We, the Spirit and Love!

WORD 2day: Friday, 5th week after Easter

May 12, 2023: Acts 15: 22-31; John 15: 12-17

It is a fascinating point of view when we understand the formulation we see in the first reading today: the apostles when they communicate their decision after a crisis, they say, "it has seemed good to us and to the holy spirit..." The presence of the Spirit was experienced as someone who lived amidst them!

When the Holy Spirit takes hold of us, all that we do, all that we choose, all that we decide will be guided by love and love alone! The disciples, apostles and the entire early Christian community, were ready to give up their tradition, their heritage, their laws, all because they loved their new brothers and sisters in Christ. They did not want to over burden them. 

It was indeed keeping much in line with what Christ had taught. Jesus had in fact gone a step further and said: not just traditions and laws, but even your life, you should be ready to lay down! That is true love. If the Son of God has given up everything for the love that he has for us, why do we hesitate to give up anything... especially our ego, our selfishness, our vain glory, for the sake of love of our brothers and sisters!

We and the Holy Spirit, if we are in constant rapport, we will be filled with true love! If we are filled with true love, then we would make true disciples to Christ, the Son of God who is Love! We, the Holy Spirit and Love, we will make a wonderful "Christ"ian Community. Are we ready?

A Joy that is complete

WORD 2day: Thursday, 5th week after Easter 

May 11, 2023: Acts 15: 7-21; John 15: 9-11

The ultimate wish of the Lord is our joy, not a joy as that which the world promises, but a joy that is complete, wholesome, flawless and endless. The joy that the world gives is conditional, limited and time bound. It lasts for a while and leaves a vacuum when it disappears due to some reason. 

The joy that is promoted by the world is based on feelings, things and doings! It comes from what we do, what we achieve, what we prove to the world. That explains why it is so flimsy and passing. It disappears as soon as that feeling changes, or when that thing is no more, or when we fail to achieve something that we dreamt of achieving!

The joy that the Lord gives comes from what we are; it comes from the fact that we are loved, that we are accepted unconditionally and that we are united to the One who never changes! It is not the various rules and regulations that we uphold that matter, but love! 

Love is all that matters! And in that love that God has for us, we find our true joy, the complete joy!

The Key - to Remain

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 5th week after Easter

May 10, 2023: Acts 15:1-6; John 15:1-8

To be circumcised or not to be: that seemed to be the issue for most of the Jewish Christians, including a few disciples. But for persons like Paul or Barnabas or even Peter or James, it was a non issue! For them, something else mattered much more!

Paul said that plainly when he exclaimed, 'For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything' (Gal 5:6). What did really matter to him, he was vociferous about that too: 'for His sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard everything else as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ' (Phil 3:8).

Remaining in Christ, that is what really matters. Rituals, practices, piety and devotions - all of them make sense only in relation to the proportion to which they help me remain with Christ. Even the most regular of all practices would mean nothing if it does not help me remain in Christ.

Remaining in Christ is a challenging task indeed - it may at times prove boring and monotonous and not immediate in its results - but it is the key to being disciples of Christ. Let us focus on the key element: Let us Remain in Christ.

Let not your hearts be troubled

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 5th week of Easter

May 9, 2023: Acts 14: 19-28; John 14: 27-31

You will have enemies in abundance, yet let not your hearts be troubled. There will be opposition from every side, yet let not your hearts be troubled. People may plot and contrive against you, yet let not your hearts be troubled. Your situation may be difficult and hard, yet let not your hearts be troubled. 

Being untroubled amidst all troubles - the disciples had perfectly understood what the Lord had said... they were unmoved in the face of all persecutions because they had something that the world could not give. They had within them something that no one else could find or even understand. They had peace!

Peace, a peace that the Lord alone can give. A peace that no one can take away. A peace that shines amidst darkness. A peace that does not arise from compromise and convenience but from conviction and commitment. A peace that is a result of truth and integrity. A peace that is not an external silence but an internal tranquillity. A peace for which it is worth even giving up our life.

We need to grow towards that peace... and the key to grow towards it is, not to let our hearts be troubled!

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.