Integrity is to remain children!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

October 1, 2021: Remembering St. Teresa of Child Jesus 
Baruch 1: 15-22; Luke 10: 13-16

Integrity belongs to the Lord proclaims prophet Baruch. We have only responded with our weakness, the prophet laments. But despite that the Lord has always considered us God's children, who fall, fail and falter but are always in the heart of the merciful God. God wishes to keep us in the heart, but are we humble enough to remain?

All good things we begin with a great spirit, as children who are excited about the new uniform and new books and notebooks for the school, but soon get tired of them and wish to get rid of them as soon as possible. To remain children is a special capacity. It is a capacity to acknowledge the love of God, a readiness to be open and attentive to the Lord's commands, and an eagerness to hold on to the relationship that God offers us on a daily basis and do all that we can for the sake of God's will.

This is what Jesus meant when he said, unless you become like children you would not enter the Reign of God. We need to be attentive to the Lord and listen to God's will... God's will shall be brought to us through various means, especially through the persons around and events that happen. If we listen to them, we welcome God's presence; if we refuse to listen to them, we reject what the Lord wishes to communicate!

St. Teresa of Lisieux lived just 24 years, never crossed her convent walls but today is known as the patroness of the missions... because the center of her life was the Word to which she paid a close and loving attention. She lived a life centered around the Word- that is the life that the Lord has invited us to: to listen to the Lord and grow in our integrity. That is, to remain children, to remain God's children all our life.

The Book and the book of life

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

September 30, 2021: Celebrating St. Jerome

Nehemiah 8: 1-12; Luke 10: 1-12

Celebrating Jerome, we are reminded of how he dedicated his entire life for the Word of God. Vulgate, the famous translation and the most diffused of the versions for a long time in the Church, was majorly a work of Jerome. We see in the first reading the Book being openned and read in public and all the people passionately responding to it. This is a prototype of what a Church has to be, provided already in the Old Testament - the people of God united in the Word of God and together responding to the Word saying: the law of the Lord gives joy to the heart! 

The Book - has always remained the source of meaning and joy for the people of God. The Book here is not merely a set of printed papers bound together, but it refers to the living Word enshrined in the faith tradition of people and the community. It is the Word, who lives and moves amidst us, enlightening our minds and hearts, as to how our life has to be organised and celebrated. 

When the Word is listened to wholeheartedly, and it is put to practice, gradually the Book gets translated. It gets translated into the book of life... The Bible may be the Book of life, but it has to give rise to the book of my life, for every one around me to read, understand, experience and get to know God. With just reading the Bible, one does not become a son or a daughter of God, but in becoming the book, in tranlsating the Book into daily life choices. 

Hence the feast of today and the Word invite us to a coherence between the Book and the book of life, between the Word of God and the way the Word is lived by each of us. Look at Jesus preparing his apostles to be sent to proclaim the Word - he does not give them a training on how to proclaim, what scheme to follow and how to frame the announcement! He  simply tells them "proclaim the Reign" and rest of what he  says is all about how to live, where to stay, what to eat and wear, whom to meet and with whom to stay! In short, Jesus is focussed on their life and life practices, as he gives them the commission to proclaim the Word.

That is true of us too... We have the Word which has to determine our daily life; the Book that has to be the source of the book of our life - then we shall worthily be called God's people, sons and daughters of God. 

The felt presences of God

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

September 29, 2021: Celebrating the Archangels
Daniel 7: 9-10, 13-14; John 1: 47-51

Angels - how do we understand them? Angels are of various types and categories in various traditions. Every faith tradition speaks of angels, and each from its own perspective. As we well know, the Christian understanding of Angels is much drawn from the Jewish understanding of Angels, which in turn was much influenced by the Egyptian understanding. However, the Catholic teaching has gone through much refinement and we should thank God for the continuous revelations that we have had right through our faith tradition.

Angels are the extensions of God; they are infact the felt presences of God. When a person needs to understand what the Lord wants of the person, the One who speaks those words is Angel Gabriel, the message of God. When a person badly needs a healing, a boost of health to carry out his or her assigned tasks in life, the One who brings that healing or the necessary strength is Angel Raphael, the healing of God. When a person feels weak and worn out, unable to withstand the tiresome world, the One who strengthens them is Angel Michael, the strength of God. 

How many persons we come across on a daily basis, in our homes, our families, our communities, our workplaces, who long to hear a good word, who look for a soothing balm for their hampered hearts, who long for a sustaining assurance! Think about the moments in which you were yourself in those typical situations... how much you would have longed for such a 'help from above'! Anyone who came up exactly at those moments with exactly what we needed, are part of a divine intervention. They are indeed angels! 

The question now is, not what I am in need of. But, what am I going to do for those in need around me today: for the least, how much time am I ready to spend with them? What good words do I have in store for them? What encouraging gesture of mine is going to strengthen them in their endeavours? 

In short, how do I plan to start being a felt presence of God to my neighbour?

Knowing God is from within...

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 26th week in Ordinary time

September 28, 2021: Zechariah 8: 20-23; Luke 9: 51-56

Though Evangelisation is one great mission that is entrusted to every person who knows God, it is not a means to force anyone to get to know God. One cannot know God by force - neither by brutal force nor other milder moral force! In fact, attempting to make people know God by any force only works against the very objective. 

Knowing God has to happen! It should come from within. The concerned person should feel the presence of God in and through the persons around, the situation around and the experiences that happen. Hence evangelisation essentially, is not making people know God but making people see what I have known about God, how I know God and as what I know God!

It is not forcing someone towards knowing God, but creating a situation, enabling experiences, that would enable people to know God and experience God. The key and the secret here is that my life has to be so encompassed by the presence of  God that those around me find a clue to experiencing God in our day to day normal relationships. It is not to do with some exceptional moments or miraculous happenings but with my daily life, normal choices, habitual words and my spontaneous outlook on life events.

Once I really experience God, know God and fall in love with God, people around me see the experience that makes such a difference for me, and they wish to get to know God from me and begin to love the One whom I love! This is true evangelisation, and that comes from within because, without any doubt, knowing God is from within.

The Lord calls us 'My People'

THE WORD AND THE SAINT 

September 27, 2021: Remembering St. Vincent de Paul

Zechariah 8: 1-8; Luke 9: 46-50

The Word time and again reiterates that the Lord shall be our God and we shall be the God's people. To be the Lord's people, we have to make some definitive choices: for an instance, there are two grounds presented in the Word today. 

One, that we behold and recognise the presence of the Lord amidst us! To behold the Lord's presence we should be worthy and prepared. To recognise the presence of the Lord we should be open and eager to experience it. And finally to cherish the presence of the Lord we should be humble and docile, to listen to the challenges posed by that presence, in our daily life. That leads us to the second ground.

