The God of the Living

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

November 21, 2020: Revelation 11: 4-12; Luke 20: 27-40

The God of the living - that is how Jesus presents his God and Father, and our God and Father. Resurrection is the foundation of our conviction that our life is not merely made of the few years that we spend on this earth. Our life is part of the Eternal Stream, that is God and we have but a few years here on earth. We come from, and we are meant for, a union that is eternal and all our efforts during this life has to be towards ensuring that union for ever. 

What would be the fallout if we had this truth right in front of our minds while we live? We would not unnecessarily fret to make ourselves comfortable at the cost of the other. We would not long to possess something or someone, leading to undue striving to control the other and manipulate situations. We would not harm others or harm the nature just because at present we would like to make more money or make life more easy. We would not calculate everything in terms of gain and profit and dividends and surplus.

These months have done this in a great sense - the uncontrollable dance of the disease, the threatening face of death, the gnawing claws of misery, the frightening stare of unemployment...how many forms of impermanence we have experienced... but have we changed in our attitudes? Time and again, something or the other - like a storm, or a flood, or an earthquake, or a fire - comes by to remind us of our vulnerability...but do we learn our lessons? How many times we get to stare into the eyes of death, may be our own dear ones, those known to us, famous personalities... seeing them make that last lap of journey in front of our eyes... does that in anyway change our mindsets?

Anyway, should we wait for such terrifying moments to repent and reset our values? Jesus offers us a wonderful criterion: the criterion of Resurrection. Live as Resurrection-people - it means the ability to see far ahead of this limited life we have! Live as people of the Eternity - it means living a life that will never end, will go on in its goodness and love. Live as people who really believe that your life does not end here and now... live as people who belong to the God of the living!

The Resurrection Effect

WORD 2day: Friday, 24th week in Ordinary time

September 18, 2020: 1 Corinthians 15: 12-20; Luke 8: 1-3

The Word today points to an identity that is so fundamental to a follower of Christ - the Resurrection Effect! 

The first of all effects that Christ has on his followers is the Resurrection effect. It is a life filled with hope! If Christ were not raised from the dead, our faith would be in vain - declares St. Paul today. We are filled with a hope so great that nothing, not even death can take away the meaning of our life. Especially today when we are faced with a life threatening situation and a crisis that eats into our peace of mind and serenity, it is essential to reinforce this source of meaning in life. The pandemic experience can result in two extremes - one, looking at everything as meaningless and flimsy...that would be hopelessness; or, looking at everything with a sense of fear and trepidation... that would be overcrowding our minds with anxiety and nervousness. Both of these are, as said already, extremes. The point of serenity lies in hope - that is a resurrection effect. 

Secondly, we find today Jesus amidst the first community that he himself had initiated, the proto community, the seed that he planted - the Twelve, and some women! That is another resurrection effect - the fruit of rising above all the pettiness of the world, discarding the divisions, despising differences of gender or geography, and becoming one people! We are all baptised into the one Spirit - Jews or Greeks, free or slaves, we are all filled with the same Spirit, St. Paul would instruct (1 Cor 12:13). The resurrection effect is uniting, synthesising, harmonising and creating communion, and never division and discrimination. The capacity for communion and solidarity - that is another resurrection effect.

Today, let us look at our faith communities - it could be our family, our religious communities, or parish communities: is it one body? Is it united in the Risen Lord? Is it truly 'following' the Lord? Does it have the 'mind' of Christ? Are we really Resurrection Community, Resurrection people, with the Resurrection effect?

BEING THE SHEPHERD'S FLOCK

The call to Follow, Obey and Respond

4th Sunday of Easter: May 3, 2020

Acts 2: 14a, 36-41; 1 Pet 2: 20b-25; Jn 10:1-10

The Post Resurrection scene is particularly important for us to reflect upon, because it provides us with an incomparable clarity of our identity as a believing community! Especially with a situation as that of today, with uncertainty all over with the health emergency we are faced with, we are all looking for a way out of this, a ray of hope that could emerge, a light at the end of the tunnel that would broaden and get closer! 

