Check your foundations!

The WORD in ADVENT - First Thursday

December 1, 2022: Isaiah 26: 1-6; Matthew 7:21, 24-27

A strong city, a house built on a rock - these are the images we are given to contemplate today. A city with its walls, bulwarks and ramparts signify the strength that each one possesses. The house built on rock signifies the security and the assurance of safety that everyone looks for. And in contrast we have the house built on sand which is quick to ruin itself, assailed by the least of the battering; a city that is unguarded which has all the possibility of attack from within, from outside and from all unprecedented quarters.

Are we a guarded city, a house founded on a rock? Or are we a weak city, a house on a sinking sand? What determines this? Naturally, our choices; our deliberate, daily and determined choices! The person that we are, the choices that we make, the priorities we have, the criteria we act on, the principles we stand by... these determine the strength and the security that we possess.

It would be opportune for each of us to ask ourselves - what are those which matter to me when I have to make a choice from within? Others' opinion about me, my fleeting moment of so-called joy, my urge to prove myself, the tendency to exploit the other or the situation, my so-called prudence to gain out of everything that I involve myself in : which of these determine my daily and simple choices? What kind of an influence do these make on my priorities and my life style?

When these choices, priorities, criteria and principles are flimsy and meaningless, how unfortunate and doomed I could be! Instead, if they are all founded on the Lord and the Lord's Word, we shall indeed be a city well guarded and a house firmly built on rock. Isn't it time to check our foundations!

To be Instruments of the Reign

The WORD, the SAINT and the ADVENT

November 30, 2022: Remembering St. Andrew, the Apostle
Romans 10: 9-18; Matthew 4: 18-22

St. Andrew repeatedly played a special role during the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. As a disciple of Christ he always had the special role of bringing good news to persons... he brought the good news of having found Christ, to Peter (Jn 1:41); along with Philip, he brought the Greeks to meet Jesus (Jn 12:22); and he brought that boy who gave the five loaves to feed the five thousand (Jn 6:9). He brought Jesus to persons and he brought persons to Jesus! 

This is why, Andrew is today proposed as the patron of social network...because he used every opportunity to connect between persons and Christ - he announced Christ to people and to brought people to Christ. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI described social network as the modern day pulpit and invited us to proclaim Christ not merely from the housetops but also from the laptops... and here we have a great role model for that... St. Andrew, the Apostle. 

This has a special reference to the season of Advent - which is fundamentally a season of not only waiting, but a season of pre-announcement, a season that reminds us of the foretaste. We are called to eagerly long for a foretaste of the Reign that has to reveal itself in its fullness. It is a call to dedicate every effort of ours to proclaim the Reign through all means, including the social network. 

Let us seek, in our contacts with the people, especially the young, to offer a right orientation to the social network, which offers us such a great promise, that it may forever be an instrument in the hands of God to bring God's will to fulfillment, an instrument of the Reign. 

Returning to the Fullness of the Father

The WORD in ADVENT - First Tuesday

November 29, 2022: Isaiah 11: 1-10; Luke 10: 21-24

Finding the fundamentals of faith - that was the call we had yesterday. And talking of faith and growing in faith, in a context like India, I have wondered often, and I am sure you have too... that at school, in the neighbourhood, as children we have always grown up with so many different people, different in their faith, different in their customs etc., but always growing up as friends and neighbours, sharing lives, sharing festivities and sharing our brotherhood and sisterhood as one humanity. From where then does hatred come, if this unity and fellowship is so natural?

On the Lord's mountain, there is no hurt or harm, no killing or violence, no manipulation or deception. That is the fullness with which God, the Creator, the Father, made the whole world. The New heaven and New earth, has to be modelled on this - on the fullness of the Father. Hence it is not inventing something new, but going to the roots, or a returning to the Father.

This is of course found naturally with children and those persons with a simple child-like heart. Jesus awes at these... the children and those who are children at heart: "for theirs is the Reign of God!" (Mt 19:14). Woe to those who cause these little ones to stumble, make them learn hatred and grow inhuman...(cf.Mt 18:6). Bringing the Good news to people, is not to brandish a brute superiority or instill a sense of inferiority and fear, but sharing a sense of fullness, the fullness of the Father. It is growing to be peacemakers, children of God, persons of love... to Return to the fullness of the Father as true people of the Reign!

Finding the Fundamentals of our Faith

The WORD in ADVENT - First Monday

November 28, 2022: Isaiah 4: 2-6; Matthew 8: 5-11

We began Advent yesterday with a call, "to return to the Reign"! And what could that mean - it means to find the fundamental meaning of our faith in the Lord, which fills us with hope, love and joy!

One of the concrete expressions of faith is, total confidence that the Lord has the power to act on my behalf! The Word today explains this reality to us in a splendid manner. Isaiah infuses hope into the people in exile that the Lord will bring back their glory to them, that the Lord will forgive all their iniquities, cleanse them and heal them! He is building up their shattered faith. 

It is the same faith that Jesus notices in the centurion, a non-Israelite, a 'pagan' according to the Jews... Jesus sees the confidence that the centurion had in Jesus' power to heal that servant at home. He had no doubt whatsoever and surrendered the whole situation to Jesus. He did not demand, nor did he prescribe to Jesus what is to be done; he just surrendered. The faith stands out here. 

Work-stress, family problems, personal crises, misunderstandings, relationship issues, daily concerns, discouragements, health issues... when we are faced with these - we need to have an unassailable confidence that Our Lord has the power to act on our behalf. Let us pray for the strength of faith, to say as the centurion does today: "Lord, only say a word, and your servant will be healed!"

RETURN TO THE REIGN

Climb, Conduct and Celebrate!

November 27, 2022: New Liturgical Year - 1st Sunday of Advent

Revelation 22: 1-7; Romans 13:11-14a; Matthew 24: 37-44

Let us begin with wishing each other a happy and blessed New liturgical year! And right at the outset the Lord invites us today, to RETURN to the REIGN of God.

