THE WORD AND THE SAINTS

Celebrating Sts. Joachim and Anne: 26th July, 2016

Jer 14:17-22; Mt 13:36-43

The discussion is still on about the darnels among the grains in the field. Jesus speaks as a matter of fact and belittles the question who had sown those darnels. It is immaterial. The fact is that they were there and the grain stalks had grown even amidst those darnels! The merit has to be given to those and Jesus assures it will be given.

Reflecting on personalities such as Sts. Joachim and Anne who stand as symbols of the elders who have kept the faith, we are challenged to emulate their lives, their commitment and their dedication to the Lord.

We are called to remain faithful inspite of and amidst the faithless crowd that looks at everything in terms of gains and benefits. Even the elders in the families are considered and valued according to their worth in terms of income and expenditure. People have no time for persons in this world that absolutises productivity. 

Can we take a moment today and look at our attitude towards elders? Are we grateful or are we calculative? It is time to be grains among the abounding darnels. 

Prayer - Question 1

Prayer... 

is it changing the mind of God? 

It looks like that. 

At times we make God look like 

an ill informed teenager running the issues 

that we need to be constantly giving directions

as to what to do and what not to.

WORD 2day : 23rd July, 2016

Harvest is cutting

Saturday,  16th week in Ordinary Time
Jer 7:1-11; Mt 13: 24-30

Harvest is not merely fruit bearing; it's also cutting. It is a sign that enough time has been given to an individual to make up one's mind. Compromises and life's conveniences abound in today's life style and it does not disturb a casual conscience.

There is the other extreme of a conscience which pictures the Lord of the harvest as a tyrant, a heartless landlord and a stringent due collector. It makes life look like a misery,  every bit of it so precarious.

Why not we look at the Lord as a merciful father and a compassionate mother who is leading us every moment by our hand and wants us to bear fruit. It is  our choice to bear fruit or not. But that harvest is cutting, we cannot  forget or change!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

Being the Ark 

Celebrating Mary of Magdala: 22nd July, 2016

Jer 31: 10-13; Jn 20: 1-2, 11-18

No one shall ask, "where is the Ark", says the Lord. The promise gets embodied when a person begins to build his or her life on such a promise. We are a people who stand on the promises of the Lord.  Right from the Old Testament experience we see that the Lord made promises and the Lord kept them too! Today we celebrate a person who is given a great revelation of this promise, the revelation of the Risen Lord which continues to be the greatest of all hope giving promises. 

Mary of Magdala had the privilege of receiving the promise for the first time from the Risen Lord. She becomes the Ark that had to take this promise to the rest of the disciples. When we whole heartedly receive the promises from the Lord with hope, we become the ark, holding out those promises to the rest of our brothers and sisters. 

The very presence of some persons fills those around or the situation around with enormous hope. These are the Arks of the Promise, who have the Spirit of the Risen Lord within them, holding it out to everyone.

WORD 2day: 21st July, 2016

Cisterns that hold no water

Thursday, 16th week in Ordinary Time
Jer 2: 1-3,7-8,12-13; Mt 13: 10-17

The Word warns us today of allowing our lives to becoming leaky cisterns that hold no water! It gets filled only to let go of everything in no time. It looks promising hiding within it the cracks that give away all that it is filled with.

Our life can look filled with things and with persons but suddenly when we look back it seems empty and dry. It is only the Lord who is constant and ever present. When we lose the Lord we run the risk of becoming leaky cisterns.

Our daily practices and our regular religious habits may not be absolute guarantees too!  They can become water stored in a leaky cistern if our interior disposition and personal convictions do not match the external behaviour.

WORD 2day : 19th July, 2016

Mercy and Faithfulness

Tuesday,  16th week in Ordinary Time
Mic 7: 14-15,18-20; Mt 12: 46-50ay

The most concrete expression of God's faithfulness is God's mercy which is so boundless and plentiful. Our concrete way of  living out mercy is being faithful to the biddings of the Lord.

Being faithful to the biddings of the Lord would consist of being attentive to everything around me, being truly concerned about everyone around me and being open to the promptings of the Spirit within me.

Mercy is not about doing some charitable acts here and there and now and then. But it is becoming like God, growing in our godliness and being signs of God's faithfulness to those who are in need of it.

WORD 2day: 18th July, 2016

To Act, Love and Walk in the Lord

Monday,  16th week in Ordinary Time 

Mic 6:1-4,6-8; Mt 12:38-42

The Lord has given a lot to us, beginning with God creating us in God's own image and giving us our life to enjoy the wonder of being human persons. Right up to this moment the Lord continues to guard us and sustain us in ways known only unto God. What does God expect in return? Nothing but a just, kind and gentle relationships among us. Is it not fair that a father expects this among his sons and daughters? Is it not right that a ruler expects this among his subjects?

Let us review our doings : are they just?

Let us analyse our love: is it for kindness or for dominion?

Let us watch our walk of life: is it gentle or trampling others?

Let us be pleasing sons and daughters of the Lord!

CHRIST AMONG US

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

The plotters' plight

Celebrating our blessed mother of Mount Carmel
16th July, 2016: Mic 2:1-5; Mt 12: 14-21

The common element on the two readings today is that of the plotters. Plotters are a common sight and have been so all the time. Right from original episodes of humanity as found in the Holy Word, we have this group of people making their mark. The serpent, Cain, Jacob, Joseph's brothers... and the list goes on. In spite of these great plots God has powerfully shown that God's mercies and love is always with the lowly, the humble,  the simple and the integral persons who not only make their mark but create history.

Celebrating the memory of our blessed mother we  are invited to behold how she shone in her life as a simple and humble person, defeating all plots even without her knowledge but with total surrender in the Lord.

None of the plotters have been protagonists of history as long as they remained so. All of them have been antagonists and they will be always considered so. The protagonists are always those who stand by God and suffer all these plots without giving way to doubt or despair. The plotters... woe to them says the Word.

WORD 2day : 15th July, 2016

Mercy of the Master

Friday,  15th week in Ordinary Time 

Is 38: 1-6, 21-22, 7-8; Mt 12:1-8

The Lord is the Master of everything,  the One who made everything and maintains order in them. Everything obeys the Lord and everything goes according to the Lord's bidding. Human beings alone revolt and rebel and the Lord loves that because it is through that the human beings prove to themselves and the entire reality that they are special, that they are made in the image of God with freedom and responsibility.

It is the mercy of the Master that allows us to go on living even if do not comply with all that the Lord lays down. The Word reminds us today that we live by that mercy. How good it will be if only we understood the mercy of God and live it in our daily interactions: staying far from judging people,  giving everyone an endless second chance and compassionately accompanying the weak and the needy!

Let the mercy of the Master spur us on!