Precisely against this background, on this Shepherd's Sunday, the Lord invites us to realise and understand our special and challenging vocation to be the flock of the Divine Shepherd. The second reading reminds us, "you have now returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls." Have we?

The Shepherd Leads...we follow: Be patient in doing good and especially when you suffer for doing good, and that is the way to follow your shepherd, says St. Peter. At times when there is a particular crisis, all the goodness that you have manifested till now, all the generous disposition that you had sported until this moment, could be forgotten and everyone around you might turn against you, might become critical of you and denounce you before your face! What do you do? St. Paul would say, writing to the Thessalonians, "do not be weary of doing what is right" (2 Thes 3:13). 

The Lord leads us by example. Doing good was his nature, no one could stop him from doing it. His own did not accept him, they did not understand him, they labelled him 'out of his mind', the disciples deserted him, many hated him and the authorities sought to kill him! But he held on to his mission of doing good! He knew doing the will of the One who sent him was an absolute mission and he went about it without fear, discouragement or doubt, in spite of the threats and trials. Not only that he did not stop doing what he was doing, he did not even consider it absolutely necessary to stand there and prove to everyone that he was doing good, that he was right and that he was justified! That was infantile and immature, according to him - let him who has ears listen and let him who has eyes see! The Shepherd leads and we as his followers, are called to follow the same path. 

The Shepherd Directs...we obey: There are moments and circumstances when we go astray or give into delusions. It could be due to deliberate choices or deviant desires or discouraging experiences...but the fact is we go astray, linger off bounds, leave the flock for a while, check out other pastures, be deceived by mirages, feel a bit lost. The Shepherd's voice bellows behind us... as St. Peter speaks up and calls the attention of the people, in the first reading today. To be the Shepherd's flock means to heed to that voice of direction. As the Lord promises through Isaiah: and when you turn to the right or when you turn to your left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "this is the way; walk in it" (Isa 30:21). 

The Word comes to us; directions come to us constantly; it is the capacity of the Shepherd's flock to hear, to listen, to understand and to put it into practice. Those who listened to the apostle were "cut to their heart", the reading says. They took it to the heart and obeyed it to the full. They were more than ready to change their course, redirect their lives and walk behind the shepherd. There are those who listen and allow the Word to go right through their beings causing a transformation; there are those who listen and understand but feel weak to allow the transformation happen within them; and there are those resistant lot who do not allow the Word to even enter their hearts, giving reasons and excuses, justifications and compromises, in order to prove themselves right to the world around, caring the least about that subtle inner voice that cries out to them to heed to the Lord. Which category do we belong to - the resistant ones, the rationalising ones or the ready ones?

The Shepherd Calls...we respond: I came that you may have life and have it in abundance, declares the Lord in the Gospel! We are called to live our lives to the full, and that is the sign of the Shepherd's flock. Amidst fear and anxiety, amidst loneliness and strife, amidst darkness and dreariness, amidst confusion and calamities, amidst struggles and strains, we are called to live to the full, live the moment, live grateful, live mindful of the blessings and make the most of all the goodness that we have received from the Lord. 

The Lord offers us life and life in all its fullness, we are called to respond to this offer by accepting it  and living it. Living to the full means living in faith and not in fear; living in love and not in selfishness; living in hope and not in darkness; living in service not in show-offs; living in compassion not in indifference; living in goodwill not in suspicion; living in joy not in gloom; living in fellowship not in seclusion. Let us embrace the whole suffering world with our arms of true love and compassion, however short and small they may be, because we have a Shepherd who is mighty big, bigger than the entire universe. 

As people of the Shepherd's flock, our lives have to be a witness to life in abundance. The world has to learn from us, and not laugh at us. We cannot conform to the world but the world has to be challenged by our lives! Let us pay heed to the Word today and follow, obey and respond to our Shepherd. Let us also pray for shepherds to be raised among us, shepherds after the heart of the Divine Shepherd. 

