THE WORD AND THE SAINT

The Seeds of Self-giving

August 10, 2019: Remembering St. Lawrence, the Deacon-Martyr

2 Corinthians 9: 6-10; John 12: 24-26

The best of all giving, is giving of oneself! Giving of one’s abundance, giving of whatever little that one has and giving even if one does not have enough for oneself – these are praise worthy in their respective order. But the highest of all giving is Self-giving. 

Celebrating the Deacon-martyr, St. Lawrence, we are reminded of the early Christian communities that were so much characterized by persons who were blessed with the special charism of Giving of their own selves, apart from what they possessed. They were cheerful givers, and so we find their numbers kept growing unprecedentedly. The very spirit that they radiated held captive those who saw them and multitudes were drawn to emulate it. They were ready and willing to die to themselves that Christ may come alive in them! 

St.Paul’s words were true in so many of those early Christians – “I live, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal 2:20) and “for me to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil 1:21). These were not mere catchy sayings; they were true lived experiences and we witness it in great martyrs like St. Stephen, the apostles and St. Paul himself. 

St. Lawrence follows suit very closely later in the third century. After all, they had but one model who had invaded and conquered their minds, hearts and spirits - Jesus the ultimate personification of self-giving - the grain of seed that chose to fall to the ground, that it may abound in its fruits: we are the fruits and let us be worthy of the grain which has borne us. 

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

Covenant, Call and Faithfulness

August 9, 2019: Remembering Edith Stein

The covenant that Israelites had with Yahweh was not formulated on some imaginary terms, but was established on a concrete experience of a nation walking into freedom. Neither is the covenant that we have with God based on an imagination – it is based on a concrete sacrifice of the Son of God, signed with the blood from the Cross and ratified with the death of the Lamb of God! 

At our baptism we have counter signed that covenant and it is upto us to honour it all our life. The terms are clear – to recognize the great deeds that God has accomplished on our behalf; to acknowledge the saving mysteries of the life, death and resurrection of the Son of God; and to behold the great gift of Resurrection that is promised us in the hope of this covenant. 

We can behold that resurrection in the Risen Lord, if we are ready to participate in the life of the Son of God – a life lived totally in obedience to the holy will of God. Carrying the daily cross – is the readiness to face the hurdles of each day and continue to feel the presence of God beside; to remain steadfast to what is true, right and just, despite the consequences that might prove to be tricky or troublesome; to be ready to lose the whole world, just in order to gain one’s soul!

Only after having reflected on the Word, did I notice that the reflection suited so exactly the person of the saint, whom we remember today: Edith Stein, or St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross - a German Jew who found Jesus and converted to Catholicism, began living her baptismal calling at a deeper level becoming a Discalced Carmelite, but was killed by the Nazi racism on 9th August 1942, at Auschwitz Concentration Camp. She was so ready to lose anything to remain faithful to her call!

Discipleship at crucial moments

WORD 2day: Thursday, 18th week in Ordinary time

August 8, 2019: Numbers 20: 1-13; Matthew 16: 13-23

Moses and Peter – their impatience and impudence come under scrutiny! Moses, whom God spoke to as a friend, and Peter, whom Jesus called the Rock on which he would build his Church – even they, as leaders give themselves off in a moment of fatigue and overconfidence! 

Discipleship is not a victory gained once for all! It is a daily commitment and a perpetual challenge. Anything can bring down to the ground whatever we have built with days and days of hard work and persistence. We cannot afford to grow careless. That is why Jesus teaches us to watch and pray and be vigilant always, that the moment of the enemy may not overtake us (Lk 21:34-36). 

The murmurings and the hardheadedness of the people catches on to Moses and in a moment of impatience and restlessness, Moses instead of waiting on the Lord, decides to act on his own account. While the Lord asked him to speak to the rock( 20:8) in order that the water may flow, he strikes the rock with his baton (20:11). The commendation from Jesus gets to the head of Peter and he turns presumptuous to question the will of God! Both of them are promptly indicated their mistake. 

The lesson is clear for us today – to remain vigilant in our discipleship that we may always remain calm but cautious, confident but humble, persistent but patient, passionate but attentive to the Will of the Master! May these great apostles, Moses and Peter, teach us by example.

Faithlessness or Faith – As you sow, so you reap!

