Our part towards the Reign!

WORD 2day: Thursday, Fourth week in Ordinary time

February 1, 2024 - 1 Kings 2:1-4, 10-12; Mark 6:7-13

David gives instruction to young Solomon as he is about to take over the Kingdom. Jesus gives instruction to his apostles as they are about to set out for a mission! The common element is the instruction and there is a common thread that runs through the two sets of instructions too. 

For that matter the whole of the Word of God, and Jesus as the Word of God made flesh, always has this ready message to give us: Seek first the Reign of God, and all other things will be given unto you (Mat 6:33). The apostles, the first christian communities, the early missionaries... every one of them was filled with this same zeal. Health. wealth, pleasure, not even life mattered more than the Reign of God for them! 

Solomon would later fall from the glory of his father, precisely because he would lose sight of the Reign that God wanted to establish. When we lose sight of the Reign, even the most beautiful things we do in the name of God, will become things done for our own glory and our own petty kingdoms. The more we grow conscious of our call to live for the Reign, the more our work and our efforts would make sense. 

Our call is to renew our commitment towards the Reign - the Reign of justice, love, peace, brotherhood and sisterhood... in short SHALOM, Wholeness, God's presence! Let us make present these in our little way everyday, that would be our part towards the Reign for today!

The Lord in the Ordinariness of life

THE WORD AND THE SAINT 

January 31, 2024 - Remembering St. John Bosco
2 Samuel 24: 2,8-17; Mark 6: 1-6

Today we celebrate St. John Bosco, the father and friend of youth - as the Church calls him. There are special readings chosen for the feast (memoria of the Saint), but not all would be choosing those readings. Hence, we shall continue to reflect on the reading of the 4th Ordinary week... however, the Saint has an inspiration to give even here. 

The Word comes to remind us that, falling into sin and giving into our imperfections are common human experiences. Comparatively more problematic experience is when we have fallen and we do not want to get out of it. Still worse is when we do no even realise we have fallen - in which case, there is no question of getting out of it at all. 

David was a chosen one of God. He was blessed with experiences and graces that no one else had been blessed with... but he too falls, and he falls repeatedly! But let us wait - nothing to judge him "evil" here... it is a ordinary human experience, to fall, even to repeatedly fall. The merit that we can attribute to David is the fact that when things go wrong and miseries come his way, he readily realises his folly. When he falls he knows that he has fallen and he accepts that he has fallen! All the while he also realises, the ever present grace of God which instructs him and guides him.

The Lord's grace is ever present with us - but it is possible that we do not realise it or we refuse to behold it in our obstinacy. The ordinariness of Jesus was an obstacle for the people to accept the great things that he was upto. They were not ready to notice or behold anything divine in Jesus, because they knew him too well! They were so fixated in their ideas that the ordinariness in which God's glory was set to shine, did not appeal to them.

St. John Bosco has handed down a legacy to his sons and daughters, the great big Salesian family that he had initiated as a movement - the Salesian Spirituality, which hinges upon a spirituality of ordinariness. It requires that we find God in the ordinariness of our daily life and experience. It is important that we learn to behold the Lord's graceful presence, in the ordinariness of our lives lest we miss it all, as it happened to those people who missed Jesus the Christ altogether. 

Let us resolve to be ready and eager to behold the presence of the Lord in the ordinariness of our days.

It does not matter to appear strange!

WORD 2day: Tuesday, Fourth week in Ordinary time

January 30, 2024 - 2 Samuel 18: 9-10,14,24-25,30-19:3; Mark 5: 21-43

Sometimes we might appear 'strange'. David does, in today's first reading! To those with David, it seemed well deserved that Absalom met with such an end for all that he had done to David; but for David, it was unbearable; he cries inconsolably. He appears strange for the people who wanted to celebrate the victory. 

Jesus looks strange, when he asks who is that who touched him, when there was a whole multitude that was crushing him! He appears strange when he tells those people at Jairus' house, 'the child is sleeping.' In fact, the disciple expressed their surprise and the people ridiculed him. Jesus looked so strange. 

There is an element here that those around did not see, which made it natural for Jesus (and David) but, for the people it was strange. The element is, the capacity to see everything from the eyes of God and feel everything from the perspective of God! 

When David looked at it from the perspective of God, it was his loving child who was dead! When Jesus felt the touch from the perspective of God, it was a touch of intense prayer and when He saw the child on the death bed, it was God's glory yet to be revealed. 

When we look at our own successes, failures, difficulties, trials, temptations and struggles from the eyes of God - they will have completely different meanings - 'strange' for others, 'miracles' for ourselves! Begin to live your life from the perspective of God, it does not matter if you appear strange!

Presentism or Reign-mindset?

