HEAR...MY CHILD!

With your Ear, Heart and Spirit

31st Sunday in Ordinary time: October 31, 2021
Deuteronomy 6: 2-6; Hebrew 7: 23-28; Mark 12: 28-34

Hear O Israel... we read those words repeatedly today! Hearing... is one important faculty physically; we would talk about it in another occasion when Jesus restores in a deaf man his capacity to hear! Today we are more concerned with the spiritual faculty of hearing, a hearing that becomes fundamental to a truly spiritual person, to a son or a daughter of God, to a true child of God! God who is heard more than just a few times in the Word, crying out to God's people: Hear O Israel, Hear O my people, Hear my beloved, speaks to us today, those very same words: Hear, my son, my daughter, my child... hear me today!

How can we hear God? The spiritual faculty of hearing has three levels of perfection through which we are challenged to grow everyday.

Hear with your ears... that is the fundamental requirement, the physical hearing, the basic openness to what is around, what can be perceived, what is told, what is shared, what is right in front of one's eyes and one's ears. This is sympathetic listening...to what one says and what one communicates. There are so many who cannot really hear, what is said. They hear what they want to, what they have already made up their mind to hear. Even before a person opens his or her mouth to say something, we have heard what the person wants to say. That is, we have a bias that does not allow us to hear what is said! 

We are so prejudiced that we cannot really hear what the other person is saying, what the other person is sharing. About everyone around me, I have already made a judgement within me, that I am not able to hear what they are saying at all... all the time I am busy hearing what I want to hear, what I have prerecorded in my mind. Have you heard the sad story of a mother who thought her kid was trying to bunk school crying that his shoes were hurting, and forced him to go to school, only to receive a call from school a little later that the kid died of a scorpion bite, a scorpion which was in the shoes!

God communicates everyday through so many persons and events. If we do not really hear what is being said, If we do not perceive what is being communicated, we are missing a great lot of God! Can we really be God's children if we do not hear with our ears? That is why the Lord call our attention: Hear O Israel, hear my children, hear what I have to tell you everyday! However, hearing does not end here... this is just the first level, the sympathetic listening. We have to grow towards the next level...

Hear with your heart... 'heart' has an 'ear' within it: look at how it is spelt... h-ear-t; interesting isn't it? We are called to hear beyond our ears, not with our prejudices but with our genuine openness; yes, we are called to hear what is not said, what is not shared, what is not verbalised. This is empathetic listening... to what is communicated without words, in silence, with tears, with reactions, with some choices! This is a higher level of hearing, which is so attentive that I am able to hear not just what is said, but even what is not said, even what is stifled within, even what is meant by the simple words or gestures! This can happen only if I feel myself in the position of the one who is sharing, not when I stand in judgement of the other. 

A real educator will know that the naughtiest of the kids in the class is the most needy of attention; a true liberator of the oppressed will know that even the sheer silence of the oppressed is a big hue and cry for emancipation; a real prophet will know that every experience of suffering is a sign of hope from the Lord. Hearing things with the heart, would go beyond the events and understand its meaning, it will go beyond words and understand the experience.

God sends God's message through a myriad of experiences that come our way everyday. If we do not hear beyond what is said, beyond what is seen and beyond what is apparent, we are missing an important message that we are given from God. Jesus saw these, heard these and experienced these and that is why no one could dare question him or find fault with him. Today if we hear beyond the words that are spoken, if we see beyond the things that are noticed, the Lord will tell us too: 'you are not far from the Reign of God'. You are not far, but you haven't reached it yet...and therefore the need for the next level...

Hear with your spirit... hearing with your spirit is, hearing from within. This is Spiritual listening, that is listening to the Spirit who speaks from within! Jesus who has offered himself once and for all, as our redemptive sacrifice, has given us the Spirit who dwells within us: the Spirit who speaks to us, the Spirit who directs us, the Spirit who calls us from within. Are we in touch with this Spirit? If we get in touch with this Indwelling Spirit, and only if we do so, we can be considered people of the Reign, because we will make the Reign of God present wherever we are. This is why Jesus said in another place, Reign of God is within you (Lk 17:21).

Hearing with our spirit is being in touch with the Lord, being in communion with the Lord, remaining in constant relationship with the Lord. Do you think these are too big a matter to think of - then consider a simple term that explains all of this in one single word: PRAYER. Prayer is hearing, hearing what the Lord has to say to us, hearing with our ear, our heart and our spirit. Hear, my child, invites the Lord - are we ready?

Feeling forsaken and moving ahead!

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

October 30, 2021: Romans 11: 1-2,11-12, 25-29; Luke 14: 1,7-11

At times we dare ask that question: has God forsaken me? All the expression of an endless love on God's part notwithstanding, I ask that question, and wait for an answer - how cheeky!!! What really should the question be - has God forsaken me? or have I forsaken the Lord?

Forsaking, is not within the precincts of God. Being Forsaken - is an absolutely human parlance! God never forsakes, not even if it is the worst of beings that God is faced with. Because when God creates someone, God does so out of love! That love never changes, as does God's righteousness never change. God never forsakes... I will never forsake you, nor forget you, nor abandon you - that is God's eternal promise!

God's righteous love, accepts me whatever state I might be in. But at times, I reject God, keep myself away from God and remain indifferent towards God. I look for other things - human respect, worldly success, material affluence, social status and mundane glory! In this seeking, I forget God, I sideline God, I compromise God and finally, I forsake God! And then at a point on the brink of a total breakdown, I invariably come up with that question: why has God forsaken me? Jesus challenges us today: move ahead my friend!

Grow up and realise that it is not God who forsakes you; but you forsake God! Realise it... and then you will be truly able to move ahead and get on with God.

What stops you from doing good?

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

October 29, 2021: Romans 9: 1-5; Luke 14: 1-6

I would willingly be condemned if it helped by brother or sister, dares Paul. What if you criticise me for curing on the sabbath, I dont mind, as long as it liberates a son or a daughter of God, says Jesus in the Gospel. The message is loud and clear: doing good to the other cannot wait, much less, be stopped! In fact the passage and the episode for the readings today, can lead us to reflect on one important question in our Christian living: what can stop me from doing good to my brother or sister? Let us reflect on top-three blocks.

First is mindless self-centredness - because of which I fail to think beyond myself, my whims and fancies, my petty comforts and my comfort zones. I am unable to look around, look out or look up to anyone, learn anew and change my perspectives in order to reach out to the other. This is what St. Paul points out in the first reading today.

Second is infantile fearfulness - because of which, though I know what is right to be done, I fail to do it out of fear of criticism or fear of being ridiculed for the good I do. It may look too flimsy a reason, that is why it is infantile. But this is a very wide spread reason. Just imagine how many of us have this question before we do anything at all in our daily life: what will others think of me! Jesus challenges such a thinking in the episode we see in the Gospel today.

