THE WORD AND THE FEAST

Churches, Jubilees and Hypocrisy

Celebrating the Basilica of Mary Major - 5th August, 2017

Lev 25: 1,8-17; Mt 14:1-12

We celebrate today the feast of the dedication of the Basilica of Mary Major, one of the four major Papal Basilicas in Rome. It has a great historical background as it was one of the first basilicas built in honour of Mary, Mother of God. The miracle that is said to have happened to reveal the exact spot chosen by our Blessed Mother herself, the miracle of snow in the mid summer night, gave rise to the title Our Lady of Snows! Celebrating a Church and its history is a jubilation!

The first reading speaks of another Jubilee, that the Lord wanted the people of Israel to commemorate. We get the mind of God so clearly - jubilee according to the Lord is not merely eating and drinking, the glory of the Lord in a Church is not merely about the pomp and splendour, our true faith is not in the richness of the tradition or in the complexity of heritage - it is in the compassion we have for others and the personal integrity that we manifest in ourselves. 

This is what Jesus loathed in Herod. Jesus had hardly any respect for him because he lacked integrity. He lived a life that was so far from God, from good and from truth! Building spectacular churches, celebrating splendid jubilees and organising fantastic festivities - these will remain empty noise, or hardcore hypocrisy, if we do not commit ourselves to compassion and justice! 

As we celebrate the feast today, let us ask our Blessed Mother to save us from this hypocrisy and form us into true disciples of Christ, committed to justice, truth and compassion.

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

Where did this man get all this wisdom?

Remembering St. John Maria Vianney - 4th August, 2017

Lev 23: 1,4-11,15-16,27,34-37; Mt 13: 54-58

People wondered at Jesus - a simple carpenter's son - from where he got all the wisdom that he manifested! That was almost the same question that the world raised when it saw a gullible seminarian-turned-parish-priest, do wonders from the confessional and the pulpit! No one ever thought Vianney the simple priest would leave such a mark on this world. He, who went through limitless blocks in his journey towards priesthood, has come to be known as the patron of not only all parish priests but of all priests in pastoral mission. 

The Word today coincides so well with this saint - underlining for us the importance of priesthood. The first reading reminds us that our life is one of celebration, filled with festivals of  daily thanksgiving. The priest is not only a mediator in such thanksgiving sacrifice, but also a living reminder of that call and commission that we have - to praise and thank the Lord always.

Secondly, the Gospel speaks of the fact that these priests are not some other worldly beings but are ordinary people who are chosen by the Lord and ordained to be so. You can not only look for some miracles from them, but look at their very beings as miracles! That is what the Lord has made them to be. You wonder how this could be...that is the wonder that the people had - how could this be, do we not know him as carpenter's son, they said! 

John Maria Vianney's life is one great example of the wonders that God can play with simple persons and events. All that we need to do is, remain open to the Lord, never forget to thank and praise the Lord for everything in life!

Today, let us pray for our parish priests in a very special way! God bless these wonderful men of God!

WORD 2day: 3rd August, 2017

The Cloud and Fire in your Storeroom

Wednesday, 17th week in Ordinary Time

Exo 40: 16-21, 34-38; Mt 13: 47-53

Those who become disciples of the Reign are like the householder who brings out from his storeroom things both new and old! In fact we have right in our own storeroom the cloud and the fire - the cloud that can guide us by day and the fire that can illumine us by night. It is right there for our taking, as it was for the people of Israel. Why doesn't God have his say in today's happenings, many ask. They think they have broken the very belief in the existence of God, by crying foul against the inhuman events that keep taking place today. The readings today give us a beautiful insight. 

When the Israelites wondered where to go and in which direction to march, whether to take on the enemy or not, they would always look up to Yahweh for a step by step guidance and it was readily there. That is what we see - the cloud by day and the fire by night. Some argue whether something of that sort can ever happen today. The fact is, the Lord is ready to accompany us but are we sufficiently disposed to behold that accompaniment?  What would that disposition be: that of Moses. As the first reading says today- to do what exactly the Lord directs us to do! This is the key to using to the full the cloud and fire that has been given to us, just in our storeroom, because we are of the Reign. 

If we live worthy of the name and worthy of the tradition we have evolved with, we will certainly behold the cloud and the fire, we will have no moment in our life that is dark and empty. Let us strive to behold the cloud and the fire in our daily lives. That is truly our call to belong to the Reign!

