A SAINT - Being or Becoming?

Solemnity of All Saints: November 1, 2019

Revelation 7: 2-4,9-14; 1 John 3:1-3; Matthew 5: 1-12a

O when the saints, 

go marching in, 

I want to be in that number! - 

... a simple but profound thought in those familiar lines of the song. To be saints: that is God's call to each of us. At times we think, becoming saints is reserved for a select few. May be the long and tedious process of canonisation of a person in the Church, makes us feel that way. But the fact is, each of us is, all of us are called to be saints. St. Paul states that in clear and unequivocal terms in his letter to the Ephesians (1:4), Thessalonians (1 thes 4:3), and other various other places. 

The question sometimes is, whether it is being a saint or becoming a saint! We are created in the image and likeness of God (says Genesis 1:27) and this image and likeness of God is a "given", a nature that we have within us, as a gift. We are reminded of this image and likeness at our baptism and invited to grow in it, towards the fullness of it. All the we need to do is to remain with that image in our lives. The beautiful symbol used in the rite of baptism, where the priest hands over a white cloth to the child and entrusts the task of bringing it back, as it were, unsullied, intact in its purity to the end of days.That, dear friends, is the call - "to be saints"...and not merely to 'become' saints.

The WORD today, develops the same thought in three wonderful dimensions:

Being Saints means... being aware of who we are! O Christian, realise your dignity! We are children of God, reminds St. John in his letter, in the second reading. God has chosen us from eternity, before the foundation of the world! This is an initiative from God our Father and Mother, who creates us and wishes that we share in God's love and ever remain in God's image and likeness, as children of the loving God.

Being Saints means... being washed by the blood of the Lamb! The Image of God within us, sometimes is disturbed, smudged, smeared or sullied by the choices we make misusing the human freedom that is granted to us. The evil one will be more than happy when we lose heart at such moments and give up. The Son of God, our Saviour Jesus Christ shed his blood that we may have victory over sin and death. In that blood we are saved, and in that blood we are made clean, each and every time we turn to the Lord in genuine repentance and willingness to regain our original image. Saints are those who have their garments washed in the blood of the Lamb, says the second reading.

Being Saints means... being 'blessed' in the eyes of the Lord! And the only way to be 'blessed', is to live by the promptings of the Spirit who dwells within us. Paying attention to the indwelling Spirit, we will know what it means to be blessed - to be poor in spirit, to be meek, to hunger and thirst for righteousness, to be merciful, to be peace-loving - these are ways of being persons of the spirit. In the ordinariness of our daily life, we have to be persons of the Spirit, looking at the reality different from the way the self seeking world teaches us to. 

God's initiative in the call that I have received; Christ's redeeming act of Salvation; the Spirit's indwelling presence that guides me on a daily basis - these are compelling reasons why I need to think seriously about, not merely becoming a saint one day, but being a saint everyday, in my own way!

Nothing can separate!

WORD 2day: Thursday, 30th week in Ordinary time

October 31, 2019: Romans 8: 31-39; Luke 13:31-35

Nothing can separate me from the love of Christ; no one can separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus - the most energising words of St. Paul. Can things be clearer than this... just read those lines in the first reading once more - categorical, clear, convinced, charismatic and courageous! 

St. Paul, the apostles and the first Christians learnt this from Jesus himself. If God is for me, who can be against me - that was the confidence of faith that defined the courageous choices that Jesus made. Neither Herod, nor Pilate, nor the high priests or the chief priests, nor the impending death, nor the rejection of the crowd - nothing mattered to him, because he knew that the One who sent him, loved him! 

Look at the situation today: the anti-religious voices becoming louder, the anti-Christian forces becoming stronger, the anti-Church movements becoming fiercer by the day! Should that frighten us? What about so many millions who have left the Christian faith for either non-religious adherence or other diabolic choices, in the few decades past? Should that destabilise us? No. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ.

However, there is one... there is one who can separate me from God's love - that is a warning for me today! There is only one who can separate me from God's love - Myself. There is only one thing that can separate me from the love of Christ - My ego! If I choose not to belong to God, if I choose to reject God's love, I separate myself from God. 

How much God wishes to gather me into God's arms, but I rebel!!!

To be saved, or not to be?

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 30th week in Ordinary time 

October 30, 2019: Romans 8: 26-30; Luke 13: 22-30

To be saved, is a grand spiritual preoccupation. All religions and faiths, is in answer to this preoccupation. They arise as mediations of this salvation which belongs to that One Supreme Being, that the mortal human beings may make sense of their lives. 

The Word today addresses this question from a Christian point of view, with two simple propositions: The first, "God's love guarantees that you will be saved"; and the second, "Take care that you do not create for yourself a situation of impossibility of being saved".

We are not here by chance; we are here because God loved us into existence! If God loved us, if God loves us, will God wish that we be doomed to perdition? We were chosen to be given this great gift of life and at its completion, will we not be given what awaits us too? Hence, if I love God, if I really love God, I need not ask that question: will I be saved?

