BEING GOD'S PEOPLE

Identity, Call and Mission

3rd Sunday in Ordinary time: January 27, 2019

Nehemiah 8:2-6,8-10; 1 Corinthians 12: 12-30; Luke 1:1-4, 4:14-21

Jesus came and lived here on earth amidst us to remind us about our call to be God's people and to show us how to do it! People of God - that is our identity, that is our call and that is our mission. 

But looking at history - sometimes, it has been a dangerous proposition too! We see that the people of Israel, calling themselves the chosen people of God, killed and butchered clans and clans of the so-called 'others'; Jesus himself was killed because they thought it is better that one dies instead of the entire lot of the 'chosen people' being put to risk; think of those the times when we called ourselves the 'people of God' and went with flags marked with crosses menacing nations and even killing thousands; what about those who in the name of 'superior race' or the 'chosen race' wished to blot out the rest of the world; after all these have we anything to say when a group calls the rest as 'infidels' and threatens to eliminate people, if they don't become one of them? All these have unmistakably and gravely gone wrong somewhere, somewhere right at the foundations! 

When the Word tells us today we are called to be God's People, it is not a statement of pride or superiority or elitism or some kind of messianism claiming that the entire world is at our mercies! Absolutely no. Certainly, it is a statement of an identity that God wishes to give us, but along with it comes a call and a mission that defines it all. Yes, there are three tasks outlined for us by the Word this Sunday:

1. Beginning with the Word - Our Identity

Being God's people means beginning with the Word: our identity lies there, not in the structures we have and the statistics we boast about (that we are the greatest in number and that we have survived for 2000 years and so on!) Our identity is based on the Word, the Word which has always guided humanity, the Word which had become human and the Word which calls us everyday without ceasing to a life of love and compassion. Our identity has to be created on the foundation of the Word of God. 

When Nehemiah the leader and Ezra the priest wanted to give an identity to the heart broken people, they did it with the Word, reading it aloud to them and getting them to hear it and be strengthened by it. When Jesus wanted to establish his identity among his own people, he did it with the Word, teaching in the synagogue for the first time. As individuals, as families or as communities, if we wish to identify ourselves to others, we need to found ourselves on the Word. 

2. Building up the Word - Our Call

The Word was made flesh, the flesh was given to us and we were made One Body in Christ. The Word invites us to build up our communities of faith, in communion and sharing, thus building up the Word into a formidable challenge to the ways of the world. This task is to build up our believing community, the Body of Christ, the Body of the Word. 

The Word was made flesh, in order that God's salvation plan could be brought to its culmination in Jesus Christ the Son of God. Today the same Word has to be made flesh... the Word has to become a Body, the Body of Christ, the Body of the Word... that is our Community of faith - united as one body with the head that is Christ, the Word who lives amidst us. When we build up the community, we build up the Body of the Word, we build up the Word. When we break, divide, shatter, weaken, dismember this Body, we are killing the Word! We have just finished celebrating the Unity Octave (18 to 25 January), praying for the unity of all Christians, are we really ready to forget our differences, leave aside our past and unite in the name of the Word? 

3. Becoming the Word - Our Mission 

The word you have heard is fulfilled today in your hearing, declared Jesus. He was the Word personified...and we are today called to model our lives after him, to become the Word, to grow into the Word, into the living Word, into living images of Christ for the world today, offering sight to the blind, liberty to captives and  freedom to the oppressed.

Many a times we think our mission is to memorise a few verses from the Bible and go shout it in the face of people and get them some how by hook or by crook, by fears or by tears into our fold and say, "we have saved them". What a sham! We are not sent merely to throw the Word at others; we are sent to live It amidst others! We are not expected to swallow the Word only to spit It elsewhere, but to become It. Our mission is to be nourished by the Word and Become the Word! Seeing us people should be able to look at us and say: 'what we heard is being fulfilled in you!'

Becoming God's People is an identity we need to found on the Word, a call to build our families and communities on the Word, and a mission to transform ourselves after the Word. Can our daily lives be truly fulfilments of the Word, here and now?

