WORD 2day: 14th November, 2016

Good but not good enough-  see it!

Monday, 33rd week in Ordinary Time
Rev 1:1-4, 2:1-5; Lk 18: 35-43

The Lord loves us whether or not we deserve it.  But the Lord is not merely mercy but justice too!  Beginning today we listen to the Lord of justice as we begin the week running up to the feast is Christ the king.

Today the Word presents to us a Lord who is demanding and perfect... who feels all God's children are good but some are not good enough!  The question to me is,  do I belong to this category?

I should be able to see to understand if I am good enough or not!  That is a special seeing,  seeing from God's point of view,  seeing with the scale of  the just God, seeing with all my brothers and sisters in perspective,  seeing from the perspective of a goodness that is whole! 

THE END TIMES

13th November, 2016: 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Mal 3:19-20a; 2 Thes 3: 7-12; Lk 21: 5-19

Today is the last Sunday in the Ordinary Time, and next week we celebrate the solemnity of Christ the King and that would mark the end of the Year of Mercy too. The Word this week reminds us of the second coming of the King, that is the END times! Some get a strange a kick out of talking about the end times and spiritually terrorise those who listen to them. Just a few days now, there have been forwards on the social network claiming that the Sacred Sepulchre of Christ was opened and clouds encircled over it with trumpet blast! There have been in history, cases of people who gathered to meet the end of days, just like those who had bought trenches to secure themselves when the recent mystery stories did their rounds in 2012! Let us remember dear friends that we have been living in the end times for the past 2000 years!!! Even St. Paul had to warn the Thessalonians not to make too much of these claims!

For a true Christian what should the 'end time' mean? Should it be terrorising? Should it make one go into a delirious tantrum or a plaguing paranoia? Those are in no way Christian responses to the thought on end times. Because for the one who believes in Christ, the Lord who has overcome the world (Jn 16:33), the Lord who has gained victory over death(Rom 6:9), the end time is not dreadful, it cannot be a threatening darkness! The first reading says so plainly, "but for you who fear my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays!" (Mal 3:20). 

The readings today instruct us, on how we should confront the end times. What if the end of times were tomorrow, or today or now! We have begun our life journey, a journey of perfection towards union in Christ and this journey has to necessarily end, and that end is nothing but union with Christ - how my soul should long for that: Like the deer that yearns for running streams, so my soul longs for you, my God! (Ps 42:1) 

The first reading tells me, all that I need to do to prepare myself for the end times, is to LEND my ears to the Lord. When I hear the word of the Lord and live it with all my heart (Jas 1:22), not beset by occasional set backs but ever trusting in the mercy and goodness of the Lord, I need to fear no one; I need to fear nothing, not even the gates of hell! But the secret is the eagerness to lend my ears to the Word of the Lord.

The second reading challenges me to AMEND my ways in the Lord, go on living my every day life with serenity and peace. There is nothing to worry or fret as the Thessalonians did, for my soul finds rest in the Lord, and my salvation comes from God (Ps 62:1). All that I need to do is remain mindful of my ways! A sincere humility and daily conversion leads me to a genuine Christian life. When I begin everyday in the presence of the Lord planning my life and end it in God's presence evaluating it on the basis of God's teachings, I come to know of the things that I can be happy about and the things I need to grow in. A saint is not someone who has never failed, but is someone who has never remained the same after a failure! The secret is my willingness to amend my ways to walk in the light of the Lord.

The Gospel invites me to TRANSCEND all fears and trust in the Lord. Humanly speaking, I cannot end all my fears, but I can transcend every one of them. When my heart trusts in the Lord, when my eyes are fixed on my Saviour, when my hand rest in the hands of the One who leads me, I can transcend all my fears - like Peter who dared to step on to the turbulent sea and walk, like Paul and Barnabas who stood before the angry Sanhedrin and spoke, like the apostles who defied every authority and spread the message of Christ... they were all once filled with fear... they were the same weak men but with the Spirit they could transcend all fears! Nothing - no threat, no punishment, not even death - could frighten them. The secret is my capacity to transcend all fears with the Spirit of power, love and self-discipline (2 Tim 1:7). 

The End of times is near... infact we are living in the end times... it is not a matter to be spoken of in alarm or in whispers... the message of end times is, a call to lend my ears to the Word of the Lord, a challenge to amend my ways in the way of the Lord and to transcend all fears with the Spirit of the Lord! Let us live every day of our life, as if it were the last day of our life, every moment as if it were the last. Let us live our lives to the full, ever acceptable in the eyes of the Lord!

WORD 2day: 12th November, 2016

Goodness to strangers - How Strange!

