Living our life from the core of our being!

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 12th week in Ordinary time

June 22, 2022: 2 Kings 22: 8-13, 23: 1-3; Matthew 7: 15-20

By the fruits will the trees be known; by our actions will we be known! Let your actions speak for what you believe and stand witness for what you say! That was not merely the way that Jesus taught, but it was the way Jesus lived. He had no dichotomy of words and deeds, of beliefs and expressions, or of principles and practices. Thus, he was able to say, even if you dont believe in me, believe in my works (cf. Jn 10:38), because Jesus lived his life from the core of his being. 

In the core of his being Jesus knew how he and the Father were united in their vision and their mission.  In the core of his being, Jesus knew he was not alone, never! He was always accompanied by his Father and he had that strength within him. Hence, living from that core of his being, he was able to live a life that was absolutely divine amidst all challenges. 

At times what happens in our daily life is just the contrary... we live from the outermost layer of our lives. We do so many things, we say so many prayers, we carry out so many religious practices, we undertake pilgrimages and penitential practices, we frequent charismatic retreats... but the effect lasts just a few days, or at the most a few weeks. Then? What then? - that is the crucial question!

The first reading has a wonderful symbolism to offer us, in this regard: we too possess what it takes to live such a life as that of Jesus! We have to go to the core of our being, unearth the image and likeness of God that we possess at the core, and bring it to the fore, proclaiming it to the world and installing it on a pedestal from where it rules our life, shines and glows for the others! Living our lives from the core of our being: that is the key! 

As St. Augustine would often say, 'an unreflected life is a wasted life'. Let us accept today the invitation to journey to the core of our being, and begin to live our life from there, bearing fruits worthy of the One who has created, called and commissioned us!

The Narrow Gate Spirituality

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 12th week in Ordinary time

June 21, 2022: 2 Kings 19: 9-11,14-21,31-36; Matthew 7: 6, 12-14

At times when we have problems that overwhelm us, in front of which we have nothing that we can actually do, we are constricted to a choice which is not actually a choice at that point, but a point of no other choice! This is what we see in the first reading today. Hezekiah appeals to God and surrenders himself in the Temple when he has absolutely nothing else he can do, faced with a situation so grave.

The Lord asks us, why do you wait till that crucial moment when there would be no other go, when you would be constricted to absolute straits, when you would find yourself at a moment of no other choice? Right from the beginning why don't you make the right choices, absolute choices, choices that are fundamental, choices that involve no compromise, choices that take you nowhere else but towards that point that is right! In short, why don't you, right from the beginning, all your life, even at the most casual moments and not merely at crucial moments, choose God and God alone!

The world would say, a bit of compromise is no issue! And that 'bit' is what will determine everything finally. Giving in that bit will enlarge the room gradually until the space makes our life so comfortable and cozy, enjoyable and easy! But it will also let so many other things right into our lives, making it vulnerable and weak even without our notice! When crisis arises as a result of it, we might be caught unaware and cry inconsolably, finding fault with God and every thing that is godly in our life.

The best solution: switch to the Narrow Gate Spirituality. It consists of never asking myself, at any moment of life, which choice is easier, which is more convenient, which is more common, which is the way the whole world goes about. Ask just one question: what is that one thing that God wants of me, that one thing, that one choice, that narrow gate that exists, through which you would have to squeeze yourself... only a few will find it and fewer will choose it. But those who choose it, shall march right into the consoling embrace of God.

A Self-critical Conscious Choice

WORD 2day: Monday, 12th week in Ordinary time

June 20, 2022: 2 Kings 17: 5-8, 13-15, 18; Matthew 7: 1-5

Judge not, and you shall not be judged, instructs Jesus today. Not to judge others does not mean justifying whatever he or she does. Between judging the other and justifying the other there is an attitude that Jesus deems Reign-worthy and we could call it: a Self-critical Conscious Choice.

