Value Added Deeds

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 11th week in Ordinary time

June 16, 2021: 2 Corinthians 9: 6-11; Matthew 6: 1-6, 16-18

I know a person, a good friend of mine, who is a trainer. He does the training of the younger cadets of the organisation that he was trained in. He distributes training kits and accessories on his own cost to those young trainees and does not receive any payment for his services other than the train ticket for his travel up and down! This is going on for quite a few years now and I have not revealed his identity because he will not like it absolutely!

Thinking of Giving...there is so much of talk today of 'giving'... the donations and funds collected today to help those affected by covid, the funds that are collected during natural calamities, the scholarships distributed...all these have a big label attached to them. At times what is spent on making known what is given, is more than what is actually given! The cheerful giving that St. Paul speaks of today, is certainly not this type of a giving, instead it is the type that was narrated earlier! 

Our doing good, is good! But to be truly Christian, the doing has to be of a specific nature! It cannot be just a philanthropic, that good of the other or just the common good. All these are good, but there has to be another value added to these... the value added good deed!

The true value of whatever we do depends more on why we do than on what we do. What we do will vary according to our ability and the context provided possibilities. But the why will never change whether what I do increases or reduces. What I would wish to reap I will reap; if it is popularity or publicity that I wish, exactly that I will reap! If it is true satisfaction and divine interior joy that I wish, precisely that the Almighty will grant! These are truly the Value added deeds!

The Memory of the heart - a Spirituality in itself!

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

June 12, 2021: Celebrating the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Isaiah 61: 1-11; Luke 2: 41-51

To Remember is a Spirituality in itself!

And in the normal parlance, when something has to be learnt to memory, it is termed - learning by heart! An interesting terminology...to remember is to keep something in the heart...not just the mind. The memory of the heart... it is a spirituality in itself, indeed.

Mary's heart is exalted today...
because she remembered...
she kept everything in her HEART...
Abraham, Moses, Prophets...everyone exhorted the people to remember, and presented that as the criterion to be blessed people of God. They themselves remembered, they remembered the good that the Lord had done to them... and God remembered them and blessed them without end!

Just after the Sacred Heart of Jesus,
the Church proposes that we remember the Immaculate Heart of Mary...
because a heart that resembled
the heart of Jesus.

Learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart...
Mary observed that heart from close,
infact she had her part in forming that heart...
and she herself treasured a heart that resembled that meek and humble heart of the Lord!

She kept everything in her heart! To remember the goodness of the Lord, to remember the great things done to us by the Lord, to remember the mighty presence of the Lord ever in my heart - that is the spirituality that Our Blessed Mother teaches me today!

When I remember all the good that the Lord has done to me, the hurdles and heart aches that come to me sometimes will look much smaller. All I need to do, as the responsorial psalm instructs today, is rejoice and exult in the the goodness of the Lord, because... to remember is a Spirituality in itself!

Witness: Deeper, brighter and freer!

WORD 2day: Thursday, 10th week in Ordinary time

June 10, 2021: 2 Corinthians 3:15 - 4:1,3-6; Matthew 5: 20-26

'Preach not by words, preach by virtues' - St. Anthony would often say. Just as St. Francis who would repeat, 'preach always, when needed use words'. Witness is the first form of proclamation that the Church recommends to every baptised person. A life of witness, is a life marked by the Spirit of the Lord - this is the crux of the Word today.

We cannot be mere common people, we have to become committed people. We cannot be just any people, we have to be inspiring people. We cannot be just acceptable people, we have to be challenging people. We cannot be satisfied with just a mediocre life of non-disturbance and mind-myself mentality, we have to be people who disturb the world and be the conscience wherever we are.

This means that our life has to be lived in a personal and common space that is much deeper - going to the roots of what rules and regulations mean, not just obeying them for what they are or rejecting them for the sake of it. 

