LOVE CELEBRATES LIFE

Palm Sunday 2020 - April 5

Love, Live and live to the full 

Isaiah 50:4-7; Philippians 2:6-11; Matthew 26:14-27:66

Jesus enters Jerusalem. Jesus knows well what awaits him there... he had told his disciples that the Son of Man would be handed over to be tried and tortured; he had seen people plotting against him and waiting for a moment to lay hands on him; he had heard the whispers against him that it is better that one man dies for the whole of Israel. In spite of all these, Jesus sets his face towards Jerusalem, he enters Jerusalem.

We are traversing an odd moment in history, not just odd, but hard too! The other day a Governor in the United States of America, speaking to the press said, 'many pose a question, when will be back to normal? Let me tell you, after these experiences, we can never be back to normal; we would only be back to a 'new normal'.' That is more or less the intensity of the experience we are living through these days. And the season of lent this year has been for a great extent intensely tinted with this sadness and anxiety. Not merely amidst the usual lenten sobriety, but amidst this unusual calamitous scene all around us, this Sunday we are invited to a festivity; to a joyous reception of the Lord into our dwellings! Exactly so did Jesus find, the joy of those people as he entered Jerusalem. His face was fixed on a Jerusalem that was waiting with condemnation and the Calvary that was holding out the Cross to him! But still, Jesus joins the rejoicing people in their celebration, notwithstanding the anxiety that clung to his soul. When someone suggested that he stop the people from all the frenzy, he disagreed with them and allowed the jubilation and joined them in it. True Love celebrates Life, come what may!

Jesus' solemn entry into Jerusalem, is not merely a road show; it is much more. Like the disciples who had the transfiguration experience to sustain themselves, the common believers are given this solemn reception as something that they can fall back on when things would look to be going wrong. He wants them to understand the celebration and the following confusions, the jubilation and the following tragedies, the triumphant entry and the shameful exit...all of these as part of a grand plan, the salvific plan. How is it possible?

It becomes possible for when realise that life is from God's hands and when we learn to live life from God's hands. That is what the world as a whole has lost, forgotten for a while. The world and humanity has taken every thing into their own hands - life and death, nature and space, living and non living creatures... everything has been usurped into the selfish hands of the world and the materialistic humanity! And here is the call to surrender every thing, every little thing that happens - joy or sorrow, challenge or victory, opportunity or obstacle... surrender every thing into the hands of God and find its meaning from there. This is living life from God's hands! When we do this there will be no dearth for celebration in life, come what may.

Jesus was constantly motivated by the Mission that was entrusted to him by the One who sent him. It was this mission that defined his thoughts, words and actions. When there was a temptation of resting on the glory of the wonders that were happening, or the pressure from the people to make him their king, or the tendency towards attachment to a particular place or people, Jesus had his mind clear. He always said, we have to go to other villages and proclaim the good news! Getting lost in the glories of victories or getting absorbed into the failures of human frailty - neither of this happens with a true apostle of the Lord! How does this happen?

It happens when we know what it means to live life for God's Mission - that was all that mattered to Jesus. That is why a call from Herod for signs or a plea from Pilate for a submission or the threats from the high priests - all of them fell on a deaf ear. He could call Herod a 'fox' and he could snub Pilate saying he was after all a puppet in the hands of the people and in God's hands.  Jesus' mind was focused on just one thing: living life for God's Mission. Nothing that seemed a threat could deter him on his mission!

The self definition of Jesus in relation to his mission was so categorical: I came that you may have life, life in all its fullness. The true glory of God is a human being fully alive, and Jesus is the prototype of this. Difficulties, rejections, let downs, oppositions, criticisms and condemnations, nothing really mattered for Jesus. The only concern that was uppermost in his mind was his call to live his life to the full - nobody, nothing, no situation could stop him from that. He was not moved by praises, nor bogged down by criticism, neither was he overwhelmed by a need to prove himself to the world. How could he be so calm and serene?

