Unraveling the Reign

THE WORD IN ADVENT

First Monday of Advent - December 1, 2025

Isaiah 4: 2-6; Matthew 8: 5-11

From the east and the west, there will be people who will inherit the Reign - it is my responsibility not to miss! 

The responsibility of unraveling the Reign in my context rests on me! Those who take this responsibility seriously will be a meagre portion - the remnance of Israel, the left over in Zion, the remaining in Jerusalem. Yes, not necessarily the doctors and the experts, but the children and little ones, as Jesus exclaimed. There are no privileged classes or those with prerogatives - the terms are clear, that each one unravel the Reign as it is presented to him or her. 

Advent becomes a time for me to think and reflect - to see and behold, to discover and rediscover the working of the Lord in and around me. If I miss the opportunity, the onus is entirely on me. If I manage to cease the moment and unravel the mysteries of the Reign present here and now, I shall become a member of the Reign, a guest at the banquet, a son or daughter in the house of the Father.

The presence of the Lord and the actions of the Lord is everywhere - like the cloud by day, the light by night, and the shade by the sun - always so evident and clear, for those who are ready to perceive and behold. I can be busy with my plans and projects, pride and prejudice, missing everything out... failing to unravel the obvious! The caution and the call is clear: do not miss unraveling the Reign. 

Three dispositions that are enlisted in the Word today that can lead us to unravel the Reign: being observant, taking the time to entreat the Lord passing by, and acknowledging humbly the true majesty of the Lord. These are attitudes that are growing to be rare in the society today, so increasingly secularised. The question therefore to me: how disposed am I to unravel the Reign today and more importantly, am I ready to be the few, the remnance, the left over, those from the far east and the wild west? 

STAY AWAKE FOR THE REIGN

Unravel, Understand and Urge!

First Sunday of Advent – 30 November, 2025

Isaiah 2: 1-5; Romans 13: 11-14; Matthew 24: 37-44

Pilgrims of Hope

HOPE OF THE PILGRIMS – THE REIGN

We have been celebrating the Jubilee year for the past one year…and we are stepping into the closing phase of it. With the Advent and the Christmas, we shall be drawing to its close on the feast of the Epiphany. Pilgrims of Hope – that was the watch-word guiding us all along and now this advent comes to bring the reflection to its culmination posing a corollary – yes, we are called to be pilgrims of hope, but what is the hope of the pilgrims? The hope that keeps the pilgrim going is – the Reign!

The Reign is the hope of the pilgrims… Advent brings to our attention this promise of the Reign. Especially the first Sunday of Advent declares this as the opening message of this season which reminds us of the kind of faith we are called to live and testify today. The faith of the eschatological times; the faith that focuses on the Risen Lord and his imminent promise; the faith that looks to affirm the fact that Jesus established: that the Reign of God is in our midst (Lk 17:21)! We are people of the Reign, children of the Reign, pilgrims of the Reign.

One important fact that we are reminded about strongly today, is that the promise of the Reign did not begin with the coming of Christ Jesus in the Incarnation event. It comes from the prophets who planted in us the yearning to await the Christ. Isaiah today speaks about it: that the Lord shall gather every one in the eternal peace of the Reign. St. Paul refers to the same gathering, but in terms of salvation that come from the Lord, the salvation which is all set to be shared with each of us, children of God. Finally, Jesus himself concludes the discourse with simple but profound call: to stay awake.

Speaking of the Reign, more than fatiguing to construct it from ground zero, what comes closer to the revelation in Christ is this: that the Reign is here…our challenge is to recognise it. This is in short, the message of the first Sunday of Advent: Stay awake for the Reign.

Unravel the Reign – Staying awake for the Reign, means to unravel the Reign which is already here in our midst. There are those who will see the Reign and those who will fail to; there are those who will live the Reign and those who will remain far from it; there are those who will unravel the manifestations of the Reign and those who will be busy with their own affairs missing every thing at large. The hope of the pilgrims is the Reign that surrounds, and we as pilgrims we are called to recognise it and unravel it in our daily experiences. In the feeble voices that arise against the vociferous injustices that are in the world, in the faint scenes that manifest the mercy of God amidst the insensitive mob that is running behind power, possession and pleasure, in the silent protests that refuse to conform to the madness of the mainstream and stand by the truth of the “littles ones”, the Reign survives – for us to unravel its presence every day.

Understand the Reign – Staying awake for the Reign, would involve the efforts to understand the Reign in the changing contexts. There is a danger that we could stereotype even the Reign of God – and make it our own petty creation. Eulogising it, epitomising it and euphemising it, we could make of the Reign a surreal imagination, a utopian expectation, a wishful thinking that would remain far from the present. But a pilgrim of hope cannot do that. St. Paul underscores this fact with the phrase, “the times has come”, calling our attention to be awake to the reality around, the salvation that is at hand, the Reign that is amidst us. This involves understanding, that is born out of a committed personal reflection, sincere interpersonal dialogue and a dedicated synodal search. It is only from these can that the Church become truly what it is called to be – the sign and sacrament of the Reign.

Urge each other to behold – Staying awake for the Reign is a communitarian effort, that we urge each other to behold the Reign. Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord – reminds Isaiah today; and come let us go to the house of the Lord, invites the responsorial psalm. We are called to remind each other of our identity of being pilgrims of hope, and of our hope as pilgrims which is the Reign. Encouraging each other, supporting each other, empathising with each other and hand-holding each other, we can grow into the Reign that we are called to behold. In our daily choices and priorities, we can behold the Reign and be the signs of the Reign.

May the Advent that we begin today, remind us of our hope as pilgrims – the Reign, that we may stay awake for the Reign: to unravel it, to understand it and to urge each other to behold it.

Stay awake... in every sense!

