A Tough Call

WORD 2day: Monday, 13th week in Ordinary time

July 01, 2024 - Amos 2: 6-10, 13-16; Matthew 8: 18-22

Following the Lord is not an easy task, it is indeed a tough call. Amos explains today how an unjust life and a godly life cannot go together, how a maltreatment of a brother or a sister and the worship of the Lord cannot be reconciled with each other, how selfishness and true spirituality are opposed to each other.

Amos will continue to challenge us this whole week. Amos, as we know, is called the roaring lion, the Lord's voice that convicts us, the goodness of God that challenges us to be just, good and truly holy. Jesus, in the Gospel, takes the words of Amos ahead and points to how difficult it is to be true disciples to a demanding master like the Lord himself! Yes, that is the fact! 

The Lord demands nothing less than an absolute commitment or surrender to the Lord. It is all about Integrity, a state where what I think and what I express are one and the same, what I preach and what I struggle to practice are not opposed to each other; what I do and what I am, flow from the fact that I belong to God always and everywhere! 

Being with God, belonging to God, and taking God forward to every corner of the earth, is indeed a tough call... but there is no other way to prove myself worthy of the One who has called me! And it begins from my daily thoughts and daily choices, let us take our daily life to heart.

LIFE, ME & GOD

June 30, 2024 - 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Wisdom 1:13-15, 2:23-24; 2 Corinthians 8:7,9,13-15; Mark 5: 21-43

Life is a precious Gift from God. The first link that we have with God as someone outside of us,is the the link that we have from the fact that it is God who has given us life. Can we think of what is life? What constitutes life? Can we create life... yes, we can multiply, clone or enhance life, but creating it from nowhere, from nothing... Can we?

GOD OF LIFE

God is the author of life and the God we have is God of life, not God of death, says the book of Wisdom as we read today. Anything that enhances life and promotes it, comes from God. Anything that militates against life, in whatever way, it is contrary to God. The World today is being filled with forces that threaten life: unbalanced development, inhuman godliness, inauthentic means to living, unfettered exploitation of the other, disoriented conception of oneself... these are all principles in today's world that go against life. Abortions, Suicides and Genocides are dubbed as assertion of rights!

LIFE OF GOD

The life that we have is the life of God, reminds us St. Paul in the readings today. God has given us life, not only that, God has given his own life that we may live! It is like that twin child who as told by the parents, your brother is dying and we need that you give him blood that he may live on! And the child after much frightful moments, said 'yes'. And once that blood was given to the ailing brother, the twin turned to the parents and asked: 'okay, now that I have given it, when will I die?' Giving blood that child thought, was to die and give life to the sick brother! God did exactly the same. The Son of God gave us his life to redeem us. The life we have is the life of God. We are living a life that is lent to us. We have brought in death into the world and into our own lives, by our faulty choices and warped priorities; but God has given us life so that we may live on in spite of our iniquities. Our life has been leased to us!

LIFE IN GOD

Whether we touch God or God touches us, God gives us life, a renewed life, a holistic life, a life that is abundant. I have come that you may have life, life in all its fullness - declared Our Blessed Lord. Reaching out to the Lord, or the Lord reaching out to us, we receive a new lease of life! All our brokenness, our sinfulness, our sicknesses, our infirmities, our inner conflicts... everything will be whisked away with that one glimpse from the eyes of the Lord. All that we need to do, is surrender into the hands of God and receive life from God's hands. At times we think or act as if 'my life belongs to me'! And in that vision of life, I will have added nothing but pain and meaninglessness to my life, which will show up at a moment when it would seem a point of no return. And then would follow depression, desperation and desolation. But if from the very moment that I realise, if I would begin to live my life, as a life lived in God, I would save myself a life that is so meaningful and wholesome.

The God of life has given me the very life of God, and all I need to do is resolve to live my life IN GOD.

FEAST OF STS. PETER AND PAUL

June 29, 2024: Some Traditional Trivia... interesting to know

#1. Originally this feast was called the Martyrdom of Apostles Peter and Paul - the date corresponding to either the date of one of the apostles or to the date when the relics of the apostles where translocated to the place where they are at present.

#2. Peter was crucified, crucified upside down on his request, because he thought he was not worthy enough to die in the same way as his Master and Lord Jesus did. 

#3. Paul was beheaded. There is a Church that stands today built on the spot where Paul was believed to have been beheaded, in the immediate outskirts of Rome, traditionally known as "outside the walls of ancient Rome". 

#4. There are just three Basilicas in the world, built on the tomb of the Apostles...

       i. St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican
       ii. St. James's Basilica, Campostella, Spain
       iii. St. Thomas' Basilica, Mylapore, Chennai, India

#5. Peter's Square at the Vatican, leading to St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, has the statues of Peter and Paul adorning the square, one at the right and one at the left, as we overlook the Basilica... as traditionally, Peter holds the keys, and Paul holds a sword!

#6. This day, celebrated as Pope's day, is a day to commemorate the governing role that Peter passes on to the Holy Father, and the teaching role that Paul brings to the Holy See, as an apostolic tradition!

LET US THANK GOD FOR, ADMIRE AND IMITATE...
ST. PETER, IN HIS INTUITIVE FAITH AND INTIMATE FRIENDSHIP WITH CHRIST;
ST. PAUL, IN HIS TOTAL DEDICATION TO THE GOSPEL AND SELF-CONSUMING LOVE FOR CHRIST!

Peter to the right of the Square

Paul on the left corner of the square

The Lord wishes to make us whole!

WORD 2day: Friday, 12th week in Ordinary time

June 28, 2024 - 2 Kings 25: 1-12; Matthew 8: 1-4

The first reading today is an anticlimax... everything seems finished, everything seems done and dusted, all that has been seems useless at a point in life. This is what we call the breaking point. Each one reaches that in life, at some moment or the other. How one deals with it, depends much on what one has done the rest of the time in life - that is, how one has prepared onself for varied experiences of this kind, in life.

