A JOURNEY TO INTEGRITY - ADVENT 2017 - DAY 17

Integrity... to remain, to receive and to rejoice!

Third Tuesday in Advent

Judg 13: 2-7, 24-25; Lk 1: 5-25

Call it endurance, call it perseverance, call it faithfulness, it is just remaining firm in the Lord, believing strong in the core of our beings that the Lord is with us, for us and in us! Look at the two women in the Word today, called barren by the world of their times... they remained with the Lord. It is said, they lived their life totally acceptable to the Lord, but they were barren! The world despised them, but they never gave up on God.

Today, anything, any small thing can take a person far from God - be it good or bad! Yes, a problem, a struggle, a disappointment, a disagreement, a difficulty, a mental or emotional stress...anything can take a person away from God. We have thousands and thousands who react that way and what are they actually doing: closing the door of hope! The Psalm says, It is you O Lord who are my hope, my trust since my youth!

Worse still, even something good can take one away from God - a bit of success, an affluence that comes one's way, a social status that appears promising, a public image that seems a little lucrative, can easily drift me away from God and real recognition of God. 

The couples in the Word today - had their difficulties, their despicable status in the society calling them "unfortunate" ...but never drifted away from God, never gave up on God. They remained! 

They remained faithful and they received that blessing that was in store for them, the hope that was in the Divine plan, the entire story that still had to unfold! At times, even after receiving we miss the entire presence of God - either lamenting that it was late or taking the entire credit on ourselves, our hardwork and our own dexterity. 

They received and they rejoiced in the Lord! Integrity is to remain, to receive and to rejoice in the Lord! My dear son, my daughter, the Lord says today, there are things that are in store in God's own time, remain in me, receive the blessings I have in store for you and rejoice in me, for it is I who have loved you into existence and I have you in the apple of my eye!

A JOURNEY TO INTEGRITY - ADVENT 2017 - DAY 16

Integrity... to realise the God-with-us

Third Monday in Advent

Jer 23: 5-8; Mt 1: 18-24

There are those who make religion a fairy tale or a horror story. The recent times have seen bands and bands of such people, writing, preaching, proclaiming, shouting at the top of their voice about signs and events, mysteries and milestones...all exciting but so shallow and Un-Christ-ian! It is not for us to know the time and the hour...but the call is to be prepared and to be alert, watching and praying constantly, that we may never miss when the Lord visits us.

That visit is not something about which we would shudder and shiver, if we live our every moment according to the will of the One who has commissioned us: that is Integrity. Not putting up a show or a performance for the moment of truth but to evolve a lifestyle that realises the permanent presence of God with us!  

If we are true and honest about our experience with God, we would find God and Godly signs and God's call to act, every moment of our lives! It is all around us... in faces that surround us, in events that envelope us, in experiences that beckon our choice and in persons who challenge our priorities. 

The Lord of Integrity does not seek to show signs for the sake of begging praise from us, for the Lord needs no one to recognise or affirm! But it is we who need the Lord and the Lord is ever present at our side. Let us be convinced of the fact that the Lord is present in our days, living with us, walking beside us all the way! And let this be our prayer that we may never miss the Lord of integrity, the God-with-us. 

Let us learn to receive that presence, realise it everyday and rejoice in it!

CHRISTMAS NOVENA - Day 4 - 19th December

19th December: O Root of Jesse

O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the peoples; 

before you kings will shut their mouths,

to you the nations will make their prayer:

Come and deliver us, and delay no longer.

Based on  Isaiah 11:1, Isaiah 11:10, the title Root of Jesse, refers to the promise of the Lord to raise the Messiah from the line of David (the son of Jesse). It is a promise of deliverance that the Lord gives the people of Israel, and to everyone who believes in the Lord.

The Symbol is that of the shoot flowering... signalling the hope that the Lord offers in times when everything seems dark and dead. 

The prayer too is to reinforce that HOPE...that we may always look forward to the deliverance that the Lord can offer! Note that the readings of the liturgy too relate to the same sense of hope in the Lord who accomplishes marvels for us!

CHRISTMAS NOVENA - Day 3 - 18th December

18th December: O Adonai...

O Adonai, and leader of the house of Israel

who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush

and gave him the law on Sinai:

Come and redeem us with an outstretched arm.

Based on Isaiah 11:45 and Isaiah 33:22, the title Adonai, refers to the Lordship of Yahweh, that the people of Israel always stressed on. From a generic universal history that yesterday's "Wisdom" reminded us of, today's "Adonai" comes down to the experience of Exodus, the watershed of the Spirituality of the people of Israel.

The Symbols are burning bush, to remind the experience when Moses surrendered to Yahweh and the stones of the commandments, the symbol of Israel's surrender to Yahweh.

The prayer is that of a SURRENDER into the redeeming power of God, to be led by the Lord's hands always - from darkness to light, from folly to wisdom, from death to life! 

