THE LIGHT OF FAITH

Be illumined! Illumine!

9th February, 2014: 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time

"The Light of Faith: this is how the Church's tradition speaks of the great gift brought by Jesus": so begins the encyclical Lumen Fidei. Light is an image very often presented in relation to faith, the faithful and the life of a faithful. It is an explicit call by the Lord right from the Old Testament times that the people of God have to be light to the nations (Is 42:6). With Christ's call today to be light of the world, it becomes an inevitable criterion to be identified as Christ's disciple or not!

Faith as Light: The first reading reminds me of a Zen story that I have heard of the Master who asked his disciples: When do you think it is dawn? The disciples attempted various responses, like - when we see the difference between a tree and a pillar; when we can identify a black thread from a white, and so on. The Master, discontent with everything, finally said: it is dawn, when you look into the eyes of the one next to you and see your brother or your sister! The first reading  tells us exactly that... when you accept the gift of faith from the Lord, your eyes are opened that you can see into the eyes of those around you and see your brothers and sisters; in their suffering and in their pains, you can feel your heart weeping and your eyes welling. We are reflecting today on the theme of LIGHT... the light that illumines us, the light that makes us see the real meaning of life and the true sense of being human. Which can do that task better than our faith - Faith is the Light we are offered by the Lord, as a gift! 

The Faithful as Light: Once we accept that gift, the gift of faith from the Lord, we as faithful, we become the Light! Receiving the light, we become the Light. The Lord sets us as the light to the nations, the light to the world, the light on the lampstand, the city on the hilltop! Our faith does not rest on human wisdom, or logical reason, or scientific thinking, or systematic and mind blowing theologies! Our faith is primarily founded on the power of God, reminds St. Paul in the second reading today. Illumined by the Light, we become the light! Jesus declared, "I am the light of the World" (Jn 8:12); but did not stop with that. He challenges us today, "You are the light of the World." Every person of faith is called to be a light that is set on the lampstand, to spread the light to the entire house, to illumine those around him or her. But it is important that we remember always that the source of our light, is the Light which illumines us all, the Light eternal of which we are rays, the eternal fire of which we are sparks.

The life of the faithful as Light: Being the light...what does that mean? It involves two important elements: One, everyone sees you; and two, one is able to see because of you! Just two days have passed after an exam that I gave, where the examiner asked me, what would be the apt mode of proclaiming the Good News to those who have not heard it. I said, "by living my everyday life!" One may ask, but where is the proclamation - I believe it is in the very living! Our life cannot have two shades - personal and public, sacred and profane, spiritual and secular... If I am a Christian - I should be seen! That is the first dimension of being light - my life has to be lived in its integrity. When the light can be seen, then one can see, because of the light. When my life can be seen by the other as a open book, the other can draw an inspiration to live by, and that is proclamation; that is evangelisation; that is illumining! It is through my life, my words, my actions and everyday choices that I become a light to the other; "if you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; then light shall rise for you in the darkness!" and thus one will become the light in darkness to the upright.

Let us keep this light burning in our hearts whole day today, to evaluate our daily life and see, if we really possess the Light of Faith, if we really live our life in a manner as to become light to those around me! Let the Eternal Light of Lord fill our hearts to be illumined and to illumine!

WORD 2day: 8th February, 2014

Compassion - the quality closest to sanctity!

"An understanding heart to guide God's people", is what Solomon asks of the Lord... and that is what he was given! We see Jesus, who understood the tiredness of his apostles and counseled them to relax. We see Jesus looking at the people and understanding their need, their thirst, their yearning for life...he was filled with compassion! Compassion, which comes from com-pati (latin),  to have the same feeling as someone, is basically an understanding of the other! When someone next to me is undergoing a crisis, when someone in my vicinity is going through a suffering, when persons in front of my eyes are experiencing a situation that stifles their lives... can I really feel with them, can I really suffer with them? That would be compassion! That is the sensibility that Jesus exhibits, that is the sensibility that Christ requires of us, if we have to call ourselves Christians! Compassion is the quality closest to sanctity! To be Christ-ians, we cannot but be compassionate; like Solomon, let us ask the Lord, and the Lord will grant us a heart that is wise and understanding, loving and compassionate.

WORD 2day: 7th February, 2014

Making God the centre of our lives!

