Everything belongs to God

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

September 1, 2022: 1 Corinthians 3: 18-23; Luke 5: 1-11

During the Eucharistic Celebration, post the Lord's prayer, there is a section where the priest prays 'save us from all distress'. In the old version of the missal, the words used to be, 'free us from all anxiety'. Some of my priest friends for sounding novel and practical would change it as, free us from all needless anxiety... and I would pick an argument with them - for a Christian every anxiety is needless! Every anxiety is needless because everything belongs to God.

No anxiety, whether about eating or drinking, life or death, success or fear, nothing, absolutely nothing is warranted if I truly believe in my Lord. If I beleive in the Lord, and if I beleive that the Lord is almighty and that I am loved by my God... it logically follows that the Lord will take care of everything and the Lord is capable of everythin - and where does anxiety come from? It comes from the fact that I think that everything depends on me, on my capacity! The more I depend on my capacity, the more anxious I have to be, because I would not know when I will fail - I am not omnipotent. But the liberating fact is to realise that God is in control, not me!

The Lord is in control... all that I need to do is my duties to the best of my abilities and leave the rest to God. Call it Nishkama Karma, or detachment, or Kantian categorical imperatives... be the title what it may, the point is: God is in charge and I need not worry or be anxious. It is a difficult mindset but the most liberating one. I can save myself of so much of anxiety. if only I grow convinced of the fact that God is in control of everything, because everything belongs to God!

Defining Spiritual Persons

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

August 31, 2022: 1 Corinthians 3: 1-9; Luke 4: 38-44

Paul feels bad about the fact that he is not able to speak to the Corinthians as to Spiritual people, because of jealousy, rivalry and division among them. He presents those predicaments as directly opposed to being spiritual people. The same criteria would apply even today and even to us!

Jesus in the Gospel shines as a role model in being a Spiritual person or in other words, a person of the Spirit. He heals, casts out demons and refuses to gain any popularity mileage out of it. He rebukes the demons even, not to announce his Christ-image, as he wants the people to experience him personally in the depths of their hearts, each one hearing him or following him. He has no urge for popularity or no sense of jealousy or rivalry with the others.

Are jealousy, rivalry, infights and other divisive tendencies totally absent today in our communities? Leave alone the communities; what about my heart, is it totally free of these unspiritual attitudes? If not, I still am an immature believer. I may be outstanding in carrying out my so called spiritual duties and daily pious routines... but my faith still remains infantile. 

St. Paul, in a way, defines who a spiritually mature person is: one who is integral in his or her outlook, unifying in his or her relationships, loving in his or her consideration of the other and God centered in his or her understanding of one's own identity vis-a-vis the faith community. That is a solid sign of spiritual maturity.

Spiritual Persons are persons of the Spirit, and what matters to them is the action of the Spirit within themselves and within their communities! They would know it and they would submit to it wholeheartedly. 

The Mind of Christ

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

August 30, 2022: 1 Cor 2: 10-16; Lk 4: 31-37

They believed firmly that no human being can ever deserve the love of God. All that one can do is live in fear of the wrath of God and live a righteous life in order to avoid punishment; one has to live in fear and trembling all his or her life, to obtain one's salvation. 

Jesus turns tables as he makes it clear to them that while it is true that no one can deserve the love of God, it is equally true that one need not deserve to be loved! God loves us and that is all that matters. In his own self Jesus demonstrated how God is close to every human person and how God is compassionately in love with God's children. It is not about begging God for love, but it is about claiming that love with authority that comes from the very fact that we are sons and daughters of that loving God.

"Claiming with the right of the children"... can we really do that? Yes, of course, but let us remember that it first requires that I ensure that live as a true son or a daughter of God, knowing my duties and my obligations, my priorities and pertaining choices! It is the Spirit who enables us to have this clear, in our mind and in our lives. 

It is the Spirit of the Lord with us and within us, who makes us realize that we are the sons and daughters of the Lord almighty. Above all these, to know our privilege as children, to understand the value of being God's sons and daughters, the fundamental requirement is that we have the mind of Christ! The Spirit enables us to grow the mind of Christ within us, that we may grow more and more in our identity as sons and daughters of God. 