It was so because Jesus was convinced that living life to the full consisted of all these experiences put together. Amidst the challenges, anxieties and sufferings, what matters is hope, trust, and courage in the Lord with which to leap into the future, filled with joy, splendour and peace that God alone can give. Behold, I come to do your will, says the Son and challenges us to do the same: to live our life to the full. Not to give up at the first of problems; not to give in to the least of the tests; but to remain faithful to the will of God, and obey with the same humility as the Son of God who emptied himself to the point of accepting death on the Cross. 

Let us look at the picture that the readings paint today...the man who foresees a terrible time amidst the people gathered around in extraordinary jubilation; the calmness of Jesus and the excitement of the people. This is living the moment to the full, living every thing that comes our way with intensity, this is celebrating life come what may! Jesus was capable of this, because he loved his Father and he was so convinced that God loved him absolutely! That is the secret - amidst all our uncertainties and anxieties, we need to ask ourselves: do we love God with all our heart; and how confident are we on the love that God has for us?

The sign that we truly love the Lord and are absolutely certain of the love of the Lord, would be that we live our life from God's hands, live our life for God's mission and live our life to the full, after the example of our Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Hosanna, Blessed is he who comes!

To be people of the God of love

THE WORD IN LENT - 5th week, Saturday

April 4, 2020: Ezekiel 37: 21-28; John 11: 45-56
Point for Dialogue #31: Our selfish nature and our spiritual self

What a contrast we are given to notice today- while God longs to give life and bring the people to new birth, the people plot to kill the Son of God and do away with him. On the mountain of the Lord, there will be no killing and no hatred! How far we are from the Reign of God when we harbour thoughts of hatred, jealousy, rancour and ruin! 

The obvious call is to initiate a dialogue within us, between our negative tendencies wishing the ruin of the other, vengeance and vindication and the spiritual tendencies of wishing the good and the wellbeing of the other, forgiveness and compassion; between our selfish nature and our spiritual self.

Personal feuds or Political Wars, Communal clashes or cut-throat competitions... they are all against the God of love who dwells amidst us, as God once promised through the covenant made - I will make my dwelling amidst you; you shall be my people and I shall be your God! How many conspiracy theories are making their rounds these days, even about this health crisis that the world is suffering through - the saddest part of it is, most of them seem frighteningly believable and logical!

In the Gospel, we see that the plot thickens today as Jesus is marked to be put to death! Jesus knows he is surrounded by enmity and hatred, but avoids taking it in and remains the love that he is, the love that he came from. How blessed and Christ-like we shall be to decide and choose not to be influenced by the negativity that is purposefully spread by the evil one!

It is a direct call for each of us to analyse whether we are worthy to be called the people of the covenant, children of the God who is love, disciples of the one who offered himself as ransom for many. Let us return to the God of love, be children of that love, be people who will emanate only love and thus make the world a better place, a place closer to the Reign of God, the God of love.

Counting no cost

THE WORD IN LENT - 5th week, Friday

April 3, 2020: Jeremiah 20: 10-13; John 10: 31-42                                                             

Point for Dialogue #30: the crowd of evil and the grace of good.                                                                                                                                                      

Dedication to God's mission and distress are at times inseparable, as the world has forces working intently against God and anything pertaining to God. Apart from that some so-called natural calamities and crisis (I prefer to say so-called natural, because in the final analysis it is we humans who would have created it, in a dominoes effect), that crop up, like the one we are through right now, and challenge that dedication and affinity to God. 

"We must be on the guard against the presence of evil in the world," reminds the Holy Father. Explicitly or indirectly, we are bound to face oppositions, criticism, discouragement and disparaging attacks, when we choose to stand by God and carry God's message to others. If for long we do not find any opposition, it would be high time to review whether we are really doing God's mission, carrying out the design as laid out by God. 

