The Reign - God's abode here and now!

THE WORD IN ADVENT

Fourth Wednesday in Advent - December 24, 2025

2 Samuel 7: 1-5,8-12,14,16; Luke 1: 67-79

The Reign, which is the hope of the trustful pilgrims, can be demonstrated in varied ways. It is true that we have to work for it, strain our way to make its presence felt... but we would be terribly mistaken to think that it is our doing! That is the mistake that David does, as we see in the Word today. 

When David resolves to build an abode for God, God retorts: are you going to build a house for me? I shall build a house for you, says the Lord. The first message of the Word today is - that God makes a house... God forms us into a people, gives us an identity and commissions us with our lives which are challenged to become a sign and sacramente of God's presence wherever we are.

The Lord, not only builds a house for us God's children, but deigns to make God's own home amidst us. Emmanuel... whom we have prepared to behold and we are all set to receive in few hours from now... is absolutely God with us. In Jesus' vicinity to us, we see God making home with us and becoming part of our being and our experience.

The Lord comes to visit us, making a home with us amply signifies that. The Lord does not only come to visit us, but to stay with us, stay in us and stay in every experience that makes up our lives. The Lord abides here and now, in the present, at every moment and at every instance of our lives. Hence Reign, is not something we arrive at... it is something we abide in, and something that will allow God to abide here and now, amidst us, within us and with us. 

Emmanuel, God is with us; and the Reign is where God is, where God abides... here and now.    

CHRISTMAS NOVENA - Day 8: O Emmanuel

23rd December: O Emmanuel

O Emmanuel, our king and our lawgiver,
the hope of the nations and their Saviour:
Come and save us, O Lord our God.

Based on the famous prophecy of Isaiah 7:14, the title Emmanuel is the key to the mystery of incarnation. The presence of God with the people was the greatest of the promises that they could experience. Be it with Abraham or with Moses or with Joshua or with the people who were walking in the desert, one of the prominent promises that God gave was to be with them! Christ comes as the fulfilment and the most complete expression as that promise: as God among us.

The symbol is the virgin with the child in the manger. It is not just any child, but the promised salvation of the God of the universe, the king who has come to meet his subjects to make them co-heirs to his throne. The manger is a lovely symbol that unites the heaven and the earth, the Divine and the human!

The presence of the Lord is salvific; one who has experienced it cannot remain silent - he or she has to go out and share it, make every one else experience that presence! This is the crux of evangelisation: it is not proselytisation, not sheep stealing and increasing the numbers within a fold. It is sharing that salvific presence that one has experienced, from the Lord. The first call is to experience the God-with-us, the presence of the Lord with us, and the call that follows is to share that presence with those around - that is salvation.

The prayer is to the Lord our God to save us by God's saving presence... in simple words it is a beseeching to stay with us, to live with us. to sanctify us, to make us worthy of God and of God's great big family.

The Reign - an attentive beholding!

THE WORD IN ADVENT

Fourth Tuesday in Advent - December 23, 2025

Malachi 3: 1-4, 23-24; Luke 1: 57-66

We are in the last step of preparation towards the commemoration of the great Incarnation moment! Just as our 24 day long preparation towards this feast this year, the original incarnation event had its preparation too, only that it was a bit longer, longer by let us say a few centuries... yes, there was a patient and compassionate preparation on the part of God... preparing God's people generation after generation to behold that peak moment of revelation. 

The preparation, which Malachi compares to the skillful precision of a silversmith, was so patient that some were not strong enough to wait; it was so compassionate that it did not leave out even those who did not have the strength. Yes, the Lord prepared with everyone in embrace; no one is  left out of that compassion. 

The preparation of God was so attentive - no one, no detail was left unattended, just as a silversmith cannot afford to take his or her eyes off the precious metal that is being worked on. God had the divine eyes fixed on each of us, with love and understanding, preparing each of us. We see that in the Gospel today...how every one was being prepared - John the new born, his parents, those around - everyone; the whole creation is gearing up to behold the coming of the One, the One Saviour, the Son of God. 

For us, the pilgrims of hope, for whom the hope is the Reign, the Reign is being prepared with attention, patience and compassion... just as the Lord who is preparing it with attention, we are called to behold it with attention. There could be experiences and responses that can make us lose the attention and focus on other matters that may not be proportionately important or urgent! The Word calls our attention today, towards an attentive beholding of the Reign. 