Matyrdom, the Christ logic

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

August 29, 2022: Remembering the beheading of John the Baptist

Jeremiah 1: 17-19; Mark 6: 17-29

Once, discussing about martyrdom with a group of youngsters, one asked me, 'why should they go upto martyrdom?' In the same tone I replied, 'they don't go up to it, it comes after them!'

Martyrdom is not a given-up mode of life. It is a fruit of living one's life to the full till the end, never losing the core purpose of that life for even a moment. Martyrdom is not an option to choose. It is a consequence of the choices made, absolute choices for truth and righteousness. It is a philosophy in itself, a totally different logic. 

St.Paul would boast about this often saying, there is a different kind of a logic that is at work in us... the logic of Christ. The first person who lived by that logic even before Christ our Lord, was John! Infact, Christ called him the greatest of those born of a woman. The sufferings of this world are nothing compared to the glory that awaits us in the Lord, St. Paul would remind us. 

Be a servant to be the Leader, be the least to be considered the best, be ready for the Cross in order to taste the true love of God... this is the logic we are refering to. Identifying ourselves with Christ is a serious affair, a risky task. We would either be judged "strange"or "challenging". Many went through this ordeal due to this Christ logic... Jesus himself was affected by that. They called him 'possessed' and 'out of his mind', just as they called John, a man of the wilderness! Finally they villainised them and killed them both!  

Applying today the Christ logic... what do we expect of the world? Persecutions and pressures: what would be our response to them? In today's culture of hatred and violence, what would our style be? Do we dare to make Christ logic our own, in our daily, concrete situations? That would be our daily martyrdom.

BLESSED ARE THE HUMBLE

Mark of the People of the Reign

August 28, 2022: 22nd Sunday in Ordinary time

Ecclesiastes 3:19-21,30-31; Hebrew 12: 18-19, 22-24; Luke 14: 1,7-14 

Humility is one lesson we learn so hard. Blessed are those who are humble by nature. The best of our qualities and talents would amount to nothing if only we lack this one single virtue:  Humility! The Word today invites us not only to be humble, but also to be with the humble and to be all for those who are humble, that we may be considered people of the Reign of God. 

Let us begin with an anecdote - a guru of a ashram was old and dying and he announced to his band of disciples: 'I wish to appoint the humblest of you all as the next Guru of the ashram.' The bickering began among the disciples, each one trying to prove he is more humble than the other. There was one among them who stood still and away from all debating. The Guru seemed impressed. He thought to himself, 'that should be the right one to succeed me, perhaps!' and he called him over to himself and asked him: 'what about you? are you not interested in the contest?' The disciple replied, 'Oh Master, you don't get it, how much ever they fight among themselves, they will never find anyone more humble than me!' The Guru was heart broken and he dismantled the whole ashram before he died! Spiritual Masters say, the moment you think you are humble, you cease to be so! How true it is!

Be Humble - that is the first message today. Being Humble is not putting up an appearance. It is not doing something to prove to others that I am humble. It is going about my duty with such sincerity and integrity that I may not be even noticed for the good that I do - but that does not disturb me at all.  

At times there are people who make a big show of the so-called good that they do, and sometimes a show even of their own simplicity! Just think of those famous posters of our politicians posing with a broom in their hands claiming to be simple and committed to cleanliness of the nation. Or similar ones where they pose with some poor people, in their huts and gullies. They would have spent a fortune on those hoardings and advertisements! Let us remember - we have nothing to prove to anyone, not even to our own selves. All that I need to do is, be truthful, be real, be authentic. Humility is acceptance of truth. 

Be with the Humble - identify people who are truly humble. Jesus had the special eye for the humble ones. Be it Mathew, or Zacchaeus, or Nathaniel, or the Centurion, or the Pharisee who asked him about the commandment of love... Jesus recognised the humble and sided with them. In another episode like today's Gospel, when Jesus was at dinner at Simon the Pharisee's, he was able to see through the sinfulness of the woman and identify her humble repentance. She was gifted with his empathy. Jesus sided always with the humble, not with the haughty. 

