The Narrow Gate Spirituality

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

June 25, 2024 - 2 Kings 19: 9-11,14-21,31-36; Matthew 7: 6,2-11

At times when we have problems that overwhelm us, in front of which we have nothing that we can actually do, we are constricted to a choice which is not actually a choice at that point, but a point of no choice! This is what we see in the first reading today. Hezekiah appeals to God and surrenders himself in the Temple when he has absolutely nothing else he can do, faced with a situation so grave.

The Lord asks us, why do you wait till that crucial moment when there is no other go, when you are constricted to absolute straits, when you find yourself at a moment of no choice? Right from the beginning why don't you make the absolute choices, choices that are fundamental, choices that involve absolutely no compromise, choices that take you nowhere else but towards that point that is right! In short, why don't you choose, right from the beginning, all your life, even at the most casual moments and not merely at crucial moments, just God and God alone!

The world would say, a bit of compromise is no issue! And that 'bit' is what will determine everything finally. Giving in that 'bit' will enlarge the room gradually until the space makes our life so comfortable and cozy, enjoyable and easy! But it will also let so many other things right into our lives, making it vulnerable and weak, even without our notice! When crisis arises as a result of it, we might be caught unaware and cry inconsolably, finding fault with God and every thing that is godly in our life.

The best solution: switch to the Narrow Gate Spirituality - don't ask yourself at any moment of choice which is easier, which is more convenient, which is more common, which is the way the whole world goes about. Ask just one question: what is that one thing that God wants of me, just one thing, just one choice, just that narrow gate that exists, through which you would have to squeeze yourself... only a few will find it and fewer will choose it.

We are not here by chance!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

June 24, 2024: Birthday of St. John the Baptist

The Gospels narrate a long list of similarities between the stories of John and Jesus... 

    the apparently 'impossible' conditions in which the mothers conceived, 

    the direct intervention of God in the conception, 

    the apparitions of the angels to the fathers, 

    the prior choice of the name of the child to be born 

    - one simple message is the image of John the Baptist as the precursor of Jesus. But the birth narratives of John and Jesus, together have another important message to reveal to us and that is, we are not here by chance! 

We are part of a complex plan, an eternal design of God. We are willed into existence by God; we are loved into existence, by the Creator! We have a purpose, because God knew us right when we were being formed in the womb of our mothers! We have a special mission because, it is the Lord who has called us by name, even before we were born! We are chosen in the eyes of God, because as St. Paul says, God has chosen us before the foundations of the world in Christ Jesus, to be holy and blameless! 

We are created, called, commissioned and destined to usher in the Reign of God, as John announced the coming of Christ. Let us become aware of our call, our purpose and our destiny, which is much larger than the petty preoccupations of our daily worries!

MISSING GOD

WHO IS RIGHT BESIDE

Pride, Pretence and Preoccupation

June 23, 2024: 12th Sunday in Ordinary time

June 23, 2024: Job 38: 1, 8-11; 2 Corinthians 5: 14-17; Mark 4: 35-41

 

 

In this world, which likes to call itself the Postmodern world, by now it is out of fashion to speak about God. It is either considered an outdated or a conservative practice to refer to God or regarded as a disrespect to humanity to refer to God on any ongoing humanistic issues. To deny God has become an elite and an intellectual habit that a person or a society can grow into. People have no problem in denying the presence of God, or to say the least, they take pride, a philosophical feeling of ascendency, in expressing an agnostic indifference towards God. And some go to the extent of vehemently getting rid of any sign or symbol to do with God from the public sphere! Some make it a fad to speak of “the Universe being so good to them” and “the cosmos coming to their aid” not wishing to name the real source: God, because they wish to be decent and “cultured”! They want a world where God has no place! It could be dissatisfaction or misunderstanding or a circumstantial resentment that has led them to this point of view – but the question that stands out is: is it so difficult to find God? What is that which makes persons not see God who in fact is present right beside us?