 

The Church is the sign and the sacrament of the Reign of God. We are the Church, the people of God! Therefore we are expected to be the signs, the bearers, the heralds of the Reign of God today to the world. And how can this happen if we are not people of the Reign, if we are not mindful of ushering in the Reign of God here on earth, or making the Reign felt concretely, if we do not really believe in what Christ said: 'The Reign of God is amidst you!' (Lk 17:21) Hence, the invitation today, to return to the Reign is basically a wake up call, to wake up to the reality, to wake up to our real identity, to wake up to our dignity as the People of the Reign and to live up to that identity on a daily basis.

It is an invitation to CLIMB the mountain of the Lord... yes, to walk in the way of the Lord, to walk in the light of the Lord...as the first reading repeats in different words. It is fundamentally an invitation to climb, to go up, infact to grow up. We are invited to go up, grow up, above our tendencies of conflict and our feelings of rivalry and jealousy, above our petty considerations of ourselves and self centered strivings for pleasure. It is a call to transcend what is popularly considered to be 'desirable' and reach the thinking worthy of the Reign - where swords can turn into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks; where all manipulation and exploitation will give into genuine love and sincere goodwill for the other.

It is an invitation to CONDUCT ourselves worthy of the Reign. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, invites us St. Paul. And in doing it, let's not wait for an opportune moment... for "now is the acceptable time, now is the time of salvation!" (2 Cor 6:2). Waiting for another moment will be a mistake, a blunder, a foolishness on our part. Let us make the choice, a choice for God, a choice for the light, a choice for the good, a choice to be awake, a choice to be the people of the Reign. Let us not blame the world, the society, the times... the choice is ours, and let us make it now - To accept the invitation of the Lord and "walk in the light of the Lord"(Is 2:5). We will find the joy that the Lord can give, the joy that the Light can shed, the joy that cannot be taken away from us, and in that joy we will find the Reign of God amidst us!

It is an invitation to CELEBRATE the Reign of God amidst us, not waiting to reach the end but celebrating it all the way. Advent is not a preparation towards a celebration, it is a celebration in itself, a celebration of the peace, the prosperity, the security and the salvation that the Lord brings us. The Reign of God becomes a reality when we celebrate our love and joy together as brothers and sisters in the Lord. This is the meaning of the phrase, All the way to heaven is heaven! As we pray in the responsorial psalm, we are walking, walking towards the Reign, but all through the way we are called to celebrate the Reign of God..celebrate the love we share, celebrate the equality we have, celebrate the justice we stand for, celebrate the brotherhood and sisterhood that we work to establish forever - that celebration is returning to the Reign!

As we begin the year, and the wonderful season of Advent, let us pay heed to the invitation from the Lord - to Climb the mountain of the Lord, to Conduct ourselves worthy of the Reign and in that joy, to Celebrate the Reign of God, every day in our relationships in our family, in our communities, in our parish, in our localities and wherever we are. May the joy of the Gospel, the joy of the Reign, fill our hearts all through this new year.

Neither inaction nor hyper action

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

November 26, 2022: Revelation 22:1-7; Luke 21: 34-36

Behold I am coming soon! At times it does annoy when we hear people go hysteric about this statement. It is not a statement to make one panic, but a gentle reminder as to how one should live one's daily life.  St. Paul understood this well and instructed the thessalonians: "For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness" (1 Thess 5:2,4).

This only means that neither inaction nor hyper action is expected of us; neither carousing nor drowsiness! It is not a call to live our life on pins and needles, anxious about the next moment; nor is it a call to live our life in mourning and bewailing for the lost moments. The call is simply to make the best of this moment and live the 'here and now' to the full, conscious and loving. That is the sense that the Gospel presents us: be vigilant at all times! 

Neither inaction, which is the product of lamentation of the past, nor hyper action which is a frenetic preparation for an unknown future at the cost of the present, would help us says the Word today. The secret is to live our lives as children of the light, calm and composed, but awake and vigilant! Every end leads to a new beginning, provided we are awake and aware. As we end this liturgical year, we begin the new year, yet another opportunity to journey, through time and space, towards fullness we are called to.   

Heaven, Earth and the Word

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

November 25, 2022: Revelation 20: 1-4,11- 21:2; Luke 21: 29-33

We have heard the phrase in english, 'he moved earth and heaven to achieve something.' Moving heaven and earth is symbolically used as doing even what is impossible. Heaven and earth become a kind of immovable reference points naturally. Physics, Kinetics, Geography, History ...all of these subjects and others take heaven and earth as reference points to make possible an explanation for their theories and principles. Today the Lord says, these are not truly the unchanging reference points, they cannot be.

The true reference point for our life, for our actions, for our choices, has to be the Word. For those who hear the Word, keep it in their heart and live by it, will find a place in that New Heaven and New Earth... the heaven and the earth may keep becoming new and newer, it does not matter, as long as what matters to us is the Word and being faithful to it. 

There is always a yearning in our human heart to find something that can be unchanging, constant, a reliable ground on which one can build his or her life. This is why relationships that are unreliable and fluid are so unnerving for persons. The society today is tired of it - be it in interpersonal level (in friendships, courtships or among couples), in the social levels (lack of policies, unjust systems etc) or in the global levels (international stand offs and capitalistic hegemonies)! Everywhere, there is a disillusionment because there is a lack of solid unchanging ground! The fact is there can be nothing absolutely unchanging. Even the earth and the heaven will pass away sometimg. But God alone never changes! There is our constant, unchanging and never ending reference point.. God, the Living Word!