If we are truly people of God, besides being humble ourselves, we would look out for the humble and stand by them. Just become aware of your tendency... among a group of new people whom you meet, who is it that you feel drawn to: the most brandishing among them or the quiet insecure of the band? Or when you deal with persons who depend on you, whom do you promote: the so-called talented and gifted or the rare ones who never get to reach the limelight? There is a statement about myself, in whom I choose to be with. 

Be all for the Humble - being the voice of the voiceless, the stronghold for the weak. When we stand by the humble we stand with the Lord, because the Lord always stands by the humble. This is the third message that the Word offers us today. Be for the humble of heart, stand by them, empathise with them, support them and spread the spirit so that the Reign of God may be felt amidst us, here and now. 

Today, we see reports of so many humble persons being taken for granted, exploited and drained of even the little that they have. We have truthful and integral individuals taken to task, punished and crushed by the demonic culture of corruption and greed. Those who fight for justice and truth are labelled rebels by the authority and derided as jobless by the public. What is our response as people of the Reign?

The Word this Sunday invites us to understand that the humble are blessed in the sight of the Lord. Those who are humble, those who are with the humble and those who are all for the humble, find favour in the light of the Reign of God - they are truly the people of the Reign.

The Power of Tears

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

August 27, 2022: Remembering Saint Monica

1 Corinthians 1: 26-31; Luke 7: 11-17

St. Monica, this saintly Mother has always been a point of great admiration in Christian hagiography. What a great example we have in her, as a mother and as a child of God! 

There are three lessons that this saintly mother can teach us:

1. The grace of tears: 

Pope Francis encourages people to pray for the 'grace of tears' when pleading to God to help others, when recognising their own sinfulness, when contemplating the greatness of Christ's love and when experiencing God's mercy. Monica had the grace of tears and she prayed with tears every time she prayed for her husband and her son.

2. The power of tears: 

When the widow of Nain cried, the Lord could not resist his compassion for her. He was moved to the point of a miracle. Just so, Monica saved her son, by the sheer power of her tears. What if we realise, that our tears can save, atleast ourselves!

3. The witness of tears: 

Tears become a witness, witness to the love of God. The genuine tears of a loved one speaks volumes about the immeasurable love that God has for a person. Tears are not signs of weakness, they are signs of inner strength to remain with a person who is suffering or struggling!

Let us pray for the gift of tears, as Pope Francis recommends!

Wisdom and Foolishness

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

August 26, 2022: 1 Corinthians 1: 17-25; Matthew 25: 1-13

The world today has its own definition of wisdom and foolishness, success and failure, acceptable and inacceptable, desirable and undesirable, etc. Everything is calculated, to put it simply, in terms of benefits and gains in comparison to the effort and investment. Convenience and comfort seem unfailing criteria of choice. What is comfortable and convenient, what does not disturb my daily routine and normal life style... that is to be considered acceptable and the others have to be avoided as unnecessary! This is what the world teaches, but can these be Christian parameters?

The Christian paradigm, as Paul says is the Cross and the hope that it projects. However hard we may try, no other paradigm can make sense of this. The sacrifices we make and the selfless goodwill we have towards others are true Christian parameters of righteousness. When we try to be good, when we intend to do good to others, when we decide to be righteous, we are bound to face problems, pressures and sometimes even persecutions! 

Being good and doing good without expecting anything in return or without looking for its credits, is the cross we are called to embrace on a daily basis if we wish to really belong to the Bridegroom! The Cross is not just a sign or a symbol... it is a life style, the lifestyle that a disciple of Christ has to adopt. It is this grammar of Cross alone that can differentiate truly between wisdom and foolishness!

Waiting... but how?

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

August 25, 2022 - 1 Corinthians 1:1-9; Matthew 24: 42-51

The Word today brings out the all important spiritual practice of Waiting. Waiting is a daily-life experience for most of us, if not all of us. When we look at it from a larger perspective of Spirituality and life changing experiences, it can be of three modes depending on the disposition with which a person waits. 

Utopian Waiting, is a kind of excited waiting. It is more or less like a child who is waiting with excitement for a Christmas gift from the Santa. There is so much of dreaming and planning about the gift. The gift is opened and admired and experienced, all in imagination or at the mental plane, even before it reaches the hands of the beholder. Here there is so much of noise made about it though no one is absolutely sure what it is all about. About waiting for the Lord too, there are people who do this, aren't they?

