WORD 2day: 13th January, 2015

All things subject to Him!
Heb 2: 5-12; Mk 1: 21-28

All things subject to the Lord. Whether on earth or in the world below, it is the Lord's voice that rules. Not only that the angels worship the Lord, but even the demons tremble! But we human beings, do we really understand the majesty and might? Just because God deigned to become human and dwell among us;  just because God deigned to communicate with us in ways we could connect to,  we take God for granted and take pride in it.

Even the Lord does not expect that we subject as slaves but that we love as brothers and sisters and be coheirs to God our loving Father and Mother.

WORD 2day: 12th January, 2015

Call to be messengers of the Reign

Heb 1:1-6; Mk 1: 14-20

We have come to the end of the Christmas season and Ordinary season has begun; we have finished celebrating the events around Jesus' birth and we begin to remember the life and ministry of the Lord. Rightly the readings today highlight the revelation made in and through Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, the Word made flesh, as the climax of all precendent prophecies and preparations!

And Jesus begins, by proclaiming the Reign for which he stood all his life, even unto death! His message, his life and his mision was all summarised in that one reality: the Reign of God. The Lord calls us today, to make our own, the dream and the vision of the Reign of God; to be in our own way messengers of the Reign. Are we prepared to leave the nets and boats, and follow the Lord? 

BAPTISM

Solemnity of the Baptism of Our Lord

11th January, 2015

In Baptism, we are 

blessed, beloved and begotten!

Thanks be to God!

WORD 2day; 10th January, 2015

The Best man's call!

1 Jn 5: 14-23; Jn  3: 22-30.

The stage is all set for the Baptism of the Lord. We have these days reflected on all the passages around the event of baptism of Jesus! Only thing left is to celebrate the great event of Baptism itself, which we will be doing tomorrow.

Today we have the identity and role of John clarified: John calls himself the best man! What a beautiful imagery of a prophet and a minister... one who rejoices for his master! But not anyone would be chosen the best man for a bridegroom! it will be the best friend of the bridegroom who will have that privilege. And he will have the honour of staying the closest to the bridegroom all through the ceremonies of wedding!

The call is to grow in our relationship with Christ, to an extent that we would be considered close to Christ. Everyday is an opportunity to grow in this relationship. By this evening we would begin the celebrations of the Baptism of the Lord... this day, let us dwell on our baptism...and thank God for the grace given to us in baptism. Let us make amends in our breach of promises and lack of commitment to the Lord and renew our resolve to grow ever closer to Christ our Lord!

WORD 2day: 8th January, 2015

We love, because God loves us!

1 Jn 4: 19- 5:4; Lk 4: 14-22

To love, is not an extraordinary quality; for us sons and daughters of God who is love, love has to be our essential nature! The fundamental question is not whether I am ready to love or not; it is whether I am a Christian or not! If I am a 'Christ'ian, then love has to be my second nature. Where there is no love, there is no God...where there is no God, there is no Spiritual life! True spirituality is true love.

The correlation of two readings bring out to us an all important point: to love is a charism given by the Spirit to each of us; to love is a commitment on behalf of my neighbour. That difficulties and sacrifices are involved, is a matter of fact. But that in no way can take away the call that I have: to love. We love because God loved us, God loves us and God will always love us! When we don't love the other, we not only hate them, but we conceal ourselves from the love of God, which flows freely towards you and me!

WORD 2day: 7th January, 2015

God's love surrounds us!

1 Jn 4: 11-18; Mk 6: 45-52

It was a long time ago, but the experience has not left my mind. A child, hardly 2 years, had a tumour on her face,which had grown so big that it had covered the eyes and the child could not open her eyes. Admitted in the hospital the child was crying incessantly, firstly due to pain and then due to fear, remember she was not even able to see whether there was someone standing around her. Everytime the mother put her hand into the hands of the child or on the tiny body of the child, the child would calm down and sleep; but the moment the mother took the hands off or left the side, the child never ceased crying! 

The Word today reminded me of that scene: with the Lord around, it does not matter what kind of a situation, we can go through it with calm and quietude. In the absence of the Lord, even a mole hill would appear to be a mountain and a gentle breeze a storm! Let nothing perturb you, saints used to say. 

The love of the Lord surrounds us! Let us live our moments caressed in the love of God and become signs and bearers of that love to those around us. Even those who are in the thick of darkness, unable to see anything around, would feel calm and strong, if we bring alive to them the presence of God's love in those moments of their lives. If we love one another, God remains in us!

WORD 2day: 6th January, 2015

God is Love; Who are we?

