LIGHTED TO BE TESTIMONIES

Lenten Project 2014: Sunday #4 - 30th March

"We are children of the Light", the readings remind us today and invite us to live in the light! To awake from the slumber of the darkness, to avoid the works of the people of darkness and to acknowledge being anointed to announce the good news to the world - that is the call to be children of the light. We have the light within us, the Light of the world is with us, we are lighted to shine, we are lighted to shine as testimonies to the Light that longs to lead everyone to fullness of life.

We are called to SEE. Blindness is not merely of the physical eye... blindness of the heart to perceive the something that is so apparent is the worst of all blindness. Physical blindness is a handicap, but Spiritual blindness sometimes is a choice, a choice against something obvious! Not to see the goodness of the other, not to see the good the other has done to you, not to see the great things that God has done for us, these are the blindnesses out of which the Lord calls us today. The darkness within us can surround us so much that we may find so comfortable within it. That was the problem of the pharisees and the scribes: they were so cosy in their own world but Jesus disturbed them! He called them to light, he called them to awake. The Word today, calls us to AWAKE and see the Light, shining on us!

We are called to SEE LIKE GOD. As children of God we are called to see like God. The first reading presents to us an incident where the Lord gives us a practical lesson for our life. David, the least of all in the family of Jesse was chosen against all odds to be the ruler of Israel. There are other such occasions too that we find in the Bible: Joseph the sold slave, Gideon the weakling, Esther the orphan girl and so on. The message is clear: to see like God. As the Lord clarifies it (1 Sam 16:7), the Lord sees the heart and not the external appearances; the Lord sees the internal disposition and not the eternal display; the Lord sees the interior openness and not a stubborn self righteousness. To see like God would mean to avoid the works of the people of darkness, who try to close their eyes to any good that someone can do because of a prejudice they have at heart; who look for any lame excuse to judge and vilify others merely because they do not like the other; who look at others as threats and wait to see their ruin. Avoid the works of darkness and put on the armour of Light!

We are called to MAKE OTHERS SEE GOD. We are anointed people of God, chosen children of God. Peter reminds us in his letter, "You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light" (1 Pet 1:9). By our baptism we have been anointed and by the sacrament of confirmation we are confirmed in the anointing - that we are to announce to the world the good news of the love of God. That we may see and see like God, we are given the Light of the Lord. The Light shines within us with such splendour that it radiates to the world around us! We are commissioned to be testimonies of the Light that shines in the world. 

If we can say like that blind man in the Gospel - "One thing I know, I was blind and now I can see!" - we are testimonies to the Light that shines within us, the Light that can give meaning to the world. When we really see and see like God, the works of God will be made visible through us and that is what we are called to. Let us thank God for having given us God's light and let us be lighted to be testimonies of the the Light of the world.

WORD 2day: 29th March, 2014

RETURN TO THE LORD IN LOVE - the invitation continues!

'It is love that I desire, not sacrifice,' declares the Lord in the first reading today. In fact, love is the best form of sacrifice one can offer the Lord, says Jesus in the Gospel. Speaking of love, we do not refer to a mere sentimental feeling for the other, but a concrete commitment for the good of the other. The concrete commitment is translated in terms of compassion, understanding, not judging, empathising, extending a hand, standing for the other and being ready to lay down one's life for the other! Do we not see exactly the opposite qualities at work today in the world - competition, arrogance, judgements, insensitivity, let downs, conspiracies and ruining others' lives for one's own well being! The choice is ours: lie low in the eyes of the spoiled society and be "blessed" in the eyes of the Lord, or parade oneself before the society but be despicable in the eyes of the Lord! What is our choice? Will we go home justified today?

WORD 2day: 28th March, 2014

RETURN TO THE LORD IN LOVE

"Return" is the message that the readings today give us, as the first reading explicitly begins with. And Jesus in the gospel, states the way to return to the Lord... it is only through love; because "God is love"! Loving God and loving one's neighbours, is no more two different things in Jesus' mind. It is one and the same: to love God is to love others, to love others is the easiest way to loving God. More than that, loving God is a necessity and loving others is it credibility. The most interesting part of today's message, when both the readings taken together, is a short cut to the heart of God. The readings seem almost to suggest that, even if you have a lot of imperfections within you, if you genuinely love, you are closer to the heart of Jesus than the so-called perfect person who lacks compassion and mercy! "Love and do what you will", said St. Augustine, who understood the real heart of Jesus, who declares today, that the person who spoke to him was not far from the Reign, simply because he understood the importance of love, love for God and love for one's neighbours!

