A RETURN TO HOPE... TOWARDS THE FRUITS

Burning bush, Turning people & Warning Christ

March 23, 2025 - THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT

Exodus 3: 1-8, 13-15; 1 Corinthians 10: 1-6, 10-12; Luke 13: 1-9

Burning Bush

Refers to God, who wishes to act on our behalf; who intervenes in ways known only to God; who makes the ground we stand on, a holy ground!

Turning People

We are hard headed and stone hearted that whatever sign or wonder that God manifested, we are intent and obstinate on doing what we wish to and holding on what we desired!

Warning Christ

As the personification of the eternal and unlimited mercy of God, Christ offers us timely and repeated warning that the time is near and the Reign of God is close... We need to move swiftly towards the fruits we are called to bear!

A Return to hope... to the eternal mercy of God!

WORD IN LENT - Saturday, Second week in Lent

March 22, 2025 - Micah 7: 14-15, 18-20; Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32 

A return to hope, is a call that we have, not just this lent or not just at a particular time, but all our lives. We are called to get back to the Lord and the Lord never hesitates to lead us to himself or to embrace us when we reach out. The Lord "delights in showing mercy" the first reading tells us. God does not grudgingly extend his mercy, because obviously we are so unworthy of it. The Lord is forever merciful and endlessly merciful, eternal is his mercy - because it is not that the Lord has compassion; but the Lord is compassion and love; the Lord is mercy. 

But can that make us think that we can do whatever we like and the mercy of God will come reach us? There is a little hitch here... because we have to choose to receive that mercy. The mercy is in abundance and never refused with God, but we have to look for it, ask for it and behold it, in our concrete situation of life. The offer remains, but it is upto us to take it. 

When can we take advantage of that offer... not when we think, anyway the mercy is in abundance and it is for all, therefore I could do whatever I wish to and the mercy will be mine. I have a personal responsibility to avail myself of that mercy and I can do it, by coming to my senses and coming back to it, from the farlands that I have crossed over to! 

Like the younger son in the parable today, first I need to realise I have gone away and faraway; secondly, feel sorry that I have gone thus; and thirdly, decide to come back to the mercy. I need to decide and get up and walk back - RETURN... to that eternal mercy of God. The Lord never tires to forgive us, embrace us back into his love and make his once again his beloved sons and daughters. 

A Return to hope... hope in adversities

THE WORD IN LENT - Friday, Second week in Lent

March 21, 2025 - Genesis 37:3-4,12-13,17-28; Matthew 21:33-43,45-46

Living in hope does not mean everything will be in my favour; living for God does not guarantee that every thing in my life shall be pleasant and enjoyable. On the contrary, when I begin to choose God, when I begin to choose truth, when I begin to choose hope, precisely then my sufferings, troubles and temptations shall increase and intensify! How prepared am I? Yesterday the Word said, when I hope in the Lord, I am like that tree planted on the banks of the river... the question is, when tough times come can I stay there with hope, letting out my roots to the waters that run deep? 

They are specially the moments of difficulties and struggles which we could call the moments of adversities, that define the strength of my faith and the presence or absence of my hope. Hope in adversities, defines the life of a true Christian who does not hesistate to pick his or her cross and follow the Master... towards death, but ultimately towards resurrection.

We have in the first reading, Joseph of the Old Testament, who is faced with adversity in his life, and this was not the end of it. He would be facing many more such and even worse! But he goes about them all without a word of lament, because he had his trust pinned on the Lord, his hope stongly founded on the relationship with God (faith). While on our part it is a lesson to inculcate within us a sense of never dying hope and never failing trust in the Lord, on the Lord's part it is an assurance of his promise: for I know the plans I have for you, plans for your welfare not for your ruin (cf. Jeremiah 29:11). 

Jesus alludes to the experience of Joseph, combining it to what he was being put through, in the parable we find in the Gosple passage today! Hope in adversities - what great model can we have than the Crucifix that stands right in front of our eyes, whenever we enter the sanctuary of the presence of the Lord. That is limit to our hope, already lived as a witness by the Son of God... that we go to the farthest extent in trusting the Lord, holding the hand of God and going ahead on our life's journey! 

 

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

THE WORD IN LENT - Thursday, Sec0nd week in Lent

March 20, 2025 - Jeremiah 17:5-10; Luke 16: 19-31

Hope, what is it all about? It is about the future... that everything is going to be fullfilled. Now the question is, where does that feeling come from? From our wealth, from our power, from our strength, from our capacity to do things, from our ability to pull strings? 

Hope come from a trust is that is built up, out of a relationship. That relationship with God is faith. Hence hope is based on the trust that arises from our faith! The question remains: where does come hope rest? On human beings or human realities, or on God and God's promises? This contrast is brought in direct terms in the first reading where we are called reflect on how blessed the one who places his or her trust entirely in the Lord; and on the corollary, what a curse one brings upon oneself the more he or she trusts in the things that are passing!

There is a second contrast that offered to the one who goes towards the right sense of truth and the other who does otherwise - the former is like the trees by the river, even when apparently there seems no water in the stream, they find the unseen ground water that sustains them and keeps them alive. Whereas the latter are like the bushes in the middle of nowhere - when it rains they come up and look so dense and green, but soon find their end as the dryness takes over!

There is yet another contrast that Jesus offers in the parable that he narrates, providing a grounded illustration of the facts spoken of by the Word today - Lazarus who had no one else to rely on and was rewarded with the eternal bliss; and the rich man who had nothing else to bother but his own ease and wellbeing! We know where the right sense of trust remains and what takes us onwards in our journey of hope. 

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!