MERCILENT 2016 - 18th March

BE DEPENDENT: it's no loss of your self image!

Friday,  5th week in Lent

Jer 20: 10-13; Jn 6: 63-68

The days are such that people clamour for recognition and go a long way to hold on to their self image and their due credits. It is not anymore rare to hear of conflicts for credits - that someone usurped it from someone else and so on. It goes even to an extent where one even claims credit for what has been gifted so gratuitously by God!

The good that we accomplish is not totally our own for us to claim absolute credit for it. First of all it is the Lord who gives us the opportunity to do that good. Secondly it is the Lord who empowers us to do that good. Thirdly it is the Lord who clears the hoards of hurdles that could possibly arise in accomplishing the said good.

That is why Jesus gives the people the work that he accomplishes as testifying to his origin from the Father. And Jeremiah is not stifled by the enormous attack on him... because he is totally convinced that what he does is God's work and not his own.

The key is to acknowledge dependence on God and to be convinced that it is no loss of one's self image or autonomy or self esteem. As St. Paul would challenge,  'what do we have that we have not received? ' (1 Cor 4:7)

The Mercilent Attitude for today : Let us express our dependence on God repeatedly and with real conviction.

MERCILENT 2016 - 8th March

BE LIFE-GIVING: flow from the Sanctuary!

Tuesday, 4th week in Lent

Ezek 47: 9-12; Jn 5: 1-3,5-16

The River was life-giving and wholesome.  The reason: it flowed from the Sanctuary. Jesus was life-giving because he flowed from the Eternal Sanctuary,  his Father and our Father! We are called to be rivers that flow from the Sanctuary... to be life giving. 

I am fond of repeating a story that I read a long while ago, about the man who bought a new hunting dog which could surprisingly walk over the water. He wanted to flaunt the special capacity of his dog before his neighbour and took him along once when he went hunting. He shot a game which fell across the river and the dog ran over the river and picked the hunt and returned. Looking at his neighbour he asked,  did you notice anything? Yeah, I see that your dog does not know to swim, said the neighbour. We are sometimes experts in picking up whatever is negative. They could not even see that the man who was a vegetable for the past three decades could walk now;  they only saw that he was carrying a mat which he should not. 

The more we get in touch with our inner Sanctuary where the Lord abides,  the more we respect the living Sanctuaries that is our brothers and sisters in the Lord, and the more we long for the chosen sanctuaries where the Lord deigns to wait for us,  the more life giving we should turn. Our very presence should enhance joy, hope and life wherever we are. It will happen only if we flow from the Sanctuary,  living our life from the deep. 

The Mercilent Attitude for today : Live to the full,  give life to all. 

MERCILENT 2016 - 17th March

BE ETERNAL: belong to the covenant.

Thursday, 5th week in Lent

Gen 17: 3-9; Jn 8: 51-59

Today we have the account of the Abrahamic Covenant - I will be your God and you shall be my people. And Jesus completes that account in the Gospel saying, 'whoever keeps my word will never see death'. The one who believes in the Son and does the will of the One who sent the Son, will have eternal life - this is what Jesus meant and said in various terms at various instances. 

Eternal can have three meanings: 

Endless (anantha), that is what we are called to: though we have a beginning we are destined to an existence that is endless as we will become one with the Lord, and not just perish. 

Beginningless (anaadhi) that is what God is: One who is without a beginning or an end.

Beyond these two meanings there is a third meaning which is very difficult for the human mind to understand. That is, Timelessness. Eternal means timelessness, beyond time, beyond all categories of before and after, earlier and later, and all other chronological considerations. This is what confuses the Jews. How can Jesus speak of Abraham as if he were someone who still lived? 

We can become eternal when we become one with God. We become timeless. We have nothing much to do but just obey, just carry out orders, just live on in the way that the Lord says, make choices for the Lord and the Lord's will, reject anything that detracts our life's paths. Our eternal life can begin right here, when we belong to the covenant.

The Mercilent Attitude for today: What does God want of me at this moment? - let that be a constant question on your mind.

MERCILENT 2016 - 16th March

BE FREE: Hold on to One, True God

Wednesday, 5th week in Lent

Dan 3: 52-56; Jn 8: 31-42

Freedom of the Children of God - is a phrase that we are used to hearing. What a tremendous sense it makes when we seriously think about that fact, that we are children of God. It makes us free, secure and sincere!

Free because we need not think of pleasing anybody else, we need not compromise to favour someone else other than my God who is beyond anybody or anything. All the furnace around me cannot consume me. All the predators around me cannot prey on me. Because I am a child of God and even amidst the fire, the Lord walks beside me!

