God's Plan: Not Magic but Mystery!

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

December 8, 2020: Immaculate Conception of our Blessed Mother

Genesis 3: 9-15, 20; Ephesians 1: 3-6, 11-12; Luke 1: 26-38

Today's feast is not so much to celebrate the Blessed Mother of God, as to celebrate the Eternal plan of God. God has a plan for each of us, from before the foundations of the world, reminds us the Liturgy today. At times we look at this plan as something magical and try to guess it through means of mediums and methods of all sorts: palmistry, star signs, fortune tellers and prediction professionals! God's plan is not a magic for us to manipulate; it is a mystery to be lived. God's plans unfold moment by moment, as and when we live. 

Today we see, in time immemorial the promise that God made that God will set a woman and her offspring against the evil tempter of the world. And we celebrate how this plan at the foundations of the creation, unfolded in total obscurity, in the womb which bore the womb that would bear the Son of God. What a great mystery!

It is not for us to guess God's plan or calculate God's moves: that is a radical impossibility. But we are called to believe in the God's plan, accept it and cooperate with it! God has chosen us before the foundation of the world and therefore we are not here by chance; God has willed us into existence! It is our task to discern what God's plan is for us at any particular given time and carry it out, as did our Blessed Mother all her life. 

The aspect we celebrate in our Blessed Mother today is the total cooperation that she offered to the plan of God, because of which she lived all her life, holy and blameless. Let us fix our minds on the Word today: that we are chosen before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before God in love.

Strange things or Miracles: learn to see

THE WORD IN ADVENT

December 7, 2020: 2nd Monday in Advent

Isaiah 35: 1-10; Luke 5: 17-26

When things happen in an unexpected way, we exclaim - 'what a coincidence!' A worse expression is to say, 'how strange!' A truly Christian outlook would be to cry out 'it is a miracle!' Yes, at times people think miracles are few and far between...no they abound. Miracles abound for those who are ready to see them around.

The Gospel today says the people said: we have seen strange things today. Worse still, there were those who were finding fault with Jesus who was the reason for things that were happening. Who were truly disciples of Christ: those who were, from the beginning able to see what Jesus was upto...his compassion, his love for the crippled man, his passion for God and God's children and finally the act of forgiveness and healing...every bit of it was a miracle for them!

The first reading speaks of deserts flowering, wilderness turning a haven, wild beasts disappearing and glory of God filling all the earth...it would sound strange for some. Worse still, for some it would sound foolish and infantile and too spiritualising. For true disciples of Christ, it will be a miracle to be expected, prayed for, and beheld when it happens. 

In all these what is the difference between the outlooks: the capacity to see, observe and behold miracles. Miracles abound for those who are ready to see them around. 

Let us learnt to see miracles, on a daily basis they keep happening to us in our ordinary lives. A smile from a person when you just need it; a tap on your shoulder when you are all down in spirit, a call from a dear one when you feel you are totally down and out, a glad news from someone when you are gloomy and blue, a surprising encounter with a person when you least expected it...all these account for miracles, of only we learn to see in them what the Lord wants to accomplish through these and communicate in them. It is a special capacity we can acquire only in the School of Jesus...let us learn to see!

W A I T

Prepare the way!

December 06, 2020: 2nd Sunday in Advent
Isaiah 40: 1-5, 9-11; 2 Peter 3: 8-14; Mark 1: 1-8

One fourth of the Advent is gone; and soon it will be Christmas! The Lord will be here anytime, warn the readings today. Last week liturgy invited us to watch, and this week it invites us to WAIT.

Waiting can be of two fundamental kinds. The first type is a passive indifference - you wait helplessly; you wait doing nothing, because you think you can do nothing about it! You are passive and you are inactive...whatever you are waiting for, has to happen by itself and you feel you have no part of it, until it really begins to happen. The other type of waiting is, an active preparation - you are totally involved in the expectant events. Though you know you cannot do much about what you are waiting for, but you can do all the preparations for it, and you do it with such enthusiasm, that when it really happens you begin to live the moment to the full. 

A Christian waiting can never be an indifference or a passive helplessness regarding things that happen. That is what the world calls fate. The difference between the concepts of fate and will of God, is the love that is involved in the latter. A love with which a person lives to the full the moments of preparation, in order that the event itself could be meaningfully experienced. Yes, a Christian Waiting at advent is an active participation in the historical events that announce and usher in the Reign of God.

What does this WAIT concretely consist of? The liturgy today offers a clarity on this.

