Living waters flow on

THE WORD IN LENT

Tuesday, 4th week in Lent: March 29, 2022

Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12; John 5: 1-3a,5-6

We have a wonderful imagery today to ponder over: the flowing water that enlivens! Ezekiel speaks of it and John presents it; Ezekiel underlines the presence of the flowing water by the Temple while John points out the very presence of Christ as the life giving spring!

For that man who had been waiting for years to get into that life giving water, the fact that Jesus approached him was like the waters came to him, instead of he going to the waters. But it is not all that comfortable, when the waters really flow! That is why Jesus asks him that question: do you want to be well again?

We may think it is a dumb question to ask - but it matters! What if the man was comfortable drawing pity from the others? What if the man gained much more than what he could have with his limbs alright? Hence, the need for Jesus to ask him, if he really wanted to be healed! It is our choice to be healed, to be well, to be wholesome!

We may blame people around, the situation around, the events and experiences, and remain in self pity! That will never lead us to wellness, health or wholeness. If we really want to live our life to the full, we need to receive the flowing grace willingly. It might require of us certain changes...which may not be comfortable - the man was asked to pick up his mat and walk... all this while people were carrying him around! Are we prepared for the inconveniences of grace?

The Lord reaches out to us, flows into our lives to enliven us and Jesus invites us to become the waters (or the sources) that enliven people around us, that we reach out to others and flow into their lives, enlivening them! If we have the living waters within us, that is the bountiful grace of God within us, we will flow on... because living waters, forever, flow on!

Yielding to Grace

THE WORD IN LENT 

Monday, 4th week in Lent - March 28, 2022
Isaiah 65: 17-21; John 4: 43-54

At times we speak of Grace as some'thing' to be received from God: terms like more graces, special graces, immediate graces, etc betray such an understanding. The most Christian understanding of Grace would be the continual proximity of God. The Lord promises us to be with us and the Lord is always faithful to this promise. The challenge is that we realise this presence and feel it concretely. When we do that, everything turns new - the earth, the heaven, the life, the experience, the persons around, the problems that persist...everything is renewed! But the need is that we YIELD!

The Gospel today brings out this message very subtly. The Court Official's petition for a favour was a bit irritating for Jesus - Jesus expresses that but the official finds favour when he yields to the terms of Jesus: 'You Go and your son will live'...the man turns and walks! He wanted grace, the proximity of Jesus, but he willingly yields to experience it in Lord's own terms. If I remain stubborn as to what I want to experience and that I must experience it in my own terms, then I restrict the great wonders that can happen around me.

When I am ready to allow Grace to operate in Lord's terms, it means I have total confidence in the Lord, and I am not using the Lord as a standby. It is a sign that I have surrendered to the way God has planned things for me, not stubborn that what I think has to happen and in the way that I want it to happen. Above all, it very clearly expresses the fact that I am nothing in front of the Lord who is omniscient and omnipotent, apart from being someOne totally in love with me. 

Yes, Yielding requires three major qualities of Faith: Confidence, Surrender and Humility. It is to say wholeheartedly : 'God is in-charge!" The best prayer is what the Lord himself has taught us: Your will be done! That is yielding to Grace.

THE CALL TO CELEBRATE

Realise, Return and Rejoice!

Fourth Sunday in Lent - March 27, 2022

Joshua 5: 9-12; 2 Corinthians 5: 17-21; Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32

Rejoice O Jerusalem and all who love her rejoice! Right at the entrance antiphon, the Liturgy today makes its central theme crystal clear – The call to Rejoice, because we have a promised land! From the desert to the mountain and the holy ground, we are called to fix our gaze on the promised land! It is a call to Celebrate, because we have the promised land, the grace of  returning to the Father’s house, the great gift of returning to the Mother’s heart of the Lord, to feel the sweet embrace of the forgiveness that God wishes to offer each one of us! 

Jesus narrates a beautiful story today, a parable par excellence that speaks to us of that house, that heart and that embrace... that promised land in the merciful presence of the Lord.

Our life of faith has to be a celebration, a perennial joy, a loving experience, a journey with our hand in the hands of God. What a joy to have a God who is so close to us, so close to us that the very moment we wish to return to God, we bounce right into God! From the call that we received last Sunday, the call to bear fruit, the whole week Jesus has been teaching us of the fruits that we have to bear – the fruit of communion, the fruit of forgiveness, the fruit of love, the fruit of humility and so on. When we take to heart the call, and embark on that journey, there would sure be moments of fall and failure. Jesus assures us today – the worst issue is not to fall, but the worst is not knowing that you have fallen.

