Being Godly...

WORD 2day: Friday, 8th week in Ordinary time

May 28, 2021: Sirach 44: 1, 9-13; Mark 11: 11-26

The readings today speak to us of an essential dimension of human life: being Godly. If we can showcase some indication of difference between human beings and the so-called 'lower' beings, it has to be the dimension of being Godly. Because, it is only when God created the human persons, does God say, 'let us create human beings in our own image'. 

However these days the social network seems to present us with cases of many of these animals, the so called 'lower' beings, with qualities and actions much more edifying than those of the humans - feeling for the other, caring for the suffering, mourning for the dead, helping those in need, and so on! They seem to excel in their show of love and affection too, some times! Aren't we therefore obliged much more to manifest this Godliness in our lives, as human persons?

The Word today outlines 2 signs of being Godly...

The first is, being rooted in God - finding one's solace and fulfillment in nothing less than God, finding the hand of God in every bit of one's well being, being grateful for and conscious of the good that God continues to do, standing by to find out God's will and accompaniment in daily journeys of life. ..these are signs of being rooted in God.

Another sign is, bearing forth God's fruits - one who bears forth God's fruits will bear it forth for others and not make a living out of it as it was happening in the Temple; he or she will bear it forth in season and out of season, in abundance and always mindful that the fruits belong to God.

Let us become more and more aware of the fact that we are created, to be Godly!

Commitment and Priority-Choice for God

THE WORD IN THE HOLY WEEK

Another Passion Week amidst the Pandemic - the Spy Wednesday

March 31, 2021: Isaiah 50: 4-9; Matthew 26:14-25

The disciple's tongue to speak and the disciple's ear to listen - that is what the Lord has given us; but whether we use the faculty or not, depends so much on our choice! What a sad illustration of this we have in the Gospel today. This Wednesday is called the Spy Wednesday, as Judas is seen to agree to betray Jesus to the authorities, for thirty silver pieces, and from that moment began looking for the opportunity to hand him over to Jews!

Did Judas make a mistake? Yes, most probably! But did he have a chance, not to make it? Yes, ofcourse he did! Be it Judas who betrayed Jesus, or Peter who denied him, or the rest of the apostles who abandoned Jesus and ran for their lives, they were all warned, forewarned and prepared for such a treacherous moment... but they chose not to act on what they knew!

That is why we need to know, that knowing alone is not enough. To know what is right and wrong, to know what is sin and what is righteousness, to know what is the apt choice to be made at a given time - these are all faculties that are good, but not enough. Our relationship with God, our commitment in faith, goes beyond merely knowing and understanding, it depends on the choices we make with the convictions we form. 

In fact, the three levels of growth from an ignorant way of life are -the level of knowing and understanding, where there is knowledge and intellectual prowess at play; the level of conviction and principles, where a person appears disciplined and guided by principles but there is still the dichotomy of the theory and practice, the beliefs and life; and thirdly comes the level of commitment and priority-choice, where there is nothing that can make one falter from the way of life that one is called to. 

While Judas was still in the first level, Peter and other apostles had gone to the second level, which depending on the grace and mercy of God could save them. But the call is always to the third level - to be persons committed to God and God's way of life, to be totally formed in the image of God and communicating the same to the world around. Jesus was that and he had to pay the price for it. That is what we are celebrating these days - his knowledge and understanding of his Father, his conviction and principles guided by his Father's will and his commitment and priority-choice for God and God's plan. 

Today, setting aside our judgemental looks at Judas, can we ask ourselves: am I growing in my commitment and priority-choice for God, that nothing else can distract me, tempt me or draw me away from God's plan for me?

Growing in Christian Faith: To be in distress for the Lord

THE WORD IN LENT - Friday, 5th week in Lent

March 26, 2021: Jeremiah 20: 10-13; John 10: 31-42

 

Jeremiah seems a perfect foreshadow of Jesus, but in one case! He was in distress too for the sake of the will of the One who called him; he was cornered for nothing and taken to task for his dedication to the Lord and the task handed to him by the Lord. It is just like today, how those who do good to the society in the name of Jesus are taken to task because they are doing it in that Name! And when such acts of atrocity happen, many of us Christians express sentiments of anger and call on the Lord to teach a lesson to the perpetrators of evil!

