THE WORD AND THE SAINT

21st January, 2015: St. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr

Heb 7: 1-3,15-17; Mk 3: 1-6

The readings today speak of two religious disciplines that mattered much to the Old Testament people of God: the practice of tithing and the observance of the Sabbath. Both of them taken in their legalistic sense, would be practices very simple but of less significance. A tenth of your possession given grudgingly, or as in the example of Ananias and Saphira (Acts 5) trying to make it as affecting as possible, will bear no spiritual fruit. Keeping Sabbath as a day of dead and insensitive inactivity instead of holy and active worship to God, will be of no spiritual value. They key to right understanding here is, not giving of what we have, but giving of what we are: a true self giving.

St. Agnes the saint of the day, gave herself up - gave herself totally- to God and to her faith! This total self giving, her body, her soul and her heart, is what is presented to us as a challenge today. In a world that is torn between compromises and mixed allegiances, Agnes' example shines forth as a splendid beacon, beckoning us towards concrete and daily sanctity.

WORD 2day: 20th January, 2015

Faithfulness versus faithfulness
Heb 6: 10-20; Mk 2: 23-28

The crux of the the first reading today,  or for that matter even of the whole Gospels,  is the fact that God is faithful forever. God's faithfulness never ceases and the question is,  how do we find our faithfulness vis-a-vis that of God!

In demonstration of God's faithfulness,  God gives! God gives without count,  without any limit,  without restraint, without conditions,  without anything expected in return. What do we do to demonstrate our faithfulness to God?  A weekly appointment and a few fragmented moments every day and some special day's activities? All of them so legalistically followed sometimes with such insensitivity towards expressing our true love and gratitude...today let's give this dimension a serious thought: God's Faithfulness versus our faithfulness!

WORD 2day : 19th January, 2015

The New People
Heb 5:1-10; Mk 2: 18-22

When the Lord announces in the book of revelation,  'Behold I make all things new'...its not merely about some things to be made again or re-created;  it's primarily about a new mentality,  a new perspective that God wants to instil and inspire in us. The source and the spring of this new perspective is Christ himself. He is at the same time the priest and the sacrifice; the prophet and the Lord of the prophets!

Infact with a new way of relating with us,  with the unique way of sharing our very nature with us,  Christ makes us a new people! And that is what the Lord wants to see in us:our new selves -free from the shackles of the past and the prejudices of the ages-to relate with each other anew and to live each other without any conditions or preconceived notions.

Come, See and Be!

2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time: 18th January, 2015

1 Sam 3: 3b-10,19 ; 1 Cor 6: 13c-15a, 17-20 ; Jn 1: 35-42

The readings today remind us of our calling in our day to day living as disciples of Christ. 

The first reading  from the life of Samuel highlights the inspiration we have received. Inspiration is from within. It requires that we are attentive in order that we do not miss it. A friend of mine recently resigned his job and opted another underpaid job. I asked him why. And he said that he felt that the former job was keeping him away from the Church, eating away his Sundays and a great portion of even the other days. I asked him how  he did come to decide on such a thing. And he said, 'I just felt it'. It is significant to note that he very recently became a Catholic, inspite of a strong resistance from the rest of his family.

The Gospel extends the invitation to come and see. The fact that we are inspired is undeniable, for every one of us is guided and led by the Spirit who resides within us (as the Second reading reminds us). But the crucial element is for us to 'see'... to take note of... to understand what we are inspired about. The invitation is to behold the message from the Lord, to make our contact with the Lord an experience and not just an appointment. 

The call to be a Christian is not a call of an individual, it is a call to be a communion of persons, to be an institution. It is a call to form One Body with the Lord - united with the brothers and sisters in love, instituted into a sign of hope to every one around who is looking out for something to hold on to in life. The world today may appear so critical about Christians, but it is only an expression of the expectations they have of us: that as one family of hope filled people, one institution of Christ filled persons, we radiate the joy that the humanity stands in need of.

