Work your way to heaven

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

May 1, 2023: Celebrating St. Joseph the Worker 
Genesis 1:26 - 2:3; Matthew 13: 54-58

We are disciples of the Carpenter's Son; that is how the people refer to Jesus in the Gospel of today. We celebrate not just the dignity but the divinity of work today. 

Karl Marx insisted that work should be the extension of one's being, not a commodity to be sold or paid for. That is what the Christian perspective holds on too. The first reading from Genesis today presents to us work as participation in the creative power of God. We become co-creators with God when we make our work the expression and extension of our being. It is the way we fulfill the purpose for which we have been created. Infact, that is the way for us to trace the path that God has designed for each of us to reach heaven.

Three tendencies that are directly against it are:

1. Laziness and inactivity: deliberately choosing not to do anything and scheming to be parasitic on the labour of others;

2. Compulsion and burden: looking at work as a compulsion and carrying it out grudgingly, blaming everyone and the situation for the lack of inner joy;

3. Commodification and exploitation: looking at a person as a means through whom things can be produced and sold and commodified and stripping the true dignity of labour from the person.

These are totally anti-Christian attitudes to work. Work shoud become a joyful, conscious and deliberate choice to give of one's best towards building a better place for the entire humanity. In the highly commercialised, globalised, world today, may St. Joseph, the Worker inspire us to work our way to heaven.

BEING THE SHEPHERD'S FLOCK

Follow, Obey and Respond

4th Sunday of Easter: April 30, 2023
Acts 2: 14a, 36-41; 1 Peter 2: 20b-25; John 10:1-10

The Post Resurrection scene is particularly important for us to reflect upon, because it provides us with an incomparable clarity of our identity as a believing community! Today the Lord invites us to realise and understand our vocation to be the flock of the Divine Shepherd. The second reading reminds us, "you have now returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls." 

The Shepherd Leads...we follow: 

Be patient in doing good and especially when you suffer for doing good, and that is the way to follow your shepherd, says St. Peter. As St. Paul would say writing to the Thessalonians, "do not be weary of doing what is right" (2 Thes 3:13). The Lord leads us by example. Doing good was his nature, no one could stop him from doing it. His own did not accept him, they did not understand him, they labelled him 'out of his mind', the disciples deserted him, many hated him and the authorities sought to kill him! But he held on to his mission of doing good! He knew doing the will of the One who sent him was an absolute mission and he went about it without fear, discouragement or doubt, inspite of the threats and trials. The Shepherd leads and we as his followers, are called to follow the same path.

The Shepherd Directs...we obey: 

There are moments and circumstances when we go astray. It could be due to deliberate choices or deviant desires...but the fact is we go astray, linger off bounds, leave the flock for a while, check out other pastures, be deceived by mirages and feel a bit lost. The Shepherd's voice bellows behind us... as St. Peter speaks up in the first reading today. To be the Shepherd's flock means to heed to that voice of direction. As the Lord promises through Isaiah: and when you turn to the right or when you turn to your left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "this is the way; walk in it" (Isa 30:21). The Word comes to us; directions come to us constantly; it is the capacity of the Shepherd's flock to hear, to listen, to understand and to put it into practice. Those who listened to the apostle were "cut to their heart", the reading says. They took it to the heart and obeyed it to the full. They were more than ready to change their course, redirect their lives and walk behind the shepherd. 

The Shepherd Calls...we respond: 

I came that you may have life and have it more abundantly, declares the Lord to us today in the Gospel! We are called to live our lives to the full, and that is the sign of the Shepherd's flock. The Lord offers us life and life in all its fullness, we are called to respond to this offer by accepting it and living it. Living to the full means living in faith and not in fear; living in love and not in selfishness; living in hope and not in darkness. As people of the Shepherd's flock, our lives have to be a witness to life in abundance. The world has to learn from us, and not laugh at us. We cannot conform to the world but the world has to be challenged by our lives! 

Let us pay heed to the Word today and follow, obey and respond to our Shepherd. Let us also pray for shepherds to be raised among us, shepherds after the heart of the Divine Shepherd.

The Word, the Spirit and Eternal Life

WORD 2day: Saturday, 3rd week after Easter

April 29, 2023: Acts 9:31-42; John 6: 60-69

The Disciples were graduating! From listening to proclaiming, from believing to witnessing, from doing what the Lord said to doing what the Lord did! 