WORD 2day: 2nd August, 2017

Can you hide the glow?

Tuesday, 17th week in Ordinary Time

Exo 34: 29-35; Mt 13: 44-46

Just imagine the person who has just found a treasure in his field - he is so excited he runs to sell the ground. Will no one sense something fishy in this man who has been so possessive about his land all this while? Imagine likewise, the man who has found the most precious pearl, that he is frenetically seeking to sell everything that he has. Will not those who see these men find something strange in them? That is the glow that the first reading is speaking of. Moses had a glow in his face whenever he came from the tent of meeting. 

If your time with the Lord is true, authentic and sincere, can you hide the glow? If there is no glow, was that time with the Lord worth it? Worse still, if there is an attitude of pride or egoism after all the time you spend with the Lord, how authentic has that meeting been? Did you really meet the Lord? 

The time that I spend with the Lord has to be directly proportionate to the kindness, generosity, forgiveness and sincerity I exhibit to my fellow beings when I encounter them. Because, if I have truly encountered the Lord, I cannot hide the glow!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

The Word and the World

Remembering St. Alphonsus di Liguori - 1st August, 2017

Ex0 33:7-11, 34:5-9,28; Mt 13: 36-43

Yesterday we had a founder to thank God for, and today we have another! Alphonsus di Liguori founded the order of the Redemptorists in the 18th century and even today, their work towards the preaching of the Word is unparalleled. 

Moses brought to the people the Word from the Lord, the Word that would make them walk in the right path. When we stay in the light of that Word, we bear fruits that can be gathered into the barn. When we stray away from the Word we become darnels which remain to be thrown into fire. This was in short what the Order of the Redeemer wanted to communicate to the World. The World has to fall in line with the Word and each of us has a duty to be a reminder to the world. 

At times we ourselves become scandals to the world, not living of lives in the light of the Word. Alphonsus and his order comes to remind us of that - a constant reminder to stop, think, renew and resume our journey always in the light of the Word. Let the world truly get in touch with the Word!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

A Prophet of the Reign

31st July 2017: Remembering St. Ignatius of Loyola
Exo 32: 15-24,30-34; Mt 13: 31-35

We are reading these days at the Eucharist about Moses and the interventions that God made through Moses, the great prophet of God. Today we celebrate another prophet, Ignatius who has some characteristics that he shares with Moses.

Moses was a timely intervention that God had prepared for the sake of God's people. Ignatius was a timely intervention too; he comes in at the disturbed times of Reformation and initiates a Counter Reformation that revolutionises the whole Church and calls her to renewal.

Moses had a history of killing a person; but that was an outcome of the fundamental feeling for the oppressed people that was hidden in his heart and God makes use of that to raise him up as a prophet who would stand by God's people. Ignatius was a soldier, who had ambitions of rising in power and position; but God makes use of that warrior's spirit to raise a soldier of God, who would combat the wiles of the evil one and defend the Church, the people of God.

Moses gives rise to a new community of people, the hebrews who were bound by the Ten Commandments, the sign of their covenant with the Lord. Ignatius gave rise to a new company called the Company of Jesus, later called the Society of Jesus, who bound themselves to total obedience to the Holy Father and resolved to stand by the Church and defend the Church at all cost. 

Today Jesus speaks of the Reign of God as a mustard seed that grows, and we have a beautiful example of the Society of Jesus or the Jesuit Order, which we have seen grow from the six people that they were to the biggest of all Religious Orders in history. They have upheld the cause of the Reign of God, proving to be prophets in the world. The Reign and being prophets of the Reign involves struggles which one cannot imagine.  Are we ready for those struggles?

WHAT DO YOU CHOOSE?

30th July, 2017 - 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

1 Kgs 3: 5, 7-12; Rom 8: 28-30; Mt 13: 44-52

Have you lived these moments:

- Someone defrauds you and takes away from you whatever you have, though it might not have been much, but that is all what you had! You let go of it, for you have no other go.

- Someone requests you for a help and you render it most willingly, only to later come to know that the person never deserved that help, or the person actually has been exploiting you! You shrug your shoulder and go your way.

- Someone is in dire need and you very generously lend a hand; but as soon as the person got to a better state of affairs, the person turns indifferent to you. You begin to wonder, why on earth in the first place, did you choose to help! Anyway, you did what you did, you would do it further too.