The second ground is, to choose to live our life according to the values and criteria that are given by the Lord and worthy of the Lord. As St. Paul would often remind us: not conforming to the standards of the world but being recreated in the image of Christ (cf. Rom 12:2) and putting on Christ (Rom 13:14). Putting on Christ who is the visible image of the invisible God, is to become as merciful as possible, as loving and compassionate as possible, as other-oriented as possible. 

Here the saint we commemorate today, St. Vincent de Paul, stands a great example to us. He was someone who challenged himself and shaped his entire life towards becoming like Christ to the needy, the poor, the suffering, the neglected and the least in the society. That is the absolute criterion of becoming like Christ, that is becoming truly God's people, in imitation of the Son of God!

Yes, the Word and the Saint of today pose this question to us: the Lord calls us "My People"... are we prepared and worthy to call the Lord with courage, "My God"?

THE REIGN PEOPLE

Solidarity in the Lord

September 26, 20215 - 26th Sunday in Ordinary time

Numbers 11: 25-29; James 5: 1-6; Mark 9: 38-43,45,47-48

We are living, not just in the time of plurality, but in a time of post-truth plurality! Are you wondering what this term 'post truth plurality' is all about? We shall first reflect on it, clarify it first and then enter into the Word of God for this Sunday, because the Word has a challenging call to give us! We know what plurality is - specially if one is from a context like India - we experience plurality on a daily basis. Plurality of religions, languages, proveniences, socio-political ideologies and so on, are our normal life situation and it is a universal condition. But what is this post-truth plurality? 

Avoiding a whole lot of philosophical excursus on what 'post-truth' means, we can simply understand it in these terms: it can be a precarious stand that persons (or societies at large) take when it comes to truth, accepting what vibes with their convictions as truth and insisting that they should have the freedom to hold it so, but at the same time not allowing the other/s to have their opinion or their judgement on things. It is a kind of relativism that is self-centred or autoreferential. Now taking off from that description, post-truth plurality is - affirming and appreciating a plurality that is convenient to oneself and failing to see the goodness or the possible positivity in another similar experience of plurality! Don't we have realities today which boasts of 'unity in diversity', but looks at difference as a problem, diversity as a threat, plurality as a dangerous multiplicity and not a richness! Why all these discussions - simply to hightlight the fact that we, the so-called people of God, that is 'Reign people,'  cannot have such a mentality of pseudo-openness of convenience or hypocritical and empty dicourses of being one people of God but in fact, feeling divided and egoistic. The readings bring out this message with such power, in three exhortations today.

Intracommunitarian Solidarity: The first exhortation from the Word, to be Reign people is, to practice Intracommunitarian Solidarity, that is, solidarity with those who are with me, my fellow believers in the Lord. In the first reading, when the enthusiasts with Moses get upset with those two of their fellowmen - Eldad and Medad - because they were getting popular by themselves, Moses grabs the opportunity to give them the lesson: we need to live in solidarity in the Lord. It is not about who does what, but about for whom we do what we do! Within a believing community, it has to be for the Lord, only then we are truly Reign people. How many times within our parish communities, religious communities or even within the family, there arise problems because some one is doing good! Our ego and our sense of jealousy makes us uncharitable to our own brothers and sisters, making every one's life sad and miserable! How can we be called Reign people?

Intercommunitarian Solidarity: The second exhortation towards being Reign people is, to promote intercommunitarian solidarity. This has to be lived in varied levels - taking a family as the fundamental unit of a people of God, it takes the form of a sense of solidarity among families; solidarity among one believing community and others (as St. Paul used to insist with the early Christian communities); interdiocesan communities or among religious congregations... at whatever level, without love and unity, we fail terribly in our vocation. The worst scandal we can give the world is our disunity. Just imagine the interdenominational or interconfessional problems we create and nurture, without understanding all these differences will turn obsolete in the presence of the Lord, in the Reign of the Lord. Jesus teaches this in the Gospel - you should not stop them from performing miracles, anyway they did it in my name, isn't it, he asks the disciples who looked so apprehensive about someone else taking away their coveted place. Jesus' point is , to be Reign people, we need to transcend all these demarcations and convince ourselves, that we all belong to that One, Powerful, loving God!

Extracommunitarian Solidarity: The third exhortation towards being Reign people, is to be, as Pope Francis repeats so often, 'being a Church that reaches out!' We cannot be closed in within ourselves, if we need to be truly people of God, authentically persons of the Reign. Looking out and reaching out, in particular to the poor, the exploited, the oppressed, the down trodden and families in crises. James begins with a conceptual painting of partiality in a community, dual standards in treating people and so on...and ends with this teaching on woe to those who are insensitive to the other. This is in fact one of the essential criteria for a Reign person - to have the capacity to see the sufferings of the other. Jesus taught it in clear and lucid terms, and the apostles learnt from it. To reach out to the needy, to help and empower the poor, a kind word to the worried, a simple smile to one who is sad and lonely, these are some simple  gestures endorsed by the Spirit of the Lord who works through anyone, absoluetely any one.We cannot let the black clouds of hierarchical thinking, chosen-people syndrome, and fear of the Truth, obscure the light we have within us as children of God. 

To be Reign people, in short, is to grow in communion with the Lord, with the rest of our brothers and sisters, and with the entire universe. That communion is really the Reign of God that we are called to proclaim and make present. doing that we shall grow to be Reign people. 

God and God alone

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

September 25,2021: Zechariah 2:5-9,14-15; Luke 9: 43-45

Beginning with last Sunday the Gospel has been dwelling on the theme of Jesus announcing his suffering. However, it is not yet the close of his ministry, if we carefully watch the context of the passages reflected upon. What then is Jesus proposing to teach? 

Life with the Lord is not a career, it is not a life securing strategy. It could be infact, on the contrary, a challenging self giving. When we make a choice for God, we are taking a risky step of giving away our traditional concepts of security, social upward mobility, self satisfaction and so on... but beyond all these insufficiencies there is the only Reality that can give meaning and fulfillment: God and God alone! 

I shall be a wall of fire for my people, says the Lord, an unassailable protection with an undying love. What a great guarantee we have in this promise of the Lord. But let us beware, it does not happen automatically. It is not that we are in that protection by default. We need to positively and by choice submit ourselves to that protection, it involves a definitive life style and deliberate daily choices. When we whole heartedly submit to the Lord, the magic happens - the wall of fire surrounds us, our divine shepherd guards us.