Talk of depression, stress and anxiety disorders are more these days - not because the situation all around has gotten worse than what it has always been. It is because we have become less prepared for all that life can offer us in time. We are prepared for good times and for jubilations, but for trying moments and tribulations? Are we not seeing that from the way people panic when crises of the sort we are facing today world over, comes our way?

When the man asks Jesus to cure him, if he wishes to, Jesus says, "of course, I wish to!" That is what the Lord tells us today: of course, I wish to be with you, strengthen you and help you out at times of trials and difficulties - but what can I do, you have accustomed yourself to doing things by yourself, to taking things under your own control, deciding things on your own and working on things on merely your own terms! I don't seem to have a place in your life!

Of course, the Lord wants to, but are we willing to go into the presence of the Lord and surrender ourselves, and say, "if you wish to...do what you wish with me!"

Divine Design and Doing God's Will

WORD 2day: Thursday, 12th week in Ordinary time

June 27, 2024 - 2 Kings 24: 8-17; Matthew 7: 21-29

Prophecies, prodigies, spectacles or splendid preaching... nothing can replace doing what God really wants of me. The fundamental attitude required of me any time, is the clarity that it is not my enterprise, but God's Will that will finally work and that it alone will give me a sense of true meaning and satisfaction.

The first reading presents to us an experience that is called the Watershed of the History of Israel... the Babylonian Exile! The people went through a tough period in their life... out of their homeland and others separated from their dear ones, the artisans and all other capable in a strange land while the rest languished in slavery in their own land with a king appointed by a foreigner. The people go back in time, analyse what had gone by and find their own reasoning and in that reasoning they have a lesson to give us: when we do not regard the will of God, when we are so occupied with our plans and projects that we forget the One who is the greatest of all Master Craftsmen, when we do not really pay attention to discerning the signs of the times that manifest God's will to us at an appointed time, we are planning our own ruin. 

We have no dearth of examples for that today: the unbalanced scientific advancements, the ecological crises, the insensitive economic growth, the rising political and social unrest... all these are candid instances of disregard of the Divine design. Accepting the primacy of God within the universe, submitting to the mystery that forms part of the Divine Design, a respectful approach to advancement with a mind of discernment and a holistic spirituality... these are the needs of the hour in today's world. 

Personally, it requires that each of us develops a personal rapport with the Lord who is the author of the Divine Design, that we may live our life listening to the Lord's Word and carryout to the details the holy and eternal will of God for each of us and for the entire humanity!

Living at the core of our beings

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 12th week in Ordinary Time

June 26, 2024: 2 Kings 22: 8-13, 23: 1-3; Matthew 7: 15-20

By the fruits will the trees be known; by our actions will we be known! 

Let your actions speak for what you believe and stand witness for what you say! That was not merely the way that Jesus taught, but it was the way Jesus lived. He had no dichotomy of words and deeds, of beliefs and expressions, or of principles and priorities. He himself was able to say, even if you dont believe in me, believe in my works (cf. Jn 10:38). This was possible because Jesus lived his life from the core of his being. In the core of his being he knew how he and the Father were united in their vision and their mission. Hence, living from that core of his being he was able to live a life that was absolutely divine amidst all challenges. 

The first reading has a wonderful symbolism to offer us, in this regard: we too possess what it takes to live such a life as that of Jesus! We have to go to the core of our being, unearth the image and likeness of God that we possess at the core, and bring it to the fore, proclaiming it to the world and installing it on a pedestal from where it rules our life and shines and glows for the others! 

Living our lives from the core of our being: that is the key! As St. Augustine would often say, 'an unreflected life is a wasted life'. Let us accept today the invitation to journey to the core of our being, and begin to live our life from there, bearing fruits worthy of the One who has created, called and commissioned us!

The Narrow Gate Spirituality

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 12th week in Ordinary time

June 25, 2024 - 2 Kings 19: 9-11,14-21,31-36; Matthew 7: 6,2-11

At times when we have problems that overwhelm us, in front of which we have nothing that we can actually do, we are constricted to a choice which is not actually a choice at that point, but a point of no choice! This is what we see in the first reading today. Hezekiah appeals to God and surrenders himself in the Temple when he has absolutely nothing else he can do, faced with a situation so grave.

The Lord asks us, why do you wait till that crucial moment when there is no other go, when you are constricted to absolute straits, when you find yourself at a moment of no choice? Right from the beginning why don't you make the absolute choices, choices that are fundamental, choices that involve absolutely no compromise, choices that take you nowhere else but towards that point that is right! In short, why don't you choose, right from the beginning, all your life, even at the most casual moments and not merely at crucial moments, just God and God alone!

The world would say, a bit of compromise is no issue! And that 'bit' is what will determine everything finally. Giving in that 'bit' will enlarge the room gradually until the space makes our life so comfortable and cozy, enjoyable and easy! But it will also let so many other things right into our lives, making it vulnerable and weak, even without our notice! When crisis arises as a result of it, we might be caught unaware and cry inconsolably, finding fault with God and every thing that is godly in our life.

The best solution: switch to the Narrow Gate Spirituality - don't ask yourself at any moment of choice which is easier, which is more convenient, which is more common, which is the way the whole world goes about. Ask just one question: what is that one thing that God wants of me, just one thing, just one choice, just that narrow gate that exists, through which you would have to squeeze yourself... only a few will find it and fewer will choose it.

We are not here by chance!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

June 24, 2024: Birthday of St. John the Baptist

The Gospels narrate a long list of similarities between the stories of John and Jesus... 

    the apparently 'impossible' conditions in which the mothers conceived, 

    the direct intervention of God in the conception, 

    the apparitions of the angels to the fathers, 

    the prior choice of the name of the child to be born 

    - one simple message is the image of John the Baptist as the precursor of Jesus. But the birth narratives of John and Jesus, together have another important message to reveal to us and that is, we are not here by chance! 

We are part of a complex plan, an eternal design of God. We are willed into existence by God; we are loved into existence, by the Creator! We have a purpose, because God knew us right when we were being formed in the womb of our mothers! We have a special mission because, it is the Lord who has called us by name, even before we were born! We are chosen in the eyes of God, because as St. Paul says, God has chosen us before the foundations of the world in Christ Jesus, to be holy and blameless! 

