YEAR OF CONSECRATED LIFE #2

WORD 2day: 1st December, 2014

Monday, First week of Advent 

Is 2: 1-5; Mt 8: 5-11

Compare these two sayings from the first reading and the Gospel respectively: "Come, let us go to the mountain of the Lord"(Is 2:3) versus "I will come and cure you"(Mt 8:7)... it is in fact an integral part of the new paradigm of revelation that begins with Jesus' coming. We are today reminded of the incarnational paradigm of our faith! From a state where we were expected to go in search of God, we arrive at a state where the Lord comes in search of us. 'The Word became flesh and dwelt among us' (Jn 1: 14). 

What should our disposition be: the centurion teaches us! It should be one of humility, readiness to change and a eagerness to experience the transforming grace of God. That exactly is what Advent is all about!

To look at ourselves in humility, to be willing to alter our perspectives and priorities and to long and yearn for a closer encounter with the Lord are the directions that should take us forward this Advent.

YEAR OF CONSECRATED LIFE #1

W.A.T.C.H.

1st Sunday of Advent: 30th November, 2014

Is 63: 16B-17, 19, 64:2-7; 1 Cor 1: 3-9; Mk 13: 33-37

Happy New Year! This Sunday marks the first day of the New Liturgical Year that we begin. This Sunday also marks, by the wish of our Holy Father Pope Francis, the beginning of the Year of Consecrated Life (30 Nov, 2014 - 02 Feb, 2016). On this beautiful and happy day, we begin a fresh journey and the first phase is going to be a preparation to receive the King! And what does the Word say, right at the outset? It says: WATCH.

W: Wake Up

It is a moment to wake up! The call to wake up rings all over the readings today. Let us get in touch with an ordinary experience of our's. Which is difficult: to wake up from sleep or to decide to get up from bed. We wake up, but not really; the sleep lingers on! That is a risky terrain, we miss a lot in that zone! Hence the call is to wake up; to decide to get up, shake oneself up, open one's eyes fully and see that it is time to begin, time to journey on, time to start again.

A: Awaken Others

Your life is not lived alone! Your faith has to be lived in communion, in relationships of love and unity. Awakening each other is a special call that is given to us, but it requires that we are awake. I remember some times when we used share rooms as seminarians, there will be one of us who has the responsibility to wake up the one who has to use the toilets and the bathing rooms first. The person will wake up the concerned person half asleep and go back to sleep till his own turn comes to use the toilets and the bathing rooms! Funny, but that is sometimes how we awaken others; we ourselves half asleep! That does not work. That is why the Holy Father has called the persons living their Consecrated Life, TO WAKE UP THE WORLD. It would first of all mean they (we) wake themselves up, reach out to the others and share the experience of being awake and thus make the whole humanity awakened! Advent is also the time to call out to each other, remind each other and journey together.

T: Thirst for the Lord

The first reading presents us a model of thirsting for the coming of the Lord. The prophet yearns for God's coming and wishes that it happens right away. In various ways he expresses the longing for the Lord, the Father, the Potter to come and shepherd us, protect us and mould us. The thirst for God has to be expressed in our concrete seeking for the Lord. We need to seek the Lord, on a daily basis: in those who are around us, in the situations that surround us, in anxious faces and hungry stomachs, in hearts longing for love those darkened with hatred...we are to dig deep and look for the face of the Lord! He is coming; indeed He has come! It is upto us to unveil the Lord's presence amidst us.

C: Cleanse yourself

To seek the Lord, it goes without saying, is a moment of cleansing, a moment of self purification. It is only through this purification that we can really get to see the Lord. The Lord is near and we need to feel the urgency of purifying ourselves. What a gift we have in these four weeks, if only we use them to the full! Pick up one element a week and begin working on them; report the progress to the Lord  at the end of the week and start on another element in the new week! That would be a great journey and that is the journey of self purification that the Lord invites us to.

H: Hold firm to the Lord

In the second reading, St. Paul hits the nail on its head: 'God is faithful', he declares! Yes, in our yearning to behold the revelation of Lord Jesus Christ in our own life and in our times, God is faithful. The point is we need to hold firm to the Lord. Perseverance is a rare virtue. We are good willed, and spirit filled...but for only a while. That would surely not suffice. We need to persevere in our good will, we need to hold on to the choice for the Lord, we cannot give up even when we face  all the possible odds. Let us stay firm and hold on to the Lord and the Lord will see us through all moments of crisis and confusion.

We begin a journey today, to WATCH.to Wake up, to Awaken, to Thirst, to Cleanse and to Hold on to the Lord who is to come. Let us embark upon this journey, together as a community of loving people, and feel close to each other and feel the Lord close to us. The Lord's words resound today in the Gospel: What shall I say to you, I say to all: WATCH.

WORD 2day: 29th November, 2014

Neither inaction nor hyper action!

Rev 22:1-7; Lk 21: 34-36

Behold I am coming soon! At times it annoys when I hear people go hysteric about this statement. It is not a statement to make every one panic, but a gentle reminder as to how one should live one's daily life. St.Paul understood this well and instructed the thessalonians: "For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. ...But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness" (1 Thess 5:2,4).