Saturday, 32nd week in Ordinary Time

3 Jn 5-8; Lk 18: 1-8

The first reading today speaks of the Godliness in being good to strangers. But doesn't that sound strange in today's context. People find being good to the good, a little too tedious. The population of the kind that Jesus speaks of in the Gospel - those who do neither fear God nor respect people - is on the rise and with no qualms of conscience. Religious or Irreligious, educated or uneducated, male or female ...nothing serves an exception to this condition. The generation is becoming more and more insensitive. Killing for a pittance, killing for honour, killing for payment, killing for religion, killing for profits, killing for property, killing for convenience...what is humanity going towards? With all these speaking of being good to strangers - how strange! Be ready to be considered strange - that's being Christian!

WORD 2day: 11th November, 2016

Love, and do what you want!

Friday, 32nd week in Ordinary Time

2 Jn 4-9; Lk 17: 26-37

It was reported yesterday in the news that after Mr. Trump was elected President of the US, one of the highest number of searches on google was 'the end of times'. People are constantly looking out for such things - the armaggedon, the end of the world, the third world war, the second coming etc. At times they query as to what would be the best way to prepare themselves towards these phenomena. The answer is simple... go on living your Christian life to the full. How do we live the Christian life to the full? Love!

Love! That is no new teaching. It is the summary of all teachings of Christ. There is almost nothing you can do when the end comes, whenever it comes! There is nothing special that you are expected to do too, that is why the time is not announced earlier. Live your daily life in love and peace, encounter people, share your joys, reduce misunderstandings, increase genuine relationships, laugh with those who laugh and weep with those who weep, forgive and accept, in short, LOVE! St. Augustine's words are a very pertinent lesson: love, and do what you wish!

WORD 2day: 10th November, 2016

The Reign of Brothers and Sisters

Thursday, 32nd week in Ordinary Time

Phlm 7-20; Lk 17: 20-25

The Reign of God is among you, reminds Jesus. This has been a revolutionary teaching of the Lord for ages, it has incited liberation movements and over thrown some inhuman systems. Today the reminder returns - to make present, to feel the presence and to accept the obligation presented to  us by the Reign of God in our day to day life. 

One of the responsibilities of the Reign is to look at everyone as brothers and sisters and not in terms of subject or as objects. Even if it is a servant or a slave, look at the person, accept the inherent dignity of the person and give them their due without grudging. Let go of divisive mentalities and competitive spirits, look at everyone as a co-passenger on this journey called life. There are moments when one gives and others when one receives. One is not better than the other; both are part of the same process. 

The Reign of God is here, begin to feel it, work to make it present and spread it in spirit through everything you are involved in.

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

Maintain my Temple

Commemorating the Lateran Basilica - 9th November, 2016

Ezek 47:1-2,8-9,12; 1 Cor 3:9-11,16-17; Jn 2: 13-22

'Rebuild my house' - Francis of Assisi was commissioned. He mistook it for renovating a chapel that was in ruins...but it was a much deeper call. Today's feast and the Word resound that call once again. The Temple we celebrate here, has a threefold meaning.

First, the Temple of the Lord, the dwelling of the Holy Spirit, our body! To maintain it holy and acceptable in the eyes of the Lord, is an urgent call, given the context that is so relativistic.

Second, the Temple that is the Church, the people of God - to unite, to heal wounds and to sustain the loving relations within the people of God is another great task entrusted to us today.

Third, the Temple that is the Common Home, the earth where the Lord makes God's majestic presence felt. We are called to care for this common home and promote the divine presence and grace within this common home called the Earth.

The Lateran Basilica that is the Mother Church within the Catholic Church is a reminder of the great tradition our faith has.Built in honour of John the Evangelist, this is situated in the property of the Lateran Family and that is the reason for the name, Basilica of St. John at the Lateran. It is known to be the earliest basilica built and it was built by Emperor Constantine himself. It has been the See of Rome since then and remains so even today. The Cathedral of the Bishop of Rome (the Pope) is this Basilica we celebrate today. We are sustained in our faith by these memories and acknowledgement that we treasure. May grace flow from this Basilica today to touch every heart that longs for the warmth of faith.  

WORD 2day: 7th November, 2016

Leading, Leading astray and Leading together

Monday,  32nd week in Ordinary Time
Tit 1:1-9; Lk 17:4-11

The Word speaks of three aspects of leadership in a community...

First is leading,  leading after the heart of God,  being inspired by the Holy Spirit and guided by teachings of the Lord.

Second is leading astray,  where the evil one is active at play.  That has been the quality of the evil one,  right from the beginning of humanity. Temptor, as he is identified, he uses people in his influence to draw others to himself against good.

The third is leading the community together to unity,  harmony and loving understanding.  One of the most important tool in this regard would be forgiveness.  No community or family can be built without daily and unfailing forgiveness.

