Hope and Promise - In the presence of the Lord

THE WORD IN ADVENT

December 1, 2021: First Wednesday in Advent

Isaiah 25: 6-10; Matthew 15: 29-37

This is the Lord, our God in whom we hoped! The Lord is the only one in whom we can hope! For hope is not merely the passing away of a troublesome experience here and now. It is not the disappearance of the difficulties we have at a given moment. Hope is about the sense of eternity; it is an experience of salvation; a dwelling forever in the house of the Lord. 

The promise of the Lord to prepare a banquet of rich food and fine wines, is not merely a promise of food and drink. As the Acts of the Apostles clarifies the mind of Christ to us: Reign of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. In short, it is Shalom! The fullness, the sense of tranquility, the sense of no-want, the sense of stillness where there is no anxiety of looking for one's needs, where there is no suffering of having to go through experiences of hurt and pain, where there is no craze to prove oneself or dominate the other for the sake of hogging limelight.

Jesus who multiplies the bread today to satisfy the people with him, does not consider it as some kind of an ultimate good that he is doing for them. He does it as a matter of fact... he cured the sick, he consoled the suffering, and he fed the hungry! For him all these were important...not just the food which mattered a lot to the people! That is why Jesus had to chide them once: do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life. He had to instruct them, time and again: a person does not live by bread or food alone! But these signs and miracles were exactly signs, signs that pointed to a reality more profound that Jesus wanted to introduce them, and wants to introduce us to.

The ultimate reality towards which the Advent preparation guides us, and the only lasting reality that can make us really fulfilled, is the eternal dwellings of the Lord - that is precisely where our hopes lie and what the promises of the Lord consist of... the promise and the bountiful grace of the Presence of the Lord.  

A Lesson from St. Andrew's Cross

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

November 30, 2021: Celebrating St. Andrew the Apostle

Romans 10: 9-18; Matthew 4: 18-22

We celebrate St. Andrew today! Though it could be a digression from the Advent journey that we have begun, still it offers us a special occasion to reflect on our life of discipleship and apostleship! St. Andrew is known in the Gospels for two important things - firstly for being the younger brother of St. Peter, and secondly as a person who brought people to Jesus (in fact John records in his Gospel, that it was Andrew who brought Peter to Jesus).

Apart from these, Andrew is known for his Cross - the Andrew's Cross. Incidentally, both the brothers had a similar request to the persecutioners  - Peter asked to be crucified in an inverted cross and Andrew asked to be crucified in a saltire cross (or a X shaped cross); both of them had the same reasoning: that they are not worthy to die on the Cross, just as their Master and Saviour did. 

By the way the inverted cross which was traditionally referred to as St. Peter's Cross, nowadays has come refer to the Cross of the Anti-Christ - this is totally false, ambiguous and absolutely a misrepresentation of facts! Certain antichristian occult groups use it with disdain against the people of God. Now coming back to St. Andrew's cross, we can have atleast two messages to learn from therein.

The first lesson is the absolute dedication and total submission that the apostles had towards their MAster Jesus Christ. They were ready to suffer to any extent - as the Acts of the Apostles reports, when they had to suffer more for Christ, they were more joyful! It reminds us of the immeasurable abyss that lies between the way we reflect and theologise on suffering and in the way we face them in our concrete experiences! 

The second lesson is the true spiritual humility that governed the Apostles' way of following Christ. Today when Pope Francis speaks so much against clericalism, against the so-called Christian faith sans compassion, against closing ourselves within the Church as a fortification instead of opening up the vistas, the Holy Father is challening us towards finding every means of witnessing to the message of Christ, in all its fullness, among the most incredulous of persons.

May St. Andrew who brought so many to Christ, help us to be instruments in this modern world to bring hearts to the One Saviour and Lord.  

The Advent Journey - walking in the Light!

THE WORD IN ADVENT 

November 29, 2021: First Monday of Advent
Isaiah 2: 1-5; Matthew 8: 5-11

We have begun our Advent journey for this year... come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord! That is a perennial call that we have as people of God: to go up to the mountain of the Lord. Lord who can climb your mountain, who can dwell in your tent - those who walk blamelessly and do what is right, and speak the truth from their heart, says Psalm 15:2.

We begin this journey as said yesterday, with hope on the promises of the Lord. The Lord's promises are consoling: I will come myself and cure, says the Lord. It is the centurion who said those inspiring words, which we repeat everyday - Lord I am not worthy to have you under my roof, but only say a word and the healing shall take place! That is Hope! How beautiful to become aware of the promise and the hope!

A beautiful imagery that the Centurion speaks of today: the imagery of the servants who carry out the will of their master. That is what we are - servants of the Master of the Universe, humble children of the Father of all creation, the One who created us and calls us to be God's children, in our image, in our likeness, in our life and in our very beings. That is a hope and a promise together: the hope that the Lord is there with us telling us what to do and when to do! It is our duty to promise our obedience, that this hope will lead to the fulfilment of God's promises, that one day we will find ourselves on that Holy Mountain of the Lord!

Let us accept this call, pledge our obedience and begin our journey with hope, walking in the light of the Lord!

HOPE: THE PROMISE THAT DEMANDS

Promise, Project & Prophecy

First Sunday in Advent - November 28, 2021

Jeremiah 33:14-16; 1 Thessalonians 3:12 - 4:2; Luke 21: 25-28, 34-36

 

A very happy new year! May the new liturgical year that unfolds today, bring us closer to the Lord, in and through an ever-increasing love for the Word, the Word become Flesh, the Word become human, the Word who wishes to dwell not only amidst us, but within us! That is the promise; a promise that leads to the hope that everything will be reconciled in the Word; a promise that is consoling but at the same time demanding!

The Word and the Liturgical significance of this day, give us three key terms to reflect on: promise, project and prophecy!

PROMISE: The first reading brings to our mind, the theme central to the new liturgical season that we begin today. Advent is all about promise! Blessed is the one who believes in the fulfilment of what the Lord has promised. The book of Jeremiah, just as any other book of the prophets, enshrines within itself the promises of the Lord, and Jeremiah as one of the latter prophets underlines the imminence of the promises of the Lord.   