We are presented with two kings today in the readings - King David and King Herod! Of one the reading praises without end and the other... we surely know his end! Both kings over Israel... but two totally different sorts of kings. One, who listened to the prophets and the other who killed them! Not that one was a saint and the other was a sinner... both were sinners; but what made the difference? While one was merely curious about the things of God, the other one - the reading says, "with his whole being he loved his Maker and daily had His praises sung" (Sir 47:8,9). The place that David gave to God, in spite of all the weaknesses he had, made him the most loved of the sons of God. It does not matter what heights we reach, or what laurels we fetch, giving the Lord the first place, will set everything else right. Making God the centre of our lives, is what all the saints teach us. And that is the secret to a life, truly happy and meaningful. 

WORD 2day: 6th February, 2014

Remembering Gonsalo Garcia (Paul Miki and Companions)

Shall we do our part towards the Reign of God!

David gives instruction  to young Solomon as he is about to take over the Kingdom. Jesus gives instruction to his apostles as they are about to set out for a mission! The common element is the instruction and there is a common thread that runs through the two sets of instructions too. For that matter the whole of the Word of God, and Jesus as the Word of God made flesh always has this ready message to give us: Seek first the Reign of God, and all other things will be given unto you (Mat 6:33). Paul Miki and his companions, the martyrs we remember today, the apostles, the first christian communities, the early missionaries... every one of them was filled with this same zeal. Health. wealth, pleasure, not even life mattered more than the Reign of God for them! Solomon would later fall from the glory of his father, precisely because he would lose sight of the Reign that God wanted to establish. Let us renew our commitment towards the Reign of God today - the Reign of justice, love, peace, brotherhood and sisterhood... in short Shalom, Wholeness, God's presence! Let us make present these in our little way today!

It is a wonderful element to celebrate today, that one of the companions of Paul Miki was of Indian Origin - Gonsalo Garcia (though his father was a Portugese), from the Vasai, region of Maharastra - first Indian to have been canonised!

WORD 2day: 5th February, 2014

To behold the Lord in the Ordinariness of life

Falling into sin, giving into our imperfections, are a common human experience. The most problematic experience is when we have fallen and we do not want to get out of it. David was a chosen one of God. He was blessed with experiences and graces that no one else had been blessed with... but he falls and he falls repeatedly. When things go wrong and miseries come his way he realises his folly. The Lord's grace is ever present with us - but it is possible that we do not realise it or we refuse to behold it in our obstinacy. The ordinariness of Jesus was an obstacle for the people to accept the great things that he was upto. It is important that we learn to behold the Lord's graceful presence, in the ordinariness of our lives; if not, it will be too late when we realise it, as it happens to David. Let us resolve to be ready and eager to behold the presence of the Lord in the ordinariness of our days. 

WORD 2day: 4th February, 2014

Does not matter if you appear strange!

Sometimes we might appear 'strange'. David does, in today's first reading! To those with David, it seemed well deserved that Absalom met with such an end for all that he had done to David; but for David, it was unbearable; he cries inconsolably. He appears strange for the people who wanted to celebrate the victory. Jesus looks strange, when he asks who is that who touched him, when there was a whole multitude that was crushing him! He appears strange when he tells those people at Jairus' house, 'the child is sleeping.' In fact, the disciple expressed their surprise and the people ridiculed him. There is an element here that they did not see, which made it natural for Jesus (and David) but, for the people it was strange. The element is, the capacity to see everything from the eyes of God and feel everything from the perspective of God! When David looked at it from the perspective of God, it was his loving child who was dead! When Jesus felt the touch from the perspective of God, it was a touch of intense prayer and when He saw the child on the death bed, it was God's glory yet to be revealed. When we look at our own successes, failures, difficulties, trials, temptations and struggles from the eyes of God - they will have completely different meanings - 'strange' for others, 'miracles' for ourselves!

WORD 2day: 3rd February, 2014

Curses or Praises - a Christian focus!

Isn't it everyone's experience that we come across some person or persons, who curse us, wish us ill and hold grudges against us? Today David demonstrates to us what should be the ideal response to such an experience. At times we get so worried, pulled down, discouraged, depressed or angered at such moments. Real faith would inspire us to do the contrary - that we remain calm, composed, clear, courageous and focused on God and God alone! Especially when we go out of our way to do something more than the ordinary, or involve in a public concern, there can be more opportunities of criticism and derision; let not our focus be lost! Let nothing move you, says St. Paul (1 Cor 15:58). It is equally true of a vain glory, or a cheap flattery! When the evil spirits start proclaiming Jesus as the Son of God, Jesus is not carried away by the adulation. He casts them away and sends them to where they belong! As that man who was possessed, returns to "his right mind", so are we called to remain ever in our senses. Only a right understanding of our faith, an uninterrupted focus on God and on doing God's will, can keep us in that right mind. When we sense a moment that tends to get the better of us, let this be our prayer: Lord, rise up and save me!

