WORD 2day: 6th March, 2014

TURN TO LIFE

Life and Death : both are present right in front of us! 

The choice is ours. Let us beware, choosing to live may not always be a choice for Life; neither does choosing to die for a cause mean a choice for death! In the name of a happy life, a comfortable life or a prosperous life the world today runs after false guarantees: Money, Pleasure, Power, Domination, Ego and Social Status... and the result - promiscuity, exploitation, loss of self and human dignity, lack of respect for life... in short, a CULTURE OF DEATH. That is what the world is battling against today. Instead if we choose love, sacrifice, mutual respect, empowerment of the other, wishing the good of the other, universal brotherhood and sisterhood in the One God who has created us all - it would cost a lot personally - but it would be definitely a TURN TO LIFE. Let us not tread the beaten path towards the culture of death, but resolve to turn to life, in every way, every day.

LENTEN PROJECT 2014

With wishes for a HAPPY LENT...

Holy Father Pope Francis has given in his message for Lent 2014 a beautiful project for us to trace...

The Holy Father's message when read with an eye to grasp what he wants to impress on us, can thrust forward these three imperatives, as a project for us during these weeks of Lent.

TURN

First imperative is to turn to the Grace of God. However much we try with our own human efforts we cannot really attain the heights of a child of God. It is the work of Grace. And that is why the holy father selects the verse from the letter to the Corinthians which reminds us that the Son of God became like us to make us like him, sons and daughters of God! When we turn to Grace and surrender our lives, we are sure to make strides that would make us happy and the Lord, proud!

RETURN

The second imperative is to return, to return to the Lord no matter how far we have strayed. Some of our wrong choices, unbalanced priorities and miscalculations could have led us astray, inspite of our good will to remain with the Lord. The call is to Start Afresh! Those lines of the hymn, they always fill my heart with hope and my eyes with tears: 

Let me start again, 

pick the pieces of my brokenness, 

fill the spaces in my emptiness, 

let me start again... Let me start with you Lord!

The Holy Father quotes L. Bloy saying, 'the only real regret lies in not being a saint' and concludes - the only one real kind of poverty is not living as children of God and brothers and sisters of Christ. 

RELEARN

The third and the most proactive imperative is, to relearn what it means to be a christian, what it means to live as a child of God! It is not too difficult...for our original nature is that! We have only to relearn, and how do we relearn - we learn by doing! Yes, begin with a life of Witness says the Holy Father. To create a counter culture in this world which abounds in persons who live in material, moral and spiritual destitution - that is the call, that is the Witness we are challenged to live. Let us begin today!

To turn, to return and to relearn - that is the project that the Holy Father presents to us this Lent. 

We shall keep this project in mind all these days, as the Word inspires us everyday to consciously choose a life of constant conversion and daily faithfulness. 

Wish you all a HAPPY LENT...and wonderful experience of the Grace and Mercy of the Lord!

Read the entire message of Pope Francis here: Lenten Message 2014

WORD 2day: 4th March, 2014

The choice to be Holy!

From yesterday's call to remain within the parameters of the Reign, follows today's call to remain holy! Holiness is not merely an act, but an attitude; it is not doing a few things in a manner that is holy, but living our life, every moment of it, in a manner that is Godly. We are called to be holy because the one who has called us is Holy, reminds St. Peter today, resounding the call given in the book of Leviticus. When we decide for ourselves and choose to embark upon a sincere journey of holiness, Jesus promises us beautiful things - things that make us secure, persons who love and admire us, protection of God almighty that would guide us - but along with this, persecution... and ofcourse eternal life, of which we partake already by virtue of our Baptism! Hence, the choice is ours: to choose God, remain in God and persevere through all trials or to give up, choose the desires of ignorance (1st reading), and lose our original identity and dignity of the children of God! Salvation is not some magical act that the Lord performs for us, but it is our 'growing into heaven'. It is our daily maturity, by our constant faith, persistent hope and unfailing love. 

