God has come to the camp - let nothing perturb you!

WORD 2day: Thursday, 1st week in Ordinary time

January 13, 2022: 1 Samuel 4: 1-11; Mark 1: 40-45

God has come to the camp; this has never happened before! - it is an interesting exclamation from the Philistines that the first reading notes! It reminds us of the great feast that we have just celebrated - that of the incarnational event! God has come to the camp, to our camp, as one of us, as someone who shares our state of life! This is something unheard of, illogical and out of the ordinary or the normalcy. That is the love of God - so illogical, unheard of and incredibly in favour of us. 

When we believe in that love, so boundless and out of the ordinary, we would not dare ask the Lord for favours. We would only tell the Lord, with all our heart, 'do what you wish!' And what the Lord wishes will be for our good, and nothing other than that. The person with leprosy whom we meet today in the Gospel, knew this somehow. He made a prayer so exceptional: if it is your wish! And immediately Jesus replies, 'I wish! Be cured!' That is the love of God - wishing always the best for us.

We need to really grow in our understanding of this love, get more to experience it. The Lord is in our camp! The Lord is right beside us, close to us, and always surrounding us with God's love. Why should we panic for anything at all... the Lord shall fight on our behalf; the Lord shall take care of everything that bothers us; the Lord shall protect us and guide us right where we are destined to be and we shall always be saved! 

The Lord is in our camp, we have nothing to be afraid of! Let nothing perturb you! 

Listening and Doing - the core connect!

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 1st week in Ordinary time

January 12, 2022: 1 Samuel 3: 1-10,19-20; Mark 1:29-39

'Speak Lord, your servant is listening' and 'Here Lord, I come to do your will'... these are two prominent biblical verses given to us from the liturgy of the Word today, bringing to our notice a very close relationship, the core-connect, that exists between listening and doing! 

Doing the Will of the Father goes with listening to the voice of God - which comes through so many ways including those immediately around us, and especially the most needy among them. They become the indications, they become the voice beckoning us to do the will of God. 

Listening to the voice of God, leads one todo what God wants, if that listening has been sincere and authentic. The Word moves us, the voice impels us to action, action according to the eternal plan of God.

We see this core-connect exemplified in the life of Jesus, in the Gospel. As the psalmist says Jesus was eager to do the will of God - here I come to do your will O God; but he knew that it cannot be wholly done, if he did not have a personal time with the One who calls and sends - Speak Lord your servant is listening.

The more we grow in our ability to listen with our heart, the more we shall be able to discern the will of God at the right moment. It is an essential part of Christian maturity to understand this core-connect - between listening and doing!

Authority - what and from where?

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 1st week in Ordinary time

January 11, 2022: 1 Samuel 1: 9-20; Mark 1:21-28

Eli is too fast to judge Hannah... what permits him to do that? Does he assume authority to himself to judge a person; is it justified of him, he being a so-called man of God! Hannah points out to him that he need not be true, merely because he is in authority...nor is it taken for granted that he is better because of that same fact. Eli was wrong and Hannah was there standing tall in her total fidelity to God who had mercy on her. 

In the Gospel the pharisees wonder from where Jesus got his authority! Jesus spoke things and spoke in a way that they could not disprove him, nor could they challenge him. They wished to silence him with counter arguments and threatening accusations, but their efforts were all in vain. He just stood way up and ahead of them.

Where did he get that authority from, they wondered, as we ourselves can and need to: from where did Jesus' authority spring? Of course from the total fidelity to the One who sent him. With that absolute fidelity and uncompromising surrender to the Lord, Jesus could say anything and it would happen! And that is authority... that confidence to say anything and that can come only from the One who can do anything, the Almighty! Every baptised son and daughter of God is invested with this authority, it is our duty to discover and unlock it, that the world may see a speck of God's presence in and through us. 

What's in store doesn't matter... just Follow!

WORD 2day: Monday, First week in Ordinary time

January 10, 2022: 1 Samuel 1:1-8; Mark 1: 14-20

After a long while we are back to the Ordinary time and the very first message that the Word gives us, is so relevant. In our life's journey, that which can grant us an incredible serenity is the attitude of Following the Lord, without being worried too much about what is in store! 