Slumberous Waiting, is a kind of inactive waiting, just waiting to kill the time till it all happens. There is nothing much done about it, or practically nothing, because the person waiting does not expect anything spectacular at the end of it all. There is a kind of indifference and cynicism, even a bit of pessimism! There is nothing new under the sun and what is going to be has always been, they believe. They feel they have nothing much to accomplish and there is so much of compromise and lethargy here, that when it really happens they are hardly prepared!

Spiritual Waiting, is a kind of wholesome waiting, which lives the present moment with a holistic mindset that contains within this particular moment the gratitude for the past and the hope for the future! It is a kind of spiritual disposition that is sincere and genuine about the present life, with all its responsibilities and trials, joys and difficulties, without belittling what has gone before and what awaits. It is fundamentally living one's life to the full, joyfully waiting for the plan of eternity to unfold in all its grandeur.

Persons incapable of deceit

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

August 24, 2022: Celebrating St. Bartholomew, the Apostle

Revelation 21: 9-14; John 1: 45-51

The twelve - Jesus' choice of the twelve was very conscious and reasonable. Be it any of the twelve, even regarding Judas Iscariot, Jesus had a special reason for their choice. He gives the reason for the choice of Bartholomew (said to be Nathaniel whom Philip introduced to Jesus): a man without guile or a man incapable of deceit. That is one splendid attribute of a disciple.

We are called to be people of God; disciples of Christ! Can we merit such an appreciation from Jesus, as he had for his apostles? Note the attribute that Jesus gives today - incapable of deceit... not only that one does not have deceit, but one becomes incapable of deceit. Incapable of deceit would not only mean the way we behave; but the way we are! 

There is another cue that we have from the colour that we use for the Apostles, liturgically: the Red that we use to indicate the specific role the apostles play within our faith, is a reminder to be ready to give up one's life! Being incapable of deceit would mean - as saints like Dominic Savio would say - death rather than sin. I am so incapable of deceit that I would even die, rather than go against Godliness. 

Let every apostle, including Bartholomew, inspire us to live a life that makes us worthy be called persons without guile, people incapable of deceit!

Being Scandal Proof!

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

August 23, 2022: 2 Thessalonians 2: 1-3a, 14-17; Matthew 23: 23-30

Though it has reduced a lot now, there has been a time when some non-catholic brethren (or many of them) had been intent on maligning the Catholic Church, the Catholic faith and the Catholic community of faithful. They were used to posting videos or messages, all of an anti-catholic nature. They were prone to criticising everything 'Catholic,'  even to the extent of calling the then Holy Father, the Anti-Christ who is to come. Not that such a tribe has disappeared today, but they have mellowed down, may be because they have done enough damage that they intended to. It is possible at these kind of experiences, that we express our shock and disapproval. But dear friends, if only we are integral in our faith and life, all that we need to remember is: "a fruitful tree has to foresee stones coming its way!"

Oppositions, today more than ever, keep growing to unbelievable proportions against the faith and tradition that we have grown with. However, there are splendid ways of God that we come across in spite of all these oppositions. At same time there is no dearth of examples within the Catholic fold, examples that go against the true love, splendid purity and unfailing benevolence of God. What we are to do is, simply remain calm and composed at times when we are troubled. No use lamenting the absence of witnesses for the Lord, but becoming a witness myself in whichever way I can - that is what really matters. 

And whether we are a model or not, it is important and urgent today to observe, notice and identify the counter witnesses! And it is highly important and crucial today, to be scandal proof!

Like a king or a queen!

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

August 22, 2022: Celebrating the Queenship of Mary
2 Thessalonians 1: 1-15, 11-12; Matthew 23: 13-22

Today we celebrate the Queenship of Mary - but why today? It is very logical. It is one week after we celebrated the Assumption of our Blessed Mother. Assumed into heaven, she is crowned as the Queen of Apostles and Saints. As we celebrate this Queenship of our Blessed Mother we are rightly reminded of something fundamental to our Christian call.

