it is said that they began to look at King Cyrus as the promised messiah, as he gave them the long desired liberty and came forward to build their ruined temple. The message the Word has today is loud and clear - your history and geography has nothing much to decide when it comes to what kind of a person you would want to be. Neither can we write a person off because he or she does not belong to the category we expect that person to be, nor can we escape our divine call citing our background and where we belong! When the Lord calls you, the Lord calls you with all your history and geography!

Being the light of the nations was a collective call given to the people through the prophets; it was also the Christian identity according to Christ - the same Jesus who proclaimed, "I am the Light of the World" (Jn 9:5), commissions us, "you are the light of the world" (Mt 5:14) and "let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven" (Mt 5:16). Holiness, the light to this world, is not about what some people have to achieve, but what every child of God has to be.

St. Pius of Pietrelcina or fondly and popularly known as PADRE PIO, whom we remember today is a prodigy in holiness belonging to our times - a shining light today bringing so many people to glorify the Lord. It is said, he would get upset with those who made their confession to him, but without true sense of conversion in their heart. He knew that holiness, though it is called to shine as a light, lies in that secret of the heart known only to God and the person. Let us be filled with the Light, and let our light shine and reach out - to brighten the lives of people in gloom and warm the hearts of persons who have grown cold!

WWW: WEALTH, WELLBEING & THE WORLD

The Web of Life in today's World

September 22, 2019: 25th Sunday in Ordinary time
Amos 8: 4-7; 1 Timothy 2:1-8; Luke 16: 1-13

We have needs, wants and desires... they are but human. One has to be attentive about the difference between these three- how many times we confuse among these! Our wants and desires fill our minds so much that we make of them much too big than what they out to be - we are happy only when we get some desires come true, we are fulfilled only when we get some things that we want... yes we turn these ordinary wants and desires into needs. Just imagine today, the number of things that we have made necessities of life: are they really needs? or just wants and desires? Be what they may be, the fact is that, only when they are fulfilled we are happy and grateful; when they are not, we keep beseeching the Lord, sometimes requesting, sometimes begging, sometimes obstinately pressurising, sometimes fighting, sometimes complaining and what not! Prosperity, from the time of the theology of the promised land, has always been looked at as a blessing from the Lord. Even today how many preachers take up this as a way of alluring people - whether to God or to themselves - we are not here to judge! The focus here is on that so-called prosperity... in simple terms, Wealth.

Wealth makes our life easy and our living pleasurable. By the very fact that it is a blessing, it is obvious that it is 'given' and it is to be given. Wealth is a means provided for one not only to live his or her life, but also extend his hand to the needy, the unfortunate, the underprivileged, the have-nots, so that their life becomes blessed through one's instrumentality. Wealth, is a blessing, and more over a means, to be a blessing to the others! Prophet Amos minces no words in the first reading today. Swindling the other, manipulating the other and hurting the other for one's own well-being, is not Christian attitude; and it is no well-being at all.

Well-being is not merely one's individual pleasure and possession! Even if one possesses everything, if there is not harmony in his or her surroundings one cannot cherish those possessions. How many individuals who possess enormous riches but lack an internal serenity bear witness to this fact. How many nations today which seem rich and affluent but lack peace and security attest to this fact. Authentic Well-being is harmony in every sense, within oneself, around oneself and with the entire universe! It is the 'quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in everyway', that St. Paul speaks of in the second reading. Selfishness and Greed can never lead us to this well-being. Concern and Compassion, a collective thinking of 'all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth' - only such an outgoing spirit can grant the world, a real Well-being.

The world and the life we live today is an opportunity given to us, reminds Jesus in the Gospel with his intriguing parable of the prudent steward! Intriguing it is, because it seems to advocate slyness and fraud. But that is not the point. The focus lies on another perspective, and it is: however limited and burdensome, the present life we live is all that we have, here and now, to make our journey toward our 'eternal abode' pleasant and meaningful. It is said, how we live our life here will define and determine how we will exist hereafter. 