The promise of Salvation comes from the Lord of Integrity, the Lord who values truth and justice more than mere pacifying sacrifices and empty rituals. That is where the promise gets exigent – because I am challenged to measure up to the Lord who has created me and who has called me. The Lord promises salvation to me, salvation that comes with my dedication and commitment to integrity; that quality which makes my faith and my daily life one and the same, my words and my works coherent with each other, and my expectations from the other and my disposition to them corresponding to each other. The promise attains fulfillment only in as much as I am committed to the process in the core of my being.

PROJECT: A promise is an element of hope, in as much as it sets in motion a project! The Lord has not given me only a promise, but a project as well. The second reading from the letter to the Thessalonians, reminds me of this project that the Lord has initiated in me. The project of becoming holy and blameless in the sight of God, is a life-long project and on it depends so much the fulfillment of the promises given to me!

The project of holiness, involves love – loving each and every one, the entire humanity, and especially those who do not have anyone who could give them this love! That is the type of life that we are called to live – ‘make progress in the kind of life that you are meant to live’, says St. Paul. As people of the promise, we have a life that we are meant to live, when we fail in living up to it, we fail to be people of the promise! We can have a myriad of reasons – that everyone out there is so selfish and greedy, that everyone is trying to plot and exploit, that no one deserves my love, that no one really loves genuinely as each one has a hidden reason to all the goodness they manifest… none of these reasons can stand their ground before the love of the Lord who has given us the promise and who has given us this project. Because the Lord loved us even when we were sinner; and when we were still sinner, God deigned to send God’s only Son, that we may be saved and loved forever. That is the source and the summit of hope: God’s love.

PROPHECY: Apart from the Word, the liturgical significance of the day today, adds a splendid element – the prophecy! We have lighted the candle of the Prophets this week, and it suggests that the event we are preparing to celebrated was not one isolated event that took place on a particular cold night in Bethlehem. No, there lies a long history, in fact the entire story of humankind, behind that event in that starry night.

The prophecy of the Coming of the Reign, requires that we stay alive, active and alert! That we watch ourselves, our words and our works, our choices and our priorities, our wishes and our prayers! When we pray, ‘your kingdom come’, what do we mean? Do we really mean what Jesus meant: that we be protagonists of the Reign and not those who are surprised by its coming! When problems arise, crises spring up and injustice seems to have its sway, we are called to remain alert to notice it, to remain ardent to denounce it, and thus remain apostles of the Reign who propose a counter culture. By our very lives and our daily choices, we are called to propose a counter culture to this world, and not helplessly and slavishly conform to this world. It is there we see the coming of the Reign and out lives become a prophecy. That is what Advent calls us to: to live lives of prophecy that would announce to the world that is tired and wearied, that the Lord is coming; that the Lord of salvation is coming; that the Lord of integrity is near!

We are called to be prophets of hope today, persons and communities who behold the promises of the Lord, who live by a project of life from the Lord and who hold out a prophecy to the world, that the Lord and our salvation is near! Come Lord Jesus, may your Kingdom Come!  

Stay Awake... in every sense!

WORD 2day: Saturday, Last day of the Ordinary time

November 27, 2021: Daniel 7: 5-27; Luke 21: 34-36

Stay awake!, shakes us up the Gospel today... and the first reading explains, why to! Let us begin with the latter part...that is, why to stay awake? Then we shall see what it means to stay awake!

Why to stay awake - because there is so much happening around me! There are those who are conniving and plotting against goodness and godliness; there are things happening that are fast ruining the little good that has been built up by traditions of ages; there could be impacts created within me wherein I, even without my knowledge, unwittingly giving into fear, psychosis and pessimism! I need to Stay Awake. 

Staying awake is Seeing: seeing within me, around me and into others, that I am observant about the changes happening and am conscious about the effects of these changes on myself. Without really seeing, I cannot understand what is being communicated to me, by the Lord in and through time. 

Staying awake is Syncing: syncing with the whole reality - with the Divine, with the cosmos, with the neighbours, with the entire humanity and all that is! We are not created as isolated beings, nor are we created above everything else! The Creator has given us a privilleged place within the creation, yes! But that is no license to destroy, nor an excuse for dominance; it is a role of care, concern and compassion! To the extent I am able to sync, I shall be godly, for our God is a God of communion!

Staying awake is Standing up: standing up against all the odds that are perpetrated by the godless with disdain - those who are heartless, merciless, senseless, shameless in siding with injustice and truthlessness! How can we stand up against them without staying awake; how can we call ourselves awake, if we really do not stand up againt anything that militates against truth, justice and love!

Let us strive to stay aware, stay awake in every sense! 

Never to pass away!

WORD 2day: Friday, last week in Ordinary time

November 26, 2021: Daniel 7: 2-14; Luke 21: 29-33

A pain reliever statement suggested by many in today's world is, 'this too will pass'. Specially these days battling against the pandemic, every one, whether he or she believes it or not, whether one is convinced of it or not, atleast as a hopeful wish, keeps repeating that mantra: 'this too shall pass'! But, though it may seem contrary, a more stronger promise is the recurring theme of today's Word; it is a reference to something that is here, never to pass away... the Lord's Word, the Lord's Reign, the Lord's sovereignty.

Things may appear to be going totally out of sway, or nothing may seem to be really under the control of anything that is spiritual... but never lose heart, God is incharge; God is in control. There are people who make statements about this pandemic, saying, we shall never return to what was 'normal'; even if we return to normal, it shall be a 'new normal'! As children of God, however bad the readings of the times is, we cannot be too anxious!

The Word speaks to our hearts today: your Saviour knows you and to the the Lord's Reign there is no end. Be firm in faith. Hold on to the One who has formed you, One who has called you and One who loves you infinitely - the One whose Words will never pass away; the One whose Reign shall never pass away, the One whose will shall never pass away...let your faith too never pass away.

With heads held high!

