DARE TO BEHOLD THE REIGN

Dream, Discern, Determine...

Second Sunday in Advent - December 07, 2025

Isaiah 11: 1-10; Romans 15: 4-9; Matthew 3: 1-12

Repent, for the Reign of God is close at hand, in fact it is right in your midst; do you dare to behold the Reign? That is the question that the second Sunday of Advent raises to us. The Reign is the hope of the pilgrims… and as pilgrims we are called to develop within us the capacity to behold the Reign, the signs of the Reign, the seeds of the Reign and the possibilities of the Reign. At times, although it is right to say we await the Reign, it is more apt to say, we behold the Reign, because the Reign has been already inaugurated by our Lord, the incarnate Son, who came to live with us to make us understand that we are people of the Reign and the Reign is our hope… which is to be beheld in our day to day experiences. That, actually, is a dare… that we begin to dream, that we strive to discern and we remain determined about our hope.

 

Dare to Dream, tells us Isaiah today – the Reign is a dream! Just look at Isaiah’s words today… I personally had a very childish curiosity to see what would that scene be like, if what Isaiah explains becomes a prompt to create a AI image… just have a look at it if you wish to, on my blog: https://thots-n-lots.blogspot.com/2025/12/is-ai-ah-11.html ! It is a dream… but a dream of hope! That is what it is on the mountain of the Lord, says Isaiah and that is what our land would be, if we realise the Reign of God here and now. Is that possible? A big Yes and a sad No! A big “yes” because it is indeed possible when everyone loves the other… as St. Paul instructs the Romans, if everyone begins to respect and regard the other and remain united to the other in the Lord – it is indeed the Reign of God on earth. It would certainly be a “no”, if the forces of violence and hatred, deception and corruption, selfishness and wickedness, continue to take the world by force and rule over it.

 

The Dream requires us to Discern… “I have a dream” is a beautiful thing to say! But what kind of a dream? To be the most powerful on earth, to possess everything that I can set my eyes on, to have every one under my control and command…even these are dreams! There are those who have these dreams and they are already doing enough damage to the world. The dreams that we have, need to be discerned with the help of the Spirit, the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of justice and peace, the Spirit of righteousness and wisdom! We have a clear criterion given: ‘following the example of Christ Jesus.’ The criteria of discernment presented by John the Baptist is the same again – the baptism of the Spirit and fire, brought to us by the King, who invites us to his Reign, the Reign of truth and justice, righteousness and peace, true joy and eternal happiness. It is a choice – we need to make that choice because the time is near; the axe has already been laid at the roots… if we do not bear the right fruits we shall be felled. The discernment has to lead us to a clear choice and determination!

 

The Discernment leads to Determination… when apostle Paul refers to “he who helps us when we refuse to give up,” he is inviting us to have the spirit of the Prophets – like Isaiah and the Baptist through whom the Word speaks to us today! Determination for the Reign, prepares us for the worst – hard realities of life as symbolized by the austere life style of the Baptist, opposition and persecution as the death of John the Baptist exemplifies and rejection and isolations as most of the prophets, John the Baptist and Jesus himself experienced in their days. Determination overcomes any possible fear or pessimism, making one go to any extreme, even unto death, as we see in the example of the prophets. It requires real determination to behold the Reign, for it is an extreme challenge to live by the Spirit of the Reign. However, it is our very identity, our call, our vocation – to belong to Christ, to belong to the Reign.

We, as pilgrims are hope, are called to realise the hope as pilgrims – that the Reign is ours and the Reign is here amidst us. We become truly people of the Reign, when we dare to behold the Reign – with our dreams, discernment and determination. 

Is-AI-ah 11

If Isaiah was an AI : 

isAIah 11: 6-8 

The wolf lives with the lamb,

the panther lies down with the kid,

calf and lion feed together,

with a little boy to lead them.

The cow and the bear make friends,

their young lie down together.

The lion eats straw like the ox.

The infant plays over the cobra’s hole;

into the viper’s lair

the young child puts his hand.

Work with the Reign

THE WORD IN ADVENT

First Saturday in Advent - December 6, 2025

Isaiah 30: 19-21, 23-26; Matthew 9:35 - 10:1,5,6-8

Freely you have received, freely you shall give - commissions the Lord. The Lord invites us to give, what we have received - in other words, the Lord calls us to be collaborators of the Reign. This is established in what the Lord wants us to give. We read in the Gospel today: go, cast the demons out and cure all kinds of diseases and sicknesses, because the Reign of God is close at hand. The Lord wants us to work closely with the Reign.

 

Isaiah explains that Reign in terms of green pastures, fulfilled life, abundance of light and healing of wounds. That is the sign of the coming of the Lord, the characteristics of the Reign of God. That is what we are called to construct together, to work on together, to establish together... but how are we called?