WORD 2day: Monday, Fourth week in Tempo ordinario

January 29, 2024 - 2 Samuel 15: 13-14,30, 16:5-13; Mark 5: 1-20

We come across two lifestyles in the Word today. First is represented in the Gospel, where the whole quarters of the people is terrified with the presence of the possessed man - a constant and continuous threat to security and peace. And Jesus arrives there curing the man and clearing their difficulty for the rest of their days. But what happens in the process is a herd of swine is lost, over two thousand we are told. And what is the response of the people who truly should have been profusely grateful to Jesus? They ask him to leave their locality, for fear that they could lose more! This is a lifestyle, which says, when it comes to losing what I feel attached to, even if it is the Lord, I don't want to have anything to do with it. My attachments and priorities are too sacred to lose! There is a very strong 'here and now' here, a dangerous presentism, that takes the true meaning out of our life. 

There is another lifestyle reported - David, who is facing a coup d'etat. While he is fleeing the scene with such heavy heart, he is accosted by a man from the clan of King Saul, cursing him bitterly. Those who are with David, threaten the man to silence. But how does David respond? It is here we see the lifestyle portrayed: he says, if it were God's prompting that this man cursed me, who am I to resent it. What a lesson: even if it is a curse, a difficulty, a trouble, a hurdle, if it is within the design of God, I have nothing to refrain from, I have nothing to fear! For God knows the plans that God has for me, for my fullness of life! That is true Reign-mindset, that prioritises God and thinks in terms of eternity. 

What a contrast we have in these two mindsets! One to say, if I can avoid pain and trouble, I dont mind giving up even God; the other to say, even if it is the worst of circumstances, if it is within the plan of God, I do not fear anything for God is with me! Which of these mindsets do we wish to grow in? That is our choice!

To submit to the Lord

WORD 2day: Saturday, Third week in Ordinary time

January 27, 2024 - 2 Samuel 12: 1-7, 10-17; Mark 4: 35-41

The first reading today brings out the best element of David for our consideration. David was favoured in the eyes of God, not for his valour or for his victories, nor for his eloquence or for his talents. The outstanding quality of David, that makes him an example to all of us, is his humility and his capacity to listen to the Lord.

Humility is the ability to see the truth. And the capacity to listen to the Lord is the easiest way to observe the truth; the truth that is ever present right in front of our eyes. Even while Nathan was speaking, David did not realise the truth; but when the prophet said to David, "You are the man!", David realised his folly, that he has deluded himself from seeing the Lord who was right there with him all the while, even when David indulged in all the evil that he did. In his humility, he submits himself instantly to the mercy of the Lord.

Weak as we are and tempted as we are, our capacity to listen to the Word of the Lord and our humility to submit ourselves to the mercies of the Lord, are those which can really make us persons of faith. The storm and the sea, the heavens and the creatures therein, everything obeys the Lord, and why should we hesitate to submit to the Lord?

In faith, we shall ask the Lord, and the Lord shall give us a pure heart and a steadfast spirit, humble and honest, to submit to the Lord!

The seed and its fruits

THE WORD AND THE SAINTS

January 26, 2024: Remembering Sts. Timothy and Titus

2 Timothy 1: 1-8; Mark 4: 26-34

Timothy and Titus are two models we are presented with today. They were both finds of the Apostle Paul on his journeys. Inspiring the listeners to make a life choice is a special gift that some are given with. St. Paul possessed this and he used it well for the Reign of God. Timothy and Titus join the great band of apostles that Jesus initiated.

How beautifully Paul speaks of faith in the first reading of today (we have chosen the one from the letter to Timothy)... as something that is gifted, something that has to be nurtured and something that has to be celebrated and handed over!

Faith is a gift from God, as life and growth are. Just like the sower sows and waits for the grains to sprout, so do we sow all the goodness that we can and wait for the life and growth that God alone gives. We cannot be impatient and agitated to see their fruits, fruits will appear in God's own time, for it is the Lord who is at work!

Our faith has been sown in the ground of our hearts, it has to grow into the Reign of God on earth. Our responsibility is to nurture the seed (the faith) and await the fruit (Reign). It is not within our capacity to establish the Reign where we are, but it is within our capacity to live our faith to the full, because we are given a Spirit of power, love and self control! When we live our faith to the full, the Reign shall sprout!

Conversion: an absolute choice for God

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

January 25, 2024: The Conversion of St. Paul
Acts 22: 3-16; Mark 16: 15-18

The feast of Conversion of St. Paul invites us to reflect on our own conversion. Unfortunately, in today's context, the word 'conversion' has more political connotation than spiritual! 

In fact, today is a beautiful occasion for us to remind ourselves that conversion is not about numbers and increasing the fold. It is a personal decision to go towards God, an about-turn (as the Greek word 'metanoia' suggests); it is an absolute choice for God! Choice for God... because we begin to see the role that God has played in our life and choose to actively acknowledge it; absolute... because nothing else matters as much as God and God's will do! 

We are called to conversion... may not be as dramatic as that of St. Paul's, as we read in the first reading today, but more demanding! Yes, we are called to daily conversion. To be aware, each day and each moment, of those things that take us away from our progress towards God. Nothing - no demonic powers, no distracting languages, no cunning serpents, no poisoning lifestyle - should lead us away from God... we are called to make an absolute choice every day, for God and for God's Word. Not merely in words but by my very life, I am obliged to proclaim God's message. "Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel," reminds me St.Paul (1 Cor 9:16). 

