GET YOUR BASICS RIGHT...

Being a Christian...

2nd Sunday in Ordinary time - January 18, 2026

Isaiah 49: 3,5,6; 1 Corinthians 1:1-3; John 1: 29-34

We have been busy celebrating feasts one after the other! It's time to return to the Ordinary Sundays and probably, the right beginning is to get our basics right, as sons and daughters of God. Today the readings speak to us about living our Christian life on an everyday basis... in our ordinariness of life! Festive occasions make it easier to feel the joy of the moment; but the demanding call is to live our life on a daily basis, to live it fully, faithfully and meaningfully.

Jesus is about to begin his public ministry, and like an MC (Master of Ceremonies) in a performance, John the Baptist announces Christ's entry into the scene! With Jesus' entry and his public life, our life as Christians, our call as sons and daughters of God and our identity as disciples of Christ are clearly defined. And that is what the liturgy today intends to do... to clarify the basics to us, so that we may live our Christian calling everyday of our life. 

The readings seem to reflect with us in terms of the basic Question Words...

WHO? WHAT?

The first question is about who we are and what we are? Isaiah gives a direct response to it: we are the light of the nations! We are called, we know that. But, as what? To do the will of God, yes; to be ever at the disposal of the will of God and say, "Here am I Lord, I come to do your will" (Heb 10:7) But doing the Will not merely as servants but as 'the light of the nations!' 

We are called not merely as workers but as witnesses. "Called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God" ...that is the answer to the Who and the What, of our Christian life. We are called to live our life as witnesses...witness is our first mode of proclaiming Christ and His gospel. It is not what we do that matters most, rather what we wish to communicate through what we do! Do we want to tell the world about ourselves, our goodness, our greatness and our inevitability? Or do we want to communicate to them the goodness of the Lord, the Gospel of the Father, the grace and peace of Christ and love of the Spirit? What we wish to communicate would determine whether we are merely workers or witnesses!

WHY? WHERE?

Why should we be doing God's will and where are we bound to? In simple terms, what is our goal? What are we called for? The Word of God is vociferous on this point, be it in the Old Testament or in the New Testament: We are called to Holiness... We are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy - says the second reading today. Holiness consists of a clarity of one's own identity as Isaiah, Paul and John the Baptist demonstrate in the readings today: to know who we are and what we are, and thus realising why we are doing all that we do and where we are going towards! 

We are called, not to a mediocre life, but to live our life to the full... that is a life of real holiness. If everything that we do in our daily life, does not ultimately lead us to sanctification and holiness, that is in simple words fullness of life, we are on a mistaken journey. It might seem colourful at the moment, but will soon end up gloomy and grey. A clairty on the why and the where, will determine our daily choices, will define every aspect of our Christian living - our family life, our career, our spiritual life, our personal life and so on. Only when we are clear about our purpose, our lives shall be lived to the full.

WHICH? HOW?
The next question is, which way? and how do we reach that holiness? Is it my achievement? Is it some kind of a detached discipline of life that looks at every one around as a distraction and disturbance? Is it a elitist view of life, keeping myself above everyone, trying to be as less contaminated as possible, so that I can reach God and godliness? Are these points of view Christ-ian at all?

Christian life cannot be just a me-and-God type of a life. It has to be lived in a Community! From the very beginning, Christ-experience and the message of Christ has been lived and passed on by a community. The readings underline this community aspect with the terms like, light of the 'nations', 'to all those everywhere who call upon the name of the Lord', and 'Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world'... We are in the Unity Octave, which this year invites us to see God working through people and places which offer Unusual Kindness, which we will notice if only we would do the appropriate kind of looking.  

Now the only question that is left is, When? But that is established right in the beginning...Now, Today, Here, in the Ordinariness of our daily life... every day of our ordinary life... we are called to live mindful of our identity as children of God, called and sanctified by Christ towards holiness, living to spread God's love to the entire world... as light of the nations, in footsteps of the Lamb of God who calls us as a community of faith and love! 

In search...who and whom?

WORD 2day: Saturday, 1st week in Ordinary time

January 17, 2026 - 1 Samuel 9:1-4,17-19,10:1; Mark 2:13-17

The Word presents to us today two persons in search... one, who went in search of the donkeys and the other, who went in search of the sinners... one similarity: both of them, for the sake of their father's wish! 

Though the comparison is strange, the fact is that both are kings... one the first king of Israel and the latter the eternal King of heaven and earth. We may consider ourselves worthless and dumb as donkeys, but the truth is the Lord is in search of us. Many a times we speak of the humanity that is in search of God... but how much more true it is to think of the Lord who is in search of each of us. 

Let us open ourselves up to the Lord; invite the King into our hearts; and the King shall reign for ever in our lives and through us, reach out to many more who are lost and are searching for themselves! I do realise that I have been too allegorical today, but the message is simple: to be forever open to the Lord, in a sense of daily conversion and repentance, ever growing more and more as children of God.