WORD 2day: 3rd March, 2014

Reign of God: Entering or Remaining?

How hard it is for one to enter the Reign of God, wonders Jesus in the Gospel today! It is very true: once we are out of it, it is so hard to enter it! But the goodnews is that we form part of it; we are called and made members of it - it does not matter we merit it or not! This is exactly what St. Peter explains in his letter today. We are called in our faith, made co-heirs with Christ, given new birth to a living hope! We belong to the Lord and we are heirs to the Lord's Reign; infact we are the protagonists of the Reign on earth, here and now. But what can restore its saltiness, when the salt loses it saltiness? What can make it a light, if its flame is quenched! The challenge we face is to remain forever the members of the Reign that we are; the co-heirs that we are; the children of God that we are called to be. It is not so much about entering the Reign of God that we should be concerned but remaining forever within its parameters, that is remaining for ever the agents of the Reign of God in and through our daily life! 

dear WORD2day Readers...

we shall not be meeting through the sharing of the Word till 3rd of March...
However, we shall be united in prayers!

in Christ...

antony christy sdb

HOLINESS - the identity of the people of God

23rd February, 2014: 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time

What makes one a Christian? Take a pause and answer this question within your hearts!

Is it Baptism? Yes, ofcourse, but only if it were received with a personal choice and every promise given at the proper moment is lived to the full everyday of one's life. 

Is it being enrolled in a parish? Yes, but only if the belonging to the parish makes one feel one with the Universal Body of Christ, the Church. 

That which makes of Baptism efficacious, our belonging to a parish meaningful, and makes us truly Christians is our realisation of our identity as people of God - a realisation that has to be manifested in our personal holiness and in our holiness as a community of believers.

Holiness is not a super-human quality. It is definitely not alien to being human. Because it can be seen at our very origin. God made us in God's own image and likeness says Genesis (1:27). So, holiness is our original nature, not sinfulness; Holiness is the core of our being, not sinfulness. Sin and Sinfulness have come to mar and obstruct our original nature. This is why to the chosen people, God says through Moses, "Be holy, because I the Lord your God am Holy." Because I am holy you can be holy too. Yes, dear brothers and sisters, we ought to be holy because we are FROM GOD.

Holiness is our choice, a choice made not once for all, but at every moment, at every circumstance, at every crisis. It is a choice made for God, because we realise and gratefully acknowlege choice that God has made for us. You did not choose me, I chose you, says the Lord (Jn 15:16). It is the Lord who had chosen us. It is not that we loved God but it is God who loved us first, reminds us St. John (1 Jn 4:9,19). God has chosen us and God has loved us abundantly! And our response is Holiness, because we belong to God, we are OF GOD.

Holiness is not an act, it is an attitude; it is not a set of actions but a habit; it is not merely an appearance but an internal becoming! holiness is a daily effort to become more and more like God. it is returning to the image and likeness of with which we were formed in the love of God. In our words, thoughts, acts and choices of daily life we are called to become LIKE GOD.

Our Blessed Mother and the Saints are our models and Jesus is our Way. St. John traces that course for us when he says, 'we will be like him because we will see him as he is" (1Jn 3:2). We are called not to be merely good people but God's people. Every word and act of our's has to reflect God's presence to those around us. 

We are People of God and our very identity is Holiness. If we miss out on holiness we lose everything. We are from God, We are of God and We are called to become like God because we are the people of God. Because we are the temple where God chooses to dwell, we are the presence of God that the world so badly needs today! 

