The plot, the power and the perseverance

WORD 2day: Monday, 5th week after  Easter

May 8, 2023: Acts 14:5-18; John 14:21-26

The Jews and the non Jews together plot to get rid of the apostles but what triumphed was not the plot but the power of God. The Power of God was more and more getting manifest in the life and works of the apostles and they were bearing unimaginable witness to the Christ-experience.

But what did the apostles do to acquire such power as to stand before the authorities and systems which seemed so frightening to them earlier - it was simply their perseverance. They remained with the Lord, although at times they were tempted to leave and return to some other way of life. But they stuck on to the Lord.

Not just temptations, they were threatened, they were beaten up, they were arrested and they were flogged, but nothing could stop them from living their life for the Lord and for the Lord's message. Every persecution made them more strong in their commitment. They spared nothing to express their total belonging to the Lord. 

The plots will abound even in our life - from within and from around us! But if we are strong in our mind and heart, these plots will be overcome by the power of the Lord, invested within me by the Lord. All that we need to do is stay with the Lord and pray: strenghten us O Lord to stay with you.

CHOSEN TO BE A PRIESTLY PEOPLE

Chosen to belong forever

5th Sunday after Easter: May 7, 2023
Acts 6:1-7; 1 Peter 2:4-9; John 14:1-12

God “chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before God in love” (Eph 1:4). That is our identity; we are a chosen race, royal priesthood, holy nation, God’s own people in order that we may proclaim the mighty acts of God, the God who has called us from darkness into his marvelous light (1 Pet 2:9).

What is my identity of myself?

Are we merely people who are looking upto God for some favours? People who wait on God to come and solve our everyday problems? People complaining to God about those around us who are not living upto our expectations, disappointing us, troubling us, not understanding us or causing us grief? Can we take a breath and imagine what identity God has invested in us and to what level we have diluted in our daily living of our faith.

We are Chosen…

It is not by chance that I am a Christian, that I am chosen. At times we tend to subscribe to the opinion that we are Christians merely because our parents were Christians, that every thing is by chance. It could be true that I have inherited my Christian identity from my parents, but ultimately I am chosen in and through the generations, right from eternity, to belong to the Lord who has willed me into existence.  

It is the Lord who has chosen us and it is never the other way around: “You did not choose me, but I chose you”, says the Lord (Jn 15:16). It is the Lord who has chosen you and me, and all that we need to do is happily walk holding his hand.

We are Chosen to belong…

Last week we celebrated the Good Shepherd Sunday and we prayed for Vocations to Priesthood and Religious Life. That is a special call, a call for a ministry, just like Stephen and the 6 others are chosen today in the first reading for a special task – that is what we call Ministerial Priesthood. But there is another call that is universal… that is the call to Royal Priesthood… each and every one who is chosen in Christ, who is washed in the waters of baptism, is called to this priesthood. Yes! We are all priests unto the Lord! We are Chosen Race, Royal Priesthood… We have a special call to belong to the Lord. That is the crux of this priesthood. 

The ordained priests are ordained for a special ministry, while all of us share in the priesthood of Christ. The Priesthood of Christ consists in belonging to the Father. “I am in the Father and the Father is in me” says the Lord (Jn 14:11). The priesthood that we share with Christ is to be in God, the Father and Mother; to belong to God, to be grafted on to God, to remain in God as the branches remain in the wine and give fruit.

We are Chosen to belong forever…

In belonging to the Lord, in remaining with Christ, in sharing the priesthood of Christ we inherit the greatest of all patrimonies: a dwelling place in the courts of the Lord. That is what is prepared for us, that if we belong in our life to God, we would belong to God forever even in death. Christ has gone before us to prepare this place for us, and when he comes we should still belong to God, we should still be his Priestly People, that we may receive that dwelling place prepared for us!

Every day is an opportunity, through our ordinary tasks and daily duties, by our conscious choices and deliberate decisions, to deepen our belonging to the Lord, to realize we are chosen, that we are chosen to belong to God, chosen to belong forever, as a chosen race, a Priestly People!