Victory and Power to the Lord

WORD 2day: Thursday, 34th week in Ordinary Time

November 24, 2022: Revelation 18:1-2,21-23,19:1-3,9; Luke 21:20-28

Reacting to the first reading of today, many take off with imaginations and guesses as to who is referred to as the whore and who is the condemned. There are so many of the non-catholic denominations today who point an accusing finger with a heartless judgement: the Catholic Church is the Babylon of the Apocalypse! This kind of a finger-pointing and childish pickering is definitely not the purpose of these descriptions in the book...it is not intended as solving some mystery puzzle!

The simple message that these imageries have, is a challenge to make a choice, a choice for God. Amidst all the dreadful things that happen around, we are called to remain firm in the Lord. Amidst all the inexplicable evil around, we are called to side with the truth and fearlessly face the consequences that could arise. Amidst all the dark powers that seemingly dominate the scene in the world today, we are called to firmly believe that the victory and power belong to Our Lord!

To say victory and power belong to God, we need to feel ourselves as instruments in the hands of God when we are able to accomplish things, we need to recognise the hand of God when others are able to accomplish things, we need to accept the intervention of God when we are offered a criticism or correction in a particular situation. It is not enough to just say those words as a cliche or a formula, but it has to become our outlook on life and all its situation - that victory and power always belong to God!

Perseverance... are we ready?

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

November 23, 2022: Revelation 15:1-4; Luke 21: 12-19

Perseverance in terms of targets and achievements in the world is holding on endlessly. The same, when it comes to our relationship with God is giving up limitlessly. Is it not an intriguing contrast? Holding on endlessly and Giving up limitlessly! Yes, perseverance in the spiritual sense, is to give up, to give up totally into the hands of God, regardless of the successes or failures, gains or losses, happiness or sadness, prosperity or misery!

We will never be able to do that if we have our minds fixed on something and we fix all our happiness on some results and consequences, accomplishments and acqusitions! The more we let go and let ourselves into the hands of God, the more we shall feel serene, blessed and growing! Faith is all about that. 

Faith involves giving up everything and walking with our hands in the hands of God. Indeed it's a challenging feat. Specially considering the fact that today there is a great pressure laid on people to hoard up things, keep striving to prove oneself, ensure one's career or well being in competition with each other...the times are difficult. It takes true faith and strong hope, to remain calm and unperturbed even amidst trials, temptations and tribulations. That is true perseverance, giving up and letting go! Are we ready?

Curiosity or care to change?

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

November 22, 2022: Revelation 14: 14-19 ; Luke 21: 5-11

When will these things happen? We are more interested in knowing when certain things will happen and curious about predictions and premonitions, than understanding what is the right thing to be done and make the right moves in life at the right time. Curiosity, is denoted as one of the most prominent spiritual enemies of growth, because knowing for the sake of knowing makes us more infantile than mature. What does it matter knowing, when it does not really affect my life towards a positive and mature transformation?

Mistakenly, and sometimes lazily, we postpone the necessary and crucial transformations in life for an opportune time. At times that opportune moment never comes or it gets too late by the time they come by. The month of November insists on the urgency that is involved in personal conversion and community dedication to growth and maturity in faith. And specially these days leading us to the season of advent, give us a better understanding of the end time spirituality that we are called to live in these times.

Mindful of the short time that we have, we have a calling to live: live our lives to the full, a life worthy of the Lord who has given us the gift of this life!

Chosen, marked and... Given?

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

November 21, 2022: Presentation of Our Blessed Mother 

Revelation 14: 1-3,4b-5; Luke 21:1-4

We are chosen and marked with the names of Our Lord and His Father, the mark that we received at Baptism and renew at every sacrament we receive, in and through the Spirit! We are chosen, in the name of the Lord to bear the name of the Father, to be dwelling places of the Spirit of God. We are marked to represent the Lord here amidst other people and bring to fulfillment the plan that the Father has for the entire universe! 

We are chosen by the Father and marked by the Lord...What should our response be?

Our Blessed Mother answers that question perfectly: our response should undoubtedly be, a total self giving! 

Whatever little we have, whoever little that we are, we are called to give that totally into the hands of the God and we will see miracles happen. As long as I keep something of me in reserve, I prevent the free flow of grace. When I give myself without reserve and when I offer myself totally...wonders begin to happen, God's plan begins to unfurl, love begins to flow and mercy finds no bounds!

This is the meaning of the memory we celebrated today, where the total self giving of Mary as a beloved daughter of God is prefigured in her presentation at the temple! This is an apocryphal tradition that we celebrate, ofcourse it has no mention in the canonical scriptures of the Church - but it is certain to have happened, just as it would have happened for any jewish child of jewish family. But the way Mary lived out that presentation in her life, in her total self giving to the Lord, in her unreserved submission to the holy Will of God - that is what we celebrate in reality!

There is no doubt, I am chosen, I am marked...but the crucial question is, have I truly given myself to the Lord? And how much of myself have I given?

JESUS CHRIST THE KING

Yesterday, Today & Forever!

November 20, 2022: Solemnity of Christ the King

2 Samuel 5: 1-3; Colossians 1: 12-20; Luke 23: 35-43

Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever! Jesus Christ is the king - yesterday, today and forever! We celebrate the Kingship of Christ this Sunday - what a wisdom for the Church to invite the faithful to end the year with their King. And next Sunday we begin a new liturgical year. Today, the readings invite us to reflect on the kingship that Christ holds and the way he exercises it! St. Paul summarises the entire feast in just three verses in the second reading - Col 1: 17,18,20.

He is before all things, and in him all things hold together(Col 1:17). The first reading establishes the kingship of Jesus in the line of David - God makes David the king of Israel and promises that his line will never end. Infact, in God's mighty plan, the kingship seems eternal, without beginning or end, for God places David a king, to rule in God's name and for Israel it was always Yahweh, who was the King! Every leadership in Christian community therefore derives from God; it is an invitation, a commitment to act on behalf of God, at the service of God's people! Jesus Christ is King, Jesus Christ has been king from eternity, as the first-born of all creation, to him all glory and majesty!