It first began with their acknowledgement of the Word. Peter's statement today: where would we go Lord, you have the words of eternal life is the starting point of their graduation. It brings out their willingness to stick their neck out for Christ.

The second level of graduation comes from the Spirit promised by the Lord. With the Spirit they felt the power of Jesus present within them. They cured the sick, raised the dead and stood before anyone without fear or trembling. They were different from what they used to be!

Finally there was something that made them completely unbeatable: the perspective of Eternal life. This is what Jesus their master wanted them to have! They learnt that no one could take their eternal life away from them. They were convinced that the joy that the Spirit gives and the peace that the Risen Lord gives, no one could snatch away from them. That was a life changing perspective!

With the Word, in the Spirit and with the perspective of eternal life, we too can overcome the world, as our Lord and Saviour has done for us!

More and more like Him!

WORD 2day: Friday, 3rd week after Easter

April 28, 2023: Acts 9:1-20; John 6: 52-59

When Jesus said he would give his flesh to eat, the people objected calling it impossible. When Paul said he would preach Christ to the end of the world, people again objected calling it unbelievable. That is how the world is... accept it and do all the good you intend to. 

Paul knew what it meant to become one flesh with Christ. He knew the passion that filled Christ's heart and understood the mission that occupied his mind. Paul was one flesh with Christ and felt, thought and acted like Christ. It is not I, but Christ who lives in me - this was not a mere statement, but a lived experience. 

The people who accepted the faith in Christ, knew that they were called not merely to change their name or their external identities, but their lives, their thinking, their mindset, their priorities, their thought processes...their whole being. That is how they became witnesses, to the ends of the world. 

The invitation to us is clear too: to become like Christ, to live like Christ, to become one flesh with Christ, if at all we wish to see a renewal in this world. Each os us is given all the opportunities to progress in this call, but the challenge is that we take this task to heart. 
May the body we eat and the blood we consume make us more and more like Him!

Drawn into Salvation

WORD 2day: Thursday, 3rd week after Easter

April 27, 2023: Acts 8: 26-40; John 6: 44-51

No one can come to me except those whom the Father draws, declares Jesus. Today we have the episode of the Ethiopian court official, who was drawn to salvation by the Lord, even without him asking for it. But there was a search in his heart that yielded its fruit. 

A sincere search for God takes us to God; we are drawn to God by the very yearning in our hearts. Like the deer that yearns for running streams my soul longs for you my Lord, prays the psalmist. The very thirst in the heart is a  gift that God has placed in the heart of every human person. All that is required is a sincerity of heart that does not give into pride or self justification but remains sensitive to every promptings from within and without. 

At times an experience within or a simple event around us can provide the spark that can lead to a total consumption by the fire called the love of God. It could be a word from someone, or an experience of suffering, or a moment of mistake... whatever be it, it needs to be paid attention to, for the message and invitation it has. And when that happens, we will be drawn into salvation, even before we realise it to the full.

Yes, we are drawn into salvation... salvation is not some kind of external show or a declaration to the world, that I am saved! But it is an interior feeling, an intense experience within of being drawn by our Father and Mother, God Almighty. When we are humble enough to open ourselves to the Lord, we shall be drawn by the Lord, drawn into salvation!

Without hunger or thirst

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 3rd week after Easter

April 26, 2023: Acts 8: 1-8; John 6: 35-40

Luke presents a very dramatic account today of two contrasting movements gaining ground: one, the persecutions against the new believers in Christ and the other, the community of believers growing stronger by the day both in quantity and quality. The Gen-Next Christians... were persecuted, they were killed, they were dragged to prison, they were flogged and stoned... but nothing disturbed them. How was this possible?

Jesus answers that question in the Gospel: because they have no hunger nor thirst. They do not hunger for anything other than the nourishment from the Lord. They do not thirst for anything other than doing what pleases the Lord. The model for us is Jesus himself who said 'my food is to do the will of the One who sent me' (Jn 4:34). They were people of total surrender to the Lord. Nothing mattered to them other than what God meant in their life.

If we truly eat the body of Christ with ardent faith and absolute and conscious understanding, we would not hunger for anything more, nor thirst for anything else. Our needless yearnings and disproportionate cravings are because we have not understood the real treasures that we have in our faith, in our spiritual covenant with the Lord.

