Being One...not deceived into division!

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

June 19, 2025: 2 Corinthians 11: 1-11; Matthew 6: 7-15

One cannot but admire the pastoral heart of St. Paul, in today's first reading. A heart that bleeds to see his own people, his 'children' as they were, being assailed by other preachers, other gospels and other attractions, so easily and so readily! What about today, when we see brothers and sisters who so readily falling for eloquence in preaching, vivacity in worship, emotional satisfaction, logicality in reasoning, the capacity for quoting from memory, the free flow of words and phrases that are so beautiful and soothing to hear... our hearts bleed even today!

I, personally, have often been remarked by persons as being too conservative or fanatic about the Catholic Church... this is certainly not about that! It is about calling God, OUR Father and Mother... being ONE REIGN OF GOD, doing as brothers and sisters TOGETHER the will of God on earth as in heaven; it is about forgiving the shortcomings of others in the community, the shortcomings of the community itself and staying on, as one community, facing the struggles and temptations as ONE community, overcoming all evil!

Let us not today get lost in the beauty and the splendour of the Lord's Prayer - that is not the message of the Word... it is all about being a community that is worthy of praying that prayer! Evangelii Nuntiandi, the Apostolic Letter of Pope Paul VI (art.no.77) says, "the division among Christians is a serious reality which impedes the very work of Christ." Being of one heart and one mind, believing in the One Gospel that is handed down to us, is the highest witness we can give the world today, in every sphere of life!

The Christ-giving - a Way of Being

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

June 18, 2025 - 2 Corinthians 9:6-11; Matthew 6: 1-6,16-18

The Word today continues the discourse of yesterday, about giving... which as we said yesterday, cannot be just an act, but a life style. The readings today go a step further to say, it has to become a way of being, that is the way we think and the way we feel at the deepest core of our being. 

The first reading points to us two most shallow levels of giving. 

First, giving with grudge - it is like some who give, but have within them exactly contrary sentiments, wishing bad for the other, lacking respect for those to whom they give or having a sense of vengeance while giving! This kind of giving is better not done, because it amounts to a sin at the end of it all.

The second type is giving without a choice - it is giving, having to give. If there were an alternative the person would not have rather given. This takes away any merit in the act of giving, although it is good! It has really no value behind it, because it does not come from within, not from a personal choice. 

The Gospel points out another type of shallow giving, which is giving with a hook - this is a very familiar category of giving. Consciously, sub-consciously or even unconsciously, when there is a hook attached to receive directly or indirectly from a giving, that giving cannot still measure up to a Christ-giving.

Christ-giving, giving according to the life style of Christ, is only giving in love! That is what God does and that is what God expects from us. Whether giving the other (in terms of charity), or giving God (in terms of prayer and penance), only when it is done out of love and love alone, it becomes a Christ-like giving and that alone makes us brothers and sisters of that Son who gave himself totally in love. 

The Christ-giving - a lifestyle

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

June 17, 2025 - 2 Corinthians 8: 1-9; Matthew 5: 43-48

Continuing to reflect on the Sermon on the mount, today we have reached that place where Jesus teaches us about loving, loving like Christ, loving after the model of God's love - the love that considered only giving - never the conditions involved. In any giving there can be a few conditions involved logically - to whom, to what end, to what extent... and so on. Is that not simple and normal? Jesus breaks all those so-called norms, when he presents God's love as the model of our giving.

God loved us...and gave; gave everything. St. Paul explains that in the passage we read today: Remember how generous the Lord Jesus was: he was rich, but he became poor for your sake, to make you rich out of his poverty. Love is translated as "giving" and what type of giving? A Christ-giving! It is a life style presented to us by Christ himself - giving without measure, without conditions of deserving or not, and without any assurance of its return in whatever kind. 

That is what he meant when he said, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you! Give, because you wish to give; give because you have a heart to give; give because that is how you life. This is Christ.giving, a life style of love, a love that imitates God who gave everything, Christ who gave everything and the Spirit who gives up everything to reside within us!

Let us pick up this life style, the Christ-giving. 

The Proof for being God's people

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

June 16, 2025 - 2 Corinthians 6: 1-10; Matthew 5: 38-42

pc: universalis.com

The Word today seems to answer the question: how do we prove that we are "God's people"? We claim that identity, and don't we have the onus of living up to it? At times we can gather ourselves us up to say, "yes we do have the responsibility," but only until we hear the teaching of the type we listen to today! Or at least that is what the world at large does... because, the teaching we hear in today's Word, is so unreal and quixotic to say the least, in the eyes of the world.

Being flogged, sent to prison, mobbed, going sleepless, starving... when such situations are affronted with fortitude we prove to be God's people! Our purity, our knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness, truth and righteousness even in the face of disgrace, blame, persecution and suffering, go to prove that we are truly God's people. This is what Paul explains, much in elaboration of what Jesus taught when he said: offer no resistance, show the other cheek, go an extra mile, give even to those who want to take away what is yours!  

Yes, being God's people is being so unrealistc, so impractical... so Christ-like, so God-like. We know what it means - God loved us and continues to love us when we least deserve even the tiniest fraction of the limitless love that God offers us; Christ was willing to die for us, even when we were sinners! We people of this God; we are disciples of this Christ - and what else could be expected of us? 

THE ABC OF HOLY TRINITY

We Are, we Believe and we Cling!

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity: June 15, 2025

Proverbs 8: 22-31; Romans 5:1-5; John 16: 12-15

We celebrate the feast of the Holy Trinity today! The Solemnity reminds us of, not only who our God is, but also who we are!

