31st...MAY...At the Sacred Heart Basilica

Friday, 31st May... I found myself in the Basilica of Sacred Heart, Rome... Sitting there with the Lord, in the silence that brought the Presence close to me! At a point of intuitive dawn, it occurred to me yet again, how blessed I was! And the specificity of the day held out a triple significance to me!

It was 31st...day of monthly commemoration of Don Bosco, in the Basilica built by Don Bosco.

It was Feast of Visitation, and I found myself infront of the beautiful Altar of the Mary Help of Christians, that special altar at which Don Bosco is said to have celebrated that unforgettable Eucharist on MAy 16, 1887, when he shed tears of overwhelming gratitude 18 times during the Eucharist, getting stuck unable to proceed with the celebration.

And, it was a Friday and the Sacred Heart of Jesus, right above the central altar, pointed out to me the heart burning with love for me!

The convergence of these...brought a special meaning to that moment...and all that I could say at that time was, "Thank you Jesus! Thank you Jesus for your love!"

WORD 2day

1st June 2013

Authority...that is the point of contention today! Authority is not given; authority is created, its from within. Power could be given, but authority is assumed. One who can create oneself, one who can author oneself, one who can define oneself in a particular context is considered an authority. When the scribes and pharisees approached Jesus with that question, they were clear as to whom they were addressing it. They knew that the person of Jesus had an authority about him that they have never seen in anyone before. That authority came from within, from the fact that Jesus wished, never his own will but his Father's, he said he never spoke what he wanted but what his Father wanted and that he did only what the Father wanted. There was an internal consistency, an integrity, that was so obvious in the person of Jesus, that he was growing rapidly unacceptable in the eyes of all who were caught in the day to day hypocrisy. Integrity comes from balanced priorities, for where our treasure is, there our hearts will be. When I look for integral values, as the first reading suggests, I look up to integral persons and set for myself integral goals. In a world which adores popularity and craves for power, Authority is what we need to look for and culture from within. 

WORD 2day

31st May, 2013

Mary visits Elizabeth... the just chosen Mother of God goes with haste travelling all the way through the hill country to her cousin Elizabeth.. to be of service to her and to give praise to God for the marvel the Lord has done for her and her cousin! Today the lectionary gives a choice of first readings...Zeph 3 or Romans12:19-16... I wish we choose to reflect on the letter to the Romans...Zephaniah is good, but stops with an indication to Mary as the favoured 'daughter of Zion'. Mary is much more... some one who loved genuinely, some one who held fast to good, someone who outdid everyone in showing affection and honour, some one who rejoiced in her hope, someone who was constant in her prayer, someone who rejoiced with those who rejoiced and wept with those who wept and above all, someone who served the Lord (in serving the brothers and sisters)...only a person who is ready to serve the others, can be called 'unconceited'...and only such a modest person can heartily sing, 'My soul magnifies the Lord...he has regarded the lowliness of his handmaid'... The message is clear... to imitate this first Christ-ian... to follow her footsteps to holiness... to strain ourselves and go in haste towards our brothers and sisters to be of service... to be her worthy children, to be truly brothers and sisters of her son, Jesus Christ!

WORD 2day

30th May, 2013

To see is a task, a life task. All the while that we are, we think we see, but infact we may not. Seeing what we want to see, is not seeing! Yes, I see, but just what I can. The world around me has more to be seen, more to be observed, more to be marveled at, more to be celebrated and more to be grateful for. With a mind so centered on myself and my concerns, it becomes increasingly difficult to see and all that is out there cries to be seen, marveled at, be thanked for. It's grace that enables me to see... to see the works of the Lord, the marvels of the Lord's Word, the splendour of the Lord's wisdom ... it is the Lord who enables me to see! And Bartimaeus reminds me of what has to be my constant prayer - 'Master, let me receive my sight.'  Let me receive my sight, that I may be able to see beyond myself, beyond my own concerns and well beyond my tiny little world - yes Lord..that I may see!