Apostles: to live and to inspire!

THE WORD AND THE SAINTS

January 26, 2019: Sts. Timothy and Titus

2 Timothy 1: 1-8 (or Titus 1:1-5); Luke 10: 1-9

Timothy and Titus are two models we are presented with today.  They were both finds of St. Paul on his journeys. Inspiring the listeners to make a life choice is a special gift that some are given with. St. Paul possessed this and used it well for the Reign of God. Timothy and Titus join the great band of apostles that Jesus initiated.

The Word on this feast day offers us three insights:

1. Timothy had received Faith as a gift from God and St. Paul asks him to fan its flames... So are we called to fan to flames of God's glory, the gift we have received, our Faith. In it rests the real meaning for humanity! We have it...do we realise it?

2. Titus becomes a child to Paul in faith... So do we become brothers and sisters, bonded by faith, that is the relationship we have with God. It is God who unites us - hence, are we mindful of the unity we share or are we looking for reasons to divide and discriminate among ourselves?

3. We are all sent...just as was St. Paul to live the Word and inspire persons! Inspire people whom we meet, by our words making them so founded on the Lord and the Lord's Word, that the listeners would feel like giving praise to God and give their lives to God! This is what we are called to - to be Apostles, that is, to live and to inspire, in the name of the Word. Can we?

Conversion: an Absolute choice for God!

THE WORD AND THE FEAST: Conversion of St. Paul

January 25, 2019: Acts 22:3-16; Mark 16; 15-18

The feast of Conversion of St. Paul invites us to reflect on our conversion. Unfortunately, in today's context, the word 'conversion' has more political connotation than spiritual! There are anti-Christian elements in some societies who call us Christians, a cancer! There are those within us who hardly hesitate to call names at our universal communion, citing as cause the scandals that have been unearthed. These are truly difficult times.

But on the contrary, today is a beautiful occasion for us to remind ourselves that conversion is not about numbers, or increasing the fold or sustaining the crowd without losing adherents. Conversion is a personal decision to go towards God, an about-turn (as the Greek word 'metanoia' suggests); it is an absolute choice for God! 

Choice for God... because we begin to see the role that God has played in our life and choose to actively acknowledge it; Absolute... because nothing else matters as much as God and God's will do! We are called to conversion... may not be as dramatic as that of St. Paul's, as we read in the first reading today, but however, more demanding! Yes, we are called to daily conversion. 

To be aware, each day and each moment, of those things that take us away from our progress towards God. Nothing - no demonic powers, no distracting languages, no cunning serpents, no poisoning lifestyle, no disparaging scandals - should lead us away from God... we are called to make an absolute choice every day, for God and for God's Word.  Not merely in words but by my very life, I am obliged to proclaim God's message. "Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel," reminds me St.Paul (1 Cor 9:16)

Obedience and the Power from above!

January 24, 2019

Thursday, 2nd week in Ordinary time

Hebrews 7: 25 - 8: 6; Mark 3: 7-12

The letter to the Hebrews gives a distinguished importance to the quality of obedience of Jesus! In fact it speaks of obedience as special ministry of the Son of God. St. Paul's letters too have the same dimension (eg: Phil 2). At times holiness does not consist in doing great things to a great effect, but in simple and humble submission to the Lord. 

Hence, Christian obedience is not merely doing something that is commanded, but being conscious of the overwhelming Grace that surrounds us all the time and leads us by hand every moment of our lives. It is a humble acknowledgement and submission to the Power from above! When we submit ourselves in our entirety, we begin to possess not only the consciousness of this power of God but the very power itself, as true and trusted children of God.

Jesus possessed this consciousness of the proximate presence of the power from above and that was sensed by all, specially the evil spirits that he often  encountered. It is by this power from above that he became the high priest who can save all of us - the power invested in him by the Father. 

Each of us has received our share of this power to grow and nurture ourselves into true people of God. What if we are mindful of this power and start using this power - of course the opposition from the enemy camp will be more, but will we not set up ourselves as great signs of God's presence to this world that needs it so badly? And another question that is more crucially relevant is: to what end are you willing to use this power - your own selfish ends or for the greater glory of God?