We ARE a communion!

Just as our God is a communion of three persons - Father, Son and the Spirit, we who are created in that image and likeness, are a communion too. We are neither body living in the spirit, nor a spirit residing in the body... we are a being created in such a communion of our natures that we are one, just as the three persons of the trinity are one. It is high time we undid the contrasts between the body and the soul and the mind! We are communion, we ARE Trinity.

We need to continuously grow out of a dichotomous or a segmented life where there is the public life and the private life, the so-called spiritual life and the ordinary life, the life from the Christian point of view and a parallel life of the standards of the world... this is totally contrary to integrity that is truly 'christian'...this integrity can otherwise be known as Communion within a person, an undivided state of life.

We BELIEVE in communion, not in contestation.

The three persons of the Trinity live in communion with each other and there is an eternal self giving that takes place among them, by which they stay as ONE. We believe in communion, dialogue, sharing, sacrifice and selfless service. Only that would make us One people of God.

Today the television channels have fallen into a craze - taking a current issue and calling up people from different camps of thought and making them debate, fight and contest with each other. Worse still, they name the show 'fight' or 'debate' or 'argument', parading the truth that they are more interested in contesting than arriving at a common ground that could promote happiness and fulfillment. The dangerous phenomenon is that the same kind of a mindset enters a family and issues are debated over, contested over but very rarely prayed over and discerned towards communion!

We CLING to the Trinity

In the Trinitarian God we have everything we stand in need of. The Father gives us love and mercy in abundance. The Son gives us the light and truth to live by. The Spirit gives us companionship and good counsel. All that we need to live our life to the full is given by the Trinitarian God. The Father, Son and the Holy Spirit are in eternal procession, teaches the Church's theology which means that every one of the three, upholds the other and empties oneself into the others for a unified, generative action.

It may sound a bit too theoretical, but in fact, it is just a life style that would create a paradise on earth wherever we are - if we trust one another and prove trust worthy to each other. That is the message, that we cling to the Trinity not just in asking for favours and fulfilling our needs but in our life style, in our way of relating to the other and making ourselves available to the other, to the community to the entire humanity and even the universe! What a challenging call it is!

As we celebrate this wonderful solemnity, let us take to heart the call and the challenge given to us by the Holy Trinity... to be, to believe and to cling on to the Most Holy Trinity.

Reconciliation: Oneness and Integrity

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

June 14, 2025 - 2 Corinthians 5: 14-21; Matthew 5: 33-37

The Word today has some oft cited quotes from St. Paul - the love of Christ overwhems us, those who are in Christ are a new creation, for our sake God made the sinless one into sin... all these amounting to that one key experience: reconciliation; that God has reconciled us to Godself in Christ. What does this Reconciliation mean.

The first level of its significance is apparent - very clearly and obviously explained by Paul in his letter: that God has reconciled us to Godself, non holding our faults against us! This is the oneness that God has effected, wanting is to be One with God - Reconciliation is that oneness with God, that belonging to God, that unity with God, which is a crucial meaning of salvation. 

There is yet another level of significance that this reconciliation can have - the reconciliation that is from within. When Paul declares, those who are in Christ are new creation, he insists upon this reconciliation, that we are reconciled within us, that we have no duplicity within us, that we have nothing within us that sports conflict. As Jesus explains in the Gospel - when we wish to mean yes, we say yes; and when we say no, we mean no! That is reconciliation, a simplicity that can be called Integrity. 

Integrity is a key element of new creations in Christ, the creations, the beings, the persons who have nothing that is in conflict within, or with anything else! There is this perfect harmony that can be a great spiritual experience, the unparalleled experience of salvation, a Reconciliation from within. When God reconciles us with Godself, we are called to grow into reconciled beings from within, persons of integrity - that shall indeed be a sign of the Ambassadors for Christ. 

An Absolute Choice for God - countering adultery anyday!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

June 13, 2025 - Celebrating St. Anthony of Padua

2 Corinthians 4: 7-15; Matthew 5: 27-32

To a curious mind it would be important to insist that the etymology of "adult" and "adultery" are certainly not the same... because the tendency today is to justify adultery as an ambit of adults, a way of life for the adults to decide - that is a risky moral decadence! 

The Word today invites us to reflect on our call to refrain from adultery. Hence it becomes pertinent to answer the question, what is adultery? Is it merely an act of biological, physiological, sexual aberration in persons? Yes, and no. Yes, because it is so literally. No, because it is not merely that, as Jesus tells us in the Gospel today. That takes us to the etymology that we were speaking of earlier. 

Adultery as we know comes from the two terms - "ad" and "alterare" which mean respectively towards and altering... it is doing something towards altering the original nature of something - adulterating. 

We are created in the image and likeness of God and whatever leads us towards altering that nature of ours, is an adultery - be it seeing, hearing, doing, going or whatever. And Jesus tells us - find out what is that which makes you alter your course in life, making you move away from being children of God, remove it at its root and you shall grow to be a true son or daughter of God! 

But is it really possible for us to do? We are weak, fragile, and conditioned...precisely in this earthenware has the Lord placed the precious divine image and likeness! How carefully we need to care for it! That is our Christian vocation. It requires an unquestioning recognition and uncompromising appreciation of the treasure that we have inside and the call to preserve it. That is called an Absolute Choice for God. St. Antony whom we celebrate today, lived a life that was an incomparable witness to this Choice for God - in everything, in every way. That is the only way to counter adultery any day!

