WORD 2day: 26th May, 2016

Seeing and Being Seen

Thursday, 8th week in Ordinary time

1 Pet 2: 2-5,9-12; Mk 10: 28-31

One cannot live a Christian in isolation...that is the crux of the message today! Because being a Christian involves a lot of seeing and being seen. I need to see myself and understand who I really am. I need to see things around and hear the helpless cries of people readily. I need to see who I am surrounded with and why I am wherever I am. I need to see what really matters in a given situation - maintaining the decorum or causing a disorder towards greater sense of life and love?

It involves being seen a lot too! Being seen as different, as honourable, as trust worthy, as reliable, as outgoing, as sensitive, as dedicated, as capable of true compassion, as persons with a definitive but a different set of priorities, as people who make a difference for the rest of the world around them.

Let us learn to see, and be prepared and worthy of being seen, as the One who called us does! 

WORD 2day: 25th May, 2016

Check your Seed!

Wednesday, 8th week in Ordinary Time

1 Peter 1: 18-25; Mk 10: 32-45

A tree is known from its fruits, the Word reminds us! The Word today speaks of a similar reality. It presents to us two crops of people: one an old crop and the other a new crop, a newly born community of persons, born anew in the blood of Christ. The seed of the latter crop is the very blood of Christ!  The Question is: which crop do you belong?

Jesus presents to us both the contrasting mentalities, the popular mentality of dominance and control and the Jesus mentality of service and collaboration. One will not fit in the other for they two are contrasting mentalities and the Lord wants us to make a choice and make it known! 

Jesus is preparing his disciples today in the Gospel, to be a crop of the latter kind. Of course, he finds it tough but he does not mind it and he will never compromise on it. The same he expects from us - we better check our seed!

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

Mary, Mother and Miracles

Feast of Mary Help of Christians
Rev 12: 1-3, 7-12,7; Gal 4: 4-7; Jn 2: 1-11

The episode of Cana is an event par excellence of a mother so sensitive and concerned. She intercedes with her Son and instructs the people as to how to relate to Him. That is exactly the role she plays even today. Let us learn from our Mother the art of living close to the Son! 

Happy Feast of Mary Help of Christians. 

WORD 2day: 23rd May, 2016

The Fire Testing

Monday, 8th week in Ordinary Time

1 Pet 1: 3-9; Mk 10: 17-27

We need to prove our mettle, to say literally, we need to prove our metal! We need to prove that we are gold, when it comes to our dedication to the Lord. The days are such that compromises are not only permitted, they are the order of the day. One has to become an expert in compromising one's values, without making major breakages. But with Lord this can never be true! Even a minor compromise is a major breakage. That is why we are to be tested in fire, the fire of daily struggles and unceasing temptations. We need to be careful because without our knowledge we would have slid into a situation of compromise. Let us be vigilant, for the devil is prowling round like a roaring lion!

The ABC of Holy Trinity

Solemnity of the Holy Trinity: 22nd May, 2016

Pro 8: 22-31; Rom 5:1-5; Jn 16: 12-15

We celebrate the feast of the Trinity today! The Solemnity reminds us of, not only who our God is, but also who we are! 

We ARE a communion! Just as our God is a communion of three persons - Father, Son and the Spirit, we who are created in that image and likeness, are a communion too. We are neither body living in the spirit, nor a spirit residing in the body... we are a being created in such a communion of our natures that we are one, just as the three persons of the trinity are one. It is high time we undid the contrasts between the body and the soul and the mind! We are communion, we ARE Trinity.

We BELIEVE in communion, not in contestation. The three persons of the Trinity live in communion with each other and there is an eternal self giving that takes place among them, by which they stay as ONE. We believe in communion, dialogue, sharing, sacrifice and selfless service. Only that would make us One people of God.

We CLING to the Trinity, because in the Trinitarian God we have everything we stand in need of. The Father gives us love and mercy in abundance. The Son gives us the light and truth to live by. The Spirit gives us companionship and good counsel.  All that we need to live our life to the full is given by the Trinitarian God. 

As we celebrate this wonderful solemnity, let us take to heart the call and the challenge given to us by the Holy Trinity... to be, to believe and to cling on to the Most Holy Trinity.

WORD 2day: 21st May, 2016

Reign of God is a Child's Play

Saturday, 7th week in OrdinaryTime

James 5:13-20; Mark 10:13-16

When we call something a child's play, we intend to say it is an easy task, a no taxing job, an uncomplicated project! Today Jesus calls the Reign of God a child's play...but meaning to say how difficult it is for the grown ups to reach! 