Notice the very first question that Paul asks the Lord after he recognises it was the Lord: What am I to do Lord? That is a relevant question for each of us to ask every day: What am I to do Lord, to turn to you and to make an absolute choice for you!

Faithfulness and Fruitfulness

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

January 24, 2024: Celebrating St. Francis de Sales
2 Samuel 7: 4-17; Mark 4: 1-20

As the oft-repeated quote of Blessed Mother Teresa goes, 'we are not called to be successful, but to be faithful!' It can well be paraphrased in terms of today's readings: we are called to be faithful and it is God's part to make us fruitful. 

The Lord makes David understand that all the glory that he had acquired was a bountiful gift from God. The Lord does not want David to fall in the same trap as his predecessor, the trap of pride and arrogance. The Lord promises much more to David, just because he has proved himself to be a faithful servant and a loving son.

Just like the sower in the parable that Jesus narrates, David did not have much to do with his rise from a simple shepherd boy to the king that he became. All that the sower can do is, sow and faithfully take care of the sown seed as it grows. "Neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God alone, who makes things grow" (1 Cor 3:7), writes St. Paul. 

St. Francis de Sales, the Doctor of Kindness whom we celebrate today, would say: "The many troubles in your household will tend to your edification, if you strive to bear them all in gentleness, patience and kindness. Keep this ever before you, and remember constantly that God's loving eyes are upon you amid all these little worries and vexations." Faithfulness is ours and Fruitfulness is the Lord's!

Our concern should be just one: to be faithful to the Lord in everything and the Lord will reward that life with fruitfulness, in God's own goodness, because the Lord says: Forever I will maintain my love for my servant!

Obey the Lord - but why?

WORD 2day: Tuesday, Third week in Ordinary time

January 23, 2024 - 2 Samuel  6: 12-15, 17-19; Mark 3: 31-35

Doing God's will, for us is at one and the same time, a duty and a guarantee of righteousness. Duty because we are children of God and guarantee of righteousness because as human persons we are surrounded by conflicting opinions and standards. 

However, there can be varied motivations for doing God's will in life: 

It could be because, we are afraid that if we do not do God's will we might get into trouble. It is like carrying out our duties out of fear of undesirable consequences. Fear! 

Secondly, it could be because we are expected to do it; that is, doing the duty for the sake of duty. One feels he or she has been brought up and always been taught that way and it should carry on for whole life that way. Habit or Customs. Though there is an appreciable discipline involved here, it seems very robotic and therefore slavish. 

Today, David in the first reading and Jesus in the Gospel, give us a beautiful outlook on doing God's will - doing what God wants, because we love God! That's being Children of God. We have experienced the love of God to such an extent, that we cannot but do what pleases God; we cannot count the cost; we are ready to give up anything for the sake of doing the will of God. "My food is to do the will of the one who sent me!" declared Jesus with no hesitations (Jn 4:34). 

It is only when we feel that way, as children who love to obey, we become like Jesus, we become his brothers and sisters... that is, we become loving children of God, our father and mother.

To be God's own!

WORD 2day: Friday, Second week in Ordinary time

January 19, 2024 - 1 Samuel 24:3-21; Mark 3: 13-19

Jesus chose the twelve to be His apostles, to be with him and to be sent out to preach, heal and sanctify; in short, to be His! 

In the first reading we have Saul and David, both of whom God chose, to belong to God, to be God's! But we see Saul reaching a despicable state because of his continual wrong choices one over the other; and David stands tall today because of that Godly choice that he makes to respect Saul for what he was and spare his life - an act of kindness and mercy, forgiveness and love, which comes from the godliness from within. He proves to be truly, "God's".

At any point of time in our life, we become what we choose to be. We can blame it on the situation, on the persons around, on the circumstances, the way things worked out and so on and so forth, but we know it is ultimately the choice that we make within our hearts, in our minds! Be it a thought we entertain in the secret of our hearts, a word we utter to our own hearing, or a decision we make regarding something, or a judgement we pass on another person - it is our choice and we have to take responsibility for it. To me, it is that choice that will define who I am!

The Lord has chosen us, you and me - to be God's! If so, we need to show that by our choices! We cannot blame the world or the situation around and say, I cannot but choose to do this or say that. No! The choice is mine; the choice is ours! Let us strive always to be worthy of the One who has chosen us to be His, let us strive to be always God's own!

Be Calm and Behold God!

WORD 2day: Thursday, Second week in Ordinary time

January 18, 2024 - 1 Samuel 18:6-9, 19:1-7; Mark 3: 7-12

The enemy makes entry into our lives in subtle ways! One of the easiest entry points is our ego; and that is what happens to Saul, as we see today in the first reading. This was the beginning of his end. Looking for the approval of those around makes us slaves to others! 

It is not enough to write on our logos and our mottos, "In God we Trust," as we pray in the responsorial today... we need to learn to do it - truly allowing God to run our lives!

At times, human approval is one of the first enemies to doing God's holy will. Jesus knew this so well and that is why when people were in awe, admiring his healing and miracles, he withdrew to the mountains to unite with God. When the evil spirits try the same trick, affirming him that he was the Son of God, Jesus does nothing but command them to silence. I do not need your approval, he seems to say on their faces!