It is this underlying conviction based on the almighty presence of the ever living God that gives joy to a God's child, happiness beyond all struggles, calmness beyond all anxieties, loveliness beyond all brokenness. God and God alone, can fill our beings truly!

Shake Up the World

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

September 24, 2021: Haggai 1:15 - 2:9; Luke 9: 18-22

A little while now, and I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land, says the Lord in the first reading. Shaking up was a characteristic experience that Jesus gave to those who were around him. Jesus' self understanding and his consciousness of the Divine mandate was so strong and clear that it shook the earth and heaven; not merely that once when he died on the cross rejected and condemned, but every time he came in touch with an old fashioned clichéd concept of spirituality. 

He shook up the pharisees, the saducees, the high priests, the lawyers, the herodians, the traditional Jews...and among those whom he shook, some became his followers and some others disciples and apostles. There were some who could not accept it and they wanted to do away with him and they did it, when they tried him and nailed him on the Cross. But all that remained was another shake up for them! It is Jesus' characteristic mark, to shake up those who are with him.

The same shake up happens everytime a follower of Christ lives up to his or her call and mandate. A follower of Christ, that is a Christian, has to be filled with the glory of the Lord from within. Look at some people who have lived very close to our times: Maxmillian Kolbe, Oscar Romero, Mother Teresa, Cardinal Newman or the thousands of Christians who stand up to their faith even if it were to cost their lives. 

The call for us today, is to be mindful of every situation or opportunity that would give us the possibility of manifesting the glory of the Lord enshrined within us, and by the shake up the world wherever we are! Can we?

Rebuilding the Body of Christ

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

September 23, 2021: Remembering Padre Pio of Pietrelcina

Haggai 1:1-8; Luke 9: 7-9

It is important to know that the house is in ruins and more important to know the reason. The world today is experiencing that ruin in many fronts. The wounded peace, the wrecked ecology, the neglected humanity, the despised helpless, the insensitive power centres and added to all these the ravaging pandemic... these are the experiences of ruins. If we carry on our lives paying no attention to these, but trying to live our religious lives as mere ritual requirements, we will be like Herod who was more curious to see Jesus than earnest to see himself in the light of Jesus.

The Saint we celebrate today, a saint of our times - hardly fifty years ago did he die. He stood as a reminder to the world, calling attention to the ruins of humanity, the ruins of human soul, the ruins of total wellbeing. As a dedicated pastor, he vehemently opposed the hypocritical practice of religious traditions and called people to an uncompromising commitment to Christian vocation. He stands today a great testimony that challenges every Christian to question and appraise oneself and one's commitment to the Lord. He reminded everyone whom he came across that we belong to God and as one community we build up the Mystical body of Christ, here on earth.

Today, to reflect on our house of ruins is not merely to criticise ourselves or everyone else who is around, but to look at ourselves in the light of Jesus and his Mystical Body. The Mystical Body of Christ is the communion of believers, the communion of human persons, a true communion of heart and spirit. Are we building up such a presence amidst us? If not, Jesus' body, the house of God, is in ruins! It is important that we know that the house is in ruins and more important that we analyse to see where really lies the problem. 

A bit of sincerity and a lot of dedication will set this house back in order - am I doing my part in it?

Set out... restore the ruins!

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

September 22, 2021: Ezra 9: 5-9; Luke 9: 1-6

Looking at the world today, one has enough to criticize, enough to lament and enough to detest. But that is not what a disciple of Christ could do at his or her best. The Lord invites and challenges us to 'Set out to restore the ruins'. God called in history people like Moses, Ezra and Nehemiah, the other prophets, John the Baptist, Jesus himself, Francis of Assisi and many others; just as much does God call you and me today, in our own way to restore the ruins and certainly not to add to them.

Even in and through our facebook messages, whatsapp forwards, blogposts, tweets and circulated mails we are given with opportunities and scope to restore ruins and not create more havoc. There are enough hate-spreaders, we need not add to those numbers. Our justice need not be a justice of an uncharitable self righteousness; it has to be filled with charitable holiness. Even when they reject you, move on shaking the dust off your sandals, the Lord suggests.

It is not so easy in a world so dominated by egoistic agenda, divisive mentality, exploitative mindset, vindictive perspectives and inhuman developmental processes! The majority of the world tends to play it according to the tunes of the mighty and the rebellionists find it an easy task to reject everything that the majority holds on to, spreading therefore ungodly leanings that strive to alieate human persons from the merciful God. 

Can we truly root ourselves on evangelical charity and fend for the weak, stand by the oppressed and think from their perspective? That would truly be restoration of the ruins in the eyes of the Lord.

The Call and our Response!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

September 21, 2021: Remembering St. Matthew
Ephesians 4: 1-7, 11-13; Matthew 9 :9-13

We come across the touching scene of the call of Matthew in the Gospel today, as we celebrate the feast of this great evangelist. The image that accompanies this reflection is by the famous painter Caravaggio...and it brings out the sentiment of the Gospel in a dynamic sense. There are a few clear messages that this episode of the call of Matthew can offer us... let us pick on just three of those:

- God hates sin not the sinners: there is no condemnation for those who believe in Christ, says the letter to the Hebrews. The Mercy of God cannot be an excuse for compromise between good and evil, sin and virtue, sinfulness and holiness. The call of Matthew is yet another splendid example to understand the fact that God hates sin, but loves that the sinners repent and get back to true holiness.

- When it comes to God's call there are no Jews and no gentiles; there are no favourites by default. We become favourites depending on the prompt response we give to that call. Many are called but few are chosen (Mt 22:14)... we are chosen depending on the response we give to the call we receive. Those who are chosen are strengthened, that they may stay on with the Lord as disciples and apostles!

- God dares enter my private home and dine with me no matter who the others are, whom I have invited. We may say, Lord I am not worthy that you should enter my home...but God enters! Should I not be prepared, ready and in a position to receive the Lord? Do I dare to let God come over, to the home of my inner self - are things in order, presentable?

The calling of Matthew reminds each of us of the call that we have received... how are we responding to that call, in our day to day life?

Roused in the Spirit

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

September 20, 2021: Ezra 1:1-6; Luke 8:16-18

Sentiments of grief, suspicion, hatred and violence is strewn all over the news these days. Every day we rise to newer and newer challenges against peaceful life on earth. Direct killings and terrorist fundamentalism on the one side; the hidden agenda and delirious deceptions of the dominant forces on the other side, normal peace loving human being is compelled to feel out of place today.

Do not be worried dear sons and daughters of God, says the Word today. The Lord is in control. The Lord made use of an alien king Cyrus to raise God's dwelling back to its glory and God's people back to their dignity - the same Lord is in control even today! Just as the Lord roused the Spirit in Cyrus, so shall we feel the rousing of the Spirit within, towards a new creation of heaven and earth!   

