Purposefulness and Urgency to Proclaim

WORD 2day : Wednesday, 22nd week in Ordinary time

September 1, 2021: Colossians 1:1-8; Luke 4: 38-44

Paul, Epaphras, Jesus...all seem to be on the move. With a sense of urgency and a feeling of detachment they seem to move on from one place to another with the task of proclamation filling their minds. The question today is about our sense of apostleship - the sense of 'being sent'. Our Holy Father keeps insisting on this dimension of Christian call - being a missionary Church, being missionary disciples and being missionary communities wherever we are! 

The key element here in this missionary sense, or the sense of being sent, is Purposefulness and Urgency. Purposefulness which consists of clarity of one's purpose and meaning of life and Urgency which involves losing no time or attention in things that wont directly concern with the fundamental purpose one feels about one's life and mission. Are we filled with this urgency and purposefulness? Are we convinced about whatever the task is, that is given to us?

And by the way, what is that all important task: announcing the Lord, the goodness of the Lord, the salvation of the Lord - in short, proclamation of the Reign of God. Proclamation is not the work of a few, it belongs to each and every one who is baptised. It is not an added feather to our hats but an essential mark of being a Christian. Of course there is no one way of proclamation. Preaching is just one way; example, witness, convictions, values, compassion and limitless love are all ways of sharing that Word with the world.

Added to the question - whether I am clear about my purposefulness and convinced of its urgency, there is another pertinent question that arises: what is my mode of proclamation? How effective our lives would become with these - purposefulness and urgency to proclaim!

Awake, alert and active, to eliminate evil

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 22nd week in Ordinary time

August 31, 2021: 1 Thessalonians 5: 1-6, 9-11; Luke 4: 31-37

There is this oft-narrated story of the man who asked a Zen master, 'what would you do if the world begins to end right now?' The Master who was busy drinking a cup of tea, looked up at him and said without panic, 'I would continue to taste this tea.' That is the spirituality that Paul and Jesus speak of today. To remain awake, alert, active, always is the key to face the worst of events in life.

Being awake, alert and active - this can today mean for as children of God, amidst so many things that are happening around us in the world, be it, the pandemic experience, the political turmoil in various places, the underground processes that seem to affect the ongoing life of the world at large, the economic forces that are gaining power over the world affairs, and many such issues!

In this context, to remain awake is to look around, be aware and reflect about things that happen around us. To be alert is never to allow ourselves to be deceived by others' opinions and judgements, but to have our own interpretation of things with the help of the wisdom that comes from God. Finally to be active is to know what to do as a result of the reflection and discernment, without falling into a drowsy inaction or an unchristian fatalism. 

We are challenged to grow in the spirituality of keeping awake - it is nothing but being alert to any situation that presents itself to actively do what God wants us to do! As children of God given authority over anything that is here on earth, we are called to live awake, alert and active, ever ready to look at the evil and say, 'be quiet' and 'get out of' here! That is the authority that we are invested with, as children of God: to eliminate evil and to increase good!

You get only what you decide?

WORD 2day: Monday, 22nd week in Ordinary time

August 30, 2021 - 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18; Luke 4: 16-30

Pscychology speaks so much about positive thinking and about the power of thoughts. You get what you have always wished for! At times by our negative wishing we lose the good that can happen to us and by positive wishing we experience things that can seem almost miracles. Is it merely will power and coincidence? Not at all, establishes the Word today. 

We are immortal, in as much as we are in Christ. This is Christian belief, but at times we do not behold or perceive ourselves to be eternal beings... we commit sins and await punishment; we give into the worldly living and await our end, a definitive end...but we can never leave. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ - tribulations, distress, persecutions, hunger, nakedness, death - nothing, absolutely nothing. 

But when one repeatedly laments for things that have happened in life, it is likely that similar experiences repeat themselves too. Hence it is important that we do not dwell on things that may not be desirable - negative experiences, love-less thoughts, virtueless practices... these have to be avoided not only in deeds but also in thoughts and intentions. That is truly a faith mentality.

The simple fact that we are reminded of is, that the Lord has great things in store for us, from ordinary blessings to eternal life - what we need to do is remain firm in faith, that is, decide to magnify the Lord for all the good that you receive, because you get only what you decide.

THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD

Live, Submit and Create!

22nd Sunday in Ordinary time - August 29, 2021

Deuteronomy 4: 1-2,6-8; James 1: 17-18,21-22, 27; Mark 7: 1-8,14-15,21-23

The use of hand sanitisers and surface disinfectants, the sight of the gloves and the PPEs, the masks and the face shields, have not yet gone out of our daily use! Some of these habits are even becoming a bit obsessive for some persons who have ceased to live their 'normal' lives on any count. There is fear and scrupulosity filled still in the air! This is a sanitary crisis but what we see in the Gospel today is a taboo..that is a spiritual crisis! Doing things without knowing why we do it! We are so scrupulous about doing them, but without really experiencing the real effects that they were meant to create! The sad fact in our Christian life is that our most crucial expressions of faith too can run this risk - just imagine 'saying' or 'reciting' prayers without really meaning what they intend, 'attending' or 'hearing' Mass without really celebrating the Sacrament that it is... are these not really crises? The key to avoid such a crisis is being aware of the living Presence of the Lord with us.

The Word this Sunday instructs us on this secret of Christian living... to live in the presence of the Lord, to submit to the presence of the Lord and to create the presence of the Lord wherever we are!

The first reading invites us to live in the presence of the Lord in and through the lovely faith traditions that we have inherited from our parents and elders, from the faith community and from those who have spiritual care over us! Laws and Customs that the Israelites had were lived traditions passed on for generations - they were practical, useful and relevant. They had their purpose and meaning, but in the course of time, they were reified as actions to be performed without the purpose that underlaid them. This led them to being superstitious and hypocritical, as Jesus points out in the Gospel today. What about our own experience: how many of our practices in daily life have already become superstitions and blind customs! Are we into things which we really do not understand why we are doing? Such a reasoning can become an easy way out for the younger generation to throw out things that have been handed down to them - but let us be sincere! How much have I tried to really understand the faith traditions handed down? How faithful have I been in receiving them? How eager have I been in finding the presence of God in them? The call here is for both - the elders in a community to pass on traditions that help persons to live in the presence of the Lord and the younger generation to strive to discover means of living the presence of the Lord in daily life through simple traditions, laws and customs which enshrine the experience of ages!

