The Spirit that makes us One!

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 7th week in Easter time

May 19, 2021: Acts 20: 28-38; John 17: 11b-19

From parting mood to prayer mode... the Word today captures both Jesus and Paul praying for and praying with their beloved followers. They invoke the Spirit who unites, and they warn the followers of the spirit of discord. Both those, the invocation and the warning, are a lesson for us today!

How we can discern the right direction to take in the face of differences among us - that is the question that the Word answers today. Be it in a family or in a community of faithful, given the fact that we are thinking individuals, there is bound to arise differences of opinion. First of all, the conviction to grow in, is this: that differences of opinoins are not a problem. They are a richness! They enrich the point of view, but as along as the motivations are right and well oriented. 

The differences, as long as they are from the Spirit, they shall lead only to growth and renewal, enrichment and empowerment. Hence we are invited today to invoke the Holy Spirit on ourselves and on our communities, not to abolish all differences and make us monocultural and monolithic in nature, but to help us see the oneness through the difference, to discover the harmony that exists in the diversity that we celebrate. 

We are warned here against the differences caused by the ravenous wolves and treacherous beasts. Ruled by ego, dominated by envy, and animated by competition, these differences are aimed at destroying the unity of the people of God. It does not enrich, impoverishes; it does not empower but enfeebles the community; it does not harmonise and build but breaks and destroys! It is clearly from the evil one.

Anything that comes from the Spirit unites us, for the Holy Spirit is the Spirit that makes us one! Let us remain in the Spirit and remain united in love above everything else. May we live worthy of the prayer that Jesus made for us: that they may be one!

God's Venture

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

May 15, 2021: Acts 18: 23-28; John 16: 23-28

Apollos, Priscilla, Aquila, Paul... there is a band of apostles, all working in the name of the Lord. Among themselves and when in company of others, they did not consider their ego as something inviolable. They were ready to give in, to be corrected and to be taught. We see this lived out beautifully in the first reading today. Priscilla and Aquila as elders in the Lord, take Apollos an upcoming preacher aside, and give his further instruction!

This reminds us of the fact that five days ago (on May 10), Holy Father Pope Francis has come out with a Motu Proprio, Antiquum Ministerium, which institutes the Ministry of Catechists in the universal Church, that is giving an official recognition in the hierarchy of the Church, for those who involve in the minstry of Catechesis. Priscilla and Aquila were probably exceptional catechists in their community! However, the point is - how the Church, the faith community, is God's venture! God willed this faith community, so that the Reign of God can be made present here and now. This is accomplished in the very fact that the members of the Church lived in union of heart and mind.

Jesus in the Gospel too, offers himself and the Father as an example of living in union of spirit. They were one and the same - one who sees me sees the Father, one who accepts me accepts the One who sent me, those who love me will be loved by the Father, for the very fact that you love me! Exceptional statements of Christ on the importance of our relationship with him and with each other. 

The first christians, the disciples and the apostles understood this perfectly well. They lived united in heart, mind and spirit. They were able to think alike, plan alike, protect each other, provide for everyone and thus they formed a worthy part of the salvific band of God. 

Have we, you and I, the readiness and the will to be united in heart and mind, to be single-mindedly concerned about God's ventures?

The Spirit of Truth

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

May 12, 2021: Acts 17:15,22 -18:1; John 16: 12-15

The Spirit of the Lord convicts because the Spirit leads us to the truth. We have all the truth right in front of us. We fail to see them and understand them; or we are tempted not to see them or understand them; or we choose not to see them and understand them!

When we fail to see, the Spirit gives us the wisdom and leads us to see it, leading us to light, as St Paul tries to lead the Athenians. The grace comes through the Spirit to overcome our inability to see and observe God present in a situation that is not so obviously manifest of that Divine presence. It is like an ordinary day, when everything seems 'normal' and 'ordinary', that we do not get to observe anything out of the ordinary or anything extraordinary!