Joy and the Holy Spirit

WORD 2day: Saturday, 4th week after Easter

May 6, 2023: Acts 13: 44-52; John 14:7-14

The disciples were filled with joy and holy spirit, says the first reading today. It becomes hard to connect that this statement is actually the ending note of a preceding passage, that speaks about rejection and insult of the apostles by their own fellow Jews. Elsewhere too we would read that they returned happy that they were able to suffer for the sake of the name of Jesus (eg. Acts 5:41). 

This fact would however make sense once we read and understand what Jesus tells us in the Gospel today: whoever believes in me will do the works that I do and will do even greater. The apostles seem to have inherited it from their Master to consider themselves blessed for having to suffer for righteousness sake, to thirst for justice and truth, to seek the Reign of God above all.

It has become a normal experience for persons to deride when one speaks of truth, peace and justice! Be it the young or another generation, be it religious consecrated persons or parents in families, they exude a wry smile when we speak of standing by truth and standing for the right! They seem to say, that sounds good when said, but living it is not feasible. The honesty of these people has to be appreciated certainly, but an inevitable question that remains to be raised: when will we be mature enough to stand up for what we believe, and be courageous to shake the dust off our feet and keep walking towards the Reign!

Death Rather than Sin

May 6: The Inspiring Teenage Saint - Dominic Savio

Dominic Savio is called the boy with a will - yes, he was just a boy, but a boy with a great will, a great consciousness and a great conviction.

There were three things that made a great impact on Dominic Savio and drove him towards his extraordinary Sanctity.

1. His Name: Dominic knew what his name meant. It meant that he belonged to the Lord. That is why when he met Don Bosco he said, it would be a shame if he did not live a life worthy of the Lord, having a name so profound. 

How many of us are serious about the name that we have? 

How many of us know of the Patron who is given to us due to our name?

2. His Guide: Dominic instantly clung on to Don Bosco when he met him. He found in Don Bosco a sure guide to sanctity, though he met him only when he was 12. Even before he could meet Don Bosco, he had taken his famous motto, 'Death rather than sin'. But he saw that Don Bosco had a special role to play in his attainment of sanctity. Dominic was very serious about it and Don Bosco acknowledged it and accompanied the teenager all the way. 

Do you feel the need of a Spiritual Director? 

Do you have an ardent desire to journey towards sanctity of life?

3. His Desire: Dominic wanted to be a priest. His devotion to Eucharist right from when he was a 5 year old boy, and later after his communion when he was just 7, and later when he met Don Bosco in 1854, he was determined to become a priest and serve the Lord. But the Lord willed it differently. Dominic's desire to become a priest, gave him a perspective for whole of his life. 

How many of us have clear understanding of what we wish to grow to be? 

Do we seek to know God and orient our lives accordingly?

When Dominic was just 7, as he received his first communion, he set himself this axiom: Death rather than sin. How much have we learnt God's will for us? This is God's will: your sanctification (1 Thes 4:3), reminds us St. Paul along with Dominic Savio. 

Will we dare to say with this young boy: death rather than sin!

The Father, Son and the Begotten

WORD 2day: Friday, 4th week after Easter

May 5, 2023: Acts 13:26-33; John 14: 1-6

The promise of the Father and the faithfulness to the promise, the oneness of the Father and the Son, the Son leading us to the Father, the Way to the Father, the Truth of the oneness and the eternal Life that is assured by the Son - these are the themes presented today. These themes give us an important insight into our life of faith - it is not a life of do's and don'ts, nor a life of mere rules and regulations but a life of relationships!

The Father who has been so concerned about this relationship that was initiated in and through the covenant, the Son who felt so related to the Father and wanted to share the same sense of relatedness with us, the Spirit who never leaves us dwelling within us with an intimate relationship, the way of making these relationships true and concrete by our relationships with each other, and finally, being convinced that all of us are related and we are marching together hand in hand towards our eternal home - the love of the Almighty! This is our faith. This is our daily life. This is our call, as begotten ones!