The qualities that are underlined here by the first reading and the Gospel are: innocence of heart, unsophisticated dependence on God and non judgmental relationships! These are the very things we lose as we grow up. Remaining a child in these will make us part of the Reign of God...that is why it is a child's play, not a grown up's game! 

Can we grow up to be childlike?

WORD 2day: 19th May, 2016

On a Slippery Ground

Thursday, 7th week in Ordinary Time

Jam 5: 1-6; Mk 9: 41-50

Where your treasures are, there your heart will be, Jesus warned us well. The Word today insists that our treasures cannot be in our money bags or safety lockers! Wealth, of course is a blessing, the same can become a curse too, if it is not kept in its place! 

At times, unfortunately not merely at times but very often today, we see that persons with money are able to get what they want without much ado! Even the judicial system lets them roam free despite their wrongdoings, merely because they have the money-power! Persons think they have everything when they have the money...but for how long? Is that money going to take us all the way? By the time we realise we have over-depended on the wealth that we possess, we would be in a position already when we would not be able to undo our past mistakes! It is high time we understand that, placing our entire confidence on the wealth would make us tread on a slippery ground. 

WORD 2day: 18th May, 2016

Poor in spirit depend on God

Wednesday, 7th week in Ordinary Time

Jam 4: 13-17; Mk 9: 38-40

Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Mt 5:3). How do we understand the expression 'poor in spirit'? The Word today has a simple description: they depend on God. Two traits that are enlisted as opposition or rebellion to God are Pride and Jealousy! Pride claims illegitimate credits for things; Jealousy detests anyone being better in comparison to me.

James hits out against pride, which claims that we are in control of our entire life! I know of a person who has written down what he would be doing the next 25 years in succession! One thing is to have a plan, while it is totally another matter to be too sure about taking control of everything! 

Jesus speaks of jealousy in subtle manner, without hurting the sentiments of his own apostles. He instructs them about not monopolising the role of being God's instruments! Anyone could be used by God, just as you could be! When you are used by God for God's purposes, rejoice and be glad. When someone else is used by God, give praise to God all the same! This comes from two important qualities we need to develop: stop comparing and place God at the centre, not yourself!

When we work out of these two temptations: of pride and jealousy, we would be well on our way to sanctity...for that is a sign that we depend on God, that we are poor in spirit, and the kingdom of heaven belongs to us!

WORD 2day: 17th May, 2016

The Battle Within

Tuesday, 7th week in Ordinary Time

Jam 4: 1-10; Mk 9: 30-37

The discussion continues on yesterday's theme: the battle within. Both James and Jesus through the Word today, speak to us of the important battle that is waging within us, which determines much of the battles around us. The self seeking, self centered and self focused egoism, twists and twirls all our priorities and thus wrongly motivates our choices. 

The worst of the conditions that we find today is the way the society prioritises. What is wrong if one thinks of one's own self fulfillment? The justification in terms of god-given capabilities and bringing them to their perfection is another rationalisation of this ego feeding. The Self or the Ego is being enshrined at the centre of human life as the most sacred thing that has to be preserved, promoted and pleased! Is this not idolatry? Some are so worried about use of images and icons as being idolatrous, while they make of themselves saviours, mouth pieces of God, indispensable dispensers of the god-element, the doorways to god and so on...

The question is clear today: have you compromised on the place given to God in your life? Is God the first priority in your life? Is God, God's plan and God's will the most important criterion in all the choices you make? If it is so, then you are on a winning streak in the battle within... Kudos! March on! 

WORD 2day: 16th May, 2016

Witness, come what may

Monday,7th week in Ordinary Time

Jam 3: 13-18; Mk 9: 14-29

Just the day after we have reflected upon the Holy Spirit and the fruits of the presence of the Holy Spirit within us, James speaks to us of these signs that we need to manifest to the world around us. Those who see us should see the Spirit present within us. We are called to be witness to the Lord, not merely through the spoken word and declared messages but through life and signs we give on a daily basis.

The qualities that militate against the Spirit present with us, the qualities of jealousy, pride, ambitiousness, deceitfulness and divisiveness should be driven away with prayer and fasting. Only then will out life bear witness to the Spirit of the Risen Lord. It is not as difficult as this, to fight external forces of opposition! The qualities, tendencies and priorities within us which are not proper to the Reign we are all dreaming of, are the primary forces that have to be fought against. I may resolve to be a witness inspite of those who align against me, but if I don't decide to fight these tendencies within me, I tragically fail to witness to the Spirit living within me. Can I really resolve to witness, come what may!