When for us too, God matters the most, where we hunger or thirst for nothing more than what the Lord has in store for us... we shall for certain be satisfied. We shall be worthy of that title... the Gen-Next Christians.

The Gen Next that Goes!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

April 25, 2023: Celebrating Mark the Evangelist
1 Peter 5:5-14; Mark 16:15-20

Today we have a saint from the Gen Next Christians - Mark the evangelist. He comes out as a dedicated young man convinced of his call and enduring in his response. The apostles and disciples were extremely different from each other in their calibre and character. But what bound them together was the 'Go' that they received from the Lord. It was that commission from the Master that kept them going. 

In fact the Gen Next Christians have this as their mark - the dedication to the "Go" that they received from the Lord. Today when Pope Francis calls for a Church that goes out...or the missionary Church, this is the characteristic mark that he wishes to hightlight - the Church, the believers, the faithful, the brothers and sisters who go out of their way to make the presence of the Lord felt wherever they are!

After the apostles who went around proclaiming the Message, we see generations (the Nex Gen) following them in responding whole heartedly to the project entrusted. Mark becomes the representative of the Gen Next that immediately followed the 12 and Mark leaves indelible trails by his commitment and dedication.

Our call today is to take our call seriously as the Gen Next Christians, to dedicate ourselves to the commission from the Lord... to Go, to reach out, to take the Goodnews to the world!

The Rise of the Gen-Next!

WORD 2day: Monday, 3rd week after Easter

April 24, 2023: Acts 6: 8-15; John 6: 22-29

The Word this week, begins to present to us the first generation believers after the Apostles! Apart from the apostles who were with Jesus, there were ardent disciples for Christ and the true people of the Way that Jesus preached. They began to imitate Jesus to the detail: an excellent example is Stephen, whose face shone like the Angel!

Jesus gives us the reason his face shone so: because he believed in the One who was sent! We too believe... yes! To what extent? Can we say, "upto death"? What does believing mean in practical terms: to follow what the Lord said and live what the Lord lived! Do we live after the example of the Lord? Do we carry out the Lord's teaching to the details? Or are we clamouring after miracles and running after signs? Are we working for merely material well being or are we concerned about our own spiritual maturity? 

This generation can be terms the Gen-Next to Christ... with the Apostles belonging to the generation of Christ, and the generation that followed which we refer to as Gen-Next! Looking at the Gen-Next of Christ... should we not take to our heart to be truly Christ-ians in our thought, word and deed? We are called to be the Gen-Next today! 

The characteristics of this gen would be - consciousness of our call to be followers of Christ, to take forward the common mission that marks the call received, to go out of our way to be faithful fighting every temptation towards compromises! Gen-Next are not a generation of believers depending on a particular time, but a generation of a particular mindset - a mindset of total dedication!

LESSONS FROM EMMAUS

Open, Listen and Yield

Third Sunday in Easter Time - April 23, 2023

Acts 2: 14, 22-33; 1 Peter 1:17-21; Luke 24: 13-35

The famous passage of the Gospel today, is a wholesome treat for a catechist or a catechete or a pastoralist. It lends itself to their discussions and theorisations and serves as an exceptional metaphor for explaining the ideals such as the process of catechesis or ministry, the role of various agents involved in the said process and so on. Of course, that would be an interesting discussion, but maybe we will not remain on that plane.

We shall instead reflect on the event reported, from the point of view of the two disciples pictured in the event - for two reasons. First of all, they represent us. As we are right now, they were living in the post resurrection period and they were still continuing to grasp what resurrection really meant. Secondly, they exemplify us. Just as we are all taken up with so many concerns of life and live within the caged world that we have created for ourselves with our preoccupations and doubts, anxieties and cares, worries and responsibilities, so too were they lost in their concerns and fears. So much lost, that they were not able to perceive even the most obvious... Jesus spoke to them, walked with them and prayed with them... but it took time for them to open their eyes! However, from these two disciples who are explicative of our own situation, we can draw the following three lessons.

