A JOURNEY TO INTEGRITY - ADVENT 2017 - DAY 2

Integrity... Heeding the Call

First Monday of Advent

Is 2: 1-5; Mt 8: 5-11

Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord - that is the call that we have this Advent. To go up to the mountain of the Lord. Lord who can climb your mountain, who can dwell in your tent - those who walk blamelessly and do what is right, and speak the truth from their heart, says Psalm 15:2. 

This Advent we are going to make a journey, all along reflecting on this: the call to climb the mountain of the Lord, to be blameless, to do right and to speak the truth, not to slander and never to do evil - in short, to be integral. 

A first element in this is, recognising the call, the call that we have as children of God, the call that we have to grow more and more acceptable in the eyes of the Lord. Integrity is a call, the call to be like God, to grow into what we are, that is the image and likeness of God. 

When we realise the call we have and we have the humility to obey that call, that is what is called faith and miracles happen! A beautiful imagery that the Centurion speaks of today: the imagery of the servants who carry out the will of their master. That is what we are - servants of the Master of the Universe, humble children of the Father of all creation, the One who created us and calls us to be God's children, in our image, in our likeness, in our life and in our very beings. 

Let us accept this call and begin our journey, towards Integrity!

A JOURNEY TO INTEGRITY - ADVENT SUNDAY 1

Begin, Believe and Be!

3rd December, 2017: First Sunday in Advent

Is 63:16-17, 64:1,3-8; 1Cor 1:3-9; Mk 13:33-37

Happy New Year... Let's begin anew! Begin, Believe and Be...a project that is given to us... a journey towards Integrity!

We are beginning a new liturgical year, we are beginning anew a season of waiting, a season of renewal and the call this year for the advent is to undertake a Journey to Integrity! This call and this journey is an ever present challenge to us as children of the One Father, as disciples of Christ and as Spirit filled people. 

Look at the world today: people think they can do anything they want and get away with it, provided they have the means for it. Money and muscle power still seem to rule. Politics is dubbed politricks and democracy is without exaggeration turning into demoncracy, a rule of the demoniacs who are worse than even the worst of the totalitarians in history. Everybody is thrilled about having a conspiracy theory to share and nothing seems to be really what it apparently is! There are so many things that are working underground and people are made to feel so insecure about everything. No more is being right a big issue, all that matters is not getting caught! This is the background against which we are beginning a new season, a new year, a new journey!

And our journey is meant to be towards Integrity! Integrity...is being right for the sake of being right, being just for the sake of being just, being good for the sake of being good. There are no awards announced, there are no rewards promised nor are there any felicitations in place! The Word today tells us that in a very subtle way as it commands us to Begin, to Believe and to Be!

Let us begin anew! Yes we have fallen, failed, faltered...it does matter. It is important to know and accept that we have made those mistakes and then begin anew! We are beginning a journey today, anew yes, but not anything strange. We have been on this journey, we have travelled quite a distance. But the call is to begin anew. We know that God is our Father, our Shepherd, our Redeemer, our Potter...we know, but may be, we have strayed a bit. Let us begin anew! Start afresh! The Lord is present, right there, when I decide to begin anew! 

Let us believe in the Lord! Jesus has come to reiterate it firmly, that God is our Father and our Redeemer. Whatever happens, God is faithful and God is certainly there to take care of us. We cannot miss that assurance that is given to us! If integrity begins in beginning anew, it makes sense because God is faithful. Our goodness and our faithfulness cannot have any meaning unless we base it on the faithfulness of God. We strive to be faithful because God is faithful. We wish to be good because God is good. We love because God first loved us. My journey to integrity is possible because I believe.

Let us be people of God! The Spirit filled people are people who are aware, awake and alert all the time. Yes, we are called to be awake and alert, always being what we ought to be, never slackening our pace in this journey towards integrity. Let us begin this journey today, march everyday with a firm belief in the presence of God and be the people that God wants us to be! 

Let us begin, believe and be! Happy Journey to Integrity!

STAY AWAKE; STAY STRONG; STAY CALM

WORD 2day: 2nd December, 2017

Saturday, Last day of the Ordinary Time 

Dan 7: 5-27; Lk 21: 34-36

These days, every now and then, there is a talk of the end of the world. Recently in the South Asian parts of the world, there is an increased talk of Tsunami or a natural disaster of that sort. There is the ever present fear of a nuclear threat, involving North Korea and the United States. There is crisis everywhere with thousands rendered refugees on a daily basis in more than a few zones of the world....

