IV SUNDAY OF EASTER - TAMIL POSTER

BEING THE SHEPHERD'S FLOCK

4th Sunday of Easter: 11th May, 2014

Acts 2: 14a, 36-41; 1 Pet 2: 20b-25; Jn 10:1-10

The Post Resurrection scene is particularly important for us to reflect upon, because it provides us with an incomparable clarity of our identity as a believing community! Today the Lord invites us to realise and understand our vocation to be the flock of the Divine Shepherd. The second reading reminds us, "you have now returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls."

The Shepherd Leads...we follow: Be patient in doing good and especially when you suffer for doing good, and that is the way to follow your shepherd, says St. Peter. As St. Paul would say writing to the Thessalonians, "do not be weary of doing what is right" (2 Thes 3:13). The Lord leads us by example. Doing good was his nature, no one could stop him from doing it. His own did not accept him, they did not understand him, they labelled him 'out of his mind', the disciples deserted him, many hated him and the authorities sought to kill him! But he held on to his mission of doing good! He knew doing the will of the One who sent him was an absolute mission and he went about it without fear, discouragement or doubt, inspite of the threats and trials. The Shepherd leads and we as his followers, are called to follow the same path. 

The Shepherd Directs...we obey: There are moments and circumstances when we go astray. It could be due to deliberate choices or deviant desires...but the fact is we go astray, linger off bounds, leave the flock for a while, check out other pastures, be deceived by mirages and feel a bit lost. The Shepherd's voice bellows behind us... as St. Peter speaks up in the first reading today. To be the Shepherd's flock means to heed to that voice of direction. As the Lord promises through Isaiah: and when you turn to the right or when you turn to your left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "this is the way; walk in it" (Isa 30:21). The Word comes to us; directions come to us constantly; it is the capacity of the Shepherd's flock to hear, to listen, to understand and to put it into practice. Those who listened to the apostle were "cut to their heart", the reading says. They took it to the heart and obeyed it to the full. They were more than ready to change their course, redirect their lives and walk behind the shepherd.

The Shepherd Calls...we respond: I came that you may have life and have it more abundantly, declares the Lord to us today in the Gospel! We are called to live our lives to the full, and that is the sign of the Shepherd's flock. The Lord offers us life and life in all its fullness, we are called to respond to this offer by accepting it  and living it. Living to the full means living in faith and not in fear; living in love and not in selfishness; living in hope and not in darkness. As people of the Shepherd's flock, our lives have to be a witness to life in abundance. The world has to learn from us, and not laugh at us. We cannot conform to the world but the world has to be challenged by our lives!

Let us pay heed to the Word today and follow, obey and respond to our Shepherd. Let us also pray for shepherds to be raised among us, shepherds after the heart of the Divine Shepherd. 

WORD 2day: 10th May, 2014

To Remain in the Lord

Acts 9: 31-42; Jn 6: 60-69.

Two contrasting scenes are presented in the readings today - one, that of the numbers increasing; the other, that of followers leaving Jesus! To heed to pleasant teachings and detest challenging calls, is a normal human tendency. But Jesus does not compromise. It is a fact that we need to understand: that the Lord who loves us, is absolutely loving and at the very same time, absolutely demanding!

It is easy to run after miracles and live by wonders. But the real challenge is to be touched internally by the Lord, be transformed and accept the hard teachings from the Lord. To eat of Him, to become part of Him, as we reflected yesterday! 

The words of Jesus, "Truly I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these..." (Jn 14:12), comes alive as Peter and other disciples do wonders in the name of Jesus! What matters is that they remained in the Lord and that continues to be the challenge for us too: to remain in the Lord!

WORD 2day: 9th May, 2014

To become part of HIM

Acts 9: 1-20; Jn 6: 52-59.

'The one who feeds on me will have life because of me', declares the Lord today! Saul turns Paul, the persecutor turns the proclaimer...an absolute transformation that changed history for ever - because he experienced Christ! The Lord invites us to a personal experience of Him... eat my flesh, drink my blood, become part of me; remain in me and I shall remain in you!

Everyday is an opportunity to grow closer personally with Christ and every Eucharist we celebrate is a moment to become part of him, to remain in him and to allow the Lord to remain in us. St. Paul remains the greatest challenge ever posed to a Christian...he himself was aware of it. That is why he dared say, "be imitators of me as I am of Christ" (1 Cor 11:1). 

Being imitators of Christ is not merely a matter of doing things, rather an essential change of our very nature. It becomes natural, when we become more and more a part of Him!

WORD 2day: 8th May, 2014

Drawn by our Daddy!!!

