To become fertile soil

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 16th week in Ordinary time

July 24, 2019: Exodus 14:21 - 15:1; Matthew 12: 46-50

Those who have ears, let them hear; those who have eyes, let them see; those who have a heart, let them feel... how pained Jesus would have been to say this! The people saw him cure the sick, give sight to the blind, make the deaf hear and the mute speak, drive the demons out and raise people from the dead! Inspite of all these the people were not ready to believe him! He was wondering what kind of a heart they had... rocks, or thorny bushes or sandy sidewalks... how he wished they were good fertile soil. 

However Jesus knew what kind of people he was dealing with - the children of the people who saw the plagues one after another in Egypt, but still readily murmured when they saw the Egyptians pursue them; the people who saw the Egyptians perish right in front of their eyes, but still readily murmured when they had nothing to eat; the people who saw the manna fall from nowhere and the quails that fell right into their mouths, but still readily murmured that they would die for want of water; the people who saw water gush forth from a rock in the middle of the desert, but still readily murmured that manna was tasteless and the quails were stale! 

Hard and stubborn as they were, nothing pierced their hearts to make it bear fruit as God wanted from them... the warning to us is clear! How prone we are to murmur against God in times of trouble, forgetting the abundance of graces we have received! The capacity to see God's presence in our daily life will decide, whether we are sandy sidewalks or rocky ruins or thorny bushes or as God wants, fertile soil!

The Will or your whims?

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 16th week in Ordinary time

July 23, 2019: Exodus 14:21 - 15:1; Matthew 12: 46-50

The first reading sets us thinking... the greed of the king and his adamant decision to exploit the people led him to destruction! However, the reading is clear, he did not die, his own people did! The Egyptians, the horsemen and all who followed him died! We can be very sure not all of those who died wished to pursue the people of Israel; it was not their wish, they did it because they were enrolled, they were commissioned by the authority. But all the same, the destruction was theirs. 

How close it seems to what is happening today in the world... the leaders who mislead, the leaders guided by warped politics and selfish interests who lead the whole people astray, the partisan mentality of the people who destroy themselves, following the leaders who however remain in their zones of security! Wars, civil clashes, terrorist attacks, border conflicts, nuclear craze, killings in the name of caste and creed - how many of these we find today because of a group of leaders who manipulate everything for their ends! This can end only when every individual is able to think for himself or herself and have the freedom to say 'no' to what one thinks is not right, or what one thinks does not enhance humanity and its existence. 

The unfailing criteria for such decisions and discernments, as Jesus points today, is the Will of God! When human beings are too concerned about having their will established at all costs, be it in personal lives or in social settings, it leads to autocracy or hegemony and subsequently varied forms of exploitation and destruction. The only way to enhance life to its fullness is to do the Will of God, and that is the only way to become 'the mother, the brothers and sisters' of Jesus, the Son of God.

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

Weeping blinds you... Listen and Look!

22nd July,  2019: Celebrating St. Mary Magdalene 

Song of Songs 3: 1-4; John 20:1-2,11-18

Today we celebrate Mary Magdalene, the first apostle of the Risen Lord. It may be a surprising title to give her, but factually it is so! An apostle is someone who is sent, sent with a message... and the first one who was sent, sent with a message by the Risen Lord was Mary of Magdala! Isn't it true?

Mary Magdalene loved Jesus intensely. She was delivered by Jesus from seven demons, the Gospels tell us. And after that, for her Jesus, her Master meant everything in life. The first reading is given to make us understand how intimately she had loved Jesus. She had encountered, experienced and cherished her relationship with Jesus, while he lived, in such close quarters but now the Risen Lord stands right beside her and she is unable to identify him...  the reason: she is too occupied with her weeping and complaining.

At times in our lives when troubles come by and trials abound,  we fumble and falter as if we are all alone. We fail to recognise the Lord who sticks so close to us,  because we are too busy weeping and complaining.

If only we opened our eyes and saw;  if only we opened our hearts and listened;  if only we believed in the words of the Lord,  "I have conquered the world"... we would leap for joy and love to cling to the Lord. Mary Magdalene gives us a clear message: stop weeping;  weeping blinds you;  look, listen and you will leap for joy, for the Lord is with you now and always! 

GOD VISITS US...

Behold! I stand at the door and knock...

July 21, 2019: 16th Sunday in Ordinary time

Genesis 18: 1-10; Colossians 1:24-28; Luke 10: 38-42

Behold! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me - Rev. 3:20 summarises the liturgy of the Word today! The Lord visits us, everyday; in various ways, in ways ordinary or wondrous, the Lord visits us. What is our response and what should it be - that is the question we are invited to reflect on. 