There is so much signalling the end...but the message of the Lord is totally something else. Look at everything that is going on and you have something to take home as your lesson - the Word says. If I do not stay awake, I will not gather the fruits of what is going by. Staying awake is crucial.

Yes, the last day is here...the last day of the Ordinary Time...it gives the feeling of an end of a journey, but ofcourse it is not just the end! It is a new beginning too, with tomorrow. The beginning came and the end has  come.... 

What follows is again not all that flowery.  It is a waiting,  a waiting that is tedious,  a waiting that can be trying,  a waiting that is a bit painful. St Paul compared it to the pangs of child birth. Yes,  only those who stay strong will endure till the end. Staying strong is crucial too.

The liturgical year ends today with an all new phase of challenge to begin: stay awake;  stay strong above all that, stay calm! Mary did. She was calm as she waited and today we are called to wait like her! 

Stay Awake, Stay Strong, Stay Calm. The end may be around. But the Lord is here!

THAT WHICH SHALL NEVER PASS AWAY

WORD 2day: 1st December, 2017

Friday, last week in Ordinary Time

Dan 7: 2-14; Lk 21: 29-33

Where is your hope, your strength, your assurance? Money, it shall liquidify. Power, it shall drift away. Things, they shall pass away. Persons, they shall abandon you someday. Today, it is used as a pain reliever statement: 'this too will pass'. But beware! That shall be your sad predicament too - everything shall pass away!

That is why, the need for something, something that will never pass away. The recurring theme of today is a reference to something that is here to stay, never to pass away... the Lord's Word,  the Lord's Reign,  the Lord's sovereignty.

The final word will always be the Lord's! Calamities, Persecutions, Demoralisations these are what we see in the case of all those who had to pay with their blood, the price for their faith in Christ. The first reading foretells the same, finishing however with a note of hope on the eternal dominion of the Son of Man. 

The Gospel reaffirms the hope, from the mouth of the very object of that hope: the Word made flesh. Perseverance is a virtue in imitation of the faithfulness of God. 'Let us never grow tired of doing what is right' (2 Thes 3:13), as the Lord himself who never gets tired of loving us!

Things may appear to be going totally out of sway, or nothing may seem to be under the control of anything spiritual...but never lose heart,  God is in charge; God is in control. However bad the signs of the times are, your saviour knows you and to his Reign there is no end. Be firm in faith...and cast your hope on that which shall never pass away: the Holy Will of God!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

The feet of those who bring Good News

30th November, 2017: Remembering St. Andrew

Rom 10: 9-18; Mt 4: 18-22

"How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" St.Paul quotes this word from the scripture (from Is 52:7), to insist upon the blessedness of being an apostle of the Lord, being sent to bear forth the word to the others. 

St. Andrew has played a special role during the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Andrew as a disciple of Christ always had the role of bringing good news to persons... he brought the good news of having found Christ to Peter (Jn 1:41); along with Philip, he brought the Greeks to meet Jesus (Jn 12:22); and he brought that boy who gave the five loaves to feed the five thousand (Jn 6:9). Amidst all the opposition and threat, the apostles bore witness to his name: they were the beautiful feet which brought the good news to the world. 

Today Andrew is proposed as the patron of social network...because he used every opportunity to make Christ known to people and to bring people to Christ. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI had described social network as the modern day pulpit and invited us to proclaim Christ not merely from the housetops but also from the laptops...and here we have a great role model for it. 

May we dedicate today every effort of ours to proclaim the Kingdom through the social network. May we dedicate the social network which offers us such a great promise, that it may forever be an instrument in the hands of God, to bring God's will to fulfillment. 

WHAT IS THE WRITING ON YOUR WALL?

WORD 2day: 29th November, 2017

Wednesday, 34th week in Ordinary Time

Dan 5: 1-6,13-14,16-17,23-28; Lk 21: 5-11

"The writing on the wall" - the familiar phrase in English, has its origin in the first reading today. The meaning is very clear and that is precisely the message of the Word today. It is clear to all of us even as we choose things on a daily basis, to what consequences they will lead us. None of us can claim a total ignorance while most of us do not want to really accept the fact that we do know the consequences of our choices; unfortunately we feign ignorance and desperately look for someone or something to blame it on. In all sincerity we know, what we sow, we reap. 