Lesson 1: Accept the Strangers

When Jesus came to them, and wished to join their conversation and their walk, they accepted him, even though they did not know who it was, much less that it was Jesus. This is a pertinent call for us Christians today - to truly accept others, although we may not know them, with respect and regard. Although and specially because the migration today is becoming more and more, we see that there is a growing suspicion among the so-called mainstream in accpeting persons who are new and from elsewhere. There are societies which have been traditionally hospitable and sociable, which are losing this texture due to various internal and external factors. As Christians, can we stand out as counter witnesses promoting hospitality to 'strangers'? 

We do not know who is joining us, or who is offering to speak to us, or who is truly concerned about what is troubling us. It could after all be a God-sent person coming to make sense for us, about what is going on in our lives.

Lesson 2: Listen with your heart

When Jesus spoke to them, although they were not conviced or the truthfulness or the validity of what he was saying, they were listening to him. They were listening to him although they did not immediately understand what he was saying... they began to understand it later, recall it later, because earlier they had listened to him. Today the capacity to listen to the other has reduced drastically. Everyone wants to speak. Every one wants to say or display what they wish too. The amount of social network posts - instagram, reels and shorts - are indicative of how much persons today wish to shout out! But if there is a similar willingness  and eagerness to listen to the other, is a pertinent question. 

We may not understand what we are listening to, or we may not agree to it. That should not matter much, when it comes to our attitude or disposition to listen. We need to become listening persons, listening communities, if we wish to behold the Word from the Lord. 

Lesson 3: Yield to the Truth

When Jesus broke the bread, they understood their folly. They realised how blind and deaf they were till then. They did not make any effort to justify their inability nor explain their failure away. They took responsibility for their action and with humble admission accepted to change. That was shown in the decision they made... they walked up all the way to Emmaus from Jerusalem and the moment they realised the deep experience that they had just had, they started back all the way from Emmaus towards Jerusalem, merely to announce to their brothers and sisters the experience that they have had. The world today presumes that it knows the truth, just like the disciples were deriding Jesus in the beginning...are you the only one in Jerusalem who does not know what is happening around? In fact, he was the only one who knew what was "really" taking place. 

We may not know the truth, we may have an imperfect understanding of it, but what matters is that when we are given the grace to get in touch with the Truth, we are called to yield to the Truth. That is what will make us people of the Truth, people of the Lord, people of the Spirit!

Every day in our lives, we meet persons and we experience events, that have fragments of the Truth that can make sense of our lives. All that we need to do is accept the new with respect and regard, listen to everyone with whole heart and mind, and yield to the Truth when the Lord deigns to reveal it to us!

 

The Spirit Enlightens

WORD 2day - Saturday, 2nd week after Easter

April 22, 2023: Acts 6:1-7; John 6:16-21

Reflecting on the Word today, there are two things that strike and draw our attention: one, the bread and the other, the waves. Waiting on the tables and walking on the waves - these are the two events we are presented with. Which of these is more of value and which less? 

Waiting on the Table, which was a regular duty among the believers becomes a concern and some are dissatisfied with how it was going on. The Lord inspires them to understand the concern with such clarity that they do not compromise on the basics. The concern is addressed but nothing of what is essential is lost - they set apart a ministry in order that the centrality of the Word is not lost.

Waves that rose against the boat, made the disciples frightened. But the Lord walks up to them on the waters, on the very waves and reassures them to row on. Interestingly, they were disturbed by the waves but they were more terrified to see someone walking on the water towards them. The Lord's words, do not fear - comes as a challenge for them to understand what to fear and what not to fear. They were hardly away from the land, but they needed the Lord to realise it.

Waiting on tables or walking on waves... the question is not which has to be more valued or less, but the important call is that we never lose our sense of being in the presence of the Lord. The Spirit who comes from the Risen Lord, gives us the light and makes us understand that whatever we are involved in we need to live it with the sense of the presence of the Lord. Whether we wait on the table or walk on the waves, we realise we are in the presence of the Lord and the Spirit enlightens us to that realisation. 

The Spirit Multiplies

WORD 2day: Friday, 2nd week after Easter

April 21, 2023: Acts 5:34-42; John 6:1-15

Gamaliel proved a true God-fearing man and his words become a miracle. Notice the beautiful connection made in the Liturgy of the Word today: there is a multiplication of the loaves reported in the Gospel but we see that unfolding in reality in the Acts, in the form of the Multiplication of the believers - because, the Spirit multiplies! From a mere handful, the people of the Way begin to grow in leaps and bounds, filled with the Spirit.