WORD 2day: Saturday, Last day of the Ordinary time

November 29, 2025: Daniel 7: 5-27; Luke 21: 34-36

Stay awake!... shakes us up the Gospel today. And the first reading explains, why to! Let us begin with the latter part... that is, why to stay awake? Then we shall see what it means to stay awake!

Why to stay awake - because there is so much happening around me! There are those who are conniving and plotting against goodness and godliness; there are things happening that are fast ruining the little good that has been built up by traditions of ages; there could be impacts created within me wherein I, even without my knowledge, unwittingly giving into fear, psychosis and pessimism! I need to Stay Awake.

Staying awake is Seeing: seeing within me, around me and into others, that I am observant about the changes happening and am conscious about the effects of these changes on myself. Without really seeing, I cannot understand what is being communicated to me, by the Lord in and through time.

Staying awake is Syncing: syncing with the whole reality - with the Divine, with the cosmos, with the neighbours, with the entire humanity and all that is! We are not created as isolated beings, nor are we created above everything else! The Creator has given us a privilleged place within the creation, yes! But that is no license to destroy, nor an excuse for dominance; it is a role of care, concern and compassion! To the extent I am able to sync, I shall be godly, for our God is a God of communion!

Staying awake is Standing up: standing up against all the odds that are perpetrated by the godless with disdain - those who are heartless, merciless, senseless, shameless in siding with injustice and truthlessness! How can we stand up against them without staying awake; how can we call ourselves awake, if we really do not stand up againt anything that militates against truth, justice and love!

Let us strive to stay aware, stay awake... in every sense!

Never to pass away!

WORD 2day: Friday, last week in Ordinary time

November 28, 2025: Daniel 7: 2-14; Luke 21: 29-33

A pain reliever statement suggested by many in today's world is: 'this too will pass'. Specially these days facing the news about wars, terrosit activities and the political banterings, persons whether they believe it or not, whether they are convinced of it or not, atleast as a hopeful wish, keeps repeating that mantra: 'this too shall pass'! But, though it may seem contrary, a more stronger promise is the recurring theme of today's Word; it is a reference to something that is here, never to pass away... the Lord's Word, the Lord's Reign, the Lord's sovereignty.

Things may appear to be going totally out of sway, or nothing may seem to be really under the control of anything that is spiritual... but never lose heart, God is incharge; God is in control. There are people who make absolutising statements about the present social conditions of secularism, indvidualism, technocrazy and so on, as some people a couple of years ago made about the pandemic, saying, 'we shall never return to what was 'normal'; even if we return to normal, it shall be a 'new normal'! As children of God, however bad the readings of the times is, we cannot be too anxious... we cannot absolutise the enslaving powers!

The Word speaks to our hearts today: our Saviour knows us and to the the Lord's Reign there is no end. Be firm in faith. Hold on to the One who has formed you, One who has called you and One who loves you infinitely - the One whose Words will never pass away; the One whose Reign shall never pass away, the One whose Will shall never pass away... let our faith too never pass away!

With heads held high...

WORD 2day: Thursday, last week in Ordinary time

November 27, 2025: Daniel 6: 12-28; Luke 21: 20-28

Living with heads held high, is a deep imagery offered to us by the Word today. These days in India the film "Face of the Faceless" is doing its rounds... and there is so much effort to spread it across to the viewers. It is about Sr. Rani Maria - the humble convinced servant of the Reign who sacrificed her life, generating a faith experience for a whole lot of people around - be it her offender, her family and all others who witnessed the event and the process. 

More names like that - the great recently canonised Oscar Romero, a household name - Mother Teresa, much less known Mrs. Gladys Staines or another recent addition - Fr. Stan Swami... these names and the persons attached are "great" not for some kind of power they wielded or prominent posts they held, but for the endurance they had! The threats and violence and opposition that surrounded them never managed to swallow them in. Because they lived with their heads held high.

Daniel in the first reading today and Jesus himself from the Gospel, are offered as Biblical models for living with heads held high... never losing sight of that source, from where our help comes. Our help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth - those are familiar lines for us. Let it not remain a mere phrase, but a real conviction that come what may, I can stand tall, stand tall with my head held high. Because I do not depend on this world or even the best of my well wishers that I find here on earth! They are my sources of sustenance, in as much as the One who us ultimately concerned about me, has ordained this persons, circumstances and systems to be of assistance to me!

Yes, my help comes from the Lord, and from the Lord alone! Hence, even in the worst of my situations, I can never lose hope! Amidst all the struggles of our daily life, we can live with our heads held high!

The Writing on our wall...

WORD 2day: Wednesday, last week in Ordinary time

November 26, 2025: Daniel 5:1-6,13-14,16-17,23-28; Luke 21:12-19

"The writing on the wall" - the familiar phrase in English, has its origin in the first reading today. The meaning is very clear and that is precisely the message of the Word today. It is clear to all of us even as we choose things on a daily basis, to what consequences they will lead us.

When we commit some mistake, we are prone to say - 'I did it without knowing', at least in vernaculars exists such a formulation, don't they? But none of us can claim a total ignorance, while most of us do not want to really accept the fact that we do know the consequences of our choices; unfortunately we feign ignorance and desperately look for someone or something to blame it on. In all sincerity we know, what we sow, we reap.

Our choices of negative tendencies like manipulation, disrespect, abuse, violence and exploitation cannot but lead to situations of hopelessness, darkness and death - King Belshazzar is sadly made aware of it today by Daniel. It was too late to mend things. If we do not want to reach that extreme, we would do better to take guard right now! What are we really up to?

But there is yet another writing on the wall that is presented: Jesus says, if you choose to belong to me, if you choose to be called my disciples, if you choose to respond to my call, you will be derided, persecuted and even killed, but do not fear; in your endurance you would have won life, life in all its fullness, life in the very author of life, life everlasting! That is a frightening and challenging writing, but at the same time a consoling one, a promising one, a hope-filled one!