WORD 2day: 27th March, 2014

RELEARN THE ART OF LISTENING

Listening is not merely hearing; it is a basic openness of heart, a capacity of the mind to perceive the situation as it is, understand its demands without prejudice and respond to it in sincere commitment. Hardening of the heart leads one to see everywhere and in every person, what one wishes to see, instead of what is really there. The people were so hard hearted that they dared call Jesus, 'possessed' and that too, inspite of seeing all the incredible signs, inspite of listening to those powerful words and wondering from where on earth Jesus had received those words of wisdom, inspite of seeing the dumb speak, the deaf hear, the dead come to life! Our life can become worthy and acceptable to the Lord, only if we RELEARN THE ART OF LISTENING, and remain with an open heart to perceive God, an open mind to understand the Lord's messages and an open Spirit to carryout every one of those directions that God gives us in the core of our being, on a daily basis.

WORD 2day: 26th March, 2014

RELEARN THE REAL SENSE OF LAW

Law is a simplified code to live one's life to the full. But if law were to hinder one from living one's life or hinder someone else from living his or her life to the full, it is a clear sign that the real sense of law is lost! In the name of being forward thinking we cannot in anyway throw away the norms and laws that guarantee a meaningful personal and social life. Infact, each of us has this law embedded in our hearts, as the responsorial psalm reminds us; and our responsibility is to recognise, realise, RELEARN and respect the meaning, the role and the real sense of law in our hearts towards living our daily life in fulfillment of God's unique plan for each of us.  

Plan, Project and Proclamation

Solemnity of Annunciation: 25th March, 2014

God's salvific plan is an eternal design in God's endless love for us, the children of God. The feast of Annunciation is beautiful reminder of how every little thing that happens fits into the wonderful design of God. Inspite of the undeserving nature of persons as depicted by Ahaz episode in the first reading, inspite of the impossibility of conditions as expressed by Mary in the Gospel scene, inspite of the improbability of human calculations as evinced by the example of the aged Elizabeth, God's plan of salvation works, and works for the good of those who love God (cf. Phil 8:28). That which makes it possible is the willingness to carry out God's will. St. Paul affirms in his letter to the Romans, as one man's disobedience brought death into this world, so does one man's submission to God's will bring salvation to the entire human race! (Cf. Rom 5:19) Mary, is presented today as the type, the model, for human cooperation! We see in Mary's 'yes', the human version of the obedience of the Word Incarnate: "Behold, I come to do your will". She brings much more closer and makes it more compelling on us, to listen to God's word, treasure in our hearts and carry it out to the details, to be persons totally dedicated to live the will of God on a daily basis. In God's eternal plan, there is a project made for each of us and every time we cooperate with the plan of God, we proclaim in our own way the majesty of God's love for humanity, as does Mary today in her fiat.

WORD 2day: 24th March, 2014

RETURN TO THE CHILD IN YOU

All that Naaman had between him and his cure, was his ego! All that the people had between them and accepting Jesus as the Christ was the same ego and its senseless stubbornness. All that we have today between us and our inner joy, is our ego and its hardheadedness. When Naaman cleared himself of his ego and plunged into the humble waters of Jordan, the first reading says, "his flesh became again like the flesh of a little child and he was clean." Jesus invites us precisely to this: to RETURN TO THE CHILD IN US; 'unless you become like little children, you cannot enter the Reign of God', is Jesus' stand (cf. Mt 18:3). When we are capable of undoing the ego and train our hearts to thirst for God, as the responsorial psalm reminds us, we will inherit the Reign of God.   

தாகத்தோடு வாழ...

