Drawn into Salvation

WORD 2day: Thursday, 3rd week after Easter

April 27, 2023: Acts 8: 26-40; John 6: 44-51

No one can come to me except those whom the Father draws, declares Jesus. Today we have the episode of the Ethiopian court official, who was drawn to salvation by the Lord, even without him asking for it. But there was a search in his heart that yielded its fruit. 

A sincere search for God takes us to God; we are drawn to God by the very yearning in our hearts. Like the deer that yearns for running streams my soul longs for you my Lord, prays the psalmist. The very thirst in the heart is a  gift that God has placed in the heart of every human person. All that is required is a sincerity of heart that does not give into pride or self justification but remains sensitive to every promptings from within and without. 

At times an experience within or a simple event around us can provide the spark that can lead to a total consumption by the fire called the love of God. It could be a word from someone, or an experience of suffering, or a moment of mistake... whatever be it, it needs to be paid attention to, for the message and invitation it has. And when that happens, we will be drawn into salvation, even before we realise it to the full.

Yes, we are drawn into salvation... salvation is not some kind of external show or a declaration to the world, that I am saved! But it is an interior feeling, an intense experience within of being drawn by our Father and Mother, God Almighty. When we are humble enough to open ourselves to the Lord, we shall be drawn by the Lord, drawn into salvation!

Without hunger or thirst

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 3rd week after Easter

April 26, 2023: Acts 8: 1-8; John 6: 35-40

Luke presents a very dramatic account today of two contrasting movements gaining ground: one, the persecutions against the new believers in Christ and the other, the community of believers growing stronger by the day both in quantity and quality. The Gen-Next Christians... were persecuted, they were killed, they were dragged to prison, they were flogged and stoned... but nothing disturbed them. How was this possible?

Jesus answers that question in the Gospel: because they have no hunger nor thirst. They do not hunger for anything other than the nourishment from the Lord. They do not thirst for anything other than doing what pleases the Lord. The model for us is Jesus himself who said 'my food is to do the will of the One who sent me' (Jn 4:34). They were people of total surrender to the Lord. Nothing mattered to them other than what God meant in their life.

If we truly eat the body of Christ with ardent faith and absolute and conscious understanding, we would not hunger for anything more, nor thirst for anything else. Our needless yearnings and disproportionate cravings are because we have not understood the real treasures that we have in our faith, in our spiritual covenant with the Lord.

When for us too, God matters the most, where we hunger or thirst for nothing more than what the Lord has in store for us... we shall for certain be satisfied. We shall be worthy of that title... the Gen-Next Christians.

The Gen Next that Goes!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

April 25, 2023: Celebrating Mark the Evangelist
1 Peter 5:5-14; Mark 16:15-20

Today we have a saint from the Gen Next Christians - Mark the evangelist. He comes out as a dedicated young man convinced of his call and enduring in his response. The apostles and disciples were extremely different from each other in their calibre and character. But what bound them together was the 'Go' that they received from the Lord. It was that commission from the Master that kept them going. 

In fact the Gen Next Christians have this as their mark - the dedication to the "Go" that they received from the Lord. Today when Pope Francis calls for a Church that goes out...or the missionary Church, this is the characteristic mark that he wishes to hightlight - the Church, the believers, the faithful, the brothers and sisters who go out of their way to make the presence of the Lord felt wherever they are!

After the apostles who went around proclaiming the Message, we see generations (the Nex Gen) following them in responding whole heartedly to the project entrusted. Mark becomes the representative of the Gen Next that immediately followed the 12 and Mark leaves indelible trails by his commitment and dedication.

Our call today is to take our call seriously as the Gen Next Christians, to dedicate ourselves to the commission from the Lord... to Go, to reach out, to take the Goodnews to the world!

The Rise of the Gen-Next!

WORD 2day: Monday, 3rd week after Easter

April 24, 2023: Acts 6: 8-15; John 6: 22-29

The Word this week, begins to present to us the first generation believers after the Apostles! Apart from the apostles who were with Jesus, there were ardent disciples for Christ and the true people of the Way that Jesus preached. They began to imitate Jesus to the detail: an excellent example is Stephen, whose face shone like the Angel!

Jesus gives us the reason his face shone so: because he believed in the One who was sent! We too believe... yes! To what extent? Can we say, "upto death"? What does believing mean in practical terms: to follow what the Lord said and live what the Lord lived! Do we live after the example of the Lord? Do we carry out the Lord's teaching to the details? Or are we clamouring after miracles and running after signs? Are we working for merely material well being or are we concerned about our own spiritual maturity? 

This generation can be terms the Gen-Next to Christ... with the Apostles belonging to the generation of Christ, and the generation that followed which we refer to as Gen-Next! Looking at the Gen-Next of Christ... should we not take to our heart to be truly Christ-ians in our thought, word and deed? We are called to be the Gen-Next today! 

The characteristics of this gen would be - consciousness of our call to be followers of Christ, to take forward the common mission that marks the call received, to go out of our way to be faithful fighting every temptation towards compromises! Gen-Next are not a generation of believers depending on a particular time, but a generation of a particular mindset - a mindset of total dedication!