WORD 2day: Thursday, last week in Ordinary time

November 25, 2021: Daniel 6: 12-28; Luke 21: 20-28

Let me begin with a personal note today! Within the circle of our friends, if some one said the words, 'look upon high', it would draw a roaring laughter instantaneously! It is because of a veteran trainer whom we know who would give a famous 'thought-for-the-day'. He would have his ages old notes in his hands and look into it and read the thought for us. There was a funny moment always when he would say 'look upon high' and immediately look down into his notes for the next part! The readings today reminded me of those days from our student life.

Living with heads held high, is a deep imagery offered to us today. Some names like Oscar Romero, Mother Teresa, Sr. Rani Maria, Mrs Gladys Staines or the recent addition of Fr. Stan Swami...these are well known to us not for the great power they wielded or prominent posts they held, but for the endurance they had! The threats and violence and opposition that surrounded them never managed to swallow them in. Because they lived with their heads held high. 

Daniel in the first reading today and Jesus himself from the Gospel, are offered as Biblical models for living with heads held high...never losing sight of that source, from where our help comes. Our help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth - those are familiar lines for us. Let it not remain a mere phrase, but a real conviction that come what may, I can stand tall, stand tall with my head held high. Because I do not depend on this world or even the best of my well wishers that I find here on earth! They are my sources of sustenance, in as much as the One who us ultimately concerned about me, has ordained this persons, circumstances and systems to be of assistance to me! 

Yes, my help comes from the Lord, and from the Lord alone! Hence, even in the worst of my situations, I can never lose hope! Amidst all the struggles of our daily life, we can live with our heads held high!

The Writing on the Wall

WORD 2day: Wednesday, last week in Ordinary time

November 24, 2021: Daniel 5:1-6,13-14,16-17,23-28; Luke 21: 12-19

Let us have a look around! The pandemic is still ravaging parts of the world and the rest of the world seems to be in fear and anxiety. There is the crisis of climate change and just a few days ago the summit at Glasgow was over, warning us of the imminent and treacherous dangers of the global crisis. Inspite of all these there are the political forces, at loval levels and at international levels who are going on with their inhuman plotting against a peaceful and just human existence. What are we to conclude from here?

The writing on the wall is very clear: we are heading towards an event of mass destruction! Everything seems to indicate the fact that we have already reached a point of no return. That feeds the imagination of many quacks and gullibles who give vent to their talents of fantasising these days. We see predictions and warnings and to-do prescriptions galore! That is not the point...our faith, the gift of the Holy Spirit should help us to make the reflection that Jesus inspires in us today. In fact, Jesus makes a silent point: 

Keep Calm and Go on being Children of God. 

Terror Around? Violence at your doorstep? Fire above your head? Pain and Sickness in the air? Death and dangers all around? Keep Calm; Endure it...can you? Let us pray for that strength, that strength to endure and we shall have our reward - here and now, peace of mind; in eternity, the inheritance of the children of God.

Towards the Author of Life

WORD 2day: Tuesday, last week in Ordinary time

November 23, 2021: Daniel 2: 31-45; Luke 21: 5-11

Both in the book of Daniel and from the Gospel today, we see a prediction of destruction. The destruction and its prediction need not be seen as something totally unexpected. Already from the very constitution of the so called kingdoms that Daniel speaks of and from the types of people spoken of by Jesus, we see that destruction was inevitable and imminent - because of the choices that they had made.

Jesus makes it clear in the Gospel today that there is no point in running after predictions and signs, or after fortune tellers and soothsayers... at times even the so called evangelists and preachers behave like these cheap sensation creators. Speaking of spectacular signs, threatening with worrisome developments and staging incredulous events as a proof of their predictions... these are not strange sights anymore. Every religion has its own set of so-called godmen who are fake, and sadly quite a few from the Christian fold appear on the list. 

There is something that we are called to observe and examine from even the minutest of happenings around us and within us. When we are attentive to these, the wider and larger reality, comes into picture with God's plan for universal salvation. We are called that we make clear cut choices that prevent us from destruction and ruin, and instead unite with the Lord who alone is the author of life.

Choosing God in little things

WORD 2day: Monday, 34th week in Ordinary time

November 22, 2021: Daniel 1: 1-6,8-20; Luke 21:1-4

The world has stereotypical criteria of what is good and what is better; social standards of what makes one good and what makes the other better! The temptation to conform to that social stereotypes is very high and dangerously subtle. Many a times we fall into the trap, though the Word very often warns us, "Do not be conformed to this world" (Rom 12:2), because, "the Lord does not see as the mortals see" (1 Sam 16:7).

That is why, the two tiny coins that the widow drops quietly into the treasury seem more valuable to Jesus than the bags and bags of wealth that the others dumped there. To be his disciples, "let the same mind be in you, as it was in Christ Jesus" (Phil 2:5) instructs St. Paul. We begin to read from today from the book of Daniel, every day increasingly reminding us of the imminent choices that we have to make for the Lord and not for the convention of the world.

Daniel was special because of this, that God's mind was in him, the wisdom of the Lord was in him, that made him shine to the rest of the world. He knew what to choose and what to let go. He knew what really mattered and what did not. He knew what it meant to be faithful to his Master, the Lord, the Almighty. Just like that old widow, who knew what really mattered in life - not that last two pennies that she had in her hand, but the never failing care of the Divine; not the favour of the self trumpetting people around, but the presence of the everloving God! 

Maybe, I need to ask the Lord today, to give me that wisdom to see things as the Lord does, with the same mind that was in Christ Jesus and choose the right things and let go of those that are immaterial. Choosing the little that truly matters, will win me all that I need - the all, that is God!

THE KING, THE CLOUD AND ALL...

The Solemnity of Christ the King

November 21, 2021: Last Sunday of the Ordinary time

Daniel 7: 13-14; Revelation 1: 5-8; John 18:33-37

We come to the end of the Ordinary time of the year and the very end of the Liturgical Year! On this last Sunday of the liturgical year, as a culmination of our liturgical itinerary, it is apt to mark it with a celebration of the One Supreme Lord, the Lord of lords and the King of kings...Christ our Lord, to whom all glory and honour be! 