Let the earth be shaken up!

WORD 2day: Monday, 2nd week in Easter time

April 20, 2020: Acts 4:23-31; John 3:1-8

With Christ having risen from the dead and the disciples having realised its effects, history opens to the next phase! The people of God who were made into Easter people, now get ready to put on another identity as the people of the Spirit... "a Spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline" (2 Tim 1:7). 

It is like asking the believers to grow up and take charge, not to live in the shadow of fear and timidity but to speak up with courage the Good news of the Lord. It is like we are challenged today with this crisis: how are you going to rise up from here? what is this contagion and the resultant suffering and anxiety going to do to you? Is it going to dominate you and make you a totally defeated person or are you waiting to spring back to joy, optimism and renewal? 

If we have to come back with new life, that needs a transformation - a real, total, concrete personal transformation leading to a transformation as a believing community. The courage and the conviction of faith of a true believer will shake the earth, describes the readings today. People have to look at us and wonder, how do they manage it: optimism in the face of suffering, hope in the face of anxiety, love in the face of all the turmoil that could come their way!

Let the earth be shaken up today, because of our convictions. Let the humanity which seems to be on a down-slide with regard to its spirit, and more regard to its values and morals, be shaken up because of our Spirit-filled lives. Let us not be overcome by evil; but let us overcome evil with Good (cf. Rom 12:21).

In whose name?

FRIDAY of the EASTER OCTAVE

April 17, 2020: Acts 4:1-12; Luke 21:1-14

In whose name?...that is the crucial question today in the readings. The question was alive and agitating in Jesus' times, as every one kept asking him in whose name was he doing all that he was doing! The question lingers on even today, as each of us live our Christian call - in whose name do we do all that we do! 

The first reading while notifying us of how the apostles were posed with that question, explains to us how the rejected stone turns into the corner stone, a name which they wanted to wipe off from the history of humankind was rewriting history. There is a twofold lesson given to us here:

One, to grow to be cornerstones and the other, to recognise our corner stone, here and now!

We are called to imitate the life of the Corner Stone, becoming ourselves corner stones to the Reign that the Lord wishes to establish within us and through us. Just as Jesus lived to do the will of the one who sent him, we are called to discover the unique plan that God has for us and live it to the full. Just as Jesus was who he was and did what he did, all in the name of his Father - so are we called to do everything in Jesus' name, that we become, grow to be the corner stones that humankind needs today to stay firm. 

Secondly, we need to readily recognise the corner stone of our lives, the Risen Lord Jesus! That feeling, "it is the Lord" and the readiness to jump into the waters of daily life to encounter the Risen Lord standing on the shore, are but just two of the many compelling examples that the apostles and their early communities give us. How prepared are we to recognise our corner stone and accept Him to be truly our firm foundation: it is the Lord! How ready are we to jump into the chores and anxieties of our daily life, certain that the Lord awaits us on the other bank!

When we live our life "in His name" on a daily basis... we not only recognise the corner stone of our life but also train ourselves to be corner stones that create communities of joy and hope, wherever we are and in whichever situation we are!

BEING EASTER PEOPLE TODAY

EASTER SUNDAY: April 12, 2020

He is risen and he goes before you to Galilee, announces the angel today! Yes, the Lord is Risen! Alleluia! And he has resumed his life… we have to keep pace with him today! The Risen Lord invites us to be Easter People Today. Amidst the cry of helplessness that arises from a world that is stricken with sickness right now, we need to cry out with hope and joy, reinvigorating the world, rejuvenating humanity. We are called to be Easter people today!

The world is in need of Easter People; if I am not an easter person there is one hope less in the world. The Resurrection of the Lord invites us to a life of difference, to know the difference, to make a difference and to feel the difference! We cannot conform to the world, the Lord calls us to a transformation of the mind and spirit (cf.Rom12:2), that we may challenge the world - that is what we have been preparing for all this lent! This non-conformity to the world is what marked the Early Christians from the rest of the people… the world recognized they were a different people, that they were easter people!

