THE WARNING TUESDAY

HOLY WEEK 2022

Tuesday, April 12: Isaiah 49:1-6; John 13: 21-33,36-38

Listen, pay attention... insists the Word today! That was what Jesus did too, to his disciples as they sat at the table. He warned them - we see that in the Gospel today. He did not do it, in an indirect or hidden way, he did it direct and clear: one of you will betray me! He said that and gave the dipped piece of bread to Judas, saying 'what you are going to do, do quickly.'  He could not have been more clearer than this. 

Peter, who was disturbed by that declaration, wanted so much to find out who it was that would betray the Lord. And Jesus seems to have told him, it is not important to find out who it is, but it is important to make sure, it is not you! Peter seems to be too sure of himself - and Jesus warns him too, a warning more direct than the prior one - you will disown me! 

Be it Judas, or Peter, they failed to listen; they failed to learn; they failed to understand what the Lord was telling them, so clear, loud and direct. Judas, out of his hardheadness and Peter out of his over-confidence. 

The warning is also for us, in our spiritual life. In persons who speak to us, in events that disturb our minds, in decisions that cause turbulence, in choices that thrust us into doubts, in certain happenings that push us into crisis... the Lord speaks, the Lord warns! Happy are those who are attentive to the warning and change their ways. 

It is easy to fall and lie down there, complaining against the circumstances, grumbling against the others, lamenting the lost opportunities and dreaming of suppositions and hypotheses, if only we had not made those choices! What is challenging and demanding is to listen to the Lord, pay heed to the Word, submit to the Spirit and walk diligently and consciously in our daily life, towards truth, love and integrity. 

THE WELCOME MONDAY

HOLY WEEK 2022 

Monday, April 11: Isaiah 42: 1-7; John 12:1-11

Six days before the passover, that is how the Gospel begins today! If yesterday was the Palm Sunday, today is the Welcome Monday... Jesus who entered triumphantly yesterday into Jerusalem, is being welcomed into their presence today. Jesus is extended hospitality today, by the family of Lazarus. The event today and Jesus in the circumstances, give us a strong message and a sign of things to come. 

The message is from the event itself - Jesus entered and he is being welcomed. Jesus entered - as we reflected yesterday, Jesus has entered fully aware of what can happen to him there in the city. In fact, it is a conscious choice that he had made. While there is a question to reflect here, how prepared are we to enter into a lifestyle that is of total obedience to God, there is another message here! When Jesus entered, they welcomed him. When the Lord enters our lives, how ready are we to welcome him! Welcoming the Lord is not a simple thing - it would cause a lot of trouble, a lot of confusion, a number of challenges in our lives. Are we prepared to welcome the Lord, inspite of the storm that it can create?

There is a sign here that Jesus draws our attention to - that the anointment with the perfume that was done by Mary was an indication of the imminent death that awaits him. Yet, he is serene, confident and unperturbed. That is the sign, specially the cause of that serenity, the source of that confidence, the reason for being so composed: because God loved him, God had chosen him and God had appointed him the sign of the covenant! The peace came from within, from the core within him were God resided, where God's love was glowing so strong. 

The journey is on... and we are called to go forward with peace, serenity and endurance! The Lord comes to us, and if we welcome the Lord whole heartedly, we shall find that deep peace which no one else can give!

THE JOURNEY IS ON...

Crowd, Crisis and the Cross

The Palm Sunday - April 10, 2022

Luke 19: 28-40; Isaiah 50: 4-7; Philippians 2: 6-11; Luke 22:14 - 23:56

The theme of 'Journey' is a prominent one in Christian Spirituality - enough to think of the Old Testament journeys...of Abraham, of Jacob, of Moses, of Joseph, of the hebrews across  the desert, of the exiled people, or think of the New Testament too... of Mary and Joseph, of Jesus walking from village to village, the disciples sent two by two...and various others! Our Christian spirituality is one long journey in itself... which contains within so many intermediate journeys... journeys that are to be made daily, journeys that are to be made according to seasons, journeys that pertain to each individual, journeys that involve the entire people of God and so on! We have today a very peculiar journey that Jesus makes, within the long journey of his life as an ever loving Son of the Father Almighty, as a faithful apostle of the Loving God, as a Lamb that goes to the slaughter house with joy to offer itself for the sake of love. 

