WORD 2day: 8th January, 2014

A Crash Course on Love: # Lesson 2

Love is power! Looking around today, the so-called 'love' seems  to be governed by a sense of pleasing, a sense of nurturing the ego, a sense of give-and-take that works on the logic of business, gain and expectation! It is filled with insecurity, doubts, jealousy and exploitation...each of which is a varying degree of FEAR within the relationship of love that persons claim to be sharing! But there is no fear in love - perfect love casts out fear; because perfect love is founded on God. We can love, because we believe in the love that God has for us! We are called to love because God loves us! We will not have fear of anything...because God loves us and God is with us and repeats to us the words that Jesus says in the Gospel today: "Take heart, it is I; have no fear!" The presence of God with us, is a power. The assurance of God's love poured into our hearts is a power, with which we can take on the whole world! Love, the greatest of all powers, be with us!

WORD 2day: 7th January, 2014

A Crash Course on Love: # Lesson 1

Just done with the intense Christmas mood with the Epiphany just past, the Word offers us a crash course on love, beginning today, to set the tone for the New year at our disposal. 

LOVE is giving, a giving of oneself to the other without any calculations of gain or profit. The first reading reminds us of the fact that God gave everything even God's only Son... because God is Love! The Son gave everything even his divinity, because he was Love personified! Jesus was filled with compassion for the people and He reached out to each of them in love, in boundless and unconditional love. The Holy Spirit lives on within us, because the Spirit is the mark of God's love for God's children. 

Let's be ready to GIVE, not just from what we have but from what we are...to those around us...beginning with the family, the brothers and sisters who live with us, on a daily basis. Let us learn to give without anyone asking, let us learn to give without calculating, without looking for returns, without asking whether the other merits or not... that is the Love that comes from God!

WORD 2day: 6th January, 2014

To whom do I belong?

The first reading is full of terms like - to remain in God, to belong to God, to be God's children and so on! All these are possible because of the "one who lives in us" (1 Jn 3:24). The things that we do in life are secondary to what we are, it is very true! But it is also equally true that what we really are would determine what we decide to do. What we are, consists mainly of the question of our 'belonging': where and to whom we belong? If we belong to God, our choices will be godly, come what may! Jesus had an ample cue as to what awaits him, with the example of what befell of John the Baptist! But still Jesus chooses to go forth and proclaim the Reign of God - because he knew where and to whom he belonged! I have come to do the will of the one who sent me: that was his conviction. The choice of our actions and our attitudes depends much on, to whom we belong to!

CELEBRATING THE SELF REVEALING GOD

5th January, 2014: The Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord

The only possibility of knowing about God is through God's own self revelation! God is no simple object to be discovered or invented; God is a person whom we should get to know. Knowing God is possible only through the self revelation of God in history, in the Word, in our day to day experiences and in ways known only to God. Today we celebrate that one event, that one life, that one person - JESUS CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD, in whom God revealed Godself fully, completely, definitively and super abundantly! The revelation has been going on even before Christ, through prophets and judges (Heb 1:1), through chosen men and women . The revelation goes on even today in our everyday life, through the Word and the traditions, through day to day experiences, through holy men and women who have gone before us and those of our times. These revelations find their fullness in the Paschal Mystery, that is: the birth, life, suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus, the Son of God.

The feast of epiphany is a celebration and a thanksgiving to the Self revealing God who deigned to reveal Godself in the person of Jesus Christ, our Saviour. This feast of revelation reminds of three realities of our faith:

SEEK... to know God: One has to seek, to know God; there should be a yearning within, in order to encounter God. The wise men from the east got wind of something special that was in store and they sought to know what it is. They were wise men, but they wanted to know more and more! Faith has to be deepened; there should be a yearning within us to grow more and more in our relationship with God. It is true that the fullness of revelation dwells in Christ, the Son of God...but I have to seek to personalise it, to encounter that revelation and relate to it in first person.

SEE... to find God: One has to see, to find God; God is always present with us, all that we need to do is see! 'Lift up your eyes round about, and see' says the first reading. We need to see the face of God: in our brothers and sisters; in those who are suffering and toiling; in those who are exploited and crushed; in those who are treated with disdain and burdened with pain; in those who wake up every morning not certain of the next; in those who have so many worries and concerns in life that they can never think of living the present moment! We need to see God, in the innocent love of a Child; in the tender touch of a mother; in the brimming eyes of a caring person; in the everyday miracles of life. Once we see God in these, we will surely find God concretely present in the Church, in the celebration of the sacraments and in our prayer moments. 

