WORD 2day

23rd October, 2013

Being slaves of righteousness - it is a wonderful figure of speech that St. Paul uses to communicate the level of virtuousness that we need to arrive at. Because, more is given to us (for God did not spare anything for the love God has for us); and so more is expected of us! The Lord in his turn speaks of the same with the help of a parable. Jesus speaks of various categories of persons today: those who do not know what is right and so fail to do it, they are helpless  and will receive the light; those who do not know what is right but still do it, they are fortunate and so are blessed; those who know what is right but still do not do it, they are slaves to unrighteousness and they bring upon themselves needless grief; those who know what is right and are particular about doing it - they are the righteous, they are the people of the light, they are the sons and daughters of God... they are the really 'Blessed'! Which category do I belong to?

Bl. Pope John Paul II

22.10.2013

We thank God for
Pope John Paul II...
as the Church celebrates
the memory of the Blessed today.
By now its certain,
that this will be the last time he will be remembered as Blessed..
Next year by this time we will have...
Pope St. John Paul II.
May he pray for us...

WORD 2day

22nd October, 2013

Be Awake! says the Lord today. St. Paul reminds us, that death has come from sin; Sin comes through disobedience and disobedience does not, for sure, come all of a sudden. It comes, either from a conscious rebellion or a habitual disregard. Conscious rebellion is not as dangerous as a habitual disregard. A feeling of monotony, getting used to things done on a regular basis, fixed schedules of prayer and customary acts of piety, usual persons and daily routines - these are the sources of habitual disregard. It is a kind of a slumber, a slumber with which we carry out our tasks and duties... be they spiritual or otherwise. The Lord invites us today, to be alert, to be awake, to be diligent even in the most ordinary of the daily tasks that we carry out - so that when the Master comes we are prepared to receive, whatever time it is. Keep alert, warns St.Peter, the devil your adversary is prowling round like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour (1 Pet 5:8).

WORD 2day

21st October, 2013

Storing up treasures for oneself versus being rich toward God - is the contrast that the Gospel presents us! Being rich by the standards of the world, or atleast having more than just enough, seems to be the driving force for a big majority today. Storing up wealth, is not easy - work, fatigue, stress, competition, strain, pain, sacrifice, fight, strife... it involves all these and more. Being rich toward God - consists of just one thing, one single thing - to remain still in God's presence! Through darkness and cloud, through storm and turbulence, 'be still and know that I am God' (Ps 46:10). Abraham, through all moments of probable doubt and hopelessness, "grew strong in faith as he gave glory to God" says the letter to the Romans. That was reckoned to him as righteousness! Through our daily work and responsibilities, concerns and discouragements, struggles and temptations, let us learn to 'be still' and 'grow strong in faith'! Let us be ever convinced that God is capable of doing what God has promised. 

With HANDS RAISED unto the Lord!

20th October, 2013: 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Work as if everything depended on you; Pray as if nothing depended on you, goes the popular saying. Today we have a wonderful image to place before us, as we go about our daily life. Moses on the hill overlooking the battle, with hands raised unto the Lord! The Battle belongs to the Lord... all that we need to do is keep still, the Lord will fight for us says the book of Exodus (14:14). 

We are called to live our life with our hands raised unto the Lord! 

Living with hands raised unto the Lord is a gesture that means to abandon everything into the hands of God. It is a total personal abandonment to the Lord, that the Lord may guide us and that the Lord may fight the battle for us! Many grow weary of struggles and temptations in life... when Moses' hands were raised, Israel won! The book of Proverbs tells us, 'the horse is made ready for the battle; but the victory belongs to the Lord!'(Prov. 21:31). When we learn to abandon ourselves in the hands of God, we will see the wonders that can happen.

Living with hands raised unto the Lord is to reach out to the Lord with all our heart. It is like the antenna that stretches to connect, to receive and to communicate. That is in short, 'prayer' - to connect, to receive and to communicate. Let us pay attention to the term that seems common in today's readings: pray without ceasing tells Jesus presenting to us the image of the widow; proclaim in season and out of season instructs St. Paul; and the first reading presents to us Moses unwilling to grow weary of having his hands raised unto to the Lord. A two fold call here: first, not to grow weary... like the widow to go on in trust, with our hands raised unto the Lord; second, when a brother or sister seems to grow weary, to rush to their side like Aaron and Hur and to be with them and to raise our hands in unison unto the Lord. A praying person builds a praying community of brothers and sisters, genuinely concerned about each other!

Living with the hands raised unto the Lord is to be filled with hope in the Lord. Like it happened to the widow, it may look like you might never get justice. Like it happened to the Israelites, it might look like you are losing the battle. Things may continuously go wrong, people might endlessly misunderstand you, nothing might seem to be going the way you wished it would..."But as for you, continue, in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it"...from Jesus himself who hoped in the One who sent him, from our Blessed mother who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken by the Lord! "Let us not allow ourselves to be robbed of our hope" reminds Pope Francis.