We have the gift and the Giver: of these, what matters to us is the crucial question. It cannot be that both gift and the giver are important - one cannot serve two masters, warns Jesus. Once we give the first place to the Giver, the Eternal giver, the Loving giver, the Wonderful giver, everything else falls in place. Wealth becomes a means, Well-being becomes harmonious living and the World becomes an opportunity for us to create a paradise here and now, as we live our life in peace and harmony with our brothers and sisters!

Oneness, difference and peace!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Remembering St. Matthew, the Apostle. 

UNITED NATIONS' WORLD DAY OF PEACE

Ephesians 4:1-7,11-13; Matthew 9:9-13

One body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one Baptism, one God the Father and Mother of us all: the basis of the Community that God wants to create of us all. Just contrast this with some madness that is going on today, especially if you are in India... one nation, one language, one public distribution system, all measuring up to one culture and one religion! Are these both the same? 

Certainly and fortunately, No. The former is a celebration of differences in living hospitality while the latter is an attempt to do away with it in an arrogant naivety. Now returning to the Word and reflecting on the reality of the Church, the One people of God... 

Do not ever be scandalised if I dare say, Church is not the be-all and end-all of Christian faith. The Church is only an intermediate arrangement for us to walk the path towards that Unity that Christ has invited us to - the eternal Peace that he promises - a peace not like the one that the world offers, a peace that comes from one heart and one mind, one spirit and one humanity - the peace and unity of the Reign of God! 

The Apostles form the pillars to this, as they were the one's who lived close to the principle originator of this Reign. If only we have the readiness and the docility that Matthew had, 'to rise and follow' when God calls, into the vicissitudes of life, fixing our gaze on the Lord who leads, we will all be like the apostles, torchbearers of the Reign of God. 

Peace be with you! 

Can God become a means?

WORD 2day: Friday, 24th week in Ordinary time

September 20, 2019: 1 Timothy 6: 2-12; Luke 8: 1-3

Paul writes in a time when servants (slaves) were common in an affluent household. A practice seemed to have spread that the masters of the household and the slaves together accepted Christ as their saviour and their relationship turned as brothers and sisters in Christ, rather than masters and slaves! The risk within this phenomenon was that some merely as a means to do away with their status as 'slaves', decided to be baptised! It was using God as means to win other ends. That was unacceptable to Paul! 

Reducing God to means of attaining other ends is no Christ-like attitude. Today, the world is not bereft of this risk - of making "Godliness a means of gain" (1 Tim 6:5). At times our devotions too seem to fall under this category... pleasing God, bribing God, enticing God, seeking God because you wish to have something, doing things that are good just so that God would give you the good you wish - all these are USING God - Can God be reduced to a means! Is God not the true end and the ultimate end of all!

Look instead to the first Christians who provided for God's work "out of their means" (Lk 8:3), money or wealth, power or position, pleasures or possessions - everything has to be at the service of the glory of God! This is possible only for those who are ready to "fight the good fight of faith" (1Tim 6:12). Yes, it is always a fight, against the popular sense of making God into an vending machine! God can never be made into a means!

Love for God, and for God in others!

WORD 2day: Thursday, 24th week in Ordinary time 

September 19, 2019: 1 Timothy 4: 12-16; Luke 7: 36-50

What matters most is the love one has, for God and for God in others! 

The world looks for reasons to despise - be it that one is small or young, or that one is evil or despicable, or that one belongs to a category or the other! Before God, and before persons of God, these make absolutely no difference. What matters most before God, is the love that one has for God and for those around. 

Love brings about forgiveness, because true love is a commitment. Love for God is in practical terms a commitment to remain with God and never to stray. When that commitment, or love resides in one's heart - one would 'pay attention to oneself and to one's teachings' and thus 'save oneself and save the hearers' (cf. 1 Tim 4:16). 

Do not say that you are young, the Lord warned Jeremiah! The warning is to all of us, because each of us is anointed by the hands of God at our baptism and we participate in the Royal priesthood of Christ, the high priest. At times, in the disguise of humility, a blatant escapism tries to slip into our lives - after all I am only human, after all I am just beginning, after all I am young and inexperienced, after all this is only my first time... how many excuses - which we know so well, are excuses and not real reasons!

