WORD 2day: 7th October, 2014

Listening to God: Remembering Our Mother of the Holy Rosary

Gal 1: 13-24; Lk 10: 38-42

The Readings today insist on our need to listen to God. The credit that has to be given to Saul, in his turning into Paul is fundamentally his readiness to listen to God. If he were as stubborn as he always were, he would not have heard the Lord's voice from his horse! He himself reiterates his capacity to listen to God, by narrating his initial journey in the Lord, preparing himself to be an apostle: that was to the major part, an attentive listening to the Lord and to all that the Lord wanted to reveal.  

Mary at Bethany, is yet another icon of listening to God. She knew where the life giving source was: "to whom shall we go Lord, while you have the words of eternal life" were the words of Peter to the Word made flesh. Today we are called to discover the life giving Spirit in the Word that comes across to us on a daily basis. 

Our Blessed mother is the epitome of silent listening, for she kept everything in her heart and pondered, says the Gospel. The practice of the Holy Rosary, is a wonderful lesson that Mary teaches us to listen to God. Yes in praying the rosary, we listen to God speaking, God speaking in and through the sacred mysteries that are contemplated. From annunciation to coronation, we cannot find proofs from the Bible for every one of them, but in silent contemplation, we will come to realise the Divine Plan of salvation unfolding slowly but steadily.

WORD 2day: 6th October, 2014

The Gospel of Christ

Gal 1: 6-12; Lk 10: 25-31

The Gospel of Christ is love: that God loves us and that we are God's when we love each other. Anything other than this is a deviation... division, hatred, selfishness, exploitation, cheating, manipulation, party politics, false propaganda, character assassinations, judgments, prejudices, categorising persons, branding people...anything that is against love, is against the Gospel of Christ. 

At times suffering, cross and sacrifice are presented as typical traits of Christ's gospel. They could be, provided they are taken within the framework of love. It is not suffering in itself: it would become sadistic! It is not cross in isolation:it would still remain a symbol of shame! It is not sacrifice for its own sake: it would lead to unnecessary ego trips! Suffering out of love one has for the other, Cross as an expression of God's love, Sacrifice as a language of genuine love - those are CHRISTian and those are gospels (good news!).

There is no other Gospel than this, says St. Paul today! Anything that teaches anything contrary would be unchristian. Anyone who needs me, becomes my neighbour. Irrespective of whether I need him (or her) or not, I am expected to play the neighbour. Am I really ready to reach out to the other without considerations of whether or not I know him, or whether or not I like her, or whether or not the other has done anything good to me in the past? 

SALVATION BY DEFAULT?

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time: 5th October, 2014

Is 5: 1-7; Phil 4: 6-9; Mt 21:33-43

'Are you saved?' - this is one disturbing question that I have often witnessed on the lips of the non-catholic brethren, specially those of the varied denominations other than the mainline churches. That question, kind of, intrigues me at the same time that it challenges me! Let me explain myself. Salvation: as sons and daughters of Christ, we should be confident of it, because the Lord has saved us by his blood. That is why that question intrigues me! But can I take 'being saved' for granted, that whatever I may do or not do, I will be saved? That is a true challenge that this question inspires, but the answers have to be sincere and genuine; such a sincere and genuine answer will of course lead to transformation, both personal and universal! Though not in its entirety, the point that these denominational brethren try to make is the second. In today's computerised language we can explain it as follows: there is no Salvation by default!

It is true that there is an Auto-save Option at work - Yes, the very fact that we are the chosen children of God we are automatically saved! God has chosen us and named us after Godself, and made us God's own people. As Peter would say "once you were not a people; but now you are God's people" (1 Pet 2:10); we are made "children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ" (Rom 8:17)! This is what we refer to as our Auto-save option, but for auto-saving, something should have been done which could be saved. The Lord had made us the Lord's vineyard, but have we proved to be vineyards or are we merely a plot of useless thistles? What we sow, that we reap; the Lord has sown and looks forward to see vines; is it not justified and mandatory that we put forth our fruits? What is there will be saved...that is the auto-save option! Our efforts to live-up to our calling and our identity is what will define us.

It is also true that there is an Auto-Recovery Option at work - at times we fail, we hang up, we crash, we shut down without warning! But we need not panic. There is auto-recovery option that is on. "For you did not receive a spirit slavery to fallback into fear" (Rom 8:15), and that is why St. Paul advises us, "do not worry about anything" (Phil 4:6)! Everything will be recovered, everything will be brought back, reconciled in Christ our salvation; he is the auto-recovery option that is on (cf. Col 1:20). But if something has to be recovered, it should have been there! Again our efforts to belong to Christ (cf. Col 2:20), our efforts to bear fruit, to make most of the short time we have (cf. Eph 5:15,16)... all these count. 