Secure because the one who is with me is the most trustworthy one you can ever think of - One who keeps promises, One who keeps back nothing from me for the sake of my happiness, One who treasures me having written my name on His palm.

Sincere because I have no necessity to hold on to anything that is not true. I need not put up an appearance, I need not prove myself beyond what  I really am, I need not be anxious about whether I will be rejected or sidelined, I need not bother how dire the consequences will be. I have come to bear witness to the Truth, said my Master. That is the same vocation I share.

My Lord is my Master and I am liberated, I am free and I don't have to fear anything!

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Do not fear; Just feel Free and act Sincere!

MERCILENT 2016 - 15th March

BE DRAWN : Lift up, look up and live on!

Tuesday, 5th week in Lent

Num 21: 4-9; Jn 8: 21-30

Falling is a daily experience in our life and that is why we need to constantly rise up and move on! It is not falling but remaining fallen, out of laziness or stubbornness, that renders a person 'lost'. However the same experience of a fall, when approached with true humility and a broken heart, can become uplifting and enthuse one to live on. The difference is, we need to be drawn by the Lord, towards the Lord! No one can come to the Father, unless the Father draws them!

How can we be drawn to our God? The Word today gives us the formula: lift up, look up and live on. 

Lift up Jesus, as your Lord and saviour, as the one who alone can rescue you, as the one who has the ownership over you. Declare it from your heart and surrender.

Look up and gaze at that power drawing you to himself, realise you need the Lord and confess your dependence on the Lord. Allow yourself to be drawn into his eternal love and merciful forgiveness! 

And when you do that you will live on; you will find meaning in life beyond all the pressures around you; you will find an inner peace inspite of the turbulence that surrounds you; you will have that joy that the Lord alone can give!

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Turn to the magnificence of the Lord every now and then and surrender yourself completely.

MERCILENT 2016 - 14th March

BE ILLUMINED: the Light is with you!

Monday, 5th week in Lent

Dan 13:41-62; Jn 8: 12-20

We have a dramatic episode in the first reading today. Though the innocent Susanna being blamed is a lent-worthy theme, the point of reference today is Daniel. Daniel, who was illumined by the light of the Lord and filled with the Spirit, delivers Susanna from the treacherous plotters and the mindless mob. To instruct the ignorant and to illumine the confused are spiritual acts of mercy and that is the call that Daniel's episode offers us today.

We are called to fight against the treacherous plotters, deceivers who lead people astray, people with hidden agenda who manipulate the weak and the vulnerable. We fight them by throwing light on the truth and standing by it amidst threats and treason. Tougher still is the other task: that of illumining the ignorant and the mindless, who do not have clear thinking of their own, who swallow all that they are told, who follow the mob so blind that they do not even know what they live for. At times our faith choices too become such a following of the mob and that is a crucial element we have to be careful against. 

Jesus is the Light that illumines our minds, reveals the falsehoods and bears testimony to truth. Jesus sheds light on what we need to do, where we need to journey towards, and where we are at this moment!

The Mecilent Attitude for today: Surrender to the Lord and pray for his illumination, that you can understand God's ways and share it with others.

RELAUNCH TIME

MERCILENT 2016 - 5th Sunday of Lent - 13th March

Is 43: 16-21; Phil 3: 8-14; Jn 8: 1-11

Lent is no time for regret or remorse. Neither is it a call to resume our life after a short break. It is a time to Relaunch, relaunch from the forgiveness of the Lord!

The experience of being forgiven is a refreshing moment, it is not a moment that reminds us of all the wrong that we have done. If it does so, then it ties us to our past. We will be filled with regrets and remorse and guilt will reign supreme! That is what happened to Judas. He betrayed his friend and teacher - Jesus. Yes, it was wrong but it wasn't worse than Peter who denied even knowing the Master who loved him so much. But we see Peter come out of that treacherous situation unscathed, not Judas! The reason, with Judas there was regret, remorse and the resultant guilt. With Peter there was the will to relaunch! That is what the Lord challenges us to today, as he tells us: Go sin no more! 

At times our lenten experience can become an interim experience, as it happens in an institution during the moments of 'inspection' or 'verification'. It is like my experience. I have the habit of filling my table with books and notes that I work with. It may look like a mess over my table, but I go on with my work. At a point of time I would just take it upon me to start clearing the mess and start putting some order. When the table looks empty and orderly, one of the staff would remark with a smile: "let us see how long it lasts!" Rightly so, the books and notes would return in no time! Lent cannot be that short time of "putting order" and then to resume the 'ordinary life'. That would make it all an excessive effort for too little a cause.