The miracle happened because of the following three reasons:

- the Apostles and the band of new believers kept God and God's Word above everything else, even above their own lives;

- the Apostles and the people considered it God's mission and not their own enterprise; they gave the entire credit to God;

- the Apostles especially, had no other hidden agenda, for instance their own glory, making a living, or creating a following for themselves. 

The Spirit empowered them to place everything in the perspective of God! This is what Gamaliel infact prophesied... that if they were living their lives from the perspective of God, no one would be able to stop them! They surrendered themselves totally to the Lord and they were multiplied... the Spirit multiplied! 

Today if we are becoming weaker and weaker as a community, we need to raise a fundamental question: are we living from the perspective of God? If we decide to do so, it would be a sign that we are guided by the Spirit and the Spirit shall make us fruitful as believers!

The Spirit Moulds

WORD 2day - Thursday, 2nd week after Easter

April 20, 2023: Acts 5:27-33; John 3:31-36

One of the clear signs of Easter people growing to be the People of the Spirit, is the quality of Obedience. The Spirit moulds, the Spirit forms and the Spirit prepares us to yield to the will of the Lord. A lesson on this virtue of Obedience can be understood in three phrases:

1. Obedience makes Jesus the beloved Son of God. As St Paul would say, it is because of his obedience that the Father raised him as the highest and gave him a name above every name. The Spirit that filled Jesus, made him call out, "Abba Father" and grow to be a worthy child of that Father!

2. Obedience made the apostles mighty. By nature the apostles were not bold. But when they began to obey God they became uncontrollable. Today we hear them say, Obedience to God is much more important than anything obedience to the forces of the world. They were so Spirit-filled that they dared say that.

3. Obedience makes us free. When we obey we need not worry. Obeying reduces the burden off our shoulder. Because God cares instead of we being worried about something. In obeying we allow the Spirit within us to work. We would never be in want, as the Gospel says, the Father would give us the Spirit without reserve... and the Spirit moulds... making us obedient and yielding children of God. 

The Spirit Frees

WORD 2day - Wednesday, 2nd week after Easter

April 19, 2023: Acts 5: 17-26; John 3:16-21

From the prison to freedom, from the chains to an unfettered spirit, from fear to total commitment... the Spirit frees us in the spirit, and strengthens us to walk upright without fear or tredipdation. At times truth hurts and at times it costs much, but if in the Spirit, we would consider nothing too demanding when it comes to living a life of resurrection.

Fear can be treated as an acronym says a popular wisecrack: False Evidence Appearing Real... in fact, the source of fear is the lack of light! It is darkness that makes us hesitate, falter and stumble. When there is light and we can see everything, there is less chances for fear and confusion. That is what happened to the apostles... they had the light and nothing could stop them from going ahead!

They had the light because, the Light had come to the world, as Jesus explains to us in the Gospel. Yes, the Light has come into the world, the Light has risen from the dead, the Light lives with us... why should we fear? The Spirit frees us to see the light, behold the light and see with the help of the light and we shall not fear. 

If I have the courage to see the Light, accept it and walk in it, nothing can stop me, not even death - because I have the eternal life within me and that is the Spirit of the Lord who frees me!

The Spirit Raises

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 2nd week after Easter

April 18, 2023: Acts 4: 32-37; John 3: 7-15

The first Chrsitian Community gives us a challenging example today, a prophetic witness! Just imagine a Christian community today, living exactly the way we read from the Acts of the Apostles... my be one of our parish communities, or our basic christian communities...or the Religious Communities of Consecrated life... how would the effect be in the immediate context around them or on the larger society or the world over, specially with the social network today that can spread that good news everywhere! It is easy to brush it aside, calling it an exaggerated and outdated model, or an impractical ideal, a utopia, or a time proven failure! But let us remember, that has been our original call and the challenge remains.

Jesus provides the key to this challenge: it is living in the Spirit, it is living our lives as if from above! We have received our life and everything in life as a gift from above. And when it is time for us to report back from where we come, we will go without anything in our hands. When we see things from above then, we would laugh at our folly as does the Lord now from heaven (see Ps 2:4). 

