WORD 2day: 1st July, 2017

Meeting the Lord passing by

Saturday, 12th week in Ordinary Time

Gen 18: 1-15; Mt 8: 5-17

Have you witnessed thick black clouds just pass by over your head without even a drizzle while you are dry, parching for want of water. That is exactly the experience when you let the Lord pass by without claiming for yourself all the blessing that the Lord has in store for you. You will surely not know, even if you knew you would hardly believe, the blessings the Lord has in store. Hence an attitude of openness and total surrender, ever  connected to the Lord and perennially relying on the Lord's directions is a way of life that would take you to moments of thunderous grace! 

It is a very special disposition to be able to meet the Lord passing by...if Abraham did not have it, he would have missed being the father of the Covenant; if the Centurion did not have it, he would have lost one of his treasured servant; if Zacchaeus did not have it he would have missed salvation entering his house; if the disciples to Emmaus did not have it they would have missed that life-changing encounter with the Risen Lord. A new month, and a new day, today, are you ready to behold it, without missing out on it?

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

Every Life is a Miracle

The Nativity of John the Baptist - 24th June, 2017

Is 49:1-6; Acts 13:22-26; Lk1:57-66, 80

I often insist, there are no coincidences. There are only miracles! One constant and incomparable miracle in human life is birth! Just imagine, before you were born your father, mother, home, family, everything was determined and prepared for.  All that you had to do was be there and insert yourself into that reality. Everybody would be wondering what would become of you, but God had definitive plans. If only you cooperated with those plans, you would achieve the purpose of your life... which is not merely a pretty long life for its own sake. Many have gone rather early but that "early" is highly relative to the purposes achieved by those persons: for St. Francis it was 45 years, for St. Anthony it  was 35 and for St.  Dominic Savio it was just 14 plus! The Miracle is how things happen in such succession and correspondence that you can hardly account for. When we are mindful of a divine hand guiding us, we would find a great peace and serenity even amidst raging troubles and persistent problems. 

John's birth today is painted in a manner that vividly brings out the miracle that every person is and every life is. What is important here is to be mindful of the call and be open to its ways. Learn to look at yourself with a sense of mystery. Open the eyes of your soul to see the mystery in others. Keep your faith alive to realise and experience the Mystery present always with you - the Lord who is leading you by your hand!

THE FIRE OF FIDELITY

Burning - forever, for you, to burn you!

Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus - 23rd June, 2017

Dt 7:6-11; 1 Jn 4:7-16; Mt 11:25-30

The Lord is not merely Spirit, the Lord is fire too... a fire of fidelity, that burns bright come what may! Fidelity is God's highest quality as God is a person who is faithful without considering any conclusion! The Lord burns, burns with love, burns for you and me, burns to light our life and to burn our weaknesses: God is Fire, the fire of Fidelity! And that is what we celebrate today...

The Fire of Fidelity, burns bright to give us life and a new lease of life. It burns forever. The Lord has always loved us and will always love us. The Love of the Lord comes from time immemorial and we do not deserve it a even  a bit. God has made a covenant with us and God is utterly faithful to that covenant.

The Fire of Fidelity, burns to brighten each of our lives gratuitously. Yes, it burns for you and me. I may be unfaithful at times, undeserving mostly and mindless of the covenant I have with the Lord, but the Lord never gives up on me.

The Fire of Fidelity, burns in order to set me on fire, on a fire of selfless love. I am called and challenged by the love of God to find ways are means of burning for others. My life has to become a living sacrifice for others and thus I would begin to shine forth, spreading the grace of love to the world.

WORD 2day: 22nd June, 2017

Being Right Models

Thursday, 11th week in Ordinary Time

2 Mac 6: 18, 21, 24-31; Mt 24: 4-13

People who have a social standing wish to project themselves as models to others -it is natural and necessary. When the Lord says, you are the light of the world and be a salt to the earth, it is this that the Lord means - to be righteous and to be right models. 

There can be those whose private lives and interior convictions are evil, but who project themselves as great models. They live forever with their masks on and their deceptive looks maintained with utmost care. They mislead people and manipulate the system to gain their own good and fulfill their hidden agenda. We need to shun these out of our lives.

There are those who have great convictions in their hearts, who try to live by it but very easily give in to evil and compromise even on fundamental values. They twist and turn their conviction to fend for their convenience. They may not be evil, but are equally harmful for a fulfilled living.

The Right models are those who have the right convictions within, strive for it, do not wait for the approval of all, face consequences with a daring heart, and are ready even to give their life for the truth and integrity. Aren't these the right models to be inspired by? 

WORD 2day: 21st June, 2017

Cheerful giver or Colourful giver

Wednesday, 11th week in Ordinary Time
2 Cor 9: 6-11; Mt 6: 1-6,16-18

Some give cheerfully. Some others give colourfully, that is making a show of it to the entire world.  Giving is good but what makes it a virtue is the way you do it.

Giving merely because you want people to know you as a giver, is duplicity.

Giving and making sure everyone knows that you give, is publicity.

Giving and not being so much bothered about people knowing or recognising it is simplicity.

Giving and wishing that no one gets to know it is true sanctity!