Third is obstinate wickedness - because of which, I choose deliberately what is against good; I choose to do harm, hurt, destroy, exploit, use or abuse, the other for reasons known only to me! What a wicked way of life it can be! Sadly, there are many in this mode of thinking and living, which causes so much evil in the world. Here is where a true Christian has to make a real difference today in the world.

Now the question to me is: what stops you and me from doing good to our brother and sisters? 

The Name Game!

THE WORD AND THE SAINTS

October 28, 2021: Remembering the Apostles Simon and Jude
Ephesians 2: 19-22; Luke 6: 12-16

We remember the apostles Simon the zealot and Jude son of James also called Jude Thadeus. These apostles have become relatively less known, they say, because of the confusion with their names. Simon was confused with Simon Peter and so lost his prominence. Judas was confused with Judas Iscariot and so became infamous. Curious, isn't it?

Reflecting on this curious fact from tradition, we can be inpsired by the wonderful piece of the opening prayer prescribed for the Eucharist today, which begins thus:

"O God, who by the blessed Apostles have brought us to acknowledge your name..."

The apostles were all about acknowledging God's name, not their own. Be it the instance where Peter and John at the Temple when people were looking at them astoundedly, or Paul and Barnabas trying to stop the people offering sacrifices to them, we see it very clear that the Apostles desisted limelight on themselves and always glorified the name of the Lord, the Lord who had called them and empowered them. Exactly so, Simon or Jude or any other apostle, they were all out to spread the Good News and give glory to God, building up the Body of Christ on earth: the People of God. 

Building, is our work but we are very much part of the building itself. We are all building ourselves up together to give glory to the name of the Lord. Let's beware of the name game that is going rampant these days: divided among ourselves under so many names and calling names at each other, maligning each others' names and playing the dirty worldly name game among us - as believers from varied churches or denominations, as members within the One Catholic Church divided on varied bases! That is not very becoming of that One Name we have on earth by which we will be saved, the most sweet and glorious name of Jesus. The division in the Church is the greatest of all scandals against the Gospel. With that one Cornerstone, let us unite and give glory to God's mighty name!

The Narrow door Challenge!

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

October 27, 2021: Romans 8: 26-30; Luke 13: 22-30

We have these days, as one of the social network crazes, the various challenges that go viral - certainly you remember ice bucket challenge, the momo challenge, the blue whale challenge, the bottle cap challenge and so on, of the recent past! What are these but a way to enter into a category of persons who are virally, virtually and on-screen accepted as heroes, just because they are able to do something difficult or strange that is proposed!

Jesus too is proposing something difficult and strange to us as his followers... the Narrow door Challenge. He says, 'strive to enter the narrow door'...not many do, because it is difficult and it is strange! 

It is strange because, when there is a large, spacious door wide open, why choose something narrow? While there are multitudes and multitudes who are going through the broad door and cheerfully doing so, why would someone choose something that is narrow and desolate! The large, broad, wide open door... everyone knows where it leads. But deliberately they choose, due to weakness or wickedness - do I wish to be in that number?

It is difficult to enter the narrow door, because obviously it is narrow! There are strict conditions and requirements, like they have for travelling in these days of COVID with all the restrictions. But that is the way to security. That is the gate to salvation! Very few choose it over the other, but they who are considered strange will be the only ones in the privilleged presence of God, they who are considered losers will be the ones that will win eternal life, they who are considered loners and last, shall be the true sons and daughters of God, true brothers and sisters of Jesus and truly inspired people of the Spirit. 

Midwives of the Reign of God

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

October 26, 2021: Romans 8:18-25; Luke 13: 18-21

Paul gives us a vivid imagery of the whole creation - the entire universe is waiting to be recreated, be made new, be born anew, to give birth to the new earth and new heaven... Jesus likens that recreation to the coming of the Reign of God. Reign of God, in fact is the recreation of the entire reality - physical, psychical, personal, interpersonal and cosmic - a recreation in the Lord!

The creation and the renewal... what is our role in it according to Paul? We who are already made new in Christ are invited to be facilitators in this process of re-creation; that is, midwives in this process of new birth. We are called to assist the world in bringing forth the Reign of God into this world like a large plant, or a seasoned dough.

The plant needs the seed, the right nurture and protection that it grows into the bush that it is called to be. The dough needs the yeast in the right tiny measure and it processes the entire portion of dough making it edible and tasty. So are we called to remain in the world today, little by little transforming the world into the Reign that has been initiated by the Lord.  That is where we belong - to the Reign, to that promised reality of God's fullness and bliss.

The call to us is clear: that we understand where we belong - to the Reign and not to world. Let us strive for the ultimate renewal - from within, not a mere external adjustment. The world looks to us, the entire creation groans with pains of childbirth and we are called to be midwives in the process of the new birth! 

Not slaves but heirs!

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

October 25, 2021: Romans 8: 12-17; Luke 13: 10-17

The point of discussion in the Word today is the difference between slaves and heirs and their respective traits.

A slave is governed by fear, is ruled by law and bound to restrictions. A slave cannot think beyond oneself and gaining favours by pleasing the one in command. A slave, even when he or she is doing everything for the other, is all the time self centered.

An heir is governed by freedom not fear, and is guided by love and empowered with spontaneity. The heir does not think about just oneself, but about the common good of the family, the community, the whole humanity into which he or she has been created and of the whole creation unto which he or she is a caretaker. The heir does everything for the greater glory of the One who has made him or her heir of a great family, of a great heritage, of a lineage that comes directly from God! Freedom rules out restrictions, love transcends fear and spontaneity despises calculations. An heir never schemes, but lovingly surrenders!

Jesus proves to be the rightful heir, experiencing God as the Abba and feeling the need to render a child of God wholesome. Laws and regulations did not matter to him; threats and warnings looked despicable in his sight. The greatest of all good news is, Christ has given us the same Spirit that was in him, that in our spirit we may be convinced that we are rightful sons and daughters of the merciful God. We are heirs and not just slaves!

MEET THE EMPATHISING LORD ON YOUR WAY

The Lord - like us, likes us, likens us

30th Sunday in Ordinary time: October 24, 2021
Jeremiah 31: 7-9; Hebrews 5: 1-6; Mark 10: 46-52

"God"...How do you understand that term... the Almighty, the Omnipotent, the Mighty One? ... you are still short of arriving at the God whom Jesus introduced to us. In and through Jesus we have a God who is all these but more than all these, a God who is close to us, a Father who loves us, a mother who cares for us, a beloved who longs for us, a friend who stays close to us and a Saviour who came down to save us... in short, an Empathising God!

How do we understand an Empathising Lord?

LIKE US: the Lord who is like us!

We have a Lord who is like us... like us in every way except in our sins. A Lord who came among us, ate, drank, laughed, cried, enjoyed, celebrated, loved, worked, faced hardships and temptations... He was like any of us, just like us and therefore, when we suffer, when we are troubled, when we have problems and temptations, the Lord perfectly knows what we are through. He is not someone who would judge us from afar or look down on our weaknesses but some one who would put His hands around our shoulders and comfort us, someone who would sit by our side and say, 'it's okay! I have been there too'! The second reading brings this out strongly.

