A 3G ON THE WORLD DAY OF THE POOR

GRATITUDE, GUILT AND GIVING - 3 sensibilities provoked!

November 15, 2026: 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
10th World Day of the Poor
Proverbs 31: 10-13,19-20,30-31; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6; Matthew 25: 14-30

Today is the tenth commemoration of the World Day of the Poor, instituted at the request of Pope Francis at the end of the Year of Mercy in 2017, reminding us to keep alive the sensibilities that were provoked during reflections of that entire year! Here this Sunday's Word brings home to us those same sensibilities... and we shall dwell on them in terms of 3Gs.

Gratitude - because what I have is given by God!

The parable that Jesus narrates speaks of each one having what was given them by the King and what they do with that is what the story is all about. Whatever I have, I have it because it is given by God. You may protest - no, I earned it, I merited it...could be. But the opportunity, the contacts, the success...do all have it? If I had it, I was more fortunate than so many. Without giving into a boisterous 'theology of prosperity', I need to admit that if I am blessed with comforts, with conveniences that many do not have today, I have to be grateful.

When I complain, I cannot be grateful. We know of that famous saying - I complained of not having shoes until that day when I found one not having his legs! Gratitude is one important sensibility that we are called to possess - Gratitude is a sign that I acknowledge what I have received and I realise the value of what I have received. The last man was not grateful, he was afraid, lazy and crooked and that is why what he received did not fructify.

Guilt - because what I have is not only mine!

Some may not like this word used here, certainly! It is not even merely to alliterate with the G's that this term is chosen here as the second sensibility but with a lot of consciousness. Pope Francis when he invited the world to observe this day as World Day of the Poor - do you think he was saying, now all of us rich get together and pool in some money to give to the poor? No! He was raising a bigger question - why are there poor? and why are they poor?

At times, when we travel around, when we encounter poor people with nothing to eat or nothing to wear or nowhere to stay... do not we feel guilty of the well pressed clothes that we wear, of the well presented recipes that we enjoy, the well planned travels that we make, at times the well guarded houses that we live in. Are we going to leave all these and go to the streets - no, it may not happen! But that little feeling of uneasiness within us, that needs to be there. That uneasiness drove Francis of Assisi to sanctity; that uneasiness dragged Mother Teresa out of the confines of her convent to the peripheries of the world. It would not benefit us, if we wish to soften the word to 'being sensitive' or to 'being aware'... no, it is being guilty!

Let us not get into poetic polemics like. 'everyone is poor is some way' and so on. It should pain each of us, to see people poor; it should pain each of us to see persons suffer. The world today has to feel that guilt of having pushed its children to poverty and misery. When that third servant failed to be fruitful, the worst fact was not that he was not fruitful, but he was not even guilty about it. That was the most miserable fact. The king just could not digest that!

Giving - because that is why I have!

If I have anything, it is a clear sign that I am called to give! That is what a Christian life should be - Christian life and hoarding wealth for its own sake cannot go together! Oh, what a statement that is to make! But that is the fact. One cannot say, God has blessed me and therefore I am going to be happy! Yes I am happy with the blessing - but I am given to give! The beautiful philosophy of Stewardship that God has been insisting on right from creation, has widely been forgotten, negated and dumped down the drains. How can I not give when I know someone needs it and I have it. To add to that, I have it more than I need!

In a country like India, for an instance, or wherever in the world, we can see the rich getting richer and the poor becoming poorer - can things remain the same? The worst of the scenario, the social organisations and governmental bodies which are to fend of every citizen, are worried serving the purposes of the Corporates and the moneyed! How long are we going to be happy collecting something from somewhere and giving it elsewhere? Giving has to be a duty! Giving has to be our essence! Giving has to be our being! I should give naturally, spontaneously and without a second thought, if I want to be seen as a child of God, because God gives, give abundantly.

"The Lord is the refuge of the poor (Psalm 14:6)," affirms the Holy Father Pope Leo, as a message for  this day, this year! The ugliness of poverty and misery that has always been around us today, is gathering more and more flesh in this age - with the technological and digital divide that is creating a further havoc in the humanity. The reminder is that the Lord stands by the poor, by the vulnerable, by the weak, by the oppressed, by those who are exploited and by those who are neglected... each of us has to be mindful of it! We cannot take them for granted!

Listen to these words of Pope Leo, in his message for this day:

"The poor of our day are the forgotten and the marginalized: robbed not only of bread, but also of a voice and a face. May they encounter the Son of God, who draws near to everyone without neglecting anyone. May they encounter him, first and foremost, in those who call themselves Christians. In the Church, his Body, it is Jesus who offers bread and friendship; he brings light and opens a horizon of hope; he calls each person by name and restores dignity to all. Jesus of Nazareth is God’s gift to the poor..." (n.3).

"In Christ, therefore, we are called to become poor and to be a refuge for the poor. The Christian community cannot remain indifferent to the many who today stand at the door but remain invisible to those who are shut within their own walls. The Church, by its very nature, is called to be poor and a refuge for the poor..." (n.4)

Gratitude, Guilt and Giving... these three sensibilities can truly keep us alive and attentive to the suffering brothers and sisters around us, and all over the world. Those sensibilities, if they are authentic will certainly transform themselves from mere words and individual actions to a collective mentality and a global culture...that is true evangelisation, making God felt everywhere, making God present everywhere, and making God's Reign present here and now!

True Christian love...

WORD 2day: Saturday, 32nd week in Ordinary times

November 14, 2026: 3 John 5-8; Luke 18: 1-8

Taking care of strangers, widows and the orphans was a special commission given to the people by God. And that was an experiential learning on the part of the people who were themselves strangers, orphans and sojourners, in a foreign land. It is an experience that cannot be explained in terms but only experienced...and those who experience it, can never forget it!

However, the term stranger or foreigner was, and is, indicative of every one in need, people in insecure circumstances and people who have nothing to hold on to, wherever they are. Today we have every category you can ever think of within this definition of the people in need. The exploited, the immigrants, the refugees, the unemployed and the homeless!

They already have a grave situation in their lives, that of poverty, insecurity, homelessness, unemployment, lack of prospects and so on. Added to this, if they are exploited further - that is, their little taken away from them, constantly threatened with evacuation, needlessly suspected for all miscues, blamed for all social lapses... we can imagine how doubly unfortunate, orphaned and oppressed they could sense.

There is yet another, more treacherous, attitude in the world today, against which Pope Francis had time and again warned the people of God during his papacy - the attitude of indifference. Passing them by as if they did not exist! Not caring what happens to them, not bothering who is rendered homeless or who is left to die without food or who is condemned to suffer with no employment or who is crushed under the burden of debt... all that matters is the so-called development that parades affluence and divinises comfort and pleasure! Just look at the scenario today - with the war torn nations suffering by themselves and the rest of the world fighting their own battles within... 