What matters most amidst all these circumstances and predicaments, is how much do I love God, and how much do I love God who resides in others! Yes, it's not if we are small or if we are sinners - what matters most is the love that I have in my heart for God - a true love, a true and total commitment!

Conformity... Compromise... my choice?

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 24th week in Ordinary time

September 18, 2019: 1 Timothy 3:14-16; Luke 7: 31-35

Conformity and Compromise seem to be the most acceptable modes of social living in today's context. 

What if someone refuses to conform - thank one's fortunes if he or she is a success; if the person bungles, he or she is termed - 'weird', 'good-for-nothing', 'worthless', 'abnormal', 'hard headed', 'stubborn' or so on. The standard criterion for judging anything and everything has become 'success' and nothing else - so the best bet is to conform to the crowd of so-called winners!

Living by values and standing up for truth, keeping your identity alive as a child of God, these seem today to be out-of-fashion slogans. But let us be clear: the only way to belong to the "household of God" (1 Tim 3:15) is by our way of living! In spite of the pressurising crowd, the preposterous situations or the prejudiced society, one is called to remain a disciple of Christ, in word, deed and thought. It is a vocation 24/7; it is a call every moment of the day and every day of the year! 

Both options are open to us: the easier option to conform to the world - dancing to its tunes or playing to its moves, or the tougher call to 'put on the mind of Christ' (Phil 2:5). The choice is mine! What I choose, I become - to conform, to compromise or to stand up, stand erect and stand with the Lord? 

Paul said it plainly in his letter, "do not conform to this world, but be transformed in Christ, and discern the will of God" (cf. Rom 12:2).

Integrity - a truly 'Christ'ian quality

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 24th week in Ordinary time

September 17, 2019: 1 Timothy 3: 1-13; Luke 7: 11-17

The Word today summons every person of a Christian community to recognise and reassess the place and the importance of the quality of Integrity, in our life and community today. More than any quality of  efficiency or intelligence, it is personal integrity that St. Paul outlines as the quality needed utmost for anyone who wants to serve a Christian Community. 

Jesus, most obviously, is the model presented to us by the Gospel, in this all-important virtue of integrity. Not merely a sermon or a discourse, but we see Jesus moved with compassion for the helpless widow on the streets of Nain. 

The Responsorial Psalm drives home to us the crux of the message today: "He who walks in the way of integrity shall be in my service" (Ps 101:6). The psalm offers us two other terms to understand the quality of integrity: blameless heart and the way of perfection. Yes, it is not about staying away from cutting a bad figure before others, nor about being extra careful with our behaviour in public or in those fora which could create a scandal! It is about being good, choosing good, and doing good, regardless of a public opinion or acknowledgement.

The less the disparity between our talk and our walk, the more is our Integrity! Integrity, in fact, is the internal peace that leads to Universal Peace! It is what we choose to be, in order that we create around us what we want the world to be. 

The one word that can give peace

WORD 2day: Monday, 24th week in Ordinary time

September 16, 2019: 1 Timothy 2:1-8; Luke 7: 1-10

In these days when the world is constantly threatened by international stand-offs, territorial scramblings, intra-national factional misgivings, the readings today have a wonderful message - to pray for all, for the sake of peace! 

It is not a convenience-seeking measure but a conviction that is born out of a solid teaching that Jesus wanted to impart to the world - We are all sons and daughters of One, loving, caring God who is madly in love with us. Jesus lived that teaching by reaching out to the Roman Centurion and in fact pointing out in him the excellence of faith. 

The present Holy Father, Pope Francis has proved more than few times, a true disciple of Christ, calling the whole world, all persons of good will to unite in prayer, as does the first reading today. It is important for the world to know that the one word that can heal everyone, the one word that can give peace to the whole world, the one word that can set everything right is with God! 

The process has to begin with us... those who hear that Word, to believe in it and entrust ourselves to living it. 'Say but one word O Lord, the world shall be healed and we shall have peace!'