The first step towards a true Christian life is the REALIZATION of who we are. With the life situations, the daily choices and commitments, it is possible that I forget who I am. The First reading today pictures to us God calling the people of Israel through Joshua, to realize who they were and all that God had done for them! That exactly is the first line of action that Jesus gives us today through the example of the younger son in the parable. We read that ‘he came to his senses’... that is, he finally realized who he was! Pope St. Leo the Great would say, "O Christian, recognize your dignity and, now that you share in God's own nature, do not return to your former base condition by sinning. Remember who is your head and of whose body you are a member. Never forget that you have been rescued from the power of darkness and brought into the light of the Kingdom of God." The message is clear – to become aware of my dignity as a Christian and to remember who I am.

The second step is presented in the second reading, where St. Paul reminds us that God has reconciled to Godself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. It is infact an invitation to RETURN to God, reconciled to God, to our brothers and sisters in God. In doing that we become new creatures; in returning to God we become newly born. Jesus recounts the father in the parable as saying about the younger son who had returned to the father, that he was dead and he is come alive, that he was lost and is now found! So, the call is to return to God. If we truly realize who we are, we cannot but return to God, because we cannot stay away from God. St. Agustine’s words, “Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace” are words of beauty and wisdom which makes us understand that we are made for God and our hearts would always be restless, until they rest in God. Let us Return home, let us Return to the bosom of God. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is the direct highway to the heart of the One who waits for us eagerly for ever right at the door post to spot us from far, to run to us and embrace us. James says that in such simple words – Come close to God, God will come close to you (Jam 4:8).

The Realisation and the Return to God create an atmosphere of joy that one cannot hide. That atmosphere is the state of life to which Jesus calls us today as the third line of action. “REJOICE in the Lord always, I repeat, Rejoice,” cries out St. Paul (Phil 4:4). Christian life is a celebration, a celebration of every moment, a celebration of every experience be it ordinary or extraordinary. In the parable Jesus speaks of two decisions that were made – the first one was, “I will arise and go to my Father”, a decision that leads to celebration, joy, happiness and rejoicing. The second decision was that of the Elder son – He was indignant and he refused to enter the house!

The Choice is ours dear friends! What decision would I want to make? To arise and go to God and thus run towards a Celebration or become angry, upset, unforgiving, unloving, grumpy, jealous, and cold towards my brothers and sisters and refuse to enter the house, thus remaining in sadness and grief. Let us pay heed to the call, the call to Celebrate – to celebrate the love and the mercy of God, to celebrate our faith and celebrate our brothers and sisters in faith! 

With the younger son of the parable, let us arise, let us go to God and let us celebrate life in the Father’s house!

Being Spiritual: to love and to love more...

THE WORD IN LENT

Saturday, 3rd week in Lent - March 26, 2022

Hosea 5:15 - 6:6; Luke 18: 9-14

Being Spiritual at times is confused with being self-righteous! Being self-righteous involves a large dose of judgement of the other. When you judge, you do not love. So being self righteous you begin to love the other lesser and lesser, and yourself more and more! It is a kind of narcissism (a pitiable condition of excessive self-love). Whereas today the Word invites us to love more than to sacrifice, to get to know who the Lord is and who we are in relation to the Lord, than making our spiritual efforts mere rituals.

Being Spiritual truly should mean growing more and more loving. More loving towards God and more loving towards those around us. Growing more loving means, that we grow more and more open, to appreciate the other sincerely, to sensitively confront the other in their shortcomings, to readily accept my own limitations with gratitude when pointed out, to reach out to the other in whatever way I can even if it costs me a bit, or even a lot.

Being Spiritual means to understand within me what the Spirit wants of me and to lead my life in the Spirit's path. The Spirit of the Lord wants us to grow more and more loving and less and less judgmental. The Holy Father seems to be repeating this time and again! It is so difficult a teaching because we are so filled with self-love, to exaggerated levels and according to the trends of the world, nothing seems an exaggeration when it comes to self-love... what a disaster! We have totally misunderstood what it means to be human. 

Just imagine in this context, being spiritual! Being spiritual, or being persons of the Spirit, is to love and to love more and to love like the way God loves us!

The Maiden and the Salvation Plan

Instrument, Ideal and Icon!