From the unreal to the Real
The world today poses promises after promises for a happy life – possessions, comforts, popularity, power, pleasure… all these are presented to us as sure means of happiness in life! But a closer look at the situation today will let us know instantly how unreal these are. They make you slog with a promise of a great future till you suddenly realize, that future never comes… you slog, slog and slog only to finally leave everything behind with a heavy heart and a resentment of the lost past. From these unreal promises, the Risen Lord invites us to the Real: to know the difference, the difference between the fleeting promises and the promises that stand forever! 

Being Easter People Today demands that we know this difference, the difference that the Lord wants to make in our lives. He has risen precisely for that, that he may make a difference! Shifting our focus from the unreal promises of an unreal happiness, the Lord invites us to focus on the Real promises of joy: that my joy may be in you and your joy may be  complete (Jn14:11). It is in living our life in union with the Lord, experiencing the love of the Lord and sharing it generously with our brothers and sisters, that our joy can be Real, lasting and permanent. Don’t you think as Easter people we have something concrete to offer to the world in this regard?

From the darkness to the Light
The world today reports darkness and darkness everywhere – Contagion, death, conspiracies, domination, superpowers, exploitation, killings, direct and indirect terrorism, crisis, abuse, deception, suicides and such news of desperation fill the dailies and the news-tubes today. There is darkness everywhere because people have gone a long way with the unreal images and misleading guideposts. But the Risen Lord fills us with hope that there could no point of no return, if we are in the Lord! There is always hope, if we as Easter People accept our call to move from the darkness to the Light. The same Lord who said, “I am the Light of the world” (Jn 8:12) looks at each of us and says, “You are the light of the world” (Mt 5:14). Arise! Shine! For your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you, says Prophet Isaiah (Is 60:1). 

No darkness can overcome the Easter People…we are people of the light and this light we have to let it shine, let the world see, let the world be guided. Often times, the sad fact is that we do not realize who we are and continue to lament on the darkness that surrounds, not only lament, but spread it ourselves too… there is unrest, there is crisis, there is hatred, there is desperation… yes they are there, but what have I done to make a difference! What have I changed within myself? What  have I contributed to my setting, what have I changed around me to make a difference? Without really having done anything to make a difference can I claim myself to be an Easter Person? What meaning would it have to celebrate Easter then?

From death to Eternal life
The world today is rushing into a culture of death, warned us Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, long long ago. Hopeless pessimism, inhuman utilitarianism, exaggerated materialism, heartless skepticism and limitless consumerism… these are signs of the Reign of the Evil one, of the kingdom of death!  The Risen Lord invites us from this reign of death to the glory of eternal life. An unfailing optimism, love filled relationships, balanced understanding of development and advancement, use of things and love for people…these are the signs of eternity, because they will never end. We are called to be people who feel the presence of these signs within us and witness to these infront of the world today. 

An Easter person has to be filled with life and has to fill those around him or her with life. Standing against the culture of death we are called to witness for optimism rather than desperation, to opt for love rather than exploitation, to liberate ourselves from slaveries and challenge the world to a liberated life style. The Risen Lord fills us with this life… a life that is filled with Joy, a life that is lit with Truth and a life that is defined by hope. Let us take it to the rest of the World as the disciples took the risen Lord to the rest of the world.

Being Easter people today demands that we know the difference between the unreal and the Real, that we make a difference and lead the world from darkness to Light, and that we feel the difference that the Risen Lord offers us: the promise, the gift and the hope of Eternal Life.

WISH YOU A VERY HAPPY EASTER...BE FILLED WITH THE HOPE OF THE RISEN LORD!
BE EASTER PEOPLE WHEREVER YOU ARE!!!

