WORD 2day: 18th December, 2014

Third Thursday of Advent
Jer 23: 5-8; Mt 1: 18-25

Emmanuel,  our justice

The most challenging of all attributes of God is what Jeremiah notes today: the Lord our justice. It was the experience of God that proved salvific for the people of Israel and it was the same experience that proved their detriment when it was to deal  with their way of treating the strangers, the orphans,  the widows and the helpless.

The Lord showed them his preferential love because they were exploited  and those who exploited he reduced them to nothing. Today the Lord lives,  the Lord lives with us and we are invited to acknowledge that presence of the Lord amidst us. In acknowledging it, we acknowledge the call that each of us has received in the Lord- to be instruments of this special presence of the Lord.

Joseph received the instruction as to how to be that special presence. He carried it  out diligently and secured his irreplaceable niche in the marvellous plan of God.

WORD 2day: 17th December, 2014

Third Wednesday of Advent

Gen 49: 2, 8-10; Mt 1: 1-17

The Lord of History

Every time one reads the part of the Gospel presented by the Word today, one is filled with an awe at the wisdom of the Lord of History. History is in the hands of the Lord; the Lord creates, shapes and determines the history of humankind. How  foolish of us to think that we are making history or we are writing it ourselves. 

There are two aspects of the genealogy that impresses us at the very outset: 
First, the faithfulness of God from time immemorial. God promised something and he remained faithful to that promise for centuries and centuries together. It is this fact that inspires St. Paul to declare that even "if we are faithless, he remains faithful"(2 Tim 2:13). This faithfulness is underlined in today's Word from the first reading.
Second, the fact that the genealogy presented includes names such as Rahab the prostitute; Ruth, a non Hebrew woman; Bathsheba, an illegitimate connection and so on! It is an unparalleled statement made by God that anyone can be God's instrument in creating history and writing it, provided God wills it.

Let us believe: in and through us, here and now, the Lord is writing a history! We would do well to surrender ourselves totally into God's hands and be docile to God's promptings that we would be worthy elements of that history.

WORD 2day: 16th December, 2014

Third Tuesday of Advent

Zeph 3: 1-2, 9-13; Mt 21: 28-32

Truly God's children?

At a point in the first reading the Lord says: 'you need not be ashamed of all your deeds...'. Not to be ashamed of myself is a life of dignity and honour; that I am myself and I am proud of it. True love and true regard for each other will give one this dignity and honour. The Lord fills us with this dignity and honour as God's sons and daughters. 

In our moral integrity we are challenged to remain worthy of that calling we have, that is, to be sons and daughters of God our loving father and mother. It consists of the decision we make to hear the voice of God, listen to it, realise the call in it and act on it with love. Not hearing the voice would be a total insensitivity to God; hearing but not listening would be a disrespect; listening but not realising the call involved would be foolishness; and realising it but not acting upon it, would be a deliberate choice that would negate our very belonging to the Lord.

When we are ready to hear, listen, realise and act on God's word, we would be true sons and daughters of God; and we would never need to be ashamed of ourselves, our deeds or our lives. The point is, are we really God's children!

WORD 2day: 15th December, 2014

Third Monday of Advent

Num 24: 2-7, 15-17a; Mt 21:23-27

It's all around you!

There are those who make religion a fairy tale or a horror story. The recent times have seen bands and bands of such people, writing, preaching, proclaiming and shouting at the top of their voice about signs and events, mysteries and milestones...all exciting but so shallow and Un-Christ-ian! It is not for us to know the time and the hour...but the call is to be prepared and alert, watching and praying constantly, that we may never miss when the Lord visits us.

That visit is not something about which we would shudder and shiver, if we live our every moment according to the will of the One who has commissioned us. If we are true and honest about our experience with God, we would find God and Godly signs and God's call to act, every moment of our lives! It is all around us... in faces that surround us, in events that envelope us, in experiences that beckon our choice and in persons who challenge our priorities. 

Let us be convinced of the fact that the Lord is present in our days, living with us, walking beside us all the way! And let this be our prayer that we may never miss the Lord: Lord teach us your ways!

WORD 2day: 13th December, 2014

Second Saturday of Advent

Sir 48: 1-4, 9-11; Mt 17: 9a, 10-13

Elijah, John and You!

They wondered why Elijah should come back, because for them Elijah meant trouble. That is the reason they could not see Elijah in the Baptist. And Jesus pointed it out on their face. 

For us today 'Elijah' would be those persons and situations that challenge us to greater commitment and total dedication. And 'John 'would be those people who put us into a spiritual uneasiness by their witness in life. 

What would be your response to the urgency of the Reign today: the increasing compromises in Christian living and the senseless alienation of life from the Christian belief. Keep Elijah and John in your mind for a practical and concrete dedication towards the integrity of the Reign. 

REJOICE

Third Sunday of Advent: 14th December,  2014

Is 61: 1-2 a,  10-11; 1Thes 5: 16-24; Jn 1: 1-6, 19-28.

Rejoice...again I say rejoice! Today is called the Gaudate Sunday, asking us to celebrate in foreboding joy, the Lord and his coming.