Jesus teaches us, to be alert regarding the evil one and related tactics! As St. Peter instructs us in his letter, "Be calm, but vigilant; your enemy, the devil is prowling round like a roaring lion, looking for someone to eat!" (1 Pet 5:8). The entry is slow and subtle... but every point of time, everything will look reasonable, and that is the way we are deceived to giving in.

Let us live every day of our life, as mere instruments of God and we will see the serenity and peace that we will enjoy. To God alone be praise, honour and adoration!

The Choice, the choice that matters

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

January 17, 2024: Remembering St. Anthony the Abbot
1 Samuel 17: 32-33,37,40-51; Mark 3:1-6

If there is one thing that all religions and philosophies agree upon, it is this: that there is a constant conflict between the good and the evil in the world! And we, we are part of this story whether we like it or not. 

From the eyes of faith, we can say, we are constantly posed with two options at any point of time: to choose something 'Godly" or to choose something 'ungodly'! Be it in our words, or our actions, or our attitudes... we become what we choose! If we choose our ego, our self-image, our selfish cravings, our prejudices or our selfish goals - we are lost forever. The giant sized philistine or the self righteous pharisees - this what they chose! Young David instead chose God: I come in the name of the Lord of hosts!

Jesus chose God too, the loving God who cares for God's children. When St. Paul acclaims, 'I can do all things in Him who strengthens me!' (Phil 4:13), it was not pride but an outlook on life, an outlook that always chose whatever was Godly. "Finally beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable,...think about these things" says Paul (Phil 4:8).

We celebrate St. Anthony the Abbot today, who inherited a huge property early in life, as his parents died, leaving him with his younger sister. But for Anthony what mattered was not the wealth, but the Word of the Lord. He sold everything and gave it to the poor and chose to become a hermit, living a life of austerity and holiness. A choice that was tremendous! 

Only these choices can prove the claim, that 'God is our rock, our fortress, our stronghold, our deliverer, our shield in whom we take refuge'.

God of history is with us!

WORD 2day: Tuesday, Second week in Ordinary time 

January 16, 2024: 1 Samuel 16: 1-13; Mark 2: 23-28

God's choice of David is a typical indication of a fact that is repeatedly accentuated in the Old Testament - that God is the Lord of history! 

When the people of Israel were adamant of having a king of their own, they soon learnt how mistaken they were, with their experience of Saul. But God knew how to write straight through those crooked lines, and God alone knew. He chose a little shepherd boy and raised him to be God's beloved king and in his lineage brought the Saviour into the world. 

God broke conventions, the way the world saw things, the way the world judged things, the way the world prioritised values. God proved that, God is always beyond all laws and conventions, and that God was the real Lord of the world and its history!

Jesus, the Son of God, had to do the same to prove to those around him that there was something new happening in history... that God has visited them! Being prisoners of our own conventions and petty rules and regulations, and our prejudiced ideas and prefixed thinking, let us not miss the Lord who is present with us, every day and every moment, sharing every ordinary moment of our life - because, God, the Lord of history, is with us!

True Love and Authentic Relationships

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

January 15, 2024: 1 Samuel 15: 16-23; Mark 2: 18-22

The Word today presents to us a few binaries... obedience - sacrifice; new wine - old wine; new wine skin - old skin. The message that is offered is clear: we have choices to make and each of those choices has its own consequences! 

New wine is not better than the old wine (ofcourse, those who are familiar with wine will know it better) but the new wine is "new" and it needs a new skin that can hold it. If not, the nature of the new wine will pierce through the skin and spill out... wasting itself and tearing the skin.

Christ's teaching invites us to a new outlook on the world, on relationships, on God, on faith, on our daily life and commitment - an outlook that is integral, holistic and complete. That which makes it complete is LOVE - love for God and love for one's brothers and sisters!

Ritualism and Legalism are decisively transcended by an understanding of our Christian life in terms of love and relationship! It is not in keeping thousand and one laws that we are truly regarded "Christian"; it is not in the numerous practices of rigour and asceticism that we become true Christians... but it is in Love. When I love, I am from God, for God is love! When there is no love in me, I am far from God and I am far from being a Christian.

Hence, what really matters is not who is more ascetic or who is more observant with religious rules, but who is truly loving, loving from the depth of one's being! What really matters is love and relationship, true love and authentic relationships!

The History of the People of God - 6. The Lord in Search

WORD 2day: Saturday, First week in Ordinary time

January 13, 2024 - 1 Samuel 9:1-4,17-19,10:1; Mark 2:13-17

The Word presents to us today two persons - one, who went in search of the donkeys and the other, who went in search of the sinners... both for the sake of their fathers' wish! Though the comparison is strange, the fact is that both are kings... one, the first king of Israel and the latter, the eternal King of heaven and earth.

We may consider ourselves worthless and as dumb as donkeys, but the truth is that the Lord is in search of us. Many a times we speak of a humanity that is in search of God, but how much more true it is to think of the Lord who is in search of each of us. That is the experience of the people of God, the people whom the Lord has chosen as His own and made the children of God. The call for us here, is to open ourselves up to the Lord; invite the King into our hearts; and the King shall reign forever in our lives and through us, reach out to many more who are lost and are searching for themselves!