The first reading pictures God visiting Abraham. It is interesting to read the first three verses and a great lesson awaits us there. The first two verses say, that the Lord appeared and Abraham lifted his eyes and saw three men! Not in glorious light or in flaming clouds, but in three simple men, that the Lord visited Abraham. Reading further the second and the third verse together, gives us another detail, Abraham saw three men and he addressed them, "My Lord, do not pass by." Though Abraham saw the men, he was able to behold the presence of the Lord. The Message for today is established right there! Our God visits us... on a daily basis.. in one way or the other, in ways ordinary or in ways wondrous, the Lord visits us. Through extraordinary signs of awe-inspiring events or heart-breaking happenings; through a person whom we come across on a dreary daily routine, an extra smile or an overshadowing grief on the person's face; through a habitual joy that brightens the day or a repeated bad news on a newsprint; the Lord visits us! 

'I fear the Lord passing by', said St. Augustine, in simple words expressing the grief of not being ready to behold the visit of the Lord, due to the hustle and bustle of the day or the ordinariness of the experience. The Word today points to us the special capacity needed for someone in order not to allow the Lord pass by... 

The Capacity to Receive: Hospitality is not in things; it is a matter of the heart! It is not the fact that some one can afford, that makes him or her hospitable to the other. It is the heart, the love that is there in the heart, the warmth that fills that heart, that makes a person go out of one's way to extend hospitality to another person. In the ancient Israel, a stranger to the land was treated as a guest of honour, and a guest became a messenger from God! In the ancient Indian culture too, we have the age old saying, 'Adhithi devo bhava' (meaning -the Guest is God) and the great Tamil Classic, Tirukkural dedicates a whole chapter of 10 couplets on Hospitality, that is receiving guests and treating them with love and honour. 

The Capacity to receive the Lord, is seen in one's capacity to observe everything in life with a sense of gratitude and wonder, one's capacity to encounter a person every time with a new perspective and without judgments and prejudices. It is the capacity to see God in everything that is around and every person who is around. Abraham was able to encounter God in the three men that he saw; St. Paul was able to encounter Jesus in the light that threw him down from the horse and listen to his voice, calling out to him!

The Capacity to Listen: Encountering God, is basically listening to God! Every visit brings us a message. Every encounter has something to tell us for our daily life. It is a special gift to listen to the Lord, to discern what God wants of us, to hear the Lord's voice telling us 'do this' or 'be this' or 'become someone' or 'denounce something'. 

The Lord speaks in every encounter, through every person, through every event... we are expected to act, to respond and carry out the task entrusted to us. But the point of departure is always the feet of the Lord! To sit at the feet of the Master and drink in every bit of wisdom and knowledge, that when it is time for me to go forth, I am prepared to be God's presence to the others, that when they encounter me, they can feel the presence of the Lord!

The Capacity to Suffer: Encountering God is a challenge to make a choice, a fundamental choice for the Lord or otherwise! St. Paul made that choice, a 'U' Turn for the Lord - and the ultimate choice is to choose to suffer for the Lord. The Lord prepares us - Abraham was prepared to wait endlessly for the promises to be fulfilled; Martha was prepared to run about doing things for the love she had for Jesus, Mary was prepared to sit at the feet of the Lord mindless of the criticisms hurled at her, and St. Paul was prepared to say, "I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake!" 

When God visits us, it is a dangerous event, a risky experience - because after that nothing can remain what it was before. There will be a drastic change and we have to be prepared for that. The change, certainly, would not be always for the better or for a more pleasant development - more often than not, it would be towards a hardship, a task, a cross!

The invitation is clear dear friends... to behold the Lord who visits us, to let the Lord speak to us and be prepared for an encounter with the Lord - on a daily basis. Doing this our daily life will become meaningful, challenging and TRULY CHRISTIAN. 

Keep Walking

WORD 2day: Saturday, 15th week in Ordinary time

July 20, 2019: Exodus 12: 37-42; Matthew 13: 14-21

Reading passages like that of today's first reading, where it says 'that was for the Lord a night of vigil, to bring them out of Egypt'... that the Lord watched over the people of Israel as they walked into that night of freedom towards the broad day light... there is a longing in our hearts that cries... Will there not be a day when the people suffering today would walk into their freedom; the oppressed innocents, the trodden poor, the cheated multitudes, the neglected lots, the exploited masses - will there not be an end to evil in the world? Will not the Lord keep watch over these my suffering brothers and sisters to walk into their freedom, into their life of peace, into their days of tranquility? 