First of the reasons could be Pride; a pride which amounts to a conviction that I know everything, that I am capable of anything, that I am the most the important of all who exist in a particular situation, that I am the centre of the entire universe. It is indeed a foolishness that constructs for itself a universe that is so small, that has such a limited understanding of what it means, “everything”! Certainly, there is no denying about the heights that human mind has scaled in these centuries… the scientific and technical advancements that we have accomplished is too tremendous not to wonder at. But the truth is, it is not all, it is not everything, it is not the “universe” that God has caused. Let us just imagine we have only discovered a fraction of the entire reality that exists, if that is the case, should not true knowledge make us more humble, instead of proud?

We heard in the first reading, that part from the book of Job, where the Lord questions the haughtiness of Job, through him, the pride of humanity! How dare we to question the wisdom of the Lord, while we have done all our best to destabilise the harmony in there and create all the chaos within the creation, leading to effects so horrifying and we continue to go ahead in our ways of distortion and destruction! This is the pride of humanity that has ruined every bit of tranquility and serenity possible on earth and wishes to blame it all on what it calls the “dominant arrogance of God”. Whatever goes wrong they wish to attribute to god whom they don’t wish to even name otherwise, and whatever success they wish to claim it for themselves! What a folly we live in.

The second reason that we miss acknowledging the presence of God could be our Pretence. If pride is a foolishness that says, ‘I know everything’, pretence is that foolishness that says, ‘everything is what I know’! It assumes that what I do not know, does not exist! I cannot explain this, I cannot prove this, I cannot quantify this, therefore it does not exist. This is the preposterous pretentiousness with which the world today negates the obvious. There can be no space for mystery, for the spiritual, for the awe that leads to the recognition of the Ultimate Being who is the cause of every other being and never caused or created.

The passage from the letter to the Corinthians we hear today, tells us how we need to realise that we are a new creation, that we need to overgrow the material and carnal standards that we have, and tend towards the standards that Christ has taught us, transforming us into reflections and participations in that Divine being, in whose image we have been created, the image that we carry and that we need to share with the rest of the world. Realising our real image we will find God so close to us, so intimate within us, and so part of us, that we cannot just speak of God, but we would begin to make God present wherever we are, even without being too conscious of it.

The third reason that could impede us from recognizing the Divine presence could be our Preoccupations, justly named so, they pre – occupy our minds not leaving really the space to occupy with the right things and the pertinent things of the moment. There are troubles and problems in our lives, every one of us has his or her share of them. But how is that some are able to handle them will calm, the others not? Or even better, how is that we are able to handle them better some moments, and some other moments no? If we pay keep attention we would realise, the presence of the right perspective is that which makes the difference. From which perspective we approach our challenges, would determine the way we would do it and the manner in which we would live those moments. Perspectives of proving ourselves, winning competitions, overtaking the other and dominating the situation… these would add fuel to the fire of anxiety and panic. While the divine perspectives of love, meaning, brotherhood and sisterhood, living together, making this world a better place… these would make us calm down, and be quiet, because the Lord is there around! Be still, and know that I am, the Lord assures us.

Why are you so frightened? How is it that you have no faith? … these are the questions that the Lord would like to pose to you and me, and to the world of today! Why are we so anxious, so sad, so derelict and so desolate? Why is so much of hopelessness spread around the globe today? Are we missing something very important? Aren’t we missing the Lord, the God who is so close to us, just beside us?  

My Allegiance - to whom?

WORD 2day: Saturday, 11th week in Ordinary time

June 22, 2024 - 2 Chronicles 24: 17-25; Matthew 6: 24-34

Infidelity, compromises, transgressions, forsaking and tryst with the unholy... these were characteristic traits of the so-called 'chosen people', the people with whom the Lord made the covenant: I will be your God and you shall be my people. However unfaithful and treacherous they got, the Lord ever remained faithful and true to the covenant that was made. 

