The Family of the Apostles

THE WORD AND THE SAINTS

October 28, 2022: Celebrating Apostles Simon and Jude
Ephesians 2:19-22; Luke 6:12-16

You are no longer alien, no longer strangers, you are part of the family that the Apostles belonged to, the family that was initiated as the starting point of the Reign of God. This familiarity is the greatest gift according to Paul, as he insists that we could have been no people, but God made us God's people through Christ. That is what we are, God's people!

Of Simon and Jude whom we celebrate today, Judas Thaddeus, is said to be close to Jesus in his family ties and in his appearance. However, Jesus would not have made a big issue of it - for him those who listen to God's word and put it into practice are more familiar than anyone else! There is a tendency everywhere, when we have the possibility of doing some favour to someone, we have a very narrow way how we pick and choose, as to whom to extend that favour to! May be it is important to evaluate that.

Simon was called the zealot... someone who belonged to the group which believed in getting things right through force and exertion, much more than conviction and coversion. Certainly Jesus would have had a tough time to get him change his mind, but he never gave up! And today we have Simon in the ranks of the Saintly Apostles. A point of evaluation here is to check how readily we give up on persons and judge them out of our minds!

Simon and Jude, as all other apostles, teach us the lesson that Jesus wants us so much to learn: it does not matter which nation, or tribe, or clan or caste I belong to - the only thing that matters is that I belong to God and I form part of the family of God, the family of the Apostles!

Being a Christian: is it simple?

WORD 2day: Thursday, 30th week in Ordinary time

October 27, 2022: Ephesians 6:10-20; Luke 13: 31-35

Our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens (Eph 6:12). Yes, our life is a struggle! We know that very well... enough to look around - the wars, the economic crises, the political altercations, the subversive forces, the misleading claims of rights that obscure duties and values, the misplaced priorities that make life so complicated and some times even meaningless!

Yes, we are struggling to live an authentic life. That is why we are the Militant Church... the church that is fighting its way through, towards the eternal life, towards that crown that is promised and prepared for us. The Triumphant Church, who are the saints who have gone before us, is our shining model and an inspiring example... we will soon be celebrating them altogether. However, today let us just heed to the message that the triumphant Church gives us, in the clear tone of the Word today. As we heard from Luke a few days ago (12:4) - Do not fear those who can kill your body, but can do nothing to your soul! And Jesus lives that teaching in the Gospel today: 'Go tell that fox'...referring to Herod...'that I will be here today, tomorrow and the third day!'

Jesus feared no one, because he was certain that God was with him. St. Paul today gives us a whole armour to put on; every kind of protection against every kind of danger. The Lord is our stronghold, the Lord is our refuge; whom should we fear? All that we need to do is stand firm in faith. Let us not deceive ourselves saying, being a Christian today is simple or natural; it is not! Neither shall we lose hope saying, we cannot! 

Jesus teaches us by his example today the technique of a Christian fight: Keep alert, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong! (1 Cor 16:13)

To be saved... any short cuts?

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 30th week in Ordinary time

October 26, 2022: Ephesians 6: 1-9; Luke 13: 22-30

Will only few be saved? Who will be saved and who will not be? Will so and so be saved? These are questions we hear more often than not. Jesus when he was posed with the same question, not even once did he answer these questions direct. He always gave an explanation that made them think more and think of something else! Once he said the parable of the camel and the eye of the needle and another time he explained to them that it is possible with God and impossible with merely human effort, and so on.

However in today's Gospel, he says there are no categories of people who would enter by default, nor are there selected races who would enter with ease the Reign of God! Anyone can enter and in fact, everyone is invited to enter the Reign of God, provided they have the right disposition and the right life style!

St. Paul in the first reading explains what this particular disposition or life style has to be. It is nothing but living our life wherever we are, in a manner that is pleasing to God. It is easy to blame the others or the situation for a life lived below the standard that is expected of us and the Lord today challenges us to 'strive to go through the narrow door'... that is the only door that leads to the Reign! 

In Paul's words, we are called to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling (Phil 2:!2); it is not about fretting and fidgeting but about being diligent and dedicated in whatever we are called to be, wherever we are. Striving, living with endurance our day to day life, working hard... these are the terms we hear in the Word today, because there are no shortcuts, to be saved!

Being in Christ is all that matters

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 30th week in Ordinary time

October 25, 2022: Ephesians 5:21-33; Luke 13: 18-21

Once I was addressing a group of young couples regarding the attitudes that they should have towards each other... when some tough statements came around, one of them jokingly remarked. 'these things coming from Paul, it's difficult to accept, given the fact that he was an unmarried man!' And immediately another one added looking straight at me, 'Paul writing it and you quoting it... both are difficult to accept'. There was a big roar of laughter. That aside, there can be heated debates on issues that Paul speaks of today- who has to be subordinate to whom! That need not be our focus! Whether husband or wife, whether leaders or followers, whether I am subordinate or head, I am called to be IN Christ - that's the focus.