March 25, 2022: Solemnity of Annunciation of the Lord
Isaiah 7: 10-14, 8:10; Hebrews 10: 4-10; Luke 1: 26-36 

Annunciation is the second exception given us in this lenten journey to celebrate, because this is a key commemoration in relation to the eternal plan of Salvation. To the question whether this is a Solemnity of the Lord or of Mary - we should say "both"! Though it is in fact a solemnity of the Lord (the annunciation of the birth of the Lord), it can well be an invitation to look at our Blessed Mother in the light of the Salvation Plan that the Lord had made for us from all eternity. 

Mary as an Instrument of Salvation - In her wholehearted and trusting 'yes', Mary entered into the special category of collaborators with the Lord in the plan of salvation for the entire humanity. To the extent that some theologians for ages have been claiming the title 'co-mediatrix', the role of Mary in the climax of the Salvific Plan of God, is unforgetable. She is chosen by the Father, as the Mother of God, a singular privilege that none can deny or negate! The invitation is that we give her the due recognition and love her with an immense gratitude for her obedient surrender to the Salvific plan of God. 

Mary as the Ideal of Salvation - In her distinctive and characteristic relationship with her Son, Mary has become a model, an ideal of those who are saved by the Son of God. Mary is certainly the first fruit of the Salvation that Jesus the Christ brought to us human beings. In her assumption we see a great model that she sets, the ideal that she presents, as to what salvation does to us - the rising to incorruptibility! She has been our forerunner in obtaining the fruits of the salvation, in and through Jesus Christ, and passing it on to us, his brothers and sisters. The invitation therefore is to imitate her, in following her Son, as she herself became the most ardent disciple and apostle of her Son. 

Mary as the Icon of the Saved humankind - In her total submission to the Holy Spirit, our Blessed Mother has played to precision her role, not only as the biological mother of the Saviour, but also as someone who heard the Word, beheld the Word within her and lived the Word in her daily life. She not only brought forth the Word into the world, but also lived by the Word all the time that she was in the world. She is given to us in the Holy Spirit, as our intercessor, who can teach us to pray and take our prayers to the presence of the Lord! She is the handmaiden of the Spirit and remains an icon for the entire humankind, assuring every one the salvation that was brought to the world by her Son. 

Let our prayer today be: Mary our Mother, in your humble submission to the Will of God, you brought us Salvation; grant that we may dare to submit to God's will that we be enjoy our salvation, and be instruments of that salvation to all those around us, and to the entire world. Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. 

Taking goodness for granted!

THE WORD IN LENT 

Thursday, 3rd week in Lent: March 24, 2022
Jeremiah 7: 23-28; Luke 11: 14-23

One of the dangers that we run into in our day to day life is, taking the goodness of the Lord for granted. The Mercy of the Lord is endless and immeasurable. Yet there is every chance that I may deprive myself of this boundless mercy - yes, it is I who deprives myself of it!

What do you think? A pot kept on an open terrace, after a full day of heavy rain, will it be filled with water? There has been a heavy shower and for such a long time, but still it depends so much on the pot - whether it was kept open or closed, whether it was kept upside down or in its proper position! This is how it is with the mercy of the Lord. It is there for our taking, but if we miss it, we are depriving ourselves of it.

At times in our priorities and choices, we relegate the aspect of staying worthy of the Lord's mercies to such a despicable position that we go far far away from God and have our own existence, independent of God. The fact is that we cannot go too far, for wherever we go, the Lord is with us. Yet, we take that presence, that love and that mercy for granted. Such a painful experience of rejection, that we give the Lord. 

Is this not what the Lord shared already through Hosea (in chapter 11), 'the more I called them, the more they went from me'; 'my people are bent on turning away from me'...what an expression of pain from the Lord! This is what happens with us when we take the goodness of the Lord for granted. We not only reject the goodness from the Lord, but we also place ourselves in a position where we run the danger of ruining our entire existence and its purpose, in our obstinacy and arrogance. And finally we do all we can to blame it on the Lord, saying the Lord punished me or the Lord took his anger out on someone!

One who is not with me is against me, the Lord reminds us. One who does not recognise the goodness of the Lord rejects it and keeps oneself away from it. Let us not harden our hearts!

Walking in the path laid out...