We cannot conform to the standards of the affluent and the dominant! We cannot even remain neutral in these circumstances... that is not possible, for a true disciple of Christ. We have a responsibility towards the part of suffering and neglected humanity... taking sides, that is true Chrsitian love!

Informed convictions and Single minded perseverance

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

November 13, 2026: 2 John 4-9; Luke 17: 26-37

Commandments make it easy for us to choose the right things in life. They are similar to the laws, which are already reasoned out discernments made, for the sake of providing individuals and societies ready made choices, to maintain order and keep going. Just as any society needs law, a religious or moral community needs commandments.

The Jews had their commandments... which they believed were given to them by God! The commandments showed them the right way to go, the right choices to make and the right decisions to take. Jesus makes it further simple for them and for us, simplifying those commandments in their plurality, into just one key criterion: LOVE.

The readings these days portray a sense of urgency as we approach the fag end of the the Liturgical year. Like a person or an organisation evaluates a project towards its completion, so we are invited to think about our choices and the single mindedness in life, at the end of this liturgical year. Can we look back and make an evaluation - as to how we have journeyed with the Lord all this while?

At times we feel bad to obey a commandment or to keep a law, as part of our spirituality - because we think it undermines our "progressive" thinking and capacity for mature commitments. We feel it is childish to stick to commandments and obey a directive! But maturity in fact lies in Informed Convictions and Single minded Perseverance: knowing what the commandments intend and seeking those very goals is Informed conviction; knowing what my weaknesses and limitations are and making use of the commandments to bind myself to something good and growing in it, is Single minded perseverance.

Informed convictions and Single minded perseverance... the way to achieve them: listening to the Lord daily and living every moment of our life in God's light.

To be or not to be a Reign person!

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

November, 12, 2026: Philemon 7-20; Luke 17: 20-25

Paul does not request or exhort Philemon to forgive and accept Onesimus. He almost commands  him to accept not anymore as a slave, but as a brother in the Lord and takes for granted that it is done. This is because forgiveness, love and union of hearts are no more options to choose from. The very fact that one chooses to be a Christian, that is a follower of Christ, he or she has already chosen these to be values of life! They are to be the very way of life for a Christian because: the Reign of God is amidst us.

Misunderstandings between husband and wife, misgivings between the families, fights among siblings, the bitter experiences of the past, nothing of these can give me an excuse to remain stubborn in my shell and refuse to build communion. What a shame it is to see sealed churches, divided parishes, division stricken religious congregations and communities, broken families and hearts with discriminating and dividing sensibilities, within the so called family of God! That should be considered an anomaly, a serious deficiency, an abominable virus!

There is no more a sense of magnanimity in treating everyone as my brother and sister... it is after all what I am expected to do, the normal way of being as a Christian... because the Reign of God is within me! Priding in the fact that we live together, we accept each and we work together, is a sign of immaturity in terms of true Christian lifestyle. It has to be taken for granted that we are brothers and sisters and we accept each other - the mark of maturity however lies in, how genuinely and deeply we love each other as brothers and sisters in the One Lord.

In short, the choice we have is fundamental: either living a Christian or not, on a daily basis! I am either a Reign person or an anti-Reign person... the choice is mine!

Taking God for granted?!

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

November 11, 2026: Titus 3:1-7; Luke 17:11-19

Speaking on the eve of his 97th birthday, one of our elderly Salesian priests once said, "you will not understand the difficulty of living this old... everything, every little thing is difficult. Even putting on a shirt or the pants is such an herculean task. With the missing balance, even using a toilet or washing the face is such a problematic affair!" (He lived on till 102). As we think of it, don't we really feel guilty about the numerous times that we take so many things for granted?

We have today a typical event in the Gospel where there are the majority who take things for granted, but that one spiritually sensitive person who returns to the Lord to tell him, that it really made a difference what the Lord had done to him. Thats not a simple quality, nor is it very common! It is a spiritually in itself - of not taking God for granted.

This quality of not taking God for granted has to come from, not taking people around me for granted. That is what the first reading tells me. If the latter does not happen, the former will only be an external show, an hypocrisy. Not even God will be pleased with it, of course!

The challenge is: that we recognise persons, accept persons, appreciate them and affirm their presence, thank God for them, and take care of them. We need to be, not only sheep of the Divine Shepherd, but also the Shepherd's hands and legs, reaching out to the needy and the marginalised. It is easy and pleasant to proclaim that the Lord is my shepherd, but to recognise it truly in concrete terms and submit to the shepherding of the Lord, is not an easy task. It means, walking with the Shepherd, following the Shepherd and doing what the Shepherd wants! Let us begin by not taking God for granted.

My real worth... where do I get it from?

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

November, 10, 2026: Titus 2:1-8, 11-14; Luke 17: 7-10

Where does one's real worth come from? From merely your age or the social status that is offered to you or from the great successes that you parade to the world? From the possessions you have or the positions you hold? From the following you pride in or the flags and banners you cheer for? As a person, your true worth comes from WITHIN you, says the Word today.

It comes from within, meaning each of us understands what one is called to, what our commission is and we strive to live it on a daily basis, without making a fuss out of it. At times we do the little that we do, and go about trumpeting it all around. Worse still some times we do not do anything much but go around building it up as if we have moved mountains. Both of these are pretensions, one worse than the other!

And the worst of all is doing everything that we do, merely to be noticed and praised and to be given the social recognition that I am an important person in the vicinity. I want so badly, everyone around me to notice me, recognise be, accept me, appreciate me and hail me... or at least, everyone to have a good word about me! But is that the real source of my worth! Am I not selling myself to their whims and fancies? Am I not surrendering myself at the feet of those, that they dictate to me when I have to be happy and when not! What a way to squander the precious gift of life that I have received!

What is missing here is the fact that, first of all we forget the fact that our life is precious, and a gift; secondly, we fail to remind ourselves, it is the Lord who has given this life to me...not those around me! Thirdly, and above all, there is the image of God so deeply ingrained in me - that is the goodness WITHIN me.

Christian life is all about living that essential goodness which we have within from the very fact that we are children of God, and never expecting to be lauded for what we do, because what we do is what we have to do! Jesus puts it so plainly in today's Gospel: we have done only what we ought to have done (Lk 17:10).

The Temple that you are!

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

November 9, 2026: Dedication of the Lateran Basilica
Ezekiel 47: 1-2,8-9,12; John 2: 13-22

The feast that we celebrate today is the remembrance of the dedication (on 9th, Nov, 324 CE) 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 of Rome). 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 exactly the all-famous Basilica of St. Peter!

