WORD 2day: 11th July, 2014

God with us!

Hos 14: 2-10; Mt 10: 16-23

"Straight are the paths of the Lord"(Hos 14:10), declares prophet Hosea today. Straight, and therefore tough. Straight and therefore no compromises. Straight and therefore no confusions! Everyone knows the ways of the Lord; everyone knows what is acceptable to the Lord and what is not; it is made known by the Lord to every human person in their innermost self.

The words of Jesus in the Gospel are quite frightening as we find Jesus trying to warn us against being good, against choosing the ways of the Lord and being God's disciples or apostles of the Word. He does not promise any prospects, instead persecution. He does not announce any offers, instead oppression. He says it very clearly that we will have to suffer for his sake, for the sake of the Word and for the sake of the Reign of God.

But there is one things that he assures: the consolation of the Lord, the consoling and affirming presence of the Lord with us. Because what we have chosen is the way of the Lord, we are sure to find the Lord present with us all the way. The way might be filled with pitfalls and climbs and hurdles and thorns and thistles... but we are sure amidst all these, the Lord walks with us, speaks on our behalf and acts in and through us. What a mighty consolation we have: God with us!

WORD 2day: 10th July, 2014

God's Instruments of Love

Hos 11: 1-4, 8,9; Mt 10: 7-15

The readings today present to us yet another intimate dimension of God's love: the love of a loving parent, the love of a father or that of a mother. The very same compassion that Yahweh had towards the people of Israel, Jesus exhibits towards all. The longing of the Lord to hold us close to Godself, the yearning to be close to God's children and assist them in every bit of their difficulties, the readiness to understand their uneasiness and provide them with solutions of true and eternal joy and give them an experience of wholeness... the heart of God goes out to God's people in compassion and love.

There is an added dimension in the Gospel, when Jesus tells his disciples whom he wishes to send among the people ahead of him... to go to heal, to listen to, to empathise with and to be there for the people, specially those who are suffering. Jesus seems to say, God wants to endlessly show God's love to the people and you are the instruments through which God will accomplish that desire! It is here that the wonderful prayer of Francis of Assisi becomes so meaningful and precious: Lord, make me an instrument of your peace! To sow love, mercy, forgiveness...that is the mission of a person of God.

Let us realise today that we have a specific mission wherever we are: let us not look for love, let us give it; let us not look for understanding, let us live it; let us not look for mercy, let us be merciful. Let us be God's instruments of love.

WORD 2day: 8th July, 2014

The passion to be compassionate!

Hos 8: 4-7, 11-13; Mt 9: 32-38

The readings today present to us two contrasting realities: the obstinate sinfulness of the people and the absolute compassion of the Lord. In the first reading, Hosea points out how despicable the people were getting. The dwindling faith, the blatant compromises, deliberate choices for what is ungodly, absolutisation of human autonomy, justification of a lawless economy - these are experiences that the society is grappling with also today!

Is there a way out of these? Surely no, as long as the idolising tendency of the human person does not disappear. Today we make idols out of money, possessions, our own ego, power and position, status and social image. How many values, persons and principles we sacrifice in the bargain! As if that is not enough, the society is ever ready to demonise those who stand for justice and truth, those who speak up for God, those who stand for God's people. The so-called mainstream society ostracises those persons as anti-socials, conservatives and anti-progress individuals. 

Jesus presents himself to us as a motivating role model, inspiring us to stand for God and for the values of the Reign, inspite of the world that threatens us. Jesus is absolutely compassionate even when he finds that the people were not ready to understand him totally, some of them infact were calumniating against him. It was so because it was Jesus' passion to make people feel the compassion of God. Can we be still compassionate, though we find those around not really worthy of it!

WORD 2day: 7th July, 2014

To be the compassion of God

Hos 2:16, 17c-18, 21-22; MT 9: 18-26

We begin to hear from Hosea from today... and Hosea brings out an intense dimension of God's love towards us. He offers the analogy of a spousal love to the relationship between God and God's people. A reminder to us, of the how compassionate God is towards God's children.

Jesus brings out the same compassion in his own way, his heart goes out to the woman with the suffering and his tender love reaches out to the girl on the death bed. The readings present to us Jesus, as the compassion of God and in doing so has an underlying commission to us. We are called and challenged to be the compassion of God in our own way, wherever we are and in whatever we do.

In these times when the very meaning and implications of love is misunderstood or insensitively neglected, when faithfulness and mutual commitment in family living is more and more under crisis, when possessions and positions mean much more than persons... the message is truly challenging. Today, let us be conscious of every moment when the Lord gives us an opportunity to be God's compassion to others in our own way. Though little deeds, they might go a long way in making the day blessed for us and for the others.