I do realise that I have been too allegorical here, but the message is simple and straight: to be forever open to the Lord, in a sense of daily conversion and repentance, ever growing into worthier children of God, better people of God. At times, we may not be understood by all, just as Jesus found himself misunderstood, misinterpreted and misjudged. Should that matter to us, as a chosen people of God. 

The challenge is to go ahead and remain with the Father's will. The King has searched us out and chosen us as His own - should we not believe in it? Let us never take off our minds, the Lord who is constantly in search of us. 

The History of the People of God - 5. Freedom in Submission

WORD 2day: Friday, First week in Ordinary time

January 12, 2024 -  1 Samuel 8: 4-7, 10-12; Mark 2: 1-12

It has been a hitoric human tendency to look for something or someone, to which or to whom, one can submit oneself. Whether by force or by choice, a form of legitimate dependence or extraordinary obsession, habit of blaming someone or positively seeking someone's counsel... persons constantly look to submit themselves to someone or something!

The point to be noted here is this: whatever be the form of submission, and whatever be its reason, it makes us dependent or subservient. The first reading reminds us of this human tendency, but before we judge the people of Israel of those historical times, let us understand how we ourselves fall into the same category! The only submission that gives us a sense of freedom and a sense of self-worth is the submission to God's authority - because God dwells in us and a submission to God, as God's children, is a reinforcement of our dignity, our self-worth and the sovereignty that God has placed within us, as human persons. This is what Jesus demonstrates in his encounter with the paralysed man.

Jesus reminds us that we are children of God and we have an inbuilt authority within us, the authority that is given by God. As long as we are true to our innermost self, we can enjoy that authority and it will be seen by people. The moment we begin to compromise, even a little, we become diffident of that authority and begin to look for it elsewhere. This is the state of sin that we experience.

Let us realise that God has the ultimate authority and has invested within us that authority as legitimate children of God, as people of God. Mindful of this, when we are truthful, righteous and selfless, submitting ourselves only to God and God's will, we experience the greatest of all freedom: the freedom of the children of God, the freedom in Submission as people of God.

The History of the People of God - 4. The Moments of Fall

WORD 2day: Thursday, First week in Ordinary time

January 11, 2024 - 1 Samuel 3:1-10; Mark 1: 29-39

An essential part of any people's history is their moments of fall and failure, their limitations and defeat; people of God are no exceptions to it. There is truly nothing wrong in a fall, an occasional failure as long as the person (or the community of persons) realises it as such; recognises the causes of it; and finds ways and means of growing out of it. This is the spirituality of the people of God. 

The danger is when a person is fallen and does not realise that he or she is fallen; when a society has so many flaws but does not recognise them as flaws but has grown so callous of it. That danger is more treacherous when it is a community of faith, and the community does it in the name of the Lord! It would be a folly of highest degree if a community does all that it wants and says to itself - we are a people of God and God will always be with us whatever we may do! It is true that the Lord will be with us - not as someone who justifies what we do and supports us in our sinfulness, but as someone who would convict us and correct us towards a more authentic living. This is what we see in the first reading today, an example of a fall and the lesson from it. 

What is the corrective? The Gospel presents us the right attitude, the corrective to the problem presented. It lies in the formula we hear: "if you wish to...". Surrendering our lives and life-choices to the Holy will of God, striving to discern the mind of God and resolving to live according to the promptings of the Lord - that alone can purify us, cleanse us, cure us, heal us, make us whole. 

The Lord is ever ready and willing to redeem us, because of God's love, but it depends on us to recognise our need to be helped, our need to be cured and turn to the Lord saying, "if you wish to, you can cure me!"

The History of the People of God - 3. Listening and Obeying Faith

WORD 2day: Wednesday, First week in Ordinary time

January 10, 2024 - 1 Samuel 3:1-10,19-20; Mark 1: 29-39

In the history of the people of God, one characteristic that sets the people apart as belonging to God is their capacity to listen to the Lord and obey the Lord's commands. That is what generates them, or regenerates them, raising them up to the status of the people of God, from a state that is common to all human persons. 

Today we come across in the Word, the popular episode which has given rise to the most typical phraseology in spiritual growth - "speak Lord, Thy servant is listening!" As we already pointed out, that attitude is outlined as the basic disposition of the people of God. Eli instructs the little boy Samuel in this act of self disposition to the promptings of the Lord - it comes across to us as a symbolic event that presents to us a people, who were learning to be, and growing up to own the identity of, the people of God. 

Jesus in the Gospel, brings to our attention an important and indispensable implication of this basic disposition that we reflected upon. Just listening is not enough; people of God obey! People of God are those who obey what the Lord wants of them. For Jesus this is was an absolute in life - he would indeed repeat often that only those who listen to the words of the Lord and put them into practice can be called the children of God and only they are eligible to enter the portals of the Reign. He did not only preach this, he lived it for the community to see. He prayed all night and in the morning set about living what he heard or listened from the Lord - "because that is why I came," he affirmed. 