What happens when I deliberately choose not to love God - in words I may say, I love God, but in my choices, my way of life, in my day to day events, I may choose something totally opposed to God. By that, I am moving away from God, I wish to enter whichever door I wish, whichever door is attractive - not that narrow door! Then who is to be blamed, if I miss the bus?

In simple words: the readings tell us- being saved should not be our preoccupation! Our preoccupation should be to live our life according to the promptings of the Spirit who dwells within us, living everyday in the presence of the Lord, going about our duty with utmost interior joy and total dedication to Truth. The rest happens by itself and we will find ourselves in front of that narrow door...and we will enter and our hearts will rejoice in the salvation of the Lord!

The Birth-pang Spirituality

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 30th week in Ordinary time

October 29, 2019: Romans 8: 18-25; Lk 13: 18-21

Going through the Word today, a few thoughts came flooding my mind: the mind blowing facts people say about the level of labour pain which many mothers akin to a near-death experience, the recent painful experience of one of my friends allegedly deciding to end his life after whatever he went through within himself, the case of a two year old in a part in Tamilnadu who has fallen into a tube well and after more than 72 hours the anxiety of rescuing is still on... everything seemed related to the imagery that the Lord is sharing today!

Linking all these experiences and the Word today, I saw my mind converge on one reflection: the Birth Pang Spirituality. 

What does this spirituality consist of:

1.Expecting a transformation in Life, a spectacular and paradigmatic transformation as the core of this Spirituality.

2.Knowing well that the expected transformation is not going to come so easily or automatically; it has to be, to a great extent, my effort of course with the external (Divine) assistance.

3.Accepting wholeheartedly the enormous pain that would be involved and knowing well any effort to cut down the pain will not result in the total transformation that is desired.

4.Awaiting eagerly the signs of the beginning of the transformation, in spite of realising the pain that is involved, at times even a thought that nothing seems to be working. 

5.Going through with heroism the entire painful phase of processing that transformation, always keeping in mind that there is someOne greater than me, who is overseeing it all.

6. Having done all that I could, and all that I am called to, waiting with hope for the Lord to act in God's own time.
7. Rejoicing finally in the outcome and being a cause for others to rejoice too!

Built into households of God

THE WORD AND THE SAINTS

October 28, 2019 : Remembering the Apostles Simon and Jude

Ephesians 2: 19-22; Luke 6: 12-16

The memory of the Apostles takes us back to the original experience that gave rise to a new movement, a new family around the person of Jesus of Nazareth and the wondrous experiences with him. The group of people who were taken up with Christ, were the buzz of every town and village... they were making waves, everyone was talking about them. 

Today too, being Christians does not only mean to have a set of beliefs and practices, certain things we hold on to and things we leave out. Rather it means, that we belong to that movement, that family, that household... we are all members, fellow citizens, brothers and sisters with the apostles and saints, persons built into the house of God. 

When Jesus called the Apostles by name, he wished that those few would pass on that experience of belonging to the household of God, to others right to the end of the world! That is why he gave them an intimate experience of that reality and sent them all prepared. And we have been the beneficiaries... we have been built together as the dwelling place of God, the Temple of the Spirit. 

What does identify us as Christians, as disciples, as followers of the Lord? United in our hearts, with genuine love that goes out to each other, as brothers and sisters we are invited to become Temples, where persons can come in to feel the presence of God, the household of God that welcomes every brother and sister around! 

EMPTINESS - WHERE GOD ENCOUNTERS

Lack, Lifestyle or Liminality!

30th Sunday in the Ordinary time - October 27, 2019

Ecclesiasticus 35:12-14,16-19; 2 Timothy 4:6-8,16-18; Luke 18: 9-14

You cannot fill a cup that is full ...

God is not partial, God knows no favourites - says the first reading but all the while speaking of a God who takes his stand by the poor, the widow and the orphans, the oppressed and the lowly. No, there is no paradox here, neither is there a partiality. It is natural that water flows where it is low. Isn't it true, that we can fill only that cup which is empty! 

The Word today reminds us of the Spirituality of Emptiness! Emptiness, is not merely an absence of things. Emptiness is not merely a state of something not being there. If it were so, it is so easy to reach that state - all that you need to do is remove whatever is there! Instead, emptiness is a positive reality. Emptiness is where God encounters us!

Emptiness can be due to a lack! The first reading speaks to us of the oppressed, the widows and the orphans... persons who lacked, who lacked their rights, who lacked some one to lean on, who lacked people who cared. The economically poor, those who do not have anyone to call family, those who feel rejected, unaccepted, exploited or abused are  people who lack something that is so necessary in life that without it, life becomes hard, meaningless and empty. At those trying moments, if only they raise their hearts a bit, they will realise God is so very close to them. God encounters us in that state... that is a condition! 

A condition in which one knows that one lacks, when one knows that he or she is not complete, is when the person encounters God! In our inabilities, in our lacks when we turn to God, and accept God as the one who can fill me... God fills me! At times when we realise the lack - be it what it may, economic or healthwise or with regard to meaning of our life itself - the danger is we get lost in that emptiness, as if that is the end of everything. We forget that emptiness can help. It can help us feel the Lord close by, standing right beside us. 