WORD 2day : 16th April, 2016

The Word,  the Spirit and the Eternal Life

Saturday,  3rd week in Easter
Acts 9:31-42; Jn 6: 60-69

The Disciples were graduating! From listening to proclaiming, from believing to witnessing,  from doing what the Lord said to doing what the Lord did!

It first began with their acknowledgement of the Word. Peter's statement today: where would we go Lord,  you have the words of eternal life is the starting point of their graduation. It brings out their willingness to stick their neck out for Christ.
The second level of graduation comes from the Spirit promised by the Lord. With the Spirit they felt the power of Jesus present within them. They cured the sick, raised the dead and stood before anyone without fear or trembling. They were different from what they used to be!

Finally there was something that made them completely unbeatable : the perspective of Eternal life. This is what Jesus their master wanted them to have! They learnt that no one could take their eternal life away from them. They were convinced that the joy that the Spirit gives and the peace that the Risen Lord gives, no one could snatch away from them. That was a life changing perspective!

With the Word, in the Spirit and with the perspective of eternal life,  we too can overcome the world as our Lord and saviour has done for us.

WORD 2day: 13th April, 2016

Without Hunger or Thirst

Wednesday, 3rd week in Easter

Acts 8: 1-8; Jn 6: 35-40

Luke presents a very dramatic account today of two contrasting movements gaining ground: one, the persecutions against the new believers in Christ and the other, the community of believers growing stronger by the day both in quantity and quality. They were persecuted, they were killed, they were dragged to prison, they were flogged and stoned...but nothing disturbed them. How is this possible?

Jesus gives us the answer in the Gospel: because they have no hunger nor thirst. They do not hunger for anything other than the nourishment from the Lord. They do not thirst for anything other than doing what pleases the Lord. The model for us is Jesus himself who said 'my food is to do the will of the One who sent me'.

If we truly eat the body of Christ with ardent faith and absolute and conscious understanding, we would not hunger for anything more, nor thirst for anything else. Our needless yearnings and disproportionate cravings are because we have not understood the real treasures that we have in our faith, in our spiritual covenant with the Lord.

WORD 2day: 9th April, 2016

The uncompromisable Priority

Saturday, 2nd week in Easter

Acts 6: 1-7; Jn 6: 16-21

Jesus was with the disciples, speaking to the people all through the day and after having fed them and been in all that din, he sends the apostles away to the other shore but he himself goes alone to pray. He was very firm on his priority!

The Apostles as they began their ministry amidst the new found faith, they had their model clear and loud: Jesus! Their priorities were challenged at every step and thoroughly. But they had a Master and Friend who never gave up on his priorities. The first reading brings to us one occassion where the apostles seem to keep to the uncomprimisable priority: the primacy of God. 

Nothing can substitute a personal relationship with God: we may claim to be working for God and working in the name of God...but a personal relationship with God is not the same as the aforementioned. Our priority for primacy of God cannot waver,  cannot be compromised! It is a relationship that is spoken of here...the human-divine relationship out of which I receive 'grace upon grace' as St. Paul would claim.

WORD 2day: 8th April, 2016

The levels of Spiritual Accomplishments

Friday, 2nd week in Easter
Acts 5: 34-42; Jn 6: 1-15

In undertaking spiritual acts we can notice ourselves at three different levels: the first is the level of Human Approval. Doing things in order that others see and look up to me. Jesus was upset with the Pharisees and the Saducees because they were at this level and refused to grow up. That is a clear message to us, not to go by the approval or disapproval of the crowd, or recognition or criticism of the circle around.

The second is the level of Self Edification: This may look good apparently, but it is not good enough says the Lord. The disciples and apostles were mostly at this level originally. They did nothing for public approval, but they wanted to gain every personal mileage out of the things that were upto. They wanted seats of authority, they wanted to bring down fire and brimstone on people, they resisted anyone else using Jesus' name to cast out demons...the tendency of self edification is found in us too. Going to Church everyday for Eucharist, praying everyday regularly, keeping all the holy routine strictly...these can be ways of my self edification; that I feel happy that I am doing all that I can do! That is not bad, but for Jesus it is not good enough.