Acts 8: 26-40; Jn 6: 44-51

The readings taken together have a wonderful message for us... if we are christians, it is not by chance! It is by choice... not ours, but the Lord's. You did not choose me, I chose you, says the Lord. 

We have come to know the Lord, drawn by our Father and Mother in heaven! It is the Lord who has willed to draw us to Godself. Our 'yes' at Baptism and a reassertion of it at Confirmation are our response to this initiative of God. The point of discussion is, whether we are faithful to the yes all our life, at every moment of our daily life.

The Bread of life and the Blood of the new and everlasting covenant, are the nourishment in this journey. All through the journey the Lord accompanies us and instructs us... if we really listen, we will soon realise how special we are; and how we are drawn by our daddy!

WORD 2day: 7th May, 2014

Testimonies of true joy!

Acts 8:1b-8; Jn 6: 35-40

There was great joy in the city. Inspite of having to desert their hometowns and go into diaspora, the community of believers bring joy wherever they go. It was because, they carried the Risen Lord in their hearts. 

The resurrection experience filled them with a joy that could not be replaced by anything else under the sun. The words "Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ" (Rom 8:35) was a concrete life experience of the early Christians. The source of this experience is the total and loving self giving of the Lord. 

Imitating their Lord and Saviour, they were filled with hope and were emanating a divine joy. How joyful is our testimony as Christians? 

WORD 2day: 6th May, 2014

The height of discipleship

Acts 7:51-8:1a; Jn 6:30-35

We are given the picture of the martyrdom of Stephen... the height of discipleship, giving one's life up for the sake of truth. The real courage that is exhibited today by Stephen consists in daring to say what he saw and heard, or what he was given to see and hear. The Gospel presents the same courage manifested by Jesus, challenging the Scribes and the Pharisees and offering himself as the bread of life; infact, Stephen is presented to us as an ideal disciple who did what Jesus did, who lived the way Jesus lived and who died the exact way Jesus died. The cue is the prayer: "Into your hands I commend my spirit". While Jesus makes that prayer to the Father, Stephen makes it to Jesus: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit". This is the first prayer we see, that was addressed to Jesus. The height of discipleship consists in the courage to imitate the master in every little detail...in our life, our prayer, our convictions and our priorities. How close are we in our lifestyle to Jesus, our Lord and Master?

WORD 2day: 5th May, 2014

The Face of an Angel...

Acts 6:8-15; Jn 6:22-29

The readings today remind us of our vocation and gift. 'What are we called to?', that was the question that the people meant when they ask Jesus in the Gospel today, "what can we do to accomplish God's works?" "This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent": that is our vocation, that is our gift! Vocation because it is our life task, to know the Lord, love and accept Him as our personal saviour and testify to him unto death. It is a gift, because in doing it, we become children of God (cf.Jn 1:12), we turn into co-heirs to the Reign (cf Rom 8:17), and we acquire the face of angel - as it is said of St.Stephen in the first reading today. Our faith and our commitment to faith adorn our face with a light and beauty that makes it look 'angelic'... let us realise our hidden face of an angel; let us preserve and persevere in growing to the full stature of the angels - close to God and ever at God's service!

WORD 2day: 1st May, 2014

Work - the likeness of divinity within humanity

Gen 1:26-2:3; Mt 13:54-58.

May day, for a Christian holds much more than mere glorification of work. This is because of the very nature of God that sanctifies this essential aspect of human existence. The first reading underlines the fact that the work of creation is an essential image of God and goes on to imply that it form part of humanity, which holds the likeness and image God. 

That St. Joseph, the working hand and leader of the Holy Family, is not merely an imagination but a practical possibility and the Church today capitalises on this possibility to draw inspiration from a saint who reminds us of this essential element of our human existence.

Work is a participation in the Creative initiative of God. Work can never be a slavery; it can never be carried out solely for an external gain or out of external pressure. Today, let us promise to respect the dignity of labour and look at our opportunity to contribute through work as a personal participation in the image and likeness of God.

WORD 2day: 30th April, 2014

Conformity or Conflict? Conviction or Convenience?

Acts 5:17-26; Jn 3:16-21

For everyone who does wicked things hates the light; whoever lives the truth comes to the light! 

The world contains four categories of people in relation to right things. The first category are those who do the right, the second category are those who assist those who do the right, the third are those who hinder anyone doing the right and the worst are those who are involved in doing the evil! We find all the four categories referred to in the readings today. 

The first call to us is to analyse our choices, our preferences and our priorities and see sincerely to which of these four categories we would belong. The second lesson for us is that while we strive to be people of the light and do the right, we can come across persons of all the four categories. What would our reaction be? Conformity? or Conflict? or Conviction? or Convenience? What would guide our response in situations such as these?