It means that our words and more so our actions, should shine brighter in a world that is filled with so much fear, fear to have personal opinions, fear to have personal choices, fear to live a convinced life, fear to stand up for truth, fear to stand by those who are true.

It means that our mind, heart and our spirit is more free, looking at the right and the good, as something to be lovingly chosen and integrally held on to. Laws, rules and principles would not be then something that bind us or limit us, but would free us more and more, for truth and integrity.

All these are possible only with the Spirit who can deepen our perspective, brighten our convictions and free our spirits! The Lord is Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom!

A sure ground to stand on

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 10th week in Ordinary time

June 9, 2021: 2 Corinthians 3: 4-11; Matthew 5: 17-19

What was celebrated good one day, is not considered good any more another day. What seems true today is soon proved a lie another day. A court finds one gravely guilty, a higher court acquits the same person as totally innocent! What is criticised one day, is identified as a norm another day. We are living in times of change! Can we base our life on facts as flimsy as these?

Even the covenant made with the people of the Old Testament is something that has become outdated with time, claims St. Paul in the first reading! Oh, what an alarming situation it is then! But he himself clarifies, that outdated covenant has been replaced with another covenant, that will never change or never expire - a covenant that is sealed forever by the blood of Christ! And Jesus give us another similar assurance.

Jesus refers to the only sure foundation we have: the foundation of rock, the foundation of the Word and the Holy Will of God. Nothing, not a dot, not a line shall go unfinished says Jesus. A sure foundation, an unfailing ground, a never expiring assurance, that comes in the person of Jesus, who reveals to us the true, One and Only God who is all love and goodness. In following the Lord, the Absolute love, the unconditional Good, we have a surity of peace, joy and love. When we go against what God is and what God expects from us, we have all the miseries we face in these days!

At times people place so much of confidence in persons who are around, that when they feel let down they feel as if the whole earth under their feet is giving way - just think of the famous 'break-ups', 'depressions', and other phenomenon people experience these days. We have nothing to assail us because we have a great wall of defence, a sure foundation in the Lord. 

Let us realise, we are standing on the promises of God, and that is a sure ground to stand on!

Salt, Light and an Yes

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 10th week in Ordinary 

June 8, 2021: 2 Corinthians 1: 18-22; Matthew 5: 13-16

There is a close relationship between being salt, being light and saying an Yes to the Lord! The Word today highlights it for us in a symbolic way.

To say Yes to the Lord means to be like the salt... totally dissolving oneself in the yes that is said, choosing to remain insignificant and hidden but making a difference in the entire reality! The Yes that is said, does not exclude any part of one's life, however insignificant. It is therefore a warning against any compromise... compromises which curiously disturb us in the beginning, but as days go by we get accustomed to it, and it becomes almost 'normal'...the call is to be mindful of one's Yes!

To say Yes to the Lord means to be like the light... remaining wherever one is called to be, and from there to burn bright and spread light, not counting the cost like melting oneself down or burning oneself up for the sake of the Yes that has been given to the Lord. It is about our proactive lifestyle that makes those around us, turn and take a look, stand and wonder, and even dare to come to us and ask us a question like: how are you able to do this! The call is to be enthused by one's Yes!

The first reading today places it plain and clear in front of us and adds that, it is only through the Lord that we are empowered to say an Yes to our call...it is not merely our capacity, our prowess and our goodness! It is Jesus, who was a personification of this Yes in his own life, who affirms us and makes us capable of it. Jesus was never an yes and a no! He was always yes! And that is what he wants us to be - to entrust ourselves totally into the hands of God and be an yes always! 

Responding to that call, requires an enormous faith and relentless hope, filling us with a matchless love for God and God's ways. We will do well to pray for this grace every single day!

The two copper coins in time of pandemic

WORD 2day: Saturday, 9th week in Ordinary time

June 5, 2021: Tobit 12: 1, 5-15, 20; Mark 12: 38-44

Half way through the first reading it should certainly strike us in these times... Tobit was blessed for his exceptional corporal act of mercy - burying the dead! An honourable and a Christian funeral these days cannot be taken for granted. Oh what times we are experiencing!