Just look at your life, even as you live it today, a little from above! And you will understand how foolish we can get... with our attachments and avarice, jealousy and treachery, and every other inhumanity for the sake of things that do not matter at all! The Spirit raises us... that is the key. When we decide to live in the Spirit, we shall live from above, becaue the Spirit raises us! 

The Spirit Rocks

WORD 2day: Monday, Second week after Easter

April 17, 2023: Acts 4: 23-31; John 3:1-8

If the week that has just passed us by, detailed to us what it means to be Persons of Resurrection, this week would present to us what it means to be Persons of the Spirit. With the Resurrection experience beheld and celebrated, the next and equally crucial experience of the presence and power of the Spirit is being highlighted from this week. 

Today the Word tells us, that the Spirit rocks and the Early Christian Community experienced it in concrete. The Spirit rocks, rocks in two ways: one, it rocks the complacency of an individual's or community's heart; second, it rocks the entire reality around that every one experiences something that he or she has never experienced before or has been dreaming about.

There have been people in history who were rocked by the Spirit in their heart...right from Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses and the prophets, right upto John the Baptist and Nicodemus whom we see encountering Jesus in the Gospel today - they were all rocked in the spirit and they began searching for the eternal truth.

When the Spirit raised people, it rocked the entire world and history. Things were changed as they were never before. Today the Spirit awaits to rock the world through you and me. Being instruments in the hands of the Lord, is to rock the world in the Lord's name - the Spirit will do it if only we are ready to yield! Are we ready to rock... let us allow the Spirit within us to rock!

LOVE REMAINS

Holy Week 2023 - SILENT SATURDAY

April 8: In Sacred Silence…

What happened after Jesus died and before he rose? What was he going through? 

He was silent! 

He was waiting! 

He just remained! 

This is the call of this unique day of the year in the Church: this is the only day in the whole of the Church when no Eucharist is Celebrated...the altar remains stripped, the tabernacle remains empty and the Church remains silent: waiting in patience to see what is going to happen next.

The Lord rests in the tomb this day... everything is silent! There will be a dawn very soon... but until then we are invited to Remain Silent, Remain Patient and Remain Waiting. 

It is not so easy to remain silent in a moment of crisis. Multitudes of questions, thousands of thoughts will pass by our mind breaking our silence. One could see that - in these moments of quarantine - how many issues, how many conspiracy theories, how may fake messages doing their rounds and how many stress creating discussions! Only the one who has an unwavering faith in the Lord can remain silent at these moments.

We have grown slaves to instant results. We seem to have have lost the natural patience of our forefathers, in the name of development and technology. Only the one who hopes in SomeOne greater than oneself, can remain patient and see things happen.

Compare waiting for a public utility, may be a transport or one's turn in a crowded office, with waiting for one's beloved! While former seems irritating, the latter looks exciting. The difference is the love that is involved: Only the one who loves the Lord immensely, remains waiting, for the Lord to act on his or her behalf.

Today is the day to remain...to remain silent, to remain patient, to remain waiting, because the Lord is getting something beautiful ready for us! The Lord waits...and let us wait on the Lord too!

 

LOVE DIES, FOR YOU AND ME

Holy Week 2023 - GOOD FRIDAY 

April 7: Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12; Hebrews 4:14-16, 5:7-9; John 18:1-19:42

 

We are at the peak, the peak of our Christian faith, the peak of the eternal salvation plan of God, the peak of Calvary which has transformed human history forever and from eternity. From this peak today speaks to us the love of God - telling each of us: I died for you! I emptied myself for you! I gave totally of myself for you!

The liturgy today invites us to dwell on three C's...

The first is the Cross - the centre not merely of the liturgy of today, but of our entire Christian life, theology and spirituality. The Cross is the true symbol of love, not the heart with a piercing arrow! The cross is the symbol of that total self-giving, total to the extent of the last drop of blood and water. Suffering accepted for the other, suffering taken up as a mode of self-giving, suffering endured as an act of love, is salvific! This is both an inspiration and an invitation that we need to hear every time we look at the Cross. Father forgive them, for they know not what they do!

