Mercy not Sacrifice

WORD 2day: Friday, 13th week in Ordinary time

July 7, 2023 - Genesis 22: 1-19; Matthew 9: 1-8

Mercy and Sacrifice actually stood for two paradigms that were in confrontation as a result of Jesus' life and teaching. God and one's relationship to God was explained purely in terms of sacrifice, sacrifice which stood for fulfillment of the requirements based on regulations and customs. The challenge is alive even today - that we do not make our spirituality a sacrifice-based spirituality. Fulfillment of the precepts, keeping the commandments, making vows and carrying out the same, offering suffrages and being faithful to our prayers to be 'said'. 

Mercy, instead, is fundamentally a relationship. The Scripture scholars attribute the meaning from the Hebrew word for mercy - rahamim (or rachamim) which comes from the root, rehem (or rechem) which means "womb". Biblically, as Jesus uses, mercy refers to a compassion that one feels to a child in the womb or a bond very intimate that arouses a warm feeling towards the other! 

Far from doing something to help the other or giving something to someone in need, Mercy is to feel one with the other, specially someone who is in real need. That is why the statement of Jesus: I have come not to call the righteous but the sinners - a feeling one with the needy! When we really feel one with someone in trouble, or difficulty, or temptation, or a struggle, much before branding that person a 'sinner' or a 'weakling' or a 'traitor' or a 'infidel', we would stay close to him or her, find out what actually is going on and share moments of solidarity that would walk that person right out of that situation. 

That is what Jesus did and that is what he expects of you and me - to go and learn what it means... Mercy not Sarifice!

Faith amidst perplexities

WORD 2day: Thursday, 13th week in Ordinary time

July 6, 2023 - Genesis 22: 1-19; Matthew 9: 1-8

Abraham and his story has reached its climax today! An episode that escapes all rational discourse on God, God's will, God's mercy and Faith. If it is so difficult for us today as we read and reflect, it is not difficult to imagine the perplexity of a man who could possibly in Abraham's shoes. He would have been battling in his mind as to what really God wants from him, why does God give and why does God want to take it away so prematurely! 

Perplexities are more for one who believes more and one who believes more is prepared for more perplexities. Abraham personifies this fact - but in all his perplexities - he gives us a definition of what means Obedience of Faith (that later becomes a key word for St.Paul in his letters). 

Obedience of Faith, in simple terms is putting God first. Placing God's will before anything else, before my will, my desire, my plans and projects, my dreams and my treasures! It is perfect submission to God's will, even when I really do not understand what that actually is. Abraham never understood what God's will was, just as the pharisees and the Scribes never understood who Jesus was. But the difference was, Abraham was ready to submit but the latter did not want to. They held on to their judgments and prejudices, which did not allow them to see God's presence and action unfold right in front of their eyes.

The Word today invites us to make this loving leap of faith in God as did Abraham, without doubting the presence of the Lord at any point of time. Faith is a total, loving and unquestioning submission to the Divine Will, not when everything is well, but particularly amidst perplexities.

With open eyes...

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 13th week in Ordinary time

July 5, 2023: Genesis 21: 5, 8-20a; Matthew 8: 28-34

Hagar had almost given up. For her it was all over. She found no scope of living on and no chance of surviving that desertedness. She had cried enough, she thought. All of a sudden she finds a well, the source of her life. All that while the well was just round the corner. She was so filled with self pity that she was not able to see the ample opportunity just there for hers to take. All that God did was open her eyes that she may see the well. 

However, finally she does see unlike the people of Gerasene who never saw till the end, who it was that had entered their village. Their self pity of having lost their swine in thousands blinded their eyes from perceiving the great and wonderful blessings that Jesus had in store for them. What a great miss it was, they asked Jesus to leave! 

At times, for the sake of our self pity, due to our self indulgence, and for the fear of losing something so insignificant, we lose God, or rather we reject God. Just like the persons we meet in the Word today, if only we saw who we are rejecting; if only we beheld the blessings that choosing God would bring into our lives, if only we lived our lives with our eyes open... we shall be truly blessed. 

