Being subject to God

WORD 2day: Tuesday, Week 1 in Ordinary time

January 10, 2023: Hebrew 2: 5-12; Mark 1: 21-28

Everything is subject to God, for God is the creator. From God do everything come to exist and in God do they have their being. God is the centre, the source and animating Spirit of all that lives and exists. When this truth is accepted, every being gets to know that it is forever subject to God! When this state of being subject is acknowledged, appreciated and accepted, everything in life proceeds with ease and peace. Instead, when that subjection is resisted or resented, problems begin. 

This is true not merely about things and the nature! It is about every being created on earth, and very much so for human persons, who are the foremost in resisting it and resenting it. This is natural because we are given some faculties which differentiate us from the other forms of beings, which take us to the level of being considered, "little lower than the angels" as says the Psalmist (8:5). We have been given an added gift of freewill and the capacity to subject ourselves to God, vis-à-vis  the other beings which are naturally subject to the creator. 

This is both a grace and a challenge - naturally a grace that we have to willfully submit ourselves and draw merits and blessing from it; interestingly a challenge, that we are responsible for everything that we bring on ourselves when we choose not to subject ourselves to the all powerful and ever loving God. 

We make a difference when we decide on our own to subject ourselves to God... a difference not only to ourselves, but to our own around us and to the entire humanity and the universe! 

BEHOLD JESUS - THE GREATEST GIFT OF GOD

The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord 

January 9, 2023: Isaiah 42:1-4,6-7; Matthew 3: 13-17

Christmas season draws to its close with the Baptism of the Lord, because the manifestation is made as clear as possible at this point when the voice from heaven thunders, "this is my beloved Son!" The moment definitively seals the greatest of the gifts that God has ever given humanity: God's only Son...Jesus the Christ, the Word made flesh! The gift that came down to us on that Christmas night, in the lowliness of the manger, has been gradually unwrapped these days, with manifestations - first to the shepherds, then to the wise men and slowly but strongly to Mary and Joseph, as they beheld that Son of God, in their humble hands.

Today is the culmination of the unwrapping...Jesus the gift of God is unwrapped so magnificently in the Liturgy today. We are called to behold that gift, so that the warning that John gives in his Gospel: he came unto his own and his own did not recognise him, may not happen in our case.

We are called to behold Jesus, the LOVE OF GOD. Jesus is the love of God personified. God's love takes flesh and pitches the tent amidst us... in the person of Jesus! Wherever Jesus went there was healing, life, happiness, forgiveness, in short he was the presence of God, the presence of love, love which lived among people. That is what we are called to perceive, as perceived Peter in the second reading today! To perceive Love living amidst us, manifest today by the very voice of God. Perceiving the presence we are called to transform ourselves into presences of love...for the same voice cries out to us today, in the suffering world, in the marginalised persons and in the exploited brothers and sisters!

We are called to behold Jesus, the COVENANT OF GOD. Isaiah proclaims those beautiful words, : I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations. A covenant is more than a contract; a covenant is more than an agreement. It is something that is etched into the lives of those who are involved. It is taking responsibility for each other, that is why the Church defines marriage as a covenant! Jesus is the sign of the responsibility God took for his children; God did not spare even God's only Son, writes the Apostle. Perceiving Jesus as the covenant of God, we are called to take responsibility for our brothers and sisters, we are called to concern ourselves with the blind and the deaf of our society, the poor and the needy of our locality, the marginalised and the oppressed in our contexts.

We are called to behold Jesus, the BELOVED OF GOD. The voice declares it in all clarity, as wrote Isaiah of old. "This is my beloved, in whom i am well pleased!" In declaring God's love for Jesus, the voice today declares to each of us: you and I... we are the beloved of God...in whom God takes delight! In our Baptism, God made us God's own, and we belong to God and our God takes delight in us (Ps 149:4).