WORD 2day: 17th January, 2015

Bounteous and Merciful God
Heb 4: 12-16; Mk 2: 13-17

God's love is bountiful and God's mercies never cease! God loves us not because we deserve that love but because we need that love. God's mercy is given us not because we are worthy of it but because it is God's nature to be merciful. Be merciful as your heavenly father is merciful.

The Word is the epitome of God's merciful love,  a love without conditions, a love beyond criteria,  a love that fills a person and challenges him or her to total conversion! With absolutely no demands this love leads  one to a transformation that is unbelievable. All that we need to do is dispose  ourselves favorably towards this love and surrender ourselves to it.

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

St. Joseph Vaz: First Saint of Srilanka and Yet another for India!

16th January, 2015

Just two days ago we celebrated the feast of a Blessed of Indian Origin, Bl. Martyr Devasagayam. That very day, the Lord deigned to raise to the altars another saint of Indian origin, but an apostle to Srilanka - St. Joseph Vaz,fondly known also as: Juze Vaz. Born in Benaolim, Goa, the Oratorian Priest decided to go as a missionary to a Dutch-Calvinists-controlled Srilanka,in 1687 and he stayed on there, until he succumbed to sickness and breathed his last on 16th January, 1711. He was canonised 2 days ago (14th January, 2015) in Srilanka by the Holy Father Pope Francis.

Joseph Vaz teaches us the following three qualities: unity within the Church, ardent sense of evangelisation and a great commitment to social justice. All these three have a great significance, especially today!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

Martyr Devasagayam - the first Tamil to be raised to the Altars

14th January, 2015

Born on April 23, 1712, Neelakandan was baptised a Catholic in 1745, as Devasagayam and within seven years, he died a Martyr in 1752, on this day. There are still controversies regarding the way he died: some groups claiming that it was no era of persecutions and therefore his martyrdom is doubtful. But the Chruch maintains him a martyr because of the thorough study of the circumstances around his murder, by King Marthanda Varman, under whom Neelakandan was a Court Official. 

Two elements that stand out in the life of Devasagayam can be taken for our consideration: First, the fact that he was brought to Catholic faith by a Dutch General who was taken as Prisoner of War by Marthandan and later raised to the ranks of an Army Commander. The Dutch General, Eustachius De Lannoy, was an ardent Catholic who inspired a conversion in Devasagayam. This man was in no position of authority or power to influence a conversion but it was a true internal conversion, based on a personal experience of Christ's love.

The Second element is the Martyrdom itself: the determination with which Devasagayam seemed to have held on to his new found faith in Christ and decided to give up his life rather than his faith. His martyrdom, it is said, gave rise to mass conversions of people to Christianity. Do we have to doubt that, since we know: 'a grain of wheat that falls to the ground and dies, gives rise to a hundred fold' (Jn 12:24).

WORD 2day: 13th January, 2015

All things subject to Him!
Heb 2: 5-12; Mk 1: 21-28

All things subject to the Lord. Whether on earth or in the world below, it is the Lord's voice that rules. Not only that the angels worship the Lord, but even the demons tremble! But we human beings, do we really understand the majesty and might? Just because God deigned to become human and dwell among us;  just because God deigned to communicate with us in ways we could connect to,  we take God for granted and take pride in it.

Even the Lord does not expect that we subject as slaves but that we love as brothers and sisters and be coheirs to God our loving Father and Mother.

WORD 2day: 12th January, 2015

Call to be messengers of the Reign

Heb 1:1-6; Mk 1: 14-20

We have come to the end of the Christmas season and Ordinary season has begun; we have finished celebrating the events around Jesus' birth and we begin to remember the life and ministry of the Lord. Rightly the readings today highlight the revelation made in and through Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, the Word made flesh, as the climax of all precendent prophecies and preparations!

And Jesus begins, by proclaiming the Reign for which he stood all his life, even unto death! His message, his life and his mision was all summarised in that one reality: the Reign of God. The Lord calls us today, to make our own, the dream and the vision of the Reign of God; to be in our own way messengers of the Reign. Are we prepared to leave the nets and boats, and follow the Lord? 

BAPTISM

Solemnity of the Baptism of Our Lord

11th January, 2015

In Baptism, we are 

blessed, beloved and begotten!

Thanks be to God!