 

But differing from Jeremiah, and from us all, Jesus does not wish vengeance, or to see that the Lord would take on those who did not heed the call, those who were persecuting him for wrong reasons, those who refused to see such an obvious point made by Jesus' words and deeds. Jesus wishes that they turn to him, believe in him, in his words and in his works and realise that he is in the Father and the Father is in him.

 

To be in distress for the Lord, is a call in itself. Both Jeremiah and Jesus, give us an example of persons in distress for the Lord: Blessed are those who hunger for justice and peace, for they shall be filled; Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of God. Be happy when they persecute you, revile you, call you by names and denounce you unjustly, because they did the same to your Master – isn’t that the powerful message we get in the Word today? How prepared and ready are we to be in distress for the Lord! 

Let us learn what it means in our day-to-day life, to be in distress for the Lord!

True Christian Love: Condemnation or Compassion?

THE WORD IN LENT - Monday, Fifth week in Lent

March 22, 2021: Daniel 13: 1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62; John 8; 1-11

 

Susanna's story in the first reading and the story of the woman brought to Jesus accused of adultery, are two grand examples of the fact that God takes side with the weak and the vulnerable. They are two crucial dimensions of God’s love – love for the innocent weak and love for the suffering and exploited.

 

At times the so-called just and righteous will wonder what is wrong with God, the way God takes sides with the so-called sinners and the ‘undeserving’! If we were careful not to side ourselves with the self-righteous and self-proclaimed just ones, we would easily understand our call to play God's role in the situations we find ourselves in: the role of taking sides with the weak, the vulnerable, the little ones of the Lord!

 

These are two different perspectives – one, that of the self-righteous and the other, the Truly Righteous God. The difference between the above mentioned two perspectives is simply this: one itches to condemn; the other is moved by compassion. Depending on what stance we take, we would determine which camp we belong to – to the condemnation camp or to the compassion camp!

 

It is compassion that is Godly and we need to grow seriously out of a vindictive spirit, if we want to put on the mind of Christ. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, declares St. Paul (Rom 8:1). It is so, because God is love and True Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things (1 Cor 13:7).

Let us strive to belong always to the Compassion camp!

Drooping hands and weak knees or Faith Alive?

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 4th week in Ordinary time 

February 3, 2021: Hebrew 12:4-7,11-15; Mark 6:1-6

God is all powerful except before our free will... it is not that God is incapable but God has chosen to implant that freedom which is God's own image and likeness within us. At times we may feel we are afflicted but we are not without the means to withstand them. We have within us the necessary strength to stand up to these. At no time are we faced with a trial that is more than our capacity. That is the promise of the Word. God doesn't allow us to be tested beyond our capacity, says St. Paul (1 Cor 10:13).

However, there is one thing that can drive us to despair... the drooping hands and weak knees. 

Drooping hands symbolise my lack of faith in the capacity God has placed within me. It is giving up, giving up too easily on efforts towards perfection. It is said, a mistake after the second time is a decision! In our journey towards growth and perfection, what counts is not how fast we make a choice for good, but how steadfast we are to that choice and how enduring our choice remains.

Weak knees symbolise lack of dependence on God. When things go wrong, and life seems out of hand for all practical reasons, we tend to give up mainly because we think we are at things all by ourselves. At moments of crisis we find ourselves helpless, because we do not perceive the Lord who is so close to us  and so concerned about us - just like those who were not able to see Christ, in Jesus!

Finally the question is, what do you choose: drooping hands and weak knees or a Faith alive?

God's love surrounds us!

WORD 2day: Wednesday after the Epiphany Sunday

January 6, 2021: 1 John 4: 11-18; Mark 6: 45-52

It was a long time ago, but the experience has not left my mind. A child, hardly 2 years, had a tumour on her face,which had grown so big that it had covered the eyes and the child could not open her eyes. Admitted in the hospital, the child was crying incessantly, firstly due to pain and then due to fear, remember she was not even able to see whether there was someone standing around her. Everytime the mother put her hand into the hands of the child or on the tiny body of the child, the child would calm down and sleep; but the moment the mother took the hands off or left the side, the child never ceased crying! 

The Word today reminds us of that scene: with the Lord around, it does not matter what kind of a situation, we can go through it with calm and quietitude. In the absence of the Lord, even a mole hill would appear to be a mountain and a gentle breeze a storm! Let nothing perturb you, the Word and the saints continually remind us.  

The love of the Lord surrounds us! Let us live our daily moments, caressed in the love of God and become signs and bearers of that love, to those around us. Even those who are in the thick of darkness, unable to see anything around, would feel calm and strong, if we bring alive to them the presence of God's love in those moments of their lives. 