All that children of God need to do today, is be roused in the Spirit - yes, be roused in the Spirit, share the Word more and more, speak the mercies of the Lord to everyone, set the world ablaze with the love of the True God. Only then you can be called people of God. The light that is kindled in our hearts has to light up many more hearts and rouse up the Spirit in the entire community of faith, the Church. 

Here is the call for us in concrete: be children of God, be roused in the Spirit, be lights of the world, burn bright and help people give praise to the Almighty! 

CHOOSE GOOD; CHOOSE GOD!

Shunning evil and welcoming good

25th Sunday in Ordinary time: September 19, 2021

Wisdom 2: 12, 17-20; James 3:16 - 4:3; Mark 9: 30-37

Choosing God is choosing good; choosing good is being good; being good is being absolutely good! The good versus evil conflict is as old as the creation itself and we know it very well. Our origins are undoubtedly good, because it is only good that can create, not the evil; evil only destroys or evil creates only destruction! We are created by God, the ultimate goodness and we are created for goodness. Holiness is at the root of our existence - it becomes so difficult to understand, believe, accept and live by it, because of the unfortunate and miserable interplay of the evil, basically the negation of God, that is the negation of all that is essentially good. 

Choosing good, is not an easy option considering the situation we live in today and all sorts of tenedencies and forces that lie in wait to ambush our good will and our natural godliness that we find within us as humans. The socio-politico-economic troubles that are experienced everywhere, the rat race logic of individual progress, the corporate dominant globalisation of consumerism, the manipulation of science and technology by the mighty and the moneyed are not just global phenomena, but they affect even the individual human persons. The personal and interpersonal values in the society are subject to all these evil forces that destroy true happiness and joy. It is in this circumstance that we are called, by the Word this Sunday, to choose God, by choosing good. 

To choose God by choosing good, involves three dispositions in our daily life: to shun evil, to welcome good and to be good! 

Shun evil, with all your might! This is the first disposition that we need today to be people of God, because the leeway  between the good and evil has been drastically reducing through the ages and today it has reached a level that permits such a large proportion of compromise! We cannot give into this sad situation. The word today draws our attention to three types of people who get themselves associated to evil in varied degrees. The first, are those who say, "let us see what happens". They may not be the ones causing the evil, but they are still the causes as they permit evil and assent to it in their passivity, which is a classic example of compromise. There are the second type of people who lie in wait, they do not want to be identified as the causes of evil, but they rejoice in it and wait to reap all the fruits of it. And the third are those who plot, who kill, who terrorise, who destroy, who thrive on evil. All these three groups we see in the Word of God today - whatever be the degree, an association with evil is always ungodly, that is why the book of Wisdom calls them, 'the godless.' If we are to be God's people, we have to shun evil with all our might and choose to have nothing with it!

Welcome good, with all your heart! A positive and proactive way of shunning evil is, welcoming good, that is identifying the traces of goodness anywhere, not missing any scope of goodness, not being prejudiced of anyone or any situation, but being open to good from anyone and everyone. It is being attentive to the goodness in the other, recognising it, promoting it and enhancing it. Welcoming good is welcoming God. When Jesus spoke of welcoming the children, or welcoming the little ones, he was refering to everyone who had still alive, that original goodness, that innate goodness, that God-particle within each of us. Jealousy is refusing to see the goodness in the other and to rejoice in it. Ambitiousness is refusing to see the goodness within oneself, which is already present though to be perfected. It is refusing to accept who I am and striving to be someone else for the sake of proving a point, which is truly not there! Welcoming good is tending towards good, even though it is clear that it can cause inconveniences of all volumes! We are God's people when we identify good, wherever it may be, and welcome it with all our heart.

Be good, come what may! Doing good is good, but not good enough. The call is to be good, from which goodness, comes all the good that we do. At times people may look to be doing good - be it in the world at large, or in our societies, or in our families or communities - but beneath all the good that they do, there could be a tint of selfishness, jealousy, competetiveness, ambition and other hidden agenda... doing good here, does not necessarily come from a spirit that is good! Hence the admonition to stay clear of all hypocrisy and manipulation. That will lead to harmony within a person, harmony among persons, harmony in a community, harmony in a society and harmony in the world over. Peace in the world cannot come from broken persons or split persons; it is a gift that only a person of integrity can offer to the world. And that integrity is goodness in the core of one's being. Being good is the seed from where all peace and joy can sprout and spring into being. As people of God we are called to be good, come what may... being delivered into the hands of evil, being tormented with pressures, being threatened to death...nothing can stop us from being good. Being good is being godly, because God is good all the time. 

Choosing good is choosing God, and it involves shunning evil with all our might, welcoming good with all our heart and being good at the core of our being, come what may! May the Spirit of the Lord, the eternal wisdom, grant us the grace to choose God and choose God above all.  

To see and perceive and to listen and understand!

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

September 18, 2021: 1 Timothy 6:13-16; Luke 8:4-15

Jesus draws an important difference between seeing and perceiving, and between hearing and understanding. And he offers us an explanation that is so practical and down to earth. We can refuse to see; or hardly manage to see; or see but do not really perceive; or see, perceive and behold!

The times are such that there is so much talk about the end of times...the pandemic, the vaccine, and various others discussions relating to it. Though it is true that every now and then in history, there are times like these when the theme of end of times has emerged strong, it cannot be a mere matter of light headed comments. It should set us thinking how important a theme it is but how flimsily understood and handled. Today Paul speaks of it too, to Timothy. 

For all that we may believe, Christ is not going to "come", as if he is not here! He said I am with you always. Christ, who is already here with us, will be revealed in fullness of glory, in God's own time. Till then it is our duty and our call to see and perceive Christ in every person suffering and every person in need; to hear and understand Christ speaking in every cry for justice and every groan in pain. 

If we have to behold the Lord when the Lord is fully revealed... we cannot refuse to see; it would not help if we hardly manage to see; and it would not be sufficient if we see but fail to really perceive. We need to live in the presence of God, be conscious of that presence of God and draw inspiration from that presence so much that, we grow in our capacity to see and perceive, to listen and understand, when the Lord is finally revealed in all God's glory!

Keep fighting his fight!

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

September 17, 2021: 1 Timothy 6: 2-12; Luke 8: 1-3

The Word today establishes that to be a follower of Christ, it does not matter whether you are a man or a woman, a jew or a gentile, of noble birth or from a sinful past, all that matters is from the moment you decide to be Christ's follower, to manifest that in your normal conduct and your everyday choices. Christ should make such a difference in your life that you look at everything in a way different from that of the rest of the world. Especially at times when sufferings surround you and crises engulf you, you need to manifest yourself as disciples by your constancy, different from the world that looks for instant solutions and immediate outcomes.