Jesus challenges us to a third level - the sense of Divine Purpose. I do something because God wills that I do it and I am certain there is a Divine purpose to it. When I have this sense of Divine Purpose, I will not clamour for my glory,  I will not be upset when people don't give me my due credit, I will not be looking to prove myself to anyone! God knows me through and through and has a plan for me. I carry it out for God's glory and for my salvation. Gamaliel refers to that sort of a spirituality and Jesus lives it in action. After that great sign of the multiplication Jesus could just move on because all that he wanted was that God be praised. 

Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam  - all for the greater glory of God! That could be our password to growth in our spiritual accomplishments. 

WORD 2day: 7th April, 2016

We and the Holy Spirit

Thursday, 2nd week of  Easter
Acts 5: 27-33; Jn 3: 31-36

The Spirit and the witnessing to the Lord are very closely knit and that is what the Word brings out today. If we have to witness to the salvation that we have experienced in the Lord - firstly, it is possible only with the Spirit: for no one can proclaim that Jesus is Lord except through the Spirit. Secondly, it is the Spirit that makes the witness efficacious. 

When we submit to the Lord, the Father fills us with the Spirit says Jesus today in the Gospel...and that is what is needed utmost in our lives. It is happily surprising to see the way the Apostles looked at, understood and related with the Spirit: We and the Holy Spirit are witnesses to these things! For them the Spirit was someone who lived with them, within them!

Today, our Christian witness would go a long way in bringing the Lord to the people and bringing the people to the Lord, if the Spirit becomes our constant life companion!

WORD 2day : 6th April, 2016

God so loves!

Wednesday, 2nd week in Easter 

Acts 5: 17-26; Jn 3: 16-21

Acts of the Apostles contains as many wondrous events that took place as in any of the Gospels, beginning with the ascension of the Lord. We see a totally different kind of persons in the apostles. They were confident, truly courageous and absolutely committed - this was never the case when they had Jesus around. What made the difference? The difference was that they realised, 'God so loved the world...'!

They realised what Jesus did to them only after the Lord had left them! They also realised the immense plan that God had for humanity and for themselves. They were so filled with the Holy Spirit that they felt the effect of it all over their selves. The fundamental of all these: to realise how much God loves!

Even today, true conversion can happen only where there is a personal realisation of how much God loves me! Meditate everyday on the love of God for you personally and you will see the change of perspective it can offer!

MERCY, FAITH & SEEING

2ND SUNDAY IN EASTER: 3rd April, 2016

Acts 5:22-16; Rev 1:9-13,17-19; Jn 20: 19-31

The Risen Christ is the face of the Mercy of God;  the Risen Lord appears to strengthen the Faith of his disciples. They see and they believe. Thus we have the three key terms of the day: Mercy, Faith and Seeing!

Mercy of God: Thanks to Pope St. John Paul II, we have a great feast to celebrate today! The Mercy of God is essentially that aspect of God accepting us as God's children without any conditions. 'If you should see our guilt O Lord , who can stand before you', exclaims the Psalmist. God chooses not to see our limitations and our failures. The blood and water that flowed from the heart of Jesus is the proof that Jesus is the face of the mercy of God.

Faith in Christ: You believe because you have seen, blessed are those who haven't seen yet believe. Faith is not having to see, not having to look for proofs, not having to rely on evidences but accepting in the depths of our beings the merciful presence of the Risen Lord with us, all our life. The fundamental message of resurrection consists in the hope of the presence of the Lord with us.

Seeing the hand of the Lord: Relying on the Mercy of God and basing ourselves on the faith we have in Christ, we are called to live a life of trust and mercy. We are called to grow more and more merciful, like the Father Himself. Today we have the call and the way to live it, both outlined in the readings. It is a special gift to grow in that sensitivity with which we readily notice the hand of God in the developments that surround us. 