Inversion - the Reign-version

THE WORD IN ADVENT

Fourth Monday in Advent - December 22, 2025

1 Samuel 1: 24-28; Luke 1: 46-56

We are in the last days of preparation towards the great event of Christmas, the commemoration of the Incarnational moment. The incarnation is in fact an inversion, an inversion willed by God. The Word presents to us the significance of this inversion as Reign-version! 

The Reign, the hope of the pilgrims, is in fact, a logic of inversion: the poor empowered, the lowly raised, the weak strengthened, the hungry filled... the Reign is the inversion of the popular world order, the so-called normal of the world, the common logic approved - all for the sake of establishing the sovereignty of God. 

This inversion is the fruit of the Lord's promise - we see this expressed in the first reading with Hannah's song, that great song expressing the praises of the Lord, lovingly and gratefully adapted my our Blessed Mother in her magnificat. 

The inversion is the sign of Lord's supremacy - the last word is of the Lord. There could be people and the whole society holding up a system, but what really matters is what God has willed. When the system and the Divine will do not coincide, there is always a conflict that humanity experiences and a crisis it has to handle. 

The inversion is the Lord's marvelous ways -  the incredible ways of the Lord, the inconceivable grandeur of God's plan, the mystery of God's design is the real structure of the Reign. The Reign is not just an extension of what we think is good or better... but it is an inversion, it is a total and absolute shift of excellence proper to God's ways!

The Root of Jesse... is a symbol of radicality of God's promise... which is certain to come true. It may delay, but shall not delay anymore... it shall certainly come alive in the Word becoming flesh.

CHRISTMAS NOVENA - Day 7: O King of Nations

22nd December: O King of Nations

O King of the nations, and their desire,
the cornerstone making both one:
Come and save the human race,
which you fashioned from clay.

Based on Isaiah 9:6, 2:4 and 28:16, the King of the nations is a yearning of the people of Israel. They wanted Yahweh to be their king always, even when they had a human king ruling them. That is why they did not give in to the Emperor worship that was so widespread in the dominant cultures of their times. God is the king, forever and over all!

The Symbol is the crown, and some times even the sceptre, that signifies the central place that God has in our personal and universal history; and the authority that rests solely with God. Remember the feast we celebrate just before beginning the advent, that is on the last Sunday of the Ordinary time - that is the adaptation of the same theology of Israel, into the Christian way of life.

Today power is misused for manipulation and arriving at hidden agenda; power which is given to certain persons for the sake of furthering the care of humanity is used to destroy the very humanity. Who is to be blamed? Those who manipulate it? Yes, of course. But what about those who let them do it? those who keep silent when it is done? If it is true that we have accepted God as our King, Christ as our King, it means we have accepted Truth, Justice, Love and Peace. Anything that, or anyone who goes against these, just cannot be sided with - it would be a wrong allegiance, a slavery!

The prayer is to save the human kind, from slaveries of sin and death to the freedom of the children of God, for that is what we are, children created in the image and likeness of God. It is to grow in this identity and dignity that the coming of the Lord invites us.

KEEP CALM AND ENTER THE REIGN

Listen, Liken and Live...

Fourth Sunday in Advent - December 21, 2025

Isaiah 7:10-14;  Romans 1: 1-17; Matthew 1:18-24

We are on the fourth Sunday of Advent already, and the great event of Christmas is just around the corner! It fills us with a child-like excitement and that is pure and holy joy... may it fill our days and our hearts. However, it should fill us also with an anxiety - not about the loads of work and errands that rest yet pending... but about how prepared are we internally and spiritually. How has these three weeks that we have come by, served the purpose of preparing ourselve towards receiving once again the great message of Incarnation? Having raised that initial question, let us look at the wonderful message that the Word has to offer us today!

We have read and reflected on the readings of today, be it the first or the Gospel, over and over gains these days! Because that is the message in the air... that the coming of the Lord, the great prophesied, pre-announced, long-awaited coming of the Lord is at hand. As pilgrims of the Reign... we have been preparing for the coming of the Lord as the coming of the Reign... what do we really do, as the Reign draws close at hand? Keep Calm, says the Word... Keep Calm and Enter the Reign!