Through him God is pleased to reconcile all things on earth or heaven (Col 1:20). The verse speaks to us of a future, of the universal harmony in One Lord, One God, the new earth and new heaven where only Love will reign, that is, only God will reign, for God is love (1 Jn 4:8). Jesus Christ is King, Jesus will be forever the king. Everything, everyone is moving towards that union with God, in Christ our Lord. It fills us with a hope, despite all the tribulations we go through here and now. But it is not automatic, it all depends on the choices we make today. If we choose the Lord, we endear the Lord. On the contrary, if we choose the passing glories and fleeting pleasures of the moment, that is what we will have. As St.Paul instructs us elsewhere, if you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit (Gal 6:8).

He is the head of the body, the church (Col 1:18). The Gospel presents us a strange sort of a King. Jesus is the one who rules... who rules from the Cross as his throne, who rules with the thorns as his crown, who rules not with the sceptre in his hands but with the marks of nail on his hands, who rules not with laws but with love, a love that abounds without any measure whatsoever. Today the ruler has appointed you and me as his ambassadors - the ruler is not understood, so will we be - not understood; the ruler is not welcome into the schools and public places and the moral arena in the world today, so will we be - not welcome to voice our opinions for truth, for justice and for God. But as His ambassador, what am I doing? What am I ready to do? Yes, Jesus is King, but I am his ambassador, wherever I am... in my service of love, in my witness of faith, in my joy of hope, in my testimony of humility, in my commitment to truth and in my yearning for justice, I have to prove myself that I am the ambassador of that Eternal King.

Today we celebrate the Kingship of Christ - yes, Yesterday, Today and Forever, Jesus is King, and I am his ambassador. How worthy am I for the King whom I represent! How faithful and loyal am I to the King who has died for me, and who calls me to do the same! You are the people of God, Royal Priesthood says the Word, and that is what we are... we share the kingship with Christ - a kingship that consists in loving service to humanity and loving surrender to the Lord!

Long live our King! And let us live everyday worthy of our King!

The God of the Living

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

November 19, 2022: Revelation 11: 4-12; Luke 20: 27-40

The God of the living: that is how Jesus presents his God and Father, and our God and Father.

Resurrection is the foundation of our conviction that our life is not merely made of the few years that we spend on this earth. Our life is part of the Eternal Stream, that is God and we have but a few years here on earth. We come from and we are meant for a union that is eternal and all our efforts during this life has to be towards ensuring that union for ever.

What would be the fall out if we had this truth right in front of our minds while we live? We would not unnecessarily fret to make ourselves comfortable at the cost of the other. We would not long to possess something or someone, leading to undue striving to control the other and manipulate situations. We would not harm others or harm nature just because at present we would like to make more money or make life more easy. We would not calculate everything in terms of gain and profit and dividends and surplus. What a life that would be...truly worthy of the Lord who has given us this life!

But should we wait for a terrifying moment to repent and reset our values? Jesus offers us a wonderful criterion: the criterion of Resurrection. Live as Resurrection-people; live as people of the Eternity; live as people who really believe that your life does not end here and now! In short, the Lord invites us to be ever mindful and live as people of the God of the living!

Sweet in the mouth; bitter to stomach

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

November 18, 2022: Revelation 10: 8-11; Luke 19: 45-48

Jesus was very attractive; people rallied after him so willingly and readily. He was interesting to listen to; so many pharisees and scribes hung on to his lips. He was famous; the mere name drew not just crowds but even prominent persons like Zachaeus. He had charming ways; even Herod wanted to see him atleast once! All these were true only in as much as they all looked at Jesus from a distance. When Jesus got near, or when they got closer to Jesus...he turned demanding.

The people came to him and he challenged them to live a life of destitution, with no place to even lay their heads. The people listened to him and he called them whitewashed sepulchers, inviting them to true personal conversion. Individuals approached him and he challenged them to total reformation of their personal and public lives. The people led him with such celebration into the city of Jerusalem and he enters the Temple and drives out the vendors and money lenders. So much for all the welcome we gave him, they would have regretted! But that is Jesus. And that is how the Word of God is. It looks sweet from afar, but if we take it seriously, the Word is demanding!

Yes, the Lord's promises are sweet, but when we take it to heart they can be demanding. If we truly listen to the Word of God, we cannot remain the same forever, we would be challenged to change, to transform, to become more and more like the Lord himself. The Word may be sweet in the mouth; but for sure it will be bitter to stomach. 

The collateral effects can be challenging as the Word would certainly churn out the unwanted elements and strive to pave way towards the Reign. Are we ready for the effects? 

Smile upon or Weep over?

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

November 17, 2022: Revelation 5:1-10; Luke 19: 41-44

The Gospels picture in two places, Jesus weeping: once in the Gospel according to John (11:35) at Lazarus' tomb; and the other is the passage we have today from Luke (19:41). In the first instance he wept for his friend; and today he is weeping for Jerusalem, that is the chosen people of God, the people called to come under the wings of the Lord who wanted to protect them all as a hen does to her chicks. But the people weren't prepared. Jesus wept thinking of their obstinacy, their choice against God's plan of salvation!

In the first reading we have another instance of weeping: John who weeps for the fact that there was no one worthy to open the scrolls. Opening the scrolls means being the mediator between God's ever present love and our absolute need for that merciful love. There is one who is worthy: Jesus, the Son of God...the One mediator who revealed to us who God really is to us and what we are called to be. In our obstinacy we can remain in our own shells and do merely what pleases us, instead of opening our hearts and letting Jesus in, letting that only mediator act in our behalf. We can be so hardhearted that we can miss out the greatest of treasures presented to us, in simple and ordinary ways, everyday.

The choice is ours - to make the Lord smile upon us and takes us into his loving and merciful embrace, or to make the situation so grim as to make the Lord weep over us! Let us not be people over whom Jesus would have to weep. Being sensitive to the messages that Lord gives us on a daily basis, through the Word, through the daily events, through persons we encounter, through the insights that dawn on us... we will be prepared to receive the Lord and the love of God that he mediates. 