Let us stop, look intently and understand the writing on our wall... shall we?

Towards the Author of life...

WORD 2day: Tuesday, last week in Ordinary time

November 25, 2025: Daniel 2: 31-45; Luke 21: 5-11

Both in the book of Daniel and from the Gospel today, we see a prediction of destruction. The destruction and its prediction need not be seen as something totally unexpected. Already from the very constitution of the so called kingdoms that Daniel speaks of and from the types of people spoken of by Jesus, we see that destruction was inevitable and imminent - because of the choices that they had made.

Jesus makes it clear in the Gospel today that there is no point in running after predictions and signs, or after fortune tellers and soothsayers... at times even the so called evangelists and preachers behave like these cheap sensation creators. Speaking of spectacular signs, threatening with worrisome developments and staging incredulous events as a proof of their predictions... these are not strange sights anymore. Every religion has its own set of so-called godmen who are fake, and sadly quite a few from the Christian fold appear on that list.

There is something that we are called to observe and examine from even the minutest of happenings around us and within us. When we are attentive to these, the wider and larger reality, comes into picture with God's plan for universal salvation. We are called that we make clear cut choices that prevent us from destruction and ruin, and instead unite us with the Lord who alone is the author of life.

Choosing God in little things

WORD 2day: Monday, 34th week in Ordinary time

November 24, 2025: Daniel 1: 1-6,8-20; Luke 21:1-4

The world is used to a stereotype as to what is good and what is better; social standards of what makes one good and what makes the other better! The temptation to conform to that social stereotypes is very high and dangerously subtle. Many a time we fall into the trap, though the Word very often warns us, "Do not be conformed to this world" (Rom 12:2), because, "the Lord does not see, as the mortals see" (1 Sam 16:7).

That is why, the two tiny coins that the widow drops quietly into the treasury seem more valuable to Jesus than the bags and bags of wealth that the others dumped there. To be his disciples, "let the same mind be in you, as it was in Christ Jesus" (Phil 2:5) instructs St. Paul. We begin to read from today from the book of Daniel, every day increasingly reminding us of the imminent choices that we have to make for the Lord and not for the convention of the world.

Daniel was special because of this, that God's mind was in him, the wisdom of the Lord was in him, that made him shine to the rest of the world. He knew what to choose and what to let go. He knew what really mattered and what did not. He knew what it meant to be faithful to his Master, the Lord, the Almighty. Just like that old widow, who knew what really mattered in life - not that last two pennies that she had in her hand, but the never failing care of the Divine; not the favour of the self trumpetting people around, but the presence of the everloving God!

Maybe, I need to ask the Lord today, to give me that wisdom to see things as the Lord does, with the same mind that was in Christ Jesus and choose the right things and let go of those that are immaterial. Choosing the little that truly matters, will win me all that I need - the all, that is God!

JESUS CHRIST IS KING

...and I am His Ambassador!

Solemnity of Christ the King: November 23, 2025
2 Samuel 5: 1-3; Colossians 1: 12-20; Luke 23: 35-43

Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever! 

Jesus Christ is the king - yesterday, today and forever! We celebrate the Kingship of Christ this Sunday - what a wisdom for the Church to invite the faithful to end the liturgical year with their King. And next Sunday we would begin a new liturgical year. Today, the readings invite us to reflect on the kingship that Christ holds and the way he exercises it! How many types of leaders we have - there are those that showcase themselves to be 'saviours' of human kind but make choices and alliances that promote nothing but their own interests, there are those who show themselves to be champions of rights and turn out to be no different from the oppressive ones when it comes to certain situations, there are those who are outspoken but at times totally unaware as to what they speak builds or breaks, and unfortunately there are a majority who care truly nothing about those whom they would rule or govern and specially those in need or those difficulties but fend for themselves and their own! How many.... and how many colours they change! We are presented today with Jesus, who remains the same yesterday, today and forever!

St. Paul summarises the entire feast that we celebrate today, in just three verses in the second reading - Col 1: 17,18,20.

CHRIST IS before all things, and in him all things hold together (Col 1:17). The first reading establishes the kingship of Jesus in the line of David - God makes David the king of Israel and promises that his line will never end. In fact, in God's mighty plan, the kingship seems eternal, without beginning or end, for God places David a king, to rule in God's name and for Israel it was always Yahweh, who was the King! When Jesus claimed, 'before Abraham ever was, I am' (Jn 8:58), they were unable to grasp it; let us not blame them, even we do not grasp it. Because, we human beings cannot think out of the categories of time and space. God is eternal, which means timeless! God has always been... and that is from where everything good comes.

Every leadership in Christian community therefore derives from God; it is an invitation, a commitment to act on behalf of God, at the service of God's people! Jesus Christ is King, Jesus Christ has been king from eternity, as the first-born of all creation, to him all glory and majesty! True Christian leadership is a participation in this ministry that Jesus carried out while he lived on earth: the ministry of love and service.

CHRIST LIVES in each of us, through him God is pleased to reconcile all things on earth or heaven (Col 1:20). The verse speaks to us of a future, of the universal harmony in the One Lord, One God, the new earth and new heaven where only Love will reign, that is, only God will reign, for God is love (1 Jn 4:8). Everything that moves towards harmony, peace, love, fellowship and universal brotherhood and sisterhood, resembles Christ. And anything that militates against these values of reconciliation, is against Christ.

Jesus Christ is King, Jesus will be forever the king. Everything, everyone is moving towards that union with God, in Christ our Lord. It fills us with a hope, despite all the tribulations we go through here and now. But it is not automatic, it all depends on the choices we make today. If we choose the Lord, we endear the Lord. On the contrary, if we choose the passing glories and fleeting pleasures of the moment, that is what we will have. As St.Paul instructs us elsewhere, if you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit (Gal 6:8).

