Are we truly Christian?

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

February 4, 2021: St. John de Britto: The Red Sand Martyr

Hebrews 12: 18-19,21-24; Mark 6: 7-13

John de Britto, a Jesuit Missionary, who formed part of the famous Madurai Mission, arrived in India in 1673 and was imprisoned in 1684 and deported back to Lisbon, Portugal in 1687. However he came back to India in 1690 and was killed in 1693!

An information to those not from India or South India: the place where John de Britto (Arulanandar) was killed, situated in the diocese of Sivagangai, is called Oriyur! The sand in the particular field where he was allegedly killed, has a texture totally red, so strange to the terrain around! It is considered a miraculous phenomenon and is seen and experienced even today!

A challenge to those from India, especially South India: The feast of John de Britto does not only bring to our mind the wonderful gift that we have received from the Lord through missionaries such as these, it also brings to mind the bitter memories of things that have taken place in the region in the past decade. There is no need to narrate them here or delve deep into them, as the local faithful know it well: the challenge that is very clear - A Church that is divided on the lines of caste, cannot be truly CHRISTIAN. Any number of reasons can never justify dividing a church on those grounds or having internal fights on the basis of caste or clan! 

The Word instructs us on similar lines. When the Lord tell his disciples and apostles, not to take anything with them, he means it. Not to take the baggages of  the background, the race, the colour, the caste, the clan, the tribe, the status, the symbols...nothing to be taken! All that matters is the Reign...which as the letter to the Hebrews explains, "is nothing known to the senses." Every Christian is called and challenged to uphold this grandiose mystery of the Reign...but the question is : Are we truly Christian?

Drooping hands and weak knees or Faith Alive?

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 4th week in Ordinary time 

February 3, 2021: Hebrew 12:4-7,11-15; Mark 6:1-6

God is all powerful except before our free will... it is not that God is incapable but God has chosen to implant that freedom which is God's own image and likeness within us. At times we may feel we are afflicted but we are not without the means to withstand them. We have within us the necessary strength to stand up to these. At no time are we faced with a trial that is more than our capacity. That is the promise of the Word. God doesn't allow us to be tested beyond our capacity, says St. Paul (1 Cor 10:13).

However, there is one thing that can drive us to despair... the drooping hands and weak knees. 

Drooping hands symbolise my lack of faith in the capacity God has placed within me. It is giving up, giving up too easily on efforts towards perfection. It is said, a mistake after the second time is a decision! In our journey towards growth and perfection, what counts is not how fast we make a choice for good, but how steadfast we are to that choice and how enduring our choice remains.

Weak knees symbolise lack of dependence on God. When things go wrong, and life seems out of hand for all practical reasons, we tend to give up mainly because we think we are at things all by ourselves. At moments of crisis we find ourselves helpless, because we do not perceive the Lord who is so close to us  and so concerned about us - just like those who were not able to see Christ, in Jesus!

Finally the question is, what do you choose: drooping hands and weak knees or a Faith alive?

Tests, Results and the Marks

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

February 2, 2021: Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

Malachi 3:1-4; Luke 2: 22-40

Do not bring us to the test we pray, but our life is full of tests. The tests at school and colleges, the tests for jobs, the tests in the family by the spouses on each other, the parents on children and vice versa, the tests in the social living with all the crises that is around; and as if these are not enough, in this pandemic times - all the tests that are spoken of! Our life is filled with tests. But, it is in and through these tests, the true quality of our life is brought to the fore. Mary at the temple today stands model to this brave spirit of a God-filled person - having faced tests and fared truly well.

Much more than the results of the tests, what matters is the manner in which we go through it. What dominates: anxiety? tension? uncertainty? looking for evasive means? giving into manipulations? 

Tests in life, are not mere situations to be overcome, but are experiences to learn from. The true result of these tests, is not whether you succeed or not; but that you come out of it better, refined, polished, purified, and made more whole. St. Joseph after every crisis that he faces comes out more flexible at the hands of God. Another serene example.

The marks of these tests should be seen in your capacity to offer yourself into God's hands more and more. The effect of the tests could either make you stronger or break your spirit... the mark of a God-filled person is to come out of it ever more stronger in his or her will to surrender to the Lord. That child presented today at the temple, will grow up to be the best ever example of someone who grew out of every test and remained faithful to his consecration!