Experience the immensity of God's mercy, grow in your faith in Christ and See the way God raises you as witnesses of God's merciful love!

EASTER OCTAVE - SATURDAY

The Command and the Obedience

Acts 4: 13-21; Mk 16: 9-15

The Apostles in front of the elders and the high priests were not saying anything untrue, nor were they speaking figuratively. They were stating a fact: that they have received a command from their Master and their obedience to that command is absolute. The Gospel presents to us that scene where the command was given. There is something very important to note here. That command was not for the apostles alone!

I remember an experience from our Scout Master's Training days (it is still fresh though 20 years have passed). The Leader-Trainer would demonstrate the drill standing in front of the troop and he would announce: "the Command is only for me" and then proceed with the demo. When Jesus lived with his disciples he was in the command-is-only-for-me mode. But once he demonstrated what it means to take the good news of the Reign of God to the people, he opened the command to the rest of his followers. The command was not for the apostles alone, but for every person who wanted to follow Christ. He has shown us by example what it means to live that command on a daily basis.

Today, we have received the command too. The threatening circumstances, like that of Fr. Tom's case now and the rest who were killed in Yemen, or the scores that are undergoing the same treatment all over, can warn us as the elders and the high priests did: do not speak of the good news from Christ. But whom are we going to obey?

EASTER OCTAVE - FRIDAY

The Cornerstone

Acts 4: 1-12; Jn 21: 1-14

Annas, Caiaphas...we are still familiar with these names because we have just a few days ago heard those characters speak. They are back again... not with a similar case as Jesus whom they crucified recently but with the same case. They should have ended up with a fear as to how far it is going to take them. Rightly so, because it has been over 2000 years and that one single case is not yet written off. This is what Jesus wants to impress upon with his disciples.

They thought they had discarded him; they had infact buried him as the corner stone on which the whole edifice would rest for ever. The Cornerstone joins two walls: the jews and the non jews, the living and the dead, the sinners and the righteous...all these binaries are dissolved in Christ. In Christ, we become one people, one Church, one Body, one heart and one mind.

Today, Jesus makes it a point to prove to his apostles that he is not yet over! The haul of fish, the breakfast set up and the words of proof that Jesus gave them - it was all meant to tell the apostles who thought everything was over, that it is not yet over! Jesus wants his presence to continue. The responsibility is on our shoulders. The more we become one people, one in heart and mind, we would make the presence of Christ more and more felt in our midst. 

EASTER OCTAVE- THURSDAY

The Witnesses

Acts  3: 11-26; Lk 24: 35-48

"You are witnesses", declares the Lord in the Gospel and "We are witnesses", proclaims Peter before the people! 

We are Witnesses! We would become witnesses only when we have seen, we have experienced, we have been touched and we are so affected that we want to shout it out! 

Can I claim that I have seen the Lord? Do you think it is difficult to see the Lord?

Can I say that I have experienced the Lord? Have you really capitalised on the continuous presence and protection of the Lord? 

Do I feel touched by the Lord? What does the Lord mean to my daily life?

How much am I affected by the Lord? How are my priorities and principles shaped and transformed by the Lord?

These are some self ruminations that can make us true witnesses. Are we ready to take up the challenge of being witnesses to the Lord?

EASTER OCTAVE - WEDNESDAY

The Graduation Post-Resurrection

Acts 3:1-10; Lk 24: 13-35

The Apostles and Disciples discovered their real selves post-resurrection: it was not just a continuation but a graduation. From doing what Jesus said, they began to do what Jesus did and what Jesus would do! When they were with Jesus around Galilee and Judea, whatever Jesus wished they carried out - Jesus sent them on errands, on missionary journeys, he directed them at every step as to what to do, and they carried out orders. Now, when Jesus is with them after Resurrection, they seem to know exactly what is to be done! This did not happen all of a sudden... they were schooled... they were prepared... they were transformed and they Graduated!