That is why, though auto-save and auto-recovery are options, salvation is never by default! We have to work it out, on a daily basis! "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling", says St. Paul (Phil 2:24). We are called to live in a situation that is surrounded by all sorts of choices; what choices do we make? A tree will be known by its fruits, it is said; what fruits do we put out? The Church initiates from today till the 19th of this month, a synod of Bishops to discuss on the situation of Families today! The Christian families: what identity do we have, living amidst others? What are those which mark us out as being different, being models, being examples and being witnesses? We are weak, we are limited and we have our shortcomings - no one can deny that. But in spite of these, are we prepared to "overcome evil with good" without being "overcome by evil" that is around? (cf.  Rom 12:21). We need to show it by our efforts and by the fruits, however small, that these efforts produce. We have to be transformed into the image of the one after whom we are fashioned. Salvation is never by defalut; it is by our choices (of what is true, what is honourable, what is just, what is pure and so on), and by our faithfulness to the call that we have received. Let us take stock of our daily living and be transformed into true vineyards of the Lord.

Celebrating St. Francis of Assisi: 4th October, 2014

Francis of Assisi...

An ever-green saint...

not merely because he is linked much with the eco-spirituality

but because right until today, he remains so relevant and current in his challenges.

A saint considered closest to Jesus, in his lifestyle,

A saint who places simplicity of a child much ahead of any virtue,

thus proving the best suited to enter the Reign of God, in Jesus' parameters!

Renunciation, Surrender into the hands of God, 

Proclamation as personal witness... aren't these the need of the hour?

St. Francis of Assisi...pray for us!

WORD 2day: 3rd October, 2014

Grasping the sense of God's plan
Job 38: 1, 12-21, 40: 3-5; Lk 10: 13-16

'From Knowledge to Ignorance' is a famous title of one of the Spiritual thinkers of India. It may sound a bit odd but there is deep truth in the perspective and that is the message of the readings today. We run the risk of getting too used to the great things that God keeps doing for us. At times, due to some setbacks that we could possibly experience, or due to some troublesome moments, we might tend to forget all that has gone by so well.

In the first reading, God challenges the attitude of questioning the eternal designs of God. We lack the Wisdom to understand the plans of God in all its details but with the little that we are capable of, we pretend to be masters of everything! It is important that we realise our limitedness inspite of our great acomplishments, that we acknowledge the wisdom in God's plan inspite of our nothingness. If our eyes are truly open to what is happening around, if our ears  are genuinely open the Words that come from above, if our hearts are absolutely open to the promptings of the Lord, then we would open our lives to the Lord and we grasp the eternal sense in the mind of God.

WORD 2day: 2nd October, 2014

Learning to See - Celebrating the Accompanying God!

Job 19: 21-27;Mt 18: 1-5, 10

Feast of the Guardian Angels is an invitation to see, to see and perceive, to see and acknowledge, to see and experience the accompaniment of the Lord in a concrete manner. Every moment of our lives, we are being watched over and protected in love. We believe in an accompanying God, a God who has promised, never to leave us and to be with us till the end of this world. 

The reading from Job insists that the Lord exists, and has always existed, right beside us! We become aware of it progressively, we begin to believe in it as we experience things that happen around us. We learn to see, to see God present with us unceasingly. The Gospel instructs us against taking anyone for granted; because no one is alone! Every one is accompanied, by none less than our God itself. We celebrate today the accompanying God; may we grow to be more and more perceptive to the presence of God with us and see God accompanying us on our life journey.

WORD 2day: 1st October, 2014

Is it right to say: Man proposes; God disposes?

Job 9: 1-12, 14-16; Lk 9: 57-62: Remembering St. Teresa of Lisieux 

Lord's ways are unique and the best thing that can happen to us is God's plan. Job today explains how a radical surrender into the hands of God is the best way or the only sound way of living human life. Man proposes; God disposes - we have heard this often. It is unfair to state it that way, because it is God who is the Master; God proposes! The best thing for us is to accept that proposal, without minding the momentary inconvenience it may cause. 

The Little flower whom we remember today reminds us of the same child like attitude. She would say: 'what matters is not great deeds, but deeds with great love'! The Little way that she proposes is simply a total, loving and radical surrender into the hands of God; allowing God to propose and being ready to dispose ourselves to those divine plans.

We see a collection of episodes in the Gospel today, which illustrate this truth. What we are called to do is not great work, but God's work. It is the Lord who created us and it is the Lord who commissions us! At times we think we are the masters of the things that we are involved in, but it is the Lord who is using us and if only we become aware of it, great will be our happiness! The Little Way, Job's life and Christ's demands to his disciples: these are just different ways of saying- be attentive when God proposes and that is the best thing that can happen to you!