Reflecting on the Word and the Feast today, I was strangely reminded of one of my experiences a few years ago on a journey! One knows quite well that a photo identity card is essential on journeys and those days, I had the habit of carryinh a colour photocopy of my driving license as a identity proof. On one of the journeys, this habit suddenly became an issue, when a Ticket Inspector took exception to the fact that it was a photocopy! By rule, it has to be an original document... not that I did not know that rule! I understood I was at fault and fotunately the Inspector was kind enough to merely warn me and let me go without any fine. What I wish to share here, is not what happened till here, but what has happened after that event. I began to carry an original document with me as a proof of identity, and every time I travelled after that, and specially when the Ticket inspector came to my direction, I could hold my head high and feel so confident about the fact that I have every thing right on my part - that's feeling like a king!

Jesus is referring to a life confused with varying standards, footless principles and self-centered schemes! When a person lives that way, he or she has to be all the time on the guard against people who would find fault, who would accuse or atleast murmur against. But when some one has everything right in his or her part in life, there is an inner freedom that is akin to living life like a king or a queen!

Queenship of Mary from this angle seems a natural outcome of our Blessed Mother's way of life - the absolute freedom she enjoyed, the total personal commitment she manifested and the bother-about-nothing-else attitude she had when it came to obeying God's will... that is what made her the Queen of Heaven and Earth, inspiring us to live our Christian life like her: like a King or a Queen! 

ENTER THE NARROW DOOR

Strong, in Communion and Patient!

August 21, 2022: 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time
Isaiah 66: 18-21; Hebrew 12: 5-7, 11-13; Luke 13: 22-30

The experience of standing in a queue, the tedium of entering the metal detector at places with extra vigilance or waiting for the token number at the bank… these are no rarities in our ordinary life. Jesus draws a simple example, one similar to these, our experiences.

The door to the Reign of God is narrow, not many take that door, though everyone is invited to enter the Reign. There are many other doors, which seem more comfortable, more spacious and more adorned and people prefer them, knowing least that they do not lead to the Reign of God, the greatest treasure in store for us!

Entering the narrow door is a task quite demanding – the readings today point to three traits that are needed to be able to enter the Reign through the narrow door. As Jesus tells us in the Gospel, many try to enter but they cannot.

To able to enter the door, one should be strong! Strive – says the Lord – Strive to enter – To strive means to struggle, to make all the efforts possible, to try real hard. One needs to be strong in mind, heart and soul to strive to enter the narrow door into the Reign. It is Spiritual strength we are dealing with here. Be Strong, but avoid Spiritual Obesity, warns the Lord. If you are obese, you cannot enter the narrow door – it’s obvious! Spiritual Obesity – Pride and Elitist mentality – which gives into self righteousness and judgmental attitude can never get us into the Reign of God. I am baptized, I am a born-again, I am a consecrated religious, I am a Sacred minister – nothing can get you in! From the east and the west, the north and the south everyone will enter and sit at the table in the Reign says the Lord. Mind you, there are no reservations here in. A bit of disciplining, as the second reading suggests, can get us in shape.

To be able to enter the door, one should be in communion! The way is long, we reflected on that last week. Communion with each other and Communion with those who have managed to enter the door before us, can really make the task easy and enjoyable. Our forerunners are our example, our model and can even be our helpers – but finally, the one who has to enter is me! It is you! That is why we are warned today – Be in Communion but avoid Spiritual Infantilism. At times we make our faith so infantile that we think everything depends on the candles we light, the formulae we repeat, the food we give up and the coins we drop. These are means to strengthen our relationship with God – but they are not everything. What matters most is our personal life of commitment and integrity. You cannot enter the narrow door in groups… one by one you have to do it. That means you cannot ride on the goodness of the other, either the living or those gone before you!