We are still in the beginning of this year...or while thinking of projects that engage our days, it is normal that many things preoccupy our minds. Samuel's story that we begin to reflect on from today, affirms to us that God has a definitive plan for each of us; as the Lord would explain through Jeremiah in Jer 29:11: for I know the plans that I have for you; plans for your welfare not for ruin!

The secret lies in not permitting the grievances of our past to stunt our life and at the same time not permitting the anxieties of the future eat into our todays. Let us live our life, here and now, to the full, with total confidence that the Lord has a plan that will unfold in God's own time! 

All that we need to do is, what Jesus tells us today- FOLLOW ME! Let us just follow the Lord!

WATER, FIRE AND THE SPIRIT

An act of Resubmission to the Lord

January 09, 2022: Solemnity of the Baptism of the Lord

Isaiah 40:1-5,9-11; Titus 2: 11-14, 3:4-7; Luke 3: 15-16,21-22

We have come to the close of the Christmas Season - it ends with the solemnity of the Baptism of the Lord. What does this feast communicate to us? What is the message that the celebration of Baptism offers us: a reminder towards a resubmission to the Lord. 

Resubmission indicates that it has been a process, not something that is happening once or right now. The Lord calls us and we respond to the Lord - that is the crux of our Christian life and we accept this mandate when we say, or the community says for us, 'yes' to the Lord - at our baptism. 

The Baptism of Jesus was a resubmission too. The Lord had predestined and initiated God's salvific plan in Christ, but Jesus as a human person had to cooperate to that salvific plan of God...in order that in his obedience of faith, he shall be raised to be the Son of God (Rom 1:4-5); so are we, in our yes, we are raised to be sons and daughters of God. 

We see in the event of baptism today, that this reclaim on the part of God over Jesus and the resubmission of Christ as the son of God. Jesus submits himself to be baptised by John, as the Gospel of John specifically outlines, where we see the resubmission of Christ, which was reflected then in the entire life of Jesus. On the part of the Almighty, there is a declaration to which John testifies: 'this is my Son, in whom I am well pleased'. In this whole event, we see three elements that mark the call to constant resubmission to the authority of God. 

The first is the element of Water - waters that purify, revitalise and revive. John was baptising with water...people came to him to revive their goodwill to live righteous, to revitalise their desire to be acceptable in the eyes of the Lord, and to purify their acts and motives! Jesus arrives to purify that water that purifies, ratifying the need to long for purification, revitalisation and revival within us. The celebration today reminds us of this purpose of the baptismal promises, which demand our constant and continual purification, revitalisation and revival, inspite of our repeated failures and limitations. 

The second is the element of Fire - fire that warms, burns and lights up. We are presented with the warmth of the Lord that wishes to console God's people, the burning zeal of the prophet who wishes to set things in order in the lives of the individuals and in the community of the people of God, and the light that shines from above giving us knowledge and wisdom. The Word, therefore, calls our attention to the journey we began at our baptism! We might have lagged behind, deviated, and in some way lost our way...but the warmth of the Lord invites us, the burning light that was presented to us convicts us and brings us to an enlightened return to the journey eembarked upon. 

The third is the element of the Spirit - the Spirit of power, the Spirit of renewal and the Spirit of adoption! The Spirit who came upon Jesus was the Spirit of power that God had filled Jesus with, that is why he proclaimed: the Spirit of the Lord is upon me and God has sent me! The Spirit that was there with the people was the Spirit who constantly called them to renewal and effected that renewal in them, that is why the psalmist proclaimed: send forth your Spirit and the face of the earth shall be renewed. The Spirit of Jesus Christ is the Spirit that makes us sons and daughters of God, co-heirs with Christ, who share the same privillege and love that Christ has with God, our Father and Mother. One fact that we can never forget if we are disciples of Christ is, that we are children of God. It is not a flowery, euphemistic, metaphoric saying... but it is a fact, an experiential fact, or rather a fact to  be experienced!

May the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord inspire and lead us to focus on our baptism, our baptismal promises and the daily resubmission that we are called to make, to God our loving Father and Mother.

Love, Truth and Revelation!