Freedom in Submission

WORD 2day: Friday, 1st week in Ordinary time

January 16, 2026 - 1 Samuel 8:4-7,10-22; Mark 2:1-12

It is a human tendency to look for something or someone, to which or to whom, one can submit oneself! Whether by force or by choice, a form of legitimate dependence or extraordinary obsession, habit of blaming someone or positively seeking someone's counsel... we are always looking to submit ourselves to someone or something! 

The point to be noted here is this: whatever be the form of submission, and whatever be its reason, it makes us dependent or subservient. The first reading reminds us of this human tendency and before we judge the people of Israel of those historical times, let us understand how we ourselves fall into the same category! 

The only submission that gives us a sense of freedom and a sense of self-worth is the submission to God's authority - because God dwells in us and a submission to God, as God's children, is a reinforcement of our dignity, our self-worth and the sovereignty that God has placed within us, as human persons. The call for us today, is to realise that God has the ultimate authority over us, and thus we will experience the greatest of all freedom: the freedom of the children of God.

Do we know our real strength?

WORD 2day: Thursday, 1st week in Ordinary time

January 15, 2026 - 1 Samuel 4: 1-11; Mark 1: 4-45

When the Israelites rejoiced at the arrival of the Ark to their tents, the Philistines shivered and recognised that the Lord were amidst them! The Israelites themselves realised that their real strength was the Lord. You are my strength, my fortress, my rock of refuge - would exclaim the Psalmist later. 

People who looked at Jesus, saw this to be true in him too. If you wish to, you can cure me, said the man to Jesus, realising the source of grace and salvation is in the mighty will of God. God's will saves us, protects us and guides us. On our part, what we need to do is to allow ourselves to be guided, to be strengthened, to be fortified by the Lord. 

We need to rise from a style of life that is a mere damage-control, to a more proactive responsible living. When we realise the presence of God ever in our midst, we will live a life that is worthy of the Lord and the Lord's will; and that alone can keep us from becoming a mere laughing stock among the people! Yes, that is a danger.

If we really consider ourselves people of God, sons and daughters of God, generated by God, strengthened, fortified and protected by God, should not our daily life, our attitudes, our relationships, our outlook on events, reflect that fact? The challenge to us today is: that we live up to our call, our identity and our vocation - that of being sons and daughters of God. Is that not our real strength?

To do good - would that be enough?

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 1st week in Ordinary time

January 14, 2026 - 1 Samuel 3: 1-10,19-20; Mark 1: 29-39

Preaching, healing, casting the demons out - Jesus went around doing good! But he was personally conscious that doing good was not good enough, at least that it was not the absolute or the ultimate! When the disciples scout to find him and the people try to possess him for themselves, he insists that he needs to move on. Doing good was good; but more important for him, or the most important of everything was doing what God wanted of him. 

We get lost sometimes in the frenzy of doing good to as many as possible... not really bothering whether we are doing really what God wants of us! Obedience to Eli and service in the temple was something good... but God was calling Samuel for something higher: to listen to the Lord and speak the Lord's Word to the people! 

When doing good alone becomes our concern, a lot of problematic elements like the fame-game, the ego-trips and rat-races find their way easily in. If we are convinced of doing what God wants of us, we will surely find serenity even amidst the worst of situations. But for that, we need to learn to say: 'Speak Lord, for your servant is listening!'

The source of true authority

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 1st week in Ordinary time

January 13, 2026 - 1 Samuel 2:1,4-8; Mark 1:21-28

Eli is too fast to judge Hannah... what permits him to do that? Hannah points out to him that he need not be true merely because he is in authority... nor is it taken for granted that he is better because of that same fact. Eli was wrong and Hannah was there standing tall in her total fidelity to God who had mercy on her. 

Hannah immediately makes an impression on Eli's mind when she explains herself and her grief. He recognises immediately his mistake in judgement and blesses her with truly edifying words... a sign of a person of God. Just because he was the priest in the Temple, nothing warrants that he would always be right - that kind of a claim would be an abuse of authority! 

One way of thinking about authority is looking at one's own position of supremacy! But we know how that kind of an authority could be unstable to the core, as we as persons are neither permanent nor are we infallible. The source of real authority has to be more transcendental, absolute and infallible - is it so difficult to understand where that source could be?

In the Gospel the pharisees wonder about the authority of Jesus... they wonder from where it came! Ofcourse, it was from Jesus' total fidelity to the One who sent him. With that absolute fidelity and uncompromising surrender to the Lord,  Jesus could say anything and it would happen!

What is in store does not matter - just follow!

WORD 2day: Monday, 1st week in Ordinary time

January 12, 2026 - 1 Samuel 1: 1-8; Mark 1: 14-20

After a long while we are back to the Ordinary time and the very first message that the Word gives is so relevant: Just follow the Lord.

In our life's journey, that which can grant us an incredible serenity is the attitude of Following the Lord, without being worried too much about what is in store! We are still in the beginning of this year. After nearly 2 weeks of the new year, there could be in our minds still the plans with which we began the year, the goals we set for ourselves, and the projects we fixed for ourselves.

