Rising to Glorify the Lord

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

September 14, 2021: The Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Numbers 21: 4-9; Philippians 2: 6-11; John 3:13-17

The Word today is filled with terms related to raising and lowering - being raised by God, being raised by people, self-lowering...and everything points towards the element of making God the priority and making God's will the absolute criterion, in our daily life. God has a design and that design is the original and the absolute good that is in creation. When we tamper with it, there is a mighty big ruin that we cause. This is the rationale behind be it the ecological crisis we face today or the pandemic that we are suffering from.

We know it is important for the cocoon to break itself open and the creature inside to squeeze itself out - only then will there be a creature so beautiful, colourful and subtle to fly around. We know it is important for the seed to bury itself in the ground, get suffocated under mud and force itself out of the ground to yield its multifold fruit.

At times in spite of all the love that we have for God and despite all the goodness we possess, we find it so difficult to accept pain - pains of different kinds - psychological, physical, spiritual, relational or social. The moment we are able to subject ourselves to pain with serenity, the moment we are ready to go through a bit of the darkness of the unknown, the moment we are prepared to grope a bit in the shady regions of our life... and do all these with complete trust that the Lord is certainly around, I begin to rise! 

When I rise, people will certainly begin to look at me, giving glory to the Lord, the Lord of the Cross! This is after all the exaltation of the Cross we are called to celebrate today and not merely some cult towards the crucifix! Let our daily lives become a perennial exaltation of the Holy Cross, from where comes our salvation. 

Found Missing: Good Leaders!

WORD 2day: Monday, 24th week in Ordinary time

September 13, 2021: 1 Timothy 2: 1-8; Luke 7: 1-10

The Word today touches upon a crucial point for today - who is a true leader and what we need to do towards having true leaders. 

Look at the sort of leaders we have today - those who threaten all those around inviting them to prove their might, those who are busy proving themselves the most powerful, those who are busy promoting their own hidden agenda come what may, those who are more worried about their purses and positions than about those whom they intend to lead, the ones who are busy making noise without really substantialising their inner potency, those who have no stand on their own but try to capitalise on others' weaknesses and necessities - are these the kind of leaders we need? Are we the kind of leader that the centurion proved to be?

If we need to have good leaders, we should first, pray for our leaders - that those who are with the responsibility entrusted to them, be guided by the Spirit of truth and not swayed by falsity and popular craze for selfish goals. 

Secondly, we need to  promote such leaders, instead of losing them in time and space. What a sad fact it is that whenever we need to speak of good leaders, we go to the pages of histroy and quote a few from there. We need to identify good persons, persons with capacity and compassion and promote them to be leaders, and not go by the crowd and later lament! 

And finally, we need to become, ourselves the type of leaders that we wish to see. We expect certain qualities in our leaders, for instance, honesty and integrity, morality and humanity. Do we possess them and grow in them? Do we ensure our own children and youngsters in the family grow with these? 

Our faith requires from us this commitment that we organise our life, personal, familial and social, worthy of the God who we serve! It is good to take stock of our daily life and practice, isn't it? 

THE ACT OF FAITH

Actions, Choices and Thoughts

September 12, 2021: 24th Sunday in Ordinary time

Isaiah 50: 5-9a; James 2: 14-18; Mark 8: 27-35

Faith has to be lived, it has to be manifested, be seen and shown; if it does not, it can be interpreted as dead and good for nothing. The Word this Sunday offers us a perspective of living faith on a daily basis, not leaving it in the air as mere doctrines and nor reducing it to performance of rituals and practices. It is a perspective that makes faith concrete and life oriented: the ACT, that enables persons to live their faith and manifest a living Faith, in an increasingly secularised world.

The ACT perspective of faith consists of Actions that make faith alive, Choices in life that make faith truly concrete and fundamental for daily life, and Thoughts that make faith something that covers the entire being of a person, determining the very life style of the person, and not merely concerning with some sporadic elements of the life of person! 

