BEING THE SHEPHERD'S FLOCK

Follow, Obey and Respond4th Sunday of Easter: 7th May, 2017

Acts 2: 14a, 36-41; 1 Pet 2: 20b-25; Jn 10:1-10

The Post Resurrection scene is particularly important for us to reflect upon, because it provides us with an incomparable clarity of our identity as a believing community! Today the Lord invites us to realise and understand our vocation to be the flock of the Divine Shepherd. The second reading reminds us, "you have now returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls."

The Shepherd Leads...we follow: Be patient in doing good and especially when you suffer for doing good, and that is the way to follow your shepherd, says St. Peter. As St. Paul would say writing to the Thessalonians, "do not be weary of doing what is right" (2 Thes 3:13). The Lord leads us by example. Doing good was his nature, no one could stop him from doing it. His own did not accept him, they did not understand him, they labelled him 'out of his mind', the disciples deserted him, many hated him and the authorities sought to kill him! But he held on to his mission of doing good! He knew doing the will of the One who sent him was an absolute mission and he went about it without fear, discouragement or doubt, inspite of the threats and trials. The Shepherd leads and we as his followers, are called to follow the same path. 

The Shepherd Directs...we obey: There are moments and circumstances when we go astray. It could be due to deliberate choices or deviant desires...but the fact is we go astray, linger off bounds, leave the flock for a while, check out other pastures, be deceived by mirages and feel a bit lost. The Shepherd's voice bellows behind us... as St. Peter speaks up in the first reading today. To be the Shepherd's flock means to heed to that voice of direction. As the Lord promises through Isaiah: and when you turn to the right or when you turn to your left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "this is the way; walk in it" (Isa 30:21). The Word comes to us; directions come to us constantly; it is the capacity of the Shepherd's flock to hear, to listen, to understand and to put it into practice. Those who listened to the apostle were "cut to their heart", the reading says. They took it to the heart and obeyed it to the full. They were more than ready to change their course, redirect their lives and walk behind the shepherd.

The Shepherd Calls...we respond: I came that you may have life and have it more abundantly, declares the Lord to us today in the Gospel! We are called to live our lives to the full, and that is the sign of the Shepherd's flock. The Lord offers us life and life in all its fullness, we are called to respond to this offer by accepting it  and living it. Living to the full means living in faith and not in fear; living in love and not in selfishness; living in hope and not in darkness. As people of the Shepherd's flock, our lives have to be a witness to life in abundance. The world has to learn from us, and not laugh at us. We cannot conform to the world but the world has to be challenged by our lives!

Let us pay heed to the Word today and follow, obey and respond to our Shepherd. Let us also pray for shepherds to be raised among us, shepherds after the heart of the Divine Shepherd. 

FATIMA 100 YEARS - LET'S PRAY - Day 2

OUR LADY OF FATIMA - 100 YEARS

LET US FORM A NOVENA COMMUNITY...

LET US PRAY TOGETHER FOR THESE 9 DAYS...

DAY 2: 6TH MAY 2017

LET US PRAY:

ost Holy Virgin, who has deigned to come to Fatima to reveal to the three little shepherds the treasures of graces hidden in the recitation of the Rosary, inspire our hearts with sincere love of this devotion.  

      By meditating on the mysteries of our redemption that are recalled in your Rosary, may we gather the fruits contained therein and obtain the conversion of sinners, the conversion of Russia, the Peace of Christ for the world, and this favor that I so earnestly seek of you in this novena....

    Dear Mother Mary, Mother of the Church, we pray with one heart and mind for our Holy Father. As you protected Pope St. John Paul II from all evil around, we ask you to take Pope Francis under your protecting mantle. Guide him and surround him with your comfort and counsel that he may continue to lead Church in the path that God wills. 

I ask this of you, for the greater glory of God, for your own honour and for the good of all people. Amen

Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be (three times)

Please do not forget to pray the Rosary these 9 days!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

DEATH RATHER THAN SIN

Celebrating the Teenage Saint - Dominic Savio

6th May 2017: 1 Thes 5:12-14; Jn 6: 1-15

Dominic Savio is called the boy with a will - yes, he was just a boy, but a boy with a great will, a great consciousness and a great conviction. 