Power, authority, domination of the other, ruling the world, and manipulating every thing and every one around - are some of the highest good sought after by humanity today. All tussles of every nature - be they economic, ecological, socio-cultural, political or familial - seem to have one of these at their roots. That was one of the mindsets and systemic thinking that Jesus wanted to deconstruct - he wanted to prove to the world that you can govern without dominating, that you can be the sovereign without lording it over, that you can lead without a sense of superiority, that you can exude authority without arrogance and that you can be the King without exploiting! What a powerful message for the times we live in, and that is what we have in the Word this Sunday. 

Presenting to us in wholeness the solemnity of Christ the King, the Word of God this Sunday taken together presents us with three key words to behold the central message of the celebration today. These three key words are... three terms or concepts that are present in all the three readings of the day! You will certainly read the Word again see the concordance of these terms and their concepts. What are the three key words?

The first term is the King! The first reading speaks of the King, the sovereign, and the eternal kingship and glory! The second reading presents to us the Ruler of the kings! The responsorial psalm invites us to declare, 'the Lord is King!' And in the Gospel, Jesus declares, "Yes, I am King!". 

The Lord is King - that is the Lord rules over us! That is what Jesus says too - I am King, but with a difference! I am not the king which you imagine: the one who is the most powerful and has everyone at his beck and call. Though it is true that the Lord is the most powerful and has the whole universe at the Lord's beck and call, that is not the salient feature of the Lord's kingship. Because the Lord rules, but rules with love, rules by taking care, rules by providing and not exploiting or hoarding or grabbing everything for oneself! The Lord is King, the most powerful, but also the most caring and the most close to me in my own need and trouble. The Lord is King who does not order me around, but who resides within me, guides me and serves me in governing me. The Lord is King who gives me a model to follow in living with authority, the authority which comes from the Lord and an authority that is exercised in serving the other.

The second term is the Cloud! The first reading speaks of the clouds of heaven which contains the glory of the King. The second reading speaks of the Lord coming on the cloud. And in the Gospel Jesus explains that his Reign is not of this world, but of beyond! Jesus in fact offers us the clue to understand the element of the clouds.

The Lord comes in the clouds - that is, the Lord transcends all boundaries! The coordinates of up and down, east and west, north and south, above and below...they do not make sense at all when it comes to the majesty and authority of the Lord. The Lord has authority over all - in time and space; that is why the Lord is the Lord of eternity; the Lord of time and timelessness, of space and spacelessness! The Lord is the Lord of past, present and future - that is why it is so meaningless to ask certain fundamental questions we have from our limited human mind - questions like, why, why me, why now and so on! We would never have an answer and we would not comprehend it even if we had it. The easiest is to surrender to the Lord and say, 'you know it well! you are the Lord above all!' It may take time to arrive at that capacity to surrender; but the only thing that can give me peace is that surrender - to acknowledge the Lord who comes in the clouds; the Lord above everything else!

The third term is, All! The first reading speaks of all peoples, nations and languages. The second reading refers to all the races of the earth. And the Gospel specifies, who is that 'all': all who are on the side of truth. The all that we speak of here may not be 'all' after all; it could be a little fragment of all, but what is important is, only that is all that will matter. 

The Lord is King of all - king of all, whether one accepts it or not! If I accept it in truth, I will be in that privileged group to remain with the eternal Reign; if I do not accept it, I will go with the rest who rush into the broad open gate to perdition, on my own choice! The Lord is the king of all who abide by truth; the truth that will set us free, the truth that is to be proclaimed and witnessed to, that truth that exists whether the world sees it or not, the truth that alone can save depending on how faithful I am to it. It is not a truth to be known, a secret to be shared or a mantra to be understood - it is a life to be lived. That is why Jesus, when he was asked by the high priests 'what is your point', said: why do you ask me! I spoke in broad day light. Everyone heard me. Ask them. The truth is in the broad day light. The truth is every where! The truth is ALL. You see the truth, accept the truth, respond to the truth, serve the truth and witness to the truth, and you shall be with your King forever! I came to witness to it; and all those who are with the truth are with Me, the King!

Here therefore is the message of the feast we celebrate today: The Lord is King, King above all, the King who is served only by truth and our witness to truth! We have no escape or excuse. Let our loyalty be to the Lord and Lord alone; to truth and Truth alone!

Let us belong to the Lord while we live!

WORD 2day: Saturday, 33rd week in Ordinary time

November 20, 2021: 1 Maccabees 6:1-13; Luke 20: 27-40

I will rejoice in your saving help O Lord, we repeat in the responsorial psalm today! Take that in contrast to the lament we hear from the dying king in the first reading. After having done all the damage that he could, at his death bed does he realise his folly. Too late for anything to be done! We wonder how many of the dominant personalities today have to go through this...let us hope they do not wait for their death bed to realise their wickedness! One wonders whether today's evil heads would realise even on their death bed the damage they have caused to humanity! 

Just a moment! Let us not be lost in judging that king in the first reading, or the evil bigheads of our times! The challenge is to each of us: are we able to say as the psalmist says, 'I will rejoice in your saving help O Lord'? That would require that we understand what that help is. The help actually is the grace of the Spirit, that helps us understand our foolishness, our worthless ego, our pointless anger, our heartless unforgiving attitude and similar marks of folly. We need to realise these in our daily life and in our ordinary relationships, beginning with the closest of our brothers and sisters!

In our empty pride and selfish scheming, we loitter into areas of evil that are totally ungodly! At times we go to the extent of forgetting our real call to be children of God. The Lord gives us chances, ample opportunities to realise our folly and return to our original dignity. There is no use waiting till our death bed and them praying for the mercies of the Lord. Our Lord is the God of the living, not of the dead! Let us belong to the Lord, while we live, not merely when we die!