The response is right there in the reading too... the number of years that the Hebrews lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty! The Lord is still working on the solution, and we are all part of the process! There are many who create hindrances and blocks, but despite all, the humanity will one day see the eternal goodness, the Reign of God established forever! 

Our role in the plan, is as that of the people of Israel - Keep Walking... Jesus was cornered, plotted against... he moved on, slipped through, and went ahead doing good to the people - for he knew his time had not come, he knew the One who sent him had a proper plan and the right time - and Jesus kept walking, 'and many followed him'. 

Let us wait on the Lord, in the Lord's own time everything will happen according to the design; but on our part we are called to do the little that is our's to do, and keep walking. As Matthew quotes Isaiah, 'In God's name will we hope.' And the sign of hope is - to keep walking!

Sacrifices or Self-Understanding - what really matters?

WORD 2day: Friday,  15th week in Ordinary time 

July 19, 2019: Exodus 11:10 - 12:14; Matthew 12: 1-8 

The Liturgy of the Word today traces for us an eventful journey of the understanding of God and the self-understanding of the people in relation to their God! From an understanding of sacrifice as a demand and requirement to a liberating understanding of God, brought in by Jesus who presented a God who says, "I desire mercy and not sacrifice". 

The point is not that the Old Testament's understanding was faulty; neither is it to say that Jesus negates all the understanding of the Old Testament! As Jesus himself explained, he came not to abolish the law, he came to bring it to its fulfillment. That fulfillment is achieved when we understand not just the letter but the spirit of the law and try to live it to its details. 

The sacrifices, the sanctifications, the consecrations that were prescribed were all for one reason: to bring the people closer to the Lord! To make the people understand how good the Lord has been... in order that they may lift the cup of salvation, a thanksgiving sacrifice to the Lord, as the Psalm invites us today. 

Having moved a long way from the understanding of the people of the Old Testament, the challenge is much greater for us today - to prioritise our relationship with God, in all that we carry out in the name of our spirituality, in the name of practices of piety. It is not merely a fulfillment of a duty or a necessity, for God needs nothing from us; but a thanksgiving to the ever-present Lord, a grateful beholding of the loving presence of God with us, is what really matters.

Come and Go - in the name of God!

WORD 2day: Thursday, 15th week in Ordinary time

July 18, 2019: Exodus 3: 13-20; Mt 11: 28-30

The Word presents the name of God to us today. Speaking of the name of God, I am reminded of an experience, exactly this time some seven years ago. I was in a parish in the north of Italy, to substitute a parish priest during his days of Spiritual Retreat. There were a few elderly ladies who were regular for the daily Eucharist and after the celebration everyday, they spent some time talking to me. They loved to hear of the Bible and one day the most vociferous of them asked me - "Is there a name for our God!" Before I could say, "Yes, it is Jesus!", she intervened and said, "I mean, God the Father! Does God have a name?" And I quoted to her today's reading and said, "Yes, our God is I AM. Or when we say it...Our God is WHO IS". She was thrilled to know the name of God, and was going around telling everyone, the name of God, the new discovery that she has made. When the Parish priest returned a week later, one of the first things she told him was, "Fr. you know, I know the name of our God. Our God is, WHO IS, or I AM, or YAHWEH"...And the Parish Priest was a bit upset; he turned to me and said - "No Christy... That is the God of the Hebrews!" I did not want to pick a theological argument with the Parish priest...but I thought to myself - "Yes...that is the God of the Hebrews, and therefore the God of Jesus too...the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ as St.Paul would say (2 Cor 1:3; Eph 1:3; Col 1:3)." It is not just a name - it was an experience. It has to be our experience today: the God who IS, who is with us, all the time.

Apart from the name of God, the word that dominates the first reading today is 'Go'... Yahweh sends Moses to the Pharaoh.  The term that stands out in the short but sweet Gospel of today is,  'Come'... the Lord invites the burdened to come and rest. 

Come and Go... they may look like two opposite words but the reason given for both the movements is the same. Because I am with you, says the Lord. Go, for I am with you. Come to me, for I am here for you! Coming and going...refer to the docility of the chosen, the willingness and readiness with which a messenger of the Lord vows to act. Every day and in ways mysterious and means ordinary, the Lord keeps sending us these instructions: come,  go,  speak,  share,  remain,  endure and so on... are we prepared to listen and eager to act upon it?

We need to be people who come and go, do everything, in the name of God, who is with us!