Yes, most in the world today follow a hit and run policy, with regard to sufferings and struggles, but wish to call themselves strong, mature and rational. At the most they agree that they are rebellious, but they fail to understand their weakness -  of questioning God during their difficulties but not staying on long enough to get the right answers. Once a person approached a pastor saying that it has been long since the person had left the Catholic Church, because the person had lost a dear friend just around 25 years old. The person had raised questions such as, Why this person? Why now? and so on and left the Church in rebellion against God. The pastor asked a gentle question to him: you raised a question unto the Lord, did you wait for an answer at all?'

Living a life of discipleship requires an authentic mind, a humble spirit and a patient self. There is nothing wrong in raising questions to God, but we should be ready to wait for the response. Wait long and wait hard - that is what we mean a fight, a good fight of faith. There will be a response, an answer from the Lord - but you should be there to behold that response. Only then you would be in a position to say: I have fought the good fight of faith! Until then there is one thing we are called to do: Follow the Lord and Keep fighting his fight!

More loved... more powered!

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

September 16, 2021: 1 Timothy 4: 12-16; Luke 7: 36-50

It is not that she loved more and so she was forgiven more, but that she was forgiven more and so she loved more and more. It was not because Timothy was more powerful that he was entrusted with the people of God, but because he was entrusted with the people of God he was made power filled, by the one who chose him. 

People of God, are all chosen, chosen to belong to God, chosen to possess the power of God and chosen to inspire each other and entire humanity, towards everyone growing into the image and likeness that they have been created in. It is not because we, as people of God, are better than the others or more worthy than the rest of the humankind. The fact is, because we are chosen, we need to strive to become better, more worthy and ever conscious of our need to work for our own salvation and for the others'. 

Thinking and living this way, every person called in the name of Christ becomes a leader, an inspirer, a light on the top of the hill. And these leaders and inspirers are powered more and loved more because they love God and live for God and for others. Our lives need to become more and more salvific - for ourselves and for others around us. 

May every day help us to grow up to be more and more conscious of how much we are loved and empowered... that we may be more and more loved and powered.

The first one to Behold the Cross!

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

September 15, 2021: Remembering the Sorrowful Mother of God 

1 Timothy 1: 1-2,12-14; John 19: 25-27

If yesterday was the glorification of the Cross, today is the remembrance of the one who beheld that Cross, standing at its foot, for the first time! The Cross was not anything new. It was a common punishment for the offenders. But for the first time, its significance changes when the Son of God takes it into his loving embrace. Suffering for humanity is nothing new, but it all depends how we behold it, in our own lives. Mary stood by that Cross, and she did not realise what it really meant. What we celebrate today is not the theological interpretation that Mary gave to the Cross - No! She knew nothing of it.

We celebrate today, three important attitudes that we see in our Blessed Mother:

The surrendering love due to which she was able to accept anything that came her way after that 'yes' she said - the struggle without a place to give birth to her son, the exile to Egypt and back, the society that did not accept her son and everything that followed.

The enduring hope with which she believed in every word that was spoken to her by the Angel. She was blessed because she believed that what the Lord promised would surely be fulfilled. Even at the foot of the Cross or after the body was laid in the silence of the tomb, she stood firm in her hope.

The unwavering faith which led her to remain silent until every sword had pierced her heart - she knew nothing can take her away from the Lord. She waited until her son won over death and made her the sign of our ultimate victory over death. Mary shines as the beacon that illumines our lives and makes us understand, the ultimate victory belongs to the Lord.

May the sword that pierced her heart, make us meek, humble and obedient unto the Lord.

Rising to Glorify the Lord

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

September 14, 2021: The Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Numbers 21: 4-9; Philippians 2: 6-11; John 3:13-17

The Word today is filled with terms related to raising and lowering - being raised by God, being raised by people, self-lowering...and everything points towards the element of making God the priority and making God's will the absolute criterion, in our daily life. God has a design and that design is the original and the absolute good that is in creation. When we tamper with it, there is a mighty big ruin that we cause. This is the rationale behind be it the ecological crisis we face today or the pandemic that we are suffering from.

We know it is important for the cocoon to break itself open and the creature inside to squeeze itself out - only then will there be a creature so beautiful, colourful and subtle to fly around. We know it is important for the seed to bury itself in the ground, get suffocated under mud and force itself out of the ground to yield its multifold fruit.

At times in spite of all the love that we have for God and despite all the goodness we possess, we find it so difficult to accept pain - pains of different kinds - psychological, physical, spiritual, relational or social. The moment we are able to subject ourselves to pain with serenity, the moment we are ready to go through a bit of the darkness of the unknown, the moment we are prepared to grope a bit in the shady regions of our life... and do all these with complete trust that the Lord is certainly around, I begin to rise! 

When I rise, people will certainly begin to look at me, giving glory to the Lord, the Lord of the Cross! This is after all the exaltation of the Cross we are called to celebrate today and not merely some cult towards the crucifix! Let our daily lives become a perennial exaltation of the Holy Cross, from where comes our salvation. 

Found Missing: Good Leaders!

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

September 13, 2021: 1 Timothy 2: 1-8; Luke 7: 1-10

The Word today touches upon a crucial point for today - who is a true leader and what we need to do towards having true leaders. 

Look at the sort of leaders we have today - those who threaten all those around inviting them to prove their might, those who are busy proving themselves the most powerful, those who are busy promoting their own hidden agenda come what may, those who are more worried about their purses and positions than about those whom they intend to lead, the ones who are busy making noise without really substantialising their inner potency, those who have no stand on their own but try to capitalise on others' weaknesses and necessities - are these the kind of leaders we need? Are we the kind of leader that the centurion proved to be?

If we need to have good leaders, we should first, pray for our leaders - that those who are with the responsibility entrusted to them, be guided by the Spirit of truth and not swayed by falsity and popular craze for selfish goals. 

Secondly, we need to  promote such leaders, instead of losing them in time and space. What a sad fact it is that whenever we need to speak of good leaders, we go to the pages of histroy and quote a few from there. We need to identify good persons, persons with capacity and compassion and promote them to be leaders, and not go by the crowd and later lament! 

And finally, we need to become, ourselves the type of leaders that we wish to see. We expect certain qualities in our leaders, for instance, honesty and integrity, morality and humanity. Do we possess them and grow in them? Do we ensure our own children and youngsters in the family grow with these? 

