THE WORD IN ADVENT - 2nd FRIDAY

The Advent Task: Live Upright

11th December, 2015

Is 48: 17-19; Mt 11: 16-19

Most of our happiness is short lived because much of it depends on whether or not others accept me, whether they affirm me or not, recognise me or not, appreciate me or not! Even if not dancing to the tunes of the others, we are most of the time conditioned by what the others say, what the others feel and how the others judge me. At times this goes to the extent that I forget to live my life, I live someone else's opinions and prejudices!

The Lord bares the foolishness of this way of life as he says in the first reading today - that the Lord himself has taught us how to live and how not to. If we follow the precepts of the Lord, we would live an upright life and we would not need to cringe at anyone's feet! This is one of the hardly found Reign value among the so called people of the Reign...whether Christians or not, we are unduly conditioned by the opinions and judgments of the others. Would we dare grow out of it and begin to think only of living upright?

THE WORD IN ADVENT - 2nd THURSDAY

The Advent Task: Suffer for the Reign

10th December, 2015

Is 41: 13-20; Mt 11: 11-15

The poor and needy ask for water and there is none, their tongue is parched with thirst. These lines from the first reading today, brought to my mind the scenes of flood relief in places around here, when people were in dire need of food and water...looking upto to someone who would come to their aid. Why did they suffer? Due to natural calamity? Yes, but that is only partly true... they suffered due to the human made calamity more than the natural. Lakes were not lakes and ponds were all plots, and the water had nowhere to go but the houses and flats, streets and avenues. The ones who suffer are not merely the greedy and the trespassers, but majority of them are the innocent, the poor and the vulnerable! 

You either stay off from being part of the causes of the problem, that is being  part of the group of exploiters and oppressors, or be part of those innocent sufferers who is able to experience the salvific fruits of suffering. It is a divine task to learn to suffer for the Reign.

THE WORD IN ADVENT- 2nd WEDNESDAY

The Advent Task : Be Strong

9th December,  2015

Is 40: 25-31; Mt 11: 28-30 

The Lord says,  come to me all who are heavy laden and take upon yourself my yoke and my burden. He never promised,  come to me and have no burden or no load. The call today is two fold :

One, to be strong to bear our burdens. Strength is seen not in moments of celebration and victory but in moments of trials and heartaches. To be strong is to feel the closeness of a support, to feel I am not alone and to be sure of a shoulder to lean on. That is what the Lord promises in the Gospel today. 

The second call is to be strong and look square at the troubles we are facing and understand whether they are really meant for us or if they are unnecessary. Because each of us has our own legitimate share of troubles to face. If we are truly strong in the Lord we will run and not wear out;  we will walk and still not tire. Because the burdens from the Lord are light and the yoke that the Lord offers is sweet.

Let's be strong... in the face of everything that is around us and the Lord will give us light to live on. 

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

8th December, 2015

The Lord chose Mary in eternity to show God's eternal mercy through her. Let the year of Mercy that begins today communicate this mercy in immensity to the world...May we be worthy instruments of that Mercy...

The Immaculate Conception of Blessed Virgin Mary

THE BEGINNING OF THE JUBILEE

YEAR OF MERCY

THE WORD IN ADVENT - 2nd MONDAY

The Advent Task: Perceive

7th December, 2015

Is 35: 1-10; Lk 5: 17-26

I found a whatsapp message circulated these days after the Chennai Floods. It read thus: FOUND MISSING: CASTE and CREED in the CHENNAI CITY. Those who find them do not bring them back, please! Going around with a group of youngsters to reach out to the flood affected areas, what sights of humanity we witness! Just an instance to quote: a person, from 120 kilometers away from Chennai all on his own brought 4000 bottles of drinking water dropped it at our place for the affected people and left back to their place! 

The Prophets have always been giving the indications of the Messianic times. The dumb speaking, the lame walking, the possessed freed and the captives liberated...the people saw all these happening with Jesus around. But they stopped with seeing. The people around could not perceive the message beyond all that was happening around them!

Today we are called not just to see, but to perceive; to perceive the signs that the Lord is giving us - to build up the true Reign of God...not our petty kingdoms, not our ego centers, not our brand building and not our monopoly. 

If we do not begin to perceive, we will miss the whole message! Without perceiving, miracles wont be miracles... we will only see strange things, as in today's Gospel!

THE WORD IN ADVENT - 2nd SUNDAY

A Call to Prepare in True Love

6th December, 2015
Bar 5: 1-9; Phil 1: 4-6,8-11; Lk 3: 1-6

'PREPARE' is the call that dominates this season! One of the posts I could not agree more with, these days on the facebook, was a prayer posted by Fr. Joe Andrew an inspiring salesian priest. He had begun it thus: 'Lord we prayed for rain and you gave it. Sorry that we were not prepared for  it!' The whole world's attention is drawn towards the calamity that has just descended upon Chennai (which should by now include within it Cuddalore and other parts affected too). There is a widespread feeling we were not prepared enough for it in spite of the warnings we have had. The second reading and the Gospel today invite us to prepare, while the first reading and the Gospel tell us how to prepare! We are preparing to celebrate the coming of the Lord, and we are preparing for the coming of the Lord too, that is the coming of the Reign of God!

