The Witness of Choice

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 33rd week in Ordinary time

November 16, 2021: 2 Maccabees 6: 18-31; Luke 19: 1-10

We are called to witness to the Lord, the Lord's Gospel and the Lord's Reign. The most powerful of witnesses is the witness of choice, the witness of making a choice for God over many others that claim a reckoning! 

Our choices determine, the person that we are! Our choices manifest the sort of community we form! Be it our personal choices, or our collective choices as a community, or society or as whole humanity, we constantly keep making statements as to who we are, through our choices. 

Eleazar makes a choice for God by not scandalising the little ones of God against a life for God. No one would have objected to it, if he had saved himself of extreme troubles; in fact they were merciful towards him. But what did not allow him was his interior, personal choices for God! And that became the greatest of witness to his fellow believers!

Zachaeus makes a choice to hold on to Christ and let everything else go, a witness of inspiration that he gives as an elder! Those who knew the old Zachaeus certainly would have been blown away in surprise. His choices were absolutely unbelievable! 

The long and short of the message today is: even if don't give a great witness per se, I need to atleast refrain from causing scandals for the little ones. However, both these are equally demanding and not exclusive of each other. We know the amount of damage that scandals are causing to the believing community these days. The crux of our Christian life is making a choice for God, for a life worthy of God and a life that is uplifting for the people of God!

Let me see again!

WORD 2day: Monday, 33rd week in Ordinary time

November 15, 2021: 1 Maccabees 1:10-15,41-43,54-57,62-63; Lk 18: 35-43

Born in a society of multireligious nature, and today living in a society that idolises this state of multi-religiosity in theory, personally I feel gifted with experiences and circumstances that can illumine the way one perceives things. At times at the first look, they do not come across to our observation and understanding. That is why the call today, to see again (as that person without sight asked Jesus!)

While in the multireligious, climate there are tendencies to not see the possibilities of co-existence and shared experience, absolutising identities and dividing humanity on varied bases; in a climate where this multi-religiosity is idolised without really understanding the nuances, there is a tendency to level everything, compromise on convictions and mix and match things to suit one's convenience! 

What is important here is, that we see, and that we see again, that is see closely and understand everything with a close attention and then initiate a process of dialogue, that does not raze down uniquenesses but accentuates the differences that contribute to each other, that humanise the society more, and that makes meaning and dignity of living as human persons, truly felt by all. This is infact is what evangelisation and re-evangelisation is all about - to throw new light; to make persons see again! 

THE POOR WITH US

5th World day of the Poor: November 14, 2021

33rd Sunday in Ordinary time - Daniel 12: 1-3; Hebrew 10: 11-14,18; Mark 13: 24-32

The Poor - Let us become aware of the varied forms of poverty that exists all around us, without losing sight of the poverty that rests even within us!

The Poor with us - Let us recognise the sufferings of people all around us...suffering due to want, disease, oppression, injustice, discrimination, insensitivity of the world, greed and malice.

The Poor we have - Let us not merely feel sorry for the poor, the suffering and the needy! Let us own them up! Let us consider them our own brothers and sisters.

Let our lives show, instruct and teach us to live with a sensitive heart: that the poor we have always with us!

Will there be faith?

WORD 2day: Saturday, 32nd week in Ordinary time

November 13, 2021: Wisdom 18: 14-16, 19:6-9; Luke 18: 1-8

There is a real anxiety in Jesus' question... will there be faith on earth, when the Son of man comes again! He asks that question looking at the type of people he saw and the mind set they had towards things of spiritual nature. Just as then, even today the question remains pertinent as people are more calculative than committed, more religious minded than faith oriented, more interested in external legalities than integral spirituality!

When Jesus asks that question, it is not about remaining afloat as a group, with still members and adherents, with a stucture of governance and system - that was not what Jesus was worried about, although many of us today would like to interpret that question on those lines. What Jesus meant was, whether the human person would have any relationship left with his or her Divine Origin; or will they be lost in the mundane, the tangibles of existence, the appearances and the so-called concrete experiences, belittling the mystery and the Spiritual dimension of human life.

Will there be faith and will faith be real... the way things seem to be developing, this anxiety has to fill our minds too. The Holy Father makes this issue come alive calling us to be today, a Church more and more authentic, true and faithful to the Gospel and its original values. Resisting all temptation towards division and sectarianism, fighting all forces that dehumanise the society and establishing a Reign counter to that of injustice and exploitation, we are called to keep the true faith alive, until the Son of Man comes back in glory. Are we game for that challenge?

Gather the signs!

WORD 2day : Friday, 32nd week in Ordinary time

November 12, 2021: Wisdom 13:1-9; Luke 17: 26-37

Every now and then in the story of humanity, a story makes its rounds that the end of the world is bound to begin shortly... in a week or in a fixed time foresaid.. with three days of darkness and other demonic signs. Though there is a curiosity that these horror stories evoke, they are merely manifestations of a spirituality that seeks some excitement all the time. Isn't that a very weak form of spirituality? 