When we are tempted not to see, the Spirit fills us with the courage to see it, making us free and bold as children of God, as Jesus promises his disciples. The light comes with the Spirit illumining the darkest moment of our lives. It could be a crisis, a loss, a failure, a disappointment, a delusion that comes up in life and we are tempted to question the presence and real mercy of God. More than ever, we need courage at those moments and it is the Spirit of Truth who can give us that courage and light.

When we choose not to see, the Spirit convicts us, as we heard yesterday and makes us understand how mistaken we are. Peter, Paul, the other apostles and everyone who owes his or her rapport with God to a dramatic conversion, would vouch for this role of the Spirit. What is at play is more stubborness, insensitivity and arrogance of human mind to rebel against the presence of God, than an inability or a genuine crisis. This is a sin against the Holy Spirit and the person here keeps oneself deliberately away from God.

The crux of the message is: that I need to open my mind to the Word, failing which I will laugh at the Word or postpone listening to it, to another convenient moment, as the people do in the first reading today. Then I shall be the loser; a tragic loss at that. 

Mind your Business!

WORD 2day: Friday, 22nd week in Ordinary time

September, 4, 2020: 1 Corinthians 4: 1-5; Luke 5:33-39

At times we mind everybody else's business, forgetting the all important business that we have, our life! With the social network occupying such an ample space in the public domain, the private domain begins to shrink to a drastic minimum. People seem to evaluate everybody else, judge everyone and pass not merely comments but judgments on others. There are others who try to create public opinions which are untrue, to have their way in everything. There are still others who tend to live their lives totally based on the likes and dislikes, shares and subscriptions, making real life so virtual and flimsy.

The Word today instructs us to mind just our businesses. How hard can one try to satisfy everyone around? Is it worth the effort at all? How many lives are made so boring and barren merely out of living up to the expectations of the world around! The secret of a truly fruitful and meaningful life is: knowing your business and going about it.

Knowing who we are, as St. Paul shares in his letter today, we are called to be Stewards of the Lord. What is expected of a steward is that he or she is found worthy of the one whose stewards one is! Knowing who we are and striving to be faithful to it, is the Christian meaning to our life. Christ did just that. He knew he was the Son of God and he lived his life to the full worthy of the identity that he inherited from the Lord. 

We are called to be the Lord's stewards, and we need to live worthy of that call, notwithstanding the praises or critiques, the affirmations and the discouragements that might come our way. If we try to patch up our life with unfitting elements merely because those around us are looking for it, if we mix up unblending elements just because the world around enjoys it... we may lose the true sense of our calling. The best thing amidst all the mixed voices around is... to know and mind our business!

Obstinacy of Human Selfishness

WORD 2day: Thursday, 19th week in Ordinary time

August 13, 2020: Ezekiel 12: 1-12; Matthew 18:21 - 19:1

The Rebellious people have eyes to see but do not see; they have ears to hear but do not hear. How good, loving, forgiving, merciful and bountiful God is to me - I am so aware of it right until the time that I myself have to be good, loving, forgiving and generous with those around me! I begin to count, calculate, justify, judge, grudge and grumble when I have to give or forgive or show mercy or be loving. I have the eyes to see God's goodness but I lack the vision to see that I need to be good too. I have the ears to hear the merciful whisperings of the Divine but I don't have the ears to hear the pleading for mercy in the eyes of my brother and sister! What is this but an awful obstinacy of human selfishness?

The Obstinacy of Human Selfishness does not allow me to share with the others whatever God has given me; it blocks even the natural consciousness and awareness of the extent to which I have received. In comparison to the amount of love that God has showered on us, where does the level of love that I show to others stand? In comparison to the sins and the wickedness that God has forgiven in me, where do the simple faults committed by my brother or my sister stand? 

The Obstinacy of Human Selfishness fills me so much with my own self, my ego, that I am not able to see anything beyond me and mine; I am not able to hear anything beyond my own wants and whinings; I am not able to occupy myself with anything beyond my own greed and desire; I am not able to even consider anyone other than myself important or worthy of consideration. Just give it a serious thought - is it not from here all the problems of today arise... be it in the family, or in the society or in the world at large?