What is after all burying the dead when seen in relation to the agony and the grief that a family or a loved one goes through in having to see their beloved ones suffer and die. It is neither curing the person and bringing them back to the family, nor bringing them back to life from the dead. Yes, it is not a great remedy to the pierced hearts of people...but it is a minimum solace that is possible within the human capacity...to give a decent, holy and a minimum Christian Farewell to our loved ones.

Just as Mother Teresa said, it is not in how great a thing we do, but in how much love we put in, that our acts become truly blessed. Added to the love that they put in, those persons who involve themselves in giving a human and decent burial to the deceased due to the prevalent pandemic, risk their health, wellbeing and even life, in doing this. So many volunteers who involve in this unseen ministry stand out today in the eyes of God, just as the widow did in the eyes of Jesus.

What we can do to others and the society - a genuine good wish, a sincere good word, a selfless simple smile and whatever material outreach that we can...will be considered much greater than what sometimes even crores or millions that are donated with vested interest. So, let us never refrain from giving the other whatever we can, even if it is just two copper coins, in this time of pandemic. 

Identifying the True Lord

WORD 2day: Friday, 9th week in Ordinary time

June 4, 2021: Tobit 11;5-17; Mark 12: 35-37

At times for the fun of it, with a few like-minded friends I do have a good sport reading out the predictions based on zodiac signs - be it on the dailies or on the other social network means. It has happened quite a few times that we are surprised at the pricision that emerges in some of those predictions. There arise sometimes even a kind of temptation to believe, that it may after all be true and that these constellations have a kind of influence on our personality and our eventualities. That said, the real surprise rests on the One who made all these, in such order and precision, making life possible!

True faith in God consists in seeing through all the creaturely order and logical wisdom, and acknowledging the true Lordship - the absolute and sovereign Lord, our God! Tobit sings a hymn of glory and praise to the Lord for the great things that happened in his life, for his son and for his daughter in law, and for the graciousness with which God had dealt with him and his household. 

How we wish to do that in our own lives - we see Tobit so blessed, miracles one after the other and the great assurance of God's presence and grace on his and his entire family. Today with all the troubles and struggles that we are going through, with the situation of COVID and all the repercussions that it has caused - we too wish to receive the graces of miracles, goodness, favours, protection, healing, and serene family moments! But the real faith lies in seeing beyond, and hoping in the Lord; seeing through, and trusting in the Lord.

Jesus challenges us to see beyond the apparent and identify the True Lord, who is in control of everything, That is a gift of faith that the Spirit alone can give us. Let us thirst for that grace all our life - to identify the concrete presence of the Lord with us, around us and in us!

Love - do we understand it at all?!

WORD 2day: Thursday, 9th week in Ordinary time

June 3, 2021: Tobit 6:10-11; 7:1, 9-17; 8:4-9a; Mk 12: 28-34

Two unfortunate sharings I heard recently: one about a husband who decided to disown his wife a year after their wedding, because she was diagnosed with a serious illness; the second a religious who said she had not spoken for the past four years with another sister living with her in the same convent. These two and many such experiences raise a fundamental doubt: are we truly Christian? Have we, as we claim in and through baptism, really immersed ourselves into the mystery that God is? God is love and if we are born of God, we should love.

And there arises another perennial problem: what is love? Have we really understood it? How do we understand it? Have we really imbibed the sense that Jesus wants us to perceive, in love?

While the Gospel reiterates this call that each of us has received, in the first reading today we have a typical example in the person of Tobiah. Once he decides that he loves Sarah, nothing deters him from growing in that perfection. He is told how fatal it can be if he loves Sarah, but he does not hesitate. The reason is, he believed that Sarah was brought into his life by God. Just imagine, if only we look at every person in our life - our parents, our brothers and sisters, spouses, neighbours, colleagues and every one with whom we rub shoulders on a daily basis - as someone who has been brought into our lives by God, how blessed our life shall be. 