WORD 2day: 22nd February, 2014

Celebrating the Chair of St.Peter

Today is the day when we celebrate the pastoral responsibility that the Lord places on the successors of St. Peter. The First reading has a few remarkable elements that seem to explain perfectly the role of Papacy: 'presbyter among presbyters', 'not lording over the people', 'being example to the flock'! This is exactly what Pope Francis is trying to do: stressing the Collegiality of the Bishops as Bishop of Rome, not lording over but challenging everyone with his very life. Restraining from making a hero-idol of him, it is important as a Church that we begin to hearken to his passionate call to live as light of the world and salt of the earth, spreading love and hope to those around us. We have a duty to pray for the Holy Father, as there are so many forces today in the World that wants by all means to destroy the Church and its moral authority on the planet today! The Lord promised that the gates of hell will never prevail over the Church, but we need to remain worthy of the promise, by being communities of genuine faith and integral living.

WORD 2day: 21st February, 2014

Live what you believe!

"There are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Reign of God come in power!" The Reign of God coming in power...when does this happen? It happens when faith and works unite in one single act of living. As long as that "faith-works" divide, translated as 'religiosity-social concern' conflict or 'contemplation-action' controversy or 'personal salvation-social commitment' confusion, still exists the Reign of God will be a mere talk. When Pope Francis appealed to the world on the 47th World Peace Day this year, not to be satisfied with policies and principles but to get down to daily living and build a world of fraternity, it was the same claim as James: faith without works is dead! What we believe has to be lived. To take up the Cross and follow in Christ's steps, is not an easy decision. But there is nothing less than that expected of us. Jesus is categorical - If anyone wants to follow me, let him or her do this. When the gap between what we believe and live, the distance between what I preach and practice, the space between the private life and the public manifestation, become lesser and lesser, the Reign of God grows stronger and stronger. There can be no threat more powerful than this to the corrupt world order!

WORD 2day: 19th February, 2014

To see like a disciple! 

We are reflecting on the letter of St. James these days, starting from this Monday, till the end of next week. James has written a letter that is incredibly practical and down to earth. Today he explains to us who is worthy of being referred to as a 'religious' person, or a faithful, or in familiar words - a disciple of Christ. We have various indications like, slow to anger, slow to speak, quick to hear, attentive to the Word and particular about its practice, and so on. But the crucial characteristic that he points out is, care for the orphans and widows, empathy with the weak and the suffering. These come naturally when we learn to look at persons as persons; not as things to be used or cases to be dealt with or problems to be solved or burdens to be borne! That is the education that Jesus wants to give us - that we graduate from looking at persons as trees moving, things existing or means to our own end; to looking at persons and observing their needs and aspirations, joys and sorrows, longings and yearnings, problems and prospects - as persons in their entire sense, with respect for their uniqueness and love for what they are.  James would insist much on this, as we would see in the coming days, because for the Master, the persons who bear the image of God were the sure source through which God shares. Let our eyes be open that we see in every person around and recognise our brother and sister...making ourselves worthy disciples of Christ, worthy to live on the Lord's holy mountain.

WORD 2day: 18th February, 2014

Do you still not understand?

How agitated Jesus gets today with his disciples! Jesus expects them to rise above the ordinary or the normal. As Jesus warned us this Sunday: if our perfection does not surpass those that of the scribes and the pharisees, that is if we do not rise above the 'usual' way the world looks at reality, we will not be considered fit for the Reign of God! The so-called normal attitudes of the world, the value systems propagated as "normal" by the world, the life style of the so called successful that stands counter to what the Gospel teaches... these are the temptations that we have today! Ofcourse, they do not come from God, reiterates St.James. Our desires, temptations, sin and resultant death: this is the cycle that Jesus wants us to understand, resist, surpass, and triumph over. None of us can ever say after an act of unrighteousness, that we were not at all aware of its nature! Let us not deceive ourselves! We know what we are surrounded by, we know what we go through on  a daily basis and we know what is appreciable and what is not worthy of our call to be children of God. Inspite of all the graces that we have received and the gratuitous gifts that we have received from the Lord, if we still insist on giving up on our call to commitment and righteous living, we will soon hear that question addressed to us by Jesus: do you still not understand?