The first need is to be self critical. When I find something wrong in the other, charity requires that I first become critical of myself. That is, seeing the log that is in your eye before offering to remove the splinter from your neighbour's. Once I am aware that I too possess the same, or a similar, or a bigger weakness or a vice, my attitude changes completely. I am in a position to better understand, and act with prudence and humility.

The second need is to set the home tidy first. "Do not do like they do" ... that was the instruction that the Lord had given the people when they had to come into contact with other nations during the period of their wanderings. St. Paul too has a similar warning for us, isn't it? Writing to the Romans, he tells us: do not be conformed to the world, instead be transformed in the Lord (cf. Rom 12). Let me set my life, my behaviours, my attitudes, my priorities, my choices right first... the rest will slowly fall in place. The first step, Gandhiji would say, towards changing the world, is to be the change that you wish to see there!

In short, the Word invites us today to live our daily lives conscious of who we are, what we are called for and where we are bound to! Let us take our faith seriously and live by sound self-critical conscious choices on a daily basis. The Word shall be the lamp to that path!

THE FEAST OF SELF-GIVING

He lives in me!

June 19, 2022: The Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ
Genesis 14:18-20; 1 Corinthians 11: 23-26; Luke 9: 11-17

I am the bread come down from heaven, one who eats of this bread will have eternal life!

Today we celebrate the solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, the feast of Self-Giving...total self giving of the Lord who came down from heaven!

The Word has prepared us during the week towards this great celebration...

Let us reflect a little about Giving...
I can give to receive...not just a mundane reception of a return for my giving; but I can give to receive something spiritual. To receive, may be, a blessing from God , to receive an affirmation from the Divine Giver, etc. Melchizedek brought out bread and wine and Abraham gave him the one tenth... all these giving, in view of receiving the divine protection.

There was only one who gave, only to be received... notice, it is in passive! It is not giving to receive, but giving to be received!  The Lord gives, it is upto me to receive or not! But on his part, the Lord gives, to be Received. This is the element of salvation that the Lord has left in the sacrament of the Eucharist, for us to receive.

As the Lord gave the body and the blood, he said...do this in remembrance of me... note again clearly, not just to remember him but remember to do what he did, in remembrance of him... that is, to give of myself as he gave himself totally, to give in remembrance of him... He gives, to be Remembered, that he has invited me to give as he gave! This the element of gratitude that the Lord teaches us in the sacrament of Eucharist, the heart of thanksgiving.

Yes, the Lord invites me to give, as he invited the disciples to give the people to eat...'give them some food yourselves,' he said. It's only when we give the people in need, we remain the Lord's disciples. To make us learn that we need to give always of ourselves to the others in need, He gives, to Remain within us... He comes to us to transform us into Himself, to be givers, to be givers who give of ourselves to others, without passing the buck to someone else. This is the sign of charity, the bond of love that the Lord has left in the sacreament of the Eucharist, because of which the Lord abides in us forever. 

Yes, the Lord, everyday gives himself to me and so... I know, I am joyful and I believe that HE LIVES IN ME...

To whom is my allegiance?

WORD 2day: Saturday, 11th week in Ordinary time

June 18, 2022: 2 Chronicles 24: 17-25; Matthew 6: 24-34

Infidelity, compromises, transgressions, forsaking and tryst with the unholy...these were characteristic traits of the so-called 'chosen people', the people with whom the Lord made the covenant: I will be your God and you shall be my people. However unfaithful and treacherous they got, the Lord remained ever faithful and true to the covenant that was made. Coming across passages such as we find in today's first reading, we are prone to judge the people of Israel, but let us wait, take a minute and look at our own life!

Looking at our own life, the Lord has chosen us before the foundations of the world (Eph 1:4) and has made a covenant with us right at our baptism: you shall be my child and I shall be your God. And ever since, how many compromises and transgressions, how many moments of failures and negligences... the Lord however has always been faithful (cf.2 Tim 2:13). Yes, the story is the same even with us.