Be still... and know that God is!

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 13th week in Ordinary time

July 4, 2023 - Genesis 19: 15-29; Matthew 8: 23-27

Fire and brimstone all over, but Lot and his family in perfect safety... all because of, the scripture says, one man who walked in the presence of the Lord - Abraham! It was on Abraham's account, due to his faithfulness to God and his unswerving decision to live in the presence of the Lord, that Lot is saved! But even there, nothing could prevent the perishing of his wife, a typical representation of the category of persons who have lost their heart and soul to overly attachments. 

How closely parallel the scene is, in the Gospel today - storms and waves all over, but disciples in perfect safety... all because of one person who was the presence of the Lord - Jesus the Son of God! They had nothing to fear, for the Lord was with them. But there was panic and desperation, for their heart and soul was not focused on the Lord who was with them... they were focused on themselves and their problems and their dying prospects. When Jesus rose, he first rebuked the disciples; only then the storm and the sea.

Today, don't we find ourselves in a similar situation too? Problems and Weariness all over, but we are in perfect safety... all because the Lord's presence is with us! The Lord journeys with us, lives with us, and acts on our behalf... all that we need to do is like Abraham, "Be Still and Know" that God is!

The Apostle, the Church and the doubts

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

July 3, 2023: Celebrating St. Thomas, the apostle to India

Ephesians 2: 19-22; John 20: 24-29

Feast of St. Thomas leaves us with three lessons...

1. We are One Church built on the Apostles.

The feast of every apostle is a reminder of the essential unity that is not only a characteristic but a mandate given to the Church, the mystical body of Christ. As Paul so vehemently opposes (cf. I Cor 1:10-13), right from the earliest times division has always been a dreaded scandal within the Church. This reality notwithstanding, even today the divided body of Christ drains the Church of its witnessing power and evangelical authority. That is indeed a motive for concern and prayer for us always. 

2. The Church in India has a special responsibility.

The Church in India, boasting a direct handing over of faith by an apostle, has a special responsibility towards establishing the Reign of God on earth. It is unfair to claim privileges but refrain from the duties that come with it. Every person who has received the gift of faith in this country of ancient heritage and culture, has to stand firm in witness to the Gospel thus received, challenging the society towards a holistic transformation, ushering in the Reign of God here and now. 

3. Doubts don't matter as long as the Lord remains close to us.

Thomas was not only the one who wanted to touch the wounds that nails made and put his hand into the hole on Jesus' side, but he was also the one who said, "let us also go, that we may die with him" (Jn 11:16). His personal attachment to Jesus covered up for his obstinacy not to believe when the rest of the apostles reported Jesus' resurrection. In our lives too, when doubts assail, when clouds gather over our heads and we tend to be overwhelmed by them, the only thing that can sustain us is our personal relationship with Jesus!

May St. Thomas show us Christians in India, the most fitting way of living out the Gospel in our context, so that we may be ambassadors of the Reign of God, here and now.

THE CHALLENGE OF RECEIVING GOD

God, God's message and God's messenger

July 2, 2023 - 13th Sunday in Ordinary time

2 Kings 4: 8-11, 13-16; Romans 6: 3-4,8-11; Matthew 10: 37-42

Are we ready to receive God? We would say immediately an enthusaistic "yes"! But before saying that let us just take a moment to reflect on what it would actually cost us. 

Just yesterday we reflected on 'the Lord who passes by' - with the example of Abraham who received God who was passing by and the centurion who went to encounter the Lord who was passing by. The imagery today is not the Lord who is passing by, the Lord who wishes to accost us. The Lord comes to meet us and what would our response be? Get busy in what we are upto and lose God; or dare to Receive God? Yes, we have to dare to receive the Lord, because it is indeed a challenge... not just one, but atleast threefold. 

First of all when we intend to receive the Lord, we shall be challenged by God, by the very presence of God... because anyone who prefers a person or a thing or an ideology or a ritual or a sacrifice to God, we shall be deemed unworthy of the Lord. When we let God enter our lives, we cannot remain the same. 