Pride, Prejudice and Presumption

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

June 12, 2025 - 2 Corinthians 3:15 - 4:1, 3-6; Matthew 5: 20-26

The Word today warns us of the veils, the veils that can obstruct us from beholding the Lord, listening to the voice of the Lord and seeing the Lord in action right amidst us. 

We are  presented with the two dominant veils that hinders humanity from observing something so obvious, the presence of God in this world - the veil of pride and prejudice! Pride that fills me so much with me, myself and mine, that I do not see the other, the world, the humanity or anything other than me. Prejudice is that opinion I have about the other which makes me blind to other, absent to the other, apathetic to the other and some times even a threat to the other, that I fail to see the other, the real other. All that I see is my opinion of the other. 

As a consequence of these veils, the pride within me and the prejudice about the other, I am lost in presumption and I think, I am all that I need to have a meaningful life on this earth! What a folly, a folly that is slowly and steadily taking over the entire humanity, in the name of scientificity, autonomy, self sufficiency and technocracy! 

The only remedy that we can foresee, is our docility to the Spirit, to the Spirit who penetrates our hearts as the light of the Lord, the voice of the Lord, the finger of the Lord that touches and brings us to life, to light and to the truth - that we may see beyond the veils of pride and prejudice and see our brothers and sisters, their dignity and the gift that they are, with the love with which the Lord has loved us: and we shall behold the Lord, here and now!

Being Sources of Encouragement

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

June 11, 2025: Celebrating St. Barnabas, the Apostle of Encouragement
Acts 11: 2b-126, 13: 1-3; Matthew 10: 7-13

The spirit of the Reign is a spirit of encouragement and empowerment, it cannot be merely cynicism and critique. Barnabas stood for this spirit of the Reign, and that was the reason the apostles named him so - the term meaning 'son of encouragement' (cf. Acts 4:36).

Some characteristics that stand out in Barnabas are his relentless passion for proclamation, his courage to brave all odds, his capacity for being sincere even to the extent of having confrontations with his close friend, Paul (Acts 15). What mattered to them, be it Paul or Barnabas, was the Message of God be announced and the Reign of God be made present; neither their personal likes or dislikes nor their ego demands affect their mission in anyway!

Reflecting on the great apostle we celebrate today, we have some lessons that he offers us:

1. Build up persons, that is the way to build up the Reign of God. Look at the way he brough Paul to the other apostles and stood by him and other messengers of the Lord.

2. Be faithful to the Lord, with a firm heart, that is the way to belong to the Reign. The life of Barnabas shows the way he renounced everything for the sake of the call that he had received - a firm heart that remained ever faithful to God.

3. Rejoice in the matters of the Lord, that is the way to invite people to the Reign. We can observe the amount of satifaction that Barnabas has when people converted themselves and were prepared to accept the salvific message of Christ.

Be encouraged, and be an encouragement to the others... that is the crux of the message today. May the apostle of encouragement we celebrate today, St. Barnabas intercede for us that we may be filled with the Spirit of encouragement and empowerment, thus being ourselves sources of encouragement wherever we are.

The Spirit and Truth - the task of the Reign

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

June 10, 2025 - 2 Corinthians 1: 18-22; Matthew 5: 13-16

There is salt and there is the salt that has lost its taste - they look the same, but they are absolutely not the same. The difference is like the light and darkness, the difference is stark. That is how it is with an yes and anything other than that, says the Word today. 

We are living in a post-truth era, the social philosophers say. There is no more absolute truth in the eyes of the world - everything seems relative. There are only the logics and proofs to establish and truth is seconded to all these documented narratives. No one can be certain of which is the right narrative or the wrong one; in fact, there is only the loudest or the strongest narrative by now for the consumption. There are other narratives that are made voiceless and drowned in the lie. 

The danger is that this phenomenon gets replicated within each of us... that is, we allow the falsities within us take over our real selves so much that at a point of time, we ourselves do not know which is our real self and which is fake! That is the tasteless salt, at times poisonous salt - spreading not light but darkness! 

It is only the Spirit of the Lord who can keep us from this danger, protect us from this darkness, because the Spirit is Light, and those who are in the Spirit are in the light! We are called to be light and salt in this world, bearing witness to the truth - that is the task of the Reign. 

The Eve of Salvation

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

June 9, 2025 - Feast of Mary, Mother of the Church
Genesis 3: 9-15,20; John 19: 25-34

The Mother of the New born Church - that is whom we celebrate today. Mary was given as the Mother of, the Church to be born after the Son of God accomplished his earthly mission and the Spirit of the Lord came down to continue the mission in and through the Church. The two readings that we have today in the liturgy of the Word, explains to us how this mystery unfolds - we can reflect that with the following three instances.

1. The First Eve - the woman who was given

Eve was the mother of all those who lived... that is how Adam named her! She was given to him and that is why he says, 'the woman you gave me...' However, Eve was used by the evil one, she became an instruments at the hands of the tempter, bringing the opportunity of sin and perdition into the world, according to the Biblical account. She signalled the weakness that we possess as human persons in looking to do things on our own, despite the loving ways the Lord cares for us.

2. The Second Eve - the woman who gave herself

In contrast we are presented with another woman... one who gave herself to God - behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me according to your will. The tendency to do things on our own, the tendency to have our will, is countered by the readiness with which she surrenders herself to God and God's salvific plan. Just as God gave Adam a woman, do does God give this woman to the humankind and for the salvation of the humankind, as God prepares to send the Saviour through her.

