GET YOUR BASICS RIGHT

Oh Christian!!!

2nd Sunday in Ordinary time - January 15, 2023

Isaiah 49:3,5-6; 1 Corinthians 1: 1-3; John 1: 29-34

We have been busy celebrating feasts one after the other! It's time to return to the Ordinary Sundays and probably, the right beginning is to get our basics right, as sons and daughters of God. Today the readings speak to us about living our Christian life on an everyday basis...in our ordinariness of life! Festive occasions make it easier to feel the joy of the moment; but the demanding call is to live our life on a daily basis, to live it fully, faithfully and meaningfully. 

Jesus is about to begin his public ministry, and like an MC in a performance, John the Baptist announces his entry into the scene! With Jesus' entry and his public life, our life as Christians, our call as sons and daughters of God and our identity as disciples of Christ are clearly defined. And that is what the liturgy today intends to do... to clarify the basics to us, so that we may live our Christian calling everyday of our life. The readings seem to answer the basic Question Words... 

WHO? WHAT? 

The first question is about who we are and what we are? Isaiah gives a direct response to it: We are the light of the nations! We are called, we know that. But, as what? To do the will of God, yes; to be ever at the disposal of the will of God and say, "Here am I Lord, I come to do your will" (Heb 10:7) But doing the Will not merely as sevants but as 'the light of the nations!' We are called not merely as workers but as witnesses. "Called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God" ...that is the answer to the Who and the What, of our Christian life. We are called to live our life as witnesses...witness is our first mode of proclaiming Christ and His gospel.

WHY? WHERE?

Why should we be doing God's will and where are we bound to? In simple terms, what is our goal? What are we called for? The Word of God is vociferous on this point, be it in the Old Testament or in the New Testament: We are called to Holiness... We are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy - says the second reading today. Holiness consists of a clarity of one's own identity as Isaiah, Paul and John the Baptist demonstrate in the readings today: to know who we are and what we are, and thus realising why we are doing all that we do and where we are going towards! If all that we do in our daily life, does not ultimately lead us to sanctification and holiness, we are on a mistaken journey. It might seem colourful at the moment, but will soon end up gloomy and grey. A clairty on the why and the where, will determine our daily choices, will define every aspect of our Christian living - our family life, our career, our spiritual life, our personal life and so on.

WHICH? HOW?

The next question is, which way? and how do we reach that holiness? Christian life cannot be just a me-and-God type of a life. It has to be lived in a Community! From the very beginning, Christ-experience and the message of Christ has been lived and passed on by a community. The readings underline this community aspect with the terms like, light of the 'nations', 'to all those everywhere who call upon the name of the Lord', and 'Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world'... We are in the Unity Octave and it reminds us of the fact that Christ cannot be Divided (1 Cor 1:13). Unity and peace that stems from a genuine love, which comes from God - that is the true sign of Christian life.

The only question that is left is, When? But that is established right in the beginning... Now, Today, Here, in the Ordinariness of our daily life... every day of our ordinary life... we are called to live mindful of our identity as children of God, called and sanctified by Christ towards holiness, living to spread God's love to the entire world... as light of the nations, in footsteps of the Lamb of God who calls us as a community of faith and love!

All-knowing and/but Loving Saviour!

WORD 2day: Saturday, 1st week in Ordinary time

January 14, 2023: Hebrews 4: 12-16; Mark 2: 13-17 

God is all knowing and we all know it and we know all about it! In spite of knowing all about us, our weaknesses and our faults, our limitations and our failures, God loves us! That is something that we can never understand to the full... God's love is bountiful and God's mercies never cease!

God loves us not because we deserve that love but because we need that love. God's mercy is given us not because we are worthy of it but because it is God's nature to be merciful. The Word is the epitome of God's merciful love, a love without conditions, a love beyond criteria, a love that fills a person and challenges him or her to total conversion!

With absolutely no demands this love leads one to transformation. All that we need to do is dispose ourselves favorably towards this love and surrender ourselves to it. It is like the medical check up that we go to these days, called the Master check-up! You go, and you say nothing: they do the entire analysis, a comprehensive one and let you know, what is alright and what isn't. They give you the possibility of consulting a specialist and even a prescription of medicine - it all depends on you to take it or not!

