Where is the meaning of my life?

THE WORD IN LENT

Thursday, 2nd week in Lent - March 17, 2022

Jeremiah 17: 5-10; Luke 16: 19-31

Where lies the meaning of my life? The society today, the culture today, would easily answer that question. In your social status, in your educational qualification, in the position you hold, in the role you play in your context...and above all, in the money that you have and the riches you possess! Is it not this, that we inculcate in the minds of our younger generation - we insist so much on educational qualifications; we absolutise career; we idolise comfort and riches... do we insist to the same level, on our relationship with God, our faith life and our life in communion with each other? Is it not already an indication, as to where we have hidden the secret of the meaning of our life?

No wonder, humanity is on the run looking for comfort and pleasure, riches and treasure, position and status, popularity and public honour... there are those who are ready to do anything for these and similar goals set by the standards of the world. In the meantime, we not only miss, but trample on so many things: love, compassion, peace, serenity, relationship, sensitivity to the other, respect for the other, ability to reach out to those in need, the possibility of creating a situation of peace and harmony! This run never ends, until the very lives end. If at all this run is abrupty stopped by some mishap, the person suddenly wakes up to the reality of nothingness and meaninglessness! That is life today, in a gist.

For those who have grown with the right perspectives in life - first things first: with God, faith and the original elements of our existential selves - things seem so different in comparison to the hectic and tumultous life of the majority. But the sad part is, that these who have had the right perspectives are made to suffer, feel so bad for their right choices! But do not worry... the Word says... you are like the tree by the waterside, and one day you will bear that fruit that you are called to. All that I need to be mindful today is this question: where really is the meaning of my life?

The logic of the Reign

THE WORD IN LENT

Wednesday, 2nd week in Lent - March 16, 2022

Jeremiah 18: 18-20; Matthew 20: 17-28

However simplistic it may appear, we cannot but contrast between the two logics that are at play in the Word today. One is the logic of the world, which wants everything in its own terms, everything under control and everything serving oneself. All that we do, whether we do it as a competence to be remunerated or a service rendered to the society, has to bring its dividends according to the logic of the world. If I did something, however small it could be, for the society, I need to have its recompense by all means! This is what the society holds and justifies - and it seems in all ways logical.

The logic of the Reing, however, is strangely different: I do everything for the othres; there may not be any recompense, rather sometimes I may be taken to task for the good that I have done; sometimes I may be punished for the sacrifices that I make for the sake of the others; I may give all the time, and all that I have, for others and finally end up with nothing but a load of criticism and opposition... yet I need to go on doing that good. That is the logic of the Reign.

Jesus had a tough time making the disciples understand it, nothing to blame them if we cannot understand it after all that has happened with the coming of Jesus and two millennia after! We still feel more comfortable with the logic of the world which says: get and forget, than with the logic of the Reign which says: give and forgive! The logic of the world says, control and dominate, while the logic of Reign says love and serve! 

It would be opportune to ask ourselves in the depth of our hearts: which logic does dominate in our hearts and in our lives - that of the world or that of the Reign. If the logic of the Reign rules my heart, I will see Reign flowering wherever I am. 

Word, life and practice

THE WORD IN LENT

Tuesday, 2nd week in Lent: March 15, 2022

Isaiah 1: 10, 16-20; Matthew 23: 1-12

What is the use of the Word, if it does not touch me? What is the purpose of all the pious practices if they do not change my life, ever for the better? What is the need in praising God and worshipping God, when we do not intend to live our lives according to the Word of the Lord? The Word of God keeps inundating our lives every day in so many ways, but if there are no effects seen in concrete, what purpose do they really serve?

The Lord today is very clear in telling us - there is only one thing that is needed in life as children of God - that we take to heart the Word of God and change our lives accordingly. There is no merit in becoming great professionals in preaching, nor ardent disciples in following a master! What matters is the Word, the Word from the Lord and living according it... the Word alone shall matter. 

Our judgement would not come on the basis of which camp we belonged to: whether we were of the charismatic fold or the contemplative type, whether we were celebrating in the old rite or in the new rite, whether we are conservatives or progressives - nothing matters, absoluetly nothing of this matters! What matters is the Word, the way the Word touches my life and the way I dedicate myself on a daily basis to the practice of what the Lord teaches us through the Word daily. 