Our choices, unfortunately, are conditioned by events and experiences that are momentary - the instant, the immediate, the current, the here and the now! Those are obviously not enough. There are perspectives of life which we do not respect at all - the ultimate, the eternal, the essential - these are considered despicable. The result, our choices and their consequences become so sad and dangerous in the long run.

Our choices of negative tendencies like manipulation, disrespect, abuse, violence and exploitation cannot but lead to situations of hopelessness, darkness and death - King Belshazzar is sadly made aware of it today by Daniel. 

But there is yet another writing on the wall that is presented: Jesus says, if you choose to belong to me, if you choose to be called my disciples, if you choose to respond to my call, you will be derided, persecuted and even killed, but do not fear; in your endurance you would have won life, life in all its fullness, life from the very author of life, life everlasting!

The key is to become aware of the writing on the wall...even as we make choices that are regular and usual. Look at all the universal phenomena we talk of today: the global warming, the rising totalitarianism, the threatening fanaticism, the crazy arms proliferation...where did all these arise from, if not from our active or passive choices? Yes, let us grow more and more conscientious and aware of the writing on our walls!

To destroy and to build; to stop and to proceed!

WORD 2day: 28th November, 2017

Tuesday, 34th week in Ordinary Time
Dan 2: 31-45; Lk 21: 5-11

This week's readings have a bi-dimensional orientation - a preparation towards advent (a new beginning) and at the same time a reflection on the end times. This is the real Christian disposition: a bi-dimensional approach to life. A reflection on the end times has to be radically open to the new beginnings, lest it becomes a vain curiosity. 

A focus on the new beginnings, the new earth and new heaven, on the definitive coming of the Reign should have a mature openness towards the end time perspective, lest it remains a simplistic dream of an all-bright future, without any personal commitment to it. 

There is no use raving about the last days, the end of the world, the Armageddon,  the judgement and so on and so forth, as if talking about a football match or a cricket tournament. Dreams, visions and extra natural phenomenon have no value in themselves, unless they help a better living here and now, and a preparation for a more holistic future. 

The first reading and the Gospel today remind us of this need - the need to question ourselves on our life style, our criteria and choices in daily life - whether they are really worthy of the Reign, that we are called to announce to the world as disciples of Christ!

The call that today we are given is to be daring enough to accept a break down in your life and an eventual restart; to effect a rupture from the old habits and to begin anew; to  destroy the old and to build anew; to stop and to proceed. Am I ready?

Choosing God in little things!

WORD 2day: 27th November, 2017

Monday, 34th week in Ordinary Time

Dan 1: 1-6,8-20; Lk 21:1-4

The world has stereotypical criteria of what is good and what is better; social standards of what makes one good and what makes the other better! The temptation to conform to that social stereotypes is very high and dangerously subtle. Many a times we fall into the trap, though the Word very often warns us, "Do not be conformed to this world" (Rom 12:2), because, "the Lord does not see as the mortals see" (1 Sam 16:7). 

That is why, the two tiny coins that the widow drops quietly into the treasury seems more valuable to Jesus than the bags and bags of wealth that the others dump there. To be his disciples, "let the same mind be in you, as it was in Christ Jesus" (Phil 2:5) instructs St. Paul. We begin to read from today from the book of Daniel, every day increasingly reminding us of the imminent choice we have to make for the Lord and not for the convention of the world.

Daniel was special because of this, that God's mind was in him, the wisdom of the Lord was in him, that made him shine to the rest of the world. He knew what to choose and what to let go. He knew what really mattered and what did not. He knew what it meant to be faithful to his Master, the Lord, the Almighty. 

Maybe, I need to ask the Lord today, to give me that wisdom to see things as the Lord does, with the same mind that was in Christ Jesus and choose the right things and let go of those that are immaterial. Choosing the little that truly matter, will win me all that I need - the all, that is God!

THE KING: In Him we have the Victory

The Solemnity of Christ the King

26th November, 2017

Ezek 34:11-12,15-17; 1 Cor 15: 20-26,28; Mt 25: 31-46

To proclaim Christ as King today, is not an easy task - while nations wrestle with each other for supremacy and individuals do anything to keep the crown to themselves! It is a challenge to a true Christian flock today to identify its shepherd as the King, and not just that, King of all kings! The Solemnity of Christ the King reminds of the fact that it is in this King we have the victory. 

