WORD 2day

2nd October, 2013 : Thanking the Lord for the Guardian Angels

One of the earliest things we are taught as children is the presence and the guidance of the Guardian Angel - whom we celebrate today! Somehow, personally, every time that I have heard of the guardian angels since childhood, I have felt a kind of childlike sentiment within me! It is not childish but childlike! Without a childlike simplicity, a constant presence of someone may look like an interference, an intrusion, a policing! But when we sport a disposition as that of a child, we will find ourselves longing for that presence, we will hang on every word from the Lord and remain faithful to the Lord in obedience - as the Lord instructs in the first reading today! Unless we become like children we cannot enter the Reign of God... I remember the reflection shared two days ago, which re-echoes today: though it may sound a paradox, let us grow up to be children, only then can we inherit the Reign. 

WORD 2day

1st October, 2013 : Remembering St. Teresa of Child Jesus

Towards Jerusalem... we see the decision to go to Jerusalem, both in the first reading and the Gospel. The first reading speaks of people who wanted to go to Jerusalem, to witness the God who stood by the Hebrews through their thick and thin - "let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you!" The Gospel presents Jesus who is determined to go to Jerusalem... inspite of knowing what awaits him there; to offer his life for the very people who were stubborn enough to turn their face away from him. Jerusalem - is not merely the glorious hill of the presence of the Lord but also a challenge to live up to that presence which demands from us endurance, obedience and primacy of God. It is not easy to be welcoming to the Lord - for when he comes he is very demanding! If we are determined to respond to that, as did Teresa of Lisieux, who had no aspirations what so ever other than living for Christ - and achieved it in her short 24 years! Do we dare to set our face towards the presence of God?

WORD 2day

30th September, 2013

"They shall be my people and I will be their God" - the crux of the faith that has been handed down to us through centuries, is this covenant that God made with our ancestors in faith. God has remained faithful ever since. St. Paul reminds us in his letter to Timothy, even "if we are faithless, he remains faithful - for he cannot deny himself" (2Tim 2:13). Being God's people means being like children - focused totally on God, taking directions from God, and always remaining open and docile to God's promptings, as do the children who are fascinated by their parents. Divisions, partisan feelings and ego trips are so alien to children that they radiate such levels of godliness. Though it may sound a paradox, let us grow up to be children, only then can we inherit the Reign!

INDIFFERENCE - the most unchristian attitude of all

29th September, 2013 - 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Indifference, the worst of all vices and the most dangerous of all attitudes, is one thing that the Lord cannot bear! Woe to those who are indifferent, warns prophet Amos. And that is precisely what Jesus presents in his parable too. It is something that God just cannot stand - the Lord will 'spit you' out of his presence, if you are lukewarm! (Rev 3:16) If you have a living faith, then fight the good fight of the faith, challenges St. Paul in his letter today. 'Blessed' are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness(Mt 5:6), not those who remain in their safe havens caring nothing for anyone around. St. Paul recalls to our minds today, how Jesus bore witness to his faith and to the truth right upto his cross! "For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth," declared Jesus with a courage that disturbed Pilate.(Jn 18:37). When it came to bearing witness to truth and righteousness, or feeling compassionate for those who were helpless, or reaching out to the sinners and the outcast, or speaking out for the rights of those who were oppressed - of their right to be healed as sons and daughters of God, of their right to dignity and of their closeness to the Reign of God - Jesus never hesitated; and his true disciples would never hesitate too!

Today we are living in a world that has innumerable justifications for being indifferent towards others - one's duty and family, corrupt system and government, anti-people policies and laws,  legitimate development and technology, rapid growth and advancement - the list can go on endlessly. And it is effortlessly easy to cast the blame on some else and hide behind the mask of myself being part of the 'affected' and the 'left behind'. In simple terms, the Word challenges me today to place myself in the shoes of the rich man and look at the world around me! Have I done whatever I could in my context, for justice, righteousness, dignity of all and true freedom of the children of God. If I say, 'what can I really do?' - beware, that could be the visible trace of Indifference within!

Indifference is the most unchristian quality one can have. The readings today outline the three levels in which INDIFFERENCE grows.

FIrst Level: Indifference as a fruit of Blindness - the inability to see the suffering around, the incapacity to sense the heavy burdens that persons around me carry, the failure to feel the unseen tears of those crying out for help... these are unchristian to the core. LOOK says the Lord, perceive the suffering in the eyes of your brother and sister... even if you cannot do much, atleast be there for them!

Second Level: Indifference as a sign of Selfishness - even after seeing the suffering and the pain, if I fail to be moved, if I refuse stand by someone because I could get into problem, or because I could lose my opportunity to go ahead in life, or because I could earn enemies in the bargain, I am unworthy of being called the disciple of the Lord who died for me! THINK of the others, and not solely of yourself, says the Lord. Can I think of anything other than Me, Myself and Mine? I am my brother's keeper!

