We are people of RESURRECTION

10th November, 2013: 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

"And I will raise them up on the last day" declared Jesus regarding those who partook of him. Resurrection is our hope, Resurrection is the foundation of our faith. The crux of the salvation that Jesus offers us is Hope, and hope is the confidence of things that we are yet to receive and the greatest of all that we look forward to is resurrection! This is what Jesus in his incarnate self showed us - he lived his life for God, he died for God and by God he was raised; when we live, we live for God; if we die, we die for God, and we will be risen in the Lord! This is the foundation of our faith; for as St.Paul says, "if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile" (1 Cor 15:17). The readings today, help us understand what resurrection can mean to us. 

Resurrection is a REWARD, a recompense that God sets before us for the commitment with which we live our life. We come from God, and it is our destiny that we return to God. We are loved into existence by God and we bear God's image in the core of our being. Every day of our life is an opportunity to cherish that image within us and bring it to fulfillment within us. Every person we come across is a companion on this journey and every situation we live through is a means to nudge towards the destiny. There are moments that are trying and those are moments to stride across, as we see in the first reading. When we find ourselves in such moments as those, when we have to choose between God and godlessness, between righteousness and injustice, between good and mediocrity - and we decide to choose God, righteousness, goodness - we can proudly say with St. Paul, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown"(2 Tim 4:7,8).

Resurrection is RECONCILIATION, a reunion with my creator, an experience of my oneness with my God, whose child I am. In the letter to the Colossians, we are told, "you have now been reconciled in the body of his flesh, so as to present you holy and blameless before God provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in faith"(Col 1:22,23). Just this morning some one remarked to me, 'Oh after all, would we live another 25 years!' Absolutely true, that we are on an earthly sojourn and our eternal abode beckons us. That is why St. Paul prays in the second reading today, 'May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.' It is in that love of God and the faithfulness of Christ, that we are assured of 'eternal life' which is participating in the nature of God, who alone is eternal. In our resurrection we become one with God, we are reconciled to God, and we become eternal like God!

Resurrection is REALISATION, a concrete experience of what has been promised. We are called to live as the people of Resurrection. Christians are Easter People... while there is in store the eternal life that has been promised, we are invited to live that resurrection every day, every moment, specially in those moments when we are prone to hopelessness and desperation. We need to realise who we are, we need to realise who our God is! Jesus says of us - "they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection" (Lk 20:35). As Paul explains to the Romans (ch.6), we have died with Christ, in his crucifiction and we will live with him! We are called to live our lives, as people of resurrection, not losing heart on any trial, not giving up at any temptation, not desperate with any failure, not bogged down by any evil - but people filled with hope, comfort, courage, steadfastness, strength and love of God.

We are people of resurrection; let us live our lives mindful of the reward that the Lord has set before us, preserve ourselves holy and blameless to be reconciled to the Lord in eternal life and realise the fruits of that resurrection right here and now, in our daily lives.

Commemorating the Lateran Basilica

9th November, 2013

Today we commemorate the dedication of the Basilica of St. John the Evangelist at the Lateran. This basilica is special because it is one of the four major basilicas of the Church in Rome. It becomes more special because it is the Cathedral of the Bishop of Rome, which is the Holy Father himself.

Moving around in Rome, one can see churches, one mightier than the other, in every other lane of the city. An unofficial statistics says that the city of Rome alone has more than 2500 churches. Though at an apparent observation it might look to be an exaggeration of a period in time, still there is an insight that it can offer. Why did the people go on building churches after churches?

Churches meant for them, not just a place of gathering for worship; if it were merely that, they would surely not have needed so many. Churches, were temples, buildings from where the glory of God shone forth! That is why they built more and more of them, that the glory can shine forth more and more!

Today's readings, and any feast of dedication of a Church, remind us of this important vocation that we have. From the temple of the Lord goes forth the glory of that Lord, "and that temple you are!" (1 Cor 3:17). From the temple of the Lord flows the water which gives life, which brings healing, we read from Ezekiel today! From our lives, from our words, from our acts, from our very being, should flow the grace of God towards others! 

Jesus sets us the example, by being so conscious of being the Temple of the Lord. If we are his brothers and sisters, if we are to be known as his disciples, we need to be conscious too, that we are God's temple and God's spirit dwells in us (1 Cor 3:16)!