And if and when we love one another, God remains in us!

God is Love; Who are we?

WORD 2day: Tuesday after the Epiphany Sunday

January 5, 2021: 1 John 4: 7-10; Mark 6: 34-44

God's image among God's people was continuously evolving...first they thought God was a demanding task master, but later they understood God was loving too; first they thought God was an angry God but later they found God slow to anger, abounding in love; first they thought God was an uncompromising God but later they understood he was merciful too! They gradually came to understand the goodness and sweetness of God, but in no way losing sight of the uncompromising righteousness that was characteristic of God. 

The evolution found its climax in Christ, who reveals God as absolutely compassionate, profusely loving, immensely forgiving and unconditionally accepting...but always uncompromisingly righteous and pure! Jesus manifested this combination in its pristine form. In his firmness with the self-appointed leaders and  hypocritical religious heads and in his compassion with the sinners, the outcasts, the ill and the poor, Jesus was reflecting the image of the invisible God.

Knowing God to be such a person, is in a way a great news for us; but at the same time a big challenge. A great news because we are cared for and protected in that unbelievable love. A challenge because, if we are children of God, we need to be defined by who God is. 

Our God is love; hence we are called to be children of love! From the way we live our life, the world should be able to understand the kind of God we believe in. This is what is called the integrity of faith: the correlation between our faith and our living!

Now that Jesus in his compassion and in his mercy, has revealed God as love, let us ask ourselves, who are we?

Presence - the greatest gift

THE WORD IN ADVENT

December 5, 2020: First Saturday of Advent

Isaiah 30: 19-21, 23, 26; Matthew 9: 35 - 10:1, 5a, 6-8

The greatest gift of God, is God's continual presence with us!

Life, food, water, protection, healing, assurance, sustenance, love and care...these are given to us gratuitously by God. All these are gifts that we have received, whether we acknowledge it or not. The greatest of all and the gift beyond all these is God's continual presence with us. More precisely, the fundamental gift of all is the presence!

God's presence is manifested to us in various ways: as providing presence that fulfills our needs; protecting presence that safeguards us from dangers; probing presence that challenges us on our life's journey; and above all, guiding presence that accompanies us on a constant basis. The last of these, is a bit different presence because, all others will be taken care of by God, even if we are mere passive receivers. But the accompanying presence of the Lord can be experienced only if we actively acknowledge, accept and allow the Lord to act on our behalf.

A second challenge that we have is, as persons who have experienced that presence, the call we have to become that presence for the others...the accompanying presence of the Lord. We give it when people need it, we dont force ourselves on them. We give it even when it means that we sacrifice much of our time, energy and attention. We give it when others need, not when we feel like! We give without looking for anything in return...just being there for the other!

Advent is a spiritual exercise precisely to grow in our capacity to become aware of this accompanying presence of God with us, and become one such for others! Personally, it is a moment when we learn to see, practice to understand and be prepared to allow God to have God's way in our life. Are we on that journey?

Good people or God's people?

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

November 23, 2020: Revelation 14:1-5; Luke 21: 1-4

Are we called to be good people? Yes, but not just that. The Word today challenges us: it is not enough to be good people, but we are called to be God's people. Being good seems a bit of a relative opinion these days. We are good to some, and not so to some others! According to some, I am good and for some others, I am not good. I am good at times when I see an advantage in being so, but when it is not going to favour me in anyway, I give up on that guard. Being good seems so relative.

Just have a look at the posters with politicians doling out their "generous" gifts to the unfortunate lot, the numerous NGOs scripting out projects for the eradication of social evils for decades and decades together, the so-called social activists voicing the woes of the downtrodden. And these days, the scenario is worse... to see poses with masks and microphones...everything seems a show! People who do good and claim to do good, do it with various intentions and it is that which makes all the difference.

One thing it is to be known as people who do good and the other is to be people of God. Doing good has no end to it and is evaluated in its quantity, in the volume of the good we do. Being God's people is in one way simpler and in another way a lot more demanding. 

It is simpler because it does not matter what you do and how much you do but with how much of love you do whatever you do! You need not be giving away tonnes of things to others in charity or announcing everyday one scheme, which means nothing to none. What matters is you have true compassion for the other, in the depth of your heart.

More demanding because even a slight intention of selfishness or vain glory can negate the true effect of the good that is done. It is what is in your heart that makes your gift valid or not in the sight of the Lord - whether it is sacks of gold or a mere two pennies! You can hide what you have in your heart to everyone, but to God? 