As Jesus enters Jerusalem today, he is aware of all the dynamics that surrounds him, the destiny that awaits him, the things that he will have to encounter in the following days! How many times he would have made this journey to Jerusalem in his life - with his mother and father, with his relatives and friends, with his disciples, with lazarus and family... but this time it is not the same! He is conscious of it. In many ways it is not the same. There are three things that make this journey so peculiar for him, and not only for him, also for us to reflect on; three things that stand out in the whole event of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem that we commemorate today: the crowd, the crisis and the cross. 

The Crowd was totally hysterical... Jesus knew that crowd, he was in no way lost in the crowd, nor was he lost with the crowd. He knew that this cheer and excitement of the crowd, will soon turn into a call for his killing - after all they were just a mob. But in no way did Jesus disrespect or despise them. He genuinely accepted their celebration and enjoyed their warm reception. He loved them all and he loved the way they showed their regard for him. He loved them like a shepherd, because he knew if it were not for him, they would be like a sheep without shepherd. The lesson for us: when we do what we ought to and when we do it well, let us enjoy all the adulation of the crowd around, the appreciation of the world for accomplishments, the regard of the society for a job well done! But as Jesus, let us beware that the same crowd which celebrates will soon condemn...and we need to take the critique and denunciation, just as much as we enjoy the appreciation and adulation. And the second lesson is that we do not get lost in the crowd, be one in the crowd, get into the mentality of the crowd - so thoughtless and so blind, so mindless and so flimsy, so forgetful about the good and so aroused by the excitement of the evil. 

The Crisis that lay before Christ was gross and clear. For him the crisis was not whether to suffer or not, it was not whether to believe this crowd or not, it was not even whether to confront the priests and the scribes or not. The crisis was whether to remain or go on! With the kind of welcome that Jesus received, he could have decided to remain with that popularity and praise. But Jesus knew, the journey was on and he decides to choose obedience! That choice brought him humiliation, suffering, and finally even death! He knew it would, but he decided to go on! He used the crisis to show his obedience to the Father; he saw in the crisis, an opportunity to live his life to the full - it was in dying that he lived to the full, and gave us the fullness of life. The lesson for us: when a moment of crisis comes, when sufferings and humiliation come our way, we cannot get stuck or get lost, the journey is on, and we need to go on. And when we choose to go on with the Lord, the crises can lead to a profound experience that can change my life, bring a new sense of fulfilment to it.

The Cross is what mattered for Christ - it lay before his eyes and shed light upon all his life, upon all that he did and all that he was. The Cross is the only explanation we can find for so many things that we go through on daily basis. Be it in personal lives or in the society or the world - to the myriad of sufferings that oppress humanity, war and disease, death and destruction, poverty and corruption... the Cross has to shine through all these situations to illumine our sense of meaning in life. We need to learn from Christ to keep our eyes fixed on the Cross and journey on, because it is in the Cross that the love of God invites us to see everything from the point of view of God and of our Saviour. 

The journey is on. Jesus has begun the last lap, let us journey on with him this week. Let the lenten journey we began culminate with this journey to calvary, the journey to the Cross, that we may find there, the infinite love of God and the abundance of new life that Christ wishes to offer. The journey is on, with determination and hope, let us walk with Christ to the pinacle of new life. 

Return to the God of love

THE WORD IN LENT

Saturday, 5th week in Lent - April 9, 2022 

Ezekiel 37: 21-28; John 11: 45-56

What a contrast we are given to notice today- while God longs to give life and bring the people to new birth, the people plot to kill the Son of God and do away with him. On the mountain of the Lord, there will be no killing and no hatred! How far we are from the Reign of God when we harbour thoughts of hatred, jealousy, rancour and ruin!