3. The Eve of Salvation - the mother who was given

Just as God gave Eve to Adam and Mary to humanity as the new Eve, Jesus the Lord gives his mother as the Mother of all who would believe in him: behold your mother! Mary is given as the mother of the Church, the redeemed people of God, the chosen disciples of Christ, the people constituted into a Church by the infilling of the Holy Spirit. And Mary was there - just as she was there when the Creator was born into a fragile little child, also when the fragile little flock was made into a mighty people of God by the coming of the Spirit.

We gratefully remember today, late Pope Francis who added this beautiful element to our Faith tradition... celebrating the Mother of us all, as celebrated always by the Church and in the Church - the Eve of Salvation, the hope of the people of God. May our Blesssed Mother continue to walk with the pilgrim Church, pray with the Church and protect the Church on this pilgrimage towards Reign of God.

BEING PEOPLE OF THE SPIRIT

Growing Up... to be courageous, compassionate and Christ-like

June 8, 2025: The Solemnity of the Pentecost

Acts 2: 1-11; Romans 8: 8-17; John 14: 15-16, 23-26

The event of the Pentecost was a definitve turning point... and that is why we call that experience the birth of the Church, the Community of people who receive a new identity, and above all, begin to realise that identity and grow up in that identity! 

Being people of the Spirit is growing up to be Courageous (Models: Apostles):

The apostles were gathered in the room in fright and frustration but they were made fearlessly courageous by the Spirit of the Lord. They faced crowds, authorities and the whole world with a heart that would not give way to any anxiety or doubt. Their fearlessness came from the fact that they had the assurance of the Spirit - they did not have a clarity of what they are going to do, they did not have an economic security of someone sponsoring them for rest of their life, they did not have any written accord that they will have a free passage wherever they went. Instead, on the contrary, they had all sorts of confusion, utmost opposition and limitless insecurities. All that they had was the assurance of the presence of the Spirit with them, and that was enough for them!

Dares are attractions for some and taking risk is considered an exhilarating life-renewer with the dose of adrenalin that it pumps into the system. But that is not the courage we speak of here. The courage here comes from God; from the One who has ordained a path, a mission, a task for us and the presence of the Spirit is an assurance that we would be led step by step into that journey. We do not know what awaits, we do not know who will be there with us or who will not be, we do not know whether we will reach the very end of the journey - but we dare to embark on that journey because the Spirit is with us, who assures us that wherever we are, we are with God; and God is with us!

Being people of the Spirit is growing up to be Compassionate (Models: Early Christians):

The Early Christians were one in mind and heart, they were sensitive to each other, they were filled with compassion, they were united in love! There were Jews of all "cadres", there were some samaritans too probably, there were Romans too as the centurion and the household who were converted, there were Greeks and the Egyptians (like the Court official who was converted), there were rich and there were the daily labourers, there were the learned and there were those who were simple peasants... but they were all one community - the community of those who believed in the Lord, their new found Saviour, Jesus the Christ. They were all made into One people of the Spirit.

They were people of the Spirit, united in the Lord into one body, one body in the Lord! Despite all their differences they were one because of the action of the Spirit - the Spirit who made them understand each other, who made them love each other and care for each other. The Oneness of the people of the Spirit, that they were one in heart and mind, was concretely expressed in the fact that they were one in feeling for each other too: they had no one among them who was in need. They felt for, they felt with and they felt one with each other - that was the action of the Spirit.

Being people of the Spirit is growing up to be Christ-like (Models: Disciples)

The disciples together were called to grow to be like Christ. To grow to be like Christ is to grow in the image of the Lord given by the Spirit. To be disciples of Christ is to grow in the likeness of Christ, to think like Christ, to speak like Christ, to act like Christ and to decide like Christ in every thing. We are not talking about the apostles who had a special and particular role to perform within the community, we are talking of everyone born in waters of the Risen Christ and in the fire of the Holy Spirit... the disciples, the people of God.

Those who are in the Christ are a new creation! Just as the Spirit was at the centre of the process when the Word took flesh and became one among us, the Spirit once again is at the centre filling us and making us one with the image of Christ... that we are recreated into 'alter christus'! We are created anew into children of the God, whom Jesus introduced to us as "my Father and your Father"! Those who are in the Spirit are true children of God, empowered to call God, Abba Father!

With courage, in communion with each other, we are empowered by the Spirit to grow into the People of God, children of God who are called to make God present in concrete, wherever we are

Peter and Paul... You and me!

WORD 2day: Saturday after the Ascension Sunday

June 7, 2025: Acts 28: 16-20, 30-31; John 21: 10-25

These days we continuously hear of Paul and Peter, the two great leaders who led the band of apostles in their proclamation of the Gospel and the initial formation of the Church. They announced the Gospel in season and out of season, in the prison or out of it, in political custody or in the public squares, in health and in sickness, among the faithful or among skeptics, among simple peasants or to learned philosophers. Nothing held them back from preaching the Word.

Looking for ideal situations to evangelise, bemoaning the political atmosphere or the social apprehensions, finding excuses for remaining unnoticed Christians and justifying our lack of initiatives towards evangelisation: these are very common these days. Tomorrow we will be celebrating the feast of the descent of the Holy Spirit causing the birth of the Church.

Let us pray for the Spirit, the Spirit of power, love and self-discipline, the Spirit of courage and wisdom, the Spirit who strengthens apostles and empowers martyrs, that we may be persons filled with the Spirit and witnessing to the Gospel without ceasing. Peter and Paul are no more, if we do not become Peters, Pauls, Aquillas and Priscillas!

Following the Lord - No turning back!