When we say that the Lord made us in God's own image, it means we bear the image and likeness of God. In the mystery of incarnation the Lord has reconfirmed this likeness, when the Lord assumed our nature in body and spirit. It is a call that we have to become one with those in need, those in suffering, those who are in agony and those who are struggling with their everyday life. Apart from the fact that we cannot be passive onlookers, we cannot even be disinterested benefactors or well wishers...we need to become like them, one with them. Only then are we truly what we are called to be, disciples of the incarnate Lord.

LIKES US: the Lord absolutely likes us!

We have a Lord who likes us... who loves us, who feels for us, who wishes that we were happy, who wants to heal us, who wants to give us all that we need, who wants to walk us to prosperity and fullness, who wants to give sight to us, who wants to listen to us, who wants to reach out to us! God, our Father and Mother, who spared no effort, giving up even the only Son; the Son who keeps back nothing, not even his own life- his body and his blood; the Spirit who comes down to dwell within us, within our poor bodies, in our lowly conditions, in our daily toils. This is the Lord who loves us, likes us so much that he is ready to do any thing for our sake. In the first reading and the Gospel we have an exposition of the Lord who is merciful and kind, who is in love with us. The Gospel in a special way speaks of a Lord who listens to a lone cry amidst the large crowd, and has mercy on that person and heals the person in love!

This is precisely what Pope Francis wants the entire humanity to understand about God and about being Godly - God is merciful; God is abundant Mercy; being Godly is to first recognise the mercy of God and to live the same mercy with each other. God is not someone who keeps a distance or goes about with impregnable layers of security and innumerable guards. God is with us and God connects with us all the time, because God loves us!

LIKENS US: The Lord wishes to liken us to Godself.

The Lord who came down to be like us, the Lord who dies to show how much he likes us, does not stop with that... God wants to liken us to Godself. The first and the second readings present to us a God who wants to make us God's sons and daughters, God's children, God's beloved ones, God's favourites. God invites us constantly towards this fullness of becoming God's own. We become God's own by opening our eyes of faith. We become God's own by crying out with faith. We become God's own by trusting in faith that God can do and will do everything for us! Thus becoming God's children we will be with God, close to God and like God, for we will see God face to face, as says St. Paul.

All that we need to do is cry out from our hearts to God, and not bother about the crowd and the noise around, because the Lord shall single out our cry! And what a privileged moment it shall be when we hear the Lord tell us today: "Your faith has made you whole! Go in peace!"

Let us never forget the great truth that we have an Empathising Lord who chose to be like us, who likes us and who longs to liken us to Himself. Let us be prepared to meet this Lord on the roads of our daily life!

The Spiritual and the unspiritual!

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

October 23, 2021: Romans 8: 1-11; Luke 13: 1-9

Not all those who suffer are people who deserve it and not all the good that we enjoy we deserve. What God gives, God gives without even counting whether or not I deserve it... but in the course of handling them I prove whether I had deserved it or not! It is simply in the choices I make, and the priorities I build that I show whether I deserved what God deigned to give me or not; that is whether I am by nature spiritual or unspiritual.

The Word invites us today to think of the distinction between Spiritual and Unspiritual we would make in our lives...

'Spiritual' is thinking of God and godly things; it is having a trace of God within me. As God does not think of good or bad, deserving or undeserving, but always the good of every child of God, so am I called to think of the good of everyone. Being 'spiritual' is fundamentally, putting the good of the other first vis-a-vis the good that can happen to me! It is counting the blessings from the Lord and acknowledging every bit of the Lord's doing in my life... and thus considering it my duty to do all the good that I can!

'Unspiritual,' would be thinking all the time of increasing gains and reducing pains; it is putting my pleasure before anything else, even in the smallest of things that I get to do for others. It would be constantly complaining against God for any small inconvenience that could come by and claiming absolute personal credits for any thing that turns out to be good in my life. 

Now the question for me is: where do I belong - the Spiritual or the Unspiritual?

Pride - the urge prove myself!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

October 22, 2021: Celebrating Pope St. John Paul II
Romans 7: 18-25; Luke 12: 54-59

Many a trouble today brews in the waters of wanting to prove oneself at all cost. The world, the society,  teaches us from our earliest that one should prove oneself... how many wars have been fought in history due to this tendency! How many injustices and exploitations have been justified because of this urge, in individuals and collective mindsets... why, how many follies are being committed even today, in these days, as people and systems try to prove themselves right at any cost! 

But this urge to prove oneself... does it not sound very similar to, or same as, living one's life to the full? While proving oneself is always a phenomenon in comparison with the other where the other becomes a threat or a competition or an element to be eliminated, living my life to the full is a serene acceptance of who I am, what my capacity is and living it to the most. Here the others are my companions, my co-passengers and my colleagues! There isn't much need for proving myself, infact proving myself would turn detrimental within this mode of living.

Celebrating Pope St. John Paul II today, we are reminded of what he did which was called an unprecedented step in history, when he wrote that famous Mea Culpa at the threshold of the new millennium, asking pardon from God for the mistakes made by individual members of the Church and as a community of faith in the world. The Word instructs us on this attitude today, inviting us through St Paul to understand the call to grow in humility - humility understood as knowing the reality of our own selves. 

There is no need to justify oneself before people, for God knows who we are: that is faith. However weak and wrong we could be, God accepts us as we are and walks us to salvation through Jesus Christ if only we are ready to surrender: that is hope. This is the crucial lesson that the world needs today, to look at truth, accept truth and walk in truth, admitting when one fails and deciding to move on ahead in righteousness. Pride would never allow that...with pride, I would be worried only about proving myself! It would do good to no one, neither to me nor to the other!

At whose service?

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

October 21, 2021: Romans 6: 19-23; Luke 12: 49-53

Jesus speaks of a fire that he wanted to set ablaze - the fire of righteousness, the fire of integrity, the fire of sanctification! It is simply the capacity to burn for a cause, but the question is for what cause? Paul rephrases that question in his parlance - at whose service? At whose service am I? 

We find in the society today, people who claim to be at the service of the Divine - they claim; but whether they are, is a question to be answered only by themselves and by the Divine. But there can be indications that either prove or disprove their claim: sincerity, integrity, sensitivity to the other, love and true care of the common home - these are the indications that can sustain the claim of anyone who claims that he or she is at the service of the Divine. 

There are those in the so-called opposing camp - who say, they are definitely not at the service of the Divine. They declare themselves to be atheists and agnostics, rationalists and humanists! But sometimes, the experiences they are involved in, such as humanitarian concern, ecological consciousness, raising their voice for the voiceless and oppressed, going out of their way to stand for the truth and fight for justice, even where they have nothing to gain - these actions and dispositions prove, even against their will, that they are in fact at the service of the One, true Divine.