The second reading invites us to submit to the presence of the Lord in the living Word that speaks to us every day! The Word has not only been in history a living presence of the Lord, but also in the present, the Word lives amidst us and the Word is the most concrete presence of the Lord with us. James hits the nail on its head when he says - it is not enough to listen to the Word and admire the Word, but it is necessary that I submit to the Word. That is, I need to listen, treasure within me and shape my entire life in the light of the Word; in short obey the Word and live by It. Submitting to the presence of the Lord would mean, at every moment of my life asking myself the question, what is the most worthy thing to do, in the presence of the Lord? Because the presence of the Lord surrounds me all the time, every moment of my life - hence the division between my private self and public self, my personal life and portrayed life, cannot exist! The presence of the Lord, in the form of the Word, needs to rule every moment and every movement of my life - I need to live according to the voice of the Lord. The Word cannot be reserved only for some specific moments of my life, or for the public manifestation of some ideas or beliefs. The Word is for my entire life and every bit of it. I have to live the Word, live by the Word and live as the Word tells me, in all that I say, in all that I do, and in all that I am. My choices, my priorities and my values have to be clearly and explicitly guided by the Word, the presence of the Lord!

The Gospel invites us to create the presence of the Lord, by our very presence wherever we are. It summarises the lesson of the Word today, making the correlation between the traditions to be lived, the Lord to be obeyed and the effects of it in the daily life! Here it is that we can make a solid difference between two modes of Christian living: the Performance Mode and the Personal Mode. The Performance Mode insists on the actions, rites and rituals, traditional customs to be performed by all means and making it the centre of faith and Christian living. The Personal Mode rebels against this, saying it is all between oneself and God, a relationship that has to be cared in private, nothing to do with all these public manifestations and compulsory adherence. Which of these is right? Neither of these, isnt it? Yes, there is another Mode that the Word suggests today: the Prophetic Mode. The Prophetic Mode of Christian living, insists that we feel the presence of God on a daily basis, even amidst things that go out of control; it is a mode of living our Christian life in communion with all my brothers and sisters, feeling one with them in all their joys and sorrows; it is a mode that leads me to a complete union with the Presence of the Lord which is not only felt or experienced, but created by my very life style, by the way I stand for truth and justice, by the way I live for love and compassion and by the way I am ready to die for righteousness and integrity! Clearly therefore, the call is to outgrow both performance mode and personal mode of Christian living and mature towards a prophetic mode of living, where my presence can become the Presence of the Lord to the world around me!

To Grow in my capacity to love

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

August 28, 2021: Celebrating St. Augustine

1 Thessalonians 4: 9-11; Matthew 25: 14-30

You have learnt from God to love one another - what beautiful words from Paul about the Thessalonians. It has to be said so of every Christian - that we have learnt from God how to love one another! This has two important consequences: that we love one another, and that we love like God! God has given us the capacity to love, and it is our responsibility to grow in that capacity to love - only then shall the Lord tell us: Well done my good and faithful servant!

Augustine, the saint we celebrate today, believed in this, taught this and gave this as the most categorical test of all: the test of love. If you are a Christian, you love! Love and do what you wish, he would say! If love is true and God-like, there is no need of any other rule book or code of conduct. The situation in the world today is so painful and inhuman, because the rule of love is so neglected and disrespected. 

Yesterday, we celebrated Monica, the mother of Augustine... the love of that mother made a saint of her son. Today, we have Augustine who understood the absolute value of love, in comparison to all the intellectual prowess and academic accomplishments that he could really boast of. He knew the right Christian mindset - that of love. Those who love are born of God and they have known God. Those do not love God, do not know God. 

Of all the gifts that God has given us - our talents, our varied faculties, our capabilities and our potentialities - the greatest is the capacity to love. Because, it is this capacity that helps one to share in the very nature of God: God is love, isn't it! And God expects that we grow day by day in that love - from ordinary love to that of its greatest form. There is no greater love, than one laying down his/her life for an other! It can never be the other way around, making sure I live at the cost of anything, or anyone! 

A true Christian therefore is one who loves, and one who grows everyday in that capacity to love.

To feed the fire!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

August 27, 2021: Celebrating Monica, the Saintly Mother

1 Thessalonians 4: 1-8; Matthew 25: 1-13

What God wants is for you all to be holy... St. Paul presents us with the crux of our Christian calling. Being holy is a universal call...not pertaining to one group or the other, not specific to one way of life or the other, not restricted to a few or a particular section of the faithful. It is universal in all sense - and today we have a great example in the saint we celebrate. 

St. Monica, was a saintly mother - to begin with, a lay person; a mother, and a simple mother and not some queen or foundress of a religious congregation! She was a simple, household woman, who not only remained a holy person, but brought her straying son to the path of holiness. What a powerful conviction it should have been, to have led the person to holiness and made her lead her son too, to the same path divine!

The generation today is like the 'foolish' maids who were so blissfully unaware of the problem that was coming their way...they were all there for the wedding, the very wedding they will be missing out on. They took obvious things for granted...they thought their lamps will go on burning endlessly: what a foolish thinking. How will it go on burning if you don't feed the fire. The generation today, is doing the minimum with regard to spiritual life and faith life - thinking that it will go on endlessly, that it will automatically become deeper as days go by! How can it, unless you feed the fire?

Just like Saint Monica, the generation that is taking care of the younger generation, are called to make them aware of the need to feed the fire, and not remain clueless about the fire of faith, the fire of spiritual union with God, the fire of true striving towards holiness which can dwindle off anytime! For that, the elder generation first of all, have to keep their fire burning bright, and then instruct the following generation to make efforts to keep theirs burning and to constantly feed the fire! 

Will there be love when the Master returns!!!

WORD 2day: Thursday, 21st week in Ordinary time

August 26, 2021: 1 Thessalonians 3:7-13; Matthew 24: 42-51

The Word today speaks of perseverance in faith, until the master comes. One sign that is provided as a sign of persevering faith is that of true and sustained love for each other. Paul prays that the Thessalonians grow in their love for each other and for the entire humanity. Jesus speaks of loving service to each other as the way to be prepared, alert and awake, when the Master comes.

The political crisis in Afghanistan, the natural disasters like that of Haiti, the tensions in various parts of the globe in varied forms, the still-threatening pandemic and its atrocities, the recurring threats of terrorism in various parts, the pursuing persecutions and inhuman treatment of human persons in the name of caste and creed, dehumanisation of masses in the name of development, the negations of a vast majority of population who are poor and weak and at the mercy of the rich and the powerful, the institutionalisation of religions and ritualisation of faith - all these are totally not in keeping with the love that Jesus proposes as the touchstone of true faith. 

Infact, the way things go, we should very seriously ask ourselves, 'will there be love left when the Master comes again?' But of what good is that question if we do not, on our part, do whatever we can, however little they may be, towards promoting true love? It would be a mistake if I tell myself, 'of what impact is it going to be that I love my neighbour in my limited circle where I am?' In loving the other, I become loving as a person, and by that I promote a whole culture, a lifestyle, a mode of living - that of love! And that is my responsibility, in my own way to promote the culture of love, thus keeping alive love until my Master returns in glory!