To wait is to Wish the coming of the Lord. True Waiting begins with a real wish, a want, a true desire that the Lord comes. It cannot be based on a dubious or a half hearted acceptance of an inevitable situation. A truly Christian waiting for the Lord should begin from an ardent desire that the Lord should visit us. Sometimes this wish or desire can be half hearted because of the fear of the changes that the Lord can effect with the coming.

There were those who did not wish the coming of the Lord - just imagine Herod becoming troubled at the news of a child being born. Recall those people of the Gerasenes (Mk 5), who did not want the Lord to come into their village. Let us not take this condition for granted - the condition to wish the coming of the Lord. At times, even we may tell that Lord, 'please do not enter my life...I cannot afford to change anything there right now!' 

To wait is to Allow the hand of the Lord. Isaiah today speaks of the changes that we need to look forward to; that the valleys be filled and the hills be leveled! It cannot be a true Christian attitude to want the Lord to come but not being ready to do anything or give into any change personally or as a community. It is a readiness to allow the Lord to challenge us to perfection.

Yes, if we truly wish the coming of the Lord into our lives, we need to allow the Lord to have his way! Today I want to dine with you the Lord said to Zacchaeus; and the very moment he began climbing down that sycamore, Zacchaeus started planning his itinerary already...I will change; I will become better; I will repent; I will restitute what I have unlawfully taken from others; I will relinquish my comforts for the right way of living. That is allowing the hand of the Lord to work on me, on my life, on my daily decisions.

To wait is to Inhabit the dwellings of the Lord. The second reading speaks to us of the need to conduct ourselves in holiness and devotion. The Gospel presents to us a people who went in search of the man of God that they may get closer to God, purify their ways and dwell in holiness and devotion. How eager are we to dwell in the courts of the Lord? How prepared are we to inhabit the new heavens and the new earth that the Lord promises us?

The coming of the Lord is a figurative phrase! It is not that the Lord has to come from somewhere, as if the Lord is not already with us. But it is a fact that we need to come home to the Lord. We are busy elsewhere, while the Lord waits at home, with arms wide open. We have neither the time nor the patience to recognise the Lord present and the arms that wish to console us, calm us, enthuse us and energise us. We need to inhabit the dwellings of the Lord - the Lord's favourite dwelling is our being...our inner being where the Lord resides...let us come home to this dwelling and get in touch with the Lord there.

To wait is to Tremble at the presence of the Lord. Let each one work out one's own salvation with fear and trembling, St. Paul would instruct elsewhere (Phil 2:12). John the Baptist personifies the need to prepare oneself in earnestness for the day of the Lord. He gives the ways and means of being prepared for the Reign of God. When the people looked for a saviour in the Baptist, he admits it with trembling before the Lord that the One who comes after him is mightier than him. And not just that, but that we need to prepare with haste for the day of the Lord.

There are no fixed formulae nor some short cut pathways to reach the salvation that God has in store for us..it is something that we need to work out on a daily basis: it is working out to be fit for the Reign. As John the Baptist indicates, each of us, depending on the state of life that we are in and the daily commitments that we have and the context in which we live our lives - we need to plan our itineraries. The journey we began last week is fast running its course out. We cannot take it at ease, or wait inactively for an opportune moment. We need to make decisions here and now...to change, to grow, to prepare more in concrete for the coming of the Lord.

Lets WAIT... wish heartily the coming of the Lord, allow the hand of the Lord to change our lives, inhabit the dwellings of the Lord and tremble at the presence of Lord. Let us take stock of the journey so far and continue in earnestness.

Presence - the greatest gift

THE WORD IN ADVENT

December 5, 2020: First Saturday of Advent

Isaiah 30: 19-21, 23, 26; Matthew 9: 35 - 10:1, 5a, 6-8

The greatest gift of God, is God's continual presence with us!

Life, food, water, protection, healing, assurance, sustenance, love and care...these are given to us gratuitously by God. All these are gifts that we have received, whether we acknowledge it or not. The greatest of all and the gift beyond all these is God's continual presence with us. More precisely, the fundamental gift of all is the presence!

God's presence is manifested to us in various ways: as providing presence that fulfills our needs; protecting presence that safeguards us from dangers; probing presence that challenges us on our life's journey; and above all, guiding presence that accompanies us on a constant basis. The last of these, is a bit different presence because, all others will be taken care of by God, even if we are mere passive receivers. But the accompanying presence of the Lord can be experienced only if we actively acknowledge, accept and allow the Lord to act on our behalf.