LET YOURSELF BE FOUND

The Lord is in search of you

September 15, 2019: 24th Sunday in Ordinary time

Exodus 32: 7-11, 13-14; 1 Timothy 1: 12-17; Luke 15: 1-32

Have you heard of that anecdote narrated of a girl who strayed into a thick forest and could not get back before it got really dark? She was there, terrified with the dark that surrounded her and the distant noises that frightened her. All that she could was hide herself behind a bush, covering herself with the dark, while her father began to desperately go in search of her! He was combing the forest inch by inch determined to find his child and at a certain point, there he stood as the beam of light from his torch rested on a pair of bewildered eyes: it was his daughter, still frightened but unable to see her dad because the light blinded her now, equally as the darkness until then did. The father was relieved and gave a sign of relief and joy, and cried her name out! As soon as the child heard her father's voice, she shouted in joy, "Daddy! I found you!"

What a lovely picture we are presented with in the Word today - the Lord who comes in search of us! The Lord is in search of us, but are we ready to let ourselves be found by the Lord? That is the crucial question raised to us today.

BEWARE - The First Reading warns us:

The World and our life today is filled with things, events, ideals and values that can distract us and get us lost! It is first the darkness that surrounds us. Enmity, violence, intolerance, competition, jealousy, avarice and apathy is spread more and more today, knowingly most of the times and unwittingly sometimes. People give into the pressure of the crowd and end up harping on the same negativity that they wish to fight. We need to stay clear of the negativity of the inhuman forces, the agents of hatred wish to perpetrate. Not just darkness, but sometimes what we consider light can blind us to God - self-righteousness, pride, sense of accomplishment and superiority, the tendency to look at our familiarity with God as a reason to condemn people or look down on them - these can keep us from truly encountering God... the Lord will be right there beside us and we will not realise it in our folly. 

REALISE IT - The Second Reading instructs us:

Become aware of it, when you are lost! St. Paul realised how lost he was! It is a grace to "come to our senses", just as the lost son came to his senses in the parable (Luke 15:17), that Jesus narrates today. When we do not realise that we are lost, like that little girl we spoke of, we would be imagining that we are in search of God - while actually the Lord is in search of us, looking for us amidst the darkness that we have created all around us, reaching out to us through the maze that we have thrown ourselves into. God is looking for us and the moment we realise we are lost, we would call out to God and the Lord shall cry our name out. Remember that incident when God called out "Adam", the first couple were hiding behind a bush! Remember that moment when God called out "Cain", he tried hiding himself behind his connivance. The sacrament of Reconciliation is all about our realisation, our coming to senses... it is admitting with all our sincere heart, that we have gone astray, we have lost our way, we are willing to be found and taken back to God. 

THE LORD WHO IS IN SEARCH OF US - The Gospel presents to us:

Oh, what a wonderful experience, to see the Lord who comes in search of us. We better not be ashamed or we will shy away and we better not be afraid or we will hide ourselves from that merciful gaze. A God who is on a constant look out; the Lord who is in search of us; the Lord who rejoices on our return - that is the image that Jesus wants us to have! Yes, the Lord is in search of us. The secret is that the Lord cannot find us, unless we let ourselves be found! 

And therefore, we pray:

Oh Lord, my God,

Grant that I may stick to the path you have shown;

Enlighten my mind to single out the enticements and entrapments 

that get me lost to your life-giving presence;

Infuse my heart with the humility to see the truth and accept it

specially when I find myself far from it;

Take my hand and lead me gently back to you,

however undeserving you find me to be; 

for I know you love me without bounds, 

you accept me without conditions, and 

you watch over me without denying me my freedom!

Thank you Lord, 

never let me wander too far away from you; and

help me always to let myself be found by you...
like the coin on the house floor, 
the sheep in the wilderness, 
and the son who came to himself...
Help me Lord, 
that when you come in search of me, 
TO LET MYSELF BE FOUND.

Amen.

The Cross Talk - look up, be lifted up & lift up

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

September 14, 2019: The Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross

Numbers 21: 4-9; (Optional 2nd reading: Phillipians 2: 6-11); John 3:13-17

Celebrating the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, our focus is on that symbol of God's love for humanity, the Tree of our Salvation. Exalting the Cross today, we are called to hearken to the voice of the Cross. If the Cross would speak to us, we would hear these three words: Look up, be lifted up and lift up!

