PEACE-LENT 2023 - Peace is Courage

The WORD in LENT - Second week, Wednesday

March 8, 2023: Jeremiah 18: 18-20; Matthew 20: 17-28

We have two persons today who are well aware of their imminent death - not just death, but a killing. Jeremiah and Jesus, both of them know that people are plotting against them. But they are not in a panic, although they could be perturbed a bit in their hearts. Jeremiah expresses that in his prayer and Jesus expresses that in his further teaching! They both become for us a great illustration of the fact that peace consists of courage!

Without courage we cannot think of peace - peace is not an escapism from problems and conflicts, it is not a hide and seek! It is the capacity to face the conflicts, not in the sense of avenging the trespasser, nor in the sense of retalliating with force. It is taking on the conflicts with the faith that God is our strength, with hope that everything is within God's divine plan and with love that I would continue to serve come what may! 

Courage in terms of the Reign is not the bravery that the world advocates, where I prove myself, establish my supremacy and tell everyone that I am in control of everything. It is remaining firm in the Lord, never losing hope in the love of God and never ceasing to exude that same love in my service to my fellow brothers and sisters. Peace is born there - in that courage! 

When I see Jesus, even at the face of death, insisting on the fact that he has come to serve and shall serve without any hesitation; when I see Jeremiah, at the face of hatred, still appealing to the loving protection of God without agitation, I am given to understand that peace is born out of courage, out of the courage of the Reign - which is undoubtedly filled with faith, hope and love. 

PEACE-LENT 2023 - Peace is Orthopraxis

The WORD in LENT - Second week, Tuesday

March 07, 2023: Isaiah 1: 10,16-20; Matthew 23: 1-12

"Do what they tell you but do not do what they do" - how would I feel if someone said this of me! However, the world is not far from saying that to us Christians. When Mahatma Gandhi said, 'I like Christ, but not Christians', what he meant was exactly this - that we call ourselves Christ-ians, but we seem to be far, far away from the way of life that Christ stood for. Look at the in-fights we have and the kind of stand we take on very many issues. Are they not indicative of this hypocritical discrepancy?

My deeds have to speak the words of faith, and my faith has to be demonstrated by congruent and consistent deeds - this is where peace shall be born. This situates us at the centre of a dialogue between Orthodoxy or right belief and Orthopraxis or right living. Believing the right thing, understanding what I believe and my earnest effort to live daily what I believe, will lead me to doing the right thing and standing by right values. And there shall be peace!

Orthodoxy and Orthopraxis are two things that cannot be separated one from the other. Humility, Mercy, Forgiveness, Compassion and True Love...if these do not describe my person, I am no Christian! The more I grow in these, the more I grow to be a Christian. Have a look at those verbs that Isaiah presents to us today - wash, clean, learn, search, help, be just, plead, come, walk and listen - that is a recipe for orthopraxis, which is an essential constituent of peace - peace in my heart, peace where I am and the world peace!

Orthopraxis, or the right way of life, gave Jesus the authority to stand up and speak, be it in the Sanhedrin or to the Herodians or before the Roman Governor. Indeed, if my Christian life has to have real meaning, I need to pay attention to my way of life, my orthopraxis, and only that shall lead to true peace!

PEACE-LENT 2023 - Peace is Godliness

The WORD in LENT: Second Week - Monday

March 6, 2023: Daniel 9: 4-10; Luke 6: 36-38

Being compassionate, not judging, not condemning, forgiving with mercy, giving without measure... in whom do we see all these? The Gospel says that right - be compassionate as your heavenly Father; never judge or condemn because God does not; forgive because you are forgiven; give because you have been given. The message is clear: be Godly, that is the way to peace!

Humanly speaking peace is not too easy - depending on the level that we are referring to, it gets proportionately complicated. Peace does not come naturally within a person; it does not happen automatically between two person, much less between groups and much more complicated with groups with differences and diversities. In all these contexts, that which offers the possibility of peace is the Divine!

Unfortunately these days, what is seen is just the contrary. The name of God is used to divide, polarise, oppress, violate and even to kill! But is this Godliness? Is this true spirit of knowing God, relating to God and experiencing God. One who has truly experienced God, cannot hate, cannot hurt, cannot divide, cannot disrespect, cannot oppress, cannot degrade, cannot calumniate, cannot hold grudge, cannot avenge! Because God is love, God is mercy, God is compassion and God is peace!

If only God were to treat us as we deserved, just imagine our predicament. That is what the responsorial  psalm reminds us of. Prophet Daniel too reminds us of how undeserving we are of the compassion, forgiveness and the covenantal love of God. But inspite of these, the Lord has loved us and the Lord continues to love us. The call and the challenge is just one: that we become aware of the need to become more and more God-like: be compassionate as your Lord is compassionate! When we become more Godly, there will be peace all around us, for peace is Godliness.  