It is not in the titles we annex to ourselves that we show ourselves to be great; neither is it in the positions we hold as a demonstration of our capabilities. It is in the level to which we allow the Word to affect our daily lives and our concrete practices, that we are judged as belonging to God or not, and that is all that matters.

What am I doing to myself!

THE WORD IN LENT

Monday, Second week in Lent - March 14, 2022

Daniel 9: 4-10; Luke 6: 36-38

God favours the poor; God has not favoured these people; these are some statements we make in our limited capacity as human persons to express what God is and how God relates with us human persons! Because, as Jesus reveals to us - the perfection of God consists in the unconditional and impartial love that characterises God. Then is it wrong to say, God favours the poor or the humble or the weak?

No! It cannot be wrong, provided it is interpreted and understood right. It is not that God takes a side or favours someone, but some one by being poor, by being humble and being vulnerable, places himself or herself in a better position to experience the favours of God, the goodness of God and the protecting help of God. It is natural and logical, isnt it? That, one who is rich or powerful, is so taken up with oneself, that he or she has no space for God in life; naturally depends on oneself and not on God. 

The same logic is true about those who do good to others, or those who judge others and those who are calculative with others. They are accordingly disposed to either the goodness of the Lord or a judgement from the Master. Hence apart from the question, as to what am I doing to the other - giving them, loving them or judging them, there is yet another pertinent question one could post to oneself! That is, what am I doing to myself!

In our stubbornness not to forgive others, in my hardheartedness of hesitating to do good to others, in my arrogance of judging others, I need to really take care of one thing: what am I doing to myself?

TO BE TRANSFIGURED

From the desert to the mountain

Second Sunday in Lent - March 13, 2022

Genesis 15: 5-12,17-18; Philippians 3:17 - 4:1; Luke 9: 28-36

We found ourselves with the Lord in the desert last Sunday, and this Sunday we find ourselves with him on the mountain! From the desert to the mountain, is a journey that the Lord invites us to make, in this season of lent. It is a journey of constant and continued growth, an experience of unswerving commitment to maturity. The moment of transfiguration amidst the experience of the lent, is not merely an element of hope, but also a reminder of our strength and a challenge towards our efforts. 

First of all, let us behold the call to be transfigured - it is a project proper to the season of lent, but not just that. It is a life project given to each of us disciples of Christ. To be transfigured, not just at the end of our lives, but in and through our lives; yes, in our life and through our life. Once we behold the call to be transfigured, we are left restless, with a few questions. Can we be really transfigured? How can we be transfigured? And what do we do, here and now? We have an orientation to respond to these questions, in the Word today. 

The Final transfiguration - the element of hope: our Communion. 

This is the universal call; the promise of the Lord. Every being created has to be reconciled to God and it shall be so! In a very special manner, the beings created in the image and likeness of God have the call and the privilege to enter into a communion that is eternal and transcendental with the Creator, in Christ. This is what St. Paul affirms in the second reading, Christ will transfigure these wretched selves of ours into transfigured bodies into the Lord. He will reconcile us to God through his blood (Col 1:20) and that is a perfect communion that we await, a communion that would reflect the communion between Christ and the Father. 

That is the final transfiguration, the ultimate transfiguration. It is a promise, a hope that we have in being related to Christ. Anyone who listens to me, believes in the one who sent me, and shall have eternal life, said Jesus. That is the promise, to be transfigured, to be transported from this desert of our earthly life to the mountain of the glorious life in communion with the loving Father and Mother, God our Creator.

The Interim transfiguration - the unfailing strength: the Covenant.

This is the element of help; our help that comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth, who made us  and who calls us to that mountain of perfect communion. It is a covenant that the Lord has made with us, to be our Lord forever, especially in our experience of the desert, in our earthly trials and temptations, in our moments of weakness and sinfulness. The Lord is there and we need never to doubt it. When Abraham (still Abram) is asked to count the stars in the sky, he is made to realise that even if it were difficult to understand, we have to believe in the promise of the Lord, trust in the presence of the Lord and take refuge in the protection of the Lord. 

This is the experience of the interim transfiguration, the experiences of our trials changing into moments of growth, our temptations changing into experiences of self realisation, our moments of suffering changing into experiences of internal purification. Whatever we go through in life we are called to go through it all, in the company of the Lord, in union with the Lord who is ever present with us, making even the most trying moments, a phase of learning and growth.