SHINE... to show God: One has to shine, to show God; we are called to become instruments of revelation ourselves. 'Arise! Shine!' calls the first reading. St. Paul speaks of how the Lord made him an instrument of revelation to the people! When we seek God and manage to see God, we begin to shine. That is why Isaiah says, "then you shall see and be radiant"...the very seeing makes us radiant, makes us shine! Our Faith is not merely to be understood and believed, but to be lived and be shared. Revelation is at one and the same time a grace and a challenge. A Grace, because it is gratuitous and comes from God. A challenge because, once we get to see God, we have to shine; shine and announce God; shine and share God; shine and show God to the world, to all who are in darkness, sadness and gloom!

The Self revealing God invites us to SEEK, SEE and SHINE. To accept the invitation is the act of FAITH; a beginning of a journey, a journey that lasts the whole life time- every day of which we are called to Seek the Lord, See the Lord and Shine for the Lord!

WORD 2day: 4th January, 2014

They went, they saw, they stayed!

Jesus invites us to come and see...just as one of the psalms invites us to 'taste and see, that the Lord is good' (Ps 34:8). 'Come and See', refers to a call and a choice! Jesus calls us: COME. It is our choice: TO SEE. To see the Lord leading us everyday, to see the Lord directing us on our way; to see the Lord acting on our behalf and to cooperate with the Lord's will in every way... that is the choice we have to make! It is a radical choice - a choice of black or white, light or night...there can be no compromise with the Lord - it's righteousness or sin; ultimately, an yes or a no to God! If we choose God, we choose righteousness; if we do not choose God we choose sinfulness. Of course there are moments of temptations and weaknesses, but the choice is fundamental. It defines my daily life, every word I say, every decision I take and every move I make. We have come to the Lord; we have seen the marvels of the Lord; now the question is, are we ready to STAY forever with the Lord!

WORD 2day: 3rd January, 2014

The most powerful name of ALL: JESUS!!!

'There is no other name under heaven...by which we must be saved,' says Acts 4:12. The names in the Biblical tradition are not merely nominative, they are descriptive and definitive! Abraham, Moses, were names that defined the history of the person; Gabriel, Raphael, Michael, were names that defined the very role of those who bore them; John was given the name even before he was conceived, just like JESUS, the Saviour; Emmanuel, God-with-us! The true purpose of Incarnation was not to demonstrate the grandeur and the omnipotence of God, but the closeness of God with those whom God loved. Emmanuel is the title that explains best the love that God has for us...For God so loved the world, that God gave up everything even God's own Son; and the Son of God gave up even his Godhead and came to be one among us! The Word was made flesh and dwells among us..here and now!

WORD 2day: 2nd January, 2014

God, Faith and our Choice!

God loved us, and as if that was not enough, God had to prove it at great costs. God works marvelous things, and as if that is not enough, God has to every time prove, that the things are marvelous and that God did them! Faith is of course a gift from God, but receiving it or not, depends on our disposition and our readiness; it is our choice! The Word became flesh and came to dwell among us; God revealed Godself to us, and God continues to reveal... do we have the eyes to see it and the heart to accept it? How many miracles happen all around us every single day...and do we really notice each of them? Today, let us remain open with our eyes alive and our hearts warm, to receive and appreciate the splendid signs of God's presence with us. Do we really believe in the Emmanuel, God-with-us?

Felice Anno 2014

Happy 2014

BEGINNING IN GOD'S NAME...

2014... a treasure... wrapped and pressed into our hands...

We have today a wonderful gift that the Lord offers, wrapped and pressed into our hands...the gift of 365 beautiful days! And what better way to start the day than with the Blessings from the Lord:

The Lord bless you and keep you!

The Lord let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you!

The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace! (Num 6: 24-26)

It's all about the fullness of time...

At the appointed time the blessings come our way...

When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman...

so that we might receive adoption as chilren... (Gal 4:4,5)

And as we begin this New Year...

let us do as the Shepherds did...

Glorifying and Praising God

for all that we have heard and seen...(Lk 2:20)

for all the good that we have experienced during the year and 

for all the good that is in store for us this NEW YEAR...

and may be an apt prayer for today could be:

God grant me 

the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

the Courage to change the things I can, and

the Wisdom to know the difference!

THANKS to everything that has been...

AMEN to everything that is in store!

WELCOME 2014