We can think of any number of examples... for instance the personality that we have been thinking all through the week - Abraham. He was an unknown man of  Ur living with his people and Yahweh enters his life. From the moment Abraham received the Lord into his life, he had undergo many sacrifices... to give up his place, give up his people, give up his private life, give up so many things because he received the Lord. But his faithfulness paid. He is today the Father of our faith and held high in the eyes of faith. 

Instead the people of Gerasene, refused to receive the Lord - we see that episode in the Gospels of Mark and Luke. They refused to receive the Lord because they were not prepared to face the challenges the Lord would bring to them - challenges that would change their life style, their life priorities and their values in life. Just like they missed their swines, we may be attached to some of our own typical attachments and fixations. We may be willing to receive the Lord, but are we ready to be challenged by the Lord. Our life style, our priorities and our value system are they compatible with the Lord whom we wish to receive? That is a challenge. 

Secondly, when we are are ready to receive the Lord, we shall be challenged by God's Message, and that message shall be the cross on which we shall die, to be born anew, to be born to eternal life! God's Message is not always a soothing balm, it can be fire and brimstone at times, calling into question a number of factors in our life.  

When Paul speaks of 'cosidering ourselves dead to sin,' he indicates a radical choice for God - a choice between life and death. Just as Paul himself, and all the other apostles, who were almost all of them, destined to lay down their lives for the Message of Christ. They were ready for it. They received the Lord and they received along with that the challenge too. Peter who tried to deny Jesus, all other apostles who ran for their lives, Paul who was against Jesus...every one of them, laid his life down for the believing in and proclaiming the message.

Unlike Herod whom we see was happy to listen to John, but did not want to change himself, we are called to accept the challenge of God's Message if we are truly ready to receive the Lord. It may cost our simple pleasures, or our convenience, or our acceptability in the eyes of the world, but we would have to take up the challenge, if we are sincere about receiving the Lord. 

Thirdly, one who is ready to receive the Lord, shall be challenged by God's Messengers - be it blessings or curse, be it difficulties or graces, be it troubles or miracles, we have to endure it for the sake of the Lord. The question here is who are God's Messengers.

As long as someone does good to us, does things that please us, fulfils our curiosity and feeds our necessities, we are happy to accept them as Messengers of God. The moment someone begins to challenge our ways, criticise our so-called customs and traditions that are not in anyway 'godly', we begin to reject the person, critique the person and even plan to get rid of the person as far as it is within our capacity. Just as Jesus says, if we give even a single cup of water to the persons who are sent to us, we shall be blessed,  so shall we be despicable in the presence of the Lord if we despise persons who are in need and who come to us for help.

Assisting those who come to us for help, reaching out to those who are in need even without their asking for it, wishing the good of the other in so much as being crushed in the heart to see someone somewhere suffer, doing whatever is within my power to counter hatred and injustice in the world, making way for peace, harmony and justice - these are various levels at which we receive the Lord. When we receive persons in the name of the Lord, we receive God, and only by that we become persons of the Reign of God.

Meeting the Lord passing by

WORD 2day: Saturday, 12th week in Ordinary time

July 1, 2023: Genesis 18: 1-15; Matthew 8: 5-17

Have you witnessed thick black clouds just pass by over your head, without even a drizzle while you are dry, parching for want of water. That is exactly the experience when you let the Lord pass by without claiming for yourself all the blessing that the Lord has in store for you. You will surely not know, even if you knew you would hardly believe, the blessings the Lord has in store. Hence an attitude of openness and total surrender, ever connected to the Lord and perennially relying on the Lord's directions is a way of life that would take you to moments of thunderous grace!

Meeting the Lord passing by, is a very special disposition...if Abraham did not have it, he would have missed being the father of the Covenantal people; if the Centurion did not have it, he would have lost one of his treasured servant and he would have missed witnessing a great miracle; if Zacchaeus did not have it he would have missed salvation entering his house; if the disciples to Emmaus did not have it they would have missed that life-changing encounter with the Risen Lord. 