WORD 2day: Saturday after Epiphany

January 8, 2022: 1 John 5:14-21;  John 3: 22-30

The Son of God has revealed to us the true God to behold - those who claim that they have accepted Christ as Son of God, therefore have no way other than to live a life that is worthy of the people of God. Love is the only solution to all problems in life; and this is the Truth, without accepting which, all that remains will be struggle and strife!

God has revealed Godself as love and Godlessness and lovelessness are intrinsically related to each other. That explains why there is so much of negativity, vengeance, hatred, division and exploitation in the world today, a world which deliberately wishes to set God aside or do away with God.  Is there a way out of this predicament?

The only way that is there is seeing the truth, beholding it and accepting it making the necessary choices that have to be made. Seeing the truth, is to see what is! It is not giving into some hypothetical thinking or imaginary living, but seeing what is. When a person sincerely resolves to see what is and vouch for it, he or she becomes a witness to truth!

Witnesses to truth are true disciples of the Son of God who is the total expression of God; and God is love... and love is the truth that the world today stands in need of. Love and Truth are two crucial values that a disciple of the Son of God has to uphold. Love and Truth...they are true revelations of God.  

Lord, if you wish...

WORD 2day: Friday after Epiphany

January 7, 2022: 1 John 5:5-13; Luke 5: 12-16

Whoever has the Son has life, a life that will never end, a life that will never fail, a life that will be always meaningful and inspiring. To have the Son, would mean to look at the revelation, behold it and experience it in daily life... which would mean being open to the Lord. 

In the Gospel today, we have a man with leprosy, who saw the revelation in Christ, beheld the truth that he was the Son of God and yearned to experience it in his life... and what did he do? He surrendered. 'Lord if you wish'... he said: if the Lord wished, the Lord could offer him that experience! This is surrender.

The Word invites us to understand what it means to accept that Jesus is the Son of God, what it means to accept the Son of God into our lives... it means surrender. It means to accept the Lordship of Christ, the Lordship of the Son, the absolute Mastery of God. It means not in anyway trying to manipulate God or trying to have our way by twisting and twirling things and experiences. Real faith is to accept the Lordship of God and say: Lord, if you wish!

We do have desires and yearnings, and prayer is all about taking these to God and leaving it in the hands of God. It is not about demanding it from God or pestering God like some children do - rolling on the floor crying out to be satisfied. Our maturity in faith consists of our capacity to see the hand of God in everything, to observe the Lordship of God in all circumstances, to see the Revelation that the Son offers us, in understanding God as the Master of all our life, surrendering to the Lord with trust. 

Let us learn to make this our consistent mode of praying: Lord, if you wish! 

The challenge of Revelation!

WORD 2day: Thursday after Epiphany

January 06, 2022: 1 John 4:19 - 5: 4; Luke 4: 14-22

This day is celebrated as Epiphany, the great solemnity of the Revelation of Christ to humanity - but in those places where Epiphany has been celebrated already on Sunday, the Word continues to challenge us, deepening the reflection on the nature of the Revelation of God to humanity!

The whole week that runs from the Epiphany Sunday to the Baptism Sunday, is a series of reflection on the revelation that Jesus Christ brings to humanity about God and the Reign of God. Every day the Gospel presents to us, during this week, a remarkable revelation handed over to us by Christ in his earthly sojourn - think of the calming of the storm, the multiplication of loaves etc... and today a clear and straightforward revelation: the Spirit of the Lord is upon me; and the Reign of God is at hand!

While the Gospel readings progressively present these marvellous deeds of revelation, the first reading from the first letter of St. John presents to us the treatise on true Christian Integral Love - the love of God and love of neighbour which are one and the same! There is a strong message that the Church wishes to present to us in this combination: the revelatory deeds in the Gospel and the treatise on love from St. John... and the message is, Love is the crux of all revelations!

The challenge of Revelation rests in understanding the love of God and deciding to respond to it in all earnestness. But our prejudices, suggestions of the society, the conventions of the culture, and the so-called trends of the times, may prevent us from really beholding the revelation of God, that comes at times in incredibly simple and concrete ways. The challenge is to keep our eyes open and to choose to love each other towards fullness of life for all, which is the Reign of God revealed in Christ. 