In baptism we are made sons and daughters of God...that is brothers and sisters of Jesus, the greatest gift of God, Jesus the Love of God, the covenant of God and the beloved of God...and in Jesus our brother, we are called to be in our contexts, the presence of the love of God; in Jesus our covenant, we are called to be the signs of the covenant of God with the suffering humanity today; in Jesus the beloved of God, we are called to live our lives, every day and every moment pleasing to the Lord, who longs to declare, regarding each of us, "This is my beloved son, my beloved daughter, in whom I am well pleased!"

CELEBRATING THE SELF REVEALING GOD

Seek, See & Shine

Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord - January 8, 2023

Isaiah 60: 1-6; Ephesians 3: 2-3a, 5-6; Matthew 2: 1-2

The only possibility of knowing about God is through God's own self revelation! God is no simple object to be discovered or invented; God is a person whom we should get to know. Knowing God is possible only through the self revelation of God in history, in the Word, in our day to day experiences and in ways known only to God. Today we celebrate that one event, that one life, that one person - JESUS CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD, in whom God revealed Godself fully, completely, definitively and super abundantly! The revelation has been going on even before Christ, through prophets and judges (Heb 1:1), through chosen men and women . The revelation goes on even today in our everyday life, through the Word and the traditions, through day to day experiences, through holy men and women who have gone before us and those of our times. These revelations find their fullness in the Paschal Mystery, that is: the birth, life, suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus, the Son of God.

The feast of epiphany is a celebration and a thanksgiving to the Self revealing God who deigned to reveal Godself in the person of Jesus Christ, our Saviour. This feast of revelation reminds of three realities of our faith:

SEEK... to know God: One has to seek, to know God; there should be a yearning within, in order to encounter God. The wise men from the east got wind of something special that was in store and they sought to know what it is. They were wise men, but they wanted to know more and more! Faith has to be deepened; there should be a yearning within us to grow more and more in our relationship with God. It is true that the fullness of revelation dwells in Christ, the Son of God...but I have to seek to personalise it, to encounter that revelation and relate to it in first person.

SEE... to find God: One has to see, to find God; God is always present with us, all that we need to do is see! 'Lift up your eyes round about, and see' says the first reading. We need to see the face of God: in our brothers and sisters; in those who are suffering and toiling; in those who are exploited and crushed; in those who are treated with disdain and burdened with pain; in those who wake up every morning not certain of the next; in those who have so many worries and concerns in life that they can never think of living the present moment! We need to see God, in the innocent love of a Child; in the tender touch of a mother; in the brimming eyes of a caring person; in the everyday miracles of life. Once we see God in these, we will surely find God concretely present in the Church, in the celebration of the sacraments and in our prayer moments.

SHINE... to show God: One has to shine, to show God; we are called to become instruments of revelation ourselves. 'Arise! Shine!' calls the first reading. St. Paul speaks of how the Lord made him an instrument of revelation to the people! When we seek God and manage to see God, we begin to shine. That is why Isaiah says, "then you shall see and be radiant"...the very seeing makes us radiant, makes us shine! Our Faith is not merely to be understood and believed, but to be lived and be shared. Revelation is at one and the same time a grace and a challenge. A Grace, because it is gratuitous and comes from God. A challenge because, once we get to see God, we have to shine; shine and announce God; shine and share God; shine and show God to the world, to all who are in darkness, sadness and gloom!

The Self revealing God invites us to SEEK, SEE and SHINE. To accept the invitation is the act of FAITH; a beginning of a journey, a journey that lasts the whole life time- every day of which we are called to Seek the Lord, See the Lord and Shine for the Lord!

The power to know the True God

WORD 2day: Saturday after Christmas Octave

January 7, 2023: 1 John 5: 14-21; John 2: 1-11

The Son of God has come to give us the power to know the True God. However, although this knowledge and revelations is open to all, we will get to know only when we ourselves are open to the revelation given to us. Only when we are open and receptive can that revelation make any difference in our lives. What does it matter knowing, if it does not make a difference in my life?

There is yet another dimension to this knowing! Only because the wine ran out, they were able to taste the best of wine ever made. Only because there were six empty jars they were able fill them in order to get new wine made from mere water. Only because they stood helpless the wedding party had the privilege to witness the first of miracles that Jesus performed. Only because Jesus heeded in obedience to the request of his beloved mother, the disciples found the true messiah in him. In every one of these instances, we see the readiness to receive the revelation consists of self-emptying, humility and openness.