The second is the Crown - do you know another word for a crown... Corona! We are so filled with this word, these days as we battle against the COVID 19 crisis, all over the world. When sufferings come our way, when trials visit us in our days, when burdens weigh down our shoulders, when disease and death threaten us from the dark corners, we need to remember this crown! Just imagine an athlete running a race, if right at the beginning he is given a crown and said, all that you need to do is reach the finish line... the crown is certainly yours, it is guaranteed! That is actually a real Christian vision of life... yes, we have to run, yes, we have to toil, yes, we have to strive... but the crown is ours, already! Any crisis, any suffering, any temptation, any trial, is there just to be endured and traversed; let us remember, we are all running with the crown already on our head...if only we are ready to live through them all in faith! Nothing can overtake us, nothing can overcome us, for there is someone who has overcome everything - sins, world, even death and his crown we have on our heads, the crown of salvation. Into your hands Lord, I commend my Spirit. 

The third is Calvary - the hill of grace, the mountain of salvation! The first time I visited Calvary, I was disappointed. When the programme of the visit said, Calvary, my mind had imagined an impressive hilltop up there - but all I beheld was a dozen steps to climb with the place of crucifixion marked. We had already made the climb walking the gradually rising slope leading to the Church of Crucifixion. But that is precisely the message: Calvary is not that one hill perched high right in the middle of our life - it is one whole life, it is a lifelong experience, something that we gradually climb and come to grips with every day. Amidst the daily chores, amidst the experiences of failures and faults, amidst the trying relationships and discouraging life situations, we behold our Calvary - the hill of grace, the mountain of salvation. All that we need to do is, be ready is go through these mindful of the fact that there is God's Holy Will which is guiding us and be ready to surrender ourselves totally. Thus, we can finally say, 'it is accomplished!'

Let us heed to the call of the Cross and understand the role of suffering in our personal salvation and the salvation of the humankind. Let us behold the crown of salvation and live the mystery of Calvary every day in our lives, firm in faith, filled with hope and fired by love.

 

LOVE SERVES IN EVERY WAY

Holy Week 2023 - MAUNDY THURSDAY

April 6: Exodus 12:1-8,11-14; 1; Corinthians 11:23-26; John 13:1-15

 

Love is basically a willingness to submit oneself to a way of life that wishes the good of the other. Knowing the needs of the other, without having heard from him or her is a sign of love. Committing myself for the good of the other, without ever thinking of what I would gain, is an attitude of love. Being ready to lay down one's life for the good of the other is the ultimate act of love. There can be no love better that one being ready to lay down one's life for the other and it all begins in being at the service of, the other and the good of the other. The world has grown so callous to 'the other', all that matters to one is oneself and one's own - where is love here? and where would service be here at all!

Maundy Thursday is the day on which the Lord gave us the famous mandate, the mandate of love: love one another as I have loved you; love in action - wash each other's feet; love to be identified as belonging to Christ. The day is filled with so many things to thank the Lord for. 

First of all, the Eucharist instituted today is a loving service in action, by the Son of God who gives himself up for our good. Love serves by making itself the food for the other, by destroying oneself that the other may live!

Priesthood that is initiated today is a service, a ministry of bringing the Lord to the people. It is an offering of love that persons chosen and called make for the Lord, to the Lord's people, for the Lord's mission towards the Reign of God. 

Then comes the commandment of love - the spoken words of Jesus, that would be lived out in his action of serving the disciples, washing their feet and waiting on them at the table! A love in concrete action.

In every one of these, that which stands out is love. Love is our identity, love is our mission and love is our meaning. Love is seen in service, true and selfless service.

 

LOVE HURTS, NEVER RETORTS

 Holy Week 2023 - THE SPY WEDNESDAY 

April 5: Isaiah 50: 4-9a; Matthew 26: 14-25

 

Starting Monday, we have been hearing the three songs of the suffering servant from the book of Isaiah... a set of songs that expresses the sufferings that a servant of God or the prophet of God undergoes. It becomes a prefigurement of Christ's suffering. A servant of God, even the Son of God, finds all around him, those who plot his downfall, those who want him to fail, to be destroyed: how prepared are we to face such people and still go about with dedication and commitment to the Will of God. 

Do you think it will be possible to go on loving even at these moments? It is simple to remain with the Lord and say 'I love', when things go on well; but when things do not go the way we want them? That is what led to the fall of Judas! But look at Jesus... it hurt him to have loved these people - the one who betrayed, the one who denied and those who abandoned him... but he never ceased loving them, much less react. Yes, true love hurts! But it goes on and on. 