WORD 2day: Friday after the Ascension Sunday

June 6, 2025: Acts 25: 13b-21; John 21: 15-19

The total import of following the Lord may not be known to us right at the beginning when we intend to. But the Lord does not spare the moment. He instructs right from the beginning what can, or what is sure to befall someone who intends to follow Him. Whoever is not ready to take up his daily cross and follow me, is not worthy of me, said Jesus categorically (cf. Mt 10:38).

St. Paul was more than certain of everything that awaited him, the sufferings and even death for the sake of the Lord. Jesus himself prepares Peter in his post-resurrection encounter with him. Invariably all Jesus's apostles, except James it is said, died the death of martyrs. They were prepared for it and they even considered it their privilege. It was in fact the finest way of expressing their love for their Master and Lord.

Today, with the increasing number of anti-Christian skeptics and anti-Reign elements, our challenge to be disciples becomes more and more demanding. However, it remains categorical as ever. There can be no other choice or any compromises. Following the Lord means following Him in everything, right till the end, even unto death! Let death not frighten us but beckon us to be faithful to the one whom we chose to follow.

I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back - let that be our perennial song!

The Mystical Union in God

WORD 2day: Thursday after Ascension Sunday

June 5, 2025: Acts 22:30, 23:6-11; John 17: 20-26

Just as the Father is in the Son and the Son in the Father, we are invited to be one in the Father and the Son, through the Holy Spirit. Jesus' prayer for his disciples, that is, for us to the Father has a beautiful challenge to pose to us. The challenge does not consist in doing anything or accomplishing anything great... but it consists of being, simply being, being with the Lord, just being one with the Lord!

However, it is not that simple! As both the readings point to, the world at large does not "know" the Lord, nor does it identify itself with the Lord; in a way it,  stands aloof from or sometimes even against the Lord. The culture of death that prevails, the insensitive economy that rules, the inhuman politics that dominates... these are signs of opposition to God and to the Gospel. It is in this context that the Lord invites us to bear witness, 'just as in Jerusalem, also in Rome'.

From the religious circles to the political arena, from the academic domain to grass root social praxis, we are called to bear witness to the Lord and to the Lord's good news of love - the love that the Father has for the Son, which is the same love that He has for us! We are called to be One in love, we are united in the love of God. We are in the Lord and the Lord is in us and We are made one in the Lord - let us celebrate this mystical union in God, that is the quintessence of Christian faith, the faith in the Risen Lord.

The Preoccupation for the Flock

WORD 2day: Wednesday after the Ascension Sunday

June 4, 2025: Acts 20: 28-38; John 17: 11b-19

The readings today present to us the preoccupation that Jesus and St.Paul have for the flock that they leave behind, as St. Paul sets off to Jerusalem and Jesus contemplates returning to his Father! The total dedication that both had towards those entrusted to them is known to us and it is best expressed in the phrase that St. Paul uses quoting his Master: it is more blessed to give than to receive.

Keeping the faith, being true to the message of the Lord, persevering in the tradition in which one is brought up, not letting oneself be swayed by newer teachings and fancier presentations...these are the preoccupations that are expressed here and proposed to us. These concerns prompt to us two important qualities that are necessary: Spiritual Sincerity and Constant Discernment.

The times today are marked by a certain fickle minded hopping from tradition to tradition in the name of "search" for the truth and reckless trial-and-error attempts of innumerable religions, sects and factions. If they are spiritually sincere and they discerned with rigour, well and good. But if these switches come from an unfounded mind and a lack of persevering dedication, they are the dangers that Paul and Jesus warn us against.

Spiritual sincerity is to be true the innermost promptings and Constant discernment is the way to reach that true core! The Spirit gives us that grace and we are in the novena towards the great feast of the Spirit... let us invoke the Spirit with love and courage!

The Real glory of a True disciple

WORD 2day: Tuesday after the Ascension Sunday

June 3, 2025: Acts 20: 17-27; John 17: 1-11a

Both Paul and Jesus are seen bidding farewell to their loved ones in the Word today. There is a sense of satisfaction and a feeling of having accomplished the task entrusted to them! To live my everyday life conscious of the fact that I am commissioned, that I dont have all the time that is available, and that I have to play my part right... that will give me a sense of vocation and a feeling of satisfaction.

"Father the hour has come, give glory to your Son, that your Son may glorify you!" prays Jesus. The glory that he talks of is the baptism of blood, the cup of suffering that Jesus was preparing to take up! Not just himself, but all those who believed him were destined to that cup and to that baptism says Jesus (Mk 10:39; Mt 20:23).

St. Paul understood this perfectly. Though he knew well, instructed by the Holy Spirit, that suffering and imprisonment awaited wherever he went, he does not hesitate. He was more than prepared for the cup of suffering, for the baptism of blood! Today we hear him say that in terms so clear: I consider life of no importance to me! For him all that mattered was to carry the Good news to the farthest that he could!

How many times I would have languished that I don't get any consolation from God for belonging to God, for being on God's side and for speaking on behalf of God! Do I really understand in Jesus' terms, the 'real' glory of a 'true' disciple?

Knowing the Spirit - the graduation time!

WORD 2day: Monday after Ascension Sunday

June 2, 2025 - Acts 19: 1-8; John 16: 29-33

It is graduation time now... you ask a child this season - which class are you studying? You would get a typical reply, something like: fourth to fifth. smiling? Yes... it is graduation time.

I have conquered the world, says the Lord and why are we still going desperate about managing it? Because we are not yet convinced that the Lord has conquered the world. The Divine Counselor is right within us, and strangely we are we still looking all over for directions and suggestions! Because we do not have sufficient knowledge of the Spirit.