To be marked as people of God is to belong to God and to put our whole self and all we have at the disposal of the One who gave it all to us. It is important to be people who do good, but more important it is to be people of God.

A 3G ON THE WORLD DAY OF THE POOR

GRATITUDE, GUILT AND GIVING - 3 sensibilities provoked!

November 15, 2020: 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

4th 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 fourth 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, calling us to keep alive the sensibilities that were provoked during reflections of that entire year! Here this Sunday's Word brings home to us the same sensibilities... and we shall dwell on them in 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 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 invites the world to observe this day as World Day of the Poor - do you think he is saying, now all of us rich get together and pool in some money to give to the poor? No! He is raising a big question - 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.

"Stretch forth your hand to the poor (Sir 6:7)," invites the Holy Father this day! The ugliness of poverty and misery that has always been around us today, has gathered more flesh to torment humanity with the pandemic that is causing havoc world wide. The call is to look out for the most affected, the worst hit, the totally lost, the utterly broken, those who feel they have nobody, those who are struggling to even live their next minute in life... to those we need to stretch forth our hand, our heart, our minds and our love. 

Listen to these words of Pope Francis: 

“Stretch forth your hand to the poor” challenges the attitude of those who prefer to keep their hands in their pockets and to remain unmoved by situations of poverty in which they are often complicit. Indifference and cynicism are their daily food. What a difference from the generous hands we have described! If they stretch out their hands, it is to touch computer keys to transfer sums of money from one part of the world to another, ensuring the wealth of an elite few and the dire poverty of millions and the ruin of entire nations. Some hands are outstretched to accumulate money by the sale of weapons that others, including those of children, use to sow death and poverty. Other hands are outstretched to deal doses of death in dark alleys in order to grow rich and live in luxury and excess, or to quietly pass a bribe for the sake of quick and corrupt gain. Others still, parading a sham respectability, lay down laws which they themselves do not observe. Amid all these scenarios, “the excluded are still waiting. To sustain a lifestyle which excludes others, or to sustain enthusiasm for that selfish ideal, a globalization of indifference has developed. Almost without being aware of it, we end up being incapable of feeling compassion at the outcry of the poor, weeping for other people’s pain, and feeling a need to help them, as though all this were someone else’s responsibility and not our own” (Evangelii Gaudium, 54). We cannot be happy until these hands that sow death are transformed into instruments of justice and peace for the whole world.

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!

Taking God for granted!!!

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

November 11, 2020: 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 a pant 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, it 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.

Be compassionate because...

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

October 26, 2020: 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: these days we hear people criticising Pope Francis and calling him names and branding him as someone who is destroying the teachings of the Church. We need to be very careful with the anti-Catholic forces which are taking advantage of the situation and spreading the false propaganda, in the disguise of their concern for the Church. The sad fact is that some, even within the Church, are so quick to fall for this false propaganda, and worse still, some of them are in authority of teaching! All that Pope Francis said was just the compassion that Jesus had for the sinners and the publicans. The Holy Father only reiterated that the sin has to be abhorred not the sinner, the wrong principles have to be condemned not the persons... every person however sinful he or she is, bears at the core of his or her being, the dignity of God's child. 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 formed me and has shaped me!

The Spirit of Courage and Hope

WORD 2day: Friday, 28th week in Ordinary time

October 16, 2020: Ephesians 1: 11-14; Luke 12: 1-7.

The Word today brings out a crucial theme for these days - the Spirit of power and love and self-discipline (cf. 2 Tim 1:7), with which we are sealed, which brings freedom to those who belong to God. Where does this Spirit of courage and hope come from? From a life that is lived founded well on Christ like convictions and absolute commitment. Jesus brings that out in radical terms in the Gospel. 

Do not fear, do not be afraid... Jesus repeatedly assures us not to be guided by fear. When we are guided by solid convictions and not convenient compromises, when we are taken up with absolute commitment to the life's tasks entrusted to us, we will be truthful to God who has created us, chosen us in Christ and commissioned us to be the people of God. That truth will indeed set us free (cf. Jn 8:32). When we live by truth, we will not fear anyone or anything. 