They learnt things from Jesus, they learnt things about Jesus and they learnt to be Jesus! The Gospel presents to us the methodology that Jesus followed to educate his followers: the methodology of walking with them ("pedagogy" sounds so close to this meaning). Jesus walked with them and they learnt to grow into Jesus. They were able to understand what Jesus had spoken till then, they were able to do what Jesus did in their presence and they did it all, in the name of Jesus!

We are disciples and apostles of the Post-Resurrection era and we cannot behave still like those before. Let us graduate, from merely obeying rules to becoming like Jesus, from merely carrying out orders to understanding the mind of Jesus, from merely doing what Jesus wants to acting in the name of Jesus! We should make Jesus present today wherever we are.

EASTER OCTAVE - TUESDAY

What Next?

Acts 2: 36-41; Jn 20: 11-18

We were out celebrating the pasch with a group of youngsters during the Easter Triduum and at the end of the 3 days of experience the group was exuberant in their gratitude and vociferous in their admiration of all that was done during those days. Without throwing a wet blanket on their normal exuberance and the expected exhilaration, we had to ask them this crucial question : WHAT NEXT?

Many of our faith experiences and adventures of spiritual nature will go worthless, if we do not ask ourselves, 'where do I go from here?' This is what the people ask Peter, and this is what the Risen Christ directs Mary about. You have seen the Lord, you have experienced the Lord, you have tasted his living presence... do not stop with it. 

Go all out and share it with the others. Go all around and fill the earth with that love. Go to everyone and speak to them of what your Father and their Father has done to the whole of humanity. We are people with a spiritual experience. We are people with a never dying faith. Let the world know!

Easter People - Grow amidst Struggles

Easter Octave - Monday

April 22, 2019: Acts 2: 14, 22-33; Matthew 28: 8-15

There has been no dearth of conspiracies and controversies right from the beginning of the Christian Faith. The Word today brings out the very first controversy, a controversy about Christ's resurrection itself. But the same passages point also towards the fact that there was a constant increase in the number of people who wanted to be part of this new found faith! That is the message, both of today and of the season of Easter!

We will grow amidst struggles, if we are convinced that we are growing out of the will of the Father. We would be stifled by even the smallest hurdle if we are growing out of our own necessity, and for the sake of proving our own selves!

At times in our personal lives, or in our life of ministry, or in our professional lives, we feel like pushing our way through with plans and projects. Sure, they will see the light of day, but only to soon find its way out - may be due to failure or lack of true significance. If we want something to be established, we are taught today: we need to allow things into God's hands! Amidst all controversies and calumnies, judgments and prejudices, we are challenged to be founded on Risen Christ, grow in our faith and deepen ourselves in hope!

Let us remember, Easter People grow amidst struggles!

Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy #7

# THE WOUNDS

Yet another element that stands out in the logo is the wounds of crucifixion that we see on the limbs of Christ. Why are the wounds there...are they used merely to identify that it is Christ? The halo and the cross on the head of that image would have done if it were so. The wounds have a slightly deeper significance, than merely to say it is Christ; they signify that it is the Risen Christ that we see there!

The Risen Lord used the wounds in his hands and feet and the side, to assure the disciples that it was he! Come touch my wounds and put your hand into my side, he invited Thomas. The message is the presence of the Risen Lord. We are not here looking at the historical Jesus who lived and moved those three years doing miracles, manifesting signs and doing enormous good to so many. No, we are thinking of the Lord who has promised us to be with us all the time, till the end of times. We are looking at the Lord who is there with us in every experience of ours, in doubts and difficulties, in trials and temptations, in sins and sufferings, he is there beside us, compassionately involved in our lives, infact equally living it himself. That is why we are on his shoulders, he is seeing us through all our situations. 

The call that we have is to feel, experience and trust in the continual presence of the Risen Lord, the promise of the never failing mercies of the Father.