Both Jeremiah and Jesus chose to stand by God and they were derided, tortured, were considered liable unto death. But they were unmoved, unperturbed; they counted no cost and were prepared for anything for the sake of God's will. In my anguish I called to you and you answered me O Lord, they prayed! But what was the answer - death! It did not matter for them, as long as it came within the plan of God and this, the very death, became a saving grace! 

Hence the call today is to  initiate a dialogue within us, between the tendency to fear the crowd, be bogged down by them and follow them to perdition and the courage to stand by good, listen to God, and count no cost.  

Would we be able to repeat what Jesus says in the Gospel today: the Father is in me and I am in the Father. We would be able to do, if only we are ready not to count the cost when it comes to love for the Lord and commitment to the Lord!

The sense of Eternity

THE WORD IN LENT - 5th week, Thursday

April 2, 2020: Genesis 17:3-9; John 8:51-59
Point of Dialogue #29: The passing existence and the lasting eternity

It would have been a shocker, when Jesus said, "Before ever Abraham was, I AM." In this, apart from the statement on the divine participation of Jesus in the One who sent him, there is an important message for each of us and our identity. Specially when we are so absorbed in our fear and anxiety of the situation around, the spreading disease and the threatening death!

The first reading establishes the foundation for this message, as it reminds us of the covenant made with Abraham. We are made sons and daughters of God, in faith. And Jesus assures that, 'if we keep the covenant; if we keep the Word; we will always be sons and daughters of the Lord; we will partake in the eternal life of God.' The Jews were unable to understand that part of it, because they did not have an idea of the eternal life that Jesus was speaking of. 

For us today, it should not be anymore as strange as it was for the Jews. Because Jesus has proved it for us in his own life, death and resurrection - that paschal mystery invites a dialogue between our momentary anxieties and the never failing hope, the passing existence and our lasting eternity.

We believe in resurrection and in life everlasting! And what matters within eternity is not who came first and who came next, but what relationship and what intensity of commitment one shows in relating to God our Father and Mother, who loves us into existence and watches over us every moment. Come what may, discomfort or disease or even death...what matters is that eternal, timeless, unchanging, absolute relatedness to God. 

For Jesus, that relatedness was absolute; that defined everything that mattered to him! And it is to that same absolute sense of relatedness to God, that Jesus calls us his brothers and sisters... it comes with a strong sense of eternity!

In Integrity... He shall walk with you!

THE WORD IN LENT - 5th week, Wednesday

April 1, 2020: Daniel 3: 14-20,91-92,95; John 8: 31-42
Point for Dialogue #28: Private priorities and Public manifestations

'Truth will set you free', declares Jesus today. And if Jesus were to have been asked to define what he meant by Truth, he would have said, 'Truth is what is'... It's no mere philosophy, it is a Spirituality! Remain with that statement a little longer and reflect on it...

Truth is what is, and it never changes. No situation, no circumstance, no crisis will ever change it; if they manage to change it, it had never been the Truth. Compromises, justifications, manipulations, adjustments, conveniences and inconveniences... these considerations at times, drive us away from truth and we experience a sort of split life, split between what we profess and what we practice, between what we believe and how we behave, between what we say and what we are! 

Hence the Word today underlines an essential dialogue that has to take place between the image of myself that I wish to give others and the real me that I nurture within me; a dialogue between my unseen private priorities and my public functional manifestations.

The absence of that split is called Integrity. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, were persons of Integrity and no one doubted them on that. Neither were they ready to give up their identity. And they found God walking beside; it was cool in the furnace. In the midst of the crisis we are living through these days, if only we wish to sense the Lord walking beside us, we need to grow in our personal integrity - giving up on the gap between what we say and what we do, what we believe and how we behave. 

Let us heed the call of the Liturgy today...to heal ourselves of all splits that we may learn to live in integrity of life, an integrity that would set us free. In integrity, the Lord shall walk beside us, all our life. 