God entrusts with persons to love, in our daily life. Love is not merely a feeling; it is an act of faith. To look at every person around me and see and believe that God has given me that person, that brother or that sister, to love- that is the secret. That is true Christian love: does the world today, does every Christian today, do I today, really understand it at all?

To understand the Word and the Power of God

WORD 2day: Wednesday. 9th week in Ordinary time

June 2, 2021: Tobit 3: 1-11,16-17; Mark 12:18-27

Is this not the reason why you go wrong, that you understand neither the scriptures nor the power of God? - Jesus chides the Sadducees. Why was Jesus upset with the question that the Sadducees posed with regard to the woman who had married seven brothers one after the other. Jesus saw through and identified the irony and sarcasm that was at play in that question - that was what irritated Jesus. Not the doubt but the arrogance that the Sadduccees sported, that was what made Jesus give them a piece of his mind. 

Tobit feels that it would be better to die than to live on with his blindness; Sarah prays that she would die rather than hear the treacherous things told of her. But to let them die was not God's plan. The Lord of the living wanted them to live; the Lord of the living wants all of us to live; the Lord of the living has given us the Only Son of God, 'that we may have life, life in all its abundance.'

The invitation is therefore to understand the Word and the Power of God, which reside with us all the time. The Word is the very communication of God to us and the Power of God is the manifestation of this ever present God with us. Our Prayer has to help us come to grips with the Word and its Power. 

Let us begin to develop two spiritual habits, inspired by the Word today: one, let us learn and practice to pray with the Word, with the Word of God, not merely with empty words; secondly, let us realise the Power of God that resides within us - that come what may, we will remain unmoved and strong, holding on to God and God's love for us. That is where our life lies, the fullness of our lives. The Word and the Power of God, give meaning to our daily life here and now!  

To see or not to see?

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 9th week in Ordinary time

June 1, 2021: Tobit 2: 9-14; Mark 12: 13-17

Tobit loses his sight and lives so for four years or so. Even that did not disturb his wife much but the judgements that Tobit asks her puts her totally at unease. She questions Tobit on his charity lived thus far in life. His tendency to judge the actions of his wife, puts his entire life of charity into doubt. The question that she asks him, 'where is all your charity?', brings out the crux of the message today. 

It is truly charity that helps us see persons as they are. In charity we decide whether to see or not, persons as they are, instead of fixing them into the peg holes we have made for each of them. We are fond of categorising persons, fit them into our scheme of judgements and label them according to our mental make up! This happens much in our daily life, be it in our families, among collegues at work, or religious communites that we live in. Judgements are the first enemies of charity and that is why saintly Mother Teresa of Kolkata made that statement: if you are busy judging, you have no time to love! 

The Pharisees and the Scribes hated Jesus to the core because he was exposing their hypocrisy, their stubbornness of heart, their decision not to see, because they wanted to prove their judgement that Jesus was a fake messiah! Even after reports and experiences of the goodness of the Lord, they refused to see, or decided not to see! In fact, it is not that they did not see, they did not want to see! They wanted to be comfortable with their judgements and thoughts, more than with the real truth.

The questions raised by the Word today are very pointed: how far do you really see? does the sight-giving charity reside in your hearts? do you really want to see, or have you decided not to see?

Jesus, the Word and Wisdom

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

May 29, 2021: Sirach 51:12-20; Mark 11: 27-33

The Second person of the Trinity is the Word; the Wisdom which is personified as God's guiding presence for the people of the Old Testament. The readings taken together give us a twin perspective of Jesus and Jesus' relation to the figure of Wisdom! 