Every day of our life, every moment of our day, let us resolve to live with our hands raised unto to the Lord in a holy abandonment, in a loving union and in an unfailing hope... so that when Our Lord and Saviour comes he will still find faith here amidst us! 

WORD 2day

19th October, 2013

Jesus speaks of sin against the Holy Spirit in the Gospel today (Lk 12:10; also look up Mt 12:31-32). This is one of the most frequently asked questions among the youth at discussions. Moral theologians and Scripture Scholars have tried to make sense of it and one familiar interpretation given is this- the sin against the Holy Spirit, considered 'unforgivable' by Jesus, is the sin of presumption! Theologically, presumption is a vice against the virtue of hope; in simple words it is giving up hope! When one gives up hope, he or she crosses the human limits to decide that God is incapable of acting on his or her behalf and at that point the person loses any kind of needed disposition to receive anything from God, including forgiveness! It is not that God does not want to forgive, but the person has removed himself or herself from the possibility of receiving it. The first reading says of Abraham, that "hoping against hope, he believed"(Rom 4:18)...and thus he received all that blessings that he did! Our faith should be founded on Hope, and that is the fundamental attitude of a person of the Spirit.

WORD 2day

18th October, 2013 - Remembering the Evangelist St. Luke

Luke alone is with me...writes Paul. One salient feature that is often pointed out about St.Luke's gospel is the contrasting images that he uses in his narration...the beatitudes and the woes, Martha and Mary, the prodigal and his brother, the rich man and Lazarus, the good thief and the bad thief... these are typical to Luke! The message is obvious: he challenges his readers with absolute choices - for or against the Lord; with or away from the Lord! A value that he seems to have lived in his own life - he chose to remain with Paul in his difficult ministry! The radical choices that a disciple had to make according to Jesus in the Gospel today, were very clear for Luke and he made those choices his own! The memory of St.Luke invites us to make an absolute choice for God: on a daily basis, at work and at home, on the streets or in a public transport; in company or alone - we are what we choose to be! Let us fearlessly choose to belong to the Lord, always!

WORD 2day

17th October, 2013: Remembering St. Ignatius of Antioch

One is justified by faith apart from the works of law - this was, is and will ever be a point of contention. In the Old Testament times it was a contention between the 'conservative' and the 'progressive' rabbinic schools; in Jesus' times between him and the Jewish religious heads; in the times of the early Christians it was a contention between those who followed the Pauline theology and those who believed the theology of James; today it continues between the Catholics and the non Catholics! Needless to say our point of reference is Jesus: 'Don't put your trust in your capacity to achieve things and to gain control or dominance', warns Jesus, 'become like children!' That is primacy of faith! He also declared, 'when you did this to one of these little ones, you did it to me!' That is the necessity of works! What Jesus taught against was, empty ritualism, legalistic spirituality and hypocritical religiosity! St. Ignatius of Antioch, whom we celebrate today says that in very simple words, "it is not that I want merely to be called a Christian, but to actually be one. Yes, if I prove to be one, then I can have the name."

WORD 2day

16th October, 2013: Remembering St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

'For God shows no partiality' - that verse from the first reading is evidenced in the Gospel today. Jesus minces no words, nor spares no one! All that matters to Jesus is Justice and Mercy... and he pulls up every one be it Pharisees or Scribes, as Paul pulls up be it Jews or Greeks, following his Master! Justice and Mercy - purest forms of expression of God's love - is what we are called to set our minds on today! Celebrating the memory of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, we are reminded of the profound revelation of the incredible love of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus! Though God's love is a beautiful feeling of being drenched gratuitously, it challenges us - not just to reciprocate but - to act with justice and mercy towards our fellow beings, as a concrete expression of that love received and cherished! Being just, merciful and loving is the only way we can fit the description of being 'children of God'.

WORD 2day

15th October, 2013 : Remembering St. Teresa of Avila

The theme of yesterday continues today... there isn't any need for an extraordinary exercise to realise the presence of God. "Be Still and know that I am God", suggests Psalm 46 (v.10). One common word that we can find in the first reading and the Gospel today is, "fool" (Rom 1:22 ; Lk 11:40). It would indeed be foolish, if we do not really manage to experience the presence of God after all that we have been blessed with in life. Sometimes we can be led into that foolishness by our daily concerns, overwhelming troubles, endless temptations, nagging situations, seemingly insuperable burdens that tend to bog us. The readings, as well as the Mystic whom we celebrate today - St. Teresa of Avila, invite us to look within us and observe the greatness that is treasured within us, and from there we can shine forth to the world: through a thorough soul searching and a realisation of the indwelling Spirit within us! For we may be unworthy clay jars, but exactly in these has the Lord placed the priceless treasures (2 Cor 4:7)!