We are created, called, commissioned and destined to usher in the Reign of God, as John announced the coming of Christ. Let us become aware of our call, our purpose and our destiny, which is much larger than the petty preoccupations of our daily worries!

MISSING GOD

WHO IS RIGHT BESIDE

Pride, Pretence and Preoccupation

June 23, 2024: 12th Sunday in Ordinary time

June 23, 2024: Job 38: 1, 8-11; 2 Corinthians 5: 14-17; Mark 4: 35-41

 

 

In this world, which likes to call itself the Postmodern world, by now it is out of fashion to speak about God. It is either considered an outdated or a conservative practice to refer to God or regarded as a disrespect to humanity to refer to God on any ongoing humanistic issues. To deny God has become an elite and an intellectual habit that a person or a society can grow into. People have no problem in denying the presence of God, or to say the least, they take pride, a philosophical feeling of ascendency, in expressing an agnostic indifference towards God. And some go to the extent of vehemently getting rid of any sign or symbol to do with God from the public sphere! Some make it a fad to speak of “the Universe being so good to them” and “the cosmos coming to their aid” not wishing to name the real source: God, because they wish to be decent and “cultured”! They want a world where God has no place! It could be dissatisfaction or misunderstanding or a circumstantial resentment that has led them to this point of view – but the question that stands out is: is it so difficult to find God? What is that which makes persons not see God who in fact is present right beside us?

First of the reasons could be Pride; a pride which amounts to a conviction that I know everything, that I am capable of anything, that I am the most the important of all who exist in a particular situation, that I am the centre of the entire universe. It is indeed a foolishness that constructs for itself a universe that is so small, that has such a limited understanding of what it means, “everything”! Certainly, there is no denying about the heights that human mind has scaled in these centuries… the scientific and technical advancements that we have accomplished is too tremendous not to wonder at. But the truth is, it is not all, it is not everything, it is not the “universe” that God has caused. Let us just imagine we have only discovered a fraction of the entire reality that exists, if that is the case, should not true knowledge make us more humble, instead of proud?

We heard in the first reading, that part from the book of Job, where the Lord questions the haughtiness of Job, through him, the pride of humanity! How dare we to question the wisdom of the Lord, while we have done all our best to destabilise the harmony in there and create all the chaos within the creation, leading to effects so horrifying and we continue to go ahead in our ways of distortion and destruction! This is the pride of humanity that has ruined every bit of tranquility and serenity possible on earth and wishes to blame it all on what it calls the “dominant arrogance of God”. Whatever goes wrong they wish to attribute to god whom they don’t wish to even name otherwise, and whatever success they wish to claim it for themselves! What a folly we live in.

The second reason that we miss acknowledging the presence of God could be our Pretence. If pride is a foolishness that says, ‘I know everything’, pretence is that foolishness that says, ‘everything is what I know’! It assumes that what I do not know, does not exist! I cannot explain this, I cannot prove this, I cannot quantify this, therefore it does not exist. This is the preposterous pretentiousness with which the world today negates the obvious. There can be no space for mystery, for the spiritual, for the awe that leads to the recognition of the Ultimate Being who is the cause of every other being and never caused or created.

The passage from the letter to the Corinthians we hear today, tells us how we need to realise that we are a new creation, that we need to overgrow the material and carnal standards that we have, and tend towards the standards that Christ has taught us, transforming us into reflections and participations in that Divine being, in whose image we have been created, the image that we carry and that we need to share with the rest of the world. Realising our real image we will find God so close to us, so intimate within us, and so part of us, that we cannot just speak of God, but we would begin to make God present wherever we are, even without being too conscious of it.

The third reason that could impede us from recognizing the Divine presence could be our Preoccupations, justly named so, they pre – occupy our minds not leaving really the space to occupy with the right things and the pertinent things of the moment. There are troubles and problems in our lives, every one of us has his or her share of them. But how is that some are able to handle them will calm, the others not? Or even better, how is that we are able to handle them better some moments, and some other moments no? If we pay keep attention we would realise, the presence of the right perspective is that which makes the difference. From which perspective we approach our challenges, would determine the way we would do it and the manner in which we would live those moments. Perspectives of proving ourselves, winning competitions, overtaking the other and dominating the situation… these would add fuel to the fire of anxiety and panic. While the divine perspectives of love, meaning, brotherhood and sisterhood, living together, making this world a better place… these would make us calm down, and be quiet, because the Lord is there around! Be still, and know that I am, the Lord assures us.

Why are you so frightened? How is it that you have no faith? … these are the questions that the Lord would like to pose to you and me, and to the world of today! Why are we so anxious, so sad, so derelict and so desolate? Why is so much of hopelessness spread around the globe today? Are we missing something very important? Aren’t we missing the Lord, the God who is so close to us, just beside us?  

My Allegiance - to whom?

WORD 2day: Saturday, 11th week in Ordinary time

June 22, 2024 - 2 Chronicles 24: 17-25; Matthew 6: 24-34

Infidelity, compromises, transgressions, forsaking and tryst with the unholy... these were characteristic traits of the so-called 'chosen people', the people with whom the Lord made the covenant: I will be your God and you shall be my people. However unfaithful and treacherous they got, the Lord ever remained faithful and true to the covenant that was made. 

Coming across passages such as we find in today's first reading, we are prone to judge the people of Israel, but let us wait! Let us take a moment to introspect before we point a finger.

Looking at our own life, the Lord has chosen us before the foundations of the world (Eph 1:4) and has made a covenant with us right at our baptism: you shall be my child and I shall be your God. And ever since, how many compromises and transgressions, how many moments of failures and negligences... the Lord however has always been faithful (cf.2 Tim 2:13). 

In the light of today's readings let us raise a fundamental question to ourselves: To whom is my allegiance in my daily concrete living? And how absolute is that allegiance? Integrity demands that only each of us can be our own judge. Analysing each and every little choice that we make and the priorities we act on, will give us a fair picture of our level of fidelity to the One who has called us... our allegiance, to whom is it? To our own egos or to the One who has called us?