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 flares up today and that temple is not the structure that stands in places, but the persons that we are.

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 who resides within 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 is happening around us today is so loathsome.

The Robbers' den experience and the Market place experience is everywhere! But the Lord invites us specially as God's children to realise the Blessing that we are. We are a blessing to many, as Ezekiel says about the waters that flow on from the Temple which make fertile every land that it flows into!

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 - to realise the Temple that we are!

SEEK AND YOU SHALL BE FOUND

Awake, Await and Alert

November 8, 2026: 32nd Sunday in Ordinary time
Wisdom 6: 12-16; 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18; Matthew 25: 1-13

Seek and you shall be found! Yes, you heard it right... seek and you shall be found. There is no mistake here... neither grammatical nor biblical. Seek and you shall find, said Jesus. Here the Word this Sunday tells us... seek, and you shall be found! Just dwell a while on those words, and you shall understand, how true they are! The first reading has a lovely explanation to it.

Wisdom comes; it is not earned. Knowledge can be gathered, not wisdom. Information can be collected, not wisdom. Wisdom, is what you do with the knowledge you have and the information you collect. Wisdom, is the next step, the step that follows knowing. I know the earth is being destroyed by greed - that is knowledge; but what do I do about it? I know the humanity is being demolished at its core - that is knowledge; but what do I do about it? I know I am giving less and less space for God in my life - that is knowledge; but what do I do about it? Wisdom, is what is born out of knowledge; after knowledge, beyond knowledge. Wisdom is an insight, wisdom is a gift... wisdom comes! But do you think it would come, without you wishing for it, longing for it, looking for it and seeking it? No, automatically, it won't.

Wisdom is God's gift - it is the presence of the Spirit of the Lord, it is the revelation of God, it is the Word of the Lord... that comes, illumines and lets us understand what we know and what we do not know! Wisdom is that capacity to live our daily life, with the knowledge we have, however limited it be, living every moment with meaning and purpose! Oh, what a gift that is... to live with meaning and purpose! That is what the Lord offers us today as a gift... to seek that Wisdom which will help us live our life with meaning and purpose. St. Paul in the second reading and Jesus' parable in the Gospel give us clue, as to what it means to live with meaning and purpose... whether we are alive, or dead, we stay with the Lord forever, says St. Paul.

Wisdom of life is to know, what really matters in life. The wealth? The positions we hold? The power we have over others? The secrets we keep from others? The so-called status and name that we earn among others? If only we think a bit harder, we know these finally do not matter. But that is knowledge; what do I do about it? Yes, we are back with that question. That is what we need to ask ourselves...what do I do about it? I need to seek to be with the Lord, to stay with the Lord, never leave the side of the Lord, even as I engage in my daily duties and chores. That is wisdom - that ability to combine the necessities of daily life and the things that finally matter. Jesus had it so clearly in his mind and he imparted the same to us - to live your daily life, but never to lose sight of the the ultimate things that matter - the Lord and our life with the Lord. Therefore we need to seek... seek that wisdom!

Wisdom has to be sought, if it has to come! Wisdom comes, to those who seek! That is why we said... seek, and you shall be found. Seek wisdom, wisdom will find you. Seek the Lord, the Lord will find you! We cannot find the Lord. We cannot arrive at the Lord! The Lord will find us ...but we need to seek. Just like the Bridegroom would arrive, but the maids had to be ready! They cannot go find the bridegroom, the bridegroom will find them...but they have to seek, to be found.

What does it mean to seek wisdom... to seek the Lord! It means, as Jesus instructs us today, with three key words: awake, await, alert.

AWAKE. That is the first disposition asked of us. Be awake... if those so called foolish maids were awake, they could have at least thought of their oil shortage a little earlier, not at the nick of time. That is what we need to be - awake, awake to our life, awake to our surroundings, awake to our attitudes, awake to our priorities, awake to our life style, awake to our value systems, awake to our daily choices...if we sleep over them, we will catch ourselves unawares when the crisis comes. 

Being awake is not being agitated! At times we think, being awake is to get agitated, tensed and worked up with every simple thing around. No...being awake is not being agitated...instead it is being aware, being aware of what is happening, what is developing, what is brewing...so that when time comes I am prepared to face it.

AWAIT. That is the second disposition required of us. To await... to wait on the Lord. We do not have explanations for everything the very moment they happen. We do not understand them. We are at a loss... from individual problems, economic struggles, psychological break downs to social problems and global crises! Why? Why, is the question that comes upper most in our minds. But a better question, a more faith-filled question, a more hope-filled question would be - What? What does the Lord want to communicate? What does the Lord want to do? What is this event communicating to me? That 'what', will come... it will come from the only place that can provide me an adequate response on that - from the Lord. I need to await.

Awaiting is not being asleep! I wait... in the meanwhile...I go to sleep! That was the mistake the maids made...being asleep. Being asleep is losing time, not acting on something that I can, postponing something that I could do it now, letting go of a golden moment and rushing at the peak hour! Awaiting is not inaction, awaiting is being prepared for the right moment of encounter...but for that I have to be awake too!

ALERT. That is the third disposition demanded of us. Being alert...is to observe everything. The so-called unwise maids, could have been alert to see that the wise maid had an extra vial with them, then they would have been alerted. Or the so-called wise maids, could have alerted the other five, to better get something to back themselves up! They cared nothing... just for that they too should have been left out of the palace (alright! that is a different discourse for another time). But being alert is to know the signs of the times, to understand what is happening, to connect the dots and be prudent - it is not only about things out there. It is about me too! Yes, looking into myself, knowing what is happening deep within me, understanding the signs of my mind, my spirit, my heart...that I may be alert to the changes and to the situation I am driving myself into...so when it comes, I know, I am prepared, I am awake and I am waiting!

Being alert is not being anxious! In the name of being alert, if I get anxious, I ruin every day of my life. Anxiety, can kill us alive. Being alert is being actively and wisely involved in every thing around me, with a keen observation and prudent precaution, that I may live the moment, without ruining the future.

Awake, Await, and Alert...are the key words we are given today by the Word for our spiritual lives... to seek the Lord, to seek the light of the Lord, to seek with thirst and longing... and we shall be found! The Lord shall come and dwell with us!

Wealth - the right attitude to it

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

November 7, 2026: Philippians 4: 10-19; Luke 16: 9-15

Wealth: is it good or bad?

Money and God... won't they go together?

Then how do we ask God for wealth and consider prosperity as a blessing from God? The Word today speak to us about the right attitude to develop towards wealth. Just three points to begin with...

1. Wealth is given.

It is a gift and should be treated as such. We are given and it should fill us with gratitude and not arrogance.