Third Level: Indifference as a form of Malice - it is a sin! "Silence encourages the tormentor; never the tormented!" says Elie Wiesel an Holocaust survivor, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. He continues,"the opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference." How perfectly Jesus would agree to these words! For, this is what Jesus meant by that parable! You just cant be silent spectators, you just can't stand by the sidewalks and see things happen, not even sit in the stands and cheer! No... FIGHT the good fight of the faith!

WORD 2day

28th September, 2013

Praising the Lord at the marvels that happen and thanking the Lord when everything goes the way we think - they are not too difficult though even that needs a heart that is grateful and eyes that are attentive. If to be His disciples is to 'put on His mind', the real mind of Christ is revealed in His state of being absolutely focused on doing what God wants! Jesus was clear about His mission. Though the disciples were excited after the event of transfiguration and the healing of the possessed, Jesus gently but firmly brings them back not to lose track of where they are bound to, towards that moment of Truth - when Jesus would prove that nothing else matters to Him when it is the question of doing the will of the One who sent Him. When the Lord promises in the first reading, "I am coming to dwell among you", it is not a promise of absence of struggles and testing situations; but an assurance of presence, the presence of a person who knows what we are going through, who has gone through what we are going through and who holds our hand all through, whatever be the situation we are going through! 

WORD 2day

27th September, 2013: Remembering St. Vincent de Paul

The Lord who commissioned us yesterday,'rebuild my house', today assures us that we are not alone on the job! "Work, for I am with you... My Spirit abides among you, fear not!" says the Lord today. When we sincerely consider the mission entrusted to us, as the work of God, we would dare go to any extent in accomplishing it. No amount of struggles or sufferings could keep Jesus away from looking into what was in store for him, with serenity and faith. He rests assured that his God would vindicate him, defend him and deliver him, as the psalmist prays in the responsorial today. The readings today and the saint of today St. Vincent de Paul, remind us today that we have no reason to lose hope, no excuse to give up, even if every thing around us seem to be grim and gloomy. Let us be on the task, keep doing our bit to 'rebuild the house', rejuvenate humanity, put God into a world that tends so easily to be godless!

WORD 2day

26th September, 2013

"Rebuild my house" - the famous call that set St. Francis of Assisi in motion. We hear the same words today, not just from the Word today but also from the World today. Like Francis of Assisi who misunderstood that call and set about initially building the ruined chapel, it is possible that we limit this "my house" in the Word of God to the Church. Pope Francis has time and again warned us within this short papacy of his. When the Lord laments, "my house is in ruins" God refers to the entire humanity - is it not to dwell in humanity that the mystery of Incarnation and the story of salvation was realised? Killings in the name of God, killings for money or power, manipulation of the poor and the powerless by the moneyed and the muscled, destruction caused by greed and avarice - humanity, the house of God, is in ruins! "Rebuild my house," commissions the Lord. Am I doing my bit?

WORD 2day

25th September, 2013

Often have we heard the saying, 'God chooses not the worthy; but makes worthy the chosen'. It's true not only regarding particular individuals. To be believers in God, to be baptised into God's household, to be called 'Christians', is no achievement of ours. It is because the one who created us, has called us! 'It is not you who chose me, but I chose you' declared Jesus. When this truth really dawns on us, apart from an overwhelming gratitude, we would be filled with a docility without measure. That is what we see in the readings today. A candid realisation of being chosen inspite of our unworthiness; and a clear instruction from the Lord as to how to manifest our docility. The command, given in all detail, can be simply stated in one phrase - Be filled with God alone and fill the world with God!

WORD 2day

24th September, 2013

'House', 'Mother', 'brothers and sisters' ... today's readings present to us terms that seem to draw a highly familiar note to our faith. It is important to look at our faith and its expression in terms of living in the presence of God, living as brothers and sisters of the Lord and as brothers and sisters in the Lord, instead of duties, obligations and rituals to be faithfully carried out. The basic premise of our faith has to be a loving relationship with God which makes us related to each other, and makes us persons dwelling under the same roof - every place we encounter each other becomes a 'house of God' to encounter God in the other, alive and active, warm and vibrant. Understood thus, can faith ever divide us? And if it leads to harming the other, will it still be worthy of the name 'faith'?

WORD 2day

23rd September, 2013: Remembering Padre Pio

Today we come across an event which seemed messianic for the people of Israel, infact it is said that they began to look at King Cyrus as the promised messiah, as he gave them the long desired liberty and came forward to build their ruined temple. The message the Word has today is loud and clear - your history and geography has nothing much to decide when it comes to what kind of a person you would want to be. Being the light of the nations was a collective call given to the people through the prophets; it was also the Christian identity according to Christ - the same Jesus who proclaimed, "I am the Light of the World" (Jn 9:5), commissions us, "you are the light of the world" (Mt 5:14) and "let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaver" (Mt 5:16). St. Pius of Pietrelcina or fondly and popularly known as Padre Pio, is a prodigy in holiness belonging to our times - a shining light today bringing so many people to glorify the Lord. Let us be filled with the Light, and let our light shine and reach out - to brighten the lives of people in gloom and warm the hearts of persons who have grown cold!