WORD 2day: 20th June, 2017

Generosity - growing towards Christian perfection

Tuesday, 11th week in Ordinary Time

2 Cor 8: 1-9; Mt 5: 43-48

Being Generous is an essential element of Christian perfection and this generosity has a few existential elements that make a Christian more and more God-like. 

First, generosity in forgiveness. It helps me look the faults of others as something that can be ignored, and the person as much more important than their faults.

Second, generosity in giving. It helps me not to keep the count, being unconditional in giving.

Third, generosity in sharing. It makes me ignore the fact whether I have much or not; making me ready to share even the little that I have.

Fourthly , generosity in praying. It makes me wish everything good for all, even those who do not wish the same in return.

Fifthly, generosity in loving. It makes me embrace the other without expecting anything in return. 

Looking at these dimensions, can we not say, they make us grow in our perfection and become like God?

WORD 2day: 19th June, 2017

The Mystery of Now

Monday, 11th week in Ordinary time

2 Cor 6: 1-10; Mt 5: 38-42

NOW is the watchword today - the post modern gurus and self help specialists insist on the now, the here and now. Though it has its great value, this kind of a thinking can have its own set of problems. The Now is reduced to either an insensitivity to the past or carelessness of the future. That is, a society that does not bank on its true past and the rich heritage is insensitive to its past and it misses to reap the fruits that have been initiated long ago. And the other is a mindset that cares for nothing that is yet to come, concentrating only on the moment that is there and making the most of it, draining it of its inherent potency and losing out on the great lessons a moment can offer.

When Paul says, Now is the favourable time and today is the day of salvation, he does not mean to disregard the past or neglect the future. He invites us to unravel the mystery of the moment, the mystery of now. The present moment contains within it the fruit of the past and the seed of the future, and a conscious living of present can make my life so wise and wealthy. Forgiveness and Generosity are the two values upheld today: Forgiveness relativises the past and Generosity relativises the future - both emphasising the mystery that is treasured in the present. 

Living the present with the mindset of Christ - absolutising the space for God and the space for the other, will make us understand that the present is given to us to forgive the past and generously give the future - that is the mystery that is embedded in the present. That is what Christ did, the Apostles proclaimed and we are called to live!

ALL FOR US

Celebrating a God who is all for us

Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ

18th June, 2017 : Dt 8:2-3,14-16; 1Cor 10: 16-17; Jn 6: 51-58

We celebrate today a God who is all for us - it is neither an empty phrase nor an exaggeration. God is for us in everyway and if God is for us, who can be against us. 

Why does God choose to be the food - to nurture us, nourish us and strengthen us in our daily living.

Why does the Lord choose to give His flesh - to become part of our flesh, to be so incorporated in us to make us feel alive.

Why does God do all these for us - because the love of the Lord is immense and unconditional, exceeding all limits and boundaries.

What is the call: to nurture each other's faith, to be part of each other's lives, to be worthy children of that unfathomable love of God!

WORD 2day: 17th June, 2017

Yes, No and New Creation

Saturday, 10th week in Ordinary Time

2 Cor 5: 14-21; Mt 5: 33-37

Whether we live or die, it is for Christ - an absolute allegiance to Christ is what Paul recommends as a sign of true disciples of Christ. Let your yes be yes and your no, no. Such candidness can give rise to problems and challenges. But challenges and problems would not matter as I am a new creation in Christ. 

The Newness refers to the difference in priorities - what the world finds important does not seem so to me and what the world does not bother about seems very important to me; what the world advocates to everyone as the source of happiness in life appears to me a source of sorrow and what the world wants me to avoid as a plague, becomes a way to more permanent happiness that comes from the Lord. The New priority marks the newness that I possess in Christ.

Being in Christ would mean being rooted in Christ, being built up in Christ, being born anew in Christ - making Christ's values my own, Christ's mind my own, Christ's priority my own...No one can be in Christ except through the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit that gives me the courage to maintain my yes, no and my nature as a new creation in Christ. 

WORD 2day: 16th June, 2017

Caring for the Earthenwares

Friday, 10th week in Ordinary Time
2 Cor 4: 7-10; Mt 5: 27-32

Commercials that we see, for the most, have to do with our body - health drinks, hair care, skin care, cosmetics, jewels and dresses! Is there anything wrong here - ofcourse not! Caring for the body is an important part of our life. We have come a long way from the type of thinking that looked at the body as alien and something to be kept under constant control. But the danger is, has the world gone overboard? Is it being exaggerated to such an extent as to absolutise the care for the body, making it the top most concern? The Word today warns us against this exaggerated mindset that the world seems to be proposing.

The body has to be taken care of, it cannot be despised as if it is of no value! Neither should it become the sole focus forgetting the rest of the faculties that makes us so special. The Spirit or the Soul that we possess is what we are, the image of God within us, the spark of the flame that burns so bright...however it cannot be perceived or experienced or cared for without linking it to our body. That is why our bodies are compared to earthenwares that contain treasures within. They cannot be trampled upon without respect - with habits like abuse, despise and objectification. But neither can they be thought of as treasures in themselves - then it would be so disappointing to care for something so passing! Care for the body, keep it as the dwelling place of the Spirit and tend the Spirit within - that would lead you to holistic life!