St. Joseph, our Co-pilgrim towards Hope!

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

March 19, 2025 - Solemnity of St. Joseph, husband of Mary and Foster father of Jesus

2 Samuel 7: 4-5, 12-14, 16; Romans 4: 13, 16-18, 22; Matthew 1: 16-24

We celebrate the feast of Joseph, the foster father of the Saviour, the husband of Mary, an extraordinary model on our pilgrimage of hope! Joseph reminds of three important figures in the Old Testament and right enough they are presented to us by the Word today... and through that resemblance he brings to us three fundamental dimensions of hope.

Joseph - and Abraham the father of faith: hope in impossibility

One of the primary figures whom Joseph reminds us of, is Abraham. Some how Joseph takes on himself an image of the partriarchs... we do not know really why, but it is a natural resemblance. That is why, most of the times when Joseph is depicted in a painting, he is depicted old, aged and wise. Nothing in the Gospels tells us that Joseph was old... may be our tendency to see him in the ranks of those patriarchs inspires such art forms. Leaving that aside, let us come to the figure of Abraham that Joseph resembles - Abraham is a prophet of impossibility! St. Paul explains that to us. He says, Abraham hoped against hope, and that is why he is the father of faith for all of us. 

Joseph when he found his wife with the child before his marriage with her, found that nothing could be done about it. Just imagine, who would accept that. Is that not a an impossibility almost...and Joseph accepts that role become the prophet of impossibility, and giving us hope in moments which seem to be moments of impossibility.

Joseph - and David the chosen servant of God: hope in unworthiness

There could be no one among the servants that God chose for Godself, more beloved to God than David. God loved David and was proud of this son! For his sake and in his name, there were so many promises made... to his son Solomon, to the people, that his reign would not end, and so on. Was David such an exceptionally faithful person... absolutely no! He failed in almost all the fundamental commands of the Lord: do no kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, keep sabbath holy... but one thing that David would never do... compromise on his God! He was totally aware of his unworthiness, but in all that unworthiness, he never left the hand of God. He held on to it and the Lord saw that feeble but loving child with favour. Joseph who came in the lineage of David, from the house of David, recalls this trait of a child of God. 

Joseph was weak too... he wanted to give up on Mary. But the Lord directed him and he surrrendered to abide by the direction of the Lord. We do not see Joseph speak anywhere, may be because he was not certain about anything that was happening, just as no one else was. But one thing he was certain... in all that unoworthiness, never to leave the hand of God and that the hand of God would lead him on. Accepting our unworthiness, at no point, will make us less disposed to experience the love of God. Instead, the more we realise that, the more hope shall we be filled with.

Joseph - and Joseph the dreamer: hope in adversities

The very name of Joseph, takes us back to the Old Testament Joseph, the patriarch...and not just that. The dreamer that Joseph of Old Testament was, is seen in Joseph the leader of the holy family too. Joseph, son of Jacob, suffered... suffered because of his dreams, but he lived on by those dreams. Joseph is presented by the scholars as a prefigurement of Christ himself, in various dimensions of his life, but especially in his absolute surrender to the holy will of God and his perfect readiness to suffer all adversities for the sake of God, and God's eternal plan. 

Joseph, had to hunt for a place to provide for his family, run away to protect the family, get back by the direction of the Lord. He faced all the tragedies without a word of complaint. Non of these adversities broke him...he knew to hope in adversities. If we are playing by the plan of God, we shall fear no adversities, because it is the Lord who fights our battle (2 Chronicles 20: 15). Hope in adversities makes us prepared to endure and persevere in our pilgrimage of hope. 

St. Joseph, thus becomes our co-pilgrim on our pilgrimage of hope. Joseph teaches us to hope in moments of impossibity, hope even amidst our realisation of unworthiness, and hope even at experiences of adversities! St. Joseph is model in being pilgrims of hope. 

Today is also the 12 anniversary of the day when Pope Francis assumed the Petrine Office. LEt us entrust him to the Lord, through the intercession of St. Joseph. May St. Joseph intercede for each of us that we may be strengthened in our call to be pilgrims of hope today.