1. Jesus has Wisdom: the Gospel presents to us the way Jesus tackled the trap that was laid for him by the shrewd pharisees and scribes. Jesus proves that he had the Wisdom, a great gift from the Lord. Wisdom is fundamentally knowing what to say and what not to say at a particular point of time and saying what is to be said in the best way possible with the choice of the right verbal or non verbal language! Now that was Jesus' forte. Be it in the event we come across in the Gospel today, or the incident of the woman caught in adultery, or the case of the Samaritan Woman, or the discussion with the disciples asking for power and position... everywhere, we see that Jesus knew the right thing to be said at the right time. Above all, even when Jesus had to point out some one's fault or be critical about someone, he chose the right sense of doing it. He had wisdom in its fullness, even as a human person in daily experience.

2. Jesus as Wisdom: the way the first reading presents Wisdom, we come to clearly understand what the Old Testament speaks of as Wisdom is not merely a quality or a faculty, but a person, a personal presence of the Almighty! When Jesus lived and moved around, people readily and without much difficulty saw the Wisdom that he was. Jesus was, and is, the Wisdom that fills us with light and shows us the way. 

If only we accept the Wisdom of Christ in contrast to the folly of truth claims of the world, we would find that joy that is complete, that joy that Christ alone can give.

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!

The splendid gift of seeing

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

May 27, 2021: Sirach 42: 15-26; Mk 10: 46-52

To truly see the nature and observe all that it points to, to truly see the creation and the creatures and all the marvels they possess, to truly see the process of change and rejuvenation inbuilt in the nature and drink in their splendour, to truly see all that happens around and sense the lessons that they offer... it is a splendid gift! Not all do possess it.

The pandemic we are suffering and the waves it is making...is it something that happened just over night? No it has been something that has taken its time to get itself formed and fortify itself and cause this havoc to the entire humanity! If only all of us had been attentive to indications from nature, if only all had been concerned about well being of all and entire humanity, if only even now everyone is worried only about the common good...it could have been averted or it could be better handled. It is the case with many so-called natural disorders too...if only we see things in time and truly understand what is being communicated to us!

Today, we can without exaggeration join Bartimaeus and ask the Lord that we may see, see truly, observe clearly, listen intently, understand deeply and find the splendour of God's presence with us and within us. Without God's grace we cannot see God's presence and receive God's directions for our daily life. 

To see a teary eye and read the helplessness in it; to see the troubled spirit and hear the cry for understanding; to see the disturbed minds and understand the yearning for true love, it is an essential and lovely gift that we can ask God for. At times we speak, we write and we forward lofty ideals, but we are so concentrated on ourself and our own concerns that we fail to see the need, the feeling, the yearning of the one beside us. 

How we need to ask today from God the splendid gift of truly seeing!

A Lord with a difference

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

May 26, 2021: Sirach 36: 1-2, 5-7, 13-22; Mark 10:32-45

The Lord: that is how the disciples and the early community began to interpret their Christ-experience. But for generations this Lordship had been a common experience of those people. They knew their Lords who were ruling them...they knew the Lord God who demanded their awe and respect. We see the first reading picture that experience quite vividly.

But when they began to call Jesus, Lord - they had a different kind of an experience at the back of it! They were looking at what they had experienced first hand, with Jesus. There was something radically different about Jesus being their Lord. He served, he loved, he self-emptied, and the height of all, demanded that all be so. Loving each other, serving each other and not 'lording over others'. That was his lifestyle, and the lifestyle that he prepared his community for. 

Very unfortunate, that the community willed and desired by Jesus, the Lord, did not always abide by this experience that Jesus wanted to offer: not lording over, but an authentic self-giving! Within a few centuries it began to grow its own hegemonic system of Lordship, so much a counter witness to a Christ-like living. These systems created got to be reified to such bizzare levels, that any trace of Christ's leadership became a bolt from the blue!