FAMILY - THE UNIVERSAL CALL TO GODLINESS

Presence, Plan and the Patron

December 26. 2021: Solemnity of the Holy Family
1 Samuel 1:20-22,24-28; 1 John 3:1-2,21-24; Luke 2:41-52

We celebrate today the feast of the Holy Family... a reminder to every Christian family about the universal call that we have towards Godliness. Yes, we are called to be the people of God, in families. The People of God were always called as families - the people of Judah, the people of Israel... are some ways in which the people are referred to. And when people referred to God they used titles such as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob...these were not just persons, but households, families! We are not only families that belong to God, we have a God who identifies with our families.

Celebrating the Holy Family today, we are invited to look at three prominent constituents of a family... parents, children and the Almighty!

Parents are the presence of God in the family! When the Lord wills to create a family, God chooses a man and a woman to form that family...and deigns to form them into parents! This has three implications to pay attention to: being parents is a call, a God-given mission; being parents is a responsibility; and being parents is a course of maturity. The call is to participate in the salvific mission of God; the responsibility is to make God present and discern God's will in the daily events of the family; and it is a journey of growth and maturity that the parents are called to!

Children are the plan of God in the family! Children are gifts and tasks; they are the dreams and the designs; they are the plans that God has for the future of a society. They are gifts and tasks - as they are given as gifts to the family and as they have the task of making the family feel sustained. They are the dreams and desings - as every child born is a sign that God still loves the world and has a design for the salvation of the whole humankind. They are the plans that God has for humanity, as God sends every child into this world with a purpose and a project - if the particular person does not accomplish it, it is left undone and it affects the entire humanity!

God our Father and Mother, is the patron of every family on earth! God needs to be given the rightful place in our homes; the parents learn from the Lord and exercise the authority that God gives; the children see the Lord in the parents and love the Lord in return for all the good! God remains the patron of every family as the parents offer their children back to God and the children heed to their parents as the representatives of God! God plans everything for the family, in as much as the family together kneel before the Lord in discernment and decision making. Raising a question as to who is important in the family - the husband or the wife, the father or the mother, the parents or the children - is an anomaly, as God Almighty is the most important in the family. A family that prays together, stays together, grows together, and experiences God together.

Can we not observe these three qualities in the Holy Family: Mary and Joseph become the immediate presence of God for Jesus; Jesus becomes the core plan of God for the salvation of humanity; and God remains the patron of the family, directing them, guiding them and animating them in every way!

May our families take after this splendid model, and learn at the School of Nazareth to become really the people of God amidst the world today!

The Lord comes to Visit us - let us be Prepared...

THE WORD IN ADVENT

December 24, 2021: Day in Preparation for Christmas

2 Samuel 7:1-5,8-12,14,16; Luke 1: 67-79

The Lord has visited God's people; the Lord visits God's people; the Lord continues to visit us: are we prepared to behold that visit of the Lord? We have been preparing all this while for this moment, to prepare ourselves for the visit of the Lord. The Lord continues to visit us and we can have three major dispositions.

The first is being totally unprepared,  letting the moment pass by without really making any impact on us or on our daily lives. This could also take the milder version of being prepared somewhat, or partially, just to take note of those aspects that we wish to, those aspects that are convenient to us and those aspects that wouldnt demand too much from us.

The other disposition is to be over-enthusiastic about the visit and misinterpreting it from my own perspective and not from that true perspective that God wants. David made that mistake - in his over enthusiasm, he thought he would do a great favour to God by building a Temple for the Lord! Whoever can do a favour to God? But at times we think so, when we do something good, something noble, something admirable...as if it is all our merit. Awareness is to be mindful of the presence of God that results in whatever is true, noble and beautiful.

The third is the ideal disposition, that reminds me to be aware of the visit of the Lord, here and now, every day and every situation, all the days of my life. Celebration of Christmas every year is not merely a celebration of an annual event but a reminder of a disposition that I need to live all my life - mindful of the visit of the Lord and being prepared to receive the Lord, in events, persons, and experiences. 

The Lord comes to visit us, let us prepare ourselves!