BEING SAINTS!

The ABC of Being Saints

Solemnity of All Saints 

1st November, 2015

Rev 7: 2-4, 9-14; 1 Jn 3: 1-3; Mt 5: 1-12 

I have always loved to listen to and recount the anecdote about this boy who was taken to a traditional Cathedral for the first time by his mother. The boy was tremendously impressed with the splatter of colours on the floor due to the rays that shone through the stain glasses on the walls. The boy with his eyes wide opened looked at those stain glasses and asked his mother...'mama,  what is this? ' 'Oh they are the saints! ' said the mother looking at the pictures on the stain glass. That stuck to the boy's mind. And the next day in class when the catechism teacher asked,  who are saints... he shouted out. .." saints are those who let light shine through them! "

I think that's the best possible definition for a saint. A saint is the one who let's the light,  the light of the Lord shine through him or her. 

A saint is the one who ACKNOWLEDGES the supremacy of God,  allowing God to take charge of one's life. 

A saint is the one who BELONGS totally to God, placing God at the centre of his or her life, feeling close to God.

A saint is the one who COMMITS oneself to God's cause,  to God's people,  to God's will, on a daily basis! 

That is the ABC of Being Saints in our lives today! 

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

29th October, 2015
Remembering Bl. Michael Rua

The Second in Command

Bl. Michael Rua reminds us of the importance of cooperating with the operating grace! A man who never felt bad to play the second fiddle with Don Bosco around. A son who was found to be a perfect heir to that saintly father. A salesian who was capable of replicating his role model Don Bosco. A leader who was gifted in taking forward the dream left behind by the visionary founder. A holy man for whom righteousness was his second nature. He was a perfect second in Command,  first to Don Bosco and the rest of his life to the Lord who led him!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

28th October, 2015: Remembering Apostles Simon and Jude

Eph 2: 19-22; Lk 6: 12 -16

The Name Game

We remember the apostles Simon the zealot and Jude son of James also called Jude Thadeus. These apostles have become relatively less known,  they say, because of the confusion with their names. Simon was confused with Simon Peter and so lost his prominence. Judas confused with Judas Iscariot and so became infamous. Reflecting on this fact in tradition,  I was struck by the opening prayer of the Eucharist today, which goes thus: 

O God, who by the blessed Apostles
have brought us to acknowledge your name...
The apostles were all about acknowledging God's name,  not their own. Whether Simon or Jude or any other apostle, they were all out to spread the Good News and give glory to God,  building up the Body of Christ on earth: the People of God.

Building is our work but we are very much part of the building itself. We are all building ourselves up together to give glory to the name of the Lord. Let's beware of the name game that is going rampant these days: divided among ourselves under so many names and calling names at each other, maligning each others' names and playing the dirty worldly name game! That is not very becoming of that One Name we have on earth by which we will be saved,  the most sweet and glorious name of Jesus. The division in the Church is the greatest of all scandals against the Gospel. With that one Cornerstone, let us unite and give glory to God's mighty name!

WORD 2day : 27th October, 2015

Midwives of the Reign of God

Tuesday,  30th week in Ordinary Time
Rom 8:18-25; Lk 13: 18-21

Paul gives us a vivid imagery for the whole creation - the entire universe is waiting to be recreated, be made new, be born anew, to give birth to the New earth and New heaven... Jesus likens that recreation to the coming of the Reign of God.

The creation and the renewal... what is our role in it according to Paul?  We who are already made new in Christ are invited to be facilitators in this process of re-creation; midwives in this process of new birth. We are called to assist the world in bringing forth the Reign of God  into this world like a large plant, or a seasoned dough...

Let us understand where we belong - to the Reign and not to world. Let us strive for the ultimate renewal - from within,  not a mere external adjustment.

WORD 2day : 26th October, 2015

Not Slaves but Heirs

Monday,  30th week in Ordinary Time
Rom 8: 12-17; Lk 13: 10-17

The point of discussion in the Word today is the difference between slaves and heirs and their respective traits. A slave is governed by fear, is ruled by law and bound to restrictions. An heir is governed by freedom, is guided by love and empowered with spontaneity. Jesus proves to be the rightful heir,  experiencing God as the Abba and feeling the need to render a child of God wholesome. Laws and regulations did not matter to him;  threats and warnings looked despicable in his sight. The greatest of all good news is,  Christ has given us the same Spirit that was in him,  that in our spirit we may be convinced that we are rightful sons and daughters of a merciful God.

AN EMPATHISING LORD

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time : 25th October,  2015
Jer 31: 7-9; Heb 5: 1-6; Mk 10: 46-52

"God"...How do you understand that term... the Almighty,  the Omnipotent,  the Mighty One? ... you are still short of arriving at the God whom Jesus introduced to us. In and through Jesus we have a God who is all these but more than all these,  a God who is close to us,  a Father who loves us,  a mother who cares for us,  a beloved who longs for us,  a friend who stays close to us and a SavIour who came down to save us... in short,  an Empathising God!

How do we understand an Empathising Lord? 