1 Jn 4: 7-10; Jn 6: 34-44

God's image among God's people was continuously evolving...first they thought God was a demanding task master, but later understood God was loving too; first they thought God was an angry God but later they found God slow to anger, abounding in love; first they thought God was an uncompromising God but later they understood he was merciful too! The evolution finds its climax in Christ, who reveals God as absolutely compassionate, profusely loving, immensely forgiving and unconditionally accepting! 

Knowing God to be such a person, is in a way a great news for us; but at the same time a big challenge. A great news because we are cared for and protected in that unbelievable love. A challenge because, if we are children of God, we need to be defined by who God is. Our God is love; hence we are called to be children of love! From the way we live our life, the world should be able to understand the kind of God we believe in. This is what is called the integrity of faith: the correlation between our faith and our living!

Now that Jesus in his compassion and in his mercy, has revealed God as love, let us ask ourselves, who are we?   

WORD 2day: 5th January, 2015

To belong and to proclaim

1 Jn 3:22 - 4:6; Mt 4: 12-17, 23-25

The texts begin to orient us towards the Baptism of Jesus, which is the next major event we would be soon commemorating. Today the Word speaks to us of two key elements: Belonging to God and  Proclaiming God! These are the two fundamental marks of identity that we should have as Christians: to belong to God and be God's children and to proclaim God and invite everyone to a life worthy of God who has gifted that life to each of us.

Belonging without proclaiming would make us dead weights burdening the faith community; proclaiming without belonging would make us false prophets and hypocrites. The order is important too: that we first belong and then we speak up. That is why we see Jesus himself first withdraw into loneliness and ascertain his belonging to the One who had sent him before he began to go around proclaiming the Good News!

Needless to say, the resonance between the personal life of belonging to the Lord and the life of commitment to ministry (ministry at various levels: family, parish, congregation, community of faith etc...)is the fundamental quality of integrity that Jesus demands of us, his disciples.

TO BE PEOPLE OF LIGHT

Solemnity of Epiphany : 4th January,  2015

Is 60: 1-6; Eph 2: 2-7 a,  5-6; Mt 2: 1-12

The Light came to the earth; the Lord came unto His own but His own received him not! We are people of the Light and that is the feast we celebrate today! The feast which reminds us that we are the people of the Revelation. God has revealed Godself to us and awaits our response.

I remember an experience that I had a few years back. Two of us were sent to pick up a priest from the railway station. This is no strange experience! How many times we would have received people in the airports and railway stations! But the twitch here was. ..we did not know the person we are going to pick up. All that we know was that we are going to pick up a middle aged priest from Mumbai who was coming to Chennai. We positioned ourselves in a prominent spot and awaited the guest as the crowd started spilling into the platform from the train. Crowds and crowds of people were passing by but we did not spot our guest. Many who were standing alongside with us waiting for their guests were gone. There was one standing beside me for quite sometime. A man with a dhoti and a white shirt with a long grey beard! He didn't even seem to be looking out for someone. The best surprise was when he asked us. ..'so are you waiting for someone from Mumbai?' We said in unison,  'yes'! And when he said. .."I am the one", we didn't know really how to react!

At times, the Lord reveals Godself but we have certain preconceived ideas that don't allow us to see the Lord. Today we are invited to be people of the light.,  that is people who live in light always,  people who are ready and prepared to receive the revelations that God wishes to give us.

The lord reveals himself to us constantly. ..first of all through extraordinary means: let's pray that God gives that gift to many of us!  But there is another way God reveals,  the ordinary means: through prayer experiences,  spiritual direction,  liturgical celebrations, etc. Let's take care when we celebrate these moments in life so that we don't miss the revelations involved.

There is the third way which is more subtle and more challenging: the Daily means.  The fact is that the Lord constantly reveals himself through every day experiences...through people we encounter, through challenging situations we face,  through successful experiments we have, through people who come to us in need,  through persons who demand our responsibility and so on. Let's open our eyes, our ears,  our hearts. ..that we may receive the Light that encounters us daily in our life.

WORD 2day: 3rd January, 2015

Resembling God
1 Jn 2:29 - 3:6; Jn 1: 29-3

The Holy Spirit,  in the form of the dove testified on behalf of Jesus that he was the Son of God. We are made the children of God and the same Spirit has to testify for us. We would be identified as children of God if and only if we resemble God our  Father and Mother.

Resembling God would mean being loving,  beyond all petty differences and being generous, beyond all calculations.

Resembling God would mean remaining with the lord- in every thought,  word and deed.

Resembling God ...let's embark on that journey as firmly as possible.