1. Look Up: 
Look up to the Cross and be saved. It is in and through the Cross that we have been saved. Cross is not a symbol of suffering nor a sign of curse. By choosing the Cross as his weapon and throne, Christ who has conquered the world has won God's salvation for us. In all our difficulties we are called to look up and draw hope from this Cross. It is here that we are reminded to check our fear of looking at the cross as if it augurs suffering for us. It is the sign of love, the face of God so bruised after a battle to win us eternity. 

2. Be Lifted Up: 
When we look up, we are given the light. Those who look up to Him shall never be ashamed, promises the Word. We are invited to be lifted up by the Lord... just like the Saviour who was lifted up! The love of the Lord will lift us up, in spite of the burdens we bear and the clutches that tend to pull us down. Let us not be weighed down by the loads we carry. Let us surrender, so that we can be lifted up; let us humble ourselves before the Lord that we could be lifted up by the Lord.

3. Lift Up: 
Once lifted up, the Son of Man would draw everyone to Himself. And once we are lifted up by the Son, we should in turn lift everyone else up to the Lord. Our life has been punctuated with so many blessings and marvels from the Lord and today, we look up, we gaze at the One who is lifted up, and be lifted up ourselves. Our life in Lord should lift up the rest of the humankind with us to the Lord that everyone may look up to Him and be saved. Can I really say, that my words, my thoughts, my attitudes and my way of life, is capable of lifting people up to the Lord?

The Real Me

WORD 2day: Friday,  23rd week in Ordinary time 

September 13, 2019: 1 Timothy 1: 1-2, 12-14; Luke 6: 39-42

Humility is an inevitable part of holiness. Holiness never leads one to pride and anything that makes one proud is certainly short of true holiness. 

Humility consists of the capacity to take guidance from others. While realising the areas in which one has to grow and taking steps towards that growth is an important part of maturing in one's life,  mutual corrections are very Christian ways of growing up too. If one thinks he or she knows every thing and is in perfect control of everything, the person would feel the others are dispensable in life. Pride leads to the despise of the other.

Humility is not an artificial debasement of oneself in any way. It is knowing my real self, accepting it and being at home with it; at home with knowing my imperfections and continuously working on it. While it is absolutely opposed to pride, it is certainly not a belittling of oneself. At times we see pseudo-spiritualities that, in the name of praising God, make of oneself worthless, despicable beings! How can that be, when it is God who has willed us into existence! If we adore God, should we not look at ourselves with a divine dignity?

St. Paul was mindful of his real self all the time. He never thought of hiding his dark past and was never bloating over the glorious state of his present relationship with Christ. In fact his relationship with Christ made him more aware of his real self. In Christ I get to know my real me,  not just my past but also my call;  not merely the splinters and planks in my eyes but even the blessings and splendours given unto me. That is the real me, the real me that is willed into existence by the Lord!

Put on love; put on Christ!

WORD 2day: Thursday,  23rd week in Ordinary Time 

September 12, 2019: Colossians 3: 12-17;  Luke 6: 27-38

As we hear the first reading today, if we do not clarify that the words are from the letter of St. Paul to the Colossians,  one can easily misjudge those as some kind of paraphrasing of a part from the Gospel, as if they are words of Christ himself. Paul had so intensely taken in the spirit of Christ that his insistence of putting on Christ comes from his person much stronger than from his words. 

Love is presented as the crux of Christ's message. When Paul says elsewhere too, by 'put on Christ', he practically means to put on love. Love is the sweetest of all teachings of Christ and it is the most difficult of all too, for it comes inbuilt with forgiveness; forbearance, kindness,  gentleness, integrity and sacrifice. Isn't that difficult enough?  

Love, according to the mind of Christ, is not to be understood as a childish sentiment of attachment and dependence, as the world today portrays. Looking at each other all the time, talking to each other incessantly, pleasing each other at all costs, missing even in a little absence - these seem to be defined as 'love' today! Much to its contrast, love is a Christlike self-giving. It is not about being with or without someone, but being for someone, willing to sacrifice for the other. It is a commitment to give life, give one's life, without counting the cost! Does it sound almost impossible?