Personal feuds or Political Wars, Communal clashes or cut-throat competitions... they are all against the God of love who dwells amidst us, as God once promised through the covenant made - I will make my dwelling amidst you; you shall be my people and I shall be your God! 

The plot thickens today as Jesus is marked to be put to death! Jesus knows he is surrounded by enmity and hatred, but avoids taking it in and remains the love that he is, the love that he came from, the love that he came to spread. That is why he is the Son of God, and that is the criterion he gives us to be known as children of God.

It is a direct call for each of us to analyse whether we are worthy to be called the people of the covenant, children of the God who is love, disciples of the one who offered himself as a ransom for many. How many thousands and millions are rendered homeless and how many families shattered in the last 48 days of conflict in Ukraine! This is just one of the series of unfortunate mishaps that have been going on in the world, in various parts for a long time now! O let the humanity return to the God of love! 

Let us examine ourselves, if we are truly children of that love. We will be so, if we emanate love and love alone and thus make the world a better place in whichever way we can, a place closer to the Reign of God, the God of love.

Blessed Dependence!

THE WORD IN LENT

Friday, 5th week in Lent - April 8, 2022
Jeremiah 20: 10-13; John 10: 31-42

The days are such that people clamour for recognition and go a long way to hold on to their self image and their due credits. It is not anymore rare to hear of conflicts for credits - that someone usurped it from someone else and so on. It goes even to an extent where one even claims credit for what has been gifted so gratuitously by God! 

The good that we accomplish is not totally our own for us to claim absolute credit for it. First of all it is the Lord who gives us the opportunity to do that good. Secondly it is the Lord who empowers us to do that good. Thirdly it is the Lord who clears the hoards of hurdles that could possibly arise in accomplishing the said good. 

That is why Jesus gives the people the work that he accomplishes as testifying to his origin from the Father. And Jeremiah is not stifled by the enormous attack on him... because he is totally convinced that what he does is God's work and not his own. And if God wants it done, God would have it done! 

The key here is, to acknowledge one's own dependence on God and to be convinced that it is no loss of one's self image or autonomy or self esteem, to depend on God. As St. Paul would challenge us, 'what do we have that we have not received? ' (1 Cor 4:7) And so why should we be ashamed to depend totally on God, as if it were below our dignity! 

Let us with gratitude acknowledge, that in our need we cry to the Lord and the Lord hears our voice! How blessed we are!

The Covenant and Eternity

THE WORD IN LENT

Thursday, 5th week in Lent - April 7, 2022
Genesis 17: 3-9; John 8: 51-59

Today we have the account of the Abrahamic Covenant - I will be your God and you shall be my people. And Jesus completes that account in the Gospel saying, 'whoever keeps my word will never see death'. The one who believes in the Son and does the will of the One who sent the Son, will have eternal life - this is what Jesus meant and said in various terms at various instances.

Eternal can have three meanings:

The first is Endless (anantha), that is what we are called to: though we have a beginning we are destined to an existence that is endless as we will become one with the Lord, and not just perish.

The other meaning is Beginningless (anaadhi) that is what God is: One who is without a beginning or an end.

Beyond these two meanings there is a third meaning which is very difficult for the human mind to understand. That is, Timelessness. 

Eternal means timelessness, beyond time, beyond all categories of before and after, earlier and later, and all other chronological considerations. This is what confuses the Jews. How can Jesus speak of Abraham as if he were someone who still lived? 

We can become eternal when we become one with God. We become timeless. We have nothing much to do but just obey, just carry out orders, just live on in the way that the Lord says, make choices for the Lord and the Lord's will, reject anything that detracts our life's paths. Our eternal life can begin right here, when we belong to the covenant. 

A simple but constant question I need to ask to belong to the covenant: What does God want of me at this moment? 

Freedom of the Children of God

THE WORD IN LENT

Wednesday, 5th week in Lent - April 6, 2022

Daniel 3: 52-56; John 8: 31-42

Freedom of the Children of God - is not at all a strange or new phrase for us in the Christian parlance. But at times we miss the tremendous sense it can make, when we seriously think about that fact, that we are indeed children of God. It makes us truly free, secure and sincere! 

