WORD 2day

25th October, 2013

For I do not do the good I want; but I do the evil I do not want - we all know well when we falter, as the psalmist words it, "for I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me" (Ps 51:3). Sin, that St. Paul speaks of today, is something that I do, or I give into consciously. None of us can feign ignorance and Jesus explains precisely that today in the Gospel: knowing exactly what is coming up the horizon! If only I am more sensitively aware of what happens within me at a moment, to what I am committing myself to, of what I am giving into, of what I am permitting into my mind, my thinking and my life... I can preserve myself from so much of pain and patch up. The statutes are present within me in my heart, the Saviour abides ever at my side...all that I need to, is turn to the Lord and to the Word of the Lord to be assisted, strengthened and saved! Let us be ever alert, not to fall prey to the evil; the fall may be slow and gradual but 'we will not be released until we pay the last penny!'

WORD 2day

24th October, 2013

With hearts set on fire... that is the way to live an authentic Christian life, invites the Gospel today. Fire can symbolically mean light that dispels darkness; one can choose either to live in the light or slumber in the shade - "the work of each will become visible,...because it will be revealed with fire"(1Cor3:13) says the Word. Fire can symbolise the purifying fire which tests the genuineness of our faith, faith which is more precious than gold(1 Pet 1:7). It is all about choices! The choices we make, define the persons that we are. Every moment of our life, in our words, in our acts, in our thoughts, in our priorities, in every little decision that we make, we are making choices, we are continually defining who we are, to ourselves first of all and then to the world. Its a choice fundamentally - for death or for life! When we choose things that are ungodly we choose death. When we choose righteousness, the way of the Light, the fire of the Lord, we choose eternal life in Jesus Christ. The question is, are our hearts on fire?

WORD 2day

23rd October, 2013

Being slaves of righteousness - it is a wonderful figure of speech that St. Paul uses to communicate the level of virtuousness that we need to arrive at. Because, more is given to us (for God did not spare anything for the love God has for us); and so more is expected of us! The Lord in his turn speaks of the same with the help of a parable. Jesus speaks of various categories of persons today: those who do not know what is right and so fail to do it, they are helpless  and will receive the light; those who do not know what is right but still do it, they are fortunate and so are blessed; those who know what is right but still do not do it, they are slaves to unrighteousness and they bring upon themselves needless grief; those who know what is right and are particular about doing it - they are the righteous, they are the people of the light, they are the sons and daughters of God... they are the really 'Blessed'! Which category do I belong to?

Bl. Pope John Paul II

22.10.2013

We thank God for
Pope John Paul II...
as the Church celebrates
the memory of the Blessed today.
By now its certain,
that this will be the last time he will be remembered as Blessed..
Next year by this time we will have...
Pope St. John Paul II.
May he pray for us...

WORD 2day

22nd October, 2013

Be Awake! says the Lord today. St. Paul reminds us, that death has come from sin; Sin comes through disobedience and disobedience does not, for sure, come all of a sudden. It comes, either from a conscious rebellion or a habitual disregard. Conscious rebellion is not as dangerous as a habitual disregard. A feeling of monotony, getting used to things done on a regular basis, fixed schedules of prayer and customary acts of piety, usual persons and daily routines - these are the sources of habitual disregard. It is a kind of a slumber, a slumber with which we carry out our tasks and duties... be they spiritual or otherwise. The Lord invites us today, to be alert, to be awake, to be diligent even in the most ordinary of the daily tasks that we carry out - so that when the Master comes we are prepared to receive, whatever time it is. Keep alert, warns St.Peter, the devil your adversary is prowling round like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour (1 Pet 5:8).

WORD 2day

21st October, 2013

Storing up treasures for oneself versus being rich toward God - is the contrast that the Gospel presents us! Being rich by the standards of the world, or atleast having more than just enough, seems to be the driving force for a big majority today. Storing up wealth, is not easy - work, fatigue, stress, competition, strain, pain, sacrifice, fight, strife... it involves all these and more. Being rich toward God - consists of just one thing, one single thing - to remain still in God's presence! Through darkness and cloud, through storm and turbulence, 'be still and know that I am God' (Ps 46:10). Abraham, through all moments of probable doubt and hopelessness, "grew strong in faith as he gave glory to God" says the letter to the Romans. That was reckoned to him as righteousness! Through our daily work and responsibilities, concerns and discouragements, struggles and temptations, let us learn to 'be still' and 'grow strong in faith'! Let us be ever convinced that God is capable of doing what God has promised. 

With HANDS RAISED unto the Lord!

20th October, 2013: 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Work as if everything depended on you; Pray as if nothing depended on you, goes the popular saying. Today we have a wonderful image to place before us, as we go about our daily life. Moses on the hill overlooking the battle, with hands raised unto the Lord! The Battle belongs to the Lord... all that we need to do is keep still, the Lord will fight for us says the book of Exodus (14:14). 