To save or to kill...to be good or appear good?

January 23, 2019

Wednesday, 2nd week in Ordinary time

Hebrews 7: 1-3,15-17; Mark 3: 1-6

The Word today speaks of two religious disciplines that mattered much to the Old Testament people of God: the practice of tithing and the observance of the Sabbath. Both of these taken in their legalistic sense, would be practices very sacred but of least significance. 

Imagine, a tenth of your possession given grudgingly, or as in the example of Ananias and Saphira (in Acts 5), trying to make it as minimally affecting as possible, but calculated to yield optimum returns... will bear no spiritual fruit. Keeping Sabbath, intended to be the day of the Lord, as a day of dead and insensitive inactivity instead of holy and active worship to God, will be of no spiritual value. 

The key to right understanding here is, not just giving of what we have, but it is giving of what we are; it is not remaining firm and insensitive to the need of the other when you are in every way, though in a position to reach out but setting aside a considerable time when you will think of God and the people of God, instead of getting stuck to thinking about yourself all the while! 

Today, there can be more than one reason for someone to do good- seeking popularity, establishing one's own name, looking for recognition from people and society, proving your point to those who see you do that good, wishing to create an image that is pleasing for the public, etc. But Jesus invites us to do good, precisely where no one knows you. No one understood who Jesus was; they did not really care to. They thought they knew from where Jesus came - but that was not true! They never knew or understood Jesus until Jesus had left them. However, Jesus did all the good that he could, he could not wait, the time was short! He invites us too - to do good precisely  where no one knows you, but might need you the most! 

Be good, do not just try to appear good! Not because you get a reward or a recognition and not because people would stand by you...but because you are convinced of doing that good, saving people, making people sense God close to them. Never grow tired of doing what is good.

Faithfulness versus faithfulness

January 22, 2019

Tuesday, 2nd week in Ordinary time

Hebrews 6: 10-20; Mark 2: 23-28

The crux of the the first reading today,  or for that matter even of the whole Gospels, is the fact that God is faithful forever. God's faithfulness is the anchor of our soul, that unfailing surety of our well-being, the goodness that never ceases and the pertinent question is,  how do I find my faithfulness vis-a-vis that of God!

In demonstration of God's faithfulness,  God gives! God gives without count, without any limit, without restraint, without conditions or calculations,  without anything expected in return. Just imagine the abundance of goodness that we enjoy: the air that we breathe, the water that was given which we have exploited to the utmost, the earth that we have contaminated and the balance of the entire cosmos that we have devastated without any qualms. 

Now the question is, what do we do to demonstrate our faithfulness to God? A weekly appointment, kept up with so much of burdensome feeling;  a few fragmented moments every day, mostly out of routine and sometimes out of fear; and some special days' activities which form so much part of our customs? All of them so legalistically followed sometimes with such insensitivity towards expressing our true love and gratitude... I know I am being too negative about it. 

When it comes to being faithful to God, we compare ourselves with others, with those who are much worse than ourselves in lifestyle, with those who have done something wrong to us and so on! Why don't we compare our faithfulness with the faithfulness of God? It would do so much good, if today we gave this dimension a serious thought: God's Faithfulness versus our faithfulness!

New People for New Times

January 21, 2019

Monday, 2nd week in Ordinary time 

Hebrews 5:1-10; Mark 2: 18-22

When the Lord announces in the book of revelation,  'Behold I make all things new'...its not merely about some things to be made again or re-created;  it's primarily about a new mentality,  a new perspective that God wants to instill and inspire in us. The source and the spring of this new perspective is Christ himself. He is at the same time the high priest and the sacrifice; the prophet and the Lord of the prophets!

In fact with a new way of relating with us,  with the unique way of sharing our very nature with us,  Christ makes us a new people! And that is what the Lord wants to see in us: our new selves - free from the shackles of the past and the prejudices of the ages - to relate with each other anew and to live each other without any conditions or preconceived notions.