Yes, what is expected of us is not a clamorous running hither and tither, in the name of getting ready to receive the Lord or the Reign... in fact, both are already amidst us. What we need to do is, keep calm and recognise them. Keep calm and enter the Reign, gradually, peacefully, serenely but determinedly. This message is given to us by the instrumentality of two wonderful personages in the Readings today - David and Joseph!

The name of David is heard in all the three readings today... David becomes a key figure whenever we enter the season of advent, and whenever we speak of the kingship of Christ or the coming of his Reign. Apart from so many things that David was known for... one of his personality traits that stands out is the way he faced crises: be it his personal crisis of fall from grace and return to God's favour, or the threat in his young age when Saul was after his life, or the entire episode of coup d'etat organised against his by his own son Absalom. They were intense moments of uncertainty and terror, but David never lost his heart or his mind. He was firm and recollected, even on the run. The reason: he stood on the promises of the Lord. And the Lord, remained faithful to the promises right unto the end!

Joseph, the son of David - that is how the Angel addresses him, is prepared today for the upcoming great event. Mary, we saw right at the beginning of the advent, was prepared already and here, Joseph is made ready too! Only thing that remains is, the entry of the King, the baby-king! The Joseph-David connection is not merely a name-sake, or a genetic connection. It is about the personalities. Joseph, just like David, handled crises with ease, peace and trust. Be it the moment when he found out that Mary was with a child in her womb, or when he had to scout around with an any-time ready to deliver pregnant wife on a mule, or when there was a rumour that the king was out to kill his new born baby boy...Joseph handled it all with a calm that was incredible. The reason: he stood on the promises of the Lord - the virgin shall conceive and bear and son, and you shall name him Emmanuel.

The promise was not so much about the 'virgin who shall conceive a son', as about 'Emmanuel'. Yes, the real promise is the second part... Emmanuel - God is with us! God is with us, so we can face any situation. That is what St. Paul declares in the second reading offering "peace and grace" in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and a descendant of David. Here is the King, here is the Reign... all that we need to do is keep calm and enter that Reign, in grace and peace. 

The time is ripe. We are called now to calm down, silence our minds and our hearts and become aware of the preciousness of this moment. The Lord is close. The Lord is here. The Lord is with us - Emmanuel. In these last three days, calmly, peacefully, gently, can we behold the Lord, behold the Reign and realise the presence and the promise come true!

How do we do it? First, let us listen to the Lord! Isaiah says that with firmness in the first reading: Listen, house of David... do not try the patience of God. God continues to speak to us, communicate with us and reveal Godself to us...can we just stop our fretting, and Listen?!

Secondly, we are called to liken ourselves to God... to the son of God who comes to reveal to us the way we can live the Reign, make it present and manifest it to the world around us.  St. Paul reminds us of this fact in the first reading. He says, we are "called to belong to Jesus Christ" (v. 6); we are "called to be saints" (v. 7a)... in short we are called to grow up in his image, in the image that he revealed to us, the Imago Dei.

Thirdly, we are called to live for God. That is the concrete way of making the Reign come, that is the only way of entering the Reign. Just as David and Joseph did in their lives, becoming stupendous instruments in the hands of God, towards bringing God's Son into the world, so are we called to become instruments in bringing the Reign of God into the world. 

Hence, getting closer and closer to the great commemoration of the Incarnation event, the liturgy today gives us a strong, challenging message: Keep calm, and enter the Reign.

CHRISTMAS NOVENA - Day 6: O Rising dawn

21st December: O Rising dawn

O Morning Star,
Splendour of light eternal and sun of righteousness:
Come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

Based on Isaiah 9:2 and Isaiah 60:1-2, the title in Latin O Oriens, actually means literally O Rising Sun or Dawn, but for poetic sense translated as Morning Star, refers to the power of God's light to lead us from ignorance to knowledge and from mere knowledge to enlightenment.

The Symbol is the Rising Sun, which dispels the darkness of the night and wakes the light of the morning, inviting all to life and activity. The coming of the Lord for us is a wake up call, an invitation to live as people of the light and not of darkness!

Today we see people disputing with each other, clamouring to be right in contrast to another, remain divided among themselves because of their allegiance to someone or some ideology - are they really certain where lies the real truth? Even within the Church today we see people polarising themselves, unnecessarily for the sake of some ideologies and philosophies - Apostle Paul warned us long back - do not be deceived by all these ideologies and philosophies, cling on to Christ and Christ alone is the enlightenment of God, who can clarify the real truths of our life.