Lent has to be a moment of Relaunch! It should be a time when I have to decide on elements to be TRASHED in my life. St. Paul speaks of that categorical choice for Christ: when everything else becomes rubbish. It is a moment to ascertain the only thing to be TREASURED - the renewing mercy of God brought to us by the redeeming love of Christ. And it is a challenge to TONE UP our life, forgetting the failures  of the past and Relaunching our journey with Christ. That is what Jesus tells the woman: behold I create something new for you, a new life, a new start. Come, start again and and be joyful, let us journey together in love and mercy of the Father!

I am reminded of the Strenna for 2016 given by our Rector Major: With Jesus, let us journey in an adventure of the Spirit. Let us relaunch, and rejoice!

MERCILENT 2016 - 12th March

BE PREPARED: they will hate you for no reason!

Saturday, 4th week in Lent

Jer 11: 18-20; Jn 7: 40-52

Speaking of the recent killings at the Missionaries of Charity in Yemen, quite a few reports end with the phrase: 'the reasons for the attack are unknown!' Why should a group of people who are with the old, the sickly and the destitute, be killed? Because they were being good? Because they were living their life for others? Or merely because they were doing it all in the name of Jesus?

Jeremiah was hated for living a righteous life. Jesus was hated for the good he was doing and the joy he was bringing to the poor and the oppressed, and moreover because he was from Galilee! The world does not need a reason to hate you. It will find a reason by all means, unless you compromise with it. The moment you stand for what you believe and live in conformity to only what you stand for, you got to be prepared! 

Mercy, would have it that even in the face this hatred you continue loving, that you continue doing good, that you do not retaliate nor seek to avenge them some how! The best example is the Cross that shines before us specially during this season, the greatest sign of the power of mercy! Forbearance towards those who do wrong against you, is definitely an act of mercy.

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Be ready and prepared for opposition when you wish to be good; don't compromise!

MERCILENT 2016 - 11th March

BE ENDURING: let nothing disturb you!

Friday, 4th week in Lent

Wis 2:1,12-22; Jn 7: 1-2,10,25-30

Enduring all odds is a necessary quality for a servant of God. If only a person wants to remain faithful to what the Lord has called him or her for, the person has to grow tough from within. One cannot allow something to affect him or her so easily, if the person wants to go all the way with one's vocation. 

Endurance means the capacity to dedicate oneself for a cause and to stand by that cause come what may. Here we are speaking of the Lord's chosen ones and their capacity for total dedication. There are two types of situations that can make one lose one's endurance: the opposition of the Godless and the indifference of the thoughtless.

The Godless interpret everything that you do in their own sense and malign your name and whatever you are upto. The first reading says, their malice makes them blind to anything that is godly. The thoughtless are the so called 'religiously diligent' people but who are lost in their own world, who wish that everyone fits into their framework of understanding. Jesus is struggling against these in the Gospel today. 

We may be faced with the Godless who oppose us, malign us, persecute us...are we going to give up being messengers of the Lord? We may be surrounded by the self righteous lot who find fault merely because we do not fit into their frameworks...are we going to lose heart? If we are broken because of these experiences, that is a fragrant offering we can give the Lord but we need to endure! The worst of everything is if we ourselves fall into one of the two categories - the godless or the thoughtless. Let us be careful.

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Let nothing disturb us and let us never be weary of doing good (2 Thes 3:13)

MERCILENT 2016 - 10th March

BE TESTIMONIES: endure, hold on and see the wonders

Thursday, 4th week in Lent

Exo 32: 7-14; Jn 5: 31-47

The Gospel today is very dense passage where Jesus speaks if his testimonies to himself and to God who has sent him. In the extensive discourse what he wants to highlight is that we know, we understand, we come to believe but these do not stand firm for long. A bit of a trouble, or a small delay in favours, or an untoward incident that breaks our plans, or an unexpected turn of events that gets us into crisis, takes us away from God. We see people going away from God, denying God, or creating their own God when things do not go the way that they wanted. 

The call is to be testimonies to the Lord and to what the Lord wants to accomplish in and through us. The recent killings at Yemen is a great testimony, because of their endurance. A couple of decades back the same Yemen had a similar attack and these sisters were asked to  leave and they refused to do so, saying the dying and the destitutes there needed them and decided to hang on, the priests who spiritually cater to them. held on too. Today their death gives us pain but remains a great testimony! The Holy Father called them, 'the martyrs of our day'. 

How enduring are we in our commitment to the Lord? How prepared are we to hold on, in the face of struggles? How persevering are we to wait for the wonders that the Lord has in store for us!

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Believe in the Lord and check how much your thoughts and words bear testimony to the Lord!