The Obscurity of a Christian

WORD 2day: Christmas Octave - December 28, 2013

The Feast of the Holy Innocents: 1 John 1:5 - 2:2; Matthew 2: 13-18

These days we are celebrating the continued joy of Christmas, reflecting on the Christian community that testifies to this Word made flesh - we celebrated the martyr heroes who we hold in great esteem; we celebrated the great apostolic evangelisers who shine on the cloud of glory. And today we celebrate those who shine in their obscurity. It looks like a contrast in terms, isn't it? But that is the truth about the feast of the holy innocents we celebrate today. 

Those who died, the holy innocents, did not know who Jesus was, neither do we know these children we died were! All that we celebrate today is the fact that every day there are so many who are being killed, those who lay their lives down, for the sake of truth - without even knowing what they are doing. There are two important considerations that we can have today, from the perspective of our faith:

The first consideration is to recognise the Christians in obscurity - those who are standing up for the Reign, those who are voicing their hope in Truth, those who are ready to give up - be it simple things in life or be it their life itself, those who are ready to lose anything for the cause of true love of humanity. These are truly brothers and sisters of Christ, recognised by God - "all those who listen to the words of my Father and put it into practice are my mother, my brothers, my sisters". 

The second consideration is about the obscurity of a Christian - that a true Christian would live his or her Christian life in the obscurity of his or her daily life experiences. They are not always those in the limelight. Today, there is a craze for limelight; everyone wants to be trending - making statements without need, just creating ripples through the social media just for the sake of it, sometimes not worried about the repurcussions it would have on the common good. Instead, a true Christian, goes on living his or her life, in silence, in obscurity, in a daily martyrdom. 

Let us pray for all the innocents who are made to suffer for the Reign today, and in a special way let us offer the innocent children who are sacrificed at the altars of greed and inhumanity! May God have mercy!

The Joy of a Christian

WORD 2day: Christmas Octave - December 27, 2013

St. John the Evangelist: 1 John 1: 1-4; John 20: 2-8

The Christmas joy continues, even as we commemorate St. John the Evangelist today. There seems to be a wisdom and logic in celebrating St. Stephen yesterday and St. John today! Though this is certainly an unofficial reasoning, I like to hold on it for the point that it makes! Immediately after celebrating the birth of Jesus, we celebrate the birth also of the community around him - yesterday we remembered the representative of those who decide to lay their life down for the their Master, and today John, the only apostle as the tradition says, who did not die a martyr's death! But his undeterred perseverance was a martyrdom in itself - he was the only apostle who did not desert Jesus at the time of passion and he had the previllege of inheriting the mother of Jesus, in the name of the whole Church. It is indeed a great challenge to imitate - for him it was all about joy! 

Although the Gospel reading today draws our attention to the scene of resurrection, the message is about an encounter with Christ that redefines one's life. When a person encounters Christ in all one's earnestness, there is a choice, a categorical choice for Christ and Christ's mission! The joy of a Christian is seen here - John defines this for us today in three fundamental experiences - encounter, union and proclamation! 

"The Joy of the Gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus," declares the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (n.1). This is what we are celebrating for the past two days - the joy of having encountered the Word made flesh.

The union that this encounter leads to, is a joyful union with the Father in the Son, with the Son in everyone who is called in his name, with each other in the joy that the Lord fills us with - a complete joy, an overflowing joy, that has to be proclamed by all means!

Just as St. Paul would affirm that it is no merit that an apostle proclaims the Word, but woe to him if he does not (1 Cor 9:16), we see John today explaining in the first reading: He seems to say, "I am called to announce Christ, not merely because others will benefit from it; but primarily that my joy may be complete (1 Jn 1:4)!

For a Christian, a joy-filled proclamation of Christ is the only way to live his or her life - joyfully proclaiming Christ in every word, every action and every choice that is made, at every moment of one's daily life.