If at all we wish that love remains till our Master comes again, we need to transform ourselves and grow into radical agents of love wherever we are - isn't that a concrete call? 

Is good, good enough?

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 21st week in Ordinary time

August 25, 2021: 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13; Matthew 23: 27-32

When we say, 'he is good' or 'she is good'... how certain are we about the fact? It is our overall judgement about persons, looking at what we see, what we hear, what we observe... but no one can deny that there is more to reality than what we can apparently see or hear! How many times we trust someone as being good, and finally come to realise it was not actually true! Or how many other instances where we judged someone rashly from the looks, but ended up being humbled by their goodness and gentleness! So can we ever say someone is good?

Goodness - can we ever attribute it to anyone! Or can any of us really claim to be good absolutely? This is the question that the Word raises within us today. How good are you? Is your goodness, good enough? The Word questions, not whether we are good or whether we do good - but whether our goodness is really good? 

At times we may appear or manifest ourselves to be good, to win favours, or establish a name or having hidden agenda to be achieved. At times we may strive to be good, just to make up for something that we have done wrong, which we alone would know - as a kind of atonement. At times we may do good, which may be good only in our judgement and there would be no one who really benefit out of it. Hence, the impeccable touchstone to goodness is God and God alone.

God who knows us through and through, who knows not only our speech and our acts but even our thoughts and our intentions, certainly knows how good we are! Hence the challenge we have is not to just be good, but to be good in the eyes of the Lord - that is intrinsic goodness - to be attentive to the Word of the Lord, accept it, live by it and be truly good, intrinsically good, after the heart of the Lord!

Will you be found under the fig tree?

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

August 24, 2021: Celebrating St. Bartholomew the Apostle 

Revelations. 21: 9-14; John 1:45-51

One of the 12 foundation stones, that is, one of the the 12 apostles rooted firm in Christ, is St. Bartholomew whom we celebrate today! Jesus gives him two compliments - one, that he was a person who had no guile in him and second, that Jesus saw him under the fig tree!

Sitting under the fig tree, had a very special significance in that context and Bartholomew is interested and curious how Jesus got to know about him and his tryst with truth. Sitting under the fig tree would mean (as we see in Micah 4:4), meditating on the Word of God, reflecting on the things that God expects from one, and making discernments on the way one relates to his or her world. A very deep meaning, isnt it?

Jesus has noted what kind of a person Bartholomew was. That was surprising for Bartholomew. Known as Nathanael in the Gospels, he was a man who looked for, yearned for truth and that is the reason, Philip brings him to Jesus. If only we truly and yearningly seek the Truth that Jesus is, Jesus is ready to surprise us! But are we ready to be surprised?

The question is, will Jesus find us under the fig tree? Will Jesus find in us, true seekers after truth, truly persons who long for the Lord, Christians who walk in the ways of the Truth! How much importance do I attach on a daily basis to remaining in sacred silence... or to the reading of the Word of God... or to meditate on the Word... or simply to remain in that disposition to connect to the Lord... that is why the question, when Jesus wishes to, will you be found under the fig tree?

Conversion - personal and constant!

WORD 2day: Monday, 21st week in Ordinary time

August 23, 2021: 1 Thessalonians 1: 1- 5, 8-10; Matthew 23: 13-22

Evangelisation is one topic that the Church can never tired itself speaking of, because it is the primary reason for its being. As soon as the Church speaks of evangelisation, the anti-church civil society would interpret it as ‘Conversion’ and in turn those factions never tire themselves of accusing the Church of conversions. 

Conversion - while it would mean mere numbers for those who accuse, the readings today present to us what a true conversion should be, or what it is for the Church! It means discovering the deepest sense of meaning within a person, a sense that would give the person a sense of living his or her life to the full; it is a call that has always been there, now being listened to and recognised with all its consequences. 

This meaning, this call, is experiences and responded to in terms of priorities, choices and value systems that are adopted by individuals and communities that share the same call or meaning. Right priorities and right values are crucial within this discourse. St. Paul underlines it in such clear terms writing to the Thessalonians, that our faith should be active; our love committed and our hope firm. 

Faith in action, love as concrete compassion and hope as unceasing optimism – these are the reasons why Pope Francis is fond of repeating – A ‘Christian’ can never be sad! Conversion, therefore, consists in understanding the call within to live one's life to the full and doing the needful to respond to that call! In this sense, is it not true that each and every one of us, has to be committed to our personal and constant conversion?

FIDELITY TO THE FAITHFULNESS

Responding to the Faithfulness of the Lord

August 22, 2021: 21st Sunday in Ordinary time
Joshua 24: 1-2,15-18; Ephesians 5: 21-32; John 6: 60-69

The God of Israel has always been identified as the God of the Covenant: I shall be your God and you shall be my people. Through ups and downs, during plenty and calamities, in peace and war, the Lord ever remained faithful to the covenant. Even when the people went away from it and abandoned it, the Lord remained faithful and committed. That is why the people of Israel did not contain themselves with saying God is faithful, but believed firmly that God is Faithfulness!

Today we have Joshua who understands and expresses exactly what is expected of the people of God: as for me and my household, we shall always serve the Lord. Being faithful to God was not his initiative, Joshua knew it well. It was only in response to the faithfulness of God, responding to God the faithfulness. 

Our relationship with God has to be a relationship of utmost fidelity, for there is no scope for deception and misrepresentation as the Lord knows everything, even the deepest of our thoughts and intentions. In God there is no duplicity, no ambiguity and no vagueness. God is faithful to the finest of details. As in the second reading today, the faithfulness of God is compared to the faithfulness that is observed in a marriage fidelity between the husband and the wife! It is a faithfulness of utmost sacrality and as much as it concerns the Lord, it is absolute! 

We could be reminded here of an anecdote said about an old man, well in his nineties, who would come everyday to a dispensary to dress a wound on his thumb. As he waits his turn, if it gets near the mark of midday, he would get anxious and restless, telling the nurses to hurry up or to let him go, as he had to go to attend to his wife at noon! His wife was in a hospital room in a state of coma for the past one year! The nurses would  ask him, 'anyway, she would not know if you came on time or not, or even whether you were there or not, why do you give it so much of an importance to be there precisely at midday?' The man would respond: 'no, it does not matter to me whether she knows it or not, I have made a promise to her, to be at her side everyday at noon without fail, and I will keep my promise come what may!' That is what the Lord's fidelity is all about - keeping the promise!

Today the Word brings home to our minds three premises to consider in relation to the perfection of our Christian Faith. The first premise is that we are called to fidelity as a community of faith, as people of the alliance, as people of God. In front of the world today, which tries to get as far away from God as possible, we are called to proclaim as Joshua did: as for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord our God! We need to choose to live our faithfulness as a community, as a family.