A Return to hope... towards true Glory

THE WORD IN LENT - Tuesday, Second week in Lent

March 18, 2025 - Isaiah 1: 10, 16-20;  Matthew 23: 1-12

We began this week with a call to return to the homeland... the question we raised then, which is the homeland. At times we have the tendency to fix our own homelands and not the original one, and thus go about our choices so mistaken ruining our own lives and that of the entire humanity and the universe! That is why today the Word points to us the true homeland, the true glory that we need to tend to. 

It is not our own petty glory before those who are around me. That has become an overriding criterion that does not permit me to live my life the way it ought to be. I begin to be compromising, pretentious, megalomaniac and so on... because I wish to prove myself before the others and command glory and respect from them. 

The real glory is in our humility... those who humbe themselves shall be exalted. It is in that humility that we will acknowledge our limitations and the reality of our being... that is where the Lord encounters us and there shall be a dialogue... come let us discuss, the Lord invites us.

Let us seek that true glory and that will take us back to hope, back to our homeland!

A Return to hope... Recognition and Response

THE WORD IN LENT - Monday, Second Week of Lent

March 17, 2025 - Daniel 9: 4-10; Luke 6: 36-38

A RETURN TO HOPE... TO THE HOMELAND

The fact, the pact and the foretaste

Second Sunday in Lent - March 16, 2025

Genesis 15: 5-12, 17-18; Philippians 3:17 - 4:1; Luke 9: 28-36 

The Fact:

Our life is a pilgrimage, a pilgrimage towards our eternal homeland. It is a fact that we are passing by, but how prepared are we to accept that, recognise that and make it our perspective?

The Pact:

How are we so sure that the Lord has the homeland prepared for us? The Pact, the covenant... that is the eternal promise, there can be no doubt about it. Only issue could be that we make ourselves not worthy of that homeland by our choices and our priorities, but we have an open and persistent invitation to grow into heaven, our homeland.

The Foretaste:

The Lord gives us a foretaste of this glory, the splendour that the Lord has prepared for us, as our homeland. Just as Jesus gives his disciples the foretaste of the future glory, so does the Lord give us in many ways - our celebrations, the sacraments, every eucharist, our successes in life - all of these are foretastes of the splendour promised us. 

A Return to hope... towards Perfection

THE WORD IN LENT - Saturday, First week in Ordinary time

March 15, 2025 - Deuteronomy 26: 16-19; Matthew 5: 43-48

The pilgrimage, the journey, the return to the roots... these are the themes predominant in these days of lent and yesterday we affirmed this saying lent is a journey towards renewal. The Word today is raising a further question, a journey and a renewal upto what? What is that point of arrival? And the answer is: Perfection. The destination is perfection. Now the alarm - Oh, is it possible for us weak and limited human beings to arrive at that perfection? And what does this perfection really mean?

The Lord or the Word today responds with clarity both of these crucial questions: first of all, yes it is possible! Not in the way we imagine... that at a point of time, we are totally perfect! We can never say that, but we can and we ought to keep moving towards that perfection. The way is clear, the means is defined, the route is predetermined, if we really wish to journey towards that perfection - and it is Love! 

This perfection is not something that is alien to us, says Jesus. You have your model - your Father in heaven. Be ye perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. You can grow to be that, because you have been already granted that image. What matters is that you need to shed all that does not go with that image within you; choose all that fits that image; and grow into that image. And that image is your Father, because God is love. 

Love. Love like your Father in heaven. Love one another as I have loved you... without expecting it in return, without calculating the cost it would demand and without counting the number and volume of difficulties it would land you in, love every one! That is the way to perfection and it is not alien to us, because we have received that love, we have enjoyed that love and we have been thriving because of that love, whether we recognise it or not. Hence, to love is not an option; it is the only way to Christian perfection! 