Being a Christian is hard, the famous philosopher Kierkegaard would often reiterate - whether he understood it right or not, it is a fact. Yes, the fact is,  if we believe being a Christian is to put on Christ, it can never happen except by putting on love!

The Christ Difference

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 23rd week in Ordinary time

September 11, 2019: Colossians 3: 1-11; Luke 6: 20-26

There is no more Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, slaves or free persons, there is only Christ, says Paul. Christ alone shall make the difference. There is no more religious or lay, catholics or others, believers or non believers, practitioners or indifferent, regular-to-the-Church or non-church-goers... nothing is going to be different because of these externals. There is only Christ and Christ alone shall make all the difference. 

God has chosen each of us, and if God has chosen us in Christ, we have a duty to respond. It is our response in Christ that is going to make the difference. If I choose Christ, if I value Christ, if I value the call that I have received to be a child of God, I have to  show it in my life; I have to live it on a daily basis; I have to prove it at times of real crisis in my practical living. When I choose Christ the difference would certainly be seen. 

Confusing criteria,  disarrayed priorities,  Godless morality,  inhuman ethics and heartless secularisation of the world... this is the context in which we are called to live and profess our faith in Christ. The Word today establishes, that in this context,  we cannot put up with compromises and half baked convictions. We need to make a clear and impeccable difference in and through our lives.

The world stands in need of Spirit-filled Evangelisers, calls out Pope Francis. Let our choice for Christ make a concrete difference in our lives. Let the world around me see the difference, the Christ difference, in me!

Rooted, built, held and filled

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 23rd week in Ordinary time

September 10, 2019: Colossians 2: 6-15; Luke 6: 12-19

You must be rooted, built on him, held firm by faith and be filled with thanksgiving - what powerful words that Paul uses to explain what is it that we are called to, especially in this epoch where everything Godly is being despised, hated and frowned upon! Yes, we are called. Just as Jesus called those 12, he has called each one of us, by name, from a crowd of people, singling us out and setting us apart. 

What are we called to? 

To be rooted in Christ, that we be nourished and kept alive, by no one knows what, the very source of life and meaning - the Divine Word, become flesh.

To be built into Christ, that every thing that we say, do or even think may make present that almighty transforming power of God, the Spirit that rested on Christ and has been passed on to us.

To be held firm in Christ, against all concussions that may happen due to the wiles of the world - that is why Paul warns us: make sure that no one traps you, with the empty, rational principles of this world.

To be filled with thanks to Christ, for having won us over for God! In spite of the daily troubles and unending cares of the day, we are called to look at the blessings God has willed for us and the treasures God has stored for us.

We are called... to be rooted and built on Christ, held firm and filled with Christ, that we can make sense of our own lives, make meaning for others and find that ultimate meaning - Christ himself!

Good - All the time!

WORD 2day: Monday, 23rd week in Ordinary Time

September 9, 2019: Colossians 1:24 - 2:3; Luke 6: 6-11

Jesus' life and teaching hold out to us a challenge that consists of a simple,  uncomplicated criterion but highly demanding. The criterion is: Be good. 

You may have to suffer,  take on yourself burdens and brickbats,  be misunderstood and be rash judged... what are you going to do? Lose your nerves and let loose your temperament? Throw your ideals into the air and fall in line with the so-called wicked world? No. The answer is simple: Be good. 

At any given point if you are left with a question... what to do,  or what next,  or what has got to be my reaction, what should be my response right then... it is simple: Be good.

Never lose your goodness for anything or anyone's sake. What would be your merit, if you were to be good when it is convenient for you? What have you truly achieved if you are good to those who have been good to you? Irrespective of these antecedents, the call you have is to be good!

Certainly we have heard, even sung the famous number of Don Moen -God is good, all the time! It is not enough to believe that God is good all the time; it is important that I be good all the time and never grow weary of doing good (cf 2 Thes 3: 13).

Let the call resound throughout this day: Be good! All the time!