2. Wealth is given to be given.

It is never given for yourself...you are a custodian of what is with you. You possessing the wealth is a blessing; the wealth possessing you is a curse!

3. Wealth is given to be given to those who cannot give.

The only purpose today wealth is used, apart from fulfilment of needs, is to make more wealth. It is a sickening tendency that is the cause of the growing selfishness, cruel exploitation and demeaning inhumanities.

Wealth and power are good as long as they are instruments. When they begin to use and dominate persons, dehumanisation begins! God sees the heart, says the Gospel and everyone will see a heart that is filled with God.

The unchanging criterion!

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

November 6, 2026: Philippians 3:17 - 4:1; Luke 16: 1-8

Prudence is a practical virtue; it is the capacity to discern the most effective option from a set of available options. At times in life, we seem to have quite many options to choose from, and a confusion is bound to arise. But today we are reminded of one important fact: when we have Christ as our choice, there need be no confusion regarding what to choose and what not to!

When Christ becomes our absolute, our standard, our criterion, then there would be no confusions, nor any more options. We would have an absolute to live by, a standard to judge with, a criterion to choose by. The steward presented in the Gospel today, was praised, yes. But what was he praised for? For his shrewdness and not for his goodness! And some confuse saying, Jesus praised him! Jesus is narrating that the master in the parable praised him!

For Jesus, what matters here again was... giving away, not getting stuck or attached, looking at everything as a way and a means to be acceptable in the eyes of the Lord. You realise you have collected dishonest wealth - give it away to the needy and get back to the Lord. You realise you are not really on the track towards your call, just shake yourself up and change your course! For doing all this you have one absolute criterion: Christ, the mind of Christ, the lifestyle of Christ - doing the will of the One who sent me, not my own!

St. Paul lived by this choice and presented the same to the others. Be imitators of me as I am of Christ ( 1 Cor 11:1) said Paul, as we read in today's first reading too. We would be judged truly and absolutely prudent, if we choose that never failing criterion: Christ! Because it is the Lord and the Lord alone who does not change. Christ is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow (Heb 13:8).

In mutual seeking... the Grace!

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

November 5, 2026: Philippians 3: 3-8a; Luke 15: 1-10

The initial lines of the Gospel today say it all: the tax collectors and sinners were seeking the company of Jesus and the pharisees were complaining against it. Paul explains that in bare terms... what really matters is not circumcision or not... but the relationship one has with the person of Christ. Enough lessons to formulate a whole lifestyle, the Christ-ian lifestyle.

Past glories, handed down traditions, legalistic requirements, ritual uprightness, fulfillment of duties... these will not take us any far, however good, right and just they could be. However precious we may consider these, without a living relationship with the person of Christ, what will become of these? Merely rubbish, trash, refuse, just a waste!

What is expected of me, as a true disciple of Christ is to get nearer and nearer, closer and closer, more and more in personal relationship with God, in the Spirit, through Christ. Do you have doubts if you really can work on that? Do you think in it is difficult to create and get going a relationship with God? Do you feel it is not so easy, because you are lost in your daily chores and millions of commitments? Do you feel lost in all these...? Do not worry... there is someone who is looking for you, some one seeking you!

Yes, God keeps looking out for us, just as the parables present to us in the Gospel today, the shepherd and the woman looking out, seeking! All that we need to do is become aware of our call, to be with God; to earnestly wish the presence of God in our lives; to seek the presence of God, as did the tax collectors and the sinners!

And when God sees our efforts, God doubles it up with grace! God fills us to our brim, and gives us in abundance. God comes to us with a flood of love and compassion.... that is Grace! Grace, which is in simple terms, our relationship with God, in the person of Christ, by the gift of the Holy Spirit. Grace... amazing grace, before which everything else is a mere trash.

Call yourself a Christian? Better be one!

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

November 4, 2026: Philippians 2: 12-18; Luke 14:25-33

If you call yourself a Christian you better be one, warns the Word today. You want to construct a tower but you don't want to procure the material; you want to fight the battle but you don't care to gather the soldiers; you want to be called a Christian but you don't want to take in all those things that make up being true to that name! What a shame!

What does it take then, to be a Christian?

To be a light when every one around is getting used to the darkness! Everything seems alright today - corruption, discrimination, political vendetta, development that tramples underfoot the poor and the helpless, the rocketing cost of living, the exorbitant demands of medical care, the manipulation of education system... everyone has gotten, or are getting, used to these. A light cannot but expose things around, it cannot hide unless it is blocked or blown off.

To carry the cross with love when every one around you is waiting to shake off even an extra speck of dust on them! The Cross reminds us of the love that was involved in the pain that the Son of God suffered for our sake. The reminder is also a challenge: how much of love is involved in the way your bear your daily cross, your burdens of life, your share for the sake of others?

To be holy and blameless while everyone around is losing the very sense of those terms! How easily we find compromises, justifications, rationalisations, that exempt us from the way of life that God has called us to. How easily we place an yes and a no together, while Jesus' style demands that an yes be an yes, and a no, no!

That is what it takes to be a Christian - to be a light in the darkness, to carry my cross with love and to be holy and blameless before God. 

O Lord Jesus Christ, give us the strength, the courage and the light to walk in your footsteps, carrying our crosses and and making a difference in every life we encounter. You are our light and our salvation.

Enter the dinner or not!

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

November 3, 2026: Philippians 2: 5-11; Luke 14: 15-24

We can find any number of reasons or excuses to keep ourselves from doing what is the right thing to do, as long as we keep doing it as if we are doing it for the sake of some one else. It would already be too late when we realise that we have not really lived our life. Our minds will be filled with too many if's and but's to make real sense of it.

Instead, when we know ourselves, accept this life as a gift from God and live our life understanding its sacrality, and true to the vocation given to each of us: we would be in paradise dining with the Lord already now. But it does involve, suffering and sacrifice endured in a joyful spirit of fulfilling one's vocation.

We have just celebrated two lovely days... the first day with those who have done it all and entered that dinner already; the second day with those who are on their way, and need a bit more of mercy from the Lord to inherit that grace that God has promised them, and us; and today, here we are...learning the truth once again for ourselves. This truth is nothing new - we know it so well and we know it for so long. But what matters is that we act on what we know; that we let this information, form us and transform us, towards sincere discernment and right decision making.

And who is the inspiration, model and the ideal, for all these three categories of persons: Christ himself! St. Paul gives the picture of Christ, who lived his mission, the personal vocation that he was given and through that he redeemed the whole world - the living and the dead. In living that call and mission, in carrying out that commission and task, he faced tough times and turmoils. Right till he reached the right hand of the One who had sent him, he went on with his life and life task!