When St. Augustine said, "I fear the Lord passing by", he summarised this experience succinctly. He knew what it means to miss the Lord, and he knew how much he made the Lord wait when he exclaimed, "late have I loved thee, O Beauty so ancient and so new!" Every day and every experience of ours is an opportunity to meet the Lord and the Lord is ever forthcoming! In this new month, and a new day, today, are you we ready to behold the Lord, the Lord who is passing by! 

Perseverance: Walking with the Lord

WORD 2day: Friday, 12th week in Ordinary time

June 30, 2023 - Genesis 17: 1,9-10,15-22; Matthew 8: 1-4

"Lord, if you will..." the Will of God is mighty, complex and all-encompassing. All that I need to do is submit to that holy will. Because it is mighty and complex, at times I don't understand it. When a little is revealed to me it already looks too big and marvelous, sometimes even difficult to believe in. 

At times the plans look too fantastic to be real and we begin to suggest to God something that is simpler and more feasible. Or as it happened to Abraham today, it may even seem ridiculous to believe in that will. But precisely in believing that will, we become chosen to behold the magnificence of God's doings! Sarai becomes Sarah, Abram becomes Ahraham - it is because they believed in the will of God and God's will transforms them into new persons who walk before the Lord and are blameless. 

What makes us covenantal people is our capacity to believe in God's will or God's plan that is eternal; the plan which is always towards our welfare. What it takes to believe in this Will on a daily basis, is the humility to submit to God, the patience to wait on the Lord and the perseverance to keep walking in way of the Lord.

Sent and Delivered!

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

June 29, 2023: Celebrating the Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul
Acts 12: 1-11; 2 Timothy 4: 6-8, 17-18; Matthew 16: 13-19

The Feast of Apostles Peter and Paul. Being an apostle is no privilege, it is a challenge; living my life as an apostle is no accomplishment, it is a duty! That is why Paul said, "Woe to me if do not proclaim the Gospel"(1 Cor 9:16) and Peter said , "we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard" (Acts 4:20).

They are apostles because they were "sent" in God's will to be the stones on which the communities of believers were to be built. Everyone baptised is called to be an apostle, and the way to be an apostle is outlined so vividly by Peter and Paul today... one, to proclaim the Gospel even to the point of death; and second, to be stones on which the community will be built and not be the cracks from which the community will be divided!

The Acts of the Apostles, as in the first reading today, reports that killing the apostles pleased the Jews - those were the times when the first apostles braced themselves to stand for the goodnews of Christ. They found themselves at the point of being sacrificed, but nothing discouraged them from bearing witness to Christ and his message! It is a fight, a race - not just a glamorous show to be an apostle today. The lion's mouth, the evil that surrounds and the powers of death are certainly to be found, when I begin to understand, accept and live fully my call to be an apostle... but at no point will the Lord's deliverance be lacking!

When I decide to run the race, to fight the good fight, 'the Lord will rescue me from every evil and save me for his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.'

If you call yourself a Christian, live it!

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 12th week in Ordinary time

June 28, 2023 - Genesis 15: 1-12,17-18; Matthew 7: 15-20

The Tree and the Fruits - an interesting analogy for life! 

Abraham, was a man of God, he was the father of the covenantal people! Abraham listened, obeyed, believed and remained loyal to the Lord who called him. The Covenant the Lord made was the tree and Abraham's life choices were the fruits. The eternal covenant that is made in the blood of Jesus Christ, is the guarantee of the grace and the gift of faith within us. 

While it is God's action that God has transformed us into God's children in our baptism, our daily life and regular choices have to bear fruits that will make it visible to the world and to ourselves. An anonymous author reminds us, 'you may be the only gospel that some one reads! So be careful with the way you live your life!' I am a Christian not merely in my activities and responsibilities; but in every choice of mine, every thought and expression of it, every word and deed at every moment of my life. 

Consider this question once a preacher posed during a retreat: 'if today they detain you for being a Christian, will they find enough evidence in you to implicate you?' A powerful question, extremely simple in its categorical demand that before you call yourself a Christian, live it! You do not call yourself so and them expect everyone to know by that name; you live it first, and automatically people would call you by that name - the tree is known by its fruits!