Jesus invites us to grow in our capacity to gather the signs from the experiences of ordinary day to day life...the lessons arising from the clashes caused by evil tendencies, cravings incited by selfishness, inhumanities provoked by senseless egoism, insensitivities and indifferences that make this world a worthless place to live in! People who make of everything and every person, a commodity, a means to their own gain and a possibility of profit!

Look at the entire scenario of the pandemic experience - how many elements are human made and so miserably evil! Every time there is a disaster, human made or natural, there are those who shamelessly draw profit from it...what kind of a human person would do that? Leave alone, a follower of Christ falling into that mode of living. It is a clear sign that they do now gather any signs of what God wants from them!

The call is to gather signs and understand the invitation from God. It is not about when the end of the world would come...but what does God want of me here and now, right here and right now! It would be unwise to remain deaf or blind to the messages that the Lord sends... let's remain awake and read those signs and channel our courses towards one united goal: the Reign of God here on earth.

Me, the Spirit and the Reign!

WORD 2day : Thursday, 32nd week in Ordinary time

November 11, 2021: Wisdom 7:22 - 8:1: Luke 17: 20-25

The Reign of God is among you, says Jesus in the Gospel. While the first reading gives us the cue where to initiate it in concrete: from the Spirit who dwells within us. This is the crux of Christian life in the world today!

It is the Spirit's doing that initiates the Reign in this world. Hence the call that we have received to establish the Reign of God, begins with realising the Spirit within us. It is to become aware of the indwelling Spirit and live a life that is worthy of this inner presence, that waits to spread itself into a light that would lead the entire world from within each of us.

The second need is to keep the Spirit alive and nourish it with our choice for God on a day to day manner. When you sow flesh, you grow flesh; when you sow the Spirit, you grow in the Spirit, counsels St. Paul elsewhere. Our growth in the Spirit depends on the interest we manifest in feeding our selves with Spiritual nourishment. When the Spirit grows within, the Reign around me springs!

Thirdly, we are challenged to live that Spirit out, manifest that Spirit, bear witness to that Spirit, make the Spirit felt in our very beings, with courage and commitment, inspite of the threats and troubles around us. Once we choose to live our life in the Spirit to the full, the Reign of God begins to dawn on this world.

There is a crucial connection between the Spirit and the Reign, and the connection is ME!

Faith is to respond!

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 32nd week in Ordinary time

November 10, 2021: Wisdom 6: 1-11; Luke 17: 11-19

The readings seem to converge on one thought today... that the Lord wishes, expects, and demands a response from us! Our God is a self revealing God... through signs and wonders and prophets and wise persons and finally through God's only Son, and continuously even today in and through God's Spirit, God continues to reveal Godself to us in various ways.

The more we are given, the more we are expected to respond! It is not that God gives, so that we would repay! No! But it is that, we are given so much, we are filled with such goodness, we receive "grace upon grace" (Jn 1:16), that we realise it is right and just to give God thanks and praise!

To know the right thing to be done at the right time and choosing to do it, is a gift of the Holy Spirit...we would be blessed to possess it. And the Lord says today, "set your desire on my words; long for them, and you will be instructed!" (Wis 6:11). Doing the right thing, at the right time, is a response that we give to the Lord and that response is what is expected from me! When I don't respond, I waste what was entrusted to me, as a gift, a treasure!

Our response to the self revealing God - that is our faith. Growing in faith is learning to respond more and more adequately. Failing to respond is dwindling in faith. Let us grow in faith everyday - let us be attentive to respond to the Lord in every way!

Be, Build and Beware!

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

November 9, 2021: Dedication of the Lateran Basilica
Ezekiel 47:1-2,8-9,12; (1 Corinthians 3:9-11,16-17); John 2:13-22

Today we celebrate the dedication of the Basilica of St. John at the Lateran. This basilica is special because it is one of the four major basilicas of the Church in Rome. It becomes more special because it is the Cathedral of the Bishop of Rome, which is the Holy Father himself.

The feast of today gives us great insights into living an authentic Christian life!

The first insight is to be the Temple of the Lord, in our personal dedication to the Lord, in our unselfish and pure relationships and in our capacity to hold God out to people who come in touch with us.

The second insight is to build up the Temple of the Lord, that is the People of God. Today we see a tendency to invest crores on constructing and renovating churches, while the whole world is helplessly looking at misery that swallows scores of have-nots so easily pushed to peripheries because the majority are bothered only upto themselves. That too with this pandemic scene that has devoured the world situation, we need to be really careful what we wish to build - the edifice of the church, or the People who are the Church!

The third insight is to beware of breaking or dividing or scattering or demolishing this Church, the living body of Christ. The sealed churches, the schismatics, the dissident clergy, the churches that divide people with lies for ulterior motives - these are anti Gospel elements which not only delay the coming of the Reign of God but actively block it. If we are really the Church of God, we need to beware of our motives in doing all that we do!

