Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy #4

# THE COLOURS

The colours that have been used in the logo of the year of mercy, have a specific message to communicate. Let's begun with having a good look at the logo. And note the colours that stand out.

Red: signifies the blood of Christ. The Blood of Christ is a sign and symbol of God's mercy. For God so loved the world that God sent God's only Son to give us life. Christ gave his life for us as the most intense expression of God's mercy.

White: signifies the light of Christ. The light that takes us to the Father,  the light that makes it clear to us who we are, the light that defines where and how we need to be journeying - that is the light we are looking at.

Blue: signifies the earth and so the humanity,  that is "we"...we are called to be sons and daughters of God sporting the very image and likeness of the One who has willed us into existence.

Gold: signifies the call that we have received as humanity. If you closely glimpse at the golden hue it is on the person who lies on the shoulder. If Christ is the one who is carrying, the one who is carried is Adam. The first Adam brought in sin through his disobedience,  Christ the second Adam brings in salvation through obedience. We are called and challenged.

The Call from this element of the logo, is to understand the face of the mercy of God-Jesus Christ, listen to Him and surrender ourselves to His projects.

REAPING TIME

MERCILENT 2016 - 3rd Sunday in Lent: 28th February

Exo 3: 1-8, 13-15; 1 Cor 10: 1-6, 10-12; Lk 13: 1-9

It's reaping time; it's time to show the difference in my life. If I do not show that difference, that bit of growth that comes from an authentic eagerness towards perfection, I deny myself the possibility of truly experiencing that saving grace of the merciful Father. I have no excuses to make and that is what the readings today establish without doubt.

I have no excuses because, I am accompanied with daily miracles by the Lord. As the Lord accompanied the people of Israel as a cloud and the pillar of fire, the Lord accompanies me with daily miracles in my life. I may or may not recognise the countless miracles that happen all around me but they are constantly there. The daily dose of life, the air that I breathe, the vital sustenance that is ensured...what are these but miracles. The guidance that I receive from daily experiences, the indications that I am given to regulate my life, these are miracles that I keep experiencing from the Lord's accompaniment.

I have no excuses because, I am alerted by regular warnings. Even as I choose to do things that do not really go well with the call that I have received from the Lord, I am warned from within. Even as I see people fumbling and falling, mistaking and missing their way in life, I am given with warnings to change my life, lest I go far far away from the Lord. At times I squander the warnings I receive as I am busy judging people, branding them and writing their destinies unduly. I need to begin to take the cues all around me and be attentive to the warnings that keep coming my way.

I have no excuses because I am affirmed with such abundance of mercy from the Lord. I am given chances after chances, offered countless opportunities and limitless forgiveness from the Lord, that I may grow over my faults and failures, towards making choices that lead me to fruits that show me to be a true son or daughter of God. The Lord invites me to bear fruit, fruits that will show me to be worthy of the image and likeness that I bear; that I may be merciful as the Father. Be ye perfect as your heavenly father is perfect.

Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy #3

# THE SHAPE

Looking at the Logo for the Year of Mercy, one could wonder, why that shape of say, an almond... the oval? Why not a more perfect shape like a circle that would have symbolised the complete and unending love of God. But the oval, has more to say than what apparently appears. 

The shape of an oval is said to be a highly familiar shape used in the traditional iconography of the early church. It came to mean something very deep and fundamental within the faith expression of the early christian artists. The clue is in how this Oval is formed? It is formed when two circles intersect and find a common space...that is, it is formed in the union of two circles. That was why it came to symbolise for the early christians, the union of the two natures of Christ - the human and the divine.

Amidst the controversies that existed in the Early Christian Theology, whether Christ was more man or more son of God, this symbol came to express the right understanding of Christ as the perfect union of humanity and divinity. Today the logo for the year of Mercy picks up on that one composite nature of the Son of God, which is the epitome of the expressions of the Mercy of God - Jesus Christ is the face of the Mercy of God.

The Call that this element of the Logo gives us, is to understand the divinity that the Lord has placed within our beings and live to be deeply human and deeply holy at the same time.

MERCILENT 2016 - 27th February

BE JOYFUL: You are loved without measure!

Saturday, 2nd week in Lent
Mic 7: 14-15, 18-20; Lk 15: 1-3,11-32

Just yesterday, I heard that touching song that speaks of God's grace as, 'Oh Outrageous Grace!'...yes, an outrageous grace. An immeasurable love, an abundant grace, limitless mercy...that is God. What should I fear when the Lord loves me with such an immeasurable love. The Lord looks at me as a shepherd madly in love with his sheep, willing to lay down his life for his sheep, however undeserving I may be.

The Call is twofold here: one, however immeasurable God's love is, I need to make myself deserving of that great love of God. If not, I run the risk of depriving myself of that outrageous love, that immeasurable mercy by distancing myself from the Father like that younger son.

The second call is to accept my brother (or sister) who fails! If I do not look kindly on the limitations of my brothers and sisters and show mercy to them, accepting them with forgiveness and forbearance, I would be standing out of the house of my Father, again depriving myself of the mercy and love I can receive without measure!

I need to be filled with joy that the Lord loves me, then nothing will disturb me! I would be ready to experience the mercy of the Father and share the same with the other. When I lack that joy, I would turn so negative that I will deprive myself of all mercy!

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Rejoice, the Lord loves you!

Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy #2

#2 The Motto

What we shall be doing in the coming days is first to understand the logo offered for our minds this year. The first element that stands out from the logo is the motto: Lk 6:36.