Emptiness can be a lifestyle! One can have things, one can possess goods, but still can decide to live in a state of emptiness, not giving into attachments and bonds that could cripple one's existence. People who have given up their inherited wealth, people who have turned their backs on what the world would look at as incredible prospects in life... we know quite a lot of them, don't we? God encounters them there, in that emptiness. That is not a condition, but a choice! 

A Choice about which St. Paul speaks of in the second reading, how he had emptied himself for the sake of the Word, for the sake of the Lord, for the sake of the Lord's people. It is a lifestyle ... a mindset... the mindset of Christ: for he did not consider equality with God as something to be held on to,... but emptied himself (Phil 2: 5-7) - the lifestyle of Christ, the Son of God! As long as we seek our sufficiency and our meaning in things and worldly recognitions, we are with our hands full. The moment we choose to let go of them, willingly and purposefully, we would see real serenity emerge. Emptying oneself is a choice to allow God to fill you!

Emptiness is liminality! Liminality is a word that is used to mean, 'to stand at the threshold', a state of passage, a state where one has undergone a change from what one was, but has not yet become what one is yet to become! One is not complete yet, but he or she is well on the way to being complete. One is not anymore what he or she was - the old self. But one has not yet fully put on the new self either - but he or she is gradually growing into it - gradually, slowly but steadily, serenely with determination.

We could be reminded here, of the words that St. John writes, 'We are children of God, what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, because we will see him as he is' (1 Jn 3:2). When we empty ourselves, we are moving towards being complete. When we are too conscious of being so complete and perfect, we actually are closing ourselves in and we become dead. The more we empty ourselves, the more God fills us! It is not merely a false self humiliation, but a spiritual surrender of self emptying before the Lord, in which the Lord fills us, to the brim. And thus we will today go home justified, sanctified, filled with the Lord!

Let us pray:
O God, who alone is complete...
behold my emptiness, and make me ever conscious of it,
that I may be filled, filled by you,
to become complete, just as you are...
Bid me look at you... 
so willing to empty yourself, 
help me too, to be so ready 
to empty myself for the others, 
that I may be once again be filled by you, you who alone is complete! Amen.

Be in Christ and bear fruit

WORD 2day: Saturday, 29th week in Ordinary time

October 26, 2019: Romans 8: 1-11; Luke 13: 1-9

There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ, declares St. Paul. But the real question is, what does it mean to 'be in Christ'? To be in Christ, does not simply mean, I am born a Christian, or I am baptised into the Church...it means to be in the Spirit, to live according to the Spirit, to walk according to the Spirit, to set our minds on the Spirit, and above all, to bear fruit in the Spirit. Unless i am possessed by the Spirit of Christ, I would not belong to Christ.

How do I know, if I am possessed by the Spirit of Christ? By the fruits do you get to know the tree!(Mt 7:20) What thoughts fill my mind readily? What words cross the threshold of my lips spontaneously? What actions am I prone to naturally? What decisions come by easily for me to take? These are the signs that can tell me, whether I am possessed by Christ - if these correspond to the Spirit of Christ.

How do I know about the others, whether someone is truly possessed by the Spirit of Christ? It is not upto me to judge someone good or bad; to condone or condemn someone, is not a duty assigned to me. At times we see some end up sadly. Every such sad or sorry end of someone is a repeated warning to me, to check the ground that I am on; to check the growth within me and around me that I am nurturing, to check the fruits that I bring forth.

Everyday is a new opportunity that the Lord gives, to turn around, renew ourselves, repristine our choices and bear fruit! The readings seem to scream at us: "Bear fruits worthy of repentance. ... for the axe lies at the root of the tree!" (Lk 3:8,9)

Alert! Know what is coming up the horizon!

WORD 2day: Friday, 29th week in Ordinary time

October 25, 2019: Romans 7: 18-25; Luke 12: 54-59

For I do not do the good I want; but I do the evil I do not want - we all know well when we falter, as the psalmist words it, "for I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me" (Ps 51:3). Sin, as St. Paul speaks of today, is something that I do, or I give into, consciously. None of us can feign ignorance and Jesus explains precisely that today in the Gospel: knowing exactly what is coming up the horizon! 

If only I am more sensitively aware of what happens within me at a moment, to what I am committing myself to, of what I am giving into, of what I am permitting into my mind and out of it, of my thinking and my life... I can preserve myself from so much of pain and patch up. The statutes are present within me in my heart, the Saviour abides ever at my side...all that I need to, is turn to the Lord and to the Word of the Lord to be assisted, strengthened and saved! 

We need to remember and beware, that our innermost thoughts become words, which get translated into actions, creating habits and getting formed into attitudes. These attitudes determine our choices and repeated choices manifest our priorities! This is precisely why we are called to be attentive to what is happening within us - our thoughts, our tendencies and our most secret beings!

Let us be ever alert to what is coming up on the horizon, in order not to fall prey to the evil; the fall may be slow and gradual, but once we give in, "we will not be released until we pay the last penny!" warns the Word today. The salvation is in Christ Jesus, let us know, choose and drink in Christ; put on Christ and grow in his image!