1. LIKE US
We have a Lord who is like us... like us in every way except in our sins. A Lord who came among us,  ate,  drank, laughed,  cried,  enjoyed, celebrated, loved, worked, faced hardships and temptations... He was like any of us,  just like us and therefore, when we suffer,  when we are troubled,  when we have problems and temptations,  the Lord perfectly knows what we are through. He is not someone who would judge us from afar or look down on our weaknesses but some one who would put His hands around our shoulders and comfort us, someone who would sit by our side and say, 'it's okay! I have been there too'! The second reading brings this out strongly.

2. LIKES US
We have a Lord who likes us... who loves us,  who feels for us,  who wishes that we were happy,  who wants to heal us,  who wants to give us all that we need,  who wants to walk us to prosperity and fullness,  who wants to give sight to us,  who wants to listen to us,  who wants to reach out to us! God our Father and Mother who spared no effort,  giving up even the only Son; the Son who keeps back nothing, not even his own life- his body and his blood;  the Spirit who comes down to dwell within us,  within our poor bodies,  in our lowly conditions,  in our daily toils. This is the Lord who loves us, likes us so much that he is ready to do any thing for our sakes. In the first reading and the Gospel we have a exposition of the Lord who is merciful and kind,  who is in love with us. The Gospel in a special way speaks of a Lord who listens to a lone cry amidst the large crowd, and has mercy on that person and heals the person in love!

3. LIKENS US
The Lord who came down to be like us,  the Lord who dies to show how much he likes us,  does not stop with that... God wants to liken us to Godself. The first and the second reading presents to us a God who wants to make us God's sons and daughters,  God's children, God's beloved ones,  God's favourites. God invites us constantly towards this fullness of becoming God's own. We become God's own by opening or eyes of faith. We become God's own by crying out with faith. We become God's own by trusting in faith that God can do and will do everything for us! Thus becoming God's children we will be with God, close to God and like God,  for we will see God face to face,  as says St. Paul.

We have an Empathising Lord who was like us,  who likes us and who longs to liken us to Himself.

WORD 2day : 24th October, 2015

The Spiritual and the Unspiritual

Saturday,  29th Week in Ordinary Time
Rom 8: 1-11; Lk 13: 1-9

Not all those who suffer are people who deserve it and not all the good we enjoy we deserve it. What God gives God gives without even counting whether I deserve it... but in the course of handling them I prove whether I had deserved it or not! The Word invites us to think of the distinction between Spiritual and Unspiritual we would make in our lives.

'Spiritual' is thinking of God and godly things; it is putting the good of the other first vis-a-vis the good that can happen to me! It is counting the blessings from the Lord and acknowledging every bit of the Lord's doing in my life.

'Unspiritual,' would be thinking all the time of increasing gains and reducing pains; it is putting my pleasure before anything else,  even in the smallest of things that I get to do for others. It is constantly complaining against God and claiming absolute personal credits for any thing that is good in my life.

Where do I belong: the Spiritual or the Unspiritual? 

WORD 2day : 23rd October, 2015

Pride: The Urge to prove myself
Friday,  29th Week in Ordinary Time
Rom 7: 18-25; Lk  12: 54-59

Many a trouble today brews in the waters of wanting to prove oneself at all cost. The world teaches us from our earliest that one should prove oneself...is it the same as living one's life to the full? While proving oneself is always a phenomenon in comparison with the other where the other becomes a threat or a competition or an element to be eliminated, living my life to the full is a serene acceptance of who I am what my capacity is and living it to the most. Here the others are my companions, my co-passengers and my colleagues! There isn't much need for proving myself, infact proving myself would turn detrimental within this mode of living.

The Word instructs us on this today,  inviting us through St Paul to understand the reality of our self: that is humility. It tells us that there is no need to justify oneself before people,  for God knows who we are: that is faith. However weak and wrong we could be,  God accepts us as we are and walks us to salvation through Jesus Christ if only we are ready to surrender: that is hope.

We would do well to stop worrying about the past but take lessons and move on. Pride would never allow that...with pride,  I would be worried only about proving myself!

WORD 2day: 22nd October, 2015

Demanding a choice

Remembering the Pope of the Media Age
Rom 6: 19-23 ; Lk 12: 49-53

The call to make a choice can sometimes place us in contrast with another person or group of persons. Mixing up persons and issues is a sign of lack of maturity. When we say God hates sin but not the sinners, we are referring to this capacity to love a person irrespective of the differences. That is a quality that leads to a healthy dialogue. Remembering today the great Pope Saint John Paul II, a man of dialogue and peace,  we are called to be persons who are convinced about what we believe and what we live, but at the same time persons who never judge others or look to divide persons!

WORD 2day : 21st October, 2015

Integrity: Being Slaves to Righteousness

Wednesday, 29th Week in Ordinary Time
Rom 6: 12-18 -18; Lk 12: 39-48

Jesus continues his instruction as to how we need to be prepared for that hour of reckoning at any point of time in our life. Infact Jesus is ridiculing all the funny discussions and calculations about when that hour will come - some self proclaimed eschatalogical quacks make much ado of the end and its timings and miss the entire point that Jesus is driving home here.  No matter when and where,  you know what to do and why to do it. Take care how you do it - not seeking human attention but going by merely God's approval.

This is what we call Integrity where I don't need an external recognition and I have developed an internal system of convictions and criteria that makes me almost a "slave" to Righteousness... doing nothing but good, speaking nothing but good,  thinking nothing but good, no matter how unlikely the returns are, or what the consequences would be. I am good and righteous and there is no because!