The Call: Recently, after the bomb blasts in Paris, the discussion on violence in the world and the need to tackle them, had escalated to a great intensity. And all of a sudden, in our part of the world, the present calamity of the deluge befell. And we seem to have all forgotten about the earlier discussions - the violence, the terrorism, the anti terrorist attacks, the need to joint military action etc. Today what dominates is the compassion towards the suffering, reaching out to those battling the floods, garnering efforts towards rescuing people and joining hands towards feeding the hungry. Time has yet again proved that goodness has the sweetest sway over humanity. The calamity has taught us, we are one and we need to stand and feel as one! The call is in the air, not just up and above, but surrounding us, in every experience, in every tear, in every smile, in every outstretched hand, in every heart that bleeds with compassion!

To Prepare: To make ready already in advance for the sake of facing a situation, that is what it means to prepare. It is important, the Lord has instructed us time and again, to be prepared for the coming of the Lord in glory. The Coming is going to be glorious and demanding too... because we would have to render an account for everything that we were given with and the way we have responded to it. I remember when we were kids, we dreaded the visit of one of our aunts...she was a nun. When we knew she were coming, we would be pushing dust under the carpet, stuffing clothes into the closet, dumping books into our cupboards and make the rooms look presentable. Invariably every time she would pull out everything that was in disorder and give us a mouthful! Preparing is not a cosmetic alteration that stays just skin deep. It is a fundamental transformation and that is why only true love can afford it.

True Love: To love as Jesus loves...that is the task that St. Paul entrusts to himself and to us. The only preparation that is good enough for the coming of the Lord or the only preparation that can truly lead us towards the coming of the Reign of God, is that which is inspired by true love. It is giving and not getting, it is reaching out and not receiving, it  is leveling and not proving oneself, it is straightening and not manipulating, it is simplifying and not complicating, it is feeling for and with another and not feigning sorrow, it is making life better for the other and not making a life out of the other. True love is a forgetfulness... a forgetfulness of harm done or good left undone, a forgetfulness of the struggles one has gone through while coming to face with the present struggles of another, a forgetfulness that does not so much think of repaying as of responding to the present need of a person. 

Let us prepare...prepare ourselves in true love towards growing into God's people, towards being signs of God's Reign here on earth. 

THE WORD IN ADVENT- 1st SATURDAY

The Advent Task: Be Compassionate

5th December, 2015

Is 30:19-21,23-26; Mt 9:35 - 10:1, 5,6-8

The City of Chennai is going through a moment of real crisis while it is also witnessing some thing beautiful about itself. The crisis is about battling the rains and the havoc caused by its effects. The beauty is about the numerous cases of individuals who go out of their way to do something to make the situation better for those who are suffering... those who are ready to accommodate the homeless in the little space left in their homes, those who are ready to share the little that they have with those who do not have anything, those who are out there wading through the waters just to make the suffering populace feel that they are not left alone, those who are far out of this zone but staring at the TV screens with a genuine droplet of tear in their hearts for the sake of those who are battered by this calamity - that is the sign of the Reign!

We need to discover and build on that sincere feeling for and feeling with the other... Being Compassionate is an essential task on the way to building God's Reign here on earth.

THE WORD IN ADVENT - 1st FRIDAY

The Advent Task: Open your eyes and see

4th December,  2015

Is 29: 17-24; Mt 9: 27-31

They had their house filled with 3 feet water... rendered homeless they stood with their two children on the road with knee high water flowing past them. I was wondering what sort of bitter experience they would harbour, after all  such scenes of misery and vulnerability. To my surprise they said,  God be praised for so many things far worse from which they have been spared!

He shall see what my hands have done in his midst, says the first reading today. It is a special capacity to be able to see the hand of God in our daily experience. We should be given the vision, healed from our blindness and the Lord alone can enable us in this regard. Lord that we may see!

THE WORD IN ADVENT - 1st THURSDAY

The Advent Task: Trusting in the Rock

3rd December,  2014

Is 26: 6-10; Mt 7: 21, 24-27

The way things are done today and the things that practically work today seem to suggest that there are ways and means to get things done rather than trusting them into God's hands. We worry about things as if everything depended on us and as if they are totally within our capacity. We tend to think of God only at the end of it all,  when we feel nothing else had really worked!

Trust in the the Lord forever, the Lord is the everlasting Rock, says the first reading; while the Gospel challenges us to move from a fake and shallow relationship with God towards founding our lives on the rock! Founding our lives on the Rock,  trusting the Lord our Rock,  does not mean an empty jargon or a figure of speech. It is a concrete dependence on the Lord and the Lord's will on a daily basis, convinced to do just what the Lord wants and whatever the Lord wants!

THE WORD IN ADVENT - 1st WEDNESDAY

The Advent Task: Hope in God

2nd December, 2015

Is 25: 6-10; Mt 15: 29-37

What a day to think of this message: from 5 in the morning I have been getting calls and following updates of floods in our part of the State. People are stranded, held up,  locked in, left without anything to eat... at these moments despair can get the better of us. The whole heated discussion of the rising level of intolerance in India and the debates and demonstrations for and against it is yet another despair inducing scenario. The increasing conditions of inhumanity and violence in the world and the lack of transparent and righteous coalitions against evil, is an alarming state of affairs! But I was pleasantly surprised to receive a message from someone explaining all private initiatives to help the flood affected...the message from a non-Christian but ended with a quote: 'if God is for us who can be against us'!

That is hope and Christian living and thinking is all about hope. Waiting for the Lord is all about hope. Hoping in the Lord is not a leap in the dark, it's seeing the light that comes through or being determined to pick up the first streak of light that pierces through. Hope makes us authentically Christians... fear strips us of it!