Let the Lord smile upon us, not weep over us!

The call to Praise the Lord!

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

November 16, 2022 - Revelation 4: 1-11; Luke 19: 11-28

John impresses upon us how important and essential it is for us, as creatures of the Creator Almighty, to give praise to our Lord and King. Praising God - can never be done enough and it is always in want, in relation to the boundless glory that the Lord possesses! The Word today distinguishes among three types of people who give praise to the Lord:

The first are the Psuedo Praisers: who praise the Lord with their tongues but are far away in spirit from the Lord. They are those who deceive themselves putting up a mere show of their allegiance to God, while in fact are all the while doing their own will. Wantonly, they make of themselves people unfit for the Reign.

The second are the Pointless Praisers: who think praising the Lord alone is enough to inherit the Reign. Their praising is pointless, in fact the Lord himself had declared: 'not all those who call me Lord Lord, will enter the Reign of God' (cf. Mt 7:21). Ultimately, they fall short of entering the Reign.

The third are the Profound Praisers: who do not consider praising the Lord as a duty in itself. Their very words, actions and life give praise to the Lord. Their witness leads, not only themselves, but even those around them to praise the Lord to the heights. They live their life to the full, and seeing their lives, people are inspired to give praises to their King and Lord. 

These are the real People of the Reign, true and profound in their praise.

Letting Jesus enter our homes!

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

Novembre 15, 2022: Revelation 3: 1-6, 14-22; Luke 19: 1-10

To welcome Jesus into our homes: that is the task given to us by the Word today. Obviously when Jesus comes its a blessing - 'today salvation has come into this house' (Lk 19:9). But it is more than being a mere blessing; it is a Challenge - 'because you are neither cold nor hot, i will spit you' (cf. Rev 3:16), says the Lord. Once the Lord comes, things can no more remain the same! You cannot remain both dead and alive at the same time; or hot and cold at the same time; or belonging and not belonging to the Lord at the same time! You have to make a radical choice and that could be a real challenge.

Secondly, you cannot even say, 'let me wait, there will come a time when I would be required to make a choice and then, I shall take it seriously!' No... the Lord says, Look, behold, here I am... I am standing at your door and knocking. If you hear, and you open the door, I shall enter and come to you! The choice, the challenge, the call is imminent. We cannot be postponing it to another opportune moment! The call is here and now! I have to make a choice and choices are everything! 

Like Zachaeus who receieved the call, heard the knocking and opened the door of his home, changed his life for ever. He not only changed from his old ways but made up even for the mistakes, for his wrong doings and every thing that made others' lives less happy! We are indeed called to make some drastic choices... to change our ways, to realise our follies and make up for them, reaching out to the other and being extra loving to people around! 

The choice is ours - to keep to our old ways or to let Jesus enter our homes. The home that he enters, the heart that lets him in, is blessed, is transformed and is marked by salvation! But at the same time, they are radically different from the rest, and from their own past. That can be a challenge...are we ready to let Jesus enter our homes, the homes of our heart? 

Lord, that I may see again

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

November 14, 2022: Revelation 1:1-4, 2:1-5; Luke 18: 35-43

Repent and get back to your original ways, invites the first reading today. With a plenty of good will and an abundance of spirit we begin something new and good, very many times on our spiritual journey... just imagine the day of our first communion, for some others that of confirmation, for still others the day of their religious consecration, for many others the day of your wedding... how well and with what spirits we began it all! 

But in a short while the energy drains, the spirit goes faint and a mere good will becomes drastically insufficient. The reason if we analyse it carefully: we are not attentive enough to note the initial changes that happen in our life and experience... we remain so insensitive to what is happening within us that we are caught unawares at much crucial time. That is why the important prayer today: "Lord grant that we may see again!" (Cf. Lk 18:41).

Staying in touch with the Lord keeps us in touch with ourselves, to constantly check our pride, insensitivities, arrogance, unforgiving attitude, judgmental tendencies, loose talks, needless critiques, personal attacks, childish complaints and compromises against true love: these are the blindnesses that set in, if we are not careful or attentive! We become so blind that we do not even realise what sad levels we tend to reach in our life. We are blissfully unware at times how inhuman we grow, leave alone the talk of becoming unholy! 

Doubtlessly, at these moments, it is the Lord alone who can restore the original spirit by enabling us to see... empowering us to realise and restart... "to make us see again!" We are reaching the end of this liturgical year...and it is time now that each of us make it our prayer: Grant Lord, that I may see again!

THE END TIMES

Lend, Amend and Transcend!

November 13, 2022: 33rd Sunday in Ordinary time - 6th World Day of the Poor
Malachi 3: 19-20; 2 Thessalonians 3: 7-12; Luke 21: 5-19

Today is the penultimate Sunday in the Ordinary time, and next week we celebrate the solemnity of Christ the King bringing the liturgical year to a close. Six years ago Pope Francis initiated the practice of celebrating this Sunday as the World day of the Poor! The Word that Pope Francis shares with us this year is: Jesus Christ became poor for your sake (2 Cor 8:9). That is a reminder that we have to empathise with the suffering, to cry with the moaning and to do our part on removing this scar from the humanity - the scar of misery, the scar of homelessness, the scar of the sense of being oppressed. 

And the Word this week reminds us of the second coming of the King, that is the END times! Some get a strange a kick out of talking about the end times and spiritually terrorise those who listen to them. There have been cases of people who had bought trenches to secure themselves when the mystery stories did their rounds in 2012... just imagine 10 years have passed since then! Every time some one says there is a stone in the space flying across, or a planet coming too close, or some forecast climatic disaster, these groups activate themselves with all their preposterous imaginations! Let us remember dear friends that we have been living in the end times for the past 2000 years!!! Even St. Paul had to warn the Thessalonians not to make too much of these!