Who is your hero?

WORD 2day: Monday, 4th week in Ordinary time

February 1, 2021: Hebrew 11:32-40; Mark 5:1-20

There is a book with an interesting title, 'even God has His champions!' It speaks of 120 saints and martyrs in history who have borne God's message to the world of their times. 

The first reading from the letter to the Hebrews lists today a set of heroes, heroes of valour and vigour, heroes in history on whom the people pinned their hopes! But the letter adds an important but realistic twist... these heroes, they were all gone in the way of their fathers. That is an inevitable fact. However good or great they are, they are to be gone in time! 

Today we too have our own heroes - persons or role models or absolute values or needs or priorities - heroes of various kind. It is important to ask ourselves who is our hero and what becomes the defining value of our lives!

With what Jesus did to the people of Gerasenes, they should have made him their hero. Jesus solved their years of problem in a moment. He just sent the legion of demons away from their living quarters...but was Jesus their hero? No! They asked Jesus to leave - may be because they felt their loss (of the swines) was too much to bear! No, they had some other things as their hero - not exactly what Jesus could offer them. 

The crucial question is back: who is your hero?

ABSOLUTE ALLEGIANCE TO THE ALMIGHTY

like children who cling to their parents...

January 31, 2021: 4th Sunday in the Ordinary Time
Deuteronomy 18: 15-20; 1 Corinthians 7: 32-35; Mark 1: 21-28

It was a home for street kids. As I entered, a calendar caught my attention. It had the words running thus: with the young missionaries of hope and joy. I hoped to see some young religious in formation or some people getting ready to go on a mission. But the picture that accompanied it was more surprising. It was a click of a bunch of street kids with eyes all shining and faces beaming with smiles. They had called them 'missionaries of hope and joy.' Today's first reading came alive to me when I saw this. When the Lord said, the Lord would raise a prophet as good as Moses and that prophet was not only Jesus who did great wonders when he was still alive but in and through Jesus, it is you and I who are called to be prophets today, here and now. 

The second reading points to us the way of being powerful prophets of God... and the way is, an absolute allegiance to the almighty. To profess our allegiance to God with nothing to distract us, nothing to preoccupy us, nothing to hinder our speaking God's word or doing God's works. Today there are any number of conspiracy theories and ideological conflicts, along with the unfortunate things that are happening to humanity and to the whole existence. Regardless of who sounds more logical and what provides more stuff to imagination, our allegiance needs to be to the Almighty and it needs to be Absolute! When that happens each of us become a prophet in our own lives. 

The Apostle speaks of an undivided attention to the Lord - though it upholds the value of celibacy as such, it can be lived in every walk of life. When the right priorities are in place in our personal, family and community life, and these priorities are considered absolute, then we live a life that is inspiring, witnessing and prophetic.

The Gospel presents to us the model par excellence of a prophet of God: the very Son of God who professes and practices such a perfect allegiance to God that every one who saw him, heard him was either taken up or felt threatened. His was an authority that came from his personal integrity and flawless faithfulness to God. 

Our absolute allegiance to the almighty will make us like children who trust and depend totally on their parents. At times even a blind following of the directions given by God would suffice for us to work on our Sanctification and that of those around us.

In faith, towards the real homeland...

WORD 2day: Saturday, 3rd week in Ordinary time

January 30, 2021: Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19; Mark 4: 35-41

Life on earth, though short, is filled with joys and sorrows, hopes and anxieties, expectations and disappointments, desires and disillusionments - but what can keep us going is the promise of a homeland, a homeland beyond all imagination - a land of repose and total serenity, a land of calmness and tranqulity. Faith alone can help us see this homeland and arrive therein. 

The Gospel presents to us both the realities of the present life of agitation and commotion and the eternal homeland of peace and calm! The experience of disciples on the boat is highly illustrative of our life and the life to come. But there is one dimension to be noted well... in both the realities the Lord is with us! While in the storm of events, the Lord was there...only that they realised the potency of the presence of the Lord very late. Don't you have faith, asks the Lord!