Taking Possession of His Temple

WORD 2day: Friday, 33rd week in Ordinary Time

November 19, 2021: 1 Maccabees 4:36-37,52-59; Luke 19: 45-48

In our living rooms or in the offices, we could have a normal experience of piling up unwanted things little by little and at a point of time we would decide to do away with all of them and get the room or office cleansed. And surprisingly at that time, all that we were hoarding up as probable usables would become worthy only of the trash bags! The Word today speaks of such an experience, reminding us of the need to belong to God.

In our own bodies and minds, that is in our daily living, we begin to accumulate things we consider important: our immediate pleasures, our addictive dependencies, our bloating ego, our unforgiving rancours, our tendencies to prove ourselves to the world, and so on. The Lord reminds us, the beginning of every new day is an opportunity for us to turn the tables over, to throw the trashes into cans, and renew ourselves into what we are - the dwelling places of God!

God wishes to take possession of God's temple cleansed and put in order. Let's open up our lives and allow God to enter God's abode. Let's resolve to rededicate ourselves to the glory of God. Let the Lord take possession of the Lord's temple! 

Am I among the few?

WORD 2day: Thursday, 33rd week in Ordinary time

November 18, 2021: 1 Maccabees 2:15-29; Luke 19: 41-44

The very fact a few are mentioned among the Israelites who stood firm in their faith is an indication that a great number of them strayed away from it. It continued in Jesus' time too. Only a handful were ready and open enough to behold the unfolding of the promises of the Lord in and through the life of Jesus. And Jesus cries over the rest of the city. Not just the city at large, but his own close companions: 'are you going away from me too'... did he not ask that question?

The situation is no different today! There aren't too many who are totally convinced of what they believe and it is becoming more and more difficult to remain absolutely faithful to the truth not giving into any compromises. It is one thing to be unjust, arrogant and evil and do what I feel like, considering or respecting no one. But it is completely another thing to deceive people with my apparent goodness! I give an appearance to be the best of everyone put together; but only I know within me, how evil and how conniving I am! How many compromises and how many facades? 

That is why, the only one apart from God, who can say who I really am, is only myself! It is easy to find a fault on me and point a finger at me; it is also possible that no one finds anything wrong with me - both of these are not sufficient. The crucial question would be that, when I ask myself: The question is, do I belong to the majority who seem to be namesake followers or am I among the few?

Take yourself seriously!

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 33rd week in Ordinary Time

Novembre 17, 2021:  2 Maccabbees 7: 1, 20-31; Lk 19: 11-28

The end time disaster narration continues in the first reading today, while the recommendation given for this day is: take yourself seriously! Look at your life, look at what you are, look at what you have, look at what you are given, look at the tasks entrusted to you and take them seriously! The urge to be faithful to God is never a question of maintaining the status quo.

Regardless of our successes and titles we will be judged on the basis of our faithfulness to God or its lack. It does not matter whether we have worked on a little or an accomplished great thing, but it does matter what our level of faithfulness was, as we worked on  it! This faithfulness becomes more and more subtler as the things involved get more and more important - like our spiritual life, our faith life, our commitment to our relationship with God. 

What was the mother in the first reading we have today: a prophetess? a leader? a queen? No one...just a simple woman, an insignificant mother thus far and shoots all of a sudden to fame - simply because of the faithfulness of her sons. Behind that faithfulness, remains the whole life lived by the mother, and  with the mother - the values imparted and the convictions rooted. She deserves the limelight, as she nurtured them amisdt the obscurity of  the ordinariness of life. 

The Lord has entrusted us with the great gift of life - and we are to bring it back to the Lord, with all that we can add to it. Meaning, significance, merits, kindness, forgiveness, empathy, integrity and so on. It is not the noise and the fanfare that surrounds that will decide our final destiny, but that one moment of intense silence before the Lord where the Lord sees what I have made of my life finally. That moment will be happy, if today I take myself, my life and my call, seriously!

The Witness of Choice

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 33rd week in Ordinary time

November 16, 2021: 2 Maccabees 6: 18-31; Luke 19: 1-10

We are called to witness to the Lord, the Lord's Gospel and the Lord's Reign. The most powerful of witnesses is the witness of choice, the witness of making a choice for God over many others that claim a reckoning! 

Our choices determine, the person that we are! Our choices manifest the sort of community we form! Be it our personal choices, or our collective choices as a community, or society or as whole humanity, we constantly keep making statements as to who we are, through our choices. 

Eleazar makes a choice for God by not scandalising the little ones of God against a life for God. No one would have objected to it, if he had saved himself of extreme troubles; in fact they were merciful towards him. But what did not allow him was his interior, personal choices for God! And that became the greatest of witness to his fellow believers!

Zachaeus makes a choice to hold on to Christ and let everything else go, a witness of inspiration that he gives as an elder! Those who knew the old Zachaeus certainly would have been blown away in surprise. His choices were absolutely unbelievable! 

The long and short of the message today is: even if don't give a great witness per se, I need to atleast refrain from causing scandals for the little ones. However, both these are equally demanding and not exclusive of each other. We know the amount of damage that scandals are causing to the believing community these days. The crux of our Christian life is making a choice for God, for a life worthy of God and a life that is uplifting for the people of God!

Let me see again!

WORD 2day: Monday, 33rd week in Ordinary time

November 15, 2021: 1 Maccabees 1:10-15,41-43,54-57,62-63; Lk 18: 35-43

Born in a society of multireligious nature, and today living in a society that idolises this state of multi-religiosity in theory, personally I feel gifted with experiences and circumstances that can illumine the way one perceives things. At times at the first look, they do not come across to our observation and understanding. That is why the call today, to see again (as that person without sight asked Jesus!)

While in the multireligious, climate there are tendencies to not see the possibilities of co-existence and shared experience, absolutising identities and dividing humanity on varied bases; in a climate where this multi-religiosity is idolised without really understanding the nuances, there is a tendency to level everything, compromise on convictions and mix and match things to suit one's convenience! 

What is important here is, that we see, and that we see again, that is see closely and understand everything with a close attention and then initiate a process of dialogue, that does not raze down uniquenesses but accentuates the differences that contribute to each other, that humanise the society more, and that makes meaning and dignity of living as human persons, truly felt by all. This is infact is what evangelisation and re-evangelisation is all about - to throw new light; to make persons see again! 