Now the question is those who are called to be at the service of the Divine - not the ones who claim to be nor the ones who profess not to be - but the ones who are specifically called to be, by baptism, by ongoing choices, numerous sacraments and occasions of grace! Yes... you and me... we are to ask that question to ourselves today: at whose service am I?

Fighting on the side of God

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

October 20, 2021: Romans 6: 12-18 ; Luke 12: 39-48

Make every part of your body into a weapon figting on the side of God - oh what a powerful spirituality that St. Paul proposes! Yes, fighting for God is a spirituality, a way of life, a mode of living our Christian call. How can I make that spirituality mine? There are three ways of life, or modes of operation, that would indicate that we are fighting on the side of God.

Firstly, that I am fighting on the side opposed to sin! My choices have to be absolute, deliberate and specific. There can be no compromises... I cannot take a neutral stand when it comes to choosing between sin and virtue, choosing between good and evil, choosing between truth and untruth, choosing between life and death! If I am for God, I have to be against sin, evil, untruth and the culture of death.

Secondly, that I am fighting! I need to fight, I cannot give up, nor lower my guard! I need to keep fighting, come what may. In my day to day life, I am a soldier of God. I need to fight ceaselessly. Even a moment of distraction or disengagement, can lead me to falter. Moments of temptation, moments of confusion, moments of delusion are bound to be there, but a soldier of God would never cease fighting.

Thirdly, I am fighting with God! When am I going to grow up? Yes, our help is in the name of the Lord, but can we go on all our life asking God to fight on our side, help us, strengthen us and so on? Is it not important that I grow in my faith, that is, grow in my relationship with the Lord to the extent that I am able to tell that Lord - Lord, I offer myself totally to you, you have given me life and you have given meaning in this life and I shall fight on your side! Your Kingdom come!

From those to whom God has given more, more will be expected... God has invested so much in us, should we not find ourselves, wherever we are, fighting on the side of God?

 

Forever ready and prepared!

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

October 19, 2021: Romans 5: 12,15,17-21; Luke 12: 35-38

Death entered through sin; everyone in the human race has been subject to death because everyone has sinned - these words of the first reading set us thinking. It further excites our minds when it says, through one man's obedience and sacrifice we have been liberated from the reins of sin! There are three facts that we are called to reflect on and pay attention to:

Firstly, that there is a very strong connection between sin and death. Sin is death. Sin is choosing evil over God; it is rejecting God the source of life - hence sin is death. When we choose sin, we choose death. That is one of the prime reasons why Pope Emeritus warned us of the culture of death that is prevalent in today's world - people are fond of choosing sin, knowing well all its ill effects!

Secondly, the death that St. Paul refers to here is not the chronological expiry of life that every being on earth is subject to. He is refering to a death that is eternal damnation, an eternal loss of life. Therefore, what Jesus offers us, that is eternal life, can be offered only by him and by the One who sent him. Jesus in his life, death and resurrection, has made this eternal life possible for us: the choice is ours now!

Thirdly, the choices is an everyday experience. It is not some kind of licence that we can get at the end of our life, or at a point when we think it is convenient. It is a matter of daily life, in every thing that we are involved in, in our priorities and in our day to day decisions, we have to make a choice, an absolute choice for righteousness and truth, for justice and love - then we shall inherit the Reign of God. 

When we are clear about our choices every moment of our life, we need not worry when the world will end or when my end would come - I am forever ready and prepared!

Making the Lord known!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

October 18, 2021: Celebrating St. Luke the Evangelist

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

The first reading today presents to us the predicament of St. Paul as an apostle, as to how he had to suffer, suffer alone and suffer until death. But amidst all these he never lost sight of his vocation: to make the Lord known! The reading also names two of the four evangelists - Luke and Mark... wonderful examples of apostles who were totally dedicated to the call that they had received: to make the Lord known! Luke alone is with me, Paul recounts, bringing to us the information about Luke whom we celebrate today, Luke who it is said, knew our Blessed Mother in person and even attempted passing on to us a protrait of hers! 

Celebrating Luke today, we are given to reflect about what it really means to make the Lord known where we are and in the times that we live. We see in the Gospel, as narrated by Luke, that the Lord sent them two by two, before him, to the villages which he was to visit, and gave them a specific message to announce. It is in that message that St. Luke gives us the key to understand what it means to make the Lord known... to make the Lord known is to make the Reign known! 

The Reign of God is near, was the message they were to announce and that was actually making the Lord known to those people. Today, our message too has to be that: the Catholic Church has proclaimed for the past five decades that it has definitively entered into the age of New Evangelisation - that is a re-proclamation of the Lord, which has to coincide with our proclamation of the Reign of God. Amidst the atrocities of the times where the poor, the weak, and the powerless are trodden upon, we are called to announce the Reign, the Reign of justice and truth, the Reign of liberty and dignity of all, the Reign of equality and mutual respect! That is truly, making the Lord known! 

HOPE - THE CALL TO UNLEARN

Beware of some fallacies of today

29th Sunday in Ordinary time: October 17, 2021
Isaiah 53: 10-11; Hebrew 4: 14-16; Mark 10: 35-45

May your love be upon us O Lord, as we place all our hope on you, we say in response to the Word this Sunday. Hope is a typically Christian value that we are filled in abundance with, when we develop a true relationship with Christ the Risen Lord. The basis of hope is faith, faith is nothing but this relationship we just referred to - a relationship that is born in recognising the Lord who communicates and in responding in the way that the Lord wants me to. When this relationship goes strong, whatever comes my way, I shall not be moved or shaken or disturbed or distressed! Nothing will ever perturb me! Because, Hope says things may go wrong for a while, struggles, temptations, troubles and difficulties might come your way, but do not lose heart - for God alone is everlasting! The final word belongs always to God, to no one or to nothing else! At times this becomes too difficult to understand or practise, because the world teaches us things that are diametrically opposed to these values. In fact the call to hope is actually a call to unlearn these fallacies of the world today.

Every Christian is an ambassador of hope, we are apostles sent into this world to hold out hope to every person on earth. Holding out hope is not an easy task... it needs a tough unlearning of certain fallacies that the world teaches its beings ceaselessly! Unlearning these first of all within oneself and then witnessing before the others is the call we have to live today, specially seeing all the tensions that are unceasingly on the rise, all over the world. Let us become aware of some three fallacies that we need to unlearn with urgency these days.

Fallacy 1: Life is all about happiness and pleasure

Fun, thrill, chill, prank, troll, freaking out, just do it... these are considered watchwords for today's generation. At times we justify everything with a statement, 'is it not to be happy after all that we do all that we do here on earth?' No! Life is not merely about happiness and pleasure. There are difficulties, there are struggles, there are sufferings that come our way and they are not just part of our life, but crucial parts of learning in life. 