- Someone whom you know is against you or has no corner soft in his or her heart for you, but you continue to do good, help out and remain charitable, however feeling bad that nothing returns. You keep doing it anyway.

Have you lived an experience of this nature? Can there be a rational explanation for these ...however hard you try they will only remain empty excuses. But the world considers foolish what these persons consider valuable whereas, that which matters the least to these, matters the most to the world. The choice of Solomon, the attitude that St. Paul speaks of and the act of the man Jesus speaks of in the parable, they are of this kind. They seem to be losers in the eyes of the world. But in fact they gain something that the world knows nothing about, even if it knows it values it for nothing!

It is like that girl about whom the story is narrated - the girl who was asked to choose whatever she wishes in the palace of the king. Whatever she touched, it was told, would belong to her. While everyone else with her was running helter skelter touching what they could imagine was precious, this girl stood her ground filled with thoughts. They asked her, 'haven't you made your choice?' She said, 'in fact I have and walked up to the king and held his hand'. What could be more precious than the king in the palace of the king - she became the crown princess! 

We may have everything, but if we lack God on our side, soon we will feel the emptiness all around. When we choose God we choose everything! What do you choose? 

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

29th July, 2017: Remembering St.  Martha

1 John 4: 7-16; John 11:19-27

Woman called Martha,  she had a sister called Mary and a brother called Lazarus...these are the details given to us by the Gospels taken together.  

Three elements highlighted by the Word in her life:

1. She invited Jesus... there was a woman who invited Jesus to her home, reads the episode at Bethany. Inviting Jesus into our homes,  is a Bethany theme we can reflect on today.

2. She loved Jesus, she loved her sister and her brother. Martha was a person of love. Her hospitality to Jesus,  her missing of Lazarus and her relationship with her sister Mary. ..these are imitable signs of God's love made tangible in her life.

3. She believed in Christ. She did not take Jesus for granted. Her familiarity with Jesus did not make her forget the fact of who he was. She held Jesus always high and believed in him.

The point that comes out in short is the importance of our personal relationship with Christ, our eagerness to do all that we can to make Jesus feel at home in our hearts and our mindfulness of who Christ is to us: the one who comes in the name of the Almighty!

WORD 2day: 28th July, 2017

The Right-Living People

Friday, 16th week in Ordinary Time

Exo 20: 1-17; Mt 13: 18-23

Jesus speaks of the four types of seed ground, viz., the pathway, the rocky, the thorny and the good ground, and compares them with four kinds of people. His story remains open ended throwing the challenge to us: which ground are you? Extending the same analogy with respect to the laws that the Lord gives us, today we find the same four kinds of people.

Those who do not know what is right and deliberately keep away from understanding it: they are like the pathway; nothing remains in them. They are the ruthless inhuman beings whom we find on earth who are a burden to the planet and scourge to humanity.

Those who know what is right but do not do it: they are like the rocky ground. There is a chance of correcting them, but it takes a yeomen effort - to break them, fill them will more sand and convert them.

Those who know what is right but are unable to do it: they are like the ground with thorn bushes. They know and wish to do what is right but find themselves too weak before the temptations and struggles and they give in easily. They need a lot of mercy and compassion and they can be set right by a bit of cleaning.

Those who know what is right and strive to do it, come what may: they are the good ground and they are rare to find. In fact they are the Lord's true sons and daughters. They need no external pressure or internal force to do what is right. It comes naturally to them and the others find it too unrealistic. These are the Right-Living people!

Which of the four types do I belong?

WORD 2day: 27th July, 2017

Seeing and Hearing - Lightening and Thunder!

Thursday, 16th week in Ordinary Time

Exo 19: 1-2,9-11,16-20; Mt 13: 10-17

Happy are your eyes for they see what they see; happy are your ears for they hear what they hear! Israel encountered the Lord, just as Moses did. Moses saw God, the people saw the lightening; Moses heard the Lord speak, the people heard the peals of thunder. They were frightened to the core, while Moses was not. Seeing and hearing are two great faculties that the Lord has given us! 

Even spiritually seeing and hearing are wondrous gifts of God. God wishes that we may see: but do we look at God's presence as an illumination of life and its meaning or merely as fearsome lightening? God speaks that we may hear: but do we hear those words or only a noisy thunder?  It is not destroying the traditions that Jesus is intent on, but finding the right rationale behind so many things that we see and hear. 

Are we ready to meet the Lord, to see and to hear...- not out of fear, but in awe, respect and love!