Who am I, really?

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 15th week in Ordinary time

July 17, 2019: Exodus 3: 1-6,9-12; Matthew 11: 25-26

What do people think of me? How do I come across to people? What kind of an image do I give of myself to others? Will this make or mar the opinion others have about me? ...these are some popular considerations we have before we decide to do something! At times this consideration of human respect keeps me back from being who I am! The Lord declares in various ways today that it does not  matter so much who I am as to who is with me, who is for me!

God identified godself through Moses that God is WHO IS (I am), and Jesus the Son of God revealed to us a God WHO IS ALWAYS WITH US... One who is concerned about us, journeys with us, leads us by hand and wants to be with us always, specially when we are tired and heavy laden, specially when we are through the lowest moments of our lives, specially when we feel we are abandoned and all alone. Yes, Our God is WHO IS!

Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh? - I will be with you, says the Lord! What makes the difference is that, the Lord was with Moses. Who we are is important, but more important is who is with us! We may be merely children, but if God is with us, we can be worth all the wisest and powerful put together. Do not say you are merely a child, the Lord told Jeremiah. The Lord promises to be with us, what else do we need! If God is with us, what do we lack! If God is for us who can be against us! 

Where do I belong?

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 15th week in Ordinary time

July 16, 2019: Exodus 2: 1-15a; Matthew 11:20-24

Yesterday we spoke of the situations of injustice in the world and the readings drove us to a reflection on it. Today, the readings issue a warning to us! The Lord is patient and merciful, but at the same time just and righteous. The Lord has a predilection for the poor, the oppressed, those who are sinned against, those who are denied of their rights, those who are constrained to live in conditions that they actually do not deserve to suffer. The warning is this: that we take care to see where we actually belong! 

July 16, 1945 - was the day that the atomic bomb was dropped, bringing the World war II to an end. We are not called merely to judge who is right and who is wrong and give a verdict on persons. We are called to remain on the side of the right, the truth and justice. It is not that we may be oppressors, but even if indirectly by our inaction and silence we allow the oppression of a person or a people go scot-free, we are on the wrong side, on the side of injustice! As the famous holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel says, "We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented." 

Our help is in the name of the Lord, affirms the Responsorial Psalm today. When we are a help to the oppressed, we are acting in the name of the Lord. The Lord raises Lord's judgement, Lord's Hero from where and when, we know not. But surely our help is in the name of the Lord, and let us strive to be always on the side of the Lord. If we fail, the Lord warns us today, "I tell you that it shall be more tolerable on the day of judgement for the land of Sodom than for you."

We celebrate Our Blessed Mother of Mount Carmel - so many events and memories, all converging on one single theme: where do we belong - to the right or to the wrong? to justice or to injustice? The scapular is not just some magical totem. It is a sign, a declared sign, a refuge we take under the power of God, under the banner of the Almighty. It is a sign of our personal choice! Yes, the choice is ours, every day, every moment.

People who forget their stories!

Monday, 15th week in Ordinary time

July 15, 2019: Exodus 1:8-14, 22; Matthew 10:34 - 11:1

One cannot but think of the prevailing situations of inhumanity, cruel hegemony, political manipulation, socio-economic oppression and human right violations all over the world, when we read the first reading today! When we find ourselves in front of these suffering brothers and sisters, we cannot close our eyes or switch off our minds. No one can be neutral, in our own way we have to take our stand - if we try staying neutral, so many memories will come crowding into our minds: the world wars, the holocaust, the hiroshima-nagasaki, the Srilankan tamil carnage, the 13 shot in tuticorin last year... how many of these can we ward off from our minds? 

Not only did the Pharaoh not know the history of Joseph and things that happened in his predecessors' times, even the people seemed to have forgotten their origins - of how they reached Egypt and why they reached there and that they were there only for a while, that the Lord had said they will move to "their" land later! They began to think Egypt was their land and they would be there for eternity. They forgot their story. The Lord had to remind them. The world today too has this spiritual amnesia! 

That is why the Lord comes with the sword, with fire... that we may wake up and wake up the world, and bring ourselves back as people who are mindful of our stories, our experiences, all that we have enjoyed from the Lord and all that we have promised the Lord and all that we have neglected so far. At times when we face turmoils, we need to turn back to our stories thus far and draw consolation and inspiration from there. In those moments of struggle, as people of God we need to realise that we are afflicted but not crushed,  perplexed but not driven to despair,  persecuted but not forsaken (cf 2 Cor 4:8)... let us pay heed that we do not become people who forget their stories.