Hence hope-filled personnel are those who are able to see beyond getting stuck to happiness and pleasure; there are various other values in life that Christ gives us and invites us to see!

Fallacy 2: I should be totally in control of my life

Planning ahead, programming things, forecasts and foretelling techniques: what are these but signs of desperate desire to be in control of things, of life and of everything that happens there in. But in spite of all these, there are times when we are caught so unaware and unprepared. Just imagine how this whole experience of pandemic began, and all the circumstances that have surrounded us since then. Yes, life is not totally under our control but that does not mean we are at the mercy of chance! God is in control and the more we realise this, the more wise and mature we become. 

A hope-filled person will never lose his or her cool before unexpected turns of life, because he or she knows for certain wherever life takes us, God is there with us and nothing happens without God's knowledge!

Fallacy 3: Progress is striving to dominate everyone around

In the name of success, development and progress, what the world today teaches us is that we have to look at everyone around as a competition, a threat, someone whom we have to trample upon in order to make our way! The world is getting filled with more and more insensitivity, cruelty and inhumanity. There is craze for possession and power, without even considering the possibility of living a life that is free of corruption or exploitation. There is a widespread tendency to use persons and love things, to make pleasure more important than personal dignity, to value personal likes and dislikes far more than common good and shared vision towards true happiness.  

Hope filled persons shall be counter witnesses to this situation, placing persons before things, relationships before comfort, love before success and peace before progress. They are around not to be served, but to serve; not to succeed but to live meaningfully; not to climb high but to live deep.

Overcoming these fallacies and unlearning the teachings of the world today might seem difficult, at times even absurd! But this is precisely what Christ calls us to... and he has been in every situation that we find ourselves in and he has lived a life as a perfect example of how we should. Let us look up to Christ our Hope, and stand firm in the way of life that he has taught us! Let us be hope filled persons, and fill the world with hope today, here and now!

Faith that speaks and acts

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

October 16, 2021: Romans 4:13,16-18; Luke 12: 8-12

Jesus assures us, true faith speaks for itself. We need not hunt for ways and means of explaining and defending our faith. In fact, faith has to be self evident and self explanatory. We don't need mighty big formulae to hold on to our faith or to expound it... all we need is the realisation of the constant and unceasing presence of the Lord with us.

When I am convinced of this presence I can hope against hope as Abraham did. Such a faith speaks on my behalf, clarifies things for me and others and acts in my favour in the ultimate analysis - because it is the light that is shed upon my life, significance of my life and the purpose I have in life. 

There is a beautiful insight that we hope none of us miss from the readings today, taken together. While Paul speaks of God as one who raises the dead to life and calls to life those which do not as yet exist, Jesus speaks of that one sin that cannot be forgiven, the sin against the Holy Spirit. They both are referring to the same, while the former cites a positive explanation, the latter provides a note of clarification. The sin against the Holy Spirit is the lack of Hope, which is a concrete expression of lack of faith leading to a life that lacks any love! 

If I am really a person of faith, there could be nothing that perturbs me, as the Saint of yesterday reminded us! Let our lives shine out, filled with a faith that speaks and acts!

Faith and what follows!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

October 15, 2021: Celebrating St. Teresa of Avila

Romans 4: 1-8; Luke 12: 1-7

Faith is a gift, a gratuitous gift from God! My part is to grow in it. The more I grow in it, the more I realise how undeserving I am of it. Abraham was granted this gift and he grew tremendously worthy of it. Paul was granted this gift and he fought a brave fight to become worthy of it. Jesus accuses those who throw those pearls of faith to the swines of their ego and self centered thinking. If I have received this gift of faith, should I not be grateful for it and mindful enough to keep growing in it. Can I be boasting about it and mindlessly acting contrary to it? Jesus is warning us about something that would not look apparently like an aberration of faith, but in fact leads us gradually away from what true faith is all about - 'the yeast' of the Pharisees, that Jesus mentions in the Gospel today.

Taking my faith to be a reason for my pride, judging everyone else who does not partake of it; calling names at people who have a faith different from mine merely because of the difference and treating them with despite; making faith a means to make my living instead of making it my life and journeying genuinely towards my eternal life...these are somethings that I need to be on the guard about! Faith is a gift given to me and I need to grow in it every day, every moment.

St. Teresa of Avila, invites us to look within us and observe the greatness that is treasured within us, and from there we can shine forth to the world: through a thorough soul searching and a realisation of the indwelling Spirit within us! For we may be unworthy clay jars, but exactly in these has the Lord placed the priceless treasures (2 Cor 4:7) of faith! Now that we are gifted with faith, what follows?

One God and the Bloodshed!

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

October 14, 2021: Romans 3: 21-30; Luke 11: 47-54

There is only one God... so finishes the first reading of today! We beleive in One God! Belief in one God seems to be a disturbing fact for many who think it is a point of contention - that those who believe in One God, have a point to prove against those who believe in a God different from theirs. But is this so? The Word today gives us a totally different perspective of belief in One God.

First of all, this perspective is more catholic than divisive! Believing in One God is a catholic perspective... not the technical term refering to the Catholic Church - but the literal meaning of the term 'catholic' which means 'all-embracing'. Believing in one God, challenges me to embrace everyone who is around me, because I firmly believe my God invites me to love all, because every one is created by the only God that I beleive in. I cannot look at a person as divided from me, however different his or her faith could be.

Secondly, this perspective makes me believe in universal brotherhood and sisterhood... as every one is my brother or sister, given to me by my God to love and share my life with. I cannot find in the other a rival or an alien or a stranger, much less an enemy!

Thirdly, laws and regulations, legalities and formalities, red tapism and border controversies, cannot stop me from being merciful and loving to the other. Believing in one God means I believe in the same God who is sovereign over all, the same God who loves all, the same God who cares for all. 

And therefore, due to any reason, worst of it being the reason of faith or religion, if I cause or condone the  bloodshed of a brother or sister of mine, I shall be the worst of hypocrites here on earth and the least in the Reign of that One, Supreme, loving God whom I believe in. 

Righteousness, Self-righteousness and Judgements

WORD 2day : Wednesday, 28th Week in Ordinary time

October 13, 2021: Romans 2: 1-11, Luke 11: 42-46

God has no favourites, says the first reading and Jesus demonstrates that in the Gospel. Neither in being close and accompanying, nor in providing a sense of righteousness (corrections and directions), does God differentiate between persons. The differences arise only in the way we receive or not, what the Lord wishes to communicate to us. In none of these are we judged by God - we are judged by our own judgements! Judge not and you shall not be judged said Jesus. And we hear today, Paul saying its corollary: judge and you shall be judged too, with the same measure and rigour!