There were three things that made a great impact on Dominic Savio and drove him towards his extraordinary Sanctity. 

1. His Name: Dominic knew what his name meant. It meant that he belonged to the Lord. That is why when he met Don Bosco he said, it would be a shame if he did not live a life worthy of the Lord, having a name so profound. How many of us are serious about the name that we have? How many of us know of the Patron who is given to us due to our name?

2. His Guide: Dominic instantly clung on to Don Bosco when he met him. He found in Don Bosco a sure guide to sanctity, though he met him only when he was 12. Even before he could meet Don Bosco, he had taken his famous motto, 'Death rather than sin'. But he saw that Don Bosco had a special role to play in his attainment of sanctity. Dominic was very serious about it and Don Bosco acknowledged it and accompanied the teenager all the way. Do you feel the need of a Spiritual Director? Do you have an ardent desire to journey towards sanctity of life?

3. His Desire: Dominic wanted to be a priest. His devotion to Eucharist right from when he was a 5 year old boy, and later after his communion when he was just 7, and later when he met Don Bosco in 1854, he was determined to become a priest and serve the Lord. But the Lord willed it differently. Dominic's desire to become a priest, gave him a perspective for whole of his life. How many of us have clear understanding of what we wish to grow to be. Do we seek to know God and orient our lives accordingly?

When Dominic was just 7, as he received his first communion, he set himself this axiom: Death rather than sin. How much have we learnt God's will for us? This is God's will: your sanctification (1 Thes 4:3), reminds us St. Paul along with Dominic Savio. Will we dare to say with this young boy: death rather than sin!

FATIMA 100 YEARS - SHALL WE PRAY!

OUR LADY OF FATIMA - 100 YEARS

LET US FORM A NOVENA COMMUNITY...

LET US PRAY TOGETHER FOR THESE 9 DAYS...

DAY 1: 5TH MAY 2017

LET US PRAY:

ost Holy Virgin, who has deigned to come to Fatima to reveal to the three little shepherds the treasures of graces hidden in the recitation of the Rosary, inspire our hearts with sincere love of this devotion.  

      By meditating on the mysteries of our redemption that are recalled in your Rosary, may we gather the fruits contained therein and obtain the conversion of sinners, the conversion of Russia, the Peace of Christ for the world, and this favor that I so earnestly seek of you in this novena....

    Dear Mother Mary, We pray with one heart and mind for the Universal Church, the body of your Divine Son. Grant us the strength of Faith, that we may withstand all the attacks against true Christian faith, attacks from within and from outside. May the Church be safe guarded against all evil and evil doers.

      I ask this of you, for the greater glory of God, for your own                                           honour and for the good of all people. Amen

Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be (three times)

Please do not forget to pray the Rosary these 9 days!

WORD 2day: 5th May, 2017

Becoming one flesh with Christ

Friday, 3rd week in Easter
Acts 9:1-20; Jn 6: 52-59

When Jesus said he would give his flesh to eat, the people objected calling it impossible. When Paul said he would preach Christ to the end of the world, people again objected calling it unbelievable. That is how the world is... do all the good you intend to. Paul knew what it meant to become one flesh with Christ. He knew the  passion that filled Christ's heart  and understood the mission that occupied his mind. Paul was one flesh with Christ and felt, thought and acted like Christ.

The invitation is clear: to become like Christ,  to live like Christ, to become one flesh with Christ. We are given all the opportunities to progress on this call but the challenge is that we take this task to heart. May the body we eat and the blood we consume make us more and more of Him.

WORD 2day: 4th May, 2017

Drawn into salvation

Thursday, 3rd week in Easter

Acts 8: 26-40; Jn 6: 44-51

No one can come to me except those whom the Father draws, declares Jesus. The Ethiopian court official was drawn to salvation by the Lord, without him asking for it. But there was a search in his heart that yielded its fruit. A sincere search for God takes us to God; we are drawn to God by the very yearning in our hearts. Like the deer that yearns for running streams my soul longs for you my Lord, prays the psalmist. All that is required is a sincerity of heart that does not give into pride or self justification but remains sensitive to every promptings from within and without. At times an experience within or a simple event around us can provide the spark that can lead to a total consumption by the fire called the love of God. And when that happens, we are drawn into salvation, even before we realise it to the full.

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.