CHRIST RULES as the head of the body, the church (Col 1:18). The Gospel presents us a strange sort of a King. Jesus is the one who rules...who rules from the Cross as his throne, who rules with the thorns as his crown, who rules not with the sceptre in his hands but with the marks of nail on his hands, who rules not with laws but with love, a love that abounds without any measure whatsoever.

The most important truth to reflect on today, is the fact that the ruler has appointed you and me as his ambassadors - the ruler is not understood, so will we be -not understood; the ruler is not welcome into the schools and public places and the moral arena in the world today, so will we be not welcome to voice our opinions for truth and for justice. But as his ambassador, what should I do? What am I ready to do?

Yes, Christ is King, but I am his ambassador, wherever I am... in my service of love, in my witness of faith, in my joy of hope, in my testimony of humility, in my commitment to truth and in my yearning for justice, I have to prove myself that I am the ambassador of that Eternal King. How worthy am I of the king whom I represent! How faithful and loyal am I to the King who has died for me, and who calls me to do the same! You are the people of God, Royal Priesthood says the Word, yes, that is what we are...we share the kingship with Christ - a kingship that consists in loving service to humanity and loving surrender to the Lord!

Long live my King! My concern today is that I become His ambassador, an ambassador evermore worthy of my King!

Belong to the Lord, here and now!

WORD 2day: Saturday, 33rd week in Ordinary time

November 22, 2025: 1 Maccabees 6:1-13; Luke 20: 27-40

I will rejoice in your saving help O Lord, we repeat in the responsorial psalm today! Take that in contrast to the lament we hear from the dying king in the first reading. After having done all the damage that he could, at his death bed he does realise his folly. Too late for anything to be done! We wonder how many of the dominant personalities today have to go through this... let us hope they do not wait for their death bed to realise their wickedness! One wonders whether today's evil heads would realise even on their death bed the damage they have caused to humanity!

Just a moment! Let us not be lost in judging that king in the first reading, or the evil bigheads of our times! The challenge is to each of us: are we able to say as the psalmist says, 'I will rejoice in your saving help O Lord'? That would require that we understand what that help is. The help actually is the grace of the Spirit, that helps us understand our foolishness, our worthless ego, our pointless anger, our heartless unforgiving attitude and similar marks of folly. We need to realise these in our daily life and in our ordinary relationships, beginning with the closest of our brothers and sisters!

In our empty pride and selfish scheming, we loitter into areas of evil that are totally ungodly! At times we go to the extent of forgetting our real call to be children of God. The Lord gives us chances, ample opportunities to realise our folly and return to our original dignity. There is no use waiting till our death bed and them praying for the mercies of the Lord. Our Lord is the God of the living, not of the dead! Let us belong to the Lord, while we live, not merely when we die - concretely, here and now!

Taking possession of His temple

WORD 2day: Friday, 33rd week in Ordinary Time

November 21, 2021: 1 Maccabees 4: 36-37,52-59; Luke 19: 45-48

In our living rooms or in the offices, we could have a normal experience of piling up unwanted things little by little and at a point of time we would decide to do away with all of them and get the room or office cleansed. And surprisingly at that time, all that we were hoarding up as probable "usables" would become worthy only of the trash bags! The Word today speaks of such an experience, reminding us of the need to belong to God.

In our own bodies and minds, in our daily living, we begin to accumulate things we consider important: our immediate pleasures, our addictive dependencies, our bloating ego, our unforgiving rancours, our tendencies to prove ourselves to the world, and so on. The Lord reminds us, the beginning of every new day is an opportunity for us to turn the tables over, to throw the trashes into cans, and renew ourselves into what we are - the dwelling places of God!

God wishes to take possession of God's temple cleansed and put in order. Let's open up our lives and allow God to enter God's abode. Let's resolve to rededicate ourselves to the glory of God. Let the Lord take possession of the Lord's temple!

Am I among the few_

WORD 2day: Thursday, 33rd week in Ordinary time

November 20, 2025: 1 Maccabees 2:15-29; Luke 19: 41-44

The very fact a few are mentioned among the Israelites who stood firm in their faith is an indication that a great number of them strayed away from it. It continued in Jesus' time too. Only a handful were ready and open enough to behold the unfolding of the promises of the Lord in and through the life of Jesus. And Jesus cries over the rest of the city. Not just the city at large, but his own close companions... did he not ask them, "are you going away from me too"?

The situation is no different today! There aren't too many who are totally convinced of what they believe and it is becoming more and more difficult to remain absolutely faithful to the truth not giving into any compromises. It is one thing to be unjust, arrogant and evil, and do what I feel like, considering or respecting no one. But it is completely another thing to deceive people with my apparent goodness! I put up an appearance to be the best of everyone put together; but only I know within me, how evil and how conniving I really am! How many compromises and how many facades!

That is why, the only one apart from God, who can say who I really am, is only myself! It is easy to find a fault on me and point a finger at me; it is also possible that no one finds anything wrong with me - both of these are not sufficient. The crucial question would be that I ask myself - do I belong to the majority who seem to be namesake followers? Or am I among the few?

Take yourself seriously!

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 33rd week in Ordinary Time

Novembre 19, 2025: 2 Maccabbees 7: 1, 20-31; Lk 19: 11-28

The end time disaster narration continues in the first reading today, while the recommendation given for this day is: take yourself seriously! Look at your life, look at what you are, look at what you have, look at what you are given, look at the tasks entrusted to you and take them seriously! The urge to be faithful to God is never a question of maintaining the status quo.

Regardless of our successes and titles we will be judged on the basis of our faithfulness to God or its lack. It does not matter whether we have worked on a little or an accomplished great thing, but it does matter what our level of faithfulness was, as we worked on it! This faithfulness becomes more and more subtler as the things involved get more and more important - like our spiritual life, our faith life, our commitment to our relationship with God.