When we live our personal lives true to our vocation and at the depth of its meaning, we too will turn out to be instruments of God's salvation, to ourselves and to others. We are given the gift of life and given the invitation to live it to the full... the choice is ours: to enter the dinner of the Lord or not!

Hope - that makes us Christian!

All Souls' Day - November 2, 2026

Wisdom 3: 1-9; Romans 5: 5-11; Mark 15:33-39, 16:1-6

What is the difference between a Christian and an unchristian outlook on anything?

Hope! The difference is hope. It is hope that makes us see a possibility even in the worst of our daily problems. Hope gives one the serenity and tranquility to approach every day problems with grace. One big unsolved question for the whole humanity is how to understand the end of life and beyond.

For a Christian, life is changed, not ended; it is transformed not terminated, explains the preface of the Mass for the dead. Jesus' resurrection fills us with hope and that hope does not disappoint us. The hope is towards eternal life, it is the eternal destination that characterises the culmination of this journey on earth.

Death is just the horizon beyond which we are not able to see what really exists; for if we see, there is no more place for hope (Rom 8:24). All that we see is the Risen Lord, who lives with us and lights our path. In the Risen Lord is our hope. We hope to see every one of our brothers and sisters gone before us, united in the Risen Lord, as do the saints we celebrated yesterday. 

Our prayer today is that these brothers and sisters of ours join their ranks and that we, at the end of our journey, join that wonderful family, the family that is founded on faith, united in love and kept alive in hope!

THE ABC OF BEING SAINTS

Acknowledge, Belong and Commit

November 1, 2026: Solemnity of All Saints
Revelations 7: 2-4, 9-14; 1 John 3: 1-3; Matthew 5: 1-12

There is an ever loved and oft quoted anecdote about this sweet little boy who was taken to a traditional Cathedral for the first time by his mother. The boy was tremendously impressed with the splatter of colours on the floor due to the rays that shone through the stained glasses on the walls (remember those classic cathedrals, don't you... and they are becoming endangered specimen these days, with some of them converted to mosques and some others to public halls and themed restaurants!). Coming back to the boy, there for the first time, seeing all the splendour in glowing natural lights, he with his eyes wide open looked at those stained glasses and asked his mother...'mamma, what is this?' So used to his constant questions, the mother pointed to those stained glasses and replied in short, 'Oh... they are the saints!' The boy could not take his eyes or his mind off those pictures on the stained glass. That stuck to the boy's mind, not merely until he returned home but even further. And the next day at school when the catechism teacher asked, who are saints... he shouted out in excitement, "yes I know them." And when the teacher happily turned to him, he continued, "saints are those who let the light shine through them!"

I think that's the best definition for a saint by far. A saint is the one who lets the light, the light of the Lord, shine through him or her. The colours and the shades are exotic, but the light is from the Lord. The shapes and contours are all varied and impressive, but the source is one and the same, the light of the Lord! What a lovely image we have today, of all the saints standing in one choir, as one family, as one community of brothers and sisters, giving praises to the Lord! A grand day and a proportionately important reminder to each of us: you are called to be one of them, you are called to be a Saint!

The Word this day, read attentively, can provide us with a fundamental understanding of what it means to be a saint. They get us thinking, not only about all the saints we have out there, but also about the saint that we have to nourish and nurture within each of us. The Word furnishes us with an ABC of being saints, in our daily life, here and now!

A saint is one who ACKNOWLEDGES the supremacy of God, allowing God to take charge of one's life. This seems to be the most challenging task for human beings as centuries get past us. Human beings, as individual persons and as communities of persons, wish to become more and more autonomous, from everything and every one, even from God, considering God as someone who could infringe on our freedom, our decision making and our authority on our own lives. But all it takes is just a simple recollection of what has happened to humanity in history due to pride and self glory, to understand we are wrong to think of keeping God away from this world. We will be drastically failing.

The responsorial psalm today invites us to reflect on this absolute supremacy of God. Everything takes its existence from God. How can we ever think of doing away with the Master, as long as we hold on to what the Master has made and programmed and keeps sustaining? The first ever attitude that can bring us towards true sanctity, obviously, is acknowledgement of God's authority over everything, and specially, over my entire self. The more we acknowledge the primacy of God, the more grateful we become; the more grateful we become, the more holy we grow - that is the secret of being saints!

A saint is one who BELONGS totally to God, placing God at the centre of his or her life. Certainly, it does not suffice to acknowledge the authority of God over everything and over me, there is something more to it, when it comes to being saints. In simple terms, it is feeling close, feeling intimately connected, feeling totally grafted on to God - a bond which is like that which exists between a mother and a child, that connectedness that is not merely peripheral, but something that penetrates my very being! I am connected to my God, at the core of my being, at the depth of my soul, at the essence of my spirit, because it is from God I take my life, my image, my entire existence. I belong to God, totally.

In the second reading, John reminds us of who we are - we are children of God, that is what we are! Whether the world acknowledges or not, whether we acknowledge or not, the fact remains that we are children of God, and God will never renounce us, even if we do! God has loved us in to existence and loves us from all eternity. This love was manifest in the incarnation, when Christ came to show us whose image we bear, and to what image we should liken ourselves to. We belong to God who created us, the Lamb who has washed us and the Spirit who consecrates us into children of God, treasured possessions of God, images and likenesses of God, here on earth! The more we realise to whom we bleong, the more we understand who we really - that is the way of being saints!

A saint is one who COMMITS oneself to God's cause, to God's people, to God's will, on a daily basis! That we come from and belong to God, is truly a privilege, a great honour; but it is at the same time, a great challenge too, a call to commitment. As children of God, as people of God, as persons who acknowledge God and belong to God, we are called to manifest that in our daily life, in the ordinary choices we make and in every major decision we take! You will be criticised for it, calumniated against, painted as a threat, called names, jeered at, pictured as an outdated fool, useless misfit...yes! But can you give up? You just can not! There will be mighty forces lining up against you - the economic forces that tend to reduce everything to numbers and currencies, the political forces that are ready to do absolutely anything for the sake of power and position, the anti social forces that take joy and pride in disrupting peace of the people, the immoral forces that perpetrate corruption of everything including the souls of human persons...all these are mighty and they will stand against you! But can you give up? You just should not! Because you are from God, you belong to God and you are the Blessed of the Lord!