Faith makes us see the Lord present with us and not just that, it helps us see also what exactly the Lord can do for us. Remaining calm in moments of crisis, because we have committed ourselves to the power of the Almighty, can take us a long long way, right to the heavenly homeland, of peace, calm, joy and hope. All that we need to do is recognise the presence of the Lord in faith! 

In faith, we shall journey on, come what may, towards the real homeland, with the Lord all along!

Patient Endurance and Hope-filled Efforts

WORD 2day: Friday, 3rd week in Ordinary time

January 29, 2021: Hebrews 10: 32-39; Mark 4: 26-34

A popular caricature, a cartoon made popular via the social network, with a man digging a tunnel in search of precious metals and at a point he decides to stop his pursuit. The cartoon allows the viewers alone to see that the man was just a few inches away from the treasure hidden away in the ground! "You need endurance to do the will of God and receive what he has promised," says the Word today.

We cannot be like the nursery kids on a class project of growing a plant in the pot. From the time they plant a seed, they would keep returning to the pot every other minute to see if something has grown. The Reign of God grows in silence and obscurity; you will never know it is there around until you really believe it to be. That is why Jesus declared, 'the Reign of God is amidst you; within you' (cf. Lk 17: 21).

In patient endurance and hope-filled efforts one will unlock the levels towards a fuller realisation of the Reign which is already there growing within us, among us and allover us!

Rouse each other to love

 THE WORD AND THE SAINT

January 28, 2021 - Remembering St. Thomas Aqiunas.

Hebrew 10: 19-25; Mark 4: 21-25

The first reading today has a call that summarises our Christian vocation to the full. To love is an undeniable vocation we have; to inspire each other to love and goodness is the complete understanding of it. 

 

Thomas Aquinas, whom we celebrate today, has the unparalleled definition for love... love iswishing the good of the other. It is in true love that we inspire each other and rouse them to love.

This is why the Lord speaks of the imagery of light: to be lighted to light up. It takes a lot of effort to truly love; to rouse others to love it takes much more effort, a lot of sacrifice and a great amount of dedication. Yes! but the key is here, the Lord puts it neatly: the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you, and still more will be given to you!

Where do the seeds fall?

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 3rd week in Ordinary time

January 27, 2021: Hebrew 10: 11-18; Mark 4: 1-20

The Word today speaks to us of living an acceptable life in the presence of God. It is never the case that the Lord rejects us or finds us unacceptable; the Lord said he had come to call the sinners and not the righteous! But the fact is we alienate ourselves from the Lord by the very choices we make on a daily basis and at every moment of decision making. 

We may easily complain...the situation around is bad or that the conditions of life are not conducive. But we are asked to do the best without any compromise, wherever we are or in whatever condition we find ourselves in; the rest the one who has called us will take care. We can plant, water and take care, it is the Lord who gives us the growth!

Where do we permit the seed to fall - the seed is the Word of God which constantly comes to tell us what is right and acceptable in the eyes of the Lord; where do we permit that seed to fall? Far away from us or all around us or in precarious places or right at the heart of our being? If only we prioritise the Word of God and strive to live by it, we shall grow more and more capable of experiencing the grace of God's continual presence. Yes, it all depends where we allow the seed  of the Word to fall!

Fan the flame of your faith

THE WORD AND THE SAINTS

January 26, 2021: Remembering Sts Timothy and Titus

2 Timothy 1: 1-8; Mark 3: 31-35

Timothy and Titus are two models we are presented with today. They were both finds of St. Paul on his journeys. Inspiring the listeners to make a life choice is a special gift that some are given with. St. Paul possessed this and used it well for the Reign of God. Timothy and Titus join the great band of apostles that Jesus initiated.

Writing to Timothy Paul instructs, in the passage we reflect on as first reading, to fan into flame the gift that Timothy received when he was prayed over! To fan the flame of faith - is to be aware of the gift that we have received (faith), to rekindle constantly the act of faith, and to keep the faith alive. Keeping the faith aliveis to keep growing in our relationship with God and allowing that relationship to affect every other relationship in life and every other aspect of our lives. 

Today the call remains open: to fan the flame of our faith. The points for reflection are - are we aware of the gift of faith that we have received? How keen are we to keep our faith alive on a daily basis? What do we do to keep the flame of faith burning and consuming? 

May the examples such as Timothy's and Titus' impel us towards action, to fan the flame of our faith.