With hearts on fire!

WORD 2day: Thursday, 29th week in Ordinary time

October 24, 2019: Romans 6: 19-23; Luke 12: 49-53

With hearts set on fire... that is the way to live an authentic Christian life, invites the Gospel today. 

Fire can symbolically mean light that dispels darkness; one can choose either to live in the light or slumber in the shade - "the work of each will become visible... because it will be revealed with fire"(1Cor 3:13) says the Word. 

Fire can symbolise the purifying fire which tests the genuineness of our faith, faith which is more precious than gold (1 Pet 1:7). Yes, it destroys, but only the dirt; fire makes it disappear, fire makes it disintegrate, fire makes it unidentifiable anymore... thus making the gold shine more and more!

Fire in consuming, can symbolise the saving love of God in Christ, that consumed totally our sins, consumed the very life of the Son of God, even while we were still sinners (Rom 5: 8), consuming his divinity, his humanity, his entire being!

Fire - there is no dilly dallying about it. When it blazes, you either exist or you dont! Yes, the key message today is all about choices! The choices we make, define the persons that we are. Every moment of our life, in our words, in our acts, in our thoughts, in our priorities, in every little decision that we make, we are making choices, we are continually defining who we are, to ourselves first of all and then to the world. Its a choice fundamentally - for death or for life! 

When we choose things that are ungodly we choose death. When we choose righteousness, the way of the Light, the fire of the Lord, we choose eternal life in Jesus Christ. The question is, are our hearts on fire?

The grace of 'slavery'!

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 29th week in Ordinary time

October 23, 2019: Romans 6: 12-18; Luke 12: 39-48

Being 'slaves' of righteousness - it is a wonderful figure of speech that St. Paul uses to communicate the level of virtuousness that we need to arrive at. Because, more is given to us (for God did not spare anything because of the love God has for us), and so more is expected of us! 

The Lord in his turn speaks of the same message with the help of a parable. Jesus speaks of various categories of persons today: those who do not know what is right and so fail to do it, they are helpless  and will receive the light; those who do not know what is right but still do it, they are fortunate and so are blessed; those who know what is right but still do not do it, they are slaves to unrighteousness and they bring upon themselves needless grief; those who know what is right and are particular about doing it - they are the righteous, they are the people of the light, they are the sons and daughters of God. 

Let us add one more to that list... those who know what is right and cannot but do it; they face troubles and struggles, they suffer heat and cold, they endure pain and persecution, but can never give up on doing what is right: these are whom Paul calls today, 'slaves' to righteousness. Isn't that a grace?

That is why, I wish to extend that figure of speech of Paul and speak of how important it is to pray for the grace of 'slavery', slavery to righteousness. These are the saints, who cannot but be righteous, cannot but be good, cannot but be loving, cannot but be forgiving! This is the category that are really the 'Blessed'! 

Which category do I belong to?'

Awake and alert - always with God!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

October 22, 2019: Romans 5: 12,15,17-21; Luke 12: 36-38 

Be Awake, says the Lord today. St. Paul reminds us, that death has come from sin; Sin comes through disobedience and disobedience does not, for sure, come all of a sudden. It comes, either from a conscious rebellion or a habitual disregard. 

Conscious rebellion is not as dangerous as a habitual disregard, however. Conscious rebellion at least is a stand taken. One can understand and someone can help too! But a habitual disregard, is dangerous; it is a slow poison. 

A feeling of monotony, getting used to things done on a regular basis, fixed but indifferent schedules of prayer and customary acts of piety, usual persons and daily routines - these are the sources of habitual disregard. It is a kind of a slumber, a slumber with which we carry out our tasks and duties, be they spiritual or otherwise - all done and dusted, but not really bearing their fruit. 

The Lord invites us today, to be alert, to be awake, to be diligent even in the most ordinary of the daily tasks that we carry out, to make a conscious choice in everything that we involve in, so that when the Master comes we are prepared to receive, whatever time it is. 

We remember and thank God for Pope St. John Paul II today, a man who was convinced of what he believed, and what he lived, alert and awake even at the fag end of his life, so burdensome and heavy, so challenging and demanding, willing to give his all, as the Servant of the servants of God. Let us learn from him: to keep awake and alert, because the devil our adversary is prowling round like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour (1 Pet 5:8).

Rich in God's sight

WORD 2day: Monday, 29th week in Ordinary time

October 21, 2019: Romans 4:20-25; Luke 12:13-21

Storing up treasures for oneself versus being rich in God's sight - is the contrast that the Gospel presents us today! Being rich by the standards of the world, or at least having more than just enough, seems to be the driving force for a big majority in the present day context. At times one is dumbstruck looking at how one has wealth as much much as a whole village and another at the very same time, has not enough to be assured of the next meal. This is no strange fact today's world - that is how is the world is, they say without shame or shock!

Storing up wealth, however, is not easy - work, fatigue, stress, competition, strain, pain, sacrifice, fight, strife... it involves all these and more. Being rich in God's sight - consists of just one thing, one single thing - to remain still in God's presence! Through darkness and cloud, through storm and turbulence, 'be still and know that I am God' (Ps 46:10). 