For a true Christian what should the 'end time' mean? Should it be terrorising? Should it make one go into a delirious tantrum or a plaguing paranoia? Those are in no way Christian responses to the thought on end times. Because for the one who believes in Christ, the Lord who has overcome the world (Jn 16:33), the Lord who has gained victory over death(Rom 6:9), the end time is not dreadful, it cannot be a threatening darkness! The first reading says that so plainly: "but for you who fear my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays!" (Mal 3:20).

The readings today instruct us, on how we should confront the end times. What if the end of times were tomorrow, or today or now! We have begun our life journey, a journey of perfection towards union in Christ and this journey has to necessarily end, and that end is nothing but union with Christ - how my soul should long for that: Like the deer that yearns for running streams, so my soul longs for you, my God! (Ps 42:1)

The first reading tells me, all that I need to do to prepare myself for the end times, is to LEND my ears to the Lord. When I hear the word of the Lord and live it with all my heart (Jas 1:22), not beset by occasional set backs but ever trusting in the mercy and goodness of the Lord, I need to fear no one; I need to fear nothing, not even the gates of hell! But the secret is eagerness to lend my ears to the Word of the Lord.

The second reading challenges me to AMEND my ways in the Lord, go on living my every day life with serenity and peace. There is nothing to worry or fret as the Thessalonians did, for my soul finds rest in the Lord, and my salvation comes from God (Ps 62:1). All that I need to do is remain mindful of my ways! A sincere humility and daily conversion leads me to a genuine Christian life. When I begin everyday in the presence of the Lord planning my life and end it in God's presence evaluating it on the basis of God's teachings, I come to know of the things that I can be happy about and the things I need to grow in. A saint is not someone who has never failed, but is someone who has never remained the same after a failure! The secret is my willingness to amend my ways to walk in the light of the Lord.

The Gospel invites me to TRANSCEND all fears and trust in the Lord. Humanly speaking, I cannot end all my fears, but I can transcend every one of them. When my heart trusts in the Lord, when my eyes are fixed on my Saviour, when my hand rest in the hands of the One who leads me, I can transcend all my fears - like Peter who dared to step on to the turbulent sea and walk, like Paul and Barnabas who stood before the angry Sanhedrin and spoke, like the apostles who defied every authority and spread the message of Christ... they were all once filled with fear... they were the same weak men but with the Spirit they could transcend all fears! Nothing - no threat, no punishment, not even death - could frighten them. The secret is my capacity to transcend all fears with the Spirit of power, love and self-discipline (2 Tim 1:7).

The End of times is near... infact we are living in the end times... it is not a matter to be spoken of in alarm or in whispers... the message of end times is, a call to lend my ears to the Word of the Lord, a challenge to amend my ways in the way of the Lord and to transcend all fears with the Spirit of the Lord! 

Let us live every day of our life, as if it were the last day of our life, every moment as if it were the last. Let us live our lives to the full, ever acceptable in the eyes of the Lord!

Love that makes us whole

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

November 12, 2022: 3 John 5-8; Luke 18: 1-8

Taking care of strangers, widows and the orphans was a special commission given to the people by God. And that was an experiential learning on the part of the people who were themselves strangers, orphans and sojourners. They felt God very close to them when they were strangers and sojourners and that experience became the Spiritual watershed in interpretting all their future experiences. The experience was handed down too! And today we see in the first reading a special consideration of being good to the strangers and the Gospel which specially notes the predicament of a widow. 

The term stranger or foreigner was indicative of every one in need, people in insecure circumstances.  In one sense, it was reaching out to the needy and in another sense it was actually a inner healing, healing of hurts and healing of memories. Yes, the latter was a Spiritual experience. From the bitterness and the hardships that they underwent, they are called to empathise with the suffering and reach out to them, making their own experience a learning and a healing. 

Today we have every category you can ever think of within the definition of the people in need - the exploited, the immigrants, the refugees, the unemployed and the homeless. We have a grave responsibility towards this part of humanity, not only for their sake, but for our own sake - that we may be healed; that we may be made whole. 

Keeping the law or growing in the Lord...

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

November 11, 2022: 2 John 1:4-9; Luke 17:26-37 

Commandments make it easy for us to choose the right things in life. They are infact prethought counsels for an upright or a peaceful life, be it personal or communitarian or social. Jesus in his specific genuinity, simplifies those commandments further to one powerful word, ‘LOVE.’

The readings these days portray a sense of urgency, as if running the fag end of a long race as we are nearing the end of the Liturgical year. And today, we are invited to think about our choices, the single mindedness of our Christian living and the real focus of our everyday life. 

At times, specially in these postmodern and poststructural times, we are taught to feel bad about obeying a commandment or keeping a law, as part of our spirituality, because we think it undermines our "progressive" thinking and capacity for mature commitments. But it is not whether we obey or resist commandments or laws, that determines how free and mature we are. 

Maturity, in fact, lies in Informed Convictions and Single minded Perseverance, in the right things, which are sometimes defined and delimited by laws. Progressivity, here really would mean, not resisting laws or commandments, but ensuring that they become in essence, means towards growing in the Lord. And the way to ensure it: listening to the Lord and living our daily life in God’s light. For Jesus, that meant walking in love. 

Hence today, we would do well to make this our prayer: Lord Jesus, help me walk in the path of love. Amen!

The Radical choice to be a Reign person

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

November 10, 2022: Philemon 7-20; Luke 17: 20-25

Paul does not request or exhort Philemon to forgive and accept Onesimus. He almost commands and takes for granted that it is done. This is because forgiveness, love and union of hearts are no more options to choose from, for a Christian disciple. They are to be the very way of life, because the Reign of God is amidst us.