To be able to enter the door, one should be patient! The wait is long, for the door is narrow! Waiting on the Lord is a spiritual talent. To wait patiently, amidst failures and pressures, amidst temptations and struggles, amidst dark nights and heavy burdens, it is the only way one can be prepared and prompt when one’s time comes! There is a warning here too: Be Patient but avoid Spiritual Lethargy. In the name of patience I cannot procrastinate my commitment and postpone my conversion to a later moment. ‘Repent and Believe, for the Reign of God is near’ says the Lord. Being patient is not being busy with something else till my turn comes… but persevering, enduring and constantly working on myself that when my turn comes, I am in shape, prepared enough and fit to enter the narrow door that leads me to the behold the eternal glory of the Lord Almighty!

I am the door, if anyone enters through me, he or she will be saved (Jn 10:9) declared the Lord elsewhere! Jesus is the door, the narrow door, the demanding door – He is compassionate, yes; but at the same time uncompromising. The choice is ours to choose the narrow door, make ourselves strong, united and patient, to endure our everyday life and make straight the path for our feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed (heb 12:13). The door is narrow but there is enough space to enter, if we are in ready and willing.

We, the glory of God!

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

August 20, 2022: Ezekiel 43: 1-7; Matthew 23: 1-12

The talk of the glory of the Lord reminds us immediately of the famous saying of St. Irenaeus, "the glory of God is the human person fully alive." It is so true, that the Lord does not glory in the whole universe, but in the human person that God has created, precisely because the Lord created the human persons in God's own image and likeness. 

Bearing God's image and likeness is much more than just being a special creature; it is being God's own, it is bearing that dignity that comes from God, it is having God as our father, our mother, our Master, our Lord, our source, our destiny, our model, our meaning... our all! Thus, at the same time that it is a privilege, it turns out to be a great responsibility, for each of us - to be bearers of the image and likeness of God. 

Let us not be carried away by the scandals on earth and the misleading examples around. Let our eyes be fixed on that one source and summit. The Lord alone is our Master. When we journey on this way, we will have with us those who have gone before us, those who are struggling along with us, those who are on the verge of giving up, those who are contemplating to commence the same journey and so on. 

Let us feel a sense of solidarity with all, encourage each other and grow up (cf. 1 Thess 5:11), to be true sons and daughters of God , manifesting the glory of the Lord here on earth. Just as Ezekiel saw the glory of the Lord enshrined in the Temple, let the world today see the glory of the Lord in us, the living temples of the Lord (1 Cor 3:16).

The Dry bone syndrome

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

August 19, 2022: Ezekiel 37: 1-14; Matthew 22: 34-40

The world is experiencing a time that is strange in all its sense and meaningless in its totality. There is some invention or development every single day in the field of social networking, making it ever more easier to stay in touch and communicate to each other. But the paradox is, that world is growing colder by the day towards those who are suffering, those who are struggling, those who are left without hope, those who are exploited and targetted, denied their rights, robbed of their dignity and incessantly dehumanised. No one bothers about these weak and the least, there is only the mighty and the moneyed who have their way in everything.  It is an experience we can call the dry bone syndŕome. Bones strewn all around but having nothing to do with each other.

The spirit, the breath of the Lord that the Lord commands Ezekiel to prophesy about, is nothing but the Spirit of the Lord, the love for God and the love for one's neighbours. It is Love that can give life to this heap of dry bones. It is the love that God lavishes upon us and the realisation of it, that can urge us to love others (2 Cor 5:14).

Looking at the war situations and stand-offs between nations that create feelings of fear and insecurity among people... are they not clearly experiences of dry bone syndrome? And what else can be the solution proposed, if not, love, genuine love and committed love, inspired by the Lord and the Spirit of the Lord!

The task of becoming God's people

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

August 18, 2022: Ezekiel 36: 23-28; Matthew 22:1-14

The readings today seem to underline the urgency of responding to God's invitation. The urgency in no way does away with the demands of the criteria. The demand is not just to be good people, but to be God's people. However we may try, that task seems to be practically impossible, with all the traps and trials around in our living conditions. 

The Lord offers to fill us with Lord's own spirit. It is only through that, one can live according to the norms of the living Lord. By God's invitation to becoming the Lord's people, God wishes to display God's holiness in us... what a realisation if only we understand what God wants to communicate by this invitation to us. 

At times we reduce our human nature to sinfulness and wickedness, jealousy and egocentrism, lawlessness and insensitivity. The truth is not that: the truth is that we possess within us the holiness of God, the splendour of God, the glorious and majestic image of God. If only we realise it! 