The second premise, our call to faithfulness as families, begins right within our own families! Our faithfulness to God is concretely realised in our faithfulness in our family, between the spouses, between the parents and children, faithfulness to our responsibility to build up our families as building blocks of the Church, the family of God. 

The third premise, we called as individuals, as sons and daughters of God to recognise the Words of eternal life that God alone has, so that our faithfulness can be manifested in our daily choices, fundamental priorities and concrete life style. In his lovely words, "to whom shall we go, Lord, for you have the words of eternal life," Peter reminds us today that our fidelity to God does no good to God but gains us the eternal life that we long for. Our fidelity to the Faithfulness is a grace unto ourselves, to our families, to our community of faith, to our society and to the humanity as a whole! 

It would be opportune during the course of this week, that each of us, spends a time of solitude, and asks oneself, how faithful am I to God's fidelity, to God the Faithfulness!

Understanding Goodness

WORD 2day: Saturday, 20th week in Ordinary Time

August 21, 2021: Ruth 2: 1-3,8-11, 4:13-17; Mt 23: 1-12

Goodness is Godliness. Last week had been marked by various acts of political tension and violence in Afghanistan, with Taliban claiming power - with those who support them from the international community and they themselve claiming to give a peaceful governance! There are also accounts of violence in certain parts of northeastern India - with so many polarisations within the local population  leading to unrest! There are those who claim to help or to bring back peace! But who is true and who is good? The Word reflected from this background raises a fundamental question - how do we understand goodness?

Is goodness the external appearance of a person sporting conventionally respected images - as a god-man, or a social worker, or a poor-lover, or a cause-believer...these externals do not suffice. And not all are deceived by it, of course some are!

Is goodness all about the deeds and functions? People who wish to create a public image that they are good, try to buy up people by their good deeds and heroism. But is that enough sign of true goodness? Hidden behind the good deeds and acts of people there are agendas and schemes that no one even guesses.

Goodness is all about the basic nature in a person, that is not even seen by the others. Then of what use is it, one could ask. It is nothing to prove to anyone, it is just being good at the core of one's being. That will never change, even if the situation around and the persons around change, for the worse or for the better.

Keeping these in mind, can I really judge who is good and who is not? Indeed, no one can. I can only say whether I am good or not. But it is so important to ask that question: Am I really Good?

How close am I to the salvific design of God?

WORD 2day: Friday, 20th week in Ordinary time

August 20, 2021: Ruth 1:1,3-6,14-16,22; Matthew 22: 34-40

"Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live; Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God." I remember once, years ago, when I quoted these verses to a group of my youngsters...one spontaneously burst out saying, "what romantic lines!" I had to explain to them with the context, and convince them that it was a daughter in law saying those words to a mother in law, and that too, after the husband-son, had died! A funny experience to recall, but the reflection remains afresh and applicable till date.

We pick and choose people to love - Ruth could have easily walked her way home back to Moab! She was not a hebrew woman, nor was she anymore indebted to her dead husband's mother! In fact, she had a precedence, as her co-sister Orpah had just left at the suggestion of the mother in law. No one would have blamed Ruth for it, she being still a young woman with her whole life in front of her. But if she had done it, we would not be reflecting about Ruth today, as she would not have got into the salvation history, as shining as she does now!

What makes her part of the salvation history - not wars won for the hebrews, not splendid deeds as great judges and prophets, but a choice made in true love! It is true love that made her enter the pages of the History of Salvation. That is exactly what Jesus seems to be telling us in the Gospel: the greatest of all commandments, the most absolute of all criteria to belong to God and to be part of salvific design of God, is the command of Love!

And a true Christian love does not pick and choose whom to love and whom not to... it is a decision to love and to love everyone with a deep sense of genuine commitment. Ruth manifested that capacity and became part of the salvation plan of God. How close are we to get into the salvific design of God?

Few who are worthy of the banquet

WORD 2day: Thursday, 20th week in Ordinary time

August 19, 2021: Judges 11: 29-39; Matthew 22: 1-14

We have today in the first reading a strange, and from the standards of today, even ridiculous event - Jephthah sacrificing his only daughter in fulfilment of his vows to the Lord. One can be reminded of another event when Abraham took his son to the mountain to sacrifice, my be also wondering why the Lord did not stop this time, with this girl at stake! Whatever be the explanation, the key to understand the  message from the liturgy of the Word today, is in the responsorial psalm.

Here I am Lord, I come to do your will. There are two elements of doing the will of God that is brought forth for our reflection - one, that it is not that easy to do the will of God, it requires the utmost sacrifices; secondly, just doing the minimum will not get you anywhere with respect to doing God's will, you have to go all the way, there are no short cuts! 

At times, when you tell the Lord, 'here Lord, I am ready to do your will', you will have to sacrifice things that you may consider very dear to you - your dreams, your career, your so-called happiness, your family at times, your legitimate pleasures, your longing for a comfortable or atleast a peaceful life - you have to sacrifice the very things that the world may propose as targets to be achieved in life! Are you ready? 

Once you say you are ready, you have to be absolutely ready! No compromises with God...it is not that you will do something and find a convenient reason to leave out something else, you will choose something and safely avoid something else that God wants of you! When you say a yes, it has to be a complete yes! If not, you will know it very well, and it will haunt you from within until you stand in the presence of that just Judge!

A bit alarming, isn't it? That is why many are called, but few are chosen. And of these few, even fewer persevere till the end, a very few go all the way, very few really grow to be worthy of the banquet of the Lord. Are we among that count?

The Lord who approaches...

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 20th week in Ordinary time

August 18, 2021: Judges 9: 6-15; Matthew 20: 1-16

There is something that is common to the two readings of today, and that is the clue to the message that is offered us by the Word today. The first reading narrates a parable of trees approaching various trees to rule over them. Jesus narrates a parable in the Gospel, about the land owner who approaches people at various moments of the day for work. The key to understand the Word is here: the Lord who approaches.

In various ways the Lord approaches us - what a marvel and what a privilege that we are approached by the Almighty. It is not that the Lord cannot do without me, but the Lord chooses not to do without me. The Lord invites me to be on the Lord's side. The Lord approaches me to be at Lord's business. 

Three dispositions that I should necessarily have to respond to the Lord who approaches me: 

Listening, to the Lord's call and heeding to the Lord's directions, not despising the message nor the means through which the Lord shares that message with me. The Lord approaches me in varied ways and I need to be truly open minded to listen to the call;

Obedience, to carry out the wishes of the Lord despite the difficulties and delusions. Obedience is not doing something whether I like it or not, but whole heartedly doing something whether it is easy or difficult, simply for the reason that it is what God wants me to do, there and then.