By that whisper into our ears - you will hear the voice of your Master, go to the right or go to the left, because that is the right way to go, the right choice to make, the right life to choose! The call is very clear and personal, provided we are ready to hear that voice! 

God our Father and Mother, is the example for us: the Lord is gracious to us and hears; hearing the cry of the poor, the needy and the suffering the Lord comes to their aid. So are we called to be with those who are in need, and come to the aid of those who are crying out to the Lord. How prepared and disposed are we to listen - be it to the cry of the needy, or be it to the voice of the Lord whispering into our ears, directing us what to do and where to go. 

The harvest is plenty and the time is near, we are called to work with the Reign, as the Lord wishes us to... let us pay heed and find our fulfilment in working with the Reign. 

Beginning to see the Reign!

THE WORD IN ADVENT

First Friday in Advent - December 05, 2025

Isaiah 27: 17-24; Matthew 9: 27, 31

The blind shall see, the deaf shall hear, the lowly shall rejoice, the poor shall exult… we will all begin to see the Reign – that is the promise that the Word leaves us with today! The transformation happens when we begin to see, and there are so many conditions that prevent us from seeing the Reign.

Blindness due to the haze and glaze, due to pessimism or naivety – this happens often. The haze of dust and fog which blocks our vision cannot render what is out there non-existent. The glaze of what we permit from within to remain or hang on, does not affect the quality of what exists out there.  However, what is out there becomes futile when it is not beheld. 

This is the case with the Reign, that is amidst us. It is a grace that we begin to see the Reign; your faith shall enable you to behold what is! To believe that the Lord can do it and to entrust it all in faith to the Lord, to become aware of the Lord who is right there beside us and shout out to the Lord for mercy and grace… that is what will enable us to see the Reign! 

The hope of the pilgrims is the Reign and it is ever present, provided we are ready to behold it. The more we allow the negativities of the world and the doubts within to creep up, the more we shall become callous to the Lord who wants to help us see, enable us hear and empower us to be the change that we long for. It is the lowly and the poor, the simple and the child-like who will truly behold the Lord’s actions and begin to see the Reign.  

Belong to the Reign

THE WORD IN ADVENT 

First Thursday in Advent - December 04, 2025

Isaiah 26: 1-6; Matthew 7: 21, 24-27

The Rock is the imagery that connects the first reading and the Gospel today, inviting us to reflect on the Reign in two respects - as the strong city built and awaiting us to enter; and as the  source of meaning and purpose of our life in its essence. 

Let us begin with that question: who can enter the Reign of God? Reign of God is the figured as the city of God - that imagery can recall to our mind the classic literature of St. Augustine where he contrasts the two cities, and invites us to belong to that city that belongs to God. It is a call for a choice - the same as what Ezekiel gives us today or Jesus in the Gospel. Reign of God is a choice we make, not a place we build. 

Secondly there is the rock, the ground, the source of sustenance, the solid foundation on which I am invited to build my life. The process is tough, challenging and discouraging - because we can see so many short-cuts and success stories right in front of our eyes! But pretty well do we know that those are just mirages, appearing so attractive and pleasing to the perception, hiding a direct portal to perdition behind them. 

The Reign is the life built on the Eternal Rock, that is our Lord. It is a life style, a culture, a shared experience built on the values and priorities of the Gospel - that of love, peace and communion. It is there that the Reign is built, as the City of God... on a rock solid ground of turth, justice and integrity. Choosing it we would step into a life of challenges and hardships, however we are called to choose, to choose to belong to the Reign!

On behalf of the Reign

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

December 3, 2025 - Celebrating St. Francis Xavier

Ezekiel 3: 17-21; 1 Corinthians 9: 16-19, 22-23; Mark 16: 15-20. 

We celebrate St. Francis Xavier the partron of the Missions today! Every year this commemoration comes within the season of Advent, and for those in Asia, especially in India, it is recommended as a feast... because the great missionary has a strong, important and pertinent message to give us today.  

The Message is about the mission of every Christian, as Ezekiel reminds us today - that we are called to proclaim not as a privilege nor as a profession, but as our personal identity, arising from the very definition of being persons of God. The Gospel reminds us that it is to be carried to every nook and corner of the earth, in simple terms, every where we are, without exceptions. But there are problems and difficulties, dangers and challenges - yes, that is part of the message. 

The Mission of proclamation has a very special affiliation to Advent - because the latter is a season of awaiting a very important "proclamation" carried out as a mission. The proclamation of the vicinity of God to humanity, which becomes the mission of the Son of God, who incarnates to carry out this mission. He carried out this mission, as we read in Ezekiel, in spite of even laying down his own life for humanity. Hence, advent itself is a reminder of this Mission.