மூன்றாம் ஞாயிறு...23 மார்ச்சு

LEARNING TO LIVE WITH THIRST

Lenten Project 2014: Sunday #3 - 23rd March

Life is beautiful, no doubt; but it never lacks its share of problems, difficulties, confusions, traps and temptations. The beauty lies precisely in the manner in which a person lives these moments more than the happier ones. Anyone claiming to be a person of faith, has to manifest a level of maturity that shows him or her capable of living with a constant thirst. The liturgy today invites us to reflect on this aspect of one's faith life - learning to live with thirst. 

Life has its own patches of dryness and no one's life is an exception to it. The dryness is more severe in some, when compared to the others. What matters is not actually how much more or how much less, but how a person handles with one's own share of dryness. Handling aridity in life is a faith-skill. We see the people of Israel in their driest patch of their history - the sojourn in the desert. They are brought forth from slavery across the Red Sea, with great and mighty signs and wonders. But once in the desert, they complain for every little thing lacking patience to the core. They long for the onions and garlic of Egypt, they long for the flesh and meat they once had in plenty, they fret that they are without a drop of water! It is easy to laugh at them or judge their impatience, but we will do well before that to think of ourselves and our lives. Issues in the family, the employment issues, the financial crisis, the relationship issues, sickness, misunderstanding... as soon as a problem begins in our lives don't we begin to complain too? The Lord teaches us - to TURN TO THE ROCK, when struggling to handle aridity in life. Dying without water, the people get water from the least expected source... in the dry parched desert and worse still, a dry boulder of a rock in that desert. If we turn to the Lord, our Rock... we will see solutions to our problems, clarity to our confusions, help in our difficulties, from the least expected quarters. Let us turn to the Rock.

The second reading instructs us how to comport ourselves while feeling the thirst. When in the thick of a problem or in the eye of the storm, where do we fix our gaze? On the problem: that will only magnify the problem. On ourselves: that will only make us more and more depressed in self pity. Instead the reading invites us to fix our gaze on Christ, on the Lord who, even while we were undeserving sinners, was ready to lay down his life for us. Such is the love of God for us and should we fret when we are in a crisis? We are invited to RETURN TO THE SPRING, to the saving grace that loves without measure, the love that has been "poured" into our hearts from that Spring. 

In the Gospel, Jesus speaks of a thirst with which we should all live! It is not the thirst for a material good, a thirst for a interim peace, a thirst for a breath of relief but a Thirst for eternal life, a Thirst for perennial peace, a Thirst for fullness of life - a life-giving Thirst. He offers to give us the living water, the spring "gushing up to eternal life" (Jn 4:14). "All who are thirsty, come to me and drink" he declared elsewhere (Jn 7:37). We are called to live with that thirst, constantly longing for God. Like that deer that yearns for running streams, like the parched land that longs for rain, our soul should thirst for God, teaches the psalm (42). Let us thirst for God, let us thirst for a deeper and deeper relationship with God. let us thirst for the Spirit, let us thirst for the fruits of the Spirit, let us thirst for a life that is united with God, let us thirst for a life that is filled with God. Let nothing disturb us...let nothing separate us from God...hardships or distress or persecution or famine or perils or sword, not even death; let nothing separate us from God. Let these days of lent help us RELEARN TO LIVE IN GOD. 

WORD 2day: 22nd March, 2014

RETURN TO THE FATHER'S HEART

Faithfulness of God to God's people is expressed in God's boundless mercy. The first reading explains how it has always been so in history; and in the Gospel, Jesus presents this fact with a parable which  pictures the Father's heart with an incredible clarity: a heart that is forgiving, welcoming, compassionate, merciful, kind, unconditionally loving and absolutely faithful. When recently I shared this with a group of youngsters, one of them asked - 'but why should God forgive me and why should God be so merciful?' The answer was so simple, 'because "God is Love" (1 Jn 4:8)'. It is not merely that God loves, but the fact is, God is Love! God is madly in love with us... and that immense love is greater than any of my sin, it is greater than any force that blocks me from getting closer to God. All that I need to do is to decide like that son, "I will rise and go to my Father!"; all that I need to do today, is decide to RETURN to the Father's mercy; avail of the bountiful gift of forgiveness at the sacrament of reconciliation and be drenched in the mercy that flows from the Father's heart.