To be people "from above"

THE WORD IN LENT - 5th week, Tuesday

March 31, 2020: Numbers 21:4-9; John 8:21-30
Point for Dialogue #27: Standards of the world and Standards of Christ

To look to what is lifted up or the one who is lifted up, or in short, to be people 'from above', is the crux of the Word today. 

The first reading speaks of the bronze serpent that was made and lifted up and that anyone bitten by the serpent who looked to it, lived. In the Gospel Jesus speaks of himself, that when he is lifted up, the world will really know him. The readings invite us to take seriously a dialogue between the standards of the world and the standards of Christ, between what is from around and what is from above, in our daily life. 

Jesus invites us too to be lifted up, in our thinking, in our attitudes, in our priorities and in our perspectives. He challenges us to be 'people from above'...that is, to have the mind of Christ, as St.Paul puts it in his letters (Phil 2:5). Do not conform to this world, but in Spirit become an acceptable living sacrifice, St. Paul would instruct elsewhere (Rom 12:2). This is what it means to be people from above!

To look at God and the relationship I have with God, in the same way as Christ looked at; to look at my brothers and sisters, with compassion, empathy and commitment, as Jesus did; to look at everything that happens to us and around us, from the perspective of the Reign of God as Jesus did: this is what Jesus means when he says, "I belong to what is above" (Jn 8:23). And we need to belong to it too, to what is from above.

Let us not give into small talks, gossips, prejudices, judgments, selfishness, rancour, greed or anything of that sort. Let us turn to look to what is above, thus enabling ourselves to be people from above. Thus we will be worthy to repeat Jesus' words: 'I always do what is pleasing to Him."

The meaning of Christian Empathy

THE WORD IN LENT - 5th week, Monday

March 30, 2020: Daniel 13:1-9,15-17,19-30,33-62; Jn 8: 1-11
Point for Dialogue #26: Our self-pity and insensitivity!

"Slow to anger and abounding in love", those are the attributes oft repeated about God. If we have to speak of our tendencies today, we should put it this way: 'Quick to judge and totally merciless!' Regardless of who the person involved is, it has become a culture to pass unjust judgments, circulate untrue gossips and entertain unwanted evaluations. Nowadays with the thought of the pandemic around, 'the other' is more and more defined and seen as a threat, a threat that could infect you, a threat that could cause you sickness and even death.. Is it truly a Christ-ian attitude? 

The first reading tells us - even if the whole world around you joins together to tear a person into pieces, you stand aloof and act by the Spirit. The Gospel reminds us - even if it were true that a person has made a mistake, give the person another chance, for God has been endlessly patient with you! Aren't these truly Christ-ian attitudes?

The Word today invites us to deepen a dialogue within us between our tendency to expect everyone to stand by us when we are in trouble and our eagerness to stay clear of any trouble when it comes to  standing for someone in their times of trouble, a dialogue between our self-pity and insensitivity! 

And these are possible only when we empathise with the affected person. Christ empathised with the woman brought to be stoned, he empathised with Zacchaeus, with Matthew the tax collector, with the Samaritan woman at the well, with Peter who denied his master... Christian Empathy, does not approve of the wrong doing or the limitation, but loves and respects the person who is involved. That love and respect, inspires the person to 'Go and sin no more.' 

PREPARE FOR A TRANSFORMATION - THE DIALOGUE OF THE PEOPLE OF LIFE

THE WORD IN LENT - 5th Sunday

The Call to be People of Life
March 29, 2020: Ezekiel 37:12-14; Romans 8:8-11; John 11:1-45

The signs of life are newness, change, growth, freshness, development, and all of them put together, Transformation. We are called to be People of Life, people who are prepared for a transformation, through sufferings and struggles. This message comes out very strongly in the current context - with the world wide lock down and the so called Social Quarantine! Even apart from this, being people of life is not that easy today, because we live surrounded by a culture of Death. 