When we treasure our relationships, our daily relationships with each other, making them more and more sincere and loving, we shall experience the presence of the Way, the Truth and the Life illumining our daily life. 

Retelling the Story of Jesus

WORD 2day: Thursday, 4th week after Easter

May 4, 2023: Acts 13: 13-25; John 13:16-20

Christian faith is an experience of the community - the experience is shared in the community and it is passed on in the community from one generation to the other. Faith is also that experience that builds up the community and makes it what it is. What is experienced by one, becomes an experience of the community and what the community is made of defines what a person's experience would be. We see Jesus today, handing over his task to be continued by the disciples, the task of taking the good news further to the ends of the world. 

Taking the good news to the ends of the world is Evangelisation. One definition of evengelisation that has always been considered highly practical: 'evangelisation is retelling the story of Jesus'. That is exactly what Paul does in the synagogue in the first reading - retelling the story of Jesus from the Old Testament. Yes, tracing the roots of Jesus in the Old Testament, Paul retells the story of Jesus to make people aware how Jesus is the awaited Messiah.

Do we retell the story of Jesus whenever we get an opportunity...from our own background, from our own context, basing on our own experiences and concerns? We are all evangelisers in our own right and duty, every one of us by our very baptism. Let our words and actions, our experiences and concerns, be a retelling of the story of Jesus to the world.

Believe and Live!

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

May 3, 2023: Celebrating Apostles Philip and James

1 Corinthians 15:1-8; John 14:6-14

Today we celebrate two great apostles, both of them find a prominent place among the list of apostles and have something memorable about them.

James was the first Bishop of Jerusalem and he along with his brother Jude, was called the brother of Jesus. We find the practical wisdom of James, so imbued with the Spirit of Jesus in his epistle. His insistence on integral living, his predilection for the poor, his advocacy for a life of self-control, are eminently Christian themes that we need to highlight even today. 

Philip was a person who brought a lot of people to Jesus, including Nathanael. Philip imbibed the life style of Jesus very quickly as we see him in the Gospels already, speaking like Jesus, using the phrases that Jesus used and reaching out to people as Jesus did and bringing people to Jesus, which Jesus so much loved. That is why he was used by the Holy Spirit to bring persons like the Ethiopian Minister who was brought to understand and believe in the Goodnews.

One who believes in me will do things that I do and even more than what I do, promised Jesus. These apostles, just as the entire community of the first Chrisians, give us a powerful message to consider: believing is living. They challenge us to beleive in Jesus and live like Jesus... that is the only way, that we can be worthy of Jesus. When we live by this integrity, we would be in a position to say as Jesus said of his father - the one who has seen me, has seen the One who has sent me! 

To be called a Christian - listen and follow!

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 4th week after Easter

May 2, 2023: Acts 11:19-26; John 10: 22-30

The theme we began to reflect on, this Sunday, continues these days. The Shepherd says, the sheep that belong to me listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me! Listening to the Lord would mean to drink in his principles, to put on his mindset as St. Paul would describe. To follow the Lord would mean, to live like him. Our actions have to be our witness, not merely our words and our titles.

The believers in Antioch were given the name 'Christians', because they belonged to the Lord, they listened, they followed! They were imbued with the thoughts and the teachings of Christ, and they followed Christ to the letter. The people saw in them, Christ alive and moving around in flesh and blood. The believers became live witnesses, or proofs, for the resurrection of Jesus the Christ. 

That is why, they were spontaneously called Christ-ians! Would anyone, unknown to me, looking at me  and my actions, guess that I should probably be a Christian? Not because of the cross I might be sporting, nor with the name tag that I have, but with the attitudes I manfest, the actions that spontaneously emanate from me and for the very person that I am.

I am tempted to ask myself: is it right to say that a person will do good if he or she is a Christian, or to say that anyone who does good to the other without expecting anything in return, is truly a 'Christ-ian'?