A second challenge that we have is, as persons who have experienced that presence, the call we have to become that presence for the others...the accompanying presence of the Lord. We give it when people need it, we dont force ourselves on them. We give it even when it means that we sacrifice much of our time, energy and attention. We give it when others need, not when we feel like! We give without looking for anything in return...just being there for the other!

Advent is a spiritual exercise precisely to grow in our capacity to become aware of this accompanying presence of God with us, and become one such for others! Personally, it is a moment when we learn to see, practice to understand and be prepared to allow God to have God's way in our life. Are we on that journey?

The Gift of Seeing

THE WORD IN ADVENT

December 4, 2020: First Friday of Advent

Isaiah 29: 17-24; Matthew 9: 27-31

Seeing is a gift, a great gift indeed. Not seeing is a sad thing. It is difficult to really understand where we are and what is around us! We would not know the imminent danger and we would be unaware of the risk that lies at the next step. 

If 'not seeing' is a sad thing, not knowing that you cannot see is still worse! It is more dangerous than not seeing itself...because when you know you cannot see, you will learn to be cautious; you will feel like getting help; you will know that you are vulnerable.

When you do not know that you cannot see, you think that you see everything, when in fact you do not see! It is a dangerous situation and you are all the more vulnerable. You would be treading a risky path but you will never know when you will be trapped. There will be help available just beside you, but you will not make use of it, because you wouldn't think you need it.

The Lord is our light and he is there right beside us - both in person and in and through other persons! Depends on us to cry out: "Son of David, have mercy on us!" Let us then pray for a threefold grace: to know it when we are unable to see; to know that there is just beside us the Lord, who is the light; and  the grace that we may see!

The Missionary of the Millennium

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

December 3, 2020: Remembering St. Francis Xavier, the Patron of India

1 Corinthians 9: 16-19, 22-23; Mark 16: 15-20

3 Messages that Francis Xavier can teach us from the Word today:

1. GO TO THE ENDS

One of the many representations of St. Francis Xavier, has the saint holding his heart in his hands and the heart burning! Indeed, a perfect image for this great missionary who not only dared to go to the ends of the world, but yearned to. He was burning with zeal for the Lord and for the proclamation of the Word. 

2. PROCLAIM THE GOSPEL

Proclaiming the Gospel, as Paul would say, for Francis Xavier was a God-given duty, not merely his fancy hobby. That is the reason for the zeal and the dedication that he had. Today we are called to proclaim too, as a duty! But let us take the inspiration from the other Francis, the one from Assisi: 'Proclaim the Gospel always; use words when necessary!' The very zeal that Francis Xavier had for the Lord and the Word, was already a proclamation... then followed his missionary trips.

3. SEEK GOD BEFORE EVERYTHING 

What would a person profit, if he gained the whole world, but lost his soul! That was the Word that shook Francis Xavier towards sanctity, a sanctity which is so concretely observed even today in his remains, that stand testimony to the whole world! Can we just sit down and list out today, how many things are rated before God as priorities in our lives... may be, we will do well to work on that list and reduce the number of those things in our life that tend to take a priority over and above, the Lord.

Happy feast of the Missionary of the Millennium!

MAY FRANCIS XAVIER FILL US WITH THE SAME ZEAL THAT HE HAD.

Hope in God

THE WORD IN ADVENT

December 2, 2020: Wednesday, 1st  week in Advent

Isaiah 25: 6-10; Matthew 15: 29-37

Hope... what a time to think of this! The pandemic is almost getting one year old...and the whole of the globe has been visited by this treacherous virus... sicknesses, deaths, loss of jobs, lack of means, migrants stranded...how many things have happened within this one year. And added to this the usual ills of humanity!

At these kind of moments, despair can get the better of us. The whole heated discussion of the rising level of intolerance in India (and even elsewhere), the neglect of the poor, struggle of the farmers, the plight of the middle class and the insensitive politics and all that is happening in the society is yet another despair inducing scenario. The increasing conditions of inhumanity and violence in the world and the lack of transparent and righteous coalitions against evil, is an alarming state of affairs! 

It is against this background that the Word speaks today: the Lord will wipe the tears from every cheek and will feel God's people to fulfillment. That is hope... to say, God will act on my behalf. Just imagine what it means to say that...

God... to think of God, feel God's nearness and relate to God from the depth of one's heart.

God will... yes, God will...it may take time, it may delay, but God will. It is part of the hope to say, God will act in God's own time.