ACTIONS: Faith has to be manifested through Actions of love

A Christian cannot be so for namesake. A believer cannot be merely someone who understands and accepts some sets of truth. A godly person cannot be someone who lives in an otherworldly atmosphere and refuses to get down to real life and its responsibilities. True faith has to be shown in concrete action. James today brings out this truth in such a candid manner.

Faith that is devoid of love is not Christian and that love when not shown in action is not real. Love is not treating people according your whims and fancies, it is approaching every person with a respect and reverence that he or she is an image of the living God. True love translates itself into commitment, a commitment for the wellbeing of the other.

CHOICES: Faith has to be witnessed to, through an absolute Choice for life 

With the pandemic and its related troubles continuing to surround us, with the forces of violence all around the world making their ugly presence felt every now and then, with the dominant and hegemonic economic demons of the globalised world threatening to suffocate the entire humanity, we have determinant and definitive choices to make, as disciples of Christ. Isaiah prefigures in his own life and self, what it means to be a true disciple of the Son of God. Cross is not all about death, instead it is about glory: this is the difference between the perspective of life and that of death.

The world and its culture today is prone to death - Pope Benedict XVI called it the 'culture of death' and the present Holy Father, Pope Francis continues to reflect on that phrase. Difficulties are highlighted, despair is amplified, destruction is perpetrated and death is felt in the air. It is nauseating for a true believer, because we are persons who have chosen life, life in all its abundance. We can never choose to be gloomy and sad, pessimistic and given up! We choose God, we choose life!

THOUGHTS: Faith should be based on the Thoughts of God

Who do you THINK I am, asks Jesus. It matters a lot - what we think, how we think and why think what we think! Thinking is an expression of our innermost dispositions. How we think about others will define what we really are. That is precisely why Jesus asks us today, that all important question. But when it comes to the realm of faith, human thinking and worldly calculations will never make us persons of faith. It is only in adapting a God-perspective, that is looking at and thinking of all that is and all that happens, from the perspective of God, that we can be filled with faith. 

Jesus had this God-perspective very clear. He taught the same perspective to his disciples too. That is the reason we see that he rebukes Peter for being contrary to God's thinking. Sufferings, crosses, and sacrifices are nothing strange, if and when we put on the mind of God and develop the God-perspective from within us. Within the perspective of God everything has its place and meaning. 

Let us pledge ourselves to an ACT of faith this day and in the coming week: to act in love, to choose life and to think like God - only then can we be truly disciples, apostles, and brothers and sisters of Christ.

Evidence of the inexhaustible patience

WORD 2day: Saturday, 23rd week in Ordinary Time

September 11, 2021: 1 Timothy 1: 15-17; Luke 6: 43-49

Paul calls himself the evidence of God's inexhaustible patience. Aren't we all such evidences... taking into consideration the endless opportunities we are offered to bear the right fruits at the right season.

At times persons ask questions like: why is it that people are so bad and they don't allow me to be as good as I wish to be! May be the Word today could answer that question... I am responsible for the fruits that are expected of me... there will surely be scores of others who will disturb, distract, discourage and disorient me but I cannot lose the direction that I am given with. I cannot blame it on others or the situation when I fail to bear the fruits that I should. 

However, we have a God who is inexhaustible in patience. It is beautiful to remember here those wise words of the saint of the gutters, whom we celebrated last Sunday. She was convinced and repeated often, God expects from us not success but faithfulness. But it is hard to be faithful, faithful amidst all the difficulties around.

This day cannot be forgotten from recent pages of history, a day that changed the entire world mentality 20 years ago. The twin tower blasts which implanted fear, suspicion, hatred, vengeance and universal mistrust, still affects the way persons and societies look at the other and others! But can we  just give into the influence of evil and hatred, in spite of all the hardships we face! Here is where our call to bear fruit amidst odds, stands out. 

Let us resolve to be good, to bear only good fruits, to never give up on the call we have received. May the inexhaustible patience of God fill us with necessary endurance to make this journey possible.