However, there were at every epoch, persons and groups which remained a reminder to the authentic lifestyle of Christ, and constantly challenged the people of God - take persons like Thomas Becket, Francis of Assisi and such saints who were considered misfits, but true sanctity consisted in that: to imitate the Lord with a difference!

Giving joy that is complete, peace that the world cannot give, and love that is life giving, Jesus proves to be a Lord with a difference, and invites us to be the same. To rule over this world in love and self-giving, as people of God and persons of the Lord, with a difference!

Honest and Unattractive Marketing!

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

May 25, 2021: Sirach 35: 1-12; Mark 10: 28-31

Buy one get two; pay less get more; paisa vasool, festival discount, saldi, clearance sale... these are popular and widespread marketing techniques followed by great business brands or simple local shops! At the most the attempt to be sincere would be marked with an asterisk in smallest possible font size and stated "conditions apply" - all an attempt to hide what it really costs, to make people take it by all means. 

Look at what Jesus does today in the Gospel... he seems to be inviting people promising them 100 fold of what they give up...a marketing technique, but wait! He adds and means it when he says: 'persecutions and death' too shall abound, as inevitable part of the package - so ridiculously plain and clear! Who will take up such a life style? But that is Jesus... so frank and clear. 

The First reading too promises sevenfold of what we offer to the Lord, but insists: 'offer no bribes, these God does not accept! Trust not in sacrifice of the fruits of extortion.' What you give to the Lord is important, it says, but from where you give (truly from yourself?), why you give (to compensate for the unacceptable part of your life?) and with what mind you give (really to give or actually to get?)...these are important too! And they define the quality of your relationship with God. 

These are typical unattractive marketing, but they are honest; brutally honest. The fruits of discipleship is all made known to us, but along with it, also what it truly costs. What will be the price that I really have to pay, without any hidden charges or indirect hooks, is plainly stated! Would I pick up this lifestyle, the disciple-lifestyle for myself? 

It is really a question to ask: will that kind of a propaganda manage to attract many? Yes, many among those who honour honesty and dare to pick up the cross - are we among them?

With the Holy Spirit - it starts all over!

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

May 22, 2021: Acts 28:16-20, 30-31; John 21: 20-25

Don't you find a sense of winding up in the readings today? A type of 'and-they-lived-happily-everafter' narration! Paul seems to settle down for good in Rome as an honoured guest in house arrest, while Jesus seems to be bidding his final bye and the book of John comes to an end, with the concluding note of the author... But the end is for a new beginning... because the Church awaits the all important feast of the Pentecost tomorrow, an outpouring of the Spirit that led to a renewed life and radical witness.

With the Spirit, everything begins all over! It may look like an end, or as if everything is done and dusted. But the Holy Spirit is someone who renews the face of the earth, renews it constantly, with new life, new vigour, new enthusiasm, new power and new energy! All that we need to do, is resolve to follow Christ, to remain in Christ and be open to the Spirit.

Yes, the message today is our call to 'follow Christ' in season and out of season, whether we are free or captive, whether we live or die, whether we eat or drink! Good news has to be announced by all means and the responsibility is ours, irrespective of our state of life or situation at present. Our readiness and submission to God is sufficient, the Spirit is there to renew, energise and recreate  us!

Come Holy Spirit! Come renew us! 

Christian Leadership - a crucial gift of the Spirit!

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

May 21, 2021: Acts 25: 13b-21; John 21: 15-19

Jesus seems to be preparing the second level of leadership. Peter he appoints already before he goes and Paul he seems to be taking to all the ends of the earth that he may bear witness, true to his promises. These leaders prepared by Jesus, and the way they are prepared and the qualities expected of them can also be contrasted with the other leaders who are implicitly present in the readings today - Festus, Felix and Caesar, the Roman officials and the Jewish leadership which did away with Jesus and now wants to do away with Peter, or Paul or anyone else who has got something to do with Jesus.

