Lord, that I may see...

WORD 2day: Saturday, 26th week in Ordinary time

October 5, 2024 - Job 42:1-3,5-6,12-17; Luke 10:17-24

Job lived on to see his children and the children of his children, upto the fourth generation, says the first reading. Happy the eyes that see what you see, exclaims Jesus in the Gospel to the disciples, indicating to them how blessed they were! The message of the Word today is: what we see is not merely what we see, but what we are given to see! 

As Job observes so clearly what he came to see (now that I have seen you with my own eyes), we are given to see certain things in life which we would never see otherwise. It is a gift we need to ask from the Lord to see - to see what we need to see, to see what would give us the true repentance of heart, to see that which will offer us the fullness of the sense of our life, to see that which will clarify to us the true vocation we have from God. 

Jesus explains it further in the Gospel. Not every one can see, but those who are destined to see, those to whom God reveals it - the children, the humble, the obedient, the gentle, the true children of God - only they would be able to see what they have to see. Not that it is not there, but the aggressive, the haughty and the self-centered will never get to see it. They would be too busy looking down on others, manipulating others for their good, take persons and their goodness for granted, all too taken up with themselves. 

The call for us is, that we be attentive to what God wants us to see, to see what God reveals to us and to be able to see what would give us the right sense of our life, here and now - so that we may live worthy of our eternal rewards. Let our prayer today be, 'Lord, that I may see!'

Peace, the gift of Christ

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

October 4, 2024: Celebrating the Apostle of Peace, St. Francis of Assisi

Galatians 6: 14-18; Matthew 11: 28-30 

Francis of Assisi is considered a man who managed the maximum resemblance to Christ in his life, not so much due to the marks of the stigmata that he received from the Lord, as due to the gift that Christ offers to his followers, which Francis wanted to spread all his life - Peace. Peace and mercy to all who follow Chrsit, who form the people of God, says St. Paul in the first reading.

Especially today, with the rising craze of violence around the world, we are called to be truly instruments of peace, the peace that comes from the self emptying Christ. We are not referring only to the warring nations or the fanatic terrorists who are threatening the peace of the world, but more to the hypocrites in the garb of Christians, people who are hate, divide, fight, harbour rancour, plot against and destroy persons from the hiding. People are thrown into confusion and frustration more by these than by those from outside! There are those who wish to live in integrity and sanctity but they are a bare minimum. The majority of us are caught between these two factions... highly tempted and mostly tired. The Lord says, come to me! It is only in going to the Lord that we can grow in our integrity.

Francis came at a time when the Church was wounded due to various spiritual calamities within the Church in the 10th and the 11th century and he treated those wounds with the compassion of the Lord, the humility of the Son of God and the peace of the Prince of Peace. He showed us that the marks of Christ that all of us can bear in our life, are exactly these: to be instruments of peace, through love, pardon, faith, hope, light, joy, consolation and new life. Today, as Pope Francis says, the Church or our faith is somewhat in a similar situation beaten and bruised from within and from without. The call is clear and loud: come to the Lord. 

May St. Francis assist us to understand the difference between true holiness and self righteousness, the distance between love and legalism and the need to move from being Christians to becoming Christ ourselves! Let us be true instruments of Peace, the true gift of Christ to the world today.

Being people of peace - a sign of hope!

WORD 2day: Thursday, 26th week in Ordinary time

October 3, 2024 - Job 19:21-27; Luke 10: 1-12

I am sure I shall see the Lord's goodness in the land of the living, we say in the responsorial today! This is the hope that marks the people of God. This is what Job feels when he says, this I know: my Avenger or my Redeemer lives... in all his pain and sorrow, he never loses sight of his Redeemer and hopes that he shall take his side, in the right time!

This sense of hope, is a sign of being the people of God. Jesus teaches us that it is from this hope that true peace shall be born, a peace that is to be seen not merely in times of wellbeing but primarily in times of adversities. When sufferings and hardships strike us, what is our attitude? Where do our eyes rest? On the Redeemer who lives or on the enemy who strikes? Being people of peace, means those who are convinced of their call to be people of God, people belonging to the Lord.

Jesus teaches this to the apostles: On the persons of peace, peace shall rest! It is not the other way around - that peace rests on us and we become persons of peace, no. Only if we are persons of peace, peace shall rest upon us. This is the sign of hope that comes from the faith in the presence of my Redeemer with me. When I can say amidst all the struggle that I am through, "I shall see the Lord's goodness in the land of the living," then I am a person of peace; I seek peace, I wish peace, and I behold the peace that my Saviour gives. Then it is that peace shall dawn on me. 

There are those who think, speak and act against peace! Can peace stay upon them or around them? We are challenged to grow in this identity: to be persons of peace, that is the sign of hope we can offer the world of today. 

Presence, Protection and Providence

THE WORD AND THE FEAST 

October 2, 2024 - The feast of the Guardian Angels

Exodus 23: 20-23; Matthew 18: 1-5, 10

The feast of the Guardian Angels has three spontaneous references, to which our mind invariably turns to - be it because of the core of this feast or guided by the Word presented today. 

The first reference is the Presence of God. The words in the first reading reaminds us of that... when we listen to the words, my angels will go before you, we are reminded of another promise that the Lord gives in the same book: "My Presence shall go before you" (Exo 33:14). This is exactly what the Lord meant about the angels, as God's presence itself that accompanies us. 

The second reference is to Protection that is assured us, on the way that is chalked out by the Lord. Guarding, protecting, guiding, leading, keeping us safe... these are the terminologies that abound in the Word today, and in the very concept of the feast today. Angels are presented as protectors and Guardian Angels are obviously the proper representations of this. The Lord protects, but there is a prerequisite attached to it, as we hear from the first reading - that we listen to the voice and heed to it and not defy it. Needless to say, many a life gone astray, is a result of this defiance at varied levels gone wrong.  

The third reference is to Providence that God is. Our God is a God who provides, foresees, has a definitive plan, thinks about us and wishes us nothing but well. Angels, specially guardian angels are signs of this foreseeing care of the Lord who looks at us as children, nurtures us and guides us along provided we are ready to walk in the way shown us. Guarding Angels show us the way; they are that voice that we can here exactly when we need a direction to take, or we have a decision to make. 

May we grow to be truly children, allowing ourselves to be enlightened and guided, directed and governed by the Guardian Angel to whom we are entrusted, that we may experience the loving presence, guiding protection and the caring providence of God.