It means that neither inaction nor hyper action is expected of us; neither carousing nor drowsiness! It is not a call to live your life on pins and needles, anxious about the next moment; nor is it a call to live our life in mourning and bewailing for the lost moments. The call is to make the best of this moment and live the 'here and now' to the full, conscious and loving. That is the sense that the Gospel presents us: be vigilant at all times! Neither inaction, which is the product of lamentation of the past, nor hyper action which is a frenetic preparation for an unknown future at the cost of the present, would help us says the Word today. The secret is to live our lives as children of the light, calm and composed, but awake and vigilant!

WORD 2day: 28th November, 2014

Signs of the times...

Rev 20: 1-4, 11- 21:2; Lk 21: 29-33

One of the key terms introduced by the second Vatican Council is "signs of the times" and the Council itself tried its best to be true to the spirit of that term. The Council challenged the faithful and the church as a whole to learn to read the signs of the times and respond to it.

We think today that signs from the Lord are few and far between. The truth instead is, the signs abound: in our daily lives, through things that happen around us, through persons who live with us, those who live worthy lives, those who suffer for no cause of theirs, those who are oppressed, those who have scores and scores of woes to meet on a daily basis, through the  crisis we see in the nature around us, through the humanity that is pushed into a hue and cry that is so artificial and human made... there are signs aplenty. 

Our responsibility is two fold: first to learn to gather these signs, as coming from the Lord! Secondly to act upon it, respond to it, regardless of the risks and the sacrifices that are involved. We are so negligent in this second part that we habituate ourselves to become blind to the signs that are around.

Whether we gather them or not, respond to them or not, they are there! We would do well as true sons and daughters of the Reign, if we are present to them and through them strive to build the Reign here on earth. 

WORD 2day: 27th November, 2014

Judgment: our choice!

Rev 18: 1-2, 21-23, 19:1-3, 9A; Lk 21:20-28

Happy are those who are called to the wedding feast of the Lamb...the final banquet, the moment of redemption...the end of days, the judgment seat... these are the pictures that the Word paints before our eyes today. These are not some horror stories or shake-up narrations. They are logical ends towards which we are all journeying. 

In fact, it need not be always an end time phenomenon, instead it has to be an everyday experience...the judgment is a continuous happening and it is not entirely an act of the Lord; the choices that we make at any given point of time, at any moment of a given day, the choice of words, thoughts, actions, decisions...that is the judgment we bring upon ourselves (cf. Jn 3:18).

We are all called to the wedding feast, that is to unite with the Lord and enjoy the eternal bliss. But the choices we make on a daily basis, at a particular point of time, is our response and that decides whether we enter the banquet or not. Hence, instead of yarning tales of suspense and horror, let us realise our responsibility in making right choices: Judgement is our choice, indeed!

WORD 2day: 26th November, 2014

Perseverance...!?!

Rev 15:1-4; Lk 21: 12-19

Perseverance in terms of targets and achievements in the world is holding on endlessly. The same, when it comes to our relationship with God is giving up limitlessly. It is to give up totally into the hands of God, regardless of the successes or failures, gains or losses, happiness or sadness, prosperity or misery! Faith is all about giving up everything and walking with our hands in the hands of God. Indeed it's a challenging feat.

WORD 2day: 25th November, 2014

Curiosity or care to change?
Rev 14: 14-19 ; Lk 21: 5-11

When will these things happen?  We are more interested in knowing when certain things will happen and curious about predictions and premonitions,  than understanding what is the right thing to be done and make the right moves in life at the right time.

Mistakenly we postpone the necessary and crucial transformations in life for an opportune time which sometimes does not come at all or it gets too late by the time they come by.  The month of November insists on the urgency that is involved in personal conversion and community dedication to growth and maturity in faith. And specially this season leading us to the season of advent gives us a better understanding of the end time spirituality that we are called to live in these times.

Mindful of the short time that we have, we have a calling to live: live our lives to the full, here and now.

WORD 2day: 24th November, 2014

Good people or God's people?
Rev 12:1-3, 4b-5; Lk 24: 42-45

The posters with politicians doling out their "generous" gifts to the unfortunate lot,  the numerous NGOs scripting out projects for the eradication of social evils for decades and decades together, the so called social activists voicing the woes of the downtrodden. .. These are today common scenes in any society. People who do good and claim to do good, do it with various intentions and it is that which makes all the difference.

One thing is to be known as people who do good and the other is to be people of God. Doing good has no end to it and is evaluated in its quantity, in the volume of the good we do. Being God's people is in a way simpler and in another way a bit more demanding. Simpler because it does not matter what you do and how much you do but with how much of love you do whatever you do!  More demanding because even a slight intention of selfishness or vain glory can negate the true effect of the good that is done. 

To be marked as people of God is to belong to God and to put our whole self and all we have at the disposal of the One who gave it all to us. It is important to be people who do good,  but more important it is to be people of God.