What was the mother in the first reading we have today: a prophetess? a leader? a queen? No one... just a simple woman, an insignificant mother thus far and shoots all of a sudden to fame - simply because of the faithfulness of her sons. Behind that faithfulness, remains the whole life lived by the mother, and with the mother - the values imparted and the convictions rooted. She deserves all the limelight, as she nurtured them amisdt the obscurity of the ordinariness of life.

The Lord has entrusted us with the great gift of life - and we are to bring it back to the Lord, with all that we can add to it. Meaning, significance, merits, kindness, forgiveness, empathy, integrity and so on. It is not the noise and the fanfare that surrounds that will decide our final destiny, but that one moment of intense silence before the Lord where the Lord sees what I have made of my life finally. That moment will be happy, if today I take myself, my life and my call, seriously!

The Witness of Choice

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 33rd week in Ordinary time

November 18, 2025: 2 Maccabees 6: 18-31; Luke 19: 1-10

We are called to witness to the Lord, the Lord's Gospel and the Lord's Reign. The most powerful of witnesses is the witness of choice, the witness of making a choice for God over many others that claim a reckoning!

Our choices determine, the person that we are! Our choices manifest the sort of community we form! Be it our personal choices, or our collective choices as a community, or society or as whole humanity, we constantly keep making statements as to who we are, through our choices.

Eleazar makes a choice for God by not scandalising the little ones of God against a life for God. No one would have objected to it, if he had saved himself of extreme troubles; in fact they were merciful towards him. But what did not allow him was his interior, personal choices for God! And that became the greatest of witness to his fellow believers!

Zachaeus makes a choice to hold on to Christ and let everything else go, a witness of inspiration that he gives as an elder! Those who knew the old Zachaeus certainly would have been blown away in surprise. His choices were absolutely unbelievable!

The long and short of the message today is: even if don't give a great witness per se, I need to atleast refrain from causing scandals for the little ones. However, both these are equally demanding and not exclusive of each other. We know the amount of damage that scandals are causing to the believing community these days. The crux of our Christian life is making a choice for God, for a life worthy of God and a life that is uplifting for the people of God!

Let me see again!

WORD 2day: Monday, 33rd week in Ordinary time

November 17, 2025: 1 Maccabees 1:10-15,41-43,54-57,62-63; Lk 18: 35-43

Born in a society of multireligious nature (India), and today living in a society that idolises this state of multi-religiosity in theory (Italy), personally I feel gifted with experiences and circumstances that can illumine the way one perceives things. At times, at the first look, they do not come across to our observation and understanding. That is why the call from the Word today, to see again - just as that person without sight asked Jesus: Lord, let me see again!

One sad fact is that in traditionally multireligious climate of places like India, there are tendencies recently to neglect the possibilities of co-existence and shared experiences, absolutising identities and polarisation of the society, dividing humanity on varied bases. Another extreme ar the situations (like in Europe) where multi-religiosity is idolised without really understanding the nuances, where there is a tendency to level everything, compromise on convictions and mix and match things to suit one's convenience!

In these extremities, what is important is that we see, and that we see again! That is, see closely and understand everything with a close attention and then initiate a process of dialogue, that does not raze down uniquenesses but accentuates the value of differences which contribute to each other, which humanise the society more, and make the meaning and the dignity of living as human persons, truly felt and experienced by all. 

This infact is what evangelisation and re-evangelisation is all about - to throw new light; to make persons see again! For such a mission entrusted to us, we need to make this our daily prayer: Lord, let me see again!

Gathering the signs!

WORD 2day : Friday, 32nd week in Ordinary time

November 14, 2025: Wisdom 13:1-9; Luke 17: 26-37

Every now and then in the story of humanity, a story makes its rounds that the end of the world is bound to begin shortly... in a week or in a fixed time foresaid... with three days of darkness and other demonic signs. Though there is a curiosity that these horror stories evoke, they are merely manifestations of a spirituality that seeks some excitement all the time. Isn't that a very weak form of spirituality?

Jesus invites us to grow in our capacity to gather the signs from the experiences of ordinary day to day life... the lessons arising from the clashes caused by evil tendencies, cravings incited by selfishness, inhumanities provoked by senseless egoism, insensitivities and indifferences that make this world a worthless place to live in! People who make of everything and every person, a commodity, a means to their own gain and a possibility of profit!

Look at the entire scenario of today's armed stand-offs all around the world: every one of those is human made and so miserably evil... leave aside the question who started it and who is perpetrating it! Every time there is a disaster, human made or natural, there are those who shamelessly draw profit from it... what kind of a human person would do that? Worse still, a follower of Christ falling into that mode of living, that is a senseless shame. It is a clear sign that they do not gather any signs of what God wants from them!

The call hence, is to gather signs and understand the invitation from God. It is not about when the end of the world would come... but what does God want of me here and now, right here and right now! It would be unwise to remain deaf or blind to the messages that the Lord sends... let's remain awake and read those signs and channel our courses towards one united goal: the Reign of God here on earth.

Me, the Spirit and the Reign!

WORD 2day : Thursday, 32nd week in Ordinary time

November 13, 2025: Wisdom 7:22 - 8:1: Luke 17: 20-25

The Reign of God is among you, says Jesus in the Gospel. While the first reading gives us the cue where to initiate it in concrete: from the Spirit who dwells within us. This is the crux of Christian life in the world today!

It is the Spirit's doing that initiates the Reign in this world. Hence the call that we have received to establish the Reign of God, begins with realising the Spirit within us. It is to become aware of the indwelling Spirit and live a life that is worthy of this inner presence, that waits to spread itself into a light that would lead the entire world from within each of us.