The times are new... everyday the world is changing. There are things good that come our way and there are things that get from good to bad and from bad to worse. There are newer experiences for ourselves and for others around us: are we sensitive to all these and open to the persons around, or are we lost in our own small little world? The homeless migrants, the innocent persecuted, the ordinary exploited, the voiceless tortured... the experience is so painful all around. Jesus becomes one among us and one like us, ready to make of himself the very offering and the high priest to offer it: it is an invitation to remain sensitive to others, in spite of our own problems. To be compassionate with the suffering, our own troubles notwithstanding. This is what it means to be new people, for the new times! 

Let our Christian-ness be shown in our compassion and love, not in our pride and arrogance, or in our legalism and ritualism! Let us become new people for the new times!

WHEN YOUR LIFE RUNS DRY

Jars, filled and transformed!

January 20, 2019: 2nd Sunday in Ordinary time

Isaiah 62:1-5;1 Corinthians 12:4-11; John 2:1-11 

Today the Word establishes the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus. After the Baptism where Jesus is seen in public this is the incident that can be interpreted as the beginning of his life and work among people. The Word also defines what the purpose of the ministry is: it is to replenish the rapport between God and God's people.

The imagery that holds the common thread between the first and the Gospel reading today is that of marriage. Often the relationship between God and God's people is spoken of in terms of the faithfulness between the bride and the groom, as in the first reading from Isaiah. God wishes an intimate relationship with God's children but at times our lives run dry. It's also a pastoral concern that after all the weeks of Advent and Christmastide the ordinary season might seem too ordinary and eventless - that is the ordinariness of life. As the wine ran short, our lives too will run dry at moments.

We hear often people saying today: 'that's it, that's the end of my patience', 'I cannot stand it anymore', 'why should I put up with it anymore?', 'I have reached the brink of my tolerance', 'I cannot go on further', or 'I give up'...and so on! These are the moments we are referring to - when our life runs dry! What can we do? Nothing! Nothing can be done at that time and that is why the Lord invites us right at the beginning of this liturgical year, when our spirits are still fresh and alive - prepare for a dry moment, anyway the Lord shall be with you there too!

When it is so probable that the dry moment would show up, but we can do nothing then because we are dry, it only goes to say that we should do something already now. Permit me to make an allegorical interpretation of the Word today: it seems good reflection to make on our lives. There are three things beautiful that could happen when our life runs dry...

1. Have your jars ready: When the wine ran short and Jesus looked around, there were six stone jars according to the custom of the Jews. When our life runs dry and the Lord wants to intervene we should have something ready for the Lord to use from our lives. Like the loaves the Lord used, like the mud that the Lord used, we see the Lord using these jars today to make the Lord's presence felt. When our life runs dry too, we need to have at least empty jars ready... that is the basic disposition to the Lord, our ordinary and regular habits of prayer, our basic ongoing relationship with the Lord and not some occasional business based interactions, our hope that the Lord is with us constantly, our trust in the goodness that belongs to God... these the basic dispositions that the Lord can work on. It is important that we work on these and keep these ready in our ordinariness of life, for a dry patch. The culture today seems to switch from celebration to drudgery... one moment you are happy and effervescent and once it is gone you are down in the dredges. There is no midway about it. We are called to be sober, conscious and aware of what we are going through and build attitudes, habits and support systems that would serve us at times of dryness.

2. Get your jars filled: Use all the gifts that you have, to stand strong, endure the moment. It is important that we endure them, when we reach moments of trials and dryness. One who endures shall receive the crown, instructs James (1:12), isn't it? You have splendid gifts given you, by the Spirit of the Lord. Gifts that can sustain you, strengthen you and take you across a weak patch... if only you are aware of them and know how to use them. These are your weapons in moments of dryness, provided you know you possess them. In your youth get to know your Lord, says Ecclesiastes, to mean that when we are in good spirits to ascertain the foundations of our life that we shall be supported when times come that may assail us. Take up the arrows in your quiver, which until then were preserved for this moment. Do no be unaware of the extraordinary gifts of prudence, will and endurance that the Spirit fills you with - they are great means to sustain yourself at passing moments of darkness. Remain firm with the Lord, become aware of the presence of the Lord and call upon the Lord, waiting on the Lord!