Coming across passages such as we find in today's first reading, we are prone to judge the people of Israel, but let us wait! Let us take a moment to introspect before we point a finger.

Looking at our own life, the Lord has chosen us before the foundations of the world (Eph 1:4) and has made a covenant with us right at our baptism: you shall be my child and I shall be your God. And ever since, how many compromises and transgressions, how many moments of failures and negligences... the Lord however has always been faithful (cf.2 Tim 2:13). 

In the light of today's readings let us raise a fundamental question to ourselves: To whom is my allegiance in my daily concrete living? And how absolute is that allegiance? Integrity demands that only each of us can be our own judge. Analysing each and every little choice that we make and the priorities we act on, will give us a fair picture of our level of fidelity to the One who has called us... our allegiance, to whom is it? To our own egos or to the One who has called us?

The true treasure of God-perspective

WORD 2day: Friday, 11th week in Ordinary time

June 21, 2024 - 2 Kings 11: 1-4,9-18,20; Matthew 6: 19-23

Today there is a prevalent talk about persons all stressed and pressurised, about job situation, about family issues, about relationships, about choices and social expectations, and what not? Persons and societies are highly preoccupied about their wealth and properties, earning and spending, adding to their comforts and fulfilling their dreams, having all the things that they wish to have, hoarding bank balances and shares... afer all the efforts for these, we hear very often today, more often than anytime in history, people who die early and leave behind everything!

Just to look at it, from the first reading - Athalia worked her way up only to be put to the sword in an unceremonious manner! It is so sad to notice that the world today is so ready to offer our relationships, our simple joys and peaceful mind as a sacrifice at that the altar of wealth and position, only to realise that we have lost everything in the craze of hoarding things and power. By the time persons really take note of this, it is already too, too late!

It becomes so important today to mind about one's heart, not only healthwise, but also prudence wise. The more we begin to place our hearts at the right place and place within our hearts the right priorities, the more we shall become Godly. What would set us apart as true children of God is our sense of God, priority for God and never losing the treasure of God-perspective in life. 

In Spimplicty towards Greatness

WORD 2day: Thursday, 11th week in Ordinary Time

June 20, 2024 - Sirach 48: 1-14; Matthew 6: 7-15

Elijah is singled out in the book of Sirach, among the 27 great persons of God praised for their life and accomplishments. Elijah wins that place in his simplicity, in the simplicity with which he trusted in the Lord, the simplicity with which he carried out every single command or wish of the Lord, that simplicity with which he endured his hardships, knowing certainly that the Lord is in control of everything. That simplicity was his true greatness.

This is the very same simplicity that Jesus lived and taught us... the Our Father is an epitome of simplicity prescribed to us not only as a prayer, but as a way of life, as a Spirituality that comes very close to the mind of Christ. The simplicity that is referred to here, lies in the qualities of singlemindedness, absence of pretense and sincere surrender to absolute sovreignity of the Almighty. That is what the Lord's prayer teaches us: a whole philosophy or politics of life. Its greatness lies in its simplicity. 

How simple are our prayers? How simple is our faithful trust in the Lord? How simple is our relationship with God on a daily basis...that simplicty would be our guaranteed way to true greatness!

To stay clear of trivialities

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 11th week in Ordinary time

June 19, 2024 - 2 Kings 2:1, 6-14; Matthew 6: 1-6, 16-18

The only condition placed before Elisha, that he may receive a double share of the Spirit possessed by Elijah, was that Elisha should see Elijah being taken away by God. The challenge here is not to miss what is central to whatever we are involved in, being distracted with the trivialities.

The Gospel places the same condition before us. The actions that we do will have their true value depending on the fact whether the centrality of the right element was ensured. Praying, fasting and almsgiving are the three actions mentioned in the Gospel today and they together epitomise the entire religious practice of a Jew, not to forget even for us as followers of Christ. Jesus was not belittling them in any way but was putting them in the right perspective. The point is: not to miss what is central to it, in getting distracted with the trivialities of human recognition and immediate rewards.