A Return to hope... towards Renewal

THE WORD IN LENT - Friday, First week in Ordinary time

March 14, 2025 - Ezekiel 18: 21-28; Matthew 5: 20-26

New heart, new spirit, renouncing evils ways, towards deeper sense of virtue... these themes that the Word presents to us today, remind us of the fact that the journey to hope, the lenten journey, has to be a process of renewal, a transformation of our heart and mind. Hearing this we might say, but I am not "wicked" or "evil" as the Word speaks of today, after all my sins are so petty and small! 

Let us beware: are there sins that are small and those that are big? Aren't we speaking about being faithful to our nature and not being so, being committed to our call and not being so... can that have grades? Aren't sins anyway ungodly, no matter of what measure they are? These are the cautionary reflections that the Word provokes within us today. 

Today the society is adept at finding justifications and excuses for all choices and actions. What's in a word, who does not do this today, it's become normal by far... these are some of the oft repeated phrases by the moral relativists of today who tend to justify anything in the sense of being normal or rational. When Jesus questions some of the laws and regulations, some legalities and conventions, he is not belittling moral judgements, he challenges us to 'a deeper understanding of virtues and a more diligent faithfulness to integrity'. 

Integrity, that is the key word to renewal, not subservience to law or norms. Integrity refers to my innermost yearnings, my deep seated identity and my vocation from the One who has willed me into existence. Once I realise that, my journey changes its direction, from going in search of what is truth and what is right, it takes me within me to discern them and listen to the voice from within - that calls me to renewal, a renewal of my entire being, everyday!

A Return to hope... to the right sense of Prayer

THE WORD IN LENT - Thursday, First week in Ordinary time

March 13, 2025 - Esther 4: 17; Matthew 7: 7-12

Ask, seek and knock... is a very popularly quoted teaching of Christ, not just by Christian literatures but even the others which wishes to explain what prayer is all about. Looking at this passage within our pilgrimage of return to hope, we have a particular dimension to be highlighted from the Word today. Let begin with a question - do I get all that I ask; do I find all that I seek; or does everything that I knock open for me? Of course, in all sincerity, the answer cannot be "yes". But why?

The Gospel Acclamation gives us a clue to respond to that question - a pure heart create for me O God... it is that pure heart that makes all the difference. That is why James instructs us: "when you ask, you do not receive, because you asl with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures" (James 4: 3). What is this pure heart that we are speaking about here - is it some kind of spiritual elitism that we are promoting? Certainly not. 

The First reading gives us an illustration of this pure heart and explains to us what the right sense of prayer should be, if we really wish to be identified as "people of God". The pure heart is manifested by Esther when she prays with her whole being and calls all her actions and sacrifices almost nothing, and surrenders the entire course of events to the Lord. How prepared are we to do this, is the crucial reflection left to us. 

The journey to hope essentiall comprises of this return to the right sense of prayer - from asking, seeking and knocking for the sake of our plans, projects and pleasure, to asking the Lord to reveal God's plans to us, seek to understand the way that God has prepared for us and knocking to open the right avenues so that we may journey on with love, towards hope and trust in the loving providence of the Lord. 

A Return to hope... the sign of the Saving Word

THE WORD IN LENT - Wednesday, First week of Lent

March 12, 2025 - Jonah 3: 1-10; Luke 11: 29-32

Yesterday we were presented with the theme of the living Word of God that does not fail to produce its fruits! That may leave us with a question still: but how is that in spite of this unfailing Word there is so much left undone - there is evil in the world, the evil persons seem to thrive, there are innocents suffering, there are things that are so far away from what God really wills for us! How do we really believe that there is something called God's will? The world goes even to the extent of asking, so is there a God? If so, what is the sign?

Jesus today tells us - no sign shall be give except the sign of Jonah! That is the point of discussion today: the sign of Jonah. What is it? It is the sign of the Saving Word. The Word saves, but when? When we are ready to receive it. Hence the sign of Jonah consists of three dispositions.

The first is to open our hearts and listen to the Word. What can the Word really do, if not received? Let us recall the parable of the sower... what can the seed do if it is not received?