WORD 2day

29th May 2013

Jesus had a tough task to accomplish! He had to deconstruct the whole lot of conceptual contraptions that were in place when he lived among the people. Like we hear from Sirach, a longing to see the destruction of those who persecute, a impatience to behold the fall of the unjust, the restlessness to witness the death of the wrongdoers and the rise of the chosen ones...these were rooted deep within the psyche of the people then. Wait a second... why do we talk of those people...let's think of ourselves today! Don't I complain against the flourishing corrupt and the languishing innocent? Am I not restless to see the wrongdoers punished right in from of my eyes! Don't I long to see the fall of those who seem to be on the top of the world looking down on everyone else, with such contempt and condescension! May be Jesus even today has the same tough task, the same incomprehensible logic to teach...to be servant and to be the least...to serve and not to be served. It's a tough call to be a Christ-ian. 

WORD 2day

28th May 2013

Giving... giving is of various types... giving from what I have, giving from what I need, giving from what I am! Specially when it comes to giving the Lord, the highest mode of giving is from what I am. And when i give from what I am, I am not aware of it. When I am so conscious of what I give to the Lord - some times it happens - I give and keep reminding the Lord that I have given... When I know and remember that I have given, infact I haven't given! I am still holding on; I still possess. Like that Master who told the king, who offered him a present to be accepted as a disciple, "drop it!" Even after the king dropped the present, the Master kept repeating "drop it", until the king realised the Master did not ask him to drop the present but to drop that "I", the ego, that gave the present. It is in our nothingness we are most valuable before the Lord. That is why the teacher in Sirach suggests, do not offer him a bribe..or an unrighteous sacrifice...with him there is no partiality. Let our offering to the Lord today be our whole self, the simple self, our nothingness!

WORD 2day

27th May 2013

Hoarding wealth, heaping treasures, gaining profits, bank balance and swollen wallets... these seem to be the dreams proposed for a 'normal' person today! And to have these realised, a person seems to go to any extent... cheating, fraudulence, betrayal, letting down, perfidy and even killing and devastation find their place in today's world. And to some one who wishes to remain sane and distant from such craze, the world seems a strange place. Before long, they begin to feel discourage and distraught. It is to them the Lord speaks today. To those, whose endurance is failing, the Word speaks today and them, it wants to encourage! One  may wonder what would happen to these who are termed 'idiots' and 'good for nothing'... to them is the Reign of God promised. You wish to know how that would be made possible: "for all things are possible for God!"

We are the IMAGE AND LIKENESS OF THE TRIUNE GOD

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

26th May 2013

The Solemnity of the Holy Trinity is not merely a celebration of the Mystery of what God is, but it is a reminder of WHAT WE ARE!

We are the Image and Likeness of God... We are created in the image and likeness of God and We are called to be the image and likeness of the Triune God...for the world today.

To be the Image of the Father: FAITH, 

that is...

... to reflect God's PARENTHOOD in the stewardship we show towards the creation and the care we extend to each other as brothers and sisters! Humaneness comes from here.

... to possess the PATIENCE that God has with us, creating us, making a covenant with us and open and merciful every time we break that covenant! Forgiveness sprouts here.

To be the likeness of the Son: HOPE,

that is...

... to live with the OPTIMISM of a child, to see in all that happens and despite all that happens around us, the mysterious presence of God! Serenity springs here.

... to submit in OBEDIENCE like a real disciple; for one who loves obeys the commandments as Christ obeyed the Father! Salvation sprouts here.

To be the likeness of the Spirit: LOVE,

that is...

... to be filled with COMPASSION, to burn with love for the other, leading to action that manifests faith and hope within! Mission begins here.

... to create COMMUNION of hearts wherever one is, fighting against all source of division, discrimination and discord! People of God are born here.

May God today make us Exemplars of Faith. Hope and Love!

Glory to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit...Now and forever. Amen.

O my divine Bread from heaven!

WORD 2day

25th May 2013

'Their ways are always before him, they will not be hid from his eyes.'

The verse from the first reading says it all...like a mother who has her eyes always on her child, as she is about all her odd jobs...always looking at what the child is upto, what the child is playing with and what the child needs...that is how God looks at each of us...telling us, as another verse says, "beware of unrighteousness". The readings remind us of our origins.. We are from the hands of a God who has loved us into existence! We were children... all of us, we were children so innocent and pure and to be always that, is our call. To remain children...  not meaning merely weak and vulnerable, but being totally dependent on God, truly simple and innocent and spontaneously loving towards each other. Let us heed the call and inherit the Reign of God.