The goodness of God remains for eternity... the Lord continues to love us and be faithful to us; we continue to live our life as best as we wish, caring nothing about the call we have to belong to God always and in everything. In the light of today's readings let us raise a fundamental question to ourselves: to whom is my allegiance in my daily concrete living? And how absolute is that allegiance? Integrity demands that each of us be our own judge, analysing each and every little choice that we make and the priorities we act on! That will give us an idea of our level of fidelity to the One who has called us.

Dead before our death!

WORD 2day: Friday, 11th week in Ordinary time

June 17, 2022: 2 Kings 11: 1-4, 9-18, 20; Matthew 6: 19-23

'Where your treasure is, there also your heart will be!' 'For all those who draw the sword will die by the sword!' These are foregone conclusions and bygone experiences. Still, when it comes to our choices, we dare to be foolish. Everyone knows that possession and position are by no means permanent. No one claims that he or she will carry along what one holds here on earth, when this earthly sojourn is done with. But still the craze of hoarding wealth or the avarice for power over people does not cease in any case. 

The treacherous events of the first reading reminds us of these strange human choices. Just think of the great wealthy barons of various circles today - how they go on pounding for more and more wealth in spite of the heaps that they have. Or think of those who possessed enormous luxuries but ended up pathetic at the close of their lives. Had their choices really added value to their life!

As the book of Deuteronomy (30:15,16)) tells us: there is open before us the choice for life or for death. None of us can sincerely say that we are absolutely unaware of it when we choose something bad! The choice is always ours. The Lord has given us the Spirit and the wisdom of the Spirit, the eye to see, the light within us to be illumined, which instruct us the right way at every step of ours, as Isaiah tells us (Is 30:21). It is our responsibility to be attune to the voice, the whispering that guides us. 

It is our task to resist the temptation of making the wrong choice. And it requires maturity of faith to accept this responsibility. When we fail to accept it, or when we yield to the attractions of the temptation, we make a choice - a choice for death and not life, a choice for destruction and not prosperity. In those choices, however successful we seem to be, we are dead long before our actual death!

Prayer of the Persons of God

WORD 2day: Thursday, 11th week in Ordinary time

June, 16, 2022: Sirach 48: 1-14; Matthew 6: 7-15

Elijah and Elisha - these two personalities have been churning our minds these days! Wondrous deeds, challenging words, and above all, demanding prayers! Yes, you heard it right. Demanding prayers, not in the sense of demanding from God, but prayers that demand a way of life from those who are involved in praying. There is a characteristic difference in the prayers that persons of God make and that is what Jesus tries to teach us today. 

Prayer is not about begging God for things that we badly need! That makes the relationship so far from the question of dignity and self-respect. Instead, prayer is discussing with God my Father and Mother, the concerns that fill my mind at a point of time. It is a moment of colloquy, a sharing of concerns, an entrustment of care. That is what a Christ-ian prayer is all about.

The Our Father is one such prayer, a prayer of a person of God; a prayer that puts God at the centre and not my needs; a prayer that is bothered not so much about receiving the blessings as about being blessings to others; a prayer that does not seek a secure life but a sincere life, a prayer that does not concentrare on the results of getting something, but pays attention to and builds relationship! The prayer of a person of God, is born out of one's life and renews one's life at one and the same time.

Prophets are persons of God, par excellence. They stand for God, they speak for God and they challenge us on behalf of God. Jesus was a prophet too, and that is why he calls us all to be prophets like him. Let our daily life be in imitation of these prophets; let our daily prayer be a prayer of the persons of God.

To stay clear of trivialities

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 11th week in Ordinary time

June 15, 2022: 2 Kings 2:1, 6-14; Matthew 6: 1-6, 16-18

The only condition placed before Elisha, that he may receive a double share of the Spirit possessed by Elijah, was that Elisha should see Elijah being taken away by God. The challenge here is simply, not to miss what is central to whatever we are involved in, being distracted with the trivialities. This is a very current message for any age!