Our faith requires from us this commitment that we organise our life, personal, familial and social, worthy of the God who we serve! It is good to take stock of our daily life and practice, isn't it? 

THE ACT OF FAITH

Actions, Choices and Thoughts

September 12, 2021: 24th Sunday in Ordinary time

Isaiah 50: 5-9a; James 2: 14-18; Mark 8: 27-35

Faith has to be lived, it has to be manifested, be seen and shown; if it does not, it can be interpreted as dead and good for nothing. The Word this Sunday offers us a perspective of living faith on a daily basis, not leaving it in the air as mere doctrines and nor reducing it to performance of rituals and practices. It is a perspective that makes faith concrete and life oriented: the ACT, that enables persons to live their faith and manifest a living Faith, in an increasingly secularised world.

The ACT perspective of faith consists of Actions that make faith alive, Choices in life that make faith truly concrete and fundamental for daily life, and Thoughts that make faith something that covers the entire being of a person, determining the very life style of the person, and not merely concerning with some sporadic elements of the life of person! 

ACTIONS: Faith has to be manifested through Actions of love

A Christian cannot be so for namesake. A believer cannot be merely someone who understands and accepts some sets of truth. A godly person cannot be someone who lives in an otherworldly atmosphere and refuses to get down to real life and its responsibilities. True faith has to be shown in concrete action. James today brings out this truth in such a candid manner.

Faith that is devoid of love is not Christian and that love when not shown in action is not real. Love is not treating people according your whims and fancies, it is approaching every person with a respect and reverence that he or she is an image of the living God. True love translates itself into commitment, a commitment for the wellbeing of the other.

CHOICES: Faith has to be witnessed to, through an absolute Choice for life 

With the pandemic and its related troubles continuing to surround us, with the forces of violence all around the world making their ugly presence felt every now and then, with the dominant and hegemonic economic demons of the globalised world threatening to suffocate the entire humanity, we have determinant and definitive choices to make, as disciples of Christ. Isaiah prefigures in his own life and self, what it means to be a true disciple of the Son of God. Cross is not all about death, instead it is about glory: this is the difference between the perspective of life and that of death.

The world and its culture today is prone to death - Pope Benedict XVI called it the 'culture of death' and the present Holy Father, Pope Francis continues to reflect on that phrase. Difficulties are highlighted, despair is amplified, destruction is perpetrated and death is felt in the air. It is nauseating for a true believer, because we are persons who have chosen life, life in all its abundance. We can never choose to be gloomy and sad, pessimistic and given up! We choose God, we choose life!

THOUGHTS: Faith should be based on the Thoughts of God

Who do you THINK I am, asks Jesus. It matters a lot - what we think, how we think and why think what we think! Thinking is an expression of our innermost dispositions. How we think about others will define what we really are. That is precisely why Jesus asks us today, that all important question. But when it comes to the realm of faith, human thinking and worldly calculations will never make us persons of faith. It is only in adapting a God-perspective, that is looking at and thinking of all that is and all that happens, from the perspective of God, that we can be filled with faith. 

Jesus had this God-perspective very clear. He taught the same perspective to his disciples too. That is the reason we see that he rebukes Peter for being contrary to God's thinking. Sufferings, crosses, and sacrifices are nothing strange, if and when we put on the mind of God and develop the God-perspective from within us. Within the perspective of God everything has its place and meaning. 

Let us pledge ourselves to an ACT of faith this day and in the coming week: to act in love, to choose life and to think like God - only then can we be truly disciples, apostles, and brothers and sisters of Christ.

Evidence of the inexhaustible patience

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

September 11, 2021: 1 Timothy 1: 15-17; Luke 6: 43-49

Paul calls himself the evidence of God's inexhaustible patience. Aren't we all such evidences... taking into consideration the endless opportunities we are offered to bear the right fruits at the right season.

At times persons ask questions like: why is it that people are so bad and they don't allow me to be as good as I wish to be! May be the Word today could answer that question... I am responsible for the fruits that are expected of me... there will surely be scores of others who will disturb, distract, discourage and disorient me but I cannot lose the direction that I am given with. I cannot blame it on others or the situation when I fail to bear the fruits that I should. 

However, we have a God who is inexhaustible in patience. It is beautiful to remember here those wise words of the saint of the gutters, whom we celebrated last Sunday. She was convinced and repeated often, God expects from us not success but faithfulness. But it is hard to be faithful, faithful amidst all the difficulties around.

This day cannot be forgotten from recent pages of history, a day that changed the entire world mentality 20 years ago. The twin tower blasts which implanted fear, suspicion, hatred, vengeance and universal mistrust, still affects the way persons and societies look at the other and others! But can we  just give into the influence of evil and hatred, in spite of all the hardships we face! Here is where our call to bear fruit amidst odds, stands out. 

Let us resolve to be good, to bear only good fruits, to never give up on the call we have received. May the inexhaustible patience of God fill us with necessary endurance to make this journey possible.

The Real Me

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

Septermber 10, 2021: 1 Timothy 1: 1-2, 12-14; Luke 6: 39-42

Humility is an essential part of holiness. Holiness never leads one to pride and anything that makes one proud is clearly indicative of being short of true holiness. That is why a holy person never gives into ego trips and anyone who feeds his or her own ego is still a long way from holiness. Humility and holiness have a great deal to do with each other. This points to two facts: firstly, that one should constantly look into oneself and be aware of the weaknesses to grow out of;  secondly, that those who are truly concerned about each other's holiness, take care and responsibility to help each other out!

It is a plain fact that realising the areas in which one has to grow and taking steps towards that growth is an important part of maturing in one's life. The other fact which the Word points today is a bit more subtle and complicated: mutual corrections, typically Christian ways of growing up together in holiness. Humility plays a very big role here. 

Humility is not an artificial debasement of oneself in any way. It is knowing my real self accepting it and being at home with it; at home with knowing my imperfections and continuously working on it. St Paul was mindful of his real self all the time. He never thought of hiding his dark past and was never bloating over the glorious state of his present relationship with Christ. In fact his relationship with Christ made him more aware of his real self. 

In Christ I get to know my real me, not just my past but also my call; not merely the splinters and planks in my eyes but even the blessings and splendour given unto me. Though I may be broken and fractured with imperfections, there is a glory that awaits me if only I am ready to constantly graft myelf onto Christ - because that is where I find my true image. That is the real me!

Put on Christ; put on love!