Whether I am a subordinate or a head, an apostle or a servant, a renowned person or a so-called nobody... I am called to be in Christ. Being in Christ, even if I am just a mustard seed I can grow into a mighty tree. Being in Christ, even if I am just pinch of yeast I can make a difference for entire dough. Being in Christ, even if I am just a spark of glow, I will light up the world to its extremeties. 

At times it is a hard fact to digest... but it really does not matter what we do, what we gather, what we achieve and what titles we earn... but the whole world is after these, is it not? Even among spouses, there is a conflict as to who commands and who obeys; even within a family there are feuds as to who gains more and who has the benefits; even among so-called friends at times there are misgivings that feed the individual egos. Can I really say a definitive no? 

We will be able to say that no, if only we are convinced that being in Christ is all that matters!

Be compassionate because...

WORD 2day: Monday, 30th week in Ordinary time

October 24, 2022: Ephesians 4: 32- 5: 8; Luke 13: 10-17

'Children of Light', that is how St.Paul addresses us in the first reading today. The reading also paints a clear picture of what it means to be children of Light, or the children of God...it means to be kind, compassionate, forgiving, filled with love... in short, being like God, simply because we are children of God. 

Love and compassion have to be the defining characteristics of our personalities - be it individual personality or a collective identity, as disciples or followers of Christ. Nothing can stop us from being compassionate... no difficulty should hinder us from being compassionate, no rule or regulation, no tradition or custom, no practice or policy can stop us from being compassionate; because it needs to become our very nature,  as children of the Compassionate Father and Mother, God who has loved each of us into existence, who continues to loves us inspite of our unworthiness, and who promises us never to deny us of this love come what may. 

Is our love modelled on this love? Is our mode of life matching this way of being of God? Is our list of criteria and our set of priorities, in keeping with this perspective of life? Are we convinced that we need to be compassionate, because, and simply because, we are the children of that Compassion without limit?

EMPTINESS - WHERE GOD ENCOUNTERS

Lack, Lifestyle and Liminality

30th Sunday in the Ordinary time - October 23, 2022
Ecclesiasticus 35: 12-14,16-19; 2 Timothy 4: 6-8- 16-18; Luke 18: 9-14

You cannot fill a cup that is full ...

God is not partial, God knows no favourites says the first reading but all the while speaking of a God who takes his stand by the poor, the widow and the orphans, the oppressed and the lowly. There is no paradox here, neither is there a partiality. It is natural that water flows where it is low. Isn't it true that we can fill only that which is empty!

Today we are reminded of the Spirituality of Emptiness! Emptiness, is not merely an absence of things. Emptiness is not merely a state of something not being there. If it were so, it is so easy to reach that state - all that you need to do is remove what is there! Instead, emptiness is a positive reality. Emptiness is where God encounters us!

Emptiness can be due to a lack! The first reading speaks to us of the oppressed, the widows and the orphans...persons who lacked, who lacked their rights, who lacked some on to lean on, who lacked people who cared. God encounters us in that state...that is a condition! A condition in which one knows that one lacks, when one knows that he or she is not complete. In our inabilities, in our lacks when we turn to God, and accept God as the one who can fill me... God fills me!

Emptiness can be a lifestyle! One can have, one can possess, but still can decide to live in a state of emptiness, not giving into attachments and bonds that can cripple one's existence. God encounters him or her there, in that emptiness. That is not a condition, but a choice! St. Paul, speaks in the second reading of how he had emptied himself for the sake of the Word, for the sake of the Lord, for the sake of the Lord's people. It is a lifestyle ... a mindset...the mindset of Christ... For he did not consider equality with God as something to be held on to,...but emptied himself (Phil 2: 5-7) - the lifestyle of Christ, the Son of God! Emptying yourself is a choice to allow God to fill you!

Emptiness is liminality! Liminality is a word that is used to mean, 'to stand at the threshold', a state of passage, a state where one is changed from what one was, but has not yet become what one is yet to become! One is not complete yet, but he or she is well on the way to being complete. We can be reminded of the words that St. John writes, 'We are children of God, what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, because we will see him as he is' (1 Jn 3:2). When we empty ourselves, we are moving towards being complete. When we are too conscious of being so complete and perfect, we actually are closing ourselves in and we become dead. The more we empty ourselves, the more God fills us!

O God, who alone is complete...

behold my emptiness, and make me ever conscious of it,
that I may be filled, filled by you,
to become complete, just as you are...
... so ready to empty myself for the others,
that I may be once again be filled by you, who alone is complete!

Let's grow up, folks!

WORD 2day: Saturday, 29th week in Ordinary time

October 22, 2022: Ephesians 4: 7-16; Luke 13: 1-9

The first reading today will lend itself so well for an interdenominational war and a catholics-protestants feud, one blaming and accusing the other of human trickery and deceptive scheming. Let us grow up dear friends! St. Paul challenges us to grow into the full stature of Christ and that is nothing but love. Let us grow in love, love for God, love for each other, a patient acceptance of each other and loving fellowship of brothers and sisters.

How long would we go on calling each other names and breaking the Body of Christ into non negotiable bits and pieces? If we go on like this, Jesus says that twice in the Gospel today: 'you will all perish!' It's high time we realise our call to grow up and bear fruit. 