Joy is the key Christian value in today's world, maintains strongly our beloved Holy Father Pope Francis. He says a christian should be able to convince the world that one can be filled with joy and live one's life inspiring the same joy in those around and in the world at large. It is possible that one gets confused as to what this joy really means. But as to Christian joy,  there should be no doubt what it means.

J-Jesus... first and foundation.

Christian Joy is to place Jesus first in life. When the Lord is given the first and the central place in life, every thing else falls in place. Relativising every thing else in relation to God is a source of an immense serenity. John the Baptist knew that well and bears witness to this serenity!

The foundation of Christian Joy is the Lord himself.  It involves a grateful recognition of all that Good had done to us. Like our blessed mother we would break into a song of praise and thanksgiving: my soul magnifies the Lord;  for the Lord has done great things for me. Like Isaiah today and like Jesus himself who would quote the very same verses of Isaiah... we would acknowledge the working of the spirit on our behalf.

O-Others... prior and principle.

The other comes prior to the self in true joy. True Christian joy would take into consideration the other immediately after the Lord,  who is the source of joy. Selfishness and avarice,  pleasure and exploitation cannot form part of Christian joy.

The very principle of Christian joy is the community and the sense of the people of God! The Don Bosco Youth Centres in Chennai have this tag line attached to them: No one has the right to be happy alone. The call "rejoice" today, comes to the community as a whole to rejoice in the Lord who has willed to act on their behalf.

Y-You... last but not the least

You come at the end nevertheless "you" matter much to the Lord. It is not true to think that Christian spirit requires that you negate yourself to the extent that you think your self is evil!  It is not. You are precious in the eyes of God and you form an integral and important part of God's salvific plan.

Rejoice... is the call today. Let's rejoice in the Lord and prepare ourselves more intensely with that joy, to receive the Lord when He comes.

YEAR OF CONSECRATED LIFE #6

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

12th December, 2014: Feast of Our Blessed Mother of Guadalupe

Zech 2: 14-17; Lk 1: 26-38

The Lord comes: with our Yes!

The feast of Our Blessed Mother of Guadalupe during the Advent is an opportune moment to reflect on the importance of our cooperation with God's will. The Lord speaks of the plan to be one of us, be with us and make us God's own. And the Gospel presents to us the shortcut to become God's own, with a role model in place: Our Blessed Mother. 

It is because of her total surrender that she enters so powerfully into the plan of God as an instrument so crucial in the hands of God. We have a call to make the presence of the Lord felt in the world today and in our context. The Reign of God is nothing but making the influence of God felt on every bit of what is happening around us. It is only with our Yes, that this can become a reality. The Lord throws the challenge open to us and awaits our Yes: with our Yes, the Lord comes into our history, as with Mary's Yes, the Lord entered the history of humanity so concretely.

Do you really want God to enter you life? Do you want your life to journey towards its fullness? Then ask yourself: Are you ready to say YES to the Lord and the Lord's plans? If you do, you too will sing with our Blessed Mother- 'My soul magnifies the Lord'!

WORD 2day: 11th December, 2014

Second Thursday of Advent
Isa 41: 13-20; Mt 11: 11-15

The Reign Suffers

Jesus speaks of the Reign that suffers at the hands of the violent. It follows from Jesus' assertion that the Reign of God rests amidst us. Yes, the Reign lives in those who live the values of the Reign. Most of the times when I speak to persons, especially the Religious, about the Reign of God the session would not come to an end without a question: "are all that you spoke of, possible? Can we really establish such a Reign in our context?" 

My response is: it is not about establishing the Reign. The Reign already exists, in the persons who stand for love and mutual care, in persons who thirst for justice and truth, in persons who are ready to give up even their lives for the sake of fullness of life for all. The question is do we form part of that Reign already in our life or not. And if we do form part of it, it would be seen in our everyday choices, our priorities and the causes we stand for and speak out for. 

When we do it, we will not be surely left in peace. We will have troubles from every corner and the Lord assures us in the first reading today: 'Fear not! I will help you!' Because the Reign of God is the Lord's doing and we are all agents of that the Reign here on earth.

WORD 2 day: 10th December, 2014

Second Wednesday of Advent

Is 40: 25-31; Mt 11: 28-30

The Temple Run...the life's run

A famous game on the ipads and iphones among the young today, is the Temple Run. I have been fascinated by it the few times that I have seen it. It is nothing but a man who keeps running...he has a devil chasing him and he has to keep running. On the way though he has a devil behind him, he is worried about picking up coins and diamonds so that he can move on ahead having benefits and lives. 

Looking at it, one is reminded of how our lives are ...running all the time from pillar to post for so many varied things, and in the meanwhile concerned about collecting and hoarding things for the present and the future. It has become a need today and looks so rare that anyone will shrink from this running around! A Christian is no exception to this process.

The Lord assures his sons and daughters that God will be with us strengthening us in this life and all its trials...you will run but will not grow tired, you will walk but will not grow faint...if and only if you have God with you! The Lord expresses his wish to comfort us and assist us, it is upto us to receive this grace and accept his accompaniment.