CHRISTMAS NOVENA - Day 2 - 17th December

17th December: O Sapientia...

O Wisdom, coming forth from the mouth of the Most High

reaching from one end to the other,

mightily and sweetly ordering all things:

Come and teach us the way of prudence.

Based on Isaiah 11:2-3 and Isaiah 28:29... the antiphon recalls the most popular attribute given to the Spirit of the Lord and the Word of God which is seen active in creation and order of the universe. It is this Word, who becomes flesh to dwell among us (John 1:14). 

The Symbol used is often...the eye within the triangle, which symbolises the Omniscient God...the Wisdom of God. The Jewish or the Davidic lampstand (with 7 sticks) is used to refer to the Wisdom of God which has accompanied the people of God right from the origins of history!

The Prayer today is for PRUDENCE...to be guided always by the Lord, the Lord who dwells among us.

A JOURNEY TO INTEGRITY - ADVENT SUNDAY 3

Receive, Realise and Rejoice!

17th December, 2017: Third Sunday in Advent

Is 61: 1-2,10-11; 1 Thes 5: 16-24; Jn 1: 6-8; 19-28

We have begun the next phase in our journey to integrity, because the Lord is near! We have already initiated the novena in preparation for the great coming of the Lord and the Word today invites us to feel the shift of gears, as the call is already to rejoice! It is like, having journeyed long distance to meet a person and you are just a few yards away and you have already sighted the person coming towards you! You feel that joy, as if you have already embraced the person, but actually you have not yet! The feeling of 'already-and-not-yet'. That is the next phase of the journey that the Spirit of the Lord invites us to - to receive, to realise and to rejoice in the Lord!

Receiving the Spirit of the Lord is the first step towards an integrity in the Lord. Without the Spirit we cannot live in integrity. All the prophets, as Isaiah speaks of today, are people filled with the Spirit, John was a man of Spirit and Jesus himself was filled with the Spirit and proclaimed the very same words we hear from Isaiah today: the Spirit of the Lord is upon me! Each of us is filled with the Spirit - in every sacrament we receive, where the Lord encounters us in person, we receive the Spirit. Being filled with the Spirit cannot be merely a passive event - that it happens to me! I have to positively receive the Spirit and be filled with. It is an active yearning for the Spirit and a ready acceptance from the hands of the Lord.

Realising the Spirit's promptings is the next crucial step in the journey. When Isaiah, or any other prophets, or John, or Jesus, was filled with the Spirit, they immediate felt the call. I am called to give sight to the blind, to release the captives and announce the good news to the poor and tell them that the day of the Lord is here, to assured the Lord is near. I have to realise the call that I have, a call always for the other - I am not filled with the Spirit to perform magic shows on grand stages and massive gatherings, I am not filled with the Spirit to make a living for myself and get people be astounded about me... I need to realise that I have received the Spirit and  I have received the Spirit for others, for those who are in need, those who are suffering, those who are downtrodden, those who are oppressed, those who find themselves helpless! I have to realise that I have a mission and that is a crucial step towards integrity - realising my purpose!

Responding to the call that I have received in the Spirit, is the fulfillment of my journey to integrity. When I begin to respond there will be people who appreciate me and be grateful to me. But there will be more who will question me, oppose me, criticise me, find fault with me, put me down and try to tear me into nothing. Look at the prophets, look at John in the Gospel, look at Jesus himself... they responded and they were taken to task. But because they were persons of integrity, neither did they desert the Spirit who called nor did they slacken before the world which opposed them! They responded with their entire life, that is the sign of Integrity - to respond with your entire life!  Nothing else mattered to them, not even their life, when it came to responding to the call that they received and realised! 

Let us gear up, push ahead, stay focused in this journey to integrity. Let us receive the Spirit of the Lord, Realise the call that the Spirit brings and Respond with our entire life. The Lord's Spirit is here and the Lord is near!

A JOURNEY TO INTEGRITY - ADVENT 2017 - DAY 14

Integrity... to face the fire

Second Saturday in Advent

Sir 48: 1-4, 9-11; Mt 17: 9a, 10-13

Elijah arose like a fire, the Word says and John was the expected Elijah! This is why, they wondered why Elijah should come back, because for them Elijah meant trouble. Obviously, they could not, rather they did not want to see Elijah in the Baptist. And Jesus pointed it out on their face. 

For us today 'Elijah' would be those persons and situations that challenge us to greater commitment and total dedication. And 'John' would be those people who put us into a spiritual uneasiness by their witnessing life. At times we do not want to have anything to do with them. Worse still when we try to interpret their actions and attitudes to be too rude or pretentious thus writing them off from the public face. The worst, when we try to get rid of them, whatever it takes.