The second need is to keep the Spirit alive and nourish it with our choice for God on a day to day manner. When you sow flesh, you grow flesh; when you sow the Spirit, you grow in the Spirit, counsels St. Paul elsewhere. Our growth in the Spirit depends on the interest we manifest in feeding our selves with Spiritual nourishment. When the Spirit grows within, the Reign around me springs!

Thirdly, we are challenged to live that Spirit out, manifest that Spirit, bear witness to that Spirit, make the Spirit felt in our very beings, with courage and commitment, inspite of the threats and troubles around us. Once we choose to live our life in the Spirit to the full, the Reign of God begins to dawn on this world.

There is a crucial connection between the Spirit and the Reign, and the connection is ME!

Faith is... to respond!

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 32nd week in Ordinary time

November 12, 2025: Wisdom 6: 1-11; Luke 17: 11-19

The readings seem to converge on one thought today... that the Lord wishes, expects, and demands a response from us! 

Our God is a self revealing God... through signs and wonders, and prophets and wise persons, and finally through God's only Son, and continuously even today in and through God's Spirit, God continues to reveal Godself to us in various ways. The question is, do we pay attention, listen and acknowledge what is being revealed. 

The tricky fact is that, the more we are given, the more we are expected to respond! It is not to be misinterpretted as if God gives, and expect that we repay! No! But it is that, we are given so much, we are so filled with such goodness, we receive "grace upon grace" (Jn 1:16), that we realise it is right and just to give God thanks and praise to the Lord!

To know the right thing to be done at the right time and choosing to do it, is a gift of the Holy Spirit... we would be blessed to possess it. And the Lord says today, "set your desire on my words; long for them, and you will be instructed!" (Wis 6:11). Doing the right thing, at the right time, is a response that we give to the Lord and that response is what is expected from me - anytime, anywhere! When I don't respond, I waste what was entrusted to me: a gift, a treasure!

Our response to the self revealing God - that is our faith. Growing in faith is learning to respond more and more adequately. Failing to respond is dwindling in faith. Let us grow in faith everyday - let us be attentive to respond to the Lord in every way!

Bearing God's image within

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 32nd week in Ordinary time

November 11, 2025: Wisdom: 2:23 - 3:9; Luke 17: 7-10

The first reading today states a tremendous truth - we are made for eternity, incorruptible by nature, because we carry the image of God within us! That is the fundamental truth of salvation. We are all saved in the core of our being, none of us is destined to destruction, none of us is rushing towards perdition!

But let us beware! There is something which can change everything drastically! We have a responsibility to keep that truth alive, because it all depends on the choices we make. By nature we are God's own children, but if we by our daily decisions and life choices, resolve to break away from God and from the gifts that God has placed within us, we are ruining our own salvific core.

It is not as if we are doing something extraordinary or achieving unthinkable feats when we accomplish within our limits, whatever goodness we can! It is actually what we are, it is our very nature; because we are endowed with God's nature. And so, craving for recognition and appreciation, boasting about oneself and one's so-called achievements are a folly. St. Paul would remind us repeatedly of that. Jesus explains that today: when you have done all that you ought to, remember you have done no more than your duty.

The problem gets real bad, when we are not what we are created to be, we do not do what we are called to! We shield ourselves away from the salvation that God, from all eternity, has prepared for us. What a ruin that would be!

The Word reminds us today: we are called every day, every moment to go on living in faith founded on hope and guided by love, to live a life of love and mercy; and at the end of it say, 'we are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty!' 

Let us remember... God who loves us will never desert us, unless we decide to break away from God.

Holiness - faith lived at its core!

WORD 2day: Monday, 32nd week in Ordinary time

November 10, 2025: Wisdom 1:1-7; Luke 17: 1-6

Holiness is a matter of the innermost being. It does not consist merely of the external signs and public shows. Words not said, thoughts not expressed, acts merely contemplated, reactions withheld... these determine my holiness more than what the world around perceives me to be. That is why the strange link between faith and forgiveness in the Gospel today. Forgiveness too is an absolutely private truth; its genuinity escapes any external expression!

While Jesus teaches his disciples to forgive brothers and sisters, they respond saying - 'increase our faith!' It can sound strange, but only apparently so! One could say, should the prayer not be, 'Lord help us to forgive!' why do we see, the apostles praying: increase our faith? The connection is very profound, and typically Christ-ian. One cannot consider oneself to be a person of faith, holy and spiritual, if one's relationships with others is not right. If faith is relationship with God, forgiveness is relationship with my fellow beings! If the latter fails, the former is meaningless. If we want really to be spiritual, we have to forgive, accept, and love our brothers and sisters, as God does with us!

Let's ask the Lord to "Increase our faith" (Lk 17:5); increase in faith means what the first reading tells us: honesty, simplicity of heart, shunning deceit, being truthful, in short: being godly at the core of our being, not merely in the external show! Yes, holiness is faith lived at the core of our beings. Faith is our daily life lived in the presence of the Lord. 

The more we grow conscious of the continuous presence of the Lord the more holy we shall grow!

THE TEMPLE THAT YOU ARE

The Solemnity of the Dedication of Lateran Basilica

32nd Sunday in Ordinary time: 9th November, 2025

Ezekiel 47: 1-2, 8-9, 12; 1 Corinthians 3: 9-11, 16-17; John 2: 13-22

Temple. Temple of the Lord. Temple of the living God. Temple where lives God. That temple you are! And it is from here the Lord wants his glory to be spread far and wide, from the temple of our selves, from the altars of our daily struggles and sacrifices. The Lord's zeal for the temple flairs up today and that temple is not the structure that stands in places, but the persons that we are.

The dedication of the Basilica of St John at the Laterans gives us a great opportunity to reflect on the decadence of the divinity that resides within humanity. But before getting to discuss that, let us say a word on the Basilica itself.