The true treasure of God-perspective

WORD 2day: Friday, 11th week in Ordinary time

June 21, 2024 - 2 Kings 11: 1-4,9-18,20; Matthew 6: 19-23

Today there is a prevalent talk about persons all stressed and pressurised, about job situation, about family issues, about relationships, about choices and social expectations, and what not? Persons and societies are highly preoccupied about their wealth and properties, earning and spending, adding to their comforts and fulfilling their dreams, having all the things that they wish to have, hoarding bank balances and shares... afer all the efforts for these, we hear very often today, more often than anytime in history, people who die early and leave behind everything!

Just to look at it, from the first reading - Athalia worked her way up only to be put to the sword in an unceremonious manner! It is so sad to notice that the world today is so ready to offer our relationships, our simple joys and peaceful mind as a sacrifice at that the altar of wealth and position, only to realise that we have lost everything in the craze of hoarding things and power. By the time persons really take note of this, it is already too, too late!

It becomes so important today to mind about one's heart, not only healthwise, but also prudence wise. The more we begin to place our hearts at the right place and place within our hearts the right priorities, the more we shall become Godly. What would set us apart as true children of God is our sense of God, priority for God and never losing the treasure of God-perspective in life. 

In Spimplicty towards Greatness

WORD 2day: Thursday, 11th week in Ordinary Time

June 20, 2024 - Sirach 48: 1-14; Matthew 6: 7-15

Elijah is singled out in the book of Sirach, among the 27 great persons of God praised for their life and accomplishments. Elijah wins that place in his simplicity, in the simplicity with which he trusted in the Lord, the simplicity with which he carried out every single command or wish of the Lord, that simplicity with which he endured his hardships, knowing certainly that the Lord is in control of everything. That simplicity was his true greatness.

This is the very same simplicity that Jesus lived and taught us... the Our Father is an epitome of simplicity prescribed to us not only as a prayer, but as a way of life, as a Spirituality that comes very close to the mind of Christ. The simplicity that is referred to here, lies in the qualities of singlemindedness, absence of pretense and sincere surrender to absolute sovreignity of the Almighty. That is what the Lord's prayer teaches us: a whole philosophy or politics of life. Its greatness lies in its simplicity. 

How simple are our prayers? How simple is our faithful trust in the Lord? How simple is our relationship with God on a daily basis...that simplicty would be our guaranteed way to true greatness!

To stay clear of trivialities

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 11th week in Ordinary time

June 19, 2024 - 2 Kings 2:1, 6-14; Matthew 6: 1-6, 16-18

The only condition placed before Elisha, that he may receive a double share of the Spirit possessed by Elijah, was that Elisha should see Elijah being taken away by God. The challenge here is not to miss what is central to whatever we are involved in, being distracted with the trivialities.

The Gospel places the same condition before us. The actions that we do will have their true value depending on the fact whether the centrality of the right element was ensured. Praying, fasting and almsgiving are the three actions mentioned in the Gospel today and they together epitomise the entire religious practice of a Jew, not to forget even for us as followers of Christ. Jesus was not belittling them in any way but was putting them in the right perspective. The point is: not to miss what is central to it, in getting distracted with the trivialities of human recognition and immediate rewards.

In our relationship with ourselves, with others and with God, we are invited to pay attention to the most central of all concerns: that is, to do what is most pleasing to God at any given instant. Any other concern is only a triviality, however good or practical it could be. The spiritual prudence that Jesus teaches us today is to stay clear of the trivialities and place God at the centre and at the core. Never to miss God on our daily journey would means that we ensure that we stay always clear of trivialities in life. 

Loving all... deserving? not deserving?

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 11th week in Ordinary time

June 18, 2024 - 1 Kings 21: 17-29; Matthew 5: 43-48

We normally have a list of people who are our favourites and another list of those who do not deserve our kindliness, our compassion, our understanding or our love. We come to that conclusion after a series of experiences with them and ordinarily speaking, that conclusion would seem to everyone as just and understandable. The Lord instructs us today, to convert that list into your priority list, and start loving those in that list; start loving those who allegedly do not deserve to be loved according to your judgment.

We may hear ourselve saying, or even crying out, "Oh that is not possible?" If we do so, the Lord would immediately retort: you are no different from those who are far away from me! If we are to be known as children of God, we better start loving those, so-called undeserving persons, with genuine love from our hearts!

We have examples: let us look at the first reading today. The Lord loves Ahab... however cruel and ruthless he had been... the Lord forgives and loves. He might have been undeserving but the Lord loves! But why go so far: each of us, let us consider our own life - are we really deserving to receive all the love that God showers on us? Can we still speak about these categories of who is deserving and who not! Can we really maintain that list of those who do not deserve my love? 

If I do, will I ever deserve the love that God has for me?

An extra mile, yes; but compromise, no!

WORD 2day: Monday, 11th week in Ordinary Time

June 17, 2024 - 1 Kings 21: 1-16; Matthew 5: 38-42

Ahab seems a strange man! One would get confused whether he was a virtuous man or a villainous man when they see his profile as it appears in the book of Kings. He never seems to be doing evil, but remains still the cause and the source of a series of evil acts. He seems to have some kind of a fear of God but it finally amounts to a pseudo reverence to God, as he approves of the evil done by others and draws heavily from those. 

The Gospel today recommends us to go the extra mile for the other's sake! But can that mean doing anything to please the other? That is not what it means! There can be no compromises when it comes to certain values or certain decisions to be made in life. A true Godly person would be one who is ready for any sacrifice for the sake of the other, keeping to what the Word demands, but never ready even for the slightest compromise on what the Word teaches as values of living as a child of God. 

Ahab might not have done evil, but he had made compromises! Whoever knew it or not, he knew it and God knew it. That is the key. When we make compromises that are subtle, it does not matter who knows it or not, we know it well and the Lord knows it. Don't we need to be mindful of it? We are not here to judge the intentions of the other but let us not forget, our own intentions they are as bright as the day for the Lord and we cannot escape from them. That is what happened to Ahab - he might have given all the good image that he could about himself, but he knew that he had always the responsibility for his compromises. 