Abraham, through all moments of probable doubt and hopelessness, "grew strong in faith as he gave glory to God" says the letter to the Romans. That was reckoned to him as righteousness! Through our daily work and responsibilities, concerns and discouragements, struggles and temptations, let us learn to 'be still' and 'grow strong in faith'! 

As we go about out daily duties and demanding responsibilities, let us remember that we are upto these tasks because God has willed it so. If that is truly the case, God shall give us the grace to see ourselves through them too. Let us be ever convinced that God is capable of doing what God has promised - that will make us rich and blessed in the sight of God. 

WITH HANDS RAISED UNTO THE LORD

In our battle of daily living...

29th Sunday in Ordinary time: October 20, 2019

Exodus 17:8-13; 2 Timothy 3:14 - 4:2; Luke 18:1-8

Work as if everything depended on you; Pray as if nothing depended on you, goes the popular saying. Today we have a wonderful image to place before us, as we go about our daily life. Moses on the hill overlooking the battle, with hands raised unto the Lord! The battle belongs to the Lord... all that we need to do is keep still, the Lord will fight for us says the book of Exodus (14:14). 

We are called to live our life with our hands raised unto the Lord! 

Living with hands raised unto the Lord is a gesture that means to abandon everything into the hands of God. It is a total personal abandonment to the Lord, that the Lord may guide us and that the Lord may fight the battle for us! Many grow weary of struggles and temptations in life... when Moses' hands were raised, Israel won! 

The book of Proverbs tells us, 'the horse is made ready for the battle; but the victory belongs to the Lord!'(Prov. 21:31). When we learn to abandon ourselves in the hands of God, we will see the wonders that can happen. The more we stick on to ourselves as the source of energy and victory, the more we could get stressed, depressed and discouraged. These instances are today, becoming more and more as human mind in its pride thinks of any dependence as below dignity, even the dependence on God! Is not interdependence among fellow beings and total dependence on God, that would make us truly human!

Living with hands raised unto the Lord is to reach out to the Lord with all our heart. It is like the antenna that stretches to connect, to receive and to communicate. That is in short, 'prayer' - to connect, to receive and to communicate. How many times we rattle off prayers, with the formula we have memorised from time immemorial! Even the so-called spontaneous prayers, how many times it is like the warning from the Lord: heaping up empty words and phrases! Do we really pray, or say prayers?

Let us pay attention to the term that seems common in today's readings: pray without ceasing tells Jesus presenting to us the image of the widow; proclaim in season and out of season instructs St. Paul; and the first reading presents to us Moses unwilling to grow weary of having his hands raised unto to the Lord. A two fold call here: first, not to grow weary... like the widow to go on in trust, with our hands raised unto the Lord; second, when a brother or sister seems to grow weary, to rush to their side like Aaron and Hur and to be with them and to raise our hands in unison unto the Lord. A praying person builds a praying community of brothers and sisters, genuinely concerned about each other!

Living with the hands raised unto the Lord is to be filled with hope in the Lord. Like it happened to the widow, it may look like you might never get justice. Like it happened to the Israelites, it might look like you are losing the battle. Things may continuously go wrong, people might endlessly misunderstand you, nothing might seem to be going the way you wished it would..."But as for you, continue, in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it"...from Jesus himself who hoped in the One who sent him, from our Blessed mother who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken by the Lord! "Let us not allow ourselves to be robbed of our hope" reminds Pope Francis.

In the battle of our daily living, every day of our life, every moment of our day, let us resolve to live with our hands raised unto to the Lord in a holy abandonment, in a loving union and in an unfailing hope... so that when Our Lord and Saviour comes he will still find faith here amidst us! 

Hope: the mark of a Christ-ian

WORD 2day: Saturday, 28th week in Ordinary time

October 19, 2019: Romans 4: 13,16-18; Lk 12: 8-12 

Jesus speaks of sin against the Holy Spirit in the Gospel today (Lk 12:10; also look up Mt 12:31-32). This is one of the most frequently asked questions among the youth at discussions. Moral theologians and Scripture Scholars have tried to make sense of it and one familiar interpretation given is this: the sin against the Holy Spirit, considered 'unforgivable' by Jesus, is the sin of presumption! 

Theologically, presumption is a vice against the virtue of hope; in simple words it is giving up hope! When one gives up hope, he or she crosses the human limits to decide that God is incapable of acting on his or her behalf and at that point the person loses any kind of needed disposition to receive anything from God, including forgiveness! 

It is not that God does not want to forgive, but the person has removed himself or herself from the possibility of receiving it. As Pope Francis says, and is fond of repeating, God is never tired of forgiveness. There is no limit to God's mercy, for the truth is not that God has mercy, but that God is mercy! 

The first reading of today says of Abraham, that "hoping against hope, he believed" (Rom 4:18)...and thus he received all that blessings that he did! This is the unfailing mark of being a true Christ-ian... hope! Our faith should be founded on Hope, and that is the fundamental attitude of a person of the Spirit. 