That is what happens to our Spiritual self too when we dispose ourselves and surrender to the Word - the Word does a quick comprehensive analysis and reveals to us what is good and what is not, prescribing to us the changes we need to make. It is left to us to work on ourselves! The unbelievable fact that underlies all this is the Saviour, the Lord, the High priest whom we have: all knowing, but at the same time ever-loving Saviour

Doing all that we can!

WORD 2day: Friday, 1st week in Ordinary time

January 13, 2023: Hebrews 4:1-5,11; Mark 2: 1-12

Doing all that one can is not a strange mindset or life style these days. There are people who do all that they can for a lot of things that they wish to achieve. And there are so many things today for which the people are ready to do all that they can. The Word today invites us too, to do all that we can - but for what and for whom?

Do all you can to reach that place of rest, invites the letter to the Hebrews. And the Gospel presents to us those persons who did all that they can to reach that paralytic man to Jesus, so that Jesus could heal him. Doing all you can... that is the call today! 

As we alrady said, people are ready today to do all that they can for themselves and for their own goals... they manipulate, they compromise, they adjust, they give up, they give in, they cheat, they plot, they even kill in order to achieve their ends - regardless of whether they are religious or irreligious, whether they are lay or consecrated, whether already living a comfortable life or not! This is the sense of 'do-all-you-can' that the world today upholds!

The Word gives us a different picture instead: do all you can to receive the rest that God has prepared for you - that alone is eternal, everything else is passing. The gospel challenges us: do all you can for others, for your neighbours, for those in need and those who are suffering, for those who are miserable and desperate to find the Lord - that is the unfailing way to the peace, that the Word of God indicates to us. Yes, for that eternal rest and for those who are in need around you, do all you can!

Today - that's the key

WORD 2day: Thursday, Week 1 in Ordinary time

January 12, 2023: Hebrew 3: 7-14; Mark 1: 40-45

By the time we end the Liturgy of the Word today, we would have heard the word 'today' atleast 9 times (from the first reading and the psalm)! In fact, that is the key to the message from the Word today. Any good that we wish to do, any change that we would wish to make in our life, any new beginning we would love to make in our ways - the day to do it is, today; and the time to do it is now! 

There is no virtue in glorying in the past that is far gone and no use in waiting for an opportune future! It would either end in ego trips or in idealistic inaction. Instead we are challenged to act now and act today. When that person with leprosy approached Jesus, he cured him then and there! Jesus was not thinking of a justification as from the past experience whether he should do it or not; whether he should seriously consider the situation of so many who were affected in the society at that time and how he would reach out to all of them... those were questions that never mattered to him. What mattered was the person in front of him, who stood in need of a healing touch, a compassionate caress, a loving embrace - and Jesus gave it right then and right there. 

Interestingly Don Bosco would often say, do all the good you can, when you still have the time! If we wish you wish to do something good, let's do it TODAY!

Casting out the demons - within and amidst!

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 1st week in Ordinary time

January 11, 2023: Hebrews 2: 14-18; Mark 1: 29-39

Casting out demons, has right from the Old Testament times been cited as one of the signs of ushering in the Reign of God, one of the key processes of establishing the Reign. The Gospel tells us too, that Jesus stayed on and cured the people and cast demons away from their midst. 

The primary tool of the devil to control human beings has always been fear! It is through fear that the devil has its way into the minds, hearts and lives of human persons. Fear makes one falter, fear induces needless anxieties, fear takes away the capacity to think and fear makes one slave to the moment! That is when we do something out of fear, it normally goes wrong and later or in the long run, we look back and exclaim, 'how foolish we have been!'

Fear, which is the tool of the devil, cannot be a criterion in faith, that is our relationship with God! The Fear of God that has always been praised as the greatest gift of the Spirit, is not the fear that we speak of here! Fear of God is the due reverence to God and not a fright that compels us to do things or perform duties or obey commands. If I do anything out of fear, it insults a God who is so loving, merciful and concerned about my well being! 

Instead, one of the signs that we can mature in our relationship with God is to cast out our fear, and place all our hope and trust in the goodness of God. Yes, that is our way to the Reign... casting our fears is actually casting out the demons from within us and from amidst us!

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!