Today, when we have to go an extra mile to forgive, accept and love all those brothers and sisters of ours who have something against us, we are also challenged never to compromise on what is true, good and acceptable in the eyes of the Lord - do we possess this Christian competence? 

THE WAY OF FAITH

Surrender, Transcendence and Awe

June 16, 2024 - 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Ezekiel 17: 22-24; 2 Corinthians 5: 6-10; Mark 4: 26-34

The parable in the Gospel today is a fascinating one, specially taking into consideration the tall unrealistic claims of certain sections of humanity, who forget their limitation and vulnerability in their times of upward mobility. Life is filled with ups and downs, twists and turns, and curves and bends, that we are at times at a total loss as to how one can understand and approach issues in life. In spite of this there is no end to the haughtiness of human kind, especially on the part of certain sections of humanity which thinks, imagines and acts as if every thing is in their perfect control. Unfortunately, their attitude, their claims and the decisions that these so-called powerful sections make, affect the entire lots, particularly, the simple and weak, the voiceless and the meek. Human beings would do well to understand that so many elements in their life is actually not in their control and so many other elements that they would like to blame it on something beyond, is actually their making. The Word this Sunday, invites us to understand the right sense of this perspective of life - the human-divine relationship.

Our faith life, specially in days such as these, when we are going through tough times, comes into crisis. There are other days when we may not pay even the least attention to this aspect of our life, because we are flying on the top of the world riding the waves of the good times. The call is simple: to have a clear perspective that would guide our life consistently - whether in happiness or sadness, whether in problems or amidst prospects, whether facing failures or relishing success, we would remain balanced and in equanimity. Is it not the key to understand a truly "spiritual" person in Christ-ian terms. 

What is this right sense, according to the Word given us today:

1. A Sense of Surrender

First is a sense of Surrender that would remind us always that there is someOne beyond us who not only controls us and moves us around, but loves us and cares for us. At times the difference between an impersonalistic theism and Trinitarian faith is eclipsed and forgotten due to some of our modes of interpretation and approach. We look at God as some kind of force controlling everything and determining things before hand or taking to task those that which upsets God's plan! Instead, God is our loving parent, someOne who is walking beside us, helping us to make sense of our life at every step of it...some of those steps may be difficult, some advantageous, some challenging, some even unbearable...but we are through all these, and God is with us. The first reading reminds us of this sovereignty of God, and our need to understand that this Sovereign God is with us, helping us cope with whatever be the moment in life. It is not always easy to take it that way, but the way of faith helps us - if we develop the sense of surrender and say, Lord, you are the Sovereign, you have your way, and I follow.

2. A Sense of Transcendence

The second is a sense of Transcendence that makes me aware of the fact that I am created by God, called by God and meant for God. I belong to God and I need to have that longing to belong to God totally...it is not merely a grammar of the consecrated way of life...every Christian in fact is called, consecrated and commissioned to belong to God. The second reading from St. Paul may sound like promoting the dichotomy between body and spirit...it is not the point that the Apostle is making. The point is, our life is not merely what we have here. The body, the world, the things, the experiences, the others, the attachments, the pleasures, the likes, the dislikes, the discomforts, the problems, the difficulties, the temptations...all of these are passing. And there is just One who is eternal...and that is God. Our way of faith has to help us realise this fact more and more, it happens gradually. We grow into this sense, the sense of transcendence has to come by, as days and years and experiences go by. The way of faith helps us tell God, Lord, for you and for you alone I long, hide not your face from me and I shall transcend everything.

3. A Sense of Awe

The third sense is that of Awe that makes me remain always in wonder like a child who looks at everything with a freshness, the freshness which is not ignorance but innocence. A sense of awe helps me give God the place that truly belongs to God. God has an indispensable place in this world, in my life and in everything that exists...how prepared am I to give that space. The exaggerated claims of some - that we are in control of everything, that we can predict everything and that we can tackle everything - are being questioned and broken with a lot of experiences these days. Let us not make the mistake of making that an experience to point and finger and cruely make statements against the suffering humanity. What is important is to allow our mind and our spirit to have and to grow in a sense of awe at the presence of God with us, around us and in us. Just like that seed buried, lives on, sprouts and grows into a life form...so does our life too... it is guided by the power of God, the magnificence of God, the loving aura of God. The more we surrender to that sense of awe, we shall become that presence of awe for others, specially those who are struggling to find it for themselves in their life! The way of faith should help us see the presence of God in every thing, and in every moment of life and say, Lord, I see you and I stand in awe of you! 

Our way of faith needs to be marked by these remarkable senses - sense of surrender, sense of transcendence and sense of awe. May the Spirit help us in this way of life!

ANTHONY - THE SAINT

Thursday, June 13, 2024
Anthony of Padua - a Saint of True Grandeur!

Some interesting facts

Born: 15, August, 1195. He was actually born in Lisbon, Portugal. Though he should be called St. Anthony of Lisbon, due to the great prophetic ministry he carried out in the city of Padua in Italy, he is called St. Anthony of Padua to distinguish him from St. Anthony of Egypt, who belongs to the fourth century!

Died: 13, June, 1231. He was just 36 when he died.

Saint: He was not even 37 when he was canonised - on 30, May, 1232 by Pope Gregory IX.

His Baptismal name was Ferdinand Martins de Bulhŏes. He took the name Anthony when he became a religious.

He was elected Provincial of his region of Franciscan friars, but he resigned very shortly just to be able to carryout his preaching mission.

Patron of missing things and missing persons!

In Padua, where the Basilica stands today, he is also prayed to, by those who are looking for the right spouse to marry, or by those married couples who have problems in their marriage.

The Basilica treasures the incorrupt tongue of the saint, as a relic venerated till today, as a testimony to his gift of breaking the Word.

He was a contemporary to St. Francis of Assisi and one of the best ones at that.