The Power of Meekness!

6th July, 2014: 14th Sunday of the Ordinary Time

Zech 9: 9-10; Rom 8: 9, 11-13; Mt 11: 25-30

To be powerful, to be the leader, to be dominant, to be in command... these are the dreams people always grow with and crave for. The world advocates it as "normal" ambition of "normal" persons. I know of a priest, who when he comes to a religious house will invariable go to the kitchen and eat with the kitchen staff who cook for us. There is another person whom I know of who owns a property worth a few crores, but eats every meal with the orphan children who live in the orphanage that he runs! These are choices, choices for the weak, the meek, the humble, the powerless and it is here that there is real power! 

The choice of Yahweh in the Old Testament was for such people. God was, God of the poor, the God of the oppressed, the God of the suffering. The concept of 'Anawim Yahweh', that the prophets speak of: the vulnerable, the suffering, the poor, the bowed-down, the people in submission - the Lord stands by them; they are the privileged people of God. The definitive choice of God is seen absolutely in the choice that God makes, to become a human person, go through all that a human person goes through and accept death, even death on the cross (cf. Phil 2). The First reading says the Lord comes not on great splendid chariot or with the power of the horses or powerful weapons. The Lord comes on a colt! "Learn of me for I am meek and humble of heart!"

The readings today present us with three challenges, to be people of God. 

The first is, the challenge to create a counter culture: the people of the Reign are called to be prophets who challenge the present order. The Lord repeatedly instructed during the past week through prophet Amos: Do not be conformed to the world! Challenge the culture that justifies domination and subjugation. Challenge the world that idolises wealth and power and prominence. Do not succumb to the culture of craving for power.

The second is, to challenge one's own ego: the more you do away with your ego, the more you give space to the spirit of the Lord within you, says the first reading today. It is very logical, the less space I give to my ego, the more space I can give to the other; the more space I give the other, the more space I am able to set apart for God.

The third challenge is to create a society that is meek, humble and peaceful. The Lord promises, all those who are tired and heavy laden, 'come to me and I shall give you rest'. But in the very next verse, he says: take my yoke upon you and learn of me - and you will find rest! The conditions placed for the real rest, is taking the yoke from the Lord and learning from the Lord to be humble and meek. 

It is in this meekness that a person is strong. Meekness is not weakness; it is the mighty weapon that Jesus taught us to use to the best of results. Creating a peaceful world, creating a warless society, creating a just and egalitarian society, the change has to begin from within: having a heart that is founded on the balanced ground of the Lord; developing within, a spirit that is unscathed by jealousy and rancour; nurturing a soul that is sweet and filled with love! This sweetness, love, forgiveness, mercy and serenity is the real power of meekness!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

WORD 2day: 5th July, 2014

The Reign Perspective!

Am 9: 11-15; Mt 9: 14-17

The times are dull and dreary, the situation is grim and gloomy, the future seems bleak... these are not feelings totally strange to us. At a point or the other, all of us have felt them or would feel them for sure! But the Christian hope is that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. The last word is always the Lord's. Amos, who has been pronouncing such vehement warning all this while, comes out with a hopeful projection of the future. In fact some scholars say, that this part of the text could be actually an interpellation into Amos' text. However, the readings today point to the fact that things can and will change for the better. There will be plenty, there will be justice flowing like river and righteousness like an overflowing stream, in short, there will be the Reign of God established for sure!

But, we should be prepared for it. We should be prepared to have a new mindset, a totally new perspective, an absolutely different value system! Cosmetic changes will not work...patchworks will not be sufficient...little additions here and there, simple deletions at places will not suffice... these adjustments will only make the situation worse, more confused and totally disoriented. What will help is only a radical transformation in Christ. It is what St. Paul would say, 'do not be conformed to this world, instead be transformed in Christ Jesus' (cf.;Rom 12:2); 'those who are in Christ are a new creation' (2 Cor 5:17). And for this we have put on the mind of the Christ (cf. Phil 2:5) and that is a radically new mindset, a totally new perspective, an absolutely different value system: namely, the Reign perspective!

WORD 2day: 4th July, 2014

Being Godly is being merciful...

Am 8:4-6, 9-12; Mt 9: 9-13

I desire mercy not sacrifice. There is a particular perspective that a Godly person alone can have: the perspective of God. For God, every one is same; every one is a child to be loved. Why doesn't God punish? Why are evil one's not destroyed yet? These are some questions that some always pose! At times we like to see the untoward things that happen as punishments from God... though infact it is we who cause ourselves hurts and injuries. Our God is a God who loves mercy. When we make choices that are inhuman, when we fix priorities that are ungodly, when we act on criteria that are unjust, we drain ourselves of the divine presence that is within us and that surrounds us, because we withdraw from God, hide from our maker as Adam and Eve did in the garden of eden. And the result: famine, famine of the divine presence, famine of the Word, famine of the light of God.