The Real Me

WORD 2day: Friday, 23rd week in Ordinary time

Septermber 10, 2021: 1 Timothy 1: 1-2, 12-14; Luke 6: 39-42

Humility is an essential part of holiness. Holiness never leads one to pride and anything that makes one proud is clearly indicative of being short of true holiness. That is why a holy person never gives into ego trips and anyone who feeds his or her own ego is still a long way from holiness. Humility and holiness have a great deal to do with each other. This points to two facts: firstly, that one should constantly look into oneself and be aware of the weaknesses to grow out of;  secondly, that those who are truly concerned about each other's holiness, take care and responsibility to help each other out!

It is a plain fact that realising the areas in which one has to grow and taking steps towards that growth is an important part of maturing in one's life. The other fact which the Word points today is a bit more subtle and complicated: mutual corrections, typically Christian ways of growing up together in holiness. Humility plays a very big role here. 

Humility is not an artificial debasement of oneself in any way. It is knowing my real self accepting it and being at home with it; at home with knowing my imperfections and continuously working on it. St Paul was mindful of his real self all the time. He never thought of hiding his dark past and was never bloating over the glorious state of his present relationship with Christ. In fact his relationship with Christ made him more aware of his real self. 

In Christ I get to know my real me, not just my past but also my call; not merely the splinters and planks in my eyes but even the blessings and splendour given unto me. Though I may be broken and fractured with imperfections, there is a glory that awaits me if only I am ready to constantly graft myelf onto Christ - because that is where I find my true image. That is the real me!

Put on Christ; put on love!

WORD 2day: Thursday, 23rd week in Ordinary time

September 9, 2021: Colossians 3: 12-17;  Luke 6: 27-38

If we do not say that the words are from the letter to the Colossians,  one can easily misjudge those as some paraphrasing of a part from the Gospel and as words of Christ himself. Paul had so intensely taken in the spirit of Christ that his insistence of putting on Christ comes from his person much stronger than from his words. Love is presented as the crux of Christ's message. When Paul said, even elsewhere,  to put on Christ, he practically meant putting on love. Love, understood not as childish sentiment of attachment and dependence, but a Christlike selfgiving. 

Love is the sweetest of all teachings of Christ and it is the most difficult of all too, for it comes inbuilt with forgiveness;  forbearance, kindness,  gentleness, integrity and sacrifice. 'What is there in it for me?' - if someone were to ask that question, the answer would be a simple, 'nothing'. There is nothing in love that I intend to gain or get ; all that it really involves is giving and laying down. If I intend to receive anything, it is no love in reality! But the beauty of love is that, in giving, in losing, in laying down... I receive, a hundred fold. 

Does that sound too unrealistic and demanding?  The fact however is,  if we believe being a Christian is to put on Christ, it can never happen except by putting on love!

Destined, Chosen and Lifted High!

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

September 8, 2021: Celebrating the Birthday of Our Mother
Micah 5: 1-4; Matthew 1: 1-16, 18-23


The Birthday of our Blessed Mother brings home to us a typically Christ-ian message: the message of being chosen from all eternity, as St. Paul affirms in his letter to the Ephesians (1:4). "God has chosen you before the foundation of the world." God chose Mary from eternity and prepared her to be the worthy dwelling place for God's Son. That is why the Angel greeted her with those significant words: 'Hail! Full of Grace!' She, who was so full of Grace and who bore the fullness of Grace within her, becomes for us the bearer of grace. She was destined and chosen and God deigned to share with her God's glory. 

Mary's role as the destined and chosen one, reminds each of us of our status as chosen children destined to share in the glory of the Lord. When Mary was born, the climax of God's salvation plan was born.. of course, it was yet to reach its climax. Her greatness lies in the fact that she cooperated with God and it was that trait which led her to the glory that she enjoys today - lifted up by the Lord himself. Everyone of us is called to that same glory and we are faced with the same demand: that we cooperate with the Lord in the eternal plan, where we have a specific and irreplaceable role to play.

The scourge of the world today consists in the fact that it has lost the sense of the eternal. All that matters is the here and the now, the immediate and the instant differences that people look for. This is the tendency that leads to evaluating a person in terms of usefulness, looking at everything from the point of view of gain or loss and judging everything with the criterion of utility. Reading through the genealogy presented to us, we may think it just followed one after the other -but how long a wait it was for humanity, and that is the preparationg towards eternity! In God's plan everything has its place, everyone has one's proper place and role!