Free because we need not think of pleasing anybody else, we need not compromise to favour someone else other than my God who is beyond anyone or anything. All the furnace around me cannot consume me. All the predators around me cannot prey on me. Because I am a child of God and even amidst the fire, the Lord walks beside me!

Secure because the one who is with me is the most trustworthy one you can ever think of - One who keeps promises, One who keeps back nothing from me for the sake of my happiness, One who treasures me, having written my name on His palm.

Sincere because I have no necessity to hold on to anything that is not true. I need not put up an appearance, I need not prove myself beyond what I really am, I need not be anxious about whether I will be rejected or sidelined, I need not bother how dire the consequences will be. I have come to bear witness to the Truth, said my Master. That is the same vocation I share.

My Lord is my Master and I am liberated, I am free and I don't have to fear anything!I say to myself: do not fear; just feel free and act sincere!

Lift up, look up and live on!

THE WORD IN LENT

Tuesday, 5th week in Lent - April 5, 2022

Numbers 21:4-9; John 8:21-30

Falling is a daily experience in our life and that is why we need to constantly rise up and move on! It is not falling but remaining fallen, out of laziness or stubbornness, that renders a person 'lost'. However the same experience of a fall, when approached with true humility and a broken heart, can become uplifting and enthuse one to live on. The difference is, we need to be drawn by the Lord, towards the Lord! No one can come to the Father, unless the Father draws them!

How can we be drawn to our God? The Word today gives us the formula: lift up, look up and live on.

Lift up Jesus, as your Lord and saviour, as the one who alone can rescue you, as the one who has the ownership over you. Declare it from your heart and surrender.

Look up, and gaze at that power drawing you to himself, realise you need the Lord and confess your dependence on the Lord. Allow yourself to be drawn into his eternal love and merciful forgiveness!

Live on! When you lift up the Lord and look up to the Lord, you will live on, you will find meaning in life beyond all the pressures around you; you will find an inner peace inspite of the turbulence that surrounds you; you will have that joy that the Lord alone can give!

Turn to the magnificence of the Lord constantly and surrender yourself completely, you will see the way to live on, with fullness and joy!

To see God's light

THE WORD IN LENT

Monday, 5th week in Lent - April 4, 2022
Daniel 13:41-62; John 8: 12-20

We have a dramatic episode in the first reading today. Though the innocent Susanna being blamed is a lent-worthy theme, the point of reference today is Daniel. Daniel, who was illumined by the light of the Lord and filled with the Spirit, delivers Susanna from the treacherous plotters and the mindless mob. 

Daniel was capable of idenitfying that those who testified were wrong, and were ill motivated. Today the world is so full of those who testify wrong and promote evil, either knowingly or unwittingly.  It becomes so crucial today to instruct the ignorant and to illumine the confused. it is indeed listed as one of the spiritual acts of mercy and that is the call that Daniel's episode offers us today.

We are called to fight against the treacherous plotters, deceivers who lead people astray, people with hidden agenda who manipulate the weak and the vulnerable. We fight them by throwing light on the truth and standing by it amidst threats and treason. Tougher still is the other task: that of illumining the ignorant and the mindless, who do not have clear thinking of their own, who swallow all that they are told, who follow the mob so blind that they do not even know what they live for. At times some faith choices of persons too become such a following of the mob, unfortunately. 

Christ is the Light that illumines our minds, reveals falsehoods and bears testimony to truth. Christ sheds light on what we need to do, where we need to journey towards, and where we are at this moment! The call is to surrender to the Lord and pray for God's illumination, that we can see God's ways, share it with others, and let the whole world see God's light!

TO JOURNEY WITH HOPE

A roadmap to perfection!

Fifth Sunday in Lent: April 3, 2022
Isaiah 43:16-21; Philippians 3:8-14; John 8:1-11

We are at the end of such a significant week! We have loads of thoughts to reflect on and take to heart. Expectations, Celebration, Gratitude, Mystery, Wonder, were the feelings that dominated the week that has just passed! And today the dominant note is one of HOPE. The Liturgy of the Word too invites us to the same sentiment of faith. Last week the Liturgy called us to Celebrate. Every celebration is to reinforce the energy within persons or the community to go on with life – and following it right on, the Liturgy today calls us to journey on with hope. 