Comes, Becomes and Challenges to Become!

2nd February, 2014: The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

We have been prepared during the last week towards the celebration today! The reflections on David's dedication to the Lord, the fall of Saul and the eventual fall of David...all these communicated to us the nature of our vocation as human persons: that we are called to belong to the Lord. They also brought out to us the weakness with which we have to constantly struggle in order to be faithful to this call. The feast today assures that we are not alone in this struggle, the Lord lives with us all along.

THE MEMORY: The memory that we celebrate today is that of the Lord who comes, who comes into His temple! A beautiful moment so picturesquely presented by Luke. The expectations, the entry, the enchantment and the extravaganza that was witnessed in the Temple as Mary and Joseph bring the child into the temple premises. We celebrate this memory, the memory of the Lord coming to us, the Lord of the world entering our world.

THE MEANING: The memory has a specific meaning, the Lord comes to be like us! The Lord chose to share this world with us in His incarnation and became like us, like us in everything, except sin, says the letter to the Hebrews (4:15). The Lord chose to suffer, the Lord chose to be tempted, the Lord chose to undergo the same struggle as each of us do! 

THE MISSION: The meaning of this memory, leads us to a deeper understanding of the Mission of the Lord who comes. The Lord comes to be like us, that we may become like Him. When John proclaims in his Gospel, "to those who believed in him, he gave the power to become children of God" (Jn 1:12), he underlined this specific mission of the Messiah - to make us like him! 

If we have to become like him we have to first "Let Him enter" when He comes. The responsorial psalm invites us to open the portals of our heart and let the King enter. And when the Lord enters, He enters to purify us...like the fuller who washes the linen white, like the silver smith who burns the silver to purity, like the gush of water that enters to wash away all sediments of impurities, the Lord enters. At times it can be painful to be washed, to be refined, and to be flushed of our naive attachments and egoistic pleasures. But without those, there is no purification or refinement. Speaking of faith, in the Apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis says, "God asks everything of us,yet at the same time he offers everything to us" (n.12). The feast of Presentation reminds us of this dimension of our faith - to offer to the Lord everything of ourselves! 

The Lord becomes like us to challenge us to become like him. Jesus lived like us, but every moment of his life was a declaration to the One who sent him: "Here I come to do your will" (Heb 10:7)... that self submission to God begins in the event that we celebrate today. Let us pray for the Christian Parents that they, like the Holy Family, may offer themselves and their family into the hands of God, who has called them into loving existence. Let us pray for the Religious who have offered themselves to the Lord, that their consecration might ever be uncompromising. Let us pray for each of us, that we may welcome the Lord who comes to us, who becomes like us, that we may learn to become like Him! 

Happy Feast of Don Bosco

To every person who loves, respects and counts on the young...
a very happy feast of the Friend of the Youth!

WORD 2day: 31st January, 2014

The Reign and the ruin - beware...both are subtle!

Remembering St. John Bosco.

Jesus today explains how the Reign of God is subtle in its presence and its growth; it does not happen with a bang but it germinates, sprouts and grows in a manner that no one notices it. The danger is, even the enemy is subtle in his ways! The first reading presents how the chosen one falls into the inconspicuous trap set by the enemy. One fall follows the other...one worse than the before! We are reminded of the necessity to be alert all the time, as the Word of God reminds us very often. St. John Bosco, the saint we celebrate today, understood this fact perfectly. That is why he suggested that the way out of sin, is holy joy! To be thoroughly occupied with good things, that you will never have the time to sin - that was his ingenuous suggestion to the young. 'Run, jump and shout, but do not sin,' he said. Let our hearts be so filled with the Lord, that we hardly have time to think of any other. The Reign, no doubt, is subtle; unfortunately the ruin too could be subtle. Our dedication to the Lord has to be absolute; let us serve the Lord in holy joy!

[Note: the readings are different where the proper of the feast of St. John Bosco is chosen; here the readings are of the day - 3rd week, Friday]