WORD 2day

8th November, 2013

Living life as a ministry - this was the inspiration that sprang within me reflecting on the Word today. Ofcourse, it is easy to brush it aside saying its a 'clerical' or 'priestly' or religious' way of thinking. But looking at the readings of today we can understand the words that Pope Francis has repeated in several modes: We cannot be part time Christians. We are called to live our life as persons of God every moment of our life, at home, in the neighbourhood, at work, on the way, in company, alone or at Church! If not, we will be caught unawares at a moment when we will have to frantically set things right as the dismissed steward does in the parable today. We should work out our own salvation, as St.Paul says to the Philippians Phil 2:12), not only in fear and trembling, but on a daily basis living our life with a consciousness that we are sent with a definite mandate, a concrete call by God to be God's stewards, to be sons and daughters of God in the world.

WORD 2day

7th November, 2013

God never gives up on us! Like the shepherd who lost his sheep and the woman who lost her coin, the Lord is after us, in search of us every time that we get ourselves lost. That a Christian should never lose sight of this fact, is what St.Paul wants to impress on us today. That has two major implications: First of all, never to give up on ourselves, because there is someone who believes in us, there is someone who loves us come what may, there is someone who is constantly present with us participating in every moment of our life - be it success or failure, joy or sadness, life or death! Secondly, it implies that we give up on none of our brothers or sisters, because there is someone who loves them unfathomably and we have no right to judge them on our whims and fancies. I am invited to trust, that God believes in me more than I myself do, and that God believes in my brothers and sisters as much as God believes in me! 

WORD 2day

6th November, 2013

'The fullness of law is love,' says St. Paul today. It can be confusing apparently if both the readings of today are taken together. The first speaks of the primacy of love and the Gospel says, unless you hate your father and mother, spouse and children... Aren't they contrary to each other? No... they are not contrary but complementary. The first reading with no dubious terms establishes the primacy of love and speaks of loving one's neighbour. The problem arises with the verb "hate" in the Gospel... which bible scholars say is a simplified (infact over-simplified) translation of the word in the original text which would actually mean, "to love less". The point is made. Christian love draws from God - God has to be the foundation for any love and that cannot be overlooked! When God is overlooked, "love" can dissipate itself into 'liking', into a mere objectification, a desire to possess, a seeking of self gratification. Even our so-called 'most-loving choices' should be checked in these terms: Is God at its foundation?

WORD 2day

5th November, 2013

Jesus has the table spread; where the saints of God are fed; he invites his chosen people come and dine! The spread that Jesus has is joy, hope, love, sharing, caring, helping, encouragement, honour, respect, service, hospitality, empathy - all that we see in the first reading, from Paul's letter to the Romans (a  profile of a perfect Christian from chapter 12). But we are too busy with our own choices, too busy setting ourselves up, towards selfishness, envy, pride, jealousy, insensitivity, avarice, competition, hatred, enmity... we choose not to pick from the spread that Jesus has - but later blame the Lord, complain against the Lord when things go wrong! It takes courage to choose God, to say 'yes' to God's invitation and partake in God's banquet. Only when we dare do that we can meaningfully pray the verse from the responsorial today, "In you, O Lord, I have found my peace!"

Life... a gift and a mystery!

Nera...one of my guppy friends in the room, gave birth to her young ones...
had the extraordinary opportunity of witnessing it live...
here I share with you one moment... 
a moment of awe! and a moment to praise the Lord of life!

click here: FOR VIDEO
nera giving birth

WORD 2day

4th November, 2013

Calculations of gain and loss, returns and rewards make an action limited to these considerations. Jesus, not only taught us a consideration different from these, but lived it himself and challenges us to live by it. The consideration is -'what God wants of me here and now'! Adopting that as my decisive criterion in life, requires of me two important attitudes: the first reading speaks of the first of the attitudes - it is, an immeasurable awe and absolute entrustment to the Wisdom of God; secondly - placing others, especially the weak, the poor, the least and the last, the needy as the center of my perspective on life, not looking at my own selfish and egoistic ends. When these two become my attitudes, I can worthily say as St. Paul says in the reading today: 'From God and through God and to God are all things. To God be glory for ever. Amen.'