In the Word today we see people graduating to the next levels... Paul introduces Apollos and others to the Holy Spirit; Jesus finds his disciples finally beginning to believe him. The call is the same to us today: as we have celebrated the feast of Ascension just yesterday, the call, as we said is, to graduate. To grow into people of the Spirit. The journey has begun... today is already the 3rd day of the Novena in preparation for the feast of the Pentecost. The invitation is that we become more aware of the indwelling presence of the Lord in our lives. The Lord rests with us and the Lord is acting on or behalf. Why not we make room to behold it in our day to day experience?

The Spirit of the Lord is all around us and once we behold the presence and be filled with that presence, we would be able to understand that our Lord and Saviour has conqured the world! Knowing the Spirit is the task given to us today, getting to know the Spirit that we may not react as the people did to Paul: we do not know that there is something called the Holy Spirit. At times our fears and thoughtlessness can exhibit such responses unconsciously.

The primary key to being people of the Spirit: Knowing the Spirit!

UP WITH THE LORD

The Event, the Effect & the Edict - the 7-UP

The Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord: June 1, 2025

Acts 1: 1-11; Ephesians 1: 17-23; Luke 24: 46-53 

As the Lord goes up, let us reflect on the 7-UP... 

The Lord ascends today to his Father and our Father! It is not an abandoning, as he himself very rightly had already assured us. It is an invitation! The invitation is to Go Up with the Lord. And this invitation to go up is given in 7 steps... let's call it 7-UP!

In the first reading we are presented with the THE EVENT: 

Christ ascends to the right hand of the Father!

Christ, GAVE UP the divinity and became like one of us (Phil 2). 

     How prepared are we to give up! The world tends to tell us to hold on, hold on to power and domination, to popularity and gain, to limelight and adulation. That is how we prepare even the upcoming children, convincing them it is important to prove oneself and make everyone know one's own utility and importance.

Christ GOES UP today, by his obedience and fulfillment of the Divine Will (Heb 10:7) 

     Going up, is a consequence and it happens because the Father draws us up! The Father who had sent Jesus, the Christ to the world, had found in him, an absolute obedience and a childlike trust - those are the very messages imparted to us by the Ascending Lord, in order that we may measure up to the standards of the Father and go up.

Christ will SHOW UP leading everything to its fulfillment (Heb 10:36)

     You will see the Son of Man come the way you saw him go, says the messenger from the Lord. Yes, the Lord shall show up, soon - but we need not panic or fret. Christ shall show up and we shall rejoice in it, if we live a life that is founded on the words and the commands of the Lord. 

The second reading highlights THE EFFECT: 

Because of the Son who was raised by God to God's right hand, you and I are made worthy to accede to the presence of God!

We are RAISED UP by the fact that Christ became like us (2 Cor 8:9) 

     As Peter would remind us elsewhere, 'we were once no people; but now we are made people of God'. We are the people of God and not that we deserve to be! We were raised up, we were given an identity that is so great and enviable... the challenge is that we live up to it. 

We are DRESSED UP by the virtue of our baptism, (Col 2:12) 

    Receive this white cloth and bring it unsullied to that encounter with the Lord at the end of your life, was the challenge we accepted at our baptism. We are dressed up and our character is defined in such precise terms. All that we need to know is shape ourselves into that character, be transformed into it and grow in that identity. 

We are BUILT UP into the family of God (1 Cor 10:17).

     The challenge I have received is not just mine - its ours. The call is given within a family, the family of God's people, God's sons and daughters. I am built into a family, a temple, an abode for God. I am living my call fully only as long as I am living in unison with the rest of God's family- divisions, discriminations, and defamations are all deviations!

The Gospel from Luke reminds us of what Jesus passed on to us, THE EDICT: 

You are and you shall be my Witnesses on the Earth!

We are challenged to STAND UP for the Lord in the World today (Rom 12:2) 

     The world has its own standards, priorities and agenda. If I am truly a son or a daughter of God, I have stand of the Lord amidst all these contrasting and contesting priorities. That is why St. Paul gave a standing order: do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed! To be transformed is to be become like the Lord - if we live in the Lord, we shall die and rise in the Lord! Ultimately, we shall go up with the Lord!

 

Reminders of the presence of God

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

May 31, 2025: The Feast of Visitation

Zephaniah 3: 14-18a; Luke 1: 39-56

We celebrate the feast of the Visitation of our Blessed Mother to Elizabeth. When Mary entered Elizabeth's household, there was a sense of God that was felt, for two reasons. 

Firstly, Mary was carrying Jesus within her and the effect was felt! Second, Mary herself was transformed into the presence of God for Elizabeth!

The first reading today turns our attention to the words of Zephaniah explaining what the Lord in our midst is doing: God exults, God renews and God dances! God exults in the wonderful gifts that we are to Godself; God renews those parts of us that are not as good as they can be; God dances with joy over everything that we are able to do in God's eternal plan.

Anyone who expresses this exultation of the Lord, this call for renewal and the rejoicing of the Lord in God's children, is a reminder of the presence of God. In fact when Elizabeth says, 'what have I done to deserve that the Mother of my Lord should visit me!', she becomes the reminder of the presence of God to Mary! When Mary turns to Elizabeth and says, 'My heart exults in the Lord and my soul rejoices in the Lord my saviour', she becomes the reminder of the Lord's presence to Elizabeth and to the entire household! 

We are called to be reminders of the presence of God, to be the presences of God to those around us. When we exult in the Lord, when we do our part to renew those around us, correcting them with care and love, when we rejoice in the goodness of others and the good things that happen to them, we become God's presence amidst God's people! 

