Blessed to bless; judge to be judged!

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

June 23, 2025 - Genesis 12: 1-9; Matthew 7: 1-5

Abraham was blessed to bless; Jacob was blessed to bless; We the people of God are blessed to bless! There are two messages here for us to note - first to understand that we are blessed, be what may the situation around. More often than not, we get so immersed into some troubles and difficulties that come our way, that we forget conveniently our blessings. We become so blind to those blessings so obviously present all around us. 

The second fact to remember is the call that is involved in every blessing that we have received. The call to recognise the blessings that we have received, is not merely for our own sake, but for the sake of the people. I shall make you a light house to the nations, I shall make you a blessing to the people... these are promises that the Lord has made to God's people. 

When we are blessed to bless, why do we curse and become a curse to the others? That is the key that Jesus wishes to present to us. See the blessing in others; do not judge them. When I judge the other for some simple shortcomings that I find in him or her, I magnify the curse that is between us and give into the power of that curse... that is why the Lord instructs us: judge not; and be not judged. 

When I judge, I give into the power of juegement and subject myelf to judgements! The positive formulation of that could be to find the blessing in the other, seek to magnify that blessing and thus become a blessing to the other! Let us remember we are blessed to bless! 

CELEBRATING THE SELF-GIVING GOD

Receiving, Remembering, and Remaining in Him! 

June 22, 2025: The Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ

Genesis 14:18-20; 1 Corinthians 11: 23-26; Luke 9: 11-17

I am the bread come down from heaven, one who eats of this bread will have eternal life!

Today we celebrate the solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, a celebration of the Self-Giving God... the total self giving of the Lord who came down from heaven, to remain with us!

The Word has prepared us during the week past, towards this great celebration... we have been reflecting about Christian giving last few days and today, we are invited to remain with that thought: Giving... Christian giving... what a challenging model we have, in the One who not only invites us to give, but also inspires us to give after his own model.  

I can give to receive... not merely a mundane reception of a return for my giving; but it could be a giving to receive something spiritual. To receive, may be a blessing from God , to receive an affirmation from the Divine Giver, etc. Melchizedek brought out bread and wine and Abraham gave him the one tenth... all these giving, in view of receiving the divine protection. This is a model of giving to receive, but let us look at the Lord's giving. 

The Lord who gave himself, is the only one who gave, only to be received... yes, only to be received! It is not giving to receive, but giving to be received! Hence the crux of the message is, that the Lord has given, and it is upto me to receive or not! On the part of the Lord, the Lord gives, to be Received. This is the element of salvation that the Lord has left in the sacrament of the Eucharist, for us to receive... there is so much in there, waiting for to be received! 

When the Lord, in that decisive moment, decided to leave a memory behind, he gave the bread and the wine, that is the body and the blood, and said... do this in remembrance of me... it is important that we pay attention here, he did not instruct us just to remember him, but to remember to do what he did, and do it in remembrance of him... that is, to give of myself as he gave himself totally, to give in remembrance of him... The Lord gives, to be Remembered, that he has invited me to give, and to give as he gave! This is the element of gratitude that the Lord teaches us in the sacrament of Eucharist, the heart of thanksgiving.

Yes, the Lord invites me to give, as he invited the disciples to give the people to eat... 'give them some food yourselves,' he said. It's only when we give to the people in need, we remain the Lord's disciples. To make us learn that we need to give always of ourselves to the others in need, He gives, in order to Remain within us... He comes to us to transform us into Himself, into givers, into givers who give of ourselves to others, without passing the buck on to someone else. This is the sign of charity, the bond of love that the Lord has left in the sacrament of the Eucharist, because of which the Lord abides in us forever, and we have the possibility of remaining in him.

Yes, the Lord gives himself everyday to me, gives to be received, gives to be remembered as the one who invites us to give, and gives in order that he can remain within us and we can remain with him, forever and ever, Amen!