The prayer is for enlightenment, that in these times of confusion and crisis, confounding choices and staggering philosophies, we might remain always in the light of faith, that not only helps us see the Lord, but see with the eyes of the Lord (Lumen Fidei).

CHRISTMAS NOVENA - Day 5: O Key of David

20th December: O Key of David

O Key of David and sceptre of the House of Israel;
you open and no one can shut;
you shut and no one can open:
Come and lead the prisoners from the prison house,
those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

Based on Isaiah 22:22, Isaiah 9:7 and Isaiah 42:7, the reference is to the sovereignty of God's Reign. That the throne shall have no end is a Messianic prophecy that, God will be established the Lord of history! Liberation of the oppressed and the fullness of life of all, is the sign of the Reign.

The symbol is the key to signify the authority that the Lord has, in creating, changing and structuring the whole history. It also signifies the perfect control that God has over time and space, life and being, but all these understood not in terms of domination but a love that creates and sustains.

Evil is real! Let us not deceive ourselves thinking it is imaginary, no it is real and the evil one is prowling round like a roaring lion, looking for someone to eat. This is not a matter to be worried about, as long as we commit ourselves to the One key, which alone can open or close time, space or history - the Lord! Liberation, we think has to come from afar. But it is already given to us by the Lord, we just need to choose it! When we choose the key to liberation, we choose liberation!

The prayer is for liberation... to be led towards fullness of life that is the experience of the Reign on earth. It is also a commitment to work towards, to contribute one's might and mite, to choose with all our heart and our strength, the Lord, the key to fullness, towards establishing the Reign here and now!

The Reign - constant presence of God

THE WORD IN ADVENT

Third Saturday in Advent - December 20, 2025

Judges 13: 2-7, 24-25; Luke 1: 26-38

 

Like the light that shines all over and enters every corner, does God fill this creation and especially our lives. 'Emmanuel' is the best self-definition and natural description that God can have. And what we are about celebrate in a few days, is the highest of the manifestations of Godself to humanity - and a manifestation in the most understandable terms - God becoming human, God with us, and God as one of us. 

The promise and the fulfilment - that is what we reflect today in the Word. The Reign is about the promises of the Lord, we have reflected that more that a few times this season of Advent. The promise of God's closeness to us - I shall be with you, I shall never forsake you, my hand shall not leave you... these promises are realised, not just in history, but everyday today affirms the Word.

God does not say, call upon me and I shall come... for the Lord is all the time with us. This is the reason the prophets tell us: when the poor man cries, the Lord hears; when you call upong the Lord, the Lord answers... for the Lord is right there beside us. The feast of Christmas that we are preparing ourselves towards, is a fulfilment of that promise reminding us that the presence of the Lord is a constant in our lives. 

Hence, the Reign that we wish for is not something that has to enter from somewhere! It is right amidst us as Jesus reminded us... because it is practically the presence of God with us. Being there all the time with us, to wish the Reign comes is to wish that each one realises the presence of it and regard that presence making a difference in our daily lives. 

CHRISTMAS NOVENA - Day 4: O Root of Jesse

19th December: O Root of Jesse

O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the peoples;
before you kings will shut their mouths,
to you the nations will make their prayer:
Come and deliver us, and delay no longer.

Based on Isaiah 11:1, Isaiah 11:10, the title Root of Jesse, refers to the promise of the Lord to raise the Messiah from the line of David (the son of Jesse). It is a promise of deliverance that the Lord gives the people of Israel, and to everyone who believes in the Lord.

The Symbol is that of the shoot flowering... signalling the hope that the Lord offers in times when everything seems dark and dead. Look at the exodus event, the miracles in the desert, the water from the rock, the guidance by day and night - everyone of these was a sign of God's promises being fulfilled. The final fulfillment and the pinnacle of everything was - Incarnation, that which we are preparing to celebrate.

Promises of the Lord will never fail... it may look like it, but things will change. There may be enemies plotting around, there may be situations that go out of control and there may be evil all around me - I will give up and compromise when I think there is no hope. But when here is hope, when I stand on the promises of the Lord, I will never give up!

The prayer today is to reinforce that HOPE...that we may always look forward to the deliverance that the Lord can offer! Note that the readings of the liturgy too relate to the same sense of hope in the Lord who accomplishes marvels for us! Never let anyone rob you of your hope, reminds our Holy Father.