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

September 9, 2021: Colossians 3: 12-17;  Luke 6: 27-38

If we do not say that the words are from the letter to the Colossians,  one can easily misjudge those as some paraphrasing of a part from the Gospel and as words of Christ himself. Paul had so intensely taken in the spirit of Christ that his insistence of putting on Christ comes from his person much stronger than from his words. Love is presented as the crux of Christ's message. When Paul said, even elsewhere,  to put on Christ, he practically meant putting on love. Love, understood not as childish sentiment of attachment and dependence, but a Christlike selfgiving. 

Love is the sweetest of all teachings of Christ and it is the most difficult of all too, for it comes inbuilt with forgiveness;  forbearance, kindness,  gentleness, integrity and sacrifice. 'What is there in it for me?' - if someone were to ask that question, the answer would be a simple, 'nothing'. There is nothing in love that I intend to gain or get ; all that it really involves is giving and laying down. If I intend to receive anything, it is no love in reality! But the beauty of love is that, in giving, in losing, in laying down... I receive, a hundred fold. 

Does that sound too unrealistic and demanding?  The fact however is,  if we believe being a Christian is to put on Christ, it can never happen except by putting on love!

Destined, Chosen and Lifted High!

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

September 8, 2021: Celebrating the Birthday of Our Mother
Micah 5: 1-4; Matthew 1: 1-16, 18-23


The Birthday of our Blessed Mother brings home to us a typically Christ-ian message: the message of being chosen from all eternity, as St. Paul affirms in his letter to the Ephesians (1:4). "God has chosen you before the foundation of the world." God chose Mary from eternity and prepared her to be the worthy dwelling place for God's Son. That is why the Angel greeted her with those significant words: 'Hail! Full of Grace!' She, who was so full of Grace and who bore the fullness of Grace within her, becomes for us the bearer of grace. She was destined and chosen and God deigned to share with her God's glory. 

Mary's role as the destined and chosen one, reminds each of us of our status as chosen children destined to share in the glory of the Lord. When Mary was born, the climax of God's salvation plan was born.. of course, it was yet to reach its climax. Her greatness lies in the fact that she cooperated with God and it was that trait which led her to the glory that she enjoys today - lifted up by the Lord himself. Everyone of us is called to that same glory and we are faced with the same demand: that we cooperate with the Lord in the eternal plan, where we have a specific and irreplaceable role to play.

The scourge of the world today consists in the fact that it has lost the sense of the eternal. All that matters is the here and the now, the immediate and the instant differences that people look for. This is the tendency that leads to evaluating a person in terms of usefulness, looking at everything from the point of view of gain or loss and judging everything with the criterion of utility. Reading through the genealogy presented to us, we may think it just followed one after the other -but how long a wait it was for humanity, and that is the preparationg towards eternity! In God's plan everything has its place, everyone has one's proper place and role!

Let this feast of our Blessed Mother bring health to our mind and body! It is so much needed today: with the pandemic and the post pandemic effects affecting not merely our physical health but also our mental and spiritual wellbeing, may our blessed mother, celebrated as the Mother of Good Health in India, bring sanity and sanctity to our spirit and soul, that we may be fully alive, sharing and spreading the glory of God - that is what we are chosen for and that is what we are destined for! MAy God be praised in God's angels and saints! Ave Maria!

Rooted, bulit, held and filled!

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

September 7, 2021: Colossians 2: 6-15; Luke 6: 12-19

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

But, what are we called to?

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

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

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

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

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

Suffering - Sisyphus or Salvation?

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

September 6, 2021: Colossians 1:24 - 2:3; Luke 6: 6-11

When we read the passage from St. Paul in the first reading today, we can easily be reminded of the Greek Mythology of Sisyphus. The famous mythology is about the character called Sisyphus, who receives a curse to push a big boulder up the hill... all his days, he pushes and pushes it, only for the boulder to roll back to the foot of the hills in no time. And he would begin it all over again. He would carryout that meaningless and endless routine all his existence! The existentialist philosopher, Albert Camus (in 1945) would compare that to human suffering, and say it is a meaningless affair that we cannot avoid. St. Paul's words to the Colossians might sound like it, when he says, I have to suffer for you and for the Laodiceans without having even seen your faces. But Paul never ever felt it was meaningless or endless, pointless or superfluous... according to him, it was salvific!

Christian suffering, however trying and burdensome it could be, can never lack meaning! If it lacks meaning, it is not because it does not have meaning, but we do not have the right perspective. Now the question is what is that which makes a suffering, or our outlook on suffering, truly Christian? Or in simple terms, what does give meaning to our sufferings? All our laws and regulations, discipline and rules, what really makes them all purposeful? 

What is that which gives meaning - the question itself has to be reformulated, because it is not "what", but WHO! Yes, it is the Almighty, the Lord who renders them all meaningful and purposeful. Without God, suffering is meaningless, pointless and mere misery. With God suffering is salvific, purposeful and destined towards an ultimate good. It is God who renders our sufferings, our mortifications, our rules, our legalities meaningful. None of these would mean anything, even if we kept them with utmost diligence, if we do not feel close to God. 

This is in short the message and teaching that Christ has given us; the right Christian perspective to suffering: without God, like for Sisyphus, our sufferings are mere miseries; while with God, our sufferings are profoundly salvific! 

A PARTIAL GOD?

Who said God is impartial?

23rd Sunday in Ordinary time: September 5, 2021

Isaiah 35: 4-7; James 2: 1-5; Mark 7: 31-37

The readings this Sunday miraculously coincide with a world event that comes to its close the very Sunday, September 5! When Isaiah speaks to us of the deaf hearing, the dumb speaking, the blind seeing and the lame walking, we cannot but think of the so called, deaf and blind, lame and crippled, winning gold, silver and bronze, adding pride to their nations, in the paralympic that closes this very day. The persons with disablity proving their mettle at Tokyo these days, stand witness to the hope that if only we change our perspective and look at the whole truth, the holistic reality, the universal harmony, instead of dividing, stratifying, exploiting and manipulating the other, on whatever be the count. 

It is in this context that we confront a question today: Is God partial? Ideally speaking, we say, God is never partial, God is just and God is upright! But let us think a while... who said God is not partial! Now consider a situation, a case in concrete: you see a man in the act of stealing, and you also see the man who is being robbed of his something - what would you do? By calling out the thief, are you not putting him into danger and favouring the one who is being robbed? Is it being partial? No, it is being truthful, it is being just, it is being upright... isn't it? And that is why, we say...

It is logical that God is 'partial'... God is Truth, God is just, God is love, God is compassion - which logically says, God sides with truth and never with the lie; God sides with justice and never with injustice; God stands with those to be love, those who need understanding and compassion. It is only logical. James says today, God chose the poor! God chose those who are being oppressed. God chooses those who are suffering. God stands by those who are exploited, those who cannot fend for themselves, those who are unfortunate, those who have less than what they legitimately need to live their life to the full. Thinking in these terms it is very clear that...