Losing hope, robbing people of their hope or even allowing oneself to be robbed of hope, is a sin against the Holy Spirit!

Requiring a fearless choice

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

October 18, 2019: Remembering the Evangelist St. Luke

2 Timothy 4: 10-17; Luke 10: 1-9

Luke alone is with me...writes Paul. We are given to understand that Luke, although he was not part of the apostles' band, he was very closely associated with them and eventually grows up into an evangelist!

One salient feature that is often pointed out about St. Luke's gospel is the contrasting images that he uses in his narration...the beatitudes and the woes, Martha and Mary, the prodigal and his brother, the rich man and Lazarus, the good thief and the bad thief... these are all typical to Luke, in comparison to the other Gospel narratives! 

The message is obvious: he challenges his readers towards absolute choices - for or against the Lord; with or away from the Lord! A value that he seems to have lived in his own life - an instance is that he chose to remain with Paul in his difficult ministry! The radical choices that a disciple had to make according to Jesus in the Gospel today, were very clear for Luke and he made those choices his own! 

Christian Discipleship requires these absolute choices that we have to make for the Lord and for the Lord's people! Being an apostle or an evangelist, is only a step that follows! Without the former, the latter is phony. The memory of St.Luke invites us to make an absolute choice for God: on a daily basis, at work and at home, on the streets or in a public transport; in company or alone - we are what we choose to be! 

Let us fearlessly choose to belong to the Lord, always!

Faith-Work: Not controversy but complementarity

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

 October 17, 2019: Remembering St. Ignatius of Antioch

Romans 3: 21-30; Luke 11: 47-54

One is justified by faith apart from the works of law - this was, is and will ever be a point of contention. In the Old Testament times it was a contention between the 'conservative' and the 'progressive' rabbinic schools; in Jesus' times between him and the Jewish religious heads; in the times of the early Christians it was a contention between those who followed the Pauline theology and those who believed the theology of James; today it continues between the Catholics and the non Catholics! 

Amidst all the contention foreseen, needless to say our point of reference is Jesus: 'Don't put your trust in your capacity to achieve things and to gain control or dominance', warns Jesus, 'become like children!' That is, respect the primacy of faith! Jesus also declared, 'when you did this to one of these little ones, you did it to me!' That is, the necessity of works! 

In Jesus' terms, faith is that capacity to live totally dependent on God and do all that we can do, primarily as instruments in the hand of God - an attitude diametrically opposed to pride and arrogance of work alone, and practically a corrective to passivity and timidity of faith alone! 

What Jesus teaches against is, empty ritualism, legalistic spirituality and hypocritical religiosity! St. Ignatius of Antioch, whom we celebrate today says that in very simple words, "it is not that I want merely to be called a Christian, but to actually be one. Yes, if I prove to be one, then I can have the name." Works manifest my faith, faith makes my works efficacious!

Justice, Mercy and the Love of God

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

October 16, 2019: Remembering St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Romans 2:1-11; Luke 11: 42-46

'For God shows no partiality' - that verse from the first reading is evidenced in the Gospel today. Jesus minces no words, nor spares anyone! All that matters to Jesus is Justice and Mercy... and he pulls up every one, be it Pharisees or Scribes, as Paul pulls up, be it Jews or Greeks, following his Master! 

Justice and Mercy - purest forms of expression of God's love - is what we are called to set our minds on today! It is said justice is blind, and that is why they have the statue of justice blindfolded; God's justice is not blind, rather capable of seeing everything, even what one does not wish to be seen! Mercy comes in there, where God is able to see even the feeblest of our authentic efforts to tend towards true love. 

Celebrating the memory of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, we are reminded of the profound revelation of that incredible love of God, symbolised in the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus! Though God's love is a beautiful feeling of being drenched gratuitously, it challenges us - not merely to reciprocate, but to act with justice and mercy towards our fellow beings, as a concrete expression of that love received and cherished! 

Speaking of Justice of God need not be merely a discourse on the fright of judgement, but it has to be a daily criterion of action and decision in our life. Being merciful like our heavenly Father, is being mindful of even the simplest of opportunities to stand by truth, justice and love! Let us remember, being just, merciful and loving is the only way we can fit the description of being 'children of God'.

Beware of Foolishness

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

October 15, 2019: Remembering St. Teresa of Avila

Romans 1:16-25; Luke 11: 37-41

The theme of yesterday continues today...what Jesus spoke in the Gospel yesterday, St. Paul writes in his letter today. There isn't any need for an extraordinary exercise to realise the presence of God. "Be Still and know that I am God", suggests Psalm 46 (v.10). 

One common word that we can find in the first reading and the Gospel today is, "fool" (Rom 1:22 ; Lk 11:40). It would indeed be foolish, if we do not really manage to experience the presence of God after all that we have been blessed with in life. Be it St. Paul in the first reading or Jesus in the Gospel, they seem to be very strong with their words. At times it is necessitated!

Sometimes we can be led into that so-called foolishness by our daily concerns, overwhelming troubles, endless temptations, nagging situations, seemingly insuperable burdens that tend to bog us. As Jesus remarks, some of our misplaced priorities and scandalising practices in life, may not only take us away from God but may even keep some others far from God! How many have gone away from God, because of the life and practices of those who claim to believe in God! 