Selflessness, to do whatever I can for the purpose of the Reign and for the people of God, without expecting anything as a recompense, never comparing the good times of the others with mine and doing everything for the other, for the society and for the God who wills them all.

The Lord who approaches me is a very strong affirmation that I am wonderful and awesome in the eyes of the Lord - would I live up to it today?

To know how God sees!

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 20th week in Ordinary time 

August 17, 2021: Judges 6: 11-24; Matthew 19: 23-30

The Lord's choices are curious, infact, strange! There is a series of them we can cite from both Old Testament and the New. Today's first reading presents to us one such personality - Gideon, a fear-stricken young man who defines himself as the least of all in Israel - is chosen by God and called, "Mighty Warrior". The numerous others like Jacob the less-stronger, David the puniest of the sons, Solomon the son of the coveted wife and over to the New Testament the uneducated fishermen and despised sinners as disciples and apostles - the list is endless. 

In fact the whole of Salvation History is accomplished in and through the instrumentality of these so-called odd choices. It is very clear: "it is impossible for humans; but for God everything is possible." While the world and we ourselves look for something, God looks at something totally different and expects something totally different from us! 

We look at the external appearance, the capacity to get noticed, the facility with which one makes a propaganda for oneself, the popularity one can attain, the comfort one can create for oneself, the promise of ease and pleasure that one can pose for the present and for the future...these seem to be the set of criteria of judgement and choice. The more saddening part is that even internally each of us is convinced of these criteria and we judge ourselves too on these counts. 

Real liberation of the self and the path to perfection will be possible only when we realise the fact that, what God sees and expects is the most appropriate. And when that coincides with what I see and expect from myself - the miracle happens! In the Reign, the first becomes the last and the last becomes the first!

Leaders are to be nurtured!

WORD 2day: Monday, 20th week in Ordinary time

August 16, 2021: Judges 2: 11-19; Matthew 19:16-22

An interesting part of the book of Judges we have today to reflect on - it gives us a pattern of Israel's relationship with the Lord, how short of memory and how terribly ungrateful they were. But the Lord does not react as humans do. Though God's people go away from him, the Lord draws them close and raises new leaders to guide them on. At the right time, the right type of leaders arise because they arise in the eyes of the Lord. It is not leadership that is vied for, plotted towards and grabbed with influences, but intended and willed by God!

May be a point to lament about today - lack of such leaderships, in all spheres, be it the so-called secular or the supposed-to-be spiritual. Corruption, deception and malice which cropped up every now and then in the past to punctuate history with sadness and helplessness, has now become the order of the day. And ironically, we look for and rejoice in one or two who come up, once in a blue moon, to be 'true' selfless leaders and sadly, even that lasts not very long -either they are absorbed into the mainstream corruption or they just disappear out of sight, like shooting stars.

The reason: radical commitment to the truth and intimate relationships with the Divine are scoffed at. As Jesus challenged the the young man in the Gospel today, our young generation has to be challenged with not just words and concepts, but with life, experience and witness. True Godly leaders do not appear from nowhere; they are nurtured, grown and raised in our households! 

Apart from lamenting our times, is it not high time to appraise our lifestyle and start living for truth in communion with the Lord, so that an all new generation of persons of God can be awaited with hope!

Participating in the Fruits of the Risen Lord

Solemnity of the Assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary

August 15, 2021: Revelation 11: 19a, 12:1-6a, 10ab; 1Corinthians 15:20-27a; Luke 1: 39-56

"...The revered Mother of God, from all eternity joined in a hidden way with Jesus Christ in one and the same decree of predestination, immaculate in her conception, a most perfect virgin in her divine motherhood, the noble associate of the divine Redeemer who has won a complete triumph over sin and its consequences, finally obtained, as the supreme culmination of her privileges, that she should be preserved free from the corruption of the tomb and that, like her own Son, having overcome death, she might be taken up body and soul to the glory of heaven where, as Queen, she sits in splendor at the right hand of her Son, the immortal King of the Ages"

These were the words with which Pope Pius XII in the year 1950 defined the dogma of the Assumption of our Blessed Mother, in the document Munificentissimus Deus (art.40). Mary is presented to us as the first fruit of the Redemptive mission accomplished by her Son and Son of God, Jesus her Saviour. Though it is a Sunday, the Church insists on celebrating our Blessed Mother this day, because in her and in her Assumption we celebrate the Salvific grace of Christian vocation - that we are chosed, called and blessed with the gratuitous gift of God - the eternal redemption. On this beautiful occasion Holy Mother the Church invites us to celebrate a solemnity on three major counts.

First of all, we are invited to Celebrate the Faith, the Faith of Mary, the young girl who cooperated with the Divine Plan and totally abandoned herself into the hands of God with her words - Be it done unto me according to your Word. The first concern for her was the Word - the Word of God which became flesh in her womb - and she became the Temple of God, the Ark of the Lord as we read in the first reading today. God acknowledged her faith, her response of faith, her obedience of faith with wondrous gifts! If the Immaculate conception is understood as the grace that God gave in preparation for her role in the Salvation history, Assumption can very well be understood as the reward that God blessed her with for her Absolute Cooperation! We are called to celebrate this faith, which Elisabeth acclaims in the Gospel today - Blessed is she who believed in the fulfillment of what God has spoken!

Secondly, we are invited to Celebrate the Hope, the hope of Resurrection, the core of our faith. "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in sin" says the part of the epistle that just precedes the second reading of today! Christ is the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ, we hear in the reading. God anticipates that for Mary as a sign of hope for us who belong to Christ, to show us that we are destined to be fruits in the line of Christ. Everyone who thinks and laments of death and the darkness of death, is today invited to open his or her eyes in hope and look at the fact that Christ has overcome death and each of us is called to overcome death, as Mary, a human being just like you and me, has overcome that death. Nothing, not even death has any claim over us... God alone, God's only Son and our Saviour Jesus Christ alone can claim us to Himself. We are called to celebrate this hope, which St. Paul affirms that death will be the ultimate enemy to be destroyed!

Thirdly, we are invited to Celebrate the Love, the love that God Almighty had lavished on his predilected daughter, the love that Jesus showered on his sweetest mother, and the love that the Holy Spirit covered the most beautiful handmaid of God with. Pope Pius XII in Munificentissimus Deus (art.25), makes a splendid reflection saying, the primary reason for belief in the Assumption is "the filial love" of Christ for His mother. Mary herself knew how much God loved her - she proclaimed "My soul magnifies the Lord, for the Lord has looked with favour on me and done great things for me!" Just like Elisabeth who felt the blessings of the Lord by the mere presence of Mary, we too will feel that love, that favour, that blessings from the Lord, if we stay close to Mary, our sweet loving mother. We are called to celebrate the abosolute and unconditional love of God which is poured into our hearts, just for us to behold it and be transformed by it.