PEACE IS REFLECTING GOD

PEACE-LENT 2023: Second Sunday of Lent

March 5: Genesis 12: 1-4; 2 Timothy 1: 8-10; Matthew 17:1-9

We are on the second Sunday of Lent and the Word! Just like the last Sunday that brought to our attention a specific event in the life of Christ - the experience of his temptation, this Sunday too presents to us a remarkable event - the experience of transfiguration! While the former happened at the beginning of Jesus' public ministry, the latter happens at the near end of his short but eventful life of ministry. Jesus takes three of his apostles and gives them a taste of what is to come! What is particular about this timing...why did Jesus choose to do it... these have been a subject of discussion for many scholars who offer us enlightening insights. But that is not what we are interested in today. What matters to us today is, what does this event have to tell us in this season of Lent? 

The message is plain and clear, when the three readings are taken together. The first reading invites us to reflect from the perspective of Abraham, one of the pioneers in our faith. The epistle presents Jesus as the Lord of light who shines on us. The Gospel presents to us that Jesus is the Light, our Light who shines! And putting these together we can understand what peace is for the world today - it is simply, reflecting God, reflecting the light of God. 

Speaking about the timing of this event of transfiguration, at times we think that the passion of Christ began when he accepted the cross, or when he was arrested, or at the most when he began to sweat blood in the garden of Gethsemane. But that interpretation is bit faulty, don't you think? Jesus' life was one long stretch of passion! Already at the temptation, the beginning of his ministry, as we saw last week, his passion had begun. All through his life Jesus chose to suffer - for the sake of the will of God, for the sake of the mission entruste to him and for the sake of the children of God entrusted into his salvific care. Misundertsandings, rejection, maltreatment, hatred and animosity - there was no dearth of these all his life. But he was not moved! It is amidst these hurdles and hinderances that this event of transfiguration takes place - and that has a very specific message to us, in three simple affirmations that go to explain how we exude peace when we simply reflect God. 

The first affirmation is that the Glory of the Lord is always present within us. All that Jesus had to do was to merely go up the mount by himself. The Glory of the Lord is ever present within us and all that we need to do is to make time to be by ourselves. Amidst the din of daily life and trying responsibilities, we may not manage to really be by ourselves. Even our prayer moments could be so filled with thoughts and preoccupations that we fill them so much with words, figures and plans which take away the space that we could share alone with God, who wants to speak to us! 

Being by ourselves... is an important spiritual exercise towards peace... call it meditation or contemplation or merely prayer or retreat or recollection or whatever. It is when we are by ourselves that we can really turn to that glory of the Lord which resides within us, and that leads us to peace!

The second affirmation - Understanding the Glory sends us back to the daily life. Experiencing the glory of the Lord is not to get stuck there, reminds us Jesus. Peter's spontaneous response is usually what we wish in life - when we experience the Lord's presence close to us, may be at a miraculous happening, or a mysterious turn of events, or a joyful coincidence. But in fact it is merely a preparation for a moment that is trying, for a moment when difficult things happen, for a moment which cannot be explained in normal logic, for a moment when we need an extraordinary strength to remain faithful. The transfiguration of Jesus would have been running through Peter's mind all the time during the moments of darkness - the death of Jesus, the crisis of faith and the hidden life in the upper room. That is why he writes in his letter about this event (2 Pet 1: 17-18). Peter wanted to remain in that glory when he saw but Jesus reminds him to return to his daily life! 

Spending time with God, is not to remain there in that sanctuary, rapt in glory and praise, but it is to return to our daily life and live it more meaningfully; it is to take that experience into the daily life and make meaning out of it. It is to identify that light of the Lord glowing within us and allow it to emerge, shine from within. That is a manifestation of the peace within.

The third affirmation is that the Glory of the Lord sheds new light to our days. The experience on the mount could have strengthened Jesus to walk with assurance towards Jerusalem. The experience of the disciples would have given them a new insight into who Jesus was. In a life filled with normal commitments and extraordinary sufferings, the experience of God's glory can clarify and illumine our path, preparing us to live them with newer meaning and fresher strength. St. Paul reminds us of that in the second reading today, asking us to derive strength from the Lord to bear our share of hardships. Every Eucharist we celebrate is a transfiguration event, and it is an invitation to learn to live our life with increased meaning and commitment. Should we remain the same after a Eucharistic Celebration, either we have not been by ourselves on that mount or we have been blind to that resplendent glory that shone. 

Listenting to the Voice that resounds at every Eucharist that we participate: This is my beloved Son, Listen to Him" - that is the key to true peace. In listening and obeying that voice we gather the real meaning of our life. If we manage to gaze at the glory of the Lord and listen to the voice of the Lord, our life will be transformed and transfigured. We shall become reflections of God!