The Gospel outlines a way of life that is so surrealistic...that is indeed our roadmap to true holiness. As Pope Francis used to insist repeatedly, holiness does not consist in keeping ourselves aloof as refrigerated beings, we need to get down into the slush, get ourselves dirtied, fight our way, stand for the truth, march for justice, rise for the oppressed, reach out for the marginalised, voice out for the voiceless, live for peace, die for love and finally, shout for joy! We are blessed, we are blessed children of God, we are blessed family of the saints, we are blessed followers of the slain Lamb, we are blessed witnesses to God wherever we are! We are on our way to heaven, and we need to get our roadmap right. We need to be in their numbers - in that throng that is in eternal communion with the Lord. That is what we have been created for, that is for what we have been washed and made clean in the Blood, and that is what we are challenged towards in the Spirit - and that is the challenge of being saints!

Let us get this ABC of Being Saints, clear in our minds today... that we Acknowledge God, Belong to God and Commit ourselves to God's cause and we shall be counted in their numbers, in the number of All Saints!

Between death and life... there is living!

WORD 2day: Saturday, 30th week in Ordinary time

October 31, 2026: Philippians 1: 18-26; Luke 14:1,7-11

Paul speaks to us of a popular dilemma that all of us are caught between - the dilemma between death and life! At certain points in our life, this dilemma is strong, at other points it is mild, but it never ceases to exist, given the nature of the certainty of death and the uncertainty of its time or mode! 

Which is better... to die or to live? Truly life is a gift! We have it and we treasure it. But there are times when troubles come, unnecessary concerns cloud our days and necessary burdens weigh us down. There are moments, invariably in every person's life, when he or she, at least for a fraction of a second thinks, of what use it is to live! At the same time there is an insatiable anxiety within us to live, to live on and to live forever.

God has given us a gift of death too! Though many do not look at it that way, that is, death as a gift, it is in fact true. Imagine, there were nothing called 'death'? How many problems and how many queries to fend for! Death, in the Christian parlance is the gate through which one has to pass to encounter the Lord, for that ultimate face off. Can there be any other reason more exciting and inviting than that?

We know all this, that life is a gift and death is equally a gift, but we find it hard to accept it- be it for our own sake or for others. Paul clarifies that dilemma to us today: his statement simply is, that it is a wrong question to ask which is better, life or death - because it is neither death nor life, instead, what comes between the two: living! How we live our life - that is truly what matters.

There are three clues to living that life: One, from the hands of God: living our life from the hands of God, realising the gift that it is, and striving to realise all the time its true purpose - be it immediate purpose or ultimate purpose; Two, living with our eyes fixed on God: that God may call us back anytime and God alone is the author of life and God alone can instruct us about what is best for us at any given moment; Three, living for the glory of God: that God be glorified in everything I am and I do!

Between death and life, there is our call to live, our commitment to live to the full, and our opportunity to live for the glory of God. When we do that, we would be able to say with Paul: for me to live is Christ, to die is gain!

Busy about our Father's business?

WORD 2day: Friday, 30th week in Ordinary time

October 30, 2026: Philippians 1: 1-11; Luke 14: 1-6

Jesus went about doing good! Doing good was his way of being the Son of God. This work that he started nobody could stop, because his Father was leading it towards its completion! Neither the so-called religious heads, nor the oppressive political heads, or the discouraging responses of the people - nothing deterred him; because he was not doing his work. "My food is to do the will of the One who sent me!"

St. Paul grew into the same groove... the work he was doing was the Lord's work - the good work that the Lord began in him, the Lord was bringing to its fulfillment, no matter if Paul found himself in house arrest, in chains, under the law! And nothing deterred Paul, because he knew he was not just doing good work, but he was doing God's work!

Work, good work, God's work... is it not important for us to differentiate among these in our own life? At times we may be busy doing what we want, what we think can establish our name, what we consider will make people remember us. But beware even the worst of politicians and bureaucrats have this motivation! So just some work is not good enough. Does our work create good, good for the other, good for all, the common good? Then it becomes more acceptable!

But is anything that is good, good enough? St. Paul speaking elsewhere about doing everything for God's glory would say, "all things are lawful, but not all things are beneficial; all things are lawful but not all things build up" (1 Cor 10:23). There are so many things that we can call 'good'... but is that enough reason for us to engage in it? Is that sufficient for us to embark upon a whole life journey based on that opinion? Or is something more needed? The Word answers that question today: Yes... not enough to be doing good work, but we need to be doing God's work!

We need to be busy with God's work, the work that God wants to accomplish in us. Each of us needs to explore, understand and get in touch with what the Lord wants to accomplish in us. Once we are clear of that, nothing, no one, can stop us! Some times the very things that people wrongly understand as holy and sacred could stand in opposition to what the Lord wants from us: Jesus understood that perfectly. That is why he had the guts to stand even against the sabbath. St. Paul inherited that clarity from his master, and that is why he could throw away all traditions like the circumcision.

A very timely lesson for those of us who are passionate about doing something for God, and find that we are not able to... because of whatever reasons it may be... if it is God who has initiated that desire in us, God will bring it to its completion. Let us not fret! Let us be genuinely busy about Our Father's business, and everything will happen in God's own time.

Being a Christian today - is it simple?

WORD 2day: Thursday, 30th week in Ordinary time

October 29, 2026: Ephesians 6:10-20; Luke 13: 31-35

Our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens (Eph 6:12). Yes, our life is a struggle! Yes, we are the Militant Church...the church that is fighting its way through, towards the eternal life, with eyes fixed on that sure crown that is promised to each of us.

The Triumphant Church, who are the saints who have gone before us, is our shining model and an inspiring example. The message that they give us, and the clear tone of the Word today, is that of Lk 12:4 - Do not fear those who can kill your body, but can do nothing to your soul! And Jesus lives that teaching in the Gospel today, when he says: 'Go tell that fox'...meaning Herod... 'that I will be here today, tomorrow and the third day!'

Jesus feared no one, because he was certain that God was with him. Being a Christian means exactly that - To live our life fear-free, not because we are all powerful, but because we have with us someone who is all powerful; To live our life with conviction and determination, not because we are always right, but because we are guided by that Spirit who will instruct us and convict us as soon as we go wrong, if we are attentive; To live our life to the full, not because this is the only life we have (as some justify sometimes - the YOLO culture today), but because we have the certainty of the eternal life given to us by our Lord on the Cross, that eternal life which has to be begun already here in our values and our priorities.

How can we live fear-free, convinced and to the full? In other words, how can we be truly Christians in our daily life: St. Paul today gives us a whole armour to put on, every kind of protection against every kind of danger. The Lord is our stronghold, the Lord is our refuge; whom should we fear? All that we need to do is stand firm in faith. 

Let us not deceive ourselves saying, being a Christian today is simple or natural; it is not! Neither shall we lose hope saying, we cannot! Jesus teaches us by his example today the technique of a Christian fight: Keep alert, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong! (1 Cor 16:13).