God will act... God is not a passive onlooker...God acts on my behalf and I need to let God do so, to act on my  behalf, to direct me, and to take me along, like a Shepherd, with love and care!

God will act on my behalf...I am loved and I am cared for. My God, my Shepherd does not abandon me any day in any way! God will act on my behalf, all I need is to wait in hope, on the Lord

Christian living and thinking is all about hope. Waiting for the Lord is all about hope. Hoping in the Lord is not a leap in the dark, it's seeing the light that comes through or being determined to pick up the first streak of light that pierces through. Hope makes us authentically Christians... fear strips us of it!

A Child's traits for the Reign

THE WORD IN ADVENT

December 1, 2020: Tuesday, 1st week of Advent

Isaiah  11: 1-10; Luke 10: 21 -24

Maria, a 8 year old kid was setting up the crib at home...she brought all her dolls too, to be part of the crib. She had arranged all the animals...lion, tiger, deer, rabbit, bear and panda, all of them altogether, one next to the other! The dad objected to it, 'but my love, they cannot be one next to the other...it does not happen that way. The lion will attack the deer, the tiger will kill the rabbit, the bear will eat the goat!' Maria looked quizzingly at the father and said: 'but dad! why should they! They are all my friends, all of them! They are friends too among them! They like each other!' That is the Child's world...so close to the Reign!

Lion sleeping with the lamb, bear playing with a kid and all peaceful on the holy mount- when we read these lines, we feel like saying, it's utopian; it's like a child's dream! Precisely because of this Jesus makes that exclamation today: that the Father has revealed such things to mere children while the expert eyes are busy prying over the obvious.

The Child's capacity underlined here by Christ and advocated as required traits for the persons of the Reign, are threefold. 

Firstly, it is to see! Having that freshness of perception which would allow the person to observe any simple sign. 'It need not be always that way'...is a fresh attitude of a child. Nothing needs to be the same all the time! We need to see, see the possibility!

Secondly, it is to accept! It is sporting that openness of mind that would not rule out any thing as total impossibility, because with God everything is possible. It is like in a child's world, the dog will talk, the cat shall respond, the dolls shall miss when they are not caressed, even the tables and chairs keep chatting with those in the living room! Accept it...it is possible.

Thirdly, the humility with which one is able to wait on the Lord, as did the kings and the prophets who waited for the day of the Lord. In God's time everything shall take place and all that we need to do is remain open and prepared, waiting and willing!

The Feet of those who bring Good News

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

November 30, 2020: Remembering St. Andrew, the Apostle

Romans 10: 9-18; Matthew 4: 18-22

"How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" St.Paul quotes this word from the scripture (from Is 52:7), to insist upon the blessedness of being an apostle of the Lord, being sent to bear forth the Word to the others. A prerequisite is that the person has received the Word, to share it with others.

 

St. Andrew has played a special role during the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Andrew as a disciple of Christ always had the role of bringing good news to persons... he brought the good news of having found Christ to Peter (Jn 1:41); along with Philip, he brought the Greeks to meet Jesus (Jn 12:22); and he brought that boy who gave the five loaves to feed the five thousand (Jn 6:9). Amidst all the opposition and threat, the apostles bore witness to his name: they were the beautiful feet which brought the good news to the world. 

Today Andrew is proposed as the patron of social network...because he used every opportunity to make Christ known to people and to bring people to Christ. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI had described social network as the modern day pulpit and invited us to proclaim Christ not merely from the housetops but also from the laptops...and here we have a great role model for it.

 

Let us today thank God for the numerous fingers that bring good news to the world... keying in on the smart phones, feeding in from the laptops and desktops, posting messages and videos and so many ways of sharing the Word with others. May every effort of these persons to proclaim the Reign of God through the social network, be a blessing to them, as much as it is to the world. 

Let us dedicate the social network which offers us such a great promise, that it may forever be an instrument in the hands of God, to bring God's will to fulfillment, and not an instrument of perdition. Let us strive in our own way to bring the Word to all whom we can!

W A T C H

A journey begins...

November 29, 2020: 1st Sunday of Advent

Isaiah 63: 16b-17, 19, 64:2-7; 1 Corinthians 1: 3-9; Mark 13: 33-37

Happy New Year! This Sunday marks the first day of the New Liturgical Year that we begin. On this beautiful and happy day, we begin a fresh journey and the first phase of this journey is going to be a preparation to receive the King! And what does the Word say, right at the outset? It says: WATCH.