The readings, as well as the Mystic whom we celebrate today - St. Teresa of Avila, invite us to look within us and observe the greatness that is treasured within us, and from there we can shine forth to the world: through a thorough soul searching and a realisation of the indwelling Spirit within us! For we may be unworthy clay jars, but exactly in these has the Lord placed the priceless treasures (2 Cor 4:7)!

Asking for Signs

WORD 2day: Monday, 28th week in Ordinary time

October 14, 2019: Romans 1:1-7; Luke 11:29-32

'Asking for signs' - most of our prayers, consciously or unconsciously, are asking for signs; they are directly or indirectly asking for miracles. Is it that bad, or 'wicked' as Jesus calls it today, to ask for a miracle? Personally, I believe it is not! But what is bad and what gets on the nerves of Jesus today is the stubbornness or the blindness that does not allow one to see the miracles, the signs that are present right in front of our eyes. 

Those who questioned Jesus were only to look keenly into what was happening right in front of them, to understand that Jesus was the Word, the Good news of God prepared through the ages. The Word made flesh and living amidst them, demonstrating to them in all ways the tremendous majesty and love of God. This is what St. Paul tries to communicate in the letter to the Romans as we read today. 

All through history, people have always been demanding a sign, a miracle. Even the most rational of persons is in some way or the other susceptible to this tendency of curiosity. It is sufficient to look around and perceive the numerous accounts of certain curious happenings. The lesson we need to learn today is certainly not to convince ourselves that there are no miracles and those are merely some infantile imaginations. No, it is surprisingly the contrary, according to Jesus. Miracles abound for those who are ready to see them around. 

Here it sounds opportune to cite the famous saying (of Stuart Chase): 'For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don't believe, no proof is possible.' 

THE GREAT ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE

The touchstone of Sanctity

October 13, 2019: 28th Sunday in Ordinary time

2 Kings 5:14-17; 2 Timothy 2:8-13; Luke 17: 11-19

Spiritual life is made of a set of attitudes that make up who we are! The touchstone of an authentically spiritual person lies in the virtue that the Word of God speaks to us of today: the great attitude of Gratitude... gratitude for every goodness that one experiences, gratitude to the Source of all that one has and one is: God! "What do you have that you did not receive?" asks St. Paul in his letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor 4:7)... hence, the very touchstone of sanctity can easily be true sense of gratitude.

Gratitude is born of a Humble Recognition of God! Namaan was asked to dip in river Jordan and he felt offended because his pride ruled his will. But when he listens to that word from the Man of God, humbling himself for that moment, he recognised the presence of the Mighty God. It is only when I am humble, I recognise God and that recognition of God makes me more humble in turn! 

Gratitude is expressed in Grateful Submission to God! An authentic outcome of immense gratitude is total submission to God for the marvels that God has done to us. We see the man in the Gospel, just one out of the ten of them - "he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks" (v.16). What happened to the rest? Either they did not realise they were healed or they did not realise that the healing was a gift! This Samaritan heart realised the gratuitous miracle and recognised the hand of God - and the result was, a grateful submission at the feet of Jesus.

Gratitude leads to a Faithful Perseverance in God's ways! "Rise and go your way, your faith has made you well" (v.19) says Jesus, commissioning him to be an apostle to the World. That is the commission we receive every time we experience the grace of God in our personal lives - to go into the world and share the Word of God, 'that the word of God may not be fettered' (cf. 2 Tim 2:9). It is the gratitude for the goodness that we have experienced in the Lord that makes us persevere, amidst all troubles and trials we might face. Our perseverance is not so much because we are faithful to the Lord, as because the Lord is faithful to us, reminds St. Paul in the second reading (2 Tim 2:13). 

A grateful heart is a humble heart and a humble person will ever be a God-filled person and a God-filled person is marked by his or her courage and strength to persevere. That is why gratitude, a true sense of gratitude can be considered the touchstone of sanctity! Today, the Church invites us to recognise this sanctity as lived by five persons... as they are canonised as saints, that is persons who have lived their virtues to an heroic level and have become our models and intercessors.

Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801-1890), lived half of his life as an Anglican before he converted to Catholicism in October 1845. In his humility he recognised the truth and was strong enough to go after it and he becomes a giant of sanctity from the 19th Century.

Mother Mariam Thresia (1876-1926), was an Indian mystic and founder of the Congregation of the Holy Family. In her faithful perseverance as an apostle of God's merciful love and compassion, she shines out as a model of true Christian living.

Ms. Marguerite Bays (1815-1879), was a Swiss lay woman who belonged to the Secular Franciscan Order, working as a seamstress. She was an ardent catechist who in her grateful and total submission to the Lord received the grace of the stigmata and united herself to the sufferings of the Lord from 1854 right up to her death.

Mother Giuseppina Vannini (1859-1911), was a Sister from Rome who founded the Congregation of the Daughters of St. Camillus. In her faithful perseverance she endured her health conditions and sought to serve others in sickness, even at the risk of her own life. 