A survey reports that after the Blessed Mother and St.Joseph, St. Anthony may be the most loved saint in the Catholic World today. In Italy he is known as "il Santo", which means, "the Saint," just bringing out the popularity that he enjoys!

Apart from Our Blessed Mother and St. Joseph, St. Anthony is the only other saint who is depicted with Child Jesus in his hands. The reasons are varied: one, because there was a legend that the Infant Jesus appeared to him during his prayer and meditation; another because in the 17th century a franciscan friar had a vision as such. The best of all reasons however is...
                He was so close to the Word of God, that the Word made flesh, the Son of God who was born into this world came to be with him, to be carried by him as he did all his life.

We too can hold the person of Jesus Christ in our hands, if we hold the Word close to our hearts. St. Anthony ...Pray for Us.

Holding on to the Lord

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 10th week in Ordinary time

June 12, 2024: 1 Kings 18: 20-39; Matthew 5: 17-19

Faith is, holding on. It is holding on to the Lord against all odds. Hence perseverance is the capacity to hold on for a longer time, longer than your normal patience can really hold. Amidst crises of various kinds, and specially amidst some injustice that you experience for no cause of your's, the capacity to hold on, is tested more intensely.

Today we witness some spectacular events in Elijah's lifetime. This could both be a positive lesson and a negative one at that. Positive, when we think of the greatness that God reveals right in front of the eyes of everyone. Negative, when we think of the fact that people who look for these kinds of sensational happenings to prove God, or find reasons and justifications amidst sufferings like saying 'God is angry' and 'God is displeased' and all the human absurdities attributed to God!

However, there is one formidable message that we can derive from Elijah's experience: one person's faith could save and revive the faith of an entire people... when we hold on to God, we hold our fellow persons up. So it is with us, even in our families for instance. When a person sees many in the family or all else in the family going away from God, the person's faith could prove instrumental in bring the rest of them back to God! How many today, stand testimonies to this phenomenon!

Holding on to God is not an easy thing anyway. Just because it is challenging the Lord does not go easy on that demand... he is unwaveringly stern on that call - to remain firm! It is of course, not merely calling out, "Lord! Lord!", which means to hold on to God. But it is to keep the Word of the Lord, to live by the commands of the Lord, come what may. When we do that we hold on; if not, we fall.

How prepared are we to hold on to the Lord?

A Good Man in the Spirit

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

June 11, 2024: Celebrating St. Barnabas, the Apostle
Acts 11: 21b-26, 13:1-3; Matthew 5: 1-12

Barnabas exudes some excellent traits that are essential for a Christian Apostle or a Christian leader today:

1. A Good Person: To be called 'good' in the Word of God, is a great matter of fact. Only a few in fact are given that attribute...we could count them on our fingers ...like Moses, David and so on. Barnabas joins that list!

2. A Person of the Spirit: He was filled with the Spirit and that was again another great trait of an Apostle. Barnabas, along with Paul, though he was not with Christ was accepted into the ranks of the Apostles because of the passion he had for Christ and the Good News!

3. A Person of Faith: A person who had an intimate and solid relationship with God and made it his priority in life. Antioch witnessed his attachment to the person of Christ; no wonder people who followed Christ were called for the first time 'Christ-ians', there at Antioch.

4. A Person all for God: Barnabas brought Saul into the band of Apostles and when Paul became more popular and more vociferous, that did not disturb Barnabas. There is a clear sign of an ego under perfect control. That is so essential for a Christian Leader today.

5. An Obedient Servant: Barnabas 'stayed' and 'was sent'...He just followed orders, orders from the Lord, through the needs of the times! When he had to stay, he stayed! When he was asked to go, he went! For him what mattered was, what the Lord wanted.

THE RIGHT FREQUENCY!

Finding the voice that defines my identity

June 09, 2024 - 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Genesis 3: 9-15 ; Corinthians 4:13 - 5:1; Mark 3: 20-35

When we travel in a flight, we are asked at the moment of take off and of landing to set our electronic devices to flight mode, or sleep mode. The reason is that the frequency of the radio waves that connects the pilot to the control room, can be disturbed if in case the frequency of the device intercepts that of the flight. This is called the communication interference! In our Spiritual life too, we could have this communication interference at times, an interception of unwanted frequencies that can disturb the clarity of communication. But the challenge is to find out which is the right frequency to tune in to. 

Those of us who are of the old school, still lingering on with our experience of radios at home, could easily relate to this frequency problems. In fact, I remember as youngsters, we were used to, during our entertainment programmes, an imagination of two or more frequencies that interfere and overlap causing a mess of the information communicated, thus creating fun and laughter! Seriously, it could lead to some crucial problems, if we reason out in detail. But coming back to the message of the Word today, we are called to develop the competence to know the right frequency, tune in to it, and listen to the right voice that can define our identity. 

The fact of our experience that is referred to here, is that we could hear many voices around us, each with its own frequency. It depends on us to tune in to the right frequency, to hear the right voice, because the voices that we listen to, and pay attention to, will define our very identity. There could be atleast three broad categories of these voices, as presented in the Word today.

The demonising voices

There are these voices which are demonising. That is, they highlight the evil around us - either justifying it, or threatening us with its alleged omnipotence, or trying to push us to a sense of helplessness in the face of evil that pressurises us from all directions. These voices compel us to see only the dark side of the reality that surrounds us, and makes us go to the point of hopelessness. This is what Adam and Eve felt when God was calling out for them - it was God's voice, but they did not hear God's voice - they heard the voice of the evil one and that is why they were in fear. The voice that had deceived them already, was interfering with the voice that was coming through to them now. 

The same voice was trying to overpower Jesus too - but he did not pay heed. He just turned them down. They said: Beelzebul is in him; he has the prince of devils; he is possessed! They were demonising him! These are exactly the demonising voices we hear in the world today: every thing is gone to decay; nothing can return to normal; things can go only from bad to worse - these are demonising voices. Are we going to tune in to their frequency, listen to them and find our identity there? Jesus tells us - that is blasphemous. It is against the Truth; it is against the Spirit.