THE POOR WITH US

5th World day of the Poor: November 14, 2021

33rd Sunday in Ordinary time - Daniel 12: 1-3; Hebrew 10: 11-14,18; Mark 13: 24-32

The Poor - Let us become aware of the varied forms of poverty that exists all around us, without losing sight of the poverty that rests even within us!

The Poor with us - Let us recognise the sufferings of people all around us...suffering due to want, disease, oppression, injustice, discrimination, insensitivity of the world, greed and malice.

The Poor we have - Let us not merely feel sorry for the poor, the suffering and the needy! Let us own them up! Let us consider them our own brothers and sisters.

Let our lives show, instruct and teach us to live with a sensitive heart: that the poor we have always with us!

Will there be faith?

WORD 2day: Saturday, 32nd week in Ordinary time

November 13, 2021: Wisdom 18: 14-16, 19:6-9; Luke 18: 1-8

There is a real anxiety in Jesus' question... will there be faith on earth, when the Son of man comes again! He asks that question looking at the type of people he saw and the mind set they had towards things of spiritual nature. Just as then, even today the question remains pertinent as people are more calculative than committed, more religious minded than faith oriented, more interested in external legalities than integral spirituality!

When Jesus asks that question, it is not about remaining afloat as a group, with still members and adherents, with a stucture of governance and system - that was not what Jesus was worried about, although many of us today would like to interpret that question on those lines. What Jesus meant was, whether the human person would have any relationship left with his or her Divine Origin; or will they be lost in the mundane, the tangibles of existence, the appearances and the so-called concrete experiences, belittling the mystery and the Spiritual dimension of human life.

Will there be faith and will faith be real... the way things seem to be developing, this anxiety has to fill our minds too. The Holy Father makes this issue come alive calling us to be today, a Church more and more authentic, true and faithful to the Gospel and its original values. Resisting all temptation towards division and sectarianism, fighting all forces that dehumanise the society and establishing a Reign counter to that of injustice and exploitation, we are called to keep the true faith alive, until the Son of Man comes back in glory. Are we game for that challenge?

Gather the signs!

WORD 2day : Friday, 32nd week in Ordinary time

November 12, 2021: Wisdom 13:1-9; Luke 17: 26-37

Every now and then in the story of humanity, a story makes its rounds that the end of the world is bound to begin shortly... in a week or in a fixed time foresaid.. with three days of darkness and other demonic signs. Though there is a curiosity that these horror stories evoke, they are merely manifestations of a spirituality that seeks some excitement all the time. Isn't that a very weak form of spirituality? 

Jesus invites us to grow in our capacity to gather the signs from the experiences of ordinary day to day life...the lessons arising from the clashes caused by evil tendencies, cravings incited by selfishness, inhumanities provoked by senseless egoism, insensitivities and indifferences that make this world a worthless place to live in! People who make of everything and every person, a commodity, a means to their own gain and a possibility of profit!

Look at the entire scenario of the pandemic experience - how many elements are human made and so miserably evil! Every time there is a disaster, human made or natural, there are those who shamelessly draw profit from it...what kind of a human person would do that? Leave alone, a follower of Christ falling into that mode of living. It is a clear sign that they do now gather any signs of what God wants from them!

The call is to gather signs and understand the invitation from God. It is not about when the end of the world would come...but what does God want of me here and now, right here and right now! It would be unwise to remain deaf or blind to the messages that the Lord sends... let's remain awake and read those signs and channel our courses towards one united goal: the Reign of God here on earth.

Me, the Spirit and the Reign!

WORD 2day : Thursday, 32nd week in Ordinary time

November 11, 2021: Wisdom 7:22 - 8:1: Luke 17: 20-25

The Reign of God is among you, says Jesus in the Gospel. While the first reading gives us the cue where to initiate it in concrete: from the Spirit who dwells within us. This is the crux of Christian life in the world today!

It is the Spirit's doing that initiates the Reign in this world. Hence the call that we have received to establish the Reign of God, begins with realising the Spirit within us. It is to become aware of the indwelling Spirit and live a life that is worthy of this inner presence, that waits to spread itself into a light that would lead the entire world from within each of us.

The second need is to keep the Spirit alive and nourish it with our choice for God on a day to day manner. When you sow flesh, you grow flesh; when you sow the Spirit, you grow in the Spirit, counsels St. Paul elsewhere. Our growth in the Spirit depends on the interest we manifest in feeding our selves with Spiritual nourishment. When the Spirit grows within, the Reign around me springs!

Thirdly, we are challenged to live that Spirit out, manifest that Spirit, bear witness to that Spirit, make the Spirit felt in our very beings, with courage and commitment, inspite of the threats and troubles around us. Once we choose to live our life in the Spirit to the full, the Reign of God begins to dawn on this world.

There is a crucial connection between the Spirit and the Reign, and the connection is ME!

Faith is to respond!

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 32nd week in Ordinary time

November 10, 2021: Wisdom 6: 1-11; Luke 17: 11-19

The readings seem to converge on one thought today... that the Lord wishes, expects, and demands a response from us! Our God is a self revealing God... through signs and wonders and prophets and wise persons and finally through God's only Son, and continuously even today in and through God's Spirit, God continues to reveal Godself to us in various ways.

The more we are given, the more we are expected to respond! It is not that God gives, so that we would repay! No! But it is that, we are given so much, we are filled with such goodness, we receive "grace upon grace" (Jn 1:16), that we realise it is right and just to give God thanks and praise!

To know the right thing to be done at the right time and choosing to do it, is a gift of the Holy Spirit...we would be blessed to possess it. And the Lord says today, "set your desire on my words; long for them, and you will be instructed!" (Wis 6:11). Doing the right thing, at the right time, is a response that we give to the Lord and that response is what is expected from me! When I don't respond, I waste what was entrusted to me, as a gift, a treasure!