In our relationship with ourselves, with others and with God, we are invited to pay attention to the most central of all concerns: that is, to do what is most pleasing to God at any given instant. Any other concern is only a triviality, however good or practical it could be. The spiritual prudence that Jesus teaches us today is to stay clear of the trivialities and place God at the centre and at the core. Never to miss God on our daily journey would means that we ensure that we stay always clear of trivialities in life. 

Loving all... deserving? not deserving?

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 11th week in Ordinary time

June 18, 2024 - 1 Kings 21: 17-29; Matthew 5: 43-48

We normally have a list of people who are our favourites and another list of those who do not deserve our kindliness, our compassion, our understanding or our love. We come to that conclusion after a series of experiences with them and ordinarily speaking, that conclusion would seem to everyone as just and understandable. The Lord instructs us today, to convert that list into your priority list, and start loving those in that list; start loving those who allegedly do not deserve to be loved according to your judgment.

We may hear ourselve saying, or even crying out, "Oh that is not possible?" If we do so, the Lord would immediately retort: you are no different from those who are far away from me! If we are to be known as children of God, we better start loving those, so-called undeserving persons, with genuine love from our hearts!

We have examples: let us look at the first reading today. The Lord loves Ahab... however cruel and ruthless he had been... the Lord forgives and loves. He might have been undeserving but the Lord loves! But why go so far: each of us, let us consider our own life - are we really deserving to receive all the love that God showers on us? Can we still speak about these categories of who is deserving and who not! Can we really maintain that list of those who do not deserve my love? 

If I do, will I ever deserve the love that God has for me?

An extra mile, yes; but compromise, no!

WORD 2day: Monday, 11th week in Ordinary Time

June 17, 2024 - 1 Kings 21: 1-16; Matthew 5: 38-42

Ahab seems a strange man! One would get confused whether he was a virtuous man or a villainous man when they see his profile as it appears in the book of Kings. He never seems to be doing evil, but remains still the cause and the source of a series of evil acts. He seems to have some kind of a fear of God but it finally amounts to a pseudo reverence to God, as he approves of the evil done by others and draws heavily from those. 

The Gospel today recommends us to go the extra mile for the other's sake! But can that mean doing anything to please the other? That is not what it means! There can be no compromises when it comes to certain values or certain decisions to be made in life. A true Godly person would be one who is ready for any sacrifice for the sake of the other, keeping to what the Word demands, but never ready even for the slightest compromise on what the Word teaches as values of living as a child of God. 

Ahab might not have done evil, but he had made compromises! Whoever knew it or not, he knew it and God knew it. That is the key. When we make compromises that are subtle, it does not matter who knows it or not, we know it well and the Lord knows it. Don't we need to be mindful of it? We are not here to judge the intentions of the other but let us not forget, our own intentions they are as bright as the day for the Lord and we cannot escape from them. That is what happened to Ahab - he might have given all the good image that he could about himself, but he knew that he had always the responsibility for his compromises. 

Today, when we have to go an extra mile to forgive, accept and love all those brothers and sisters of ours who have something against us, we are also challenged never to compromise on what is true, good and acceptable in the eyes of the Lord - do we possess this Christian competence? 

THE WAY OF FAITH

Surrender, Transcendence and Awe

June 16, 2024 - 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Ezekiel 17: 22-24; 2 Corinthians 5: 6-10; Mark 4: 26-34

The parable in the Gospel today is a fascinating one, specially taking into consideration the tall unrealistic claims of certain sections of humanity, who forget their limitation and vulnerability in their times of upward mobility. Life is filled with ups and downs, twists and turns, and curves and bends, that we are at times at a total loss as to how one can understand and approach issues in life. In spite of this there is no end to the haughtiness of human kind, especially on the part of certain sections of humanity which thinks, imagines and acts as if every thing is in their perfect control. Unfortunately, their attitude, their claims and the decisions that these so-called powerful sections make, affect the entire lots, particularly, the simple and weak, the voiceless and the meek. Human beings would do well to understand that so many elements in their life is actually not in their control and so many other elements that they would like to blame it on something beyond, is actually their making. The Word this Sunday, invites us to understand the right sense of this perspective of life - the human-divine relationship.