Jesus spared no one - whether it was the pharisees or the lawyers or the chief priests or Herod or Pilate - everyone got their share! As much as Jesus was compassionate with the sinners, the publicans and the samaritans, he was stern with the Pharisees and the Saducees - was it a bias? Certainly no! They were in no way judgements passed on those people, but they were an appeal to their conscience to change their ways towards righteousness. It was done with concern for their salvation.

Understanding the discourse between the religious bigwigs of his time and Jesus, we see there were two things involved: Righteousness that Jesus insisted so much upon; and the Self-righteousness that Jesus detested in them! The thin line between Righteousness and Self righteousness has to be trodden with diligent care. 

Judgements arise from self righteousness, where I consider myself one-up and sit on the tribunal looking down on others. While righteousness makes one just and loving, non-judgemental and compassionate,  humble and impartial, and above all, lovable! It is God's righteousness that makes God the most lovable of all persons we can think of. And the love that we have for God, challenges us to grow towards that same Righteousness, from our tendency to self-righteousness. 

The Light of Integrity

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 28th Week in Ordinary time

October 12, 2021: Romans 1: 16-25; Luke 11: 37-41

The terminology used by Paul today sounds very practical, warning us that there are no excuses one can give for not recognising the hand of God in and through the immensity of the reality around. And added to that when it comes to me and God, I don't need to have proofs and justifications and evidences that I believe in God or not. Because God knows the innermost thoughts of mine and I need not be bothered about my presentations and formulations. This is the fundamental element of what we call 'integrity'...Having the least discrepancy between my inner self and my external behaviour, between my convictions and what I engage myself in on a daily basis, between what really matters for me and what I present myself as to others!

Jesus uses simple terms for that in the Gospel - inside and outside! Let both be clean he says... I can have no excuses when it comes to my inner self, for I stand convicted before God who knows the innermost thoughts. The question  which is more important - inside or outside, is a psuedo question! Jesus says when your inside is pure and holy, automatically your outisde begins to glow, like a light lit on the hilltop.

The many saints that we celebrate as our examples and intercessors, were people like us, but they were incomparable in their integrity. They were ready to give of their whole self to God - not just part time and not just a stage show or a dramatic performance. When I do all that I do, with true consciousness and sincere acceptance of why I do it, I am on the first step towards integrity. I need to constantly purify myself towards that integrity that will reveal God's image within me.

In spite of the beasts of this world, the attractions and the pressures that surround me, help me Lord to grow in my personal integrity!

The Call and the Reminders

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

October 11, 2021: Romans 1: 1-7; Luke 11: 29-32

The first reading today speaks to us about our call to belong to Christ, our call to be holy and our obedience of faith. At times we forget this fundamental call as we live our daily life  and all its responsibilities, getting lost in programmes and daily chores. We get so used to our life as Christians or as Religious, that it doesnt make any concrete difference in us! Gradually we lose track of our fundamental call, and go after things that matter nothing to our salvation, some of them even detrimental to it. We become so callous to our failures and disorientation that we do not even realise we are going farther and farther away from our destined goal: our sanctification.

One thing we are aware is that we can never justify our act, our choices or our priorities when they go against this call that we have received. First of all because we are given reminders after reminders, through persons, situations, events and experiences. Secondly because  the Lord comes to us in person to remind us that we belong to him, that we have a whole life journey to make with him on our side.

The Gospel offers us models by way of the people of Nineveh and Queen of Sheba, people who were so attentive to these signs and reminders that they instantly picked up the message that God was giving them. They recognised the voice of the Lord and Word that was brought to them, took the utmost effort to respond to their specific call.

That is the reminder given to me today: to know how much have I grown in responding to the call that the Lord has given me personally, the call to belong to Christ, the call to be holy, the call to my personal sanctification!

THE PRIMACY OF THE WORD

Between Godliness and worldliness 

28th Sunday in Ordinary time: October 10, 2021

Wisdom 7: 7-11; Hebrew 4: 12-13; Mark 10: 17-30

The Word this Sunday is on the primacy of the Word. The most categorical criterion for a Christian life in this world is the Word, and nothing can define more what a Christian has to be in this life and what awaits him or her in the next. 

There is a craze for wealth and pleasure, comfort and ego, in this world and this is what we term, 'worldliness', a tendency to give importance to the conventional standards of the  world. This is what St. Paul warns against, when he says, 'do not conform to the world' (Rom 12:2). The other pole that is more proper to a follower of Christ, a disciple of Christ, that is a Christian, is the path of Godliness - where God matters the most, God's ways become the criteria of decision, and God's people become a point of sensitive concern. Every person who is active and wishes to live one's life to the full, will certainly be confronted with this dilemma, a tension between Godliness and worldliness. The Word this Sunday, wishes to reflect on this and offers us the clear cut criterion to go by: the primacy of the Word, the Wisdom of God. 

The tendency towards Godliness: There is a natural tendency towards Godliness that every Christian possesses - owe it to the baptismal grace, or the upbringing of the family, or the influence of the faith community or atleast the effect of indoctrination that happens right from the early ages of a person. That tendency is what keeps faith going amidst all crises that exists in the world...but is that enough? The first reading speaks to us of the longing for Wisdom, the yearning for the presence of God, the wish to belong to God and be possessed by God. This is a grace and we cannot squander it. And as a community of faith we have the responsibility to nurture it and nourish it in the upcoming generations. There is a call in that lovely passage to develop within us an intimate love for God, a soul-stirring yearning for God and a passionate search for what pertains to God in any concrete circumstance that we find ourselves in. For example - finding myself in the pandemic situation, what has been my predominant sensibility: aggressive self-preservation? or fierce rebellion? or insensitive indifference? Can't we today reflect and judge for ourselves, what has been our tendency? When we do that we can measure pretty well the level of our tendency towards authentic Godliness.

The tension from worldliness: Many a moment, the yearning for Godliness that we have within is confronted with the worldliness that overwhelms us from all around. The society and the so-called world keeps bombarding us with the terms such as. 'success', 'achievement', 'wealth', 'power', 'influence', 'trending', 'fashion', 'advancement', 'development', and so on. What are we to look up to: the God who calls us to sacrifice and self-giving or the world which clamours after self-fulfilment and self-actualisation? This tension increases even as we tend to encapture the meaning of our life in terms of what we do and what we achieve, rather than what we are and what we are created to be! For the true followers of Christ, this tension reaches its peak, when the Lord calls us 'to go sell everything. give it to the poor and then come and follow him!' We try to compromise that statement and say, it has to be interpreted in context and it has to be understood with the circumstances in mind! But the Lord continues to harp on the same values: self-emptying, reaching out, and finding meaning in the Lord and in the Lord's ways! When we call ourselves Christians, when we say we are followers of Christ, when we say we are living our Christian call here and now... how true is it? The Word is the judge!