The Basilica and the feast:

The feast that we celebrate today is the remembrance of the dedication (on 9th, Nov, 324 AD) of the Basilica that stands on the property which was called 'Lateran' because it belonged to that family but acquired and given by Emperor Constantine to the Church earlier. The Church which was built was dedicated to the two great John's of the Gospel: John the Baptist and John the Evangelist! This Basilica is one of the so-called Four Major Basilicas of Rome (the other three being those of St. Peter, Mary Major and St. Paul outside the walls). There is yet another importance attached to this Basilica because this is the Cathedral, that is the Official seat of the Bishop of Rome, that is none other than the Holy Father himself. Hence this is called the Papal Cathedral, and not the all-famous Basilica of St. Peter!

The Message:

Humanity is the sanctuary where Divinity resides: I need to realise that I am not merely what I see! I am more than me. There is the indwelling spirit that resides in me. The Divinity that is within me is the true dignity that defines me. First of all to think of it that the Lord chose to dwell within me; secondly to think of the mystery that I am made of! Both these should make me awestruck but what happens today is so loathsome.

The Robbers' den and the Market place: Such a sanctuary, filled with such extraordinary truths is made into a robbers den: a place where all evil resides; and a market place: where everything goes on except what is sacred! Exploitation of persons, decadence of moral dignity, human trafficking, sexual aberrations, killing in the name of god, violating the rights of the other, scheming to wipe out the races of people, keeping quiet at the face of blatant inhumanity that is perpetrated at large, buying and selling human labour without an iota of human respect, the swelling of the moneyed and the suffering of the exploited, the arrogance of the affluent and the insensitivity towards the downtrodden, the thousands and thousands of lives of the poor over whose graves walks the so called development today... these are the crimes against which the Lord would make a whip!

Realise that Blessing that you are: Cleansing the temple, the invitation that Lord has is fundamentally to realise the divinity that resides within us and the dignity that arises from the fact. To understand that the Spirit of the Lord dwells within us and that is the true stuff we are made of. To understand that we are a blessing to many, as Ezekiel points out about the waters that flow from beneath the Temple which makes fertile every land that it flows into. To understand the ways in which this sanctuary of humanity, is profaned by values that are demoralising to the core.

In simple words, we are called to be persons worthy of the Lord, communities worthy of our faith and societies worthy of the sacredness of the humanity.

Authentic Faith and Right Relationships

WORD 2day: Saturday, 31st week in Ordinary time

November 8, 2025: Romans 16: 3-9,16,22-27; Luke 16: 9-15

Let us pay attention to those words used in the first reading today - friend, fellow workers, fellow prisoners, compatriots, brothers and sisters - it is all full of relationships! Faith without relationships is empty. In fact faith in itself is a relationship, a relationship with God that defines every other relationship in life. Yes, it is all about relationships, but the right ones.

Faith and Right Relationships are connected to each other. Faith creates right relationships and right relationships mark authentic faith. How do we understand right relationships - they are relationships that are centered on God. They are not relationships that turn out to be possessive, selfish, self centered, self seeking, materialistic and mundane. They are relationships that center on God, that promote true selfless love, that respect the mutual dignity and freedom and that edify each other towards the spiritual maturity. These are Right Relationships, nurtured by Authentic Faith.

When Jesus speaks of choosing one master and letting go of the other, this is what he means. By "money" he means all that is mundane, all that is materialistic and all that is merely utilitarian. By "God" he meant, all that is spiritual, faith centered and truly Divine. Relationships, if they are right, will surely lead us to this Spiritual Edification!

The Urgency of the Reign

WORD 2day: Friday, 31st week in Ordinary time

November 7, 2025: Romans 15: 14-21; Luke 16: 1-8

Jesus may be slightly intriguing in today's Gospel, as it seems as if he is justifying the shrewdness of the steward or approving of his lies. The point that Jesus is bringing forth is completely different. He wants us to realise how efficiently and time- consciously the evil doers proceed with their affairs, while those who are committed to the cause of the Reign, find themselves taking their own sweet time, hesitating, calculating, planning endlessly!

Isn't it true? Just think of the multinational corporates, the ideological lobbies and antidemocratic political forces which are dictating terms to the humanity at large today. Did they spring into existence, just overnight? Where were the so-called Reign thinkers and Reign persons all the time that these were brewing in the dark, to emerge so forceful and see the light of day! Certainly they were watching, warning each other, talking about it and reflecting on it al the time, but had not acted in such a way as to stop these forces of compromise. Even today, isn't the same happening? There are these forces of division, oppression, and antihuman politicisation, slowly gaining ground. We see it and what are we doing? In the name of creating support systems that can help on a difficult day, building defence faculties, devising and revising strategies, so on and so forth, are we failing to live up to the demands of the day?

St. Paul is given as our model today: a man with an urgency to make Christ known and with a compelling clarity as to what his task was: to take Christ to those who didnt know Christ. The Urgency of the Reign comes precisely from these three factors: Clarity of our task; Conviction that I have but a short time; and a Commitment unto death.

How strongly is imprinted on my mind, the urgency of the Reign of God? And how ready am I to respond to its demands here and now?

The Reign Persons

WORD 2day: Thursday, 31st week in Ordinary time 

November 6, 2025: Romans 14: 7-12 ; Luke 15: 1-10

Two attitudes, in contrast today, bring out the quality of a person who belongs to the Reign of God. The so called sinners and publicans were seeking to be in the company of Jesus while the pharisees were busy complaining that Jesus was eating with sinners and meeting with the outcasts. Jesus says he cared two hoots about what the pharisees thought, because Jesus' task was so clear cut and absolute for him: the Reign of God.

Reign of God is a mindset fundamentally. It is a mindset that gives priority to the Lord, a mentality that considers nothing more important that the will of God, a disposition of welcoming all that pertains to God and a lifestyle of celebrating every moment of life, every person around and every possibility of promoting love through genuine relationships. Although eating and drinking, and feasts and gatherings are an important part of the spirit of the Reign, they are not all, decries Jesus! Righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom 14:17)... that's the Reign of God.