Francis Xavier's passion for his mission, the fire that he felt burning within him for the mission is easily comparable to the passion of St. Paul or any other apostle for that matter - inviting us to recognise and take seriously our mission of the Reign. Our life of faith, invariable of who we are and what we are involved in, is in itself a mission, a mission on behalf of the Reign!

Understand the Reign

THE WORD IN ADVENT

First Tuesday in Advent - December 2, 2025

Isaiah 11: 1-10; Luke 10: 21-24

Continuing from the same theme as yesterday, the Word today invites us to go a little deeper than just recognising - to look deep to understand the Reign. The first step is to unravel the Reign that is present in our midst; the necessary next step is to understand the concrete implications of it, especially the implications of what my/our responsibility is. 

When the Word says, "shoot from the stock or the bark" there is an implied message to be gathered: in a grown tree, shoots do not come at the bark - that is a common knowledge.  But let us imagine the case. If there is a shoot from a bark, it means a surprise, an unexpected new beginning. Just visualise a shoot that comes from a cut, abandoned, dried block of a bark. That is a sign of hope, the hope of the pilgrims... that there is life, there is the Lord, even when we think everything is done. 

To behold that life, to experience that hope, to unravel the Reign, we need a special seeing, a deeper listening! Not merely the seeing and the hearing of the learned and the scholarly, but that of those who are gifted, those who are graced, those who are chosen. No one can know the Son, except the Father and those to whom the Father chooses to reveal. Seeing the Reign, sensing the Reign, unraveling the Reign is a gift... that many wish to receive but not all are given!

Hence, the question remains: to whom shall it be revealed; who gets to unravel it? The answer is simple too - those who are open to the grace, those who are simple and receptive in relation to the revealing Father... those who are ready to understand what the Father wishes to communicate. This is the need to see and hear deeper, to understand the Reign - because it is not so easy to understand: it is so full of contradictions, strange combinations, incredible situations...but full of possibilties and hope; yes, the hope of the pilgrims! 

Unraveling the Reign

THE WORD IN ADVENT

First Monday of Advent - December 1, 2025

Isaiah 4: 2-6; Matthew 8: 5-11

From the east and the west, there will be people who will inherit the Reign - it is my responsibility not to miss! 

The responsibility of unraveling the Reign in my context rests on me! Those who take this responsibility seriously will be a meagre portion - the remnance of Israel, the left over in Zion, the remaining in Jerusalem. Yes, not necessarily the doctors and the experts, but the children and little ones, as Jesus exclaimed. There are no privileged classes or those with prerogatives - the terms are clear, that each one unravel the Reign as it is presented to him or her. 

Advent becomes a time for me to think and reflect - to see and behold, to discover and rediscover the working of the Lord in and around me. If I miss the opportunity, the onus is entirely on me. If I manage to cease the moment and unravel the mysteries of the Reign present here and now, I shall become a member of the Reign, a guest at the banquet, a son or daughter in the house of the Father.

The presence of the Lord and the actions of the Lord is everywhere - like the cloud by day, the light by night, and the shade by the sun - always so evident and clear, for those who are ready to perceive and behold. I can be busy with my plans and projects, pride and prejudice, missing everything out... failing to unravel the obvious! The caution and the call is clear: do not miss unraveling the Reign. 

Three dispositions that are enlisted in the Word today that can lead us to unravel the Reign: being observant, taking the time to entreat the Lord passing by, and acknowledging humbly the true majesty of the Lord. These are attitudes that are growing to be rare in the society today, so increasingly secularised. The question therefore to me: how disposed am I to unravel the Reign today and more importantly, am I ready to be the few, the remnance, the left over, those from the far east and the wild west? 

STAY AWAKE FOR THE REIGN

Unravel, Understand and Urge!

First Sunday of Advent – 30 November, 2025

Isaiah 2: 1-5; Romans 13: 11-14; Matthew 24: 37-44

Pilgrims of Hope

HOPE OF THE PILGRIMS – THE REIGN

We have been celebrating the Jubilee year for the past one year…and we are stepping into the closing phase of it. With the Advent and the Christmas, we shall be drawing to its close on the feast of the Epiphany. Pilgrims of Hope – that was the watch-word guiding us all along and now this advent comes to bring the reflection to its culmination posing a corollary – yes, we are called to be pilgrims of hope, but what is the hope of the pilgrims? The hope that keeps the pilgrim going is – the Reign!