Looking at the crisis of the pandemic around, the rise of fundamentalist forces all over, the irrational hegemony of the moneyed forces in the world, the voiceless struggles of the poor and oppressed, the merciless rampage of the corporates on the economically weaker sections - all these are disheartening issues and predicaments. But a true disciple of Christ, a genuine Christ-ian, a true son or daughter filled with the Spirit, will stand firm in courage and hope! 

We have great and shining witnesses in thousands of martyrs that we have in history, and those that are suffering heroically even today, for the cause of truth and justice! Even if we do not have an opportunity to give our witness in that manner, let us at least stand by these who are doing it - then we shall have a share in that testimony! 

For that we need to be enabled by the Spirit of Courage, that is poured into our hearts, that which we hold on to as the mark of our belonging to God. We will do well to pray for it. 

Get the Gospel right!

WORD 2day: Monday, 27th week in Ordinary time

October 05, 2020: Galatians 1:6-12; Luke 10: 25-37

Can there be more than one Good News? That is the key question that the Word responds to today - there can be varied good news from all quarters and varied directions, but ultimately the Good News is one! And it is in relation to that One Good News, to that ONE GOSPEL, that every other good news has to be tested, and found right or not. In a context of pluralism today, this is a key concern: getting the Gospel right!

We recently celebrated the memory of the birth of a great person Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, called the Mahatma of India, who firmly believed and advocated that truth from the Rig Veda: let noble thoughts come to us from all directions! That is a much needed attitude for a world situation like that of the present. Fratelli Tutti, the encyclical that Pope Francis promulgated on Saturday, inspired by St. Francis of Assisi, insists on that too - 'a love that transcends the barriers of geography and distance' (Fratelli Tutti, no.1). 

But can that dissipate our focus and make us eclectics collecting from everywhere and putting them all into one boiling pot and go with a false claim such as, 'everything is one and the same'? That is what we need to be careful about, warns Paul. You cannot equate everything...of course, let noble thoughts come from all direction - but you need ascertain that they are noble, truly noble; indeed, transcending geographies and distances is important, but you need to ascertain it is for true love! That is the essence of Paul's warning - to be clear about the absolute criteria, because the Gospel is ONE, and it is love and compassion! 

Jesus speaks of it in Gospel with such clarity. It is not justified merely because a priest and a levite did it. It cannot be disregarded merely because an ordinary samaritan chose this way to respond! Look for the right Good news, the right Gospel, the ONE absolute criterion for being people of God: the right elements that account for the right Gospel are love of God and love of one's neighbours. When BOTH of these are not compromised for any thing else, however good or desirable they seem to be, then we are well on our way to the Reign of God. It is a sign that you have got the Gospel right!

PUTTING ON CHRIST

Doing, being and remaining good!

September 27, 2020: 26th Sunday in Ordinary time
Ezekiel 18: 25-28; Philippians 2: 1-5; Matthew 21: 28-32

Have in you the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus! That is the invitation, the Word today offers us! In short, it can be understood, in Paul's own terms: to put on the mind of Christ. The readings also offer an itinerary, a graded way of putting on Christ, putting on the New Man, to have the mind of Christ! It is a three level progress that is presented to us, as a vocation, a project, a programme of life and a plan of growth.

The first level of putting on Christ is DOING good: to do good, however easy it could be, has to he a choice. One has to choose to do it. Of course, nothing is automatic. The choice a person makes at a particular situation, before a set of options, is what would determine the kind of action that would follow. Even what we call a spontaneous reaction, is not absolutely spontaneous...how is it possible that one person reacts to a situation completely in a completely different way form another, even at a spur of a moment! It is because even the so-called spontaneous reactions are nothing but choices made again and again over a number of times, that it looks automatic that one chooses to react in such and such a manner. 

The point here in doing good is, what one does gets noticed, appreciated or criticised, analysed and evaluated. Especially in receiving those appreciations and recognitions, Jesus would conclude that you have already received your reward. Hence, doing good, or choosing good because you wish to be accepted by others, appreciated by all and recognised for your goodness would already strip you of its merits. According to the mind of Christ, doing something externally is good, but not good enough. Absolutising external signs was considered by Jesus plainly as hypocrisy! 

The second level of putting on Christ is BEING good: doing good alone is not enough according to the mind of Christ. An excessive insistence on doing things, can easily lead to hypocrisy, legalism and ritualism. And so, we are called to be good, that our actions flow out of the person that we are; that from our internal goodness people experience a goodness that brings them to experience the goodness of God. Ezekiel points out in the first reading today that God does not see one's actions but the inner disposition from which those actions proceed. 