Our faith life, specially in days such as these, when we are going through tough times, comes into crisis. There are other days when we may not pay even the least attention to this aspect of our life, because we are flying on the top of the world riding the waves of the good times. The call is simple: to have a clear perspective that would guide our life consistently - whether in happiness or sadness, whether in problems or amidst prospects, whether facing failures or relishing success, we would remain balanced and in equanimity. Is it not the key to understand a truly "spiritual" person in Christ-ian terms. 

What is this right sense, according to the Word given us today:

1. A Sense of Surrender

First is a sense of Surrender that would remind us always that there is someOne beyond us who not only controls us and moves us around, but loves us and cares for us. At times the difference between an impersonalistic theism and Trinitarian faith is eclipsed and forgotten due to some of our modes of interpretation and approach. We look at God as some kind of force controlling everything and determining things before hand or taking to task those that which upsets God's plan! Instead, God is our loving parent, someOne who is walking beside us, helping us to make sense of our life at every step of it...some of those steps may be difficult, some advantageous, some challenging, some even unbearable...but we are through all these, and God is with us. The first reading reminds us of this sovereignty of God, and our need to understand that this Sovereign God is with us, helping us cope with whatever be the moment in life. It is not always easy to take it that way, but the way of faith helps us - if we develop the sense of surrender and say, Lord, you are the Sovereign, you have your way, and I follow.

2. A Sense of Transcendence

The second is a sense of Transcendence that makes me aware of the fact that I am created by God, called by God and meant for God. I belong to God and I need to have that longing to belong to God totally...it is not merely a grammar of the consecrated way of life...every Christian in fact is called, consecrated and commissioned to belong to God. The second reading from St. Paul may sound like promoting the dichotomy between body and spirit...it is not the point that the Apostle is making. The point is, our life is not merely what we have here. The body, the world, the things, the experiences, the others, the attachments, the pleasures, the likes, the dislikes, the discomforts, the problems, the difficulties, the temptations...all of these are passing. And there is just One who is eternal...and that is God. Our way of faith has to help us realise this fact more and more, it happens gradually. We grow into this sense, the sense of transcendence has to come by, as days and years and experiences go by. The way of faith helps us tell God, Lord, for you and for you alone I long, hide not your face from me and I shall transcend everything.

3. A Sense of Awe

The third sense is that of Awe that makes me remain always in wonder like a child who looks at everything with a freshness, the freshness which is not ignorance but innocence. A sense of awe helps me give God the place that truly belongs to God. God has an indispensable place in this world, in my life and in everything that exists...how prepared am I to give that space. The exaggerated claims of some - that we are in control of everything, that we can predict everything and that we can tackle everything - are being questioned and broken with a lot of experiences these days. Let us not make the mistake of making that an experience to point and finger and cruely make statements against the suffering humanity. What is important is to allow our mind and our spirit to have and to grow in a sense of awe at the presence of God with us, around us and in us. Just like that seed buried, lives on, sprouts and grows into a life form...so does our life too... it is guided by the power of God, the magnificence of God, the loving aura of God. The more we surrender to that sense of awe, we shall become that presence of awe for others, specially those who are struggling to find it for themselves in their life! The way of faith should help us see the presence of God in every thing, and in every moment of life and say, Lord, I see you and I stand in awe of you! 

Our way of faith needs to be marked by these remarkable senses - sense of surrender, sense of transcendence and sense of awe. May the Spirit help us in this way of life!