WORD 2day: 5th April, 2014

RELEARN THE LOVE FOR TRUTH

Jer 11:18-20; Jn 7: 40-53

"Then each went to his own house" - that is how the Gospel reading ends today! In spite of the witnesses who saw that there was something extraordinary in Jesus, in spite of the good that Jesus accomplished, in spite of the wonderful things that they saw, the pharisees took pride that they did not give into believing Jesus. The meaning of pride is not merely lack of humility, but it is lack of openness to truth! When one is open to Truth, one is ready to face struggles, persecutions and threats to stand by that truth, as Jeremiah tells us in the first reading. When one is stubbornly closed up against anything other than what he or she knows, one is locked up in "one's own house"... the experience of Massah and Meribah where the people tested the Lord because of their stubbornness of heart, is what continued in Jesus' life as they refused to understand who Jesus was. In fact, it continues even today, when we are selective in our perceptions and choosy in our reflections. We take what is convenient for us and neglect what is not. Truth does not matter to us as much as living without trouble. Truth does not matter to us as much as having everyone nod to our thinking and choice. When they don't agree, we tend to neglect them, sideline them, persecute them, hate them, or atleast ignore them! Is this a Christian attitude?

WORD 2day: 4th April, 2014

RETURN TO THE RIGHT KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

Wis 2:1A,12-22; Jn 7: 1-2,10,25-30.

The prime question today in the liturgy is "knowing God"... what kind of knowing is truly knowing, when it comes to the knowledge of God? What  matters most is not knowing about God, but knowing God. What is the difference here: one is information and the other is transformation. Knowing philosophical concepts and theological finer points is merely information, but allowing those to affect our lives, forming our values based on those and living a life that is coherent to our beliefs is more than mere knowledge; it is more than knowing about God; it is knowing God! The people in the Gospel today, knew so much about God, but they did not know God when God really lived and moved amidst them. Knowing the biblical verses by heart and quoting them in season and out of season, reflecting on the depths of theological ruminations and reaching the heights of mystical formulations will not guarantee true knowledge of God. Jesus says of God: "I know him because I am from him" and that is the true knowledge of God. Knowing God is to belong to God, to be open to God's promptings, to listen to the Word and to see God's will in it, ever ready to accept, live and stand for God's plan, will and design. To carry out God's will is the direct route to true happiness; it arises from right rapport with God translated into right, respectful, just, genuine and loving relationships.

WORD 2day: 3rd April, 2014

RELEARN LIVING IN TRUTH

Exo 32:7-14; Jn 5:31-47

Testifying to oneself, others testifying, God testifying, the Word testifying... testifying to the Truth is an important element of one's Spirituality. Jesus speaks of all these today in the Gospel. The point he makes is: a hard hearted person will never see the truth, however clearly it might be presented. The people of Israel in the first reading are an ample illustration of this fact. In spite of the wonders that they witnessed in Egypt, at the red sea and in the desert, they had the hardness of heart to go in search of gods made of their own hands! Confusions of our daily life, little troubles of our regular days, temptations amidst our ordinary experiences, struggles to carry out one's duties - these can some times make us forget the Truth that we have always experienced. Deserting one's faith, abandoning one's traditions, going in search of substitutes for the cherished experiences of life and phenomena of these sorts are nothing strange to the world today. How well founded is our faith expreience? In whom have we placed our hope? Let us relearn to live our life, founded on Truth!

WORD 2day: 2nd April, 2014

Turn to God the Father and Mother

Is 49:8-15; Jn 5:17-30

The relationship God has with us and the identity we have of ourselves in relation to God are the two factors that matter the most in forming a holistic world view. That is what defined to Jesus, who and what he was. Jesus' self identity was so strongly formed that he did not mind facing any opposition in order to realise and live that identity to the full. Understanding God as a mother who does not forget the child in her bosom, or as some one who does not forget us even if a mother does, leads us to an attachment that Jesus exhibits in his life... for the Jews it was strange and unthinkable, it was a reason enough to kill Jesus. If we exhibit such an attachment to God and to doing God's will the world around will look at us strange too; they would want to do away with us too - may be by subtler ways, like calling us 'old fashioned' or 'goody goody' or 'impractical'. Will we be courageous enough to say what Jesus says:"I do not seek my own will but the will of the one who sent me!"

WORD 2day: 1st of April

RETURN TO THE SPRINGS OF LIVING WATERS

The Springs of living waters, that fill us with life, health and joy are pictured today in the readings. The waters keep flowing on, it depends on us to approach it and drink from it. Jesus invites us, "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me; and let the one who believes in me, drink!" (Jn 7:37-38). We are planted by the stream that flows, that is, we are enlivened by the presence of the Lord who surrounds us each and every moment. True spirituality has to arise from there - based on the personal presence of God with us. Special places like the Church or the Sanctuaries and special moments like those of community liturgy or personal prayer, should be the springs from where the waters flow on into daily life, affecting our daily life, our every day thoughts, words and deeds! If that connection is lost, then we become lifeless vegetation that remains fruitless. Let us return to the Springs of living waters and make our daily life flourish, for the greater glory of God!