Sister Dulce Lopes (1914-1992), was a Sister from Salvador, Brazil, belonging to the Congregation of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God. Despite her humble life style, due to her dedication and commitment, she was nominated for a Nobel Prize! In 2010, when her body was exhumed for beatification, it was found intact and her grateful submission to the Lord and suffering people of God, has taken her evermore closer to God.

Learning to look deeper into our daily life and recognise the miracles that happen in abundance; putting up with daily crosses with the image of the Crucified Saviour in our hearts; placing ourselves each day at the feet of Jesus to be sent into the world as messengers of his loving Word - that is growing into Spiritual persons, Saintly persons. Certainly, gratitude for all the goodness we experience is the touchstone of this spirituality, of this sanctity. 

Let us heed the call of the Word today, increase our sense of gratitude and grow into authentic spiritual persons, in other words, saints! 

The call to be Blessed

WORD 2day: Saturday, 27th week in Ordinary time

October 12, 2019: Joel 4: 12-21; Luke 11: 27-28

"To hear the word of God and keep it," invites the Liturgy. Today, with the Synod of the Pan-Amazonian Bishops underway, there are so many within and outside the Church, raising doubts and criticism against a lot of issues. Holy Father Pope Francis is being, at times even unduly, criticised from various sides... the anti-religious or anti-Catholic media is making the most of the time. There are some journals and dailies that are constantly spewing calumny and mongering lies, spreading false rumours in the name of interpretations which make things difficult for the ordinary faithful and worse still for those who are weak and already in crisis.

The times are bad - this would be true to say any day! Because, at all times in history there have been people who wished to have their way, capable of raking up issues that were really not there, create confusions and in those moments achieve their ends of dividing and impoverishing humanity. Are we going to give in to their wiles? Or are we, amidst all confusions, remain firm in that unwavering foundation of what God wants from us: the Word from the Lord? It is here that the theme of the day speaks so clearly to us: hear the word of God and keep it.

'Henceforth all generations will call me blessed', sang Mary when she heard the Word of God and said 'yes' to it. And Jesus reiterated it, that Mary was 'Blessed' not merely for having borne him physically and nursed him, but more for having heard the Word of God and unconditionally submitted herself to it. And thus Jesus opens the invitation to all - it is possible for anyone, just like Mary, to become 'Blessed'. All that you need to do, to be blessed is: hear the Word of God and keep it.

The days of the Lord!!!

WORD 2day: Friday, 27th week in Ordinary time

October 11, 2019: Joel 1:13-15,2:1-2; Luke 11: 15-26

The Day of the Lord - in the history of the people of God - has had quite a few interpretations. The most common of those during the Old Testament times, was what we find in the first reading today - a day of doom, a day of destruction, a day of final judgement! We know it has inspired dreams, theories, churches, stories, movies and what not.

Jesus, spoke of not just the day of the Lord, but the days of the Lord, the coming of the Reign of God! The idea of judgement persisted, but the fear of destruction or doom gave way to the need to take a stand, the urgency to make a choice - for God or against God!

The day or the moment that we make a choice for God becomes for us the day of the Lord! The moment when we stand by the poor, the oppressed, the righteous, the honest, the just and the godly, we make a choice for God - for when you do it for the least of these, you do unto me, the Lord has promised.

When that choice for God becomes persistent and absolute, that is the Reign of God. Reign of God is not some Utopia or an otherworldly phenomenon that would descend on us one fine day. We need to evoke it, from amidst us by making right personal choices and by making those choices a culture, a mode of life, a life style.

The question is... am I ready to choose God, and choose God alone? Am I prepared to stand up for God? If yes, I become a son or a daughter of the Reign and these days in which we live shall become, the days of the Lord.

God first and God-trust...

WORD 2day: Thursday, 27th week in Ordinary time

October 10, 2019: Malachi 3: 13-20; Luke 11: 5-13

'Why do the just suffer and why do the evildoers prosper?' - this has always been an unresolved question in history. We read from Prophet Malachi, "now we have reached the point when we call the arrogant blessed." It looks really and so drastically prophetic! It seems to be reflecting what we see today, in our present context - with all the importance given to money, power, possession, pleasure and comfort, the arrogant seem to be the most blessed!

There is yet another fundamental question, that is subtler and more crucial and that is: what is good and what is evil; what it means to be righteous and what it means to be wicked. Confusion reigns in the world today, in the name of rights and liberty, in the cover of broad-mindedness and lateral thinking, in the pretext of respect for the individual and promoting self-actualisation, there are so many fundamental values being compromised these days. 

Both these grand queries are reflected upon in the Word today which, perhaps provides us with the criteria to be acceptable in the eyes of God: To give the first place to God and things that pertain to God and to trust in God with no doubts whatsoever!  

When these criteria are lived in our daily life, there will indeed be no necessity for the questions we referred to a while ago! The first criterion will take care of the greed and manipulation that governs the world today; and the second will make us humble to receive everything from the hands of God, so that we look at ourselves and at each other as brothers and sisters of the One Father and Mother!