We are called to be holy, we are given with the task of becoming God's people...holiness here is knowing the right perspectives of life and living with right priorities, on a daily basis. We claim to have accepted the invitation of God, but if we do not have this balanced perspective and wholesome priorities, we are doomed to be cast out from that presence of the Lord, for it is no holiness that does not result in concrete wholeness!

The Sign that saves

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

August 10, 2022: Ezekiel 9: 1-7, 10, 18-22; Matthew 18: 15-20

Do you remember this symbol? Some years ago this mark was trending at the world level... 

In 2014 it had come to symbolise the Christians suffering in Iraq. It was drawn or spray painted on the doors of the houses of Christians, to tell the plunderers and soldiers that those houses are accessible at will. The Christians were made to live in a constant fear and anxiety.

In the first reading today we see in the vision of Ezekiel, the angels were given a symbol on the forehead of people, by which they are spared! 

Jesus too gives a mark by which we will be known as people of God... the mark of loving forgiveness. "By this they will know that you are my disciples: if you have love for one another" (Jn 13:35). 

In the Gospel today, Jesus explains what this 'having love for one another' is. It is to forgive, to care for each other and above all to pray together, with one heart and mind. This is the mark that Jesus expects of us, as our identity, as a sign that saves us! It is not those who call him 'Lord Lord' who would be saved but those who do the will of the Father (Mt 7:21), Jesus would say. 

The sign that can save us is our life of daily forgiveness and undying love.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Obey and be not rebellious

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

August 09, 2022: Ezekiel 2:8-3:4; Matthew 18:1-5, 10,12-14.

When a child places its trust in someone, be it father or mother, or a loved one, or a teacher or a friend, the child obeys without questions. That is what makes a child so vulnerable in front of those. That vulnerability makes the child so special and so valuable in the eyes of the Lord. Obedience, docility, humility, surrender - these are the dispositions that are expected of a child of God, in the presence of God.

The first reading so figuratively presents through the experience of Ezekiel, the message that Lord gives to each of the Lord's sons and daughters: to be children, to obey and not to be rebellious, but to receive the Word of the Lord, take it in, savour it, understand it, live by it, and announce it to the world.

"Obey and you will not have sinned" says the famous monastic rule. And that is the strength of obedience. The first sin recorded in the Word is of rebellion, and the atonement for it was offered in Obedience, on the Cross! 

The Word instructs us today, if you are to be called children of God: Obey and be not rebellious!

Really Knowing...

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

August 8, 2022: Ezekiel 1: 2-5,24-28; Matthew 17: 22-27

Growing in Faith is not merely growing in knowledge of something - knowing more about scriptures, knowing more about religion, knowing more about values etc. It is much greater than that but one of the most fundamental requirement is knowing: knowing who oneself is! That self knowledge and self definition determines much of one's choices! 

The Word today reminds us of the true nature and glory that is embedded in our very beings, which we very often forget, neglect and reject. When we do not realise the glory that is within, we go in search of very many other replacements, which can in no way fulfill our lives.

Added to that fact, the way I understand myself affects the way I look at others. The way I look at others determines the way that I relate to them. The way I relate to the others is plainly expressive of the kind of concept I have of God. For instance, when we look at others as strangers and foreigners then we expect that they deserve every thing that we do for them. When we look at the other always in communion with ourselves, all that we do for them we actually do for ourselves. And, looking at the other as unconnected from me puts my very belief in One God to question. 

It is high time we look at everything being one whole, connected to each other - that is true Spirituality!

The Glory and the Call

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

August 6, 2022: The Transfiguration of the Lord

The disciples see their Lord in his glory and all that they want is to remain in that state of splendour and delight! The call is to climb down, move on and keep walking, taking advantage of the light that the moment has shed! Though Jesus was all the time with them, the disciples needed that experience on the mount to behold his power and glory. 

Our life of prayer, that is, our relationship with God who shares every moment of our life, is punctuated at times with ‘peak’ experiences, to sustain us in the tedium of the daily journey. Retreats, pilgrimages, charismatic conventions, supernatural experiences and miraculous events – these are very useful and important, but cannot become a daily need! 