The second is to discern the saving call of the Word. The Word, it is not enough merely to listen to it, it has to be acted upon. Discern, decide and act upon the Word. If we only listen, we are deceiving ourselves, isn't that what Jesus said?

The third is to trust and keep trusting in the Word. At times we may be tried with troubles and crises. What we need to do is not looking out for some one or something to hold on to... but remain with the Lord, trust in the Word and keep living it; we shall experience the saving grace of the Lord. 

We need to remain in the race, keep running and complete the course, come what may on our way, and the crown awaits us without doubt - that is the sign of the Saving Word. 

A Return to hope - to the roots of interiority

THE WORD IN LENT - Tuesday, First week of Lent

March 11, 2025 - Isaiah 55: 10-11; Matthew 6: 7-15

The pilgrim journey this lent, the return to hope, has to begin with the identification of the real roots. The Word has been instructing us this, the past two days and today outlines to us where one of our real roots lie - the Word, the life giving Word, the Word of the Lord. 

Our words have to be the expression of our innermost selves. There is a poignant call today to look at our words, not just words articulated but words that lie around in minds and in our hearts. They are indeed the manifestation of the core of our beings. The first reading draws attention to the fact how the Word of the Lord becomes the extension of God's self, going out there and "creating" what is intended! Thus should be each of our words - they need to become lifegiving, creative, generative! 

Words that are not meant, the words that are wrongly utilised and the words that are spurted from the most flimsiest of our emotions, are most often highly degenerative. They create wrong effects, to beging with, within ourselves and then in those who are around us. The Word of the Lord is presented to us as the model and challenge - how they are manifestations of integrity, because they come from the innermost Being of God, from the Most Integral Being that we can imagine - after all, integrity is holiness.

For us too, if the words that we utter or those which we do not finish uttering, come from that interiority, they shall be profound, they shall be life-giving, they shall reflect our root: the unfailing Word that God is. This is where the prayer that Jesus teaches us today finds itself situated - Jesus begins by discouraging us from using words unnecessarily! The Prayer of "Our Father" that is taught today by Jesus, thus contains a profound sense of integrity, as it requires be said from the core of our selves, just as the Words of the Lord about which we hear in the first reading - every phrase in it, has a profound element to add to our faith and identity. 

The call is simply to a greater interiority; to mean every word we say, to say only what we mean and this grow in the integrity of our interiority... that is essential holiness. 

A Return to hope - Identifying the real roots

THE WORD IN LENT - Monday, First week of Lent

March 10, 2025 - Leviticus 19: 1-2, 11-18; Matthew 25: 31-46

The Word has initiated us into a line of thought and reflection from yesterday, and this perspective will continue to present itself right through this week - returning to hope is returning to our roots. The journey of returning to our roots begins with identifying the right roots, because in the process there could be some illusions and delusions that we need to beware.

Let us begin with the easiest of ways pointed out to return to hope and to return to our roots... it is doing good. I call that easiest, not because it does not cost anything. It does cost. We shall have to apply ourselves and sacrifice ourselves to do good...but comparing to those which are coming further in a while, this is the easiest... in the realm of doing. We think, we decide, we set apart our resources and our energy and do something good to others!

Getting further, the step is, to declare why I am doing the good that I am doing. Of course, now you understand why I called the previous one, the easiest. It is not so easy to declare why I am doing the good I am doing - first of all, I need to realise it myself; that requires being highly reflexive. Secondly, I need to be sincere to myself, to recognise and affirm what I have realised. And thirdly, to declare it to the others. Most of the times, with all the refraint from being too judgemental, we do good to others, for our own sakes - may be for good name, for some returns, for a blessing from the Lord... the motives could range from those simply selfish to those highly spiritual. 

The third step is, to look at the call to be good rather than restricting ourselves to doing good! That is a totally different level: being good, being holy, being godly - because the One who has called us wants us to be so! Be holy, be good... the doing has to essentially flow from the being! That is our true roots - the Most Holy Being - that is God, who has called us to be holy, to be good, because God is good; God is Holy.