The Word, our Judge: The Word in the foundational principle of our Christian life. It is the Word that makes all the difference for the choices we make. It offers us all the wisdom we stand in need of to live a life that is meaningful. The Word is our Judge, practically because the Word gives us the criteria to live by. When those criteria are met we are affirmed; when they are not, the Word holds us on a tribunal... it can scan through our heart and our mind, isn't it! The Word is the treasure that gives meaning to our Christian life. Once we grasp the Wisdom that the Word is, we would come to the conviction that it is worth giving our life in the service of the Word. Just as so many saints who have gone before us, saints whom we have known, those who we do not know, and those who have been living may be right next door to us... we need to respect the primacy of the Word, deciding to live at the service of the Word. And at the service of the Word, whatever we give up comes back manifold.

The Son - the Shelter and the Stronghold

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

October 9, 2021: Joel 4: 12-21; Lk 11:27-28

Do an exercise, why don't you? Start reading the passage prescribed for the liturgy today: start reading Joel and you will come across in your mind so many questions. The day of the Lord - is it going to be pleasant or is it going to be terrifying? Is the Lord vindictive or is the Lord truly merciful? Is this good news or a fearsome prophecy? As we read those long verses, made longer because of our ruminations, and reach the Gospel, before we realise that we have begun to read it, the passage ends! Such a short Gospel for such a long reflection before: but that is exactly the message of this whole exercise, the central theme of the liturgy today!

One may ask a thousand questions, or raise a hundred doubts...one truth never changes: Jesus is the Answer! The Son, is the stronghold, the shelter for the children of God. There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:1). Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, for the Son has made us all children of God, provided we stick to him. Let us hold on to Christ, in our words, in our actions, in our relationships and in the way we look at the entire world and its daily events. When we have the mind of Christ and look at everything in that perspective, we are sheltered and we have a stronghold, nothing can assail us.

At times our weaknesses and our human tendencies can take the better of us, but all that we need to do is, accept in all humility our failures, get ourselves together back again and reunite ourselves to Christ, clinging on to the Lord, the Son, the Shelter and the Stronghold!

Catch up with the Reign

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

October 8, 2021: Joel 1:13-15,2:1-2; Luke  11 : 15-26

The easiest way to get rid of someone from the world is to demonise that person! This is what the Political Super Powers today keep trying. If they feel the need to eliminate  someone, they feel like demolishing another nation or they feel like doing away with a movement, the easiest way they follow is, to demonise them - call them names like evil, violent, terrorists, outlaws, rebels and so on - and get the whole world look at them as a being personification of evil. Then what remains is to get rid of the so-called evil!

This happens in all walks of life. Why do you think the fundamentalist pentecostal groups keep calling the Apostolic Catholic Church names and comparing it to the Antichrist? The sad thing is, even within our Catholic community of faith, there are those who care about nothing but rules and rigour, not about true faith and real God-experience, who at times start such demonising acts, creating schismatic sentiments within the Church, opposing the Holy Father or finding fault in whatever is proposed towards more meaningful living of the Church.

The Lord warns us today: you will be lagging behind, while the Kingdom of God would have overtaken you. Catch up with the Reign. Revelation is progressive, everyday the Lord keeps revealing to us, the way to get closer and closer to the Lord. Everything that happens, all the situations of humanity are but signs of God's revelation and a call to get closer to the Reign, by becoming more and more like the Merciful Father, Observant Son and the Illumining Holy Spirit. If we lose track of it, we shall certainly lag behind. 

It is necessary today, to open our ears, eyes and our hearts, and understand what is going on around us in the light of the Wisdom of the Lord. That alone shall enable us to catch up with the Reign!

Lepanto, Loretto and our Life!

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

October 7, 2021: Celebrating the Queen of the Holy Rosary
Acts 1: 12-14; Luke 1: 26-38

The feast of our Blessed Mother of the Holy Rosary reminds us of the battle of Lepanto 1571! The Christians were at war defending themselves against the Ottoman Empire. They were at sea, as we know, it was a naval battle and the Rosary brought them the desired victory. At the recommendation of the Pope, the Church began to celebrate Our Blessed Mother as Our Lady of Victories. It was then that Pope Pius V added that invocation, "Mary Help of Christians", to the litany of Loretto (that which we pray normally). Truly Mary was a great help for them at sea! 

Every Christian and every one of us, is at sea on a daily basis, with our concerns and temptations battling against us. Today this naval battle can be won not with bullets but with beads, the beads of the Most Holy Rosary. It is a powerful weapon that we have with us to defend ourselves from our enemy and attack every negative force to overcome evil. It is the sign of our Blessed Mother's presence with us and that presence is an assurance of a much greater presence, that of the Lord! 

As Mary was there in the upper room with the disciples praying, she is there every time we invoke her through the Holy Rosary. And every time we pray this powerful prayer, she strengthens us to say, just as she did, a whole hearted 'yes' to the will of God. As Pope St. John Paul II would often remind us, the Rosary is infact a compendium of the Gospels, a summary of the Paschal Mystery! The Rosary is a weapon that guards us from our foe malign. It is a vehicle that commutes us closer to God the Father. It is a fragrant garland that unites us with our Blessed Mother, thus sanctifying us into children more and more worthy of her divine Son, our Lord and Master.

Prayers, Questions and Answers

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

October 6, 2021: Jonah 4: 1-11; Luke 11: 1-4

At times persons, when they are faced with problems, difficulties and enormous burdens, they tend to throw numerous questions at the Lord - for they know they have no one else to question about what is happening in their life. But later when things settle down, they thinking of all that and feel bad, saying 'I am so ashamed of myself. I asked the Lord so many questions when I went through those troubles!" But should it be the case? Truly speaking, "it need not be! and it should not be!" There is nothing to be confused  about, here!  The idea here seems perfectly fitting as a reflection on the Word today.

Can I question the Lord? Is that prayerful at all? 

What else could be more prayerful? It is not wrong to ask questions to the Lord. But it is important to wait for the answer. What is wrong is, we ask questions and move away from the Lord, abandon the Lord, quit the presence of the Lord. That is the problem most of us give in to. 

Ask whatever question you want to, because the Lord is your Father and Mother who loves you above all. But after asking the question, remain there till the Lord answers you, as the Lord answered Jonah today. The answer will come, now, later, much later, God alone knows when, but it will come. Because God answers prayers, that is, God answers the question your raise in prayer! God will surely answer...wait! 

Praying can very well be asking questions, but only when you are determined to get an answer from the Lord, whatever time it takes! For God's is the kingdom, God's is the power, God's is the glory for evermore!

The art of prioritising

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 27th Week in Ordinary time

October 5, 2021: Jonah 3: 1-10; Luke 10: 38-42

Martha was doing a lot of good but what Mary chose was deemed to be the best. At times we spend our time and energy doing a lot of things, all of them good may be! But what is the best we can choose at a given moment, I believe that is the point of discernment. The best that I can choose at a point of time, is what is expected of me from God right then. 