Let this feast of our Blessed Mother bring health to our mind and body! It is so much needed today: with the pandemic and the post pandemic effects affecting not merely our physical health but also our mental and spiritual wellbeing, may our blessed mother, celebrated as the Mother of Good Health in India, bring sanity and sanctity to our spirit and soul, that we may be fully alive, sharing and spreading the glory of God - that is what we are chosen for and that is what we are destined for! MAy God be praised in God's angels and saints! Ave Maria!

Rooted, bulit, held and filled!

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 23rd week in Ordinary time

September 7, 2021: Colossians 2: 6-15; Luke 6: 12-19

You must be rooted, built on him, held firm by faith and be filled with thanksgiving - what powerful words that Paul uses to explain what is it that we are called to, especially in this epoch where everything Godly is being despised, hated and frowned upon! Yes, we are called. Just as Jesus called those 12, he has called each one of us, by name, from a crowd of people, singling us out and setting us apart.

But, what are we called to?

To be rooted in Christ, that we be nourished and kept alive, by no one knows what, the very source of life and meaning - the Divine Word, become flesh.

To be built into Christ, that every thing that we say, do or even think, may make present that almighty transforming power of God, the Spirit that rested on Christ and which has been passed on to us.

To be held firm in Christ, against all concussions that may happen due to the wiles of the world - that is why Paul warns us: make sure that no one traps you, with the empty, rational principles of this world.

To be filled with thanks to Christ, for having won us over for God! In spite of the daily troubles and unending cares of the day, we are called to look at the blessings God has willed for us and the treasures God has stored for us.

We are called... to be rooted and built on Christ, held firm and filled with Christ, that we can make sense of our own lives, make meaning for others and find that ultimate meaning - Christ himself!

Suffering - Sisyphus or Salvation?

WORD 2day: Monday, 23rd week in Ordinary time

September 6, 2021: Colossians 1:24 - 2:3; Luke 6: 6-11

When we read the passage from St. Paul in the first reading today, we can easily be reminded of the Greek Mythology of Sisyphus. The famous mythology is about the character called Sisyphus, who receives a curse to push a big boulder up the hill... all his days, he pushes and pushes it, only for the boulder to roll back to the foot of the hills in no time. And he would begin it all over again. He would carryout that meaningless and endless routine all his existence! The existentialist philosopher, Albert Camus (in 1945) would compare that to human suffering, and say it is a meaningless affair that we cannot avoid. St. Paul's words to the Colossians might sound like it, when he says, I have to suffer for you and for the Laodiceans without having even seen your faces. But Paul never ever felt it was meaningless or endless, pointless or superfluous... according to him, it was salvific!

Christian suffering, however trying and burdensome it could be, can never lack meaning! If it lacks meaning, it is not because it does not have meaning, but we do not have the right perspective. Now the question is what is that which makes a suffering, or our outlook on suffering, truly Christian? Or in simple terms, what does give meaning to our sufferings? All our laws and regulations, discipline and rules, what really makes them all purposeful? 

What is that which gives meaning - the question itself has to be reformulated, because it is not "what", but WHO! Yes, it is the Almighty, the Lord who renders them all meaningful and purposeful. Without God, suffering is meaningless, pointless and mere misery. With God suffering is salvific, purposeful and destined towards an ultimate good. It is God who renders our sufferings, our mortifications, our rules, our legalities meaningful. None of these would mean anything, even if we kept them with utmost diligence, if we do not feel close to God. 

This is in short the message and teaching that Christ has given us; the right Christian perspective to suffering: without God, like for Sisyphus, our sufferings are mere miseries; while with God, our sufferings are profoundly salvific! 

A PARTIAL GOD?

Who said God is impartial?