The Lord calls us as he calls Matthew, to leave the table and follow Him; to leave our ungodly priorities, unjust criteria and inhuman choices and follow the Lord. When we follow the Lord, what would matter to us will be mercy, and mercy alone. Being Godly is being merciful. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy; in God's own mercy, the Lord will deliver God's word to us. There will be no famine of the Word of God; we will be in perfect communion with the Lord! Let us be merciful as our Heavenly Father is merciful.

WORD 2day: 3rd July, 2014

Celebrating St. Thomas, the apostle to India

Eph 2: 19-22; Jn 20: 24-29


Feast of St. Thomas leaves us with three lessons...

1. We are One Church built on the Apostles.
The feasts of every apostle is a reminder of the essential unity that has to exist within the Church. As Paul so vehemently opposes (cf. I Cor 1:10-13), right from the earliest times division has always been a dreaded scandal within the Church. This reality notwithstanding, the divided body of Christ today drains the Church of its witnessing power and evangelical authority.

2. The Church in India has a special responsibility.
The Church in India, boasting a direct handing over of faith by an apostle, has a special responsibility towards establishing the Reign of God on earth. It is unfair to claim privileges but refrain from the duties that come with it. Every person who has received the gift of faith in this country of ancient heritage and culture, has to stand firm in witness to the Gospel thus received challenging the society towards a holistic transformation, ushering in the Reign of God here and now.

3. Doubts don't matter as long as the Lord remains close to us.
Thomas was not only the one who wanted to touch the wounds that nails made and put his hand into the hole on Jesus' side, but he was also the one who said, "let us also go, that we may die with him" (Jn 11:16). His personal attachment to Jesus covered up for his obstinacy not to believe when the rest of the apostles reported Jesus' resurrection. In our lives too, when doubts assail, when clouds gather over our heads and we tend to be overwhelmed by them, the only thing that can sustain us is our personal relationship with Jesus!

May St. Thomas show us Christians in India, the most fitting way of living out the Gospel in our context, so that we may be ambassadors of the Reign of God, here and now.

WORD 2day: 2nd July, 2014

Seeking God and Shunning Evil

Am 5: 14-15, 21-24; Mt 8: 28-34

Seek Good and Shun Evil... it is such a simple and straight forward directive from Amos today! It is a universal dictum, but is it as simple as it sounds? Do we really and absolutely seek good and good alone? More importantly, do we shun evil, and shun it absolutely? The world today holds out a culture that seems to be a subtle mixture of both... some good are seen to be 'too impractical' and we are advised not to seek them. Some evil are so subtly deemed 'acceptable' and made so hard to be shunned right away.

Sometimes it seems better to live with certain forms of evil and remain acceptable and comfortable in our living zones. When we seek good, when we seek the Lord, we have to by all means do away with certain things in our lives. But we conveniently keep the Lord away at those points, so that our comfort zones are not affected, like the people in the Gospel today who came and begged Jesus to leave their locality. They did not mind living with the evil spirits, but they were upset that they lost a herd of swine! They wondered how much more they will have to lose if Jesus stayed on with them!

If we really want Jesus to stay on with us, we will have to do away with a lot of things! Are we really prepared? Or would we choose to tell the Lord to leave us in peace? Seeking God and Shunning Evil... is it a natural quality to me?

WORD 2day: 1st July, 2014

To live by faith is to be just!

Am 3: 1-8, 4: 11-12; Mt 8: 23-27

There is a close link between justice and faith. 

Amos points out to the people that they were living an unjust life because they do not really behold the presence of the Lord who had done so many wonders on their behalf. We become evil, unjust, selfish, blood thirsty and inhuman when we do not realise who we are, from whom we come, what our roots are, where our real treasures are and who is that who sustains us! Realising these, in short, is faith.

Beholding the presence of the Lord is the first sign of faith. At times of trials, when there is a suffering because of our just way of life and at times of temptations, when our mind sights short cuts and the world suggests that as the way of the smart, we need to behold the presence of the Lord beside us and stay calm! 

The wind and the storm, the demons and the diseases, they recognised the Lord and bowed down at the sight. The human will and freedom refused to do it and it still happens, when we do not from the depth of our hearts behold the mighty presence of the Lord, in such a simple manner around us. When we recognise it, our life changes, our perspectives widen and we grow more and more holy and just. Infact, to live by faith is to live just!