The History of the People of God - 6. The Lord in Search

WORD 2day: Saturday, First week in Ordinary time

January 13, 2024 - 1 Samuel 9:1-4,17-19,10:1; Mark 2:13-17

The Word presents to us today two persons - one, who went in search of the donkeys and the other, who went in search of the sinners... both for the sake of their fathers' wish! Though the comparison is strange, the fact is that both are kings... one, the first king of Israel and the latter, the eternal King of heaven and earth.

We may consider ourselves worthless and as dumb as donkeys, but the truth is that the Lord is in search of us. Many a times we speak of a humanity that is in search of God, but how much more true it is to think of the Lord who is in search of each of us. That is the experience of the people of God, the people whom the Lord has chosen as His own and made the children of God. The call for us here, is to open ourselves up to the Lord; invite the King into our hearts; and the King shall reign forever in our lives and through us, reach out to many more who are lost and are searching for themselves!

I do realise that I have been too allegorical here, but the message is simple and straight: to be forever open to the Lord, in a sense of daily conversion and repentance, ever growing into worthier children of God, better people of God. At times, we may not be understood by all, just as Jesus found himself misunderstood, misinterpreted and misjudged. Should that matter to us, as a chosen people of God. 

The challenge is to go ahead and remain with the Father's will. The King has searched us out and chosen us as His own - should we not believe in it? Let us never take off our minds, the Lord who is constantly in search of us. 

The History of the People of God - 5. Freedom in Submission

WORD 2day: Friday, First week in Ordinary time

January 12, 2024 -  1 Samuel 8: 4-7, 10-12; Mark 2: 1-12

It has been a hitoric human tendency to look for something or someone, to which or to whom, one can submit oneself. Whether by force or by choice, a form of legitimate dependence or extraordinary obsession, habit of blaming someone or positively seeking someone's counsel... persons constantly look to submit themselves to someone or something!

The point to be noted here is this: whatever be the form of submission, and whatever be its reason, it makes us dependent or subservient. The first reading reminds us of this human tendency, but before we judge the people of Israel of those historical times, let us understand how we ourselves fall into the same category! The only submission that gives us a sense of freedom and a sense of self-worth is the submission to God's authority - because God dwells in us and a submission to God, as God's children, is a reinforcement of our dignity, our self-worth and the sovereignty that God has placed within us, as human persons. This is what Jesus demonstrates in his encounter with the paralysed man.

Jesus reminds us that we are children of God and we have an inbuilt authority within us, the authority that is given by God. As long as we are true to our innermost self, we can enjoy that authority and it will be seen by people. The moment we begin to compromise, even a little, we become diffident of that authority and begin to look for it elsewhere. This is the state of sin that we experience.

Let us realise that God has the ultimate authority and has invested within us that authority as legitimate children of God, as people of God. Mindful of this, when we are truthful, righteous and selfless, submitting ourselves only to God and God's will, we experience the greatest of all freedom: the freedom of the children of God, the freedom in Submission as people of God.

The History of the People of God - 4. The Moments of Fall

WORD 2day: Thursday, First week in Ordinary time

January 11, 2024 - 1 Samuel 3:1-10; Mark 1: 29-39

An essential part of any people's history is their moments of fall and failure, their limitations and defeat; people of God are no exceptions to it. There is truly nothing wrong in a fall, an occasional failure as long as the person (or the community of persons) realises it as such; recognises the causes of it; and finds ways and means of growing out of it. This is the spirituality of the people of God. 

The danger is when a person is fallen and does not realise that he or she is fallen; when a society has so many flaws but does not recognise them as flaws but has grown so callous of it. That danger is more treacherous when it is a community of faith, and the community does it in the name of the Lord! It would be a folly of highest degree if a community does all that it wants and says to itself - we are a people of God and God will always be with us whatever we may do! It is true that the Lord will be with us - not as someone who justifies what we do and supports us in our sinfulness, but as someone who would convict us and correct us towards a more authentic living. This is what we see in the first reading today, an example of a fall and the lesson from it. 

What is the corrective? The Gospel presents us the right attitude, the corrective to the problem presented. It lies in the formula we hear: "if you wish to...". Surrendering our lives and life-choices to the Holy will of God, striving to discern the mind of God and resolving to live according to the promptings of the Lord - that alone can purify us, cleanse us, cure us, heal us, make us whole. 

The Lord is ever ready and willing to redeem us, because of God's love, but it depends on us to recognise our need to be helped, our need to be cured and turn to the Lord saying, "if you wish to, you can cure me!"

The History of the People of God - 3. Listening and Obeying Faith

WORD 2day: Wednesday, First week in Ordinary time

January 10, 2024 - 1 Samuel 3:1-10,19-20; Mark 1: 29-39

In the history of the people of God, one characteristic that sets the people apart as belonging to God is their capacity to listen to the Lord and obey the Lord's commands. That is what generates them, or regenerates them, raising them up to the status of the people of God, from a state that is common to all human persons. 