Death is signified by a state of stand still, a state of no change, a state of decay, a state of giving up, a state of discouragement - if we are going to look at this situation as an isolation, as a punishment, as a terrifying threat to self preservation, we are giving right into that culture of death. The world today is filled with these signs - there seems to be a panic, a self-centered survival instinct unleashed everywhere, a objectifying look that makes everyone other than me a virus out to attack me! Are these signs of a people of life? Can a Christ-ian take this stand towards life?

The Word today invite us to enter into a dialogue proper to the People of Life... because we are children of the God of Life. There is constantly the conflict between the forces of Life and those of death, right before our eyes, in our very own lives, in daily situations and the choices we have to make concretely. If we are people of life, we shall enter into a dialogue of life, being prepared for a transformation. When the Lord promises new life, it does not come out of nothing, not without the process that we have to put ourselves through, not without the struggle, the effort, the self-giving that we need to be prepared for. It is a kind of Spiritual Alchemy that gives rise to a real transformation within. The Lent, and this time of pandemic crisis, is a moment to prepare ourselves for a Transformation.

IN FAITH: God gives us life and constantly renews us. Life is not our making, it is a gift! The more we realise that the more grateful we shall become and the more responsible we would grow in handling it. The first reading, invites us to reflect through Prophet Ezekiel, the gift of Life that is given to us by the very author of life, that is God. I shall give you my Spirit and you shall live, says the Lord. 

In faith we have a relationship built between God and us: You shall be my people and I shall be your God...that is the alliance that God has made with us, and is faithful to. You shall be my children and I shall be your father and mother; You shall be my flock and I shall be your shepherd; You shall be my beloved and I shall fill you with my love..says the Lord. Today the Lord promises us amidst all the darkness of the world and the shadow of death, to fill us with God's Spirit and make us live. As those dry bones, gathered together and stood up to life, so can we rise up in this world as people of life, IN FAITH.

IN HOPE: We are constantly challenged and threatened by the darkness that surrounds us, as the darkness that surrounded Lazarus in the tomb. Just as we are crying out to the Lord, "Lord its been four months the world is grinding through this epidemic crisis," we see the people there telling Jesus, "Lord it's been four days since he has been laid there." Four days...the Jews believed that from the fourth day after death, the process of decay began. The decayed body comes to life, the situation of total hopelessness is brought to life by the Hope of Resurrection.

In hope we need to behold what Jesus declares: I am the Life and Resurrection. In Baptism we are all united to the death of Christ on the Cross, and that gives us the hope of sharing the Resurrection of the Lord. We are called to live as People of life, people who look to the light, people who look up to resurrection, people who are filled with joy and optimism, people who are prepared to be Transformed IN HOPE.

IN LOVE: If we are people of life, it has to be seen in our daily life, in our constant transformation... we cannot live a life that is like anybody else and call ourselves people of life. We cannot grumble and mourn like everyone and call ourselves people of life. We cannot give up and groan like the rest of the world and call ourselves people of life. We cannot panic and get frustrated looking at the suffering, and call ourselves people of life. We cannot look at people as viruses and call ourselves people of life. We cannot become insensitive to the most affected, just because we are also affected, and still call ourselves people of life. We cannot just succumb to sinfulness and evil and still call ourselves people of life. 

In love, when we decide to live our lives, as St. Paul makes it clear in the second reading today...we are to live our life in the Spirit, not the life of flesh. Life in the Spirit is filled with light, radiance, joy and above all, Love. The Spirit of the Risen Lord has to fill our life and thus we will be light to the nations, witness of God's love to the people around, testimonies of the Resurrection that is promised to us and signs of the eternal life that we are called to. The foundation is love...to live a life that is filled with love, love for God who loves us abundantly and love for our brothers and sisters, with respect, dignity, sensitivity and solidarity with every child of God. We will stand for, radiate and uphold life as people of life, IN LOVE.