Listening to the Lord and Obeying the voice of the Lord - is a fundamental experience and characteristic trait that makes us people of God. Are we on our way?

The History of the People of God - 2. From God's Hands

WORD 2day: Tuesday, First week in Ordinary time

January 9, 2024 - 1 Samuel 1:9-20; Mark 1: 21-28

In the "ordinary" history of the people of God, there is one remarkable experience that cannot be missed - the experience of the providence of God - a God who provides, not just some things that we need, but every element that will make our life meaningful. Today we see in the first reading Hannah praying for the grace of a child and she receives it. The lesson that is given for us, follows that moment: when Hannah recognises that moment of grace, she acknowledges that she received that child from God's hands -"Samuel, for I asked God for him!"

In the Gospel we find a group of people who were wondering at what Jesus was saying and doing, the meaningful and powerful words, and the unbelievable things he was doing. They were astonished at the authority that Jesus was manifesting - certainly they knew what Jesus knew, that the authority came from above. They were not ready to acknowledge that - those were from God's hands.

Jesus lived his life and call to the full and there were manifestations of the authority that God had invested in him... he imparts us a simple and clear teaching: when we live our lives to the full and go all out to do what God wants us to do, what we need, we shall receive at the right time, from God's hands. That was the experience of the people of Israel, and that shall always be the experience of the people of God. But we need to grow in that identity and experience, ready to recognise and acknowledge all that we receive, from God's hands. 

The History of the People of God - 1.Time of Need

WORD 2day: Monday, First week in Ordinary time

January 8, 2024 - 1 Samuel 1: 1-8; Mark 1: 14-20

After a long while, we return to Ordinary time of the year! And Ordinary time of the liturgical year can be of great value - as it has its own share of faith formation to offer us. It is important not to lose that programme of formation that the daily Word holds out to us. This week we begin to read from the first book of Samuel and the week would take us through the ordinary history of the people of God. We call it ordinary history because it happens ordinarily to every one; we call it history of the people of God, because this kind of an understanding is in the light of faith, in the light that God sheds on our life and its events. 

The history of the people of God begins with their time of need - the people feel they are in need, they are anguished, that they are helpless. The excellent example given to us is Hannah, the to-be mother of Samuel the great prophet. But here, she is an old mother and called sterile and taunted by her rivals. This is not merely the story of Hannah, but of the people of God who believe in God but live in slavery, while so many other nations around them lived in their power. It could be any of us, who is in need, who is in trouble, who is helpless as to where to turn to for solutions to one's problems. 

Where does the solution lie: in the promises of the Lord. The Lord comes with the eternal promises and that could be the only hope for the people of God. The time is at hand, the Reign of God is near - Jesus announces today! The Reign of God is the fullness of God's will. Our confusions and troubles, our needs and anxieties, can be turned to joy and fulfillment when the Lord steps in. When we admit that and allow that to happen, we become people of God and we begin the grand history as People of God. 

Water, Blood and Spirit

WORD 2day: Saturday before Epiphany 

January 6, 2024 - 1 John 5: 5-13; Mark 1: 6-11

The Liturgy today prepares us towards two beautiful events we are moving towards...the epiphany and specially, the Baptism of the Lord. The reflection begins with the sanctifying elements of Baptism. First, the waters of baptism that cleanse, as Jesus cleanses the person with leprosy in the Gospel. Secondly, the Blood of Jesus shed on the Cross once and for all, which saves us from eternal damnation and promises us eternal life. Thirdly, the Spirit of the Lord that is given to us, poured into our hearts as a seal of God's love for us, that which makes us children of God! 

We have these three veins of faith that connect us to the Father through Jesus - the waters of baptism that gives us new life in Christ, the Blood of Christ that bring eternal life in Christ and the Spirit who makes it possible for us to receive these gifts from the Lord - these are the guarantees of our relationship with Christ. 

Water stands for purity, blood stands for vitality and the Spirit stands for our relatedness in the Father through the Son. Water makes us children of God, Blood makes us witnesses of Christ and the Spirit makes us heirs to the Father.

The manifestation of Jesus at Epiphany, gets completed in the event of baptism we shall be celebrating the following day, reminding us of the baptism that we share in! We have the Son, always for us and with us, and so we have the eternal life that God promises in and through the Son. The Lord has made us His own, at baptism, in the cleansing water, in the saving blood and in the sanctifying Spirit and we joyfully belong to the Lord! Let us prepare ourselves joyfully towards these great celebrations of our faith. 

The Interior Castle

WORD 2day: Friday before Epiphany

January 5, 2024 - 1 John 3: 11-21; John 1: 43-51

Reflecting on the Word today, we can readily be reminded of the famous title written by St. Teresa of Avila: the Interior Castle. That reminds us of the fact, that our life of faith actually is a life lived at the interior castle of our beings! That is why we are required to invite people to 'come and see', as does Philip today. This is in continuation with the reflection we had yesterday, where Jesus invited the disciples to 'come and see' and challenged them to invite others! Andrew yesterday and Philip today, took up that challenge and invited others! 