Effective substitutes for these that the Church suggests to each of us, are the Sacraments of Eucharist and Reconciliation – which when celebrated with the zest and the earnestness that they truly deserve – can become peak experiences on a regular basis. St. Peter in the today's reading warns us against laxity and invites us to walk in Christ’s light every day and every moment, accepting the apostles’ testimony as a light to our path. 

On our daily journey, let us observe the glorious presence of the Lord in the ordinariness of the day. Let the gentle beckoning of God keep sounding in our ears all this day – “This is my Son, my Chosen. Listen to him.”

True blessedness from God

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

August 5, 2022: Nahum 2:1-3, 3:1-3, 6,7; Matthew 16: 24-28

Today we hear the hope giving words of Nahum. But just a few days earlier we heard from Jeremiah a sharp criticism of the self proclaimed prophet Hananiah, saying the prophecies of prosperity can be accepted as such only after the things prophesied come to pass. However the words of Hananiah were soon proved to be mere search for popular acceptance!

Nahum's promise of the restoration of God's people is not merely a pleasing statement on the part of the messenger. It comes combined with a call to be prepared, alert and girded. Jesus takes that a step forward to say, it takes a ready acceptance of the daily cross and a loving preparedness to walk in the ways of the Lord, to experience the true "blessedness" from God.

Prosperity, fame, popularity, joy, sense of fulfilment, peace and a sense of being loved... these are ofcourse signs of God's blessings. But they cannot be the main focus in our daily life, instructs Jesus. When we strive to live acceptable in the eyes of God, all the rest will follow.

Thus, what really matters is..the true "blessedness" in the sight of God!

A heart worthy of the Covenant

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

August 4, 2022 - Remembering St. John Maria Vianney
Jeremiah 31: 31-34; Matthew 16: 13-23

The day will come when you will not have to teach your loved ones to know God...for every one will know God in those days, promises the Lord. Jesus applauds Peter, saying his knowledge of Christ was exceptional, because it was God given! The day had come when Peter would know who the Lord was, as we read in Jeremiah.

The reality is that, God reveals Godself to us and we get to know God so intimately. But our memories are so very fickle and short lived. We give into our human tendencies so easily and readily as if there were nothing so great between us and God! Our memories may be thus short, but not God's. God forgives, waits and and readily renews the covenant that God made with us.

John Maria Vianney, remained a great reminder of this fact to his people. Not just his parish of Ars, but the whole region in and around that small little village, came to know the immeasurable love of God through the sacraments and the life of the holy pastor Vianney.  Today too, we are called to be the signs of the promises of the Lord, and challenge humanity towards a heart worthy of the Covenant, beginning right from ourselves. 

The Lord promises to give us a new heart, a heart of flesh, a heart that takes after the sensibilities of God, a heart that sees as God does, a heart that hears as God does, a heart that feels as God does, a heart that loves as God loves... a heart that is worthy of the covenant that God has made with us.

The Remnant and the Rest

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

August 3, 2022: Jeremiah 31: 1-7; Matthew 15: 21-28

The Lord renews the covenant with the people inspite of their failures because the Lord had always loved them with an everlasting love. The Word today warns us that those who will finally taste the fruits of God's faithfulness are the remnant and the rest, of the people who come by and stick to the Lord.

The Remnant are those who choose to differ from the mainstream inspired by a genuine conviction and sincere effort to be integral. While the entire human race goes after and lives by a value system and the majority justifies what seems so obviously so ungodly, the remnant are those who stick out their necks and see the truth and say the truth; they decide to differ from the crowd.

The Rest are those who are least expected to be favoured in the eyes of the Lord. The world has its own criteria of judgement but the Lord has a totally different set of criteria... single minded dedication to the Lord, genuine love for God's people and authentic life after the mind of God - these are what pleases the eyes of the Lord. What certainly does not please the Lord is an outward show, popularity gimmicks, insincere lifestyle and manipulation of minds and persons. 

Don't conform to the world; instead be transformed in Christ into new beings, St. Paul would instruct! And those who refuse to conform to the world would certainly be the remnant and the rest.