The King, in Him we have the victory! That is the song on our lips today, but can that be truly meant? This what I wish to share today. Can we truly and fully mean it, when we say, In Him we have the Victory? If we have to, then we need to understand fully what we say by that proclamation.

The King = The Thorns + The Crown.

When we call him the King, we know that he is a king of a different kind; but are we conscious of it? Are we conscious of whom we are proclaiming as king and the consequences of it. He is not a merely a king with a crown and a throne, but a king with a crown of thorns! Yes, it is only through his thorns did he finally win over the kingdom. If we call him our king, we need to look at the priorities of our life - success, dominance, honour and power: can they be my priorities? They are... for most of us. Shouldn't we become a little more conscious of it. Let us not think of some distant political leader or a disdained pastoral minister. Think of you and me - our little successes, our dominance in our own small relationships, our seeking of honour and recognition, our secret lust for power...these are all priorities against our type of the King! This king will ask us to look at not success but justice, not dominance but service, not honour but humility, not power but sacrifice as our priority! Can we... if we accept that we are of his flock, if not we are on the other side!

In Him = Through Him + With Him.

In Him we have the Victory, we say. But what does it mean - In Him. In Cristo, is a very specific term that we need to understand. We see its depth of meaning in the Paul's assertion: "There is no condemnation for those in Christ" (Rom 8:1). No condemnation is what we mean by victory! The term can be understood in the other two terms: through Him and with Him. 

First of all, we need to understand that we are, through Him. Everything is, through Him. When we declare Christ the King of the Universe, we are affirming the fact that Paul teaches: through him everything was created and for him they exist (see Col 1:15-17). When we feel we are doing everything by ourselves, when we begin to attribute all the good to ourselves and all the ills to God, we forget that fact that we are what we are, through Him. The world is full of that tendency today - anything they achieve they take the credit. A problem crops up, they start questioning God and everything that is related!

Secondly to say we are in Christ, we have to be basically with Him. With Christ, is to make the choices that Christ would make, to speak those words that Christ would speak, to do those actions that Christ would do, in short to have the mind of Christ in us. To be with Christ means to step into his shoes, to follow his footsteps, to step on to his feet and be carried in sync with it. 

When we are aware of the fact that we live through him and with that consciousness decide to be with him, we are in him and the victory is certainly ours!

Victory = Righteousness + Salvation

In Him we have the Victory, we say. But what is this Victory? Is it comfort and prosperity? Is it shining lives and glamorous future? Victory we speak of here is righteousness on our part and the gift of salvation that the Lord confers. Righteousness is our life of truth and love, without counting the cost. Yes, at times we think of being righteous as a means to winning something from the Lord - no, it is not! Being Righteous is our call and it is our very being, because we are created in the image and likeness of the Lord. Salvation comes as we get closer and closer to God and in that intimate oneness with the Lord, salvation happens. Salvation is not to be procured - as some keep asking that dumb question: 'are you saved'? Everybody is! But I need to make that salvation my lifestyle, my daily experience, my oneness with the Lord! That is the Victory that Christ makes so natural and easy for us, when we are IN HIM. 

Yes... we have a wonderful, majestic and compassionate King, in Him we have the Victory!

BEHOLD THE GOD WHO IS LIVING

WORD 2day: 25th November, 2017

Saturday, 33rd week in Ordinary Time

1 Mac 6: 1-13; Lk 20: 27-40

It is easy to glory in a God of the past, recount miracles and remember feats. It is also not difficult to think of a God of the future, dream dreams of prosperity and share stories of great tidings. The real challenge is to believe in the God of the present, the God of the moment, the Lord of my life, the God of the living. 

The strength of my spiritual self is seen in my ability to relate to God on a daily basis, on a momentary basis. When Jesus today reminds us of the God of the living, and not a God of the dead, he is inviting us to experience God and live with God every day, every moment! 

We are fond of living on a spiritual nostalgia of an experience 'once-upon-a-time' or we are fond of looking at a bright light some time, some day. Like the people we see in the Gospel who thought of their ancestors or thought of a future splendour, but missed the great and moving presence of the Lord amidst them, in their daily events and difficult moments. 

Let us not end up making up stories and throwing questions at the Lord. Let us be still and experience the presence of the living God, the God of the living, living right next to us!