The Immediate transfiguration - the untiring effort: the Challenge.

This is our response to the call that we have received to be transfigured in the Lord, the effort that we make in spite of all our failures and our limitations. The apostles who were present at the event of the transfiguration of Jesus, would have had this sensation very powerful - come what may we shall never give up, we shall never leave Christ, we shall never be separated from Christ. That is why Peter did not want to give up that moment...he wanted to make three tents and stay there! Jesus teaches them, that is not what is expected of them. What is expected of us is to make our own effort, to make our own journey to that mount. We can, because the Lord is with us. We have the way prescribed to us: to listen to the Chosen One. 

This is the challenge of immediate transfiguration, to manifest our untiring commitment to remain faithful to the Lord. There are moments of splendour in our life, when we do something good, something divine, something pleasing in the eyes of the Lord. We need to value them and take all the energy needed from them. There are certainly moments of darkness, when we fail, when we falter, when we fall under the pressure of temptation. We need to rise up, look up and walk up, towards that mountain where the splendour awaits us. Our efforts cannot cease, we need to go on, right until the end! As James says, blessed are those who endure, for those who stand the test will win the crown (1:12). We can have everyday experiences  of transfiguration, when we learn in the school of the Spirit, to change our temptations into life lessons, when we convert our failures into steps to grow and our experience of sin into an opportunity to taste the mercy of the Lord. 

We are called to be transfigured. We are capable of being transfigured. And above all, we are empowered to be transfigured.  

A Covenantal People

THE WORD IN LENT

Saturday, First week in Lent - March 12, 2022

Deuteronomy 26: 16-19; Matthew 5: 43-48

One of the self-identities that has come down from the earliest times of our faith, that is even from the Old Testamental times, is the fact that we are a covenantal people. What does it mean being covenantal people: it means there is a mutual pledge of fidelity between the two parties, which here are, the Lord and us. The Lord has pledged to be our God and we have pledged to be God's people. But there is one more element of a covenant - the condition of that pledge or the external sign of that pledge! In our
covenant with the Lord, it is typical love.

The love that is typical to this covenant is brought in by God, as God's very own nature, that nature in which we are called to share. It is not merely governed by a rule or a law, though it involves rules and it is a law. It is all about placing the other at the centre, placing the other before me, placing the other always in the advantageous position. It is diametrically opposed to the typical relationship promoted by the world of business and gain. 

It is not about what I gain, what I can achieve or how I can promote myself; it is about what I can give, what I can render more meaningful and how I can reach out to the other, without counting the cost or the returns. This is the typical love that is taught by God, in they way God relates to us, in the way God has revealed Godself to us, and in the way that God wishes us to live, because we are created in, and called to live by, the image and likeness God, which is love. 

There is a central reminder that is offered us, which can serve us whenever we are frustrated, whenever we are discouraged, whenever we lack the sense of our being - and it goes thus: we are a covenantal people! 

Why forgive to be forgiven?

THE WORD IN LENT

Friday, First week in Lent - March 11, 2022

Ezekiel 18:21-28; Matthew 5:20-26

The Lord never tires in forgiving us! But why does the Lord forgive us? Because, we deserve to be forgiven? Do we merit the Lord's pardon? Much less, can I demand the Lord's forgiveness? This is a precarious question that the psalm so clearly answers: if only the Lord treats us according our sins, how would we survive?

The Lord teaches us today, to forgive before we go into the presence of the Lord. Forgiving my brother or sister is presented as a condition to enter into the presence of the Lord; elsewhere Jesus would present forgiving your brother or sister as also the condition to experience forgiveness from the Lord. It is what the Lord has taught us to pray too: Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us! 

But why forgive, to be forgiven? To answer that question, we have to answer another question: why do we not forgive? I do not forgive someone, because I feel or I am convinced that, the person in question does not deserve my forgiveness. He or she is beyond my forgiveness, too evil to be forgiven, or out of my forgiveness criteria. Here is where the message of the Word today comes down on us strongly.

If only the Lord thinks the way we think - whether we deserve or not to be forgiven; whether we are good enough to be forgive or no; whethe we fall within the forgiveness criteria of God! Let us just imagine a little, what would happen to us if we were treated by God, the way we treat our brothers and sisters! 

Forgiving the other is entering into the world of mercy of God; only within that world, our forgiveness from God makes sense! We would never deserve God's forgiveness; but when we refuse to forgive the other, we shall never be part of the mercy circle of God!

