The Power of Meekness!

6th July, 2014: 14th Sunday of the Ordinary Time

Zech 9: 9-10; Rom 8: 9, 11-13; Mt 11: 25-30

To be powerful, to be the leader, to be dominant, to be in command... these are the dreams people always grow with and crave for. The world advocates it as "normal" ambition of "normal" persons. I know of a priest, who when he comes to a religious house will invariable go to the kitchen and eat with the kitchen staff who cook for us. There is another person whom I know of who owns a property worth a few crores, but eats every meal with the orphan children who live in the orphanage that he runs! These are choices, choices for the weak, the meek, the humble, the powerless and it is here that there is real power! 

The choice of Yahweh in the Old Testament was for such people. God was, God of the poor, the God of the oppressed, the God of the suffering. The concept of 'Anawim Yahweh', that the prophets speak of: the vulnerable, the suffering, the poor, the bowed-down, the people in submission - the Lord stands by them; they are the privileged people of God. The definitive choice of God is seen absolutely in the choice that God makes, to become a human person, go through all that a human person goes through and accept death, even death on the cross (cf. Phil 2). The First reading says the Lord comes not on great splendid chariot or with the power of the horses or powerful weapons. The Lord comes on a colt! "Learn of me for I am meek and humble of heart!"

The readings today present us with three challenges, to be people of God. 

The first is, the challenge to create a counter culture: the people of the Reign are called to be prophets who challenge the present order. The Lord repeatedly instructed during the past week through prophet Amos: Do not be conformed to the world! Challenge the culture that justifies domination and subjugation. Challenge the world that idolises wealth and power and prominence. Do not succumb to the culture of craving for power.

The second is, to challenge one's own ego: the more you do away with your ego, the more you give space to the spirit of the Lord within you, says the first reading today. It is very logical, the less space I give to my ego, the more space I can give to the other; the more space I give the other, the more space I am able to set apart for God.

The third challenge is to create a society that is meek, humble and peaceful. The Lord promises, all those who are tired and heavy laden, 'come to me and I shall give you rest'. But in the very next verse, he says: take my yoke upon you and learn of me - and you will find rest! The conditions placed for the real rest, is taking the yoke from the Lord and learning from the Lord to be humble and meek. 

It is in this meekness that a person is strong. Meekness is not weakness; it is the mighty weapon that Jesus taught us to use to the best of results. Creating a peaceful world, creating a warless society, creating a just and egalitarian society, the change has to begin from within: having a heart that is founded on the balanced ground of the Lord; developing within, a spirit that is unscathed by jealousy and rancour; nurturing a soul that is sweet and filled with love! This sweetness, love, forgiveness, mercy and serenity is the real power of meekness!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

WORD 2day: 5th July, 2014

The Reign Perspective!

Am 9: 11-15; Mt 9: 14-17

The times are dull and dreary, the situation is grim and gloomy, the future seems bleak... these are not feelings totally strange to us. At a point or the other, all of us have felt them or would feel them for sure! But the Christian hope is that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. The last word is always the Lord's. Amos, who has been pronouncing such vehement warning all this while, comes out with a hopeful projection of the future. In fact some scholars say, that this part of the text could be actually an interpellation into Amos' text. However, the readings today point to the fact that things can and will change for the better. There will be plenty, there will be justice flowing like river and righteousness like an overflowing stream, in short, there will be the Reign of God established for sure!

But, we should be prepared for it. We should be prepared to have a new mindset, a totally new perspective, an absolutely different value system! Cosmetic changes will not work...patchworks will not be sufficient...little additions here and there, simple deletions at places will not suffice... these adjustments will only make the situation worse, more confused and totally disoriented. What will help is only a radical transformation in Christ. It is what St. Paul would say, 'do not be conformed to this world, instead be transformed in Christ Jesus' (cf.;Rom 12:2); 'those who are in Christ are a new creation' (2 Cor 5:17). And for this we have put on the mind of the Christ (cf. Phil 2:5) and that is a radically new mindset, a totally new perspective, an absolutely different value system: namely, the Reign perspective!

WORD 2day: 4th July, 2014

Being Godly is being merciful...