To turn to the glory that resides within us, to return strengthened to live our life with increased commitment and to continuously learn the real meaning of the life of faith: that is the way to peace, that the Word presents to us today. Let us realise that true peace is in short, reflecting God and let us intensify our Lenten Journey and may the Spirit inspire us ahead.

PEACE-LENT 2023 - Peace is a lifestyle

Saturday, First week in Lent - March 4, 2023

The WORD in LENT: Deuteronomy 26: 16-19; Matthew 5: 43-48

The first reading today focusses on the figure of Moses, as the one who gave an identity to the people. What was the identity he gave them? The identity of the people of God! Moses in fact acts as a mediator between God and God's people, creating within the people a sense of the people of God. How did he do that? Through the law that he taught them from the Lord.

In the Gospel we have another grand figure, that of Jesus, who dies to give us a renewed identity! What is the identity? The same - as the people of God, and the people of the Reign of God. Jesus is the Mediator par excellence between God our Father and Mother and us. How does he renew that identity? Through upgrading the law that Moses had given - the upgraded law is called LOVE! 

Love and love alone can be our identity and that is what Jesus tells us. He did not give us the law as the basis of our identity, but our identity is itself the law, the law of love! We shall be people of God if we love; we shall not be so, if we do not love. There is no asking: whom should I love? There is certainly no meaning in the question, to what extent should I love! Yes, love is the very grammar of our life as people of God and people of the Reign.

Love is a lifestyle indeed... and that is the lifestyle of peace! Peace cannot be bought or brought to anyone or any setting. It has to be lived and experienced. It has to be shared not created. It has to be developed and evolved, not negotiated and contracted. Peace is certainly a lifestyle, the lifesyle of the people of God. 

PEACE-LENT 2023 - Peace is Forgiveness

Friday, First week in Lent - March 3, 2023

The WORD in LENT: Ezekiel 18: 21-28; Matthew 5: 20-26

Peace is reconciliation, we said right at the beginning of our lenten reflections! Today there is a prerequisite of that: peace is forgiveness. How can we think of reconciliation without forgiveness? The Word today presents to us this fact, from two complementary perspectives - one, that there can be peace only where there is forgiveness; and second, that the model of forgiveness is none other than God, our merciful Father and Mother.

Jesus in the Gospel explicates the fact that it is not enough to refrain from killing, instead a disciple of Christ has to refrain from anything that hurts - even a simple word that would hurt the other. But what if someone hurts me? Jesus says, forgive! This is an easy way to peace: do not hurt, and forgive those who hurt you! But one may protest: it appears to be such a weak character to refrain from hurting but readily forgiving those who hurt me! Before considering that protest, objectively think to yourself - will it not lead to peace when I don't hurt and forgive those who hurt? Now coming to the objection, Jesus says, "forgive because you are forgiven."  

That is infact the second perspective and we see that amply represented in the first reading by Ezekiel. As a prefigurement of the theology of mercy that would be later preached by Jesus, Ezekiel speaks of a God who wishes that we live rather than die, that we change and become good rather than be condemned, that we have always a chance to restart or begin again rather than being damned to destruction by destiny or fate! God who forgives us endlessly, in a way demands that we grow more and more forgiving towards others. That is a sure way to peace, because peace is forgiveness. 

PEACE-LENT 2023 - Peace is Responsibility

Thursday, First week in Lent - March 2, 2023

The WORD in LENT: Esther 4: 17; Matthew 7: 7-12

Ask, and you shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened to you; seek, and you shall find it - this teaching is nothing new to us! But it is very often interpretted only as a teaching about the trust that one should have in prayer - that we will received, that we will have it opened and that we will find what we seek. There is another subtle angle to this teaching that is very often bypassed - our responsibility!

Yes, the Lord knows what we need, what we seek and what we expect. And yes, certainly the Lord who is our loving Father and Mother shall deign to give us what we need. But these certainties do not in anyway take away the responsibility that each of us have in this regard - to ask, knock and seek actively, regardless of the fact of God's mercy, kindness and generosity. 

This is the perspective that comes out strongly when  today's first reading and the Gospel are reflected  upon together. Esther is a wonderful example in this regard, who makes us understand that peace is responsibility. It is not failing in one's responsibility. Peace does not happen, it has to be created, constructed, built up and nurtured. Yes, it is the doing of the Lord, but we have our role to play, failing which we shall not have it. 

Jesus explains that in his beautiful words. He begins with saying, ask, seek and knock, but ends with that injunction: do unto others, treat others, how you would like them do unto you! You cannot leave everything to the question of chance, not even to the magnanimity of the other. It has to begin from you, the Lord says. Wellbeing has to begin from you; shalom, peace has to begin from you, because, peace is basically responsibility!