WORD 2day: 31st March, 2014

RELEARN TO COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS

Behold, I make all things new, declares the Lord. Every day, in spite of the trials and difficulties we are showered with innumerable blessings. If only we are attune to every thing that happens in our life, we will be able to count our blessings, the blessings that make our life every day new. If we start every day with the spirit of the Psalms that remind us: this is the day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it - we would profit by living that day with a grateful heart. A grateful heart is a humble heart; a humble heart is a grateful heart! The more grateful we grow, the more holy we become! The more holy we become, the more we will realise how true it is that the Lord changes our mourning into dance! Let us relearn to count our blessings, and we will live a life that will be a blessing to us, and a blessing to all who are around us!

ஒளிரும் சாட்சியங்களாய்...

தவக்காலம் 2014: நான்காம் ஞாயிறு - 30 மார்ச்சு

LIGHTED TO BE TESTIMONIES

Lenten Project 2014: Sunday #4 - 30th March

"We are children of the Light", the readings remind us today and invite us to live in the light! To awake from the slumber of the darkness, to avoid the works of the people of darkness and to acknowledge being anointed to announce the good news to the world - that is the call to be children of the light. We have the light within us, the Light of the world is with us, we are lighted to shine, we are lighted to shine as testimonies to the Light that longs to lead everyone to fullness of life.

We are called to SEE. Blindness is not merely of the physical eye... blindness of the heart to perceive the something that is so apparent is the worst of all blindness. Physical blindness is a handicap, but Spiritual blindness sometimes is a choice, a choice against something obvious! Not to see the goodness of the other, not to see the good the other has done to you, not to see the great things that God has done for us, these are the blindnesses out of which the Lord calls us today. The darkness within us can surround us so much that we may find so comfortable within it. That was the problem of the pharisees and the scribes: they were so cosy in their own world but Jesus disturbed them! He called them to light, he called them to awake. The Word today, calls us to AWAKE and see the Light, shining on us!

We are called to SEE LIKE GOD. As children of God we are called to see like God. The first reading presents to us an incident where the Lord gives us a practical lesson for our life. David, the least of all in the family of Jesse was chosen against all odds to be the ruler of Israel. There are other such occasions too that we find in the Bible: Joseph the sold slave, Gideon the weakling, Esther the orphan girl and so on. The message is clear: to see like God. As the Lord clarifies it (1 Sam 16:7), the Lord sees the heart and not the external appearances; the Lord sees the internal disposition and not the eternal display; the Lord sees the interior openness and not a stubborn self righteousness. To see like God would mean to avoid the works of the people of darkness, who try to close their eyes to any good that someone can do because of a prejudice they have at heart; who look for any lame excuse to judge and vilify others merely because they do not like the other; who look at others as threats and wait to see their ruin. Avoid the works of darkness and put on the armour of Light!

We are called to MAKE OTHERS SEE GOD. We are anointed people of God, chosen children of God. Peter reminds us in his letter, "You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light" (1 Pet 1:9). By our baptism we have been anointed and by the sacrament of confirmation we are confirmed in the anointing - that we are to announce to the world the good news of the love of God. That we may see and see like God, we are given the Light of the Lord. The Light shines within us with such splendour that it radiates to the world around us! We are commissioned to be testimonies of the Light that shines in the world. 

If we can say like that blind man in the Gospel - "One thing I know, I was blind and now I can see!" - we are testimonies to the Light that shines within us, the Light that can give meaning to the world. When we really see and see like God, the works of God will be made visible through us and that is what we are called to. Let us thank God for having given us God's light and let us be lighted to be testimonies of the the Light of the world.

WORD 2day: 29th March, 2014

RETURN TO THE LORD IN LOVE - the invitation continues!

'It is love that I desire, not sacrifice,' declares the Lord in the first reading today. In fact, love is the best form of sacrifice one can offer the Lord, says Jesus in the Gospel. Speaking of love, we do not refer to a mere sentimental feeling for the other, but a concrete commitment for the good of the other. The concrete commitment is translated in terms of compassion, understanding, not judging, empathising, extending a hand, standing for the other and being ready to lay down one's life for the other! Do we not see exactly the opposite qualities at work today in the world - competition, arrogance, judgements, insensitivity, let downs, conspiracies and ruining others' lives for one's own well being! The choice is ours: lie low in the eyes of the spoiled society and be "blessed" in the eyes of the Lord, or parade oneself before the society but be despicable in the eyes of the Lord! What is our choice? Will we go home justified today?

WORD 2day: 28th March, 2014

RETURN TO THE LORD IN LOVE

"Return" is the message that the readings today give us, as the first reading explicitly begins with. And Jesus in the gospel, states the way to return to the Lord... it is only through love; because "God is love"! Loving God and loving one's neighbours, is no more two different things in Jesus' mind. It is one and the same: to love God is to love others, to love others is the easiest way to loving God. More than that, loving God is a necessity and loving others is it credibility. The most interesting part of today's message, when both the readings taken together, is a short cut to the heart of God. The readings seem almost to suggest that, even if you have a lot of imperfections within you, if you genuinely love, you are closer to the heart of Jesus than the so-called perfect person who lacks compassion and mercy! "Love and do what you will", said St. Augustine, who understood the real heart of Jesus, who declares today, that the person who spoke to him was not far from the Reign, simply because he understood the importance of love, love for God and love for one's neighbours!