Am 8:4-6, 9-12; Mt 9: 9-13

I desire mercy not sacrifice. There is a particular perspective that a Godly person alone can have: the perspective of God. For God, every one is same; every one is a child to be loved. Why doesn't God punish? Why are evil one's not destroyed yet? These are some questions that some always pose! At times we like to see the untoward things that happen as punishments from God... though infact it is we who cause ourselves hurts and injuries. Our God is a God who loves mercy. When we make choices that are inhuman, when we fix priorities that are ungodly, when we act on criteria that are unjust, we drain ourselves of the divine presence that is within us and that surrounds us, because we withdraw from God, hide from our maker as Adam and Eve did in the garden of eden. And the result: famine, famine of the divine presence, famine of the Word, famine of the light of God.

The Lord calls us as he calls Matthew, to leave the table and follow Him; to leave our ungodly priorities, unjust criteria and inhuman choices and follow the Lord. When we follow the Lord, what would matter to us will be mercy, and mercy alone. Being Godly is being merciful. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy; in God's own mercy, the Lord will deliver God's word to us. There will be no famine of the Word of God; we will be in perfect communion with the Lord! Let us be merciful as our Heavenly Father is merciful.

WORD 2day: 3rd July, 2014

Celebrating St. Thomas, the apostle to India

Eph 2: 19-22; Jn 20: 24-29


Feast of St. Thomas leaves us with three lessons...

1. We are One Church built on the Apostles.
The feasts of every apostle is a reminder of the essential unity that has to exist within the Church. As Paul so vehemently opposes (cf. I Cor 1:10-13), right from the earliest times division has always been a dreaded scandal within the Church. This reality notwithstanding, the divided body of Christ today drains the Church of its witnessing power and evangelical authority.

2. The Church in India has a special responsibility.
The Church in India, boasting a direct handing over of faith by an apostle, has a special responsibility towards establishing the Reign of God on earth. It is unfair to claim privileges but refrain from the duties that come with it. Every person who has received the gift of faith in this country of ancient heritage and culture, has to stand firm in witness to the Gospel thus received challenging the society towards a holistic transformation, ushering in the Reign of God here and now.

3. Doubts don't matter as long as the Lord remains close to us.
Thomas was not only the one who wanted to touch the wounds that nails made and put his hand into the hole on Jesus' side, but he was also the one who said, "let us also go, that we may die with him" (Jn 11:16). His personal attachment to Jesus covered up for his obstinacy not to believe when the rest of the apostles reported Jesus' resurrection. In our lives too, when doubts assail, when clouds gather over our heads and we tend to be overwhelmed by them, the only thing that can sustain us is our personal relationship with Jesus!

May St. Thomas show us Christians in India, the most fitting way of living out the Gospel in our context, so that we may be ambassadors of the Reign of God, here and now.

WORD 2day: 2nd July, 2014

Seeking God and Shunning Evil

Am 5: 14-15, 21-24; Mt 8: 28-34

Seek Good and Shun Evil... it is such a simple and straight forward directive from Amos today! It is a universal dictum, but is it as simple as it sounds? Do we really and absolutely seek good and good alone? More importantly, do we shun evil, and shun it absolutely? The world today holds out a culture that seems to be a subtle mixture of both... some good are seen to be 'too impractical' and we are advised not to seek them. Some evil are so subtly deemed 'acceptable' and made so hard to be shunned right away.

Sometimes it seems better to live with certain forms of evil and remain acceptable and comfortable in our living zones. When we seek good, when we seek the Lord, we have to by all means do away with certain things in our lives. But we conveniently keep the Lord away at those points, so that our comfort zones are not affected, like the people in the Gospel today who came and begged Jesus to leave their locality. They did not mind living with the evil spirits, but they were upset that they lost a herd of swine! They wondered how much more they will have to lose if Jesus stayed on with them!

If we really want Jesus to stay on with us, we will have to do away with a lot of things! Are we really prepared? Or would we choose to tell the Lord to leave us in peace? Seeking God and Shunning Evil... is it a natural quality to me?

WORD 2day: 1st July, 2014

To live by faith is to be just!

Am 3: 1-8, 4: 11-12; Mt 8: 23-27

There is a close link between justice and faith. 

Amos points out to the people that they were living an unjust life because they do not really behold the presence of the Lord who had done so many wonders on their behalf. We become evil, unjust, selfish, blood thirsty and inhuman when we do not realise who we are, from whom we come, what our roots are, where our real treasures are and who is that who sustains us! Realising these, in short, is faith.

