THE CALL TO CELEBRATE

Realise, Return and Rejoice!

Fourth Sunday in Lent - March 27, 2022

Joshua 5: 9-12; 2 Corinthians 5: 17-21; Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32

Rejoice O Jerusalem and all who love her rejoice! Right at the entrance antiphon, the Liturgy today makes its central theme crystal clear – The call to Rejoice, because we have a promised land! From the desert to the mountain and the holy ground, we are called to fix our gaze on the promised land! It is a call to Celebrate, because we have the promised land, the grace of  returning to the Father’s house, the great gift of returning to the Mother’s heart of the Lord, to feel the sweet embrace of the forgiveness that God wishes to offer each one of us! 

Jesus narrates a beautiful story today, a parable par excellence that speaks to us of that house, that heart and that embrace... that promised land in the merciful presence of the Lord.

Our life of faith has to be a celebration, a perennial joy, a loving experience, a journey with our hand in the hands of God. What a joy to have a God who is so close to us, so close to us that the very moment we wish to return to God, we bounce right into God! From the call that we received last Sunday, the call to bear fruit, the whole week Jesus has been teaching us of the fruits that we have to bear – the fruit of communion, the fruit of forgiveness, the fruit of love, the fruit of humility and so on. When we take to heart the call, and embark on that journey, there would sure be moments of fall and failure. Jesus assures us today – the worst issue is not to fall, but the worst is not knowing that you have fallen.

The first step towards a true Christian life is the REALIZATION of who we are. With the life situations, the daily choices and commitments, it is possible that I forget who I am. The First reading today pictures to us God calling the people of Israel through Joshua, to realize who they were and all that God had done for them! That exactly is the first line of action that Jesus gives us today through the example of the younger son in the parable. We read that ‘he came to his senses’... that is, he finally realized who he was! Pope St. Leo the Great would say, "O Christian, recognize your dignity and, now that you share in God's own nature, do not return to your former base condition by sinning. Remember who is your head and of whose body you are a member. Never forget that you have been rescued from the power of darkness and brought into the light of the Kingdom of God." The message is clear – to become aware of my dignity as a Christian and to remember who I am.

The second step is presented in the second reading, where St. Paul reminds us that God has reconciled to Godself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. It is infact an invitation to RETURN to God, reconciled to God, to our brothers and sisters in God. In doing that we become new creatures; in returning to God we become newly born. Jesus recounts the father in the parable as saying about the younger son who had returned to the father, that he was dead and he is come alive, that he was lost and is now found! So, the call is to return to God. If we truly realize who we are, we cannot but return to God, because we cannot stay away from God. St. Agustine’s words, “Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace” are words of beauty and wisdom which makes us understand that we are made for God and our hearts would always be restless, until they rest in God. Let us Return home, let us Return to the bosom of God. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is the direct highway to the heart of the One who waits for us eagerly for ever right at the door post to spot us from far, to run to us and embrace us. James says that in such simple words – Come close to God, God will come close to you (Jam 4:8).

The Realisation and the Return to God create an atmosphere of joy that one cannot hide. That atmosphere is the state of life to which Jesus calls us today as the third line of action. “REJOICE in the Lord always, I repeat, Rejoice,” cries out St. Paul (Phil 4:4). Christian life is a celebration, a celebration of every moment, a celebration of every experience be it ordinary or extraordinary. In the parable Jesus speaks of two decisions that were made – the first one was, “I will arise and go to my Father”, a decision that leads to celebration, joy, happiness and rejoicing. The second decision was that of the Elder son – He was indignant and he refused to enter the house!

The Choice is ours dear friends! What decision would I want to make? To arise and go to God and thus run towards a Celebration or become angry, upset, unforgiving, unloving, grumpy, jealous, and cold towards my brothers and sisters and refuse to enter the house, thus remaining in sadness and grief. Let us pay heed to the call, the call to Celebrate – to celebrate the love and the mercy of God, to celebrate our faith and celebrate our brothers and sisters in faith! 

With the younger son of the parable, let us arise, let us go to God and let us celebrate life in the Father’s house!