The Reign is the hope of the pilgrims… Advent brings to our attention this promise of the Reign. Especially the first Sunday of Advent declares this as the opening message of this season which reminds us of the kind of faith we are called to live and testify today. The faith of the eschatological times; the faith that focuses on the Risen Lord and his imminent promise; the faith that looks to affirm the fact that Jesus established: that the Reign of God is in our midst (Lk 17:21)! We are people of the Reign, children of the Reign, pilgrims of the Reign.

One important fact that we are reminded about strongly today, is that the promise of the Reign did not begin with the coming of Christ Jesus in the Incarnation event. It comes from the prophets who planted in us the yearning to await the Christ. Isaiah today speaks about it: that the Lord shall gather every one in the eternal peace of the Reign. St. Paul refers to the same gathering, but in terms of salvation that come from the Lord, the salvation which is all set to be shared with each of us, children of God. Finally, Jesus himself concludes the discourse with simple but profound call: to stay awake.

Speaking of the Reign, more than fatiguing to construct it from ground zero, what comes closer to the revelation in Christ is this: that the Reign is here…our challenge is to recognise it. This is in short, the message of the first Sunday of Advent: Stay awake for the Reign.

Unravel the Reign – Staying awake for the Reign, means to unravel the Reign which is already here in our midst. There are those who will see the Reign and those who will fail to; there are those who will live the Reign and those who will remain far from it; there are those who will unravel the manifestations of the Reign and those who will be busy with their own affairs missing every thing at large. The hope of the pilgrims is the Reign that surrounds, and we as pilgrims we are called to recognise it and unravel it in our daily experiences. In the feeble voices that arise against the vociferous injustices that are in the world, in the faint scenes that manifest the mercy of God amidst the insensitive mob that is running behind power, possession and pleasure, in the silent protests that refuse to conform to the madness of the mainstream and stand by the truth of the “littles ones”, the Reign survives – for us to unravel its presence every day.

Understand the Reign – Staying awake for the Reign, would involve the efforts to understand the Reign in the changing contexts. There is a danger that we could stereotype even the Reign of God – and make it our own petty creation. Eulogising it, epitomising it and euphemising it, we could make of the Reign a surreal imagination, a utopian expectation, a wishful thinking that would remain far from the present. But a pilgrim of hope cannot do that. St. Paul underscores this fact with the phrase, “the times has come”, calling our attention to be awake to the reality around, the salvation that is at hand, the Reign that is amidst us. This involves understanding, that is born out of a committed personal reflection, sincere interpersonal dialogue and a dedicated synodal search. It is only from these can that the Church become truly what it is called to be – the sign and sacrament of the Reign.

Urge each other to behold – Staying awake for the Reign is a communitarian effort, that we urge each other to behold the Reign. Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord – reminds Isaiah today; and come let us go to the house of the Lord, invites the responsorial psalm. We are called to remind each other of our identity of being pilgrims of hope, and of our hope as pilgrims which is the Reign. Encouraging each other, supporting each other, empathising with each other and hand-holding each other, we can grow into the Reign that we are called to behold. In our daily choices and priorities, we can behold the Reign and be the signs of the Reign.

May the Advent that we begin today, remind us of our hope as pilgrims – the Reign, that we may stay awake for the Reign: to unravel it, to understand it and to urge each other to behold it.

Stay awake... in every sense!

WORD 2day: Saturday, Last day of the Ordinary time

November 29, 2025: Daniel 7: 5-27; Luke 21: 34-36

Stay awake!... shakes us up the Gospel today. And the first reading explains, why to! Let us begin with the latter part... that is, why to stay awake? Then we shall see what it means to stay awake!

Why to stay awake - because there is so much happening around me! There are those who are conniving and plotting against goodness and godliness; there are things happening that are fast ruining the little good that has been built up by traditions of ages; there could be impacts created within me wherein I, even without my knowledge, unwittingly giving into fear, psychosis and pessimism! I need to Stay Awake.

Staying awake is Seeing: seeing within me, around me and into others, that I am observant about the changes happening and am conscious about the effects of these changes on myself. Without really seeing, I cannot understand what is being communicated to me, by the Lord in and through time.

Staying awake is Syncing: syncing with the whole reality - with the Divine, with the cosmos, with the neighbours, with the entire humanity and all that is! We are not created as isolated beings, nor are we created above everything else! The Creator has given us a privilleged place within the creation, yes! But that is no license to destroy, nor an excuse for dominance; it is a role of care, concern and compassion! To the extent I am able to sync, I shall be godly, for our God is a God of communion!

Staying awake is Standing up: standing up against all the odds that are perpetrated by the godless with disdain - those who are heartless, merciless, senseless, shameless in siding with injustice and truthlessness! How can we stand up against them without staying awake; how can we call ourselves awake, if we really do not stand up againt anything that militates against truth, justice and love!

Let us strive to stay aware, stay awake... in every sense!