Today, as we thank God for the great history that we have as a faith community of God, may we BE, may we BUILD and may we BEWARE to take optimum care of the House of God here on earth.

Holiness - faith lived at its core!

WORD 2day: Monday, 32nd week in Ordinary time

November, 8, 2021: Wisdom 1:1-7; Luke 17: 1-6

Holiness is a matter of the innermost being. It does not consist merely of the external signs and public shows. Words not said, thoughts not expressed, acts merely contemplated, reactions withheld... these determine my holiness more than what the world around perceives me to be. That is why the strange link between faith and forgiveness in the Gospel today. Forgiveness too is an absolutely private truth; its genuinity escapes any external expression!

While Jesus teaches his disciples to forgive brothers and sisters, they respond saying - 'increase our faith!' It can sound strange, but only apparently so! One could say, should the prayer not be, 'Lord help us to forgive!' why do we see, the apostles praying: increase our faith? The connection is very profound, and typically Christ-ian. One cannot consider oneself to be a person of faith, holy and spiritual, if one's relationships with others is not right. If faith is relationship with God, forgiveness is relationship with my fellow beings! If the latter fails, the former is meaningless. If we want really to be spiritual, we have to forgive, accept, and love our brothers and sisters, as God does with us!

Let's ask the Lord to "Increase our faith" (Lk 17:5); increase in faith means what the first reading tells us: honesty, simplicity of heart, shunning deceit, being truthful, in short: being godly at the core of our being, not merely in the external show! Yes, holiness is faith lived at the core of our beings. Faith is our daily life lived in the presence of the Lord. The more we grow conscious of the continuous presence of the Lord the more holy we shall grow!

WHAT TYPE IS YOUR GIVING?

To gain, to get or... ?

32nd Sunday in Ordinary time: November 7, 2021

1 Kings 17: 10-16; Hebrews 9: 24-28; Mark 12: 38-44

The widow at the gates of Sidon, the widow in the Temple of Jerusalem and God who gave God's only son as a sacrifice are given to us as models of giving, in today's Word. Giving is one act that can be done out of many a kind of motivation. Not all giving are of the same kind or type or degree! Analysing the models presented to us, we are called to reflect on our type of giving... reflect along and find out at the depth of your heart, what type is your giving!

Giving to Gain:

There is a lot of giving that is going on today. There are people or agencies or corporates who give even tons of money, but they are particular about what they stand to gain. They calculate the gain and then proceed to give: it could be a tax exemption, or a favour in return, or an end to achieve, or a popularity to earn! But apparently it is seen to be an act of generosity, an act of great magnanimity! But the hook is attached to the indirect returns - that's a gain.

However big and enormous this giving is, it would not be truly giving; it is in the final analysis, a getting, a begging, a receiving, a business, a gain! At times when we give, however small it is, from our time or energy or effort, if we are particular about our calculations of gain, our plots of selfishness, then our giving has no value in itself, its value is merely what we have gained.

Giving to Get:

This is the safest form of giving, where one is sure what one gives is not merely thrown in the air but it will return. I do a favour to someone expecting a favour in return; I be nice to someone expecting the person to be nice to me in return; I claim to love someone with the expectation that i will be loved in return! This is so direct - giving, inorder to get!

Though it is not about gain or profit or expecting a glorious image of oneself, this is a plain give and take, a barter mentality. There is no giving actually involved in here! It is an investment technique and when the plan fails people cry, shout, curse, claim, fight, sue, and make all noises possible! Forget giving, this is simply investing.

Giving to Give:

This is truly divine, truly Christ-ian! I give, because I find fulfillment in giving. I don't stand any chance of getting it back or I don't think anyone else will ever know, but I give, I give whole heartedly, of my time, my effort, my energy, my concern, my resources, because it is in giving that I find the true meaning of my life. During the last week Jesus instructed us, when you invite people to feasts, invite the poor, the maimed, those on the streets...reason, simple: they cannot invite you in return!

God gave God's only Son because God loved the world to that extent; it was an expression of God's love, not an expectation of the same in return! Jesus gave his life, his body and his blood, and what did he expect in return? This is true GIVING... giving after God's heart, giving after Christ's mind.

Just become aware of some of the phrases we hear (or sometimes say):

I am doing all this for him or for her or for them, what am I going to get in return?

Oh, I did all these to you, and is this how you respond?

Is it safe to give this, or do this, for this particular person, will it come back?

I did this, with so much of effort and money, and they don't even thank me in public!

These kinds of statements are candid indicatives of 'giving' that is not after the heart of our beloved Lord and Saviour. Because with the Lord we are called to give without measure. Freely freely you have received, freely freely give! Here the giving is not to gain, not to get it back; it is just to give, and nothing more!