WORD 2day

21st September, 2013 : Remembering St. Matthew, the Apostle.UNITED NATION'S WORLD DAY OF PEACE

One body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one Baptism, one God the Father and Mother of us all: the basis of the Community that God wants to create of us all. Do not ever be scandalised if I dare say, Church is not the be-all and end-all of Christian faith. The Church is only an intermediate arrangement for us to walk the path towards that Unity that Christ has invited us to - the eternal Peace that he promises - a peace not like the one that the world offers, a peace that comes from one heart and one mind, one spirit and one humanity - the peace and unity of the Reign of God! The Apostles form the pillars to this, as they were the one's who lived close to the principle originator of this Reign. If only we have the readiness and the docility that Matthew had, 'to rise and follow' when God calls, into the vicissitudes of life, fixing our gaze on the Lord who leads, we will all be like the apostles, torchbearers of the Reign of God. Peace be with you! 

WORD 2day

20th September, 2013

Paul writes in a time when servants (slaves) were common in an affluent household. A practice seemed to have spread that the masters of the household and the slaves together accepted Christ as their saviour and their relationship turned as brothers and sisters in Christ, rather than masters and slaves! The risk within this phenomenon was that some merely as a means to do away with their status as 'slaves', decided to be baptised! It was using God as means to win other ends. That was unacceptable to Paul! Reducing God to means of attaining other ends is no Christ-like attitude. Today, the world is not bereft of this risk - of making "Godliness a means of gain" (1 Tim 6:5). Instead, like the first Christians who provided for God's work "out of their means" (Lk 8:3), money or wealth, power or position, pleasures or possessions - everything has to be at the service of the glory of God! This is possible only for those who are ready to "fight the good fight of faith" (1Tim 6:12).

WORD 2day

19th September, 2013

What matters most is the love one has for God! The world looks for reasons to despise - be it that one is small or young, or that one is evil or despicable! But what matters most before God, is the love that one has for God. Love brings forgiveness too because true love is a commitment; and love for God is in practical terms a commitment to remain with God and never to stray. When that commitment, or love resides in one's heart - one would 'pay attention to oneself and to one's teachings' and thus 'save oneself and save the hearers'(cf. 1 Tim 4:16). Do not say that you are young, the Lord warned Jeremiah! The warning is to all of us, because each of us is anointed by the hands of God at our baptism and we participate in the Royal priesthood of Christ, the high priest. It's not if we are small or if we are sinners - what matters most is the love that I have in my heart for God - a true love, a true commitment!

WORD 2day

18th September, 2013

Conformity and Compromise seem to be the most acceptable modes of social living in today's context. What if someone refuses to conform - thank one's fortunes if he or she is a success; if the person bungles, he or she is termed - 'weird', 'good-for-nothing', 'worthless', 'abnormal', 'hard headed', 'stubborn' or so on. Living by values and standing up for God, today seems to be an out-of-fashion attitude. But the only way to belong to the "household of God"(1 Tim 3:15) is by our way of living! Inspite of the pressurising crowd, the preposterous situations or the prejudiced society, one is called to remain a disciple of Christ, in word, deed and thought. It is a vocation 24/7; it is a call every moment of the day and every day of the year! Both ways are open to us : the easier option to conform to the world - dancing to its tunes or playing to its moves, or the tough call to 'put on the mind of Christ' (Phil 2:5). Paul said it plainly in his letter, "do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the ...will of God" (Rom 12:2).

WORD 2day

17th September, 2013

At times I feel that I am obsessed with the word and the virtue of Integrity. The readings today summon every person in Christian community to recognise and reassess the place and the importance of this quality in our life and community today. More than any quality of efficiency or intelligence, it is personal integrity that St. Paul outlines as the quality needed utmost for anyone who wants to serve a Christian Community. Jesus, most obviously, is the model presented to us by the Gospel. Not merely a sermon or a discourse, but we see Jesus moved with compassion for the helpless widow on the streets of Nain. The Responsorial Psalm drives home to us the crux of the message today: "He who walks in the way of integrity shall be in my service" (Ps 101:6). The less the disparity between our talk and our walk, the more is our Integrity! Integrity, infact, is the internal peace that leads to Universal Peace!