Today we come across in the Word, the popular episode which has given rise to the most typical phraseology in spiritual growth - "speak Lord, Thy servant is listening!" As we already pointed out, that attitude is outlined as the basic disposition of the people of God. Eli instructs the little boy Samuel in this act of self disposition to the promptings of the Lord - it comes across to us as a symbolic event that presents to us a people, who were learning to be, and growing up to own the identity of, the people of God. 

Jesus in the Gospel, brings to our attention an important and indispensable implication of this basic disposition that we reflected upon. Just listening is not enough; people of God obey! People of God are those who obey what the Lord wants of them. For Jesus this is was an absolute in life - he would indeed repeat often that only those who listen to the words of the Lord and put them into practice can be called the children of God and only they are eligible to enter the portals of the Reign. He did not only preach this, he lived it for the community to see. He prayed all night and in the morning set about living what he heard or listened from the Lord - "because that is why I came," he affirmed. 

Listening to the Lord and Obeying the voice of the Lord - is a fundamental experience and characteristic trait that makes us people of God. Are we on our way?

The History of the People of God - 2. From God's Hands

WORD 2day: Tuesday, First week in Ordinary time

January 9, 2024 - 1 Samuel 1:9-20; Mark 1: 21-28

In the "ordinary" history of the people of God, there is one remarkable experience that cannot be missed - the experience of the providence of God - a God who provides, not just some things that we need, but every element that will make our life meaningful. Today we see in the first reading Hannah praying for the grace of a child and she receives it. The lesson that is given for us, follows that moment: when Hannah recognises that moment of grace, she acknowledges that she received that child from God's hands -"Samuel, for I asked God for him!"

In the Gospel we find a group of people who were wondering at what Jesus was saying and doing, the meaningful and powerful words, and the unbelievable things he was doing. They were astonished at the authority that Jesus was manifesting - certainly they knew what Jesus knew, that the authority came from above. They were not ready to acknowledge that - those were from God's hands.

Jesus lived his life and call to the full and there were manifestations of the authority that God had invested in him... he imparts us a simple and clear teaching: when we live our lives to the full and go all out to do what God wants us to do, what we need, we shall receive at the right time, from God's hands. That was the experience of the people of Israel, and that shall always be the experience of the people of God. But we need to grow in that identity and experience, ready to recognise and acknowledge all that we receive, from God's hands. 

The History of the People of God - 1.Time of Need

WORD 2day: Monday, First week in Ordinary time

January 8, 2024 - 1 Samuel 1: 1-8; Mark 1: 14-20

After a long while, we return to Ordinary time of the year! And Ordinary time of the liturgical year can be of great value - as it has its own share of faith formation to offer us. It is important not to lose that programme of formation that the daily Word holds out to us. This week we begin to read from the first book of Samuel and the week would take us through the ordinary history of the people of God. We call it ordinary history because it happens ordinarily to every one; we call it history of the people of God, because this kind of an understanding is in the light of faith, in the light that God sheds on our life and its events. 

The history of the people of God begins with their time of need - the people feel they are in need, they are anguished, that they are helpless. The excellent example given to us is Hannah, the to-be mother of Samuel the great prophet. But here, she is an old mother and called sterile and taunted by her rivals. This is not merely the story of Hannah, but of the people of God who believe in God but live in slavery, while so many other nations around them lived in their power. It could be any of us, who is in need, who is in trouble, who is helpless as to where to turn to for solutions to one's problems. 

Where does the solution lie: in the promises of the Lord. The Lord comes with the eternal promises and that could be the only hope for the people of God. The time is at hand, the Reign of God is near - Jesus announces today! The Reign of God is the fullness of God's will. Our confusions and troubles, our needs and anxieties, can be turned to joy and fulfillment when the Lord steps in. When we admit that and allow that to happen, we become people of God and we begin the grand history as People of God. 

Water, Blood and Spirit

WORD 2day: Saturday before Epiphany 

January 6, 2024 - 1 John 5: 5-13; Mark 1: 6-11

The Liturgy today prepares us towards two beautiful events we are moving towards...the epiphany and specially, the Baptism of the Lord. The reflection begins with the sanctifying elements of Baptism. First, the waters of baptism that cleanse, as Jesus cleanses the person with leprosy in the Gospel. Secondly, the Blood of Jesus shed on the Cross once and for all, which saves us from eternal damnation and promises us eternal life. Thirdly, the Spirit of the Lord that is given to us, poured into our hearts as a seal of God's love for us, that which makes us children of God! 

We have these three veins of faith that connect us to the Father through Jesus - the waters of baptism that gives us new life in Christ, the Blood of Christ that bring eternal life in Christ and the Spirit who makes it possible for us to receive these gifts from the Lord - these are the guarantees of our relationship with Christ. 

Water stands for purity, blood stands for vitality and the Spirit stands for our relatedness in the Father through the Son. Water makes us children of God, Blood makes us witnesses of Christ and the Spirit makes us heirs to the Father.