The Family of the Apostles

THE WORD AND THE SAINTS

October 28, 2026: Remembering Apostles Simon and Jude

Ephesians 2:19-22; Luke 6:12-16

You are no longer alien, no longer strangers, you are part of the family that the Apostles belonged to, the family that was initiated as the nucleus of the Reign of God. This sense of the family, this familiarity, is the greatest gift according to Paul, as he insists that we could have been no people, but God made us 'God's people' through Christ. That is what we are, God's people! And as God's people, we are one family.

The apostle Simon was called the Zealot - a lesson that he gives us: as the militant church on earth, that we should always fight the battle for the will of God to be done and the Reign of God be established here and now.

The apostle Jude, called Thaddeaus in two of the four Gospels, is considered the hope of those who are on the verge of giving up in life. His message is: there is nothing that is beyond God, and God is ever present beside us.

Added to that Judas Thaddeus, is said to have been close to Jesus in his family ties and in his appearance. However, Jesus would not have made a big issue of it - for him those who listen to God's word and put it into practice are more his family than anyone else! But it should remind us of a tendency very common - when we have the possibility of doing a favour to someone, how do we pick and choose as to whom to extend that favour! Favouritism - on the basis of what? Partiality - to achieve what?

Simon and Jude, as all other apostles, teach us the lesson that Jesus himself wants us to learn: it does not matter which nationality, or tribe, or clan, or caste I belong to - the only thing that matters is I belong to God, I form part of that One Family, the family of God, the family of the Apostles!

Being in Christ - that is all which matters

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 30th week in Ordinary tim

October 27, 2026: Ephesians 5:21-33; Luke 13: 18-21

It is possible that married couples and parents of children, listening to all these discussion in the readings on the attitudes spouses should have towards each other, could feel: 'these things coming from Paul, it's difficult to accept, given the fact that he was an unmarried man!' And certainly also possible, listening to sermons preached by priests, the parents could think, 'Paul writing it and the priests quoting it... both are difficult to accept!' That is a matter of fact and a matter to brush aside with a smile. 

Yes, it is much more easily said than lived! That aside, there can be heated debates on issues that Paul speaks of today- who has to be subordinate to whom! But that need not be our focus too, in reflecting on the Word today.

Whether I am subordinate or head, I am called to be IN CHRIST - that's the focus.

Whether I am a subordinate or a head, or an apostle or a servant, a renowned person or a so-called nobody, parent or child, spouses or in-laws... whoever I am, I am called to be in Christ. Being in Christ means, being rooted in Christ, being nourished by Christ's words, being guided by Christ's lifestyle. being influenced by Christ's way of thinking, being shaped after Christ's mind, being modelled after the example of Christ - being called Christ's own people.

Being in Christ, even if I am just a tiny mustard seed, I can grow into a mighty tree. Being in Christ, even if I am just pinch of yeast I can make a difference for entire dough. Being in Christ, even if I am a nobody wherever I am, I will make a huge difference and the world will turn and take note of me. Being in Christ, even if I am doing just the same things as everyone else does, the way I do it and the heart with which I do it, makes what I do, stand out amidst everything else.

In short, what matters is not whether I am a man or a woman, whether I am in authority or subordinate, whether I am part of the majority or the minority, whether I am in the frontline of events or behind the scenes... 'Being in Christ' is all that matters.

Be compassionate, because...

WORD 2day: Monday, 30th week in Ordinary time

October 26, 2026: Ephesians 4: 32- 5: 8; Luke 13: 10-17.

'Children of Light', that is how St.Paul addresses us in the first reading today. The reading also paints a clear picture of what it means to be children of God...it means to be kind, compassionate, forgiving, filled with love... in short being like God, simply because we are children of God. In similar terms Jesus addresses the suffering woman as, 'daughter of Abraham'...how loving and compassionate models we have in Christ, our Lord and in the Lord's esteemed apostle.

Love and compassion have to be the defining characteristics of our personality. Nothing can stop us from being compassionate... no difficulty should hinder us from being compassionate... no rule or regulation, no tradition or custom, no practice or policy can stop us from being compassionate; because it should become our very nature as we are children of the Compassionate Father and Mother, God who has loved each of us into existence.

There is yet another phrase from St. Paul that has to be taken seriously in today's context: let no empty argument deceive you, warns Paul. It is crucial we pay attention to this today: In the recent past, during the pontificate of Pope Francis, we had heard many voices criticising him and calling him names, branding him as someone who is destroying the teachings of the Church. In these days we see some strange and inhuman interpretations of a priest who died at the altar with the crucifix that happened to crush his head. We need to be very careful with the anti-Catholic forces which take advantage of any situation to spread the false propaganda, in the disguise of their concern for the Church or Christianity. The sad fact is that some, even within the Church, are so quick to fall for these false propaganda, and worse still, some of them are in authority of teaching! 

The Word reminds us of compassion, compassion that Jesus manifested for persons who came in touch with them! Our compassion should help that person to rediscover that original dignity, not throw the person out as worthless! Compassion alone can define me as a true follower of Christ. Compassion alone can make me a real Christ-ian. I have to be compassionate because, it is Compassion that has formed me and has shaped me!

It is love all over again...

A matter of head, heart and hands...

October 25, 2026: 30th Sunday in Ordinary time

Exodus 22:20-26; 1 Thessalonians 1: 5c-10; Matthew 22: 34-40

If you asked me, "what is the central theme of the readings this Sunday?" and I replied, "it is about loving God and loving your neighbour", instinctively you might sigh: 'oh... the same love allover again!' Some times we might sound totally redundant speaking of love. The fact is, in Jesus' message, Love is the sole dominant theme, and everything else is only a footnote to it.

This abundance of talk on love, can result in two extremely different consequences - one, that it loses its very sense and becomes just a cliched word, repeated over and over again, used as a filling for wherever one lacks a word, or a term, or a theme to deal with; the other consequence, that it becomes a fundamental criterion, the foundational block, the preliminary question of analysis, before talking of anything else or in the course of making sense of anything at all, in christian living. The real Christian significance of love, falls in the second category, however limited in number its true followers are.

Love spoken of in the Word today, as ever, is not a mere sentiment or a feeling! It is a choice, a concrete choice for good. It is a serious matter of the HEAD. It is a decision made, a rationale adopted, a perspective that affects all other decisions and choices in life. It cannot be a mere feeling of elation, nor a sentiment of comfort, nor even a sense of protection or possession! It is a decision, a choice, a fruit of discernment. It is a choice for the noblest of feelings towards the other; it is a choice for most generous of attitudes towards the other; it is, in short, a choice for the 'good'!