WORD 2day

16th September, 2013

In these days when the world visited the brink of another large scale military conflict, the readings today have a wonderful message - to pray for all, for the sake of peace! It is not a convenience-seeking measure but a conviction that is born out of a solid teaching that Jesus wanted to impart to the world - We are all sons and daughters of One, loving, caring God who is madly in love with us. Jesus lived that teaching by reaching out to the Roman Centurion and infact pointing out in him the excellence of faith. The present Holy Father, Pope Francis proved a true disciple of Christ, calling the whole world, all persons of good will to unite in prayer, as does the first reading today. It is important for the world to know that the one word that can heal everyone, the one word that can give peace to the whole world, the one word that can set everything right is with God! The process has to begin with us... those who hear that Word, to believe in it and entrust ourselves to living it. 'Say but one word O Lord, the world shall be healed and we shall have peace!'

LET YOURSELF BE FOUND!!!

15th September, 2013: 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

The First Reading warns us:

The World and our life today is filled with things, events, ideals and values that can distract us and get us lost!

The Second Reading instructs us:

Become aware of it when you are lost! St. Paul realised how lost he was! It is a grace to "come to our senses" (as the lost son came to his senses in the parable - Lk 15:17).

The Gospel presents to us:

A God who is on a constant look out; the Lord who is in search of us; the Lord who rejoices on our return! But the Lord cannot find us, unless we let ourselves be found! 

Prayer

Oh Lord, my God,

Grant that I may stick to the path you have shown;

Enlighten my mind to single out the enticements and entrapments 

that get me lost to your life-giving presence;

Infuse my heart with the humility to see the truth and accept it

specially when I find myself far from it;

Take my hand and lead me gently back to you,

however undeserving you find me to be; 

for I know you love me without bounds, 

you accept me without conditions, and 

you watch over me without denying me my freedom!

Thank you Lord, 

never let me wander too far away from you; and

help me always to let myself be found...
like the coin on the house floor, 
the sheep in the wilderness, 
and the son who came to himself...
Help me Lord, 
that when you come in search of me, 
TO LET MYSELF BE FOUND.

Amen.

A BREAK for WORD 2day!!!

WORD 2day

31^st August, 2013

‘To aspire to live quietly, to mind your affairs and to work with your own hands’, is the practical tip for peaceful living that St. Paul gives his spiritual children at Thessalonica. It seems that gossip and judgments about others has been a problem for centuries on. Uncharitable curiosity about others’ lives, passing judgments and spreading prejudices about others, looking out for an opportunity to blame my negligences and failures on someone else, villainising someone merely because I do not agree with him or her – these are fast becoming “normal” in a society that is influenced by a maddening media craze! Holiness does not consist of my private life alone, it involves my social relations, my willingness towards contributing my mite to the social order and my commitment towards making this world a better place to live! However little, let us do our part, so that the Lord may rejoice in us, and address us, “Good and faithful servants!”

WORD 2day

30^th August, 2013

This is God’s will: your sanctification! St. Paul has the gift of speaking of the greatest of the things in simplest of terms. Today, he puts across in straightforward terms the life task that we have – our personal sanctification. Our personal sanctification comes as a result of our self understanding. ‘Don’t you know that you are the temple of God?’ (1Cor 3:16), St. Paul would ask elsewhere. That self-understanding as the dwelling of the Spirit of God, is the starting point for a whole journey of personal sanctification. It is not a victory gained once for all but it is a constant vigilance and continuous labour, explains the parable that Jesus narrates in the Gospel. The lamp of our life needs to keep burning; the oil is given by God – ‘God who gives the Holy Spirit’. The Spirit is the oil that we need to keep our lamps burning, burning always with the desire to remain sanctified dwellings of the Spirit!