Can we be today, God's presences wherever we are, and a reminder of that presence to whomever we meet? 

The path of perfect perseverance

WORD 2day: Friday, 6th week in Easter time

May 30, 2025 - Acts 18:9-18; John 16:20-23

The Word today could lead us to think of two phrases quite familiar in everyday parlance. The first one is 'the path of least resistance' - in the name of being natural and spontaneous, going with the trends, keeping abreat with the times, there are numerous compromises that are made and very many values that are lost,  thanks to this mode of thinking.

The second phrase quite equally popular is 'the path of least persistence' - advocating the theory that there is no virtue in insisting on making something work, while in practicality it does not. It is the famous mindset of trying out, just trying out. Just give it a try, and that is all about life. The famous tee shirt phrase - just do it, sums it all. The first failure, people quit, and they do so without any qualms of conscience.

The path of least resistance or the path of least persistence seem to be the trends of the world today. But the Word today, insists on the path of perfect perseverance. It is the path of least resistance to the Will of God and the path of least persistence to one's own whims and fancies. 

We see the Apostles and the their disciples do that...when the Lord instructs them to do something they offer no resistance at all. With all the sufferings that come their way, they keep persevering, though they certainly had moments dark and dangerous. Nothing stopped them because they were on the path of perfect perseverance.

Seek the Lord and find joy!

WORD 2day: Thursday, 6th week in Easter time

May 29, 2025: Acts 18: 1-18; John 16: 16-20

There is a promise from the Lord today: your sorrow will turn into joy! 

At times, it may seem too lofty a promise and most of us might look at it with suspicion. However, it is not so because the Lord is wrong or deceptive, but maybe our understanding of true joy is not right at times!

Ever heard of the anecdote about this monk who went into contemplation and came out "enlightened" after almost a decade? Since everyone considered him "enlightened", a man approached him with a question: what difference do you find between the world as it was when you went into contemplation a decade ago and that of today? He said, "when I went in the land was down and the sky was up there, there was summer and winter, and there was day and night." "And Now?", the questioner quipped with his curiosity soaring! "Ah, now the land is down and the sky is up there, there is summer and there is winter, and there is night and there is day!"

Would you be wondering that the story is incomplete, if I end it there? No, you need not! The fact is, indeed the things remain the same, but the way the enlightened person see them is completely different from the way others see it! Your sorrow will turn to joy, not only because everything around you will turn upside down, but because you will find yourself different, your priorities would become different, your concerns turn out to be different. That will make all the difference!

When those people rejected Paul outright, he couldn't care less! He was just the same and walked off cool, because for him that rejection mattered nothing! For him sorrows had turned into joy, everything was joyful, for in everything, he sought the Lord!

Spiritual Experiences and Spiritual dispositions

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 6th week in Easter time

May 28, 2025: Acts 17:15, 22 - 18:1; John 16: 12-15

"When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked...", we read in the first reading today. 

Some experiences are beyond our grasp at an initial instant; some experiences may be totally confusing while others may leave us with nothing to say. There are ways in which a person responds to a data that is beyond one's perception or beyond ordinary explanations. One way is to outrightly reject it and another is, to ridicule it just because one cannot understand it. These modes of responding display an arrogance that is not even humane, leave alone spiritual. The Greeks in Areopagus laugh at Paul and some consider him 'confused'... hardly a few tried genuinely understanding him! 

A more appreciable type of response, a bit more humane or simply human, would be that the  person begins to enquire about the new data presented and make some scientific efforts to understand it. However even this would not suffice when it comes to certain types of experiences. The Greeks found it hard to grasp, not because they were not intellectually prepared, but because they were not gripped by the Spirit... a Spiritual disposition alone can lead to beholding some types of truths! 

A Spiritual disposition in approaching new experiences would enable a person to perceive the truth in what is said, understand its true meaning and find relevance for one's life. This sort of a mind will not reject something merely because it seems new or it has not been so till then. The one who empowers a person towards such a disposition is the Spirit of truth, introduces Jesus in the Gospel today.

The beautiful expression of St. Anselm, 'faith seeking understanding', is a grace! "When the Spirit of truth comes, the Spirit will guide you into all the truth"... the truth of what I am upto, the truth of who I really am and what I am called towards. Openness, respect and a sense of wonder are prerequisites for one to have real Spiritual Experiences! 

Once again today, let our prayer be: Let your Spirit guide us O Lord!

What do I do to be saved?

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 6th week in Easter time 

May 27, 2025: Acts 16:22-34; John 16: 5-11

"What must I do to be saved?"... that must have been a very familiar question those days! We hear that addressed to Jesus by the rich young man and in a little different words by the disciples. Later, to the disciples it is addressed quite a few times as recorded in the Acts: the crowds on the day of the Pentecost, Cornelius to Peter, and today the jail guard to Paul and many such events...

After Christ has been raised, the question in fact is redundant! For Jesus says, I shall send you the Holy Spirit and the Spirit shall enlighten you on everything. Today, we live as people of the light, for whom everything should be clear as things in a daylight. But we find still so much of darkness, despair and delusion, in the world. What could be the reasons?

As Pope St. John Paul II would say, "many Christians are living in a state of 'silent apostasy;' they 'live as if God does not exist.'" The most probable reasons for above said delusion could be these: lack of sense of sin, compromised vision of righteousness and a careless attitude of judgement. These are what we witness today in the world, and sometimes sadly, even within each of us! Might be, that our values, priorities and choices blur the light that the Spirit wishes to shed on our minds. 