LESSONS FROM EMMAUS

Open, Listen and Yield

Third Sunday in Easter Time - April 23, 2023

Acts 2: 14, 22-33; 1 Peter 1:17-21; Luke 24: 13-35

The famous passage of the Gospel today, is a wholesome treat for a catechist or a catechete or a pastoralist. It lends itself to their discussions and theorisations and serves as an exceptional metaphor for explaining the ideals such as the process of catechesis or ministry, the role of various agents involved in the said process and so on. Of course, that would be an interesting discussion, but maybe we will not remain on that plane.

We shall instead reflect on the event reported, from the point of view of the two disciples pictured in the event - for two reasons. First of all, they represent us. As we are right now, they were living in the post resurrection period and they were still continuing to grasp what resurrection really meant. Secondly, they exemplify us. Just as we are all taken up with so many concerns of life and live within the caged world that we have created for ourselves with our preoccupations and doubts, anxieties and cares, worries and responsibilities, so too were they lost in their concerns and fears. So much lost, that they were not able to perceive even the most obvious... Jesus spoke to them, walked with them and prayed with them... but it took time for them to open their eyes! However, from these two disciples who are explicative of our own situation, we can draw the following three lessons.

Lesson 1: Accept the Strangers

When Jesus came to them, and wished to join their conversation and their walk, they accepted him, even though they did not know who it was, much less that it was Jesus. This is a pertinent call for us Christians today - to truly accept others, although we may not know them, with respect and regard. Although and specially because the migration today is becoming more and more, we see that there is a growing suspicion among the so-called mainstream in accpeting persons who are new and from elsewhere. There are societies which have been traditionally hospitable and sociable, which are losing this texture due to various internal and external factors. As Christians, can we stand out as counter witnesses promoting hospitality to 'strangers'? 

We do not know who is joining us, or who is offering to speak to us, or who is truly concerned about what is troubling us. It could after all be a God-sent person coming to make sense for us, about what is going on in our lives.

Lesson 2: Listen with your heart

When Jesus spoke to them, although they were not conviced or the truthfulness or the validity of what he was saying, they were listening to him. They were listening to him although they did not immediately understand what he was saying... they began to understand it later, recall it later, because earlier they had listened to him. Today the capacity to listen to the other has reduced drastically. Everyone wants to speak. Every one wants to say or display what they wish too. The amount of social network posts - instagram, reels and shorts - are indicative of how much persons today wish to shout out! But if there is a similar willingness  and eagerness to listen to the other, is a pertinent question. 

We may not understand what we are listening to, or we may not agree to it. That should not matter much, when it comes to our attitude or disposition to listen. We need to become listening persons, listening communities, if we wish to behold the Word from the Lord. 

Lesson 3: Yield to the Truth

When Jesus broke the bread, they understood their folly. They realised how blind and deaf they were till then. They did not make any effort to justify their inability nor explain their failure away. They took responsibility for their action and with humble admission accepted to change. That was shown in the decision they made... they walked up all the way to Emmaus from Jerusalem and the moment they realised the deep experience that they had just had, they started back all the way from Emmaus towards Jerusalem, merely to announce to their brothers and sisters the experience that they have had. The world today presumes that it knows the truth, just like the disciples were deriding Jesus in the beginning...are you the only one in Jerusalem who does not know what is happening around? In fact, he was the only one who knew what was "really" taking place. 

We may not know the truth, we may have an imperfect understanding of it, but what matters is that when we are given the grace to get in touch with the Truth, we are called to yield to the Truth. That is what will make us people of the Truth, people of the Lord, people of the Spirit!

Every day in our lives, we meet persons and we experience events, that have fragments of the Truth that can make sense of our lives. All that we need to do is accept the new with respect and regard, listen to everyone with whole heart and mind, and yield to the Truth when the Lord deigns to reveal it to us!

 

The Spirit Enlightens

WORD 2day - Saturday, 2nd week after Easter

April 22, 2023: Acts 6:1-7; John 6:16-21

Reflecting on the Word today, there are two things that strike and draw our attention: one, the bread and the other, the waves. Waiting on the tables and walking on the waves - these are the two events we are presented with. Which of these is more of value and which less? 

Waiting on the Table, which was a regular duty among the believers becomes a concern and some are dissatisfied with how it was going on. The Lord inspires them to understand the concern with such clarity that they do not compromise on the basics. The concern is addressed but nothing of what is essential is lost - they set apart a ministry in order that the centrality of the Word is not lost.

Waves that rose against the boat, made the disciples frightened. But the Lord walks up to them on the waters, on the very waves and reassures them to row on. Interestingly, they were disturbed by the waves but they were more terrified to see someone walking on the water towards them. The Lord's words, do not fear - comes as a challenge for them to understand what to fear and what not to fear. They were hardly away from the land, but they needed the Lord to realise it.

Waiting on tables or walking on waves... the question is not which has to be more valued or less, but the important call is that we never lose our sense of being in the presence of the Lord. The Spirit who comes from the Risen Lord, gives us the light and makes us understand that whatever we are involved in we need to live it with the sense of the presence of the Lord. Whether we wait on the table or walk on the waves, we realise we are in the presence of the Lord and the Spirit enlightens us to that realisation. 