It is not being 'partial', but being 'integral'... Being integral is being in perfect harmony without contradictions - between words and deeds, between what is public and what is private, between what is preached and what is practised. God is integral; God is integrity! There is no need for God to choose between good and evil, truth and deception, virtue and vice - God is integrally good, truthful and virtue personified. Jesus embodied this quality; he naturally stayed with the suffering, the less fortunate, the struggling in life - that is where love and compassion was needed; it is amidst the injustices that ray of justice was needed - and Jesus was there. Can we claim to be neutral, when there is some one who is exploiting and someone who is suffering? Have we not to take a concrete side? That is why we say...

God does have favourites... Blessed are the poor, the humble, the weak, the suffering, those who cry, those who are hungry, those who are persecuted... but why are they blessed? Because God has taken their side already! A Christian view of suffering and struggle in life, has to be a sense of hope and optimism, because God is very close to a person in these circumstances. It is not a very Christian question to ask: if God is, why is there suffering! Instead it is very Christian to understand and believe that wherever there is suffering, there is God! Amidst the people today who are suffering out of political crisis in Afghanistan, beside persons and families who are reeling under sadness, grief and crisis due to the prevailing pandemic, on the side of the poor farmers and economically downtrodden people everywhere who are oppressed by the corporate bullies... there is God present with compassion and strength. It is the call today to every disciple of Christ, to hold on to this Christian hope and instill the same wherever we are - that is the true spirit of the Reign!

The Reign of God is all about the so-called partial God, a God who stands by truth, by justice, by fairness, by uprightness of life - to ensure that all may have life, life in abundance. The Reign of God therefore is not a neutral pacifism, nor is it an inhuman antagonism. It is an ongoing struggle, a battle waged by truth against deceptions, a rebellion of peace against violence and a continuous self assertion of loving justice against selfish exploitations. Today as true disciples of Christ, inspired people of the Spirit and loved children of God, we are called to be builders of the Reign. Can we claim to be neutral? Can we avoid taking the side of the oppressed? Can we choose not to feel one with the suffering? If we are among the suffering lot, the Christian call is to understand how God stays close to us and we are not alone! 

Building the Reign here and now, means making the blind see, the dumb speak, the deaf hear, the lame walk... that is to become the eyes, the ears, the mouths, the legs and the hands of those who are affected with disabilities of all kinds - cultural, social, economic, political, religious and spiritual. God invites, even challenges us to be truly representatives of God initiating such processes in our concrete contexts. And what do you call God who is the protagonist of this very process... a partial God?

Allowing God to work!

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

September 4, 2021: Colossians 1: 21-23; Luke 6: 1-5

Transforming a person is not difficult for God - Paul today reminds the Colossians how they have been transformed by God, from foreigners and enemies to pure, holy and blameless people of God. Yes, transforming a person is not difficult at all for God, provided there is a will on the part of the person to be transformed. The flesh could be weak, but what is needed is the spirit that is willing as Jesus would instruct his disciples.

Jesus found it so hard to make the pharisees and the scribes understand the Good News that he brought with him. Not because they were unintelligent nor because they were not able to see what Jesus was trying to tell them, they were unwilling to see, they were refusing to change, they had decided not to transform themselves.

We have today the sacraments and various other helps to pull ourselves up, make ourselves over and transform ourselves constantly in spite of our weaknesses, but we fail. Not because we cannot, but only because we do not want to, we do not have the will to. When we allow God to work in our lives, continuously pulling ourselves up and resuming our journey with the Lord, the Lord will surely transform us. That is the beautiful word we have in the responsorial, let us say it with faith: I have God for my help.

To reconcile everything!

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

September 3, 2021: Colossians 1:15-20; Luke 5: 33-38

Paul states the ultimate destiny of all creation- to be reconciled in Christ. Humans, animals and all creatures alike, and the entire cosmos ultimately has to be reconciled into one, through Christ, in God. That is the essential movement of all reality and any thing that militates against this, has to be suspected in its motive! 

Applying such a movement to the socio cultural scenario and the interpersonal communitarian perspective of our lives, anything that divides, separates or stratifies cannot be trusted to be from God. Even if it is a spiritual practice or a theological concept that takes one away from the movement of reconciling everything in Christ, it has to be suspected. Be it traditionalism or novelties, be it supernaturalism or practicalities, be it customs or innovations, the movement should always be towards one destiny: ultimate reconciliation in Christ. If that is left out of focus, even the best of our efforts will either be selfish or ungodly!

Isn't it logical that an ego centered choice militates against the real center that is Christ and so deviates the unitary movement that should be there in reality? The choice could be hidden with many decorative justifications and sophisticated camouflage, but the truth remains what it is, at its core! Can I really escape the truth in the core of my being? This is precisely why, I need to grow more and more reconciling in my deeds. words and thoughts! These faculties cannot oppose one another - words sweet but actions wrongly motivated; or actions all flowery while the thoughts so ignoble! 

How reconciling are my thoughts, words and deeds? Is Christ the Omega Point always my focus, in all that I say or do?

The capacity for God-vision

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

September 2, 2021: Colossians 1:9-14; Luke 5: 1-11

Jesus demonstrates to the first disciples an extraordinary capacity of perceiving reality. We could refer to this capacity as God vision... that is the capacity to see beyond the apparent and the ability to perceive even what is not yet. This is seen in two levels in the Gospel today. One, Jesus seeing the catch of fish where it apparently wasn't and secondly, Jesus seeing the possibility of Peter and his companions with him becoming fishers of people. And the most interesting part of it all - Jesus promises them that he will develop in them the same capacity: the capacity for God-vision.

Today, we have the call to develop within us this capacity for God-vision. Each of us is invested with the power, by the indwelling Spirit, by the daily help of the Sacraments and the Word, with the assistance of the numerous Godly persons who are around and finally through events and happenings that speak to us of God and the evils of Godlessness. All that we need to do is, remain attentive and observe the signs and learn what God communicates. 

When we really develop the sense of God-vision and remain open to cooperate, God brings out of us the best that we never can even imagine. And eventually this capacity for God-vision will enable us to enhance within us the capacity to look at the best in the other, even at a point where it is not apparently visible. St Paul had become infact an expert fisher of humans and we see him manifest that quality of God vision- he perceives in the people of Colossia a people who are called for great things and not merely new converts. 

To be true disciples and apostles of the Lord, we need to grow in our capacity for God-vision, that will be a criterion and a sign of being truly persons of God.