Again, the question is not whether the Reign of God should come or not; nor whether Reign of God is important or not... the fact is that the Reign of God is here, right now, right here... the only choice that I have is either to belong to it or not. To be a Reign person or not, that is a radical choice. That choice shall determine the entire quality of my life, as a Christ-ian.

Misunderstandings between husband and wife in the family, misgivings between the families, stand-offs between friends sometimes, bitter experiences of past that still continue to govern our present – nothing of these can give me an excuse to remain stubborn, within my protective shell or to refuse to build communion. That would be considered an anomaly for a true Christian. 

There is no more a sense of magnanimity in forgiving... it is after all what I am expected to do, the normal way of being... because the Reign of God is within me and I cannot but act with the mind of Christ. In short, there is no choice... I am either a Reign-person or an anti-Reign person... the choice is mine and the choice is radical. 

Renew my Temple!

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

November 9, 2022: Celebrating the Lateran Basilica
Ezekiel 47:1-2,8-9,12 (or) 1 Corinthians 3:9-11,16-17; Jn 2: 13-22

The Lateran Basilica that is the Mother Church within the Catholic Church and a reminder of the great tradition our faith has.Built in honour of John the Evangelist, this is situated in the property of the Lateran Family and that is the reason for the name, Basilica of St. John at the Lateran. It is known to be one of the earliest basilicas built and it was built by Emperor Constantine himself. It has been the See of Rome since then and remains so even today. The Cathedral of the Bishop of Rome (the Pope) is this Basilica we celebrate today. We are sustained in our faith by these memories and acknowledgement that we treasure in this Church.

'Rebuild my house' - Francis of Assisi was commissioned. He mistook it for renovating a chapel that was in ruins... but it was a much deeper call. Today's feast and the Word resound that call and experience once again. The Temple we celebrate here, has a threefold meaning.

First, the Temple of the Lord, the dwelling of the Holy Spirit, our body... our self! To maintain our personal sanctity, our individual holiness, that is, being holy and acceptable in the eyes of the Lord, is the first and foremost way of renewing and renovating the Church. It becomes all the more a challenge given the context that is so relativistic.

Second, the Temple that is the Church, the people of God, our community - to unite, to heal wounds and to sustain the loving relations within the people of God is another great task entrusted to us today. It begins at home - building loving families and loving neighbourhood, respectful relations and genuine fellowships.

Third, the Temple that is the Common Home, the earth where the Lord makes God's majestic presence felt. We are called to care for this common home and promote the divine presence and grace within this common home called the Earth. It is spreading love for all, respect for every form of life, reverence for humanity, recognizance of the presence of God in everything and everywhere. 

In simple terms we need to change our outlook from restricting God to certain domains of our life here and now, to making this entire universe a lovely dwelling place of God. 

My real worth - where does it come from?

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

November 8, 2022: Titus 2: 1-8, 11-14; Luke 17: 7-10

Where does one's real worth come from? From one's age or the social status offered in the public domain or from the great successes and achievements that are exhibited to the world? As a person, one's true worth comes from within, says the Word today. 

It comes from within, meaning, each of us understands what one is called to, what our commission is and live it on a daily basis, without making any fuss out of it. At times we see some persons who do a little that they do, and go about trumpeting it all around. Worse still some do not do anything at all but go around creating an opinion as if they have moved mountains. Let us hope, you and me, we do not belong to any of these categories! There is something that is worst of all these - doing everything that we do, merely to be noticed, to be praised and to be given the social recognition that I am an important person in the vicinity.

A typically Christ-like attitude is what we see in the Gospel today. Doing good because we are good! It is not the other way around that we would like to prove that we are good, by doing good! We need to believe that there is an innate goodness placed by our Creator within us. 

Yes, Christian life is all about living the essential goodness that we have within from the very fact that we are children of God and never expecting to be lauded for what we do, because what we do is what we have to do! Jesus puts it so plainly in today's Gospel: we are just unworthy servants of the Lord who is good (Lk 17:10).

Towards a Living Faith

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

November 7, 2022: Titus 1:1-9; Luke 17:1-6

Jesus throws challenge after challenge at his followers: to correct one's brother or sister who is erring, to readily forgive brothers and sisters, not to cause a brother or sister to sin or to falter... the challenges seem so demanding but just one prayer that the disciples make sums up all that it takes to face these challenges and live up to them. The prayer: "Lord, Increase our faith" (Lk 17:5).

What an insight the disciples seem to have had! Faith, is the answer to all these, because faith is not merely some capacity that we possess, but a relationship to which we commit. It is a personal relationship with God, a total personal response to a God who reveals Godself in unconditional love and absolute concern. It is a relationship that can, and that should, colour the entire spectrum of our personal and community lives.

Faith is a way of life in which we continuously grow, being mindful of the danger anytime retract into ways that are not worthy of the One who has created us, the One who has called us and the One who has commissioned us! It is a response of life, and a life of response, to the One who constantly stands at the door of our heart and knocks, calling and commissioning us to love and fellowship, not just with God but with every brother and sister given to us by God. This is called a living faith. Faith, if really living, will find a solution to many a problem in today's life, because it is fundamentally a God-inspired way of life. There can be no impasses when there is real faith; for real faith is love, it is life. Let us make it our earnest prayer today: Lord Jesus, increase my faith. Amen.

PEOPLE OF RESURRECTION

Reward, Reconciliation and Realisation

32nd Sunday in Ordinary time - November 6, 2022

2 Maccabees 7: 1-2, 9-14; 2 Thessalonians 2:16 - 3:5; Luke 20: 27-38

"And I will raise them up on the last day" declared Jesus regarding those who partook of him. Resurrection is our hope, Resurrection is the foundation of our faith. The crux of the salvation that Jesus offers us is Hope, and hope is the confidence of things that we are yet to receive and the greatest of all that we look forward to is resurrection! This is what Jesus in his incarnate self showed us - he lived his life for God, he died for God and by God he was raised; when we live, we live for God; if we die, we die for God, and we will be risen in the Lord! This is the foundation of our faith; for as St.Paul says, "if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile" (1 Cor 15:17). The readings today, help us understand what resurrection can mean to us.