Is it not true that we may be doing the best of things at a given time, but a wrong intention or a imperfect motivation behind that action, can make the whole affair totally unchristian. That is why, though doing good is so important, being good becomes something very crucial. At times we may not be in a position to do good at all - for example, when someone comes to share with you their burdens, you may not me in a position to help them all: may be a economic crisis that you cannot help them out of it, or a spiritual crisis which you yourself are facing, or a family crisis where you have nothing much to do, or a professional crisis where you have no means to be of assistance... it really does not matter, as long are you are good, you are compassionate, you are listening with real empathy, you are feeling one with the sufferings of the person, you are whole heartedly atleast wishing that the person soon gets out of the problem or crisis that he or she is caught up in. That is being good in your person, in your heart, though you really may not 'do' anything good!

The third level of putting on Christ requires not only that we are good, but we REMAIN good. It is a reminder that our goodness has to be something that is sustained and not sporadic, constant and not conditioned! To remain good, is a challenge. At times we can be good and do good; but to remain good always is a demanding task; but putting on Christ means precisely that. Here we are dealing with the grace of perseverance. One may attempt to be good occasionally, but is hard to persevere in being good. 

Looking at the parable from the Gospel today - saying 'yes' to his father, the son fails to do what he accepted to do: it is like the seeds that fell among the thorny bushes or those which fell on the shallow rock. The initial fervour dies and soon every thing becomes so monotonous and meaningless. Instead, with the grace of perseverance, every new day is a renewed challenge to remain with the Lord, to remain good, to really put on Christ. My enemies may surround, every action of mine may be misunderstood and misinterpreted, every thing that I am involved in may be proving a great mountain to be crossed over...it does not matter, I shall not be moved; I shall not leave my itinerary of goodnes; I shall remain good! How prepared are we to say that?

Putting on Christ is a matter of doing good, but more than that it is being good, being good all our life and every moment. Are we ready to take up the task? We would do the right thing to pay heed to the life task that God gives us through St. Paul today: Have in you the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus!

Live, love and experience God

WORD 2day: Saturday, 25th week in Ordinary time

September 26, 2020: Ecclesiasticus 11:9 -12: 8; Lk 9: 43b-45 

Life is short and life is limited, but it offers ample opportunity to do things that are remarkable. It never forces anyone, leaving far behind anyone who complains of a life of boredom and monotony. For a Christian, life cannot be boring because he or she has a life task to accomplish and daily directions to carry out, from the Lord. That is why St. Paul would write saying, "do not grow weary of doing right" (2 Thess 3:13). 

But that kind of a life, lived in reaching out, doing good and spending oneself to the full, might invite criticism, jealousy, opposition, persecution and even crucifixion! But what matters is to do the will of God, and do it willingly. 

There was a video few years ago doing the rounds, shot live and uploaded by someone - a video of a boy who was eaten by a white tiger, in a zoo. All that time that the boy was going through the trauma of hanging between life and death, caught in the confinement set apart for the tiger. But what did the crowd do? What did the officials do? Yes, there was a crowd there, screaming and going mad, and a few among them recording it on their cell phones... video graphing what...the boy being torn into pieces? What did they really do to save that boy? It was a crucial time, a crucial issue of life and death, a crucial moment of taking decisions and making choices. It can really traumatise a sensitive conscience looking at that video; but imagine the trauma that boy would have gone through!

Life is short and life is limited; let's live it to the full, let us do all the good that we can to every one around. Let us not waste our life in envying, calumniating, gossiping, judging and spreading hate! Let us live to the full, love each other and experience God close to us!

The Unleavened Lifestyle of a Christian

WORD 2day: Monday 23rd week in Ordinary time

September 7, 2020: 1 Corinthians 5: 1-8; Luke 6: 6-11

The Word today speaks to us of the ills in Christian living...which St. Paul calls the yeast of evil and wickedness. We consider, almost universally, that acts like adultery and fornication are serious faults, and rightly so. But we consider habits like gossiping, judging others and criticising as less grave and so, go on with it as if they do not matter. A bit of compromise here and a bit of adjustment there, seems alright for the daily normal living, in the common parlance. 

That can never be an authentic Christian way of thinking...Christ would say looking with lust is equally evil as adultery; speaking ill of the other is equally brutal as assaulting the other physically; character assassination is as criminal as killing a person! It is not exactly in what we do that the seriousness of the matter consists, but in what we are aiming to do through our actions or words or disposition.