Our response to the self revealing God - that is our faith. Growing in faith is learning to respond more and more adequately. Failing to respond is dwindling in faith. Let us grow in faith everyday - let us be attentive to respond to the Lord in every way!

Be, Build and Beware!

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

November 9, 2021: Dedication of the Lateran Basilica
Ezekiel 47:1-2,8-9,12; (1 Corinthians 3:9-11,16-17); John 2:13-22

Today we celebrate the dedication of the Basilica of St. John at the Lateran. This basilica is special because it is one of the four major basilicas of the Church in Rome. It becomes more special because it is the Cathedral of the Bishop of Rome, which is the Holy Father himself.

The feast of today gives us great insights into living an authentic Christian life!

The first insight is to be the Temple of the Lord, in our personal dedication to the Lord, in our unselfish and pure relationships and in our capacity to hold God out to people who come in touch with us.

The second insight is to build up the Temple of the Lord, that is the People of God. Today we see a tendency to invest crores on constructing and renovating churches, while the whole world is helplessly looking at misery that swallows scores of have-nots so easily pushed to peripheries because the majority are bothered only upto themselves. That too with this pandemic scene that has devoured the world situation, we need to be really careful what we wish to build - the edifice of the church, or the People who are the Church!

The third insight is to beware of breaking or dividing or scattering or demolishing this Church, the living body of Christ. The sealed churches, the schismatics, the dissident clergy, the churches that divide people with lies for ulterior motives - these are anti Gospel elements which not only delay the coming of the Reign of God but actively block it. If we are really the Church of God, we need to beware of our motives in doing all that we do!

Today, as we thank God for the great history that we have as a faith community of God, may we BE, may we BUILD and may we BEWARE to take optimum care of the House of God here on earth.

Holiness - faith lived at its core!

WORD 2day: Monday, 32nd week in Ordinary time

November, 8, 2021: Wisdom 1:1-7; Luke 17: 1-6

Holiness is a matter of the innermost being. It does not consist merely of the external signs and public shows. Words not said, thoughts not expressed, acts merely contemplated, reactions withheld... these determine my holiness more than what the world around perceives me to be. That is why the strange link between faith and forgiveness in the Gospel today. Forgiveness too is an absolutely private truth; its genuinity escapes any external expression!

While Jesus teaches his disciples to forgive brothers and sisters, they respond saying - 'increase our faith!' It can sound strange, but only apparently so! One could say, should the prayer not be, 'Lord help us to forgive!' why do we see, the apostles praying: increase our faith? The connection is very profound, and typically Christ-ian. One cannot consider oneself to be a person of faith, holy and spiritual, if one's relationships with others is not right. If faith is relationship with God, forgiveness is relationship with my fellow beings! If the latter fails, the former is meaningless. If we want really to be spiritual, we have to forgive, accept, and love our brothers and sisters, as God does with us!

Let's ask the Lord to "Increase our faith" (Lk 17:5); increase in faith means what the first reading tells us: honesty, simplicity of heart, shunning deceit, being truthful, in short: being godly at the core of our being, not merely in the external show! Yes, holiness is faith lived at the core of our beings. Faith is our daily life lived in the presence of the Lord. The more we grow conscious of the continuous presence of the Lord the more holy we shall grow!

WHAT TYPE IS YOUR GIVING?

To gain, to get or... ?

32nd Sunday in Ordinary time: November 7, 2021

1 Kings 17: 10-16; Hebrews 9: 24-28; Mark 12: 38-44

The widow at the gates of Sidon, the widow in the Temple of Jerusalem and God who gave God's only son as a sacrifice are given to us as models of giving, in today's Word. Giving is one act that can be done out of many a kind of motivation. Not all giving are of the same kind or type or degree! Analysing the models presented to us, we are called to reflect on our type of giving... reflect along and find out at the depth of your heart, what type is your giving!

Giving to Gain:

There is a lot of giving that is going on today. There are people or agencies or corporates who give even tons of money, but they are particular about what they stand to gain. They calculate the gain and then proceed to give: it could be a tax exemption, or a favour in return, or an end to achieve, or a popularity to earn! But apparently it is seen to be an act of generosity, an act of great magnanimity! But the hook is attached to the indirect returns - that's a gain.

However big and enormous this giving is, it would not be truly giving; it is in the final analysis, a getting, a begging, a receiving, a business, a gain! At times when we give, however small it is, from our time or energy or effort, if we are particular about our calculations of gain, our plots of selfishness, then our giving has no value in itself, its value is merely what we have gained.

Giving to Get:

This is the safest form of giving, where one is sure what one gives is not merely thrown in the air but it will return. I do a favour to someone expecting a favour in return; I be nice to someone expecting the person to be nice to me in return; I claim to love someone with the expectation that i will be loved in return! This is so direct - giving, inorder to get!

Though it is not about gain or profit or expecting a glorious image of oneself, this is a plain give and take, a barter mentality. There is no giving actually involved in here! It is an investment technique and when the plan fails people cry, shout, curse, claim, fight, sue, and make all noises possible! Forget giving, this is simply investing.

Giving to Give:

This is truly divine, truly Christ-ian! I give, because I find fulfillment in giving. I don't stand any chance of getting it back or I don't think anyone else will ever know, but I give, I give whole heartedly, of my time, my effort, my energy, my concern, my resources, because it is in giving that I find the true meaning of my life. During the last week Jesus instructed us, when you invite people to feasts, invite the poor, the maimed, those on the streets...reason, simple: they cannot invite you in return!

God gave God's only Son because God loved the world to that extent; it was an expression of God's love, not an expectation of the same in return! Jesus gave his life, his body and his blood, and what did he expect in return? This is true GIVING... giving after God's heart, giving after Christ's mind.

Just become aware of some of the phrases we hear (or sometimes say):

I am doing all this for him or for her or for them, what am I going to get in return?

Oh, I did all these to you, and is this how you respond?

Is it safe to give this, or do this, for this particular person, will it come back?

I did this, with so much of effort and money, and they don't even thank me in public!