SALVATION...today, here and now!

3rd November, 2013 - 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Salvation is the theme that dominates the liturgy today. The two days that have preceded help us to get into the theme readily. The first day when we celebrated those who shine as stars having reached the due destination; the second day when we remembered those who have completed their earthly lap and are bound towards the eternal abode; both these made us reflect on our future, as something certain and glorious. That is salvation. The word salvation, sometimes can be understood in terms of salvaging something that has gone wrong. Though this dimension is definitely present in the Salvation that Jesus wants to offer us, Salvation for a Christian should mean much more, much broader and more holisitic. It is wholeness, fullness, oneness, where nothing is lost, nothing is dissipated, everything is intact, everything is reconciled into One, whole cosmos reconciled in God, in and through one Saviour Jesus Christ. It is not merely an other-worldly phenomenon, but a concrete experience here and now, says the Gospel today through the example of Zacchaeus. 

An essential eligibility for this salvation is an Eagerness towards it. This eagerness is present in every person, every being. As St.Paul says in his letter to the Romans, the whole creation longs for it, as in a labour pain (Rom 8:22). It is God's will that nothing should be lost (Jn 6:39), that everything should be reconciled in Him (Col 1:20). The first reading expresses it in simple terms, that the Lord loves all things that exist and wills that they be united in the Lord. This is the oneness that we long for with the eagerness that is exhibited in the whole creation, and we as sons and daughters of God, have this longing much more. This longing is manifested in Zacchaeus in a gradually intensifying degree... first as a mere curiosity to see Jesus, then as an openness to listen to him and then as a longing to have him under his roof! Our eagerness too has to grow in these degrees... from a willingness to know, through an openness to listen to the Lord, to a longing to belong to Him for ever.

Salvation is not only something that happens at the end of time or at the end of my life... but it is the moment of truth that is occasioned every time the Lord encounters me - through daily events, through persons around, through a challenging situation, a needy person or a moment that demands a choice from me. As both the first and the second readings explain, the Lord strives to make the creation worthy of its original nature, the perfection which the Lord willed them. It is in this framework we understand every intervention of God, especially that in Jesus Christ, the Word made human. Once the Lord encounters me, I can never remain the same! That is why we keep dodging and avoiding the gaze of the Lord. But when it does happen, it is a moment of reckoning. It was so for Zacchaeus, he was encountered by Jesus at the Sychamore... an encounter that transformed him totally, initiated in his life a salvific process. He listened to Jesus' call, obeyed and came down from the tree, and his life was changed for ever. We are invited to listen to the call of the Saviour, come down from our obstinacy and our life will be changed for ever!

Salvation is not an imaginary state of life...it has to be seen in concrete living. It should be seen in our Enthusiasm for life. We see Zacchaeus enthusiastic about his new life...he is ready to return whatever he has unjustly extorted, not just that, but four times! This is what we call enthusiasm. The word enthusiasm, comes from the root 'en' and 'theos', which combine to mean, 'being filled with God'...being enthusiastic in life means to be filled with God every moment of our life. Salvation has to be evidenced in this enthusiasm to live life to the full... not ever compromising with the unjust state of affairs, not giving into selfish considerations of me and mine, but looking at everything from the perspective of God, from the perspective of wholeness that consists of reconciling everything, the whole creation, in God. 

We are people of the salvation, as St. Paul says, "God chose you from the beginning for salvation" (2 Thes 2:13); Let us live our life with a never ending eagerness for this wholeness in God, ever prepared to encounter the Lord and be corrected and made perfect by the Lord. Let our enthusiasm in our daily life proclaim to the world that we are people of salvation. Today, the Lord offers, as he did with Zacchaeus, to be our guest. If we receive the Lord with our whole hearts, TODAY, we will experience the power of God's salvation.

HAPPY DIWALI TO YOU !!!

Diwali: The Festival of Light

Light...

... as light illumines
... as fire burns
... in the hearth warms
... in the furnace purifies

Illumining it dispels darkness
Burning it destroys the unwanted
Warming it removes coldness
Purifying it eliminates impurities

May your life be filled with every light that is necessary for the moment...
that is my prayer, as I wish you, a

HAPPY DIWALI