THE WORD AND THE FEAST

Believe and live

Celebrating Apostles Philip and James

3rd May, 2017 - 1 Cor 15:1-8; Jn 14:6-14

Today we celebrate two great apostles, both of them find a prominent place among the list of apostles and have something memorable about them. 

James was the first Bishop of Jerusalem and he along with his brother Jude, was called the brother of Jesus. We find the practical wisdom of James, so imbued with the Spirit of Jesus in his epistle. His insistence on integral living, his predilection for the poor, his advocacy for a life of self-control, are eminently Christian themes that we need to highlight even today.

Philip was a person who brought a lot of people to Jesus, including Nathanael. Philip imbibed the life style of Jesus very quickly as we see him in the Gospels already, speaking like Jesus, using the phrases that Jesus used and reaching out to people as Jesus did and bringing people to Jesus, which Jesus so much loved.

One who believes in me will do things that I do and even more than what i do, promised Jesus. Yes, believing is living. Philip and James, give us this message today. Beleive in Jesus and live like Jesus, only then can you be worthy of Jesus. Only then will you be able to say as Jesus said of his father, 'One who has seen me, has seen Jesus'.

WORD 2day: 2nd May, 2017

Bread of life and a life giving spirit

Tuesday, 3rd week in Easter

Acts 7:51 -8:1; Jn 6:30-35

Just back from the funeral of a veteran religious, a missionary in India for the past 60 years and reflecting on these readings, it makes an altogether new sense. The bread of life that Christ is, prepares one to give one's life for others. Stephen is a splendid sign of those who are prepared by this bread. It is all about others and about giving.

The others would mean even those who are not the so-called acceptable ones, even those who are against you, even those who are responsible for your troubles. That is what Stephen does, as he prays for those who stoned him. He prays as his Master, the life-giving bread did...Lord forgive them!

Giving, would mean giving of oneself, a self-giving that is so typical of the bread from heaven. Christ is synonymous with total self giving and every disciple of the Lord is called to live out this absolute self giving in their daily life. 

Bread of life, gives me life and challenges me to a life-giving spirit. 

ADIEU BRO. SANTI

Dear Bro Santi...

You have left us for your eternal reward.
You deserve it much...for we know the work you have put in.

I have never lived with you,
though I have lived very long, very close to where you have always been.

I have interacted very little with you
but every time you have been very courteous and respectful to me.

I have not expressed much of my admiration to you
but I have admired your dedication and self-giving in the number of hours you spent in your office.

I have not tried to get to know you so far, so much
but the little that I know, is all about the work, the work and the work that you have done.
that is why a farewell to you on the Labour Day,
the feast of St. Joseph the Worker,
is so fitting and
you deserve it all!

May you rest, rest in peace, rest in heaven!

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

Work your way to heaven

Celebrating St. Joseph the Worker - 1st May 2017

Gen 1:26-2:3; Mt 13:54-58

We are disciples of the Carpenter's Son; that is how the people to refer to Jesus today. We celebrate not just the dignity but the divinity of work today. Karl Marx insisted that Work should be the extension of one's being, not a commodity to be sold or paid for. That is what the Christian perspective holds on too. The first reading from Genesis today presents to us work as participation in the creative power of God. We become co-creators with God when we make our work the expression and extension of our being. It is the way we fulfill the purpose for which we have been created. Infact, that is the way for us to trace the path that God has designed for each of us to reach heaven.

Three tendencies that are directly against it are:

1. Laziness and inactivity: deliberately choosing not to do anything and scheming to be parasitic on the labour of others;

2. Compulsion and burden: looking at work as a compulsion and carrying it out grudgingly, blaming everyone and the situation for the lack of inner joy;

3. Commodification and exploitation: looking at a person as a means through whom things can be produced and sold and commodified and stripping the true dignity of labour from the person.

These are totally anti-Christian attitudes to work. Work shoud become a joyful, conscious and deliberate choice to give of one's best towards building a better place for the entire humanity. In the highly commercialised, globalised, world today, may St. Joseph, the Worker inspire us to work our way to heaven.

GOD REVEALS... AND WE???

Receive, Realise and Respond

3rd Sunday of Easter: 30th April 2017

Acts 2:14,22-33; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Lk 24:13-35

Christ is the fullness of Revelation of God. What God has been revealing through various means and varied persons, God finally revealed in fullness through God's own Son and there is no other revelation that is fuller than this. However, Revelation has not ended with it. It goes on even today, it continues, it progresses! What is most important is what we do in the face of this continuous, progressive revelation.

We receive. The disciples as they walked, when the Lord offered to walk with them, they accepted it, they received him. When Jesus began to speak to them about a lot of things that have happened they listened with patience, they received it. When they found Jesus had something divine to offer them, they invited him to stay with them, they received him in their house. Today as the Lord offers us revelations, we need to be in a postion tto

We realise. Once Jesus broke the bread, they realised it was the Lord. Once we experience a unique sign from the Lord we would realise that it is the Lord who is at work. The Lord communicates himself to us, we need to realise how great we are to receive it and realise how wonderful it is to have the Lord with us.