These kinds of statements are candid indicatives of 'giving' that is not after the heart of our beloved Lord and Saviour. Because with the Lord we are called to give without measure. Freely freely you have received, freely freely give! Here the giving is not to gain, not to get it back; it is just to give, and nothing more!

The Urgency of the Reign!

WORD 2day: Friday, 31st week in Ordinary time

November 5, 2021: Romans 15: 14-21; Luke 16: 1-8

Jesus may be slightly intriguing in today's Gospel, as it seems as if he is justifying the shrewdness of the steward or approving of his lies. The point that Jesus is bringing forth is completely different. He wants us to realise how efficiently and time- consciously the evil doers proceed with their affairs, while those who are committed to the cause of the Reign, find themselves taking their own sweet time, hesitating, calculating, planning endlessly! 

Isn't it true? Just think of the multinational corporates, the ideological lobbies and antidemocratic political forces which are dictating terms to the humanity at large today. Did they spring into existence, just overnight? Where were the so-called Reign thinkers and Reign persons all the time that these were brewing in the dark, to emerge so forceful and see the light of day! Certainly they were watching, warning each other, talking about it and reflecting on it al the time, but had not acted in such a way as to stop these forces of compromise. Even today, isn't the same happening? There are these forces of division, oppression, and antihuman politicisation, slowly gaining ground. We see it and what are we doing? In the name of creating support systems that can help on a difficult day, building defence faculties, devising and revising strategies, so on and so forth, are we failing to live up to the demands of the day?

St. Paul is given as our model today: a man with an urgency to make Christ known and with a compelling clarity as to what his task was: to take Christ to those who didnt know Christ. The Urgency of the Reign comes precisely from these three factors: Clarity of our task; Conviction that I have but a short time; and a Commitment unto death.

How strongly is imprinted on my mind, the urgency of the Reign of God? And how ready am I to respond to its demands here and now?

The Reign Persons!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

November 4, 2021: Remembering Cardinal St. Charles Borromeo

Romans 14: 7-12 ; Luke 15: 1-10

Two attitudes in contrast today bring out the quality of a person who belongs to the Reign of God. The so called sinners and publicans were seeking to be in the company of Jesus while the pharisees were busy complaining that Jesus was eating with sinners and meeting with the outcasts. Jesus says he cared two hoots about what the pharisees thought, because Jesus' task was so clear cut and absolute for him: the Reign of God.

Reign of God is a mindset fundamentally. It is a mindset that gives priority to the Lord, a mentality that considers nothing more important that the will of God, a disposition of welcoming all that pertains to God and a lifestyle of celebrating every moment of life, every person around and every possibility of promoting love through genuine relationships. Although eating and drinking, and feasts and gatherings are an important part of the spirit of the Reign, they are not all, decries Jesus! Righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom 14:17)... that's the Reign of God. 

Reign of God consists of our choices, daily and radical choices, wherever we are - choices such as, whose company we seek; what do we decry; what is that which disturbs us when we look at the society today or our own life today, and so on... these are the pertinent elements that will make me truly a person of the Reign!

Charles Borromeo, born in a great noble family gave up everything for the sake of Christ, although he was entrusted with great authority and power, chose to live a life of austerity and total dedication to his Master. He has made a great contribution to the Church during the tough times of counter-reformation. he was really a person of the Reign and challenges us all today to grow into Reign persons!

Ready for the battle?

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 31st week in Ordinary time

November 3, 2021: Romans 13: 8-10; Luke  14: 25-33

Love... it's a term that is by far the most spoken of, not merely from a Christian perspective but that of the whole reality today. But that is no statement that guarantees the right usage of the term, because more often than not, it is misused and abused. A great percentage use it to mean a kind of feeling, a sentiment, an emotion that warms up one's heart.

Love is not all those.. love is a decision, a choice, a commitment that would demand so much from me that, I would find myself in a battle. Yes, responding to the call to love is like undertaking a whole expedition, against evil and hatred, for goodness and genuine fellowship. In choosing love, I am challenged to reject a whole lot of evil that is so widespread and prevalent around me today!

To accept to genuinely love, means being ready for any cost that I would have to pay. At times I may find myself alone, with the whole society against me. While everyone acts on the logic of give and take, tit for tat and an eye for an eye...I will have to declare that I love the one who has hurt me, I love the one who keeps offending me, I love the one who is the cause of so much suffering. That does not mean I approve of what he or she does...but the person, I cannot reject or hate! Oh, what a complicated choice it is! Love does not rejoice in evil; it rejects evil. But it never judges anyone or rejects anyone; it is patient and kind, forbearing and forgiving!

As a Christian every follower of Christ is obliged to take up this battle of love! And after having launched myself into this battle, if I turn back and find myself wanting, I will be considered unfit for the Reign. On a daily basis let us hearken to this call to love...which insists that we take a commitment every day which could be dangerously demanding. Am I truly ready for this battle?

Hope - that makes us Christian!

All Souls' Day: November 2, 2021

Wisdom 3: 1-9; Romans 5: 5-11; Mark 15:33-39, 16:1-6

What is the difference between a Christian and an unchristian outlook on anything?

Hope! The difference is hope. It is hope that makes us see a possibility even in the worst of our daily problems. Hope gives one the serenity and tranquility to approach every day problems with grace. One big unsolved question for the whole humanity is how to understand the end of life and beyond.

For a Christian, life is changed, not ended; it is transformed not terminated, explains the preface of the Mass for the dead. Jesus' resurrection fills us with hope and that hope does not disappoint us. The hope is towards eternal life, it is the eternal destination that characterises the culmination of this journey on earth.

Death is just the horizon beyond which we are not able to see what really exists; for if we see, there is no more place for hope (Rom 8:24). All that we see is the Risen Lord, who lives with us and lights our path. And in the Risen Lord is our hope. We hope to see every one of our brothers and sisters gone before us, united in the Risen Lord, as do the saints we celebrated yesterday and our prayer today is that these brothers and sisters of ours join their ranks and that we, at the end of our journey, join that wonderful family, the family that is founded on faith, united in love and kept alive in hope!

It is hope that makes us truly Christian!