Beholding the presence of the Lord is the first sign of faith. At times of trials, when there is a suffering because of our just way of life and at times of temptations, when our mind sights short cuts and the world suggests that as the way of the smart, we need to behold the presence of the Lord beside us and stay calm! 

The wind and the storm, the demons and the diseases, they recognised the Lord and bowed down at the sight. The human will and freedom refused to do it and it still happens, when we do not from the depth of our hearts behold the mighty presence of the Lord, in such a simple manner around us. When we recognise it, our life changes, our perspectives widen and we grow more and more holy and just. Infact, to live by faith is to live just!

WORD 2day: 30th June, 2014

The Tough Call

Am 2: 6-10, 13-16; Mt 8: 18-22

Following the Lord is not an easy task, it is really a tough call. Amos explains today how an unjust life and a godly life cannot go together, how a maltreatment of a brother or a sister and the worship of the Lord cannot be reconciled with each other, how selfishness and true spirituality are opposed to each other. Amos will continue to challenge us this whole week. Amos is called the roaring lion, the Lord's voice that convicts us, the goodness of God that challenges us to be just, good and truly holy.

Jesus, in the Gospel, takes the presentation of Amos ahead and points to how difficult it is to be true disciples to a demanding master like the Lord! It is a fact! The Lord demands nothing less than an absolute commitment or surrender to the Lord. It is all about Integrity, a state where what I think and what I express are one and the same, what I preach and what I struggle to practice are not opposed to each other, what I do and what I am flow from the fact that I belong to God always and everywhere! It is indeed a tough call... but there is no other way to prove myself worthy of the One who has called me!

FEAST OF STS. PETER AND PAUL

Some Traditional Trivia... interesting to know

- Originally this feast was called the Martyrdom of Apostles Peter and Paul 
- There are just three Basilicas built on the tomb of the Apostles...
    1. St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican
    2. St. James's Basilica, Campostella, Spain
    3. St. Thomas' Basilica, Mylapore, Chennai, India 
- Peter was Crucified (crucified upside down on his request!!!)
- Paul was beheaded (there is a church built on the spot where Paul was believed to be beheaded...in the immediate outskirts of Rome)  
- The Vatican St. Peter's Square leading to St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, has the statues of Peter and Paul adorning the square as we overlook the Basilica... as traditionally, Peter holds the keys, and Paul holds a sword!

LET US THANK GOD FOR, ADMIRE AND IMITATE...
ST. PETER, 
IN HIS INTUITIVE FAITH AND INTIMATE FRIENDSHIP WITH CHRIST;
ST. PAUL, 
IN HIS TOTAL DEDICATION TO THE GOSPEL AND SELF-CONSUMING LOVE FOR CHRIST!

Peter to the right of the Square

Paul on the left corner of the square

WORD 2day: 28th June, 2014

Remembering the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Lam 2: 2, 10-14, 18-19; Lk 2: 41-51

Following the Sacred Heart, we remember the Immaculate Heart - so fitting and meaningful a tradition! The Heart of Mary, immaculate originally by the grace of God, but manifests more than that the total dedication to God and the role God has to play in the salvation history of human kind.

The heart of Mary gives us three lessons to live by.

1. The heart was pierced by sorrows as Simeon predicted. The first reading gives us a picture of the lamenting daughter of Sion and Mary is prefigured in this imagery. But no matter how much it was pierced and hurt and tortured, the heart always glowed for the love of God and the fulfillment of God's will.

2. The heart of Mary was absolutely open to the working of the Spirit and it was at the beck and call of the Word. We see this right from the moment she heard the greeting from the angel. Openness to the Spirit is a matter of the heart and Mary exemplifies it to the utmost.

3. The heart of Our Blessed Mother was filled with 'God-thoughts' and that was because she kept everything that was happening in her life in her heart and pondered over them. She recognised, acknowledged and accepted interventions of God in her life, and found herself being moved and animated by the Lord, the Lord's Word and the Lord's Spirit.

Imitating Mary, let us open our hearts to God, glow for God and allow ourselves to be guided by the Lord and we will experience strongly the presence of the Lord in our hearts.

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