Today, Celebrating the faith we are called to become like Mary, persons who listen to the Word and thus become bearers of that Word, like she became the Ark of the Lord! Celebrating the hope we are called to fix our eyes on the Saviour and ever yearn to belong to Him, so that we can taste the fruits of his Resurrection, as Mary participates in the fruits of the Risen Lord. Celebrating the love of the Lord, we are called to become personification of this love in our contexts, and inspire people as Mary did, to praise the Lord in the words that our Blessed mother gives us today - My soul Magnifies the Lord!

To be overpowered by love alone!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

August 14, 2021: Remembering St. Maximilian Kolbe

Joshua 24: 13-15; Matthew 19:13-15

As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord, declares Joshua before the people. He leads them by example! Just like Jesus who made it clear to the people that following him was not always a pleasure trip – ‘the foxes have their holes and the birds have their nest, but the son of man has no place to lay down’ – Joshua too makes it clear that choosing to serve God and giving a word on that, is a challenging task! 

But for children to depend on someone, without too much of thought to their own ego or pride, is a natural capacity. That is what prompted Jesus to say, ‘Unless you become like children you will not enter the Reign.’ And today in the gospel too, Jesus presents the children as the paradigm of the Reign of God. Innocence of the children is from the absence of pride and their docility is from the absence of ego. If we have to remain with the Lord and forever be God’s, the prime enemies we have to do away from within us are – our pride and ego! 

We remember today Maximlian Kolbe, a saint of our times whom I personally look up to with awe! He lived with courage, his call to be a Christian, that is his call to choose God above all else! He took seriously 1 John 3:16 - "... we ought to lay down our lives for our brethren." That is the sign given to us to testify for the absolute choice we have made for God. But how much we cry and complain when someone causes us trouble, or spoils our name, or ruins our prospects...that is a sign that we have other choices which matter to us more! 

Right enough, at the canonisation ceremony, Pope John Paul II declared him as 'the Patron Saint of our Difficult Century'. A saint from the greatest of all tragedies of the just gone century in the concentration camp of Auschwitz, where Kolbe chose to die in place of another (that was Franciszek Gajowniczek, who was present at the canonisation of the saint). 

Let our choice for God be absolute. If that is the case, nothing can ever overpower us, except love!

Love: can there be a measure?

WORD 2day: Friday, 19th week in Ordinary time

August 13, 2021 - Joshua 24: 1-13; Matthew 19: 3-12

The gratuitous love of God and the conditional love of humans – that is the contrast the Word brings to the fore today. Taking the reins from Moses, the young Joshua consolidates his people reminding them of the great history of faith and wonders that they have behind them, the great things that God had accomplished for them though they deserved none of them! What a way to begin a leadership, reminding ourselves of the unconditional love of God!

The love that God lavishes on us, and the measure in which God does it, we do not deserve it at all. It is a gratuitous gift from God and God has never counted the cost, even to the extent of sending the only Son of God as a ransom on our behalf (cf. John 3:16). That love is the model set before us, by Jesus. It is not a mere polemic on the part of Jesus, it is done deliberately.

When Jesus changed the commandment of Leviticus (19:18) from ‘love your neighbour as yourself’ to ‘love one another as I have loved you’ (Jn 13:34), Jesus made a deliberate choice to propose God’s love as the model. Having God, who is Love itself, as the measure, can we ever love enough? Accepting one another, forgiving one another, being good to one another, wishing the good of the other with all one's heart – in all these we are called to measure up to none less than God, who is Love itself! 

If we truly accept Christ's teaching on love, we cannot stop loving at any point and for any reason! Can there really be a limit, a measure?

The dry ground phenomenon!

WORD 2day: Thursday, 19th week in Ordinary Time

August 12, 2021: Joshua 3:7-11,13-17; Matthew 18:21 - 19:1

The presence of the Lord with the Israelites was a solid and concrete presence - the pillar of fire and the pillar of cloud that we have seen and today the splitting of Jordan when the bearers of the Ark step in. The presence made a great difference in the lives of the people and at times the Lord made it concrete because they were constantly forgetting the fact. 

Today we have the Jordan splitting itself - the upper Jordan and the lower and they saw the dry ground. It is a repetition of the experience when they crossed the Red Sea with Moses, they walked on dry ground even then. In our life too, there are experiences of dry ground - we walk through them without our feet getting wet or dirty or stained or soiled, not by our own merit but by the grand mercy of God. 

That is what Jesus is reminding us of - when you find fault with your neighbour, when you judge your brother or your sister, when you call them names, when you have your finger pointing at your fellow persons, remember the dry ground phenomenon. You are standing on a dry ground, your feet unsoiled because the Lord has had mercy on you. Remember, your dry ground is not your merit, it is God's mercy. When you are mindful of it, you will surely be a member of the Reign.

Moses, Joshua, Clare and You!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

August 11, 2021: Remembering St. Clare of Assisi
Deuteronomy 34: 1-12; Matthew 18: 15-20

Today we listen to an account of the demise of Moses and the taking over of Joshua. Moses was a great prophet, an unparalleled leader, a person who related to God as if to a friend - but that does not mean he would go on forever. He faced his end. Joshua took over and there was an end to him too. None of us is indispensable - neither Moses, nor Joshua, nor you and me! We are all here to do the will of God, each one in our own way, in our personal life. And one thing that will remain to ensure continuity is the community, the faith community, the people of God! This is what Jesus teaches his followers today. 

The Faith Community, that is, my brothers and sisters in the Lord together as one, have an indispensable role to play. This is where the Church draws its importance. At times we belittle our faith, as if it is between me and my God. Yes, it is so, but it is between me and my God in the context of my brothers and sisters in the Lord. 

The saint we remember today - St. Clare, was a close collaborator with Francis of Assisi, in the much needed renewal of the Church of the medieval times...how did she help in the renewal? Just as Francis did, she built up a community of sisters, who would live in communion with the Lord, with the whole universe and above all with each other. That was the model of renewal proposed then, and it serves even now, or anyday! That which can renew the Church or the humanity is love, love in the Community! 

Know the people of God whom you live with. Love your faith community. Be responsible towards the community around you. As a follower of Christ, I am called to express and live my faith, in and among a community, given to me by God. Let love reign!

The Call to Give - a life of fruitfulness

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

August 10,  2021: Remembering St. Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr

2 Corinthians 9: 6-10; John 12: 24-26

The best of all giving, is giving of oneself! Giving of one’s abundance, giving of whatever little that one has and giving even if one does not have enough for oneself – these are praise worthy in their respective order. But the highest of all giving is Self-giving.