The Spirit Multiplies

WORD 2day: Friday, 2nd week after Easter

April 21, 2023: Acts 5:34-42; John 6:1-15

Gamaliel proved a true God-fearing man and his words become a miracle. Notice the beautiful connection made in the Liturgy of the Word today: there is a multiplication of the loaves reported in the Gospel but we see that unfolding in reality in the Acts, in the form of the Multiplication of the believers - because, the Spirit multiplies! From a mere handful, the people of the Way begin to grow in leaps and bounds, filled with the Spirit.

The miracle happened because of the following three reasons:

- the Apostles and the band of new believers kept God and God's Word above everything else, even above their own lives;

- the Apostles and the people considered it God's mission and not their own enterprise; they gave the entire credit to God;

- the Apostles especially, had no other hidden agenda, for instance their own glory, making a living, or creating a following for themselves. 

The Spirit empowered them to place everything in the perspective of God! This is what Gamaliel infact prophesied... that if they were living their lives from the perspective of God, no one would be able to stop them! They surrendered themselves totally to the Lord and they were multiplied... the Spirit multiplied! 

Today if we are becoming weaker and weaker as a community, we need to raise a fundamental question: are we living from the perspective of God? If we decide to do so, it would be a sign that we are guided by the Spirit and the Spirit shall make us fruitful as believers!

The Spirit Moulds

WORD 2day - Thursday, 2nd week after Easter

April 20, 2023: Acts 5:27-33; John 3:31-36

One of the clear signs of Easter people growing to be the People of the Spirit, is the quality of Obedience. The Spirit moulds, the Spirit forms and the Spirit prepares us to yield to the will of the Lord. A lesson on this virtue of Obedience can be understood in three phrases:

1. Obedience makes Jesus the beloved Son of God. As St Paul would say, it is because of his obedience that the Father raised him as the highest and gave him a name above every name. The Spirit that filled Jesus, made him call out, "Abba Father" and grow to be a worthy child of that Father!

2. Obedience made the apostles mighty. By nature the apostles were not bold. But when they began to obey God they became uncontrollable. Today we hear them say, Obedience to God is much more important than anything obedience to the forces of the world. They were so Spirit-filled that they dared say that.

3. Obedience makes us free. When we obey we need not worry. Obeying reduces the burden off our shoulder. Because God cares instead of we being worried about something. In obeying we allow the Spirit within us to work. We would never be in want, as the Gospel says, the Father would give us the Spirit without reserve... and the Spirit moulds... making us obedient and yielding children of God. 

The Spirit Frees

WORD 2day - Wednesday, 2nd week after Easter

April 19, 2023: Acts 5: 17-26; John 3:16-21

From the prison to freedom, from the chains to an unfettered spirit, from fear to total commitment... the Spirit frees us in the spirit, and strengthens us to walk upright without fear or tredipdation. At times truth hurts and at times it costs much, but if in the Spirit, we would consider nothing too demanding when it comes to living a life of resurrection.

Fear can be treated as an acronym says a popular wisecrack: False Evidence Appearing Real... in fact, the source of fear is the lack of light! It is darkness that makes us hesitate, falter and stumble. When there is light and we can see everything, there is less chances for fear and confusion. That is what happened to the apostles... they had the light and nothing could stop them from going ahead!

They had the light because, the Light had come to the world, as Jesus explains to us in the Gospel. Yes, the Light has come into the world, the Light has risen from the dead, the Light lives with us... why should we fear? The Spirit frees us to see the light, behold the light and see with the help of the light and we shall not fear. 

If I have the courage to see the Light, accept it and walk in it, nothing can stop me, not even death - because I have the eternal life within me and that is the Spirit of the Lord who frees me!

The Spirit Raises

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 2nd week after Easter

April 18, 2023: Acts 4: 32-37; John 3: 7-15

The first Chrsitian Community gives us a challenging example today, a prophetic witness! Just imagine a Christian community today, living exactly the way we read from the Acts of the Apostles... my be one of our parish communities, or our basic christian communities...or the Religious Communities of Consecrated life... how would the effect be in the immediate context around them or on the larger society or the world over, specially with the social network today that can spread that good news everywhere! It is easy to brush it aside, calling it an exaggerated and outdated model, or an impractical ideal, a utopia, or a time proven failure! But let us remember, that has been our original call and the challenge remains.

Jesus provides the key to this challenge: it is living in the Spirit, it is living our lives as if from above! We have received our life and everything in life as a gift from above. And when it is time for us to report back from where we come, we will go without anything in our hands. When we see things from above then, we would laugh at our folly as does the Lord now from heaven (see Ps 2:4). 

Just look at your life, even as you live it today, a little from above! And you will understand how foolish we can get... with our attachments and avarice, jealousy and treachery, and every other inhumanity for the sake of things that do not matter at all! The Spirit raises us... that is the key. When we decide to live in the Spirit, we shall live from above, becaue the Spirit raises us!