We cannot share our spiritual experience with others, merely with words and proofs! Words, or even deeds, speak much less than what our personal interior lives can speak. What we are called to dare is, to invite others to come and see our life, our innermost life. When our interior life is orderly, when our conscience is at peace, when our inner sanctuary is maintained with holiness and purity, our entire life can become a testimony to others: we can without fear say, "Come and See" my interior castle! 

The interior castle is where my Lord lives. Yes, the secret about the interior castle is practically, integrity; the presence of the Lord, enshrining the Lord firmly in my innermost sactuary of life, so firmly that from that centre my life is guided, directed and oriented - nothing happens without that centre of my being, the Being at the centre of everything.

The call is that we dare to build this interior castle, little by little, furnish it with care to the extent that we can dare to invite the world around and let them see the Lord dwelling there: come and see!

They went, they saw, they stayed...

WORD 2day: Thursday before Ephiphany

January 4, 2024 - 1 John 3: 7-10; John 1: 35-42

Jesus invites us today to come and see... just as one of the favourite psalms of all times invites: 'taste and see, that the Lord is good' (Ps 34:8). Added to the element of personal experience of the Lord, that we spoke about yesterday, this invitation to come and see, refers at one and the same time, to a call and to a choice! Jesus calls us: COME; it is our choice: TO SEE. 

Jesus' call to come, is an everstanding call that is there from God, through the ages, in and through persons and events, and finally in the person of Jesus himself. The call to come is an offer of God's loving hands that we may hold on to it and keep walking our way in life. And it is here that our part becomes crucial.

To see, is a choice. To see the Lord leading us everyday, to see the Lord directing us on our way; to see the Lord acting on our behalf and to cooperate with the Lord's will in every way... that is the choice we have to make! It is a radical choice - a choice of black or white, light or night... there can be no compromise with the Lord - it's righteousness or sin; ultimately, an yes or a no to God! 

If we choose God, we choose righteousness; if we do not choose God we choose sinfulness. Of course there are moments of temptations and weaknesses, but the choice is fundamental. It defines my daily life, every word I say, every decision I take and every move I make. 

There is something special about the two disciples whom we see in the Gospel today - Andrew and his companion. Jesus invited them to come and see, they did not stop with seeing; they came, saw and they stayed; not just that, they went back and announced to the others what they have seen! 

We have come to the Lord; we have seen the marvels of the Lord; now the question is, how ready are we to STAY forever with the Lord, making of our life an announcement of the goodness of the Lord!

The Name - our identity and call

THE WORD AND THE FEAST 

January 3, 2024: The Most Holy Name of Jesus
1 John 2:29 - 3:6; John 1: 29-34

"There is no other name under heaven...by which we must be saved," says Acts of the Apostles (4:12). Names, in the Biblical tradition, are not merely nominative, they are descriptive and definitive! Abraham, Moses, were names that redefined the history of the person; Gabriel, Raphael, Michael, are names that define the very role of the angels who bear them; John was given the name even before he was conceived, just like JESUS the Saviour, Emmanuel the God-with-us! Although this feast of the Holy Name of Jesus is a long standing tradition, it has not sustained its fervour down the centuries. We need to rediscover the importance and significance of this feast in our faith expression.

The true purpose of Incarnation was not to demonstrate the grandeur and the omnipotence of God, but the closeness of God with those whom God loved. Emmanuel, is the title that explains best the love that God has for us...For God so loved the world, that God gave up everything even God's own Son; and the Son of God gave up even his Godhead and came to be one among us! The Word became flesh and dwells among us. 

The Word today, brings to us another indispensable dimension of this name - the name that is imposed on us, through the greatest name of all - the name and identity as "Christ-ians". We see that the Holy Spirit, in the form of the dove testified on behalf of Jesus that he was the Son of God. We are made the children of God and the same Spirit waits to testify for us. We would be identified as children of God if and only if we resemble God, says John in the first reading today. 

Resembling God, would mean being loving, beyond all petty differences and being generous, beyond all calculations. Resembling God would mean remaining with the Lord - in every thought, word and deed. Resembling God would mean knowing the name imposed on us and its significance, and realising our call and daring to embark on that journey, of growing every day in our resemblance to our maker. 

Encountering Christ

WORD 2day: Tuesday, before Epiphany

January 2, 2024 - 1 John 2: 22-28; John 1:19-28

The identity of Jesus, as both God  and Human, was a major issue of controversies in the early Church. The first reading we have today is an indication to such feuds that they existed. What matters finally, as John so rightly points out there, is not the philosophical and theological justification of who Jesus is; but the personal experience of the person of Christ - live in Christ, .

John the Baptist foretold the coming of Christ and pointed out when Christ really came. His prophetic gift gave him the privilege of understanding Jesus and identifying Jesus when he came. Today we would do well to pray for this grace... to identify Jesus when he comes so that the encounter may enrich our life and bring meaning to it. 

In varied ways, and specially in our neighbours, our brothers and sisters, and more specifically in those who are in dire need and helplessness, we are challenged to encounter Christ who is God, but who had deigned to assume or nature and live in the poor and the oppressed! Certainly if we cannot find in Jesus a person, a man who lived human and experienced all that he did, we cannot see the Lord in the persons who are around us. We would be missing a major half of what Christ really wanted to reveal to us. 