St. Paul deals with a more concrete situation of impurity and sin in the first reading today...but does not stop with a do or a don't. He transcends them all and instructs the community to be careful about the yeast of evil and wickedness which enters as a stray thought, continues as a practical convention and gets ratified as something acceptable! How many things have followed this path of ratification in history of humanity! 

Jesus gives a valid and eternal alternative to this yeast of evil - the unleavened life style of a Christian - Love. Love alone can make a Christian. Love is the typical disposition of a true Christian. Love is patient and kind, but rejoices in nothing but good! Hence we are called to love and not judge, to love and not use others, to love and not to bloat in our egocentric achievements! Let us be filled with compassion for the suffering and the weak, for the oppressed and the exploited, for the marginalised and the forgotten in the society - that will make us truly Christian, with an unleavened lifestyle! 

SAVE BY SAVING

Truth, Love and Solidarity

September 6, 2020: 23rd Sunday in Ordinary time 

Ezekiel 33:7-9; Romans 13: 8-10; Matthew 18: 15-20

“I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” -These words of Elie Wiesel are very powerful, especially these days when everything that happens is so vividly unjust and everything just is so awfully silent. Being a Christian cannot go well with a choice of being silent or neutral. We are peacemakers but peace understood not as silent suffering of injustice but as the Divine grace of wholeness, integral wellbeing of the entire humanity, shalom - the ultimate blessedness of all. If we have to achieve this, we have to take sides and the side that we take will determine whether we are truly Christ-ian or not.

Christ came to save us, he has saved us all. But we need to claim that salvation that Christ brought for us all - but how do we do that? By surrendering ourselves to the way of life that Christ has taught us, by surrendering ourselves to the mercy God our Father and Mother, and by allowing the action of the Holy Spirit to take charge over our lives. We either do that here and now, or fail in doing it, by our daily choices. One thing as Christians we need to keep in mind is, we cannot be saved all alone or we cannot work on our salvation all alone. We are called to be a community of persons and we are going to be saved thus too. That is why today the Word today reminds us that, the way to save ourselves is by saving others.

Truth of a Servant of God: Truth lives. When moments of choice come, we need to abide by Truth. It is a sign that we serve that One Lord and God. Truth is one and we need to stand by it. At times when we have to choose between values, between issues, among a few things which seem all good, we need to look for that truth that will most reflect the Lord. That is where we become the servants of God. A famous question - 'what is Truth', is not really a denial of truth but a pointer to the million ways in which people distort truth. But whatever happens, truth always remains, because Truth is what is.

The truth of dignity of a person and the consequent order of justice, should stand aloft in our choices and we need to speak that out. The first reading from Ezekiel reminds us through the voice of the Lord - you speak or you will not be saved! Express that you stand by the Truth; the Word itself says it does not matter if the others heed to you, what matters is that you have declared your stand. 

Love of a Child of God: Love is a mutual debt, Paul declares. I cannot ask a question, why should I love, if I am truly a Christian. It has to be ingrained in me to love. Loving is not just saying it by words. Loving is standing by, feeling for, reaching out and doing everything possible for the wellbeing of the other. At times when we stand by love, we may feel that we are fighting a losing batter, but I need to stick on. Because, it is only by that love that I become a true child of God. For those who love are born of God and those who do not love, do not know God, says John in his epistle. An equally impertinent question is, whom to love! 

Love has to be our very nature, it is not merely something we do in specific occasions or in particular contexts. Loving is an unconditional acceptance of all - beyond any calculation of expectations and fulfillment, against preferences and partialities. Forgiveness becomes  love, pointing out to the person concerned and correcting the person's mistakes becomes love, caring for the community and as a community caring for individuals becomes love and over and beyond everything surrendering to the will of God, comes across as the most definite description of love. 

Solidarity of the People of God: Solidarity is the first principle of Christian living. That is in fact what makes you and me 'people of God'. The moment we are not in solidarity with each other, the moment we lack care and concern for each other, the moment we are unaffected by the sufferings of the other, the moment we are blind to the injustice that is perpetrated in the society, the moment we join the oppressors or those moments when our silence strengthens the oppressors - we are failing to be truly people of God. 

When your brother goes wrong, speak to him, take a few with you and speak to him, call the entire community and speak to him and only then we are allowed to go in peace. Not until then! That is, we should have exhausted all possibilities, only then we can remain silent. Solidarity is that form of love which works on each one's sensitivity to the other, empathy with the suffering, and readiness to set oneself aside for the sake of the common good, common good read as 'the Reign of God', in other words, the salvation of the entire human kind! Until this, that is the salvation of humanity, happens, can I consider myself 'saved'?  