THE WORD IN LENT

Wednesday, 3rd week in Lent - March 23, 2022

Deuteronomy 4: 1, 5-9; Matthew 5: 17-19

Life is a gift, it is not something that we earn for ourselves! If it is a gift, it is received; if it is received, it is given! Life is given and if it is given, it is given for a purpose! The most loving sign of God's care for us is expressed in God's words through Jeremiah: 'For I know the plans that I have for you!' (Jer 29:11). God has a plan, God has a purpose, all that I need to do is just walk in the way that the Lord shows! 

There are times when the way shown agrees with my wishes and I am enthusiastic about it. But when the way shown does not agree with my whims and fancies, I begin to whine and complain! How childish of me! However, that is the reality, and I need to be aware of this tendency of mine, interpreting everything to my convenience and justifying all my negligences with reasons and excuses. 

Obeying the Lord will not be a grudging act, if only I understand it is the Lord who gives me life and God alone knows what I can make of it. Once I begin to absolutise my wishes in life, set up my own races, create my own pathways, hold on to my own goals as if nothing else matters in life, I am bound to undergo frustrations and failures. But the moment I surrender my life in the hands of the Lord and wish to live the way that the Lord leads, seek after goals that the Lord sets, achieve purposes that the Lord offers me, then I will have life, life in all its fullness. 

It is in obeying the Lord that I find the fullness of my life, my life is from the Lord and its purpose is known to no one better than the Lord.

A holy heart is a grateful heart!

THE WORD IN LENT

Tuesday, 3rd week in Lent - March 22, 2022

Daniel 3: 25, 34-43; Matthew 18: 21-35

One fundamental quality of people who are evil, who plot the ruin of others or who do not love others enough, is ingratitude. Showing mercy to others will be an automatic outcome, if a person is mindful of all the good that he or she has received. St. Paul would ask a very poignant question: 'what do you have that you have not received?" (1 Cor 4:7) If we have received so much good and we acknowledge that we have received them all, will we not be considerate that we have to reciprocate the same to others around me: that is the connection between being grateful and being good. 

The parable that Jesus narrates today is a such a beautiful depiction of how we behave at times: receiving in such abundance but so calculative while giving! The man was forgiven an amount that was equal to 15 years wages while he refused to forgive one day's wages someone owed! What a contrast that Jesus presents here... Be mindful of how good the Lord is to you and your goodness will be automatically increase. 

In the first reading we see a cry for help to the Lord but even in that dire situation we do not see or feel any desperation on the part of the one who is making the invocation. There is only trust that stands out. That is a heart that was so mindful of all the good that the Lord had done till then. 

A truly grateful person will grow easily to be holy. Gratitude is, never to take anything for granted: once a person acknowledges every small good that the Lord does to oneself, the person will grow conscious of how indebted one is. That is the beginning of the commitment to repay the goodness of the Lord: can we really do it? The starting point of holiness has to be this: because God is so good, I have to be good; because God is so forgiving, I have to forgive; because God is so holy, I have to be holy!

The Naman Challenge!

THE WORD IN LENT

Monday, 3rd week of Lent - March 21, 2022

2 Kings 5: 1-15; Luke 4:24-30

The age of social media had familiarised us to a culture of challenges... the kiki challenge, the ice-bucket challenge, the 10 year challenge etc... are some which have become famaous of late. What do they intend...they propose a goal to achieve that ordinary seems difficult or ridiculous. They have nothing much to change the quality of life or make a person more enriched than before, unlike the true challenges that helps one to grow!

Today we have Jesus throwing a challenge at us: the Naman Challenge we could call it. The background information for the challenge is given to us by the first reading which speaks to us of Naman, the commander from Syria who travelled all the way to Israel, crosssing over territories and tributaries...because he wanted to find the Prophet, who would heal in the name of the Lord.

The crux of the challenge lies here: to look at Naman who went all the way, without minding the distance and the effort because he heard from a slave girl that there is a prophet in Israel who has the gift from God, to heal him of his skin ailment. The longing for fullness of life drove Naman all that distance. The trust Naman had in the word of that slave girl, took him miles to meet the Servant of God. The deep seated desire of Naman to be cured, made him take up that tedious journey, which otherwise would have been needless and valueless. The challenge involved is: how desirous am I for a wholesome life; how much do I long for the life-giving touch of God? 

The challenge gets more intense, when Jesus underscores another distinct fact: Naman went in search of the man of God; whereas for you, the Son of God has come in search of you! The same is true with us - while it is a challenge to long for the Word of God, the challenge is more intense when the Word comes to us every day, and we are called to receive the Word, listen to the Word and transform our lives - everyday more pure and more holistic. Are we ready for the challenge, the Naman Challenge? 