MERCIFUL AS THE FATHER: Mercy is the identity,  a call and a challenge to an authentic disciple of Christ.

Mercy is that dimension of love that highlights unconditionality of a person's love and the need to offer and ask for forgiveness. That is the identity of a true Christian. For from this they will know you are my disciples- from the love that you have for one another.

At times we begin with great spirits but we stop very soon owing to difficulty in finding models! The call is to grow up towards being like the Father. The Father is the ideal, the image towards which we grow.

That is obviously a challenge too! It is a life long task to grow to be like the Father. Be perfect as the heavenly father is perfect (Mt 5:48)... that's the Mattean version of the motto.

'Keep Growing'...that is in other words what the motto says. We can never stop growing. The heavenly Father is the one who calls, is the model and the destiny towards which we grow.

MERCILENT 2016 - 26th February

BE CAREFUL : The Master will return

Friday, 2nd Week of Lent

Gen 37: 3-4,12-13,17-28; Mtt 21: 33-43,45-46

Being recipients of mercy does not exempt us from being careful! Taking care that we do not fall out of gear with the entire ambient of mercy that the Lord creates. Within the design of the Lord there is an eternal stock of mercy, but at times we may make choices and decisions that might remove us from the whole circle of mercy!

Speaking to the Young, they ask with alarm, 'will God never punish'...'he will punish at an extreme level won't he'...'does the mercy of God exclude punishments for sins'...these are genuine attempts the young make to balance between mercy and justice on the part of God. I love to tell them, you need not try to paint God in a balanced picture! God is not a perfect balance of justice and mercy, the Lord is merciful in God's justice too! God's justice in a great way includes an abundance of mercy. But that in no way makes it easy for one who decides to stay away from the mercy of God! 

Be careful to choose the mercy of God; take care to submit yourself willingly to the mercy of God. When the Master returns He must find you within this ambient of mercy, if not it would have been your fault.

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Take care of every moment and remain within the ambient of mercy!

Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy #1

#1 Why Extraordinary?

Jubilee Year or the Year of Lord's Favour is a phenomenon that comes from as early as the book of Leviticus. It was every 50th year as 7 sets of 7 years (49 years) came to a close.

However the Catholic Church began this tradition of celebrating the jubilee years from 1300 onwards. Though it began with once in 50 years very soon it became a year of celebration every 25 years!

That is how we have the 25th Jubilee year proclaimed in 2000! Ordinarily the next Jubilee should have been in 2025. But since the Holy Father did not want to lose the significance of the 08.12.2015, he has announced an "EXTRAORDINARY" year of jubilee, dubbing it Jubilee Year of Mercy! 

What is special about Dec 8, 2015: It was the 50th anniversary of the Closure of the Vatican Council II, a council that has changed the face of the Church for the world today! Let us take to heart the teachings of the Council and experience the depth of the mercy of the Lord.

MERCILENT 2016 - 25th February

BE WISE: Know, understand and act.

Thursday, 2nd week of Lent

Jer 17: 5-10; Lk 16: 19-31

Every thing in this world is passing. Wealth or power or relationships or popularity - everything is just for a while. Knowing this is one thing, but living by it and making convictions based on it is completely another thing. We know it well that what we gain by our effort here, lasts but sometime still we hold on to them: our titles, our accomplishments, our status, our social image and so on. The Word today reminds us, to face facts. It challenges us to begin to understand what we know and act on what we truly understand. If I know nothing in this world lasts forever, I would understand it is not worth giving my life for it. If I understand it is not worth giving my life for something, I would not make that my priority over others. Where does the problem lie? Why am I lost in things that do not really matter? Why is it that I know something but still I live contrary to it?

God alone lasts forever; and what comes from God alone matters truly. Wisdom is when I come to realise that I know this fact and I begin to restructure my life based on that conviction. The greater challenge is to resist the temptation of giving up in between and ape the standards of a lesser order. God alone matters and it is wisdom that helps me understand that.

The Mercilent Attitude for today: In God alone put your trust.

MERCILENT 2016 - 24th February

BE DIFFERENT: Don't conform to the world

Wednesday, Second week in Lent

Jer 18: 18-20; Mtt 20: 17-28

The world tells you to lead; be led. The world tells you to rule; submit. The world tells you to prove yourself; be yourself. The world tells you to compete; collaborate. The world tells you to be the first; be the least. The world tells you to dominate; serve. The world tells you to come up; grow up. Don't conform to the world, lest you would not belong to Christ! You have a special task: to be different so that you inspire people to be different, and thus make a difference to this world, making it a different place to live. The crux is, be different!

Your life should make people conspire against you, because you stand out in the crowd, standing for the Reign values of righteousness, peace and joy. Serve, suffer and slog for the least, the lost and the last, you would have done it for the Lord. Power, pleasure and passivity in the face of the miseries around you, will count you among the insensitive lot. To be authentically a Christ-ian, be different. Are you ready to be branded, ridiculed, trodden upon? If yes, you are a true disciple of Christ.

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Be different, and make a difference.

MERCILENT DIGEST #1

Mercilent Thoughts - first 2 weeks
1. Be Merciful
2. Be Pro life
3. Be Integral
4. Be Shining
5. Be Godly
6. Be God's
7. Be Open
8. Be Prayer
9. Be Good
10. Be Christ
11. Be Rock
12. Be Exalted