St. Paul commends the way the Thessalonians chose God above everything else of their past. The ultimate good is God, hence love is basically a choice for God! Loving God with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my strength, is the basis of this choice for good. I choose good, because I choose God. I choose God, which means I choose not to choose anything other than God, anything that goes against God, anything or anyone that chooses what is contrary to God. My love for God is a choice, a choice that is motivated and inspired by the choice that God has made for me! To say, I love God, is to say, I choose God and all that God stands for. How foolishly contradicting it would be to say I choose to love God and therefore I kill or harm my brothers and sisters! Is the choice really coherent? Is the choice really rational? Is the choice really good or Godly? Choosing God, is choosing the absolute good; it is choosing life not death; it is choosing the other not the self. That leads us to the second dimension.

Love is a choice for the other, a matter of the HEART. It is only through the heart can we place the other before us, because it is only through the heart can we hear the unsaid sorrows of the other; it is only through the heart we can see the unseen pains of the souls; it is only through the heart we can touch the unexplored depths of a person! When we say heart, we do not mean the biological or the anatomical heart, but the heart that is the coming together of the will and the spirit of a person. It is much beyond the senses...the senses of seeing, hearing, touching, smelling and tasting - they are at times very deceptive. Heart is that faculty by which every person senses the truth, even when it is not seen or heard, by which the persons gets to know those mysteries that would never be revealed through mere words and gestures - that includes even the feelings and the innermost yearnings of the other. And love is a choice to get to know that deeper reality.

Love has to be a concrete choice for the other, especially the afflicted, the suffering 'other', who cries out from the agony of the everyday life. Only a person with love can understand the predicament of the other who is in agony. Only love can make one feel with the other, empathise with the other - a lack of love will make even the most benevolent act, a mere mechanical fulfillment of duty. In the first reading the book of Exodus presents to us the need to go out, reach out, think for, and feel with, those who are marginalised, left out, forgotten and despised in the society. Today, when nations and governments speak of development and advancement, how big a margin of people are taken for granted, pushed to the margins and left to cry in silence and darkness. Can we open the eyes of our heart; can we sharpen the ears of our heart; can we extend the hands of our heart... yes, that brings us to the third dimension.

Love is a matter of the HANDS... it is a choice to act, to act on behalf of the needy. Love cannot remain a mere sentiment, it has to be translated into concrete decisions and transforming acts, on behalf of the needy. The list that the first reading has - the widows, the orphans, the children, the poor, the needy, the migrants... that is a specimen indication of a whole lot of persons, the list of those who are close to the heart of God: it will extend much wider today with the exploited, the enslaved, the maltreated, the manipulated, the oppressed, those who are taken for granted, those who are deceived, those who are manipulated, those who are kept in the darkness of ignorance, those who are misled and misguided, those who are not allowed to think and much less to speak, those who are considered only as numbers, those who are used only as vote banks... the list shall go on, unending.

Love has to be translated in terms of actions. It has to be active, affecting the life of the person who claims to love and transforming the life of the one who is loved! There are persons today who stand witness to this: the masses who are on the streets fighting for rights, not merely their own but for justice and wellbeing of the entire humanity; the persons who are standing by the poor and oppressed, even if they are taken to task for that; the persons in media who speak up for justice and righteousness, facing all the brunt that comes with it; the persons who sacrifice the peace of their daily life and serenity of their families for the sake of the common good, risking their own lives and the happiness of their dear ones... these are people who love with their hands! And this is truly a Christ-ian love.

Love is the crux and the essence of Christ's message and it will never ever be redundant. Specially seeing the world that is growing increasingly selfish and menacingly might-oriented, love will ever be wanting. And if you and I do not offer it abundantly wherever we are, it would be a serious deficiency of God in the world today! 

Deficiency of God - that in fact is the serious malady that affects the world today and the right medicine is nothing but true, Christ-love, shared with all our heart, with all our strength and with all our might.

Let us grow up!

WORD 2day: Saturday, 29th week in Ordinary time

October 24, 2026: Eph 4: 7-16; Lk 13: 1-9

The first reading today would lend itself so well for an interdenominational war, or a catholics-protestants feud, one calling the other a human trickery and deceptive scheming. Let us grow up dear friends - that is the very challenge of the Word today!

St. Paul challenges us to grow into the full stature of Christ and that is nothing but love. Let us grow in love, love for God, love for each other, a patient acceptance of each other and loving fellowship of brothers and sisters. Love is also truthful, it is not deceitful. True love is just and genuine, stands for the right and helps one to grow up in serenity and self confidence.

How long would we go on calling each other names and breaking the Body of Christ into non negotiable bits and pieces? If we go on like this, Jesus says that twice in the Gospel today: 'you will all perish!' It is high time we realise our call to grow up and bear fruit. God has given us enough and more chances. Let us equip ourselves, not with offences and defences, but with arms of love and feet of generosity. Let us prune our ego and till our arid hearts. Let us sow seeds of love and reap the fruit of brotherhood and sisterhood.

Love is our identity and nothing else can be: by this they will know that you are my disciples, by the love that you have for one another (Jn 13:35). There can be no worse scandal than a divided Church and of course, there can be no better proclamation of the Gospel than a loving and united community of faithful who, inspite of all their differences and diversities, live together as brothers and sisters, one in the Lord and one in the Spirit!

Integrity - oneness of vision!

WORD 2day: Friday, 29th week in Ordinary time

October 23, 2026: Ephesians 4: 1-6; Luke 12: 54-59

At times listening to people having problems in their relationships, or sides opposing each other within a community, we would arrive at a point of no return. At that moment, one would see no way out of the problem, no matter how much the neutral persons or the negotiators tried! We would arrive at one unfailing conviction, that 'we can arouse a person who is sleeping, but not the one who pretends to sleep!' It is true: for most of the problems today, it is not that we do not have a solution, but we do not want to arrive at it.

Jesus gives a piece of mind to the pharisees and scribes in the Gospel today, because he finds in them the hypocrisy of not choosing things that were so obviously towards the right. It is like the crowds, in our present context, in spite of knowing that their leader is at fault, just because he or she is their leader, they make a hue and cry about the leader's conviction - a choice to go blind about the limitations of their leaders!

Where does the root of these problems lie? Many a problem in the world today, is due to the lack of oneness of vision! That is the worst of virus that could afflict us... each one with a selfish agenda, or groups with unfounded prejudices, classes with insensitive urge for advancement, persons with inhuman tendencies of manipulation and exploitation... these are persons who could not care less about the golden rule: do unto others what you want done unto you. They have a set of rules for themselves and a completely different set for others. These are people filled with discrepancies and disparities, and will be the least likely to enter the Reign of God. The disturbing question to me today is, am I by any chance, among those in that list?