TO BEAR FRUIT

Because we find ourselves on a holy ground!

Third Sunday in Lent - March 20, 2022

Exodus 3:1-8,13-15; 1 Corinthians 10:1-6,10-12; Luke 13:1-9

During a summer, almost a decade ago, I was helping out in a parish in the south of Italy. The Parish Priest was out on his vacation. Those days I would spend time with a few elderly people who were very interested to discuss some issues on God, the Holy Bible and so on, after the morning Mass. Once in the group, a person asked me, does God have a name? I immediately said, "yes..Jesus Christ, the name above all names!" She immediately said,"No, what about God the Father...is there a name?" I cited to her the first reading that we have today, where God reveals God's name... I AM - the one who was, is and will always be for eternity. The elderly lady was so thrilled about it. She kept telling herself, God's name is I AM. when the parish priest returned and I was preparing to leave one of the following days...she told the Parish priest, "you know, God's name is I AM. I got to know from the guest priest!"  The Parish Priest was upset with me. He told me, "Did you tell them that! No, it is not right! That is Yahweh, the God of the Jews. Not ours!" I don't know how you would react... but I cannot forget the remark of that parish priest, 'that is the God of the Jews'... I did not want to pick a discussion with the parish priest, who was certainly not prepared for it, at that time.

'That is the God of the Jews', yes, and that is the God of Jesus Christ. That is the Father of Him who revealed to us in fullness, who God is. Today, as St. Paul tells the Corinthians, we all drink from that Rock, the Rock that gives us God to drink. He, the Rock, calls us today to recognise the real God, whom he came to reveal. In the Gospel today, to his disciples, he clarifies their age old concept of God - that God punishes, that God is wrathful, that God takes God's anger out on the people. Let us be clear, Jesus did not reveal a new God, a different God - but he revealed a different understanding of God, he revealed a new face of God, a face that was being smudged by all the legalism and ritualism of the time - the face of a God who loves unconditionally, who waits patiently, who gives innumerable chances, who however eagerly wants and desires to see you and me bear fruit.

That is the central message of the Liturgy of the Word today - the call to bear fruit. In the first week, we were called to choose God amidst the tests in the deserts of our life; the second week called us to climb the mountain and be transformed in order to belong to God. Today the Word challenges us to bear fruit, because we find ourselves on a holy ground. The Word outlines to us the way to bear fruit - a three point itinerary.

The first challenge is to RECOGNISE GOD - God who is present to us on a daily basis with the superabundance of love. This recognition consists of doing away with all misconceptions of God, not being swayed by the varied conspiracy theories of the New Age! It is to see God and feel God, to realise that we are on the holy ground! We have a treasure that not all are gifted to have - the revelation in Jesus Christ. But it is not for, in any way, judging others or looking down on others, but to recognise the presence of God in our day to day life.

The second challenge is to REMAIN IN GOD - to remain rooted onto the ground, to hold firm to the Father and Mother who has loved us into existence, to love the Son of God who has won us over with his sacrificing love, to listen and pay heed to the Holy Spirit who guides us every moment of our life. To be conscious that the ever surrounding presence of God, calls us to remain united in God, so that every situation of our life can be faced and encountered with that enlightening presence, that warns us of the weaknesses, failures and tendencies to go away from the Lord, and become lifeless, barren and dry.

The third challenge is to constantly RENEW OURSELVES - to renew ourselves constantly towards that dynamic existence that God is. It consists of not only understanding God and recognising God, but understand who we are and what we are called to, in the light of our recognition of God. It is a reminder to constantly verify if we are journeying on the way that leads to where God has called us to be, that state of life where we bear fruit, fruits that will last. We can have no excuses for not bearing the right fruits, because we are on a holy ground - wherever we are is a holy ground, because God surrounds us constantly. However, tough the situation is, God's people bear fruits, fruits that last!

It is logical that if we do not recognise God, we cannot remain in God. And, if we do not remain in God, we cannot bear fruit - for Jesus tells us clearly "without me you can do nothing." If someone raises a doubt, if God will cut us off if we do not bear fruit... the same logic applies: that if we do not bear fruit, it is because we are not in God; if we are not in God, we will wither away by ourselves and there is no alternative! That is why St. Paul urges us today, "if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!"

Let us accept the call of the Word today, recognising God in our daily life, remaining in God every moment and renewing ourselves constantly, to bear fruit, fruit that will last.