3. Taste the transformed wine: We may have the jar and we may have them filled but it is Jesus who makes it wine! We may have all it takes to make this life meaningful and fruitful but be wondering why it isn't really working out... Jesus renders it fruitful; the Spirit makes our abilities true gifts. Wait, wait with patience and trust and the Lord will transform - your tears into joy (Jn 16:20), your shame into radiance (Ps 34:5), your weariness shall be replenished (Jer 31:25)... all this when you are able to endure with the Lord, wait on the Lord and allow the Lord to work on you! We see a tendency today, as soon as a little problem arises, we are out running from pillar to post seeking and begging someone or something to solve the problem. We have lost the courage to sit at the feet of the Lord and seek the light. We have lost the trust that everything that happens in our lives has something important to communicate to us. We have lost the faith that the Lord is there beside us even while we shall walk in the darkest of valleys and the Lord's crook and staff shall be there to guide me to light, to fullness, to sweetness of the new wine!

When our lives run dry... let's take our jars filled to Jesus and he will transform them into wine;  let's surrender to the Spirit and the Spirit will make us God's children again.

Knowing, but loving Saviour!

January 19, 2019

Saturday, 1st week in Ordinary time

Hebrews 4: 12-16; Mark 2: 13-17

God is all knowing and we all know it and we know all about it! In spite of knowing all about us, our weaknesses and our faults, our limitations and our failures, God loves us! That is something that we can never understand to the full... God's love is bountiful and God's mercies never cease! 

God loves us not because we deserve that love but because we need that love. God's mercy is given us not because we are worthy of it but because it is God's nature to be merciful. The Word is the epitome of God's merciful love,  a love without conditions, a love beyond criteria,  a love that fills a person and challenges him or her to total conversion! 

With absolutely no demands this love leads  one to transformation. All that we need to do is dispose  ourselves favorably towards this love and surrender ourselves to it. It is like the medical check up that we go to these days, called the Master check-up! You go, and you say nothing: they do the entire analysis, a comprehensive one and let you know, what is alright and what isn't. They give you the possibility of consulting a specialist and even a prescription of medicine - it all depends on you to take it or not!

That is what happens to our Spiritual self too when we dispose ourselves and surrender to the Word - the Word does a quick comprehensive analysis and reveals to us what is good and what is not, prescribing to us the changes we need to make. It is left to us to work on ourselves! The unbelievable fact that underlies all this is the Saviour, the Lord, the High priest whom we have: all knowing, but at the same time ever-loving Saviour!

Doing all that we can!

January 18, 2019

Friday, 1st week in Ordinary time 

Hebrews 4:1-5,11; Mark 2: 1-12

Doing all that one can is not an unknown mindset or life style these days. There are people who do all that they can for a lot of things that they want to achieve, there are things for which the people are ready to do all that they can. The Word too invites us today to do all that we can - but for what and for whom? 

Do all you can to reach that place of rest, invites the letter to the Hebrews. And the Gospel presents to us those persons who did all that they can to reach that paralytic man to Jesus, so that Jesus could heal him. Doing all you can, is the call...

People are ready today to do all that they can for themselves and for their own goals... they manipulate, they compromise, they adjust, they give up, they give in, they cheat, they plot and they even kill in order to achieve their ends - regardless of whether they are religious or irreligious, whether they are lay or consecrated, whether already living a comfortable life or not! This is the sense of 'do-all-you-can' that the world today upholds!

The Word gives us a different picture: do all you can to receive the rest that God has prepared for you - that alone is eternal, everything else is passing. The gospel challenges us: do all you can for others, your neighbours,  those in need and those who are suffering, those who are miserable and desperate to find the Lord - that is the unfailing way to the peace that God has in store for you. Yes, for that eternal rest and for those in need around you, Do all you can!