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 18th week in Ordinary time

August 7, 2019: Numbers 13: 1-2, 25 - 14:1,26-29, 34-35; Matthew 15: 21-28

“As you have spoken I will do unto you!”-“As you wished it shall be unto you!” The two phrases, former from the first reading and the latter from the Gospel seem similar, though they are not! Considering the contexts, they are infact contrary to each other – one a reproach from the Lord and the other an approval. However, the message is same – FAITH. 

The first reading seems to be a rationalization on the part of Israel, as to why they had to sojourn forty long years in the deserts of Paran – a simple reason: lack of faith! The Lord could not walk them to the land of milk and honey, as promised, because they were stubborn and hard headed, never yielding to the guiding hand of God. 

The Gospel pictures a woman whose request has apparently no place on the 'to-do' list of Jesus that day! But the list had to be changed by all means. Logically as in another place we read, that due to lack of faith Jesus did not accomplish much signs and wonders, here Jesus could not but make that miracle happen because of the grandeur of the faith of that simple woman! 

How blessed it would be if Jesus were to look at you and me and say, “My Son, My daughter, great is your faith!”

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

Lessons from the Transfigured Lord

August 6, 2019: The Feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord 
Daniel 7: 9-10,13-14; 2 Peter 1: 16-19; Luke 9: 28-36

The Transfigured Lord gives the disciples, and us too, a three fold message:

- See what you don't see:

Learn to see things beyond the apparent. Jesus revealed to the disciples what they never managed to see in him. Understand that the Lord has so many things ready to be revealed to you... but are you ready to see?

- Hear what you don't hear:

Train yourself to hear what the Lord wants you to hear. They hear the voice challenging them to listen to the son of God and do what he says. Growing up from hearing only what I want to hear , I am called to hear what I should hear!

- Feel what you don't feel:

Form yourself to feel what you never feel ordinarily. The disciples felt a new kind of feeling that they had never felt... they felt divine but were soon made to understand that they cannot get stuck to that feeling but move on to feel with those who are down the mountain, those who are suffering,  those who are yearning for salvation, those who are waiting for the Gospel.

Never lose heart... miracles are just round the corner!

WORD 2day: Monday, 18th week in Ordinary time

August 5, 2019: Numbers 11:14-15; Matthew 14: 13-21

Discouragement in the life of a disciple is a moment to take stock and bounce back! Moses feels overburdened today, with the weight not just of carrying the people along, but of their obstinacy that prevented them from perceiving all that was so good and blessed around! The signs and wonders notwithstanding, the people decide to be unhappy and never to be convinced of the goodness that surrounds them. 

As a disciple in ministry sometimes, all the good that is done and all the troubles that are taken seem to be ignored and much worse, interpreted wrongly! We see this discouragement in every person of God – apart from Moses presented today, Jeremiah (20:14-16), Paul, ... almost all the great prophets and disciples experienced it – Jesus was no exception. 

Today we find Jesus, withdrawing to a secluded place after hearing the execution of John the Baptist. As if to have been reminded of his own fate to come, Jesus resorts to a time of solitude with the One who has sent him! Discouragements in our life too can be made moments of blessings if we opt to spend those moments with the right persons – first of all with God, who is always with us; then with persons of God who are given to us as reminders of God’s presence! 

When these moments are utilized well, as moments to take stock, we can bounce back into action with a renewed spirit: as it happens with Moses, who grows so strong in his rapport with Yahweh who stood by his side all the while; like Jesus who comes up with the feat of feeding the multitude, as Yahweh did in the desert! 

Discouragements are part of the package of our experiences – they have something to tell us, something to offer us. If we are ready to wait on the Lord, we will surely gather every bit of the blessings in store! I love to repeat this, to myself and to others: miracles abound, for those who are prepared to see them around!

Speaking of Miracles... let me add a short note here, an added reason to celebrate today: We celebrate today the memory 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 which came down in the exact spot, on August 5th, a mid summer night, gave rise to the title Our Lady of Snows! Happy Feast of Our Lady of Snows!

PILGRIMS TO PARADISE

A Journey kit for the Wayfarer

August 4, 2019: 18th Sunday in Ordinary time

Ecclesiastes 1:2, 2:21-23; Colossians 3:1-5,9-11; Luke 12: 13-21

A wise man lived in a tent in the deserts of Arabia. Numerous people went to meet him everyday, either for a blessing or a counsel or merely to see the saintly man! Once entered a man who was totally surprised that there was nothing, absolutely nothing, inside the tent – not even a stool for a furniture! And he asked the wise man, “Where are your furniture?” The wise man looked up and instead of answering that question, retorted, “and where are yours?” “But I am only a traveller, a passer-by” protested the visitor. And without losing his calm the wise man quipped, “So am I; a traveller, a passer-by!”

We are all travellers, passers-by, pilgrims towards our heavenly home, pilgrims to paradise! We do not have a permanent home here, we are looking towards it, says the letter to the Hebrews(13:14). When the Word of God repeatedly reminds us that we are merely “strangers and pilgrims” (Heb 11:13; 1 Pet 2:11), it is not a negative outlook on our life here and now, but a lasting perspective to understand it in the right manner! We are not permanent here on earth, however famous or important we are – and that is an obvious truth, so much forgotten or so much neglected by our ambitious world! We are not in an oblivion, as if to say we do not know our origins nor our future! No! The second reading today tells us, “Brothers and sisters, you are risen with Christ” – We are resurrected people, people of the Risen Lord, who awaits us in the heavenly abode, for us to be with him for eternity! We are on a journey, we are on a pilgrimage! And on this pilgrimage we need a travel kit! The Liturgy today reminds us of three essential components that should find their place in that kit – and those components are Wisdom, Knowledge and Discernment!

The first of the components is WISDOM – the capacity to know the difference between the vanities and values in life!  There are those who run after wealth all their life and finally discover that they have infact lost their whole life for nothing! Attachments, Ego, Vain glory, prestige, power and pleasure can mislead our minds and spoil our spirits, leading to a life so empty and erroneous. Persons entrusted to us by God, Love that brightens every morning and illuminates every night, Relationships that give meaning and make us feel wanted- these can help us live our life for others and ultimately for God, who is the very source of that life and the only One who can throw light on its real meaning! Vanities and Values – both shine but it depends on me to differentiate the real brilliance and the fake lustre.

KNOWLEDGE is another necessary element to never lose our way on this journey! Knowledge is not merely a collection of information, it is the capacity to choose between the virtues and vices! St. Paul instructs us through his letter to the Colossians today (3:10) that to put on the new person, is to be renewed in the fullness of knowledge after the image of the One who has created us! God is the fullness of knowledge, that is, the fullness of Virtues who shows us how our lives have to be lived! “To make them know the beauty of virtue and the ugliness of vices” was the task given to Don Bosco, the educator of the young, by the Risen Lord and the Blessed Mother. The right knowledge guides us on our path and leads us through right choices.

The third and the most difficult of all is DISCERNMENT. To store up right treasure in the right place! The clarity of what is truly the treasure to be sought and the choice of the right place to store them, is the most important truth every religion and faith intends to present. The readings today direct us to this discernment! Living in a world of consumerism and globalization, days of technological advancement and communication revolution, we are today made to think deep with the situations of war, violence, killings, greed, corruption, domination, deception, exploitation and dehumanization all around us. The choice is ours, either to be carried along by the current or to swim against the current! If we are carried by the current we are dead and buried in this world of vanity! If we dare to stand against it and swim counter-current, we are people of the Risen Lord, the followers of the living Lord, real pilgrims to paradise!

A Christian Celebration!

WORD 2day: Saturday, 17th week in Ordinary time 

August 3, 2019: Leviticus 25:1,8-17; Matthew 14: 1-12

In spite of all the talk about recession, economic crisis and tough times,  celebrations do not seem to have reduced or stopped. Especially in the religious realm, celebrations find their importance and significance intact. At times they are exaggerated too to the extent of being detested. Today the Word presents to us two modes of celebration - one, an exploitative celebration that is irresponsible, insensitive and a mere show of arrogance; the other,  a righteous celebration... a Birthday celebration and the Jubilee celebration. 

What should a Christian celebration be like, is the question we are invited to reflect on today! The First reading tells us what it should be and the Gospel, what it shouldn't be. Insensitive expenditures, egoistic self propaganda, lustful indulgence, uncontrolled inebriation, objectification of persons, a show of pomp that is inconsistent with the prevailing conditions of inhumanity, an unjustifiable splendour that is so removed from the stark reality of a great part of the society - these are clear indications of a celebration that is UNCHRISTIAN or even anti-Christian. 

A real Christian celebration should bring to the centre of focus. the well being of those who are suffering, those who are struggling under constant poverty and inhumanity, those who face the hardship of want and helplessness of misery day in and day out, those who have got used to living in a state of misfortune, those who find their lives everyday becoming more and more difficult - the celebration should come as a consolation, a hand on the shoulders of these loving children of God! 

The Jubilee year proposed by the Lord to the people and the ways to observe the Jubilee highlight the elements of selfless concern for the other, a sacrifice for the sake of the less fortunate, justice and righteousness, brotherhood and sisterhood, doing no wrong to the other and the most important of all, a fuller sharing of God's love with one another! We will do well today, to examine our celebrations!

A celebration that is godly should not be at the cost of the other, but for the sake of the love for the other. Celebrations should reaffirm the meaning and joy of living. That is why everyday eucharist is a celebration, a reminder of the life that we are called to live in the Lord, in communion with our brothers and sisters!

Do you see Jesus?

WORD 2day: Friday, 17th week in Ordinary time

August 2, 2019: Leviticus 23: 1,4-11,15-16,27; Matthew 13: 54-58 

Due to their lack of faith, Jesus did not work many mighty deeds among them, says the Gospel today. I remember once talking to a group of youngsters, a young friend asked me, "If God could not do a miracle, be it for whatever reason, is it not a limitation or a weakness?" "It is not God's weakness", I said, "but the strength that God has shared with us." 

God created us in God's image and likeness and this likeness ensures that we are hardly different from God (Ps.8)! That makes us also persons with inviolable freedom, a freedom which not even God would take away. Though many dissent it saying it is the cause of scores of evil in the world, it is that which makes us human, and gives us the dignity as the images of the Creator. Without the 'personal freedom' we would be no more than the animals. 

Faith and Freedom have a great deal to do with each other. Faith is a response given in freedom, a total absolute freedom of the inner being of a person. Jesus in his freedom chooses to enter the synagogue to pray with his people and the people with their freedom choose to see only the apparent facts of Jesus, as the son of the carpenter and a son of their soil. They were not able to see the divine import of his actions, his words and the signs that he was accomplishing. 

Today, it can happen so if we look at Jesus as someone kept aside for Sundays, specials days and some particular moments of other days! All the festivals that the people celebrated - as we see in the first reading -were a preparation for them to receive in fullness the presence of the Lord among them! But when they are carried out for the sake of the rule that is laid out, they lose their real purpose, and no more do they help in SEEING the Lord present. It is an oft repeated warning from the Lord, not to make our spirituality legalistic and our piety pharisaic! 

Are we able to see Jesus in our everyday life?

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

As the Lord commands...

August 1, 2019 - Remembering St. Alphonse of Liguori

Exodus 40: 16-21, 34-38; Matthew 13: 47-53

'As the Lord commanded' - we find that phrase repeated atleast thrice in today's first reading, leave alone counting the number of times it appears in the whole life of Moses narrated in the book of Exodus. Doing what the Lord wants, was the key preoccupation for Moses and that is what he taught his people...hence he is presented as the greatest law-giver!  He even made it clear to the Lord when he said, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here" (Exo 33:15). Being with the Lord and never going away from the Lord's presence was everything for the people of Israel. 

Good fish and Bad fish...resembling the sheep and the goats (in Mat 25)... Jesus presents the reality of the choice that we have to make in life - a radical choice for or against God that would determine every single decision and even the minutest moves of our life. There can be no compromises in this - it is either being in the net or being cast out of it! 'A scribe instructed in the Kingdom of heaven' is a person who is strong as a scribe in the laws and the commandments, but with a clear perspective of the Kingdom that reinterprets, reinvigorates and rejuvenates all understanding one has of God and of spirituality. 

To be instructed someone has to instruct! Alphonsus Liguori, whom we remember today, was a saint of the 18th century, who felt a special call to instruct people in faith, to preach the Word to the people...that they may always remain in the presence of the Lord. Even today his disciples, the Redemptorists (priests whose name you see with a suffix CSSR) prove themselves powerful instruments of God's mercy inviting people to conversion, to spiritual renewal and to remaining in the presence of the Lord.

Remaining in the presence of the Lord forever, is possible because the Lord accompanies us, 'as cloud by day and fire by night' the presence of the Lord goes before us. With that illumining and guiding presence, we can be sure of staying always within the net, because it will become our way of life to live and do, as the Lord commands!