Let us heed the call that the Word gives us today: to be prepared to be transformed into people of life, in faith, in hope and in love. Turning to the God of life in Faith, returning to the Life and Resurrection that is Jesus Christ in Hope and transforming ourselves to live these moments of trial in the Spirit, in true Love. Let these moments, not be moments of mere isolation or alienation; let these be moments of true internal and communitarian transformation.  

To look for Truth in love

THE WORD IN LENT - 4th week, Saturday

March 28, 2020: Jeremiah 11:18-20; John 7: 40-53
Point for Dialogue #25: Our Goodness and the Goodness in the Other

"Then each went to his own house" - that is how the Gospel passage of today ends (v.53)! In spite of the witnesses who saw that there was something extraordinary in Jesus, in spite of the good that Jesus accomplished, in spite of the wonderful things that they saw, the pharisees took pride that they did not give into believing Jesus. This is the danger that we have to fight every day! We prefer to be in our safe homes, than get out and get to know what the Lord wants to reveal to us. This why Pope Francis keeps crying out for a Church that is in movement, a people of God who are constantly open to the revelations of the Lord in every day events and encounters.

The meaning of pride is not merely lack of humility, but it is lack of openness to truth! When one is open to Truth, one is ready to face struggles, persecutions and threats to stand by that truth, as Jeremiah tells us in the first reading. When one is stubbornly closed up against anything other than what he or she knows, one is locked up in "one's own house." We are called by the Word today to enter into a dialogue between our eagerness to be right and our earnest search of truth; between our belief that we are good and our capacity to see the good in the other. 

The experience of Massah and Meribah where the people tested the Lord because of their stubbornness of heart, is what continued in Jesus' life as they refused to understand who Jesus was. In fact, it continues even today, when we are selective in our perceptions and choosy in our reflections. We take what is convenient for us and neglect what is not.

Truth does not matter to us as much as living without trouble. Truth does not matter to us as much as having everyone nod to our thinking and choice. When they don't agree, we tend to neglect them, sideline them, persecute them, hate them, or at least ignore them! Is this a Christian attitude? What do we prefer, to return to our own house, our own thinking, our own fixed judgements as soon as possible, or to truly look for the Truth in love?

Transformation - True Knowledge of God

THE WORD IN LENT - 4th week, Friday

March 27, 2020: Wisdom 2: 1A,12-22; John 7: 1-2,10,25-30.
Point for Dialogue #24: Mind for Information and the Spirit of Transformation

The prime question today in the liturgy is "knowing God"... what kind of knowing is truly knowing, when it comes to the knowledge of God? What matters most is not knowing about God, but knowing God. Are we aware of the difference between knowing about God and knowing God? Are we even mindful of the fact that there is a difference! 

Knowing about, is information and Knowing, is transformation. These days going through the crisis of the present pandemic, we see every day (also because people are all shut down into their houses) a flood of information - right, wrong and worthless alike. People look for it and keep spreading it... simply because the human mind is curious for information. Will those information alone save the situation? Coming back to the theme of the Word today...

Knowing philosophical concepts and theological finer points is merely information, but allowing those to affect our lives, forming our values based on those and living a life that is coherent to our beliefs is more than mere knowledge; it is more than just knowing about God; it is knowing God! The Word invites us today for a dialogue between that curiosity of our mind for information and the readiness of our spirit for transformation.

The people in the Gospel today, knew so much about God, but they did not know God when God really lived and moved amidst them. Knowing the biblical verses by heart and quoting them in season and out of season, reflecting on the depths of theological ruminations and reaching the heights of mystical formulations will not guarantee true knowledge of God. 

Jesus says of God: "I know the Father because I am from the Father" and that is the true knowledge of God. Knowing God is to belong to God, to be open to God's promptings, to listen to the Word and to see God's will in it, ever ready to accept, live and stand for God's plan, will and design. To carry out God's will is the direct route to true happiness; it arises from right rapport with God translated into right, respectful, just, genuine and loving relationships, in our daily living.