The Son of God has come to give us the power to know God, but only if we are open and receptive, we can truly behold the revelation. If not, we will miss the entire message as did the majority of Jews in Jesus' time. Our openness, our receptivity and our humility, in reality give us the power to know the True God.

Water, Blood and the Spirit

WORD 2day: Friday after Christmas Octave

January 6, 2023: 1 John 5: 5-6, 8-13; Mark 1: 7-11

The Liturgy today and tomorrow prepares us towards the beautiful event we are moving towards...the Baptism of the Lord. The celebration of the Baptism of the Lord is a stark reminder of our baptism and the call and challenges that come with it. Baptism itself is a great gift that we have received... and that gift makes us persons of faith, children of one great big family, the family of God. 

The reflection begins with the sanctifying elements of Baptism. First, the waters of baptism that cleanse. Secondly, the Blood of Jesus shed on the Cross once and for all, which saves us from eternal damnation and promises us eternal life. Thirdly, the Spirit of the Lord that is given to us, poured into our hearts as a seal of God's love for us, that which makes us children of God! 

We have the Son, always for us and with us, and so we have the eternal life that God promises in and through the Son. The Lord has made us His own, at baptism, in the cleansing water, in the saving blood and in the sanctifying Spirit and we joyfully belong to the Lord!

Love and witness great things!

WORD 2day: Thursday after Christmas Octave

January 5, 2023: 1 John 3:11-21; John 1:43-51

Belonging to love or belonging to evil... that is the contrast brought out in the Word today. The opposite of love, is cited as evil. Anything opposed to love, not merely a literal hatred, but anything opposed to love is evil. Whatever we choose, against love, or sidelining love, or pushing love to a secondary plane, is evil and will not truly be humanising. That is the insight today from the Word.

There are any number of opportunities and circumstances that will beckon us to belong to evil - with jealousy, treachery, obsession about wealth, craving for power, limitless greed and so on. If we have to choose to belong to love, we have to wrestle with an entire system, the social bias, the culture of death, the urge to dominate and so on. These days we are paying tribute to a great person who himself engaged is such a wrestling and the invited the entire people of God, in this will to wrestle for the Good. 

Belonging to love is to belong to God, because God is love. Belonging to love is a choice we make categorically for love. Belonging to love is refraining from choosing anything that is against love! The Lord says today: you will see great things happen, you will witness extraordinary things if only you belong to the Lord, if only you belong to love!

A NEW YEAR PRAYER AND WISH

 

A New Song to the Lord!

WORD 2day: Last day of the year 2022

December 31, 2022: 1 John 2:18-21; John 1:1-18

Oh what a day to sing a new song, one may think! When everyone thinks of something that is ending, the Word calls us today to sing a new song! Not that the liturgy does not take note of the last day...it does! In fact, the first reading speaks of the last days and the things that pertain to the last day! But the responsorial, that is the response to that Word, invites us already to sing a new song! That is truly a Christ-ian spirit! 

To sing a new song when every one thinks everything is coming to its end, for our hope has no end. It is a beginning for us... a new beginning, in the Lord, in whom we have "received grace upon grace" (John 1:16). Today... is a day to thank the Lord for everything, for everything that we have walked through this year. Some, we may label 'good', and others we may label 'bad'... but invariably everything has happened with the knowledge of God...there is nothing more blessed than to offer everything up into the hands of God this day, as we await an all new grace from God's hands... a new year that begins at the end of this day. 

Let us prepare ourselves in thanksgiving to receive an all new grace from God's hands... and in the meanwhile, come, let us sing a new song to the Lord!