This week running up towards the great celebration of the revelation of God in Christ, we are invited to understand and appreciate the depth of God's revelation on a daily basis - let us remain open to the Spirit and strive to understand the real meaning of incarnation and its lessons for our daily life. Today, let us prepare ourselves to encounter Christ wherever we are.

A PROMISING 2024

God's promise: blessing, grace and peace!

January 1, 2024: New Year, Mary Mother of God, and World day of Peace

Numbers 6: 22-27; Galatians 4: 4-7; Luke 2: 16-21

We are in the midst of a triple festivity today: the birth of a brand new year 2024, the person of Mary - Mother of God and the 57th World day of Peace in the Universal Church! On this auspicious day, we have a loving promise from the Lord - again a triple promise: Blessing, Grace and Peace, as the formula in the first reading from the book of Numbers teaches us. 

BLESSING: 

The Lord promises first of all, Blessings. How do we understand blessing? The antonym is a curse, that is wishing the destruction of someone. Blessing therefore is wishing that something good happens to the other. 

The Lord's Holy Will is that we receive, and experience all that is good. Sometimes we may think that the Lord fails to send anything good our way. Blessings abound when the waiting is long. Permit me to share with you a funny forward that I enjoyed some time ago circulating on a social network: it was about a dog and an elephant which got pregnant together. In 60 days the dog delivered some ten puppies! It got pregnant again and delivered another 10 in after 60 days... then again... in fact, after half a dozen such cycles, the dog happened to meet the elephant. The elephant was still go around with the first baby in gestation (we know the elephants' gestation period is close to 600 days). The dog laughed at the elephant and asked, "did you check if you are really pregnant? I have already given birth to some sixty kids. Look at you!" The elephant with a solemn smile said, "but just imagine, when I deliver my kid, he would draw everyone's attention. When he crosses the road, everyone will stop in awe. When he stops and turns around humans would run for their life." 

The longer the wait, the greater the blessing! The Lord has great things in store for us. Let us never get impatient and frustrated. Even amidst the toughest darkness, we need to keep our eyes fixed on the Lord and wait on the Lord with faith! The Lord promises blessing and they will surely come our way! 

GRACE: 

The second promise is Grace. What greater witness than the Mother of God, Mary who was called 'full of grace'. Understanding grace is another task we have today. What is grace? -Is grace a thing? an intention answered? a healing?... At times, we give into the misunderstanding of speaking about more graces and less graces, as if we count or weigh graces on scales. 

Let us remind ourselves today, Grace is fundamentally the presence of God with us, the relationship that God establishes with us, the way that God enters our ordinary lives! That is why Mary was full of Grace: she bore the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, the Word made flesh, God made human in her womb. Mother of God, is what God made her! Theotokos - the bearer of God. In the fullness of time, God sent God's only son, born of a woman, declares St. Paul in the second reading. Why should God send God's Son? It is the way that God fulfilled God's own desire of being with the people of God, the children of God. I will be with you. I will never leave you; I will never forsake you, nor forget you, my people! Isn't that the promise that the Lord has given always?

The presence of God surrounds us, as much as we wish to have it. That presence never forces itself on us, nor does it choose to abandon us - the choice is ours. We choose it when we wish to remain with God, with the values that God proposes, with the ways that the Spirit of the Lord teaches us. That is grace, the state of grace, the grace-filled life. The Blessed Mother of God, teaches us as the bearer of God, the secret of remaining in grace, that is to bear Christ within us, to bear God all the time in our hearts and spirits. 

PEACE: 

The third promise is Peace. Celebrating as a Church the 57th World Day of Peace, Pope Francis invites us to reflect a bit on the theme - Artificial Intelligence and Peace. We are well aware that the Artificial Intelligence today is synonymous of the current progress in the scientific world, but is everyone equally sensitive about all its impact on the world today? 

The year that has just past, has been treacherous in many ways, adding to the case of world war being fought in piecemeal, all over the world, with over 50 nations involved in some form of war or weaponed activity! Along with this the reckless rapidity with which the advancement of artifical intelligence is taken forward, is alarming to humanity and to the entire universe or the cosmic home. Apart from the varied concerns it causes, namely the threat to democracies, to the autonomy and dignity of human persons, and to the ethical balance of the world, there is a need that "the rapid development of forms of artifical intelligence will not increase cases of inequality and injustice all too present in today's world, but will help put an end to wars and conflicts, and alleviate many forms of suffering that afflect our human family."

The Prince of Peace is with us - the Son of God who has come into the world, pleading us to love, embrace and grow together towards fullness of life - only peace can make that happen. And it is the Lord alone, who can give us that peace!

Blessing, Grace and Peace - that is what the Lord is promising us in 2024. Let us claim that promise for ourselves, for our families, for our communities and for the entire world.

The Lord BLESS you and keep you;
The Lord make his face shine upon you and be GRACIOUS to you;
The Lord lift his countenance upon you and give you PEACE!
Amen.