WORD 2day: 30th September, 2014

A God who suffers

Job 3: 1-3, 11-17, 20-23; Lk 9: 51-56

The readings today have a very different kind of a message to give us! James and John wish to bring fire down from heaven to punish the people who did not accept Christ. Job's friends pressurise Job to curse God and get done with God, for all the suffering that God has caused him! Jesus rebukes James and John and Job refuses to give into the counsel of his friends. Job is presented as the prefigurement of the suffering servant that Jesus was to be!

It is not just a suffering servant's figure that we see here, but the image of a compassionate God who suffers on our behalf. It is not true that it has happened just once in history...it had always happened, and it keeps happening that the Lord feels so much when we are adamant, arrogant and whimsical: a compassionate God who is so madly in love with us!

It is 'Christ'ian maturity and 'Christ'ian mindset, to endure our suffering not blaming God or complaining to God, but seeking to find God during those moments of suffering. When we seek God, we will find God so close to us that we would understand that even God suffers along with us! "When you search for me you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart I will let you find me, says the Lord" (Jer 29:13). Our God is not a God who makes us suffer, but a God who suffers, when we suffer! Let us learn to feel the Lord's presence and draw strength from it, during our moments of struggle!

WORD 2day: 29th September, 2014

See Angels; Be Angels! - Celebrating the Archangels

Dan  7: 9-10, 13-14 (or) Rev 12: 7-12; Jn 1: 47-51

Celebrating Archangels, Michael, Gabriel and Raphael gives us an opportunity once again to remind ourselves of the significance of the angels within the Christian tradition. Angels in the Old Testament were considered the extensions of God... when the angels came, they said, 'the Lord visited' them: take the case of the visitors to Abraham (Gen 18) or the case of Jacob fighting with the man of God (Gen 32) etc. Michael, as the strength of God; Gabriel as the messenger of God and Raphael as the healing of God, is a well known understanding of the Angels and their functions.

Celebrating the Archangels today gives us two lessons - To See the Angels and Be the Angels:

To see the angels, is to see the hand of God at work in our everyday experiences, not to be blind to the daily miracles that happen around us.  It is a special grace to perceive it and God is active on our side all the time; it is left to us to acknowledge it and gain the advantages of it.

To be the angels, is to be extensions of God's presence to the others, to be extensions of God's love to the others. When we stand by someone in trouble, when we side with the oppressed and the victimised, when we speak out for the truth and bring God's message to people, when we empathise with those who are suffering and bring healing to them, we are being angels to those persons. That is our call, to be angels to the others, specially the needy and the weak. 

PUTTING ON CHRIST

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time: 28th September, 2014

Ezek 18: 25-28; Phil 2: 1-5; Mt 21: 28-32

Have in you the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus! That is the invitation, the liturgy today offers us! In short it can be understood, in Paul's own terms: to put on the mind of Christ. The readings also offer the graded way of putting on Christ, putting on the New Man, to have the mind of Christ! 

The first way of putting on Christ is doing good: to do good is easy, though one has to choose to do it. What one does is noticed, appreciated or criticised, analysed and evaluated. In receiving those appreciations,Jesus would conclude that you have already received your reward.  According to the mind of Christ, doing something externally is good, but not good enough. External signs were considered by Jesus as hypocrisy! 

The second level of putting on Christ is being good: doing good alone is not enough according to the mind of Christ. An excessive insistence on doing things, can easily lead to hypocrisy, legalism and ritualism. We are called to be good, that our actions flow out of the person that we are; that from our internal goodness people experience a goodness that brings them to experience the goodness of God. Ezekiel points out in the first reading today that God does not see one's actions but the inner disposition from which those actions proceed. We may be doing the best of things at a given time, but a wrong intention or a imperfect motivation behind can make the whole affair totally unchristian. That is why, though doing good is so important, being good becomes something very crucial.

The third level of putting on Christ requires not only that we are good, but we remain good. It is a reminder that our goodness has to be something that is sustained and not sporadic, constant and not conditioned! To remain good, is a challenge. At times we can be good and do good; but to remain good always is a demanding task; but putting on Christ means precisely that. Here we are dealing with the grace of perseverance. It is hard to persevere in being good. Saying 'yes' to his father, the son fails to do what he accepted to do: it is like the seeds that fell among the thorny bushes or those which fell on the shallow rock. The initial fervour dies and soon every thing becomes so monotonous and meaningless. Instead, with the grace of perseverance, every new day is a renewed challenge to remain with the Lord, to remain good, to really put on Christ.

Putting on Christ is a matter of doing good, but more than that it is being good, being good all our life and every moment. Are we ready to take up the task? We would do the right thing to pay heed to the life task that God gives through St. Paul today: Have in you the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus!