HOLINESS - THE IDENTITY OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD

Be you holy, as I am holy

February 23, 2020: 7th Sunday in Ordinary time

Leviticus 19:1-2,17-18; 1 Corinthians 3:16-23; Matthew 5:38-48

What makes one a Christian? Take a pause and answer this question within your hearts!

Is it Baptism? 
Yes, of course, but only if it were received with a personal choice and every promise given at the proper moment is lived to the full everyday of one's life. The mere rite does not make you a Christian automatically.

Is it being enrolled in a parish? 
Yes, but only if the belonging to the parish makes one feel one with the Universal Body of Christ, the Church. The mere fact that you belong to a geographical jurisdiction of a Catholic parish does not make you deserve that name Christian.

That which makes our Baptism efficacious, our belonging to a parish meaningful, and makes us truly Christians is our realisation of our identity, as people of God - a realisation that has to be manifested in our personal holiness and in our holiness as a community of believers.

In the Apostolic exhortation Gaudete et Exsultate, Pope Francis reminds us that it is not merely a wish of the Lord, but an expressed invitation to holiness - the Lord has been calling humanity right from the time of Abraham, to "walk with God and be blameless". The Word this Sunday, invites us to understand and accept this call to holiness, an universal call that the Lord gives to each and every one of God's children. 

Holiness is not a super-human quality. It is definitely not alien to being human. Because it can be seen at our very origin. God made us in God's own image and likeness says Genesis (1:27). So, holiness is our original nature, not sinfulness; Holiness is the core of our being, not sinfulness. Sin and sinfulness have come to mar and obstruct our original nature. This is why to the chosen people, God says through Moses, "Be holy, because I the Lord your God am Holy." Because I am holy you can be holy too. Yes, dear brothers and sisters, we ought to be holy because we are FROM GOD.

The call to holiness is as old as humanity, as right at our origin, we were created with the potential to be holy, to grow holy and to remain holy. Yes, coming from God, holiness becomes our very nature. All that it takes is to be still and know God, be still and understand what God has made us as, be still and realise the real image within us and live it to the full. Be still and know that you are from God.

Holiness is a choice, a choice made not once for all, but at every moment, at every circumstance, at every crisis. It is a choice made for God, because we realise and gratefully acknowledge the choice that God has made for us. You did not choose me, I chose you, says the Lord (Jn 15:16). It is the Lord who has chosen us. It is not that we loved God but it is God who loved us first, reminds us St. John (1 Jn 4:9,19). God has chosen us and God has loved us abundantly! And our response is Holiness, because we belong to God, we are OF GOD.

The call to holiness has a path well laid out too, in our life. The situations we find ourselves in, the difficulties and temptations, the particular commitments and fatigue that we are entrusted with each day and the demanding circumstances that we have before us to deal with - these are the ways to holiness for each of us. It is right there we have to make our choice and say to ourselves, to the world around and to our Lord, that we belong to God, we are children of God. 

Holiness is not an act, it is an attitude; it is not a set of actions but a habit; it is not merely an appearance but an internal becoming! holiness is a daily effort to become more and more like God. it is returning to the image and likeness of with which we were formed in the love of God. We need to grow in every way to be like our God, for it is God who has breathed God's Spirit into us. That requires that in our words, thoughts, attitudes, acts and choices of daily life we are called to become LIKE GOD.

The call to holiness is not something that we have to do, it is something that we have to become, we have to grow into. As in the exhortation already mentioned, Gaudete et exsultate, Pope Francis would explain, it is not in the amount of things that you accomplish, nor in the number of sacrifices you offer to the Lord that you are saved, but in the measure you are able to unite yourself in heart, mind and soul to the Creator and translate the Creator's will into your daily life - that is holiness. 

Our Blessed Mother and the Saints are our models and Jesus is our Way. St. John traces that course for us when he says, 'we will be like him because we will see him as he is" (1Jn 3:2). We are called not to be merely good people but God's people. Every word and act of our's has to reflect God's presence to those around us. 

We are People of God and our very identity is Holiness. If we miss out on holiness we lose everything. We are from God, we are of God and we are called to become like God because we are people of God. Because we are the temple where God chooses to dwell, we are the presence of God that the world so badly needs today! 

Celebrating the Petrine Ministry

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

February 22, 2020: The Chair of St.Peter

1 Peter 5: 1-4; Matthew 16: 13-19

We celebrate today the pastoral responsibility that the Lord places on the successors of St. Peter. You are Peter; on this rock I shall build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. The Church has stood the test of time - 2 millennia and still counting, despite all the forces which wanted it to buckle under pressure!

The First reading has a few remarkable elements that seem to explain perfectly the role of Papacy: 'presbyter among presbyters', 'not lording over the people', 'being example to the flock'! This is exactly what Pope Francis is trying to do: stressing the Collegiality of the Bishops as Bishop of Rome, not lording over but challenging everyone with his very life. Restraining from making a hero-idol of him, it is important as a Church that we begin to hearken to his passionate call to live as light of the world and salt of the earth, spreading love and hope to those around us. 

We have a duty today, to pray for the Holy Father, as there are so many forces today in the World that wants by all means to destroy the Church and its moral authority on the planet! The Lord promised that the gates of hell will never prevail over the Church, but we need to remain worthy of the promise, by being communities of genuine faith and integral living.

Thank you Lord for Pope Francis; guide him, protect him and fill him with the joy of the Spirit! God bless our Pope!

Live what you believe!

WORD 2day: Friday, 6th week in Ordinary time

February 21, 2020: James 2:14-24,26; Mark 8:34 -9:1

"There are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Reign of God come in power!" The Reign of God coming in power...when does this happen? It happens when faith and works unite in one single act of living. As long as that "faith-works" divide, translated as 'religiosity-social concern' conflict or 'contemplation-action' controversy or 'personal salvation-social commitment' confusion, still exists the Reign of God will be a mere talk. 

Every now and then, Pope Francis appeals to the whole world, not to be satisfied with policies and principles, laws and legalities, regulations and sanctions, but to get down to daily living and build a world of fraternity, it was the same claim as James: faith without works is dead! What we believe has to be lived. 

To take up the Cross and follow in Christ's steps, is not an easy decision. But there is nothing less than that expected of us. Jesus is categorical - If anyone wants to follow me, let him or her do this. When the gap between what we believe and live, the distance between what I preach and practice, the space between the private life and the public manifestation, become lesser and lesser, the Reign of God grows stronger and stronger. There can be no threat more powerful than this to the corrupt world order!

Hope we see, and hope more that we could make it happen, that the Reign of God come in power, right amidst us!

Partiality and Privileges - order of the day!

WORD 2day: Thursday, 6th week in Ordinary time 

February 20, 2020: James 2: 1-9; Mark 8: 27-33

It is natural to like those who like me and hate those who hate me! At times when asked, is that alright, we tend to respond with a, "what's wrong in it?" When we like some one or when we recognise someone because they like me or because they appreciate me, I recognise and accept them for the gain that I have, instead of the person that they are. 

It is a materialistic attitude to look at a person in terms of what I will gain out of that person. When this logic is in place, our relationships become calculative, insincere, exploitative and guided by hidden agenda. 

Just because Peter praised Jesus, Jesus did not spare him when he was wrong. Just because the people did not understand him, Jesus did not denounce the people outright. Just because someone is favourable to me, I cannot justify him or her for everything. Just because someone is "useless" to me, I cannot treat the person like a trash. 

Speaking of a 'use and throw' culture today in the world, both present Holy Father Pope Francis and the emeritus Benedict the XVI, denounce as a 'culture of death' and a robbing of humanity of its true dignity. Living as Christians today, when partiality and privileges seem to be the order of the day, these principles have a great role to play. 

Not just today, but every day of our daily life, let St.James' words reecho in our hearts: Brothers and Sisters, show no partiality!

To see... like a disciple!

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 6th week in Ordinary time 

February 19, 2020: James 1: 19-27; Mark 8: 22-26

We are reflecting on the letter of St. James these days, starting from this Monday, till the end of next week. James has written a letter that is incredibly practical and down to earth. Today he explains to us who is worthy of being referred to as a 'religious' person, or a faithful, or in familiar words - a disciple of Christ. 

We have, from James' letter today and even other letters, various indications like, slow to anger, slow to speak, quick to hear, attentive to the Word and particular about its practice, and so on. But the crucial characteristic that Apostle James points out is, care for the orphans and widows, empathy with the weak and the suffering. These come naturally when we learn to look at persons as persons; not as things to be used or cases to be dealt with or problems to be solved or burdens to be borne! 

That is the same education that Jesus wants to give us - that we graduate from looking at persons as trees moving, things existing or means to our own end; to looking at persons and observing their needs and aspirations, joys and sorrows, longings and yearnings, problems and prospects - as persons in their entire sense, with respect for their uniqueness and love for what they are.  

James would insist much on this, as we would see in the coming days, because for the Master, the persons who bear the image of God were the sure sources through which God shares, reveals, speaks and directs. Let our eyes be open that we see in every person around and recognise our brother and sister...making ourselves worthy disciples of Christ, worthy to live on the Lord's holy presence.

Do you still not understand?

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 6th week in Ordinary time

February 18, 2020: James 1: 12-18; Mark 8: 14-21 

How agitated Jesus gets today with his disciples! Jesus expects them to rise above the ordinary or the normal. As Jesus warned us this Sunday: if our perfection does not surpass those that of the scribes and the pharisees, that is, if we do not rise above the 'usual' way the world looks at reality, we will not be considered fit for the Reign of God! 

The so-called normal attitudes of the world, the value systems propagated as "normal" by the world, the life style of the so called successful that stands counter to what the Gospel teaches... these are the temptations that we have today! Of course, they do not come from God, reiterates St. James. 

Our desires, temptations, sin and resultant death: this is the cycle that Jesus wants us to understand, resist, surpass, and triumph over. None of us can ever say after an act of unrighteousness, that we were not at all aware of its nature! Let us not deceive ourselves! 

We know what we are surrounded by, we know what we go through on a daily basis and we know what is appreciable and what is not worthy of our call to be children of God. In spite of all the graces that we have received and the gratuitous gifts that we have received from the Lord, if we still insist on giving up on our call to commitment and righteous living, we will soon hear that question addressed to us by Jesus: do you still not understand?

The Lord our Rock!

WORD 2day: Monday, 6th week in Ordinary time

February 17, 2020: James 1: 1-11; Mark 8: 11-13

During his life and ministry, Jesus was convinced that he had nothing to prove! He was what he was - the Son of God, the Word Incarnate. He spoke what he believed and lived what he spoke. That gave him an authority that the Pharisees and the Scribes could never understand. It came from his holistic self-understanding, an understanding in terms of the ONE who had sent him: "For I and the Father are one", he declared (Jn 10:30). 

Many a time we identify ourselves with the riches we have, the social status we enjoy, the titles and the offices we hold, the adulation from others and the image that others have of us. These are like the drooping flowers and the fading beauty, reminds St.James in his letter. What will all the titles and possessions, achievements and accomplishments become when at that one moment we are no more!

Our identity rests in one thing that never changes: the truth that we are sons and daughters of the One God, that we are created in the image and the likeness of that One God who has loved us into existence. When we get this fact imprinted in our hearts...no trial or no doubt, no suffering or no shock will ever affect our perseverance (James 1:4). 

It takes a lot of inner strength to found ourselves on the unsurpassed foundation, the unshakable ground, the one unchanging source of meaning we have... let our life be founded on that insurmountable refuge, the Lord, our Rock!

LAW - OUR CHOICE!!!

LAW - to Love and Abide by the Word

February 16, 2020: 6th Sunday in Ordinary time

Ecclesiasticus 15:16-21; 1 Corinthians 2:6-10; Matthew 5: 17-37

Choice is the central theme running through the readings today! And there is another dominant theme that qualifies this choice - that is LAW. Law for the people of Israel was the way ordained by the Lord. Law was for them the guarantee of remaining  people of God; it was their part of executing the covenant that the Lord made with them: I shall be your God and you shall be my people! To speak or act against the law was for them a serious and punishable offence. There is a discussion on two other themes- "maturity" and "wisdom" in the second reading from St.Paul. Combining all these, Jesus in the Gospel presents to us a mature and wise attitude towards LAW. He invites us to Choose LAW... that is to choose to Love and Abide by the Word. 

Faith is a Choice...

Faith is not a blind leap, it is a conscious Choice! As Pope Francis' exhortation, Lumen Fidei n.3 affirms, faith cannot be associated with darkness, instead faith is a light that enlightens one to choose, to choose believe in God, to choose to see God alive in one's life. The first reading presents to us the same perspective today: we have the choice between water and fire, between good and evil, between true joy and fleeting pleasures, between the right and the convenient, between conviction and compromise, between life and death! 

The choice is ours! We cannot ride on the shoulders of tradition and custom, and justify our acts and habits. We have to grow up! Our maturity has to be seen in the wisdom we possess. It is God who gives us this wisdom, as St.Paul reminds us. Jesus embodies that wisdom and presents the same to us in his words: I have come not to abolish the law, but bring it to its fulfillment. 

A Choice beyond the Law...

Jesus declares that his disciples should make a choice, not against the law but, beyond the law! He gives a new meaning to law, and presents the way to go beyond, to transcend a mere slavish legalism and reach the heights of saintly perfection, through love and compassion. The words of Jesus, "You have heard that it was said,...but I say to you", heard repeatedly in the Gospel today presents Jesus as the New Moses, and describes the community of disciples as the New People of God! "See I am making all things new," declares Jesus by this (Rev. 21:5). 

The new law...how do we understand today that new law, the law beyond law... L - to Love, A - to Abide, and W - the Word. To love the Word and Abide by it...is the new law that Jesus gives. The Word presents to us a guarantee to sanctity. To know the Word, to reflect on it and understand it, to love it and strive to abide by it, is the sure way to be real children of God, worthy people of God. Our life does not comprise merely of avoiding evil, it is much more profound and meaningful. It is to live, to love, to relate, to do good, to mature, to be happy, to make others happy and thus together as a community of God's children, to renew the world and fill it with joy.

To Obey the Law...

Jesus teaches the people today not to go against the law but to understand what it really means to obey the law. For Him, to obey the law was not to obey the letter of the law but to obey the Lord of the law! It was so for the people of Israel; they obeyed the law as an act of obedience to YHWH. But when the Lord of the law was with them, and they did not realise it. The Word lived and moved among them, but they did not comprehend it. 

The danger for us too is the same: that we may be, by definition, the best of Christians - missing no Sunday Mass, regular with reading the Bible and reciting the prayers, strict with our fasting and abstinence, visiting as many pilgrim shrines as possible - but let us beware, we may be missing the point. These are good but not good enough - the Word instructs us: Love and Abide by the Word... to love the Word, and to live by it; not being merely hearers of the Word  but doers(Jam 1:22); to say YES to the Word and mean it, to face all the consequences of that Yes and live through it. 

Our YES to the Word has to be our choice, our choice to go beyond the Law and obey the Lord of the law, to live and fill the earth with love and compassion; to challenge the present standards of the world towards a new world, new heaven and new earth!

Can we live divided lives?

WORD 2day: Saturday, 5th week in Ordinary time

February 15, 2020: 1 Kings 12:26-32, 13:33-34; Mark 8: 1-10

For the people of Israel there was no difference between their political life and their religious life. For them everything was just one; an integral mode of living as people of God; forever the people of the Covenant: 'I shall be your God and you shall be my people'. But at a certain point, as we read in the first reading today, the misery befalls them - Politics and Religion part their ways. Further, something that happens makes things worse: using religion for political ends or politics for religious reasons. It becomes almost an unjust alliance and remains so even to this day! 

That is socio-political history, but it can happen in our personal life too: the division between our religious life and our civil life, and worse still if we use one for the manipulation of the other. Jesus is totally against this division and considers it always an hypocrisy. 

One cannot call oneself a shepherd and still remain untouched by the miseries of the people. One cannot call oneself a 'Christ-ian' and live a life that is totally insensitive towards others. One cannot call oneself a child of God and look down on his brother or sister, or much worse ill-treat, exploit or oppress them. 

We see both Jeroboam and Jesus doing something for the people. Both of them did not want to send the people away. But but the difference between what they did lies in the fact of what they intended by it. Though Jeroboam did something for the people, his idea was to keep his power and dominion alive - it was using religion for politics! While Jesus fed them not because he wanted to be powerful but because that was the need of the people! 

When one uses religion for politics, God for usurping power and spirituality for material gains, he or she is giving into idolatry. Worse if that person claims to belong to Christ - so divided within oneself, externally professing Christ but totally against Christ at the level of one's inner self. Can we live such divided lives?

Ephphatha: Hear the Warning!

WORD 2day: Friday, 5th week in Ordinary time

February 14, 2020: 1 Kings 11:29-32,12:19; Mark 7: 31-37

Ephphatha, says Jesus today and the man's ears were opened! Ephphatha, says the Minister of the Lord at our Baptism - not to open our physical ears, but to attune our spiritual ears of the heart, to the voice of the Lord within us and all around us! That is the source of true wisdom. Solomon who was given this great gift, lost it in the inebriation of his glory. What about us?

Persons often attempt to justify their acts saying, 'I did it without knowing,' 'unknowingly,' 'without my knowledge,' etc. Though some cases could be due to ignorance, most of the cases of our failures and faults are not so much in a state of ignorance as that of indifference. Every time we make a choice for something that is not right, that is not ethical, that is not moral, that is not virtuous, there is a voice within us that tells us: No, do not! We are either indifferent to it or we stifle it, when we are taken up with the momentary excitement of choosing it! 

The grace that we are reminded of today in the Word, is that of being always attentive to that inner voice, the most important reminder of God's unceasing presence with us. As Isaiah would say, "and when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left, your ears shall hear a word behind you sauing, "this is the way walk in it." (Isa 30:21) It is a gift given to every disciple of the Lord, every child of God. It all depends on us, how much we use it or develop it, so that we will always remain close to the Lord and never abandon God to follow the reckless ways.

At times when we ask questions like, 'why this', 'why me', 'why now'...it would be better to get into a deeper introspection and find out if we have been somewhere indifferent or resistant to the serene and calm voice of the Lord. If we have, it would be good to pray that the Lord says looking at us: Ephphatha.