LIVING THE MISSION OF HOPE

Mission Sunday 2024 - 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

October 20: Isaiah 53: 10-11; Hebrews 4: 14-16; Mark 10: 35-45

May your love be upon us O Lord, as we place all our hope on you, we say in response to the Word this Sunday. Hope is a typically Christian value that we are filled in abundance with, when we develop a true relationship with Christ the Risen Lord. The Jubilee year that we are preparing ourselves towards, is going to remind us with insistence that we are "Pilgrims of Hope" in this world which is threatened by the darkness of despair. Spreading Hope is our primary mission!

The basis of hope is faith, faith is nothing but this relationship we just referred to - a relationship that is born in recognising the Lord who communicates and responding in the way that the Lord wants me to. When this relationship goes strong, whatever comes my way, I shall not be moved or shaken or disturbed or distressed! Nothing will ever perturb me! Because, hope assures us that things may go wrong for a while, struggles, temptations, troubles and difficulties might come your way, but do not lose heart - for God alone is everlasting! The final word belongs always to God, to no one or nothing else! At times this becomes too difficult to understand or practice, because the world teaches us things that are diametrically opposed to these values. In fact the call to be pilgrims of hope is actually a call to unlearn these fallacies of the world today.

Celebrating the Mission Sunday today, we are called to take to heart that we are missionary pilgrims sent into this world to hold out hope to every person on earth. Holding out hope is not an easy task... it needs a tough unlearning of certain fallacies that the world teaches its beings ceaselessly! Unlearning these, first of all within oneself and then witnessing before the others, is the mission that we are called to live today. Let us not reduce the Mission Sunday to some monetary contribution we make, or things we collect or some help rendered somewhere! It is our life. We are called to live our mission of hope, the mission of unlearning and helping others to unlearn the following fallacies so widespread in the world of today.

Fallacy 1: Life is all about happiness and pleasure

Fun, thrill, chill, freaking out, just do it... these are considered watchwords for today's generation. At times we justify everything with a statement, 'is it not to be happy after all that we do all that we do here on earth?' No! Isaiah explains today how salvific suffering is, in connection to the suffering servant of God - that, however difficult it may be, is a deeply Christ-ian message!

Life is not merely about happiness and pleasure. There are difficulties, there are struggles, there are sufferings that come our way and they are not just part of our life, but crucial parts of learning in life. Hence hope-filled persons are those who are able to see beyond, without getting obsessed with happiness and pleasure, that there are various other values in life that we need to acknowledge and embrace, with the perspective of our model, our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Fallacy 2: I should be totally in control of my life

Planning ahead, programming things, forecasts and foretelling techniques: what are these but signs of the desire to be in control of things, of life and of everything that happens there in. But in spite of all these, there are times when we are caught so unaware and unprepared. But it does not matter, our weaknesses are known to God and our failures mean nothing to God. After all, we have a loving Lord, who has undergone all that we undergo and perceives  us with perfect compassion. 

Yes, life is not totally under our control but that does not mean we are at the mercy of chance! God is in control and the more we realise this, the more wise and mature we become. A hope filled person will never lose his or her cool before unexpected turns of life, because he or she knows for certain wherever life takes us, God is there with us and nothing happens without God's knowledge!

Fallacy 3: Progress is striving to dominate everyone around

In the name of success, development and progress, what the world today teaches us is that we have to look at everyone around as a competition, a threat, someone whom we have to trample upon in order to make our way! We cannot but look with pity on the apostles who were so close to Jesus, but found it so hard to understand his reasoning. They were so keen on ensuring their personal career, looking at the other as a competition and threat. However, we are today living in a world that is filled with more and more insensitivity, cruelty and inhumanity; are we certain we are not adding to those in our own way? 

Hope filled persons shall be counter witnesses to this situation, placing persons before things, relationships before comfort, love before success and peace before progress. These persons are around not to be served, but to serve; not to succeed but to live meaningfully; not to climb high but to live deep.

These reminders might seem difficult, at times even absurd! But this is what Christ lived. He has been in every situation that we find ourselves in and he has lived a life as a perfect example of how we should. Let us look up to Christ our Hope, and stand firm in the way of life that he has taught us! Let us be hope filled persons, conscious of our mission to fill the world with hope today, here and now!

Communion and Commitment: Father, Son and Spirit

WORD 2day: Saturday, 28th week in Ordinary time

October 19, 2024: Ephesians 1: 15-23; Luke 12: 8-12

The Word today presents to us the three dimensions of our faith: the three Persons of the Trinity, Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. What they together stand for, is a wonderful lesson for the situation today: loving communion and mutual commitment.

Looking at the Church, the people of God world over today, there is so much discord! Why? Is it purely the Reign of God that we are concerned with? This is where the Word invites us to communion - not a sticking together for survival nor a compromise for the sake of pseudo peace! Communion is the oneness of heart and mind, singleness of vision and unity of purpose. In a world so varied and statuses so diverse, only thing that can give us such a communion is the Reign-vision. A vision that goes beyond any claims of authority, power, domination or pride, towards establishing the wellness of all, the entire humanity and the whole universe. This is communion and when it is achieved, the Reign is here.

At times we feel there is so much of talk but they remain merely talks - there is no concrete commitment that is expressed. The Reign of God cannot be built by big talks! It has to be translated into concrete and mutual commitment of all those who are united in the one Lord. Owning up the call from God and standing up for the Reign is something that can never be replaced by the best of speeches or homilies, or grandest of celebrations and festivals, or greatest of structures put up! It comes from the change of heart, the change from where comes a 'Yes' that pertains to all that God wants from me. It is not merely criticism that changes a situation but a sacrificing commitment towards the others and towards the overall well-being of brothers and sisters.

The task from the Word today is that we  grow in our communion with each other and our commitment to God's Reign on earth.