Look at the scenario today: the increasing compromises in Christian living and the senseless alienation of daily life from the Christian belief; duplicity of motivations in what we speak or do in the public domain; the underground discussions and partnerships that aim at toppling the righteous persons who burn with the fire of the Reign! 

Keep Elijah and John in your mind for a practical and concrete dedication towards integrity. Recognise willingly people with such fire within them! Even if you are not one of them, atleast learn to face them, learn to face the fire!

A JOURNEY TO INTEGRITY - ADVENT 2017 - DAY 13

Integrity... to find your depth

Second Friday in Advent

Is 48: 17-19; Mt 11:16-19

If only you were... we use this expression very often when communicating our disappointment over someone. Today the Lord uses it to the people of Israel...if only you had listened to me, and proved a little more integral! There is a spark of an inspiration from the first reading today, speaking of Integrity being like waves! In fact the Gospel too takes off from there. 

Waves ebb and flow, come and go, rise and fall, proceed and recede...but look at them at their origins - the deep sea. There they are calm like a sleeping giant. That is what integrity is all about. Though you may be involved in frenetic activity and never ending responsibilities, never lose that inner serenity where your being truly resides. 

Jesus gives a beautiful allegory - like children who play, we live our lives with numerous expectations on the other and disappointments within. We expect and get disappointed; or we get anxious to meet the expectations of the other or others, and feel stressed out. Jesus is simply suggesting to us: can you just stop and ask yourself, what are you up to? What are you toiling for? What are you stressing yourself out for? What are you really trying to prove and to whom? 

Jesus has this to tell us today: you have nothing to prove! You are what you are in the depth of your being. Discover that, realise that, and try to live that to the full. Do not get lost in the externals of show and appreciation or disappointments and critiques. You can do that only when you are able to find your depths. That is why a crucial bit of Integrity is finding your real depth and getting truly in touch with it. 

A JOURNEY TO INTEGRITY - ADVENT 2017 - DAY 12

Integrity... to be agents of the Reign of God

Second Thursday in Advent
Isa 41: 13-20; Mt 11: 11-15

Jesus speaks of the Reign that suffers at the hands of the violent. It follows from Jesus' assertion that the Reign of God rests amidst us. Yes, the Reign lives amidst the persons of integrity, amidst those who live the values of the Reign. Most of the times when I would speak to persons, especially the Religious, about the Reign of God, the discussion would not come to an end without a question: "are all that you spoke of, possible? Can we really establish such a Reign in our context?" 

My response would be: it is not about establishing the Reign. The Reign already exists, in the persons who stand for love and mutual care, in persons who thirst for justice and truth, in persons who are ready to give up even their lives for the sake of fullness of life for all, in persons who live with integrity. The question is do we form part of that Reign already in our life or not. And if we do form part of it, it would be seen in our everyday choices, our priorities and the causes we stand for and speak out for. 

When we do it, we will not be surely left in peace. We will have troubles from every corner and the Lord assures us in the first reading today: 'Fear not! I will help you!' Because the Reign of God is the Lord's doing and we are all agents of that the Reign here on earth. And we become agents of the Reign by becoming persons of integrity!

A JOURNEY TO INTEGRITY - ADVENT 2017 - DAY 11

Integrity... to never grow tired!

Second Wednesday in Advent

Is 40: 25-31; Mt 11: 28-30

To run and not to grow weary, to walk and never to tire... that is the call that the Word has today. That is a sign of integrity. Think of a person like Mother Teresa, she fought all her life against everything that drains humanity of its dignity, did she succeed? Or a person like Nelson Mandela, who spent 27 years in the prison to stand for equality and political freedom, did he totally succeed? Succeed... that does not matter. They never grew tired - that was the sign of their integrity. Nothing could break them. They were putting out their wings like the eagle, every time the oppressive powers tended to curtail them.

Speaking of running and never growing weary, I remember a reflection I shared sometime ago about a game on the smartphones - the famous game called Temple Run. Look at that man running, he is chased by some monster and he is running for life. If he stopped to rest he would be devoured. There are coins and precious stones strewn all through the way that he runs, he has to pick them up because they will give him the speed and the endurance to go on with the upcoming levels of difficulty. He cannot get distracted with those offers slowing himself down, neither can he be blind to those treasures! Very interesting to compare that with our life, as Christians.

Yes, we have this course to run. But we cannot become tired of it, we cannot complain about it. There are difficult moments and tiresome experiences. But there are also precious treasures that the Lord has in store for us - wonderful experiences, inspiring people, captivating values, sanctifying virtues, everything is there. We cannot grow tired. 

The Lord assures his sons and daughters that God will be with us strengthening us in this life and all its trials...you will run but will not grow tired, you will walk but will not grow faint...if and only if you have God with you! The Lord expresses his wish to comfort us and assist us, it is upto us to receive this grace and accept his accompaniment. Our integrity will be defined by our capacity to never grow tired!