Today, there is so much going on in the local societies, national scenarios and international stand offs. Be it the pandemic we are facing as a humanity, or the related socioeconomic crises that are set off, or the escalating tensions in societies - like the riots in the US, the Indo-China border stand off, or the undercurrents of hatred between countries, the fundamentalism that is being unleashed heartlessly in spite of the common crisis that is weighing down on people, or the cases of politically powerless being exploited to the core - what is my response? Do I want to save my skin or do I look for a true salvation, the holistic salvation of the entire humanity? 

If I am looking for true salvation, I can save myself only by doing something to save the others, the oppressed, the entire world! The Reign of God is all about striving to save oneself by saving others, saving the entire humanity. 

Love of Christ urges us on!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

September 5, 2020: Celebrating Mother Teresa of Kolkata
1 Corinthians 4: 6b-15;  Luke 6: 1-5

The love of Christ urges me, is a fitting one liner for the life of Mother Teresa of Kolkata. Born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, she chose the name Mary Terese in admiration of St. Teresa of Lisieux, in 1928 when she entered the convent of the Loreto Sisters in Ireland. In 1929 she travelled to India, since when it became her second home. Making her first profession in 1931 and her final profession in 1937, Calcutta (today's Kolkata) became her epicenter from where she would shake the world to regaining its consciousness. She began teaching in the famous Loreto school which stands till date proud to have given the world a giant of pastoral zeal and Christian charity. She was appointed the Head Mistress in 1944 but within hardly 2 years, she would have the life transforming "call within her call", which would change her forever from Sister Teresa to Mother Teresa! 

It was, as she notes, 10th September 1946 when she heard that piercing cry from the suffering Lord: "I Thirst"... and she began to thirst. Soon she found herself out of those walls of Loreto, from the safety of those building into an open air school, from the well formed daily schedules to endless wanderings on the street, from being a Loreto nun to being a strange ostracised nun to the foundress of a humble and simple but a miraculously challenging Order called 'Missionaries of Charity' in 1948. The rest is history! 

Let us draw lessons from this great person. She struggled to make sense of what God wanted of her, to understand what her faith is all about, to translate the love that she had for the person of Jesus Christ into action and to love everyone with the same love as that of Christ. She understood what Paul and Jesus mean in today's Word: it is better to be ignorant or deprived than to be haughty with pride! 

Our sense of ego and our urge to prove ourselves can sometimes fill us with a prejudice so strong that we can miss the obvious. Not just the pharisees and the scribes in Jesus' time, but even for us, it is a real danger. With our preconceived ideas and over glorified ego, we would be so filled with ourselves that we would not be able to see, feel with, or love our brothers and sisters around us who are suffering, and in that suffering manifest to us the suffering face of God. In such case, is it possible to really see and love God? It is possible only if, just like the great Mother Teresa, the love of Christ urges us on (2 Cor 5:14)! 

A warning and a lesson - be compassionate!

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 20th week in Ordinary time  

August 19, 2020: Ezekiel 34: 1-11; Matthew 20: 1-16

The careless shepherds and the sensitive land owner: the readings today present to us a dynamic contrast. It is a warning and a lesson offered together, to every person who has in some way or the other, care over others. It could be pastors who have care over the whole flock of the faithful, or the parents who have the care of children, or the teachers who have the responsibility towards their wards, or friends who have a natural ascendancy over their peers, or employers who have a say over their employees and so on.

The warning is: You are not indispensable and you are answerable! The ascendancy you have is a service required of you. Jesus would instruct those given charge not to lord it over the people (Mt 20:25) and St. Peter would perfectly learn it from his master (1 Pet 5:3). It is a service of love and a task entrusted by the Lord, to be compassionate towards those under our care.

The lesson is: Treat persons for what they are and not for what they have to give you! Whether it was the one who came into the field at the dawn of the day or the ones who came close to the dusk, they were persons in need and persons who had stomachs to feed. The land owner saw what they were and not what they gave him in the form of labour. He gave them all, what they needed at the end of the day to live life at peace.

In both, the warning and the lesson, the Lord underscores a heart that is compassionate. Indeed, that is the identity of the Lord himself. If you really wish to belong to God, be compassionate!