Let us submit ourselves to the Spirit and pray, 'you stretch your right hand and save me O Lord'. Let the enlightening Spirit of the Lord guide us on!

The mutual delight - the Lord and the people

WORD 2day: 6th Monday of Easter

May 26, 2025: Acts 16: 11-15; John 15:26 - 16:4a

The Christian faith had already taken root in that short time and it is beginning to take wings as we see! Spreading far and wide, the faith in Christ was not merely an intellectual assent to some truths the apostles were sharing, but it was a dedication of their concrete lives. We have two different examples of that in the Word today.

The first is that of Lydia, who finds her new found faith impelling her to sustain the proclaimers of the Word. She would take no refusal, about she hosting the apostles in her home, says the first reading. She was delighted in the Lord! The second is about the Apostles, who were moving from one place to another without any lag or slackening because they were so delighted in the new apostolate entrusted to them. Looking at these sorts of His children, the Lord was taking delight in his people says the responsorial psalm!

This is what Christian faith is all about: the delight that the Lord has in each of us and the delight we manifest in having the Lord as our God! That Mutual Delight, of the Lord and the Lord's people turns into a tremendous testimony to the World. There are many in the world who are disturbed in their mind and in their heart, there are others who are questioning and looking at everything with suspicion or disdain. The Lord opens hearts to believe in the Salvation that is promised us, and if we dispose ourselves we shall delight in the Lord, and above all, the Lord shall delight in us! 

3D APPROACH TO TRUE PEACE

Faith, Familiarity and Discernment

May 25, 2025 - Sixth Sunday in Easter time

Acts 15: 1-2, 22-29; Revelations 21: 10-14,22-23; John 14: 23-29 

Peace I give you; My peace I give to you! The Community of the Risen Lord is called to be a Community of Peace and Peacemakers. The Word today outlines to us the approaches to establish true peace among the people of God. It is a 3D approach, a three-dimensional approach. 

D1- The First Dimension: SELF - DEEP SEATED FAITH

Faith is the spiritual tranquiliser at any moment of crisis or trouble. Faith is the assurance of the presence of God with me, which makes me courageous enough to accept the situation I find myself in. The present historical moment is defined as the era of post-secularization – which does not mean secularization has ended! Not in any imaginable terms! But the phenomenon has transformed itself taking a more dangerous form: the forces and elements of new geo-political and economic elements have been involved in a long process of polarization in the world, which has led to mutual suspicions, bitterness and frustrations between various factions of the people! Not only in the future, but already there are so many issues at stake, which put restlessness in the hearts and minds of people and societies. What do we do: give in to frustration and give up on peace?

The Community of believers were going through a time of crisis, as two factions among themselves began to take exceptions to each other. However, the situation was brought under control, but the way the decision was made is remarkable as we read it even today. "It has been decided by the Holy Spirit and by ourselves..." That is the key to their peace, their deep-seated faith that God was right amidst them all through the crisis. When crises come our way, one of the first things we negate is the presence and empathy of God. But peace comes with a deep-seated faith that never ever doubts the empathetic presence of God with me!

D2- The Second Dimension: GOD - DIVINE FAMILIARITY

The Christ-ian understanding of God is not a God who is up above the sky looking down on God's children and judging them. But it is a God who dwells with them, within them and among them. This is what Jesus promises today: If you love me, you will keep my word and my Father will love you and we shall come to him and make our home with him. Imagine a child who is walking home in the dark of night - alone and hence so frightened and freezing. Just right then the child's father comes by and places his hands on the shoulders of the child - how would that child feel? Has the darkness disappeared? Has the sun risen yet? No! But the very presence of the Father gives the child an assurance. 

When God makes home with us, we would have no lack of peace. True peace comes from the fact that the Lord lives with us. The first readings speaks of the Holy Spirit living with us, the Second reading speaks of the Father and Son making their resplendent presence amidst us and in the Gospel, Jesus speaks of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit coming to make a family with us! That is peace, a sense of total assurance that I am surrounded by the Lord!

D3- Third Dimension: OTHERS - DIALOGUE AND DISCERNMENT 

The First reading once again brings to the fore the need and the importance of Dialogue and Discernment. Peace and Understanding reigned in the Early Christian Community because of the presence of Dialogue and Discernment. Dialogue and Discernment are two phases of a single process. Dialogue is the phase where the two parties involved have their views and opinions presented to each other. Discernment is the phase where they both come to a common ground, look over and beyond their point of view and come to a consensus towards a common decision. The One who inspires this common view is the Holy Spirit who is the source of all discernment, the third party who mediates the dialogue. When this third party is not involved in our dialogues they end up without proper discernment and lead only to two stubborn sides. 

Dialogue and Discernment presupposes three dispositions: One, that I am convinced of my stand. I have made all efforts to understand the issue, go deep into its various possible dimensions and I have sufficiently thought about its pros and cons. Second, that I respect the other. I am ready and willing to listen, listen to the other and not just get fixated with my prejudices. And finally, the third disposition is that I believe that the Spirit is at work. After the Elections results were announced for the Indian pa'rliament, someone asked: "after all the prayers and implorations why has God allowed this?" What is important here is not the question 'why has God allowed' but 'what is God communicating to us' here! We need to believe that the Spirit is at work! Be still and know that God is! (Ps 46:10)

When a community has these three dimensions clear - the self strengthened by deep seated faith, God with whom we enjoy a genuine familiarity and the other with whom we are ready to dialogue and discern, the Peace of the Lord reigns. Such a community glows to be truly Christian!