Because every age, every culture, every age group, and any context is made of a number of simple things that form the entire whole. At times, the maturity of a person or of a community in question is manifest from the capacity to differentiate between what is trivial and what is crucial, between what is negotiable and what is substantial, in short, what really matters and what does not! 

The Gospel places the same condition before us. The actions that we do will have their true value depending on the fact whether the centrality of the right element was ensured. Praying, fasting and almsgiving are three fundamental actions mentioned in the Gospel today and they together epitomise the entire religious practice of a Jew. However, the point here is: not to miss what is central to it in getting distracted with the trivialities of human recognition and immediate rewards. Prayer, fast and almsgiving - why do I do it? Because it has become my second nature, or because I have some other agenda behind it?

In our relationship with ourselves, with others and with God, we are invited to pay attention to the most central of all concerns: to do what is most pleasing to God at a given instant. Any other concern is only a triviality, however good and practical it could be. The spiritual prudence that Jesus teaches us today is to stay clear of the trivialities and place God at the centre and at the core, of our life, of the world, of everything!

The Father's Perfection

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 11th week in Ordinary time

June 14, 2022: 1 Kings 21: 17-29; Matthew 5: 43-48

Coming to the end of the Beatitudes, Jesus today summarises the beatitudes into just one evocation: be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect. And what does that perfection consist of? The essence of it is Love, an unconditional love, a limitless love, a non-judgmental love, an impartial love that respects the inner self of person and persons' true intentions!

The first reading is an extreme type of an example for God's love and mercy. As the psalms and other books in the Old Testament describe, God always manifested Godself to be slow to anger, abounding in love, ready to forgive and longing to remain in relationship with humanity. Though Ahab's acts were so gruesome, the mere fact that he repented for those and felt sorry for his foolishness, turned the entire issue upside down. Ahab finds favour in the eyes of God, Ahab becomes lovable all over again.

The message is pretty clear. For us too, the merciful Lord awaits and awaits with an ever burning love, to get us all back into Lord's own embrace for eternity. But this getting back will not happen automatically. It needs more attention to basics through developing traits such as personal integrity, spiritual identity and a profound sense of belonging to the Reign. One of the signs that we can really behold this immense love of God, is our tendency to love each other, just as the Lord loves us. 

This is the reason why Jesus instructed us: love one another as I have loved you; the world will recognise you as my disciples through this love that you have for one another! Yes, it is in love that we become disciples of Christ, sons and daughters of God, true people of the Spirit. For it is love and love alone that is the epitome of Christian living: Love, the Father's Perfection!

That extra mile...

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

June 13, 2022: Celebrating St. Anthony, the apostle of the Word

1 Kings 21: 1-16, Matthew 5: 38-42

Jesus presents to us the most impractical of all his teachings... showing the other cheek, giving more of what you are deprived of, and walking that extra mile with the one who tries to take advantage of me. This was in fact the teaching that inspired great personalities and movements in history, be it non-violent movement of Mahatma Gandhi or that of Martin Luther King Junior. St. Paul paraphrased it well when he wrote to the Romans: do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Rom 12:21). St. Anthony, with his Franciscan heart lived this to the full and has left us an example too!

The first reading pictures for us the exploitative element that is always present in the world, in fact it  presents us with the opportunity to practice our virtues and attain our salvation. At times the evil around us threatens to take the better of us, but the Word today reminds us of a fundamental attitude we are called to - never retaliate but to repay evil with good! 

That we can identify ourselves as disciples of Christ, we are expected to be spiritually prepared to allow ourselves be taken for granted without letting the goodness within us go down the drain; we are called to be who we are regardless of what others are! We are called to concentrate on the Lord who lives within us, instead of the evil one who attacks us from the outside! The more focussed we are on the inner nature that the Lord has given us, the more capable we shall be to confront the attacks of the evil one, as we see in the life of St. Anthony. 

However, this lifestyle of doing good to all and being good at all times, in spite of what is done to us, is ofcourse difficult and demanding...but that alone can make a difference in this world - that extra mile!