Reign of God consists of our choices, daily and radical choices, wherever we are - choices such as, whose company we seek; what do we decry; what is that which disturbs us when we look at the society today or our own life today, and so on... these are the pertinent elements that will make us truly persons of the Reign!

Ready for the battle?

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 31st week in Ordinary time

November 5, 2025: Romans 13: 8-10; Luke 14: 25-33

Love... it's a term that is by far the most spoken of, not merely from a Christian perspective but that of the whole reality today. But that is no statement that guarantees the right usage of the term, because more often than not, it is misused and abused. A great percentage use it to mean a kind of feeling, a sentiment, an emotion that warms up one's heart.

Love is not all those.. love is a decision, a choice, a commitment that would demand so much from me that, I would find myself in a battle. Yes, responding to the call to love is like undertaking a whole expedition, against evil and hatred, for goodness and genuine fellowship. In choosing love, I am challenged to reject a whole lot of evil that is so widespread and prevalent around me today!

To accept to genuinely love, means being ready for any cost that I would have to pay. At times I may find myself alone, with the whole society against me. While everyone acts on the logic of give and take, tit for tat and an eye for an eye...I will have to declare that I love the one who has hurt me, I love the one who keeps offending me, I love the one who is the cause of so much suffering. That does not mean I approve of what he or she does...but the person, I cannot reject or hate! Oh, what a complicated choice it is! Love does not rejoice in evil; it rejects evil. But it never judges anyone or rejects anyone; it is patient and kind, forbearing and forgiving!

As a Christian every follower of Christ is obliged to take up this battle of love! And after having launched myself into this battle, if I turn back and find myself wanting, I will be considered unfit for the Reign. On a daily basis let us hearken to this call to love...which insists that we take a commitment every day which could be dangerously demanding. Am I truly ready for this battle?

From the Lord's Spread

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 31st week in Ordinary time

November 4, 2025: Romans 12:5-16; Luke 14: 15-24

Jesus has the table spread; where the saints of God are fed; he invites his chosen people come and dine!

The spread that Jesus has is joy, hope, love, sharing, caring, helping, encouragement, honour, respect, service, hospitality, empathy - all that we see in the first reading, from Paul's letter to the Romans (a profile of a perfect Christian from chapter 12). It's all right before us... at any moment to make a choice, a deliberate choice. When that choice is according to God's will, we can surely count on God's accompaniment through every rough patch of the terrain.

But we... we are too busy with our own choices, too busy setting ourselves up, towards selfishness, envy, pride, jealousy, insensitivity, avarice, competition, hatred, enmity... we choose not to pick from the spread that Jesus has - but later blame the Lord, complain against the Lord when things go wrong!

It takes courage to choose God, to say 'yes' to God's invitation and partake in God's banquet. Only when we dare do that we can meaningfully pray the verse from the responsorial today, "In you, O Lord, I have found my peace!"

From God, through God, and to God...

WORD 2day: Monday, 31st week in Ordinary time

November 3, 2025: Romans 11: 29-36; Luke 14: 12-14

Calculations of gain and loss, returns and rewards, condition an action and limit it to the evaluation of these considerations. Jesus, has not only taught us a consideration different from these, but lived it himself and challenges us to live by it, on our turn!

The consideration Jesus lived by was: what God wants of me here and now! Adopting that as my decisive criterion in life, requires of me two important attitudes:

The first reading speaks of the first of these two attitudes - it is, an immeasurable awe and absolute entrustment to the Wisdom of God. Doing the will of God is possible only when there is an invincible conviction that God's will is always good and favorable to my well being. Looking at God as a punishing God or a vindictive task master will never enable us to lovingly surrender to God's will.

The second attitude: placing others, especially the weak, the poor, the least and the last, the needy as a crucial focus of my perspective on life, and not looking at my own selfish and egoistic ends. How many times even the little good that I do for the needy, is so filled with my selfish motives, self glory and need for self satisfaction!

Only when these two attitudes become my own, can I worthily say as St. Paul says in the reading today: 'From God and through God and to God are all things. To God be glory for ever. Amen.'

It is all about Relationships!

ALL SOULS DAY

Sunday, November 2, 2025 

Yesterday we celebrated the memory of the saints... those among us who have gone before us all the way! They shine as they have reached the destiny prepared for them. They are the Triumphant Church, radiating the HOPE that Christ brought to humanity.

Today we keep the memory of those among us who have gone before us, but not yet all the way! They await the mercy of God, to join the band of those who share the glory of the Eternal Light. They are the Penitent Church, united with us in FAITH, the one faith in which we were all baptised, the one faith in which we have a duty to offer our prayers and suffrages.

Tomorrow onwards we are back to our daily living, as we make our way, amidst the struggles and temptations of the daily life. We are the Militant Church, fighting our way ahead on a daily basis, with LOVE - love for God who constantly accompanies us and love for brothers and sisters with which we accompany those who are around us.

It's all about relationship... we are One Church with the One Lord, with one baptism, one call and one destiny... all of us related to each other. Even the thought of death or of the dead, does not fill us with fear or anxiety, for we are all on the same journey at different stages of the course. 

The three tier Church is such a holistic view of our life on earth, that it renders every bit of our life and all its struggles so meaningful. It is within this framework of relationship that we think of those brothers and sisters of ours who have gone before us, signed with the same Holy Spirit, that they may receive the eternal reward they have always longed for. But that would be an incomplete exercise, if it does not challenge us to live our life with more hope and more love, here and now that our faith may throw its light on our concrete everyday.

We are all related! Let that be the message that the day offers us. Let us march on with love, with hope and with faith towards the eternal joy prepared for us.