God has given us enough and more chances. Let us equip ourselves, not with offences and defences, but with arms of love and feet of generosity. Let us prune our ego and till our arid hearts. Let us sow seeds of love and reap the fruit of brotherhood and sisterhood. Love is our identity and nothing else is: by this they will know that you are my disciples, by the love that you have for one another (Jn 13:35). 

There can be no worse scandal than a divided Church and of course, there can be no better proclamation of the Gospel than a loving and united community of faithful, who live together as brothers and sisters, one in the Lord and in the Spirit!

Oneness of Vision - Integrity

WORD 2day: Friday, 29th week in Ordinary time

October 21, 2022: Ephesians 4: 1-6; Luke 12: 54-59

A couple had come with a problem to be sorted out between them. Discussing their problem, even after a long while, we could see no way out of the problem no matter how much we tried making sense of what was happening. Finally I had to remind them of the sad fact: 'we can awaken a person who is sleeping, but not the one who pretends to be sleeping!' Is it not true? For most of the problems today, it is not that we do not have a solution, but we do not want to arrive at it.

Jesus gives a piece of his mind to the pharisees and scribes, because he finds in them the hypocrisy of not choosing things that were so obviously towards the right. Its like a group of people, in our own times, in spite of knowing that their leader is at fault, be it in the policies or in the individual decisions made, that affect not only their immediate context but also the world at large, they still hold on to the leader's stand and justify it tooth and nail. 

Simply speaking the problems in the world are due to the lack of oneness of vision that afflicts us... each one with a selfish agenda, or groups with unfounded prejudices, classes with insensitive urge for advancement, persons with inhuman tendencies of manipulation and exploitation... these are persons who could not care less about the golden rule. They have a set of rules for themselves and a completely different one for others. These are people filled with discrepancies and disparities, and will be the least likely to enter the Reign of God. 

Are we in any chance among those in that list? If we do not wish to be, we need to take the personal responsibility of finding all the possibilities and occasions of creating the oneness of vision - that alone will be truly personal and Christian integrity.

Reasons to Be Good

WORD 2day: Thursday, 29th week in Ordinary time

October 20, 2022: Ephesians 3: 14-21; Luke 12: 49-53

People are afraid to be good these days! Fear of manipulation, exploitation and of being taken for granted, are so alive and real that persons hesitate to be good and to hold on to what is good. The Word today gives us three reasons why we cannot afford to be afraid of being good:

1. Because we take on our heredity from none less than the Almighty Lord: The Lord is our banner; the Lord is our identity, it is from the Lord we take our name, as a family of God. God is good, and all that time! Goodness is the very nature of God. And how can we be other than good?

2. Because the Love of God is poured into our hearts: A love whose measure, we can never comprehend to the full - the length and breadth and depth and height of it, are so immense that we cannot but be concerned about being worthy of that love; which entails that we grow always to be good in our very being!

3. Because we have a Vocation to be a Community of Counter Culture: Jesus commissions us to be the People of the Reign, which is to be a people of counter culture, proposing a culture that is opposed to the culture of social sin, against the culture of injustice and exploitation, challenging the culture of imbalanced growth and inhuman development, resisting the culture of total human insensitivity. When we intend to be such a community of counter culture, the rest of the world may turn against us. 

Jesus makes it clear today: if you choose me, choose me absolutely... and Be Good come what may!

Recognising the wells of Salvation

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 29th week in Ordinary time

October 19, 2022: Ephesians 3: 2-12; Luke 12: 39-48

Jesus continues his instruction on how we need to be prepared for that hour of reckoning at any point of time in our life. In fact, Jesus is ridiculing all the funny discussions and calculations about when that hour will come - some self proclaimed eschatological quacks make much ado of the end and its timings and miss the entire point that Jesus is driving home here. Picking the cue from them, there are those who speak as if they know everything under the sun, or even above it!

Recently, I tumbled upon a video circulated, that of a saffron clad pantomath who shouts at the top of his voice: "they have been claiming for the past 2000 years that Christ will come today and tomorrow, but he has not come! Neither Christ or Mohammad or Jehovah will ever come!" I just had to smile at the simpleton who just did not realise, Christ is here, right here living amidst us and he need not come from elsewhere! 

Christ is a mystery and no one can understand that mystery; one can only experience or live that mystery! So too, one does not look at the Second Coming as a day or as a moment when everything will come to a stand still and there will be an UFO coming down from the sky... just give up on that crap! And thinking of the time and the hour and predicting it with such precisions... let us grow up, please!

No matter when and where, you know what to do and why to do it. Take care how you do it - not seeking human attention but going by merely God's approval. The wells of Salvation are within you! The Lord has placed God's word and God's law within you. You know it when it is right and you see it when it is wrong. You don't need an external apparatus for this recognition. The internal system of convictions and criteria that makes me draw inspiration and direction from within me... doing nothing but good, speaking nothing but good, thinking nothing but good, no matter how unlikely the returns are, or what the consequences would be. 

These are the wells of salvation - we better begin to recognise them within us and live our life in grace!