In his mode of preparation and commission of his second line leaders, Jesus offers us an insight into Christian leadership: it does not consist in power and position but in bearing witness and serving the community of faith. Infact, in such a perspective, every baptised person is called to play a role as a leader in their own level - witnessing to the goodness of the Lord and serving the people of God.

Today, taking a look at the context - our communities, be it parish communities where the laity scheme their way to positions of honour and fame, or the members of religious congregations or the clergy playing political games and construing divisive plots... true understanding of Christian leadership seems to have taken a back seat. With the pandemic wrecking an havoc, we are getting to see the colours of true Christian leadership and self-centred pseudo leaderships! 

The Gospel Acclamation reminds us today that the Spirit will teach us the truth and all the truth. May the Spirit of the Lord rekindle our faith and lead us towards true sense of Christian leadership, because it is indeed a crucial gift of the Spirit!

Spirit, the love dwelling in us!

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

May 20, 2021: Acts 22:30 - 23: 6-11; John 17: 20-25

As in Jerusalem, so in Rome! Just out of one danger in Jerusalem, Paul is promised more of them, in Rome! Courage! says the Lord. We can live our life with courage and confidence because the Lord dwells in us, or atleast wants to dwell in us! He prays to his Father, 'that I may be in them!' 

Jesus is praying for us, as he says... I pray for these and those who will come to believe through the words of these. We have come to believe and the Lord wishes to dwell in us - the sign of his dwelling, is the love of the Father: that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and so that I may be in them. The love that exists between the Father and the Son, is the Holy Spirit...the indwelling Spirit.

The most concrete sign of the indwelling Lord is not so much performing miracles or speaking in toungues, as living united to the Father in Christ, it is being united to each other in love! The more we grow to be one, as Jesus prays today, the more we become people of the Spirit. All that we need to do is remain united, remain one, witness to the oneness we see between the Father and the Son. 

Jesus prays that we may be one because, that would be the first witness to the Reign that he longed to establish on earth - that we live to be one, that the world sees us one! Jesus promises us the glory that God alone can give, that comes from the perfection of being one! That determination, that decision to remain before the world one and bold, will be the work of the Spirit who is the fellowship between the Father and the Son. 

Wherever we are, let us be aware and convinced that we possess the glory that the Lord has promised, and live up to that glory, to that gift, to that person who has called us to be one; one, in the Spirit, the love that dwells within us!

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!

The Spirit of Extraordinary Courage!

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

May 18, 2021: Acts 20: 17-27; John 17: 1-11

We see both Paul and Jesus in a parting mood; Paul is sensing an imminent trouble and Jesus is sure of a fast approaching end. But both have a sense of having completed the task given to them. I have glorified you on earth and finished the work that you gave me to do, says Jesus praying to his Father (Jn 17:4); Paul is seen to be speaking of finishing the race and having done the task of proclamation entrusted to him. 

Besides this parting sentiment, both have a note of passing on the mission to those around them - Paul to the presbyters and elders, and Jesus to the apostles.They both are seen to be challenging the followers, to a life of commitment and endurance. And here it is that one thing can be found common to both cases of encounter that ensures the continuity: the One Spirit, a Spirit of extraordinary courage.

The same Spirit that was in Jesus, he gave to his apostles, to Paul and then Paul to the elders...the Spirit of courage and strength. As Paul would explain in 2 Tim 1:7, the Spirit of power, of love and of self discipline. Power, which makes us fearless; love which makes us feel for the others; and self discipline which enables us to do the will of the One who calls us, come what may!

Amidst difficulties and struggles, oppositions and spirit-dampening events, with persons around who wish our downfall and our discouragement, if we have to go on with courage and strength, we cannot do it by our efforts alone! It takes what the Spirit can offer us: courage and strength, power and authority, love and empathy, and composure and serenity! This is what we need to learn from Jesus, as did Paul. Let us continue our journey, preparing ourselves to celebrate that Spirit of Extraordinary Courage, promised us by Christ.