The patronising voices

More perilous are the voices which are patronising, because they seem all good, but they are deadly! They are "more" dangerous because they appear to be good, but they are venomous and invariably lead to death. Just as the voice of the tempter that deceived Eve, and eventually Adam too, as if it were trying to make them more than what they were. It was leading them to death... it was leading them to eternal damnation... thanks be to the voice of God, they are brought back to the state of hope, to look forward to the salvation promised. These are 'patronising' voices, because they look like they are doing us good, but in fact they make us misunderstand, misjudge, compromise, mix up and confuse truth with half-truths which are nothing less than falsity. 

One reason Jesus could have reacted the way he did, to the relatives who had come to take him, could be because they were patronising - they were intending to care for him but they were truly giving in to the falsity that was spread about Jesus, that he was out of his mind. There will be voices around us to say - do not be too serious about your religious principles; do not exaggerate about your faithfulness to God; do not be scrupulous about faith, values and morals... aren't these the voices we hear today in abundance in the society? These are dangerous, leading to relativism, hedonism and depravity! How many priests and religious, leaders and pastors today of the flock of God, are taken astray by these voices and what a damage they cause to the identity of the people of God!

The Empowering Voice

Jesus teaches us - there is one frequency, the only frequency to tune in to: that of God. Those who do the will of God, they are my brothers, my sisters, my mother, my people! St. Paul in the second reading affirms this. There is an interesting contrast in the first reading and the second, which can give us an insight. In the first reading we hear the blaming of Adam and Eve - however the summary is: that they believed in the evil one and they had to hide themselves! In the second reading St. Paul courageously quotes the scripture saying, "I believed in God and therefore I speak." When we believe in the Lord, we can stand up and speak, we need not fear, we need not hide, we need not feel ashamed, we can lift up our heads and speak, because the grace of the Lord abounds even where, and especially where, sin wants to rule. This defines our identity! Jesus was so clear about his identity as the Son of God, that nothing of these judgements or condescensions ever affected him. 

That is the right frequency for us - the voice of God, the will of God. While we ask the Lord to listen to our cry, to listen to our voices, we are today instructed by the Lord to listen to the empowering voice of God. This voice makes us overcome the weaknesses and the trials we could be faced with. It would make us understand the importance of understanding the difference between the visible and invisible, between our inner self and the exterior manifestations, between the demonising or partronising voices and the truly empowering voice of God. Let us seek the Spirit of the Lord, that we may be schooled in this technique of tuning in to the right frequency, and listening clearly to the voice of God and not to any other deceiving voice. 

The right frequency is the empowering voice of God, and listening to it and doing what God wants alone would make us truly children of God, brothers and sisters of our Lord and Master, Jesus the Christ. 

The Memory of the heart - the Marian Spirituality

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

June 08, 2024: Celebrating the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Isaiah 61: 1-11; Luke 2: 41-51

To Remember is a Spirituality in itself! 

And in the normal parlance, when something has to be learnt to memory, it is termed - learning by heart! An interesting terminology...to remember is to keep something in the heart...not just the mind. The memory of the heart... it is a spirituality in itself, indeed. 

Mary's heart is exalted today because she remembered; she kept everything in her HEART! Abraham, Moses, and the Prophets...they all exhorted the people to remember, and presented that as the criterion to be blessed people of God. They themselves remembered; they remembered the good that the Lord had done to them, and God remembered them and blessed them without end!

Just after the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Church proposes that we remember the Immaculate Heart of Mary, because a heart that resembled the heart of Jesus.

Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart. Mary observed that heart from close, infact she had her part in forming that heart... and she herself treasured a heart that resembled that meek and humble heart of the Lord! 

She kept everything in her heart! To remember the goodness of the Lord, to remember the great things done to us by the Lord, to remember the mighty presence of the Lord ever in my heart - that is the spirituality that Our Blessed Mother teaches us today!

When I remember all the good that the Lord has done to me, the hurdles and heart aches that come to me sometimes will look much smaller. All I need to do, as the responsorial psalm instructs today, is rejoice and exult in the the goodness of the Lord, because to remember is a spirituality in itself, a marian spirituality!

CELEBRATING LOVE

Love - the Heart of Christian Faith

THE WORD AND THE FEAST
June 07, 2024 - Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Hosea 11: 1,3-4,8-9; Ephesians 3: 8-12,14-19; John 19: 31-37

The Feast of the Sacred Heart is the feast of the very heart of Christian faith, that is Love; the feast of Love, the Love that God is. The feast invites us to meditate on the love that God has for each of us, to realise how unworthy we are at the same time as we are gifted, and to make a choice to strive towards becoming bearers of the same love to everyone around us. The Word and the feast, offer us a reflection on three important dimensions of this Sacred Heart which inspire and challenge us today!

The Parent-Heart

The Sacred heart comes across to us as a parent heart, the heart of a Father who longs to hold us close, guide us by our hand, lead us on the path of righteousness, as Hosea speaks of. It is presented as the heart of a mother who longs to nuture her child and see the child grow safe and sound right in her arms. It reflects the heart of the creator who made the creature and owns every bit of it and rejoices in its life and well being.

The Parent-heart loves us every moment, however we are and whatever we are upto. As we reflect in the words of Hosea, the Lord draws close to us and longs to draw closer - depends on us to really receive that love and be filled with it. The sad fact is that majority of us reject that love - some knowingly and others unknowingly. The grades of this rejection range from an absolute disregard for the love of God which consists of speaking against God and demeaning the image of God, to an insensible choice for ungodly ways of life being taken up by the immediate pleasure and ephemeral excitement. But the Lord never rejects us - as the imagery that Jesus gives us in his famous parable, the Parent-heart awaits with arms wide open for the return of the prodigal children.

The call that we have here is to GRATITUDE... to thank the Love of God, so caring, so warm and so unassuming! To thank the Love of God shared through persons so close and so far - those who are in the family and those who are friends; those who are unknown but still do so much good and those who come by in such miraculous ways to share this love with us! All these are ways in which the Parent-heart reaches out to us and should we not be grateful for it? 