Resurrection is a REWARD, a recompense that God sets before us for the commitment with which we live our life. We come from God, and it is our destiny that we return to God. We are loved into existence by God and we bear God's image in the core of our being. Every day of our life is an opportunity to cherish that image within us and bring it to fulfillment within us. Every person we come across is a companion on this journey and every situation we live through is a means to nudge towards the destiny. There are moments that are trying and those are moments to stride across, as we see in the first reading. When we find ourselves in such moments as those, when we have to choose between God and godlessness, between righteousness and injustice, between good and mediocrity - and we decide to choose God, righteousness, goodness - we can proudly say with St. Paul, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown"(2 Tim 4:7,8).

Resurrection is RECONCILIATION, a reunion with my creator, an experience of my oneness with my God, whose child I am. In the letter to the Colossians, we are told, "you have now been reconciled in the body of his flesh, so as to present you holy and blameless before God provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in faith"(Col 1:22,23). Just this morning some one remarked to me, 'Oh after all, would we live another 25 years!' Absolutely true, that we are on an earthly sojourn and our eternal abode beckons us. That is why St. Paul prays in the second reading today, 'May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.' It is in that love of God and the faithfulness of Christ, that we are assured of 'eternal life' which is participating in the nature of God, who alone is eternal. In our resurrection we become one with God, we are reconciled to God, and we become eternal like God!

Resurrection is REALISATION, a concrete experience of what has been promised. We are called to live as the people of Resurrection. Christians are Easter People... while there is in store the eternal life that has been promised, we are invited to live that resurrection every day, every moment, specially in those moments when we are prone to hopelessness and desperation. We need to realise who we are, we need to realise who our God is! Jesus says of us - "they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection" (Lk 20:35). As Paul explains to the Romans (ch.6), we have died with Christ, in his crucifiction and we will live with him! We are called to live our lives, as people of resurrection, not losing heart on any trial, not giving up at any temptation, not desperate with any failure, not bogged down by any evil - but people filled with hope, comfort, courage, steadfastness, strength and love of God. 

We are People of Resurrection; let us live our lives mindful of the reward that the Lord has set before us, preserve ourselves holy and blameless to be reconciled to the Lord in eternal life and realise the fruits of that resurrection right here and now, in our daily lives.

Wealth - the right attitude to it

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

November 5, 2022: Philippians 4: 10-19; Luke 16: 9-15

Wealth: is it good or bad?

Money and God...won't they go together?

Then how do we ask God for wealth and consider prosperity as a blessing from God? The readings today speak to us about the right attitude to take towards wealth.

1. Wealth is given.
It is a gift and should be treated as such. We are given and it should fill us with gratitude and not arrogance.

2. Wealth is given to be given.
It is never given for yourself...you are a custodian of what is with you. You possessing the wealth is a blessing; the wealth possessing you is a curse!

3. Wealth is given to be given to those who cannot give.
The only purpose today wealth is used, apart from fulfilment of needs, is to make more wealth. It is a sickening tendency that is the cause of the growing selfishness, cruel exploitation and demeaning inhumanities.

Wealth and power are good as long as they are instruments. When they begin to use the persons dehumanisation begins! God sees the heart, says the Gospel; and everyone will see a heart that is filled with God.

Compromises and Life in Christ

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

November 4, 2022: Philippians 3:17 - 4:1; Luke 16: 1-8

Their stomach is their god and their glory is in their shame - what words St. Paul has against those who live a life that is thoughtless and flimsy, with nothing that offers a depth to their living or nothing that adds to meaning of their lives. Hoarding wealth, seeking comfort, craving for pleasures and living solely for material satisfaction - what can that offer to one's life. Lies lead to more lies, obscurities lead to more obscurities, crimes lead to more crimes and lawlessness leads to absolute inhumanity. Compromises kill.

Compromises are justified today in the sense of prudence and practicality. These solutions could serve the particular moment, but in the long run, they kill, they destroy, they ruin, they rob our lives of meaning. Jesus was very clear about that and precisely due to that he warned: be careful of the yeast of the pharisees... that is, dont give into the tendencies of the world. 

Being imitators of Christ, means to live with no compromises, to speak nothing but the Words of the Almighty, to think nothing but good, to do only what builds the other and the family of God, to love like God and to relate like children of God - with God and with each other. That would be heaven...or the Reign of God, on earth. Let each of us do our part, to prmote that lifestyle, that of Christ and that of the trends of the day that lead me astray.

In mutual seeking

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

November 3, 2022: Philippians 3: 3-8a; Luke 15: 1-10

The initial lines of the Gospel today say it all: the tax collectors and sinners were drawing near to Jesus and the pharisees were complaining. The ones who claimed that they were the 'chosen' people, were actually moving away from the Lord, while those who were labelled 'pagans' and 'sinners' were gerting more and more close to Jesus, and therefore to the Reign. 

We understand here the real sense of what Paul meant when he said, what really matters is not circumcision or no circumcision, not the labels and the titles that one holds on to, not the public image or the official role that one playa... but what really matters is the relationship that one has with the person of Christ.

Past glories, handed down traditions, legalistic requirements, ritual uprightness... these will not take someone all the way, however good, right and just they are. All that is expected of us is to get nearer and nearer, closer and closer, more and more immersed in a personal relationship with God, in and through Christ. 

God in fact keeps looking out for us as presented in the parables in the Gospel- like the shepherd and the woman! And when God knows our efforts, God doubles it up with grace, grace which comes in terms of our relationship with the person of Christ, before which everything else is trash. While it is a fact that God seeks, we cannot be found unless we let ourselves be and unless we seek God too! Yes, it needs to be a mutual seeking.