We are called to live our life with our hands raised unto the Lord! 

Living with hands raised unto the Lord is a gesture that means to abandon everything into the hands of God. It is a total personal abandonment to the Lord, that the Lord may guide us and that the Lord may fight the battle for us! Many grow weary of struggles and temptations in life... when Moses' hands were raised, Israel won! The book of Proverbs tells us, 'the horse is made ready for the battle; but the victory belongs to the Lord!'(Prov. 21:31). When we learn to abandon ourselves in the hands of God, we will see the wonders that can happen.

Living with hands raised unto the Lord is to reach out to the Lord with all our heart. It is like the antenna that stretches to connect, to receive and to communicate. That is in short, 'prayer' - to connect, to receive and to communicate. Let us pay attention to the term that seems common in today's readings: pray without ceasing tells Jesus presenting to us the image of the widow; proclaim in season and out of season instructs St. Paul; and the first reading presents to us Moses unwilling to grow weary of having his hands raised unto to the Lord. A two fold call here: first, not to grow weary... like the widow to go on in trust, with our hands raised unto the Lord; second, when a brother or sister seems to grow weary, to rush to their side like Aaron and Hur and to be with them and to raise our hands in unison unto the Lord. A praying person builds a praying community of brothers and sisters, genuinely concerned about each other!

Living with the hands raised unto the Lord is to be filled with hope in the Lord. Like it happened to the widow, it may look like you might never get justice. Like it happened to the Israelites, it might look like you are losing the battle. Things may continuously go wrong, people might endlessly misunderstand you, nothing might seem to be going the way you wished it would..."But as for you, continue, in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it"...from Jesus himself who hoped in the One who sent him, from our Blessed mother who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken by the Lord! "Let us not allow ourselves to be robbed of our hope" reminds Pope Francis.

Every day of our life, every moment of our day, let us resolve to live with our hands raised unto to the Lord in a holy abandonment, in a loving union and in an unfailing hope... so that when Our Lord and Saviour comes he will still find faith here amidst us! 

WORD 2day

19th October, 2013

Jesus speaks of sin against the Holy Spirit in the Gospel today (Lk 12:10; also look up Mt 12:31-32). This is one of the most frequently asked questions among the youth at discussions. Moral theologians and Scripture Scholars have tried to make sense of it and one familiar interpretation given is this- the sin against the Holy Spirit, considered 'unforgivable' by Jesus, is the sin of presumption! Theologically, presumption is a vice against the virtue of hope; in simple words it is giving up hope! When one gives up hope, he or she crosses the human limits to decide that God is incapable of acting on his or her behalf and at that point the person loses any kind of needed disposition to receive anything from God, including forgiveness! It is not that God does not want to forgive, but the person has removed himself or herself from the possibility of receiving it. The first reading says of Abraham, that "hoping against hope, he believed"(Rom 4:18)...and thus he received all that blessings that he did! Our faith should be founded on Hope, and that is the fundamental attitude of a person of the Spirit.

WORD 2day

18th October, 2013 - Remembering the Evangelist St. Luke

Luke alone is with me...writes Paul. One salient feature that is often pointed out about St.Luke's gospel is the contrasting images that he uses in his narration...the beatitudes and the woes, Martha and Mary, the prodigal and his brother, the rich man and Lazarus, the good thief and the bad thief... these are typical to Luke! The message is obvious: he challenges his readers with absolute choices - for or against the Lord; with or away from the Lord! A value that he seems to have lived in his own life - he chose to remain with Paul in his difficult ministry! The radical choices that a disciple had to make according to Jesus in the Gospel today, were very clear for Luke and he made those choices his own! The memory of St.Luke invites us to make an absolute choice for God: on a daily basis, at work and at home, on the streets or in a public transport; in company or alone - we are what we choose to be! Let us fearlessly choose to belong to the Lord, always!

WORD 2day

17th October, 2013: Remembering St. Ignatius of Antioch

One is justified by faith apart from the works of law - this was, is and will ever be a point of contention. In the Old Testament times it was a contention between the 'conservative' and the 'progressive' rabbinic schools; in Jesus' times between him and the Jewish religious heads; in the times of the early Christians it was a contention between those who followed the Pauline theology and those who believed the theology of James; today it continues between the Catholics and the non Catholics! Needless to say our point of reference is Jesus: 'Don't put your trust in your capacity to achieve things and to gain control or dominance', warns Jesus, 'become like children!' That is primacy of faith! He also declared, 'when you did this to one of these little ones, you did it to me!' That is the necessity of works! What Jesus taught against was, empty ritualism, legalistic spirituality and hypocritical religiosity! St. Ignatius of Antioch, whom we celebrate today says that in very simple words, "it is not that I want merely to be called a Christian, but to actually be one. Yes, if I prove to be one, then I can have the name."