Celebrating the Deacon-martyr, St. Lawrence, we are reminded of the early Christian communities that were so much characterized by persons who were blessed with the special charism of Giving of their own selves, apart from what they possessed. They were cheerful givers, and so we find their numbers kept growing unprecedentedly. The very spirit that they radiated held captive those who saw them and multitudes were drawn to emulate it. They were ready and willing to die to themselves that Christ may come alive in them! 

St.Paul’s words were true in so many of those early Christians – “I live, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal 2:20) and “for me to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil 1:21). These were not mere catchy sayings; they were true lived experiences and we witness it in great martyrs like St. Stephen, the apostles and St. Paul himself. St. Lawrence follows suit very closely later in the third century. After all, they had but one model who had invaded and conquered their minds, hearts and spirits - Jesus the ultimate personification of self-giving - the grain of seed that chose to fall to the ground, that it may abound in its fruits: we are the fruits and let us be worthy of the grain which has borne us.

Thinking of dual citizenship!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

August 9, 2021: Celebrating St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross or Edith Stein

Deuteronomy 10: 12-22; Matthew 17: 22-27

I run every risk of being misunderstood if I write, Christians have to be people with a dual citizenship! With the pseudo-religio-political claims that prevail in our land (India), that 'all Christians are westerners', the risk is real and concrete. But let me stay clear of any further misunderstanding, by immediately explaining myself - that we are undeniably legitimate citizens of the country we belong to, but at the same time, we look forward to the one that God has prepared for us (Heb 11:12 & 16). 

The first reading today underlines the primacy of God and God's place in our lives! In the Gospel, Jesus shows us an example of looking at everything in life, absolutely everything in life, from the perspective of God. Even a question of paying tax leads Jesus to reflect on the fact that we are sons and daughters of God, that we are free by virtue of our participation in the Divine Nature of God! 

The capacity of Jesus to move from the ordinary things of the daily life to a reflection on our relationship with God, is something amazing and something that we need to practice ourselves too. We see this capacity enshrined with ease in the saint we commemorate today - St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross or Edith Stein - a profound Jewish Philosopher, who discovered the reality of the revelation of Christ and found her salvation in the Lord and in the Church. 

Let us at the end of this day, look back and see how many God-talks we were inspired to, all along this day, and usually how frequently do we think of our Saviour and things pertaining to God during our day! Should we not seriously think of our concrete dual citizenship!

BREAD FOR THE JOURNEY

The Bread, the destiny and the Journey

August 8, 2021: 19th Sunday in Ordinary time
1 Kings 19: 4-8; Ephesians 4:30 - 5:2; John 6: 41-51

When we were kids, I am speaking of more than three decades ago when eating at hotels or restaurants was still reserved for exquisite occasions, we would go on family pilgrimages that lasted over a couple of days. Apart from the spiritual value it had, I am reminded of the special preparations that were precluded, specially those of preparing food for those days, which we would take along with us. There were certain types of rice preparations that would last for two days or even more, without the necessity of refrigeration or anything of that sort, but it meant extra care and special recipe at the time of preparation. As a kid, I remember I would get excited at the spread because the more it was, the longer the journey were to be. The preparation already gave us an idea of the duration of the journey.

Get up and eat, the Angel tells Elijah, it is going to be a long journey! The food was not merely to be eaten for the moment, but it was a source of sustenance. The Word this Sunday invites us to look at the Bread for the Journey, which means to look at the bread, to look at the destiny that is long and to look at the journey itself which could be trying. But do not be preoccupied says the Lord, because, I am the bread for the journey, I am the destiny of the journey and I am the journey!

I am the bread for the journey.

I am the bread, not any bread but the bread that has come down from heaven, and only the bread that has come from heaven can prepare you for heaven. Remember that you are bred for heaven, that is, you are being nurtured for heaven and I am the bread that can transform you into true stuff meant for heaven. The longer the journey is, the stronger the food has to be; the more trying the journey is, the more nourishing the food has to be. As bread from heaven, I have within me not merely all sweetness but all that it takes for you to make this journey!

I am the destiny of your journey.

You have to reach me, and you cannot come to me unless my Father draws you to me! My father has drawn you, that is why we are here conversing with each other. I am the way and not merely the way, I am the destiny too! Fix your gaze on me and do not get lost on your way. There would be pitfalls all along: the grudge that you can have against your brothers and sisters will distract you from progress, the anger that you harbour at heart can weigh you down and dampen your spirit; the spite that you have for others might make you lose your vision ahead. If you have to reach me, you need to take care of your relationship with others - be friendly; you need to pay special attention to those in need - be kind; and you need to be loving towards those who do not love you - forgive! The Holy Spirit has given you the capacity to make all this possible, do not waste that power invested on you - make it up to me, I am waiting!

I am the journey.

Do you think I am sounding like a task master, having given you a task and waiting to see if you got it completed? No, I am not only the destiny of your journey, I AM your journey! I am the way, I have told you this! I am the way, I am the journey, and I am the bread for the journey, all you need to do is, look up to me, learn from me, feed on me and be nourished by me. Eat of me, and become like me. Drink from me and be filled with my Spirit. Eat and drink, that you may grow into my very self... that is the journey - growing to be me! It is a life long journey, a journey of becoming me! 

You have embarked upon this journey right from the time you received the Spirit from my Father, that was when the Father drew you to me! Now that you are well on the way, my child, realise that I am the journey and never stop your progress, that I am the destiny of your journey and do not take you eyes off me and that I am the bread for your journey, be strengthened by me and be transformed into me!

Grow up! Will you?

WORD 2day: Saturday, 18th week in Ordinary time

August 7, 2021: Deuteronomy 6:4-13; Matthew 17: 14-20

What do you have that you have not received, St. Paul would question us (1 Cor 4:7). Isn't it true, that we have received gift after gift, grace after grace from the Lord to begin with from our very life! The Lord has given us, filled us with so many gifts and graces, protected us thus far, provided for every bit of our need - what does he ask for in return? Nothing but faith!

Faith is my personal response to a God who reveals, gives, forgives and loves me so much. How ready, willing and prepared am I to give a personal response to my Lord. At times I am happy and satisfied with doing the minimum possible, as a requirement to be fulfilled - by way of attendance at some Church service, some fixed recitations and regular almost instinctive practices - but are they truly meant and do they come from the depth of my being? What I do in the name of faith, is it truly what I wish to be my response to the love that I don't deserve at all?

As Jesus gets so irritated with the disciples today in the Gospel, so will it be if Jesus speaks to us in the heart of our hearts - when will you grow up? My Father loves you and does everything for you, keeping you as the apple of His eye. And what do you do in response? Have you truly committed yourself to an intimate relationship with my Father?