PEACE-LENT 2023 - Peace is Humilty

Wednesday, First week in Lent - March 1, 2023

The WORD in LENT: Jonah 3:1-10; Luke 11:29-32

There can be no peace, where there is no humility. Humility enables one to see the truth wherever it could be - from within, in the other and in the reality. It goes in perfect continuity with the two themes that we have reflected upon in the past two days - integrity and genuinity. Humility is the capacity to observe the truth and acknowledge it. 

This has to be first done within - that is, admitting the truth about oneself. Not making up shows and putting up appearances, when a person is willing to manifest truly what he or she is from within, that amounts to humility and that creates a peace that nothing else can give! This is what happened to Jonah - he expressed what he was and what he felt and had to face hardships due to that. But he stuck on to the truth and that is why the Lord stuck on to him!

The second level is in relation to the other - that is, admitting the truth about the other. Not having hidden agenda and disguised hatred for the other, when one is able to look at the goodness and value of the other and admit it without pretension, it is humility at its best and that can offer not only to me and the other, but to the whole context a peace that is in everyway enviable! That was missing totally in those who demanded signs from Jesus - because they were full of deception and malice. That unnerved Jesus. 

Thirdly, it is about notice the truth as it comes across - that is, wherever truth exists, to admit it and celebrate it. Sometimes it may be against me, it may dislodge my comfort zones, and make me feel unsettled. But that cannot make me wantonly deny the truth that I am able to see so obviously! This is what does away with peace in the world today - there are far more numerous people who wish to deny and disown truth for reasons known only to them, than persons who are willing to stand by it. If so, how can peace have its chance, while peace is truly, humility!

PEACE-LENT 2023 - Peace is Genuinity

Tuesday, First week in Lent - February 28, 2023

The WORD in LENT: Isaiah 55: 10-11; Matthew 6: 7-15

Yesterday we reflected on how peace is integrity; today we have the Word which establishes a related fact: peace is genuinity! It is a fruit of genuineness of a person, of a community, and of a society at large. This is established by a classic two step argument - the Word of God is unfailingly genuine; we are the children of that God in and through the Word; therefore our words too have to be, by all means, genuine!

We cannot say something, and mean something other that what we said. When we do that, there is confusion, deception, reaction and therefore, violence - that is against peace! Peace is non violence. Though it is not merely non-violence, we cannot think of peace without non-violence. One of the fundamental aspects not to be violated is the factor of truth. This is where Mahatma Gandhi found the intimate connection between his Ahimsa and Satyagraha!

The first reading today speaks to us of the Word of God which is what it is and does exactly what it has to. The Word does not compromise; the Word is active and alive, genuine and straightforward. We see this explained also elsewhere (Hebrews 12) within the Word of God. This becomes a standard and a standing example for us to make our words as genuine as possible. 

Jesus teaches us how to pray - it is a way of telling us: mean what you say, even in your prayer or especially in your prayer! Your prayer (or your words of faith) should reflect the fact of your life. The words that you speak should become your daily life. This genuineness will certainly  bring peace within you and all around you!

PEACE-LENT 2023 - Peace is integrity

Monday, First week in Lent - February 27, 2023

The WORD in LENT: Leviticus 19: 1-2, 11-18; Matthew 25: 31-46

Two terms that dominate the Word today are - judgement and neighbour! In Christ-ian terminology, my judgement depends on how I deal with my neighbour. Whether I look at them in terms of assets and liabilities, in view of my profit or loss, from the point of view of gain or burden! When I do that, all my resultant actions and way of life will be so selfish, ungodly and absolutely unChristian! 

Peace is a question of integrity - where there is integrity there is true peace; where integrity lacks peace fails, or at the most it exists but is fake! It remains precarious. The more selfish I am the more fragile my internal peace gets. The more selfish a society grows the more challenged its peace is. The more selfish humanity becomes the more frail its peace becomes. The solution is integrity.

Integrity - personal and collective - ensures the absence of gap between what a person or a society is and what they wish to appear as. When a person tries to appear as he or she is within, the person may draw criticism but will certainly work on oneself and become a holistic person. When a society remains what it really is, without making appearances or fabrications about its identity, but ready to be challenged constantly and grow out of these experiences, the society becomes foundational to a holistic humanity. 

A person who is good from within, inspite of all the weaknesses and imperfections that may show up now and then, is an integral person and there is peace within him or her. A society that is just and virtuous in its very fabric, inspite of all the untoward and occasional failures, is a true seed of the Reign when it holds on to its integrity. Yes, integrity alone can pave way to peace, be it personally or socially, because peace is integrity.