The Powerful Heart 

The Sacred heart is certainly meek and humble, but definitely not weak nor little! It is the heart that reveals the mightiness of God in its simplicity and humanness. As St. Paul indicates, all sovereignties and powers are subject to it, and they learn from this heart the comprehensive Wisdom of God, a wisdom that is planted in love and built on love - not in haughtiness and cruel arrogance. We do not possess the capacity to grasp the breadth or the length, the height or the depth of this love, a love beyond all our knowledge. 

The Powerful heart, is large and powerful, mighty and all-embracing. It is a heart that loves without measure and boundaries, loves all, everyone indeed. It knows every move that we make and every choice that we pick, and even the motives and the intentions, however hidden they might be! How powerful and awesome it is. The awesomeness does not consist merely in knowing everything, but in the fact that despite knowing it continues to love and embrace us, in genuine and sincere care! 

The call that we have here is to AWE at the immensity of this love. At times, it is so unfortunate that persons and groups are prone to presenting God as avenging, retaliating, self-protective, ego-conscious and even arrogant! Learn of me, for I am meek and humble of heart; come to me and I shall give you rest... this is the type of heart we are reflecting on today: this is the true power to be celebrated, to be awed at. It is important to unlearn the terror-instilling images of God and learn to stand in awe at the unfathomable love and the incredible mercy that God is. The power of the Sacred heart is its meekness and mercy! Should we not truly recognise and realise with awe the fullness of God that we are surrounded by, in and through this heart? 

The Pierced Heart 

The Sacred heart is the pierced heart, the heart to which we look up for grace and mercy, for forgiveness and acceptance into the life-giving embrace of God. As the Gospel points to, the Sacred heart is a giving heart, a heart that gave of itself until the last drop of blood and water. The water that flowed washes us and the blood that oozed gives us life - a washing away of the past and a promise towards a future, which is the crux of the hope that Christ our Lord promises us, as children of God. 

The Pierced heart, is broken, torn, hurt, injured, battered... all because of our insensitivities and our narcissistic tendencies. The heart bleeds due to our rejection and refusal to understand the obvious facts. The heart remains hurt by our self-centred choices and egoistic tendencies, considering ourselves the most important in the entire universe, expecting everything and everyone to serve our needs and our pleasures, and never opening our eyes to the needs of the other, even after it is brought to our notice in varieties of ways! 

The call that we have here is to develop a DETERMINATION to reach out, to go out of ourselves, to feel for the other, to understand and empathise with the other and never take the other for granted. For God so loved us, that God gave us the Son who would die to save us, to make us children of God. The pierced heart commissions us to flow out, to stop looking at ourselves and our own private lives and needs and to take the love of God to the others, to our brothers and sisters, to our friends and neighbours, to the so-called strangers and every one who stands in any need! It is this determination that will make us and our faith truly Christ-ian. It has to be seen in our choices and priorities, in our decision making and daily lives, in terms of the heart of Christain Faith - Love! 

The Sacred Heart, which is a Parent-heart, a Powerful heart and the Pierced heart, invites us to celebrate love, in our daily lives, in our personal faith and Christian community living. Let us realise that today in celebrating the Sacred Heart, we celebrate the heart of Christian faith: Love!

Faithfulness - an ever-flowing Stream!

WORD 2day: Thursday, 9th week in Ordinary Time

June 06, 2024 - 2 Timothy 2: 8-15; Mark 2: 28b -34

Even if we are unfaithful the Lord is faithful, because he cannot deny himself! 

God is faithfulness personified. Our faithfulness to the Lord is a response that we give to the faithfulness of the Lord. We love because, God loved us first. We are faithful because the Lord is faithful to us! In fact, our faithfulness is our readiness and our commitment to be faithful to the faithfulness of the Lord!

In fact on wedding days, ordination anniversaries or anniversaries of religious profession, I personally never feel comfortable sending a 'Congrats' note to people! It is not merely a moment of merit... but a moment to be grateful, grateful to the faithfulness of God. It is a sign that God has been faithful to us, in spite of all our weaknesses and unfaithfulness. It sounds more apt to wish those persons, all the best in celebrating the goodness of the Lord.

Our life is one long celebration of the faithfulness of God. Every time we fail, it is not that we are failing God but we are failing ourselves, we are losing the grace of the faithfulness of God - such a gratuitous and gracious gift that God keeps giving us. The sweetest of the news is that: that faithfulness of God will not be denied to us at any point of time. Even at the last moment of his life, the thief who was crucified beside Jesus was able to inherit paradise! 

As the responsorial psalm affirms, the faithfulness of God is a never drying stream and an ever flowing river - all that we need to do is make ourselves capable to drink of it!

Fanning into a flame, the gift of God

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 9th week in Ordinary Time

June 05, 2024 - 2 Timothy 1: 1-3,6-12; Mark 12: 18-27

There is a beautiful expression that Paul uses today, which explains the truth of Christian faith: fanning into a flame the gift of God. 

Let us just imagine the embers, which look all out and gone, but when you fan it, there arise a flurry of ashes and then a small little spark that flickers from beneath, and in no time blazes into a devouring fire! That is faith. That is Christ; that is the Risen Lord.

This is an imagery of hope, an imagery that Resurrection has left in the heart of every disciple of the Risen Lord. Everything seemed dead; the apostles and disciples and the pious women along with Mary, were still and quiet - when the flame was fanned into a blaze - the Lord arose and everything changed! 

In our life too, when there are sorrows and failures, troubles and downfalls, and every thing seems down and out, we are encouraged to remember the fire that is lurking beneath - the fire of power, love and self control; to remember that when that fire be fanned in time, it shall turn into a flame of faith which shall strengethen us with a tremendous endurance!

Those who think of nothing but failure and finding fault, judging and criticising, discouraging and demotivating, are people who "neither know God nor understand the Word." If we truly understand the Word and know God, we would rise above all petty considerations, childish bickerings, worthless competitions, lifeless relationships!

We are called constantly to be aware of the God of the living, the God of life, the God of marvelous gifts and keep fanning into a flame that gift of God, the gift of the Spirit: Our Faith!