Can we really answer those questions?

The Light for our way!

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

August 6, 2021: Transfiguration of the Lord

Daniel 7: 9-10,13-14; Mark 9: 2-10

The disciples see their Lord in his glory and all that they want is to remain in that state of splendour and delight! There was a proposal also to make tents, and stabilise their presence. The sense of awe makes them feel like reifying that moment and that event. It is nothing wrong, isn't it? However, the call is to climb down, move on and keep walking, taking advantage of the light that the moment has shed! Though Jesus was all the time with them, the disciples needed that experience on the mount to behold his power and glory. 

Our life of prayer, that is, our relationship with God who shares every moment of our life, is punctuated at times with ‘peak’ experiences, to sustain us in the tedium of the daily journey. Retreats, pilgrimages, charismatic conventions, supernatural experiences and miraculous events – these are very useful and important, but cannot become a daily need! Effective substitutes for these that the Church suggests to each of us, are the Sacraments of Eucharist and Reconciliation – which when celebrated with the zest and the earnestness that they truly deserve – can become peak experiences on a regular basis. 

To walk with Christ every day of our life - that is the call that we have received and not to go by merely exciting events and extraordinary moments. But the Lord deigns to throw the light of faith in God's own ways. If we are attentive we shall receive those timely gifts and keep marching on every day and every moment, accepting the light for our path. 

The feast of transfiguration that we celebrate today has this call for us: on our daily journey, let us observe the glorious presence of the Lord in the ordinariness of the day. Let the gentle beckoning of God keep sounding in our ears – “This is my Son, my Chosen. Listen to him.”

Basilica of Mary Major

August 5, 2021

We celebrate today the feast of the dedication of the Basilica of Mary Major, 

one of the four major Papal Basilicas in Rome. 

It has a great historical background as it was one of the first basilicas built 

in honour of Mary, Mother of God. 

The miracle that is said to have happened 

to reveal the exact spot chosen by our Blessed Mother herself, 

the miracle of snow in the mid summer night, 

gave rise to the title 

Our Lady of Snows! 

There is nothing greater than God's plan!

WORD 2day: Thursday, 18th week in Ordinary time

August 5, 2021: Numbers 20: 1-13; Matthew 16: 13-23

Moses and Peter – their impatience and impudence come under scrutiny today! Moses, whom God spoke to as a friend, and Peter, whom Jesus called the Rock on which he would build his Church – even they, as leaders give themselves off in a moment of fatigue and overconfidence! 

Discipleship is not a victory gained once for all! It is a daily commitment and a perpetual challenge. Anything can bring down to the ground whatever we have built with days, months and years of hard work and persistence. We cannot afford to grow careless. That is why Jesus teaches us to watch and pray and be vigilant always, that the moment of the enemy may not overtake us (Lk 21:34-36). 

The murmurings and the hardheadedness of the people catches on to Moses and in a moment of impatience and restlessness, Moses instead of waiting on the Lord, decides to act on his own account. While the Lord asked him to speak to the rock (20:8) in order that the water may flow, he strikes the rock with his baton (20:11), to make it dramatic before the people and draw their attention! 

The commendation from Jesus gets to the head of Peter and he turns presumptuous to question the will of God! He begins to think he has to even tell Jesus what is alright and what is not to be done; he wishes to have his way inspite of what God reveals. Not that he was conscious of it; but he was mindless, he was losing his head over his popularity with Jesus.

Both Moses and Peter are promptly indicated their mistake. The lesson is clear for us today – to remain vigilant in our discipleship that we may always remain calm but cautious, confident but humble, persistent but patient, passionate but attentive to the Will of the Master! May these two great men, Moses and Peter, and many such persons of God, teach us by their example: there is nothing greater than God's plan!

Great is your Faith!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

August 4, 2021: Remembering St. John Maria Vianney

Numbers 13: 1-2,25, 14:1, 26-29, 34-35; Matthew 15: 21-28

Faithlessness or Faith – As you sow, so you reap! 

“As you have spoken I will do unto you!”-“As you wished it shall be unto you!” These two phrases, former from the first reading and the latter from the Gospel seem similar, though they are not! Considering the contexts, they are infact contrary to each other – one a reproach from the Lord and the other an approval. However, the message is same – FAITH. 

The first reading seems to be a rationalization on the part of Israel, as to why they had to sojourn forty long years in the deserts of Paran – a simple reason: lack of faith! The Lord could not walk them to the land of milk and honey, as promised, because they were stubborn and hard headed, never yielding to the guiding hand of God. 

The Gospel pictures a woman whose request has apparently no place on the 'to-do' list of Jesus that day! But the list had to be changed by all means. Logically as in another place we read, that due to lack of faith Jesus did not accomplish much signs and wonders, here Jesus could not but make that miracle happen because of the grandeur of the faith of that simple woman! 

Grand faith and simple woman, syncs well with the simple man and grand apostle that John Maria Vianney was! He was not a great scholar or a doctor of the Church, nor a Bishop or a cardinal, nor was he a great founder or a prolific writer. He was a simple, underrated priest, who was such a success in the eyes of the Lord, because he brought not just a village but great multitudes to faith! The secret: his faith was really great!  Like Jesus said today to the woman, he would have said to the saintly Cure d'Ars - My Son, Great is your faith!

How blessed it would be if Jesus were to look at you and me today and say, “My Son, My daughter, great is your faith!”

Note: Let us pray for all priests known to us, as we celebrate the feast of St. John Maria Vianney, the patron of all priests! May our priests be as simple as Vianney and as profound in faith as he was!

Like the men of God!

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 18th week in Ordinary time

August 3, 2021: Numbers 12:1-13; Matthew 14: 22-36

The Word speaks of two Men of God today - not merely by the popular title but by their very life style and the way they respond to tough situations. 

Moses, against whom the very people whom he served grumbled, including his closest collaborators. What did he do? Held it against them? No, that was not becoming of a man of God. Even when Miriam stood affected by her own sin, he intercedes with the Lord, obtaining her health back. he proves to be a man of God.

Jesus the Son of God, the ideal man of God proves himself so, by being so unaffected even when he knew his own disciples knew him not. They did not understand him, they thought him to be an evil spirit. In spite of it, when Peter wishes to walk on the water, he gives him that privilege. He was so patient, kind and gentle with the disciples, because that is the mark of a person of God, a God who abounds in mercy and love.

How many circumstances present themselves to us today, to remind ourselves and testify to those around, what it means to be persons of God. In our personal lives, in our family situation, in the social scenario, in our reaction to the global happenings... in all these we need to show ourselves to be persons of God, by our lives and especially by our choices! 

Yes, the call is loud and clear - to live for God, for God's people and above all for the strengthening of the Reign of God, here and now.