We respond. The disciples as soon as they realised it was their Master, they could not wait, they left and returned to where they started from, to meet the apostles. They didnt mind the distance they had covered, nor the effort or the tiredness, they wanted to respond wholeheartedly and they did it.

Even today, in and through the proclamation of the Word, through the experience of people shared, through the events that take place around us, through the majesty of the nature and power of the miracles, the Lord keeps revealing Godself to us :let us receive, realise and respond to it with love.

WORD 2day: 29th April, 2017

Waiting on tables and Walking on the waves

Saturday, 2nd week in Easter

Acts 6:1-7; Jn 6:16-21

There are two things that occupy our minds as the Word speaks to us today: one, the bread and the other, the waves. 

Waiting on the Table, which was a regular duty among the believers becomes a concern and some are dissatisfied with how it was going on. The Lord inspires them to understand the concern with such clarity that they do not compromise on the basics. The concern is addressed but nothing of what is essential is lost - they set apart a ministry in order that the centrality of the Word is not lost. 

Waves that rose against the boat, made the disciples frightened. But the Lord walks up to them on the waters, on the very waves and reassures them to row on. Interestingly, they were disturbed by the waves but they were more terrified to see someone walking on the water towards them. The Lord's words, do not fear - comes as a challenge for them to understand what to fear and what not to fear. They were hardly away from the land, but they needed the Lord to realise it.

Waiting on tables or walking on waves, what is important is that we never lose our clarity and priority. Place the right thing first and every other thing will fall in place. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and everything will be given unto you! 

WORD 2day: 28th April, 2017

Gamaliel and the Miracle of Multiplication

Friday, 2nd week in Easter

Acts 5:34-42; Jn 6:1-15

Gamaliel proved a true God-fearing man and his words become a miracle. The Notice the beautiful connection made in the Liturgy of the Word today: there is a multiplication of the loaves reported in the Gospel but we see that unfolding in reality in the Acts, in the form of the Multiplication of the Christians. From a mere handful, the people of the Way begin to grow in leaps and bounds. 

The miracle happened because of the following three reasons:

- the Apostles and the band kept God and God's Word above everything else, even above their own lives.

- the Apostles and the people considered it God's mission and not their own enterprise; they gave the entire credit to God.

- the Apostles had no other hidden agenda, for instance their own glory, making a living, or creating a following for themselves. They surrendered themselves totally to the Lord and they were multiplied!

WORD 2day: 27th April, 2016

Obedience - the first quality of God's servants

Thursday, 2nd week in Easter
Acts 5:27-33; jn 3: 31-36

Today we have a great lesson from the Word. The first and the most important virtue of Easter people is Obedience. The lesson can be understood in three phrases.

1. Obedience makes Jesus the beloved Son of God. As St Paul would say, it  is because of his obedience that the Father raised him as the highest and have him a name above every name.

2. Obedience made the apostles mighty.  By nature the apostles were not bold. But when they began to obey God they became uncontrollable. Today we hear them say, Obedience to God is much more important than anything else.

3. Obedience makes us free. When we obey we need not worry. Obeying reduces the burden off our shoulder. Because God cares instead of we being worried about something.

If we have to prove close to God one fundamental necessity is to obey. Are we ready?

WORD 2day: 26th April, 2017

Idiots for the Lord

Wednesday, 2nd week after Easter

Acts 5:17-26; Jn 3:16-21

We are fools for Christ's sake, says Paul (1 Cor 4;10). Until we see the sort of things that happen in the first reading today, we do not understand the meaning of that statement of Paul.  Peter and John are arrested, tortured but they refuse to be intimidated. They are found in no time in the synagogue proclaiming exactly him whom they were forbidden to speak of.

I was reminded of the meaning of the word,  "idiot"... comes close to what  Paul  wishes.   Idiot is that person who is so occupied with just one thing that everything else goes into oblivion. The Apostles and the disciples were all idiots... idiots for  Christ's sake.

There are other sets of idiots who are pitiable. They are idiots, who turn so due to their choices... it could be power,  position, possession or any other reason. They are pitiable because they miss the best that they can ever have: the Risen Lord.

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

A 'Go' that binds

25th April, 2017
Celebrating Mark the Evangelist

1 Pet 5:5-14; Mk 16:15-20

Mark comes out as a dedicated young man convinced of his call and enduring in his response. The apostles and disciples were extremely different from each other in their calibre and character. But what bound them together was the 'Go' that they received from the Lord. It was the commission from the Master that kept them  going. We see generations of them following each other in responding whole heartedly to the project entrusted. Mark becomes the representative of the generation that immediately followed the 12 and Mark leaves indelible trails by his commitment and dedication. The call is to the young today: can you dedicate yourself to the commission from the Lord... to Go!