How would you like to be treated?

THE WORD IN LENT

Thursday, First week in the Lent- March 10, 2022

Esther 4:17; Matthew 7:7-12

We often experience two contrasting dimensions within us - we are someone in front of those who are more powerful than us and just the opposite with those who are weaker; we manifest a kind of character when we are in troubles and just another when we are free and enjoying; we have a mode of thinking when we are in need and completely another mode when there is someone else in need! How integral does that render us as persons?

Esther today is in prayer before the Lord, just before to taking on the evil in the form of Haman, one who wanted to destroy all the Jews. Esther's humble submission to the Lord, wins her the strength and the wisdom to stand firm for Israel! 

Jesus is placing a simple contrast before us: if you were in a position of dominion and others are weak and vulnerable, what would you do? What if there are persons asking you for something, the needy knocking at your door, or the desperate and frustrated ones searching for meaning in life... what would you do? Will you answer them, open the door for them or help them to find meaning in their life? If you do so, it will be opened for you too, you will have an answer too, and you shall find meaning for your life too!

When you are about to choose the way you would treat someone, in thoughts, words or deed, raise this question to yourself: how would you like to be treated?

The Sign of Jonah

THE WORD IN LENT

Wednesday, First week in Lent: March 09, 2022

Jonah 3: 1-10; Luke 11:29-32

The only sign that will be given is the sign of Jonah, says Jesus. And what is this sign of Jonah. Let us dwell on it a little. The sign of Jonah is repentance! How does Jonah become the sign of repentance? 

First Jonah himself was a sign of repentance - we know how he had his own way of thinking, his own judgement of events and people. When God called him to be a prophet, he had to be formed the hard way to really think as God would think, to accept events and persons as God would have them. He repented, and he risked his life, going amidst the people and giving them the hard message that he had from God. 

Secondly, Jonah's words were a sign - the people of Nineveh saw the prophet who had come all the way to warn them with a message from God. They saw in him, a man of God; they saw in his words, the Words of God. They saw the sign that was delivered to them through the words of Jonah, and they repented... saving themselves from a disastrous end. 

Thirdly, Jonah becomes the sign of the Son of God - the event of Jonah resting in the belly of the fish for three days and rising to new life, is given as the sign of the Son of God - the life and resurrection that humanity awaits. Obedience of Jonah is the prefigurement of the Son of God who in his obedience, emptied himself totally for the Will of God, the salvation of all! In our obedience, we shall inherit what Jesus has earned for us.

The Sign of Jonah is relevant even today - the sign of repentance, so loud and clear in this season of lent. It is to pay attention the Word and to change our lives according to it, on a daily basis; to acknowledge the persons bringing the Word to us, whoever it could be "big" or "small", erudite or no; and finally, see Jesus in those who genuinely care for us - if we see Jesus we will hear him speak!

The Word, the words and our ways

THE WORD IN LENT

Tuesday, First week in Lent - March 8, 2022

Isaiah 55:10-11; Matthew 6:7-15

We reflected just yesterday that we are called to realise the Image that resides within us - the Image of God. The Word became flesh and lived amidst us as the visible presence of the invisible God. The Word of God becomes flesh even today, the Word of God becomes life, and that is the model given to us, the lesson given today. 

The words of God are life, they are Spirit, they give life, they create, they recreate, they renew the face of the earth. No word that God speaks go waste and the Word today places the same challenge to us - do not babble, admonishes Jesus. in the Gospel today. He says, just as every word from God has its life, so should every word of ours become life - the Word we listen to, and the words we express. 

The Word we listen to comes from God and we need to allow it to have its effect within us. Opening our hearts and our soul to the Word and allowing ourselves to be formed, revived and renewed by the Word is not just a task given to us, but a privillege. Not all have that grace, but the people of God. 

The words we use, need to have life, just as the Words of the Lord. Be it to our fellow brothers and sisters, or to the Lord in prayer, every word we use has to have its life. When Jesus teaches those words of prayer, he not only taught us a prayer, but taught us a lifestyle, a way of life. It contains the crux of Christian life - that we see ourselves as brothers and sisters from One Father in heaven, that we dedicate ourselves to the Will and the Reign of God, that we fend for each other, that we forgive each other and be a source of salvation to each other. What a beautiful prayer, with not just words but our very way of life.