While thinking of projects that engage our days, it is normal that many things preoccupy our minds. Samuel's story that we begin to reflect on from today, affirms to us that God has a definitive plan for each of us; as the Lord would explain the same through Jeremiah (29:11): for I know the plans that I have for you. 

The secret lies in not permitting the grievances of our past to stunt our life and at the same time not permitting the anxieties of the future eating into our todays. Let us live our life, here and now, to the full, with total confidence that the Lord has a plan that will unfold in God's own time! 

All that we need to do is what Jesus tells us - FOLLOW HIM!!!

MADE PEOPLE OF THE SPIRIT

By the Word, water and fire

Solemnity of the Baptism of the Lord - January 11, 2026

Isaiah 42:1-4,6,7; Acts 10:34-38; Matthew 3: 13-17

We celebrate the Baptism of the Lord today. As John the Baptiser rightly points out in the Gospel today, there was no need for the Son of God to be baptised... but he chose to be baptised! It was a radical sign, bringing a specific purpose to that event. The purpose was to set us a challenge. Baptism is an act of the Spirit. As Peter observes in the Acts of the Apostles, it is the Spirit who acts at baptism and makes us what we are called to be. This act of the Spirit has a three fold challenge, as the Word presents to us this festive Sunday.

The first challenge - the Word: 

The Word made flesh whom we have been celebrating all these days is manifest once again today - explicitly by the words of the Spirit. The words that are heard is the call of the Spirit - that we may live to be declared the sons or daughters in whom the Almighty delights! That is the call entrusted to each of us in our Baptism, a challenge that we are reminded of today. 

The second challenge - Water: 

The Water in which the Lord immersed himself is an indication of our situation, into which Jesus immersed himself - the mystery of incarnation that we are reminded of once again, as we close this loving season of Advent and Christmas. We are challenged to immerse ourselves into the situations of people around us, becoming people who are redeemed by this incarnation. The every day sign of it would be our solidarity with those who are suffering and those who need someone to stand by them, instead of getting lost in our own personal concerns and self-centred whims.

The third challenge - Fire: 

The promise that the Lord will make us a light to the nations, challenges us to possess the fire of the Spirit, as Isaiah proposes. The fire that will consume all injustice, inhumanities and anti-Reign elements, paving the way for the Reign of God to be born here and now! Being the light of the nations... refers to light which is indeed, gentle and benign; but what it is fundamentally fire, the burning fire which lights up! We cannot forget that we can become lights, only when we burn. 

A final question we are inspired to pose ourselves today is - are we people of the Spirit? If so, we shall be rightly challenged by the Word, the Water and the Fire. Would the world hear about us said: behold my beloved child, in whom I rejoice!

Who should increase?

WORD 2day: Saturday after Epiphany

January 10, 2026 - 1 John 5:14-21 ; John 3: 22-30

I came across a poster highlighting the first reading of today which read: whatever we may ask, the Lord hears us! It is an assuring statement and a very strong affirmation but I am afraid it is not true to the WORD. Yes... there is a small but a crucial phrase that is left out in between. That is,  "if it is in accordance with His will" - that is where most of us falter.

We think, all that we ask has to be given. True faith would say, 'not necessarily'. Even when I don't seem to be receiving what I am praying for (prayer anyway is not merely asking), I can be calm and serene, for I trust in the will of God. This will happen only when I decrease and God increases in me. 

At times even in our prayer and good deeds we concentrate so much on what we do and what we achieve that there is no much place for God and God's will. It is so full of me, my success, my power and my accomplishment. John the Baptist seems to offer us a wonderful lesson,  inviting us to allow the Lord to increase, and making our own self, or our ego, decrease.

Even in our so called spiritual exercises, let us beware who really is increasing... me? or the Lord? 

Our life in the Son

WORD 2day: Friday after Epiphany

January 9, 2026 - 1 John 5: 513; Luke 5: 12-16

Anyone who believes in the Son has life... our life, our privileged Christian life, our life to which we are called, is in the Son. Elsewhere we read too, "And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent" (Jn 17:3). The basis of a blessed life is not our achievements nor our accomplishments, nor our hoardings or savings, but our relationship with God, the Source of that life! 

The question posed to us today is about how truly and sincerely are we connected to the Lord? Jesus is seen today drawing himself alone to pray... and it is reported every now and then by the Gospel writers. He knew the importance of being connected to the Lord... being connected to, makes us never lose the source of our life, our true, blessed and eternal life. 

Being connected to, is one thing; and a fall out of it is, being connected in the Lord. Being connected in, means that we are connected not only to God, but to each other, in the Lord. If being connected to is the source of life and its blessedness, being connected in the Lord is the way to sustain that life and remain in that life and its blessedness. This is what Jesus and his coming, teach us. 

Connecting to the Father and staying in touch with the Son is the work of the Spirit within. Connecting with the other in the Father, Son and the Spirit is the we get our life in the Son. We are chosen - not merely in water and blood, but in the Spirit above all... and in the Son. Our life in the Son is our life in the Spirit, according to the will of the Father.