Lessons from the Holy Family

Feast of the Holy Family
December 30, 2022 : Sirach 3: 3-7,14-17a; Colossians 3: 12-21

Increasing number of Homes for the Aged, Orphanages, Day care centres and Night shelters for the kids on the streets, alarming rate of divorces and split families, the ridiculous family feuds and meaningless stand offs among the relatives within a family... these are no strange scenes today in a Christian Community! And much more, these are vivid testaments of a collapsing Christian faith. The Christian faith is a faith of a Community, from the earliest times known it is experienced, lived and shared in a community; and the basic unit of the community is the family. That is the reason for using the beautiful term, 'domestic church' referring to the family. It is there, that the Church grows from a seed to a seedling and then to an orchard of God's love. The Solemnity today, intends to rekindle in us our respect for families, our commitment to living our faith in our families and as families to become the nuclei of God's love that can give birth to a whole new world, a world of love, peace, joy and fellowship.

The Holy Family of Nazareth presents to us a wonderful project towards this dream:

To the Families: BE GOD CENTERED!
The first reading invites us to reflect on the fact that a Christian Family is constituted by God. It is not merely the man and the woman who come together to make the family, but it is the Lord who brings them together. The second reading affirms the same in the words of St. Paul, who elsewhere points out that marriage should lead to mutual sanctification of the partners (1 Cor 7:14). As long as God is the centre of a family, the family will remain united, bonded in the love of God.

God was at the centre, in the Holy Family... God commanded, the family carried out. They listened to God, obeyed God and took directions from God. Do we as a family, listen to God and take directions from God?

To the Individuals: BE FAMILY CENTERED!
The individualistic and materialistic tendencies of the society at large, have begun to affect the individual families drastically. Individuals within a family, far from thinking of the well being of the other, have begun to calculate the gain they have from the rest of the family and stoop to dirty levels of hurting the other for one's own good!

The Good of the Family was the uppermost criterion in the Holy Family... Mary did not mind the running around, be it when she was still carrying or after the delivery; Joseph did not mind taking up the burdens of transferring them every time; all that was in their mind was the Good of the Family and Jesus was no exception as Luke says in his Gospel, "he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them' (Lk 2:51). Do we as individuals, place the good of the others in the family before my own interests?

To the Churches: BE COMMUNION CENTERED!
The Local Churches, that is the parishes, are essentially God's Family of families. In the wise and eternal plan of our loving Lord, the Universal Church in the world is the communion of Churches in various nations, namely the dioceses; the Diocesan church is the communion of the local parish churches; the Parish church has to be the communion of the domestic churches, that is the Family! All of us united in the name of the Father, Son and the Spirit, who invite us to form one, big, universal family of loving hearts - that family which is called the REIGN OF GOD.

The Holy Family did everything with just one objective in mind: that God's will be done. Mary said that to Angel Gabriel: Let it be done unto me according to your will, and ever since she did nothing but obey the Lord with thanks, praise and reflection in her heart. Joseph carried out every command that was given to him without speaking a word of doubt or objection - all for the will of God to be done. Do we as part of the parish church, do our part to grow in our communion with each other, towards forming one, big, God's family - the Reign of God?

Let us take to heart the lessons from the Holy Family today...and as families be God centered, as individuals be Family centered and as a Parish be Communion centered.

Light and darkness; Love and hatred!

WORD 2day - 5th day in Christmas Octave

December 29, 2022: 1 John 2: 3-11; Luke 2: 22-35

Christmas is not over yet, we are still in the Octave! There is a gradual revelation of the Son who has come into the world - Simeon today identifies the Light that has come into the world: a light of revelation for the gentiles and glory for Israel (Lk 2:32). 

There is come amidst us the light, which makes us see the right facts, the light which helps us understand the real meaning of our life, the light that Christ is, the light that Christ brought into the world - that is LOVE. Whoever claims to be in light but hates his brother or sister, is still in darkness (1 Jn 2:9)...they have still not seen the light, the true light, the Christ, the Son!

Light and darkness, Love and hatred...everything is around us today in every situation. What is our choice - to accept the light and to behold the Christ? Or to compromise with the world and remain in darkness? Light is love, and hatred is darkness. It can fill us - either light or the darkness of hatred. 

Yes, light is love, hatred is darkness. Amidst the vast crowd that does not mind being in darkness for reasons known only to them, let our light shine - because we have beheld the Lord, because we have seen Love! We can shine as light or we can get stifled by darkness - the choice is ours!