The manifestation of Jesus at Epiphany, gets completed in the event of baptism we shall be celebrating the following day, reminding us of the baptism that we share in! We have the Son, always for us and with us, and so we have the eternal life that God promises in and through the Son. The Lord has made us His own, at baptism, in the cleansing water, in the saving blood and in the sanctifying Spirit and we joyfully belong to the Lord! Let us prepare ourselves joyfully towards these great celebrations of our faith. 

The Interior Castle

WORD 2day: Friday before Epiphany

January 5, 2024 - 1 John 3: 11-21; John 1: 43-51

Reflecting on the Word today, we can readily be reminded of the famous title written by St. Teresa of Avila: the Interior Castle. That reminds us of the fact, that our life of faith actually is a life lived at the interior castle of our beings! That is why we are required to invite people to 'come and see', as does Philip today. This is in continuation with the reflection we had yesterday, where Jesus invited the disciples to 'come and see' and challenged them to invite others! Andrew yesterday and Philip today, took up that challenge and invited others! 

We cannot share our spiritual experience with others, merely with words and proofs! Words, or even deeds, speak much less than what our personal interior lives can speak. What we are called to dare is, to invite others to come and see our life, our innermost life. When our interior life is orderly, when our conscience is at peace, when our inner sanctuary is maintained with holiness and purity, our entire life can become a testimony to others: we can without fear say, "Come and See" my interior castle! 

The interior castle is where my Lord lives. Yes, the secret about the interior castle is practically, integrity; the presence of the Lord, enshrining the Lord firmly in my innermost sactuary of life, so firmly that from that centre my life is guided, directed and oriented - nothing happens without that centre of my being, the Being at the centre of everything.

The call is that we dare to build this interior castle, little by little, furnish it with care to the extent that we can dare to invite the world around and let them see the Lord dwelling there: come and see!

They went, they saw, they stayed...

WORD 2day: Thursday before Ephiphany

January 4, 2024 - 1 John 3: 7-10; John 1: 35-42

Jesus invites us today to come and see... just as one of the favourite psalms of all times invites: 'taste and see, that the Lord is good' (Ps 34:8). Added to the element of personal experience of the Lord, that we spoke about yesterday, this invitation to come and see, refers at one and the same time, to a call and to a choice! Jesus calls us: COME; it is our choice: TO SEE. 

Jesus' call to come, is an everstanding call that is there from God, through the ages, in and through persons and events, and finally in the person of Jesus himself. The call to come is an offer of God's loving hands that we may hold on to it and keep walking our way in life. And it is here that our part becomes crucial.

To see, is a choice. To see the Lord leading us everyday, to see the Lord directing us on our way; to see the Lord acting on our behalf and to cooperate with the Lord's will in every way... that is the choice we have to make! It is a radical choice - a choice of black or white, light or night... there can be no compromise with the Lord - it's righteousness or sin; ultimately, an yes or a no to God! 

If we choose God, we choose righteousness; if we do not choose God we choose sinfulness. Of course there are moments of temptations and weaknesses, but the choice is fundamental. It defines my daily life, every word I say, every decision I take and every move I make. 

There is something special about the two disciples whom we see in the Gospel today - Andrew and his companion. Jesus invited them to come and see, they did not stop with seeing; they came, saw and they stayed; not just that, they went back and announced to the others what they have seen! 

We have come to the Lord; we have seen the marvels of the Lord; now the question is, how ready are we to STAY forever with the Lord, making of our life an announcement of the goodness of the Lord!

The Name - our identity and call

THE WORD AND THE FEAST 

January 3, 2024: The Most Holy Name of Jesus
1 John 2:29 - 3:6; John 1: 29-34

"There is no other name under heaven...by which we must be saved," says Acts of the Apostles (4:12). Names, in the Biblical tradition, are not merely nominative, they are descriptive and definitive! Abraham, Moses, were names that redefined the history of the person; Gabriel, Raphael, Michael, are names that define the very role of the angels who bear them; John was given the name even before he was conceived, just like JESUS the Saviour, Emmanuel the God-with-us! Although this feast of the Holy Name of Jesus is a long standing tradition, it has not sustained its fervour down the centuries. We need to rediscover the importance and significance of this feast in our faith expression.

The true purpose of Incarnation was not to demonstrate the grandeur and the omnipotence of God, but the closeness of God with those whom God loved. Emmanuel, is the title that explains best the love that God has for us...For God so loved the world, that God gave up everything even God's own Son; and the Son of God gave up even his Godhead and came to be one among us! The Word became flesh and dwells among us. 

The Word today, brings to us another indispensable dimension of this name - the name that is imposed on us, through the greatest name of all - the name and identity as "Christ-ians". We see that the Holy Spirit, in the form of the dove testified on behalf of Jesus that he was the Son of God. We are made the children of God and the same Spirit waits to testify for us. We would be identified as children of God if and only if we resemble God, says John in the first reading today. 

Resembling God, would mean being loving, beyond all petty differences and being generous, beyond all calculations. Resembling God would mean remaining with the Lord - in every thought, word and deed. Resembling God would mean knowing the name imposed on us and its significance, and realising our call and daring to embark on that journey, of growing every day in our resemblance to our maker.