Being Spiritual: to love and to love more...

THE WORD IN LENT

Saturday, 3rd week in Lent - March 26, 2022

Hosea 5:15 - 6:6; Luke 18: 9-14

Being Spiritual at times is confused with being self-righteous! Being self-righteous involves a large dose of judgement of the other. When you judge, you do not love. So being self righteous you begin to love the other lesser and lesser, and yourself more and more! It is a kind of narcissism (a pitiable condition of excessive self-love). Whereas today the Word invites us to love more than to sacrifice, to get to know who the Lord is and who we are in relation to the Lord, than making our spiritual efforts mere rituals.

Being Spiritual truly should mean growing more and more loving. More loving towards God and more loving towards those around us. Growing more loving means, that we grow more and more open, to appreciate the other sincerely, to sensitively confront the other in their shortcomings, to readily accept my own limitations with gratitude when pointed out, to reach out to the other in whatever way I can even if it costs me a bit, or even a lot.

Being Spiritual means to understand within me what the Spirit wants of me and to lead my life in the Spirit's path. The Spirit of the Lord wants us to grow more and more loving and less and less judgmental. The Holy Father seems to be repeating this time and again! It is so difficult a teaching because we are so filled with self-love, to exaggerated levels and according to the trends of the world, nothing seems an exaggeration when it comes to self-love... what a disaster! We have totally misunderstood what it means to be human. 

Just imagine in this context, being spiritual! Being spiritual, or being persons of the Spirit, is to love and to love more and to love like the way God loves us!

The Maiden and the Salvation Plan

Instrument, Ideal and Icon!

March 25, 2022: Solemnity of Annunciation of the Lord
Isaiah 7: 10-14, 8:10; Hebrews 10: 4-10; Luke 1: 26-36 

Annunciation is the second exception given us in this lenten journey to celebrate, because this is a key commemoration in relation to the eternal plan of Salvation. To the question whether this is a Solemnity of the Lord or of Mary - we should say "both"! Though it is in fact a solemnity of the Lord (the annunciation of the birth of the Lord), it can well be an invitation to look at our Blessed Mother in the light of the Salvation Plan that the Lord had made for us from all eternity. 

Mary as an Instrument of Salvation - In her wholehearted and trusting 'yes', Mary entered into the special category of collaborators with the Lord in the plan of salvation for the entire humanity. To the extent that some theologians for ages have been claiming the title 'co-mediatrix', the role of Mary in the climax of the Salvific Plan of God, is unforgetable. She is chosen by the Father, as the Mother of God, a singular privilege that none can deny or negate! The invitation is that we give her the due recognition and love her with an immense gratitude for her obedient surrender to the Salvific plan of God. 

Mary as the Ideal of Salvation - In her distinctive and characteristic relationship with her Son, Mary has become a model, an ideal of those who are saved by the Son of God. Mary is certainly the first fruit of the Salvation that Jesus the Christ brought to us human beings. In her assumption we see a great model that she sets, the ideal that she presents, as to what salvation does to us - the rising to incorruptibility! She has been our forerunner in obtaining the fruits of the salvation, in and through Jesus Christ, and passing it on to us, his brothers and sisters. The invitation therefore is to imitate her, in following her Son, as she herself became the most ardent disciple and apostle of her Son. 

Mary as the Icon of the Saved humankind - In her total submission to the Holy Spirit, our Blessed Mother has played to precision her role, not only as the biological mother of the Saviour, but also as someone who heard the Word, beheld the Word within her and lived the Word in her daily life. She not only brought forth the Word into the world, but also lived by the Word all the time that she was in the world. She is given to us in the Holy Spirit, as our intercessor, who can teach us to pray and take our prayers to the presence of the Lord! She is the handmaiden of the Spirit and remains an icon for the entire humankind, assuring every one the salvation that was brought to the world by her Son. 

Let our prayer today be: Mary our Mother, in your humble submission to the Will of God, you brought us Salvation; grant that we may dare to submit to God's will that we be enjoy our salvation, and be instruments of that salvation to all those around us, and to the entire world. Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.