Work your way to heaven

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

May 1, 2023: Celebrating St. Joseph the Worker 
Genesis 1:26 - 2:3; Matthew 13: 54-58

We are disciples of the Carpenter's Son; that is how the people refer to Jesus in the Gospel of today. We celebrate not just the dignity but the divinity of work today. 

Karl Marx insisted that work should be the extension of one's being, not a commodity to be sold or paid for. That is what the Christian perspective holds on too. The first reading from Genesis today presents to us work as participation in the creative power of God. We become co-creators with God when we make our work the expression and extension of our being. It is the way we fulfill the purpose for which we have been created. Infact, that is the way for us to trace the path that God has designed for each of us to reach heaven.

Three tendencies that are directly against it are:

1. Laziness and inactivity: deliberately choosing not to do anything and scheming to be parasitic on the labour of others;

2. Compulsion and burden: looking at work as a compulsion and carrying it out grudgingly, blaming everyone and the situation for the lack of inner joy;

3. Commodification and exploitation: looking at a person as a means through whom things can be produced and sold and commodified and stripping the true dignity of labour from the person.

These are totally anti-Christian attitudes to work. Work shoud become a joyful, conscious and deliberate choice to give of one's best towards building a better place for the entire humanity. In the highly commercialised, globalised, world today, may St. Joseph, the Worker inspire us to work our way to heaven.

BEING THE SHEPHERD'S FLOCK

Follow, Obey and Respond

4th Sunday of Easter: April 30, 2023
Acts 2: 14a, 36-41; 1 Peter 2: 20b-25; John 10:1-10

The Post Resurrection scene is particularly important for us to reflect upon, because it provides us with an incomparable clarity of our identity as a believing community! Today the Lord invites us to realise and understand our vocation to be the flock of the Divine Shepherd. The second reading reminds us, "you have now returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls." 

The Shepherd Leads...we follow: 

Be patient in doing good and especially when you suffer for doing good, and that is the way to follow your shepherd, says St. Peter. As St. Paul would say writing to the Thessalonians, "do not be weary of doing what is right" (2 Thes 3:13). The Lord leads us by example. Doing good was his nature, no one could stop him from doing it. His own did not accept him, they did not understand him, they labelled him 'out of his mind', the disciples deserted him, many hated him and the authorities sought to kill him! But he held on to his mission of doing good! He knew doing the will of the One who sent him was an absolute mission and he went about it without fear, discouragement or doubt, inspite of the threats and trials. The Shepherd leads and we as his followers, are called to follow the same path.

The Shepherd Directs...we obey: 

There are moments and circumstances when we go astray. It could be due to deliberate choices or deviant desires...but the fact is we go astray, linger off bounds, leave the flock for a while, check out other pastures, be deceived by mirages and feel a bit lost. The Shepherd's voice bellows behind us... as St. Peter speaks up in the first reading today. To be the Shepherd's flock means to heed to that voice of direction. As the Lord promises through Isaiah: and when you turn to the right or when you turn to your left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "this is the way; walk in it" (Isa 30:21). The Word comes to us; directions come to us constantly; it is the capacity of the Shepherd's flock to hear, to listen, to understand and to put it into practice. Those who listened to the apostle were "cut to their heart", the reading says. They took it to the heart and obeyed it to the full. They were more than ready to change their course, redirect their lives and walk behind the shepherd. 

The Shepherd Calls...we respond: 

I came that you may have life and have it more abundantly, declares the Lord to us today in the Gospel! We are called to live our lives to the full, and that is the sign of the Shepherd's flock. The Lord offers us life and life in all its fullness, we are called to respond to this offer by accepting it and living it. Living to the full means living in faith and not in fear; living in love and not in selfishness; living in hope and not in darkness. As people of the Shepherd's flock, our lives have to be a witness to life in abundance. The world has to learn from us, and not laugh at us. We cannot conform to the world but the world has to be challenged by our lives! 

Let us pay heed to the Word today and follow, obey and respond to our Shepherd. Let us also pray for shepherds to be raised among us, shepherds after the heart of the Divine Shepherd.