People of RESURRECTION

6th November, 2016: 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

2 Mac 7: 1-2,9-14; 2 Thes 2:16 - 3:5; Lk 20: 27-38

"And I will raise them up on the last day" declared Jesus regarding those who partook of him. Resurrection is our hope, Resurrection is the foundation of our faith. The crux of the salvation that Jesus offers us is Hope, and hope is the confidence of things that we are yet to receive and the greatest of all that we look forward to is resurrection! This is what Jesus in his incarnate self showed us - he lived his life for God, he died for God and by God he was raised; when we live, we live for God; if we die, we die for God, and we will be risen in the Lord! This is the foundation of our faith; for as St.Paul says, "if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile" (1 Cor 15:17). The readings today, help us understand what resurrection can mean to us. 

Resurrection is a REWARD, a recompense that God sets before us for the commitment with which we live our life. We come from God, and it is our destiny that we return to God. We are loved into existence by God and we bear God's image in the core of our being. Every day of our life is an opportunity to cherish that image within us and bring it to fulfillment within us. Every person we come across is a companion on this journey and every situation we live through is a means to nudge towards the destiny. There are moments that are trying and those are moments to stride across, as we see in the first reading. When we find ourselves in such moments as those, when we have to choose between God and godlessness, between righteousness and injustice, between good and mediocrity - and we decide to choose God, righteousness, goodness - we can proudly say with St. Paul, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown"(2 Tim 4:7,8).

Resurrection is RECONCILIATION, a reunion with my creator, an experience of my oneness with my God, whose child I am. In the letter to the Colossians, we are told, "you have now been reconciled in the body of his flesh, so as to present you holy and blameless before God provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in faith"(Col 1:22,23). Just this morning some one remarked to me, 'Oh after all, would we live another 25 years!' Absolutely true, that we are on an earthly sojourn and our eternal abode beckons us. That is why St. Paul prays in the second reading today, 'May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.' It is in that love of God and the faithfulness of Christ, that we are assured of 'eternal life' which is participating in the nature of God, who alone is eternal. In our resurrection we become one with God, we are reconciled to God, and we become eternal like God!

Resurrection is REALISATION, a concrete experience of what has been promised. We are called to live as the people of Resurrection. Christians are Easter People... while there is in store the eternal life that has been promised, we are invited to live that resurrection every day, every moment, specially in those moments when we are prone to hopelessness and desperation. We need to realise who we are, we need to realise who our God is! Jesus says of us - "they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection" (Lk 20:35). As Paul explains to the Romans (ch.6), we have died with Christ, in his crucifiction and we will live with him! We are called to live our lives, as people of resurrection, not losing heart on any trial, not giving up at any temptation, not desperate with any failure, not bogged down by any evil - but people filled with hope, comfort, courage, steadfastness, strength and love of God.

We are people of resurrection; let us live our lives mindful of the reward that the Lord has set before us, preserve ourselves holy and blameless to be reconciled to the Lord in eternal life and realise the fruits of that resurrection right here and now, in our daily lives.

WORD 2day: 5th November, 2016

The Master Issue

Saturday, 31st week in Ordinary Time

Phil 4: 10-19; Lk 16: 9-15

Who is your master? 

Wealth? What would you do with it when your life is gone? Wealth is useful only as much as it can give you a happiness that will not ruin the eternal joy that the Lord has in store for you. Wealth has to be your servant, serving your purposes, not your master getting its purposes fulfilled.

Goodwill of Others? What do you seek - human respect or acceptability in the eyes of God? What would the opinion of others matter, when it keeps changing according to their whims and fancies. How much do you want to change and how long and what for? For the sake of others? Or would you like to image yourself after the will of God?

Is God your Master... if so you would please God and God alone. In God we trust, we proclaim; but put our trust in so many factors. Raise that question to yourself: who is your Master?

WORD 2day: 4th November, 2016

God, glory, stomach and shame!

Friday, 31st week in Ordinary Time

Phil 3:17 - 4:1; Lk 16: 1-8

Their stomach is their god and their glory is in their shame - what words St. Paul has against those who live a life that is thoughtless and flimsy, with nothing that offers a depth to their living or nothing that adds to meaning of their lives. Hoarding wealth, seeking comfort, craving for pleasures and living solely for material satisfaction - what can that offer to one's life. Lies lead to more lies, obscurities lead to more obscurities, crimes lead to more crimes and lawlessness leads to absolute inhumanity. Compromises kill.

Being imitators of Christ, means to live with no compromises, to speak nothing but the Words of the Almighty, to think nothing but good, to do only what builds the other and the family of God, to love like God and to relate like children of God. That would be heaven...or the Reign of God on earth. Let each of us do our part!