W: Wake Up
It is a moment to wake up! The call to wake up rings all over the readings today. Let us get in touch with an ordinary experience of ours. Which is difficult: to wake up from sleep or to decide to get up from bed. We wake up, but not really; the sleep lingers on! That is a risky terrain, we miss a lot in that zone! Hence the call is to wake up; to decide to get up, shake oneself up, open one's eyes fully and see that it is time to begin, time to journey on, time to start again.

Between the resolutions we make and the concrete realisation of it, between the good will that we have for so many things in life and the everyday living out of the same, between the high ideals that we keep speaking of and the daily values that determine our decision making, there is a wide gap! A discrepancy that makes our life so flimsy and fragile. Should we not at every step of our journey with the Lord, reduce this gap and keep growing towards that integrity of life? That is the first call...to wake up to see that gap!

A: Awaken Others
Your life is not lived alone! Your faith has to be lived in communion, in relationships of love and unity. Awakening each other is a special call that is given to us, but it requires that we are awake. But how do we awaken others, if we ourselves are asleep, or half asleep! That cannot work. Do you remember  that some five years ago, Holy Father announced a year for persons living their Consecrated Life? The call he had given was: TO WAKE UP THE WORLD. He explained it immediately, that it would first of all mean they wake themselves up, reach out to the others and share the experience of being awake and thus make the whole humanity awakened! Advent is also the time to call out to each other, remind each other and journey together.

Waking up the other is not merely giving command to the other to rise, but it is more sharing my experience of being awake. There are many wake up calls... the climate crisis, the pandemic now, the economic melt down, the political stand offs... all these are wake up calls, efforts to wake up the other. In our personal lives too, there are wake up calls - may be a fight with a spouse, a misunderstanding with children or parents, a tiff with a friend...these could be moments to wake up the other! But I need to check first, am I really awake, to awaken the other?

T: Thirst for the Lord
The first reading presents us a model of thirsting for the coming of the Lord. The prophet yearns for God's coming and wishes that it happens right away. In various ways he expresses the longing for the Lord, the Father, the Potter to come and shepherd us, protect us and mould us. The prophet seems to blame the Lord, that the Lord gave us up to sin! In a way it is true, as some young friends ask: why did God give me the possibility of choosing sin? God could have made me in such a way that I always choose good! Ah! that is one tricky type of reasoning. But, let us beware - it is the freedom that makes us Children of God. If not we would be like any other beings: animals or plants. We are in the image and likeness of God, and freedom to choose is a key element of that image! But what matters in that choice is, how much do I thirst for God?

The thirst for God has to be expressed in our concrete seeking for the Lord. We need to seek the Lord, on a daily basis: in those who are around us, in the situations that surround us, in anxious faces and hungry stomachs, in hearts longing for love those darkened with hatred...we are to dig deep and look for the face of the Lord! He is coming; indeed He has come! It is upto us to unveil the Lord's presence amidst us.

C: Cleanse yourself
To seek the Lord, it goes without saying, is a moment of cleansing, a moment of self purification. It is only through this purification that we can really get to see the Lord. The Lord is near and we need to feel the urgency of purifying ourselves. What a gift we have in these four weeks, if only we use them to the full! 

Here is a suggestion: Pick up one element a week and begin working on them; report the progress to the Lord at the end of the week and start on another element in the new week! That would be a great journey and that is the journey of self purification that the Lord invites us to. And by the way, have you made your Confession yet! Decide on that...a lovely way to mark this Advent journey: a loving celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

H: Hold firm to the Lord
In the second reading, St. Paul hits the nail on its head: 'God is faithful', he declares! Yes, in our yearning to behold the revelation of Lord Jesus Christ in our own life and in our times, God is faithful. The point is we need to hold firm to the Lord. Perseverance is a rare virtue. We are good willed, and spirit filled...but for only a while. That would surely not suffice. We need to persevere in our good will, we need to hold on to the choice for the Lord, we cannot give up even when we face all the possible odds. 

On this journey we begin today too...let us stay firm and hold on to the Lord and the Lord will see us through all moments of crisis and confusion. All that we need to do is, make a pact with the Lord and journey these days close to the Lord...and we will see, we would have reached somewhere by the end of this season!

We begin a journey today, to WATCH - to Wake up, to Awaken, to Thirst, to Cleanse and to Hold on to the Lord who is to come. Let us embark upon this journey, together as a community of loving people, and feel close to each other and feel the Lord close to us. The Lord's words resound today in the Gospel: What shall I say to you, I say to all: WATCH.