LIVE LIFE CHRIST-LIKE

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time: 8th February, 2015

Job 7:1-4,6,7; 1 Cor 9: 16-19, 22,23; Mk 1: 29-39

To Live Life Christ-like...that is the call that the Word gives us today. To live for the Gospel, to live for the Reign, to live for the People of God and to love everyone with your heart and soul: that is the life task given to you and me, to everyone called in the name of Christ.

Proclaim to the world that God is love! Live that love and spread it around, a true and genuine love that does not possess but a love that brings the whole world together. A love that reaches out, heals, frees, unites, enhances, enriches and rends every one whole.

When you proclaim that, you will have trouble. Because there are forces that stand for a heartless egoism, a selfish development, an inhuman exploitation and an unbridled avarice! Now you will become the odd one out, when you speak of love and live for it. But still you will do it: because that is what you are called for.

The need is to answer three questions-

First of all to which band do I belong: Am I truly an apostle of love? Only I can answer the question regarding the deepest motivations of my soul.

Secondly: If I proclaim the message of the Reign, the Gospel of love, does my style of life, coincide with the proclamation. In simple words, do I walk the talk? Is there that moral integrity within me because of which I can command the evil forces with authority and they will go silenced before me! The authority that Jesus had before the demons and all other forces that challenged the wholeness of life.

Thirdly: If I identify myself with Christ and Christ's message, what do I do on a daily basis to justify my identity, stay relevant to my self-claim and be counted in that number? Will my lifestyle speak before my words ever leave my tongue? Will the values I stand for, make me stand before the Lord or cringe at His sight? Have I felt the burden of the Reign within my heart, an urgency that unsettles my heart, a passion that sets me afire?

May be today, these questions will orient us to respond to the call that the Word gives us!

WORD 2day : 7th February, 2015

Doing the Will of God: doing good to others!
Heb 13:15-17, 20-21; Mk 6: 30-34

The Gospel presents a picture of frenetic activity today. The disciples are all intent on doing good, as their master himself who went around doing good. At times we can be at a loss deciding what is God's will at a point of time.  The readings today seem to suggest one simple criterion: do good to others;  do good to as many as possible;  do good to all!

God is the shepherd who knows our needs and cares for them,  but God does it through God's sons and daughters who become shepherds in turn.  We are called to be the sheep of God's flock but at the same time to grow to be shepherds to each other,  doing as much good as we could to each other. That would be the easiest way of experiencing the continued presence of God.

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

Gonsalo Garcia - yet another Indian!
Heb 13: 1-8; Mk 6: 14-29

In the recent weeks we have been remembering saints,  blesseds and martyrs connected to India. Bl. Devasagayam,  St. Joseph Vaz, John de Britto and today it is Gonsalo Garcia. Though world wide it is commemorated as Paul Miki and companions,  for us in India it would be just and right to focus on Gonsalo Garcia, who formed part of that group of missionaries who gave their life for the Kingdom.

Some interesting facts about St. Gonsalo: he was born of a portughese father and an Indian mother. He left India when he was 15. He was among the 26 missionaries killed in Nagasaki, Japan.

As the first reading points to us,  we have a great lesson of zeal and passion for the Word from the life of Gonsalo Garcia. He was intent on going as a missionary and that is what he did. He knew he risked his life but he did not mind dying for his Master. He was crucified along with the others and it is said they brought his head to his birth place vasai.

WORD 2day: 5th February, 2015

The Urgency of the Reign
Heb 12:18-19, 21-24; Mk 6: 7-13

Already at the start Jesus initiated the Reign with a sense of urgency. It was very true because Jesus was not an isolated reality or a mere solitary person. Jesus was the climax of God's self revelation to the world... the fullness of revelation and the summation of it. Reign was already there in their midst and Jesus was perfectly justified in saying: the Reign of God is in your midst (Lk 17:21). If it were so 2000 years ago,  what do we make of today and our responsibility here and now? Do I have a sense of urgency about making present the Reign of God here and now?

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

St. John de Britto: The Red Sand Martyr

John de Britto is a Jesuit Missionary, who formed part of the famous Madurai Mission! He came to India in 1673 and was imprisoned in 1684 and deported back to Lisbon, Portugal in 1687. However he came back to India in 1690 and was killed in 1693!

An information to those not from India or South India: The place where John de Britto (Arulanandar) was killed is in a place in the diocese of Sivagangai, called Oriyur! The sand in the particular field where he was allegedly killed has a sand that is totally red, so strange to the terrain around! It is considered a miraculous phenomenon and is seen and felt even today!