Holy Father Pope Francis, when he greeted the faithful, for the first time, gathered at St.Peter’s Square - he said it in simple words: “Iniziamo un cammino, il vescovo e popolo!” Let’s begin a journey as Bishop and his people! A journey, he said; a journey with hope! Our Christian life is a indeed a journey, a race towards a finish as St. Paul says.  Our lenten practices are a journey too - we have been following it: from the desert to the mountain, to the holy ground and the promised land. It is a journey to perfection. 

A Journey needs a roadmap… and today’s Word of God provides us with the Roadmap, the Roadmap to Perfection, in three ‘P’s – Persevere, Prioritize and Progress.

For the Hebrews under slavery and burdensome labour, the prospect of journeying to the promised land, a land flowing with milk and honey, was a fantasy. When they actually undertook it, they could not believe their own selves. The Psalmist expresses it so well, “When the Lord restored the fortunes of Israel, it was like in a dream!” (Ps 126:1) When they embarked on that journey, it was in no terms easy… they were faced with the endless desert, with no food and no water, they were faced with a sea with freedom on the other side and death approaching them from behind, they were faced with treachery within and immorality that abounded…but those who stuck on to the journey crossed the Jordan into their promised land. 

Persevering through Problems, is an important ingredient towards success in faith. We see, in the first reading today, how this faith was rewarded for the people of Israel. The journey of Christian life is not different – with its own share of deserts and seas and temptations and death – but a disciple of Christ is called to Persevere right through these problems, and journey in faith.

What if we lose the vision, the direction, the energy… it is St. Paul again who instructs in various words… set your hearts on the thing above and on grace that Christ brings, he instructs. I consider everything as a loss, as a trash, as a garbage… because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ. The second dimension of the roadmap to perfection, is Prioritising Christ above anything or anybody else in our daily life. 

When our self considerations of comfort and career, or our considerations of attachments and allegiances become more important than God, Christ and all that pertains to our circle of faith, we can easily lose direction, lack vision and get lost in the mire of daily concerns and personal glory. What we need to do is fix our gaze on Christ, look to Him and be radiant (Ps 34:5). Thus we will journey on, with hope!

The third dimension of the roadmap is the most important! With the lost direction, with the lost time and with the negative experiences we can be caught up in the past. We see today a group of people who brought that lady to Jesus today… they were so impressed with themselves that they caught that lady sinning, they were so caught up with the law of the Moses given in the past, they were so involved in the fact that Jesus had insulted them so many times in so many ways, all things of the past… that they failed to see what was going on in the mind of that woman. The grief that was crying out from her eyes, the shame that was constricting her heart and her body, the anger that was swelling in her mind, the guilt that was tearing her apart – nothing mattered to those people who stood with stones in their hands. Jesus saw what they did not see! The person who was there on the ground waiting for the stones to be pelted, thinking to herself, it was better to die than to live, it was better to be stoned than to be looked at with the past in reference. It would have been easier for Jesus to send those self made judges away than to reassure that woman of her worth! Without a word on her burdensome past, Jesus tells her – Go and sin no more! Go… Go… Go on… To go on, with Christ in focus, to press on forgetting the past and to progress in the path of Christ…that is the call today!

With the hope that God awaits us there where we are headed to, we are called to progress. Falls, faults, failures and fake successes…let them not deter us. To rise, to restart and to resume our journey is an act of hope. That is what Jesus calls us to. To journey with hope, to never be discouraged but persevere through problems, to prioritise Christ without losing our focus, our vision, our direction, to progress constantly towards that fullness that Christ wishes to offer us. 

Like pilgrims set on a journey towards the house of grace, we are called to journey on!!! The Compass is set… Christ is the coordinate points… Christ is the direction… God our Father and Mother awaits us at home… lets journey on, in the path that Christ has traced, with joy and with hope.