"From that time on, he looked for an opportunity to hand him over" ...says the Gospel today. The plot thickens and the tempo builds towards the climax. There are eyes that keep watching out for the right moment to lay hands on Jesus...and the most unfortunate fact is that it is led by one from the innermost circle of Jesus' collaborators! Yes, love hurts, but the one who truly loves, never retorts!

It is a divine quality to love, even when that love is not reciprocated, much more when it is repaid with indifference or hurt! But if we believe we take after the Lord, that we are created in God's image, that we are brothers and sisters of Christ, then as Mother Teresa would often say, we have to love until it hurts

 

LOVE NEVER GIVES UP ON GOD

 Holy Week 2023 - THE PREACHING TUESDAY

April 4: Isaiah 49:1-6; John 13:21-33, 36-38 

 

 

"Though I thought I toiled in vain... yet my reward is with the Lord", this feeling expressed by Isaiah in the first reading fits perfectly the state of Jesus' mind, as he bids a bitter farewell to his disciples today. Arriving at the fag end of his ministry, Jesus knows what is in store and prepares himself for it. Judas' betrayal, Peter's denial... he foresees everything and forewarns them too, but everything in vain. However, he knows that in everything God works for the good of those who love God (cf. Rom 8:28). 

Just after the cleansing of the Temple and the controversy created by it, Jesus is found preaching at the Temple, for the last time. The Jews, the high priests and the scribes, have always challenged Jesus regarding the authority with which he is doing all that he does! Jesus does not care to prove his authority, not because he could not but because it was so obvious. His words were accompanied with signs, his teachings were authenticated with his living and no one needed any proof for Jesus' authority. The problem was that they were not ready see the obvious truth. But Jesus' love does not let him lose heart...he goes on. That is true love - it never gives up. 

These days, experiencing a totally strange holy week, a holy week in quarantine, there could be anxieties, helplessness, doubts and fears in the minds of all...but let us remember, Love never gives up. God has never given up on us and we shall never give up on God, if we truly love God. Let us learn to see and believe the presence of God amidst whatever the situation be.

Believing involves repentance! Believing comes from a conviction, from an experience. Repent and believe - that was the invitation with which the Lent began! 

How far have we progressed in it? 

 

LOVE CONSUMES ONESELF

Holy Week 2023 - CLEANSING MONDAY 

April 3: Isaiah 42:1-7; John 12:1-11

 

 

 

The flame burns more vigorously as it is about to quench itself, they say. The perfume spreads itself more vivaciously when it is about to vanquish itself. The love for his father and the passion for his mission, burns ever brighter as Jesus nears the cross. Jesus is about to enter into his last few days, and more and more begin to believe in him and come to him. Even while these happen, the stubborn heart of Judas does not give way, the plotting spirit of the high priest and scribes does not change! 

This day within the Holy week is called the Cleansing Monday, as we see Jesus after entering Jerusalem, paying a visit to the Temple and cleansing it! Don't make my Father's house a den of robbers, he cries. As the scripture says, the zeal for his house consumes him, the love for his father consumes him, the love for his mission consumes him. 

All the good that Jesus did, all the signs that marked his mission did not manage to convert that one section of the people, because they had their hearts hardened and their eyes blinded. May we hear today the yearning cry of the Lord to true conversion. May we make up our mind to truly break away from some act or tendency that we habitually fall in. As Jesus cleanses that temple, the invitation to us is clear: our body is the temple of the Lord, is it maintained as the Lord's dwelling place or has it turned into a robber's den. Isn't it time for us to take note of it and cleanse it for all its impurities. Our love for the Father, for the Lord and for being the dwelling of the Spirit, should consume ourselves! 

True love consumes oneself, true wish for the wellbeing of the other shall lead a person to consume oneself. That is what is happening with the Lord - and are we ready continuously cleanse our love for each other, for the whole humanity, for God, so true as we are prepared even to be consumed ourselves!

BLESSED HOLY WEEK 2023

May these days of journey with the Lord fill us with 

compassion for the other, 

communion with each other and 

commitment to the will of God. 

May the celebrations of these days 

open the eyes and the ears of our hearts 

that each of us may hear, understand, perceive and personalize 

our call to become more and more divine from within.

May your wounds heal us O Lord!

May your death grant us life O Lord!

May your love make us truly human, 

after your image and likeness O Lord!