A challenge to those from India, especially South India: The feast of John de Britto does not only bring to our mind the wonderful gift that we have received from the Lord through missionaries such as these, it also brings to mind the bitter memories of things that have taken place in the region in the recent past. I don't wish to narrate them here or delve deep into them: the challenge that is very clear is, A Church that is divided on the lines of caste, cannot be truly CHRISTIAN. Any number of reasons can never justify dividing a church on those grounds or having internal fights on the basis of caste or clan! The question is: Are we truly Christian?

WORD 2day: 3rd February, 2015

Arise, run, endure!
Heb 12: 1-4; Mk 5: 21-43

Arise,  run and endure is the call today! Situations of death and darkness,  moments of drowning spirit and desperate feelings,  struggle between right knowledge and raging temptations. ..they abound in our daily life. But we are called to Arise from these landslips and Run the race that is alloted to us with an Endurance that is ready to put up with any difficulty,  even upto shedding blood.

The endurance comes from the hope that Our God is an awesome God and can do anything for us. The strength to run the race comes from the faith that the Lord our God is running along and is ever present by our side. The capacity to arise comes from the love that God showers on us, out of which God keeps holding my hand inspite of all situations and keeps whispering into my ears,  my son,  my daughter,  my child,  my friend... arise!

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

Feast of the Presentation of the Lord: Tests,  results and marks
Mal 3:1-4; Heb 2: 14-18; Lk 2: 22-40

Do not bring us to the test we pray,  but our life is full of tests. It is in and through these tests the true quality of our life is brought to the fore. Mary at the temple today stands model to this brave spirit of a God-filled person.

More than the results of the tests,  what matters is the manner in which we go through it. They are not mere situations to be overcome but are experiences to learn from. The true result is not whether you succeed or not;  but that you come out of it better,  refined,  polished,  purified, and made more whole. St. Joseph after every crisis that he faces comes out more flexible at the hands of God. A serene example.

The marks of these tests should be seen in your capacity to offer yourself into God's hands more and more. The effect of the tests could either make you stronger or break your spirit... the mark of a God-filled person is to come out of it ever more stronger in his or her will to surrender to the Lord. That child presented today at the temple,  will grow  up to be the best ever example of someone who grew out of every test and remained faithful to his consecration!

ABSOLUTE ALLEGIANCE TO THE ALMIGHTY

4th Sunday in the Ordinary Time: 1 February 2015

Dt 18: 15-20; 1Cor 7: 32-35; Mk 1: 21-28

It was a home for street kids. As I entered, a calendar caught my attention. It had the words running thus: with the young missionaries of hope and joy. I hoped to see some young religious in formation or some people getting ready to go on a mission. But the picture that accompanied it was more surprising. It was a click of a bunch of street kids with eyes all shining and faces beaming with smiles. They had called them 'missionaries of hope and joy'. Today's first reading came alive to me when I saw this. When the Lord said,  the Lord would raise a prophet as good as moses and that prophet was not only Jesus who did great wonders when he was still alive but in and through Jesus,  it is you and I who are called to be prophets today, here and now. 

The second reading points to us the way of being powerful prophets of God...and the way is,  an absolute allegiance to the almighty. To profess our allegiance to God with nothing to distract us,  nothing to preoccupy us,  nothing to hinder our speaking God's word or doing God's works. I am sure as you read this,  if you are in India,  you are reminded of the recent episodes of the ban on Uma Sankar IAS and the response he gave to that. Nothing can stop me from proclaiming the Word of God.

  

The Gospel presents to us the model par excellence of a prophet of God: the very Son of God who professes and practices such a perfect allegiance to God that every one who saw him,  heard him was either taken up or threatened.   His was an authority that came from his personal integrity and flawless faithfulness to God. 

Our absolute allegiance to the almighty will make us like children who trust and depend totally on their parents. At times even a blind following of the directions given by God would suffice for us to work on our Sanctification and that of those around us. 

HAPPY FEAST

WORD 2day: 30th January, 2015

Patient Endurance and Hope-filled Efforts

Heb 10: 32-39; Mk 4: 26-34

A few days back there was a cartoon sent via the social network, with a man digging a tunnel in search of precious metals and at a point he decides to stop his pursuit. The cartoon allows the viewers alone to see that the man was just a few inches away from the treasure hidden away in the ground! "You need endurance to do the will of God and receive what he has promised", says the Word today. 

We cannot be like the nursery kids on a class project of growing a plant in the pot. From the time they plant a seed, they would keep returning to the pot every other minute to see if something has grown. The Reign of God grows in silence and obscurity; you will never know it is there around until you really believe it to be. That is why Jesus declared, 'the Reign of God is amidst you; within you' (cf. Lk 17: 21). 

In patient endurance and hope-filled efforts one will unlock the levels towards a fuller realisation of the Reign which is already there growing within us, among us and allover us!