23rd Sunday in Ordinary time: September 5, 2021

Isaiah 35: 4-7; James 2: 1-5; Mark 7: 31-37

The readings this Sunday miraculously coincide with a world event that comes to its close the very Sunday, September 5! When Isaiah speaks to us of the deaf hearing, the dumb speaking, the blind seeing and the lame walking, we cannot but think of the so called, deaf and blind, lame and crippled, winning gold, silver and bronze, adding pride to their nations, in the paralympic that closes this very day. The persons with disablity proving their mettle at Tokyo these days, stand witness to the hope that if only we change our perspective and look at the whole truth, the holistic reality, the universal harmony, instead of dividing, stratifying, exploiting and manipulating the other, on whatever be the count. 

It is in this context that we confront a question today: Is God partial? Ideally speaking, we say, God is never partial, God is just and God is upright! But let us think a while... who said God is not partial! Now consider a situation, a case in concrete: you see a man in the act of stealing, and you also see the man who is being robbed of his something - what would you do? By calling out the thief, are you not putting him into danger and favouring the one who is being robbed? Is it being partial? No, it is being truthful, it is being just, it is being upright... isn't it? And that is why, we say...

It is logical that God is 'partial'... God is Truth, God is just, God is love, God is compassion - which logically says, God sides with truth and never with the lie; God sides with justice and never with injustice; God stands with those to be love, those who need understanding and compassion. It is only logical. James says today, God chose the poor! God chose those who are being oppressed. God chooses those who are suffering. God stands by those who are exploited, those who cannot fend for themselves, those who are unfortunate, those who have less than what they legitimately need to live their life to the full. Thinking in these terms it is very clear that...

It is not being 'partial', but being 'integral'... Being integral is being in perfect harmony without contradictions - between words and deeds, between what is public and what is private, between what is preached and what is practised. God is integral; God is integrity! There is no need for God to choose between good and evil, truth and deception, virtue and vice - God is integrally good, truthful and virtue personified. Jesus embodied this quality; he naturally stayed with the suffering, the less fortunate, the struggling in life - that is where love and compassion was needed; it is amidst the injustices that ray of justice was needed - and Jesus was there. Can we claim to be neutral, when there is some one who is exploiting and someone who is suffering? Have we not to take a concrete side? That is why we say...

God does have favourites... Blessed are the poor, the humble, the weak, the suffering, those who cry, those who are hungry, those who are persecuted... but why are they blessed? Because God has taken their side already! A Christian view of suffering and struggle in life, has to be a sense of hope and optimism, because God is very close to a person in these circumstances. It is not a very Christian question to ask: if God is, why is there suffering! Instead it is very Christian to understand and believe that wherever there is suffering, there is God! Amidst the people today who are suffering out of political crisis in Afghanistan, beside persons and families who are reeling under sadness, grief and crisis due to the prevailing pandemic, on the side of the poor farmers and economically downtrodden people everywhere who are oppressed by the corporate bullies... there is God present with compassion and strength. It is the call today to every disciple of Christ, to hold on to this Christian hope and instill the same wherever we are - that is the true spirit of the Reign!

The Reign of God is all about the so-called partial God, a God who stands by truth, by justice, by fairness, by uprightness of life - to ensure that all may have life, life in abundance. The Reign of God therefore is not a neutral pacifism, nor is it an inhuman antagonism. It is an ongoing struggle, a battle waged by truth against deceptions, a rebellion of peace against violence and a continuous self assertion of loving justice against selfish exploitations. Today as true disciples of Christ, inspired people of the Spirit and loved children of God, we are called to be builders of the Reign. Can we claim to be neutral? Can we avoid taking the side of the oppressed? Can we choose not to feel one with the suffering? If we are among the suffering lot, the Christian call is to understand how God stays close to us and we are not alone! 

Building the Reign here and now, means making the blind see, the dumb speak, the deaf hear, the lame walk... that is to become the eyes, the ears, the mouths, the legs and the hands of those who are affected with disabilities of all kinds - cultural, social, economic, political, religious and spiritual. God invites, even challenges us to be truly representatives of God initiating such processes in our concrete contexts. And what do you call God who is the protagonist of this very process... a partial God?