The people of Nineveh had a keen sense of discernment and they made a concrete and clear choice. They had their priorities clear. My choices actually reveal my priorities. When my choices are repeated, when they are beyond all conditions and circumstances, it is an indication that they are becoming my priority! A priority determines what I do; and more than what I do, what I think; and much more, what I am!

Instead, spending hours together for an entertainment, investing enormous energy towards getting merely an appreciation, dumping whole life down the drain hoarding money, these are some warped priorities that threaten us these days. A majority of us give into it consciously or unwittingly. Jesus teaches us today the art of prioritising. 

Jesus says, place not just the first things first, but the most important things first! You may have to even give up on somethings, not merely because they are bad but even if they are good, merely because they are not as important. Seek ye first the Reign of God and everything else will be given unto you - that's a pearl of the art of prioritising!

Love alone is the answer - Peace and Goodness!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

October 4, 2021: Celebrating St. Francis of Assisi
Jonah 1:1 - 2:1, 11; Luke 10: 25-37

Humanity has so many questions - why are the evil people thriving; why are the innocent suffering; why are there exploitations in the world; who is cause of the misery of the poor; why is there so much of violence and killing; what makes people turn against each other... how many questions we face in our daily life and in today's world. Yes, humanity has all these questions, but Love alone is the answer! 

People may turn evil, but they were created out of love and they are called to live with that love, in joy and fulfillment. When they make mistakes, it begins to affect the other, finally there will be a time when it comes back to them. Self centered exploitation of the other is a deprivation of love. Violence and killings are but inevitable consequences of these. Celebrating Francis of Assisi today, we are inspired to think of a man who loved not just other human persons, but a person who loved every 'other'... the nature-other, the cosmic-other, the 'other' in all sense! That love alone can answer all the problems of today's world. 

If Love is felt to be present around, if Love is felt in each one's heart, if Love is found to animate every relationship, if true Love of God governs the whole world, misery, violence, killing, poverty, suffering, injustice, exploitation and every shade of sadness and grief will be wiped out. Will it happen? When that happens, what Francis of Assisi would say so often would become a reality: Peace and Goodness!

Peace and Goodness... aren't these the really longed for state of life on earth today? How can they come except through love, through a Love that pervades everyone towards wishing the good of every one else, of every other being! Let us understand, remember and remind each other today: to every single problem on earth, Love alone is the answer!

CHRISTIAN RELATEDNESS

You are your other's keeper!

October 3, 2021: 27th Sunday in Ordinary time

Genesis 2: 18-24; Hebrews 2:9-11; Mark 10: 2-16

Christian faith is all about relationship - it is a relationship initiated by God with me and a relationship to which God calls me. One of the first questions that God seems to have asked humanity was: "where is your brother?"  My Christian faith stows me right in the midst of a community. Every aspect of my daily life and not only prepares me for a tangible community life but offers me all the necessary scope towards growing in a life of communion. The family, the neighbourhood, the community of faith... all these are experiences and locus where I learn to live my Christian faith  and grow in it. The Word today offers us three keys to truly understand our Christian faith and a growth in the same: the family, the other and the community.

The Family - this is the first possibility of relationship offered to humanity by God, right at the origins of a person. As soon as a child is born into this world, he or she is given with a family - a father, a mother and the others who belong to that family, which becomes the locus where the child shall breathe, live, move and grow! A Christian family therefore has not merely a biological significance as the node 6 of origin of persons, but an anthropological or existential sense which makes the person truly what he or she is. That is, it attaches the very identity of the person as the ground where the seed of humanity within the person sprouts, grows and flourishes. The family therefore has a great responsibility in what a person goes to become. The family is the primary place of education and the parents are the first educators of a child. The seriousness of the vocation to Christian parenthood cannot be overlooked. 

The Other - let's understand this in its entirety... the Other and the other are not dimensions extremal to me, but they are dimensions that complete me. I cannot be what I am without the Other (God) and the other (my brother and sister) who give meaning to my existence. What distinguishes a healthy human person is a free and mature rapport with the Almighty (in whatever terms it could be known and understood) and with the other (my neighbour, brother and sister given to me to love). I am responsible for the salvation of the others, says the second reading. Salvation, which means not only a blessing awaited in the other world, but fullness of life here and now. Wishing the good of the other, is a commitment that comes with the call to be a Christian. As a Christian, I share the humanity with my fellow brothers and sisters and I share the divinity with Christ the Son of God who became human - I cannot forget this profound sense of the vocation that I have as a child of God and a disciple of Christ.

The Community - this is the crux of my Christian calling. The entire explanation about the spousal relationship in the first reading, besides a reflection on the call to matrimony, actually refers to the mystery that Christ and the Church partake in. That is what St. Paul presents to us in the letter to the Ephesians (5:32).  This mystery is about the Community of faith which is betrothed to the Saviour, that is promised in covenantal relationship to the Lord. It is this Community which is given the responsibility of nurturing every member, with a special attention to the future generation, the young and the children. The life of the Community has to become an element of education to the young, to the upcoming generation, to the entire community of faith, to be built up in relationship with the Lord and with each other. Communion comes from God and division comes from the evil one - a Christian is one who promotes the sense of commuity, accepting the other as one's one brother and sister in God's own family. It is a reminder of our vocation to be God's people, people of faith and people united in the Lord, growing together in witness of love and communion. 

Christian call is all about our relatedness, that we are related to each other in the Lord and related to the Lord in our genuine relationship with one another. May our Christan Relatedness give true meaning and deep joy to every one of us. Let us never divide what God has united - our hearts bound, as one people, in the love of God. 

God's ever present guidance

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

October 2, 2021: Celebrating the Guardian Angel 
Baruch 4: 5-12,27-29; Matthew 18: 1-5,10

The readings today speak to us of the experience of the people who walked away from God, who rejected God and when they were down in the drudge, they repented of their choices. They felt and were convinced that it was because they went against God that they faced all those bitter experiences that they had to face. They express their conviction and beseech God for mercy! God made them realise that inspite of all their unfaithfulness and imprudent choices, God has always been with them and God wants to be with them! This was another powerful experience that the people of Israel had. 

When they were in the desert, they felt God walking with them, being with them, leading them to the new land... these experiences of God that people had, became the watershed of their history / a God who was present, who inspired and who accompanied them. This is the experience that is consolidated in the belief in the Guardian Angels: God's incessant presence and unfailing guidance. Jesus refers to that phenomenon in the Gospel and invites us to believe, accept and respect the presence of God through the Angels with us in our daily life.

When we stand by the little ones, guide the confused, redirect the faltering, strengthen the tired, hold firm the drooping, uplift the downtrodden, encourage the heart broken, we would be playing Angels to these because we would be doing exactly what the Lord wants to do to them, we would be representing God's presence to them. This is what the Lord wants us to do - to feel the presence of the Lord when we are on a down trip, and to be the presence of the Lord when we notice someone on a losing ground. 

Let us believe in the Guardian Angels, experience the guardian angels and play guardian angels to whomever we can!